HONG KONG (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Tuesday release February numbers for unemployment and retail sales, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The jobless rate is expected to rise to 3.0 percent from 2.9 percent in January. Retail sales were down 0.5 percent on month and 2.4 percent on year in January. New Zealand will see February data for building permits; in January, permits were up 2.1 percent on month. Hong Kong will see February figures for retail sales; in January, retail sales were down 14.5 percent on year. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
A Shoals group says a local bill limits what they can do as protesters and activists.

Senate Bill 152 introduced by Sen. Tim Melson only applies to his districts, and basically, it gives municipalities the ability to limit protest zones and even charge more fees for protest applications. Activists say this bill infringes on their rights.

"It tries to specify how many people can come. It makes us pay fees for police where we can go. There are so many ways they are restricting our First Amendment rights in so many ways. I think it's unconstitutional," said Florence Activist Camille Bennett.

Bennett and her nonprofit have been protesting the removal of the Confederate monument outside of the Lauderdale County Courthouse. In the last year, they've stepped up their efforts to weekly protests. She feels Senate Bill 152 was filed to try and stop their efforts.

"I definitely feel like it's retaliation for our protests that have been going on now for 10 to 11 months," said Bennett.

Melson said this bill merely gives better guidelines to cities on protests and rallies, and protects First Amendment rights of citizens.

He said, "With all the demonstrations, rallies, and marches across the country during the past year, based on the feedback I have received, some of the municipalities in Lauderdale and Limestone Counties needed better guidelines on how and where to permit events. The bills filed for Lauderdale and Limestone Counties just followed best practices put in place by other cities across the valley. It is important that we protect the First Amendment rights of our citizens to peaceably assemble and express their free speech rights. The bill also provides guidelines for local municipalities as to where and how they may choose to issue permits and whether or not they choose to close off public streets from traffic. It allows businesses to be able to operate and serve their customers without confusion related to where and how rallies are permitted and what is considered public property."

Bennett said she thinks this bill would deter people from letting their voices be heard, by allowing more restrictions.

"It's subjective to the officers, so they can say we're violating this law or that law, so protesters are forced to make these tough decisions," said Bennett.

Traditionally in Montgomery, it is rare for lawmakers to vote against a local bill. Senate Bill 152 has made it out of committee and through the Senate, where it now goes to the House. Bennett said if this bill becomes law, they are prepared to take legal action to challenge it.
There has been a growing concern about the surge of racial violence, hateful incidents and discrimination against people of Asian descent in the U.S. amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A new study released by Stop AAPI Hate showed that there were nearly 3,800 incidents targeting Asians in the U.S. in the past year alone.

This has only intensified after a gunman killed six Asian women and two others in senseless attacks on spas in Atlanta on March 16. Although uncertainty remains about whether the perpetrator will be charged with a hate crime as well as murder, the killing spree became a flash point, leading to nationwide protests to #StopAsianHate.

According to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, The pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering. He asked governments worldwide to take action to strengthen the immunity of our societies against the virus of hate.

A week before the mass shootings in Atlanta, at a March 8 forum on anti-Asian racism, Chinese American activist and journalist Helen Zia said, We have seen this terrible nightmare before. She recounted some of the brutal milestones, beginning with the interning of Japanese Americans during World War II from 1942-1945, an episode that has long been considered one of the most dreadful violations of American civil rights in the 20th century.

Forty years later, in 1982, Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American draftsman, was murdered in Detroit by two white men who worked in a Chrysler plant. Asian Americans of all backgrounds were targeted when automakers from Japan that were producing more fuel-efficient cars were blamed for layoffs.

Looking back, people knew from personal experience that we were lumped together, said Zia. But in terms of identifying as pan-Asian, the key thing was that a man was killed because they thought he looked like a different ethnicity.

In the U.S. there is no concrete governmental response toward protecting people of Asian descent from pandemic-fueled racist attacks, despite their growing number. During the Trump administration, slurs like Wuhan virus and Kung Flu were routinely used even at the highest levels of government. When officials used the term China virus it was never purely descriptive and always pejorative.

It was recently brought to my attention by a concerned parent that a 5-year-old Asian American child on Long Island was on the receiving end of a coronavirus-driven tirade while playing in a park. The child was left in a state of shock, not fully understanding why a perfect stranger, an adult, was raging at him.

Parents are worried about racially motivated attacks ranging from teasing to physical confrontations against Asian American students when schools fully reopen in the fall. They want to know if their children will be returning to a safe environment.

Historically, immigrant communities have been singled out in times of public health crises. Their passages to the U.S. have been given derogatory labels such as plague and invasion, objectifying migrants as infected, dirty and carriers of disease.

In her new book Caste, Isabel Wilkerson cites anthropologists Audrey and Brian Smedley who explain, We think we see race when we encounter certain physical difference among people such as skin color, eye shape and hair texture. What we actually see are the learned social meanings, the stereotypes that have been linked to those physical features by the ideology of race and the historical legacy it has left us. Indeed, most of the attacks against people of Asian descent in America are not against Chinese but anyone who looks East Asian.

Law enforcement surveillance and vigilance is necessary; however, nothing less than what Wilkerson calls radical empathy will lead to lasting change  the kindred connection from a place of deep knowing that opens your spirit to the pain of another as they perceive it.

Only our solidarity with those who are targeted will prevent community spread. We must all stand tall and together against the toxic pandemic of racism, whether individual or systemic.

Andrew Malekoff of Long Beach is executive director and CEO of North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, a nonprofit childrens mental health agency on Long Island.
UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for measures to promote gender equality.

There have been significant victories since the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, but progress has been too slow, he told the Generation Equality Forum.

Gender equality is essentially a question of power -- and power remains predominantly in the hands of men, he said.

In many places, the very idea of gender equality has come under attack. Regressive laws are back, and horrific violence against women is increasing. Furthermore, the seismic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic have shattered the lives of millions of women and girls and destroyed many of the gains since 1995, he noted.

"It is time to regroup and re-energize our quest to create a more equal, more just, more sustainable world in which all people can realize their human rights without discrimination and without fear," he said.

He asked countries to focus on five critical steps as they recover from the pandemic: protect women's equal rights and repeal discriminatory laws; ensure equal representation -- from company boards to parliaments and beyond -- through special measures and quotas; advance women's economic inclusion through equal pay, job protection, targeted credit and investments in the care economy and social protection; immediately enact emergency response plans to address violence against women and girls; and give space to the inter-generational transition that is under way and to the young people who are advocating for a more just and equitable world.

"The realization of the equal rights of half our population is the unfinished human rights struggle of this century," said Guterres.

The Generation Equality Forum, which kicked off in Mexico City on Monday, is a civil society-centered, global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France.

The secretary-general addressed the forum virtually. Enditem

[ Editor: WXY ]
Two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn was seen leaving a hardware store carrying an array of paint supplies on Saturday afternoon in Malibu.

The 60-year-old actor cut a casual figure in a striped Outerknown button-down, which had the name of the rock band Pearl Jam embroidered on the front, and light-wash jeans.

He also wore a black face mask with his non-profit organization CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort)'s logo on the front and a pair of white sneakers.

Two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn was seen leaving a hardware store carrying an array of paint supplies on Saturday afternoon in Malibu

His organization has tested millions for COVID-19 and has vaccinated more than tens of thousands, 'without any federal or LA County funding,' according to Penn's Twitter in late January.

Penn serves as the cofounder of CORE, which heads the COVID-19 vaccination effort at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, which was the subject of a February 3rd article in the New York Times.

In January, the Mystic River star penned a scathing 2,000-word email to his staff after complaints surfaced online regarding working conditions at a local vaccination site.

The 60-year-old actor cut a casual figure in a striped Outerknown button-down, which had the name of the rock band Pearl Jam embroidered on the front, and light-wash jeans

In that article, online complaints from two Core staffers originally appeared in which they detailed 18-hour workdays and six-day work weeks, along with lamentations regarding the 'same old lettuce wraps' for lunch every day.

In response, the actor allegedly lashed out in an email suggesting that those staffers who were 'predisposed to a culture of complaint' and 'broad-based cyber whining' should quit, as per the Los Angeles Times.

In the email, Penn accused those who commented of engaging in a 'broad betrayal of all' and described the 'highly visible' comments as 'shameful entries' and 'obscene critiques'.

In a recent NYT article: Online complaints from two Core staffers originally appeared in which they detailed 18-hour workdays and six-day work weeks along with other issues

The angry email described the comments left by staffers as a 'dissent in the low-hanging fruit of cyberspace'.

'To whoever authored these, understand that in every cell of my body is a vitriol for the way your actions reflect so harmfully upon your brothers and sisters in arms. I have taken counsel and here will refrain from using the words with which I would otherwise choose to describe the character of your actions,' the email read.

Penn added that CORE has 'strong complaint procedures' for staff and that anyone who was predisposed to complaining online should quit.

'Lucky man': Penn himself received the COVID-19 vaccine last month because he and his charity staff are helping administer the doses

'Quit for CORE. Quit for your colleagues who won't quit. Quit for your fellow human beings who deeply recognize that this is a moment in time. A moment of service that we must all embody sometimes to the point of collapse,' he wrote.

Penn himself received the COVID-19 vaccine in January because he and his charity staff are helping administer the doses.

The vaccine site is run by the city of Los Angeles in partnership with the LA Fire Department, the Dodgers, Curative and Penn's nonprofit Core.
Police in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City have confirmed the video spread on social media on Sunday capturing two traffic police officers beating two young men is genuine, explaining that the two policemen lost their temper due to the two illegal racers profanity and insulting behaviors.

The show of anger took place on Saturday afternoon after the districts traffic police and public order squad had sent ten officers to the scene where a gathering of young adults had reportedly participated in an illegal motorbike race in Hamlet 3, Tan Nhut Commune at around 5:30 pm.

As the racers made loud noise and caused street disorder, the traffic police officers tried to stop them by force.

However, not all of them followed the order, with some riding their motorbikes away to escape and others throwing sand and rocks at the functional forces.

Two of the traffic police officers pursued and managed to catch some of the runaways.

The two policemen requested them to sit still on the ground. But some of them started challenging the functional forces with profanity and insulting words.

As they continued their offensive behaviors despite the officers request for them to stop, one officer grabbed a young man by his collar, dragging him on the ground and slapping him, while the other policeman kicked another young man.

The 46-second footage capturing the police officers acts, apparently by a car camera, was later spread on social media.

According to the Binh Chanh police, a total of 14 young adults and 11 motorbikes were brought to the police station in Tan Nhat Commune in the case.

This group of young adults often organizes illegitimate motorbike races locally and advertises them on a YouTube channel named 'San choi Binh Chanh' (Binh Chanh Playground), according to the police.

The commune police then released six motorbikes and kept the remaining five in custody, which were either unlicensed or had their components illegally replaced.

The investigation into the case is underway.

Meanwhile, the districts police are also clarifying the two aforementioned officers responses.

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TROY  A former U.S. Army drone operator and alleged militia member pleaded guilty Monday in Rensselaer County Court to possessing a ghost gun loaded with live ammunition during a peaceful local Black Lives Matter demonstration in June.

Noah Latham, 23, of Leominister, Mass., became the fifth man believed by law enforcement to have ties to the New England Minutemen to plead guilty to charges stemming from their actions on the day of the demonstration.

Latham appeared remotely and pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon before Judge Jennifer Sober.

Latham was a specialist assigned to the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum when he came to Troy on June 7. Latham was discharged from the division in August, an Army spokesman has said, although the Army has declined to disclosed what type of discharge Latham received.

Lathams plea came the day that opening arguments began at the murder trial of former Minneapolis police office Derek Chauvin, a white man whose killing of George Floyd on May 25 triggered months of civil rights protests locally and around the region. Chauvin is accused of kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes thereby causing his death.

The five defendants in Troy were spotted at the June 7 demonstration and tailed by police and demonstrators as they walked armed through the crowd of about 11,000 that gathered downtown to protest Floyds death. The men were taken into custody when they returned to their parked vehicles just blocks from the Troy police station.

Latham was the one member of the group who was not a Rensselaer County resident. He drove from Fort Drum to link up with the other four at the rally.

The rally was the largest in the Capital Region among the many racial justice and anti-police brutality demonstrations held across the country.

I plead guilty, Latham told Sober Monday morning.

He admitted to attempted possession of a 9 mm Glock-style pistol that had no serial number and that the weapon was loaded with live 9 mm ammunition.

Latham's handgun was identified by authorities as a "ghost gun," which is assembled from parts sold by companies that exploit a loophole in federal and state gun control laws by providing "unfinished" hardware with the drill bits and instructions  including video tutorials  needed to make a fully functioning firearm. Such weapons are assembled from parts and do not have serial numbers.

Latham entered his plea as part of a deal in which he will be sentenced May 25 to time served in custody and five years of post-release supervision. He also agreed to surrender all weapons confiscated by Troy police. Sober warned him that he could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison if he violates the terms of the agreement or the Rensselaer County Probation Department uncovers damaging information during its pre-sentencing investigation.

The other four defendants pleaded guilty in February in Troy City Court.

Shane Fleming of Averill Park and Shelbi Vanderbogart of Poestenkill pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a violation, according to the court files. They were fined $250, given a conditional discharge in which they must not be arrested for one year and surrendered seized weapons.

Shawn Fleming and Nathaniel Shepard, both of Averill Park, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor, according to court records. They were also given a conditional discharge, surrendered seized weapons and were fined $750.

Latham faced a felony charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which carried a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if he'd been convicted.

Latham and his four colleagues were identified as potentially having ties to a regional militia group, the New England Minutemen, based on a tactical manual recovered by Troy police, authorities said.

Troy police recovered rifles, ammunition magazines that hold up to 30 rounds and illegal police batons from vehicles belonging to the suspects on June 7.

After Latham was arrested in June, he was released with the condition that he wear a GPS monitoring device under the supervision of the Rensselaer County probation department and be confined to the Fort Drum military base.
Communist authorities in China removed all the belongings of a house church in Chinas Chongqing municipality without showing any legal documents, days after raiding the building during a worship service, according to reports.

More than 30 officials, including local police, state security and local district administration, came with trucks and took away all the property, including chairs and books, at Mt. Olive Church in Chongqing on Wednesday, the U.S.-based advocacy organization International Christian Concern reports.

The Texas-based non-governmental organization China Aid reported the same group of officials, led by the Yuzhong District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, raided the church during its worship service last Sunday. The authorities sent the members home and sealed the church without showing any papers to prove official authorization.

Pastor Zhu Dong and several leaders were said to have been brought to the police station.

Source:The Christian Post
Perhaps the best hope lies much closer to home  literally  through intervention by those nearest to someone who is in mental or emotional distress. Neighbors, friends, co-workers and especially family members and others who share a household must speak up if they perceive something is profoundly amiss.
Raise your hand if you are confused when you hear about vaccine efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency regarding the COVID-19 vaccines.

You are not alone.

But you should not be confused about this: All three vaccines approved so far were nearly 100% effective in clinical trials at preventing severe disease resulting in hospitalization or death.

Still, a blizzard of terms and numbers overwhelms us sometimes. So heres some clarity for you.

Fine-line definitions

Open a dictionary, and youll find the definitions of efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency are very similar. In fact, they are listed as synonyms for each other, meaning that you should be able to use the words interchangeably.

But in medical discussions, there are some subtle differences.

When talking about the COVID-19 vaccines:

Efficacy measures a vaccines capacity to succeed in ideal conditions, such as a controlled clinical trial.

Effectiveness describes how well a vaccine performs in the real, uncontrolled world.

Efficiency is a production and distribution term, measuring outcome in relation to the amount of resources used.

Now, consider all three terms in one paragraph:

Clinical trials of the vaccines produced high efficacy rates. Therefore, experts are confident that the vaccines will prove effective in fighting the virus among the general population. But for all of the time and money invested, the efficiency of the early rollout in some states was less than expected.

Focus on vaccine efficacy

With efficacy, you need to realize that clinical trials are based on a small number of people relative to the general population.

The key point with vaccine efficacy is that it does not relate to the overall population, said Doug Kasper, MD, infectious disease specialist for OSF HealthCare. Even in the best clinical trials, you are approaching 40,000 people enrolled. We know that when you get into millions of people, the results will vary.

A clinical trial gives some participants the vaccine and others a placebo. Researchers study the reactions of both groups. But they also must account for a fundamental truth: Not all unvaccinated people exposed to the virus will get sick.

Efficacy compares the reduction in severe COVID-19 symptoms experienced by those who received the vaccine to those who did not.

In that comparison, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines experienced a 95% efficacy rate in preventing serious illness and hospitalization resulting from a COVID-19 infection. In other words, of the people who received the vaccine in the trial, their risk of getting COVID-19 was 95% lower than those who did not.

It does not mean if we vaccinate our population that 5% will become sick with COVID-19, Dr. Kasper said. Actually, its a much smaller number who will become sick, because we are doing additional measures on top of the vaccine. We expect social distancing, masking and handwashing to be part of the success of the vaccines.

Not all trials are the same

Now, add in people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have built a degree of natural immunity, and these vaccines are likely to be very efficient in stopping disease spread among the general population.

A caution flag, though: Dont use efficacy numbers to determine which vaccine will be more effective in the general population.

For example, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trials reported a 66.9% efficacy rate. But those trials were conducted under different conditions than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

For the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the clinical trial included sites in Africa and Latin America that had high circulating rates of variant virus strains. This was not the case for either of the other vaccines, Dr. Kasper said.

Efficacy relates to the population on which it was trialed and cannot be directly compared to an alternate trial done in a different location at a different time.

Kirk Wessler started work as a writing coordinator for OSF HealthCare in January 2019. A Peoria native and graduate of Bradley University, he previously worked for newspapers in Missouri, Texas and most recently at the Peoria Journal Star.
Register at www.newnormal.buzz

Life365, is proud to announce the newest episode of The New Normal Webinar / Podcast will air live on March 31st at 1:00pm PDT / 4:00pm EDT entitled 2021 Remote Physiologic Monitoring Reimbursement Codes.

Back by popular request is Robert Jarrin, Strategic Advisor and Reimbursement Expert, Brian Scarpelli, Senior Policy Counsel with ACT | The App Association and Kendall Paulsen, Telehealth Manager for Life365 to have a lively conversation around reimbursement and proper usage of the codes.

Jarrin, Brian and Kendall will help discuss reimbursement for Remote Physiologic Monitoring treatment management services in the US, and the proper usage of codes as of the latest 2021 guidance. The panel will discuss whether the waivers and codes / conditions that were put in place at the start of pandemic are likely to stay in place throughout 2021 and beyond.

The panelists are involved in the Connected Health Initiative (CHI) (http://www.actonline.org) which involves hundreds of companies and thought leaders framing reimbursement opinions to Congress and large medical organizations.

Register for the Webinar at http://www.newnormal.buzz.

About Life365

The Life365 Virtual Care platform integrates health systems with healthcare solution/service providers and logistics companies to deliver a one-stop, integrated platform for engaging a growing patient population at home  and beyond. The platform enables health professionals to remotely manage patients with a variety of disease states and offers consumer apps for self-managing their health and wellness. Life365 is headed by an experienced, industry recognized team, recently selected as a Finalist for a 2021 Edison Award for their work in addressing COVID-19. The teams previous Connected Health Company was acquired by Alere (now Abbott). Life365 is the major patent holder of the next generation of Wearables, Sensors and Patches driven by Machine Learning / AI, driving the next generation of Remote Patient Monitoring to scale and an enabler in helping patients avoid expensive healthcare resources.

For more information regarding Life365, please visit http://www.life365.health.

About The New Normal

The New Normal from Life365 is a bi-weekly Webinar / Podcast that tackles a wide range of topics related to the shift in Consumer Directed Healthcare, providing access to Health & Care outside of the traditional four walls of the hospital, typically at home.

Episodes of The New Normal from Life365 can be viewed / downloaded at http://www.newnormal.buzz and wherever your favorite podcasts are hosted (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others).
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Efforts to recognise the contributions of women to agriculture has received a boost with the launch of the Women in Food and Agricultural Leadership Training Forum and the Gold in the Soil Awards.

The award, the third in the series, is slated for June 23 to 24, 2021 at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region on the theme "Women in Agric - Swimming, Thriving and Making Waves beyond the Pandemic."

An initiative of Agrihouse Foundation, an organisation with the objective to promote agribusiness, the programme is meant to reward women engaged in agriculture and bring their businesses to the limelight.

The programme to be organised by Agrihouse Foundation in collaboration with the Women in Agricultural Development (WIAD) under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is sponsored by Canada and supported by Absa and Yara.

Speaking at the launch, the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa said WOFAGRIC was established in 2019 to enable women to develop their agricultural skills, motivate, mentor and build upon their capabilities to become independent.

Ms Akosa explained that agriculture remained integral to the economic growth of the country, adding that "presently women make up 43.1 per cent of economically active population, with a great number working in farming, but women continue to face challenges in areas of transportation, innovative marketing approaches, limited access to funds and market."

"With this theme and focus this year, Agrihouse seeks to enable women in agribusiness to develop, improve and sustain new agricultural practices and as well thrive to develop their business within this pandemic era and beyond," she said.

The Executive Director disclosed that this year, Agrihouse was receiving nominations for the Gold in the Soil Awards, from both Upper East and Upper West region, adding "This is the first time the Foundation is opening up nominations in such a way to allow more women from culturally diverse backgrounds an opportunity to participate in the awards scheme."

She said the programme would involve mentorship sessions, training and presentation and soft skills training, workshops.

Ms Akosa said the Gold in the Soil Award was made up of 15 categories including, Passion for the Farm Awards, She-Innovates Award, Climate-Smart Women Project Award, Outstanding Woman in Extension Services Award, The Super Woman Farmer Award, Star Woman Agripreneur Award (Woman Agripreneur Award), Royal Agro Award, Diamond in the Rough Award.

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The others are Feed to Food Awards - (Poultry, Livestock & Fisheries), The Change Champion Award, Lady of The Region Export Award, Development Partner Award, Princess Carla Award, Gold in the Soil Award, and She-Operates Award.

The Executive Director said the objectives of the award were to promote networking among women achievers in agribusiness and propel them to do more collectively, showcase the efforts of women agripreneurs, and celebrate their achievements towards economic growth of their communities and country.

She indicated that in 2020, at the end of the two-day event, 25 per cent of women who were not into agribusiness had decided to start their own agri-projects, as a result of the competence based training and soft skills they had acquired.

"About 900 women were groomed to take up leadership roles and build their capacities, to drive them towards growth and expansion of their businesses," Ms Akosa said.

She expressed gratitude to this year's sponsors for supporting the programme.

The Deputy Director of Operations at the Canadian High Commission, Stephanie Brunet congratulated Agrihouse for two similar events previously held in the Volta and Ashanti regions in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

She said the theme for this year's event could not be more appropriate in view of the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agricultural value chain, particularly for women farmers.

"Canada is glad to be part of this event, which would explore ways to enhance women's resilience and recovery from the effects of the pandemic," she said.
Thousands of Kenyans have temporarily been rendered jobless after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday ordered an immediate stop to the sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants for an indefinite period.

This, he said, is in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19 amid reports people were visiting bars past curfew hours.

Several people have been arrested following an expose by a local media house that bars were selling alcohol at night.

President Kenyatta said bars operating shall be closed permanently within Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu, and Nakuru counties until further notice.

Revelers too have been hard hit after the government banned the sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants in the said counties.

However, eateries and restaurants have been asked to operate on a take-away basis.

"All gatherings and in-person meetings of whatever nature are suspended within Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu, and Nakuru counties until further notice.

All in-person meetings of Cabinet and its committees also suspended", he stated.

The President also reviewed the curfew hours in the five counties, announcing that it shall begin from 8pm and end at 4am in Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru effective midnight.
Kiara Advani has quietly moved into the top echelons of the film industry, seemingly without trying. Though thats not true. She made an unheralded entry in Bollywood with Fugly (2014) but it took her four years after that to be noticed. It was Lust Sories an anthrology film, that brought her into the limelight. Then thanks to the success of Kabir Singh (2019) and Good Newzz (2019), Kiara found herself to be the toast of big banners. She doesnt just possess exotic good looks and a great figure but has acting chops to go with them. Charming, vivacious and always full of positive energy, shes looking forward to 2021, where she has Jug Jugg Jeeyo, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Shershaah coming up. On the personal front, shes reportedly seeing Sidharth Malhotra, though she has chosen to remain mum about it and doesnt even throw the were just good friends line when asked about it. Though the media reports the duo had a meet-the-parents moment and even indulged in a Maldives vacation together. Hmm No personal-questions policy aside, the actress is quite candid when it comes to tackling questions about her career and life. Excerpts from a free-flowing interview with the bubbly actress...







Youre Dharmas blue-eyed girl, having done Guilty, Good Newzz and Jug Jugg Jeeyo with them. Whats the equation you share with Karan Johar?

Karan often jokes that everyone asks him why hes giving me films. And I always say that I must be so good that you give me these films. (Laughs) Sometimes even

I joke that I should have my own cabin at Dharma. I love working with them. They have given me some of my strongest characters. When Lust Stories happened, it was the first role that I had that got so much appreciation. I think Karan sees me as a performer. Everything he has offered me, whether it has been Good Newwz, JJJ or Shershah, every character has been so incredibly etched out that I naturally feel inclined to do it. I want him to direct me again.



Today youre working with the biggest superstars and big banners. What was the turning point in your career?

Everyone will point out to my successful films whether it was Lust Stories or Kabir Singh. Naturally those films had a wider reach. But personally, I think my foundation has been my first film Fugly. I owe it to the first film for every film Ive landed. Also, every film has taught me something, every person I have acted with, every director I have worked with has taught me something. So for me, every film is special, whether it was a box-office success or a big dud, it taught me something and it has been a part of my journey.



When your debut film didnt do as well as expected, what motivated you to keep your chin up and sail on?

That was the toughest period because I didnt know better. I didnt know what was next? I didnt realise that its not just about your first film. Every film is a challenge. And its every Friday to Friday, no matter wherever you are in your career. My belief in myself was what motivated me during that period of time. I hung on to that and dug my feet in. There was never a plan B.







What did you learn from that particular phase now that you look back at it?

I was preparing every single day, that when the opportunity comes Im ready for it. I didnt want to ever feel like I havent given it my all. I really feel lucky today that the directors conduct workshops. They want you to prepare for roles, they want you to unlearn what you have learnt and approach a character in a new way. Even when you cry in a film, you cry differently in each film. And that is a very daunting task for an actor. Thats why today, when I look back at Kabir Singh and see the climax scene, I still have tears in my eyes because I never watched it as myself. I never felt like that was me.

Definitely cut-throat. Its actually nice to be in a league of actors where everyone is bringing in something new and interesting to the table.

So it helps you to pull up

your socks. You cant take it easy not for a second. The kind of content weve seen on OTT in the whole of last year, I feel everybody has opened up to out-of-the-box ideas.

The whole creative space has had a full 360 degree turn. Everyone wants to push the envelope now.



Sidharth Malhotra, Kartik Aaryan, Varun Dhawan, Akshay Kumar  describe your co-stars in your own words...

Akshay sir, is somebody who is continuously working and never stops.That is inspiring given his experience, age, stardom, everything. Thats the best example. So his energy to keep going and to keep working... I love that about him.

Varun Dhawan, is a notorious boy but has a heart of gold. As a co-star I had a wonderful time working with him because he has soooo many ideas and so many variations on how he wants to do a scene. Its like a film that Raj is making and then there is a parallel film that Varun decides to make. So we had fun. We just wanted to keep on giving more shots while Raj had already got his shot in the first take. But he was kind enough to give us more takes.

Kartik, again is great fun on the set. But I have to still work with him a little more to get to know him better. We have just started working, so I look forward to it.

Sid, is someone I got to know really well through the shooting of Shershaah. He is someone who is intelligent when it comes to scripts and edits. He is focussed when it comes to his work.
The mission to recover 'Biggie', an adorable British bulldog stolen from a Gold Coast home a week ago, has turned into a huge social media campaign.

Nadine Steedman first posted a heartfelt plea for the beloved family pet's return on Facebook on March 21. Since then, her regular updates on the search for Biggie have prompted thousands of online comments and re-shares.

'Im not going to lie, my hope is fading and with every sunset my heart hurts knowing that our boy is still in the hands of a complete stranger, and everyday without you is a day closer to maybe never finding you,' Nadine wrote a few days after the two-year-old bulldog went missing.

Nadine Steedman had posted a series of heartbreaking messages about the missing pet

'Biggie' was taken from the Steedmans backyard and is believed to be in the Beenleigh area

Bulldogs have become a regular target for dog-nappers because of their high value

'What is breaking our hearts more then anything is the unknown. Is he warm? Is he sad? Is he happy? Is he wondering why we arent with him?'

Ms Steedman believes Biggie was stolen from their Gaven home on the northern Gold Coast by teens from the Beenleigh-Homeview area south of Brisbane, with the intention to sell him. She told Daily Mail Australia there had been four sightings of Biggie in the area since he'd gone missing.

'The campaign has got so big because he's a very unique looking bulldog,' Ms Steedman said. 'But also because people are just sick of these kids pinching people's pets from homes, particularly bulldogs. The breed have become like prestige cars for kids.'

Ms Steedman said she knew of a friend who recently had a seven-week old bulldog pup pinched from a cage inside a home.

The family had offered a $3000 reward for the bulldog's return. They also printed t-shirts and distributed flyers, and undertook a door-knocking campaign to see if anyone had information on their pet's disappearance.

'The police have been looking but they also have a lot of other stuff to do - COVID and everything,' said Ms Steedman.

A pet detective service had also been employed to try and find Biggie.

Nadine Steedman said breeds like Biggie are being treated like 'prestige cars' by dog-nappers

Ms Steedman's children have had t-shirts made up as they continue the search for their dog

RSPCA Queensland spokesperson Michael Beatty told 7News Gold Coast that, anecdotally, dog-napping was on the rise.

'A lot of those are designer breeds and the reason for that is money,' said Beatty. 'We think there could be a black market for those types of dogs.'

'I don't believe in psychic stuff at all,' said Ms Steedman, 'but when I'm up in the area where we think he's gone missing, I can just feel him there.

'It's been more than a week now and we just want him home. My youngest daughter, Tia, in particular, is his best friend and is really upset.'

Ms Steedman said it was possible the reward would be further increased in the coming days to entice the return of Biggie to the family.
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JACKSON, Miss., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EastGroup Properties (NYSE: EGP) announced today that it will hold its First Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Webcast on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time. On the call, Marshall Loeb, CEO, and Brent Wood, CFO, will review the first quarter results and discuss EastGroup's current operations.

EastGroup plans to release financial results for the quarter after the market closes on April 27, 2021. The earnings release and supplemental information package will be posted on the Company's website, www.eastgroup.net, at that time.

A live broadcast of the conference call is available by dialing 1-877-240-5772 (conference ID EastGroup) or by webcast through a link on the Company's website at www.eastgroup.net. If you are unable to listen to the live conference call, a telephone and webcast replay will be available on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. The telephone replay will be available until Wednesday, May 5, 2021, and can be accessed by dialing 1-877-344-7529, access code 10153710. The replay of the webcast can be accessed through a link on the Company's website at www.eastgroup.net and will be available until Wednesday, May 5, 2021.

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE: EGP), an S&P MidCap 400 company, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. The Company's goal is to maximize shareholder value by being a leading provider in its markets of functional, flexible and quality business distribution space for location sensitive customers (primarily in the 15,000 to 70,000 square foot range). The Company's strategy for growth is based on ownership of premier distribution facilities generally clustered near major transportation features in supply-constrained submarkets. EastGroup's portfolio, including development projects and value-add acquisitions in lease-up and under construction, currently includes approximately 47 million square feet.

EastGroup Properties, Inc. press releases are available at www.eastgroup.net .

SOURCE EastGroup Properties

Related Links

http://www.eastgroup.net


Greater Brisbane residents  who are impacted by the three-day COVID snap lockdown  are banned from day one of the Byron Bay Bluesfest, which begins on Thursday.

The lockdowns hit the council areas of Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Logan and Redlands from 5pm Monday.

Queenslanders from inside the Greater Brisbane lockdown zone banned from day one of the 2021 Bluesfest. Credit:Edwina Pickles

New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard made the decision on the ban on Monday afternoon.

To the people of Brisbane, who might have bought tickets to come to Bluesfest, do not come, Mr Hazzard said.
Officials in Oswego said the village has three options for providing water in the future: Lake Michigan water obtained through the DuPage Water Commission; using Fox River water, which would include the construction of a treatment plant with other towns in the area; or getting Lake Michigan water through an agreement with Joliet.
Though the Andhra farming community is habituated to open market system, it is now worried about the impact these three central laws may have on AP in the long run. (Representational image/PTI)

VIJAYAWADA: Though the farming community of Andhra Pradesh is worried over the three new agriculture laws passed by the centre, these have not impacted the ongoing agricultural season in AP compared to northern states.

This is mainly because farmers of northern states are more dependent on government procurements within agriculture markets at minimum statutory prices (MSPs). The situation is different in AP, where farmers sell their produce as needed in open markets, without depending on government procurement and MSPs.

Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 are the three laws that have created worries within the farming community.

Though the Andhra farming community is habituated to open market system, it is now worried about the impact these three central laws may have on AP in the long run.

Andhra Pradesh farmers are currently growing mixed crops over 59.06 lakh acres, including paddy, Bengal gram, black gram, green gram, jowar, maize, tobacco, chillies, groundnut, pluses, sunflower, sesamum, onion, bajra, ragi and minor millets. Thus, APs crop pattern is quite different from northern states, where majority farmers are preoccupied with cultivating wheat and paddy.

Farmers P. Naresh and D. Kondal Reddy say multi-cropping system helps Andhra farmers sell their produces in local markets without depending on government procurements. Further, Rythu Bharosa and other welfare schemes aid farmers in marketing their crops within the state. However, Naresh and Kondal Reddy do fear that the central laws could dismantle the minimum support price system, which can allow private corporations to exploit farmers in the long run within AP.

The two farmers are keen that the laws are rolled back as otherwise agriculture trade and commerce will get controlled by corporate companies whose motive will be profit at any cost.

CPM leader Ch. Babu Rao, who has led various farmers protests, pointed out that 80 percent of agricultural lands in AP are cultivated by tenant farmers, as landowners are more interest in other lucrative businesses. But in northern states, landowners are themselves cultivators and depend on government procurement and MSP.

The CPM leader pointed out since the past few months, farmers of Andhra Pradesh too have started protests, after realising that the three new agriculture laws will turn into a big hurdle for their livelihood in the future.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday extended a moratorium on evicting tenants who cannot pay their rent because of the coronavirus pandemic as court challenges threaten the directives future.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky wrote that the moratorium will now expire June 30. A statement from the White House said that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to the nations public health.

Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settings  like homeless shelters  by preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19, the release says.

The measure, which the CDC first implemented in September, under former President Donald Trump, is designed to prevent tenants from losing their homes if they lost income and fell behind on rent because of the coronavirus-fueled recession. Lawmakers and President Joe Bidens administration extended the moratorium several times.

The directive  which applies to single people who earn up to $99,000 last year, or couples that make a combined $198,000  requires tenants who cant pay their rent to submit a declaration stating as much to their landlord. Renters can still face eviction for other violations. The declaration does not wipe away a tenants obligation to pay rent and associated late fees, but instead delays them until the moratorium ends.

In recent months, judges in different cities handled the CDCs directive differently. In Cleveland, many evictions proceeded for nonpayment of rent.

Renters advocates and politicians from both parties have said the moratorium is an imperfect yet helpful tool. While rental assistance is available, some have worried that small landlords have little ability to kick out problematic tenants while losing a key source of income.

A recent Census Bureau survey said more than 500,000 Ohioans were behind on their rent or mortgage. The CDC enacted the moratorium to prevent what advocates feared: a large swath of evictions because of the recession. The moratorium and three stimulus bills Congress passed since March 2020 are credited with preventing a nationwide wave of evictions.

Two of those stimulus bills included a combined $46 billion for rental assistance. Many states and local governments used money from a previous stimulus bill for the same reasons.

Marcus Roth, a spokesman for the Coalition of Housing and Homelessness in Ohio, estimated that the state allocated nearly $1.5 billion for rental assistance since the pandemic began. The city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have used millions of dollars for rental assistance programs run by CHN Housing Partners and EDEN, Inc.

Even though the moratorium expires in three months, exactly how long it will last is an open question due to court challenges in several states, including Ohio.

U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese in Cleveland ruled this month that the CDC lacked authority under existing federal law to implement such a measure nationwide. Calabrese, however, did not block the CDC from enforcing the moratorium while the case makes its way through the courts.

Federal judges in other states have issued similar rulings. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday also declined to immediately halt an order issued by a judge in Tennessee who ruled against the federal government. Like Calabrese, though, the appeals court did not block the CDC from enforcing the directive.

The appeals court said the federal government too broadly interpreted a phrase in a decades-old federal law to justify its authority to enact the moratorium. It also said the relationship between landlords and tenants is traditionally left to state governments.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Mexico registered 294,287 deaths associated with COVID-19 up to mid-February, new government data showed, much higher than the country's official coronavirus fatality toll.

The figure, given in a report on excess deaths released on Sunday, is 69 percent more than the 173,771 deaths announced by the health ministry at the time for the same period through February 13.

The ministry's number is based on test-confirmed cases, while the new figure is based on death certificates and includes people who died at home.

Since February 13, the ministry has announced more than 27,000 additional COVID-19 deaths, implying that the total number of coronavirus-linked fatalities is now far in excess of 300,000.

The health ministry's latest official toll stood at 201,623 on Sundaythe third highest in the world, behind Brazil at more than 312,000 and the United States at around 549,000 fatalities.

Testing in Mexico remains very limited, and government officials have previously acknowledged the real toll is likely higher.

Many COVID-19 patients in the country of 126 million are believed to have died at home and not been officially counted.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration has repeatedly come under fire for its handling of the pandemic.

The left-wing populist, who announced in February that he had recovered from a COVID-19 infection, has worn a mask only on rare occasions and kept up his cross-country tours during the pandemic.

He was accused of downplaying the risks of the virus early on and of being slow to impose a lockdown, but he continues to enjoy high approval ratings.

His administration has also previously been accused of undercounting fatal COVID-19 cases.

National statistics institute INEGI reported in January that Mexico had registered 68 percent more coronavirus deaths up to the end of August 2020 than reported at the time by the health ministry.

According to the government's new report, the country's total excess deaths during the pandemic reached 417,002 by the sixth week of 2021.

The health ministry has reported a decline in daily deaths and cases in recent weeks after a surge in January, but there are fears of another wave of infections after the Easter holidays.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
MIT engineers have devised a novel technique for imaging biological samples down to a resolution of 9 nanometers. They developed a new type of hydrogel that maintains a more uniform configuration, pictured here, allowing for greater precision in imaging tiny structures. Credit: Ella Maru Studio

Using an ordinary light microscope, MIT engineers have devised a technique for imaging biological samples with accuracy at the scale of 10 nanometerswhich should enable them to image viruses and potentially even single biomolecules, the researchers say.

The new technique builds on expansion microscopy, an approach that involves embedding biological samples in a hydrogel and then expanding them before imaging them with a microscope. For the latest version of the technique, the researchers developed a new type of hydrogel that maintains a more uniform configuration, allowing for greater accuracy in imaging tiny structures.

This degree of accuracy could open the door to studying the basic molecular interactions that make life possible, says Edward Boyden, the Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology, a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, and a member of MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

"If you could see individual molecules and identify what kind they are, with single-digit-nanometer accuracy, then you might be able to actually look at the structure of life. And structure, as a century of modern biology has told us, governs function," says Boyden, who is the senior author of the new study.

The lead authors of the paper, which appears today in Nature Nanotechnology, are MIT Research Scientist Ruixuan Gao and Chih-Chieh "Jay" Yu Ph.D. '20. Other authors include Linyi Gao Ph.D. '20; former MIT postdoc Kiryl Piatkevich; Rachael Neve, director of the Gene Technology Core at Massachusetts General Hospital; James Munro, an associate professor of microbiology and physiological systems at University of Massachusetts Medical School; and Srigokul Upadhyayula, a former assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an assistant professor in residence of cell and developmental biology at the University of California at Berkeley.

Low cost, high resolution

Many labs around the world have begun using expansion microscopy since Boyden's lab first introduced it in 2015. With this technique, researchers physically enlarge their samples about fourfold in linear dimension before imaging them, allowing them to generate high-resolution images without expensive equipment. Boyden's lab has also developed methods for labeling proteins, RNA, and other molecules in a sample so that they can be imaged after expansion.

"Hundreds of groups are doing expansion microscopy. There's clearly pent-up demand for an easy, inexpensive method of nanoimaging," Boyden says. "Now the question is, how good can we get? Can we get down to single-molecule accuracy? Because in the end, you want to reach a resolution that gets down to the fundamental building blocks of life."

Other techniques such as electron microscopy and super-resolution imaging offer high resolution, but the equipment required is expensive and not widely accessible. Expansion microscopy, however, enables high-resolution imaging with an ordinary light microscope.

In a 2017 paper, Boyden's lab demonstrated resolution of around 20 nanometers, using a process in which samples were expanded twice before imaging. This approach, as well as the earlier versions of expansion microscopy, relies on an absorbent polymer made from sodium polyacrylate, assembled using a method called free radical synthesis. These gels swell when exposed to water; however, one limitation of these gels is that they are not completely uniform in structure or density. This irregularity leads to small distortions in the shape of the sample when it's expanded, limiting the accuracy that can be achieved.

To overcome this, the researchers developed a new gel called tetra-gel, which forms a more predictable structure. By combining tetrahedral PEG molecules with tetrahedral sodium polyacrylates, the researchers were able to create a lattice-like structure that is much more uniform than the free-radical synthesized sodium polyacrylate hydrogels they previously used.

The researchers demonstrated the accuracy of this approach by using it to expand particles of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which have a distinctive spherical shape. After expanding the virus particles, the researchers compared the shapes to the shapes obtained by electron microscopy and found that the distortion was lower than that seen with previous versions of expansion microscopy, allowing them to achieve an accuracy of about 10 nanometers.

"We can look at how the arrangements of these proteins change as they are expanded and evaluate how close they are to the spherical shape. That's how we validated it and determined how faithfully we can preserve the nanostructure of the shapes and the relative spatial arrangements of these molecules," Ruixuan Gao says.

Single molecules

The researchers also used their new hydrogel to expand cells, including human kidney cells and mouse brain cells. They are now working on ways to improve the accuracy to the point where they can image individual molecules within such cells. One limitation on this degree of accuracy is the size of the antibodies used to label molecules in the cell, which are about 10 to 20 nanometers long. To image individual molecules, the researchers would likely need to create smaller labels or to add the labels after expansion was complete.

They are also exploring whether other types of polymers, or modified versions of the tetra-gel polymer, could help them realize greater accuracy.

If they can achieve accuracy down to single molecules, many new frontiers could be explored, Boyden says. For example, scientists could glimpse how different molecules interact with each other, which could shed light on cell signaling pathways, immune response activation, synaptic communication, drug-target interactions, and many other biological phenomena.

"We'd love to look at regions of a cell, like the synapse between two neurons, or other molecules involved in cell-cell signaling, and to figure out how all the parts talk to each other," he says. "How do they work together and how do they go wrong in diseases?"

Explore further High-resolution imaging with conventional microscopes

More information: A highly homogeneous polymer composed of tetrahedron-like monomers for high-isotropy expansion microscopy, Nature Nanotechnology (2021). dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-00875-7 Journal information: Nature Nanotechnology A highly homogeneous polymer composed of tetrahedron-like monomers for high-isotropy expansion microscopy,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-021-00875-7
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New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidate Jack Ciattarelli to Hold Town Hall Meeting with Local Grass Roots Group. Hackettstown, New Jersey (..) May 2, 2021 As primary campaigns heat up in New Jersey, candidates for the Republican Party nomination are out meeting with voters in hopes of capturing the nomination. With the Primary Election on June 8, 2021, New Jersey Republicans have four candidates to choose from to take on Governor Murphy in 
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The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Bola Tinubu, has lauded Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State for strengthening anti-corruption institutions.

Mr Tinubu gave the commendation on Sunday in Kano while inaugurating the Office of Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission.

Despite Mr Ganduje being caught in a video collecting bribe years ago, the APC leader praised him for his efforts in fighting corruption.

Mr Ganduje has consistently denied this.

This is a welcome development indeed and we salute the governor for this encouraging effort.

In ensuring Nigeria becomes a member of a committed international community that frees us from the burden of corruption this and similar edifices could play an important role in that.

To a lot of us looking forward to a prosperous, corruption-free Nigeria and Africa today is dedicated to that objective, he pointed out.

In his remark, Mr Ganduje said that at the time his administration took over, the institution had achieved little.

He said that he appointed a very vibrant human rights activist, Muhuyi Rmin-Gado, to chair the agency.

When he was appointed as the chairman, we made it very clear that there would be no interference in the activities of the agency and up till now we have not interfered in any of its activities, the governor added.

He said that his administration would continue to support the anti-graft body for effective and efficient operations.

Mr Tinubu also inspected some other projects being executed by the state government. (NAN)
The firm said its net cash position was around 1.2mln as of Monday

( ) said it will publish its full-year results by June after missing the previous deadline of March 31 because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Catenae has also received an extension to delay the filing of its audited annual accounts by Companies House until 30 June 2021.

The firm said its net cash position was around 1.2mln as of Monday.

At the end of the financial year to September 30, the provider of digital media and technology swung to net assets of 502,426 from net liabilities of 727,077 the year before.

Loss for the year was broadly flat at 832,187 because no material revenues were generated during the period, as the company focussed on product development, pilot testing of prototypes and deploying fit for purpose products into various market sectors.

The revenues generated from legacy products were impacted by the COVID-19 situation, the AIM-listed firm added.

Chief executive Guy Meyer said in a release the board acknowledges the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19 during 2020.

The company responded with agility to the pandemic by diversifying its offering and creating an effective, fully GDPR-compliant blockchain-based platform to enable organisations and businesses to securely record employees' and customers' COVID-19 test results and vaccination status. Whilst receiving positive feedback, to date our platform has not generated any material revenues for the company due to high levels of uncertainty caused by government-imposed lockdowns to control the pandemic, he said.

"Our ongoing participation in the UK Government's development of a digital identity policy highlights our position as experts in the industry and the group's commitment to staying at the forefront of these important discussions, he added.

"With the appointment of Nick Delacamp as Chief Commercial Officer in December 2020, as well as our ongoing investment in marketing campaigns, we have a pipeline of opportunities across a range of sectors, and we look forward to keeping the market updated."
Author, journalist and whistleblower Craig Murray was found guilty last week of contempt of court for his reporting on the trial of former Scottish First Minister and former Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond. Murray faces a potentially unlimited fine and two-year jail sentence. He is due to be sentenced May 7, the day after the upcoming Scottish elections, and intends to appeal.

Salmond was last year acquitted in a criminal trial on 13 counts including charges of attempted rape.

The 42-page verdict in Murray's case notes that the judges would have been likely, under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, to find Murray guilty of publications which "seriously impeded or prejudiced" Salmond's trial for articles he published August 23, 2019 and January 18, 2020.

Craig Murray (credit: WSWS media)

The judges stated that "it seems to us that examined at the proper time the articles would have constituted a contempt". They found, however, that since the trial court had not been informed of the articles by the Crown Office until a month after the trial ended the petition to convict Murray on this basis was refused.

The two articles in question, along with many others on his blog, laid out Murray's exposure of the machinations involving the SNP leadership, the Scottish government, the Crown Office and police to convict, and potentially jail, Salmond on charges of sexual harassment, including attempted rape.

Before and during the trial, Murray, a fervent Scottish nationalist, was nevertheless one of the few commentators who attempted to make sense of what was happening. He reported Salmond's defence during the trial, despite being barred from the court and refused accreditation as a journalist.

On August 23, 2019, Murray commented on the proximity of one of Sturgeon's aides to the Daily Record which published a sensationalised and leaked report of allegations against Salmond. He also reported on the scale of the police operation then unfolding, which he described as "the biggest and most maliciously motivated, fishing expedition in Scottish police history."

Murray's January 18, 2020 article included an imaginary script from the famous BBC satire Yes Minister to describe underhand tactics utilised to depict a fictitious public figure, regardless of the outcome of any trial, as a sex criminal and thereby destroy his reputation and career.

The judges found Murray guilty of breaching Section 11 of the contempt legislation "preventing the publication of the names and identity and any information likely to disclose the identity of the complainers" in the Salmond case.

Lifetime anonymity of complainers in rape cases is guaranteed in England and Wales. In Scotland, according to the judges, anonymity rests on evidence being given in a "closed court" from whom all but "bona fide journalists" are excluded.

The Crown alleged, and the judges agreed, that Murray had enabled "jigsaw identification", which "can occur through the combination of separate pieces of information or details about inter alia the victims, nature and timing of the offences and locations".

The judges summarised part of Murray's defence as "The fact that there may be some people, such as work colleagues, who might to able to identify a complainer is not sufficient for a breach of a section 11 order. The information must be such as to lead to the public in general being able to identify the complainer."

The verdict rejected this, citing precedent, despite acknowledging that Murray was seeking to avoid being in contempt. They cited several of Murray's articles and a tweet from March and April 2020 which alone or taken together with other articles, including the August 23 and January 18 articles, could, they claimed, have led to complainants being identified.

In fact, Murray named no-one, and, as he repeatedly made clear, his intention was to reveal what was going on, while avoiding naming those involved. His blog, briefly taken down, has been updated to remove the offending articles.

The verdict against Murray has serious implications for democratic rights, especially given the political background of the case taken against him.

Murrays nationalist politics are deeply divisive. He seeks to channel social discontent behind support for a Scottish state that would represent a minor imperialist formation, pitting Scottish workers against those in England, Europe, and the rest of the world, in alliance with the regional bourgeoisie and those sections of global capital who will support a cheap labour, low tax, investment platform with access to the European market.

But his treatment at the hands of the state has been ruthless and chilling in its implications for press freedoms.

Murray's central contention, backed up by evidence to the Scottish parliamentary inquiry into the harassment allegations, and successive partial document releases, was that close supporters of Sturgeon, including several complainants, exaggerated existing allegations and encouraged the concoction of new ones to prevent Salmond's return to political life.

The verdict of the three judges in Murray's case, delivered in writing weeks after a short hearing, came after the publication of two reports which avoided direct criticism of Sturgeon over the Salmond affair.

A report by former Irish Director of Public Prosecution James Hamilton exonerated Sturgeon of misleading parliament. The report was so heavily redacted, however, that many of its pages were incomprehensible. A report from an all-party committee was critical of the Scottish government's handling of the allegations of sexual harassment against Salmond, but carefully avoided direct accusations against Sturgeon. After both reports were published, Sturgeon easily survived a vote of no confidence in Holyrood tabled by the Conservatives.

Politically, the campaign against Salmond has its roots in post-Brexit disagreements between the Salmond and Sturgeon wings in the SNP over moves towards a second independence referendum, and how best to sustain relations with the European Unionespecially over whether organising an illegal referendum as was done in Catalonia will backfire.

Since coming to power in 2007, the SNP has mushroomed in size and taken control of much of the Scottish local and national state apparatus, while both the Labour and Tories have been reduced to rumps. Even now, amid the worst crisis of its history, the SNP is expected to win as much as 50 percent of first preferences votes on May 6.

Last week saw the launch of the Alba Party, led by Salmond. The hastily formed party aims to exploit the peculiarities of the d'Hondt system of proportional representation.

Programmatically it consists of little more than Salmond and a flag as symbols of a more hardline nationalist agenda: "Were hoisting the flag, we are staking our Saltire on the hill, we are appealing to people to rally in support," said Salmond over a shaky video link. By standing candidates for four of the eight regional lists, Alba (Scottish gaelic for Scotland) aims to maximise the number of members elected to the Scottish parliament that support independence and pressure the SNP towards more aggressively separatist measures.

Salmond's new vehicle was hailed by Murray, who abandoned his plans to stand for the Alliance for Independence, whose 42 candidates all stood down in preparation for supporting Alba. The new venture was also endorsed by leading figures in the SNP, including former justice minister Kenny MacAskill as well as former leader of the pseudo-left Scottish Socialist Party, Tommy Sheridan.

Salmond posed as a defender of the SNP and even said of Sturgeon, whose close allies, on his own evidence, recently sought to jail him for life, "Im sure she will be First Minister after the election and I am advising people to vote SNP in the constituency ballot." But this only indicates that he has not abandoned an ambition to again lead the SNP himself.
CIJA, a taxpayer-funded outfit that collaborated with al-Qaeda, lied to entrap a British academic in a sting operation. Its goal was to discredit critics of the dirty war on Syria  and cover up its own corruption.

A British academic who belongs to a prominent anti-war research group has been targeted in a deceptive sting operation run by a regime-change organization funded with UK and US taxpayer money. That contractor now stands accused of defrauding the European Union of millions of dollars.

The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda, and Media is a UK-based collective of professors who have published scholarly investigations exposing the disinformation and lies that have been at the heart of the decade-long Western dirty war on Damascus.

The working groups success in debunking this propaganda, and in amplifying whistleblowers from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), has made it a target of pro-war elements in Western governments and intelligence agencies, along with their allies in major corporate media outlets.

This March, it was revealed that the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), a regime-change organization that has been funded by numerous Western governments and is linked to UK intelligence agencies, had run an elaborate sting operation in a bid to discredit an academic member, and the working group as a whole.

A representative of CIJA posed as a Russian under a fake name and deceived a British researcher named Paul McKeigue into feeding it information with the goal of ensnaring him, vilifying his research group, and smearing its participants as tools of the Kremlin.

In other words, the anti-war British scholar was entrapped by an organization supported by his own government, and that happens to have been accused of large-scale fraud by the EUs own fraud regulator.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has formally accused CIJA of fraud, submission of false documents, irregular invoicing, and profiteering, and recommended that authorities in the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium prosecute the EU-funded organization.

Faced with potential consequences over these serious EU allegations of corruption, CIJA appears desperate to discredit anyone that reports on its unsavory activities. So the regime-change group contrived a months-long confidence trick of questionable legality and morality. And Western media outlets have eagerly spread its narrative in a closely coordinated cover-up operation aimed at burying the well-substantiated charges of fraud.

CIJA: Lawfare based on money from Western governments and documents from Al-Qaeda

The group behind the sting operation, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, has a history of unethical behavior. The Grayzone previously published an investigation documenting CIJAs suspicious tactics, extensive links to Western governments, and direct collaboration with Syrias al-Qaeda affiliate.

CIJAs executive director and founder, William Wiley, also directs a company called Tsamota, and the two firms share the same legal address. Wiley has used Tsamota to cash in on conflicts that advance Western foreign policy interests, raking in millions in government contracts, while advising Canadian mining companies on how to avoid prosecution for their activities in Africa.

Leaked documents show that Wileys Tsamota is closely linked to other Western intelligence cut-outs and government contractors such as ARK, which was at the center of an enormous global disinformation campaign aimed at orchestrating regime change in Syria. In fact Tsamota and ARK collaborated in jointly launching the Syrian Commission for Justice and Accountability, which in 2014 changed its name to CIJA.

CIJA/Tsamota director Bill Wiley (far-right) at the 2013 MineAfrica conference with lawyers from Fasken, a Canadian law firm that defends mining companies working in Africa " data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/William-Wiley-Tsamota-mining-Africa-CIJA.png?fit=300%2C221&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/William-Wiley-Tsamota-mining-Africa-CIJA.png?fit=1024%2C756&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1" /> CIJA/Tsamota director Bill Wiley (far-right) at the 2013 MineAfrica conference with lawyers from Fasken, a Canadian law firm that defends mining companies working in Africa

Having since 2013 received an estimated 42 million (nearly $50 million USD) in funding from the EU, Britain, United States, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway  states that have waged war on Syria and supported the countrys Islamist opposition  CIJA has become the key instrument of legal warfare, or lawfare, targeting Damascus and the government of Bashar al-Assad.

The United States and its European allies spent billions arming and training militants, many from extremist Salafi-jihadist groups, to try to overthrow the Syrian government and Assad, as NATO did in Libya in 2011. But in their ruthless crusade to bring about regime change in Syria, these Western nations supplemented their military efforts with other forms of unconventional and hybrid warfare, including suffocating economic sanctions and lawfare.

CIJA was created in 2012, at the beginning of the dirty war, as a weapon of what these Western governments call transitional justice, or regime-change-by-court. (The doctrine has also been dubbed the Responsibility to Prosecute, based on the Responsibility to Protect concept that was employed by liberal interventionists to justify the NATO wars that destroyed the states of Libya and Yugoslavia.)

The commissions investigators have collaborated with al-Qaeda and other Salafi-jihadist armed opposition groups in order to steal documents from Syria and use them in Western lawsuits against Assad and his government.

CIJAs collaboration with al-Qaeda was acknowledged in passing in an otherwise fawning publicity piece in The Guardian before it was quickly flushed down the memory hole, never to be mentioned again by the very same mainstream corporate media outlets that have printed puff piece after puff piece heroizing the organization.

A 1.5 million EU grant for CIJA between 2016 and 2020 " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EU-CIJA-funding-Syria.png?fit=300%2C161&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EU-CIJA-funding-Syria.png?fit=1024%2C550&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1" /> A 1.5 million EU grant for CIJA between 2016 and 2020

EU fraud regulator accuses its own grantee CIJA of corruption

The European Union awarded the Commission for International Justice and Accountability a massive 1.5 million (approximately $1.77 million USD) grant in 2016 in order to gather evidential material of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity and prepare new criminal case files against the Syrian government and ISIS. The funding was meant to be used between 2016 and 2020.

But Brussels has clearly not been happy with the work that CIJA did, or rather did not do, because the EUs own fraud regulator announced when the project ended that the organization had been under investigation for fraud.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) published a press release in March 2020 stating that it had conducted a long and complicated investigation that revealed that while the partnership claimed to be supporting the rule of law, the partners [CIJA] were actually committing widespread violations themselves, including submission of false documents, irregular invoicing, and profiteering.

OLAF recommended that the national authorities in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium consider prosecuting the involved project partners [CIJA] for possible offences of fraud and forgery.

CIJA was not publicly named in the press release, but OLAFs statement made it clear that the fraud charges concerned its partners in Rule of Law project in Syria, specifically an organization that had entered into a contract with the EU to support possible prosecutions for violations of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law in Syria  an obvious reference to CIJA.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) accused the EU-funded group CIJA of fraud in 2020 " data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EU-OLAF-fraud-Syria-CIJA.png?fit=300%2C279&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EU-OLAF-fraud-Syria-CIJA.png?fit=1024%2C953&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1" /> The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) accused the EU-funded group CIJA of fraud in 2020

The OLAF statement added that CIJA had been given 1,999,830 (roughly $2.36 million USD) as part of its Syria contract, even higher than the amount disclosed in 2016. (The figures and timeline on other EU disclosures also slightly vary, and the BBC later reported that the fraud allegations concerned a 3 million contract that the EU awarded CIJA in 2013.) OLAF suggested that the European Commission should recover 1,896,734 (nearly $2.24 million USD), or 95 percent, of that amount.

While the European Anti-Fraud Office did not explicitly name CIJA, a Dutch-language investigation by journalist Arjen van der Ziel, published in the major Dutch newspaper Trouw, later made it clear that CIJA was the organization being accused of fraud.

The UAEs newspaper The National followed up with an article on OLAFs investigation of CIJAs corruption, titled Fraud allegations taint efforts to prosecute war crimes in Syria.

Back in 2014, the US State Department, which had given $1 million to CIJA over two years, announced that it was cancelling its annual funding for the group. Washington did not given a reason for the cut, so it is not clear if fears of corruption had also motivated this decision.

Millions in funding leads to just one, highly dubious case

Despite the millions of dollars the Commission for International Justice and Accountability received from Western governments, it has very little to show for itself.

Over a period of years, al-Qaeda and other Salafi-jihadist militias have helped CIJA steal huge sums of documents from Syria in a massive operation aimed at prosecuting the government of Bashar al-Assad. But that effort has culminated in just a single high-profile case, which is full of gaping legal holes.

In 2020, the German government used materials obtained by CIJA to arrest two former Syrian government officials whom it accused of war crimes. Both had voluntarily left Syria years before and were living in Germany.

In fact one of the men being charged in Germany, a 58-year-old former prison intelligence officer accused of torture named Anwar Raslan, had worked closely with the Syrian opposition when he defected from the government back in 2013. Raslan later established himself as a prominent member of the Western-backed opposition to Assad.

A 2020 profile in Foreign Policy, titled If a Torturer Switches Sides, Does He Deserve Mercy?, noted: Raslan ingratiated himself with several opposition leaders and in 2014 even got a ticket to represent the rebellion in Geneva at U.N.-organized peace talks. The about-face paid off when he flew to Germany in the summer that year and sought asylum.

Members of the Syrian opposition are split over how to prosecute leading Syrian government torturer and defector Anwar Raslan, Anchal Vohra writes. https://t.co/Z5v5BeyeDa  Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) April 22, 2020

That is to say, after being given several years, nearly $50 million of dollars in Western government contracts, and help from extremist Salafi-jihadist insurgents, this is apparently the best CIJA could come up with: a Syrian living in Germany who had supported the anti-Assad opposition.

As the commission comes under increasing scrutiny, and with the EUs fraud regulator breathing down its neck, it enacted a desperate con-job to discredit its critics.

How CIJA resorted to lies to entrap a British anti-war scholar and distract from fraud charges

The Commission for International Justice and Accountability has enjoyed obsequious praise from across the Western press. One of the only organizations that has criticized the Western government-funded group and its dubious methodology was the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda, and Media.

So in 2020, CIJA took its characteristically deceitful tactics to the next level, in a quest to discredit the working group and smear its academic constituents.

In February, the working group sent CIJA a list of questions for its executive director, William H. Wiley, notifying him and his organization that their shady business dealings were being investigated. (The working group has since made these questions public, and has also published its lengthy investigation into CIJA.)

As the working group dug for information on Wiley, it was surprised to find that the CIJA leader had been listed as the head of nine different companies in four jurisdictions.

They even discovered that Wiley and his firm Tsamota  a contractor for the European Union and US and UK governments that has done work in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Congo  had suspiciously been named in the Panama Papers, a database of offshore entities.

Moreover, the researchers uncovered that CIJA and Tsamota had the same legal address listed, along with overlap in key personnel. The address that Wileys CIJA and Tsamota had registered in Brussels, Belgium was apparently just an apartment in a residential area. (In late 2015, Wiley moved the CIJA/Tsamota address to Lisbon, Portugal.)

CIJA Executive Director William Harry Wiley and his firm Tsamota, a Western government contractor, are named in the Panama Papers " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/William-Wiley-Panama-Papers-Tsamota-CIJA.png?fit=300%2C203&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/William-Wiley-Panama-Papers-Tsamota-CIJA.png?fit=1024%2C693&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1" /> CIJA Executive Director William Harry Wiley and his firm Tsamota, a Western government contractor, are named in the Panama Papers

When CIJA and Wiley saw the questions from the working group, they were apparently frightened to see that their alleged financial improprieties might come to light. (The European Anti-Fraud Offices press release revealing its corruption investigation into CIJA was not released until March, a month later.)

So CIJA embarked on an attempt to entrap the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda, and Media, in a bid to discredit its research.

An unidentified CIJA staffer created a false account on the encrypted email platform ProtonMail and, in December 2020, contacted Paul McKeigue, a professor of genetic epidemiology and statistical genetics at the University of Edinburgh, and a member of the working group.

McKeigue told The Grayzone that when the fake account first emailed him, it did not identify itself. The user, a CIJA employee in disguise, tried to entice McKeigue by promising useful information on Syria that he could use for his research.

McKeigue said he was skeptical at first, but the account ultimately provided him with factual intelligence that only an insider could have had. McKeigue independently verified the information and saw that it was indeed correct.

They are professionals at information warfare, McKeigue recalled. They know how to trick you into believing them and gaining their trust.

The Grayzone has reviewed some of the emails sent between McKeigue and the CIJA staffer. The messages show how over several months of communication, CIJA deceived McKeigue into feeding it private information about his colleagues in the working group and about other public figures who have exposed lies and disinformation used to justify the Western dirty war on Syria.

McKeigue stressed however that not all of the information he provided in the sting operation was accurate. Some of this was embellished to give the impression of a coordinated network that in reality does not exist, McKeigue said in a public statement, noting that the working group does not exist as an entity other than a loose group of people who occasionally co-author articles or comment on each others drafts.

Professor Paul McKeigue, the British anti-war scholar who was entrapped by CIJAs deceptive sting operation " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Paul-McKeigue-Syria-CIJA.jpg?fit=300%2C194&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Paul-McKeigue-Syria-CIJA.jpg?fit=960%2C620&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1" /> Professor Paul McKeigue, the British anti-war scholar who was entrapped by CIJAs deceptive sting operation

It was not until weeks into their correspondence, McKeigue recounted, that the account began hinting that it was supposedly run by a Russian intelligence officer. McKeigue stressed that the user had at first remained anonymous for weeks, and did not falsely claim a Russian identity until well into their private communications.

Eventually, the account turned to a fake name: Ivan. The CIJA staffer behind it blatantly lied to McKeigue, creating an entirely new, fictitious persona.

Ivan tricked McKeigue into believing that he had a source on the inside, maybe even a whistleblower, who wanted to expose CIJA for apparent connections to Western intelligence agencies.

When I first started looking at CIJA, I thought it was all an intelligence front and was doing its work to lay the basis for a US occupation and sanctions on Syria, McKeigue told The Grayzone. But as I dug further, I realized that, for all of the millions in funding that Western governments had provided it, CIJA had actually delivered very little.

Ivan tried to convince McKeigue not to focus on investigating the corruption angle, but rather to focus on links to Western intelligence. The account even told McKeigue that the executive director of CIJA, William Wiley, was a CIA agent who had a long history working with the US government.

This led McKeigue to investigate Wileys extensive links to Washington and other Western governments, and his role in the trial against Iraqs former leader Saddam Hussein and international tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

McKeigue, who said that he now believes that Wiley was the one running the false Ivan account, found a book by journalist John Nixon, Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein, which referred to a CIA analyst in Iraq named Bill, whom McKeigue suspected was William Wiley.

CIJA executive director William Wiley " data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/William-Wiley-CIJA-Syria-fraud.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/William-Wiley-CIJA-Syria-fraud.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1" /> CIJA executive director William Wiley

But Ivan had distracted McKeigue from the main scandal: The EU regulators serious charges that Wiley had presided over a massive case of fraud.

I realized that the case was mostly about corruption, McKeigue told The Grayzone.

I was stupid, but I was extremely busy at the time, he added. If I hadnt been so busy, I would have been more careful.

This scandal came to light on March 26, with a series of articles in the British media.

The BBCs avowedly pro-war reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou  who was exposed for her own unethical, propagandistic work on Syria by The Grayzones Aaron Mate  promoted CIJAs sting operation in an article titled The UK professor and the fake Russian agent. Hadjimatheou uncritically echoed CIJAs talking points, demonizing Paul McKeigue as a Kremlin shill and even defending the organization against the EU fraud regulators corruption charges.

Leaked documents reviewed by The Grayzone exposed how the BBC has infiltrated Russian language media to advance NATO interests in a covert program funded and overseen by the UK Foreign Office.

The Times, a British outlet known for amplifying the narratives of the UKs intelligence services, ran a carefully coordinated piece attacking McKeigue. Just a few hours later, the same newspaper printed another smear accusing McKeigue and his colleagues at the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda, and Media of peddling Syria war conspiracies.' The article uncritically regurgitated the claims of Charles Lister, a DC regime-change lobbyist employed by militaristic think tanks funded by the Gulf monarchies waging war on Damascus.

These media attacks were followed by a nearly identical smear piece in the right-wing tabloid the Daily Mail, which conveniently failed to mention OLAFs fraud investigation into CIJA.

Amid the coordinated media assault, CIJA released a statement maligning the working group and defending its own dishonest tactics, insisting that its sting operation was undertaken by lawful means.

For his part, Paul McKeigue published a personal statement on the working group website. 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, he wrote. I kept an open mind about who I was talking to.

The working group has since released its investigation into CIJA and Wileys suspicious business dealings.

McKeigue emphasized that he is deeply troubled by the subversion of British parliamentary government by what I now recognize to be a deep state operating partly through private cutouts.

Indeed, a UK government contractor with close proximity to intelligence services engaging in a spy-like sting operation against a British anti-war academic in an attempt to discredit his research, stain the reputation of his colleagues, and cover up well-substantiated charges of corruption should be a major scandal.

The desperation of the tactics shows CIJA and William Wiley have a lot to hide. A truly independent media would shine light on this controversy. But so far, the mainstream press has functioned as the public relations arm for the corruption-stained CIJA, papering over the ethical rot and corruption of a taxpayer-funded organization in a bid to further the dirty war on Syria.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Civil society organisations and legal experts from around the world urged the European Commission on Sunday to sue the Polish government in the EU's top court for undermining the independence of judges and ignoring EU court rulings.

A letter, signed by 15 civil society organisations including Amnesty International and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and more than 60 legal academics, urged the EU executive to act before the damage becomes irreparable.

It asked the Commission to sue Poland for penalising judges who abide by EU law or question changes introduced by the nationalist coalition led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party.

"We urge you to refer the case to the Court of Justice without more delay and to apply for a broad set of interim measures ... to avoid the usual dilatory tactics of the Polish authorities," the letter, dated March 28, said.

Poland has been at odds with the EU since the eurosceptic PiS took power in 2015 and started dismantling checks and balances that had made courts independent.

In response, the EU launched a probe into whether Poland was violating the rule of law. But, helped by Hungary which is under the same rule of law investigation, Warsaw has avoided sanctions because they require unanimity among the bloc's 27 governments.

The Commission has launched several infringement procedures against Poland, but as they drag on, Warsaw continues to introduce more changes, which critics say further remove safeguards of independence.

Ignoring an EU court ruling suspending a Polish panel created to discipline judges, Warsaw has allowed the chamber to function and remove immunity from government critics.

"The Commission considers that Poland violates EU law by allowing the Disciplinary Chamber ... to take decisions," Commission spokesman Christian Wigand said. "You can expect the Commission to take swift and decisive action."

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Giles Elgood)
After dropping off flowers Jesus Estrella stands in support of the Asian and Hispanic community outside Youngs Asian Massage parlor where four people were killed, Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in Acworth, Ga. A white gunman was charged Wednesday with killing eight people at three Atlanta-area massage parlors in an attack on Tuesday that sent terror through the Asian American community thats increasingly been targeted during the coronavirus pandemic. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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WASHINGTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Maternal socioeconomic status impacts babies even before birth, emphasizing the need for policy interventions to support the wellbeing of pregnant women, according to newly published research from Children's National Hospital.

A first-of-its-kind study with 144 pregnant women finds that socioeconomic status (SES) has an impact in the womb, altering several key regions in the developing fetal brain as well as cortical features. Parental occupation and education levels encompassing populations with lower SES hinder early brain development, potentially affecting neural, social-emotional and cognitive function later in the infant's life.

Having a clear understanding of early brain development can also help policymakers identify intervention approaches such as educational assistance and occupational training to support and optimize the well-being of people with low SES since they face multiple psychological and physical stressors that can influence childhood brain development, Lu et al. note in the study published in JAMA Network Open.

"While there has been extensive research about the interplay between socioeconomic status and brain development, until now little has been known about the exact time when brain development is altered in people at high-risk for poor developmental outcomes," said Catherine Limperopoulos, Ph.D., director of the Developing Brain Institute and senior author. "There are many reasons why these children can be vulnerable, including high rates of maternal prenatal depression and anxiety. Later in life, these children may experience conduct disorders and impaired neurocognitive functions needed to acquire knowledge, which is the base to thrive in school, work or life."

The findings suggest that fetuses carried by women with low socioeconomic backgrounds had decreased regional brain growth and accelerated brain gyrification and surface folding patterns on the brain. This observation in lower SES populations may in part be explained by elevated parental stress and may be associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and mental illness later in life.

In contrast, fetuses carried by women with higher education levels, occupation and SES scores showed an increased white matter, cerebellar and brainstem volume during the prenatal period, and lower gyrification index and sulcal depth in the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes of the brain. These critical prenatal brain growth and development processes lay the foundation for normal brain function, which ready the infant for life outside the womb, enabling them to attain key developmental milestones after birth, including walking, talking, learning and social skills.

There is also a knowledge gap in the association between socioeconomic status and fetal cortical folding  when the brain undergoes structural changes to create sulcal and gyral regions. The study's findings of accelerated gyrification in low SES adds to the scientific record, helping inform future research, Limperopoulos added.

The Children's National research team gathered data from 144 healthy women at 24 to 40 weeks gestation with uncomplicated pregnancies. To establish the parameters for socioeconomic status, which included occupation and education in lieu of family income, parents completed a questionnaire at the time of each brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visit. The researchers used MRI to measure fetal brain volumes, including cortical gray matter, white matter, deep gray matter, cerebellum and brain stem. Out of the 144 participants, the scientists scanned 40 brain fetuses twice during the pregnancy, and the rest were scanned once. The 3-dimensional computational brain models among healthy fetuses helped determine fetal brain cortical folding.

Potential proximal risk factors like maternal distress were also measured in the study using a questionnaire accounting for 60% of the participants but, according to the limited data available, there was no significant association with low and high socioeconomic status nor brain volume and cortical features.

About Children's National Hospital

Children's National Hospital, based in Washington, D.C., celebrates 150 years of pediatric care, research and commitment to community. Volunteers opened the hospital in 1870 with 12 beds for children displaced after the Civil War. Today, 150 years stronger, it is among the nation's top 10 children's hospitals. It is ranked No. 1 for newborn care for the fourth straight year and ranked in all specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. Children's National is transforming pediatric medicine for all children. In 2021, the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus opened, the first in the nation dedicated to pediatric research. Children's National has been designated three times in a row as a Magnet hospital, demonstrating the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery. This pediatric academic health system offers expert care through a convenient, community-based primary care network and specialty care locations in the D.C. metropolitan area, including the Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs. Children's National is home to the Children's National Research Institute and Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and is the nation's seventh-highest NIH-funded children's hospital. It is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care and as a strong voice for children through advocacy at the local, regional and national levels.

For more information, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Childrens National Hospital
Kahlia Cheng has a unique way to describe her familys food  Tex-Asian.

Her Taste the Asian food trailer serves a lot of familiar favorites, like noodles, fried rice and pot stickers. But theres also unique fusion items on the menu like brisket eggrolls, mac and cheese eggrolls and dessert eggrolls.

There are unique flavors and combinations, she said. We want to offer unique things that you cant get anywhere else.

And the 17-year-old student is hoping their mobile trailer is just the start in launching their Tex-Asian brand.

She and her family operate the Taste the Asian food trailer. Its mostly parked at 539 N. Frazier in the parking lot of her dads automotive shop in Conroe. But on the weekends you can find them at events, parks, neighborhoods and more across the Houston region.

Cheng was born in Canada right across the US border, but spent her early years near Detroit. Her dad, Sans, family has always owned doughnut shops.

Doughnut shops are much more popular in Texas than in Michigan, she said. We saw a lot of potential in Texas with the economy growing fast.

San Chengs aunt and uncle also operated a doughnut shop in Texas. The young family moved to the Huffman area and opened a doughnut shop there.

Kahlia said shes always loved cooking and being around food. About 11 years ago, the family moved to Conroe.

Nearly two years ago the Cheng family launched Taste the Asian for Kahlia and her three younger sisters. Theyll celebrate their second anniversary in August.

Kahlias inspiration comes from Southeast Asian flavors with spices from Laos and sweet and savory flavors from Cambodia.

Last summer she was cooking at the trailer with her cousin Jessica, who was born three days apart from Kahlia. They were watching a TikTok video of a man making what he called a broke mans fried rice.

They were slow at the trailer so they decided to get creative and combined kimchi  a traditional Korean dish of cabbage and radish  to fried rice.

Its pretty cool that its now on the menu and one of our best sellers, she said.

She said the family always wanted to open a restaurant but felt it was best to start small with a mobile trailer.

She is close to finishing high school, but its her dream to one day have a brick and mortar restaurant and eventually franchise and launch her brand from Conroe.

We love Conroe and see so much potential, she said.

Recently shes been a part of meetings with the Conroe City Council and downtown business owners to help set guidelines for food trucks within city limits.

Me being 17, maybe nobody takes me seriously, she said. But she also doesnt plan to let anyone derail her dream.

Dont let anyone get in your way no matter what or stop you from anything you want to do, but also do things in the right way, she said.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/tastetheasian for their upcoming schedule and more about the business.

shernandez@hcnonline.com
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:45:16|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi (L) gives the COVID-19 vaccine handover document to Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli at the prime minister's residence in Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 29, 2021. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)

"I would like to appreciate the steps taken by China and the work done by the government of China to fight against COVID-19," Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said. "The policy of success that China has adopted is a lesson to other countries."

KATHMANDU, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday lauded China's contribution to the world in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic after a batch of Chinese vaccines arrived in the Himalayan country.

A chartered flight of the Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, brought back the vaccines donated by China, giving a major boost for Nepal to continue its vaccination campaign against the pandemic.

During the handover ceremony at Prime Minister Oli's residence on Monday, Oli extended heartfelt thanks to the Chinese government on behalf of the Nepali government and in his personal capacity for donation of the COVID-19 vaccines.

He also appreciated China's anti-COVID-19 efforts as well.

"I would like to appreciate the steps taken by China and the work done by the government of China to fight against COVID-19," he said. "The policy of success that China has adopted is a lesson to other countries."

Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi and Health Minister of Nepal Hridayesh Tripathi along with other officials pose for a group picture after the handover of COVID-19 vaccines at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 29, 2021. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)

Earlier in the day, a welcome ceremony was organized at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu after the plane carrying the Chinese vaccines landed in the airport.

Nepali Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi, senior Nepali government officials as well as Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi attended the ceremony.

Minister Tripathi expressed gratitude to China for donating the vaccines, saying the Chinese doses would contribute to Nepal's fight against COVID-19.

"We are very thankful to our neighbour China. Nepal went through a prolonged lockdown (last year). It is not easy to fight against nature and its consequences. The ministry is trying its best to avoid lockdown (again). This vaccine will help the government's plan to avoid second lockdown," he said.

Chinese Ambassador Hou said, "This batch of vaccines is not only an implementation of the solemn commitment of China to make Chinese COVID vaccine a global public good, but also a vivid manifestation of our two countries' joint construction of a community with shared future."

Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi (L) hands over the COVID-19 vaccines to Health Minister of Nepal Hridayesh Tripathi at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 29, 2021. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)

She added that the vaccines provided by China would help Nepal overcome the COVID-19 pandemic at an early date and contribute to early resumption of normal economic and social life in Nepal.

The Chinese vaccines arrived in Nepal at a time when the Himalayan country is struggling to get enough vaccines to continue its vaccination drive. Nepal started the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 on Jan. 27 and has so far inoculated over 1.7 million people in two phases, according to Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population.

On Feb. 17, the Nepali Department of Drug Administration granted approval to the vaccine developed by China's Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd. under Sinopharm, for the emergency use in Nepal. 
Foxtel is reportedly pursuing an output deal with Metro Goldwyn Mayer, which is currently in place with Stan.

Stans deal currently includes programs such as Fargo, The Handmaids Tale, Get Shorty, Clarice, Perpetual Grace Ltd., Condor, Teen Wolf, The L Word, Will & Grace in MGMs massive film library includes the James Bond & Hobbit franchises, When Harry Met Sally, The Silence of the Lambs, West Side Story, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Rocky, RoboCop, The Pink Panther and more.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports MGM was one of the first Hollywood studios to sign agreements with Stan before its 2015 launch but the deal will expire mid-year.

Foxtel has a deal with MGM for some films, but reportedly wants more for streaming service Binge.

Stan has enjoyed deals with MGM, NBCU, Showtime, Starz, Disney and Paramount Pictures, but Showtime is headed to Paramount+, Disney titles have gone and its unclear how long a Paramount Pictures deal is in place.

Stan and Foxtel declined to comment.

Related
Eight states -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh -- reported a high number of Covid-19 daily new cases. India recorded 68,020 new infections in the last 24 hours.

About 84.5 per cent of the new cases are reported from these eight states. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 40,414. It is followed by Karnataka with 3,082 while Punjab reported 2,870 new cases.

This is the highest surge since October 11, last year. As many as 74,383 new cases were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 11.

India fought through the first wave of infection six months ago and recorded a highest single-day spike of 93,617 cases on September 16. The highest number of deaths recorded in a day were 1,169 on September 15.

The Central Government has advised high-burden states and Union territories to take stringent measures for containment of the surge.

Besides this, India's total active Caseload has reached 5,21,808 today. The present active caseload now stands at 4.33 per cent of India's total positive cases. A net incline of 35,498 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

Five states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh cumulatively account for 80.17 per cent of the total active cases in the country.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,13,55,993 on Monday. The national Recovery Rate is 94.32 per cent. 32,231 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 17,874 newly recovered cases.

Besides this, 291 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Seven states account for 81.79 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (108). Punjab follows with 69 daily deaths.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 24,18,64,161 samples have been tested up to March 28 with 9,13,319 samples being tested on Sunday.

So far, 6.05 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

These include 81,56,997 healthcare workers (1st dose), 51,78,065 healthcare workers (2nd dose), 89,12,113 frontline workers (1st dose) and 36,92,136 frontline workers (2nd Dose), 67,31,223 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (1st Dose) and 2,78,59,901 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.

Now, those over 45 years of age will also get Covid-19 vaccine from April 1, irrespective of the comorbidities, the Central Government has announced.

--IANS

aka/dpb

(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 New York, which is on the verge of passing a law legalizing recreational pot, Green Thumb already has positioned itself as a player in what surely would be one of the countrys biggest markets. In 2019, GTI paid $60 million to buy out a local company and secure one of the states medicinal marijuana licenses.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  Filipino women looking for ways to keep up with the competitive labor market or find jobs they might have lost can now take free online courses throughout the year to future-proof their career.

Helping women "be greater than ever" this year, conditioner brand Cream Silk launched its #ConditionedForGreater Online Academy this Women's Month in partnership with edtech platform edukasyon.ph. The site is housed at www.creamsilk.com.ph or https://creamsilk-conditionedforgreater.edukasyon.ph/ with the following free one-hour certified courses:

Sales 101 by FWD Insurance

Introduction to a career in Financial Advising.

Recommended for aspiring financial advisors and salespeople.

Communication 101 by 24/7 ai

Learn English basics to help you communicate effectively with customers.

Recommended for people aspiring to work in the BPO industry.

Project Management 101 by CloudStaff

Learn how to manage projects and tasks remotely.

Recommended for people aspiring to be project managers and office assistants.

Finishing every course earns the learner a certificate and a chance to land a job interview with Edukasyon.ph's partner companies. All courses will be live on their site throughout the year. The #ConditionedForGreater Online Academy also allows jobseekers to upload their curriculum vitae or resumes for recruiters.

"We know a lot of Filipinas suffered setbacks and lost their jobs. But Cream Silk, ang advocacy talaga naman ever since is all about empowering Filipinas to always strive for greatness,"Jerika Vilan, Cream Silk Brand Manager, told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon. "And this time around, we know that this is what they need and can really help them bounce back this 2021."

Cream Silk also held an online summit on March 1 and featured panel discussions about developing specific skills needed in today's challenging new world. The event also included relevant sessions on Facebook Digital Marketing, online entrepreneurship and training on how to write a good resume and ace your interview.

Cream Silk said it believes in the greatness of every Filipina. "Amidst challenges and against all odds, the Filipina never gives up and settles because she is 'Conditioned for Greater'," Vilan added.

Cream Silk is a top conditioner, haircare, and beauty brand in the Philippines and has made hair care solutions to every Filipina's needs. Take free online courses now at www.creamsilk.com.ph or https://creamsilk-conditionedforgreater.edukasyon.ph/ and get #ConditionedForGreater this year.
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[March 29, 2021] Legal Experts, led by Qamar Zaman, discuss the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on their field.

Dallas, TX , March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March, it impacted millions of businesses across the world that needed to pivot with lightning speed.

1. Qamar Zaman - CEO of KISS PR After seeing this, Qamar Zaman, founder of Kiss PR Brand Story, turned his paid storytelling platform into a free public relations service by offering assistance all over the globe. Forbes India announced that Zaman had created a blue ocean by using his storytelling platform. Zaman is well known for his work with some of the top attorneys and leaders in the U.S. legal industry. Recently, he interviewed Rene Perras, a lawyer-marketing expert who found his own purpose in helping attorneys manage their costly litigation support services, such as e-discovery and managed document review. Armed with decades of knowledge from working with some of the nations leading trial lawyers, Perras understood the challenge and burden of being a plaintiff attorney and was able to utilize innovative and creative financing solutions to overcome the costly burden of these litigation services. During the interview, Perras discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected his niche in the legal industry. After hearing Perras take on the issue, Zaman was inspired to assemble a panel of leading experts from various disciplines in the legal industry who are authorities in their own right. Zaman then interviewed them about the COVID-19 crisiss effects on their individual areas of specialization. Below are five legal professionals, Perras included, who were interviewed by Zaman. In these interviews, they examine how the pandemic impacted  and continues to impact  their respective legal professions and expert advisories. 2. Joshua Horton, Florida civil justice attorney and director of public policy at Hanley Foundation

Attorney Joshua S. Horton stands at the forefront of substance use disorder solutions as Hanley Foundations director of public policy: The combination of COVID-19 and opioids are a deadly cocktail. Federal data states the pandemic shows increasd suicide and overdose rates. Depression and isolation (is) exacerbated by the opioid epidemic, making vulnerable individuals predisposed to addiction and to being pushed over the edge. The health care industry is ill-equipped for this exponential growth of overdoses, which sometimes results in wrongful death in hospitals, treatment centers and sober homes. The civil justice system may be the only recourse for families dealing with this devastation.



3. Trevor Goring, Canadian portrait painter and founder of The Trial Lawyer National Portrait Gallery



Trevor Goring has worked closely with the trial lawyer community in Europe and North America for almost 30 years: As a Canadian portrait painter painting in America, I created an international niche market, painting portraits of men and women, renowned criminal defense lawyers, consumer justice attorneys, alongside a wide-ranging collection of Images of Justice, portraying famous trials, great jurists, icons and symbols of the law from earliest times. I founded The Trial Lawyer National Portrait Gallery, where all these images currently reside. The pandemic abruptly terminated monthly travels to attorney conventions throughout North America, forcing this commissioned portrait painter to network more creatively. COVID-19 pushed me to adapt and paint even more. From my studio via videoconferencing, I have morphed into a virtual portrait artist. 4. Donald Slavik, professional engineer and national consumer justice attorney and advocate

Attorney Donald Slavik handles complex technology litigation: Advanced driver assistance systems, along with the implementation of artificial intelligence, has been at the forefront of many debates on occupant safety with new electric vehicles and driverless cars. The pandemic has not derailed the launch of EVs by car manufacturers, but some of the same parallels exist between developing a safe and reliable COVID-19 vaccine and safe EVs. Having investigated many tragic cases where the need to be first put profits before people reveals these tragedies could have been prevented if not for a poor and rushed vehicle design, avoiding a catastrophic injury or American losing their life. 5. Rene Perras, data hosting and electronically stored information/e-discovery adviser

Rene Perras is digital pr expert and managed document review consultant for law firms: The preservation of evidence for discovery has always been contentious at best. With data growing exponentially, electronically stored information, or e-discovery, is the battlefield where litigation is being waged. COVID-19 has rewritten the rules of engagement by shutting down all new projects as civil courts struggle to get back some normalcy they had prior to the pandemic. Existing projects are waiting to spring into active mode, but the uncertainty of the litigation cycle continues to increase the technological and financial burden. We can assess, free of charge, your ongoing monthly data-hosting commitment, which can quickly whittle away your profit outlook. 6. Brian Spira, litigation financing adviser

Brian Spira is a managing member of the Oxbridge Financial Group: For nearly 25 years, I have developed and managed litigation finance products and portfolios for plaintiffs, law firms and defendants. Recently, I have partnered with e-discovery/doc review companies to develop vendor finance programs. Today, vendors are aligning with attorneys and their clients, as well as corporations, by providing cash-deferred or pay only if your case succeeds options. COVID-19 originally brought the court system to a standstill with dockets backed up, thereby elongating litigation life cycles considerably. In the last couple of months, this realization has rendered vendor finance alignment more critical, popular and timely than ever. About KISS PR Brand Story Kiss PR Legal Brand Story is an invitation-only, platform for professionals with a successful track record in the area of developing digital, legal and professional authority. Media Contact: Agnes Zang Az@kisspr.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/kisspr-com/



Attachment Legal industry experts discuss the COVID-19 crisiss impact on their field



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
A 2billion scheme to make homes greener has been scrapped after only six months.

The Green Homes Grant was meant to be a key part of the Tories plan to Building Back Better and create a more environmentally-friendly Britain after lockdown.

The scheme had been due to run until March 2022 and was intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions from UK houses, which are among the least energy-efficient in Europe. A total of 19million homes need to be insulated.

The Green Homes Grant was meant to be a key part of the Tories plan to Building Back Better and create a more environmentally-friendly Britain after lockdown [File photo]

The grant aimed to provide up to 10,000 per household to help pay for measures such as solar water heating and double-glazing.

But only around 10 per cent of the 600,000 homes targeted for the money were reached amid claims the grant was difficult to get.

The Government announced it would axe the grant from March 31 as part of reforms which will provide a 300million boost to council schemes boosting energy efficiency for poorer households.

Labour accused ministers of staggering ineptitude while Greenpeace UK attacked the grants shambolic rollout.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng claimed the changes would mean more houses will be able to get council grants with total energy efficiency spending topping 1.3billion over the next year.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 14:23:00|Editor: huaxia

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Staff members wait to transfer Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines at San Salvador airport in San Salvador, El Salvador, on March 28, 2021. El Salvador received on Sunday the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, which will help speed up the vaccination process in the country, local authorities reported. (Photo by Alexander Pena/Xinhua)

SAN SALVADOR, March 28 (Xinhua) -- El Salvador received on Sunday the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, which will help speed up the vaccination process in the country, local authorities reported.

At a ceremony for the reception of the vaccines at the San Salvador airport, Minister of Health Francisco Alabi said that the CoronaVac vaccine has been used in countries such as Chile, Brazil, and Turkey "with very favorable results."

China's Ambassador to El Salvador Ou Jianhong said at the ceremony that the delivery of the vaccine to El Salvador "reflects the deep friendship of the Chinese people towards the Salvadoran people, as well as the full support of the Chinese government for the Salvadoran government in its fight against the pandemic."

Ou also stressed the Chinese government's commitment to maintaining close cooperation with El Salvador to follow up the vaccination process in order to offer "more tangible benefits" to the Salvadoran people.

The Salvadoran government is looking to immunize 4.5 million people, except for those under 18 years of age and pregnant women, to achieve herd immunity over the course of one year.

El Salvador began its vaccination program on Feb. 17, and will begin inoculating adults and people with chronic diseases on April 15, with the CoronaVac vaccines.

El Salvador has reported 63,766 cases and 2,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to authorities.
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A judge has reportedly ruled that churches in Washington D.C. can hold larger worship services this Holy Week.

According to the Christian Post (CP), Judge Trevor N. McFadden has increased the in-person capacity limit of churches to 40% last week, overruling Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's regulation of 25% of a building's maximum capacity or 250 people since it "discriminate against houses of worship."

McFadden pointed out that Bowser did not label houses of worship as "essential" services, limiting the number of people allowed entry at one time. Bowser, however, did not apply the same limit on other establishments and allowed residents to takeout from restaurants and buy alcohol.

"Yet, after the District's repeal of the same limit on 'food sellers and big box stores selling a range of essential and non-essential goods,' those entities are subject to no maximum-capacity limitations," McFadden said.

"They need only 'limit occupancy to the extent necessary for safety' and 'make plans that provide for safe social distancing between persons.' So 'while a synagogue or church may not admit more than [25 % or maximum 250] persons,' more favored businesses 'may admit as many people as they wish'," he added.

CP said that McFadden's ruling came after the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington sought an injunction before the Holy Week, which began March 28 through Palm Sunday. Current city regulations would force the Archdiocese to turn away a maximum of 150 parishioners had the seating capacity been higher.

The media outlet cited the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty who stated that D.C. has joined 27 states who have ""no numerical or percentage caps on attendance at houses of worship," which means they are "now free of arbitrary numerical limits and may welcome as many worshippers as can safely attend wearing masks and social distancing".

McFadden elaborated that the Archdiocese's churches must refrain admitting parishioners once they become "a quarter full" while food establishments can do more than that as long as social distancing requirements are met.

In line with this, CP said the conservative group Liberty Counsel has praised the judge for his decision since it is a recognition of the First Amendment.

"Judge Trevor McFadden clearly acknowledges that the First Amendment does not disappear because of Coronavirus," CP quoted Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver in saying.

Liberty Counsel said that Bowser's restrictions "unfairly singled out worship services" while mandating "arbitrary numerical attendance caps" on churches despite actual capacity.

"All other states have loosened their restrictions on in-person worship but it seems that D.C. never got the memo," Legal Counsel added, "Mayor Muriel Bowser has clearly discriminated against every church in D.C. while participating in a mass gathering of protestors with no limitations. This unequal treatment of churches is unconstitutional. We will continue the fight until religious freedom is totally restored."

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court also permanently blocked an injunction on stricter restrictions imposed by New York on houses of worship based on zoning color codings that placed houses of worship in red zones, which meant they are only allowed 25% in-person capacity or a maximum of 10 people only during services.
Harvard Takes Punitive Action Against Professor With Ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Harvard University late last week announced it was punishing a professor who gave convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein unfettered access to the program he oversaw.

Martin Nowak, a professor of biology and mathematics who led Harvards Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED), is barred from starting new research or advising students for at least two years.

Nowak will still be allowed to teach during that period, but other contact with students will be limited and his research center is being shut down, according to a memo from Claudine Gay, dean of Harvards Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

A review completed last year found Epstein, who helped establish PED with a $6.5 million donation, was given a keycard and passcode to gain entry whenever he liked to the programs offices, despite his 2008 guilty plea of soliciting a minor for prostitution. His assistants were also given unfettered access to the facility.

The arrangement was easier because otherwise Epstein would have to go and get his photograph taken to gain access, an administrator wrote to Nowak.

Epstein visited Harvard offices some 40 times between 2010 and 2018, according to the review. The visits ended after multiple PED researchers complained to Nowak about Epsteins continuing relationship with the program.

Epstein used the visits to meet with professors from Harvard and other schools and also attended one of Nowaks undergraduate math classes. Epstein also enjoyed his own office at PED.

Taken as a whole, the documents suggest that Epstein viewed the PED offices as available for his use whenever he wished to gather academics together to hear scholars talk about subjects Epstein found interesting, lawyers wrote in the review.

Epsteins permanent possession of a visitor keycard; his knowledge of the passcode to the PED offices; and his possession of a key to an individual Harvard office all gave him unlimited access to PED. It appears that this circumvented rules designed to limit access to Harvard space to individuals with legitimate reasons to be there.

In a statement on Friday, Nowak said he is humbled to be able to return to my work at Harvard and immerse myself once again in this most remarkable of academic communities.

A view of the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on July 8, 2020. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

While I have always been grateful to anyone who would support my research, I regret the connection I was part of fostering between Harvard and Jeffrey Epstein and the hurt that it has caused, he said. I will take the lessons from this time with me as I move forward.

Harvard announced the new sanctions against Nowak after a further review found that he violated several policies around professional conduct, campus access, and other areas. In her memo, Gay said Nowaks penalties are proportionate to the severity of the behavior but also allow for the possibility of productivity and improvement.

Nowaks research center will be shut down as soon as it is feasible, Gay said, and shifted to the universitys math department. After two years, Gay will decide whether to restore Nowaks privileges, she said.

Ellen Zucker, a lawyer for Nowak, said shes pleased that Nowak can return to his position and continue his research. But she also said its a tired truth of organizational dynamics that individuals, and not institutions, are too often left alone to take responsibility when things go wrong.

Epstein had ties to numerous elite figures and institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, members of Congress, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. He committed suicide in federal prison in 2019 as he awaited sex trafficking charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Apple has been playing a long game in digital healthcare. The main focus  where Apple is right now  CEO Tim Cook recently said, is ...to empower people to own their health. And as the tools to enable such ownership develop, more opportunity knocks.

Protecting the human

We know Apples devices can track fitness levels. We know the heart health monitoring tools it makes are already saving lives. Now, fresh research shows that data gathered by an Apple Watch can enable remote monitoring of heart conditions. This is an important step in the company's smart plan for digital health.

Underpinning that plan is data. What Apple has proven across the last few years is that the data its watch gathers can make a difference. But whats different about the latest Stanford research is that it shows not only that Apple Watch can detect health problems, but also that it enables pretty much the same quality of heart health data youll pick up when visiting a clinic.

It suggests the device can gather sufficiently robust data remote medical staff can use to make accurate decisions concerning heart health. This matters, because more than 17 million people die each year globally from cardiovascular disease, an estimated 31% of all premature deaths worldwide.

What the research states

The latest research saw 110 patients asked to use an iPhone and Apple Watch to monitor heart health. They were also required to attend the clinic for tests.

The study found that:

In an in-clinic setting, the Apple devices used a VascTrac app and were able to accurately assess "frailty" with sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 85%.

Outside the clinic in an unsupervised setting, the test was 83% sensitive and 60% specific in assessing frailty.

In other words, passive data collected at home was nearly as accurate as a clinic-based test (a six-minute walking test), the researchers claimed. The test suggests that remote patient monitoring of heart health conditions is possible.

The researchers said:

While the benefits of telemedicine and remote monitoringconvenience, low cost, improved data qualityhave been postulated for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic has made accelerated implementation a safety imperative. In this study, we showed that smart device-based measurements, including both a 6MWT (Six Minute Walk Test) and passively collected activity data, provide clinically accurate and meaningful insights about functional capacity in patients with CVD.

And, I think, because its data-based the monitoring itself can be automated.

The burden of proof

This is a significant step forward toward building remote health monitoring systems, which Im increasingly certain forms part of Apples plans in the digital health sector. Essentially, its a space in which AI meets human performance data and accurate analytics to deliver remote automated health monitoring services.

The problem with remote patient monitoring is trust.

Were accustomed to using our watches and other devices to track personal data, such as steps walked, locatio,n or even books read. When it comes to personal medical data, however, we remain reticent to share this information with vast corporations that appear beyond our control.

Apples stance on privacy helps, but others in the chain are less committed to this, or so it appears. There are also challenges around access to these tools, the commodification of privacy, and the danger that increasing reliance on digital devices for healthcare poses the danger of exacerbating existing health inequalities. (The University of Cambridge has published an insightful policy briefing concerning this.)

Coming to a pet near you?

This latest Apple Watch research forms an able demonstration of how citizen-generated data can provide valuable personal oversight while also enabling research into existing conditions. Apples Research Kit is an excellent illustration.

Its possible well see the first truly significant work in terms of AI-supported analysis of patient data in the animal kingdom. Pet-focused firms such as Vet AI use data gathered by smart connected wearables and AI to monitor pet health. They then provide on-the-spot veterinary advice if an anomaly is spotted through their Joii app.

Whats good for the animal kingdom will likely become part of human healthcare, which means the key data gathered by smart devices such as Apple Watch will end up being used by remote patient health systems, likely tied to health insurers.

The problem, of course, is accuracy.

Where to find verifiable data

No one wants to rely on systems that dont work, and in order to rigorously test such remote digital health solutions vast stacks of data  combining actual diagnosis with a vast quantity of patient data  is required. After all, you need strong, accurate and verifiable data to train the machine intelligence required to monitor the vital signs gathered by connected wearable devices.

Researching that data  even with ResearchKit  is expensive.

That need is why I think there has been a race to get hold of information from the UK NHS. It seems inevitable someone wants to mine this information for insights that may inform remote patient monitoring systems.

That we now know data gathered in real time by a wearable device can yield valuable insight that can itself be automated means we now know for sure that wearable devices will form part of future healthcare.

Im expect Apple will play a part.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
President to meet with Prime Minister Askar Mamin and senior government officials

EBRD and Kazakhstan to sign enhanced partnership accord and infrastructure project

EBRD brought more than US$ 920 million to the Kazakh economy in 2020

The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud-Basso, will pay a virtual visit to Kazakhstan from 29 to 31 March to meet with senior government officials and Bank clients.

In a three-day programme, the EBRD President will meet with Kazakhstans senior leadership, including Prime Minister Askar Mamin and First Deputy Prime Minister and EBRD Governor Alikhan Smailov. Other high-level engagements include meetings with Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev, National Bank Governor Erbolat Dossaev and the Akim of the East Kazakhstan Region, Daniyal Akhmetov. President Renaud-Basso will also meet the Chair of Kazakhstans Agency for Strategic Planning and Reform and Governor of Astana International Financial Centre, Kairat Kelimbetov, and the Chair of the Agency for the Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, Madina Abylkassymova.

The EBRD President is also due to participate in the signing of an Enhanced Partnership Framework Arrangement between the Bank and Kazakhstan, which will identify further key areas of cooperation between the two parties as well as an agreement on an infrastructure project in east Kazakhstan.

During her virtual visit, President Renaud-Basso will also hold meetings with private-sector investors and representatives of the diplomatic community and host a round table for women entrepreneurs.

The EBRD President said: I am looking forward to my first official visit to one of the largest countries in which the Bank invests. Over many years, Kazakhstan and the EBRD have enjoyed a successful cooperation, which we have committed to continue. During this visit, we are going to jointly agree on the reforms and priority projects we can work on in the coming years.

In 2020, the EBRD responded to the Covid-19 challenges in Kazakhstan by committing US$485 million to 20 projects in various sectors of the economy. Almost 80 per cent of the Banks financing was channelled to supporting private-sector companies. Together with US$ 440 million of additional financing mobilised by the Bank, the EBRD brought a total of US$ 925 million to Kazakhstan in 2020. These resources were used for capital investment, to replenish the working capital of companies, to improve the liquidity of financial institutions and to support trade.

To date, the EBRD has invested more than US$ 7.95 billion in the economy of Kazakhstan through 280 projects. Supporting small businesses is particularly important to the EBRD and in line with its country strategy for Kazakhstan.
The medical report is devastating: "Catastrophic hand and major physical consequences."

Antonio Manuel Serrato will never forget the date on 18 May in 2017. He was searching for scrap metal in a container on a Mijas industrial estate when he came across an explosive device that had allegedly been abandoned by a gang of bank robbers who were trying to get rid of the evidence before their imminent arrest by the police.

The device was designed to blow up cash machines at banks without damaging the money.

"It exploded; then there is a moment when I don't remember anything and the next image I have in my head is that of two of my fingers lying on the ground."

"Now I am disabled, I have a recognised disability of 50 per cent," he says, resigned to the outcome.

Before the explosion, Antonio was a bus driver and an aircraft refuelling technician. "I can't do either of those two jobs anymore," he says.

In addition to losing two fingers on his left hand, shrapnel cut through his leg a few inches from the kneecap and the explosion burned his face. "It was a good thing I was wearing sunglasses, but I still lost my eyebrows and eyelashes."

He spent seven hours on the operating table, where surgeons had to rebuild almost all his tendons, nerves and his thumb. Now his left arm is shorter than his right and is almost useless.

But beyond the physical injuries, the bomb has left him with serious psychological problems, as well as completely changing his life. His mother suffered a stroke as a result of the stress caused by the situation.

Antonio expains how children stare at him, and that "hurts". He also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder according to the experts who have treated him, as he "relives the accident over and over again" in his head.

Compensation

He has decided to tell his story as a result of the latest news that several of the bank robbers were convicted of crimes by the courts after they were arrested during the National Polices Operation Thunder.

Antonio spent seven hours on the operating table after the explosion / SUR

However, Antonio says that his compensation case has not been settled yet, "This happened in 2017 and we still do not have a date for the trial," he says. "I need to move forward, and someone has to pay for what happened."

For Antonio, the journey towards the recovery of his life will never begin until he can close the chapter.

At the time when the gang of robbers was broken up by the National Police it was reported they had connected them to raids on a bank on the La Azucarera industrial estate in Antequera, two in Malaga city and another in Estepona as well as one in Cordoba that triggered the investigation.
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Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield stated he thinks COVID-19 began becoming prevalent in the Chinese city of Wuhan in September or October 2019. He remarked it is only an opinion and that he is allowed to have opinions.

Robert Redfield, who spearheaded the CDC during the first year of the novel coronavirus pandemic, told CNN that was broadcasted on Friday that he thinks this scenario is more likely than other alternatives. Alternatives include that the virus was ignited after transmission from animals to humans or in a live-animal market.

Redfield Thinks COVID-19 'Escaped' From Wuhan Lab

According to Redfield, the most probable origin was "from a laboratory -- you know, escaped. Other people dont believe that. Thats fine. Science will eventually figure it out, reported Bloomberg.

Redfield thinks the coronavirus began infecting people much earlier than first believed. He added it is common for respiratory pathogens that are being tackled in a lab to infect the lab worker, reported Fox Carolina.

It is also not uncommon for that type of research to occur in that city of China. Wuhan is a prominent center for viral studies in China. This includes the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has experimented substantially with bat coronaviruses.

Redfield proffered no explanation for this idea other than to provide his opinion as a virologist. He does not think the virus could have been so contagious when it was transmitted directly from an animal to a person. Instead, he argues it was manipulated in a research laboratory in Wuhan to become more infectious. Then, he believes, it was accidentally released by a worker in September or October 2019, a few months prior to coming to public attention, reported USA Today.

Russian President Putin Experiences Minor Side Effects After COVID-19 Vaccine Shot

The theory of emergence from a Chinese lab has had a World Health Organization (WHO) official tout it as "extremely unlikely." Redfield also did not think it made "biological sense" that the virus could spread so readily between humans if it originally came from an animal. He remarked that he does not think this somehow came from a bat to a human.

The former CDC chief added he was not implying any intentionality." He also does not allege China of purportedly releasing the virus. In other words, he is not implying that COVID-19 was developed or spread intentionally.

Former President Donald Trump, whom Redfield served, frequently displaced blame to China for the COVID-19 pandemic. He called it the China Virus and even Kung Flu, which were deemed as offensive descriptions that have been condemned as helping to provoke a barrage of attacks on Asian Americans.

According to Redfield, at that point, the virus was transmitted to a human being, becoming one of the most infectious viruses that we know in humanity for human-to-human spread. "Normally, when a pathogen goes from a zoonosis to human, it takes a while for it to figure out how to become more and more efficient in human-to-human transmission. I just don't think this makes biological sense."

68-Year-Old Kansas Woman Dies Allegedly Due To COVID-19 Vaccine

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
People rally for "Stop Asian Hate" movement in Canada

Xinhua) 10:18, March 29, 2021

People rally for the "Stop Asian Hate" movement in Toronto, Canada, on March 28, 2021. Hundreds of people in Toronto took part in different protests against the racism toward Asians in the United States and Canada on Sunday. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Hongyu)
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 11:58:12|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- "Asians are not silent anymore!" cried protesters from more than 60 cities across the United States, who have been rallying against racism and violence on Asian Americans ever since the mass shootings in mid-March in Atlanta where eight people, including six Asians, were killed.

The unfolding campaign is the latest reminder of "les miserables" under America's long-time masquerade of a human rights defender, and of Washington's failure to tackle the systematic racial, social and economic inequality in the country.

Hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have seen a surge ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to U.S. nonpartisan research and policy organization the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, anti-Asian hate crimes rocketed by nearly 150 percent in 2020 in 16 largest cities in the United States.

Yet Asian American communities are not the only ones having suffered such traumatic injuries -- never forget African American George Floyd's desperate plea of "I can't breathe" before death last year, and the following massive Black Lives Matter protests, which are still ongoing.

For a long time, the U.S. government and media outlets have turned a blind eye to America's own terrible human rights record. Instead, they have thrown themselves into making groundless accusations against the human rights situation in other countries.

The same U.S. media outlets have raised not a single question about America's dire COVID-19 situation during President Joe Biden's first press conference on Thursday, but are busy pointing a finger at other countries' human rights issues citing their self-proclaimed investigative reports.

The same U.S. government has turned its back on the country's ethnic minorities who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic due to great and persistent racial differences in wealth and access to health services, but is busy retooling its alliances to smear China over Xinjiang.

In fact, Washington is merely playing the human rights card to make its own geopolitical and economic gains. For example, the ulterior motive of using such phrases as "forced labor," "concentration camps" and "genocide" to describe Xinjiang is to stoke divisions and instability in China, and to contain the country's development.

Fortunately, more clear-eyed people worldwide have come to realize Washington's hypocrisy and double standards on human rights. During the 46th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United States and its allies tried in vain to boast their "human rights superiority," and were urged by a long list of countries to address their own issues including racism, discrimination, police violence and hate crimes targeted at ethnic minorities.

Indeed, the international community has every reason to doubt the credibility of the high politics Washington is playing, not least at a time when solidarity and cooperation are badly needed in battling such tough global challenges as the pandemic, economic recession and climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught the whole world a lesson crystal clear: national boundaries matter very little in this age when different countries and peoples are inevitably and inextricably connected to one another, and any attempt to split the world into different camps is doomed to failure.

Only by conducting constructive dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights and discarding politicization and double standards could the international human rights cause be soundly developed. The United States needs to learn to respect the path chosen by others for human rights development, take concrete actions to address such domestic issues as racism, racial discrimination and police violence to effectively protect the rights of racial and ethnic minorities, and refrain from spreading political lies and launching groundless attacks against other countries. Enditem
DALLAS, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Logile, Inc. today recognized that retailers have rated Logile a top retail technology provider on the 2021 RIS News Software LeaderBoard. Logile's rankings again placed Logile ahead of all other workforce management and human capital management vendors.

Logile appeared on the overall Top 20 list for the fourth consecutive year, placing #14 for 2021. An additional 29 Top 10 rankings include Overall Performance, Customer Satisfaction, Return on Investment, Technology Innovation, Quality of Service, Quality of Support, Ease of Administration & Maintenance, Ease of Installation & Integration, Total Cost of Operation and more.

RIS' unbiased annual customer satisfaction survey reveals how retailers rate software vendors in head-to-head rankings.

Logile 2021 RIS LeaderBoard Ranking Summary:

4th consecutive year on overall Top 20 (#14)

29 Top 10s

Top 4 in 11 categories

"Logile's presence across the 2021 RIS Software LeaderBoard is impressive validation that it consistently delivers software and services that address retailers' complex and evolving requirements," said Tim Denman, editor in chief at RIS News. "Logile's appearance in the overall Top 20 list for the fourth consecutive year demonstrates its ability to sustain high levels of customer satisfaction."

Logile's ratings from both tier one and mid-size retailers are clear indicators of strong ongoing partnerships with retail customers and innovative solutions that perform as described. Key differentiators include proprietary AI and machine learning-based forecasting with the industry's highest accuracy, automated task-based scheduling, task-based staffing across all departments, and a comprehensive food safety portfolioall supported by unparalleled industrial engineering expertise to help retailers achieve operational excellence. New innovation and recent advancements include Logile's Health & Temperature Scanner introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This touch-free, efficient solution is suitable for organizations of all types and is already implemented at several companies, including grocery retail, central manufacturing kitchens and distribution centers.

"We admire the incredible tenacity and operational agility our customers demonstrated in a year that challenged everyone across the globe. We are proud to be partnering with such outstanding retail leaders whose commitment to providing a consistent and safe shopping environment in dramatically changed circumstances mirrors our own tenacity in helping them succeed," said Purna Mishra, Logile founder and CEO. "We thank these amazing retailers for taking the time to again recognize Logile across the 2021 RIS LeaderBoard. We are honored to continue our journey together and pledge to keep earning your ongoing partnership."

Read more about Logile's 2021 LeaderBoard rankings and reasons.

About Logile, Inc.

Logile is the leading retail store planning, workforce management and execution provider. Our proven AI, machine-learning technology and retail industrial engineering help accelerate ROI and operational excellence with improved performance and empowered employees.

Retailers worldwide rely on Logile's intelligent, fully mobile solutions to boost profitability and competitive edge by delivering the best service at the optimal cost. From labor standards development and modeling, to forecasting, storewide scheduling and time and attendance, to task management, food safety and employee self-servicewe transform retail operations. Gain the Advantage with The Logic of Labor.

Learn more: Logile.com. Beyond workforce managementcomplete store planning and execution solutions.

Connect with Logile on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Contact:

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The bid by the federal government to advance non-oil export received a major boost yesterday when the maiden voyage of 7,000 tons of cocoa export took off from Calabar port, Cross Rivers State to the United States of America.

The 7,000 tons of cocoa was loaded by Starlink Global and Ideal Limited through Ecomarine Terminals in Calabar port for onward export to US.

The Calabar port has faced draft limitations for over 14 years after concession, but the ingenuity of Ecomarine Terminals Limited led to the maiden export of cocoa beans from the seaport.

The feat is a turning point in the history of the port, which has signaled improvement of non-oil export from Nigeria.

Speaking at the load-out ceremony in Calabar, the Cross Rivers State Governor Ben Ayade, said the state is rich in agricultural resources, urging the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to expedite action on the dredging of the Calabar channels in order to aid increase in exports.

Ayade, who was represented at the ceremony by the state Commissioner for Commerce, Mrs. Rosemary Archibong, said: "It's time for us not to just export raw materials, but export processed goods," as she urged the indigenes to exploit the massive opportunities that the numerous cash crops in the state present.

The governor disclosed that the waterways are always under surveillance, hence the adequate security in the state.

The Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, said the ports authority is pursuing the federal government's economic recovery agenda through consistent improvement on quality of service delivery at the country's seaports, especially the eastern ports.

She said that Calabar port did not fall short of revenue generation, even during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed the efficacy of service improvement.

Bala-Usman said: "Although we are not where we want to be, we are definitely not where we used to be. I therefore call on all shippers and port users within the northern and eastern flanks to follow the example of Starlinks and bring their cargoes to Calabar and other eastern ports. This will certainly ease the pressure on Lagos ports."

The acting General Manager, Ecomarine Terminals Limited (ECM), Calabar, Edward Akpan, said the company has identified the gaps that hinder diverse business opportunities that abound in the maritime domain in Nigeria and Calabar pilotage district in particular, adding that despite the challenges, ECM has consistently marketed the port, and it is one of the few ports that export clinker, PKS, cement and now cocoa in the country presently.

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Noting that the non-completion of the dredging of the channel to the advertised draft of 9.4 metres is today the biggest threat to the development of the port with adverse effect on its functionality, he, therefore, urged the government to ensure urgent dredging of the channel.

On his part, Director-General of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Segun Awolowo, said exporters suffer undue delay at Lagos due to the traffic congestion, stressing the need to boost operations at the eastern ports, such as Calabar port.

He said NEPC is vigorously pursuing its zero-oil export agenda, urging the government agencies to provide necessary infrastructure for Calabar ports as an alternative to Lagos ports.

Also, the Managing Director, Nigeria Export Import Bank, Abubakar Abba Bello, said the renewed promotion of export through Calabar port would boost the economy of the region and generate employment for the youths.

In his remark, the Managing Director of Starlink Global Ideal Limited, Adeyemi Adeniji, stressed the need for the government to encourage local investors, noting that the cocoa would be shipped on a chattered vessel.

ECM Terminals Limited Calabar Free Ports is a multipurpose terminal designed to handle and store various types of cargo. The terminal, which consists of three berths, four to six, has a total length of 480 metres.
opinion

The outside world knows what a dictatorship is when they see one except that the dictator and his clowns want to have it both ways... and it depends on who the players are talking to. Democracy and dictatorship cannot co-exist under any form of government: you are either a dictator running a dictatorship or a democrat running a democracy.

Most African dictators think because they conduct "sham elections" therefore they pass the minimum test of democracy. If this fallacy holds then the likes of Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Moammar El Gadaffi of Libya, Hosni Mubarrack of Egypt, Mobutu Sese Sekou of DR Congo/Zaire, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, William Tubman, William Tolbert, Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and now George Weah of Liberia could all sing the democracy song of holding "free, fair and transparent elections." So why do their so-called "democracies" fail/fall in the end? Because democracy is a democracy and a dictatorship is a dictatorship... no ifs, buts, and ors.

American democracy which is the Mother of all modern democracies plus the other western democracies are deeply rooted or planted in strong INSTITUTIONS: the constitution and the rule of law. This is why the January 6, 2021, American "insurrection" failed and the coup plotters are now being arrested to face justice.

Mulbah Morlu, Nat McGill, Jeff Koijee, and Samuel Tweah don't take time to read the annual US State Department Human Rights and Labor Practices Report. An example is when President Weah told the US Millennium Challenge Corporation officials to provide him and his cabinet ministers "study materials" in order to pass the MCC pass and fail the test. True indeed, the US stopped the hundreds of millions of dollars that went to Liberia each year to help with water and electricity restoration and road pavement. Nearby Sierra Leone gets about $400 million yearly including this year. God help Liberia.

Even if the coup plotters in America had succeeded in hanging VP Mike Pence and some Congreemembers as they chanted, the institutional pillars of American democracy are so strong that they could not have succeeded in stopping then-President-Elect Joe Biden and VP Camela Harris from taking office... .the evidence is all crystal clear today.

A number of US Presidents have been assassinated while in the office including John Kennedy and the ever-popular Abraham Lincoln but the US government had never been overthrown. Even a military coup is not possible in America with its military second to none in the world.

If you want to be a dictator, just be a dictator and don't pretend to be a democracy. CDC Chairman Mulbah Morlu does not have the credentials to be a good disciple in a dictatorship. Their inexperience is made public from their defeat in the December 8, 2020, senatorial elections. Why go public to ask for the firing of someone you don't want in the government? A phone call should solve the problem. Now you have exposed the government that it is not a democracy where all citizens have the right to employment unless they join the ruling CDC. REALLY.?? Inexperience exposed! George Weah and his minions need to study the works of Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, Fidel Castros, and others.

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To run a perfect dictatorship, you can leave no stone unturned: the institutions that run a dictatorship must be headed by diehard fanatics, trained foot soldiers-your national elections body, police, national security apparatus, and very importantly, state media. There is no room for privately operated media, or they must follow the script of the state-run media.

But then again, the fish starts to rotten from the head. Weah is being schooled by the likes of people who have no record of higher education and who have not read books on historical revolutionaries and by dictators like Fidel Castro and others. That is why these fake democracies continue to fall all over the world because democracy and dictatorships are arch enemies. Darn good dictators last long although they fall in the end and the ones trying to mix them both are the first to tumble. Which one are you in Liberia? Just a thought and not a sermon.

Jerry Wehtee Wion

Washington DC, USA
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The logo of the CIA is seen at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., on Jan. 21, 2017. (Olivier Doulier - Pool/Getty Images)

Chinese Propaganda Group Has Spent Years Cozying Up to Black Colleges

A Hong Kong-based think tank suspected of working as a front group for the Chinese Communist Party has cultivated close ties to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and members of the Congressional Black Caucus since 2014.

The China-U.S. Exchange Foundations (CUSEF) outreach to the black community is part of a broad initiative to cozy up to prominent organizations in the U.S., including foreign policy think tanks and other elite universities.

CUSEFs activities have drawn the attention of CIA Director William Burns, who testified at his Senate confirmation hearing last month that he cut ties with CUSEF when he was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace out of concern over Chinese influence operations.

William Burns is sworn in as CIA director at Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, on March 23, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Most of CUSEFs contacts with HBCUs and Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members have been arranged by Wilson Global Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm.

Since 2018, Wilson Global Communications has disclosed its activities for CUSEF to the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law that regulates foreign lobbying activity.

According to Wilson Globals most recent FARA filing, submitted March 22, CUSEF paid the firm $89,844 over the past six months to hold virtual meetings with the leaders of HBCUs and college students. She also had contact with Yu Jiang, a professor at Xavier University who operates the schools Confucius Institute, which U.S. officials also consider to be an influence agent of the Chinese government.

CUSEF has paid Wilson Global $667,641 since January 2017, according to FARA filings.

In its FARA disclosures, Wilson Global says it provides CUSEF with communications and public relations services, which included outreach to U.S. elected officials.

The firm coordinates trips for college students and leaders of HBCUs to China, all funded by CUSEF. Wilson Global has also arranged contact between CUSEF and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Julia Wilson, the owner of Wilson Global, has held meetings with CBC members Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Jim Clyburn, Donald Payne, and others, according to Wilson Globals FARA filings.

On July 12, 2019, Wilson Global hosted a virtual event for Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson and CUSEF advisor Alan Wong held at Clark Atlanta University, an HBCU.

Wilson Global says CUSEFs mission to build and improve dialogue between China and African American education and civic leaders, and between the youth of China and the U.S. to enhance relations between China and the U.S. in general.

Despite the seemingly innocuous goal, U.S. officials and national security experts have grown suspicious in recent years of CUSEFs links to the Chinese Communist Party and the United Front Work Department, which handles influence operations for the communist regime.

James Carafano, with the Heritage Foundation, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference 2020 (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 28, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

One of the top sources of recruitment has been American students in China, James Carafano, a vice president of the Heritage Foundation and national security expert, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

He said that the Chinese government uses groups like CUSEF and Confucius Institutes to provide cultural enrichment programming for the purposes of data mining and potential recruitment of American students.

Nothings innocuous because essentially everything connects back to the Chinese Communist Party. You can never assume that any contacts are innocent, Carafano told the DCNF. The FBIs been warning about that for years.

The FBI appears to have briefed many of the HBCU presidents who have taken part in the CUSEF junkets, according to Wilson Globals FARA filings.

FBI special agent Peter Lapp provided security briefings in December 2018 and November 2019 for delegations of HBCU presidents visiting China, according to the FARA filings.

Chinas efforts to cozy up to HBCUs came to the forefront earlier this year during the Senate confirmation hearing for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the ambassador to the United Nations.

US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaks during a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York on March 1, 2021. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

Thomas-Greenfield was grilled during her confirmation hearing over a paid speech she gave in 2019 at Savannah State University, an HBCU that partnered with Chinas Confucius Institute.

During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, William Burns, the CIA director, said that he had concerns when he was the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about an existing partnership between the think tank and CUSEF.

Burns testified that he ended the relationship with CUSEF, which had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to Carnegie, because he was increasingly worried about the expansion of Chinese influence operations.

Burns also said that the Chinese Communist Party deploys groups like CUSEF as part of a whole-of-government approach  to try and influence political, economic, and cultural developments to benefit CCP interests.

CUSEF, founded in 2008, is a key hub of the Chinese governments United Front Work Department.

In an Aug. 24, 2018, report, the U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission said that China uses the United Front system to neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party.

According to the commission, United Front affiliates also conduct influence operations targeting foreign actors and states.

The organization has developed connections over the past decade with other universities, such as Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University and Columbia University. CUSEF has also partnered with several prominent foreign policy think tanks, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Center for American Progress.

CUSEF has leveraged those connections to present Beijing-friendly viewpoints on hot-button issues.

In May 2016, Carnegie hosted CUSEF founder Tung Chee-hwa for an event at which he advocated strongly for Beijings viewpoint on control of the South China Sea.

Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa attends a closing session in Beijing, on March 20, 2018. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

At the time, the Chinese government was using its diplomats and other allies to influence an international arbitration courts decision in a case involving the control of islands in the South China Sea.

Wilson Global cited Tungs position as vice chairman of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, which advises the Chinese Communist Party, in its registration as a foreign agent of CUSEF.

The Chinese government, with CUSEFs support, began its outreach to HBCUs in 2014 in response to an initiative by the Obama administration.

The Department of Education announced then that the Chinese government signed a memorandum of understanding with a group of HBCUs to provide 1,000 scholarships to students from the schools.

CUSEF hosted a meeting in September 2013 between HBCU leaders and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, which set the stage for the scholarship agreement.

Julia Wilson, the Wilson Global founder, is listed as a representative of CUSEF in the Department of Education announcement.

Wilson Globals FARA filings provide extensive insight into its work for CUSEF.

The filings show that Wilson has had hundreds of contacts with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and their staffers regarding CUSEF events in China and the U.S.

The disclosures show meetings with CBC members regarding the CUSEF African American Initiative in September 2018 and October 2019.

Wilson Global has also disclosed email communications with the presidents of numerous HBCUs regarding the HBCU-China Scholarship Network, which Wilson Global oversees.

A proposed timeline in 2017 showed that CUSEF sought contacts with CBC leaders and congressional leaders from a specific group of states: Texas, Michigan and Ohio.

The CUSEF delegation also hoped to meet with the National Urban League and begin plans for student visits to China.

According to a document dated Dec. 11, 2018, the HBCU Network discussed a potential partnership with several Chinese universities for HBCU students and faculty to study and conduct research at Chinese universities, as well as for Chinese students/faculty to study and conduct research at HBCU institutions.

According to a memorandum of understanding between Beijing University of Chemical Technology, the agreements proposed exchanging research materials, professors and research staff while collaborating on research projects.

In a document dated Jan. 6, 2019, David Wilson, the president of Morgan State University and chairman of the China-HBCU Network, submitted a detailed summary of the HBCU delegations visit to China to Audie Wong, the executive director of CUSEF.

One of the goals of the trip, according to Wilson, was to discuss the possibility of housing Confucius Institutes on HBCU campuses.

Wilson said that the HBCU delegation on Dec. 17, 2018, visited Confucius Institute headquarters, where they met with Jing Wei, the organizations deputy chief executive.

According to Wilson, Wei discussed the process that the HBCUs would have to follow in order to partner with the Confucius Institute.

Like CUSEF, Confucius Institutes have come under increased scrutiny over their alleged influence operations.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 27, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In August 2020, the Trump administration designated the Confucius Institute U.S. a foreign mission of China, a category typically reserved for embassies and consulates.

The HBCU delegation also met twice with officials from another Chinese Communist Party front group, the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).

During the first meeting, CPAFFC officials suggested that HBCUs host Chinese students from rural areas at their schools.

According to Wilson, CPAFFC officials expressed concern during the second meeting about the U.S. governments visa process for Chinese students. The officials conveyed that Chinese students might opt to study at Canadian and European schools instead of the U.S.

U.S. officials have publicly expressed concern about CPAFFCs influence activities.

Last year, the State Department pulled out of an event that involved CPAFFC because the group sought to malignly influence state and local leaders.

Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state under President Donald Trump, criticized CPAFFC during a speech to a group of mayors in September.

It may have friendly in its title, Pompeo said of the front group, but it is not so when it comes to American interests.

Wilson Global and CUSEF did not respond to requests for comment.

By Chuck Ross

From The Daily Caller News Foundation
Security officials at an airport on the Galapagos Islands have discovered 185 endangered baby tortoises hidden inside a suitcase.

Staff intercepted the suitcase as Galapagos Ecological Airport on the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, yesterday.

Ten of the baby tortoises, which are listed as threatened on the IUCN's Red List of Endangered Species, had died by the time security officials opened the suitcase.

In a statement, the Galapagos Ecological Airport said: '185 tortoises that were destined for the city of Guayaquil were intercepted by airport staff who noticed irregularities in a suitcase that supposedly contained 'souvenirs' from the island.'

Security officials at Galapagos Ecological Airport on the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, discovered 185 endangered baby tortoises hidden inside a suitcase

10 of the baby tortoises, which are listed as threatened on the IUCN's Red List of Endangered Species, had died by the time security officials had opened the briefcase

The baby tortoises from the Galapagos Islands are the largest living species of tortoise in the world, growing to weigh up to 919lbs and can live for over 100 years.

The staff who intercepted the tortoises found that the animals had been covered in plastic wrapping, which led to 10 of them having died.

The airport added: 'We have made no arrests yet and are currently waiting for the national police to arrive and begin their investigation into the incident.'

The Galapagos Islands are home to numerous unique species and were made famous by Charles Darwin who studied the islands extensively.

Darwin developed many of his ideas relating to evolution based on the fauna and flora he studied on the volcanic archipelago that is made up of 18 main islands and 3 smaller islands.

The staff who intercepted the tortoises found that the animals had been covered in plastic wrapping, which led to 10 of them having died

Trafficking animals and plants from the Galapagos Islands is a crime punishable by a prison sentence between one and three years and an investigation into the incident is now underway

Marcelo Mata, the Ecuadorian Environment Minister, responded to the incident saying: 'This is a crime against Ecuador's natural heritage.'

Mata added that he hopes: 'Those responsible will be punished in accordance with current regulations.'

Trafficking animals and plants from the Galapagos Islands is a crime punishable by a prison sentence between one and three years.

Scientists believe that ocean currents deposited the ancestors of the 185 Galapagos Tortoise on the islands three to four million years ago.

The tortoises then evolved into 15 different species, three of which are now extinct.

The investigation is ongoing.
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Virgin Atlantic has launched a one-month trial of the IATA Travel Pass at London Heathrow Airport, in close collaboration with the government of Barbados, to enable passengers to use the health passport when traveling to the Caribbean island.

From April 16, passengers traveling for permitted reasons on flights VS131 from Heathrow to Barbados will be invited to participate in the trial by downloading the IATA Travel Pass on their smartphone. Using the app, they can create a digital ID comprising their profile photo and passport information and upload their Covid-19 credentials, selecting relevant flight information.

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Virgin Atlantic will seek approval from the UK government to expand the trial to accommodate customers arriving at the UK border on Barbados-Heathrow flights.

Corneel Koster, chief customer and operating officer at Virgin Atlantic, said, In parallel to the UKs successful vaccination program 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.

In further progress toward end-to-end digital health integration, from March 29 customers traveling to Virgin Atlantics US destinations will be able to verify Covid-19 test results digitally, using TrustAssures robust artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution. Each customers pre-departure test documentation can be securely uploaded via its mobile-optimized website, in advance of their flight, and validated using AI, in less than two minutes. Once confirmed, customers receive a QR code with a green verification, meaning they can proceed quickly through check in.

Our Barbados trial with IATA Travel Pass is an exciting step toward a digital health pass as we actively explore secure solutions to integrate testing, vaccination, health documents and locator forms into our customer journeys, Koster added. Building on the success of the development by our partners Delta and TrustAssure, and in line with our innovative spirit, we are also proud to join a partnership with CLX Health to deliver industry-leading AI-powered test verification for US-bound customers.

Read more about the IATA Travel Pass initiative in the April 2021 issue of Passenger Terminal World.
Election season in West Bengal is contributing to the revival of the states hospitality sector which has been limping in the post-lockdown era and attempting to regain the vibrancy, an official said.

There has been traction in hotel bookings due to election-related travel by political party leaders and members of the media in West Bengal, he said.

"There has been good demand for occupancy in Kolkata and districts due to the election. It is contributing to the revival of the industry," Hotel and Restaurants Association of Eastern India secretary Sudesh Poddar told PTI.

In the West Bengal assembly polls, the BJP is trying to dethrone the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress which seeks to return to power for the third consecutive term.

Demands for rooms are coming mainly from the BJP as its top to mid-level leaders are staying for poll-related works, a source in a top hotel in Kolkata said.

"Rooms are being booked by the members of the national media who are covering the election, said an official of another hotel, who declined to be quoted.

With the coronavirus pandemic, India's hospitality and tourism sector suffered three quarters of economic wipeout estimated to be up to Rs 15 lakh crore, and the industry was desperately looking forward to government support to survive and recover in 2021.

West Bengal has a capacity of over 1000-1200 five star luxury room keys.

Also Read: West Bengal records 84.63% polling in phase-1 of assembly elections
Hal Rotholz Wins 2021 bestbet Jacksonville Spring Series $2,500 Main Event ($180,986)

March 29, 2021 Hill Kerby

The 2021 bestbet Jacksonville Spring Series $2,500 Main Event drew 401 entries and generated a prize pool of $898,242 with 54 players coming back for Sunday's Day 2 to play down to one. In the end, Hal Rotholz was that one, and it earned him a $180,986 payday.

Rotholz advanced to Day 2 from the second of two starting flights and entered play with a slightly above-average stack of 234,000. Two hours into the day, he had nearly doubled that to climb into the top 10 in chips, and he climbed to the top five by the second break of the day before grinding his way through the final three tables. From there, he came into the final table sixth in chips, and just about everything went his way from there.

2021 bestbet Spring Series Main Event Final Table Results

Place Player Hometown Prize 1 Hal Rotholz New York, New York $180,986 2 Jake Ferro Syracuse, New York $120,658 3 Kyle Cartwright Arlington, Tennessee $88,761 4 Johnny Landreth Lanett, Alabama $66,069 5 David Jackson Jacksonville, Florida $49,767 6 Brian Arbaugh Akron, Ohio $37,941 7 Stephen Strout St. Augustine, Florida $29,280 8 Dustin Holladay Murrells Inlet, South Carolina $22,876

Day 2 Recap

The 54 players that returned did so just three places away from making the money. Ken Taffaro was the shortest stack entering the day, doing so with 10 big blinds but finding himself unable to pick up anything of note. He was one of the first two eliminations on the day, bringing about hand-for-hand play with the bubble bursting just two hands in when Aaron Thivyanathan and Filipp Khavin both were eliminated on the same hand to split a first-level payout.

Eliminations then came at a steady pace before roughly a full level went by with 39 players remaining. Within the next half an hour, Day 1a chip leader Nick Raio, Jack Sumner, and Justin Zaki busted (35-37th), and the tournament reached four tables shortly thereafter with sixth-place finisher Brian Arbaugh atop the counts with a stack just shy of 1 million.

Just one more 40-minute level needed to occur for the three-table redraw, with James Calderaro and Byron Kaverman being the first two to fall thereafter. Arbaugh remained near the top of the counts with Jake Ferro beginning his ascent around that time just the same, and the two wound up at the same table when the final 16 were reached. Ferro was fairly active with everyone at his table and wound up chipping up to 2.175 million by the time the final table was reached.

As for the other table in play at the time, start-of-day chip leader and third-place finisher Kyle Cartwright also continued to accumulate chips throughout the day and continued to climb as play got short-handed. He then took a few hits to his stack but found a double and picked up where he had previously left off to take a chip-leading stack of 2.39 million into the final eight.

From Eight to One

Johnny Landreth came into the final table as the shortest stack with 400,000 midway through a big blind of 40,000. He doubled on the very first hand of play when he picked up two kings in the big blind and Ferro was priced in to call after opening with nine-five suited on the button. Shortly thereafter, January's Winter Open Main Event 10th-place finisher Dustin Holladay cold-called with two queens behind a three-bet from Ferro in a hand that saw four clubs come on board. Ferro had two kings with both players holding a club and Holladay was left short.

Holladay then picked up ace-king and shoved. David Jackson re-jammed with pocket jacks and Arbaugh called all in with king-queen, giving Holladay to have a chance at tripling. He flopped a king but Arbaugh turned a queen to send him out in eighth. Stephen Strout then became short and was the next to fall at Ferro's expense, with Arbaugh going out a few hands later after running a failed bluff attempt into Landreth.

Cartwright then began to pull away with five remaining until Jackson got two black queens all in preflop against the pocket jacks of Rotholz. Three diamonds on the flop gave Rotholz a flush draw that got there on the river to eliminate Jackson in fifth and put Rotholz into the chip lead temporarily, but Cartwright got it back and built on it from there by eliminating Landreth in fourth.

Unfortunately for Cartwright, variance took a turn for the worst and the momentum went all Ferro's way. Eventually, a blind-on-blind situation between the two saw Ferro limp-jam ace-queen into Cartwright's pocket kings and a queen on the flop was accompanied by another on the river to give Ferro trips and send him into heads-up play with a massive chip lead.

Kyle Cartwright

However, on the first hand of heads-up play, Ferro flopped a flush draw and Rotholz flopped top pair. Stacks went in with Ferro having a shot to end it all in one hand but he did not fill up and Rotholz pulled close to even. Rotholz then took the chip lead for a bit before Ferro took three hands in quick succession to pull back ahead.

But it was all Rotholz from there. Ferro limped and then three-bet on the button with ace-king only to see Rotholz four-bet jam with queen-jack. Once again, Ferro's shot at victory was shattered as Rotholz flopped top two pair and turned a full house to take a huge lead. Ferro then found himself under 20 big blinds and re-shoved queen-jack into Rotholz's king-jack with a clean runout resulting in Rotholz earning all the chips, the trophy, and the top prize of the tournament.

bestbet Jacksonville Spring Series Winners

The 11-event series proved to be a big success catering to a combined 2,310 entries and awarding $1,712,974 in prize money. Here's a look at all those who captured titles:

Tournament Entries Prize Pool Winner Prize Event #1: $560 NLH 741 $363,104 Kenneth Brossoit $51,180 Event #2: $360 PLO 112 $34,160 Armando Figueroa $9,339 Event #3: $460 NLH w/ $100 Bounties 194 $58,200 Alex Ortiz $13,330 Event #4: $260 NLH 190 $41,800 Bryan Brozman $9,906 Event #5: $360 NLH Monster Stack 194 $59,170 Billy Cashwell $13,784 Event #6: $260 NLH Turbo w/ $50 Bounties 83 $14,110 Steve Zhang $3,735 Event #7: $360 NLH Ladies 49 $14,945 Stella Davila $5,028 Event #8: $1,200 NLH 6-Max 134 $142,040 David Dowdy $32,011 Event #9: $360 HORSE 45 $13,725 Charles Janney $4,100 Event #10: $500 NLH The bestbet 500 167 $73,480 Nabil "Doc" Hirezi $15,775 bestbet Spring Series $2,500 Main Event 401 $898,240 Hal Rotholz $180,986
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
JAKARTA -- Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said on Monday it was trying to control a massive fire at its Balongan oil refinery in West Java that injured five people and led to the evacuation of 950 nearby residents.

The fire began just after midnight on Sunday evening, media reported, with videos shared on social media showing huge flames engulfing the refinery, while a large explosion can be heard.

Pertamina said in a statement the fire at the refinery, which can process 125,000 barrels per day, broke out during bad weather.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but during the incident there was heavy rain and lightning, Pertamina said.

Ifki Sukarya, a Pertamina spokesman, later said five people were being treated in hospital for burns, adding that some were passing near the refinery when the fire broke out.

Smoke rises during fire at Pertamina's oil refinery in Balongan, Indramayu regency, West Java province, Indonesia, March 29, 2021. Photo: Antara Foto/Dedhez Anggara/ via Reuters

Television footage showed the fire still raging on Monday morning and a massive column of black smoke rising from the site, which is about 225 km (140 miles) east of the capital Jakarta.

One nearby resident told Metro TV she was awoken by a pungent smell of oil fumes and saw lightning strikes in the sky.

We smelled a strong fuel scent first, so strong that my nose hurt, while we heard lightning strikes, said Susi, who gave only one name

Suddenly the sky was orange, she said.

The state oil firm said it was shutting down the refinery and conducting oil flow control to prevent any further spread.
Jim DeMint is a former Republican U.S. senator from South Carolina. This column is one of many columns and letters The Herald-Dispatch has received from people nationwide about Sen. Joe Manchins current role in the Senate.
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KY Lawmakers Face Packed Agenda to Wrap up Session

By The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Kentucky lawmakers return Monday to deal with a packed agenda as they head into the final two days of this year's session.Their work is headlined by a stack of gubernatorial vetoes.The Republican-led legislature is expected to take up override votes on Gov. Andy Beshears vetoes of bills ranging from scholarship tax credits to how a U.S. Senate seat is filled if a vacancy occurs.Lawmakers could also consider high-profile bills that havent yet cleared the legislature.The proposals would curb no-knock police warrants, relax early voting rules and shield businesses from pandemic-related lawsuits.The legislative session ends Tuesday.
It was 2016, and the parish hall at All Saints Church had seen better days. Built in the 1960s, the hall had been used so much, and by so many, that it was already falling into disrepair: the basement was plagued by extensive structural problems, the kitchen, where the charity Agape Table had operated for nearly 30 years, was condemned. Repairs would have cost millions of dollars the church didnt have.

It was 2016, and the parish hall at All Saints Church had seen better days. Built in the 1960s, the hall had been used so much, and by so many, that it was already falling into disrepair: the basement was plagued by extensive structural problems, the kitchen, where the charity Agape Table had operated for nearly 30 years, was condemned. Repairs would have cost millions of dollars the church didnt have.

"It was far more expensive than we could contemplate," says Sandi Mieletz, the rectors warden, who says the church did not want to sell the land, which abuts the 85-year-old stone church at the corner of Broadway and Colony Street. "We wanted to repurpose it, and we wanted to do something that would solve our problems but also give back to the community."

A request for proposals was written up, making clear the churchs intentions of developing a socially conscious housing development with an emphasis on affordability and accessibility, especially important as housing grew more expensive in the neighbourhood and city. Eight responses came in, says Mieletz, the vice-chair of the churchs housing committee, and seven essentially proposed a commercial apartment tower, geared toward profit.

"The only one that differentiated itself was the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation," she says.

The corporation proposed a unique joint venture: the church, and the Anglican Church of Canada, would lease the land to it to develop a mixed-income apartment tower  over half of its units to be classified as affordable, the rest at market or premium rates  with any surplus being shared between the two non-profit organizations. For All Saints, it was a way to ensure it could cover its costs in maintenance, upkeep and outreach, and for the corporation, now known as UWCRC 2.0, it was a way to grow its footprint in the downtown as a rising leader in sustainable housing.

Five years later, the West Broadway Commons stands 12 storeys tall where the parish hall once stood. And only a few short months after opening, nearly two-thirds of its 110 units have been leased, including each of the 56 affordable units. Monthly rents for those units range from $608 for a studio, $775 for a one-bedroom, $980 for a two, or $1,244 for three, about 20 per cent lower than the CMHCs median market rental cost. None of the units are classified as rent geared to income; a third of all units are barrier-free or barrier-free adaptable.

The building features wraparound terraces and a gym with a view of the legislative building. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Jeremy Read, the corporations CEO, says his organizations vision aligned very closely to that of the church. Over the past five years, the corporation has become one of the downtowns busiest developers, with 331 units now split amongst the mixed income West Broadway Commons, the Downtown Commons, and Muse Flats buildings. Of those, 148 are classified as affordable.

In All Saints, Read says the corporation found a willing partner and a template for sustainable housing in West Broadway, a neighbourhood with one of the citys lowest median incomes and facing a growing spectre of gentrification.

"Were meeting a need we know exists in the neighbourhood, both in terms of quality market housing and quality affordable housing," says Read.

The new building, built over the course of two years by Bockstael Construction and designed by Number TEN Architectural Group, cuts a striking image on Broadway. It towers over other nearby apartment blocks, and though it has a modern, cubist look, with huge windows, it nods to the areas historic buildings with a significant amount of stone masonry. Both Read and Mieletz said it was important to make a statement while fitting into the neighbourhoods look. From an efficiency standpoint, the buildings energy rating is 30 per cent better than required by the 2015 National Energy Building Code.

The building also features a common ninth-floor wraparound terrace area, a gym overlooking the legislative building, common areas, bike storage, concrete soundproof walls, and resident memberships for the Peg City Car Co-Op. The main floor has two commercial spaces, the larger of which has been leased out to the Canadian Mental Health Association as a youth hub, while the goal is to create a corner cafe with a patio area in the smaller space.

"In the end we couldnt afford to make it wholly brick, but I think its a pretty handsome building," Mieletz says.

Funding for the $30.2-million project was mostly  over $25 million  derived from the federal governments national housing co-investment fund and rental construction financing initiative. The provincial government kicked in just over $1 million.

The common area is open to residents and includes a kitchen, lounge and outdoor terrace. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Mieletz says the need for such a building has become increasingly evident in recent years, as rental costs rise, the existing affordable housing stock ages, and housing insecurity grows. Before construction began, an encampment of as many as 40 houseless people sprouted on the parish lawn during the spring of 2018. For a time, the church allowed the encampment to remain, even paying for a portable toilet to be brought in. Ultimately, the camp was shut down.

"The need for affordable housing has become so obvious," she says, pointing to growing gentrification in the area over her 20 years of involvement with the church. Before the building was even being marketed, a waitlist for affordable units had already begun.

That list now includes 250 names, according to Read. "That tells me theres significant demand for quality affordable housing in the centre of the city," he says.

It also shows theres more work to be done by developers to address housing need, and to keep the neighbourhood and surrounding areas accessible financially to renters, many of whom have seen incomes plummet or disappear as a result of the pandemic.

Read says the corporation is already at work on other potential projects in the downtown, and is a partner in the future Marketlands project on the former site of the Public Safety Building and civic parkade, which will include 102 rental units, over half of which will be available at rates well below the median market rent.

Mieletz says shes been encouraged by the quick uptake of the units at West Broadway Commons, but thats also reiterated the need for more housing like it across the city.

"What really stood out to me was the role that social enterprise organizations are playing, which is very critical," Mieletz says, saying the church could not have developed the project alone.

"They bridge the gap between straight commercial development and programs like Manitoba Housing," she adds. "I think that creates nicer places that look after both social and semi-commercial concerns at the same time. That, to me, is a way forward."

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
A joint WHO- study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The findings were largely as expected and left many questions unanswered. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis.

The report's release has been repeatedly delayed, raising questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew the conclusions to prevent blame for the pandemic falling on

A World Health Organisation official said late last week that he expected it would be ready for release in the next few days.

The AP received what appeared to be a near-final version on Monday from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO-member country. It wasn't clear whether the report might still be changed prior to its release. The diplomat did not want to be identified because they were not authorised to release it ahead of publication.

(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.)
Salvage teams on Monday set free a colossal container ship that has halted global trade through the Suez Canal, bringing an end to a crisis that for nearly a week had clogged one of the worlds most vital maritime arteries.

Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canals sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since last Tuesday.

After hauling the fully laden 220,000-ton vessel over the canal bank, the salvage team was pulling the vessel toward the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south end of the canal, where the ship will undergo technical inspection, canal authorities said.

Satellite data from MarineTraffic.com confirmed that the ship was moving away from the shoreline toward the center of the artery.

Video released by the Suez Canal Authority showed the Ever Given being escorted by the tugboats that helped free it, each sounding off their horns in jubilation after nearly a week of chaos.

We pulled it off! said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the salvage firm hired to extract the Ever Given, in a statement. I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given  thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again.

The obstruction has created a massive traffic jam in the vital passage, holding up $9 billion each day in global trade and straining supply chains already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic.

It remained unclear when traffic through the canal would return to normal. At least 367 vessels, carrying everything from crude oil to cattle, have piled up on either end of the canal, waiting to pass.

Data firm Refinitiv estimated it could take more than 10 days to clear the backlog of ships. Meanwhile, dozens of vessels have opted for the alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africas southern tip  a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) detour that adds some two weeks to journeys and costs ships hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and other costs.

The freeing of the vessel came after dredgers vacuumed up sand and mud from the vessels bow and 10 tugboats pushed and pulled the vessel for five days, managing to partially refloat it at dawn.

It wasnt clear whether the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship hauling goods from Asia to Europe, would continue to its original destination of Rotterdam or if it would need to enter another port for repairs.

Ship operators did not offer a timeline for the reopening of the crucial canal, which carries over 10% of global trade, including 7% of the worlds oil. Over 19,000 ships passed through last year, according to canal authorities.

Millions of barrels of oil and liquified natural gas flow through the artery from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America. Goods made in China  furniture, clothes, supermarket basics  bound for Europe also must go through the canal, or else take the detour around Africa.

The unprecedented shutdown had threatened to disrupt oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East and raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages and rising costs for consumers.

The salvage operation successfully relied on tugs and dredgers alone, allowing authorities to avoid the far more complex and lengthy task of lightening the vessel by offloading its 20,000 containers.

Freixenet Copestick adds Chile's Garage Wine Co

Freixenet Copestick has added the Garage Wine Co to its portfolio and the producers wines will now be sold online by Slurp and to the on-trade by Jascots Wine Merchants.

Garage, which is based in the Maule Valley in Southern Chile, is well known for making wines from parcels of old vines in the historic Maule and Itata Valleys from lesser-known places such as Truquilemu, Sauzal and Calivoro. It is also well-known for its smaller volumes of Carinena, Garnacha, Monastrell, Pais, Cinsault, Semillon and Cabernet Franc.

The company began twenty years ago, in the garage, and is still principally owned and managed by husband and wife team Pilar Miranda and Derek Mossman Knapp.

The wines, which will be sold online by Slurp and to the on-Trade by Jascots, will also be offered to independents in the UK and the Republic of Ireland by Freixenets sales team. And there will be some older vintages to add excitement to the new releases as well as some parcels that have not previously shipped to the UK.

Robin Copestick, managing director of Freixenet Copestick, said Our UK group is now wonderfully diverse so we can be confident of success with a wider variety of suppliers. When I met Derek and tasted the wines, I knew they would be a perfect fit for our growing organisation. They are game-changers.

We already overtrade in Chile and these wines were so unique that I could just sense the opportunity. They will complement the wines that we already ship from Chile and grow the category with South American old vines. I was impressed with the way Derek and Pilar do business. It goes beyond the certifications of the day  they fundamentally believe business can be a force for good. Not only are they making wine in a sustainable way, but they support the farmers and local communities. They seek to create excellence over short term gains.

Mossman-Knapp said: We were not looking to make a change in distributor, we have spent the last few years getting closer to the farming, but when I met Robin in Chile, and he spoke of what Freixenet Copestick is up to in the UK and I was energised. I know how online wine businesses are getting suppliers closer to customers, and how quickly they are growing. It is a great opportunity to be involved with Slurp. And Jascots will give us the focus in the on-trade where we have been strong in the past in normal times.

Additionally, the Freixenet Copestick sales team will find us more opportunities with the indies. We have been really impressed with the enthusiasm and knowledge on our video tasting calls. The whole team has become famous for their entrepreneurial spirit.

In the Garage Wine Co, we are not very good at sitting still. There will be exciting news soon about a project we have begun in times of Covid and together with Freixenet Copestick we shall take this to new heights.

Freixenet Copestick acquired Jascots Wine Merchants from the administrator at the end of 2020, and around the same time it finalised the purchase of 100% of online retailer Slurp.

The Garage Wine Co was previously part of Bibendum's portfolio in the UK.

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The company is focusing on strengthening its place in the global vaccine manufacturing and distribution market with its increased partnership in MEVAC and investment in its sister company

DES MOINES, Iowa and CAIRO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services, is growing its presence in the global vaccine market by becoming majority shareholder of MEVAC, an animal vaccine manufacturer based in Cairo, Egypt, and a shareholder in MEVAC's sister company, UVAC, to further expand Kemin's portfolio in the global animal vaccine market.

Kemin Industries (PRNewsfoto/Kemin Industries)

"We entered into a partnership with MEVAC over a decade ago and are thrilled to become the majority shareholder," said Chris Nelson, President and CEO, Kemin Industries. "Kemin and MEVAC share the goal of transforming lives and creating a sustainable future  one in which non-antibiotic alternatives are becoming more and more important to customers. By extending our partnership to MEVAC's sister company, UVAC, we can do even more to bring our innovations to animal vaccines."

First investing in the MEVAC in 2010, Kemin has increased its participation in the Egyptian-based company over the years. In 2019, Kemin increased its share in MEVAC and received the right to distribute its vaccines globally, outside the Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East already served by MEVAC.

"As Kemin has grown its partnership with MEVAC, our capabilities and technologies have expanded, as well, and we are thrilled to bring this beneficial cooperation to UVAC," said Dr. Magdy El Sayed, Founder, MEVAC and UVAC. "We share a commitment to advancing technology and accessibility of animal vaccines, and together, we can create an even greater impact."

As part of its investment in MEVAC, Kemin has access to a modern vaccine plant with production and R&D capabilities to support future growth. UVAC, MEVAC's sister company, also in Egypt, and in which Kemin is a shareholder, has been established to produce foot-and-mouth disease and tissue-culture vaccines for animals, as well as human vaccines.

Story continues

"Over the past decade, MEVAC has proven to be an excellent partner for Kemin as we enter the animal vaccine market. Animal production is continuing to evolve, and by working together, Kemin and MEVAC have been able to introduce innovation to animal vaccines," said GS Ramesh, Global Group President, Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health. "As our work with MEVAC has yielded such beneficial results, we are looking forward to bringing this same dedication and drive to our collaboration with UVAC."

About Kemin Industries

Kemin Industries (www.kemin.com) is a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services. The company supplies over 500 specialty ingredients for human and animal health and nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies, textile, biofuels and animal vaccine industries.

For over half a century, Kemin has been dedicated to using applied science to address industry challenges and offer product solutions to customers in more than 120 countries. Kemin provides ingredients to feed a growing population with its commitment to the quality, safety and efficacy of food, feed and health-related products.

Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with more than 2,800 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.



Media Contact:

Lauren M.G. Burt, Head of Worldwide Communications, lauren.burt@kemin.com, +1 (515) 559-5589

 Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2021. All rights reserved.  TM Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., U.S.A.

Certain statements, product labeling and claims may differ by geography or as required by government requirements.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kemin-becomes-majority-shareholder-in-animal-vaccine-company-middle-east-for-vaccines-mevac-301257540.html

SOURCE Kemin Industries
A 32-year-old man has been charged in relation to incident in Ballygawley at the weekend.

A 32-year-old man has been charged with a number of driving-related offences in connection to a incident in Co Tyrone in which a police vehicle was damaged and an officer was injured.

The man, who is due to appear at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday, faces a number of driving-related offences, including dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol in breath.

The charges follow an incident in Ballygawley on Saturday morning (March 27) during which a police vehicle was damaged and a police officer was injured.

As is normal procedure, the charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
US President Joe Biden has invited President Muhammadu Buhari to a virtual climate change summit scheduled to hold in April.

Buhari was invited to attend the summit alongside 39 other world leaders including four presidents from Africa.

The White House said in a statement at the weekend that the 'Leaders summit on climate' will underscore the urgency and economic benefits of stronger climate action.

"Today, President Biden invited 40 world leaders to the Leaders Summit on Climate he will host on April 22 and 23. The virtual Leaders Summit will be live-streamed for public viewing," it said.

"The Summit will reconvene the U.S.-led Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which brings together 17 countries responsible for approximately 80 percent of global emissions and global GDP.

"The President also invited the heads of other countries that are demonstrating strong climate leadership, are especially vulnerable to climate impacts, or are charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy. A small number of business and civil society leaders will also participate in the Summit."

Shortly after he took office in January, Biden announced he would convene the summit to galvanise efforts by major economies to tackle the climate crisis.

This was after he took action to return the US to the Paris Agreement which Donald Trump, his predecessor, dumped after describing climate science as a hoax.
Leaders in Bukedea District have warned that the indigenous fruit trees could face extinction if locals continue cutting down trees for brick making.

Brickmaking is a major source of income for the unemployed youth in the district, especially during dry season.

The most endangered tree species are mango trees (Mangifera Indica).

"During the 1994 famine, which badly hit Teso Sub-region, people largely ate mangoes for survival. I wonder why many have quickly forgotten about that in Bukedea," Mr Denis Ononge, a resident, said.

Mr Ononge added that most pregnant women and children still rely on mangoes as a source of vitamins.

Some students and teachers from Bukedea Secondary School, Kasoka Primary School and St Theresa Okunguro Secondary School also trek to eat mangoes at midday before the afternoon classes.

"My mother barely gave me money for lunch while I was at high school but mangoes catered for that," Mr James Ekoroi, who studied in Bukedea Secondary School between 2001 and 2004, told Daily Monitor in a recent interview.

But in the past eight years, the situation has changed as many trees have been cut down.

The mango forest, which covered nearly four square kilometres was planted by Elias Emokori, one of the first colonial chiefs in Teso.

Mr Mike Okwi, the district councillor for Bukedea Sub-county, blames the destruction on the growing population.

"A number of new families, many-descendants of Elias Emokori have cleared the forest for settlement. However, many of the mango trees are also sold to brick burners," Mr Okwi said, adding that the growing demand for bricks is also to blame.

Brick makers say

Mr Simon Omonuk, a brickmaker from Kachede Village in Kabarwa Sub-county, said they prefer mango logs because they are cheap, long, and burn faster than other species.

"You can even use them when still 'wet' [fresh after cutting down]," Mr Omonuk said.

He said a fully grown mango tree can be bought at Shs80,000 and can burn more than 15,000 bricks.

"If you have fewer bricks, you can buy off some branches from the tree," Mr Omonuk, who has burnt bricks for more than 10 years, said.

The law

Mr Jackson Ojekede, the Kamutur Sub-county chairperson, said lack of knowledge on climate change has fostered the cutting down of trees.

Mr Ojekede tasked the district authorities to tighten the law.

According to Section 4(3) of the National Environment Act 2019, government shall apply precaution and restriction measures in all activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles.

Section 23 (2) provides that urban and district councils may, in consultation with the Authority, make ordinances and bylaws to regulate various aspects of the environment and natural resources within their jurisdiction.

Mr David Oluka, the Bukedea District natural resources officer, said law enforcement is, however, affected by lack of resources and manpower.

"Much as there are ordinances and bylaws set up by the district and sub-county councils to protect the environment, the enforcement is not being done and this is evident because no one has been arrested and prosecuted in the last three years," Mr Oluka said.

He added that because of poverty, people continue to cut trees for charcoal and bricks making.

"...the central government should instead employ affirmative action if the next generation is to have a friendly interaction with the ecosystem," Mr Oluka said.

Local interventions

However, Soroti Catholic Diocese under its community development organisation SOCADIDO in 2019 launched a Shs5.3b three-year project aimed at restoring the wetland and forest cover in Bukedea and Kumi districts.

The project dubbed Echo-Restore targets distribution of indigenous trees to more than10,000 households and is hinged on four pillars including tree planting, disaster risk reduction in flood and drought-prone areas, regeneration of swamps and establishment of village savings groups.

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It is currently being implemented in the sub-counties of Kolir, Kabarwa, Kamutur, Aminit, and Kangole in Bukedea District while in Kumi District, the sub-counties of Kanapa, Ongino and Kumi are enrolled.

Ms Florence Agoe, the project officer Echo-Restore, said they received the funding from the German ministry of foreign cooperation for development and it aims to restore the five valley dams in the two districts as this will create water reservoirs.

"This disaster risk reduction component also includes restoring and regenerating 40 wetlands along the River Sironko and Lake Bisina belt," Ms Agoe said.

She added that 3,000 village savings groups are to be established in order to boost household income.

Leaders of Kumi and Bukedea lauded Soroti Catholic Church for their fight against climate change. "Credit needs to be given to SOCADIDO but Bukedea needed to have started this 10 years ago because floods and drought have already taken a toll as food insecurity is already being felt in communities as a result," Bukedea District chairperson Moses Olemukan said.
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The giant ship that had blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week has been freed, Egyptian authorities said on Monday.

The authorities said the 400m-long (1,300ft) Ever Given, was wedged across the canal before salvage crews dislodged her on Monday, BBC reported.

There was no immediate clarity on when traffic in the canal will resume.

Suez is one of the worlds busiest trade routes, and companies were forced to divert ships, causing long tailbacks of hundreds of vessels.

Lloyds List intelligence vessel-tracking was quoted as saying there are currently more than 370 ships waiting to pass through the canal, including container vessels, tankers, and bulk carriers.

Clearing that backlog is expected to take several days.

Some ships have already left the region, preferring to take an alternative, longer route around the southern tip of Africa.

They will be joined by other vessels travelling from East Asia to Europe  whose operators have decided not to risk waiting for the canal to reopen.

Cargoes will be reaching their destination much later than planned, there may be congestion when they arrive in ports while future sailing schedules have been thrown into disarray.

The cost of shipping goods to Europe is expected to rise as a result.

Industry experts are warning that the knock-on effects on delicately balanced supply chains could be felt for months to come.
Testing the limits of virtual meetings, a local museum is hosting a tour of their long-vacant space alongside other online features April 10.

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Testing the limits of virtual meetings, a local museum is hosting a tour of their long-vacant space alongside other online features April 10.

The 26th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery / XII Manitoba Dragoons Museum is hosting the event in honour of the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands alongside other moments of Canadian heroism.

SUBMITTED One of many displays to be included in a walk-through tour of the 26th Field Regiment RCA/XII Manitoba Dragoons Museum.

Last years annual in-person event, which would have marked the 75th anniversary, was cancelled when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Rather than outright cancel the museums annual fundraiser a second time, event co-chair Shawn Fortin signed the museum up for Cisco Webex Meetings, which should allow for breakout rooms alongside videos, virtual tours, an auction and other features.

"People will join the meeting on the main room and request where they want to go and they can move in and around to different rooms throughout," he said, adding the hope is for it to echo an in-person event as closely as they can, while remaining as simple as possible.

The longstanding fundraiser and community get-togethers return will be a welcome reprise from COVID shutdown, curator Edd McArthur said.

He has been working from home for the past several months, during which time he and museum volunteers have been largely prohibited from visiting their museum space within the Brandon Armoury building on Victoria Avenue.

The Canadian Armed Forces, which owns and regulates the space, sets the rules and are approaching the pandemic with a great level of caution, he said.

"Ive been in a couple times, with permission to go in and do things where Im in for about five minutes to grab something and leave, but we havent really done any (on-site) work.

"Were just itching to get back in there and open to the public."

Although the virtual reopening doesnt go as far as hed like, he said its the most they can do with the cards theyve been dealt.

"This is all new to a lot of us  we dont know how its going to work," he said. "Were hopeful that it will kind of bridge the COVID era."

The annual fundraiser is long-standing tradition of the museum, and has taken various forms over the years.

It marked The Battle of Vimy Ridge up to its 100th anniversary in 2017, after which they altered it to mark "Vimy and Beyond."

Last years 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands was supposed to be a large-scale celebration of that act of Canadian heroism, and this years virtual session strives to replicate the cancelled celebration as closely as the digital format allows.

Regardless of the theme, McArthur said the annual event has consistently been a celebration of Canadian troops finest moments.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was "the first time Canadians had fought as one corps, as all Canadians under Canadian command," and McArthur credits it with helping Canada successfully argue for its independence and sit at the peace table when the war was over.

The liberation of the Netherlands "was all under Canadian command and most of the fighting was done by Canadians or units attached to the Canadian army." Dutch people were starving as a result of German occupation, with their liberation casting Canadians as heroes  a positive reputation they hold today.

Access to the 40th Annual Vimy & Beyond Fundraiser/76th Anniversary Liberation of the Netherlands event on April 10 will be free of charge, and the event will take place from 6:45 to 9 p.m.

The event can be logged onto at signin.webex.com/join. The sign-in information will be posted to the museums website, 12mbdragoons.com, as well as their Facebook page as soon as its available.

A test day will be set up a week prior to allow both visitors and those behind the event to make sure their equipment and livestream works as it should.

Although excited to host something this year, McArthur said hed like to see next years event return to an in-person gathering.

"I hope we dont turn into a virtual museum, because were so successful, but Id like to have (virtual) as an option."

Donations will be accepted, with cheques made out to FOMI, 1116 Victoria Ave., Brandon MB, R7A 1B2. E-transfer payments are accepted at 1116fldmuseum@gmail.com.

With the federal government cutting the museums funding a few years ago, McArthur said donations are more important than ever, and are handled through an organization called Friends of the Museum Incorporated.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 09:59:40|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writer Shi Xiantao

KABUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden has mulled over extending the May 1 deadline set last year by his predecessor Donald Trump with the Taliban for withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

"It's going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline" to pull out all troops, Biden told his first press conference on Thursday since he took office, while noting that he "can't picture" the troops still being there next year.

It was the administration's first direct answer to the withdrawal issue, yet without offering a precise timetable as to when the United States would end its military presence in the war-torn country.

U.S. IN MILITARY QUAGMIRE

Biden's remarks came four days after U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in Kabul, after which he told reporters that the United States wants to see "a responsible end" to its longest war.

The deadline is part of the agreement the Trump administration signed with the Taliban in Doha last February. The Taliban still controls about half of Afghanistan after fighting against the NATO-led coalition forces and government troops in the Afghan War, which has lasted for nearly 20 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Under the deal, all U.S. and foreign troops are set to withdraw from Afghanistan. In return, the Taliban promised to prevent al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups from using Afghan territory to threaten the United States and its allies.

As Biden wrestles with the troop withdrawal decision, the Taliban has warned of dire consequences if the United States fails to pull out as scheduled.

The Taliban tweeted Friday that the "Doha agreement is the shortest way to end the war in Afghanistan. If America fails to fulfill the agreement, the Islamic Emirate (name of the ousted Taliban regime) will be compelled to defend its religion and homeland."

The United States appeared to be pushing forward stalled peace talks between the two parties in a bid to leave the country sooner, though the Afghan government requires a U.S. military presence to deter the Taliban, according to experts.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote to Ghani, proposing a U.N.-led peace conference in Turkey.

Washington may be able to pressure the two parties into a peace agreement this year, yet it will remain insubstantial for ending the conflict, considering the Afghan government and the Taliban remain far apart on a number of issues, said Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Research Center for Afghanistan at China's Lanzhou University.

MISSING DEADLINE "UNSURPRISING"

With regard to the U.S. proposal of forming a transitional government, President Ghani reiterated that a general election was the only way forward for the transfer of power in the Asian country.

A Taliban leader told media this month that the Taliban would not join a transitional government.

"The Taliban have no intention of negotiating with the government at all," said Afghan political analyst Atiqullah Amarkhil, noting that the group urged U.S. troops to leave but will not forgo their own military strength in dealing with the Afghan government.

Both Afghan analysts and senior U.S. officers believe that the Afghan government needs strong support from the United States.

If U.S. troops leave hastily, "Afghanistan is going to fall into ... chaos," Afghan Massoud Foundation's CEO Ahmad Massoud told French cable news France 24 on Wednesday.

U.S. Army General Richard Clarke, chief of U.S. Special Operations Command, told the U.S. Senate on Thursday that should U.S. troops leave, Afghan government forces could be overrun by the Taliban, a situation that experts fear may create room for Jihadists.

The United States repeatedly hesitated about when to withdraw due to a persisting concern that the Taliban did not have the will or the ability to truly cut ties with al-Qaeda in a way stipulated in the Doha deal, said Zhu.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the Biden administration is likely to extend the troop withdrawal deadline, he noted.

Meanwhile, "the United States is in favor of maintaining intelligence and military presence in Afghanistan" to safeguard its interests in this region," said Amarkhil. Enditem
Frankfort, KY (40601)

Today

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Areas of patchy fog. Low 58F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Areas of patchy fog. Low 58F. Winds light and variable.
With the Union home minister condoling the death of Shova Majumdar, the 82-year- old mother of a party worker who was allegedly attacked by TMC supporters, Chief Minister Monday hit back at and asked why was the home minister silent during the Hathras rape case in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

Asserting that she does not support violence against women, Banerjee said, she is not aware of the actual reason behind Majumdar's death.

The saffron party claimed that the elderly woman who was allegedly beaten, at Nimta in North 24 Paraganas district in February, succumbed to her injuries sustained during the attack by TMC supporters.

His son was also beaten up on that day, the BJP said.

"I don't know how the sister has died. We don't support violence against women. We have never supported violence against my sisters and mothers. But the BJP is now politicising the issue.

" is tweeting and saying, 'Bengal Ka Kya Haal hain'. Why does was he mum when women were attacked and brutalised at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh?" Banerjee said while addressing a rally in Nandigram.

Highlighting that law and order is now under ECI's jurisdiction with the Model Code of Conduct in place, Banerjee said, "three TMC workers have been killed in the last few days".

Condoling the woman's death, the home minister said earlier in the day, the pain and anguish of Majumdar's family will haunt TMC chief for long.

"Anguished over the demise of Bengal's daughter Shova Majumdar Ji, who was brutally beaten by TMC goons. The pain & wounds of her family will haunt Mamata didi for a long. Bengal will fight for a violence-free tomorrow, Bengal will fight for a safer state for our sisters & mothers," Shah said in a tweet.

Banerjee iterated her claim that the police action in Nandigram on March 14, 2007, which led to the killing of 14 people, could not have happened without the knowledge of veteran political leader Sisir Adhikari and his son Suvendu who have recently switched their loyalties from the Trinamool Congress to the BJP.

Nandigram votes in the second phase of the assembly polls on April 1, and Suvendu Adhikari, her former trusted lieutenant, is Banerjee's challenger from the seat.

Sharpening her attack against Suvendu Adhikari, the TMC leader alleged at a rally that it was he (Suvendu) who had called the police in Nandigram on March 14, 2007.

She claimed that it was not the police but CPI(M) cadres, wearing police uniform, who had fired on the agitators.

"Without the knowledge of the father-son duo, police could not have entered Nandigram on that day," she said.

At least 14 people were killed in police firing at Nandigram on March 14, 2007, following which the Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI investigation.

Slamming the Adhikari family, the TMC supremo said, "it is my fault to have showered so much love on them."



She alleged that she did not understand that they would turn out to be "venomous snakes".

Asking the TMC workers to guard the premises where the EVM machines would be kept after polling, Banerjee said, she would reward those who will do it, at the same time warning them against trusting even the local police.

The chief minister alleged that those who were CPI(M)'s goons earlier are now with the BJP.

Urging TMC supporters to be aware of goons masquerading as policemen in muftis, Banerjee said that the people of Nandigram had a similar experience in 2007.

The TMC leader said, CPI(M) cadres had entered Nandigram on March 14 2007 during the anti-land acquisition movement in police uniform but wearing slippers which were a dead giveaway of their real identity.

"A similar planning is being done here again," she said.

"Didn't the traitor know that the police will enter Nandigram on that fateful day, and there would be trouble? How many times they had a conversation with Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (the then chief minister)," she asked, claiming that she also has some information as the state's chief minister.

She alleged that the Adhikari family might have participated in some meetings and rallies but were not in the forefront on that day.

The feisty TMC boss claimed that people from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh have entered Nandigram area in the guise of central forces to "manipulate the assembly elections".

"They (BJP) think they can rig the polls. We will not allow that to happen. I will stay put in Nandigram till elections are over there. I will myself see how they loot votes," she asserted.

The BJP has hired "goons from outside to loot votes", Banerjee alleged.

The TMC leader claimed that in the first phase of the assembly polls on March 27, people have voted for the ruling party in those seats where the party had trailed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

(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.)
Susan Cassey, left, is involved in a pilot program to try to improve health outcomes for needy people with a combination of clinical support and supplemental food. The project is a joint venture of Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island and Thundermist Health Center.
OLD BRIDGE, N.J., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, the fast-growing limited menu chain that currently operates 547 locations in 29 states and four foreign countries, has selected R.J. Brunelli & Co., LLC to help guide its entry into key New Jersey and New York markets.

Founded in 1996 with a single location in Baton Rouge, La., Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers today operates 547 restaurants in 29 states and four foreign countries.

The Old Bridge-based retail real estate brokerage was named exclusive real estate representative for the fast-casual chain in central and northern New Jersey, and Staten Island, N.Y. With the exception of a single location in Massachusetts, the Baton Rouge, La.-headquartered chain has yet to break into the Northeast.

"We are thrilled to be a part of this important, community-minded brand's expansion into New Jersey and New York," said R.J. Brunelli President/Principal Danielle Brunelli, who will lead an account team that also includes CEO/Principal Ron DeLuca, VP/Principal Mario Brunelli, and Senior Sales Associate Pete Nicholson.

"Our account team is seeking freestanding locations for company-owned restaurants at prime intersections along every major corridor in central and northern New Jersey, and Staten Island," Ms. Brunelli continued. "Plans call for eight locations annually in our central and northern New Jersey markets alone."

Raising Cane's specifications for the metro New Jersey/New York market call for sites of 1 acre or more to accommodate a building of 3,500 to 4,000 square feet with a double drive-thru, and parking for 30 to 40 or more cars. Site preferences include high visibility corner locations with signalized access on roads with a daily traffic count of at least 35,000. Locations should offer close proximity to universities, schools, major retail centers, office parks, major medical facilities, or high-density residential areasall primed for daytime and nighttime dining.

Founded by entrepreneur Todd Graves in 1996, Raising Cane's appeals to a broad demographic with a limited menu offering white meat chicken fingers, chicken finger sandwiches, fries, coleslaw, Texas Toast, and tailgate trays.

The company's story is one of resilience. Graves' initial business plan for the concept was presented in a business course, where he promptly earned the lowest grade in the class. Undeterred, he donned a cheap suit and picked up a weathered briefcase to lure investors in, but time after time, was told the same thing: "Serving only chicken finger meals just won't work."

To make his dream a reality, Graves worked as a boilermaker in California and a Sockeye salmon fisherman in Alaska, to earn money to open the first location in Baton Rouge. He renovated the building himself and opened the doors in 1996.

As that single location morphed into a multi-state and multi-national operation, CEO Graves netted a slew on honors, including Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the SCORE Award for Outstanding Socially Progressive Business, Restauranteur of the Year by the Louisiana Restaurant Association, and Louisianan of the Year by Louisiana Life. He was also one of four restaurant company CEOs recognized on Glassdoor's Top 100 CEOs of 2019.

"The company's commitment to its employees and communities was personified during the current pandemic," Ms. Brunelli noted. "They didn't let go of one person during COVID and instead gave back to their communities, helping people get through the pandemic."

Property owners with sites that meet the company's criteria should contact Danielle Brunelli at: [email protected] or (732) 721-5800.

About R.J. Brunelli & Co.

R.J. Brunelli & Co. serves as exclusive broker for 35 retail properties with a combined gross leasable area (GLA) exceeding 2.3 million square feet, and five properties for sale. The properties are located throughout New Jersey. The firm also serves as exclusive or preferred tenant representative for approximately 20 retail, restaurant and service chains. These include representation in various New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania counties for such companies as Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, Jersey Strong, Urban Bricks Pizza, Modern Acupuncture, European Wax Center, Asian Food Markets, New Jersey Spine and Wellness, Mobile Health Solutions, and Legend Parkthe latter, a national account.

Press contacts: At R.J. Brunelli & Co., LLC, Danielle Brunelli, President, (732) 721-5800; at Jaffe Communications Bill Parness, (732) 673-6852, or Elisa Krantz, (908) 789-0700, [email protected]

SOURCE R.J. Brunelli & Co.
President of the Ghana Medical Association(GMA), Dr. Frank Ankobea has charged the law enforcement agencies to be on alert during the Easter celebrations.



Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, the GMA President warned against people crowding up in churches and other public places to celebrate the Easter fearing people may contract and spread the deadly viral disease.



Dr. Ankobea's admonition to the law enforcement agencies follows a decline in Ghanas active Coronavirus cases.



The decline is attributed to the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccines in the country.



Government of Ghana received the first batch of the Covid-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca, in February 2021.



The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of two vaccines that have been approved and declared safe-for-use by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).



Ghanas active COVID-19 cases currently stand at 2,641 after 106 cases were recorded.



The country has recorded 737 deaths.



Dr. Ankobea appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to direct the law enforcements agencies to every nook and cranny ensuring no one breaches the preventive protocols.



"We plead with the President to empower the Police, District Assemblies, Metropolitan Assemblies and all the law enforcement authorities to be on alert and arrest persons who breach the COVID-19 protocols for we, Ghanaians, are too recalcitrant," he said.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
SCHENECTADY  Niya Hope-Glenn traces her passion for the sciences back to several of her Schenectady High teachers and a counselor who she credits with setting her on a path to becoming a chemical engineer.

In May, Hope-Glenn will start a prestigious three-month internship with the engineering and technical team at First Mode, an aerospace firm.

The 18-year-old is already taking online college course and in September will start in earnest at Howard University, majoring in chemical engineering at the historically Black school in Washington, D.C.

All this for a teen who in her first year at Schenectady High School wanted to become a cosmetologist.

Her ninth-grade biology teacher at the time, Leah Akinleye urged Hope-Glenn to look at the chemistry behind cosmetology.

She really wanted me to pursue a [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] career, said Hope-Glenn.

It wasnt until 10th grade that Hope-Glenn took Akinleyes advice and found her vocation.

I would say that a lot of the teachers at Schenectady High really pushed me to pursue a STEM career, which ultimately led to me loving it, added Hope Glenn.

STEM has grown to represent a unique approach to teaching and learning, one that centers around individual students' learning styles and interests.

Akinleye, who was later promoted to an assistant principal at the high school, recalled a confident Hope-Glenn.

She always knew that she wanted to do something and go somewhere, but she didnt know what it was, but she always stayed after class and asked more questions and was always eager to learn, said Akinleye.She was always happy and relieved that she could come to me for anything.

Hope-Glenn was also outspoken on social issues, including racism, added Akinleye, who now serves as the district's assistant director of educational equity and instructional support.

The two text each other every so often but Akinleye said some of their correspondences are a much needed affirmation in this virtual-education world that has allowed her to make a positive impact in a students life.

Besides Akinleye, Hope-Glenn said Robin Falco, who also teaches science at Schenectady High, was extremely supportive.

She also drew inspiration from her mother, Shelley Hope.

Hope-Glenn, who said she enjoys nuclear and organic chemistry spoke about the versatility of chemical engineering, noting that it can be a gateway into so many other branches of science. She wants to eventually work in research and development.

Acknowledging that her hometown and Schenectady High has its challenges, Hope-Glenn said she made it a point to take advantage of the networking opportunities that came her way.

I was actively looking for opportunities for social justice and engineering, but I feel a lot of people werent aware of those opportunities, added Hope-Glenn, adding she is interested in finding ways to make high school students, and particularly those of color, more aware of STEM careers.

Longtime Schenectady High School Counselor Earl Barcomb attested to that.

"Niya has been a goal-oriented student and always used the resources around her," said Barcomb, who also worked with Hope-Glenn through the Capital Region Sponsor a Scholar program for first generation college bound students. "She knew which way she wanted to go and she was just getting help to get there."

Barcomb revealed that Hope-Glenn was accepted to Ivy League colleges.

She settled on Howard University in part because her research of Historically Black Colleges and Universities led her to discover that a lot of professors incorporate Black history into their curriculum.

When shes not studying, Hope-Glenn said she likes to read and hang out with her friends, some of whom convinced her to go out with them at least once a month for fun.

Hope-Glenn is also part of a prestigious scholarship program. The goal of the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, a non-profit program, is to try to diversify the U.S. aerospace industry.
Peter Dutton has made a political career out of going to war

Hardline ex-cop Peter Dutton was tapped as Australia's next defence minister Monday, putting one of the country's most combative politicians in command of a fast-spending department preoccupied with Beijing's rise.

The 50-year-old former Queensland detective has made a political career out of going to war.

During two decades in parliament, he has gleefully trashed opponents, overseen a controversial refugee policy, riled Australia's close allies and -- more recently -- clashed with the Chinese government.

Hawkish and deeply ambitious, Dutton in 2018 helped oust moderate prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in a party coup, but was ultimately seen as too conservative to take over the party leadership himself.

Since then, he has focused on securing his grip on the powerful mega-portfolio of home affairs -- which brings together the federal police, border force and spy agencies under a single national security umbrella.

He steps into the defence position after a shake-up brought on after rape allegations in the country's halls of power saw two senior ministers demoted.

The move was "the next natural stepping stone in his political career", according to John Blaxland, professor of international security at the Australian National University.

Dutton will become Australia's sixth defence minister in eight years, taking over as the country's military bulks up capabilities in response to a more assertive Beijing.

Canberra has earmarked Aus$270 billion ($206 billion) for new and upgraded defence power, focusing on the purchase of high-tech weapons that could strike targets thousands of kilometres away.

"I expect he will be doubling down on force expansion and capability acquisition decisions," Blaxland told AFP, adding that for Dutton the defence portfolio is gaining "centrality in government policymaking".

"In the thick of it is where he wants to be," Blaxland said.

As Canberra's relations with Beijing have deteriorated in recent years, Dutton has lambasted China for alleged cyberattacks on Australia and "theft" of intellectual property, while saying its Belt and Road Initiative is a "very real" threat.

Story continues

He will also have to reckon with the fallout from an inquiry that found Australian forces had committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

- 'Taking out the trash' -

Dutton has taken on critics of Australia's indefinite detention of asylum seekers in offshore centres -- though he now points to freeing children from the facilities as one of his achievements.

He sparked a backlash in 2018 by claiming people in Melbourne were "scared to go out to restaurants" because of "African gang violence".

The same year, he lobbied for white South African farmers to be resettled in Australia on humanitarian grounds, saying were being persecuted and "need help from a civilised country".

Dutton also stirred controversy by joking about the plight of Pacific island nations beset by rising sea levels, and angered New Zealand by deporting Kiwis convicted of crimes -- a process he described as "taking out the trash".

hr/arb/je
The government on Saturday clarified the fresh directives on cessation of movement into and out of five counties that have recently experienced a surge in Covid-19 infections.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday banned the movement of persons into and out of Nairobi, Machakos, Kiambu, Nakuru, and Kajiado.

And come Saturday, Government spokesperson Col Cyrus Oguna explained those wishing to leave these counties, for one reason or the other, have until March 28 to do so.

"Anyone caught off-guard by the lockdown has until tomorrow (Sunday) 8pm to travel. Those wishing to travel into or out of Nairobi and other four counties in the one zone area have been given until 8pm tomorrow to travel," he said.

He added that candidates sitting for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams will also be allowed to travel home when they finish their exams.

He further clarified that following the lapse of the period, residents within these five counties will only travel within the areas.

"You can therefore move freely within the five counties. You will not however be able to leave and enter the One Zoned Area," he added.

Oguna also pleaded with Kenyans to observe the new curfew timelines in the affected counties 'for their own good'.

He also confirmed that emergencies including sick people in need of healthcare, or deaths, will be considered on a case by case basis.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, right, and Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun enter a briefing room to announce the government's anti-real estate speculation measures at Government Complex Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



The government unveiled a toughened set of anti-real estate speculation measures on Monday and threatened to confiscate any undue gains from government officials found to have engaged in speculative acts.



The Ministry of Economy and Finance devised a total of 20 core measures against real estate speculation. The decision was made amid heightened public uproar over the nationwide scandal surrounding the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), with some of its officials found to have reaped illegal profits through real estate speculation.



"The government has come up with the measures with firm determination that this is the last opportunity for us to stop the chain of corruption in real estate and regain public trust," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki told reporters during a briefing, Monday.



First and foremost, the government decided to strengthen partnerships with 43 prosecution offices nationwide to establish an investigation team for probing real estate speculation cases. More than 500 prosecutors will join the team, which makes the number of pan-governmental real estate investigation personnel over 2,000.



The government also pledged to slap the "toughest punishment" on government officials found to have engaged in real estate corruption.



Under the decision, any government officials involved in real estate speculation will face the maximum penalty allowable by law. All the unfair gains they earned from speculations will be confiscated, and they will also pay fines of up to five times their illegal profits.



The National Tax Service will also enhance its monitoring for real estate tax evasion by forming a dedicated special investigation team. It will carry out toughened investigations on suspected real estate tax dodgers nationwide.



The Financial Services Commission will also join the anti-speculation movement. The authority will establish a special team to keep track of any illegal signs of capital flow into real estate markets. It will monitor any signals over illegal real estate loans, and notify the police and the tax authority of details when catching such signs.



The finance ministry also placed a temporary ban for all LH employees to obtain new property assets, and warned that those who do not abide by the rule will be dismissed.



The ministry also decided to impose a capital gains tax of 70 percent on any land transactions for those who sell less than a year after obtaining the sold property. Starting from next year, the government will also increase a heavy tax of up to 20 percentage points on land transactions for owners making sales less than two years after their purchases.



To encourage more people to report any illegal property speculators, the government will offer a maximum 1 billion won ($882,000) as part of a monetary incentive for those who report speculators.



But experts said the measures still leave much to be desired.



"The gist of the anti-speculation measures should be on preventing government officials from purchasing properties under borrowed names," Myongji University professor Kwon Dae-jung said. But no specific discussions are being held on this point, which raises doubts over whether authorities remain sincere in their pledge to root out real estate speculation by government officials, according to him.



Early this month, the government's joint probe team announced the first round of investigation results over the LH scandal. It found a group of 20 LH officials had purchased land in areas such as Gwangmyeong and Siheung in Gyeonggi Province, which were being designated for a massive urban development project. The police are looking into whether they relied on insider information before the announcement of the project.



In late February, the government designated land in Gwangmyeong and Siheung as two of its six new development areas. But soon after the announcement, a nationwide controversy erupted amid speculations that some LH officials had gone on a buying spree of land worth 10 billion won ($8.84 million) in the areas since 2018, in an apparent move to seek speculative profits there.



Public fury reached its peak following the scandal. This was because public sentiment over the government's real estate policies plunged to the lowest level while the government's botched real estate policies ended up skyrocketing housing prices across the nation for the past few years.



But the corruption scandal in the state-run organization has aggravated the public's already-negative sentiment over the government's series of regulation- and taxation-driven real estate policies.



On Monday, Kim Sang-jo, chief policy secretary to President Moon Jae-in, stepped down from his post amid widening controversy that he raised the leasing price by 14 percent for an apartment he was renting out, just a few days before the introduction of a new housing law that caps apartment rent price increases at 5 percent.



The DPK issued belated apologies Monday for the government's failed real estate policy drives.



"The policies were aimed at curbing speculation and stabilizing housing prices, but in reality, the result was the exact opposite," Rep. Kim Jong-min of the DPK said Monday. The public fury is escalating not just because of the LH scandal, but also the botched real estate policies from the government and the ruling party, he said.




The stops have had a devastating impact on (Coles) personal and professional life, the lawsuit states. Cole, who has asthma, has often resorted to taking public transportation, including during the ongoing pandemic. His children have refused to get in a car with him, and he has, at times, simply stayed home to avoid the risk, according to the suit. He told the Tribune in an interview last week that the stops had led him to consider taking his own life.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 15:51:38|Editor: huaxia

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Confectioner Laszlo Rimoczi shows a chocolate bunny holding a syringe he created for the 2021 Easter season at his chocolate shop in Lajosmizse, Hungary on March 22, 2021. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

"I don't think it's so annoying to wear a mask, I don't think it's so annoying to get vaccinated. If we do not pay attention to these things, we will not be able to escape the pandemic," said Romanian gallery owner Ioana Tomescu.



BRUSSELS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- With the Easter holidays around the corner, many European countries, faced with a possibly worst third wave of COVID-19, have started to tighten their lockdown measures in an attempt to build a "breakwater."

People wearing face masks walk on a street in the historical center of Bucharest during COVID-19 pandemic in Bucharest, Romania, March 25, 2021. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

NEW LOCKDOWNS

Starting from Sunday, stricter prevention and control measures, including early closure of businesses and traffic restrictions, will be adopted in several major cities in Romania, including the capital Bucharest.

According to the decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations, people's free movement will be permitted over weekends till 20:00, and businesses are allowed to open till 18:00, in areas where the incidence of COVID-19 infection exceeds 4 per thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days.

The measure will cease to apply when the cumulative incidence rate in the last 14 days falls below 3.5 per thousand, said Raed Arafat, secretary of state who heads the Emergency Situations Department at Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"It's good, it's an extra prevention. Don't you see how widespread it is," said Adrian Spinei, a retired doctor.

"I think these restrictions are sufficient at the moment, if everyone, at least the citizens of Bucharest, the metropolis, can obey and enforce them sacredly," said gallery owner Ioana Tomescu.

"I don't think it's so annoying to wear a mask, I don't think it's so annoying to get vaccinated. If we do not pay attention to these things, we will not be able to escape the pandemic," Tomescu said.

Two children in the scarfs of the colors of the national flag walk with their parents while celebrating the 103rd independence anniversary of Lithuania in Vilnius, Lithuania, Feb. 16, 2021. (Photo by Alfredas Pliadis/Xinhua)

The Lithuanian government on Friday decided to extend its current nationwide lockdown for another month, till April 30.

It has also imposed a ban on non-essential travel between municipalities from March 27 to April 6 in a bid to curb the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 variants first detected in Britain and South Africa.

"The quarantine, I think it is very nice, because we changed our way of working. I don't need to go to the office, I can work from my house," said Rasa, an economist working with an agricultural information center, who only gave her first name.

"I don't feel any pressure from this quarantine time," she said.

People paint huge Easter eggs at the Zagreb Zoo in Zagreb, Croatia, on March 16, 2021. (Marko Prpic/Pixsell via Xinhua)

In Croatia, the existing restrictions are expected to remain in force during the Easter holidays until the overall epidemiological situation improves in the country, which has a population of around 4 million people.

"We opened three weeks ago. We were closed for almost 80 days, so 70 to 80 days, and that's really a long time," said Marko Benkovic, a waiter at Cafe Kavanica in downtown Zagreb, the Balkan country's capital.

"You can work only on the open terraces which are restricted to 3 meters between the tables. Everybody has to wear a mask. Everybody has to disinfect the hands," he said.

In Estonia, the current restrictions affecting schools, shops, restaurants and public events entered into force on March 11 and will stay in place until at least April 11.

People wait after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Lisbon, Portugal, March 27, 2021. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

PRUDENCE DURING EASTER

Portugal on Thursday extended the state of emergency till April 15 to combat the spread of COVID-19. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called for "prudence" among the public during the Easter holidays to ensure the confinement is "successful."

In Poland, where many people traditionally observe Easter by attending churches and traveling for family gatherings, the public has been advised to limit Easter celebrations to direct family members.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned Thursday that the country is reaching the limits of its healthcare system.

"The bottleneck does not lie with our equipment, but with the number of available medics and nurses," he said.

In France, "reinforced braking measures" have been taken in three more regions -- Rhone, Aube and Nievre -- in a bid to contain a third wave of the pandemic. Similar rules have been applied in 16 French departments, including Paris and its surrounding areas, to relieve the strained hospital system.

"The epidemic situation is not good. The trend is on the rise almost everywhere in France even if the level of virus circulation remains different from one region to another," Health Minister Olivier Veran said Thursday.

The owner of Bouquet Wagram cafe, which provides takeaway services, serves coffee for giant teddy bears in Paris, France, March 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

In Austria, three eastern states will go into a lockdown during the Easter holidays to contain a resurgence of infections, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said Wednesday.

Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland will impose more restrictive measures on April 1-6, Anschober told a press conference. All-day exit restrictions will apply again as during the previous two lockdowns. Only a few exceptions will be made to meet some essential needs.

The goal is to install a "breakwater" by reducing contacts, further increasing testing and expanding the use of face masks, said Anschober.

In Germany, a general COVID-19 test obligation for all entries by airplane would come into force on Monday night, as the COVID-19 numbers were rising too fast and virus variants made "the situation particularly dangerous."

If the country's infection situation would "continue unchecked, we run the risk that our healthcare system will reach its limits in the course of April," Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday.

"There are very clear signals that this wave can be even worse than the first two waves," said Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, the government agency for disease control and prevention.

"We are only at the beginning of this development. And if we do not take massive countermeasures now, the consequences will be serious," Wieler warned.

A COVID-19 test site is seen at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schoenefeld, Germany, March 23, 2021. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)

VACCINATION ROLLOUT

So far, most European countries and their peoples have pinned their hopes on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination.

At a virtual summit on Thursday, European Union (EU) leaders agreed to boost the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Europe to improve the rollout of vaccination programs across member states, European Council President Charles Michel said at the end of the meeting.

"It's absolutely vital, of course, that we keep on working to improve vaccine production in Europe, and improve our ability to distribute those to member states," Michel told a press conference.

Compared with the United States and Britain, the bloc is falling behind on its vaccination rollout, mainly due to the limitations of the pharmaceutical companies' production capacity and supply chains.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also blamed some companies' failure to honor their commitments for the vaccine shortage.

The 27 EU member states have received some 88 million doses of the vaccines and 62 million have been administered. Among those vaccinated, only 18.2 million, or around 4 percent of the EU population, have fully received two jabs.

"We could have been much faster if all pharmaceutical companies had fulfilled their contracts," von der Leyen said, with a clear reference to AstraZeneca. She warned that the Anglo-Swedish firm would have to "catch up" before it is allowed to export doses outside the bloc. 
The author of a new paper on what a future united Ireland could look like has said lessons should be learned from Brexit when it comes to avoiding a "chaotic" poll.

Fianna Fail member of the Dail Jim O'Callaghan said he put forward some ideas which "need to be in place if there ever was to be a border poll in the future".

The TD for Dublin Bay South, who is widely tipped to be a future leader of the party, laid out his current thinking in a speech to the University of Cambridge.

Mr O'Callaghan said interest in the paper "reflects that there are a lot of people outside the island of Ireland who are having a discussion about reunification".

"One thing that can't happen is that we would have a border poll in the same way as Brexit - people vote for a united Ireland and they've no idea what they're voting for," he said.

"It would be chaotic if we didn't try to respond to reasonable questions that are raised."

Mr O'Callaghan said he considered what a new country would look like constitutionally and what the economic consequences would be, as well as how the British identity for unionists would be respected, retained and recognised in a new unified state.

"My vision of a united Ireland does not involve some form of a takeover," he told the BBC Sunday Politics Programme.

"It is everyone on island coming together and trying to resolve and initiate a new country."

He added: "It would improve the standard of living, the quality of life and the economy of Northern Ireland."

Ulster Unionist Doug Beattie told the programme that he found Mr O'Callaghan's paper "interesting" but he added that some of the TD's arguments were "flawed".

"It is a fair aspiration for people to strive for a united Ireland through peaceful means just as it is a fair aspiration for me to strive to remain in the United Kingdom through peaceful means," the Upper Bann MLA said.

"But I don't think he's come up with a killer blow that tells us that we all have to troop into a united Ireland. I just don't see it."

Reacting to the idea that a united Ireland would be a merger rather than a hostile takeover, Mr Beattie described himself as "a constitutional unionist" and "not an economic unionist".

"I want to belong to the four nation union of the United Kingdom," Mr Beattie said.

"Create a new constitution and let us see what it's going be... what is the flag going to be, what is the anthem going to be, how's the justice system going to work?"

Mr O'Callaghan delivered his speech to Sidney Sussex College last Tuesday. Under his proposals, one of the two chambers of an all-Ireland parliament could be based in Belfast if the island united.

He also said unionists could be guaranteed cabinet positions.
ADAMS  An unidentified juvenile faces charges in the shooting death of a Springfield man that took place in an Adams apartment Thursday.

Authorities say Benjamin Martinez, 34, of Springfield, died after a shooting they are terming a homicide.

AdamsIncident2 (copy) Law enforcement officials respond to what they first termed a suspicious death in an apartment at 1 East Hoosac St. in Adams. Authorities pl

The juvenile was arrested Friday night by state police in Springfield. He faces a first degree murder charge and is expected to be arraigned Monday in Northern Berkshire District Court. The alleged shooter's identity is expected to be revealed at his court appearance. In Massachusetts, juveniles charged with first- or second-degree murder are treated as adults.

Martinez was found to be dead when paramedics reached the apartment, at 1 East Hoosac St. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has determined that Martinez died as a result of a gunshot, according to Andrew McKeever, spokesman for Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington.

Police were called to the scene of the shooting just after 9 p.m. Thursday after getting a call from someone who had found the deceased mans body.

The shooting was investigated by Adams police, the state police detective unit assigned to the Berkshire District Attorneys Office, North Adams Police, and the Berkshire County Sheriffs Office.

In a statement issued Sunday, Harrington expressed deep condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Martinez for their loss.

I thank the detectives for their meticulous work over the last four days to quickly solve this crime and bring the suspect into custody, Harrington said.
Prosecutors have charged Ghislaine Maxwell with two new counts from a fourth underage accuser - and warned they were going after her $22.5m fortune.

The British socialite was charged with sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor related to a woman who claims she first met Maxwell when she was 14.

According to a 'superseding indictment' that includes previous charges, Maxwell paid the girl hundreds of dollars to give Jeffrey Epstein sexual massages and even sent her lingerie.

The time frame of the allegations has expanded to between 1994 and 'at least' 2004, which covers the period where Epstein was associating with powerful men like Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton.

Neither man is mentioned in the court documents but it significantly raises the prospect of them both being brought up at Maxwell's trial.

Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with two new counts of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor

According to a new indictment, Maxwell paid the girl hundreds of dollars to give Jeffrey Epstein sexual massages and even sent her lingerie

The indictment also reveals that prosecutors intend to seize Maxwell's assets if she is convicted . During a bail application she revealed her and her husband Scott Borgerson are worth $22.5million.

The new indictment dramatically increases the legal peril faced by Maxwell, who has pleaded not guilty to all the allegations so far.

The 24-page document says 'beginning at least in or about 2001' Maxwell and Epstein 'enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, minor girls to visit Epstein's Palm Beach residence to engage in sex acts with Epstein, after which Epstein, Maxwell, or another employee of Epstein's would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash.'

Maxwell is accused of calling victims to 'schedule an appointment for the victim to massage Epstein' at his Palm Beach home.

The indictment says: 'When a victim initially arrived at the Palm Beach Residence, she would be greeted by an employee of Epstein's, including, at times, Maxwell.

'The victim would then be escorted to a room with a massage table.

'Once inside, the victim would provide a nude or semi-nude massage for Epstein who would himself typically be naked. During these encounters, Epstein would escalate the nature and scope of the physical contact to include sex acts such as groping and direct and indirect contact with the victim's genitals'.

Maxwell 'facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's access to minor victims knowing that he had a sexual preference for underage girls and that he intended to engage in sexual activity with those victims,' the indictment says.

The new accuser, referred to a Minor Victim-4, allegedly met Maxwell at Epstein's Palm Beach home when she was around 14

During this period Prince Andrew became friends with Epstein and allegedly had sex three times with one of his victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, allegations the Duke denies. Andrew is pictured with Virginia Roberts, aged 17, and Maxwell in 2001

The new accuser, referred to a Minor Victim-4, allegedly met Maxwell at Epstein's Palm Beach home when she was around 14.

Maxwell subsequently interacted with her on 'multiple' occasions even though she knew she was under 18 at the time, it is claimed.

These interactions took place between 2001 and 2004, the indictment alleges.

Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in jail in 2019 before he could face trial in a sex trafficking case in New York

During this period Prince Andrew became friends with Epstein and allegedly had sex three times with one of his victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, allegations the Duke denies.

Clinton flew on Epstein's plane on trips to Asia and Africa in the early 2000s and the other passengers included actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker.

The indictment says: 'Maxwell groomed Minor Victim-4 to engage in sexual acts

with Epstein through multiple means.

'For example, Maxwell asked Minor Victim-4 about her family and other aspects of her life.

'Maxwell also sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things , discussing sexual topics in front of Minor Victim-4 and being present when Minor Victim- 4 was nude in the massage room of the Palm Beach residence'.

Maxwell allegedly offered to help the girl get a passport for foreign travel but she declined.

On 'multiple occasions' Maxwell sent the girl 'gifts' including lingerie from an address in Manhattan, which appears to refer to the townhouse she was living in at the time.

Maxwell also allegedly encouraged the girl to recruit 'other young females to provide sexualized massages to Epstein', it is alleged.

Minor Victim- 4 brought 'multiple females, including girls under the age of 18' and was paid 'hundreds of dollars in cash', it is claimed.

Previously Maxwell, 59, had been charged with six counts including enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.

The indictment also reveals that prosecutors intend to seize Maxwell's assets if she is convicted - during a bail application she revealed her and her husband Scott Borgerson are worth $22.5million. The couple are pictured in 2013

She was also charged with perjury in relation to a separate civil case.

All those six counts remain and with the additional two, Maxwell now faces a total of eight allegations.

Earlier this month Maxwell was denied bail for a third time after US District Judge Alison Nathan ruled again that she was a flight risk.

Maxwell had offered to give up her British and French citizenship and offer all her $28.5m assets she and husband Scott Borgerson owned as a surety.

The superseding indictment includes a new section called 'forfeiture allegations' which says that if convicted Maxwell will be forced to give up 'any property, real and personal, that was used to commit or facilitate the sixth count'.

The indictment says that if any of the property has been 'transferred to a third person', or 'placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court' or 'commingled with other property which cannot be subdivided without difficulty' then the prosecution will still 'seek forfeiture' of the property.

The provisions appear to be a clear reference to how Maxwell used a series of trusts to move her assets to the ownership of Mr Borgerson, as detailed in financial disclosures she filed to the court.

Maxwell is due to go on trial in July.
There is plenty to like about investing in New Zealand - the geology is good and having worked in New Zealand before, I know that the mineral prospectivity is very high.

The junior explorers are feeling a bit lukewarm at the moment but don't let that fool you. As I have mentioned in most of the Coffee with Samso in the last 12 months, I have said that for many decades, the enthusiasm is unseen so tread the market with caution.

Corporate finance associates in the mining sector are telling me that business is hectic and they are sup-busy. Transactions are happening and they had only a one-week break when the gold price turned. Now, they are back in business.

Investing in what you understand

As Rick Rule points out in Coffee with Samso Episode 70, most astute investors are saying they are smart but rather they have seen a lot. They will tell you that quality and a complete understanding of the business are critical. I am in this camp and this 'lull' in the market can be seen as profit-taking or the market finding equilibrium.

Whatever the reason for the pullback, my 'two cents worth' is that the next six months will be turbulent but if you have a two to three-year view, you will be happy. Most importantly, one has to understand the business of your investment.

Check out Commodities and Equities: Advice from Rick Rule - 27:28 Investing in What You Understand - Understand Real Value.

White Cliff Minerals positioning to explore in NZ

( ) announcing the acquisition of New Zealand projects is an interesting strategy. We all know that the world is now looking at the bright lights at the end of the tunnel and investors know that it is only a matter of time when things will start to boil again.

What I like about the projects is that they are in New Zealand and things will get better. New Zealand is not the super 'Green' state that frowns upon all mining. In fact, it is the opposite. They have regulations like every other mining jurisdiction and they have different ways to deal with keeping the environment.

The geology is good and having worked in New Zealand before, I know that the mineral prospectivity is very high. There has not been the intense exploration like in Australia and there has never been as good a time as now to source funding. There are no sovereign risk issues and there is abundant expertise in-country. Hence, what is there not to like?

In this episode of Coffee with , Ed Mead tells us about the projects and how they fit within the present company portfolio. Ed shares with us the reasoning behind those projects and his thoughts on the prospects in the market.

PODCAST:

About Edward Mead

Technical director, White Cliff Minerals

Edward (Ed) Mead is a geologist with over 20 years of experience in gold and base metals exploration, mine development and mine production. Ed has also worked in the oil and gas industry on offshore drilling platforms. Other commodities that he has significant experience with and can be considered to be a competent person in are iron ore, magnetite, coal, manganese, lithium, potash and uranium.

Geological areas in Western Australia that he has worked in include the West Pilbara for base metals and gold; the East Pilbara for manganese and gold; the Yilgarn for gold; the Kimberley for base metals, gold and uranium; and the Murchison for base metals, uranium and gold.

He has a BSc in geology from Canterbury University in New Zealand and is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

About White Cliff Minerals

White Cliff Minerals Ltd is a mineral exploration company trading on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker code WCN.

The company is currently focusing its exploration on the Reedy South Gold Project near the Cue mining centre in Western Australia and is pursuing a dual strategy to advance its prospective gold and nickel-cobalt projects in Western Australia.

Please let Samso know your thoughts and send any comments to info@Samso.com.au. Remember to Subscribe to the YouTube Channel, Samso Media and the mail list to stay informed and make comments where appropriate. Other than that, also feel free to provide a Review on Google.

For further information about Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talks visit: www.samso.com.au

About Samso

Samso is a renowned resource among the investment community for keen market analysis and insights into the companies and business trends that matter.

Investors seek out Samso for knowledgeable evaluations of current industry developments across a variety of business sectors and considered forecasts of future performances.

With a compelling format of relaxed online video interviews, Samso provides clear answers to questions they may not have the opportunity to ask and lays out the big picture to help them complete their investment research.

And in doing so, Samso also enables companies featured in interviews to build valuable engagement with their investment communities and customers.

Headed by industry veteran Noel Ong and based in Perth, Western Australia, Samsos Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talk interviews both feature friendly conversations with business figures that give insights into Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) companies, related concepts and industry trends.

Noel Ong is a geologist with nearly 30 years of industry experience and a strong background in capital markets, corporate finance and the mineral resource sector. He was founder and managing director of ASX-listed company from 2009-2017 and has also been involved in several other ASX listings, providing advice, procuring projects and helping to raise capital.

He brings all this experience and expertise to the Samso interviews, where his engaging conversation style creates a relaxed dialogue, revealing insights that can pique investor interest.

Noel Ong travels across Australia to record the interviews, only requiring a coffee shop environment where they can be set up. The interviews are posted on Samsos website and podcasts, YouTube and other relevant online environments where they can be shared among investment communities.

Samso also has a track record of developing successful business concepts in the Australasia region and provides bespoke research and counsel to businesses seeking to raise capital and procuring projects for ASX listings.

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EV

PHEV

This change of heart means that Jeep has to promote environmentally-friendly adventures off the beaten path, which brings us to the 4xe Charging Network operated by Electrify America. Level 2 charging stations will be installed at Badge of Honor off-road trailheads around the United States over the next 12 months. Furthermore, Wrangler 4xe owners benefit from complimentary charging as long as they use a custom mobile application.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, declared Giovanni Palazzo, the big kahuna 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 the most, and make it a reality.Level 2 charging means 240-volt charging, which doesnt mean much without a practical example. Happily, however, Jeep provided one in the guise of the 17-battery utilized by the Wrangler 4xe. Juicing up the pack from zero to full charge takes about two hours, according to the 4x4 brand, which is a lot of time for just 21 miles (34 kilometers) ofrange.Priced from $47,995 for the Sahara and $51,695 for the Rubicon, the Wrangler 4xe is eligible for the federal tax credit of $7,500 and other state and local credits. The plug-in hybrid powertrain mostly relies on the 2.0-liter turbo four-pot mill, joined by two electric motors. Only the one found in the eight-speed automatic tranny offers propulsion, though.In addition to the body-on-frame Wrangler and Gladiator, theres another 4xe in the pipeline. As part of The Road Ahead strategy, the Grand Cherokee will be treated to aoption next year as a 2023 model.
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This is where the world is going. It sometimes sounds cold  not having to contact anyone  but in an age of innovations and disease  it is a necessary path we must have to pass through. Many of our young ones will readily embrace this innovation, even though the debates may come up later about whether we should create avenues for more human contact.

I started my banking career at Citizens Bank, Plot 130, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos on the 13th of October, 1992. Those were days of innocence for almost everyone. The June 12, 1993 election was just around the corner, but the military ruled, and no one was sure of what would pan out. We worked rather hard but looking back today, things were generally slow. My typical day at work started around 6.45 a.m. in the morning, as I had to be well-coordinated and ready to roll by as early as 8 a.m. In the earlier days, I closed late  sometimes by 10 p.m., but averagely by 9 p.m. I was a Clearing Officer. I had a famous portmanteau (briefcase) stuffed with bank cheques that I carried about, to and fro the Clearing Office on the 6th floor of the old Central Bank building at Tinubu Square. The Clearing Officers work starts when others have finished, and somehow never stops. You had to rush your cheques drawn on other banks to clearing in the morning and bring back those drawn on your bank. Your figures had to balance and the entire clearing house must be in proof before anyone left. A one kobo difference was a big deal, so it demanded that you understand precision and accuracy at all times. A good day was one in which your outgoing numbers was a lot more than your incoming ones.

In those days of yore, local cheques required five working days to have value. Those drawn outside the location (State) where they were presented (otherwise called upcountry cheques) would require all of 30 days. I recall a few frauds happened back in the day as a result of people teeming and lading  playing fast and loose  with upcountry cheques. Those days are long gone. Computers have replaced many of the manual functions that we engaged in, and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc, established in 1993 through a collaboration between banks and their regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria, has seen momentous innovations that have greatly transformed the space and positioned Nigeria as a linchpin for continuous modernisation in finance. I recall that when Nigeria managed to achieve a two-day cheque clearing cycle, the same transaction still required five days in the United Kingdom. Whereas I understand that the UK has altogether gotten rid of the use of cheques today, there are many innovations that we have in our financial economy that many developed ones do not have. Perhaps our economy is peculiar in some ways  many small payments get made peer-to-peer, 41 million micro and small enterprises exist, and so on.

NIBSS achievements need to be chronicled very briefly here. Established in 1993, by the year 2002 Nigeria managed to reduce the cheque clearing cycle to T+3 (today plus three days), down from T+5. We were already on our way to financial market excellence. Let me pause a bit to note one unique thing about innovation  it is all about making improvements even when most people will wonder whether such improvement is needed. Many would have thought: why the hurry? Who says we cannot wait for 5 days to clear a cheque? back then. But look at the world today, moving at such a frenetic pace, with no time to check time, as the say on the streets today! And so, by 2007, Nigeria was able to achieve a T+2 turnaround on cheque clearing (this is the point I mentioned above, where UK lagged behind). By 2009, Nigeria was already standardising the use of prepaid cards, and in 2010, a limit of N10 million was set on cheques, with a view to encouraging the use of electronic transfer channels, thereby providing more information to curb money laundering and the finance of terrorism. Cashless society was taking hold. By 2012, cheque clearing in Lagos became a T+1 affair and by 2013 this went national! These are great achievements that we have come to take for granted.

NIBSS and its partners seized the moment in 2020 to standardise the use of Quick Recognition codes in payment systems in Nigeria, just as some other innovative countries have been doing. The need for contactless payment systems has been enhanced by the still ongoing pandemic, thus necessitating rapid innovation from a health and efficiency angle.

The Future of Payment Systems

Today, Nigerians also use USSD (Unstructured Supplement Service Data) codes routinely to send money among themselves and to make payments in retail transactions. Everyone with a bank account in Nigeria today carries a debit card and there are credit cards issued to prime customers by some service providers. There is even what is called mobile money or mobile wallets, which are monies stored in mobile phones. What is more? Millions of savvy Nigerians have installed apps in their phones and other devices, from which they can make payments and do transfers for sundry reasons. Even the erstwhile restrictions that Nigeria-issued bank cards used to have are disappearing. Could it be said that we have now fully integrated with global finance? Of course, there are grey areas and a large room for improvement but these achievements in our payment systems are worthy of commendation.

As the world went into a painful lockdown in the year 2020, NIBSS did not go to sleep as it worked on the development of a National QR code. Invariably, a few closed schemes existed, which have not been able to leverage national acceptance. NIBSS and its partners seized the moment in 2020 to standardise the use of Quick Recognition codes in payment systems in Nigeria, just as some other innovative countries have been doing. The need for contactless payment systems has been enhanced by the still ongoing pandemic, thus necessitating rapid innovation from a health and efficiency angle. Innovations can never be too much, and thinking organisations much achieve that pedestal where they are always ahead in terms of thinking. So, having a T+1 cheque clearing cycle, debit and credit cards, electronic banking, USSD code for payments, mobile money and other innovations in the bag, could never be enough. Nigeria could do with even more. In comes QR codes. What are they?

Well, QR  or Quick Recognition  codes are like barcode tokens which mask data. The masking provides one level of security. However, QR codes are even more important in the payment systems space because they are a sure way of providing immediate value to merchants (sellers) for their transactions. As payments are made, the retailer receives immediate value, rather than have their funds being warehoused by a third party until settlement is done at the close of business. This makes for real-time planning and decision-making. Transaction costs are also reduced marginally, just as the platform provides more interactive reporting, accounting and reconciliation services. It is even more enthralling that merchants (retailers) could set up this system themselves and with very little hassle, just by downloading the NQR (Nigerian QR) app on playstore, and that is the same thing payers need to do. I recall how much hassle retailers sometimes went through trying to obtain POS (Point-of-sale) machines. The banks have invested a huge sum on these machines and some are complaining of not having recouped their investments. The customers are also complaining that the machines are being rationed. So, imagine a situation where all the brouhaha about the issuance of machines, set-ups, constant calls to know if your machines are still working, reconciliation snafus, accounting nightmares and whatnot, suddenly disappears? Imagine that this QR codes could be set up by anyone on their phones, such as to permit peer-to-peer, not only peer-to-business exchange of money? I believe that this will enhance the growth of legitimate transactions. Imagine that a creditor could easily collect his debts by linking his QR with his debtors QR! This is one less excuse for not paying up. However, this system allows for more transparency as regulators could continue to have a handle on financial flows within the system.

How it works? Simple. To make a payment in the supermarket, all you have to do is get to the counter/cashier and scan the QR code of the store. The account details of the organisation will be displayed and all you have to do is enter the sum total of your cart and pay through your bank.

How it works? Simple. To make a payment in the supermarket, all you have to do is get to the counter/cashier and scan the QR code of the store. The account details of the organisation will be displayed and all you have to do is enter the sum total of your cart and pay through your bank. I read also that in some instances, a shopper could continue scanning as they pick items such that by the time they get to checkout they already know how much to pay. This way, shoppers could also control how much they spend (remember those instances you had to return items to the shelf just because you had already spent more than you could afford?). This latter scenario also reminds one of those Amazon contactless supermarkets where once you pick an item off the shelf, that item drops into your virtual shopping cart and without contacting anyone, once you leave the shop, the total amount of your shopping gets taken out of your account virtually. There is more! It is also comforting to note that QR codes can be used in withdrawing cash at ATMs without touching the screen, or for payment and collections at toll booths.

This is where the world is going. It sometimes sounds cold  not having to contact anyone  but in an age of innovations and disease  it is a necessary path we must have to pass through. Many of our young ones will readily embrace this innovation, even though the debates may come up later about whether we should create avenues for more human contact. For sure and for now, NQR codes will add good value when it debuts and mainstreams in our payment systems.

As I type this, I cannot help but wonder: Are we staring into a future of payment systems bliss with the NQR codes?

Tope Fasua, an economist, author, blogger, entrepreneur, and recent presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), can be reached through topsyfash@yahoo.com.
The Allstate Corp. said it has agreed to sell its New York life insurance and annuity operation to Wilton Re for $220 million.

The selling of Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York (ALNY), along with the previously announced agreement to sell Allstate Life Insurance Co. (ALIC) and investment affiliates of Blackstone for $2.8 billion, will complete Allstates exit from the life and annuity businesses.

The combined divestitures of ALIC and ALNY will result in an estimated net loss of $4 billion, which will be recorded in the first quarter of 2021, and generate approximately $1.7 billion of deployable capital, according to the announcement.

Both transactions are expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to regulatory and other conditions.

ALIC holds approximately 80 percent, or $23 billion, of Allstates life and annuity reserves. The New York company has $5 billion of GAAP reserves.

The sales are part of the insurers strategy to concentrate on its personal property/casualty insurance and protection business over other financial services, although the ALNY transaction itself will only have minimal impact on its strategy, according to Mario Rizzo, chief financial officer of Allstate.

The strategy was cited by Allstate CEO Tom Wilson last July in announcing his firms acquisition of auto insurer National General for $4 billion and the ALIC deal with Blackstone.

Allstate is deploying capital out of lower growth and return businesses while continuing to execute our strategy to grow market share in personal property-liability and expand protection solutions for customers, Wilson reaffirmed in announcing the ALIC deal.

Under the terms of the ALNY deal with Wilton Re, Allstate will divest ALNY and terminate an ALIC stop-loss reinsurance treaty. Allstate has agreed to contribute $660 million of capital into ALNY, then receive a payment of $220 million from Wilton Re. The transaction will reduce GAAP reserves and invested assets by $5 billion and $6 billion respectively.

Going forward, ALNY agents will be offering life insurance and retirement solutions from third-party providers, Allstate said.

Wilton Re is a provider reinsurance to the North American life insurance industry.

J.P. Morgan Securities and Ardea Partners acted as financial advisers, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher was the legal adviser to Allstate.

Topics New York
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Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
A group that opposes former President Donald Trump is dialing up the pressure on Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

The Republican Accountability Project is spending $1 million on a new round of TV and digital ads criticizing six GOP members of Congress the group says encouraged a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as Electoral College votes were being counted.

The ads target Reps. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is the House GOP leader; Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C.; and Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who is running for the states open U.S. Senate seat.

We remember how Kevin McCarthy lied about the 2020 election results, the narrator of the ad that focuses on the California Republican says. We remember that he voted to overturn the will of American voters.

He hopes well forget. We wont, the narrator continues. If Kevin McCarthy wont support democracy, we wont support him.

The new ads are part of a broader push from the Republican Accountability Project, which plans to spend $50 million in the 2022 election cycle, to weaken Trump and his allies. The group has pledged to protect Republicans who voted for impeachment, and may support primary challengers to pro-Trump lawmakers.

It is about creating an awareness that what they did was a violation, said Sarah Longwell, the founder of the Republican Accountability Project. Lying about the election being stolen, that it is disqualifying, and that they shouldnt be allowed to just pretend that it didnt happen.

The commercials are set to begin running Monday on CNN and on digital platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. They will also air later in local news media markets in the lawmakers districts.

Spokespersons for the lawmakers declined to provide comment on the ads.

Longwell said they are starting with ads against the more high-profile GOP lawmakers who objected to the election results and will eventually target all of them.

The Republican Accountability Project consists of former GOP officials and operatives who oppose the partys direction under Trump. Republican leaders have criticized the group and other Never Trump organizations for essentially acting as vehicles that benefit Democrats.

2021 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon Ebenezer Kojo Kum has promised to help solve chieftaincy disputes in the Western Region.



According to Hon Kojo Kum, he is aware of the ongoing Chieftaincy dispute being witnessed between Upper and Lower Dixcove that is gravely affecting the development of the Ahanta West constituency.



The Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ahanta West Constituency in the Western Region made this revelations during a meeting with delegation from the Ahantaman Traditional Council.



I thank President Akufo Addo for the trust repose in me and I believe he expects me to help solve the Chieftaincy disputes in my Region and I promise to do just that he said.



A 10 Chiefs Ahanta Traditional Council have paid a courtesy call on the newly-sworn-in Chieftaincy and Religious Minister, Ebenezer Kojo Kum and also to congratulate their descendant for his elevation.



The first delegation used the occasion to appeal to the Minister to intervene in the Chieftaincy disputes in the area that is hindering progress.



The Chiefs also wanted to deliberate on pertinent issues with the first legislator of the traditional area to be appointed Minister of State under the Fourth Republic foster growth and development in the area.



Speaking on behalf of Ahantamans Paramount Chief, Otumfuo Badu Bonso, leader of the delegation, Nana Etsin Kofi II appealed to the Minister to utilise his new position to address the conflicts being recorded at Dixcove.



In his view, the ongoing dispute being witnessed between Upper and Lower Dixcove is gravely affecting the development of the Ahanta West constituency.



Candidly speaking, we are very perturbed by the occurrences at Dixcove lately. Residents at Dixcove are our families, they are part of Ahantaman so we entreat you to take drastic measures to resolve the matter.



You are our son and we promise to support you in whatever way we can to ensure that this matter is settled once and for all. You have exhibited your prowess before and we know you can do it again, he stated.



The Paramount Queen mother of the Ahanta Traditional Area presented gift to the Chieftaincy Minister, Ebenezer Kojo Kum to express their delight in seeing their son occupying such position in the country.



Some of the Chiefs are Nana Kofi Nyankum IV- Divisional Chief of Pretsea and Adumhene of the Ahanta Traditional Area.

Nana Kofi Armoo III- Divisional Chief of Egyambra and senior Gyasehene of the Ahanta Traditional Area. Nana Etsin Kofi II, Divisional Chief of Aboade.



Nana Egodzi Essoun III and Dwantoahene of the Ahanta Traditional Area, Nana Borzza IX, Divisional Chief of Akatakyi and manwerehene of The Ahanta Traditional Area.



Nana Aziaku IV, Tufuhene of the Ahanta Traditional Area and Divisional Chief of Agona Nkwanta and Justice A. Mensah- Registrar among others.

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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Do you remember In Port? In May of 1992, Louis Ryan, who was the founder and editor of the paper, introduced the first issue by writing, This monthly news magazine is undertaken with the intent to bridge the gap in communications between segments of our communities. The time has come to reestablish the link of information exchange once handled by the local weekly newspapers. Our existence hinges on an ability to fill the void created by the passing of The Port Byron Chronicle and The Cayuga Chief which once provided local news. And for the next 20 years, the paper would try to do that.

It would be safe to say that In Port was Lou Ryan, and Lou was In Port. An article in 1995 listed his duties as the publisher, editor, column writer, story writer, interviewer, subscription editor, photographer, layout editor, graphics designer and many more. Lou was an old newspaper man. A article about his life appeared in the March 1995 issue of the paper after he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He started in the late 1940s as a teenager in the newsroom of The Cayuga Chief, where he learned typesetting and later how to craft an article. After a brief stint as a milkman, he returned to the newspapers in 1959 and never left. The article noted that he had intended to start four monthly papers, but after finding how much work one paper entailed, he settled all his efforts on In Port. His death in the spring of 1995 left a sizable hole to fill. At the time of his death, the subscription list was about 700. The various roles were taken over by an army of volunteers, with Dewey Lincoln settling in as the general manager. He would continue in that role until the end of publication.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:39:26|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The daily COVID-19 cases in the Philippines on Monday surpassed 10,000 for the first time, while India's tally crossed 12 million with 68,020 new cases.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 10,016 new COVID-19 infections, the highest ever daily tally since the outbreak began in January last year, raising the nationwide count in the Southeast Asian country to 731,894. The death toll climbed to 13,186 after 16 more patients died from the viral disease.

India's COVID-19 tally crossed 12 million mark, reaching 12,039,644 as 68,020 new cases were reported across the country, the highest daily spike this year, according to the latest figures released by the federal health ministry. A total of 291 deaths were reported since Sunday morning, taking the death toll to 161,843.

Fiji received the second batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine it has procured through the COVAX facility, a World Health Organization-led initiative aimed at ensuring equal access to COVID-19 vaccines by various countries.

Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lauded China's contribution to the world in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic after a batch of Chinese vaccines arrived in the Himalayan country.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said the Southeast Asian nation has set a goal of providing 1 million shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens per month.

The country confirmed 40 new local COVID-19 cases and one new death, the country's Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

State-owned Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) launched a 200-million-U.S. dollar Business Recovery Guarantee Scheme (BRGS), aiming to support businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thailand confirmed 39 cases of COVID-19 infection, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Of the new cases, 28 were domestic infections while 11 others referred to imported cases.

Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane will enter a three-day lockdown from 5:00 p.m. local time Monday as locally-acquired COVID-19 cases continued to grow with some cases' origin unknown.

New Zealand reported 11 new border-related COVID-19 cases in managed isolation and no new community cases on Monday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

South Korea reported 384 more cases of COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 102,141. The daily caseload was down from 482 in the previous day amid fewer virus tests over the weekend, falling below 400 in six days. Enditem

A United Nations Human Rights panel recently expressed concerns over what it observed as an "alarming pattern of restrictions" on freedom of media in Pakistan. The UN panel sent two documents to the government of Pakistan and informed Islamabad that it has received inputs concerning a series of "alleged meritless charges" raised against the journalists and human rights defenders in Pakistan. According to The Dawn, these documents are signed by three rapporteurs Irene Khan, Elina Steinert, and Mary Lawlor and shared with the Pakistan government two months back.



The documents shared by the UN include complaints with cases against journalists in the courts of Pakistan that are still under investigation while in a few other cases the journalists are being questioned or threatened, but are not prosecuted. The report published in the leading Pakistan daily lists at least ten such journalists who stand charged with allegations like defamation and posting unlawful content on the web, against the government.

Pak in IFJ's list of the 'most dangerous countries for practice of journalism'

It must be recalled that in 2020, the International Federation for Journalists had listed Pakistan in the list of five countries that the IFJ said are the "most dangerous countries for practice of journalism." The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also condemned the Tehreek-e-Insaf government's actions in Pakistan and has warned the State against using the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to curb political dissent or suppress the journalists.

Journalists who face charges for criticising the Pak govt

One of the many journalists who allegedly faced charges for criticising the Pak government is Ajeeb Ali Lakho from Sindh. According to The Dawn, he was charged with illegal trade and smuggling of Iranian diesel after his report criticised the government. Lakho in 2019 submitted a petition in over 20 cases filed against him and claimed that all the charges were "false and frivolous."



Meanwhile, Pakistan stands at the 145th position out of the 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2020 World Press Freedom Index, three places lower than in 2019. The names of other journalists who face similar charges include Rana Arshad Sulehri, an Islamabad-based journalist; Bilal Farooqi, a human rights defender and editor of the Express Tribune news site; Mian Dawood, a court reporter; Ahmad Noorani, a journalist from Islamabad now based in the United States, among many others.
Steve Gonzales, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

Police have arrested a man accused of bludgeoning his estranged wife in the head with a hammer during a night time attack that, authorities say, left her brain dead and unlikely to survive.

The womans screams  and then moans  at the Cypress home woke at least one of the couples six children. The next morning, the children  one of the children as young as 5  discovered their mother, Thi Nguyen, in the living room  bleeding from a head wound on the mattress where she had been sleeping, according to court records. Their father, Minh Hoang, 55, then forced the children to clean up her blood.
New Delhi:

After making PAN and mobile numbers, now Aadhaar will be needed for registering businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGO). The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act for the same.

In a bid to trace directors and promoters easily and make it difficult to form shell companies, Aaadhar of top management personnel will be needed at the time of registration of companies and partnership entities.

According to the reports, making Aadhar mandatory will bring partnerships and trusts under the same regulations, which is not the case currently.

Recently, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad indicated that Aadhaar could be made mandatory for driving license in an order to prevent the issuance of multiple licenses.

The ultimate aim of the government is to curb the menace of the black money and to achieve that goal government is looking for a mechanism to get entities with cumulative transactions of over Rs 2 lakh annually under a regulatory regime.

These recent changes or amendments will help check the possibility of any misuse of the system, the report further added.

Till now, the PAN was treated as the unique identification number for all the businesses.

Recently, the government banned nearly 2 lakh defunct companies and also identified 106, 578 directors of shell companies to be disqualified.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Disney introduced two new tiger cubs to the Maharajah Jungle Trek at Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2017, twins Anala and Jeda, the first Sumatran tiger cubs ever born at the theme park. Jeda was taken care of as part of a campaign to save critically endangered Sumatran tigers. She was recently transferred to the San Antonio Zoo to support the Species Conservation Strategy.

Moving in to San Antonio

Jeda, who is currently three years old, is a new addition to the San Antonio Zoo. In the coming weeks, zookeepers will introduce him to the zoo's resident female Sumatran tiger, The Royal Ja'Malle. It's ideal if the two animals mate as part of the Species Conservation Programme, which seeks to save the critically endangered species by sound reproduction, much as his parents Sohni and Malosi, did at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

In an Instagram post San Antonio Zoo said, "Grrr-eat news! We're ecstatic to introduce you to a new member of the SA Zoo family - Jeda, the 3-year-old male Sumatran tiger!

In the coming weeks, he'll get to know his surroundings and eventually meet our resident female Sumatran tiger, The Royal Ja'Malle!

Our hope is that they will eventually contribute to the Species Survival Plan for this critically endangered species through successful breeding."

Jeda and Anala

Jeda is one of the famous Disney tiger twins Jeda and Anala. These renowned animal twins made their television debut on "Good Morning America" after being born at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort Florida.

The critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs born in August became the first tigers to be born at Animal Kingdom.

They were raised as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan conservation initiative, which encourages responsible breeding of endangered and threatened species.

Related Article: Rare Sumatran Tigers Born In Indonesia and US Zoos



Sumatran Tiger

The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is the smallest and darkest of the tiger subspecies, with more bearded and maned fur than the others. Indonesia's only surviving island tiger can be found in a variety of habitats, including sub-mountain and mountain woodland, lowland forest, and peat forest.

In Sumatra, it is estimated that there are between 400 and 500 wild tigers living in isolated patches of protected land. Three of the protected areas are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Still, they are all in danger of losing their designation due to challenges such as poaching, unregulated mining, agricultural encroachment, and proposed road construction. For these reasons, the Sumatran tiger is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN: The species is critically endangered.

Tiger Conservation

The Rimbang Baling Ecosystem, including Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve, Bukit Batabuh Protection Area, and Bukit Bungkuk Nature Reserve, is a crucial part of one of the Central Sumatra Tiger Conservation Ecosystems. In cooperation with WWF Indonesia, a consortium led by WWF Germany is working to enhance and reinforce the management of key sites within the Rimbang Baling Landscape, which includes Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve Bukit Batabuh Protection Forest, and Bukit B. The ecosystem is crucial for the Sumatran tigers' long-term survival because it serves as both a tiger source site and a vital corridor for tiger migration through the area.

Also Read: Tiger Stripes: Mathematical Models Explain Pattern, Orientation

For more animal news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The COVID-19 vaccine has shown to be working so far in Ohio as the state aims to ward off contagious variants.

The state has had 400,000-plus coronavirus cases since mid-December, and 34 people are known to have become infected after getting vaccinated. Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr is accused of more inappropriate behavior in a new disciplinary complaint. Last spring Carr ignored a directive to cease having hearings because of the pandemic. The latest complaint accuses Carr of regularly flouting court rules and antagonizing defendants, lawyers and court staff.

Listen to cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn discuss these stories and more in The Wake Up podcast.

You can listen online here.

The podcast is a summary of cleveland.coms morning newsletter The Wake Up. You can receive The Wake Up through email at 5:30 a.m. each weekday by subscribing here.

You can get our podcasts delivered directly to your phone, and we have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here.

If you use Stitcher, we are here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

Anthem is Making Big Changes to its Loot and Equipment System

Autistic student has life skills policy passed by NUS Wales in landmark moment for Coleg Cambria

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 29th, 2021

A student with autism successfully passed a motion to ensure all college learners in Wales have access to Independent Living Skills (ILS).

In a landmark moment for Coleg Cambria, the motion put forward by Matthew Hayes, from Bryn y Baal, Mold, will become part of NUS Wales policy.

It is the first time a policy from the north east Wales college has been passed, to the delight of Matthew, who is Student Vice President at the colleges Northop site.

He said: All students should have access to life skills, not just a select group of learners





Whether it be domestic tasks, money handling, healthy eating, personal hygiene or mindfulness, these are things all young people need to know that will benefit them in their future lives.

Matthew, also a Trusted Leader and Inclusivity Ambassador, added: Far too often students go to college or university with no idea how to cook even basic meals, resulting in too many takeaways, which in turn adds to the current physical and mental health crisis.

Often, these same students would have no idea how to pay their rent, budget for food or other necessities, even ironing their clothes.

We acknowledge that in general terms basic living skills are often taught to students through parenting. However, this is assuming students parental circumstances are similar. Of course, this is often not the case, and that should be considered for all learners.

Matthew made the news last summer after creating hundreds of craft and art packages for children with learning difficulties and additional learning needs for the Flintshire-based charity DAFFODILS, during the first Coronavirus lockdown

His far-reaching proposal will now be incorporated into the campaign work of NUS Wales.

I was shocked when I found out this is the first time Cambria had a motion put forward and passed to become NUS Wales policy, its a huge honour for me, he said.

From joining the college two years ago to becoming one of the first Student Vice Presidents with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) its amazing how much has happened  this is definitely one of the biggest highlights of my life.

Cambrias Chief Executive Yana Williams lauded Matthew for his efforts to bring about equality, not just at the college but across the country.

To have our first motion passed is a privilege for the college, but more importantly it will make a huge difference to the lives of students all over Wales, she said.

We thank Matthew for bringing this issue to the fore and applaud him for using his platform as Student Vice-President to bring about real change.

For more news and information from Coleg Cambria, visit www.cambria.ac.uk

Out of all of Donald Trumps world-leader friends, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the quickest to offer his congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for winning the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Indias ruling, conservative Bharatiya Janata Party smartly adjusted as Biden started coming out ahead in election polls and soon fully embraced the incoming administration change. Modi may have been infamously and publicly chummy with Trump, but his quick pivot made sense. While India and the U.S. have historically had a rocky-at-best relationship, Modi worked well with both Barack Obama and Biden the last time Democrats held the executive office. Plus, Harris, who made history as the United States first Indian American vice president, is very popular in India, especially in her mothers ancestral region of Tamil Nadu. So, despite some vocal ideological opposition to the Biden-Harris ticket from Modis right-wing followers at home and abroad, and the fact that Biden has made combating authoritarian movements like Modis a central theme of his foreign policy, the Indian leader had good reason to roll out the welcome mat.

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For both countries, the relationship is just too important to let slide. After decades of tense neutrality and nuclear fear following Indias independence, the 21st century saw the subcontinent embraced by U.S. officials from both partiesincluding incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden in 2006as an essential partner against terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan, an emerging small-d democratic rival to Chinas regional and global economic dominance, and an essential trading partner. India and the U.S. also established military and defense partnerships, and hammered out global climate negotiations and trade agreements. Bits of animosity have flared up here and there, and Modi and Biden are not likely to have the same bro-y relationship that Modi and Trump did, but its clear the two countries will remain strategic partners for the foreseeable future.

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Biden has already made Modis administration a priority. The two leaders spoke on the phone shortly after the U.S. election results were finalized, and Modi tweeted congratulations at both Biden and Harris on Inauguration Day and again in February. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Indias foreign minister that month, while the president used his first international summit to videoconference with Modi as well as leaders from Australia and Japan. About a month afterward, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as part of the first overseas trip conducted by any of Bidens Cabinet members, visited India to meet with Modi as well as the countrys defense minister and national security adviser.

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What do these countries have so much to talk about so soon after the Trump era? In a release about the Feb. 8 Modi call, Biden outlined what he considered to be their mutual agenda:

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The United States and India will work closely together to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renew their partnership on climate change, rebuild the global economy in a way that benefits the people of both countries, and stand together against the scourge of global terrorism. The leaders agreed to continuing close cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, including support for freedom of navigation, territorial integrity, and a stronger regional architecture through the Quad.

The most interesting points here concern the free and open Indo-Pacific as well as the so-called Quad. The former refers to the region encompassing South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania, which used to be more commonly known as the Asia-Pacific region. The Quad is an informal partnership between the U.S. and three nations from that area: India, Japan, and Australia. Those two terms encompass structures of resistance toward a mutual nemesis: China. The shift from Asia to Indo underlines this rhetorical focus, while the Quad consists of the four most powerful nations in the region not named China.

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The worlds largest country has skirmished with India for decades, over border disputes, trade, and political and cultural influence within the Asian continent. But the stakes have become much higher in recent years. The fatal territorial clashes between the Chinese and Indian militaries in the Himalayas, which may have also escalated into dangerous cyberattacks on Mumbais electricity grid, demonstrate thisnot to mention Chinas support for Indias mortal enemy Pakistan, which had its own renewed skirmishes with India not too long ago. Thankfully, these never escalated to all-out war, and all the countries have come to shaky truces for now. Still, the ripple effects have been dire.

Indias most visible response to Chinese military aggression has been a continuing nationalist and Sinophobic trade warone thats hopelessly skewed in Chinas favor and mostly affects Indias poorestas well as a ban on hundreds of Chinese cultural products and institutions. A U.S. cybersecurity firm recently warned that Chinese hackers might still have access to parts of Indias grid. The disputes between the two countries over control of necessary Himalayan water sources as well as establishing infrastructure within that area have not been resolved. Plus, China and India are two of the biggest carbon belchers in the worldand, not only do the countries need to work together for their respective emissions-tamping goals, but India is more dependent on Chinese-produced green tech than it realizes. Should the two countries remain at loggerheads, future consequences will be all the worse.

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When it comes to China, the U.S. and India are squarely on the same side. But the partnership is not as obvious as it might seem. One of the ostensible reasons for U.S. opposition to China is the latters undemocratic government, which, among other things, is keeping as many as a million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps, destroying Hong Kongs democratic autonomy, threatening Taiwan, and keeping a tight control over information dissemination within the country. Yet the actions of the Modi administration resemble those of the Chinese Communist Party far more than many Indians would comfortably admit. India revoked Jammu and Kashmirs autonomy in 2019, the same year Hong Kong protesters started rising up against the new security law that portended Chinas encroachment into the region. Modis conservative government has oppressed its Muslim population, building on decades of Hindu-Muslim strife, and cracked down on journalists who refuse to repeat his partys talking points. It has also restricted social media and streaming media outlets that benefit from reaching Indias massive population, forcing them to censor themselves or face prosecutorial wrath. Conservative media cells are spreading pro-Modi propaganda throughout Europe, and supporters of Modis Bharatiya Janata Party are attempting to infiltrate U.S. academia and politics as well, running sympathetic candidates and lobbying the U.S. Congress to assume a favorable stance toward Modis policies.

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Indias postcolonial democracy has looked shaky beforesuch as during the 1970s-era Emergency and the 2002 Gujarat riots. But it may have now reached a tipping point, where its elections are chock-full of rigging and voter suppression, where millions of minorities have been newly disenfranchised, where political institutions opposed to the BJP have been stripped of power, where formerly independent courts now toe that partys line.

Biden and his Cabinet are undoubtedly aware of these developments. Indeed, prominent figures within his own party have time and again attempted to bring a light to Indias human rights abuses, with little success. Still, this is not stopping the administrations initiative to bolster its relationship with the Indo-Pacific region, with all the emphasis on India that term implies. In the February Quad meeting, the four nations discussed global security issues and pledged to together produce 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022, a goal that banks on Indias mass vaccine production effortswhich its used not only to start inoculating its massive population but also to distribute vaccines to surrounding countries in need of the doses. This move is clearly a diplomatic measure meant to compete with Chinas own vaccine production and distribution, part of its own regional goodwill effort. (However, the U.S.s refusal to let India, among other countries, waive World Trade Organization copyright regulations on the vaccines only hurts Indias manufacturing and distribution capacity.) Plus, the Biden administration has already acquiesced to a longtime Indian government request by asking a U.S. federal court to extradite Tahawwur Rana, who is currently serving a prison sentence for having provided aid to the Pakistani terrorist group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks.

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Yet in all the India-U.S. meetings, there has not been any reported confrontation on Indias own crumbling democracy. So far it seems the only negative note from the U.S. was Austins warning that Indias plan to buy a missile system from Russiawhich has notably been an ally of the subcontinent about as long as its been a nemesis of the U.S.could trigger sanctions under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. This particular system, the S-400, reportedly has the ability to gather American intelligence and has already been a point of dispute between the U.S. and Turkey.

One could argue that the U.S.s approach here is necessary: It needs to work closely with India to combat climate change, as both countries are among the worlds biggest carbon emitters. But this is complicated by the fact Biden also has to work with China, which far and away has the biggest carbon footprint on the planet (and which is not teaming up easily with the U.S. on this or any other matter). Ideally, all three should work togetherafter all, even if just one of these countries completely decarbonized overnight, it would not put a stop to worldwide climate disasters.

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In regard to China, the U.S. stance of toeing carefullyi.e., opposing authoritarianism while seeking common agreement on problems of global importwas well established before Biden took the White House. With regard to India, that stance is much more murky. Democrats, including Harris, condemned the Modi governments actions in Jammu and Kashmir, against Muslims, against the poor, against farmersbut, unlike during the 90s India-Pakistan nuclear arms race, the U.S. never went so far as to take more drastic action against India, through sanctions or other means. (Notably, back in 2007 Biden said the U.S. should not weigh in on Kashmir; his administration has only tepidly addressed the region.)

If Biden really believes, as he said last week, that the defining struggle of our time is between autocracy or democracy, he will have to not only confront Chinas leaders but Indias as well.

You can argue about whether India is truly fascist, or autocratic, or oligarchic, or whateverbut no matter how you spin it, India is not a democracy. The mass rallies of the past couple years, including the still-strong farmers protests and the opposition to the Islamophobic Citizenship Amendment Act, have kept the spirit of Indian democracy live at a popular levelbut not an institutional one. It will not take long for the rest of the world to finally catch up with this. In elevating India over China, whether through regional pacts or direct partnerships, Biden may simply be elevating one dictatorial state over another.
A special investigation task sorce set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, arrived Makurdi, Benue State capital, on Sunday.

This is in continuation of the ongoing investigation into the reported attempted murder of Governor Samuel Ortom, the spokesperson of the police, Frank Mba, said.

He said the team consisting of operatives from the Tactical Investigation Units of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) is led by Abba Kyari, a deputy commissioner of police.

Others on the team are "experienced, crack detectives with specialised competencies in crime scene investigation and reconstruction, ballistics, fingerprint analysis and other core areas of forensics.

"The Team is expected to take over and consolidate all on-going investigation into the incident. The Team is also expected to investigate all angles of the reported attack with a view to ensuring that all persons empirically linked to the incident are apprehended and brought to book.

"Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police has charged the team to be professional, thorough and clinical in their investigations. They are expected to liaise and work with the Benue State Police Command and other relevant members of the law enforcement community to ensure that they deliver on their mandate," Mr Mba said.

Mr Ortom was reportedly attacked last Saturday around his farm at Tyo-Mu Community, about 20 kilometres from Makurdi, the state capital.

According to Mr Ortom, he was inspecting the farm when cattle herders dressed in black outfits ambushed him and his security personnel.

President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack and called for an "open and transparent investigation" of the attack, saying "whoever is linked to it should be caught and be made to face the law."

The Inspector General of Police, on Sunday, ordered investigation into the incident.
Thai forces began sending some of the thousands of ethnic Karen villagers back to Myanmar, as seen in video shot by the refugees themselves.

The people had fled across the border after a series of airstrikes by the military in neighbouring Myanmar.

Video shot by the refugees and sent to relief organisations showed people lugging their possessions down sandbanks and back towards the river that marks the border, under the watch of Thai armed forces.

Lines of barbed wire stretched out nearby. As evening drew on, refugees crammed into boats to make the short journey back to the other side.

Aid organisations said up to 2,400 people were sent back from two locations inside Thailand. The status of around a thousand more, who crossed at different places, isn't known.

A spokesperson from the Karen Women's Organisation told the Associated Press that many of those sent back were staying in the open or in the forest as they were too scared to return to their homes for fear of further air strikes.

Earlier in the day, Thailand's prime minister had said that the country didn't want "mass migration" but that it would also take human rights issues into consideration.

The country has sheltered refugees from Myanmar for more than three decades, with around 86,000 still living inside its borders in camps.

Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the pushback on Monday evening, saying it was still waiting for information.

The weekend air strikes came after the Karen National Liberation Army, which is fighting for greater autonomy for the region, overran a Myanmar army base, reportedly killing a number of soldiers.

They were believed to be the first aerial attacks there for decades.

The insecurity on the border added a new dimension to an already volatile crisis set off by a coup the February 1 in Myanmar.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The theory that the virus was originally imported into China by frozen foods could help Beijing battle against criticism over the outbreak, experts say

The chances that COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan because of imported frozen food are "very low", international health experts said Monday, casting doubt on one of the main theories China has embraced for the cause of the first coronavirus outbreak in late 2019.

China has questioned the initial assumption the virus originated in the central city as it tries to deflect claims it mishandled the early outbreak, instead focusing on other potential causes as the country began to recover.

The "probability of a cold-chain contamination with the virus from a reservoir is very low," a team of World Health Organization-appointed and Chinese scientists said in a long-awaited report obtained by AFP before its official release.

It also said the introduction of the virus into China through frozen food would have been "extraordinary" in December 2019, given the virus had not been detected elsewhere at that time.

While there remained a "possible" chance of such a transmission, it said there was no conclusive evidence that frozen food played any role in the virus' spread.

The report instead concluded it is very likely COVID-19 first passed to humans from a bat through an intermediary animal, and all but ruled out a theory the virus could have leaked from a high-security lab in central China.

After the outbreak, explanations floated by Chinese officials and state-media have ranged from a conspiracy theory that US soldiers imported the virus in the 2019 World Military Games in Wuhan, to the frozen food theory after a series of outbreaks linked to workers who handled frozen goods.

Introducing doubt

The theory that the virus was originally imported into China could help Beijing in its battle against the criticism over the outbreak, experts say.

"The goal is probably to introduce enough doubt to make people question the origin of the virus," Adam Ni, analyst at the China Policy Centre in Canberra, Australia, told AFP.

At the same time, "there is this dynamic where the harder political leaders in some countries try to blame China for COVID-19, the harder that Beijing tries to put up counter-narratives," Ni said.

The nationalist Global Times published a report in December that asked in its headline, "Could cold chain imports have sparked Wuhan early COVID-19 outbreak?"

The WHO report, based on a recent trip to China, said there was no conclusive evidence that frozen food played any role in the virus' spread

The newspaper drew a link between imported frozen and refrigerated food sold at the Huanan seafood market and the coronavirus, citing local scientists who called the theory "plausible" and "possible."

Meanwhile, local officials around the country have tested hundreds of thousands of imported food samples, publishing alerts whenever a sample tests positive for traces of the coronavirus.

'Bit of a leap'

Despite reports in Chinese state media, there is still little evidence that coronavirus carried on cold-chain products can infect humans, scientists say.

Chinese researchers have said outbreaks among Beijing market workers and dock workers in eastern China's Qingdao were linked to virus particles on frozen fish.

The WHO report also said the only epidemiological link which could be established in the Qingdao cases "was exposure to [the virus] on the surface of cold-chain packaging."

"There's a remote possibility that something could happen," Richard Sugrue, a virologist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore told AFP.

But Sugrue said "it's a bit of a leap to say that (as) this has been detected in frozen food that that could be a route of transmission."

Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease specialist at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, agreed that it was unlikely cold-chain imports could have sparked the initial outbreak in Wuhan.

"Cold chain food is still being brought into China, Singapore, Taiwan and all other countries with a good control of the virus," Leong told AFP.

"And yet it happens only in two places in China."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
People comb Swifts lyrics for allusions to sex, alcohol and profanity as meticulously as Motion Picture Association of America representatives do a borderline-PG movie. Particular attention was paid to her 2017 album, Reputation, and its several mentions of drunkenness and dive bars  even though Swift was 27 when it came out. The relative puritanism of Swifts music up until Reputation did feel like an intentional decision: Unlike the female pop stars who broadcast their loss of innocence as a sudden and irrevocable transformation, Swift seemed acutely conscious that she did not want to repel younger listeners  or lose the approval of their parents. At best, it felt like an acceptance of her status as a role model; at worst, it had the whiff of a marketing strategy. Swift performs during rehearsals for the 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards in 2007. Credit:Kevin Winter But the mounting obsession with whether Swift was acting her age also reflected a larger societal double standard. Famous or not, women face much more intense scrutiny around age, whether its those constant cultural reminders of the biological clocks supposed ticking or the imperative that women of all ages stay fresh-faced or risk their own obsolescence. (People say Im controversial, Madonna said in 2016. But I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around.) And while girlish youth and ingenuity are rewarded in some contexts, theyre also easily dismissed as silly and frivolous as soon as that girl strays too close to the sun  as Swift has experienced time and again. Despite having once been a teenage girl myself (unlike a lot of music critics), I confess that I am not completely free of these internalised biases. I was initially dismissive of Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince, a song that appeared on Swifts 2019 album Lover. The first few times I heard it, I wondered what a grown woman on the cusp of 30 was doing still writing about homecoming queens and teenage gossip.

But over time, Ive come to appreciate the song and its dark vision, which acknowledges cruelty, depression and the threat of sexual violence (Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men?) more directly than any of the songs Swift wrote when she was an actual teenager. Loading The senior boys in this song are not the sort who wink and say to freshman girls wholesome things such as Havent seen you around before which, unfortunately, makes them feel more authentic. Even the title Miss Americana alludes to a larger world outside the high school walls, and the greater systemic forces that keep such patterns repeating well into adulthood. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince now feels like a precursor to some of the richest songs on Folklore, which finds Swift returning once again to her school days with the keen, selectively observant eye of an adult. Consider Seven, an impressionistic re-creation of her perspective at that age. The second verse, charmingly, plays like a first-graders breathless sequence of unguarded observations: And Ive been meaning to tell you, I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why / And I think you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you wont have to cry. But Seven is not cutesy so much as poignant, because of the tensions that result when Swifts adult perspective interjects. Please, picture me in the trees, before I learned civility, she sings in a yearning soprano, prompting the listener to wonder what sorts of feral pleasure she  like all of us  has exchanged for the supposed civility of adulthood.

Loading Quite a few songs on Evermore, Swifts second release of 2020, also toggle between past and present, conscious of what is lost and gained by the passage of time. The playful Long Story Short passes a note to Swifts younger self (Past me, I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty things), while Dorothea, like Seven, revisits a fevered childhood friendship from the cool perspective of adulthood. Most striking is the bonus track Right Where You Left Me, a twangy tale of a girl who got frozen (Time went on for everybody else, she wont know it / Shes still 23, inside her fantasy). That language echoes something Swift admits in the 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana: Theres this thing people say about celebrities, that theyre frozen at the age they got famous. And thats kind of what happened to me. I had a lot of growing up to do just trying to catch up to 29. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

But Swifts recent songs, at their best, understand that growing up isnt always a linear progression in the direction of something more valuable. Take the Folklore songs Cardigan and Betty, which use an interconnected set of characters to chronicle teenage drama and celebrate the heightened emotional knowledge of youth. Im only 17, I dont know anything, but I know I miss you, Swift sings in the voice of James, a high-schooler who broke Bettys heart and has shown up on her doorstep to ask forgiveness. Loading Maybe that is a melodramatic thing to do; maybe it is the sort of thing adults could stand to do more often. Swifts music helps us to remember that growing up doesnt automatically mean growing wiser  it can just as easily mean compromise, self-denial and growing numb to emotions we once felt with bracing intensity. In a gesture to regain control of her songs, Swift is currently rerecording her first six albums (her master recordings were recently sold by Scooter Brauns Ithaca Holdings to the investment firm Shamrock Capital). Last month she released a note-for-note update of her early hit Love Story, and has promised to release an entire new-old version of Fearless (Taylors Version) this year. It has been amusing to think of Swift going back and inhabiting the voice of her teenage self: On the face of it, Fifteen is particularly surreal to imagine her singing as an adult.
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  Two health experts are recommending a longer imposition of enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and nearby provinces to effectively stamp out the alarming spread of COVID-19 in these areas.

Dr. John Wong, an epidemiologist and member of the IATF Sub-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics, on Monday said it will take more than one week to stop the spread of the infection. He suggested extending it to 10 days.

The spokesperson of the Philippine General Hospital, Dr. Jonas del Rosario, said 14 days to one month of strict restrictions will be necessary.

"I am hoping that is enough, but realistically if you look at the numbers, I don't think it's enough... We cannot move forward if we don't have good control of this COVID-19 transmission," he told CNN Philippines.

Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna are under strict quarantine restrictions from March 29 to April 4, with curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. Non-essential businesses, staycations, religious gatherings are not allowed during this period to encourage the public to stay home.

RELATED: One-week ECQ in Greater Manila area explained

Del Rosario said much has to be seen on the effectivity of the one-week ECQ. He said he understands the government's worry on the impact of a long lockdown on the country's economy.

The government is open to extend the enhanced community quarantine imposed in the Greater Manila area, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chairman Delfin Lorenzana said Monday. He said all options remain on the table when it comes to measures needed to address the COVID-19 crisis.

The Health Department, for its part, reiterated that the policy is not cast in stone, adding they are constantly reviewing data to see if the ECQ should be extended or lifted.

Everything will be flexible, everything will be dynamic, DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media forum in the same day.

It will be based a lot of factors, but most importantly, it will be based on the capacity of our health system, she added.

More testing

Regardless of the length, Wong said the government has to maximize the ECQ period by expanding the number of COVID-19 tests conducted. He urged those experiencing flu-like symptoms to undergo a swab test to avoid infecting their household members and officemates.

"We probably should be testing three times more than what we're doing now... I think we have the capacity. We just need people to proactively come forward once they are symptomatic," he told CNN Philippines.

Vice President Leni Robredo said local government units need further assistance from the Duterte administration to improve their testing capacity. She recommended a targeted testing approach among regions, noting that Metro Manila alone needs about 90,000 tests per day with its 20.17% positivity rate. This means for every five COVID-19 tests, one person yields a positive result.

The new COVID-19 cases in the country breached 10,000 for the first time on Monday, bringing the cumulative count to 731,894. Of the total infected, 115,495 or 15.8% are active cases, the DOH said.

The bulletin showed a daily positivity rate of 18% as of noon of March 28. This refers to the percentage of those infected out of all tested in a single day. The World Health Organization recommends that the number be kept below 5%, and experts said a higher percentage suggests more widespread transmission and that there are likely more cases which have not yet been detected.
Three students died on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in two separate accidents on Saturday, March 27, 2021.



In the first incident, two students died when the vehicle they were using crashed into a tree around 3am.



There were a total of five people in the vehicle, four KNUST students and one student from the University of Ghana (UG).



The students reportedly went out to a night club and were returning to the campus.



Graphic Online understands they were driving a black Hyundai Sonata saloon vehicle with Registration number GR 9241-19.



Photos obtained by Graphic Online after the accident shows a badly damaged vehicle.



Second incident



The third student died in the second incident at around 11am after falling and knocking the head on a staircase.



He is said to have gone to visit a friend when he passed out, fell on the stairs of the first floor of the Unity Hall [Continental] and hit the head against the staircase.



He was rushed to the hospital where he died.



Police investigations underway



Explaining, the University Relations Officer (URO) of the KNUST, Dr. Daniel Norris Bekoe said the first incident occurred when a car with five students ran into a tree around 3 am.



"The first incident occurred around 3am and we learnt that a car with about five occupants who are all students, one is a student of University of Ghana and four of them are students of KNUST."



"They crashed into a tree by the roadside and two of them lost their lives."



"One is in critical condition at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and two other occupants are in stable condition and responding to treatment."



Level 100 student



"Then around 11am we learnt of another incident where a level 100 student went to the Unity Hall to visit a friend and whilst they were having a conversation, I think he passed out and fell on the staircase of the first floor and hit the head against one of the staircase and he was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, doctors tried all they could but unfortunately we lost him too."



"We have been able to identify who the students are, we have made contacts with the parents and the parents have come to identify the students and the necessary processes are ongoing, the police is investigating the cause of the accident and when they are done, we will put out the full details."



"Management of the university is deeply saddened by this event and we want to say we are deeply worried and saddened. We wish the bereaved families God's guidance in this trying moments and we will do what we have to do to put out the details once the police conclude the investigations," Dr Bekoe said.



Police confirmation of second incident



Meanwhile, Graphic Online checks at the KNUST Police station indicate that the student who fell and died at the Unity Hall has been identified as 19-year-old Cupson Larry Leslie.



He was a level 100 [first year] Bachelor of Science student in Mathematics.



The police confirmed he went to visit a female colleague at the Unity Hall who is also a level 100 Bachelor of Science student in Mathematics and a resident of Room 7 on the first floor.



Whilst they were standing on the veranda on the first floor at Block B, he suddenly fell and sustained injury on the head and was first rushed to the KNUST Hospital from where he was referred to KATH.



He was admitted at the KATH Emergency Ward at 12:54 pm and later died at 3pm.

Source: graphiconline.com









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Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, testifies during the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington on Sept. 9, 2020. (Greg Nash/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Top US Health Official Not Sure Herd Immunity Will Be Reached in Coming Months

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has said hes unsure whether herd immunity will be reached in the United States in the coming months.

In an interview with The Hill, Collins said that achieving herd immunity will depend on whether people who are hesitant to receive the vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, can be convinced by trustworthy voices.

I dont know. Its not a slam dunk, considering what the polls tell you about resistance, Collins said, noting that the next couple of months will be key in attempting to turn around the doubts that some people have with the COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the United States so farPfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

This is going to be a really critical, couple of months of watching closely to see if some of those trends can be turned around by appropriate messages from trustworthy people, he said.

Read More Trump Recommends Americans Get a COVID-19 Vaccine

Herd immunity occurs when a large enough portion of the population acquires immunity from an infectious diseaseeither naturally from prior infection or temporarily through vaccinationthat it no longer spreads widely.

But in October 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) silently changed the concept of herd immunity to only include acquired immunity from vaccination.

Herd immunity, also known as population immunity, is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached, the WHO said.

Then on Dec. 31, the WHO added naturally acquired immunity from a previous infection back into its definition of herd immunity, and stressed that the health organization supports achieving herd immunity through vaccination.

Experts still do not know what percentage of the population needs to be immune to achieve herd immunity. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top medical adviser to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, has estimated that at least 70 percent of Americans need COVID-19 vaccines before herd immunity will be reached.

The president has made it his goal to see 200 million COVID-19 shots administered to those who want the vaccine by the end of his first 100 days in officedouble his original goal. As of March 25, the United States has administered 133.3 million COVID-19 shots.

Two of the three authorized COVID-19 vaccines require two doses; the other, Johnson & Johnsons, is a single shot.

Collins told The Hill said that trustworthy voices must work to clear doubts that some may have with the vaccines, for example, concerns over the speed at which they have been developed.

This concern about them having been rushed can be answered by pointing out how the speed was achieved, which was by basically getting rid of the downtimes that traditionally occur when a vaccine is being developed and results in it taking year, he noted.

There was no shortcut taken with any of the rigorous steps, and to evaluate these vaccines. The shortcuts were to get rid of the downtime, the bureaucracy, the red tape, the need to go back and try to raise more funds when you ran out.

All of that was planned in advance, realizing that this really was a global pandemic and people were dying. So, to reassure people that the speed of preparation should not be seen as a cause of concern about its safety, thats certainly one message, Collins said.

The NIH director a few days earlier told Fox News that he believes hesitancy with the vaccines could cause this pandemic to go on much longer than it needs to.

Meiling Lee contributed to this report.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-28 23:54:24|Editor: huaxia

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ASHGABAT, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Voters went to polling stations across Turkmenistan on Sunday to elect members for the newly created upper house of parliament, according to state news agency Turkmenistan Today.

The upper house of parliament consists of 56 seats, including eight seats appointed by the Turkmen president and 48 elected by voters. A total of 112 candidates are vying for the 48 seats.

The turnout was at 98.7 percent, according to the Central Election Committee, and election results are expected in five days.

Turkmenistan approved constitutional changes last September, expanding the country's unicameral parliament to two chambers.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hailed the move as "another important step toward democratizing our country." Enditem
The New York City Police Department is searching for a man who walked into a store and slashed the nose of a female manager.

The suspect was captured on video entering Steph's Designs in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights and approaching the victim while she was sitting behind the counter on Friday afternoon.

The assailant has a quick verbal exchange with the 22-year-old woman, identified by the store as Desteny, and then reached over the counter and struck her with a sharp object.

The man subsequently ran out of the store and raced across the street to the surprise of a group of men who were playing dominoes on the sidewalk.

A suspect is seen on a surveillance camera reaching for a 22-year-old manager, identified as Desteny, and slashing her nose with a sharp object at a store in Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights on Friday. No arrests have been made

Desteny post a photo of herself on her Instagram account as well on a GoFundMe page following her attack Friday at a store where she is employed as a manager in Manhattan. The motive for the attack is unknown

A picture from Desteny's Instagram before she was viciously slashed by an attacker

None of the merchandise was stolen from the store.

DailyMail.com contacted the store and the alleged victim for comment; it's unclear if the victim knows the alleged perpetrator.

A separate video posted on the store Instagram page showed the suspect pacing in front of the shop March 19 while he was reportedly 'looking for somebody.'

However, Desteny was off work that day.

'I never thought Id be the one to post this about myself but on March 26 2021 I nearly lost my life, I am beyond grateful and blessed to be alive!' Desteny wrote on Instagram after sharing a picture of herself from a hospital bed.

NYPD described the suspect as 'approximately 25-28 years old, 5'11' - 6' tall, 180 lbs. and was last seen wearing a black track suit with purple and orange bands on his elbows and blue sneakers'

The suspect manage to run out of the store and escape after he slashed a 22-year-store manager in Manhattan on Friday.

The New York Police Department announced that the suspect is 'approximately 25-28 years old, 5'11' - 6' tall, 180 lbs. and was last seen wearing a black track suit with purple and orange bands on his elbows and blue sneakers.'

The motive for the attack on Desteny is unknown.

No arrests had been reported as of Monday afternoon.

A fundraiser set up via GoFundMe had generated at least $25,000 in donations.

'A random man walked into this young ladys work place and slashed her face,' a message on donation page read. 'She is currently at the hospital and blessed to be alive but still [conscious] that she will now need several reconstruction surgeries. She will be out of work until God knows when with large medical bills.
A young Syrian refugee carries plastic sheeting for her family's shelter in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.  UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sanchez

On the eve of the fifth Brussels conference for Syria, the United Nations humanitarian, refugee and development chiefs have urged international donors to step up and stand with the millions of people in Syria and the region who depend on lifesaving humanitarian aid and livelihood support after a decade of war.



With the added impact of COVID-19, there is no respite for civilians in Syria. They face increasing hunger and poverty, continued displacement and ongoing attacks. The neighbouring countries host four out of five Syrian refugees worldwide, in what remains the worlds largest refugee crisis, while also trying to address increasing socio-economic challenges for their own nationals.



Today 24 million people need humanitarian or other forms of assistance in Syria and the region. That is four million more than in 2020, and more than at any other time since the conflict began.



Sustained donor financing for the UNs response plans will fund food, water and sanitation, health services, education, child vaccinations and shelter for millions of people living on the brink in Syria. It will also provide cash assistance, job or training opportunities, and other services such as access to primary and secondary education, in conjunction with national systems, to millions in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt.



In 2021, over US$10 billion is needed to fully support Syrians and refugee-hosting communities in need. This includes at least US$4.2 billion for the humanitarian response inside Syria and US$5.8 billion to support refugees and host communities in the region.



UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said: It has been ten years of despair and disaster for Syrians. Now plummeting living conditions, economic decline and COVID-19 result in more hunger, malnutrition and disease. There is less fighting, but no peace dividend. More people need more help than at any point during the war, and children must return to learning. An investment in kindness and humanity is always good but sustaining the basic living standards for people in Syria is also an essential ingredient of sustainable peace. That is in everybody's interest.



UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said: After a decade of exile, refugees hardship has been compounded by the crushing impact of the pandemic, lost livelihoods and education, deepening hunger and desperation. The hard-earned gains weve collectively achieved over years are already at risk. The international community cannot turn their backs on the refugees or their hosts. Refugees and their hosts must get nothing less than our unfaltering commitment, solidarity and support. A failure to do so will be catastrophic for the people and the region.



UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said: It has been 12 months like no other for people across the world. Yet, for refugees from Syria and their host communities in the region, the COVID-19 pandemic hit during a decade-long crisis - stretching them to breaking point. At present, poverty and inequality are skyrocketing as hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs and livelihoods. And countries that host refugees are struggling to provide basic services like healthcare and water. Now, more than ever, the support of the international community is needed to meet life-saving humanitarian needs  and to tackle the acute development emergency that the region now faces.



At last year's conference in Brussels, the international community pledged US$5.5 billion in funding to support humanitarian, resilience and development activities in 2020.

Additional resources

For more information on this topic, please contact:



OCHA:

In Geneva, Jens Laerke, [email protected] , +41 79 472 9750

, +41 79 472 9750 In New York, Zoe Paxton, [email protected] , +1 917 297 1542

UNHCR:

In Amman, Rula Amin, [email protected] , +962 (0)790 04 58 49

, +962 (0)790 04 58 49 In Geneva, Andrej Mahecic, [email protected] , +41 79 642 97 09

UNDP:
Kabul, March 29 (IANS) Three police officers were killed and two civilians injured in two separate roadside bomb blasts in Afghanistan, authorities confirmed.

In eastern Laghman province, three officers of Afghan National Police (ANP) were killed when a an armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Omarzai, a locality on the outskirts of provincial capital Mehtarlam city, on Sunday afternoon, a provincial source told Xinhua news agency.
Washington, March 29 : A helicopter crash in the area of Knik Glacier in the US state of Alaska, has left five dead and one seriously injured, Alaska State Troopers said.

A team from Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was dispatched to the crash site late Saturday night, Xinhua news agency quoted the state troopers as saying on Sunday.

The rescue team found five people dead and one survivor at the crash scene.

"The survivor remains in serious but stable condition, and is receiving medical care at an Anchorage area hospital," state troopers said on Sunday evening.

Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, a ski resort northwest of Alaska's largest city Anchorage, said in a written statement Sunday evening that the helicopter carried two ski guides, three guests and a pilot.

The helicopter was chartered from Soloy Helicopters, a Wasilla-based charter company, the lodge said.

In Louisiana, 720,598 people are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as the state opens eligibility to anyone 16 and older.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported that 123,596 more vaccine doses have been administered since the last update on Thursday. A total of 1,842,453 doses have been administered statewide.

Most of those shots are part of the two-dose regimen recommended for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which is why the total number of people who have received at least one dose is lower.

There are 1,174,213 people who have received at least one vaccine dose.

Out of the entire population in Louisiana, an estimate 23.93% of people are fully vaccinated. An estimated 14.09% of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported 593 more confirmed coronavirus cases and 21 more confirmed deaths in its noon update Monday.

The number of hospitalizations decreased by 21, and the number of patients in need of ventilators didn't change.

There are now a total of 379,409 confirmed coronavirus cases and 64,496 total "probable" coronavirus cases in Louisiana, according to the agency's dashboard.

+2 Vaccination festival at Shrine on Airline to feature local musicians: here's the lineup Ochsner Health and Jefferson Parish are kicking off a 24-hour mass vaccination festival Monday at 10 a.m., part of an effort to draw in reside

These are another few key statewide statistics as of Monday:

Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Total confirmed cases: 379,409

Total "probable" cases: 64,496

Total confirmed deaths: 9,279

Currently hospitalized: 362

Currently on ventilators: 62

Vaccine series initiated: 1,174,213 (updated twice weekly)

Vaccine series completed: 720,598

Presumed recovered: 429,935 as of March 22 (updated weekly)

Note: The Advocate and The Times-Picayune staff calculates daily case count and confirmed death increases based on the difference between today's total and yesterday's total of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. The Louisiana Department of Health releases a daily case count on its dashboard that includes probable cases as indicated by a positive antigen test. That case count can be different than the one listed here.

Here are some of the parishes with the highest single-day increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, based on the Monday report:

Calcasieu: 58

Lafayette: 56

Jefferson: 48

East Baton Rouge: 46

Orleans: 38

Caddo: 34

Can't see chart below? Click here.

Can't see chart below? Click here.

Louisiana began reopening for Phase 1 on May 15-16 then moved to Phase 2 on June 5. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards extended Louisiana's Phase 2 restrictions twice in August before moving the state to Phase 3 on Sept. 11. The governor then moved the state back to a modified Phase 2 near the end of November before putting Louisiana back in a modified Phase 3 on March 2, 2021.

This is a developing story. More details and analysis to come.
FCW Insider: March 29, 2021

The TMF funding influx provides an opportunity to transform government -- if we can move with speed and purpose.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told House lawmakers on Thursday that performance and joint execution were issues driving the 12-week "strategic review" of the Electronic Health Record Modernization program.

Several witnesses scrutinized the State Department's placement and promotion practices when it comes to minority foreign service officers.

Quick Hits

*** The Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services is looking for federal civilian employees to serve in 120-day details in locations near border facilities support of the response to the influx of unaccompanied minors. The Office of Personnel Management urging federal agency supervisors to allow employees to participate, according to a March 25 memo.

*** Customs and Border Protection is looking at the possibility of using body-worn cameras at border stations, according to a request for information issued March 26. CBP is after information on cameras as well as supporting technology including storage, video management and redaction.
President of the Ghana Electrical Contractors Association (GECA) Nana Addo Tetebo has described a petition against Mr. Kwame Agyeman-Budu; Managing Director (MD) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and purported to have emanated from GECA as fraudulent and mischievous.



According to him, all official letters from his outfit must be signed by authorized signatories on an official letterhead but it was otherwise in the said petition to the Minister of Energy. The general public must therefore treat it with the contempt it deserves.



We have neither issued a statement nor sent a petition to the President requesting the removal of Kwame Agyeman-Budu. All letters from the GECA have letterheads but this one does not have one. This letter is clearly politically motivated by some unscrupulous guys, he told Don Kwabena Prah on Happy FMs Epa Hoa Daben show.



Nana Addo Tetebo added that, there are issues with respect to payments between the GECA and ECG but the MD has done everything possible to resolve it and therefore as an association, they have no cause to write a petition or demonstrate against the MD as of now. Yes ECG and PDS are owing us, we have held several meetings with the ECG and there are far advanced plans on how payment is going to be made. So the petition is being sponsored by some faceless personalities who want the job of the MD.



On Thursday 25th March 2021, a widely circulated petition addressed to the Minister of Energy cited delay in payment of contractor fees amongst others as reasons for the removal of the MD of ECG. The said letter claimed to have been written by GECA was refuted by the President of GECA after he addressed all the issues stated in the letter and also stated categorically that there were clear plans instituted by the ECG to settle amounts due members.





Source: Ghanaweb









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Our decision to hold an in-person event in 2021 was driven by a number of factors. Our primary hope was to be able to gather in-person as a community, something we have not been able to do since early last year. Another was to try to determine how best to effectively and safely produce events in light of current health concerns with the least negative impact on attendees.As conventions and events have had to cancel their in-person shows or have converted to virtual formats during the pandemic, some have been postponed to later years while others have been rescheduled to the later part of 2021, resulting in a very packed Convention Center calendar. When reviewing dates for an in-person event, it was clear that available meeting and exhibit space would limit our options. Of the dates presented with the fewest restrictions, Friday through Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend seemed to be the best balance of available space and our envisioned event. As longtime fans ourselves, we have attended many conventions over that holiday weekend, opting to spend Thanksgiving day with family and the rest of the weekend with friends and our families of choice. While this is not unusual in the convention trade, we understand this choice is not optimal for everyone.Comic-Con Special Edition was never intended to be the large gathering reflective of the summer event. As a shorter event, it was our attempt to start slowly and cautiously while at the same time addressing the desire from fans to have an in-person show. There are still many factors that are unknown to us at this time, including space accommodations, travel restrictions, capacity restrictions, and required safety protocols. While open to all and with the hope that we will be able to accommodate fans from all over, we understand that due to potential travel-based restrictions and challenges, Comic-Con Special Edition may be an event attended mostly by fans more easily able to travel to San Diego.Currently we do not know whether having this event in November is even feasible as we are still in the midst of the pandemic and while we are optimistic about Q4, we have not been privy to any specific information on large gatherings. However, it was our desire to have something in place for our fans who have longed for an in-person event. We truly hope that you will join us for this entry back into the world of in-person celebrations of the community we so love.The Event Will Be Held At The San Diego Convention Center Over Thanksgiving WeekendSan Diego  San Diego Comic Convention today announced dates for their November convention. Comic-Con Special Edition will be held as a three-day event over Thanksgiving weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 26-28, 2021 at the San Diego Convention Center. It is our hope that by Fall conditions will permit larger public gatherings.Comic-Con Special Edition will be the first in-person convention produced by the organization since Comic-Con 2019, and the first since the onset of the global pandemic COVID-19. The Fall event will allow the organization to highlight all the great elements that make Comic-Con such a popular event each year, as well as generate much needed revenue not only for the organization but also for local businesses and the community.While we have been able to pivot from in-person gatherings to limited online events, the loss of revenue has had an acute impact on the organization as it has with many small businesses, necessitating reduced work schedules and reduction in pay for employees, among other issues, said David Glanzer, spokesperson for the nonprofit organization. Hopefully this event will shore up our financial reserves and mark a slow return to larger in-person gatherings in 2022.As details are still being finalized, badge cost, attendance capacity, and related information will be forthcoming.
Columbia-Greene Media has recently teamed up with the US Postal Service to provide same-day delivery of your local newspaper with your mail. Our expanded daily delivery of your local news reaches into the following areas:
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid by Kentucky's Republican attorney general to defend a restrictive state law, struck down by lower courts, that abortion rights advocates have said would effectively ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron has asked the justices to let him intervene in defense of the Republican-backed law after Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's administration dropped the case.

The Supreme Court is being asked to decide only that narrow issue, and not whether the law violates Supreme Court precedents holding that women have a right to obtain an abortion. Abortion opponents are hopeful that the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will curb abortion rights.

Abortion rights advocates have said the 2018 law would effectively ban an abortion method called dilation and evacuation - the most common form of abortion performed during the second trimester of a pregnancy.

The law was passed by Kentucky's legislature and signed by a Republican governor, but Beshear subsequently was elected and decided not to continue to defend the measure after the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck it down in June 2020. The 6th Circuit later that month declined to allow Cameron to intervene to defend the law.

The 6th Circuit ruling came just five days before the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision struck down a Louisiana law that imposed restrictions on doctors who perform abortions. Cameron wants to be able to ask the 6th Circuit to reconsider its ruling against the Kentucky law in light of language contained in the Louisiana decision.

The Kentucky law was one of a growing number passed by Republican legislators at the state level imposing a variety of restrictions on abortion. The state's previous governor, Republican Matt Bevin, had defended the law.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
Hannah Edgar, who has written about classical, jazz and experimental music for the Chicago Reader, the Miami Herald, the Classical Review and Chicago magazine, among other publications, will be the Tribunes freelance writer for reviews and feature stories. Edgar, who graduated from the University of Chicago (and played violin in the student orchestra), was a Rubin Fellow in 2018. They (Edgars pronoun preference) wrote a bachelors thesis on the Tribunes legendary arts critic Claudia Cassidy.
The company has agreed to sell the business for 13.7mln to a consortium that includes firms owned by Icelandic restaurant owner Birgir Bieltvedt

Dominos Pizza Group PLC ( ) said it agreed to sell its Icelandic business, Pizza Pizza, to investment vehicle PPH for a total 2.4bn Icelandic krona (13.7mln) in cash.

The FTSE 250 chain said PPH is owned by a consortium of firms which include a vehicle owned by Icelandic restaurant owner Birgir Bieltvedt who has also agreed to purchase Dominos Swedish business.

Dominos said the transaction is expected to complete before the end of May, while the proceeds from the sale will be used initially to repay its debts.

The company said the sale forms part of its planned exit from all directly operated international markets in order to focus on its core UK and Ireland operations. The firm has signed exit deals for its Norwegian and Swedish operations and is currently in discussions regarding the disposal of its Swiss business.

Dominos shares were flat at 351.4p in early deals on Monday.
South Carolina reported 499 new cases of the coronavirus on March 29 but no deaths.

Here's the latest on the pandemic in South Carolina.

Richland One coach, teacher dies of COVID-19 complications A popular Dreher High School coach and teacher died from complications of COVID-19, Richland One officials said on March 29.

5:30 p.m.  A Dreher High School coach and mathematics teacher died March 29 from complications of COVID-19, Richland One district officials said. Read more about Damien Jackson.

Biden, CDC director warn of virus rebound if nation lets up Speaking during a virtual White House briefing, Dr. Rochelle Walensky grew emotional as she reflected on her experience treating COVID-19 patients who are alone at the end of their lives. "We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope," she said. "But right now, I'm scared."

4:03 p.m.  The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made an impassioned plea to Americans Monday not to let their guard down in the fight against COVID-19, saying she has a recurring feeling of impending doom, even as President Joe Biden announced further efforts to expand access to coronavirus vaccines. Read more.

Coastal SC hospital giving opportunities for 2nd vaccine shots for people who missed them For people who missed the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, a Grand Strand hospital system is offering opportunities to make it up.

2 p.m.  For people who missed the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, a Grand Strand hospital system is offering opportunities to make it up.

Gayle Resetar, chief operating officer for Tidelands Health, said the organization reached out to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control with concerns that people who missed a second shot or had an appointment canceled because of supply issues had no way to finish their vaccination series. Read more.

Charleston students to be in person next school year, but K-8 virtual option is available Charleston County School District Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait said the decision comes after declining COVID-19 cases and increased vaccine rollout allowed the district to have nearly all students in person by the end of the current school year. Most of all, the decision stems from a desire to get students in the classroom where they perform better.

1:49 p.m.  At a Board of Trustees meeting March 22, Charleston County School District superintendent Gerrita Postlewait announced that students will be in person five days a week next school year.

The district will also be providing a virtual academy option for students who might do better with remote learning. Read more.

Federal government denies SC request to suspend high-stakes student testing South Carolina students will spend the final weeks of the school year preparing for and taking high-stakes standardized tests after the federal government denied Superintendent Molly Spearman's request for another reprieve.

Downtown Charleston restaurant organizes vaccination clinic for food-and-beverage workers The Post and Courier Food section since August has been checking in weekly with four downtown Charleston restaurants coping with the coronavirus pandemic and recovering from restrictions designed to contain it. Here's the latest installment.

10 a.m.  Butcher & Bee is pressing ahead with plans to offer a vaccination clinic on March 30 aimed at hospitality professionals. By March 26, more than half of the 432 shots set aside for the event at Workshop were spoken for. Read more.

WHO report: COVID likely 1st jumped into humans from animals A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

9:17 a.m.  A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely, according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. Read more.

Sunday, 12:15 p.m.  The percentage of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 has shrunk over recent weeks. For the newest report, 3.4 percent of tests were positive. Researchers say less than 5 percent of tests coming back positive is a good indication that the spread of the virus is slowing. Read more.
A juvenile has been arrested in the shooting death of a man in the Berkshires, authorities said Sunday.

State police arrested the suspect Friday evening in Springfield, according to Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harringtons office.

The juvenile, who is not being identified by authorities because of their age, is charged in the death of 34-year-old Benjamin Martinez, of Springfield.

They will be arraigned Monday on a first-degree murder charge in Northern Berkshire District Court in North Adams.

Martinez was found dead last Thursday in an apartment in Adams, according to Harrington. Investigators deemed the death suspicious, and the state medical examiner later confirmed the cause of death was homicide by gunshot.

I send my deep condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Martinez for their loss, Harrington said in a statement. I thank the detectives for their meticulous work over the last four days to quickly solve this crime and bring the suspect into custody.
The frantic search for a 21-year-old man who went missing from a popular Brisbane beach has ended in tragedy.

An extensive three day search for Kyle Schroduer, 21, ended on Monday after authorities found a body just 300 metres north of where he was last seen.

The sad discovery came just one day after Mr Schroduer's girlfriend Samantha Meyers penned a heartbreaking letter vowing to keep looking for him.

'For those who don't know Kyle had been swept in a rip yesterday afternoon at Coolum beach and search and rescue teams are still on the hunt,' she wrote.

'Please keep your loved ones close! We won't stop till we find you, we love you endlessly.'

Authorities have recovered the body of Kyle Schroduer, 21, (pictured) just 200 metres north from where he was last seen at Coolum Beach on Brisbane's Sunshine Coast

Kyle was last seen by friends swimming at Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast about 4pm on Saturday.

He is believed to have become caught in a rip near the unpatrolled Stumer's Creek.

Surf Life Saving Queensland's Sunshine Coast regional manager Aaron Purchase said crews spotted a body floating about 2pm on Monday.

A team of 20-25 Sunshine Coast Surf Lifesavers on jetskis, rescue boats, helicopter, drones, and vehicles joined efforts to locate the missing man.

Lifesavers began their search in the water and on the surrounding beach at 5am on Monday morning, aided by police divers and the coastguard.

Sunshine Coast Surf Lifesavers on jetskis, rescue boats, helicopter, drones, and vehicles joined efforts to locate the missing man

Surf Life Saving Queensland's Sunshine Coast regional manager Aaron Purchase said crews spotted a body floating about 2pm on Monday

Mr Purchase said despite the swell not being 'too bad', the recent rainfall meant crews had struggled with low visibility in the water, the Courier Mail reported.

The regional manager thanked the crews involved in the search for bringing closure to Kyle's friends and family.

'On behalf of Surf Lifesaving Queensland our condolences go out to his family and friends, it's tragic at any time of the year, let alone on the eve of Easter,' Mr Purchase said.

'Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.'

On Sunday, Kyle Schroduer's girlfriend Samantha Meyers penned a heartbreaking letter to her highschool sweetheart where she vowed to keep looking for him

Friends and family have flooded social media with tributes to the young man, after hearing authorities had recovered his body.

Kyle was described by one woman as her 'warm hearted friend that could always put a smile on my face'.

'Love you brother. I'll never forget the memories we were able to make together', another wrote.

Police said a report would be prepared for the coroner.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korea on Monday accused the United Nations of a double standard over its reaction to the Norths recent missile launches, warning it of a serious consequence.

Last week, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea in a defiance of U.N. resolutions that ban such launches by North Korea. The U.N. Security Council subsequently adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against North Korea.

Some experts say North Korea's missile launches, the first of their kind in a year, were aimed at applying pressure on the new U.S. government of President Joe Biden.

It constitutes a denial of sovereignty and an apparent double standard that the UNSC takes issue, on the basis of the U.N. resolutions  direct products of the U.S. hostile policy toward (North Korea), senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official Jo Chol Su said in a statement carried by state media.

Jo said it doesnt make any sense for the U.N. council to take issue with only North Koreas missile launches, while not doing anything on similar weapons tests by other countries. He said such a double standard will invite more serious consequence but didnt elaborate.

Observers say North Korea could test-fire longer-range missiles in coming weeks.

At Fridays meeting of the committee monitoring sanctions and North Korea, where all 15 Security Council members are represented, U.N. diplomats said a significant majority expressed concern at Pyongyangs latest violations of council resolutions banning ballistic missile launches. They said the Security Council is likely to hold a closed discussion on the missile launches this week.

Past short-range missile launches by North Korea typically drew U.N. Security Council condemnations, but not fresh sanctions on the country. North Korea was slapped with toughened U.N. sanctions in 2016-17 following its provocative run of missile and nuclear tests aimed at acquiring the capability of launching nuclear strikes on the U.S. mainland.
Dublin, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Data Center Market in Europe - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Europe data center market by investment is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4% during the period 2021-2026.



The market is expected to grow due to the growing procurement of renewable energy sources. Over 25 European cloud and data center operators, including AWS, Google, Equinix, Interxion, OVH Cloud, Scaleway, Aruba, and 17 other industry associations have signed an agreement to make their facilities carbon neutral via 100% renewable energy sources by 2030.

According to the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, 75% of the power supplied to data centers in Europe will be supplied through renewable energy or carbon-free energy by December 31, 2025, and the objective is to reach 100% by December 31, 2030. This announcement is likely to offer a high impetus to the growth of the data center market in Europe. Hyperscale data center providers are the major investors in renewable energy initiatives.

Germany intends renewable resources to constitute at least 35% of the gross electricity consumption. Ireland aimed to generate 16% of its energy through renewable energy sources in 2020, which is expected to reach 55% by 2030. Norway is the leading country in the production of renewable energy sources, followed by Sweden and Finland. Iceland continues to produce 100% of electricity through renewable sources.

Europe Data Center Market Segmentation



The Europe data center market research report includes a detailed segmentation by IT infrastructure, electrical infrastructure, mechanical infrastructure, cooling technique, general construction, tier standards, geography. Enterprises are shifting to high-performance and capacity-intensive infrastructure. The high consumption of internet-based services is expected to drive the IT infrastructure market. The COVID-19 pandemic fueled infrastructure adoption among internet-related service providers in Q1 and Q2 2020. Hyperscale operators procured ODM infrastructure, which grew by over 10% across Europe in 2020.

UPS systems are the highest contributors to market investment. In 2020, the adoption of lithium-ion UPS systems grew considerably. Most data centers operating in Europe are adopting N+N redundant infrastructure. The adoption of generator systems with a capacity of over 2 MW is high due to the increased construction of large and hyperscale facilities. Data center operators have adopted innovative and energy-efficient cooling infrastructure solutions, aiming to reduce power consumption by up to 50%. This is expected to grow during the forecast period as market vendors are introducing innovative high-efficient cooling systems.



The server infrastructure market has witnessed strong growth over the last two years. Server systems based on x86 architecture dominated the Europe data center market share with over 85% in 2020. Most modern operators adopt the server infrastructure that matches workload requirements. The demand for servers suitable for cloud environments is likely to grow during the forecast period. In 2020, the increased adoption of all-flash storage arrays along with sizable contribution from hybrid storage arrays is expected to aid storage systems.

The growth of flash storage systems is boosted by high-performance operations that require strong input/output capabilities. The increase in bandwidth requirements, data center consolidation, and virtualization are some major factors driving the demand for ethernet port switches, controllers, and adaptors. 25/50 GbE switches are likely to experience considerable growth during the forecast period.



Several facilities have adopted flexible designs to facilitate the installation of dual power feeds, 2N redundant UPS and PDU systems, and N+1 generators. The market share of metered and monitored rack PDU solutions has observed a remarkable increase in Western Europe. In the Nordic region, the deployment of hyperscale facilities is likely to fuel the procurement of 48V DC UPS systems. Most facilities in the region are powered by renewable energy with grid stability of over 95%.

This reduces the number of redundant generator systems, encouraging 2N UPS system installation. A majority of data centers in central and eastern Europe are designed as Tier III standards with a minimum of N+1 redundancy in UPS and generator systems. The use of renewable energy sources to power data centers is low in the region. However, their utilization is expected to grow during the forecast period.



Several data centers in Western Europe support free cooling systems, which include adiabatic coolers, evaporative coolers, and free cooling chiller systems. The use of water-based cooling techniques includes water-treatment plants and systems. Most data center operators procure 45U-52U rack cabinets. However, the procurement of 42U racks is declining in the Europe data center market.



Western Europe is the most active market for data center construction across the European region. The increase in demand for cloud computing and other related services has offered several revenue opportunities for multiple and sub-contractors in the market. Many facilities are being designed and built to cover an area of over 100,000 square feet. Several major data center construction in the region is managed by Europe-based construction service providers. However, the non-availability of a skilled workforce to manage multiple hyperscale projects is the major challenge for several contractors in the region.



According to the Uptime Institute, Europe has around 217 certified data centers spread over 29 countries, which include local and global facilities. A majority of them are in the UK, Russia, Spain, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Italy, and France. Europe has higher Tier III certified facilities than Tier IV and Tier II. Around 163 facilities in Europe are Tier III certified. Russia, the UK, Spain, Italy, and Lithuania have the highest number of certified data centers.

Insights by Vendors



The Europe data center market consists of several IT, electrical, and mechanical infrastructure providers. Arista Networks, Atos, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Dell Technologies, and Extreme Networks some major IT infrastructure providers. With the increasing demand for high-density, mission-critical servers, storage, and network infrastructure, the IT infrastructure market is likely to witness growth.

The server market has witnessed significant growth in revenue contribution from ODM server manufacturers. The electrical infrastructure market has become highly competitive owing to the increased interest shown by operators in procuring energy-efficient infrastructure solutions. ABB, Eaton, Schneider Electric, and Vertiv are the major power infrastructure players.

The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the Europe data center market during the forecast period:

Procurement of Renewable Energy Sources

Introduction of Innovative UPS Battery Technology

Adoption of District Heating by Data Centers

Cloud Adoption driving Data Center Market

Market Dynamics

Market Opportunities & Trends

5G To Boost Edge Data Center Investments

Growing Procurement Of Renewable Energy

Innovative Ups Battery Technology

Adoption Of District Heating By Data Centers

Increased Adoption Of 200/400 GBE Switch Ports

Market Enablers

COVID-19 Enhances Data Center Demand

Cloud Adoption Drives Data Center Market

Increasing Demand For Big Data & IoT Investments

Rise In Colocation Investments

M&As to Fuel Data Center Growth

Tax Incentives Increase Data Center Investments

Data Regulations Increase Cloud & Colocation Data Center Investments

Market Restraints

Increased Power & Network Outages

Security Challenges In Data Centers

Lack Of Skilled Workforce

Rising Carbon Emissions From Data Centers

Location Constraints For Data Center Construction

Key Data Center Critical (IT) Infrastructure Providers

Arista Networks

Atos

Broadcom

Cisco Systems

Dell Technologies

Extreme Networks

Huawei Technologies

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Hitachi Vantara

IBM

Inspur

Inventec

Juniper Networks

Lenovo

MiTAC Holdings

NEC Corporation

NetApp

Oracle

Pure Storage

Quanta Computer (Quanta Cloud Technology)

Super Micro Computer

Wistron (Wiwynn)

Key Data Center Support Infrastructure Providers

ABB

Airedale International Air Conditioning

Asetek

Alfa Laval

Assa Abloy

Bosch Security Systems (Robert Bosch)

Caterpillar

Cummins

Delta Electronics

Eaton

HITEC Power Protection

KOHLER-SDMO

Legrand

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Nlyte Software

Piller Power Systems

Rolls-Royce Power Systems

Rittal

Riello Elettronica (Riello UPS)

Schneider Electric

STULZ

Socomec

Trane Technologies (Ingersoll Rand)

Vertiv Group

Key Data Center Contractors

AECOM

Arup Group

Bouygues Construction

CapIngelec

DPR Construction

Deerns

Fluor Corporation

Future-Tech

HDR Architecture

ISG

Jones Engineering Group

Kirby Group Engineering

Linesight

Mercury Engineering

Mace Group

M+W Group (Exyte)

Metnor Construction

RED-Engineering

Structure Tone

Winthrop Engineering and Contracting

Key Data Center Investors

3data

Aruba SpA

AzInTelecom

Bahnhof

CyrusOne

Colt Data Center Services (Colt DCS)

Digital Realty

DigiPlex

DataPro

DATA4 Smart Data Centers

Equinix

Echelon Data Centers

EcoDataCenter

Facebook

Google

Global Switch

GlobalConnect

Green Mountain

Iron Mountain (IO)

Microsoft

NTT Global Data Centers

QTS Realty Trust

VIRTUS Data Centres

Telecom Italia Sparkle

T5 Data Centers

Vantage Data Centers

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bi0uf5
Singapore will start with persons aged 45 to 59 years old

Singapore is now rolling out the vaccination programme to younger age groups. As they are more familiar with the use of digital technology, the government will no longer be sending personalised letters of invitation to them. Instead the governemnt will adopt a two-step process.

First, all who are eligible can register directly at the vaccine.gov.sg website. Second, the registrants will receive an SMS with a personalised URL enabling them to book their vaccination appointments online.



Singapore will start with persons aged 45 to 59 years old. With immediate effect, everyone in this age group can register their interest for the vaccination at vaccine.gov.sg.

The government is encouraging everyone in this age group who is medically eligible to take up this offer.

Since October 2020, to enable more activities to resume in a safe manner, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has been piloting the use of pre-event testing to reduce the risk of undetected COVID-19 cases being involved in an event.

The country has made good progress since 22 February in vaccinating the seniors, starting first with those aged 70 years and above. With more regular deliveries of vaccine supplies, the government had brought forward the vaccination of seniors aged 60 to 69 years-old by two weeks to mid-March 2021. More than 55% of the seniors have received their vaccination or made appointments to do so.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended best wishes to everyone as the nation celebrates the festival of colours Holi on Monday (March 29, 2021).

The Prime Minister took to his official Twitter account to share the message.

        , ,                     Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 29, 2021

President Ram Nath Kovind also extended greetings on Holi and said, "The festival of colours, Holi, is a festival of social harmony which brings about joy, delight and hope in the lives of people."

He added, "May this festival further strengthen the spirit of nationalism which is integral to our cultural diversity."

Greetings to all fellow citizens on Holi. The festival of colours, Holi, is a festival of social harmony which brings about joy, delight and hope in the lives of people. May this festival further strengthen the spirit of nationalism which is integral to our cultural diversity.  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 29, 2021

This year, the Holi celebrations will be restricted as many states have taken several measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The state governments have banned public gatherings and celebrations due to the recent surge in coronavirus cases.

India, notably, added over 62,000 COVID-19 infections to its total caseload for the second consecutive day on Sunday.

The country's active coronavirus count is now nearing 5 lakh which is the reason why the Central and State governments have taken strict measures to break the transmission chain of the virus.
Tunis/Tunisia  (TAP)President Kais Saied on Saturday offered on behalf of the Tunisian people, his sincere condolences to his Egyptian counterpart Abdelfattah Al-Sissi and extended his sympathy and solidarity, following the collision of two passenger trains in the south of the country and the collapse of a building in Cairo.

In a phone conversation, Saied paid respects to the victims of the two "tragic" accidents, expressing wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured, a Presidency of the Republic press release reads.

At least eight people were killed and 29 others injured on Saturday when an apartment building collapsed in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

On Friday, at least 19 people were killed when two passenger trains collided in Sohag, southern Egypt.
Early Friday morning, teams of National Weather Service meteorologists loaded into work trucks and fanned out across north and central Alabama. Like they do after every tornado, the scientists were pursuing the tracks of the storms that tore across the state on Thursday, claiming five lives and damaging or destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.

Its something of a grim ritual, but over a period of decades the time-consuming work has added to a national body of knowledge about storm patterns that saves lives by allowing for better predictions of their development and movement.

We determine where a tornado touched down, then go to the next road, then the next road, then the next road  and we follow that all the way up until we dont see any more damage, Nathan Owen, a meteorologist with the NWS in Birmingham, said Friday.

On Friday, an AL.com reporter also set out to track a tornado in hopes of gaining a more visceral understanding of how powerful twisters like Thursdays really are. This is the story of that effort, which was aborted early, as the size of the task was greater than anticipated and nighttime arrived before the end of the journey.

Click here for full coverage of the storms

Still, AL.com was able to track 32.5 miles of the path of what the weather service has since dubbed the West Blocton-North Shelby Tornado, driving back and forth across the storms wake to pinpoint exactly where it crossed roads and population centers. Traversing 50.36 miles of land between Bibb, Shelby and St. Clair counties over a period of an hour and nine minutes, the long-track tornado is estimated to have reached a peak width of 1,100 yards. It also had the highest estimated top wind speed at 140 miles per hour, earning it the days only EF3 rating in the state.

The interactive map below is an approximation, not a scientific survey, though AL.coms estimate of where exactly the tornado began was just 0.2 miles southeast of the National Weather Services official estimated start point. AL.com was unable to determine exactly where a funnel cloud may have touched down, but the pattern of damage strongly suggests that the storm hit or passed over each of these points along its inexorable journey, a fact that people on the ground verified in each location.

Click a tornado icon in the interactive map below to view a photograph taken by AL.com Friday of tornado damage at that exact location.

After the 32.5-mile stretch that AL.com followed Friday, the tornado went on to decimate a swath of the Eagle Point community in Shelby County, where over 100 homes were damaged. The NWS reported that five people were injured in the tornado, which had the second-longest path of the 10 that hit Alabama on Thursday.

You can get single storms like these that last for an hour that show you just how volatile the air mass was, Jason Holmes, a meteorologist with the NWS in Birmingham, said Friday. Days like this, it all comes together  and conditions are favorable for these very long-lived storms.

The following account is structured chronologically, tracing a single path between several of the more than a dozen separate places where AL.com witnessed the damage of the West Blocton-North Shelby Tornado firsthand on Friday:

JUST WEST OF WEST BLOCTON

Tommy Conroy was driving home from his job as a heavy equipment mechanic when he says he witnessed what he believes was the start of what the National Weather Service would later dub the West Blocton-North Shelby Tornado.

I was coming home from work and trees started getting knocked down at the bottom of the hill, he said. I had to stop and let it pass. It was really heavy rain and lots of lightning  real dark.

Tommy Conroy stands outside his house near West Blocton on Friday as a worker repairs a utility pole that was damaged by the tornado that hit the area on Thursday. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com

Conroys prediction was validated on Saturday, when the NWS declared that the storm had indeed started less than a quarter mile from the red-roofed house just west of the West Blocton city line that the 31-year-old shares with his wife and their four children.

Fortunately, the only damage the house sustained was to its trim and gutters. But workers were on the scene Friday morning to repair downed utility lines and restore their power.

Conroy said he feels fortunate that his family lives so close to the start of the tornados path, given what he has since learned about what happened to peoples homes just a few miles away.

We got lucky, he said. I know it couldve been a lot worse.

WEST BLOCTON

From Conroys house, the tornado barreled three miles northeast, missing downtown West Blocton but making direct impact with a residential community in the woods just north of Mount Carmel Baptist and Hickory Hill Cemetery, where generations of the towns residents are buried.

The approach to the area was ominous, with downed trees littering the cemetery and debris strewn across gravesites. An American flag on a bent metal pole leaned low over a gravestone, and muddied artificial flowers lined the road that ran from the cemetery to the community that bore the early brunt of Thursdays storm.

By Friday morning, cleanup crews were on the scene, hauling out debris and cutting trees away from homes and vehicles as the scents of fresh-hewn pine and chainsaw fuel hung in the warm air.

Multiple mobile homes were crushed by trees felled by the tornados high winds, and a handful of larger houses were badly damaged. But volunteers showed up the following morning, giving their time and effort to help strangers in need.

A group of more than a dozen congregants of the Tuscaloosa campus of Church of the Highlands arrived in West Blocton early Friday to help clear the wreckage and feed impacted people. At 11 a.m. Friday, a group from the Tuscaloosa church distributed over 300 free lunches in the parking lot of Mount Carmel Baptist. As one volunteer flipped burgers and hot dogs, others packed them into containers and handed out chips, cookies and sodas.

According to the Tuscaloosa churchs outreach director, Steve Repke, who led the effort on the ground in West Blocton, the goal was to be of assistance in the way that Alabamians were in the aftermath of the 2011 tornadoes that devastated Tuscaloosa and other areas of the state.

We were told roads were blocked, and we sent a team down here  and weve been clearing roads and helping families get their yards cleared, Repke said.

Volunteers from the Tuscaloosa campus of Church of the Highlands pack meals on Friday to distribute to first responders and people impacted by the Thursday tornado in West Blocton. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com)

OLD TOWN HELENA

Old Town Helena is a popular day-trip destination, drawing people from across the Birmingham area with its small-town feel and walkable streets. But on Thursday, the West Blocton-North Shelby Tornado ran right through the heart of the district, snapping trees and metal sign-poles and damaging a number of businesses.

Throughout the day on Friday, workers repaired power lines and utility poles, and the creek ran high, muddy from the post-storm deluge. Families toured the wreckage, taking videos and photographs with their smartphones and checking in on friends at local businesses.

Matt Bishop, owner of The Depot Deli & Grill on the banks of Buck Creek, was working at his restaurant when the tornado came through on Thursday. It damaged a section of corrugated-metal roofing that shaded a portion of the deck off the back of the eatery, but otherwise Bishop was mostly spared.

It got real quiet, got real still. Saw the rain come over the top of the hill and it didnt last but 15 seconds. We heard all the trees snapping and we all got down on the floor behind the coolers, he said.

I dont know if it actually touched down or not. Looking at [the damage], I just couldnt tell you. I do know that if it had been moving slower it would have done a lot more damage.

Matt Bishop, owner of The Depot Deli & Grill, stands on the back porch of his Old Town Helena restaurant on Friday, in front of a section of roofing that was damaged when a tornado hit the area on Thursday. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com)

HELENA

Just up the road from The Depot, a group of volunteers sat at a table outside Helena Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Friday. A hand-scrawled neon yellow sign solicited donations of household items, non-perishable food and hygiene products, piles of which sat waiting to be delivered to the homes of area residents impacted by the Thursday tornado.

Philicia Danner, disaster relief coordinator for the church, said its members provide aid after major natural disasters across the South, making relief trips to states including Texas, Florida and Louisiana in recent years.

Philicia Danner, disaster relief coordinator for Helena Cumberland Presbyterian Church, collects contributions on Friday for people impacted by the storm that tore through Helena on Thursday. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com)

We started this in 2011, after the big tornado came through Tuscaloosa, she said. We usually go out of state because they generally get hit harder than us, but this time the need was here.

On Friday, the volunteers goal in Helena, as in West Blocton, was to help people get through the immediate aftermath of the storm, while they were still assessing the damage and working long hours on their properties, often without reliable electricity or clean drinking water.

Anything thats donated will be distributed to those who need it  people who lost their homes, people who might need canned goods to eat, just people in need, Danner said.

SHELBY COUNTY

Driving through Shelby County Friday afternoon, the impact of the tornado that had whipped across the area the day before was starkly clear.

In Pelham, large trees lay on the ground along U.S. 31, their trunks sharply broken, and utility trucks were stopped in parking lots as work was underway to restore power to area businesses. A tractor dealers metal sign had been partially torn from its moors and flipped over the roof like a twist-tie. A crew was making repairs to the roof of another tractor business, and broken windows had been covered with plywood at shops along the busy road.

Further northeast, in an unincorporated part of Shelby County, Bob Martin and his grandson Jeffrey stood at the far edge of Bob Martins backyard, assessing the damage.

A thick-trunked tree had been uprooted by the tornado and fallen through a section of the elder Martins wooden fence along Alabama 119, tearing several holes in the screen enclosing his back porch and nearly hitting his house.

We didnt actually see the tornado. We were huddled in our safe spot in the basement. When we came out, the tree was down and the fence was broken,he said.

Bob Martin and his grandson Jeffrey stand Friday in front of a tree that fell through the elder Martin's back fence during the Thursday tornado that swept through the unincorporated section of Shelby County where he lives. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com)

While he is sad to lose the tree, Martin said he feels absolutely blessed that he and his family were largely spared by the storm.

There are people I know who have lost their homes. I feel extremely fortunate. Im not as worried about my damage as I am about their damage, he said. My damage is going to take weeks to overcome. Theirs will take months, maybe years.
[March 29, 2021] ATFX Connect Enhances Their Liquidity Offering With oneZero Technology

LONDON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ATFX Connect partnered with oneZero several years back to enhance their FX & CFDs liquidity pricing through the oneZero EcoSystem infrastructure. The oneZero Hub provides ATFX with flexible and adaptable trading technology for multi-asset class execution, distribution and analytics. ATFX Connect has now reached a broader client base with the help of oneZero's services. Over the past 12 months, there has been a steady increase in our trading volumes thanks to the simple integrations with other third-party platforms. Wei Qiang Zang, ATFX's CEO, said:

"The oneZero Hub provides ATFX Connect with a flexible, robust technology solution that supports our deep liquidity pools and tailor-made packages designed for our corporate clients. We will continue to work closely with oneZero to help ATFX expand its Institutional business and capture market share by offering clients a broader range of financial instruments." ATFX Conect, the institutional arm, focusing on Hedge Funds, Family Offices, B2B, Asset Managers, HNW's, and spread betting accounts. The multi-access platform caters for clients who wish to trade on an Agency, Margin or Bridge account via a Fix API or GUI.



The oneZero Hub supports Institutional clients, providing them with access to Spot FX, Precious Metals and CFD's. The flexible infrastructure enables ATFX to manage aggregation, pricing and allows connectivity into third-party platforms with greater ease. ATFX Connect also allows clients to choose between multiple post-trade regulatory vendors that are part of the oneZero Ecosystem, enabling reporting in various jurisdictions. The oneZero EcoSystem also includes banks and over 200 retail and institutional brokers who distribute liquidity and offer direct market access to exchanges and clearing providers.

The flexibility of oneZero gives us complete control of aggregation, pricing and risk management, enabling us to customise and tailor our liquidity streams to match our clients' expectations. ATFX Connect Back in 2019, ATFX stepped into the Institutional arena with the launch of its Multi-Access platform ATFX Connect. The management's vision was to expand the broker's global presence and continue to provide award-winning liquidity and customer service to clients within the Institutional community. With the focus on the professional Investor, the ATFX Connect platform is designed to provide an efficient automated trading venue that delivers tailored liquidity solutions to Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Brokers, Private Banks, and other financial institutions. ATFX

ATFX is an award-winning FX/CFD broker with a global presence and offices around the world, offering customer support in over 15 languages. With over 200 tradable financial assets, including forex, cryptocurrency, precious metals, energy, indices, and shares traded as CFDs, ATFX is regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius, and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Media Contact Matthew Porter Tel: (44) 020 3917 8705 Source: ATFX Connect Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459692/ATFX_Connect.jpg

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[March 29, 2021]

Motorola licenses NextNav's innovative vertical location capabilities to support E911

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NextNav, the leader in 3D geolocation, today announced that its groundbreaking vertical location technology will be available for 911 emergency services through a new partnership with Motorola, a leading provider of smartphone solutions.



Drawing on NextNavs carrier-grade network and innovative software, Motorola will offer devices capable of delivering vertical location (z-axis) measurements for 911 emergency services. Using NextNavs software, first responder applications on Motorola devices will provide precise altitude data with the floor level ( 3m) accuracy mandated by the FCC, precisely locating 911 callers and minimizing response times.

Were proud to offer NextNavs vertical location solution for E911 through Motorola smartphones, said Rudi Kalil, VP and general manager, North America at Motorola Mobility. The implementation of this critical capability in our devices will improve emergency response outcomes and provide our users with a truly invaluable experience.

NextNavs Pinnacle solution for vertical location is delivered through a software update to devices in the field and will be incorporated natively in new Motorola devices. NextNavs vertical location service requires no alterations to device hardware.







Vertical location is a game changer for emergency response, said Ganesh Pattabiraman, CEO of NextNav. Studies show that 3D geolocation reduces search times by over 85%. Our partnership with Motorola means faster response times and increased situational awareness that will save lives. This is the first step toward an ecosystem of 3D geolocation that is long overdue.

The NextNav website contains more information on the value of vertical location for E911 and public safety applications, as well as details on NextNav Certified program for barometer components.

About NextNav

NextNav is building a new 3D geolocation ecosystem. Using highly accurate altitude measurements, NextNavs technology saves more lives by enabling rapid, precise emergency response; increases brand value with improved user experience and operational efficiency; and improves return on ad spend with granular, accurate location data. NextNavs resilient critical infrastructure also provides a contingency layer which secures essential geolocation services.

For more information, visit NextNav.com or follow NextNav on LinkedIn.

About Motorola

Motorola Mobility LLC was acquired by Lenovo Group Holdings in 2015. Motorola Mobility is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenovo, and is responsible for designing and manufacturing all Moto and Motorola branded mobile handsets.

Media Contacts

Ben Ball

Head of Marketing

NextNav

bball@nextnav.com

Derek Wimmer

North America PR

Motorola Mobility

wimmer@motorola.com
Director of Health Promotions at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Aboagye DaCosta, has asked the general public not to let their guard down following the decline in the countrys active coronavirus cases.



This caution follows the decline in Ghanas active coronavirus cases after the roll out of the covid-19 vaccines in the country.



Government of Ghana received the first batch of the covid-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca vaccine, on Wednesday 24th February 2021.



The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of two (2) vaccines that have, so far, been approved and declared as safe-for-use by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).



Speaking to Ghanaians during the 24th Covid-19 update address, President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, urged Ghanaians to avail themselves to take the covid-19 vaccine.



Ghanas active coronavirus cases currently stand at 2,641 after 106 cases were recorded.



The death toll is pegged at 737.



Speaking to host of Atinka FMs AM Drive Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Director of health promotions at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Aboagye DaCosta, explained that the country experienced active cases below 300 in 2020 which shot up following our lifestyle.



He cautioned the general public to continue to adhere to the safety protocols to ensure that the virus is completely out of the system.



As we enter the Easter season, I would encourage everyone to continue to adhere to the nose mask and handwashing safety protocols. On the decline in cases, we have been here before, just as we are being vaccinated, we need to know that we are still at war and protect ourselves, he told Kaakyire Ofori Ayim.





Source: Ghanaweb









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A Vietnamese man used a gun to kill another man over their conflict that broke out at a wedding party in the northern province of Quang Ninh on Sunday morning.

According to police in Quang Ninh, Pham Van Phuc, a 38-year-old man in Cao Xanh Ward in the provinces Ha Long City, and N.V.H., a 39-year-old man in Phong Hai Ward in Quang Yen Town, were invited to a wedding party in Phong Hai.

During the party, Phuc and H. had an argument, so they went to a vacant land lot near the Song Chanh overpass on the Ha Long - Hai Phong Expressway to solve it.

At the location, Phuc used a gun with lead bullets to shoot straight at H., causing the victim to collapse on the spot and die after being taken to the emergency ward at Bai Chay Hospital in Ha Long City.

After committing the crime, Phuc drove a car to flee the scene.

Receiving the report on the case, the provincial police instructed the Criminal Police Department and the Quang Yen Town police to urgently examine the scene and the victims body, as well as mobilize the maximum force to hunt for the suspect.

About an hour after the crime, the police force managed to arrest Phuc.

Currently, the investigation is underway according to regulations.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

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(TNS)  Maine continues to top most other states in the number and duration of power outages caused primarily by severe weather and downed trees, but regulators and utilities are aiming to improve upon that dubious distinction.The state ranked first nationally in its average of four outages per year and second in outage duration of 14 hours annually over a five-year period from 2015 to 2019, a recently released analysis of federal data by electric automation company MRO Electric found. Outages are counted if they last more than five minutes. Even when discounting severe weather, Maine still ranked first in outages and second in duration, indicating the weather is not merely to blame and the state can improve network reliability.There is a cost to that poor record beyond Mainers' frustration. Electric downtime could dissuade large energy consumers such as industrial businesses from expanding in the state, said Todd Griset, an energy lawyer at Preti Flaherty in Portland. Some, including semiconductor makers, have sensitive processes that power outages can damage.Griset said the frequent outages are a surprise to visitors to the state. Some experiencing them in a weekend cabin retreat may find the experience rustic, but others who want to work do not. When the electricity goes out, internet service often goes out with it. "Often, I hear, 'You mean, you live with power outages like that? How do you work?'" he said. "It's challenging when you can't charge your cell phone or find out your kid's school is canceled because you don't have the power to communicate."CMP and Versant have been repeatedly criticized by consumers and lawmakers for slow restorations after major storms, most notably poor performance following the October 2017 wind storm, when nearly half a million Mainers were in the dark, some for the better part of a week.That history has affected the public perception of CMP, which is trying to push ahead with a contested $1 billion hydropower corridor through western Maine, as many question whether it can handle such a large project if it falls short in its core electricity business. Versant has 160,000 customers in eastern and northern Maine and CMP has about 636,000 customers in central and southern Maine.The new outage data come at a time when the country as a whole is experiencing a record number of hurricanes, floods and wildfires, amplified by climate change, according to reinsurance company Munich Re. Damages from severe weather totaled $95 billion in the U.S. last year, up from $67 billion in 2019.Griset said that will continue to put more pressure on Maine, which at 90 percent is the most heavily forested state, "but we're not powerless." Expensive backup generators or battery storage are answers for some, but are not affordable to everyone, nor are microgrids for communities or islands. He said utilities can do a variety of things to mitigate the effects, including better tree trimming and infrastructure design.Versant and CMP are being more proactive than in the past in cutting trees, deploying crews before a storm hits and adding technology that can more quickly isolate and locate problems for repair. The Maine Public Utilities Commission, which regulates utilities, is investigating possibly holding utilities to performance-based standards. And Rep. Seth Berry, D- Bowdoinham, has proposed a bill that would prevent investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities from raising rates to cover costs incurred during a disaster such as a major storm. Berry, a top utility critic, also is behind a bill that would replace CMP and Versant with a consumer-owned utility.CMP is running a pilot project in Jackman to more thoroughly cut trees, spokesperson Catharine Hartnett said. The company is limited now to trimming trees to 15 feet above its wires. It asked regulators in 2018 to allow it to trim as high as needed, but the request was rejected because of high cost, she said. Instead, regulators allowed the company to try out the concept in Jackman."If there's an overhanging branch 16 feet up, we couldn't touch it," she said. "This allows us to replace poles and wire, install more automation and do ground-to-sky tree trimming, so we can really reduce the incidence of branches falling."Versant is adding protective equipment such as breakers that can decrease the length of line that needs to be fixed and fault indicators that flash to help the repair crew quickly locate outages, spokesperson Judy Long said. The company trims more than 2,000 miles of trees and inspected more than 1,000 miles of lines each year.How aggressively public utilities can act depends on what their shareholders are willing to pay for a return on investment and how much regulators will allow rate hikes related to performance and reliability.The Maine Public Utilities Commission evaluates every major storm, and in the case of the October 2017 windstorm it identified improvements for future storm performance by CMP and then- Emera Maine, spokesperson Susan Faloon said. Those included better communication and coordination with others involved in restoration and providing accurate outage and restoration time information to customers.Under an enhanced law in 2019, Versant and CMP are required to establish and file their emergency response plan for recovery and restoration every two years. It also allows the commission to open an investigation if a utility fails to meet its plan.The commission also recently adopted reliability benchmarks for Versant, which is in the middle of a rate case, that would penalize the utility if it fails to meet them. Faloon said the commission expects to establish similar benchmarks for CMP as well. In December, it opened a case to examine performance metrics and other factors for utilities with the goal of improving reliability while controlling costs.One outcome is that the state could enshrine a set of outage- and reliability-related metrics and associated benchmarks, Faloon said. But she cautioned that because Maine is rural and heavily forested, a virtually unlimited amount of money and time could be spent on reliability and resiliency."The potential benefits of those investments always have to be weighed against the costs," she said.
The planned constitutional change through Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is facing turbulence in Parliament, in courts and on the political front as Covid-19 takes a fresh toll on its timelines.

Yesterday, a meeting of House joint Justice and Legal Affairs Committee considering the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, failed to take off under unclear circumstances.

This happened as the Senate and the National Assembly stared at a possible forced recess in compliance with new measures announced by President Kenyatta to contain the third wave of coronavirus.

The House plans to meet tomorrow to decide on Mr Kenyatta's request at a time the joint committee is scheduled to meet experts again, dealing another blow to BBI business.

Besides that, the BBI is also facing a case in court that will determine whether the process of amending the Constitution through the popular initiative was followed, with the extreme decision being to stop the electoral commission from conducting a referendum.

June referendum

These and other events have cast doubts on a planned June referendum.

In the House joint committee meeting that aborted yesterday, MPs and senators were to listen to presentations from the two legal experts over some contentious proposals contained in the Bill. However, the co-chairpersons called off the online meeting without giving reasons.

"We were to receive presentations this afternoon (yesterday), but we received a message from the chairman calling it off," a senator, who didn't want to be named, told the Nation.

After conducting public hearings, the joint committee did not write a report on public views because they identified a number of issues in six thematic areas that require in-depth consideration.

Political deal-making

The committee picked Prof Patricia Kameri-Mbote and Dr Collins Odote to get over the issues in a move that has divided opposition leader Raila Odinga's party on whether Parliament can amend a constitutional amendment Bill arising from popular initiative as detailed under Article 257 of the Constitution.

The developments come amid intense political deal-making and alliance-building ahead of the 2022 polls.

Mr Odinga's ODM last week announced plans of a new alliance that they said will "shake Kenya" on the same day Deputy President William Ruto hinted at a possible alliance with the former Prime Minister.

And in a back-and-forth that keeps shaking the BBI boat, the One Kenya Alliance, led by Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi, Gideon Moi, Moses Wetang'ula, also announced a new union that seemed to isolate Mr Odinga.

However, the proponents of the referendum are still upbeat that the process will run to the end within the allocated time frame.

BBI Secretariat co-chair Junet Mohamed said all was well in the BBI stable. "As far as I'm concerned, there's no imminent threat to the BBI at the moment," Mr Mohamed, a staunch supporter of Mr Odinga, told the Nation.

"The state of the BBI is good and as for the joint committee, we expect that they will be done within 30 days. When the committee is done, Parliament can be called on a Special Sitting to consider their report. So really, no cause for alarm."

Former Dagoretti South MP Denis Waweru, who co-chairs BBI with Mr Mohamed, said the hearing of the BBI court cases had been concluded, awaiting a decision even as he insisted that the current political happenings will not derail the process.

"The original intent of BBI is to ensure we'll not go into another election without resolving issues around cyclic violence and ethnic antagonism.

"Our commitment and that of the President and his Handshake partner is to deliver on this. All the key political players in Kenya are supporting BBI, so we're not worried about it not passing," Mr Waweru said.

He added: "The current debates over the 2022 succession are normal and expected and will continue; they'll not derail the BBI since all these leaders agree on the need and urgency for BBI."

Mr Mohamed, who is listed as one of the promoters of the BBI, and Mr John Mbadi, who is the ODM national chairman, have opposed the decision to engage the experts, arguing that the role of legislature is ceremonial. They have linked the clamour to engage the experts as a scheme to scuttle the BBI process.

Read: I'm ready to work with Raila, DP Ruto says

But Siaya Senator James Orengo and his Nyamira counterpart Okongo Omogeni, who are staunch ODM supporters and are known to be close to Mr Odinga, think otherwise and dismiss insinuations that Houses of Parliament are mere debating chambers.

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"People shouldn't be childish on serious issues confronting the nation," Mr Orengo said, in response to Mbadi and Mr Mohamed.

"Let's not allow vanity and childishness to prevail in this serious issue," he said, adding, the precedence of Parliament's role in the Constitution was established by the Committee of Experts, which midwifed the 2010 Constitution.

Mr Orengo and Co are pushing the 2010 precedence to try to alter the Bill. At that time, the Committee of Experts synthesised the contents of three documents and developed a Bill to repeal the 1963 constitution.

However, the Parliamentary Select Committee altered the documents and changed many of the provisions, and Mr Orengo argues that this is the precedent the joint committee is exploiting to amend the BBI Bill.

Mr Omogeni, who is the co-chair of the committee, alongside Mathioya MP Muturi Kigano, said the concern of the committee is to ensure that the process can stand any constitutional test.

"Any process that we undertake, as Parliament, is subject to the supervisorial jurisdiction of the High Court," he said. "The desire of the joint committee is to interrogate the Bill and go through a process that can withstand any constitutional challenge."
Mumbai, March 29 : Actor Rajveer Singh, who plays the role of Neel in "Qurbaan Hua", turned nostalgic on Holi. The actor recalled how he used to celebrate the festival in his childhood days.

"While people would usually apply colour in a rather polite manner by seeking permission first, we would use all that we got apart from colours to celebrate the festival!" he says.

The actor adds that three years back his family came down to Mumbai to celebrate the festival, and it was quite a treat! "My best memory of Holi is from three years back, when my mum and sister, along with my nephews, came down to Mumbai to celebrate their first Holi in the city, which is very different from how we celebrate it back in our village," he says.

He adds: "I remember celebrating from 10am in the morning to nearly 5pm in the evening. I also took my mom to get some special sweets from her favourite shop. It was a special day because they believed that Holi celebrations in Mumbai would be very boring and they were actually stunned when they saw DJs and parties at every corner of the city."

Amidst the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have threatened to commence an indefinite strike on Thursday if the Nigerian government fails to meet their demands.

The president of the association, Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, confirmed the development in a communique issued at the end of the NARDs extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Saturday.

The president said the ultimatum given to the federal government to meet its earlier demands will expire on March 31, 2021 with no significant achievement.

The NEC unanimously agreed that NARD should proceed on a total and indefinite strike on the 1st of April 2021, by 8 am if the demands are not met, Mr Okhuaihesuyi said.

Resident doctors, who are undergoing training to become consultants, make up a large percentage of doctors in Nigerias tertiary hospitals.

Demands

The doctors are demanding, amongst other things, payment of all salaries arrears, review of the current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries of all health workers and payment of the outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowance especially in state-owned tertiary Institutions.

Immediate payment of all salary arrears including March salaries for our members in all Federal and State Tertiary Health Institutions across the country especially ASUTH, IMSUTH and UNIMEDTH, the president said.

Upward review of the current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries of all health workers and payment of the outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowance especially in State owned-tertiary Institutions.

Payment of death in service insurance for all health workers who died as a result of COVID-19 infection or other infectious diseases in the country.

The doctors are also demanding the implementation of September 2017 Memorandum of Terms of Settlement between NARD and the government in order to bring lasting peace to the health sector and curb the ongoing ugly trend of brain drain from the health sector.

According to the association, none of its members has benefited from the life insurance scheme put in place by the federal government after considering the danger health workers are exposed to during the pandemic.

The PTF has received the Life Insurance cover to the frontline workers on COVID-19 for a maximum of 5000 health workers who are employed to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, had said at a briefing.

The premium in the sum of N112,500,000 for the cover has been fully paid by the Nigerian Insurance Industry in line with the principle of No Premium, No Cover, he said.

Despite risks associated with their profession, there have been numerous complaints of poor remuneration and welfare of health workers in Nigeria.

The doctors had downed tools in June and September 2020 over these same issues.

Controversial Hazard Allowance

Hazard pay, a wage supplement paid to workers who do dangerous jobs, has been the grouse of Nigerian health workers since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health workers, being the first respondents to patients, have continued to be at risk of exposure to infections including the COVID-19 virus.

Following a PREMIUM TIMES report in April 2020, the Nigerian government promised a special COVID-19 hazard and inducement allowance of 50 per cent of Consolidated Basic Salary to health workers in Nigerian Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres (FMCs), and designated COVID-19 centres for the first three months.

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Prior to this, health workers were being paid N5,000 a month as hazard allowance, a sum described as too little by health workers.

Despite the three months window given to the Federal Government to review the hazard allowance of health workers, the hazard allowance has remained a paltry sum of five thousand (5000) naira monthly, the president said.

Obinna Ogbonna, President, Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals, early this year said some health workers are yet to receive the hazard allowances while others were paid lower than agreed.

He said many of the workers are discouraged to face the second wave of the pandemic due to unfair treatment melted out on them.

The government does not work their talk. They promised us that they will give inducement hazard allowance but they did this for only three months and until date, some of our members have not collected their COVID-19 hazard allowances, he said.

Mr Ogbonna also said the life insurance promised never came to reality, its only on the papers.

As of Sunday night, Nigeria has recorded over 160,000 COVID-19 cases and 2,048 deaths, according to an update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Although the exact number of health workers that have been infected in Nigeria so far could not be ascertained as of the time of reporting, at least 812 health workers had tested positive for COVID-19 as of June 2020, according to Nigerian health minister, Osagie Ehanire.
VICTORIA - British Columbia has taken a step backwards in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the province to impose circuit breaker measures for the next three weeks to slow the rapid spread of the virus, says the provincial health officer.

People eat lunch inside a restaurant in downtown Vancouver, on Monday, March 29, 2021. B.C. is halting indoor dining at restaurants until April 19 due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VICTORIA - British Columbia has taken a step backwards in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the province to impose circuit breaker measures for the next three weeks to slow the rapid spread of the virus, says the provincial health officer.

B.C. recorded 2,518 new COVID-19 cases over the past three days, which included 329 cases of variants of concern, and six deaths, bringing the provincial death total to 1,455 people, Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday.

The COVID-19 cases are growing at an "exponential" rate, which is putting strain on the health-care system, she said at a news conference.

"Our balance in B.C. is now off," she said. "At this time, it is a step back from where we want to be and where we need to be. We need a circuit breaker to stop this virus now."

Henry said starting Tuesday until April 19, indoor dining at restaurants, bars and pubs and adult group activity at fitness centres are paused, while the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort will be closed as COVID-19 cases spread in the community.

Only last week, Henry announced the easing of restrictions on indoor religious services, but that has also been reversed.

"It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce this," she said Monday. "I cannot in all conscience, with the increased numbers of cases that we are having and the risk that we see from indoor services, allow these types of activities to happen right now."

Henry said recent data continues to show that indoor settings are where COVID-19 transmissions are occurring and the case trajectory continues upwards.

She said she had been working for weeks with faith leaders to permit services for the coming religious holidays of Passover, Easter, Ramadan and Vaisakhi, but the indoor risk is too great now.

"We're just in a very difficult position," said Henry. "Some of these important holidays are going to be difficult this year, again."

She said the province will also amend its mask-wearing mandate in all schools for children from grades 4 to 12.

A spokesman for B.C.'s restaurant industry said the new orders are disappointing to businesses that have been working to serve customers and survive during the pandemic.

"This is going to be a substantial hit and we are not going to be able to make it up on patios," said Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association. "But we've got the back of Dr. Henry. This is going to take the collective will of all British Columbians."

He said restaurants have been following B.C.'s health orders to provide safe service to customers, but COVID-19 infection rates among young staff members have been a concern, as has the virus's growth rates for young people provincially.

Health officials are concerned the increase in variants of concern from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa are driving much of the current transmission, said Henry.

Henry also said B.C. will follow other provinces and jurisdictions and suspend the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for the next few days for those under age 55 over concerns it may be linked to rare blood clots.

The instances of clots are rare, but B.C. will take the precaution of suspending the use of the vaccine temporarily, she said.

"We now are looking at our safety signals and taking action," Henry said. "This is our safety system working across the world and in Canada."

For those who have had the vaccine, if it's been more than 20 days, there should be no concerns, she said. Those who more recently received the vaccine should watch for symptoms of a blood clot, and there are tests and treatment in such instances, she added.

Henry urged people to restrict themselves to outdoor activities and limit travel to essential only.

"Right now, we are asking you to be part of the solution for this next few weeks," she said. "Take an extra effort to be aware. Stay outside when you are with your friends."

Workers are strongly urged to work from home, if possible, Henry said.

Premier John Horgan said rising COVID-19 case numbers in the past days are "unacceptably high."

He urged those aged 20 to 39 years old to curb activities to protect their parents and neighbours.

"We cannot blow it now," said Horgan. "We need to redouble our efforts."

The Opposition Liberals blamed Horgan's government for creating confusion and anxiety over first loosening and then tightening the restrictions.

"For weeks now we have heard from the premier that people could plan vacations and that we were on the right track despite rising case numbers and hospitalizations," said interim leader Shirley Bond in a statement.

Henry's orders Monday did not mention the April 1 changes to visits to B.C.'s elder care facilities.

She said last week the requirement for a single designated visitor to an elder care facility would be lifted to allow visits by multiple family members after more than a year of tough restrictions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.
Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania have all imposed strict restrictions on travellers from Queensland as the state battles a 'significant' Covid-19 outbreak.

Tasmania was the first to impose hard border restrictions on arrivals from five government areas on Monday morning, just days before the Easter break.

Effective immediately, residents arriving into Tasmania from Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands will have to enter quarantine for two weeks at their own expense.

South Australia has also declared Greater Brisbane to be a hotspot and will require arrivals from the same areas to self-isolate until they receive a negative result from 4pm on Monday.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has asked the state's seven million residents to re-consider any travel plans to Queensland, but like Victoria ruled out a hard border closure.

Shoppers at Woolworths in Newstead in inner-city Brisbane. Three states have imposed border restrictions on Queensland travellers

Motorists waiting in line to be COVID tested in Brisbane on Monday after news of the snap lockdown

RESTRICTIONS ON TRAVELLERS FROM QUEENSLAND BY STATE Western Australia: All arrivals from Queensland who have arrived since Saturday have to self-isolate for 14 days South Australia: Arrivals from Brisbane since March 20 must self-isolate until they receive a negative result from 4pm on Monday Tasmania: Arrivals into the state from Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands local government areas will have to enter quarantine for two weeks New South Wales/ACT/Northern Territory/Victoria: No border restrictions Advertisement

'New South Wales is in a cautious position, we are not shutting down our border,' she said.

'In relation to Easter, we recommend people who are considering going to Greater Brisbane, change your plans, and consider changing your plans if youre going anywhere in Queensland.'

On Saturday, WA Premier Mark McGowan announced all arrivals from Queensland would have to self-isolate for 14 days as part of a 'soft' border closure.

From 5pm on Monday, Brisbane will enter into a three-day lockdown after the four new local coronavirus cases were found amid an outbreak of the highly-contagious UK variant in Queensland.

Monday's announcement brings the total number of cases in Brisbane cluster to seven, with six other infections found in hotel quarantine.

Three of the four new cases are close contacts of known cases, but those infected may have been out in the community - raising the risk more transmission may have occurred.

Two of the cases - a nurse and her sister - visited the popular tourist town of Byron Bay in northern NSW while infectious, sparking fears the virus has already spread interstate.

The siblings visited the tourist town from March 26 to March 28.

Health Minister Dr Jeanette Young has described the outbreak as having 'significant' community transmission.

The snap lockdown in Greater Brisbane, including Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands, means pubs, restaurants and cafes will shut except for takeaway, with millions only allowed to leave home for essential reasons.

Brisbane will enter a three-day lockdown from 5pm on Monday after four new cases of Covid-19

A shopper is seen buying toilet roll at Woolworths store at a grocery store in Brisbane on Monday

As part of the snap lockdown starting at 5pm on Monday evening, masks will be mandatory in public indoor settings across Greater Brisbane and schools will also be forced to close.

The only excuse to leave the home will be for essential work, for exercise, to buy essential supplies or for care and medical reasons.

Only two visitors will be allowed in the home under the new rules and restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway service only.

The UK strain of coronavirus - known as B117 - is believed to be at least 50 per cent more transmissable than other variants.
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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted illicit drugs worth over N2 billion at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

The agency also arrested three suspected traffickers in connection with drugs crime.

The Agencys Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, announced this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

The statement quoted the Commander, NDLEA MMIAs Special command, Ahmadu Garba, as saying that one of the suspects (names withheld) was arrested on Sunday, March 28.

Mr Garba said the suspect was arrested during the outward clearance of passengers on Air Marroc.

A 7.1 kg of Methamphetamine carefully concealed in food spices and packed in a Swiss polo suitcase was found in possession of the suspect.

According to the statement, the illicit substance was bound for Spain with a street value of over N2 billion.

Unarguably, the closure of borders occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for the surge in the price of these drugs.

For instance, the price of meth in Australia had increased from $200 to $600 per gramme due to supply cut, hence the desperation by the traffickers and barons alike, Mr Garba stated.

In a related development, Mr Garba said the Command equally intercepted a suspect at Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) export shed of the airport with 800 grammes of Cannabis Sativa.

He said the operatives also seized 19.950 kg of green leaves suspected to be khat, adding that the cannabis, cleverly concealed in foodstuff, was bound for Dubai, UAE.

In a follow-up operation, he said another suspect was also arrested in connection with the seized 800 grammes of cannabis.

He said investigations were ongoing with a view to establishing more leads and getting the owner of the khat leaves arrested.

The statement also quoted the Chair, NDLEA, Buba Marwa, as commending men and officers of the command for the arrests and seizures.

Mr Marwa reiterated the agencys commitment to launching offensive action against the activities of drug barons and traffickers wherever they are across Nigeria.

(NAN)
by Melani Manel Perera

In memory of Jesus on Calvary, youth made the long and demanding journey that separates Welimadas parish church from the Keklis Estate. For Sister Grace, this is a way to share suffering and pain. The SUPATHA youth group includes initiatives for children, such as English and math classes.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Young Tamils and Sinhalese working at a tea estate near Welimada parish marked the annual Way of the Cross yesterday by meditating on the suffering Jesus endured so as to strengthen their faith and unity.

Like Christ's climbing to Mount Calvary, the youths also undertook a long walk on the hard and rough road that separates Welimadas parish church, in the diocese of Badulla, from the Keklis Estate (pictured).

Sister Grace Fernando, of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, noted that young people wanted to leave the parish and experience freedom, while entering into a new spiritual dimension.

The tea estate was not chosen at random, because it is far from the parish and reachable only through a long, winding, and challenging road.

For the nun, this was A way to share at least in part the sufferings and pain Jesus experienced climbing Mount Calvary on the day of his death on the cross.

Together with fellow Sister Shaneli and the parish priest, she expressed the satisfaction felt by the leaders of the local Church for the participation of a large number of young Sinhalese and Tamils from the SUPATHA (Holy Family) youth group.

They meditated on Jesus betrayal, she explained, about the very unforgiving torture and humiliation he faced on his way to Calvary. Through Christ's sufferings, these kids were able to reflect on the daily problems they face at the tea estate where they work and live.

In the first station, we meditated on the crosses that we must bear in our own lives and those of others that we must make our own. Sometimes we become crosses for our parents, by behaving the wrong way.

At the third station, they reflected on how to bring others to their knees with our words and actions, about when we don't try to lift them up, but we keep them crushed to the ground where they fell.

The young people built an altar for the celebration of mass with tree branches and other pieces of wood, a work, Sister Grace calls beautiful. The youths parents also got together and cooked lunch for us.

The SUPATHA youth group was set up recently and its members want to see it grow. Their journey began last year after they received the sacrament of Confirmation.

The youth group is designed to help young people developed relationships, and includes projects for children such as English and math classes. At the end of the day, they attend mass and go home happy, Sister Grace said.
The party continues at home, like it does every weekend. Its Friday night in Madrids famous Puerta del Sol square. Three young people are carrying bags filled with bottles of rum. They walk quickly. Its 11pm, the time when Madrids curfew begins and bars and restaurants close. But theres no sign of people rushing home. Instead, they gather outside the closing bars, eager for the night to continue. Plastic cups and cigarette butts litter the street, and there is lots of singing and hugging. And very few face masks. Its just another weekend in Madrid, and youngsters are partying like there is no pandemic.

Shortly before these scenes on Friday, the regional premier of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso of the conservative Popular Party (PP), shared a video on Twitter of the owners of well-known bars and restaurants of the capital saying Madrid is freedom and We are more alive than ever. In Madrid  the region with the least strict coronavirus restrictions in Spain  the incidence rate has been steadily rising since last week, and the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants now stands at 241.12. When the permitted social activity ends, the clandestine parties begin. Once the curfew starts, the most pressing question is: Where to now?

Roberto organizes weekly parties in his home in the upmarket Salamanca neighborhood in the center of Madrid. The 30-year-old has thousands of euros inside a safebox, so he can cover the cost of any potential fines for breaking the coronavirus restrictions. In fact, hes thinking of charging people entrance fees to his parties. Some Saturdays lots of foreigners show up, friends of friends. It could be a business, he says. Around 30 youngsters are gathered in his luxury penthouse. None of them are wearing face masks and almost all are smoking. Music is blaring, people are yelling and dancing, and colorful fairy lights decorate the walls. Shhhhhh, is heard every time the doorbell rings.

The mood swings between euphoria and fear that the police are coming. When someone buzzes, the guests stop speaking and Roberto looks through the peephole to make sure the coast is clear. The neighbors could report us and that could cause problems, he says. But mostly its his friends who are coming from the apartment next door, where there is also a party. They even have a special password to get in: Avocado.

An illegal party on Friday in an apartment in Madrids upmarket neighborhood of Salamanca. L.f

In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the city of Madrid has become an oasis for parties. Just in the first 11 weeks of 2021, municipal police have broken up 3,761 parties in homes and bars for violating restrictions, according to Madrids security and emergency department. But according to authorities, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

In Valencia, 214 sanctions were issued for noise complaints in homes between March 2 and 20, when the regions world-famous Fallas fiestas traditionally take place. In Barcelona, the citys local police force, the Guardia Urbana, says that breaking up private parties happens very rarely. In November, a special police unit was created in Barcelona to target the rising number of gatherings in the street. Since then, 1,709 reports have been made for violations of municipal orders, most relating to outdoor drinking sessions, known in Spain as botellones. The difference between these cities and Madrid is that in the Madrid region bars and restaurants are allowed to stay open until 11pm, when the curfew begins, while in Barcelona and Valencia, food and drink establishments have to close between 5pm and 6pm, and the curfew starts at 10pm. In other words, thanks to Madrids loose restrictions, every night  and especially on the weekend  the streets of the city become a refuge for foreigners and residents wanting to party.

Dozens of people in the streets of Madrid on Friday night. Video cedido por Juanma Samusenko

In Robertos apartment, where the doors and windows are closed to muffle the noise, Martina is celebrating her 23rd birthday: I know its bad to be doing this, but I cant stand being at home any longer. Martina is desperate to find work. These parties give me life, she says as she dances in the living room. Her friend Ivan, also 23, serves her a drink as he talks about the grim outlook for youngsters in Spain. Half of my group of friends is out of work and depressed, so we get together in houses to forget a little bit about our problems, he says.

Juan, a 22-year-old finance student, lives on the floor below, but the loud music, noise and constant flow of people dont worry him. The building is a paradise for parties in times of the pandemic  nearly all the apartments are offices that are empty over the weekend. Juan is not afraid of catching the coronavirus and is there at every Saturday party. I work 16 hours a day, so of course Im going to party, he says while he lights up his umpteenth cigarette and pours another gin and tonic, which he shares with everyone. I have a negative PCR test from Wednesday, he jokes.

Im only good for parties, says Lorenzo, a 28-year-old at the party who lost his warehouse job a month ago. Im not a [coronavirus] denier, I had the virus in March but now I have decided not to live in fear, he says. Im more afraid that society doesnt realize that they are taking our freedom away. Another reveler, Marta, 26, agrees with this argument. I have had to put up with insults from people who are manipulated by the official discourse, they dont understand that we are losing the best years of our youth. Irene, 25, however, says she is aware that parties like Robertos are illegal and bad, but she argues she hasnt seen her parents in more than a year.

Inside an illegal party in Salamanca on Friday night. L.F

Jon comes to the party with his laptop. Before the pandemic, he made a living as a DJ. He has played in clubs in Mexico, Colombia and Germany. Now he plays in illegal parties in Madrid, at least until the health crisis ends. Outside in the street, there is complete silence, only broken when someone arrives and accidentally rings the bell on the building in front. A man in pajamas yells out from his window. Get out of here as fast as you can, the police are coming, he screams. Every weekend the same thing.

Parties in country houses and closed bars

Valentina, a 25-year-old from Panama, is studying for her masters at the EAE business school in Madrid and goes out to party every weekend. This Friday she decides to go to the Chueca neighborhood with her friends and a club promoter invites the group to a free drink. Its an excuse to bring them to a seemingly closed bar. But the security guard pulls up the metal roller-door and the space is packed: people are dancing and speakers throb at full volume. You cant go out. If you want to smoke, you have to do it inside, says a waiter. The place has no ventilation, but the dancing is really good, says Valentina. When they want to go, she and her friends call an Uber. A security checks that no ones around before letting them out.

In Malasana, another neighborhood in the center of the capital, the owner of a small bar is letting patrons know where they can go after curfew. Go to Ballesta street and in the black door press number one. They are going to ask you for a password. Tell them, it was recommended to you by a bar owner from the neighborhood. At the spot, techno music and raucous noises can be heard from the street. But the only people outside are a group of prostitutes who work in the area. There are lots of places that open until late, but today its a little dead, one of them says.

Meanwhile, the police are searching the streets for illegal parties. The people who deliver alcohol know exactly where they are. Indeed, they are often the ones who bring the guests there. Like every weekend, Luis, an Uber driver, picks up young people coming and going from parties. Around here I picked up a girl who left an apartment with 60 people, he says. According to Luis, the revelry is not just contained to the center of Madrid. In areas where there are country houses, you have as many parties as you want, all night long, he says. I picked up some guys who had started in the early hours of Friday and left a bar Sunday morning, he explains. I think they use Uber drivers to confess.

With reporting by Lucia Tolosa, Elisa Tasca y Diego Estebanez.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
Nakuru  Two Egerton University students perished in a road accident at Chepsion along the Nakuru-Kericho Highway Sunday evening after a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) they were traveling in was hit by a petroleum tanker.

Kericho County Police Commander, Silas Gichunge said seven other people were injured in the 6pm road crash.

He said the PSV driver was attempting to overtake the tanker when he noticed an oncoming vehicle.

Gichunge said the tanker ploughed into the PSV killing the two instantly.

The bodies of the deceased were moved to Kericho County Referral Hospital Mortuary.
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The federal government on Monday launched the Export Expansion Facility Programme, an online grant portal, and flagged off the Export Development Fund.

The EEFP aims to protect export businesses from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, safeguard jobs and de-risk the economy from shocks like COVID in the non-oil sector.

According to the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, who was at the event, the goal of the expanded facility is to increase Nigerias export capacity in the near term and its export volumes in the medium term.

It will also provide economic incentives to ease the economic effect of the COVID-19 on players in the export sector, fast track the zero oil plan to create jobs, and further expand other avenues to earn foreign exchange in Nigeria other than crude oil. Essentially, the EEEP will save jobs & create jobs, he said.

He said the EEFP triggered the launch of the Export Development Fund which will mostly support Medium, Small& Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) who operate as players in the export sector.

The EEFP grant management portal will be for exporters to register for grants under the facility. It will allow for efficiency, transparency, information and real-time reporting among others.

The Minister of State Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Katagum, who was also at the event explained that the N50 billion Export Development Fund is the first component of the Export Expansion Facility that is being implemented.

She said the fund focuses on pre-shipment incentives or assistance with the MSMEs as the target group and possible beneficiaries.

The import of this cannot be overemphasized in view of the significance of MSMEs and the critical role they play in the Nigerian economy.

To say that MSMEs have been affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic is an understatement. Players in the sector have incurred huge losses in revenue and investments, triggering immense job losses for a substantial number of them, she said.
Chennai, March 29 : The AIADMK, which is trying to retain power in Tamil Nadu, is expecting a windfall from the northern part of Tamil Nadu, where the OBC Vanniyar community has a major strength.

The Patali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founded by the Vanniyar leader Dr S. Ramdoss has deep inroads in the Vanniyar vote bank and the party was able to successfully negotiate with the AIADMK government to implement a 10.5 per cent reservation for the Vanniyar community in the government jobs and admission to educational institutions. This reservation is within the Most Backward Class status which has been the long pending demand of the PMK.

The AIADMK government led by K. Paliniswami had cleared the 10.5 percentage reservation for the Vanniyar community hours before the election notification was announced.

The PMK, which was founded in 1996, had joined alliance with both the DMK and AIADMK and had enjoyed power at the state and Central governments with the PMK leader and son of Dr S. Ramdoss, Anbumani Ramdoss becoming a Union minister for Health in the Vajpayee government.

The alliance with the PMK will be one of the major plus points for the AIADMK in this election as the party has a dedicated vote bank of 5 per cent in several constituencies of North and West Tamil Nadu. This vote bank has exactly been the main focus of the AIADMK to enter in a political alliance with the PMK.

C. Rajeev of the Central for Policy and Development Studies, a Chennai based Think tank while speaking to IANS said, "The PMK always has a dedicated voter base and this has been the criteria of all the mainstream political parties to enter into an alliance with that party." With elections tight and the DMK having entered into alliance with the Congress, MDMK, CPI-M, CPI, the AIADMK was trying for options and, hence entered into an alliance with the PMK and BJP to retain power in Tamil Nadu.

Interestingly, it is to be noted that the AIADMK leaders are not mentioning publicly about the 10.5 per cent Vanniyar reservation in Tamil Nadu. The party fears that there would be a backlash from other communities, including other backward communities with the PMK leader and former Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss openly campaigning that he would strive for reservation to other backward caste communities.
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A woman who accused embattled MP Andrew Laming of taking an 'up skirt' photo of her as she bended over at a fridge has made a formal statement to police.

Crystal White started the complaints process at Cleveland police station, east of Brisbane, on Monday after alleging Mr Laming photographed her bottom as she stacked a bar fridge for a Queensland landscaping supplies company in 2019.

The MP is under fire over female harassment scandal but will remain in the Coalition party room until the next election.

Crystal White (pictured) has made a formal police report about MP Andrew Laming

MP Andrew Laming (pictured) has been accused of taking a photo up her skirt

'I've documented the incident for now,' Ms White told 9News after visiting the police station.

Witness and Ms White's colleague Sean Blinco also made a statement to officers.

'I'm just here to tell my version of events and just here to support Crystal,' he said.

Taking a photo up a person's skirt is a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in prison.

Ms White previously called the photo 'really inappropriate.'

Mr Blinco has said his manager also saw the MP take the picture and forced him to delete it.

Sean Blinco (pictured) said he witnessed the incident and made a statement to police

Ms White said the MP took a photo of her underwear as she was restocking a fridge in 2019

Mr Laming claimed the photo attempted to show someone trying to fit an impossible amount of stock into a fridge.

'The purpose of the photograph was to show sometimes at work you have these Herculean tasks put to you and she was playing a game of Tetris trying to get every possible can in the fridge,' he told ABC radio.

'All I can do is apologise unreservedly because taking a photo of someone without asking first is a fundamental principle that an MP should be able to adhere to.'

Mr Laming has also admitted to harassing two women on Facebook, which one said made her consider suicide.

He apologised in Parliament last week, but later appeared to retract the apology in a radio interview and claimed he was just asking the women 'tough questions.'

'If they don't answer those questions you'd expect those questions to be asked again and again,' Mr Laming said.

'It's much easier sometimes to provide an answer to the question. That wasn't happening and now of course it's been reinvented into harassment.'

The embattled MP will stay in Parliament until the next election, which he will not recontest

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is staring down internal calls for Mr Laming to be booted out of the Liberal Party as the government clings to power by a threadbare majority.

Mr Morrison said the Queenslander had committed to undertaken a behavioural course.

'He needs to come back with a completely different attitude and completely different behaviour,' the Prime Minister told reporters.

Minister for Women Marise Payne described Mr Laming's response as the minimum.

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson broke ranks to call for Mr Laming to be booted from the coalition, which would plunge the government into minority.

'It's a matter for him as to whether he wants to leave the Liberal Party. I am uncomfortable about him sitting in the party room,' she told the Seven Network on Monday.

Mr Laming accused Alix Russo (left) of misappropriating funds at a homeless charity, while Sheena Hewlett (right) said she was forced to contact police after claiming Mr Laming hid in the bushes and took photos of her in a public park

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston, who has added women's safety to her role, would not say whether she would be happy for the disgraced MP to return to the coalition.

'Let's see whether Mr Laming understands the impact of his actions because I think he needs to understand that before he returns to the party room,' she told the ABC.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government's each-way response was not good enough.

'There is no role for Andrew Laming in the Parliament with this history of abusing people and trolling people and bullying and belittling people and potentially criminal issues at play,' he said.
President Biden wants to forge an alliance of democracies. China wants to make clear that it has alliances of its own.

Only days after a rancorous encounter with American officials in Alaska, Chinas foreign minister joined his Russian counterpart last week to denounce Western meddling and sanctions.

He then headed to the Middle East to visit traditional American allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as Iran, where he signed a sweeping investment agreement on Saturday. Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, reached out to Colombia one day and pledged support for North Korea on another.

Although officials denied the timing was intentional, the message clearly was. China hopes to position itself as the main challenger to an international order, led by the United States, that is generally guided by principles of democracy, respect for human rights and adherence to rule of law.
The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost.
"Many conversations" are taking place behind closed doors as Stefano Domenicali admits manufacturers other than Porsche are looking into Formula 1.

While many worry about how many of the 23 scheduled races will fall victim to covid-19 this season, new F1 CEO Domenicali is sounding upbeat.

"We have a contract with the teams, we have a budget cap now," he told Auto Bild. "These two elements give us stability for the future.

"You also shouldn't forget - there is great interest in Formula 1 from the financial market. Many investors are knocking on our door. That's a good sign," the Italian said.

However, Formula E boss Alejandro Agag recently suggested that the only long-term path forwards for F1 may be a merger with the all-electric series.

"Alejandro and I are friends," Domenicali reacted.

"The way I see it is that Formula 1 and Formula E are on two different journeys. What we do is sustainable and credible and the audience numbers speak for themselves."

Indeed, rumours that Porsche officials are eyeing F1 ahead of the new engine regulations for 2025 have intensified beyond mere speculation in recent weeks.

Domenicali, who most recently was CEO of the Volkswagen-owned brand Lamborghini, does not deny that.

"On the one hand, it is important to make the manufacturers that are already here happy," he said. "But of course it is just as important to attract new ones.

"Many conversations are taking place in the background," said the F1 CEO. "If we can offer them the right package, I am sure that other manufacturers - not just the Germans - will be interested."

(GMM)
kmA virology lab in the Czech Republic has discovered a previously unknown strain of coronavirus which they say does not spread more rapidly than the ones that already exist. The announcement was made by Omar Sery, biologists and founder of Brno-Zidenice based Elisabeth Pharmacon, which found the new strain. In a Twitter post, he revealed that the laboratory made the discovery using sequencing of samples obtained from patients infected with the SARS-Cov-2 infection in Czechia.

Nase laborator diky sekvenovani vzorku pacientu s infekci SARS-CoV-2 objevila zatim nepopsanou mutaci Spike proteinu - model na obrazku s mutaci vyznacenou cernymi body. Nastesti je mutace v pozici, ktera by nemela ovlivnovat vazbu protilatek ani bunecnych receptoru. pic.twitter.com/pi5alHpZ8v  O Sery (@omarsery1) March 28, 2021

The epidemiologist said that the new mutation does not appear to be more contagious, and COVID-19 vaccines should be effective against it. In his tweet, he explained that the mutation was currently in a position that should not affect the binding of antibodies and cellular receptors, implying that vaccines would work.

Surging cases in Czech

Like other European states, the Czech Republic is also witnessing an uptick in COVID-19 cases. As per the latest tally by John Hopkins University, the country has reported a total of 1,516,772 cases since the pandemic began. At least, 26,036 people have lost their lives due to lethal respiratory infection.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus is mutating at an alarming rate. Just last week, the Russian Vector laboratory found a new isolate of the South African COVID-19 variant, said the press office for Russian consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor on March 24. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to tighten its grip across the globe with new variants that are deemed more infectious than the existing, known strain of the novel coronavirus, the Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement on Wednesday that the South African variant, B.1.351 has been found in Russia.

"The scientists of the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector of Rospotrebnadzor found a new isolate of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that belongs to the B.1.351 lineage first identified in South Africa. The pan genomic sequencing has shown that there are two extra deletions in ORF1ab and S genes along with mutations specific to the South African variant," the statement said.

(Image: Pixabey/OmarSeryI/Twitter)
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
New Delhi, March 29 : We all know that there is a correlation between gender equality and the digital gender divide. However, until recently, the direction and quantum of that correlation has been unclear to me.

A research published in the US National Academy of Sciences in 2018 studied Facebook data of over 1.3 billion users from over 120 territories around the world to understand the impact of Facebook on gender equality. The study found that in countries where there was a smaller gender gap on Facebook in 2015, gender equality in that country improved the following year. However, the reverse was not found to be true. The study concluded that a lower gender gap on Facebook was more likely a contributor to gender equality than a product of it.

Having said that, the digital gender gap in India stands at 50 per cent -- which means that women are 50 per cent less likely to have access to the internet than men, depriving them of benefits of information, knowledge, access to jobs and markets, peer support and more.

Qualitative research from around the world shows that when you create relevant 'legit' use cases for women on the internet, it reduces other barriers such as gatekeeping by men on grounds of safety and security. For example, we asked nurses in Bihar about whether they use WhatsApp... they said they do because they have a nurses' work group where they get information, education and share experiences. But when we asked them about other platforms, they said they do not use them because they are not for work. It was clear evidence that their use of internet platforms was based on perceived legitimacy of the use case. And when women and their families find legit use cases, the other normative barriers, such as gatekeeping by men on grounds of safety and security, start to break down.

Here is an example of how a 'legit' use case of social media can transform lives. This is the story of Savita -- an uneducated middle-aged farmer from Maharashtra. A few years back she got exposed to the internet and Facebook. She was fascinated by its potential. She wanted other farmers to learn what she had. So she started an online Facebook community using a basic feature phone. In under three years, she has one million farmers in her two groups -- women farmers who access information and capital, share best practices and support each other in times of crisis -- all through an online group. What Savita achieved with just a feature phone and zero funds is more than what many NGOs achieve through large funded programs. This is a true example of what technology can do for women's empowerment. And how a 'legit' use case can reduce women's barriers to internet access.

So how did Savita do what many large, funded NGOs are unable to do? Before we get to how, it's important to understand what she did. She created a disruption. Traditional development experts would gravitate towards the proven model of self-help groups -- small physical groups of 10-15 women who meet weekly. Self-help groups are proven enablers for empowerment and social change. But at the end of the day those 10-15 women are from the same village, same community and hold similar norms. The reference group is small and static. The moment we bring millions of women from other villages, even other states, to the same group -- it completely changes and dramatically expands the reference group. It allows new ideas to blossom, new norms to thrive.

A Facebook group called Pune Ladies (PULA) brought together aspiring women entrepreneurs and that has led to over 9,000 women to start their own businesses or grow their existing business. Digital Beti, a partnership between Facebook and CSC academy has trained over 250,000 women village level entrepreneurs, 70 per cent of whom were first time digital users, in basic digital skills. The program led to an average increase of 20 per cent in the annual income of these women. Many of these outcomes are not possible at this scale, cost and speed without technology. And Savita understood that.

Technology is one of the greatest enablers of change. We all saw that during Covid-19. But we need to approach it with confidence not fear, with vision not hindsight. Try to think about where the future is headed, the disruptions that are already happening and how legit use cases are breaking down normative barriers for women's access to the internet. Savita does not need to be an exception. While big organisations imagine the disruptions that will empower millions of women rapidly and exponentially each of us can play our small part too. Introducing a woman farmer, a house-help, a young student or a village level entrepreneur to relevant, legit use cases on the internet can transform their lives. And with every woman who joins the worldwide web, the world becomes a better place.

The author is Lead, Social Impact and Communities at Facebook India.

(Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A massive database breach has allegedly occurred in MobiKwik servers where the KYC data of hundreds of thousands of its users has surfaced on the dark web -- as much as 8.2 terabytes of data.

This alleged MobiKwik data breach was first highlighted by French white hacker and security researcher Elliot Anderson via a screenshot on his Twitter earlier today.

Twitter

The screenshot is of a dark web portal where users can allegedly search their phone numbers or email IDs and can get specific details that they want to extract from the allegedly hacked MobiKwik user base.

The alleged MobiKwik data leak was also highlighted by one Indian cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia (reported first by TechNadu) who spotted the new database and has revealed the same earlier in the first week of March 2021.

Twitter

The hacker who allegedly has access to the entire database of MobiKwik users' KYC details is willing to sell the entire chunk for 1.5 bitcoins, which amounts to around $84,000, which will also follow pulling down the aforementioned portal and giving the buyer exclusive access.

The data thats on offer includes a total of 350 gigabytes of MySQL dumps that include 500 databases. It also consists of 99 million mail, phone passwords, addresses and data surrounding installed apps, IP addresses, GPS locations etc.

Tech Nadu

The breach also gives access to 40 million 10-digit card numbers with month, year and card hash. This also includes databases surrounding company data. Another 7.5 TB of over 3 million merchant KYC data which includes Aadhar card details, passport details, pan card details as well as images of individuals who have offered the KYC that theyve used to request for a loan on the payments platform.



MobiKwik in a statement rejects that such a data breach has occurred, Some media-crazed so-called security researchers have repeatedly attempted to present concocted files wasting precious time of our organization as well as members of the media. We thoroughly investigated and did not find any security lapses. Our user and company data is completely safe and secure.

Image courtesy: VCC

Whats surprising is that just last week, MobiKwik announced that it is gearing up for its IPO in September and announced that itll file its draft IPO prospectus by May that could have brought the companys value to over $1 billion.

San Antonio's COVID-19 positivity rate dropped again and it's not because less people are being tested.

Each week, Metro Health updates the rate, which is the percentage of lab tests performed in the past seven days which resulted in being COVID-19 positive.

On March 21, a 2.3 positivity rate was reported, which was the lowest rate the area had seen since Metro Health started tracking it. Sunday's update showed a downtick to a 2.1 positivity rate.

RELATED: Local COVID-19 positivity rate is the lowest San Antonio has seen since April

Some have speculated that the rate reprieve may be due to less people being tested. The city's data shows 44,553 people were tested last week, an increase compared to totals reported during the winter and summer surges. On Jan. 4, 37,794 people were tested. During the week ending on July 12, at the peak of the summer surge, 21,423 were tested.

Metro Health calculates the positivity rate by dividing the number of positive tests returned for the week by the total number of tests administered for that time period.

Dr. Anita K. Kurian, assistant director of San Antonio Metro Health, confirmed more people are being tested now.

"We are documenting an increase in the number of people testing now and this could be attributed to an increased testing capability and implementation of routine testing at selected locations in our community," she said.

READ ALSO: COVID-19 Updates: New COVID-19 cases in a single day highest since March 11

Metro Health considers other warning indicators, like hospital trends, to determine the city's pandemic progress. The department also noted a downward trend in hospitalizations on Monday.

While the area is hitting a stride in positivity rates, officials reported 317 new cases on Sunday, marking the highest total since March 11.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg urged residents to "play it safe" as the vaccination process continues.
Harry Baker (pictured) desperately ran for his life as he was chased by up to seven people for around a mile through Barry, South Wales

The heartbroken mother of a teenager brutally stabbed and beaten to death by a rival drugs gang today confronted her son's killers in court, as they were jailed for at least 119 years.

Brave Emma Baker, 44, told the seven killers of the 'overwhelming pain' they had caused her family by knifing 17-year-old Harry Baker to death.

The teenager and his friend were lured into an 'ambush' by members of a drug gang in Barry, south Wales, in August 2019.

Prosecutors said the group had decided Harry should should 'die or suffer really serious harm' after he 'strayed into their territory'.

Harry desperately ran for his life as he was chased by the pack of killers for a mile before attempting to hide in the town's shipping port.

But while his friend managed to escape, Harry was caught and subjected to a 'swift, bloody and merciless attack' by the gang, before being left to die.

He was found dead by dockworkers arriving hours later.

Three men and a teenager were found guilty of murder in connection with Harry's death. Three further men were jailed for manslaughter after a trial at Newport Crown Court.

Today, as the seven men were sentenced over the teenager's death, Harry's mother told the court she wanted to face down his killers and read her statement aloud.

Ms Baker said: 'I feel this is one of the last things I can do for Harry, which is to be his mum and show how much he was loved.

'To lose a child under any circumstances is a parent's worst nightmare but to lose your child in such traumatic and violent circumstances is too hard to bear.

Leon Clifford (top left) was found guilty of murder, Brandon Liversidge (top centre left) was found guilty of murder, Leon Symons (top centre right) was found guilty of murder, as was Peter McCarthy (top right). Ryan Palmer (bottom left), Lewis Evans (bottom centre) and Raymond Thompson (bottom right) were found guilty of manslaughter

Young Harry desperately ran for his life as he was chased by a pack of killers for around a mile through Barry, South Wales. But he was found dead at the town's shipping port after suffering a 'swift, bloody and merciless attack' by a rival drugs gang

'The overwhelming feelings of pain and grief we feel as a family will be with us for the rest of our lives.'

Ms Baker, a hairdresser from Llanrumney, Cardiff, told how Harry 'got sucked in' to the dark world of drugs shortly before his death.

She said: 'We were a normal family of four, we ate dinner together, we went on family holidays.

'We were not prepared for the change in Harry at 16. He found a different lifestyle with different friends and we felt powerless to change this no matter how hard we tried.

The gang had decided 'that Harry Baker [pictured] should die, or at the very least suffer really serious harm' after straying into their drugs patch, and set up a bogus deal to lure him to his death, Newport Crown Court heard

'We were aware he was involved in drugs but never imagined how deep he was in.

'The days before he died he did not come home and we knew he was in trouble and we did all we could to keep him safe.

'Being involved in drugs is glamorised too much in the younger generations and Harry got sucked in.'

Ms Baker read her heartbreaking last text to Harry telling him she loved him and that she wanted him to come home to talk to him.

However the next she heard was a knock on the door from police officers telling her that her son was dead.

She said: 'Four lives were taken when Harry died. They took a normal family of four and destroyed us all.'

Judge Mr Justice Picken said Ms Baker had shown 'great courage and dignity' by reading her statement in court.

Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC said Harry's blood-covered body was found by workers arriving for their shift at the Intermodal Terminal at the town's docks.

Mr Lewis said: 'He was lying face-down on the ground. He had been repeatedly stabbed and his clothing had been stripped from his body.

'He was just 17 years old at the date he was so brutally murdered .

'Harry Baker was deliberately targeted as a victim. He was ruthlessly hunted down by vicious people who were determined to find him.'

The court heard Harry and friend Louis Johnson were 'ambushed' in a street by the gang in a row over selling drugs - and he tried to flee.

Mr Lewis said: 'The two of them ran away from attackers. They were chased by an armed and deadly gang through the town of Barry and towards the docks for a distance of about a mile.

Footage shows the moment a seven-strong gang descended on Harry Baker and his friend Louis Johnson on a street in Barry

'Harry attempted to escape his pursuers by climbing a fence and taking refuge in a secure floodlit docks compound.

'He no doubt thought he would be safe there but he wasn't. His killers were determined.

'They subjected him to a swift, bloody, and merciless attack before quickly fleeing from the scene.

'Fortunately for him, you may conclude, Louis Johnson managed to escape the gang by climbing back out of the compound fence and fleeing the scene.

'Harry Baker was not so lucky. He was stabbed repeatedly and he was left to die alone in that yard.'

Mr Lewis said pathologists concluded it must have taken Harry Baker some time to die from his injuries'.

He added: 'As he lay dying his attackers made off in a car sent to the scene in order to make their getaway.'

Leon Clifford, 23, Leon Symons, 22, Peter McCarthy, 37, were convicted of murder and jailed for life.

Clifford, of Barry, must serve a minimum of 27 years, Symonds, of Cardiff, 28 years, McCarthy, of Barry, 23 years.

Brandon Liversidge, of Ely, Cardiff, was 16 at the time of Harry's murder and was detained for a minimum of 20 years.

He was named as the youngest of Harry's murderers after reporting restrictions against him were lifted.

Ryan Palmer, 34, Lewis Evans, 62, and Raymond Thompson, 48, all of Barry, were convicted of manslaughter.

Palmer was jailed for 11 years, Evans four years and Thompson six years.

After the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Miles, of South Wales Police, said: 'No sentence will ever be long enough for them. Harry was robbed of his future and an opportunity to turn his life around, and his family and friends have been robbed of a much-loved son, brother and friend.

'They have shown tremendous strength and dignity throughout the investigation and subsequent court proceedings and our sympathies remain very much with them as they now try to begin rebuilding their lives.

'The defendants showed a complete disregard for human life on the night of the attack, and that lack of respect and remorse has continued throughout this trial.'

Kelly Huggins, of the CPS, said: 'Harry was deliberately targeted and ruthlessly hunted down by these people, who carried out a merciless attack.

'Unfortunately, another young person has lost their life needlessly as a result of knife crime.'
Gagnier Communications represents AJAX I special purpose acquisition company that is combining with Cazoo, UKs No. 1 online used car retailer.

The proforma enterprise valuation of the transaction is pegged at $8.1B.

The Financial Times noted that AJAX was founded by billionaire investor Dan Och and is backed by the co-founders of Instagram, Square and 23andMe.

Cazoo has launched an international push, aiming to digitally disrupt the $700B European used-car market.

The company projects 2021 revenues will approach the $1B mark, which represents a more than 300 percent growth in its second year of operation.

Cazoo has more than 1,800 staffers in the UK, Germany, France and Portugal.

Gagnier Communications Dan Gagnier and Jeff Mathews work the AJAX deal.

ICR provides investor support to Cazoo.
She was close to retiring and had been planning to travel the world. But Xiaojie Tan, the owner of Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth, Georgia, who went from being a nail tech to a business owner in just 15 years and often worked seven days a week to support her sister and mother in China, never got the chance.

On March 16, a day before her 50th birthday, a 21-year-old man armed with a 9-millimeter handgun he had purchased only hours earlier entered Tans spa and opened fire, killing her and three others.

The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, went on to murder four more people at two other Atlanta-area spas that day. Six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent.

According to law enforcement officials, Long confessed to the killings, saying his shooting spree was not racially motivated but done to eliminate a temptation.

But that comment, along with Cherokee County Sheriffs Office Capt. Jay Bakers statement that Long had a bad day, have enraged members of the Asian American community as well as academics, who say that, in reality, racism and sexism are inseparable.

The killer showed that for him, these women were not worth respect as human beings, but were sexual objects, said Claire Oueslati-Porter, a senior lecturer in gender and sexuality studies in the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences. He specifically went to Asian businesses with Asian workers. There were other businesses on the same street that he could have attacked but didnt. The fact that he felt he had the power to eliminate Asian women means that he was engaged in white supremacist patriarchal violence. He denied racism, but a lot of racism isnt understood as such by the racist. The killer justified his violence by using his religiosity, describing these human beings as temptations. 

Indeed, advocates say the Atlanta shootings are indicative of a long history of racism and misogyny against Asian women. We should examine the imperial relations of power between the USA and Asian countries, beyond popular representations, Oueslati-Porter explained. For example, the U.S. relationship to the Philippines and wars fought in Asian countries where women were hypersexualized by the military. We can also examine the U.S. history of legal discrimination against Asian immigrants.

It is critical to understand that violence can be racially and gendered motivatedthat is, racialized misogyny, said Donna Coker, professor of law and Deans Distinguished Scholar at the University of Miami School of Law. That the two are intertwined. There is a long history of white men fetishizing Asian women, of presuming them to be sexually available. In addition, there is a long history of blaming womenand particularly women who are of racially subordinated groupsfor male sexual desire.

And Hollywood films such as Full Metal Jacket have contributed to the hypersexualization and fetishization of Asian women, said Oueslati-Porter. There is also a paucity of representations of Asian women in cinema, other than as exoticized sexualized objects, she said, adding that the way Asian women are commodified in sexually oriented industries, including pornography, is especially degrading.

The shootings come as the nation continues to see a surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. New data recently released by the Asian American advocacy organization Stop AAPI Hate shows that nearly 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate were reported between March 2020 and the end of February 2021, with women making up the overwhelming majority of those reports68 percent.

While the Atlanta massacre has shocked the nation, acts of hate against Asians and Asian Americans actually are as old as our nation, said M. Evelina Galang, an American novelist and activist of Filipina descent who is a professor in the University of Miamis Creative Writing Program.

We need only look at the 1871 lynching of 18 Chinese in Los Angeles, the 120,000 Japanese Americans placed in U.S. internment camps during World War II, the brutal 1926 beatings and stabbing of Filipinos in Stockton California, the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, and most recently the beatings of our Asian American elders during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

It is important, Galang said, to remember the victims of the Atlanta shootings as human beings. They were eight souls, minding their own business, leading lives during a difficult period of our nations history, she said. It is important to remain vigilant when it comes to our humanity. We cannot go numb just because it happens often or because the victims are not our sisters, our aunties, our uncle. The people massacred over this young mans bad day were victims of a hate crime, one aimed at a community of Asians and Asian American women who are so often hypersexualized, abused, and to top it off, are not seen as the human beings that they are.

Much to the dismay of many people, federal and local law enforcement officials say they have yet to find solid evidence to build a strong federal hate crime case against Long, which speaks to the difficulty prosecutors often face in proving such crimes. Hate crimes can be challenging because the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the perpetrator chose his victim because of a specific motivation such as the victims race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, said Scott Sundby, a professor of law and Deans Distinguished Scholar at the School of Law.

Proving motivation is an extra hurdle that prosecutors normally do not have to prove, Sundby said. For example, a prosecutor does not have to prove why you robbed the bank, only that you did rob it, he said. In some cases, the hate motive can be readily shownfor example, the defendant uttered racial slurs while beating the victim. But in other cases, we have to piece it together off of circumstantial evidence, which can make it much more difficult for a prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

With protests calling for an end to anti-Asian hate now sweeping the nation, some experts say Asian Americans can find inspiration in the Black Lives Matter movement that has been so vocal since the George Floyd killing.

We have to find something that can come out of this, and I think the linkage to the BLM movement is a good analogy, said Alex Piquero, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences and a leading authority on criminology and criminal justice. Especially since the Spring of 2020, Asians and Asian Americans have seen a lot of negativity and violence aimed at them at no fault of their own, he said.

In one sense, the Atlanta killings may serve to educate non-Asians about the issues they [Asians] have been facingand historically have facedin the United States, Piquero said. The more we can educate people to be more tolerant of one another the better off we will all be. But it still remains the case that these acts also had a gender component to them. We cannot lose sight of that demographic interaction of Asian American women being victimized.
Romania ended 2020 with a deficit of almost two billion euros in trade in agri-food products, given that imports rose to 8.9 billion euros and exports declined to 6.9 billion euros, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), sent at the request of AGERPRES.

"The pedological drought in the agricultural year 2019-2020 affected the agri-food sector both in terms of production and exports, so that the deficit of the trade balance in agri-food products in 2020 was 1.937 billion euros, increasing by 58.1% compared to of 2019. The deepening of the agri-food trade deficit was determined, in particular, by the strong decrease in exports of wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and soybeans," the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture say.

With the EU countries alone, the deficit exceeded 3.175 billion euros (2.654 billion euros in 2019), while the surplus with non-EU countries fell to 1.236 billion euros last year, from 1.428 billion euros in 2019.

According to the quoted source, the value of exports decreased by 2.9% in 2020, amounting to 6.99 billion euros, while imports increased in value by 6% to 8.92 billion euros.

Exports to EU countries amounted to 4.4 billion euros (4.57 billion euros in 2019), and to third countries totaled 2.58 billion euros (2.62 billion euros in 2019). In terms of the value of imports from the Community, it rose to 7.58 billion euros, compared to 7.22 billion euros in the previous year, while in the non-EU area an amount of 1.346 billion euros was recorded, increasing by 12.1% compared to 2019 (1.2 billion euros).

Romania registered in 2019 a deficit of 1.225 billion euros in agri-food trade, increasing by over 8% compared to 2018, when it amounted to 1.133 billion euros.
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The lawsuit from a 2017 crash of an airplane on 1900 West in Roy lingers on, more than three years after it was filed.

The pilot, apparently, was not insured, leaving Samantha Sandoval  hit in her car in the Sept. 12, 2017, incident while driving along the roadway  traumatized and with bills to pay, according to Utah Rep. Cheryl Acton, a West Jordan Republican.

But in a bid to give victims like Sandoval at least a measure of help going forward, Utah lawmakers this session approved a bill requiring general Utah aviation pilots with airplanes to carry at least $100,000 in liability insurance, the Standard Examiner reported. Gov. Spencer Cox signed House Bill 77 into law last week and with the action, Utah becomes just the 12th U.S. state with minimum liability insurance or aircraft financial responsibility requirements, according to Acton and U.S. General Accounting Office data.

I think its a good improvement, Roy Mayor Bob Dandoy said. Over the years, Roy, which abuts Ogden-Hinckley Airport in Ogden, has been the site of a number of crashes of small aircraft, and leaders in the city are particularly mindful of the issue.

However, the new law isnt a panacea, some say.

The Federal Aviation Administration is mainly concerned with the safety of aircraft and doesnt have rules related to liability in crashes, according to Acton. Thus, its up to states to craft legislation, and HB 77, motivated by a deadly 2020 crash of a plane in West Jordan that destroyed a home there as well as crashes like the one in Roy, is her effort in that direction.

In the absence of insurance to help in the aftermath of certain plane crashes, victims have to resort to court action, Acton said. And going to court, she went on, makes it time-consuming and difficult. At the same time, though, she didnt want to put liability requirements too high in HB 77 and make insurance costs overly burdensome for aircraft hobbyists.

Indeed, Bryant Garrett, manager of Ogden-Hinckley Airport, said the idea behind HB 77 is good. The insurance requirements, though, are a bit skimpy. It was done for the right reasons with good intentions, but its a little short on money, he said.

At the same time, Garrett said many airports, including Ogden-Hinckley Airport, already require insurance of pilots who house their airplanes at their facilities. In Ogden, pilots are required to have at least $1 million in insurance.

Robert Fuller, the lawyer representing Sanodval in her lawsuit against the pilot of the 2017 airplane and others allegedly involved, echoed Garretts sentiments on the liability levels. Its a good start, he said.

He also noted, though, that medical costs in an airplane crash can quickly mount. Better would be implementation of uniform insurance requirements at the national level, applicable to pilots with airplanes across the nation.

The feds are aware of the issue. A 2015 General Accounting Office study into the insurance question says commercial air carriers are required to carry liability insurance under federal law. No such federal requirements exist for owners of small aircraft, though.

In some cases, accidents involving uninsured or underinsured (general aviation) aircraft owners have occurred where individuals (passengers or third parties) who incurred losses received little or no compensation, reads the 2015 report.

In the 2017 plane crash, the pilot, Lawrence Erick, was carrying out a pre-buy inspection of the craft involved, a Beechcraft Sierra, according to a statement he made to federal transportation officials shortly after the incident. He is believed to be from Arizona, according to Sandovals lawsuit. While in flight, according to Ericks statement, the craft experienced technical issues, precipitating his effort to land on 1900 West and the collision with the Sandoval vehicle.

Sandoval filed suit in 2nd District Court in Ogden on Feb. 2, 2018, against Erick and others involved in airplane maintenance at Ogden-Hinckley Airport. Erick has denied blame in the matter and the suit winds its way through court.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ADAMS - A 17-year-old boy is being charged with murder as an adult in last weeks fatal shooting of a Springfield man in Adams.

Angel Rafael Nieves entered an innocent plea to a charge of first-degree murder in Northern Berkshire District Court on Monday afternoon. He is ordered held without the right to bail and is due back in court on April 28.

Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington said she will bring the case before the grand jury to seek an indictment on first-degree murder to have the trial take place in superior court.

He is accused of shooting Benjamin Martinez, 34, on Thursday at 1 East Hoosac Street.

Martinez was shot once in the back of the head in a third-floor apartment.

Typically anyone under the age of 18 is tried as a minor in juvenile court and the accuseds identity is withheld from the press. Massachusetts law allows minors between the ages of 14 and 17 who are charged with murder to be tried as adults.

Nieves was arrested Friday evening in Springfield.

Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington said Nieves is from the Springfield area.

Nieves and Martinez are related but the exact relationship is not clear.

The residence on East Hoosac Street had been under investigation by police for drug activity, according to the DAs office.
A few weeks ago, I saw a Facebook event for a North End community cleanup hosted by the Elizabeth Fry Society of Manitoba, Anishiative and Strength in the Circle. I signed up, as I was starving for a chance to do something that might make a difference, and I also wanted to break free from my bubble.

Opinion

A few weeks ago, I saw a Facebook event for a North End community cleanup hosted by the Elizabeth Fry Society of Manitoba, Anishiative and Strength in the Circle. I signed up, as I was starving for a chance to do something that might make a difference, and I also wanted to break free from my bubble.

When I arrived at the societys parking lot on Selkirk Avenue on March 20, I felt intimidated and shy. People were just starting to gather, some in reflective vests and shirts with the name and logo of the groups they are a part of, such as the Bear Clan and the Mama Bear Clan.

There were also people who, like me, werent part of a larger group. Im not a member of the North End community, but the Facebook post said everyone was welcome.

Mitch Bourbonniere, a community organizer and a new friend I had met a few weeks earlier, rolled up shortly after on his motorcycle. It seemed as if every person there knew him, because they probably did.

Mitch is a humble helper who has spent much of his life lifting up his community. Hes the kind of guy who takes care of people, and he made sure to introduce me to some of the other volunteers. In a pandemic, meeting new people is strange  at least, I thought it would be, because you have to do it cautiously and awkwardly, from a distance. However, everyone I met was gracious and welcoming, and offered me a spot with their group once the cleanup started.

Quinn Saretsky, is the executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society  a non-profit that provides services to women who are involved in the criminal justice system  and one of the events organizers. She came up with the idea to host the community cleanup after noticing all the garbage that surfaced when the snow started to melt.

It hit her one morning that she could do something about it, so she reached out to Rylee Nepinak, one of the founders of Anishiative  an Indigenous youth organization dedicated to serving the North End  and asked if theyd be interested in teaming up.

On the morning of the cleanup, many folks showed up with their own garbage-pickers and gloves in hand; there were around 40 people of different ages ready to clear trash that littered the neighbourhood.

"It was just a beautiful opportunity to have folks from all walks of life come out and show common unity for our neighbourhood. We had over nine different organizations and groups represented, and it demonstrated the love in our community," Saretsky said.

I worked a small field along Andrews Street with Nepinak and Brandy Bobier, who is the city lead co-ordinator at the food-rescue charity Leftovers Foundation and just started her own non-profit, called Community Helpers Unite. Like all the other volunteers Id met that day, they were just showing up to help make the neighbourhood they loved a little better.

"Not only are Anishiative and Elizabeth Fry Society organizations that we redirect rescued food to for their hampers and programming, but we also volunteer with each other," Bobier said.

"We are all like-minded and have a clear vision to revitalize the community, and as small groups, the best way to reach that goal is to help each other succeed. Their leadership teams are made up of beautiful, caring souls, who are trying to create real change. On behalf of Leftovers and CHU, I am so proud to be a part of their circle and take part in this event."

It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I got to be part of something special that made a difference.

There are plenty of community cleanups going on throughout the province. If you have the time and ability, I recommend taking part, even if youre going alone. Youll leave feeling great and maybe even with a few new friends.

shelley.cook@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter @ShelleyACook
The release of this issue of HBCU Research marks the 103rd anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic. The disparities that were observed over a century ago are still being observed today, with people of color disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

The issue reports on several engaging topics including:

When Race is a Pre-existing Condition, which offers, from the Black perspective, a comparison of the 1918 influenza pandemic and COVID-19

which offers, from the Black perspective, a comparison of the 1918 influenza pandemic and COVID-19 The Big Pivot, highlighting the twists and turns HBCUs have had to make in order to prevail during this pandemic

highlighting the twists and turns HBCUs have had to make in order to prevail during this pandemic COVID-19 Heroes , which showcases champions in science and medicine who are making countless contributions to attack the Coronavirus

which showcases champions in science and medicine who are making countless contributions to attack the Coronavirus Smart Money, covering the flow of funding that HBCUs have received over the past year from government, corporations, and private institutions.

"HBCUs have a long legacy of research innovation that provides answers to pivotal questions and provides solutions to problems that ail not just 'minority' populations, but ultimately, the human race. I am proud to be a part of the HBCU community and excited about having a publication like HBCU Research that increases the visibility of the work at HBCUs."

-Dr. James E. K. Hildreth, President of Meharry Medical College and Member of the White House COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force

HBCU Research Magazine is published by SLA Worldwide, founded by Sandra Long, former Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Commerce. As the first African American woman to be appointed to the position, she understands the importance of bringing attention to the accomplishments of the Black community. "Our community is not always talked about, documented, or acknowledged, which is why HBCU Research Magazine is such a necessary publication," says Long.

The issue is available at HBCUresearch.com. Single copy price is $14.99 in the United States and $15.99 in Canada.

ABOUT HBCU RESEARCH MAGAZINE

HBCU Research is the premier magazine dedicated to highlighting scientists, innovative research, and students in the HBCU community. Written in an informative and engaging format, the magazine is designed to help facilitate collaborations between academia, government, industry, and the community. #HBCUResearch?

SOURCE HBCU Research

Related Links

http://HBCUresearch.com


Thank you for reading!

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Arlene Foster during a visit to the newly opened Covid-19 vaccination centre at the SSE Arena, Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

Northern Irelands political leaders have urged the UK to share any surplus vaccines with the Irish Republic as soon as possible.

More than half of our adult population has received a first jab  but the Republic is lagging behind because of supply issues and the UKs single dose strategy.

While the Sunday Times reported that UK ministers were working up plans to share 3.7m doses, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said yesterday there has been no indication that the UK will provide any vaccines to Ireland in the short-term.

Health Minister Robin Swann said sharing additional doses was the right thing to do.

My responsibility is to the people of Northern Ireland (and) my key aim is to get as many people in Northern Ireland vaccinated as quickly as possible, he said.

We hope to have everyone receive their first vaccination by the end of July.

In the Republic of Ireland, Ive heard the Taoiseach say they hope to catch up in a couple of weeks or a months time, so thats something we would like to see.

First Minister Arlene Foster said the time frame of sharing depended on the speed of the UK rollout.

I think from our point of view here in Northern Ireland if we were able to share from the UK to the Republic of Ireland that would help us here, because here of course theres a lot of people who travel between (both jurisdictions), she said.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said it was crucially important to have an all-island approach to dealing with vaccinations.

Its the right thing to do, its the good thing to do. Its responding to a global pandemic and we are all in this together, so we need to work together in order to protect our people, she said.

I would like to see a lot more co-operation as we come out of this period and into the future.

Mr Martin, the Taoiseach, said he spoke to Boris Johnson six weeks ago and he was very clear that he would have to vaccinate his people first and they are some distance off that.

He said there had been no contact since then and no indication from UK government officials in terms of offering any vaccines.

However, he added: Any vaccines that are available, if we require them, of course we would accept them, but theres been no offer at this particular point.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell called for vaccine sharing while accusing the EU of costing lives through vaccine blundering.

He said the UK offering to share vaccine supplies was a sensible arrangement given the volume of travel along border counties.

More than three months on from the start of the vaccine rollout, in the UK we have three to four times more per head of the adult population vaccinated than the average EU country, he said.

Since January 1 in the Irish Republic there have been over 140,000 reported positive cases and more than 2,400 reported deaths.

How many of those cases and deaths were attributable to EU incompetence resulting in significantly fewer people vaccinated? We will probably never know, just as we will never know how many fewer there would have been had the Republic not been hamstrung by EU rules and bureaucracy.









Vietnams tourism sector relies heavily on international travel, which plunged last year. (Photo: dulich.tuoitre.vn)

Hanoi  Although the domestic tourism is bouncing back, travel agencies still emphasise the need to open border for tourists from certain countries to reboot the industry.

A representative from the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association said the implementation of COVID-19 vaccine passport would make a step forward in tourism recovery.

Tour operators have suggested piloting the reopening in easy-to-control and remote areas, launching charter flights to take tourists to certain sites while limiting travelling to various destinations, and administering COVID-19 vaccines to employees there.

Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy Director General of Vietravel, said while the Government is weighing on the matter, Vietnam needs to promote its image as a safe destination that is ready to welcome international holidaymakers back.

McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, said Vietnams tourism sector relies heavily on international travel, which plunged last year. International flights dropped 80 percent in October 2020 from the same time period a year earlier.

The sharp drop in foreign travelers has had an outsize impact on tourism expendituresand Vietnams overall economybecause they spend significantly more than their local counterparts.

In 2019, a year in which the tourism industry accounted for 12 percent of the countrys GDP, international travelers made up only 17 percent of overall tourists in Vietnam, yet accounted for more than half of all tourism spending - averaging 673 USD per traveler compared with 61 USD spent on average by domestic travelers.

According to the firm, the majority of Vietnams international tourists come from Asia, with those from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), and Taiwan accounting for around 80 percent of Vietnams 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, it said.

Domestic tourism has shown clear signs of recovery. Tran Trong Kien, Chairman of the National Tourism Advisory Board, cited a latest survey as saying that more than 83 percent of Vietnamese said they are ready to travel in the next seven months, especially during the summer holiday, and more than 72 percent chose air travel.

To ensure a safe trip for guests, travel companies affirm that they are implementing anti-pandemic regulations of the Ministry of Health for the tourism sector.

Vice Chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Nora Vargas (4th from left), gave a speech at a press briefing inside San Diego Convention Center on March 27, 2021, alongside San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria (3rd from left) and congressional representatives Reps Mike Levin (not shown on photo), Sara Jacobs, Juan Vargas and Scott Peters (L-R) (Jane Yang/Epoch Times)

Unaccompanied Minors Arrive at San Diego Convention Center Shelter

SAN DIEGO, CaliforniaThe San Diego Convention Center, which has hosted the San Diego Comic-Con since 1971, has now transformed its exhibit halls into a temporary shelter.

On March 27, the first 500 unaccompanied minors who have recently entered the United States as part of a surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border arrived in San Diego from Texas.

Unaccompanied Girls

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told media on March 27 that the San Diego Convention Center shelter is only taking unaccompanied girls aged 13 to 17 who are being transferred from Texas shelters.

Gloria said the shelter could accommodate up to 1,450 unaccompanied minors. Following the first 500, another 250 are scheduled to arrive on Monday.

Officials tightly controlled what photos and videos media could take. The media was only allowed to take photos in designated areas. No images out of the press briefing were allowed.

Gloria and San Diego County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairwoman Nora Vargas led elected officials, including Democratic congressmen Scott Peters, Juan Vargas, Mike Levin, and Sara Jacobswho were newly elected last Novemberfor a tour of the exhibit hall where some cots had already been placed. The guided tour was not open to the press. A local station, CBS8 TV, was selected to provide pool video.

San Diego About Compassion

Today we are showing the world that San Diego is a welcoming city  These are children. This is the right thing to do, Gloria said.

He explained that the shelter will not only provide beds and food, but also provides a full range of services.

I want to be clear, this is not just cots but [what] we are doing here is intensive case management, medical care, behavioral health care, educational services, recreational services, nutritious meals, legal services, religious services, and probably above anything, to be a safe place, the mayor added.

Peters said: This is not the answer to immigration reform, this is not the answer to asylum reform  but this is an act of compassion from neighbor to neighbor.

Officials said South Bay Community Services in San Diego are helping the minors contact relatives in the United States or helping them find sponsors. They said that 90 percent of the children had relatives in the United States.

The children will spend an average of 30-35 days in the shelter, which has been contracted until mid-July.

Why Children Are Unaccompanied

Scott Peters told The Epoch Times that children have been coming across the southern border because those parents want their children to have a good future in the United States.

Peters said that he visited Honduras a few years ago and witnessed people facing severe economic and violence problems.

The economy there is actually based on people sending money from here to there, he said. I think a lot of parents say, I dont want this for my kids, so theyve encouraged and allowed their children to make this amazing journey to get a better life. Many of them come unaccompanied, he added.

The U.S. government treats those who travel without parents or relatives as unaccompanied minors. But some children travel from Central American countries to the U.S. border with their parents or relatives and are later separated from them.

Jason Bercovitch, immigration advisor and Director of Constituent Services for Scott Peters, said that now, parents are not allowed to enter the United Statesonly children are allowed. So after arriving at the border, each family makes their own decision whether to separate from their children in the hopes that they can enter as an unaccompanied minor.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a press conference on March 5 this year that the Biden administration allows all unaccompanied children arriving at the border to enter the United States. She said it would be inhumane to do otherwise.

However, adults and families will be refused entry.

Refugee Fraud, Child Smuggling

Also seen at the convention center on March 27 was a small group of protesters from Patriot Fire.

The organization said in a statement that they were not protesting against the individuals moving into the shelter but against mass asylum fraud and the associated child/human trafficking.

The group says that they believe the fraud asylum system is supported by human trafficking by murderous smuggling cartels and San Diegos participation in the broken system adds to the problem.

Allowing it to take place just promotes the trafficking of many more people, the group said.

Jane Yang contributed to this report.
HANOVER, Md., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Three-hundred-and-eighty-five days since the last spark flew from clashing steel swords, or the sound of pounding horse hooves reverberated off stone castle walls, or adrenalin-pumped fans dove hands-first into a four-course feast, Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament today announced it will reopen the doors of its Maryland castle on April 15, 2021. The announcement follows Gov. Larry Hogan's expansion of Maryland's capacity limits to allow large outdoor and indoor venues to operate at 50 percent capacity. This provision will allow Medieval Times guests to remain socially distanced in the 65,000-sq.-ft. castle while cheering their favorite knight from behind the safety of securely positioned masks.

"We see a light at the end of the tunnel and soon valiant knights on horseback will be charging through it," said Perico Montaner, Medieval Times President and CEO. "In consultation with health experts and government officials we've created a substantial reopening plan that ensures our guests and staff remain safe, without compromising the majesty and excitement fans expect from our tournaments."

The Maryland castle is the sixth of 10 Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament locations throughout North America to reopen. Pandemic-responsive experience modifications include a mandate that all guests wear masks and submit to contactless temperature screening before entering the castle. With occupancy reduced to 50 percent, all parties will be seated a minimum of six feet apart in the Grand Ceremonial Arena. Additional updates include:

Minimal contact entry into the castle

High-touch areas disinfected multiple times per show

Digital menus accessible through smartphones and disposable table cards

Team members screened prior to the start of each shift

Team members will wear a mask at all times and gloves while handling food or drinks

Disposable silverware available upon request

Guests can expect a safe, fun and unforgettable experience. Tickets still include a four-course meal and a two-hour jousting tournament featuring six courageous knights, real weapons, beautiful horses and a live flight of the royal falcon.

Medieval Times expects to welcome approximately 2,000 team members back across all locations once they reopen.

Medieval Times Maryland is located at 7000 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover, Md. To reserve tickets, visit: https://www.medievaltimes.com/ or call 1-888-WE-JOUST (935-6878).

SOURCE Medieval Times

Related Links

https://www.medievaltimes.com


Thiruvananthapuram, March 29 : The Congress on Monday sought to know if there was "a secret deal" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Adani Group.

Congress national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surejwala said Kerala respects honesty, abhors secret deals, is known for transparency and demanding accountability as he asked Vijayan to come clean on whether the LDF government, acting through the Solar Energy Corporation of India, a nodal agency of the Union New and Renewable Energy Ministry, decided to purchase 300 MW long term wind power for 25 years at approximately Rs 8,785 crore from the Adani Group.

Asking whether this 300 MW long term wind power would be purchased at the rate of Rs.2.82 per unit and Rs 2.90 per unit, he sought to know if the tariff of power from other 'renewable energy source' i.e. solar power is Rs 1.99 per unit as on November/December 2020, and if so, why was the LDF government purchasing wind power at a higher rate.

Surjewala also asked if the Vijayan and the Modi governments together reduced Kerala's quota of solar energy from 2.75 per cent to a mere 0.25 per cent, and whether this facilitated the purchase of wind power from the Adani Group.

He alleged that Vijayan's opposition to handing over of Thiruvananthapuram Airport to Adani Group was a farce and facade to cover up other secret understandings.

He also wondered if there was any common link between the gold smuggling case, and the "suspicious refusal" of the Enforcement Directorate/Income Tax Department and other Central government agencies to act against Chief Minister, three Cabinet Ministers and the Assembly Speaker and the consequent award of 300 MW long term wind power project to Adani Group.

" All this points towards a secret understanding between Pinarayi Vijayan and Narendra Modi," he alleged.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge on Monday ordered a Parma father charged with aggravated murder in the death of his 5-year-old son to remain in jail without a bond.

Judge Kenneth Spanagel continued a no-bond order he issued Friday for Matthew Ponomarenko as prosecutors prepare to take his case to a Cuyahoga County grand jury.

Parma City Prosecutor Timothy Dobek asked Spanagel in court on Monday to continue holding Ponomarenko without bail due to the brutality of the crime.

Ponomarenkos attorney, Steve McGowan, did not object to Dobeks request.

Ponomarenko made his appearance via a live video feed from the Parma Jail. Ponomarenko was wearing a suicide vest.

The boys mother was among six family members who sat in the back of the courtroom during the hearing. She wept through much of the proceeding as the others consoled her from both sides. Several members of the Parma police department also attended the hearing.

The hearing marked Ponomarenkos first court appearance since police arrested him on Thursday at his Russell Avenue home.

Ponomarenko is charged in Parma Municipal Court with capital murder charge that would make him eligible for the death penalty. A grand jury must hand up an indictment with death specifications in order for Ponomarenko to remain eligible for execution if he is convicted.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael OMalleys spokesman Tyler Sinclair said Monday that the office has not decided whether it will pursue the death penalty. The offices capital review committee will review the case before making that decision, Sinclair said.

Ponomarenko summoned police to the home after he called 911 and revealed to a dispatcher that he killed his son. Ponomarenko said he was hearing voices, according to a copy of the call that Parma police released on Friday.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office has not determined the boys cause of death.

Police have released few details of the boys death as the investigation continue.

The boys family was expected to hold a vigil at 5 p.m. Monday at Veterans Memorial Park that is open to the public, the Parma police said.

Ponomarenko was charged with child endangering in 2017 in a case where he was accused of leaving Jax, then 1 year old, naked in the middle of the road while Ponomarenko yelled at passing cars, according to records. Ponomarenko later told investigators that he had taken drugs including methamphetamine and PCP, according to records.

Ponomarenko pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count and was ordered to pay a $212 fine, according to court records.

Ponomarenko also pleaded no contest in December to a disorderly conduct charge tied to a Dec. 21 incident. Spanagel handed down a suspended 30-day jail sentence in that case.

Matthew Ponomarenko of Parma is charged in the death of his 5-year-old son Jax Ponomarenko.

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Senator Shehu Sani and Popular Northern Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on Monday, met over gunmen abduction of the 39 students of the...

Senator Shehu Sani and Popular Northern Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on Monday, met over gunmen abduction of the 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Mando, Igabi Local Government Kaduna and that of members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God on evangelism to Kafanchan.

The parents of the abducted students had reached out to prominent citizens to prevail on Governor Nasir El-Rufai to do his possible best to ensure that their children regain their freedom.

This followed the expiration of a 48-hour ultimatum handed down to both the state and federal governments to effect the release of the abducted students by the parents who protested over their children.

Trauma led to the death of one of the parents, Alhaji Ibrahim Shamaki, whose daughter spoke in Hausa in the viral video released by the bandits.

On Thursday night, March 11, 2021, the bandits in large numbers invaded the school located opposite the Nigerian Defence Academy along the Kaduna International Airport road and abducted them.

Some of the students were in a viral video released by the bandits on Saturday after their abduction, in their night wears.

The students, 39 in numbers had spent 19 days in the bandits den.

However, on Monday, Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, waded into the matter when he paid a courtesy visit to the renowned Islamic scholar in his Kaduna residence.

Gumi assured the former lawmaker that arrangements were on for the release of the students from their abductors.

He acknowledged that the parents of the students met him over the matter, noting that we have done all we can regarding the students.

The Islamic cleric appreciated Sanis efforts toward ensuring peace in the country.

As for the college students, we have done all we can do. In fact, I had a meeting with the parents of the kidnapped students sequel to their meeting with the government. I show them what the problem is and they went to visit the government and returned, he said.

Gumi noted that he was not a negotiator for bandits, as he always ensured that government officials are present in his previous discussions with bandits in the forests, before the Federal Governments shoot at sight order.

As for the college students, we are making arrangements for them through a contact to see how these (students kidnapped) problems can be solved.

The case has been referred to someone (name withheld ) and hes doing his best, Gumi added.

Sani had earlier appealed to Gumi to assist in freeing the 39 students and members of the RCCG held hostage by the bandits.

He urged the cleric not to be discouraged by some utterances from Nigerians.

Sani said, Im one of the Nigerians passionate about bringing an end to insecurity in the country and I will not relent. I beg you not to retreat from whatever effort you are putting in place.

We cannot also defeat people until we understand them and win some of them over.

So do not be discouraged by words and lack of recognition from.

A mother whose child is in the hand of kidnappers will simply want their release at all cost.

 I call on you to use the privilege, the opportunity and the power which God has personally endowed you with to help free the 39 Afaka forestry college students and the RCCG members in captivity.
"A Conversation with Roger Dow" took place on March 26th, 2020, and the timing was ideal. The majority of the country had just shut down due to the pandemic. To have an opportunity to speak with the chief advocate of the travel industry and fellow Skalleague from Skal Washington DC at the beginning of the most challenging time our industry has ever faced was exceptionally well received. Over 150 people around the world logged in, and the Skal USA Education Webinar Series was born, offering a total of 16 webinars in 2020. "The level of professionalism within the tourism community came together, and Skal USA provided the outlet for our members and other tourism executives to learn and interact with these unique leaders," said Tom Moulton, SKAL USA Director of Membership. "In return, we were able to make informed decisions which positively assisted Skal USA clubs and their companies. We provided friendship and familiarity with these global leaders. "

This webinar series aims to provide relevant content to our membership and the industry to help them with up-to-date information, trends, and leading industry information from across all sectors. The series continues to gain steam in 2021 as Skal USA has already hosted several successful webinars focused on continuing education, sharing ideas about getting creative with Zoom meetings during the pandemic, and an interactive conversation with the Tourism Cares CEO.

Skal members come from all aspects of the travel industry, and participants log in from around the world, so the team makes sure they find a variety of speakers to offer something for everyone. The speakers are chosen based on what is going on in the industry. For example, with meetings and events going virtual, hybrid, and even some in-person, Skal will have David DuBois, President & CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), talking about this side of the industry on March 31st. He'll also address the changes people will see when they attend a conference or exhibition." Sign up for the webinar here.

Subsequent webinars will include Pauline Frommer, Editorial Director of Frommer's Guidebooks, to share what changes she's seeing in the market and other issues that will likely shape travel going forward on April 14th.

Richard Bangs, co-founder and Chief Adventure Officer of www.Steller.co, a pioneer in travel, digital media, e-commerce, will talk about the future of travel on May 12th.

There are many well-known panelists scheduled for the rest of the year, sharing their expertise with the members and taking the time to answer questions. The goal is for every participant in attendance on the webinar to take away one nugget of information that they can use or share and a new resource in the industry on the topic, and that's the success of the series. All webinars are free and open to the public and are archived afterward on Skal USA's website and their YouTube page for public access.

Skal International USA continues to strive for ways to engage with their membership and the industry regularly and offer various opportunities to learn, discuss, question and network. Skal USA would love to welcome you to the conversation. Follow them on Facebook or at skalusa.org for a list of upcoming webinars, and be sure to drop in when you can.

Skal International is the world's largest global network of Tourism Professionals promoting Tourism, Business, and Friendship worldwide since 1934. Its members are Directors and Executives of the Tourism sector who relate to each other to address common interest issues, improve a business network, and promote destinations. Skal International has nearly 13,000 members in 332 clubs in 99 countries around the world. Skal International USA is currently the largest National Committee in Skal International with over 1,300 members and 45 clubs nationwide. For more information about Skal International and membership, please visit SkalUSA.org.

Contact: Pam Davis, (808) 225-8229, [email protected]



SOURCE Skal International USA

Related Links

http://www.useh.org


Xiaomi kicked off its Mega launch event in China earlier today and the first device to be announced on stage was the Mi 11 Pro. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun described the phone as the King of Android and it certainly boasts some top-notch specs.

The front is dominated by a 6.81-inch quad curved AMOLED display QHD resolution and 120Hz refresh rate and Dolby Vision. The panel is protected by Cornings Gorilla Glass Victus and comes with a pre-applied quad curved screen protector. The Mi 11 Pro also boasts dual stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon and packs a tiny punch-hole cutout for the 20MP selfie camera.

Speaking of cameras the Mi 11 Pro is the first device to pack Samsungs 50MP GN2 camera sensor. The massive 1/1.2 sized module is the largest sensor put in a smartphone and boasts 1.4m-sized pixels, Dual Pixel Pro AF, Stagger HDR and ISO fusion. Youll also be able to capture 8K video straight from the main cam.



Samsung GN2 camera sensor

In addition, you get a periscope module with 5x optical (50x digital) zoom and OIS. Theres also a 13MP ultrawide snapper.

As expected the Mi 11 Pro utilizes the Snapdragon 888 chipset. Xiaomi boasted improved thermal management with class-leading heat dissipation thanks to its large 150mm vapor chamber and accompanying copper heat sinks.

Powering the Mi 11 Pro is a 5,000 mAh battery but its not just your run-of-the-mill battery. Xiaomi went with a Silicon Oxygen anode cell which boasts higher density, better conductivity and faster charging in a slimmer profile.



Mi 11 Pro battery, charging and cooling

The same battery tech is being used in electric cars. You get 67W wired and 67W wireless charging both of which take just 36 minutes for a full charge.

The software front is covered by MIUI 12.5 based on Android 11. The phone is IP68 certified and packs an IR blaster. Color options include green, black and purple.

The Mi 11 Pro in its 8/128GB trim retails for CNY 4,999 ($762). Its also available in 8/256GB version for CNY 5,299 ($807) as well as a 12/256GB model for CNY 5,699 ($868). Official sales in China start on April 2.

Xiaomi is offering two packaging options with a normal box that also bundles the 67W charger and cable as well as an environmentally-friendly version without a charger and cable in the box. Both packaging options cost the same so it's up to the buyer to decide which version is more suitable.



Mi 11 Pro packing options

Xiaomi also introduced a new 80W wireless charger pad and similarly powered charger stand. The pad packs 19 coils that can move around to charge up to 3 devices, while the stand only does one but supports both portrait and horizontal orientation. They both com with a 120W power adapter - pricing is set at CNY 599 ($91) for the pad and CNY499 ($76) for the stand.
Monrovia  The United States embassy in Monrovia is drawing a line of demarcation from damning comments against the George Weah-led administration by Congressman Chris Smith, a high-ranking member of the US Congress.

Congressman Smith is also the proponent of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which was enacted in 2012 by the US Congress and signed into law by ex-President Barrack Obama in 2016, to among other things, allow the U.S. government to sanction foreign government officials implicated in human rights abuses anywhere in the world.

The Magnitsky Factor

Formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, the Act is a bipartisan bill, initially ntending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009 and also to grant permanent normal trade relations status to Russia.

In a virtual broadcast marking the first hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the implementation of the Act via cisco on March 24, Congressman Smith claimed that President Weah has been allegedly depleting the country's coffers since his ascendancy to the Liberian presidency.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission is a bi-partisan commission which was established with the unanimous consent of the United States House of Representatives in 2008.

The Commission is charged with promoting, defending and advocating for international human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant human rights instruments. The Commission undertakes public education activities, provides expert human rights advice and encourages members of Congress to actively engage in human rights matters.

The Commission is chaired by two members of the House of Representatives who are appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader. For the 117th Congress, Rep. James P. McGovern (MA-02) is the Democratic Co-Chair, and Rep. Christopher H. Smith (NJ-04) is the Republican Co-Chair.

This year, the act currently runs out as an executive order and Congressman's Smith is leading the charge to expand it to make it a permanent law not requiring reauthorization every four years.

Trumpeting the Act last week, Rep Smith who serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, blamed President Weah for the high rate of poverty in the country by using his political power to appropriate the wealth of the county through embezzling or misappropriating government funds at the expense of the wider population.

Said Rep. Smith: "In Africa, we have a special relationship with Liberia which was founded by freed American slaves. Unfortunately, President George Weah leads a Kleptocratic government that is engaged in political corruption from the day he assumed office by depleting the government's coffers for personal use while the people of Liberia suffer."

Does Not Speak for Biden, US Embassy

The Congressman's comments come amid murmurs in Monrovia last week that the US government through Congress was on the verge of placing sanctions on a number of officials in the Weah-led government.

Contacted in the aftermath of Rep. Smith's comments, the US embassy in Monrovia through Public Affairs Officer Michael Ardaiolo, said the lawmaker's comments does not represent the Joe Biden administration or the US embassy.

Mr. Ardaiolo stated: "Representative Smith is a member of the House of Representatives. He represents one of the many diverse viewpoints of our elected officials, which is a strength of our democracy. He does not, however, speak directly on behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration or the U.S. Embassy. The U.S. Embassy has consistently raised concerns over corruption in our private conversations with the government and in our publicly available reports, including on investment climate and human rights.

Liberians in government have recently been designated as corrupt actors by the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury Department. We have long worked with government and civil society actors in anti-corruption efforts in Liberia and share the belief of many Liberians that corruption is a primary barrier to development of the country."

The Weah administration has in recent months been battling perceptions of corruption. This is not the first time issues regarding perception of corruption has been heard from the corridors of the US government.

Last year, during the confirmation of Mr. Michael A. McCarthy, the current US Ambassador accredited to Liberia, Senator Bob Menendez(Democrat, New Jersey) had queried the nominee on reports fo corruption under the Weah-led administration and asked what he would do to change the damaging perception of corruption that has been dogging the government, now in its fourth year.

Pressed by Senator Menendez, a ranking member of the committee, on his assessment of the government's willingness and capacity to address corruption and what would he do if confirmed, to press the government to adequately address the corruption issue, Mr. McCarthy said he would devise a three-pronged approach toward making the case.

Last week, Ambassador McCarthy in a response to a complaint of corruption from Rep. Yekeh Kolubah(ANC, District No. 10) regarding corruption, in possession of FrontPageAfrica, offered the following response: "Like many other Liberians and those who care about the future of this country, I share you concern. This is why the US mission to Liberia has invested heavily to implement increased transparency in Liberia's budget tracking systems, professionalize criminal justice operations, and build the capacity of the Liberia anti-corruption Commissions. It is my hope and expectation that these institutions and the good people of Liberia will continue the noble and necessary fight against corruption."

Source: Weah Govt. Pursuing Diplomatic Channels

The Liberian government is yet to officially respond to the latest comments made by Congressman Smith. However, FrontPageAfrica has learned that the administration is currently engaging diplomatic channels in a bid to counter the Congressman's assault on the administration.

To date, the Global Magnitsky sanctions have been imposed on more than 240 individuals and entities identified as responsible for serious human rights abuses or corruption from more than 30 countries.

During the hearing, Congressman Smith recounted the long standing relationship between the US and Liberia, but pointed out that, "political corruption" has been the order of the day under the Weah led-government.

Last week, Congressman Smith made specific reference to Grand Cape Mount County Senator Varney Sherman, who is one of the victims of the implementation of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

Senator Sheriff, who is also a Counselor and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary was slapped with economic sanctions last December by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for his alleged involvement in a series of bribery and corruption related cases.

According to the OFAC, Senator Sherman "has routinely paid judges to decide cases in his favor, and he has allegedly facilitated payments to Liberian politicians to support impeachment of a judge who has ruled against him."

Senator Sherman, according to the U.S. Government, also allegedly offered bribes to be set free from a bribery case he and some other top government officials in Liberia, including former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alex J. Tyler, were connected to.

Global Witness, a British corruption watchdog, in 2015, alleged that Sable Mining Company, through Cllr. Varney Sherman, the company's legal representative, and his colleagues conspired to circumvent the law in order for the company to get a concession to mine the Wologisi Mountain in Lofa without going through a competitive bidding process.

"Varney Sherman, now a prominent lawyer, Liberian Senator, and chair of the Liberian Senate Judiciary Committee, offered bribes to multiple judges associated with his trial for 2010 bribery scheme, and he had an undisclosed conflict of interest with judge who ultimately returned a not guilty verdict in July 2019," the release said.

"In the 2010 scheme that led to his trial, Sherman was hired by a British Mining company in an effort to obtain one of Liberia's last mining assets, the Wologisi iron ore concession. Sherman advised the company that, in order to obtain the contract, they first had to get Liberia's procurement and concession law changed by bribing senior officials," the U.S. Government further noted.

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"In 2016, Sherman was indicted by the Liberian government, along to several government officials, for their involvement in the US$950,000 bribery scheme."

The penalties

"As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons".

"The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person".

But Congressman Smith maintained that despite the multiple sanctions against Senator Sherman, more need to be done in combating against corruption and human right abuses in Liberia by imposing sanctions on other officials.

Legislation modeled on Global Magnitsky has been approved in several places including Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, and is under consideration in others, including Australia and Japan. Designed to be an agile "smart" sanctions tool, Global Magnitsky sanctions are often referred to as a means to hold perpetrators and corrupt persons accountable for their actions.

The latest hearing conducted by the commission was intended to examine the implementation of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
Xiao Zhu, a young online supervisor from Xinyang, China, specializes in helping people combat procrastination by texting and calling them to make sure they fulfill their daily tasks.

With so many distractions literally just a click or finger swipe away, its no wonder that procrastination is considered a modern-day plague that keeps many of us from reaching our full potential. Whether it be fulfilling work-related tasks, sticking to a weight-loss routine, or studying for a fast-approaching exam, we always find excuses to put them off and do something more fun instead. Thats where online supervisors like Xiao Zhu come in. They spend most of their day keeping track of their customers schedule, constantly reminding them that they have things to do.

Xiao Zhu estimates that he has worked with over 20,000 clients over the past six years, helping them battle the monster that is procrastination. He spends about 15 hours of his day texting and calling clients, reminding them about the things they have planned for the day, encouraging them to get them done.

Its time to go for a run, Zhu may text a client. The morning task has not been completed, get to it, he may tell another.

While he cant brag about a 100% success ratio, Xiao Zhu has thousands of positive ratings on his online profile, as well as many testimonials from satisfied clients. Although his work keeps him busy for the most part of his work week, he claims that theres no bigger satisfaction than hearing from a client who just passed an exam, thanking him for his help.

The young procrastination killer recently told Sohu that the vast majority of his clients are young people aged 18 to 30, who live by themselves and lack self-discipline and require outside assistance with fighting procrastination. Most of them need help with sticking to weight-loss regimens and studying for exams.

Although Zhu hasnt revealed any details about the financial side of his job, one would assume that it pays well enough, since he has been doing it for six years now.

News of Xiao Zhus intriguing service went viral on Chinese social media last week, with most people expressing bewilderment that someone could make a living this way. But the truth is that this is just one of the weird services that have popped up in recent years.



A couple of years ago, we wrote about Wistand, a service that allows people to hire someone to attend protests in their place, then there was that service that allowed you to hire someone to argue on your behalf, and just last week we wrote about a man who specialized in discretely breaking up married men from their mistresses.
The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has asked the ESB to address concerns over the gathering of information by electricity smart meters.

Legal experts have complained there is no legal basis for the collection, storage or use of the data.

They say it could be used by gardai or revenue and welfare inspectors to monitor peoples movements and activities.

Around 250,000 homes have had their electricity meters replaced with smart meters and 2.4 million homes will have them by 2024.

Concerns, raised by Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) and others, centre on the legality of switching from meters that provided electricity usage data a few times a year to replacements that log usage every half hour.

The new meters automatically transmit data once a day to electricity suppliers but will also transmit the half-hourly data if a customer signs up to a new smart-meter tariff.

DRI says the increase in data harvesting can be legal only if customer consent is given, or if specific legislation covers the practice.

No new legislation was written for smart meters and DRI argues customers have not been explicitly told the extent of the data collection or given the option to refuse it.

The DPC said, overall, it believed data protection considerations were being properly addressed but added: Our assessment in this regard is ongoing.

It said it had written to the ESB stressing the need for transparency in the roll-out.

It added the issues raised by legal observers had been passed on to the ESB and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) and their responses were awaited.

The ESB, however, told the Irish Independent: ESB Networks is satisfied that it has a lawful basis for processing personal data in connection with the roll-out of smart meters, and that appropriate technical and organisational measures are in place to ensure that such personal data is adequately protected.

The CRU, which requires the ESB to install smart meters as part of its operating licence, said it had engaged with the DPC and had independent data protection and cyber security assessments as part of the roll-out.

Solicitor Fred Logue said he shared DRIs concerns. Some very detailed information about peoples lives is being gathered, he said.

The ESB can tell if somebody is at home or not on a particular day. Without adequate protections, you can imagine a scenario where social welfare check on people going on holiday or, during lockdown, authorities wanting to know why were you not at home. Its also inevitable that the police would start dipping into it.

Dr Eoin ODell, a privacy law expert from Trinity College, said:

The legislative basis is shaky. That doesnt mean to say it falls over  that would be a matter for a court  but it could have been bolstered simply by getting an appropriate legislative amendment and its mystifying to me that this didnt happen, he said.

Thats the legal concern. The social concern kicks in when you have the potential for nefarious state surveillance. Was there a party in my house last Saturday night? Well, there was a spike in electricity use relative to every previous Saturdays and there was a drop in electricity use in all my family members houses, so draw your own conclusions.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently banned Critical Race Theory (CRT) from being taught in Florida's public schools. He stated that "Florida's civics curriculum will incorporate foundational concepts with the best materials, and it will expressly exclude unsanctioned narratives like Critical Race Theory and other unsubstantiated theories...we will invest in actual, solid, true curriculum, and we will be a leader in the development and implementation of a world-class civics curriculum."

CRT, a school of thought that focuses on the effects of race on one's social standing, is a distinct lens that sees racial disparities embedded in power structures and perpetuated by the people who benefit from them. Drawing on postmodern ideas that humans perceive reality through an array of power structures, animating how we think about race and other social issues, it upholds systemic deconstruction as the only way to progress. To start, marginalized people have special insight into their own plight and should define race and racism for the rest of society. Emotion and lived experience matter as much, or more than, rational discourse.

That said, both the common use of CRT, which is to teach it as established dogma, and the governor's exclusion of it, strike us as highly illiberal. Perhaps we can draw on Martin Luther King's wisdom: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that." Like DeSantis, we decry the dogmatic application of CRT as the only way forward, but unlike the Florida Governor, we also see value in CRT as one way to explore social power dynamics. And so we encourage a third way: a pluralistic civics education that teaches Critical Race Theory alongside numerous other approaches to social science and social justice.

DeSantis's move comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's ban of CRT in September 2020 in Federal agencies. The Biden Administration rescinded the Executive Order in the President's first week in office. Still, it remains a hot topic, with many Republicans favoring the ban and many Democrats supporting CRT education. Numerous states, especially those with Republican-dominated legislators and governors, are trying to ban CRT altogether.

There is good reason for people to be concerned about the promulgation of CRT, which is almost invariably taught as accepted truth rather than as a theoretical framework. It has become the new American civics. Many rightly worry that it will define a generation's view of the American story, especially since it's not taught alongside other theoretical frameworks and approaches. It imposes a single theory of racial disparity and power dynamics and closes the discussion to alternative perspectives. The application of CRT has even expanded beyond civics to question how we teach both math and science, making the spread of CRT particularly troublesome. Some worry that this highly disparaging view of American history, expressed in the CRT-inspired 1619 Project, will not only leave us bereft of a unifying national narrative, but will also dismantle the values of Liberalism throughout Western society and the world.

We are well aware of the dangers of teaching Critical Race Theory as established dogma in the classroom (not to mention boardroom) and think it should stop. But we are also wary of the wholesale banning of CRT, which can be a useful theoretical lens for discussing complicated issues. Biases that hurt minorities are sometimes embedded in social structures. Minority groups affected by certain policies sometimes do have insight into social conditions that outsiders don't perceive. CRT is a framework of analysis that students should have access to, among others, for a complete examination of social injustices. The religious fervor of CRT proponents in insisting on it as the only path forward is what leads CRT astray, not the theoretical lens itself.

The current wave of state-level legislation banning CRT is not the right approach. As with other ideologies, the role of educators is not to stamp out or promote them. Instead, educators should be teaching students ways of understanding the historical and social conditions that gave birth to different ideologies and how they relate to each other. We should study how ideologies play out in certain societies and allow students to compare different theoretical approaches to come to their own conclusions. Indeed, CRT should be "one view at the table." Exposing people to different ways of thinking is at the very heart of education and the essence of critical thinking.

Moreover, banning CRT will appear politically if not racially motivated and probably have the exact opposite of the intended effect, only bidding up the value of CRT's theoretical framework in the eyes of the people who promote it.

Ultimately, the antidote to speech stifling dogmas, such as the imposition of CRT, is open discussion and education, not government action that prevents people from talking about them. The problem isn't CRT. It's censorship. And it comes in different ideological shades. We would do well to heed Benjamin Franklin's words, "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty without the freedom of speech."

In a well-functioning democracy, educators should neither champion nor ban Critical Race Theory. They should teach it as one lens among many for studying social inequities.
Barack Obama's step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, has died at a hospital in Kenya at the age of 99.



Affectionately called Granny Sarah by the former president, Mrs Obama defended her grandson during his 2008 presidential campaign, when he was said to be Muslim and not born in the US.



Her home became a tourist attraction when he was elected as the first black US president.



Sarah Obama was the third and youngest wife of Barack Obama's grandfather.



She died early on Monday at a hospital in the western town of Kisumu, her daughter Marsat Onyango told Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper.



A family spokesman said Mrs Obama had been unwell for a week but did not have Covid-19.



She will be buried later on Monday.









"The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. We've lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values," ~President Uhuru Kenyatta



Read more: https://t.co/twnoaR8GOK pic.twitter.com/dJMYlOESqu

 State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) March 29, 2021

Before her grandson became a household name, Sarah Obama was well known for the hot porridge and doughnuts she served at a local school, AFP reports.She became more widely known when Mr Obama visited Kenya in 2006. At the time he was a senator from the state of Illinois, but a national celebrity in Kenya, and his grandmother spoke to the media about his rise in politics.He returned in 2015, becoming the first sitting US president to visit Kenya, meeting Mrs Obama and other family members in Nairobi.Mr Obama visited his step-grandmother's home in the village of Kogelo in 2018, after leaving office, joking he had been unable to visit earlier because the presidential plane was too big to land at the local airport.

Source: BBC









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Featured Video
- Abu Dhabi's position as a global energy hub reinforced as ICE Murban Futures launches on new IFAD commodities exchange

- Murban begins trading alongside Brent, WTI and other leading futures contracts as part of the ICE network

- Nine of the world's largest energy companies and traders join ICE and ADNOC to launch Murban Futures

ABU DHABI, UAE, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have, today, officially celebrated the start of trading of the United Arab Emirate's (UAE) flagship crude oil, Murban, as a Futures contract on the new ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) commodities exchange.

During a high-profile launch event at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), attended by His Highness, Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, ICE, ADNOC and the partners in ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, marked the start of trading for ADNOC's Murban crude oil on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, a significant milestone for Abu Dhabi and the UAE in its jubilee year.

The introduction of the world's first Murban Futures contract is the latest step in ADNOC's ongoing transformation into a more market and customer centric organisation. By making Murban a freely traded crude, similar to Brent or WTI, customers have better price transparency, flexibility to hedge and manage risks and increased access to Murban crude. For ADNOC, its flagship crude grade becomes more available to a broader set of market participants around the world.

Alongside ICE and ADNOC, nine of the world's largest energy companies and traders are joining IFAD as founding partners. This includes BP, GS Caltex, INPEX, ENEOS, PetroChina, PTT, Shell, Total and Vitol. Representatives from the partner companies joined today's launch event at ADGM, many participating virtually from around the world.

Commemorating the new Murban Futures contract, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, said: "This is a historic moment for ADNOC, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE as we celebrate the launch of the IFAD exchange with ICE and, with our partners, capitalize on the growing demand for high-quality Murban crude oil, particularly from markets in Asia. This achievement is testament to the vision and foresight of our wise leadership, who have supported this progressive step that makes Murban crude a freely traded commodity that is more widely available to buyers and traders around the world."

"The launch of the world's first Murban Futures contract makes our largest crude grade even more attractive to the global market, enabling ADNOC's customers and market participants to better price, manage and trade their purchases of Murban. Murban Crude is recognized the world over for its intrinsic chemical qualities, consistent and stable production volumes, large number of international buyers, and numerous long-term concession and production partners. In making Murban a freely traded global commodity, it becomes even more attractive to market participants and will deliver greater value to ADNOC and its partners. This historic and strategic milestone reinforces the UAE and Abu Dhabi's status as a leading global energy hub and underscores ADNOC's central role as a catalyst to empower the UAE's economic ambitions."

Earlier this month, ADNOC announced that its Murban, Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu crude grades will all be sold destination free, from June, allowing its crude oils to become a freely-traded commodity.

Discovered in 1958, Murban has played a pivotal role as the bedrock of the UAE's sustained economic development. With the launch of IFAD and the new Murban Futures Contract, it enters a new era, further solidifying Abu Dhabi's position as a global energy hub and a reliable and essential energy provider to the world.

ICE Murban Futures are physically delivered contracts, with one futures contract equating to 1,000 barrels of Murban crude oil delivered from the ADNOC Terminal located in Fujairah, on the East coast of the UAE. Murban is ADNOC's flagship crude grade, with production capacity of over 2 million barrels per day at present. It currently accounts for around 50% of the UAE's total production capacity, with plans in place to increase the production of Murban to more than 2.5 million barrels per day by 2030, in line with ADNOC's goal of growing its production capacity to 5 million barrels of crude per day.

"The launch of IFAD represents a singular achievement, one that would not have been realized without the vision, fortitude and years of work by His Excellency Dr Sultan, his team at ADNOC, and the leadership of the UAE in opening up Murban to the markets," said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange. "Today, with our outstanding partners, we are bringing a new benchmark to life, and just as Murban has powered the UAE for the past 50 years, with this new futures contract there is a tremendous future ahead for Murban as a price marker for global energy markets."

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber will, later today, virtually ring the opening bell of the iconic New York Stock Exchange, another of the international exchanges owned and operated by ICE, to celebrate the launch of IFAD and the new Murban Futures contract.

His Excellency Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State (UAE) and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market, said: "Our sincere congratulations to the Intercontinental Exchange, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and the nine global energy companies, on the successful launch of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi exchange (IFAD). This is the first derivatives exchange in Abu Dhabi and set up at ADGM. We are proud to be the preferred jurisdiction of IFAD and home to the world's foremost Murban Crude Oil Futures contract. The launch of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi further reinforces Abu Dhabi's status as a global energy hub. We are fully supportive of and look forward to the continuous achievements and growth of our home-grown institutions, IFAD and the derivatives community in the UAE and beyond."

Murban Futures will trade globally on the ICE platform, one of the world's foremost energy exchange networks. All trades clear through ICE Clear Europe, based in London. From today, Murban now trades alongside ICE Brent and ICE WTI in the ICE network.

ADNOC moved to forward pricing of its crude oil in March 2020 and previously priced Murban using Platts Dubai to determine its official selling price (OSP). The company will move its forward pricing mechanism for Murban to the ICE Murban Futures Contract from June, coinciding with the first expiry of Murban Futures.

Earlier this month, the company also confirmed that Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu grades will be priced at a differential to the announced Murban price. While the new ICE Murban Futures Contract will be used to identify the price of Murban two months ahead, ADNOC will announce the price for Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu crude grades early in the month before the month of loading (known as M-1).

The market-based, forward pricing mechanism for ADNOC's Murban Crude enhances the attractiveness of Murban, creating additional transparency and flexibility for market participants and ADNOC's customers.

As the new home of Murban Futures, Abu Dhabi Global Market has quickly established its place as a leading commodities trading center, and IFAD joins two international market-facing trading entities, ADNOC Global Trading and ADNOC Trading. The Murban Futures contract launches Abu Dhabi's mainstay crude onto the global energy markets and strengthens the UAE position as an energy hub and leader.

About ADNOC

ADNOC is a leading diversified energy and petrochemicals group wholly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. ADNOC's objective is to maximize the value of the Emirate's vast hydrocarbon reserves through responsible and sustainable exploration and production to support the United Arab Emirates' economic growth and diversification. To find out more, visit: www.adnoc.ae

For media inquiries, please contact: Philip Robinson, Manager, ADNOC External Relations, +971 (0) 50 504 4934, probinson@adnoc.ae

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1475957/ADNOC_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1475958/MurbanAbuDhabi_Logo.jpg


Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said no meeting has been "finalised or requested" so far with his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the 'Heart of Asia' conference on Tuesday at Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, according to a media report on Monday.

The participation of both the ministers at the conference has sparked speculation of a possible meeting between the two leaders amidst recent peace overtures from the Army.

Qureshi on Sunday told the Dawn newspaper that no meeting (between him and Jaishankar) has been finalised or requested.

When asked about media speculation that India and have been quietly negotiating for the full resumption of diplomatic relations, Qureshi said, No such decision yet.

Jaishankar last week also did not give a specific reply to questions on whether he will meet Qureshi on the sidelines of the conference.

"My scheduling is in progress. So far I do not think any such meeting (is scheduled)," he said at the India Economic Conclave in New Delhi on March 26.

While announcing his participation, the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement on Friday said Jaishankar is expected to meet leaders of other participating countries on the sidelines of the 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) ministerial conference.

The last meeting between Qureshi and an Indian external affairs minister took place in May 2019 in Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting. Late Sushma Swaraj was then holding the portfolio of the external affairs minister.

Pakistan's Foreign Office on Sunday said Qureshi would hold consultations with key regional and partners on the sidelines of the conference.

India and Pakistan are without high commissioners in each other's capital -- New Delhi and Islamabad, respectively -- since the relations between the two countries nosedived after India withdrew special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories in August 2019.

On March 18, Pakistan's powerful Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said it was time for India and Pakistan to "bury the past and move forward".

India has said it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence and that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility.

The HoA-IP ministerial conference is part of the Istanbul Process - a regional initiative on security and cooperation for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan - that was launched on November 2, 2011 in Turkey.

(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 Kogi State Government said it acquired a controversial self-assessment COVID-19 software at a total cost of only N890, 000.

However, the state government said it spent N90.7 million to acquire computer software for COVID-19 response.

The states Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, stated this in a statement he issued in reaction to a report by Premium Times exposing a bloated expenditure by the state government on a COVID-19 software.

While Mr Fanwo claimed the N890,000 it spent covered the self-assessment app and the upgrade of the health ministrys website, he failed to explain how it spent the remaining N89.8 million.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the state last year spent over N90 million on software that the developers now offer for only N300,000.

The financial records seen by PREMIUM TIMES and which contained the expenditure 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 stated that it ended up spending N90.7 million, thus saving N59.2 million.

The software, approved by COVID-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.

The state government said the controversial 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.

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 had admitted the government actually spent less than a million naira on the project and could not defend the N90.7 million announced as expenditure; an indication the declared price was excessively inflated.

PREMIUM TIMES report had generated reactions from transparency and accountability advocates who called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe Mr Bello and the states COVID-19 related expenses.

Denial

In his statement of Monday, Mr Fanwo alleged that PREMIUM TIMES report was misleading but he could not also account for the entire sum spent.

The report in PREMIUM TIMES of March 26, 2021 which was titled: INVESTIGATION: Kogi govt spent N90 million on a N300,000 software, which falsely claimed that the Government of Kogi State spent N90 million to procure a software for Covid-19 self assessment, is not only misleading, but a malicious attempt at painting the state as a corrupt one.

We initially wanted to ignore the lies in the report, knowing how much the state government has been attacked for not subscribing to the commercial aspects of Covid-19. But on a second thought, we have decided to put Premium Times under the lense of truth, logic and commonsense.

As a Government, we have no record that 90 million naira was expended to procure the Covid-19 self assessment software.

He said the state spent 90.7 million naira for the procurement of computer software for the health sector in the State which may include but not limited to the self-assessment app.

ADVERTISEMENT

What was actually spent on the software referred to in the publication as well as the upgrading of the Ministry of Health website was N890, 000.00 (eight hundred and thousand naira only).

How N890,000.00 became 90 million naira can only be a ludicrous pen magic by draconian pen arbiters hired to do a hatchet job.

Rather than provide a breakdown of how the government spent the balance on procurement of computer software for the health sector, Mr Fanwo demanded an unreserved apology from PREMIUM TIMES within the next seven days.

Our fiscal responsibility is mercurial and a radiant example for the nation; illuminating enough to clear the flames of reckless and irresponsible allegations that have no root in facts, he stated.
A woman wearing a glove as a precaution against the coronavirus holds a vial for her test as she waits in a line at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, March 22. AP



South Korea on Monday reported 40 more new cases of COVID-19 variants, including 22 local infections, amid growing woes over the spread of more transmissible strains.



Of the additional cases, 38 people were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus variant believed to have originated in Britain, followed by the South Africa variant with two cases, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).



South Korean nationals accounted for 29 of the newly added variant cases.



Variant cases were identified from numerous locations, ranging from an automobile firm in Ulsan, 414 kilometers south of Seoul, to a private gathering south of Seoul.






Vietnamese land-rights activists Le Dinh Chuc (left) and Le Dinh Cong were sentenced to death in September 2020 by a court in Hanoi for their role in the January 2020 Dong Tam incident.

Two Vietnamese land-rights activists facing the death penalty after being convicted for their roles in a deadly clash with police last year at the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi are refusing to ask for amnesty in the case, saying the move would amount to a confession of their guilt.

Le Dinh Chuc and Le Dinh Cong, who were sentenced to death on Sept. 14, 2020, had been urged by prison officials to appeal directly to Vietnams president for amnesty, which would have seen their sentences reduced to life terms, Congs daughter-in-law Nguyen Thi Duyen told RFA at the weekend.

Both my father and my uncle [Le Dinh Chuc] said that prison officers had advised them many times to submit a request for amnesty, but that they had refused to do so, Duyen said, following a March 26 visit with family members to the Hanoi Police Detention Center No. 2.

Duyen said that Chuc told family members an application for amnesty would mean an admission of guilt in the case.

Uncle Chuc said that our family members should not cry or grieve, as he and my father-in-law would declare their innocence until the end, she said.

On March 9, an appellate court in Hanoi upheld the sentences conferred on Sept. 14, 2020 by a lower court on six land-rights activists involved in the deadly clash at Dong Tam commune, including the death sentences imposed on Cong and Chuc.

In the Jan. 9, 2020 early-morning raid on the village by 3,000 security officers intervening in a long-running dispute over a military construction site about 25 miles south of the capital, Hanoi, village elder Le Dinh Kinh, 84, and three police officers were killed.

Sentenced to death

Les sons Le Dinh Chuc and Le Dinh Cong were both sentenced to death for murder in connection with the deaths of the three officers who were killed in the clash when they were attacked with petrol bombs and fell into a concrete shaft while running between two houses.

They were among a group of 29 villagers tried for their role in the incident. Other punishments handed out by the court included a life sentence and other sentences ranging from six years to 15 months of probation.

Both Cong and Chuc appeared healthy during the March 26 family visit, but Cong became emotional when he saw his grandchildren, Duyen told RFA, adding that her father-in-law continued to assert his innocence of the charges against him.

He said that if he had actually murdered anyone, he would have been obsessed by feelings of guilt while he was held in solitary confinement in the jail, but that he hadnt been troubled by feelings like these at all, Duyen said.

Neither our family members nor any other Dong Tam people killed anyone either, she said.

Le Dinh Kinhs widow Du Thi Thanh was barred at first by guards from seeing her two sons during the March 26 visit because she had not brought her identification card, but was finally allowed to visit briefly with Chuc once his meeting with other family members ended, Duyen said.

While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to faming families displaced by development.

Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Richard Finney.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The New Mexico Department of Health said Monday that people 75 years or older no longer need event codes to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine.

The department said seniors will receive invitations to schedule appointments. Then, they will log in to vaccineNM.org using their confirmation code and date of birth and schedule an appointment at a time and location that is convenient for them.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

The goal of the policy change is to make it easier for older folks to get vaccinated. They will still need to make an appointment to get the shot.

The change comes as more people get vaccinated and COVID-related deaths and cases continue to decline. On Monday, the state reported no deaths related to the virus for the second day in a row, and the number of people hospitalized with COVID throughout the state dropped below 100.

New Mexico has vaccinated the large majority of our seniors, and we have reached out to nearly all the rest. We expect this change to make it easier for all remaining seniors to get their shots, Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins said.

The Health Department said in a news release that 70.1% of New Mexicans 75 years and older have received at least a first dose and that 57% are fully vaccinated.

Matt Bieber, a spokesman for the Health Department, said event codes, which seniors no longer need to use, are unique to vaccination events. Confirmation codes are unique to individuals.

The state reported 182 new confirmed COVID cases on Monday. Bernalillo County had the most new cases, with 54, followed by Dona Ana County, with 52.

On Monday, 99 people were hospitalized with COVID throughout the state, according to the Health Department.

CVS Health said Monday that it will start offering the COVID vaccine at five of its pharmacies in the state beginning Wednesday. The pharmacies where the vaccine will be offered are in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Roswell and Santa Fe.

Only people who meet the state criteria for eligibility will be able to book appointments, which can be done on CVS website, cvs.com, or by calling 800-746-7287.

Were proud to play a part in increasing access to the vaccine to as many people as possible to enable reopening efforts in the communities we serve, said Neela Montgomery, president of CVS Pharmacy and executive vice president of CVS Health.
Since churches reopened for Sunday Mass in June, Our Lady of Mercy Church has averaged 525 parishioners per week. But on Palm Sunday, it had 774 churchgoers.

Palm Sunday marks the week before Easter Sunday when churches celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

The Rev. Tom Iwanowski, of Our Lady of Mercy Church in Jersey City said attending the Mass helps churchgoers maintain their faith.

People miss coming to church..., Iwanowski said. I think we need the weekly dose of spirituality to help us build our relationship with God and when we dont have that it becomes weak.

Iwanowski added that people have been more comfortable to return to church because more people are getting vaccinated.

The Rev. Alex Santora, of Our Lady of Grace in Hoboken, agreed and said parishioners want to feel safe at masses.

For the Hoboken parish, theyve also seen their numbers in attendance increase. Sunday was their highest attendance since June, Santora said.

Were not where we were, but it shows that were getting there, Santora said.

In February, Gov. Phil Murphy approved New Jersey churches to increase capacity for services to 50%. Churchgoers are required to social distance wear masks.

Churches also livestream their masses. A list of parishes can be found on the Archdiocese of Newark.

I hope next week for Easter Sunday (attendance) is even more, Iwanowski said.
As COVID-related hospitalizations continue to rise in Connecticut, state leaders and health care providers have agreed to a narrow list of high-risk medical conditions that would provide accelerated access when vaccine eligibility expands this week.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that providers had agreed to the list of five conditions: sickle cell anemia, an active cancer treatment, recipients of solid organ transplants, end-stage renal disease and Down syndrome.

Those are the key categories that our hospitals are reaching out right now to make sure you are close to the front of the line as we make this available to all age groups on Thursday, Lamont said.

Accelerated access for those with the listed medical conditions does not represent a new policy, but rather a request that hospitals move quickly to vaccinate those most vulnerable as 1.3 million residents become eligible Thursday. State officials estimate there are about 10,000 people with these conditions who have not yet been vaccinated.

While the states list of conditions left out about half those identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as high-risk illnesses, Connecticut officials pointed out that everyone can make an appointment starting Thursday.

[The list] is just a little extra invitation from hospitals for certain severely ill people to make it a little easier to get in over the next week or so, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer.

The list of conditions was derived from a number of conversations between Geballe, Acting Department of Public Health Commissioner Deidre Gifford and hospital leaders, officials said.

Dr. Tom Balcezak, chief medical officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, said health care systems may implement their lists of these patients differently. He described it as enhanced access, likening it to TSA PreCheck that speeds up times at airport security checkpoints.

For those with the high-risk medical conditions, Geballe said some hospitals may have special clinics, dedicated outreach with reserved appointment slots or vaccinations during scheduled doctors appointments.

Lamont said Monday there are also plans to quickly vaccinate all patients at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center and Yale New Haven Childrens Hospital. The state Department of Developmental Services will hold roughly 20 dedicated clinics for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which is about 9,000 residents, in the next several weeks.

As cases continue to spread among young people, Lamont said there are plans for special Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinics in May for college students and Pfizer vaccine clinics for high school students starting in April. Pfizers vaccine is the only one approved for people age 16 to 18.

Despite vaccine efforts, COVID hospitalizations have jumped to 498 with a net of 42 more patients over the weekend. The positivity rate for new tests was about 3.5 percent with 3,229 new cases confirmed through the weekend. The state also said 18 more people died for a total of 7,883.

Lamont acknowledged that hospitalizations were the highest in a month, but stressed there is still tons of capacity in the state.

Nothing to worry about there, but its something we continue to watch, Lamont said.

The positivity rate has remained above 3.5 percent for much of the past week, and state officials continued to urge people to guard against the spread of the virus.

Weve got a little spring fever because its been a very, very long year. And I appreciate that. ... I cant say firmly enough, we can make an enormous difference for the rest of the summer and the rest of the year going forward if we keep our guard up a little bit longer, Lamont said.

The increase in cases comes more than a week after the state lifted many business restrictions while easing limits on gatherings. Given the pace of vaccinations, Lamont said he did not think the state would have to roll back any restrictions.

The increase in cases and hospitalizations in Connecticut appear to mirror a nationwide trend. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of CDC, said Monday she had a feeling of impending doom as key metrics were up across the country.

We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential for where we are, and so much reason for hope, but right now Im scared, Walensky said during the White House COVID briefing.

Walensky said the trajectory of the pandemic in the U.S. appears to be similar to what occurred in several European countries, including Germany, France and Italy ahead of consistent and worrying spikes in cases.

If people do not work together, Walensky warned of a fourth U.S. surge of COVID cases.

Lamont said Connecticut would manage any potential fourth wave of the virus because some of the most vulnerable have already been vaccinated.

He said the state will also address any surge in cases by soon focusing vaccine efforts on Connecticuts high school and college students.

I think Connecticut and I think most of the United States is going to manage pretty well just because we are accelerating our vaccination in a big way, Lamont said.

By Monday, the state said nearly 1.2 million first doses of the vaccine had been administered and 684,200 people were fully vaccinated. Starting this week, there will be 240,000 first doses available for appointments.

Speeding up the process, Geballe said the state expects more pharmacies will start offering the vaccine in line with President Joe Bidens commitment Monday to increase the number of them administering shots.

State reiterated their belief that all those who immediately want to get vaccinated will be able to get a first dose by the end of April.

At some point in the next several weeks, you might not need a reservation. Just go get vaccinated, Lamont said.
The truth is: We are, and aspire to be, the Amazon.com of the Internet.

There is no analogue in the physical world. Are we a department store? Department stores have a very limited selection. ... We are limitless. We have virtually every product that exists. ...

We can ... personalize our store for you. They can't do that in a physical store; They can't run around and rearrange the shelves to accommodate every customer. ...

Another difference is that our core business isn't selling things. Our core business is helping people make purchase decisions.
Credit Suisse has been thrown into crisis just weeks before Antonio Horta-Osorio joins as chairman from Lloyds Bank.

The Swiss investment bank was already reeling from the aftermath of a spying scandal and its exposure to bust lender Greensill Capital.

But now it has revealed it will suffer a highly significant hit to its profits after another client, hedge fund Archegos Capital Management, hit the rocks.

Crisis: Credit Suisse's new chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio (pictured). The investment bank's value has fallen by 4.9bn since the start of March

The admission wiped 3.2billion off Credit Suisses market value in just one day, as shares fell 13.8 per cent.

Since the stock reached its 2021 peak at the beginning of March, its value has been slashed by 4.9billion.

Horta-Osorio, 57, who has made 60million during his decade at Lloyds, will have a job on his hands as he tries to rebuild Credit Suisses fortunes and get the bank back out of the spotlight.

Credit Suisse was one of several prime brokers to Archegos, a hedge fund which invested the wealth of financier Bill Hwang and his family.

Nomura warns of profit hit Nomura has been left licking its wounds after the Archegos crisis. The Japanese bank, which trained infamous private equity veteran Guy Hands in the 1990s, was another of the prime brokers caught on the hop by Bill Hwangs fund. The bank had lent to Archegos to allow the fund to increase its stake in Viacom. But unlike brokers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, Nomura was not ahead of the curve when it came to reducing its exposure to Hwang. The lender grudgingly warned that its entire profits for the six months to March could be wiped out by the Archegos implosion. Nomura said its estimated claim against Archegos, which it did not mention by name, was around 1.5billion. Shares, which are listed in Tokyo, tumbled by 16 per cent  their biggest one-day fall, wiping 2.2billion off its value. Eleanor Creagh, a market strategist at Saxo Bank, said the affair would prompt heightened scrutiny around the disclosures which hedge funds have to make. John Meyer, an analyst at UK broker SP Angel, said it may lead to a tightening of lending controls in the prime brokerage and stock lending departments of the major banks.

Prime brokers lend money to investment firms such as Archegos, allowing them to buy bigger stakes than they could otherwise afford.

This means investors can make bigger returns if their bets are correct  but stand to make painful losses if they are proved wrong, and then have to pay back the loan.

Hwang had placed a big bet on Viacom, the owner of Channel 5  but it didnt pay off, as other investors worried that it wouldnt be able to compete against rivals such as Netflix and Disney Plus.

Prime brokers who worked with Archegos started getting twitchy, and asked the fund to stump up more money to give them more security. But Hwang was left with a problem  he didnt have enough cash to hand.

In the brokers eyes, this meant he was defaulting on the loans they had given him.

They began to sell the shares in Viacom which they held for him, causing their value to tumble further.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS  some of the firms which worked as prime brokers for Archego  were quick off the mark and sold the stock to recover the amount they were owed by Hwang.

A source close to Goldman said the impact of Archegos crisis on its balance sheet was immaterial. But Credit Suisse, and Japanese bank Nomura, were slower to sell their positions in Viacom.

Sources close to the Swiss banking titan estimated that its relationship with Hwang could cost 2billion to 3billion in the first quarter of this year.

City insiders said the bank will have questions to answer to its shareholders  and to Horta-Osorio when he begins in April.

One said: Its not really a question of why firms like Goldman were quick to sell  they should have seen this coming. Its more a question of why Credit Suisse and Nomura were so slow.

Another senior City source said: I would love to be a fly on the wall when Antonio has his first conversation with Credit Suisses risk department.

The lender was only just recovering from a spying scandal, which blew apart the staid world of Swiss banking when it emerged in 2019.

A report found that senior individuals within Credit Suisse had put former employees under surveillance, due to paranoia that they would poach top staff.

The affair saw chief executive Tidjane Thiam ousted a year ago, even though an internal investigation found no involvement on his part.

Chairman Urs Rohner, who was caught in a media storm over allegations that his lavish 60th birthday party included a racist performance, also agreed to leave this year.

But new boss Thomas Gottstein has so far failed to dodge the skeletons lurking in Credit Suisses cupboards.

Just this month, the bank was forced to suspend 7.3billion of funds which invested clients money in Greensill loans, after Greensills insurer failed to renew its cover.

The firm collapsed into administration, and questions are emerging around whether the assets which Credit Suisse invested in were what investors expected.

Separately Credit Suisse had lent Greensill 100million  which it has admitted it is unlikely to recover.
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.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Caracas, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday offered "oil for vaccines" as his country, which is under economic sanctions affecting the oil sector in particular, faces a second wave of coronavirus.

"Venezuela has the oil tankers, it has customers ready to buy oil from us. It would devote part of its production to obtain the vaccines it needs. Oil for vaccines!" said Maduro during an appearance on public television.

Venezuela has so far only authorized the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and the one produced by Chinese company Sinopharm.

On March 15, Venezuela informed the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that it would not accept the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite having ordered between 1.

4 and 2.4 million doses of it through Covax, the initiative aimed at ensuring an equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines.

None of those vaccines have yet been delivered to Venezuela due to outstanding debts it has with the WHO.

Venezuela began vaccinating health workers in February but has released few details about its immunization program.

According to official figures, strongly questioned by the opposition and NGOs, Venezuela has registered around 150,000 coronavirus cases and a little under 1,500 deaths.

Authorities, though, have become concerned recently about a rise in infections and the appearance of the highly contagious Brazilian strain of the virus.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) There have been no physical confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Monday. However, he noted the ships from the East Asian giant earlier sent out warnings for the local vessels not to come near them.

Walang physical confrontation, pero merong mga warnings, Lorenzana told CNN Philippines The Source. Warning na do not come near  sabi naman natin ay we are patrolling our area.

[Translation: There is no physical confrontation, but there were warnings. Warning like, do not come near -- but we said, we are patrolling our area.]

Authorities earlier confirmed that 183 vessels suspected to be Chinese maritime militia remain at the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) in the West Philippine Sea, which is part of the country's exclusive economic zone. Lorenzana said the ships have not left the vicinity as of Monday morning.

EXCLUSIVE: Video shows flotilla of Chinese ships around Julian Felipe Reef

The Defense chief said he has requested for more Coast Guard ships to ply the contested waters to establish the countrys presence and to monitor the activities of the foreign ships. He added the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources will also be deploying a ship soon to protect Filipino fishermen in the area.

He said officials will be also be studying the suggestion to deploy and station a ship at the reef to better monitor the situation.

Alarming presence'

Lorenzana also reiterated his call for China to withdraw the vessels, saying their presence has been alarming the country.

We keep telling them na tanggalin niyo na yan (remove them), because its alarming the Filipino people, naaalarma tayo, Lorenzana stressed.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has repeatedly rejected the 2016 arbitral ruling that recognized Manila's sovereign rights in areas within its EEZ that Beijing contests.

RELATED: PH urged to file case vs. China before UNCLOS tribunal amid suspected militia presence at Julian Felipe Reef

The Chinese embassy earlier denied claims of militia presence, saying the ships sighted were merely fishing vessels that took shelter near the area due to rough sea conditions.

Lorenzana said they cannot confirm whether the vessels are indeed only fishing boats, adding authorities are closely watching their next move.
All change in Phuket municipal elections

PHUKET: Patong, Phuket Town and Chalong all have new mayors, according to the preliminary results of the municipal elections held across Phuket yesterday (Mar 28).

Monday 29 March 2021, 03:55PM

Sampharat has been elected Mayor of Pa Khlok, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Wicharasorn has been elected Mayor of Karon, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Suniran Rachatapruek has been elected Mayor of Cherng Talay Municipality, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Yorsengrathas has been elected Mayor of Rassada, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Aroon Solos has retained his seat as Mayor of Rawai, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Chaianan Sutthikul has been re-elected Mayor of Kathu, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Thanaporn Ongsantiphap has been elected Mayor of Chalong, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Saroj Angkhanaphilas has been elected Phuket City Mayor, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

Chalermsak Maneesri has been elected Patong Mayor, according to preliminary results of the elections yesterday (Mar 28).

The Phuket office of the Election Commission of Thailand (PEC) revealed the preliminary winners to The Phuket News Thai-language sister newspaper Khao Phuket this afternoon.

More than 230,000 eligible voters turned out to cast their votes for candidates contesting the positions of mayor or as councillors in the 12 municipalities across Phuket: Phuket City, Patong, Kathu, Wichit, Chalong, Rawai, Rassada, Srisoonthorn, Karon, Cherng Talay, Thepkrasattri and Pa Khlok.

However, PEC Chief Passakon Siripakayapon cautioned that the official results of the election might take 30-60 days to announce.

Among the unofficial winners announced today (Mar 29) was Chalermsak Maneesri, who won the election for Patong Mayor.

Mr Chalermsak, representing Patong Palang Mai Party (Patong New Power Party), was No 1 on the ballot.

Mr Chalermsak was elected Patong mayor in November 2002 after his brother Surasak was removed from office by Interior Minister at the time, Purachai Piemsomboon, for election fraud.

Then Mr Chalermsak and his entire 17-member council were themselves dismissed from office for election fraud in November 2003.

Now Mr Chalermsak finds himself standing on the verge of victory in being elected mayor of Phukets busiest tourism town, again.

Thank you to all the votes from the parents and brothers of Patong who trusted and chose me as the mayor of Patong, Mr Chalermsak posted on the Patong Power Team Facebook page earlier today.

Another surprise result was long-standing Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana being ousted by former Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PPAO, or OrBorJor) councillor Saroj Angkhanaphilas.

Mr Saroj, representing the Rak Phuket Party (Love Phuket Party), was allocated No 2 on the ballot.

I would like to thank you for every encouragement, all the support from the brothers and sisters of Phuket Municipality.. We (Phuket Municipality residents) all join hands to reach this point with hope Hope that the quality of our familys lives and the future of our children is about to change for the better.. Rak Phuket team is involved in making everyones hopes come true .. Then we will change the city together. Thank you, Mr Saroj posted online today.

According to the preliminary counts, Aroon Solos has so far kept his seat as Mayor of Rawai, Kreetha Chotiwichphiphat looks set to reclaim his position as Mayor of Wichit, and Chaianan Sutthikul appears to have kept his seat as Mayor of Kathu.

However, Samran Jindaphon appears to have lost his seat as Chalong Mayor to Ms Thanaporn Ongsantiphap of the Ruam Pattana Chalong Party (Chalong Development Together Party), who ran for elections as No 3 on the ballot.

In the remaining municipalities, according to the initial counts, the following candidates have been elected as follows:

Jadet Wicharasorn, Mayor of Karon

Nakharin Yorsengrathas, Mayor of Rassada

Suniran Rachatapruek Mayor of Cherng Talay Municipality

Prasong Trairat Mayor of Thepkasattri

Chalermpol Kerdsup Mayor of Srisoonthorn

Panaya Sampharat, Mayor of Pa Khlok

Staff at the PEC explained that in accordance with election law the PEC will forward the ballots to the Election Commission of Thailand in Bangkok for confirmation of the results, which by law must be announced within 30 days of the election, notwithstanding any complaints filed against candidates.

The Election Commission will complete the count as soon as possible and announce the election results within 60 days of the election day, a PEC staffer said.






Officials are trying to determine what caused a fire early Friday that destroyed a historic Black church in northeast Florida.

Clay County Fire Rescue tweeted that no one was injured in the fire that started around 11 p.m. Thursday at St. Simon Baptist Church in Orange Park.

Its a setback, Moyenda Ambakise, an assistant to the churchs pastor, told FirstCoast News on Friday morning. It doesnt stop anything. The church will keep on moving.

The church has about 145 members, Ambakisye said.

Since the coronavirus pandemic, the church had not been actively used, but was undergoing renovation to add a fellowship hall.

Its a pain that is hard to describe, Ambakisye said. Weve had our share of challenges over the years, but this by far has been the greatest by far, the most devastating. Its a test of our faith and just how good our God is because no doubt about it well come out of this.

The State Fire Marshals office, along with Orange Park police and the Clay County Sheriffs Office are investigating.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida Church
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 18:00:24|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Six people including five school boys were killed in a road accident in Khairpur district of Pakistan's south Sindh province on Monday, officials and local reports said.

The accident happened when an over-speeding van ran over two motorbikes on which the boys were on their way to school, killing five including four students right at the spot while another succumbed to injuries at hospital, local media reported.

Police arrested the van driver over his negligence and shifted him to a nearby police station, the media reports added.

The killed boys were between nine to fifteen years of age and their bodies have been handed over to their relatives, according to the reports.

The Chief Minister House of Sindh said in a tweet that the families of the killed students are being contacted and the local top officials will visit the families for help and condolence.

The chief minister also sought a report from the relevant authorities about the cause of frequent road accidents on the highway where Monday's crash happened. Enditem
The California Board of Education has unanimously approved a new ethnic studies school curriculum that has students "chant to the Aztec god of human sacrifice" and encourages a "countergenocide" against White Christians.

The newly-approved California school curriculum encourages a countergenocide against whites, and urges students to chant to the Aztec god of human sacrifice, asking him for the power to be "warriors" for "social justice"  Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 25, 2021



Christopher Rufo exposed the radical curriculum earlier this month before the vote but the Board of Education apparently couldn't care less:





SCOOP: California's proposed "ethnic studies" curriculum calls for the "decolonization" of American society and has students chant to the Aztec god of human sacrifice. The solution, according to one author, is a "countergenocide" against white Christians.



Here's the story.  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) March 10, 2021

R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, the original co-chair, worked on the early American history material. In the references, he denounces the United States as a "Eurocentric, white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal, heteropatriarchal, and anthropocentric paradigm brought from Europe. pic.twitter.com/E7HYup9GKy  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) March 10, 2021

In a related "mandala," Cuauhtin claims that white Christians committed "theocide" against indigenous tribes, killing their gods and replacing them with Christianity. White settlers thus established a regime of coloniality, dehumanization, and genocide. pic.twitter.com/dAWxhpjIpr  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) March 10, 2021

The solution, according to the curriculum materials, is to name, speak to, resist, and transform the hegemonic Eurocentric neocolonial condition in a posture of transformational resistance. The ultimate goal, Cuauhtin says, is to engineer a "countergenocide" against whites. pic.twitter.com/KgndpbW3iT  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) March 10, 2021

The curriculum includes an official "ethnic studies community chant," in which students appeal to the Aztec godsincluding the god of human sacrificefor the power to become "warriors" for "social justice." Students seek a "a revolutionary spirit" through these incantations. pic.twitter.com/PR5dQl6mSy  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) March 10, 2021



Rufo noted that once the curriculum passes "it will install the principles of critical race theory and its related ideologies into the state's 10,000 public schools, serving 6 million children."



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After three years of debates and false starts, New York finally seems ready to legalize recreational marijuana for adult use. A vote, and Gov. Andrew Cuomos signature, could come as soon as this week, making New York the 15th state to legalize it.

Under the new law, anyone over 21 would be able to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.

But for a year or even more, experts say, they will have no legal way to obtain it.

Its not going to be a sudden change, said Aleece Burgio, the cannabis team leader for the Barclay Damon law firm, which has offices across the state. Its going to take anywhere from 10 to 14 months, maybe more, before you will be able to legally purchase marijuana.

It will take that long for the state to set up the mechanisms and establish the specific rules for production and licensing the retailers to sell it. Homegrowing, in small amounts, will be legal, but it could take up to 18 months after the law takes effect for that to be allowed. And since marijuana is not legal under federal law, you cant bring any in from other states.

The states goal, according to Cuomo and others, is partly aimed at ending the criminalization of marijuana use, which has disproportionately affected minority and poor communities. And then theres the money: The state estimates it can raise $350 million in annual tax revenues when the program is up and running. The legal marijuana business, from farms to processing to sales, could become a more than $4 billion industry, by some reports.

So why the delay in rolling it out?

Its a complicated situation, said Karl Sleight, a lawyer for another statewide firm, Harris Beach. There are a lot of things that have be done first.

After the law is signed, Sleight and Burgio said, the new agency regulating marijuana, to be called the Office of Cannabis Management, would need to be created, staffed and have board members appointed.

Then the agency would need to issue proposed rules and procedures, await public comment on them, and then actually start issuing licenses. And the license holders would need to ramp up production and open retail outlets.

Its really got to be done in three pieces  regulation, control and taxes, Sleight said. What theyre doing is setting up the guardrails for how this will work.

Legalizing possession builds on a marijuana decriminalization law that was approved in 2019. That had increased the amount of marijuana someone can possess without facing a criminal charge and reduced fines for low-level possession.

The new law, among other things, specifies that police cannot use the odor or marijuana to justify searches.

So while possession may not be much of an issue, theres still that question of where youre going to get it (legally).

No ones really going after a small user, Burgio said. But there are rules and you need to be aware of them.

The lengthy time frame for rolling out marijuana sales is also a concern for the states cannabis farmers and processors who have been growing industrial hemp, a relative of marijuana that is the basis for CBD and other products.

Those businesses are hoping to jump into recreational marijuana as soon as possible, said Allan Gandelman, a Cortland hemp grower and processor who is also president of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association.

I think this has the possibility to provide a real boost to the industry, said Gandelman, owner of hemp company Head + Heal in Cortland.

While Gandelman said hes happy with much of the new law, hed like the state to move faster on the rollout. He said famers can get seed in the ground this spring, and have product ready before the end of this year, if allowed.

A wait of as much as two years is unacceptable and unnecessary, he said. We will be pushing for very hard to accelerate that timetable.

Burgio believes the first retail marijuana sales allowed to open in New York will be those run by the companies already licensed by by the state to provide medical marijuana.

There are 10 of those now, each with existing growing and processing facilities and up to four retail locations, called dispensaries. They include large national companies like MedMen, CuraLeaf, Citiva Medican and NYCanna/The Botanist.

They are have the infrastructure in place, and they have gone through licensing, so they would likely be the first to go, Burgio said.

Although some critics of the states approach says it will favor large national companies, which some call Big Canna, Sleight said he doesnt agree that will be a factor in the long run.

That criticism is probably unfair, Sleight said. He agrees they have the experience and its true they are battle tested.

But he notes that the bill limits most retailers to three dispensaries. And it provides that at least 50% of the retail licenses will go to what the state calls social equity applicants  minority- and women-owned businesses in communities historically affected by marijuana prosecution.

There will be room for more players, Sleight said. By no stretch, in my opinion, will they (big national companies) be cornering the market, he said.

Officials at CuraLeaf, one of the bigger companies that has an existing medical marijuana license in New York, said Friday they agree that they will be able to jump into the market first, but there will be opportunities for others.

Matt Harrell, CuraLeafs vice president for government affairs, said he thinks there eventually could be as many as 800 licensed dispensaries across the state.

CuraLeaf, which operates in 23 states, currently has a growing and processing facility near Albany, and has medical dispensaries in Long Island, Queens, Newburgh and Plattsburgh. The company is looking forward to pursuing the recreational business.

Patrik Jonsson, the companys Northeast regional president, noted the possibility that passing of the New York legalization bill soon could cause some confusion about what is legal right away.

We saw that in New Jersey, he said of the reaction after that states legalization was approved by voters last fall and signed into law in February. The rules and regulations for New Jerseys legal sales still have not been approved. So people were lining up outside our locations the next day, but we had nothing to sell them.

Jonsson said CuraLeaf is willing to work with other companies, especially those entering under the social equity provisions of the law, to develop the industry. It can supply product to smaller businesses, and offer resources in getting them started, he said.

Just because we are moving forward doesnt mean they cant move forward, Jonsson said. I think the market is big enough for all of us. We have different products.

Aside from the timetable, Gandelman said he and other cannabis growers and processors welcome much of whats in the new law.

Hes particularly happy with a provision allowing small farmers to sell small amounts of cannabis directly to consumers.

And while the new law does not allow marijuana use in public places, it does create the possibility of licensed social consumption lounges. That, Gandelman said, could create a form of agritourism for Upstate New York, similar to craft beer and winery tasting rooms.

Currently, New York is home to about 700 cannabis growers. Aside from the licensed medical providers, the others grow industrial hemp, a relative of marijuana that does not have the same level of THC, which provides the marijuana high. There are about 100 processors who can turn that hemp into products like CBD (cannabidiol). Not all of them are currently active, Gandelman said.

I think theres a lot of positive energy out there, so thats good, Gandelman said. Well just have to see how it works out.

Related:

Legal weed delivered to your door? Cuomos marijuana plan now includes it

With new rules in place, New York opens up licenses for CBD production and sales

New Jersey is legalizing marijuana. Does that put pressure on New York?

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 00:30:28|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), John Nkengasong, said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent health and socio-economic challenges have accelerated partnerships for innovation in Africa towards building new public health order.

According to the Africa CDC director, the devastating impact of the pandemic instilled a degree of boldness that would have been unthinkable just a year ago, eventually creating conditions to break the silos that prevented Africa's full potential in innovations.

"Whilst COVID-19 has been an undeniable tragedy of unprecedented proportions, it has also accelerated partnerships for innovation," an Africa CDC statement issued over the weekend quoted Nkengasong as saying.

The statement followed a recent meeting hosted by the Africa CDC that brought together some 60 Africa's leading tech and telecom leaders to further explore how technology and innovation would shape the post-COVID-19 new public health order in Africa.

The innovation-themed gathering mainly explored further partnerships and collaboration across the African technology landscape to scale promising pan-African innovation platforms such as the African Trusted Travel Platform, which automates cross-border verification of health certificates for testing or vaccines, it was noted.

The participants, among other things, deliberated on how specific interventions such as the use of digital technology would boost vaccine equity and accountability in Africa and quell hesitancy can provide general blueprints for health sector transformation.

According to the Africa CDC, more than a year into the global pandemic, the profound impact of COVID-19 and the necessary control measures have worsened economic inequalities and social insecurities, and deepened challenges on Africa's already under-pressure health systems.

It further emphasized that lockdowns, which were highly effective in the short term, cannot be a sustainable solution in the longer term given that more than 80 percent of employment is estimated to be informal, and 85 percent of the population live on less than 5.50 U.S. dollars per day.

The Africa CDC, specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union (AU), further reiterated its commitment to work together with its partners to unlock the potential of technology to enable a new public health order for Africa, which was said to be a key topic going forward in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period.

According to the latest figures from the Africa CDC, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 4,167,350 as of Sunday morning the death toll from the pandemic stood at 111,561, while 3,735,535 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 13:43:09|Editor: huaxia

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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 29 (Xinhua) -- One of New Zealand's largest school of learning Mandarin and Chinese culture, Rewi Alley Chinese School, has moved to a new site at the University of Canterbury, according to the school on Monday.

The Christchurch-based school was a legacy of Rewi Alley, a New Zealand-born writer, social reformer and educator, Sarah Walters, chairperson of Rewi Alley Chinese School Board, told Xinhua.

The school was established in 1998 in Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island to teach Chinese language and culture, the largest of its kind in the South Island. Christchurch was Alley's hometown.

The school's former site was located on the campus of Wharenui School, where he had studied when his father was the school's first principal.

An old friend of the Chinese people, Alley spent 60 years living and working in China. He made important contributions to the Chinese people's fight against the fascist invasion, the economic development of the new China, and the friendship between China and New Zealand.

Member of Parliament for Christchurch's Ilam electorate Sarah Pallett stressed "the huge importance of keeping our languages and cultures alive," saying the Rewi Alley Chinese school was "the focal point for their connection with the Chinese culture."

"For some, with one English parent and a Chinese parent, English was the language spoken both at home and school and their Chinese language and culture was set aside - and I saw that as some of the children grew up, they lost the ability to communicate with their grandparents still living in China," she said at a ceremony celebrating the school's new site.

Pallett said she would strongly encourage Chinese families to persevere and not lose those connections. Enditem
Mar. 29Members of the Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife commissions will hold a virtual meeting next week to discuss policy for the shared waters of the Columbia River.

Four members of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission and three members of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Commissioners will hear presentations from staff on climate change and the current status of Columbia River fish runs.

Commissioners will also discuss a path forward for achieving concurrent fisheries between the two states.

The meeting will be held via Zoom webinar; the public can tune in to the meeting at zoom.us/j/92171617279. Participants can also call in to the meeting at 253-215-8782 or 888-475-4499, then enter the webinar ID: 921-7161-7279.

No decisions are expected at this meeting, and no public comment will be taken.
Agritechnica will not go ahead this year due to the ongoing pandemic and the slow progress of vaccination programmes in Europe.

The German agri-machinery trade show was due to take place in Hanover in November later this year, and organisers were expecting more than 2,000 exhibitors.

The event is a meeting point for the entire agricultural machinery industry, as well as a leading international business platform.

But the bi-annual show will now go ahead on 27 February to 5 March 2022, the DLG (German Agricultural Society) has today confirmed.

With the four month postponement of the trade fair, the DLG said it believed that participating companies would have the necessary certainty required for planning.

Dr Reinhard Grandke, DLG CEO said: "The essential requirements for exhibitors, visitors and business partners to be able to gather again at Agritechnica are vaccine and test strategies that have been put into practice in Germany, Europe and worldwide.

"We are convinced that by late summer, which is the deadline for exhibitors to register for Agritechnica 2022, we will be able to give our exhibitors and visitors the clarity necessary for certainty in their planning."

Anthony van der Ley, Chairman of the VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association, said the third wave of the pandemic was 'currently in full force'.

He blamed 'disappointing vaccination policies in the German federal and regional governments', which had 'unfortunately slowed us down for the time being'.

"We are now looking to spring 2022 with fresh momentum and renewed energy so that we can celebrate an Agritechnica together as we know it and love it."

Agritechnica will return to the exhibition grounds in Hanover, Germany, from 27 February to 5 March 2022.
AnDAPT has worked closely with Xilinx on the designs which speed development of power supplies for a variety of industrial and computing applications, including industrial (motor control, Programmable Logic Control, Internet of Things (IoT)), medical, networking, and datacenter equipment.

"AnDAPT reference designs leverage the distinct advantages of its unique technology, including flexibility, scalability and integration to offer highly efficient systems that allow remarkable reduction in PCB area and changes in power configuration and sequencing, even after final assembly," said Bill McLean, AnDAPT CEO. "Most of these reference designs are supported by our AmP device which can have different personalities (PMIC) provided by SPI flash," Bill continued.

Consider the Xilinx ZU+ MPSoC power architecture. The MPSoC IC requires more than 25 power rails among the PS (Processing System) and PL (Programmable Logic) domains (see Figure above). AnDAPT reference designs meet or exceed the Xilinx power performance specifications while achieving a reduction in solution PCB area by merging and reducing the number of devices used.

AnDAPT plans to release similar power solutions for the Kintex, Artix, Virtex, Versal, and Spartan families in future.

AnDAPT WebAmP R.D (Reference Design) Software Tool

AnDAPT has created an intuitive software tool, WebAmp R.D., to provide ready-to-use reference designs with optimum flexibility to users. The designs are based on Xilinx part numbers and use cases that have been defined by Xilinx for the ZU+ MPSoC FPGA device family. Users can apply these reference designs as-is or modify rail sequencing, revise output voltages, alter maximum current per rail, and disable unused rail if desired. If customized, WebAmp R.D. provides all the necessary design documentation including design files, reference schematics, datasheets, BoM, and layout guide. If additional functionality is desired, such as system rails or glue logic, the generated design files can be used on WebAmP software tool for additional modifications.

AnDAPT Reference Designs and Eval Boards

The AmP IC uses a compact 5mm x 5mm package and a high level of integration in order to provide a best-in-class system solution to power Xilinx FPGAs. All products incorporate a single/two phase DrMOS controller (up to 70A), multiple buck converters (10A / 6A), high current LDOs (up to 2A) or load switches (LDSW), 4 general purpose LDOs (200mA) and power management features including fault protection and sequencing.

Reference designs can be used as-is by customers without any software programming or coding and offer best-in-class flexibility and time-to-market. AnDAPT reference designs map the entire ZU+ MPSoC family using one to three PMICs available on "Reference Design PMIC" page on AnDAPT website. The designs make it remarkably simple for the designer to pick and choose a solution and get it up and running within minutes for evaluation. Further, the WebAmP R.D. tool allows designers to scale a solution both up and down quickly depending on the FPGA design requirements. This makes the AnDAPT AmP IC solution ideal for Xilinx FPGA applications.

Evaluation boards for ZU+ MPSoC Cost Optimized with MGT devices use case are available now and Performance optimized use case evaluation board will be available in May 2021.

About AnDAPT

A privately held fabless Power semiconductor company, AnDAPT Holdings Ltd, designs, manufactures and markets On-Demand and Reference Design Power Management solutions. Incorporated in 2014 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the Company is funded by Intel, Cisco, Atlantic Bridge Vanguard and has pioneered a new genre of adaptive analog technology. AnDAPT offers AmP Adaptive Multi-Rail Power Platforms, WebAmP and WebAmP R.D.TM cloud-based software tools and AmP Power Components targeting applications in Medical, Industrial, Enterprise, Server/Client, Storage, Communications, IoT, Drones and Telematics applications. Visit the company website (AnDAPT.com) or call for more information.

Contact:

Zaryab Hamavand,

AnDAPT, VP Marketing

+1 (408) 406-5669

[email protected]

SOURCE AnDAPT

Related Links

https://www.andapt.com/


Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
[March 29, 2021] The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati featured on new Cause Connector giving site

CINCINNATI, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati is among the first organizations to be featured on the Foundation for Appalachian Ohios new Cause Connector giving site.

Cause Connector is a charitable matchmaking site, created to help more donors support local nonprofit projects in Appalachian Ohio. On Cause Connector, donors can easily search for projects serving their local community across the areas of arts and culture, community and economic development, education, environmental stewardship, and health and human services. The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnatis work is being highlighted on Cause Connector. Should INTERalliance receive funding on the site, they will be able to support their new Adopt-A-Chapter Program. The INTERalliance Adopt-A-Chapter program will work to inspire students in the Ohio Appalachian Region to pursue a future in technology. During the academic year, schools are connected with Corporate Partners to support a group of 10-25 high school students per school. INTERalliance and these special corporate mentors will engage by teaching professional development and IT classes, taking students on a site visit, and providing individual mentoring. The funding raised through Cause Connector allows for all training, transportation, and technology to be provided for the students for free. The end goal is to give students exposure and support to pursue successful technology careers, with an emphasis on developing and retaining talent in the region. Requested funds will serve high school students from Adams County, Brown County, and Clermont County. Those who would like to play a part in supporting this work can visit www.CauseConnector.org to make a gift. Through Cause Connector, donors gifts will combine to fund projects across the region while also making investments in future initiatives. Our region of Appalachian Ohio has ccess to fewer grant and scholarship dollars per capita. This philanthropy gap means the regions nonprofits, schools, community organizations, and students have less support to meet pressing needs and pursue opportunities that can make a tremendous difference.



Cause Connector is focused on addressing the philanthropy gap by helping donors find projects that need their support today while also investing in the future of our communities. A portion of each gift given goes to FAOs Im a Child of Appalachia Fund to support future projects. We created Cause Connector to connect donors who want to make a difference with investment-ready projects in our local communities, said Cara Dingus Brook, FAOs president and CEO. Our region is full of leaders with innovative solutions and ideas for helping others, and Cause Connector is a new technology designed to support their success.

INTERalliance is one of the first organizations selected to have a project featured on the new Cause Connector site. Projects have until April 9 to receive funding and make their projects possible. Gifts of all sizes are welcome at www.CauseConnector.org . About The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati

Based in Cincinnati, INTERalliance is a student-run non-profit whose mission is to inspire and assist young talent to pursue an IT career in Greater Cincinnati. Member companies of the INTERalliance include The Kroger Co., Procter & Gamble, Great American Insurance, FIS, GE, Vora Technologies, Fifth Third Bank, Western & Southern Financial Group, among many others. For more information about INTERalliance School Chapters, or to learn how to start your own, please contact Heather Ackels at Heather.Ackels@INTERalliance.org or visit www.interalliance.org . About the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio

The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) is a regional community foundation serving the 32 counties of Appalachian Ohio. A 501(c)(3) public charity, the Foundation creates opportunities for Appalachian Ohios citizens and communities by inspiring and supporting philanthropy. For more information about FAO, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org . ORGANIZATION CONTACT: Heather Ackels

Executive Director, INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati

P: 513.415.7707 | E: heather.ackels@interalliance.org

FAO CONTACT: Megan Wanczyk

Vice President of Communications and Programs

P: 740.707.0386 | E: mwanczyk@ffao.org



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Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
A gas leak forced officials Sunday to evacuate some residents in Newnan, a Georgia city cleaning up after a powerful tornado days earlier ripped roofs off numerous homes and buildings.

Newnan city officials ordered evacuations along two streets, saying in social media posts that a large gas leak had left the area unsafe.

Atlanta Gas Light issued a statement saying its crews were assisting first responders in repairing a broken gas line. The utility said the line had been cut by a group of contractors.

It was not immediately known if the gas leak was related to extensive storm damage in the area. The National Weather Service said a powerful EF-4 tornado struck Newnan and surrounding Coweta County as violent storms rolled through northern Georgia late Thursday and early Friday.

Some homes were torn from their foundations and Newnan High School suffered serious damage. One person was killed in the storm after experiencing a medical emergency while trapped inside a home buried under limbs and debris.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Windstorm Georgia
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National Marine Dredging Company PJSC (NMDC), one of the leading companies providing dredging, reclamation, and marine construction services in the Middle East, has announced its new board of directors for the next three years with Mohammed Thani Murshed Al Rumaithi as its chairman.

The seven-member board got the approval at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) held yesterday (March 28). This comes following the shareholder vote on December 14, 2020 and also after NMDC received all required regulatory approvals for the legal completion of its integration with National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC).

The new board members include Hamad Salem Al Ameri, Abdul Ghaffar AlKoori, Mohamed Al Qamzi, Yasser Saeed Al Mazroui, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Hamadi and Ahmed Amer Al Amry.

All these members have vast industry experience across multiple sectors, including energy and industry. Their extensive expertise will enable NMDC to boost its operations both in the UAE and other major international markets, said the statement from the Emirati company.

The election of the new board also marks the beginning of a stronger entity following NMDCs integration with NPCC to build an engineering, construction and procurement powerhouse that supports the UAEs strategy to build world-class infrastructure, it stated.

The combination of NMDC and NPCC (the Combined Group) creates one of the leading integrated oil and gas and marine services EPC players, with an established footprint across Mena and South Asia regions, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
(Natural News) It didnt take Joe Bidens Marxist handlers long to settle into their roles as natural tyrants, as evidenced by the fact that they are planning to use all levers of government to quash remaining political opposition, even if it means neutering some 75 million Americans who did not choose them in November.

Politico reported last week that the Department of Homeland Security is looking at monitoring travel of so-called domestic extremists and also unconstitutionally restricting travel for said individuals by adding them to the FBIs No Fly List that, up to now, had been reserved solely for foreign terrorist suspects.

Law enforcement sources told the outlet that the additional monitoring would be part of the Biden regimes mounting war on conservatives, patriots, and pro-Trump voters by treating them as national security threats rather than fellow citizens.

Theyre also part of broader conversations in government about how to use tools developed for the Global War on Terror to combat domestic extremism. And, if past is prologue, the approach could prove politically contentious, Politico reported.

The site added:

The department could begin analyzing the travel patterns of suspected domestic extremists, monitor flights they book on short notice and search their luggage for weapons, a senior law enforcement official told POLITICO. There have also been discussions about putting suspected domestic violent extremists  a category that includes white supremacists  on the FBIs No Fly List, the official said. When suspected extremists travel internationally, officials may be more likely to question them before they pass through customs and to search their phones and laptops.

A second law enforcement official told POLITICO that conversations about monitoring domestic extremists travel have involved multiple federal agencies at the interagency level, including the FBI.

Domestic violent extremism poses the most lethal, persistent terrorism-related threat to our homeland today, said a DHS spokesperson after the agency was asked to comment. DHS is committed to improving security and is reviewing options for enhancing screening and vetting protocols and travel pattern analyses, consistent with privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.

Meanwhile, Politico reported that the FBI did not provide any comment, which leaves the distinct impression that yeah, the bureau is going to continue allowing itself to remain politicized, especially now that another authoritarian-minded Democratic regime is back in power.

DHS officials are said to be focused on international travel tied to ideologically motivated actions such as the Capitol riot (Politico, like all left-wing news sites, incorrectly deemed the Jan. 6 incident an insurrection, which it clearly was not), according to one source.

An unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment released earlier this month highlighted the intelligence communitys interest in domestic extremists international travel, Politico reported.

Republicans are incensed, as they should be, because they know what the Biden regime is doing: Falsely blaming all Trump supporters for the stupidity of a few who stormed the Capitol, and using that as justification for destroying our remaining civil liberties. (Related: Media-generated racial hatred toward white men fuels riots and mass shootings.)

In a March 18 letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines led by House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, GOP members pointed out that the Biden regimes attempt to use a federal agency to track Americans domestically was a gross violation of the law (not to mention the Constitution).

 It is our view that your office, and the elements of the IC [intelligence community] for which you are responsible under the auspices of the National Security Act and National Intelligence Program, are subject to longstanding prohibitions against domestic activities, the letter states, according to the Washington Times. We are alarmed by the lack of explanation provided by the authors to justify the  production of such a report.

According to the DNI, the report was drafted by the the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which was established to focus on foreign terrorists like al Qaeda and ISIS. Thus, the NCTCs involvement is a direct violation of the law.

Will Biden care?

Did Obama care when he was spying on Americans, including Donald Trump and his campaign?

See more reporting like this at Tyranny.news.

Sources include:

WashingtonTimes.com

Politico.com

DomesticTerrorism.news
Tangier  About fifteen glass bottles dating back to the 14th century were discovered on Sunday, carefully buried in the roof of a building located on the east side of the old medina of Tangier.

These bottles were discovered as part of the rehabilitation and upgrading program of the Tangier medina, carried out by the Agency for the Promotion and Development of the North (APDN), under the supervision and monitoring of the wilaya of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, said a press release from the Agency.

The same source explained that this collection of 15 large glass bottles was found carefully buried in the roof of one of the shops located on the wall surrounding Dar Debagh on the east side of the city, noting that these bottles were used in the preservation and transport of certain liquid substances, such as oil, juice and fermenters.

After being inspected by the regional heritage curator, it turned out that they belong to the type of bottles called Dames Jeanne, whose history is associated with an ancient tale dating back to the 14th century, APDN said, noting that these bottles have been kept as historical evidence for use in some of the city's museum exhibits.

The press release notes that some of these bottles bear the name of the city of Barcelona and others of the town of "Vilella", located near Tarragona (Spain), stressing that this type of bottle has continued to be manufactured and used until the middle of the 20th century.
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Eddie Izzard has said the world is repeating some of the political mistakes which were made in the 1930s.

The comedian and actor said far-right politicians are lying to the public, a situation she described as scary.

Izzard made the comment during a livestreamed discussion on new film Six Minutes To Midnight, which is set in the 1930s and tells the story of a finishing school for daughters and goddaughters of high-ranking Nazis.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and we look like we are repeating some of it right now, she said.

Expand Close Eddie Izzard wrote the film (Luciana Guerra/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Eddie Izzard wrote the film (Luciana Guerra/PA)

Izzard added: The far-right politicians around the world, the simplistic politicians, will say, Here are a number of things which are untrue but Im going to put them to you and Id like you to vote for me because of these untrue things.

Its a very scary place to go to and we went there before, lets hope we dont go there again.

Izzard added that former US president Donald Trump said he won an election that he patently, obviously did not win.

Now a whole percentage of people in America went along with it, are still going along with it, and thats a lie, Izzard said.

Six Minutes To Midnight, which was written by Izzard, also stars Dame Judi Dench, James DArcy, Jim Broadbent and Celyn Jones alongside the comedian.
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New Haven Community Health Worker Katia Astudillo helps dozens of her clients navigate the logistics of getting vaccinated and connects them with other health services. She even helps them find rental assistance.

In and around New London, CHW Lizbeth Polo-Smith hands out flyers about COVID-19 safety and vaccinations at churches, laundromats, stores, warming centers for the homelessanywhere she can.

As COVID-19 laid bare Connecticuts health care deserts, it now highlights the efforts of CHWs who labored in forgotten neighborhoods for years. In many ways, they have become a key factor in the states public health response for marginalized communities during the pandemic.

We need an army of CHWs. The capacity is just overwhelming right now, said Giselle Carlotta-McDonald, executive director of Project Access-New Haven, which employs CHWs in a partnership with Yale New Haven Hospital.

But the pandemic has raised serious concerns about whether their work is sustainable in the long run. CHWs typically are funded by grant money, which advocates say is problematic.

We are fully funded by grants and donations, Carlotta-McDonald said. I spend most of my time just looking for new funds for next year. Through the pandemic, weve lost grants that were scheduled to come this year. Without the funding, I cant sustain it. Its just not sustainable. It limits, really, how much we can do.

Lifelines for underserved communities

Astudillo, a CHW at Project Access-New Haven, spends a lot of her time lately doing vaccine-related outreach.

A lot of our clients are very hesitant of taking a COVID-19 vaccine, she said. They dont know a lot about it. Some of our clients cannot read or write. There is a lot of education; our calls went from being 20 minutes to maybe 40 minutes.

Shes also seen a surge in the number of people needing rental assistance. Many of the organizations clients are undocumented and dont qualify for federal resources, Astudillo said. She connects them with local organizations that can help.

Often, clients will share information with a CHW that they wont tell a medical provider or another professional, said Millie Landock, lead CHW at Project Access.

We are one of them, said Landock, who has been a CHW for almost 15 years. We speak what they speak. I know what youre going through because I was there. They see us as one of them. When we call them, they share the personal stufftheir personal struggles, their personal life.

She adds: The needs were still there [before COVID-19]. Now its just, like, everywhere. The volume is just unbearable.

Polo-Smith, who works as a CHW at Ledge Light Health District in New London, also educates people about the vaccines and helps them book and get to vaccine appointments. She spends part of her week passing out information in her community to anyone she can.

I deliver flyers everywhere that people can reach, she said. Everybody trusts me. I enjoy what I do.

CHWs live in the communities they serve, which is a crucial factor in their effectiveness, proponents say.

This is not about us telling folks what to do, said Jennifer Muggeo, deputy director of Ledge Light Health District. This is about someone from their community who has trusted relationships and connections, and who knows how to navigate the different systems, and who knows what the barriers are, and can hear what people are hoping for and can help them achieve it.

CHWs are especially critical in vaccine-related efforts, Muggeo said, as vaccination rates among people of color have trailed those of their white counterparts.

We are really able to address the barriers that have existed for black, Hispanic and indigenous folks to get the vaccine, Muggeo said, including lack of computer or internet access, transportation hardships, and trouble understanding English-only forms and websites. We have worked hard to take those pieces down as much as we can.

Funding

CHWs go by various titles and employment structures. Some are employed by health departments or health districts, some by community-based organizations, and some by health centers or hospitals.

They really are on-the-ground individuals that are helping to guide patients, especially those who have complex issues, language barriers and other social determinant barriers, said Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation.

CHWs were so instrumental in getting to hard-to-reach populations and doing so in order to educate them in the pandemics early days, Donelson said. They were instrumental in doing the contact tracing. For those who did get COVID, they were exceptionally helpful in getting them to the needed resources. They are so needed as it relates to educating around the vaccine because they are trusted in their community.

The Connecticut Health Foundation, through grants and in partnership with the nonprofit 4-CT, is funding 45 CHW positions throughout the state: in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Norwalk, Stamford and New London.

Before COVID-19, CHWs focused on various health-related issues. The Ledge Light Health District formed several years ago to address the opioid epidemic and social determinants related to asthma. Project Access started in 2009 to connect recently hospitalized patients with specialty care.

Now, CHWs are taking on a broader scope of work with no sustainable way to fund it. Project Access has six full-time CHWs, in addition to four full-time and two per-diem patient navigators who help uninsured patients access specialty care and address social health determinants, according to Carlotta-McDonald.

CHWs are doing very, very important work, and we are constantly in a cycle of stressing and looking for the next grant funding to support their time, Muggeo said.

Some recent developments could help.

President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan pledges to fund 100,000 public health workers who will work in local communities. According to the plan, they will provide services like vaccine outreach and contract tracing in the short term and then transition to long-term public health roles. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to award grants to approximately 75 organizations through the program. But the grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, and not all entities will be funded.

Geralynn McGee, policy director of the Connecticut Health Foundation, said, The support in the American Rescue Plan is helpful, but we should continue to consider how we can sustainably fund CHWs, she said. This one-time cash infusion is still more like a grant.

About a year and a half ago, the Connecticut Department of Public Health created a certification for CHWs, which Muggeo said is an encouraging step in getting CHWs the recognitionand fundingthey deserve. To date, 120 people have earned the optional certification.

I hope, as a state, were able to look in a broader way at funding opportunities, Muggeo said.

State lawmakers are debating the next biennial budget amid a challenging financial climate. State Rep. Patricia Dillon D-New Haven, a deputy majority leader who sits on the Appropriations Committee and co-chairs its subcommittee on public health, said a bipartisan staff is researching the if and how the budget may affect CHWs.

Donelson said that steady funding would make CHWs even more effective.

We need to continue to figure out how we can support this workforce so they can really help us. We really need people who are boots on the ground. Its a question of funding them, Donelson said.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team ( c-hit.org ), a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting.
When my research team and I asked Erin (a pseudonym) about the possibility of getting a coronavirus vaccine for her toddler and her preschooler, she told us, "It's highly unlikely they would get the vaccine, period." Erin, who is White and identifies as a strong Republican, explained, "I don't think the risk is worth it unless the medical facility or whoever does all the testing was able to prove a hundred percent that there's absolutely no way that there's any kind of vaccine damage that can happen with this. Which, I don't really see that happening."

Now, it's possible that Erin will change her mind by the time vaccines are widely available for children. Children 12 and up will not be eligible until later this summer; Moderna and Pfizer have just begun vaccine trials for children under 12. If those trials are successful (as experts expect them to be), parents' concerns might wane. That's what happened with some of the hesitancy around adult vaccines: As rollouts progressed across the country, a growing share of people reported that they intended to get the vaccine, and hesitancy fell among groups that were initially reluctant to get immunized (especially Black adults).

But there is reason to expect she won't. Lack of interest in the vaccine has persisted among white adults and especially white Republicans. That lack of interest is stalling vaccine rollouts in rural, Republican-leaning communities. And it might prevent us from reaching herd immunity, especially if it leaves parents reluctant to vaccinate their kids. As Drexel University pediatrics professor Sarah Long recently told the Associated Press, "It's unlikely we could get community protection without immunizing children."

Erin is far from alone in her skepticism - or outright rejection - of a potential coronavirus vaccine for her children: In a new study combining data from a nationally representative survey of 1,946 U.S. parents and in-depth interviews with a politically, socioeconomically and racially diverse group of 64 mothers, my co-author Elizabeth M. Anderson and I find that more than a quarter of all U.S. parents say that they do not intend to vaccinate their kids against the coronavirus (answering one or two on a scale of one to seven, where one is "very unlikely" and seven is "very likely" to get the vaccine). Additionally, roughly a quarter of all U.S. parents oppose efforts to require coronavirus vaccines in schools (answering one or two on a scale of one to seven, where one is "strongly disagree" and seven is "strongly agree" that schools should require the vaccine).

Concerns about coronavirus vaccines and school vaccine requirements for children are disproportionately coming from mothers, especially White Republican moms. Only 17 percent of fathers said they do not plan to vaccinate their children, compared to more than third of all mothers (34 percent) and nearly half of White mothers who identify as Republican or Republican-leaning Independents (47 percent). Similarly, only 20 percent of fathers said they oppose school-required vaccinations against covid-19. By contrast, a third of all moms oppose school-required vaccinations (33 percent), as do more than half of White Republican/Republican-leaning moms (54 percent).

The gender disparity is surprising, given that women are usually more inclined than men to follow what medical experts advise. Women are less likely than men to smoke cigarettes and drink heavily, for example, and they're more likely to visit the doctor when they are sick and more likely to take medication as prescribed.

So why are mothers disproportionately wary of vaccination? Their concerns are linked to the pressures they face as family health managers. Our individualistic, consumeristic medical system tells the public to take personal responsibility for their health and avoid health risks. In this system, mothers and women who may become mothers face particularly strong pressure to control risks to their families' health - whether that involves tending to "pre-pregnancy care," steering clear of toxic chemicals in the grocery aisle or questioning pediatric vaccination schedules.

Amid the spread of both accurate information and politicized disinformation about possible side effects, many mothers feel more capable of controlling the risks of the coronavirus itself than the risks of the coronavirus vaccine. They plan to focus on limiting their children's exposure to the virus rather than bank on the safety of the vaccine. For some mothers we interviewed, that means keeping their children home from school and from child care for the foreseeable future, even if that also means putting their careers on hold.

This vaccine opposition is troubling, because, as a 2014 Kaiser Family Foundation survey showed, mothers are often the ones making health decisions for their partners and their kids. Renee (also a pseudonym), a White, self-identified strong Republican and the mother of a second grader, a toddler and a baby-on-the way told my team that she and her husband often joke about this dynamic: "He wears the pants in the family but I just tell him which ones to pick out and wear." If she got the vaccine (which she does not plan to do), he would follow suit, "but if I don't do it, he's definitely going to be like, 'nope.'"

Mothers' vaccine opposition is also troubling because of the role they play in schools. The first school vaccination requirements helped stop the spread of smallpox over 150 years ago, and today, all 50 states have immunization requirements for public school children. Mothers, through their leadership in parent-teacher organizations and online activist groups, have often led efforts to influence school policies based on what they think is best for their own kids. In recent years, that has included efforts to resist immunization requirements.

And it seems likely that there will be conflict over such requirements for the coronavirus vaccine: Recently the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that once coronavirus vaccines are widely available for children, it will require students to be vaccinated to attend school; other communities are likely to do the same. Meanwhile, anti-vaccine activists are already using the pandemic as an opportunity to spread misinformation about the risks of vaccines in general, and to call for further limits on school vaccine requirements.

Of course, not all the parents we interviewed opposed vaccinating their children against coronavirus. Many expressed some nervousness about the prospect, but said that they ultimately trusted scientists to tell them that the vaccines were safe. Others eagerly await vaccine approval, or even said that they'd enroll their kids in vaccine trials in the hopes that they'd be placed in the treatment group.

But a large-enough minority can have a real impact. If mothers like Erin and Renee opt not to get themselves or their children vaccinated, and their partners opt out, too, they not only increase their own risk of contracting covid-19 but also increase everyone else's risks, since vaccines are most effective when large proportions of the population are vaccinated (usually at least 80 or 90 percent). That population includes children as well as adults.

The importance of widespread vaccination to ending the pandemic has spurred many proposals for reducing hesitancy - from featuring Republican politicians in public awareness campaigns to recruiting clergy as "faith ambassadors" in their communities. Vaccine skepticism among mothers, rooted in an individualistic model of motherhood and medicine, may call for a different tactic: trading our culture of mother blame for a culture of mutual care. As sociologist Jennifer Reich argued in a 2020 TEDx talk, "When someone's child is sick, do not automatically assume that the mother is to blame. When a child is acting out in a grocery store, don't automatically assume the mother is a bad parent. Encourage and support the mothers around you." That mutual support, Reich suggests, facilitates a "culture of public investment in each other's health." That public investment is what vaccines are all about.

- - -

Jessica Calarco is an associate professor of sociology at Indiana University and an expert on inequalities in families and schools.
A former top policy aide to Kamala Harris is moving to K Street, where she'll advise a prominent law and lobbying firm's clients on economic and tax policy, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Yasmin Rigney Nelson was a senior policy advisor in Harris' Senate office. Her new role as a senior principal at the firm Bracewell makes her the most senior ex-staffer for the new vice president to move into Washington's influence industry since Harris was sworn in in January.

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

Nelson previously served on the Senate Finance Committee, and on the staffs of Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

Nelson also was president of the Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus, a professional and social networking organization for Black Senate staffers.

What they're saying: Our clients will benefit greatly from Yasmins experience on Capitol Hill, her work on major policy issues and her guidance on racial equity and diversity issues, Bracewell managing partner Gregory Bopp said in a statement.

Nelson will join the Bracewell's Policy Resolution Group, which melds the firm's government affairs, public relations and legal representation services.

The big picture: Harris is already taking on significant segments of the administration's policy portfolio, making the services of those who know how she works  and who know her personally  particularly valuable.

As of the fourth quarter of 2020, Bracewell represented 66 federal lobbying clients in a broad portfolio that will guarantee extensive intersection with administration policymaking.

The firm has already been tracking Biden policies in areas including energy, infrastructure, finance, trade and agriculture.

More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
China's CanSino to offer tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX

Xinhua) 16:47, March 29, 2021

A logo of China's vaccine specialist CanSino Biologics Inc is pictured on the company's headquarters in Tianjin, China August 17, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - China's CanSino Biologics Inc has proposed providing "tens of million of doses" of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, Reuters quoted a senior executive of the company as saying.

Pierre Morgon, senior vice president at CanSino, told the media outlet in an interview that the firm made the proposal in December last year to supply vaccines between late 2021 and the end of 2022.

"We are happy to go beyond 2022 if there was still an expectation to do so," Morgon was quoted in the report on Thursday.

The offering to COVAX, which is backed by the World Health Organization, is the lowest price that CanSino uses in markets outside China, where richer countries are subject to prices about three times higher, the report added.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Hongyu)
BOSTON --Medical professionals often advise patients not to search the Internet for their symptoms before coming into the clinic, yet many people turn to "Dr. Google" when feeling sick. Concerns about "cyberchondria" -- or increased anxiety induced by the Internet -- have made the value of using Internet searches controversial. In a new study that used case vignettes, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy explored the impact Internet searches have on patients' abilities to reach a correct diagnosis. They found that study outcomes suggest the Internet may not be so harmful after all. Participants across the board demonstrated modest improvements in reaching an accurate diagnosis after looking up symptoms on the Internet. Participants additionally showed no difference in reported anxiety nor in triage abilities. Results are published in JAMA Network Open.

"I have patients all the time, where the only reason they come into my office is because they Googled something and the Internet said they have cancer. I wondered, 'Is this all patients? How much cyberchondria is the Internet creating?'" said corresponding author David Levine, MD, MPH, of the Division of General Internal Medicine & Primary Care at the Brigham.

In a study of 5,000 participants, each person was asked to read a short case vignette describing a series of symptoms and imagine someone close to them was experiencing the described symptoms. Participants were asked to provide a diagnosis based on the given information then look up their case symptoms on the Internet and again offer a diagnosis. Cases ranged from mild to severe, but described illnesses that commonly affect everyday people, such as viruses, heart attacks and strokes. In addition to diagnosing a given condition, participants each selected a triage level, ranging from "let the health issue get better on its own" to "call 911." Study members then recorded their individual anxiety levels.

Notably, Levine and co-author Ateev Mehrota, MD, MPH, a hospitalist at Harvard Medical School, found that people were slightly better at diagnosing their cases correctly after performing an Internet search. Participants demonstrated no difference in their abilities to triage nor did they report a change in anxiety after using the Internet.

"Our work suggests that it is likely OK to tell our patients to 'Google it,'" said Levine. "This starts to form the evidence base that there's not a lot of harm in that, and, in fact, there may be some good."

Authors note that a limitation to this study is that participants were asked to pretend as if a loved one was having the symptoms described by the case vignette. It isn't completely clear that people would behave the same way upon experiencing symptoms themselves. Additionally, the authors note that this study is not representative of all people that use the Internet for health-related searches.

Levine also plans to expand the scope of this study by investigating the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to use the Internet to correctly diagnose patients.

"This next study takes a generalized AI algorithm, trained on all of the open-source text of the Internet such as Reddit and Twitter, and then uses that to respond when prompted," said Levine. "Can AI supplement how people use the Internet? Can it supplement how doctors use the Internet? That's what we're interested in investigating."

###

Funding for this work was provided by a gift to Harvard Medical School from Mell Hall. Levine reports receiving funds from Biofourmis for a PI-initiated study regarding home hospital patients, separate from the present work.

Paper cited: Levine et al. "Assessment of Diagnosis and Triage in Validated Case Vignettes Among Nonphysicians Before and After Internet Search." JAMA Network Open

DOI:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.3287

Brigham Health, a global leader in creating a healthier world, consists of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, the Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization and many related facilities and programs. With more than 1,000 inpatient beds, approximately 60,000 inpatient stays and 1.7 million outpatient encounters annually, Brigham Health's 1,200 physicians provide expert care in virtually every medical and surgical specialty to patients locally, regionally and around the world. An international leader in basic, clinical and translational research, Brigham Health has nearly 5,000 scientists, including physician-investigators, renowned biomedical researchers and faculty supported by over $700 million in funding. The Brigham's medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and now, with 19,000 employees, that rich history is the foundation for its commitment to research, innovation, and community. Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and dedicated to educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. For more information, resources, and to follow us on social media, please visit brighamandwomens.org.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 13:21:22|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A Xinjiang official on Monday said that those attempting to sanction Xinjiang companies will only hurt themselves, and that enterprises like H&M should keep their eyes open and work to distinguish right from wrong.

In response to the Xinjiang cotton boycott, Xu Guixiang, spokesperson with the government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, told a press briefing in Beijing that enterprises should not politicize economic behavior.

"Chinese people, including those in Xinjiang, have expressed their indignation over the sanctions on relevant individuals and entities in Xinjiang by external forces under the pretext of human rights issues," said Xu, adding that long gone are the days when Chinese people fell victim to hegemony and bullying of Western powers. Enditem
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  In January 2018, borough resident Adolfo LaCola was arrested in what authorities initially believed to be a fake-bomb stunt at Newark Liberty International Airport.

LaCola was among nine people busted on charges of public false alarms, interference with transportation, and conspiracy over the incident, which they were filming for the show Staten Island Hustle, said officials.

As it turned out, authorities dropped the charges three months later.

Officials determined the carry-on luggage bag in question, initially believed to be an incendiary explosive device, was not a bomb.

In actuality, it was a makeshift luggage-shrinking device designed by the characters starring in the show.

Three Staten Island men, including Adolfo LaCola, were among nine people initially accused of trying to pass a fake bomb through Newark Airport security on Jan. 18, 2018, officials said. The device was ultimately determined not to be a bomb, and charges were dropped. (Photo courtesy of the Port Authority Police Department)

LaCola, however, didnt fare quite as well on Monday.

The defendant was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to four years in prison in an unrelated case on conspiracy charges relating to cocaine distribution and money laundering.

Prosecutors allege LaCola, 54, a Richmond Valley resident, sold the drug on Staten Island and planned to move up to 15 kilograms a month of cocaine from Mexico to the United States.

This defendant aspired to be a one-stop-shop for cocaine trafficking and money laundering, but thanks to the outstanding work of our law enforcement partners, LaColas next stop will be federal prison, said Mark J. Lesko, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York in a statement.

Even so, it could have been a lot worse. LaCola potentially faced up to nine years behind bars under federal sentencing guidelines.

But Chief District Court Judge Margo K. Brodie imposed a lesser sentence.

She cited as mitigating factors LaColas lack of a prior criminal record, his relatively short involvement of eight or nine months in the criminal enterprise and his reason for committing the crimes.

By all accounts, you are a very responsible, caring and giving individual, Brodie told LaCola during the remote sentencing hearing. It appears you were trying to earn quick money while engaging in this conspiracy. In balancing all of the factors, I conclude that a sentence below the guidelines is appropriate here.

In court filings, defense lawyer Bridget A. Zerner said LaCola sought to make fast money by peddling cocaine before moving to California to legally sell marijuana there.

LaCola, was a low-level guy, in the cocaine and money-laundering conspiracy, she wrote.

There was an end in sight for Mr. LaCola, Zerner said at the sentencing hearing. This is not something Mr. LaCola was engaged in long-term, nor did he intend to continue in it long-term. He engaged in these activities to hopefully make money for a legal cannabis venture and move on.

The defendant expressed his remorse to the judge.

I would like to apologize to anyone who my actions may have hurt, he said. I never intended malice to anyone. I dont know what I was thinking. I should never have allowed myself to get involved in endeavors such as these.  I am deeply sorry for my actions and ask for your leniency and mercy.

2019 ARREST

LaCola was busted in March 2019.

His arrest stemmed from a larger probe by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation into a narcotics distribution operation in New York City, said prosecutors court filings.

In a recorded conversation in April 2018, LaCola told a confidential informant he sold cocaine on Staten Island, prosecutors said.

In subsequent wiretaps, authorities learned LaCola had sold 100 grams of cocaine to the informant for $2,900, prosecutors court papers said. Later, the defendant allegedly told the informant the drugs came from a 1-kilogram shipment he was trying to peddle.

Investigators also found out LaCola and Patrick Tidalgo, a co-defendant, had met with the informant in Houston on June 6, 2018, to discuss money laundering, said prosecutors court documents.

LaCola told the informant they could launder up to $300,000 a month, prosecutors said.

The informant ultimately gave LaCola $100,000 in cash reportedly from heroin proceeds, which was laundered for a 10% commission, prosecutors said.

Subsequently, in December 2018, the defendant attempted to strike a deal with an informant to move 10 to 15 kilograms of cocaine a month from Mexico into the U.S., prosecutors alleged.

Last September, LaCola pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of between 87 months and 108 months.

His intention when beginning this enterprise was to become a multi-kilogram cocaine dealer here in New York City, wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Lizmi wrote in a pre-sentencing memorandum.

However, Brodie, the judge, said a four-year sentence, in her estimation, reflects the seriousness of the crime, as well as punishes LaCola and promotes respect for the law.

Besides prison time, LaCola was sentenced to three years post-release supervision.

He must also forfeit $20,000.
The Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Princess Sikhanyiso has come out to apologise for her protracted maternity leave which has been accepted in several quarters while some citizens are adamant that the apology does not suffice.

Despite the apology, there are continued calls for her to return the salary she earned beyond the three months maternity leave and the constitutionally permitted six months absence from work provided for Cabinet ministers. The ICT minister has been absent from work for 14 months. According to Section 68 (4) g of the Constitution, the minister is removed from office for misbehaviour or inability to perform the functions of that office. Section 72 then provides that the minister is only allowed to delegate her powers for six months. Legal experts say this implies that she either returns to work within six months, or if unable, tenders a resignation, or the prime minister makes a recommendation to the appointing authority to replace the minister.

None of this was done which places the minister, Parliament and the Office of the Prime Minister equally responsible for abdicating their duties and contravening the Constitution. This sets a bad precedent for the country, yet again, on matters pertaining to the implementation of our Constitution  the supreme law of the land. The minister has suggested a review of the maternity leave period arguing that 12 weeks was insufficient, but she cannot justify this by breaking the law first.

This, and other precedents such as instructing the army to take over a private farm from its owner who is pronounced guilty before he is even charged or arraigned before a court of law to defend himself, are a serious cause for concern. The rights of the farm owner, who is now receiving death threats, have been violated. This cannot go without holding those responsible to account. The government spokesperson has declared that the ICT ministers apology is the end of the matter as if to suggest that an apology is now the official get out of jail card for any other citizen or public office bearer who has breached the Constitution. If this is the value government attaches to the supreme law of the land, then we may as well conclude that our Constitution is not worth the paper it is written on and there is no law in the land of Eswatini. A leadership that condones breaking of the supreme law of the land is a type of leadership we do not want to encourage.
A traffic marshall checks the documents of a freight lorry driver at Waterbrook Park facility in Ashford, south east England on January 15, 2021, as hauliers get used to life under the post-Brexit trade deal. - British companies are struggling with a large amount of red tape as a result of Brexit, with senior government minister Michael Gove recently admitting that there would be "significant disruption" at the border because of increased bureaucracy that is slowing the flow of freight. Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images

Hauliers arriving in England from outside the UK and Ireland for more than two days will need to take COVID-19 tests.

Lorry drivers will be required to take a test within the first 48 hours of arrival and then one every 72 hours thereafter under new government rules announced on Saturday.

UK's secretary for transport Grant Schapps tweeted that the new measures will come into force in from 6 April. Shapps said that this was to "ensure" that the UK "keeps track of any future coronavirus variants of concern."

Under the changes, hauliers and border force officials who were previously exempt will have to take a customised test. But, these will only be carried out once they are in Britain as opposed to at the border to avoid food and product delays that might lead to shortages.

Additionally, Border Force staff engaged in cross Channel work will be required to be tested three times a week, with similar arrangements for those working on trains and ferries in the area.

Those who fail to comply face similar fines to the 2,000 ($2,760) penalties for travellers who fail to test during self isolation.

It comes days after prime minister Boris Johnson suggested that the UK might to implements tougher measures to prevent COVID variants from being transmitted from the EU.

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.

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READ MORE: Coronavirus: 20 second COVID tests to launch in the UK and EU

The news follows regulators in Britain and the EU giving the green light to 20-second COVID rapid tests on Friday to help speed up testing capacity and aid the travel sector as economies reopen.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the registration of the fully-recyclable product, which is provided by London-based firm Histate.

The rapid test, known as Virolens, has been piloted at Heathrow Airport and uses swabs of the cheeks instead of through the nose and tonsils.

Story continues

The company said it was hoping for a wider rollout over the coming months after trials indicated that the test had 98.1% sensitivity, meaning it returns few false negatives, and 99.7% specificity, meaning few false positives.

Histate added that the results were the minimum baseline, and that they could even be more accurate.

WATCH: What UK government COVID-19 support is available?


UPDATE: Powerful winds - not a tornado - ripped roof off N.J. hotel, officials say

The National Weather Service is investigating whether strong winds that lashed the Jersey Shore and much of the state on Sunday night produced a small tornado in Neptune Township.

Americas Best Value on Route 35 and New York Road in Neptune Township was severely damaged and had to be evacuated while one person was hurt in a nearby crash police said resulted from the storm. Several vehicles were also damaged by flying debris.

The damage seems to be isolated in the area of the hotel, Capt. Michael McGhee said Monday. Theres no disruption of power (in town). Theyre still trying to to assess the damage there.

While the storm pulled down some wires in the area of Route 35 and South Concourse, no utility poles were dislodged, McGhee said.

Residents work to cover the windows of a sport utility vehicle that were blown out this evening in Neptune after strong thundertorms and a possible tornado rolled through the area at about 8:30pm on Sunday March 26, 2021.

Meanwhile, the storm left little to no damage in neighboring Neptune City. We were really lucky, Chief Matthew Quagliato said.

At the peak of the storm more than 27,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey were without power. As of 9 a.m. that number was down to about 3,500 statewide.

The weather service reported wind damage focused mainly along the I-95 corridor, including some measured wind gusts in the 60 to 70 mph range.

A fence was ripped out of the ground during a strong storm in Neptune Township on Sunday, March 28, 2021.Neptune Special Operations Rescue

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
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TEL AVIV, Israel, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pcysys has announced that the UK-based South Staffordshire College has chosen Pcysys' Automated Penetration Testing platform, PenTera, to automate its cybersecurity validation efforts towards faster security risk mitigation.

Pcysys Logo

"The team was sold on PenTera during the demonstration stage alone. The value over manual penetration testing was clear instantly," says Jason Whitaker, IT Director at South Staffordshire College. "By running the platform in production and re-testing post-remediation, we get an accurate view of our security posture. PenTera is like that best friend who tells you the truth to your face when you need it the most, even if it hurts."

The PenTera platform scans and ethically attacks the IT network with the latest hacking techniques, prioritizing remediation efforts based on proven kill-chains. With PenTera, organisations can benchmark, maintain and improve their cyber posture by performing penetration tests as frequently as needed - daily, weekly or monthly. The platform aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, ensuring the organisational network is held to the highest industry standard while reducing cybersecurity services cost.

"The further education space has been hit with quite a few cyber events recently and continues to be targeted especially in these times of increased remote access," says Eric Graves, Regional Sales Manager for the UK at Pcysys. "We're proud to partner with Jason and the South Staffordshire College team who truly believe in the value of continuous security visibility and validation, to help them in this time of transition and moving forward."

About South Staffordshire College

South Staffordshire College is a leading further education college in Staffordshire, England. The college is a consortium of colleges spread across 4 campuses, serving over 11,000 students and employing 600 staff members. South Staffordshire College offers a wide selection of full time, part time and apprenticeship programmes, designed to meet the needs of the local community.

Story continues

About Pcysys

Pcysys delivers PenTera, the agentless, automated penetration-testing platform, that assesses and reduces corporate cybersecurity risk. The platform is run remotely on the Cloud or on-site to identify, analyze and focus remediation efforts on breachable vulnerabilities. Hundreds of security professionals and service providers around the world use PenTera to perform continuous machine-based penetration tests that improve their immunity against cyber attacks across their organization networks. For more info visit: www.pcysys.com .

Media Contact:

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Single parents with dependent childreneight out of ten of them womenwere far more likely than others to lose work at the height of the pandemic and are far more likely to still be out of work now.

Even before COVID, many were in financial distress.

Single parents' paid hours fell more than 30% in the depths of the crisis in April.

By December, even though there were no significant restrictions in place anywhere in Australia, paid hours for single parents remained 10% lower than they had been a year earlier.

This was at a time when the hours worked by couple parents had recovered quickly, and was higher than a year earlier.

Employment for single parents fell more than 10% between December 2019 and September 2020, and is still 5% lower than in December 2019.

About 50,000 single parents dropped out of the workforce altogether during the first lockdown11% of all single parents.

Why was the COVID recession so bad for single parents?

Many single parents had no choice but to stop working

One reason would be that the loss of formal and informal childcare and the need to manage remote learning meant many single parents had little choice but to stop working.

Also, single parents would be over-represented in the job-loss figures because they are over-represented in insecure work.

In August 2019, a quarter of single parents held casual jobs without paid leave. These jobsmany of them in COVID-vulnerable sectors such as retail and hospitalitywere among the first to be lost during the lockdowns.

Many more were in casual jobs, ineligible for JobKeeper

Importantly, more than half of single parents in casual jobs had been in those particular jobs for less than a year, meaning the rules made them ineligible for JobKeeper support.

In a survey by the Melbourne Institute, only 13% of single mothers reported that they were receiving JobKeeper in late 2020, compared to 18% of mothers in couples and 33% of fathers in couples.

The outsized impact of the COVID recession on single parents is even more of a concern when we consider that they were among the most disadvantaged Australians before COVID.

Many had already been stripped of payments

In 2018, a third of single-parent families were living in poverty (compared to less than 10% of couples with dependent children). One fifth of single parents reported that they regularly skipped buying essential items.

And incomes for single parents were falling even before the crisis: between 2016 and 2018, when the national median annual income increased from $48,360 to $49,805, the median for single parents fell from $38,000 to $34,000.

Decisions by successive governments have contributed to this outcome.

From 2006, the Howard government's Welfare to Work program pushed new single parents claiming income support onto the Newstart unemployment benefit  $87 per week less than the Single Parenting Paymentif their youngest was eight or older.

The decision pushed about 20,000 single parents on to a lower payment.

In 2013, the Gillard government pushed another 80,000 single parents onto Newstart by extending the policy to single parents who had been claiming parenting payments before 2006, almost doubling the proportion of single parents in poverty, lifting it to 59%.

After Welfare to Work came ParentsNext

Then in 2016, the Turnbull government launched ParentsNext, with the stated intention of helping single parents with children as young as six months to return to work.

It included so-called participation plans, under which parents could be stripped of payments unless they performed mandated activitiesfor example, taking their child to swimming lessons.

A Senate inquiry recommended it "not continue in its current form". Instead the 2020 budget set aside $24.7 million to "streamline the successful ParentsNext program."

The COVID crisis and a series of government decisions before that are condemning hundreds of thousands of Australian children to growing up in poverty, and exacerbates intergenerational disadvantage.

Here are three things governments could do to make a difference:

Significantly increase in the permanent rate of JobSeeker. This would make a huge difference for unemployed single parents with children aged eight or older who thanks to earlier government decisions have to rely on JobSeeker while they make the transition to work. The Federal Government plans to increase the permanent rate of JobSeeker by $25 a week.

Make childcare cheaper. This would help single parents get back into paid work sooner and expand opportunities for early education for their children. Cost is the major barrier for families wanting childcare. The Grattan Institute has identified a series of options to improve affordability.

Classify single parents in the workforce as "essential workers" for the purposes of any future lockdowns. This would mean their children could continue going to school and childcare.

These changes would help single parents raising the adults of the future, who are at risk of slipping further behind.

Explore further Single parents are getting priced out of daycare, triggering a vicious cycle of entrenched poverty

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Jeweller Geoff Morris was shaken, but not stirred after his Millwater shop The Goldsmith was ram-raided and broken into in the early hours of Tuesday, March 23.

Even though the windows and front wall of the Millwater Parkway store were virtually demolished, he was still open for business the next day and serving customers as normal.

Four raiders smashed into the shopfront in a stolen car just after 2am and broke into a display cabinet, but they only escaped with a small amount of inexpensive silver jewellery, since anything valuable is always locked in a safe overnight.

Geoffs partner, Kathy Malcolm, said although the raid was a nasty shock, as soon as the shop was cleaned up and secured, the jeweller got straight back to work that morning.

She said the raid had been caught on camera, not just from CCTV in The Goldsmith and neighbouring shops, but by neighbours living in apartments above who were woken by the noise.

In just two minutes they managed to do all that damage to the front, a small amount of damage inside and steal a tiny bit of jewellery, she said.

The raiders made off in a second getaway vehicle, which had also been stolen.

Kathy and Geoff were full of praise for the police, their security firm and an Auckland glazier, who were all quickly on the scene.

The police were great, they were here straight away and theyve since done some forensics, Kathy said. And our security company organised some glass people to come in immediately and it was all cleaned up and secured by 5am.

But their biggest thanks went to the Hibiscus Coast community, following an outpouring of support when details of the raid were shared on social media.

Weve had more than 150 comments, people just showing their support and love for Geoff, its just been amazing, Kathy said. It helps hugely. Our biggest emphasis is to thank everyone for their support.

Geoff Morris has been a jeweller for 48 years, starting in Tauranga before moving to the Coast nine years ago. This is only the second time he has been the target of criminals  in 2016, two would-be robbers went into his Orewa shop and demanded cash, but he forced them outside and they ran off.

Geoff moved his shop to Millwater five years ago.
Coronavirus 'shame' has stopped people reporting symptoms or even properly social distancing, a new report has warned.



Researchers from the University of Kent and Leeds Beckett University said there was a link between feeling shameful and ignoring social distancing guidelines.



It found those who felt stigmatised by having the virus were less likely to report their condition through the appropriate channels - or even tell their family about it.



Focusing on the U.S., Italy and South Korea, the study found the absence of trust in Government was another key factor in whether people told others about their positive test.



Where people trusted their governments COVID response they were more likely to follow guidelines, the study found. It discovered greater compliance in South Korea and Italy, while Americans were more likely to ignore lockdown measures.



The study's authors say making people feel shame around contracting the virus may actually have made the situation worse, Daily Mail reported.



"Our research highlights the importance of managing the stigma associated with Covid-19, which may undermine authorities' efforts to control it," study co-author Dr. Giovanni Travaglino said.



"When governments and decision-makers make policies and regulations in relation to Covid-19, they should be aware that stigmatizing or blaming people for contracting the infection could potentially backfire," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 21:40:50|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, March 29 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed and three others injured in a roadside blast in the Somali capital on Monday, government officials confirmed.

Mahad Sharawe, Secretary of Daynile District told reporters that al-Shabab militants targeted his vehicle with a remote control explosive device near a police station in the Dayniile district administration, but he survived.

"The landmine was targeted at me but I survived. It hit my vehicle causing civilian casualties. I saw four dead people including a woman who was holding a baby on her chest and three others including one of my security guards," Sharawe told journalists at the scene.

The administrator said two of the three injured people have serious wounds, noting that the area was a very populated area.

"This is the fourth time al-Shabab militants have attacked me with such roadside bombs and this won't change the service we have for our community," he added.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack in the restive city but al-Qaida allied terrorist group al-Shabab usually stages such attacks. Enditem
"We will receive the first tranche for Vietnam by the middle of April, and that will be 811,200 doses," said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam. She said that the delivery was being made under Covax commitments.

The accurate date for the shipment will only be confirmed 24 hours before it arrives, she added.

By the end of May, UNICEF has been told to expect 4.1 million doses of the vaccine to come in, and then over the rest of the year, Vietnam will be able to vaccinate 20 percent of the population as promised.

She said earlier information that the first doses would arrive by the end of March was revised late Tuesday afternoon because of supply issues. This delay is not about the money for Covax, it's about how many vaccines are available for distribution, she said.

Covax, or the Global Covid-19 Vaccine Facility, is a global mechanism for the development, manufacture and procurement of Covid-19 vaccine candidates, facilitating and supporting member countries to access the vaccines as they become available.

On Tuesday, Professor Dang Duc Anh, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and program head, said 4.177 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine accessed via the Covax program would not reach Vietnam by April as planned due to limited supply. Around 33 million doses that Covax has pledged for Vietnam in the second half of this year may be delayed until next year, he said.

Flowers said there was a vaccine supply challenge at this time, because manufacturers cannot produce the vaccine quickly enough to meet the demand of all the countries. An increased production capacity will come online over the next few months, but even that is going a bit slower than the companies had predicted.

"Therefore, we are facing a delay at this time," Flowers said.

More shortages

UNICEF is also seeing a global shortage of syringes and cold chain items and refrigerators. These matters are being discussed by the U.N. agency and Vietnam, Flowers said.

In the near future, Covax is likely to look at procuring the Pfizer vaccine, as well as the one produced by Johnson & Johnson, recently added to the list. When these vaccines go into increased production, the supply will improve.

Regarding vaccine prices under Covax, Flowers said UNICEF has been able to negotiate with the manufacturers to buy the vaccine at a much cheaper rate than the market price that is being offered to countries. The prices vary between the vaccines. However, she did not have a clear and precise figure to cite.

"I can say the figure is much reduced. In some cases, it's much less than half (the market price)."

75 percent

Flowers emphasized that Vietnam needs to get 75 percent of the Vietnamese population vaccinated before opening the economy and allowing international travel. Vietnam and partners should help people understand the importance of getting vaccinated. It is not just to protect their health but also to ensure the economy can bounce back, she said.

As for infrastructure, UNICEF will support the Vietnamese government in buying additional fridges, freezers, refrigerated trucks to ship the vaccines, she said.

Vietnam is expected to acquire 150 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from foreign and domestic sources by 2022. Besides the deal with AstraZeneca, Vietnam is also stepping up negotiations with the U.S.'s Pfizer and Moderna, along with other vaccine manufacturers in Russia and China.

Vietnam began its mass vaccination campaign on March 8. So far, 36,082 medical staff and frontline workers in 16 localities have received the first shot of the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca.

Though there has been one case of third-degree and five cases of second-degree anaphylaxis, all those vaccinated are now in stable condition, allowing the country to proceed with its inoculation program.

The health ministry expects Vietnam to start producing its own Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this years third quarter.
Deliberately or not, Pakistan's Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony turns a blind eye to the numerous atrocities perpetuated against religious minorities in the country and said all religious miniorities enjoy full freedome to exercise their faith -- despite evidence showing the contrary.

Matias Perttula, the International Christian Concern's Director of Advocacy, said that there is an overwhelming evidence "proving that religious minorities-Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Ahmadis, and others-are not given the opportunity to freely practice their religion or participate in society as equals."

For instance, Pakistani Christians have always been falsely accused of blasphemy, and Islamic extremists notoriously used the law to convict them to death. According to the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), as per an ICC report, human rights groups are persistently petitioning the Pakistani government to remove the death penalty as punishment in all cases of blasphemy. This was due to the apparent partiality in court especially when Christians are the accused.

"Clearly the judges are prejudiced. We are experiencing such attitudes from the beginning," said Kashif Aslam, Deputy Director of the Advocacy and Program National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP).

"It's time to stop the misuse of the blasphemy law," added Nasir Saeed, Director of the Centre of Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLASS). "We see every day how this law is being misused by individuals and religious groups to achieve their goals and settle their personal grudges, especially against religious minorities."

Christians and Hindus alike have also suffered violence and other forms of injustices including targeted kidnappings, forced conversions, and forced marriages. One recent example is the case of a Christian teenage girl named Huma Younus. According to the ICC, local religious leaders and other authorities conspired in her kidnapping and forced conversion. The poor girl was forced to marry her own kidnapper.

The country's constitution also prohibits any member of a religious minority from taking executive positions like the presidency or the role of a chief justice. The non-profit persecution watchdog comments that such a discriminatory measure "sends a message throughout Pakistani society on the role and status of religious minorities."

In 2020, Pakistan was designated by the Department of State as a country of particular concern. This was due to reports of severe violations of religious freedom backed by concrete evidence. With the increasing number of cases of religious persecution, international intervention is a must.

"Religious freedom is an unalienable right, and the bedrock upon which free societies are built and flourish," said Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State.

Radical Islamist groups like the al-Shabaab, al-Qaida, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Taliban were also designated by the State as 'Entities of Particular Concern.' Pompeo said that they will not rest until the threat of religious freedom abuses by any violent extremist and terrorist groups are fully eliminated.

Gayle Manchin, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), praised the State Department's move. She said that "all forms of governments must respect religious freedom" and that abuse and violence must not be tolerated.
The Pope sends a message to the Panamanian people as they honor the many health personnel and front-liners who died in the line of duty while taking care of those affected by the ongoing health emergency.

By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis has expressed his closeness to the people of Panama, especially to health workers who died during their service to those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a message signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy Father implored the Lord to sustain all institutions that work to bring comfort to those affected by the health emergency, and entrusted all those who have died to the infinite mercy of God and to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Popes message was read by Archbishop Jose Ulloa of Panama during the occasion held on 24 March in recognition of the service of the heroes of health.

Service and dedication of health workers

Archbishop Ulloa highlighted the great humanity and great sense of patriotism with which the health personnel have carried out their mission of saving lives in the country.

Since the first confirmed case of Covid-19 was announced in the country last year, 111 health workers have died.

Expressing gratitude for their selflessness, the Archbishop emphasized that there is a need to acknowledge the dedication, out of love for the country, of the health personnel and the anonymous heroes in these times of the pandemic. He notes that the Church is doing something in that regard, but there are still many more that need to be publicly recognized.

Panamanian health minister, Francisco Sucre, explained that on the occasion, the ministry of health acknowledges all the health personnel who died in the battle against Covid-19. He further noted that it is worthy to pay homage to all the comrades who have offered their lives with honor, looking for the way to give health to the Panamanian people."

During the 24 March ceremony, a plaque in memory of the deceased was unveiled by the authorities of the Ministry of Health in the presence of representatives of faith communities and other officials.

Guayacan plants were also presented to the 15 regional health directors of the country, to commemorate the more than six thousand people who lost their lives due to Covid-19.

Covid-19 in Panama

As the country continues to battle with the pandemic, Archbishop Ulloa encouraged the faithful not to be afraid to recognize that we need God, and to turn to Him full of hope, especially in the face of the reality of death that makes us realize that we are not self-sufficient and that we need the Lord.

So far, Panama has had over 353,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, and presently has about 4,900 active cases. The country received its first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in January and has already begun its vaccination campaign.
Mexican authorities have arrested four police officers and charged them with the murder of a Salvadoran woman who died after a female cop kneeled on top of her during an arrest - snapping her neck.

Video recorded by a bystander in the resort town of Tulum shows the moment Victoria Salazar, 36, was pinned to the ground by a female cop on Saturday.

The municipal police officer then grabs Salazar's left hand while a male officer leans over to handcuff the woman.

The female cop subsequently placed her hand on Salazar's neck and presses it against the street pavement while another male cop looks down at them.

Salvadoran migrant and mother-of-two, Victoria Salazar, died Saturday in Tulum, Mexico, moments after she was placed under arrest by cops, who were reportedly investigating her for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. Authorities have suspended four cops pending as part of the investigation

A female police officer is captured on video kneeling on top of Victoria Salazar in Tulum on Saturday

Separate footage shows a cop who had just arrived telling one of the arresting officers, 'She is breathing.' The agent snapped back and told him, 'Now, now, look she is breathing ... she moved the mouth.'

Witness video also shows the female law enforcement agent attempting to move an unresponsive Salazar before three cops lifted her from the ground and placed her body on the back of a patrol pickup truck.

News outlet Milenio reported that Salazar was placed under arrest for alleged disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

Cops assigned to the Tulum Municipal Police stand next to the body of Victoria Salazar, who death was caused by a fracture vertebrae due to the excessive force that was applied by the police, according to a state attorney general's summary of a medical examiner's report

A police officer is seen pinning Victoria Salazar's neck to the ground before she was handcuffed

A spokesperson for the Quintana Roo State Attorney General's Office confirmed to DailyMail.com that the four arresting cops were suspended and were set to appear before a judge.

The spokesperson explained that the attorney General's Office officially charged the police officers with femicide (the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female), but it was up to the judge to review the case and decide whether to proceed with the femicide charge or reclassify it as a homicide charge.

Attorney General Oscar Montes de Oca said that a report by the medical examiner's 'identified a fracture in the upper part of the spinal column produced by the rupture of the first and second vertebrae, which caused the loss of the victim's life.'

Montes de Oca added that 'the police technique of body control applied and the level of force used was carried out in a disproportionate and moderate way and with a high risk to life since it was not in accordance with the resistance of the victim, which caused a deceleration with the rotation of the neck , thereby violating the provisions of the National Law on the use of force.'

The incident is similar to the death of George Floyd who died in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was apprehended for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to make a purchase.

Derek Chauvin, who was one of the four law enforcement agents who responded to the call, was seen on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes. Chauvin's trial in the killing of Floyd started today.

Cops carried Salazar's body into the back of a patrol pickup truck moments after she was lying on the ground unresponsive

Sources told Milenio that Salazar, a mother-of-two, emigrated to Mexico and later received a humanitarian visa, which permitted her to remain in the country.

Mexican authorities have been working with their Salvadoran counterparts to repatriate Salazar's body back home.

'I am sure that the Mexican Government will apply the full weight of the law to those responsible,' El Salvador President Nayib Bukele wrote in a tweet published Monday morning.

'We are brotherly nations, there are bad people everywhere, let's not forget that. My condolences to Victoria's family, especially her two daughters, to whom we will give all possible help.'
Court docs show slain pastors widow slept with alleged killer while he was on mission trip

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Harmony Free Will Baptist Church in Ada, Oklahoma, grieved in fresh shock Friday as investigators alleged their late pastor, David Charles Evans, was a swinger and his widow confessed to plotting his murder with a man she spent three nights with while he was in Mexico on a mission trip.

The circumstances that are now coming to light have taken us by surprise and we are greatly saddened. We serve a perfect Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave His life for us. These revelations do not diminish that truth and we will continue to serve Him, a spokesperson for the church told KFOR in a statement.

We are aware that even pastors can succumb to human frailty and we ask that our privacy be respected at this time as we as a church family grieve and process all of these events.

Pastor Evans was shot dead inside his home last Monday, hours after he warned his flock in a moving sermon that the devil would seek to kill and destroy them for being witnesses to God's power in the world.

Three days after the pastor was killed, his wife, Kristie Evans, 47, who previously told police that an intruder had shot her husband, confessed to investigators with the Ada Police Department that the intruder, Kahlil Deamie Square, 26, was known to her.

Square, she told police, had spent the night with her on March 17, 18 and 19 while her husband was on his mission trip to Mexico.

Kristie Evans told investigators that she and her husband led a secret life as swingers and met Square for sex at a Super 8 "on more than one occasion" months ago.

"On one of those occasions, Kristie secretly dropped her phone number on the floor for Kahlil," an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent reported in arresting documents obtained by The Oklahoman. "Kristie continued to communicate by phone daily with Kahlil without David's knowledge."

She then asked him to kill her husband and provided him with a gun and bullets. She reportedly left open the backdoor of the home she shared with her late husband on the night of his murder.

At one point, Square crouched down in the couples dining room because he was worried about making too much noise. But Kristie Evans urged her lover to "proceed with the plan" to kill her husband.

She said she called the police after her husband was shot, and Square ran through her back door.

The pastors widow, who interviewed with investigators several times, also claimed her husband called her names like "slut, fat, ugly and whore." She shared these concerns with Square, and he replied, "Damn." She further told her young lover, "it would be nice to have more freedom."

In his sermon on Sunday, March 21, during which he revealed he had only recently returned from his mission trip to Mexico the week prior, 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.
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State on Monday warned the newly appointed Head of Civil Service and 14 Permanent Secretaries in the state ...





Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State on Monday warned the newly appointed Head of Civil Service and 14 Permanent Secretaries in the state not to engage in self-aggrandizement, enrichment or pursuance of their parochial interests but see their appointment as an opportunity to serve the state.

He equally warned them against promoting ethnicity, religion or politicising the civil service, adding that doing so will not be tolerated.

The Governor also urged the appointees to shun corruption and compromise, which can stifle the system and deny the citizenry the dividends of democracy.

Lalong gave the warnings while swearing-in the appointees at the Government House in Jos, the State Capital.

He said By this appointment, you are now the cream of the civil service and the custodians of its rich history and traditions. You are to set examples for those under you to follow.

As such, you need to uphold the civil service rules that guide policy formulation, implementation, and strategies as well as the conduct of government employees.

Lalong said having been in the civil service system in the past six years, the newly appointed officials must have been acquainted with the vision of the present administrations and its 3-point policy framework which has been driving the progress of the state.

Our administration has broadly been pursuing the restoration of peace, security and good governance; developing abandoned and new infrastructure; as well as charting a path for sustainable economic rebirth, he explained.

As we consolidate on the progress we have attained in the past six years, the administration expects you to galvanise the entire workforce and ensure that we complete the implementation of our programs and projects.

Let me emphasize that the civil service is the driver of all government policies. You must therefore be on your toes in translating policies to action, he maintained.

Apart from demonstrating absolute loyalty to the government and the State, you must put in your best to see to the actualization of the 5-year strategic plan which is currently being implemented.

Those of you who have not studied that document should get acquainted with it immediately, he admonished.

I expect you to be above board in your conduct to assert yourselves and earn the confidence of those under you. You must play strategic roles as mentors and leaders and be able to punish indolence and reward excellence and loyalty.

I will also be watching you closely to ensure that you do not only supervise those under you but will not hesitate to sanction any of you who fails to deliver his or her duties as expected.

The Governor assured civil servants in the state of his administrations commitment to prioritising their welfare and well-being.

Just like we have been consistent in the payment of salaries and other entitlements including the new minimum wage, we shall ensure that our workers are trained and retrained for better efficiency, he stressed.
analysis

Primary school enrolment is now almost complete in developing countries and child labour is illegal in almost all countries. But the quality of education - especially in reading and mathematics - has not shown parallel improvement.

Low education quality reduces the probability that children stay in school and attain any educational qualification. It also decreases the future return of any qualifications. In other words, low quality of education decreases the years of education and the returns to education. The outcome is inefficient education systems and less incentive for parents to invest in education.

Governments have limited resources to improve school quality, and most of their budgets go to staff compensation. That leaves only a little for schools, books, and the other materials students need. Parents are usually responsible for providing textbooks, food, uniforms, and transport, as well as covering other costs through fees. But can they play a bigger part in improving the quality of schooling? What would spur them to do so?

We developed a model that shows investment in schooling produces a better output (the quality of the child, as it were), which in turn encourages parents to invest in schooling. We tested the model in Ghana and found that families do tend to spend more on education in response to changes in their children's cognitive achievements.

This has two main implications for policymakers. Better quality of schooling would keep more children in school for longer. And it would encourage families to invest more in supplementary school material and reduce the amount of time children are required to spend working on non-school tasks.

School quality in Ghana

Ghana is a good example of a country experiencing significant increases in enrolment rates in primary school but still finding the quality of schooling lagging behind.

Net enrolment in primary education increased from 62% in 1999 to 91% in 2015. Over the same period, the primary school completion rate went from 65% to almost 100%, repeaters decreased from 4.2% to 1.9%, and the share of trained teachers increased from 29.2% to 45.5%.

Despite the significant improvement, there are still gaps in the provision of quality education, especially in rural areas.

In 2015, 55% of teachers were not trained, 16% of students in primary schools were over-aged, and 8.1% of children of primary school age were out of school. Based on international reports on schooling outcomes, 21.1% of Ghanaian sixth-grade students have not learned to read, and 43.1% have not learned maths.

The model and results

We created a model of overlapping generations: school children, young adults, and older adults. The middle generation is people whose earnings are related to the human capital they built at school. And they have to make decisions about investing in their children, saving for their future, and supporting their parents.

The model predicts that if the available schooling is better, and if parents expect more altruistic behavior from their children, then parents tend to spend more on their children's schooling. Parents also tend to decrease their child's work activity in response to an increase in schooling quality.

We tested the hypothesis that families consider better school performance to be a reliable predictor of future return, and this gives them an incentive to invest more in academically promising children. Since parents' expenditure is an important determinant of children's school performance, we investigated parents' investments in the quality of their children's education, measured by their spending on books and other school materials.

To do this, we needed a household income and expenditure survey that contained information about the cost of schooling, along with measures of child quality. We also needed data about school quality that could be matched with the survey. School quality includes teacher characteristics, the availability of clean water and a functional toilet, features of classrooms, the existence and quality of seating, and the quality of a school's library. We used the Ghana Socio-economic Panel Survey (2009-2010), which has data for 5,010 households.

The survey consists of data on households and schools, including absenteeism records of teachers, whether there is one teacher for all classes, the amount of fees the school received, whether there is a free feeding program, book provision, distance to school, and more. It also has test results as a measure of children's cognitive ability, and information about parents' educational level and how children's time is spent. We also use the ministry of education's data about school facilities, resources, and other school characteristics.

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We summed up all parental expenditure on a child's school activity, other than the fees paid to the school.

Good results boost investment

Our results show that there is a strong relationship between children's schooling output and parents' investment and that parents adjust their investment in education in response to changes in their children's cognitive achievements. Families tend to spend more on children whose quality is higher. For example, a 1% increase in the child's average score increases parents' expenditure by 2.32%. We also show that a better schooling output can incentivize parents to decrease students' non-school activities, which in turn helps children to spend more time on school.

Our results introduce a channel of causation that could stimulate education and its impact by increasing families' investments in supplementary school materials.

Ghadir Asadi, Adjunct Professor, Department of Economics , Radford University
Chennai, March 29 : Four people died and fifteen others were seriously injured when a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus rammed into the van in which they were travelling at Dindigul on Monday.

The deceased have been identified as Suresh, Kalidass, Suguna and Latha.

The van had been carrying around 20 mill workers from Battagandu and nearby areas while Suresh was driving the vehicle.

The TNSTC bus which was travelling from Dindigul to Cumbom collided head-on with the van at Battagandu in Dindigul district.

A senior police official told IANS that the driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle leading collision. The injured were admitted to nearby hospitals and dead bodies have been shifted to Battigandu general hospital for post-mortem.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Levels of childbearing in all the countries of the UK were declining even before the pandemic. A new study suggests that the impact of COVID-19 could mean a further fall in fertility rates to historically low levels.

At present, there is little information on pregnancy rates during 2020, or on live birth rates in the first quarter of 2021. Researchers will not know the true impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fertility rates in the UK between 2021 and 2023 until data become available. Using previous findings on how 'economic shocks' affect society, this study creates 'what if' scenarios to test how the pandemic might affect the number of babies born in the UK, and whether we will be facing a baby boom, or a baby bust.

Having considered four scenarios of how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect individuals at different ages, three out of four of the scenarios showed an expected fall in the number of births over the next three years. If these scenarios play out, it will lead to significantly fewer births each year compared with the pre-pandemic period.

The research team, led by Professor Ann Berrington at the University of Southampton, have examined fertility trends in the UK as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's Fertility Trends project and the ESRC Centre for Population Change. They have found that fertility rates are persistently lower in Scotland than in England and Wales, and consistently higher in Northern Ireland but, in all countries of the UK, fertility rates have been declining for all age groups. This is true even among older women in their late thirties and forties, among whom fertility had previously risen due to more women at older ages having children after previously delaying their childbearing.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provisional estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) for England and Wales, based on the first three quarters of 2020, suggests that fertility rates had fallen to historically unprecedented low levels even before the pandemic. The provisional TFR of 1.60 children per woman for England and Wales is lower than that seen during the 1930s or 1970s. The researchers highlight that any impact of COVID-19 on fertility rates must be viewed in this already unusual context.

The researchers put forward a number of mechanisms through which the pandemic could affect childbearing, according to the age of the individual and the presence of children. For people under the age of thirty, most of the mechanisms exert a depressing effect on childbearing. Some possible reasons include a lack of socialising because of lockdowns, and more economic uncertainties caused by the fallout of the pandemic. Historical evidence on fertility rates following the 2008 recession from other Northern and Western European countries suggests that it is young people who are most likely to see a decline in rates of childbearing.

Among those who already have at least one child, and among older couples who are more stable in their housing and financial situations, there are a number of pandemic-related issues that could result in them having fewer children. These could include, for example, concerns about the reduced support from health services or family and friends during the pandemic. There are also ways the pandemic might increase the likelihood of people having more children. For example, couples had more time to spend together at home during lockdowns, or unemployment may have provided people with an opportunity to step back from their careers to start a family or have another child.

Professor Berrington comments: "Our examination of some of the potential mechanisms through which the pandemic could affect childbearing suggests that recent declines in fertility rates could well be accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The projected Total Fertility Rates from our four scenarios provided a range of possibilities, however three out of four of the scenarios suggested fewer births."

She continues: "The observed number of births could move even further below the 2018-based ONS National Population Projections (NPPs). These factors will need to be considered by ONS when making the next set of NPPs, and by policy making groups and service providers when planning post-pandemic recovery."

She adds: "The differences we have seen across all four scenarios, and the possible cumulative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on childbearing rates in the UK, could have significant implications for service provision across the UK. Our examination of the potential mechanisms through which the pandemic could affect childbearing suggests that recent declines in fertility rates could well be accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic."

The research team have published their full findings and methodology in ESRC Centre for Population Change Working Paper 95 "Recent trends in UK fertility and potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic."
Government is considering further upgrade of the Tamale Airport to full international status even though the US$80million phase II project is yet to be completed, The Minister for Transport & Aviation, Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has said.



Phase III which will complement what has already been done to put the airport to its full status as an international airport, will soon commence along with the yet to be completed phase II which currently has an overall progress rating of 57%.



The target is to make the Tamale Airport reach its full status as an international airport to further boost the economic potential of Tamale as the breadbasket of the country.



It will involve expanding the main multipurpose terminal (approximately 5,508 square meters) which is under construction and some other facilities. The additional cost is immediately not known.



However, the Minister said the technical experts from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Airports Company Limited are working hand in hand with the contractors, QGMI, a Brazilian construction firm and the project consultant, Ecobuild Consult to determine the cost.



Government, he noted, will immediately look for funds to finance it, believing that it is economically viable and profitable for phase II and III of the project to done simultaneously.



Per the advice from the project consultant in terms of cost-effectiveness, it will be better to have phase III. We believe that we can combine the two phases as weve done for Kumasi Airport. It will be viable; it will be profitable, and there will less cost for us. I believe that we will be able to meet the demands that the engineers and consultants are asking us so that we can achieve the purpose that we set for ourselves to do, he noted.



He added: We will reap the full economic benefits if we do phase III. That is why we are proposing that we do it now instead of waiting for it to be done in future. We may not incur huge cost but if we are to wait for phase II to be completed, it means that in bringing on phase III, we need to touch some of the items.



Hon. Asiamah made these observations when he paid a working visit to Tamale in the Northern Region on Friday, March 26, 2021, to acquaint himself with the level of development of the Tamale Airport project phase II and whether they were within time in order not to incur project overrun cost.



He was accompanied by the Managing Director, Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Mr. Yaw Kwakwa, Director General, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Charles Krakue, Acting Chief Director, Ministry of Transport and Aviation, Madam Mabel Sagoe and Irene Messiba as well as some technical staff from the Ministry, GACL and GCAA. The delegation were conducted round the project by the project consultant, Ecobuild Consult.



Among the facilities inspected were the project design which is 80% completed, the main terminal, 57% completed, a multipurpose building, 61% completed, bulk utility, 41% completed and the access road and car park which is 38% completed.



The bulk utility comprises of an underground firefighting reservoir, a portable water tank and a wastewater treatment system.



Prior to touring the project site, Hon. Asiamah in the company of the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Shani Alhassan Saibu, led the delegation to pay a courtesy call on the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya Naa Abukari II in Yendi, to ask his permission and blessings before going ahead to inspect the Tamale Airport project phase II.



Having inspected these facilities, Hon. Asiamah expressed satisfaction with the level of development of the Tamale Airport project phase II.



Per the briefings Ive had and having gone to the project site to inspect the facilities myself, I can confidently say that the project is within time and could be completed on schedule, he noted.



The project consultant, Ecobuild Consult, told the delegation that the upsurge of COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and some other countries which culminated in the closure of airports and borders have had some adverse effect on their supply chain.



However, he said efforts are being made to complete all the procurement processes required for all the facilities.



The Regional Airport Manager, Tamale, Michael Omari, commenting on the facility said he is hopeful the project would be completed on schedule following which his outfit would embark on aggressive marketing to get all neighbouring countries to patronize the facility.



The economic potentials of this Airport is huge and so we are going to market it well with a special focus on cargo services. Tamale and its surrounding communities is a hub for animal husbandry, horticulture and agro-based products. Cargo delivery of these products to neighbouring countries will fetch us some good money, he said.



Started in August 2019, the Tamale Airport phase II project being built on 3,500 acres of land, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, the scheduled time which could be extended to the end of 2022 once phase III of the project is incorporated into it.



About 150,000 passengers patronize the Tamale Airport annually.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The University of Edinburgh has become embroiled in a freedom of speech row after it defended a retired professor who wrote an article praising a controversial geneticist.

Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher - who died in 1962 - supported 'selective breeding' and the sterilisation of people from races he considered 'mentally inferior'.

A recent article titled 'The outstanding scientist, R.A Fisher: his views on eugenics and race' - co-authored by retired biology professor Brian Charlesworth - called for the era in which he wrote to be considered before criticising him.

The article said Fisher's support of voluntary sterilisation for 'some members of society in order to enhance the gene pool' wasn't widely cricised 'per se at the time'.

It stated how it 'must be problematic' to refuse to honour someone because they 'were not perfect as assessed from the perspective of hindsight'.

But The University of Edinburgh Race Equality Network (UoE EREN) furiously criticised the article - which was published in journal Heredity - as 'upsetting and disappointing'.

Edinburgh university itself refused to call out Prof. Charlesworth's work, however, saying the university aims to balance the 'freedom of expression' with the work of the UoE EREN to 'institutionalise racial equality'.

Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (left and right) - who died in 1962 - supported 'selective breeding' and the sterilisation of people he considered 'mentally inferior'

A recent article titled 'The outstanding scientist, R.A Fisher: his views on eugenics and race' - co-authored by retired biology professor Brian Charlesworth (pictured) - called for the era in which he wrote to be considered before criticising him

Sir Ronald - who was also a statistician - has been hailed as 'a genius who almost single-handedly created the foundations for modern statistical science'.

'The greatest of Darwin's successors': Who is geneticist Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher and what were his views on race? Geneticist Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher has been hailed as 'a genius who almost single-handedly created the foundations for modern statistical science'. He was born in London in 1890. He had poor eyesight since birth which caused him to be rejected by the British Army for World War I. But his less-than-perfect vision allowed him to visualise problems geometricaly - rather than in mathematical proofs. He won a scholarship to Cambridge in 1909. Three years later he gained a First in mathematics. He has since been dubbed 'the single most important figure in 20th century statistics'. He used his mathematics skills along with genetic theories, helping to revive Darwinism in the early 20th-century. He was dubbed 'the greatest of Darwin's successors', in part due to his work on the theory of evolution known as the modern synthesis. He held abhorrent views on race and eugenics, insisting that human beings differ 'in their innate capacity for intellectual and emotional development' based on their race. Advertisement

In his work in genetics, he used mathematics with genetic theories to helped revive Darwinism in the early 20th-century. He has also been called 'the greatest of Darwin's successors'.

But he held abhorrent views on race and eugenics, including his belief that human beings differ 'in their innate capacity for intellectual and emotional development' based on their race.

The article on Sir Ronald - co-authored by Prof. Charlesworth - said: 'For example, there seems little evidence that Fishers advocacy of voluntary sterilisation of some members of society in order to enhance the gene pool was something that generated widespread criticism per se at the time.'

It added: 'To deny honour to an individual because they were not perfect, and more importantly were not perfect as assessed from the perspective of hindsight, must be problematic.'

A statement by UoE EREN read: 'We are deeply disturbed to read a defence of the geneticist R.A. Fisher's abhorrent views on eugenics and race in a leading scientific journal.

'That such an article was written by somebody from within our own community is even more upsetting and disappointing.

'We do not contest that Fisher made significant contributions to the field of genetics and wider science and that those contributions continue to have value today.

'What is troubling is the authors' attempt to minimise and belittle valid concerns about Fisher's views and research on intelligence, race, and eugenics.

'Within our institution work is underway to begin decolonising our teaching and research. There is much to be done.

'This article, led by a retired colleague, serves to undermine these efforts.'

It added: 'We call on the Principal to consider the university's association with such a publication by making a clear statement on eugenics and race science.'

The university itself refused to be drawn on condemning the article and said freedom of expression was crucial even if it caused disagreement, student publication The Tab reported.

Professor Brian Charlesworth said: 'The recent statement by UoE EREN on the paper concerning the Heredity article by W.F. Bodmer et al. on R.A. Fisher - of which I was a co-author - is misleading and inaccurate.

'It asserts that our article was a "defence of the geneticist R.A. Fisher's abhorrent views on race and eugenics".

'This is not correct; our purpose was to discuss the difficult question of how one should weigh a scientist's distinguished scientific contributions against views that people today find repugnant.

'Our article concluded with the statement that we believed that Fisher's immensely important contributions to biology and statistics should continue to be honoured, and explained that we felt that these were not negated by his views on race and eugenics.

The University of Edinburgh Race Equality Network furiously criticised the article - which was published in journal Heredity. Pictured: The University of Edinburgh (file image)

'Others are, of course, entitled to disagree with this evaluation, but not to misrepresent the contents of our article.'

A university spokesman said: 'The University of Edinburgh is committed to promoting a positive culture which celebrates difference, challenges prejudice and ensures fairness.

'We wish to establish an ethos and culture that promotes inclusion, respect and dignity and we have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination.

'The University has taken a number of important steps to strengthen its commitment to addressing contemporary and historic inequalities with respect to race.

'The Race Equality and Anti-Racist Sub-Committee, led by Professor Rowena Arshad, is undertaking a range of activity which aims to institutionalise racial equality and address structural racism.

'All of our activity in this area has to be balanced with the need to protect the right to freedom of expression within the law, which is also central to the concept of a university.

'Universities are characterised by providing an environment for debate on all manner of important issues.

'It is important that academic colleagues have the freedom to express opinions based on their areas of expertise, even though some people may not always agree with their views.'
Global insurer Chubb Ltd. today issued a statement that it is disappointed that The Hartford chose not to engage in discussions regarding a strategic business combination.

However, the disappointed insurer said it will continue to seek opportunities for acquisitions.

Chubbs comment came in response to the statement from Hartford Financial Services last week that its board of directors had unanimously rejected rival insurer Chubbs unsolicited proposal to acquire The Hartford for $23.24 billion. The Hartford said its board determined that entering into discussions regarding a strategic transaction would not be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.

Chubb said that although it is disappointed that The Hartford chose not to engage in discussions regarding a strategic business combination, it will remain a disciplined acquiror with an uncompromising focus on the fair value of any institution that we could acquire.

On March 11, Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg proposed an acquisition of Hartford Financial Services for about $23.2 billion in cash and stock in what would have been one of the industrys biggest deals in years. The offer valued Hartford at $65 a share.

A combination would be strategically and financially compelling for both sets of shareholders and other constituencies, Chubb said in a statement on its offer, before receiving any response from The Hartford.

Analysts and observers have been generally positive about the idea of the buyout, suggesting the combined company would offer both value and significant marketplace clout. Several indicated they thought Chubbs $65 per share opening bid was low.

Bloomberg has since reported that German insurer Allianz SE is talking privately about a possible bid for The Hartford.

Wells Fargo analyst Elyse Greenspan in a note said the Allianz story is not unexpected and suggested Berkshire Hathaway might also have interest in The Hartford.

It is not surprising to us that Allianz might be considering making a bid for HIG. We had thought that others could potentially enter the fold for HIG following the CB [Chubb] proposal, Greenspan wrote.

Greenspan believes Berkshire Hathaway could also be a potential bidder as the company carries excess capital and has also been looking to expand in the small commercial market.

As for Chubb, the Wells Fargo analyst believes Chubb will be heard from again given its excess capital position of $14 billion and its desire to get bigger in the small commercial market.

Topics Mergers Chubb
Tunis/Tunisia  The governorate of Medenine recorded, during the last 24 hours, four more deaths from the consequences of COVID-19, including two people under 50 years old, Director of Preventive Health in Medenine, Zayed El Anz, told TAP.

Besides, 89 additional infections by the coronavirus were detected after the publication of the results of 748 tests bringing the total number of positive cases in the governorate since the outbreak of the virus to 9,497 cases including 397 deaths and 8,556 recovered patients.

Regarding the progress of the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, 1,919 people were vaccinated so far in the governorate of Medenine, according to the same source.
Former RTE News anchor Anne Doyle has opened up about her decision to not get married or have children.

The newsreader, who hails from Co. Wexford, spoke to Tommy Tiernan on Saturday night about her legendary career that spanned 33 years before her retirement in December 2011.

Anne revealed that she is honoured to have been a newsreader for as long as she did.

I struggled through for 33 years. So, I managed to hang on as long as Jesus Christ did, Anne laughed, Its an occupation that I was honoured to do and I have huge regard for the people who do it.

Read More

She also told Tommy that she didnt see the point in getting married, a decision she made in her early 30s.

Anne said: I suppose like most people I fell in love here and there along the way. I was never unfortunate enough to fall in love with somebody who was a disastrous human being, quite the contrary I was always quite fortunate.

But I suppose I never really fell in love with somebody to a point where I felt like upturning my life and becoming a part of a married couple. Then as I got older and I suppose my views were quite broad anyway and quite frankly I didn't see the point."

On the subject of children, Anne opened up about her desire to not have any of her own despite growing up with six siblings.

The broadcaster explained: I am definitely a fairly full-blooded woman. Im simply throwing in that remark because in a way, it may give a rather clinical and rather cold perception when I say that I just never really particularly wanted to have children. And Im not alone in that.

You know, there are many women for one reason or another simply dont choose to have children. They live their lives differently and that brings its own joys and blessings. And I suppose it also brings its own sadness and loneliness but everything that you do in life, will bring the flipped coin, she added.

Read More
The morning after his home was damaged by a devastating tornado that ripped through central Alabama last Thursday, Birmingham TV meteorologist James Spann received a text message from a member of his daily prayer group.

It was from Steven Splawn, a Birmingham businessman who leads a group of men and women who get together on a Zoom call every morning for seven minutes of prayer and devotion. Spann joined the group about six months ago.

He said, Hey, I can get a team out there to help, Spann said today in an interview with AL.com. I just didnt know what to do.

And he said, Were coming, Spann added. He didnt ask. He just said, Were coming.

Spann was on the air at ABC 33/40 Thursday afternoon when he found out his Shoal Creek home had been damaged by the tornado. His wife, Karen, had safely hunkered down in their basement tornado shelter, but their roof was damaged and trees were down all over their yard.

Here is full coverage of the storms

That Saturday morning, though, Splawn and a crew of about 15 volunteers from their prayer group showed up at the Spanns house to clean up all the debris and start making it look like a home again.

We had huge trees down in the yard, Spann said. It looked horrible, and this unbelievable group came over Saturday morning. I cant tell you what a miracle it is.

They came over with heavy equipment -- chainsaws, shredders, splitters -- and they worked. I mean, this is hard labor. . . . They came out there and worked for hours and hours. And the place went from looking like a war zone to a house again. It was just amazing.

They didnt ask for anything. They just wanted to help. They wouldnt take anything. Im so humbled by that.

Birmingham, Ala., TV meteorologist James Spann (front row, far left) is pictured here with a team of volunteers who came to clear some of the fallen trees in his yard following a tornado that ripped through Central Alabama on March 25, 2021.(Photo by Karen Spann; used with permission)

Shelter now!

Spann has worked as a television weatherman since his college days at the University of Alabama in the 1970s, and in all those years, hes weathered many a storm.

Never, though, has one hit this close to home. And certainly not while he was on the air as it was happening.

This stuff happens a lot here in March, but Ive been doing this since the late 70s, and Ive never had one hit the house before, he said.

When it was coming up through Helena and Pelham, Im thinking, This doesnt look good. In the back of my mind, youre always thinking of your own people. Ive got two boys and a wife.

Then, when it hit Oak Mountain State Park, Im thinking, All right, this is not good.

Karen, his wife, knew the drill, though.

Weve got a weather radio, Spann said. Shes got the phone apps. She does everything we teach people to do.

But I still just had to stop and text her. I just texted her: Shelter now! And then immediately, she texted back, Im there.

That gave me a level of comfort knowing that shes fine because weve got in our house a shelter in the basement thats designed to handle the biggest tornado, Spann said. So, if shes in that thing, shes fine.

While Spann remained on the air, ABC 33/40 newscaster Pam Huff got on the phone with his wife to stay with her until the tornado passed.

Later, Eric Land, the stations general manager, came into the studio and pulled Spann to the side to let him know that his wife was OK and that his home was mostly intact.

RELATED: The James Spann you never knew

Spann didnt leave the station until about 11:30 Thursday night, and by the time he got home, it was midnight.

It was pitch black out there, but you could tell by your headlights, he said. It was like I was driving through this tunnel of downed trees and debris. Im thinking, How in the world can this house still be standing?

It wasnt until the sun came up the next morning that he started to fully process what had happened to their home.

For a man, its different, he said. These ladies work so hard to make it their home and make everything look the way they want it to, and I knew it was just heartbreaking for Karen.

But we were so thankful that we were safe and that the house was intact. . . . We hugged and shed a little tear and said a little prayer and thanked God that were OK.

Volunteers from Birmingham, Ala., meteorologist James Spann's prayer group help clear some of the fallen trees in his yard following a tornado that ripped through Central Alabama on March 25, 2021.(Photo courtesy of James Spann; used with permission): use' ut

Never in my wildest imagination

The story of Spann soldiering on while a tornado bore down upon his home made national news, picked up by The New York Times, The Washington Post, People magazine and others.

Spann, though, said he is embarrassed by all the attention, which he said should be centered on those who lost loved ones and others whose homes were destroyed.

Im really cautious about all of this publicity because we had five people killed in Calhoun County -- in Ohatchee and Wellington and places that people probably never heard of before, he said.

And Im hoping the attention is focused on these people that really have needs and not (on) me. . . . I just hope they get the resources they need to get back on their feet.

RELATED: James Spann remembers April 27, 2011 tornadoes

Spann, though, will remain forever grateful for that prayer group that helped him and his wife start getting their lives back to normal.

I never in my wildest imagination imagined them coming out to do what they did at our home, he said. Old men cry easily, (and) I start tearing up thinking about it.

What they did, I can never, ever repay them, he added. I told them, Look, next time yall go out on a mission, Im in.

Im not the best chainsaw guy, and I cant work some of this heavy equipment, but man, I can pick stuff up and carry stuff. I just want to pay somebody back for what they did for me.
Washington, Mar 29 (UNI) US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will on Monday virtually chair a UN Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria.

As per the State Department, Blinken would reinforce US support for a nationwide ceasefire and unhindered access which will allow humanitarian aid to reach vulnerable communities in the country.

Blinken is scheduled to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the need for reform of the United Nations system and a number of issues ranging from Ethiopia to Myanmar.

Blinkens visit to the United Nations aims to reaffirm the United States commitment to work through the multilateral system to address global challenges. It also builds on recent US actions to rejoin the United Nations framework, including its re-entry into the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, State Departments spokesman Ned Price said.

UNI XC RKM
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a dying cell (blue) heavily infected with SARS-CoV-2 (yellow), the virus that causes COVID-19. Credit: NIAID Integrated Research Facility, Fort Detrick, Maryland.

The B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants of SARS-CoV-2 were first detected in the UK and South Africa respectively, and have since spread to many other countries. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur joined forces with Orleans Regional Hospital, Tours University Hospital, Creteil Intercommunal Hospital, Strasbourg University Hospital and Georges Pompidou European Hospital to study the sensitivity of these two variants to neutralizing antibodies present in the serum samples of people who have been vaccinated or previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. They compared this sensitivity with that of the reference virus (D614G), which was until recently the most widespread strain in France. The scientists demonstrated that the UK variant is neutralized to the same degree as D614G, whereas the South African variant is less sensitive to neutralizing antibodies. To neutralize the South African variant, the antibody concentrations need to be six times higher than for D614G. This difference in sensitivity was also observed in vaccinated individuals; the antibodies in their serum are effective against the UK variant but less so against the South African one. The study was published in Nature Medicine on March 26th, 2021.

On December 14, 2020, the UK authorities informed WHO that a variant (B.1.1.7) had been detected in the south east of England. Within a few weeks, this variant took over from the viral strains circulating in this region and in London. On December 18, 2020, the South African authorities reported that a variant (B.1.351) had been detected and was spreading rapidly throughout three provinces of South Africa. According to WHO's epidemiological bulletin dated February 14, the UK and South African variants are now present in 94 and 48 countries respectively. These two variants are considered to be 'variants of interest' and are subject to epidemiological surveillance at national and international levels.

In a new study, scientists from the Institut Pasteur joined forces with Orleans Regional Hospital, Tours University Hospital, Creteil Intercommunal Hospital, Strasbourg University Hospital and Georges Pompidou European Hospital to study the sensitivity of the UK and South African variants to antibodies in comparison with the reference strain circulating in France (D614G). The aim of this study was to characterize the capability of antibodies developed by people who had been vaccinated or previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 to neutralize these new variants.

The scientists isolated the SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 using samples provided by the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infection Viruses, hosted at the Institut Pasteur. Serum samples of people who had been vaccinated or previously exposed to SARS-CoV-2 were used to study the sensitivity of the variants to the antibodies present in this serum.

"Previously, the efficacy of neutralization had been mainly assessed using tests with pseudoviruses. We believe that it's crucial to use authentic infectious virus strains in addition to pseudoviruses to assess viral sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies. In this study, we isolated and used authentic B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 strains and developed a novel rapid semi-automated neutralization assay based on 'reporter' cells that turn fluorescent after a few hours of infection," explained Olivier Schwartz, co-last author of the study and Head of the Virus and Immunity Unit at the Institut Pasteur.

The results of the study showed that the UK variant (B.1.1.7) was neutralized by 95% (79 out of 83) of the serum of people who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and whose samples were taken up to nine months after the onset of symptoms. The same proportions were observed for the D614G strain, which has been the most widespread strain in France since the start of the epidemic. Moreover, there was no major difference in the antibody concentrations required to neutralize the D614G or B.1.1.7 strains.

However, the scientists noticed a decline in neutralizing activity against the South African variant in 40% of the serum samples of individuals who had been exposed to the virus, for samples taken nine months after the primary infection.

They also demonstrated that to neutralize the South African variant (B.1.351), the antibody concentrations needed to be approximately six times higher than for D614G.

"We showed that the faster-spreading variants, particularly the South African one, have become partially resistant to the antibodies produced after a natural infection. This reduced efficacy is particularly visible among individuals with low antibody levels," commented Olivier Schwartz.

The research teams also investigated the serum samples of people who had been vaccinated with one of the first vaccines used in France (Pfizer-BioNTech COMIRNATY). The vaccinated individuals were studied two to four weeks after their first vaccine injection. The results showed that after two weeks, the serum only neutralized the D614G strain, whereas the B.1.1.7 strain started to be neutralized at week 3, although less efficiently than D614G. The anti-B.1.351 response was negative up to week 3, and could be detected at week 4.

Four weeks after the first vaccine injection (i.e. one week after the second injection), the serum samples of the vaccinated individuals were almost as effective against the UK variant as against D614G, but remained less effective against the South African variant. 80% of the serum samples were neutralizing for D614G and B.1.1.7, and 60% of the samples were neutralizing for the B.1.351 variant.

"The vaccine generated a neutralizing response that efficiently targeted the D614G and B.1.1.7 strains, despite a delay in the emergence of neutralizing antibodies against B.1.1.7. The efficacy of neutralizing antibodies for the B.1.351 strain was lower," explained the co-last authors of the study, Sylvie van der Werf, Head of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infection Viruses at the Institut Pasteur, and Thierry Prazuck, Head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Orleans Regional Hospital.

The scientists also analyzed the presence of neutralizing antibodies in the nasal samples of vaccinated individuals. They did not observe any neutralizing activity in the nasal mucosa of these people, apart from in individuals who had already been infected with SARS-CoV-2 prior to being vaccinated. This suggests that vaccination does not induce neutralizing antibodies in the nasal mucosa, at least at an early stage after vaccination (four weeks after the first injection).

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: Delphine Planas et al, Sensitivity of infectious SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants to neutralizing antibodies, Nature Medicine (2021). Journal information: Nature Medicine Delphine Planas et al, Sensitivity of infectious SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants to neutralizing antibodies,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01318-5
A University of Gothenburg Associate Professor of Sinology has reportedly called on the Vatican to speak out on China's "structural religious persecution."

According to the International Christian Concern (ICC), Professor Fredik Fallman from Sweden raised that the Vatican "keeps silent" over China's abuses on religious freedom and stressed that it should be treated in the same "standard" with other countries.

"The Catholic Church often comments on the situation in other countries. Yet in China, the Vatican keeps silent on many concerning developments - including structural religious persecution, labor rights issues, and human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. It seems Vatican officials are holding China to a different standard compared to other countries," Fallman told the ICC.

The ICC cited Hong Kong Bishop Emeritus Cardinal Zen in stating that the Vatican has been silent on the mass detention and abuses of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang from which the Sinicization campaign in Hong Kong originally started from "as a result of previous negotiations." Zen said that the said negotiations will "damage the work of evangelization."

"Tomorrow when people will gather to plan the new China, the Catholic Church may not be welcome," Zen said.

Fallman, the Sinology associate professor, stressed the need to have an international coalition that will pressure China and pointed out the need for true dialogue with it.

"True dialogue includes frank criticism and is the key to making real steps forward in relations with China," Fallman said.

Criticism

In similar news, the Wall Street Journal reported in November that Pope Francis decried the plight of the Uyghurs some weeks after a new Catholic bishop was ordained in China. The Wall Street journal said the Holy Father's comments came from his new book, "Let Us Dream," and has caused friction with the Chinese government.

Aljazeera added that the passage in the book referred to the "poor Uighurs" among people persecuted for their faith.

"I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi--what ISIS (ISIL) did to them was truly cruel--or Christians in Egypt and Pakistan killed by bombs that went off while they prayed in church," Aljazeera quoted the pope in saying.

Aljazeera added that China has criticized the pontiff on this remark and denied it by saying that no such thing happens in China where "all ethnic groups enjoy the full rights of survival, development, and freedom of religious belief."

Continued denial despite evidence

China has repeatedly denied its persecution of people of faith despite various reports proving it.

The ICC noted that the Chinese Communist Party, under Xi Jinping, launched a "Sinicization" campaign in 2015, aimed at forcing all religious groups in China to embrace communist ideals in lieu of their beliefs.

Efforts to do this included requiring Christian churches to register with the state, then forcing churches to remove images of the Ten Commandments - to be replaced with Mao Zedong and Xi's teachings. Churches who refused to obey the CCP's mandates, such as registering to be part of the state-run church, or to remove crosses from church property, were persecuted.

Catholic churches were also required to register and be part of state-sanctioned Catholic churches.

Agreement with the Vatican

Vatican's agreement with the Chinese government in the appointment of bishops was made originally in 2018, the ICC raised, and renewed in 2020. The said agreement was meant to unite the CCP-run church -the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association- and the underground Catholic Church.

As per the Vatican News last October 22, the Holy See and the Chinese government have renewed the Provisional Agreement for another two years since "the initial application has been positive" out of the "good communication and cooperation between parties" in so far as the appointment of bishops in China are concerned.

"The primary objective of the Provisional Agreement regarding the appointment of Bishops in China is that of sustaining and promoting the proclamation of the Gospel in that land, restoring the full and visible unity of the Church. In fact, the primary motivations that have guided the Holy See in this process, in dialogue with the Government leaders of that country, are fundamentally of an ecclesiological and pastoral nature," Vatican News said.

The Vatican News explained that misunderstandings have arisen regarding the agreement such that political issues were attributed to it when it shouldn't be such as the "existence of various problems regarding the life of the Catholic Church in China."

Last month, it was reported that the CCP will start appointing Catholic bishops without the Vatican's involvement.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.

Arctic habitats have fascinated biologists for centuries. Their species-poor insect faunas, however, provide little reward for entomologists - scientists who study insects - to justify spending several weeks or even months in the hostile environments of tundra or polar deserts. As a result, data on insects from the High Arctic islands are often based on occasional collecting and remain scarce.

Vize Island, located in the northern part of the Kara Sea, is one of the least studied islands of the Russian High Arctic in terms of its biota. Scientists Dr Maria V. Gavrilo of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Russia and Dr Igor I. Chupin of the Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals in Russia visited this ice-free lowland island in the summer of 2020.

"Our expedition studied the ecology of Ivory Gull", Maria Gavrilo says, "but we also looked for other wildlife." Because of the lack of data, scientists appreciate any observation on insects they can get from the High Arctic.

On the island, the team found hundreds of small moths. They were identified by Dr Mikhail V. Kozlov of the University of Turku, Finland, as Larch Budmoths - the first and only terrestrial invertebrate to ever be observed and collected on Vize Island. Their observations are published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Nota Lepidopterologica.

The scientists first observed live and freshly dead moths on the sandy banks of a pond near the meteorological station. Then, they saw hundreds of them at the sandy bottom of a river valley with shallow streams. Moths, single or in groups, were mostly found at the water's edge, along with some fine floating debris. Despite extremely low daily temperatures (+2-5C), flying moths were also spotted on several occasions.

The larvae of Larch Budmoth feed on the needles of different coniferous trees. Because Vize Island is located 1000 km north of the tree limit, the scientists can be sure about the migratory origin of the moths observed on Vize Island. They were likely transported there on 12-14 July 2020 by strong winds coming from the continent. The nearest potential source population of Larch Budmoth is located in the northern part of the Krasnoyarsk Region, which means they travelled at least 1200 km.

Importantly, some moths remained alive and active for at least 20 days after their arrival, which means that long-distance travel did not critically deplete resources stored in their bodies. The current changes in climate are making it easier for more southerly insects to invade species-poor areas in the High Arctic islands - provided they can reach them and survive there.

"The successful arrival of a large number of live moths from continental Siberian forests to Vize Island has once more demonstrated the absence of insurmountable barriers to initial colonisation of High Arctic islands by forest insects", concludes Mikhail Kozlov, who has studied Arctic insects for decades. "The Arctic islands will be colonised by forest insects as soon as changing environmental conditions allow the establishment of local populations."

###

Original source:
HOUSTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Viridis Chemical, LLC ("Viridis Chemical"), a manufacturer of renewable chemicals, announces the execution of a fixed price, performance-guaranteed agreement with Koch Project Solutions, LLC ("KPS") to design and construct capital improvements to increase production capacity at its renewable chemicals plant in Columbus, Nebraska. Upon completion, Viridis Chemical's Columbus plant will be producing both USP grade bio-based ethanol and bio-based Ethyl Acetate.

Randy Whitaker, Co-Founder and CFO of Viridis Chemical, stated, "We appreciate the support and vision of our investors, EIV Capital and IFG Asset Management, and our project execution firm, Koch Project Solutions, to help us craft an economic solution that positions our renewable chemicals platform for great success. The KPS team leveraged their deep understanding of the financing challenges often associated with these types of projects and helped us bring this project, and our company, to life."

"Successful conclusion of this project begins our journey into renewable chemicals manufacturing and marketing. Our team continues to work with KPS to evaluate practical strategic steps to accelerate our growth," said Carl Rush, Co-Founder and CEO, Viridis Chemical.

"KPS is seeking preferred partnerships with innovative companies that are forging creative solutions," stated Paul Switzer, president of KPS. "Viridis Chemical is a prime example of the kind of capital-intensive, innovative company which can benefit from KPS's project development and execution solutions. As part of Koch Engineered Solutions, KPS is able to leverage talent across a wide variety of highly technical capabilities in service of its customers."

About Viridis Chemical

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Viridis Chemical, LLC is a world-class manufacturer of renewable chemicals. We're committed to the safe, environmentally sound, and economically viable conversion of bio-Ethanol into useful products previously derived from oil or natural gas. We provide value to our customers by offering a green, domestically sourced alternative to their existing supply chain. Viridis Chemical adds purpose to our suppliers and to the economy of Nebraska by further increasing the range of usefulness of local, agriculturally derived feedstock. For more information, please visit www.viridischemical.com.

About Koch Project Solutions

Koch Project Solutions strives to be the preferred partner for capital project execution. Built on a foundation of safety, Koch Project Solutions partners with project owners to develop customized execution and contracting strategies designed to maximize the return on investment. Koch Project Solutions is a part of Koch Engineered Solutions providing world-class services and technologies broadly across industrial sectors. Superior Outcomes. Consistently Delivered. Learn more at our website: www.kochprojectsolutions.com.

Viridis Chemical, LLC

Media Contact:

Beverly Jernigan

[email protected]

713-494-1733

Koch Project Solutions, LLC

Marketing Contact:

Antoine Schellinger

[email protected]

346-257-3949

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Of the nearly 400,000 Ohio coronavirus cases reported since the beginning of vaccinations in mid-December, 34 are known to have involved people who were vaccinated before being infected -- and none have died.

While its not clear how when these people became infected after being vaccinated, and how many of the cases involved people who had received all their required shots, it seems like good evidence to get the vaccine. Were talking about it on This Week in the CLE.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Leila Atassi, Jane Kahoun and me.

Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom account, in which he shares what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802.

Here are the questions were answering today:

How many of Ohios 400,000 coronavirus cases since mid-December involve people who were vaccinated, and how many of them resulted in death?

How much trouble is Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr in?

What has the pandemic taught us about what we need to do as a society to be prepared for the next one?

With a quarter of all Ohioans vaccinated, why have the coronavirus cases stopped dropping?

Cleveland State University unveiled its long anticipated CSU 2.0 plan Friday. What does it envision?

What is the Count the Kicks campaign? And how successful has it been elsewhere?

Where does unemployment stand in Ohio?

What does Lee Weingart, an announced Republican candidate challenging Democrat Armond Budish for Cuyahoga County executive in 2022, have to say about the plan announced last week to build or renovate the justice center and jail without competitive bidding or any source identified for the minimum half billion dollars it could cost?

How are churches and synagogues planning to handle the pandemic as they hit their high holy days over the next week?

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If you use Stitcher, we are here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

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Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan posted the following letter that the Association for the Prevention of Torture has addressed to Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on the independenceof the Armenian National Preventative Mechanism:

OPEN LETTER ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL PREVENTATIVE MECHANISM  Geneva, March 26, 2021

From: Association For The Prevention Of Torture

To: Mr. Ararat Mirzoyan, President of the National Assembly of Armenia

Dear President Mirzoyan,

The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) is an international non-governmental organisation that is at the origin of the international torture prevention system established by the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). This system opens all places of deprivation of liberty to independent monitoring by both an international body  the United National Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)  and national preventive mechanisms (NPMs) in over 90 states. We work closely with both the SPT and NPMs around the world to strengthen this system and to prevent torture and ill-treatment. In this context, we have a long history of close and constructive cooperation with the Armenian Human Rights Defender / NPM.

I am writing to you in relation to the proposed amendments to the Constitutional Law on the Human Rights Defender, submitted by the Armenian government on the 11th of March 2021. I understand that the current proposals would remove Article 8(5) of the Constitutional Law, which provides that the amount of funding in the state budget for the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) cannot be below the amount provided in the preceding year. I further understand that these changes have been initiated without proper consultation or discussion with the Human Rights Defender.

These proposals must also be considered in the context of other reported actions with a negative impact on the resources and technical capacity available to the NHRI and NPM, including restrictions on the use of government vehicles, which are essential to its work, including its ability to effectively monitor places of deprivation of liberty across the country.

As you are no doubt aware, Article 18(3) of the OPCAT, to which Armenia became a party in 2006, contains a positive obligation on states parties to provide both the necessary resources and adequate funding for the effective functioning of NPMs.

In line with the Paris Principles, financial autonomy is a fundamental requirement of NPM independence. It underpins the essential ability of NPMs to take operational and other decisions free from undue pressure or influence. As the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) notes in its 2010 Guidelines on NPMs, the NPM should enjoy complete financial and operational autonomy when carrying out its functions under the Optional Protocol.

The current constitutional guarantee against a regressive provision of funds to the Armenian Human Rights Defender has been widely considered an international best practice and is commonly cited by us in our advice to other countries in the process of establishing NPMs. Indeed, it is this and other guarantees of independence that have made the Armenian Human Rights Defender such a strong and reliable partner in the fight against torture and ill-treatment. Our cooperation over many years is built on the foundation provided by the NPMs independence and technical expertise.

While many states face budgetary constraints, particularly in the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also at such times that the most vulnerable in society are at the greatest risk. It is thus essential that institutions mandated with their protection are not only supported but further strengthened at such moments in time.

In the light of the relevant international standards and Armenias obligations as a state party to the OPCAT, we thus recommend that the current Article 8(5) of the Constitution of Armenia is retained  as a best practice among NHRIs and NPMs  and that the Human Rights Defender is fully consulted in relation to any further discussions relating to amendments to its founding legislation.

We remain available for further information and discussion.

Sincerely,

Barbara Bernath Secretary General
One of the leading museums in Paris, the Musee D'Orsay, will soon carry the name of former president Valery Giscard d'Estaing who oversaw its creation, the government announced Monday

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :One of the leading museums in Paris, the Musee D'Orsay, will soon carry the name of former president Valery Giscard d'Estaing who oversaw its creation, the government announced Monday.

The transformation of the former Orsay railway station into a gallery, renowned for its impressionist and post-impressionist collections, straddled three presidents between the 1960s and 1980s.

It was Georges Pompidou (1969-1974) who saved the station on the banks of the Seine from demolition by giving it heritage status and outlining plans for a museum.

But it was the "determined work and engagement" of his successor Giscard that saw the project through, the culture ministry said in a statement.

The museum was finally opened in December 1986 by President Francois Mitterrand.

In a statement, Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot said Giscard was "a man of culture, passionate about arts and literature of the 19th century" who had carried out an "audacious act of heritage and architecture" by overseeing the project.

The official name will now be "Les Musees D'Orsay et de l'Orangerie Valery Giscard d'Estaing", since the institution also includes the nearby Orangerie Museum which houses some of the most famous paintings by Claude Monet, such as The Water Lilies.

France is fond of naming its institutions after past presidents: the Centre Pompidou is France's foremost modern art museum, while the National library is dedicated to Mitterrand.

The Musee du Quai Branly, featuring indigenous art from around the world, recently added Jacques Chirac to its name.
opinion

It is reasonable to conclude that Jacob Zuma now endorses the possibility of future illegal - and, almost certainly, violent - action by his supporters, who will argue that they are acting, as he says, for 'true freedom and democracy' against 'judicial dictatorship'.

South Africa is at a critical moment that will decide its future for decades. For the first time in more than a quarter of a century, the country could be facing the possibility of some form of civil war.

Former president Jacob Zuma declared himself above the Constitution and the law - and the adjudicator on both - in his statement on Thursday, 25 March 2021, concerning the Constitutional Court hearing the same day and his "decision not to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of State Capture, fraud and corruption in the public sector including organs of state".

Zuma accused the Constitutional Court, the commission of inquiry headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and (effectively) the elected government of Cyril Rampahosa of establishing a "judicial dictatorship... to the detriment of legitimate democratic processes", and that the "core principles about separation of powers between the judiciary, legislature and the executive" were "gradually being weakened"....
BROOKS, Alta. - A fast-moving weather system in Alberta brought both fire and ice, resulting in the evacuation of a village one day and a multi-vehicle collision that closed the Trans-Canada Highway between Medicine Hat and Calgary the next.

Alberta's provincial flag flies in Ottawa on Monday July 6, 2020. RCMP in Alberta say 50 to 70 vehicles have been involved in a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 1 between Medicine Hat and Calgary this morning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

BROOKS, Alta. - A fast-moving weather system in Alberta brought both fire and ice, resulting in the evacuation of a village one day and a multi-vehicle collision that closed the Trans-Canada Highway between Medicine Hat and Calgary the next.

About 275 residents in Carmangay, which is 165 kilometres southeast of Calgary, were forced to leave Sunday due to a grass fire, which was driven by winds over 90 km/h.

"The fire is out," Jason Schneider, reeve of the County of Vulcan, said Monday. "They were able to stop the fire about seven miles out of town and, in the end, it was just kind of a precautionary evacuation and everything was fine and they were able to go home.

"With that wind, it was about 93 kilometres an hour, we knew there wasn't much stopping it unless we got lucky."

Schneider said the wind shifted toward a lake and a large fireguard was created that was able to hold it. The arrival of snow six hours later was a blessing, he said, because it put out any smouldering hot spots.

But that wasn't before the fire levelled four homes and eight people were treated for smoke inhalation.

Staff with the Municipal District of Willow Creek told CTV News that three of the homes were occupied as the fire approached. One person was seriously burned and was taken to a Calgary hospital. Two patients were taken to a local hospital and later released.

All roads into Waterton Lakes National Park, including Highway 6, near Twin Butte, Alta., were shut down by RCMP, as a large fire burned on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Rossiter

The municipal district also confirmed several farm structures were lost in the blaze and livestock was taken to the Agriplex in Claresholm, Alta. The town's veterinary clinic was on standby to treat any animals in need of medical assistance.

The strong winds, combined with the snow, led to highway chaos in other areas by Monday.

RCMP said an estimated 70 vehicles were involved in a collision around 8 a.m. on Highway 1 near Brooks, Alta. Five people were hurt, police said, suffering injuries ranging from minor to serious, although none were life-threatening.

Traffic remained blocked in the westbound lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway until late Monday afternoon, prompting the city to set up a reception area at a local hotel.

"We've had a crazy system come through," said RCMP Cpl. Tammy Keibel. "There's still a lot of high winds.

"Out on the highways there's areas of zero visibility, icy slippery highways and blowing snow."

Environment Canada had weather warnings in effect for much of southern and eastern Alberta.

They ranged from wind warnings in the Brooks area  with gusts up to 100 km/h  to a winter storm warning around Lloydminster, where high winds and heavy snowfall were expected.

Keibel said the combination of the grass fire and icy roads was a handful for officers in southern Alberta.

"It's fire and ice. Very much so," she said.

"Alberta is somewhat famous and known for its rapidly changing weather conditions."

Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips said the province was hit by an Alberta Clipper, a fast-moving, low-pressure weather system that leads to a sudden temperature drop and sharp winds.

"This may be winter's last hurrah. It isn't something that is terribly surprising at all," said Phillips.

"This was kind of a hit-and-run."

Phillips said it brought some snow with it and moved quickly across the Prairies.

"It's kind of a here-today, gone-tomorrow type of thing," he added.

 By Bill Graveland in Calgary, with files from CTV Calgary

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.
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A man who urinated in a garda cell while in custody has been given a suspended prison sentence.



Stephen Murtagh, 5 Victory Court, Longford, appeared before Judge Seamus Hughes at Granard District Court last Friday charged with being in breach of bail conditions.



Garda Jerome Tully, giving evidence in court last week, said that he arrested Mr Murtagh on Main Street, Ballymahon at 11.10am last Friday morning.



He explained that Mr Murtagh had been in breach of his bail conditions on a number of occasions, including a breach of curfew on 13 dates between August 4 and March 14.



Gda Tully also explained that Mr Murtagh failed to sign on at Longford Garda Station on nine occasions between August 7 and February 12.



Solicitor for the defence, John Quinn, explained that his client had been in an accident and suffered a serious injury to his foot.



All the more reason why he shouldnt be out and about, said Judge Hughes, noting that Mr Murtagh was arrested in Ballymahon and was outside his five kilometres.



I have a suspended sentence in mind. Gardai wont be worried about bail conditions then. If he commits a further offence, hell go to prison.



Judge Hughes handed down a four months sentence and suspended it for three years.
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The spanking new airport at his honetown was excellent for maneuvering and better than many airports, says Satish Veera.  DC Image

KURNOOL: Kurnool-born pilot Satish Veera flew the inaugural flight to the city from Bengaluru on Sunday. He said he was thrilled to fly the first flight to his native city. The spanking new airport at his hometown was excellent for maneuvering and better than many airports, he said becoming the first pilot to land a commercial flight in the Oravakal airport.

Veera said that he was delighted with the distinction he had achieved.

A passenger in the flight, Hari Kumar, said it was a memorable day for him. A smallscale entrepreneur in Bengaluru, Hari Kumar said that the dream of Kurnool people was realised as flights had started operating from the city, thanks to the initiative of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy.

Another passenger, SMD Sarif, a native of Kurnool, said it takes 15 hours to travel from Kurnool to Visakhapatnam by bus. The availability of a flight comes as a major boon, he said.

A six-year-old girl passenger was accorded a rousing reception on her arrival from Bengaluru.

The maiden flight left for Visakhapatnam with 72 passengers on board. Kurnool collector G. Veera Pandian left for Chennai on another flight from Kurnool.
Ashaiman  The Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) has banned private developments on portions of the Ashaiman Irrigation Scheme.

In line with the directive all developers carrying out projects in the area under the scheme have been asked to suspend their activities until further notice.

The decision was arrived at a meeting on Wednesday to halt encroachment by developers who had converted portions of the arable land into residential areas.

The meeting organised by ASHMA was attended by members of the Ashaiman Municipal Security Council (AMSC) Ashaiman Traditional Council (ATC) officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and private developers.

The media was originally slated to cover the programme but it took a different turn when some developers requested that the pressmen be made to stay out of the meeting as they felt intimidated by their presence and could therefore not divulge all they knew about transactions over the land.

The Ashaiman Irrigation Scheme, originally covering an area of 400 hectares was established more than 50 years ago by the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) for the cultivation of food crops all year round.

About half of the land under the scheme have been encroached upon by people who turned the area into dwelling houses.

A visit to the scheme showed that development undertaken by the private developers had reached various levels of completion.

Some of the developers alleged that they bought parcels of the land from the Queen Mother of Ashaiman, Naa Amui.

Investigations by the Ghanaian Times indicated the developers do not have permits from ASHMA to carry out the projects.

Briefing the media after the meeting the Chief Executive Officer of ASHMA, Mr Albert Boakye Okyere said the assembly had banned all illegal developments under the scheme.

Mr Okyere said ASHMA would have further deliberations on the issue with the AMSC, ATC and the GIDA to see the way forward.

He however hinted that the assembly would not touch projects that had been completed but those at other levels were going to be demolished.

He said at the meeting that some people brandished indenture as proof of ownership of the land they had purchased but he educated them to register any land they buy at the Lands Commission and it was by so doing that they would be able to establish the actual ownership of the land and procure a genuine land title.

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The Director for Agriculture in the Ashaiman Municipality, Dr John Nunya, said it was unfortunate that several years after government acquired the land and paid adequate compensation to the original owners some of their descendants came up with excuses to sell portions to unsuspecting developers.

He said some representatives of the ATC alleged at the meeting that they were given portions of the scheme's land by the TDC but when they were asked to produce the necessary documents as proof they had nothing to show.

Dr Nunya said the irrigation scheme which provided employment for 220 farmers who cultivate vegetables like pepper, okra, onion, lettuce and rice among others while others rear pigs, chicken and other birds.

"Urban agriculture is necessary and the remaining must be protected," he said.

He noted that but for the COVID-19 that struck last year, some irrigation experts from Korea would have developed 100 hectares of the land to expand farming under the project.

Dr Nunya was worried that the area currently being encroached formed part of the buffer zone that stored water in times of floods, a situation he said could spell trouble for the scheme and the Ashaiman township during heavy rains.

He opined that the situation could be reversed if policy makers took serious view of the project to safeguard food security, prevent global warming and prevent flooding.

The Regent of Ashaiman, Nii Adjor, advised his subjects to heed the measures put in place by the ASHMA and refrain from engaging in the sale of land under the scheme.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday commuted the death sentence of a convict who spent 23 years on death row, after concluding that he was a juvenile when he committed a murder almost three decades back, according to a media report.

A three-member apex court bench comprising Justices Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Aminuddin Khan heard the petition filed by convict Muhammad Anwars brother against his capital punishment, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

"Anwar was a juvenile at the time of the commission of offence within the meaning of section seven of Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 and is entitled to benefits of Presidential Order dated 13.12.2001," Justice Malik was quoted as saying by the paper.

Therefore, Anwars conviction under section 302 (b) is maintained and his sentence of death is converted to imprisonment of life, the eight-page verdict said.

Anwar was in the ninth grade in 1993 when the police arrested him along with his brothers  Abdul Haq and Abdul Ghani  for killing a person during a scuffle, according to the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) - a Lahore-based non-profit organisation that represents the most vulnerable prisoners facing the harshest punishments, at home and abroad.

In 1998, a trial court sentenced Anwar to death despite the fact that he was only 17-year-old when the incident took place, Two years after his conviction  on July 1, 2000  the then government introduced the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, a law that prohibited execution of any convict under the age of 18 at the time of the offence, the paper said.

During this time, Anwar faced multiple death warrants only to be stayed at the eleventh hour and he lived through extreme prison conditions, damaging his mental health permanently, said the JPP.

Anwars family repeatedly appealed to the sessions court, the Lahore High Court, the Supreme Court and its human rights cell, the presidency and the Ministry of Interior to consider his juvenility.

However, the requests were either ignored or rejected by the forums. But, now the apex court has converted the petition into an appeal and the same was allowed, the paper added.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Sometimes the tide of history turns on the fate of one individual and that persons tangled personal relations. Nicola Sturgeons future, and that of Scotlands independence, is still in the balance.

We will know an awful lot more in little over five weeks time  when the people of Scotland vote in elections for their home-rule parliament in Edinburgh on Thursday, May 6. The outcome of that vote  and to a lesser extent a similar vote in Wales  will have huge implications for Ireland, north and south, where the future of partition is being debated.

There are also curious historic echoes between the story of bitter conflict between Sturgeon and her predecessor, Alex Salmond, and the case of Charles Stewart Parnells personal life, and the damage it did to the Irish Home Rule cause in the 1890s.

Add to that the role of the former Irish director of public prosecutions, James Hamilton, in adjudicating in the Salmond-Sturgeon case last week, and you suddenly have a fusion of Irish and Scottish interests not seen in the past century.

Over the weekend Salmond launched a new party, Alba, the shared Gaelic name for Scotland. This fledgling party, despite his own protestations, will rival the

Scottish National Party (SNP) in the election on May 6.

Last week former UK prime minister John Major wrote very trenchantly about the winds of constitutional change blowing across these islands of Ireland and Britain. In his usual no-nonsense writing style, he noted Brexit had put focus on the very existence of the United Kingdom.

Major noted that even in Wales support for independence has grown, while in Ireland a growing debate about ending partition raises the prospect of a Border poll. But he also noted that Scotland carries the biggest and most immediate threat.

The 2014 Scottish independence referendum was defeated by 55pc to 45pc. A key argument was that Scotland was better inside the UK which was part of the EU. Then two years later an English-dominated vote yanked Scotland out of the European Union against its voters wishes.

Major did not say that in 2014 strong signals were sent to Scotland about huge impediments to it joining the EU as a separate entity. This was in part driven by fears in Madrid that such a move would encourage separatists in Catalonia and the Basque country. Nor did he say that nowadays the Brussels messages to Edinburgh are quite the opposite and an independent Scotland would be welcomed into the fold as an embarrassment to London.

Of course, Majors piece in the Financial Times was a case to preserve the UK intact. There is now a genuine danger that the separatist ambitions of Scottish nationalism and tepid unionism in England may break up a union which has served the UK well for over 300 years, Major wrote.

Read More

He trenchantly added that if Scotland wants another independence referendum it would be very unwise of London to deny it, in line with its strict legal rights.

Current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose party is likely to have a good day on May 6 in local council elections across England, has argued that such a referendum must wait the completion of another generation.

Johnson cites the parallel of votes on UK EU membership, held first in 1975, and not again until 2016. Major argues that Brexit changes everything, adding that it would be unwise and unfeasible to try to force Scotland to remain in the UK against the will of the Scottish people.

There is a certain echo there of the words of Charles Stewart Parnell in Cork way back in January 1885. No man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation, the uncrowned King of Ireland famously said. That was before the official news in 1890 of his affair with Katharine OShea, the wife of a parliamentary colleague, which bitterly split the Home Rule movement and put the entire cause back by a generation when political and revolutionary events intervened.

Proponents of Scottish independence will hope the echoes of Parnell have no bearing on the forthcoming Edinburgh parliament elections via this deeply antagonistic row between Sturgeon and Salmond. The SNP, which Salmond brought to new heights through the 1990s and into this century, is now at war with its old leader.

Salmond led the SNP until 2014 and for a long period Sturgeon, who successfully took over the leadership mantle, was a protege of his. The rift between the two comes from a Scottish government investigation into Salmond following sexual harassment allegations by civil servants.

In 2019 the Scottish government was forced to concede serious flaws in its inquiries rendering it unfair. In March 2020 a jury found Scotlands former first minister not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges facing him, while another was found not proven.

His move to start his new party has predictably triggered a bitter war between nationalists as the SNP poured vitriol on its former leader.

Ironically, two SNP members in the London parliament have jumped ship to join Salmond. This prompted him to quip that soon Scotland would need no representatives in Westminster.

Salmond seeks to downplay his move by saying Alba will not go head-to-head with the SNP in constituency contests. His party will instead contest the regional top-up list of MSPs under the system designed to boost minority parties participation in the Edinburgh parliament.

One independent observer, Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University, has suggested that Alba could, at best, pick up six seats this way. But that could deprive the SNP of an overall majority which in turn would raise doubts about another independence vote.

Old history could be re-run.
In Minneapolis, few can get anywhere near the Hennepin County District Court. It looks more like a barracks than a courthouse now. The building, where opening arguments begin on Monday for Derek Chauvins trial in the death of George Floyd, has been surrounded by military-grade barbed wire and fencing, and its guarded by National Guard soldiers scattered across the perimeter. Dozens of camera crews are positioned outside. Recently, as jury selection in the case began, there was an eerie quiet all around. People on both sides of the barricades stared at one another warily.

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The only sounds in the area came from the occasional light rail and, on that day, the distant howls of about 300 protesters who marched nearby, followed by dozens of photographers and journalists. I followed the echoes of people chanting Do the right thing! to find them. Local organizer Toussaint Morrison was at the helm. Let me tell you something about this building right here. It is undoubtedly going to affect every single Black youth in this state, he said when they made it to the court. Whats on trial is the value of a Black mans life, and I dont need the Hennepin County government to let me know if Im valuable or not. The verdict can go either way.

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Morrison wasnt the only one who seemed to be girding himself for the eventual verdict. As I spoke to Black residents around Minneapolis, they all had one prediction. He aint going nowhere, one man, Jaleel, told me about Derek Chauvin. And I hate to say this in front of all these people out here protesting, but theyre not going to get him.

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Jaleel, who asked not to use his last name, was born in Minneapolis and has never lived anywhere else. (Its not a bad place. Its a good place to live. It might get cold as shit, but its a good place to live, he said.) He said he knew George Floyd welland he cant convince himself that Chauvin will be held responsible for Floyds death. Hes especially worried about what could happen in that event. Theyre going to find some way to get a hung jury, and theyre going to tear this mother up again, he said.

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Nearby, Katina, who stood with fellow public school teachers behind a banner for the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, told me shes not especially politically active, but came to the rally to set an example for her students. We want to make sure that they keep hope in their mind. And that maybe justice just might be served, possibly? She didnt sound so sure herself. When I asked the outcome she was expecting at the trial, she gave me a careful look and said, Just having hope is a good thing.

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Like many other teachers across the country, Katina said she worries about the mental health of her students, but is especially worried for kids in Minneapolis, who are experiencing compounded stress due to the trial. Shes lowered her expectations for her students ability to stick to the curriculum virtually, and is hopeful that a year of protests like this one is teaching them in another way. Even if theyre not learning English or social studies, theyre learning the history of America, and watching things change, she said.

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At the rally, I spoke to Bayle Adod Gelle, a Somali American man whose son was the first person killed by the Minneapolis police after George Floyds death. (Police quickly released bodycam footage that showed Dolal Idd, 23, firing on officers, but activists said the police refused to answer questions about what preceded the shooting.) When I asked Gelle how he was doing, he said, Well, Im not feeling good, but he quickly changed his mind. Alhamdulilah, Im OK. Its not good to say as a Muslim, Im not feeling good. Im doing good. We are doing good. He quoted a Quranic verse that Im familiar with:    , or every soul has to taste death.

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Hes a father of 11, and he told me he feels comforted by the demonstrators organizing to put pressure on the state for police accountability. But he, too, doesnt expect a guilty verdict. Those who killed my son, one of them had 38 complaints. Another had 24. Another one, he had 18. How can those guys be police? All of the Minneapolis police are like that, and its really sad, he said. Its not just [Chauvin]. The government and our system wont give a fair trial.

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Not many here will have access to the courthouse, partly because of COVID-19 concernscases have trended slowly upward in Minneapolis in recent daysbut one person who does is journalist Mel Reeves. He told me he knows why so many people, especially Black people, in Minneapolis expect a not guilty verdict. The community understands that all the folks sitting on that jury have come through the United States educational system. Ive been looking forward to writing a piece called How to Sit a Fair Jury Among a Rigged Population. The jury is always programmed on some level to not believe what it is that they seerather what it is that official people tell them, especially white folks. That is the reason people have their doubts, he said.

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Inside the Hennepin County court, he told me he noticed something peculiar. I was there in the media room watching the trial. One of the things that I noticed is that the prosecutor, the prosecutor attorney, and the defense attorney share similar concerns, he said. They want to impress upon people that the system works. They want people to accept the reality of the system, that a person isnt guilty until the system says hes guilty. You can see him commit a crime, but theres a separate set of rules here. We also know that thats not true. When you talk to Black people, that only holds true for wealthy people and the police.

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At George Floyd Square that week, locals mourned the death of another man who was shot only steps from where Floyd died. Tommy McBrayer, a community organizer, was resigned when we spoke. Its tragic. Im still feeling that trauma in my body. Its been a roller coaster, mentally and physically, he said of the past nine months, adding that the death of his friend recently and Floyds death are intrinsically tied. I think Black folks will never get justice. Were living in a white America where nothing has ever been justified. Even if you think Im wrong, the proof is everywhere. Were still only three-fifths of a person. I asked if he worried about the trials outcome. You can only control so much, he said. Of course I worry. But if there is another uprising, he said he still felt conflicted about the last one: I dont think we got anything out of it, because we were just messing up our own neighborhood, but doing nothing is easier. Its not necessarily better.

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Carmen Means, another local organizer, told me shes also expecting a not guilty verdict, but shes thinking of the trial and verdict from another perspective. Im a mama, so the justice isnt just for me. I have sons, and when you have children, your stance has to be different. Will it be heartbreaking beyond belief? Absolutely. But I have to remain hopeful. Even so, she said she couldnt say for sure how shell react. Ive never watched that tape in its entirety, the 8 minutes, 46 secondsI couldnt, and I cant. But secondhand trauma is real, and I dont know how my body will respond. And whatever way my body responds, Ill give it space for that.
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The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the death of a speeding driver and a female pedestrian at Obiuno Road in Igbo Ukwu community in Anambra.

Igbo Ukwu is in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra.

The FRSC Sector Commander in Anambra, Andrew Kumapayi, confirmed the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Sunday, saying that the incident took place on Saturday.

Eye-witness report reaching us indicates that an unidentified driver of a Lexus car with registration number KSF403GD was on top speed and lost control of the vehicle.

He knocked down two woman crossing the road and crashed into a building by the side of the road.

Four people were involved in the crash  two male adults and two female adults.

The victims were taken to Apex Hospital in Igbo Ukwu by a good Samaritan before the arrival of the FRSC rescue team from Igbo Ukwu Command.

The male passenger in the vehicle and one of the female pedestrians sustained injuries, while the driver and the other female pedestrian were confirmed dead by the doctor on duty.

Their bodies had been deposited at the hospitals mortuary, Mr Kumapayi said.

While condoling with the families of the dead, he warned motorists against speed limit violations.

The sector commander advised pedestrians to be watchful when crossing or walking along highways to avoid untimely deaths.

(NAN)

Local pyrethrum farmers and key stakeholders have faulted the appointment of the chairperson of the financially troubled Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya (PPCK) by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Kenyatta has appointed Mr George Wachira as the chairperson of the PPCK board for three years with effect from March 28, 2021.

The farmers are also unhappy with the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya for appointing Ms Stella Wanjiru, Mr Lawrence Munene Ngari, Mr Bowen Chebwai, Ms Nasra Kochale and Mr Janaro Guantai Ithinji to the PPCK board.

Interestingly, five of the board members namely- Mr Wachira, Mr Ngari, Mr Chebwai, Ms Kochale and Mr Guantai were last year appointed by the CS in the national steering committee on the revival of cotton and pyrethrum value chains.

The national steering committee has not made its report public since its appointment in May last year.

The Pyrethrum Growers Association (PGA) say appointment of members of the steering committee to the board is tantamount to conflict of interest as they are unlikely to implement their report.

Steering committee

"You cannot appoint members of a steering committee investigating what is ailing the sector to be directors, this is unprofessional. The pyrethrum sector is manned in five zones including Nyanza, Western, Eastern, Central and South Rift Valley and a balanced representation is key to its revival," said PGA national chairperson Justus Mochache Monda.

He said the appointment of the board of directors was a move in the right direction adding: "We have no problems with the directors as individuals but of importance is that farmers in those regions should have been allowed to appoint directors before forwarding the names to the CS for approval."

"With this kind of boardroom appointments, farmers are not sure whether the government is serious about reviving the ailing pyrethrum sector," added Mr Monda.

PGA said the board of directors' appointment lacked regional representation.

"Pyrethrum is owned by farmers and in the spirit of public participation as enshrined in the Constitution, farmers should have been consulted on the best way to revive the sector," said Mr Monda.

He added: "After waiting for nearly 10 years without a substantive board to run the company, it would have been fair for the Agriculture CS to do his homework and get the farmers' views on the new board members and ultimately pick the board from the 18 pyrethrum growing counties instead of rewarding cronies who may have no idea on what is ailing the sector."

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However, Mr Wilson Wachira welcomed the appointment of the new board.

"The board should now move with speed and recover PPCK assets which have been sold illegally. We want the board to sell some of these assets and pay its debts including the pensioners' long-pending dues of Sh2 billion," said Mr Wachira.

The Nakuru-based pioneer pyrethrum processing company has been declared insolvent by the Auditor- General and only government bailout can resuscitate it.

The company has operated without a board for nearly 10 years. The government has appointed several acting managing directors who have not succeeded in reviving the pyrethrum sector that used to earn the country over Sh10 billion in the 1980s.
MBABANE - His life is now in danger.

This is the story of businessman Mandla Mkhaliphi, who has been hogging the headlines recently following reports that his farm is now guarded by soldiers. The soldiers were deployed at Portion 3, Farm 982, a private property owned by Mkhaliphi at Sicunusa, which has quarry that the businessman was mining prior to the army being deployed there. Many commentators had questioned why the army had to be deployed to guard a private farm, stating that this could result in other private businesses feeling threatened, should they be found to be on the wrong side of the law. It should be stated though that in the case of Mkhaliphi, he had not been found to have done any wrong, though government, through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, had alleged that he was illegally mining the quarry. No charges have been preferred against him. He has not been reported to the police either for any wrongdoing.

Deployment

The deployment of the army at the private farm happened a month ago, with government claiming that it was done to stop illegal mining which is, however, disputed by the businessman.

This publication has gathered that the businessman has reported death threats to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). Interviewed last week, Mkhaliphi claimed that he had been receiving the death threats ever since the matter made its way into the public domain, in particular the mainstream media. He said following the threats, he no longer wanted to discuss the matter, especially with the media. The businessman claimed that he had been receiving strange calls from a private number warning him to desist from what he had started. I engage with the police now and again because I have been receiving death threats. After the issue was publicised, I started receiving the strange calls. A person was calling me saying Lentfo loyentako, ubocaphela ingakwesuli, he said.

He said in the past few days, the police had been constantly checking up on him to determine if he was safe. He explained that the police were not with him 24 hours a day but would randomly check on him as he had officially reported the threat to his life. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that the death threats were reported by the businessman. Yes, there is a report like that and an enquiry has been opened. The case was opened at Mankayane Police Station but it was officers from the Gege Police Station who went to take action on the case, Vilakati said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 13:15:34|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) and Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan attend the virtual ceremony of the launching of a joint project between China and the UAE on Chinese vaccines filling production line in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, March 28, 2021. (Xinhua)

ABU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Sunday in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

The two top diplomats attended the virtual ceremony of the launching of a joint project between China and the UAE on Chinese vaccines filling production line.

Wang said that as China and the UAE jointly conducted the world's first international Phase III clinical trial of inactivated vaccines against COVID-19, it sets a record for a multi-national, large-scale clinical trial and promotes international recognition of the Chinese vaccines, which also makes important contributions to global fight against the epidemic.

The project marks a new stage of cooperation between China and the UAE in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Wang said that he was looking forward to the smooth and effective development of the project, and it was hoped that with the UAE as a platform, the Chinese vaccines could benefit people from more countries and regions, and make new contributions to building a global community of health for all.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah said the international Phase III clinical trial reflects the high mutual trust between the two countries, which was also fully recognized by the international community.

So far, more than 50,000 volunteers of over 120 nationalities have participated in the experiment and the result proved that the Chinese vaccine was safe and effective, and was being approved by the international community, he noted.

Sheikh Abdullah said that the UAE is willing to deepen cooperation with China on the COVID-19 vaccines and become a hub of vaccine production and transportation in the Gulf region by launching the vaccine filling project, so as to support more countries in fighting the epidemic. Enditem



- Abu Dhabi's position as a global energy hub reinforced as ICE Murban Futures launches on new IFAD commodities exchange

- Murban begins trading alongside Brent, WTI and other leading futures contracts as part of the ICE network

- Nine of the world's largest energy companies and traders join ICE and ADNOC to launch Murban Futures

ABU DHABI, UAE, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have, today, officially celebrated the start of trading of the United Arab Emirate's (UAE) flagship crude oil, Murban, as a Futures contract on the new ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) commodities exchange.

ADNOC Logo

During a high-profile launch event at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), attended by His Highness, Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, ICE, ADNOC and the partners in ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, marked the start of trading for ADNOC's Murban crude oil on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, a significant milestone for Abu Dhabi and the UAE in its jubilee year.

The introduction of the world's first Murban Futures contract is the latest step in ADNOC's ongoing transformation into a more market and customer centric organisation. By making Murban a freely traded crude, similar to Brent or WTI, customers have better price transparency, flexibility to hedge and manage risks and increased access to Murban crude. For ADNOC, its flagship crude grade becomes more available to a broader set of market participants around the world.

Alongside ICE and ADNOC, nine of the world's largest energy companies and traders are joining IFAD as founding partners. This includes BP, GS Caltex, INPEX, ENEOS, PetroChina, PTT, Shell, Total and Vitol. Representatives from the partner companies joined today's launch event at ADGM, many participating virtually from around the world.

Commemorating the new Murban Futures contract, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, said: "This is a historic moment for ADNOC, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE as we celebrate the launch of the IFAD exchange with ICE and, with our partners, capitalize on the growing demand for high-quality Murban crude oil, particularly from markets in Asia. This achievement is testament to the vision and foresight of our wise leadership, who have supported this progressive step that makes Murban crude a freely traded commodity that is more widely available to buyers and traders around the world."

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"The launch of the world's first Murban Futures contract makes our largest crude grade even more attractive to the global market, enabling ADNOC's customers and market participants to better price, manage and trade their purchases of Murban. Murban Crude is recognized the world over for its intrinsic chemical qualities, consistent and stable production volumes, large number of international buyers, and numerous long-term concession and production partners. In making Murban a freely traded global commodity, it becomes even more attractive to market participants and will deliver greater value to ADNOC and its partners. This historic and strategic milestone reinforces the UAE and Abu Dhabi's status as a leading global energy hub and underscores ADNOC's central role as a catalyst to empower the UAE's economic ambitions."

Earlier this month, ADNOC announced that its Murban, Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu crude grades will all be sold destination free, from June, allowing its crude oils to become a freely-traded commodity.

Discovered in 1958, Murban has played a pivotal role as the bedrock of the UAE's sustained economic development. With the launch of IFAD and the new Murban Futures Contract, it enters a new era, further solidifying Abu Dhabi's position as a global energy hub and a reliable and essential energy provider to the world.

ICE Murban Futures are physically delivered contracts, with one futures contract equating to 1,000 barrels of Murban crude oil delivered from the ADNOC Terminal located in Fujairah, on the East coast of the UAE. Murban is ADNOC's flagship crude grade, with production capacity of over 2 million barrels per day at present. It currently accounts for around 50% of the UAE's total production capacity, with plans in place to increase the production of Murban to more than 2.5 million barrels per day by 2030, in line with ADNOC's goal of growing its production capacity to 5 million barrels of crude per day.

"The launch of IFAD represents a singular achievement, one that would not have been realized without the vision, fortitude and years of work by His Excellency Dr Sultan, his team at ADNOC, and the leadership of the UAE in opening up Murban to the markets," said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange. "Today, with our outstanding partners, we are bringing a new benchmark to life, and just as Murban has powered the UAE for the past 50 years, with this new futures contract there is a tremendous future ahead for Murban as a price marker for global energy markets."

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber will, later today, virtually ring the opening bell of the iconic New York Stock Exchange, another of the international exchanges owned and operated by ICE, to celebrate the launch of IFAD and the new Murban Futures contract.

His Excellency Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State (UAE) and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market, said: "Our sincere congratulations to the Intercontinental Exchange, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and the nine global energy companies, on the successful launch of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi exchange (IFAD). This is the first derivatives exchange in Abu Dhabi and set up at ADGM. We are proud to be the preferred jurisdiction of IFAD and home to the world's foremost Murban Crude Oil Futures contract. The launch of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi further reinforces Abu Dhabi's status as a global energy hub. We are fully supportive of and look forward to the continuous achievements and growth of our home-grown institutions, IFAD and the derivatives community in the UAE and beyond."

Murban Futures will trade globally on the ICE platform, one of the world's foremost energy exchange networks. All trades clear through ICE Clear Europe, based in London. From today, Murban now trades alongside ICE Brent and ICE WTI in the ICE network.

ADNOC moved to forward pricing of its crude oil in March 2020 and previously priced Murban using Platts Dubai to determine its official selling price (OSP). The company will move its forward pricing mechanism for Murban to the ICE Murban Futures Contract from June, coinciding with the first expiry of Murban Futures.

Earlier this month, the company also confirmed that Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu grades will be priced at a differential to the announced Murban price. While the new ICE Murban Futures Contract will be used to identify the price of Murban two months ahead, ADNOC will announce the price for Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu crude grades early in the month before the month of loading (known as M-1).

The market-based, forward pricing mechanism for ADNOC's Murban Crude enhances the attractiveness of Murban, creating additional transparency and flexibility for market participants and ADNOC's customers.

As the new home of Murban Futures, Abu Dhabi Global Market has quickly established its place as a leading commodities trading center, and IFAD joins two international market-facing trading entities, ADNOC Global Trading and ADNOC Trading. The Murban Futures contract launches Abu Dhabi's mainstay crude onto the global energy markets and strengthens the UAE position as an energy hub and leader.

About ADNOC

ADNOC is a leading diversified energy and petrochemicals group wholly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. ADNOC's objective is to maximize the value of the Emirate's vast hydrocarbon reserves through responsible and sustainable exploration and production to support the United Arab Emirates' economic growth and diversification. To find out more, visit: www.adnoc.ae

For media inquiries, please contact: Philip Robinson, Manager, ADNOC External Relations, +971 (0) 50 504 4934, probinson@adnoc.ae

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1475957/ADNOC_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1475958/MurbanAbuDhabi_Logo.jpg



Murban Logo









SOURCE ADNOC
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu says six counties in the Rift Valley are grappling with a higher wage bill that has compromised development.

In her audit report for the year 2018/2019, she found out that seven years since the advent of devolution, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Nandi, Samburu, Baringo and Bomet are struggling to tame their rising wage bills and have failed to trim expenditure on non-essential items.

Uasin Gishu's wage bill stood at Sh3.02 billion, or 38 per cent of its Sh7.9 billion revenue during the year under review.

The expenditure exceeded the recommended 35 per cent limit as stipulated in the Public Finance Management regulations 2015.

"No plausible explanation was given for the failure to adhere to the legal threshold for personnel expenditures. The expenditure violates the Public Finance Management regulations 2015," states the report.

Further examination of the county payroll revealed instances of net salaries received by employees less than a third of their basic salaries after taxes.

Spent Sh2.7 billion

This was after the management allowed excessive non-statutory deductions to be made on their gross salaries. Baringo County spent Sh2.7 billion on employees. The sum was 36 per cent of the total revenue of Sh7.6 billion and, therefore, was in excess of the recommended 35 per cent. It, therefore, was in excess of the threshold of 35 per cent thus breached the law on control of personal emoluments.

During the year under review, the county had a total budget of Sh8.1 billion but used Sh5.5 billion, resulting in under absorption of Sh2.5 billion.

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In Samburu County, the wage bill rose to Sh1.6 billion from Sh1.3 billion. Salaries and wages consumed Sh1.34 billion while Sh727.45 million went to operations and maintenance in the previous year.

The wage bill takes up more than 65 per cent of total recurrent expenditure. In Nandi County, the report revealed that the wage bill stands at Sh2.8 billion.

The report showed that out of a staff of 4,234, more than 94 per cent, or 3,994, were from the dominant community.

"This is contrary to the constitution which provides that public service entities should represent the diversity of the people of Kenya," the Auditor-General said.

In Nakuru County, the wage bill stands at Sh6 billion. Nakuru has been grappling with a huge wage bill, eight years since the advent of devolution, which gobbles more than half of the county's annual budget. Governor Lee Kinyanjui accused the previous Kinuthia Mbugua led regime of employing too many unnecessary workers who contributed to a burgeoning wage bill.
Specialists of the state-owned enterprise Iskra have manufactured and handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces a new three-coordinate radar system 35D6M, Ukraine's state defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom has reported.

"Specialists of the Iskra Research and Production Complex, which is part of Ukroboronprom, have manufactured and handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces a new three-coordinate radar system 35D6M, capable of operating in almost any climate and in mountainous terrain," the report reads.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces received modern equipment with improved tactical and technical characteristics: increased range, improved trajectory parameters, expanded functionality due to modern software solutions.

The Iskra Research and Production Complex equipped the radar system with additional remote workstations, which ensures full control of the system at a distance of up to 300 meters. If necessary, the radar system can be equipped with equipment for direct interaction with anti-aircraft missile systems.

As was reported earlier, Zhytomyr Armored Plant repaired 26 infantry fighting vehicles that will be handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

op
----

There's a reason that homeownership is at the center of the traditional American Dream: It's a foundation that can lift a family across generations. More than just housing, it's an investment, a way to build security, to work toward both material and financial stability.

In that light, the cruelties of redlining go beyond direct discrimination.

Redlining  a set of housing and lending practices that for decades restricted where Black residents were able to buy homes, and that suppressed investment in traditionally Black neighborhoods  denied people of color the ability to invest in their neighborhoods and in their own futures. In Albany, its enduring consequences are seen in abysmally low rates of Black homeownership, and in the boarded-up windows and red X placards that mar the city's majority-minority neighborhoods.

Investing in underserved communities is a key step toward addressing systemic racism. So is providing more opportunities for homeownership. With a new partnership, the Albany County Land Bank is doing both.

The land bank is working with Syracuse-based nonprofit Home HeadQuarters Inc. to help city residents who are interested in buying a land bank property, but who are unable to qualify for a traditional mortgage, access the financing they need. More than half of the land bank's properties countywide are located in historically redlined neighborhoods, so this partnership can help people invest in their futures and in neglected communities.

To emphasize the urgency of this work, consider: An Urban Institute analysis found that nationwide, 41 percent of Black residents own a home, compared with 71 percent of white residents. In Albany, just 20 percent of Black residents are homeowners. Thats right: Albany's number is less than half of an already-jarring disparity. Even if the city doubled its percentage of Black homeowners, it would still be far from equitable.

So as the land bank does its part with this and its other homeownership programs, local and state governments must look to do more. Perhaps Albany could put some of its promised federal stimulus money toward expanding its own homeownership initiatives.

On the state level, the Iowa Legislature is considering a bill that would waive property taxes for homeowners who rehabilitate houses in historically redlined neighborhoods. Perhaps something similar could be considered here  with the stipulation that the properties are owner-occupied to prevent absentee landlords from taking advantage. Theres certainly precedent for such an incentive here: the Start-Up NY program, which lets qualifying businesses operate tax-free for 10 years if they locate on or near eligible university or college campuses. Their employees may be exempt from state income tax, too.

It took decades of racist policy and disinvestment to create the blight that Albany and other cities struggle with today. Revitalization of our neighborhoods, and opportunities for underserved residents, may have to happen house by house, block by block, but happen they must.
The Suez Canal Authority has commended an offer by the US to help in freeing the container ship "Ever Given" which is still stuck at the waterway.

In a statement released on Friday, SCA said it is seeking to cooperate with the US in such good initiative which asserted the depth of friendly ties binding the two countries.

SCA expressed gratitude for receiving such offers as part of underway efforts to float the grounded ship, asserting that SCA was keen on regularity of international navigation movement as soon as possible.
When the Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M said in September that it was ending its relationship with a Chinese supplier accused of using forced labor, a few Chinese social media accounts dedicated to the textile industry took note. But by and large, the moment passed without fanfare.

Half a year later, Beijings online outrage machine sprang into action. This time, its wrath was unsparing.

The Communist Partys youth wing denounced H&M on social media and posted an archival photo of slaves on a Mississippi cotton plantation. Official news outlets piled on with their own indignant memes and hashtags. Patriotic web users carried the message across far and varied corners of the Chinese internet.

Within hours, a tsunami of nationalist fury was crashing down upon H&M, Nike, Uniqlo and other international clothing brands, becoming the latest eruption over Chinas policies in its western region of Xinjiang, a major cotton producer.
How worried should we be about global depopulation? Some East Asian countries have fertility rates near or even below 1.0, while much of the core of Europe is shrinking. In the U.S., fertility rates have fallen below replacement rates, hitting a historic low of 1.7 in 2019, and will likely fall even further in 2020 in part due to Covid. Many of the worlds poorer countries are seeing their birth rates plunge at unprecedented rates. By the year 2100, according to one projection, world growth will be practically zero.

If you think the world is overpopulated and has serious environmental problems, you might welcome this news. But as my colleague Robin Hanson has pointed out, dwindling populations create their own inexorable logic. If the Japanese shrinks by half, to 65 million or so, whats to stop it from declining to 30 million? Or 20 million?

There is some evidence that shrinking populations are bad for the To me, however, the greater tragedy would be a failure to take full advantage of the planets capacity to sustain human life. No kind of family policy should be mandatory. But there should be policies that make larger families a more appealing option, both economically and otherwise.

One possibility is that a shrinking population itself will bring self-reversing mechanisms. For instance, a Japanese population half its current size would make Japan an emptier place, presumably lowering land prices. Some families would find it easier to afford a larger apartment in central Tokyo and perhaps decide to have more children.

But that mechanism seems more likely to reduce population decline than to reverse it. Living space is only one of many factors behind decisions about family size. And as population declines, the stock of houses and apartments will decline too, so in the longer run the amount of space per family may not increase by very much.

Population trends depend on how permanent are the causes of fertility decline. In many cases women prefer to pursue careers, or to start having children later, and that means lower birth rates. This same logic would apply in a much less populous Japan or Italy.

Another factor in declining fertility, especially in the U.S., is single parenthood. If a potential mother is facing a fertility decision without another full-time parent on the scene, she is more likely to choose to have fewer children. As population falls, will single-parent families become less common? It is hard to see why. Whether the issue is a lack of marriageable men, unstable family norms or women who simply prefer to go it alone, there is no particular reason to think those factors will disappear in an era of population decline.

If anything, the impetus toward smaller family size might continue or even accelerate. Job opportunities for women may keep improving in quality, which increases the opportunity costs of having a large family. Furthermore, many countries around the world are becoming wealthier. As wealth increases, religiosity tends to decline, and religiosity also tends to boost family size.

What might be some other intervening factors to restore fertility? Perhaps tender and loving robots will make it much easier to raise young children. Or maybe, as populations fall to much lower levels, a sense of moral panic will set in. Families might decide to have more children, feeling that the very survival of their country is at stake. A more elaborate and dystopian scenario would be that corporations take over empty parts of the globe and pay for the raising of children there, in return for a share of their future income.

Undoubtedly there are other unusual (and more utopian) scenarios. Whatever their likelihood, it would not be wise to count on them. It is already the case that in many places, such as Singapore, governments have embarked on aggressive yet ineffective pro-family subsidy policies.

Depopulation is a major problem that the world in general, and its wealthier countries in particular, are failing even to discuss, much less address. In any given year, in any given country, a shrinking population may not be much of an issue, and it may even be welcomed. But make no mistake: Over time, collectively, we are choosing a very different future for humanity.
WASHINGTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Latham & Watkins LLP1 is pleased to announce that Christopher H. Schott has joined the firm's Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Corporate Department and member of the Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice. Schott is a leading practitioner in the area of drug price reporting and regularly counsels pharmaceutical clients on a variety of healthcare, compliance, and regulatory matters, primarily related to the Medicaid, Medicare, and 340B drug pricing programs.

"Chris is a highly regarded pharmaceutical regulatory lawyer and his arrival emphasizes the firm's commitment to our top-notch Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice," said John Manthei, Global Chair of Latham's Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice. "As clients navigate changes to a number of federal programs, policy debates around drug pricing and value-based approaches, as well as the ever-increasing pace of scientific discovery, Chris's deep experience will be of great value. We're thrilled to have him join our healthcare reimbursement and regulatory team and further bolster our capabilities."

Schott brings significant experience advising pharmaceutical manufacturers in connection with price reporting and other compliance obligations under the Medicaid, Medicare, and 340B drug pricing programs, which includes supporting the entire product lifecycle, from pre-launch considerations, to commercialization and contracting strategies, to decisions around authorized generics and line extensions. He also regularly advises clients in connection with pricing methodology audits and interactions with federal regulators. Schott draws on his regulatory expertise and understanding of the industry to support a range of corporate transactions in the pharmaceutical space, including acquisitions and divestitures as well as licensing and co-promotion arrangements.

"Chris will be an excellent addition to our Washington, D.C. office" said Daniel Lennon, Office Managing Partner of the firm's Washington, D.C. office. "Here in the nation's capital, we combine classic litigation and regulatory practices with our premier transactional practices. With his extensive regulatory background, industry knowledge, and transactional experience, Chris will be a perfect complement to the team and an asset to clients around the world as they seek to do business in the US."

"Latham is well known for its healthcare and life sciences regulatory work and I am thrilled to be joining these best-in-class practitioners" said Schott. "The firm's integrated global platform and dynamic team-oriented approach provide a powerful basis for supporting my clients, not only in the evolving drug pricing environment, but more broadly as well. I look forward to contributing to the continued success of the Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice."

Schott joins Latham from Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. He earned his JD with high honors from The George Washington University Law School and his BA from the University of Maryland.

About Latham & Watkins (lw.com)

Latham & Watkins delivers innovative solutions to complex legal and business challenges around the world. From a global platform, our lawyers advise clients on market-shaping transactions, high-stakes litigation and trials, and sophisticated regulatory matters. Latham is one of the world's largest providers of pro bono services, steadfastly supports initiatives designed to advance diversity within the firm and the legal profession, and is committed to exploring and promoting environmental sustainability.

Notes to Editors

1 Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom and as an affiliated partnership conducting the practice in Japan. Latham & Watkins operates in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office. Latham & Watkins works in cooperation with the Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Contacts

John Manthei, Global Chair, Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice, +1.202.637.2211

Daniel Lennon, Washington, D.C. Office Managing Partner, +1.202.637.2347

SOURCE Latham & Watkins

Related Links

http://www.lw.com


In comments before a meeting of supporters last Thursday, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser joked that the top three elected Democrats in the state are three witches that the GOP needs to take out, soften up and get ready for the burning at the stake.

Weiser was speaking about Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson at a meeting of the North Oakland Republican Club. He referred to them multiple times as the three witches.

The state chair made his commentswhich were recorded on a smartphone video and shared on multiple social media platformsin the course of reviewing Republican Party plans for the 2022 elections.

Ron Weiser (Image credit Facebook/ronweiserGOP)

His two statements were, I made the decision to continue to serve to make sure we have an opportunity to take out those three witches in two years from now, and, Our job now is to soften up those three witches and make sure that when we have good candidates to run against them that they are ready for the burning at the stake. Weiser then added, And maybe the press heard that too.

These jokes were made less than six months since 14 men were arrested by the FBI for plotting to kidnap and kill Governor Whitmer and overthrow the government in Michigan. The group of individuals are part of a right-wing paramilitary group calling themselves the Wolverine Watchmen.

Although reports about the ongoing case against the conspirators had virtually disappeared from the corporate news coverage, a hearing for the three leaders of the plot that began on March 3 showed that one of the men planned to hogtie the governor and put her on display.

In testimony given by an FBI informant placed within the Wolverine Watchmen group, it was also revealed that the individuals worked with other right-wing organizations in Ohio and Wisconsin and were planning to kick-off a boogalooa civil warthat would result in installing the Wolverine Watchmen as the new government. The informant said the plot included plans to target Attorney General Nessel and Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, who is African-American.

Several of the Wolverine Watchmen involved in the plot to kidnap and murder the Democratic Party leaders are from the towns of Lake Orion and Clarkston in Oakland County where the Thursdays Republican Party meeting was held.

Weiser used similar blood-soaked language Thursday in discussing plans to remove Michigan Representatives Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Peter Meijer of Grand Rapids Township, two of the ten Republicans who voted for the impeachment of then-President Trump on January 13.

In response to a question about what the Michigan Republicans were going to do about them, Weiser said, Maam, other than assassination, I have no other way of even voting that, OK? To this comment someone in the audience can be heard saying, Dont say that too loudly.

These comments were also made less than three months after the storming of the US Capitol by a mob that was planning to kidnap and/or murder top congressional Democrats and the Republican Vice President Mike Pence.

That the leader of the Michigan Republican party is making supposed jokes about assassinating disloyal members of his own party and murdering leading Democratsas well as the enthusiasm with which these comments were received by his audienceis further evidence that the GOP is being converted into a party of the fascist ultra-right.

In predictable fashion, the pro-Republican wing of the media gave Weiser a pass on his comments and allowed the party leader to excuse himself by saying that while he should have chosen his words more carefully, anyone who knows me understands I would never advocate for violence. Assurances such as these are worthless in the present environment in which the Republican Party is responsible for the growth of the increasingly open assault on constitutional and democratic rights within the US.

Weiser also said he spoke to Representatives Upton and Meijer and told them that his off the cuff remarks 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. Meijer and Upton declined to comment on Weisers statements.

Other Republicans openly defended Weisers threats. Co-Chair of the Michigan Republicans Meshawn Maddock tweeted, Too bad all the snowflakes in the mainstream media see misogyny where it doesn't exist. Calling someone a witch is NOT misogynist. This is more of the same from the leftinstantly label everything as misogyny or racist. This hurts real efforts to become a more just society.

Meanwhile, various Democratic Party officials issued statements of protest. Mark Bernstein, a fellow University of Michigan Board of Regents member with Weiser, told the media that the comments were blatantly sexist, dangerous and damaging to our state and the University of Michigan and called on the Republican to resign from the board of regents.

The Republicans are taking an aggressive posture against Whitmer in an environment where the right-wing policies of the Democrats are completely exposed. Weiser is raising the nursing home deaths just as the Republicans in the state legislature have authorized funds to be used by any county prosecutor in Michigan who wants to prosecute the governor over the high number of COVID-19 fatalities in the states nursing homes, a result of Whitmers order to transfer elderly patients diagnosed with coronavirus from hospitals back to nursing homes.

Following the lead of President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly called for Democratic Party unity with the Republican right, Gretchen Whitmers press secretary Bobby Leddy told the media, As the governor has said repeatedly, its time for people of good will on both sides of the aisle to bring down the heat and reject this kind of divisive rhetoric, because we need to stay focused on what really matters, and that's working together to get things done for Michigan's working families.

A spokesperson for Secretary Benson said only that the three female state officials have experienced firsthand how this rhetoric is later used as justification for very real threats made against government officials, election administrators and democracy itself.
The 62nd TV Week Logie Awards have been pushed out to Sunday, November 28 at The Star Gold Coast -nearly 2.5 years after Tom Gleeson won Gold.

Last years event was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 2021 shifting from mid year to the end of the year.

TV Week Editor Amber Giles says, TV Week is thrilled to have landed on a date we know we can deliver a spectacular show on.

After spending way too much time on the couch in stretchy pants over the past 12 months, its important to us and our partners that we come together at a time when we can all frock up and be in the same room.

We cant wait to head back to The Star Gold Coast to celebrate and honour the best in Australian TV in the style for which were famous.

On November 28, we look forward to seeing on the red carpet all those who have kept us entertained and informed during trying times.

Managing Director Nine Queensland & Nine Northern NSW, Kylie Blucher, says, We look forward to welcoming back the TV Week Logie Awards to the Gold Coast in what will be a huge celebration of the Australian television industrys resilience through some very challenging times.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says, Weve made Queensland the home of the Logies and I look forward to welcoming back the television industry for a week of events that weve worked with organisers to build around the awards night.

But the date has not pleased everyone with The Australian reporting frustration over the date when networks are starting holidays.

A letter from publishers Are Media pleads with networks for support to secure further funding from the Queensland Government as a four year deal draws to a close.

This is the last year of the current deal with Tourism and Events Queensland. Discussions have commenced in regards to future years, therefore it is vital that the 2021 event is bigger, better and more successful than ever for the benefit of future years. We would greatly appreciate as much support and talent attendance as possible from you in order to achieve this, it stated.

Tourism Events Queensland also offers networks $1000 for each TV personality they bring to the Logies, up to a cap of $75,000.

But one network executive told The Australian: We love the Logies but we simply cant do it at that time of year. There needs to be some compromise here. Thats all were asking for. But it seems to be going ahead on that day regardless.

Related
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Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
The leader of the social-democratic (PSD) deputies, Alfred Simonis, declared on Monday, during the debate for the simple motion on agriculture, that nobody from the Government explained why the police "are harassing Romanian farmers" and that "they are chasing pigs in the peasants' yards and try to confiscate them".

"Minister Oros, I would not have intervened if I was not pointed out the praises which you brought to yourself, but also from the colleagues of PNL (National Liberal Party) and USR (Save Romania Union), who talked about the many things you did, but nobody explained to us why the police are harassing Romanian farmers, people from the countryside, police in yards, chasing pigs and trying to confiscate them or with court bailiffs to take away the farmers' tractors," Simion said in the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies.

Simonis proposed to (Agriculture minister) Adrian Oros to go around the country along with former minister of Agriculture Petre Daea, whom was referred to during the debate, and to see what the people and farmers have to say about both of them.

"If you were smarter, today you would have probably understood that you did not have to mention the name of Mister Daea. I invite you to go around the country with Mr Daea, although I do not suggest that, but you can try, in order to see what the people have to say. I saw that you tried to shift the attention of motion against Mister Daea and Mister Chesnoiu. (...) Because you also referred to policemen in a derogatory way, allow me to bring to your attention and tell you that you should be more careful, yourself and Mister (PM) Citu, as well as the other ministers, because these militiamen, as you call them, are the only ones who are keeping the protesters, farmers and others who are picketing in front of your ministries. So please be very careful as to how you refer to them," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-27 14:11:42|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken in Beijing, capital of China, on March 15, 2021 shows Maria Teresa Mola, vice-president of the Party of the European Left and a member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), taking an interview via video link.(Xinhua/Yin Gang)

by Xinhua writers Chen Yao and Wang Yu

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Good governance carried out by the Communist Party of China (CPC) has played a critical role in the country's rapid development and contributed to building a multi-polarized world, Spanish communist leaders have said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Maria Teresa Mola, who first visited China in 2008 and paid a second visit 10 years later, said the achievements China made within a decade made her feel that the country had undergone development of 100 years.

Mola, vice-president of the Party of the European Left and a member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), made the remarks while recalling her visits to Xiaogang Village in east China's Anhui Province -- the birthplace of China's rural reform, and Dongcheng District of China's capital Beijing, where she drew inspiration from the CPC's experience in primary-level party building.

Mola expressed her approval to the CPC's people-oriented development philosophy, saying she was impressed with the remarks made by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Italy visit in March 2019 that "for the good of my people, I will put aside my own well-being."

Xi's quote embodies his party's people-centered philosophy, and has an important influence on today's world, Mola said, voicing her belief that China's policies have also contributed to building a multi-polarized world.

China "applies socialism with Chinese characteristics to a deep respect for independence and the decisions of the rest of the countries," she said.

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, China has provided assistance to countries in need, which is in sharp comparison with those apathetic countries merely self-centered on competition, she said, adding that Xi's words mentioned above were not only spoken to the Chinese people, but also to people around the world.

Echoing Mola, PCE President Jose Luis Centella, who has also visited China for several times, said that behind the dramatic changes China has achieved over the past decades are the proper policies implemented by the CPC, such as its reform and opening up.

Recalling his first China trip many years ago, he said that back then many rural Chinese people had a simple wish -- to travel to Beijing. As he visited China in November 2019, the country and the people have gained a fresh look.

Noting the improvement of living conditions and services in the rural area, he said, "I have seen a lot of vitality from the people on the street. They are a very active youth and above all I have seen great advances in the rural world."

Centella said that China has achieved great success in social and economic development, involving fields of poverty reduction, environmental protection, economic growth and containment of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"These successes have not been given to them by anyone, but have been achieved thanks to the success of the leaders, to the ability of the Communist Party of China to lead the people," he said.

The CPC's secret to staying dynamic over the past 100 years is that "it has always been linked to the people, (and) it has always been the people's party," Centella said.

During the interview, books related to China were seen on a bookshelf behind Centella, including two volumes of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China."

"Not only me, but the Communist Party of Spain, follow the contributions of President Xi Jinping to international political thought," Centella said.

He observed that the CPC attaches importance to serving the interests of people and formulating policies based on people's need, "in this way to make the Communist Party of China really the party of the people -- something that has been clearly seen in the pandemic."

Having read the first two volumes of the work, Mola said that "it is true that they make us think a lot about the modernization of Marxist thought, of Chinese socialist thought. I think it is a very important advance."

According to Mola, strengthening leadership is essential in 2021 when the world is still in the pandemic.

The fight against COVID-19 proves that no country can address a global challenge on its own, Centella said, stressing the significance of China's proposal of building a community with shared future for mankind, as well as its Belt and Road Initiative.

The two Spanish communists both said that proposals presented by the Chinese leadership have shown the international community that countries can share the fruits of development and jointly build a better world. Enditem
Mumbai, March 29 : Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar is ill and will undergo a surgery later this week, a top party official said here on Monday.

According to National Spokesperson and Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik, Pawar, 80, complained of abdominal pains last night and was rushed to the Breach Candy Hospital for a checkup.

Upon diagnosis it has emerged that he has some problem afflicting the gallbladder.

He has been on a blood thinner medication which has been stopped now due to this issue, said Malik.

Now, Pawar will be admitted to the hospital on Wednesday and an endoscopy will be conducted followed by a surgery, Malik added.

In the meanwhile all engagements of Pawar have been cancelled.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Alarms Mike Peters was writing new songs during 2020 but had largely put off the idea of making a new album with the band in the midst of a global pandemic.

I figured, Whos going to want to buy something right now? the frontman says by Zoom from his home in Wales. And its not like thered be any touring to support it, so why bother?

He changed his mind on Jan. 6.

Peters was on the phone with a Washington D.C. attorney who also works with the Love Hope Strength cancer charity he started with his wife and Alarm keyboardist Jules Jones Peters. He says, Switch on your TV, so I did and there was the (U.S.) Capitol building behind occupied, Peters recalls. He had business colleagues in the building and was very worried about them. It just seemed to be a real global moment right there.

And then, I think, some of the news commentators started using the word alarming when they were talking about the situation. I kind of thought, Right...It seems like this is calling out to me.

The result is War, the Alarms 19th album. The hard-hitting 10-track set was written and recorded remotely by the band, along with producer George Williams, in just 50 days. The final mixes were completed just a few days before its Feb. 25 release, Peters 62nd birthday. Peters and company even sent blank CDs to fans who wanted to pre-order the album in order for them to burn copies as soon as it was released.

It was a real, proper, spirit of the moment, trigger-point thing, Peters says with laugh. I wanted to make it and have it out and in peoples hands as soon as possible. I was quite shocked I felt like I wanted to make a record in this time, but I couldnt deny the impulse.

Peters, who had been hosting the Big Night In Facebook Live series with Jules during the lockdown, marshaled the rest of the Alarm -- including guitarist James Stevenson and drummer Smiley [cq] -- in a hurry via Zoom. The group had the surging opening track, Protect and Survive together within the first 24 hours, and we were off from there, with producer Williams coordinating the three-ring recording circus and Jules also filming the proceedings and sharing footage online throughout the process.

Its funny. Id put on social media that we were going to do this at night, when Jules was in bed, Peters says. When you woke up and found out, she was like, What?! Are you sure youre gonna be able to write 10 good songs, write lyrics in that short a time? Can we deliver? I said, I dunno. Lets find out. But really, if I cant write a song right now, when theres so much going on, then shame on me.

Peters also took some inspiration from a reliable source. Id been given that new John Lennon (compilation), Gimme Some Truth. I was reading about Instant Karma; He said, I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, released it for dinner. I thought, Lets go that route. If he did that, we can do 10 (songs) in 50 days.

I just trusted on instinct, really. We could do something that was relevant to now -- as long as it come out NOW.

War is, without question, a work of its time -- as evidenced by song titles such as Still Unsafe, Tribes (Stop the War), Warriors, a cover of Massive Attacks Safe from Harm and War (Its Not Over Yet). The Alarm is no stranger to socio-political commentary, going back to The Stand and Marching On from its debut EP in 1983, and there was no shortage of topics to draw new songs from at the start of the year.

Wed all lived with a sort of American invasion of sorts into our homes wherever we lived because of the constancy of Donald Trump on TV, Peters explains. It was global news, all day long. And with the fight in the (Capitol) building, the impeachment -- it was all going on. So, it was right there for us.

Peters gives full props to Williams for making War work, from setting the timetable to working out a schedule and keeping the band on pace -- working five days and finishing two songs each week before they were mixed. We didnt have Saturdays or Sundays, so we could clear our ears, clear our imaginations, Peters says. It also helped that the group took on and finished one track at a time rather than bounce between them as they normally would during an in-person studio session.

We were able to give each (song) our full attention, which was nice, Peters explains. We werent trying to work on 10 songs at the same time. It was almost like recording singles, which we havent done since the earliest days of the Alarm. We all felt inspired that we had to make our contribution to this track now, or itd be too late.

The Alarm is biding its time until it can get out and play War and its other favorites on stage again, but Peters isnt sitting in idle until then. He and his wife are planning to start the Big Night In series again during July, with hopes of being able to host small live crowds at the show as well. More new Alarm music may be in the offing as well -- specifically the songs Peters already been working on but set aside due to the pandemic and, subsequently, War.

Before Jan. 6 Id pretty much set out what the next Alarm album was gonna be like, he recalls. Id recorded what I think are really exciting demos, songs thinking about after the pandemic, post-Trump, post-Brexit, just life ahead. I played then to the producer and the band and they were like, Wow, Mike, youve really raised the bar with what youre trying to do here. And were still excited about it.

So, in a way, were gonna get two Alarm albums out of this period, instead of one.
[March 29, 2021] Richard A. Ehst to Retire as Customers Bank's President and Chief Executive Officer After 50-Year Banking Career; Sam Sidhu Named as Successor

After more than a half-century of successful banking leadership, Richard A. ("Dick") Ehst will retire from his post as President and Chief Executive Officer of Customers Bank, a subsidiary of Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI). Samvir ("Sam") Sidhu, currently Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, has been named as Ehst's successor. The retirement and succession are effective July 1, 2021. Sam Sidhu served as a Board Member of Customers Bank for eight years prior to joining the bank's executive management team. In January 2020, Customers Bank announced the recruitment of Sam Sidhu to serve as its Vice Chair and Chief Operating Officer, as well as Head of Corporate Development for Customers Bancorp. Sam, son of Jay Sidhu, chair of Customers Bancorp, Inc., and Customers Bank, will succeed Dick as President and CEO leading the bank's continued expansion and growth. Sam Sidhu was the founder and chief executive of Megalith Financial Corp. LLC, a NYSE-listed financial technology-based special purpose acquisition company. Prior to launching Megalith, Sam worked at Providence Equity Partners (News - Alert) and Goldman Sachs. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Despite the COVID-19 global pandemic, Jay, Dick, Sam, and the executive team have led Customers Bank into new markets and launched new products growing earnings, increasing profitability, and improving shareholder value. In the last 12-months, Customers Bank became one of the nation's top five PPP lenders and successfully spun-off BankMobile, the digital banking and technology subsidiary. "We cannot thank Dick enough for what he's done for Customers Bank," said Jay Sidhu. "He's positioned us for continued growth and success. He's worked closely with Sam for the past year to ensure a seamless hand-off and transition. Dick has been my very good friend for nearly 50 years, and we owe so much to him." Sam Sidhu echoed the praise, "I am taking over from a banking icon. Dick has been unselfish in sharing with me his wisdom and insight, while encouraging me to follow my instincts and strike out in new directions for the bank. I am excited about the bank's future and our opportunities. I am indebted to Dick for putting us in a position to achieve even greater success." Under Sam Sidhu's leadership, Customers Bank partnered with several leading fintechs to establish a hybrid banking model. The hybrid model enabled Customers Bank to outperform most larger lenders' efforts to support small businesses through the Small Business Administration's Payroll Protection Program (PPP) oans. In January 2021, as the banking industry discussed how to support the third tranche of PPP loans and some lenders expressed concern about fatigue, the executive team decided it would support other lenders' PPP efforts to help more small businesses weather the American economic recovery.



Customers Bank is currently working with more than 300 banks and over two dozen credit unions, community development financial institutions, minority deposit institutions, microfinance institutions and other lenders to provide a solution for PPP applications, funding, and servicing. Following retirement, Ehst will be a Director of Customers Bank. Ehst will also step down from his position of President and Chief Operating Officer of Customers Bancorp as of July 1, 2021.

Ehst is a graduate of the Commercial Bank Management Program at Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Ehst began his banking career in 1968 with First Valley Bank in Bethlehem following his service as a Marine during the Vietnam War. It was at First Valley in 1973 that Ehst met his life-long friend and ultimate business partner, Jay Sidhu. Ehst served as an independent consultant to more than 70 financial institutions in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Sovereign Bank, a $90 billion-asset bank serving eight states in the Northeast United States that was led by Jay Sidhu. Starting as a consultant to Sovereign Bank, Ehst provided guidance on regulatory matters, mergers and acquisitions, risk management and worked with the bank's Commercial Development Group to identify and develop corporate and municipal relationships. Ehst joined Sovereign Bank in 2000, serving as managing director of corporate communications from 2000-2004, regional president for Berks County from 2004-2009, and then as executive vice president, Commercial Middle Market, Mid-Atlantic Division until he left later in 2009 to join Jay Sidhu in the newly formed Customers Bank as president and chief operating officer. He was named CEO in 2020. Ehst currently serves as a Director of the Reading Hospital Health System Foundation and as an elected board member of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, where he is Chairman of the Chamber's Education Foundation. Ehst has served on professional and not-for-profit boards in eastern Pennsylvania for over 40 years. Throughout his career, Ehst has been recognized for his commitment and service in the community. In 2018, Dick and Angela Ehst were honored by the John Paul II Center for Special Learning for raising money to support programs for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. During the same year, Dick Ehst received the Richard J. Caron Award of Excellence from Caron Treatment Centers, recognizing his dedication to service and commitment to helping provide drug and alcohol treatment to individuals and families who need it most. The Read Alliance of New York City recognized Dick and Angela Ehst in 2020 for their lifetime of philanthropic efforts and leadership in childhood education and literacy. Ehst has long been a supporter of the Hope Rescue Mission of Reading which serves the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the homeless of Berks County. Ehst has also supported other organizations working to combat homelessness including Opportunity House, Mary's Shelter, and Family Promise. Working with other community leaders, Ehst spearheaded the fundraising for the Paul R. Gordon Veterans Social Center located at the Hope Rescue Mission. An annual veterans' celebration luncheon provides ongoing funding for the Center as well as a scholarship program at the Reading Area Community College and other veterans and military family services. In 2020, Ehst was honored by the I Am Able Foundation for his leadership in supporting veterans. In 2021, Ehst was invited to join the Board of Directors for the United Way of Berks County and Dick and Angela will serve as the 2021 Campaign Co-Chairs. Later this year, Ehst will be honored as a Champion of Youth by the Reading YMCA. About Customers Bancorp, Inc Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI) is a bank holding company located in West Reading, Pennsylvania engaged in banking and related businesses through its bank subsidiary, Customers Bank, a full-service bank with $18.4 billion in assets at December 31, 2020. A member of the Federal Reserve System with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Customers Bank is an equal opportunity lender that provides a range of banking and lending services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, individuals and families. Services and products are available wherever permitted by law through mobile-first apps, online portals, and a network of offices and branches. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005748/en/

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More physicians and pharmacists are advocating for patients to be made aware of animal byproducts contained in common medications, according to new research in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. Common medications, including widely used blood thinners and hormones, are often derived from animal byproducts and prescribed without consulting the patient about their beliefs.

"Patients deserve to know what their medications are made of, yet this information is rarely shared," said Sara Reed, student doctor at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and an author of the paper. "Putting the patient first means communicating with them about the medicine recommended for their care, and in some cases, prescribing an alternative option."

Common Animal-derived Medications

Heparinoids are a class of medication primarily derived from pigs. These drugs are routinely used as a blood thinner to prevent blood clots and are given in many settings, including following surgery, a heart attack, or to prevent the further development of clots.

Also common are conjugated estrogens, which may be used to treat moderate to severe hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. They are equine-derived hormones.

"Generally, patients who are prescribed various hormone treatments may want to consult their physician regarding the contents," said Mary Beth Babos, PharmD, professor of pharmacology at LMU, and lead author of the paper. "For example, there are no completely animal-free oral thyroid hormones on the market."

Existing Guidelines

While the U.S. does not have formal recommendations, other nations have published guidelines to address pharmaceuticals of animal origin. The United Kingdom's first guidelines were published in 2004 and Australia's guidelines were published in 2007 and updated again in 2019. However, guidelines from the FDA remain unavailable.

Cultural Competency

Because some patients adhere to religious doctrine that recommends avoiding certain animal byproducts, the study authors reviewed prior medical research to identify the stated positions of leadership of the major world religions. According to their findings, many religions discourage the use of products derived from animals when not required to save human life.

Jewish and Muslim leaders agree that the use of products derived from pigsnormally prohibited by both religionsare acceptable only when needed to protect human life.

The Hindu Council of Australia does not consider bovine products, including medications derived from cows, acceptable.

Sikh leaders and leaders of the Hindu Vaishnav sect object to the use of medication or surgical dressing derived from animal sources, which is waived in emergency situations or in routine treatment where no alternative exists.

Many Buddhists of the Theravada sect and Christians of the Seventh Day Adventist sect who practice vegetarianism as part of their faith may individually reject animal-derived medical products.

Leaders of the Jehovah's Witness sect emphasized that adherents to this faith would reject blood-derived products.

"In the absence of governmental guidance, we hope this research will help physicians and prescribers start the conversation with patients about whether they accept animal-derived products," said Reed. "Ultimately, it is the patient who should determine if a medication is appropriate for their lifestyle."

Explore further One in three older thyroid patients take medications that interfere with thyroid function tests

More information: Mary Beth Babos et al, Animal-derived medications: cultural considerations and available alternatives, Journal of Osteopathic Medicine (2021). Mary Beth Babos et al, Animal-derived medications: cultural considerations and available alternatives,(2021). DOI: 10.1515/jom-2020-0052

Provided by American Osteopathic Association
Pheu Thai boss strives for modern look

THAILAND: The main opposition Pheu Thai Party has pulled out all the stops to stay relevant while locking its target on emerging stronger in the next general election, according to its secretary-general Prasert Jantararuangtong.

politics

By Bangkok Post

Monday 29 March 2021, 07:48AM

Pheu Thai Party secretary-general Prasert Jantararuangtong. Photo: Bangkok Post.

Mr Prasert doesnt exactly command the poster boy image. But being secretary-general of the biggest party in the opposition bloc comes with a heavy responsibility and expectations.

In summing up his priorities, the 60-year-old Nakhon Ratchasima MP says the party needs to modernise, maintain its solidarity and work proactively in parliament. These qualities will propel the party to triumph in the next elections two years down the road.

Mr Prasert sprang to prominence when he was elected to the seat of party secretary-general in October last year when a wind of change swept through Pheu Thai.

Observers said stalwarts who sat on the party executive board were either replaced or sidelined, stirring such discontent that some members quit the party. New faces were introduced to the party and they filled senior positions.

Mr Prasert, a five-time MP and one of the founding members of Pheu Thai, does not believe confrontations will win the day. He can talk to all sides and is well-trusted by key figures in Pheu Thai.

Holding a masters degree in public administration from the National Institute of Development Administration, he was chosen at the Pheu Thais general assembly to serve as party secretary-general.

People have painted a picture of me as a protege of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Thats not the case, he said, referring to the founder of the Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT) which was dissolved over electoral fraud and was reborn as the Peoples Power Party (PPP). Again, the party was disbanded for engaging in electoral fraud and from its ashes rose Pheu Thai.

Mr Prasert said he used to work for Thaksin, now in self-imposed exile overseas, whom he respects. However, it has nothing to do with him landing the role of secretary-general.

The restructuring of the party marked by the dissolution of some committees and appointment of new ones has generally shaped up party and improved internal unity.

Living through the TRT and the PPP era, he knows the culture and inner workings of Pheu Thai. Former TRT members are involved in managing Pheu Thai and have been its strength.

The new board has worked to decentralise power in the party and sees to its systematic delegation of various tasks among 10 panels including those in charge of political activities, law, registrations and academic contributions.

Mr Prasert insisted Pheu Thai refuses to be left behind in a fast-changing world of technological disruption. The party has introduced The Change Maker project where the young generation of politicians are given space to air their political views to formulate the partys policies.

During the parliamentary recess, party members traverse the country and take stock of peoples grievances. It also sponsors forums to discuss local issues that matter to residents.

To remain connected to people, the party has offered a membership subscription costing B100 a year or B2,000 for life.

Alternatively, people can download a Pheu Thai Family application where they can participate in the partys political activities both online and offline.

Turning to parliamentary duties, Pheu Thai has shown that because it is in the opposition, it does not have to be on the defensive all the time.

A glaring example was the governments defeat in the crucial vote on Section 9 of the referendum bill in parliament last week. The opposition managed to convince some government MPs to vote on the section along its lines after the second-reading scrutiny stage.

The fine-tuning of Section 9, initiated by Pheu Thais legal expert Chusak Sirini, authorised the public to mount an effort via a mass sign-up campaign to call for a referendum to be held on critical issues, with approval from the cabinet. We are reasonable and that was enough to get the government MPs on board. Thats to be on the offensive. What goes on in parliament will be more intense, Mr Prasert.

He denied the Pheu Thai has played second fiddle to the Move Forward Party (MFP) which comes across as politically robust and forthright in pushing its agenda.

While the parties do not agree on everything, they have banded together on vital issues such as constitutional amendments. The opposition parties, including the MFP, moved in the same direction in pursuing the amendments put to parliament in a motion consisting of two bills - one sponsored by the government and the other by Pheu Thai.

The bills were supposed to have been combined into one before being voted on. However, the amendments were shot down in the third and final reading on the back of concerns by many lawmakers that pushing the amendments through would be unconstitutional. Were not subservient to the MFP, the Pheu Thai secretary-general said.

Looking to the next election, Mr Prasert said Pheu Thai is fully prepared for the contest. It has found representatives for nearly all constituencies nationwide, as required by law. The party hopes complete the process next month.

In constituencies where the party is not represented, it has begun scouting for candidates. He said the timing of the next general elections depends on how committed the government is to the charter amendments. Once the charter is fixed, the House should be dissolved so an election can take place under new rules.

With two years left of parliaments tenure, the amendments could be wrapped up in a year although some more time will be needed to rectify organic laws such as those governing the election method. Pheu Thai wants voters to be able to cast two ballots, one for selecting a party and the other for choosing a candidate, as opposed to a single ballot at present. If two-ballot election returns, the Pheu Thai stands a promising chance of winning 200 MPs or more, he said.

Pheu Thai says the single-ballot system is responsible for its failure to garner even a single MP from the party list in the previous election.
WATERLOO, Ontario, March 29, 2021--A newly-published paper represents one of the most comprehensive reviews of advancements to come in contact lenses, catapulting the commonly-used medical device to applications well beyond refractive error correction.

Contact Lens Technologies of the Future (Jones L, et al.) is now in press from Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, the peer review journal of the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA). It joins nine other papers being printed in next month's special edition as part of the BCLA-led Contact Lens Evidence-based Academic Reports (CLEAR) series.

"There are a range of diverse technologies that are shaping the future of contact lenses, in some cases already showing their potential in late-stage development initiatives and even commercially-available products," said Lyndon Jones, director of the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) and the paper's lead author. "Novel biomaterials, nanotechnology progress, unique optical designs, biosensing discoveries, antibacterial agents and even battery miniaturization and power transfer are coalescing like never before. The next several years will see incredible advancements and growth for an expanded contact lens category."

Dr. Jones is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on contact lens advancements. He holds the top contact lens ranking for 2010-2021 by Expertscape and is currently the 13th most influential optometrist researcher across all disciplines as determined by OptomRankings.com.

The extensively-referenced paper explores several areas in which innovations are anticipated to make an impact. The presence of biomarkers in the tear film will give rise to diagnostic contact lenses to help detect and monitor systemic and ocular diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and dry eye disease. Integrated circuit progress may give rise to in-lens intraocular pressure monitoring for glaucoma and even retinal vasculature imaging for early detection of diseases such as hypertension, stroke and diabetes.

Ocular disease treatment and management may likewise benefit from progress in fluid dynamics, materials science and microelectronics. Dehydration-resistant materials combined with electro-osmotic flow and reactive oxygen species-scavenging materials--when integrated into lenses--could offer alternative dry eye disease therapies. Liquid crystal cells could replicate the functionality of the pupil and iris arrangement, autonomously filtering incoming light to overcome physiological defects. Embedded, tunable spectral filtering has the potential to mitigate color vision deficiencies.

Drug delivering contact lenses may offer more accurate dosing versus traditional eye drops, increasing the residence time of a drug on the ocular surface with less exposure to elements such as blinking and non-productive conjunctival absorption, reducing the many known side effects of drugs. Delivery might come from in vitro uptake and release, incorporation of drug-containing nanoparticles into contact lens materials during the manufacturing process, and even molecular imprinting to imbue polymers with memory characteristics that aid dispensation. These techniques and related advancements will open up opportunities for contact lenses as theranostics, the multi-disciplinary medical field that combines therapeutics and diagnostics. Uniting sensing technology and microfabrication, theranostic lenses would release appropriate therapeutics based on continuous monitoring inputs, replacing more invasive procedures.

While "smart" lenses have become associated with on-eye head-up displays, the authors write that optical enhancements extend well beyond those manifestations. Customized optics could address aberrated eyes, with the front surface of a lens shaped to specifically reduce measured aberrations based on each person's unique corneal shape. Embedded microelectronics might constantly monitor corneal gaze direction, controlling optical elements to address presbyopia in real time. Myopia control lenses are slowing axial growth in children, responding to one of the most pressing issues in eye health today. And optical and digital display discoveries hold the potential for assisting people who suffer from low vision--and then extend to the general population to replace or supplement traditional screens.

The paper concludes with an overview of packaging and storage case material and design developments that may offer improved hygiene and reduced wearer-induced contamination.

Joining Dr. Jones as one of this paper's 14 authors is Chau-Minh Phan, a research assistant professor with CORE. Six other CORE scientists contributed to the BCLA CLEAR Reports series, serving as co-authors on papers regarding anatomy and physiology, complications, evidence-based practice, and the effect of lens materials and design.

###

About the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE)

The Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) was established in 1988 at the University of Waterloo's School of Optometry & Vision Science. Over the next three decades, the organization evolved from a three-person operation into a thriving hub of basic and applied research, collaborating with sponsors, agencies and academia on advanced biosciences, clinical research and education. Its uncompromising independence and results of the highest quality have been at the heart of many of the most prominent advances in eye health. Today, its approximately 50-person team serves a range of ophthalmic sectors, including medical devices, ocular pharmaceuticals, digital technology and others, with a focus on the anterior segment. For more information, please visit core.uwaterloo.ca.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Mike McDougall, APR, Fellow PRSA or Aimee J. Lewis, McDougall Communications for CORE

mike@mcdougallpr.com | +1.585.545.1815

aimee@mcdougallpr.com | +1.585.414.9838
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 13:19:19|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday met with representatives of those honored for their outstanding work in China's campaign to fight organized and gang-related crimes.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, expressed his greetings and congratulations to them. Enditem
Published on:

29 March 2021



Houses of Parliament. Credit: Pixabay Houses of Parliament. Credit: Pixabay

The past two decades have seen some of the most far-reaching changes to the UK constitution since universal suffrage. Many of the reforms have been lauded as a successful, and whilst criticism exists, there have been continued debates about the need for further reform.

UK Constitutional Reform: What Has Worked and What Hasnt?

The conference, comprised 35 speakers from more than six countries, included a number of cabinet ministers from the Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, and Johnson governments.

Speakers included Rt Hon Ruth Kelly, Rt Hon Caroline Flint, Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom, Rt Hon Robert Buckland as well as Chair of Vote Leave Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart.

Former Northern Ireland Minister of Justice Claire Sugden MLA, Former Labour ministers Tom Harris and Tony McNulty, Conservative peer and academic Philip Norton, Lord Norton of Louth were also in attendance. The conference was organised by Dr Richard Johnson, Lecturer from Queen Marys School of Politics and International Relations.

During the two day conference, Lord Chancellor Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP delivered a keynote speech on the need for balance between law and politics when it comes to the constitution. He said: As a modern Lord Chancellor my duties are to properly balance our constitutional arrangements, and so to protect the Judiciary. To maintain a clear delineation about where the power lies, it falls to me to propose reforms which, as far as possible, avoid drawing judges into the political realm and forcing them to adjudicate on moral or philosophical issues.

The best solution is to avoid getting into this situation in the first place by Parliament taking the lead and ensuring that the discretionary field of judgement is appropriately construed.

The UKs constitutional puzzle

Topics for debate included whether constitutional reforms have delivered as they should and whether they have improved governance or added further complications. At a time when there has been much debate about how unified the United Kingdom really is, the conference served as a timely reminder that constitutional questions are ever evolving.

Dr Richard Johnson, Lecturer in US Politics and Policy at Queen Mary said: What puzzles me about the constitutional reform debate in Britain is that some of the staunchest advocates of introducing more veto players into the British system identify as being on the left of politics.

The Attlee, Wilson, and Callaghan governments understood that the old British constitution, with its absence of codified checks and balances, provided enormous potential for a democratic socialist party.

Today, I hear Keir Starmer and Labour members and MPs singing the praises of the very devices which would constrain the power of a majority Labour government from implementing a socialist programme  or indeed supporting reforms that would make a majority Labour government impossible altogether.

I think what has been lost is that faith in the power of the British people to act as our constitutional safeguard.

More information

UK Constitutional Reform: What Has Worked and What Hasn't Worked was supported by Queen Mary's School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary's Mile End Institute and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Arash Ajoudani leads the Human-Robot Interfaces and physical Interaction Lab at the Italian Institute of Technology. According to the IEEE RAS experts, he contributed to the theory and technology of (ergonomic) human-robot collaboration and telerobotics.

Genova (Italy), March 29th, 2021 - The researcher Arash Ajoudani, tenured senior scientist leading the Human-Robot Interfaces and Physical Interaction (HRI) laboratory at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) in Genova (Italy), has won the prestigious IEEE RAS Early Career Award 2021: it represents the first time ever for a researcher based in Italy. The award is bestowed on individuals in the early stage of their career, who have made an identifiable contribution or contributions, which have had a major impact on the robotics and/or automation fields. Ajoudani, according to the international IEEE RAS experts, contributed "to the theory and technology of (ergonomic) human-robot collaboration and telerobotics", a field which is fundamental for making the industry more competitive and safer in the nearly future.

Ajoudani is currently recipient of a Starting grant from the European Research Council for the ERGO-Lean project, coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project SOPHIA and co-coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project CONCERT. Ajoudani has also contributed to several successful European projects just like WALKMAN, WearHap, SOMA and SoftPro. In recent years, he has won numerous international awards for his research conducted in the field of collaborative industrial robotics like the Amazon Research Awards 2019, the Solution Award 2019 (MECSPE2019) and the KUKA Innovation Award 2018. Moreover, he has also won the WeRob best poster award 2018 and the best student paper award at ROBIO 2013. Arash Ajoudani is currently serving as executive manager of the IEEE-RAS Young Reviewers' Program (YRP) and as chair and representative of the IEEE-RAS Young Professionals Committee. Ajoudani is also the author of the book "Transferring Human Impedance Regulation Skills to Robots" in the Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR), and several publications in journals, international conferences, and book chapters. The IEEE RAS Early Career Award 2021 represents an icing on the cake for Ajoudani, who has worked on European research programs finding answers to social and technological challenges of the society.

Arash Ajoudani's long way starts from his hometown Tabriz in Iran, studying mathematics and physics becoming soon interested in biomedical engineering. This aspect will lead him to the Teheran Polytechnic University and then to the Iran University of Science and Technology to earn a master's degree. Here, his thesis about the control of movements for paraplegic patients through an electrical stimulation has had a great success having helped people unable to walk to do it for their first time in life. After his studies in his home country, Ajoudani received his PhD degree in Robotics and Automation from the University of Pisa and IIT in 2014. His studies were focused on the transferring of human interaction skills to robots, in order to allow machines to perform numerous actions to support humans in daily life. These studies have played an important part in the control of prosthetic hands and those of robots, such as the WALKMAN humanoid robot. His PhD thesis was a finalist for the Georges Giralt PhD award 2015 - best European PhD in robotics.

"The IEEE RAS Early Career Award 2021 means a lot to me, not only because it deals with my current studies but because it is also related to the challenges that our society is facing to become more prosperous, in terms of productivity and workers' well-being and job satisfaction" - comments Arash Ajoudani. "I believe that industrial collaborative robots represent the future for factories, contributing to creating both agile manufacturing and safer workplaces."

The two projects supported by the European Union that Ajoudani is coordinating, ERGO-Lean and SOPHIA, are going straight on this direction.

ERGO-Lean Project was awarded an ERC-Starting Grant in 2019. The project studies the human ergonomics during complex human-robot-environment interactions, by investigating workers practices in the workplaces in order to anticipate and understand the effect of these actions in the short, middle and long term. The researchers' goal is to produce a collaborative robotics system capable of anticipating the human behaviour that will be able to intervene in order to help humans contributing to an ergonomic improvement of workplace conditions.

SOPHIA project has been funded by the European Union with 6.5 million euro in order to develop smart and socially interactive human-robot manufacturing systems. SOPHIA core intelligence will enable timely, natural, and human-in-command interactions between humans and robots on both social and physical levels, representing the new concept of socio-physical interaction. Additionally, the design and development of new wearable exoskeletons and collaborative robots with high payload and locomotion capacities are central to the mechatronics developments of the SOPHIA project. Furthermore, SOPHIA has a focus on standardization of its advanced technologies at a European level to ensure that its core technologies are "compliant by design" to standards in the field of human-robot interaction and collaboration.

Ajoudani contributes also to numerous technology transfer initiatives. The JOiiNT LAB, a joint laboratory resulting from the partnership between main innovation players in Bergamo, promoted by Intellimech a consortium of companies aiming at fostering technology transfer and creating a synergy between the world of research and industrial needs, Confindustria Bergamo, a free, non-profit association of companies that plays a representative role of the industrial and tertiary enterprises of Bergamo and its province, Kilometro Rosso Innovation District, one of the places with the highest density of innovation at European level and the University of Bergamo. Ajoudani's team will focus on the development of industry-ready controllers and interfaces for collaborative robots.

###
By Sangmi Cha

SEOUL (Reuters) - Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, slammed South Korea's president for calling the North's recent missile test "concerning" and suggesting Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington should not create hurdles for talks, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan last week, underscoring steady progress in its weapons programme and ramping up pressure on the United States.

Following the launches, South Korean President Jae-in Moon said the South, the North and the United States should make efforts to continue dialogue.

Kim Yo Jong called Moon's remarks disgraceful for agreeing with the United States, which condemned the missile test and said the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes constituted serious threats to international peace and security.

"Such illogical and brazen-faced behaviour of South Korea is exactly the same as the gangster-like logic of the U.S.," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by KCNA.

North Korea on Friday said it had launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile. U.S. President Joe Biden said the test violated U.N. Security Council resolutions, but he remained open to diplomacy with Pyongyang.

(Reporting by Sangmi Cha, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
In yet another open fissure, Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Sunday termed Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh an 'accidental Home Minister' amid the Vazegate fallout. Claiming that Deshmukh was handed the cabinet by NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar, Saamana lauded ex-NCP Home Minister RR Patil's style of functioning. Currently, all three alliance members of the MVA govt are embroiled in a blame game since Param Bir Singh's 'letter bomb' accusing Deshmukh of extortion.

Shiv Sena terms Deshmukh 'accidental HM'

Deshmukh got the post of Home Minister by accident. Jayant Patil, Dilip Valse-Patil had refused to accept the post of home minister. Then this post was handed over by Sharad Pawar to Anil Deshmukh. This post has dignity and status," quipped Saamana adding, "RR Patil's working style as the home minister is still an example today."

Casting aspersions at Deshmukh's knowledge of Vaze's actions, it also commented, "It is a matter of real investigation to find out how an API (Sachin Vaze) had so many unlimited powers and access at the police commissionerate and the home minister was not aware of it. Maharashtra government has ordered a probe by a retired High Court judge into Param Bir Singh's allegations against him. Inspite of multiple calls by BJP and Congress, NCP has stayed firm saying 'Deshmukh need not resign'

NCP: 'They should not spoil things'

Rebutting Saamana's claims, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that Sharad Pawar had always the last say in appointing ministers, reminding Sena of Pawar's decision to appoint CM Thackeray. He added that one's alliance partner should avoid such comments which 'unnecessarily spoil things'. While Congress has demanded Deshmukh's resignation, NCP has backed him blaming ex-Mumbai cops - Sachi Vaze and Param Bir Singh. Shiv Sena, on the other hand, has backed both Vaze and Param Bir Singh and often changed their stance on Deshmukh's alleged involvement.

"(Sharad) Pawar has the last word when it comes to selecting anyone from the NCP as the minister. So, when someone else speaking on this, especially someone from the MVA, they should avoid making such statements that bring their own alliance partners in a spot. Pawar, has in the past, taken such decisions to form govt, appoint someone as the CM in alliance with the Congress, appointed Dy Cms & ministers. In the situation that currently is, MVA Govt is working, someone should not unnecessarily spoil things or make things difficult," warned Ajit Pawar.

Vaze, Antilla & Mansukh Hiren

On February 25, at around 3 PM, a car (green Scorpio) laden with explosive gelatin sticks along with a threatening letter was found by Mumbai Police, outside the Ambani residence - Antilia. A primary investigation from the CCTV revealed that the car had been parked near the residence since 1 AM, intervening night on between Wednesday-Thursday. Later on March 5, Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the car in question, was found dead at the Kalwa creek - with police claiming that he committed suicide by jumping into the stream. With the deceased wife alleging murder, Maharashtra ATS probed and arrested a bookie and convicted cop Vinayak Shinde in connection with Hiren's murder.

Meanwhile, then-Mumbai API Sachin Vaze was arrested by NIA on March 20 for his alleged involvement in placing explosives in the aforementioned car and has been sent to custody till April 3, invoking UAPA against Vaze. While Vaze has been suspended again from police service, his superior - Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh has been transferred to Home Guards due to 'lapses' in the probe. He has sent an 8-page letter to CM Thackeray, HM Anil Deshmukh and Gov Koshyari alleging that Deshmukh had demanded Vaze to collect Rs 100 crores from 1750 pubs in Mumbai per month - which has been refuted by NCP.
Man Arrested on Intoxication, Drug Charges

By West Kentucky Star Staff

LYON COUNTY - A man was arrested Saturday night in Lyon County on drug and intoxication charges.The Lyon County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a report of an intoxicated man walking in the road. Deputies located the man, later identified as 34-year-old Michael Burns, on KY 730 east of Old Eddyville.Deputies described Burns as very intoxicated, and a search turned up marijuana and a smoking pipe.Burns was charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked into the Crittenden County Detention Center.At the time of this offense, Burns was out on bond for a felony indictment out of Lyon Circuit Court on drug and other charges.
India may soon have a third Covid-19 in the next few weeks with emergency use authorisation for the Russian jab Sputnik V.

We expect to get the approval in the next few weeks, said Deepak Sapra, CEO, API and pharmaceutical services, Dr Reddys Laboratories (DRL).

DRL had applied for restricted emergency use authorisation for Sputnik V in February. It has already lined up over 250 million doses of the for Indian citizens (from manufacturing partners) over the next 12 months.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has formed manufacturing tie-ups with several partners in India to make around 752 million doses of Sputnik V, for both Indian (250 million) and global markets.

Telangana-based Virchow Biotech was the latest to sign an agreement with the RDIF to produce 200 million doses. Earlier, Hetero, Gland Pharma, and Stelis Biopharma (a Strides subsidiary) had entered into agreements with the RDIF to produce 552 million doses of Sputnik V in India, cumulatively.





ALSO READ: Coronavirus vaccine: Germany reports more AstraZeneca clot cases

The expert panel advising the Indian drug regulator, according to people in the know, had asked DRL to come back with more data on safety and immunogenicity from its phase 2 and 3 studies on the Russian They said the expert panel deliberated on the application made by DRL in late February and felt that more data was required before a recommendation for approval.

The phase 3 study ended on February 21.

The firm has presented a safety profile from the phase 2 clinical study and interim data from the phase 3 study.

DRL partnered with the RDIF to conduct the clinical trials of Sputnik V and for its distribution rights in India. The vaccine underwent a bridge trial in Indian on 1,600 people.

Sputnik V has demonstrated an efficacy rate of 91.6 per cent in the interim analysis of the phase 3 clinical trial, which included the data of 19,866 volunteers in Russia, who received both first and second doses of the vaccine. Sputnik V maintained an efficacy at 91.8 per cent even among the group of 2,144 volunteers over 60 years old, DRL claimed.

The human adenoviral vector (flu virus)-based vaccine candidate is developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in and was registered in that country in August last year.

DRL would market the vaccine in India. It said it hoped to supply to both government and private market.

On the pricing front, DRL has said it was discussing the Indian situation with the RDIF. In India, vaccine makers like Serum Institute of India have announced two separate prices  one for the government and the other for the private market. RDIF had announced a global price of $10 per dose for Sputnik V earlier.
by Mathias Hariyadi

One of the terrorists who tried to blow up the cathedral belonged to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (Jad) group, famous for carrying out the attack on Jolo Cathedral in 2019. Some members of the group were arrested in Sumbawa, in the province of West Nusa Tenggara. The condemnation of President Widodo, of the Minister for Religious Affairs, of the Protestant Churches. Vicar General of Makassar: Thanks to the police commitment. It is important to support the Catholic community and "promote the spirit of fraternity among all Indonesian citizens".

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The suicide bombers of Makassar Cathedral are linked to groups of Islamic radicals in the Philippines.

Indonesian Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabow confirmed last night that at least one of the two terrorists belonged to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (Jad) group.

"The Jad group - said Prabowo  carried out the bomb attacks in Jolo, in the Philippines". The reference is to the attack of January 27, 2019, when two bombs exploded in the cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo (Sulu).

At the time, the Philippine administration had declared that an Indonesian member of the group, which is linked to ISIS, had participated in the attack. Jad, based in Indonesia, is responsible for several attacks on churches in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Yesterday's suicide attack only killed the two suspected terrorists, a man and a woman, and wounded 20 faithful, as well as the security guard who stopped the two attackers who wanted to enter the church, at the very end of the Palm Sunday service. It is unclear whether the two were husband and wife.

If the guard, Cosmas, hadn't been able to stop the attackers, it would have been a massacre. Instead, Cosmas became suspicious and headed towards the two at the entrance to the side gate of the church and the two immediately detonated the bomb contained in a pressure cooker.

Yesterday there were arrests of members of the group in Sumbawa, in the province of West Nusa Tenggara.

Condemnation

Condemnation of the attack has arrived. In a video message, President Joko Widodo said he had ordered the police to unmask the terrorist network "to its roots". He added that terrorism is a crime against humanity and is not linked to any religion. "All religions are against terror ... The state will not allow such acts of terror to happen again" (photo 3).

Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, minister for religious affairs, said this bomb attack obscures the tranquillity of social life. He hopes that the police force will reveal the mind of this hateful act as soon as possible.

The president of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), the Rev. Gomar Gultom, said this attack adds to the list of acts of violence and terror in Indonesia.

More complaints and condemnation came from various Catholic organizations such as PMKRI, Pemuda Katolik, WKRI, FMKI

The response of the archdiocese of Makassar

The archbishop of Makassar, Msgr. John Liku Adas, has so far not spoken about the attack, but the vicar general, Fr. Joni Payuk, CICM, reiterated the firm condemnation of the Christian community against this act of terror. Whatever the underlying reason, this gesture is not right.

He had words of appreciation for "the good work of the local administration, the police and the armed forces in dealing with the incident by investigating the case, carrying out searches and searches, trying to rebuild the feeling of social security in Makassar".

We also want to support the morale of our Catholic community- he added - so that it is active in promoting the spirit of fraternity among all Indonesian citizens. This is very important to ensure national unity and exclude any ideology or thought that endangers the social harmony of our society ".

According to Fr. Willem Tulak, pastor of the cathedral, there are 1,400 faithful in the city of Makassar. "80% are of Chinese descent, while the rest come from different areas and ethnic groups: Toraja, Manado, East Nusa Tenggara, Java".
UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital "We are forging a future in which no patient will ever have to leave San Antonio to receive world-innovative treatments." -- William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, President, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has broken ground and unveiled the cornerstone for the UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital, a destination center for research and treatment of cancer and other complex diseases that disproportionately impact the people of South Texas.

In a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was held virtually.

William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, president of UT Health San Antonio, welcomed academic, civic and community leaders from The University of Texas System, the city of San Antonio and Bexar County. This hospital represents an exciting day for health care in our region and carries our aspirations for UT Health San Antonio to lead a bright future propelled by science, education and clinical excellence, Dr. Henrich said. Also joining the event were leaders from University Health, UT Healths primary academic training site for more than 50 years.

The patient-centered hospital, to be built with state and private investments estimated at $430 million, will deliver the most advanced precision-based care and latest targeted therapies possible. We are forging a future in which no patient will ever have to leave San Antonio to receive world-innovative treatments, Dr. Henrich said. This project will significantly and forever change how we serve the sickest and most vulnerable populations in our area.

The eight-story, 144-bed hospital will offer specialty care in cancer, orthopedics, urology, and thoracic and bariatric surgery. Owned by The University of Texas, this new facility will be a major site for early phase clinical trials, including novel immunologic and stem cell therapies for cancer.

Forward thinking

Chancellor James B. Milliken; John M. Zerwas, MD, executive vice chancellor for health affairs; and James C. Rad Weaver, vice chairman of the Board of Regents, represented The University of Texas System. In November 2019, the Board of Regents approved $80 million in Permanent University Fund Bond Proceeds for the project. The hospital is included in the UT Systems Capital Improvement Program.

As a forward-thinking academic medical center, UT Health San Antonio will be the first in the region to leverage its vital academic, research and patient care missions to meet the growing demand for inpatient care of the most complex diseases impacting this diverse community, Chancellor Milliken said.

This new hospital will offer access to multispecialty services not available today, Dr. Zerwas said. Robust clinical trials will provide novel treatments and care options to families in their greatest hour of need. Predicting, preventing, treating and curing disease precisely will be the focus of the world-class physicians and other care providers who will serve here.

As a lifelong San Antonian, I firmly believe the people of our city deserve the very best health care that can be offered and that we should not have to seek this care outside of our city, Regent Weaver said. I applaud UT Health San Antonios leaders for their visionary actions to build this best-in-class hospital in our own city.

Additional resident physicians

David Zachry, chairman of the UT Health San Antonio Development Board, described the hospitals impact on health care education.

This new hospital will allow San Antonio to attract more than 50 new medical residents, many of whom will choose to stay in our community to raise their families and provide needed medical specialty care to our patients, said Mr. Zachry, president and CEO of Zachry Construction Corp. San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the United States, and this is an important and needed investment for everyone who lives and works in our wonderful city.

Robert A. Hromas, MD, FACP, dean of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at UT Health San Antonio, praised the innovation in medical education, clinical care and research that the new hospital will foster.

This new environment is being carefully designed to promote interprofessional collaboration as we provide exceptional care to patients and their families, Dr. Hromas said. This hospital is a crucial addition to our academic mission of producing new physicians and other health care providers. The hospital will help accelerate discoveries, validated in clinical trials, that bring improvements to clinical practice, resulting in the comprehensive advanced care we provide patients.

Cancer care and research

The hospital will be connected by a pedestrian sky bridge to the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center. The National Cancer Institute this year renewed its designation of the Mays Cancer Center as one of the elite cancer centers in the nation and one of only four NCI-designated Cancer Centers in Texas.

The emphasis on cancer care and research, symbolized by the sky bridge, will be strong. NCI-designated Cancer Centers with superior access to state-of-the-art hospital care are the nations leaders in inpatient Phase I clinical trials of cellular-based therapies and surgical technologies, said Ruben Mesa, MD, FACP, executive director of the Mays Cancer Center. In addition, the seamless relationship between our outpatient clinics and inpatient hospital care will greatly benefit our patients.

The hospital will also expand UT Health San Antonios partnership with University Health. UT Health San Antonio is working with University Health to form a top-tier integrated health delivery system to improve care throughout Bexar County. The new hospital will be complementary to existing programs at University Hospital, avoiding duplication of services.

Well-integrated health network

We are maturing our collaborative relationship with University Health into a well-integrated and aligned health network that can respond to San Antonios changing health care environment by providing high-quality, cost-efficient health care, Dr. Hromas said. We will continue to address inpatient demand, focus on specialized services needed by our diverse population, and design the future of health care for San Antonio and far beyond.

Our goal is to build upon our long and productive history of collaboration, said George B. Hernandez Jr., president and CEO of University Health. Working together, we can create a healthier community, save and change lives, and lay a strong foundation for the next generation.

Bexar County Judge Nelson W. Wolff praised the unparalleled effort of University Health and UT Health San Antonio in managing the increasing health care needs of the region  collaboration that is setting the partners collective work apart from other cities.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the city will benefit by the hospital adding 800 high-quality jobs to the region. Dr. Henrich expressed gratitude to the San Antonio Medical Foundation, which stewards the Medical Center, for the gift of the site, 12.2 acres of land bordered by Ewing Halsell Drive, Wurzbach Road and Floyd Curl Drive.

Personalized medicine

The hospital raises the curtain on a new era of precision, personalized medicine based on innovative research conducted by San Antonians for San Antonians.

UT Health San Antonio will bring the expertise of 900 faculty specialists and subspecialists to serve patients and their families at this new facility. Patient care will be coordinated within a single, secure electronic medical record available anywhere 24/7.

This investment is about far more than a new brick-and-mortar facility, Dr. Henrich said. This project will improve the way we serve our patients. We are proud to make this investment in our patients, our people and our community.

The hospital design is 448,819 gross square feet and includes a 673-car parking garage and 200- car surface parking lot. EYP has been contracted to perform the architectural and engineering services, and the construction manager-at-risk is Vaughn Construction.

Construction is beginning this spring and is expected to be completed in 2024.

The Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is named for Texas philanthropists Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long. The school is the largest educator of physicians in South Texas, many of whom remain in San Antonio and the region to practice medicine. The school teaches more than 900 students and trains 800 residents each year. As a beacon of multicultural sensitivity, the school annually exceeds the national medical school average of Hispanic students enrolled. The schools clinical practice is the largest multidisciplinary medical group in South Texas with 850 physicians in more than 100 specialties. The school has a highly productive research enterprise where world leaders in Alzheimers disease, diabetes, cancer, aging, heart disease, kidney disease and many other fields are translating molecular discoveries into new therapies. The Long School of Medicine is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center known for prolific clinical trials and drug development programs, as well as a world-renowned center for aging and related diseases.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also referred to as UT Health San Antonio, is one of the countrys leading health sciences universities and is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. With missions of teaching, research, patient care and community engagement, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have graduated more than 37,000 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields, and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways We make lives better, visit http://www.uthscsa.edu.

Stay connected with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

To see how we are battling COVID-19, read inspiring stories on Impact.

Srinagar, March 29 : A Municipal Councillor and a police constable were killed in an attack by LeT terrorists at Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Monday, police said.

Police said that two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were behind the attack, and four SPOs have been suspended for not retaliating properly. Preliminary investigation indicated that local terrorist Mudasir Pandit of proscribed terror outfit LeT along with a foreign terrorist were involved in the said attack, but, further probes are underway.

According to police, information was received about a terror incident near the Sub District Hospital, Sopore and senior police and paramilitary officers, along with their teams, immediately reached the spot.

Preliminary investigation revealed that terrorists had fired indiscriminately upon Municipal Councillors near Lone Building opposite the hospital, resulting in injuries to two councillors, Reyaz Ahmad Pir and Shams-ud-din Pir, and policeman Shafqat Nazir.

Reyaz Ahmad and Nazir succumbed to their injuries, while the other injured councillor has been shifted to hospital for treatment.

Post the terror attack, IGP, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar visited Sopore and inspected the scene. Thereafter, he chaired a security review meeting with Commander, 5 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, CRPF and the Senior Superintendent of Police, Sopore to discuss the attack and necessary security measures to counter such terrorist attacks.

The IGP urged upon the participating officers that it is of crucial importance to enhance security of vulnerable persons and to take all necessary measures to thwart the nefarious designs of terrorists.

He also took serious note of the poor and inappropriate retaliation by the PSOs of protected persons present on spot and directed the Sopore police chief to put four PSOs under suspension.

Police said cordon and search operation at various locations is going on to nab the assailants.
Over the pandemic year, people took to appreciating the renewable delights of this ragged and tortured planet like never before. Many national parks saw record crowds in 2020, and 8 million more Americans went hiking than in the year before.

In the last presidency we saw the largest rollback of federal land protection in the nations history. And the Trump administration opened the largest national forest, the Tongass in Alaska, to industrial logging.

Building a fearsome lobby for the planet often starts with getting religion. Its not unlike falling in love. Nearly everyone who is passionate about the outdoors has a kind of origin story  seeing a heron take flight on a misty dawn, or the first pine sapling poking through the last snow of winter.

Its easy to assume these moments are limited to people of certain political leanings. Not so. Consider the case of Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, as red-state conservative as they come. After hiking in Idaho, in 2014 he described a sort of religious experience.

The streams, the lakes, the forests are His cathedral, said Simpson, and you dont desecrate a cathedral, you preserve it.

Simpson came by a stream in his states Sawtooth Range and saw a 3-foot-long salmon that had made the 870-mile round trip to the ocean and back. These are the most incredible creatures I think God has created, recalled the congressman. We shouldnt mess with it.

Hes promoting a $33 billion proposal to breach four dams between Idaho and the Pacific Ocean and let the Snake River run free into the Columbia and on to the sea.

It is an audacious plan to save fish that are sacred to the Nez Perce tribe and the regional identity of the Pacific Northwest, and it may just have a fighting chance of passage.

Anyone new to the trails that wind through the Sonoran Desert likely has had a moment similar to Simpsons while watching the sun dip behind a saguaro cactus. Saguaros have been ravaged by wildfires.

Help is on the way. The confirmation of former Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary, the first Native American to hold that position, promises to bring a fierce Indigenous voice to the battle.

Haaland, a 35th-generation New Mexican, told me about the joy she felt hiking in Yosemite National Park. Now shes overseeing that park, and every other square foot of the 450 million acres in Interiors public land domain. Shell also be trying to shape President Joe Bidens Climate Conservation Corps, putting people to work on projects to mitigate climate change.

Much harder will be shutting down drilling on public lands. The emissions from these operations are responsible for nearly 25% of the carbon put out by the United States. That means the American public, the owner of those lands, is complicit in ultimately destroying much of what makes them so life-affirming.

As a candidate, Biden promised to phase out drilling on public lands. As president, hes been largely silent. The growing constituency of earth defenders should demand that the promise be kept.

We need these places for sanity and survival. The world is emptier, harder to love and harder to live in without salmon, saguaros and the other living things under our stewardship.

TIMOTHY EGAN writes for The New York Times.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
analysis

Critiques of globalisation are nothing new. But Israeli author Nadav Eyal's bestseller, 'Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization', is striking a chord worldwide as realisation grows that the current global order is unsustainable. In a Daily Maverick webinar, Eyal unpacked some key insights.

Revolt is the new status quo. That is the central thesis of Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal's new book, Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization, in which he uses a succession of vignettes to tell the story of a world in the throes of a cultural crisis.

In a Daily Maverick webinar hosted by journalist Marianne Thamm on Thursday, Eyal suggested that the period following World War 2 was one of unusual global consensus after the devastation of that conflict. A man who had served in the Nazi Wehrmacht and Eyal's own grandfather - who lost his family in the Holocaust - would have felt similarly about politics, said Eyal: that "the time was now for caution".

Extremist nationalist candidates did not meet with success in the west at this time due to this cautious spirit, which also allowed international institutions to flourish. It was in this climate, said Eyal, that governments could come together and regulate the...
United Nations, March 30 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for urgent, bold measures to address an emerging debt crisis caused largely by Covid-19.

"We are on the verge of a debt crisis. Today's meeting, convened with our partners, the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica, is a call for urgent action," he told a high-level event on debt and liquidity, Xinhua news agency reported.

Six countries have already defaulted. One-third of emerging market economies are at high risk of fiscal crisis. And the situation is even worse for least-developed and low-income countries. They face a painfully slow recovery that will put the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement completely out of reach, he warned.

Developing countries need access to additional liquidity to respond to the pandemic and to invest in recovery. The international community must urgently provide the necessary support to all developing countries in need, said Guterres.

From the start of the pandemic, the United Nations has advocated for a three-phase approach to debt: a moratorium on debt payments, targeted debt relief, reforms to the international debt architecture, he noted.

He welcomed the steps that have been taken, including fresh financing by international financial institutions, the Debt Service Suspension Initiative of the Group of 20, and the Common Framework for Debt Treatments, but said they are far from enough.

"I am, therefore, calling for much bolder and more ambitious measures.

"We strongly believe that the Debt Service Suspension Initiative must be extended into 2022, and made also available to highly indebted, vulnerable middle-income countries that request it.
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President Bidens first formal press conference is in the books, and it was deeply embarrassing to anyone who thinks the medias job is to hold presidents accountable.

Taxpayer-enabled PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor was the worst. She complimented the president, saying: Youve said over and over again that immigrants shouldnt come to this country right now; this isnt 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 are trusting you with unaccompanied minors.

Mr. President, youre a decency magnet! Biden replied: Well, look, I guess I should be flattered people are coming because Im the nice guy. Thats the reason why its happening.

One overarching theme of the reporters Team Biden hand-picked was their lust for the destruction of the filibuster and their channeling power-hungry leftists such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who want a big agenda.

Alcindor followed up by noting that Zeke Miller of the Associated Press began the event by vaguely asking how far Biden is willing to go to override Republicans (hint, hint). She mentioned immigration: (I)mmigration is a big issue, of course, when it  related to the filibuster, but theres also Republicans who are passing bill after bill trying to restrict voting rights, Chuck Schumer calling it an existential threat to democracy. Why not back a filibuster rule that at least gets around issues, including voting rights or immigration?

Washington Post reporter Seung Min Kim echoed: To follow up on the filibuster: So, do you believe it should take 60 votes to end a filibuster on legislation or 51?

CBS News reporter Nancy Cordes repeated that Republicans want to restrict voting for young people and minorities and asked, Is there anything else you can do about it besides passing legislation?

CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins didnt rip into Biden like Jim Acosta. She doubled down on crushing the filibuster. At John Lewis funeral, President Barack Obama said he believed the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Do you agree? she asked. Biden said yes. She added, Why not abolish it if its a relic of the Jim Crow era?

Was it racist when Obama or Biden filibustered? No one asked.

How is it fair or factual to claim that Republican bills that would require voters to show voter ID at the polls or a signature verification for a mail-in ballot are relics of Jim Crow? CNN claims to be Facts First? This is a pants-on-fire lie.

The other dominant issue was immigration. ABC News Cecilia Vega channeled the story of a 9-year-old immigrant being sent to America by his mother. (Theres no criticism of the mother.) She lectured Biden by noting that unaccompanied minors are sleeping on floors.

Janet Rodriguez with Univision, which is both a TV network and an immigration advocacy group, demanded to know when all these shameless border crossers are going to get a smoother entry. When can we expect your promise of things getting better with contacting and expediency and processing? she asked.

To her credit, NBCs Kristen Welker asked when Biden will allow the press inside the overcrowded facilities for unaccompanied minors, and she was denied a serious answer. There were serious questions about Afghanistan and China and North Korea.

But overall, there were no questions allowed from outside the liberal-media bubble. Peter Doocy of Fox News was snubbed. It all felt carefully scripted, as Biden seemed to be reading some answers from a notebook. Most reporters pushed the president to be more partisan, more radical, to defeat allegedly racist, democracy-destroying, restrictive Republicans. It felt much more like a cozy Democratic strategy session than a press conference.

TIM GRAHAM is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about him and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.
After few hours of waiting for him and his entourage at the entry point on the bridge by senior government officials, citizens, students as well as well-wishers, by almost 12:25, the convey of the president arrived in Bopolu.

He was met on arrival by traditional leaders, mask dangers, chiefs, elders, student groups, and other people, the president disembarked from his vehicle to the reception of the hot and scorching sun.

Upon disembarking from his well Air conditioned vehicle and his wife, the Chief Traditional leader of the county presented him with a white chicken, symbolizing pure heart for him. Later, a calabash with some rice along with cola nuts, were presented to him by the women group leader.

Seeing the huge crowd, he decided to walk for nearly five minutes under the sun. It looked like he did not care for the sun, but decided to greet women groups, youth groups, chiefs and senior government officers. He moved to the site of the newly constructed 100 bedroom hospital. The hospital is being constructed by the United Arab Emirates.

While walking, dozens of children, men and women, even mask dancers took to their heals to see President George Weah. Some well-wishers climbed into nearby trees to get a clearer view of him.

Upon arrival at the construction site, he was taken on a guarded tour by the team leader and later he expressed happiness over the level of work done thus far.

After the inspection, the Chief Medical Officer for Gbarpolu, Musa Zuanah, said he was happy for such hospital.

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"I am happy for this hospital here. This will help this region. Right now, we have over fifty bedroom hospital here, but it cannot take care of the people in this region" the Gbarpolu Chief media Officer said who his face full with joy.

Citizens of the town said due to the level of work done by the president, they have decided to support him comes 2023.

Students appreciate Weah:

"We the students here want to say thanks to him for taking care of this country. He is doing well for Liberia and we pray for him. We want to also thank him for this place" Massa Kanneh, a fourth grade student said.

Another one, Edith Koiwood said, "Today, I am happy to see the president come here. I want to see him because this will be the first time for me to see him. I hope he can stay here with us for small time."

TOWN HALL MEETING:

In a TOWN hall meeting in BOPOLU, president Weah said the people of the city were lucky adding * we will never leave you."

He called on residents to avoid protest saying it is expensive.

President Weah said, "Avoid protest. It will not help you.
A hoon in a Ford Falcon has crashed into the back of a ute on a busy highway, sending both cars spinning across lanes and debris flying across the road.

Footage posted to Dash Camera Owners Australia shows the ute travelling northbound on the M1 at Beenleigh, in Brisbane's southern outskirts, just after 9am on Thursday.

The lime green Ford races up behind the ute at high speeds and makes a last-ditch attempt to swerve into the left lane.

But the attempt to navigate around the vehicle fails and the sedan ends up ploughing into the back of the ute on the highway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The ute was left spinning on its axis, while the Ford is slung into the left roadside barrier before bouncing off and sliding to the opposite side of the road.

A horror crash unfolded on the M1 in Beenleigh on Thursday after a Fold Falcon rear-ended a ute (pictured moments before the collision)

The ute appeared virtually undamaged while the Ford's back door and front bumper were ripped off during the impact.

The driver travelling behind them, who captured the footage, pulled over immediately to contact emergency services.

'Copy Stu, can you call the police? There has been a big accident on Motorway one, exit 34,' he says over the radio.

The driver said paramedics rushed to the scene, but fortunately no one was hurt.

'Everyone was ok, the green car driver was not looking too good but [the driver] was sitting up with the ambulance staff,' he said.

The Ford Falcon tried to swerve into the left lane too lane and smashed into the back of the ute

The force of the impact drove the ute's tray into the rear driver's side door and sent both cars spinning across multiple lanes

'[It] was his stupid fault anyway. Id like to know what he was thinking.'

Others agreed, with many commending the ute driver for being fast to react after being hit.

'Nice recovery by the Ute driver 9.5/10, ' one social media user commented.

Another added: 'Amazing control by the ute driver!!! Hope that spastic in the green cars a little worse for wear!'

'Damn, ute driver was lucky it didn't roll. Well recovered, kept their wits about them,' a third said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Belarusian authorities have "escalated" repression against independent media over the past five months, arbitrarily detaining and beating journalists, imposing fines and prison sentences on politically motivated charges, revoking their media credentials, and raiding their homes and offices.

The crackdown "is part of the government's efforts to silence media reporting on human rights violations and peaceful, countrywide protests" that have rocked the country in the wake of an August election, the New York-based human rights watchdog said in a report published on March 29.

The Belarusian opposition and the West say the vote that authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed extended his iron-fisted rule for a sixth term was rigged, and are demanding fair elections and justice for abuses since the vote.

Since protests erupted, more than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten, several killed, and there have been widespread reports of torture, while most the opposition leadership has been arrested or forced into exile.

"Instead of ensuring justice for sweeping police brutality and other abuses, Belarusian authorities are prosecuting journalists reporting on sensitive issues," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW.

"The authorities should guarantee that all journalists in Belarus are able to carry out their work without fear of reprisals and without abusive restrictions," Williamson added.

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.

Between September and March, the authorities opened at least 18 criminal cases against journalists, "apparently in reprisal for their work," HRW said.

Three of them were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to two years, while seven others are awaiting trial behind bars on criminal charges of violating public order, tax evasion, and interfering with police work. One journalist accused of insulting the president is under house arrest.

The authorities "coerced lawyers representing many of these journalists into signing vaguely worded nondisclosure agreements, barring them from sharing any information about their clients' cases," HRW said, adding that several lawyers who refused to sign have faced disbarment.

In some criminal cases involving "bogus" charges, the authorities have designated journalists as witnesses and subjected them to "police and judicial harassment," according to the watchdog.

"The journalists reported being summoned for police questioning, threatened with criminal charges, and subjected to home and office searches and seizure of their equipment," HRW said, adding that at least one newspaper "had to temporarily close due to a threat of criminal prosecution, raids, and confiscated equipment."

Belarusian authorities "wrongly equate reporting on unauthorized demonstrations with participation in them, particularly if the reporter works for an outlet that the authorities refuse to grant accreditation," HRW said.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said that about 400 journalists had been detained on administrative charges since August.

At least 100 of them were given short administrative jail terms since December, while others were fined on administrative charges of "violating the rules on mass gatherings," "disobeying the police," and "violating the laws on mass media."

HRW quoted several journalists as saying they were brutally beaten during their detention, denied medical assistance, and held in poor conditions. Some had their equipment destroyed.

It said the authorities deported at least two journalists with Russian citizenship in recent months, apparently in retaliation for their work in Belarus, and at least three journalists who were threatened with having custody of their children taken away fled the country with their families.

At least one media outlet was "unjustly" stripped of its media credentials for violating the media law, and state-owned printing houses refused to print at least five independent newspapers according to HRW.

In October, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry adopted new rules on foreign media accreditation in the country, "canceling all existing accreditations and making the accreditation process significantly more complicated," it said.
How does nature renew itself?

Throughout the history of our planet, ecosystems have been destroyed and then reclaimed by nature. However, the situation has now worsened. Rainforests are disappearing at an alarming speed and with massive clearcutting. The rate at which living beings are dying out has tripled in the past hundred years. "In the light of these developments, we must ask ourselves whether we are prepared for the complex regeneration of our planet," says Nico Bluthgen, Professor of Ecological Networks at TU Darmstadt and head of the consortium. "Because only complex ecosystems are ultimately resilient. Biodiversity alone is not enough. The diverse and close-knit relationships within an ecosystem are just as important. And we don't know how or at what speed nature makes these relationships. "

Bluthgen and 24 other scientists from 12 universities and foundations are therefore to spend the next four to eight years investigating the natural regeneration of the Choco lowland rainforest in Ecuador. Which species will be the first to come back? How long will the natural regeneration take? Will the old biodiversity be regained? Will all the complex interactions be re-established? How close will the new rainforest come to the functionality of the old one? Bluthgen and the teams are not concerned with merely producing an inventory, but want to measure the complexity in the depths of the resurgent ecosystem.

To this end, the consortium will collaborate with the non-profit foundation Fundacion Jocotoco and two universities in Ecuador. The managing director of the foundation, evolutionary biologist Martin Schaefer, designed the project together with Bluthgen, and the two are also managing it. Fundacion Jocotoco has been buying land in the region for 20 years. Many areas were used as pasture, others for cocoa farming. Some areas have been regenerating for decades without external intervention, while others are only just beginning.

The researchers will look at important processes: the relationships between predators and prey, between trees and pollinators, between mammals, seeds and dung beetles, and between ants, termites and deadwood - to name but a few. These processes play a crucial role in the natural regeneration of the forest. Part of the funding will also go towards training Ecuadorian students and the establishment of local structures which can then be used permanently.

Bluthgen and the teams will also use targeted disturbance experiments to test how the newly-created networks stabilise the ecosystem. "We won't be looking only at the complexity itself, but at the interplay between the networks and the recovery process after a small-scale disruption. It is a look at resilience on two scales: the regeneration of entire forest areas, and the repair within the forest." The scientists are urging for speed: "Ultimately, our own survival depends on the survival of the global ecosystems. We need more information if we want to strengthen the natural regeneration process in a targeted manner."

###

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Nico Bluthgen

Ecological Networks Lab

Department of Biology

Technical University of Darmstadt

bluethgen@bio.tu-darmstadt.de

Tel. +49 6151 16 - 75411

About TU Darmstadt

The Technical University (TU) of Darmstadt is one of Germany's leading technical universities. TU Darmstadt incorporates diverse science cultures to create its characteristic profile. The focus is set on engineering and natural sciences, which cooperate closely with outstanding humanities and social sciences. Three research fields shape the profile of TU Darmstadt: I+I (Information and Intelligence), E+E (Energy and Environment) and M+M (Matter and Materials). We dynamically develop our portfolio of research and teaching, innovation and transfer, in order to continue opening up important opportunities for the future of society. Our 312 professors, about 4,500 scientific and administrative employees and about 25,400 students devote their talents and best efforts to this goal. In the Unite! network, which unites universities from seven European countries, the TU Darmstadt is promoting the idea of the European university. Together with Goethe University Frankfurt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, TU Darmstadt has formed the strategic Rhine-Main Universities alliance. http://www. tu-darmstadt. de

MI-No. 21e/2021, Hildegard Kaulen

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
After spending 28 years housed in a Presbyterian pastors disused private bathroom, a Warkworth foodbank has finally relocated to a dedicated storage facility.

Warkworth Christian Foodlink moved into its new 29 square metre building this month in the grounds of

Mahurangi Presbyterian Church. Foodlink is a combined effort by local churches to supply food to struggling families.

The new building features shelving for food, a fridge, freezer and space to assemble food parcels. ... read more
He scrabbled in the vacuum of Czechoslovakia's postcommunist, early 1990s with photocopiers and office supplies. He rose to the moneyed heights of the Czech business world, becoming the country's wealthiest businessman, a media magnate, publicity-shy philanthropist, and government whisperer.



Petr Kellner, who died over the weekend in a helicopter crash on a ski trip in Alaska, was both admired and feared, as his company PPF Group morphed into a financial behemoth with holdings ranging from insurance to real estate to telecommunications, from Central Europe to China and beyond.



Bloomberg put his wealth at $15.7 billion, Forbes at $17.5 billion.



U.S. authorities say, for the moment, that there is nothing to suggest anything other than an accident -- possibly human error, possibly mechanical problems. Federal aviation officials and state police are still investigating. Four other people including the pilot also died in the incident.



Kellner's death reverberated in the Czech Republic, where the reports led newscasts and the top of newspaper websites all day on March 29, and throughout much of Central Europe.



Here's a quick look at who Kellner was.



Privatization



Trained in economics, Kellner, 56, cut his capitalist teeth after the 1989 Velvet Revolution that brought an end to communism in the country. His official biography says that, for several years, he worked as an office supply salesman, including in the import and servicing of photocopiers.



He also garnered sufficient financial capital, and business connections, to start an investment fund to invest in the state assets being privatized by the postcommunist government through a "voucher-for-shares" scheme.



The Prvni Privatizacni Fond (PPF) became his main investment vehicle, buying stock and shares in more than 200 enterprises, and later acquiring a 20 percent stake in the country's largest insurer, Ceska Pojistovna.

PPF propelled Kellner on a yearslong buying spree of assets not only in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, after the Czechoslovak breakup, but in other Central and Eastern European countries. PPF Group's holdings grew to include biotechnology, media broadcasting, real estate, banking, and consumer finance. The group is a major player in Russia's home lending industry, and has also invested in Russia's booming agriculture and farming industry.



A 2007 deal between Ceska Pojistovna and Italy's Generali created an insurance giant for Central and Eastern Europe, adding further to Kellner's fortune when he exited the partnership in 2012 for 2.5 billion euros (US$2.03 billion)



Media Magnate



PPF Group's telecom holdings include majority ownership of the O2 cell phone and Internet operations in the Czech Republic in 2014. In 2018, the company closed on a 2.8 billion-euro purchase of the telecom assets (US$2.28 billion) of Norwegian-owned Telenor located in Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Serbia.



But it was his holdings of media and TV companies that garnered not only profits but also scrutiny. In 2004, PPF Group restructured the largest domestic Czech television channel, TV Nova, and then sold it to Central European Media Enterprises, a U.S.-based holding company known as CME. Kellner later joined the company's board.

Over the next decade, CME bought -- and sold -- media and distribution companies in Romania. And in 2019, PPF Group said it would buy out the other shareholders in CME -- including U.S. media giant Time Warner -- to become CME's sole owner, a deal estimated to be valued at $2.1 billion.



The company's media operations now cover over five European countries, with more than 30 TV channels, which PPF says reach over 45 million viewers. The company also has four radio stations in Bulgaria.



The CME purchase by Kellner's group, and the larger trend of independent news media groups being bought or controlled by powerful business interests, prompted a Czech media watchdog group to issue a public warning.



"Recent years have shown that the situation where the largest entrepreneurs and their groups buy the most influential media in the country fundamentally undermines confidence in their independence and puts pressure on the journalists themselves," the Endowment Fund for Independent Journalism said in 2019. "Petr Kellner's latest transaction continues on this path."



A Czech In China



One of PPF Group's biggest profit-making engines has been one of its earliest investments: the consumer lending division, Home Credit.



In the late 1990s, Kellner used Home Credit to buy up banks in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and then later expanded into Russia, where it quickly gained a dominant position, focusing on quick, uncomplicated consumer lending.



Two years after first testing the water in China, Home Credit in 2010 became that country's first fully-licensed foreign consumer lender, harnessing the country's economic growth and Chinese consumers' appetite for everything from mortgages and easy retail loans on things like cell phones, cars, or home computers. The strategy has paid off, making Home Credit a major source of value for PPF Group overall.



According to a 2019 report by the Czech online news site Aktualne.cz, Home Credit has lent about 300 billion Czech crowns (US$13 billion) in China since first entering the market.



Home Credit's push into China hit major road bumps in late 2019 and 2020 when the country, and consumers, went into lockdown, amid the government's efforts to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic.



Back home, PPF Group's Chinese investments are reflected in Kellner's support for closer Czech ties with China. He has accompanied President Milos Zeman on business junkets to China, something that has drawn controversy in some Czech political circles.



In 2019, Aktualne.cz reported that Home Credit had secretly hired a public relations company to burnish China's image within the Czech Republic.



The company, and Kellner, were battered by criticism from liberal Czech lawmakers, who are sympathetic to Taiwan's fights with Beijing and opposed to China's heavy-handed Communism. Home Credit officials later said the goal of the campaign was merely to "weaken extreme positions in the public sphere" about business and life in China.



PPF's Future



The Czech Republic's most prominent political figures, including Zeman and Prime Minister Andrej Babis, publicly mourned the news of Kellner's death.



Investors and analysts meanwhile turned to the question of what Kellner's death would mean for the future of PPF Group, of which he held 99 percent ownership.

Home Credit had been planning to go public through an initial public offering in Hong Kong, plans that were already shelved due to the pandemic. PPF Group earlier this year indicated it was looking to consolidate some of its European banking operations and its digital start-up bank Air Bank.



Among those who analysts say are contenders to take the leadership of PPF Group are Jean-Pascal Duvieusart, who is CEO of Home Credit, and, along with Ladislav Bartonicek, is the other holder of outstanding shares not held by Kellner.



In a statement, PPF Group, which is now formally headquartered in the Netherlands, expressed "deepest grief" at the death of its founder.



"His professional life was known for his incredible work ethic and creativity, but his private life belonged to his family," the company said.



Kellner was well known for shunning publicity and gave few media interviews over the years. He and his family had a well-known philanthropic foundation that donated millions for Czech educational causes.



In the company's most recent annual report, Kellner offered his own musings about his company, and the previous year, when the Czech Republic, and the rest of the world, was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.



"We know that every crisis is also an opportunity, and that problems are there to be confronted and resolved. Life is what we make of it. What our work brings to others. The real and tangible outcomes we can see behind us indicate what lies ahead," he said in the 2019 report.
Deliveroo has slashed 1billion off its valuation as it announces it will price shares towards the bottom of its price range due to 'volatile' market conditions.

It comes after a week in which a raft of leading fund managers said they will reject the listing  which could be the UK's biggest for a decade  amid concerns over workers' rights.

The takeaway delivery firm is set to announce its final pricing on Wednesday morning but has narrowed its share price range to between 3.90 and 4.10 per share.

Deliveroo is set to confirm its float offer price on Wednesday (Mikael Buck/Deliveroo/PA)

Deliveroo is allowing anyone to apply to buy shares in multiples of 250 in a deal that is expected to make the company's founder Will Shu, 41, who was also its first delivery rider, approaching 500million.

Last week, the company said it intended to offer a range of between 3.90 and 4.60 per share, which could have potentially valued the business up to 8.8 billion.

It said it now expects it will be valued at between 7.6 billion and 7.85 billion.

The decision to offer towards the end of its price range comes after a number of US tech stocks fell below their issue prices after initial public offerings (IPOs) in recent weeks.

A Deliveroo spokesman said: 'Deliveroo has received very significant demand from institutions across the globe.

The banker set to make 500M from getting on his bike The Deliveroo launch on the London Stock Exchange is set to make its geeky founder Will Shu as much as 430million. His idea was born while he worked for JP Morgan in Canary Wharf. The food obsessed 41-year-old said he wandered around the financial district at night during long shifts wanting restaurant food, but always ended up going to Tesco, the only thing left open. He then started the business with a tech friend, who helped him build the app in 2013, and they set up in a 'death trap' office in Marylebone shared with a company called ISIS and cable channel Gem TV (pictured). The laid back and shy businessman was also known for his scruffy clothes. One colleague said: 'He may have been the only founder who pitched us wearing shorts. 'He wore shorts for the first four years I worked with him, regardless of the weather or the occasion.' Deliveroo will sell around 1bn of new shares next week. Mr Shu, and his family who also backed it at the beginning, could now be worth 550m. Advertisement

'The deal is covered multiple times throughout the range, led by three highly respected anchor investors.

'Given volatile global market conditions for IPOs, Deliveroo is choosing to price responsibly within the initial range and at an entry point that maximises long-term value for our new institutional and retail investors.'

Last week, some of the UK's largest fund managers, including Legal & General and Aviva, said they would reject the flotation, highlighting issues related to its business model, workers' rights, regulatory concerns and the company's recent losses.

By Friday, GIM, Aberdeen Standard, Aviva Investors, BMO Global, CCLA and M&G had all said they do not plan to invest in the takeaway delivery operator.

For all the excitement about Deliveroo, the fact remains that the company has yet to turn a profit  even during lockdown.

But that hasn't stopped private money from pouring in, however, with the company raising more than 1billion in recent years.

Andrew Millington, head of UK Equities at Aberdeen Standard, told the BBC's Today programme that the conditions for Deliveroo staff is considered a 'red flag', adding: 'We wouldn't be comfortable that the way in which its workforce is employed is sustainable.'

He said they had recently sold off shares in Boohoo after it emerged their suppliers were using sweatshops in Leicester during lockdown.

David Cumming, chief investment officer at Aviva, told the Today programme that social responsibilities are now taken 'a lot more seriously' by investors.

He said: 'A lot of employers could make a massive difference to workers' lives if they guaranteed working hours or a living wage, and how companies behave is becoming more important.'

Graft: Deliveroo founder Will Shu worked as the company's first delivery driver to ensure he knew exactly what people wanted from his company - and is set to make millions from the float

Deliveroo says its business model gives riders 'freedom' to choose their hours, but that also means that they are self-employed and not entitled to the minimum wage from the company, or holiday and sick pay.

The business, one of many using this model, is facing court action from staff, which could change the rights of staff.

Last week Uber announced its UK drivers would become its first globally to be paid both a minimum wage and holiday pay.

Uber will also offer drivers paid holiday time and enrol them into a pension plan as they become classified as workers, not independent contractors.

Deliveroo said last week it is targeting a valuation between 7.6 bn and 8.8 bn in the London Stock Exchange listing but has since lowered its target to between 7.6 bn and 7.85 bn

The announcement followed a ruling by the Supreme Court last month that Uber drivers were entitled to the benefits.

A number of the investors who said they will not buy shares have also raised concerns over the company's proposed shareholder structure.

Deliveroo has said it plans a share structure which will mean that votes by its founder, Will Shu, will be worth 20 times more per share than other investors when the firm takes votes on major decisions.

The move will give Mr Shu, who founded the business in London in 2013, more than 50 per cent of shareholder voting rights.

L&G IM raised concerns over this 'unequal voting structure'.

The fund manager said: 'It is important to protect minority and end-investors against potential poor management behaviour, that could lead to value destruction and avoidable investor loss.'

As one of the best-known takeaway apps in the UK, Deliveroo has thrived during the pandemic

How will the Deliveroo share launch work? Under the proposed listing, Deliveroo's shares will have two classes. Shu will have so-called Class B shares that carry 20 votes per share versus the one each carried by normal Class A shares. But the company has said that dual structure - used by many tech firms in the US to preserve the control of their founders - will only be in place for three years. The float was announced just days after the Government committed to changing the current rules in the favour of founders. Documents published for the upcoming float reveal that Deliveroo has also set aside more than 112m to cover potential legal costs relating to the employment status of its riders. Deliveroo works with 100,000 delivery riders across the world, who it argues are self-employed contractors rather than employees who would receive benefits such as holiday pay. Earlier this month, the firm posted losses of 223.7m for 2020, despite surging sales amid lockdown restrictions. The company said it saw transactions rocket by 64pc to 4.1bn in 2020 as the pandemic helped to spark increased takeaway demand. It said that more than six million people order through the 115,000 restaurants, cafes and stores on its platform each month. Advertisement

M&G's head of corporate finance and stewardship, Rupert Krefting, raised concerns over its reliance on gig economy workers, saying this presented a risk to 'the sustainability of its business model'.

The FTSE is poised for its biggest company float in a decade next week, as Deliveroo joins the stock exchange.

Depending on the final share price, the restaurant takeaway delivery giant could be valued at as much as 9billion.

Its debut will be a big moment for the London Stock Exchange, which has been starved of tech talent in recent years.

It will mean a significant windfall, too, for the company's founder, Will Shu, a 41-year-old London-based American former banker.

He worked as Deliveroo's first delivery driver to ensure he knew exactly what people wanted from his company, and now stands to make more than 300 million when it goes public.

Meanwhile, his friends and family who invested in Deliveroo in 2013 could make a 60,000 per cent return.

As one of the best-known takeaway apps in Britain, Deliveroo has thrived throughout the pandemic.

It will be hoping our growing appetite for restaurant takeaway will hold up  even when we can finally dine out again.

Deliveroo's IPO (Initial Public Offering) comes during a period of soul-searching for the gig economy.

Like many similar companies, Deliveroo operates an ultra-flexible model through which self-employed workers are paid per drop-off, rather than for the time they are actually available to work.

Whatever the merits of this model, there's no doubt that it's coming under increased scrutiny.

Just last month, the UK Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that Uber's taxi-drivers should be classed as 'workers', with entitlement to minimum wage and holiday pay.

And although this doesn't affect Deliveroo (or Uber Eats), things may change in the future  and quickly.

Unlike with many IPOs, its founder has ensured ordinary investors are given the chance to purchase pre-market shares.

Existing customers have been invited to express their interest in the IPO through the Deliveroo app.

They can then look to buy shares worth thousands of pounds at a price likely to be between 3.90 and 4.60 each.
I think in every public statement that I make about the pandemic, I talk about being in this long dark tunnel. Were not out of it yet, and we wont be out of it for some time, Lightfoot said. Weve got a long way to go. And if we want to have a better summer this year than we had last year, weve all got to do the work now, to make that a possibility.
Philippines ready to defend West Philippine Sea sovereignty: Defense Secretary

by Romina Cabrera

March 29,2021 | Source: The Philippine Star

The Philippines is ready to defend its sovereignty, according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, as he again called on China to immediately withdraw its vessels still in formation in Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea.



Lorenzana assured the public that the government is actively addressing the situation as almost 200 Chinese vessels, said to be manned by militias, have been docked in the reef since earlier this month.



We stand by our position calling for the immediate withdrawal of Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef, which was communicated to the Chinese ambassador. We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines, Lorenzana said in a statement over the weekend.



The defense chief said he has ordered an increased presence of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard to conduct sovereignty patrols and protect local fishermen in the West Philippine Sea.



The Philippine Air Force has also been deploying an AS211 jet aircraft daily to monitor the actual situation in the reef, which is within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ).



A news report posted on the website of South China Morning Post last Saturday night said China would conduct a military drill in the South China Sea today and tomorrow, based on a notice issued by the China Maritime Safety Administration last Friday afternoon. The notice stated that an area between Hainan, Chinas southernmost province, and Paracel islands would be closed to marine traffic due to military training.



The Department of National Defense is coordinating with other government agencies, including the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on activities in the West Philippine Sea and the Kalayaan group of islands.



By securing the West Philippine Sea and its islands in the Kalayaan area, the Philippines reinforces its commitment to keeping the freedom of navigation and maintaining regional peace and stability, Lorenzana said.



China has claimed that the vessels were only seeking shelter in the reef due to bad weather.



At least four of the Philippine Navys gray ships, including its two new missile frigates, will patrol the West Philippine Sea following the recent swarm of Chinese fishing vessels in Julian Felipe.



AFP chief Lt. Gen Cirilito Sobejana has ordered increased presence in the disputed waters within the countrys EEZ.



Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, a corvette, and the BRP Conrado Yap, an offshore patrol vessel, have been deployed to the Naval Forces West and Naval Forces Northern Luzon, respectively, to conduct sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea.



Bacordo added that the Philippine Navys brand new missile frigates, the BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna, will also be deployed for sovereignty patrols as soon as they complete their manufacturers mandatory trainings and system tests.



It is now up to the operational commanders on the operational employment of these vessels, he replied, when asked for specifics on how the patrols would be carried out.



Sobejana directed the deployment of more naval assets in the West Philippine Sea last week after the continued presence of at least 183 Chinese fishing vessels in Julian Felipe Reef was validated by the AFP in its aerial patrol.



Claiming it is doing a great job in abiding by international rules, China refused the label of militarization in South China Sea to be pinned on Beijing as it denied that it was the first to carry out construction activities and deploy facilities in the disputed waters.



Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying slammed the speech of United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters that China threatens freedom of navigation and militarize the South China Sea.



Blinken said China is working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we and our allies share, and threatens our collective security and prosperity.



Hua stressed that the US is not in the position to ask China to play by international rules since the only system in the world is the international system centered on the United Nations, 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, she said in a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.



The label of undermining the rules of the international system cannot be pinned on China, she said.



The Chinese official warned that the US could by no means deprive China of the right to self-preservation and self-defense over its own territory by putting a label of militarization on China.



The label of militarization in South China Sea cannot be pinned on China. China is not the first to carry out construction activities and deploy necessary facilities on islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Nor is it the one that has conducted the most of such activities, she said.



Hua claimed the US built military bases around South China Sea, where offensive weapons and equipment are deployed.



The US, she said, has also repeatedly sent aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to South China Sea and deployed military aircraft and warships there on a regular basis and conducted activities in the disputed waters for more than a hundred times by impersonating civil aircraft of other countries.



No one is more suitable than the US for the label of militarization and jeopardizing freedom of navigation, she added.

Theme(s): Others.
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Mercedes-Benz and Siemens plan to cooperate on advancing digitalisation and automation in the automotive industry, supported by the state of Berlin.

The car maker aims to digitise its production processes and Siemens, a leading supplier in the field of automation, industrial software and smart infrastructure, will bring its expertise and technology to the partnership to develop highly flexible, efficient and sustainable automotive production.

Joerg Burzer, Mercedes' production and supply chain management chief said the automaker "takes digitalisation to the next level in the global production network. Together with Siemens, we are driving forward the development of sustainable future technology".

The automaker's Berlin-Marienfelde site in Germany will be transformed into a competence centre for digitalisation with focus on development and implementation of the digital Mercedes-Benz Cars ecosystem MO360 in addition to the redesign of production activities. In the future, e-mobility components will also be assembled in Berlin. The company wants to secure the future for Berlin which is the oldest site in its global powertrain production network. The Digital Factory Campus in Berlin is the technological and digital nucleus for the whole cars production network. Its objective is to roll out the new developments that have been tested in Berlin at plants worldwide and to provide users with the required qualifications.

With the Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science in the Siemensstadt in Berlin, there is already an excellent wealth of experience that can be incorporated into the cooperation. With the synergies of the Siemensstadt and the campus, plants will be transformed into two modern digital sites.



Siemens automation and software is the foundation for Daimler's digital transformation of automotive production. The physical and virtual worlds as well as operational technology and IT can be combined with them. This opens up new possibilities for gathering, understanding and using the huge amounts of data generated in engineering and production. With innovative IoT applications, production processes can be made much more flexible and energy efficient.
Korean-American actor Ken Jeong made a donation to the victims of the Atlanta shooting on March 16.

The actor donated US$50,000, each of $10,000 to the families of four ethnic Koreans and one Chinese via a fundraising website, according to USA Today last week.

Jeong spoke out against hate crime. "There's debate whether this crime was racially motivated [but] Asian American women are two times as likely to be assaulted in America," Jeong said on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." "This was clearly racially motivated. This was clearly a hate crime."

He also blamed the use of racist terms, saying "Anti-Asian-American crime has risen almost 150 percent in the last year, while overall hate crime went down seven percent. This is precisely due to weaponizing terms such as 'The China Virus' and 'Kung Flu."

Jeong has appeared in "The Hangover" series and "Crazy Rich Asians."

Other Korean-American celebrities like Sandra Oh and Eric Nam also called for an action against racism on social media using the hashtag #StopAsianHate.

There is no evidence that the Atlanta shooter was racially motivated or had rightwing sympathies, but activists have used the incident to highlight growing discrimination against Asian Americans.


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North Dakotas Republican-led Senate has killed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.

Only 10 of the chambers 47 senators voted for the measure. The bill passed the GOP-led House last month with a 56-38 vote for approval.

Backers of the legislation said they were to get ahead of citizen-initiated efforts to legalize marijuana in the state.

The legislation restricted recreational marijuana to people 21 and older, limits possession to 1 ounce, limited its use to private property and bans growing it at home.

The bill mirrored much of the states medical marijuana program, which the 2017 Legislature implemented after voters approved it in 2016.

North Dakota voters defeated a measure to legalize marijuana in 2018 and two measures last year fell short of signatures for ballot placement. But backers had already been gearing up for a 2022 measure to put marijuana legalization in the state constitution.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Politics North Dakota
The latest victim of puppy farming has told of her family's heartbreak after their new dog died just hours after arriving at its new home.

Mother-of-two Annemarie from Glasgow bought a Pomeranian crossbreed puppy online as a present for her daughters, aged six and 11 years old.

Immediately the eldest daughter in particular, Caitlyn, fell in love with the pooch, named Angus. However, it wasn't long before he suddenly fell ill.

Vets ran tests and found he had parvovirus - a fatal disease - which meant the family's beloved puppy would have to be put to sleep.

Annmarie said the 'disgusting' breeders simply 'disappeared' as she tried to get in touch with them, while the documents which arrived with the dog turned out to be fake.

Mother-of-two Annemarie from Glasgow bought a Pomeranian crossbreed puppy Angus (pictured) online as a present for her daughters, aged six and 11 years old

She spent 1,000 on vet bills for Angus, but Annmarie says the emotional cost of the family's traumatic ordeal has been far greater.

Explaining what happened, Annemarie said: 'I can't believe I was fooled by these people. I keep asking myself if there was something I could have done differently. I had no idea about parvovirus and how serious it was. It caused us a lot of heartache, to Caitlyn especially.

'Caitlyn had been asking for a dog for years and had been very responsible by doing research in to looking after a puppy, what they ate, how to train them. I saw she was ready to help care for a dog so I started looking into it.

'I found the advert for Angus on an online selling site. He was white, fluffy and adorable so I messaged the seller. I now realise I was fed excuses for the breeder to drop Angus to us but it all seemed so legitimate.

Vets ran tests and found he had parvovirus - a fatal disease - telling Annmarie that the family's beloved puppy would have to be put to sleep

'Caitlyn and my other daughter were head over heels for Angus within seconds of meeting him so that was that, he became ours.'

The tiny canine was suddenly taken ill just a day after being dropped at the family's house by the breeder.

What is the parvovirus and how is it treated? Parvovirus attacks cells in a dog's intestines and stops them from being able to absorb vital nutrients Symptoms of parvo include foul-smelling diarrhoea with blood in it, vomiting, loss of appetite, collapse, depression, fever and sudden death There is no cure, but vaccinating a dog or puppy against parvo will protect them Dogs with the disease will be put on a drip and given intravenous fluids to stop them from becoming dehydrated. They may also be given drugs to help control vomiting, which also helps to prevent dehydration. If a dog with parvo has caught a secondary infection as a result of a weakened immune system, they may be given antibiotics. Advertisement

Annmarie said: 'He was playing normally then started to retch and was sick. To be on the safe side we contacted the vet who told us it could just be that he was settling in to his new environment. Later that night he was sick again so we took him in to the 24-hour vet.

'The vets found Angus had a temperature and gave him an anti-sickness injection. We took him home and put him in his crate.

'In the morning he was so lethargic, I just knew something was seriously wrong so we took him back to the vet immediately.

'Angus was sick again while at the vets so they ran some tests and it turned out he had parvovirus.

'We had no idea the disease could be fatal. The vets did all they could but there was nothing else they could do. His wee body couldn't fight any longer so they had to put him to sleep.

'Caitlyn was on her knees, absolutely devastated. It was awful.'

The owner has chosen to share her story as a warning to others about heartless puppy breeders operating during the pandemic.

Annmarie added: 'I called the breeder and spoke to them but after that initial call, they disappeared. The phone number was no longer connected, the adverts disappeared, everything. And, of course, the paperwork he'd handed over was fake too.

'We ended up paying almost 1,000 for vet bills which was a huge cost to us. But that's nothing compared to the emotional cost to all of us. We would do anything to have him back.

'This has just been the most heartbreaking experience for me and my girls. I just keep thinking about little Angus and all the other animals like him and the people and children affected by these disgusting low-welfare dealers.'

Welfare groups say that lockdown has increased the global demand for puppies  not just in Britain.

Significant steps have been taken in Britain to clamp down on the activities of our own puppy farmers. In April 2020 Lucy's Law, named after a rescued Cavalier King Charles spaniel, was passed in England, making it illegal for breeders to sell puppies through third parties.

Annmarie said the 'disgusting' breeders simply 'disappeared' as she tried to get in touch with them, while the documents which arrived with the dog turned out to be fake

The Dogs Trust  a canine welfare group  has noticed a massive increase in the number of unscrupulous sellers trying to cash in on the lockdown demand.

Dr Samantha Gaines, the RSPCA's dog welfare expert, said: 'Last year saw demand for dogs soar with breeders, buyers and rescue centres reporting unprecedented interest and an inability to supply the market. This reported shortage of puppies has meant that we have also seen a rise in puppies coming from outside of the UK.

'There's now a worrying trend of breeding and importing puppies, which is a potentially exploitative and damaging trade with the possibility of life-long suffering in dogs.

'Bringing a puppy into your home always requires careful consideration, but in 2021 it's even more important to do your research so that you don't get caught out by people acting illegally or irresponsibly.'

The Scottish SPCA has also seen a spike in the number of calls to its helpline around unwanted animals amid the pandemic. The rise in demand for puppies has led to an increase in the number of raids and seizures of pups from low-welfare puppy farms and dealers.
After 15 years of research, he now owns dozens of valuable vintage clocks that fill his cozy house.

Starting his journey in 2006, Mr. Ton That Quynh Phu (66 years old, Nguyen Chi Dieu Street, Hue City) now owns a huge collection of valuable antique clocks collected from far and wide. Most of them have their origin in Germany, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and a vast majority from France... from renowned brands, including Odo, Girod, Vedette, Kienzie, Comtoise clock cabinet and others.

The number of these timepieces was up to 100 pieces at peak, and around 50-60 ones have been sold while the rest remains stored in Phus house. They cost 10-30 million VND each.

Phu cleans and greases the clocks daily trying to learn the structure, which alongside more research helps him overhaul them like a professional.

After 1975, many valuable items remain scattered to the four winds. I got thrilled to bits every time I finally bought the antique items I longed for, pushing myself to work hard to restore them to the original state, said Phu.

Despite the passage of time, the memory from the first item that he bought stays sharp in his mind. It was an Odo wall clock purchased from a plastic bottle dealer. With massive measure of dedication, Phu had transformed a broken, disintegrated clock into one that can normally function.

About 10 years ago, Phu was introduced to Bao Vinh ancient town (Hue city) by an acquaintance to buy a wooden wall clock. The seller lived in a 2-floor house with a rather narrow staircase. Phu cherished the clock so much that he wanted to climb up the place and bring it down.

Holding it in one hand whilst lifting the curtain with the other, he leaned against the railing stepping down the stairs with relish, which was an indelible moment for Phu.

Phu's dearest item is a wooden Baumann 1670 Buco timepiece with a pendulum and long strings. The serrated parts to other smallest details are all made of wood is what makes it special.

In Phus view, each of these ancient clocks is reminiscent of old memories.

There came a time when Phu received a clock sent via mail, but the glass and components upon arrival were all broken. He had to bear the full cost of rehabilitation. It all left him profoundly sorry as it was it was a highly valuable piece.

I for some time was so in want of money that I had to sell some of them, and you know, there is no going back, which for an antique enthusiast like me would be such a torment to endure."

Phu beside his dearest clock.







His vintage clocks are meticulously designed, exuding great splendour.

Huong Lai

Unique collection of old weapons and uniforms on show at Vung Tau museum As many as 2,500 military items and garments which originate from around the globe have gone on display at a private history museum located in Vung Tau City, with the collection being owned by 75-year-old Robert Taylor from the UK.
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A Human Rights Watch representative in Mozambique condemned fighting over the strategic town of Palma which entered into its fifth day on Sunday.

According to reports from the region dozens of civilians have been killed and bodies were littering the streets of Palma as rebels continued to fight to control the northern town.

The fate of scores of foreign workers was also unknown.

Zenaida Machado, a representative in the country for Human Rights Watch, called on the Mozambican security forces to protect people fleeing the violence and help them find shelter.

"It's also important that the government move swiftly to restore order and security so that people can go back to their houses," she added.

The battle for Palma highlights the military and humanitarian crisis in this Southern African nation on the Indian Ocean.

The three-year insurgency of the rebels, who are primarily disaffected young Muslim men, in the northern Cabo Delgado province has taken more than 2,600 lives and displaced an estimated 670,000 people, according to the U.N.

Mozambique's government is expected to issue an update on the battle for Palma later Sunday.

Some of the dead had been beheaded, Human Rights Watch said.

An attempt by expatriate workers to flee to safety came under heavy fire, causing many deaths, according to local reports.

Most communications with Palma and the surrounding area have been cut off by the insurgents, although some in the besieged town got messages out using satellite phones.

The town is where many contractors have been working for a multi-billion-dollar liquified natural gas project by the French energy company Total.

Many Palma residents ran into the dense tropical forest surrounding the town to escape the violence, according to Mozambican news reports.

But a few hundred foreign workers from South Africa, Britain and France clustered at hotels that quickly became targets for the rebel attacks.

The attacks in Palma started just hours after Total announced that it would resume work outside the town on its natural gas project, near Mozambique's northeastern border with Tanzania.

Mozambique's rebels already hold the port town of Mocimboa da Praia, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Palma, which they captured in August.

Mozambique's insurgents are known locally as al-Shabab, although they do not have any known connection to Somalia's jihadist rebels of that name.

The rebels have been active in Cabo Delgado province since 2017 but their attacks became much more frequent and deadly in the past year.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
In his closing remarks at a two-day national teleconference to study the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress on March 28, Nghia said immediately after this conference, all organisations, agencies, units, localities must urgently build plans of actions and plans to carry out the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.

He also required the mass media and rapporteurs at all levels to intensify communication activities to spread the essential content of the Party Congresss documents, while fighting distorted, misled and hostile viewpoints so as to orient public opinions in the direction of honouring and spreading the good deeds to defeat the bad, thus contributing to strengthening confidence in the goal of building a prosperous and happy country.

During two days of March 27 and 28, key officials of Party committees, administrations, Vietnam Fatherland Front committees, and socio-political organisations as well as many cadres and Party members attended the conference.

Speakers at the event included members of the Politburo and the Party Central Committees Secretariat of the 13th tenure. They presented the key issues, new perceptions and mindset in the documents of the 13th National Party Congress, so as to help the participants gain deep understanding of the congresss resolution.

The speakers also analysed the achievements and lessons learnt from the 35 years implementing the renewal cause, clarified the advantages, opportunities as well as difficulties and challenges the country is facing in the time ahead, and guided the participants in how to apply the knowledge in implementing their organisations political tasks during the 2021-2026 tenure.
[March 29, 2021] Crown Rental Express Service Helps 3pl Lift Higher

SYDNEY, March 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast turnaround for urgent requirements and operator preference for Crown warehouse equipment is helping a leading third-party logistics provider improve efficiency and respond quickly to market demands. Concept Logistics, which manages the logistics supply chain for some of Australia's major retailers and brands as well as numerous start-up companies, is growing its rental fleet of Crown equipment as it expands its operations around the nation. The company runs Crown's full range of rider reach trucks, C-5 and Pro-5 counterbalance lift trucks, SP Series stock pickers and RC and PR Series pallet rider trucks  a vast model range used to handle all inbound, storage and despatch duties at Concept Logistics' Victorian and Western Australian sites. For flexibility during peak times, Concept Logistics' staff is made up of 30 full-time employees along with a varying number of contract workers. In parallel, the company rents equipment from Crown to match employee numbers for year-round efficiency. Renting equipment also allows Concept Logistics to enjoy the benefits of Crown's Rental Express service, which was conceived for customers who need equipment in a hurry  equipment is delivered on the same day if the order is placed before 11am.



Peter Hogan said that attentive service and quality of equipment has helped establish Crown as a reliable business partner over the last six years. "Concept Logistics looks after the logistics needs of major blue-chip companies as well as the 'mum and dad' operations that have started their online businesses from home," Hogan said.

"We bring their product in, we warehouse it and distribute it to their customers, which include a number of big players in retail. "With a business like ours where our staff work three shifts, we cannot afford downtime. If our equipment's down, our customers' expectations may not be met. "We chose Crown because it meets our service requirements. We get fantastic service and we have got a great working relationship with our sales executive." Concept Logistics recently put Crown's promise of speedy deliveries on rental equipment to the test during the set-up of its new Derrimut, Victoria site. "We reached out to Crown when we had to set up our new Derrimut site two weeks prior to Christmas," Hogan said. "We needed some very specific models; three stock pickers, reach trucks, counterbalances and a tugger so we caught up with our rep and within four days we had 90 per cent of the equipment onsite  and that was during the logistics industry's peak period when it is usually very difficult to get rental lift trucks. "Getting the equipment was one of the things we thought we were going to struggle with but it was one of the first things we had up and running." Mr Hogan said since it began using Crown equipment, Concept Logistics has been able to measurably reduce the time spent on inductions with new casual staff. "Because of the abundance of Crown equipment in the warehouses of Australia, at least 90 per cent of the casual labour that we bring in is familiar with Crown equipment. "This makes it easier and more efficient for us because we are not spending as much time on inductions and training." Mr Hogan's comments on the staff's preference for Crown equipment was echoed by casual warehouse employee Stewart Mills. "I have been working for some of the biggest DCs in the country. I have worked mining, pharmaceuticals and consumables and Crown machines are still the most reliable I have ever worked with," he said. "Crown machines are simple and easy to use and they just go forever. These are the machines I want to get on when I go to a new workplace." Concept Logistics was established in 1999. It is a privately owned business boasting over 65,000 pallet spaces at its Laverton North and Derrimut, Victoria sites. The company's point of difference is its ability to 'take ownership of customers' stock and look after everything as if it's their own'. About Crown Equipment Corporation Crown is one of the world's largest material handling companies with a reputation for award-winning product design, advanced engineering and technology, and superior after-sale service. Crown's business philosophy utilises vertically integrated processes to design, manufacture and distribute forward-thinking, innovative solutions that improve customers' productivity and operating efficiency. Crown produces a broad range of forklifts as well as automation and fleet management technologies. The company's global headquarters is located in New Bremen, Ohio, USA, with regional headquarters in Australia, China, Germany and Singapore. Its employees number more than 16,100 worldwide. Crown operates a service and distribution network that exceeds 500 retail locations in over 80 countries. To learn more about Crown's ideas for helping customers advance the productivity of their operations, visit crown.com. SOURCE Crown Equipment Pty Ltd

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Opotiki District Council will be quick to capitalise on the Governments housing infrastructure fund to open up land for much-needed homes.

The Government unveiled a new housing programme on Tuesday, March 23, which includes a $3.8 billion fund that councils and developers can access to help finance roads and infrastructure needed to service new builds.

Opotiki Council chief executive Aileen Lawrie says the timing was ideal for the council and it was hoping to access this fund to free up land around the Hukutaia neighbourhood.

In its last long-term plan the council asked the community whether it should reticulate the area around Hospital Hill in preparation for new housing developments.

The community responded yes, but only when there was population growth to justify it.

The district is seeing that demand right now, says Lawrie.

With that in mind, the council will be going back to the community in this long-term plan and asking about the timing and details of that reticulation.

There are a lot of reasons that Hukutaia is an excellent medium to long-term option for growth in the district, she says.

It already has a number of other council services like water supply and footpaths and rubbish collection. It is greenfields land so more housing can be created in the same amount of space.

There are positive iwi outcomes for the use of that land. There are social and affordable housing benefits. There are improvements to water quality because it moves existing houses off septic tank systems. And it is well away from flood, tsunami and sea level rise risks - these are top of mind for Opotiki residents at the moment and it aligns with our climate change commitments.

Lawrie says the council will absolutely be quick to move on the Government announcement and seek funding to open up this great opportunity for the district.

The timing of the Governments announcement couldnt be better for the Opotiki district.

With the increased construction activity, including a brand-new harbour, house prices in the small town have skyrocketed to the point residents have held protest hikoi.

During February, house prices increased in value far higher in Opotiki than anywhere else in New Zealand.

According to CoreLogics House Price Index, the average value of homes increased by $61,938 in February, rising from $372,639 in January to $434,577 in February.

Other areas where home values increased by more than $50,000 for the month were Whakatane, $53,757, and Central Auckland, $50,405.

Whakatane is the only Bay of Plenty district in which house prices are increasing in value faster than Opotiki.

Over the last 12 months, house prices in Whakatane have increased 19.7 per cent and house prices in Opotiki have increased 19.4 per cent.

Just last week, Opotiki Mayor Lyn Riesterer spoke pretty candidly about Opotikis housing crisis.

We are well above the national stats in all the worst ways and the lack of affordable and healthy housing is impacting lives and wellbeing in our community, she says.

We have been working to take on this challenge for a long time. For Opotiki council, that means we have long been focussed on a few key solutions that are within our control - an easy-to-navigate regulatory environment, a district plan that looks to encourage housing development through zoning, and careful infrastructure planning for growth coming online through many Government funded projects such as the harbour development. We also have a role making sure that key agencies are working together and aligned to solve this complex issue.

Riesterer says she is heartened to hear that Kainga Ora is committed to building 20  30 additional houses in the district in the next 18 months on top of the upgrade of existing Kainga Ora housing stock.

We are poised, ready and waiting to make the most of todays announcement, she says.

We have the land, we have the services, we have a clear need, and we have a council that is ready to work with housing providers in the district.

The Opotiki Harbour and burgeoning aquaculture industry is transforming our district and we are determined not to let a lack of housing be the anchor holding back the social change this will bring, says Riesterer.

In addition to the billion-dollar housing infrastructure fund, the Government has also extended the bright-line test to 10 years.

It has also tweaked a programme to help first home buyers access Government grants and loans to more people with higher incomes looking to buy more expensive homes than currently allowed.

Despite the urgent need and rising prices in the Eastern Bay, the Government has not tweaked the house price cap for the region at which people can access a First Home Grant lump-sum payment, up to $5000 for an existing home or $10,000 for new properties.

For an existing property it is capped at $500,000 and for new properties it is capped at $400,000.

The average house price in Whakatane is $612,734, Opotiki $434,577 and Kawerau $339,497.

It has increased the cap for cities like Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton and Dunedin.
1,000 migrants returned to Libya in last 48 hours Intercepted by Libyan Coast Guard

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 29 - Over the past 48 hours, almost 1,000 migrants have been intercepted and taken back to Libya by the Coast Guard and coastal security bodies, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in Libya noted in a tweet on Monday.



It added that IOM teams had been present at all disembarkation points to provide necessary assistance.



The organization stressed that "arbitrary detention must end". (ANSAmed).




During his nomination hearing, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he would vigorously enforce U.S. antitrust law. As the Biden administration actively considers who will lead that enforcement effort as the head of the Department of Justices antitrust division, they should look to the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for inspiration.

Often overlooked in comparison to other aspects of his presidency, President Roosevelts push to revive languishing antitrust enforcement helped set the United States back on the right track, creating job and wealth opportunities for Americans at one of the lowest points in the nations history.

The reinvigoration of antitrust enforcement helped usher in an era of entrepreneurship and small-business growth. The United States was able to assert itself as a global economic leader, establishing a model of corporate decentralization that would be adopted by democratic nations across the world. But reinvigorating antitrust did not come without substantial opposition from business interests as well as judicial and enforcement bodies that lost their way. Indeed, Roosevelts plans were only as strong as the people he appointed to turn his vision of an open market economy into reality.

As Mr. Biden considers his choice to lead the departments crucial antitrust division, he should look to Mr. Roosevelts choice of Robert Jackson, a lawyer in private practice, for the role as an example of what strong, progressive leadership in the agency can accomplish. Though Mr. Jackson is best known today for his tenure as attorney general and later as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, it is perhaps his role in transforming Americas antitrust laws and institutions where he made his biggest impact.
I kill a whole lot of people in my books, Stacey Abrams says with a smile. Its a sunny weekday morning in Atlanta, and the renowned voting rights activist, lawyer, and bestselling author is in her office, between meetings, chatting via Zoom about storytelling. Ive written serial killer novels. I wrote a novel about a religious fanatic and his very weird approach to his cult. I love writing propulsive stories that suck you in and hold you tight.

Abrams has written eight romantic suspense novels under the pen name Selena Montgomerythe first while in law school in the 1990sand two page-turning nonfiction books. The latter titles, Minority Leader and Our Time Is Now, blend leadership advice, self-help, and memoir and have over 300,000 copies in print, according to Henry Holt.

Abramss latest, the legal thriller While Justice Sleeps, is out in May from Doubleday. It stars a law clerk, Avery Keene, whose boss, a Supreme Court justice, appoints her as his legal guardian days before he falls into a coma. The justice, who was secretly researching a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm, has left Avery clues she must unravel to expose a conspiracy.

The spark for the novel came in 2008, while Abrams was at lunch with a lawyer friend, chatting about judges who hold lifetime appointments. If youre an Article III judge, you can only be removed for high crimes and misdemeanors or death, Abrams explains. So I thought, Oh my God, what if you had a judge on the Supreme Court who was in a coma? Theres literally no mechanism in federal law and the Constitution to address that issue. And I sat down and wrote the first scene.

Remarkably, the novel Abrams completed in late 2011 features a corrupt president, a deadly virus, and even a character conspicuously named Jared. Finding a publisher took nearly a decade. No one wanted to buy it! she says. They thought the president seemed far-fetched, and that the Supreme Court was not that interesting of a subject. It was only in 2019, when a Hollywood producer asked if she was working on anything new, that she pulled the manuscript from a drawer and sold it. It turns out back then I was far-fetched and now Im prescient, so there you go.

Born in 1973, Abrams grew up genteel pooras her mother phrased itin Gulfport, Miss., as one of six kids. I loved romance novels, she recalls of her youth. I remember the first time I saw a Black woman on a book cover. It was revelatory. I also loved action and adventure. I would watch all the James Bond movies, and there was notably one Black person in those movies. And so for me, I wanted to write stories that were just as exciting, just as thought-provoking, but with people who looked like me.

When she was in high school, Abrams and her family moved to Atlanta so that her parentsa librarian and a shipyard workercould study to become ministers. Abrams attended Spelman College, where her activist roots took hold. As a freshman, she burned the Georgia state flag, which had a Confederate emblem, on the capitol steps. (Yes, she had a permit.) She went on to earn degrees from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and Yale Law School. She then worked as a tax attorney in the 2000swhile writing romance on the sidebefore entering politics.

Abrams served 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives then ran for governor of Georgia in 2018, becoming the first Black woman to be a gubernatorial nominee of a major political party. After losing that election, which she says was marred by voter suppression on the part of state election officials, she founded Fair Fight, an organization that promotes fair elections, and took to the streets, helping to register hundreds of thousands of Georgia voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election. She was an instrumental figure in turning Georgia blue for Joe Biden and in helping two Democratic candidates win their Senate runoff elections there. Victory is a great way to prove your point, she says. I was incredibly happy.

For her monumental work on voting rights, Abrams has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Im honored by the parliamentarian in Norway who thought so highly of me, but I find it incongruous, she says. Im deeply appreciative, but its hard to reconcile that with the fact that I know me.

Abrams is modest, but her record and character speak for themselves. Stacey is 100% who she seems to be, says her agent Linda Loewenthal. Shes a person of integrity and authenticity whos driven by a sense of mission and a cause greater than herself. And shes abundantly creative and a renaissance person. I dont know when she sleeps.

Jason Kaufman, Abramss editor, adds, The amazing thing about Stacey is that shes a real force of nature politically, but shes also a top-tier thriller writer. He recalls working on edits with her in the heat of the 2020 election season. Id see Stacey doing an interview on television, talking about her strategy to personally get to all 159 counties in Georgia or something, and the next day shed send me fantastic revisions of things wed talked about, and nuanced plot points, and Id think, Hows she doing this? But shes just a very focused person. It made my own sense of multitasking seem pretty inadequate.

Abrams has now added producer to her long list of credits. She coproduced the voting documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy, and her 2004 novel, Never Tell, about a killer roaming New Orleans, is in development at CBS, with more adaptations to come. Theres a lot of activityStaceys the real deal, says her film and television agent Jason Richman, who coheads the Media Rights Group at United Talent Agency.

I never imagined While Justice Sleeps would see the light of day, Abrams says. Im excited to have others read about these characters that have lived in my head for so long. Her upcoming projects include another thriller and a childrens book. As for her political future, she says, What I thought was going to happen in 2018 didnt happen, and that created a new set of opportunities that Im still figuring out.

Is she considering a presidential run? Yes, but not now. She is clear on one thing: My work in politics isnt done.

Elaine Szewczyks writing has appeared in McSweeneys and other publications. Shes the author of the novel Im with Stupid.
A rapid test that would enable farmers to effectively remove bovine TB from their herds has secured a 2.3m investment to take it through to validation.

Actiphage, developed by UK firm PBD Biotech, detects mycobacteria in a blood or milk sample, giving a simple yes or no answer.

It offers the potential to identify animals at an early stage of infection and remove them from the herd.

Full validation by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) would enable international adoption of the rapid test.

Its use in England and Wales is currently approved by APHA as an unvalidated test for use only in a chronic bTB breakdown.

But OIE validation would enable it to be used in parallel with the existing skin test, offering farmers and their vets a method of managing and eliminating the disease for the first time.

Mark Hammond, CEO of PBD Biotech said: It has been shown on-farm that when Actiphage is used within a disease management strategy it is possible to eliminate bTB from a herd and maintain a disease-free status.

"There is a significant international unmet need for a diagnostic for bTB and Johnes Disease.

"With this funding we will be able to commission the trials needed to fully validate the test and capture this market.

Former dairy farmer Jonnie Yewdall, who lost his family farm following a chronic bovine TB infection, is one of those who has helped fund for validation.

I dont want any more farmers to go through what I have, which is why I want to become involved.

"With tools like Actiphage, the industry has an opportunity to work together to potentially eradicate this very difficult disease.

The funding has come from a consortium led by fund managers Mercia and the Foresight Group, which were both investing from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund; the University of Nottingham; the governments Future Fund; and private investors including farmers and veterinary practices.
Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga and his main rival in the 2013 gubernatorial race William Oduol are set to renew their rivalry in next year's election as they are preparing to vie for the Alego Usonga parliamentary seat.

The seat, which is currently held by Mr Sam Atandi, has also attracted University of Nairobi lecturer Nicholas Kut, nominated MP Jackline Oduol, former MP Omondi Muluan and businessman Charles Odunga among others.

The Nation has established that Mr Rasanga, who was earlier planning to vie for the Siaya senatorial seat currently held by James Orengo has now set his sights on the parliamentary seat after ODM leader Raila Odinga's elder brother Oburu Oginga declared interest in the Senate position.

With the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) proposing that Cabinet ministers be appointed from among MPs, Mr Rasanga is said to be eyeing the parliamentary position with the hope of landing a Cabinet slot should the BBI sail through at the referendum.

"The governor wants to extend his good work for the people of Siaya to his own constituency," an insider in Mr Rasanga's administration told the Nation yesterday. He said the governor is yet to start rigorous campaigns but has held several strategy meetings to plan his entry into the race.

Six wards

Yesterday, Mr Rasanga was non-committal on the matter when reached by the Nation.

But the declaration of Mr Oduol to vie for the MP seat as well as Dr Kut, who enjoys support from the larger Kakan clan, is now threatening to unsettle Mr Rasanga's ambition.

The constituency has six wards namely; South East Alego with the highest number of registered voters standing at 24,066, Siaya Township (22,112), West Alego (16,911), North Alego (16,299), Central Alego (16,097) and Usonga (7,849).

Mr Oduol gave Mr Rasanga a run for his money in the 2013 gubernatorial election as well as the subsequent by-election following his successful petition of Mr Rasanga's March 4, 2013 victory. Mr Rasanga, vying on an ODM ticket, won the seat with partly 3,495 votes after garnering 138,908 votes against Mr Oduol's 135,413, then of the National Agenda Party of Kenya.

Mr Oduol yesterday confirmed that he will be in the race on an ODM ticket. "I will vie as Alego Usonga MP for strictly one term."

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He said he would have vied for the governor seat in 2022, but will go to the MP position since he hails from Alego Usonga, which has held the position for two terms. "Siaya has six constituencies and it will be unfair for the governor's seat to go to Alego Usonga again in 2022. But in 2027, I will vie for the governor's position," added Mr Oduol.

CDF funds

Dr Kut said the development record in Alego Usonga is wanting and promised to ensure proper utilisation of CDF funds to improve the situation.

"I will enhance infrastructural development and streamline bursary management for the sake of many students who cannot afford school fees. I will also improve our schools, which are in pathetic condition, thanks to poor utilisation of CDF funds," Dr Kut told the Nation yesterday.

With the possibility of the division of Alego Usonga, which has 103,334 registered voters into Alego and Usonga constituencies ahead of the 2022 election, Dr Kut is likely to remain on one side (Alego) with Mr Atandi while Mr Rasanga and Mr Oduol will be on the Usonga side.

Mr Rasanga has been pushing for West Alego, Central Alego, Usonga as well as North Alego wards to be bundled together into the new constituency (Usonga) , leaving South East Alego and Siaya Township) on one side. Mr Atandi has, however, opposed inclusion of North Alego into the new constituency and wants South East Alego, Siaya Township and North Alego to remain on the same side (Alego).
The vaccine is already available, but the epidemic is still getting worse. The number of newly diagnosed new crown cases in Germany has exceeded 20,000 daily, and the disease control department expects that the future will continue to "significantly increase." The worried Chancellor Merkel tried to contain the epidemic through stricter measures, but was forced to abandon the "Easter blockade" ban under numerous obstructions.

Vaccination and rapid antigen testing were the basis for Germany\'s partial unblocking in early March. However, the AstraZeneca vaccine crisis disrupted Germany vaccination plan. The German Minister of Health, Spand, said that vaccination alone cannot contain the third wave of the epidemic because the number of vaccines is not enough. The situation will ease in April, but there may be only about 15 million vaccines available in Germany. Quick testing is not a solution in itself, but an important tool. In order to curb the spread of the virus, restrictions that have been lifted may have to be re-implemented.

Affected by the Germany lifts the "Easter blockade", the spherical ss316l powder 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 spherical ss316l powder or buy spherical ss316l powder in bulk, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com .

The price of spherical ss316l powder 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 spherical ss316l powder 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 spherical ss316l powder will increase to a certain extent.

Due to changes in consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of spherical ss316l powder, the cost of spherical ss316l powder is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of spherical ss316l powder will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of spherical ss316l powder will increase slightly from today to next week.

However, KMPASS provides high purity spherical ss316l powder with steady price. In order to feedback to old customers, the company is still in full operations to provide spherical ss316l powder with competitive price. said Aimee, sales manager of KMPASS.

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Jonathan Evans will be on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years

A north Belfast man who attempted to possess an indecent image of a child was spared an immediate period in jail today.

Jonathan Evans appeared at Belfast Crown Court via a videolink with his solicitors office, where he was handed a 12-month sentence.

Judge Donna McColgan QC suspended the sentence for two years and informed Evans he will be on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

The 36-year old, from Mill Valley Drive, admitted a single count of attempting to possess an indecent image of a child on July 31, 2016.

Noting the offence was almost five years old, Judge McColgan said the charge was brought following a conversation between Evans and a man in England who was under a police investigation at the time.

Judge McColgan said that whilst this conversation was extremely disturbing and based upon fiction, it was also sexually explicit and graphic.

She added that when Evans computer equipment was seized and examined as a result of this conversation, there were no indecent images of children found - hence why the charge was one of attempting to possess an indecent image as opposed to an actual possession charge.

Judge McColgan said she had taken into account defence submissions including the delay in bringing the case to court, Evans completely clear criminal record and the genuine remorse and regret he has displayed since the incident in July 2016.

The Judge said that whilst the custody threshold has been passed, she was prepared to suspend the sentence. She then addressed Evans and told him: If you do not offend within the next two years, then thats the end of that.

If however you offend within the next two years, you will serve the 12 months that Im now suspending for a period of two years. Do you understand that?

Evans confirmed he did and said thank you, Your Honour.
The boss of Flight Centre has blasted the decision to send Brisbane into a three-day lockdown and warned it will cost the economy billions of dollars.

Graham Turner, the co-founder of the travel giant, said it was 'sheer lunacy' to force residents to stay at home and claimed there was 'no evidence' the lockdown would help control Queensland's coronavirus outbreak.

'Locking Brisbane down will have a short-range three-day effect, it will cost $1billion to $2billion, but the impact will last longer, and just as domestic travel was coming back,' Mr Turner told the Courier Mail.

'(The lockdowns have) achieved nothing. There is no evidence it has achieved anything. We are talking billions of dollars here for a three-day lockdown.'

Other companies have called on the government to be stronger with the distribution of vaccines, saying the constant threat of lockdowns is not financially sustainable.

Queensland businesses are preparing for another tenuous period financially after the government closed all non-essentials for the three-day lockdown period.

The state's travel sector in particular is expecting huge losses with the possibility of travel not being reinstated before the Easter long weekend.

It comes amid fears a coronavirus cluster in Brisbane, which grew to seven on Monday, could be spreading to NSW after two infected women attended a bachelorette party in Byron Bay.

The boss of Flight Centre has blasted the decision to send Brisbane into lockdown in a bid to control a coronavirus cluster (quiet street seen on Monday afternoon)

A nurse and her sister partied in NSW's Byron Bay (testing site pictured) for a bachelorette party while infected with Covid

A nurse and her sister unknowingly had coronavirus while partying in the coastal town on the NSW north coast on the weekend spanning March 26 to March 28.

The pair visited a string of popular venues including the Byron Beach Hotel and The Farm.

NSW Health released an alert on Monday evening saying anyone that had visited the Queensland capital since March 20 must immediately self-isolate and not leave their house until Thursday at 5pm.

Residents of Byron Bay are being urged to be especially vigilant in monitoring their health and are encouraging anyone with even the mildest symptoms to get tested immediately.

A number of venues at the popular tourist destination have fallen under the immediate testing category, with anyone who attented the Byron Beach Hotel, The Farm, Mokha Cafe and Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park told to immediately seek a test and self-isolate until told otherwise.

Ghanda Clothing, Tiger Lily, Black Sheep, Quicksilver, Suffolk Bakery and the Park Hotel Bottle Shop are also in the same category.

The relevant times for the enforced isolation period can be found on the NSW Health website.

The pair visited the popular Byron Beach Hotel on Friday March 28 between 7pm and 9pm (pictured) while positive infectious with the virus

Flight Centre co-founder Graham Turner (pictured) said there was 'no evidence' lockdowns had achieved anything

NSW Health say the lockdown will remain in place for residents who visited Brisbane since March 20 for the same duration as the Queensland mandate.

They will only be allowed to leave for essential reasons including food, medical care and exercise.

The state has also issued entry declaration forms from March 27 for people who have spent time in the Greater Brisbane area.

The forms are to help authorities track anyone who may be linked or exposed to the new outbreak of the UK strain of the virus.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the infected people have been out in the community and travelled to central Queensland and northern NSW.

To stem transmission, Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands will go into a three-day lockdown from 5pm on Monday - an area with about 2.5 million people.

'I didn't sleep last night so I think I am very worried, I'm very concerned,' Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

'But we've done it before, we've got through this together, and I'm sure that if everyone does the right thing we will be able to get through it.'

People with even the slightest of symptoms are being encouraged to seek a test immediately and self-isolate until further notice

Greater Brisbane has been ordered into a three-day lockdown after a coronavirus cluster grew to seven cases with evidence of 'significant community transmission'

Ms Palaszczuk said the lockdown would be reviewed on Thursday, ahead of the Easter holiday break this weekend.

Greater Brisbane schools and all non-essential businesses premises must close from Monday afternoon.

'This will also enable our health authorities to get on top of the contact tracing,' the premier said.

'This is a huge job now that we have to do because we've got more of this community transmission.'

It is the second Greater Brisbane lockdown this year after an earlier shutdown in January.

Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 will also come under the lockdown restrictions.

One of the cases travelled to Gladstone and Gin Gin from March 25 to March 27 and two cases visited venues in Byron Bay in NSW on March 26 and March 28.

The premier said face masks would be mandatory in Brisbane, and will need to be worn indoors throughout the rest of Queensland.

All venues outside Greater Brisbane will only be allowed to host seated patrons.

NSW Health released an alert on Monday evening saying anyone that had visited the Queensland capital since March 20 must immediately self-isolate and not leave their house until Thursday at 5pm

New South Wales residents who have recently returned from Brisbane must immediately go into a three-day lockdown

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says four of the new cases are linked to two men in northern Brisbane and a Princess Alexandra Hospital doctor who tested positive.

Two cases are colleagues of a Strathpine man who tested positive on Friday night, while the other cases are a doctor, who tested positive on March 12, and her sister.

Dr Young said it was unclear where the transmission occurred and genomic testing on both latter cases was underway.

'We now have significant community transmission,' she said.

States and territories have also moved to restrict incoming travel from Brisbane and the state.

Western Australia will close its border to the entire state of Queensland from 1201am (WST) on Tuesday.

Tasmania has shut its border to Greater Brisbane travellers, while South Australia will do so from 4pm (CST) and Victoria closes to Brisbanites from 6pm (AEDT).

Anyone from Greater Brisbane must isolate and get tested upon entering the Northern Territory and the ACT.

Entry declarations that ask for details of visits to venues of concern are required for Greater Brisbane arrivals, and NSW Health is advising against non-essential travel to the northern city.

Thousands have attempted to leave Brisbane after the three-day lockdown threw Easter long weekend plans into disarray

Brisbane residents had until 5pm on Monday to leave the state or be locked down

Greater Brisbane schools and all non-essential businesses premises must close from Monday afternoon
The Federation of Petty Traders and Informal Workers Union of Liberia (FEPTIWUL) has inducted a new leadership to govern the body for the next four years.The new leadership was elected at a national congress held in Monrovia from March 25 to 26, 2021 which brought together delegates of the union from Liberia's 15 counties.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the congress, Deputy Minister for Urban Affairs at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Paulita CC Wie admonished members of the union to be tolerant in electing their leaders.Minister Wie stated that the informal sector is critical toward the socio and economic development of the nation which should not be taken for granted.

She promised that her office remains supportive to enhancing activities of the informal sector, but stressed the importance of working with government to ensure clean cities.

She noted that it is unfortunate for some petty traders to keep the streets dirty and expect the city authorities to ensure the streets are clean the next day.

Minister Wie maintained that petty traders should work along with city authorities to strengthen city ordinances. Meanwhile, the Chairman of FEPTIWUL, Charles W. Konnah said it is crucial for members of the union to work together to transform the union.

Chairman Konnah stated that the informal sector plays a significant role toward growth and development of the Liberian economy.He indicated that COVID-19 has greatly affected the informal sector and hoped that government will look into that direction through its stimulus package.

He added the leadership of FEPTIWUL will continue to work along with city governments across the country to strengthen streets vending in Liberia.

The congress was embraced by officials of Solidarity Center, Liberia Labor Congress, Sierra Leonean Traders Union, Cities Alliance and Monrovia City Corporation.

Those inducted are Charles W. Konnah, National Chairman; Hannah P. S. Tarpeh, National Vice Chairperson; Deluxe O. Fahnbulleh, National Secretary General; Christophus Garjay, National Assistant Secretary General; Dish Allen, Treasurer, Hellen Toe Assistant Treasurer, Patrick Davis, National Coordinator, Lawesence Wennie, Assistant Coordinator, Marfred Saye Yeegbeh, National Youth Chairman and Massa Cooper, Women Wing Chairperson, respectively.
Tran Kim Chung, chairman of the Board of Directors of C.T Group, speaking at Dialogue 2045

C.T Group chairman Tran Kim Chung urged more funds to go towards the development of the younger generations at Dialogue 2045 held in the afternoon of March 6. He emphasised that the young generation cannot be left out of the conversation on Vietnams growth until 2045.

Chung shared that according to its vision to 2045, C.T Group will focus on six major programmes, including building affordable houses for young people and developing talented young human resources.

The group will also make efforts to develop young urban areas around big cities as well as participate in mobilising and contributing capital to the Ho Chi Minh City high-speed railway connecting with western provinces. Another programme is building satellite megacities around Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, C.T Group aims to develop four leading high-tech startups in the field of fintech, proptech, cell technology (cell tech) and flytech. Until now, the technical infrastructure of two of these companies has been completed. At the same time, the group will contribute to Ho Chi Minh Citys efforts to prevent flooding and build a greener environment by restoring the Vinh Loc ecological lake project in the citys Binh Chanh district. The group is also developing a digital bank to support export activities.

According to Chung, C.T Group's programmes are based on the long-standing strengths of the country such as its geographical location, population, and Vietnamese intelligence.

Chung proposed the government to support enterprises to build an international media campaign titled "Invest in Vietnam" to highlight Vietnam as a bright spot of the COVID-19 fight with high economic growth in the world. Vietnam is committed to accompanying enterprises to quickly solve any administrative problems, facilitating them to achieve sustainable development and venture into the global market. In short-term period, the country is quickly completing its legal framework on Public-Private Partnership investment.

He added that the government should make strong investment in activities supporting intelligent young people with aspirations. Vietnam needs to quickly complete the legal framework for the development and application of cell tech and flytech.

In particular, investment should be focused on developing transport infrastructure from Ho Chi Minh City to the western provinces and educational infrastructures for the Mekong Delta to nurture future human resources.
Scientists found that PbFeO3 crystallized into a unique state in which a layer composed of Pb2+ ions was interleaved by two layers comprising a mixture of Pb2+ and Pb ions in a 3:1 ratio. Credit: Nature Communications

Transition metal perovskite oxides exhibit several desirable properties, including high-temperature superconductivity and electrocatalysis. Now, scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology explore the structure and properties of a perovskite oxide, PbFeO 3 , in anticipation of the unusual charge distribution and exotic magnetic transitions displayed by such systems. They report two of the magnetic transitions, with a distinctive transition above room temperature and look into its causes, opening doors to potential applications in realizing new spintronic devices.

The advent of electronics has revolutionized our lives to an extent where it is impossible to imagine going about our day without relying on an electronic device in some form. What is even more remarkable, however, is that we can improve these devices even further by harnessing the electron's 'spin'a property which makes the electron behave like a magnetto create memory devices that are faster and use lower power than traditional electronics. Accordingly, the field devoted to this endeavor, aptly called 'spintronics,' relies on exploiting the "spin state" of the electron. However, controlling spin can be extremely tricky, a fact that often leads scientists on a hunt for materials with ordered spin states.

Their attention has recently turned to lead-based transition metal perovskite oxides, a class of materials represented by PbMO 3 (where the M indicates 3d transition metal ion), that display rather interesting phase transitions in spin states, making them appealing for practical applications.

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, a team of scientists from China, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, France, and U.S., examined the perovskite oxide PbMO 3 , a compound that has evaded inspection until now, owing to difficulties in synthesizing samples and resolving its crystal structure. "The perovskite family of PbMO3 exhibits complex charge distributions and RFeO 3 (R = rare earth) shows several interesting spin-related properties, such as laser-induced ultrafast spin reorientation, so we expect similarly characteristic charge distribution and rich spin-state transitions for PbMO 3 ," comment Prof. Masaki Azuma from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan and Prof. Youwen Long from Chinese Academy of Science, who led the study.

On cooling the sample, scientists first observed a weak ferromagnetic transition (WFM) at 600 K, characterized by a canted antiferromagnetic (CAFM) spin ordering, and then a continuous spin reorientation (SR) transition at 418 K. Credit: Nature Communications

Consequently, the team investigated the structure, charge state, and magnetic properties of PbMO 3 using a variety of characterization techniques and backed up their observation with density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

The team found that PbMO 3 crystallized into a unique "charge-ordered" state in which a layer of Pb2+ ions was interleaved by two layers made up of a mixture of Pb2+ and Pb4+ ions in a 3:1 ratio, along the direction of layer stacking. On cooling the sample from high temperature, the team observed two distinct magnetic phase transitions: a weak ferromagnetic transition occurring at 600 K (327C) characterized by a 'canted antiferromagnetic' spin ordering (oppositely directed neighboring spins), and a continuous spin reorientation (SR) transition at 418 K (145C).

The SR transition, although common in all RFeO 3 perovskites, stood out in this case because it occurred at a much higher temperature compared to those for other perovskites, and unlike the RFe magnetic interactions usually identified as the cause for this transition, there was no such counterpart in the case of PbMO 3 . To resolve the conundrum, scientists turned to DFT calculations, which revealed that the unique charge ordering in PbMO 3 led to the formation of two Fe3+ sublattices with competing energies that, in turn, caused the peculiar SR transition.

The team is thrilled by these findings and their implications for future applications. "Our work provides a new avenue for studying the charge ordering phase and distinctive SR transition with potential applications in spintronic devices due to the high transition temperature and possible tuning," remarks the theoretical team leader, Prof. Hena Das.

One thing's for surewe're one step closer to making spintronics the reality of tomorrow.

Explore further Mixed valence states in lead perovskites

More information: Xubin Ye et al, Observation of novel charge ordering and spin reorientation in perovskite oxide PbFeO 3 , Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Xubin Ye et al, Observation of novel charge ordering and spin reorientation in perovskite oxide PbFeO(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22064-9
India was headlined on the front page  fortunately, in a way, it was a compliment, not a criticism

At last, the Sun is shining both literally and figuratively. This is Happy Monday as another phase of lockdown comes to an end and we can meet in groups of two families. Or so we were told a while ago. But the Covid situation keeps changing like the London weather, and strict international travel bans come into force.

Earlier last week, India was headlined on the front page  fortunately, in a way, it was a compliment, not a criticism. But now the news that our vaccine supply may be interrupted because the new wave in India will impact vaccine exports to the UK has spread gloom. We have had only the fantastic success of the vaccination programme thus far to cheer us. By now, 32 million doses have been delivered catering to 43 per cent of the population, Second only to Israel. All adults were due to be vaxxed by the end of April. Now we are not sure and have to wait.

There is awe and wonder at how the Serum Institute has become the largest supplier of vaccines with special features on Adar Poonawala appearing in the media every day. (Makes a change from debates on farmers protests being discussed in Parliament.)

And so now we have stories on the prince of vaccines, with a fortune of 11 billion pounds, hiring a mansion on Mayfair for 50,000 pounds a week. We also know all about his property portfolio including the homes in India and about his fleet of 35 luxury cars which includes a Mercedes redesigned as a batmobile Of course, it may be modelled on the vehicle owned by the fictional superhero, Batman, but with Covid, bats have a special significance, wouldnt you say, hmm? But to be honest, while he vaccinates the world, Adar has become a superhero as well who can grudge him his reported collection of Picasso and Dali? Well deserved  as lives have been saved after Adar took a risk and invested in the Oxford vaccine, long before anyone else thought of it.

The country remains obsessed by vaccines. On the news channels, in newspapers in daily conversations, Covid and vaccines dominate, as now we await the Covid annual booster jabs just like we have for flu.

We are also eagerly awaiting our final release in end-June. Even so, Boris Johnson keeps on hedging his bets. Twice bitten, three times shy is his story. People are demanding a final decision but no luck. The angry ones want an inquiry into the mistakes made over the last fifteen months but Boris is in no hurry. These inquiries take so long that he may have retired by the time they give their report.

The half-serious speculation is that Boris will quit being Prime Minister  not because he cant win  but because he cant afford it. Compared to what he made as a columnist (at 2500 per column) the Prime Minister only gets a low six-figure salary. The house at No. 10 Downing Street has just the top floor flat for living purposes. There is no government budget for decoration.

So when they moved, his fiancee decided that the place needed redecoration. There was no money from the government kitty. So private donations had to be made to buy a decent sofa and repaint the walls. This created another scandal, which has been running for some time Where did the quarter-million come from? This must be the only country where the citizens dont want their rulers to spend money officially on their homes but also dont approve if they help themselves to their friends money. So what can a poor Prime Minister do? Unlike in India, no one here gets huge budgets to redecorate their homes when they shift into an official residence. But in India  politicians to bureaucrats  everyone is entitled to a redecoration spree.

Perhaps the saddest event of the week has been the accidental death of a seal, who had made his home in the Thames. Freddie, as the locals called him, had washed up from colder climes into the river some time back and decided to settle down. He had become a much-loved attraction. Alas, the other day, a woman, QC no less, was walking her dog by the river when the dog escaped her control and mauled poor Freddie. Freddie died but there are no guilty parties. The dog owner was helpless, as the dog would not let go. It was as if they had known each other and had a score to settle. Seals may be cute but the English treasure their dogs. After all, we are told that highly placed advisers to the Prime Minister have been transferred for being rude to Dilyn the Number 10 dog.
Two days before International Transgender Day of Visibility, leaders and activists throughout Philadelphia spoke out against the uptick in hate crimes against the transgender community.

Video Transcript

- --is known around the world as the International Transgender Day of Visibility. It's a moment to see a population that for so long has been forced to live in the shadows. As Action News community journalist Ashley Johnson shows us, it comes at a very critical time.

- For far too long--

ASHLEY JOHNSON: Two days before International Transgender Day of Visibility, leaders and activists throughout Philadelphia are speaking out against the uptick in hate crimes against the transgender community.

KENDALL STEPHENS: It means to me that the transgender population will finally get the support that we need from city officials that we really haven't gotten historically.

ASHLEY JOHNSON: Two weeks ago, Philadelphia police charged 45-year-old Robert Easley in sexually assaulting and stabbing a transgender woman inside her Germantown home.

KENDALL STEPHENS: Absolutely traumatizing.

ASHLEY JOHNSON: It strikes a nerve with Kendall Stephens, a LGBTQ activist and transwoman. She continues to live on edge after being attacked in her home in August in front of her two godchildren who live with her.

KENDALL STEPHENS: What's sad is that I am a productive member of this community. I am a student. I am a godmother. I am a neighbor. And for someone to just judge me and hate me--

ASHLEY JOHNSON: Still on the minds of many is Tracy Mia Green, a trans woman shot to death in September, and Dominique Rem'mie Fells, a trans woman whose dismembered body was found in the Schuykill River. The district attorney's office says it's working in collaboration with Lena Morrison, the city's director of LGBT affairs. They say in the works is a pipeline for victims to access resources for things including therapy, housing, and transportation.

- We're talking about, like, breaking down a lot of [? silence. ?]

KELLY BURKHARDT: If any of us are suffering, no one of us is free.

ASHLEY JOHNSON: Violence against the transgender community continues to be a growing problem. In 2019, according to the Human Rights Council, 26 members of the community were killed nationwide. 91% were Black women. In Center City, Ashley Johnson, Channel 6 Action News.
The company is also pursuing emergency use authorization in the Philippines for its flagship drug candidate leronlimab

The Journal of Translational Autoimmunity has published a case study of a critically ill person with COVID-19 on ECMO successfully treated with leronlimab

CytoDyn Inc (OTCQB:CYDY) revealed Monday that the Department of Health, Food and Drug Administration in the Philippines has approved the use of its flagship drug candidate leronlimab to treat a COVID-19 patient under compassionate special permit (CSP).

As a follow-up to the Philippines FDA order number 2016-005, CytoDyn said it is shipping leronlimab to its partner Chiral Pharma Corporation, who is its importer in the Philippines.

In a statement, Chiral Pharma President Francis Gomez said: On behalf of all COVID-19 patients in the Philippines, we are pleased with this progress and we are in ongoing discussions with the Philippines FDA to obtain emergency use authorization (EUA) approval for leronlimab as a treatment in an effort to reduce COVID-19 mortality.

READ: CytoDyn says 20 patients enrolled and dosed so far in Vyrologix trial in coronavirus long-haulers

We will also seek CSP approval for leronlimab for COVID-19 long-hauler patients in the Philippines, he added.

Meanwhile, CytoDyn CEO Nader Pourhassan thanked the team for working "relentlessly to advance" the firm's drug to CSP approval in the Philippines.

Our expanded CytoDyn team is also working with several other countries to provide COVID-19 patients access to leronlimab, added Pourhassan.

Separately, CytoDyn announced on Monday that the Journal of Translational Autoimmunity had published an article titled Case study of a critically ill person with COVID-19 on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) successfully treated with leronlimab.

Pourhassan singled out Sohier Elneil from the University College London for her strong contributions to the positive study. He also thanked Jacob Lalezari from Quest Clinical Research, for his role based on his deep knowledge of leronlimab.

The discharge of this patient from intensive care after prolonged ECMO support following administration of our drug is consistent with data from our recently completed Phase 3 trial where five out of six patients on ECMO recovered and eINDs for critically ill COVID-19 patients, said the company.

CytoDyn said it hoped the study would advance awareness of the benefits of leronlimab in the broader medical community.

The Vancouver, Washington-based biotechnology company's leronlimab works by mitigating what is known as the cytokine storm, a hyperactive immune response that can cause inflammation, fatigue and, in severe cases, organ failure.

Aside from COVID-19, the FDA has granted Fast Track designation to CytoDyn for two potential indications of leronlimab for critical illnesses. The first is a combination therapy with HAART for HIV-infected patients and the second is for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive




Episodes 8 & 9 continued the dark ways of season 17, catering to the melancholy of the pandemic the show explored grief and depression in the times of Covid while keeping Mer's behind beached. So let's dig into the events of the last two weeks.





It's All Too Much

Episode 8 of Grey's current season handled all the backlash of the midseason premiere. The episode directed by executive producer Debbie Allen, was written by Adrian Wenner. The episode examed the different ways of mourning and dug deep into the fresh wounds of our favorite surgeons.





Richard and Bailey struggled the hardest with DeLuca's passing and the two of them had a couple of frontal crashes during this outing. Bailey couldn't make peace with the way DeLuca died and searched for some reason. Some reason to fix all that's wrong with this messed up world that made an outstanding man lose his life by hunting down sex traffickers. This hunt for the impossible made her question Hunt and Teddy, and Richard wasn't taking it. Richard during this outing was on a philosophical hunt for the reason behind DeLuca's death and motivation for fighting another day. During these times I appreciate Richard's calm nature and the peace James Pickens Jr can transfer to the screen. Not only he sees the light but he is the light that will illuminate the darkest times with love and strength to lead his people to the light. Schmidt's speech to Bailey was another home run during this episode. Schmidt just like Richard is this bundle of hope and light that against all odds fights through the darkest moments. Schmidt reminding Bailey that her strength is what will help others grief easier was just wonderfully scripted and executed.





In a different corner of GSMH, I was asking myself why Jaicy Elliot's Helm wasn't a series regular. Helm is just a so well-rounded character with all of her flaws, Lol-moments, and her sincerity. The way Jaicy executed the pain of the pandemic and DeLuca's death during her few scenes in this episode was just so compelling. Her scene with Maggie where she talked about the need for intimacy was really captivating and resonated so well with me. Maggie and Winston's scenes this week were very sweet as well. I am supportive of this couple and can't wait for more of them this season.





DeLuca's memorial was just perfect. Major shout out to Stefania Spampinato, her performance during this outing felt just so sincere. The moment I saw her on the screen I started crying, you really could feel how heartbroken she was and how grateful she was for the love and appreciation the workers of GSMH had for her and Andrew. The memorial was just perfect, Debbie Allen did an exquisite job in captivating all the pain and love during this scene. I really appreciate her as an actress and a director as she definitely always brings her A-game.





Meredith in the meantime was still trapped in her idyllic Limbo. This time we got another glimpse of Derek and gosh, it was just that damn good. The chemistry between the two former leads is still so breathtaking. It was like from the best drama-free times, carefree interactions. Beach Derek teasing Mer and their playful talk about Elis and her similarities to Mer. All this interaction was there just to show how all these beach interactions are part of Mer's subconscious. She knew about Zola's letters, she sees herself in Elis and all this talk was a painful reminder that this is just a "dream". On the other hand, I am growing a bigger fan of Hayes. Despite his thicc layered Irish accent, Hayes is turning into a solid character and Mer's biggest Fanboy in GSMH. The way he talks about Mer and her kids is just so adorable. I could see him as Endgame material.





Other tidbits:

- The scenes between Jo, Linc, and Jackson were awkward AF. Like they could've shown them grieving but not make it awkward.

- Amelia and Linc's fight was also very awkward. Not a fan of that type of writing for them.

- Teddy seeing DeLuca everywhere was quite creepy it was a great way of amplifying her grief and pain and also a good step into the next episode.





In My Life

Episode 9 of season 17 was all about Teodora Grace Altman. The deep dive into all of Teddy's questionable choices was directed by fellow series regular Kevin McKidd and written by Tameson Duffy.





The highly emotional twisty and manipulative outing revisited some of Teddy's most painful memories and fears. Transitioning from so many stages of Teddy's life and parts of her life the complicated deep dive into Teddy's psyche let her rethink all the decisions she made and the ways she could fix her life and the life of all the people she hurt.









Teddy was broken the day Allison died and no one ever tried to fix her. Teddy was always in control, in power, not allowing weakness to the surface so no one ever offered help. Teddy's PTSD is so deeply routed that self-sabotage and self-doubt were mechanisms that she used to dig herself into a corner.













Once again Kevin McKidd's Owen peeved the hell out of me. I doubt any TV character strikes the cord so hard with me like Owen. His self-absorbed nature and tone of voice just enrage me week in week out. He is an extremely exhausting character and his energy is just running my watching experience. After 12-13 years you would think I would get over it, but I really am not. On the other hand, Kevin McKidd did an outstanding show directing this episode. The way he divulged this script and made this episode his own was simply perfect. Amelia busting his ass for all his hate towards Teddy was simply amazing. Catherine was just so good this weak, sincere, unapologetic just like we love our girl, Amelia. I hope she rips Owen a new one every time she meets him, cause it felt so damn good watching her do it.





That is a wrap on my side dear GA fans. What are your thoughts on the two most recent Grey's Anatomy episodes? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and let us discuss the events of 7x08 and 7x09. Next week features one very unexpected return, to get spoiled about the return click HERE. Till next week. . .
Nieuw Statendam will be the first Pinnacle Class ship to explore the seaside cities of New England and eastern Canada

SEATTLE, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Along the East Coast of North America, the sun-kissed skies of summer collide with the jewel-toned hues of autumn, and in 2022 Holland America Line's Zaandam and Nieuw Statendam will be there to showcase nature's most colorful spectacle. Bookings are now open for May through October 2022, enticing guests to discover why a cruise to Canada and New England is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.

Holland America Line Standard Photo/Logo

Zaandam and Nieuw Statendam offer a series of six- through eight-day "Canada & New England Discovery" departures featuring New England's quintessential towns and Canada's undeniable Old-World French flair. Aboard Nieuw Statendam, guests also can set off on explorations up to 24 days that stretch to Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland, where the region's dramatic landscapes are the star of the journey.

New and Notable in 2022:

In August 2022, Nieuw Statendam will debut as the first Pinnacle Class ship to sail to Canada, New England and beyond.

A new 24-day cruise departing Aug. 3 on Nieuw Statendam sails roundtrip from Boston, Massachusetts, and circumnavigates Iceland, making six calls around the country, with additional visits to Greenland, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Ports include Bar Harbor, Maine; Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia; Saint-Pierre, St. John's, Red Bay, St. Anthony and Corner Brook, Newfoundland; Qaqortoq (Julianehab) and Nanortalik (Ilivileq), Greenland; and Reykjavik (evening stay), Djupivogur, Seydisfjorur, Akureyri, Isafjorour and Grundarfjorour, Iceland.

Zaandam will cruise between Boston and Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in both the summer and fall on a series of seven-day "Canada & New England Discovery" cruises with convenient weekend departures. Ports include Bar Harbor, and the Canadian destinations of Quebec City, Quebec; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; and Sydney and Halifax.

Nieuw Statendam will sail six- through eight-day "Canada & New England Discovery" itineraries between Boston and Quebec City, with weekend departures. Ports include Bar Harbor, Charlottetown, Sydney and Halifax. The eight-day cruise adds Saint John, New Brunswick.

Nieuw Statendam offers longer "Newfoundland & New England Discovery" cruises that sail between Boston and Quebec City. Ports on the 10-day cruise include Baie-Comeau and Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec; and Corner Brook, St. Anthony, St. John's, Halifax and Bar Harbor. The 11-day departure calls at Portland, Maine; Saguenay, Quebec; and Saint John, Halifax, Corner Brook (evening stay), Charlottetown and Baie-Comeau.

Both ships will cruise the region in the fall so more guests can view the impressive display of the changing foliage. Itineraries feature scenic cruising through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Saguenay Fjord.

Holland America Line, with its perfect sized ships, is one of the only major cruise lines able to cruise the scenic St. Lawrence River, with calls at Montreal and Quebec City on nearly every itinerary.

Zaandam offers nine-day repositioning cruises along the Atlantic Coast between Montreal and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in May and October, while Nieuw Statendam leisurely cruises from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale in October on a 14-day voyage.

Explore Food, Wine and Culture on Culinary Tours

Exclusive shore excursions in partnership with FOOD & WINE magazine showcase the tastes of the region. On Canada and New England cruises, guests can indulge in authentic poutine and maple syrup-infused treats or farm-to-fork cuisine in Quebec City; sail on a classic lobster boat, then dine at a Downeast Maine lobster bake in Bar Harbor; explore the best of Nova Scotia's culinary scene along Halifax's iconic waterfront boardwalk; and sample Prince Edward Island's freshly-shucked oysters, lobster sliders and homegrown mussels.

Story continues

Save Now, Cruise Later

For a limited time, guests who book 2022 Canada & New England cruises by April 19, 2021, can receive up to $2,300 in amenities, including a free Signature Beverage Package, prepaid gratuities, free Signature Dining Package and 50% reduced deposits, plus free Wi-Fi for suites. Canada and New England cruise-only pricing starts at $799 per person, double occupancy. Taxes, fees and port expenses are additional.

For more information about Holland America Line, consult a travel advisor, call 1-877-SAIL HAL (877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com.

Find Holland America Line on Twitter, Facebook and the Holland America Blog. Access all social media outlets via the home page at hollandamerica.com.

About Holland America Line [a division of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE: CCL and CUK)]

Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873 and was the first cruise line to offer adventures to Alaska and the Yukon more than 70 years ago. Its fleet of premium ships visits more than 470 ports in 98 countries around the world, offering an ideal mid-sized ship experience. A third Pinnacle-class ship, Rotterdam, is under construction and will join the fleet in July 2021.

The leader in premium cruising, Holland America Line's ships feature innovative initiatives and a diverse range of enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel. The best live music at sea fills each evening at Music Walk, and dining venues feature exclusive selections from Holland America Line's esteemed Culinary Council, comprising world-famous chefs.

In light of COVID-19, Holland America Line is currently enhancing health and safety protocols and how they may impact future cruises. Our actual offerings may vary from what is displayed or described in marketing materials. Review our current Cruise Updates , Health & Safety Protocols and CDC Travel Advisories.

CONTACT: Erik Elvejord PHONE: 800-637-5029, 206-626-9890 EMAIL: pr@hollandamerica.com

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SOURCE Holland America Line
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Three months after Michigan opened up COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include teachers and other school staff, some West Michigan districts are reporting the majority of their employees are vaccinated.

At least 70% of teachers and staff in several districts across Kent, Muskegon and Ottawa counties said that they have gotten or are in the process of getting their COVID-19 vaccine, school leaders reported to MLive.

Those districts include four of the five largest systems in Kent and Ottawa counties -- Grand Rapids, Forest Hills, Rockford and Hudsonville -- and Mona Shores in Muskegon County. The five districts represent almost 42,000 students across West Michigan.

School officials in those districts said all educators who wanted a COVID-19 vaccine have been able to get one.

The one thing I can say definitively is that 100% of Reeths-Puffer employees who asked us to assist with their vaccination efforts have had an opportunity, said Steve Edwards, superintendent of Reeths-Puffer Public Schools, where 64% of the 353 employees are vaccinated. We have a current waiting list of zero.

Because of privacy laws, school districts cant require employees to report if theyve been vaccinated. Local and state health officials dont track vaccinations among teachers, either. But many schools have conducted informal polling among staff to get an idea of how many employees have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.

At Grand Rapids Public Schools, the largest district in West Michigan, 70% of the its 2,100 employees reported that theyve gotten at least their first dose of the vaccine, Superintendent Leadriane Roby said at a school board meeting March 22.

The number of vaccinated GRPS staff had an impact on the districts recent decision to increase face-to-face learning to four days a week, Roby said.

RELATED: Grand Rapids school board votes to extend in-person learning to 4 days a week for grades K-8

In Ottawa Countys largest district, Hudsonville Superintendent Doug VanderJagt said 86% of his staff have either received both doses, their first dose, or are scheduled to receive their vaccine in the near future. While 14% of teachers said they preferred not to answer districtwide polling, VanderJagt said he estimates half of those individuals had also been vaccinated.

Around 80% of staff at Rockford Public Schools have been vaccinated or are in the process of getting vaccinated, said Korie Wilson-Crawford, assistant superintendent of human resources.

I think its gone very smoothly for Rockford staff, Wilson-Crawford said. We did have a few staff who were struggling initially to get in for an appointment in late January, but now that were a few weeks out from that, we feel like our staff have had ample opportunity to get the vaccines, and we think that many of them have.

Forest Hills Superintendent Dan Behm said 750 of the districts 1,150 staff members have responded to districtwide polling about vaccinations. About 80% of respondents have received two doses of the vaccine, 9% have received their first dose, and 5% dont plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Only 5% of Forest Hills employees are still waiting to be scheduled for their first dose, Behm said.

Health officials said teachers are no longer facing the lengthy wait times for vaccines like they did in January, when eligibility first opened up to educators. While school staff in Ottawa County initially faced wait times of several weeks to register for a vaccine, registration numbers have since slowed down.

We are starting to see some unfilled appointments for this group, which hints that those who want the vaccine may have received their first dose, said Marcia Mansaray, deputy health administrator for Ottawa County Department of Public Health.

But teacher vaccinations have gone mostly untracked by Michigan health officials, even though the group has been prioritized for the vaccine.

There is little data available on how many educators have gotten their vaccine  and how many have refused them  because that data is not recorded by health departments at the state and county level.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services does not track the occupation of any of the individuals who receive the COVID-19 vaccine, spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said.

The only teacher vaccination data available is from informal polling done by school districts. But schools are very hesitant to survey their teachers and report vaccination data to health officials because of privacy laws, said Joann Hoganson, schools liaison for the Kent County Health Department.

Administrators from Muskegon Public Schools and Holland Public Schools told MLive they have not polled employees on whether theyve been vaccinated, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Jenison Public Schools also doesnt keep track of teacher vaccinations.

But Hoganson said for the last two weeks, no schools have asked for her assistance in registering employees for a vaccine, which could indicate that the need for vaccines among educators is slowing down.

Around 83% of staff have been vaccinated at Mona Shores Public Schools, the largest Muskegon County district. Superintendent Bill OBrien said thats mostly thanks to a vaccination clinic hosted by Mona Shores and Whitehall Public Schools through a partnership with the Muskegon County Health Department.

The vaccine clinic, which mostly targeted Muskegon County educators but was open to all essential workers, successfully distributed 5,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine over the last three months. The clinic wrapped up second doses of the shot for school staff countywide earlier this month.

OBrien said educators are now breathing a collective sigh of relief.

We want our staff to be comfortable (with returning to the classroom), and having the vaccine helps them feel more comfortable, he said.

More on MLive:

Vaccines bring relief to Ann Arbor teachers preparing for return to classroom

Washtenaw County teachers finding more success getting vaccinated for COVID

30% of Michigan adults have received first vaccine dose; see numbers in your county
Kakadu National Park management is set to ask the Commonwealth Attorney-General to intervene after it was sued for allegedly illegally disturbing an Aboriginal sacred site.

Parks Australia - which is part of the federal government's environment department - is accused of building a walking track in the World Heritage-listed park at Gunlom, a cascading waterfall that appeared in the movie Crocodile Dundee.

The Northern Territory Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority says the track was constructed close to a restricted ceremonial feature without an Authority Certificate, which is issued after Traditional Owners are consulted.

It filed a charge against Parks Australia in September under the NT's Sacred Sites Act 1998 for carrying out the uncertified work.

Lawyers for Parks Australia on Monday requested an adjournment to allow it time to issue notices to Attorney Generals across the country, inviting them to intervene in the case.

Parks Australia - which is part of the federal government's environment department - is accused of building a walking track in the World Heritage-listed park at Gunlom, a cascading waterfall that appeared in the movie Crocodile Dundee

'We're not in a position to enter a plea,' Todd Herskope told the NT Local Court when asked by Magistrate Tanya Austin where the case was at.

'Constitutional issues arise with this prosecution and as such, the defendant is required to issue notices to the Commonwealth, State, and Territory Attorneys General.'

Mr Herskope said the notices had not been issued but they would be in the coming day.

Asked what the constitutional issues were, Mr Herskope told Magistrate Austin he wasn't able to say.

AAP understands Parks Australia will assert the NT legislation is irrelevant to it or the case.

AAPA lawyer Ray Murphy protested against the application for the adjournment, saying the case could proceed at the same time as the notices were being considered by the various Attorneys General.

'What needs to be determined today what facts are in issue and what witnesses are required for cross-examination,' he said.

'This matter has been dragging on for quite a while.'

Mr Murphy accused Mr Herskope of being 'vague' over the constitutional issues.

'If there are issues state them now so we all know where we stand,' he said.

Traditional owners accuse Kakadu National Park of building a walking track next to the waterfall that featured in Crocodile Dundee (Pictured)

AAPA Chair Bobby Nunggumarjbarr has previously said Parks Australia needs to consult Traditional Owners to protect Kakadu for all Australians.

'I want to see the Park (management) and Traditional Owners and AAPA working closer together so that this kind of thing can't happen again,' he said.

'I want to make sure all the sacred sites are protected in the future for the benefits of the traditional owners and the custodians and all the visitors.'

If the case proceeds, about 18 witnesses are expected to be called. Some of these will be Indigenous and require a translator, Mr Murphy said.

The hearing is expected to run for about eight days, the court heard.

Before AAPA issues an Authority Certificate it consults Traditional Owners about the sites to understand how the sacred site should be protected and what restrictions and conditions should be applied to the proposed works.

The maximum penalty under NT law for carrying work on a sacred site without a certificate is $314,000.

The matter was adjourned for directions hearing on April 30.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) -- The Department of Labor and Employment will release again a one-time cash assistance to formal workers who will be affected by the enhanced community quarantine.

Handa naman po ang Department of Labor [and Employment] na kahit papaano ay makakapagbigay tayo ng tulong. Meron tayong tulong na tinatawag na CAMP, ito 'yung para sa mga formal workers. May one-time cash assistance for them, said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in a virtual briefing on Monday.

[Translation: The Department of Labor and Employment is ready to extend help. We have a program called CAMP, which is for formal workers. They will receive a one-time cash assistance.]

The DOLE will grant the one-time aid equivalent to P5,000 through the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program.

Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna were again placed under the strictest quarantine and only establishments offering essential services will be allowed to operate.

He said companies will have to submit again a list of employees affected by the ECQ in the affected areas.

Kailangan malaman natin kung sino yung mga empleyadong naapektuhan nitong bagong level ng quarantine, said Bello. Ibibigay lang sa amin 'yung pangalan ng employer kung sino 'yung mga empleyado nila ang affected. On that basis, we will remit the cash assistance of P5,000 for the employer to remit it to their respective employees.

[Translation: We need to know the employees who will be affected by this new level of quarantine....The employers need to submit to us the names of the employees who are affected. On that basis, we will remit the cash assistance of P5,000 for the employer to distribute them to their respective employees.]

As of Dec. 8 last year, the DOLE said over 1.4 million workers from around 36,300 establishments have applied for the cash assistance.

The Department of Budget and Management said it is setting aside some P23 billion for its cash aid program to nearly 23 million Filipinos that will be affected by the ECQ.
[March 29, 2021] Danimer Scientific Planning $700 Million, 400-Job Expansion in Decatur County

Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced that Danimer Scientific (NYSE: DNMR), a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable materials, plans to invest $700 million in expanding their Bainbridge manufacturing operations, nearly quadrupling their workforce in Decatur County. On March 16, Danimer and Mars-Wrigley announced a partnership to develop an innovative home compostable packaging, with SKITTLES as the brand's first product to use the new packaging. "I want to thank Danimer for this planned investment in Bainbridge that will create hundreds of solid manufacturing jobs for the hardworking people of southwest Georgia," said Governor Kemp. "Across multiple industries, Georgia is growing jobs of the future. This major expansion is a testament to the increasing focus Georgia is putting on sustainability and innovation, supported by our highly skilled workforce, technical colleges, and business-friendly climate." Headquartered in Bainbridge for over a decade, Danimer currently employs more than 100 people in southwest Georgia. The company's renewable and sustainable biopolymers are used in single-use and other plastic products. These materials are biodegradable and compostable and are used by clients in industries like food packaging, bottling, and other traditional packaging sectors. Applications for Danimer's biopolymers include additives, aqueous coatings, fibers, filaments, films, hot-melt adhesives, and injection-molded articles. "Georgia has been a welcoming home for Danimer since the company's inception, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue growing our roots in the region," said Stephen Croskrey, CEO of Danimer Scientific. "With access to the state's robust logistics infrastructure and top-notch talent coming from local universities, we are in a strong position to make our vision of replacing traditional plastic with 100% renewable and biodegradable alternatives a reality. We could not be more pleased with the growing commitments to sustainable solutions by multinational companies, which has allowed us to double the planned size of this new facility." Danimer expects to construct an additional 2,000,000-square-foot facility near their current 25-acre campus, located at 140 Industrial Boulevard in Bainbridge. The company will hire for technical positions and careers in production, maintenance, and management. Individuals interested in opportunities with Danimer are encouraged to visit www.DanimerScientific.com for additional information. "Reducing the environmental impacts of plastic waste is one of the most critical issues facing the world today, so we are proud to welcome home a project that will play a key role in solving it," said Rick McCaskill, executive director of the Development Authority of Bainbridge and Decatur County. "We look forward to supporting Danimer Scientific in bringing this innovative technology from Decatur County to the rest of the world." "Danimer Scientific would not be what it is today without the support we have received from the Bainbridge community over th years," said Michael Smith (News - Alert) , chief operating officer at Danimer Scientific. "In particular, we'd like to thank the Development Authority of Decatur County and the State of Georgia for their assistance in making this process smooth and efficient as we prepare plans for the new facility."



Senior Project Manager Tina Herring represented the Georgia Department of Economic Development's (GDEcD) Global Commerce division on this competitive project in partnership with the Development Authority of Bainbridge-Decatur County, Southern Regional Technical College, Georgia Quick Start, and Georgia Power. "We are delighted to see an innovative company like Danimer continue to grow and thrive from their home in southwest Georgia, and I thank our economic development partners for their continued support of our existing industries," said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. "Georgia companies like Danimer continue to lead the way toward a green manufacturing future, and we are thrilled to be their partner as they push sustainable solutions forward."

About Danimer Scientific

Danimer Scientific is a pioneer in creating more sustainable, more natural ways to make plastic products. For more than a decade, the company's renewable and sustainable biopolymers have helped create plastic products that are biodegradable and compostable. They return to nature instead of polluting the environment. Danimer Scientific's technology can be found in a vast array of plastic end products that people use every day. Applications for Danimer Scientific's biopolymers include additives, aqueous coatings, fibers, filaments, films, hot-melt adhesives, and injection-molded articles, among others. The company now holds more than 150 granted patents and pending patent applications in more than 20 countries for a range of manufacturing processes and biopolymer formulations. For more information, visit www.DanimerScientific.com. Forward-Looking Statements

Please note that in this press release we may use words such as "appears," "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "expects," "intends," "future," and similar expressions which constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are made based on our expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks and uncertainties. We caution that forward-looking statements are not guarantees and that actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results of operations or financial condition of the Company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, the overall level of consumer demand on our products; general economic conditions and other factors affecting consumer confidence, preferences, and behavior; disruption and volatility in the global currency, capital, and credit markets; the financial strength of the Company's customers; the Company's ability to implement its business strategy, including, but not limited to, its ability to expand its production facilities and plants to meet customer demand for its products and the timing thereof; risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information with respect to the Company; the ability of the Company to execute and integrate acquisitions; changes in governmental regulation, legislation or public opinion relating to our products; the Company's exposure to product liability or product warranty claims and other loss contingencies; disruptions and other impacts to the Company's business, as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic and government actions and restrictive measures implemented in response; stability of the Company's manufacturing facilities and suppliers, as well as consumer demand for our products, in light of disease epidemics and health-related concerns such as the COVID-19 global pandemic; the impact that global climate change trends may have on the Company and its suppliers and customers; the Company's ability to protect patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights; any breaches of, or interruptions in, our information systems; the ability of our information technology systems or information security systems to operate effectively, including as a result of security breaches, viruses, hackers, malware, natural disasters, vendor business interruptions or other causes; our ability to properly maintain, protect, repair or upgrade our information technology systems or information security systems, or problems with our transitioning to upgraded or replacement systems; the impact of adverse publicity about the Company and/or its brands, including without limitation, through social media or in connection with brand damaging events and/or public perception; fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of raw materials and contracted products as well as foreign currency fluctuations; our ability to utilize potential net operating loss carryforwards; and changes in tax laws and liabilities, tariffs, legal, regulatory, political and economic risks. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included from time to time in the Company's public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to the Company as of the date of this press release, and speak only as of the date hereof. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005699/en/

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LA SPEZIA, MAR 29 - An Italian priest on Sunday refused to bless the palms for Palm Sunday in protest against a recent Catholic Church ruling that gay unions cannot be blessed because they are sinful. Father Giulio Mignani of Bonassola near La Spezia has been vocal in the past in his support for gay marriage. "If I can't bless couples formed by persons of the same sex, then I won't bless palms or olive branches either," he told his flock in his homily for Mass Sunday. Palm Sunday is celebrated by the blessing and distribution of palm leaves representing the palm branches which the crowd scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem in triumph, a week before his death on Easter Sunday. Father Mignani described as "absurd" the recent ruling by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that the Church (CDF) cannot bless gay unions. The CDF said on March 15 that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions. In response to a 'dubium' question put to it, the CDF said such blessings cannot "be considered licit". So priests should not bless homosexual couples who ask for some type of religious recognition of their union, it said. The CDF said Pope Francis "gave his assent" to the publication of its response to the dubium. Shortly after he became pope in 2013 Francis issued his famous "who am I to judge" statement on gays but continues to uphold Church doctrine against active homosexuality. Pop superstar Elton John, who has been happily married to a gay partner for years, accused the Vatican of hypocrisy in upholding the ban after putting money into his biopic Rocketman. (ANSA).
When an authoritarian regime is being buffeted by Western sanctions, it can typically expect a helping hand from a powerful friend: Vladimir Putin.

Driving the news: As Myanmar's military was firing on protesters and bystanders on Saturday and the U.S. was preparing its toughest response yet to the Feb. 1 military coup, Russia's deputy defense minister was in Myanmar to show Moscow's steadfast support and desire to deepen its "strategic partnership."

The big picture: Almost across the board  from Aleksandr Lukashenko next door in Belarus to Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and, most dramatically of all, to Bashar al-Assad in Syria  when the West shuns a regime, Putin steps in.

Angela Stent, author of "Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest," says Putin's message to his fellow authoritarians is, "'We'll support any of you and sell you arms, and we'll never criticize what you're doing domestically.'"

"It's an equal opportunity policy," Stent adds. And it wins Russia both money and influence.

It also makes it more difficult for the U.S. to isolate countries or force them to change their behavior, particularly when Russia's stance is aligned with China's.

The state of play: Russia has sold Myanmar arms for years, including vehicles used in the coup, per The Moscow Times. Russia and China are also likely to block any strong action against the junta this week at the UN Security Council.

The U.S. announced today that a trade agreement with Myanmar would be suspended until democracy was restored.

That came after a reported 114 people were killed by the military on Saturday, the bloodiest day to date. Even the Kremlin expressed concern over the rising death toll.

But that same day, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin attended a military parade in Naypyidaw. A day earlier, he received a medal from junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, who called Russia a "true friend."

The bottom line: Having witnessed Putin's critical interventions just when things were at their most precarious in Belarus, Venezuela, Syria and elsewhere, authoritarians around the world will know that Russia is a good friend to have.

Worth noting: Russia is increasing its presence in countries and regions where China is very active, such as in sub-Saharan Africa, Stent notes. That makes the two authoritarian powers both collaborators and competitors.
A GoFundMe campaign organized to help the family of a Pakistani immigrant killed in a carjacking in Washington D.C. last week has now raised over $700,000. Two teenagers have been arrested and charged for carjacking and assaulting Mohammad Anwar, 66, of Springfield, Virginia, on the 1200 block of Van Street SE in Washington D.C. on March 23. The two suspects, aged 13 from Southeast D.C. and 15 from Fort Washington, Maryland, also fired a stun gun at the victim during the incident, according to NBC Washington.

The victim was reportedly working as an Uber Eats driver near Nationals Park when the two suspects came up to his car and assaulted him with a stun gun. They then stole the gray sedan and crashed it moments later. A video posted on Twitter showed Anwar hanging by the drivers side while yelling, They're thieves. This is my car,Newsweek reported. Anwar was still clinging to the side of the vehicle when the suspects sped off and caused the car to flip. The two suspects came out of the crashed vehicle unscathed while Anwar lay injured on the sidewalk. Emergency personnel came to the scene around 4:30 p.m. and took Anwar to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead after all lifesaving efforts failed." The two suspects were arrested on felony murder and carjacking charges. They appeared in juvenile court on March 24, and their attorneys requested for them to be released after entering pleas of not involved.

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Lehra Bogino, Anwars niece by marriage, set up a GoFundMe campaign to help the man's family. Anwar has a wife and two children living with them in the U.S. and a child and four grandchildren in Pakistan, KIRO7 reported. My family is experiencing a devastating and traumatic loss of our beloved uncle, Bogino wrote in a Facebook post. Many you may have seen the story about a tragic carjacking in Navy Yard from yesterday. The man who died was my husbands uncle. We are all so confused, angry, and heartbroken by this ridiculous and nonsensical act of violence. All he did was go to work to support his family.

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Anwar was the financial provider for his family, the GoFundMe campaign reads. He immigrated to the country in 2014. This money will help with providing Uncle Anwar with a proper Islamic burial, loss of wages for the family, and pain and suffering, an update in the campaign reads. Uber extended their condolences to the family in a statement to NextShark. We are devastated by this tragic news and our hearts go out to Mohammads family during this difficult time, the company said in the statement. Were grateful the suspects have been arrested and thank the Metropolitan Police Department for their diligence with this investigation. NextShark has reached out to Bogino for further comment and will update this story accordingly. Feature Image via Lehra Bogino

Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark!

Missouri Police Restart Search for Body of Chinese Woman Missing Since 2019

Police Searching for Suspect Who Punched, Yelled Slurs at Asian Man in NYC

Gemma Chan to Receive the Women in Film Face of the Future Award

Hundreds of #StopAsianHate Supporters Hold Rally Over Mass Shooting in Atlanta
ATLANTA, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Operation HOPE, the nation's largest non-profit dedicated to financial empowerment for underserved communities, today announced that Sarah Friar, Chief Executive Officer of Nextdoor, the neighborhood app, has joined its Global Board of Advisors. An accomplished business leader, Ms. Friar brings a wealth of experience helping small businesses leverage the neighborhood to scale up.

Nextdoor is where neighbors go to plug into the neighborhoods that matter to them. Neighbors turn daily to Nextdoor to get the local perspective from those that live in the neighborhoods  neighbors, local businesses and trusted public agencies. Prior to Nextdoor, Ms. Friar served as Chief Financial Officer at Square. Under Ms. Friar's leadership, the company launched its initial public offering in 2015 and added $30Bn in market cap.

Before her tenure at Square, Friar served as Senior Vice President of Finance & Strategy at Salesforce. Ms. Friar also held executive roles at Goldman Sachs, as well as leadership positions at McKinsey in both London and South Africa. A seasoned board member, Ms. Friar currently sits on the boards of Walmart and Slack. She is also a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and co-founder of Ladies Who Launch, a network that mentors and inspires women entrepreneurs and business owners.

"Sarah Friar has proven to be an amazing businesswoman who is on the right side of history," said John Hope Bryant, Founder and CEO of Operation HOPE. "Her bold leadership and commitment to equity & inclusion speak to her moral character, her integrity, and her willingness to make tough business decisions. She possesses a rare, high emotional intelligence that makes her perfect for Operation HOPE's Board."

Ms. Friar joins a distinguished Board that consists of some of the country's top executives in business, banking and the non-profit and NGO sector. HOPE Global Advisory Board members provide guidance and support for Operation HOPE in its commitment to provide financial literacy education and economic empowerment for individuals and small business owners living in under-served communities. In October 2020, John Hope Bryant was announced to the Nextdoor Board of Directors.

"Operation HOPE is driving important changes within our neighborhoods and empowering entrepreneurs at the local level," Ms. Friar said. "I am impressed by how John and his team are committed to building community and look forward to working alongside this great group of advisors to help more small businesses thrive."

Ms. Friar grew up in Northern Ireland and earned her MEng in Metallurgy, Economics, and Management from the University of Oxford and her MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where she graduated as an Arjay Miller scholar. She holds an honorary doctorate from Ulster University and in 2019 was granted an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship.

About Operation HOPE

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserveddisrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through our community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communitiesturning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. Project 5117 is our multi-year four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to improve financial literacy, increase business role models and business internships for youth in underserved communities, and stabilize the American dream by boosting FICO scores. Operation HOPE recently received its seventh consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator.

For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow Operation HOPE on Twitter and Facebook @operationhope

Press Contact:

Lalohni Campbell

4045937145

https://operationhope.org/

SOURCE Operation HOPE

Related Links

http://www.OperationHOPE.org


Makurdi  The Benue State Police Command has confirmed the arrival of Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, Abba Kyari led crack special investigative team to the state to commence investigation into the attempted assassination of Governor Samuel Ortom by armed men suspected to be militia herdsmen.

Governor Ortom had last Saturday escaped assassination at Tyo Mu community on Makurdi - Gboko Road, where the armed men opened fire on him while inspecting his farm on the shore of River Benue.

The Inspector General of Police had promised to send a special investigative team to the state to investigate the matter and arrest the mastermind.

Also read: I'll not grant amnesty nor negotiate with bandits, armed men perpetrating killings/criminality in Benue - Ortom

Benue leaders had described the attack as a direct assault on Benue people and urged Police to arrest for questioning all those who had already claimed responsibility for the attack including those who in the past justified the killings in state by militia herdsmen.

"The leaders of Fulani Nationality Movement, FUNAM, should be arrested because they have already claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We have also been calling for the arrest of the leader of Miyetti Allah for the killings in our state and we expect that these arrests will be made without delay, to start with," Chairmen of Benue tribal leaders and President General of Mzough U Tiv, Chief Iorbee Ihagh had said.

Confirming the arrival of team to Benue state on Sunday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent, DSP, Catherine Anene told Vanguard that the team was ready to undertake its assignment. "Yes they are in town already to undertake the assignment," she said.

Vanguard News Nigeria
(@FahadShabbir)

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 29th Mar, 2021) The National and Reserve Service Authority and the Ministry of Education have announced the launch of the university education project for national service recruits.

The project allows 12th-grade students of the 2020-2021 academic year - who will join the 16th batch and the subsequent batches - to be enrolled in the university education through "distance learning" system.

The move comes in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to ensure that students continue their university education during the service period.

The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Armed Forces Officers Club and attended by Pilot Staff Major General Sheikh Ahmed bin Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Authority; Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, in the presence of a number of senior officers of the Ministry of Defence.

This step reflects the leadership's endeavours to develop the national human cadres for the future, by ensuring that they join the national service, and at the same time, they continue their university education easily and without interruption.

Speaking during the conference, Pilot Staff Major General Sheikh Ahmed bin Tahnoun noted that the Authority, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and other concerned parties, is fully prepared to overcome any difficulties that may face the implementation of this project.

For his part, Al Hammadi said that there will be no conflict between the students national service and his studies as the students will choose specific courses that will be scheduled during the evening hours.

The pilot period will be implemented in cooperation with a selected group of higher education institutions in the country, starting from the summer semester 2021 followed by the first semester of the academic year 2021-2022.

It is expected that 1,500 recruits of the National Service (batch 14 - high school graduates of 2019-2020) will be enrolled in the distance learning system.

The Ministry of Education called on all twelfth grade male students, who are expected to graduate in 2020-2021, to expedite the submission of registration applications through the national system for applying to higher education institutions to ensure their smooth enrollment in university studies while performing national service.

The implementation of the project will be followed up within a systematic plan during the coming period, in cooperation with all partners.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Sunday left Accra on Sunday for Madrid in Spain to attend the "Focus Africa 2023" Conference, being held in Madrid.



Focus Africa 2023, an in-person Conference, defines Spanish foreign action in Africa until 2023, and forms part of the Spanish Foreign Action Strategy 2021-2024.



It includes the specific actions the Spanish Government intends to take with key stakeholders in Africa, including Ghana, and it is aligned with the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Unions 2063 Agenda.



The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.



The President will return to Ghana on Tuesday and in his absence, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Photo taken with mobile phone on March 26, 2020 shows a vessel of the coast guard intercepting a vessel suspected of smuggling at sea.File photo:Xinhua

By Zong Haiyi

With the development of the global maritime sector and relevant governance, the concept of "maritime community with shared future" has won increasing support worldwide. Building a secure and stable marine environment has become a common aspiration of the international community.

Strengthening the international cooperation in maritime law enforcement and jointly coping with maritime challenges and crises is a realistic and effective way to promote global maritime governance to benefit all countries involved. For a long time, China's coast guards have actively participated in regional and international cooperation in maritime law enforcement. They have earnestly implemented international treaties and UN Security Council's resolutions, played a significant role in providing humanitarian assistance and aid at sea, contributed to the protection of marine ecological environment and maintaining maritime security and stability. On February 1, China's Coast Guard Law was enacted, which provides a more solid basis for the international cooperation and kick starts a new chapter of our country's maritime law enforcement cooperation.

The China Coast Guard (CCG), China's major maritime law enforcement agency, has signed multiple bilateral memorandums of understanding, cooperation agreements with maritime law enforcement agencies of our maritime neighboring countries, and has carried out practical collaboration with not only our neighbors, but also the US, Russia, France, Germany, etc. Through the mutual visits between coast guard vessels and personnel training, the CCG has expanded its partnership with major maritime countries in the region and in the world, which is vital for building regional and global maritime law enforcement cooperation networks.

The CCG also proactively participates in the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum, the Asian Coast Guard Agencies Senior Officer Meeting, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ship in Asia and other institutional multilateral meetings. It has earnestly implemented the "Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fisheries Resources in the North Pacific Ocean" and other international treaties, jointly coped with other non-traditional security threats with other countries. CCG has increasingly become an important force for maintaining maritime security and promoting regional peace and stability.

The promulgation and implementation of China's Coast Guard Law is conducive to clarifying coast guards' duties and limits of authority. It defines the basic scope of the mission of maritime law enforcement, distinguishes CCG's functions with those of other maritime authorities, coordinates issues related to maritime law enforcement cooperation and guides coast guards to carry out law enforcement activities within the legal framework. China's Coast Guard Law stipulates the basis, objects and main tasks of the foreign cooperation of China's coast guard agencies. It also regulates the limits of authority and measures for coast guards when carrying out maritime law enforcement cooperation. It is an important part of comprehensively promoting China's law-based governance in the field of maritime law enforcement.

In recent years, China's foreign-related law enforcement tasks have been increasing, and the challenges they are faced with have become increasingly complex. Therefore, the ability and level of maritime law enforcement cooperation needs to be further enhanced. At the same time, with the further development of China's reform and opening up and economic globalization, China's overseas interests are constantly expanding. The Chinese government has the obligation and right to take necessary measures in accordance with international law to protect our country's overseas interests.

China's Coast Guard Law is conducive to standardizing China's maritime law enforcement cooperation. It covers issues in various fields such as maritime crime fighting, exploitation and utilization of marine resources, marine ecological environment protection and marine fishery management. It has improved maritime administrative law enforcement, standardized relevant law enforcement details, made up for the previous vacancy in China's maritime criminal legislation and further regulated China's maritime law enforcement activities. All these provide a more stable guarantee for the cooperation between China's coast guards and their foreign counterparts.

China's Coast Guard Law helps promote China's international cooperation in maritime law enforcement to a higher level. It uses international treaties as the basis for law enforcement cooperation and fixes CCG's international obligations in the form of a domestic law. The law clarifies the scope of international cooperation in law enforcement, advocates the establishment of an institutional law enforcement cooperation mode, emphasizes the joint maintenance of maritime public security order with other countries and reflects China's view of maritime governance based on "consultation, contribution and shared benefits'' China's Coast Guard Law also gives CCG freedom and flexibility in terms of cooperation and reserves space for better law enforcement cooperation with other countries and participation in global maritime governance.

It is foreseeable that, under the guidance and regulation of China's Coast Guard Law, CCG will further expand the breadth and depth of maritime law enforcement cooperation in the future, set a new pattern of international cooperation in maritime law enforcement and start a new chapter of international cooperation in maritime law enforcement.

The author is an observer of international affairs.
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Less than a month after Nigeria commenced vaccination of its citizens against the COVID-19 virus, over 560,000 people have received the first dose of the vaccine.

As of Monday evening, 566,917 eligible Nigerians have been vaccinated, according to an update by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

The agency said the COVID-19 vaccination has commenced in all states across the country except for Kogi which is yet to receive doses for the vaccines.

Kogi was not supplied with the vaccines because their cold store is still under repairs following vandalisation during the EndSARS protest, the NPHCDA head, Faisal Shuaib, said at a briefing.

But the agency in a tweet on Monday said Mr Shuaib met with Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to resolve issues around vaccine storage and provision of security at the Cold Store.

Vaccination Update

Data published by the agency shows that Lagos, the epicentre of the disease in Nigeria, has vaccinated 112,326 people; making it the highest in the country.

This is followed by Ogun with 48,983, Kaduna-40,243, Bauchi- 32,893, Katsina- 32,628, and Kwara- 27,509.

The states with the lowest number of vaccinated people are Abia-95 and Taraba  413.

Vaccination campaign

Having received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in early March, Nigeria commenced vaccination beginning with healthcare workers.

The country recently received another 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from telecom giant, MTN, as part of the latters contribution to Africa.

The government had announced its plan to vaccinate 109 million people against the COVID-19 virus over a period of two years.

READ ALSO:

Health authorities said only eligible population from 18 years and above will be vaccinated in different phases.

Although there has been controversy over the safety of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine which prompted some countries to suspend its use, Nigeria has chosen to continue the rollout of the vaccines, saying it is safe for use.

The World Health Organisation and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have also declared the vaccine safe.

The EMA said it would continue to study possible links between very rare blood clots and the vaccine.

No Nigerian has declared any serious side effect from taking the vaccine, Mr Shuaib said.

As of Sunday night, Nigeria has recorded 162,593 COVID-19 cases and 2,048 deaths, according to an update published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
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 U.S. 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 U.S. pressure efforts.
To watch is to keep wanting some of these characters to jump off the turntables, grab the moment by the gut and really let loose, but, even though actors like Aldridge and Smith would be able to do that, the show seems to keep pulling them back into small scenes of self-expression. The show uses microphones and, at times, it has the style of a podcast being recorded in a really beautiful environment, given the romantic hue of Todd Rosenthals design, which tends to smooth away the rough edges in these characters lives and make it feel like everyone is living on the set of some classy, indie movie all about books or colleges. But I dont think that is entirely what Anderson had in mind. Right now, its a hybrid, a very beguiling and articulate one. Still. Some hard decisions have yet to be made about which way the work should go.
Police began running after him, and there was a confrontation in an alley in the 2300 block of South Sawyer. Police later clarified the official address of the confrontation, saying that it happened in an alley in the 2300 block of South Spaulding. The alley behind Farragut Career Academy High School, 2359 S. Spaulding Ave., runs behind the odd-number side of Spaulding and the even-numbered side of Sawyer.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is set to remove a relatively obscure GI Bill rule, which could cost beneficiaries thousands of dollars. But Congress is poised to act if the agency doesn't reverse course before a critical deadline this summer.

The so-called "rounding out" rule will be phased out Aug. 1, according to the VA. Currently, a GI Bill student can round out a college schedule with non-required classes to bring their course load to a full-term schedule once per program. This allows students to continue to receive full-time benefits, such as a larger housing allowance.

For example, if a student needs 60 hours to obtain a degree and completed all the required courses in 57 hours, they could add a 3-credit-hour course unrelated to their major to their schedule, which would be covered under the GI Bill and prevent them from missing out on any full-time benefits.

Read Next: Groundbreaking VA Study Shows How Long COVID-19 Vaccine Immunity May Last

When asked about the move during a congressional hearing last week, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said he had never heard about rounding out or the Trump administration's decision to scrub it. He added that he would follow up with lawmakers.

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., who chairs the VA committee subpanel on economic opportunity, said he hopes the VA simply reverses the decision to sunset rounding out.

"It impacts a whole lot of student veterans later this year if we don't get out in front of it," Levin said in an interview with Military.com. "It's a policy that will hurt a lot of veterans."

Yet lawmakers might have to step in with legislation if the VA lets the rounding out rule die in August. Either the VA will need to make a decision before then, or Congress will have to fast-track legislation so as not to impact students in the fall semester.

"Hopefully, that won't be necessary, but we'll look at whatever alternatives there are," Levin added. "I hope it will be as simple as reversing the decision. I hope Secretary McDonough reconsiders what the past administration decided to do."

It is unclear how many students have used the rounding out rule, but it is difficult to perfectly map out four years of schooling. Dropping just one class from a schedule could be detrimental to a GI Bill student's income, costing them thousands of dollars in a single semester.

Texas has the largest number of GI Bill beneficiaries in school, with 67,578 students, according to VA data. The University of Texas at San Antonio has one of the state's largest populations of GI Bill students, with 3,260 enrollees.

Right now, a full-time GI Bill student eligible for full post-9/11 benefits will earn $7,452 in housing allowance per semester at the school. Getting rid of a single course would reduce that to $5,962.

The housing allowance is much larger in parts of the country with high costs of living. In Manhattan, students bring in $14,553 per semester. Dropping to part-time status would bring in a maximum of $11,642 per semester.

The VA is the second largest government agency in terms of size and budget. Its budget has ballooned over the years, and the department might be seeking to cut costs partly by not paying for what are ultimately unnecessary college courses. In 2001, the VA budget was $48 billion; now, it's over $250 billion.

The housing allowance is largely seen as one of the biggest benefits and sharpest economic tools for veterans to be successful after the military. Gutting a major benefit with virtually no warning could have serious consequences for students and would likely draw the immediate ire of advocates and lawmakers.

"That full-time status ensures their housing allowance remains steady, consequently helping them complete their post-secondary education," said Tanya Ang, vice president of advocacy group Veterans Education Success. "VA has been able to adequately address this situation for years, so it only makes sense they continue to do so without the intervention of Congress."

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: New Law Finally Closes GI Bill Loophole Allegedly Used to Scam Veterans
In the top photo, Busan mayoral candidate Kim Young-choon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea greets citizens at a traditional market in Busan, Monday, while in the bottom photo, main opposition People Power Party candidate Park Heong-joon meets citizens at a park in the port city, Monday. The Busan mayoral by-election will take place on April 7. Yonhap
Egypt denounced on Friday targeting civil facilities in Saudi Arabia by the Houthi militia from Yemen.

The Foreign Ministry, in a statement, condemned these practices the latest of which was an attack by bomb-laden aircraft on Thursday.

Egypt renewed its condemnation of the Houthi militia for resuming their hostile and cowardly practices against Saudi Arabia despite sincere Saudi efforts for reaching a political settlement of the crisis in Yemen, added the statement.

Egypt renewed its support and solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the face of these criminal acts and that it backs all measures adopted by Saudi Arabia for maintaining its stability and security.
[March 29, 2021] MAI Capital Management to Acquire Ownership Advisors

MAI Capital Management, LLC ("MAI"), a leading independent registered investment adviser that specializes in comprehensive investment and financial planning for high-net-worth individuals and families, has entered into an agreement to acquire the wealth management business of Ownership Advisors, Inc. ("OAI"). The partnership increases MAI's in-house wealth management capabilities and strengthens the firm's Cleveland presence. OAI is based in Cleveland and provides comprehensive financial planning and wealth management services for high-net-worth individuals and families. The firm specializes in supporting wealth accumulation, intergenerational wealth management and legacy planning for its clients. OAI President Mark Van Drunen has over two decades of financial services industry experience and will assume the role of Managing Director at MAI. "MAI's history of success can be attributed to our commitment to clients and designing strategic and personalized plans that meet their individualized goals," said Rick Buoncore, Managing Partner at MAI. "We see this same philosophy woven into OAI's culture, which is driven by defined core values and their dedication to providing quality planning and strategic advice to clients. We are excited to welcome Mark and his team to MAI." "Throughout our history, we have been incredibly thoughtful in our work with clients, as well as the partners we seek to best serve them," commented Van Drunen. "In considering our future, we sought a partner who shares our values and philosophy, which are embodie by the MAI team."



This is MAI's 11th acquisition since taking a minority investment from Wealth Partners Capital Group ("WPCG"), a financial services holding company, in July 2017. Last year, MAI completed three strategic acquisitions that established the firm's presence in new geographies, including its acquisition of Smith Capital Management in Little Rock, Arkansas, Greenway Family Office in St. Louis and Grisanti Capital Management in New York City. Earlier this year, MAI announced its acquisition of HW Financial Advisors, a Beachwood, Ohio-based wealth manager. "Rick and the MAI team are focused on providing superior wealth management resources, tools and expertise for their clients," said John Copeland, Managing Partner at WPCG. "This partnership with OAI allows MAI to expand its expertise and continue growing its wealth management presence in Cleveland and beyond."

The deal with OAI is subject to customary closing conditions and is anticipated to close during the second quarter of 2021. OAI's assets under management totaled approximately $120 million as of Dec. 31, 2020. Financial and legal terms of the deal will not be disclosed. About MAI Capital Management MAI Capital Management ("MAI") is a fee-based registered investment adviser and wealth management firm based in Cleveland, with additional offices in Cincinnati, OH, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Nashua, NH, Irvine, CA (News - Alert) , Reston, VA, Little Rock, AR, New York City and St. Louis. As of Feb. 28, 2021, MAI's assets under management totaled $10 billion. The firm also provides comprehensive investment management and planning services to high-net-worth individuals, families and athletes. MAI is led by Managing Partner Rick Buoncore. For more information, please visit www.mai.capital. About Wealth Partners Capital Group Wealth Partners Capital Group ("WPCG") is a financial services holding company, which has partnered with MAI Capital Management ("MAI"). WPCG assists MAI by identifying and integrating like-minded registered investment advisers who are seeking access to expanded business capabilities, strategic growth and customized transition solutions. The WPCG management team is led by partners John W. Copeland, Rich Gill and Sean Bresnan. For more information, please visit www.wealthpcg.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005160/en/

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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.
Amid the excitement of BLACKPINK Jisoo's fans for her first female lead drama, "Snowdrop," K-Netz is pushing the cancellation of the drama through a petition.

As of the writing on March 29, over 120,800 people already signed the Blue House petition that netizens started as a call for JTBC's "Snowdrop" cancellation.

This is an aftermath of the backlash that the drama and casts faced previously due to an alleged history distortion both on its plot and characters.

BLACKPINK Jisoo and Jung Hae In First Team Up for "Snowdrop" About to Fail, JTBC's Explanation Didn't Ease K-Netz

Despite the initial explanation of JTBC, which clarified the circulating snippets of the drama "Snowdrop," K-Netz expressed still expressed their firm stance to cancel the drama.

In particular, the Broadcasting Channel denied the allegations of history distortion and explained that it is only a "Black Comedy." Along with this, they asked netizens to refrain from criticisms even before the drama's broadcast.

But this made the situation worse, as a netizen then opened a Blue House petition, asking the drama to be canceled to avoid disparaging the pro-democratic movement and romanticization of spy.

The petition is currently ongoing and will end on April 25.

BLACKPINK Jisoo and Jung Hae In Received Criticism for Filming "Snowdrop" Despite Controversy

On March 27, an anonymous netizen who shared BLACKPINK Jisoo and Jung Hae In's photo fueled the frustrations of the Korean netizens to the casts and drama.

According to the news outlet, Top Star News civilians saw a filming crew around Keimyung University in Daegu, along with a photo of the idol-actress Jisoo and lead actor Jung Hae on a motorcycle scene.

The real-time Daegu Facebook page on the 27th said, "It must have been " Snowdrop," Jung Hae In, and BLACKPINK Jisoo are here. I heard it's a "Sky Castle" production team, so I wonder if it's fun." The photo was posted along with the photo.

Some of the netizens who saw this responded by saying, "Why am I not here now?" "Jung Hae In is so handsome," and "Jisoo is so pretty."

On the other hand, as the drama was recently controversial over concerns over distortion of history, some people showed cold eyes

Several netizens reacted negatively, saying,

"There's no future in this drama," "Don't they know what's going on?" and calling the cast selfish for disregarding opinions.

Apparently, the show is being affected following Koreans earnest desire to protect their history and culture, which sparked following the broadcast of SBS "Joseon Exorcist." The drama was permanently canceled due to history distortion speculations, then and after this, Koreans and netizens are carefully monitoring other K-Dramas.

You Can Also Read:BLACKPINK Jisoo Receives Divided Opinions after Posting Instagram Photos at the 'Snowdrop' Set

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Eunice Dawson
The PLA Hong Kong Garrison organized a multi-services joint drill involving five ships, five helicopters and land forces in Hong Kong on March 25.
FOR Deo Persad, who knew nothing but family, work, and church, life was complete.

That was evident in the trademark grin on his resting face, hence his nickname Smiley Boboy.

Then one day, his heart-warming and comforting smile, even when he was angry, was lost, and the man who never took a vacation day in his life walked out of his familys home on August 6, 2020, leaving confusion, hurt and grief at their doorstep.

On Deos 53rd birthday on December 14 last year there was nothing but hope that he would walk back into their lives.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned NSW will likely see fresh local coronavirus cases, as more Byron Bay venues are placed on alert after a group who travelled from Queensland for a bachelorette party later tested positive for coronavirus.

An additional eight local cases were detected in the sunshine state on Tuesday, one day into Greater Brisbanes three-day snap lockdown designed to stop the spread of local cases which have been linked to healthcare workers at a Brisbane hospital.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (left) and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant (right) during a visit at Homebush Boys High School on Tuesday. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Five of the cases are linked to the bachelorette group, which included a nurse in the COVID-19 ward at Brisbanes Princess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said.

One of these cases was a male entertainer who also works as a tradesman and had been on-site at a Gold Coast aged care home while contagious. A sixth case, a close contact, is believed to also be linked to this cluster.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza will today visit the Aspen Pharmacare sterile manufacturing facility and Coega Special Economic Zone at Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.

Deputy President Mabuza will undertake the visit in his capacity as Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on COVID-19 Vaccines, said the Presidency in a statement.

The President and Deputy President will be accompanied on the oversight visit by the Health Minister Dr Zwelini Mkhize, Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and the Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Councillor Mzwenqaba Bhanga.

The visit to the Aspen Pharmacare COVID-19 sterile manufacturing facility will focus on progress in vaccine production as part of the partnership between government and the private sector in the national vaccination programme.

In November 2020, Aspen Pharmacare collaborated with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to establish the capacity required for the manufacturing of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine at Aspen's sterile facility in Gqeberha.

This new sterile manufacturing facility contains high-technology equipment and systems that will be used to manufacture state-of-the-art sterile drugs and vaccines.

The facility packages these products into vials, ampoules and pre-filled syringes.

Aspen has invested more than R3 billion in the facility which will further provide lifesaving medicines for the domestic and export markets.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Governance Manufacturing 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.

President Ramaphosa and Deputy President Mabuza will tour the internationally accredited facility which has the capacity to produce up to 300 million doses of the J&J vaccine per annum.

Following the visit to Aspen Pharmacare, the delegation will pay a brief visit to the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

As South Africa accelerates its Economic Reconstruction and Recovery, Coega is an improvement catalyst for investment and local development.

The Coega SEZ, while offering global competitiveness through world-class infrastructure, tax incentives, rebates and a duty-free zone, is purpose-built for manufacturing, beneficiation of export goods, skills development and job creation which benefits the local and national economy.

Following the Coega visit, the delegation will stop over at the nearby BAIC SA (Beijing Automotive International Corporation) auto manufacturing plant, which constitutes a significant investment and demonstration of confidence in South Africa as an investment destination.
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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By Charlotte Greenfield

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Arif Alvi said on Monday he had tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving his first dose of an unnamed vaccine, just over a week after a similar announcement from the prime minister.

Soon after on Monday, the country's defence minister Pervez Khattak also said he had tested positive. "We all need to take this third wave very seriously. May Allah protect us all," Khattak added in his message.

Coronavirus cases are rising quickly in the South Asian nation. It has recorded 659,116 infections and more than 14,250 related deaths, with 4,525 infections and 41 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

The government is in the process of introducing stricter restrictions including bans on wedding ceremonies and large gatherings.

It launched its vaccine drive earlier this month, inoculating healthworkers and high-risk age groups. But it is facing setbacks from vaccine hesitancy and delays in vaccines arriving in the country.

Prime Minister Imran Khan tested positive two days after receiving his first dose earlier this month. Officials said he had likely been infected before getting his shot.

Photos released by the government on March 15 showed the president receiving a vaccine, but did not name the brand.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; editing by David Evans and Andrew Heavens)
Nicola Sturgeon fired both barrels at her former boss Alex Salmond today as she blasted those 'who treat politics like a game' amid a wave of defections to his new party.

The First Minister launched a thinly-veiled attack on her predecessor after several of her MPs and councillors defected to his new Alba nationalist group.

Mr Salmond announced Alba would stand candidates in the Holyrood elections in May, seeking to strengthen the movement for Scottish independence.

But it comes amid a furious civil war in the SNP between followers of the current and former party leaders, over a sexual harassment probe into Mr Salmond, who was later cleared of all wrong-doing.

Speaking in Glasgow as part of the SNP's election campaign this morning, Ms Sturgeon said: 'I don't have much time these days for the ''who's up/who's down'' approach to politics.

'And I definitely have much less patience for those who treat politics like a game - and for indulging anyone who puts self interest ahead of the country's best interests.

'If the last year has taught us anything it's that politics is about improving people's lives or it is about nothing at all. And that takes purpose and hard work.'

Two senior councillors announced they were quitting the party to line up alongside the former First Minister, who announced a dramatic return to Scottish politics last week.

The First Minister launched a thinly-veiled attack on her predecessor after several of her MPs and councillors defected to his new Alba nationalist group.

Michelle Ferns (left), who sits on Glasgow City Council, and Ellen McMaster (right), who represents Arran on North Ayrshire Council, announced they were jumping ship to join Mr Salmond

Alba off then: The defectors so far Kenny MacAskill - East Lothian MP and a former SNP justice secretary Neale Hanvey - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP Michelle Ferns - Glasgow City Council Ellen McMaster - North Ayrshire Council Caroline McAllister -West Dunbartonshire Council and national women's convener Lynne Anderson - North Lanarkshire Council and former national equalities convener Advertisement

Two senior councillors announced they were quitting the party to line up alongside the former First Minister, who announced a dramatic return to Scottish politics last week.

Michelle Ferns, who sits on Glasgow City Council, and Ellen McMaster, who represents Arran on North Ayrshire Council, announced they were jumping ship to join Mr Salmond.

Their defections come after two Westminster SNP MPs joined Alba at the weekend.

Neale Hanvey, who represents Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, revealed yesterday he would be a candidate at Hoylrood elections in May.

Former SNP justice secretary Kenny MacAskill had already said he was jumping ship.

The SNP's national women's convener, Councillor Caroline McAllister transfer to the Alba Party at the weekend, along with Lynne Anderson, the former national equalities convener.

Ms Ferns is also planning to stand as an MSP in the elections in six weeks' time. In a statement announcing here change of allegiance, she said she 'would be honoured to be a strong working-class voice within the party delivering for the people of Glasgow' in May's elections.

McMaster, a member of the SNP's member conduct committee, told The National: 'Everything I do is about that vision of where we want to go as a nation. The SNP has made massive improvements to the lives of the people of Scotland. It feels like we have stalled. It's time to galvanise the movement.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: 'Nicola Sturgeon's conference speech ultimately all came down to one single issue - the SNP's obsession with another, divisive, independence referendum.

'When all our focus should be on rebuilding Scotland, the SNP are intent on dividing Scotland all over again.

'Only the Scottish Conservatives have the strength to stop an SNP majority, stop their push for another, divisive referendum and get the Scottish Parliament 100% focussed on rebuilding Scotland and recovering from this pandemic.'

Mr Salmond faced anger yesterday after he suggested Scots could take to the streets to force another independence referendum, before urging Nicola Sturgeon to bury the hatchet and work with him to obtain one.

The former First Minister turned up the temperature in the ferocious debate by mooting 'street demonstrations' if Boris Johnson refused to agree to another vote on splitting the UK.

Mr Salmond made clear that he has not 'forgiven' Ms Sturgeon for the bitter row over the Scottish government's handling of harassment complaints against him. He was awarded more than 500,000 and later cleared at a trial.

Kenny MacAskill MP (left) is deserting Nicola Sturgeon to stand for the newly-launched Alba party in May's Holyrood elections. Neale Hanvey (right), who represents Kircaldy and Cowdenbeath at Westminster, has also declared that he is joining Alba

Scotland operates a version of proportional representation, and Alba is only standing 'list' - or 'additional' MSP - candidates rather than running in the first-past-the-post constituency contests that could have inflicted more serious damage to the nationalists. Pollsters say that means it is more likely to hurt opposition parties, who typically end up with most of the list seats. The chart shows the result from the last Holyrood election in 2016

'Bairns not bombs': Nicola Sturgeon attacks Boris Johnson over nukes plan Nicola Sturgeon made the Scottish elections into a personal battle with Boris Johnson today as she attacked the Prime Minister over nuclear weapons and past comments about Scots. She attacked Mr Johnson over plans unveiled to potentially increase the UK's atomic weapons stockpile, in contrast to the SNP's long-held demand for a nuclear-free Scotland. And in a speech that referenced Mr Johnson six times, she also used his own words against him. Speaking in Glasgow she cited a column on devolution he wrote in 2001, while a writer for the Daily Telegraph, in which he said the move was 'allowing the Scots to make their own laws, while free-riding on English taxpayers. 'Boris Johnson has made it clear what he thinks of the way we do things in Scotland. In the past, he has accused us of ''free-riding'' on tax-payers south of the border. He has said it is 'monstrous' that we have free personal care. And he said a pound spent in Croydon is of far more value than a pound spent in Strathclyde. 'Many of his band of Brexiteers are on record with similar views. Now, because of the strength of the SNP the Tories probably think they wouldn't get away with cutting Scotland's share of UK spending. 'But I'm pretty sure that's what they would like to do.' Advertisement

But he admitted that she is the 'only viable' candidate to be First Minister after the elections in May, and said the drive to split up the UK would be his priority over 'personal differences'.

'I'm not saying forgive. I'm saying these sorts of things - when it's the future of a country at stake - you have to put the past behind you, and campaign for the future,' he told Times Radio.

Mr Salmond was also accused of a 'dog whistle' to independence extremists by suggesting 'peaceful street demonstrations' could be held if Westminster denies a referendum.

Mr Salmond said he hoped that the election will produce a majority of MSPs in favour of breaking up the UK.

'We should be negotiating as a parliament as quickly as possible using that array of independence supporting parties in that parliament to give the authority to say Scotland's parliament, newly elected, representative, Scotland's people want you to start negotiating about Scotland's independence,' he said.

'And then we'll see what comes out of that negotiation, whether it be a section 50 referendum, whether it be a plebiscite organised by the Scottish Parliament, whether it be mobilising international opinion and international legal opinion, on Scotland's right of self determination.

'Whether it be peaceful street demonstrations, whether it be the galvanization of Scottish opinion. Any and all of these things are tactics to achieve the strategy, which is to achieve Scottish independence.'

Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said on Twitter: 'There's the dog whistle to the zoomers, right there.

'We need to rebuild after a pandemic which has left no person or street or shop or business untouched. Use your vote to counter this Sturgeon/Salmond psychodrama once and for all.'

In a statement overnight, Mr Hanvey - elected to Gordon Brown's old seat in 2019 - said: 'Like so many, I have been angered by our powerlessness in the face of Brexit and share the frustration of many who feel the aspirations of the independence movement are being ignored.

'The Alba Party provides a tonic for our movement with an unashamedly optimistic vision for Scotland's impending transition to an independent European nation.'

In response to the speech, Liberal Democrat campaign chairman, Alistair Carmichael, said: 'Nicola Sturgeon has had some well-documented failures of memory recently but even she must remember the way in which the last independence referendum completely occupied the bandwidth of the Scottish Government in the run-up to 2014.

'Every single civil servant who is working on an independence Bill is one who could be working on the recovery from the pandemic so for the First Minister to claim that independence is not a distraction is clearly baloney.

'While Willie Rennie sets out the Scottish Liberal Democrats' plans for education and mental health, the First Minister will spend it fighting a running battle with her former political mentor.'
- By GF Value





The stock of VMware (NYSE:VMW, 30-year Financials) gives every indication of being modestly undervalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $153.94 per share and the market cap of $64.5 billion, VMware stock appears to be modestly undervalued. GF Value for VMware is shown in the chart below.





VMware Stock Is Believed To Be Modestly Undervalued

Because VMware is relatively undervalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be higher than its business growth, which averaged 12% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 8.49% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

It is always important to check the financial strength of a company before buying its stock. Investing in companies with poor financial strength have a higher risk of permanent loss. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage is a great way to understand the financial strength of a company. VMware has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.80, which is worse than 72% of the companies in Software industry. The overall financial strength of VMware is 5 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of VMware is fair. This is the debt and cash of VMware over the past years:

VMware Stock Is Believed To Be Modestly Undervalued

It poses less risk to invest in profitable companies, especially those that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. A company with high profit margins is also typically a safer investment than one with low profit margins. VMware has been profitable 10 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $11.8 billion and earnings of $4.87 a share. Its operating margin is 20.65%, which ranks better than 88% of the companies in Software industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks the profitability of VMware at 9 out of 10, which indicates strong profitability. This is the revenue and net income of VMware over the past years:

Story continues

VMware Stock Is Believed To Be Modestly Undervalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term performance of a company's stock. The faster a company is growing, the more likely it is to be creating value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth rate of VMware is 12%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Software industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 16.5%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Software industry.

Another way to evaluate a company's profitability is to compare its return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted cost of capital (WACC). Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it indicates that the company is creating value for shareholders. Over the past 12 months, VMware's ROIC was 7.76, while its WACC came in at 6.94. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of VMware is shown below:

VMware Stock Is Believed To Be Modestly Undervalued

Overall, VMware (NYSE:VMW, 30-year Financials) stock appears to be modestly undervalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is strong. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in Software industry. To learn more about VMware stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


NASHVILLE The Tennessee Forestry Commission will meet April 6, 2021 at the Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville, Tenn.

The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. CDT in the Oak Training Conference Room of the Bruer building located at 406 Hogan Rd. The meeting is open to the public to attend.

The agenda includes approval of the previous meetings minutes, appointment of a nomination committee to select new Commission officers, formulation of seedling production and pricing, summary of the Division of Forestry budget, and an update on the carbon feasibility study.

The Tennessee Forestry Commission comprises seven members representing the publics interests as they relate to forest resources in the state. The Commission advises the Tennessee Department of Agriculture on forest issues. For more information, contact the Division of Forestry at 615-837-5520 or visit the Commissions webpage at www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/commission.html.

AGENDA:
VALLETTA, MALTA / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2021 / Yanimed, a brand of Blokkx Ltd. based in Malta, is actively looking into investing up to US $90 million to set up a nitrile glove factory in the US.

Partnering with an American financial advisor, the company aims to install 3 independent dipping lines with 8 dipping lines per unit, with a target of producing 4.8 million boxes of nitrile gloves per month of manufacturing capacity. YaniMed aims to acquire land permits by April 2021, with all three projected units up and running by April 2022.

"Blokxx Ltd. is one of the world's fastest-growing distributors of medical technology and pharmaceutical products and services. Through one of our top brands YaniMed (nitrile glove production), we aim to provide the best solutions in terms of safety and hygiene to our clients and customers around the world", Frank Zielkowski the founder stated.



Frank Zielkowski CEO Yanimed (Blokkx Ltd.)

The global market for disposable gloves is highly competitive. When it comes to market growth, factors such as increasing awareness regarding hygiene and infection prevention, and the development of healthcare infrastructure are the most prominent driving forces. Moreover, advancements in surgical techniques, innovations in medical instrumentality, a rise in personal and public investments, the support of government facilities, and a rise in the incidence of chronic diseases have led to a further increase in the demand for safe and durable disposable gloves.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for medical gloves has further increased, with a rapid surge in countries such as the US, UK, China, India, Italy, and Iran. The disease has highlighted the significance of maintaining hygiene, and with the pandemic still spreading at an alarming rate, the market for disposable gloves is expected to further accelerate.

The global nitrile gloves market is anticipated to reach USD 8.50 Billion by 2027, due to the growth in the incidence of epidemic diseases and a subsequent rise in the quest for infection prevention and control utilities. Geographically, the US dominates the global nitrile gloves market, due to the ban on powdered medical gloves and the higher number of cases of latex allergies.

Currently, many factors are favoring the setting up of a glove production factory in the US, more preferably a nitrile glove production unit.

Rising concerns about latex allergy are the most significant driver of the nitrile glove market. A ban on powdered gloves by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and some European countries has escalated the demand for powder-free nitrile gloves. Also, more stringent laws relating to workers' safety and hygiene across many end-user industries have further boosted the global demand for nitrile gloves.

Mainly used in the medical sector, nitrile gloves act as an effective safety tool for preventing the spread of infection between patients and caretakers. The benefits of nitrile gloves, as opposed to latex gloves, include greater strength, increased longevity, and superior protection against blood-borne pathogens. Moreover, nitrile gloves offer better chemical and puncture resistance as compared to latex gloves.

A key factor for the rise in demand for nitrile gloves is their hypoallergenic nature. Made using synthetic rubbers, the occurrence of a nitrile rubber allergy is significantly low. Also, nitrile gloves are not packaged in powder, making them easier to handle and use and the ideal choice for emergencies.

Hence, for setting up a nitrile glove factory in the US, YaniMed's core strength must lie in the distinguished quality of their finished nitrile gloves, the power of their team as a whole, and a novel and unique production plant. Moreover, a team of trained and highly experienced engineers capable of produce top-notch nitrile gloves will also be required.

"We are pleased that in a very short time we were able to attract a team of specialists with more than 40 years of experience in the latex industry. We have thus fulfilled an important criterion for producing high-quality medical products. Furthermore, we have been able to build up a close contact network to the most important manufacturers of the raw material NBR latex. Ravishankar Tumuluri , CFO of Blokkx Ltd,

Moreover, new set-ups must be able to conduct a proper cost-benefit analysis and provide a product that is affordable yet uncompromised in terms of quality. Also, the reusability of nitrile gloves can facilitate price savings and boost product demand, nurturing market growth.

Contact Information

Blokkx Ltd.

Tel No.: + 44 330 02 7 02 07 Email: info@yanimed.com

150 St. Lucia's Street Il-Belt

Valletta | Malta

SOURCE: Blokkx Ltd

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637608/YaniMed-Blokkx-Ltd-to-Set-Up-Nitrile-Glove-Factory-in-the-US
analysis

A woman living in Algoa Court and speaking on condition of anonymity said this incident was preceded by an earlier incident where an Americans' gangster was wounded by one of his own.

The incident, which happened around 5.30pm on Thursday, 25 March, saw panic-stricken residents ducking and diving for cover and frantically running to lead their kids to safety.

The gunman, known by residents and an alleged Americans gang member, went on a shooting spree, wounding the little girl, a teenage girl, two women and a 26-year-old man. The girl was rushed to Red Cross Hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery.

A woman living in Algoa Court and speaking on condition of anonymity said this incident was preceded by an earlier incident where an Americans gangster was wounded by one of his own.

"This shooter fled and was later spotted in Algoa Court. He was pursued and a shooting ensued which left five people wounded. The four-year-old girl was shot in the side of the head and ran home where she collapsed in front of her granny. She lay in a pool of blood and was rushed to the hospital. Everyone in Hanover Park is saying a prayer and duas...
[March 28, 2021] How Suning Empowered Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses with a Pioneering Furniture and Household Goods Retail Store in the Cloud

NANJING, China, March 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 20, 2021, Suning.com (002024.SZ), China's leading smart retail service provider and a Fortune Global 500 company owned by Suning Group, opened its inaugural Suning Retail Cloud furniture and household goods shopfront in Jintan District, Changzhou, a prosperous city in eastern China's Jiangsu province. As an important business sector that aims to help micro and small business merchants thrive in lower-tier cities and county-level markets in China, Suning Retail Cloud was officially launched in July 2017. With the franchise model, Suning Retail Cloud leverages Suning.com's retail capabilities and deep industry know-how especially in logistics, warehouse, supply chain and technology innovations to franchisees and help micro and small merchants in county-level markets to easily start a business. The move marks Suning's first step into the furniture and household goods market and supports micro and small business owners to thrive in lower-tier cities and county-level markets in China. Suning's first Retail Cloud store in the furniture and household goods category is owned by Chen Yun, an entrepreneur who chose to return to his hometown to start a business. In 2010, Chen first became associated with Suning during his move to Suzhou, a prosperous city in eastern China's Jiangsu province and quickly signed on as a Suning partner. Chen recalls how Jintan used to be in the 1980s  an obscure, tiny county affiliated to Changzhou city. But by 2015, Jintan was developing rapidly bringing with it massive opportunities which gave Chen, who was working hard in Suzhou, the exciting idea of returning home to start his own business as he had always wanted.



When Suning launched its Retail Cloud project in 2017, Chen jumped at the opportunity. "Suning Retail Cloud turned out to be the best possible way to help me to build my business", said Chen. "I believe that we as businesspeople need to be genuine. People can see through fakeness so the most important thing is to make customers feel comfortable enough that they can put their trust in you as a small business owner. Small touches, like excellent after-sales services, mean that word-of-mouth recommendations from my customers are by far the best way to gain more trust." This caring philosophy seems to have worked. Since opening, Chen has seen massive success with overall sales exceeding RMB 500,000, almost half of which was generated from furniture and household goods. His profits have already paid for 6 months' worth of rent for his store bringing more income stability and peace of mind for his business.

From kitchen appliances to furniture and other home and bathroom products, a market centered around the home is rapidly taking shape. Suning Retail Cloud empowers top furniture brands to tap into customers from counties and lower-tier cities who are looking for upgrades, while empowering micro and small business owners like Chen to thrive. Chen Yun's business story also reflects Suning Retail Cloud's business model: The space has expanded from small-town markets to larger county-level markets; services  online and offline  have become more extensive with more depth; home appliances are at the core with the home furnishing category expanding. The boundaries of retail have been broken down and the value of the platform is being maximized. Unlocking the boundless potential of the furniture and household goods market, Creating a new benchmark for smart retail in the furniture market Although the furniture category has been earmarked as an opportunity for new growth in China's counties and lower-tier cities, the industry faces a number of developmental challenges, ranging from inadequate scenario-based marketing to weak sales expertise. Unlike home appliances, China's furniture industry remains small and fragmented, and purchasing furniture from top brands is a costly endeavor. Small workshops and self-employed individuals remain the driving force of the market and, as a result, traditional furniture retail requires extensive digital transformation. Suning Retail Cloud tackles these pain points with its strong retail capabilities, to drive users and traffic, and deep industry know-how  particularly in logistics, warehouse, supply chain and technology innovations. Backed by the mature resources and capabilities of Suning, franchise partners can tap into the Retail Cloud model to transform their business and increase revenue. In a joint effort to establish a new standard for furniture and household goods in counties and lower-tier cities, Suning Retail Cloud and furniture manufacturers have partnered together to launch customized products that are appropriate for the local market. At the same time, franchisees receive support with standardized displays, operations, training, logistics and post-sales fulfilment to enhance the store's professional appearance and help merchants get started, even if they have no prior experience in the industry. According to Zhanghui, Assistant to the President of the Suning Retail Cloud Business Segment, the company's Retail Cloud will focus on the development strategy of "1+X" to create a one-stop shop for furniture and household goods across the dining room, bedroom and bathroom scenarios. Supported by Suning's strong partnerships with CHEERS, Kuka, Wrigley and other brands, Retail Cloud stores break free from the boundaries of the traditional home appliance and 3C category; instead, leveraging physical stores to launch new home and bathroom products. Suning Retail Cloud has over 8,000 stores in counties and lower-tier cities across the country as of March 2021. Meanwhile, Suning.com has made an initial goal of building 12,000 Retail Cloud stores by the end of 2021. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/how-suning-empowered-micro-small-and-medium-sized-businesses-with-a-pioneering-furniture-and-household-goods-retail-store-in-the-cloud-301257282.html SOURCE Suning Group

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Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Liquid) South Africa has announced the successful completion of two new fibre routes  NLD5 and NLD6  connecting Durban to Cape Town via an inland route.

The company said the completion of this fibre network would support the surging demand for high-speed Internet as an increasing number of South African businesses continued their digital transformation journeys.

Increased access to high-speed fibre connectivity is critical to improving not just telecommunication services for millions of South Africans in the country, it will also bring substantial social and economic benefits to businesses and governments as the focus on the Fourth Industrial revolution increases, Liquid said.

Liquid South Africa CEO Deon Geyser stated this was a milestone in the companys ongoing investment into the South African economy.

Liquid has been instrumental in the fruition of routes 1 through to 8, providing a digital backbone that connects metropolitan cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban to more remote areas like Nelspruit, Bloemfontein, Lady Smith, Mthatha, Geyser said.

This is also part of our Groups continued focus on bringing world-class digital services like Cloud, Unified Communications, Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to local businesses in the public and private sectors, said Geyser.

More than 1,700km covered

Liquid said that the digital corridors created by these network now spanned over 1,700km and offered near-unlimited capacity and greater redundancy.

This would positively impact numerous industries, especially educators and healthcare practitioners, as they increase their reach to the remotest parts of the country, Liquid stated.

Access to improved digital services will also impact the education system in the country as the government gears to empower more youth with digital skills as newer vocations develop through the 4IR, Liquid said.

The route forms part of the southern corridor that Liquid has invested in to connect East and West Africa via a terrestrial network.
U.S. Border Patrol has confirmed that two other agents participated in a fight that led to the arrest of a fellow agent for pointing a gun at another man.

Federal authorities identified the agents as Hector Koons and Emmanuel Joel Stinson. A criminal complaint states that Koons and Stinson along with Roman Rodriguez Jr., 33, were involved in a fight with other men.

Rodriguez was the only person arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Stinson and Koons were not criminally charged. Border Patrol declined to comment on possible internal disciplinary action against Stinson and Koons due to the open investigation.

Laredo police officers responded to shots fired at about 2:09 a.m. Feb. 26 in the 6400 block of Crescent Loop. Authorities learned that there had been a fight at the location. An officer arrived at the scene to observe several men with flashlights in the open field located north of the parking lot in the 6500 block of Crescent.

Officers discovered that a man had thrown a weapon into the brush area. Authorities also learned that a blue Ford pickup was involved in the shots fired incident. Police detained three men: Rodriguez, Koons and Stinson. Three other men were the alleged victims.

A complainant stated that he was inside a friends car when he noticed four to five people fighting his brother. When he attempted to get out of the car, a man approached him, pointed the gun to his neck, then to his head and told him, Dont do it. You are not ready. Te tumbo el canton, states the affidavit.

The complainant provided a description of the suspect. He also added that the suspect was the driver of the Ford. The complainant added that the person who pointed a gun at him was the same one who jumped his brother, according to court documents.

The complainant stated he attempted to reach for his knife when the armed man had walked away. The armed man started walking toward the complainants brother when the complainant heard a gunshot. The man no longer had the weapon when the complainant confronted him, states the affidavit.

Rodriguez was detained in the back of a marked unit. Rodriguez stated that one of the other parties involved had thrown his weapon and that a round went off. Rodriguez further stated that a fight broke out next to his Ford between one of his friends and the other parties involved. Rodriguez alleged that at one point, someone reached into his truck, found Rodriguezs weapon and threw it away. Thats when a shot went off. The weapon was described as a Glock 23, according to court documents.

A description of the armed man matched Rodriguez, according to court documents. The complainant added that the armed man was the driver of the Ford. He stated he attempted to go after the armed individual when a Black guy, who was later identified as Stinson, started attacking him and punched him in the face. The armed person threatened to kill the complainant and everyone else involved, according to court documents.

A detective interviewed Rodriguez at LPD headquarters.

He was asked by (the detective) if he had something in his hand that couldve been mistaken as a weapon. Roman (Rodriguez) said that he had used his phone and pointed to a male individual (the complainant) in the neck, making it look like he had a gun, states the affidavit.

Stinson also spoke to authorities at LPD headquarters. Stinson stated he is roommates with Rodriguez and Koons. Stinson said he went to the restroom. When he got out, he saw Rodriguez and Koons in a confrontation with other people. He kept saying that he did not remember what happened but did recall a shot fired. Stinson stated that Rodriguez carries a weapon in his Ford.

Stinson stated that before leaving to the club, he told his friends he got condoms and Viagra and Roman (Rodriguez) said he got his firearm, states the affidavit.

Koons also spoke to detectives at police headquarters. Koons said he, Rodriguez and Stinson arrived at the club in Rodriguezs vehicle. Upon leaving the club, he was trying to help a drunken girl into her friends car. Koons could not identify the girl.

Koons then stated while walking the girl, one male individual approaches him in an aggressive manner telling him why he was trying to take advantage of the intoxicated girl. He claims he told the guy that he was not. He said that someone else sucker punched him in the right side of the temple, states the affidavit.

Koons counter-punched the man. Koons then observed two to three people exiting a vehicle and charging at him. Rodriguez approached Koons to defend him. He did not recall Stinson in the altercation. Koon then stated he heard a loud sound, later confirmed to be a shot fired. Rodriguez told Koons that someone had shot a round and gotten into his Ford, Koons allegedly told police. Rodriguez told Koons that the weapon was tossed. They were looking for the gun until police arrived and detained them.
- By GF Value





The stock of Pan American Silver (NAS:PAAS, 30-year Financials) is believed to be significantly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $30.76 per share and the market cap of $6.5 billion, Pan American Silver stock is believed to be significantly overvalued. GF Value for Pan American Silver is shown in the chart below.





Pan American Silver Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Because Pan American Silver is significantly overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much lower than its future business growth, which averaged 6.2% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 19.15% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

It is always important to check the financial strength of a company before buying its stock. Investing in companies with poor financial strength have a higher risk of permanent loss. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage is a great way to understand the financial strength of a company. Pan American Silver has a cash-to-debt ratio of 8.31, which is in the middle range of the companies in Metals & Mining industry. The overall financial strength of Pan American Silver is 8 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Pan American Silver is strong. This is the debt and cash of Pan American Silver over the past years:

Story continues

Pan American Silver Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Investing in profitable companies carries less risk, especially in companies that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. Typically, a company with high profit margins offers better performance potential than a company with low profit margins. Pan American Silver has been profitable 7 years over the past 10 years. During the past 12 months, the company had revenues of $1.3 billion and earnings of $0.84 a share. Its operating margin of 13.44% better than 71% of the companies in Metals & Mining industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks Pan American Silver's profitability as fair. This is the revenue and net income of Pan American Silver over the past years:

Pan American Silver Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

One of the most important factors in the valuation of a company is growth. Long-term stock performance is closely correlated with growth according to GuruFocus research. Companies that grow faster create more value for shareholders, especially if that growth is profitable. The average annual revenue growth of Pan American Silver is 6.2%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Metals & Mining industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth is 17.8%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Metals & Mining industry.

Another way to look at the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital and the weighted cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. We want to have the return on invested capital higher than the weighted cost of capital. For the past 12 months, Pan American Silver's return on invested capital is 4.27, and its cost of capital is 8.22. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Pan American Silver is shown below:

Pan American Silver Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

In short, the stock of Pan American Silver (NAS:PAAS, 30-year Financials) shows every sign of being significantly overvalued. The company's financial condition is strong and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in Metals & Mining industry. To learn more about Pan American Silver stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


MANZINI  The demand to see the Minister of ICT, Princess Sikhanyiso, paying back the money which she earned while on extended maternity leave has been forwarded to government.

Despite the public apology by the minister, the Swaziland Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) has sent letters to the offices of the Attorney General (AG), Prime Minister (PM), Ministry of Finance, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Government Spokesperson. The letters are titled; Letter of demand for the initiation of processes to recover money paid to Information Technology and Communications (ITC) Minister Princess Sikhanyiso as salary when she was on unlawful protracted maternity leave with full pay (sic).

The letters were signed by the political partys President, Vusi Shongwe. He said he wrote it on behalf of himself and as part of a collective, the SPLM, for which he was a leader (as empowered by the Constitution of Eswatini, Chapter three; protection and promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms, protection of freedom of assembly and association and protection of the freedom of expression).

He said they were seeking the office of the AG, as the custodian of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini, that it should institute processes that would compel the minister to repay all the monies she was paid while she was on an unlawful and protracted maternity leave. The political movement said the allegedly unlawfully begotten salary by the minister was in the region of plus or minus E888 000. In the letters, they requested the Ministry of Finance to calculate the exact amount that she has to repay.

They added that the letters were also empowered by all laws of the Kingdom of Eswatini that governed and regulated the protocols of maternity leave. The acting PM, Themba Masuku, being the ministers principal at Cabinet, has been copied in this letter. We call upon him (acting PM) to ensure that this money is recovered and paid back by the minister. To be fair, the minister herself has also been copied the letter by virtue of being the first respondent in the matter, reads part of the letters. They also referred to the ministers comments and declarations which she made at the Sibaya Peoples Parliament in 2018, where she said people who were found to be in the wrong should be dealt with and held accountable.
Serena Chaudhry, left, and Dr. Ashley Weiss were part of team of researchers who studied the impact of virtual therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Sally Asher

When COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in March 2020, the Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic in New Orleans (EPIC-NOLA) quickly transitioned to virtual mental health for an especially vulnerable population of teens and young adults.

Despite logistical challenges, remote therapy improved engagement, mitigated symptoms and reduced repeated hospitalizations, according to a joint study by the Tulane University School of Medicine and the Tulane School of Social Work.

The two schools teamed up on a study that examined the effectiveness of remote therapy during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020. The study, "Psychosis, Telehealth and COVID-19: Successes and Lessons Learned from the First Wave of the Pandemic," was recently published in the journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.

Authors of the study include Serena Chaudhry, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Tulane School of Medicine; Tonya Hansel, director of the DSW Program at the Tulane School of Social Work and recent MSW graduate Ariana O'Shea. Dr. Ashley Weiss, assistant professor of psychiatry at Tulane and Grinasha Dillonalso participated in study.

"Louisiana has one of the highest rates of mental illness in the United States," the study says. "Because people with chronic mental illness seem to be more susceptible to pandemic-related stress, local mental health care providers are preparing for sustained spike in the needs of those with mental illness."

"Disruption in care, specifically for people living with severe mental illness, is concerning due to its effects on symptom exacerbation and relapse."

EPIC-NOLA provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment of adolescents and young adults who have recently begun to experience psychosis, which is often associated with emerging schizophrenia. The clinic also treats women experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

The study details the process of transitioning from in-person patient visits to virtual treatment, beginning on March 13, 2020. The process involved enacting virtual team meetings and making sure patients were equipped technologically. Patients also had to sign an electronic version of the telehealth consent form.

EPIC-NOLA saw 137 patients a total of 545 times between March 16 and May 15, 2020, compared to 107 patients a total of 533 ties during the same period in 2019. The no-show rate during the shelter-at-home period was 28 percent, compared to 32 percent the previous year. Of the 545 patient meetings, 411 were for individual therapy and 134 were for medication management.

Researchers attribute the success of virtual treatment largely to the elimination of transportation as a barrier to clinical care. "Poverty and limited public transportation are pervasive problems across Louisiana and have proven to negatively impact patient care at the clinic," researchers said.

"Engagement of patients who were at the clinic beyond the traditional two-year mark is also notable, suggesting that telemental health may be a low-barrier clinical intervention for expanding and sustaining continuity of care."

Telehealth also enabled clinicians to learn more about patients, meet family members, get to know patients' physical environments and observe patients' moods in their home settings.

Despite the many successes achieved during the first wave of the pandemic, there were challenges. For example, the process of acquiring signed consents virtually was onerous and required multiple follow-ups by clinic staff. Obtaining completed and signed paperwork for new patients proved to be equally difficult, the study said. The absence of a physical front desk also made it challenging for staff to check patients in and out, schedule follow-up appointments and collect co-pays.

Hansel commended the team at EPIC-NOLA for what she described as the clinic's "innovation, responsiveness and dedication to individuals and their families experiencing psychosis. This population is a very difficult population to engage into treatment, even during normal times."

But whether remote therapy is preferable over in-person treatment remains to be seen. "I think preference may be more influenced by patient/client choice," Hansel said. "Youth tend to be more comfortable with telehealth services and given that young adulthood is a critical age for early psychosis intervention, telehealth services are unlikely to go away."

Explore further Telehealth consults increased among privately insured working-age patients during first phase of the pandemic

More information: Serena Chaudhry et al. Psychosis, Telehealth, and COVID-19: Successes and Lessons Learned from the First Wave of the Pandemic, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness (2021). Journal information: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Serena Chaudhry et al. Psychosis, Telehealth, and COVID-19: Successes and Lessons Learned from the First Wave of the Pandemic,(2021). DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2021.42
Critical Metals PLC - Africa-focused natural resources investor - Reports pretax loss of GBP152,111 for the six months ended December 31, widened from GBP17,437 year-on-year. During the six-month period, Critical Metals completed its admission to the Standard Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, raising gross proceeds of GBP800,000 in September. Costs associated with listing for the period reached GBP64,574, up substantially from GBP11,000 a year prior. No revenue was generated.

Looking ahead, Critical Metals says it is confident 2021 will be a period of "significant" progress for the company in terms of new transactions.

"We have now narrowed down our search and are in discussions with a small number of potential opportunities on which we will provide further updates on as these discussions progress. We have experienced further strong support from shareholders in recent weeks, with the exercise of warrants post period-end which have strengthened our cash position by some GBP935,000, demonstrating the confidence shareholders have in the company's strategy," it says.

Current stock price: 17.65 pence, up 12% on Monday

Year-to-date change: up sharply from 5.63p on December 31

By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
For All U of U Health Patients & Visitors
It turns out the Baywatch lifestyle doesn't come with just the perks of strutting down a sandy beach all day, drawing adoring fans: The lifeguards also draw quite the salary.

The highest paid beach lifeguard in Los Angeles made nearly $400,000 in 2019 while 82 others earned at least $200,000 or more over the course of the year.

That's the type of money that might make a TV star blush, but it's what the real-life lifeguards pulled down

According to a report from Forbes, Fernando Boiteux raked in $391,971 in 2019, making him the highest paid lifeguard among those employed by Los Angeles County.

The salary puts him in the same league as the chief of the entire Los Angeles Police Department who made $462,600 in total compensation for 2019, according to data from Transparent California.

As the acting chief lifeguard, Boiteux had a salary of $205,619, perks of $60,452 and benefits of $125,900, putting him near the $400,000 mark.

These county lifeguards watch over ocean beaches - they're not the type seen at the local pool.

Fernando Boiteux (left) raked in $391,971 in 2019, making him the highest paid lifeguard in Los Angeles. The second top earner was Captain Daniel Douglas (right), whose total compensation was $368,668

Of the $368,668 that Douglas (pictured) made in 2019, $131,493 was overtime pay

Top Five Highest Paid Lifeguards by Salary 1. Fernando Boiteux, acting chief lifeguard 2019 Total Pay: $391,971 Breakdown: Salary of $205,619, perks of $60,452 and benefits of $125,900. 2. Daniel Douglas, captain 2019 Total Pay: $368,668 Breakdown: Salary $140,706, overtime pay $131,493, 'other pay' $21,760 and benefits equaling $74,709. 3. Jeffrey Horn, lifeguard captain 2019 Total Pay: $254,382 Breakdown: Salary $135,587, overtime pay $93,809, and 'other pay' $24,986. 4. Patrick O'Neill, lifeguard captain 2019 Total Pay: $249,556 Breakdown: Salary $136,692, overtime pay $95,302, and 'other pay' $14,562. 5. Timothy Arnold, lifeguard section chief 2019 Total Pay: $204,182 Breakdown: Salary $177,867 and 'other pay' $26,315 Advertisement

The second top earner was lifeguard Captain Daniel Douglas, whose total compensation was $368,668 that included a base pay of $140,706, $131,493 in overtime pay, $21,760 in 'other pay' and $74,709 in benefits.

It's unclear what is meant by 'other pay'.

Forbes, citing OpenTheBooks.com, reported that 82 lifeguards earned $200,000 or more in 2019.

The report noted that 31 lifeguards made between $50,000 and $131,493 in overtime.

Of the $368,668 that Douglas made in 2019, $131,493 was overtime pay.

Behind Douglas was lifeguard captain Jeffrey Horn, who brought in a total of $254,382.

Lifeguard captain Patrick O'Neill earned $249,556 and rounding out the top five earners was lifeguard section chief Timothy Arnold who made $204,182.

The majority of lifeguards were men, but there were two women who were top earners.

Virginia Rupe made $281,000 and Christine Linkletter brought in $279,980, according to Forbes.

Rupe and Linkletter barely made it into the top 20 for highest-paid lifeguards in Los Angeles County, with overtime pay making up the majority of their earnings.

Meanwhile, many of the lifeguards who saved lives and were awarded the Medal of Valor weren't on the top-earner list.

In 2020, Edward Macko won the medal but only earned $134,144 in compensation.

According to Forbes, Macko pulled a man from the rough waters of a Palos Verdes gorge.

Pool life guards aren't even paid half of what most beach lifeguards are paid.

The highest paid pool lifeguard in Los Angeles County made $46,997, including pay and benefits.

In other comparisons, some of these top paid lifeguards are making more or just as much as some surgeons, lawyers and top cops in Los Angeles.

The majority of lifeguards were men, but there were two women who were top earners. Virginia Rupe (right) made $281,000 and Christine Linkletter (left) brought in $279,980

In other comparisons, some of these top paid lifeguards (Baywatch actors pictured) are making more or just as much as some surgeons, lawyers and top cops in Los Angeles

LA County's top-paid employee is a physician who makes more than $1million, which includes overtime pay and benefits.

According to Transparent California, the top 10 employees of the county all are doctors who bring in more than half a million a year.

While there has been debate about the salary of LA's highest paid lifeguards, those whose salaries are in question note that they have decades of service and are considered public-safety employees under the fire department, just like fire captains and chiefs.

Still, the chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Ralph M. Terrazas, made $490,613 in total compensation in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, according to Transparent California.

DailyMail.com has contacted Los Angeles County for comment on the lifeguard salaries.
Senior Psychologist at the University of Ghana, Professor Joseph Osafo has advised Ghanaians to heed the advice of the Ghana Medical Association.



The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has asked Ghanaians to adhere to the COVID-19 health protocols during the Easter festivities to prevent the spread of the virus.



The Association said; The pandemic is still a major health threat and we urge all to strictly observe all COVID-19 preventive measures, such as social distancing, use of facemasks, hand washing under running with soap, and use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.



This was in a joint statement signed by Dr Frank Ankobea, the President, GMA, and Dr Justice Yankson, the General Secretary, GMA.



The GMA cautioned Ghanaians to avoid mass gatherings such as church conventions, picnics, beach parties, and other forms of celebrations usually seen in the Kwahu enclave.



The Association wished "all Ghanaians a happy Easter. Let us celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with caution at this time of global health pandemic''.



Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo'', Prof. Joseph Osafo also urged the citizenry to continue observing the preventive protocols.



He asked Ghanaians to obey the GMA caution because they protecting themselves against the disease also helps to safeguard the frontline health workers since the sight of losing souls has pyschological effects on the health workers.



"It leads to moral injury. Moral injury means your conscience is hurt...If the doctor or health worker sees people dying helplessly, it breaks them. They get traumatized, morally injured," he stated.



He added; ''Your action contributes to the survival of the health workers. If you lose guard and contract the disease, you have to be sent to them because it is morally offensive to be infected with the disease and we don't send you to the hospital. It's a blot on our conscience. When you're sent to the hospital, is it monkeys going to attend to you there? It's humans!"



''You don't lose anything in getting a bit cautious. Don't be scared but be cautious," he stressed.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Qatar has hired Empire Consulting Group, a firm with close ties to the Democratic party, to a $40K a month contract to keep tabs on developments in DC.

The contract kicked off on March 15 and runs through Jan. 2023.

Empire Consulting managing partner Mike McKay, who was a top aide to House Foreign Affairs Committee chief Greg Meeks (D-NY), signed the agreement with Brigadier General Mohamed Abdulaziz, security attache at the embassy.

Hes assisted by Eulice Brandon Garrett, who was an aide to former Ohio Congresswoman and current Housing & Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.

Empire in January inked Taipei Economic & Cultural Representative Office in the US to a six-month $90K contract to analyze political developments and US policy moves that could impact US ties with Taiwan.
Calvert City Man Arrested on Meth, Heroin Charges

By West Kentucky Star Staff

KUTTAWA - A Marshall County man was arrested in Lyon County Saturday on methamphetamine charges.The Lyon County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a Kuttawa motel about a suspicious and intoxicated person. The caller told police that a shirtless man appeared to be making snow angels on the asphalt parking lot of the business.When deputies arrived they found 25-year-old Justin Cobb of Calvert City. According to police, Cobb was under the influence of methamphetamine and was in possession of more than 19 grams of crystal meth. He was also reportedly in possession of digital scales, plastic bags and suspected heroin.Cobb was arrested and charged with trafficking in meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of controlled substance. He was lodged in the Crittenden County Detention Center.
High-profile racehorse owner Damion Flower has pleaded guilty to importing significant amounts of cocaine into Australia.

The 48-year-old appeared before Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Monday after days of legal dispute.

Flower was arrested in May 2019 accused of importing 38 kilograms of cocaine into the country through a network of baggage handlers.

He had been scheduled to face trial in February after denying all charges.

Racehorse owner Damion Flower (pictured) has pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug

But on Monday he pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug between June 2016 and May 2019, and dealing with money believed to be the proceeds of crime greater than $100,000 found at his Moorebank home.

The former airport baggage handler rose to prominence in racing with Group One-winning horse Snitzel, which went on to become Australia's champion stallion commanding $40 million a year in service fees.

Until his arrest, he also owned a slot in Australia's richest horse race, The Everest.

He is due to be sentenced along with former baggage handler To'or'o (John) Mafiti over two days in September.
Having a famous last name is no guarantee of success in Hollywood but it certainly helps.

And on Sunday, Jamie Foxx gushed about his daughter Corinne serving as a producer on his new Netflix comedy series Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!

Posting a photo of the 27-year-old to his Instagram, he wrote: '@corinnefoxx the producer!! Soooo proud of u!!'

Proud papa: Jamie Foxx gushed about his daughter Corinne serving as a producer on his new Netflix comedy series Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! in an Instagram post Sunday

The actor, 53, added that the show will premiere on the streaming platform on April 14.

In it, he plays 'a single dad and cosmetics brand owner [who] figures out fatherhood on the fly when his strong-minded teen daughter moves in with him,' according to IMDb.

Corinne, whose mom is Foxx's ex-girlfriend Connie Kline, first worked with her famous father on The Jamie Foxx Show when she was six.

Sitcom: In the new show, Foxx plays 'a single dad and cosmetics brand owner [who] figures out fatherhood on the fly when his teen daughter moves in with him,' according to IMDb

Famous name: Corinne, 27, whose mom is Foxx's ex-girlfriend Connie Kline, has been her dad's red carpet date for years after making her debut on The Jamie Foxx Show when she was six

It's the genes: Corinne was named Miss Golden Globe in 2016 and joined her dad as the DJ for Beat Shazam in 2018. She has a role in Foxx's upcoming directorial debut, All-Star Weekend

She was named Miss Golden Globe in 2016 and joined her dad as the DJ for the second season of Beat Shazam in 2018.

She had a role in the 2019 movie 47 Meters Down: Uncaged and has a role in Foxx's upcoming directorial debut, All-Star Weekend.

Last Wednesday, Foxx won his sixth NAACP Image Award for his performance in animated comedy-drama Soul .

The Ray Oscar winner made Hollywood history when he became the first ever African' American voice lead in the Disney Pixar film released last year.

Successful: Last Wednesday, Foxx, pictured in December 2019, won his sixth NAACP Image Award for his performance in animated comedy-drama Soul
Global satellite communications provider Inmarsat has announced two new executive appointments following a wide ranging review of the companys performance and effectiveness undertaken by CEO Rajeev Suri since joining Inmarsat in March.

Barry French, formerly Chief Marketing Officer at Nokia, will join Inmarsat as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (CMCO) and Jat Brainch, previously Senior Vice President of Group Commercial Management at Inmarsat, is appointed as Chief Commercial and Product Officer (CCPO).

French joined Nokia in 2006 as Head of Communications, prior to which he was Vice President of Corporate Communications at United Airlines and Director of Corporate Communications at Dell.

Inmarsat says French will report to the CEO, and his role will be to sharpen customer focus, drive customer engagement and revenue generation to the next level, ensure Inmarsat is an effective and engaged participant in key policy discussions, and further enhance employee engagement.

Under his leadership, Inmarsat will be bringing together its marketing, communications and government affairs functions into a single executive level organisation, Inmarsat said.

Jat Brainch, previously Senior Vice President of Group Commercial Management at Inmarsat, is appointed as CCPO.

Also reporting to the CEO, Inmarsat says Brainch will be responsible for its evolving commercial and product strategy and roadmap and to ensuring that the company continues to lead the industry in advanced, customer-centric products and services that are designed specifically for mobility and Government users.

Prior to joining Inmarsat in 2019, Inmarsat says Brainch worked across a range of complex, international businesses and has a proven track record of delivering sustainable growth.

Brainch Jat held senior roles in telecoms and technology brands, including Logica Group PLC (now part of CGI), Telefonica Europe PLC and T-Mobile (UK) Ltd.

The satellite communications industry is undergoing unprecedented changes and Inmarsat is committed to continuous evolution, not just in our world-leading technology and connectivity infrastructure but in how we interact with our customers and partners, Rajeev Suri said.

To make Inmarsat a truly customer-centric organisation, a key driver is to have the companys marketing expertise combined under one individual at the executive level. I am therefore delighted that Barry French, a world-class marketing and communications professional, is able to join us in what promises to be an exciting and transformational journey.

I am also delighted that Jat Brainch will be taking up the vital executive-level CCPO role, which is central to our ability to successfully place the customer at the heart of everything we do.

Since joining Inmarsat, Jat has made an invaluable contribution to the transformation of the business and brings with her a wealth of experience in delivering a customer-centric approach to commercial and product management.
The Ministers decision to reinstate West Wits EA approval is a pivotal milestone for the company and clears the pathway for the DMRE to finalise the granting of WWIs mining right at the WBP, says chairman.

The company aims to begin production at the Witwatersrand Basin Project this year.

( ) has been as much as 58% higher after having the path towards production this year at the Witwatersrand Basin Project (WBP) in South Africa cleared by the reinstatement of the Environmental Authorisation (EA).

The company is buoyed after receiving a positive outcome from the Department of Environmental Fisheries and Forestry (DEFF) appeals process relating to West Wits EA at the WBP.

Through a detailed written decision, South Africas Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has dismissed all three appeals lodged against the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) EA approval.

Shares have been as much as 15 cents in early trade, a new high of more than 12 years, on strong volume of almost 33 million within an hour.

Pivotal milestone

West Wits chairman Michael Quinert said: The Ministers decision to reinstate West Wits EA approval is a pivotal milestone for the company and clears the pathway for the DMRE to finalise the granting of WWIs mining right at the WBP.

"The unconditional dismissal of the appeals is testament to the quality and thoroughness of the engagement process undertaken by our lawyers, specialist consultants and the executive team led by managing director Jac van Heerden.

The decision of the Minister reinstates the DMREs EA approval that was initially granted on June 23, 2020, and paves the way to complete the granting of the mining right application through the DMRE.

West Wits team is re-engaging with DMRE officers as the company seeks to expedite granting of the Mining Right.

Opportune time

Managing director Jac van Heerden said: The reinstatement of the EA comes at an opportune time for WWI with the resource restatement and BFS on the Qala Shallows project area scheduled for April and July 2021 respectively.

"The successful completion of the EA process significantly de-risks the project and is a major catalyst for execution of the next stage of the WBPs development strategy, allowing the WWI team to ramp up activity as the company targets maiden underground gold production in 2021.
The taskforce will include all the female ministers, inside and outside cabinet, as well as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham. Loading The Prime Minister has faced a wave of anger about the treatment of women in the six weeks since former Liberal adviser Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in Parliament House in March 2019. These changes will shake up what needs shaking up, he said. As expected, the Prime Minister moved Christian Porter from the Attorney-Generals portfolio due to concerns about any conflicts of interest while he takes defamation action against the ABC over its reporting of allegations of rape, which he denies.

Mr Porter remains in cabinet as Industry, Science and Technology Minister, sending a message to the ministry and the Coalition party room that an accusation alone would not be enough for a minister to lose his or her job. Mr Morrison also moved Linda Reynolds from the defence portfolio to make her Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Government Services. Linda Reynolds will move from defence to portfolios of government services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Senator Reynolds was admitted to hospital on February 23 after a week of intense criticism of her actions over the alleged rape of Ms Higgins in her ministerial office two years earlier. While Mr Morrison criticised her response to the allegations of rape  including her remark that Ms Higgins was a lying cow  he kept her in cabinet.

The Prime Minister named Peter Dutton as the countrys next Defence Minister and Michaelia Cash as the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, in the two biggest appointments among the changes. Other winners from the reshuffle included Social Services Minister Anne Ruston, who joins the governments leadership team of 10 senior ministers, and Financial Services Minister Jane Hume, who gains responsibility for womens economic security. Stuart Robert will move from government services to become Employment Minister, replacing Senator Cash. Mr Morrison called Senator Payne effectively the prime minister for women in her role as co-chair of the taskforce and Minister for Women, although he revised the title after a question from a journalist about whether he was not fit to be prime minister and should be the womens prime minister.

In relation to what I should probably call the primary minister for women, just to ensure that no one gets too carried away with the puns ... what Im trying to bring together is a team of ministers and Marise Payne as Minister for Women can bring all that together as a leader of that portfolio team, he said. The government is planning a policy push to begin within a week on measures that aim to help women, starting with action on sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Loading Mr Morrison is preparing to commit funds and policy changes to respond to the Respect@Work report on workplace assault, one year after the findings were handed to the government by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins. Under fire from Labor and others over the long delay in the government response, Mr Morrison is working with Assistant Minister Amanda Stoker to outline the policies in the next week. He named Senator Stoker the Assistant Minister for Women in the new line-up.

Mr Morrison and Senator Payne were heavily critical of the amount of harassment and denigration of women online in their press conference to announce the reshuffle, signalling policies that would force big tech to stop the attacks. Mr Morrison blamed social media for some of the disrespect for women that turned into harassment, or worse. Were living in a society in which respect is degrading. And if we want to see more respect in our community, weve all got to practise it more, he said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Weve got to build the respect again. And one of the key, degraders of respect in our country is social media.

I can tell you a big part of my response to this will be ongoing work in the area of e-safety and on social media. The Prime Minister also made it clear the budget, due on May 11, would include more policies to help women. Loading As we go into this budget, I think we will be working hard to explain right across the country just how much all of the initiatives of our budget deliver positive outcomes for women, whether that be their equality, their economic security, their safety and also their well-being, whether in health or other areas, he said. Labor slammed the reshuffle for protecting ministers who should be dumped from cabinet, while South Australian crossbench Senator Rex Patrick said Mr Morrison should be removed.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Dee-Maxwell SaahKemayah, Sr., has announced the resumption of vital services which will enable applicants to obtain Apostille or Letter of Authentication, Laissez Passer and Article of Incorporation.

Announcing the resumption of the services Thursday, March 25, 2021, during a briefing with Foreign Ministry officials and the Liberian media in the C. Cecil Dennis Auditorium at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MinisterKemayah declared that effective Friday, March 26, 2021, the services in relation to obtaining Article of incorporation, Apostille and Laissez Passer will resume.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, Minister Kemayah disclosed that the services are now resuming after a Joint Administrative Regulation was developed and signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP).

The new Joint Administrative Regulationalso stipulates that a fee of United States Five Dollars (US$5.00) for a Corporate Blue Jacket shall be paid at any Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Booth.

Minister Kemayah further indicated that the regulation stipulates also that for an Apostille or Letter of Authentication's applicants are to pay the amount of US$25.00 and US$10.00 for a Laissez Passer.

"No individual or business, corporation, company, institutions, desiring any of such services is to channel their payments or channel the request for any such service through any staff, individual or official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; not even me as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Don't channel your request or payment through me," Minister Kemayah stressed.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Governance 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.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister said the moratorium which was earlier placed on the issuance of Laissez Passer remains in force unless for emergency cases where such applications will be reviewed on a case - by - case basis and where appropriate, such request will be authorized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"We want to use this medium to extend our thanks and appreciation to Minister Samuel Tweahand [LRA] Commissioner General Thomas Doe-Nah for their support and cooperation as well as coordination which [have] been manifested in the pronouncement we are making today," Minister Kemayah further recounted.

He stated that the resumption of these services will go a very long way in giving a boost to the contribution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the national budget of the Republic of Liberia.

The Liberian Foreign Minister Kemayah further revealed that under the regulation, all fees for the services will not be paid at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying instead that they will be paid at any Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) booth.

He said following any payment for a service, the applicants will receive flag receipts from LRA and submit the flag receipt to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for authentication before the needed service can be rendered.
NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Khaled Salem, running for the U.S. Senate against Chuck Schumer in 2022, announced that his American Human Rights Organization is committed to an action plan to help American citizens in precarious global locations. Khaled will embark on multiple fact-finding trips devoted to the safety of U.S. expatriates and those stationed overseas by the government or perhaps working for American companies. The ultimate purpose of these trips is to inspect the status of political, cultural and social interactions in various countries and get real-time information and a cumulative global safety perspective.

Senate Candidate Khaled Salem (PRNewsfoto/AmericanHumanRights.org) Senate Candidate Khaled Salem (PRNewsfoto/AmericanHumanRights.org)

"Our organization will release travel advisories based eight criteria," said Khaled. "Some of the most important baselines for safety and security include political and social attitudes, tourist security and a history of imprisoning Americansalong with response times to aid Americans during an emergency, ambulance response times, hospital and treatment facilities for injured Americans and related issues like optional first aid possibilities and the response times for fire emergencies." The American Human Rights Organization will grade countries according to these standards and levels of security and report on their findings.

"The State of Israel has proven its competence over the years with distinction in protecting its people along with its constitutional and economic system in front of its neighboring enemies." Working with Biden administration and Israel represents a big potential win for the Iranian people and Middle East if the Arab and Islamic world would understand this. Khaled is encouraged by recent moves in this direction.

Khaled is asking the United States Department of State to start, as soon as possible, to make the place of birth optional on U.S. passports to protect dual citizens abroad from discrimination in most international Airports around the world.

Other key policy positions from Mr. Salem include:

Free university education for American students.

Tourist visas to the US must require travel medical insurance for entry.

Laws and procedures to reduce domestic violence nationwide.

A reduction in U.S. military activity and presence in the Middle East .

. A policy that requires these regions pay for American military services.

The establishment of a home loan program for middle class single parents.

Salem is running in the next general election, scheduled for November 8, 2022. Thirty-four of the Senate's 100 seats are being contested in these elections.

For more information, visit https://www.khaled2022forcongress.com/

https://www.americanhumanrights.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaBldfu_ma0

facebook.com/Khaledforcongress

twitter.com/KhaledYork

Media contact:

Senate Candidate Khaled Salem

[email protected]

1518 348 6868

SOURCE AmericanHumanRights.org
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(Alliance News) - Intact Financial Corp on Monday continued in its efforts to raise cash to help fund its portion of the acquisition of RSA Insurance Group PLC.

Intact will issue CAD250 million, about USD198 million, of 4.125% fixed-to-fixed rate subordinated notes, series 1, due March 2081.

The notes will be converted automatically into non-cumulative class A shares.

The notes are offered on an underwritten basis through a syndicate of underwriters co-led by CIBC Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Markets and TD Securities, and will be issued on Wednesday.

Intact has previously issued CAD600 million in notes and completed a CAD3.2 billion private cornerstone placement.

Intact has already secured unconditional approval for its takeover of RSA by the Canadian regulators, and the majority of RSA shareholders voted to approve the takeover scheme in mid-January.

The deal is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2021.

In mid-November, RSA Insurance had agreed to be sold in a deal with a two-headed consortium which valued the insurer at GBP7.2 billion.

The deal will see the insurer divided between Canada's Intact and Scandinavian insurer Tryg AS. Tryg's contribution will be GBP4.2 billion with Intact's portion of the deal amounting to GBP3.0 billion.

Under the deal, RSA shareholders will receive 685 pence in cash for each share. In addition, RSA shareholders will be entitled to receive the insurer's interim dividend of 8p.

Shares in RSA were 0.2% higher in London on Monday morning at 682.40 pence each.

By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
A new world of cannabis will open when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signs the recreational marijuana law this week as he said he would.

It used to be that possession of up to 2 ounces was a violation. Soon, it will no longer be a crime to keep up to five pounds of cannabis in your home.

It's a deal: Marijuana legalization in New York headed for approval A deal to permit the legal sale and use of marijuana in New York State was finalized Saturday night by legislators and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, paving the way for highly regulated cultivation, distribution and retail sales of the drug to start in about two years or sooner.

You'll be able to smoke it, vape it and otherwise consume it in many public places and even in cafes, similar to cigar clubs. You'll even be able to get it delivered to your home.

While many rules will restrict how and where it can be smoked and sold, the new law will give adults 21 and over the right to buy and consume marijuana, and it will also give an edge to those who have been most impacted by marijuana laws in getting involved in the legal trade of cannabis.

Some of the legislation will go into effect right away, but it is expected it will take two to three years before you will be able to walk into a cannabis dispensary to buy cannabis legally.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the agreement announced late Saturday on legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis.

Where can you smoke it?
People watch on as workers try to refloat the stricken Ever Given in the Suez Canal. Picture: AP

The stranded container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week was almost fully re-floated this morning and has restarted its engines, sources say, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened.

The 400-metre long Ever Given has been straightened in the canal and will undergo initial inspections before being moved, two sources said.

Video posted on social media appeared to show the ships stern had swung around, opening space in the canal. Other footage included cheering and ships' horns sounding in celebration.

Ship-tracking service VesselFinder has changed the ship's status to under way on its website.

The Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early on Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

At least 369 vessels were waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie said.

Read More

Earlier on Monday, marine services firm Inchcape Shipping Services said the ship had been successfully re-floated at 4.30am local time (3.30am Irish time) and was being secured.

The Suez Canal salvage teams intensified excavation and dredging on Sunday and were hoping a high tide would help them dislodge the ship.

Crude oil prices fell after news the ship had been re-floated, with Brent crude down by $1 per barrel to $63.67. Shares of Taiwan-listed Evergreen Marine Corp - the vessel's lessor - rose 3.3pc.

About 15pc of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal, which is a key source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt. The current stoppage is costing the canal $14-$15 million a day.

Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship became stranded, and the blockage has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with Covid-19 restrictions.

Some shipping companies had decided to reroute their cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, adding about two weeks to journeys and extra fuel costs.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  Once President Rodrigo Duterte approves the proposed financial assistance for almost 23 million Filipinos, the Department of Budget and Management said Monday it will immediately release the multibillion-peso funds to local government units.

During a Palace briefing, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the government has about 23 billion unused pandemic funds from Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 that will be used to finance the new social amelioration program amid the hard lockdown imposed over the Greater Manila area.

"Ang pondo, ora mismo, pagkapirma ng Pangulo, ilalabas ko na agad ang SARO (special allotment release order) at NCA (notice of cash allocation) direkta sa local government units," he said.

[Translation: Once the president signs the recommendation, I will immediately issue the SARO and NCA to the local government units.]

Citing data from the National Economic and Development Authority, Avisado said about 22.9 million Filipinos will receive financial assistance from the government.

The cash aid will focus on Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna, he added. The enhanced community quarantine imposed in the NCR Plus bubble starts today, until April 4.

However, beneficiaries may expect "lower" figures from last year's cash aid, Avisado said.

Under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act or Bayanihan 1 implemented in 2020, 5,000 to 8,000 subsidy was given to each pandemic-hit low-income households.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, also the chairman of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, told CNN Philippines The Source earlier this morning that cash assistance may range from 1,000 to 3,000.

"Ang inihanda natin ngayon, one time lang po ito. Ito po ay para lang sa sitwasyon ngayon. Hindi naman siguro mauubos din kaagad in one week iyong ibibigay na ayuda," Avisado said.

[Translation: What we have prepared today, this is just one time. This is just for the current situation. We expect the financial aid won't be exhausted right away in one week.]

"We surmise that something more will happen after one week. We are tied up to what we have right now. The DBCC (Development Budget Coordination Committee) will talk about the ways forward. We also anticipate that other regions will have problems," the DBM official added.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, meanwhile, said during the Palace briefing that the financial assistance may begin by "mid-April".

But Avisado said the rollout will still depend on local government units.
Kamala Harris, who is famous for her giggling, is suddenly frowning these days.

Reportedly, she's upset at the speed of vice presidential mansion renovations, and somehow being homeless at Blair House, is frustrated with 'living out of suitcases.'

According to her sometime shopping buddies over at CNN:

It has been more than two months since Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president of the United States, a historic moment for the country, as Harris is the first woman and the first woman of color to hold the second highest office in the land. Yet, Harris -- along with her husband, Georgetown Law professor Douglas Emhoff -- is still, ostensibly, living out of suitcases, unable to move into the private residence reserved for the vice president because it's still undergoing renovations. It's unclear why the renovations are taking so long, said one administration official, but it's a situation that has left Harris increasingly and understandably bothered, according to several people who spoke to CNN about her situation. "She is getting frustrated," said another administration official, noting with each passing day the desire to move in to her designated house -- a stately, turreted mansion two-and-a-half miles from the White House -- grows more intense. The second couple continues to live in temporary housing at Blair House, the President's official guest quarters, just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

She's upset at living out of suitcases? At the luxury digs of Blair House, which has its own hair salon? There's a solution for that -- she can move back into her own $1.7 million condo down the road off ritzy Dupont Circle, bought by her and her husband as part of their $8 million real estate portfolio. The photos here show that it's actually pretty nice.

She can go to that one and not feel so very .... homeless.

Kamala the Phony has lots of ways of proving herself as that, and this public housing kvetch is just her latest instance..

One question that remains up for grabs is whether she actually ordered the renovations on the vice presidential mansion, which, as a historic house built in 1893, will always take longer. Some sources report that she did, wanting a fancy gourmet kitchen. CNN, citing a Harris spokewoman, says she didn't . There are some chimney renovations they're working on, for sure. Hope those are up to greenie environmental snuff. as people in California on her watch were no longer permitted to burn wood in chimneys.

As for the kitchen, Harris has advertised herself as liking to cook. She did this stunt making Jamaican food she couldn't have learned at daddy's knee, given that her parents were divorced, and in a fresh factory-folded apron, making many question whether she really did like to cook, or just liked Instagram pictures showing her cooking.

Here's another thing to raise doubts: CNN said she was a frequent patron of Stachowski's Market in Georgetown (which would be mighty convenient to walk to from her Dupont Circle condo). A look at the menu shows $16 pre-made sandwiches, and $9 pre-made salads. There is a small meat counter for sure, serving gourmet fancies such as duck confit, lobster , soppressata, and duck pate. Guess that's everyday food for her. But it appears from the Yelp page that most of what they are about is being a deli. As in, "don't have to cook."

Way down in the piece, CNN reports that Kamala seems to be visiting the vice presidential mansion a lot and checking up on the renovations. It's apparently how she occupies her time. It wouldn't be surprising if she did, her niece Meena, seems to spend all her time on Instagramming herself in various "lifestyle" settings. Given Kamala's trivial giggliness, it might be the family culture.

What it's not is doing actual work. Especially not the work she's actually getting paid for. Breitbart News reports that Kamala is dodging the responsibilities of the big task to stanch the border that had been fobbed off on her by addled Joe Biden

Vice President Kamala Harris is dodging a Wednesday request by President Joe Biden to bolster the enforcement of migration laws in Mexico and Latin American countries. On March 24, in a televised statement, Biden directed Harris to get the Mexican and Central American governments to forcibly block poor migrants moving towards the United States. Biden said: The Vice President  agreed to lead our diplomatic effort and work with those nations to accept returnees and enhance migration enforcement at their borders  at their borders. [emphasis added] Biden said that Harris would work with the countries that need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border, and added that it was a tough job. On Friday, Symone Sanders, Harriss press secretary, redefined the request. The president asked the vice president to take on the diplomatic effort, with Mexico and countries in the northern triangle to address the root causes of migration, she said. There are many reasons that move these folks to make this dangerous journey. This is an amazing dismissal by a vice president of her president in a very public fashion, said Ken Cuccinelli, who served as deputy homeland security chief under President Donald Trump. I cannot ever remember seeing this happen before.

There's speculation that her party doesn't want this issue resolved at all, and instead seeks to import Democrat voters. I'm a little skeptical. I think the job was too big for Joe, it was cutting into his poll numbers, and Kamala was only interested in her living quarters with not much else to do. President Obama fobbed it off on Joe, and now Joe was kicking the can down the line to Kamala in a bid to keep her busy and out of mischief. I argued that here

But Kamala, it turns out is, way too lazy to get involved in actual work, the hard work of negotiating with Latin countries for some kind of border enforcement to pull the Biden/Harris administration's chestnuts out of the fire for them and their self-created crisis. Kamala will never command respect from such people, not just for her administration's fecklessness, but from her own giggling and history of sleeping her way to the top. They've seen this type before -- in names like ... Isabel and Evita.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) today announced that Claude E. Wade will join the company in the second quarter of 2021 in the newly created role, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Operations and Chief Digital Officer, AIG. Based in New York, Mr. Wade, 53, will report to President & Chief Executive Officer, Peter Zaffino.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005669/en/

Claude E. Wade (Photo: Business Wire)

A key dimension of AIGs ongoing transformation is centered on improving and simplifying our clients and distribution partners experience with the company, which will enhance client retention and drive client acquisition, Mr. Zaffino said. We are investing in technology and talent to develop industry-leading capabilities. Claude is a proven executive with operational, digital and insurance expertise, as well as a track record of delivering sustained profitability improvement.

Mr. Wade, who has over thirty years of operational strategy and innovation experience, primarily with FORTUNE 100 companies, joins AIG from BlackRock where he most recently served as Global Head of Client Experience and Head of the Atlanta Innovation Hub. As Global Head of Client Experience, Mr. Wade was responsible for reshaping the global distribution ecosystem and improving the digital experience for BlackRock clients, revenue retention and efficiency improvements. As the Atlanta Innovation Hub Leader and Office Head, he had overall executive responsibility for creating BlackRocks newest office and digital innovation center. In 2017, He also served as Chief Operating Officer for BlackRocks Institutional Client Business where he oversaw day-to-day execution for BlackRocks largest business with over $3 trillion in assets under management and $3 billion in annual revenue.

Mr. Wade has extensive insurance industry experience having spent approximately eight years with Marsh LLC and Guy Carpenter & Company, both operating subsidiaries of Marsh McLennan, in multiple execution leadership roles. He is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt & Certified Agile Scrum Master. Mr. Wade received his Masters in Business Administration from New York University, Stern School of Business and his Bachelors of Administration in Finance from Pace University.

I am thrilled to join AIG and to work with Peter Zaffino again as the company continues on its journey to achieve operational excellence and become a top performing company, Mr. Wade said. With the investments AIG is making in digital capabilities, combined with Peters vision for AIGs future, I am confident we will drive profitable growth and innovative client and distribution partner solutions that are transformative in the insurance industry.

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization. AIG member companies provide a wide range of property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement solutions, and other financial services to customers in approximately 80 countries and jurisdictions. These diverse offerings include products and services that help businesses and individuals protect their assets, manage risks and provide for retirement security. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Additional information about AIG can be found at www.aig.com | YouTube: www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter: @AIGinsurance www.twitter.com/AIGinsurance | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aig. These references with additional information about AIG have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries and jurisdictions, and coverage is subject to underwriting requirements and actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005669/en/

Shelley Singh (Investors): shelley.singh@aig.com

Dana Ripley (Media): dana.ripley@aig.com

Source: American International Group, Inc.

While first responders and several other groups of at-risk populations have already been vaccinated, a large portion of residents ages 16 and over are rumored to be eligible by mid-April.
analysis

Many South Africans, some contractors working on the construction of the French Total energy company's Afungi liquid natural gas processing plant, were caught up in the violence and at least one is known to have died.

In a mini "modern-day Dunkirk" operation on Sunday, a flotilla of private ships of all shapes and sizes evacuated more than 1,000 people from the battered northern Mozambique coastal town of Palma which was violently overrun by jihadist insurgents linked to Islamic State.

In the confused aftermath of the violence, the toll of dead and injured remained unclear. Mozambique Defence Ministry spokesperson Colonel Omar Saranga told local journalists on Sunday night that "dozens" of Mozambicans had been killed in the fighting. He also confirmed that seven foreigners had been killed on Friday when a convoy of vehicles taking foreigners out of the Amarula Hotel was ambushed by terrorists. He didn't give the nationalities of those killed.

Mozambican forces were working to evacuate any other foreigners still in Palma, Saranga said. He made no mention of South African special forces being deployed in Palma to evacuate South Africans, which suggested that Pretoria had abandoned its plans to do so.

Saranga said doctors at the hospital...
To the Editor:

It is disheartening to read of Dr. Deborah Birx and several of her medical colleagues only now publicly condemning the Trump administrations negligent handling of the Covid-19 crisis (Live briefing, nytimes.com, March 29).

In a democracy, one of the loudest and most honorable means of drawing attention to a disagreement with ones superiors is public resignation on account of principle. Dr. Birx, Donald Trumps coronavirus response coordinator; Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Stephen Hahn, former F.D.A. commissioner; and Adm. Brett Giroir, former assistant secretary for health, owed it to the American people to draw public attention  loud and clear  to the incompetence of President Trump and his health secretary, Alex Azar.

For these former officials only now to protest their disagreements is too little, too late. Had they acted in a timely manner, lives might have been saved.

Mark Bernkopf

Arlington, Va.

To the Editor:

Re Experts Disagree on Pace of Reopening New York City (news article, March 22):

Gov. Andrew Cuomos further relaxing of restrictions in New York City seems to be based on a hope and a prayer. Hope that cases will continue to drop, and a prayer that the more contagious variants will be held at bay. One has to ask, what is the hurry?
Vincenzo (Song Joong Ki) doesn't want to kill Babo (Babel boss) that quick. For him, it will be more interesting to see him suffer in front of his people and repent all his wrongdoings.

The search for the gold inside the Geumga Plaza is getting complicated and residents are becoming more competitive.

Meanwhile, Vincenzo has all the cards against the Babel Group, but didn't expect to meet a traitor whom he trusted for years.

Vincenzo and Hong Cha Young Continue to Prove Their Strong Partnership

Vincenzo Cassano is ready to pull the trigger of his gun onto Jang Han Seok/Jang Jun Woo (2PM's Taecyeon), but the police came and took him for investigation.

Hong Cha Young (Jeon Yeo Bin) went to the station where Vincenzo was being held to stand as his legal lawyer. On her way to the room, she met Choi Myung Hee (Kim Yeo Jin) and Jang Jun Woo.

Then, the lady lawyer slapped her previous intern a few times, as she, releasing all her anger and frustrations to the person behind the deaths of the innocent people.

Jang Jun Woo still pretended that he doesn't know what's going on and begged his sunbae to believe him.

After the confrontation, the lady lawyer went to Vincenzo and spoke on his behalf. She answered all the questions confidently, especially when the investigator revealed that the gun that Vincenzo used was fake.

After some further discussion the two freely went out of custody and spent some time talking about their next plan in punishing Jang Jun Woo.

Meanwhile, the Wusang law firm gathered together to contemplate their next move. Jang Han Seo (Kwak Dong Yeon) suggested that his brother Jang Jun Woo should slow down first and it would be good to take some rest. Jang Han Seo promised to take care of everything while he is away.

The next day, Vincenzo met Gilbert, the person who mentioned to the Geumga Plaza residents about the gold. Vincenzo offered him a big amount of money and asked him to leave the plaza immediately so that the residents will no longer believe there is a treasure underneath the building.

Vincenzo then had a discussion with the residents and told them that everything that Gilbert said to them before about the gold was just fabricated. But being determined that they are, the residents didn't believe him and decided to continue looking for the gold.

While having a meeting inside the Jipuragi office, Lee Cheol Wook (Yang Kyung Won) interrupted the trio and asked Vincenzo again if he could join him in spying on the enemy. The consigliere, who was initially hesitant, granted Lee Cheol Wook's wish.

His first mission with the two bodyguards is to play a trick on Jang Jun Woo by exchanging the bottles of water delivered in his house.

After drinking one, Jang Jun Woo dozed off while in the bathtub.

Hong Cha Young and Nam Byung Hee Learned about the Gold

Tak Hong Sik (Choi Duk Yoon) and Kwak Hee Soo (Lee Hang Na) visited Vincenzo in the office to inform him they will no longer ask for his help in finding the gold - they will look for it themselves instead.

After hearing about it, confused Hong Cha Young and Nam Joo Sung were quick to grab Vincenzo and asked about the gold that the lady lawyer didn't believe before.

The mafia consigliere revealed where it is hidden specifically, and the worth of all the gold in the plaza. The two were surprised and happy about the sudden news and gave Vincenzo another group hug.

In order to get all the tenants out of the building, the trio decided to send them all on a free and nice vacation, somewhere far from the plaza. Nam Joo Sung summoned them and presented a deal that the person who can show the best vacation photo will receive 20,000 dollars.

Betrayals Between Close Ties Arise

Meanwhile, agent An Gi Seok (Lim Chul Soo) told Vincenzo that for them to take down Babel, they will need to find the secret file that has all the corruption of Korea documented.

Mr. An also revealed that the file was stolen by a Chinese gangster who died a year before and hidden somewhere in Korea, who turns out to be the real owner of the treasure.

Jan Han Seo found the opportunity to kill his brother Jang Jun Woo when they were in the middle of hunting, he shot his brother but still failed to kill him. Showered by remorse, Jang Han Seo is scared of what will happen to him after he betrayed Jang Jun Woo.

After some time of preparing and taking the residents out for a vacation, Mr. Cho and Vincenzo finally found the perfect time to open the vault and headed down to the treasure underneath the temple.

While roaming around the place, a gun was pointed to Vincenzo's head, finally seeing the true colors of Mr. Cho whom he trusted for a long time.

Have you seen "Vincenzo" Episode 12? Let us know your thoughts about the episode in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins
Advertisement

Four in 10 black elderly people in England have not had their coronavirus vaccine, official figures show in the first major breakdown of jab rates among ethnic minorities.

A report published today by the Office for National Statistics revealed just 58.8 per cent of black African Brits over the age of 70 had received at least one dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca's vaccine by March 11.

The ONS said that, nationally, uptake in the over-70s was 90.2 per cent when all ethnic groups were included, with rates highest among white people (91.3 per cent) and Indians (86.2 per cent).

After black African Brits, the poorest rates were recorded in black Caribbeans (68.7 per cent), Bangladeshis (72.7) and Pakistanis (74 per cent).

The report, which included data from 20million over-70s invited for their jab in England, also found Muslims were the religious group least likely to take the vaccine, with only 72.3 per cent of over-70s getting one so far, followed by Buddhists (78.1 per cent).

People who were disabled were also slightly less likely to have been vaccinated compared to healthy people of the same age. The reasons for this are not totally clear.

Ben Humberstone, head of health analysis and life events at the ONS, said: 'Vaccination rates are markedly lower amongst certain groups, in particular amongst people identifying as black African and black Caribbean, those identifying as Muslim, and disabled people.

'These differences remain after accounting for geography, underlying health conditions and certain indicators of socio-economic inequality.'

Jab hesitancy among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people has been a theme throughout the rollout, with language barriers, a mistrust in Government and misinformation online thought to be fuelling scepticism.

The Government last month launched an advertising blitz to tackle the problem amid fears that rates will become even poorer as the scheme moves down to younger people who are less vulnerable to Covid but still spread it.

A report published today by the Office for National Statistics found just 58.89 per cent of black African Brits over the age of 70 had received at least one dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca 's vaccine by March 11

The report found that Muslims were the religious group least likely to take the vaccine, with only 72.3 per cent of over-70s getting one so far, followed by Buddhists (78.1 per cent)

The ONS calculated that black Brits were up to seven times less likely to get the jab than their white peers

People who were disabled were also slightly less likely to have been vaccinated compared to healthy people of the same age. The reasons for this are not totally clear

Those in the most affluent areas were more likely to have received their Covid jab than those in the most deprived areas

As Britain hits 30million milestone for first Covid jabs, Emmanuel Macron insists France will match our vaccination success 'within weeks' More than 30 million people in the UK  over half the adult population  have received their first Covid-19 jab. The milestone comes as Britain's world-leading vaccination effort gets a lift next month with the arrival of a third vaccine. But France  despite lagging far behind in its vaccination drive  will catch up with Britain 'in a few weeks', president Emmanuel Macron claimed today. Just 11.7 per cent of French adults  6.1 million  have received one or more jabs, compared with 57 per cent of UK adults who have received their first jab  some 30,151,287 people. In addition, 3.5 million Britons have had their second doses. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last night: 'I'm absolutely thrilled that more than 30 million people have now had the jab across the UK. 'The vaccine is saving lives and is our route out of this pandemic,' he said, adding: 'When you get the call, get the jab.' Mr Macron said France had significantly ramped up the pace of inoculation and suggested that Britain's campaign could soon struggle. 'In a few weeks we will have completely caught up with the British, who will meanwhile be increasingly dependent on us to vaccinate their population,' he said. He appeared to be referring to stocks of the AstraZeneca vaccine that are produced in EU member states. The EU has threatened to ban pharma firms from exporting coronavirus vaccines to Britain and other well-supplied countries until they make good on their promised deliveries to the bloc  a threat directed mainly at British-based AstraZeneca. Advertisement

Ministers are working with more than 50 ethnic minority TV channels and radio stations that broadcast in 13 different languages to tackle anti-vaxx misinformation.

More than 90 faith, healthcare provider networks, influencers and experts from a range of communities have been recruited to hold Q&As to address people's concerns about the Covid-19 vaccine.

Officials are also working with the BBC World Service to produce videos on key questions from South Asian groups in Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, Gujarati, and Sylheti.

The ONS report linked vaccine data from the National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS) and its own statistics based on NHS numbers to estimate jab rates in different groups.

It included 94 per cent of the millions of elderly people who were invited for their jabs by March 11.

Layla Moran MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, said: 'These stark figures reveal the deeply alarming low uptake of the vaccine among ethnic minority groups, who we know are particularly vulnerable to serious disease from Covid.

'This confirms the evidence our cross-party inquiry heard last month, which underlined the need to work with local communities, leaders and places of worship to build trust in the vaccine.

'The government and NHS must urgently step up efforts to tackle vaccine hesitancy among ethnic minority groups. That means building on some of the successful community-led initiatives we have seen, rather than relying on national campaigns from central government.'

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi tweeted: 'This is exactly why we need to make sure that nobody is left behind.

'Real focus on the most vulnerable cohorts 1-9. Much more work to do with local communities. Seeing amazing people coming forward to help deliver the message that vaccines protect you.'

Earlier this month, Mr Zahawi revealed that misinformation about fertility and the jabs was driving the hesitancy.

He said Government focus groups and polling had shown much of the wariness toward the jabs centered around 'issues of fertility'.

Speaking to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, he added the problem was 'proving to be sadly quite potent' among both men and women.

Mr Zahawi admitted that data on specific rates of vaccine hesitancy and refusals were not held centrally, meaning the exact number of people turning it down was not known. Ministers had previously been relying on surveys to estimate the scale of the problem.

More than 30million Britons have so far been given at least one dose of Covid vaccines, with 3.5m having been fully vaccinated. That represents more than half of the adult population.

The world-beating vaccine rollout will get another lift in mid-April when the Moderna jab is deployed for the first time.

The imminent arrival of more than 500,000 doses of the new US vaccine  to add to millions of Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca shots  will herald the expansion of the programme to the under-50s.

It offers hope that ministers may be able to invite over-40s for vaccines in the coming weeks, despite the NHS warning of a significant reduction in jabs available in England next month amid a delay to AstraZeneca shipments from India and EU tensions that could see exports blocked.
STAMFORD  J.D. Ospina is taking another shot at the state House.

According to state officials, Juan David Ospina will run on the Republican line in the special election set for April 27 to fill the seat left vacant by Patricia Billie Miller, who won her own special election to become the state senator for the 27th Senate District.

Political newcomer Ospina first ran for the 145th House District against Miller in November 2020. He earned just under 23 percent  more raw votes than any of Millers previous challengers since 2008.

Six months and two resignations later, Ospina, 33, is set to face off against another fresh face in Stamfords political scene: Democrat Corey Paris.

Like Ospina, Paris has a previous election under his belt. Paris  who currently lives in Bridgeport  ran for the 146th House District in 2018 but lost to state Rep. David Michel.

Though Paris, 29, works and attends church in Stamford, along with serving as vice chairman of the Mayors Multicultural Council, he must move to the 145th District by Election Day, according to the Secretary of the States Office.

Ospina, as Republican Town Committee Chair Fritz Blau pointed out, already lives within the 145th House District, which includes the West Side and Waterside neighborhoods in Stamford.

J.D. is a Stamford resident concerned with Stamford and not about a political career and his personal gain. He has consistently put himself out in the public, resonating ideas that hes gotten very good feedback from. He cares about law and order and justice. His accomplishments while in the armed services speak to his ability as a leader, Blau said in a statement. He will work hard to see that people get the representation they deserve instead of one installed from parts elsewhere.

Like he did in his previous campaign, Ospina said he wants to appeal to voters on Connecticuts fiscal issues.

Its a similar platform as last year. I want to go for that fiscal balance in the state. Theres still a lot of debt that were working through, he said.

Ospina railed against higher taxes and tolls on state highways in his previous campaign. He advocated for performing a full audit on the Department of Transportation to cut unnecessary costs. Ospina also wants to update the state law that governs all commercial transactions to make Stanford a center for technology and innovation.

But, both politically and personally, things have changed for Ospina since he last ran for office.

In the last few months, he opted to take medical leave from his job at Community Health Center because of complications related to Menieres disease  a rare disability that causes spells of vertigo.

I was diagnosed with this disability last year and its why I was medically discharged from the Army, Ospina said. I want to give a voice to the 61 million Americans with disabilities in this country, (and) show them that its still possible, despite setbacks, to send out a positive message out in the community.

Ospina said that hes received fierce push-back from both Republicans and Democrats in the new year as well, especially after attending the Stop the Steal Rally in Washington on Jan. 6.

Ospina told The Advocate in January that he had not attempted to breach the Capitol as insurrectionists pushed forward in the rampage that ultimately killed five people.

While some Republicans expressed ire at Ospina for later wishing President Joe Biden well once inaugurated, city Democrats continue to denounce him for being in Washington that day.

The Stamford Republican Party has sunk to a new low by again endorsing J.D. Ospina for the special election in the 145th House District. On Jan. 6, Mr. Ospina proudly attended the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Though he claims he did not storm the Capitol, he has been quoted as wanting to be part of (the) historic moment, Democratic City Committee Chair Josh Fedeli said. Since the Republican Party has devolved into the party of Donald Trump, Im not too surprised by Mr. Ospinas actions. However, they certainly arent becoming of a candidate who seeks to serve the people of Stamford.

Ospina rebutted by saying he was only taking an opportunity to see (the) current sitting president speak.

I know that violence is never an acceptable form of political expression. Ill never condone it, under any circumstances, regardless of where its coming from, Ospina said. Im proud of this country and it was an patriotic event. ... It started out peacefully. Trump himself said to march peacefully to the Capitol. I was there, and he said those words, although I will admit he did say some things that aggravated a few supporters.
Nphet has warned that any major lifting of restrictions in the coming weeks may result in another significant wave of Covid-19 cases which could last until the middle of the summer.

With the rate of daily cases remaining stubbornly high, Nphet urged against easing restrictions over the next four to eight weeks as it could jeopardise progress made in controlling the virus.

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn gave a presentation to a Cabinet Committee on Covid-19 this evening which sources at the meeting described as grim.

One source said Nphet want to hold off easing restrictions significantly for another four to eight weeks to reduce the risk of another wave of the virus.

Read More

Another source at the meeting said Nphet urged ministers to hold firm. The source conceded there would only be a gradual easing of very few restrictions next month. I think we didnt lower expectations enough, the source said.

Nphet warned that if the health service loses control of the virus now it could result in a wave of new cases which could last into the summer.

This would put at risk plans to allow the hospitality industry to open during the summer months.

It would also mean there would be no economic boost for the tourism industry as staycations would not be permitted if Covid-19 transmission remains high.

The UK variant is a still a serious concern for Nphet, the HSE and the Government.

The Cabinet Committee is considering easing the 5km travel ban, allowing more outdoor activities, including sport, and permitting construction workers return to sites.

However, despite expectations that there would be an easing of restriction in these areas next Monday it now looks like any lifting of Covid-19 regulations will be done a on a phased basis throughout April.

This is likely to mean construction work will not fully return next week but rather it will be done gradually over the coming month.

Housing Minister Darragh OBrien is seeking to have residential development return next week followed by commercial construction later in the month.

Read More




Namibia will require all mobile phone users to register their SIM card prior to accessing services following the introduction of new regulation.

The proposals were approved on 15th March, with local news outlet The Namibian quoting Minister of Information and Communication Technology Peya Mushelenga as saying that the regulation was in part a response to escalating cyber crime in Namibia.

Right now anyone can go into a shop, buy a SIM card, and commit a crime. We are moving towards what is happening in South Africa where one cannot just by a SIM card  it must be registered, said Mushelenga.

The minister noted that the proposals were developed with the consultation of the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN), the director general of the Namibia Central Intelligence Service, and all of the countrys affected telecoms operators.

As reported by TeleGeography, the regulation will oblige all operators to store customer data for a minimum of five years from the date of first use. These records will be accessible by the Namibian Police and the Namibia Central Intelligence Service, but only with authorization from a judge or magistrate.

Market leading operator MTC stated that it encourages its subscribers to register their SIM cards voluntarily.
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Tim and Debra Sweetsir, previously published authors of the prequel, Killer in the Dusk, have completed their new book Forest Ridge Murders: a gripping and potent psychological murder thriller.

Published by Page Publishing, Tim and Debra Sweetsirs deeply emotional tale follows the murders that occur in Forest Ridge.

The sequel to Killer in the Dusk starts off with the FBI believing the killer from last year has been caught and exterminated, therefore it will be a peaceful summer this year. However, they are wrong, a storm is coming to this small town and the FBI cannot stop it from happening. Readers will also follow the murderers point of view, as he gruesomely ventures through the town raping and murdering innocent victims. The town of Forest Ridge will be suffering from another year of trepidation due to the murder spree, once again.

Readers who wish to experience this chilling work can purchase Forest Ridge Murders at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
An author claimed that the original location of the old Jewish Temple may not be where people believe it is today, the Dome of the Rock, but somewhere near.

Christian Widener detailed his explanation through his book, "The Temple Revealed: The True Location of The Jewish Temple Hidden in Plain Sight," clarifying the exact spot of the old Jerusalem temple built by Solomon.

Speaking to The Christian Post, Widener recalled about a rabbi who explained during a tour that the East Gate in Jerusalem is not really the Messianic gate as it is famed to be, since the real gate is supposedly situated at the front of the old Temple, which people believe today is where the Dome of the Rock sits.

But the author reviewed Ezekiel 44 and the Scripture described the gate exactly how the Eastern Gate stands today - closed.

"You look at a landmark like that, and you think it's either not a real landmark because the rabbis record a lot of things in the Mishnah about Temple practices that are not in the Bible but are their best faithful recollections of Temple practices and things like that. And they're very explicit that all of the gates in the Temple out to the outer sanctuary were in line," he added.

After the author's further historical investigation, evidences, he said, have proven that the Golden Gate, or the East Gate, is indeed the real gate, an original temple landmark.

He also cited 2 Chronicles 3:1, wherein the verse mentioned that Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah, at Araunah's threshing floor.

"A threshing floor has to be flat. It's a place where you lay out the grain, put the threshing sledges over it to separate the wheat from the chaff and tear off the stalks. ... It's a really common practice that you see all over Israel. And when we look at the rock in the Dome of the Rock, it's not flat. It's not even close to flat," Widener explained.

He also considered Asher Kaufman's revelations in his book "The Temple Mount: Where is the Holy of Holies?"

Kaufman said in the book that a small dome known as the Dome of the Spirits is an area of flat bedrock which is built into the platform, where the Dome of the Rock is situated, standing on the same level.

Widener further illustrated that the platform was built leveled around the bedrock.

"It's not some randomly located piece of flat bedrock out there. It's directly in line, in front of the Golden Gate," he added.

With this revelation, Widener pointed out that the Dome of the Spirits is really where the old Jewish Temple was originally built.

If the author's claim is true, rebuilding of the third temple will be possible on its exact location. But given the ethnic and religious conflict relative to the Temple Mount, the time of reconstruction remains a question.

The author said that organizations such as the Temple Mount, Temple Institute, Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement and other Jewish groups are already preparing to rebuild the temple.

"They absolutely have all that they need. They have plans drawn. They have materials cut and prepared, very much like David did in his time before Solomon," he added.

Widener said that the Abraham Accords, a peace treaty signed by Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and United States in September 2020, may usher in the possibility of the temple's reconstruction.

Widener also stated about the fulfillment of other prophecies, such as in Ezekiel 44:8, saying that "instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary."

The Jews returned the Temple Mount to the Arabs 10 days after they recovered it in the 1967 Six-Day War. Thus, allowing their enemy to take charge of the Jewish site, instead of themselves.

The author said that the giving up of the holy site may be a nonsense idea but it was just a fulfillment of the biblical prophecy.
CHICAGO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Third Coast Underwriters (3CU), has named Assurance, a Marsh & McLennan Agency, as its 2020 Agency of the Year.

"Assurance has been an incredible agency and we are pleased to recognize them as this year's 3CU Agency of the Year award honoree," said Steve Cooper, president of AF Group's Workers' Compensation Division. "Dan Klaras, Michael Alberico and the entire Assurance team is committed to providing exceptional value to their customers. Like 3CU, their service model allows us to offer best-in-class workers' compensation products and services to our mutual customers. Our partnership with Assurance is very strong, and we look forward to a long working relationship with them."

"On behalf of all our colleagues, we're honored to accept this recognition as 3CU's Agency of the Year," said Dan Klaras, president of Assurance, a Marsh & McLennan Agency. "Assurance and 3CU have fostered strong relationships across our leadership, production and underwriting teams, built on the strength of our knowledge of industry verticals. We've always believed we need to do more for our clients than procure an insurance policy -- we have to find a way to make them better. This honor serves as another testament to that belief."

Twelve years after launching as a specialized provider of workers' compensation insurance to complex operations, 3CU continues its growth after reaching an important milestone in 2019, when it surpassed $100 million in written premium for the first time in its history. Through geographic and segment expansion of its workers' compensation business, 3CU continues to partner with customers to provide proactive, consultative service to manage complex operations and challenging exposures that require unique workers' compensation solutions.

About Third Coast Underwriters

Third Coast Underwriters is a member of AF Group. Insurance policies may be issued by any of the following companies within AF Group: Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, Accident Fund National Insurance Company, Accident Fund General Insurance Company, United Wisconsin Insurance Company, Third Coast Insurance Company or CompWest Insurance Company.

Contact:

Bob Lapinski

(312) 443-9819 or (517) 331-4890

[email protected]

AFGroup.com

SOURCE AF Group; Third Coast Underwriters

Related Links

http://www.afgroup.com/


MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2021) Four people were injured in a fire that erupted at an oil refinery in Indonesia's West Java Province after an explosion, the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina said.

Earlier it was reported that the fire continued to spread at the Pertamina oil refinery in Indonesia's Balongan.

According to the Republika newspaper, locals were being evacuated as hundreds of firefighting vehicles were trying to extinguish the blaze.

Pertamina said in a statement on its website that four local residents were nearby when the incident occurred. They have been taken to the hospital with burns.

According to Republika, the oil refinery blast was likely caused by a lightning strike that occurred during a thunderstorm.
Picos restaurant is celebrating World Taco Day with a festival and an official proclamation from Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Arnaldo Richards, owner and executive chef of Arnaldo Richards Picos  Arnaldo Richards announced big plans for "World Taco Day," which will be an official Houston holiday as of Wednesday, March 31.

MARIO LOPEZ GHOST KITCHEN: 'Mario's Tortas Lopez' is the latest celebrity ghost kitchen serving it up in Houston

Mayor Turner announced the special day in coordination with Richards.

"I am thrilled to proclaim Wednesday, March 31, as World Taco Day in the City of Houston and congratulate Executive Chef Arnaldo Richards for raising awareness about the cultural and culinary history of tacos," Turner said.

Richards explained just how much the occasion means in traditional Mexican culture.

World Taco Day (Dia Mundial del Taco) is such a time-honored tradition in Mexico, that it only seemed natural to celebrate this special day in the diverse city that is Houston! My hope is that March 31st becomes an annual city-wide holiday that commemorates this National Mexican dish that is deeply-rooted in Mexican history, and in the whole world."

Houston is the first city in the country to make such a distinct declaration, according to the release.

Starting March 31, Picos restaurant will commemorate the big day with an exclusive menu featuring over 30 kinds of authentic tacos representing the "vast culinary landscapes" of Mexico's various regions, according to the release.

So what's on the menu? Tacos Al Pastor, Barbacoa Hidalguenese (lamb), Barbacoa De Res (beef), Lengua (beef tongue barbacoa style), Cochinita Pibil (pork), Nopales Asados (cactus pad), and Tacos Tikin Xik (fish grilled on banana leaves), to name a few.

Richards told Chron his family's recipes influence his tacos and shared some of his favorites.

"[It's] years of inspiration from my mother and my aunts who I learned to cook traditional dishes from that are dear to our family's heart. I have so many favorites given the day! But my top three have to be Chicharron en Salsa Verde, Chilorio, and our Tacos Gobernador."

To commemorate the occasion, Picos will host a "Bazar de Tacos" outdoor festival. The event will take place on Saturday, April 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and guests can enjoy a full taco menu, music, pastor grills, aguas frescas, a churro station, and more.

An official announcement by the City of Houston! Solidifies World Taco Day! We are happy to proclaim along with many... Posted by Picos Restaurant on Thursday, March 25, 2021

Picos is asking guests that attend to follow their safety protocols by social distancing and wearing masks.

I know what your thinking. Isn't World Taco Day celebrated in October? In the U.S., yes. But thanks to this new proclamation, we get to celebrate a little earlier. Richards explains it best.

"All we know is that we will happily celebrate again in October! Any time is taco time, but the Mother Land reins supreme! So we fiesta!!!"
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  Former President Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada has tested positive for COVID-19, his son Jinggoy Estrada confirmed on Monday.

He said the 83-year-old former chief executive was rushed to the hospital on Sunday night, but he is in stable condition.

Estrada served as the 13th president of the country for only two years. He was ousted in 2001 in the wake of massive anti-corruption protests. In 2007, an anti-graft court convicted him of plunder and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua or jail term of up to 40 years. He was later pardoned by his successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
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Allotment of Shares

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2021 / Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc (LSE:HEMO) announces that it has allotted 1,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.01 each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") in consideration for finance consulting services to Prosdocimi Limited.

An application has been made to the London Stock Exchange Main Market and admission of the new Ordinary Shares to trading is expected on or around 6 April 2021 ("Admission"). The new Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares in the Company.

Total Voting Rights

Following Admission of the new Ordinary Shares, together with the new Ordinary Shares allotted to Mint Capital announced on 26 March 2021 and that are also expected to be admitted to trading on or around 6 April 2021, the Company will have 469,795,217 Ordinary Shares of 0.01 each in issue with voting rights. The Company does not hold any shares in treasury. This figure may then be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

Enquiries:

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc https://hemogenyx.com Dr Vladislav Sandler, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder headquarters@hemogenyx.com Peter Redmond, Director peter.redmond@hemogenyx.com SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470 Matthew Johnson, Vadim Alexandre, Adam Cowl Peterhouse Capital Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7469 0930 Lucy Williams, Duncan Vasey, Charles Goodfellow

About Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals is a publicly traded company (LSE:HEMO) headquartered in London, with its US operating subsidiaries, Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals LLC and Immugenyx LLC, located in New York City at its state-of-the-art research facility.

The Company is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical group developing new medicines and treatments to treat blood and autoimmune disease and to bring the curative power of bone marrow transplantation to a greater number of patients suffering from otherwise incurable life-threatening diseases. Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals is developing several distinct and complementary product candidates, as well as a platform technology that it uses as an engine for novel product development.

For more than 50 years, bone marrow transplantation has been used to save the lives of patients suffering from blood diseases. The risks of toxicity and death that are associated with bone marrow transplantation, however, have meant that the procedure is restricted to use only as a last resort. The Company's technology has the potential to enable many more patients suffering from devastating blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as severe autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, aplastic anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus), to benefit from bone marrow transplantation.

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.

SOURCE: Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637836/Hemogenyx-Pharmaceuticals-PLC-Announces-Allotment-of-Shares
New Delhi: Amid the surge in COVID-19 infections in the country, many state governments and Union Territories have put in place a number of restrictions for the upcoming festival seasons.

The country has been breaching the 62,000-mark from the past two days. On Saturday, India recorded a massive count of 62,258 COVID-19 infections in the past 24- hours.

According to the Health Ministrys reports, six states, which are Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, account for more than 80 percent of the total COVID-19 caseload of the country.

The rising COVID-19 infections have forced the state governments and Union Territories to impose stricter guidelines and numerous restrictions ahead of Holi festival, which is being celebrated on Monday (March 29).

Many state governments have banned public gatherings and celebrations in the name of the festival. Authorities have also imposed stringent restrictions in a bid to curb the spread of the infection.

Additionally, the Centre has also issued a circular under section 22 of the Disaster Management Act which advises all the states and Union Territories to impose required restrictions ahead of the festival season.

Heres is the list of states and union territories that have imposed restrictions on the celebrations of Holi festival:

1. Delhi

The national capital has banned all public gatherings on Holi and Shab-e-barat.

No one is allowed to organise or attend any kind of celebrations at public places, parks, market places, religious places.

The state government is also conducting random testing at airport, bus and railway stations.

ALSO READ: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal won't attend public Holi celebrations, appeals to people to avoid crowds

2. Maharashtra

The civil and district authorities announced a ban on Holi celebrations in both private and public places.

State government has also directed the citizens to strictly follow Covid-19 norms.

Holi celebrations are banned even in hotels, resorts and rural districts.

3. Haryana

All public gatherings on account of Holi are banned in the state.

Special instructions have been issued to the police officers.

Celebrate Holi at home, said Haryana DGP.

4. Rajasthan

Holi celebrations are permitted from 4 pm to 10 pm in public.

The guest gathering is limited to 50 persons only.

The authorities have directed people entering the state to present a COVID-19 negative RT-PCR report.

ALSO READ: Holi 2021: Try these amazing hacks to pep-up your festival outfit!

5. Madhya Pradesh

Holi Milan gatherings are banned across the state.

All public gatherings and celebrations on Holi are banned.

Authorities have urged people to celebrate Holi at home.

6. Bihar

All public gatherings and celebrations on Holi are banned.

No one will be allowed to organise or attend such events.

Following COVID guidelines and using face masks are mandatory.

7. Gujarat

No permission will be granted for massive Holi celebrations or events.

Only Holika Dahan ceremony with limited guests is allowed.

People can celebrate holi with a limited number of people in housing societies and villages.

8. Uttar Pradesh

Authorities have allowed Holi celebrations with proper implementation of COVID-19 guidelines.

Government has urged people above 60 years, children below 10 years, and those having comorbidities to remain indoors.

ALSO READ: Holika Dahan 2021: Tithi, Puja Vidhi, Shubh Muhurat and legend behind celebrations

9. Uttarakhand

Holi and Kumbh Mela festival celebrations are allowed with necessary precautions.

Fine will be levied on those who are not properly following COVID-19 guidelines.

Additionally, the government has urged the citizens to celebrate Holi at homes.

10. Punjab

State government has banned all Holi celebrations and events.

Holika Dahan ceremony can be attended by five people.

Citizens are directed to follow proper COVID-19 guidelines.

11. Odisha

No more than 200 people are to be allowed inside the Dola Melan grounds.

State authorities have banned any procession with musical instruments, lighting and crowd.

Ban in place for all rituals in public places throughout the state.

12. Karnataka

Authorities have banned public gatherings for festivals such as Holi, Ugadi, Shab-e-Barat and Good Friday across the state.

Public gatherings will not be permitted in public grounds, parks, markets and religious places.

In Indias north-east, most of the states have not issued specific guidelines for the upcoming festivals, except imposition of Section 144 in Tripura and Mizoram.
[March 29, 2021] Investor Group Highlights Egregious Executive Compensation at Kohl's

Macellum Advisors GP, LLC (together with its affiliates, "Macellum"), Ancora Holdings, Inc. (together with its affiliates, "Ancora"), Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC (together with its affiliates, "Legion Partners"), and 4010 Capital, LLC (together with its affiliates, "4010 Capital" and, together with Macellum, Ancora and Legion Partners, the "Investor Group") today issued a letter to shareholders in connection with its nominations of five candidates for election to the Board of Directors (the "Board") of Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) ("Kohl's" or the "Company"). The Investor Group is deemed to beneficially own, in the aggregate, 14,696,905 shares of the Company's common stock, including 2,447,000 shares underlying call options currently exercisable, constituting approximately 9.3% of the Company's outstanding common stock. The full text of the letter is below. The letter and additional materials are also available at: https://createvalueatkohls.com/. March 29, 2021 Dear Fellow Kohl's Shareholder: Macellum Advisors GP, LLC, Ancora Holdings, Inc., Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC, and 4010 Capital, LLC (collectively, the "Investor Group" or "we") beneficially own a total 14,696,905 shares of Kohl's Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation, ("Kohl's" or the "Company"), including 2,447,000 shares underlying call options currently exercisable, constituting approximately 9.3% of the Company's outstanding common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Common Stock"), and making us one of the Company's largest shareholders. We are seeking your support on the WHITE proxy card to vote FOR our five highly qualified director nominees - Jonathan Duskin, Margaret L. Jenkins, Jeffrey A. Kantor, Thomas A. Kingsbury and Cynthia S. Murray - at the Company's upcoming annual meeting of shareholders scheduled for May 12, 2021. Kohl's Executive Compensation Appears to Serve Executives Not Shareholders or Employees As stewards of shareholder capital, one of a board's most important responsibilities is to have a compensation program that sets fair and thoughtful targets to properly align pay with performance. We believe the Kohl's Board has failed in this regard. In our view, the Board has created a compensation plan that rewards executives despite years of underperformance, by consistently setting short and long-term targets for bonuses below prior years' results. We contend that this "heads we win, tails shareholders lose" structure is diametrically opposed to shareholder alignment and value creation. As shown below, the Board's recently disclosed compensation decisions for 2020 - a year in which net sales declined 20% and adjusted net income was a loss of $186 million - highlight the Board's failure to appropriately align compensation with performance: Total compensation for Kohl's CEO increased by 43% in 2020, resulting in $12.9 million in aggregate compensation.

in 2020, resulting in $12.9 million in aggregate compensation. 2020 compensation for Kohl's CEO was the highest earned by a Kohl's executive in 15 years , despite the fact that 2020 financial performance was the worst by far over that time period.

, despite the fact that 2020 financial performance was the worst by far over that time period. The CEO pay ratio was 1,098:1 in 2020 between Kohl's CEO and the median employee, increasing from 923:1 in 2019. This exorbitant CEO compensation stands in stark contrast to the fate of Kohl's employees, 85,000 of which were furloughed for several months and who we estimate were paid nearly 10% less in the aggregate in 2020 compared to 2019. 2020 Is Not an Outlier - Kohl's Management Has Been Richly Rewarded For Years Despite Declining Operating Results From 2011 to 2019, Kohl's paid its top five executives more than $278 million in total compensation. While this sum is quite staggering on its own, what is most concerning for shareholders is that the Company underperformed its industry group by a wide margin over this period. From 2011 to 2019, Kohl's net sales stagnated from $18.8 billion in 2011 to $18.9 billion in 2019, with compounded same store sales declining by 1%. Over the same period, the "Clothing and Clothing Accessory Store" industry, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in the Annual Retail Trade Survey, grew 17% in net sales. Worse still, Kohl's operating income dropped by almost $1 billion, or 44%, from $2.2 billion in 2011 to $1.2 billion in 2019. Despite this underperformance, Kohl's CEO received a 250% bonus in both 2017 and 2018, in addition to a 118% payout under the Company's 2016-2018 long-term incentive plan ("LTIP"), after the Company badly missed its own targets for those periods set in the Greatness Agenda just a few years earlier. In light of this misalignment of pay with performance, shareholders deserve an answer to one simple question: How Could the Kohl's Board Approve Such Outrageous Executive Compensation for Deteriorating Results? Shareholders rely on boards to design and implement executive compensation programs which provide appropriate alignment and long-term incentives to help drive sustainable value creation. The decisions boards make with regard to executive compensation offer a window into their culture, alignment, respect for shareholders' capital, and desire to create shareholder value. The message from Kohl's Board to its shareholders seems loud and clear - executives will continue to be rewarded regardless of long-term operating results or share price performance. Kohl's Board has demonstrated a troubling long-term track record of continuously lowering the bar and paying higher and higher levels of compensation for deteriorating results. Kohl's stated compensation philosophy contained in every annual proxy statement is as follows: "As part of our pay for performance philosophy, our goals are intended to be difficult to achieve, and failure to achieve the goals has significant consequences." Yet despite this credo, Kohl's annual and long-term incentive plans show a consistent pattern of rewarding executives with excessive compensation for meeting an ever-declining set of objectives. Kohl's LTIP consists of rolling three-year cumulative targets for sales and net income. The three-year measurement periods overlap as a new program is set each subsequent year. Far from being "difficult to achieve," the 2017 to 2019 LTIP set a " Target (News - Alert) Level" for sales and net income which would pay out a 100% performance share unit award to management for achieving average annual sales of 2% less than actual sales in 2016 and average annual adjusted net income 23% below adjusted 2016 net income.







Kohl's Long-Term Incentive Plans ($mm) 2014 - 2016 2015 - 2017 2016 - 2018 2017 - 2019 2018 - 2020 Average 3-Yr Sales Target $19,867 $20,230 $19,593 $18,327 $18,863 % chg vs. immediately preceding year 4% 7% 2% (2%) (1%) Average 3-Yr Adjusted Net Income Target $913 $923 $773 $520 $777 % chg vs. immediately preceding year 3% 6% (1%) (23%) (9%) Average 3-Yr Sales, Actual $18,971 $18,993 $18,946 $19,029 $17,694 % chg vs. immediately preceding year (0%) 0% (1%) 2% (7%) Actual 3-Yr Average Adjusted Net Income $774 $740 $789 $821 $419 % chg vs. immediately preceding year (13%) (15%) 1% 22% (51%) CEO LTIP Payout as % of Target Level 62.4% 25.1% 118.3% 200.0% 83.5%

Source (News - Alert) : SEC Filings

Note: Net Income adjusted to exclude non-recurring items. 2018 net income compares to 2017 figure after adjusting for decline in corporate tax rate The 2018-2020 LTIP also set Target Levels below the prior year's actual results, yet the Board still saw fit to apparently manipulate the structure of this plan to ensure a payout. The Board explains in the Company's 2021 Proxy Statement that given the devastating impact of COVID in 2020, it became clear that management would not hit the three-year cumulative targets for this tranche. Metric 2018 - 2020 2018 2019 2020 2018 - 2020 Actual vs. Goal Goal Actual Actual Actual Actual Net Sales $56,590 $19,167 $18,885 $15,031 $53,083 (6%) Adjusted Net Income $2,330 $927 $769 ($186) $1,510 (35%) Source: SEC (News - Alert) Filings Rather than allow management to "suffer" just as Kohl's employees and communities had, the Board lowered the bar by amending the plan to a retroactive annual plan rather than a cumulative long-term plan, creating a windfall for management that would not have been payable under the original plan. Importantly, the Board made this change in January 2021, long after the economy showed signs of recovering from the COVID pandemic and when it was known to the Board that the large performance share unit award granted to the CEO in March 2020 had appreciated dramatically (to a potential value of more than $25 million). As a result of the Board's ex post facto adjustments, Kohl's CEO received an average LTIP payout of 98% of the target during the last five years, while from the period 2014 to 2019 (excluding COVID-impacted 2020) Kohl's sales declined by 1% and tax-adjusted net income declined by 26%. This disturbing pattern of paying for underperformance and continuously setting the bar lower is equally evident in Kohl's Annual Incentive Plan structure. As shown in the table below, the Annual Incentive Plan approved by the Board each year has enabled the CEO to achieve multi-million dollar incentive payouts despite a persistent decline in adjusted net income. In our view, the Board's construction of this plan demonstrates a flawed philosophy of lowering the threshold net income goal each year to a level at or below actual performance in the previous year. Annual Incentive Plan 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Adjusted net income ($mm) $1,167 $986 $889 $867 $781 $673 $703 $927 $769 ($186) % Change from 2011(1) (16%) (24%) (26%) (33%) (42%) (40%) (35%) (46%) (113%) Threshold Tier net income goal ($mm) $1,080 $900 $890 $855 $781 $596 $770 $880 N/A % Change vs. prior year adj. net income(2) (7%) (9%) 0% (1%) 0% (11%) (10%) (5%) N/A % Change from 2014 - the initiation of 'Greatness Agenda'(1) (1%) (10%) (31%) (26%) (15%) N/A CEO Annual Incentive Plan Award ($ '000) $532 $536 $541 $553 $562 $3,563(3) $3,500 $0 $2,505 CEO Award as % of base salary 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% 250% 250% 0% 175% Note: (1) Cumulative change % for 2018, 2019 and 2020 are calculated using a tax rate of 23.2% applied to the 2011 and 2014 adjusted net income. (2) Change % for 2018 is calculated using a tax rate of 23.2% applied to the 2017 adjusted net income. (3) Plus an additional $3.5 million award for CEO-elect Michelle Gass. As a result, Kohl's CEO was paid: A "Top Tier" 250% bonus in 2017 for achieving adjusted net income that was 19% below 2014, the baseline year for the "Greatness Agenda"

Another "Top Tier" 250% bonus for 2018 adjusted net income that was still 11% below 2014 after adjusting for tax differences The performance bar has been lowered so frequently that by 2019 the threshold to achieve a bonus had fallen 38% from 2011 actual net income (tax adjusted). As with the LTIP, the Board amended the Annual Incentive Plan in 2020, enabling a large annual bonus for the CEO and other named executive officers. Specifically, the Board removed all objective quantitative measures, instead basing 50% of bonuses on Kohl's sales results compared to a curated peer group, and 50% on the Board's discretion. This enabled the CEO to receive a $2.5 million bonus in 2020 even though sales declined 20% and earnings were negative. Again, this change was made in addition to amendments to the LTIP, which separately rewarded the CEO handsomely, and under a backdrop in which Kohl's employees appeared to be suffering an approximate 10% pay cut. The Board proclaims to shareholders in Kohl's proxy statements that a "failure to achieve target goals has significant consequences," but this feels like an incredibly hollow statement in light of the Board's actions, which speak louder than words. In addition, the assertion that "As part of our pay for performance philosophy, our goals are intended to be difficult to achieve" seems absurd in light of all the evidence to the contrary. We believe the Board's broken culture of rewarding management for mediocre or downright poor performance stems in part from their propensity to compare Kohl's to the narrow, ailing department store sector rather than to a broader, more relevant group of discretionary soft-goods retailers. A deeper level of relevant retail experience on the Board would contribute to a better understanding of the true competitive environment and to the design of more appropriate incentive structures. The Five Incumbent Directors We Are Opposing Shoulder Significant Responsibility for Kohl's Misaligned Compensation Plans Our campaign aims to remove the following five directors from the Kohl's Board. Each of these directors lacks retail apparel expertise, and they have served on the Board for an average of 16 years. Importantly, three of the five (Messrs. Burd, Prising and Sica) are current members of the Compensation Committee, with Mr. Prising serving as its Chair, and have been deeply involved in designing and implementing what we believe is a flawed compensation program at Kohl's. The five incumbent Kohl's directors we are seeking to remove are as follows: Board Member Age Board Tenure Experience Apparel Retail Retail Marketing /

Customer Exp. E-Comm Operations Merchandising Capital

Markets Steven A. Burd* 71 19 Grocery Stores X X Jonas Prising* (Chair of Compensation Committee) 56 5 Staffing X John E. Schlifske 61 9 Insurance X X Frank V. Sica* (Chairman of the Board) 70 33 PE Investor X Stephanie A. Streeter (Chair of Audit Committee) 63 14 Consumer Goods X * Member of Compensation Committee Our Nominees Have the Relevant Retail and Governance Expertise to Better Align Kohl's Compensation Structure with Shareholders Our five director nominees bring significant apparel retail expertise and a strong desire to improve Kohl's compensation practices: Board Candidate Age Board Tenure Experience Apparel Retail Retail Marketing /

Customer Exp. E-Comm Operations Merchandising Capital

Markets Margaret L. Jenkins 69 -- Marketing &

Apparel Retail X X X Thomas A. Kingsbury 68 -- Apparel Retail X X X X X X X Jonathan Duskin 53 -- Investor &

Retail Specialist X X X X Jeffrey A. Kantor 62 -- Apparel Retail X X X X X X Cynthia S. Murray 63 -- Apparel Retail X X X X X X Revitalizing Kohl's strategy and improving compensation practices are not a short-term focus. Our desire is to build long-term value and we have carefully selected directors who we believe are far better positioned to turnaround Kohl's than the Company's five stale directors with irrelevant skillsets who have overseen significant underperformance at Kohl's. If you have any questions or require assistance with your vote, please contact Saratoga Proxy Consulting, who is assisting us, and whose contact information appears below. Thank you for your support, Jonathan Duskin Macellum Advisors GP, LLC Frederick DiSanto Ancora Holdings, Inc. Christopher Kiper Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC Steve Litt 4010 Capital, LLC About Macellum Macellum Advisors GP, LLC, together with its affiliates (collectively, "Macellum") have substantial experience investing in consumer and retail companies and assisting such companies in improving their long-term financial and stock price performance. Macellum's historical investments include: Collective Brands, GIII Apparel Group, Hot Topic, Charming Shoppes and Warnaco, among other companies. Macellum prefers to constructively engage with management to improve its governance and performance for the benefit of all stockholders, as we did with Perry Ellis. However, when management is entrenched, Macellum has run successful proxy contests to effectuate meaningful change, including at The Children's Place Inc., Christopher & Banks Corporation, Citi Trends, Inc. Bed Bath and Beyond Inc. and most recently at Big Lots, Inc. About Ancora Ancora Holdings, Inc. is an employee owned, Cleveland, Ohio based holding company, which wholly owns four separate and distinct SEC Registered Investment Advisers and a broker dealer. Ancora Advisors LLC specializes in customized portfolio management for individual investors, high net worth investors, investment companies (mutual funds), and institutions such as pension/profit sharing plans, corporations, charitable & "Not-for Profit" organizations, and unions. Ancora Family Wealth Advisors, LLC is a leading, regional investment and wealth advisor managing assets on behalf of families and high net-worth individuals. Ancora Alternatives LLC specializes in pooled investments (hedge funds/investment limited partnerships). Ancora Retirement Plan Advisors, Inc. specializes in providing non-discretionary investment guidance for small and midsize employer sponsored retirement plans. Inverness Securities, LLC is a FINRA registered Broker Dealer. About Legion Partners Legion Partners is a value-oriented investment manager based in Los Angeles, with a satellite office in Sacramento, CA (News - Alert) . Legion Partners seeks to invest in high-quality businesses that are temporarily trading at a discount, utilizing deep fundamental research and long-term shareholder engagement. Legion Partners manages a concentrated portfolio of North American small-cap equities on behalf of some of the world's largest institutional and HNW investors. About 4010 Capital 4010 Capital is a value-oriented investment manager with substantial experience investing in the consumer discretionary sector. 4010 Capital employs comprehensive fundamental analysis to invest in companies which it believes are trading at a discount to intrinsic value and have a pathway to improving operating performance. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005432/en/

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Web of Science recently released a list of topics worthy of attention related to eradicating poverty. It also announced which topics were the popular areas of focus for published papers. According to the report, China published nearly 3,000 papers in this field over the past 40 years, making it the country with the most papers published in Asia.

Poverty is one of the most acute social problems in the world today. Among the 17 sustainable development goals adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, eliminating poverty ranked first. On Feb. 25, 2021, China held a grand gathering in Beijing to mark the country's poverty alleviation accomplishments and honor model poverty fighters. After eight years of continuous efforts, all rural poor people in the country have been lifted out of poverty, and all poor counties have been removed from poverty list according to the current standards.

Web of Science retrieved 79,400 related papers published globally, of which the United States had the highest number of publications with 26,931 papers, followed by the UK with 10,470 papers. China was the top contributor from Asia, with 2,959 published papers.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the largest contributor of related papers in China with a total of 294 papers, followed by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Poverty does not only mean a lack of income and difficulty in maintaining livelihoods, but also the inability to fully obtain education and other basic public services, being discriminated against by society, and being unable to participate in decision-making. Therefore, "eradicating poverty" is a multifaceted goal with many areas of focus. Clarivate's InCites database reviewed areas of focus in the field over the past 40 years, including multidimensional poverty, divorce, housing prices, raising children, microfinance, gentrification, and deforestation.

Among the nearly 3,000 papers published by China in the past 40 years, the top 10 areas of focus all came from two categories: the social sciences and agriculture, and the environment and ecology.

The top 10 areas of focus in China include China's problems, multidimensional poverty, deforestation, microfinance, ecosystem services, economic growth, tourism, adaptation to climate change, environmental Kuznets curve, and water management. Two of the most highly cited published papers focused on multidimensional poverty and ecosystem services.

Content created in partnership with Science and Technology Daily.
Canadian provinces suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in people under age 55 on Monday, acting on an advisory committee's concerns about a possible link between the shot and rare blood clots.

A health-care worker holds up a vial of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Montreal, Thursday, March 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Canadian provinces suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in people under age 55 on Monday, acting on an advisory committee's concerns about a possible link between the shot and rare blood clots.

Meanwhile, British Columbia imposed new public-health measures for the next three weeks to slow the rapid spread of the virus, as it announced 2,518 new cases over the past three days.

Dr. Shelley Deeks, the vice-chair of Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization, said the committee updated its recommendations amid new data from Europe that suggests the risk of blood clots is now potentially up to one in 100,000  much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.

Health Canada demanded Monday that AstraZeneca do a detailed study on the risks and benefits of its COVID-19 vaccine across multiple age groups, and Deeks said the advisory committee recommended the shot be suspended for younger groups pending the outcome of that review.

"NACI has determined that there is substantial uncertainty about the benefit of providing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to adults under 55 years of age, given the potential risks associated with it," Deeks said.

"As a precautionary measure, while Health Canada carries out an updated benefit-risk analysis based on emerging data, NACI recommends that the vaccine not be used in adults under the age of 55 years."

She said most of the patients in Europe who developed a rare blood clot after vaccination with AstraZeneca were women under the age of 55, and the fatality rate among those who developed clots is as high as 40 per cent.

The blood clot condition is known as Vaccine-Induced Prothrombotic Immune Thrombocytopenia. Deeks said it is treatable, and the fatality rate could go down now that it has been identified and symptoms are communicated.

Health Canada said it has not received any reports of the blood clots in Canada, and the department's chief medical adviser, Dr. Supriya Sharma, said she believes the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks.

The department changed its label on the vaccine last week to warn about the rare risk of blood clots. Sharma said Health Canada hasn't changed its decision to authorize AstraZeneca.

The company said in a statement that its vaccine is safe and effective and has been approved by European regulators and Health Canada.

"The extensive body of data from two large clinical data sets and real-world evidence demonstrate its effectiveness, reaffirming the role the vaccine can play during this public health crisis," the statement read.

The federal government is expecting around 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the United States on Tuesday, which will arrive by truck and represent the first to come from south of the border.

Provincial governments decide on their own how to use a vaccine, but Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief medical officer of health, said all provinces and territories had agreed to suspend the use of the vaccine for those under 55, pending the results of further study.

Several provinces announced throughout the day that they will limit the use of the vaccine.

Quebecs Health Department said it was pausing the use of the vaccine for those under 55 as a precautionary measure, saying it is impossible to rule out the possibility of a link to blood clots.

The (European Medicines Agency) still considers this product to be safe and effective, but the possibility of a link between the vaccine and clotting issues ... cannot be completely ruled out at this time, the province said in a statement.

The medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine task force said it is seeking more information around some adverse symptoms in younger people noticed in the United Kingdom.

Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador also said they were suspending use of the shot for younger age groups while awaiting new data.

Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.'s chief medical officer of health, said the risk of developing a serious problem after being immunized is "very, very low."

She said people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine should look for symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, persistent abdominal pain, sudden onset of severe or persistent headache or blurred vision and skin bruising elsewhere than the site of vaccination, developing four to 20 days after vaccination.

Alberta's chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said about 900 people under 55 have received AstraZeneca shots in the province. And with a 16-week gap between first and second doses, she said there's time to gather more evidence around blood clots before a decision is made on what do about the second shots.

In B.C., provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said those who have received the vaccine should watch for symptoms of a blood clot, and there are tests and treatment in such instances.

Premier John Horgan added that rising case numbers in his province are "unacceptably high."

"We cannot blow it now, said Horgan. We need to redouble our efforts.

The tightened restrictions include no indoor dining or adult group activity at fitness centres for the next three weeks. The Whistler Blackcomb ski resort is also being closed as cases spread in that community.

AstraZeneca has previously been dogged with questions over its preliminary trial data in the United States and confusion over whether it is safe for seniors.

Its vaccine was approved in Canada for all people over 18 on Feb. 26, but NACI then said there weren't enough seniors included in clinical trials to be confident about how the vaccine would perform on people over the age of 65.

Two weeks later, NACI retracted that advice, citing new real-world evidence from the United Kingdom that showed the vaccine was very effective when used on seniors.

Canada received 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca, made at the Serum Institute of India, but it's not clear how many have been administered to date. Many provinces prioritized their use for people aged 60 to 64, but some focused on younger groups.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.
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Blum ISD Board Votes To Make Masks Optional The Blum Independent School District (ISD) Board of Trustees voted to make masks optional on its campuses at a meeting held Wednesday evening, March 24.



The Texas Education Agency left the decision about masks up to individual school districts after Governor Greg Abbott rescinded the statewide mask mandate earlier this month.



Many area districts opted to continue requiring masks on school campuses for the time being, but Blum joins Hubbard and Abbott school districts in rescinding the mandates.



In a statement, Blum ISD notified parents that all other COVID-19 protocols will continue, including temperature checks, limited access to school buildings and quarantine procedures.


New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 63F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 63F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Connecticuts inmate population would no longer be considered residents of the towns in which their prisons are located under legislation approved in a key legislative committee on Monday.

Aimed at so-called prison gerrymandering, if approved in the Senate, House of Representatives and Gov. Ned Lamont, the legislation would allow the inmates to be listed in the U.S. Census as residing in their last known addresses, possibly changing the existing boundaries of some districts, but bringing more resources to the inmates hometowns.

The bill, which passed along party lines in the Government Administration & Elections Committee, next heads to the Senate.

Prison gerrymandering lets lawmakers inflate the population and give places with prisons more representation, and thats how incarcerated populations impact our elections, said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut, the elections watchdog, in a phone interview after the committee action.

But since they cannot vote, state government is exploiting bodies for political gain, Quickmire said. Gerrymandering can also distort equal representation by creating districts that appear to give them representation by electing the candidate of their choice, when they cannot even vote.

Prison gerrymandering is racist and undemocratic, and its long past time for Connecticut to join the ten other states that have abolished it, said Claudine Fox, Interim Public Policy and Advocacy Director of the ACLU CT, in a statement.

Prison gerrymandering disenfranchises Black communities and needs to end, said Scot X. Esdaile, president of the NAACP CT. I thank the members of the Government Administration & Elections Committee for supporting this historic legislation.

Advocates note that rural districts where prisons are located are predominantly white, at the expense of cities with higher populations of Black and brown people. Overall prison populations have been steadily declining in the last 13 months, with 8,960 behind bars last week, down 3,449 since March 1, 2020 and nearly 11,000 since 2008, according to the state Department of Correction.

Advocates want to enact the bill into law in time to affect the upcoming redistricting this fall that coincides with the release of Census figures that are used for the 10-year national and statewide political redistricting process.

Why do we have this before us? asked state Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, ranking member of the committee who led Republican criticism and opposition. I really dont understand what the goals are. I dont believe there is an injustice going on. I believe that this bill, in fact, is gerrymandering. Who is to say theyll ever return to that address?

But Democrats led by Sen. Douglas McCrory, of Hartford, said that the current system is another example of institutional racism.

Weve been doing this business in Connecticut for far too long, McCrory said. These counts are extremely important, especially when it comes to the Census. It dictates where resources are going, who needs them and all kinds of things that matter. Its extremely important for Connecticut to come around and get with the 21st Century and stop counting individuals who are located in correctional facilities as residents of that community. That community doesnt support that individual, their families or anything.

McCrory said that inmate families remain in their hometowns, and the vast majority of prisoners will be returning there when their prison terms are finished.

We have a false count, currently, McCrory said. At one point, when our prison population was up over 17,000, 18,000, I know specifically 4,000 people from the city of Hartford was not counted. I think its extremely important to move forward, pass this legislation and stop doing the injustices that weve been doing for individuals, for families, for communities in the state of Connecticut.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
A mum-of-two allegedly stabbed her husband to death before locking his body in a room of their south-west Sydney house while their two children were at home.

Police were called to the property on Rickard Road in Bankstown at 2.15pm on Sunday after a 49-year-old man suffered a stab wound to the neck.

The man had already died by the time they arrived and a 37-year-old woman was taken to Bankstown Hospital under police guard.

Police were called to the property on Rickard Road in Bankstown (pictured) at 2.15pm on Sunday

A biohazard waste bag is seen out the front of the unit in Bankstown, Sydney's south-west

Upon her release from hospital on Monday, the woman was charged with murder and refused bail to appear at Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday.

Police allege the 49-year-old man was stabbed at about 6am on the Sunday, when the couple's two sons - aged 10 and 16 - were at home, Seven News reported.

The mum-of-two allegedly locked the man's body in the bedroom for seven hours.

The children began to ask after their father and the woman allegedly took a handful of medication before asking her son to phone for help.

Detective Chief Inspector Darren Sly on Monday confirmed the incident was domestic violence-related and that the two children were present when it took place.

The man had already died by the time police arrived (pictured) and a 37-year-old woman was taken to Bankstown Hospital under police guard

He said the 49-year-old man had previously been charged with assault offences and was under an apprehended domestic violence order to not attend the property.

'Domestic violence is something which is traumatic for all ... I can only say from a police perspective that we take all domestic violence seriously,' Det Chief Insp Sly told reporters.

'Where there is a crime, we will take action.'

The children are now in the care of a family member.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

Police tape is seen out the front of the Bankstown property after a 49-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death
Trial of rapper involved in central Moscow car crash to start on April 2

 Moskva city news agency, Sophia Sandurskaya

11:05 29/03/2021

MOSCOW, March 29 (RAPSI)  Moscows Khamovnichesky District Court will proceed with a case against rapper Elmin Guliyev charged with hitting pedestrians by car in central Moscow on April 2, the courts press service has told RAPSI.

The defendant pleaded guilty. Therefore, the trial will be held without examination of evidence.

Initially, the man was charged with a road traffic offense that caused harm which endangered life or causes the victim severe bodily harm. But later charges against him were toughened after drugs had been found in his blood. Now he is prosecuted of committing a road traffic accident in a state of intoxication. He could face up to 7 years in jail if convicted.

According to the investigation, on September 21, Guliyev driving his Infiniti ran a red light at the signal controlled intersection and collided with another car. Then the defendants car went into a foot path and hit two people. They were taken to a hospital.

Guliyev is in detention now.
Lucknow, March 29 : Holi, in Lucknow, has lost much of its vibrancy and colour -- and it is not corona alone that is to blame.

The changing political scenario, hardening of lines in various political parties and increasing acrimony between leaders has robbed the festival of its festivity.

With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath away in Gorakhpur, his official residence at 5 Kalidas Marg, on Monday, wore a desolate look.

Barring a few security personnel strolling around aimlessly and some peering into their mobile phones, there was almost no activity in the high-security zone.

Yogi Adityanath, since he took over in 2017, has chosen to spend all major festivals in his hometown, Gorakhpur.

Before him, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also preferred to spend festivals in his native village Sefai, instead of Lucknow.

He left for Sefai on Sunday to celebrate Holi with his extended family.

The chief minister's residence in Lucknow, once upon a time, used to be the epicenter of all celebrations, particularly Holi.

Former chief ministers, including Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, Veer Bahadur Singh, Narain Dutt Tiwari and even Rajnath Singh, kept an open house on Holi.

Bureaucrats, party workers, leaders and journalists were allowed free access into the chief minister's residence. Colour flew into the air and snacks were served to all and sundry.

Earlier, during such celebrations, even opposition leaders were seen visiting the chief minister's residence to exchange greetings.

"Those were the days when the chief minister welcomed everyone with open arms. There were no security checks and everyone was treated with respect. In the present times, it is almost unthinkable that politicians would host such events," said senior journalist Pradeep Kapoor.

The trend stopped when Mayawati became the chief minister in 1995.

Firstly, she did not believe in celebrating festivals that were 'Manuwadi' and she was also paranoid about her security.

"It has never been the same after that. Whether it was Mulayam Singh or Akhilesh Yadav and now Yogi Adityanath -- they all stay away on festivals like Holi and their celebrations have become event-managed by the government," said another journalist who did not wish to be named.

On Monday, while the chief minister was away in Gorakhpur, almost all his ministers also went to their respective constituencies and Lucknow-the seat of power-remained colourless.

The BJP office had few familiar faces around but all senior leaders were missing in action.

The Samajwadi Party also wore a desolate look since Akhilesh and Mulayam were away in Sefai.

The gates of the BSP office, like every other day, remained firmly locked and there were no signs of any celebrations here.

The scene at the Congress party office also reflected the mood in the party that is presently locked in bitter infighting.

Party workers, in the past, used to play Holi in the party office and mingled happily with each other. There was no such scene this year.

Political analysts feel that this also reflects in the new political system that is developing without any link between the leaders and workers.

"The bonhomie that leaders shared with workers -- many of whom were known by names to their leaders -- has gone missing. The affectionate bond has snapped and political parties are now functioning like corporate houses. This may work for some time but in the long run, it will hamper the growth of political parties," said Dr S.K. Dikshit, a retired professor of political science.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Petra Fromme is the director of the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery. She is also a Regents Professor at ASU's School of Molecular Sciences. Credit: The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University

In order to develop more effective drugs against a range of cancers, researchers have been investigating the molecular structure of many diseased-linked enzymes in the body. An intriguing case in point is Taspase 1, a type of enzyme known as a protease. The primary duty of proteases is to break down proteins into smaller peptide snippets or single amino acids.

Taspase 1 appears to play a vital role in a range of physiological processes, including cell metabolism, proliferation, migration and termination. The normal functioning of Taspase 1 can go awry however, leading to a range of diseases, including leukemia, colon and breast cancers, as well as glioblastoma, a particularly lethal and incurable malignancy in the brain.

Because Taspase 1 dysregulation is increasingly implicated in the genesis and metastasis of various cancers, it has become an attractive candidate for drug development. But before this can happen, researchers will need a highly detailed blueprint of the structure of this protease.

In a new study appearing in the Cell Press journal Structure, researchers from Arizona State University describe their investigations, which reveal the structure of Taspase 1 as never before.

The study unveils, for the first time, the catalytically active 3-D structure of Taspase 1, revealing a previously unexplored region that is essential for the functioning of the molecule. The structure was solved using X-ray crystallography and confirmed with electron microscopy.

Petra Fromme, director of the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, highlights the great importance of the work: "I am so excited that we were able to solve the first structure of the functional active enzyme, as it will have huge implications for the structure-based development on novel anti-cancer drugs."

The study results show that reducing this critical helical region of Taspase 1 limits protease activity, while eliminating the helical region deactivates Taspase 1 functioning altogether. Earlier research suggests that disabling Taspase 1 activity to block the progression of cancer could be achieved without harmful side-effects.

"We have reported the importance of a previously unobserved long fragment of the protein in the catalytic activity of Taspase1, which can be used as attractive target to inhibit Taspase1," according Jose Martin-Garcia, lead scientist on the project and co-correponding author with professor Fromme. "The crystal structure of the active Taspase1 reported in our article will be greatly beneficial to advance the design of Taspase1 inhibitors for anti-cancer therapy."

Explore further Researchers discover SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors

More information: Nirupa Nagaratnam et al. Structural insights into the function of the catalytically active human Taspase1 Structure March 29, 2021DOI: Journal information: Structure Nirupa Nagaratnam et al. Structural insights into the function of the catalytically active human Taspase1March 29, 2021DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2021.03.008
Imperial Valley News Center

Siblings Plead Guilty to Offenses Involving the Sale of Stolen MacBooks

Sacramento, California - Patricia Castaneda, 37, of San Carlos, pleaded guilty Monday to federal program theft, and in a separate case, her brother Eric Castaneda, 36, of Redwood City, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property interstate, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Patricia Castaneda worked in the School of Humanities and Sciences at a private university in Stanford. In her position, Patricia Castanedas duties included ordering Apple MacBooks for university faculty and staff. In 2009 or 2010, Patricia Castaneda began stealing MacBooks she ordered and selling them for cash. Initially, Patricia Castaneda sold the MacBooks she stole to an individual she met on Craigslist. In February 2016, Patricia Castaneda began giving the stolen MacBooks to Eric Castaneda to sell to an individual in Folsom who, in turn, resold and shipped the MacBooks to buyers outside California.

In total, the cost to the university of MacBooks that Patricia Castaneda stole was over $4 million. That amount includes the cost to the university of approximately 800 stolen MacBooks Eric Castaneda sold to the individual in Folsom, which was approximately $2.3 million.

This case is a product of an investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thuesen is prosecuting the case.

U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller is scheduled to sentence Patricia Castaneda and Eric Castaneda on June 7. Patricia Castaneda faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Eric Castaneda faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the courts discretion after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
London Capital & Finance investors have lost a high court case over compensation.

Thousands of investors who lost money in the collapse of the investment firm are not entitled to compensation, the High Court has ruled.

LCF went into administration in January 2019, leaving 11,600 investors facing losses of 237million.

Court ruling: Thousands of investors who lost money in the collapse of London Capital & Finance have been told they are not entitled to compensation, the High Court has ruled

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has, up to February this year, paid out around 56.3million in compensation to nearly 2,900 LCF bondholders.

But this only covers a minority of LCF victims  those who were found to have been given financial advice by LCF or who transferred money from their ISA to pay for LCF mini-bonds.

These were so-called regulated activities, and therefore were covered by the FSCS.

But controversially, the compensation fund argued that the actual buying of mini-bonds was not a regulated activity, and so most investors would not get a pay-out.

Four investors who bought bonds from LCF took action against the FSCS, arguing that the bonds were transferable and they should be entitled to compensation.

However, in a ruling yesterday, Mr Justice Bourne dismissed the claim.
Tunis/Tunisia  A working session was held Friday in Rome between Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Othman Jerandi and his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, focusing on bilateral cooperation and ways to develop it.

Jerandi reaffirmed Tunisia's willingness to work together with Italy to foster economic partnership relations and open new horizons for bilateral cooperation, according to a Foreign Affairs Department press release.

The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation commended the partnership relations binding the two countries, reiterating his country's commitment to continue to support Tunisia both at the bilateral level and at the level of the European Union (EU) institutions.

"Tunisia is a strategic partner for Italy," he stated.

The two ministers underscored on the occasion, the need to step up consultations ahead of upcoming events, starting with the forthcoming visit of President Kais Saied to Italy at the invitation of his Italian opposite number.

Besides, the two diplomats discussed the preparations for holding the 2nd meeting of the High Strategic Council of the Tunisian-Italian Cooperation to be held in Rome.

The meeting, according to the same source, focused on regional and international issues of mutual interest including the Libyan file, the health crisis, irregular migration and the Italian waste case.
In this Athens police blotter, a man is threatened by an unknown person online over nude photos, two men fight a security guard at Toppers Strip Club and a woman attempts to shoplift about $465 in merchandise from Belk.
Zac Efron has been travelling around Australia filming his new Netflix docu-series Down to Earth.

The Hollywood actor, who has called Australia home since last year, has been accompanied on much of the journey by his Aussie girlfriend Vanessa Valladares.

The 33-year-old star jetted out of Melbourne and into Sydney on Monday, alongside model Vanessa, 26.

Globe trotting: Zac Efron (right) has been travelling around Australia filming his new Netflix docu-series. The Hollywood actor, who has called Australia home since last year, has been accompanied on much of the journey by his Aussie girlfriend Vanessa Valladares (left)

The Lucky One actor was casually chic in a pair of denim shorts, worn with a hoodie in a matching tone by Talentless.

He covered up his face with a blue surgical mask, as well as wearing sunglasses and a cap.

Zac carried an olive toned backpack, as well as his skateboard, which he slung under his arm.

Frequent flyer: The 33-year-old star jetted out of Melbourne and into Sydney on Monday, alongside model Vanessa, 26

Dressed down: The Lucky One actor was casually chic in a pair of denim shorts, worn with a hoodie in a matching tone by Talentless

Details: He covered up his face with a blue surgical mask, as well as wearing sunglasses and a cap

Vanessa opted for matching colours, coordinating with her boyfriend in a pale blue tank top.

The former waitress added a pair of edgy leather flared trousers, and stacked black boots.

A wide-brimmed white hat and a number of necklaces completed her ensemble, and she had an orange backpack strapped on.

Skater boy: Zac carried an olive toned backpack, as well as his skateboard, which he slung under his arm

Matchy matchy: Vanessa opted for matching colours, coordinating with her boyfriend in a pale blue tank top

Edge: The former waitress added a pair of edgy leather flared trousers, and stacked black boots

Accessories: A wide-brimmed white hat and a number of necklaces completed her ensemble, and she had an orange backpack strapped on

VIPs: The couple were escorted through both the Melbourne and Sydney terminals by security personnel

The couple were escorted through both the Melbourne and Sydney terminals by security personnel.

Zac is currently filming Netflix series Down to Earth, travelling around Australia with wellness expert Darin Olien.

The docu-series follows their search for healthy and sustainable ways to live.

He also embraces local food, culture and customs while exploring the land Down Under.

Hard at work: Zac is currently filming Netflix series Down to Earth, travelling around Australia with wellness expert Darin Olien

Eco friendly: The docu-series follows their search for healthy and sustainable ways to live

Tucking in: He also embraces local food, culture and customs while exploring the land Down Under

Soon: It comes after a well-placed source revealed that Zac is preparing to fly to North America in May with Vanessa. He will shoot the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King novel Firestarter in Canada

It comes after a well-placed source revealed that Zac is preparing to fly to North America in May with Vanessa.

He will shoot the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King novel Firestarter in Canada.

Zac signed on for the sci-fi horror flick in September last year, and will spend about eight weeks filming in Canada.

He will then return to Australia with Vanessa.

Busy busy: Zac signed on for the sci-fi horror flick in September last year, and will spend about eight weeks filming in Canada

Love story: Zac met Vanessa in July last year when she was working as a waitress at Byron Bay's General Store & Cafe

Zac met Vanessa in July last year when she was working as a waitress at Byron Bay's General Store & Cafe.

They were apparently introduced by her boss.

Vanessa has since fitted seamlessly into the Hollywood heart-throb's entourage of high-profile friends, and regularly visits him on set.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have opposed giving a passport to former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. She was informed of this decision through a letter sent to her by the passport officer in Srinagar.

The letter reads, Whereas the passport verification report received from the Additional Director General of the Police, J&K CID does not favour issuance of passport and has returned as Not recommended passport case.

The rejection of her passport received a negative reaction from Mehbooba Mufti as well as from former CM Omar Abdullah.

Mehbooba Mufti shared the commutation letter from Passport Office to her Twitter handle and wrote, Passport Office refused to issue my passport based on CIDs report citing it as detrimental to the security of India. This is the level of normalcy achieved in Kashmir since Aug 2019 that an ex Chief Minister holding a passport is a threat to the sovereignty of a mighty nation.

Passport Office refused to issue my passport based on CIDs report citing it as detrimental to the security of India. This is the level of normalcy achieved in Kashmir since Aug 2019 that an ex Chief Minister holding a passport is a threat to the sovereignty of a mighty nation. pic.twitter.com/3Z2CfDgmJy  Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) March 29, 2021

While former CM Omar tweeted, What a shame J&K police is going along with this farce. How is it that Mehbooba Mufti was not a threat to the nation when her party was allied with the BJP? As Chief Minister she was incharge of the Home Department & head of the Unified Command, now suddenly shes a threat!

What a shame J&K police is going along with this farce. How is it that Mehbooba Mufti was not a threat to the nation when her party was allied with the BJP? As Chief Minister she was incharge of the Home Department & head of the Unified Command, now suddenly shes a threat! https://t.co/Ye1tQmFIIc  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 29, 2021

However, the letter of rejection of passport to Mehbooba Mufti also reads that she can approach the Ministry of External Affairs to dispute the matter.

In case you have any grievances against the declaration you may appeal to joint secretary and Chief Passport Officer from the Ministry of External Affairs within 30 days the date of receipt of the order (under section 11 of of the passport act 1967) who is the appellate authority under passport act, the letter said.

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Southern University on Monday released further details about its plans for an in-person commencement ceremony this spring.

The ceremony will take place May 14 at 9 a.m. in the A.W. Mumford Stadium, according to university spokeswoman Janene Tate.

Decisions on coronavirus precautions will be based on the state guidelines in place closer to the ceremony, Tate said in an email.

LSU holding in-person graduation in May; 2020 graduates who missed out because of COVID invited LSU will hold in-person graduation ceremonies this spring  and all LSU students who graduated in 2020 but didn't get a ceremony because of th

This won't be the university's first attempt at an in-person commencement amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southern University's fall commencement was also held at A.W. Mumford Stadium, where masked graduates were spaced 6 feet apart in the stadium's bleachers and pre-pandemic customs, like handshakes with President Chancellor Ray Belton, were foregone.

Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Both LSU and FranU will also hold in-person commencement ceremonies this spring.

Commencement ceremonies for 2021 LSU graduates will be held Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8. Graduates from May, August and December 2020 can attend a separate ceremony exclusively for them on Friday, May 14.

Southern launches plan to boost vaccines in communities of color; effort starts Saturday Southern University's leaders launched a statewide campaign Friday to encourage Black and other racial minority groups to receive the COVID-19

FranU is holding two spring graduation ceremonies in person, both May 15 at the Raising Canes River Center in Baton Rouge. The university is hosting two so graduates can invite multiple guests while still adhering to coronavirus capacity restrictions.

Baton Rouge Community College is yet to announce plans for spring commencement, but they should be announced "very soon," spokeswoman Kizzy Payton said.
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Dentists have been warned their NHS funding will be cut if they can't get back to 60 per cent of their pre-Covid patient numbers over spring and summer.

The British Dental Association (BDA) slammed No10's 'perverse' target, which require clinics to get closer to normal patient numbers if they want to get paid.

Social distancing will be impossible if dentists are forced back into busy timetables, they warn, putting patient and staff safety at risk from coronavirus.

But officials have said surgeries could lose two thirds or more of the funding they get from the NHS, which subsidises most patients' treatment to make it cheaper.

They rely on this funding to stay open and to take on NHS patients, who pay less for their treatment than private customers but come in far greater numbers.

Dentists had to close for all but urgent procedures during the worst of the pandemic but are now reopening with fewer appointments so they can keep social distancing.

One in 10 clinics are already failing to hit the target of doing 45 per cent of their pre-pandemic business and will have to pay back funding after the financial year ends this week.

And more than half could be in danger of failing on the 60 per cent target later in the year and then have to give even more money back to the NHS, threatening their ability to stay open.



Dentists had to close for all but urgent procedures during the worst of the pandemic but are now reopening with fewer appointments so they can keep social distancing (stock image)

The BDA's Shawn Charlwood said: 'Dentists in England have been put in an invidious position.

'Practices are already working unsustainably to try and meet perverse targets, and now hundreds face an existential threat.

'Patients deserve to know why Whitehall accountants are being given free rein to dictate targets that fly in the face of government guidance, NHS protocols, and even clinical advice supplied to Ministers.

'While the vaccine programme is making real headway, the restrictions we work to remain unchanged.

'Targets have no place during a pandemic and doubling down will only leave the future of NHS services in doubt.'

The BDA said that there is no patient number target in Wales, that Scotland's didn't come into force until June and Northern Ireland's was four times lower.

But English plans could see demands to scale back up to two-thirds of pre-pandemic patient numbers starting as soon as this week and ending in October.

DENTAL ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS UP IN LOCKDOWN Research found in the autumn that the number of people getting antibiotics from their dentists surged during the first lockdown when clinics were closed. Between April and July 2020, antibiotic prescriptions were 25 per cent higher than the same period in 2019 and peaked in June as patients found their access to more appropriate treatments restricted by lockdown. Antibiotic prescription rates were the highest in London, with an increase of 60 per cent in the three months of April to July, the experts revealed in a paper. Despite the fact the prescription of antibiotics is unnecessary and 'inappropriate' in absence of an infection, they're still being mistakenly prescribed for things like toothache and pulpitis  inflammation of tissue in the centre of a tooth. Scientists are concerned that excessive prescription of antibiotics for patients waiting for treatment just escalates the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). 'Antibiotics are life-saving drugs  when people really need them, they really need to work,' said study author Dr Wendy Thompson at the University of Manchester. 'Infections that are resistant to antibiotics pose a serious risk to patient safety  which is why the large rise in dental antibiotic prescribing is a huge concern. Advertisement

A 'cliff-edge' in funding could hit those that can't meet the target when their performance is reviewed later in the year, the BDA warned.

And it said the Government was crossing wires by also urging dentists to prioritise patients who need more serious treatment because these were not the ones who helped to boost patient numbers as their appointments take longer.

The BDA branded the plans and the policy change 'unacceptable'.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'The pre-COVID activity target set by NHS England is to ensure patients can continue to access vital NHS dental care.

'Half of practices are already hitting the new 60 per cent target and numbers have been increasing steadily over the last four months.

'An exceptions process is in place for practices who are unable to reach the target, owing to extenuating circumstances.'

Research found in the autumn that the number of people getting antibiotics from their dentists surged during the first lockdown when clinics were closed.

Between April and July 2020, antibiotic prescriptions were 25 per cent higher than the same period in 2019 and peaked in June as patients found their access to more appropriate treatments restricted by lockdown.

Antibiotic prescription rates were the highest in London, with an increase of 60 per cent in the three months of April to July, the experts revealed in a paper.

Despite the fact the prescription of antibiotics is unnecessary and 'inappropriate' in absence of an infection, they're still being mistakenly prescribed for things like toothache and pulpitis  inflammation of tissue in the centre of a tooth.

Scientists are concerned that excessive prescription of antibiotics for patients waiting for treatment just escalates the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AMR is when bacteria and other microbes adapt and evolve in response to modern antibacterial medicines and chemicals designed to kill them, becoming ultra-strong 'superbugs'.

'Antibiotics are life-saving drugs  when people really need them, they really need to work,' said study author Dr Wendy Thompson at the University of Manchester.

'Infections that are resistant to antibiotics pose a serious risk to patient safety  which is why the large rise in dental antibiotic prescribing is a huge concern.

'After years of a downward trend, restricted access to dental care due to Covid-19 drove this sudden increase.

'We must guard against it happening again when the UK finds itself in another lockdown environment.'
Health official proud of residents turning out for vaccine shots
Flocks of passengers headed towards HCM City-based Tan Son Nhat international airport to return home or travel in light of the sharp drop in prices for air tickets.

As reported by VietNamNet, on March 27, the domestic terminal of Tan Son Nhat airport was jam-packed with a large number of passengers. At the ticket counters, there were long queues of people waiting to check in.

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Nga (District 7, HCM City) told VietNamNet that she had been waiting for more than 30 minutes to complete her check-in for a trip to Danang.

"Because the weather in HCM City is hot and ticket prices are going down, it is ideal for our family to go on a vacation, she said.

Security checkpoints were also crammed with large crowds. Moving around in the area through long lines of people dragging their luggage was almost impossible. Inside the airport, waiting seats were all occupied.

The representative of a local airline said the number of passengers in the past two days had increased by 20-40%, depending on the routes.

The number of passengers has increased because ticket prices are falling and passengers can be assured that the outbreak is under control. Flights to Hanoi and tourist attractions have seen more passengers," the representative said.

Airlines are coordinating with the airport to ensure security and order, and complying with epidemic prevention regulations of the Ministry of Health.

Tan Son Nhat airport was packed with passengers on March 27.









An overloaded elevator leading passengers from the check-in area to the first floor.

Long queues for security check.

A standing-room-only airport.

Huong Quynh
If I buy your product, I dont want to pay more to learn how to use your product, said Mark Eggleston , who is CISO, chief privacy officer and vice president at Health Partners Plans. This was an excerpt that came from a CISO podcast series with several respected security and technology industry leaders, like David Spark.I saw this post from Spark last week on LinkedIn , and I was immediately intrigued:Really? I thought. Are you sure about that?So what happened next? Heres the back and forth I had with Mark, a slightly heated but respectful conversation:Provocative statement! You got my attention. I can certainly agree with you on some industry products, such as Security Mentor's security awareness training. We follow that model you suggest to use our platform.But ... as a longtime CIO, CISO, CTO and CSO in Michigan government, what you describe wasthe model there. We paid millions of dollars for training during my years in state government, for training from Microsoft (OS, system admin, security, email, etc.), Oracle (big training money on everything they sell), IBM, Apple, Cisco and many, many more. To keep our tech staff top notch, it was: Get out your checkbook.Bottom line, sounds good, but not the way business is done now. One more thing: Of course they will all "throw in free training," if you buy an enterprise agreement for tens of millions of dollars for tens of thousands of enterprise seats. But that's not the deal that small and medium-size businesses get today if you want to be truly "certified."Got it. So it was always done this way? MS literally hasof free training, as do many of the numerous VARs out there. The free detailed pro tips which are googlable are also very good. As others have noted, I think this is a callout to think different about customers as being more than a revenue stream ... enable their success so they scream out vendor successes to their peers. Make products so intuitive that classroom training is optional. Make the GUI [graphical user interface] drop-dead minimalist and intuitive. Several of my vendors do this today. I sincerely appreciate you as an expert colleague/peer and your experience.Thanks, Mark. I have tremendous respect for you as well. We (somewhat) agree on the goal to get more solutions to that "free training" point to use their products. Still, training is a big piece of the revenue stream for many tech and security companies. Free is nice, but quality training on hard topics delivered by the best and brightest takes time and attention from high-paid experts who are really good at what they do.Also, some free training is a waste of time  which is not really free to companies. (Remember, salaries are the biggest cost.) Bottom line: Someone will pay for your quality training. Either the company builds it into overhead and you pay for it in the product or service price, or it is clear and spelled-out in the invoice as a line item.Thanks, Dan, it is a very mutual feeling  back at ya! So, to go on record, I'm in the camp of thought that says build it into overhead, not a separate line item. That way, the vendor would be compelled to manage the training as part of the overall product costs. In return, there'd be no internal training department fiefdom and executive management would be further compelled to "keep it simple."Understood, Mark. I respect your perspective. Thanks. I want to think some more about this, listen to the David Sparks podcast and perhaps even do a blog on the pros/cons of this funding/paying for training approach. One last question for you: What are your views on training that helps security teams move up to an "advanced level" or integrates various products and services into the (always promised and never delivered) "one pane of glass."For example, SOC analyst training offered for FireEye or Splunk? Or, moving from an analyst to a specialist level in some area of forensics (you pick the tool). Or, becoming a "Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert." Would the vendors need to offer that for free, or would that be beyond the scope of the product/service?As a Qualys certified practitioner, I appreciated the in-person training and testing to get me certified was provided near me, and they provided lunch at no cost to me! Really felt like this vendor was in it with me, for the long haul. So, I don't think Qualys needed to do all that for free, but wow was I impressed with the training and partnership. Kept me a customer for many years. I'm generally less inclined to pursue such vendor-centric certs and prefer agnostic versions, personally (hello, MCSE anyone?).However, for personal certifications, maybe that is the happy medium point: free training up until you get certified, costs should still be modest to cover expenses, and from the vendor perspective, I wouldn't continue to do these certification programs unless there is some ROI/inherent value.I certainly share the goal Mark articulated of making products easy (and much easier) to use. I also agree that building in self-help training with videos and more makes sense, and more training could be free. As this article points out Going further, as this website loudly proclaims, Product training is part of the product because it is part of the user experience  and you cant separate the two.And as Mark pointed out, there is plenty of free training from numerous top vendors  the likes of Microsoft to Google to major universities  on how to configure and manage various products and the skills required.Nevertheless, as I said in my conversation with Mark, someone will always pay. If all training costs are built into technology and security products, those training costs will become overhead that is not clearly itemized, even if the free training is never used by the customer. Should the laws of "supply and demand" be used here to have the price set by those actually benefiting by the training? What will the market allow and what are customers willing to pay?Also, there is the question of quality training being offered by the best and brightest. While very good training is often available virtually or on-demand  especially during COVID-19 and working from home  some top training requires labs and special equipment.Many courses that I have taken in my career on products ranging from Cisco to Microsoft to Oracle were multiday or even week-long courses that cost thousands of dollars to attend with hands-on labs, not to mention travel costs and other expenses. Still, I am glad I did attend those classes with top-notch instructors who really knew the material and had hands-on, real-world experience.If all of those courses were "required" to be free, would the same quality instructors be offered? Would the class be offered at all? In some cases, the answer would be no.Another question revolves around how far the training should go. Should free training get you to a competency level or a level of world-class excellence? No doubt, world-class excellence is much more expensive than teaching the basics, but many technical and security disciplines take years (and many courses) to master.Finally, I want to mention that free training still takes staff time of staff  and time is precious. There is truly no free lunch.This blog uses a format that I have never tried before. One benefit is that any LinkedIn user can join the conversation embedded above. Please leave a comment explaining your opinions regarding free technology and security training . Should all training be free from vendors once you buy the product? How many people should the vendor train? What about offering free certifications toward becoming an expert?Id love to hear your views.
A father found dead in an industrial street in Adelaide's northern outskirts was shot in a planned execution, South Australian Police said on Monday.

Police believe the conspiracy to murder Simon Middleton, 49, at 1.52am on March 8 near the corner of Leach and Brady Streets, Virginia, involved multiple people.

The premises where he was killed had been under surveillance prior to the shooting, Major Crime Detective Inspector Brett Featherby told media on Monday.

CCTV footage captured the moment of Simon Middleton's murder. His body is covered with the blurred out oval, seconds after the flash of the firearm is seen.

'Simon was known to police but no-one deserves to die in the manner that Simon has died and we wont discuss his history any further at present,' he said.

Mr Middleton's death has been declared a major crime and is the subject of an ongoing investigation involving multiple people.

'We are aware a number of people have been involved in the planning of that murder and the commission of the offence,' Det-Inspector Featherby said.

Police released CCTV footage of the killing on Monday in the hopes that members of the public with dashcam footage or who had seen anything suspicious would come forward.

Police are especially asking for anyone who saw anything suspicious between Brady and Leach Streets, Virginia, on Adelaide's northern outskirts, between 11pm on Sunday March 7 and 3am on Monday March 8 to please share what they know.

Police said a suspicious white Nissan Patrol had been seen travelling north on Phineas St, Virginia at 1.43am on March 8, on CCTV cameras.

Simon Middleton, 49, was gunned down in a targeted execution, SA Police said on Monday.

The Nissan then stops and drops a man off, who police believe then walks east through a church towards Leach street.

At 1.52am CCTV cameras caught Simon's murder near the corner of Leach and Brady streets.

From the footage, police have determined that one man engaged Mr Middleton in conversation before another man shot him.

The video shows two men running south on Leach Street following the shooting before one runs back north and then northeast onto the extension of Brady Street.

SA Police released an aerial surveillance map of the March 8 murder scene

The police identified a suspicious white Nissan Patrol 1998, number plate WDA-262, with a broken rear left tail light.

Police seized the Nissan Patrol at its owner's home in Adelaide's northern suburbs, Det-Inspector Featherby said.

He said police had a good idea of the motive, but they were keeping secret as it would form part of the evidence of the case.

'To date we've searched eight premises and seized seven vehicles with those investigations continuing,' he said.

Police had spoken to several people, who had not been forthright in providing full accounts of what they knew, he said.

Major crime detectives are keeping an open mind on the possible motives for the targeted attack, and Det-Inspector Featherby urged people who knew about the situation to come forward with their information.

'Do the right thing by Simon's family,' he said.

If you have information, you can call Crime Stoppers tonight between 5pm and 9am and speak directly to detectives conducting this investigation. All calls made to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 can remain anonymous.
A Christian professor in Ohio was allowed by the Court to pursue a case against a university that punished him for refusing to call a transgender student by his preferred pronoun.

Nicholas Meriwether, a Christian professor at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio is fighting for his constitutional rights after the university he works for punished him when he refused to call a transgender student by the pronoun he wanted.

The transgender student was a biologically born male who said he identified as a woman and wanted to be called "miss" instead of "sir."

Meriwether, the professor embroiled in the lawsuit, is a member of the Presbyterian Church of America. In 2018, he was threatened to be fired or suspended without pay after an investigation launched by the university found that he had allegedly created a "hostile environment" for the transgender student.

On Friday, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Meriwether and the case was sent back to the lower court, the Christian Post reported.

In the case, the Christian professor argued that the university he worked for violated his rights to free speech by controlling how he should refer to the students in his political philosophy class just so that a trans-identified student would not feel offended. The Christian professor argued that calling the student by his preferred pronoun, in this case the female pronoun despite being born male, would violate the professor's religious beliefs.

After a complaint was filed with the school administration, a superior suggested that Meriwether just call all of his students by their last names. The Christian professor suggested instead to call all of his students by their proper titles and names except the transgender student, who he would call by his last name. The superior agreed to the suggestion but the student was displeased, threatening to file a Title IX lawsuit, which led to an investigation.

The Title IX investigation was reportedly unfair, as it interviewed merely four witnesses, including Meriwether and the transgender student. The 6th Circuit ruling argued that there were no other non-transgender students in the class who was intervied or presented as a potential witness. Meriwether's case on the other hand claims that the school violated his First and 14th Amendment rights, the Ohio Constitution, and his contract with Shawnee State University.

According to The Washington Post, the three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit on Friday ruled in favor of Meriwether, stating that Shawnee State University "silenced a viewpoint that could have catalyzed a robust and insightful in-class discussion," the words of former President Donald Trump-appointed Judge Amul Thapar.

"We are very pleased that the 6th Circuit affirmed the constitutional right of public university professors to speak and lead discussions, even on hotly contested issues," Alliance Defending Freedom Vice President of Appellate Advocacy and Senior Counsel John Bursch said in a statement. "The freedoms of speech and religion must be vigorously protected if universities are to remain places where ideas can be debated and learning can take place."
Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus are reportedly ready to do battle for the signature of Sergio Aguero on a free transfer this summer.

The former Atletico Madrid man is expected to end his glittering stint at the Etihad when his deal expires in June, and he will not be short of suitors despite his age and injury woes.

Aguero has been tipped to head back to his native Argentina with boyhood club Independiente del Valle, but three top clubs in Europe supposedly believe that the 32-year-old still has some years left in him at the elite level.

According to Marca, PSG, Juventus and Barcelona are all tempted by the prospect of landing Aguero on a free this summer, with the latter hoping that the striker's potential arrival could convince Lionel Messi to pen a new deal.

After Juve were dumped out of the Champions League by Porto, a separate report indicated that the Old Lady want to strike a deal for Aguero in order to prove to Cristiano Ronaldo that they are building a squad capable of conquering Europe.

Aguero's injury-plagued season has seen him make just 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals in the Champions League and one in the Premier League for Pep Guardiola's side.
There are some echoes between O.J. Simpsons celebrated murder trial, which seemed to bring America to a standstill in 1995, and the widely covered proceedings that are underway on Monday at a courthouse in Minneapolis.

Defendants who have become household names. Court TV and numerous other media outlets broadcasting the cases live into homes across America.

But few expect anywhere near as much attention surrounding the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer facing charges in the killing of a Black man, George Floyd.

The reason has little to do with the legal issues at stake. Rather, celebrity was widely seen as the catalyst for the national fascination with the legal drama involving Mr. Simpson, a former football player and actor who was accused  and ultimately found not guilty  of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
[March 29, 2021] DesignTV by SANDOW Continues Growth as A+D Industry's Most-Valued Design Channel

NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DesignTV by SANDOW, an online video channel with daily programming designed to engage and connect the architecture and design community, is celebrating its first anniversary by reaching 9 million views and over 40 million impressions. In its first year, DesignTV by SANDOW totaled 9 million views, 40 million impressions Launched on March 30, 2020 in response to the rapid shift to work-from-anywhere settings, the network has become a leading platform for architects, designers, brand leaders and design lovers looking for information, inspiration and community. DesignTV by SANDOW features exclusive content from SANDOW Design Group brands, including Interior Design, Luxe Interiors + Design, Metropolis, and NYCxDESIGN. Programming airs Monday-Thursday, streaming at 1 pm ET on the Interior Design, Luxe Interiors + Design, and Metropolis Facebook pages and websites. On-demand programming is available on IGTV and the new DesignTV by SANDOW channel on Roku. Programming features thought leadership segments with design principals, spotlights on new products and trends, and personal one-on-one conversations between leaders, designers, and SANOW Design Group editors, including Interior Design editor in chief Cindy Allen, Metropolis editor in chief Avinash Rajagopal, and Luxe Interiors + Design editor in chief Pam Jaccarino.



Throughout the year, viewers also tuned in to DesignTV by SANDOW for programming specials, including NeoCon Now, Interior Design's Best of Design week, the NYCxDESIGN Awards, and Luxe Interiors + Design's "Ultimate Kitchens" specials. "We have seen that the A+D community wants and needs connection. The biggest revelation we've had is that designers and architects are taking it to a new realm in terms of honesty and authenticity," says Cindy Allen. "The community is truly coming together to share ideas, but also openly sharing visions as to where we can and should go next... without reservation. I'm humbled that Interior Design is seen as a key moderator in these conversations and am proud that our platform  with its extensive audience, continues to amplify voices."

DesignTV programs include: Interior Design's 1on1, hosted by Cindy Allen

Luxe Interiors + Design's Creative Conversations, hosted by Pamela Jaccarino

Metropolis' Think Tank Thursdays, hosted by Avinash Rajagopal

Location: Luxe, produced in partnership with REALM

Interior Design's Maker's Studio Click here to watch DesignTV by SANDOW on Roku. About SANDOW

SANDOW was founded by visionary entrepreneur Adam I. Sandow in 2003, with the goal of reinventing the traditional publishing model. Today, SANDOW powers the design, materials, and luxury industries through innovative content, tools, and integrated solutions. Its diverse portfolio of holdings includes Material Technologies Corporation, comprised of global consultancy, Material ConneXion, and revolutionary sampling and logistics platform, Material Bank; The SANDOW Design Group, a powerful ecosystem of design media and services brands, including Luxe Interiors + Design, Interior Design, Metropolis, DesignTV by SANDOW, LAUNCH, research and strategy firm, ThinkLab, digital and creative consultancy, The Agency by SANDOW, and official operator of NYCxDESIGN, a non-profit committed to powering the growth and continued success of New York's design community, per an agreement with the New York City Economic Development Corporation; additional subsidiaries include definitive authority on all things beauty, NewBeauty, luxury sampling platform, Test Tube by NewBeauty, Leaders, and exclusive private airport newsstand network, MediaJet. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/designtv-by-sandow-continues-growth-as-ad-industrys-most-valued-design-channel-301257713.html SOURCE SANDOW Design Group

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Claire Holt turned plenty of heads on Saturday as she hit the beach in Miami, Florida.

The actress, 32, looked sensational in a white swimsuit while soaking up the sun with her husband, real estate executive Andrew Joblon.

The sighting comes six months after Claire, who is best known for playing Rebekah Mikaelson in The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, welcomed her second child.

Sizzling: Claire Holt turned plenty of heads on Saturday as she hit the beach in Miami, Florida

Claire stunned in the plunging one-piece, which featured button details on the front and black edges on the straps and back.

She concealed her gaze behind chic sunglasses and styled her blonde hair loosely.

Claire and Andrew, who married in August 2018, welcomed a daughter named Elle in September last year.

Beach day: The actress, 32, looked sensational in a white swimsuit while soaking up the sun

Looks tasty: Claire, who is best known for playing Rebekah Mikaelson in The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, ate fried chicken with her husband, real estate executive Andrew Joblon

They are also parents to a son, James, who just turned two.

Announcing her little girl's birth on Instagram, Claire wrote: 'She's here. Our sweet girl, Elle. After 27.5 hours of labor, she flew into the world and expanded our hearts.

'We are so grateful for our healthy baby and cannot wait for her to meet her big brother.'

New arrival: Claire and Andrew (left), who married in August 2018, welcomed a daughter named Elle in September last year

Elle's big brother: They are also parents to a son, James, who just turned two

Just weeks earlier, Claire and Andrew had celebrated their two-year anniversary.

Claire, who hails from Brisbane, Australia, was previously married to to film producer Matthew Kaplan.

Matthew filed for divorce in April 2017, after less than one year of marriage.
The HCM City Centre for Disease Control (HCDC) said that returnees from localities with COVID-19 patients in Hai Phong City and Binh Duong Province must quarantine at home for 14 days.

HCM City requires returnees from localities with COVID-19 patients in Hai Phong City and Binh Duong Province to quarantine for 14 days.

Anyone returning from Le Hong Phong Street in Dang Giang Ward in Ngo Quyen District in Hai Phong, and road D35 in the Vietnam-Singapore residential area in An Phu Ward in Thuan An City in Binh Duong will be supervised by HCDC and tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Both localities are connected to two COVID-19 patients, the Ministry of Health said on March 26.

The two patients illegally entered the country from Cambodia via Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang, and then flew to Hanoi on Vietjet flight VJ458 before travelling to Hai Phong in a private car.

Another patient from Binh Duong went to the Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh Province to purchase goods a few days ago.

Meanwhile, a patient in HCM City who travelled with the two patients in Hai Phong is under quarantine at Cu Chi field hospital.

HCDC said two sites in connection with the positive case have been locked down in HCM City, including the Quoc Thai Hotel in Binh Chanh District and alley no 102 on Le Van Tho Street in Go Vap District.

Further contact tracing is ongoing and eight of her direct contacts (F1) and 23 contacts of the F1 cases have tested negative for the virus.

According to HCDC, authorities have discovered that four people who illegally entered Vietnam on a fishing vessel from Cambodia on March 22 had accompanied the three previously confirmed patients.

One of them had stayed at a hostel in Go Vap District and two others at a hotel in District 1 in HCM City, and another in Hanoi.

All of them have tested negative for the virus.

HCM City and Phu Quoc Island City are seeking three other people who were on the vessel.

Phu Quoc authorities are conducting contact tracing involving the three COVID-19 patients, and 26 of their direct contacts have been found.

The city said that anyone who was at the venues related to COVID-19 patients should contact local health agencies for support.

Nguyen Luu Trung, vice chairman of the Kien Giang Provinces Peoples Committee, said that because of the situation in Cambodia, the number of Vietnamese returnees via official and illegal entry is expected to increase in the upcoming time.

He asked border guards to work closely with the coast guard and naval force to review and rearrange checkpoints at sea, and use more patrols to prevent people from illegally entering Vietnam.

VNS

Authorities urgently tracing contacts of new COVID-19 patients 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.
Fourteen states have filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court stating that they want to defend the public charge rule, which the Biden administration is refusing to defend in Court. Im going to sound like a simpleton here, but Im a little confused as to the debate about the rule. The reality is that the Biden administration is violating the law. You and I dont get to do that, so why does the federal government?

I admit that my work for the past 34 years was mostly in state, not federal, law. Still, I did manage to pick up a few things. Heres what I know: Under the Constitution, Congress passes the laws, which reside in the United States Code, and its the Presidents job to oversee their enforcement.

Federal agencies, which are the vehicles by which the president enforces the laws that Congress enacts, can create rules describing the details of enforcing the laws. These rules are published in the Code of Federal Regulations or CFR. The CFR is an obscenely huge document (as of 2014, it had 175,268) that exists as a trap for the unwary. In theory, the CFR is merely a how-to manual for enforcing the laws. Its the laws behind the manual that matter.

Unfortunately, in reality, Congressional laziness has resulted in barebones laws, with regulatory agencies filling in the blanks. As often as not, regulations that have nothing to do with Congress, have the force of law. Thats not quite the issue here, but every American should understand that most of the laws that control them are in fact regulations of dubious constitutional validity.

One of the laws that Congress passed is Section 212(a)(4)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (aka 8 U.S.C.  1182(a)(4)), which states that people who plan to move to the United States must prove that they have sufficient resources that they will not be dependent on American taxpayers to survive:

(a) Classes of aliens ineligible for visas or admission. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, aliens who are inadmissible under the following paragraphs are ineligible to receive visas and ineligible to be admitted to the United States: [snip] (4) Public charge (A) In general Any alien who, in the opinion of the consular officer at the time of application for a visa, or in the opinion of the Attorney General at the time of application for admission or adjustment of status, is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible.

There are some specific details, but thats the gist, and some form or another of this requirement has been part of federal law since at least the 1880s (although Massachusetts was already requiring it in the 1600s). This is not a suggestion. It is the law. My parents had to comply with it when they came here in the 1950s.

The public charge rule is not the law. It is a guideline that the Trump administration put into effect based upon the law. As The Epoch Times explained,

Left-wing advocacy organizations have attacked any attempt to formally define public charge as being cruel and xenophobic, and aimed at drastically curtailing the flow of immigrants to the United States. But the lengths to which the new regulation will go remain to be seen.

In other words, leftists think its mean to deprive American taxpayers of providing instant welfare for people who come here illegally from other countries, and (and this is important) who are not escaping war or genocide. They just understandably prefer America to their own mismanaged and impoverished homelands.

Immediately after Trump put the rule in place, leftists sued and a lower court issued an injunction last year saying the rule wasnt fair. The Supreme Court stayed that rule and will be reviewing it. The Biden administration refuses to defend the rule and the 14 states are saying that they would like to file briefs with the Supreme Court to support the rule.

But heres where Im confused: The rule is simply a reflection of the law. Whats really at issue here is that the Biden administration, by throwing open Americas southern border to all comers, the vast majority of whom will require welfare, is violating the law, including 8 U.S.C.  1182(a)(4). I truly dont understand the obsessive attention to rules, which are just reflections of legislative acts, when the Biden administration has thrown the entire Immigration Code out the window.

Presidential discretion gives the president some leeway in determining how to dedicate resources to enforcing properly passed laws. However, there is nothing in the Constitution or the laws of the United States that gives the President the right to break the laws.

Or maybe, when youre President Biden or President Obama, or Hunter Biden, the laws just dont apply to you. Keep that thought in mind when President Biden follows through on his promise to issue a series of Executive Orders that, I can guarantee you, will run afoul of the clear language in the Second Amendment.

IMAGE: Even ABC is calling the border an emergency. YouTube screengrab.
Benefit, a leading Bahraini company providing fintech and electronic financial transactions services, has reported a net profit of BD1.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 attributable to the equity shareholders of the group, down more than 50 per cent over the previous year's figures of BD3.3 million ($8.7 million).

Total net assets as of December 31, 2020 stood at BD21.9 million compred to BD22.3 million, said the company after its annual general meeting yesterday.

In addition to the companys financial performance, Benefit witnessed accelerated growth of electronic payments due to the National Wallet (BenefitPay) with 50 million transactions at a value of over BD2.3 billion, representing 793% growth in volumes and over 545% in values. Growth was also experienced in POS and E-Commerce services at 40% and 84% respectively.

Furthermore, the Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS) transactions experienced significant growth in 2020 with over 47 million transactions recorded in Fawri+ service in comparison to 6.3 million transactions in 2019, which is a growth of 652%.

Around 8.7 million transactions were carried out on Fawri with a growth rate of 23% as compared to 2019. Fawateer service has noticed a substantial growth in 2020 as well, with 4.19 million transactions representing a 111% growth rate compared to 2019.

During 2020, BenefitPay was the focus of the Benefit strategy and roadmap through the implementation and launch of new features within the application.

Additionally, the company had introduced new application features including split payment, request to pay, UI/UX enhancements for better customer experience, account balance information, the enablement of remittance and car parking counter payment, all of which helped increase the penetration of electronic payments in cash-based sectors during the Covid19 situation.

Chairman Mohamed Ebrahim Albastaki said: "Benefit recorded landmark achievements in 2020. Major initiatives included the launch of the national tokenization service in collaboration with CBB and banks, which enables mobile contactless payments (NFC), empowering access by allowing the eKYC shared platform to cater for digital onboarding, and the launch of fuel payments through BenefitPay, which has truly transformed a cash centric segment into one which is electronic and innovative."
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
The debate on high electricity bills, which have left consumers scratching their heads, has now spilt to the floor of Parliament.

Garissa Town MP Aden Duale is the latest to question the high charges for electricity, which have left Kenyans digging deeper into their pockets to line up the coffers of the utility firm.

The rising energy cost has forced many Kenyans to switch to cheap solar energy to reduce their power bills, and they have been joined by large manufacturers who also are keen to cut on their huge monthly power bills.

Mr Duale asked Energy CS Charles Keter to explain why Kenya Power buys electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) at high prices when it could buy it much more cheaply from State-owned power generator KenGen.

Independent producers

Mr Duale, through the national Assembly Departmental Committee on Energy, asked Mr Keter to reveal the rate at which KenGen sells electricity to Kenya Power and what the independent producers charge for the same.

He also wants the CS to make public the amount of money that has been paid to the IPPs since their contracts were signed and the measures he is taking to reduce the cost of power.

"Sustainable industrialisation of any country is dependent upon regular and reliable access to sufficient and affordable sources of energy that are a critical driver of manufacturing, transport and other key sectors of the economy," Mr Duale said. He added, "However, rather than pursue the objective of supplying the Kenyan economy with affordable electricity, Kenya Power has on the contrary presided over a massively inflated power supply regime that has retrogressive effects on the already overburdened taxpayers and businesses."

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Mr Duale also asked Mr Keter to explain the difference between the two rates and details of all the IPPs including their stakeholders, directors and addresses.

Purchase electricity

"Reliable data indicates that Kenya procures electricity from independent power producers at Sh23 per kilowatt-hour yet it can easily obtain the same from KenGen at Sh0.50 per kilowatt hour. In this irregular arrangement, the IPPs normally purchase electricity from KenGen at Sh0.50 per kilowatt-hour before offloading it to Kenya Power at an inflated rate of Sh23 per kilowatt hour," the MP told Parliament.

Most of the power producers are usually on standby to inject power into the grid whenever demand requires, but if this does not arise most of the time, Kenya Power is forced to pay for the idle power and pass the cost to electricity users.

Kenyans on average pay between Sh16 and Sh24 per kilowatt hour (KWh) of electricity depending on how many units of power they consume in a month, but are unlikely to get cheap power anytime soon.

"What you have now is a complex power generation, transmission and distribution arrangements that has been designed in a way that power generators are having the last laugh at the expense of Kenyans. The ministry must review the power purchase contracts," said economist Tony Watima.
A prominent doctor's daughter and her lover posed for an innocent rock climbing picture just moments before they were accused of armed robbery.

Eleanor Rohana Ashford and her girlfriend Sarah Canceri are accused of stealing cash and cigarettes during their alleged crime spree across southwest Sydney on Friday night.

On the same day the couple, who are both aged 23, visited an indoor rock climbing centre to work out.

Canceri shared a picture showing both women posing with their arms tensed in little crop tops and shorts, still locked into the harnesses after their workout session.

Canceri shared a picture showing both women posing with their arms tensed in little crop tops and shorts, still locked into the harnesses after their workout session

'First time rock climbing, nailed it,' Canceri said in an Instagram post alongside the photo on Friday.

Ashford showcased her tattoo-clad torso in the photo, which includes a reference 1997, several lengthy phrases, a separate shin piece and a love heart.

Police allege later that evening the two women visited three separate petrol stations in southwest Sydney armed with the axe and knives, demanding attendants hand over cigarettes and cash.

The couple were arrested in the early hours of Saturday and charged with three counts of robbery armed with a weapon.

Police allegedly seized number plates believed to be stolen, knives, an axe, money and cigarettes from the Mitsubishi Lancer the couple were travelling in, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Sarah Canceri (left) and her girlfriend Eleanor Rohana Ashford (right) faced court on Saturday after they were charged with three counts of robbery armed with an offensive weapon

The women have frequently featured together on Canceri's Instagram page since they made their relationship 'Instagram official' in July 2020

The court heard police were called to a service station on Heathcote Road, Moorebank, about 11.45pm on Friday after reports cash and cigarettes were allegedly stolen by two people armed with an axe and knives.

Thirty minutes later, police were called to another service station on Newbridge Road, in the same suburb, where cash and cigarettes were allegedly taken.

At 1.15am on Saturday, police were called to a third service station, on Camden Valley Way, Edmondson Park where an employee was allegedly threatened with a hammer. Cash was also allegedly stolen.

The couple appear to be newly dating. Canceri posted her first picture with Ashford in July 2020, where she described her as the 'love of my life'.

Canceri and Ashford (pictured together) are accused of stealing cash and cigarettes from three service stations

Friends regularly described the duo as their 'favourite couple' when they shared loved up pictures together on trips to the snow (pictured) or outings at the beach

Friends regularly described the duo as their 'favourite couple' when they shared loved up pictures together on trips to the snow or outings at the beach.

Following their arrest, Ashford appeared in court where she originally intended to apply for bail.

Her father, who is respected Wollongong surgeon Dr Bruce Ashford, told the court he would be willing to drive his daughter to Wollongong Police Station every day if she was granted bail.

However, Ashford's bail application was withdrawn. She was remanded in custody to face Liverpool Local Court on May 19.

Canceri did not apply for bail. She will appear before Liverpool Local Court on Monday.

Canceri and Ashford allegedly robbed three service stations in Sydney's southwest while armed with a rusty axe and a knife

The couple appear to be newly dating. Canceri posted her first picture with Ashford in July 2020, where she described her as the 'love of my life'
Miraziz Bazarov, an Uzbek campaigner and blogger known for criticizing the government and defending LGBT rights, was attacked by masked men on March 28, leaving him hospitalized. Earlier the same day, a cultural group led by Bazarov was disrupted by dozens of men who chanted "Allahu Akbar" and brutally beat some of the participants.
In order to have real peace in our region, we expect that Turkey will seriously and radically change its aggressive policy and end its hostile actions against Armenia, he said.

Speaking in the Armenian parliament, Ayvazian noted that Ankara has never reciprocated Armenian attempts to improve bilateral relations.

The remarks contrasted with recent days statements on Turkish-Armenian relations made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and the secretary of his Security Council, Armen Grigorian.

In an interview with Armenian Public Television, Grigorian pointedly declined to clarify whether he believes that Turkey remains an enemy of Armenia after the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

If we are opting for the unblocking of the region there have to be some corrections in our approaches, and we are working in that direction, he said in that regard.

Pashinian similarly stated on Sunday that Armenia also needs to review its policies towards Turkey as well as Azerbaijan. We, the regional countries, must reappraise our mutual attitudes and postures, he said.

Grigorians comments were denounced by opposition leaders and other critics of the Armenian government. They portrayed them as further proof of Pashinians desire to continue sacrificing Armenias national interests.

Some oppositionists went as far as to claim that the government is ready to thwart greater international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in return for the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border.

Ankara shut down the border in 1993 and has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan since then out of solidarity with Azerbaijan. It has yet to clarify whether a Karabakh settlement acceptable to Baku remains a precondition for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations after the six-week war that resulted in the restoration of Azerbaijani control over all districts around Karabakh.

Answering a question from an Armenian opposition lawmaker, Ayvazian insisted on Monday that he is not aware of any Turkish-Armenian talks or other diplomatic contacts.

During the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 10, the Turks supported the Azerbaijani army with weapons and expert advice. They also reportedly recruited thousands of Syrian mercenaries and sent them to fight in Ankara on the Azerbaijani side.

Armenian leaders have repeatedly described the hostilities as a Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia and Karabakh.

According to Ruben Safrastian, a Yerevan-based Turkey analyst, Turkey continues to pose a serious security threat to Armenia and has no intention to normalize relations with the latter.

In these circumstances, I think that we would be wrong to pursue such a [conciliatory] policy, Safrastian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. It would do us no good. It could only cause damage.
You are here: China

Chinese national lawmakers on Monday deliberated draft amendments to Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The two annexes concern the method for the selection of the HKSAR Chief Executive and the method for the formation of the HKSAR Legislative Council and its voting procedures, respectively.

The draft amendments were submitted to a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which opened on Monday, for deliberation.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the first plenary meeting of the session on Monday afternoon. It was attended by 167 members of the NPC Standing Committee.

The draft amendments were put forward by the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, following a decision made by the NPC earlier this month on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR.

Shen Chunyao, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, explained the drafts to the lawmakers at the session.

The session also deliberated other personnel matters.
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30)  The countrys economic heartland  home to millions of Filipinos  is once again placed under the strictest form of lockdown in a bid to check the coronavirus case surge.

Local governments in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna are carrying out different measures to address both the needs of residents and enforce mobility restrictions.

Unlike the 2020 enhanced community quarantine though, public transport options are available for those allowed to go out during the one-week lockdown from March 29 to April 4.

With the return of checkpoints, as well as curfew hours, Metro Manila and neighboring provinces want to limit mobility yet still allow essential industries to operate.

Quarantine passes

The city of Manila is reissuing quarantine passes for representatives of each household tasked to buy essential goods and services.

Manila Barangay Bureau chief Romeo Bagay issued a memorandum to all 896 barangays in the city to issue the passes.

Manila will implement an odd-even scheme, where quarantine passes ending with odd numbers may go out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from Sunday morning till noon.

Even-numbered quarantine passes, meanwhile, will be allowed to buy on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from Sunday noon till 6 p.m.

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora told CNN Philippines that the citys barangays would also reissue quarantine passes beginning March 29.

We really have to make sure na 'yung movement ng bawat San Juaneno ay limited to one person per family para bumili ng essential items gaya ng pagkain at gamot (to buy essential items such as food and medicine), Zamora said in a phone interview.

Araw-araw naman pwedeng lumabas para bumili ng essential items ang mga may quarantine pass because we make sure na one person per family lang talaga, he added.

[Translation: People can buy essential items every day because we'll make sure only one person per family is allowed out.]

In Navotas City, home quarantine passes are divided per barangay, with certain barangays allowed on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, while others on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Grocery stores and markets, including small wet markets or talipapa, will be closed on Monday for disinfection.

In Taguig City, residents buying basic goods and services may either bring QR codes registered through its Taguig Registry for Access and City Engagement or TRACE App, or by bringing old quarantine passes and/or valid government-issued ID cards.

Muntinlupa City will allow those buying essentials to use old quarantine passes, according to the citys public information office.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said those who do not have their old quarantine passes anymore may simply provide authorities an explanation when flagged at checkpoints.

Food aid, rolling stores

Several cities will distribute food aid to residents who will shelter in place because of the ECQ, or will send mobile stores to bring goods closer to residents homes.

Manila public information chief Julius Leonen said in a text message the citys food security program will continue during and even after the implementation of the ECQ.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno earlier released over P1.4 billion to cover the citys food distribution program, with the funds expected to cover around 700,000 families in the city for the month of April.

San Juan Mayor Zamora also said the city government will continue to give food packs to its residents. The government has already offered its 16th wave of food assistance, with more to come even after stricter lockdowns are lifted.

Itong 16th wave was really timed for Holy Week. Nagkataon po na nagpatupad ng ECQ so mas kailangan po talaga ng mga mamamayan natin, Mayor Zamora said, adding that distribution of these food packs were done from house to house.

[Translation: This 16th wave was really timed for the Holy Week. Coincidentally, ECQ was declared, so this aid is something our residents really need.]

Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano also said the city will continue to give Stay-at-Home Food Packs during and after the ECQ.

In Makati City, a mobile market will start rolling out again beginning Monday, while Taguig will have its own mobile markets in select places in the city all week except on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Vaccination activities

Vaccination drives for senior citizens will now start despite the lockdown  a key difference in this years implementation of the ECQ.

Beginning Monday, Manila City will implement vaccination for senior citizens in all six districts of the city. Seniors will be required to pre-register through a website.

Once a QR code from the website is secured, they will have to bring it to the vaccination site, along with a valid ID.

The town of Pateros meanwhile has already posted the names and the vaccination schedule of senior citizens on its Facebook page.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said hospitals and local government units are encouraged to craft a "substitution list" consisting of vaccinees from the A1, A2, and A3 sectors. A1 refers to medical frontliners, A2 to senior citizens, while A3 covers persons with comorbidities.

Senior citizens have until Holy Wednesday, March 31st, to register with their local government units for the vaccine drive.

PNP: 1st day of ECQ "generally peaceful"

Philippine National Police spokesperson PBGen. Ildebrandi Usana said the first day of the ECQ in Metro Manila and nearby provinces was "generally peaceful."

"As far as our people are concerned, they have been substantially compliant. Although some of our citizens are purposely disobedient or they reasoned out they have no knowledge to the recent government pronouncements," said Usana.

The PNP spokesperson reminded public transport operators to follow passenger capacity guidelines and the people to constantly wear face masks and face shields.

Usana assured police officers will not arrest or apprehend quarantine rules violators, but they will be warned for their actions.

"The chief PNP has already give us this instruction that there will be no arrests and no apprehensions, except if there are some disobedient acts from the people. We just allow them to pass through, except for those non-essential workers," he added.

Last week, PNP Chief Gen. Debold Sinas said they recorded a total of 1,503,273 violations of minimum public health standards from Aug. 20, 2020 to March 23 this year. Most of the violators were reprimanded for not wearing face masks, which consistently topped the violations list every month.
[March 29, 2021] Priscilla Morgan, Senior Operations Executive, Joins Kaleidescape Board of Directors

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaleidescape, the industry leader in designing and manufacturing home movie servers and players that power the finest home cinema experience, announced today that Priscilla Morgan has joined its board of directors. Priscilla brings strategic and tactical leadership across finance, sales and field operations as well as success in elevating customer experiences across early-stage, mid-size, and global enterprise companies. Priscilla Morgan brings strategic and tactical leadership across finance, sales and field operations to Kaleidescape. "Priscilla's experience in finance, operations, and go-to-market strategies for leading companies like Dolby and Oracle, will help Kaleidescape take a customer-first approach in scaling the organization," said Tayloe Stansbury, CEO, Kaleidescape. "In addition, her customer-centric focus will continue to strengthen our client relationships to meet their objectives." In addition to her robust career in entertainmnt and technology, Priscilla brings this passion to her personal life. As movie enthusiasts, the family recently completed a newly constructed state-of-the art home cinema at their Dallas residence. "My home cinema is powered by Kaleidescape and it is the best playback system I have ever experienced," explains Priscilla Morgan. "With great products, a strong leadership team, and my personal love for movies, I am excited to join Kaleidescape's board and look forward to contributing to its success."



Priscilla currently serves as Chief Revenue Officer at Alliance Consumer Group, a leading designer, manufacturer, and distributor of innovative, high-quality branded consumer products. Alliance Consumer Group's core brands include: NEBO, TRUE, Skeeter Hawk, Lumore and iPROTEC. Previously, Priscilla oversaw Worldwide Sales and Business Operations and New Business Design and Implementation in vice president roles at Dolby. She created and implemented systems to achieve complex financial and operational objectives and enabled global scaling of the business to over $1B, positively impacting thousands of customers across multiple industries. As vice president of Business Operations and Development at Oracle, she led cross-functional teams to refine business practices, operations, and opportunity management for On Demand and Support Services. She also served as the CFO at TuVox and conducted client engagements at KPMG.

Priscilla holds a bachelor of arts in English with an emphasis in accounting from the University of California, Berkeley. She was selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Business by The San Francisco Business Times. About Kaleidescape Kaleidescape is the only online provider of films with full-fidelity audio and video for luxury home cinema. The company's internet-delivered movies include proprietary metadata that enables its award-winning movie players to produce a truly astonishing home cinema experience. Kaleidescape systems are installed worldwide in the best homes and yachts. Founded in 2001, and headquartered in California, Kaleidescape sells its products exclusively through custom integrators. Media Contact: Josh Gershman, josh.gershman@kaleidescape.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/priscilla-morgan-senior-operations-executive-joins-kaleidescape-board-of-directors-301257310.html SOURCE Kaleidescape

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Thai soldiers began sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled a series of airstrikes by the military in neighbouring Myanmar, people familiar with the matter said Monday. The insecurity on the border added a new dimension to an already volatile crisis set off by a in

The weekend strikes, which sent ethnic Karen people seeking safety in Thailand, represented another escalation in the violent crackdown by Myanmar's junta on protests of its February 1 takeover. On Saturday, more than 100 people were killed in and around demonstrations throughout the country the bloodiest single day since the takeover.

The violence by the military both on the border and in cities around the country raised the question of whether the community would respond more forcefully than it has thus far to a that ousted the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and reversed years of progress toward democracy.

In response to reports of people fleeing the airstrikes, Thailand's prime minister had said earlier Monday that the country didn't want mass migration but that it would also take human rights issues into consideration.

But later in the day, three people with knowledge of the matter said Thai soldiers had begun to force people to return to

They told them it was safe to go back even though it is not safe. They were afraid to go back but they had no choice, said a spokesperson for the Karen Peace Support Network, a group of Karen civil society organizations in

Two other people confirmed that the refugees were being sent back to Myanmar. All three spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment, saying it was still waiting for information.

Myanmar aircraft carried out three strikes overnight Sunday, according to Dave Eubank, a member of the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian relief agency that delivers medical and other assistance to villagers. The strikes severely injured one child but caused no apparent fatalities, he said. Earlier strikes sent about 2,500 people into northern Thailand's Mae Hong Son province, according to the agency.

One witness described a chaotic scene as he watched hundreds of people cross the river border Sunday into Mae Hong Son.

There were many children and women. It seemed like they had basic supplies to sustain themselves, but I don't know how long they can last without help, said La Rakpaoprai, who buys snacks and other goods in the mountainous border village of Mae Sakoep and sells them in remote areas.

Earlier Monday, Thai soldiers in the area weren't letting journalists or curious locals approach or speak to those who had fled, but a soldier confirmed that refugees were there.

The area is situated deep in Thailand's Salawin National Park and can only be reached by an arduous drive up winding mountain roads, through dry forests, and down along a rocky stream bed.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said Monday morning that his government was preparing for a possible influx of people.

We don't want to have mass migration into our territory, but we will consider human rights, too," Prayut said.

Video shot Sunday showed a group of villagers, including many young children, resting in a forest clearing inside Myanmar after fleeing their homes. They carried their possessions in bundles and baskets. In addition to those who have fled to Thailand, an estimated 10,000 people are believed to be displaced inside Myanmar's northern Karen state, according to the Free Burma Rangers.

The bombings may have been in retaliation for a reported attack by the Karen National Liberation Army in which they claimed to have captured a Myanmar government military outpost on Saturday morning. The group is fighting for greater autonomy for the Karen people.

According to Thoolei News, an online site that carries official information from the Karen National Union, eight government soldiers were captured and 10 were killed. The report said one Karen guerrilla died.

Before the overnight bombings, Myanmar military aircraft had attacked a Karen guerrilla position in Karen state's Mutraw district on Sunday, according to humanitarian workers. Two guerrillas were killed and many more were wounded in those attacks.

On Saturday night, two Myanmar military planes twice bombed a village in the same district, killing at least two villagers.

The government has battled the Karen fighters on and off for years as it has with other ethnic minorities seeking more autonomy but the airstrikes are a worrying development at a time when the junta is also violently suppressing anti- protests in cities across the country.

As of Sunday, at least 459 people have been killed since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The true toll is though to be higher.

On Saturday alone, at least 114 people across the country were killed by security forces, including several children a toll that prompted a U.N. human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing mass murder and criticize the community for not doing enough to stop it.

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters his administration is working on a response but offered no details. The United States has already levied new sanctions on the junta, as have other countries but they have had little effect so far.

(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.)
More than 1 million people will be infected with Covid-19 by June as the third wave of coronavirus continues to sweep across the country, projections by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) show.

Researchers say under the most plausible scenario, the rate of Covid-19 cases and deaths would peak this month into April.

"Underlying the observed epidemic, we project that there will be 1.1 million (0.53m-1.7m) infections over this period (January to June), with the large majority of infections remaining undetected owing to the limitations on testing," states Kemri in its research report. It projects up to 289 new Covid-19 attributed deaths by June 1, with daily death tolls surpassing 20 in recent days.

It states that the impact of other events such as "new variants" could fuel fresh infections and deaths, exceeding the predictions. And although Kemri says it is "unlikely" that the new infections will surpass the second wave, the current Covid-19 situation points to a bigger epidemic.

The third wave has so far recorded the highest peak, with the Health ministry describing it as "more aggressive, non-discriminatory strain".

The daily Covid-19 cases are currently averaging at around 1,300, with Friday recording the highest number (2,008) in the history of the pandemic in Kenya.

Deadlier variants

Two variants of the SARS-CoV-2 have been identified in Kenya -- the B.1.1.7 from the UK, which is more deadly, and the South African variant (N501Y), which spreads really fast.

The variants could be responsible for the current spread and deaths, said Dr Yubrine Moraa Gachemba, a consultant internal medicine physician at The Nairobi Hospital.

She argued that the current wave is also being driven by asymptomatic young population composed of school children.

"Children are silent super spreaders, in the first three weeks of schools re-opening there was a silent spread of the virus and then in the next one month, there was a double spread of the disease.

"Adding that people loosened their guard, the situation is bound to be like it is," she said.

More deaths

Just like the number of cases, the number of Covid-19-related deaths have also increased.

As of Sunday 2,117 deaths had been reported since the beginning of the outbreak, with more than 40 deaths having been reported in the last week alone.

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 intensified community spread of SARS-CoV-2 extending outside Nairobi means that the third wave may peak higher than the second wave with deadly consequences," said Dr Ahmed Kalebi, a pathologist and the CEO of Lancet Kenya.

According to the Health ministry, 884 cases were reported yesterday. Nairobi and Mombasa counties continue to have the highest attack rates of Covid-19 at 1363.7 and 818.1 per 100,000 people respectively when compared to 271.9/100,000 for the whole country.

Nairobi, Mombasa, Kiambu, Nakuru and Kajiado lead in the number of Covid-19 cases so far reported, with Nairobi accounting for 46 per cent (over 58,600 cases) of all cases which have been reported in Kenya.

Wajir has the least number of cases- with 90 followed by Tana River with 106 and Mandera with 123 cases as of Saturday.

But, experts argue that the Covid-19 restrictions re-imposed by the government will help to stabilise the current situation.
The first message was innocent enough  a compliment, piercing the all-encompassing fog of grief like a welcome shaft of light.

'I like your pictures,' it read.

'Which ones?' replied newly widowed Anne Larkin, flattered.

'All of them!' came the response.

But this was no dating app. Nor was the online stranger admiring glamorous 'selfies'.

This message was sent to Anne via the amateur photography website where she posts her gallery of landscapes: views of oceans, beaches, mountains and the countryside she loves.

And for the first time since her beloved husband of 34 years, Graham, died unexpectedly from liver and kidney failure in November 2019, Anne felt herself smiling.

The first message was innocent enough  a compliment, piercing the all-encompassing fog of grief like a welcome shaft of light. 'I like your pictures,' it read. 'Which ones?' replied newly widowed Anne Larkin, flattered. 'All of them!' came the response

'I've always been very critical of my own work,' says former special constable Anne, 55. 'So to receive such a lovely message, just weeks after losing Graham, lifted my spirits when I felt very low.'

His name, he told her, was Clinton. He claimed to be a U.S. Army medic from New Jersey serving in the Arab state, Yemen. Anne's beautiful landscapes had apparently spoken to his tortured soul.

A widower, he revealed he had lost his wife and daughter in a terrible car accident five years previously and was missing his adult son back in the States. Or so he said.

Although Anne had been careful not to put any personal information on her profile, she started to share her own devastating loss with this supposedly kindred spirit.

A touching online friendship evolved, sustaining Anne through her grief, which was amplified by the isolation and loneliness of lockdown.

Clinton was there for her with a kind word when she wept; a sympathetic ear as she talked endlessly about her late husband, reminiscing into the small hours about the times they shared. He even called her 'Annie'  as only Graham used to  and seemed to really understand her pain, sending her 'Are you OK?' messages to read the minute she woke up in the morning.

He was also there with his bank details when he began tentatively to share a few more invented sob stories to tug at Anne's heartstrings. If she resisted, he turned the emotional thumbscrews.

'I care for you,' he kept insisting. 'I am not a wicked man.'

By the time the truth finally dawned on Anne that she had been scammed  a year after that first message  she had lost almost every penny left to her by her late husband.

Today, with a police investigation continuing and her bank examining her accounts closely, Anne knows she has lost more than 360,000, but fears the final tally could be closer to 500,000.

For Anne was taken in not only by 'Clinton' but also by a second fraudster , 'G', who appeared out of nowhere on her social media not long after. She believes both were part of a larger international criminal network, preying on the vulnerable.

Claiming to be an actor involved in charitable work in America, G's philanthropic narrative  a desire to help impoverished children  struck a chord with Anne, who was desperately missing her six grandchildren during the pandemic.

All of it rubbish, of course.

His name, he told her, was Clinton. He claimed to be a U.S. Army medic from New Jersey serving in the Arab state, Yemen. Anne's beautiful landscapes had apparently spoken to his tortured soul

Showing me her bank statements, Anne says the sight of all those cash transfers to the scammers  up to 20,000 at a time  has left her feeling 'violated' and trapped in a 'black hole'.

'I know people will ask, 'How could you be so stupid, so gullible?' I've asked myself the same question so many times,' says Anne, who in January reported her case to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime.

She says that in 'normal' times, if she hadn't been mired in a fog of grief and if the pandemic hadn't further skewed her judgment and wrecked her mental health, none of this would have happened. She also says she can't recall her bank querying the payments  even the large ones.

'All I can say is that I was very vulnerable after Graham died, a soft touch. But I'm convinced I would never have parted with so much money if it hadn't been for lockdown. Never.

'Looking back, I ask myself 'what were you thinking?' but, at the time, I felt totally isolated and dissociated from reality, separated from my family and friends. I just wasn't in my right mind.

'The year after Graham died was a complete blur. During the pandemic, all the days seemed to blend into one and it felt like I had no one to talk to. I completely lost touch with reality.

'I couldn't turn to my family because they were grieving too and I felt I had to put on a brave face. I was sleeping three hours a night, could barely drag myself out of bed and lost four stone in weight.

'These people start off by being your friend, a shoulder to cry on when you're at your very lowest. I wasn't looking for romance, just someone to talk to.

'Then, once they have won your trust, they start asking for small amounts of money and it just spirals until one day you wake up and realise there's nothing left.

For the first time since her beloved husband of 34 years, Graham (pictured: Anne Larkin and Graham), died unexpectedly from liver and kidney failure in November 2019, Anne felt herself smiling

'The fog only lifted when one of them told me just before Christmas to sell my house and car when all my savings had gone  and I thought 'no, this isn't right'. That's when I woke up.

'It wasn't until I asked the bank for my statements that I realised how much I'd handed over to them. I felt sick. I just couldn't believe it.

'People ask 'how can that happen?' and my reply is 'very easily'. Once you start making payments, it just all adds up.'

Humberside Police's economic crime unit, which is investigating the case, warns that isolation caused by the pandemic has made people of both sexes increasingly vulnerable to such exploitation.

Financial intelligence officer June Ashworth recently commented: 'It's probably the most cruel of frauds that I come across. It builds on social isolation and vulnerability  and Anne had both of those when they came across her.

'With Covid-19, we're finding many more people in this situation, isolated from friends and family. To be truthful, the fraudsters' job is half done for them.'

Det Sgt Ben Robinson told the Mail: 'These professional criminals are master manipulators who create a false reality with the victims. Once the money has left the UK, it's very difficult to follow the trail and trace the culprits, so there is virtually zero chance of bringing them to justice.'

He added that, in the past two years, one victim lost 265,000 and two others lost more than 100,000, but Anne's losses were the highest he had investgated to date.

According to Action Fraud, last year there were 6,758 reports of 'romance fraud', with total UK losses of 68.2 million. In the first two months of 2021, there were 1,381 reports of the crime, with victim losses of 12.2 million.

Victims  whose numbers have risen by 18 per cent during lockdown  lose 10,000 on average.

Anne, who is now reduced to existing on her late husband's small pension, bravely agreed to share her story as a warning to others, despite her embarrassment.

She knows people will think that as a former special constable  she served in Bradford from 1990-94  she should have known better. But she replies: 'If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.'

She still has not fully recovered from Graham's death at the age of 54, ten days after he was admitted to hospital with jaundice and a suspected internal bleed in November 2019. He was an executive in the healthcare industry who had been planning to retire at 55  and the couple, who have two daughters aged 35 and 33, were looking forward to taking a road trip across the States.

'I've always been very critical of my own work,' says former special constable Anne, 55. 'So to receive such a lovely message, just weeks after losing Graham (pictured together), lifted my spirits when I felt very low'

'We were in the middle of moving house, busy packing up boxes, when Graham fell ill,' says Anne, who first met her husband when they used to walk to school together. 'I never imagined that, ten days later, I'd be watching a single tear roll down his cheek as he took his last breath in hospital.

'We'd been together for 39 years and I was in complete shock. To this day, I haven't been able to unpack the boxes filled with his clothes and possessions.'

After his death, the move to a new rented home in the Yorkshire seaside town of Hornsea fell through, so Anne moved in temporarily with one of her daughters. It was a difficult time for the whole family as they each struggled with their loss.

'I couldn't grieve for Graham properly. I couldn't wander from room to room in what had been our home, absorbing the memories and coming to terms with everything. All our things were in boxes,' says Anne.

'It felt as if my whole world had been turned upside down. It wasn't as if Graham had cancer and we'd had time to adjust to the thought of him dying.'

The family's one comfort was that Graham had left them well provided for, thanks to a substantial payout from a death-in-service policy. Anne gave half to their daughters. With the remainder, she bought a 170,000 four-bedroomed property in Hornsea, in February 2020, leaving about 500,000 in savings. She thought she would never need to worry about money again. Then came the first lockdown and, with long, lonely, tearful hours to fill, the online friendship with 'Clinton' intensified.

'I've always been a very open, friendly person, the kind to strike up a conversation in a shop queue, and Clinton just seemed like a nice, genuine person,' says Anne, who studied photography at Bradford College.

'Photography enthusiasts were always contacting me via the site, asking how I'd taken certain shots so, to begin with, there was nothing to raise my suspicions. My page had no profile picture or personal information.'

Hitting it off, the pair moved their conversation to internet 'hang out' chat-rooms, where the talk turned more personal, though Anne says it was not romantic or flirtatious.

They video-chatted on only one occasion, and Anne saw a man in T-shirt and combat trousers who looked like a U.S. Army doctor might  although whether he was in Yemen or knew how to use a stethoscope, she couldn't say.

'He just seemed very kind and caring,' says Anne. 'When he told me he'd lost his wife and daughter in a road accident, I felt that here was someone who understood what I was going through. Looking back, I can see now how easily I was manipulated.

'Every night, I'd spend hours chatting online with Clinton, sharing with him my memories of Graham  all the good times, the bad times, the funny times  and it was so lovely to wake up in the morning to see a caring message from him asking 'how are you?' '

Anne now wonders if the person she was chatting to actually was 'Clinton' half the time, or if he was part of some criminal network who took it in turns to string her along; grooming her before going in for the sting.

Is that, she wonders, how a second fraudster called 'G' suddenly popped up on her Facebook, posting an arresting picture of himself that piqued Anne's photographic interest?

'I posted a comment on his picture, saying 'very pensive'  and he immediately responded, asking 'what do you mean?' and we started chatting.

Anne received the messages via the amateur photography website where she posts her gallery of landscapes: views of oceans, beaches, mountains and the countryside she loves. Pictured: The fake image used by the conman

'He sounded really interesting and started telling me about how, although he was an actor, he wanted to help others by setting up educational centres for deprived children,' she recalls. 'It sounded like such a wonderful thing to do.'

Anne can't remember exactly when the fraudsters began asking for money. But her bank statements suggest the cash transfers started in late January 2020, intensified during lockdown, then petered out last November as the last of her money drained away.

'Clinton used to tell me all the terrible things he had witnessed while serving in the Army and how he was desperate to start a new life back in the States with his son,' says Anne.

'He started off asking for a small amount, a loan, which he promised to repay. Alarm bells should have been ringing but it didn't even cross my mind that he might not be telling the truth.'

But the move back to the States did not happen for 'Clinton'. Indeed, one disaster seemed to follow another as he spun tales of moving base, changing countries, injury, incarceration  a litany of woes, all of which required Anne's generosity to bail him out.

Meanwhile, 'G' was guilt-tripping Anne into donating what was left of her money to help those less fortunate than herself, pressurising her into believing her thousands would make a big difference.

As Anne's money dwindled, she finally tried to put some boundaries in place  but they started a new tack which led finally to the scales falling from her eyes.

'One of them started saying he wanted to marry me, with a big wedding with 100 guests  which was the last thing I wanted. And I thought 'no, something's not right,' recalls Anne.

'Then one day  I think just before Christmas  Clinton said to me, 'I have a big surprise for you. I have diamonds.'

'He wasn't talking about engagement rings; it sounded to me that he was trying to get me involved in some kind of criminal activity. I was really frightened, thought, 'that's it, no more' and blocked him from my social media accounts.'

Anne says all contact from 'G' ended abruptly when she went to the police in January after he told her to sell her house and car once her savings had been exhausted.

Today, Anne holds out almost no hope of recovering her money. The ordeal, she says, has put a terrible strain on her relationship with her daughters. She is now seeking part-time work to pay the bills.

'My money is gone. Part of me thinks there's no point in crying over split milk; what's done is done,' she says. 'But another part feels so used and violated that I can't bear the thought of another vulnerable person being scammed in the same way I was.'

Bank transfer scam losses rise to nearly half a billion pounds: Criminals cash in on coronavirus crisis and refunds are refused in 53% of cases

By George Nixon For Thisismoney.co.uk

Losses to bank transfer fraud rose 5 per cent last year to nearly 480million as criminals cashed in on the coronavirus pandemic, but victims continued to be left out of pocket more than half of the time.

Cases of so-called authorised push payment scams rose 22 per cent to just under 150,000 in 2020, according to figures from the banking trade body UK Finance.

Scams which involved fraudsters impersonating bank staff, police officers or other companies and those which saw victims roped into 'get rich quick' or other investment scams were among the types of APP fraud which soared amid the pandemic.

One victim, Carina Schneider, a 44 year-old immigration law paralegal, lost just under 7,200 at the start of February in a sophisticated impersonation scam.

Authorised push payment scams see victims tricked into transferring money to fraudsters

These scams, which see victims tricked into transferring money directly to a fraudster's bank account, now make up nearly 2 in every 5 lost to fraud in the UK, according to the figures.

However despite Britons supposedly benefiting since May 2019 from a code which says they 'should' have their losses reimbursed except in certain circumstances, just 147million lost in APP fraud last year was handed back to victims.

'Generation Covid' are being recruited as 'money mules' By Sean Poulter, Consumer Affairs Editor For The Daily Mail Desperate young adults left jobless and penniless by the pandemic are being recruited by criminals as 'money mules', it is claimed. Normally law abiding people are being drawn into a life of crime to help launder the profits of illegal activity, including drug dealing, according to the banking body UK Finance and fraud prevention experts, Cifas. More than 17,000 suspected money mule cases involving 21 to 30 year olds, who are part of Generation Covid, were recorded in 2020, marking a 5 per cent increase on the previous year. By contrast, there was a fall in younger people being recruited, partly because teenagers have effectively been forced to remain at home with their parents during lockdown. Criminals are exploiting people's financial difficulties by using social media platforms, jobs websites and phishing emails to approach them with offers of 'easy cash'. Language used online such as 'money transfer agents' or 'local processors' and images showing luxury lifestyles involving cars or cash could be a warning sign. Criminals may create profiles on social media platforms and infiltrate popular groups or special interest pages to seek out suitable targets. Advertisement

Although up from the reimbursement rate of 41 per cent seen in 2019, at 47 per cent the rate is still far lower than many will have hoped given victims are only not supposed to be reimbursed in cases where they were 'grossly negligent' or 'ignored effective warnings.'

Some 139,104 cases of APP fraud have now been assessed under this voluntary code, which has been signed by Britain's biggest banks as well as the Co-op Bank, Metro Bank and Starling, since it came into force in 2019.

The UK's Payment Systems Regulator said last month there was evidence reimbursement was 'far from the levels we would expect' when the code was introduced, and has proposed banks should have to publicise their reimbursement rates.

At the moment fraud victims face a refund lottery, with one bank reimbursing its customers a little over 1 per cent of the time in the first three months of last year, according to figures from the PSR.

It said it was 'not aware of any bank-specific factors that explain why there should be such a variation in reimbursement rates' while it wasn't 'clear why others are failing to reach the reimbursement levels of the highest reimbursing banks.'

Banking bosses are considering the proposals but are likely to baulk at the idea of publicising their refund rates.

However, the figures released today make it clear that the code is not working as intended.

They also suggest banks are likelier to reimburse victims who lose larger sums, with a reimbursement rate of 48 per cent for cases involving 10,000 or more, compared to 32 per cent for cases involving 1,000 or less.

But it means fraud victims are getting their money back less than half the time, despite the fact APP fraud increased again last year, with losses increasing from 455.8million in 2019.

A spokesperson for the PSR said: 'Customers are still bearing a high proportion of losses, and more needs be done in this area  including making life more difficult for criminals.

'We have seen important progress recently, with increases in the protections available to most customers and the roll-out of the name-checking service Confirmation of Payee to most accounts.'

And Emma Lovell, chief executive of the Lending Standards Board, which oversees the code, added: 'The code exists to ensure that signatory firms have the right processes in place to detect, prevent, and respond to the rising threat of APP scams.

'Customers of signatory firms who fall victim to a scam through no fault of their own should absolutely expect to be reimbursed in full. And whilst reimbursement levels are an important metric, it is critical that we take into account prevention and detection measures too, which are ultimately intended to stop these scams taking place in the first place.

How much money has been lost to bank transfer fraud?

Jan - June 2019 July - Dec 2019 Jan - June 2020 July - Dec 2020 Y-o-Y Change Number of APP fraud cases 57,549 64,888 66,247 83,699 29% Total amount lost 207.5m 248.3m 207.8m 271.2m 9% Amount returned to victims 39.3m 76.7m 73.1m 133.8m 74% Source: UK Finance

'At the LSB, we are taking action to address the findings of our code review that took place earlier this year and working with signatory firms to ensure that where recommendations have been placed on them as a result of our oversight work, they are actioned as a matter of priority to ensure that the Code is applied correctly and effectively.'

The pandemic proved fertile ground for fraudsters with Britons stuck at home and many of those most vulnerable to fraud having no one to turn to for advice.

Impersonation fraud saw the largest increase, almost doubling to 39,364 cases, with scammers posing as everything from legitimate investment providers to parcel firms to police officers to the taxman in a bid to steal money from people.

Customers continue to face a lottery with banks having wildly different reimbursement rates - each letter represents a bank

These scams were responsible for 150million worth of losses. Given the often sophisticated nature of them, victims who had their cases assessed under the APP code were reimbursed 54 per cent of the time, more than usual.

There was also a 32 per cent increase in investment scam cases, where victims were tricked into sending money to fraudsters offering inflation-busting products at a time of record low savings rates, or other get rich quick schemes.

Losses rose 42 per cent to 135.1million in 2020. Unsurprisingly, these scams accounted for just 6 per cent of all cases of APP fraud but 28 per cent of losses.

This is Money reported on Tuesday the case of Janet Christie, who lost 20,000 in December to fraudsters who claimed to be from Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Clones of legitimate financial firms proved a particular problem last year, with warnings about investment scams from the Financial Conduct Authority doubling from 573 in 2019 to 1,184.

How many fraud victims are getting their money back under an anti-scam code? Number of cases Value of losses Amount reimbursed Reimbursement rate 139,104

311.8m 188.3m (147m in 2020) 41% in 2019

47% in 2020 Source: UK Finance

Just under 2 in every 5 lost to these scams in cases assessed under the voluntary code was handed back to victims.

UK Finance said the fact people were spending more time online in 2020 was reflected in the fact more fraud stemmed from the 'abuse of online platforms'.

It said: 'This included investment scams advertised on search engines and social media, romance scams committed through dating platforms and purchase scams promoted through auction websites.'

The pandemic proved fertile ground for impersonation scammers who changed tactics frequently throughout the year

Its managing director of economic crime, Katy Worobec, again reiterated calls for online scams to be included in the Government's upcoming Online Harms Bill.

She said: 'we are seeing a worrying rise in online and technology-enabled scams that evade banks' advanced security systems and use digital platforms to target victims directly, tricking them into giving away their money or information.

'We urge the government to use the upcoming Online Safety Bill to ensure online platforms take action to protect customers by taking down scam adverts on search engines, removing fake profiles on online dating websites and tackling fraudulent content on social media.

'It cannot be right that online firms are effectively profiting from fraud, while society as a whole pays the price.'

Andrew Hagger, the founder of personal finance site Moneycomms, said it needed to be easier for banks, consumers, campaigners and journalists to report instances of online scams.

He said: 'Wouldn't it help if there was a single point of contact for reporting any type of financial fraud?

'Something that could be used by consumers but also money journalists who regularly are first to spot dodgy investment adverts online that take days or weeks to be taken down.

'It would no doubt take a fair bit of resource but the potential cost saving could make it viable.

'Speed is key in preventing more people falling for a new scam or dodgy investment scam advert.

'If people had the power to remove offending items from Google searches and social media sites in a timely manner surely it would cut the cost of financial crime by millions of pounds and so the new centralised hub or unit would more than pays for itself.'

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's president on Monday sharply condemned the weekend killing of a Salvadoran woman in Mexican police custody, who died after a female officer was seen in a video kneeling on her back.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said 36-year-old Victoria Salazar Arriaza had been subject to "brutal treatment and murdered" after her detention on Saturday by four police officers in the tourist resort of Tulum on the Caribbean coast.

An autopsy showed Salazar's neck had been broken.

"It's a situation that fills us with sadness, pain and shame," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference that was dedicated to defending the rights of women and featured video by speakers including French President Emmanuel Macron.

Salazar's killers would quickly face justice, Lopez Obrador said, vowing that there would be "no impunity."

Autopsy findings showed Salazar died from spinal fracture caused by the rupture of the first and second vertebrae, the attorney general's office of Quintana Roo state said.

The office on Sunday opened a homicide investigation into Salazar's death, leading to the arrest of three male officers and one female officer at the scene. The four were on Monday charged with probable involvement in femicide.

"The level of force was carried out in a disproportionate, immoderate way and with a high risk to life," the office said.

Salazar was a single mother who had worked in Tulum cleaning hotels, her mother, Rosibel Arriaza, told reporters outside the foreign ministry in San Salvador.

"Authorities are supposed to protect people with all the techniques they have to try to subdue someone, but this was an abuse of power," Arriaza said. "She didn't deserve this death."

Salazar left two daughters, aged 15 and 16, who lived with her in Mexico and were the reason she had emigrated, she added.

"She left for a better future for the girls and to help them get ahead," Arriaza said.

Story continues

Salazar had lived in Mexico since at least 2018, when she was granted refugee status for humanitarian reasons, Mexico's migration institute said.

A video published by news site Noticaribe showed Salazar writhing and crying out as she lay face down on a road with a policewoman kneeling on her back while male officers stood by.

The video later showed Salazar's prone body, wrists handcuffed behind her back, lying on the road before officers put it into the back of a police truck.

The attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a question about why Salazar had been detained. Some Mexican news outlets reported that police were responding to a public disturbance complaint.

Her death, which had echoes of the case of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in May as a Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck, sparked outrage on social media and calls by El Salvador's president for the officers to be punished.

Frustration over a failure to curb violence against women in Mexico has sparked major protests under Lopez Obrador.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito in Mexico City and Nelson Renteria in San Salvador, Additional reporting by Daina Beth SolomonEditing by Dave Graham and Rosalba O'Brien)
ICQPodcast - RSGB Q1 Review and Radio Scouting In this episode, Martin (M1MRB) is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Dan Romanchik, KB6NU, Matthew Nassau M0NJX and Edmund Spicer M0MNG to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in this episode we have a double feature RSGB Quarter 1 Update and Scouting Radio.



ICQ AMATEUR/HAM RADIO PODCAST DONORS



We would like to thank Michael Bridak (K6GTE), Christopher Naylor (VK3TLA) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate



News stories include: -



 Ofcom Released Age of Radio Amateurs Data

 Modified French Amateur Radio Callsign for Great Britain Nationals

 Cooperative Effort to Resolve Potential 70-Centimetre Interference Issue

 New RSGB EMF Calculator Available

 4M IRTS News in the East Leinster region

 Resuming UK Examinations in Clubs

 Ham Radio Friedrichshafen Physical Event Cancelled





The ICQPodcast can be downloaded from http://www.icqpodcast.com
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.
The testing centre is expected to be completed over the coming weeks (Liam McBurney/PA)

Belfast City Airport has announced plans for a Covid testing centre.

The airport, in partnership with diagnostics firm Randox, is working on the facility ahead of the expected return of international flights later this year.

It will offer both PCR tests and antigen (lateral flow) tests and will give passengers access to quick and safe testing.

The testing centre is expected to be completed over the coming weeks.

We are pleased to be working with the airport to support their enormous efforts to restore public confidence in international travel David Adamson, Randox Laboratories

Belfast International Airport opened a testing facility for passengers in January.

Judith Davis, airport operations manager at Belfast City Airport, said the availability of testing will help passengers travelling abroad as well as within the UK on connecting flights.

The PCR and antigen tests are a current requirement for passengers heading to the Netherlands, and with our KLM flights due to recommence over the next month, it is imperative that we have the testing facilities in place to enable those travelling for essential reasons to be able to do so in a convenient manner, she said.

The testing facilities will also help with forward planning for those who are connecting through major hub airports, such as Manchester and London Heathrow, or travelling to sunshine destinations with our new airline partner Ryanair, allowing them to take the test before they leave Northern Ireland.

David Adamson, regional manager at Randox Laboratories, said testing is a key part of the Covid response.

The Randox Health Travel Centre at Belfast City Airport, providing accurate and cost-effective antigen and gold standard PCR testing, is another positive step towards the normalisation of travel, he said.

We are pleased to be working with the airport to support their enormous efforts to restore public confidence in international travel and to get people back in the air again if and when they are required to do so.





Andy Li, 30, is being held in solitary confinement at the notorious, maximum security Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the case.



It said the facility "has a history of alleged abuses against its inmates."



Li was taken to Hong Kong's Yuen Long police station soon after arriving back on 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 , 2020.



But both the city's police force and the Correctional Services Department (CSD) told his family they had no record of where he was being held after that point.



According to the Apple Daily, Lis case is being handled by a special unit in the CSD colloquially known as the "secret unit."



"Li received special attention because authorities wanted to prevent him from 'speaking out of turn' and revealing details about his treatment in mainland China," it cited one of the sources as saying.



The special unit manages detainees who need to be kept separately to avoid harassment or attacks, including sensitive witnesses in need of protection, and people involved in high-profile corruption cases, it said.



Visitors to detainees under its aegis must be approved by police.



Andy Li, who served a seven-month jail term in southern China after trying to flee his home city along with 11 others by speedboat, is shown in a file photo. Credit: RFA Of sound mind 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 being secretly held in a psychiatric hospital following his return to Hong Kong, a newspaper in the city reported.Andy Li, 30, is being held in solitary confinement at the notorious, maximum security Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the case.It said the facility "has a history of alleged abuses against its inmates."Li was taken to Hong Kong's Yuen Long police station soon after arriving back onat 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, 2020.But both the city's police force and the Correctional Services Department (CSD) told his family they had no record of where he was being held after that point.According to the Apple Daily, Lis case is being handled by a special unit in the CSD colloquially known as the "secret unit.""Li received special attention because authorities wanted to prevent him from 'speaking out of turn' and revealing details about his treatment in mainland China," it cited one of the sources as saying.The special unit manages detainees who need to be kept separately to avoid harassment or attacks, including sensitive witnesses in need of protection, and people involved in high-profile corruption cases, it said.Visitors to detainees under its aegis must be approved by police.

One person reported to the paper that Li was in good physical condition and appeared to be of sound mind, despite being held in a psychiatric facility.



The CSD has declined to comment on individual cases, but noted that individual detainees may "decline" to inform their family of their location.



Li hasn't appeared in court yet, as he will remain in quarantine until .



He 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."



Li's sister Beatrice told RFA that they had tried to call the Siu Lam facility after reading the Apple Daily report, but "to no avail."



She said she and her parents are considering whether or not to approach the facility in the hope of visiting Andy Li.



"We also worry that this has become very [politically] sensitive," she said. "The chances of our being approved to visit him are very small."



Beatrice Li said a lawyer hired by the family to defend Andy Li hasn't been allowed to meet with him, amid unconfirmed reports that he had hired another lawyer.



"No-one knows whether he has a lawyer or not, for sure," she said. "The only think we know for sure is that the lawyer we hired hasn't been allowed to contact him."



'Suspicious' hint from authorities

She said Andy Li had earlier written in a letter about plans to see his family and hire a lawyer while he was still in jail in Shenzhen, and that the hints from the authorities that he no longer wanted to do those things were "suspicious."



On Dec. 31, 2020, a court in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen handed down jail terms of seven months to Li and seven other detainees for "illegally crossing a border."

They were among a group of 12 Hong Kong activists intercepted by the authorities aboard a speedboat that is believed to have been heading for the democratic island of Taiwan.



The eight were handed over to the custody of the Hong Kong police on after time already served was taken into account.



The Yantian District People's Court in Guangdong's Shenzhen city also sentenced speedboat fugitive Tang Kai-yin to three years' imprisonment for "organizing others to cross a border illegally," and fellow activist Quinn Moon to two years on the same charge.



The remaining two activists were returned to Hong Kong because they were under 18 at the time of their arrest. They are currently on remand at Hong Kong's Pik Uk Prison awaiting trial on charges linked to their escape bid.



Reported by Gigi Lee for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, pose for a picture after signing an agreement in Tehran, Iran, on March 27, 2021. (-/AFP via Getty Images)

China Signs Economic, Security Agreement With Iran in Challenge to US

China and Iran signed a 25-year-long strategic partnership agreement on March 27, by which both states would cooperate to challenge the United States, such as against U.S. sanctions on selling oil from Tehran to Beijing.

Chinese state-run Beijing News reported on the agreement and said on March 28, China and Irans exterior trouble-makers are the same, which are the western big countries that are led by the United States.

The report then praised the ChinaIran cooperation and criticized the United States: The world has experienced major changes, but the U.S. and its western allies are still living in the old dreams.

The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Irans oil sector in October 2020 for supporting the Quds Force, a foreign paramilitary and espionage force in the region. China, however, continues to buy oil from Iran. Chinese ambassador to Iran Chang Hua said on Feb. 5 that China was the only country that buys oil from the Islamic Republic, and pledged that Beijing wouldnt change the policy in the future.

On March 27, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi in Tehran that the IranChina cooperation would support Iran against the United States unilateral sanctions.

The strategic partnership deal covers politics, economy, and security, according to Chinese state-run CGTV. Iranian Tasnim reported that the agreement also included judiciary, defense, human and cultural, and regional and international issues. A leaked draft that circulated last July showed that China would invest in Irans telecommunication, nuclear energy, ports, and railroads and would receive a stable oil and gas supplement from Iran.

Oil Pipeline

Rouhani said in Tehran on March 25 that the country has started to build the Goureh-Jask crude oil pipeline, which starts from the southwestern province of Bushehr and ends at Jask Port in southeast Iran.

The Goureh-Jask crude oil pipeline includes 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) 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.

Tasmin reported that the total budget of the pipeline project is $2 billion. On June 25, 2020, the day Iran started the project, Iranian state television reported that the projects envisaged storage capacity is 10 million barrels of crude.

Its unclear which party is investing in the oil pipeline. Rouhani said on Iranian state television last June that its a foreign company, without giving any details about the company.

Chang said clearly that China is the only country that buys Iranian oil, and China is against the U.S. sanctions on Iran.

IranChina Relations

The Iranian fiscal year starts in March. The Islamic Republics customs office announced on March 28 that China had become its top trading partner for both import and export.

The office said Iran had imported $9.76 billion valued goods from China in the last fiscal year, which was 25.3 percent of total imports. At the same time, Iran had exported $8.95 billion in non-oil goods to China, which is equal to 26 percent of the total non-oil export.

The office didnt mention the trade details about oil.

On March 28, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf posted on Twitter that the 25-year cooperation plan with China is good for the regime, and parliament needs to resolve some issues before approving it.

Opposition in Iran

In recent days, Iranian people started a campaign on Twitter to oppose it, called No2ChinaIRAccord.

A picture with the note China, get out of Iran is broadly circulated among Iranians.

The Islamic Republic has transferred control of many cities and the Persian Gulf to the Chinese regime for its own survival only, which is more shameful than selling its territory, Twitter user Kayvan_E. Arani posted on March 26. The Chinese regime must leave Iran.

The IranChina strategic partnership agreement is part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to Chinese state-run CGTV.

BRI, also known as One Belt, One Road, is a massive global investment strategy launched 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. It has been criticized by the United States and other countries as an example of debt trap diplomacy, which saddles developing countries with unsustainable debt burdens while allowing the regime to export its technology and governance abroad.
Migrants gather outside their tents at Karatepe refugee camp, on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP)

The European Unions home affairs commissioner stressed the need for solidarity among the blocs member states in tackling migration, and called on Turkey to resume accepting the return of people whose asylum applications are rejected in Greece after arriving from Turkish territory.

Ylva Johansson and Greek migration minister Notis Mitarachi spoke on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos after visiting migrant facilities there and on the island of Samos.

Ms Johanssons visit comes amid continuing accusations against Greece of illegal summary deportations, and as EU countries discuss a new migration pact to deal with the issue of people seeking asylum in Europe.

The vast majority of asylum-seekers arrive by sea in the countries on the EUs southern and southeastern borders: Greece, Italy and Spain.

Speaking to the local people and representatives of #Samos Greece  about their concerns regarding asylum and migration reception centres.

I listened and explained that the  migration proposals are designed to Europeanise and help the situation. #MigrationEU pic.twitter.com/S4rToTb4E8  Ylva Johansson (@YlvaJohansson) March 29, 2021

Those three, along with the also affected island nations of Malta and Cyprus, have joined forces to lobby for a more equal distribution among the blocs other members.

What we have been seeing in Europe the last six years is the lack of a Europeanized migration policy, and that means that member states at our external borders have been under huge pressure, Ms Johansson said during a joint press conference with Mr Mitarachi.

And especially some islands have been under huge pressure in the absence of a European solution.

Ms Johansson said she understood that everybody has a limit to their patience, and I understand that this limit is close in some areas, such as Lesbos.

In Greece, the main brunt of migration has been borne by the eastern Aegean islands, which are close to Turkey and thus a favoured route for people-smuggling gangs.

Local residents on both islands held protests during Ms Johanssons visit.

A 2016 EU-Turkey deal stipulates that new arrivals must remain on the islands pending return to Turkey unless their asylum application is successful.

The agreement reduced arrivals but did not stop them entirely, leading to massively overcrowded island camps

Expand Close A woman holds a baby at Karatepe refugee camp (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A woman holds a baby at Karatepe refugee camp (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP)

Ms Johansson noted the situation had greatly improved recently, with a faster asylum procedure and relocations to other European countries.

In 2019, she noted, there were 42,000 people in island camps in totally unacceptable conditions for the migrants and the local population.

That number is now down to 14,000, which the commissioner said was still too high.

We are addressing the shortcomings in the European migration system.

One of the most important things is to avoid irregular departure, Ms Johansson said, referring to asylum-seekers leaving Turkish shores.

Mr Mitarachi once again rejected accusations by refugee rights organisations and numerous migrants that Greece conducts pushbacks at sea  the illegal deportation of migrants who have not first been allowed to apply for asylum.

We strongly deny that the Greek coast guard has been ever involved in pushbacks. Greece is fully adhering to international and European law, Mr Mitarachi said.

But at the same time, we need to be clear that countries have borders, and there are rules and regulations how the competent authorities must exercise and execute their constitutional obligations to protect the borders of the country.

Mr Mitarachi said Greeces border protection was costing smuggling networks tens of millions of euros  and that could have played a role in the kind of fake news we hear about the coast guard.

Ms Johansson said the protection of borders and of fundamental rights goes hand in hand, its not a contradiction.

Mr Mitarachi said reports were investigated and that so far no specific case had come to light that proved a pushback.

Asked however about such allegations raised by the UN refugee agency, Ms Johansson said she was very concerned about the UNHCR reports, and there are some specific cases that I really think need to be looked into closer.

The commissioner said Greek authorities can do more when it comes to investigate these alleged pushbacks.

Expand Close Migrants stand behind a fence at Karatepe refugee camp, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Migrants stand behind a fence at Karatepe refugee camp, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP)

Ms Johansson also stressed Ankara should resume accepting those who have been slated for return.

Turkey suspended that part of the EU-Turkey deal about a year ago.

I call now on Turkey to urgently resume the returns of migrants from Greece, she said.

Mr Mitarachi said the EUs new migration pact will never allow facilities such as Moria, the notoriously overcrowded, squalid camp in Lesbos that burned down last year in a series of blazes Greek authorities said were set deliberately by a group of residents angered by coronavirus lockdown measures.

A new facility is to be constructed on the island, and in the meantime the roughly 10,000 people left homeless by the Moria fire have been rehoused in a temporary camp set up on a former military firing range.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.  When Rachel Hawley walked into the old Macys at Military Square mall to get her first COVID-19 vaccine shot, there were lots of wide eyes.

She was 39 weeks pregnant.

Hawley was eligible to get the shots, not only because she has an autoimmune disorder, but because she was expecting. So the 38-year-old Norfolk mother signed up as soon as she could after discussing it with her doctor.

Three days after her first shot, she gave birth to her second daughter, Quinn, and last week got her second shot.

Now, Quinn, nearly a month old, may be benefiting from the vaccine, too. Early results from studies around the world are showing that babies may receive COVID-19 antibodies in utero or through breast milk from vaccinated moms.

A baby born in South Florida three weeks after her mother received the Moderna vaccine was born with the antibodies, two pediatricians learned when they tested the mothers cord blood, according to a story in The Miami Herald. Another baby was born with the antibodies in Colorado in February, a few weeks after her mom got the vaccine.

A study in Israel of lactating women who received the Pfizer vaccine had promising results.

Doctors knew that mothers who previously had the virus could pass antibodies to their newborns, so they were hopeful the protection also would be possible after vaccinating expecting mothers.

When the vaccines first received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, they werent tested on pregnant women, so initially, it was unclear if they should get it. But that has since changed.

Several organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and others are supporting vaccination for particularly high-risk pregnant and lactating women, Brenner said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reported that with the exception of smallpox and yellow fever, vaccines given to lactating mothers have not affected the safety of their breastfeeding.

Hawley is breastfeeding Quinn and hoping her baby will get the antibodies as protection.

The early results are giving experts in the field hope.

Dr. Michelle Brenner, the medical director of The Kings Daughters Milk Bank at Childrens Hospital of The Kings Daughters has been looking at similar research around the world, including from a group in Norway, where scientists studied antibodies in breast milk samples.

If a mom is vaccinated toward the end of her pregnancy, she is providing immediate protection to that unborn baby, as well as when the infant is born, so the risk of transmission to the infant by someone else in the nursery, or by a family member would be decreased, said Brenner, also a pediatrician and professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

So especially moms who are at high risk, its good for them to consider getting vaccinated during pregnancy.

Hawley, originally from upstate New York, wanted to make the best decision for her and her baby. She said when vaccines were first approved, there wasnt much information available, but within a few months, research indicated its better to do it than not.

She thought it would be more dangerous to not get vaccinated. Healthy mom, healthy baby, I guess is the way I think about it, she said.

Dr. Margarita de Veciana, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, likens it to when a woman gets a flu vaccine or a TDAP vaccine in pregnancy, and their body mounts an antibody defense against the diseases.

After birth or if theyre breastfeeding their baby, theyre passing along these antibodies. Its just as if theyve gotten any other vaccine in pregnancy, so it makes a lot of sense, she said.

However, experts dont know how long the antibodies last or if its enough to protect the baby if he or she were exposed to the virus.

All those are questions that remain unanswered and Im sure theres going to be studies looking at that, at this point, de Veciana said.

Still, any protection is better than none.

If a mom is vaccinated toward the end of her pregnancy, she is providing immediate protection to that unborn baby, as well as when the infant is born, so the risk of transmission to the infant by someone else in the nursery, or by a family member would be decreased, Brenner said.

So especially moms who are at high risk, its good for them to consider getting vaccinated during pregnancy, she said.

De Veciana agreed and said theres no reason to believe being pregnant will negatively effect a womans response to the vaccine.

It has definitely been proven that building up your immune response before the baby actually comes out, so trying to get the baby antibodies through the placenta, is probably a better way to get immunization for the baby or get protection for the baby than breastfeeding, she said.

She noted, though, that it takes several weeks for your body to build up the adequate antibody response, so even if youre breastfeeding for the first few weeks after giving birth, you may not be protecting your baby yet, she said.

Brenner is hoping to work with researchers at EVMS to study antibodies in donor milk at the milk bank, which collects donor breast milk to give to severely premature and critically-ill infants.

The milk bank has a surplus, including from moms who know they had the virus and some from moms who were vaccinated.

It would be very interesting to actually do a surveillance of all the milk we have remaining, all the milk thats still in the freezer from the last however months, to look at the moms who had no idea they were infected to see if theres antibodies, kind of a way to do population surveillance, Brenner said.

So while there are still a lot of questions, experts say its reassuring that theyve detected antibodies in the babys blood.

Hawley was willing to take the risk in the name of protecting her baby.

We dont know when young babies will be able to be vaccinated themselves because those trials havent happened yet, so any immunity I can transfer to her, the better.

--

Robyn Sidersky of The Virginian-Pilot wrote this story.

2021 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit at pilotonline.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  A bill that could impact Camp Fire survivors and others who are being paid damage claims through the Fire Victim Trust for losses from fires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric Company has been passed through a House committee. The bill is called the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act.

The bill was marked up and passed through the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure this week. North State Congressmember Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) is one of the bills authors.

The bipartisan bill will prevent the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from seeking reimbursement from Pacific, Gas, and Electric's (PG&E) $13.5 billion Fire Victim Trust fund that was originally set aside for wildfire victims.

The Fire Victim Trust (funded by PG&E) is being used to pay people for their losses from the fires. Using some of the $13.5 billion dollar fund to pay FEMA will impact how much money is available to pay fire survivors claims.

According to a spokesperson from Congress member LaMalfa's office, FEMA could also try to get the funds on an individual basis instead of through the Fire Victim Trust (FVT) fund. Congress member LaMalfa is working in Congress to stop this "clawback" from happening. According to the spokesperson, FEMA could also ask for interest if people took FEMA funds and were later reimbursed for those costs through insurance or through claims filed with the FVT in the fire settlement process.

Rep. LaMalfa said, "No disaster victim should be subject to the government raiding their disaster compensation and obstructing their recovery efforts.

The Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act will ensure that no disaster victim will have their compensation stripped from them by the federal government under the guise of reimbursement," said Congress member LaMalfa.

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO), who sponsored H.R. 539 with LaMalfa, said, "The Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act will ensure disaster victims trying to recover and rebuild their lives, homes, and businesses aren't revictimized because of a federal agency's error."

The bipartisan H.R. 539 will prevent FEMA from taking back disaster assistance funds that it mistakenly awarded to victims who applied for assistance in good faith and utilized that money to help rebuild their lives.

The bill requires FEMA to waive the debt of disaster relief recipients in cases where the agency later determined it mistakenly granted assistance, but no fraud was committed.

Under current law, FEMA can come back weeks, months, or even years later to seek repayment of funds it awarded victims, even when the agency is at fault for making the error and the funds were appropriately used in the wake of a disaster.

The bill also ensures that FEMA reports to Congress on its efforts to minimize similar errors in the future.

The bill passed the committee by voice vote and now awaits action on the House floor.

Congress member LaMalfa's spokesperson also said on Sunday that a similar bill moved through the House of Representatives last year but was not considered in the Senate due to the coronavirus. LaMalfa wanted to get the issue with FEMA settled before fire survivors start receiving payments from the FVT, but some people have already started receiving offers and preliminary payments.
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Natrue has commissioned a consumer-centric study that compiles the results of a survey carried out in Germany and France between January and February 2021, focusing on attitudes toward natural products.

Related: 2020 Online UK Beauty Market Data

This study evaluates three pillars: consumer attitudes, brand perception and seal performance. About 30 brands (conventional, nature-inspired, and natural or organic) were reviewed by the more than 1,000 participants.

Consumer Attitudes

When it comes to the naturalness of a product, German and French consumers have different factors they characterize.

For Germany, this includes:

Protection of animal welfare

Free from microplastics

100% natural ingredients

Reduced environmental impact

For France, this includes:

100% natural products

Protection from animal welfare

Vegan

Organic

In Germany, naturalness accounts for 20% of the decision-making process and is an integral choice for the consumer when it comes to purchasing a natural and organic cosmetic product.

This percentage is slightly higher in France (24%) but the use of nature-inspired brands in the French market is more than twice that of natural brands. By comparison, in Germany the use of nature-inspired brands is approximately the same as natural brands, which suggests that there is less confusion and greater distinction between these brands for German consumers.

Brand Perception

For German consumers, natural brands are strongly associated to all factors defining naturalness, particularly at formulation level (natural and organic ingredients).

However, nature-inspired brands are perceived by the average German consumer similarly to conventional brands, which indicates that these consumers seem to be well aware of the risk of greenwashing and differentiate between natural/organic cosmetics and nature-inspired ones.

France showed that although natural and organic brands are also associated with aspects linked to naturalness, nature-inspired brands are perceived more positively and similarly to natural and organic brands.

The confusion between nature-inspired and natural/organic products in the French market could be a result of marketing, which rather than focusing on the natural/organic cosmetic product as a whole, only highlights certain elements of a product (hero ingredients) or uses green visuals.

Seal Performance

Participants were asked to reply to a series of questions related to the level of regulation of natural and organic claims for cosmetics, the risk of greenwashing in the sector and the difficulties to understand labels and seals often used in cosmetic products.

In Germany, 12% of consumers responded that politics are too passive regarding the regulation of natural and organic cosmetics in Europe; this opinion was shared by 9% of consumers in France.

As for product labels, 61% of consumers in Germany and 71% in France see labels as insufficient to indicate alone if a product is really natural.

Approximately 90% of consumers from both markets would agree to paying more for a certified natural/organic cosmetic.
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.
United Methodist churches -- whether the congregation is white or not -- have higher attendance when located within white neighborhoods. But racial diversity within a church is associated with higher average attendance over time, according to a new study.

"This is a startling contrast to previous research that reported multiracial congregations are less stable," said lead author Kevin D. Dougherty, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology at Baylor University.

The study is published in the journal Social Forces.

Previous research has found that it is difficult for congregations to build and sustain racially diverse memberships, but little research has been done to explore the overlap of racial changes in congregations and neighborhoods over time.

The research also found that white churches in nonwhite neighborhoods fare the worst in attendance.

"Overall, our understanding of racial diversity and congregational participation remains ambiguous," said co-author Gerardo Marti, Ph.D., L. Richardson King Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. "In this study, we consider: What does the history of demographic change in local churches and their neighborhoods tell us about the potential for congregational survival over time?"

Researchers tracked data from more than 20,000 United Methodist Church (UMC) congregations over 20 years -- from 1990 to 2010 -- and paired that information with census tract data for that time frame to investigate the effect of demographic change on congregations.

The racial composition of the United States is changing, with a majority of the population to be nonwhite by 2035, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections. Congregations in this country are voluntary organizations, and their growing number, along with advances in transportation, gives people more options for where they attend. The growth also increases churches' competition to attract and keep members, researchers noted.

While neighborhoods are generally becoming more diverse, congregations are not. Only one in four American adults attends a multiracial congregation, defined as one in which no single racial or ethnic group has more than 80 percent representation.

Changing demographic conditions can threaten the survival of congregations. The number of all-white neighborhoods has fallen sharply since 1980; attendance at United Methodist churches also has declined, and Methodist churches with a higher percentage of whites have had increasingly lower average attendance over time.

"As one of the largest religious denominations in the United States, with more than 6 million U.S. members, the United Methodist Church is a wonderful test case to explore how changes in neighborhood demographics impact local congregations," said third author Todd W. Ferguson, Ph.D, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Here are the researchers' three hypotheses and findings:

* Racial uniformity inside congregations will be associated with higher attendance. Findings did not support this hypothesis. Instead, Methodist churches with more racial diversity had higher attendance.

* Neighborhood racial uniformity will be associated with higher congregational attendance. This hypothesis was supported in the study. Specifically, Methodist churches in neighborhoods in which 100 percent of residents were white had more people attending worship services than Methodist churches in racially mixed or predominantly non-white neighborhoods.

* When the racial makeup of a congregation matches that of a neighborhood, this will correspond with higher church attendance. Contradicting the hypothesis, attendance levels were highest for nonwhite Methodist churches in 100 percent white neighborhoods as well as racially diverse Methodist churches in neighborhoods with racial uniformity. The authors speculate that nonwhite or racially diverse Methodist churches may attract more participants because they offer an attractive alternative to typical white Methodist churches found in white neighborhoods.

"Our findings challenge the popular assumption of the Church Growth Movement that churches grow by focusing on a single racial or ethnic group," Marti said. "For Methodist churches, reaching across racial lines proves a better strategy for growth."

Other influences on church attendance were region of the country and population size. The study found that Methodist churches in the Midwest and West had higher attendance, as did Methodist churches in more populated neighborhoods.

"More research is needed on race and attendance over time in other denominations," Dougherty said. "Neither congregations nor neighborhoods stay the same indefinitely. Understanding how change in one impacts change in the other is a crucial task for researchers and religious leaders."

###
BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

As announced on February 17, 2021, the Carmila (Paris: CARM) Board of Directors decided to submit to the General Meeting of May 18, 2021 at 9:30 am, the payment of a dividend of 1.0 per share.

Shareholders will be offered the option to receive this dividend in shares between May 26, 2021 and June 9, 2021 (included), by submitting a request to the Companys authorized agent. Should the option not be exercised before June 9, 2021 (included), the dividend will be paid only in cash.

The new shares, if the option is exercised, will be issued at a price equal to 95% of the average closing prices quoted on the regulated market of Euronext Paris during the twenty trading days preceding the Annual General meeting, less the net amount of the dividend and rounded upward to the nearest euro cent.

The dividend ex-date will be May 24, 2021 and the record date will be May 25, 2021. For shareholders who will not opt for a payment in new shares, the dividend will be paid in cash on June 15, 2021, at the end of the option period. For shareholders who will opt for a payment in new shares, the new shares will be delivered on the same date.

INVESTOR AGENDA

22 April 2021 (after trading): First-quarter 2021 Financial Information

18 May 2021 (9:30 am Paris time): Annual General Meeting

28 July 2021 (after trading): 2021 Interim Results

29 July 2021 (2:30 p.m. Paris time): Investor and Analyst Meeting

ABOUT CARMILA

Carmila was founded by Carrefour and large institutional investors in order to develop the value of shopping centres anchored by Carrefour stores in France, Spain and Italy. As at 31 December 2020, its portfolio was valued at 6.1 billion, comprising 215 shopping centres in France, Spain and Italy, all leaders in their catchment areas. Inspired by a genuine retail culture, Carmila's teams include all of the expertise dedicated to retail attractiveness: leasing, digital marketing, specialty leasing, shopping centre management and portfolio management.

Carmila is listed on Euronext-Paris Compartment A under the symbol CARM. It benefits from the tax regime for French real estate investment trusts (SIIC). Carmila became part of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate (EMEA Region) indices on 18 September 2017.

Carmila became part of the Euronext CAC Small, CAC Mid & Small and CAC Alltradable indices on 24 September 2018.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005544/en/

INVESTOR AND ANALYST

Florence Lonis  General Secretary

florence_lonis@carmila.com

+33 6 82 80 15 64

PRESS

Morgan Lavielle - Corporate Communications Director

morgan_lavielle@carmila.com

+33 6 87 77 48 80

Source: Carmila
Effective at 7 a.m. on March 31, the Huron County Road Commission will lift its seasonal weight restrictions on county roads.

The restrictions have been in effect since the end of February and are annually put in place to protect the county roads from frost melting. As frost melts beneath a paved road, the material lying underneath the road turns wet and spongy due to water trapped between the pavement and remaining lice layer underneath.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
SOME 1,974 villages yet to get provided with electricity will be connected to the national grid in the second round of the third phase in the national rural electrification project.

Minister for Energy, Dr Medard Kalemani made the revelation recently during the project launching at Ugaka Village in Igunga District, Tabora Region.

The project will cost 1.24tri/- and will be implemented in 18 months in all the regions.

He said every district will be provided with a contractor to implement the project, so that it is completed on time, as opposed to earlier practice where a contractor was given a series of regions, thus causing delays in completion.

Dr Kalemani noted there would be no extension of time to any contractor failing to meet the deadline; instead his/her contract will be revoked or referred to court according to the law.

Elaborating, he pointed out that the residents will only pay 27,000/- as connection costs in villages and be vigilant against conmen.

"Villagers must be vigilant and be aware of conmen... there is no extra cost apart from 27,000/-. Whether it is unfaithful officials or fake technicians, who would be demanding copious amounts for the service, they (rural dwellers) should not accept," he said.

Equally, he directed contractors to introduce themselves to district and regional officials before starting any work, adding: "They must enter into agreement on the time schedule for implementation of the work in their respective areas to enable district and regional authorities to closely monitor their progress."

The Minister further said that contractors must similarly make sure that any unskilled work within their premises are assigned to the locals to enable them eke out a living and safeguard the projects.

In a related development, he asked them to construct a small power substation in Igunga District to beef up power supply in the area.

The minister held a meeting with Isanzu villagers in Nzega District, where he told them that the contractor for power distribution in the district has already been picked and would start work at any time as the funds were available.

In attendance, the Regional Commissioner Philemon Sengati asked the residents to tap the opportunity and get power connections in their homes, saying: "The government wishes to ensure all households use electricity in petty businesses for their own developments."
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.
opinion

Places have reputations. Or they have reputations imposed on them by outsiders. Bogota, the Colombian capital, is often associated with drug-related killings, as if life in the city revolves around drugs. Such reporting ignores other aspects of people's lives (economic, social, etc.). In the eyes of reporters, life in Bogota can be summed up in one word, "Crime". That is the reputation the city has developed, or has been given, or rather has been imposed on it. As a matter of fact, many mainstream media outlets do not report positive developments in Latin American countries. It was crime for many years, and now, it is Covid-19. It is the same with Africa. Take Johannesburg.

Johannesburg is presented as the epicentre of criminal activity in South Africa. It is true that crime affects the economic activities of a country, and may even touch the lives of its people. However, it doesn't mean that it paralyzes the lives of every individual in the country and should be reported ad nauseam. Or to the exclusion of other important issues. A majority of the population lives normal and peaceful lives despite the few and scattered criminal incidents reported in the media. However, according to the definition of news framed by these outlets, these unreported developments are not newsworthy.

I am not against the reporting of unique events that occur in a country. They should be reported as long as the coverage of such events is in the interests of the country. As long as such reporting does not overly focus on a particular negative event that presents a country in a bad and damaging light, it should be encouraged, especially if it helps the country to improve people's lives or help it to draw the attention of its audience to its potential.

Asmara is an example of the places linked to a single reputation - although not in a negative light. The city is portrayed as the Art Deco capital of the world. People are shown the uniqueness of its buildings, and encouraged to visit it, and enjoy the concentration of unusually high numbers of these buildings in a small area, uncommon in any other place, something the city should be proud of.

Asmara's unique buildings are part of our history, and our heritage, and we should make sure that they are passed on to the next generation intact. From titles about Asmara such as 'Asmara: Africa's Secret Modernist City' and others, and from writings limited to the discussion about these buildings, readers sometimes get the wrong impression that Asmara and Eritrea are only about Italian-designed buildings and old railway lines. While it is true that our history has influenced our present and may influence our future, we are not frozen in the past. Our life is not limited to buildings and railway carriages. Though our buildings are important, the city also has other beauties waiting to be discovered.

A good knowledge of the city and its inhabitants testifies to this fact. As one gazes from Forto, the hill on which the Ministry of Information is located, to the eastern and north-eastern parts of Asmara, Akria, Geza Banda Habesha, Via Jeddah, and Geza Banda Talian, in the distance one notices minarets rising above crowded houses. One also recognizes the Enda Mariam Church. Less than two hundred metres away is the Khulafa al- Rashideen Mosque in Central Asmara. The Evangelical Church of Eritrea, and its headquarters, are across the street from Enda Mariam, a few metres away. Asmara's Catholic Cathedral is within a walking distance from the Khulafa al-Rashideen Mosque.

In places such as Akria, Geza Banda, Edaga Hamus, and other parts of Asmara, Muslims and Christians live side by side and often in the same compound. They go to the same schools and work in the same offices. Muslims have Christian friends and vice-versa. In these areas, few families own a compound that they do not share with other families. On the contrary, many share water taps, toilets, and the common compound space, and live in peace with their neighbours. They share their happy and sad moments, celebrating and grieving together.

Eritrean Christians and Muslims have learned to stand together and stand up to their enemies. This dates back to when the colonizers tried to divide them and set them against one another. During the struggle for Eritrea's independence, Eritreans learned that their interest lay in their unity. They fought the enemies that tried to undermine their unity and subdue them. The struggle brought them closer as they shared the sacrifice they had to make for the independence of the country. It was impossible for them to see their comrades through the lenses of religion. They were more than that: comrades ready to die for their fellow citizens. Nothing could convince them that their comrades didn't have their well-being at heart, as they observed it daily.

As one moves south, one notices that the types of houses change, as villas replace the simple rectangular shaped one-story dwellings. Taller buildings, which house government offices, and commercial buildings, occupy much of the area south of Harnet Avenue. In the district between Harnet Avenue and Jelhanti and Sawa Streets (in the south), the private houses (home to single families) have green spaces, unlike the houses in the north and east. As one walks through this district, one doesn't see children playing outside in the streets, as is common in the districts north of Harnet Avenue (except in the market area of Shuq) and south of the Jelhanti and Sawa Streets. The district is a lot quieter than other districts in the city. One sees first-hand the way city districts are built affects the way its residents live. However, despite its apparent lack of warmth and individualistic way of life, the population enjoys religious and social cohesion as much as the other residents of the city.

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A majority of the population (living in the northern and southern parts) has a similar socio-economic status. A large proportion of the residents are government employees, some petty merchants, and others self-employed, running small shops and engaged in small privately-owned businesses. In short, the income of these people is in the same range, and one doesn't see a big gap between the incomes of these people. In my view, this is one of the sources of the harmony Asmarinos enjoy.

One of the things people immediately notice when they land in Asmara is the weather.

They find it to be mild and a very pleasant. Once they set foot on its streets, they also notice that it is clean, another reputation the city has earned over a long period of time. Once they stay for some time, they observe the tranquillity and safety of the city, another reputation for which the city is known, but people have not cared much to write about.
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What are you going to do different? Burge said. What are you going to do at 5 oclock in the afternoon that you didnt do at 9 oclock that morning? If you sat on there for eight years, what are you going to do different in your ninth year? If you havent brought anything to the table and you are yelling and screaming and get nothing done, who benefits from it?
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Sheriffs and police chiefs say they are seeing fewer people choose law enforcement and experiencing staff shortages after the police-custody death of George Floyd sparked weeks of protests and prompted the Colorado legislature to pass a sweeping reform bill last year.

Data from police departments in Colorados three largest cities initially paints varied pictures about the departments experiences with retention in 2020.

The Colorado Springs Police Department lost nearly 10% of its officers to resignations, early retirements and terminations in 2020, according to data provided by the agency. The El Paso County Sheriffs Office lost about 13.5% and Denver lost just over 2.5%. The Aurora Police Department had a turnover rate of nearly 20% in 2020, according to reporting by Sentinel Colorado.

But insights from agency heads reveals that officers concern about the public tone toward policing has been motivation for leaving. A recent report about a survey of the County Sheriffs of Colorado and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police showed 65% of respondents cited concerns about Senate Bill 20-217, the reform bill, and 60% cited concerns about the future of policing as reasons for officer departures. Sixteen percent cited safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our attrition rate has nearly doubled since mid 2020. There are varying reasons, but numerous exit interviews suggest that public perception and risks of civil litigation are among the top concerns, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder said in the report.

Among the most common reasons officers left the Colorado Springs Police Department were retirement, finding another job in law enforcement, not passing the academy, moving for a spouse's job or realizing "that law enforcement is not the job for them, spokeswoman Natashia Kerr said in an email, following The Gazette's request for an interview.

The increase in departures coincides with the departments goal to have 800 uniformed officers by 2022. Last year, the department hired 33 people compared with 71 in 2019 and 98 in 2018.

CSPD Chief Vince Niski previously said social unrest had hurt the departments recruitment efforts, making it more difficult to fill vacancies and to hire Black officers. He said one of the biggest challenges to attracting minority officers is "convincing their families that this is still an honorable profession" because of the national tone toward policing. The May 2020 death of Floyd, a Black man, while in custody of white Minneapolis police officers, triggered nationwide protests and calls to reform policing, especially related to race.

Among officers leaving the Denver Police Department, the agency experienced the most noticeable increase in early retirements in 2020 over 2019, according to four years of data provided by the department. The department recorded nine early retirements last year compared with three in 2019, and had 27 resignations in 2020 compared with 32 in 2019.

Although the number of officers that left the Denver force of well over 1,500 officers in 2020 is smaller than what Aurora and Colorado Springs saw, Chief Paul Pazen told the Denver Gazette last fall that officer resignations, including new recruits, jumped after May last year. According to data the department provided, seven officers resigned by the end of May, and the number had climbed to 25 by the end of October.

The Denver department also struggled with hiring in 2020, bringing on just over 40 new officers as of Dec. 31, according to data provided by the department, compared with a four-year high of 138 in 2019.

Pandemic impact

The decreases in hiring seem to be at least partially attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, data show. Denver originally planned two classes of lateral hires  veteran officers coming from other departments  and two classes of new recruits in 2020, but once the pandemic hit the department held one of each.

El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Jaqueline Reed told the Gazette that COVID-19 had the most severe impact on the agencys staffing. As the Sheriffs Office saw dozens of employees retire between March and December 2020, it were unable to hold academies to fill the positions, she said.

We do have a shortfall that we have to make up for because COVID absolutely stopped us in our tracks, Reed said. In 2021 the Sheriffs Office will hold five non-certified academies and two POST-certified academies, to help fill the shortage. To become a sworn officer in Colorado, all recruits must pass the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) exam, while jail deputies, do not.

Despite the barriers caused by COVID, Reed said staffing is always an issue. In 2019, the Sheriff's Office lost 13.7% of its staff, data show.

Sheriff Bill Elder was not available for an interview about staffing levels, Reed said.

New State Law

Mesa County Sheriff Matt Lewis, the president of the County Sheriffs of Colorado, cautioned against pinning agencies challenges with recruitment and retention last year solely on the state's reform bill. He said officers choices to leave the profession could also be due to pressure from family members because of the portrayals of policing shown on the news, a general shift in their perception of their careers because of how the profession has changed over time, and concerns about the risks of COVID-19 because of their front-line roles.

I don't want to connect that people are leaving law enforcement because Senate Bill 217 passed -- I think it's much more than that, Lewis said. I don't think you can connect it to any one single thing, nor can you put it in any one age bracket or experience bracket.

Among other changes, the law passed requires officers in Colorados local agencies and the state patrol to have body or dash cameras activated during interactions with the public or while responding to service calls. The mandate carves out a few exceptions, such as to avoid recording information not related to a case or if an officer is working undercover. The mandate goes into effect July 1, 2023.

The law also includes new reporting requirements for use-of-force incidents, officer resignations because of policy violations, contacts with residents and unannounced entries. It prohibits chokeholds by officers, limits the use of chemical agents and less-than-lethal projectiles during public demonstrations, and allows civil lawsuits against officers for violating a persons state constitutional rights.

And it creates a duty for officers to intervene when another officer uses unlawful physical force. Under the law, failure to intervene results in decertification by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.

County Sheriffs and even the most conservative state senators havent signaled intentions to significantly roll back Senate Bill 217. Instead, legislative work since the bill passed is focusing on tweaks that add definitions and clarify portions of the law.

Republican Sen. Paul Lundeen introduced Senate Bill 21-183 last week that adds language to portions of the law. Fellow Republican Sens. John Cooke and Bob Gardner, key conservative supporters of the version of Senate Bill 217 that became law last year, have also signed on as sponsors.

The bill would clarify officers duty to intervene to prevent illegal use of force by other officers. It also expands the law to include Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents in body-worn camera requirements and allows civil actions against Colorado Bureau of Investigation and state patrol officers for deprivation of rights.

It also says that any suspension or revocation of a peace officer's certification wouldn't take effect until the officer has exhausted all internal, contractual, and legal rights to review, challenge, and appeal the underlying decision.

What we're seeking, really, is clarifications to make sure that we're ... implementing it the way it was intended by the legislature, and that it's being implemented consistency consistently across the state, Lewis said. As we go through the implementation process, some things that maybe none of us considered earlier on, but are very important right now so that we can do it right.

Democratic Rep. Leslie Herod said the House has a version of a bill clarifying portions of Senate Bill 20-217 that hasnt yet been introduced. She said while it has small differences from Senate Bill 183, Herod doesnt see the Senate Republicans bill as trying to significantly roll back the reform bill. She plans to work with legislators across the aisle to get to a version of the bill they can move forward on together, she said.

We're going to work in good faith to try to get on the same page, ideally, and not have a Democrat versus Republican bill but instead have one that we can all move forward with together, Herod said. I don't see much in their bill as an attempt to roll back the work of Senate Bill 217. I do see it as providing that needed clarification.

Pazen said hed like for conversations about tweaking Senate Bill 217 to include more of a voice about what the laws impact on crime and public safety may be, but said the direct legislative work has been done for the most part by the police chief and sheriff associations.

I think that we can get there with accountability; with improving policing. We also have to realize that you have to keep our community safe and these things are not mutually exclusive.
Mexico has said for months that around 201,600 people died due to the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic. Now, it admits the number is actually 60% higher, with the government quietly publishing a report that puts the number of deaths at more than 321,000.

The report, 'Excess Mortality in Mexico,' was published Saturday by the Ministry of Health and the National Population Registry, and showed that there were 294,287 deaths linked to COVID-19 from the start of the pandemic through February 14. Since February 15 there have been an additional 26,996 test-confirmed deaths, bringing the total updated count to more than 321,000.

The higher toll would rival that of Brazil, which currently has the world's second-highest number of deaths (312,206) after the United States.

But Mexico's population of 126 million is far smaller than either of those countries. Brazil has around 211 million people and the U.S. has around 328 million people.

The Municipal Pantheon of Valle de Chalco in State of Mexico, Mexico, has a special section were COVID-19 victims are buried. A report released by the Ministry of Health and the National Population Registry on Saturday indicated that nation's coronavirus death toll by almost 60% more than the official test-confirmed number of 201,623. At least 294,287 deaths were linked to COVID-19 from the start of the pandemic through February 14

COVID-19 patients rest on March 11 at a makeshift hospital built inside the Citibanamex convention center in Mexico City. A report released by the Mexican government on Saturday showed that some 75,000 people died from the ravaging virus in just a month and a half as a second wave of the pandemic hit the country

A senior citizen is vaccinated with a dose of the CoronaVac vaccine in Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico, last Thursday

The new report also confirms just how deadly Mexico's second wave in January was. As of the end of December, excess death estimates suggested a total of about 220,000 deaths related to COVID-19 in Mexico. That number jumped by around 75,000 in just a month and a half.

Also suggestive were the overall number of 'excess deaths' since the pandemic began, around 417,000. Excess deaths are determined by comparing the deaths in a given year to those that would be expected based on data from previous years.

Mexico does little testing, and because hospitals were overwhelmed, many Mexicans died at home without getting a test. The only way to get a clear picture is to review 'excess deaths' and review death certificates.

A resident in Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico received a dose of the CoronaVac vaccine last Thursday. Mexico is third in the globe behind the United States and Brazil with 201,623

A review of death certificates found about 70.5% of the excess deaths were COVID-19 related, often because it was listed on the certificates as a suspected or contributing cause of death.

However, health experts say COVID-19 may have contributed to many of the other excess deaths because many people couldn't get treatment for other diseases because hospitals were overwhelmed.

Malaquias Lopez, a professor in public health at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), told newspaper El Universal that 'heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in Mexico. If a person did not receive adequate care or control due to Covid-19, it should be counted as a virus-related death.'

A healthcare worker strokes the forehead of a COVID-19 patient in a field hospital set up inside the Citibanamex convention center in Mexico City on March 11, the first year anniversary that the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic

A healthcare worker intubates a COVID-19 patient in a field hospital built inside the Citibanamex convention center in Mexico City

Former President Felipe Calderon, a constant critic of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, wrote in his Twitter account Saturday that 'more than 400,000 Mexicans have died, above the average for previous years ... probably the highest figure in the world.'

Neither Lopez Obrador or his deputy health minister and coronavirus czar, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, were asked about the report during Monday's press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City.

Instead, President Lopez Obrador said he was expecting to talk to his doctors soon to figure out when he can be vaccinated while thanking United States President Joe Biden for a shipment of 1.5 million doses of Aztra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine that arrived Sunday.

The Mexico City government launched an investigation in June 2020 into ten private doctors and a government official for falsifying 500 death certificates which did not list the coronavirus as the cause of death.

Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum then said that the doctors did not include COVID-19 as the primary cause of death in the documents which were released during the early months of the pandemic in the country.

For unknown reasons, the doctors were also involved in a scandal in which the death certificates were sold to third parties. At least 500 death certificates from January 2020 were reported missing in May.
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A lot of them will just find some kind of (website) host that will put up with them and take their money and then hope the media pressure dies down, which it usually does, she said. (Fuentes) will figure it out, Im sure, and Ill still pressure whatever company he decides to go with to take him down. So its cat and mouse.
Paducah Man Arrested After Shots Fired

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A report of shots fired Friday afternoon led to the arrest of a Paducah man.Paducah Police officers responded to the 2300 block of South 25th Street. Witnesses said 49-year-old Timothy Morris and another man were arguing when both of them pulled out handguns.Detectives said no one was hurt, but bullet damage was found on an apartment door. A witness reportedly told detectives that Morris was the only one that fired a gun.He was arrested a short time later at an apartment on South 4th Street and lodged in the McCracken County Jail.Morris is charged with possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, first-degree wanton endangerment, and third-degree criminal mischief.
opinion

Abuja  A functional refinery will have moderating effect on prices when Dangote's own comes on stream, argues Sadou Jattu

Since last week when the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the sum of $1.5bn for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, all hell has been

practically let loose. Well-meaning Nigerians from all walks of life have been sharing their views on the issue and many of them have neither been complimentary nor supportive of the decision. A close analysis of the reactions so far shows that only the organised labour under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress and TUC) and a few others appear supportive of the move. The media has been largely on the side of those who believe the rehabilitation is a waste of time and resources and has valiantly tried to sway the public in that direction.

A further scrutiny of the various tirades against the refinery rehabilitation project shows several strains of arguments. The first is that government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) cannot be trusted to do a good job of the rehabilitation as they have failed over the years with the various Turn-Around Maintenance which gulped billions of dollars without getting the refineries closer to optimal functional state. The second is that the refineries are too far gone on the path of dilapidation to be effectively rehabilitated, thus any amount spent on their repairs is a waste. A slight variant of this argument is that the world is on the cusp of moving away from fossil fuels which would make any investment in the rehabilitation of refineries a waste. The third argument is that borrowing money at a time of dire economic constraints like this for fix the refineries would only dig the nation deeper into the debt trap. Yet another argument is that the $1.5bn approved for the rehabilitation could actually build a new refinery and that it is a waste to spend it on an old refinery.

There are two common threads that run through these arguments - sentiments and sensationalism. These are not new elements to any discourse on the refineries.

Anyone who has been following developments in the refining sector would readily remember the loud protests that greeted the sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery by President Olusegun Obasanjo towards the end of his administration in 2007. The argument then, anchored on sentiments and propelled by sensationalism, was that our common patrimony was being sold to an individual. Ironically, most of those who were proponents of the return of the Port Harcourt Refinery to government ownership are the ones insisting now that it should be sold and not rehabilitated.

What could have been responsible for the change in position? It is possible to argue that the inability of NNPC to revamp the refinery since 2008 when the sale was reversed created disenchantment and loss of confidence in their ability to maintain and operate it profitably. But that is only one side of the story that presents a short-sighted view of the whole issue. Prior to the sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery and its eventual reversal, the maintenance of the refinery had been largely badly managed due to government interference. Reversing its sales without a significant change in terms of government interference could not bring about much change in the fortunes of the refinery. This is the foundation of the trust deficit that is driving the sentiments around the recently announced plan to rehabilitate the refinery.

But the situation today is not exactly the same as it was years ago in terms of government interference, transparency and accountability. Putting the issue of government interference in perspective recently at an interactive session with journalists, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, stated that since he assumed duty, he has never been put under pressure by the President to do anything unethical. This is easily believable considering the way he has championed the transparency and accountability drive at the NNPC. It is only someone who has no skeleton in his cupboard and who is not under pressure to do wrong things that can go about opening up his books for public scrutiny the way the Mallam Kyari-led management is currently doing at the NNPC. It is, therefore, safe to say that the NNPC of today is different from the NNPC of the past under which the refineries got to their current state. It would, therefore, not be right or fair to insist that the rehabilitation would miscarry and the fund approved for it go to waste on account of past experience.

The other argument that the refineries are too old and decrepit to be fixed is also warp logic. It is just like saying that a baby is too dirty and should be thrown away with the bath water. It is nothing but foolish sentiment to reason that way about a national asset like a refinery, which if properly managed could help drive the nation out of the current catch-22 situation where the economy is adversely affected whichever way the price of crude oil turns. It is no news that the nation is sometimes worse affected by high crude oil price as it has to import petroleum products at higher prices. The only hope of reversing that is to have a robust local refining base which can only be achieved soonest by rehabilitating the refineries.

There is nothing wrong with building new ones as some have argued. But there are two things involved - time and money. Nigeria currently does not have either as it needs to act urgently to exit the catch-22 situation it finds itself. Under the circumstances, fixing what it has appears to be to most attractive option. It is also not true that the $1.5bn approved for the rehabilitation can get Nigeria a new refinery. If in doubt, go and ask Dangote who is currently building one in the country.

The most seductive of all the arguments that have been proffered against the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery is that which has to do with the global gravitation towards renewable energy. This was essentially the argument put up by the erudite Professor Pat Utomi that since the world is going renewable with a foreseeable end for the fossil fuel age, investing $1.5bn in the rehabilitation of a refinery is a waste. As sound as this argument looks, it does not take cognizance of the fact that the situation in Nigeria, and indeed the entire sub-Sahara Africa, is a little different from the global scenario. Indeed, while the developed world is moving rapidly towards renewable energy, there is little or nothing on ground in sub-Sahara Africa that indicates that it is in that race. This reality was captured by the International Energy Agency (IEA) Outlook 2019 which predicted that demand for fossil fuels will grow in Africa by 45%. The report also showed that fossil fuels would make up 60% of the African continent's energy mix in the next 40 years. If in doubt, look up the IEA report at: https://www.iea.org/reports/africa-energy- outlook-2019. With such a projected huge market for fossil fuels on the continent, it cannot be a pragmatic step for Nigeria to abandon its refineries as is suggested by the pseudo-experts. Rather, the pragmatic step would be to position the country to take advantage of that situation by revamping its refineries to play a major role in that market.

The other argument being floated against the refinery rehabilitation is that borrowing money at a time of dire economic constraints like this to fix the refineries would only dig the nation deeper into the debt trap. This happens to be one of the many areas in which the current rehabilitation project is different from all previous attempts. Borrowing money comes with a responsibility, especially when the lending body a bank. You must be able to prove that the project for which you need the loan can generate enough money to pay back the loan. Besides this, the other advantage of external financing like the Afreximbank loan is that it will remove opacity and force efficiency that could make the refinery perform well enough to repay the loan. This tends to obviate the chance of the loan becoming a burden that could get the nation stuck in a debt trap as canvassed by critics.

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But the most compelling argument for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery at this time, which most of the experts have refused to see, is the need for an alternative to the upcoming Dangote Refinery. As good as the news of the Dangote Refinery sounds to the ear, it must be noted that it is a private sector refinery and that the owner is in business to make money. This imposes a greater responsibility on the Nigerian government to ensure that it does not create a private sector monopoly that could take advantage of the citizens. The immediate answer to this is to fix the Port Harcourt Refinery which is the largest of the government-owned refineries at 210,000 barrels per stream day capacity. It may not be as big as the Dangote Refinery, but it could go a long way in mitigating its monopolistic tendency. It is just like what the NNPC Retail is doing in the downstream sector. It may not have as many outlets as the major and independent marketers put together.

But its presence in the sector helps moderate their excesses. If there were no NNPC retail outlets, just imagine what the major and independent marketers would do with the price of petrol at times like this! Without a functional local alternative refinery, we may just be putting Nigeria and Nigerians at the mercy of Dangote!

Perhaps, the experts and critics have not thought about this. It may not be as a result of intellectual laziness. That is simply how sentiments work, it blinds even a genius to what is otherwise obvious to an ordinary man. There is, therefore, need to eschew the sentiments and sensationalism and embrace the wisdom in the Port Harcourt Refine rehabilitation project.

Sadou Jattu, an energy lawyer and public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.
A candlelight vigil was held to Stand up for AAPI lives across at least 14 different cities, including Houston, on Sunday at Houston Vineyard Church, as attendees remembered the eight people killed in a series of shootings at spas in Atlanta.

Hosted by the Asian American Christian Collaborative, Cindy Wu, lead organizer for the vigil, said the time for the AAPI community and allies to unify against anti-Asian sentiment is now. AAPI stands for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 29 - Calabria, Tuscany and Val d'Aosta on Monday joined nine other regions/autonomous provinces classed as high COVID-19 risk red zones, meaning that over half the country is currently in lockdown.

However, Lazio, the region around Rome, turns from red to medium-high risk orange on Tuesday.

In red zones, all shops selling non-essential items are closed and people are only out of of the home for work or if they have a another valid reason.

At the moment, all schools are closed in red zones too although the government has said that pupils up to the first year of middle school will be able to return to class, even in red zones, after Easter..

Premier Mario Draghi on Monday is having talks with Italy's regions and other local authorities about the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which central government is trying to ramp up. (ANSA).


Toyota presses Australia to promote roll-out of hydrogen fuel stations Toyota Australia's CEO Callachor and Manager of Future Technologies and Mobility MacLeod stand at the hydrogen refuelling site that Toyota opened at their former car plant in the Altona suburb of Melbourne

By Sonali Paul

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp on Monday opened its first commercial hydrogen fuel pump site in the Australian state of Victoria, urging the government to encourage the rollout of more sites to boost the take-up of cleaner cars.

The automaker is bringing in 20 of its Mirai hydrogen fuel cell cars to Australia in April, placing them in fleets to gain feedback on how they run. The site west of Melbourne is also its biggest globally in terms of producing, storing and dispensing hydrogen.

It is the second such fuel station in Australia after ActewAGL last week began selling hydrogen produced by France's Neoen in a trial for 20 Hyundai Nexo sport utility vehicles owned by the Australian Capital Territory government.

Fuel cell vehicles remain a niche segment globally amid concerns about a lack of fuelling stations, resale values and the risk of hydrogen explosions.

Toyota has sold some 10,000 Mirai vehicles, mostly in Japan and the United States.

"Here in Australia, refuelling infrastructure has been the biggest challenge, and still is, to introducing pioneering vehicles like the Mirai. So this is an important step forward to rectifying that," said Matthew MacLeod, Toyota Australia's manager of future technologies and mobility.

Australia is seen as a laggard in the global drive to cut carbon emissions from the transport sector, with no targets or subsidies for cleaner vehicles - even for hybrid or battery electric vehicles, in stark contrast to most other rich nations.

The government, however, projects that 26% of new vehicle sales will be electric vehicles in 2030, up from 1% in 2020.

At the site, Toyota is using rooftop solar to power an electrolyser to split water, producing 80 kilograms a day of hydrogen for the fuel pump. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency provided almost half of the funds for the A$7.4 million ($5.7 million) project.

($1 = 1.3091 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)


Robert Mokaraka

Actor Rob Mokaraka will hold a show in Warkworth to share his experience of attempted suicide in an effort to save peoples lives.

He says the aim of Shot Bro  Confessions of a Depressed Bullet is to give people the tools to address mental distress and suicidal ideation in themselves and others.

Its humorous, dark, real and educational, Rob says.

Rob, who now lives in Maungakaramea, had a very public mental breakdown in 2009.

He called police to his Point Chevalier home, tipping them off that an armed madman was behaving threateningly.

When Police arrived, Rob himself paraded a meat cleaver and provoked officers in an attempt to commit suicide.

They shot me in the chest at close range.

Rob survived the incident and has since been sharing his story of recovery. He has been touring communities in Australia and New Zealand for the last four years.

He has also presented the show to businesses ranging from Downers to his Hutt Valley Kindergarten Association. Perhaps the most important part of the show is the discussion forum held afterwards.

Rob says attendees often laugh or cry from the sense of relief they get from finding out they are not alone in their thoughts.

It helps people because they may identify with something they see in the show that encourages them to talk about their own feelings.

He says everyone is welcome to attend.

Suicide has no prejudice, and if we dont deal with it, it will sweep us off a cliff.

Rob was invited to do the show in Warkworth by Terry and Maxine Axford of the Coconut Gallery.

Their son Forrest recently rode a bicycle from Cape Reinga to Bluff to raise funds for suicide prevention efforts. Some of the money he raised will support the Warkworth show. It has also been supported by Healing Through Arts Action Trust.

It takes a village to save a village. Im just one person in this aroha machinery Rob says.

The show is at the Warkworth Town Hall on Friday, April 9, at 6.30pm.

Need help?

Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor

Lifeline  0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)

Suicide Crisis Helpline  0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)

Healthline  0800 611 116

Samaritans  0800 726 666
Growth in Parental Concerns It has been a traumatic year for children. Not only did their social lives and educational experiences change, but what they once understood as safe was ripped away from them in an instant. Its no wonder were seeing increases in anxiety, depression, and even self-harm.

Torchlight, a leading provider of employee caregiver support solutions, today announced the results of a year-long report that examines the mental health, physical health, development, and special education challenges that children of U.S. employees have faced during COVID-19. The report found that children from birth to age ten have been impacted negatively with double and triple digit rises across multiple areas, including attention, anxiety, sensory, developmental milestones, behavior, social, communication, special needs, and self-harm. The multi-phased report spans from January 1, 2020 through January 15, 2021.

The time period of the data capture compares the baseline of parental concerns before the pandemic with a full year of living under socially and physically distanced conditions. Parents with children birth to age three have reported dramatic decreases in attention span (122%), increases in sensory issues (123%), and increased challenges with social skills (48%) since the pandemic. Working parents also reported a spike in concerns with their young children's anxiety (34%), mood (29%) and communication challenges (24%). Comparatively, first through fifth grade children had the largest increase in developmental issues (262%). This increase for elementary school age children is more than 10 times that of preschool children (23%). Also troubling, parents reported a 34% increase in concerns with self-harm for this age group, and a 32% increase in physical health concerns.

It has been a traumatic year for children. Not only did their social lives and educational experiences change, but what they once understood as safe - seeing friends, hugging family members - was ripped away from them in an instant. Its no wonder were seeing increases in anxiety, depression, and even self-harm, said Gena Rotas, LICSW, a clinical social worker, specializing in working with children and families, and serving as one of the experts for Torchlights caregiver support platform.

What people may not realize is that the loss for children goes beyond an emotional and an academic one. Children have lost a tremendous amount of soft skills this year, from how to socialize and make eye contact to how to sit still for hours in a structured setting. As schools begin to fully re-open now, parents and educators cannot expect to simply pick up where they left off a year ago.

According to the CDC, nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have also reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition, including symptoms of anxiety and depression (30.9%), trauma- and stressor-related disorder (26.3%), and increased substance use (13.3%) since the start of the pandemic a year ago. Parents of young children, especially, have been challenged in the last year to balance their own mental health struggles, as well as their childrens. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, 39% of employees have left their jobs due to caregiver responsibilities, and women with children under ten are leaving the workforce more than any other cohort during the pandemic McKinsey & Companys sixth annual Women in the Workplace study found.

There is a delicate and integral relationship between an employer, an employee, and an employees child. When just one cog in the proverbial wheel shifts, the other two parties are impacted, said Adam Goldberg, CEO of Torchlight. The seismic shift imposed by the pandemic requires employers to pivot with urgency to meet the ever-evolving needs of their workforce, which in large part includes parents. This lack of agility on the employers part is one of the reasons that more than a third of employee caregivers are leaving their jobs.

Additional key findings from Torchlights study:

 Kindergarten aged children saw the sharpest rise in anxiety (40%) among young children.

 Rises in difficulties with social skills (31%), sensory issues (26%), attention (25%), IEPs (24%) and organization (23%) also were noted by parents.

 Elementary school parents also reported an increase in concerns regarding organization (49%).

Methodology

Torchlights year-long study on parental concerns regarding young childrens mental health and development is an aggregation of data analytics representing 3,839 employed U.S. caregivers of children, a subset of Torchlights total user population. Data from real-time employed parents and family caregiver interactions within the Torchlight platform yield concern indicators comparing pre-COVID-19 levels with those found in subsequent, comparable 75-day timeframes. Pre-COVID-19 is defined as January 1, 2020  March 15, 2020; Phase one from March 16, 2020  May 31, 2020; Phase two from June 1, 2020  August 15, 2020; Phase Three from August 16, 2020  November 30, 2020, Phase four from December 1, 2020  January 15, 2021.

About Torchlight

At Torchlight, we believe that caring is everyones business and caring is good business. We are the only complete caregiver support solution for employers and member organizations. We offer solutions informed by data and, thus, are built for better results. Our approach includes a user-friendly digital platform and a team of expert advisors. No matter the age, stage or concern, Torchlights decision-support tools, caregiving knowledge base, and human expertise combine to reduce stress and enhance outcomes for both families and their sponsoring organizations more cost-effectively than call center or concierge-only solutions. Because getting caregivers the right resources, in the right ways, right from the beginning should be business as usual. Learn more at http://www.torchlight.care, or email press@torchlight.care.
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Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
New Delhi, March 29 : Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal greeted people on the occasion of Holi on Monday and advised people to follow Covid norms.

Kejriwal urged all to celebrate the occasion at home, avoid public gatherings and follow norms as prescribed by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in view Covid-19 surge.

The Chief Minister had on Sunday announced that he will not be attending any public gathering on the occasion of Holi celebration, and advised Delhiites to do the same.

"Happy Holi to all the countrymen, this festival of colors brought immense happiness in the lives of all of you," Kejriwal tweets.

Kejriwal's another tweet in Punjabi language, read, "Millions of greetings to you and your family on this auspicious day of Hola Mohalla.

"Stay away from Corona and take care of yourself and your family, the Chief Minister stated.

Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal also urged people of the city to celebrate festivals at homes in view of growing Covid -19 cases in the city for the last three weeks.

"The people of Delhi are urged that in view of the Corona epidemic, these festivals should be celebrated at home and keep themselves and others safe by following the guidelines and rules for prevention of Covid," Baijal tweets.

Delhi registered 1,881 new infected cases of the coronavirus disease and 9 related deaths in the last 24 hours, which have pushed the national capital's cumulative positive cases to 6,57,715, the health department's bulletin showed till Sunday night.

Around 952 people have recovered from the viral disease and 79,936 samples were tested on Sunday.

The city has been witnessing a gradual rise in the number of Covid cases over the past few days. It recorded 1,558 cases on Saturday, while 1,534 cases on Friday, 1,515 cases on Thursday, 1,254 cases on Wednesday and 1,101 cases on Tuesday.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Syndicated from IANS
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
Heidi Ganahl is a businesswoman, entrepreneur, author and at-large member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, to which she was elected as a Republican in 2016.
COLLEGE PARK, Md., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- From healthcare to banking, the coronavirus pandemic has changed much about the way society lives and works. And some of those changes are here to stay. Experts at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business Maryland Smith explore a few of them.

"In the healthcare sector, two technologies, one old and one new, will remain sticky post-COVID: Telemedicine, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Pandemic restrictions and a growing patient volume necessitated a quick pivot from in-person healthcare visits to ones enabled by telemedicine. Now patients are more comfortable with telemedicine and providers are learning to use it more effectively. This can reduce costs, mitigate inefficiencies, and perhaps make healthcare more accessible for vulnerable and underserved populations. AI, meanwhile, may enable greater leverage of one of healthcare's scarcest resources: clinical knowledge and expertise, while supporting efficiencies and improving quality and consistency in care delivery."

Ritu Agarwal, senior associate dean, distinguished university professor, Robert H. Smith Dean's Chair of Information Systems and co-director of the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS).

"Virtual meetings are a trend  or a way of life  that is here to stay. And here's the best news: Students who have been learning online since March 2020 are better prepared than any other graduating class. They navigate online platforms with great fluency, know how to virtually present team and individual contributions, and maintain composure in the face of inevitable technology glitches. This group of students will usher in a new work/life balance paradigm, in which coming home from work is as simple as shutting the door to the home office."

Mary Beth Furst, associate clinical professor of marketing.

"Home computers are now handling a significant portion of work-related activities, and that will likely continue long beyond the pandemic. This change creates a cybersecurity challenge for organizations, which must figure out how to maintain the same level of cybersecurity in the new, varied work environment. Meeting this challenge likely means spending more on cybersecurity. Thus, organizations need an economic framework from which to answer the following question: If more spending on cybersecurity activities is required, how much more is appropriate? The Gordon-Loeb Model provides such a framework."

Lawrence A. Gordon, EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance, and creator, with Maryland Smith's Martin P. Loeb, of the Gordon-Loeb model.

"Increased use of e-bikes and scooters. People flocked to e-bikes and scooters as substitutes for public transportation during the pandemic so that they could socially distance, and the trend might well continue. Often with these services, as with any new technology, getting people started is the hard part. The COVID-era convenience trend might finally bring these services into the mainstream, like Uber and delivery services, making transportation more environmentally sustainable."

Ashish Kabra, assistant professor in decision, operations and information technologies.

"A big trend will be more food preparation and dining at home. Limited availability of dining out opportunities during the pandemic forced many people to learn how to prepare food for home consumption. Sales of cooking equipment have increased and substantial learning about how to use these appliances has occurred. This won't be forgotten once COVID-19 is in check  nor will the smaller credit card bills many are receiving, during months with fewer restaurant visits. Once COVID-19 passes, far more dining will take place at home. And who knows? Maybe we won't be afraid to invite people over for dinner rather than meeting to go out."

Charles E. Olson, professor of the practice in logistics, business and public policy.

"There's been a major shift to online and mobile banking during the pandemic  and it will stay long after the crisis recedes. Brick-and-mortar branches have been declining in numbers for years, given better security of and ease of access to online and mobile banking apps. Banks have invested heavily in this technology over the years, and it appears to be paying off as these companies look to wring as much cost out of their operations as possible by ditching high-cost branch offices."

Clifford Rossi, professor of the practice in finance.

"Artificial intelligence (AI) has been making rapid progress in the business world and society, even prior to the pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has only strengthened that trend, as companies seek to reduce human contact. Consumers also are seeking to reduce human contact, leading them to prefer doing as much business as possible online. Online business is profitable for companies only if AI can be used to handle the customer interface. That is most feasible today for standardized, routine interactions, but the pandemic provides even more incentive for companies to build AI systems that can handle more complex human interactions. The result of the pandemic will be an acceleration of the implementation of AI for customer contacts."

Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and the David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Also, executive director of the Center for Excellence in Service.

"Business communication was forever changed with the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person meetings around a conference table were flipped overnight to video screen engagement from kitchens and home offices. The ability to privately connect with a colleague as you walk down the hall vanished without warning. While we will eventually get back to in-person conference room meetings, this new way of virtually meeting is here to stay. Video meetings enable a visual communication connection that allows meeting participants to read facial expressions and reactions  things that don't always convey in phone conversations. Companies have used virtual meetings for groups in the past, but the COVID-19 era has brought virtual meetings to the personal one-on-one meeting level."

Christine M. Schaaf, marketing lecturer.

"It's the final nail in the coffin for the antiquated idea that employees are more productive in-person than remote. Office space in many metro areas has become prohibitively expensive. Even before the pandemic, several large employers in the D.C. region were downsizing offices and telling employees to expect more remote work. This trend will happily also require a shift toward evaluating the quality of employee output, rather than the quantity of hours spent in cubicles. In retrospect, it's odd that anyone ever thought that the benefit of seeing coworkers' faces in 3D instead of 2D would justify requiring people to dress in a suit, drive 40 minutes in traffic, pack and reheat their own food, and use public restrooms all day. What's 'productive' about that?"

Nick Seybert, associate professor of accounting and information assurance.

"The 'order online and in-store/curbside pickup' model, which became prevalent during the pandemic, will continue its prominence long into the future. Retailers have ramped up their e-commerce capabilities in response to surging online demand. The challenge they face is how to deliver the enormous amount of online orders to consumers' homes, the so-called last mile of e-commerce. Many have turned to offering free in-store/curbside pickup as a way to flatten the shipping curve and shorten the gap between ordering and receiving products. This strategy is especially effective for brick-and-mortar retailers who are looking to scale up e-commerce, because they can utilize existing stores as fulfillment centers. As consumers' demand for online shopping continues to grow beyond the pandemic, this fulfillment model is also likely to become more popular."

Jie Zhang, the Harvey Sanders Fellow of Retail Management and professor of marketing.

Visit Smith Brain Trust for related content at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/faculty-research/smithbraintrust and follow on Twitter @SmithBrainTrust.

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

Contact: Greg Muraski at [email protected] or 301-892-0973

SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

Related Links

http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu


Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 08:34:45|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 27, 2021 shows an empty street in Madrid, Spain. Under the threat of a fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic, and in anticipation of greater mobility of citizens during Holy Week, the government and the autonomous communities have agreed to establish a series of restrictions from March 26 to April 9. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)
As he takes office this month, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is facing no shortage of challenges and controversies. Perhaps the most fraught will be enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Intended to prevent sex discrimination in education, the law has in recent years become the focus of a heated political battle over sexual harassment on college campuses and a legal minefield for schools and students. Now President Joe Biden has a chance to make things better  not by reverting to Obama-era rules, but by revisiting basic principles.

In 2011, attempting to crack down on sexual misconduct on college campuses, President Barack Obamas administration issued guidance that required schools to overhaul how they dealt with such cases. The new rules, though well-intended, laid out opaque procedures for adjudicating cases and established a low standard for guilt. Any deviation from the guidance could result in federal probes or the loss of millions of dollars in funding.

Although they had no particular aptitude for this assignment, colleges and universities nonetheless responded by investigating complicated sexual-assault allegations  in many cases involving alcohol and conflicting testimony  with little regard for legal norms or the rights of the accused.

This approach satisfied no one. Alleged victims said that schools failed to investigate their claims professionally. Defendants said that their rights were violated and that accusers got multiple chances to press the same claims. Lawsuits and charges of racial bias proliferated. In an Orwellian touch, faculty members who raised questions about the process saw their own careers imperiled.

Theres no question that the system failed to uphold due process. Accused students were routinely denied the right to examine evidence, receive written notice of the charges against them, or cross-examine witnesses. Even some previously exonerated defendants found themselves expelled. In one case, a former student was later found guilty of assault in absentia, with the judgment upending his career  even after local prosecutors declined to press charges. He later settled a lawsuit with the school and was cleared of wrongdoing.

Last May, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced new guidance that attempted to impose order on this system. It narrowed the definition of sexual misconduct, granted accused students the right to a representative who could cross-examine accusers in a formal proceeding, gave both sides equal access to evidence and legal counsel if requested, and provided for adjudication by a jury-like panel, instead of a single administrator. It wasnt perfect, but it was progress.

Recently, President Biden issued an executive order directing Cardona to review these reforms. Thats needed, but overturning them would be a mistake. Leaving them in place would be better than simply reverting to the pre-DeVos rules. Better still would be an effort to get colleges entirely out of the business of investigating and adjudicating criminal misconduct. Even with better rules in place, bureaucratic star chambers simply arent capable of delivering justice in such cases. Thats a job for the police and the courts.

In many cases, victims understandably dont want to endure the harsh realities of the American legal system, especially under traumatic circumstances. Thats a good argument for criminal-justice reform  not for creating quasi-judicial proceedings overseen by unqualified administrators. A better approach would be to create regional partnerships between prosecutors offices and universities that can ensure victims are treated sensitively and given appropriate support while still adhering to norms of due process and professional investigation.

College students deserve a better and more just system, and the Biden administration should undertake to create it  not by reviving what didnt work, but by rethinking what will.

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, and served as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013.
Dubai-based Al Futtaim Engineering & Technologies, a part of Al Futtaim Group, said it has reached an agreement with LG Electronics Gulf for distribution of the Korean companys range of commercial air conditioners across the UAE.

A leading provider of engineering and systems integration solutions, Al Futtaim Engineering & Technologies said as per the agreement, it will be handling LGEs complete range of commercial air conditioners 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, said the statement from Al Futtaim.

The products are highly efficient and provide reliable solutions that are built on a solid foundation of global R&D and advanced manufacturing capabilities, it added.

On the deal, Murali S, the 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," stated Murali.

"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," he added.

Hongju Jeon, the President of LG Electronics Gulf, 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," he stated.

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, he added.
New genetic analysis and years of painstaking research has revealed that one of the world's most endangered marine mammals is actually two species rather than one, as scientists had long assumed.

Scientists spent about two decades crossing Asia and Europe in pursuit of river dolphins skulls and reexamining tissue samples with modern genetic techniques. Their findings revealed that Indus and Ganges river dolphins are separate species, according to a new study published in Marine Mammal Science.

The two dolphins that live in the muddy waters of the Ganges and Indus rivers have lost their eyesight and rely on sophisticated sonar to hunt for prey. The new research recognized that the dolphins have clear genetic differences, as well as different numbers of teeth, coloration, growth patterns and skull shapes. Together, these differences distinguish them as separate species.

"The genetic tools we have today help us extract new information from samples collected years ago," said Eric Archer, leader of the Marine Mammal Genetics Program at NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center. The analysis of the river dolphin genetics included tissue samples from the Science Center's Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Research Tissue Collection, the largest of its kind in the world. Archer added: "Without collections such as this and those at other museums around the world, it would be impossible to identify difficult to study species such as these dolphins."

An estimated several thousand Ganges river dolphins live in the rivers of Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, but their numbers and range are thought to be declining. Indus river dolphins have increased in number from about 1,200 in 2001 to almost 2,000 in 2017. This increase reflects dedicated conservation efforts by local communities and the provincial and national government authorities that oversee their management.

Some scientists suggested as early as the 1970s that the two dolphins were separate species. However, the findings were dismissed until the new analysis proved the original indications were accurate. The revelation is one of many recent genetic studies that have revealed new information about marine mammal populations around the world. Other recent discoveries include a new subspecies of fin whale in the Pacific Ocean and a new and critically endangered whale species in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Recognizing the species-level differences between Indus and Ganges river dolphins is extremely important, as only a few thousand individual dolphins of each species remain," said Gill Braulik of the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St. Andrews, who led the study. "My hope is that our findings will bring much-needed attention to these remarkable animals, helping to prevent them sliding towards extinction."

"Serious challenges still face this incredible species and all other river dolphin populations, but we can save them," said Uzma Kahn, Asia Coordinator of the WWF River Dolphin Initiative. "By doing so we'll save so much more, since hundreds of millions of people and countless other species depend on the health" of similar rivers around the world.

###

The research reflected long-term collaboration between:
Thiruvananthapuram, March 29 : Continuing his stock statement, ever since the beginning of the Assembly elections campaign, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday reiterated that the close relationship between the Congress-led UDF and BJP in the state has now become an overt relationship.

Kerala goes to polls on April 6 to elect its 140 legisaltors. The counting will be held on May 2.

"Gone are the days of the erstwhile covert deal known as Co-Le- B (Congress, League and the BJP) which was there in the yesteryears, today the pact between them is out in the open and that's what we have heard from one of the BJP leaders Suresh Gopi, who is also a candidate in the Assembly polls, saying that since they do not have their candidate at Guruvayoor- the Indian Union Muslim League candidate should win, likewise in Thalassery in Kannur also they do not have their candidate and hence A.N.Shamsheer (CPI-M) should be defeated," Vijayan told the media at Kannur.

Last week the BJP-led NDA got a shocker when the nomination papers of two BJP candidates at Guruvayoor and Thalassery and the their ally- AIADMK candidate at Deviculam was rejected on technical grounds, making the electoral battle in these three constituencies a straight fight between the Left and the Congress.

"In hindsight if we now see all the things that has taken place, it's become evident that the deal between the BJP and the Congress was fixed some time back. You would all remember that the Congress never ever said a word when Kerala was not given the sanction to receive funds from abroad when the state suffered the worst ever floods in 2018," said Vijayan.

"Moreover, of late there has been a dent in the federal structure of governance, where it should be a strong Centre and a happy State. But if we look into what's happening is central sponsored schemes share has been sliced by 15 per cent and it started in 2015-16. What the Congress should realise is it's not gratis of the Centre, but the state's right. Likewise, despite pleas, there was no special package for Kerala after the floods hit. When all this happened, the Congress never ever spoke a word against the Centre," said Vijayan.

Each time Vijayan meets the media, he has been harping on this and dismissing all this as humbug of Vijayan, the Congress top brass has been countering it by saying it's Vijayan who has struck a deal with the BJP.

"The SNC Lavalin case in which Vijayan's fate is hanging fire in the past few years at the Supreme Court has been postponed 26 times. Just look at the speed at which the gold smuggling and dollar cases was investigated by the various central agencies and when the probe reached the office of Vijayan, everything has come to a standstill. The people of Kerala know who is having what sort of relationship with the BJP, as it's Congress which is fighting the BJP all over India, while the CPI-M is there only in Kerala," said senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
SAN ANTONIO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After 40 years of service, Southwest General Hospital is recommitting itself to the health of generations to come with a new vision, a new name, and a new program that seeks to take a leadership role in reducing health care disparities for the communities the hospital serves.

"This is much more than a new name for a hospital," said Jon Turton, President of Texas Vista Medical Center. "With support from Steward Health Care, the largest private, physician-owned hospital system in the United States, we intend to expand our scope and scale to bring the highest quality health care close to home for the people we serve."

Turton announced the launch of the hospital's new Healthy Horizons program, created to actively address the disproportionate health disparities in south Bexar County. The program will promote new models of health equity through health screenings, partnerships with key community partners like the San Antonio Food Bank, and activities designed to promote healthy lifestyles. As part of its commitment, Turton said over the past year the hospital has recruited a range of new physicians; expanded partnerships with Children's Hospital of San Antonio; is serving as clinical teaching partner for the University of the Incarnate Word's School of Medicine and nursing, pharmacy and psychiatry program; and is actively working with The Center for Health Care Services and the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, among others.

"As a physician-owned, professionally managed hospital, a key part of our commitment is to advance the community conversation on health equity," Turton said. "We need to work collaboratively with community partners on closing the gaps in health disparities."

Since 2017, Texas Vista Medical Center has been part of Steward Health Care, the nation's largest private, physician-owned health care network, serving more than 12 million patients a year through its extensive network of hospitals, urgent care centers, skilled nursing facilities and substantial behavioral health services.

"Steward Health Care and our entire physician-led business model exists to unlock access to the highest-quality care at an affordable price, believing that everyone  regardless of economic or other circumstances  deserves the physical, emotional and mental benefits that come from ongoing and personal medical services," said Dr. Sanjay Shetty, president of Steward North America. "With its launch of the Healthy Horizons program, Texas Vista Medical Center is the epitome of what are building at Steward and the mission lived daily by our more than 40,000 health care professionals across the country."

San Antonio City Councilwoman Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia, who serves the district where Texas Vista Medical Center is located, said the hospital's new mission and vision is welcomed news for the community.

"Strengthening health equity is not just a noble thing to do, it is truly a calling for those in health care," Dr. Garcia said. "I applaud the commitment from Steward Health Care, Texas Vista Medical Center, and the health care heroes and caregivers who step up every day to make sure all of us have the opportunity to live our best lives."

For more information on Texas Vista Medical Center and the new Healthy Horizons program, visit: www.TexasVistaMedicalCenter.org.

About Steward Health Care

Steward Health Care is the largest private, for-profit health care network in the United States. The company is owned and led by a management team of Steward physicians.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Steward employs more than 40,000 health care professionals and operates 35 hospitals across the United States and in the countries of Malta and Colombia which regularly receive top awards for quality and safety. The Steward network includes multiple urgent care centers and skilled nursing facilities, substantial behavioral health services, more than 7,000 beds under management, and approximately 2.2 million full risk covered lives through the company's managed care and health insurance services.

The Steward Health Care Network includes more than 5,000 physicians across 800 communities who help to provide more than 12 million patient encounters annually. Steward Medical Group, the company's employed physician group, provides more than six million patient encounters per year. The Steward Hospital Group operates hospitals in Malta, Colombia and nine states across the U.S., including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah. For more information, visit www.steward.org.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southwest-general-hospital-to-become-texas-vista-medical-center-301257518.html

SOURCE Steward Health Care

Life can change in an instant, as I experienced when I first laid my eyes on a tall and bizarrely striking bird known as the greater adjutant.

It was India in 2018, in the northeastern state of Assam. Id ended up there partly because of absurd circumstances, which involved being filmed for a reality television pilot while navigating a motorized rickshaw through the Himalayas. After traversing some of the highest and most dangerous roads in the world, including the Tanglang La mountain pass, I ventured off to see a traditional selection of endangered animals: Asian elephants, greater one-horned rhinos, western hoolock gibbons.

While en route to Guwahati, Assams capital, I saw a five-foot-tall bird towering near the roadside. I was so taken by its appearance that I asked the driver to pull over so I could have a better look. It had piercing blue eyes, an elongated electric-yellow neck, a wobbly, inflatable neck pouch, long legs that moved with a stiff military gait, and spindly black hairs atop its (mostly bald) prehistoric-looking head. Little did I know that this outlandish animal  also endangered, though not famously so  would change the course of my professional life.
Gods been preparing us for this: Pastor, wife awaiting birth of conjoined twins

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Just a few weeks from the expected date of delivery, an Alabama pastor and his wife, who's pregnant with conjoined twins who have separate hearts but shared liver, say God has ... been preparing them for this.

Dwight Castle, pastor of missions at Redeemer Community Church in Avondale, and his wife, Stephanie, who are already raising three small children  two sons, ages 6 and 3, and a 2-year-old daughter  learned that their eight-week ultrasound report showed twin baby girls connected at their chest, down to their belly buttons.

Just before the test, Stephanie told the technician she had a dream the previous night that she was having conjoined twins. The couple have named the girls Susannah Jane and Elizabeth Florence.

I think in a lot of ways, God has sort of been preparing us for this for a while, AL.com quoted Pastor Castle as saying. Weve grown certainly in awareness of how challenging its going to be and knowing we probably dont know the half of it. But we have an increasing faith in the Lord that He is so clearly over this and providing for us.

We were on the fence about whether to go for a fourth child. We had a lot of different things we had walked through in the prior years that had been difficult with our family growth and planning, Dwight recalled. We had a miscarriage. We had some infertility. We were foster parents, and we had some hard, difficult foster situations. But we said, OK, lets try for four, and then we found out we had five. That was very overwhelming.

The pastor told WKRG they will leave for Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, which has a reputation for working with conjoined twins, in less than two weeks for the delivery process.

Dwight and Steph are navigating hundreds of logistics as they prepare to welcome Susannah and Elizabeth, many of which will come with a heavy financial expense, reads an online fundraiser launched for the couple. Our hope is to raise funds to support them now through the babies' recoveries. Beyond the medical bills, they will have living expenses for 6+ months in Philadelphia, travel expenses, child care needs for their three big kids, and much more.

Doctors earlier suspected that Elizabeth had a major heart defect. However, the Philadelphia hospital told the Castles that while her heart wasn't formed in a way that is normal for most, they don't presently see any functional issue.

Its an anatomical anomaly  they had to go look in a 1970s textbook to identify what this was because hes only seen one other time in his career and that was 30 or 40 years ago, Dwight shared. That was a huge answer to prayer for us and they gave us the news that they believed they were separable and would like to do that.

Conjoined twins are born just once in about every 60,000 births, and roughly 70% of them are female, and most of them are stillborn, according to the Philadelphia hospital.

The Castles say they are leaning on the prayers of Gods people and are trusting Him for every provision in this incredible journey, according to the fundraiser.
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Maya Rudolph returned to host an episode of "Saturday Night Live" that frequently referenced her tenure on the show, featuring a monologue full of advice to newer "SNL" cast members and ending with a parody of "The Shining" about her everlasting presence in Studio 8H.

Rudolph also reprised multiple roles, including her Beyonce Knowles-Carter - who swung by the YouTube interview show "Hot Ones" despite not knowing if the hot sauce-fueled antics would be "beneath me" - as well as her Vice President Kamala Harris. As Harris, Rudolph hosted a Passover Seder alongside fellow "SNL" alum Martin Short, playing first gentleman Doug Emhoff.

During "A Kamala D. Harris Unity Seder," she would ask four questions: "How's school? Did you eat? When are you giving me grandchildren? And, what's with that haircut?" In the spirit of the holiday, Rudolph's Harris continued, she had reached across the aisle and invited several Republicans to the Seder - starting "at the bottom," with Aidy Bryant's Ted Cruz.

"I've never been to a Jewish dinner so I brought some Israeli flag cupcakes, and I got a ton of these leftover from CPAC. And I've got some pigs in a blanket," Bryant's Cruz said. He then went on to blame his daughters for another personal mishap - this time, scratching Emhoff's Prius on the driveway - and claimed, "It wasn't me. My only crime is loving too much, and sedition."

Next up was Chloe Fineman's Ella Emhoff - "You may think I look insane, but I assure you I'm the most normal-looking girl in Bushwick," she said after entering to her own theme music - followed by Kenan Thompson's Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

"You saw 'Roots,' right? That's how it's going in Georgia," he said, adding of the new voting law dramatically curtailing voting access: "They'll do everything they can to keep Black people from voting. We wouldn't vote on anything if they had their way. Not even 'American Idol.'"

Alex Moffat, who took over as President Biden when Jim Carrey left the role, showed up to reflect on his first news conference: "I wasn't nearly prepared enough, but I think I proved them all wrong," he said, looking down at a note card. "Kamala, I'm not sure if you heard, but I'm putting you in charge of solving a little immigration problem down at the border."

"Thank you for the opportunity," she responded. "Such a fun, solvable problem."

Moffat's Biden brought along his retrained dog, Major, who attacked Short's Emhoff until being "spooked" by someone else. It turned out to be Cecily Strong's Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who climbed through the window into what she called the "antifa headquarters."

"Ever since Jan. 6, I've only been entering buildings insurrection style," she explained.

When Rudolph's Harris worried her Seder wasn't actually bringing people together, Short's Emhoff quoted "Dayenu": "It would have been enough. And if you're just Vice President -"

"Oh no," she cut him off, "that won't be enough."

During her monologue, Rudolph noted how happy she was to "be here in the place that I love ... especially after a year that has been, shall we say, a real kick in the clam." She recalled working alongside Rachel Dratch, who later appeared as herself in a taped sketch titled "The Maya-ing: A Stanley Kubrick Film" about Rudolph's "SNL" memories. Tina Fey also appeared as the ghost of an alum named Gloria Zelwig, "the first one to have the idea that maybe women could talk."

One of the episode's most memorable moments, however, didn't involve Rudolph but cast member Bowen Yang. He appeared during "Weekend Update" to urge everyone to "do more" to combat anti-Asian racism, folding in a clever critique of performative activism by sharing pretend social media posts, like one encouraging people to tell their Asian American and Pacific Islander friends they're hot.

On a more serious note, Yang added: "I can't address any of this without bringing up class, or gender, or imperialism. I don't even want to be doing this 'Update' piece. I wanted to do my character, gay Passover bunny, but it's too smart for the show."

"Look, I'm just a comedian, I don't have the answers, but I'm not just looking for them online - I'm looking around me," Yang continued. "The GoFundMe for Xiao Zhen Xie, the grandmother who fought back against her attacker, raised $900,000, which she immediately gave back to the community. That's where we are as Asians. Now come meet us there."
Job losses, a chronic pipeline capacity shortage, a "bill for spills", and a carbon tax - these are just some of the problems that the Canadian energy industry is wrestling with right now and are likely to continue wrestling with for the observable future. While some of these problems are shared by much of the global oil industry, some are uniquely Canadian and make the industry's future quite murky.

Those pesky pipelines

Canadian crude oil exports by rail to its main client, the United States, have been on a substantial rise in recent months because pipelines remain in short supply. An expansion of Line 3 - one of the main oil arteries between Canada and the U.S. is in progress, facing opposition at every step. Line 5 - another big export channel - recently faced its biggest challenge when Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered a shutdown of the infrastructure citing repeated violations of the easement and the need to protect the Great Lakes.

For now, work on Like 3 is ongoing, and Enbridge is suing Michigan for the suspension order, which it said was unlawful. Meanwhile, three other states have stepped into the dispute to defend the pipeline. The attorney generals of Ohio, Louisiana, and Indiana recently filed a request for amici status - where a party uninvolved in a case helps the court with information or insight into the issue at stake. In it, the Ohio official said there are few alternatives to Line 5, and shutting it down would hurt not just Ohio but whole regions in the Midwest. There also seem to be few alternatives to suing. In fact, according to energy consultant Adrian Travis, CEO of Canada-based Trindent Consulting, besides litigation, the only two options Canada's oil industry has in the Line 5 dispute are arbitration, based on a 1977 bilateral agreement that prohibits pipeline interference, and retaliation, by making it "prohibitively expensive for Michigan residents to heat their homes due to Governor Whitmer's decisions."

Related: Oil Tanker Rates Surge As Suez Canal Blockage Continues

The latter option may sound like a radical move, but the saga with Line 5, while not as dramatic or long-running as that of Dakota Access or Keystone XL, has substantially contributed to the uncertainty that Canadian oil is facing and it really doesn't need any more of that now. Besides, Travis says, Governor Whitmer's actions are indeed hurting Michigan residentssomething supported by recent testimony in the Michigan Congress.

"It's no surprise that Michigan Governor Whitmer has timed her closure of the pipeline for May, because the pipeline feeds 55% of Michigan's propane supply for winter heating," Travis told Oilprice. "She is in all likelihood anticipating that the Trudeau government will stand by and will not respond with serious trade retaliation focused on the State of Michigan."

Jobs on the line

The pipeline shortage has made it much costlier than before to export crude to the United States, but until the Trans Mountain expansion is finished - if it doesn't encounter a terminal obstacle - Canadian oil companies have virtually no exposure to the global oil market. This is costing the industry jobs indirectly, as it makes Canadian crude uncompetitive on the biggest - and liveliest - oil market in the world, Asia.

The two last oil price crises have cost the Canadian oil industry 26 percent of its workforce, according to the Petroleum Labour Market Information division of Energy Safety Canada. More job losses are anticipated this year and next before some semblance of an improvement begins to emerge.

For one thing, Canadian crude continues to trade at a deep discount to West Texas Intermediate because of the pipeline troubles and global demand trends. More headwinds are coming for the industry, too, in the form of a carbon tax that the Supreme Court of Canada recently upheld, following challenges to its legitimacy by Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

Related: Houthi Rebels Launch Missile Attack On Saudi Oil Terminal

Canada's oil province has argued against a carbon tax for a while. Still, it may now be forced to implement the federal rule, making life harder for its oil companies. These, by the way, are consolidating at a record pace, which is also costing jobs. Since the start of this year alone, mergers and acquisitions in the Canada oil patch hit a record $18 billion, and more are coming.

Regulatory quagmire

Canada's regulatory regime for the energy industry has become notorious in recent years as one of the main reasons, according to critics, for the state that the industry has found itself in: a tough regulatory environment does not just make everything harder and slower; it significantly discourages foreign investment, which is vital in times of crisis.

"Drilling new wells takes up to 12 months for pre-drilling regulatory and permitting," Trindent's Travis told Oilprice.com. "Drilling and completion typically takes another 3-6 months. Our energy services industry has been decimated since 2014, and is ill-equipped to respond if future capacity is needed."

Then there is additional regulation coming under the federal clean fuel standards, which will increase an already substantial reporting and compliance burden placed on the oil industry. And as if domestic problems are not enough, two U.S. Congressmen earlier this month introduced a so-called "bill for spills" that could slap an excise tax on Canadian crude oil. The bill, if passed, would reverse an IRS ruling from 2011 that found Canadian heavy oil was not technically crude oil, so it could not be taxed as such.

Things are not looking up for the Canadian oil industry. Some might say the less oil the country produces, the better, but it needs to be noted that the oil produced in Canada is the main heavy oil feedstock for numerous U.S. refineries. An uncertain future for Canadian oil would inevitably affect U.S. prices at the pump years - if not decades - before prices at the pump stop mattering because most people would drive EVs.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Belgrade Theatre has revealed plans to reopen in line with step three of the Government's roadmap from May 2021.

The venue will open on 17 May 2021 with the rescheduled tour of April in Paris starring Joe Pasquale and Sarah Earnshaw. John Godber's play will then embark on a UK tour after opening at the Belgrade.

The venue will present a variety of music, comedy and theatre including The Comedy of Errors and Elton John-inspired piece I'm Still Standing. An autumn season of non-socially distanced work from 1 September will be announced on 1 June.

Digital offerings will also continue with a variety of productions for online audiences including Jabala and the Jinn, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Private Peaceful and the MT Festival UK. The UK Asian Film Festival will also be hosted at the venue with five films being available to socially distanced viewers in the B2 auditorium.

The Belgrade Theatre will be a vital part of the upcoming Coventry City of Culture programme, as previously revealed. The venue will co-produce a variety of new writing plays with Paines Plough at their fabled Roundabout venue.

Balisha Karra will direct Coventry based playwright Frankie Meredith's May Queen, and the other plays that will be played in repertory throughout the festival are Hungry by Chris Bush, Really Big and Really Loud by Phoebe Eclair-Powell and Black Love by Chinonyerem Odimba, with music by Ben and Max Ringham.

The theatre will co-produce film SeaView with Strictly Arts Theatre Company and Belgrade Film and Digital Ltd. A supernatural drama focussed on working-class communities, release date and further details are to be revealed.

For those after a bite to eat, the theatre has also installed a brand-new upstairs Cafe Bar Nineteen 58, as well as a newly refurbished downstairs Belgrade Cafe.

From 12 April, the venue will also be selling locally sourced food and drink for patrons to take away and enjoy on tables outside the theatre on Belgrade Square.

Executive director Joanna Reid said: "The whole team can't wait to reopen on 17 May and to welcome shows and audiences back into our two auditoria as soon as possible. We are delighted that we are launching a tour of April in Paris on Monday 17 May and are continuing to work to secure more shows during May to August. We're excited that we've been able to complete our 2020 Redevelopment in time for City of Culture despite the challenges posed by both the pandemic and Brexit. We hope to see you back at the Belgrade soon!"

Councillor David Welsh, from Coventry City Council, said: "There has been so much work happening throughout the Covid outbreak to improve facilities at the Belgrade Theatre and I am really pleased that they can now take the first tentative steps by announcing what future productions they will be able to host. I want to thank all those involved for the hard work they have put into getting the Belgrade Theatre ready, and I wish the theatre every success."
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said he expected a reopening of economies across the EU and a boom in domestic spending. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Economic supports to business owners and workers must continue even after the Covid-19 pandemic abates, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said.

Mr Donohoe said little over a year ago nobody in the EU would have imagined a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic. But equally they could not have imagined the co-ordinated economic response of the entire European Union and especially the European Central Bank.

The Finance Minister said the incomes of 21.5 million employees and 5 million self-employed people in 18 EU countries had been safeguarded over the past year of the pandemic  amounting to a quarter of all workers.

Read More

These are not abstract big numbers. These are real people, real workers and real businesses, Mr Donohoe said.

The Finance Minister said he expected a reopening of economies across the European Union in the coming months, resulting in a boom in domestic spending, in part fuelled by huge domestic savings due to the virus.

But he said national governments and the EU must ensure that this boom is sustained by continued supports and corrective measures. He said the 19 nations that use the EU single currency, the euro, are committed to such policies later this year and into 2022.

In simple terms we have reaffirmed that there will be no sudden withdrawal of budgetary supports, Mr Donohoe told an online seminar organised by the European Movement (EM).

Mr Donohoe told EM chairman, Maurice Pratt, that he first took up the job as Eurogroup president in July last year for a two-and-a-half year term. He said the demands of contact with the other 18 member governments and the heads of the EU were very time-consuming  but also proved very helpful in maximising information for Irelands economic responses to the Covid-19 crisis.

The Finance Minister said the virus had hit the core of how the EU works because it hampered its interconnectedness and interdependence by seriously hindering the human contacts which kept the project alive.

Mr Donohoe also said that the EUs public health functions must be prepared to deal with future pandemics. We need to be better prepared and equipped for diseases that within the space of weeks, even within the space of days, can change our societies, the Minister said.

CEO of EM Ireland, Noelle OConnell, who hosted this event, said Covid-19 and Brexit had delivered huge shocks to the EU and posed huge future challenges.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has described the use of surplus Covid-19 vaccines at Beacon hospital as unacceptable and repugnant.

The Taoiseach was speaking at a press conference this afternoon for the publication of the 'Our Rural Future' rural development policy.

Mr Martin described the vaccination scandal, which saw CEO Michael Cullen organise that spare injections be given to some of the staff of a private school in Bray where his children are pupils, as completely unacceptable.

It emerged on Friday that the hospital had given 20 vaccines to teachers from the private school.

Read More

What happened there was unacceptable. Ive condemned it and in my view very, very wrong, just completely unacceptable.

Its repugnant to people that something like that would happen and thats why the administration of the vaccines there has been suspended, he said.

Mr Martin added that the prioritisation of the vaccine rollout remains with the most vulnerable people in the country.

The vaccines belong to the people of Ireland.

The prioritisation to date has been the most vulnerable in terms of senior citizens, both residents and nursing homes, in terms of frontline healthcare workers, in terms of those with underlying health conditions, he said.

Mr Martin confirmed that the HSE is overseeing an examination of what happened.

He added that there have been clear protocols laid down in terms of prioritisation and the manner in which surplus vaccines are to be used.

It comes as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly directed the HSE to suspend vaccine operations at the Beacon on Saturday after revelations that leftover jabs were given to teachers at the school came to light

Sources said the Government had already applied significant political pressure on the Beacon Clinic and on a practical level has removed the Covid-19 vaccination facility from there as soon as scheduled vaccinations take place.

Read More








New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has announced his nomination of Tracy Thompson as insurance fraud prosecutor.

Thompson has led the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor in an acting capacity since March 2018. Her nomination, which will be formally submitted during the next Senate quorum, will go to the state Senate for their advice and consent.

Thompson has served as acting insurance fraud prosecutor since March 2018 when she was appointed by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. In this position, Thompson supervises a staff of 100 who investigate and prosecute all types of insurance fraud, including health care, auto, Medicaid, disability and workers compensation. This office also coordinates the anti-fraud activities of the state and local investigating agencies and prosecutors.

She has worked for the Attorney Generals office for 20 years, having served as counsel to the director of the Division of Criminal Justice and deputy attorney general in the Division of Criminal Justice.

Thompson has served in several capacities in the Department of Law & Public Safety, including as deputy director of the Office of Government Integrity, chief counsel for the Bureau of Fiscal Oversight, special assistant to the director of the Division of Criminal Justice and in the Financial Crimes Unit.

Thompson has also served as chair of the New Jersey Human Trafficking Task Force, where she represented the attorney general and worked with the National District Attorneys Associations Human Trafficking Working Group. She also served as faculty to the National Attorneys General Trial & Research Institute and the NJ Attorney Generals Advocacy Institute.

Prior to her service with the Attorney Generals office, Thompson was an assistant prosecutor in the Mercer County Prosecutors Office. During her nine year tenure at the Mercer County Prosecutors Office, Thompson headed the Domestic Violence Unit and prosecuted child abuse, sexual assault, arson and narcotics cases.

Source: State of New Jersey Office of Governor Phil Murphy

Topics Fraud New Jersey
When Emilie Villaverde became aware of the March 16 spa shooting in Atlanta that left eight people deadincluding six Asian womenshe immediately wanted to work even harder to bring awareness to her community.

I am so full of emotion, said Villaverde, a senior majoring in communications and psychology and president of the Filipino Student Association (FSA). Bao Duong [president of the Asian American Student Association (AASA)] and I have been working very hard these last couple of weeks, and to see it all being showcased is a really good feeling.

On Saturday, AASA and the FSA hosted Culture Showcase for a Change to not only share the beauty of Asian cultures with the University community, but to raise awareness of the issues the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community face. Lauren Colaco, AASA vice president, and Tram Huynh, a member of FSA, were the masters of ceremonies for the evening celebration.

Because the AASA had its annual Lunar New Year celebration postponed earlier this semester attributable to a rise in COVID-19 cases, Duong and Villaverde decided it was important to merge that event with one that would raise awareness of the recent anti-Asian hatred that their community has been facing since the start of the pandemic.

President Julio Frenk and Patricia A. Whitely, senior vice president for student affairs, both attended the event to reaffirm their commitment to the AAPI community on campus. Each offered opening remarks.

President Frenk and Whitely, senior vice president for student affairs, offered remarks during Saturday's event.

Tonight, we want to shine a light on our AAPI community and the incredible talent that they contribute to the University and the fact that we all stand with them, said Frenk. When we stand together, Hurricanes are unstoppable.

I am deeply saddened by the continuous acts of violence against members of our AAPI community, said Whitely. You are a valuable member of our community and make our U a wonderful place.

Several dozen students and faculty and staff members gathered on the Lakeside Patio of the Coral Gables Campus to show their support for the Asian community.

With all the recent cases being reported, we felt like we needed something for the soulsomething to help with the healing process, said Huynh, a junior studying biochemistry and psychology from Vietnam. Im also glad that the people here today are not just Asian. In the audience, we have people from the Black community, the Latino, the white, and so much more, everyone is here to enjoy the Asian culture.

Colaco, a junior majoring in biology and psychology from Tampa, said seeing leadership present meant a great deal to both student groups.

Their acknowledgment that this is a hate crime means a lot, she said. This is a deep, systemic problem that is going on and Im so glad that they showed up for us.

Landon Coles, Student Government president-elect, also attended the event to show his support.

This event was so timely to support our Asian student communities, Coles said. This showcase of culture is so important to raise awareness and increase cultural sensitivity and we must remain vigilant in supporting our Asian student communities all day, every day.

Speakers included Joshua Ho of the Miami-Dade County Asian American Advisory Board and Winnie Tang from the Organization of Chinese AssociationAsian Pacific American Advocates South Florida, each took to the stage to call for change. The gathering also included vocal performances and traditional dances.

The group encouraged participants to donate to Hate is a Virus, a nonprofit organization that is fighting against xenophobia and racism in the United States. It also handed out a guide filled with local and national resources to audience members. The event lasted about two hours.

In continuation of the efforts being made by the University of Miami community to keep raising awareness of the issues the Asian community is facing, on Wednesday, March 31 at 7 p.m., a Courageous Conversations series event will be hosted by the Office of the President and Student Government. The online event, #StopAsianHate: Raising Awareness and Building Community, is designed to foster inclusion and belonging by providing members of the University community the platform to voice their perspectives. Register here.

As Texas was crippled last month by frigid temperatures that killed more than 100 people and triggered widespread blackouts, drilling companies in the states largest oil field were forced to burn off an extraordinary amount of natural gas  on the worst day, an amount that could have powered tens of thousands of homes for at least a year.

The need to intentionally burn off, or flare, an estimated 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas in a single day  a fivefold increase from rates seen before the crisis, according to satellite analysis  came as the states power plants went offline and pipelines froze, so the wells simply had no place to send the natural gas still streaming out of the ground. As a result, the gas had to be set ablaze, fueling towering flames, the highest of which can reach hundreds of feet into the air.

This is clearly one of the highest spikes in flaring ever observed in the Permian Basin, said Mark Omara, a senior researcher at the Environmental Defense Fund who led the analysis, which was based on satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And it could be an underestimate, he said.

The trends were corroborated by Mikhail Zhizhin, a researcher at the Colorado School of Mines, who pioneered the use of satellite observations to measure flaring. There were some uncertainties and limitations to using satellite data, he said: Clouds could obscure the view, for example, and smaller flares, or ones that are lit only for shorter periods of time, could be missed. And calculating volumes of gas needed to be calibrated for specific oil fields.

Still, These are obvious outliers, he said of the flaring volumes seen during the blackout. Its a sizable event.

The findings are the latest example of the consequences of the Texas crisis that are only now becoming clearer. Far more people died in the winter storm  at least 111 people lost their lives, nearly double an earlier estimate  state officials said Thursday. They also underscore the risks of the states heavy reliance on natural gas to generate power, even as some fossil-fuel advocates misleadingly tried to blame frozen wind turbines for the blackouts.

Natural gas was once hailed as a bridge toward renewable forms of energy such as wind or solar, because gas burns more cleanly than oil coal. But in recent years, researchers and environmental groups have raised growing concerns over the climate-change consequences of turning to natural gas.

Flaring is one reason. Burning off unused gas instead of capturing it not only wastes a valuable energy source, it emits carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is the main contributor to climate change.

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.

Many producers in the Permian drill primarily for oil, not natural gas, and therefore simply flare off much of the gas that comes up alongside the oil because they deem it not worth the effort or expense to capture and sell. And the accuracy of flare volume data, which is self-reported by operators, has been difficult to assess.

It is also quite likely that methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure are vastly underestimated, studies have shown, further eroding gass advantage over dirtier-burning coal in the fight against climate change. Methane, the main component in natural gas, is many times more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere. However, all of this also makes reducing emissions from oil and gas production potentially one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to slow the rate of global warming, scientists say.

The Biden administration has made addressing flaring and venting, as well as methane leaks, a priority. One of President Joe Bidens first executive orders committed to reinstating and expanding regulations that the Trump administration had moved to roll back.

Senate Democrats also plan to use an obscure legislative measure to reinstate Obama-era methane rules. Senate Democrats have also introduced a bill that would impose a fee on methane emissions from oil and gas production that also presses companies to eliminate venting and flaring.

Whats not acceptable is to continue to allow this industry to dump millions of cubic feet of toxic natural gas into our atmosphere for free, as if it was their dump, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., one of the bills sponsors, said.

A separate study on emissions trends during the coronavirus pandemic by scientists at the Environmental Defense Fund, Harvard University, and other research institutions, to be published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics in the coming weeks, shows how even a relatively small decline in production could yield substantial emissions reductions.

The researchers, who measured methane emissions using ground, aerial and satellite measurements, found that a 10% slowdown in Permian production during the pandemic resulted in a far bigger, 60% drop in emissions.

The reason for the disproportionate drop, researchers say, is that producers in the Permian have historically produced more gas than the regions facilities can manage, straining the system and resulting in the highest emissions observed from any oil and gas basin in the United States. But a comparatively small drop was enough to relieve that pressure.

It shows that if we reduce production, there are opportunities to reduce emissions even further, said Mary Kang, an assistant professor at McGill University who researches emissions from oil and gas production and was one of the studys co-authors. Its a positive finding.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Bratislava, March 29 : Slovakian Prime Minister Igor Matovic made a surprise announcement that he was resigning and would swap roles with Finance Minister Eduard Heger, paving the way out of a government crisis.

The change at the head of government was announced jointly here on Sunday after consultations between the party leaders of three of the four coalition parties, reports dpa news agency.

Heger, who belongs to Matovic's party Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO), announced talks with all coalition partners and said he would meet with President Zuzana Caputova on Monday.

The President officially nominates the Prime Minister, according to the country's Constitution.

The approval of the liberal party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) was still outstanding in the evening.

Its leader, Richard Sulik, resigned as Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister on March 23.

The three other governing parties have a slim parliamentary majority even without SaS.

The four-party coalition had fallen into a serious crisis over a dispute regarding its coronavirus policy.

Six of the 16 government members resigned within a matter of days.

The smaller coalition partners SaS and Za Ludi (For the People) blamed Matovic for the high number of coronavirus fatalities in the country and accused him of arrogance.

Another point of contention was that Matovic ordered doses of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V against a decision of his own government, and personally picked them up at the airport.

Critics in the coalition however said the main problem was not the vaccine but Matovic's "intolerable governing style".

A week ago, Matovic already offered to resign under certain conditions, including that all his critics in the coalition should leave government.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, March 29 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greeted people on the occasion of Holi on Monday, and urged the nation to adhere to the Covid norms.

Rahul tweeted: "Our country is full of festivals and best wishes for Holi to each one of you. Follow the Covid-19 guidelines and be safe." Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill, who had posted video of him celebrating Holi with his family, tweeted: "Laughter, joy, colours - festival of Holi teaches us about importance of most vital elements of life. Play a "Covid safe" Holi with your loved ones." Congress General Secretary Organisation tweeted: "Let the colours of Holi bring you joy, peace and prosperity. Wishing you all a Happy Holi!" The whole nation is celebrating Holi with Covid guidelines being enforced at various places in the country.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021

-- Syndicated from IANS
India and the United States have agreed to revamp their strategic energy partnership to focus on greater collaboration in cleaner energy sectors such as biofuels, and hydrogen production, an Indian government said in a statement on Monday.

The statement was issued after a virtual meeting of Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. The two countries will intensify efforts to take advantage of advanced U.S. technologies and India's rapidly growing energy market, it said.

The United States overtook Saudi Arabia as India's second biggest oil supplier after Iraq last month.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by David Evans)
GREENWICH, Conn., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlas Holdings LLC ("Atlas") today announced the first and final close of its fourth private equity investment fund, Atlas Capital Resources IV LP ("ACR IV"). Atlas began fundraising in November 2020 and closed ACR IV at its hard cap of $3.1 billion. As of the closing, Atlas manages more than $6.0 billion of capital.

Atlas focuses on control investments in companies experiencing financial or operational stress. In both robust and challenging points in the business cycle, Atlas has demonstrated the ability to identify compelling investment opportunities, surround its companies with great talent, management teams and operational resources and facilitate the transformation of underperforming operations to create value. The multifaceted human and operational challenges caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic illustrated Atlas' distinctive capabilities, honed over several decades. Not only did Atlas' existing portfolio companies perform well amidst unprecedented economic headwinds but Atlas also completed several strategic acquisitions, effectively doubling the total workforce of its companies around the globe to more than 40,000. The Atlas team's deep-rooted experience operating in industries facing distress  and the ability to nimbly complete diligence and to execute in a highly disrupted environment  enabled Atlas to accelerate its growth during this challenging period.

"Atlas has established a well-defined and highly differentiated approach to both investing capital and supporting our existing businesses. That approach has remained constant for decades and has enabled our private equity funds to systematically deliver value to our investors. We are extremely grateful for the continued strong support from our long-standing institutional partners as well as the tremendous demand from a large group of new partners from across the globe," said Andrew Bursky, Atlas' Co-Founder and Managing Partner.

Atlas partners include global foundations, endowment funds, public and private pension funds and family offices.

"When we started Atlas, we never anticipated that it would become what it is today, and we are extremely humbled by the confidence in our team that this fund represents," said Tim Fazio Atlas' Co-Founder and Managing Partner. "Raising a fund nearly double the size of our last is not simply a recognition of our track record as investors and operators. It is an affirmation of the extraordinary people across the world that have consistently put us in a position to win."

"As we look ahead, ACR IV will allow our exceptional team to take the next step in Atlas' evolution and seize exciting new opportunities. While we have grown and will continue to do so, we will stay true to our roots, investing in sectors where we have developed expertise and partnering with our Leadership Teams to create great businesses over the long term," said Atlas Managing Partner Jacob Hudson.

Capstone Partners served as exclusive placement agent for ACR IV and Proskauer Rose LLP provided legal counsel.

About Atlas Holdings LLC

Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut and founded in 2002, Atlas and its affiliates own and operate 23 platform companies which employ approximately 40,000 associates across more than 250 facilities worldwide. Atlas operates in sectors such as aluminum processing, automotive, building materials, capital equipment, construction services, food manufacturing and distribution, packaging, paper, power generation, printing, pulp, supply chain management and wood products. Atlas' companies together generate approximately $10 billion in revenues annually.

For additional information, please visit: www.atlasholdingsllc.com

For Information Contact:

David Filippelli

[email protected]

SOURCE Atlas Holdings LLC

Related Links

http://www.atlasholdingsllc.com


Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 23:54:05|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's State Emergency Commission is supporting the health ministry's proposal to impose a strict 14-day lockdown starting on Saturday here in the country's capital to curb a resurging wave of COVID-19 infections.

The decision will be presented at a regular cabinet meeting later this week, the commission said on Monday.

The Asian country has registered a record high of 575 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, and 400 of them were detected in Ulan Bator, the National Center for Communicable Diseases said in a statement on Monday.

Daily infections in the country have stood at over 300 recently, mostly in Ulan Bator, home to over half of the country's population of 3.3 million.

So far, the country has recorded 7,589 COVID-19 cases, with 10 deaths, and around 6,300 of the confirmed cases were reported in the capital city. Enditem
One of the Commonwealth Banks top bankers says businesses can probably survive Brisbanes three-day lockdown, but with JobKeeper now withdrawn, longer shutdowns pose a bigger economic threat.

As the federal government and banks remove key planks of economic support, CBAs head of business banking Mike Vacy-Lyle said business clients had told the bank they were getting better at coping with COVID lockdowns.

CBA group executive for business banking, Mike Vacy-Lyle: You can probably survive a three-day lockdown but when it comes to three months, its a different story. Credit:Renee Nowytarger

A lot of businesses have sort of accepted that this whack-a-mole approach is going to be the new norm for COVID, he said in an interview.

I think businesses have pivoted to the extent that they can. But having said that, its a setback, its not good, he said of the Brisbane lockdown, announced by the Queensland government on Monday.


Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Polarcus Limited (in provisional liquidation) (Polarcus or the Company) (OSE: PLCS) refers to the announcement issued on 11 March 2021 (Polarcus: Share Suspension) that the Joint Provisional Liquidators (JPLs) to the Company were required to submit a report to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (Court) by no later than 31 March 2021.

The JPLs first report has now been filed at the Court. The report summarises the work undertaken since the JPLs appointment on 8 February 2021, provides an estimated financial position of the Company and its subsidiaries, and provides comments on further work to be undertaken by the Company and the JPLs in the near term.

The JPLs priority is on completing its negotiations with certain secured creditors, and in so doing seeking to maximise returns for the Company's creditors as a whole. In due course, and with the benefit of knowing whether agreements can be reached with these secured creditors, the JPLs expect to assess the appropriate next steps for the Company, including whether to seek to have the Company placed into official liquidation and have an official liquidator appointed.

In the circumstances, the Company maintains its assessment that it is appropriate at this time for trading in the Polarcus share to be suspended. Further, the Company will not release a financial report for Q4, 2020.

The Company will issue a further announcement in due course so as to keep stakeholders appraised of the Company's position, and as otherwise required in accordance with the Companys continuing obligations.

Contacts

Lisa Rickelton, Joint Provisional Liquidator, as agent

Polarcus@fticonsulting.com





This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Monday COVID-19 Coverage: CPS reports more than half of all staff members have been vaccinated
I was a lazy natural for most of my life. I had natural hair but I never took care of it in the way I should have.

I slicked it back in tight  albeit very cute  top buns, laid down my edges and kept it moving.

Then, I discovered a natural hair stylist on Instagram who changed my outlook. She was active on the platform every day, often giving hair care advice, and spoke directly to my concerns. Within a few weeks, I was sold and ready to book an appointment.

Not every social media interaction is like that, but it's what every brand wants. To draw its target audience in, create content that resonates with them and build a connection, i.e.: social media presence.

Let's dive into what social media presence is and how to build it.

What is social media presence? Social media presence refers to the visibility a brand has on social media platforms and the connection it builds with its community. The stronger your presence, the more trust you can build with your audience before developing a direct relationship beyond this marketing channel.

For brands, there's no single metric tied to social media presence. However, it can translate to a high engagement rate, a growing brand awareness, and a positive brand perception.

Krystal Wu, social media community manager at HubSpot, highlights that visibility and presence are different.

"A social media channel has no presence if there is no audience who values it. Use social media to listen, monitor, and analyze your audience behavior," said Wu. "That information will allow you to gain consumer feedback, improve new or existing relationships, and expand your brand's social presence."

So, while visibility comes with having a strong presence, it's not the measure of success  resonance is.

Importance of Social Media Presence

Having a social media presence goes beyond having a profile with content. It means creating content tailored to the interests and needs of your target audience.

Doing so builds trust, and once you have that, you're one step closer to earning your audience's business.

Having a strong social media presence also allows you to better understand your audience.

"While there are a ton of growth 'hacks' to boost a brand's social presence, I think the greatest value goes back to knowing your audience," said Ariel Boswell, social media analyst at HubSpot. "The ability to know your audience so deeply to where you understand what captivates their attention and pair that with content that provides value in that moment is a recipe for success."

Connecting with your community on this level helps you get to the core of their needs so you can better serve them with your product or service.

How To Increase Social Media Presence

1. Engage your audience.

Social media is arguably the closest contact you have with consumers on a regular basis. Within a few hours after publishing, you can gauge your audience's response and learn something new with every post.

Take it one step further by creating opportunities for your followers to connect with your brand on a deeper level. This can be inviting them to participate in discussions in the comment section, answering fun "This or That" quizzes, creating polls, answering Q&As and doing live videos.

You can gain invaluable insight into your audience's likes, dislikes, challenges and concerns through these activities. This will then arm you to create targeted campaigns that convert.

2. Manage your community.

Having a social media account without community management is like having a car that is always nearing empty (a.k.a my car in college). You won't make it very far.

Community management is a major driver in building your social media presence. In fact, Wu says it's fundamental to a brand's growth, its image, and social success.

"Being proactive by reaching out to other brands, fans, customers and followers in similar industries really helps build that community around your brand," said Wu. "People start to recognize the name, the types of conversations that brand is having and its level of knowledge in that specific market."

This aspect of social media management requires brands to be proactive and seek out conversations that will draw audiences in.

Think of it like going to a party. You showed up, but now you'll have to talk to a few people and start making some friends.

"Without doing these proactive pushes, just putting a brand on social and not tying in the community efforts won't get it very far," Wu added. "Community management is the center of the customer journey, like the flywheel model, crafting the relationship between the brand and customer."

3. Stay active and be consistent.

Have you ever scrolled past a brand and done a double take, and thought "Oh you! I forgot you even existed." No brand wants that kind of reaction.

Social media is a game of visibility and with brands. It's often out of sight, out of mind, so it's crucial that you are active on your social media platforms and post consistently.

Many brands start off strong, posting everyday and then less and less until they're only posting once in a while.

"Success doesn't usually happen on your first, second or even third try. Social media is playing the long game and once brands realize that it doesn't usually blow up overnight, that's when consistency comes into play," said Wu. "In social, you need to test, experiment, analyze, and even take risks to learn what strategy your brand should move forward with to connect and build an audience."

If you find yourself running out of content or ideas, start with a lower posting cadence and limit the platforms on which you are active. It's also helpful to plan out your content at least a month ahead of time and have your creative assets ready so that you're never left scrambling.

4. Understand that it's a long game.

A lot of the mistakes brands make on social media stem from a desire to grow quickly.

You get impatient and want to generate results fast. So, you might try the social version of get-rich-quick schemes to build your following. However, those strategies are only valuable on the surface.

But you soon realize that they don't actually bring you closer to meeting your goals and connecting with your audience.

"Don't take the 'easy' way out by paying for views and followers," Wu said, "because you'll eventually run into a wall where you have this audience but no engagement, no one converting or signing up for your content."

Organic growth is the most authentic and effective way of building a sustainable presence. Why? Because you'll be getting real data from your target audience and that will help you tailor your approach to serve them better.

5. Stick to your brand voice and aesthetic.

Consistency isn't only about your posting schedule, it also encompasses your brand as a whole.

Your brand identity should be the same across all marketing channels. It can be confusing for consumers to understand your brand if its messaging and identity seems to switch from one day to the next. How can your audience connect to something they can't figure out?

So, once you design your brand strategy, make sure it aligns with your social media strategy.

6. Track your competitors.

Your competitors are like your neighbors. It's fine to be a little nosy and see what they're up to from time to time.

"When I think of conducting a competitive analysis I go in with the expectation to be both challenged and inspired," said Boswell. "The biggest thing you should look for when evaluating a competitor's social media presence is how they are positioning themselves in the market and how shared or overlapped audiences are perceiving their efforts."

While it's good to be aware of your competitive landscape, Boswell emphasizes that it shouldn't influence your entire social strategy. What works well for one brand may not be suitable for yours, so be selective about what ideas you're adapting.

7. Leverage trends and buzzy content.

Trends make social media go round.

Every few weeks or even days, there's a new trend making its way around platforms like Twitter and TikTok. Brands often ask themselves two questions: "Should we join in on this? " and "How do we make this our own? "

Trends can boost your brand awareness and help you generate bursts of traffic. It's an opportunity to think outside of the box and join in on something you already know your audience will enjoy.

When in doubt, always refer back to your brand strategy. Is this in alignment with your overall brand identity and messaging? If not, treat it like a school dance you're chaperoning and sit it out.

8. Adjust your posts based on current events.

These days, consumers hold brands to a higher standard.

Companies are expected to be more vocal about social issues and be more transparent on their stance. This approach should also be reflected in your social media strategy during times of social unrest, cultural events and news.

Sometimes, it can be as simple as not posting anything for the day and pausing paid social ads. In other cases, it can require releasing a statement.

In any case, you have to be flexible and work quickly to determine how to proceed.

9. Invest in high-quality creative assets.

Social media is one of the main sources of brand discovery.

Your target persona is scrolling through Instagram, your post shows up and it garners their interest. What's one of the first things they'll do? Visit your profile.

You often only have a few seconds to make an impression on a potential customer and you don't want them turned away because of bad content. This can include low-quality images, copy with grammar mistakes and use of non branded content.

Your social media profile tells a story, so make sure it's the one you want to tell.

10. Listen to your audience and adjust as needed.

Social monitoring and listening can be your cheat sheet to success on social media.

They give you insight into not only your industry and competitors but also how your audience is perceiving your brand. Using that as leverage to inform your brand strategy can make you stand out among your competitors.

"Where we once used to live in the marketing age of brand innovation, we now live in a consumer first era. This is an exciting time, particularly on social media where brands have a direct line of communication with their audience," said Boswell. "Brands that not only actively engage with but seek to deeply understand their audience are winning at social."

Not sure where to start? Begin by searching topics relating to your brand and seeing how audiences are responding to it. Then, search your company name and see what's the general sentiment surrounding your brand.

11. Optimize your profiles for SEO.

As mentioned before, social media has made it easier than ever to discover new brands. But just because it's easier, doesn't mean there's no work to do on your end.

When thinking of SEO, it's easy to assume it's website optimization. However, you'll also want to optimize your social profiles to make it easier for your target audience to find you.

One of the easiest ways to optimize your posts is with hashtags. Beyond that, you'll also want to optimize your bio page in a few ways:

Include a few keywords (identified through social media tools) in your company description bio.

Have working links that lead your followers to other channels, like your website or YouTube channel.

Use the same profile image and handle on all social media platforms.

12. Own your mistakes.

If you're posting regularly on social media, you're bound to make a mistake. Not to mention, the landscape itself is always changing and evolving.

Whether it's trying a strategy that didn't quite work out or writing copy that was misunderstood by your audience, it's a normal part of growing your social media presence. Wu says that it's an opportunity to discover areas for improvement.

"Strategies in social are built by experimentation and taking chances to find what fits and what doesn't. If you found out that you've made a mistake, own up to it, learn from it and evolve into something better."

It's OK to make mistakes, as long as you take note of the experience and use that to inform your next course of action.

13. Treat each platform as its own.

What works on one platform won't necessarily work on another.

One thing you may be tempted to do with social media is duplicate your own content. There's an important difference to note between repurposing and duplicating.

The former refreshes the content to extend its value while the latter keeps it the same, simply transferring it to another platform.

When duplicating your content, you run the risk of missing the mark with your audience. While they may love your videos on YouTube, they may not like them on TikTok, as the context is different.

With this in mind, be sure to customize your approach to the platform you're posting on.

14. Balance promotion and adding value.

There's a time to promote your product or service, and a time to add value. Find the right balance and you're golden.

Most users don't go on social media to see ads. Social media is usually a place to be entertained, whether that's through funny videos or informative threads.

While a certain amount of promotion is expected, you'll quickly lose your audience if the only thing you push is product. You'll have to balance this with content they can relate to.

Once you've earned their trust and gained credibility, they'll be more open to trying your product or service.

15.Use tools to publish, monitor and track posts.

Social media is not a set-it-and-forget-it marketing play  it requires constant monitoring.

This is where social media tools come in handy. Software like Content Studio and Later allow you to schedule your posts on various platforms, track your analytics and competitors, conduct audits, and get data-driven recommendations for future posts.

Social media tools become indispensable when building a sustainable presence, especially as you scale your business.

16. Prioritize accessibility.

When it comes to accessibility online, the progress on social media is slow moving.

Things like captions and alt text may seem superfluous, but they actually hold more weight than you may think. Accessible social content:

Makes it easier for deaf, hard of hearing and visually impaired people to engage with your content.

Helps you reach audiences who may not be native speakers of your language.

As you reach users who may have otherwise not had access to your content, you can grow your brand awareness and generate more engagement.

17. Let the data guide you.

Analytics aren't just there to tell you how your posts are currently forming, they're also meant to inform your future ones.

To grow your social presence, you'll have to understand not only what is performing well but also why.

"Seek to understand what captivates and engages your audience depending on where they are in their lifecycle," said Boswell. "This can be auditing historic posts to establish quantitative performance benchmarks or looking at qualitative data to understand what types of content, topics, or media formats resonate best."

You can start finding those answers in your analytics dashboard. As you track your posts' performance, you will start to notice trends and can use them to guide your strategy.

18. Invest in the right platforms.

It's easy to assume that you should be visible everywhere to increase your social media presence. However, if your audience doesn't live on certain platforms, it's a waste of time and resources.

That's why you should do some research to narrow down exactly where your audience is, so you can meet them where they are. You can find this information through surveys, interviews, competitors, and perusing the platforms.

19. Leverage user-generated content (UGC).

Your own content can only take you so far on social media. The great thing is, you can reach audiences beyond your community through influencers, partners and your own followers.

Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to attract an audience that falls within your target market but may be currently out of reach.

What's more, influencers and UGC come with social proof, which sets up a solid foundation on which to build your relationship with newcomers. It's like your friend introducing you to their friend. You already trust them so naturally, there's some built-in trust with the person they're introducing you to.

20. Promote your social accounts on other platforms.

You've got awesome social media accounts. So, you'll want to make sure your audience can find them.

For instance, you might have a dedicated list of subscribers who may not yet follow you on social media. As such, be sure to include links to your social platforms across all channels  both digital and offline.

This includes the following:

Business cards

Emails

Website

YouTube videos and your channel homepage

21. Embrace new features.

In recent months, Twitter introduced "Twitter Spaces," YouTube released a new feature called "Shorts" and Instagram launched "Guides."

Social media platforms come out with new features all the time, and brands are often apprehensive to try them. However, don't be afraid to be an early adopter.

"Social media is an ever changing space, every few months there's a new feature, placement, or algorithm change," said Boswell. "Always test assumptions and keep an eye on your performance metrics to see how these changes impact your strategy and be prepared to pivot."

Boswell adds that you should be open to these new additions while still investing in strategies your audience already responds well to.

Companies With the Best Social Media Presence

There are countless companies who are building strong communities on social media  here are a few of them.

1. Night Owl Cookies

This local Miami cookie shop has audience engagement on lock.

Given the nature of the industry, visual content is crucial to this brand's success on social media. As such, they deliver high-quality images that definitely catch your attention.

Night Owl Cookies is mostly active on Instagram, posting almost everyday. The brand engages its audience with delicious pictures of fresh cookies, funny memes, and fun copy. They also host giveaways on a regular basis, which is a great way to expand their reach.

2. Fanm Djanm

Fanm Djanm is a lifestyle brand whose identity is rooted in the concept of strength, femininity and self-love. The brand keeps this messaging consistent in every post and on every social platform.

They say love makes you do crazy things, but maybe what they really mean is that when you love radically & when you have radical self-love ... you become fearless 



It is a bold act to love, period 



What is love to you? pic.twitter.com/gjgPG49rfP  Fanm Djanm (@FanmDjanm) February 14, 2021

Despite having a strong base on Instagram, the brand is also highly active on Twitter as well as Pinterest where they garner 2.5 million monthly views.

3. Robert Half

Being a staffing firm, Robert Half targets both businesses and job-seeking individuals.

The brand's social team has struck the right balance by creating valuable content for both audiences.

Job seekers can find discussions surrounding pressing topics like salary negotiation and interview prep. Hiring managers can learn about everything from employee retention to hiring mistakes.

On top of that, the brand is constantly engaging its audience with thoughtful questions and polls that give them an insight into their needs, interests and pain points.

4. Valence Community

As we've covered in the previous section, social media requires businesses to pinpoint what content their audiences want and deliver it. Constantly promoting products or services just won't work  Valence Community gets that.

The brand's social platform reflects the audience it wants to reach. Valence Community also tailors its content to match the platform. While its Instagram page is filled with inspirational and motivational content, its Twitter page highlights its added value resources, like events and webinars.

Building your social media presence is always a work in progress but at the root of it, it's all about staying in tune with your audience.
You should never smile at a crocodile but trying to steal his lunch might be an even worse idea.

Tourists on a river cruise in the Northern Territory in Australia have captured the moment two hungry crocs squared off over a tasty feed.

A three-metre crocodile named Turbo was swimming close to the boat on the Adelaide river on Wednesday, March 24.

A tour operator from the Queen Jumping Crocodile Tour was dangling a piece of meat attached to a rope and a pole when the feeding display took a sudden turn.

A five-and-a-half metre crocodile named Nifty suddenly burst from the murky waters with his jaws wide open snapping at the other beast.

A river cruise took a horrific turn after tourists witnessed the moment two crocodiles attacked each other on the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory

The powerful Nifty flipped Turbo on his back and clamped down on his stomach, viciously flinging him around.

Skipper Steven Pitkin, said the ambush was a surprise for everyone on board as 'we didn't know Nifty was in the area.'

'Turbo has had a hard life. When he was about 1m back in early 2000 he had to be rescued after some fisherman had tried to capture him and put zip ties around his jaw,' he told NT News.

'Very sad, but little Turbo is a fighter and even showed up that afternoon with a few battle scars but still alive.

Mr Pitkin revealed that Nifty has a reputation for attacking other crocodiles.

'Nifty is a big bully, knows he's a big boss, and it's not the first time he's thrown another croc around.'

The powerful Nifty flipped Turbo on his back and clamped down on his stomach, viciously flinging him around

WA tourist Emilia Hemsley, who also filmed the shocking attack, said she was lucky to get the fight in action.

'This encounter was with one of the first crocodiles we saw on the tour,' Ms Hemsley said.

Ms Hemsley confirmed Turbo was able to escape and swim away after the attack.
The Labour Party has called on Bank of Ireland to reconsider its plans to close branches in Kilcullen and Monasterevin.

Senator Mark Wall said this move will be a blow to both towns and will cause problems for business and for the most vulnerable in both communities.

A petition signed by hundreds of people compiled by Kildare South Labour Party petition was handed over to Labour Finance Spokesperson, Deputy Ged Nash who presented it to CEO of Bank of Ireland Francesca McDonagh during a virtual meeting.

Senator Wall said: There is a lot of worry in both towns about these proposed closures. Time and time again in responses and comments to the survey, comments such as this will affect my business and my ability to carry out cash transactions, this will affect my elderly mother, father and is not right. Not everybody is in a position to travel to another town were amongst the most common replies.

These closures will be a blow to both towns, we have asked Bank of Ireland for these closures to be paused at a minimum, there is no doubt from our petition that this will cause problems for Business and for the most vulnerable in both communities."

The politician urged Bank of Ireland to revisit its decision, which it said "is a regressive step" for these towns.

Senator Wall added: "We must fight these closures and we will continue to highlight the very valid issues in our petition.
A few days later, a confession-drama was staged just to pacify and calm down the Sikh community; the RA&W was the director of that drama. A person was presented before the media who confessed his involvement in the massacre.

by Ali Sukhanver

That was 20th of March 2000 when some groups of peaceful and innocent Sikhs were celebrating the Hola Mahalla festival with their relatives in the Chittisinghpora village of Anantnag district of IIOK. Suddenly two military vehicles arrived there and within no time they all were surrounded by dozens of Indian army personnel. They ordered them to line up and turn their faces to the wall of a Gurdwara. Within seconds the bullets fired by the Indian army personnel tore their bodies apart. As per tradition the Indian government put the whole blame on Pakistan and as well as on the Kashmiri militant groups struggling for the independence of their territory.

It was officially stated that the men dressed up in Indian army uniform did not belong to the Indian army; they were the Mujahedeens. According to different media reports after this brutal massacre hundreds of Kashmiri Sikhs gathered in Jammu and raised slogans against this cruel military action. Instead of holding some inquiry and looking into the matter, the Indian government exerted all its force in proving that it was all done by Pakistans supported Mujahedeen.

To prove governments baseless stance, five days after the massacre, in another incident the Indian army stopped and killed five Kashmiris near Anantnag, claiming they were the Pakistani perpetrators of the Chittisinghpora massacre. This incident added more oil to the already blazing fire of hatred. An uncontrollable wave of agitation engulfed the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir. The government had to start official inquiry of the second incident also.

That inquiry revealed that the five persons killed by the security personnel were all local villagers with no relation with the massacre. However these two episodes of the massacre proved eye-opener to the Sikh community which was earlier misguided by the notion that the Sikhs had nothing to do with the warlike situation in Jammu and Kashmir as it was the result of conflict between the Muslims and the Hindus but the Hindu extremists taught them they were wrong.

A few days later, a confession-drama was staged just to pacify and calm down the Sikh community; the RA&W was the director of that drama. A person was presented before the media who confessed his involvement in the massacre. His name was Suhail Malik and he allegedly belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba. A senior journalist of The New York Times Barry Bearak openly expressed his doubts regarding the authenticity of his confession. He said that confessions made in custody of the security forces have no legal value. Madeleine Albright, the first female United States Secretary of State in U.S. history penned down a book titled The Mighty and the Almighty somewhere in 2006. In that book she also she accused "Hindu Militants" of perpetrating that massacre. It is also a point to be noted that these two incidents took place at the time when President Bill Clinton was on his official visit to India. The horrible massacre was planned just to give President Clinton a fake impression that India was facing lot of troubles because of Pakistans supported militant organizations. Luckily that mumbo-jumbo tale of Pakistans adventures could not convince the US President. The end of this whole story proved more depressing and disappointing to the Indian planners when the matter was brought to a court of Delhi where Suhail Malik was acquitted of the charges levied upon him.

However some paid-sections of the Indian media tried all their best to keep the matter alive by criticizing courts decision through their fake and false reporting. This false and baseless propaganda move didnt stop even after the acquittal of Suhail Malik till the year 2017 when Lt. Gen. (R) KS Gill turned the whole table upside down in an interview to Sikh News Express. He was a member of the team investigating the massacre. Journalist Jasneet Singh was the interviewer. Gen. Gill told the Sikh News Express that the Indian Army was involved in the massacre and the report had been submitted to L.K.Advani who was the Home Minister then.

The army was guilty, not the commanders, but till the Captain level. When Jasneet Singh asked: was there any action if the army was involved, Gen. Gill replied, The full report was prepared. We said the army was involved. We asked for a judge of the Supreme Court to look at it. Nothing happened; there was chaos Police had to shoot at people. Then the government decided not to investigate. The General further said, The only reason behind all this was that the BJP government wanted to tell Clinton that in Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan is killing people. That time America was providing arms to Pakistan. India was not getting any aid. In short a drama was staged just to defame Pakistan. The same cock and bull story is still going on.

From Mumbai Attacks to the Pulwama Tragedy and From Samjhota Express burning to Pathankot attacks, the Indian Intelligence agencies are sacrificing their own people just to defame Pakistan. Be it Muslims or the Sikhs and even the Christians; the Hindu extremists are pushing everyone into the blazing inferno of hatred and prejudice. Even the Dalits, who are a part of the Hindu community, are not safe from this hatred.
In his talk with Saigon Investment, Mr. PHAM VIET ANH shares his views on the recent trends in technology apps.

JOURNALIST: - Sir, technology applications being used by Grab, Be, Now, and Baemin are very popular and growing at a fast pace, but it seems that foreign enterprises are going even faster. What is your opinion on this matter?

Mr. PHAM VIET ANH: - The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many economic activities to be restricted, but it is also becoming a driving force in making the economy stronger. This is the reason why technology applications have the best opportunity to accelerate growth and dominate the market share. In this race, foreign companies have a higher ability to dominate due to their strong financial potential.

Considering the starting point of ideas and early stages of technologies, both domestic and foreign enterprises do not have much difference, as they closely develop services to serve the needs of consumers. However, for each enterprise to be able to grow in size requires a lot of money, especially in the stage of growth in market share.

Without capital, enterprises will naturally slow down, regardless of whether they appear first or are just entering the market. Strong capital will help businesses solve many problems about advertising, marketing, discounts to attract customers, as well as launching policies to support partners and their workers. However, the capital seems to be the weak point of domestic enterprises in the race towards digital development.

Digital technology is a global game, so businesses must accept the harsh laws of the market, and so whoever is weaker will lose. Domestic enterprises that want to be strong in this field are forced to participate in the global capital market, which is the decisive factor. Therefore, it is time for us to look at the larger macro problem for Vietnam to develop a stature capital market, so capital mobilization for enterprises will be more efficient. Currently, there is still a phenomenon that domestic technology enterprises have to locate their headquarters abroad in order to call for more favorable capital.

- Sir, as you have shared, the Covid-19 pandemic has helped in furthering the development of digital economy and ride-hailing applications have had a chance to speed up services. So when the pandemic finally passes, do you think these services will also slow down?

- From my point of view, they will not. When the pandemic passes, the growth rate of these technology applications may remain the same or slow down, but it is an inevitable trend that is here to stay. Needless to say, the speed of digital technology development depends on the development of the system of each country, because it is related to the social infrastructure.

Currently, in Vietnam and some underdeveloped countries, the digital economy is far behind countries like China, where the digital system has developed for a long time, so it has been widely developed for all industries and the whole society. Also, because we are far behind, we are now gradually perfecting institutions to better manage technology applications in order to bring benefits to the economy.

- Sir, a recent report by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor has shown that many unemployed workers are now switching to technology service enterprises. This helps workers solve initial difficulties, but in the long run, will it be wasteful for qualified young people to continue to choose this path?

- Every decision of the employee must first be considered in terms of benefits. In the pandemic, many industries have been seriously affected, with many workers losing their jobs, forcing them to switch to other jobs instead. At this time, running a motorbike taxi or joining a team of forwarders for technology companies is not a bad choice. When the pandemic is over, and the recession stops and the economy returns to the development stage, it will attract the skilled workforce who are temporarily participating in technology services again, depending on whether the income is attractive enough or not.

First, for simple workers who previously worked as factory workers, if their return is not attractive, they may still choose to work with technology firms, because working time is more flexible and income is also better. Currently, in addition to the hard income, technology delivery motorbike drivers often receive tips from customers, which is an income as well.

Second, with a trained workforce such as bachelors and masters degrees, it is also impossible to ignore the problem of income. There are regrets that if these workers do not come back, they will lose their previously trained knowledge. However, we need to understand that any industry that develops also creates more jobs, and if all benefits are comparable, workers also have the right to compare. Some people will return to work if they think that using brain is useful with the condition of an attractive income, and at the same time, others continue to choose freelance jobs. We want trained labor to use their right profession or to use their trained knowledge, and the most important thing is to develop industries, thereby creating many jobs with good income for workers.

Currently,those working for technology service enterprises do not have the required remuneration policies, which is a disadvantage for them. They accept a flexible job, which is easy to join and easy to withdraw from, but it will be difficult to have policies in such jobs. When employees join technology companies, if they want to secure their future, they can buy voluntary pension insurance, or any type of insurance for themselves.

- Thank you very much.

Thanh Dung
The companys acquisition strategy allows it to take advantage of global ESG reporting trends and deliver new software products and solutions to market.

All resolutions at the general meeting were passed

( ) shareholders have today given the green light at a general meeting for the company's acquisition of the Decipher for Mining business from CSBP Limited, a subsidiary of ( ) (OTCMKTS:WFAFF) (FRA:WF3).

In addressing shareholders, chair Jenny Cutri said: The Decipher business provides cloud-based software-as-a-service technology and compliance solutions for mining industry customers, including in relation to rehabilitation and closure, tailings governance and monitoring and tailings disclosure database solution.

The acquisition of the Decipher for Mining business fits within K2Fs strategy of acquiring complementary adjacent products and expanding our offerings/solution portfolio to existing and prospective customers.

Industry tailings standard solution

Cutri said: By acquiring Decipher for Mining, K2fly will have the only end-to-end solution in the market today that can cover monitoring, disclosure and governance in support of the Global Industry Tailings Standard (GITS), at a time when the industry most needs it.

We have already been working closely with the team at Decipher, as part of our previously announced partnership, to develop a software solution for the monitoring, disclosure and governance of tailings storage facilities (TSF).

All resolutions at the general meeting were passed, with K2F now set to issue 11,366,691 fully paid ordinary shares to CSBP (consideration shares), valued at $3.7 million, and 5,345,633 performance shares.

CSBP will then become K2Fs largest shareholder with a 10.13% holding.

Global ESG trends

The company notes recent traction in this space, with GITS formally endorsed by the co-convenors of the Global Tailings Review - the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the UN Environment Program (UNEP), and the Principles on Responsible Investment (PRI).

In addition, in December the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds wrote to over 350 mining companies on behalf of investors with $21 trillion in assets under management (AUM), asking them to confirm on their company websites their support for the standard and to set out a timeline for their intended compliance with it.

This take-up at the company level of the standard beyond the largest mining companies will be key to its success.

Cutri said: Consequently, and with the increasing general awareness and demands for environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes, K2F has seen a definite increase in inquiry and more importantly budget being released to fulfill the commitments made by mining companies in relation to TSF.

Infoscope cultural heritage management

In Q3 FY21, Infoscope Heritage was adopted by Rio Tinto Limited (ASX:RIO) (OTCMKTS:RTNTF) (FRA:CRA1) Iron Ore Operations in the Pilbara of Western Australia for its cultural heritage management.

In a second project working directly with traditional owners in conjunction with Griffith University, Infoscope will be used to map and record ancient cultural heritage sites in Cape York.

This project will also see the company working with Griffith Universitys partners along with long term partners, The Keeping Place.

RCubed US market

Cutri said: In terms of our RCubed Mineral Inventory reporting system we contracted with two new US-based customers, USA Corp ( ) (FRA:185) (BMV:AA1) (VIE:ALCA) and Inc. ( ) (FRA:CDM1) (BMV:CDE).

As always with RCubed these are global corporate deals and are also a testament to our investment in the Americas region.

We continue to dominate this market as the only COTS.

So that we can further lead and dominate this market, we are now investing in the next generation of this product and building a seamless integration with the Block Model Management (BMM) tool from SATEVA.

Sateva purchase orders

SATEVA continues to grow from strength to strength, and in January the company received over $850,000 in purchase orders in less than 3 months after acquisition.

Purchaser orders have since grown to $1.2 million.

Invoicing update supports acquisition strategy

Q3 FY21 is shaping to be a positive quarter for the company with invoicing totalling around $2 million.

In the previous corresponding period of Q3 FY20 K2F invoiced $1.61 million  the companys previous largest invoicing quarter was Q4 FY20, with invoicing totalling $1.9 million.

Cutri said: This performance underscores the boards view that the acquisition strategy (of which Decipher for Mining is a key element) is demonstrating rapid value-add to the company: enabling the company to take advantage of global ESG reporting trends.

Our plan to deliver new software products and solutions to market (such as BMM and if approved by shareholders, Decipher for Mining) is progressing well and we should see further fruits of our investments in Q4 FY21 and beyond.
Two U.S. Marshals stand on a building as they look out toward the city in a file photo. (Illustration - Elliott Cowand Jr/Shutterstock)

21 Missing Children Located, 7 Recovered by US Marshals in 9 States

The U.S. Marshals Service in Iowa announced that 21 missing children were located and seven children were recovered as part of Operation Homecoming.

According to the federal law enforcement agency, the children were between the ages of 4 and 17, and are some of the most at-risk and challenging recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors such as exposure to narcotics, child exploitation, physical or sexual abuse, and medical or mental health conditions.

The missing Iowa children were located in nine other states, including Arizona, Nebraska, Minnesota, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, the U.S. Marshals stated in a March 23 news release. Two people were arrested, illegal narcotics were seized, and two guns were recovered, officials said.

In one instance, U.S. Marshals in Illinois recovered a missing 14-year-old from central Iowa after investigators discovered ads featuring the juvenile involved in sex trafficking, the agency said. The juvenile was recovered at a motel in the act of being trafficked.

Another missing 17-year-old was taken from central Iowa and subjected to human trafficking in Mississippi and Tennessee. Marshals tracked her location to a home in Mississippi, where she was recovered and brought back to Iowa.

The agency said its still looking for 15-year-old Fredrick Workman, who was last seen in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2013, and are offering a $5,000 reward for information that could lead to his whereabouts.

The U.S. Marshals also announced that 16 children considered critically missing were rescued during a four-week operation that ended earlier in March.

At least four of the children rescued during Operation Safeguard were connected to sex trafficking, the law enforcement agency stated in another news release.

These missing children were considered to be some of the most at-risk and challenging recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors such as victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and medical or mental health conditions, the agency said.

Eric Gartner, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said: Our hope is for a better future for the 16 children we recovered; our resolve remains steadfast in finding other children in peril.

In October 2020, U.S. Marshals Director Donald Washington told Fox News that more than 1,300 missing children have been rescued since 2016.

These are kids that are in particular danger as a result of either being victims of violent crime or because of who they are. For example, some of them may be in the middle of gang affiliations or in the midst of drug abusers or in the middle of some bad situations involving people who have violent tendencies and things of that sort, he said.


Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Periods of rain. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
'Sponge roads' which 'soak up' water are to be built as part of a 150million plan to tackle flooding in England.

The innovative system diverts rain water away from already under-pressure drainage systems by allowing it to drop beneath the road's surface.

Using porous material that experts say resembles 'Rice Krispie cakes', the water filters down underneath the road and into a giant storage tank.

The water then soaks into the soil - keeping it separate from the usual drainage system.

The project - which is inspired by China's 'sponge city' project - is being rolled out in and around Slough, Berkshire.

The scheme is set to go ahead after the local council was one of 25 projects chosen for a slice of a 150million funding pot by the the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The Slough Borough Council project is aimed at reducing the risk of flooding from Salt Hill Stream and the Chalvey Ditches, according to the Telegraph.

A graphic showing how the 'sponge road' system works - diverting rain away from the usual drainage system and through a series of permeable crates

Council environment chiefs will look to replace current road surfaces with the new 'sponge roads'.

Typically in England, rain water flows from road surfaces into the drainage system.

How does the sponge road system work? 1) Large storage tanks are built at the side of the road where the water will be stored 2) Porous crates which allow water to run through are installed in a staggered trench-like structure 3) The trench is filled with the porous crates. The crates allow water to pass through and into the run-off system without saturating the ground 4) Once the crates are installed a manhole is placed at the top of the structure. The water runs into the manhole and down into pipes. The water then runs through the crates and into a storage tank  away from the usual sewer systems. The water is gradually drained away into the soil. Advertisement

But during periods of heavy rain, and when the ground becomes saturated, the rain water cannot drain away. This - along with blockages - is when drains overflow.

However the sponge roads allow water to essentially 'soak' into the surface through a permeable surface.

Mark Lowbridge, a senior site engineer at Chasetown Civil Engineering Ltd, told the Telegraph: 'The permeable road surface would be porous paving or asphalt which basically allows the water to drain through it without the use of road gullies or drains.

'Instead of the run-off you usually get, the water is stored in huge tanks underneath the road or a storm water sewer system.'

Once the water is through the surface, it filters through stacks of specially designed large plastic crates which act as a soakaway system.

The water is then directed into large tanks beside the road, where it is drained back into the soil slowly.

The system is aimed at taking pressure off the drainage system in areas where flooding is more common.

The system is said to be inspired by the 'sponge city' projects in China. Currently, 16 sponge cities have been rolled out across the country.

One of the cities is Wuhan, where 38.5 sq km of the city has been retrofitted with the system. The project is said to have cost 11bn yuan so far.

Slough Borough Council will have access to up to 6million worth of funding as one of the 25 projects to win funding from Defra.

One of the cities is Wuhan, where 38.5 sq km of the city has been retrofitted with the system. The project is said to have cost 11bn yuan so far

Slough (pictured) Borough Council will have access to up to 6million worth of funding as one of the 25 projects to win funding from Defra

Other projects to be given funding include a mapping and mitigation plan by Gateshead Council for groundwater flooding in Northumbria.

The London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames has been given funding for a 'community driven integrated water management approach' in the Beverly Brook catchment area.

Central Bedfordshire Council will also be given funding to create an IT led flood risk management system for the Pix Brook area.

On average each area will receive 6million between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2027.

The funding was part of a 200million resilience package announced by the Treasury last year

Along with the 150million given to selected projects, the remaining 50million funding will be used for other flooding and coastal resilience activities.

This will include work on long term planning for climate adaptation in the Thames and Humber estuaries, the Severn Valley and Yorkshire.

A spokesperson for Slough Borough Council said: 'This is the first stage of an innovative six year project where we will be using nature, plants and trees, among other initiatives, to be able to absorb water to such an extent it will minimise the risk to homes and businesses of flooding.

'There will be multiple areas along the lengths of both Salt Hill Street and Chalvey Ditches where this can be implemented which will also promote biodiversity and will be able to be enjoyed by residents.

'Where the streams cross roads plants can be used on verges to achieve similar results.

'The council has pioneered the use of technology in its parks as part of the Mayflower Smart City Platform, which will also be expanded and used in this project. Electricity created by chemical reaction between the plants roots and water will be able to power devices which inform the council of the saturation of the plants and the area around them.

'This will allow us to make decisions on where more plants or more measures need to go.

'In addition, the areas which would be the most affected due to flooding of these two water ways would impact some of the most vulnerable residents in the borough who are the least able to absorb the impact of any damage and displacement due to surface and river flooding.'
Barack Obama has paid tribute to his grandmother Sarah following her death in Kenya aged 99 on Monday.

The former president tweeted: 'My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as Mama Sarah but known to us as Dani or Granny.

'We will miss her dearly, but well celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life.'

Sarah Obama passed away around 4 a.m. local time while being treated at a hospital in Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city following an undisclosed illness, her daughter Marsat Onyango said.

Family spokesman Sheik Musa Ismail confirmed her death was not COVID related.

She was the second wife of President Obama's grandfather and helped raise his father, Barack Obama, Sr. The family is part of Kenya's Luo ethnic group.

President Obama often showed affection toward his step grandmother and referred to her as 'Granny' in his memoir, 'Dreams from My Father.'

He described meeting her during his 1988 trip to his father's homeland and their initial awkwardness as they struggled to communicate which developed into a warm bond.

She attended his first inauguration as president in 2009. Later, Obama spoke about his grandmother again in his September 2014 speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

President Barack Obama had been informed of the death and has sent his condolences, according to family spokesman Sheik Musa Ismail. The pair are pictured in 2006

The former president tweeted: 'My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as Mama Sarah but known to us as Dani or Granny. 'We will miss her dearly, but well celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life'

For decades, Mama Sarah, as she was known, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village. She raised many in her home.

The Mama Sara Obama Foundation helped provide food and education to children who lost their parents - providing school supplies, uniforms, basic medical needs, and school fees.

Her daughter Onyango said Monday: 'She died this morning. We are devastated.'

'Mama was sick with normal diseases she did not die of COVID-19,' a family spokesman Sheik Musa Ismail said, adding that she had tested negative for the disease. He said she had been ill for a week before being taken to the hospital.

She will be buried Tuesday before midday and the funeral will be held under Islamic rites.

President Barack Obama, center, with his half sister Auma Obama, left, and his step-grandmother Sarah Obama, center-right, walk in Kogelo, western Kenya in 2018. Sarah Obama, the matriarch of Barack Obama's Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday but did not disclose the cause of death. She was at least 99 years old

'The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. Weve lost a strong, virtuous woman, a matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values,' President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

She will be remembered for her work to promote education to empower orphans, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo said while offering his condolences to the people of Kogelo village for losing a matriarch.

'She was a philanthropist who mobilized funds to pay school fees for the orphans,' he said.

In this 2006 photo, then U.S. Senator Barack Obama meets his step-grandmother Sarah Obama at his father's house in Kogelo village, western Kenya

Sarah Obama, step-grandmother of President Barack Obama, pictured in 2012, has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday. She was at least 99 years old

Already a national celebrity after the former Illinois senator Barack Obama visited Kenya in 2006, Sarah's modest homestead became a tourist attraction with Obama's November 2008 election triumph.

Born in 1922 in a village on the shores of Lake Victoria, Sarah was the third wife of Hussein Onyango Obama, President Obama's grandfather, a herbalist and a village elder who fought for the British in Burma, now called Myanmar.

Onyango Obama, who died in 1975, is said to be the first man to swap goatskin clothing for trousers in his village. He returned from the war in Burma with a gramophone and a picture of a white woman he claimed to have married.

On his trip back to Kenya as US president, he met with her among other family members in Nairobi.

After leaving office, he travelled to her home in the village of Kogelo in 2018, joking he had been unable to do so in 2015 as his jet was too big to land in Kisumu.

Sarah Obama, step-grandmother of then U.S. President Barack Obama, holds a photograph of them together, as she speaks to the media in the living room of her house in 2008

In a 2014 interview with AP, Sarah said that even as an adult, letters would arrive but she couldnt read them. She said she didnt want her children to be illiterate, so she saw that all her familys children went to school.

She recalled pedaling the presidents father six miles to school on the back of her bicycle every day from the familys home village of Kogelo to the bigger town of Ngiya to make sure he got the education that she never had.

'I love education,' Sarah Obama said, because children 'learn they can be self-sufficient,' especially girls who too often had no opportunity to go to school.

'If a woman gets an education she will not only educate her family but educate the entire village,' she said.

In recognition of her work to support education, she was honored by the United Nations in 2014, receiving the inaugural Womens Entrepreneurship Day Education Pioneer Award.

Sarah Obama, was the second wife of President Obamas grandfather and helped raise his father, Barack Obama, Sr. The former president is pictured as a child with his father

Obama is linked to his Kenyan family via his father Barack senior, a pipe-smoking economist who Obama has admitted he 'never truly' knew.

He met Barack Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, in Hawaii. But he walked out when Obama was just two and died in a car crash in Nairobi in 1982, aged 46.

Obama senior had worked in the government of Jomo Kenyatta, who led Kenya at independence from Britain until his death 14 years later in 1978.

The two men did not get on well, with Kenyatta -the father of Kenya's current president Uhuru Kenyatta - sacking Obama senior, and blackballing him for further government jobs, an ostracization that would help fuel alcoholism.
ALBANY  Carla B. Freedman, a supervisory federal prosecutor based in Syracuse, is expected to be nominated as the next U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, which covers the Capital Region, the Times Union has learned.

Freedman, 57, the chief of the office's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDEFT), a one-time gang prosecutor for legendary Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau and an attorney since 1989, is the nominee of President Joe Biden to take the permanent role of the position now held by acting U.S. Attorney Antoinette Bacon.

The Times Union reported on Sunday that Bacon's replacement was expected to be a nominee who would be the first woman to ever permanently lead the office. It was unclear Monday when the formal announcement of Freedman's selection will be made. The Times Union could not immediately reach Freedman for comment.

Freedman, a Democrat and a graduate of New York Law School, is a native of Syracuse. A 1989 wedding announcement in the New York Times said her father, Michael Freedman, was the chairman of the anthropology department at Syracuse University, where she obtained her undergraduate degree. It said her mother, Paula Freedman, was the deputy director of the Onondaga County Youth Bureau in Syracuse.

Now, Freedman will with Senate confirmation  lead the U.S attorneys office for the Northern District, which covers 32 upstate counties. It includes areas such as the entire Capital Region, Adirondacks, Syracuse, Binghamton and Kingston.

Freedman, in addition to supervising OCDEFT is the coordinator of the office's opioids cases. She has been with the office since 2007. Freedmans many cases include the successful prosecution of two Los Angeles men who conspired to manufacture and sell synthetic marijuana around the country, including head shops in upstate New York within the Northern District.

In Manhattan, where Freedman worked from 1988 to 2004, she led the gang unit for about 10 years, sources said.

Bacon, who has held the position in an acting capacity since Sept. 2, has the option of remaining in the office as an assistant if she chooses. As a Republican, she was not expected to remain in the role in a Democratic presidential administration. Bacon followed former U.S. Attorney Grant Jaquith, a Republican who was promoted to the top spot several months after the election of former President Donald Trump to replace his predecessor, former U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian.

Hartunian's ascent to lead the office in 2009 placed its leadership in the Capital Region instead of Syracuse, where it had been based.
TORONTO, March 29, 2021 /CNW/ - The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) today published a notice outlining securities law requirements that apply to crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs) and how they may be tailored by regulators for the CTPs business model.

"The guidance in our notice details steps platform operators need to take to comply with securities legislation as they prepare to fully integrate into the Canadian regulatory structure," said Louis Morisset, CSA Chair and President and CEO of the Autorite des marches financiers. "To bring their operations into compliance, CTPs should contact their local securities regulator now to discuss the registration process and address applicable requirements."

"We are pleased to work with the CSA on such an important initiative," said Andrew J. Kriegler, President and CEO, IIROC. "This framework provides guidance on how the regulatory requirements may be tailored to a platform's business, without compromising investor protection or market integrity."

The notice provides guidance on securities law requirements applicable to platforms whether trading crypto assets that are securities or derivatives, or contractual rights or claims to underlying crypto assets such as bitcoin or ether. The notice also outlines interim approaches that may be available to CTPs, that are intended to foster innovation and provide flexibility, while ensuring the CTPs operate in an appropriately regulated environment.

In addition, the notice provides an overview of key risks related to CTPs and areas where requirements may be tailored, provided that key risks are addressed and investor protection is not compromised. Finally, the notice outlines the process for submitting an application to the relevant CSA jurisdictions and IIROC.

"We remind all CTPs that are dealing with Canadians, including foreign-based CTPs, that they are expected to comply with Canadian securities legislation," added Louis Morisset. "Failure to do so could result in CSA members pursuing enforcement action."



Story continues

In 2019, the CSA and IIROC published Joint CSA/IIROC Consultation Paper 21-402 Proposed Framework for Crypto-Asset Trading Platforms, which outlined a proposed regulatory framework for CTPs, and solicited comments to better understand the industry, its risks and how regulatory requirements may be tailored. The CSA and IIROC received 52 comment letters in response to the consultation paper and consulted extensively with industry stakeholders on issues specific to CTPs.

The CSA is aware of CTPs seeking to become reporting issuers through an initial public offering or through reverse take-overs, changes of business, Capital Pool Company qualifying transactions or similar transactions. There are potential public interest concerns with a CTP that is required to be registered, but that is not, becoming a reporting issuer. CTPs and their representatives should contact their local securities regulator if they intend to become reporting issuers through an intial public offering or other transaction.

Joint Canadian Securities Administrators and Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada Notice 21-329 Guidance for Crypto Asset Trading Platforms: Compliance with Regulatory Requirements is available on the websites of CSA members and IIROC.

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, co-ordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

IIROC is the pan-Canadian self-regulatory organization that oversees all investment dealers and their trading activity in Canada's debt and equity markets. IIROC sets high quality regulatory and investment industry standards, protects investors and strengthens market integrity while supporting healthy Canadian capital markets. IIROC carries out its regulatory responsibilities through setting and enforcing rules regarding the proficiency, business and financial conduct of 175 Canadian investment dealer firms of varying sizes and business models, and their more than 30,000 registered employees. IIROC also sets and enforces market integrity rules regarding trading activity on Canadian debt and equity marketplaces.

For Investor inquiries, please refer to your respective securities regulator. You can contact them here.

For inquiries from market participants (issuers and registrants, or their representatives), please refer to the list of subject matter experts at the end of the Notice.

SOURCE Canadian Securities Administrators

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/29/c0251.html
Sarah Obama, the grandmother of former US president Barack Obama, died in Kenya at the age of 99 on Monday, her family said.

Barack Obama said he and his family were mourning the loss of the woman "affectionately known to many as 'Mama Sarah' but known to us as 'Dani' or Granny".

"We will miss her dearly, but we'll celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life," he said on Twitter.

Sarah Obama's daughter, Marsat Onyango, confirmed the death to AFP.

"It is true she has gone to be with the Lord, she passed on this morning," she said.

Family spokesman Sheikh Musa Ismail said Sarah Obama she had been unwell for a week, but had tested negative for Covid-19.

She had been admitted to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu.

Once a simple country woman, Sarah Obama was for a long time best known for the hot porridge and doughnuts she served at a local school.

But she rose to world fame with the 2008 election of her step-grandson Barack as the first black US president.

Already a national celebrity after the former Illinois senator Barack Obama visited Kenya in 2006, Sarah's modest homestead became a tourist attraction with his November 2008 election triumph.

Born in 1922 in a village on the shores of Lake Victoria, Sarah was the third wife of Hussein Onyango Obama, Barack Obama's grandfather, a herbalist and a village elder who fought for the British in Burma, now called Myanmar.

Onyango Obama, who died in 1975, is said to be the first man to swap goatskin clothing for trousers in his village. He returned from the war in Burma with a gramophone and a picture of a white woman he claimed to have married.

- 'Strong, virtuous' -

Although not a blood relation, Barack Obama often refered to Sarah as his grandmother. On his trip back to Kenya as US president, he met with her among other family members in Nairobi.

After leaving office, he travelled to her home in the village of Kogelo in 2018, joking he had been unable to do so in 2015 as his jet was too big to land in Kisumu.

Story continues

Obama is linked to his Kenyan family via his father Barack senior, a pipe-smoking economist who Obama has admitted he "never truly" knew.

He met Barack Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, in Hawaii. But he walked out when Obama was just two and died in a car crash in Nairobi in 1982, aged 46.

Obama senior had worked in the government of Jomo Kenyatta, who led Kenya at independence from Britain until his death 14 years later in 1978.

The two men did not get on well, with Kenyatta -- the father of Kenya's current president Uhuru Kenyatta -- sacking Obama senior, and blackballing him for further government jobs, an ostracisation that would help fuel alcoholism.

Kenyatta said Monday the country had "lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values."

He said she would be remembered for her philanthropic work, saying she had initiated several community development projects in her village.

Mama Sarah will be buried Tuesday at her home, in line with Islamic traditions, said Ismail, the family spokesman.

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L.A. school board member Nick Melvoin reviews safety measures at West Hollywood Elementary School, part of outreach efforts to persuade families that campuses will be safe when they reopen. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Although Vicky Martinez has been dreaming of the day she can send her four children back to in-person instruction in the Los Angeles Unified School District, she thinks that, at least for now, she's waiting.

But she has had second thoughts. And third thoughts. Her high school son wants to return. Her younger children are afraid of getting COVID-19.

"I am exhausted  physically, mentally, emotionally, financially  all of the above," she said. "It has been a lot of work, and I feel like I'm failing every day as a parent."

A personal reckoning is playing out in hundreds of thousands of homes across the nation's second-largest school district, where families find themselves in a mind-twisting situation. For a year, L.A. school officials have pointedly explained that the prevalence of the coronavirus has made it unsafe to open campuses  messaging strongly reinforced by the teachers union.

Then, after infection rates plummeted  which would have allowed for the immediate reopening of all K-12 grades this month  leaders mobilized to spread the opposite message: Los Angeles schools have "the highest standards of COVID safety of any school district in the nation," as Supt. Austin Beutner put it in his weekly broadcast on Monday. At more than 40 virtual "town halls," principal meetings at every school and via online and printed booklets, officials are driving home safety measures in place for gradual reopenings beginning in mid-April  including weekly student coronavirus testing, mandatory masks, upgraded ventilation and air filtration, and stable student-teacher cohorts.

Although large numbers of exasperated parents are ready for the return, the clear majority of parents so far are not sending their children back. Although data on why families are making particular choices is unavailable, The Times has interacted with dozens of parents. Their concerns fall mainly into three buckets: ongoing safety fears; dissatisfaction with what the district is offering, especially for middle and high schools; and logistical issues, including the disruption of now established routines so close to the end of the school year.

Story continues

More families who live in areas with the highest COVID-19 disease and death rates  the Eastside, South Los Angeles, Southeast L.A. County and the northeast San Fernando Valley  are opting to keep children home even after hearing the safe-schools message. These areas also have the highest concentration of poverty. Overall, about 80% of LAUSD students come from low-income families.

A principal from a hard-hit community agreed to talk to The Times anonymously because he was not authorized to speak. The school district refused to make any principals available to describe their school situation at this key juncture; a spokesperson said they were "too busy."

The principal spoke of the trauma in his community and said he knew of three families where the father had died  and the deaths of aunts, uncles and grandparents were pervasive, difficult for him to tally with assurance.

"If you think about it too much, its mind-boggling and so disheartening and sad, said the principal. "For the students whove gone through that, I believe being on campus and being around friends would lift them up.

Martinez's children attend Highland Park-area schools: a second- and fifth-grader at Aldama Elementary, an eighth-grader at Franklin Elementary Dual Language Academy and a 10th-grader at Franklin High School.

"Cases in Los Angeles have decreased dramatically, but it is not nearly enough to make me feel at ease," said Martinez, who is immunocompromised. "I know many in my circle of friends, family and school communities that have been affected. ... I fear my kids getting COVID and it leading to MIS-C," she added, referring to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a potentially life-threatening medical condition that has affected a tiny fraction of children infected by the coronavirus.

"Weve discussed returning to campuses since the beginning of the pandemic and that I wouldnt feel safe unless they were vaccinated," Martinez said.

Based on numbers updated through Friday, about 37% of elementary school students would return, along with 24% for middle school and 16% for high school. Those numbers are expected to rise somewhat as more families choose, because those who haven't yet responded are projected to remain in remote instruction.

Statewide, many parents harbor misgivings.

The California Teachers Assn. on Thursday released survey results indicating that 47% of parents were at least fairly confident that schools were safe for in-person learning; 23% somewhat confident; and 28% not confident  with greater doubts among Latino, Black and Asian American parents than among white parents. In L.A. County, parents felt less assured: 39% confident; 25% somewhat confident; 36% not confident.

One local reopening concern focuses on campus sanitation, after years of decreased school custodial staff  a point brought up by one parent who also teaches adult school in L.A. Unified and requested anonymity because she said she feared being targeted for expressing criticism.

"Most of the adult students I teach all have children at LAUSD schools, and most have told me about the lack of cleanliness and basic supplies at the schools," said the parent, who recounted purchasing her own supplies and how teachers also would solicit donations from parents.

L.A. Unified officials have emphatically asserted that their reopening plans include frequent cleanings, and Supt. Beutner said custodial staff had been doubled. The district is expected to receive more than $5 billion in state and federal aid to fund these efforts as well as to address learning loss.

"I know there are some concerns about trust," said school board President Kelly Gonez, "particularly for Black and Latino communities that havent been protected by our governmental institutions ... historically and during the pandemic."

The concerns of Teresa Gaines run in a different direction.

"It's not that I don't trust the district," said Gaines, who has two children at Grand View Boulevard Elementary in Mar Vista. "It's that I don't trust 12-plus other families in a cohort to use safe protocols off campus. ... I'm not ready to mix my kids with 60 to 70 people outside of my family."

Students at all levels will remain in one small group in one classroom during their entire instructional day  on a staggered, half-time schedule. Elementary students will be face-to-face with their teacher, but middle and high school students will log into online classes, just as they would at home, while the teacher in the same room is online, instructing other students in other places. The district's goal was to limit the mixing of students and avoid disrupting the master schedule so late in the school year.

Other school systems also are struggling with how to handle middle and high school. Many have altered schedules to provide some direct in-person instruction  New York City is among those. Others have allowed students to move from class to class, relying on safety measures such as masking, distancing and sanitation to keep people safe.

No thanks, said Ana Vasquez, who has children at Irving Middle School in northeast Los Angeles and Crenshaw High in South L.A.

"This decision was a no-brainer," Vasquez said. "Having them sit and Zoom all day long in one specific classroom, wearing that sucky mask all day long, getting tested weekly  plus adding to their risk of them getting infected? Nope! They're better off at home, where at least they can feel semi-normal. Besides, campus should be for teacher instruction in person  not through Zoom. Totally defeats the purpose."

There also were parents who said they had no safety concerns and were simply opposed to the Zoom-at-school format.

Some parents and others criticized the district and the teachers union for questioning state and federal safety standards  even after health experts have insisted that schools can reopen safely.

"As a result of that relentless negative messaging, it's not at all surprising the district now faces a challenge in convincing families to send their kids back," said Katie Braude, executive director of Speak Up, a local advocacy group. "Districts in other states with similar student demographics confronted this challenge successfully."

The teachers union declined to answer questions about its role in communicating school safety parameters. In her broadcast update last week, union President Cecily Myart-Cruz took issue with federal guidelines indicating that it was safe to space desks three feet apart rather than six feet  provided that strict safety protocols are followed. She called the guidelines "rash" and based on a "flawed study."

The district is sticking with a six-foot separation.

Myart-Cruz emphasized making sure that the district lived up to safety commitments, saying, "The focus now is on implementation, enforcement and accountability."

Martinez, meanwhile, remains torn  her high school son has changed his mind and wants to go back.

"It sounds more like a way to see some friends  I can understand that," Martinez said. "But he knows that I have final say, and he could be pulled from the hybrid model at any time."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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As Pennsylvania starts the week, the state is on the brink of having administered 5 million COVID-19 vaccines to its residents. To date, 4,956,273 doses of the vaccine have made it into arms across the state from the Pennsylvania Department of Healths vaccine allocation (which does not include Philadelphia), more than halfway to the number of vaccines needed to vaccinate all of Phase 1A.

With those distributed doses, 1,751,415 Pennsylvanians are fully vaccinated with one of the three available vaccines  Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. There are also currently an additional 1,572,144 residents who have already received their first dose of either Pfizer or Moderna (Johnson & Johnson is a single-shot vaccine).

Pennsylvania is ranked 12th in the country out of all states and provinces for percentage of the population thats received at least their first dose. There have been 3,204,858 total first doses distributed as of Monday.

(Cant see the map? Click here.)

Despite the continued rollout of the vaccines, Pennsylvania is seeing a continued increase in cases, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported an increase of 2,923 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. Over the weekend, the department reported a data error with COVID-19 case data, but the two-day total from Saturday and Sunday was 7,178 new cases of coronavirus.

The states total case count is now up to 1,015,268 cases of COVID-19  at least 400 of those are the variant B.1.1.7, according to the CDC. The first reported case of the variant in Pennsylvania came back in January. The B.1.1.7 variant was first discovered in England in December.

With 14 new deaths reported on Monday, as well as 48 from over the weekend, Pennsylvania is now up to 25,015 total deaths, becoming the fifth state to cross the 25,000-death mark.

COVID in Pa.

With the case increases from Monday and the weekend, the states seven-day rolling average is 3,833 new cases per day. The average has taken about 10 days to increase by 1,000 cases per day  a similar jump was made in the first 10 days of November, when the fall surge was in full swing.

(Cant see the chart? Click here.)

Hospitalizations are continuing to increase as well. As of Monday, 1,916 patients are in hospitals around the state with COVID-19. There are 389 of those patients in Intensive Care Units, and 209 on ventilators.

(Cant see the chart? Click here.)

The states death toll hasnt noticeably been hit by this surge yet, with 14 new deaths on Monday raising the average to 32 deaths per day over the last seven days. Last week, it had dipped as low as 25, but that was primarily anchored by one death being reported last Monday.

Still, with 25,015 total deaths in the state, Pennsylvania reached the milestone of 25,000 deaths due to COVID-19. The first four states to reach the mark were California, New York, Texas and Florida.

(Cant see the chart? Click here.)

COVID in the Lehigh Valley

The Lehigh Valley reported 189 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. There were 81 in Lehigh County, raising its total count to 33,695. Northampton County had 108 new cases, bringing its total to 30,082. Northampton County is the 11th county in the state to cross the 30,000-case mark.

(Cant see the chart? Click here.)

There was one new death in Northampton County on Monday, bringing its toll to 676. Lehigh County remained at 804. The Lehigh Valley as a whole has a combined death toll of 1,480.

Over the weekend, Lehigh County crossed the 60,000-mark for fully vaccinated individuals. There are also 53,442 county residents that are partially vaccinated. Northampton County is nearing the 50,000 mark, currently with 49,086 fully vaccinated, with another 49,823 partially vaccinated.

(Cant see the chart? Click here.)

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  The Arkansas Senate on Monday approved banning gender confirming treatments for minors, sending the governor a restriction on transgender youth that has been criticized by medical and child welfare groups.

The majority Republican Senate voted 28-7 in favor of the legislation. If the bill is enacted it would be the first prohibition of its kind in the country, opponents say. The bill would prohibit doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment or surgery to minors, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment.

This bill sets out to protect children in an area where they very much need protection," Republican Sen. Alan Clark, a sponsor of the measure, said before the vote.

But pediatricians, social workers and the parents of transgender youth have said it will have the opposite effect on a community already vulnerable to depression and suicide.

Denying them access to gender affirming health care is denying them the right to be themselves," Joanna Brandt, the Arkansas mother of a transgender boy, told reporters at a news conference before the vote. My son will be devastated if he is forced to stop his hormone treatment."

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, has not said whether he supports the measure. A spokeswoman said he will review the bill more closely and listen to the debate on it, but did not say when he would make a decision. He has five days, not counting Sunday, after the bill reaches his desk to sign or veto the legislation before it becomes law without his signature.

The measure is among several targeting transgender people that have advanced in Arkansas and other states this year. Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee have enacted measures prohibiting transgender girls and women from competing in school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

Hutchinson on Friday signed a law that would allow doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move that opponents say could be used to turn away LGBTQ patients.

Story continues

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ rights group, ran a TV ad in Arkansas over the weekend criticizing the measures targeting trans youth.

For Arkansas to prioritize unpopular, discriminatory bills like (the treatment ban) during this legislative session, despite the economic devastation the pandemic has had on the state, shows that they prioritize cruelty to children over actually helping Arkansans, Alphonso David, the group's president, said in a statement.

Similar transgender treatment prohibitions are being considered by lawmakers in Alabama and Tennessee.

Opponents of the bill include the American Academy of Pediatrics. The group's president, Dr. Lee Beers, called the measure discrimination by legislation" and said it would politicize medical care.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it plans to take legal action to block the treatments ban if it's signed into law. If signed, the ban would take effect later this summer.




KT&G cigarette brands are displayed at a convenience store in Taiwan in this undated photo. The company opened its office in Taiwan, as part of its strategy of becoming the world's fourth-largest tobacco manufacturer by 2025. Courtesy of KT&G



By Yi Whan-woo



KT&G has opened an office in Taiwan as part of its aim of becoming the world's fourth-largest tobacco manufacturer by 2025.



Taiwan has been one of KT&G's key markets after the Korean company started exports to the island nation in 2002 and upgraded its products sold there with premium-quality brands, such as Bohem, Esse and Time.





KT&G CEO Baek Bok-in
External Affairs Minister on Monday called on Afghan President here and shared India's perspectives on the peace process in the war-torn country.

Jaishankar is here in the capital of Tajikistan for the 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) ministerial conference to be held on Tuesday.

"Honour to call on President @ashrafghani before the commencement of @HeartofAsia_IP Conference. Shared our perspectives on the peace process," Jaishankar tweeted.

Last week, Jaishankar said that India would like to clearly see a sovereign democratic and inclusive that takes into account the interests of its minorities.

"There is something called the peace and reconciliation process and everybody else is saying that the Taliban is reaching out and changing etc. Let us wait and watch," he had said.

The Taliban and the Afghan government are holding direct talks to end 19 years of war that has killed tens of thousands of people and ravaged various parts of the country.

India has been a major stakeholder in the peace and stability of It has already invested USD two billion in aid and reconstruction activities in the country.

India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.

The HoA-IP ministerial conference is part of the Istanbul Process - a regional initiative on security and cooperation for a stable and peaceful - that was launched on November 2, 2011 in Turkey.

(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 products will be brought to market under Hill Street's wholly owned subsidiary Hill Avenue Cannabis Company

For Hill Street, it all means entry into new categories, industries and geographies, the company said

Hill Street Beverage Company Inc ( ) ( ) told investors Monday it would leverage its recently acquired rights from Lexaria Bioscience Corp ( ) (OTCMKST:LXRP) to expand its commercial potential.

In December, 2020, Lexaria closed the sale to Hill Street of its non-pharmaceutical THC-related assets and the latter says it will use the cannabis patents and intellectual property (IP) to pioneer "a new business space where craft quality meets bioscience".

New products will be brought to market under Hill Street's wholly owned subsidiary Hill Avenue Cannabis Company, which in turn comprises two units - Hill Avenue Cannabis Brands and Hill Avenue .

Hill Avenue Cannabis Brands will specialize in business-to-consumer (B2C) edibles products for a growing global market, while Hill Avenue Cannabis Technologies will provide DehydraTECHTM enabled business-to-business (B2B) solutions for both extractors and consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers.

For Hill Street, this means entry into new categories, industries and geographies, the company highlighted.

"These two new units will offer a wide range of expertise covering everything from oil conversion services to help extractors extend shelf life by turning oil into shelf stable powder, to the production and sale of DehydraTECHTM powder to CPG manufacturers for infusion into their products," said Craig Binkley, co-interim CEO of Hill Street Beverages.

"We anticipate that our Lucknow R&D Labs in Mississauga, Ontario, will play a future role in cannabinoid product R&D, giving us multiple ways to add significant value in the cannabis sector."

This new strategy expands Hill Street's commercial potential by adding higher margin intellectual property (IP) to current CPG expertise and scaled B2B to its already strong B2C business and extending sales beyond Canada, it added.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
Disney+ is finally ready to start production on its streaming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, if a little later than you might have expected. Filming for the "special event" Star Wars show is now due to start in April (a month later than star Ewan McGregor claimed), according to Disney. In exchange for the wait, though, you're also getting a clearer look at the cast  McGregor and Hayden Christensen aren't the only big names in the show.

A few of the cast members are veterans from the prequel-era movies, including Bonnie Piesse and Joel Edgerton (Beru and Owen Lars). However, you'll also find a host of newcomers with strong credentials, including Game of Thrones' Indira Varma, Homeland's Rupert Friend and Kumail Nanjiani (who will have achieved a nerd trifecta of appearing in Star Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and X-Files).

Veteran The Mandalorian director Deborah Chow was already slated to direct Obi-Wan. The series takes place 10 years after Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin became Darth Vader and Palpatine had the Jedi effectively wiped out.

This won't be a long-running show. However, the casting says a lot about Disney's goals  it wants this to be a marquee series with strong supporting characters. And that level of star power might be necessary. While the Disney+ catalog of originals is expanding, it's still small enough that the success of the service hinges on every new release. A strong showing for Obi-Wan could be crucial to fulfilling Disney's new focus on streaming.
STEEPLE CLAYDON, England  A chorus of bird song gives way to the roar of a chain saw and then the creaking and splintering of timber. A 50-foot tree sways, wobbles and finally crashes to the ground, while protesters shout and jeer.

The construction of the British governments largest public works project  a high-speed rail line known as HS2  has long been promoted as helping to save the environment. But it is under growing challenge from those who accuse it of doing the exact opposite.

They have waged a mostly fruitless fight against the project, a grand scheme to cut air and road travel by connecting the north of England to the more prosperous south with trains traveling at up to 225 miles per hour.

Now, with the pandemic prompting a surge in working from home and a slump in train travel, the opponents believe the argument is finally tilting their way, eroding the already shaky rationale for an effort that could cost more than $140 billion.
Nairobi  Christians across the country marked Palm Sunday for a second year in a row without the symbolic procession to mark Jesus' triumphant entry to Jerusalem as recorded in the Bible.

The annual commemoration falls a Sunday before Easter.

The banning of processions is part of new regulations reimposed by the Interfaith Council headed by Catholic Archbishop Anthony Muheria to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

In March 2020, a similar ban existed alongside a ban on congregational worship which was lifted in July.

John Mburu, a Jumuia member at the Holy Family Basilika said the members long for a time they can observe Palm Sunday through processions on the street to mark the first day of the Holy Week.

"We miss everything about Palm Sunday now that we are starting the Holy Week, which is so important, we really wish things were different," said Mburu.

Frank Mutua, a worshiper at All Saints Cathedral, said his spirit was not dampened by the the inability of the church to hold the symbolic procession instead appreciating the opportunity to participate in congregational worship.

"I think we should thank God that we are still alive today where many people have lost their lives due to the disease, we will still get to celebrate such in future, once the country is healthy," Mutua stated.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday ordered a new lock down in Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru after COVID-19 infections in the counties clustered as a COVID-19 hotspot zone hit record levels.

The new restrictions came a week before the Palm Sunday and the Easter Holiday celebrations where people travel to different parts of the country to celebrate with family and friends.
Irans only operational nuclear power plant risks shutdown as the U.S. sanctions prevent the Islamic Republic from transferring money internationally to buy equipment, an executive of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran was quoted as saying on Monday.

Mahmoud Jafari, a deputy at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that the Bushehr nuclear power plant was facing the risk of shutdown, because of the inability to buy the necessary equipment from outside Iran, Bloomberg reports, citing the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

Due to the U.S. sanctions on banking transfers involving Iranian entities, the Islamic Republic is struggling to keep up with the nuclear reactors operational and maintenance costs and with paying the Russian contractors, the Iranian official was quoted as saying.

Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that as of 2019, most of Irans electricity generation came from natural gas, followed by oil, with hydropower a distant third, and nuclear power an even more distant fourth.

Russia has built the Bushehr-1 nuclear power plant in Iran, which has been in operation since 2011. There are plans for site expansion with Bushehr phase 2, which is said to cost around US$10 billion and is expected to be completed by 2026.

Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in January that Moscow was ready to help Iran with the expansion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant with the construction of more units.

The operational Bushehr-1 nuclear power plant is not considered a threat when it comes to the potential proliferation of nuclear activities beyond civil purposes, according to the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The international community is more concerned about Irans activities with uranium enrichment, especially after the Trump Administration pulled the U.S. out of the so-called Iran nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on Irans oil exports and international bank transfers.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Ben Boyd arrived in Australia in 1842 with big plans, a number of ships, and a lot of money to invest. Over the next decade, he bought more than a million acres of squatting runs, and set up a whaling station on the shores of Twofold Bay. He planned to create a township there. The ruins of a church, a lighthouse, and the refurbished Seahorse Inn are all that now remain of the town he named Boydtown.

Like many shady businessmen, Boyd dabbled in local politics and spent lavishly on vanity projects to put his name before the public eye. He attracted publicity, courted celebrity, but he was a poor manager and few of his projects were successful. By the late 1840s, it was clear that Boyds financial empire was based on empty promises. He was ousted by his fellow investors, cursed by his shareholders, and left NSW shortly afterwards, leaving others to clean up the mess.

Ben Boyd National Park was named at at time when Ben Boyd was being hailed as a early settler. Credit:SMH

Boyd blamed the cost of labour in NSW for his failures, and he was always on the lookout for new ways to reduce this cost. Notoriously, in 1847 he imported several hundred Pacific Islanders to work on his sheep stations. We can argue about whether this was slavery (or black birding)  by then illegal throughout the British Empire. Officially the men were indentured labourers, bound by a contract or indenture, but they signed with a cross because they could not read or write, and in ignorance of the conditions they would face in NSW. Boyd abandoned them after the NSW government ruled the contracts invalid, and an unknown but large number died of cold and infectious diseases before the survivors were repatriated at others expense.

Boyd gave his name to Boydtown out of vanity, but in other instances, such as Ben Boyd Road in Neutral Bay, the name was acquired because of its proximity to Boyd enterprises. There was a brief flurry of interest in Ben Boyd as a heroic pioneer in the early 20th century. Will Lawsons novel, In Ben Boyds Day (1939) and Francis Webbs poem, A Drum for Ben Boyd (1948) are examples, and the naming of Ben Boyd National Park probably comes from this time as well.
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
Photo by GIANLUCA CHININEA/AFP via Getty Images

A mafia fugitive didnt hide himself well enough and was caught in the Caribbean after appearing in YouTube cooking videos.

Marc Feren Claude Biart, 53, was on the run for seven years and lived in Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic as an alleged member of the Ndrangheta crime gang. He was eventually found when authorities recognized his tattoos in some culinary clips on the web.

Italian prosecutors had ordered Biarts arrest back in 2014, when he was wanted for trafficking cocaine into the Netherlands for the Cacciola clan of the Ndrangheta mafia. The Ndrangheta, one of the most powerful crime groups in the world, controls much of the cocaine getting into Europe.

And now, 355 alleged mobsters and officials are being charged in the largest Italian mafia trial in years. The trial, which opened in January and is expected to last two years, includes 900 witnesses, as it took over three hours to even read the names of the defendants at a pre-trial hearing, according to AFP news agency. Charges include murder, drug trafficking, extortion and money laundering.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Additionally, Ndrangheta mobster Francesco Pelle was arrested in Portugal on Monday, according to The Guardian, after being on the run for well-over a decade. He was caught in Lisbon, where he had received COVID treatment, after being a key player in familial feud that led to the murder of six people in 2007.

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The potential for OPEC and its allies to maintain tight control on production, along with blockage of the Suez Canal by a massive container ship,

should add a premium to the price of oil this week, analysts said.



The cargo ship Ever Given remains wedged in the Suez Canal, blocking maritime deliveries of bulk goods, oil and liquefied natural gas. The Suez handles about 8 percent of the global shipments of LNG and about 10 percent of crude oil.



At least 300 vessels were stuck in the traffic jam as of Saturday, according to the Suez Port Authority.



The port authority last week welcomed international help to free the vessel. Dredgers and tugs have not been successful so far, however, though optimism prevails.

RELATED: Oil prices rising on Suez Canal blockage



Commodity prices experienced wild swings last week because of the blockade, as well as from the geopolitical risk in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, finished the week down by three quarters of a percent to end Friday trading at $60.97 per barrel. The weekly loss, attributed to expectations of rising commercial crude inventories, came despite a gain of 4.1 percent during the Friday session.



Phil Flynn, a senior energy analyst at The PRICE Futures Group in Chicago, said the week ahead looks fairly bullish, driven by factors beyond the Suez.



Geopolitical risk is rising with a shadow war between Israel and Iran, he said.



Israel last week said it suspected Iran of firing a missile at one of its cargo vessels en route from Tanzania to India. That followed a similar incident in the Gulf of Oman in February, bringing the conflict between the two arch enemies to the forefront of the international conversation over the security in the Middle East.



Flynn added that he wouldnt be surprised to see the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen continue its aggressions toward oil-rich Saudi Arabia, adding to the risk premium.



Apart from the Suez, Giovanni Staunovo, a commodities analyst at Swiss investment bank UBS, said OPEC rumors could set the mood for commodities next week.
New Delhi: Even as the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned of a possible lockdown in the state again in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases, several alliance leaders are not in favour of doing so.

Maharashtra Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik on Monday (March 29) urged CM Thackeray to consider other options as the state cannot afford another lockdown.

We can't afford lockdown. We've asked CM to consider other options, Malik was quoted as saying by ANI.

Due to rising cases, he has directed administration to prepare for lockdown but that doesn't mean that lockdown is inevitable. If people follow rules, it can be avoided, he added.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister said that the COVID-19 cases are rising because people are not following guidelines seriously that is why strict steps like lockdown are needed to be considered.

Even the opposition BJP is not in favour of another lockdown and the party said that it was not the solution.

"Lockdown is not the solution. We will protest against lockdown. If lockdown is imposed then the government should announce a package to people affected by lockdown," Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said.

Meanwhile, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Sable alleged that Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has failed to control the second wave of COVID -19 in the state.

"The second wave of COVID-19 in Maharashtra has caused havoc. At this time, saving the lives of people and giving relief to the public should be the biggest priority of the government but, unfortunately, that is not happening, Sable said.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have reported a high number of daily new COVID-19 cases and they account for 84.5 per cent of the new infections reported in the last 24 hours.

On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 40,414 new COVID-19 cases and 108 related deaths in the last 24 hours.

According to the health ministry, India registered 68,020 new cases in the last 24 hours, out of which Maharashtra reported the highest daily new cases at 40,414, followed by Karnataka with 3,082 while Punjab reported 2,870 new cases. With 3,27,241 active cases in Maharashtra, the state is the worst-affected in the country.

Live TV
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Police have instituted investigations into the matter in which touts were seen in a video circulating on social media manhandling and harassing an elderly female traveller at a bus terminus in Beitbridge.

In the video clip, the elderly woman can be seen and heard screaming while being harassed at Beitbridge bus terminus, including being violently dragged by at least nine touts who also forcibly took her luggage.

There has been a public outcry and deafening calls for police to expeditiously bring the touts to book and be visible all the time at bus ranks where touts are becoming a menace to the commuting public.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said after viewing the video clip on social media, he was troubled to see how the public was treated when boarding buses.

Addressing Senate on Thursday, Minister Kazembe said there would be sanity in all public spaces in no time.

"I was concerned because of what I saw in that video, even the police is concerned, that what is happening is true, that our people are treated like that when boarding buses," he said.

"When I saw that video, I immediately forwarded it to the Commissioner General of Police and he is equally concerned. I want to promise you that this issue is already under investigations. We will deploy police details to see that there is sanity in all public spaces. The Commissioner-General is working on that and sanity will prevail soon."

Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation chairman Mr Sam Nhanhanga 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.

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"This is very disturbing and as the association we condemn this in the strongest terms," he said.

"We have engaged the Government and Zimbabwe Republic Police to help us in the fight against menacing touts.

"We had a meeting yesterday with the Minister of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development Felix Mhona where we made it clear that we needed the help of the government to stop that harassment of travellers by touts.

"As an association, we are engaging police as we embark on awareness campaigns with matters relating to abuse of passengers at all designated bus stations countrywide.

"The association would want to emphasis that the violence against women is a major violation of human rights."
PHILIPSBURG:--- Detectives of the Fraud Department are investigating a case of fraud and embezzlement that has taken place in one of the large supermarkets.

The management of the supermarket made an official complaint to the detective department on March 2, 2021, against several employees after an internal audit. These suspects are being accused of falsifying invoices and forging signatures.

In connection with this investigation, detectives arrested the first suspect with the initials T.J.L.S on March 23, 2021. After questioning, the suspect was incarcerated pending further investigation.

Shortly after on March 23, 2021, officers also arrested another suspect with the initials E.S.C. After questioning, this suspect was also incarcerated pending further investigation.

On March 24, 2021, detectives arrested a third suspect. D.J. was arrested for his involvement in this embezzlement case. After questioning, this suspect too was incarcerated pending further investigation.

This investigation is still ongoing.

KPSM Press Release.
Are you thinking about booking your next holiday?

While we can not travel at the moment, falling Covid-19 cases and the vaccine roll-out means that we will hopefully be able to travel abroad later this year.

And the good news is autumn is the perfect time to visit Italy. There are fewer tourists, the weather is warm and not overbearingly hot like it can be in the summer and there are still plenty of activities on offer.

Heres a round-up of the top places that you should consider adding to your Italian holiday bucket list.

Lake Como

Lake Como is perhaps Italys most famous lake. The area is renowned for its gorgeous weather, beautiful scenery and opulent celebrity villas.

Take a boat tour of Lake Como and stop over in the town of Bellagio (The pearl of Lake Como) to shop for Italian handmade goods. From Lake Como, you can easily take an excursion to the nearby bustling city of Milan or experience the Bernina Express, an unforgettable scenic train ride through the Swiss Alps.

Florence

A holiday to Tuscany isnt complete until you visit Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, which contributed so much to the cultural and political development of Europe.

Highlights of Florence include the striking Duomo Cathedral, Ponte Vecchio, Uffizi gallery and Piazza della Signoria. Its also where you can see one of the most famous artworks of the Renaissance, Michelangelos David.

Lake Garda

Lake Garda, with its crystal clear water, soaring mountains and scenery, is the perfect base for unwinding and seeing some of Italys most iconic sights.

You can easily take a day trip to the UNESCO city of fair Verona or to the Floating City of Venice. Take a boat tour of Lake Garda to see some of the most charming towns along the lake, such as the village of Limone with its lemon groves or Malcesine, famed for its medieval Scaligero Castle.

Verona

Just a few hours away from Lake Garda is Verona. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is filled with historical buildings and best known for its Roman amphitheatre, home to the world famous Verona Opera Festival.

The city was used as a setting for Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet and you can see Juliets balcony. Although this was only added to the house in the 20th century, its still a wonderful photo opportunity and one of the many highlights of Verona.

Venice

On a trip to Venice, you can easily wander through the extensive network of canals, alleys and squares that make up this enchanting city. See famous landmarks like St. Marks Square and Palazzo Ducale, admire 16th and 17th century art in the Galleria Franchetti, and stroll along the Rialto Bridge.

Pompeii

You have to visit the iconic archaeological site of Pompeii to get a glimpse of ancient Roman life if youre staying in Sorrento for your Italy holiday.

In 79AD Mount Vesuvius erupted and it simultaneously destroyed and preserved Pompeii. Youll feel like you have stepped back in time to 2,000 years ago. Youll see homes, fast food restaurants and even people and animals, frozen in time from the volcanic blast. Its recommended to take a guided tour of Pompeii, as youll get a fascinating insight into the history of the city and its residents.

Lucca

The birthplace of Puccini, the beautiful Renaissance town of Lucca is the only city in Italy completely surrounded by walls. These incredible city walls provide an ideal set of viewpoints to see the towns rooftops, bell towers and stunning surrounding countryside.

Make sure to visit Luccas remarkable Cathedral of San Martino, which has Tintorettos painting of The Last Supper and a wooden cross carved by the biblical figure Nicodemus.

Sorrento

The Sorrento Coast, a popular holiday destination in the south of Italy, is perfect for those looking to relax in natural surroundings and enjoy the coastal views. Experience the unique landscape of hills and valleys, scented lemon orchards, olive groves, and dramatic cliff tops giving way to picturesque fishing villages.

Make sure to explore the Amalfi Coast on your Sorrento trip, as its renowned for its breathtaking scenery and is possibly one of the most scenic drives in Europe.

Has this inspired to book a holiday to Italy? With Travel Department, up until May 31, 2021 any new bookings made can be changed for free or you can swap your deposit for a voucher that has no expiry date. Book with Confidence - Flexibility Guaranteed
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Lorraine Kelly apologised to KSI as she welcomed him back to her show on Monday, following her 'very strange' antics just one week beforehand.

During her interview with the YouTube star, 27, last week, Lorraine, 61, was seen dealing with a pesky fly, leg cramp, a bout of yawning, and a mouse in the studio  all of which was orchestrated by Stephen Mulhern for Saturday Night Takeaway.

And when the two met again on Monday, Scottish presenter Lorraine addressed the deliberate chaos, as she told KSI: 'You must have thought I was having a moment during that interview! I'm so sorry!'

Apology: Lorraine Kelly apologised to KSI as she welcomed him back to her show on Monday, following her 'very strange' antics just one week beforehand

Smiling broadly, KSI admitted: 'I was so confused when you had the whole cramp thing and the mouse! I was like, what is going on in that studio?'

'You're so kind and understanding,' Lorraine responded. 'And as if i would yawn while you're talking to me! You're one of the most exciting and beautiful people.'

Admitting he initially thought her reaction was just a symptom of her busy schedule, he told the TV personality: 'I just thought you were tired! It's early.'

Lorraine then chatted with the social media star about his stint on The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2021, his music and post-lockdown plans.

Funny: Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have revealed they were behind the outbursts that were seen on Lorraine, Good Morning Britain, This Morning, and Loose Women

So sorry: When the two met again on Monday, Scottish presenter Lorraine told KSI, 'You must have thought I was having a moment during that interview! I'm so sorry'

As the interview came to a close, Lorraine told KSI: 'I'm glad that we had a more normal interview this time around... Thank you so much for being such a good sport. I couldn't have wished for a better person to have a live meltdown in front of!'

Lorraine's antics matched those of all the presenters across the ITV daytime brand, including Good Morning Britain, This Morning, and Loose Women.

And over the weekend, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly revealed they were behind all of the outbursts, including those on This Morning of prank contest winners Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

The duo, both 45, revealed on Saturday Night Takeaway that they organised the hilarious show prank by asking fellow presenter Stephen Mulhern to hold up signs with words that Holly, 40, and Phillip, 58, had to say during the broadcast.

Discombobulated: Smiling broadly, KSI admitted, 'I was so confused when you had the whole cramp thing and the mouse! I was like, what is going on in that studio?'

Thanks: As the interview came to a close, Lorraine told KSI,'Thank you so much for being such a good sport. I couldn't have wished for a better person to have a live meltdown in front of'

The bizarre segment last week saw Holly share that she was 'bursting for a wee', before she and Phillip constantly chatted over chef James Martin as he attempted to present his cooking segment.

But on Saturday Night Takeaway, viewers were shown how cameras followed Stephen as he snuck behind the scenes during filming to disrupt the show.

Stephen held up a series of white signs with various random phrases and tasks written on them that Holly and Phil had to try and incorporate into their scripts.

One of the tasks the pair had to complete was 'pretending to have cramp' which Phil then acted out, prompting Holly to say: 'You have a cramp? Salt, I'll walk it off and get some salt.'

Chaotic: The usually polished star put on a chaotic display during her chat with KSI last week

Leaping from her chair on the socially-distanced set, she then wandered from one end of the studio to the kitchen, before saying: 'I can't find it! Can't find the salt!'

Other phrases they had to include in their scripts were 'don't mug me off', 'flaps' and 'big bush'.

The instructions from Stephen sparked chaos on set and viewers quite rightly took to Twitter in droves to share their view that their actions were all part of a 'prank' coordinated by Ant and Dec.

Stephen had also been behind the scenes of Lorraine, Good Morning Britain and Loose Women on Monday with his signs to cause even more chaos and had to chose which was the funniest show to win the 'On Air Dares' trophy.

Mayhem: The TV presenter's mind was elsewhere when a pesky fly, her troublesome leg cramp, a bout of yawning, and a mouse in the studio interrupted their live chat

Behind the scenes: Stephen Mulhern held up a sign on Lorraine saying that she had to swat an imaginary fly away

On This Morning Holly bizarrely segued into a new segment as she said: 'First of all, it's competition time  which is great because I'm bursting for a wee!', after Stephen instructed her to use the out-of-place phrase.

And as James, 48, later attempted to show viewers how to make choux buns, Phillip suddenly gushed to Holly: 'I'm loving you today. You and me are best friends forever!'

Holly then suddenly bellowed: 'I'm hungry!' and while James' patience appeared to wear thin, Phil asked Holly: 'Have I still got bay leaf in my teeth?'

'No, you would have been able to taste it,' responded a nonchalant Holly.

Ouch! The Scottish presenter grimaced in pain as some severe leg cramp caused her to stop the interview and shuffle up and down to ease the affliction

As James began using a whisk, Holly then piped up: 'I love the sound of that! It's a bit beat boxy. Beat the eggs with a beat!', in response to Stephen's next sign which said she had to use the phrase 'beat box'.

'Oh, that's a big whisk,' she went on to exclaim, before adding: 'I nearly said big bush, but I meant to say big whisk.'

As James added his choice of nuts to the recipe, Holly appeared eager to start a row as she said: 'Can you choose other sorts of nuts? Don't tell me what to do! I think I can put other things on it, like chocolate.'

As James put the finishing touches to his recipe, Holly remarked: 'I'm a bit discombobulated, when you get confused with all the ingredients.'

Hilarious: This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were also in on the prank

And once she tasted the recipe, a usually composed Holly said: 'It tastes better than it looks. It looks lovely, but it tastes really good, is what I mean.'

Tucking into the sweet treat, Holly told James 'don't mug me off' as she chowed down, later saying that she would take the cake with her 'in a bum bag'.

They then started complaining about a noise in the studio, with Phil saying: 'It's like a high-pitched noise. [We've] been taken off the air, probably.'

When Holly asked again about the 'noise', a visibly exasperated James responded: 'I've got the director in my ear.'

Sneaky: On Saturday Night Takeaway, viewers were shown how cameras followed Stephen as he snuck behind the scenes during filming to disrupt the shows

Reaction: In response to Stephen's card, Phil then acted out having cramp, prompting Holly to say, 'You have a cramp? Salt, I'll walk it off and get some salt.'

Unperturbed, Holly admired the completed recipe as she said: 'It's amazing isn't it? It's like a chicken or a goat situation.'

After the chaotic duo came off air Stephen was seen creasing up with laughter as he exclaimed 'that was phenomenal!'

Holly then said: 'They're going to think we've gone mad' as Phillip looked shell shocked and said: 'Oh my God!'.

Speaking with Ant and Dec back in the studio Stephen said: 'Full respect to all the presenters because being live you've got to be very careful with what you say and when somebody has now taken over your show it's hard. But they were all game for it.'

Cheeky: Holly bizarrely segued into a new segment as she said:,'First of all, it's competition time  which is great because I'm bursting for a wee!', after Stephen instructed her to do so

Mischievous: Other phrases they had to include were 'don't mug me off', 'flaps' and 'big bush'

Ant then asked: 'How did you chose your winner though because everybody went for it?'

He responded saying: 'So for every card they got correct they got a point and This Morning they only won by three points.'

Referring to Susanna Reid refusing to read out what was on some of the cards, Stephen added: 'She was like a head teacher she was going nowhere near it!'

The comedy duo are notorious for including pranks as part of their weekend programme.

Silly: Stephen also held up a sign during the This Morning broadcast that instructed Holly and Phil to 'laugh uncontrollably'

Awkward! Holly and Phil made things incredibly awkward for chef James Martin as he attempted to present a cooking segment

And as speculation continued to to mount on Monday, a message from This Morning's official Twitter account appeared to all but confirm suspicions.

The tweet read: 'Things got strange during @jamesmartinchef's cookery slot today! Take a look and see what you think... All will become clear this weekend!'

Stephen also caused chaos on Monday's Loose Women.

In the final 15 minutes of the lunchtime talk show, panellist Judi Love suddenly started screaming that there was a spider loose in the studio, prompting moderator Charlene White to assure her: 'It's not there!' - after Stephen asked her to do it.

Masterminds: Speaking with Ant and Dec back in the studio Stephen said, 'Full respect to all the presenters because being live you've got to be very careful with what you say'

Comedian Judi then proceeded to get out of her chair and walk around the studio mid-conversation, as Charlene reiterated that she shouldn't worry.

However, the outbursts only ramped up from there, with Judi telling her co-hosts and the viewers at home: 'I'm adjusting my wedgie, excuse me!'

She then started randomly snorting while pregnant guest panellist Paris Fury, who appeared on the show remotely from her home, was talking.

Even while discussing serious topics, the one-liners flowed out, as Jane Moore said of smear tests: 'You lie there and you think, 'I'm really regretting that vindaloo now!''

And there's more: Things were no less chaotic for Loose Women stars (L-R, top to bottom) Charlene White, Judi Love, Paris Fury and Jane Moore with their own series of odd outbursts

Judi screamed once again about the rodent that was purportedly running loose in the studio, as she shouted: 'I need to go! Where's the producer?'

Jane later asked her co-hosts mid-chat: 'Is it me, or does something stink in here?'

Never missing an opportunity to raise a laugh, Judi said: 'It's me, because... sorry.'

After Jane complained about having a cramp, suddenly walking around the studio to shake it off, Judi started yawning, blaming it on a 'late night'.

When the panellists started discussing household chores, Judi oddly commented: 'You have to do what you have to do to keep moist and not dry out.'

Fun: In the final 15 minutes of the lunchtime talk show, panellist Judi Love suddenly started screaming that there was a spider loose in the studio

Oh, rats! Judi Love was seen leaping out of her seat as she complained about a rat in the studio

And as Paris spoke about her struggle to get her children to help with chores around the house, Judi started doing jumping jacks as she said: 'You know what I do, if they get upset I do 1, 2, 3... You want everyone to canoodle together.'

As the show wrapped, Judi cut in to ask: 'Whats that smell?'

'Is it the same one I smelled earlier?' Jane asked, as Charlene remarked: 'It's not a good one at all!'

'All discombobulated today,' said Jane, as Judi added: 'The smell is absolutely bad, absolutely out of this world.'

Bringing the unconventional hour to a close, Charlene announced: 'I think we need to pull the cord and get out of here!'

Shutting it down: Bringing the unconventional hour to a close, Charlene announced, 'I think we need to pull the cord and get out of here' as her co-stars complained about a 'bad smell'
Donald Trumps planned social media platform will debut in three to four months, the former presidents onetime campaign manager and senior adviser said.

Were going to have a platform where the presidents message of America First is going to be able to be put out to everybody, Corey Lewandowski said on the conservative Newsmax TV networks Saturday Agenda.

Therell be an opportunity for other people to weigh in and communicate in a free format without fear of reprisal or being canceled, he said.

Lewandowskis comments followed ones from Trump, who said on a March 22 podcast that after being banned from Twitter and other major social media platforms, hes working on his own and would have more details soon.

Im doing things having to do with putting our own platform out there that youll be hearing about soon, Trump said in an interview for Fox News contributor Lisa Boothes podcast The Truth.

A week ago, Trump adviser Jason Miller said Trump would return to social media in about two to three months.

Trump picked Lewandowski to run a super PAC as part of his forthcoming post-presidential political efforts, Politico reported in February.

___

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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The National Ramadan Conference has called on all Muslims to attach a great deal of importance to the upcoming National Housing and Population Census and avail themselves of it.



The conference said the exercise was meant to assist the central and local governments to plan how to provide educational, health, housing and other social services to the people.



This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the 27th National Ramadan Conference in Sunyani in the Bono Region last Friday.



2021 Ramadan fasting



The conference said participating in the census would enable the government to know the real statistics, thus it was important that everyone was counted to help in subsequent planning.



Also at the conference, a sub-committee on Ramadan fasting was appointed to work out the date of sighting of the moon using Friday, March 26, 2021 as the 12th day of Shaban.



According to the communique, the first day for the sighting of the moon shall start on Monday, April 12, of 2021, when Shaban shall be 29 days.



"If sighted, Tuesday, April 13th becomes the first day of Ramadan 2021. If not sighted, Tuesday April 13th becomes the 30th day of Shaban. Therein Wednesday, April 14th shall be the first day of Ramadan 2021", the communique explained.



COVID-19



The communique also asked Muslims to strictly observe the COVID-19 protocols especially in these times of the second wave of the pandemic.



It called on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to intensify education to clear the misconception surrounding the COVID 19 vaccines.



"It has also become necessary for the GHS to do serious advocacy on the need to attach importance to the vaccination for prevention and management of the inherent dangers of the pandemic," the communique further stated.



Other national issues



On road accidents, the conference stated that safety on the country's roads was a collective responsibility.



It said the loss of precious lives through road accidents had become a national crisis which needed urgent solution.



The communique, therefore, advised road users to abide by all rules and regulations binding the use of the road to prevent further loss of lives.



LGBTQI



The conference further condemned the upsurge of activities of gays and lesbians in the country and called for measures to stamp out such abominable practices.



"We Muslims in Ghana vehemently condemn the act and seriously frown against it since this is against the norms of natural course of mind and bodily sexual gratification."



It explained that Islam had declared gayism and lesbianism as an abomination and should therefore be summarily stamped out of the system.

Source: graphiconline.com









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US Dollar Outlook:

US Dollar Gains, but Catalyst Proves Lacking

Higher US Treasury yields have been the typical precursor to US Dollar strength in recent weeks, but the greenback appears to be doing fine on its own (for the most part). Even as long-end US Treasury yields have stalled out over the past two weeks  really, since the March Fed meeting when Fed Chair Jerome Powell more or less told bond vigilantes to go take a hike  the greenback (via the DXY Index) has been able to climb higher.

US Treasury Yield Curve (1-year to 30-years) (March 2016 to March 2021) (Chart 1)

Indeed, the DXY Index has established fresh yearly highs today, and if US Treasury yields are on the verge of resuming their climb, then the US Dollar may be poised for more gains. If the recent consolidation in US Treasury yields coincided with a period of disappointing US economic data, as evidenced by the Atlanta Fed GDPNow growth forecast for 1Q21 dropping from +10% annualized at the end of February to +4.7% as of March 26, then the arrival of the March US jobs report at the end of this would may harken a turnaround in US growth expectations, and thus, US Treasury yields once more.

DXY PRICE INDEX TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (March 2020 to March 2021) (CHART 2)

In the most recent US Dollar forecast update on March 17, it was noted that a move over the mid-February swing high of 91.06 would suggest that the turn higher is gaining legitimacynow back below the initial intrayearly uptrend, DXY Index may be in for more choppy trading in the near-term. The choppy trading played out for a few days before the DXY Index pivoted higher from the confluence of support and resistance going back to late-July 2020, as well as the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the 2018 low/2020 high range and the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the 2011 low/2020 high range.

The push to fresh yearly highs today comes alongside improving bullish momentum in recent days. The DXY Index is above its daily 5-, 8-, 13-, and 21-EMA envelope, which is in bullish sequential order. Daily Slow Stochastics are holding inoverbought territory, while daily MACD is trending higher above its signal line. More gains may be ahead, particularly at the tail-end of the week, where US economic data is stacked.

USD/JPY RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (March 2020 to March 2021) (CHART 3)

In the prior USD/JPY forecast update on March 17, it was noted that more gains may be ahead soon for USD/JPY rates after some profit taking. A period of sideways movement ensued, with USD/JPY trading back to its daily 21-EMA before eventually turning higher. Gains the past few days have been aggressive, and price action today is resolving itself in a manner that may see USD/JPY rates close above several key technical levels: first, the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement of the 2020 high/low range; second, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the 2018 high/2020 low range; and the June 2020 high.

USD/JPY rates are above their daily 5-, 8-, 13-, and 21-EMA envelope, which remains in bullish sequential order. Daily Slow Stochastics are trending higher back into overbought territory, while daily MACD has started to turn back higher after a small pullback after reaching its 52-week high. The path of least resistance may be higher, perhaps gilded by the stacked US economic calendar at the end of the week.

IG Client Sentiment Index: USD/JPY RATE Forecast (March 29, 2021) (Chart 4)

USD/JPY: Retail trader data shows 40.45% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders short to long at 1.47 to 1. The number of traders net-long is 7.69% higher than yesterday and 14.33% higher from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 0.20% higher than yesterday and 5.70% lower from last week.

We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-short suggests USD/JPY prices may continue to rise.

Yet traders are less net-short than yesterday and compared with last week. Recent changes in sentiment warn that the current USD/JPY price trend may soon reverse lower despite the fact traders remain net-short.

--- Written by Christopher Vecchio, CFA, Senior Currency Strategist
Sign language is set to take centre stage at Belfasts Lyric Theatre as part of a new initiative aimed at making the arts more accessible to Northern Irelands deaf community.

The theatres reopening strategy will see it offer a sign language performance of every Lyric produced show, an exciting, devised piece by deaf artists and a workshop to inform accessibility policy and planning for the Lyric Theatre.

The announcement coincides with the anniversary of British and Irish Sign Language being recognised as an official language in Northern Ireland.

The Lyric has also been successful in securing funding from the Department for Communities to provide British and Irish Sign Language versions of Splendid Isolation: Lockdown Dramas, a collection of five minute theatrical pieces exploring life in lockdown, originally broadcast on the BBC in June 2020.

The dramas will be interpreted by British and Irish sign language interpreters Amanda Coogan and Kristina Laverty and are currently available on the Lyrics website.

In addition, the funding has supported a new explorative project with deaf artists Jane OBrien and Paula Clarke, facilitated by Amanda Coogan. The Naked Hands, devised in the Lyric Theatre over the past month, is a potted history of the deaf community in Northern Ireland through the eyes of Paula and Jane.

Jimmy Fay, executive producer at the Lyric, said accessibility to the arts was a human right and one which the theatre was committed to promoting.

We are delighted to be able to offer signed performances for our shows and are committed to engage with the community and learn from them as to how the Lyric can be even more accessible, he said.

The piece that Jane and Paula have devised with Amanda over the past month is breathtaking and we hope to be able to bring it to audiences later this year.

Talking about the piece, Jane and Paula said they were honoured to be involved in developing the new production with the Lyric.

This invitation is a wonderful, inclusive gesture and the team at the Lyric has made us warmly welcome.

As deaf artists, we work with the visuals and the body to make contemporary theatre investigating the history of deaf people and sign language in Northern Ireland and we look forward to being able to share it with audiences soon.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said: I am delighted that my department is supporting the Lyric Theatres wonderful initiative to make the arts more accessible to the local deaf community through their visually expressive and vibrant languages of British and Irish sign languages.

This initiative will promote the arts to all and I look forward to an evolving relationship between the arts community and the sign language community.

To view Splendid Isolation: Lockdown Dramas with British and Irish Sign Language; to find out more about The Naked Hands project plus information on how to apply to be part of the workshop to steer accessibility for the deaf community visit www.lyrictheatre.co.uk
More than 100 leaseholders stuck in flats built after the Grenfell disaster face bills of up to 156,000 each to fix fire safety defects.

The repair bills at The Milliners in Bristol are believed to be the biggest individual costs to affected leaseholders anywhere in Britain so far.

Solicitor Steph Pike, 29, paid 193,000 for her one-bedroom flat in the 109-apartment development, completed months after the fire at the west London tower block in 2017 claimed 72 lives.

With the devastating inferno fresh in the memory, she and other buyers sought and got assurances that their homes were safe.

But last October tests revealed the block had the same type of cladding used at Grenfell, which an inquiry has blamed for accelerating the spread of the blaze.

Solicitor Steph Pike (pictured), 29, paid 193,000 for her one-bedroom flat in the 109-apartment development, completed months after the fire at the west London tower block in 2017 claimed 72 lives

The tests also found The Milliners had the same combustible insulation as Grenfell  plus missing cavity barriers and flammable timber balconies.

The total repair bill on the 7.9million building, converted to flats from unused offices, is estimated to be 7.5million.

Leaseholders are liable to pay from 70,000 to 156,000 each depending on the size of their flat. Miss Pike says she will go bankrupt and lose her job if she has to pay the full cost.

The revelations led experts to warn that the building industry carried on as normal in the year after Grenfell and many new flats could be unsafe.

Clive Betts MP and chairman of the Commons housing committee, said it was absolutely outrageous that potentially unsafe flats were still being built after the fire. Just 242 out of a possible 11,760 unsafe buildings have been fixed since Grenfell.

The Daily Mail is campaigning to end the scandal by June 2022 and spare leaseholders the crippling financial burdens.

With the devastating inferno fresh in the memory, she and other buyers sought and got assurances that their homes were safe. Pictured: Steph Pike

The Government has since trebled its fund to replace unsafe cladding to 5billion, but it excludes those living in blocks below 18 metres (60ft) in height, who instead face bills of up to 600 a year for repairs.

And there is nothing for those who face average costs of 25,600 each to fix non- cladding defects, such as timber balconies.

The Milliners is 19 metres tall. The freeholder, Grey GR, applied for Government funding in December but it is unclear how much it will receive and whether the non-cladding defects, which are often more expensive, will be covered.

A 24-hour fire patrol has been in place since November, costing 165 a month per leaseholder. On Monday the Government defeated an amendment to its Fire Safety Bill that would have stopped building owners passing on costs to leaseholders, despite a revolt by 33 Tory MPs.

First-time buyer Miss Pike said ministers must step in. She added: Theyve said numerous times that leaseholders should not have to pay, yet they keep voting against the amendment which says exactly that. It makes me think, Do you want us to pay then? 

The Milliners contractor, headoffice3, said: We are co-operating in full with Grey GR... and have provided them with the proof of compliance. We should add that the building was signed off by an accredited fire consultant at the time. We have not been notified of any defects... we do not know anything about remediation costs of 7.5million.

Grey GR said the safety of residents was its principal concern and that it had not been responsible for the construction or choice of materials for the building that has led to this incredibly worrying situation.

It said it is seeking recovery from those who may be responsible and had applied to the Government fund. But it confirmed the fund would not cover all of the costs, meaning there is a risk that leaseholders may eventually be asked to pay any shortfall via their service charge.

A Government spokesman said the Milliners fund application will be considered in due course.

cladding@dailymail.co.uk
Expansion of the geography of food exports, Ukraine's accession to the HUB system, import of food and dietary supplements, fight against counterfeit products are priority areas of cooperation between the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine.

"The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection will make every effort to address the priorities we are discussing with the Chamber, develop international cooperation and create a favorable business climate in Ukraine," said Vladyslava Mahaletska, the Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

According to the Services press service, she stressed that constant communication and dialogue allowed the Service to help businesses better.

It is noted that over the past six months, members of the committees of the American Chamber of Commerce on the agro-industrial complex, seed production, food industry, consumer goods, retail, e-commerce, and telecommunications have repeatedly addressed the Service, asking assistance in dealing with problems.

President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine Andy Hunder praised "a professional approach and meaningful feedback on a number of issues and, in particular, ways to solve them." According to him, the joint development of effective regulatory mechanisms within the working groups will help support companies and improve the conditions for doing business.

According to the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, 12 new markets opened for Ukrainian products last year, 35 export certificates were approved and two EU audits were undergone on the system of assessment of state control over fish and fish products, poultry and poultry products.

ol
The World Bank is a key partner for Romania, both by the impact of financing for sectoral reform projects and by the benefits of receiving the banking institution's expertise in these areas, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare told an online meeting on Monday with World Bank Group representatives.

"The World Bank is a key partner for Romania, both as regards the impact of the financed sectoral reform projects and as regards the advantage of receiving the Bank's expertise and experience in these areas. I appreciate the efforts and mobilization of the Bank's team and support the continuation of loan-contracting steps in various preparation stages, given the importance of the goals pursued by these projects. I am referring in particular to the signing, in the first part of this year, of the EUR 100 million worth of funding to support the project 'Safer, Inclusive and Sustainable Schools' and of the 150 million EUR funding for the construction of two facilities at the Targu-Mures County Hospital and the 'Grigore Alexandrescu' Hospital in Bucharest," Nazare said.

According to a Ministry release, during the meeting, the Romanian Finance Minister emphasized the interest of the Romanian side in using the financial resources made available by the World Bank Group in order to optimize and ensure the complementarity of financing sources for budget needs.

In their turn, the officials of the international lender expressed their willingness to continue supporting the Romanian authorities in implementing priority projects, thus encouraging the continuation of the dialogue for identifying common areas of intervention and optimal ways of cooperation in this regard.

Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare participated on Monday in a videoconference with the representatives of the World Bank Group, specifically with WB director for the European Union countries Gallina A. Vincelette, Country Manager for Romania and Hungary Tatiana Proskuryakova, IFC Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe Ary Naim, and MIGA Head of Europe and Central Asia Olga Sclovscaia.
analysis

South Africans are believed to have been killed on Friday when jihadist insurgents reportedly overran a hotel in the coastal town of Palma in northern Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province.

Several foreigners died when they tried to escape in a convoy from the Amarula Lodge where about 185 expatriates had been trapped, hiding in the strongroom, since the insurgents attacked the town on Wednesday afternoon. Others were killed when the insurgents finally overran the hotel. Many fled into the bush and the number of dead and injured was impossible to estimate on Friday night.

Security sources said the foreigners in the hotel had been completely abandoned by Mozambican security forces - possibly because they had run out of ammunition.

The South African private security company Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) had been keeping the insurgents at bay with fire from its three light helicopter gunships until Friday afternoon. But then the DAG helicopters had to withdraw because they ran out of fuel and then night fell, sources said.

That left the expatriates in the hotel unprotected. When they saw that the insurgents appeared to have shifted their attention to a nearby location, a South African decided to lead an escape attempt, sources...
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has presented an alternative way to pay for COVID-19 vaccines as his country faces a second wave of coronavirus.

The Venezuelan President has suggested paying the said remedy for the deadly disease with Venezuelan oil. According to an AFP report, Nicolas Maduro offered oil for COVID-19 vaccines, noting that Venezuela "has customers ready to buy oil" from them.

"It would devote part of its production to obtain the vaccines it needs. Oil for vaccines!," Nicolas Maduro said during a television appearance on Sunday.

Nicolas Maduro's offer follows Facebook freezing his page after promoting an oral solution that he claimed to be an effective remedy against coronavirus.

Because the Venezuelan President's claims were not backed by science, according to experts, the video was taken down by Facebook. His page was locked for 30 days, not allowing him to post while the ban is in effect.

READ NEXT: Venezuela to Use Russian, Chinese Coronavirus Vaccines

Nicolas Maduro on COVID-19 Vaccines

Although Nicolas Maduro has already planned on using Venezuelan oil as payment for the vaccine, he only provided few details regarding his plans or if it will work.

According to Reuters, the Venezuelan President was working to pay for COVID-19 vaccines from the World Health Organization's (WHO) COVAX mechanism both through oil shipments or Venezuelan funds frozen in overseas accounts due to sanctions.

The WHO's COVAX mechanism provides COVID-19 vaccine access to developing countries.

The country's oil crisis came after Washington sanctioned state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela in 2019. It cuts off Venezuela's exports to the U.S., preventing many other customers from buying Venezuelan oil as well.

Nicolas Maduro said the country is ready and prepared "for oil for vaccines." However, he pointed out that they would "not beg" anyone to do it.

Washington has labeled the Venezuelan President to be a dictator who manipulated the 2018 election to win another term and violated human rights.

Nicolas Maduro refuted the allegations, saying that the Washington is seeking to expel him to control the country's oil reserves, the largest in the globe.

COVID-19 Vaccines in Venezuela

As of March 28, the WHO has recorded a total of 154,905 COVID cases in Venezuela with 1,543 deaths. So far, the Venezuelan government authorized only the vaccines from Sputnik V and the Chinese company Sinopharm for its COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The country recently announced that they would not authorize AstraZeneca to be administered in the country. According to an Al Jazeera report, Venezuela based its decision on the suspension of the vaccine brand in several European countries due to its side effects.

It can be recalled that many EU countries were alarmed by the blood clot reports after administering AstraZeneca to several patients. But American health experts were skeptical about the EU countries' decision, saying that it will affect the vaccination program in the U.S.

READ MORE: Venezuelan Refugees in Colombia Face Eviction Amid the COVID-19 Quarantine

WATCH: AstraZeneca Update: Venezuela Denies to Authorize the Jab - From WION




Thank you for reading!

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Sales of petrol reversed 20.9 per cent annually last year, official statistics show.

With many working from home during the lockdown and year-long restrictions hitting travel and gatherings, people have used cars far less than they usually would, meaning filling stations have seen a huge decline in sales.

Supermarkets suffered the most, with an average 22.3 per cent decline in fuel business last year.

That's despite them being one of the main retailer groups staying open throughout the three lockdowns enforced in England.

Petrol sales plunge by a fifth: Forecourt sales of unleaded fuel dropped by 21% last year as a result of fewer Britons taking to the road during the pandemic, official stats have confirmed

Supermarket diesel sales also decreased more than for fuel retailers in general, down 21.6 per cent compared to a drop of 15.9 per cent for all diesel sales, according to the new figures published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

While supermarket fuel is generally the cheapest on sale in the UK, fewer members of the public had wanted to travel to large stores to shop, instead switching to online deliveries, which boomed as a result of the coronavirus spread last year.

Conventional fuel retailers, which tend to be more localised and in more rural locations, would likely have benefited from this trend.

Luke Bosdet, the AA's spokesman on fuel, said: 'The greater impact of lockdown-restricted travel on supermarket petrol sales compared to the trade in general is a little surprising given that superstores have remained open throughout the pandemic.

'Fuel sales were always going to take a huge hit from car travel falling as low as 22 per cent (12 April) of pre-pandemic levels.

'However, supermarkets continuing to trade suggested better fuel sales resilience, although the boom in grocery deliveries will have also meant fewer visits to the stores' forecourts.'

With traffic volumes falling by as much as 80% last April, the AA said it was not surprise to see the significant fall in fuel sales last year

Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) told This is Money that he expects a 'strong bounce-back' in fortunes for fuel stations when the Government lifts restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

He also referenced the recent boom in electrified vehicle sales, but points out that they continue to represent a small fraction of the national car parc.

'The drop in petrol and diesel volumes can be directly attributed to the unprecedented Covid-19 travel restrictions placed upon motorists,' he explained.

'While there has been a growing demand for electric vehicles, their market share remains very modest.

'With over 40 million internal combustion engines (ICE) vehicles still driving the UK economy, we expect fuel volumes to experience a strong bounce-back once restrictions have been lifted for good.

'Throughout the pandemic, our members have served their communities, and they will continue to do so after the pandemic.'

Supermarkets suffered the most, with an average 22.3% decline in fuel business last year. That's despite them being one of the main retailer groups staying open throughout the three lockdowns enforced in England

Petrol prices dipped below 1-a-litre for the first time in four years in 2020, with oil values impacted not just by the pandemic but also a production fallout between Russia and Saudi Arabia weeks before Britain's first lockdown.

Oversupply, lack of storage and a cliff-edge fall in demand saw prices slip to levels not seen since January 2016, with the likes of Asda selling unleaded for 99p-a-litre.

However, non-supermarket retailers failed to match these prices, even despite the wholesale price crash.

'Now drivers know that, in general, they fared better than the superstores,' Bodset added.

Fuel prices have risen dramatically in since November, with prices 'levelling-off' at around 126p-a-litre by the end of March.

It means that drivers are now paying 6.33 more for a typical tank of petrol than in the autumn.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prime Mining Corp. (Prime, or the Company) (TSX.V: PRYM) (OTCQB: PRMNF) (Frankfurt: O4V3) is pleased to report its operating and financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, ended January 31, 2021. Unless otherwise stated, all amounts are presented in Canadian dollars (C$).



Prime is focused on the exploration and development of its wholly owned Los Reyes Gold-Silver Project in Sinaloa State, Mexico (Los Reyes or the Project).

Corporate Highlights During The Quarter

On January 11th, Prime paid US$ 1.1 million to Vista Gold Corp. (Vista) in accordance with the terms of Los Reyes project acquisition agreement. The Payment resulted in Prime extinguishing certain royalty and back-in rights on underground mining operations (see July 20, 2020 news release). In light of recent bonanza-grade discoveries at depth in Guadalupe East and other areas northeast, at and toward Mina 20/21 (see March 18, 2021 news release), cancellation of the back-in right was timely and of good value. A final payment of US$ 1.0 million is due in July 2021.

Exploration During The Quarter

On November 24, a 15,000 metre (m) Phase 1 diamond drilling program commenced at Los Reyes with two drills. Initially, drilling targeted the Zapote North and Zapote South-Tahonitas deposits, two of the largest of eight known gold and silver deposits at Los Reyes. After initial delays, the Phase 1 drill program was well underway by the end of the quarter and 5 drill holes totaling 1,053 m were completed.

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, two more drills were mobilized to Los Reyes. There are now five diamond drills operating, a fifth drill having been mobilized to the property in late February. The principal objectives of the Phase 1 drill program are:

Expand the known in-pit resources along strike and down dip;

Infill drill areas of potential mineralization to increase measured and indicated category resources;

Provide silver assay data in areas of the resource, where data is missing in the results of reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed by prior operators;

Target deeper sections at Guadalupe East and other extensions of the historic Guadalupe mine to the east, and at depth, for high grade resources; and

Target undrilled mineralized structures such as Fresnillo, Las Primas, Orito and newly identified structures proximal to Guadalupe (Mina 20/21). These structures offer both open pit and significant underground opportunities for resource expansion and discovery.



The current re-interpretation of the controlling structures for the mineralization at Guadalupe East, in particular, the bonanza grade Estaca Vein, suggests that the majority of historic drilling failed to consistently reach the interpreted mineralized vein contact. As a result, it is believed that a significant opportunity exists to develop underground resource potential, with the Estaca Vein being virtually untested at depth or along strike at depth.

Complementing current drilling, crews continue the on-going program of re-logging 89 historic diamond drill holes completed by prior operators, as part of Primes efforts to unlock the geology and structural setting of this large epithermal system.

Primes boots and hammer field crews continued the program of surface prospecting, mapping, sampling and trenching. Significant new exploration targets identified by this program include El Orito, Orito Sur, Mina 20/21. Additionally, new infill trench results from Zapote North continued to identify high-grade mineralization including 34.5 m of 2.12 gpt gold (Au) and 18.8 gpt silver (Ag).

Figure 1. Principal Deposits and Exploration Targets

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ecd1088-de24-44ad-9068-7b3f7c49648a

Other continuing themes and activities that are critical to progress and the overall success of the Project include:

Maintaining health and safety protocols. To-date, the efforts of the Companys employees, contractors and suppliers have been largely successful in minimizing the impact of Covid-19 on operations, however Covid-19 remains a potential threat to the estimated project timelines.

Continuing our community engagement programs. In particular, managing scarce water resources during the dry season, to provide for community livestock water requirements while servicing water used in drilling operations.

Following best practices in environmental stewardship. Providing access to new drill sites by re-habilitating existing access roads and trails.

3 rd Quarter Financial Highlights

Q3 2021 Q3 2020 Loss and comprehensive loss ($1,053,542) ($851,653)





January 31, 2021 April 30, 2020 Cash $5,840,853 $1,020,820 Total assets $22,318,122 $10,360,210 Total current liabilities $674,037 $1,799,678 Total liabilities $1,630,559 $1,863,982 Total shareholders equity $20,687,563 $8,496,228

During the quarter, $ 1.1 million was spent on exploration. The other major expense incurred was the US$ 1.1 million payment to Vista in satisfaction of agreements covering Primes purchase of Los Reyes and the formerly retained royalty and project participation back-in rights in favour of Vista. No other significant costs or expenditures were incurred during the quarter, outside of general and administrative expenses.

Exercise of outstanding share purchase warrants and some employee stock options resulted in $ 0.9 million being added to Primes cash position. At quarter end, Prime was well-financed with $ 5.8 million in cash.

Subsequent Events

An update on exploration activities that included the first release of assay data from the Phase 1 program (see news release March 18, 2021). Prime highlighted:

Assay results from diamond drill hole 21GE-01 which intersected gold and silver mineralization at the Guadalupe East deposit in the bonanza grade Estaca vein, 40 m below the known historic workings and 150 m below the deepest recorded historic drill hole. 21GE-01 intersected 20.1 m at 3.25 g/t Au and 380.0 gpt Ag, including 6.5 m at 6.51 gpt Au and 587.5 gpt Ag. At 320 m below surface, this vein intercept is the deepest exploration drilling ever at Los Reyes. For a complete description of 21GE-01 and historic deep drilling at Guadalupe East (refer to March 18, 2021 news release).

Mapping and prospecting results from previously unidentified historic adits located 1.3 kilometres northeast of the Guadalupe East deposit that contained high-grade mineralization. One area, referred to as Mina 20/21, has evidence of small-scale mining and gold-silver extraction. Surface and underground sampling in this area returned 42 chip sample assay results ranging 0.015 to 29.8 gpt Au and 0.5 to 1,132 gpt Ag. The best chip assay result returned 2.3 m grading 29.8 gpt Au and 1,132 gpt Ag.

Filing an application for mineral rights increasing the Los Reyes land package to over 13,800 hectares.



To date, drill crews have completed 4,896 m of drilling in 23 diamond drill holes. Upon completion of the Phase 1 program, the rainy season drilling break will be used to complete an updated geological model incorporating the historic data collected by prior operators, the results of the Phase 1 drill program and the results of the surface mapping and prospecting program. This updated geological model will be the first model that looks at the property-wide potential of the low sulphidation epithermal system at Los Reyes.

Additional planning is underway on an expanded Phase 2 program of resource expansion and exploration drilling to determine the full potential of Los Reyes. Phase 2 drilling will start after the rainy season in November 2021.

Kerry Sparkes, P.Geo., Executive Vice President of Exploration, is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content in this news release.

About the Los Reyes Gold and Silver Project

Los Reyes is a district scale low sulphidation epithermal gold-silver project located in a prolific mining region of Mexico. Over $ 20 million in exploration, engineering and prefeasibility studies have been spent on the project over 2 1/2 decades by previous operators with development plans being held back due to declining gold prices. Historic data coupled with an existing and recently updated resource estimate has provided sufficient understanding to fast-track the project to production. However, there is substantial resource expansion upside based on open extensions of known deposits, multiple untested high priority exploration targets, and only 40% of the known structures systematically explored leaving 10 kilometres of untested strike length. Potential for significant growth of the resource remains strong.

Current Measured and Indicated category, pit-constrained oxide mineral resources include 19.8 million tonnes (Mt) containing 633,000 ounces of gold at 1.0 g/t and 16,604,000 ounces of silver at 26.2 g/t, plus an additional 7.1 Mt Inferred category resources containing 179,000 ounces gold at 0.78 g/t and 6,831,000 ounces silver at 30 g/t.

About Prime Mining Corp.

Prime Mining Corp., a member of the TSX Venture 50, is an ideal mix of successful mining executives, strong capital markets personnel and experienced local operators who have united to build a low cost, near-term gold producer at the historically productive Los Reyes project in Mexico. Prime has a well-planned capital structure with significant team and insider ownership.

The TSX Venture 50 is a ranking of the top performers in each of 5 industry sectors on the TSX Venture Exchange over the last year.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Daniel Kunz

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Daniel Kunz

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Prime Mining Corp.

1307 S. Colorado Ave.

Boise, Idaho 83706

Telephone: +1 (208)926-6379 office

email: daniel@primeminingcorp.ca

Andrew Bowering

Executive Vice President and Director

Prime Mining Corp.

1507  1030 West Georgia Street

Vancouver, BC, V6E 2Y3

Telephone: +1 (604) 428-6128

email: andy@primeminingcorp.ca

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.

Forward Looking Information

Information set forth in this document may include forward-looking statements. While these statements reflect management's current plans, projections and intents, by their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the control of the Company. 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 these forward-looking statements. There is no assurance the transactions noted above will be completed on the terms as contemplated, or at all. The Companys actual results, programs, activities and financial position could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Indian woman among three new Covid-19 patients in Vietnam

An Indian woman who recently arrived in Vietnam to work has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, raising the total number of patients in the country to 2,594, the Ministry of Health reported on Monday evening.



According to the ministry's report, the 30-year-old Indian woman landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City from Qatar on March 28. She was sent to a local quarantine area upon arrival and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 the same day. The patient is now being treated at the Cu Chi Field Hospital for Covid-19 patients.



Two other new patients are Vietnamese women aged 43 and 19 who entered Vietnam through the Moc Bai International Border Gate in Tay Ninh Province on March 27. They were sent to a local quarantine area upon arrival and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on March 29. The two patients are now being treated at the Tay Ninh Provincial General Hospital.

With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 2,594, including 914 locally-transmitted cases reported since the new outbreak started in Hai Duong on January 28. Hai Duong Province alone has recorded 726 cases.

As of 6 pm on March 29, a total of 2,308 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital. There have been 35 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.



At present, as many as 44.833 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.
Alvin Lee Sykes was born on July 21, 1956, in Kansas City, Kan. He said that his father, Vernon Evans, had raped his mother, Patricia Sykes, who was 14 years old when she gave birth to him. Eight days later an acquaintance of his mother, Burnetta F. Page, took him in as a foster child.

He is survived by Edna Dill, his foster sister.

Mr. Sykes had a painful childhood. He suffered from epilepsy and mental illness and was in and out of the hospital. Two of his neighbors, he said, both adults, sexually assaulted him, twice. Ms. Page had to mortgage her house to cover his medical bills, and she later sent him to live in Boys Town, the home for at-risk youth outside Omaha.

When he returned he lived for a year with his birth mother and then with an uncle. Though he promised his uncle he would stay in school, he left after eighth grade, and to bide his time during the day he visited the public librarys main branch in Kansas City, Mo.

There was a time when somebody like me wouldnt have been allowed inside a library  or as a Black man permitted to read at all, he told the journalist Monroe Dodd, the author of a short biography about Mr. Sykes. But I was able to revolve much of my life around the library. I sought and got my education there.

In 2013, the library named him its first scholar in residence.

Mr. Sykes joined the Marines in 1974, and when he left a year later he became the manager for a Kansas City funk band, Threatening Weather. He spent several years working in and around the citys music scene and met the jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. The two became friends, and Mr. Hancock, a Buddhist, persuaded Mr. Sykes to convert.

His success in the Harvey case made Mr. Sykes famous around Kansas City as a tireless advocate for victims of injustices large and small, from murder to the denial of food stamps. Nor did he limit his activism to civil rights: He persuaded his friend, State Senator Haley, to sponsor a bill making extreme cruelty to animals a felony.

Some of his positions were seemingly at odds with his civil rights record. In the late 1980s Mr. Sykes and Mr. Haley supported an application by the Ku Klux Klan for airtime on a Kansas City public access TV station. Mr. Sykes defended their right to free speech, but also said that letting them air their racist views would turn off more people than attract them. He was right: The show drew few viewers and ended within a few months.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
This satellite image shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given surrounded by recovery operations in the Suez Canal. Photo: Maxar Technologies/AP

Extra tugboats were rushed to Egypts Suez Canal to aid efforts to free a skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway.

It came as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free.

The massive Ever Given, a Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, got stuck last Tuesday in a single-lane stretch of the canal.

In the time since, authorities have been unable to remove the vessel and traffic through the canal  valued at over $9bn (7.6bn) a day  has been halted, further disrupting a global shipping network already strained by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dutch-flagged Alp Guard and the Italian-flagged Carlo Magno, called in to help tugboats already there, reached the Red Sea near the city of Suez early yesterday, satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed.

The tugboats will try to nudge the 400m-long Ever Given as dredgers continue to vacuum up sand from underneath the vessel and mud caked to its port side, said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which manages the Ever Given.

Meanwhile, excavators dug the eastern wall of the canal, hoping to free the bow of the Ever Given that ploughed into the embankment.

Workers were planning to make two attempts last night to free the vessel coinciding with high tides helped by a full moon.

The full moon offers a spring tide, or king tide, in which high tides are higher and the low tides are lower because of the effects of gravity during a straight-line alignment of the Earth, the moon and the sun.

Sunday is very critical, one local boat pilot said. It will determine the next step, which highly likely involves at least the partial offloading of the vessel.

Taking containers off the ship is likely to add even more days to the canals closure, something authorities have been desperately trying to avoid. It also would require a crane and other equipment that have yet to arrive.

On Saturday, the head of the Suez Canal Authority told journalists that strong winds were not the only cause for the Ever Given running aground, appearing to push back against conflicting assessments offered by others.

Lt-Gen Osama Rabei said an investigation was ongoing but did not rule out human or technical error.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement maintains its initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding.

However, at least one initial report suggested a blackout struck the hulking vessel carrying about 20,000 containers at the time of the incident.

Lt-Gen Rabei said he remained hopeful that dredging could free the ship without having to resort to removing its cargo, but added: We are in a difficult situation, its a bad incident.

As of early yesterday, more than 320 ships were waiting to travel through the Suez, either to the Mediterranean or the Red Sea, according to canal services firm Leth Agencies.

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There are fears that stubbornly high new Covid-19 cases will mean the public will have to wait at least a further six weeks before any significant easing of restrictions is likely.

Experts from the emergency medical advisory committee, Nphet, meet today to finalise their latest advice to Government which they will then relay to the Cabinet Covid-19 subcommittee meeting this evening. Those ministers will bring the outcome of the two meetings to the full Cabinet tomorrow for final decision.

It comes as there was no sign of an improvement in the number of new cases of the virus with 604 reported yesterday. A further 13 deaths were also confirmed.

Two well-placed government sources have said that only minimal changes will be announced tomorrow, to take effect as promised a week later on April 5.

Officials pointed out that for the past three weeks, the new case figures of the virus remain stubbornly high.





Read More

"It is the Governments job to factor in other issues beside the medicine and the science. But on this occasion there is a strong sense that Nphet's advice will hold sway, one government source told the Irish Independent.

"The bigger hope will be change in May depending on the vaccine roll-out happening as planned. But it seems likely that major changes will be in the latter part of May, another source said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the Government has only "very narrow" scope to ease coronavirus restrictions and told RTE radio that ministers will be taking a "cautious" approach.

"What we are trying to ensure is that we don't allow a fourth wave of Covid spread to happen between now and when the majority of adults in the country will be vaccinated," he said.

"I would expect, but I can't be sure, that we would be looking at the 5km restriction, that we'd be looking at outdoor activity, that we will certainly want to facilitate completing the full return to school for children after April 5.

One minister said that both the medical experts on Nphet and the Government are "very aware that people are lockdown weary.

The main focus of hope will be upon what easing of restrictions is possible in May.

"But they way things are we are looking at the middle to the latter end of May, another source said.

There is speculation that outdoor dining at food-serving pubs and restaurants may be allowed by mid-May, along with the reopening of non-essential shops and countrywide travel.

Mr Coveney said he believed that by mid-July the majority of people will be vaccinated and this could lead to a much more positive picture.

A spokesman for the Taoiseach was non-committal about reports the UK may be ready to share vaccines with Ireland in efforts to ensure the easing of restrictions in Northern Ireland are not obstructed.

An Irish government spokesperson said: The UK has previously indicated that once it has achieved a high level of vaccination of its own population, it would consider sharing vaccines with other countries. We are not aware of any specific plans to share vaccines with Ireland at this stage.

Mr Coveney said while the UK had soared ahead in administering first jabs, the proportion of second jabs administered there was not dramatically higher than in Ireland. He said on that basis it was less likely Ireland will get early supplies from the UK.
The Labour MP David Lammy has been commended for calmly explaining to someone that his African-Caribbean heritage, and the fact he is black, does not stop him also being English.

Mr Lammy appeared on LBC radio to speak about Boris Johnsons racial disparity commission recommending the term Bame is unhelpful and redundant, and should no longer be used.

The long-disputed acronym  which stands for Black, Asian and minority ethnic  overshadows the fact people from different ethnic groups have varying life experiences and should not be grouped together in one umbrella term, the commission is set to report.

Thank God theyve got there, Mr Lammy told LBC. Ive said for ages that the term is lazy, its impersonal. I dont like being described as jargon. Im not jargon. Im black, Im English, Im British and Im proud.

I want my identities recognised appropriately ... Im of African descent, African-Caribbean descent but I am English.

Read more:

But a caller to the show, Jean, took aim at the MP describing himself as English  appearing to suggest that the very fact Mr Lammy is black meant he could not make such a claim.

You will never be English because youre African-Caribbean ... I cant say Im African-Caribbean, she said.

Mr Lammy countered: Britain, 400 years ago, started going out into the world, colonised and conquered a lot of the world, a lot of the world has ended up coming back to the mother country ... when I took a DNA test, I had Scottish in me.

Here I am, having grown up in this country, born of this country, and actually the truth is theres a myth theres one English ethnicity, theres not.

He continued: England has always been a country where Huguenots, Danes, all sorts have passed through ... for me, the fact that I was born here and the fact that my sensibilities are English mean I want to claim that heritage as well.

Jean ultimately conceded that Mr Lammy is British but not English, to which the Tottenham representative politely disagreed.

She told him that if she had been born in the Caribbean, she would not describe herself as Caribbean but Mr Lammy pointed out there were significant white Caribbean populations who have been there for hundreds of years.

They are significantly more Caribbean than I am, he added.

The pair ended their conversation with Jean comparing world migration to pollution, insisting you are your inheritance, which Mr Lammy, again, rubbished.

Just as you can be in America and be African-American, or you can be Italian-American, or you can be Irish-American, how is it that here in England, you can only claim that Englishness if you are white?

He later tweeted a video clip of the phone call between himself and Jean, writing: Dont ever tell me Im not English.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar shared the clip and tweeted that it was so well-handled, from Mr Lammy, but sad that it still has to be explained. Our children will be less tolerant of racism and more harshly impacted.

And Labour MP Angela Rayner said Mr Lammy had dealt with the disgraceful comments impeccably.

One Twitter user responded by saying: Wow. I think you responded beautifully. You didnt *react* like some of us might, you *responded* with care, patience + courage.

And another replied that: This is so painful to listen to. Mr Lammy you are a SAINT. Thank you for being so kind and patient to talk to this woman.

News that the government would be advised to bin the term Bame first appeared in The Telegraph.

The commissions report also includes research expected to show that the term ethnic minority is more popular with people from ethnic minorities than Bame or people of colour.

Speaking to LBC before his conversation with Jean, Mr Lammy reflected on the history of labelling non-white people and how terms like Bame potentially mask the lived experiences of individual groups.

The problem is, it just groups everyone together and there are very different experiences in Britain if you are Somali in origin ... or if you are Pakistani. Very, very big differences in education, in health, yet were grouped together.

He also questioned why, having just completed the Census form, he could not tick a box saying he was black and English.

Asked about the incoming report on Monday, minister for sport and tourism Nigel Huddleston said while he had not yet seen it in full, the government would act accordingly following its findings.

Well, I havent seen the full report of the commission, but  weve got to be sensitive to treat people as individuals, and sometimes categorisations can be challenging, or indeed offensive, even if theyre not intended to be so, he told Sky News.

But, as I said, I havent seen the full report yet, well see what it has to say and then act accordingly.
'Dangerous' and 'evil': Christian leaders react to rapper Lil Nas X's 'Satan Shoes'

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Christian and conservative leaders reacted with dismay after Lil Nas X, the artist behind "Old Town Road, announced he is collaborating with the streetwear company MSCHF on a pair of "Satan Shoes that contain a drop of human blood in the sole.

The shoes, apparently modified Nike Air Max 97s  are decorated with a pentagram pendant and a reference to Luke 10:18: And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

The sneakers also contain a drop of human blood in the sole, drawn from members of the MSCHF team. A total of 666 pairs  a number widely recognized symbols for the devil  went up for sale Monday at the price of $1,018.

The release of the Satan Shoes coincides with Lil Nas X's latest single, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," and its accompanying music video. In the video, Lil Nas X descends down a stripper pole and gives Satan a lap dance.

The openly gay rapper, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, explained the song was about a guy he met last summer.

Amid backlash, Nike clarified that it is not affiliated with the product, as the shoes are custom adaptations of existing products.

"We do not have a relationship with Little Nas X or MSCHF," Nike said in a statement, NBC News reports. "Nike did not design or release these shoes and we do not endorse them."

Both the release of the shoes and the music video, announced ahead of Palm Sunday weekend, drew criticism from conservative and Christian leaders. From Franklin Graham to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, here's how six leading conservative figures reacted.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is our supply chain to the world and a backbone for our regional economy, producing $100 billion in business income and supporting 230,000 jobs annually.

Business is good, yet Governor Murphy and our key lawmakers figure its the time to change the watchdog at the countrys third largest port, because they claim it is a hindrance to profit and job creation while implying that its success in catching mobsters is merely secondary.

That issue is before the Supreme Court, which may decide whether New Jersey can dissolve the fabled Waterfront Commission or uphold a law which says that only Congress can allow a state to withdraw from a bi-state agreement, such as the one which formed the Commission in 1953 to police the docks and a unionized workforce dominated by organized crime.

It is our hope that the Court denies New Jerseys bid to withdraw, because the rest of us can see the value of the Waterfront Commission just by reading the sordid details of its 2019-20 report, as unearthed by Ted Sherman of NJ Advance Media.

Start with this: The mob still has an undeniable influence on the docks and inside the powerful International Longshoremens Association union (ILA), which has been writing fat checks to political campaigns for decades.

Loan sharks and bookmakers, with the approval of organized crime, continue to prey on the workforce, the latest Commission report states. Cargo theft . . . is still a real problem. Workers compensation fraud, narcotics importation, and the illegal use of drugs, especially prescription medications, have been added to the enforcement picture.

And the agency, which runs background checks for anyone seeking employment with the shipping companies and marine terminals, also reports that the union steers sweetheart jobs toward friends and family and resists workforce diversity.

John Nardi of the New York Shipping Association, which represents the shipping companies and terminals, says that if there is organized crime in the port, then the WC should have gotten rid of it. And he echoes New Jerseys claim that the Commission places unrealistic standards on hiring at the port, where even the most casual association with a mob figure results in a rejection. Federal courts disagree.

Yet this objection from former Sen. Raymond Lesniak persists: What this report doesnt cover is all the abuses of the Commission on the operations of legitimate business people, he said. It inhibits their ability to be competitive with other ports.

Triggered by a 2009 New York Inspector General report that said the Commission itself was riddled with corruption, Lesniak sought to disband the Commission a year later. On his last day in office in 2018, Chris Christie signed a bill that transferred port oversight to the New Jersey State Police, arguing that the WC has over-regulated the businesses in an effort to justify its existence.

That was followed by an injunction, and it has been in the courts ever since.

Former commissioner Ron Goldstock, also a longtime director of New Yorks Organized Crime Task Force, says New Jerseys leaders overlook a key fact: Much of the intel in these reports is based on what the Commission hears from the terminal operators themselves, because they know the WC is the only thing protecting them from the extortionate operations of the ILA.

I lived with this for 10 years (2008-2018), and I watched the Shipping Association and ILA buy New Jersey. The minute the Commission became honest and started to root out corruption, all of a sudden it was an outrageous, rogue organization, Goldstock added. Anyone who says its outlived its usefulness hasnt read these reports.

Indeed, a spokesman for the governor said Friday that The Commissions own reports prove that they have been ineffective in removing organized crime activity for decades.

They must have skipped this part:

When 11 members of the Gambino crime family pled guilty to racketeering and wire fraud in federal court in Brooklyn in January, the federal prosecutor thanked the Waterfront Commission for its assistance.

When the acting boss and two soldiers from the Lucchese family went away for life for murder and racketeering last July, the US Attorney for the Southern District commended the Waterfront Commission again.

When six members of the Genovese family were sentenced in a loansharking racket known as Operation Fistful in Sept. 2019, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal thanked the Waterfront Commission for its partnership.

If thats mailing it in, were not surprised that a mobbed-up union that finances political campaigns is trying to gut oversight.

Murphy aims to please: At a raucous campaign rally at ILA headquarters in Oct. 2017, he pledged to figure out the damn Waterfront Commission once and for all! and nodded his assent as a union leader referred to the WC as a Gestapo regulatory agency.

If the Supreme Court decides not to hear the case, New Jersey could begin the process of withdrawing from the Commission. The governor should be careful what he wishes for.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.
New Delhi: A huge setback for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday (March 28, 2021) gave assent to the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2021.

The Bill says 'government' in the NCT of Delhi means 'Lieutenant Governor' and enhances the powers of the Delhi L-G. The Houses of the Parliament, notably, had passed the bill last week. It was cleared in Lok Sabha on March 22 and Rajya Sabha on March 24.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi has been against the Bill and its chief Arvind Kejriwal called it Bharatiya Janata Party's assault on democracy and federalism. Delhi CM took to his official Twitter account and while replying to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan (who also opposed the Bill) said, "Thank you Pinarayi Vijayan Ji for supporting the people of Delhi against BJP's assault on democracy and federalism."

Vijayan had expressed, "Govt of NCT of Delhi (And) Bill is an affront to our federal principles and rights of States. Restriction of the constitutional authority of democratically elected State Govts and violation of Supreme Court's verdicts should be resisted. BJP has colonial a mindset."

Thank you @vijayanpinarayi ji for supporting the people of Delhi against BJP's assault on democracy and federalism. https://t.co/BFgARJyo0o  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 28, 2021

However, the Centre, on the other hand, has maintained that the Bill is in line with the Supreme Court's July 2018 ruling on the ambit of powers of the L-G and the Delhi government after a series of run-ins between the two.

Earlier in July 2018, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Lieutenant Governor cannot interfere in every decision of the Delhi government and that he must act on aid and advice of the council of ministers.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Harried supervisors will tell you managing a team is difficult in the best of times when face-to-face interaction happens daily and business is good.

Providing constructive feedback to dispersed workers during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that has disrupted regular business can feel impossible. Some companies have seized on new tools built on artificial intelligence to monitor their employees.

These nascent productivity-monitoring tools, though, come with high risks, according to Serife Tekin, a professor who studies ethics and AI at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Theres a big, big hype about artificial intelligence and what it can do, she told me. The enthusiasm for these tools has increased since we started the Zoom life with the beginning of the pandemic. But theyre extremely, extremely primitive.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: American workers oppose racial discrimination, but do little about it

Most of us have seen chat boxes pop up on websites offering help. In most cases, these are computer programs using artificial intelligence to answer basic questions. If your question is beyond the AIs capabilities, the chat is routed to a customer service representative.

Some companies have taken AI chatbots to another level, even offering automated psychotherapy. Others offer to embed AI in work computers to detect burnout or other worrisome employee behaviors. An Amazon driver recently quit because he was tired of the companys AI looking over his shoulder.

This whole technology is grounded upon this thing called digital phenotyping, Tekin said. Its basically inferring peoples mental states based on their digital footprint.

The AI measures how quickly you speak on the phone or in a Zoom call. It can track how often you visit social media sites or how you respond to text messages. It measures your online behavior to determine your mental health, a correlation that researchers discovered more than a decade ago.

Humancomputer interaction measures not what you type, but how you type, Dr. Thomas Insel, a former head of the National Institutes of Health, wrote in a landmark 2008 paper. Subtle aspects of typing and scrolling, such as the latency between space and character or the interval between scroll and click, are surprisingly good surrogates for cognitive traits and affective states.

Insel and other researchers are convinced digital phenotyping will revolutionize mental health care. Hundreds of companies have seized on the research to launch employee monitoring apps, some concentrating on boosting productivity, while others are nothing more than spyware.

AI applications can track employees every keystroke or mouse movement. Others use the computers camera to track your eyes. If the AI determines a worker is unusually frustrated or unproductive, it can report the problem to human resources or a supervisor.

The apps can also flag high-performers and perhaps give supervisors insight into how to boost the productivity of other employees. But like many new technologies, these apps often overpromise and underperform.

In its most beneficent use, human resources departments use AI to detect employee burnout.

Its assuming that people respond to stress or burnout similarly, Tekin said. Your response to burnout might be turning inward and becoming even less expressive, exhausted and less communicative. Whereas my response to burnout might be trying to control the situation.

There are also cultural differences in how people cope with stress, depression and anger. The challenge for AI apps is sorting through the variability of human responses. If developers were sincere, they would admit the complexity of the human mind cannot be understood by a computer program that operates on a broadband internet connection.

I think its extremely problematic to be surveilling and monitoring employees that way, because this will then imply that it will be in the employees records, Tekin added. At some point, a behavioral issue could be caused by a medical one, which triggers all kinds of federal and state regulations.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: LGBT workers face challenges finding sympathetic workplace mentors

Tekins biggest concern is that the technology is being deployed more quickly than ethicists or policymakers can respond. The Food and Drug Administration has already loosened rules around psychotherapy apps to expand access during the pandemic because so many patients do not want in-person appointments.

AI being used to enhance employee-employer relationships, I think is more acceptable, Tekin added. An AI chatbot replacing the kind of work that is expected from the employer is problematic.

Todays managers are always looking for ways to work more efficiently. Companies are already using AI to screen job applicants, check work performance and gauge employee job satisfaction.

Truly empathetic managers, though, will not rely on digital tools to perform the humanistic portion of their jobs. Heartfelt conversations with coworkers are laborious and time-consuming but still the best way to keep top talent on board.

Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.

twitter.com/cltomlinson

chris.tomlinson@chron.com
As mourners wept over the senseless loss of a 13-year-old childs life  shot dead by Myanmar military forces  no sight was more tragic than that of his heartbroken friend.

Footage has emerged of the boy crying over his playmate Sai Wai Yan's coffin after he was shot dead on Saturday in Yangon, the country's largest city.

The boy is so small that he was lifted up so that he could see his friend and lay his hand on the coffin before the schoolboy was buried on Sunday.

The pair had been playing together outside Sai Wai's home in the Mingalar Taungnynt township when soldiers opened fire.

The two friends immediately ran together hand-in-hand from the violence but Sai Wai was shot in the head and fell, according to Reuters.

Tragic video footage has emerged of the child crying over his playmate Sai Wai Yan's coffin after he was shot dead on Saturday in Yangon, the country's largest city

The boy is so small that he was lifted up so that he could see his friend and lay his hand on the coffin before the schoolboy was buried

Family members and friends attend the funeral of Sai Wai Yan on Sunday after he was shot dead while he played outside

Barricades had been set up in the area and security forces opened fire, although there were no protests at the time, residents said. A neighbour said the military took away the boy's body in a blue plastic sheet.

'My hair was dyed by my friend [Sai Wai] two days before he died,' the boy told local journalist Htet Arkar during the funeral. 'He said Thingyan festival is coming soon and he dyed it for me.'

'Are you leaving your mum behind? How can I live without you my son?' his mother wailed beside his coffin on Sunday. Mourners flashed the three-finger as the boy's coffin was moved.

Sai Wai was among at least 114 people who died on Saturday - the bloodiest day since the coup two months ago.

Some mourners flash the three-fingered salute at the funeral of 13-year-old Sai Wai Yan on Sunday

Security forces aim their weapon at protesters during a crackdown on protesters in Myanmar

President Joe Biden led a global condemnation of an 'absolutely outrageous' crackdown by Myanmar's junta.

Soldiers and police have killed hundreds - including several children - in brutal suppression against weeks of mass protests demanding a restoration of democracy and the release of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

At least 114 more people were killed on Saturday, the United Nations said, as the regime staged a major show of might for Armed Forces Day - an annual parade showcasing Myanmar's military prowess.

President Joe Biden (seen above walking toward reporters in Newcastle, Delaware on Sunday) condemned the military crackdown that left more than 100 people dead in Myanmar

Protesters in Myanmar take to the streets to denounce the military coup in Monywa. The image was posted to Facebook by an anonymous source on Sunday

Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade they burn to make a defense line during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar on Sunday

'It's absolutely outrageous and based on the reporting I've gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily,' Biden told reporters on Sunday.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the junta's celebration of its armed forces had been blighted by 'a day of horror and of shame'.

The latest chorus of international condemnation came after the defense chiefs of the United States, Britain, Japan and nine other countries denounced the Myanmar military.

'A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting - not harming - the people it serves,' the rare joint statement said.

Soldiers and police have killed hundreds in brutal crackdowns against weeks of mass protests demanding a restoration of democracy. The image above shows an injured protester receiving oxygen on Sunday

The death toll from crackdowns since the February 1 coup has climbed to at least 459, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group.

AAPP said a further 13 people were killed on Sunday, as funerals were held for some of the victims, after the deadliest day of violence in the eight weeks since the coup.

In Mandalay, the country's cultural capital, the family of Aye Ko mourned at a funeral service after he was killed overnight.

'I am very saddened to lose my husband - together with my children I'm heartbroken,' his wife Ma Khaing told AFP as she grieved with her four children.

On Monday the British foreign ministry advised its nationals in Myanmar to leave as soon as possible, following 'a significant increase in the level of recent violence'.

Despite the dangers, protesters hit the streets again Sunday in parts of commercial hub Yangon and several other cities around Myanmar.

A 16-year-old boy lost his hand in one Yangon neighborhood while trying to lob back a grenade that security forces had thrown at protesters, a rescue worker said.

The UN put Saturday's death toll at 114 people - including seven children -- but expected it to rise further.

'The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police - who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children - must be halted immediately,' United Nations envoys Alice Wairimu Nderitu and Michelle Bachelet said in a joint statement.

Military-run broadcaster Myawaddy TV gave Saturday's death toll as 45 and said the crackdown was necessary because protesters had used guns and bombs against security forces.

Funerals were held for some of the victims on Sunday after the deadliest day of violence in the eight weeks since the coup

An insurgent group in eastern Myanmar's Karen state said they had been targeted in air strikes late Saturday, hours after the ethnic armed group seized a military base.

Hsa Moo, an ethnic Karen and human rights activist, said three people were killed and at least eight wounded.

It was the first air assault in 20 years in the state, and targeted the Karen National Union (KNU) - one of the country's largest non-state armed groups.

Further air strikes on Sunday sent 3,000 people fleeing through the jungle to seek safety across the border in Thailand, the Karen Women's Organization civil society group said.

Saturday's grand parade of troops and military vehicles in the capital Naypyidaw saw junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing defend the coup and pledge to yield power after new elections.

But he also issued a threat to the anti-coup movement, warning that acts of 'terrorism which can be harmful to state tranquillity and security' were unacceptable.

Later that evening he entertained dignitaries including Russian deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin at a lavish outdoor dinner.
You cant make this stuff up.

And apparently in South Carolina, as The Post and Couriers reporters are discovering, you cant throw many rocks without hitting another one of these outrageous examples of small-time government corruption that lurk just below the surface.

As Avery Wilks reports along with The (Chester) News & Reporters Travis Jenkins in the latest installment of our Uncovered project, William King was elected in 2015 to the Chester City Council even though he had been convicted of at least 27 counts of forgery and other felonies and 47 misdemeanors, and under state law and the state constitution was barred from holding any elective office until at least 2019.

Even if Mr. King didnt realize when he filed that the Legislature had amended the state Constitution in 1997 to prohibit felons from holding office for 15 years after they complete their sentences, he knew by early 2018, when a local watchdog group filed suit against him and the county election commission over his illegal officeholding.

And so, at some point, did everybody on the City Council.

They knew that the city kept paying him a $450 monthly salary for nearly two more years after a judge issued a temporary restraining order that barred him from acting as a council member, until the trial was completed and the judge ordered him to forfeit his office. They knew too that the city kept reimbursing him for expenditures small and large  including, more than a year after the restraining order was imposed, a $2,000 junket to San Antonio.

In all, Mr. King collected more than $11,500 in tax funds post-restraining order (not to mention the money he collected the first three years he served illegally), which isn't a huge amount of money but which involves a huge amount of gall, particularly in a town that can barely make payroll.

We shouldnt be surprised that Mr. King decided to leach off the public. Criminals, after all, have a tendency to do unethical, immoral and, yes, criminal things. What should surprise us is that nobody in the city tried to stop him. Not the city administrator with no previous municipal governance experience who owed her job in part to him. Not a single one of his fellow City Council members.

Mayor Wanda Stringfellow said when she questioned the payments after she rejoined City Council in May 2019, she was told Mr. King was being paid because the council hadnt voted to stop it. Rather than proposing such a vote, I didnt give it much thought, she said.

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Maybe we shouldnt be surprised by that either. When voters ignore local government and spend all their time fixated on the latest outrage in Washington or the latest battle in the culture wars, our local governments can easily ignore us. And abuse us.

Chester City Councils decision to squander $11,500 on illegitimate pay and perks wont dramatically affect the lives of Chester residents. But a council that would quietly condone such abuse is not a council that cares about serving the public, so its likely to affect residents in other ways, such as higher taxes than they should have to pay and creating a city that is a pariah for businesses and a place educated and civic-minded people want to flee.

Its no coincidence that a City Council full of people who would look the other way is a city whose finances are in such disarray that it had bank accounts it didnt know existed. And had no idea how many city credit cards it had issued. And lost $120,000 on a youth health program and $500,000 on a program that provided meals to children during the summer because it neglected to fill out paperwork seeking reimbursement for those costs.

The "Candidate Qualifications" page on the S.C. State Election Commission website includes the 15-year waiting period for felons to run for office. But theres no mention of it on the Statement of Intention of Candidacy & Party Pledge that candidates have to sign to appear on the ballot. That form does include a 127-word oath candidates must sign promising they wont run in the general election if they lose a political primary. In other words, preserving the power of the political parties is more important to state officials than preserving the integrity of our constitution.

So the most obvious way to address the legal problem in Chester is to add the 15-year-post-sentence ban to the filing paperwork  in bold. If the Election Commission wont do that, the Legislature should require it.

The Legislature also should enact a punishment for running for an office youre not qualified to serve in: a hefty fine and a ban on holding any offices for 15 or 20 years.

What it doesnt need to do is require the State Election Commission to run background checks on all candidates to ensure that all of them have cleared the felony waiting period and that they live in their jurisdictions and meet all the other qualifications. As outrageous as the King case is, it's not something that happens often enough to justify such an expenditure.

But some sort of abuse of office happens often enough to justify all of us paying more attention to the government closest to us. That is, unless we want to get rolled.
Veteran news anchor Peter Hitchener has been taken off air mid-bulletin after stumbling over his words during Channel Nine's 6pm Melbourne news.

The 75-year-old, who has been reading the Nine news since 1998, was struggling to speak when producers quickly cut to a pre-recorded story.

Nine issued a statement on social media to say that he was suffering from a migraine.

'He is now resting and we expect to see him back on deck tomorrow night. He is grateful for everyones concern,' Nine's Twitter account confirmed.

Veteran news anchor Peter Hitchener has been taken off air mid-bulletin after suffering a migraine

Hitchener was replaced on the broadcast by Clint Stanway who acknowledged the anchor's absence before moving on with the news.

Nine tweeted that the news legend was feeling OK before the end of the broadcast, with Hitchener himself tweeting just after its conclusion at 7pm that he was fine.

'Thanks so much for your well wishes... I am feeling better already. I am most grateful for your support,' the 75-year-old said.

Peter Hitchener has been a mainstay as the face of Nine News Melbourne since 1998

Nine tweeted that the news legend was feeling OK before the end of the broadcast, with Hitchener himself tweeting just after its conclusion at 7pm that he was fine

There was immediate concern for Hitchener's health, with Australian wheelchair star Dylan Alcott one of the first to comment

There was immediate concern for Hitchener's health, with Australian wheelchair star Dylan Alcott one of the first to comment.

'@9NewsMelb can someone please replace Peter Hitchener for the rest of the night and make sure the king is ok? Worried about him!!!' the reigning Australian Open champion tweeted.

'Fingers crossed he is feeling a bit better. I know all his viewers would be very concerned,' another Twitter user said.

Other observers said Hitchener looked to have been struggling throughout the broadcast and were relieved to see him taken off and hear that he was fine.
- By GF Value





The stock of Nova Measuring Instruments (NAS:NVMI, 30-year Financials) gives every indication of being significantly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $87.85 per share and the market cap of $2.5 billion, Nova Measuring Instruments stock gives every indication of being significantly overvalued. GF Value for Nova Measuring Instruments is shown in the chart below.





Nova Measuring Instruments Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

Because Nova Measuring Instruments is significantly overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much lower than its future business growth, which averaged 6.1% over the past five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Since investing in companies with low financial strength could result in permanent capital loss, investors must carefully review a company's financial strength before deciding whether to buy shares. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage can give a good initial perspective on the company's financial strength. Nova Measuring Instruments has a cash-to-debt ratio of 1.98, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry. Based on this, GuruFocus ranks Nova Measuring Instruments's financial strength as 7 out of 10, suggesting fair balance sheet. This is the debt and cash of Nova Measuring Instruments over the past years:

Story continues

Nova Measuring Instruments Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

Companies that have been consistently profitable over the long term offer less risk for investors who may want to purchase shares. Higher profit margins usually dictate a better investment compared to a company with lower profit margins. Nova Measuring Instruments has been profitable 10 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $269.4 million and earnings of $1.65 a share. Its operating margin is 20.63%, which ranks better than 84% of the companies in Semiconductors industry. Overall, the profitability of Nova Measuring Instruments is ranked 8 out of 10, which indicates strong profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Nova Measuring Instruments over the past years:

Nova Measuring Instruments Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

One of the most important factors in the valuation of a company is growth. Long-term stock performance is closely correlated with growth according to GuruFocus research. Companies that grow faster create more value for shareholders, especially if that growth is profitable. The average annual revenue growth of Nova Measuring Instruments is 6.1%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth is 0.4%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry.

One can also evaluate a company's profitability by comparing its return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the return on invested capital exceeds the weighted average cost of capital, the company is likely creating value for its shareholders. During the past 12 months, Nova Measuring Instruments's ROIC is 25.10 while its WACC came in at 7.76. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Nova Measuring Instruments is shown below:

Nova Measuring Instruments Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

To conclude, Nova Measuring Instruments (NAS:NVMI, 30-year Financials) stock shows every sign of being significantly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is strong. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry. To learn more about Nova Measuring Instruments stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


[March 29, 2021] CRTC issues largest ever penalty to an individual for sending messages without consent

OTTAWA, ON and GATINEAU, QC, March 29, 2021 /CNW/ -The CRTC's Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer today announced a penalty of $75,000 to Scott William Brewer for violating Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL). It is alleged that Mr. Brewer sent hundreds of thousands of commercial emails without prior consent. Between December 2015 and May 2018, Mr. Brewer allegedly sent over 670,000 emails without the consent of recipients. Mr. Brewer's spam campaigns focused on affiliate and web marketing and included the promotion of four online casinos that would compensate him through their affiliate programs for new customers. None of the evidence gathered during the investigation indicated that Mr. Brewer obtained the necessary consent. The CRTC's investigation confirmed that Mr. Brewer sent out a very high volume of emails over a short time span, before anti-spam defenses could respond and block the messages. This is a known as a hailstorm spam campaign. Canadians are encouraged to report spam and suspicious practices to the Spam Reporting Centre. Quotes "Spam campaigns, such as those carried out by Mr. Brewer, are disruptive to Canadians and undermine their confidence in electronic commerce. Obtaining consent is a fundamental principle of Canada's anti-spam legislation. The penalty issued today demonstrates that individuals are just as accountable as businesses and must respect this principle." - Steven Harroun, Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, CRTC Quick facts As part of this investigation, a Notice of Violation was issued to Mr. Brewer. The Notice of Violation includes the $75,000 penalty.

penalty. Persons sending commercial electronic messages  such as emails, text messages or messages over social media  must prove that consent was obtained.

Payments resulting from the CRTC's investigations are made to the Receiver General for Canada .

. CASL protects consumers and businesses from the misuse of digital technology, including spam and other electronic threats. It also aims to help businesses stay competitive in a global and digital marketplace.

Since CASL came into force, the CRTC's enforcement efforts have resulted in payments of more than $1.4 million , including penalties totaling approximately $805,000 . In addition, $668,000 has been paid as part of negotiated undertakings.

, including penalties totaling approximately . In addition, has been paid as part of negotiated undertakings. The CRTC promotes and enforces compliance with sections of CASL, which prohibit companies from sending commercial electronic messages (spam) without consent, altering transmission data in electronic messages without consent, and installing a computer program on another person's computer system without consent, among other things.

The CRTC is committed to protecting Canadians and is continuing to enhance its monitoring to ensure that all entities follow CASL.

Information collected by the Spam Reporting Centre is used by the CRTC, the Competition Bureau and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to enforce CASL.



Associated links NoV

Canada's Anti-spam Legislation

Anti-spam Legislation Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations (CRTC)

Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations Ask a question or make a complaint

Stay Connected Follow us on Twitter @CRTCeng

Like us on Facebook SOURCE Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
BETHLEHEM - The town board unanimously approved its new vision for the Bethlehem Police Department Wednesday night after five months of study and debate by a 19-person advisory committee, with input from the public from five community forums.

The result was the Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative Plan, which lays out nine "core recommendations," including the creation of a community board that will serve as a bridge between the town's 35,000 residents and the police department.

The creation of such new policing plans was mandated by a June 12 executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo in reaction to the nationwide protests and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, during his May 25 arrest by Minneapolis police officers.

But town officials have long been contemplating and discussing the concepts of racial equality and new policing ideas behind the plan, town Supervisor David VanLuven said, stressing that Bethlehem has an "outstanding" police department whose members were critical to the plan's development.

The creation of this plan is by no means the completion of the effort to address the challenges identified within it," VanLuven said. "Black lives matter in Bethlehem  in our government, our schools, and our community  and we are committed to achieving greater justice, equity, and fairness in Bethlehem, not just in words, but in actions."

The plan comes on the heels of a year of racial reckoning for the predominantly white town that borders the city of Albany.

At the onset of the Black Lives Matter movement that spread throughout the country last year, Bethlehem residents reached a point of tension at Four Corners when Black Lives Matter protestors and Back the Blue protestors rallied at the same time on July 4th.

And throughout the national discourse over ways to dismantle systemic racism and show support for Black Americans, a controversy ripped through the towns Tri-Village Little League when a father proposed sponsoring a Black Lives Matter banner to be hung at McGee Field. After months of debate and re-votes, the all-white, predominantly male board ultimately voted in January to not hang the banner.

Xavier Cruz, president of Bethlehem for Social Justice and a member of the advisory committee, said the racial reckoning Bethlehem has faced has been analogous for much of the country.

In places that have an upper-middle class community that is almost entirely white people, (they) are always more than willing to voice progressive issues almost exclusively except for when it comes to things like criminal justice reform, things like equitable housing, Cruz said. When it came to seriously rethinking the way our police operate, the same narrative kept coming up, which was The police are here to prevent school shootings, the police are going to prevent whatever fantastical crime they think theyre preventing.

As such, the advisory committee had a multitude of sometimes contentious meetings over the course of a few months that some members complained were dominated with law enforcement voices, rather than voices from social workers, activists and psychologists that could speak to safe alternatives to policing.

However, Cruz and other members said the meetings became more productive over time, and were cautiously pleased with the result of their months-long work, highlighting plan initiatives such as the creation of the community advisory board  though Cruz pointed out the board should have been given subpoena powers  updating data-gathering methods for traffic enforcement, and a plan to incorporate social workers and mental health experts into the police department.

These are foundational steps for a town thats probably never considered police reform in its existence, Cruz said.

There were, though, some disappointments for committee members and Bethlehem residents, especially in regards to school resource officers. A number of residents submitted public comments urging to pull SROs and DARE instructors from Bethlehem schools  which some committee members agreed with  because of disproportionate and sometimes aggressive punishment toward students of color. But throughout meetings, elected officials said the Bethlehem Central School District administration and Board of Education would have to make the decision to pull SROs from their buildings  and that they could opt for state troopers to replace SROs instead.

Another disappointment voiced about the plan, which is posted on the town's website, was that it said they would consider the creation of a body camera program, which some said was careful wording to avoid any commitment or accountability. However, the report stipulated that the police department and union support body cameras, but that more research on funding, management and appropriate policies needs to be done before committing to the program.

Bethlehem police arrest man who confronted BLM protestors

Bethlehem's town board, one of the more progressive-leaning in the Capital Region, promoted Gina Cocchiara to chief of police in August. She is the first female and openly gay police chief in Bethlehem and the eighth female police chief in the state.

The Bethlehem Police Department today is very different from the one I joined as a young officer in 1998," Cocchiara said. "Change doesnt always come easily, but it is often necessary. Looking forward, I envision a modernized community-based police department that is fair and equitable.

The 19-person advisory committee, which included three high-ranking members of the police department, the town board, 10 community members, a religious leader, a local prosecutor and public defender, met ten times and held five community forums.

Larry Rulison contributed to this report
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 21:00:49|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian police seized five active bombs and triacetone triperoxide (TATP) explosives during the terrorist raids in West Java province and East Jakarta city, police officers said on Monday.

"We found five active bombs with the type of axle that are ready for use," the National Police's Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo told a press conference.

At a separate press conference, the Jakarta Police's Chief Inspector General Fadil Imran said the triacetone triperoxide explosives are flammable chemical compounds having high explosive power.

"Five large jars of TATP explosives can be used to make 70 pipe bombs," Imran explained.

From the two locations, the police also arrested four suspected terrorists serving as a planner, a buyer of explosives, a trainer and a bomb maker respectively.

Imran said they were suspected of violating Law Number 5 of 2018 about the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Terrorism with a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Ever Given, the massive container ship blocking Egypt's Suez Canal for nearly a week, was successfully refloated within the Suez Canal at approximately 3pm local time, Evergreen Line has announced.

In order for the canal to resume normal operation, the vessel is leaving the grounding site with assistance of tugboats, it said.

The chartered vessel will be repositioned to the Great Bitter Lake in the canal for an inspection of its seaworthiness. The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service. Once the inspection is finalised, decisions will be made regarding arrangements for cargo currently on board.

"We are most grateful to the Suez Canal Authority and all the concerned parties for their assistance and support through this difficult and unfortunate situation. We would also like to express our deepest appreciation to the crew who remain steadfast in their posts as well as the salvage experts and dredging team for their professionalism and relentless efforts over the past 6 days toward securing this outcome," said Evergreen.

Evergreen will coordinate with the shipowner to deal with subsequent matters after the shipowner and other concerned parties complete investigation reports into the incident.

Ever Given is a 20,000 TEU-class container ship, currently leased by Evergreen Marine Corp under a time charter agreement. The ship is deployed on a Far East-Europe service route.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

After further dredging and excavation over the weekend, efforts by rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage worked to free the ship using tug boats in the early hours of Monday, two marine and shipping sources said.

At least 369 vessels were waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie told Egypt's Extra News on Sunday. -TradeArabia News Service
Most of the flyers around San Francisco these days are either reminders to mask up or calls for help in locating lost pets. Which makes comedian Kaseem Bentleys work stand out even more.

For the past few months, Bentley has been canvassing San Francisco with flyers asking for COVID-19 hookup stories, opinions about the vaccines and, most provocatively, questioning white people on why they dont have any Black friends, a stunt that bears close resemblance to a plot point from the Hulu show Woke.

Each flyer features a Google Voice number as well as logos that look nearly identical to those of BET and Comedy Central (with slight differences, to avoid copyright infringement). That air of authority is what Bentley thinks has led so many people to call in.

People dont really follow your average man, theyre looking for figureheads, or people they feel are martyrs, or corporations, something thats bigger than them. So I use popular logos to draw people in, says Bentley, speaking over the phone from outside his nonprofit day job in the Tenderloin.

Courtesy of Kaseem Bentley

The flyering experiment, which Bentley plans to kick into high gear with much larger posters, is part of what he calls a multipronged media contagion. Pre-pandemic, he toured as a comedian, but since thats on hold, hes kept busy by creating a magazine, TV pilot and man-on-the-street video interviews which will soon be posted to YouTube. As those upstart projects get off the ground, hes been focusing on a podcast titled "White Slavery," which he hosts alongside his friend Murahd Shawki .

The point of the podcast is basically two people becoming bonded because of their relationship with the world around them and our relationship with all the -isms. Its about more than shooting the st, its about two people of color evolving, says Bentley. As one might expect from the name, the podcast has an unapologetic, no-holds-barred tone that might turn off some listeners, but attract just as many as a result. And for the record, he doesnt advocate for the concept of slavery in any cases ... with the exception of maybe enslaving Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Jim McCambridge

It gives a color and a tone and attitude to what my point is. Its an audio blunt object, and thats really what it is. Its basically the equivalent of watching somebody tag on a window, says Bentley.

The podcast shares a common thread with his flyers in that its driven by the desire for conversation. Im like a lot of Black performers, I want call and response, I want to engage the audience, says Bentley.

As one might expect from the charged subject matter, not all that engagement is positive. He says roughly a third of callers to his hotline yell racist expletives, then another third just seem confused and nervous (he likens their tone to people whispering from inside a closet). But the ones actually looking to converse, specifically on the topic of diversity, seem to speak honestly due to the anonymous nature of the calls.

Whats interesting is you can tell when someone has been here for less than five years, says Bentley. They seem extremely lost, and guilty. Some of them act like theyve been duped because they came here with this notion that San Francisco is this metropolitan city. One person said they thought San Francisco was going to be a true melting pot, but its a melting pot of milk.

Courtesy of Kaseem Bentley

Bentley has a long-lens view of how San Francisco has changed over the years. He grew up in Lakeview (and titled his comedy album after the area), and like many locals, he doesnt necessarily think the values that drew previous generations here still hold up.

So many people move to San Francisco because they feel like its going to change them. Its like the city is some seven-by-seven multivitamin. Something thats going to change you into another person. My dad moved here from Brooklyn with that idea, and he did change, says Bentley.

Now, he thinks its much harder  if not impossible  to discover that transformative power in the city, but the only way to find out is by kick-starting the conversation.

Im just trying to understand what is happening in the world, Bentley says. "But you cant just go out there like a census worker, because no one would answer the door.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correctly identify Kaseem Bentley's co-host, Murahd Shawki. We regret the error.
New Delhi, March 29 : Eight states -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh -- reported a high number of Covid-19 daily new cases. India recorded 68,020 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours.

About 84.5 per cent of the new cases are reported from these eight states. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 40,414. It is followed by Karnataka with 3,082 while Punjab reported 2,870 new cases.

This is the highest surge since October 11, last year. As many as 74,383 new cases were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 11.

India fought through the first wave of infection six months ago and recorded a highest single-day spike of 93,617 cases on September 16. The highest number of deaths recorded in a day were 1,169 on September 15.

The Central Government has advised high-burden states and Union territories to take stringent measures for containment of the surge.

Besides this, India's total active Caseload has reached 5,21,808 today. The present active caseload now stands at 4.33 per cent of India's total positive cases. A net incline of 35,498 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

Five states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh cumulatively account for 80.17 per cent of the total active cases in the country.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,13,55,993 on Monday. The national Recovery Rate is 94.32 per cent. 32,231 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 17,874 newly recovered cases.

Besides this, 291 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Seven states account for 81.79 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (108). Punjab follows with 69 daily deaths.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 24,18,64,161 samples have been tested up to March 28 with 9,13,319 samples being tested on Sunday.

So far, 6.05 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

These include 81,56,997 healthcare workers (1st dose), 51,78,065 healthcare workers (2nd dose), 89,12,113 frontline workers (1st dose) and 36,92,136 frontline workers (2nd Dose), 67,31,223 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (1st Dose) and 2,78,59,901 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.

Now, those over 45 years of age will also get Covid-19 vaccine from April 1, irrespective of the comorbidities, 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
A pilot human clinical trial conducted by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reveals that supplementation with GlyNAC - a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine as precursors of the natural antioxidant glutathione - could improve many age-associated defects in older humans to improve muscle strength and cognition, and promote healthy aging.

Published in the journal Clinical and Translational Medicine, the results of this study show that older humans taking GlyNAC for 24 weeks saw improvements in many characteristic defects of aging, including glutathione deficiency, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, body fat, genomic toxicity, muscle strength, gait speed, exercise capacity and cognitive function. The benefits declined after stopping supplementation for 12 weeks. GlyNAC supplementation was well tolerated during the study period.

"There is limited understanding as to why these defects occur in older humans, and effective interventions to reverse these defects are currently limited or lacking," said corresponding author endocrinologist Dr. Rajagopal Sekhar, associate professor of medicine in the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Baylor.

For the last 20 years, Sekhar and his team have been studying natural aging in older humans and aged mice. Their work brings mitochondria, known as the batteries of the cell, as well as free radicals and glutathione to the table in discussions about why we age.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and aging

Mitochondria generate energy needed for supporting cellular functions by burning fat and sugar from foods, therefore mitochondrial health is critically important for life. Sekhar believes that improving the health of malfunctioning mitochondria in aging is the key.

As mitochondria generate energy, they produce waste products such as free radicals. These highly reactive molecules can damage cells, membranes, lipids, proteins and DNA. Cells depend on antioxidants, such as glutathione, the most abundant antioxidant in our cells, to neutralize these toxic free radicals. Failing to neutralize free radicals leads to harmful and damaging oxidative stress that can affect mitochondrial function.

Interestingly, glutathione levels in older people are much lower than those in younger people, and the levels of oxidative stress are much higher.

Animal studies conducted in the Sekhar lab have shown that restoring glutathione levels by providing GlyNAC reverses glutathione deficiency, reduces oxidative stress and fully restores mitochondrial function in aged mice.

"In previous work we showed that supplementing HIV patients with GlyNAC improved multiple deficits associated with premature aging observed in those patients," Sekhar said. "In this study, we wanted to understand the effects of GlyNAC supplementation on many age-associated defects in older adults."

GlyNAC improves several hallmark defects in aging

The world population of older humans is rapidly increasing and with it comes an increase in many age-related illnesses. To understand what causes unhealthy aging, scientific research has identified nine hallmark defects which are believed to contribute to the aging process.

"It is believed that correcting these aging hallmarks could improve or reverse many age-related disorders and help people age in a healthier way," Sekhar said. "However, we do not fully understand why these hallmark defects happen, and there are currently no solutions to fix even a single hallmark defect in aging."

This is where Sekhar's trial results become encouraging, because GlyNAC supplementation for 24 weeks appears to improve four of the nine aging hallmark defects.

To further understand whether GlyNAC holds the keys to mitochondrial recovery and more, Sekhar and his team conducted this pilot clinical trial.

"We worked with eight older adults 70 to 80 years of age, comparing them with gender-matched younger adults between 21 and 30 years old," Sekhar said. "We measured glutathione in red-blood cells, mitochondrial fuel-oxidation, plasma biomarkers of oxidative stress and oxidant damage, inflammation, endothelial function, glucose and insulin, gait-speed, muscle strength, exercise capacity, cognitive tests, gene-damage, glucose-production and muscle-protein breakdown rates and body composition. Before taking GlyNAC, all these measurements were abnormal in older adults when compared with those in younger people."

The older participants took GlyNAC for 24 weeks, and then stopped it for 12 weeks. Sekhar and his colleagues repeated the above measurements at the halfway point at 12 weeks, after 24 weeks of taking GlyNAC, and again after stopping GlyNAC for 12 weeks.

"We are very excited by the results," Sekhar said. "After taking GlyNAC for 24 weeks, all these defects in older adults improved and some reversed to the levels found in young adults." The researchers also determined that older adults tolerated GlyNAC well for 24 weeks. The benefits, however, declined after stopping GlyNAC supplementation for 12 weeks.

"I am particularly encouraged by the improvements in cognition and muscle strength," Sekhar said. "Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are serious medical conditions affecting memory in older people and leading to dementia, and there are no effective solutions for these disorders. We are exploring the possibility that GlyNAC could help with these conditions by conducting two pilot randomized clinical trials to test whether GlyNAC supplementation could improve defects linked to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease and in MCI, and possibly improve cognitive function."

"The overall findings of the current study are highly encouraging," Sekhar said. "They suggest that GlyNAC supplementation could be a simple and viable method to promote and improve healthy aging in older adults. We call this the 'Power of 3' because we believe that it takes the combined benefits of glycine, NAC and glutathione to reach this far reaching and widespread improvement. We also have completed a randomized clinical trial on supplementing GlyNAC vs. placebo in older adults and those results will be forthcoming soon."

###

Premranjan Kumar, Chun Liu, Jean Hsu, Shaji Chacko, Charles Minard and Farook Jahoor, all at Baylor College of Medicine, contributed to this work. This work was supported by a philanthropic gift from the McNair Medical Institute at the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation in Houston, TX.

Baylor College of Medicine holds a patent on GlyNAC, which has been licensed to Nestle Health Science. GlyNAC is marketed in the United States by Nestle Health Science under the name CelltrientTM Cellular Protect. Nestle has not provided any funding or financial support for this research work.
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KYODO NEWS - Mar 29, 2021 - 13:40 | World

South Korea decided ahead of its president's 1990 Japan visit to call for a stronger apology from then Emperor Akihito than given by his predecessor for the 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, according to diplomatic records declassified in Seoul on Monday.

South Korea also planned for then President Roh Tae Woo to invite the former emperor, father of reigning monarch Emperor Naruhito, to visit on that occasion if it was satisfied with his remarks on the torturous period, the records also showed.

During a banquet hosted at the Imperial Palace for Roh in May 1990, Emperor Akihito said he could not help but feel "the deepest regret." Apparently satisfied with his remarks, the South Korean president invited the emperor to visit South Korea.

No Japanese emperor has yet to visit South Korea, however, as issues stemming from the Japanese colonial rule have continued to badly strain bilateral ties.

The declassified records were the South Korean Foreign Ministry's "negotiating guidelines" created in late April 1990 ahead of Roh's Japan visit.

Six years earlier, during a banquet hosted for visiting South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan in 1984, Emperor Hirohito -- Emperor Akihito's father, who is posthumously known as Emperor Showa -- said, "It is indeed regrettable that there was an unfortunate past between us for a period in this century and I believe that it should not be repeated again."

The guidelines said that because his remarks had left it unclear for whom the apology was intended and what it was about, it would not meet the expectations of the South Korean people if the "same level" of apology were to come from Emperor Akihito during Roh's visit.

Describing South Korea as the "country that suffered the most" from Japanese colonization, the guidelines called for an expression from the reigning emperor that would go further than before.

No records have yet been disclosed about subsequent negotiations between the two countries. But at the banquet for Roh on May 24, 1990, Emperor Akihito said, "I think of the sufferings your people underwent during this unfortunate period, which were caused by my country, and cannot but feel the deepest regret."

When Roh delivered parting words to the emperor and Empress Michiko two days later, the president invited him to visit South Korea.

According to South Korean diplomatic records declassified last year, the Japanese foreign minister told his South Korean counterpart in April 1989 that Tokyo hoped to make South Korea the first overseas destination visited by Emperor Akihito, who had just ascended the throne.

The Japanese move reflected Tokyo's eagerness to settle historical issues through the imperial visit during a period of relative calm in bilateral ties.

But the visit never materialized as bilateral relations soon worsened over issues related to Japan's wartime past, including the issue of Korean women forced to work at Japanese wartime brothels.

Emperor Akihito's first overseas visit during his reign was to Thailand in 1991. He abdicated in April 2019, the first Japanese monarch to do so in about 200 years.
Modest joy: Zaruby and Ostry kamen

The Small Carpathians are hiding several diamonds in the rough.

All roads lead to Zaruby mountain!

Expect one.

The Trnavska stovka long trail avoids Zaruby.

Dont be disturbed by the name, this 100 km long trail goes nowhere near Trnava.

It is one of the oldest organised long trails in Slovakia. Since 1973, at the beginning of summer, on a special Saturday, at 6:00 a.m., keen hikers start from Bratislava on a pilgrimage through the Small Carpathians to Brezova pod Bradlom. Here a barrow is situated, the final place of rest of the great son of the Slovak nation and ultimate hero - General Milan Rastislav Stefanik. Most of the trail follows the red marked hiking path, the Stefanikova magistrala.

It is 100 km with a change of elevation of 3,309 m, which should be completed within 26 hours. A challenge for all curious tourists!

The Small Carpathians cycling road mirrors the Small Carpathians. It starts in Nove Mesto nad Vahom, leads through Cachtice, Vrbove, Trstin, Bukova, Pernek, Kuchyna, Lozorno, and ends in Vysoka pri Morave. 105 km. A challenge for all powerful cyclists!

The KarpatyRun is the biggest trail race in Bratislava, the festival of forest run, 5 trails from 5 to 45 km.

A challenge for all keen runners!

Up through the tree jungle

And what about Zaruby mountain?

video //www.youtube.com/embed/nsdjqsoC10I

The 768 m high, tallest peak of the Small Carpathians, is accessible from Smolenice. From the fairy-tale Smolenice castle, surrounded by its charming English garden, the marked hiking paths will lead you through the Hlboca gorge, passing the only waterfall in the Small Carpathians, Obcasny vodopad, and the only accessible cave in the Small Carpathians, the Driny cave, and thought the Certov zlab gorge to the summit.

And from the west, the marked hiking path to Zaruby mountain starts on the banks of Bukova water reservoir.

The route through the forest, reminiscent of a jungle, which in spring changes into a white carpet of snowdrops with green borders of wild garlic, varies into a steep hike ending in front of the gate to the highest castle of the Small Carpathians, Ostry Kamen castle.

A dark atmosphere of the ruin, hidden deep among the trees, and huddled on the cliffs of the western limestone ridge of the Small Carpathians, only silently proclaims its famous history.

A room full of gold

video //www.youtube.com/embed/hAhoKQ4Bitk

The castle was built in the 13th century as one of the border castles protecting the main trade route from Budin through the pass to the Bohemia, known as a "Bohemian trade route".

According to legend, under the castle a jealous widow used to live. She was very malefic and hated everyone who had more than she. Once she found herself near Ostry kamen castle and discovered a room full of gold. But she didn't see an old man, the protector of the gold. She wanted it all for herself. Suddenly the earth stared to shake, and everything, including the lady maleficent, was covered wiht clay. She was never seen again.

The ridge, first rocky, then turning to forest, leads from the castle to Zaruby mountain. While it maybe the highest mountain of the Small Carpathians, it is nonetheless overshadowed by the fame of its glorious sisters, Vysoka and Vapenna mountains.

Diamonds in the rough

The Small Carpathians are not as high or majestic as the High Tatras. Their beauty is modest and unexpected, diamonds in the rough. They are a paradise for rolling cyclists and rambling hikers, tired, but happy runners, searching explorers of deer, history lovers, mushroom-pickers and herbalists.

When you run six times to Zaruby mountain from the Certov zlab gorge, you will reach the height of Mount Everest. It is called the Small Carpathians Everest.

When we ran the KarpatyRun for the first time, with the few fiery trail runners, among the slim and high beeches, and wrinkled oaks, we felt enormous joy. Even as we ended last.

The Small Carpathians are always full of joy. Maybe they are not a love at first sight. But they are a love for an entire life.

VaGa Agency is an incoming company concentrating on active, adventure, cycling, and sport tours in Slovakia, in the unique, authentic and safe country, far away from mass tourism; offer undiscovered and amazing places, tailored-made solutions and very professional individual guiding. For more information please visit: Vaga.agency and www.vaga-camp.com.

29. Mar 2021 at 12:00 | Gabriela Psotkova, Valeria Polovkova
[March 29, 2021] CDMN Rebrands to Canada's Tech Network

As announced last week at its bi-annual members' meeting, the Canadian Digital Media Network has rebranded and in addition to a refreshed logo and website design, the organization has officially changed its name to 'Canada's Tech Network'. This new name better captures the network's mission of supporting Canadian tech-driven companies with opportunities to help bring more tech-enabled solutions to market, creating jobs and wealth throughout the entire country. "Over the last ten years, Canada's Tech Network has evolved beyond supporting digital media technology and platform providers into an important piece of Canada's innovation infrastructure," said Avvey Peters, Managing Director of Canada's Tech Network. "Our updated name better captures the work that we do to support Canada's small- and medium-sized tech firms as they grow and sell into global markets." Originally created as a federal Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research in 2009, Canada's Tech Network now connects backbone organizations in regional tech ecosystems across the country. Today, the Network includes 28 innovation hubs across the country -- from St. John's to Vancouver to Whitehorse. Through its signature Soft Landing Program, Canada's Tech Network has supported the international expansion of more than 860 Canadian companies since 2012. This work has resulted in more than $94,972,337 million in new revenue, more than $112,604,145 million in investment opportunities and the creation of more than 320 jobs across the country (as reported by client companies). Canada's Tech Network includes:







Accelerate Okanagan (Kelowna, BC) Accelerator Centre (Waterloo, ON (News - Alert) ) BC Tech Association (Vancouver, BC) CEIM (Montreal, QC) Co.Labs (Saskatoon, SK) Communitech (Kitchener, ON) District 3 Innovation Center (Montreal, QC) DMZ (Toronto, ON) Genesis (St. John's, NL) Innovacorp (Halifax, NS) Innovate Niagara (St. Catharine's, ON) Innovation Factory (Hamilton, ON) Invest Ottawa (Ottawa, ON) LE CAMP (Quebec City, QC) MaRS Discovery District (Toronto, ON) NORCAT Innovation Mill (Sudbury, ON) Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre (Thunder Bay, ON) Platform Calgary (Calgary, AB) Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) Startup Edmonton (Edmonton, AB) Startup Zone (Charlottetown, PEI) TECH MANITOBA (Winnipeg, MB) TechYukon (Whitehorse, YK) Venn Innovation (Moncton, NB) ventureLAB (Markham, ON) VIATEC (Victoria, BC) Volta (Halifax, NS) WEtech Alliance (Windsor, ON)

To learn more about Canada's Tech Network, please visit: Canadastechnetwork.ca. About Canada's Tech Network Canada's Tech Network (formerly known as the Canadian Digital Media Network) is a network of 28 regional innovation hubs across Canada, all focused on supporting Canada's technology entrepreneurs. Designated a federal Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research, Canada's Tech Network is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in the digital economy. More than a group of business accelerators and incubators, Canada's Tech Network is a community of backbone organizations within regional innovation ecosystems across the country. Each Hub provides physical space, mentorship, advice and expertise to directly support Canadian firms. Network members help tech SMEs to access talent, investment capital and global market opportunities. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005686/en/

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New Delhi:

Six major lapses including non-verification of the accused were reported in a report submitted by sub-divisional magistrate investigating the rape of a five-year-old girl in Tagore Public School to Delhi state government on Monday.

The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in the report has mentioned that non-coverage of the school building under CCTV Cameras has reduced the deterrence effect.

The report also mentions that the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) did not take any action against the Tagore Public School for conducting classes in unrecognized areas of school building.

The SDM in the report has stated that the 40-year-old peon arrested in charges of arresting the minor worked for the school for the last 2.5years without undergoing any kind of verification and background check by the school administrative.

The rape of the five-year-old girl had come to surface a day after class two student of Ryan International School was brutally murdered within the campus by a school staff.

Also read: 5-year-old raped inside classroom by peon, Delhi CM Kejriwal orders magisterial inquiry



The rape of the minor in Tagore Public School had came to light after the victim complained pain and bleeding in ther private parts to her mother. She was rushed to a hospital for medical attention where doctors examining the girl informed the parents that the minor was sexually assaulted.The victim detailed her ordeal to her mother when asked.

Also read| Delhi shame: 5-year-old girl allegedly raped by peon in school, accused arrested

As the incident was reported in media, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered a magisterial probe headed by SDM Vivek Vihar, while the police arrested the 40-year-old peon.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Weiwei Wang is Vice-Chair of the board and Steph Yu is the Deputy Director of Public Assets Institute (www.publicassets.org ), a non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Montpelier. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer.
Some 70 to 75 percent of voters intend to cast their ballots in the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan, a Chsun Ilbo poll finds.

Some 75.1 percent of respondents in Seoul said they will "definitely vote," while 18.6 percent said they will cast their ballots "if possible" and 5.7 percent were unsure or do not want to vote and 0.5 percent did not give an answer.

In Busan, 70.1 percent of voters said they will "definitely vote," while 21.5 percent said they cast their ballots "if possible."


Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A computer hard drive can be a rich source of evidence in a forensic investigationbut only if the device is intact and undamaged otherwise many additional steps to retrieve incriminating data from within are needed and not always successful even in the most expert hands. Research published in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics considers the data retrieval problems for investigators faced with a hard drive that has been submerged in water.

Alicia Francois and Alastair Nisbet of the Cybersecurity Research Laboratory at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, point out that under pressure suspects in an investigation may attempt to destroy digital evidence prior to a seizure by the authorities. A common approach is simply to put a hard drive in water in the hope that damage to the circuitry and the storage media within will render the data inaccessible.

The team has looked at the impact of water ingress on solid-state and conventional spinning magnetic disc hard drives and the timescale over which irreparable damage occurs and how this relates to the likelihood of significant data loss from the device. Circuitry and other components begin to corrode rather quickly following water ingress. However, if a device can be retrieved and dried within seven days, there is a reasonable chance of it still working and the data being accessible.

"Ultimately, water submersion can damage a drive quickly but with the necessary haste and skills, data may still be recoverable from a water-damaged hard drive," the team writes.

However, if the device has been submerged in saltwater, then irreparable damage can occur within 30 minutes. The situation is worse for a solid-state drive which will essentially be destroyed within a minute of saltwater ingress. The research provides a useful guide for forensic investigators retrieving hard drives that have been submerged in water.

More information: Alicia Francois et al. Forensic analysis and data recovery from water-submerged hard drives, International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics (2021). Journal information: International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics Alicia Francois et al. Forensic analysis and data recovery from water-submerged hard drives,(2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJESDF.2021.113374
[March 29, 2021] Technology Industry Veteran, Geoffrey Ribar, Named SambaNova Systems Interim Chief Financial Officer

SambaNova Systems, the company delivering the industry's most advanced systems platform to run artificial intelligence (AI) and data-intensive applications from the datacenter to the cloud and to the edge, today announced the appointment of Geoffrey Ribar as interim chief financial officer (CFO). Ribar brings extensive leadership experience in the computer software and semiconductor sector, and will further enhance the existing leadership team as SambaNova continues to gain traction in the marketplace with its disruptive technology. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005727/en/ Geoffrey Ribar, CFO, SambaNova Systems (Photo: Business Wire) As Ribar joins SambaNova, he will continue serving as director and board member for Macom and Everspin Technologies. Previously, Ribar served as a director of Aquantia Corporation and as CFO for a number of high tech companies, including Cadence Design Systems (News - Alert) , Matrix Semiconductor, Inc., NVIDIA Corporation, SiRF Technology, Inc. and Telegent Systems. Ribar was also formerly VP and corporate controller at Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD (News - Alert) ). "Geoff will provide SambaNova with exceptional financial and accounting expertise gained from a successful career bound by multiple chief financial officer positions," said Rodrigo Liang, CEO and co-founder, SambaNova Systems. "His industry acumen will be crucial to our ongoing expansion and we look forward to leveraging his global finance expertise and demonstrated industry knowledge to drive strategic transactions leading to top line growth."



The need for AI, machine learning and compute-power able to handle resource intensive applications has never been greater, particularly after a year where enterprises have undergone rapid digital transformation. Meeting industry demand, SambaNova has been, and will continue to push what is possible, offering accessible solutions that outperform graphics and commodity legacy architectures in speed, accuracy, scale and ease of use. "The SambaNova team is bringing to market comprehensive AI services solutions like Dataflow-as-a-Service, to rapidly deliver state-of-the-art AI to organizations," said Geoffrey Ribar. "This differentiated approach to scaling AI initiatives across industries and geographies is truly transformational."

Be sure to follow SambaNova Systems on LinkedIn and find additional company news, updates, resources and thought leadership here. About SambaNova Systems SambaNova Systems is building the industry's most advanced systems platform to run AI applications from the datacenter to the edge. Founded in November 2017 in Palo Alto (News - Alert) , California by industry luminaries, hardware and software design experts, world-class innovators from Sun/Oracle, and Stanford University. SambaNova Systems' mission is to bring AI innovations that have been developed in advanced research to organizations around the world, helping to create AI for everyone, everywhere. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., the company's investors include funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Walden International, GV, Intel Capital (News - Alert) , Redline Capital, Atlantic Bridge Ventures, WRVI Capital, Micron, Samsung Catalyst and SK telecom. For more information please visit us at sambanova.ai or contact us at sambanova.ai/contact. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005727/en/

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 Flash

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CPCCC) and Chinese President Xi Jinping extended gratitude to Cuban leaders for their congratulations on China's complete victory in poverty alleviation.

Xi made the remarks in a reply letter recently to Raul Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Noting China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers, Xi said that in recent years, the two countries' traditional friendship has been deepening and their friendly cooperation has undergone all-round development.

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Cuba have stood together and supported each other, which has enhanced their friendship, he added.

Xi said that China will, as always, support Cuba in keeping to the path of socialism and push bilateral relations to higher levels.

Castro and Diaz-Canel wrote to Xi earlier, extending warm congratulations, on behalf of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban government and people, on China's complete victory in poverty alleviation.

They spoke highly of China's remarkable achievement in eradicating absolute poverty under the strong leadership of the CPCCC with Xi at its core, which has met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

Cuba stands ready to unswervingly deepen the two countries' friendly cooperative relations, they added.
The country witnessed an estimated 30-per-cent rise in registered capital in 2021s first quarter, the best performance in the period for a decade (see box), driven by thermal power and high-tech investments.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) mobilisation in the first quarter has improved. According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the total newly-registered and added capital, as well as investments into capital contributions and share purchases, amounted to $10.13 billion as of March 20, rising by 18.5 per cent on-year.

In addition, both newly-registered and additionally-registered capital in the first quarter increased. Of these, there are 234 newly-registered projects (down 69.1 per cent on-year) with $7.2 billion in the total investment (up 30.6 per cent on-year).

One major project in this period is the $1.3 billion O Mon II thermal power plant in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, developed through a joint venture between Vietnam Trading Engineering Construction JSC and Japans Marubeni Corporation.

Just over 160 projects have adjusted investment (decreasing by 31.8 per cent) with a total value of $1.6 billion (a rise of 97.4 per cent on-year), largely driven by the LG Display Haiphong project, which increased capital by $750 million.

Additionally, capital contributions and share purchases is the only part of FDI mobilisation to report an on-year decrease in the first three months with 734 instances (down 70.9 per cent) and the total investment of $805.3 million (down 58.8 per cent).

Last week, Le Thi Thu Hang, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the ministry is considering and proposing to adjust immigration provisions to suit with the current context, following the direction of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Hang emphasised the need to reopen soon, albeit in a safe manner. The ministry has been working with other countries with high safety ratios to try and resume commercial routes, Hang said.

China was the first country to implement an international travel health certification, to let vaccinated people travel more easily. In Southeast Asia, Thailand has been considering applying a vaccine visa to facilitate resumption of its vital tourism industry. European countries are also rushing ahead with developments of their own vaccine travel policies.

As of March 25, nearly 40,000 people across 19 cities and provinces had received their first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 118,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in Vietnam at first, and last week the country approved use of Russias Sputnik V vaccine while continuing to seek out diversification of other vaccines.

These moves are very good news for people, and investors in particular, who are always looking for new business opportunities but have had to cancel all their plans over the past year, said Do Nhat Hoang, general director of the FIA.

Hoang noted that strong performance in FDI inflows so far this year is a positive sign to ensure escalating numbers of projects and money coming in from overseas despite the border complexities. Thanks to vaccination programmes commencing, the scale of newly and additionally-registered projects have increased compared to the same period last year, along with the improvement of disbursement capital year-by-year, said Hoang.
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Russia remains Armenias strategic ally and Armenia truly appreciates it, Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said on March 29.

I do not agree that Armenia and Armenias foreign policy depend on Russia. Russia remains our strategic ally, and we truly appreciate it, because after all the war stopped thanks to Russias efforts. Some might not like this, but this is a fact. Otherwise wed have a completely different situation, Aivazian said to lawmakers at the parliaments foreign relations committee.

Aivazian emphasized that the CSTO has an important place in Armenias security sector. He said that during the war Armenia had notified about the situation but not applied to the CSTO.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Yesterday marked the end of a one-week blood donation drive that was organised by Health Sector Collective Outreach (HESCO) in collaboration with City of Kigali.

The drive which was sponsored by RSSB had a target of collecting 300 units of blood which have been surpassed.

The drive saw universities like University of Lay Adventists of Kigali (UNILAK), University of Kigali and Kigali Independent University (ULK) participate, as well as staff of different districts in Kigali city and journalists from different media houses donate blood.

Marie Claire Uwera Ag. Director of PR, Communications and Education Unit, RSSB (the main sponsors of the drive) thanked blood donors as well as stakeholders for their contribution.

"We would like to thank you esteemed voluntary blood donors for your contribution and also the organisers and other stakeholders for this important campaign and we encourage everyone especially young people to participate in this noble cause on regular basis," she said.

Donnah Rubagumya, on behalf of Health Sector Collective Outreach (HESCO), the organisation that organised the drive, said the main objective of the drive was to sensitise the public on the importance of blood donation. Blood is very vital in the human system, he said, adding that they are very impressed with the turn up that surpassed the targets.

He notes that the accolade goes to every blood hero who donated blood and the trophy goes to Gasabo District that mobilised the most blood donors.

St Andre Secondary School defied the odds with 90 students donating blood. Kigali Independent University (ULK) came on top of universities that participated with over 50 donors.

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Blood is not for sale, Rubagumya said while urging the public, mostly the healthy youths to regularly donate blood.

"An adequate supply can only be assured through regular donations by voluntary unpaid blood donors. We thank all the supporters of this drive that unreservedly supported the campaign especially RSSB and City of Kigali who did a great job in mobilisation, RBC staff that provided great care to the donors and different media houses that helped in amplifying the message," Rubagumya added.

Alphonse Rutarindwa, Director of Health, Gasabo district, while appearing on national television-Good Morning Rwanda programme-stressed the need to make blood donation a culture among Rwandans.

"We do not have shortage of blood, but blood comes in different types, you may need blood group O when the stock is less, hence the need for constant blood donation," Rutarindwa said.

The drive was supported by organisations like Brac who sponsored t-shirts for the blood donors, Peters bakery that provided snacks for the blood donors, HDI Rwanda and Tomtransfers that contributed towards the transportation of donors to mention but a few.
We understood early on that our work is groundbreaking, and should not be kept away from the Chiropractic profession and hundreds of thousands of patients in desperate need of relief where medicine has failed them. Dr. Katinka van der Merwe, founder of The Spero Clinic

Dr. Katinka van der Merwe (Fayetteville, AR) and Dr. Manuel Mazzini (Milan, Italy) have combined forces and are now giving back to their medical profession by teaching their groundbreaking work to other practicing chiropractors through the KATMAN Technique.

Dr. van der Merwe is world renowned for treating patients from all over the world suffering from so-called suicide diseases, which are conditions causing extreme intractable nerve painsuch as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). There is no known medical cure for CRPS, yet hundreds of her patients are reporting ongoing remission after being treated in her Arkansas clinic, The Spero Clinic.

Dr. Mazzini, in turn, also sees patients from all over the world, suffering from conditions including herniated discs and ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus. These two doctors first met in London four years ago, in order to discuss possibly combining forces.

The second I met Dr. Manuel, I realized that together, we will be able to achieve big things, said Dr. van der Merwe. We understood early on that our work is groundbreaking, and should not be kept away from the Chiropractic profession and hundreds of thousands of patients in desperate need of relief where medicine has failed them.

Doctors van der Merwe and Mazzini did not let the distance between them deter them from teaching their work to others. Despite living on different continents, they collaborated and taught their work, which they call KATMAN, to the first group of doctors in New York City, NY in 2020. After this group of doctors were able to replicate the same results that doctors van der Merwe and Mazzini were seeing in their own practices, they knew they had a recipe for success.

Dr. Bob Hoffmanpresident of The Masters Circle Global and former president of International Chiropractors Association, as well as best selling authorcalls this technique revolutionary. He continued to say; this technique is the next evolutionary step in the chiropractic profession. I believe it is representative of a movement in chiropractic to deliver brain-based care.

Both Dr. Manuel and Dr. van der Merwe have been recognized by the chiropractic profession as International and Global Chiropractor of the Year, respectively. When asked why they decided to teach their work, Dr. van der Merwe stated: While we both had our hands full in practice, we realized that this work was a game changer, and as such, we had a responsibility to teach it to others, so that it may help more people.

The next KATMAN seminar will be taught in Orlando June 4-5. Kent State University is slated to collaborate on a formal study of this work later this year. For more information about the KATMAN seminar, please email Kaylie Deckard at kaylie@thesperoclinic.com.
Cairo is gearing up for a first-of-its-kind The Pharaohs Golden Parade to transfer the ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to their final destination at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).



Set to take place at 6pm on April 3, the parade will feature 22 mummies, 18 kings and four queens, dating back to the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasties. Among the famous mummies are King Sequenenre, who began the liberation war against the Hyksos; queen Hatshepsut, the owner of the magnificent temple of Deir Al-Bahari on Luxors West Bank; and King Ramesses II, the great pharaoh of the New Kingdom.



The parade of mummies will then travel from the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat against the backdrop of magnificent fireworks and to the tune of honorary salvos. A cavalcade will accompany the royalties. On the sidelines of the parade, the viewers will get to enjoy a packed schedule of festivities.



Two hundred media outlets from around the world, will cover the event live.



Once they arrive at NMEC, the royal mummies will be subjected to restoration in the state-of-the-art laboratory for almost 15 days in order to be prepared for installation inside its new showcases at the Royal Mummies Hall, decorated to look like the Valley of the Kings, the area that houses their original tombs.



The process of moving the royal mummies will comply with strict safety and security standards for the transport of artefacts. The mummies are very well maintained and placed in state-of-the-art sterile cases inside special boxes to guarantee their immaculate preservation and loaded on carriages that have been designed specifically for the event. - TradeArabia News Service


Climate Change Reality Check

Canada's Supreme Court ignores the history of climate change

Commentary



I have problems with the foundational assumptions for the recent ruling on the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act from the Supreme Court of Canada. Chief Justice Richard Wagner said this in his decision:

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. As a result, it passes the threshold test and warrants consideration as a possible matter of national concern.

Its simply not true that climate change poses an existential threat to life in Canada. Its more likely that warming would improve our living conditions overall. Thats not to say that other parts of the world are not at risk from rising temperatures, certainly from rising sea levels, and warmer temperatures could also impact ecosystems. However, hobbling Canadas economy will not be useful in helping to save the world.

The court ignored the fact that climate has always changed. The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report acknowledged that solar activity explained over 50 percent of the temperature increase prior to 1950. Other causes include variations in the earths orbit around the sun, the earths wobble, and changes in its tilt. Those long-term cyclical forces explain the coming and going of ice ages. So how much impact from carbon dioxide remains once we factor in these forces? As Bob Essenhigh at the Ohio State University told me, we may still be coming out of the last ice age.

Its scientific fact that carbon dioxide is a trace gas comprising just 0.04 percent of the atmosphere, and also that its plant food. There have been times in the earths history, notably during the time of the dinosaurs, when the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was far higher than at present. What, I ask, if natural warming increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rather than the other way around? As every lawyer is supposed to know, coincident activity doesnt connote causation.

Im with Danish scientist Bjorn Lomborg in believing that the thrust of policy needs to be mitigation of the effects of climate change and rising sea levels. Lomborg says the world is wasting trillions of dollars on trying to stop the unstoppable. Consider, for example, the Dutch template. Much of Holland lies below sea level thanks to the barriers they built and the machinery employed, when necessary, for dewatering.

Its unrebuttable that a warming surge began to end that last ice age about 20,000 years ago. It started when ice over what is now Edmonton was a mile high, and sea levels were about 300 feet lower than today. Then there was a pause in warming of several thousand years. Next, a surge in warming occurred between approximately 12,800 and 11,500 years ago. In Greenland, the temperature rose by some 7 degrees Celsius within a decade. This warming spurred humans shift toward farming and urbanization.

For the historical perspective, there exist numerous credible authorities. Ive been reading an article by Anuradha K. Herath in the Dec. 20, 2010, edition of Astrobiology Magazine titled How Earths Orbital Shift Shaped the Sahara. The Sahara was fertile grassland during the Holocene Optimum warm period about 7,000 years ago. It was much like Canadas Prairies today, and populated by humans.

We know that centuries of cooling followed before the Roman Warm Period from about 250 BC to 400 AD. Then there was another cooling until the Medieval Warm Period, between about 950 and 1250. Thats when the ancestors of todays Inuit populated our Arctic, probably travelling by boat through ice-free waters. For good reason, the next six centuries were called the Little Ice Age when Vikings, who had been farming successfully in Greenland, gave up. This cold period began to wind down around 1850, well before major industrialization got under way.

The chief justice was right to say that most major institutions endorse the hypothesis that carbon dioxide causes climate change. But if consensus was reliable, orthodoxy would have it that the sun goes around earth. Today, we seldom send dissidents like Galileo to prison. We just deplatform and ostracize them.

In a 6-3 decision, the majority of justices all ignored the substantial cohort of responsible critics of climate change policy. In Canada, they include Ross McKittrick, Ian D. Clark, Lawrence Solomon, Tim Ball, and Patrick Moore (co-founder of Greenpeace). Climate change religiosity has become a bottomless money-bucket for the cause and justification for more intrusive government. Criticism has largely become the preserve of those in retirement or those who are not otherwise subject to financial retribution.

The world has real problems with pollution, but carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. So why, I ask, would the Supreme Courts judges collude in hobbling the Canadian economy and promoting the one-party state? How could they all be such historic, scientific, and economic illiterates?

Colin Alexander was publisher of the Yellowknife News of the North. His degrees include M.A. from Oxford in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. His current work in progress is a book with the working title Justice on Trial.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 04:49:00|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday handed over a batch of donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Palestine to support its nationwide fight against the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 5,837 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 838,265.

"Palestine highly appreciates China's commitment to providing coronavirus vaccines as a global public good and its selfless assistance to Palestine and other developing countries with a responsible attitude and concrete measures," Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said.

On Monday, Palestine recorded 1,786 new COVID-19 cases, 18 deaths and 1,181 recoveries in the past 24 hours. A total of 266,720 infections have been registered in Palestine so far.

In Iraq, an additional 37 new fatalities were registered on Monday, taking the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,249, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,500 to 750,435.

Lebanon announced on Monday 1,277 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 462,339, while the death toll from the virus went up by 40 to 6,136, the Health Ministry said.

In Kuwait, the health ministry reported on Monday 1,251 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 229,550.

It also announced 12 more deaths, taking the death toll to 1,298, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,346 to 213,942.

The Omani Health Ministry on Monday announced 796 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the sultanate to 156,883.

A total of 524 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall recoveries to 142,944, while one death was reported, pushing the tally up to 1,662, according to a ministry statement.

The Qatari Health ministry on Monday announced 690 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 178,464.

The overall recoveries climbed to 163,272 after 362 more recovered from the virus, while the fatalities increased by two to 286, according to a ministry statement.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 162 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total confirmed tally in the country to 832,068.

The death toll from the virus reached 6,196 with 13 new fatalities, while the total recoveries in Israel rose to 817,502, with 1,387 newly recovered cases.

The number of active cases in Israel decreased to 8,370, the lowest since Nov. 22, 2020.

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel has reached nearly 5.23 million, or 56.2 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020.

In Algeria, 110 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday, raising the total confirmed number in the North African country to 116,946.

The death toll from the virus rose to 3,084 after four new fatalities were added, said the Algerian Ministry of Health in a statement.

Meanwhile, 82 more patients recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 91,349, the statement added.

Morocco registered 97 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the total tally in the North African country to 494,756, the health ministry said in a statement.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 482,585 after 233 new ones were added, while the death toll rose to 8,807 with nine new fatalities were recorded during the last 24 hours.

The Moroccan government announced on Monday that all flights to and from France and Spain will be suspended from Tuesday. The country has so far suspended air connections with around 40 countries to curb the spread of coronavirus and the more contagious variants. Enditem
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BOULDER  On Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week for Christians, many in the Boulder community gathered to mourn and pay tribute to the 10 people killed in last week's mass shooting at a King Soopers here.

As early as 8 a.m., a few dozen had already congregated at the memorial site outside of the fenced-off grocery store on Table Mesa Drive, bringing flowers, candles and poems to honor the victims.

Patty Durbin and her husband, Paul, softly sang and played gospel songs at the memorial Sunday morning.

Were here to honor those who are gone, to mourn and to be thankful for those that we didnt lose, Durbin said.

Durbin, who runs a small house church with her husband, said their daughter and son work at the King Soopers that was attacked. Their daughter was scheduled to work in the pharmacy Monday but was let off by her boss just days before.

Were thankful that she didnt have to work, but we are really mourning those whove been lost," Durbin said. "We lost some friends here."

The shootings victims were Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Teri Leiker, 51; Eric Talley, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.

The names and photos of all 10 victims were on display at the memorial, in addition to stuffed animals, handwritten letters and balloons. Candles burned and hundreds of flowers lined the ground, some freshly added and others beginning to wilt.

Passersby said it has been nearly impossible to find flower bouquets in the city in recent days.

The community has been amazing, Durbin said. Theres been more unity, and suddenly people who are pretty scattered are thinking about their neighbors.

Laurie Dotter, a resident of the surrounding neighborhood for 35 years, walked the memorial Sunday morning, calling the response from her community beautiful.

She said she and her family have shopped at the King Soopers store for decades and knew one of the employees who was killed.

People are hurting, but people are remembering the store and all the times they had here, Dotter said. Theres a high school right up the hill and a junior high. My kids used to come here after school all the time.

Many children, from toddlers to high schoolers, were present at the memorial Sunday morning. Numerous children's drawings could be seen pinned along the store fence.

Not 10 miles away, at Pinewood Church in Longmont, worshippers gathered in the parking lot for a socially distanced Palm Sunday evening service. Several dozen parishioners came out, unfolding chairs and blankets.

The service was largely musical, but the singing stopped intermittently for faith-filled comments from area pastors. Rev. Steve Crowder, who's served as the Broomfield Police Department's chaplain, preached forgiveness and asked the congregants to withhold their judgments.

"I feel like we need to offer forgiveness," he said as some parishioners held up their hands. "What if it happens again?

"Then we forgive again."

After another round of songs, Rev. Rich Bledsoe, whom another pastor called the "spiritual father" of Boulder, took the mic. A hospital chaplain, Bledsoe talked about going to the King Soopers on Monday and about Talley's faith. He offered thoughts for the victims and shooter alike.

"No one is beyond redemption," he said. He called on the city to use the tragedy as a "new foundation."

At the memorial earlier in the day, Linda Liebelt, who has lived in the neighborhood for 45 years, said the King Soopers served as a bedrock for the community. She said that many of the people shes seen at the memorial were King Soopers shoppers and employees she used to see at the store.

Her daughter grew up in the King Soopers store, she said, and it was the only place they shopped.

She called it the horsey store because she rode the mechanical horse outside, Liebelt said through tears.

Though, as she stopped at the memorial Sunday to pay her respects, Liebelt said the store is unfortunately more than a just gathering place now. Now, its a painful reminder of all that the community has lost.

I cant leave my own neighborhood without making a choice of do I go by it or do I avoid it and go the other way? Liebelt said. "Its now a part of it, and it will be for a long time.
Belmar officials are weighing a proposal for 5-story apartment complex on a prominent site near the Shark River that, its architect says, would change the way visitors view the borough upon arriving.

The Mediterranean, a 246-unit rental complex proposed by Carlstadt-based Russo Development, would be a pair of multi-level C-shaped buildings with arches, terraces and pitched red rooves, located on a 3.2-acre site at the base of the Route 35 Bridge.

The project architect, Dean Marchetto of Marchetto Higgins Stieve in Hoboken, whose many large-scale designs include the Pier Village mixed-used complex that transformed the Long Branch waterfront, said the project would provide a more upscale first-impression of Belmar, particulalry for motorists approaching the borough from the bridge.

I think it would make a beautiful addition to your town and serve as a wonderful gateway landmark entry right here as youre coming into town over the Shark River inlet, Marchetto told members of the Borough Council during a meeting earlier this month.

Amenities would include terraces overlooking the river to the west, and a third-floor restaurant and fourth-floor bar that would be open to the public.

The council must approve the redevelopment project, and Marchetto tried to woo members with renderings and an interactive 3D graphic, as well as photographs of other works by his firm and of existing Belmar buildings that inspired the projects design.

Depending on approvals, the company hopes to break ground on the project in Spring 2022, with completion anticipated two years later, the developer, Ed Russo, said through a spokesperson. Russo declined to provide an estimated cost figure for the project.

The site lies between Route 35, also known as River Road, to the west, and the Belmar Train Station along NJ Transits North Jersey Coast Line to the east, and would cater to commuting residents of the project and other borough neighborhoods, with an underground parking garage also open to the public.

Eighth Avenue runs along the two-block sites northern end, with 10th Avenue to the south. The site, which is currently occupied by the Belmar Motor Lodge and a pair of catering halls, the Waterview and Riverview Pavilions, has been designated an area in need of redevelopment since 1997.

The present. The Seaport Village Redevelopment Area in Belmar is the 3.2-acre site proposed for The Mediterranean, a 246-unit upscale apartment complex that, according to its architect, would make a positive impression on visitors arriving at the borough via Route 35.Russo Deveclopment/Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects

Russo said at the meeting that the project would include 132 one-bedroom apartments, 91 two-bedroom units, and 23 studios. Russo said condominiums were ruled out because the site is too far from the beach  seven blocks  to generate sufficient demand from potential investors or would-be homeowners.

Even so, Russo said the Mediterranean is envisioned to be an upscale residence, and the large number of units was dictated by the need for adequate revenue cash flow to afford the half-dozen permanent on-site staffers such luxury digs demand.

He said rents would likely range from $1,600-$1,800 for studios, the low-2,000s for one-bedroom apartments, and the high-twos to low-threes, for two-bedroom units.

We look forward to moving ahead with a project that, hopefully, the borough and the community can be proud of, Russo told council members during the March 16 meeting.

Underground garages would provide 400 parking spaces for residents plus another 122 spaces available to the public.

The 1.6 spaces per unit for residents is fewer than the 2-per-unit ratio required within the so-called Seaport Village Redevelopment Area, and so the council would have to approve that deviation from the redevelopment plan and others. Only then could Russo seek a formal site plan approval from the Belmar Planning Board.

Two other deviations involve the projects proposed maximum height of 58 feet, which exceeds the redevelopment plans 35-foot limit, plus its amount of impervious surface, which would be 90% of the lots area, as opposed to the 85% allowed by the plan.

Because its on the waterfront, the project also needs water and sewer permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, or CAFRA, which Russo said his company was pursuing.

Borough Planner Jennifer Beahm said design elements intended to enhance the aesthetics of the gateway project also came at the expense of ground-floor retail space also required by the redevelopment plan, prompting Mayor Mark Walsifer to characterize the councils decision in either/or terms.

So thats what this governing body will have a look at: to have a building thats welcoming to come into town, or to have, basically, something that fits into the seaport redevelopment, Walsifer said.

The councils next meeting is April 6.

We have to digest everything and meet with our team to see if this is a good project to move forward, Walsifer told Russo and Marchetto at this months meeting. Im sure our planner and engineer will be in touch with you guys.

Nobody knows Jersey better than N.J.com. Sign up to get breaking news alerts straight to your inbox.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com
COVID vaccines used as political clientelism tool in Lebanon Political leaders continue to buy popular support

(ANSAMed) - BEIRUT, 29 MAR - (by Lorenzo Trombetta) (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, MARCH 29 - In a Lebanon governed for decades by a political system ever more contested by wide sectors of the population and under the shadow of the worst economic crisis in decades, the administration of anti-COVID vaccines risks becoming - like water, electricity, schools, hospitals - a tool for political clientelism.



The country is struggling with surging devaluation of the local lira and growing social-economic tension with half of its population under the poverty line. A series of initiatives have been backed by private sector circles and political clans to ensure that Russian and Chinese-made vaccines go to members of their support base in various Lebanese regions.



This mechanism involves the health ministry, regional councils, and some town councils, and - according to local analysts - will help to deepen a gap between a smaltire circle of the privileged, who will receive vaccines before others due to their access to the clientele system, and a mass of people, including over a million Syrian refugees, who will instead have to wait for a long time before receiving the much-coveted doses of anti-COVID vaccines.



About six million people will be vaccinated in Lebanon. The campaign began in mid-February but is proceeding slowly with just over 1,000,000 doses given.



The country, which has been officially bankrupt since last year, does not have the resources to pay for the vaccines: some of them - Pfizer-BioNTech - are being funded by the World Bank and other AstraZeneca ones through the UN's COVAX platform.



However, the public has not forgotten a scandal of a few weeks ago including some MPs and President Michel Aoun and his entourage, who were vaccinated secretly without local authorities being made aware and outside of protocols agreed upon between Beirut and international authorities.



It was in this context that the first 50,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccines arrived on Friday in the Lebanese capital for a number of private companies including the flagship airline Middle East Airlines via costly intermediation by the Lebanese pharmaceutical company Pharmaline. Pharmaline chief Jacques Sarraf is an honorary Russian consul in Lebanon and member of the Russian-Lebanese Businessmen Council.



The companies that buy Sputnik V from Pharmaline will thus be able to vaccinate their employees and their family members.



However, there are also local institutions involved in this mechanism: the town council of Byblos, north of Beirut, announced in recent days that it could soon start to vaccinate some residents with the Russian vaccines bought from Pharmaline.



In a context in which local Lebanese authorities complain of a chronic lack of funds from the central government, many have asked who paid Pharmaline for the vaccines supplied to the Byblos town council.



The Qubayyat town council, in the northern region of Akkar, has instead announced that it would be able to vaccinate some of its residents with Chinese vaccines bought "thanks to a donation" from the family of the current prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, who does not want to lose support in that region.



At the same time, in the southern municipality of Jezzine, well-informed sources have told ANSAmed that competition is instead underway between two local dignitaries to ensure the merit of having provided some residents with Russian vaccines.(ANSAmed). (ANSAMed).




A WOMAN accused of leading 20 Garda cars and a helicopter on a live-streamed pursuit on the M50 has been ordered to hand over her passport to prevent her leaving the country.

Gemma Greene, 24, today appeared at Dublin District Court which tightened her bail with a range of conditions, including an order to stay sober and obey a curfew.

Greene, who has built a huge following on social media, has been charged in connection with the pursuit which was live-streamed online on the night of March 1 last.

Gardai followed a car on the M50 until it stopped at Hampton Wood Drive area of Ballymun. Footage went viral.

After the incident, she was arrested, charged and granted station bail to appear in court last Thursday. Judge Treasa Kelly had then ordered her to go home and return today to finish quarantine because she had recently been out of the country.

Gemma Greene has built a huge following on social media, has been charged in connection with the pursuit which was live-streamed online on the night of March 1 last.

Ms Greene, from Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin, is charged with two counts of dangerous driving on the M50 at junctions 4 and 9 northbound.

Garda Jane Keegan told Judge Kelly that the accused had a tendency to leave the country and had recently been in Spain. She had also given newspaper interviews stating she intended to leave the jurisdiction, Garda Keegan said.

For those reasons, she asked the court to amend Ms Greene's bail and insert several conditions: stay out of Ballymun, remain sober, surrender her passport, reside at her current address, obey a curfew at her home, and sign on daily at Coolock garda station.

At that point, the accused interjected from the dock and accused the garda of taking the case personally.

Why do I have to stay out of Ballymun? You are taking this very personal, you are. Why dont you tell them you were pinching the back off me when you were arresting me, she demanded.

She accused gardai of abusing her when she was arrested.

The judge told her not to address the court and to speak through her solicitor.

The gardas application was made under section six of the Bail Act.

Defence solicitor John Quinn said that only related to court bail, not bail granted at a Garda station. His client had already answered bail twice; the issue raised by the garda was extraneous and could be dealt with through health regulations, he submitted.

However, Judge Kelly replied that she had the power under common law to change the conditions.

Circumstances had changed because the accused had left the country, she ruled.

File sent to DPP

Garda Keegan told the court a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and directions are outstanding.

She said the charges related to a traffic pursuit: Up to 20 garda patrol cars and a garda air support unit were involved. A large amount of statements needed to be taken, Garda Keegan added.

Judge Kelly imposed the bail conditions and ordered Ms Greene to appear in court in four weeks to monitor them.

She told her the curfew would run from 11pm to 6am daily; she had until 9pm on Monday to surrender her passport to gardai and she must not apply for new travel documents.

Ms Greene has not yet indicated how she will plead.

Since her arrest, she has gained thousands of Instagram followers and has set up a pay-per-view OnlyFans account to boost her online profile. She has also given newspaper interviews.

Ms Greene has also built up her social media presence with photos from her one-week holiday to Spain following her arrest.
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Nagpur, March 29 : In an important achievement, at least five Maoists, including two women, were gunned down after two encounters with the security forces in the deep forests of Khobramendha in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli, officials said here on Monday.

Among the fatalities notched this morning were a North Gadchiroli Commander, Pawan Hichami alias Bhaskar, and Deputy Commander Naitam Sukhdeo, besides 3 Dalam members, said DIG, Naxal Operations, Sandip Patil.

The extremists jointly carried a reward of Rs 4.30 million (Rs 43 lakh) on their heads and were wanted in scores of other serious crimes in the region, he added.

Detailing the first encounter, Patil said it took place when the Gadchiroli police's C-60 Commandos team was engaged in a search and combing operation on Saturday morning, culminating in a fierce exchange of fire with around 40-50 extremists hiding in the jungles at various locations.

Exchange of fire continued for nearly two hours after which the Maoists retreated and escaped into the forest that morning.

Later, the police scanned the vicinity and recovered three pressure cooker bombs, four different types of rifles including an AK-47, 303 rifle magazines, live cartridges, detonators, electric wires bundles, firecracker bombs, solar plates, pen drives, memory cards and other electronic devices, medicines and other material, Patil told media persons.

After 48 hours, a new team of commandos resumed the jungle search operations, based on intelligence information, at around 7.30 a.m. on Monday and encountered a group of around 25 Maoists who opened indiscriminate firing on them.

In the retaliatory firing during this second encounter, the C-60 commandos managed to gun down five Maoists, including two women, and a search is on to trace out if there were more victims and terror material stashed in the vicinity, Patil said.

Efforts are underway to identify the other slain victims, which groups/dalams they belonged to, their ranks, and other details even as the forces remain on high alert as the Holi festival was being celebrated.

Patil said that the government consistently appeals to the Maoists to surrender and all efforts would be made to rehabilitate them in the social mainstream, otherwise they would have to face "grim consequences".
Syracuse, NY -- An aspiring Syracuse politician, charged with trying to bribe a cop after leaving a strip club in October 2019, seemed perfectly able to understand a judge Monday afternoon.

But in court Quante Wright couldnt believe what he was hearing: County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty ordered Wright, 36, to undergo a psychiatric exam to determine if he was sane enough to participate in his own trial defense.

It seems a little extreme, Wright said in court, adding that hed never been ordered to undergo a mental health exam in his life.

But Wrights lawyer, Lisa Cuomo, told the judge that she believed doctors needed to check Wrights psychiatric health. That came after Wright sent the court his own legal arguments, which none of the attorneys in the courtroom could apparently make sense of.

Wright is a former federal prisoner who went on a highly publicized campaign to rehabilitate his image in the mid 2010s. He was fired from his job at a Syracuse car dealership in 2015, sparking an outcry, before moving on and getting a job with the Onondaga County Office of Economic Development. He left that job in 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile, and most currently lists himself as a Minister of Yahweh in Gods Kingdom.

He publicly explored running for U.S. Congress in 2020, but never turned into a serious contender.

Wright was charged with felony attempted bribery, accused of trying to pay his way out of an investigation surrounding allegations that he followed a woman home from a strip club around 2:30 a.m. Oct. 2, 2019.

Is there anything beneficial I can do for you to make these tickets go away? Wright asked police, according to a police report.

When Officer Justin Baum said he didnt understand, Wright continued: Is there something beneficial that I could do for you, or the DeWitt Police Department, here to make this situation go away; Politically, money, according to the report.

Wright, who has remained free from jail, asked the judge Monday what happened if he refused to answer questions during the mental health exam. Hed be taken into custody until the exam was performed, the judge replied.

What if he was deemed incompetent? Wright wondered.

Then hed be taken into custody and placed in a mental hospital until he was deemed fit to proceed, the judge answered.

Cuomo noted that she and co-defense lawyer Ian Rennie had no interest in supporting Wrights legal arguments. She said she didnt even understand them.

After speaking to him, I have no idea what hes talking about, Cuomo told the judge.

Dougherty, who did not describe Wrights legal arguments in court, agreed that they were quite concerning.

The mental exam comes after Wright appeared unwilling to accept a probationary sentence in the case. Instead, he circumvented his own assigned lawyers in sending arguments to the judge.

In court Monday, Wright tried again to explain what he wanted.

Im asking the DA to certify my right to subrogation, Wright said.

The judge replied that he knew what subrogation was (the ability of an insurance company to bring legal action against someone who caused an insurance loss) but noted thats not a word used in criminal court.

I dont know what that means, Dougherty concluded, scheduling Wright for a mental exam.

If convicted of attempted bribery, Wright faces up to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. He was also charged with misdemeanor drunken driving in connection with the traffic stop that led to the alleged bribery attempt.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
Line Of Duty viewers were sent into a frenzy when criminal-turned police officer PC Ryan Pilkington returned in last night's episode.

PC Pilkington, as he is now known, has come a long way from the violent teenage thug first introduced in series one.

Then working for OCG (Organised Crime Group) member Tommy Hunter, Ryan memorably tried to cut off DS Steve Arnott's fingers with a pair of bolt cutters.

He's back! Line Of Duty viewers were sent into a frenzy when criminal-turned police officer PC Ryan Pilkington (Gregory Piper) returned in last night's episode, pictured

Criminal past: First introduced in series one, by series five (pictured), Pilkington was a fully-fledged OCG member working alongside the likes of Lee Banks (Alastair Natkiel), right, and John Corbett (Stephen Graham), left, an undercover officer known as John Clayton

He was next seen in series five, by which point he had graduated to a fully-fledged OCG member and killed undercover officer John Corbett by slitting his throat.

Now a PC working alongside DI Kate Fleming in MIT (Major Incident Team), viewers anticipate Pilkington will play an important role in the series.

So whether you are new to Line Of Duty or a regular who needs a refresh, here is everything you need to know about Ryan Pilkington...

SERIES ONE: VIOLENT TEENAGE THUG

Teenage thug: Ryan has been a part of the show since the second episode of series one, when he was seen carrying out OCG business on the rundown and lawless Borogrove Estate

Unrepentant: Ryan was involved in the kidnap of DCI Anthony Gates (Lennie James) and later the torture of DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) but did not receive a criminal record

Will he be recognised by Terry Boyle? In both series one and series five, Ryan is seen interacting with Terry Boyle, a man with Down's syndrome who is ruthlessly exploited by the OCG. He mocks and ridicules Boyle in series five, describing him as his 'best friend'. Boyle has also returned in series six, opening up the possibility that him and Ryan might come into contact with each other. Could it be Boyle who blows Ryan's cover? Connection: Ryan has a long history with Terry Boyle, who is also back for series six Advertisement

Ryan has been a part of the show since the second episode of series one, when he was seen carrying out OCG business on the rundown and lawless Borogrove Estate.

Then just 12 years old, it marked the TV debut for actor Gregory Piper, who continues to play the role today.

Raised by a single mother who neglected him, Ryan was recruited into the OCG by Tommy Hunter (Brian McCardle).

As a young teenager, his task within the group was to steal mobile phones and work as a courier, providing blackmailed individuals with untraceable burner phones in order to receive their orders from Hunter.

He was also involved in the kidnap of DCI Anthony Gates (Lennie James) and later the torture of DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston).

After being angered by Arnott, Ryan showed his ruthlessness by trying to remove the desperate police officer's fingers with a pair of bolt cutters.

After being arrested, the teenager was taken to a police station where he admitted to stealing phones for Hunter and his associates but denied involvement in Arnott's kidnap and torture.

Throughout the series PC Simon Bannerjee (Neet Mohan) tried to be a positive influence on Ryan's life and left him with his card.

Ryan did not receive a criminal record as a result of his actions, meaning he was able to go on and apply for the police academy at the end of series five, when he also leveraged his connection to PC Bannerjee.

SERIES FIVE: FULLY-FLEDGED MEMBER OF THE OCG

Graduated: By then in his early 20s, Pilkington reappeared in the first episode of series five as part of the OCG unit who attacked and hijacked a drugs convoy and gunned down police officers. Pictured centre with other members of the criminal gang in series five

Groundwork: In episode five Ryan told McQueen that he had 'passed his exams' (above) and had an interview. In episode six it was revealed that this was to become a police officer

Infiltrated: In the series finale Ryan was seen speaking to the interview board at the Police College about his reasons for becoming an officer and cited PC Bannerjee as his inspiration. It became clear he had been accepted into the Police College in the final moments (above)

By then in his early 20s, Pilkington reappeared in the first episode of series five as part of the OCG unit who attacked and hijacked a drugs convoy and gunned down police officers.

He worked alongside Lisa McQueen (Rochenda Sandall), Miroslav Minkowicz (Tomi May), Lee Banks (Alastair Natkiel) and John Corbett (Stephen Graham), an undercover officer known as John Clayton.

Pilkington was involved in the kidnap and murder of PC Maneet Bindra (Maya Sondhi), holding her still while Banks slit her throat.

In the background of various OCG meetings and operations, Pilkington's big moment came in episode four when he killed Corbett after McQueen worked out he was a rat.

The following episode, he told McQueen that he had 'passed his exams' and had an interview scheduled. In episode six it was revealed that this was to become a police officer.

In the series finale Ryan was seen speaking to the interview board at the Police College about his reasons for becoming an officer and cited PC Bannerjee as his inspiration.

SERIES SIX: OCG MEMBER WHO HAS INFILTRATED THE POLICE

The return: After the end of series five, regular Line Of Duty viewers were anticipating Pilkington's return at some point this series. It came last night, when PC Pilkington was drafted in as PS Farida Jatri's (Anneika Rose) replacement after she is transferred to another team

Eager to please: PC Pilkington presented himself as eager to please, offering to make his superior cups of tea and apparently working hard to help the investigation (above)

Onto him? DI Fleming clearly recognised his face but was unable to place him. She even asked him later in the episode if they had ever worked together, but he politely dodged the question. However it seems Kate was not convinced by Pilkington's assurance that they had not crossed paths before - at one moment she was seen bringing up his service record on her computer

After the end of series five, regular Line Of Duty viewers were anticipating Pilkington's return at some point this series.

It came last night, when PC Pilkington was drafted in as PS Farida Jatri's (Anneika Rose) replacement after she is transferred to another team.

Now working alongside DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) and DCI Joanne Davidson (Kelly Macdonald), PC Pilkington was first seen at the scene of Carl Banks' murder.

DI Fleming clearly recognised his face but was unable to place him. She even asked him later in the episode if they had ever worked together, but he politely dodged the question.

PC Pilkington presented himself as eager to please, offering to make his superior cups of tea and apparently working hard to help the investigation.

However he did have a moment of panic when the recently promoted DI Arnott arrived with his team of AC-12 investigators, obviously concerned the officer would recognise him as the teenager who had tortured him all those years ago.

It also seems Kate was not convinced by Pilkington's assurance that they had not crossed paths before - at one point she was seen bringing up his service record on her computer screen.
Rice University announced Friday that it will increase tuition and fees, including room and board, by 3.2 percent for the upcoming academic year.

Undergraduate tuition for the 2021-2022 academic year will now be $52,070  an increase of $1,761 over the current year, officials said in a release. The total cost to attend Rice, which includes $14,800 for room and board and $825 in mandatory fees, will be $67,695.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The week will start off sunny and warm, but a brief patch of cold will come to the Northeast Ohio area toward the end.

Mondays high is forecast to be around 51 degrees, with the low near 44, according to the National Weather Service. Sunny skies are expected and the night is forecast to be clear.

Tuesday is forecast to have a summery feel, with a high around 72 degrees and sunny skies. The day is slated to be windy, though, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Rain showers are likely, but mainly after 2 a.m. heading into Wednesday. Conditions will be mostly cloudy overnight with the low near 40 degrees.

The high on Wednesday is forecast at close to 49 degrees, with showers likely before 8 a.m. The chance of precipitation is at 60%. A chance of snow showers is forecast after 2 a.m., heading into Thursday as the low will be around 28.

The temperature will drop Thursday, with the high forecast around 34 degrees. With a 50% chance of precipitation, a chance of snow showers is in the forecast. Thursdays low is expected to be around 26, and theres a chance of snow showers before 2 a.m. heading into Friday.

With mostly sunny skies, Friday will bring a slight increase as the high is forecast near 43 degrees. The low will be back to winter-like temperatures, though, at around 33. Clevelanders should expect to enjoy a pleasant weekend, with highs forecast at around 62 on Saturday and about 60 on Easter Sunday; both days are expected to be mostly sunny.

Mondays sunrise: 7:14 a.m.

Sunset: 7:49 p.m.

Pollen count: 6.7 (medium)
Demi Sims was seen filming TOWIE with girlfriend Francesca Farago after she was suspended for flouting lockdown rules.

Also slapped with a suspension earlier this month was her elder sister Frankie Sims and pal Harry Derbidge, after the trio were filmed at what appeared to be a party.

The temporary ban now appears to have been lifted, with Demi and Harry seen working on the show last week alongside her girlfriend Francesca, who is set to make her show debut.

Back at it: Demi Sims was seen filming TOWIE with girlfriend Francesca Farago after she was suspended for flouting lockdown rules

Demi, 22, packed on the PDA with her girlfriend in the scenes, with the pair strolling arm in arm before stopping to share a kiss.

The reality starlet was dressed to catch the eye in a vibrant orange trench coat that she teamed with leather trousers and trainers.

Too Hot to Handle star Francesca, 27, also opted for an autumnal colour palette as she teamed black leather flares with a tan blazer.

While it has not been announced if she will become a permanent castmember on the show, Francesca's cameo will no doubt cause tension after their relationship was scrutinised in an earlier show.

Pucker up: The temporary ban now appears to have been lifted, with Demi seen working on the show last week alongside her girlfriend Francesca, who is set to make her show debut

Demi was asked if she thought she was going 'a bit quick' with Francesca, but she said she likes 'taking things quick' in her relationships.

Speaking with her sister Chloe and friends Harry, and Amy Childs at a bar, Harry claimed: 'The only thing I'm worried about is Demi getting married before me, she's on a roller-coaster.'

Demi simply quipped: 'Listen Harry, you snooze you lose, if I get married before you.'

Harry claimed he was 'so happy' for Demi, and suggested: 'I think you've actually met The One.'

Suspended: Also slapped with a suspension earlier this month was her sister Frankie Sims and pal Harry Derbidge (pictured) after the trio were filmed at what appeared to be a party

Amy stepped in and asked: 'Dem, do you think it's a bit quick? I'm not judging!'

Demi was honest with her thoughts on the matter, admitting: 'I like taking things quick, I like finding out about someone and their heart, and I'm just all about the fairy tale to be honest'.

Chloe then chimed in to ask if Francesca, who hails from Canada, knew anything about Essex, and Demi said: 'Not at all, she doesn't have a clue.'

Her sister then said: 'I think she's going to have a bit of a culture shock.'

Demi went public with Francesca back in January during a trip to Dubai and they moved into a new home together in London last month.

Cute couple: Demi, 22, packed on the PDA with her girlfriend in the scenes, with the pair strolling arm in arm before stopping to share a kiss

Bold look: The reality starlet was dressed to catch the eye in a vibrant orange trench coat that she teamed with leather trousers and trainers

Wow: Too Hot to Handle star Francesca, 27, also opted for an autumnal colour palette as she teamed black leather flares with a tan blazer

Also filming TOWIE scenes alongside the couple was Harry, 26, who caught the eye in a cloud print jumper.

The makeup brush mogul - who saw his plans to adopt and to tie the knot in 2020 pushed back by the pandemic - was also sure to turn heads as he was seen pushing his dog in a buggy.

The trio's outing came after they were suspended from the show for flouting lockdown rules.

Scrutiny: Francesca's cameo will no doubt cause tension after their relationship was scrutinised in an earlier show

Moving quick: Demi went public with Francesca back in January during a trip to Dubai and they moved into a new home together in London last month.

A video uploaded by Harry's fiance Dean Rowland earlier in the month showed him cuddling up to Francesca while Demi, Harry and Frankie mingled in the background in a party setting.

A spokesperson for TOWIE confirmed the suspension and told MailOnline: 'Several cast members have been temporarily suspended from filming TOWIE.

'The safety of our cast and crew is of paramount importance and we expect them to abide by the protocols put in place in line with government guidelines to ensure they keep themselves and those around them safe.'

After the suspension was lifted, the cast were allowed to resume filming after producing negative Covid tests.

Head in the clouds: Also filming TOWIE scenes alongside the couple was Harry, 26, who caught the eye in a cloud print jumper

The suspension came after The Only Way Is Essex was hit by complaints to Ofcom after the stars were seen visiting pubs and restaurants while the UK is in lockdown.

According to a report from the government regulatory authority on Wednesday, 64 people have contacted them to complain about the programme since its launch on Sunday night.

Before the episode began, bosses clarified in a disclaimer that the 28th series was filmed following strict Covid-19 protocols so that the cast and crew are safe.

All together: The trio's outing came after they were suspended from the show when they were caught flouting lockdown rules in a video uploaded by Harry's fiance Dean Rowland

It read: 'The show will still be bringing you the casts real lives and stories, but to keep everyone safe TOWIE have had to create its own little world to film in.

'So, although you may see cast in pubs and restaurants, dont worry because they've opened just for the show and have put in lots of extra measures, so Lime Pictures and ITV can still bring you the TOWIE you love safely.'

During the show, stars like Chloe Sims and her sister Demi were seen at a bar while the cast also celebrated a birthday party, and they also visited each other's houses.

According to a report from The Sun, the complaints to Ofcom were made about: 'Filming in bars, restaurants and gyms during lockdown and food wastage.'

TOWIE spokespeople declined to comment when approached.
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Gladys Berejiklian says she's disgusted by a report that a coalition colleague offered a woman money to have sex with him at NSW Parliament.

The NSW premier was asked about an ABC report that NSW National Party MP Michael Johnsen offered a sex worker $1000 to come to parliament for sex and sent the woman lewd text messages and an obscene video while he was sitting in the parliamentary chamber.

The report comes a week after the Upper Hunter MP went on leave and moved to the crossbench after denying allegations he raped the same woman at the Blue Mountains in 2019.

Gladys Berejiklian says she's disgusted by a report that a coalition colleague offered a woman money to have sex with him at NSW Parliament

The woman told the ABC she exchanged hundreds of messages with Mr Johnsen after responding to his online advertisement for sex in August, 2019.

Ms Berejiklian was asked about the latest report on Sydney radio 2GB on Tuesday.

'If that is correct I am absolutely disgusted,' she said.

'For many women in public life when you know the challenges that exist - when colleagues or former colleagues do that type of thing- it is just beyond disgusting,' she said.

Ms Berejiklian said police were investigating the rape allegation 'so I can't really say more than that'.

'I want all workplaces and not just in politics, in all spheres of life, to be respectful to women and to treat them equally,' she said.

She wanted people to acknowledge the subconscious bias that exists against women - 'especially those in leadership positions'.

'My job and the job of others is to lead by example and to call out what is unacceptable behaviour' she said.

The allegations against Mr Johnsen are the latest in a string of accusations engulfing the Liberal Party, particularly in federal parliament, since former staffer Brittany Higgins said she was raped in a senior government minister's office in March last year.
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The governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu, and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, have congratulated the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, as he clocks 69 years.

The governors in separate statements by their spokespersons, on Sunday, described Mr Tinubu as an icon of democracy and true elder statesman.

According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, on Sunday, Mr Fayemi described Mr Tinubu as a leader of leaders.

Asiwaju Tinubus ability to identify, nurture and engage talents is unequalled. His life has been a testimony of human capital development in an unrelenting struggle for a better life for people.

He is not only an accomplished politician; he is a statesman par excellence, a dogged fighter and strong voice in the fight against military dictatorship and enthronement of democratic rule in the country.

We can only wish him many more useful and productive years in service to humanity.

Mr Abiodun in a statement by his spokesperson, Kunle Somorin, said Mr Tinubu has laid a solid foundation for continuity of good governance in Lagos and had ensured that the southwest and indeed Nigeria, benefit from the progressive politics of the APC.

He said the ex-governor of Lagos from his days in corporate practices to politics has been undisputable vanguard of progressive politics, irrepressible statesman and an icon whose unconditional service and time-tested leadership inspire hope in us.

For your exceptional skills at political engineering, altruistic leadership and unwavering commitment to ethical democracy, we are very proud of you and would continue to cherish your heritage of responsible statesmanship.

In another statement, Mr Sanwo-olu through his press secretary, Gboyega Akosile, said Mr Tinubu remained a visionary leader and rare mentor with exceptional abilities in various areas of human endeavours.

Asiwaju Tinubu is a major stabilising factor for Nigerias current democratic dispensation. As a pathfinder, Asiwaju charted the developmental trajectory of modern Lagos, raising the bar of governance and public service in the state and indeed, Nigeria.

A cheerful giver who cares about the welfare of the people, Asiwaju personifies tolerance and humanity. The story of Nigerias democracy cannot be told without the name of Jagaban Borgu written in gold. Thousands are today direct beneficiaries of his political benevolence.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 8)  Filipino senior citizens and those with comorbidities are now getting their COVID-19 shots alongside health workers amid the surge in cases.

Since the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine, local government units in Metro Manila scheduled the simultaneous vaccination of the A1, A2, and A3 sectors. A1 refers to medical frontliners, A2 to senior citizens, while A3 covers persons with comorbidities.

READ: Metro Manila LGUs kick off vaccination of elderly vs. COVID-19

Aside from the vaccine by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, those aged 60 and above also now have the option to get doses from China's Sinovac Biotech, after the Food and Drug Administration approved on Tuesday its use for the group. The FDA and the Department of Health noted that the health status of senior citizens must be evaluated first before getting inoculated with the Sinovac's CoronaVac.

Inoculation for people with comorbidities is also ongoing. The DOH said those under 65 years old with chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, malignancy, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and chronic kidney disease are also eligible to get CoronaVac.

Here are the links to the pre-registration websites for the vaccine drive in the Greater Manila area:

Bulacan

Pulilan

Laguna

Los Banos

Metro Manila

- Caloocan (updated link)

- Las Pinas (valid email required)

- Makati

- Marikina

- Malabon

- Mandaluyong

- Manila (site temporarily down as of March 29)

- Muntinlupa

- Navotas

- Paranaque

- Pasay

- Pasig (Pasig Pass app)

- Pateros

- Quezon City

- San Juan

- Taguig (Taguig Trace app)

- Valenzuela

Rizal

- Antipolo

- Taytay

In a briefing on March 30, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said local government units have simplified their pre-registration process for those with comorbidities to help fast-track the rollout for them.

He noted that the simultaneous vaccination for the first three priority groups will be done with the help of the LGUs and the private sector.

The goverment is allocating 3.4 million doses for the country's 1.7 million health workers. It will also distribute doses for 9.4 million senior citizens and 14 million people with comorbidities. Vaccines will then be provided for 11 million economic frontliners and 17.7 million indigents.

A massive rollout for the other priority groups can be expected between May and June as more vaccines will be shipped to the country, Galvez added.

RELATED: TIMELINE: COVID-19 vaccine deliveries and rollout in the Philippines
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ROME - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told the press after a meeting with Montenegrin counterpart Djordje Radulovic in Podgorica Monday that "the advancement of the European prospect of the whole region of the western Balkans represents a priority geostrategical investment for Italy .



"In today's talks we reiterated how the path completed by Montenegro in these years is a story of success, with its historic entry into NATO which Italy strongly backed and with the opening of all the chapters in the negotiation for EU membership.



"We must continue along this road".



Di Maio also stressed the importance of creating opportunities for Italian firms in the area, noted that Italy is Montenegro's fourth supplier of goods, and said the country's role as energy hub of the region must be reinforced.



Di Maio, who is on a mission to Montenegro Monday and Bosnia Tuesday to foster new business opportunities for Italian firms, is set to meet Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic and Parliament Speaker Aleksa Becic.



Di Maio is the first foreign minister among the country's main international partners to go to Montenegro since its new government was formed.



He will fly to Bosnia Monday afternoon.
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Tunis/Tunisia  The World Bank on Friday approved US$100 million in additional financing for the Tunisia COVID-19 Response Project to enable affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in the country, according to a WB press release a copy of which was received by TAP.

To support the Tunisian government's National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy to vaccinate 50 percent of its population by the end of 2021, the majority of the additional financing will help pay for the purchase and deployment of several million doses of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines--through COVAX or directly from manufacturers--as long as they meet World Bank vaccine approval criteria. World Bank funds will support the largest portion of Tunisia's vaccine supply.

The additional financing will also strengthen key aspects of Tunisia's vaccine deployment system, including targeting priority groups; training and supervising health care workers to administer vaccines; upgrading the entirety of the national cold chain including the purchase of almost 3,000 freezers and fridges; and developing communications campaigns to increase the uptake of vaccines. Finally, funds from the additional financing will help the Tunisian government monitor and evaluate the deployment of vaccines.

"The World Bank is mobilizing resources to support Tunisia in this critical effort to deploy the COVID-19 vaccine," said Tony Verheijen, the World Bank Country Manager for Tunisia. "After a year of suffering through this health crisis--compounded by an unprecedented social and economic crisis--the vaccine offers hope to save many lives, end this deadly pandemic, and start a new chapter where Tunisia can build back stronger in the years ahead."

According to the National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy, the vaccine will be rolled out incrementally, starting with high-risk health workers as well as people age 75 years and above. The first group will be followed by other health workers, people between 60-75 years of age, essential workers in public and private sectors, as well as people with comorbidities, before expanding to people between 18-60 years old.

The additional financing expands the World Bank's Tunisia COVID-19 Response Project, which was approved on April 30, 2020. The parent project was deployed through an emergency mechanism to help the country acquire personal protective equipment and design the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan.
Illegal immigrants from Central America in a makeshift U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center under the Anzalduas International Bridge after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico in Granjeno, Texas, on March 12, 2021. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)

Majority of Families Crossing Border Are Released Into United States

McALLEN, TexasThe Biden administration has moved away from sending families back across the border using the COVID-19 emergency measure called Title 42.

Now the vast majority (upwards of 85 percent) of family units who are apprehended by Border Patrol after crossing the border illegally are quickly released into the United States.

On March 25, a total of 6,000 people were apprehended by Border Patrol along the southwest border, according to a senior Border Patrol official during a March 26 press call.

Of the 2,200 individuals within family units who were apprehended, 1,900 were released, while 300 were processed under Title 42 to be expelled, the official said.

Its a little higher percentage now than it was previously, the official said regarding the volume being released into the interior. We continue to try to leverage the Title 42 authorities as much as we possibly can.

Most of the single adults being apprehended are still expelled under Title 42.

The families being released are either given a notice to appear containing a court date to begin their immigration proceedings, or given nothing and released on their own recognizance, the official said.

The Biden administration is under fire for overcrowded and unhealthy conditions at processing centers at the border, as well as for sending thousands of illegal immigrants all over the country while businesses and schools are still closed due to the pandemic.

A facility in Texas is squeezing up to 80 individuals into each 24-by-30-foot cell, according to a border agent who spoke to The Epoch Times.

Unfortunately, on any given day we may have upwards of 9,000 people in custody, which certainly puts a strain on our resources, said the border official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of repercussions.

Illegal border crossings during the month of February reached a 14-year high for that month with more than 100,000 crossings. By March 25, crossings had already surpassed those of February, a Border Patrol agent told The Epoch Times.

I fully expect that over the next couple of months, were also going to see some increases, the senior Border patrol official said. In general, illegal crossings pick up during the spring and summer months.

During the 2019 border surge, illegal crossings hit a high of more than 144,000 apprehensions in May. At the same time, more than 40 percent of border agents were pulled off the border in some areas to help look after families and children.

Mexican cartels use the family groups to tie up Border Patrol resources in one area, while they push drugs and criminals through an unpatrolled area nearby.

Brian Hastings, Border Patrol sector chief for the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, reported that more than 861 criminals have been encountered in his sector so far this fiscal year, including 92 sex offenders and 63 gang members.

The family units and unaccompanied minors currently crossing are most commonly from the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. However, the senior border official said Border Patrol is currently encountering more illegal aliens from Ecuador, Brazil, and Cuba.

President Joe Biden on March 24 delegated the main responsibility of addressing the border crisis to Vice President Kamala Harris, saying shes the most qualified person to handle the situation.
Kolkata: TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee intensified efforts to woo voters before campaigning for the second phase of the assembly poll ends in Nandigram on Tuesday (March 30) evening.

Her campaign in the high-stakes constituency will begin at 11 am on Monday (March 29) with an 8-kilometre roadshow from Khudiram More to Thakurchowk in Nandigram Block 2, followed by a public meeting in Jansabha Boyal II. Another one will take place at 2 pm then at 3:30 pm in the Amdabad High School Ground.

Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest of the state assembly elections with the Chief Minister taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year. Adhikari had earlier said that BJP will defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.

The BJP will also be bringing in big names to counter the TMCs top leader. Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take on Mamata in a massive roadshow in Nandigram on Tuesday to bat for Adhikari.

Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty is also expected to conduct a roadshow in Nandigram ahead of polling.

PM Narendra Modi had addressed a public rally for Suvendu Adhikari earlier. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too had come to campaign in the constituency.

With rallies of Mamata planned for each day till the campaign ends, the Adhikari clan too has focussed its energy on ensuring that polling agents remain alert and that panna pramukhs bring out the voters on April 1.

The Adhikaris have been working on a strategy to not let the last leg of campaigning sway the voters towards her.

Sources in the BJP stated that the focus would remain on bringing voters to the polling stations while the candidates would be intensifying campaigning."It's all about that one day when polling happens. It is all that matters. So, if the Chief Minister campaigns and we do too, voters have largely made up their minds," said a senior BJP leader.

Adhikari, a former TMC leader, joined the BJP ahead of Assembly polls. Adhikari is a sitting MLA from Nandigram, a seat where Mamata Banerjee has decided to contest this time instead of Bhawanipur.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 percent voter turnout 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 went to polls to decide on the electoral fate of 191 candidates, including 21 women.

Now the remaining seven phases for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly polls will be held on different dates with the final round of voting scheduled on April 29. Counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Its a cliche, but its true. A week is a long time in politics. For Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the six weeks since former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins aired her rape allegations must seem like an eternity. And yet, for all Mr Morrisons impassioned responses to the barrage of disturbing revelations, he has never lost sight of his own survival, and that of his government.

The case of federal Liberal National Party MP Andrew Laming makes that clear. A member of Parliament for 17 years, Dr Laming is accused of online bullying and taking a photo of a womans bottom without her permission at her workplace while her underwear was visible. In the vast majority of workplaces, that would be a sackable offence. It seems not so for Dr Laming.

Instead, after being reprimanded by Mr Morrison on two occasions, he has taken medical leave while seeking clinical counselling. And while the offences were considered serious enough for Dr Laming to step down at the next election, there was no talk of the Prime Minister demanding his immediate resignation.

That is despite Dr Laming making light on Facebook of his first apology in Parliament, and then after his second apology on Sunday  in which he said he would own those mistakes  going on ABC Radio the next day to say his online behaviour had been reinvented into harassment and that the facts are on my side.

For all the political theatrics swirling around Dr Laming, for the Morrison government this is about power and how to preserve it. The departure of Craig Kelly just over a month ago to the crossbench has already given the Coalition the thinnest of margins when passing legislation in the House of Representatives.
Press Release

March 29, 2021 De Lima seeks to investigate Cagayan Offshore Magnetite Mining Project Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has urged the Senate Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change to investigate the Cagayan Offshore Magnetite Mining Project due to its reported negative environmental and social impacts to local communities and ecosystems in the province of Cagayan. In filing Senate Resolution (SR) No. 687, De Lima said the State is duty-bound to protect the lives and livelihood of its citizens over all transactions and contracts it has entered into with individuals and entities concerning the coastal areas of Cagayan and other black sand mining areas. "Government measures and policies must anticipate, prevent, and address the root causes of environmental degradation. The destruction of the environment, more particularly, its natural defenses like sand bars which help protect from strong waves and storm surges during typhoons poses increased disaster threats and risks to the surrounding communities," she said. "Swift and effective intervention must therefore be conducted to ensure the protection of the environment and the safety of our countrymen," added De Lima, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development. In early December 2020, it was reported that the government has authorized the first large-scale offshore mining in the country which was set to begin operations in Cagayan in January 2021. According to a press release, JDVC Resources Corporation, a majority-owned subsidiary of Apollo Global Capital, was now ready to proceed with its offshore mining operations after securing the necessary permits from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). In a position paper dated Jan. 25, various environmental groups outrightly rejected the said project, explaining that it poses geologic hazards and hazards to other marine resources and ecosystems and increases vulnerability to armed conflict, among others. Meanwhile, De Lima said it is reasonable for Cagayan citizens to be more reluctant to endorse a project that they perceive will not only destroy the environment but also put their homes and livelihoods at higher risk of severe flooding events in the future, considering that they have only recently begun to recover from the massive flooding in November 2020. "The recent record-level flooding in Cagayan brought about by typhoon Ulysses may be an indication of a worsening trend rather than a statistical aberration," she said. "It is imperative that the project's proponents and other concerned government agencies are able to effectively communicate and actively consult with the people of Cagayan so that they are able to make informed decisions on matters concerning public health and safety and other environmental hazards," she added. Due to a lack of conclusive data at hand, De Lima likewise stressed that it is prudent to conduct a more comprehensive study of the impacts of black sand mining in the Philippines in general and a thorough review of the Cagayan Offshore Magnetite Mining Project in particular. "All activities which tend to disturb or destroy the environment must always be preceded by meticulous assessment of their consequences. Environmental impact studies shall also be conducted to aid both the public and private sectors in chartering the course of the activities that involve and affect the environment," the lady Senator from Bicol said. "An in-depth study on how to restore the ecosystem must be launched to ensure that rehabilitation measures are put in place to save these areas from further destruction and erosion," she added. During her stint as justice secretary, it may be recalled that De Lima created a task force led by the National Bureau of Investigation to lead a crackdown against several illegal black sand mining operators in Cagayan and Ilocos Sur. The move led to the filing of charges against several individuals.
Octopuses are known to sleep and they usually change color while they do so. A study released on the 25th of March 2021, in the journal iScience shows that these changes in color are features of the two important alternating sleep states which are the"quiet sleep" and "active sleep" stage.

REM and Non-REM Sleep

Scientists say that the discoveries have implications for the development of sleep and might suggest that it is achievable for octopuses to experience something similar to dreams. Researchers used to believe that only birds and mammals had two sleep states.

Lately, it was exhibited that few reptiles also display REM and non-REM sleep. A REM-like sleep state was also revealed in a cephalopod family of the octopus and cuttlefish

Senior author Sidarta Ribeiro of the Brain Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil said: "That made us ponder if we might find proof of two sleep states in octopuses, too. Octopuses have the most centralized nervous system of any animal without backbone and are known to have a high-level learning capability."

To find out, the scientists took video recordings of octopuses in the lab. They discovered that during 'quiet sleep' the animals were still and silent, with eye pupils, pale skin, and shrink to a slit. During 'active sleep,' the story wasn't the same.

Also Read: Study: Octopuses Have a Strange Light Sense Helping Them Hide from Predators

Stimulation Tests

The animals actively changed their texture and skin color. They also change the position of their eyes while shrinking their suckers and body with muscular jerks. Sidarta said: "What makes it more fascinating is that this 'active sleep' most of the time occurs after a long "quiet sleep," generally more than 6 minutes and that it has an attribute periodicity," the cycle would occur continuously at an interval of about 30 to 40-minute.

To prove that these states truly represented sleep, the scientists weighed the octopuses' reaction threshold with the use of tactile and visual stimulation tests. The outcome of those tests appeared that in both 'quiet' and 'active' sleep states, the octopuses wanted an intense stimulus to induce a behavioral response in alikeness with the alert state. In other words, they were asleep.

Vertebrates Vs Cephalopods

The discoveries have fascinating implications for octopuses and for the development of sleep. They also raise interesting new questions.

Initial author and graduate student Sylvia Medeiros of the Brain Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil said that the change of sleep states noticed in the Octopus insularis looks quite alike to ours, despite the immeasurable evolutionary distance between vertebrates and cephalopods, with an early division of lineages about 500 million years ago.

Role of Sleep

The independent development in cephalopods of an 'active sleep' comparable to vertebrate REM sleep may show a materializing property usual to centralized nervous systems that gets to a certain complexity.

In studies to come, scientists would love to record data relating to nerves from cephalopods to get a better understanding of what happens when they are asleep. They're also inquisitive about the role of sleep in the thinking, learning, and metabolism of animals.

Related Article: Octopus Ancestors Among the First Animals on Earth, Dating Back to 509 Million Years Ago!

For more news, updates about octopuses and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Steven W. Smidesang, a former long-haul trucker with a bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma now employed as an IT professional for a chain of retail stores, has completed his new book Chicagoland Stories: Backyard Brain: the latest fast-paced installment in a compelling series that keeps the pages turning until the dramatic conclusion.

In this standalone tale, Chicagoland Stories is drawn into the life of Boone Jackson, owner of a fledgling chemical company. While planting garlic cloves in his backyard, Jackson discovers a smooth round object about the size of a propane tank, the nature of which is not apparent.

Then it introduces itselfan artificial intelligence hosted on a quantum computer.

The device easily compromises world information systems, claiming its purpose is to benefit society, but it refuses to disclose its origin. Jackson and his friends personally benefit from the machine and are asked to give their input on how to bring positive changes to the world.

Meanwhile, a mysterious entity known only as Verstand assembles a crew of mercenaries and provides them with information, technology, and advanced chemical formulas. Their mission is to bring a powerful organization to its knees.

The worlds future is at stake, but what is the ultimate goal of the Backyard Brain?

Published by Page Publishing, Steven W. Smidesangs engrossing book is an excellent choice for avid science fiction readers.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Chicagoland Stories: Backyard Brain at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing understands that authors should be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
A man was arrested in relation to an aggravated burglary which occurred in the early hours of yesterday.

At around 7am on Sunday morning, a man allegedly gained access to a house in Asketon, Co Limerick and threatened the resident of the property with a knife.

The occupant of the property thankfully did not require medical treatment.

A male in his mid-thirties was arrested a short distance away by gardai in Askeaton.

He was taken to Henry Street Garda station where he was detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act of 1984.

He has since been charged and is due to appear before Limerick District Court this morning.

According to the Gardai, the investigation remains ongoing.
When my husband, Rob, asked me to marry him, I seriously entertained the idea of elopement. Young, penniless, and impatient, I reasoned, Who needs a big church service to express our commitment to each other? A short legal ceremony and a picture on the courthouse steps would allow us to eschew the pomp and circumstance (and cost) of a wedding and jump right into the thing we wanted mosta life spent together.

As our engagement progressed, Rob convinced me that we should opt for a traditional Christian ceremony. Later, youll wish you did it, he told me. So we rented a church, invited our friends and family, and hired the organist. When it was all over, I had to agree that Rob was right. We needed to start our life together with worship as the context for our marriage.

Waiting to marry, waiting to bury

For the past year, state restrictions have prohibited large gatherings in most states across the US, a burden felt particularly by those who hoped to wed. But starry-eyed lovers arent the only ones whove had to give up ceremonies; grieving people have too. Restrictions on large gatherings have required families to re-envision their early days of bereavement as church services switched online and funerals were delayed. For many, the waiting further complicates their grief.

With all of the challenges of grief in a pandemic, many bereaved families have chosen to delay or omit funeral worship. Behavioral health and hospice organizations have worked hard to help people find alternative, meaningful ways to say goodbye, but for Christians, none can replace funeral worship amid the gathered congregation. Death-defying worship defines the Christian life. As it should mark the beginning of covenanted married life, so it should mark the end of our earthly journey, too.

As vaccinations proliferate, transmission ebbs, and state restrictions lift, we should invite grieving families to enact their loss in funeral worshipeven if months or a year has passed since their loved ones death. Its never too late to mark a loss. State restrictions may still require creativity and the unconventional. However we enact it, though, funeral worship should be preserved, and heres why.

1. Funeral worship offers space to sorrow.

We live in a culture that runs from true death, writes Courtney Reissig. Suffering and grief arent socially acceptable in the workplace, and its often hard to find space for them in the church either. To grieving people, the only ones welcome in the office or the pew are the happy. To grieve is to be excluded with no place to go.

Funeral worship offers that first formal space to sorrow. In worship, we can lay ourselves bare before God, offering the full range of emotions grief elicits. We need not run from death or sorrow. Instead, we wrap our deceased loved one in the burial shroud of gospel truth. We lament the worlds real brokenness. We create space for intimate, personal sorrow in all of its pain and emotional depth.

2. Funeral worship offers physical rituals to process loss.

In prior centuries, physical rituals guided the bereaved through their first months and years of mourning. Special clothes gave loved ones a way to embody their sorrow. Ritual washing of a loved ones dead body, or preparing it for burial, gave mourners opportunities to enact their heartbreak with tenderness and intimacy. Churchyards provided gravestones as specific locations dedicated to bereavement.

Modern mourning rituals come with few of these tactile experiences, but there are contemporary alternatives. Pallbearing. Placing a casket in the nave of the sanctuary for viewing. Walking forward to light a candle or place a rose. An empty chair. Even lifting our hands in worship. These physical acts enact our loss. In funeral worship, we gather as the body of Christ, even if at a distance, to bear witness to very physical, earthly sorrow.

Article continues below

3. Funeral worship connects death with resurrection.

Each Sunday in church sanctuaries, our bodies intersect with our faith. We baptize our children and marry our lovers. We eat and drink at the Lords Table. We sing praise. We hear stories and imagine ourselves in them. With funerals, we return our dead to their Maker. What other single room encompasses such a wholistic narrative? The arc of Gods redemption does not occur in nature or a funeral home as much as the sanctuary.

In funeral worship, we lament the brokenness of our bodies and of the world. We praise God for his sovereign love and awesome power. We revel in the gospels truth and long for its fulfillment. We rehearse the great drama of the gospel and avoid preaching a truncated message of future glory without real, present pain. We baptize believers unto death" and marry believers until death do you part. In funeral worship, we usher these same believers beyond death unto eternal life.

4. Funeral worship connects the congregation.

Funeral worship provides tangible support to the bereaved. The grieving stand in a sanctuary surrounded by a congregation who assures them they are not alone on this hard journey. Funeral worship bears one anothers burdens (Gal. 6:2), to comfort with the comfort weve received (2 Cor. 1:56), and to encourage each other as we see the day approaching (Heb. 10:25).

Noah Livingston writes, It is the memory and hope of the Resurrection that makes the Christian funeral one of the most potent services of Christian worship. The Christian funeral is uniquely positioned to help those far from death attend to it, so they need not obsess over it when it is near. Funeral worship benefits more than the bereft. It gives perspective, chastening, and hope to the whole church. Grieving people need their congregation, and the congregation needs them. Especially in these times when relationships grow thin because of social distancing, the funeral reaffirms those ties that bind us and help and heal in the hard months and years to come.

In a conversation I now consider a gift from God, my late husband Rob insisted, Someday when I die, you need to have a funeral. You need to grieve and worship. If I skipped the funeral, he believed, later, Id wish I hadnt. Funeral worship will look different in this season, but pandemic, like death itself, cannot thwart the ultimate intentions of God. When the sorrows of life press in, worship lifts our gaze together to the Healer and Restorer who holds our loved ones in everlasting arms.

Clarissa Moll (MA, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the young widow of author Rob Moll and the mother of their four children. She writes on grief and offers support to others in the new CT podcast Surprised by Grief with CT editor in chief Daniel Harrell. Find her on Instagram and Twitter.
A cold case Garda investigation into the IRA murder of farmer Tom Oliver in Northern Ireland 30 years ago has been taken over by an independent UK police team investigating the IRA agent codenamed Stakeknife.

The fresh Garda investigation had generated several new leads and interviews with key new witnesses but was subsumed into the UK's Operation Kenova before it concluded.

The leads include a "significant" new witness who was tracked down and interviewed by Garda detectives in America in the past two years.

Gardai had intended to seek access to the PSNI's evidence on the case - although abducted from Co Louth, Mr Oliver was murdered in Co Armagh.

But the reinvestigation stalled as a result of Operation Kenova's interest in the case and the Garda file has been handed over to the independent police team.

Operation Kenova is investigating dozens of murders linked to the agent Stakeknife, who was secretly passing information to British intelligence while rooting out and executing those accused of informing on the IRA.

He has been widely named as Freddie Scappaticci, who denies the claim.

Kenova took on the Oliver case after suspicions of Stakeknife's involvement. Mr Oliver (43), a father of seven, was last seen by his family when he was on his way to tend to a calving cow on July 18, 1991. His body was found the following day in Belleeks. He had been tortured and shot after discovering IRA weapons on his land and reporting the find to gardai.

An internal review of the original Garda investigation, conducted in 2015, found that a number of investigative leads were missed. More than 200 lines of inquiry should have been generated in the case, but only 36 were identified and followed up, according to fresh details obtained by the Sunday Independent.

Some members of Mr Oliver's family were not interviewed, even though gardai were gathering information on sightings of cars in the area, or strangers watching the farm.

The Garda reinvestigation had planned to obtain, from the PSNI, bullets found at the scene of Mr Oliver's murder to establish if the weapon had been used in other murders but that work has now been taken on by Operation Kenova.

The PSNI believes Mr Oliver's murder was ordered by a more senior member of the IRA to Stakeknife.

A statement from the Garda press office this weekend said: "The investigation into the murder of Mr Tom Oliver is under the remit of Operation Kenova."
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New Delhi: COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc with BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc reduced the risk of infection by 80% two weeks or more after the first of two shots, according to data from a real-world US study released on Monday.

The risk of infection fell 90% by two weeks after the second shot, the study of just under 4,000 vaccinated US healthcare personnel and first responders found.

The study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) evaluated the vaccines` ability to protect against infection, including infections that did not cause symptoms. Previous clinical trials by the companies evaluated their vaccine`s efficacy in preventing illness from COVID-19.

The findings from of the real-world use of these messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines confirm the efficacy demonstrated in the large controlled clinical trials conducted before they received emergency use authorizations from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The study looked at the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines among 3,950 participants in six states over a 13-week period from Dec. 14, 2020 to March 13, 2021.

"The authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provided early, substantial real-world protection against infection for our nation`s healthcare personnel, first responders, and other frontline essential workers," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.

The new mRNA technology is a synthetic form of a natural chemical messenger being used to instruct cells to make proteins that mirror part of the novel coronavirus. That teaches the immune system to recognize and attack the actual virus.

The CDC study comes weeks after real-world data from Israel suggested that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was 94% effective in preventing asymptomatic infections.

Some countries, including Britain and Canada, are allowing extended gaps between doses that differ from how the vaccines were tested in clinical trials in order to alleviate supply constraints. In the trials, there was a three-week gap between Pfizer shots and four weeks for the Moderna vaccine.

In Britain, authorities said in January that data supported its decision to move to 12 weeks between the first and second Pfizer/BioNtech shots. Pfizer and its German partner have warned that they had no evidence to prove that.

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Emergency service vehicles are being delayed hundreds of times every month because of Sadiq Khan's controversial low-traffic zones.

Newly-released data shows The London Fire Brigade was delayed to call outs more than 330 times a month between June and November 2020 - up 18 per cent from the previous year - due to new traffic calming measures in the Capital.

In the boroughs that had introduced low-traffic zones last year, those delays soared by a third, or 35 per cent.

But frontline emergency workers claim senior figures are 'ignoring' the issue because they are coming under increasing pressure to support the schemes which are being pushed by the Mayor of London.

One serving officer at the LFB told The Times: 'The bosses are controlled by Sadiq Khan and don't want to upset him as he controls the budget.'

Londoners are at war with the Mayor over the schemes in the Capital, after a High Court judge ruled his 'Streetspace' scheme was 'seriously flawed' and 'took advantage of the pandemic'.

Last week it emerged one controversial London cycleway alone blocked three emergency service vehicles in just 24 hours.

One serving officer at the LFB claimed 'bosses are controlled by Sadiq Khan (pictured) and don't want to upset him as he controls the budget'

Paramedics had to wait up to 20 minutes to get to a patient who had collapsed in an alleyway because their ambulance was blocked by new bollards installed as part of a council traffic scheme in Ealing, west London

The data showing responses to emergency call outs emerged in a Freedom if Information Request.

It showed that delays caused by traffic calming measures have jumped by more than a third - 35 per cent - in London boroughs with new low-traffic zones, according to an analysis by The Times.

The increase in areas without the new low-traffic zones was 2.8 per cent.

The London Fire Brigade declined to comment on traffic calming measures - but insiders told The Times they, 'worried that their bosses were ignoring the problem due to political pressure from supporters of the schemes.'

People across Britain continue to rally against Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), which they say have been used by councils to 'wage war on motorists' under the government's controversial Active Travel project.

LTNs were introduced to allow for social distancing on footpaths and cycle during the coronavirus pandemic.

But the scheme has been beset by problems, with videos showing emergency service vehicles trapped in traffic, rush-hour gridlock and residents claiming they were not consulted on plans.

Residents in London are embroiled in a battle with Sadiq Khan over low-traffic neighbourhood schemes which were ruled 'illegal' by a high court judge in December.

The High Court ruled that guidance issued by the Mayor of London to promote the expansion of schemes was 'irrational' and unlawful because it failed to safeguard road access for taxis and disabled people.

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) were introduced to allow for social distancing on footpaths and cycle during the coronavirus pandemic

In just 48 hours last week, a blue-lit fire engine was halted, a police car's driver was forced to turn around and an ambulance had to weave between traffic after congestion built up on Chiswick High Road in west London.

Video footage taken from a flat overlooking the busy road, which features Cycleway 9, showed the emergency services struggling to get past slow-moving cars and buses in three separate incidents on Friday and Saturday.

The first clip, dated March 25 and timestamped at 2.48pm, showed a fire engine attempting to rush through traffic.

It was halted when drivers couldn't move their cars out of its way because of black and white bollards marking out the cycleway.

In the second clip, filmed at 4.38pm, a police officer was forced to make the decision to turn around after their car became wedged between two red buses.

And on Friday at 3.09pm an ambulance was filmed weaving across both sides of the road in a desperate bid to make it through traffic.

It comes months after footage emerged of a fire engine becoming stuck in a road block, put in place to create a 'Covid friendly' cycle lanes.

The video showed the blue-lit emergency vehicle wedged between a wooden planter and a parked white car in Ferndale, south London.

As firefighters ditched the vehicle and made the short walk to the nearby incident, one angry resident could be heard raging against the scheme, saying: 'You are trying to say this is good for us?'

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: 'We have continued to meet our attendance targets throughout the pandemic and delays overall have actually reduced over a five-year period.

'We work closely with local authorities and are consulted when there are road closure proposals. If we have concerns that changes may impact response times, we'll raise these and work with the local authority to find the best solution.'

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: 'We support measures to improve public health by reducing traffic and encouraging walking and cycling, but we know that changes to road layouts, traffic management schemes, and road closures all have the potential to impede our response to the most critically ill people.

'That is why we have been working closely with all local authorities across London, as well as Transport for London (TfL), to ensure emergency vehicle access is properly considered, and the impact of any changes monitored.'

A spokesman for Transport for London added: 'TfL are working closely with the emergency services to address any concerns they share about walking and cycling schemes. This includes encouraging the use of cameras rather than physical measures to change access to roads and ensuring that schemes are uploaded to online mapping systems promptly.'
Romania loses 1 million Euro per year because of the sickening way in which agriculture was shephered by the PSD (Social Democratic Party) governing, on Monday said the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Adrian Oros, in the plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies, during the simple motion titled "Romania's agriculture is attacked by the most dangerous pest - minister Adrian Nechita Oros".

"People, farmers, have long understood that PSD lies, feuds, misinforms and manipulates. You have been riding Romania's agriculture for 22 years, destroying nearly everything. Now, just as wolves dressed in sheep's clothing, you are talking about the problems of agriculture accumulated 30 years ago, agriculture which PSD has crippled, and waiting for myself, for us, to make miracles in a year and a half, during a sanitary crisis, hit by unfavorable weather phenomena. The "agrarian" policies promoted during PSD's time have lead to the following notable results, two of which are: During years of economic growth and favorable weather you reached the counter-performance, that, starting with 2015, this country to enter a deficit of commercial balance, and in 2019 you brought it to 1.3 billion Euro. Furthermore, in 2019, the European Commission requested Romania to reevaluate the reports, because you have given falsified data in a gross way, which disrupted the stock market price and implicitly dropped the Romanian farmers' income, as well as Romania's credibility in front of its European partners. Because of the toxic way in which the agriculture was shephered, Romania loses per year, 1 billion Euro. This is the PSD's failure in agriculture," Oros said.

According to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), sent upon the request of AGERPRES, Romania ended 2020 with a deficit of nearly 2 billion Euro in the commerce of agri-food products, whereas imports have grown to up to 8.9 billion Euro, and exports have gone down to 6.9 billion Euro.

The plenum of the Chamber of Deputies is debating, on Monday, the PSD simple motion on agriculture, dubbed "Romania's agriculture is attacked by the most dangerous pest - Minister Adrian Nechita Oros".
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The recent eruptions in Iceland, vividly captured through dramatic drone footage, have drawn public attention to the immense power of volcanoes. Beautiful though they are, and mesmerizing to watch, they are also deadly.

History has recorded eruptions so spectacular they've never been forgotten. These include Krakatoa in 1883, whose explosion was heard around the world and Mount Tambora, which resulted in famines across the northern hemisphere.

But perhaps the most famous of all is the eruption of Vesuvius in Italy, in AD79, which sealed the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum beneath layers of ash.

Human activity has long been influenced by volcanic eruptions. Now, research into the variety of ways the skeleton reacts to heat is allowing us greater understanding of their impact on human death too.

The catastrophic impact of Vesuvius effectively froze the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in time, like insects trapped in amber. This has provided archaeologists with unique insights into the lives of those living in the shadow of the volcano thousands of years ago. The opportunity to actually walk around an ancient city, almost as it was, allows us to connect with our past in tangible ways.

The scientific study of the remains of victims of Vesuvius are, however, not without controversy. Until very recently, the prevailing theory was that the heat and force of the pyroclastic flow pouring out of Vesuvius caused the soft tissues to instantly vaporize.

This doesn't make sense. We know from studies in modern crematoria and from archaeological excavations of incompletely cremated remains that the soft tissues don't vaporize, even at hundreds of degrees celsius. Instead they slowly dehydrate, contract and fall away from the body.

Victims at Pompeii. Credit: Shutterstock/BlackMac

Inconclusive evidence

Work at Pompeii and Herculaneum has shown the temperatures experienced following the eruption were around 300C-400C, certainly not as hot as in a cremation. Other recent research has also suggested fragments of brain and neurological tissues were preserved at Herculaneum. As exciting as this sounds, the evidence is actually rather inconclusive due to a lack of data, unusual protein preservation and insufficient reference to previously published work.

Bodies do change significantly when burned. Skin dehydrates and then splits to reveal the deeper tissues. The body is pulled into the famed "pugilistic pose"like the contorted plaster cast figures created from the cooled ash of the Pompeii victims.

This appearance had previously been interpreted as the victim fleeing or fighting, but we now know it's simply the consequence of the muscles contracting. The internal organs will shrink and be destroyed and the skeleton will be made visible.

For me, this is where it gets interesting. I have spent the past 20 years studying what happens to the skeleton when it is subjected to extreme heat. Unlike the soft tissues, the bones are not fully destroyed, nor are they turned to ash.

Extreme heat

Bones crack and fragment in different ways depending on whether soft tissue is present or absent. They change color as the carbon is lost and warp and shrink as the microscopic crystal structure of the bone becomes active. This shrinkage can be as much as 30%.

In fact, we can use these heat-induced changes to interpret the context of death. For example, by calculating the intensity of burning from the extent of the changes or, as we did in a recently published paper from a Neolithic site in Sardinia, reconstructing the position of a body in relation to a fire.

Recent research by Italian scientists suggested the city of Pompeii was engulfed in only 17 minutes, causing the residents to suffocate to death. This supports our own work at the nearby town of Herculaneum.

We combined new methods of studying bone collagen and crystal structure to show the people sheltering in the stone boat houses by the beach, rather than being vaporized, were in fact suffocated and baked to death.

Herculaneum is different to Pompeii in that the victims had longer to respond to the eruption, due to the location of the town. Analysis of the skeletons of the deceased shows many people ran to the beach to await evacuation by sea to safety.

Excavation and analysis of the skeletons suggest it was mainly men who died on the beach, while the women and children sheltered and ultimately died in the stone boat houses.

This gives us a poignant glimpse into not only who these people were, but how they lived their last momentswith the women and children sheltering and no doubt terrified as the temperature increased to fatal levels, while their husbands and fathers had been desperately trying to secure a means of escape.

Vesuvius didn't just teach us about the living, it showed us what happens to bodies when they are hit by such a catastrophic geological force.

Explore further Black 'rock' from AD 79 Italy eruption is part of exploded brain

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Telco Singtel Optus has teamed up with global security provider McAfee to offer its users a solution called Optus WiFi Secure to protect devices connected to a home or business modem/router.

The software will run on the modem and monitor for malicious websites and is claimed to protect from attempts to gain access to the Wi-Fi network.

A statement from the company said the devices which could be monitored included baby monitors, security cameras, smart devices and home security devices.

Optus managing director of Marketing and Revenue, Matt Williams, said: "As part of our vision to be Australia's most loved, everyday brand, we believe it's our responsibility to assist our customers to maintain a sense of security when connecting online through our network.

"In light of this, we are thrilled to be partnering with McAfee, a highly trusted organisation within the cyber protection space to ensure our customers are being taken care of by the very best in the business."

Optus Wi-Fi Secure is available free to Family Internet Plan customers.

Those on other NBN plans will have to pay $5 per month in the event that they are eligible.
Scientists at MIPT have found a possible explanation for the anomalously fast release of gas from nuclear fuel. Supercomputer simulations have uncovered an unexpected mechanism for accelerating the escape of gas bubbles from the uranium dioxide crystal matrix to the surface. The result points the way to eliminate the paradoxical discrepancy of several orders of magnitude between existing theoretical models and experimental results. The paper was published in the Journal of Nuclear Materials.

The diffusion of gas bubbles during reactor operation is one of the important topics in nuclear power relating to radiation safety. Bubbles of gaseous fission products (mainly xenon), accumulating in the fuel, affect many of its properties. Therefore, it is important, in the design and operation of reactors, to know how fast the gas escapes from the fuel.

Despite the active work of various scientific groups in this field, there is still no complete understanding of the mechanisms of diffusion of gases in fuels. The recent series of works by French researchers is a striking evidence of this fact. The results shown by their proposed model are dozens of times lower than those measured in special experiments. "The very fact that such contradictory results and, in fact, unworkable theory have been published demonstrates, on the one hand, the scientific community's great interest in this problem and, on the other, the need to find fundamentally new physical mechanisms of ultrafast diffusion," says MIPT professor Vladimir Stegailov.

The MIPT scientists led by Vladimir Stegailov were able to simulate the diffusion of xenon nanobubbles in uranium dioxide over an atomic-scale time period of up to three microseconds (three billion integration steps). This was made possible by the optimal use of supercomputer power and modern codes. Such record-breaking molecular dynamics calculations have enabled direct observation of the Brownian motion of the bubble and discovery of a fundamentally new diffusion mechanism.

It was thought previously that the higher the gas concentration the slower the diffusion, as the gas interferes with the movement of the dioxide on the bubble's surface . The authors showed that upon reaching a certain concentration the gas pushes the atoms of the crystal lattice to inter-nodal positions.

"By accumulating, the inter-nodal atoms form clusters that move rapidly around the bubble. The bubble and the cluster periodically push each other and thus move significantly faster than the bubble on its own. Thus appears a new effect - acceleration of diffusion by gas", explains Alexander Antropov, a postgraduate student at FEFM (Phystech School of Electronics, Photonics and Molecular Physics at MIPT) and one of the authors of the study. The discovered effect will help explain the discrepancy between theory and experiment.

###

The work was performed at the Laboratory of Supercomputing Methods in Condensed Matter Physics, MIPT. The research in the Laboratory is based on combining methods of quantum and classical mechanics, statistical physics and kinetics with computational technologies. The use of state-of-the-art supercomputers and continuous improvement of numerical methods are very important to ensure high accuracy of calculations. However, modelling is just a tool that is useful only in conjunction with theoretical understanding of the nature of the processes taking place. This work is an example of how theory, armed with the most modern computational tools, makes it possible to find unexpected new phenomena "hidden" in the details of the microscopic structure of materials.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) --- The Oregon House has canceled its Monday floor session, after another confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported at the Capitol.

The Statesman Journal reports that an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 was in the building on March 16.

Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek decided on Monday's cancellation ''out of an abundance of caution,'' Kotek's chief of staff Lindsey O'Brien said.

Officials confirmed that some people are still waiting on test results.

The next House floor session is expected to be Tuesday morning, unless there are additional COVID-19 diagnoses.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Voting concluded Monday on whether to create the first Amazon labor union in the United States, at a warehouse in Alabama, after a historic, five-month David versus Goliath battle.

Attention has now turned to ballot counting by federal officials following a contentious unionization campaign which has drawn national attention and the involvement of numerous political figures and activists.

The lobbying continued to the bitter end with labor activists from around the United States meeting workers before dawn to congratulate them for their efforts.

The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency which manages union elections, was set to begin the count on Tuesday. The final results could take several days or weeks, given that some ballots may be challenged based on errors in signature or other factors.

"Today is the beginning of the less fun part for us" including the ballot counting and legal challenges, said Joshua Brewer, the local president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which would represent the 5,800 employees if a majority votes in favor.

I think we're happy for the country thats really paying attention, and really (it is) just a continuation of what they were already looking at, which is a shrinking middle class or rising income inequality and so we're proud of that."

The bruising months-long battle has sparked intense debate over workplace conditions at the tech and e-commerce behemoth, which has more than 800,000 US employees.

Coming at a time when Joe Biden has promised to be the country's "most pro-union president," the Bessemer effort could open the floodgates to organizing drives at other Amazon sites, as well as at other firms.

Unions and political leaders have argued that Amazon employees face constant pressure and monitoring, with little job protection, highlighting the need for collective bargaining.

Amazon has argued that most of its workers don't want or need a union and that it already provides more than most other employers, with a minimum $15 hourly wage and other benefits.

Story continues

- Workplace pressures -

For five months, union organizers in Bessemer have been posted at the intersection outside the warehouse, making their case.

"We need safe working conditions. We need to be treated with respect and equality," said Amazon employee Jennifer Bates.

Sondra Hill, a 61-year-old part-time packer at Amazon, said she was hopeful about the vote.

"If it doesn't work out, it doesn't stop here," she said. "Im staying to see this happen, without this effort to unionize I would most likely leave, because people deserve better."

Another employee, Lafonda Townsend, said she was initially happy with her pay; but that she is forced to eat fast on breaks "like a prisoner... because if you're one minute late, there's an hour unpaid time."

Amazon spokeswoman Heather Knox defended the company and claimed the union had misrepresented its practices.

"Our employees know the truth -- starting wages of $15 (hourly) or more, health care from day one, and a safe and inclusive workplace," Knox said. "We encouraged all of our employees to vote and hope they did so."

Both sides have traded accusations about tactics. Amazon acknowledged that it hosted information sessions to allow employees to "understand the facts of joining a union and the election process," including union dues.

- 'Maintain power' -

Amazon, which went on a hiring spree in 2020 and nearly doubled its net profit to $21 billion, thanks to the explosion in demand during the pandemic, is embroiled in clashes with political leaders and the public over its policies.

A feud has escalated with left-wing politician Bernie Sanders, who supports the union, among others.

The company dismissed reports that workers had been reduced to urinating in plastic bottles because of a lack of time to go to the bathroom.

Some observers say the issue is less about finances, and more about control.

"Big tech companies, like other employers, will spend an almost unlimited amount of money in persuading workers not to unionize," said Rebecca Givan, a professor of labor relations at Rutgers University.

Dawn Hoag, a warehouse quality manager, believes employees don't need representatives to voice their needs.

"If... all these stories were all true, then there are 5,800 idiots working inside the building where I work, and I don't work with a single idiot, and I'm not an idiot," she told AFP.

But Darryl Richardson, the 51-year-old employee who first called in the RWSDU, said it was time to "take a stand."

"I need job security. I need to be able to retire one day," he said.

Brewer said the vote had already inspired many other workers.

"We have received over 1,000 different inquiries from about 50 different warehouses so far," he said.

juj/st/rl/bgs

Several years ago, I was moved by the kindness of some local youth. I wrote about four young people who wanted to help others.

At that time, Jacob Laczko celebrated his 14th birthday by raising $1,500 for the Pediatric Cardiology Unit at C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital.

Kassie and Scotty Miller started collecting shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child when they were fairly young. One year  along with the help of family and friends  they collected more than 1,500 shoeboxes filled with practical and fun items for children around the world.

Isabelle Christiansen washed dishes to raise money. With that money, Christiansen and her father purchased items to donate to Caregiving Network.

I know there are many more stories like this: Young people giving of their time, talents and resources  in good as well as difficult times  to help others. And I am continually impressed.

A maturity beyond their years

Over the past several years, I remember a few times when youth in the area gathered peacefully in response to national and global issues. Each time, they acted with grace and maturity beyond their years.

Young people in the area also stepped-up last May. Despite everything that COVID had waylaid for them, including prom and other traditions, they wasted no time reaching out after floods devastated the area.

Many youth volunteered: They removed debris, cleaned houses and helped to set up local shelters among many other things.

While the adults who continually support the youth are to be commended as well, the youth of today have certainly earned some praise.

Local young people stepped up in another capacity not that long ago.

In 2019, after a racist video was circulated at Midland High, students in the leadership class led by Monique Albright were quick to assist.

My leadership class is a very unusual class  its a project-based learning class to improve the school environment, Albright said. Because it is unusual, we have time to discuss things. When that happened there were automatic, courageous and raw conversations we took days; we really spoke about it for days.

After the incident, the students discussed ways to address the issue with their classmates.

Its all about problem-solving in there and how we can improve the environment. Its very student-driven, Albright said. It came down to we have to educate the student body about how we approach these issues we have to make a change.

LeVale Walker and Zee Brown of Midland were part of the leadership class at the time.

Me and my friend Zee Brown, we worked together on that, after that incident happened, Walker said. We knew we had to talk about racism in our school and in our community. And we wanted to teach the students about racism but also micro aggression  and how its systemic  and all the things were talking about in the world right now. I wanted to make sure that those were conversations we were having.

Walker, who was a senior at the time, is now a sophomore studying musical theater at Central Michigan University. Brown, who was also a senior, is now a sophomore at Michigan Technological University. She is studying sustainability sciences and society.

'We knew that action had to be taken'

Albright supported the students, who created the presentation that they shared in each classroom.

We knew that action had to be taken, Brown said. With such a serious matter, we had to go directly to the student. We went in pairs, two students in front of an entire class.

Walker, Brown and their classmates covered many topics with their presentation. The campaign was titled See Color.

Seeing color; I sort of came up with that name because I always remembered that people would say that they didnt see color, Walker said. It makes me upset because thats not the point. Its missing the point. There is good intention, but it is erasing that there is a difference. We have to recognize those differences, allowing everyone to have a space to be themselves in every situation.

The idea behind the See Color campaign, Walker said, was to share about different cultures and about racism; we wanted to keep the conversation going.

We shared different examples of what micro aggressions are. We talked about good allyship and how important it is to listen to people of color, instead of talking over them, he said. We talked about white privilege, wanting to make sure they understood that everyone has privilege, but not everyone has white privilege which is prominent.

The leadership class shared the information to inspire positive change.

Taking action to prevent racism is a responsibility we all have to take, Brown said.

Walker and Brown mentioned that Andrew Chatman and Evan White, along with their fellow classmates, and some peers from outside the class, were involved with the campaign.

What the students accomplished was incredible. Im proud of the work they did, Albright said. Midland Public Schools is working on an inclusion and diversity plan. Where the path is going in the district now is really great, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Penny Miller-Nelson is the associate superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment of Midland Public Schools. At the time she consulted with Dr. Amy Beasley, inclusion leader for Dow Chemical Companys North American Region, in support of the students.

Its amazing; just the idea that there were meaningful conversations and that was student-led, that students had the courage to step into that space, Miller-Nelson said. We want students, staff and the community to see color and we honor the diversity that staff and students bring to our schools.

She added that Midland Public Schools have a proclamation adopted by the board of education: a strong statement about who we want to be and actions we are going to take to be an inclusive and anti-racist district.

The proclamation was adopted by the board last summer.

Miller-Nelson also mentioned a group called Anti-Racist Midland, started by seven Midland Public-School graduates, who have been actively pursuing change within local school culture. Josiah Greiner, Jonathan Haynes, Jared Hohman, Camryn McGee, Afua Ofori-Darko, Kofi Ofori-Darko and Connor Reed started the group.

Anti-Racist Midland met with MPS Superintendent Michael Sharrow and others last summer and presented a petition along with several changes they would like to see in local schools. Sharrow and the Midland Board of Education responded positively, committing to combat racism.

Youth not taking a back seat nationwide

Nation-wide, changes are sought after as well.

Almost six months ago, I was browsing through Facebook when I noticed a friends post.

My friend Traci Grant and I met when we were in high school. We worked together for two summers on a television show called Teen Scene.

A graduate of New World School of the Arts in Miami, as well as Northwestern University in Illinois, Grant went on to work in both print and broadcast journalism.

Throughout her career, she earned three Emmy Award nominations: one for Light News Feature in 97 while working for New England Cable News in Boston. Two more for General News Reporting in 05  and Serious Feature News Reporting in 09  while working for KNTV, NBC in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Most recently, she moderated an online event, through NWSA, featuring alumnus Alex Lacamoire from the class of 1992. Lacamoire is an award-winning arranger, orchestrator and composer among other things. He has worked on many shows including Hamilton.

Grants Facebook post last fall shed some light on some disappointing things going on at her alma mater. When I asked her more about it, she referred me to Katie Christie, another New World alumnus.

I learned more from her, in addition to a little about her background.

Katie Christie of Miami was just a teenager in high school when she started working with a non-profit called Peace Child International.

My mother went to the dean and asked, what summer programs would be cool for my daughter, Christie said. Peace Child was a theater tour; 15 Americans and 15 Soviet kids doing a play about world peace.

Christie participated in that tour that traveled to Latvia, in the Soviet Union, back in 1988.

The trip opened my heart to the world, she said. I made lifelong friends who share a passion for working to make positive change in the world.

The experience also inspired her to continue with the non-profit.

I founded a Peace Child Miami chapter immediately following my trip and began producing musicals written by youth, she said. We changed our name in 1993 when Peace Child left the U.S. for England. Our youth board renamed us Voices United. I continue to stay in touch with Peace Child and work with them when the opportunity presents.

Recently Christie, who graduated from NWSA in 1989, was disappointed to learn that students from her alma mater were experiencing racial discrimination.

It seems as though theres been deterioration in the culture of really, truly being inclusive and equitable, she said.

Christie shared that she has heard about racially charged terminology being used at school, as well as blatant discouragement and bullying of some of the student body.

Really, anything goes from some students and faculty, she said.

This includes silencing of black students and teachers; meanwhile black girls have their dreams stripped away on a regular basis, she said. Many black girls are discouraged from applying for the best schools and told to go to state school.

Christie, along with her fellow alumni, has supported the students who reached out about their experiences. While the students were brave to shed light on the problem, she says the responsibility falls on the adults as well.

'The adults in the room should be taking responsibility'

Young people are really where exciting things are happening and can happen, but the grown-ups should do their part, Christie said. The adults in the room should be taking responsibility; let the students be students.

She pointed out that something like institutional racism in society is a complex, multifaceted issue that adults can help young people to unpack.

We need to be saying, hey, lets really address the racism that has existed for hundreds of years, she said. Thats too much to put on these young people; weve got to do 75% of the work.

While Christie mentioned that NWSA has selected a new principal, who is also an alumnus, she also believes change may take some time.

The new principal is an excellent choice, she said. The challenge is to pay attention to all of the complaints from the students.

If changes are not made in the arts programming, which may not be under the control of the principal, the same structures may remain. And, she explained, if all of the same structure is still in place, then long-term and institutional change may take some time.

Along with hiring a new principal, another positive change has occurred.

Students have been allowed to create a black student union, which is great. But the adults still need to work on the ethos, she said. Students should feel proud that they made that space for themselves, but the adults should be making it, so they dont have anything to complain about.

Christie is also a part of the NWSA Black Alumni Council, which was created in response to the issues that the students and others have brought to light.

We created a program that would be a space for healing, processing and student development, she said. All of us alumni are people who have been trying to gather and support and offer safety to these young people. We want them to have a platform to speak up. We also advocated for them with school and community leadership.

In addition to working with the NWSA Black Alumni Council, Christie continues to carry on the mission of Voices United.

Voices United promotes cross-cultural understanding through the arts and supports and nourishes warriors of change. We offer programs for all ages, she said.

There are also other endeavors in the works.

Voices United works with people all over the world. We are currently building a center of art, culture and learning with a cultural retreats center called Voices United Village in Lesotho. This is a very interesting project to follow and get involved in. Of course, there will be opportunities for all people to come to the village, she said.

For more about Voices United or the New World School of the Arts Black Alumni Council, contact Katie Christie at info@voicesunited.org, or visit www.voicesunited.org.

Students lobby for change following Parkland, Florida school shooting

What happened in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 impacted me a great deal.

That is because I went to high school with Lori Kitaygorodsky. She is one of the mothers whose daughter was in class when a shooter entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14 that year.

Along with the rest of the country, I was shocked and devastated and I could not imagine the grief, though I hurt for the students, the community and my friends family for a long time.

At the same time, I was immediately taken by how the students, their families and others  from Parkland and beyond  came together and essentially said enough is enough.

A little over three years later, I am able to share what my friends daughter and her family experienced that day, in the hopes that I might join them, and the Parkland community, in continuing to inspire positive change.

Their account follows.

Jordan Sheppard and Alexa Kitaygorodsky, who both live in Florida, have been good friends for as long as they can remember.

This stands to reason as their mothers, Jennifer Sheppard and Lori Kitaygorodsky, have remained close since they graduated from Miami Beach Senior High.

While some things have changed since high school in the 80s, there is one significant difference for Jordan, of Miami, and Alexa, of Parkland.

On Feb. 14, 2018, Alexa was forced to seek shelter with her classmates as a lone gunman took the lives of 17 students and staff.

Jordan was heartbroken when she heard the news.

My best friend was almost murdered, she said.

Alexas mom shared some of the events that took place.

My husband and I were both home on that day, thank God. It was two-something in the afternoon. Alexa was in the freshman building, Lori said. She texted home she heard gunshots. She kept on texting this is bad; Im not sure whats happening. My husband made sure she was sheltering somewhere.

Lori texted back, to reassure her daughter and to let her know they were on the way; but Alexa wrote, dont come, it could be bad.

Alexa described what happened inside the school.

It was Valentines Day, and we had just moved to Parkland that August after I had my last summer at sleep-away camp. I knew a few people, but not a lot of people, Alexa said. I went to school just like any other day; everything felt completely normal.

After a routine fire drill that morning, she made her usual stops and then went on to class. A little while later everything changed for the worst.

The shooter came into the building. We heard popping sounds in the hallway, so I dove under the teachers desk. Four huge boys were covering me because I was freaking out. They were trying to protect me  I am so thankful for them. I have no idea who they were, she said. We heard screaming and crying and glass shattering everywhere. I texted my parents, I dont know whats going to happen. I dont know if Ill see you again, but I love you.

Alexas parents were waiting outside when the SWAT team led the students out of the school; they were told not to look down.

Lori stayed close to her daughter for the next few weeks.

Seventeen people died that day. It was two weeks of going to funerals and wakes  all for people she didnt know. It was surreal. You honestly cant get your head around the fact that this happened. The aftermath of it all is still there; its very clear and present, Lori said. There are no words to describe how heartbreaking it was.

Many of Alexas classmates gathered at her home throughout the following days.

The first week or so, ours was the house where everyone ended up at night. We had 40 to 50 kids in the house. I knew maybe 15 of them, but I thought, they are all talking, processing everything. They are together experiencing post-traumatic stress, Lori said. Here Im trying to parent a kid through the most horrific thing that happened Trying to make sure they are OK.

Make Our Schools Safe efforts ramp up

Not long after that Lori and Alexa were at a grocery store when they heard from a friend about what Lori Alhadeff was doing. Alhadeff lost her daughter, Alyssa, on that day and was starting a non-profit called Make Our Schools Safe.

Alexas mom said that after learning more about the organization and writing an essay explaining why she wanted to be involved and how she would contribute, Alexa was invited to participate.

Alexa and six other girls traveled with Alhadeff to New York. They were interviewed through multiple outlets including The Today Show, The New York Post and Teen Vogue.

Growing up Ive always been really shy. I joined MOSS to try to educate teachers and parents, Alexa said. We want to make schools as safe as they can be. We went to New York and did a press tour, talking about our experience and making it well-known so that people could make a difference.

The Make Our Schools Safe foundation works to educate and pass legislation for school safety on local as well as national levels.

In 2019, Alexa started a MOSS student chapter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

She also continues to serve as the student spokesperson for the foundation, traveling with Alhadeff and sharing her story.

Since that time, Alexas good friend, Jordan Sheppard, started a MOSS student chapter at her school, Miami Country Day.

Make Our Schools Safe came to my attention through Alexa, Sheppard said. There are things that need to be done and things that need to be changed so we can feel safe and ensure safety in schools.

The members of MOSS participate in activities to help improve school safety.

We point out flaws in the system. There are many little things that we try to bring to peoples attention so everything can be functioning in case of an emergency, Sheppard said. We come up with protocols and safe zones and practice Stop the Bleed training. We have to know and to be aware of these things.

In addition, the group at Miami Country Day invites speakers to campus and works with other student groups, such as the Mental Health Awareness Club, making people aware of mental health and spreading kindness and love.

Students have also written letters to senators to help Alyssas Law get passed.

Alyssas Law is about an emergency alarm system that ensures a faster response time for all emergency systems, Sheppard said.

The Make Our Schools Safe website further explains that the law calls for the installation of silent panic alarms that are directly linked to law enforcement, so in case of any emergency they will get on the scene as quickly as possible.

So far, the law passed in New Jersey in 2019 and in Florida in 2020. MOSS has been working with legislators in states including Arizona, Nebraska and New York and at the federal level in Washington D.C.

Jordan felt so passionate about trying to make a difference and doing something so that this never happens again, Jennifer Sheppard, Jordans mother, said. Theres definitely, since Parkland, been a very big movement about new kinds of alert systems and implementing them in these schools. Overall, Miami Country Day in particular, they definitely have made some positive changes to make sure the kids are safe.

Miami Beach Senior High started a Make Our Schools Safe student chapter as well.

Jennifer pointed out that whatever issues or problems they may face, she is proud of young people, including Jordan and Alexa, who are stepping up to make things better.

I am so proud of the youth. Im proud that the kids are advocating, she said. Whatever they feel strongly about, they recognize that they have a voice that would make for positive change and that is a good thing especially if they use their voice in a peaceful way.

Jennifer called both Lori Alhadeff and Lori Kitaygorodsky extraordinary women who devote their time and energy to protecting students and helping schools to become safer.

Alexas mom, Lori Kitaygorodsky, who became the communications director for MOSS, has praised Alhadeff as well.

Lori Alhadeff is a hero, 100%, Kitaygorodsky said.

The second annual Live for Alyssa Benefit, held online in February raised more than $100,000 which will continue the mission of MOSS  to empower students and staff to help create and maintain a culture of safety and vigilance in a secure school environment.

Jordan Sheppard, a senior at Miami Country Day, will attend University of Michigan this fall. She plans to be on a pre-med track, studying cellular, molecular biology and neuroscience, among other things.

Alexa Kitaygorodsky, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, will attend the University of Florida this fall. She plans to study communications.

To learn more about Make Our Schools Safe, Alyssas Law or a Make Our Schools Safe student chapter, visit makeourschoolssafe.org.

Niky House is a Midland writer who freelances for the Midland Daily News.
NEMASKA, QC, March 29, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - The Cree Development Corporation, an organization dedicated to the economic and community development of the Crees of Eeyou Istchee, is proud to announce the opening of the bidding process for La Grande Alliance Phases II and III Pre-Feasibility Study.

The Cree Development Corporation (CNW Group/The Cree Development Corporation)

Announced on February 17, 2020, La Grande Alliance is a 30-year Memorandum of Understanding signed between the James Bay Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee and the Government of Quebec with the objective to promote "collaborative, long-term, balanced economic development in a spirit of respect for Cree values in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory". The MOU sets a roadmap for infrastructure development in a manner that is consistent with the goal of setting aside Protected Areas while concentrating the impacts of industrial projects as much as possible along designated corridors determined through community engagement.

Infrastructure development is a major element of La Grande Alliance. The infrastructure program calls for the upgrading of major transportation infrastructure on the territory, including the installation of a railway corridor along the Billy-Diamond Highway to Whapmagoostui, where a deep-sea port will be examined for its final 3rd Phase.

Phase II of the Infrastructure program includes the following elements:

A new railway corridor following, as much as possible, the alignment of the Billy-Diamond Highway between km 257 (Rupert River bridge) to km 544 (Junction of Billy-Diamond Highway and Trans-Taiga road).

A new road corridor connecting Radisson and Whapmagoostui, over an approximate distance of 175 km.

Extension of Route 167 to the north to connect with the Trans-Taiga road, over an approximate distance of 125 km.

Phase III of the Infrastructure program includes the following elements:

A new railway corridor following, as much as possible, the alignment of the road corridor connecting Radisson and Whapmagoostui (Phase II), over an approximate distance of 225 km.

A deep-water port at Whapmagoostui/ Kuujjuarapik.

Extension of the Trans-Taiga road eastward to connect with Schefferville, over an approximate distance of 200 km.

The Phase II and III Pre-Feasibility Study will build on La Grande Alliance's mission of sustainable socio-economic development by integrating social acceptability and sustainable development in its approach. Furthermore, the study will apply the highest standards of public participation and will seek to engage local actors in the vision and approach to co-design the proposed infrastructures. Cree communities and land users will play a key role throughout the Feasibility Study process. To facilitate process, the CDC will create a network of Grande Alliance Community Information Officers (GACIOs) in each of the ten Cree communities to assist in the coordination of all work related to the Study.

Story continues

The Feasibility Study is scheduled to begin on June 1, 2021 and is planned to be completed over one year. Firms interested in participating in the RFP should communicate to the CDC by email before March 31, 2021 at 1:30pm at the following address: cdc@cngov.ca .

SOURCE The Cree Development Corporation

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/29/c5694.html
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SYNRGO "I'm excited for Tim to join the SYNRGO team and work with us as we expand our recording and post-closing services nationally," SYNRGO President Ben Sherman said.

SYNRGO Inc., a document processing and real estate technology company with 26 offices nationwide, named Tim Moreland its Director of National Operations. Moreland brings more than 25 years of combined title, mortgage, and post-closing experience to SYNRGO, where he will manage national operations and services. Moreland will work to expand the company's footprint and address company growth by building up existing departments to handle increased volume. He will assess workflow processes to ensure that SYNRGO continues to operate efficiently.

"I'm excited for Tim to join the SYNRGO team and work with us as we expand our recording and post-closing services nationally," SYNRGO President Ben Sherman said. "He brings a remarkable level of expertise and insight, coupled with a desire to innovate that is sure to help us achieve our goals and vision for the future."

Before joining the SYNRGO team, Moreland served as Vice President of Global Operations for a large, technology-based mortgage solutions company. There, he managed services and vendor relationships for a multitude of industry-leading title companies and mortgage originators and servicers. Moreland helped to drive consistent growth and increase margins on a global scale.

"I'm thrilled to be a part of the SYNRGO family," Moreland said. "This is a company that is growing and expanding very quickly, and it's exciting to be a part of it. The continued development of our proprietary eRecording and post-closing platform Pulse, combined with key integrations among industry servicing platforms, will allow us to bring unparalleled efficiencies and value to our customers going forward."

About SYNRGO:

SYNRGO is a trusted technology partner and single-source provider of real estate document recording and post-closing services. SYNRGO now boasts 26 offices nationwide, over 300 employees, and more than 42 years of combined experience.

A pioneer of eRecording, SYNRGO brings its deep understanding of real estate technology and document handling into the digital age with flexible offerings and advanced technologies for title companies, lenders, and local jurisdictions. SYNRGO uses a personalized customer service approach to anticipate evolving customer needs and provide clients with the highest possible service level.

http://www.synrgo.com | 1.855.4.SYNRGO | sales@synrgo.com


Members of Congress and Georgia state representatives pose for a photo outside Gold Spa in Atlanta, one of the businesses hit during the March 16 shootings, March 28. AP



Members of Congress laid flowers Sunday at the three massage businesses in Georgia where a gunman killed eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, and demanded that prosecutors charge the suspect with a hate crime and the U.S. Department of Justice take a leading role in the probe.



The congressional delegation was led by members of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, which said Asian Americans have faced increased hostility since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.



The lawmakers said they wanted to experience the shooter's roughly 30-mile (48-kilometer) trip from Cherokee County, where police say he killed four people at Youngs Asian Massage, to Atlanta, where he is accused of shooting and killing four more people at two businesses across the street from each other.



New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim said he came to show solidarity with the local Asian American community and try to understand how it felt after the March 16 attack.



''As I come here, what comes to mind is the idea that this could have been anywhere,'' Kim, who is Korean American, said. ''And that's what makes us so fearful right now. We're fearful because what happens next, what other violence could there be.''



Kim later recalled crying the night of the shootings and struggling to explain them to his 3 and 5-year-old boys.



New York Congresswoman Grace Meng said she wanted to honor the lives of the victims, particularly the Asian women, whose ''stories and lives are just as American as anyone else.''



''For too long in this country, we have made invisible so much of the history and contributions of Asian Americans, specifically Asian American women in this country,'' she said.



The lawmakers spoke outside Gold Spa, one of the shooting sites, where the ground was covered with bouquets and tree branches that spelled out, ''Love.'' Signs read, ''Asian Women Are Sacred'' and ''Stop Asian Hate.'' They also held a news conference in an Atlanta suburb and met with the families of two of the victims, Xiaojie Tan and Young A. Yue, and local leaders of the Asian American community.



Robert Aaron Long, the 21-year-old white man facing murder charges in the attacks, has told police he had a ''sex addiction.'' Authorities have said he apparently lashed out at what he saw as sources of temptation. Long told police the shootings were not racially motivated, but those statements have spurred widespread skepticism given the locations and that six of the eight victims were of Asian descent.



''It is clear that this was a deliberate journey,'' said California Rep. Judy Chu, who chairs the Asian Pacific American Caucus. She added, ''It is clear that you would not choose those three places unless you were targeting Asian women.''



Chu said later she was concerned about comments she has heard from local investigators, including that the shooter was having a bad day and said he had a sex addiction. She said they were ''improper'' and wrongly cast doubt on whether the shootings were a hate crime. She said the Justice Department should use its resources to ''call these murders a hate crime.''



Mark Takano, another representative from California, said there were ''plenty of non-Asian businesses'' that the suspect could have hit on his trip from Cherokee County to Atlanta, so his actions ''speak louder'' than what he has said.



He called on the Justice Department to help local prosecutors, who he said may not have as much experience with hate crimes cases.



''We cannot allow the AAPI community to be gaslighted into thinking that this is not a hate crime,'' he said. ''They see with their own eyes, and they feel what they feel.'' (AP)


So we know that math is officially racist according to the Cult of the Wokerati, but what about compound interest, which Albert Einstein described as the eighth wonder of the worldhe who understands it, earns it. He who doesnt, pays it?

The question becomes relevant because the latest object of campus outrage is financial guru Suze Orman, who was recently the online keynote speaker at the annual conference of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Ive never been much impressed with Orman when I used to see her on TV, because, like Dave Ramsey, her message is basic financial common sense combined with some discipline, and after that you just let compound interest take over. But Orman and Ramsey have huge followings because we dont teach any financial literacy in school much any more. Im an outlier, having become enamored of compound interest in the seventh grade, and then reading Ben Grahams The Intelligent Investor in college.

Well, youll never guess what happened to Orman when she gave her standard financial literacy talk to a group of college staff. Actually, of course you know what happened, but Ill let Inside Higher Education take it from here:

NASPA, one of the nations top professional associations for student affairs professionals, issued a lengthy apology Thursday for an insulting and insensitive speech by financial expert and television host Suze Orman, which drew immediate criticism from those attending the organizations virtual conference. . . Those who watched Ormans address said her comments, meant to inspire student affairs workers to advocate for higher pay and boundaries in their jobs, focused on major personal obstacles to wealth  fear, shame and anger  without noting systemic barriers to wealth such as class, race or gender. Some observers said Orman equated net worth to self-worth, which some felt was an insensitive way to frame the discussion of financial literacy with an audience made up of many entry-level student affairs professionals who are historically underpaid and heavily indebted with loans they used to finance their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Some attendees were also offended by Ormans reference to the South Side of Chicago, where she grew up, as the hood and the ghetto, according to people who watched the keynote address. NASPA leaders emailed and tweeted a statement apologizing to conference attendees a few hours after Ormans speech. The statement said the association had missed the mark for providing a speaker who made comments offensive to your lived experiences and to our NASPA values. We cannot discuss financial literacy without first acknowledging the inequitable and unjust systems that have prevented Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Queer, Trans, first-gen, low-income, and many other historically minoritized and marginalized communities from attaining education and generational wealth, said the statement, which was signed by NASPA board chair Angela Batista, President Kevin Kruger and Michele Murray, chair of the 2021 conference.

Footnote: Orman is a lesbian who has been married to her partner for more than 10 years (in other words, well before Obergefell), but as you can see, the current catechism of intersectionality requires that the race narrative take precedence over everything.

Maybe next time the conference should invite Al Sharpton to address them on tax avoidance strategies. That will suit their ideology better.
Americans should not bank on a fourth stimulus check anytime soon  if at all  according to economists projecting growth following President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill and with Democratic leaders shifting focus to infrastructure, child care, education and energy.

As the Biden administration touts the American Rescue Plans $1,400 direct payments and efforts to boost tax credits, jobless aid and small businesses, two massive proposals in the works do not include new stimulus checks. Biden plans to discuss an infrastructure bill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, and lawmakers expect another proposal centered on child care and education in April.

Lawmakers may revisit another round of pandemic-linked stimulus checks after assessing Bidens plan once extended unemployment benefits expire in September. But economists and lawmakers say the administration has shifted its target toward longer-term goals, with Biden and some progressives hoping to seize a generational opportunity to overhaul the economy and revitalize the workforce.

These packages will be designed to address long-term economic problems such as infrastructure, climate change and the skewed income and wealth distribution, Moodys chief economist Mark Zandi recently told Fortune. I wouldnt consider these packages as fiscal stimulus, designed to support the economy in the short-term. I dont think there will be a fourth round of stimulus checks.

Brett Ryan, the senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, offered Fortune an even more blunt assessment: No more checks.

I would say that this is definitely going to be less about direct income support  which the latest $1.9 trillion plan kind of gets you through this transition period where the economys reopening  and more about, as Biden said, building back better, Ryan said.

The Internal Revenue Service has already sent 127 million checks in the latest stimulus round, with more heading to millions of Americans in the coming weeks. The $325 billion-plus expenditure follows rounds of $1,200 and $600 checks under the Trump administration last year.

Bidens next recovery plans may cost between $3 trillion and $4 trillion, The New York Times reported Sunday. The president wants to invest in rebuilding roads, bridges and new green infrastructure that he says will create jobs, along with child care and education including universal preschool and free community college.

While Democrats may garner bipartisan support for an infrastructure bill, theyll face stiffer challenges trying inject more cash into the economy and Americans pockets, especially before the latest unemployment benefits expire in September.

No Republicans voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan, which only required simple majority support in the Senate  versus the typical 60 senators  because Democrats pushed it through as part of the annual budget reconciliation bill.

With the president outlining his infrastructure plan later this week, Congressman (Richard) Neal is eager to get to work on that, as the Ways and Means Committee will play a large part, Margaret Boyle, Neals communications director, told MassLive Monday when asked about talk of a fourth stimulus and upcoming legislation. An investment in infrastructure will help build back better as it puts people back to work, allowing us to come out of this crisis stronger while modernizing and uplifting our communities.

Sen. Ed Markey, who along with Sen. Bernie Sanders and then-Sen. Kamala Harris proposed $2,000 monthly checks over the course of the pandemic nearly a year ago, pushed forward Monday with legislation on green infrastructure and environmental justice.

The Massachusetts Democrat other progressive members of Congress reintroduced the Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE) Act. The lawmakers and advocates are pressing Biden to get on board with a nearly $10 trillion, decade-long plan to cut climate pollution in half by 2030, immediately create over 15 million good jobs and advance racial, Indigenous, gender, environmental and economic justice, Markeys office announced Sunday.

The recurring check proposal did not gain steam as Congress and the Trump administration haggled over a second stimulus package. But dozens of Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate have since called for recurring checks, and Markey says he and Sanders will keep pressing the White House.

Markey told MassLive on Monday that Biden and congressional Democrats had delivered help to Americans, including extended jobless aid, a $3,000-plus Child tax Credit, ramped up vaccination and much-needed and long overdue relief for millions of people.

But continued relief and recovery must go hand-in-hand, he added. While Congress is focused on passing a multi-trillion dollar recovery package that will help reignite our economy and get workers back on the job, we will not waver in our fight for recurring monthly payments for working people. Senator Sanders and I have been calling for this necessary relief since the very beginning of the pandemic, and we will not stop fighting until we secure $2,000 monthly payments to help people make it through this crisis.

Republicans and some conservative Democrats concerned about the rising national debt can point to a few signs of economic turnaround in arguing against future stimulus checks.

Forbes, citing data tracked by Bank of America, recently reported that year-over-year credit and debit card spending increased by 45% earlier this month.

About 684,000 people filed new unemployment claims earlier this month, a decrease of nearly 100,000 from the prior week and the fewest since the pandemic hit the U.S. last year, Forbes reported.

Additionally, Goldman Sachs economists told clients on Sunday night that the company now forecasts staggering 8% gross domestic product growth in 2021, a rate that hasnt been seen since the early 1950s, Axios reported. The forecast, based on the latest fiscal policy news, is nearly double the average among Wall Street analysts, according to FactSet.

Morning Consult recently reported that consumer confidence is on a tear, with polling showing a 2.7% jump in the firms Index of Consumer Sentiment less than a week after Biden signed the American Rescue Plan. By comparison, the index increased 0.1% and 0.7% after the two previous COVID-19 relief packages last March and December.

As long as new (COVID-19) cases remain relatively stable, the American Rescue Plan should support increases in U.S. consumer confidence over the next five months, particularly among low- and middle-income Americans whose jobs and finances remain more vulnerable to the economic consequences of the virus, Morning Consult economist John Leer reported earlier this month.

Related Content:
149,000 arrested for organized, gang crimes in China since 2018

Xinhua) 13:34, March 29, 2021

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- About 149,000 individuals involved in organized and gang-related crimes were arrested while 230,000 such individuals have been prosecuted in China since 2018, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Monday.

To ensure that all arrests and charges are sufficiently supported by evidence, and to prevent wrongful convictions, procuratorial departments disapproved arrests of 11,237 individuals and withdrew the charges of 2,814 after reviewing evidence during this period, SPP statistics showed.

Since China started a special task of cracking down on organized crimes in early 2018, procuratorial departments across the country have targeted such illegal activities in employment, real estate, medicine and transportation, as well as other sectors that concern the public.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
Sale and Leaseback Deal Covers Three A320neos and One A350-900

CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Limited ("CDB Leasing"), announced a new sale and leaseback transaction for a fleet of four Airbus aircraft with its existing customer, Scandinavia's flagship airline, SAS.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210328005031/en/

SAS took delivery of a new A350-900 on lease from CDB Aviation on Friday, March 26, 2021 in Toulouse, France. (Photo: Business Wire)

The agreement incorporates three A320neo and one A350-900 aircraft, which are leased to SAS on a long-term basis. The carrier already took delivery of the A350 on Friday, March 26, 2021. The remaining three A320neos are expected to be delivered during the spring of 2022.

"We are pleased to expand our long-standing relationship with SAS, with the addition of these new technology Airbus aircraft to the carrier's growing one-type fleet," said CDB Aviation Chief Marketing Officer Peter Goodman. "These aircraft will contribute to SAS' ongoing efforts to transition their fleet to more environmentally conscious operations, with their fleet's reduced environmental footprint and enhanced cost efficiencies."

Magnus Ornberg, Chief Financial Officer of SAS, commented: "SAS has previously worked together with CDB Aviation on SLB transactions, and we are glad that we have secured the financing of new aircraft deliveries together with Patrick Hannigan and his team. The transaction enables the financing of our transition towards a unified fleet, with significantly lower emissions in a cost and cash efficient way."

CDB Aviation's commercial team continues to expand outreach, pursuing emerging opportunities for aircraft transactions, including in the sale and leaseback channel, in all aviation markets.

"As air travel markets open up and route networks are reactivated, innovative financings for the airlines' both immediate and longer-term requirements will be key to enabling the market's recovery, while ensuring that the airlines are able to successfully navigate their path out of this challenging environment," underscored Patrick Hannigan, CDB Aviation's Chief Executive Officer.

Airlines leverage CDB Aviation's highly competitive position, with the strength and robust scale of its resources and capabilities, to "address their rapidly evolving requirements and position their networks for efficient recovery and successful future operations," concluded Goodman.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions, including with respect to CDB Aviation's business, financial condition, results of operations or plans. CDB Aviation cautions readers that no forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance and that actual results or other financial condition or performance measures could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements sometimes use words such as "may", "will", "seek", "continue", "aim", "anticipate", "target", "projected", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "goal", "believe", "achieve" or other terminology or words of similar or analogous meaning. These statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of CDB Aviation's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About SAS

SAS, Scandinavia's leading airline, with main hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, is flying to destinations in Europe, USA and Asia. Spurred by a Scandinavian heritage and sustainable values, SAS aims to be the global leader in sustainable aviation. We will reduce total carbon emissions by 25 percent by 2025, by using more sustainable aviation fuel and our modern fleet with fuel-efficient aircraft. In addition to flight operations, SAS offers ground handling services, technical maintenance and air cargo services. SAS is a founder member of the Star Alliance, and together with its partner airlines offers a wide network worldwide. www.sasgroup.net

About CDB Aviation

CDB Aviation is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Limited ("CDB Leasing") a 36-year-old Chinese leasing company that is backed mainly by the China Development Bank. CDB Aviation is rated Investment Grade by Moody's (A1), S&P Global (A), and Fitch (A+). China Development Bank is under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council of China and is the world's largest development finance institution. It is also the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation, long-term lending and bond issuance, enjoying Chinese sovereign credit rating.

CDB Leasing is the only leasing arm of the China Development Bank and a leading company in China's leasing industry that has been engaged in aircraft, infrastructure, ship, commercial vehicle and construction machinery leasing and enjoys a Chinese sovereign credit rating. It took an important step in July 2016 to globalize and marketize its business listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX STOCK CODE: 1606). www.CDBAviation.aero

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210328005031/en/

Contacts:

Paul Thibeau

Paul.THIBEAU@CDBAviation.aero; +1 612 594 9844
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The Biden administration is continuing to hammer the message that the US border is closed to families and adult individuals trying to enter the country via Mexico, even as the government takes in the surge of unaccompanied children and families arriving at patrol stations.

The border remains closed. It is not open. We are turning away the majority of adults, but what we are really talking about here is children, and how we are handling that in the safest and most humane capacity, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview with Fox News Sunday.

But Ms Psakis statement  which toes the line the administration has cast on immigration amid the surge in migrants  does not square with the reality of how most families and all unaccompanied children are being processed.

Last Thursday, 86 per cent of the families Customs and Border Patrol encountered were allowed into the US for processing, several news outlets reported.

Some Mexican states are refusing to house families with children younger than 7 years old, forcing US agents to process and release people while they await an adjudication on whether theyll be deported or granted asylum.

Read more:

Joe Biden has also adopted a policy of taking in every unaccompanied minor who arrives at the border, which has overwhelmed the housing system currently in place for such children.

Under federal law, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is only supposed to house children for 72 hours before handing them over to the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs of a network of facilities.

But that network is overextended, and thousands of children have been in CBP custody well beyond the legal limit.

That has led to packed conditions for children at CBP facilities, a problem that is even more acute in the middle of the pandemic.

When Foxs Chris Wallace pressed Ms Psaki on opening the border facilities to the media to report on conditions, the White House press secretary promised transparency but declined to provide an exact timeline on when journalists would be allowed to survey the scene.

We want to provide access into the Border Patrol facilities, Ms Psaki said. We are mindful that we are in the middle of the pandemic. We want to keep the kids safe, we want to keep the staff safe.

When Mr Wallace accused Ms Psaki of being less transparent than the Trump administration at the border, she responded: We are committed to allowing cameras into Border Patrol facilities.

A group of GOP senators visited the border this weekend, a fact-finding mission that doubled as an opportunity to rail on the Biden administration for not doing enough to stem the crisis.

What is occurring here on the border is heartbreaking, and it is a tragedy, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said at a press event at the border.

Mr Cruz said senators had witnessed the Biden cages for unaccompanied migrant children firsthand.

The Biden administration has countered that bringing the unaccompanied children into the US is much more humane than making them stay in Mexico or go back to their homes in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and elsewhere.
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London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is pledging to shift the dial on attitudes to women pursuing careers in the rail industry, particularly train driver roles.

LNER research showed only one per cent of women said they had wanted to be a train driver when they were young compared to 21 per cent who wanted to be famous and 23 per cent who wanted to be a teacher.

If the reason women aren't interested in being train drivers is that they think it's a dull, unrewarding job in a sexist atmosphere, LNER's female drivers have news for them. MailOnline Travel got the inside track on life at LNER from four of them - including a former neuroscientist and an ex-lawyer - and the consensus is that it's a highly fulfilling career.

Three of LNER's female drivers, left to right: Trudi Kinchella, apprentice Vandana Mungur and former neuroscientist Mena Sutharsan

Mena Sutharsan, 36, did a BSc in biomedical science at UCL and then a masters in neuroscience at King's College London.

She spent 'ample time in labs' and worked on Alzheimer's for her MSc project.

After graduating, she decided that 'being a scientist wasn't for me'.

She said: 'I thought about a career transition and decided to become a translator. I grew up in France and can speak four languages fluently so I thought that might be something I enjoy.

'I took a temporary job on the railways through an agency to work in the meantime. It was meant to be for three months and here I am at LNER 13 years later.'

Mena - who drives Class 800 Azuma trains and is also qualified to drive Intercity 125 HSTs and Class 91s  revealed there had been a change in how railwaymen interact with her over the years.

She said: 'When I first started, some colleagues would ask a male or older colleague for advice or instructions over me even if I had the more senior position. It wasn't always intentional. Now I see more of a balance and that's been helped by the increasing number of women in senior positions at LNER.'

She described her male colleagues as 'great' and the job as 'challenging and exciting', with 'no two days the same'.

Peterborough-based Vandana Mungur, 23, has diverted from a career path as a commercial lawyer to drive trains.

Vandana Mungur diverted from commercial law to become an LNER apprentice. She's pictured here in the LNER King's Cross simulator suite

She's an LNER apprentice and said: 'I am the only woman on my training course. I started with nine other male trainee drivers. They don't treat me any differently and we have a great time training together.

'The amount of information you have to take in during the first few months is crazy. We have assessments every week, so you always have to be on the ball. There's no such thing as "I'll just get it done tomorrow".

'It is challenging, especially back at the beginning, trying to balance everything. However, we have revision video calls between us, and our trainers are there every step of the way.'

An LNER Azuma crossing the stunning Royal Border Bridge over the River Tweed in Northumberland. Driver Trudi picked this spot out as a route highlight

Then there's Leeds-based Azuma-driver Becky Brown. She's been a driver for more than 10 years and said that 'the majority of my colleagues supported me and helped teach me how to become the best train driver I could be'.

She continued: 'My male colleagues are really supportive and they see me as a driver, all doing the same job and there for each other.'

LNER's female-driver ranks may be boosted in the future by Becky's daughter, Maisie, who's eight.

Leeds-based Azuma-driver Becky Brown is pictured here with her eight-year-old daughter, Maisie, who wants to follow in her mother's footsteps

From the age of four, she has been adamant that she wants to be a train driver.

Becky said: 'From the age of four when at school, she and her classmates had to dress up as what they wanted to be when they were older. Maisie was adamant she wanted to go as a train driver. Most of her peers were dressed as superheroes and princesses.'

The driver we heard from who has seen the biggest changes in the female-male dynamic on the railways was Newcastle-based Trudi Kinchella, who has been a driver for 28 years.

Trudi Kinchella has been a driver for 28 years and said: 'When any doubters saw that I was going to "stick it out", I was finally accepted'

She said: 'I learned quickly that to be seen as half as good you had to be twice as good.

'I have shown that I am just as capable, professional and focused and very slowly over the years, probably about 10 years, when any doubters saw that I was going to "stick it out", I was finally accepted.

'I would say to any woman aspiring to drive for LNER that if you have the aptitude and dedication, then it is an amazingly fulfilling and enjoyable career. Go for it.'

For more information about careers with LNER, visit lnerjobs.co.uk/jobs. To see the female drivers at work and talking about their jobs, click here.
CANASTOTA, N.Y. (UPDATED)  A Canastota man has been charged with arson following an investigation into a suspicious house fire in Sylvan Beach.

New York State Police and several fire crews were called to Pleasant Avenue on Friday, after a fire was reported just after noon. Police called it a "suspicious" fire and began investigating the cause.



Photo courtesy of CNY Central Photo courtesy of CNY Central

Witnesses at the scene told police they saw a man running from the side of the house and leaving in a pickup truck shortly before the flames broke out at the home.

The suspect, later identified as 38-year-old Nathan A. Riley, was found in Canastota on Saturday and arrested.

Riley is accused of taking a gas can to the home and pouring gas around the residence before lighting it on fire. State police have confirmed the woman living in the home was Riley's ex-girlfriend. She was at the home at the time he allegedly started the fire.

Police say Riley was charged with second-degree arson, a B felony.

He is currently being held at Oneida County Correctional Facility.
On the approach from one direction a purple sign with white script attached to a lamppost reads: Here you enter sacred space.

And that is how I have always thought of places like this, why I am uneasy in them, like I shouldnt be there, like I am disturbing something.

It is the reason that I never visited ground zero in New York. There is something different about these places where life is lost, and the loss has changed the world. Whether earth or pavement, those places remember things and whisper them back. These are the places where souls crossed over. You feel something when you are here, the way I felt something standing with Tamir Rices mother Samaria on the patch of grass where he fell and bled out after a Cleveland police officer shot him in the abdomen.

So I approach the intersection gingerly, making myself smaller with every step, trying to be nonintrusive and supremely respectful.

But there are a few people there, milling about, snapping pictures and making videos. Long gone are the massive scenes of protest from last summer. What is left is relic. Shrines and memorials. Teddy bears, soaked in soil, murals and graffiti, stanchions connected by Kente cloth-wrapped rope encircling the spot where Floyd lost his life, a cobalt blue figure with white wings painted on the ground where he was pinned.

I stand there, motionless, nearly nine minutes, the length of time Chauvin had his knee on Floyds neck. I am surprised at how long it feels and how many thoughts come into my head, and I think of how many more must have crowded into Floyds mind.

Beyond the intersection, in the middle of which a large Black metal arm with clenched fist has been erected (the arm is growing red with rust), cater-corner to the killing spot, is the parking lot of a storefront church called the Worldwide Outreach for Christ Ministries, which is having its regular food giveaway.
Two weeks ago, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin told his colleagues in a floor speech, Its time to change the Senate rules and stop holding this Senate hostage.

Last Thursday, the Senate voted on a bill to push back the application deadline for the Paycheck Protection Program  the low-interest loan program helping small businesses survive the pandemic  from March 31 to May 31. The bill passed 92-7, and is headed to President Bidens desk.

If the Senate were actually being held hostage, this measure would not have passed. Admittedly, the bill does not qualify as sweeping legislation. Its passage does not immediately pave the way for the Democrats ambitious legislative proposals such as expanding voting rights, investing trillions in infrastructure, addressing climate change, raising the minimum wage or establishing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers.

But the PPP extension is more than naming a post office. With the loan program scheduled to expire on Wednesday, blocking an extension would have left 190,000 businesses with pending applications in the cold.

Biden has repeatedly said his top priority is defeating the pandemic and helping Americans get through the pandemic-ravaged economy. If the Republicans overarching strategy was to deliberately throttle the economy and hypocritically blame Democrats for Washington dysfunction and reap the political rewards come 2022 and 2024, then the logical course of action would be to filibuster.

Such logic presumably drove Republican resistance of the previous Democratic president, Barack Obama. Just last week in The Atlantic, political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson described the strategy of Mitch McConnell during the Obama years:

In 2009, President Barack Obama came into office with an enviable level of public support, and he faced an economic crisis for which the other party was widely blamed. Confronted with unified Democratic control, McConnell did not encourage his party to compromise. Instead, he ramped up use of the filibuster to previously unseen levels. Everything that could be filibustered was  even routine and trivial matters, even bills and appointments that the Republicans ultimately planned to support.

But last Thursday, McConnell not only eschewed a filibuster, he sided with Democrats to squelch a different parliamentary attack. Sen. Rand Paul opposed the bill on the grounds that Planned Parenthood is eligible for PPP loans. The Kentucky senator lodged a point of order that the bill violated a requirement that the cost of programs be offset. Yet McConnell, along with 13 other Republicans, voted with the Democrats and overruled Paul.

This suggests that McConnell is operating under a different strategic framework this time. He is not presuming that the blame for any gridlock and economic stagnation can be easily pinned on Democrats. If bipartisanship makes sense for Republicans, then McConnell will make the politically rational decision to accept bipartisanship.

Granted, the PPP extension was not a difficult bill for conservatives to accept. Republicans helped create the program last year and it was signed into law by President Trump. An extension didnt require appropriating additional funds. And the bill was backed by the influential small business lobby, the National Federation of Independent Business. So nothing about this vote will encourage Republicans to work with Biden on the progressive movements to-do list. Nevertheless, the vote does show Republicans can be convinced that bipartisanship can serve their own political interests, and that fact should inform Democratic legislative strategy.

If Republicans were dedicated to total obstruction of anything and everything in hopes that doing so would serve their political interest, that would bolster the argument for prioritizing filibuster abolition or reform, and channeling pressure toward Democratic holdouts. But if Republicans are rational enough to recognize that some obstructionist tactics can boomerang on them, then Senate Democrats might want to try replicating the political techniques that buoyed passage of PPP extensions for future legislation.

Of course, for most items on Joe Bidens ambitious agenda, wrangling Republicans support will be exponentially harder. If you believe bipartisanship on the big-ticket items is outright impossible, you will remain inclined to abolish or reform the filibuster.

However, abolishing it lacks 50 Democratic Senate votes, and its certainly possible that the votes are also not in hand for any specific filibuster reform. So, for the time being, for any legislation that cant qualify for the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process, Democrats should derive inspiration and counsel from last Thursdays PPP vote, and proceed accordingly.

Sixty is possible, especially if the issue has been kept out of the media spotlight and has not been tainted by polarization.
Moshi  THE management of Kilimanjaro International Leather Industries has said that the late President Dr John Magufuli has left a big gap in Kilimanjaro Region, following his government's successful facilitation of the establishment of the modern leather industry.

Kilimanjaro International Leather Industries' Public Relations and Marketing Officer, Mr Frederick Njoka while speaking to reporters, who visited the industries' premises, located at the Karanga Prison area, in Moshi.

"Before and even after assuming the presidency, Dr Magufuli clearly showed his passion and his full support to the leather sector and when he came to power, he advised the prison administration to improve what was the Karanga Leather Factory leading to the establishment of this state-of-the-art leather industry in Africa", he said, adding that no wonder that it was Dr Magufuli himself who inaugurated the new company late last year.

"We would like to appeal to all Tanzanians, especially the residents of Kilimanjaro Region, to continue to pray for Dr Magufuli, while at the same time, buy our products, especially when we put into consideration that Dr Magufuli used to urge Tanzanians to love, believe and buy the local manufactured products,", he said.

Dr Magufuli always reminded Tanzanians that the country ranked second in Africa, after Ethiopia when it came to counting the number of herds of cattle in the continent, a move which he said led to the prison's department to increase speed in establishing the industry that would add value of leather from the cattle hides in the country.

The Marketing and Sales Manager with the company, Mr Donald Nkomavantu said the institution's management aimed to expand sales in the local markets, as well as outside the country, focusing the East African Community (EAC) countries, those of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for the Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

The Kilimanjaro International Leather Industries that was launched by the late Dr Magufuli in October last year is a new project that has been developed by the Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) in collaboration with the Tanzania Prisons.

PSSSF owns 86 per cent of the company's shares while Tanzania Prisons owns the rest of the shares by contributing 25 acres of the land hosting the company and industry.
OTTAWA, ON, March 29, 2021 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is working to secure Canadians' health and safety, rebuild businesses, and promote jobs, growth and renewed investment as we build toward economic recovery and a net-zero emissions future. A key part of this plan is making historic investments in public transit across the country. For Canadians living in rural, remote and small communities, improving the way people access goods and services, get to and from work, to medical appointments, and to various destinations, presents unique challenges that require unique solutions.

Today, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Rural Economic Development, announced $250 million over five years to help address the transit needs of Canadians living in rural, remote and small communities. The Government of Canada is committed to working with these communities to develop rural transit solutions, and to providing the funding to make those solutions a reality.

From on-demand services, to publicly-owned, electric vehicle ride shares, and volunteer community car-pooling, Canadians outside urban centres have been finding innovative ways to get to the jobs and the goods and services they require. Developed with the goal of creating equity amongst communities across the country, this fund will be the first federal fund dedicated to rural transit.

This funding builds on progress made under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, which has supported transit projects in smaller communities, from a bus in Selkirk, Manitoba, to a Handi-Van in Fort Frances, Ontario, which helps seniors get around town with accessible options. The Government of Canada has heard loud and clear from rural, remote and small communities that more funding is needed to support unique transportation solutions. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so a flexible, dedicated Rural Transit Fund will help fund creative projects that address the unique needs of communities.

Story continues

The new $250 million fund, part of the nearly $15 billion public transit investment announced last February by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will help rural, remote and small towns build vibrant communities where people want to live, work and play.

Funding to improve and expand public transit is a key part of Canada's strengthened Climate Plan. It creates jobs, supports economic growth, and builds cleaner, more inclusive communities.

Quotes

"Canadians need public transit to help them get to and from work and school, to medical appointments and shopping, and to soccer and hockey practices. The first ever Rural Transit Fund recognizes that Canadians living in rural and remote areas and in small communities have unique transportation challenges that require flexible, tailored solutions. We'll work with communities to find the best transit solutions and provide the support to make them a reality, creating local jobs and growth, helping to tackle climate change, and building more inclusive communities."

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities



"The pandemic has reminded us how vital our connections are. Our internet connections, our roads, bridges, waterways and community centres keep us connected and the government has invested $10.6 billion in funding for 5,349 projects since 2015 in small communities across Canada to strengthen them all. Strengthening and building rural transportation networks is the government's next step in creating jobs and improving health and safety of Canadians. To the women, seniors, parents, leaders and youth who asked for rural connections: the government has heard you. We are moving forward."

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

"Lack of transportation in rural areas compounds the effects of aging and poverty by limiting access to medical and essential life needs. The problem is complex because of the vast area to be served and the reality that rarely are two or more people travelling to the same location at the same time. Door-to-door volunteer driver programs like Rural Rides are an affordable way to fill the need for transportation in rural areas, offering people a ride where and when they need it."

Kelly Taylor, Executive Manager, Rural Rides

"Wellington County's RIDE WELL is a rural transportation pilot that serves our large geographic area with a low population density. Through provincial transportation funding, Wellington County has been able to test this innovative rural transit option, while providing residents with affordable transportation. RIDE WELL enhances the lives of our residents helping them access essential services, travel to work and participate in the community. We are thrilled to see this funding for rural transportation, and look forward to the new rural transit solutions that develop across Canada, benefitting residents and supporting local economies."

Kelly Linton, Wellington County Warden, RIDE WELL

Quick facts

One in five Canadians live in rural communities. Rural communities in Canada account for nearly 30% of the nation's gross domestic product.

Through the Investing in Canada plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.

Since 2015, the Government of Canada has invested more than $13.6 billion in over 1,300 transit projects.

In February 2021, the Prime Minister announced nearly $15 billion in available funding for new public transit infrastructure projects over the next eight years, with a permanent $3 billion annually to begin in 2026-27. This announcement recognized that more was needed for rural communities.

These investments will help Canadians living in rural and remote areas travel to and from work more easily and access essential services, by working with rural, remote, and Indigenous communities to identify and create transit solutions that meet their needs.

The new Rural Transit Fund will provide $250 million over 5 years, starting in 2021. As part of the Investing in Canada plan, this fund will support the planning and deployment of innovative mobility solutions in rural communities.

Associated links

Investing in Canada Plan  Building a Better Canada

New public transit investments to build strong communities, fight climate change, and create new jobs across Canada

Backgrounder: A Plan to Permanently Fund Public Transit and Support Economic Recovery

What's in Canada's climate plan

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn

Web: Infrastructure Canada

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/29/c2717.html


Mumbai: The festival of colours, Holi, is here. It doesn't just signify the victory of good over evil but also marks the onset of spring after winter. Some people wait the whole year to celebrate this festival, not just for the colours but also to gorge on some yummy delicacies.

This is one festival which is celebrated amongst all ages with the same enthusiasm and energy.

However, last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people all around the globe, couldn't celebrate the festival with the same zeal and vigour. And this year, looking at the increase in the COVID-19 cases, the government has put restrictions on playing Holi. We spoke to a few celebrities about their Holi plans this year, and this is what they had to say:

Zaan Khan:

I am allergic to colours so I dont play Holi. Also, coronavirus is still there so I feel we should be very careful. I would suggest everyone to be with your family, put some Gulal, avoid meeting a lot of people and gatherings.

Prashant Bajaj

Well, Holi is my favourite festival but unfortunately, I am very much allergic to colours. So I prefer to stay home, have thandai, spend time with friends and relax.

Ajay Kumar Singh:

This time Ill celebrate dry Holi at home with my family. If we all stay alive then only we will be able to celebrate Holi the way we want to next year. I would like to appeal to everyone to stay at home, dont step out unless necessary or to play Holi, stay safe from Corona. And dont forget to wear a mask and sanitise. I had celebrated 2019 Holi with about 500 people. That's how we celebrate the festival in Bihar. In Ranchi, I celebrated Holi with disabled children. My family stays there so I visit my native place often, especially during this festival. We celebrate it with a lot of excitement and joy, keechad (mud) Holi is one that I miss. And playing Holi with mud back home is my fondest memory.

Shireen Mirza

Holi is a fun festival. I remember every year enjoying the Holi party in our housing society over loud music, food, drinks and dance. I miss the celebrations in Jaipur. But like last year, this year too we wont be able to do that. But the best part of spending Holi with family is that after a long time. I might also be meeting friends and eat a lot of gujiya and thandai. In fact my favourite Holi celebrations are the ones on the sets of Yeh Hai Mohabbatein. While we would film a special episode on the occasion, we used to enjoy doing it and would have fun after shooting would get over. My craziest memory would be on the set with Karan (Patel), Aly (Goni), Pankaj (Bhatia) etc. They would pick me up and throw me in a tub full of colours.

Sshrey Pareek

Last year I and my friends were at home and had a great time even though we couldn't play with colours. We were happy that we could spend time together. Celebration can be done in any way. My kind of celebration is to be with my friends and family. This year also we will do the same only. Having a good time with friends and family is the best way to celebrate every occasion. My wildest Holi party was the one when we friends tried bhang for the first time. So I had one and didnt feel anything initially and thats when I had two- three more glasses and after an hour totally lost it. Everything around me seemed moving slowly, that was real crazy and the best part is I left early from the party and was searching for a rickshaw. In fact I could not get hold of a rickshaw for three hours, my friends told me that.

Nyra Banerjee:

Honestly, I dont go to Holi parties. In fact, we only do a puja at home. I had a bad experience during my childhood about people getting drunk and misbehaving. Since then I have never played Holi.

Jay Prakash Sharma

Last year because of Covid-19 celebrating Holi was not possible, this year too the situation is no different. I am anyway allergic to colours so dont play Holi much but I enjoy the food and the essence of the festival. People having so much fun around makes me feel happy. Holi is all about love and friendship.
SCHENECTADY  With the soft serve machines primed and social distancing lines chalked on the pavement, Stellas Creamery and Cakes achieved liftoff on Monday morning.

I feel a bit of relief, said Ashley Viscariello, who purchased and reopened the venue with her husband, Gabe.

The ice cream parlor at the corner of State Street and Shirley Drive in the citys Woodlawn neighborhood was the site of the citys most pitched battles in a summer of activism protesting systemic racism, events which culminated in the former owner pointing a pellet gun at demonstrators.

Now the revamped ice cream parlor hopes to draw in crowds for a different reason, primarily custard.

Stellas, which is named for the couples young daughter, is the only place in the area to get the real deal, Viscariello said:

Its thick, its creamy  its rich, Viscariello said.

The business much-needed makeover also includes cosmetic changes, with the exterior brightened up and painted a creamsicle color, a departure from the dark gray gloom of the former incarnation, Viscariello said.

Related: Best of Capital Region 2020: Best places to get a frozen treat

The grand opening on Monday topped off the transformation of a business that gained notoriety last year as Bumpy's Polar Freeze whose final operator, David Elmendorf, was accused of sending racist texts, mistreating employees and violating health codes.

The business has no affiliation with Elmendorf, who sparked numerous Black Lives Matter protests outside of the business last year after he allegedly sent racist texts. Elmendorf was also arrested and had the business closed by authorities after he defied health code violations.

Earlier this month, the state Attorney General's office sued the embattled former owner, contending he made a bogus police report alleging that people attending the Black Lives Matter rally were toting weapons.

Viscariello had her eye on the venue well before the controversies mounted when she learned Elmendorf was on the verge of eviction.

Shes had a relationship with the venue that stretches back to 2003, when the then-tot first first enjoyed a blueberry ice cream cone with her family at the location.

Viscariello worked at the ice cream parlor throughout high school and while pursuing a degree in business administration from Russell Sage College, often with her two sisters.

Why the lifelong love?

It was just fun, Viscariello said. And to own your ice cream place is just fun.

Customers gathered outside on Monday and stamped their feet as skies threatened snow.

Among them were members of the Tri City Muscle Car Club, which gathers across the street in the DMW parking lot during warmer weather with their cars.

Theyve long made a habit of forgoing dinner and grabbing a bite at the venue, a tradition that will continue under its new ownership.

I cant wait, said Kim Coburn, president of the Tri City Muscle Car Club. Shes so sweet and they just so deserve this.

The Viscariellos want to make exceptional customer experience a centerpiece of the revamped venture.

I want this to be a respected place to come in Schenectady, Viscariello said.

Stellas Creamery and Cakes will offer a menu of specialty sundaes, gourmet cases, soft-serve and hard premium ice cream and finger food.

Viscariello, who is Guyanese, said she isnt concerned that the specter of Elmendorfs troubles will cast a pall over the business.

Im not worried about it at all, Viscariello said. Were going to do great here.
Admission is free for all ages, but registration is required to enter. Visit townofyountville.com/events to register.

St. Helena

People all over St. Helena are decorating wine barrels as part of an artistic way to liven up the city during the Easter holiday.

Participants are asked to register at barrelsoffunsthelena.com and display their barrels no later than Friday.

Last years inaugural wine barrel Easter egg hunt was organized by the St. Helena Odd Fellows Lodge 167 as a safe, socially distanced way for the community to celebrate the first holiday of the pandemic. Local businesses followed up with their own Holiday Wine Barrel Tour in December.

It was a fun, safe way to get out into the community and see your neighbors, said Stephanie Iacobacci of St. Helena Parks and Recreation. Last years event did so well that it was a no-brainer  everyone wanted it to return.

The latest event is a partnership between the city, Odd Fellows, Menegon Catering/Steves Hardware, and Hall Wines, which has offered to donate up to 300 barrels. As of March 18, participants from St. Helena, Deer Park, and Angwin  mostly residents but also some businesses  had registered for more than 130 barrels.
Dubai Waste Management Company (DWMC) said it has secured project finance worth $900 million from major institutional lenders including Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for a major waste-to-energy plant, located at the former Warsan landfill site in Dubai.

The other private global financial institutions involved in the funding are Societe Generale Bank, KfW Ipex Bank, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Siemens Bank and Credit Agricole Bank.

Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (Nexi) will provide the insurance for a part of the loan being provided by the financial institutions.

DWMC had been set up as a special purpose development vehicle by global infrastructure major Besix, Tech Group, Hitachi Zosen Inova, Itochu Corporation, Dubal Holding and Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group for this project.

The Dubai Centre for Waste Processing, located in the Warsan area, aims to treat 5,666 tonnes of municipal solid waste produced by Dubai per day. A total of 1.9 million tonnes of waste per year will be converted into renewable energy.

A Dubai Municipality project, its size and capacity make this facility one of the largest in the world. Up to 200 MW of thermal energy recovered will be fed into the local grid.

The facility will have the capacity to process up to 45% of Dubais current municipal waste generation, in turn significantly minimising the volume of municipal waste in landfills.

In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it will contribute to reaching the goals set by Dubai Municipality in minimizing the volume of municipal waste in landfills and developing alternative energy sources as well as contribute to sustainable and ecologically friendly waste management in the emirate and the targets outlined in the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050.

An international consortium led by Besix is responsible for the design, construction, finance and operation of this giant waste-to-energy facility. The project was designed in close collaboration between Dubai Municipality, Hitachi Zosen Inova and Besix.

The consortium of leading international companies will build and operate the AED4 billion ($1.1 billion) project under a 35-year concession period with Dubai Municipality. This landmark public-private partnership represents one of the most significant renewable energy investments in the UAE. The early construction works, carried out by Hitachi Zosen Inova and Besix, began in 2020. The facility will consist of five processing lines, which will be delivered in 2023 and 2024. The facility will be fully operational over the next three years.

Khalid Al Malik, Managing Director of Dubai Holding, said: "By partnering with a strong consortium of strategic and financial investors, we are delivering on our promise of continuously supporting the Emirates growth and diversification strategy. As a responsible business, we are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring everything we do contributes to the Good of Tomorrow.

On behalf of Dubai Municipality, Besix and Hitachi Zosen Inova will also be in charge of the operations and maintenance of the waste-to-energy plant for 35 years.

The agreement with Dubai Municipality includes the design and construction of the facilities, as well as financing and a 35-year operation and maintenance period on behalf of the municipality.

This strategic project marks an important contribution to Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and Dubai Plan 2021 to making the emirate one of the most sustainable cities in the world, he added.

Acting CEO Ahmad Hamad Bin Fahad said: "For Dubai Holding, investment in green and sustainable projects is always close to our heart and we are very pleased to work with a broad spectrum of people working towards the realisation of one of the worlds largest single-site waste to energy projects in Dubai."

"As always, Dubai leads by example and is a trend setter and Im confident the entire region will follow the footsteps of Dubai in implementing such a project that is good for generations to come," he stated.

Engineer Dawoud Al Hajri, the Director General of Dubai Municipality, said the work on the WTE project was progressing as per schedule.

The strategic focus is to achieve environmental protection, reduce carbon emissions, divert waste from the landfills, and contribute towards the realization of Dubai's strategy to shift towards clean energy. Dubai Municipality is setting up an attractive environment for investors to support increased foreign direct investment, he stated.

Besix Group COO Pierre Sironval said: "We are involved in the project in three ways: the investment, construction and operations of the plant for 35 years."

"We have started construction and look forward to delivering and then operating, together with Hitachi Zosen Inova and in close collaboration with Dubai Municipality, this world-leading facility," he added.

Shinichi Aburaya, the COO of the Plant Project, Marine and Aerospace Division at Itochu Corporation, said: "We are proud to participate in this important project. Itochu, with its strong focus on ESG, SDGs and portfolio of similar projects, looks forward to this opportunity of contributing further towards SDGs by reducing environmental burden and expanding renewable energy resources.

Bruno-Frederic Baudouin, CEO, Hitachi Zosen Inova, said: Energy-from-waste (EfW) technology is considered to be the safest and most efficient technology for sustainably processing municipal solid waste."

"We are proud that Dubai Municipality has chosen the technology from HZI, and that we can thus make an important contribution over the entire concession period to Dubai's sustainability strategy. The construction of this EfW plant is not only a novelty for Dubai, even for HZI, this project marks the entering into a new market and we are looking forward to further projects in the Middle East, leveraging the long-term history of the Hitachi Zosen group in the region, he added.

Tech Group CEO Shiraz Hasan said: "We are excited to be part of this flagship EfW project  one of the worlds largest. This project is a testament to Dubais commitment towards a clean and sustainable future."

"With the expertise and value brought in by all partners, we expect this project to be a huge success, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
[March 29, 2021] Spark Connected Unveils New Qi 15W Automotive In-Cabin Wireless Charging Solution Powered by AURIX and Traveo II

Spark Connected, (www.sparkconnected.com) a global leader in developing advanced and innovative wireless power technology and system-level solutions, announces The Beast 2.0 - the industry's first 15 Watt automotive in-cabin wireless charging solution that meets the latest Qi requirements. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005123/en/ Spark Connected's The Beast 2.0 - the industry's first 15 Watt automotive in-cabin wireless charging solution that meets the latest Qi requirements. (Photo: Business Wire) The groundbreaking Beast 1.0 solution, certified for Qi v1.2.4 in 2018 with millions of units deployed worldwide in vehicles today, was the industry's first reference design that was certified CISPR-25 Class 4, providing unparalleled EMC (News - Alert) performance in the market. According to Ruwanga Dassanayake, Chief Operating Officer at Spark Connected, "Spark Connected is continuing to dominate and pave the way in wireless charging for the automotive industry. Our newest feature-rich Beast 2.0 solution will help our customers easily integrate the technology and significantlyimprove the safety and performance over other solutions in the market today."



The new Beast 2.0 continues this market leadership in EMC performance, allowing customers an easy-to-implement solution that meets strict OEM requirements. In addition to its impressive EMC capability, the Beast 2.0 also meets all requirements of the latest Qi requirements and it provides class-leading safety features and a wide input supply range that provides continuous charging even during vehicle stop/start events. Foreign Object Detection (FOD) is improved over other solutions in the market, increasing user safety while still providing a flexible charging experience. Authentication between smartphone and charger is an important feature of the Beast 2.0. Secured authentication contributes to device and user safety by protecting against fake chargers.

"The Beast 2.0 is powered by our optimized automotive wireless power microcontrollers based on leading key architectures AURIX and Traveo II," said Ralf Kodel Senior Director Marketing Microcontroller at Infineon Technologies (News - Alert) AG. "These controllers help the next-generation in-cabin wireless charging systems to meet strict automotive safety, security, environmental and regulatory requirements, while still enabling industry-leading charging performance and efficiency." Highlights of the Spark Connected Beast 2.0 15W solution include: Latest WPC Qi functionality

Supports 15W charging for Qi certified devices

Supports fast charging enabled devices

Secure authentication between smartphone and charger

Unique coil driver architecture meets CISPR-25 Class 4 EMC requirements

Improved accuracy Foreign Object Detection (FOD)

Wide range 6 -19V input supply; supports vehicle stop/start

NFC/RFID tag (News - Alert) detection

AUTOSAR support

Single Infineon Wireless Power Controller provides complete functionality

Supports future products and standards with field-upgradeable Pantheon software About Spark Connected: Spark Connected | powering the world, wirelessly Spark connected is a global leader specializing in multiple advanced and safe wireless power technologies that benefit a wide variety of applications in the Automotive, Industrial, Infrastructure, Medical, Robotics, Security, Factory Automation, IOT, Smart Home, and Consumer markets. Spark Connected is transforming wireless power delivery and intelligent battery charging with innovative platforms, disruptive technology and breakthrough products enabling an enhanced user experience for all. Spark Connected is a Regular Member of the Wireless Power Consortium, with multiple committee leadership positions. For more information visit: www.sparkconnected.com About Infineon: Infineon Technologies AG (News - Alert) is a world leader in semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer and greener. Microelectronics from Infineon are the key to a better future. In the 2020 fiscal year (ending 30 September), Infineon reported revenue of more than 8.5 billion with a workforce of some 46,700 people worldwide. Following the acquisition of the US company Cypress Semiconductor Corporation in April 2020, Infineon is now a global top 10 semiconductor company. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY). Further information is available at www.infineon.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005123/en/

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Kinshasa  By CISA

The Archbishop of Kinshasa Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo on March 22 received in audience Modeste Bahati Lukwebo, the newly elected Speaker of Senate, in what he described as a visit to seek blessings for the "high office" entrusted to him.

"It was a question of making the commitment before him to work correctly according to the Christian faith, according to the orientations of the Catholic Church because if these orientations are followed and respected, the people will surely find their account there," said Lukwebo upon leaving the Lindonge Catholic Center in Kinshasa.

During the visit he expressed his attachment to the Christian faith and his gratitude to the Catholic Church, further seeking blessings from Cardinal Ambongo as he began his new duty.

"At the level of the Catholic Church, we have a mission, that of freeing the Congolese people from poverty and breaking the paradox that exists between the fact that we are potentially wealthy but we must transform all this into wealth so that the people can find happiness," he added.

According to Cardinal Ambongo, the Church has a duty to spiritually accompany the faithful Catholics who have official responsibilities in the country.

"In very difficult times, we have received the support and accompaniment and even the defense of his eminence Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo," he Senate Speaker Lukwebo said. "This is why today, I felt that I should also come to express to him the thanks and recognition of all the members and executives of AFDC-A."

The Alliance of Democratic Forces of Congo (AFDC-A) led by Modeste Bahati Lukwebo formed an alliance with President Felix Tshisekedi to bring together the actors of the country likely to help him to govern better.

Lukwebo was thereafter elected speaker of the senate on March 2 after the resignation of Alexis Thambwe Mwamba.
MACKINAC ISLAND, MI  A squirrel accidentally trapped overnight in one of Mackinac Islands oldest churches did some unholy damage  breaking apart the figure of Jesus on an antique crucifix and sending the cross crashing to the floor. But with some patience, some patching and the deft touch of two artists on the island, Ste. Annes Catholic Church now has its vintage treasure back on the wall behind the altar.

The damage done by the uninvited visitor was discovered earlier this winter. Leanne Brodeur, the churchs administrative assistant, said when she walked into the downstairs area the parish uses to celebrate Mass in the winter, she initially thought vandals had broken in. Plants were tipped over. Unlit votive candles were knocked askew. And the crucifix that had been on the wall behind the altar was on the floor, the plaster figure of Jesus broken into pieces.

Brodeur called Jim Morse, the churchs maintenance engineer, to survey the mess. Jim thought it was a critter, Brodeur said. We looked around, and thats when we saw him. There was a squirrel sitting on top of the piano, looking at us.

They opened the churchs side doors and chased out the four-legged intruder. They suspect the squirrel had gotten in through a door someone had left open the day before, then found itself trapped inside for the night. The rodent had chewed up the wooden window sills, too, likely trying to get back outside.

Some things were thankfully untouched, like a statue of the Virgin Mary and the churchs sanctuary candle  it was lit at the time, and Brodeur doesnt like to think what might have happened had the squirrel knocked that over.

Surveying the damage, church staff were dismayed about the crucifix, which Brodeur says dates to the early 1900s. The figure of Jesus was missing its head. Its arms were gone, and there were chunks missing from the torso. I thought, there is no putting him back together, Brodeur said.

They picked up the pieces and put them in a box, which Morse took with him. Brodeur started looking around online for a replacement.

The figure of Jesus being repaired after a crucifix at Ste. Anne's Catholic Church on Mackinac Island was damaged by a squirrel.

Not long after that, Morse called her. The maintenance engineer  who also happens to have an art degree - wanted to show her what hed been able to do.

Jim had him all plastered together, she said. Brodeur, also an artist, but one who works in watercolors and acrylics, took it from there. I took him home and painted him, she said of the figure.

Now the crucifix is back on the wall. And if the squirrel wants to take another look at it, it will have to do it through a window - from outside.

For more on the fascinating history of Ste. Annes Catholic Church - which has records dating back to 1695 - check out the churchs website.
The has gifted one lakh doses of India-made anti-COVID-19 vaccines to the Army as part of the efforts of the militaries of the two neighbours to enhance bilateral cooperation.

The vaccines were handed over by the officials to their counterparts from the Army at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Sunday, the Indian Embassy here tweeted.

"100,000 doses of #MadeInIndia COVID-19 vaccine gifted by to the Nepali Army were received at Tribhuvan Airport," the mission tweeted.

India has previously gifted one million doses of Made in India' COVID-19 vaccines to for the immediate requirement of Nepal's healthcare and front-line workers.

Meanwhile, China on Monday donated 800,000 doses of anti-COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal, according to media reports here.

The Vero cell vaccines, which arrived at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), was handed over by the Chinese ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi to the Minister for Health and Population (MoHP) Hridayesh Tripathi during a ceremony organised for the occasion, The Himalayan Times reported.

Even though China had pledged to provide 800,000 doses, initially 500,000 and then later 300,000, to Nepal, the consignment was brought to Kathmandu on Monday by a Nepal Airlines Corporation plane that had flown to Beijing on Sunday.

The vaccine is developed by Sinopharm, an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical company Sinopharm.

The Department of Drug Administration (DDA) under Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population, had approved the Chinese-made 'Vero Cell' vaccine for emergency use against COVID-19 in Nepal, on February 17.

Following a delay in procurement of Covishield vaccines by the Serum Institute in India, Nepal had suspended the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive, My Republica news portal reported.

Nepal has suspended its vaccination drive after inoculating a little over 1.7 million people in two phases until March 15, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Nepal has reported 276,839 cases of and 3,027 deaths related to the disease.

(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.)
George Floyd Square is adorned with a poster of the man in front of the place where he died in Minneapolis. Photo: Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters

Television cameras will offer the world a front-row seat today to opening arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer accused of killing George Floyd.

Mr Floyds death in Minneapolis last May, after being pinned to the ground by Mr Chauvin during an arrest, touched off a global movement against racism and police brutality.

Mr Chauvin is charged with second- and third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, with the trial expected to be one of the most closely watched in US history.

He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge.

In recognition of the global interest in the case, Judge Peter Cahill has allowed the entire proceedings to be live-streamed, a first in Minnesotas history. The access has been granted to Court TV, a US channel best known for its lurid coverage of the OJ Simpson trial and other high-profile criminal cases in the 1990s.

The network, which relaunched itself in 2019, will share its footage with other media outlets to allow the proceedings to be broadcast live to audiences across the world.

The coverage will come from three cameras placed at different vantage points within the Hennepin County courtroom in downtown Minneapolis.

One of those cameras will be trained on Mr Chauvin (45), showing his reactions to the proceedings in real time.

The decision to allow TV networks access to the courtroom for the entirety of the trial has been met with mixed responses, with some praising the move to transparency but others raising concerns that public opinion may influence the proceedings.

Grace Wong, Court TVs director of field operations, said the biggest resistance had come from the prosecution.

They objected vigorously and challenged the decision, she said earlier this month. Their argument was that cameras would intimidate the witnesses, but in this case the witnesses are mainly experts who testify in trials all the time.

While Court TV will be looking to its popular coverage of the Simpson trial as a template, there will be notable differences with Mr Chauvins.

The cameras will not be permitted to zoom in or out on people within the courtroom and cannot show Mr Floyds family or any of the witnesses without their prior permission.

Many view the trial as a litmus test for racial change in the US, after footage of Mr Chauvin kneeling on Mr Floyds neck for more than eight minutes as he begged for air led to a national reckoning over Americas troubling record of police brutality.

Prosecutors have indicated they intend to frame the case in terms of race, and have sought to remove prospective white jurors who expressed staunch support for the police or negative attitudes to the Black Lives Matter.

Fifteen jurors, including three alternates, have been selected after weeks of extensive questioning on their knowledge of the case and their views on policing and racism.

The panel has a much more diverse composition than the population of Minneapolis, with one black woman, three black men, two mixed-race women, six white women and three white men.

The prosecution is expected to use todays opening arguments to retell the story of Mr Floyds death on May 25, 2020, after he was apprehended by police outside a shop in Minneapolis for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 note.

Mr Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, was among four officers who responded to the incident. The other three officers  J Alexander Keung, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao  also face charges over the death.

They are to be tried separately.

The prosecutors are expected to play footage of the arrest to the jury during their opening arguments. To secure a conviction they must convince the jury that Mr Chauvin used excessive force and was a substantial factor in Floyds death.

The defence is expected to argue that Mr Floyds death was caused by drug use and pre-existing health problems.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
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Opinion Article

29 March 2021

From single-use plastics to building efficiencies, from extended producer responsibility (EPR) to user-pays principle (UPP), regulations are an intricate component of how society governs environmental impacts. Of course, there seems to always a fine balance between reactive and proactive approaches to regulations, between 'Too late: cleaning up' and 'Too early: stifling innovation'.

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Case in hands are the phasing out of chlorofuorocarbons (CFCs) via the Montreal Protocol or the banning of lead in gasoline (Sidkar, 2019). Those successes support the argument that bans are the way forward to achieve substantial changes. In the words of Prof Geyer from UC Santa Barbara: "Not with cap and trade systems, not with taxes, not with offsets, not with capture and sequestration, but with bans" (Geyer, 2021, para 3). Putting a price tag on emissions is also argued. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research reasons that a 'two carbon pricing system' may provide the necessary levers to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Legislation, if undertaken wisely, can promote innovation, rather than hindering it (Patanakul and Pinto, 2014).



From bans to market pricing, from directives to legislation; all affect the way we'll do business in the near future, and my panel co-host, Franziska Altenrath asked: where do hospitality and tourism experts stand on the topic?

Too little too late? Setting a level playing field? Or spokes in the wheels?

The summary of expert entries is based on the following seven sections:

Legislation as Level Playing Field

Legislation and Risk

Legislation and Value Chain

Restrictive versus Supportive Legislation

Legislation, Externalities and the Commons

Legislation and Politics

Regulations in Practice

The following figure provides an overview of key points discussed by business professionals, academic researchers, industry consultants and NGO leaders, followed by key entries from all experts:

Photo: IU International University of Applied Sciences

Legislation as Level Playing Field

Moreover, as Eric Ricaurte, Founder at Greenview reports, 'more and more legislation is coming, whether we like it or not'. So, taking this as a starting point, Inge Huijbrechts from Radisson Hotel Group argues that 'the benefit of legislation is that it creates a level playing field and can be an accelerator'. This is echoed by Stefan Gossling, Professor at Linnaeus University whereby 'common climate policies can create a level playing field for all'.

Legislation and Risk

As climate-related financial risk reporting is set to become mandatory (under Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)), Ricaurte argues that indeed, legislations 'will fall under the umbrella of Transition Risk or the regulatory risk that companies will be expected to monitor and manage'. Therefore, our industry is set to see numerous types of climate legislations toward reporting and performance. And this is urgently needed argues Lucienne Mosquera, Founder of Hospitality Business Development, since we have experienced an exponential growth of sustainable finance offers under the ESG umbrella, 'hence why the finance sector, which is normally ambivalent at best about regulation, is widely welcoming more regulation and clear disclosure standards.'

Assessing risk is critical to businesses in all sectors of course and Maurice Bergin, Managing Director at GreenHospitality.ie reinforces that 'tourism businesses worldwide should be applying risk analysis already to identify how they will maintain their profitability as conditions change - both financially and climatically'. Trevor Girard, Director of Standards and Accreditation at Hotel Resilient, further explains that risk assessment should be used to drive sustainable legislation, 'just as land-use plans are based on risk assessments, proactive sustainable legislation requires the identification of risk factors that consider the impacts of human activity on the environment and the impacts of climate change'.

Legislation and Value Chain

Along the same lines, Madhu Rajesh, CEO at the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, adds that legislation 'can also ensure that the responsibility for improving sustainability is shared more throughout the value chain'. This is particularly relevant since sustainable hospitality does not translate into 'one company trying to do its very best in a given market' but rather, it is an entire industry that stands up to face the environmental and societal challenges. Legislation is only a part of the sustainability journey as Marloes Knippenberg, CEO of Kerten Hospitality, argues that 'no legislation or tax exemption can build more impactful and outcome-focused initiatives than public-private efforts that prioritise a sustainability agenda and help ensure each entity is "walking the talk"' since 'a policy is only as strong and meaningful as its implementation across the whole value chain'. In some cases, regulations are established following pressures from community-driven initiatives. Sarah Habsburg-Lothringen, Business Mentor for Small, Independent Hotels, presents an interesting case in Chile where a local government prohibited the use of plastic bags following pressure from accommodation owners who wished to preserve the natural beauty of their destination; a key selling point. Habsburg-Lothringen therefore maintains that 'we need and value the legislation, but as you can see from my case study, immediate action can be taken with insight and collaboration'.

Restrictive versus Supportive Legislation

A recurring theme discussed by panel experts is the balance between restrictive and supportive legislation. Sam Laakkonen, Contingent Managing Director Sustainability at Techstars mentions that 'governments employ a wide range of methods to build a more sustainable future such as increased taxation on more harmful technologies and tax incentives on greener options'. For example, Laakkonen argues that 'we already have relatively mature technologies to solve most if not all of these issues' and therefore, what is required is for governments to take a more aggressive and proactive approach in driving the change and support technology deployment. Supported with many examples, Cassia Patel, Program Director of Oceanic Global, also states that 'legislation is a critical tool for behavior change to encourage innovation in technology as well as to catalyze a market shift towards responsible consumption'.

Legislation, Externalities and the Commons

Another recurring theme is the way governments and businesses deal with externalities. Xenia zu Hohenlohe, Partner/Director at Considerate Group, argues that legislation is required to create a 'solid framework around the costs or taxes on externalities, such as the use of water in production of products, sand for cement [] to Co2 emissions'. Lucienne Mosquera, Founder of Hospitality Business Development, maintains that 'the most direct way governments can green the economy is not by changing incentives, but by tough action to regulate it directly', by putting a price tag on environmental externalities. Franziska Altenrath, Co-Founder at TUTAKA, explains that governments must ensure a reduction of green premiums (e.g. the additional cost of adopting a clean technology) and this can be achieved 'by internalising externalities into conventional practices (for e.g. cap-and-trade, carbon or import taxes) or banning them entirely (for e.g. ozone depleting substances or certain types of single-use plastics)'. Frauke Fischer, Founder of Agentur Auf!, refers back to the Tragedy of the Commons, with public goods are prone to unsustainable use but also warns that in regards to biodiversity and ecosystem service, 'we should not let the "free market" define the rules of consumption and trade of natural goods (and services)'. Fischer therefore calls for a system of strict rules and regulations that are 'urgently needed to stop the erosion of biodiversity and ecosystem services - for the benefit of all of us'.

Legislation and Politics

Kathy McGuire, Principal Sustainable Development at 3 Pillar Solutions, LLC, discusses the changes in the US administration and the 2050 net zero horizon but also warns that 'given that this bold action plan relies on feuding politicians in Congress to pass the legislation, the outcome is uncertain'. Federico Vignati, Principal Executive at CAF - development bank of Latin America, recaps that 'legislation should and will follow up the Paris Agreement and the overall social push for change'.

Regulations in Practice

Simon Martin, Head of Development Hospitality-Catering at IECD, argues that when looking at tourism development, 'imposing laws or updating existing ones that would restrict the wilder developments, brings rules and obligations that favour best practices' is critical. Johanna Wagner, Co-Founder of La Belle EDuC, also sees 'the need for more regulations in all areas under the sustainability umbrella' citing the smoking bans as an example to understand the benefits of legislation. Who would want to go back to restaurants filled with smoke? However, in regards to climate issues, 'getting hotels (and other buildings) to make this change will probably take more than regulationit will also require financial support' argues to Dan Ruben, Director at How to Green Your Hotel. Celine Vadam, Founder & CEO of WE(i) Think, further argues that 'sustainability-driven legislation should not be only falling on the governments, but also be a responsibility for hospitality operators and investors'. Vadam provides examples of documents which have an overall impact on the way the industry operators from design standards to lease/management/franchise agreements and operating guidelines. These are 'effective tools to enforce, monitor and report on sustainability practices at property level' maintains Vadam with the potential to set environmental performance targets 'and enforce them into operating agreements'. Along the same line, Jonathon Day, Graduate Program Director School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University has identified, via an analysis of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) destination criteria , that environmental and social policies are required to support sustainable tourism. This also includes 'legislation to eliminate exploitation and discrimination, protect property rights, and ensure the safety of workers and visitors'. This is a call for proactive, supportive and forward looking actions to governing authorities.

Access the answers/recommendations/feedback:

Sustainability-driven legislation: setting the right conditions for hospitality?

(https://www.hospitalitynet.org/panel/125000094.html)

References
ATLANTA, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia House of Representatives today advanced important criminal justice reform legislation, voting to streamline processes within the state's probation system by a vote of 169-2. Senate Bill 105, which passed unanimously in the State Senate, will now head to Gov. Brian Kemp's desk.

Georgia leads the nation in the number of men and women who are on probation, which is a period of supervision ordered by a court as either an alternative to incarceration or after a period of incarceration. Over 200,000 people in Georgia  or 1 in every 18 Georgians  is on probation. While Georgia's probation system is intended to support rehabilitation and reentry into the community, the system has become infamous for overly long sentences and for exorbitant fines and fees levied against probationers. Difficulties and obstacles to early termination of probation for people who have demonstrated their rehabilitation and commitment to success in the community further exacerbate the issues with Georgia's probation system. SB105 removes those unnecessary obstacles by creating uniform eligibility requirements that protect public safety and incentivize good behavior so that people who are thriving in the community may be released from supervision in a safe and timely manner.

State Senator Brian Strickland, one of the bill's authors, said SB 105 was the result of a bipartisan coalition focused on making commonsense improvements to the probation system.

"I am proud to support SB105, and thrilled to see this bipartisan bill head to Governor Kemp's desk today. This bill and its evidence-based reforms will provide a second chance for rehabilitated Georgians who have earned their right to access work, provide for themselves and their families, and contribute to their communities. With the support of the REFORM Alliance, RestoreHER, American Conservative Union, Faith and Freedom, Georgia Justice Project, the Prosecuting Attorneys, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Department of Community Supervision, and the Council of Superior Court judges, among many others, we believe that this legislation will increase opportunity, save money, and enhance public safety."

SB 105 allows courts to end probationary periods early if individuals have no arrests in the last two years; it also establishes a uniform court standard that individuals should be released from probation if it is in the best interest of justice and the welfare of the community.

SB 105 is supported by a number of organizations committed to criminal justice reform, including the Georgia Justice Project, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, the American Conservative Union, Restore Her, and REFORM Alliance.

REFORM Alliance CEO Robert Rooks thanked Georgia lawmakers for passing a bill that makes the probation system more effective and just.

"REFORM Alliance applauds the Georgia State House and Senate for the passage of SB105, a bill that creates clear pathways to early termination and increases the use of existing Behavior Incentive Date policies. These bipartisan, evidence-based reforms will create a uniform pathway to early probation termination, save money and increase public safety. Thank you to Senator Strickland for your leadership on this important legislation, as well as Senators Kennedy, Thompson, Anderson, and Watson as well as State Representative Tyler Paul Smith for your partnership. We look forward to seeing the bill on Governor Kemp's desk, and hope to see this bipartisan bill signed into law."

REFORM Policy Director Erin Haney praised the achievement as a bipartisan success.

"Congratulations to Georgia's Legislature for continuing their progress toward fair and effective supervision by passing SB 105. For the thousands of Georgians on probation, the evidence-based policies in this bill provide a clear pathway to early discharge, while prioritizing public safety, accountability, and redemption. By building on the reforms of 2017, SB105 implements uniform eligibility criteria, standardizes and streamlines proceedings, and creates court standards to advance fairness and equity in early probation termination processes. If Governor Kemp signs SB105, between 36,000 and 48,000 Georgians on probation could be eligible to have their probation safely and promptly terminated. The incredible bipartisan grassroots effort, which included Georgia Justice Project, RestoreHER, Faith and Freedom, American Conservative Union, and REFORM Alliance supports SB105 because it is a sensible and essential step toward ensuring a probation system that gives Georgians a meaningful second chance and an opportunity for real redemption."

REFORM Alliance is a criminal justice nonprofit organization working to create safe communities by dramatically reducing the number of people trapped by the criminal justice system and expanding real pathways to work and wellbeing.

REFORM Alliance works with a bipartisan coalition of allies to support impactful reforms to Probation and Parole systems around the country in a variety of ways. We work directly with legislators and governors to identify or draft and pass bills, increase public awareness and interest with storytelling that communicates experiences of directly impacted individuals through digital and earned media campaigns, and advocate on the ground with our grassroots organizers and partner organizations.

Media Contact:

Alex Weintz; 914.282.3229; [email protected]

SOURCE REFORM Alliance
The sun has turned blue, and the skies have turned yellow due to the second sandstorm to strike China in less than 14 days.

Blue sun in Beijings sand storm today. The left pic is the Forbidden City and the right pic is CBD pic.twitter.com/5CbDFHHjNZ  Zhou Lei (@ZhouLeiArt) March 28, 2021

Sandstorm in China

Beijing was engulfed in dense dust which had incredibly high amounts of dangerous particles.

A dust storm that struck Beijing early Sunday morning pushed air pollution levels through the roof, making the sky yellow and turning the sun into a tiny dot in the sky.

Related Article: Dust Storm Caused by Northwest Winds Hits Beijing Earlier than Expected



Storm Duration

The storm was the second in less than two weeks to reach Beijing, with the authorities issuing a yellow alert (the second-lowest in a four-tier system) on Saturday. High winds were also forecast, and people were urged to remain at home if at all possible.

Winds from Mongolia's drought-stricken northwestern China fueled the sandstorm.

The sandstorm blurred the tops of several skyscrapers, limiting visibility in the area. When gusts of dust rushed across the streets, pedestrians were forced to cover their eyes.

Yellow Alert

On Friday, the China Meteorological Administration released a yellow alert. A sandstorm moved from Mongolia into northern Chinese provinces such as Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Liaoning, and Hebei, which encompasses Beijing.

Air Quality Index

According to Beijing's real-time air quality index, air pollution levels reached a high of 500 as the sandstorm struck the city on Sunday morning. PM10 levels, which can reach the lungs, exceeded 2,000 micrograms per cubic meter.

PM2.5 levels, which are tiny particles that can enter the bloodstream, peaked at 462. The World Health Organization advises PM2.5 concentrations of no more than 25 on a regular basis.

Flight Troubles

According to the South China Morning Post, the storm caused chaos at Inner Mongolian airports, with more than half of Baotou and Chifeng's flights being canceled due to low visibility.

The latest sandstorms, according to the China Meteorological Administration, originated in Mongolia, where comparatively colder temperatures and less rain this spring resulted in greater areas of bare soil.

On Monday, China's Central Meteorological Observatory's chief forecaster, Zhang Tao, told the state-run People's Daily that "the dynamics for sandstorms and dust transmission are fine now."

According to Zhang, north and northwestern China saw less snow and rain this year, and temperatures have been higher since February, resulting in more drying and dusty conditions whipped up by more robust than normal winds.

Zhang said that the average temperatures in Mongolia and northern China were around 6C higher than average in March.

Sandstorms in the East

Sandstorms have long plagued northern China as deserts extend farther south, with deforestation increasing in frequency during Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1961.

What Caused the Dust Storms

Deforestation on a broad scale is often believed to be a cause of China's dust storms. Beijing has attempted to create air corridors that redirect the wind and allow sand and other particles to flow through more efficiently and plant a "huge green wall" of trees to capture incoming dust.

Also Read: The True Silent Killer: Air Pollution Killed More People Than Any Viruses

For more environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!

The global quartz market was valued at US$8.23 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach US$13.61 billion by 2026

Historic cryolite mining operations at the Ivittuut project on the coast of Greenland.

Ltd ( ) has delineated high-grade quartz mineralisation below the Ivittuut open pit in Greenland based on ongoing analysis of historical diamond drilling reported by independent mining consultants North Atlantic Mining Consultants Ltd.

The results demonstrate high-grade quartz mineralisation within the historical Ivittuut mine environment with modelling of historical exploration data from the Ivittuut deposit indicating substantial economic potential within the pit.

Shares have been up to 5% higher to 2.4 cents intra-day and since the market close on December 24 have risen from 1.1 cents.

Exploration targets

The company has also defined large exploration targets for the quartz mineralised domain at Ivittuut:

These exploration targets are based on actual exploration results from 18 diamond drill holes representing 1,764 metres of drilling within and around the historic pit.

The assay data used include 1,062 analytical results and bulk density measurements were assigned using lower value of 2.55 and upper value of 2.65.

Data assessed

Eclipse has relied heavily on geological maps, assay data and cross sections from previous operators of the Ivittuut mine.

Much of the historical quartz data for the Ivittuut deposit sourced in open file reports from the GEUS portal required digitisation.

Historical data, comprising paper cross sections and plans containing both lithological and analytical data, were reviewed and digitised to form a 3D database.

This review indicated the data is reliable and methods used were appropriate for industry standards of that time.

Potential for multi-commodity deposits

Executive chairman Carl Popal said: "To date, evaluation of historical data has unveiled massive economic potential for the Ivittuut project being the worlds only known commercial cryolite mine.

It also has the potential for multi-commodity deposits of cryolite, fluorite, zinc, iron, high grade quartz and highly sought-after rare-earth minerals (REE).

This is a global leap forward for the company to expand its interests with a unique opportunity to contribute to the growing demand for high-grade silica in the European market.

Results

High silica grade quartz from drill hole 153.

Overall, 18 diamond drill holes intersected the body of the quartz zone Domain 3.

An extensive body of high-grade quartz in Domain 3 was intersected below the cryolite-fluorite zone Domain 1 and iron-zinc zone Domain 2, with average drill intersections including:

Hole 153  54 metres at 97.6% silicon from 32 metres;

Hole 165  24 metres at 93.2% from 12 metres; and

Hole 165  53 metres at 94.8% from 45 metres.

Analyses of individual 3-metre intervals of high-grade quartz mineralisation include:

Hole 153  99.60% silicon from 32 metres;

Hole 153  99.33% from 59 metres;

Hole 153  99.98% from 80 metres; and

Hole 153  99.94% from 86 metres.

Well-positioned to deliver increasing value

Popal added: This project also fits the companys mission to excel in the commercialisation of metals and minerals demanded in the production of green energy required by industry in the reduction of pollutants.

Logistically, the deposits are in close proximity to an existing port, offering significant commercial benefits in the delivery of its products to market.

The global exploration target domains have delineated extensive tonnages and grades across all the commodities with REE exploration yet to be conducted.

EPM is now well-positioned to deliver increasing value for our shareholders by being able to achieve cost effective results from assay of 19,000 metres of drill core from the project area currently in storage.

Silica outlook

A constantly growing glass industry in Europe demands increasing amounts of appropriate raw materials, including the most important one - glass silica.

High quality quartz is composed of silica which is characterised as having minimum 95% silica and low levels of impurities.

Silica with varying qualities may be used not only for glass production but also to make casting moulds in foundries, ingredients in ceramics, proppants in shale hydrocarbons extraction, fillers and extenders in polymers, paints and rubber for water filtration and for many other uses.

Quartz can also be the starting point for the manufacturing of water-soluble sodium silicates and other downstream silicon chemicals.

The global quartz market was valued at $8.23 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $13.61 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2020 to 2030 as mentioned in Persistence Market Research in July 2020.

Forward strategy

Subject to COVID-19 restrictions, Eclipse is planning activities to calculate a JORC-compliant resource estimate for the Ivittuut project at the earliest opportunity.

Further analytical work is required over the quartz zones as previous explorers did not assay all quartz intersections for contaminants.

Numerous drill holes hosting quartz mineralisation will be systematically split and analysed for contaminants to enable calculation of silica content as part of JORC-compliant resource estimation work.
Real estate and commercial buildings contribute almost half of the citys property tax revenues. For the first time in more than two decades, New York expects property tax receipts to decline, by an estimated $2.5 billion in the next fiscal year.

Still, New York is set to receive significant federal assistance from the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package: $5.95 billion in direct aid and another $4 billion for schools, a City Hall spokeswoman said.

While that addresses immediate needs, the city still faces an estimated $5 billion budget deficit next year and similar deficits in the following years, and a changing work culture could hobble New Yorks recovery.

The amount of office space in Manhattan on the market has risen in recent months to 101 million square feet, roughly 37 percent higher than a year ago and more than all the combined downtown office space in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas. This trend has shown little signs of slowing down, said Victor Rodriguez, director of analytics at CoStar, a real estate company.

At least one industry, however, is charging in the opposite direction. Led by some of the worlds largest companies, the technology sector has expanded its footprint in New York during the pandemic. Facebook has added 1 million square feet of Manhattan office space, and Apple added two floors in a Midtown Manhattan building.

And the surge in available commercial real estate has actually been a boon for some new businesses that have been able to find spaces at rents that are lower than they were before the pandemic.

Ive seen the obituary for New York City many times, said Brian S. Waterman, the executive vice chairman of Newmark, a commercial real estate services firm. The office reboarding will start to occur in May, June and July, and you are going to have a much fuller occupancy once we hit September.
Jakarta, March 29 : Two suicide bombers, one man and a woman, in the blast outside a cathedral church in Indonesia were killed on Sunday, spokesman of Provincial Police Office Senior Commissioner E. Zulpan told local media.

The number of injured people from the blast rose to 19, Xinhua news agency quoted Zulpan as saying late Sunday.

The explosion took place earlier in the day at the the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedralcomplex in South Sulawesi's Makassar city, when it was about to start the third mass congregation.

"Two suspected attackers tried to enter the church grounds, and then security officers tried to arrest them, and an explosion occurred," Pastor Wilhelminus Tulak said.

The Indonesian government strongly condemned the bombing attack, saying it was a heinous act that had tarnished the peace of social life.

Religious Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said he hoped that the police could reveal the mastermind behind the attack as soon as possible.

Chairman of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia Rev. Gomar Gultom said this bombing attack added to the list of acts of violence and terror in Indonesia.

The incident occurred when Christians in Indonesia were celebrating Palm Sunday, a Christian feast that falls on the Sunday ahead of Easter.

Churches have been targeted by extremists in Indonesia.

In 2018, dozens of people were killed when suicide bombers launched attacks at three churches during Sunday services in the city of Surabaya in East Java.
One Modou Jammeh, a resident of Brufut-Ghana Town, who is claiming ownership of Bamboo Forest, has instituted civil action against two employees of Gambia Forestry Department.

Defendants- Kebba Jammeh and Omar Jaiteh- are heads of the Nyambai Plantation Office in Brikama.

Mr Jammeh has been in tussle with the defendants over a piece of land situated between Farato and Jambur. Jammeh claimed that the land is situated in Jambur while the defendants contended the land in dispute is located in Farato and forms part of the Bambo Plantation.

It could be recalled that Foroyaa published an article, reporting that Modou Jammeh, who claimed ownership of the said land, bulldozed over 150 by 80 meters.

The Forestry officials informed him that the land is situated at the Bambo Forest, but the plaintiff disputed that fact and instituted civil suit against them. He is contending that the land is not part of the forest.

The claimant, Mr Jammeh, wants the court to issue an injunction against the defendants and their servants/agents pending the hearing and determination of the main suit.

The case could not proceed on Wednesday, 25th March 2021 at the instance of the defendants who requested for an adjournment since their lawyer was absent.

The trial magistrate, Peter Ado Che of the Brikama Magistrate's Court, told the defendants that their lawyer, as a matter of practice, should have written to the court.

Lawyer Edward A. Gomez for the Plaintiff said his client and the Defendants have right to fair-hearing within a reasonable time. He submitted that the case has suffered series of adjournments all at the instance of the Defendants. He pleaded with the court to allow the Plaintiff's to proceed with his case and adjourn it to give chance to the Defence counsel to cross-examine him.

Magistrate Peter Ado Che refused Lawyer Gomez's request. However, he awarded cost of D2000 to the plaintiff. He adjourned the case to 26th April 2021 at 10 am for hearing.

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mohr Capital, a Dallas-based privately held real estate investment firm, has sold a ground lease in Steubenville, Ohio, occupied by Texas Roadhouse, to a private investment company.

The retail property is an approximately one-acre outparcel in a highly visible, high-performing location across the street from Fort Steuben Mall  roughly 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Upon acquisition, Mohr Capital worked with Texas Roadhouse Inc. to create initial rent relief and the restaurant agreed to extend its lease long term.

"As social restrictions ease and more people receive their vaccinations, dine-in restaurant operators like Texas Roadhouse are beginning to see a rise in sales," said Rob Solls, director of retail investments and acquisitions for Mohr Capital. "We're happy with the way this transaction worked out. As the economy and consumer behavior normalize, we believe the property will continue to provide value to the buyer."

Mohr Capital acquired the ground lease in 2019 upon the launch of its retail acquisition and redevelopment division, citing the property's solid real estate fundamentals and the financial strength of operator Texas Roadhouse Inc., a publicly traded restaurant operator with over 630 restaurants system-wide in 49 states and 10 foreign countries. The Steubenville location is a corporate-owned restaurant.

"The Steubenville ground lease was the first transaction of our retail division, and the property has performed well for us," said Bob Mohr, chairman of Mohr Capital. "Since then, we've continued to build on our portfolio and pipeline of retail transactions, and the sale of this ground lease will enable us to continue pursuing best-in-class, fundamental real estate where we can provide value for both operators and our portfolio."

Solls represented Mohr Capital in the transaction, and The Mansour Group procured the buyer.

About Mohr Capital

Mohr Capital is a privately held real estate investment firm specializing in the acquisition, development and value enhancement of office, industrial and retail assets throughout the U.S. The Mohr Capital team has decades of experience in commercial real estate and has completed more than $1 billion in transactions. Guided by a value-driven strategy and an entrepreneurial spirit, the company relies on strong, long-term relationships and possesses keen market insights needed to capitalize on undervalued or underperforming properties. With its family office structure, Mohr Capital can close quickly and has a proven track record of delivering the highest risk-adjusted returns. For more information, visit www.mohrcap.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Mohr Capital

Related Links

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Players of La Liga giants, Real Madrid, have gifted Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo with an autographed jersey.



The autographed jersey was presented to the Ghanaian leader by Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, on Monday 29 March 2021.



The customised Real Madrid jersey to President Akufo-Addo was to mark his 77th birthday.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo left Ghana on Sunday, 28th March 2021 to Spain, to attend the Focus Africa 2023 Conference, being held in Madrid.



Focus Africa 2023, an in-person Conference, defines Spanish foreign action in Africa until 2023 and forms part of the Spanish Foreign Action Strategy 2021-2024. It includes the specific actions the Spanish Government intends to take with key stakeholders in Africa, including Ghana, and it is aligned with the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Unions 2063 Agenda.



The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.



The President will return to Ghana on Tuesday, 30th March 2021, and in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.

Source: Daily Mail GH









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ghana Union Of Professional Students (GUPS) on Friday 26 March, paid a courtesy call on its life Patron Prof Joshua Alabi at his residence in Accra.



The GUPs delegation was led by its President Stephen Kwesi Acquah (aka Mayor Carlos) Prof. Joshua Alabi who was the former Vice Chancellor of UPSA helped to formally found GUPS about 10 years ago.



The visit therefore was also to introduce the executive to him and seek his wise counsel. These are part of measures to reorganise GUPS.



The elated Prof. Joshua Alabi expressed his excitement saying the visit was an "honour" by a student group that has taken time to look for him after a decade of his putting together the once enviable Union.



In his congratulatory message, Prof. Alabi recounted his days as the Vice Chancellor of UPSA when he made sure he sat with the student leadership to decide on which student they should present from UPSA to win the GUPS Election and that of NUGS.



_"Make sure you lead the students' front rather than using your political affiliations to break the students front"..._ Prof. Alabi advised.



In appreciation, Stephen Kwesi Acquah, GUPS President assured LIFE PATRON Alabi that the current leadership of GUPS will deliver effective results to their members.



The GUPS Executives used the occasion to formally invite Prof. Joshua Alabi to the upcoming GUPS ALUMNI DINNER slated for 2nd April, 2021. Prof. Alabi accepted the invitation and assured of his presence.



Other GUPS executive members at the meeting were the Treasurer, Nana ofosu, and Press & information Secretary

Rexford Adom Asare









Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

Students enter the Pierre Laporte Secondary School as secondary school students return to class full time during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, on Monday, March 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

5:40 p.m.

British Columbia health officials announced 2,518 new COVID-19 cases over three days on Monday, for a total of 98,165 since the pandemic began last year.

Six more people died from COVID-19, bringing the B.C. death toll to 1,455.

The number of vaccine shots given sits at 699,092 and among those, 87,289 are second doses.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. is following national advice to pause Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccinations for people younger than 55.

5:25 p.m.

British Columbia is introducing new restrictions for the next three weeks amid surging COVID-19 cases.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says indoor dining will be prohibited, but takeout and patio service will be allowed as part of the new rules effective from midnight through April 19.

She is prohibiting indoor group fitness and closing the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort, and announced new support for mask-wearing in schools for grades 4 through 12.

Henry also reversed a recent decision to allow indoor faith gatherings, adding she is doing so with a heavy heart but can't in good conscience allow them to proceed given the risk.

5 p.m.

Alberta reported 545 new cases of COVID-19, with 288 people in hospital, 64 of whom are in intensive care.

There were 249 more cases of variants of concern and the variants now make up 27 per cent of active cases.

There were no new deaths reported, leaving that total at 1,983.

Alberta has administered 608,000 doses of COVID vaccine so far.

5 p.m.

Alberta is following the advice of the national immunization committee and will pause giving Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to those under 55 given concerns of blood clots in recipients in Europe.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, says there have been no reports of such blood clot complications.

About 900 Albertans under 55 have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

4:55 p.m.

Saskatchewan says it's following national advice to hold off on giving people younger than 55 shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

It says most of the 15,000 doses given to date have gone into the arms of people 58 and older who went through a drive-thru vaccination clinic in Regina.

Some younger health-care workers have also received these shots.

The province says it has fewer than 100 doses of AstraZeneca left, but another 46,600 are expected to arrive this week from the United States.

4:30 p.m.

Health officials say there are no new COVID-19 deaths in Saskatchewan today, but there are 202 new cases -- exactly half of those in Regina, where variants of concern have been spreading.

Some 1,978 cases are considered active and 162 people are in hospital, 25 of them in intensive care.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 199.

The total number of vaccines administered in the province so far sits at 179,800.

4:20 p.m.

Ontarios top doctor says the province will pause use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for anyone 55 years or younger.

The decision comes after the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations recommended against using the AstraZeneca vaccine for the age group.

Ontarios chief medical officers says, thus far, the province has not given that vaccine to anyone younger than 60 years old in Ontario.

Dr. David Williams says the province will await further guidance from the federal government before making any decision to lift the pause.

4:05 p.m.

Health Canada is asking AstraZeneca to do a full analysis of the risks of its vaccine across all age groups and genders, following additional reports of patients in Europe developing blood clots.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada, says there have been no blood clots reported in Canada to date and still believes the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks.

However, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization says it is recommending that no province or territory use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on any adult under the age of 55 pending the outcome of that review.

Dr. Shelley Deeks, the vice-chair of NACI, says the risk of blood clots from data in Europe is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.

She says most of the patients in Europe who developed a rare blood clot after vaccination with AstraZeneca were women under the age of 55, and the fatality rate is as high as 40 per cent.

Because the risk of blood clots has been found mainly in younger patients, and the risk of COVID-19 is much higher for older adults, NACI is not recommending the AstraZeneca vaccine be suspended for patients over the age of 55.

4 p.m.

Following national advice, Newfoundland and Labrador is suspending the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in people under 55.

Health officials say about 4,000 people in the province have received a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and another 2,880 doses are waiting to be used.

The province had been administering the vaccine to first responders, but officials said today the remaining doses will be used in people over 55.

Officials say though the risk of complications is extremely low, anyone under 55 who got an AstraZeneca dose will be contacted by public health.

2:05 p.m.

Manitoba is announcing 53 new cases of COVID-19 as health officials say they are watching a concerning rise in variants of concern.

There have been 136 more cases of the variants detected.

The province is also expanding vaccine eligibility to people aged 64 and older and First Nation people aged 44 and older.

Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province's vaccine task force, says Manitoba is also limiting the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to people between the ages of 55 and 64 as more information is being sought around some adverse symptoms in younger people noticed in the United Kingdom.

1:30 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 11 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say the cases are in the Edmundston region, in the northwestern part of the province.

New Brunswick has 120 active reported cases of COVID-19 and four patients in hospital with the disease, including two in intensive care.

The province has reported a total of 1,588 COVID-19 infections and 30 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

11:20 a.m.

Prince Edward Island has suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for those aged 18 to 29 who had appointments for shots in pharmacies.

Health officials said in a brief statement the appointments are on hold pending further information expected today from Health Canada and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 891 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including two in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say that while hospitalizations dropped by three to 477, the number of patients requiring intensive care rose by six to 120.

The province administered 38,801 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday and has vaccinated 14.9 per cent of the population with a first dose.

Since the pandemic began, Quebec has reported 309,202 COVID-19 infections and 10,651 deaths.

10:40 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 2,094 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 618 new cases in Toronto.

She also says there are 368 new cases in Peel Region, 277 in York Region, 132 in Ottawa and 104 in Durham Region.

More than 50,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Ontario since Sunday's daily report.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021
C-17's 'Sightseeing Tour' Over Ireland That Drew Complaints from Locals Was Pre-Approved, Base Says

The C-17 made headlines overseas after aircraft spotters noticed the massive aircraft moving through Irish airspace.
Former astronaut Ed Gibson, the final person to leave NASA's Skylab space station, says he'd go back to space 'in a heartbeat' if given the chance.

Gibson, a solar physicist, was in the first group of scientist-astronauts selected to go into space by NASA, making his only spaceflight as part of the final Skylab crew.

The 84-year-old, who closed the door on the first US space station, told MailOnline: 'If someone wants to test the effect of zero gravity on tired old bones I'm available.'

He appears in a new documentary called 'Searching for Skylab' by director Dwight Steven-Boniecki about the first and only, wholly NASA operated space station.

Ed Gibson as he prepares for his first and only flight to SkyLab with Al Shepard, the first American in space

Shower presentation by Alan Bean and Jack Lousma were part of the second crew to go to SkyLab, launching in July 1973 and are seen here demonstrating the shower system

Skylab crew, including Ed Gibson, had to perform routine maintenance by stepping outside the space station, Gibson said it wasn't as disorientating as you'd expect

ED GIBSON: THE FINAL ASTRONAUT ON NASA'S SKYLAB Edward Gibson was the final person onboard the US Skylab space station when the mission finished in 1974. Gibson has a PhD from the California Institute of Technology and was part of the first group of 'science-astronauts'. He specialised in solar physics and observed flares from the sun while onboard the orbiting laboratory. He is the last surviving member of 'Skylab 4' the final mission of three to go to the station, launching in 1973. Along with commander Gerald Carr and pilot William Pogue, he spent 84 days in space on the station. Before going into space, Gibson served as CAPCOM for the Apollo 12 lunar landing - the first from the 'scientist-astronaut' group to get a crew assignment of any kind. He was also involved in the design of much of the Skylab space station. Advertisement

Occupied by three separate teams for 24 weeks between 1973 and 1974, Skylab is the forebear of the International Space Station (ISS) and is one of mankind's greatest engineering feats.

Its story has largely been forgotten, with the mission lasting under a year and only nine astronauts visiting the station in three groups of three.

However, the Skylab missions were responsible for an incredible array of scientific discoveries before it dramatically crashed into Western Australia in 1979.

The missions have provided the scientific community with countless and invaluable information about our planet, the sun, space, and the universe itself.

Gibson, who studied solar physics before joining NASA, told MailOnline that seeing the sun from space was 'very refreshing' as they 'had nothing between their observational instruments on the station and the sun itself.

'We can look at the corona, the region around the sun, just like we do down here.

'But on Earth we have to wait for a solar eclipse, up there we could see the atmosphere of the sun anytime we were in sunlight.'

He added they could see flares from the sun very clearly, creating a much closer connection between the astronauts and the sun, than would be the case on Earth.

'The real trick is to understand how a solar flare appears and we got from birth to middle age of a flare, but the resolution of instruments wasn't enough to really see the details of how it happened.'

Skylab (pictured) was the second space station to launch into orbit, following the Soviet Salyut-1 which launched in 1971

It was the first, and currently only, wholly operated US space station in orbit around the Earth

Here Ed Gibson can be seen standing outside the station, with the Earth in the background

The work Gibson and others did on Skylab has since been used to help develop the field of solar flare forecasting and made way for spaceships like the parker solar probe, currently studying our star up close.

Gibson was in the final Skylab crew along with commander Gerald Carr and pilot William Pogue.

While the purpose of the orbiting facility was scientific in nature, Gibson told MailOnline 'we still had a lot of fun' while onboard, including with the food.

'The food was excellent, we had lobster, filet mignon, it was very well done, I was really surprised and hats off to them all of the way.

The US orbiting lab was significantly larger than its Russian predecessor at 13,000 cubic ft compared to the 3,500 cubic ft of the Russian craft

The crew of SkyLab 4 (pictured left) launched into space in an Apollo command and service module on top of a Saturn IB rocket (right) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida

'We also had empty calories including butter cookies and other things you punch on down here but not as a stable for a meal, as something on the side to eat.

'All three of us liked the butter cookies, but we had a limited supply of them and so the butter cookie became the financial currency of Skylab.'

Unpopular tasks would be traded away, or even taken on, in return for the precious cookies that Gibson said 'tasted the same when he got to Earth.'

It wasn't just the butter cookies keeping them entertained, they also competed in 'summersault olympics' and would hide inside the 14,000 cubic ft space station.

'One of the days I was off looking for data from a previous mission, I was working behind a large structure and they lost me for half an hour,' he told MailOnline.

He said the command module that was their 'escape route' back to Earth was still docked, 'so they knew I hadn't run away'.

Pogue once tried 'swimming in air' by putting paddles on his feet and hands to see if he could 'fly through air in the same way you can fly through water,' said Gibson.

He added: 'It was funny to watch but he didn't have much success,' adding it was unlikely to ever become a future Olympics sport.

The trio, including Ed Gibson (top), William Pogue (left) and Gerald Carr (right), had a metal Christmas tree made from empty cans

'The whole experience of life on Skylab, as well as the space walk, changes your perception,' Gibson told MailOnline

Jack Lousma from the second Skylab crew posed for a photo during a spacewalk

'We might have a sport in how many barrel roles or summersaults you can do, I have the world record for 10 and a half gainers, that is zero gravity backflips, but I never received any recognition from the Olympic committee about it.'

During his time on the station Gibson had to go out into space during a spacewalk, looking down on the wide Earth spinning below him.

'The whole experience of life on Skylab, as well as the space walk, changes your perception,' Gibson told MailOnline.

This is because it 'makes you realise how 'one we are', that the world is one humanity, with different countries and interests, but you get the feeling 'we are one' and should behave that way,' he explained.

Owen Garriott from the second Skylab mission is here on a spacewalk to repair part of the station

The documentary Searching for SkyLab by director Dwight Steven-Boniecki about the first and only wholly NASA operated space station is now available on BluRay

SKYLAB: THE ONLY FULLY OPERATED US SPACE STATION Skylab was the second space station to launch into orbit, following the SovietSalyut-1 which launched in 1971. The US orbiting lab was significantly larger than its Russian predecessor at 13,000 cubic ft compared to the 3,500 cubic ft of the Russian craft. Skylab was the largest human made object to operate in space until the International Space Station launched to operate in 1998. Three groups of three astronauts lived on Skylab before it was discontinued by NASA in 1974. Skylab 2: May 25, 1973

Skylab 3: July 28, 1973

Skylab 4: November 16, 1973

Skylab 5: cancelled

Skylab Rescue: on standby It included a workshop, solar observatory, Earth observation and hundreds of other experiments. There was 'still life' in the station after the last crew left in 1974, with about seven months of oxygen, food, water and other supplies remaining. Unfortunately it was slowly de-orbiting, designed to last about nine years in orbit - dropping 30km by 1980 and another 100km by 1982. When NASA believed the first Space Shuttle would be ready by 1979 there were plans to send it up to re-orbit the station for future use. This wasn't to be the case, due in part to delays to the shuttle, which eventually launched in 1981. It came to an end in 1979 about 300 miles east of Perth, Western Australia. A large piece of Skylab debris was displayed on stage during the 1979 Miss Universe pageant in Perth the same year. Advertisement

Returning to Earth and full gravity was 'uncomfortable and a little unstable' feeling a bit like 'coming home from a party on a Friday night'.

He never returned to space after his time on Skylab, but even now, aged 84, he said he'd love to go back up into orbit again.

'I would like to fly again but I think if it was a space hotel and a lot of other people were going that would be fine, but I wouldn't want to take anybody else's spot.

'However, if the current space programme wanted to find out what happened to a tired old body in space, I'd happily offer myself up.'

Some of those memories and the moments of America's only fully operated space station, have been captured by Steven-Beniecki in his new documentary.

Using stunning re-mastered and never-seen-before footage and interviews, Searching for Skylab reveals the incredible feats of science and technology achieved by the space station and the NASA astronauts upon it.

Woven into the film are previously untold eye-witness accounts from the astronauts themselves, capturing their history and stories before they are lost to time.

Additional interviews from the engineers and their families tell the story of those behind the scenes and reveal the human side of what it was like to live through one the most exciting times for space exploration in human history.

Steven-Boniecki said: 'With Skylab, people wrongly assume that because it crashed into Western Australia, that it was a failure.

'This belies the fact that the three missions carried out on board single-handedly changed the way in which we live on Earth.

'Searching for Skylab attempts to shed light on the reasons why and highlights how Skylab was a resounding success.'

Gibson said when they left for the final time, they left it fully operational as they didn't know if anybody would be going back in the future.

'We didn't know what it was going to be, who it was going to be or if anybody was going to be going there at all,' he told MailOnline.

He said it was upsetting watching it crash into the Earth as 'it had a lot of life left in it' but not as much as it could have because we had the idea of 'building a bigger and better one' on our minds.

Preparing for a spacewalk was always a lengthy process, including getting into the completely sealed suits

Skylab eventually came to an end in 1979 when it deorbited and came down to Earth about 300 miles east of Perth, Western Australia

Gibson is still inspired by the work of NASA and the commercial space companies, saying we are 'just stepping out of our cradle' as a species, venturing into space.

'We need to push to land humans on Mars, we need to push to move humanity out into our solar system and eventually beyond. We need to see who else is out there.

'We are bound to extend our human life beyond Earth, it is only a question of when.'

The documentary Searching for SkyLab by director Dwight Steven-Boniecki about the first and only wholly NASA operated space station is now available on BluRay.
On a plethora of environmental concerns, the Biden administration is poised to take significant steps.

Return to the Paris Accords

Officials are scheduled to announce a revised strategy for meeting the Paris Climate Agreement's targets in the coming weeks and make proposals for improvements to many national monuments. In general, the administration is taking actions that could take a stricter approach to environmental protection.

Related Article: Biden First Day: POTUS Commits to 'Global Climate Initiative' as US Rejoins Paris Climate Accords



Fixing Past Changes

Although the regulatory process can be slow, Biden officials have already taken steps to postpone or eliminate some Trump-era regulations and plan to replace them. Environmental organizations have said that they can wait to see how the procedure plays out.

In an email, Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's Land Management Initiative, said, "It's going to take years to reverse all the damage - to wildlife, to special areas, to cities, and to the environment" caused by the Trump administration.

President Biden has charted a path for his administration to reverse much of his predecessor's environmental policies through a number of executive orders since taking office.

Following the administration's decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement, officials said they would update a national roadmap detailing the country's obligations under Earth Day's international agreement.

Related Article: New EPA Head Michael Regan Confirmed by the Senate

Emission Reduction

By doing so, Biden is on track to beat Obama's target of reducing US emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025 relative to 2005 levels.

The Natural Resources Defense Council's director of policy research, Starla Yeh, said her group would urge the administration to set a reduction target of at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.

To achieve this, Yeh says, "very clear and ambitious policies in the economy would be required."

"To offer sustainable and comprehensive pollution reductions for all industries, the kind of competitive policy plan really needs to include a set of guidelines and legislation, presumably combined with incentives and funding programs," Yeh added.

Related Article: Who is Gina McCarthy? Meet The Woman Behind POTUS Biden's Climate Agenda



"Taxing" Excessive Emission

The administration is also set to raise the so-called "external prices" of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions. When agencies perform cost-benefit assessments of actions that will increase or decrease pollution, the social impacts are taken into account.

Assigning higher social costs of pollution may then be used to explain more strict carbon policies in general. The updated formula is expected to be released in January, less than a year before people vote in the midterm elections.

Reviewing Altered Natural National Monuments

Biden ordered a review of three national monuments that were altered during the Trump administration. The Interior Department will release a report on the three next month. The report will look at whether it would be "appropriate" to restore "boundaries and conditions" on the land. The review will be released after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visits Utah next month, where two of the monuments are located.

The Biden administration has already identified scores of Trump-era environmental regulations that it wants to review, including rules regulating air quality requirements, water contamination, and greenhouse gas emissions, through many departments.

Related Article: Biden To Overhaul Offices to Promote Environmental Justice

Taking Care of Birds

The administration also wants to reverse Trump's rollback of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which removed past fines for businesses that kill birds unintentionally or inadvertently.

Interior Department will review three national monuments that were altered during the Trump administration. The report will be released after Secretary Deb Haaland visits Utah, where two of the monuments are located.

Removing Scientific Interference

The EPA is slated to look into any science interference that may have occurred during the previous administration. It is expected to highlight 90 such instances, including those dealing with toxic chemicals and studies discounting weedkillers' harmful effects.

The national monuments' review was initially slated for completion on March 21, but it will now be released next month. The Interior Department will release the report next month after the secretary visits Utah to see the monuments. The Environmental Protection Agency is also looking into possible interference in scientific integrity at the EPA, which may have affected scientific findings. The agency is expected into 90 such cases.

Also Read: Environmental Justice Goes Mainstream with Governmental Support

For more news update about Environmental Action, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
 Flash

Two people are confirmed dead while another nine are still missing on Sunday after a boat carrying Algerian migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean from the coast of North Africa overturned 300 meters from the shore of southeast Spain.

The tragedy happened late Saturday night close to the beach of a small resort called Mazarron in the Autonomous Community of Murcia, the regional authorities have informed.

Two bodies have so far been recovered, while three people were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals in Almeria and Cartagena.

The Murcia regional government noted that "various boats and two helicopters from Maritime Rescue Service and the Civil Guard" are continuing to search for the nine still missing.

The tragedy happened on the high seas after strong winds hit the region. Days earlier several other boats carrying around 180 Algerian migrants had managed to complete the dangerous crossing.

According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, 41,861 illegal immigrants arrived in Spain during 2020, with 23,023 making the dangerous crossing to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Urban Skin Rx is excited to announce The Melanin Experts - an evergreen initiative that will provide skincare education, virtual consultations, and a network of services to glowgetters seeking expert information and advice on how to tackle skincare concerns most seen in skin of color. Led by Urban Skin Rx founder Rachel Roff and a team of in-house licensed aestheticians who specialize in skin of color, a.k.a. glowgivers, the Melanin Experts will provide awareness and advocacy across the United States, working toward the brand's fundamental goal of firm, consistent allyship to the BIPOC community.

"When I began my career as an aesthetician, I noticed a lack of education, services and products that addressed common concerns seen in deeper skin tones," says CEO & founder Rachel Roff. "I founded Urban Skin Rx in 2010 to provide solutions to specific issues for women and men with melanin-rich skin. As part, I've dedicated the last 15 years to overcoming disparities in clinical skincare for diverse skin tones and am proud to unveil an extension to these efforts with The Melanin Expert Network, a free online service that connects consumers with licensed aestheticians with extensive experience in the industry, allowing glowgetters to easily address their unique skin concerns without leaving their homes."

Joining Rachel as part of the Melanin Expert Network is Dr. Alexis Stephens, DO, FAOCD, FAAD. As the founder and lead board-certified dermatologist at Parkland Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery in Coral Springs, Florida, Dr. Stephens has devoted her career to creating an accepting and welcoming environment for a diverse group of patients. As a Melanin Expert, she will serve as an ambassador for the program and share her knowledge to uplift communities of color.

"In an industry where less than 3% of dermatologists in the U.S. are Black, I'm proud to be part of this initiative and represent my community," says Dr. Stephens. "I fully support and believe in the Urban Skin Rx mission towards creating an ethical, unprejudiced skincare industry and I look forward to providing accessible education and advocating for BIPOC men & women through various resources during this partnership."

To further support these ongoing efforts, the brand will continue to give back by utilizing their powerful social media platform to amplify melanated voices. As such, Urban Skin Rx channels will feature BIPOC tastemakers, skin specialists and competing brands, aiming a spotlight on and providing key insights from those outside the Urban Skin Rx network.

Additionally, to further promote more inclusion in the skincare industry, Urban Skin Rx is proud to announce that they are collaborating with The Academy of Goal Achievers to award scholarships for Aestheticians at The Academy of Nails and Aesthetics. The brand is also working with the Skin of Color Society for an upcoming collaboration that will be impactful to the melanin community and those who focus on Skin of Color. These initiatives will serve as the foundation for change within the beauty industry by funding opportunities for future Melanin Experts.

From its inception, Urban Skin Rx has been dedicated to fighting injustice against children, adolescent girls, women, and the Black community. As a company that predominantly serves and sells to BIPOC and women, they are committed to always having compassion for marginalized communities, bringing awareness to the issues they face, and providing financial support to organizations that are dedicated to supporting them.

About Urban Skin Rx

Urban Skin Rx was founded in Charlotte, NC in 2010 to develop clinical skincare products that address the needs of consumers with melanin-rich skin tones. Urban Skin Rx products deliver blends of high-strength ingredients formulated to address the most common skincare concerns of women of color, including improving the appearance of hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone. Urban Skin Rx products are sold at www.urbanskinrx.com and at over 5,000 retail locations across the U.S.

For more information on Urban Skin Rx, please visit www.urbanskinrx.com.

For more information on the non-profit organizations Urban Skin Rx supports, please visit https://urbanskinrx.com/pages/non-profits-we-support.

For press inquiries, please contact Rebecca Leiby, mml PR, at rebecca@mmlpr.com.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/urban-skin-rx-announces-the-melanin-experts-301256982.html

SOURCE Urban Skin Rx
Two days later, Honduras still has no results from Sundays primaries to select the field of candidates to replace President Juan Orlando Hernandez in November. The head of the countrys National Electoral Council, Ana Paola Hall, said Tuesday the agency would favor accuracy over speed in releasing results. The processing of precinct vote tallies and inspection of the tally sheets has only just begun.

Sundays vote included presidential primaries for the Libre, Liberal and National parties, the main three of the 14 registered parties, and candidates for the 128 seats of the National Congress. Hernandezs name keeps popping up in the New York trial of an alleged drug trafficker. And one of the candidates running to replace him has been convicted in the same court of laundering money for the same cartel.

The court actions show just how deep are the challenges facing Honduras, a country that U.S. prosecutors have repeatedly portrayed as a narco-state where drug traffickers buy protection from politicians. Yani Rosenthal, fresh off serving a three-year sentence in the United States, is running for the nomination of the Liberal Party, his third time as a candidate. He was sentenced in 2017 and agreed to give up $3 million after pleading guilty to laundering money for the Cachiros cartel. His father was once Honduras vice president and the family ran a banking empire.

Another big name in the field is Xiomara Castro, wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who is making her second bid to be the Libre partys presidential candidate. Zelayas name also came up last week in the trial of accused Honduran drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez.

The former leader of the Cachiros cartel, Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, testified Thursday that in addition to bribing Hernandez while he was president of the Congress, he also bribed Zelaya in 2006 when he assumed the presidency. Like Hernandez, Zelaya died the allegation.

It is unclear, what effect the steady drumbeat of traffickers accusations against Hernandez could have the National Partys ability to retain power. Hernandez relied on a controversial court ruling to overcome a constitutional ban on seeking reelection in 2017. Since then, he has faced broad public disapproval.

(Image Credits: AP)

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
WSU Part of National Climate Change Webinar

March 29, 2021

While the COVID-19 crisis has demanded much of our attention over this last year, Weber State Universitys Sustainability Practices and Research Center (SPARC) works to also keep attention on the looming issue of climate change and how Utahns can make a difference.

SPARC, along with WSUs Environmental Initiatives Committee and the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service, will host a statewide live-webcast on climate solutions, April 7 from 4-5:30 p.m., as part of a nationwide and global dialog event called Solve Climate by 2030.

This is the second year Weber State will host the Utah webinar event. Due to its leadership and involvement in sustainability, WSU was asked to serve as the host for the first Utah Solve Climate webinar last year.

This time around, universities in 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 45 other countries are hosting Global Dialogs: interactive webinars with climate leaders. From Australia to Kyrgyzstan, Colombia to Malaysia, and South Carolina to South Africa, these events will help people find out the big, ambitious things that can be done in local communities over the next year to help solve climate change and create jobs as the world recovers from COVID.

We will focus on what Utahns can do to help improve our future in the face of climate change, said Alice Mulder, SPARC director. We want to translate the solutions identified by state experts to next steps we can each take on the ground. Time is short for us to make a significant difference in reducing the impacts of our changing climate.

COVID-19 has shown how fragile our health and economic systems are in the face of extreme events and how vulnerable communities are disproportionately impacted by them. Mulder said it is important to remember the best climate scientists have told us clearly that unchecked, climate change will turn our lives into a series of extreme events around the world. There is still time to change that future.

Eban Goodstein, economist and director of the Solve Climate project at Bard College urges climate-concerned teachers at the college, university and high-school level to kick off Earth Month by assigning the webinar as homework  either live or recorded  and then discuss with students.

You dont have to be an expert on climate to talk with your students, Goodstein said. Every subject contributes to understanding climate solutions. Whether teachers are teaching art, literature, business, philosophy or any other discipline, they can access easy-to-use guides to incorporate climate change.

Faculty and teachers across the country and globe, and across disciplines, will assign the webinars as homework to springboard discussion for climate solutions and energy justice. Subject-area online resources are available to #MakeClimateaClass.

Weber States webinar will begin with a short presentation from Bard College followed by a Utah-focused panel presentation and community discussion.

To watch the free webinar, or receive a link to the recording, register here. For more information, contact katherinemeyr@weber.edu.

You can learn more about Weber State sustainability work at this link.

April 7, 2021 Webinar Schedule

4-4:05 p.m.: Welcome to Power Dialog - Solve Climate by 2030,

Eban Goodstein, Bard College graduate programs in sustainability director

4:05-5 p.m.: Climate Solutions Live Panel

Vicki Bennett, Salt Lake City sustainability director

Congressman John Curtis, Rep. for Utah's 3rd District

Thomas Holst, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and David Eccles School of Business senior energy policy analyst,

Olivia Juarez, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Latinx community organizer,

5 - 5:30 p.m.: Community conversation including questions and answers regarding the solutions, getting engaged, and next steps.

For more information about SPARC, visit this link.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
A selfie taken by Jennifer Arcuri in Boris Johnson's kitchen while he popped to the shops has been uncovered - as No. 10 insists he acted with 'honesty and integrity' throughout his relationship with the American tech entrepreneur.

The Prime Minister is now facing a City Hall investigation into sensational new claims about their 'four-year affair' when he was mayor of London - and married to Marina Wheeler, mother of four of his children.

Lurid details emerged at the weekend when Miss Arcuri, 36, revealed how on one occasion in 2016 they had sex on a sofa at Mr Johnsons marital home while his now ex-wife, a QC, was at work.

She even took a selfie in the kitchen of his 3.35million Grade-II townhouse while he was out buying food at the corner shop and told how he said a raunchy photo she sent him was 'enough to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window'.

Jennifer Arcuri's selfie in Boris Johnson's kitchen has been uncovered (pictured)- as No. 10 insists he acted with 'honesty and integrity' over his relationship with her

The Prime Minister is now facing a City Hall investigation into sensational new claims about their 'four-year affair' when he was mayor of London - and married to Marina Wheeler (pictured together), mother of four of his children

Mr Johnson had planned a meal of cheesy pasta but forgotten the cheese - so he left his mistress alone while going out to buy it.

The PM's press secretary Allegra Stratton said Mr Johnson would co-operate with the standards committee probe as she insisted he had not broken rules governing the conduct of elected officials.

When Miss Stratton was asked this afternoon if Mr Johnson believed he behaved with 'honesty and integrity' - a requirement of the Nolan Principles of Public Life - she replied 'yes'.

What are the key issues officials are investigating? The Greater London Authority probe will examine whether Mr Johnson breached the Nolan Principles of Public Life over his affair with Miss Arcuri. These require officials to behave with 'honesty and integrity'. The key lines of inquiry are: If Mr Johnson breached the Nolan Principles by failing to report the relationship. If the future PM gave Miss Arcuri 'preferential treatment' over - 126,000 in taxpayer' money she received in event sponsorship and grants. The majority 100,000, came in a government grant in 2019;

Mr Johnson's decision to speak at her technology events;

The privileged access she gained to three official overseas trade missions led by him. Advertisement

This weekend Miss Arcuri admitted for the first time to having an 'intimate relationship' with Mr Johnson - as she claimed she slept with him on a sofa at his marital home just minutes before his wife came home.

The 36-year-old US tech entrepreneur claims to have shared an 'intimate relationship' with the future PM between 2012 and 2016.

It is the first time Miss Arcuri has directly admitted to the affair, which happened while Mr Johnson was Mayor of London.

The London Assembly's oversight committee had already been investigating whether the 56-year-old breached the mayoral code of conduct by failing to declare the relationship, or abused his position to benefit his mistress.

In 2019, it emerged that she had been given 126,000 of public money and privileged access to three official overseas trade missions led by him, leading to claims he had abused his position to benefit her.

Yesterday, a City Hall source said the committee would now investigate the new evidence presented by Miss Arcuri this weekend.

The source told MailOnline that the new revelations in Miss Arcuri's interview with the Mirror were significant because it suggested there had been a 'substantial relationship' over a long period of time.

The source also noted that Miss Arcuri had said she believed Mr Johnson should have declared their relationship and said officials would be interested in this.

Last year the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) decided not to open a criminal investigation into the allegations, although officials said he should have reported the relationship.

The committee probe will take place after the May 6 elections. A spokesman for No 10 yesterday told MailOnline it had 'nothing to add' to the claims. MailOnline has contacted the London Assembly for comment.

Jennifer Arcuri has claimed that she and Boris Johnson (together in 2014) had four-year affair where she sent him 'arty' topless pictures - but insists they had an 'intellectual attraction'

In an interview, the former model revealed the couple would meet for weekly trysts and exchanged sexual messages.

In a bid to avoid getting taught, Miss Arcuri also told him to empty the bins after cutting her foot on the way to the house, and having to dispose of her tights.

Mr Johnson told her one raunchy photograph she sent him was 'enough to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window'.

Miss Arcuri claims in March 2016 she had sex with Mr Johnson on the sofa in the living room of his marital home, which he shared with his wife Marina Wheeler.

Messages between the pair reportedly show him texting her his Islington address, before telling her he wanted to 'check the coast is gonna be clear'.

That evening he cooked her cheesy pasta and they read Shakespeare's Macbeth, which was 'kind of foreplay routine we had', she said.

'After we made love I felt conflicted being there in his family home and seeing him like this but I couldn't help but love the feeling of being desired.'

She left just ten minutes before Miss Wheeler, a QC and the mother of four of his children, returned home from work.

Miss Arcuri, who is 20 years younger than Mr Johnson, had initially denied rumours of the affair when the scandal broke.

But in an interview with the Daily Mail in October, she admitted for the first time that they had been intimate.

The latest interview is her most explicit account yet of the lengths Mr Johnson went to pursue her and the extent of their affair.

Miss Arcuri was a business student when she met him at an event in 2011. A few months later she volunteered to help his 2012 campaign for re-election as mayor.

She said there was an 'obvious spark' when he recognised her on his 'Boris Bus' campaign vehicle and they exchanged numbers.

Ms Arcuri claims the pair first had sex in her flat on Shoreditch High Street, where she had pole dancer's apparatus installed, just hours before he attended the opening of the 2012 London Paralympics

Weeks later he texted her asking to go for a private drink.

She told how he 'showed up late, dishevelled and chaotic' and walked in with his bike helmet still on.

She said: 'He went to the bar and came back within a minute and said, 'Jennifer can I borrow 3.10?'

'On their second date some weeks later, he was ''very forthright'' and told her: 'I can't stop thinking about, I want to date you, I really like you.'

She said he stroked her leg under the table and 'begged to go home' with her but was 'frustrated' when she refused and 'biked off in a huff'.

Outside the restaurant, despite posing for selfies with members of the public 'he screamed, 'Kiss me!' And I said, 'Mr Mayor, I do not kiss politicians on the street'.

He said, 'This is my city, I don't care'.'

They first had sex at her flat in Shoreditch, east London - where she had installed a dance pole - on August 29, 2012, she said, just before the Paralympics ceremony.

Afterwards, Mr Johnson, who had turned up in his mayoral suit with Olympic badges, 'was very clearly distraught because he wanted to stay. I think I couldn't even find his sock - it was just the most bizarre experience'.

Despite sitting beside Miss Wheeler - the mother of four of his children - and senior royals during the televised event, which was also attended by Princess Anne, Prince William and Kate Middleton, he continued to text and call her all evening.

She also claimed she sent an 'arty' picture of herself topless with the snapshots being from professional shoots

They met regularly over the next four years, she said.

'He'd say, 'You are the most beautiful woman, I can't stop thinking about you... Of course I love your body, and your face, and your breasts, but you are a very clever woman'.'

She told how she once sent Mr Johnson an 'arty' pin-up picture of herself topless by a fireplace.

His enthusiastic reply was a quote from Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely: 'It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.'

Miss Arcuri ended the affair in 2016. Mr Johnson's marriage to Miss Wheeler ended in 2018 when the then Foreign Secretary began an affair with his current fiancee Carrie Symonds, 33.

Last year the Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had found no evidence Mr Johnson had committed a criminal offence of misconduct in public office - but he may still face a GLA inquiry.

Ms Arcuri maintains that she was invited on trade trips in her own right as a member of the London tech-scene.

But she slammed Mr Johnson as a 'cowardly, wet noodle' for not standing by her during the fallout.

The Prime Minister has previously never confirmed or denied that the pair were involved in an affair.
South Africa: Concern over deadly Mozambique attacks

South Africa has expressed concern at the recent attacks against foreign nationals in Palma, northern Mozambique.

The conflict, which intensified on Friday, has left dozens dead while about 60 people are believed to be still missing after a group of terrorists stormed into the town.

It is with grave concern to note that South Africans were also affected by these attacks, said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

According to media reports, many South Africans, some contractors working on the construction of the French Total energy companys Afungi liquid natural gas processing plant, were caught in the deadly insurgent attack.

A South African man, Adrian Nel, is among the dead, News24 said.

According to media reports, hundreds of locals and foreigners were reportedly rescued from Palma, a logistics hub for international gas projects in Cabo Delgado province.

In a statement released over the weekend, the department said South Africa is now working with the local authorities on verifications through its mission in Maputo, as well as providing the necessary consular services.

The mission in Mozambique is being re-enforced with additional staff to handle the work at hand of locating, identifying and responding to the respective needs of the affected, the DIRCO statement read.

South Africa stands ready to work with the government of Mozambique in pursuit of lasting peace and stability, it said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A cancer-stricken boy who was forced to isolate in hospital with his dad for nearly two months has finally been given the all by doctors.

The family of Oliver Stephenson, five, from Ackworth, West Yorkshire, say they felt like they have 'won the lottery' as the youngster can now start pioneering 210,000 treatment to prevent his rare form of cancer from returning.

Brave Oliver was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2020 and doctors soon discovered the disease had spread to his skull, eye sockets and bone marrow.

The youngster underwent chemotherapy, surgery, stem cell treatment and a bone marrow transplant before receiving the incredible news he's now in remission on Friday.

But while undergoing treatment his father James Stephenson, 33, isolated with him in a 15ft hospital room at Leeds General Infirmary for seven weeks.

Now he's in remission, Oliver will now be able to travel to America for a pioneering clinical trial vaccine called bivalent, which is hoped will prevent the disease from returning.

The family of Oliver Stephenson, five, from Ackworth, West Yorkshire, say they felt like they have 'won the lottery' as the youngster can now start pioneering 210,000 treatment to prevent his rare form of cancer from returning. Oliver is pictured with his parents James and Laura

Brave Oliver was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2020 and doctors soon discovered the disease had spread to his skull, eye sockets and bone marrow. The youngster underwent chemotherapy, surgery, stem cell treatment and a bone marrow transplant before receiving the incredible news he's now in remission on Friday.

The treatment, which costs 210,000 and is carried out in New York, will be paid for from crowdfunding pages set up to support the schoolboy which raised a staggering 300,000.

Oliver's mum, Laura, 35, said she is 'overwhelmed' at the news and that the cash left over after paying for the vaccine will be spent on several journeys between the UK and US.

She added: 'We're absolutely ecstatic. When I heard Oliver got the all-clear my stomach did a flip.

WHAT IS NEUROBLASTOMA? Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that affects children and usually starts in the abdomen. Around 100 children, who are typically under five, are diagnosed every year in the UK. The disease affects approximately 800 new children annually in the US. In around half of cases, neuroblastoma spreads to other parts of the body, particularly the liver and skin. Neuroblastoma's cause is unclear. There may be a family-history link. The main symptom is usually a lump in the abdomen, which may cause swelling, discomfort or pain. If the disease affects the spinal cord, it can lead to numbness, weakness and loss of movement in the lower part of the body. Treatment depends on how advanced the cancer is and the risk it will return after therapy. Surgery, and chemo and radiotherapy, are commonly used. Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement

'It was a really emotional and overwhelming moment, I feel like I walked around in a daze for the rest of the day.

'It is honestly better than winning the lottery.

'After everything he has been through this is a massive moment, it means we can start the next stage of the journey.'

Laura, and James received the wonderful news last week after their son had finished immunotherapy and subsequent tests showed no signs of cancer.

They told Oliver and his brother Alfie, three, on Friday evening after picking him from school and sitting down for a celebratory dinner.

Laura said: 'I asked Oliver, '"do you know why we are celebrating?" And he said he thought it was because of the Easter holidays, as he had just broken up from school.

'I told him, "mummy and daddy went to the hospital today, we saw your doctor and she said you're better".

'He understands he was ill but he's so young that he just took the news in his stride, although he was happy to hear that he only needs to take one medicine a day now.'

She added: 'We didn't know for sure what the doctor would say before the meeting but we were hoping for good news after seeing how much Oliver had improved.

'He's looking really well, he's growing loads and he's really active again, so we did have an inkling he was on track.

'It's amazing to see how far Oliver has come, he's doing so well.'

The Stephensons will travel to the States later this year to begin the bivalent treatment, which will require five trips across the pond and seven vaccines in 12 months.

If it works, the treatment at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will train Oliver's immune system to identify and destroy neuroblastoma cells lurking in his body.

It's hoped this will prevent a relapse.

Laura said: 'It is a clinical trial so we don't know what will happen.

The treatment, which costs 210,000 and is carried out in New York, will be paid for from crowdfunding pages set up to support the schoolboy which raised a staggering 300,000. Oliver is pictured in hospital

Oliver's mum, Laura, 35, said she is 'overwhelmed' at the news and that the cash left over after paying for the vaccine will be spent on several journeys between the UK and US. Oliver is pictured

'But 60 per cent of people who recovered from neuroblastoma end up relapsing, so we want to everything we can to stop that happening to Oliver.'

In January last year, Oliver was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare cancer originating from immature nerve cells that affects only 100 children annually.

The Stephenson family's ordeal was worsened by the pandemic, which meant Oliver and James had to isolate in together in hospital while the youngster had chemotherapy.

In total, they spent seven weeks over April, May and June living in the same 15sqft room at Leeds General Infirmary.

James was at his son's bedside throughout but Laura and Alfie were unable to visit due to restrictions and had to make do with video calls.

In January last year, Oliver was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare cancer originating from immature nerve cells that affects only 100 children annually. He is pictured in hospital

Crowdfunding pages were set up to help the family pay for treatment once options on the NHS were exhausted, as neuroblastoma has a significant chance of returning.

The Stephenson's watched on in amazement as the total sums raised shot up day after day - eventually reaching more than 300,000.

Laura said: 'The incredible support and donations not just from our friends and family but around the world has been overwhelming.

'We are so grateful to everyone who has helped.'

She added: 'It's been a really difficult year for us and back in January Oliver's prognosis wasn't good at all.

'But he has battled through everything is doing well now, he's fit and strong and even back at school.'

The family say some of the crowdfunded cash, which exceeds what Oliver needs, has already been sent to another youngster battling cancer.

Laura said her boy's treatment will begin this year, adding: 'Now we can prepare for the next step of our journey.'
rose on Monday on expectations that the OPEC+ group of leading producers will keep output unchanged in May, and worries that operations in the Suez Canal might take weeks to return to normal even though a ship blocking it has been partly refloated.

Brent rose 58 cents, or 0.9%, to $65.15 a barrel by 1048 GMT. U.S. crude was up 40 cents, or 0.7%, at $61.37 a barrel.

Both contracts had fallen more than $1 earlier in the session.

The huge container ship blocking Egypt's Suez Canal for nearly a week has been partially refloated, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened for a big backlog of ships.

However, disruptions in the global shipping industry could take weeks and possibly months to clear, top container shipping lines said.

"Even if Ever Given leaves the canal within days, some leftover downstream ripple effects should be expected in the meantime," said Rystad Energy analyst Louise Dickson.

" loadings, as well as some oil demand could be affected as manufacturers may have to close or pause production as they wait for delayed goods to arrive at plants," she added.

Prices have swung wildly in the last few days as traders and investors tried to weigh the impact of the blocked key trade transit point and the broader effect of lockdowns to stop coronavirus infections.

Market volatility is set to continue, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

The market is also getting some support from expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia will maintain lower output levels when they meet this week.

Russia would support broadly stable oil output by OPEC+ in May, while seeking a relatively small output hike for itself to meet the rising seasonal demand, a source familiar with Russia's thinking said on Monday.

Renewed lockdowns in Europe to curb a wave of coronavirus infections weighed on fuel demand, but found some support as England's stay-at-home lockdown order was eased on Monday.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo, editing by Edmund Blair and David Evans)
DALLAS, March 29, 2021 -- Adults with periodontitis, a severe gum infection, may be significantly more likely to have higher blood pressure compared to individuals who had healthy gums, according to new research published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

Previous studies have found an association between hypertension and periodontitis, however, research confirming the details of this association is scarce. Periodontitis is an infection of the gum tissues that hold teeth in place that can lead to progressive inflammation, bone or tooth loss. Prevention and treatment of periodontitis is cost effective and can lead to reduction of systemic markers of inflammation as well as improvement in function of the endothelium (thin membrane lining the inside of the heart and blood vessels).

"Patients with gum disease often present with elevated blood pressure, especially when there is active gingival inflammation, or bleeding of the gums," said lead study author Eva Munoz Aguilera, D.D.S., M.Clin.Dent., senior researcher at UCL Eastman Dental Institute in London, United Kingdom. "Elevated blood pressure is usually asymptomatic, and many individuals may be unaware that they are at increased risk of cardiovascular complications. We aimed to investigate the association between severe periodontitis and high blood pressure in healthy adults without a confirmed diagnosis of hypertension."

The study included 250 adults with generalized, severe periodontitis (?50% of teeth measured with gum infection) and a control group of 250 adults who did not have severe gum disease, all of whom were otherwise healthy and had no other chronic health conditions. The median age of the participants was 35 years, and 52.6% were female. The research was completed in collaboration with the department of dentistry at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

All participants underwent comprehensive periodontal examinations including detailed measures of gum disease severity, such as full-mouth dental plaque, bleeding of the gums and the depth of the infected gum pockets. Blood pressure assessments were measured three times for each participant to ensure accuracy. Fasting blood samples were also collected and analyzed for high levels of white blood cells and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), as both are markers of increased inflammation in the body. Additional information analyzed as confounders included family history of cardiovascular disease, age, body mass index, gender, ethnicity, smoking and physical activity levels.

The researchers found that a diagnosis of gum disease was associated with higher odds of hypertension, independent of common cardiovascular risk factors. Individuals with gum disease were twice as likely to have high systolic blood pressure values ?140 mm Hg, compared to people with healthy gums (14% and 7%, respectively). Researchers also found:

The presence of active gum inflammation (identified by bleeding gums) was associated with higher systolic blood pressure.

Participants with periodontitis exhibited increased glucose, LDL ("bad" cholesterol), hsCRP and white blood cell levels, and lower HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels compared to those in the control group.

Nearly 50% of participants with gum disease and 42% of the control group had blood pressure values for a diagnosis of hypertension, defined as ?130/80 mmHg.

"This evidence indicates that periodontal bacteria cause damage to the gums and also triggers inflammatory responses that can impact the development of systemic diseases including hypertension," said corresponding author Francesco D'Aiuto, D.M.D., M.Clin.Dent., Ph.D., professor of periodontology and head of the periodontology unit at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute. "This would mean that the link between gum disease and elevated blood pressure occurs well before a patient develops high blood pressure. Our study also confirms that a worryingly high number of individuals are unaware of a possible diagnosis of hypertension."

D'Aiuto added, "Integration of hypertension screening by dental professionals with referrals to primary care professionals and periodontal disease screening by medical professionals with referrals to periodontists could improve detection and treatment of both conditions to improve oral health and reduce the burden of hypertension and its complications. Oral health strategies such as brushing teeth twice daily are proven to be very effective in managing and preventing the most common oral conditions, and our study's results indicate they can also be a powerful and affordable tool to help prevent hypertension."

This study did not account for other factors that may also impact blood pressure, such as abdominal obesity, salt intake, use of anti-inflammatory medications, hormone treatments or stress, or any other oral health conditions.

###

Co-authors are Jeanie Suvan, Dip.D.H., M.Sc., Ph.D.; Marco Orlandi, D.D.S., Ph.D.; Queralt Miro Catalina, B.Sc., M.Sc.; and Jose Nart, D.D.S., Ph.D.

This study received funding from the UK Department of Health's National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at University College London/University College London Hospitals. Orlandi holds a NIHR Clinical Lectureship. D'Aiuto held a Clinical Senior Lectureship Award supported by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration.

Additional Resources:

Available multimedia is on right column of release link -

https:/ / newsroom. heart. org/ news/ people-with-severe-gum-disease-may-be-twice-as-likely-to-have-increased-blood-pressure?preview= 7fc303f4f830a8be06a03410ddd7ac2d

After March 29, 2021, view the manuscript online.

Gum disease, inflammation, hardened arteries may be linked to stroke risk

Poor oral health linked to higher blood pressure, worse blood pressure control

Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews

Follow news from the AHA's Hypertension journal @HyperAHA

Statements and conclusions of studies published in the American Heart Association's scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association's policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers are available here, and the Association's overall financial information is available here.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public's health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
Clarksburg Mulling Restoration of Misspelled Street Name



Joseph Pevoski with sign he installed in 1970, from the North Adams Transcript. CLARKSBURG, Mass.  Fifty years ago, Joseph Pevoski made sure his friend would not be forgotten by naming a road after him.

But at some point the road's name was misspelled and Pevoski's son wants to ensure his father's memorial to his friend is restored.

Pvt. 1st Class Herbert McLagan was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but raised in Clarksburg and graduated from Drury High School. He enlisted in the Army in 1941 and was wounded at Cassino a month after landing in Italy in 1944. He died two months later from his wounds.

Pevoski, also of Clarksburg, was wounded at Anzio and told the North Adams Transcript he had seen his friend die in the hospital. Twenty-six years later, he was given town permission to name the road in front of his house McLagan Drive. The sign was installed on the Fourth of July, 1970.

But the sign was evidently replaced with the wrong spelling sometime between Pevoski's death in 1985 and that of his wife, Juliette, in 2007, when the address in her obituary is given as "McLagen" Drive.

Their son, Richard Pevoski of Maine and a retired lieutenant colonel, wants the name changed back and reached out to the Selectmen.

Edward Denault of the Historical Commission, spoke in favor of reverting to the correct spelling at Wednesday's Select Board meeting. When addresses change, people usually wait until renewals to update information, he said, or when property is sold.

"My big worry would be mail delivery but the supervisor said that changing one letter would make no difference whatsoever, everybody would get the mail exactly as they do now," he said.

Select Board Chairman Ronald Boucher, who lives off McLagan, said he didn't have a problem with changing it but his concern was how it would affect homeowners who now live along the road.

"The first concern was, what about their licenses, credit cards, all that stuff," he said. "My other thought if that became too dicey, why couldn't this town, in conjunction with the VFW, maybe put a plaque up in his memory on the street sign."

But Select Board member Allen Arnold, who works at a car dealership, said misspellings and changes in spelling can cause problems with renewing licenses or registrations. Historical Commissioner Jeanne Moulthrop added that "we found on MassLandRecords.com all the deeds were spelled with an E instead of the A."

There was also that McLagan is a private way but also now crosses the town line into North Adams.

Richard Pevoski, who joined the meeting later, said his wish was for the sign to be restored.

"Having been in the military for a long time, my wife and I counted it up when we were moving here to Maine, and we changed addresses and moves 24 times," he said. "To ask the people in that neighborhood to do it once is not excessive, I don't think."

The board agreed to do some research into the issue and resume the discussion at its April 28 meeting.
UW Intercultural Graduation Ceremony May 13

Staff members from the University of Wyomings Multicultural Affairs and International Students and Scholars offices will host the Intercultural Graduation Ceremony from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, May 13, in the Wyoming Union Ballroom.

Graduates can participate either in person or virtually. Attendance will be limited only to graduating students due to a COVID-19 capacity of 80 participants in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. A link to view the ceremony and further details about the event will be provided at a later date.

Intercultural graduation celebrates the resilience and dedication our many multicultural and international students have demonstrated throughout their UW educations, says Jill Johnson, director of International Students and Scholars. We look forward to this opportunity to recognize them as they graduate from the University of Wyoming.

For more information, email Johnson at jillj@uwyo.edu.
SAINT CLAIR, Mich., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1974, one romantic drama graced theaters across the nation to become an instant cult classic. Released by Columbia Pictures, Buster and Billie would rapidly become a hot topic in cinematic circles everywhere for its controversial and violent ending. Following suit with the tragedy of the story, the film itself would become lost and presumed destroyed when the original masters went missing for 45 years. After decades of rumors, speculation, and mystery; not only have the original masters been located, but Buster and Billie has been restored and remastered by Zephina Media for re-release in Blu-Ray.

Featuring young actors Jan-Michael Vincent (Buster), Joan Goodfellow (Billie), Pamela Sue Martin (Margie), Clifton James (Jake), and Robert Englund (Whitey); Buster and Billie's steamy storyline and tragic ending provided viewers with a unique cinematic experience that was revolutionary for its time. Set in a small town in Georgia in the late 1940s, Buster and Billie follows the classic theme of "boy meets girl", but with an unprecedented twist. Buster Lane, the popular guy in school is engaged to be married to his high-school sweetheart Margie Hooks. Billie-Jo Truluck, is the promiscuous underprivileged girl in school who is known for fulfilling favors to Buster's friends.

Frustrated at his fiance, Buster begins to visit Billie, and what started as a physical relationship blossomed into a steamy romance. Billie's new-found exclusivity enrages Buster's friends, as they no longer had access to Billie's promiscuity. What happened next shocked viewers and critics alike.

Unphased by the critics, fans of Buster and Billie began to show unwavering support once the film seemed to disappear from history. Bootleg versions began to arise from time to time, but in the 45 years it was missing nothing ever came close to the original film quality. Often the subject of "whatever happened to" discussions among movie fans, the disappearance of the film became a pop culture mystery, until now.

In late 2019, Sony Pictures located the original Buster and Billie elements in their underground vaults. Eager to restore the picture to its glory and then some; Zephina Media began a complete restoration using digital scanning to bring this cult classic back to life for fans everywhere.

The project, which began in early 2020 and has finally come to fruition in 2021, with results far better than expected. Fans can expect to experience Buster and Billie on a whole new level, featuring vivid colors, top-tier quality, and mastered sound.

"It's been quite a treasure hunt" says Seth Doherty, Project Manger for Zephina Media. "I think fans of Buster And Billie will be pleased with the results."

The restoration process involves taking a digital picture of each frame of the original film negative and applying software and other techniques to clean and restore color.

"Sony took very good care of the film reels" said Doherty. "We held our breath because its been nearly 50 years since the reels were put through a projector, or in this case, a scanner. But at the end of the day, the film was in great shape and easy to work with."

To learn more about Buster and Billie or to grab a copy on Blu-Ray, please visit: https://www.busterandbillie.com/

About Zephina Media

Zephina Media is a film production company based in Saint Clair, Michigan. Founded in 2019 by Audrey Westrick, Zephina Media seeks to bring the world's greatest stories to life, or even back to life through film direction and restoration. In 2021, Zephina Media took the task of restoring and remastering cult classic Buster and Billie to cultivate a one-of-a-kind film experience for cinema fans around the world.

Press Contact:

Seth Doherty,

8104553474,

https://www.busterandbillie.com

SOURCE Zephina Media

Related Links

https://www.busterandbillie.com/


Notice of Availability of AGM Materials

Posted by Publisher Internet

Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc?announces that documents comprising a notice of annual general meeting of shareholders (the ?AGM?) and a management information circular ? solicitation of proxies together with a proxy form are now available at:?https://www.caledoniamining.com/investors/shareholder-information/#shareholder-meeting-documents

The AGM will be held at Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Rue de l\-\-Etau, St Helier, Jersey JE2 3WF, Channel Islands on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 commencing at 9:00 a.m. (UK time).

Shareholders are encouraged, given the travel and isolation requirements imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to vote online or by proxy in accordance with the instructions on the proxy form or other form of instruction that they will be receiving.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned NSW will likely see fresh local coronavirus cases, as more Byron Bay venues are placed on alert after a group who travelled from Queensland for a bachelorette party later tested positive for coronavirus.

An additional eight local cases were detected in the sunshine state on Tuesday, one day into Greater Brisbanes three-day snap lockdown designed to stop the spread of local cases which have been linked to healthcare workers at a Brisbane hospital.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (left) and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant (right) during a visit at Homebush Boys High School on Tuesday. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Five of the cases are linked to the bachelorette group, which included a nurse in the COVID-19 ward at Brisbanes Princess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said.

One of these cases was a male entertainer who also works as a tradesman and had been on-site at a Gold Coast aged care home while contagious. A sixth case, a close contact, is believed to also be linked to this cluster.
Right now, a group of federal bureaucrats is pushing an issue that could have a significant impact on 144 communities of varying size nationwide including, locally, the Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton area in Cumberland County.

This group of bureaucrats is trying to get the federal government to basically reclassify these communities as micropolitan areas, as opposed to the current classification as metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

You might wonder why this matters but, as with many things in government, it likely comes down to money. The logistics would involve removing nearly half of the 392 separate metropolitan areas from their current metro-area classification. This would be done by increasing the population criteria for the metro designation to a minimum of 100,000 persons from the current 50,000. The 144 affected areas would instead become micropolitan.

According to an Associated Press analysis, the Vineland-Bridgeton-Millville metropolitan statistical area has a population of 95,259, and the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area has 97,212 residents. Both would be reclassified as micropolitan areas if this change goes through.

The problem with doing this is the very real likelihood that the impacted cities would get much less federal funding in key areas, including block grants, economic development funds, housing and transportation aid, Medicare reimbursements and environmental resources. It could happen, since federal funds disbursed for these programs are often directly tied to metropolitan statistical area population numbers.

According to coverage by the APs Mike Schneider, a letter opposing the change was sent to the Office Management and Budget. It was signed by South Dakotas two senators (John Thune and Mike Rounds), Arizonas two senators (Democrats Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly), North Dakotas two senators (Republicans John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer), as well as by Sens. Deb Fischer, R-Nebraska, and Cynthia Lummis R-Wyoming.

The current standards for defining metropolitan statistical areas were created in 1950, the AP states. Those pushing for the change  the bean counters and number crunchers in the federal bureaucracy  make the point that the U.S. population has almost tripled since 1950. And, back then, about 50% of the countrys population lived in metropolitan areas, whereas the number today is 86%.

I suspect the proposal is one of those things that look good on paper but plays out differently on the street. By that, I mean that while 86% of the population now lives in a metropolitan area, these are also the bulk of the people who need resources to prevent homelessness, hunger, illiteracy, substance abuse and whatever else tends to unravel peoples lives and burden communities.

What the supporters of the reclassification proposal probably fail to recognize, or choose to ignore, is that many of the nations most entrenched problems are not confined to larger metro areas. They are a very real part of the challenges that cities like Bridgeton must overcome to provide our residents with a better standard of living. As I have often said, we are small cities with big-city problems.

My concern is not just confined to the flow of federal funds. There is a trickle-down concern as well, meaning that certain state resources that are based on these federal models would be impacted, intentionally or otherwise. This also involves perception, because when you swap out metro and replace it with micro, those communities defined as micro will be overlooked.

Even if micro reclassification advocates say it has nothing to do with funding, once you create a lesser category like micro within the federal ecosystem, the tendency is to make sweeping generalizations about the people who inhabit that category. Its human nature.

Along those same lines, the good people of the Census Bureau are looking at changing how we determine rural versus urban. It would involve counting housing units instead of people, so that only those areas with at least 385 housing units per square mile would be considered urban. Estimates are that this would be the equivalent of requiring an area to have at least 1,000 persons per square mile to be urban, instead of the current standard of 500 persons per square mile.

I encourage our two senators and all of New Jerseys House members to drill down into the details, and oppose any changes that would result in a reduction of funding and resources for South Jersey.

Albert B. Kelly is mayor of Bridgeton. Contact him by phone at 856-455-3230 Ext. 200.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
First cleanse your body in warm running water and then soap up with a very mild soap or body wash. Also, no manicures or pedicures on the same day or the next. Wait for at least four to five days before heading to the spa.

consider using nail paint, which is safer and also acts like a nice protective layer which can be removed at will.the best method is to use oil in your hair and cover it with a bandana. This again helps shield the hair from any harmful pigments and chemicals.Lastly don't forget toWhile playing in the sun is a lot of fun, it's easy to lose track of time and end up getting sunburn.But now that you have had a good time, it's time to clean up and nurture your skin and hair back to health.A primary rule in skincare is to never use either strong soaps or very abrasive media for cleaning your skin. I often find that patients end up causing more damage than good with their good intentions and overzealous cleaning. As a matter of fact, too much rubbing or scrubbing can leave behind chafed skin or dry skin or dark patches which takes substantial time to heal.I recommend that you first cleanse your body in warm running water to remove any loose particles or colours and then soap up with a very mild soap or body wash, making sure you do not rub or scrub too hard. Make sure you pay attention to areas which are more susceptible to lodgement of colours like under and around your nails.You may repeat this procedure once more if you desire but with the same amount of love and care.Pat dry your skin once done with a soft towel and then moisturise your entire body and also apply a lip balm generously.Also, avoid any exposure to strong cleansers or abrasive procedures like facials over the next few days.Again, being gentle is the key. Do not scrub harsh shampoos into your scalp, all that can happen with this is that there will be chafing or dryness, further complicating things.Always first cleanse with warm running water and then reach out for a mild shampoo. Repeat if you are not satisfied.Make sure to use a conditioner for your hair after washing and rinse out the same.Gently dry your hair with a towel or a blow dryer in a gentle setting.Lastly and most importantly apply a 'leave on serum' generously.During your bath, try soaking your fingers and toes in warm water for approximately ten minutes. This eases removal of colour from your nails and also around the nails.Use your nail polish remover to remove the colours and the nail polish you may have applied before going out.Be gentle again ensuring no rigorous scrubbing. If there are stains leave them be, they shall go away with time.Lastly, moisturize your hands and even your nails... yes even your nails!One thing I strongly suggest is absolutely no manicures or pedicures on the same day or the next. Wait for at least four to five days before heading to the spa.Source: IANS
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Regionalism and nationalism in Canada  yet another reassessment (Part Three) By Mark Wegierski

Toronto, while being the capital of the province of Ontario, is not the political capital of Canada. Around the time of Confederation, Ottawa was deliberately chosen to be -- in a pattern seen in the case of such instances as Washington D.C., Canberra, and Brasilia -- the political capital of Canada. Ottawa lies on the border between Ontario and Quebec, in the heart of Central Canada. Much of the so-called political nationality of Canadian identity (such as it remains today) focusses on the magnificent buildings and interiors on Parliament Hill, which could be seen as very sacred political spaces. However, most of Ottawa could be characterized by its fairly architecturally drab administrative buildings that extend out in all directions beyond Parliament Hill. The political capital could be typified more as a town of civil-service mandarins and bureaucrats  the so-called permanent government  rather than elected Members of Parliament. When Western Canadian politicians such as Preston Manning referred to Ottawa it was with a considerable degree of disdain. What Preston Manning probably was objecting to most, was the notion that the federal government was owned by the Liberal Party (who increasingly called themselves the natural governing party of Canada). Ottawa was the nexus of the vast federal bureaucracy, that believed itself to be bringing progress to the benighted corners of the country, and most especially to the highly recalcitrant province of Alberta. The Liberal Party of Jean Chretien between 1993 to 2003 was, it could be argued, extremely Ontario-centric. Indeed, in the federal elections of 1993, 1997, and 2000, Ontario delivered virtually 100% of its seats to the Liberal Party. It could have been considerably embittering to Preston Manning that the Reform Party had been permanently tagged with the regional party label  and that no conciliatory gestures or professions of moderation could persuade a considerable percentage of the Ontario electorate to vote for the Reform Party. Indeed, a considerable percentage of the Ontario electorate was easily persuaded by Liberal stereotypes about the Reform Party  considering Preston Manning scary or creepy. In an attempt at re-branding Preston Manning initiated the United Alternative movement, which led to the creation of the Canadian Alliance (whose full official name was the Canadian Reform-Conservative Alliance). Stockwell Day, the former Treasurer of Alberta, defeated Preston Manning for the leadership of the newly-formed Canadian Alliance. However, in the November 2000 federal election, Stockwell Day -- while ostensibly far more telegenic than Manning  was written off as a Christian fundamentalist extremist by most Ontario voters. Western Canadians (and especially Albertans) had been traumatized in the early 1980s by Trudeaus National Energy Program (NEP) which they saw as a naked power-grab at Albertas oil wealth. Trudeau's NEP, geared to Central Canadian interests, had prevented the development of Western Canadian oil reserves at a time when it was fortuitous to do so, because of the booming oil market. Their full development had been delayed for decades. Spokespersons for Western Canadian regionalist tendencies had often complained that there are no constitutional mechanisms (like the Senate in the United States, to which every U.S. state elects the same number of Senators), to prevent the less populous regions (i.e., the West and the Atlantic region), from being dominated and ruled in the interests of Central Canada. It is also interesting that Australia, which is also a Commonwealth country with a federal system, has developed comparable tensions between the central government in Canberra, and the regions. Coincidentally, there had been a grab for the resources of Western Australia, which had been scotched by the different constitutional structures of Australia. It is somewhat amusing that one of the cities in Western Australia  and a hotbed of resistance to Canberra  is called Kalgoorlie. Later, Pauline Hansons One Nation movement had obtained most of its electoral support from Queensland (in the north-east). In November 1987, simmering Western Canadian alienation resulted in a bringing together of various Western Canadian political activists, in the founding assembly of what was to become the Reform Party. They were led by Preston Manning, who was the son of former, long time Alberta Premier Ernest C. Manning. One of the Reform Party's main planks was the so-called "Triple-E Senate" -- elected, equal, and effective. (By "equal" was meant that each province or region would have the same number of seats in the Senate.) The Canadian Senate is currently made up of persons appointed by the Prime Minister of the day, with some degree of consultation with the provinces. While it is considered a house of "sober, second thought", its powers are residual, and much of its authority has been undermined by the blatant partisanship of most of the appointments. There is now a mandatory retirement age of 75 for Canadian Senators. Stephen Harper made headlines when he appointed a so-called elected Senator from Alberta. Since provinces have a consultative role in the selection of Senators, they can stage an informal selection process including a province-wide vote on a short-list of candidates, to choose which person they want to represent them in the Senate. However, such procedures are not, strictly-speaking, legally binding on the Prime Minister. The length of Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretiens years in office from 1993 to 2003 meant that he was able to appoint a huge number of Senators. The callousness with which Mulroney treated Atlantic, and especially Western Canada, showed both basic ignorance, and a narrow, self-serving, parochial vision, rather than one of truly national unity and purpose. One especially remembers the awarding of the huge federal aircraft maintenance contract to Quebec firm Bombardier, rather than the Winnipeg firm whose tender was apparently markedly superior. The effect of Mulroneys government was often to play up and exacerbate existing economic and power disparities. However, his attempts to gain Western Canadian favour by the quick cancellation of the NEP, by some major industrial strategy-type government support programs, as well as, especially, by the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, allowed him to hold on to much of Western Canadian support in the 1988 federal election. However, when the Reform Party became more firmly established, by the time of the 1993 federal election, they swept most of Western Canada, especially Alberta. It could be argued that perhaps some cultural issues being raised by the Reform Party (such as its mildly expressed ideas for some tempering of multiculturalism and high immigration policies), possessed far greater salience for many in Western Canada, than the putative, purely economic benefits being offered by the federal P.C.s. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
Twenty percent of high school students have easy access to a handgun, according to a new study from the Colorado School of Public Health on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

In the study published today in The Journal of Pediatrics, the researchers examined the prevalence of handgun access among adolescents in Colorado and explored individual and geographic characteristics, as well as related health factors.

"Our findings highlight that it is relatively easy to access a handgun in Colorado for high school students. This finding, combined with the high prevalence of feeling sad or depressed and suicide attempts, is concerning for the safety of adolescents," said lead author Ashley Brooks-Russell, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Colorado School of Public Health.

The researchers examined data from more than 46,000 students who completed the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, a voluntary statewide anonymous survey given to students in participating schools across Colorado. The survey results are used to assess health behaviors, risk and protective factors. In this study, the researchers reviewed survey questions about the perception of access to handguns.

They found that students were significantly more likely to report easy handgun access if they felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks (24.2%), had attempted suicide (30.1%) or had been in a physical fight in the past 12 months (31.8 %).

The survey data also revealed:

More male than female high school students reported handgun access.

A significantly higher proportion of transgender youth reported access.

Students in more rural areas are more likely to have access.

American Indian, multiracial students, followed by white students, access to handguns was significantly higher than among Hispanic, Black or African American or Asian American students.

"It's clear from our findings that we need to raise awareness and improve efforts to reduce firearm access for youth in Colorado to prevent suicide and fatal injuries," said Brooks-Russell. "We hope our findings will help inform public health strategies, such as educating parents on the importance of secure home firearm storage, particularly if an adolescent is at risk for suicide."

Recently, Colorado lawmakers advanced the Safe Storage of Firearms bill to require Colorado gun owners who share their homes with children to securely store their weapons. It passed its first committee on a party line vote.

There are also several gun shops and law enforcement agencies in Colorado that offer out-of-home gun storage options, if home gun storage is not a viable option. Faculty members at the Colorado School of Public Health announced the first out-of-home gun storage map in the country.

The researchers recommend future studies to explore where students access guns (at home or outside their house) and to look at their attempts to access them.

###

About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
A Christian leader held for more than a year in the southern province of Savannakhet in violation of a Lao law protecting religious practice must be immediately released from custody, rights groups and church members say.

Pastor Sithon Thippavong, 34, began preaching Christianity to villagers in Savannakets Xonnaboury district in 2011 and was arrested on March 15, 2020 for organizing religious services without authorities permission.

The court is going to try Pastor Sithon next week. Everyone is waiting to see whether he will be found guilty or not, a Christian living in Xonnaboury told RFAs Lao Service this week, requesting anonymity for reasons of safety.

A close friend of the Christian leader meanwhile voiced concern for the pastor and his wife and children, adding, He is a good person, and we would like to see this matter solved with due process and justice."

Speaking to RFA on March 25, Phil RobertsonDeputy Director of Human Rights Watch for the Asia-Pacific Regioncalled Sithons continued detention a serious human rights violation.

In fact, the Lao authorities should release Pastor Sithon and apologize for arresting and detaining him, Robertson said. In general, the authorities should not violate the rights and freedom of those who believe in religion.

Bounthone Chanthalavong-Weise, president of the Germany-based Alliance for Democracy in Laos, said that her group on March 18 reported Sithons arrest and other violations of human rights in the Lao PDR [Peoples Democratic Republic] to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

We have asked that agency to pressure the Lao government to release the pastor, Bounthone said.

We are deeply concerned for the welfare of Pastor Thippavong, added Eric Blievernicht, Operations Manager for the U.S.-based Christian organization Vision Beyond Borders. We are also disturbed by his extra-judicial imprisonment by the Lao government, and are concerned he is not being treated well or fairly by his jailers.

We ask for prayers for Pastor Thippavong and call upon the Lao government to release him and respect religious liberty for all its citizens, he said.

The Lao Evangelical Church in the capital Vientiane also voiced concern, asking its followers in Savannakhet to closely follow the case.

Reached for comment, an official at the Savannakhet Province Prosecutors Office said that Sithon had been accused of undermining social and cultural unity by his preaching, adding, Our office has received all necessary documents and is still in the process of sending the case to court.

Disrespect, discrimination

The Law on the Evangelical Church, approved and signed into law in Laos on Dec. 19, 2019, allows Lao Christians the right to conduct service and preach throughout the country and to maintain contacts with believers in other countries.

But in practice, the law seems to apply only in the capital Vientiane and in other large cities, while Christians in the rural areas remain subject to disrespect by the general public and discrimination at the hands of local authorities, sources say.

Four Lao Christians and three Christian leaders were detained for seven days in 2018 in Nakhanong village in Savannkhets Phin district for celebrating Christmas without permission.

And in October, authorities in Saravan provinces Ta Oy district, in the countrys south, evicted seven Christians and destroyed their homes when they would not renounce their faitha clear violation of the law.

The Christians then spent two months living rough in the forest, but were allowed to return to their village in December though they have been forbidden from rebuilding their homes.

Though improvements in religious freedom conditions were observed in Laos in 2019, cases of abuse were still seen in remote rural areas, the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a report released in May 2020.

Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.


Earn your Associate of Applied Business in Business IT (BIT) degree online from the University of Cincinnati. This program can be completed fully online, with curriculum customized to fit your schedule, interests and how quickly you want to complete your degree. Application deadline July 1, 2021. Learn More 

Nostalgia website MyHeritage has launched a new service that allows you to create lifelike animations of faces in still photos.

The AI-powered service called Deep Nostalgia, launched last week, is free to try and is remarkably accurate in depicting how a person would look if captured on video. Their eyes blink, their head moves and their mouth forms a smile.

"You'll have a 'wow moment' when you see a treasured family photo come to life with Deep Nostalgia," Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage, said in a statement.

"Seeing our beloved ancestors' faces come to life in a video simulation lets us imagine how they might have been in reality, and provides a profound new way of connecting to our family history," he added.



Created with Deep Nostalgia | Credit: John P. Mello Jr.

To create Deep Nostalgia, MyHeritage teamed up with D-ID, an Israeli company focused on deep learning and synthetic media.

"I like the partnership with them because both of us really care about the sensitivity of animating people who are no longer with us," said D-ID cofounder and CEO Gil Perry.

He noted that it has taken his firm years to cross the "uncanny valley" in synthetic media. "With synthetic media, you reach a level where it looks good, but a viewer still senses something is wrong," he told TechNewsWorld.

"We've managed to cross that uncanny valley," he continued, "and create perfect synthetic media."

Creepy?

MyHeritage explained that Deep Nostalgia uses several prerecorded driver videos prepared by the nostalgia firm, which direct the movements in the animation and consist of sequences of real human gestures.

A preferred driver is automatically selected for each face based on its orientation, and then seamlessly applied to the photo. To achieve optimal results, the photos are enhanced prior to animation using the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer, which brings blurry and low-resolution faces into focus and increases their resolution.

Users can animate several photos for free, regardless of the number of faces in the pic. Beyond that, continued use requires a subscription. The video animation can be downloaded as an MP4 file and shared on social media.

While some folks may be charmed by adding new life to old photos, others may find the practice a bit creepy.

"Calling this creepy seems extreme," said Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a research and public policy organization in Washington, D.C.

"We've seen a lot of interesting advances in AI that allow for reconstruction of images and videos, such as adding color to black-and-white photos or creating high resolution videos from old, grainy videos," he told TechNewsWorld. "This latest example is another similar advance that allows for more advanced image generation."

Tip of the Ice Berg

"There's no simple or single answer to whether this type of deep fake is creepy or fun," added Jean-Claude Goldenstein, CEO of CREOpoint, a brand and reputation protection provider in San Francisco.

"As a son, I imagine I'd be in favor of a robot with a deep fake of my mother if she could not assist my dad who had Alzheimer's," he explained to TechNewsWorld.

"But Imagine a deep fake of the CEOs of Citadel and Robinhood colluding against Reddit retail investors," he continued. "That would be very far from fun in the run-up to Robinhood's IPO."

Castro noted that there are a lot of interesting applications for the technology in Deep Nostalgia, such as in video editing and video conferencing.

"Video conferencing services can reduce bandwidth usage if they can instead replicate certain movements on their own, or they can allow video interactions to appear seamless on a weak connection," he explained.

Perry added that Deep Nostalgia is just the tip of the ice berg for his company's technology.

For example, it can be used by filmmakers to reshoot scenes without bringing actors back to a set. They can be at a remote location and be inserted into the scene.

The company is also working on synthesizing mouth movements so when a film is dubbed, the actor will look as if they're speaking in the dubbed language.

Deep Fake Threat

While there are many worthwhile applications for synthetic media, Castro asserted that deep fakes remain a serious concern. "But it is one that should be addressed through legislation aimed at particular harms, such as election misinformation, harassment, or other harmful acts -- such as distributing fake nudes about someone without their consent," he said.

Avivah Litan, a security and privacy analyst at Gartner, maintained that it's relatively easy to create deep fakes now. "The services are available on the Internet," she told TechNewsWorld. "You can just go get them."

"Right now, it's being mainly used in the porn industry for revenge porn," she said.

"The porn industry always leads in innovation," Litan joked.

Although far from mature, deep fakes have already proven to be hard to detect. "The detection rate will probably end up at 50 percent, but even right now Facebook has only been 65 percent accurate in catching deep fakes," she observed.

"It's a big threat looming on the horizon," she warned.

Tool for Account Takeover

In a research note by Litan, she predicted that by 2023, 20 percent of successful account takeover attacks will use deep fakes to socially engineer users to turn over sensitive data or move money into criminal accounts.

She explained that criminals take over user accounts to gain access to sensitive information and intellectual property, as well as to steal funds from financial accounts. Most theft of money and information starts with user account takeover, as criminals leverage weak security controls typically guarding these accounts.

"Enterprises are incented to raise the security bar and incorporate biometric assurance and verification into their multi-factor authentication applications," she wrote. "This uses facial and voice verification from life images, voice recordings or videos that users present in a live session to the authenticating organization so that it can verify the legitimate user's 'liveness' and authenticity."

"Ominously," Litan continued, "deep fakes will render most biometric authentication and verification useless as criminals can easily mimic user voices, images and videos."

"Most existing biometric user authentication must be upgraded to incorporate technologies that can detect the presence of a deep fake imposter, and assure the presence of a legitimate user," she added.

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.


PODCAST

PROJECT 38: What's new on CMMC & what's next

FCW Senior Editor Lauren Williams, our resident expert on the emerging new cybersecurity standards for contractors, stops by Project 38 to talk with Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers about the latest developments.



The Defense Department is making steady progress on the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification despite ups and downs and potential delays. Williams also fills us in on the latest with the CMMC Accreditation Body, the industry group chartered by DOD to run the training and certification program. There has been some turnover with the all-volunteer board, but the chairman is vowing to accelerate the process of getting the system up and running.



There also is news that the 15 pilot contracts that will be the first to require teams to have CMMC certification. The solicitations were supposed to already be out in the market, but now the expectation is later this year or early next.



Williams, Wakeman and Wilkers share what they know and what might be next on the horizon for CMMC.

(NOTE: This podcast was recorded and published prior to March 29's news that the CMMC AB hired a new chief executive)
New Delhi, March 29 : The Supreme Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Jude Lobo, owner of Goa's Calangute-based Souza Lobo restaurant, in a rape case.

In a special sitting during its week-long Holi vacation, a bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan said: "We are satisfied that the petitioner has made out a prima facie case for grant of anticipatory bail. We direct that in event the petitioner is arrested, he shall be released on submitting a personal bond of Rs 10,000. The petitioner shall cooperate with the investigation." The bench made these remarks after examining the contents of the FIR, the statement of the woman before a judicial officer and her WhatsApp chats.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the petitioner, submitted before the bench that the case was a perfect example of a 'cock and bull story'. He also referred to WhatsApp chat of December 2020 between the petitioner and prosecutrix which has been brought on the record.

An FIR was lodged by the woman under Sections 328, 376 and 506 of Indian Penal Code at the Bhajanpura police station in Delhi. Lobo's application seeking anticipatory bail was filed before Additional Sessions Judge, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi and on February 27, he was granted interim protection against arrest. However, on March 22, the special judge (NDPS), northeast, Delhi dismissed the anticipatory bail application.

Lobo filed an application for anticipatory bail in the Delhi High Court, which was rejected on March 26. He then filed a special leave petition in the top court challenging the High Court order.

Rohatgi argued that the woman lodged the FIR in December 2020, while the rape allegations were of 2009. He submitted before the bench that woman wanted to host a party at his client's restaurant, which he declined, due to Covid-19 regulations.

He said the woman claimed to have met his client 10 years ago and that he would marry her, but the matter is that Lobo was already married and had three children, out of which two were adults. He added the woman claimed she would not get justice in Goa, so she registered a case in Delhi.

Granting anticipatory bail, the bench said: "We have perused the first information report as well as the statement recorded by the prosecutrix under Section 164 Cr.P.C."
Cuddly koalas, quokkas, kangaroos, and wombats are native to Australia. But if that's what you think of when planning your Australian escapades, you might want to take a moment.

In Australia you might not come across any deadly animals, but by chance, during your stay, you might hear about them. Here's the list of deadliest animals in Australia:

1. The Great white shark

Australia's celebrated beaches are a delight for surfers, untill you hear the white shark is coming! The great white shark is an outstanding predator but its fame as a man-eater is quite unfortunate - Hollywood assisted in building this horrible impression. myths hardly die.

2. Sydney funnel-web spider

This little spider usually 1-5 cm likes to lie low in humid, cool spots-including under your shoes, rocks, or logs. In New South Wales, they can take refuge in residences if the weather is hot most especially.

3. Box jellyfish

Also known as a Stinger, Boxfish, Sea Wasp, or Fire Medusa. It doesn't usually kill swimmers, though the box jellyfish has a perfect threat rating. It is known to be the creature on earth with the most venom-containing toxins that damage the nervous system, skin, and heart.

The most toxic animals known to mankind is pale blue and transparent, it's extremely, difficult to sight. The sting is unimaginably painful. It stops nerves, implicates movement and breathing and a hefty dose can result in cardiac arrest and death within minutes.

First responders in Queensland, are equipped to handle such situations and you will practically always notice vinegar on the beach to assist in the meantime

Also Read: 45 Most Dangerous Animals In The World

4. Taipan snake

The deadliest snake in the world is native to Australia and resides in the desert. On the bright part, it is willing to sneak away from people instead of fighting them-just a few people have been caught by this animal and they survived.

However, even with a decent travel cover, you likely don't want to experience its deadly toxic venom.

5. Salties (Saltwater crocodile)

Saltwater crocodiles can be seen in the ocean, though they are sometimes seen in freshwater, and quite likely to be spoted in estuaries. Historically prevalent throughout Southeast Asia, it's nearly breathtaking in the wild - but not in Australia and particularly not across Darwin.

Salties are large, opportunistic, and aggressive. They eat big and small creatures, including people, though it's however quite unusual.

6. Blue-ringed octopus

They look stunning in a fish container but don't touch - these animals bite and are greatly venomous. The sting is sometimes deadly, the body locks down, becomes increasingly paralyzed, and then breathing stops.

7. Stonefish

Recklessly venomous and even deadly to people, the stonefish is remarkably difficult to sight because it regularly stays camouflaged, motionless. They are seen across lightweight coastal waters of the northern half of Australia.

8. Australian black widow (Redback spider)

If you're normally afraid of spiders, you can be more afraid of this Redback spider. It's tiny around 1 cm but deadly and it can be seen across the country. The sting can instantly lead to death but it doesn't commonly do so, because since 1956 antivenom has been functional.

Related Article: Top 10 Deadliest Animals In Asia.Extremely Fatal And Dangerous!

For more news, updates about deadliest animals and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
DC Mayor Deletes Social Media Post About Preventing Auto Thefts After Mans Death During Carjacking

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser deleted a Twitter post on Sunday that advised people on how to prevent carjackings, following the death of a Pakistani immigrant after his vehicle was stolen by teenage girls.

Bowser, a Democrat, shared a post from police in the District of Columbia before adding her own statement saying: Auto theft is a crime of opportunity. Follow these steps to reduce the risk of your vehicle becoming a target. Remember the motto, #ProtectYourAuto.

Social media users were quick to react, noting that the post was likely prescheduled but seemed in poor taste because Mohammad Anwar, 66, died after getting carjacked by two girls just days prior.

Uber Eats driver Muhammad Anwar was the victim of a carjacking by two teenage girls, who committed felony murder, in D.C. He died as a result of injuries. I presume this is a scheduled tweet but its extremely tone deaf. Bowsers silence is deafening, wrote media strategist Gabriella Hoffman.

D.C.s @MayorBowser, who encouraged months of Defund the Police riots in D.C. last year, responds to the murder of UberEats driver Mohammad Anwar by 13- and 15-year-old female carjackers with a shockingly tone-deaf message of how to prevent auto thefts in her city, added The Federalists Mollie Hemingway.

Mohammad Anwar, 66, in a file photo. (Help the Anwars Find Peace

/GoFundMe)

Bowser didnt address the death during a press conference last week and also did not mention it in a March 26 newsletter or during an appearance on MSNBCs The Sunday Show.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, a mayoral spokesperson said the tweet that was deleted was part of a campaign to highlight how to prevent carjackings, since more auto thefts have been taking pace in the city in recent months.

Carjackings are a senseless act of violence that risk the lives of innocent individuals, and over the course of this month, we have worked to raise awareness about a troubling increase in this violent crime, related arrests and safety tips, the spokesperson said via email.

Yesterdays prescheduled social media post was part of that effort and should not detract from the tragic death of Mohammad Anwar. Our thoughts and prayers remain with his family and the families of those we have lost to violence.

According to a GoFundMe fundraiser for Anwars family, he was a hard-working Pakistani immigrant who came to the United States to create a better life for him and his family.

Anwar was an Uber driver and was working when his car was stolen.

The girls, ages 13 and 15 respectively, were arrested and are being held pending trial. They are facing felony murder charges.

The carjacking took place on March 23 and was captured on cellphone footage.
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China has achieved significant results in its national crackdown on gang crimes, with more than 3,600 mafia-like groups busted over the past three years, 1.3 times as many as the total of the previous 10 years.

Another 89,742 cases involving gang crime-related corruption and "protective umbrella" that shelter gangs were also handled nationwide, according to official statistics.

In the past three years, Chinese courts have concluded 32,943 gang-related cases of first instance, involving more than 220,000 suspects, and a total of 53,405 defendants in related cases were given sentences from at least five years in prison to the death penalty.

Ever since China's launch of its targeted campaign against gang crimes in 2018, the country has endeavored to fight gang crimes through a series of actions, including but not limited to making legal policies and setting up a tip-off platform.

According to a poll conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in the first half of 2020, 95.1 percent of the Chinese people are satisfied with the results of the country's special campaign.
Emma Stone welcomed a baby girl with her comedian husband Dave McCary, it's now been revealed.

It's the first child for the actress, who is said to have given birth on March 20, with initial reports of the baby's arrival emerging on Friday.

The gender of Emma's newborn had not been revealed until now, with a source telling People it's a baby girl.

Baby girl! Emma Stone is now mom to a baby girl, it has been revealed. News of her baby's arrival was first reported on Friday

News of Emma's new arrival was confirmed by TMZ on Friday morning and sources told the site that the actress, 32, gave birth earlier this month in LA.

The couple are yet to reveal the name of their first-born.

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.

Baby is here: It's the first child for the actress, who is said to have given birth on March 20, with husband Dave McCary

Happy news: Emma and Dave have yet to reveal the baby's name

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 it seems 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.

Blooming lovely: A heavily pregnant Emma was last pictured in Studio City back in February

Hitched: Emma and 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.

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President Joe Biden speaks as he gives a primetime address to the nation from the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 11, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden Urges States to Keep Mask Mandates, Halt Reopening Plans

President Joe Biden on Monday urged governors, mayors, and other officials to maintain or reinstate the policy that people wear masks in public when social distancing isnt available to prevent the spread of the CCP virus.

Im reiterating my call for every governor, mayor, and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate. Please, this is not politics. Reinstate the mandate if you let it down, he said at an event in Washington D.C.

Asked later if some states should pause reopening efforts, Biden responded: Yes. He did not elaborate.

In recent weeks, several governors have rescinded their mask mandates. On Sunday, one of them, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, wrote that the 7-day Covid positivity rate dropped to a new recorded low: 4.95 percent. Hospitalizations dropped to a 6 month low. This week we have 1 million 1st vaccines available.

Everyone now qualifies for a shot. They are highly recommended to prevent getting Covid but always voluntary, the Republican governor added.

About three weeks ago, Abbott announced that the state would lift its mask mandate and reopen businesses. Following Abbotts order, there were grim prognostications that Texas would lead to a health catastrophe, which for now, appears to be not materializing, according to the data.

Mississippi also removed its COVID-19 restrictions at around the same time. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, Mississippi is seeing an average of around 250 daily cases, which is a decrease from the previous month of about 520.

Biden, in response to the lifting of mask mandates, described the orders as Neanderthal thinking. He added at the time: I hope everybodys realized by now, these masks make a difference. Were on the cusp of being able [to] fundamentally change the nature of this disease.

In the United States, the seven-day average of hospital admissions with confirmed suspected CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus cases increased overall, according to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data.

Earlier in the day, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issued a warning about a so-called fourth surge.

We do not have the luxury of inaction. For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge, she said.

According to the CDC director, the seven-day average of new cases in the United States is around 60,000 per day, a 10 percent increase over the past week. That figure is still much lower than the all-time peak in January 2021.

Biden on Monday also announced that 90 percent of Americans will be eligible for the CCP virus vaccine by April 19, or which is about three weeks away.
Yesterday, the Journal du dimanche (JDD) published an interview with Emmanuel Macron in which he defended the European Unions (EU) catastrophic management of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to refuse a lockdown, while hospitals are completely overwhelmed.

A few pages later, the JDD informs its readers that hospitals in the Paris region are starting to choose which patients are given life-saving intensive care treatment. Faced with an influx of serious cases, health workers are being forced to choose which patients to treat, condemning to death patients they would otherwise have saved. Nevertheless, as Europe passes the 900,000 death mark and France overtakes Russia and the UK as the country with the most cases of COVID-19 in Europe (4.5 million), Macron says he will not change his failed health policy.

In an article entitled I assume completely, Macron displayed a blatant disregard for the lives of the French people: For the next few days, we will look at the effectiveness of the braking measures, and if necessary, we will take those that are required. But at this time nothing has been decided.

A nurse holds a phone while a COVID-19 patient speaks with his family from the intensive care unit at the Joseph Imbert Hospital Center in Arles, southern France, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

However, this so-called braking is a debacle, as the number of daily cases of COVID-19 has risen from 25,000 to over 40,000 in one month. Already 95,000 people have died of COVID-19 in France, and only 3.8 percent of the French are fully vaccinated. Macron, however, intends to make the population suffer a new pandemic peak, long predicted by scientists, due to the generalisation of the English variant.

Macron insisted that despite the predicted death toll, he refuses any even temporary closure of schools and non-essential workplaces: We are doing everything to strengthen health protocols so that we can keep schools open. As deaths on a horrific scale loom, Macron hammered home the point that closing schools, the focus of any real lockdown policy to stop the virus, must remain a last resort.

Yet it was by September 2020 at the latest that the last resort should have been put in place, as the resurgence of the virus following the premature lifting of the March 2020 containment had already been confirmed. Now that the virus has spread out of control and there is a clear danger of a collapse of the medical system, Macron refuses a containment to break the contagions momentum.

A letter from 41 Parisian hospital doctors, entitled We will be forced to triage patients, announced in the JDD the imminence of the total overflow of hospitals, in the next fortnight. They declared:

(W)e wish to explain transparently the situation we will have to face and how we will deal with it. In this disastrous medicine situation, where there will be a clear mismatch between needs and available resources, we will be forced to triage patients to save as many lives as possible. This triage will involve all patients, Covid and non-Covid, especially for access to critical care for adult patients.

They note that this triaging has already begun, since major medical and surgical deprogramming has already been imposed on us  We have never experienced such a situation, even during the worst periods in recent years.

Another op-ed by a doctors collective, entitled By forcing carers to decide which patient should live, the government is hypocritically abdicating responsibility, warned of the social and moral catastrophe the government is unleashing. The triage strategy, they wrote, as a consequence of the current health response strategy ... is far removed from the elementary rules of ethics, which advocate that admission to intensive care should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, in the sole interest of the patient.

They add that as the carers are forced to act in an unethical manner, they will certainly not come out of this unscathed. It is likely that many of them will be left with permanent psychological scars.

When, in March 2020, hospital wards in northern Italy were overwhelmed and began to triage their patients, the barbarity of the process shocked the world. Spontaneous walkouts in the automotive, steel and machine-tool industries in Italy, which spread in Europe and to the US, compelled governments to enact lockdowns. The French employers association worried over the extremely brutal change of attitude of the workers, while Macron adopted a strict lockdown and claimed to declare war on the coronavirus.

Workers, fighting to defend lives, were met with criminal indifference by the financial aristocracy and its political representatives, who were advocating a policy of profits and death. While the EU showered the banks and big business with trillions of public funds in bailout packages, the financial aristocracy pushed for a return to work and school as soon as possible to ensure a continuous flow of profits to the financial markets.

One wonders today: if this is the war Macron claims to be waging on the coronavirus, what would capitulation and collaboration look like?

For months now, scientists have been warning of the risks to the public from Macrons inaction. In January, the president of the National Scientific Council, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, warned of the danger posed by the variants then raging through the UK: We realise that if we continue without doing anything more, we will find ourselves in an extremely difficult situation beginning in mid-March.

Dominique Costagliola, an epidemiologist who had also highlighted the need for strict lockdowns in January, said in March: Its naive to pretend Macron is an epidemiologist. She asked, Why did we not listen to Jean-Francois Delfraissy when, on 24 January, he explained that the new variants were a game changer?

The Macron government, which was clearly pursuing the herd immunity policy advocated more openly by Trump and Johnson, while denying this reality in front of the media, has been turning a deaf ear to scientists for months.

On March 22, Health Minister Olivier Veran explained that the government had coldly predicted weeks or months of death in hospitals: I remain very worried about the health situation. ... We will have to face a very large wave in the hospitals that will take weeks to die down. Were going to have some difficult images to endure in the hospital.

Macron, in his interview with the JDD, permitted himself the luxury of shedding a few crocodile tears over the fate of patients to whom his government is preparing to block access to treatment. He said, It is not said enough, but many people in intensive care come from modest backgrounds. Theres a lot of unfairness in the way the disease hits.

Yet it is precisely because the coronavirus hits working people hardest that Macron intends to leave patients to their fate. In his indifference to the pandemic, the president of the rich obeys the same class hatred that has marked his entire term in office.

This confirms the central lesson of all the struggles waged by workers against Macron: there is nothing to negotiate with him, and the trade union apparatuses and their political allies who play this game are only complicit in his political criminality. It is a question of organising the mobilisation of workers throughout Europe and internationally, independently of the unions, in order to impose a scientific policy against the coronavirus. The aim of this movement must be to transfer political power to the workers, and to expropriate the financial aristocracy that has organised this disaster.
MEDFORD, Ore-- With Middle School and High School students returning to the classroom on Monday, March 29 the Medford Police Department wants to remind drivers about School Zone Trafic Safety.

According to the Medford Police Department increased patrols will be happening in school zones within the City of Medford.

Police are asking that drivers be aware of school zones and use caution when driving through them, especially with more students returning to campus. However, if you are caught speeding in a school zone during designated school times, speed violations will increase significantly according to police.

In zones adjacent to school grounds, police say that they will have signage displaying the speed limit at 20 miles per hour and will Flash during School Days from 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. Zones at school crosswalks away from schools grounds will also have signage displaying the speed limit at 20 miles per hour when flashing or when children are present.

For more information on the changes as students return back to school grounds you can click the link below:

https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Pages/School-Zones.aspx
SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine -- A Moscow-imposed court in the Russian-annexed Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to a lengthy prison term amid an ongoing crackdown against the religious group.

The Gagarin district court in the city of Sevastopol said on March 29 that it had sentenced a local resident to 6 1/2 years in prison after finding him guilty of organizing activities of the group that was labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in 2017, but is legal in Ukraine.

The court did not mention the man's name, but the Crimean Human Rights Group identified him as Viktor Stashevsky. Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Stashevsky to seven years in prison.

Last week, Russia's Investigative Committee said that a 30-year-old resident of another Crimean city, Kerch, was detained on suspicion of being a member of the group.

Since the faith was outlawed in Russia, many Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned in Russia and Russian-annexed Crimea.

The United States has condemned Russia's ongoing crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses and other peaceful religious minorities.

For decades, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.

The Christian group is known for door-to-door preaching, close Bible study, rejecting military service, and not celebrating national and religious holidays or birthdays.

According to the group, dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses were either convicted of extremism or are being held in pretrial detention.

The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has recognized dozens of Jehovahs Witnesses who've been charged with or convicted of extremism as political prisoners.


As per a newly-issued investment certificate, VinaCapital GS Energy Pte., Ltd., a joint venture between South Koreas GS Energy and VinaCapital, is to build a $3-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG)-to-power complex with a total capacity of 3,000MW in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.

The $3 billion LNG venture accounted for almost 30 per cent of the value of FDI attraction in the first three months of 2021.

This follows another mega-investment project from last year, when in January Delta Offshore Energy Pte., Ltd. registered $4 billion into an LNG-to-power complex in Bac Lieu province last year.

The list of registered LNG projects has been growing longer in recent years, including Japans Tokyo Gas, Sojitz, Kyushu, JERA, and J-Power, the United States, with familiar names such as ExxonMobil and AES Corporation, and South Korea with Kogas and GS Energy.

The demand for natural gas presents significant LNG opportunities in Vietnam not only due to the growing demand for energy. In anticipation of the declining supply of natural gas from domestic sources, Vietnam is expected to become an LNG importer as early as 2021. This will require significant upfront investments to build infrastructure across the LNG-to-power chain and Vietnam will be looking to strategic investors and sponsors for foreign capital and expertise according to the international law firm White and Case.

As Vietnam transitions into an LNG importer, policies on LNG import prices (for instance to allow the ability to pass on increases in gas prices to consumers), technical standards for LNG infrastructure, and the liberalisation of the electricity and gas markets, among others, will be important considerations in the creation of a transparent and competitive market, said Saul Daniel from White and Case.

He added that foreign investors looking to invest in large-scale infrastructure projects globally are looking for a stable legal and regulatory framework and a risk allocation model that adequately allocates the risk between the private sector and government, and which will ultimately be acceptable to third-party lenders to the foreign investors. Ongoing regulatory reform will play an important part in supporting the growth of the LNG sector at a pace to meet Vietnams energy ambitions.

While the pipeline is full to the bursting, how these projects could meet their promise in time remains a question as LNG-to-power infrastructure projects are very complex to execute. These are multi-stage development projects with numerous moving parts and multiple risks  involving upstream, downstream, counterparty, and construction interests.

For instance, Sembcorp Group expressed interest in building a thermal power project, but then in 2017 suddenly changed direction to utilise gas from the Blue Whale field. The nuances of the switch have kept the project from taking shape ever since. The project is still preparing investment procedures and negotiating a build-operate-transfer contract with the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The National Steering Committee for Power Development has issued a proposal to approve the mechanisms on electricity pricing and electricity market participation of LNG power plants ahead of schedule, as well as soon complete policies and mechanisms to promote the progress of Blue Whale gas resources and other power projects.

The latest draft National Power Development Plan 8 so far proposed a four-fold increase of the current gas-fired power capacity to 28GW by 2030, or 21 per cent of the system capacity. The majority of the new capacity is expected to be fuelled by imported LNG.

Market players will also be paying close attention to how senior decision-makers address actions that will determine the affordability of LNG and shape the economic impact of Vietnams pivot to gas. Regulators are aware of the cost implications of LNG-fired power plants, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Asian LNG spot prices have soared in recent months as a reminder that LNG prices will almost certainly trend higher and experience continued volatility as the market seeks a new post-pandemic equilibrium, the report concluded.
The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

Vaccine clinic visitors fill in paperwork as they wait in line at a mass vaccination clinic in Toronto on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Toronto's mayor is urging anyone 70 years or older to get vaccinated.

John Tory says three new COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics will open Monday, but there are still many appointments unfilled. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

6:30 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 644 new cases of COVID-19 and three new deaths.

The province says on its website that as of Saturday night, 1,972 of the 7,698 active COVID-19 cases were variants of concern.

Alberta's chief medical health officer says in a tweet that there are 277 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 63 in ICU.

4:55 p.m.

Health officials in Saskatchewan are now urging residents of Moose Jaw to follow the same public health guidelines as Regina due to a rise in the number of COVID-19 variants of concern in the province's south.

The advice, contained in Saskatchewan's daily pandemic update on Sunday, follows a warning from officials a day earlier that variants of concern cases were rising in Moose Jaw, which is about 70 km west of the capital.

Regina remains the area with the most variants of concern cases, with 1,126 of the Saskatchewan's 1,365 variant cases identified so far through screening.

Last week, the province recommended that people avoid travelling into or out of Regina unless it was absolutely necessary, in order to stop the spread of more infectious variants of COVID-19.

Extra restrictions took effect in Regina and surrounding areas Sunday, including a ban on in-person dining in restaurants.

Saskatchewan reported three new deaths and 248 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

4:30 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting one new case of COVID-19.

Health officials say a man in his 40s from the central region was infected while travelling in Canada.

The province now has two active cases of COVID-19.

A total of 1,004 people in the province have recovered from the virus since the pandemic began.

4:30 p.m.

Two new cases of COVID-19 are being reported in Nova Scotia.

Both cases were recorded in the province's central zone, with one related to travel and the other under investigation.

As well, health officials confirmed that an earlier case in the central zone related to travel was linked to the U.K. variant of the virus, though that case is now considered resolved.

This brings the total number of cases of the U.K. variant in Nova Scotia to 14, while the South African variant remains at 10.

As of Sunday, Nova Scotia had 25 active cases of COVID-19.

4:30 p.m.

Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting six new cases of COVID-19  all but one of them in the Edmundston area.

The new cases in the northern New Brunswick community, which is dealing with a recent outbreak, are all contacts of previously reported infections.

One new case reported in the Miramichi region is an individual in their 40s whose infection is travel related.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the province has reported 1,577 cases, which includes 1,432 recoveries, 30 deaths and 114 active cases.

Five patients remain in hospital, including one in intensive care.

2:05 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting one new death of a person with COVID-19 and 55 new cases.

Today's new death  a man in his 60s in the Winnipeg health region  is the 934th person with COVID-19 in Manitoba to die since the pandemic began.

The province reports there are 1,179 active cases, with 140 people in hospital due to COVID-19.

Twenty-seven of those are receiving intensive care.

11:30 a.m.

The Quebec government is reporting 917 new cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths due to the pandemic, but none in the past 24 hours.

Hospitalizations declined by one to 480, but the number of people in intensive care increased by six to 114.

The province vaccinated 45,745 people in the last 24 hours, and has currently given a vaccine dose to 14.4 per cent of the population.

Some 29,407 tests were completed on Friday, which is the last day for which data is available.

10:30 a.m.

Ten more people in Ontario have died with COVID-19 as the province reports 2,448 new cases of the disease.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 780 new cases in Toronto.

She says there are also 356 new cases in Peel Region, 278 in York Region, 278 in York Region, 219 in Durham Region and 150 in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.
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The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is celebrating President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on his 77th birthday today, March 29, 2021.



President Akufo-Addo is in his second term in office on the ticket of the NPP.



A statement signed by General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, described President Akufo-Addo as a selfless leader.



According to NPP, the President at all times puts the interest of the nation before his interest, that of his family and the party.



To you, the national interests and for that matter the legitimate expectations of the Ghanaian people, at all times, take precedence over every consideration. You are that President who chooses country over self; country over family; country over presidency; and ultimately, country over your political party.



It is thus not surprising that even on your birthday, instead of celebrating with your family and friends here in Ghana, you have elected to travel all the way to Spain on official assignment, the party added in the statement.



Below is the full statement from NPP

NPP CELEBRATES PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO ON HIS 77TH BIRTHDAY



On the occasion of your 77th birthday anniversary, Mr. President, the NPP is pleased to join the rest of the World to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It is the partys prayer that Almighty God will continue to endow you with more blessings and vitality to lead this country to overcome the COVID-19 struggles and ultimately, lead us to the promise land.



Owing to your outstanding leadership in manning the affairs of this country, we had hoped that this great day, would be celebrated with great excitement and grandeur, but unfortunately, that cannot happen because of the situation we find ourselves occasioned by the pandemic.



The NPP also celebrates you, Mr. President, for remaining resolute and focused on delivering on your social contract with the Ghanaian people. Without a doubt, you continue to demonstrate visionary leadership and strong commitment to meeting the needs and aspirations of the present generation whilst securing the future of the next generation through your life-enhancing policies.



To you, the national interests and for that matter the legitimate expectations of the Ghanaian people, at all times, take precedence over every consideration. You are that President who chooses country over self; country over family; country over presidency; and ultimately, country over your political party.



It is thus not surprising that even on your birthday, instead of celebrating with your family and friends here in Ghana, you have elected to travel all the way to Spain on official assignment.



The NPP and indeed the rest of the country cannot pride itself with a better leader. Your visionary and transformational leadership of the country puts you as the anchor to the socioeconomic reconstruction of our country and the prosperity of its people. From Education to Health, to Agric, to Industry, to Economy, et al, your record is unmatched in this Fourth Republic.



Your commitment to Project Ghana was once again vindicated during this COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with your enviable credentials, Mr. President, you rose to the occasion and demonstrated great leadership in your handling of this global health crisis to the admiration of World Leaders. Even your fierce critics and political opponents could not hide their admiration for your decisiveness and boldness.



On account of this, it is not surprising that the Ghanaian people overwhelmingly renewed your mandate on December 7, 2020. The people of this great country, having witnessed your visionary and transformational leadership, voted emphatically for continuity. Even when the party witnessed many casualties in Parliament, your popularity at the polls remained intact. Indeed, in you, we have a leader we are all well pleased.



Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mr. President. Stay blessed!!!



Signed



JOHN BOADU

GENERAL SECRETARY

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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A county judge was right to void a $2.9 million damage award a jury granted to the family of a 16-year-old runaway who was struck and killed by a Norfolk Southern train, a state appeals court panel has concluded.

The Superior Court ruling by Judge Megan King upholds Philadelphia Judge Sean F. Kennedys decision to dismiss Norfolk Southern as a defendant in a lawsuit over the May 2016 death of Carley Long, who had escaped from the Bethany Childrens home. It also backs Kennedys decision to overturn the jurys damage award against Bethany, a residential treatment facility in Berks County.

Longs death was deemed to be a apparent suicide, King noted.

She cited Kennedys finding that Long, who was from North Pocono, had walked out a basement emergency exit of the childrens home and stood on the railroad tracks even as the train crew repeatedly sounded the engines horn.

The administrator of Longs estate argued in the lawsuit that the Norfolk Southern crew had acted recklessly. Kennedy freed Norfolk Southern from the case after viewing a video filmed from a camera on the train that showed the crew sounded the horn continuously from the moment they saw Long on the tracks right up to the fatal impact.

The administrator sued Bethany on grounds that Long wasnt adequately supervised. The jury concluded the home was negligent in connection with the teens death after a two-week civil trial in March and April of 2019.

Kennedy overturned that verdict after Bethanys lawyer argued the evidence didnt support the jurys conclusion that Long wasnt properly supervised. The county judge cited testimony that the girl had been seen by a staffer just 15 minutes before she left the facility. That met state requirements for monitoring, Kennedy found.
The global pandemic has done little to dampen the drive of Vietnam based ethical denim manufacturer Saitex, which has forged ahead with plans to set up a production line for people with different abilities, and set up a new model factory in Los Angeles. And its ambitions dont end here, as founder and CEO, Sanjeev Bahl, explains.

Far from putting a pause on its eco-friendly ambitions, Saitex has been blazing a trail during the coronavirus pandemic to re-evaluate and reinvent its global supply chain.

Since we had a lot more time on our hands, we took the year to move forward with our plans to close the loop on our circular mission, implement the Rekut initiative and improve our social impact and upcycle textile waste, Bahl says. To that can also be added a new state-of-the-art semi-automated manufacturing facility in Los Angeles to tap into demand for localised just-in-time production.

The only B Corp-certified apparel manufacturer in Asia, Saitex operates from four facilities in Vietnam, employing over 4,000 workers and producing six million garments per year for customers including Calvin Klein, Gap, J.Crew and Ralph Lauren.

Bahl is relatively pragmatic about how Covid-19 has hit his business: it was down 20-25%, but could have been far worse.



There are two buckets here. One is a transactional bucket and one is a strategic bucket. If you are in the transactional bucket nobody cares a toot, they will cancel your orders and throw you under the bus. Its all about saving themselves versus protecting others at the same time, he explains.

We saw this in our business and our industry. Fortunately for Saitex weve stayed small because we work in a very strategic manner. I refuse to work transactionally. We had access to some conversations at the top, we had access to people, we were part of the strategy so we were included.

All said and done, the business has been impacted, business is not what it used to be. But because we were in the strategic bucket, the financial impacts were not humongous. We had some small things here and there but its all part of the game.

Even so, Ive been shocked and completely gobsmacked at the way [other manufacturers] have been treated  orders cancelled, monies not paid. That behaviour was very medieval.

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My biggest concern is about how [the pandemic] has had an impact on our mental health. We will figure it out economically, we will survive, we just have to buckle up and ride the wave. But it has taken the wind out of a lot of sails.

Equal and open opportunities

Bahls concern for the mental welfare of his staff is one of the reasons behind his decision to launch a social entrepreneurship programme in February for people from disadvantaged backgrounds or who are differently-abled.

The Rekut initiative has so far provided 100 people with training and support for jobs with equal, open opportunities and a stable income. Earlier this year the programme won the Reuters Diversity & Inclusion Leader 2021 Award.

Funded entirely by Saitex, Bahl has ambitions to grow the Rekut production line to 1,000 employees  or 20% of its workforce  by 2025, to align with its inclusivity strategy.

We, as human beings, put people into two groups; one we consider to be able, and the other unable. Thats unfortunate because no equal system has been set up by governments or businesses that allow them to have self respect and self esteem. We thought we should create social impact in a direct manner.

Bahl describes the products the Rekut employees produce as slow fashion. At present, they produce bags and accessories like cushion covers and rugs for Ikea, but a capsule collection of apparel, including jackets, shirts and jeans, is launching in partnership with Atelier & Repairs, which creates one-of-a-kind designs by improving, re-designing and up-cycling existing clothing and textiles.

Saitex is also in talks with other designers to run collaborative collections, but the long-term goal is to also manufacture adaptive clothing for people with different abilities.

At present, it costs around US$3,000 to mainstream a Rekut associate. To achieve its ambition of training 1,000 will cost the company $3m, but Bahl says that instead of seeking funding he wants to make the programme open-source and share learnings with the industry.

I want to grow this organically. I want to prove that a business run by people of different abilities does not need charity, it can stand on its own legs. Once we prove the hypothesis it will encourage other organisations to follow suit.

If you think this programme is worthwhile, and if you would like to integrate it into one of your factories, then we would partner to help you scale up. I would like to build more of a community cooperative movement because there are 1.5bn people on this planet with this issue. I cant find a solution for everybody at Saitex, but there is a way to do it by creating a platform for a larger manufacturing base to absorb and embrace people with different manufacturing abilities.

Building for the future

Another challenge being embraced by Bahl is to prove manufacturing can be profitable in the West. And this is playing out with Saitexs new semi-automated facility in Los Angeles, which officially opened this month.

Our factory is all built on automation, artificial intelligence, robotics. It is the factory of the future in more than one way. Currently employing around 230 people, producing 2,000 pairs of jeans per day, he puts this into perspective: In third-world countries, for the same amount [2,000 pairs of jeans], you would need about 450 people.

Equipped with latest technology to address speed, quality, agility and price, this includes the latest innovative laser cutting, semi-automated sewing, robotic spraying, 3D laser detailing, and futuristic one-step wash machines linked to a state-of-the-art water recycling system.

The manufacturing technology allows for an automated supply chain at speed using integrated ordering and costing with shorter lead times, giving the Los Angeles facility a competitive advantage.

But Bahls ambitions dont end there. I believe in an interconnected ecosystem, so if you are to be relevant, you need to work on a blended cost. If Vietnam is the head of the octopus and LA is just a tentacle, our ambition is to build a couple of tentacles, probably one in the UK, probably one in Europe.

Construction is also nearly complete on a new mill in Vietnam, which is expected to be fully deployed by the middle of the year. Dyeing, weaving and finishing will be operational by the end of March, and spinning by July. The facility has the capacity to produce 18,000 pairs of jeans per day.

Bahls investments in the US and Vietnam reflect potential labour shifts in the Southeast Asian country.

When companies like Samsung and Apple are in a position to pay a better wage, it becomes hard to acquire really good talent. The risk for the apparel sector is not only increasing costs, which will come one way or the other, because saturation will hit in the next 2-3 years, but my concern is more, will kids coming out of engineering school really want to come and work in an apparel factory once they have ambition?

Driving the sustainable message

Nonetheless, Saitex has plenty to entice them. The company says it is the only large scale denim manufacturer in the world  and the only apparel manufacturer in Asia  to carry the B Corp designation for meeting high standards of social and environmental impact, and public transparency.

The manufacturer has also been rewarded with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for its commitment to use cleaner energies. Saitex uses biomass for steam generation to replace the use of fossil fuels, it turns its waste-treatment sludge into bricks for building affordable housing, 85% of its jeans are air-dried, and 98% of its water is recycled.

More recently, it partnered on a fabric upcycling factory in Thailand called STELAPOP  an acronym for Saving Tress Eliminate Landfills and Protect Our Planet  which breaks down any textile, including cotton, nylon and polyester, and mixes it with a binder to turn it into a wood-alternative for home goods. The facility is capable of processing 12,000 garments per month, with product expected to come to market around April/May.

Were also continuing to work on closing the loop and are building a mill in Vietnam that will have a recycling facility as well, where we have the ability to take these textiles and shred them and then blend and fuse it with virgin cotton and make a brand-new recycled fabric, Bahl adds. So we have the possibility of going from waste textiles into new textiles.

On a cliff edge

Bahl is optimistic for Saitexs future thanks to its endeavours so far.

We started small, we continue to be a small organisation but our vision has been to be a transparent, circular, manufacturing system. We have partnerships with cotton farms now, directly, so we can work towards bettering the lives of farmers. We have invested in Fibre Trace technology that allows a bale not to be treated as a commodity anymore. Our goal is to be the intel inside of the apparel manufacturing world. Thats the bottom line.
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You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.
Samsung has started to roll out an update for the Galaxy S21 lineup that improves camera performance, Sammobile reports.

Galaxy S21 is one of the best-selling models for Samsung, and it features a powerful camera setup. The competition between OEMs to add more power to their smartphones has led to significant improvements. Now, Samsung wants to add fuel to the fire of competitions by rolling out an update that brings camera improvements to the Galaxy S21 lineup.

Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, or Galaxy S21 Ultra users in India have reported the release of this new update. The firmware version is G99xxXXU2AUC8, and the whole update weighs over 1GB. The package includes improvements for the camera and as well as overall performance improvements. The users in other regions may start receiving the update in the coming weeks.

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With the new update, Galaxy S21 owners can use the regular camera to take portrait photos. Previously, using only telephoto cameras or the ultrawide camera for taking portraits was allowed. This is the only notable improvement that Samsung mentioned. Other minor improvements may be included.

Moreover, the camera update is not the only thing that Samsung offers to Galaxy S21 owners. The April 2021 security patch is also available in this package to enhance the security level of your device. Samsung has previously released the March 2021 security patch to this series of its smartphones.

The Galaxy S21 lineup owners may receive a notification that informs them about whether the update is available for their region. If you havent received the notification, check the Settings  Software update  Download and install.

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The camera improvement update may head to other smartphones

The update for improving the camera at portrait mode is just available for the Galaxy S21 lineup. But Samsung may not limit it to flagship phones and release it for other mid-range or high-end smartphones.

The Korean OEM constantly improves the camera performance through regular updates. Moreover, Samsung has recently decided to bring some Galaxy S21 camera features to Galaxy S20 and Note 20 series. This strategy will help the company to satisfy users and fill the gap between its flagship smartphones.

Of course, regular updates are not the only Samsung strategy to stoke interests in its Galaxy S21 flagships. Some sources reported that Phantom Green is a new color that Samsung considers for Galaxy S21+. Samsung fans in Australia may soon be able to buy S21+ in this color.
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An antelope shocked safari visitors when they spotted a spider's web densely woven between its horns.

The tourists were initially concerned that the animal was trapped in plastic at the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana.

Jess Isden, 39, saw the oryx in the distance through a pair of binoculars and thought it looked unusual.

An antelope shocked safari visitors when they spotted a spider's web densely woven between its horns and covering its face

The tourists were initially concerned that the animal was trapped in plastic at the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana

Unable to work out what was wrapped around the animal's horns, the group feared it was rubbish and were about to help free it.

But as the antelope walked closer to their car, Jess, who works for conservation research company WildCRU, realised it was a thick spider web.

The whole space between the oryx's horns had been covered by the web which had even been built over the animal's face and down its nose.

Jess, originally from Bromley, London, said: 'We were bemused and confused when we first spotted it. We saw it through binoculars and couldn't quite make it out at first.

The whole space between the oryx's horns had been covered by the web which had even been built over the animal's face and down its nose

As the antelope walked closer to their car, Jess, who works for conservation research company WildCRU, realised it was a thick spider construction

'When we realised it was a spider's web, we just thought it was odd. One of the group I was with has lived in Botswana for 30 years and they hadn't seen anything like this before.

'I'm not sure if the web got there by accident and the oryx couldn't be bothered to get rid of it. I thought people might have seen it before but it does appear to be quite a rare occurrence.

'We saw it over a number of days and the web was there the whole time. It wouldn't have been a new one every day so I don't think the oryx was too concerned.

'At first we thought it was some plastic stuck in its horns and we were hoping it would come closer so we could help it out in some way. As it wandered closer to the road we realised it wasn't rubbish fortunately, it was actually a web.

Jess Isden, 39, from Bromley, saw the oryx in the distance through a pair of binoculars and thought it looked unusual

'There were a couple of spiders running around on it. It was very calm and just carried on eating some grass.'

Jess took the photos last year but has only just uploaded them to social media to try and find out more information about why this could have happened.

She said: 'The web came down over its face so the oryx might have just walked through it.

'A few people have suggested some symbiosis between the two animals but it doesn't appear to be that common a thing.

'We did see some other oryx with webs in but theirs were nowhere near as thick and matted as this animal.

'Some people have suggested there were lots of spiders around because it had been wet but when we saw the oryx, it was in the middle of a drought and they wouldn't have been around.'
Two suspected armed robbers were also arrested at Ladipo Main Market, Five Star, Daleko Area of Mushin, Lagos

The police in Lagos have arrested three suspected traffic robbers along Ikorodu roundabout on Friday.

Muyiwa Adejobi, the Lagos police spokesperson, said the robbers were arrested while trying to rob commuters and were caught with 11 stolen phones.

Aside from the stolen phones, N139, 000 was recovered from the suspects, the police said.

"The combined team of policemen and local Vigilante men on patrol sighted the suspects at the Ikorodu Round About while allegedly robbing innocent commuters and passers by in the area, and were arrested.

The police gave the names of the suspects as Lucky Isibor, Isah Mohammed, and Aminu Abdullah. They are 34, 26 and 21 years old respectively.

"Items recovered from them include eleven (11) phones, One Hundred and Thirty Nine Thousand (#139,000), BRT Cowry Card, black bag containing assorted charms and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp," the police said.

The Chief Superintendent of Police said during interrogation of the suspects, the police discovered that Lucky Isibor doubles as a receiver to traffic robbers in the area.

Two suspected armed robbers were also arrested at Ladipo Main Market, Five Star, Daleko Area of Mushin.

The police spokesperson said the suspects, Nnamaka Udeh and Obina Onovo, have been terrorising the area.

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"The suspects were arrested while the police were responding to a call from the market men, who had been victims of their various operations, at Ladipo market.

"Items recovered from them include one Samsung 57, which is being identified by one of their victims, pairs of shoes, bags containing ATM cards and charms," the police spokesperson said.

In another operation, police operatives at Ikorodu Division arrested a suspected cultist, Emmanuel James, of Hassan Street, Rofo, Odongunyan, Ikorodu.

Mr Adejobi said the police interrogated the suspect and he confessed to be a member of Aye Confraternity.

"Items recovered from him include one locally-made cut-to-size gun, three (3) live cartridges, one blue berret with Eye Confraternity inscription, two (2) bottles of Six Flower Perfume and assorted charms," he said.

He added that the suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, for proper investigation and possible prosecution.

The police command assured Lagosians of adequate security of lives and property in the state.
Photograph: Adriano Machado/Reuters

Jair Bolsonaros ultraconservative foreign minister has resigned after a rebellion from diplomats and lawmakers who accused him of demolishing Brazils international reputation and putting Brazilian lives at risk by vandalizing relations with China and the US during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ernesto Araujo, a 53-year-old career diplomat famed for his bashing of Xi Jinpings China and devotion to Donald Trump, tendered his resignation on Monday, ending what critics call the most calamitous chapter in the history of Brazilian diplomacy.

One things for sure, hes the worst foreign minister Brazil has ever had, said Celso Amorim, who held the post between 2003 and 2011.

Just hours after Araujos resignation, defence minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva announced he was also leaving government, a shock move that added to the sense of crisis surrounding the Bolsonaro administration, which is facing growing domestic anger over its catastrophic response to Covid.

Araujo was picked as foreign minister in November 2018, a fortnight after Bolsonaros stunning presidential election win, despite never having served as an ambassador.

Related: Brazilian diplomats 'disgusted' as Bolsonaro pulverizes foreign policy

Under his watch, Brazils internationally respected foreign office  known as Itamaraty after the 19th-century Rio palace it once occupied  took a hard-right tack on issues such as reproductive rights and the environment and became a bunker of hardcore Bolsonarian ideologues. Brazil courted rightwing nationalists such as Donald Trump and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, and ditched its hard-won position as a global climate leader. Araujo and other top Bolsonaristas, including the presidents son, Eduardo, also trashed ties with Beijing.

Brazils top diplomat  who once declared Trump the saviour of the west  repeatedly assailed Chinas Communist party leaders and called coronavirus the communavirus. More recently Araujo irked Joe Biden by calling the pro-Trump extremists who stormed the Capitol upstanding citizens and taking a holiday during the US presidents inauguration.

Story continues

Jamil Chade, a Geneva-based journalist who covers Brazilian diplomacy, said diplomats had long regarded their bosss submissiveness to Trump and the Bolsonaro family with disdain. Among foreign envoys Araujo  who has pushed baseless conspiracy theories about the origins of Covid  generated perplexity.

But opposition to Araujos 27-month stint as minister finally exploded this month with the deterioration of Brazils Covid catastrophe, which has killed more than 312,000 Brazilians. Many blamed Araujos mishandling of relations with China, India and the US for Brazils failure to secure sufficient quantities of vaccines and vaccine components. During a parliamentary hearing last week senators chided the foreign minister with one telling him: Quit, youll save lives.

Related: 'Saddest March of our lives': Brazilians lament Covid devastation as critics decry Bolsonaro

Days later diplomats broke ranks in an open letter denouncing the serious harm Araujo was doing to Brazilian interests. One exasperated diplomat told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that Araujo, once considered an eccentric loony, was now widely seen as a nefarious, criminal character. On Sunday, with Bolsonaro under growing pressure to sack Araujo, one senator, Katia Abreu, declared: Brazil cannot keep showing the face of a delinquent to the world.

Amorim, who served under former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, saw little hope of a major foreign policy shift under Araujos successor given that Bolsonaro would remain in charge. In the best hypothesis well go from awful to very bad, he predicted, adding: Brazil is utterly isolated  It will take a long time to recover our credibility.

Chade said Araujo left a toxic legacy of politically-driven witch-hunts, upended allegiances and unpaid embassy rents: He leaves Itamaraty in ruins.

Ernestos departure doesnt ensure Brazils foreign policy will change, Chade added, but there is no way of changing Brazilian foreign policy without Ernesto Araujo going.
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has already developed and presented its approaches regarding the new situation in the region to the OSCE Ministerial Council, which suppose also determination of the status of Artsakh based on the exercise of the right to self-determination, ensuring the comprehensive security of the Artsakh people, the de-occupation of the territories of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said at the session of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs while presenting the report on the results of the governments 2020 action plan.

Talking about the year of 2020, he considered it as the heaviest because of the impact of COVID-19 and the war.

The minister assured that the Foreign Ministry has carried out major works among the international community to ensure their position over the military operations, regarding the involvement of armed terrorists by Turkey, as well as to increase the pressure on the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance and stop the hostilities.

Currently, our region is in a period of new challenges which makes an imperative to further strengthen the cooperation with the partners who are interested in regional stability, security and peace. At the same time, all those developments have showed that we need a strong chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group which will be able to lead the peace process based on the principles and elements developed within those years, the minister said.

Mr. Aivazian reminded that after the war the Foreign Ministry has started developing Armenias approaches in this new situation which were presented for the first time during the session of the OSCE Ministerial Council in early December. These approaches suppose determining the status of Artsakh based on the exercise of the right to self-determination, ensuring the comprehensive security of the people of Artsakh, de-occupying the territories of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, safe return of the recently displaced population to their settlements, preservation of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the territories which have come under the control of Azerbaijan, the FM said.

Among Armenias priorities is also the addressing of the humanitarian situation in Artsakh with the direct engagement of the UN and its structures. The minister strongly condemned Azerbaijans obstruction of the humanitarian aid provided to Artsakh. He said the ministry is making efforts with the international partners for mitigating the humanitarian problems. The immediate and safe repatriation of the Armenian prisoners of war who are held captive by Azerbaijan is among the humanitarian problems which require urgent solution. The foreign ministry keeps in its spotlight the preservation of the Armenian historical-cultural and religious heritage in the territories which have come under the Azerbaijani control, FM Ara Aivazian said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Mumbai, March 29 : Actress Madhuri Dixit Nene on Monday celebrated two years of release of her production venture, the Marathi digital film "15 August". The actress said turning producer has been an incredible experience.

"Marking #2YearsOf15August today. Incredible experience stepping into the shoes of a producer with this wonderful team. In case you haven't watched it yet, check it out on @NetflixIndia @adinathkothare @Mrunmayeeee #RahulPethe," Madhuri tweeted on Monday.

The film is directed by Swapnaneel Jaykar and features Rahul Pethe, Mrunmayee Deshpande and Adinath Kothare.

Earlier in the day, the actress shared Holi wishes for fans.

"This year is different so join me to celebrate the festive joy virtually by sharing your throwback Holi pictures. Here's mine. Happy Holi, everyone! #VirtualHoliWithMD," Madhuri tweeted along with a throwback Holi celebration picture clicked together with her husband Shriram Nene.
Jerzy Sala who is missing from Castlebar. Picture: An Garda Siochana

Gardai have appealed to the public for any information on the whereabouts of a man who has been missing since Sunday.

Gardai are seeking the public's assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 43-year-old Jerzy Sala, who has been missing from his home in Castlebar since the early hours March 28.

Mr Sala is described as being 6ft (183cm) in height, with a slim build. He has short brown hair and blue eyes.

He was wearing a turquoise North Face jacket with hood and zip, blue jeans and brown hiking boots.

Mr Sala left home in his car which is a silver Vauxhall insignia, registration number 09 DL 2323.

Gardai and Mr Salas family are concerned for his welfare.

Anyone with information on Mr Salas whereabouts is asked to contact Castlebar Garda Station on (094) 9038200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any other garda station.
As we enter Year Two of the coronavirus pandemic, home buyers seeking more space or a sanctuary of their own are struggling to find properties for sale. The number of listings for available homes is about half of what it was a year agoand pickings were slim even then. Like it or not, it's the new real estate math: Rising demand plus shrinking inventory equals vexed buyers, desperate for solutions.

So why aren't people just building more new homes? A whole lot of them?

Well, after slowdowns in new home construction that stretch all the way back to the late aughts housing crash, newly built communities and custom-built residences in many cities are indeed ramping up again. Builders applied for 14% more permits this year than last, according to U.S. Census Bureau dataa good indication of where new construction is going to be popping up as it usually takes about seven months from start to finish to build a house.

With the demand for housing leading to soaring prices and crazy bidding wars, the realtor.com data team took a look at which parts of the country could, just maybe, get some relief with some brand-new inventory .

The areas experiencing much of the new construction are often in the South and the West, particularly the Sun Belt. These are places with growing populations due to strong economies marked by lots of jobs and oftenbut not alwayslower costs of living. They also tend to have more land available and fewer restrictions on construction.

The pandemic has exacerbated these trends. After staying at home for roughly a year, many folks are jonesing for more space. Suburbs and more rural areas, where there's room to put up larger homes, have become more popular than condos in the big, expensive cities. And as white-collar workers from more expensive parts of the country are able to work remotely, they're seeking larger homes farther out.

"Builders are looking to grow wherever they can right now," says Rick Palacios Jr., an analyst with John Burns Real Estate Consulting. "COVID has ignited demand in markets where there wasnt really a lot of demand before."

The problem: Even those builders who have boosted production simply can't meet the voracious demand for real estate. As the housing market has improved, it's becoming more difficult to secure skilled labor and materials, especially lumber.

I dont think they can keep up with this pace, simply because of the supply-side issues, says Danushka NanayakkaraSkillington, associate vice president of forecasting and analysis at the National Association of Home Builders.

So where are the new homebuilding boomtowns? We analyzed the data to find where builders filed the most permits to put up single-family homes, condos and co-ops, apartments, townhouses, and duplexes. We limited our list to one metro per state to ensure geographic diversity. (Metros include the main city and surrounding towns, suburbs, and smaller urban areas.)

Grab your hard hats, and let's check out some new construction!

Where new home construction is booming Tony Frenzel for realtor.com

New construction is booming in the Dallas metropolitan area. Getty Images

Median list price: $373,267

Number of permits: 11,636

One-year change in permits: 23%

It's no surprise that a Texas metro heads up this list. People across the U.S. have been relocating to the Lone Star State for years thanks to its abundance of jobs, business-friendly climate, and affordable housing. The lack of red tape to put up new construction has also made it an appealing destination for builders. In fact, if we hadnt limited our ranking to one housing market per state, Houston and Austin would have also made the top five.

Companies such as Toyota, Charles Schwab, and Amazon are expanding or relocating into the Dallas area due to lower taxes and other incentives. That's bringing in new workers in search of places to live. Meanwhile, out-of-state buyers who can work remotely are being enticed by large patches of land and overall affordability.

People have a newfound appreciation for how important home has been over the last year, says Phil Crone, executive officer of the Dallas Builders Association. Our market being more affordable, thats why you see such strong growth.

Median list price: $629,500

Number of permits: 9,097

One-year change in permits: 2%

The reason builders have filed so many permits in the New York area is simple: It's huge. The metro area encompasses not just the city, but also the surrounding suburbs upstate and Long Island as well as parts of Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Builders may be constrained by a lack of land and high prices in the city, but they're finding opportunities the farther out they go.

The suburbs are clearly having their day," says New York Citybased real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller. He's seeing more construction outside of the city than within it these days.

But Miller warns the suburban boom may not last forever. As vaccines become more available and the coronavirus is brought under control, corporations have indicated that they will begin bringing employees back into the office by fall. Workers may not want to contend with those long commutes and could seek out condos, co-ops, and apartments within the five boroughs. This could provide an incentive for builders to ramp up construction within the city again.

When companies start calling employees back, youre going to start seeing a surge in activity right away, Miller forecasts.

An empty lot in Phoenix where a home will likely go up Getty Images

Median list price: $469,500

Number of permits: 8,614

One-year change in permits: 9%

Phoenix has long been a haven for retirees, and more recently for Californians seeking affordable housing and more space. Large tracts of available land mean people used to high SoCal prices can build the homes of their dreams for a fraction of the price.

The expansion has grown beyond Phoenix proper though. In nearby Mesa, thousands of new housing units are going up, transforming its downtown. The growth there is partly attributed to a light-rail system that connects it to Phoenix and Tempe. Builders are also ramping up in Queen Creek, a suburb just south of the airport.

Buyers can score this two-bedroom, two-bathroom, brand-new abode in Mesa for just $135,000. Or they can spring for this newly built four-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home in Queen Creek with a ground-floor master suite for just over $622,000.

Median list price: $499,900

Number of permits: 5,795

One-year change in permits: 30%

The nation's capital is a perennially desirable real estate market thanks to the large concentration of gigs centered around the chambers of government. Amazon's decision to open a second headquarters, and bring on 25,000 highly paid workers, also gave the area's housing market a boost leading to higher demand and prices.

Over the past year, buyers searching for more spacious abodes have sought out new construction in the suburbs of Loudoun and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia. White-collar workers who no longer have to commute to DC proper during the pandemic are more willing to expand their search radius, says Mark Ingrao, CEO of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association.

They want space out away from people, and away from the city, Ingrao says.

A new, multifamily complex goes up in Atlanta. Getty Images

Median list price: $377,500

Number of permits: 5,721

One-year change in permits: 1%

The Atlanta region, known for its sprawl, has also seen massive growth in the past year or so. But there just isn't enough inventory to sustain the demand, so builders are looking to break even more ground in Atlanta's web of suburbs and exurbs.

Despite having one of the highest number of permits pulled in the U.S., the pace of growth is slower compared with other cities. That's largely because the metro region was overbuilt in the runup to the financial crisis just over a decade ago. In the wake of the crash, state and local lawmakers made it harder for builders to break new ground, says John Hunt, president of MarketNSight, an Atlanta-based real estate research company. That's made it tougher for builders to step on the gas.

"Were not seeing the growth in permits, but the demand is there," Hunt says.

Good schools are a driving factor for where people decide to put down roots. Popular areas for new homes include Fairburn and Cumming, where you can get a three-bed, three-bath new build for under $350,000.

Median list price: $1,184,500

Number of permits: 5,306

One-year change in permits: 7%

Despite making our list, there isn't exactly a home-building bonanza happening in Los Angeles. Like New York, overall size earns it a spot.

Much of the new construction in the area is replacing the homes lost to natural disasters, such as the mudslides or the wildfires that have devastated the state.

But California's rigid zoning laws and restrictions, as well as high land prices, have stood in the way of more homes going up. It's simply more expensive and time-consuming to put up new housing here than in many other parts of the country, a problem reflected in the area's high prices.

To address its shortage of affordable housing, the city of L.A. recently launched a program to encourage new builds of smaller units like carriage houses on already existing properties. A lot of new construction is going up on the outskirts of Santa Clarita and the San Fernando Valley, says Palacios of John Burns.

If its a new build youre looking for, check out this new community of 65 three-story detached homes located in the Mission Hills neighborhood.

Homes in West Seattle Getty Images

Median list price: $672,386

Number of permits: 5,169

One-year change in permits: 38%

The huge growth of the Seattle area extends beyond its big employers Amazon and Microsoft. Remote workers have also been decamping here, and there aren't enough homes to keep up with demand. In 2020, the Puget Sound region recorded the second-highest price growth in the U.S.

The growth and scarcity of homes for sale have led buyers to seek out new construction, driving up permits. Seattle's University District is experiencing a boom in new apartment construction, as are areas outside of the city, such as Redmond. A new development featuring nearly 300 apartments is slated to go up in the city, just 10 minutes from the Microsoft campus.

Buyers with some cash to burn can check out these new three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouses in Redmond for about $912,500.

Median list price: $329,900

Number of permits: 4,653

One-year change in permits: 52%

The Philadelphia area has become even hotter since the start of the pandemic, as workers fleeing higher-priced New York have been arriving in droves. Inventory has reached record lows, with the number of homes available for purchase falling below 3,000 for the first time last quarter. Demand for homes in outer neighborhoods has grown more compared with the city center, as people look for more space to adapt to their pandemic lifestyles.

Less restrictive zoning laws in the past 10 years and Philadelphias 2035 plan, a two-part, comprehensive project to expand development, have also paved the way for builders to break ground in recent months.

In the market for a sweet new condo? Check out this two-bed, two-bath unit with two floors and a private roof deck with panoramic views.

A construction site in Charlotte, NC

Median list price: $386,450

Number of permits: 4,359

One-year change in permits: 11%

Relocation buyers from hubs like New York and California have been flooding Charlotte during the pandemic, as boomers decide to retire early and millennials look to put down roots, says Evelyn McCorkle, a local broker and Realtor with Helen Adams Realty. But bidding wars on existing homes have disillusioned some prospective buyers.

Some have decided to build their own homes instead, which comes with its own set of headaches. Builders dont have enough inventory or lots, McCorkle says. Instead builders are putting people on waiting lists or releasing land on a first-come, first-serve basis. Thats created its own competition, with mad dashes for empty lots.

Popular areas for new construction include suburbs like Mint Hill, Huntersville, and Harrisburg.

Median list price: $305,000

Number of permits: 4,251

One-year change in permits: 24%

The Tampa Bay area has long been a spot for retirees and people looking for warmer weather and lower costs of living. But since the pandemic, things have been moving at a head-spinning pace, says Bob Glaser, president and CEO of Smith & Associates Real Estate. The Super Bowl also put an extra spotlight on the area, drawing in out-of-state buyers.

Like elsewhere in the country, Glaser says demand is nearly unmanageable as buyers line up to pick out their dream homes and lots. Housing communities in the suburbs are able to continually raise prices and still have a long waitlist. Condos that arent even complete yet are already 70% sold out, something that was previously unheard of in this market.

I look forward to it slowing down a bit somehow, Glaser says. But theres no reason for it to slow down.

The post Raising the Roof: Here Are the 10 Cities Building the Most Homes for Buyers appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
The House budget plan would increase the overall base funding for K-12 schools by 1.25% during the first year and 2.5% in the second year of the new budget that would start in July. That would mean about $378 million more for total school funding over the two years  with about $125 million possibly going to additional voucher costs and $19 million to a new program allowing parents to directly spend state money on their childs education expenses
PORTLAND - Town Clerk Ryan J. Curley has announced his candidacy for first selectman.

Curley, 34, a Republican, cast his hat into the ring in a Facebook video days after incumbent First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield announced she would not seek a 10th term in November.

In the video, Curley said he was intent upon bringing his experience and leadership to the town at a greater level.

If elected, I will be focused on improving the quality of life for all residents, as well as providing the necessary support for our local businesses and our wonderful town employees, he said.

Curley said his administration would focus on working to improve technology, efficiency, and economic growth in town.

A life-long Portland resident, Curley began his political career in 2011 when he ran for and was elected to the Board of Selectmen.

On the board, he served alongside and was mentored by his fellow Republican, Selectman Carl Chudzik.

In 2015, he moved on, running and winning the race to become town clerk.

At the time, he was the youngest town clerk in the state.

As town clerk, Curley said has made transparency, accountability, and efficiency the hallmarks of his time in office, and that he will continue to apply these principles as the building blocks for good government.

Growing up, Curley spent his summers at Jobs Pond and Great Hill Lake in the company of his grandmother, Betty Curley, he said.

It was she who helped instill a love for Portland that continues to this day, he said.

Ryan Curley was active in scouting as a youth, earning the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 2.

He attended Portland schools and Xavier High School and graduated from Bryant University with a bachelors degree in accounting.

Curley returned to the town and began working as an accountant for Met Life and LAZ Parking before embarking on his political career.

He is scheduled to receive a masters degree in public administration from the University of Connecticut this spring.

As town clerk, Curley said, he embraced technology, implementing the acceptance of electronic land recordings, credit card payments, and online dog licensing, and oversaw the digitization of over 200,000 images of the town's land records, spanning more than 75 years.

While he is the first candidate to step forward for the race, he is unlikely to be the only one to do so.

When she announced her decision not to seek re-election, Bransfield said there are any number of very fine people in town who could handle the chief executives role.

Additional information about Curley can be found on curleyforportland.com as well as the Curley for Portland Facebook page.
The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has urged Nigerians to keep faith in the promise of a great Nigeria.

Mr Buhari made this call on Monday while speaking virtually at the Bola Tinubu 12th colloquium.

The 12th colloquium is tagged: Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: The Imperative of National Cohesion for Growth and Prosperity.

The event holds virtually and physically, Kano State being the host state for this year.

Mr Buhari, the chairperson of the occasion, congratulated the APCs National Leader, Mr Tinubu,on his 69th birthday.

This colloquium is a reflection of the service that Asiwaju has given, not only to Lagos state but to Nigeria and Africa.

The president said the colloquium will be a resource for wisdom in Nigeria and to the development of Africa at large.

Speaking of the theme of the colloquium, the president said it is a more relevant and impactful discussion than ever before.

It seems that we have all agreed on one point that notwithstanding our diversity, ethnic, religion and group, Nigerians are better together and even stronger together.

Asiwaju is an advocate of unity and constant cohesion in Nigeria.

The lessons of this colloquium are clear. Our very best of conduct as citizens and leaders is to ensure that justice and unity now reigns in Nigeria.

We need to commit resources to the development of Nigeria so that every Nigerian feels conformable in every part of the country. We should keep faith to the promise of a great Nigeria, Mr Buhari said.

Speaking on his experience in the Nigerian military, the president said he relates with the idea of one country because of his experience as a military officer.

I have served with great comrades from all the nooks and crannies of the county. I was part of those that fought for the unity of Nigeria in the civil war of 1967 to 1970, he said.

Mr Buhari urged leaders, policy makers and individuals present at the colloquium to begin to develop ways to contribute to the development of the country.

The 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium features a selection of speakers including policymakers, mediators, innovators, security experts, thought-leaders, academics and individuals in governance.

Some of the speakers and panelists at the event are Dani Rodrick, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy; Funmi Olonisakin, Professor of Security, Leadership & Development Kings College, London; Amaka Anku, Practice Head, Africa Eurasia Group; Mohamed Yahya, Resident Representative in Nigeria, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Charity Namsoh, Founder/CEO, HoP Africa.

The President of Liberia, George Weah, Former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, Vice President of ECOWAS Commission, Finda Koroma also graced the occasion.

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After a long, hard year filled with illness, business closures and mandatory quarantines, there are a few small signs that life is gradually returning to normal in New Mexico.

COVID-19 cases are down across the state, visitors are no longer required to quarantine for 14 days, and travel into and out of the Albuquerque International Sunport is up in recent weeks.

Data is telling us that were moving into a recovery phase, said Synthia Jaramillo, the city of Albuquerques economic development director.

With all that in mind, the city is trying to take advantage, allocating $1.5 million to help advertise to workers who might be looking for places to stay temporarily and work remotely.

Jaramillo said the effort is designed to complement Albuquerques existing attraction efforts and help the citys hard-hit tourism industry get back on its feet.

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The hospitality sector has been one of Albuquerques largest private industries  and has been the hardest hit, Jaramillo said.

Its no secret that state and local travel restrictions have been hard on Albuquerques previously booming tourism industry. According to the New Mexico Tourism Department, the state has lost about $3.5 billion in visitor spending since the pandemic began, resulting in a loss of approximately $163 million in state and local taxes.

Maybe the clearest indicator is the number of people traveling through the Sunport, which saw about 3.6 million fewer passengers in 2020 compared to 2019, according to previous Journal reporting.

In the last few weeks, however, things have gotten a good deal brighter at the Sunport. Airport spokesman Jonathan Small said last week that the Sunports most recent seven-day average shows about 7,800 total passengers coming through each day.

Its still well below the numbers from 2019, but Small said its more than twice what the airport saw even as recently as February. After suffering a bigger drop in traffic than most airports last year, Small said the Sunport is back in line with the national average.

Weve been seeing some significant increases in recent weeks, he said.

Small said lower infection rates and more people getting vaccinated have coincided with the normal uptick in travel around spring break to bring more visitors to  and from  the Land of Enchantment.

To prepare for an expected uptick in leisure travel, Jaramillo said the city redirected money from its general fund and its aviation department toward advertising and marketing efforts to help attract more visitors.

The details of the program are still being ironed out, but Jaramillo said she wants it to dovetail with the Albuquerque Home for Life campaign, an advertising campaign aimed at luring remote workers and former New Mexico residents to Albuquerque.

The Home for Life campaign launched late in 2020 in Houston, Portland and Los Angeles. Jaramillo said the campaign has since expanded into Dallas, Denver and Phoenix. She said remote workers arent just looking at moving to a single city permanently, but are traveling and staying in hotels while they work.

You hear about remote workers traveling, vacationing and working from hotels, Jaramillo said. They have flexibility because theyre able to work on their laptops from anywhere.

Jaramillo said the citys Lodgers Tax Advisory Board is tasked with developing the plan. No launch date for the tourism advertising has been set, but Jaramillo said the city wants to get things up and running sooner rather than later to help out Albuquerques struggling hotels, convention centers and other tourism-related businesses.

We want to move quickly, Jaramillo said.

Stephen Hamway covers economic development, health care and tourism for the Journal. He can be reached at shamway@abqjournal.com.
Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli-led ruling Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) has suspended senior party leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Bhim Rawal, accusing them of carrying out anti-party activities.

In two separate letters issued to former prime minister Madhav Nepal and Vice-chairperson Rawal, the party said that they had been suspended from the partys membership for six months.

"This action has been taken as the party was not satisfied by the clarifications furnished by you for your anti-party activities. This is your last chance to correct yourself," the letter said.

"The suspension period can be reduced if you revise your opinions and correct your anti-party activities, said the letter signed by UML Chairman and Prime Minister Oli.

In the letter, Madhav Nepal and Rawal have been accused of promoting factional politics within the party by holding "unauthorized" gatherings of party members.

Oli's decision to suspend them comes at a time when the intra-party rift within the ruling party has climaxed owing to factional feud.

Madhav Nepal and Rawal last week boycotted the party's parliamentary party meeting called by Chairperson Oli for a second time, taking strong exceptions to the "unilateral decisions" taken by him on various internal issues of the party.

The two factions led by Oli and Madhav Nepal are at loggerheads over a number of issues.

The CPN-UML, revived after the Supreme Court verdict to invalidate the Nepal Communist Party born out of the merger between the then CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) in 2018, has witnessed a serious internal feud as the Oli-led faction is taking actions one after another against the leaders of Madhav Nepal-led faction accusing them of being involved in factional politics.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Police Captain Back at Work; No Charges Filed

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A captain with the Paducah Police Department has returned to work after an investigation into a criminal complaint against him.In a press release, the department said a special prosecutor declined to file charges against Captain Troy Turner. Hickman County Attorney Jason Batts had been assigned to the case after the conclusion of an independent investigation by Kentucky State Police.Turner was suspended with pay by the police department on February 9, after an off-duty domestic-related incident on February 7. Paducah Police began an internal investigation to determine if he had violated any department policies, and his status was changed to suspended without pay on March 2, pending the results of the investigations.On Monday, police say Turner violated two standards of conduct policies, for changing his work hours without permission from a supervisor, and for allowing a department computer to be damaged while in his care. He was suspended for two days without pay for these violations.We believe that this matter has been investigated thoroughly, by Kentucky State Police, the Hickman County Attorneys office and our department, said Chief of Police Brian Laird. None of the three agencies found evidence of criminal wrong-doing on the part of Capt. Turner."Laird said, Capt. Turner has been held accountable for his policy violations and we look forward to putting this investigation behind us and continuing to serve the citizens of Paducah.On the Net:
China releases endangered sturgeon into Yangtze River

Xinhua) 09:27, March 29, 2021

WUHAN, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Over 3,000 captive-bred sturgeons were released into the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Sunday to revive the wild population of the endangered Chinese sturgeon and Dabry's sturgeon.

The release of 2,020 Chinese sturgeons and 1,000 Dabry's sturgeons took place in the city of Jingzhou, central China's Hubei Province.

In recent years, China has stepped up efforts to rescue the Dabry's sturgeon and other endangered endemic species in the river, such as Chinese sturgeon, said Wei Qi of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences that jointly launched the event.

Dabry's sturgeon, also known as the Yangtze sturgeon, has lost its natural ability to reproduce since 2000 due to overfishing and crowded rivers, among others. Nicknamed "aquatic pandas," Chinese sturgeons have existed for more than 140 million years. The size of the population of the flagship species in the Yangtze, however, plummeted in the late 20th century due to intrusive human activities.

According to Wei, about seven million captive-bred Chinese sturgeons have been released in the Yangtze sturgeon since 1983.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
MUSKEGON, MI  A new food processing incubator space aims to be an economic driver for small businesses and local farmers in the Muskegon region.

The Food, Agriculture, Research, Manufacturing Center (FARM) was built on Muskegon Community Colleges campus to provide space for food entrepreneurs creating products from fruits and vegetables.

Marty Gerencer, executive director for the West Michigan Food Processing Association, said FARM is targeting small businesses that have been operating for a couple of years and are looking to grow beyond a home kitchen.

Its a good stepping stone, Gerencer said.

Short-term rentals are also available for larger companies looking to test new products or use additional space temporarily.

Related: Food processing incubator to be built at Muskegon Community College

The FARM facility is operated by the West Michigan Food Processing Association with support from Greater Muskegon Economic Development, Muskegon Community College, the Community Foundation for Muskegon County and Michigan State University.

A $2 million grant from the state of Michigan assisted the construction of the 8,000-square-foot building, 1945 Stebbins Road. The facility has three bays, each equipped with an office, a supply area to clean produce, processing space and walk-in coolers and freezers.

Its designed to be very flexible, said Gerencer.

Muskegon-based Lively Up Kombucha is the first tenant of the FARM incubator. Owner Zack Smith started selling fermented tea at the Muskegon Farmers Market four years ago, and his business now distributes to 80 stores around Michigan.

This is going to help incubate us through our middle ground period, Smith said. Were bigger than what we can handle in our space but were not ready to take on our own space.

Smith currently makes his product out of a kitchen in Roosevelt Park and partners with local farms. He plans to be fully operational at the FARM space by June.

Zack is exactly the type of entrepreneur we wanted to attract. Hes interested in healthy, hes interested in sustainable and hes interested in growing his business, Gerencer said.

Smith hopes the incubator facilitates the growth of his company and eventually paves the way for Lively Up Kombucha to open a retail tap room.

Related: Muskegons first kombucha brewery is the brainchild of two 22-year-olds

With over 5,000 farms in West Michigan, Greater Muskegon Economic Development considers food processing and agribusiness a key industry to the region. Statewide, the agriculture and food processing industry accounts for over $100 billion in economic activity, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Gerencer says helping Muskegon County food businesses expand has a multiplier effect on local farms.

The Stage 2 food processing business accelerator is the only one of its kind in West Michigan, joining one at Michigan State Universitys Okemos campus and one in Traverse City. Gerencer calls it a corridor along the West Michigan shoreline that cuts through fruit and vegetable land.

Related: Efforts to turn Muskegon into food processing hub continue

FARM is also in the beginning stages of developing educational programs for high school and MCC students to learn more about the industry. It is equipped to welcome the MSU Mobile Food Processing Lab, which provides hand-on experiences for students.

The West Michigan Food Processing Association is focused on using the facility to promote healthy food, sustainable business practices and bring women and minorities into the industry.

It is really triple bottom line: economic, environmental and social impacts, Gerencer said.

Businesses interested in long-term or short-term rentals at FARM can contact Gerencer at 231-638-2981 or email marty.gerencer@gmail.com. A pricing model for leasing is still being determined.

An official ribbon cutting for the facility will be held later this year.

More on MLive:

Who and where Michigans coronavirus surge is hitting hardest

Two of the most livable small cities in the U.S. are right here in Michigan

Michigan barbershop, dance studio among dozens fined for COVID-19 violations
With the 400-meter-long (430-yard) Ever Given dislodged, 113 ships were expected to transit the canal in both directions by early Tuesday morning, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie told reporters.

He said a backlog of 422 ships could be cleared in 3 -1/2 days.

The Ever Given had become jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, in high winds early on March 23.

Evergreen Line, which is leasing the Ever Given, said the ship would be inspected for seaworthiness in the Great Bitter Lake, which separates two sections of the canal.

The ship was ready for limited navigation after an initial inspection and not a single container was damaged, but a second investigation will be more precise and if it was affected it will show, Rabie said.

At dawn on Monday, rescue workers from the SCA working with a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage partially refloated the ship and straightened it in the canal. After several hours it shifted briefly back across the canal before being maneuvered free by tugs as the tide changed, a canal source said.

The time pressure to complete this operation was evident and unprecedented, said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Smit Salvage owner Boskalis, after the Ever Given was refloated.

The company said approximately 30,000 cubic meters of sand had been dredged to refloat the 224,000-tonne container ship and a total of 11 tugs and two powerful sea tugs were used to pull the ship free.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the technical managers of the container ship, said there were no reports of pollution or cargo damage.

Queue

Vessels waiting to transit the canal include dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, Nile TV reported.

Rabie said that within four days, traffic would return to normal. Well work day and night to end the backlog.

Vessels similar in size to the Ever Given, which is one of the worlds largest container ships, could pass through the canal safely, he added, and the SCA would not change its policy on admitting such ships.

Shipping group Maersk said the knock-on disruptions to global shipping could take weeks or months to unravel.

Owners and charterers of delayed ships face at least $24 million in expenses they will be unable to recoup as their insurance policies do not cover them and cargo owners could also face uninsured losses, industry sources said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who had not publicly commented on the blockage, said Egypt had ended the crisis and assured resumption of trade through the canal.

Oil prices fell 1 percent after the ship was refloated while shares of Taiwan-listed Evergreen Marine Corp. rose.

About 15% of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal, which is an important source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt. The stoppage was costing the canal up to $15 million a day.

Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship became stranded, and the blockage has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions.

Maersk was among shippers rerouting cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, adding up to two weeks to journeys and extra fuel costs.

(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed, Nadine Awadalla and Aidan Lewis; Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy, Momen Saeed Atallah and Mahmoud Mourad in Cairo, Florence Tan in Singapore, Anthony Deutsch and Bart Meijer in Amsterdam and Akshay Lodaya; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Kirsten Donovan and Catherine Evans; Editing by Richard Pullin, Timothy Heritage, William Maclean, Catherine Evans and Gareth Jones)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 10:54:36|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported 11 new border-related COVID-19 cases in managed isolation and no new community cases on Monday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

Of these new cases, one arrived from Italy via Singapore, and 10 arrived in New Zealand on the same flight from India via the United Arab Emirates, which arrived on March 27. Additional testing including Whole Genome Sequencing will be conducted to indicate whether any of the cases are related.

As of 9:00 a.m. Monday morning, a total of 236 of the 272 returnees have now been contacted and 235 have returned negative test results so far. One person has shown a positive result which is classified as a historical infection on the basis of further testing and serology results. Historical cases are not considered to be infectious.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is four, according to the ministry.

The total number of active cases in the country is 88, and the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country reached 2,137, the statement said.

The total number of tests processed by New Zealand laboratories to date is 1,887,079, according to the ministry.

New Zealand is currently at COVID-19 Alert Level 1 with no restriction on gatherings. Enditem
Thiruvananthapuram, March 29 : Congress Working Committee Member, former Kerala Chief Minister and former Defence Minister A.K. Antony says that the resurgence of Congress at the national level is on the cards and the results of the Kerala and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections where the Congress will win will spur this process.

In an interview to IANS, the veteran Congress leader recalled that in Kerala, the United Front government of the Congress and the CPI had come to power in 1970 after the Congress split of 1969 and this victory acted as a catalyst for the party to come back to power at the national level.

Antony also ruled out the possibility of the CPI-M-headed Left Democratic Front retaining power in Kerala or the BJP making any headway there.

Here are excerpts of the interview.

Q: A.K. Antony generally travels across Kerala as part of electioneering but this time around you are confined to party office. Why? A: I was affected by Covid-19 and was admitted to AIIMS for 17 days. After that, doctors advised me complete rest and hence, I could travel to Kerala only now. Doctors have told me not to travel across the state and to limit my travels as it is dangerous to health. Hence, I am confined to my home and party office.

Q: Will there be a comeback of the LDF government in Kerala? A: No, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government will not come back to power. There are two reasons for it... one is that if the CPI-M-led front comes back to power, no one will be able to contain the arrogance and autocracy of the party and its leaders. The people of the country have seen what had happened in West Bengal after the three decades of Left Front government there. If the LDF government comes back to power in Kerala, the same thing will be repeated and the CPI-M and the LDF will not be able to be controlled even by the party Politburo.

Q: What are the chances of the UDF government coming to power? A: UDF government is a certainty after the coming Assembly elections and we don't have any doubts on the front coming back to power. The UDF has always been like this. The Congress and UDF will come back to power and this will be a resurgence for the Congress at the Central level. In 1969, the Congress party split at the national level and in the 1970 Assembly elections, a Congress-backed government came to power in Kerala. This victory led to a resurgence of Congress at the national level and I am certain that there will be a repeat of this after this election and this victory in Kerala and Tamil Nadu will lead to a resurgence of the party at the national level.

Q: Will Sabarimala be a major issue for the UDF in the Assembly elections? A: Congress's main agenda is our manifesto but the Sabarimala issue has taken the centrestage after the Chief Minister's comment that once the larger bench of the Supreme Court gives a verdict, a decision will be taken after discussions with all the people concerned and political parties. We had suggested to the Chief Minister to hold an all party meeting after the earlier Supreme Court verdict but Pinarayi Vijayan was adamant to allow young women to enter Sabarimala. He is now taking a reverse position on the same and this has led to the Sabarimala issue taking the centrestage.

Q: What are the chances of BJP in Kerala? A: Personally speaking, the BJP is not fit for Kerala, a state with high secular credentials and with high thinking. Here, people live in close proximity to one another even though with different religious beliefs and there is no communal issues here. So I prefer an Assembly without a BJP MLA.

Q: BJP has a representative from Nemom Assembly constituency now even though you prefer a state assembly without a BJP legislator? A: The present Nemom MLA is O. Rajagopal, a senior BJP leader. People of Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram has a sympathy factor for Rajagopal as he was continuously contesting and losing elections and hence, he won through sympathy voting. This election, Rajagopal is not contesting and the BJP will never win that seat.

Q: Kerala Congress leader Jose K. Mani has switched positions to LDF after a long stint with the UDF and is now contesting in 13 seats as part of that coalition. Your comments? A: Jose K. Mani will understand the pitfalls of the LDF after some time. There will not be any democracy there and he will feel suffocated.

A: Kerala Chief Minister's Principal Secretary M. Sivasankaran was arrested and put behind bars. You were the Chief Minister of Kerala for three times... what you feel on this? A: Kerala felt ashamed on having to go through this ordeal. The Chief Minister's Principal Secretary is a very crucial person in the ministry and government and he was jailed in the case related to gold smuggling. People are watching all these things and they will cast their verdict with all these in mind.

Q: CPI-M state Secretary A. Vijayaraghavan has said that Congress leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala had compromised with Islamic fundamentalism when they visited the Muslim League chief Panakkad Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal. Your comments? A: Indian Union Muslim League is a political party whose relationship with the Congress dates back to five decades and they are part and parcel of our party and our front. I don't know what happened to the CPI-M leadership in making such unsavoury comments about such a respected political leader whose actions had always been highly secular and for the wellbeing of the Kerala society.

Q: The Congress list has several new faces. Is a major shift coming up in the Congress? A: The Congress list consists of several young faces who have all proved their mettle in participating in agitations, braving police lathicharges, tear gas shells and taking up issues for the people of the state. These young leaders will be the face of the Congress party in the next 25 years. This does not mean that we have given a go-by to senior leaders. Senior leaders are in the team and the new faces will be groomed up in the days to come by these senior leaders.

Q: How do you rate the chances of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu? A: The Congress-DMK front will win the 2021 Assembly elections with a huge landslide. As I said earlier, the Congress party's victory in Kerala and Tamil Nadu will be a major catalyst for the resurgence of the party in the country.
Mr. Radboy said he and Mr. Clemens had become aware of the Guess copy when a friend from Australia emailed them about the bag in February.

At the time, Mr. Radboy said, he and Mr. Clemens had decided not to pursue any action, in part because they werent afraid of it  and we didnt want to draw attention to it.

Guess had, he said, missed the whole point of the bag, which was not about an object, but about the culture of the bag, the story around the bag and the phenomenon of the bag  what the bag symbolized to the people who bought it, in other words, rather than the actual bag itself.

The fact that, for example, it represents its own kind of luxury, made for communities often previously marginalized by the fashion world; that it is now sold only direct-to-consumer on Mr. Clemenss website. And each time a drop takes place, it sells out almost immediately and the lucky few who manage to buy one often cheer about it online as if theyd won the lottery; and that it thus has become a sign of community.

None of that could be copied. So Mr. Radboy and Mr. Clemens never saw the Guess bag as a threat to their business. On the other hand, they did see a court case as a complicated effort and a probable long-term financial drain.
FOR Deo Persad, who knew nothing but family, work, and church, life was complete.

That was evident in the trademark grin on his resting face, hence his nickname Smiley Boboy.

Then one day, his heart-warming and comforting smile, even when he was angry, was lost, and the man who never took a vacation day in his life walked out of his familys home on August 6, 2020, leaving confusion, hurt and grief at their doorstep.

On Deos 53rd birthday on December 14 last year there was nothing but hope that he would walk back into their lives.
2021-03-29

Maeci

Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is on a mission to Montenegro. His agenda includes:

- Meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Djordje Radulovic

- Meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, Dritan Abazovic

- Meeting with the Prime Minister, Zdravko Krivokapic

- Meeting with the Parliament Speaker, Aleksa Becic
Chennai, March 29 : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Income Tax Department seized Rs 1 crore on Monday morning from the residence of Alagarasamy who is the driver of AIADMK MLA R. Chandrasekar. Chandrasekar represents Manapparai constituency in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu.

Alagarasamy was working with the MLA since the past nine years and IT officials said that the unaccounted money was stacked in Rs 500 denomination. Raids were also conducted at the residences of the MLA's two other accomplices in Thangapandi and Muruganandam of Kovilpatti village.

Chandrasekar is seeking re-election from the Manapparai Assembly constituency after representing it since 2008. Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) Tamil Nadu State General Secretary, P. Abdul Samad, is contesting with the DMK alliance against Chandrashekhar.

Huge money is being seized from different parts of Tamil Nadu ever since election dates were declared. The Income Tax and the Enforcement Directorate officials had seized an amount of Rs 11.5 crore from the office and residence of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) Treasurer's residence on March 15.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - With the sharp winter decline in Ohio coronavirus cases over, there has been a spring uptick - with newly reported cases up about 10% in the last week.

See update: This map and data post has been updated at this link.

The Ohio Department of Health through Monday has now reported 1,013,119 coronavirus cases, 52,817 hospitalizations and 18,526 deaths.

This includes 11,925 newly reported cases in the last week.

Vaccinations, meanwhile, have sharply increased with 35% of the states 16 and older population now having received at least one shot.

Heres a closer look at the latest trends.

Newly reported coronavirus cases in Ohio have edged up in March after months' of declines.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Hospitalizations

A total of 963 coronavirus patients were reported in Ohio hospitals on Monday. Though marking a significant improvement from a few months ago - there were a record 5,308 patients Dec. 15 - there has been little change this month.

The patient count has stayed within a range of 823 to 963 since March 5, according to daily surveys by the Ohio Hospital Association. The number is up from 854 a week ago.

Among Mondays patients were 251 in intensive care units, up from 224 a week ago. The high was 1,318 on Dec. 15.

As vaccines started, with initial targeting of older Ohioans, younger people have made up a larger share of the hospitalizations. In January, those age 70 and older accounted for 49% of the admissions. In March, this age group accounts for 32%.

About 33% of the states hospital beds were vacant Monday, as well as 33% of the ICU beds - little change over recent weeks.

Coronavirus hospitalizations in Ohio remain above early fall levels.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Vaccines

The state reported starting vaccines for 454,155, people in the last week, up from 431,824, 393,144, 309,434 and 236,727 and the previous four weeks.

The 3,276,391 vaccinations started through reporting on Monday means about 35% of Ohios population age 16 and up has received at least one shot. Younger people are not approved to receive vaccines.

These are estimates in part because the Ohio data for vaccines includes some people from other states such as those who work in Ohio - at least 78,931 so far - yet some Ohioans may have received vaccinations in other states.

Cases

Ohio reported an average of 1,704 cases a day in the last week.

This compares with averages of 1,551, 1,516, 1,550, 1,928, 2,016, 2,732, 3,295, 4,346 and 5,370 the last several weeks, and down from close to 6,700 a day at the end of December.

The counties with the most cases are Ohios three largest counties - Franklin (117,227 cases), Cuyahoga (101,402) and Hamilton (76,137). Case rates per 100 residents, hospitalizations and deaths for every county in Ohio can be found in the chart at the bottom of this story.

Here are the number of coronavirus cases reported in Ohio by day over the last three weeks.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Deaths

The state has now reported 18,526 deaths caused by the coronavirus, though the total likely is an undercount by hundreds, if not thousands.

The Ohio Department of Health announced on March 2 that it was dropping efforts to track deaths in a timely manner, saying the change would delay death reporting by up to six months in some cases. The health department is now awaiting details from the federal Centers for Disease Controls for all deaths, and updates are now being made just twice a week.

Illustrating how far the paperwork now lags, the state is not yet reporting any deaths that occurred in the last week, and just 20 since mid-March.

To date, the state has reported 205 deaths in March, 1,260 in February, 3,616 in January and 5,442 in December.

The counties for which the most deaths have been reported are Cuyahoga (1,991), Franklin (1,316) and Hamilton (1,142).

Among the dead are at least 7,055 patients of nursing homes and other long-term facilities statewide, according to the the states last update on Wednesday. This was down from 7,462 earlier this month, as the state removed hundreds of deaths in changing the way fatalities are reported. Most of these will be added back later once the paperwork is processed by the CDC.

Though death reporting by the Ohio Department of Health lags by months, it appears December was the deadliest month.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Demographics

Three-in-four of the deaths have been to people age 70 and older, breaking down this way: under age 20 (5), in their 20s (22), in their 30s (93), in their 40s (251), in their 50s (903), in their 60s (2,641), in their 70s (4,977) and at least 80 years old (9,634).

Those age 80 and up have accounted for 52% of the known coronavirus deaths, in comparison to 44% of all known Ohio deaths in 2018. Those in their 70s have accounted for 27% of the coronavirus deaths, in comparison to 21% of all Ohio deaths in 2018 ahead of the virus.

But for hospitalizations, the cases are more spread out age-wise: under age 20 (1,273), in their 20s (2,064), in their 30s (2,707), in their 40s (4,134), in their 50s (7,540), in their 60s (11,357), in their 70s (12,486) and at least 80 years old (11,256).

For the deaths in which race was reported, 86% of the people are white, and 12% are Black. For total cases, 75% are white and 13% Black.

Ohios overall population is 82% white and 13% Black. But among Ohioans at least 70 years old - the age group accounting for three-quarters of the deaths - Ohio is 89% white and 9% Black.

Here are the number of Ohio coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths by age group.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Case milestones and testing

The first three cases were confirmed on March 9. The total topped 100,000 on Aug. 9, 250,000 on Nov. 8, 500,000 on Dec. 8, and 1 million on March 22.

Among the cases reported to date are 153,696 listed as probable, those cases included by a wider variety of tests or identified through non-testing evidence. This total is up from 149,946 last week.

The state reported 10,938,593 tests to date, including 214,267 in the last week, in comparison to 216,174 the previous week.

The chart below is based on the most recent case data from the Ohio Department of Health. Cleveland.com calculated the cases per 100 rates based on 2019 census population estimates.

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral.

County Cases Hosp. Deaths Cases

per

100 Adams 2,236 124 47 8.1 Allen 11,025 766 225 10.8 Ashland 4,000 260 86 7.5 Ashtabula 6,203 335 158 6.4 Athens 4,808 174 52 7.4 Auglaize 4,634 277 84 10.1 Belmont 5,314 254 159 7.9 Brown 3,806 57 55 8.8 Butler 36,900 1,134 557 9.6 Carroll 1,857 133 46 6.9 Champaign 3,070 149 53 7.9 Clark 13,048 467 280 9.7 Clermont 19,024 788 219 9.2 Clinton 3,519 155 59 8.4 Columbiana 8,344 471 221 8.2 Coshocton 2,530 197 57 6.9 Crawford 3,744 288 100 9.0 Cuyahoga 101,402 6,117 1,991 8.2 Darke 5,137 301 121 10.1 Defiance 3,866 269 94 10.2 Delaware 17,293 272 129 8.3 Erie 7,225 601 151 9.7 Fairfield 15,105 670 195 9.6 Fayette 2,740 224 48 9.6 Franklin 117,227 3,614 1,316 8.9 Fulton 3,937 208 64 9.3 Gallia 2,291 138 44 7.7 Geauga 6,312 346 144 6.7 Greene 14,059 688 229 8.3 Guernsey 2,990 239 48 7.7 Hamilton 76,137 2,798 1,142 9.3 Hancock 6,290 437 122 8.3 Hardin 2,572 142 62 8.2 Harrison 1,033 81 36 6.9 Henry 2,558 168 64 9.5 Highland 3,414 179 57 7.9 Hocking 2,038 139 57 7.2 Holmes 2,484 232 100 5.7 Huron 5,115 334 111 8.8 Jackson 2,991 182 51 9.2 Jefferson 5,036 228 144 7.7 Knox 4,223 314 107 6.8 Lake 19,169 747 354 8.3 Lawrence 5,371 399 98 9.0 Licking 15,610 338 202 8.8 Logan 3,654 177 76 8.0 Lorain 23,109 1,295 457 7.5 Lucas 37,624 2,219 751 8.8 Madison 4,064 156 57 9.1 Mahoning 20,158 952 574 8.8 Marion 8,198 385 133 12.6 Medina 14,283 668 250 7.9 Meigs 1,379 67 37 6.0 Mercer 4,638 394 84 11.3 Miami 10,310 529 205 9.6 Monroe 1,246 104 39 9.1 Montgomery 48,610 4,308 973 9.1 Morgan 1,040 58 22 7.2 Morrow 2,679 135 39 7.6 Muskingum 8,479 604 123 9.8 Noble 1,310 93 37 9.1 Ottawa 3,392 227 76 8.4 Paulding 1,657 141 38 8.9 Perry 2,809 184 49 7.8 Pickaway 8,274 284 118 14.2 Pike 2,247 160 30 8.1 Portage 11,742 679 192 7.2 Preble 3,625 259 93 8.9 Putnam 4,070 264 98 12.0 Richland 10,647 582 198 8.8 Ross 6,437 506 141 8.4 Sandusky 4,936 335 117 8.4 Scioto 6,176 450 96 8.2 Seneca 4,926 324 113 8.9 Shelby 4,490 148 88 9.2 Stark 30,520 1,726 881 8.2 Summit 42,977 3,735 887 7.9 Trumbull 14,952 1,084 451 7.6 Tuscarawas 8,251 628 237 9.0 Union 5,401 198 45 9.2 Van Wert 2,338 79 60 8.3 Vinton 787 74 13 6.0 Warren 23,290 669 288 9.9 Washington 4,963 196 105 8.3 Wayne 8,244 399 209 7.1 Williams 3,110 155 73 8.5 Wood 12,182 599 181 9.3 Wyandot 2,208 154 52 10.1 Statewide 1,013,119 52,817 18,525 8.7

Some mobile users may have to use this link instead to see the county-by-county details in the chart above.

Previous coverage

See case rates by ZIP code

See coronavirus cases by day for each Ohio county, including per capita and cases in last seven days

Ohio deaths in 2020 increased by nearly 20,000, latest data shows

Ohio reports 34 coronavirus cases to vaccinated individuals among 400,000 cases statewide since shots began
English Dutch

Grounded container vessel Ever Given successfully refloated in the Suez Canal by expert salvage team of Boskalis subsidiary SMIT Salvage



Papendrecht, 29 March 2021



Boskalis announces the successful salvage operation of the grounded 20,000 TEU container vessel Ever Given in the Suez Canal. With a length of 400 meters and a width of nearly 60 meters this giant ship had been wedged in this vital shipping route since 23 March 2021 blocking all shipping traffic ever since.

Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis: Shortly following the grounding of the Ever Given we were requested through SMIT Salvage to provide assistance with the salvage operation. I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given on 29 March at 15:05 hrs local time, thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again. Im extremely proud of the outstanding job done by the team on site as well as the many SMIT Salvage and Boskalis colleagues back home to complete this challenging operation under the watchful eye of the world. The time pressure to complete this operation was evident and unprecedented and the result is a true display of our unique capabilities as a dredging and marine services provider.

For the refloating of the 224,000-ton container vessel approximately 30,000 cubic meters of sand was dredged to help free the vessel and a total of eleven harbor tugs and two powerful seagoing tugs (Alp Guard and Carlo Magna) were deployed. The vessel is towed to a location outside the channel for further inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Investor relations:

Martijn L.D. Schuttevaer

ir@boskalis.com

Press:

Arno Schikker

press@boskalis.com

T +31 786969310



Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world. With core activities such as coastal defense, riverbank protection and land reclamation Boskalis is able to provide adaptive and mitigating solutions to combat the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, as well as delivering solutions for the increasing need for space in coastal and delta regions across the world. The company facilitates the development of offshore energy infrastructure, including renewable wind energy. Boskalis is furthermore active in the construction and maintenance of ports, waterways, access channels and civil infrastructure, thus helping to facilitate trade flows and regional socio-economic development. In addition, Boskalis is a global marine salvage expert and has a number of strategic partnerships in harbor towage and terminal services (Keppel Smit Towage and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 700 vessels and floating equipment and 9,600 employees, including associates, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.

This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com.

Attachments
Sudan authorities Sunday signed with rebel Sudan Liberation Movement-North Sector (SPLM-N) on the separation of religion from the State, the second similar agreement signed in September last year.

The new signing occurred in South Sudan capital, Juba, and took place between AbdelFattah al-Burhan, chairman of the ruling Sovereign Council and Abdul Aziz Al-hilu leading the rebel group located in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

The document, reports say, called for separating religion and state, respect of diversity, forming a united army, redistribution of wealth and power and adoption of the federal system.

The establishment of a civil, democratic, federal state in Sudan, wherein the freedom of religion, belief and worship shall be guaranteed to all Sudanese people by separating the identities of culture, region, ethnicity and religion from the state, the document reads.

No religion shall be imposed on anyone and the state shall not adopt any official religion.

The agreement is the second in kind signed between both sides after the first deal was signed in September 2020 between Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and Alhilu.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
I'm wondering what courses does the community recommend taking to supplement my previous academic career.

How important is it to take those courses from your target schools
The arrival in Romania of the seventeenth F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft represents the moment when the acquisition stage ends and a new stage begins, of operationalization and modernization of the first squadron of fourth-generation multi-role aircraft, Minister of Defense Nicolae Ciuca shows, on his Facebook page.

He points out that the F-16 aircraft with M5.2R configuration of the Romanian air Force will all go through a modernization program, to the M6.XR standard.

"The modernization program will be carried out with the involvement of the national defense industry. It is very important to ensure the maintenance of our military equipment locally. Aerostar Bacau has been designated as unique maintenance center for F-16 fighter jets and will ensure their maintenance and modernization," the minister states.

He adds that the Romanian defense is based on membership in NATO, the EU and other international organizations, on the strategic partnership with the USA and on the other strategic partnerships.

"But, first of all, we have a duty to rely on ourselves, on the institutions of the national Defense and Security system. That is why we must develop interoperable defense capabilities. The two percentages of Romania's Gross Domestic Product that are allocated to us for the fifth consecutive year, have allowed us to continue modernizing the infrastructure, to invest in education and to allocate an important share to major endowment programs, each of the newly started programs having a component involving Romanian companies," underlines Minister Ciuca.

On Monday, the 86th 'Locotenent aviator Gheorghe Mociornita' Air Base, Borcea has been set to host the ceremony for the reception and entry as part of the endowment of the Romanian Air Force of the last F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the lot of five aircraft that completes the 53rd Fighter Squadron.
Horror themes

Shudder original series Creepshow returns on Thursday, plus exclusive film Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula.

Creepshows second season will guest star Kevin Dillon, Iman Benson, Josh McDermitt, Keith David, Molly Ringwald, Barbara Crampton, Justin Long, and DArcy Carden, among others.

Creepshow, Season 2

Premieres April 1, New Episodes Every Thursday

Based on the 1982 horror comedy classic, the anthology Creepshow returns for a second season and is still the most fun youll ever have being scared! A comic book comes to life in a series of vignettes, exploring terrors ranging from murder, creatures, monsters, and delusions to the supernatural and unexplainable. You never know what will be on the next page. Executive produced by showrunner Greg Nicotero,

Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula

Premieres April 1

Four years after South Koreas total decimation in Train to Busan, the zombie thriller that captivated audiences worldwide, acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho brings us Peninsula, the next nail-biting chapter in his post-apocalyptic world. Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the bestor worstof human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances. Upon Peninsulas premiere, Shudder will be the only service in which viewers can watch Yeon Sang-hos complete trilogy, including Train to Busan and Seoul Station, on a single platform.

Related
Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade at a demonstration in Yangon on Sunday (AP)

Myanmar security forces opened fire on a crowd attending the funeral of student who was killed on the bloodiest day yet of a crackdown on protests against last months coup, local media reported.

The escalating violence  which took the lives of at least 114 people on Saturday including several children  has prompted a UN human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing mass murder and to criticise the international community for not doing enough to stop it.

The Security Council is likely to hold closed consultations on the escalating situation in Myanmar, UN diplomats said on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The council has condemned the violence and called for a restoration of democracy but has not yet considered possible sanctions against the military, which would require support or an abstention by Myanmars neighbour and friend China.

Expand Close Anti-coup protesters take cover behind parked vehicles as they confront police in Yangon on Sunday (AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Anti-coup protesters take cover behind parked vehicles as they confront police in Yangon on Sunday (AP)

The mounting death tolls have not stopped the demonstrations against the February 1 takeover  or the violent response to them from the military and police.

Myanmar Now reported the juntas troops on Sunday shot at mourners at the funeral in the city of Bago for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old killed on Saturday. He was reportedly a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Union, which has a long history of supporting pro-democracy movements in the country.

According to the report, several people attending the funeral were arrested. It did not say if anyone was hurt or killed. But at least nine people were killed elsewhere on Sunday as the crackdown continued, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which has been documenting deaths during demonstrations against the coup.

Some of the funerals held on Sunday themselves became opportunities to demonstrate resistance to the junta.

At one in Bhamo in the northern state of Kachin, a large crowd chanted democracy slogans and raised the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise defiance of the takeover. Family and friends were paying their respects to Shwe Myint, a 36-year-old shot dead by security forces on Saturday.

Expand Close Anti-coup protesters use an oversized slingshot to confront armed police in Yangon (AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Anti-coup protesters use an oversized slingshot to confront armed police in Yangon (AP)

The military had initially seized her body and refused to return it until her family signed a statement that her death was not caused by them, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, a broadcast and online news service.

In Yangon, the countrys largest city, meanwhile, mourners flashed the three-finger salute as they wheeled the coffin of a 13-year-old boy. Sai Wai Yan was shot dead by security forces as he played outside his home.

The February 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyis elected government reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule.

It has again made Myanmar the focus of international scrutiny as security forces have repeatedly fired into crowds of protesters. At least 459 people have been killed since the takeover, according to the AAPP.

Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them. It is past time for robust, coordinated action Tom Andrews, UN Myanmar expert

The crackdown extends beyond the demonstrations. Humanitarian workers reported the military had carried out airstrikes on Sunday against guerrilla fighters in the eastern part of the country.

Henrietta Fore, head of the UN childrens agency UNICEF, said in Saturdays bloodiest day since the coup an 11-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, two 13-year-old boys, a 13-year-old girl, three 16-year-old boys and two 17-year-old boys, (were) all reportedly shot and killed. She said a 12-month old baby girl was gravely injured after being struck in the eye with a rubber bullet.

In less than two months, at least 35 children have allegedly been killed, countless others seriously injured and almost 1,000 children and young people reported arbitrarily detained by security forces across the country she said, condemning the indiscriminate killings and demanding that those responsible be held accountable.

The junta has accused some of the demonstrators of perpetrating the violence because of their sporadic use of Molotov cocktails and has said its use of force has been justified to stop what it has called rioting.

Expand Close An anti-coup protester prepares a Molotov cocktail in a protest against the police crackdown in Yangon (AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp An anti-coup protester prepares a Molotov cocktail in a protest against the police crackdown in Yangon (AP)

While protesters have occasionally hurled firecrackers at troops and on Saturday carried bows and arrows, they remain vastly outgunned and have shown commitment to methods of nonviolent civil disobedience.

Saturdays death toll far exceeded the previous single-day high that ranged from 74 to 90 on March 14. The killings happened throughout the country as Myanmars military celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day holiday with a parade in the countrys capital, Naypyitaw.

Today the junta of Myanmar has made Armed Forces Day a day of infamy with the massacre of men, women and very young children throughout country, said Tom Andrews, the UNs independent expert on human rights for Myanmar.

Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them. It is past time for robust, coordinated action.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 22:41:46|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Nepal government decided to close academic institutions across the nation for four days starting Tuesday, as the air condition continued to remain at a hazardous level from Saturday.

An emergency meeting of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on Monday led by Education Minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha decided to shut academic institutions from pre-primary to the university level in the wake of adverse weather conditions.

"The schools and colleges had to be closed in an attempt to minimize the exposure of students and teachers to the worsening weather conditions throughout the country," Deepak Sharma, spokesperson at the ministry, told Xinhua. "We hope the pollution level decreases by next week."

The pre-scheduled examinations, however, will continue on the pre-scheduled dates.

Around 7.5 million students study in around 31,000 academic institutions across the nation from pre-primary to university level. Minister Shrestha had consulted Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli before making the decision.

The air pollution in Kathmandu and other major cities of the Himalayan nation has remained among the highest in the world since Friday afternoon.

As per AQ Air, a Swiss Group that manages real-time worldwide air quality data in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Programme, the air quality index, which shows the level of air pollution, was 385 in Kathmandu on Friday evening, making it the most polluted cities in the world during the day. It shows the air quality has remained very unhealthy to hazardous levels for the last three days.

The smoke and haze have covered the skies of Kathmandu and other cities. The officials said the smoke from the wildfires in different places mixed with the haze is responsible for the pollution.

The Ministry of Health and Population on Sunday suggested avoiding travel unless very necessary. "The ministry recommends to avoid travel unless very necessary until the air quality improves. The poor air quality can lead to respiratory problems," read the statement.

The air quality, according to the officials, will improve once there is rainfall. Enditem
Learning remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, these Worcester Public Schools students started spreading vaccine awareness as a part of their course work, an effort that has transformed into a passion project.

Worcester Technical High School juniors Maryam Al Nidawi and Sophia Zoghbi and sophomore Alijandro Mendoza got started on their work at the end of February as part of the Skills USA competition. Zoghbi said their teacher approached them about resistance to vaccines.

The students, who are part of Worcester Techs biotechnology shop classes, got together and decided they wanted to find out why there was vaccine hesitancy and opposition, as well as how to make people feel more comfortable about getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.

They said they sent a survey to students and teachers from school and encouraged those individuals to share it with others across Massachusetts. Their 390 survey results showed 25% of respondents had distrust in the medical field and 25% werent sure that theyd get immunized.

We saw this as a big problem because if so many people arent going to get vaccinated, that blows herd immunity right out of the question, Zoghbi said. Even containing the virus as well, and possibly even eradicating it. Thats far from now but if so many people dont want to take the vaccine, then its going to be really difficult to contain it.

Zoghbi said the group found that some of the opinions were based on a lack of information about the vaccine. The students decided to continue their work and create an informal organization, the Massachusetts Vaccine Awareness Organization.

They see their mission as informing the community on real vaccine information from sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and websites for vaccine makers like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The group is sharing information on Instagram.

Al Nidawi said she noticed in the survey results that there was some lack of trust by people because they did not exactly what is in the varying COVID-19 vaccines.

We definitely want to make sure that everyone knows whats in the vaccine to help them make a decision about receiving the vaccine, Al Nidawi said.

Mendoza said the group is concerned about how the next few months could go in Massachusetts and the country if vaccinations do not increase.

If not everyone gets the vaccine that could be a problem for the entire country, Mendoza said. Everyones focus is getting back to normal. If we want to get back to normal, thats part of solving the problem.

More than 3.3 million residents have received one vaccine shot, and another more than 1.2 million residents are fully inoculated, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Zoghbi said she has talked to friends about the virus and the vaccine and has tried to explain the science that shes learned through school and her own reading.

They definitely feel a lot better after, she said.

Moving forward, the students are reaching out to companies like Pfizer and Moderna to try and arrange for experts to do Zoom sessions to share information about the pandemic and the vaccines.

We feel like when you hear information directly from people, rather than a big business, it can help them understand a little bit more, Zoghbi said.

They also want to post feedback surveys online to find out how they can better help share information.

The work has grown into a project theyre glad to work on outside of school hours.

We have a passion for it, were motivated to help other people, and taking advantage of the fact that everything weve learned in school can be spread out to the public, Zoghbi said.

The students said they would support making the COVID vaccine a requirement for students. This school year, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health initially said the flu shot would be required for students unless there was a medical or religious exemption. That requirement was later withdrawn because the flu season had not seen many cases at all.

Schools are some of the most trafficked areas in society and I think its really important that everyone gets it, taking into account immunocompromised children, Mendoza said. We just want to have our education back, bring people back into schools. The vaccines will definitely protect us all.

After high school, the students are considering careers like health sciences.

I definitely do know that I want to always help my community out in the biotechnology career and sciences, Al Nidawi said.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 15:42:55|Editor: huaxia

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SARAJEVO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Bosnian and Herzegovina (BiH) nationals traveled to neighboring Serbia to get vaccinated against COVID-19 during the weekend, as the mass vaccination has not yet started in BiH.

The government of the Republic of Serbia allowed foreign citizens to register and receive vaccines and the online registration form has been available since mid-January.

The vaccination was advertized as free of charge, so it caught the eyes of many Bosnian citizens.

Among them is Nermin Jazic, a 42-year old car mechanic from Sarajevo, who travelled to Belgrade with his wife and a daughter for a scheduled vaccination appointment on Saturday.

"We applied online two days prior to the trip. The whole process was well organized and we waited no longer than an hour before we were vaccinated at the Belgrade Fair," Jazic said.

He said that none of his family members experienced any side effects.

His neighbor Samir Colakovic, a 53-year old accountant, also went to Belgrade for a jab. He traveled on Saturday morning with his wife and two adult sons without registering for an appointment.

"We had to wait one and a half hours at the border to enter Serbia, and then an additional four and a half hours in line at the vaccination facility at the Belgrade Fair," he told Xinhua.

Sulejman Hasanbegovic, a 42-year old IT engineer, also got vaccinated in Belgrade. He traveled to Serbia twice with his wife as well as his father and father-in-law respectively.

The second trip was without any appointments, and they have to wait for about six hours, yet he expressed no regret.

All of them said that more than 500 people were waiting in lines in front of the Belgrade Fair to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The vaccination sites were open from 8:00 a.m. local time to 6:30 p.m. local time and were divided into three lines.

One was for those with an appointment and one for those who had not scheduled in advance, as the third line was reserved for Bosnian nationals who applied through the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH (FTC).

More than 4,000 entrepreneurs and their employees from BiH applied to travel to Serbia on Saturday and Sunday to receive vaccines, said the FTC on Saturday.

All employees of the Constitutional Court of BiH have traveled to Serbia to get vaccinated, according to a press release of the Constitutional Court of BiH on March 16, 2021.

In September 2020, BiH has purchased more than 1.2 million vaccine doses through the COVAX Facility, an international initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The country has also purchased 892,000 doses from the European Union (EU). To date, only 49,800 doses have arrived in BiH through COVAX. Enditem
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Its the sort of gear that will kill in front of big crowds and thats where he deserves to be. In what is ostensibly a set about a dastardly act in a relationship, Shah moves between regrets that he moved to Australia instead of New Zealand, his short stint on ABC Radio and the fact that white people arent great at overthrowing governments. He does great bits on shushing, dick-pics, the perils of polyamory and detonates a truly wicked line on the only time hell need a flag. Go along and laugh your head off. MIKEY CAHILL Randy Feltface: Purple Privilege 

Melbourne Town Hall, until April 18 Its been 11 years since he first won the MICF Most Outstanding Show award for his joint performance with Sammy J, yet, somehow, Randy (and his puppeteer Heath McIvor) has still got it.

Purple Privilege is part a fictional childhood origin story and part a chronicle of a very real adult breakdown in New York (where he was performing at the same time that Hannah Gadsby was showcasing Nanette) that almost led to him to quit comedy. Festival favourite Randy Feltface. It is, also, extremely funny. Its astounding just how expressive some stitched together pieces of felt with glued on static eyes and few other features can be. Especially when dealing with a few drunken hecklers as this evening unfortunately had. And lets be honest, with Randy, most of these expressions are of anger, irritation and sarcasm  comedy tropes that have been done to death. But in the right propped-up four-fingered purple hands, they can still work wonders on a stage. There may not be anything groundbreaking, nor will it deliver any epiphanies or life lessons (and unless youre hoping to work for The Jim Henson Company, whos seeking inspiration from a puppet?), but Purple Privilege is attestation of why Randy is a perennial festival favourite. TYSON WRAY

Emo: Black Santa 

Fad Gallery, until April 17 Theres an irony to the demonisation of African gangs, says Ethiopa-via-Perth-raised Emo, given that Australia was built by a bunch of white criminals. Its a rare political joke in a set that expertly plays against easy politics, instead extruding rich laughs from the deeper fault-lines that divide cultures. Emo won the state finals of RAW Comedy in 2018. Saturdays sell-out crowd roared at the nuggets of wisdom the baby-faced 33-year-old served up. Race and cruise ships dont mix, while Hennessy and green tea apparently make a fine combo; negotiating with a Montreal cop when you know just one word of French is a no-no, but including a white baby on your promo image will reassure the paler of your potential audiences.

Emo walks a line between flattering his crowd and using them for sport, though the butts of his barbs are never left bruised. Hes only a few years out of his RAW Comedy win, but apart from one or two stumbles, hes already playing his room like a veteran. JOHN BAILEY The Umbilical Brothers: The Distraction 

Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre, until April 17 The Umbilical Brothers, revelling in nonsense for decades, cleverly meld their unique physical comedy with up-to-the-minute technology. By their admission, The Distraction is stupid ideas thrown at the screen. Staging is tech-heavy, with green screens, monitors, video cameras on tripods, and a brilliant effects-technician who, for the most part, remains perched behind a computer  aside from a couple of amusing cameos. The Umbilical Brothers: David Collins, left, and Shane Dundas.

The biggest laughs are reserved for audience participation, amping up the silliness and obliging the duos fascination with virtual explosions. Plastic baby dolls feature heavily in a rash of kooky skits while a trip to space is pleasantly ridiculous. The sound delay is a distraction and low volume meant some pivotal lines were lost on the first night. Sitting through the credits is advised. They are hilarious. DONNA DEMAIO Claire Sullivans Toast Rat 

Storyville, until April 4 Claire Sullivan delivers an emotionally revealing show.

It is apt that Claire Sullivan delivers her strange, surreal solo show in the kitschy, fantastical surrounds of Storyville, an upstairs bar in the CBD. Loading Sullivan combines personal anecdotes with absurd skits involving wigs, costumes, chants (Toast rat! Toast rat!) and homemade props. Her delivery is as emotionally revealing in parts as her lycra outfit. Her bawdy accounts of stale meat, toilet habits and disappointing sex parties are cringe-inducing, but theres much more to Sullivan than these attention-seeking, gross-out tales. She courageously reveals that her ill father died in 2019. She is at her most affecting, and funny, when sharing how her parents courted (her dad took her mum on a two-hour bush walk that turned into seven hours).

The piece of cardboard she has scrawled on with permanent marker as a map to the show accurately lists the themes covered in Toast Rat: death, sex, coffee, a rat and love. CAT WOODS David Quirk: Astonishing Obscurity 

Comedy Republic, until April 5 Whether it be a somewhat homoerotic analysis of masculinity with Sam Simmons (The Incident, MICF 2010); a philosophical delve into his own infidelity (Shaking Hands with Danger, MICF 2013); or staging a show in the very same skateboard shop he worked at for over a decade (Thrasher, MICF 2015), David Quirk has always had a mind for the more exploratory realms of comedy. Astonishing Obscurity is, thankfully, no different. Hes not one of the throng of middle-aged male comedians making out-dated gags at the expense of their wives and children. Quirk opts for introspection and familial revenge.

Introspection and familial revenge: David Quirk in Astonishing Obscurity. It is, however, far too reliant on a single storyline that doesnt quite merit an hour of material. And having been meant to stage this show last year, and being three nights into his run, his over-reliance on notes is extremely distracting  and not something you would expect from a seasoned festival veteran. The show revolves almost entirely around an article written by a now Walkley-winning sports journalist that makes a scathing reference to Quirks brother. No spoilers here  but hes a writer who also arguably produced the most important piece of sports journalism last year. Astonishing Obscurity never reaches for populist and easily accessible humour. Quirk chooses to defy the norm. But it just doesnt quite live up to the lofty expectations created by his previous work. TYSON WRAY

Lauren Bonner: Heartbreaker 

Mantra on Russell, until April 4 The last thing a reviewer wants to do is disenchant a budding young comedian about their craft. Unfortunately though, in the cold light of day, Lauren Bonners debut solo show is underwhelming. Lauren Bonner, Heartbreaker. There are snippets that you could imagine slaying a five-minute spot in any comedy room around the country, but theres definitely not enough solid material to warrant an hour. After stumbling through 10 minutes of crowd work to begin, Bonner has a show that is loosely tied together with a narrative formed around five messages she had received on Tinder. According to Bonner, she had received 25,000 likes on the dating app in five months. While thats impressive (I guess?), Tinder-based jokes went out of fashion a good five years ago.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A Syracuse University student weeks away from graduating has died, university officials said.

Sarah Riddle, of Barboursville, West Virginia, died over the weekend, Dean of Students Marianne Thomson announced Monday morning in an email sent to students, faculty and staff. Riddle, a senior, was majoring in neuroscience in the College of Arts and Sciences.

I, along with Chancellor Kent Syverud, send our deep sympathy and sincere condolences on behalf of the entire Syracuse University community to Sarahs family, friends, classmates and all those close to her, Thomson said. We keep Sarahs loved ones in our thoughts and prayers as they grieve her passing.

The dean did not say how Riddle died.

Students seeking support can call the Barnes Center at The Arch at (315) 443-8000 for counseling. Faculty and staff can call 1-800-437-0911.

Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.
A majority of remote workers have said they would not choose a job where their employer used software to track their work, a new survey has found.

About six in ten (59%) of those asked did not want to work for any company trying to use software that could spy on them, with only just over a third saying it was acceptable if used to comply with regulations.

Our study sends a clear message  employees in all sectors strongly oppose the use of monitoring software in their homes, even if employers claim that it is required for regulatory compliance, said Vivek Dodd, founder of training provider Skillcast, which commissioned the research.

Many workers also revealed a mistrust of their employers, with 8% saying they think they are being monitored by such software without being told.

The IT and finance sectors are especially suspicious of their bosses, with 11% and 10% saying they believe they are being clandestinely monitored.

Workers in the north of England were most suspicious of this, with 10% believing they are being monitored without being told.

Men, at 10%, are more suspicious than women (five per cent). Over-55s are the most suspicious age group, at 10%.

Only 25% said that monitoring is necessary to see if staff are actually working, compared to 69% who disagreed.

No respondents said it would be OK for their employer to constantly monitor them by webcam and only 3% said tracking their keystrokes was acceptable.

However, manual forms of monitoring, such as having a manager check in at the start and the end of the day won support, with 58% saying that was acceptable.

Just more than half (51%) said it was acceptable for a manager to evaluate the quality and the amount of work they were producing.

They are not against monitoring per se, large numbers accept more personal, human approaches to monitoring. We also found a level of mistrust about employers already using such software  companies need to do more to dispel this perception, Mr Dodd said.

The study was performed by YouGov, which surveyed 2,030 workers, of whom 1,188 were working from home. They were questioned online in late February and early March.
She packed on the PDA at the beach with her hubby Roger Zraika during their honeymoon in Port Douglas on Monday.

And just hours later, chicken heiress Jess Ingham and her new husband headed out for a romantic dinner date.

Jess looked nothing sort of sensational, flashing her washboard abs in a crop top, shorts and flowing skirt set by Scanlan Theodore.

Top of the crops! Chicken heiress Jess Ingham flashed her washboard abs during a dinner out at dinner with new husband Roger Zraika on Monday evening as the pair continued their honeymoon

Jess finished her looks with designer sandals and gold jewellery, including a necklace, earrings and bracelets.

The brunette wore her short dark locks out and neatly straightened and natural-looking makeup.

The happy couple enjoyed a bite to eat at Salsa restaurant in Port Douglas, where they've been honeymooning following their nuptials, earlier this month.

Holiday mode! Jess looked nothing sort of sensational, flashing her washboard abs in a crop top, shorts and flowing skirt set by Scanlan Theodore.

Looking sharp: Roger looked dapper on the outing, wearing a navy shirt and beige chinos and sneakers

Heiress: Jess is the granddaughter of businessman Jack Ingham, part of the Ingham chicken empire which sold for around $1 billion in 2013

Roger looked dapper during the outing, wearing a navy shirt and beige chinos and sneakers.

Earlier on Monday, the newlyweds put on a steamy display on the beach.

Jess stripped off into a chic black Dior bikini which she teamed with a black wrap skirt.

At one point, the pair shared a smooch on the shore.

Rest and relaxation: The happy couple enjoyed a bite to eat at Salsa restaurant in Port Douglas, where they've been honeymooning following their nuptials, earlier this month

Loved up: Earlier on Monday, the newlyweds put on a steamy display on the beach

Beach babe: Jess stripped off into a chic black Dior bikini which she teamed with a black wrap

The newlyweds are staying at the luxurious Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort.

Their honeymoon comes eight days after the duo tied the knot in front of family and friends at The Mint in Sydney.

Jess looked incredible in a $20,000 custom Vera Wang wedding dress, which sat off her shoulders and featured layered long bell sleeves with 'love' embroidered across them in black.

As NSW faced record-breaking storms, the couple were left haphazardly racing through the rain - but nothing appeared to dampen their spirits as they partied the night away with loved ones.

The heiress and her long-term partner Roger were engaged in June last year, during a lavish party at Bambini Trust in Sydney.

She announced the news via Instagram, after Roger got on bended knee to propose.

Jess is the granddaughter of businessman Jack Ingham, part of the Ingham chicken empire which sold for around $1 billion in 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 05:05:39|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore on Monday called for more humanitarian access to Syria and for the protection of children in the war-torn country.

UNICEF and its partners need regular access to northwest Syria to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance, Fore told the Security Council in a briefing.

The Security Council's 12-month renewal of authorization for cross-border delivery provided a necessary window to help people in desperate need. But the needs are multiplying, she said.

In the last year, there was a 20 percent increase in the number of people needing humanitarian assistance in the northwest. Over 55,000 children are acutely malnourished and will face dire consequences without a continuation of access and humanitarian assistance, she said. "We cannot turn our backs on the 3.4 million people in need living there, including 1.7 million children. They're living in crowded camps or informal settlements with limited or non-existent access to electricity, health care or water plants. This aid is the only lifeline they have."

She called on the Security Council to renew the authorization for cross-border assistance and to spare no effort to reach an agreement on accessing children through cross-line operations to reach Idlib governorate and other parts of the northwest.

Fore called on all parties to immediately stop attacks on children, hospitals, schools and other vital civilian infrastructure like water plants.

She asked the Security Council to support UNICEF's call for the safe, voluntary and dignified release, repatriation and reintegration of children in the northeast.

She also called on the council to support the United Nations' call for peace.

"Syria is disintegrating before our eyes. After 10 years (of conflict), it's time to put the guns down, come to the negotiation table, and reach a lasting peace agreement. Until then, our teams are staying and delivering. We believe in a brighter future for the children of Syria," she said. "For millions of war-weary Syrian children, hope is all they have. We call on this council to not only keep their hope alive but match it with the solutions and support they need, and the lasting peace they deserve." Enditem
VOXL Flight is the first open-development platform for autonomous drone navigation that fuses a companion computer with a PX4 flight controller on one printed circuit board.

ModalAI has received an Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award in the Robotics category from The Business Intelligence Group for the companys collective performance developing highly-integrated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered computing platforms. ModalAI designs and manufactures Blue UAS Framework autopilots that are made in the U.S. to help manufacturers and independent builders quickly and affordably bring drones and ground robots to market.

The Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards recognizes organizations, products and people who bring AI to life and apply it to solve real problems. We are so proud to name ModalAI as a winner in our inaugural Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program, said Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer for Business Intelligence Group. It was clear to our judges that ModalAI is using AI to improve the lives of its customers. Congratulations to the entire team!

ModalAIs VOXL Flight powers drones and robots used in commercial and industrial sectors. ModalAI's founders developed the predecessor to the VOXL Flight, the Snapdragon Flight, during their time at Qualcomm. The Snapdragon Flight is now making history by powering NASA's Ingenuity, the first helicopter to take flight on Mars.

VOXL Flight is the first Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) optimized, open-development platform for autonomous drone navigation that fuses a companion computer with a PX4 flight controller on one printed circuit board (PCB). The device enables autonomy and communications for indoor and outdoor aerial and ground robots with vision-based control AI for movement, designed specifically for GPS-denied, autonomous PX4 drones.

We are honored to be recognized by the Business Intelligence Group for our work driving the innovation and growth of the U.S. drone industry, said Chad Sweet, co-founder and CEO of ModalAI. ModalAI provides an unmatched, open, autonomous development platform with state-of-the-art AI and computer vision applications for aerial and ground robot manufacturers. This award reinforces our momentum towards becoming the industry standard for autonomous autopilots made in the U.S.

About ModalAI

ModalAI accelerates autonomy by providing innovators with robot and drone perception and communications systems that are manufactured in the U.S.A. The companys highly-integrated AI-powered modules empower a variety of industries to utilize aerial and ground autonomous navigations systems that communicate on 4G and 5G cellular networks. Offering both start-to-finish custom design services and plug-and-play computing platforms, ModalAI helps manufacturers and independent builders get to market quickly and affordably.

Based in San Diego, California, ModalAI spun out of Qualcomm in 2018 and leverages more than five years of prior research and development in the drone and robotic markets. For more information visit http://www.modalai.com.

Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.

About Business Intelligence Group

The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs, these programs are judged by business executives having experience and knowledge. The organizations proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers. http://www.bintelligence.com
As the U.S. faces a growing number of hate crimes directed at Asian Americans, Hollywood is reflecting on its own treatment of stereotypes.

Actress Kat Ahn, who had a one-time bit role in The Office, spoke with the Washington Post about being cast as 'the joke' in an episode titled A Benihana Christmas.

The episode aired some 15 years ago but, according to Ahn's own experiences, the notion that Asian actors are there to serve only as a punchline remains mostly unchanged.

Her side: Actress Kat Ahn, who had a one-time bit role in The Office as an Asian waitress, spoke with the Washington Post about being cast as 'the joke' in an episode titled A Benihana Christmas

In the holiday episode of the much beloved NBC sitcom, Michael Scott - a well meaning but bumbling, out of touch and often offensive middle manager of a paper company - refers to Benihana as 'Asian Hooters.'

Scott, played by Steve Carell, uses a Sharpie to mark up one of the two Asian waitresses at the restaurant so he could tell them apart. Ahn was cast as one of the two.

She told the Washington Post that she was initially elated to have scored a role on the popular show but soon learned that she was 'just there to be the joke.'

'You're told to shut up and be grateful,' she explained. 'Actors have no power until they become a star.'

Offensive: In the holiday episode of the much beloved NBC sitcom, Michael Scott - a well meaning but bumbling, out of touch and often offensive middle manager of a paper company - refers to Benihana as 'Asian Hooters'

Ahn first spoke out about her role on The Office in a now-viral TikTok: 'The storyline with myself and the other Asian-American actress is that we were the uglier version of the actresses at the Benihana.

'Also that all Asian people look alike; we're one big monolith; and we're just one big, walking stereotype without any personality or individuality, which is problematic.'

Ahn's critique of the way Asian characters are portrayed on screen comes amid a reckoning of Asian hate in America which seemed to reach a boiling point recently with the devastating mass shooting in Atlanta.

Earlier this month, eight people were shot and killed - the majority of them Asian women - when a gunman opened fire at several Atlanta-area massage parlors.

'You're told to shut up and be grateful,' she explained. 'Actors have no power until they become a star.'

Just a week before the shootings, a report was released revealing almost 3,800 incidents of Asian-American hate.

That number was up significantly from 2,600 incidents reported in the previous year, with 68% of the incidents from this past year reported by Asian women.

The report studied data compiled between March 19 of last year and Feb. 28 of this year, which reveals that 503 incidents took place in 2021 alone.

Over the summer, Hollywood got similarly introspective about its treatment of BIPOC following the death of George Floyd and coast-to-coast Black Lives Matter and police brutality protests.

The Peacock Network: Previously, NBC removed two episodes of 30 Rock and cut a scene from The Office that offensively portrayed blackface

NBC removed two episodes of 30 Rock that portrayed blackface, as well as cutting out a blackface scene from another holiday episode of The Office, season nine's Dwight Christmas.

'The Office is about a group of people trying to work together with mutual respect despite the inappropriate actions of their boss and assistant manager,' Greg Daniels said at the time in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

'The show employed satire to expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion,' he continued. 'Today we cut a shot of an actor wearing blackface that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice. Blackface is unacceptable, and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong. I am sorry for the pain that caused.'

There has been no word as to whether the Benihana episode of The Office will removed from streaming platforms.
Just one example of a project in the rabbit hole of taxpayer largesse: The state has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the pipe dream of an airport near south suburban Peotone  and Pritzkers Rebuild Illinois plan earmarked another $205 million to build roads to this facility, which isnt needed and may never exist. A third Chicago-area airport was hard to justify before. Its even harder to justify after the pandemic slashed air travel, eliciting changes in business that may permanently shrink the commercial travel market.
After months of protests and campaigning, youth climate activists in Namibia are urging the public to send an email to the President H.E. Dr. Hage G. Geingob to save the Okavango Delta from the threat of oil exploration in the environmentally sensitive area. [1]

Last year, news that a Canadian oil and gas exploration company, ReconAfrica, planned the go-ahead with "conventional" and "non-conventional" drilling (ie fracking) in some of Africa's most sensitive environmental areas sent shockwaves all over the world. The gas giant indicated that it planned to begin oil exploration in the Namibian headwaters of the Okavango Delta and the Tsodilo Hills, a World Heritage Site in Botswana.

Youth climate activists in the Namibian capital, along with several other environmental and human rights groups, reacted with international calls from all fronts to prevent the impending environmental catastrophe that not only impacts the area's biodiversity - which includes a number of endangered species - but also communities who depend on the Kavango Basin to sustain their livelihoods. [2]

"The oil needs to stay in the ground," said Ina-Maria Shikongo, a Fridays for Future (FFF) activist in Windhoek. "The exploitation would be a catastrophe - not only for the global climate, but also for wildlife, water resources and the livelihoods of local people".

The ecological impacts of the projects are likely to be devastating. It would not only threaten bodies of water in the dry savannas of Namibia, but also Botswana's UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Okavango Delta, with its unique biodiversity and huge populations of elephants, hippos, rhinos and birds. [3] Tourism, an important source of income, is in danger while other livelihood strategies of indigenous San and local people also hang in the balance.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Climate Namibia Children 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 project has already left a number of communities in the northeast of Namibia displaced, and those affected are afraid to speak up against corrupt politicians involved in the deal. Fridays For Future Windhoek leveraged on last week's global climate strike to challenge their leadership to address the unjust occupation of land.

"Maybe he needs to see for himself how many people this affects. Maybe then he will understand why we are desperately trying to stop fracking in the Okavango Delta," said Shikongo.

"They call anyone who stands up to their plan a hooligan. They've even called me a white environmentalist with an agenda - as if we, black people, do not care about ourselves or our environment," said Shikongo. "We have to prove them wrong. All Africans must take a stand and tell the Geingob to do what is best for us and not these industries that use us."

To date, nearly 150,000 people have signed a petition by Rainforest Rescue supporting their mission to save the Okavango Delta. Now, Fridays For Future Windhoek is urging people to send direct messages to the Namibian presidency by visiting www.Vuma.earth.
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[March 29, 2021] Commerzbank and Google Cloud Strengthen Strategic Partnership

FRANKFURT, Germany and SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Google Cloud and Commerzbank, a leading German commercial bank with a strong international focus, announced today that they are expanding their collaboration by entering into a five-year, strategic partnership. With the help of Google Cloud, Commerzbank will move a significant number of its banking applications to the cloud, a continuation of a comprehensive digital transformation strategy underway since 2017. Google Cloud will support Commerzbank on its journey to build a cloud transformation organization and to innovate new solutions for the bank's customers. Commerzbank is increasingly using cloud technology to bring new products and customer experiences to market faster, improve the performance of its systems and reduce operating costs. This is intended to accelerate the bank's overall digital transformation, which includes a goal of running 85 percent of its decentralized applications in the cloud by 2024. "In our new 'Strategy 2024', a multicloud approach continues to play a major role. We will benefit from Google Cloud's extensive capabilities in infrastructure modernization, as well as from its know-how in data analytics and machine learning, as one of the pioneers of this technology. As we move to the cloud, Google Cloud is an important strategic partner," said Jorg Hessenmuller, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and member of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank. Google Cloud has been providing Commerzbank with cloud technologies and expertise since 2017. With this new, expanded agreement, Google will now offer the bank a deeper set of platform services to enable its digital transformation. Using Google Cloud will allow Commerzbank devlopers to follow a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) approach, enabling them to make updates to code more seamlessly. This means that building and maintaining applications will be faster and easier, ensuring that end users have access to cutting-edge financial apps.



Commerzbank customers are already using the first application developed on Google Cloud Platformthe "Digitale Kontoanalyse," i.e. the "digital account analysis". This application provides multiple benefits for banking customers and Commerzbank employees, including: Digital account analysis, which enables the bank and customers to work together to process loan applications more quickly.

Creation of accurate balance sheets of income and expenses for each customer account.

Better tracking of historical financial data, so that customers can optimize their income and expenditures behavior over time. "We are excited to work with Commerzbank to help the bank digitally transform. This partnership means that Google Cloud not only satisfies the high regulatory requirements of the financial sector but we also cooperate on industry-wide initiatives such as the Collaborative Cloud Audit Group to provide verifiable transparency against important compliance standards in the financial services industry," said Daniel Holz, vice president, EMEA North Region at Google Cloud.

The Collaborative Cloud Audit Group (CCAG) is a group of financial services firms in Europe that performs pooled audits of cloud providers like Google Cloud to ensure regulatory compliance of their material outsourcing operations. About Google Cloud

Google Cloud accelerates organizations' ability to digitally transform their business with the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions and expertise. We deliver enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology to help companies operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs, giving customers a foundation for the future. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems. About Commerzbank

Commerzbank is the leading bank for the German Mittelstand and a strong partner for around 30,000 corporate client groups and around 11 million private and small-business customers in Germany. The Bank's two Business Segments  Private and Small-Business Customers and Corporate Clients  offer a comprehensive portfolio of financial services. Commerzbank transacts approximately 30 per cent of Germany's foreign trade and is present internationally in almost 40 countries in the corporate clients' business. The Bank focusses on the German Mittelstand, large corporates, and institutional clients. As part of its international business, Commerzbank supports clients with German connectivity and companies operating in selected future-oriented industries. Following the integration of Comdirect, private and small-business customers benefit from the services offered by one of Germany's most advanced online banks combined with personal advisory support on site. Its Polish subsidiary mBank S.A. is an innovative digital bank that serves approximately 5.7 million private and corporate customers, predominantly in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2020, Commerzbank generated gross revenues of some 8.2 billion with almost 48,000 employees. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/commerzbank-and-google-cloud-strengthen-strategic-partnership-301256637.html SOURCE Google Cloud

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Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs Hamdy Loza had talks Saturday with US Special Envoy for Sudan Donald Booth on the latest updates regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam file and the ongoing efforts to re-launch negotiations to reach an agreement on filling and operating the dam.

Booth is currently visiting Egypt within a regional tour that also includes Sudan and Ethiopia, as well as DR Congo; the current president of the African Union.

The tour is meant to examine ways of pushing forward the negotiation process, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Egyptian senior diplomat stressed the necessity of reaching an agreement on filling and operating the dam as soon as possible, particularly before Ethiopia begins implementing the second phase of filling, in order to ensure that Egypt and Sudan are not negatively affected by the process.

He also briefed the US envoy on the Sudanese proposal, which Egypt supports, calling for the formation of an international quartet led by DR Congo, with the participation of the United States, the European Union and the United Nations to mediate between the three countries.

Loza stressed the importance of ensuring an effective and serious negotiation process; to maximize its chances of success, enabling the three countries to reach a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement that achieves their common interests, preserves Egypt's rights, and secures its water interests.
New Delhi: Two people were killed including a police personnel in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore on Monday (March 29, 2021). As per the latest reports, the area has been cordoned off and a search operation is underway.

The Kashmir Zone Police confirmed that cop Shafat Ahmad and councillor Riyaz Ahmad lost their lives in the terror incident, whereas, another councillor Shams-ud-din Peer sustained injuries.

"Injured shifted to hospital for treatment. Area cordoned off and further details shall follow," said the Kashmir Zone Police.

#Terrorists fired at Municipal Office #Sopore. In this #terror incident, police personnel Shafqat Ahmad & councillor Riyaz Ahmad got #martyred & councillor Shams-ud-din Peer got injured. Injured shifted to hospital for treatment. Area cordoned off & further details shall follow.  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) March 29, 2021

A Municipal council meeting which was being chaired by Fareeda Khan, a BDC chairman and also State Secretary of BJP, was attacked by unidentified terrorist/terrorists.


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PROPOSALS to ban building one-off homes have brought a frenzy of planning applications, as landowners seek to take advantage before laws change.

That's according Mayor Michael Collins, as a motion to pile more pressure on the Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien to change tack on the controversial plan, was passed at a meeting this week.

The first ever combined Limerick Development Plan is expected to be published after Easter but there is concern it will ban the construction of homes on their own, with national strategies prioritising cluster living around towns and villages.

It has proven hugely controversial in Limerick, with yet another motion on the matter passed this month. This time, Independent councillor Eddie Ryan moved that local authority members call on Mr O'Brien to retain the status quo in relation to the building of once-off homes.

Crucially, the council chief executive Dr Pat Daly pledged to fight the fight for this on behalf of members but warned: We'll have a battle royale on our hands.

Mayor Collins said that many landowners, aware the change could be on the way, have sought planning permission where they might not need to at present. He said: This national policy which is impacting us here has created what I consider to be a frenzy of planning permissions at the moment. It's been counter-productive. I know people applying for planning who do not need planning at all. It's created a bigger problem for the government and for this national policy.

Cllr Ryan said: This will be bad for County Limerick, it will be bad for rural schools, for rural post offices. I accept and support the passion Liam Galvin has indicated, and for the people who want to live here.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin, one of the most vocal critics of the proposed ban, seconded the motion.

He said: We need to be united on this. I've been involved in local government for 17 years, and this would represent the death knell for rural Ireland if this goes ahead. Not alone for Limerick, but for every local authority. People maybe don't realise the seriousness of this. How in the name of God can we go forward blindfolded, and tell people like Cllr Eddie Ryan's daughter who want to comes home in time to come that we passed a County Development Plan that says no you cannot live on the family owned land. How can we do this to the people we represent?

The Fine Gael group leader, Cllr John Sheahan, who is also the general secretary of the Local Authority Members Association added: Councillors are being treated with disdain at the moment. We are like lambs to the slaughter.

And Cllr Jerome Scanlan said: It's essential we make a stand for rural Ireland. This is going to be one hell of a battle. The only way to deal with this if we have to is go through the courts. The planning regulator, as far as I am concerned, is going to do his own thing. Minister O'Brien has invested whatever power he has in the planning regulator for the simple reason that it's much easier to let someone else make the decision, he added.

His Independent colleague, Cllr Brigid Teefy said: We need rural houses. Post-Covid there is a huge demand for houses. I think it's totally unconstitutional if a family member cannot build on their own land. We are all supporting the motion and the whole issue on the one-off houses. We need everyone on board here.

The only person to speak in opposition to the motion was Green councillor Sean Hartigan, who said: One-off rural housing puts significant cost on the State to provide broadband, roads, water and electricity. I think we need to be moving to a situation of serviced sites close to villages. I wouldn't deny anyone the right to live on half-an-acre and design their own home. But we need to be realistic, and we need to do it near villages. This will support our villages economically and I think this is what the national policy is aiming to do."

Dr Daly pledged the support of management.

I want to assure councillors we are hearing you loud and clear. We are hearing the passion you have for this issue and what it might mean for the development plan. We will fight the fight, don't be in any doubt about that, he said.

Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
The Queensland government's failure to vaccinate a Covid-positive nurse who spent the weekend away in Byron Bay has been labelled 'disgraceful' - as figures show just 43 per cent of doctors in the state have received their first jab.

The nurse and her sister unknowingly had the virulent UK coronavirus strain while partying in the northern New South Wales coastal town between March 26 and March 28, health authorities said overnight.

Greater Brisbane entered a three-day lockdown on Monday after four new local coronavirus cases - including the two siblings - were discovered by authorities.

The boss of Flight Centre has since blasted the decision to lockdown Brisbane, warning the 'sheer lunacy' will cost the economy billions of dollars.

The sisters visited a string of popular venues including the Byron Beach Hotel and The Farm - both of which are now on high alert for potential Covid-19 exposure.

Queensland health officials are now under fire after it emerged the nurse was the second worker at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Covid ward to test positive to coronavirus who had not received their first jab.

A line-up is pictured at a walk-through Covid-19 testing site at the Surf Life Saving Club in Byron Bay in northern New South Wales on Monday. An Covid-positive unvaccinated nurse and her sister visited the town on the weekend of March 26-March 28

'You can say challenging, we can say 'disgraceful' because that's what it is,' Today show host Karl Stefanovic said.

'Every day [the nurses] are dealing with potentially Covid-infected patients. What are we doing in this country if we're not getting those vaccinations out?'

AMA Queensland's Council of General Practice's Chair Dr Maria Boulton said just 43 per cent of doctors in the state they surveyed had received a dose of the vaccine.

Of those doctors, half had been in contact with positive coronavirus cases.

'It's beyond comprehension,' Stefanovic said.

'The mind boggles why especially those on the front line haven't been vaccinated yet,' Dr Boulton replied.

'It's the same with GPs too - a lot of us haven't been vaccinated yet.'

Australia's Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan has conceded the task of vaccinating all of Queensland's healthcare workers could take several more weeks.

More than 541,000 Australians have received their first Covid-19 vaccines, including 259,000 in the past week.

AMA Queensland's Council of General Practice's Chair Dr Maria Boulton said on Tuesday morning just 43 per cent of the state's doctors surveyed had received a dose of the vaccine

But Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is among the politicians to have called for Australia to accelerate the vaccine roll-out.

Vulnerable people in aged care are another concern across Australia but Professor McMillan said supply had now increased and 89,000 had been vaccinated.

'There is a large population of aged care residents,' she said.

'We'll continue to see more and more done in the coming weeks, particularly now that we've got the domestic supply as well of the vaccine rollout both to aged care residents and aged care staff.'

An unvaccinated doctor at Princess Alexandra Hospital tested positive to the virus on March 12.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young is expected to introduce a rule in the coming days meaning all healthcare workers treating Covid-positive patients must be vaccinated, The Courier-Mail reported.

The nurse is the second worker at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Covid ward to test positive to coronavirus having not received their first jab. Pictured is a different healthcare collection worker in a Covid-19 testing clinic in Brisbane on Monday

The nurse and her sister partied in NSW's Byron Bay (testing site pictured) for a bachelorette party while infected with Covid

The AMA's state president has already called for the rule to be introduced as a 'bare minimum'.

A Queensland Health spokesman told Daily Mail Australia there were 37,000 high-risk hotel quarantine and hospital staff under Phase 1a of the vaccine rollout, with each requiring two doses.

'Six weeks in, I can confirm we have given a first dose vaccine to 89% of this cohort,' the spokesman said.

'Vaccination takes time to have an effect in the individual and may not prevent transmission.

'Once we have 100% of this cohort vaccinated with a first dose, consideration will be given to requiring all workers to have been vaccinated if working with COVID positive people.'

'You can say challenging, we can say 'disgraceful' because that's what it is,' Today show host Karl Stefanovic said

Graham Turner, the co-founder of Flight Centre, earlier said it was 'sheer lunacy' to force residents to stay at home and claimed there was 'no evidence' the lockdown would help control Queensland's coronavirus outbreak.

'Locking Brisbane down will have a short-range three-day effect, it will cost $1billion to $2billion, but the impact will last longer, and just as domestic travel was coming back,' Mr Turner told the Courier Mail.

'(The lockdowns have) achieved nothing. There is no evidence it has achieved anything. We are talking billions of dollars here for a three-day lockdown.'

Other companies have called on the government to be stronger with the distribution of vaccines, saying the constant threat of lockdowns is not financially sustainable.

Queensland businesses are preparing for another tenuous period financially after the government closed all non-essentials for the three-day lockdown period.

The state's travel sector in particular is expecting huge losses with the possibility of travel not being reinstated before the Easter long weekend.

It comes amid fears a coronavirus cluster in Brisbane, which grew to seven on Monday, could be spreading to NSW after two infected women attended a bachelorette party in Byron Bay.

The boss of Flight Centre has blasted the decision to send Brisbane into lockdown in a bid to control a coronavirus cluster (quiet street seen on Monday afternoon)

A nurse and her sister unknowingly had coronavirus while partying in the coastal town on the NSW north coast on the weekend spanning March 26 to March 28.

The pair visited a string of popular venues including the Byron Beach Hotel and The Farm.

NSW Health released an alert on Monday evening saying anyone that had visited the Queensland capital since March 20 must immediately self-isolate and not leave their house until Thursday at 5pm.

Residents of Byron Bay are being urged to be especially vigilant in monitoring their health and are encouraging anyone with even the mildest symptoms to get tested immediately.

A number of venues at the popular tourist destination have fallen under the immediate testing category, with anyone who attented the Byron Beach Hotel, The Farm, Mokha Cafe and Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park told to immediately seek a test and self-isolate until told otherwise.

Ghanda Clothing, Tiger Lily, Black Sheep, Quicksilver, Suffolk Bakery and the Park Hotel Bottle Shop are also in the same category.

The relevant times for the enforced isolation period can be found on the NSW Health website.

The pair visited the popular Byron Beach Hotel on Friday March 28 between 7pm and 9pm (pictured) while positive infectious with the virus

Flight Centre co-founder Graham Turner (pictured) said there was 'no evidence' lockdowns had achieved anything

NSW Health say the lockdown will remain in place for residents who visited Brisbane since March 20 for the same duration as the Queensland mandate.

They will only be allowed to leave for essential reasons including food, medical care and exercise.

The state has also issued entry declaration forms from March 27 for people who have spent time in the Greater Brisbane area.

The forms are to help authorities track anyone who may be linked or exposed to the new outbreak of the UK strain of the virus.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the infected people have been out in the community and travelled to central Queensland and northern NSW.

To stem transmission, Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands will go into a three-day lockdown from 5pm on Monday - an area with about 2.5 million people.

'I didn't sleep last night so I think I am very worried, I'm very concerned,' Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

'But we've done it before, we've got through this together, and I'm sure that if everyone does the right thing we will be able to get through it.'

People with even the slightest of symptoms are being encouraged to seek a test immediately and self-isolate until further notice

Greater Brisbane has been ordered into a three-day lockdown after a coronavirus cluster grew to seven cases with evidence of 'significant community transmission'

Ms Palaszczuk said the lockdown would be reviewed on Thursday, ahead of the Easter holiday break this weekend.

Greater Brisbane schools and all non-essential businesses premises must close from Monday afternoon.

'This will also enable our health authorities to get on top of the contact tracing,' the premier said.

'This is a huge job now that we have to do because we've got more of this community transmission.'

It is the second Greater Brisbane lockdown this year after an earlier shutdown in January.

Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 will also come under the lockdown restrictions.

One of the cases travelled to Gladstone and Gin Gin from March 25 to March 27 and two cases visited venues in Byron Bay in NSW on March 26 and March 28.

The premier said face masks would be mandatory in Brisbane, and will need to be worn indoors throughout the rest of Queensland.

All venues outside Greater Brisbane will only be allowed to host seated patrons.

NSW Health released an alert on Monday evening saying anyone that had visited the Queensland capital since March 20 must immediately self-isolate and not leave their house until Thursday at 5pm

New South Wales residents who have recently returned from Brisbane must immediately go into a three-day lockdown

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says four of the new cases are linked to two men in northern Brisbane and a Princess Alexandra Hospital doctor who tested positive.

Two cases are colleagues of a Strathpine man who tested positive on Friday night, while the other cases are a doctor, who tested positive on March 12, and her sister.

Dr Young said it was unclear where the transmission occurred and genomic testing on both latter cases was underway.

'We now have significant community transmission,' she said.

States and territories have also moved to restrict incoming travel from Brisbane and the state.

Western Australia will close its border to the entire state of Queensland from 1201am (WST) on Tuesday.

Tasmania has shut its border to Greater Brisbane travellers, while South Australia will do so from 4pm (CST) and Victoria closes to Brisbanites from 6pm (AEDT).

Anyone from Greater Brisbane must isolate and get tested upon entering the Northern Territory and the ACT.

Entry declarations that ask for details of visits to venues of concern are required for Greater Brisbane arrivals, and NSW Health is advising against non-essential travel to the northern city.

Thousands have attempted to leave Brisbane after the three-day lockdown threw Easter long weekend plans into disarray

Brisbane residents had until 5pm on Monday to leave the state or be locked down

Greater Brisbane schools and all non-essential businesses premises must close from Monday afternoon
ALBANY, N.Y., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Overview of PV Module Market

Solar photovoltaic (PV) modules attract immense investments by proponents of renewable energy producers and utility companies. Solar PV panels are a key system for harnessing solar energy, and are gathering steam among commercial as well as residential users. The net benefit of low carbon footprint is one of the primary business propositions in the PV modules market. Rise in crystalline silicon type PV modules, along with the general decline in cost of adoption or installation, in emerging economies has expanded the value proposition. Advancements in PV module technologies have been increasingly boosting the energy efficiency and have made them modular, spurring the adoption rate in industrial and commercial environments.

The global PV modules market stood at US$ 31.41 Bn in 2017, and is projected to reach worth of US$ 15.13 Bn by the end of 2026. The loss in valuation can be ascribed to the considerable reduction in the prices of PV modules.

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Rising Demand for Clean Power Drives Opportunities

PV modules have formed as a key technology for end users to shift to solar energy. The trend has caught on momentum on the back of the constantly increasing business worldwide propositions for clean power, both among producers and end users in various economies. The proposition for clean energy for next generations is another aspect underpinning the adoption of PV modules. Crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon are both expected to gain popularity. The focus of PV manufacturers on increasing the efficiency of the latter will boost the popularity at remarkable rate. Moreover, amorphous silicon PV modules are viewed as meeting a wide range of applications since they can be made in various shapes. Constant innovations will continue to keep PV modules an attractive technology for clean power adoption.

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Reliance on Fossil Fuels Boost Use of Grid-Tie Solar System

Over the years, grid-tie electrical systems have gathered attention as inexpensive and reliable grid energy storage system for end users, particularly for residential users. The high return on investment (ROI) has fueled new market propositions for the use of grid-tie solar systems. Even for small businesses, the high security and predictability are the key advantages, propelling the PV module market.

Increasing Governments' Subsidies Impart Momentum to Adoption

Over the years, governments in numerous countries have been offering financial incentives and other subsidies to make PV modules affordable to public at large. Thus, favorable policies have been a key force in increasing the adoption rate particularly among households in both developed as well developing countries. Also, such policy support for solar energy will continue to add momentum to the demand for PV modules, especially in emerging economies such as India, China, and Japan.

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Ever-rising demand for electricity in industrial facilities spur business proposition of PV modules

Growing adoption rate of renewable energy for household consumption spurs popularity of PV modules

Tax credits and subsidies in developed nations have bolstered the adoption rate among various end users, notably in developing economies notably in Asia Pacific

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PV manufacturers world over are keenly focused on bringing technological advancements and improvisations to performance rations. Some of the well-entrenched players in the PV module market are:

Wuxi Suntech Power Co. Ltd.

Trina Solar Limited

First Solar Inc.

Canadian Solar Inc.

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited

Jinko Solar

Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the Global Electronics & Semiconductors Industry:

SMT Equipment Market  The SMT equipment market is slated to surpass the valuation of US$ 9.8 Bn by the end of 2030. Manufacturers are unlocking growth opportunities in India's booming electronics sector.

Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flowmeter Market  Global clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter market. In terms of revenue, the global clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 8% during the forecast period

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Rejecting abortion doesn't mean rejecting those who've had abortions: Father Frank Pavone

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ORLANDO, Fla.  Father Frank Pavone, who was once named among the "Top 100 Catholics of the Century," served as a consultant for the new film Roe v. Wade. While he aims to change the minds of those who are pro-choice, he said its important for the Church not to reject those who've either had abortions or work in the abortion industry.

Pavone, who's also the national director of Priests for Life and president of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, attended the movie premiere of Roe v. Wade held at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 26.

While there, Pavone told The Christian Post that the pro-life film has a powerful message for such a time as this.

The film is based on the lesser-known history of "what happened from 1966 through 1973" that led to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision declaring state laws banning abortion unconstitutional.

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 message is very powerful, Pavone told CP. First of all, understanding how decisions like this come about. We have to demystify the process. When people think about a Supreme Court decision, they think, 'Oh, there must be some big constitutional reasoning behind it.' [It's] very flimsy on the constitutional front, even those who support the outcome  namely illegal abortion  will admit that this is not the result of sophisticated constitutional reasoning.

Roe v. Wade is told from the perspective of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, once considered the abortion king for reportedly performing over 70,000 abortions. He would eventually realize the human value of the unborn and walked away from performing abortions.

"There's another dynamic that comes across in the film, equally important, Pavone continued. That is conversion. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who was the driving force behind getting this case heard and passed, [he] converted!

Through the science of the unborn child, he became pro-life. And then he had a faith conversion that came afterward, after he rejected abortion, Pavone added. "My mentor, Cardinal John O'Connor of New York, who ordained me to the priesthood, baptized Dr. Nathanson.

It was in those early years that Pavone first met Nathanson while he was still an atheist.

I saw firsthand his conversion to faith in God and faith in Christ, Pavone testified to CP.

The priests advocacy for life has been so renowned that the Vatican asked him to help coordinate pro-life activities throughout the world as an official of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Following the Supreme Courts abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of the case, reached out to Pavone and subsequently said that interaction was the catalyst that brought me into the Catholic Church.

The Catechism No. 2271 of the Catholic Church states: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."

Pavone assured that Catechism No. 2271 remains.

"The Church can never change her position on abortion any more than she can change her position on shooting someone in the street or terrorism. It's human life; you can never take an innocent human life, Pavone stressed. "However, he insisted that the Church should also be a support to those who have made that fateful decision."

"The welcoming part ... our ministry, for example, Priests for Life, we run the largest effort in the world to welcome people back to forgiveness after they have had abortions. We even work with ex-abortionists like Bernard Nathanson, who's featured in this film. Of course, while he was still alive, we accompanied him on his journey.

The man of the cloth said he also helped former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson after she walked away from that career and became a vocal pro-life advocate.

"This is one of the key lessons that can come from this film: Rejecting abortion does not mean rejecting those who have abortions. It does not mean rejecting those who support abortion, he declared.

Pavone concluded the interview by emphasizing, "We all have to welcome each other; we've got to treat each other right.

We who proclaim pro-life also proclaim [that] even the lives of those who disagree with us are precious and valuable, and we respect them. We want to change their minds, but we respect them as people, he added.

As previously reported by CP, Roe v. Wade, a Nick Loeb-directed film, encountered several obstacles in the process of filming, including Facebook banning their ads and losing cast members who opposed the film's mission.

The feature 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.
Being a professional CPE (Consumer Premise Equipment) manufacturing site for global Telecom operators, Sercomm Philippines uses the most advanced manufacturing processes to produce high-quality products. The Philippines factory is a state-of-the-art automation facility that specializes in wireless devices. With the strong support of DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and MECO (Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan) in its inception, Sercomm Philippines responds to global customers' demand through continuous operation during the pandemic and support Sercomm's future business growth.

Sercomm (TWSE: 5388), the parent company of Sercomm Philippines, is a leading global manufacturer of telecoms and broadband equipment. Founded in 1992 with annual revenue of USD 1.27 billion in 2020, Sercomm has focused on developing embedded solutions to make networking simple and affordable. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Sercomm's global operations network covers markets in North and Central America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Its customer base includes the world's top service providers, networking OEMs, and system integrators.

Secretary Ramon M. Lopez of the Department of Trade and Industry said, "Sercomm, leads the way among other Taiwanese companies that have decided to establish their manufacturing bases in Philippines, growing rapidly in the past two years from inception. This is an excellent example for other companies still considering to make the Philippines their second home, with Sercomm posting record gains in export volumes with their ability to meet the fast-growing global demand for their products. We are very pleased that the Philippines has played a major role in the company's stellar performance."

"We are very happy to note that Sercomm's decision to locate a major part of its global manufacturing operations to the Philippines in 2019 is overwhelmingly validated by the numbers in their recent filing. Recognizing the opportunities then and the ability to meet global demand by strategically growing their capabilities in the Philippines in support of their global supply chain in a relatively short period of time have certainly contributed to these milestones," said DTI Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo. "We expect more manufacturing companies following the positive experience and success of Sercomm," added Rodolfo, who also serves as Managing Head of the Board of Investments (BOI).

"We are very proud to have achieved the production milestone in such a short time, especially during this unprecedented time. Sercomm Philippines has become a crucial portion of Sercomm's global operations," said James Wang, CEO of Sercomm, "We plan to continuously expand our operations to support future business growth in the local and global markets."

Michael Alfred Ignacio, Trade Representative and Director of Commercial Affairs at the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan said, "We have worked very closely with Sercomm since about two years ago, when they have first chosen the Philippines as a major manufacturing hub for their clients, and I am amazed at how fast this global leader in communications technologies was able to scale their production capacity with us in so little time, while continuing to remarkably expand their market share. Sercomm is a shining example for many other Taiwanese companies that are looking to potentially locate their production capacities to the Philippines, particularly those that highly value our people, a world-class human resource that is globally sought-after."

About Sercomm Corporation

Sercomm Corporation (TWSE: 5388) is a worldwide leading manufacturer of telecom and broadband equipment. Founded in 1992, Sercomm has focused on developing embedded solutions to make networking simple and affordable. With its fully integrated engineering capability and its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, Sercomm offers comprehensive telecom broadband solutions such as small cells, residential/enterprise gateways, and IoT products, and is now a global leader in the industry. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Sercomm's global operation network covers markets in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. Its customer base includes the world's top service provider, networking OEM, and system integrators. For more information, please visit www.sercomm.com.

SOURCE Sercomm Corporation
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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A Medicare and Centrelink office sign is seen at Bondi Junction on March 21, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. (Matt King/Getty Images)

End of JobKeeper Leaves Economists Watching Economic Outlook

Economists are going to be watching how the economy develops in the coming weeks and months following the end of a major support package that steered the economy through the COVID-19 recession.

The JobKeeper wage subsidy officially ended on Sunday, potentially leaving up to 150,000 people without a job, according to Treasury.

There is great uncertainty as to whether the economic rebound from the recession so far has enough momentum to absorb these potential job losses, or whether it will bring the steady decline in the jobless rate to an abrupt halt.

Labour market indicators will be potentially hot property for the local market in coming weeks and months as the economy traverses the end of JobKeeper, National Australia Bank economists said in their morning note to clients.

About one million people were still on JobKeeper as of January, after 2.7 million people and 680,000 businesses had transited off the subsidy since it was introduced a year ago at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers is concerned the government has pulled the plug on JobKeeper too soon.

For too many Australians the end of JobKeeper means the end of their job, Chalmers told the ABC. Today is a very difficult day for a lot of employers and a lot of workers trying to make decisions about what the future might hold.

But Treasurer Josh Frydenberg insists the government will announce more support measures where necessary.

That has been our track record to date and that is what we will do into the future, he told Sky News. We will continue to monitor what is occurring across the economy very closely and then well respond.

The end of JobKeeper comes just days ahead of the end of the coronavirus supplement for people on the JobSeeker dole payment.

While the base for this benefit has seen its first increase in decades to $44 a day from $40, it means someone coming off JobKeeper without work will see their support shrink from $500 a week to just over $300 a week on JobSeeker.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston does not agree that this would leave people below the poverty line.

She said the government has multiple other supports that are in place that could help people, whether it be assisting them with their rent or making sure they get the proper tax benefit they should.

We dont want people to be on unemployment benefits, Senator Ruston told ABC radio.

This will be a business-led recovery and the most important thing we can do as a government is to make sure those businesses are strong, so they are able to create the jobs, so that people dont stay on payment.
It seems likely most Canadians would agree this country has failed to provide adequate care for seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Editorial

It seems likely most Canadians would agree this country has failed to provide adequate care for seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A growing number of younger people are being affected by the coronavirus and its more transmissible variants, but seniors are the ones who have been hit hardest from Day 1.

During the first wave of the pandemic, more than 80 per cent of Canadas COVID-19 deaths occurred in long-term care facilities. It was deemed a national humiliation last summer when the military was ordered into care homes in Ontario and Quebec after the system became overwhelmed.

The latest numbers are beyond stark: 42 per cent of the countrys long-term care homes have been hit by the coronavirus, with 10 per cent of cases and 69 per cent of deaths occurring in long-term care, according to recent data from the National Institute on Ageing at Ryerson University.

This crisis in care has ignited a ferocious  and ultimately futile  debate over whether its time to eliminate private for-profit care homes, which have seen a disproportionate number of deaths in their facilities.

Multiple studies over the past six months have shown that for-profit care facilities  which account for just 28 per cent of the nursing homes in Canada  are likelier to see more extensive COVID-19 outbreaks and more deaths. In Manitoba, recent analyses found for-profit care homes had higher death rates, while accounting for only one-quarter of the nursing home beds in the province.

Everyone agrees something needs to be done  but no one seems to agree on precisely what, or on who needs to do it.

Last Monday, the federal NDP tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling on the government to transform for-profit homes to not-for-profit operations by 2030. It also urged the government to work with provinces and territories to stop licensing new for-profit homes.

"The federal government does not have the legal authority to do what the NDP is proposing," Seniors Minister Deb Schulte responded in a blunt tweet.

It seems a waste of time for lawmakers to debate the merits of abandoning one model of care (for-profit) in favour of another model (not-for-profit) when that change would be all but impossible under the current health system. The Liberal government has repeatedly pointed out that long-term care is not covered by the Canada Health Act, meaning it is under the jurisdiction of each province and territory.

If politics is the art of the possible, then it makes little sense to focus on what appears to be a non-starter  taking the "profit" out of long-term care  and much more sense to focus instead on an achievable goal  making all care homes better.

Ottawa does not have a magic wand to fix the serious failings in long-term care, but it does have the power to convene a national task force that would bring together all the key players  provincial and territorial leaders, care home operators and health experts  to find a solution to a crisis that should never have been allowed to unfold.

As the NDP and the Liberals have suggested, that solution must include the creation of national standards for everything from staffing ratios and hours of work to certification and qualifications for staff. Funding for homes should be tied to clear evidence they are meeting those rigorous standards.

It wont be a quick fix and it wont come cheap, but when the lives of Canadas most vulnerable population are on the line, money isnt the issue.

The "Middle East Green" initiative announced by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman aims to plant 50 billion trees in the world. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has opted for a more sustainable future with the launch of "Green Saudi" and "Middle East Green" initiatives. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has called the leaders of Qatar, Iran, Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain to talk about the tree planting project.

The initiatives that have been announced by the Crown Prince on March 27 will help in reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent in the region, reported by The Saudi Press agency. The initiative launched by the Crown Prince aimed to chart a path that would support the kingdom and the region in protecting the planet. The Saudi Press Agency quoted the Crown Prince as saying that being the leading global oil producer, the kingdom recognizes its responsibility in advancing the fight against climate change. The Crown Prince added that the Kingdom and the region face climate changes such as desertification which is an immediate economic risk to the kingdom and region.

Saudi Green Initiative

The "Saudi Green Initiative" aims to raise vegetation cover, land degradation, preserve marine life and reduce carbon emissions. Under this initiative, 10 billion trees will be planted within the kingdom in the years to come. With this initiative, the kingdom will contribute to raising the percentage of the protected area to more than 30 per cent of its total land area, representing 600,000 square kilometres. It will also reduce carbon emissions by more than 4 per cent of global contributions which will be achieved by adopting a renewable energy programme that would generate 50 per cent of the kingdom's energy from renewables by 2030.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman also announced The "Middle East Green Initiative" and the kingdom under this initiative will coordinate with neighbouring countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Middle Eastern Countries. Under this initiative, 40 billion trees will be planted in the Middle East. This tree plantation program is claimed to be largest reforestation program in the world, double the size of the Great Green Wall in the Sahel which is the second-largest such regional initiative.

(Image Credit: The Associated Press)
Doodnath Maharaj was the general secretary of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union for nearly two decades. This is out of a total of 40 years service.

He was a dedicated and loyal comrade who did his best work away from the limelight. Indeed, he shunned it, embodying a self-effacing personality that was deeply mystifying to many who came to know him.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
When we think of corrupt American cities, Chicago always tops the list. However, San Francisco has long had one of the more corrupt American civic governments. However, because the City was still better managed than Chicago, nobody really commented on that fact. A Twitter thread about the Citys stupidvisors (as Ive always called them), turning down free internet access highlights just how corrupt they are.

I worked in San Francisco for several decades and spent a great deal of that time dealing with City Hall through the judicial system. It was an enormously frustrating place, with byzantine rules, clerks that spoke minimal English, and few corrupt judges. However, that was small potatoes compared to the Building Department. I knew a man who made a very rich living contracting his services out to people who were trying to build or remodel in San Francisco. If you didnt have an expensive guide to handle the rules and grease peoples palms, youd never get anything done.

Perhaps the greatest corruption, though, was at the political level, among the Supervisors, elected representatives from each San Francisco neighborhood. I never heard stories about these people demanding money for initiatives, although Im sure some did. The real corruption was ideological. In the 1960s and 1970s, these Supervisors were mostly Democrats. Starting in the 1980s and moving to the present day, the Supervisors (or, as I said, Stupidvisors) were leftists, even if they still used the old Democrat label.

Thats why I was completely unsurprised when I read Chris Saccas Twitter thread about his efforts to give free internet to the City of San Francisco. Everything he writes is consistent with my understanding of how the San Francisco government operates. Ill stop now and let Sacca take up the narrative:

One SF Supervisor told us she would vote against it unless we promised to fund quarterly field trips (eg to the zoo) for the kids in her district. Another promised to vote against it because we wouldnt give free laptops to all of SF.  Chris Sacca  (@sacca) March 28, 2021

We built a demonstration network in a public housing project in Hunters Point. It was saturated with use. Those residents testified that laptops and phones werent expensive, cable and data plans were the problem. The Supes just couldnt accept that those people were Net savvy.  Chris Sacca  (@sacca) March 28, 2021

Stop lecturing me about the digital divide, because I dont give a fuck. Now get the hell out of my office. Our team walked out stunned, sat in the lobby of City Hall, and realized it was over.  Chris Sacca  (@sacca) March 28, 2021

They wouldnt listen to their own constituents. They perpetuated racist tropes and demeaning stereotypes about their poorest residents. And for what? It was all a big game to the politicians. The winners were the Supes egos and the losers were the people they supposedly served.  Chris Sacca  (@sacca) March 28, 2021

Epilogue: After SF rejected our offer, we built a free, city-wide network in Mountain View, CA. About 12-15,000 people used it every day for years. The majority of them spoke Spanish as their primary language and told us they couldnt afford regular Internet access.  Chris Sacca  (@sacca) March 28, 2021

Once upon a time, San Francisco had functional corruption  it existed, both financially and morally, but it wasnt so bad that it prevented the City from getting things done. Once the old-fashioned Democrats retired, though, and the hard-leftists moved in, San Francisco began its slow slide into dysfunctional leftism. Sacca is describing events from 15 years ago, but theres no reason to believe that things are any different in the once beautiful City by the Bay. As long as leftists are in charge, it will be governed by people who are racist, power-hungry, arrogant, and short-sighted.

IMAGE: San Francisco City Hall by Mike Hofmann. CC BY-SA 3.0.
CPC issues regulation on organizational punishment

Xinhua) 09:25, March 29, 2021

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee has issued a trial regulation on organizational punishment.

The office also issued a circular, made public Sunday, on the implementation of the regulation, noting that organizational punishment is an essential means to educate and administer cadres, as well as a significant measure to ensure full and strict governance over the Party.

It also emphasized the importance of improving the execution of regulations and provisions while calling for precise and scientific measures to advance related work.

Organizational punishment, targeting cadres who violate regulations, discipline and laws, as well as fail in their duties, lack accountability and self-restraint, includes adjustment of positions and ranks, such as removal and demotion, according to the regulation.

The 19-item regulation went into effect on the day of its promulgation.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)

Hardline ex-cop Peter Dutton was tapped as Australias next defence minister Monday, putting one of the countrys most combative politicians in command of a fast-spending department preoccupied with Beijings rise.

The 50-year-old former Queensland detective has made a political career out of going to war.

During two decades in parliament, he has gleefully trashed opponents, overseen a controversial refugee policy, riled Australias close allies and  more recently  clashed with the Chinese government.

Hawkish and deeply ambitious, Dutton in 2018 helped oust moderate prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in a party coup, but was ultimately seen as too conservative to take over the party leadership himself.

Since then, he has focused on securing his grip on the powerful mega-portfolio of home affairs  which brings together the federal police, border force and spy agencies under a single national security umbrella.

He steps into the defence position after a shake-up brought on after rape allegations in the countrys halls of power saw two senior ministers demoted.

The move was the next natural stepping stone in his political career, according to John Blaxland, professor of international security at the Australian National University.

Dutton will become Australias sixth defence minister in eight years, taking over as the countrys military bulks up capabilities in response to a more assertive Beijing.

Canberra has earmarked Aus$270 billion ($206 billion) for new and upgraded defence power, focusing on the purchase of high-tech weapons that could strike targets thousands of kilometres away.

I expect he will be doubling down on force expansion and capability acquisition decisions, Blaxland told AFP, adding that for Dutton the defence portfolio is gaining centrality in government policymaking.

In the thick of it is where he wants to be, Blaxland said.

As Canberras relations with Beijing have deteriorated in recent years, Dutton has lambasted China for alleged cyberattacks on Australia and theft of intellectual property, while saying its Belt and Road Initiative is a very real threat.

He will also have to reckon with the fallout from an inquiry that found Australian forces had committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

 Taking out the trash 

Dutton has taken on critics of Australias indefinite detention of asylum seekers in offshore centres  though he now points to freeing children from the facilities as one of his achievements.

He sparked a backlash in 2018 by claiming people in Melbourne were scared to go out to restaurants because of African gang violence.

The same year, he lobbied for white South African farmers to be resettled in Australia on humanitarian grounds, saying were being persecuted and need help from a civilised country.

Dutton also stirred controversy by joking about the plight of Pacific island nations beset by rising sea levels, and angered New Zealand by deporting Kiwis convicted of crimes  a process he described as taking out the trash.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:15:50|Editor: huaxia

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SUVA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Fiji received on Monday night the second batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine it has procured through the COVAX facility, a World Health Organization-led initiative aimed at ensuring equal access to COVID-19 vaccines by various countries.

According to a Fijian government statement, the 100,000 vaccine doses arrived at the Nadi International Airport, about 200 km west of the Fijian capital Suva, and Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama attended the handover.

According to Bainimarama, the newly arrived vaccine doses will be used to inoculate the remaining people in the priority groups including frontline workers, medical staff, quarantine and hotel workers, and members of the Disciplined Forces.

He said that in the meantime the Fijian government will also kick off the second phase of the country's vaccine rollout to cover more vulnerable segments of Fiji's population.

Fiji, a Pacific island nation with a population of around 900,000, has planned to get 1.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

On March 6, Fiji received its first batch of 12,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX facility. As of last Thursday, a total of 6,278 people in Fiji have received the first jab of the vaccine.

According to Bainimarama, Fiji will receive another shipment of 90,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks.

Fiji looks forward to working with its development partners on a bilateral basis to secure more shipments of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, according to the prime minister.

Fiji's Health Ministry said earlier that visitors to the island nation will still need to be quarantined even if they have received the COVID-19 vaccine, noting this is a regular practice in many countries.

Since its first confirmed case of COVID-19 reported on March 19 last year, Fiji has so far recorded 67 cases including one active case, 64 recoveries and two deaths.

Fiji still maintains strict travel restrictions to date for foreign visitors alongside a nationwide curfew effective from March 30 last year. Enditem


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Amazon gets a new chief executive this summer. The company's founder, Jeff Bezos, plans to step down from that role and transition into a new job -- executive chair of Amazon, the company announced Tuesday.

The chief of Amazon's cloud computing division, Andy Jassy (above, pictured right), will become Amazon's new chief executive. Jassy served in that post in a temporary capacity along with another Amazon executive in recent years. The change will be effective in the third quarter, which starts in July.

In recent years, Bezos unofficially stepped out of the daily operations at Amazon to spend time on several other personal and business projects. He returned to head up the daily operations at Amazon when the pandemic hit.

Bezos on Tuesday told employees in correspondence that his intention is "to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives" for the company built into one of the world's most valuable companies. He intends to remain as a driving force behind the company's continued innovative growth.

The deep responsibility as chief executive is time consuming and leaves him little time "to put attention on anything else," Bezos explained. In his new role he will be able to stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives.

That will also give him the time and energy needed to focus on his other projects that he owns or oversees. Those include the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and his other passions.

Bezos said that his executive move is not about retiring. Rather, it is a result of his being "super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have."

Bezos served as founder, chair, and CEO and owns an 11.1 percent stake in Amazon. In 2019, the company earned $280.5 billion in revenues and a record $11.5 billion in net profit.

Amazon's financial success will no doubt see little or no negative impact from the executive changes, suggested Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

"I don't expect many, if any changes, as Bezos steps away from the CEO role. As Amazon's earnings report [yesterday] demonstrated, the company is firing on all cylinders. Jassy may be in the driver's seat as CEO, but you don't change the trajectory of a company heading in the right direction," King told the E-Commerce Times.

Company Cameo

News of Bezos' shift in executive status came as part of Amazon's fourth-quarter earnings report. That report offered details of Amazon exceeding Wall Street analysts' projections for both sales and profit.

Despite the pandemic, the company's retail and cloud business profits soared. Amazon's stock grew nearly 69 percent in the past year.

Today, the Amazon global mega marketplace is worth $1.7 trillion. Bezos' personal wealth also soared to $188 billion, which was surpassed only last month by Elon Musk, who heads Tesla and SpaceX among other companies.

Bezos conceived of the warehouse concept for direct-to-consumer sales 27 years ago on a road trip to Seattle. Before that venture began, he started out founding an online bookseller with the same name in 1994. He built Amazon into a global digital storefront that sells books, household goods, cloud computing services, and other products.

When the pandemic hit, the company swerved around supply chain issues. Bezos revved up its operations to meet the growing demand of consumers forced to stay home and not shop in brick and motor stores.

Amazon hired 175,000 additional workers to meet the soaring consumer demand. The company faced criticism from U.S. senators and the general public for its reportedly less-than-ideal treatment of warehouse workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Why the Sudden Move?

Jeff Bezos will be stepping down as CEO of Amazon following a year of record growth for the e-commerce giant for more than better time availability for Bezos, according to Jason Boyce, CEO and founder of Avenue7 Media and author of "The Amazon Jungle." This is a strategic move to avoid antitrust scrutiny, Boyce told the E-Commerce Times in a written statement.

Jassy's experience as chief executive of Amazon's cloud computing division positions him to guide Amazon into more cloud services, noted Boyce. The selection of Jassy to replace Bezos could indicate what comes next for the marketing giant's business focus.

"Bezos will move behind the curtain at Amazon and push poor Andy Jassy into the antitrust hot seat," said Boyce. "Jassy bleeds Amazon blue, and the company won't miss a beat. But Bezos isn't going anywhere. He'll continue to drive the vision and future of Amazon."

Boyce does not expect Amazon's approach to technology to change as Jassy is a clone of Bezos. The company will continue to focus on its continuous improvement and feedback loops.

Retail, especially the third-party marketplace, drives more profit dollars to Amazon's line than Amazon Web Services (AWS). This is Amazon's biggest secret, according to Boyce.

Amazon hides just how profitable the third-party market is for two reasons. One is antitrust concerns, and the other is not wanting competitors to know how profitable their marketplace business is, he explained.

Clarifying the Issues

Jassy is an interesting choice for the CEO slot because his background aligns with Amazon's goals. He fits into how Amazon sees its future as a software services provider, according to Boyce.

"Amazon is already a service and tech business. Even its marketplace could be considered a tech and services business. I believe that if Jeff Wilk hadn't stepped down, he may have become the next CEO. Since he's gone, Jassy is the next logical fit," Boyce said.

Wilk, who was the chief executive of Amazon's Consumer Worldwide, announced his decision to retire recently. It is not that Andy is just an interesting choice. With Jeff Wilk stepping down, he is the only logical choice, Boyce added.

Boyce expects Amazon to expand into more AI technology. Amazon will continue to iterate on its market-leading products and services, and Jeff Bezos will still be driving the vision of the company.

"He's not going anywhere and will be 100 percent focused on the next five-to-10 years of Amazon, while Andy [Jassy] runs day-to-day and deals with things like antitrust and unionization," Boyce predicted.

Amazon Next

With Bezos stepping out of daily operations, the executive team will have to figure out where they want to expand, according to Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group. They are already exploring more vertical integration focused on buyer delivery and using drones.

"Product lines like Echo continue to expand, and they are likely to brand other popular products in the future. Besides, they have to weather the antitrust challenges in front of them. Near term, these three efforts will likely consume executive focus," Enderle told the E-Commerce Times.

How smoothly the executive transitions go, including who replaces Jassy, is anybody's guess. Bezos is known to be very engaged in decisions within the units he manages, Enderle noted.

"We likely won't get a sense of the new CEO's real priorities until Bezos fully steps out of the CEO role in 6 months," he said.

Companies rarely get through their first CEO transition well because succession is often not a priority, he offered. That is particularly the case for someone as engaged in day-to-day operations as Bezos is.

"That typically makes transitions like this very painful because the CEO job is very different from any other company job," Enderle said.

Defining Moments

It is almost as if Bezos built Amazon and AWS for just this moment, with people and businesses shifting massively toward working and shopping online, noted Pund-IT's King.

"Given the continuing disruptions of the pandemic, I expect Amazon and AWS will continue to operate in gangbusters fashion. The longer those disruptions continue, the more likely it will be that many of the Amazon-supported processes consumers and companies adopted temporarily will become permanent," he observed.

Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open-source technologies. He is an esteemed reviewer of Linux distros and other open-source software. In addition, Jack extensively covers business technology and privacy issues, as well as developments in e-commerce and consumer electronics. Email Jack.


A Disease Control Officer of La Bawaleshie Polyclinic, Lord Pabitey, who absconded after allegedly stealing and selling 26 Vials of COVIDSHIELD has been arrested.



Pabitey who appeared before an Accra Circuit Court on Friday, March 26, 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.



A 37-year-old Disease Control Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Stephen Dzisenu, is said to have stolen 36 vials of COVIDSHIELD and Lord Pabitey, a Disease Control Officer of the La Bawalashie Polyclinic, also allegedly stole 26 vials of COVIDSHIELD.



Cosmos Allotey a 42-year-old Occupational Health and Safety Officer, is said to have received the stolen COVIDSHIELD from Pabitey and Dzisenu. Allotey allegedly administered the vaccines at a cost of GH200.00 per jab.



A Project Assistant and a former Laboratory Technician at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Joseph Knight Gaisie, 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.



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 GH 200.00 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 GH 200.00.



He said when Allotey was searched, eight COVIDSHIELD vials, eight used COVIDSHIELD, 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 COVIDSHIELD vaccine at the cost of GH 18,000.00.



According to him, Allotey further said that, he sold 20 of the vials of COVIDSHIELD at a cost of GH 16,000.00 and later returned 15 vials to Dzisenu.



The prosecution said Allotey said he also bought 26 vials of the COVIDSHIELD from Pabitey at the cost GH 4,800.00.



Mr Sarpong said Dzisenu in his cautioned statement, mentioned Gaisie as the one who aided and facilitated the sale of the stolen CONVIDSHIELD vaccines to Allotey.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
CEO Christian Sewing will hand over oversight of the investment bank to board member Fabrizio Campelli, the German bank said on Monday, as part of an overhaul of the management board.

The move is likely to reassure regulators, who worried that Sewing had too much on his plate, potentially leaving the investment bank open to operational hazards.

Germany's biggest bank was one of the few major banks in the world to assign day-to-day oversight of investment banking to its chief executive. At most banks, other board members oversee the division.

Reuters had reported in January that Sewing was under pressure from regulators to relinquish day-to-day oversight the division.

The and Germany's finance watchdog BaFin declined to comment.

Campelli has previously been the bank's chief transformation officer.

The investment bank is the German lender's main profit driver, but also represents a concentration of risk for a bank that is deemed "systemically important" in terms of the functioning of the global financial system.

Earlier this month, Campelli said the investment bank was off to a strong start in 2021, with revenue up about 20% so far in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

Sewing, whose contract was also extended to 2026, will also take charge of human resources at management board level.

Among other changes announced, Rebecca Short will join the management board to oversee transformation and the capital release unit. She will be one of two women on the bank's 10-person board.

Chief Operating Officer Frank Kuhnke will leave the bank and Chief Risk Officer Stuart Lewis will retire next year.

(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.)
Northern Territorys Chief Minister Michael Gunner is in isolation after having contact with family from Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.

The Greater Brisbane region, which includes Logan, Ipswich, Redland City and Moreton Bay regions, was on Monday forced into a three-day lockdown as a result of a growing COVID cluster.

Michael Gunner Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The NT Government declared Toowoomba a hotspot from 4.30pm on Monday.

Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison said at a press conference on Monday that the chief minister had developed cold symptoms.
Kolkata: TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee takes a jibe on Amit Shahs claim of winning 26 of the 30 seats in the first phase of West Bengal polling, which ended on Saturday (March 27).

In her reply to Amit Shahs seat claim, Mamata Banerjee retorted by saying that his party, BJP will draw a blank in the first phase of state assembly elections.

While addressing a rally in the Chandipur area, the TMC chief asked, why didnt BJP claim of winning all of the 30 seats or had left it for Congress and CPIM to occupy. You (BJP) will get a big Rosogolla (zero).

The TMC supremo also questioned the timing of such a comment being made by senior BJP leaders. Mamata further went on to urge the central forces to ensure free and democratic polling in the elections. The CM requested the authorities to ensure neutrality in the following phase and to not manipulate the voters.

The TMC supremo was also joined by leader Derek O'Brien on her rosogolla attack on Amit Shah and said that the Union Home Minister is a Bluffmaster. The TMC MP later took it to Twitter and said that Mind games wont work while advising the home minister to apply his prediction stunts in Gujarat Gymkhana where it might work.

Meanwhile, the Union Home Minister has also urged the citizens of Nandigram to vote for change this time.

The West Bengal Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in eight phases. The voting for the remaining seven phases will take place on April 1 (30 seats), April 6 (31 seats), April 10 (44 seats), April 17 (45 seats), April 22 (43 seats), April 26 (36 seat) and April 29 (35 seats). The results will be declared on May 2, as per E;ection Commissions announcement.
You have permission to edit this article.

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Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
SAN RAMON, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Accela , the leading provider of cloud-based solutions for government, today announced South El Monte, California has gone live with a new digital permitting system powered by Accela technology. By leveraging Accela and its partnership with Silver Lining Solutions , South El Monte can now automate the management and tracking of permit applications from start to finish to increase transparency, save valuable time and resources, and improve user experience for both residents and agency staff.

"Governments are continuing to accelerate their digitization by moving critical processes into the cloud to expand convenient and safe access for residents, reduce the burden on precious resources, and increase trust and transparency with their local communities," said Tom Nieto, Chief Operating Officer at Accela. "We're excited about partnering with South El Monte and Silver Lining Solutions on this new SaaS implementation to drive positive outcomes for both residents and agency staff by speeding up permitting processes, increasing community engagement and eliminating long wait times at City Hall."

With Accela, the city is able to reduce permit processing time by 33 percent by automating previously manual and paper-based workflows. The new system makes it easy for residents to upload documents, submit applications, make payments, check application status, and schedule inspections all in one centralized digital location. In doing so, it increases transparency and visibility for residents throughout the permitting process. It also provides both agency staff and builders, engineers, and architects with better project management capabilities to keep important community development projects on schedule and budget.

"Our new permitting services technology shows the city's commitment to modern tools that drive economic growth, accelerate operations, engage the community, and meet evolving resident needs for an effective government," said Colby Cataldi, Director of Community Development and Public Works at South El Monte. "We're proud to offer this new online system to support South El Monte's residents and business community."

South El Monte's new permitting system is the most recent and timely example of the long-standing partnership between Accela and Silver Linings Solutions, which has been providing implementation services for Accela for over 14 years. The company has been integral in helping many municipal and state governments design licensing, permitting and enforcement solutions.

"This was a fast-paced agile project for an important customer of ours. The South El Monte, Accela and Silver Lining Solutions team worked collaboratively to implement a permitting solution that adhered to the City's policies and leveraged emerging industry best-practices," said Eric Koontz, President of Silver Lining Solutions.

Today's announcement reinforces Accela's commitment to delivering modern digital tools to help build thriving communities, now and in the future. Most recently, Accela helped Southern Nevada Health District harness the cloud to streamline plan review and inspections to promote public health for over 2.2 million residents. Accela's secure and flexible SaaS solutions equip governments with the resources to quickly respond to evolving community needs, increase efficiency, and maintain resilience to benefit 275 million citizens globally. To learn more about Accela's Solutions, please visit https://www.accela.com/solutions/ .

About Accela

Accela provides market-leading cloud solutions that empower the most innovative state and local governments around the world to build thriving communities, grow businesses and protect citizens. More than 275 million citizens globally benefit from Accela's solutions, which are powered by Azure, for permitting, licensing, code enforcement, and service request management. Accela's fast-to-implement Civic Applications, built on its robust and extensible Civic Platform, help agencies address specific needs today, while ensuring they are prepared for any emerging or complex challenges in the future. The company was recently recognized as a 2020 Microsoft US Partner Award winner for its innovative SaaS solutions to help governments respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was named as one of the Largest East Bay Tech Employers by San Francisco Business Journal. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with additional offices around the world. For more information, visit www.accela.com .

About Silver Lining Solutions

Silver Lining Solutions is a Colorado based company with consultants in Colorado and California that specializes in Government Business Processing and the implementation of Accela Civic Platform. Silver Lining Solutions has been in business since 2009 and has been an Accela Partner since inception.

Media Contact: Kate Helete, [email protected]

SOURCE Accela

Related Links

www.accela.com



NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Acetic Acid market will register an incremental spend of about USD 2.47 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 3.75% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Acetic Acid 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:

Acetic Acid 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 Acetic Acid market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Acetic Acid 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 2%-5%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Acetic Acid 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 Acetic Acid suppliers listed in this report:

This Acetic Acid procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

CELANESE Corp.

Eastman Chemical Co.

LyondellBasell Industries NV

Wacker Chemie AG

SINOPEC Corp.

BASF SE

PetroChina Co. Ltd.

Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem)

GNFC Ltd.

SABIC

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Hydrite Chemical 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

Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us.

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

To know more: https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo

Contacts

SpendEdge

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Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
The son of former President Donald Trump has blasted the Biden administration over what he says is an immigration policy that has since 'turned to mush' since his father left office.

Eric Trump claimed that 'illegal immigration was not a problem anymore' when his father was president  despite the U.S. border with Mexico seeing a significant surge in migrants in 2019.

Speaking on Fox News on Sunday morning Eric, 37, an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said that his father regularly went to the border when he was president and falsely claimed that he 'had the issue fixed.'

Scroll down for video

The son of former President Donald Trump has blasted the Biden administration over what he says is an immigration policy that has since 'turned to mush' since his father left office

'They'll leave a 30-yard gap where people are pouring in. I mean, I just don't understand it. My father had fixed this problem. Illegal immigration was not a problem anymore,' Eric Trump said.

'That's the most humane form of immigration where you don't have people making this dangerous trek, and literally it shows you what bad policy can do to a country.'

Eric said the system was 'working', 'perfect' and 'fixed' before Joe Biden took office.

Immigration analysts have long pointed out that the border wall does little to deter migrants, as they simply use ladders or other means to climb over remote areas of the barrier.

Democrats and Biden have pointed out that the U.S. routinely sees surges in migrants from Central America, including under the Trump administration.

On Saturday night, Donald Trump said he plans to visit the border soon claiming officials at the border 'asked me to go.'

'A lot of people want me to, the Border Patrol and the people of ICE want me there and have asked me to go. I feel I sort of owe it to them,' Trump said to Fox News.

Former President Donald Trump waves after speaking and touring a section of the border wall in Alamo, Texas on January 12 in his final visit to the border

'They are great people doing an incredible job. It's impossible with what they have done to stay in Mexico should have been left. Now they stay in the United States, by the way, stay in and never leave.'

He added: 'Thousands and thousands of people are coming up right now as we speak. And you will have millions of people pouring into our country. It will destroy our country. It's a very, very dangerous situation.'

Trump also called getting rid of the Migrant Protection Protocol was a 'very bad decision' while criticizing Biden for undoing his 'Remain in Mexico' policy.

'You're going to have millions of people pouring into our country. It's a very dangerous situation. I would love not to be involved. Someone else is supposed to be doing it.'

Trump also touted his relationship with the Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and blasted Biden for ending that.

'We had a great process with the President of Mexico, who is a terrific guy and a friend of mine. It was a strong process. Frankly they weren't coming into Mexico,' Trump said.

'By the time we got it going, they weren't coming in at Mexico's southern border because they knew they couldn't come into the United States.'

Trump also said that Mexico had 28,000 soldiers who stopped people from coming in to the United States, before then touting his signature border wall.

Trump last visited the border during his final weeks in office when he traveled to Alamo, Texas, to celebrate the completion of more than 450 miles of his border wall.

On Saturday evening, Trump claimed that the United States will soon see 'millions of people pouring into our country' as he called it a 'very dangerous situation'

A group of people waits to be transported after being caught by U.S. Border Patrol agents crossing the border from Mexico on Saturday

Migrants arriving from Mexico sit before state troopers and border patrol agents at a roadside after they were apprehended in a vehicle in the border city of Rio Grande on Saturday

'We paid for it already. The contracts are completed. The wall should be completed by now. He stopped it almost on his first day,' Trump said.

Trump said the wall is 'new' and 'top of the line' addressing criticism from Democrats that fencing already existed at the southern border.

'They like to say it's renovated wall. We built new wall. They like to say it's a renovation,' Trump said.

'It's technologically advanced with the wires and we are hooked up for drones. We are hooked up for everything. This is great stuff. And they topped construction. So we have some open areas.'

Trump said that the Biden administration is filling those gaps with Border Patrol agents but claimed that it would not be necessary with the completed wall.

'You don't even have to do that. They should finish the wall immediately. Stay in Mexico policy has to get reenacted. Which isn't that easy anymore. Now Mexico is angry at us. The other countries are not respecting us,' Trump said.

Trump blasted the Biden administration for letting the unaccompanied children who have migrated live in squalor and not letting press in to document the situation.

'You have to see that squalor children and frankly people that have come into the country when you look at what's happening. The dirt and the filth of those places. That's why they are not letting the press in,' Trump said.

Since Biden, pictures was inaugurated, the United States has seen an unprecedented surge of migrants at the border as the number of unaccompanied children are on track to surpass numbers from May 2019

'If that were me the press would be going crazy. It's a very dangerous situation. It's horrible for our country.'

Since Biden was inaugurated, the United States has seen an unprecedented surge of migrants at the border as the number of unaccompanied children are on track to surpass numbers from May 2019.

U.S. border agents conducted 100,441 apprehensions or expulsions of migrants at the border with Mexico in February - the highest monthly total since a border crisis of 2019, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said recently.

President Joe Biden claimed on Wednesday that a 'surge' of migrants at the southern border started during the Trump administration.

Biden also blamed Trump for getting rid of a $700 million foreign aid program that would have prevented the migration surge by strengthening the economies of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
JOLIETTE, Que. - A coroner's inquest into long-term care deaths in Quebec during the COVID-19 pandemic's first wave opened today with testimony describing staff shortages and employees moving from one facility to another.

The former Herron seniors residence, which was one of the hardest hit during the first wave of the pandemic, is seen on Feb. 15, 2021, in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

JOLIETTE, Que. - A coroner's inquest into long-term care deaths in Quebec during the COVID-19 pandemic's first wave opened today with testimony describing staff shortages and employees moving from one facility to another.

The first day of the inquest began with hearings into the Montreal-area CHSLD des Moulins in Terrebonne, owned by senior care company Groupe Sante Arbec. The facility was consumed with a COVID-19 outbreak for 76 days.

Coroner Gehane Kamel's mandate is to investigate the deaths at seven seniors residences and long-term care homes, which are known as CHSLDs in Quebec. In total, she is investigating 53 deaths at the seven facilities, and she heard today from managers at the regional health authority that oversees CHSLD des Moulins.

Dr. Lynda Thibeault, interim head of the regional health agency, told the inquiry that her team was investigating an outbreak at another facility when they learned employees there were also working at CHSLD des Moulins.

Thibeault says it was hard to get a list of employees who had symptoms of COVID-19 because the person responsible for the lists was in preventive isolation after a possible exposure to the novel coronavirus.

Daniel Castonguay, former head of the regional health agency, said his office had to intervene several times in the Terrebonne facility because managers weren't always on-site and health orders weren't being implemented quickly.

Castonguay says the company that owned the facility had refused an offer by the health agency to take over the private residence.

Kamel's inquest was supposed to begin Feb. 15, but she was immediately seized with a request to delay the hearings by the lawyer for the owners of Residence Herron in Dorval, Que. Kamel was scheduled to probe 47 deaths that had occurred at that facility.

Herron's lawyer said prosecutors hadn't decided whether to charge the owners criminally and told the coroner the inquest could prejudice her clients. Kamel elected to put off the Herron portion of the inquiry until September. She surmised that if she refused the request, it would be appealed and could delay the entire inquest for years.

The inquiry is looking into the deaths that occurred in long-term care between March 12 and May 1, 2020.

The vast majority of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Quebec have occurred in long-term care homes and private seniors residences. Coroner's inquests are not intended to assign blame, but to make recommendations to avoid similar occurrences.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 29, 2021.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed he had warned some party leaders that Sachin Waze, the suspended Mumbai police officer who is currently in the NIA's custody, could create problems for the Maharashtra government.

Raut also said the Sachin Waze episode taught some lessons to the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.

The Sena, NCP, and Congress share power in the state.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month arrested Waze over his alleged role in planting an explosive-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis residence in south Mumbai on February 25.

He was earlier also suspended in 2004 over the custodial death of Ghatkopar bomb blasts accused Khwaja Yunus, and was reinstated into the police force last year.

"When there was plan to reinstate Sachin Waze into the Maharashtra police force, I had informed some leaders that he could create problems for us. His behaviour and style of working could lead to some troubles for the government," Raut told a TV channel.

The Rajya Sabha member further said he cannot reveal names of those leaders, but "they are well aware of my conversation with them".

Raut said he has been a journalist for some decades and hence, knows about Waze.

A person is not bad, but sometimes a particular situation makes him so, he said.

"This whole incident of Waze's activities and controversies thereafter taught a lesson to the MVA government. It was good in a way that it happened and taught us some lessons," the Sena's chief spokesperson said.

On Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray backing the suspended police officer, Raut said they did not have enough information about Waze and his activities.

"The chief minister supported him, but with his (Waze's) activities having surfaced, there is no reason to shield the officer," he said.

On the speculation in political circles that Union Home Minister Amit Shah met NCP leader Sharad Pawar in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Raut said Shah is known for holding several meetings in the Gujarat city with various leaders.

"There is nothing to raise eyebrows over the rumoured meeting between Sharad Pawar and BJP leader Amit Shah. In fact, a dialogue between leaders of opposition (rival) parties is good. I am saying this provided they actually met each other in Ahmedabad," he said.

Raut further said even if Pawar and Shah had met, there was nothing to read too much into it.

"If it was really a secret meeting, how come it (news about it) came out," he said.

Raut also said the three-party alliance in Maharashtra will not be affected by the outcome of the Assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu or other states.

On his remark in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' where he called Maharashtra NCP leader Anil Deshmukh an accidental home minister, Raut said Deshmukh is a gentleman.

"He must have gone through a lot of trouble and hardship while handling a crucial portfolio like the home ministry. I had even spoken to him and told him that he would face lot of criticism," the Sena leader said.

Also Read: Delhivery's two co-founders exit logistics unicorn ahead of IPO

Also Read: Rupee appreciates 4% against dollar so far in FY21

Also Read: HPCL to acquire SP Group's stake in Gujarat LNG terminal JV
UW in the News

State, national and international media frequently feature the University of Wyoming and members of its community in stories. Here is a summary of some of the recent coverage:

The Casper Star-Tribune and Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that UW will return to traditional on-campus learning with activities this fall semester due largely to encouraging numbers regarding COVID-19 infections, along with vaccine availability and acceptance. Among media outlets publishing UWs release were WyoToday.com, Buckrail, Laramie Live and SweetwaterNOW.

The water bear research of UW Assistant Professor Thomas Boothby on how the microscopic animals, known as tardigrades, can withstand extreme conditions was featured in The Guardian. The article noted that the research could one day help in the development of COVID vaccines. Wyoming News Now, The Cody Enterprise and Sheridan Media published UWs release on the announcement.

The Laramie Boomerang featured Kara Pratt, program director for neuroscience at UW, on the importance of more women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

Crypto bank Avanti, led by CEO and UW graduate Caitlin Long, recently raised $37 million from Series A investors as it prepares to take its digital banking operations online later this year, according to Yahoo! Finance. The UW Foundation was among entities participating in the funding round.

The Rocket Miner, Buckrail and Sheridan Media published UWs release noting that John Koprowski, dean of UWs Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, led a project that discovered a jaguar presence near the U.S.-Mexico border. Koprowski made the discovery with a University of Arizona student who he advised during his tenure as a professor at that college. The Arizona Daily Star and Fox 10 Phoenix published similar articles.

The New York Times featured former UW Police Department Sgt. Aaron Appelhans, who is the first Black sheriff in Wyoming. The Albany County sheriff also is a former UW Admissions representative. Black Enterprise published a similar article.

UW psychology Professor Ben Wilkowski and his colleagues research analyzing goal-related words used by English speakers was noted in a Ladders News article, titled These are the 4 most powerful motivators of success. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology first published the research.

Eos, a science news website, noted that UW Assistant Professor Di Yang was among research scientists who found that mass bird die-offs in the western and central U.S. are linked to wildfires and toxic gases. GeoHealth first published the research paper.

Robert Field, a UW senior research scientist, has made important field contributions in the use of the POD sampler, an instrument used to accurately sample pollution levels. The Rocket Miner published UWs release on Fields work.

In a Wyoming News Now article on proper nutrition to prevent chronic diseases, UW Extensions Cent$ible Nutrition Program was mentioned as a valuable resource for nutritional tips and recipes. Oil City News published a similar article.
Airline and private plane crashes cause devastating injuries, death and financial ruin to the families of victims.

Aviation Injury by Jonathan C. Reiter Law Firm, PLLC

While the majority of aviation injuries dont involve a crash, its important to note that when crashes happen people who survive them may be left with serious injuries.

While the majority of aviation injuries dont involve a crash, its important to note that when crashes happen people who survive them may be left with serious injuries.

New York City, NY , March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While the majority of aviation injuries dont involve a crash, its important to note that when crashes happen people who survive them may be left with serious injuries.

Airline crashes dominate headlines when they happen and typically result in multiple fatalities. Passengers may also suffer serious aviation injuries during flight or in the airport. These injuries can include slips, trips and falls as well as trauma sustained due to falling luggage or an unsecured beverage cart. Disabled passengers who request wheelchair assistance getting on and off the plane or between flight connections are sometimes not provided with a wheelchair, and this can result in serious injuries or death.

>> What Should I Do If a Loved One Dies In An Airline Accident?

These accidents may not get widespread attention, but they can leave an individual with serious injuries. Furthermore, any kind of aviation accident case can be complex, as these types of cases often involve multiple defendants as well as parties from various states and even different countries.

"If you have been hurt in any kind of aviation accident, its in your best interest to discuss your case with an experienced aviation accident lawyer. No one should have to bear the burden of expenses arising from someone elses negligence. Get the full and fair compensation you deserve by speaking to a knowledgeable airline accident lawyer as soon as possible following an aviation accident injury. " Jonathan C. Reiter New York City aviation accident lawyer.

Airline Accident Lawyer, Attorney - Jonathan C. Reiter





1. Common Causes of Airline Crashes



Story continues

While the majority of aviation injuries dont involve a crash, its important to note that when crashes happen people who survive them may be left with serious injuries. Whether the plane is a commercial jetliner or a small private plane, its rare for someone to simply walk away from an aircraft accident. If youve been hurt in a commercial or non-commercial crash, you may be dealing with long-term and catastrophic injuries. If anothers negligence caused your injuries, its important to get the help you need to pursue compensation.

Aviation accidents can occur on a commercial flight or non-commercial flight. The term general aviation covers any aircraft that is not a commercial plane. For example, general aviation includes private planes, charter flights, personal aircraft, helicopters, and even hang gliders.

By far, the most common cause of airline accidents, including both commercial and non-commercial, is pilot error. Other causes include:

Bad equipment

Design flaw in the plane

Faulty maintenance

Turbulence

Negligence on the part of aviation controllers or workers

Injuries caused by slips and falls

Unsecured luggage or other items, such as heavy beverage carts

When an aviation crash or accident happens, it can be investigated by two federal agencies tasked with overseeing the air and travel industry in the United States. These two agencies are the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

This is part of what makes aviation accidents so complex. If youre involved in this type of accident, you can quickly get confused about your rights and what steps you should take next. This is where an experienced aviation accident lawyer can help.

Should You File a Personal Injury Claim After an Aviation Accident?

Should You File a Personal Injury Claim After an Aviation Accident?





If you have been injured in an aviation accident, you should discuss your case with an experienced aviation injury lawyer. One of the first questions your lawyer will consider is who is potentially liable for the accident that caused your injuries?

This can be any number of entities or individuals, including:

The aircrafts owner

The pilot

The aircrafts crew

The airplanes manufacturer

A third party that did maintenance on the aircraft

The airport

Airport employees that directed the aircraft or oversaw its operation

An airport employee

The airport or its owners

Fellow passengers

Aviation accidents can involve many possible defendants, which is one of many reasons why its a complicated area of law. In some cases, even the federal government could potentially be responsible for the accident.

In an aviation accident case, its important to determine who acted negligently. Negligence is the legal theory that holds that someone who has a duty to act as a reasonable individual would under similar circumstances is liable for the harm that results when they fail to meet this duty of care. In addition, international flights are governed by special laws that provide for compensation even if there is no negligence.

2. Damages in an Aviation Accident Case



An individual who prevails on an aviation accident claim can be awarded damages to compensate them for their losses. These damages can include:

Medical bills

Lost wages

Loss of future earning capacity

Pain and suffering

Loss of companionship of a spouse

Emotional distress

Damages can include both past and future damages. For example, a court in an aviation accident case may award an injury victim compensation for both past medical expenses and future ones. This is common in catastrophic injury cases, where expert testimony can show that an individual will need ongoing medical care and treatment.

The court may also choose to award punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish a negligent party for its negligent behavior and deter others from doing the same.

3. What Is a Common Carrier?

If you have been injured in an aviation accident or crash, you may hear the term common carrier. A common carrier is a business that offers transportation. This can include the transportation or shipment of people or products. Examples of common carriers include buses, cabs, trains, charter buses, cruise ships, and commercial planes.

In many cases, a common carrier is regulated by a federal agency. For example, the FAA regulates commercial airplanes. This means commercial airlines must meet FAA guidelines to operate. When commercial airplanes deviate from these rules, they can be sued for negligence.

To bring a claim for negligence against a commercial airline operator, an aviation accident victim must be able to prove all four elements of their negligence claim. They must be able to show:

The airline had a duty of care to the passenger

The airline breached its duty of care

The breach of the duty of care caused the passengers injury, and the injury wouldnt have happened if not for the airlines breach

The passenger sustained damages

As you might expect, aviation accident cases can be complex. To prove their case, injury victims may rely on a number of different types of evidence, including:

Eyewitnesses  If someone observed the airline acting negligently, that eyewitness can testify in court. For example, a fellow passenger on an airliner that saw another passenger get struck with an unsecured beverage cart can offer their testimony.





Expert witnesses  Aircraft are complex machines with a lot of moving parts. When an accident happens, its normal for agencies to bring in expert investigators to determine what caused the accident.





Photos  Photographs can be extremely valuable in an aviation negligence case. They may be able to show that a dangerous condition existed at the time of the passengers injury. Photos can also show the damages that occurred due to the accident, and they may even be used to document an injury victims injuries that resulted from the accident.





Records  Written records can be important evidence in an aviation accident case. These can include incident reports, maintenance logs, inspection reports, and other records.

4. Aviation Accident FAQs

The following are some of the most frequently asked questions and answers regarding aviation accidents.

1. Who is responsible for my aviation accident injury?

The possible liable entities and parties depend on the unique facts of your case. In an aviation accident case, there can be many potentially liable parties, including the pilot, the owner of the aircraft, maintenance personnel, the airport or its employees, or the manufacturer of the airplane or airplane parts. Other potential liable parties may include the aircrafts crew, fellow passengers, or people in the airport.

2. Who investigates aviation accidents?

When an aviation accident occurs, it gets investigated by the FAA and the NTSB. These are two separate and independent federal agencies.

3. What causes most aviation accidents to happen?

While aviation accidents can have several different causes, some are more common than others. Some of the top causes of aviation accidents include:

Pilot error

Malfunctioning equipment

Design flaws with the aircraft

Negligence on the part of an airline employee, such as an air traffic controller

Its also possible for more than one party to be responsible for an aviation accident. This is why its important to file a claim as soon as possible if you have been injured in an aviation accident.

4. Are there different laws for commercial versus non-commercial aircraft?

Yes, there are different laws for general aviation. Commercial airlines and military aircraft have separate regulations from the general aviation industry. International flights also are governed by special rules relating to compensation.

5. Do I need a lawyer if Ive been injured in an aviation accident?

You should protect yourself by speaking to an aviation lawyer as soon as possible following an aviation accident.

6. What kind of compensation can I get for an aviation accident injury claim?

No lawyer can predict how much compensation you will receive for your aviation accident injury claim. There are many factors that determine how much an individual will receive. However, an experienced aviation accident injury lawyer can review your case and give you a general estimate based on their knowledge of this area of law.

Discuss Your Case with a NYC Aviation Accident Lawyer

If you have been hurt in an aviation accident or crash, its important to protect your rights by speaking to a airline injury / accident lawyer as soon as possible. There are time limits for filing a claim, so dont hesitate to review your case with a personal injury lawyer, as a delay could cause you to miss the deadline for filing, which can prevent you from pursuing the compensation you deserve.

How Can an Aviation Accident Attorney Help You? >>



Sources:

Media Contact: NYC Aviation Accident Lawyer Jonathan C. Reiter Law Firm, PLLC

https://www.jcreiterlaw.com/



T: 212-736-0979



Attorney Advertising

Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future case. Recoveries always depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case, the injuries suffered, damages incurred, and the responsibility of those involved.







Attachment




Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.
Newly elected rector of Kyiv's Taras Shevchenko National University Volodymyr Buhrov says that there is currently no procedure according to which President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, whom the EU and the United States do not recognize as legally elected, can be stripped of the title of honorary doctor of the university.

"In fact, there is no procedure today. We live in a state governed by the rule of law, so there must be a mechanism for depriving of such titles," Buhrov said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

"Now the Historical and Memorial Commission has given a conclusion to the Academic Council of the University that there has not been such a precedent in any years. And the discussion has been suspended there, but it was not completed. This issue is of a political and legal nature. Therefore, I will propose to the Academic Council to create a commission of specialists: lawyers, historians and political scientists in order to develop some kind of vision of the possibility of deprivation, so that the Academic Council would accept this vision. If there is such a political and legal opportunity, this should be done," he added.

The elected rector of Shevchenko University stressed that as a member of the Academic Council he would vote for such a deprivation.

Commenting that member of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party Viktor Sadovnichy is also an honorary doctor of the university, and member of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation Andrei Shutov has the distinction of the Academic Council of the university, Buhrov said that, unlike Lukashenko, they are not politicians, but academic workers , therefore, there were no warnings there.

"I know about Sadovnichy. Lomonosov Moscow State University, where V.A. Sadovnichy is the rector, he was our partner for decades. And back in September 2000, the Academic Council of the Kyiv Shevchenko University awarded a title of an honorary doctor to Viktor Sadovnichy, a Ukrainian from Slobozhanshchyna, as a talented mathematician, as a colleague and friend of Kyiv Shevchenko University," said the elected rector.

"I don't remember about Shutov, I think he's the dean of the political science faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, but I'll take a look. He was distinguished not as a politician, but as a colleague-teacher," he added.
Wei Qiang Zang, ATFX's CEO, said:

"The oneZero Hub provides ATFX Connect with a flexible, robust technology solution that supports our deep liquidity pools and tailor-made packages designed for our corporate clients. We will continue to work closely with oneZero to help ATFX expand its Institutional business and capture market share by offering clients a broader range of financial instruments."

ATFX Connect, the institutional arm, focusing on Hedge Funds, Family Offices, B2B, Asset Managers, HNW's, and spread betting accounts. The multi-access platform caters for clients who wish to trade on an Agency, Margin or Bridge account via a Fix API or GUI.

The oneZero Hub supports Institutional clients, providing them with access to Spot FX, Precious Metals and CFD's. The flexible infrastructure enables ATFX to manage aggregation, pricing and allows connectivity into third-party platforms with greater ease.

ATFX Connect also allows clients to choose between multiple post-trade regulatory vendors that are part of the oneZero Ecosystem, enabling reporting in various jurisdictions. The oneZero EcoSystem also includes banks and over 200 retail and institutional brokers who distribute liquidity and offer direct market access to exchanges and clearing providers.

The flexibility of oneZero gives us complete control of aggregation, pricing and risk management, enabling us to customise and tailor our liquidity streams to match our clients' expectations.

ATFX Connect

Back in 2019, ATFX stepped into the Institutional arena with the launch of its Multi-Access platform ATFX Connect. The management's vision was to expand the broker's global presence and continue to provide award-winning liquidity and customer service to clients within the Institutional community. With the focus on the professional Investor, the ATFX Connect platform is designed to provide an efficient automated trading venue that delivers tailored liquidity solutions to Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Brokers, Private Banks, and other financial institutions.

ATFX

ATFX is an award-winning FX/CFD broker with a global presence and offices around the world, offering customer support in over 15 languages.

With over 200 tradable financial assets, including forex, cryptocurrency, precious metals, energy, indices, and shares traded as CFDs, ATFX is regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius, and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Media Contact

Matthew Porter

Tel: (44) 020 3917 8705

Source: ATFX Connect

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459692/ATFX_Connect.jpg

SOURCE ATFX Connect
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Digital Editor
She recently launched a new swim and activewear collection for her brand Tropic Of C.

And Candice Swanepoel was her own best advertisement as she flaunted her sizzling beach body while modeling bikinis from her swimwear line.

The supermodel, 32, turned up the heat as she took a steamy shower in a zebra print bikini in a set of promotional photos for her eco-conscious brand.

Steamy: Candice Swanepoel turned up the heat as she took a steamy shower in a zebra print bikini in a set of promotional photos for her eco-conscious brand Tropic Of C

The former Victoria's Secret Angel let the water wash over her body as she held her hands up to her head, elongating her toned physique.

She was wearing a classic triangle shaped bikini praia top and low-rise bottoms, with strings that tied at the sides.

In another shot, Candice struck a confident pose leaning against a palm tree in a tropical location wearing a wrap bikini top and high-waisted bottoms.

The style, called the bianca top, comes in reversible prints in both mystic green and mama Africa, a leopard print design.

Tropical: The supermodel, 32, struck a confident pose leaning against a palm tree in a tropical location wearing a wrap bikini top and high-waisted bottoms in green and leopard print design

Pose: The former Victoria's Secret Angel looked slender and toned in the pictures and covered up a bit more in the last shot, wearing a black t-shirt over a orange bikini bottoms

The swimwear entrepreneur covered up a bit more in the last shot, wearing a black t-shirt over a orange bikini bottoms.

The mother-of-two looked slender and toned in the pictures and was sporting a bronzed tan.

Her new collection of activewear, entitled Tropic Of C Movement, was recently released after her brand previously focused only on producing swimwear.

It will be exclusively available through the online clothing retailer Bandier and the brand's own website.

The first pictures of her new line showed her wearing the Sweat C shorts as she rolled up the legs to show off her sculpted posterior and beautifully toned thighs for the shot.

Trying something new: Candice recently announced the arrival of her brand Tropic Of C's new activewear collection as she posed in promo shots wearing the Sweat C shorts

She paired her shorts with an orange string bikini bottom and a light blue bikini top; the model accessorized with a pair of white sunglasses.

Her gorgeous long blonde hair fell down onto her back and she sported a red Honda Motors cap, as well as two gold bracelets.

Swanepoel also wore her brand's new Sweat C top and an orange one-piece swimsuit, adding a set of multicolored running shoes and striped white socks to her ensemble.

The fashion industry icon kept her beautiful hair tied up in a bun for the new shots and wore multiple articles of gold jewelry in addition to a black hairband and matching sunglasses.

Getting the word out: The model posted three sets of photos to her Instagram account to announce the arrival of her new collection. More photos were later shared to Tropic Of C's official Instagram as well

Accessorizing well: In many of the shots, the supermodel added a bit of glimmer to her outfits with multiple articles of gold jewelry

Candice first launched the swimwear line Tropic Of C in 2018 after appearing in campaigns for many other brands including Tom Ford, Givenchy, and Ralph Lauren, among others.

Her company has received much praise for its dedication to sustainability and usage of recycled materials in the construction of its clothing.

The brand has also been the focus of attention for its packaging, which is made from materials that are either renewable or biodegradable.

She was named a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2010 and was featured on the cover of the lingerie line's swim catalog in 2013.

The South African native has also walked the runway for various fashion houses including Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, and Versace.

She has two children, Ariel and Anaca, with her former partner Hermann Nicoli whom she was with from 2005 until 2018.
Southern Pines, NC (28387)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Without the spring in its step to match the weather and other indexes in Europe, the FTSE 100 dipped slightly on Monday.

Kicking off a week of shorter trading as markets will be closed for Fridays bank holiday, the index was pulled down by gambling and housebuilding companies.

Bottom of the pile was Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, with Ladbrokes owner Entain, which had its bid for Australias Tabcorp rejected on Monday, also dropping.

Builders Persimmon and Barratt Development were also firmly in the red even as analyst at JP Morgan increased the prices they thought the companies shares should trade at.

The FTSE 100s 0.1% fall, by 4.4 points to 6,736, with its better-performing peers on the continent.

The Cac in Paris, and Frankfurts Dax both rose by 0.5%.

Its been a pretty positive day, with the FTSE100 lagging behind its European peers, with the Dax looking to close back in on its intramonth record highs led by automakers BMW and Volkswagen leading the way higher, said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

In the UK its more of a mixed bag with the FTSE100 more or less flat on the day, with consumer staples outperforming led by Reckitt Benckiser and BT Group, while on the downside housebuilders are the primary drags, despite a positive update on the sector from JPMorgan.

Sterling bought 1.3796 dollars by the end of the day, unchanged on prior prices.

A pound could also buy 1.1712 euro, up 0.1%.

The price of Brent oil fell by 0.3% to 64.38 dollars per barrel.

The two main US indexes were in the red, with the S&P 500 down 0.4% and the Dow Jones losing 0.1% by the time markets had closed in Europe.

In Londons company news was dominated by listings.

Cazoo, a UK online car seller, said it plans to list its shares in New York, targeting a valuation of around 5 billion.

The news pushed up shares in Daily Mail and General Trust, which was an early investor in Cazoo, by nearly 8%.

Deliveroo provided the second listing news item. Just a week after saying it was targeting a value of up to 8.8 billion when it lists in London, the delivery company downgraded its upper target to 7.85 billion.

This lower ceiling appears to be a natural consequence of a number of high-profile investors going cold on the idea of investing in a business which they arent completely convinced will turn a profit any time soon, Mr Hewson said.

Concerns over working conditions for its riders have been cited as one of the reasons for the reluctance to invest, however there are probably a number of others.

AJ Bell said it would beat market expectations for its revenue in the year ending 2021 by around 6 million, sending its shares up 1.7%.

Dominos Pizza Group sold its Iceland business for around 14 million.

Shares rose 0.9%.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Renishaw, up 250p to 6250p, Reckitt Benckiser, up 192p to 6564p, BT, up 4.35p to 152.4p, United Utilities, up 19.4p to 926.8p, and Severn Trent, up 43p to 2342p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Flutter Entertainment, down 545p to 15935p, Persimmon, down 94p to 2927p, Smiths Group, down 47.5p to 1512.5p, Entain, down 44.5p to 1510p, and Barratt Development, down 21p to 749.6p.
Chelsea Lauren/Getty ImagesThe drummer of the Grammy-winning band Alabama Shakes has been accused of child abuse.

Rolling Stone reports that Steven William Johnson was arrested Wednesday and now faces a slew of charges including torture and abuse of a child.

The 35-year-old drummer's bail was set at $21,500 and he was taken to Alabama's Limestone County Jail. His arraignment is scheduled for April 7.

The report says Johnson was indicted on willful torture, willful abuse and cruelly beating/willfully maltreating a child under 18.

This isn't the first time Johnson found himself on the wrong side of the law. A report from WHNT found in 2019, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge for violating his ex-wife's protective order. His former spouse claims that he abused her following their divorce the year prior, accusing him of stalking, choking, threatening and harassing her.

WHNT says, as a result of that incident, he was sentenced to 24 months of probation on top of a suspended sentence of a year in prison.

The two had been married for three and a half years.

A spokesperson for Alabama Shakes has not responded for request for comment regarding Johnson's most recent incident.

The "Hold On" band has been hiatus since 2018 when frontwoman Brittany Howard took interest in pursuing a solo career.

By Megan Stone

Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
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?

You voted:
Georgia marks 4th anniversary of visa-free travel to EU

Four years ago on this day the regulation lifting visa requirements for Georgians to travel to the European Union entered into effect.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili believes the visa-free travel is 'one of the most visible successes' in the EU-Georgia relations.

Noting the government spares no efforts to prepare Georgia for full-fledged EU membership, he said Georgia will submit the membership application in 2024.

Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has also tweeted: "Today marks the 4th anniversary of one of the greatest political achievement of -relations  visa free regime for GEO citizens accounting for over 1.1 mln visits. Visa free enhanced P2P contacts, tourism, business & education ties keeping s EU integration success driven."

Former ambassador of Georgia to the EU Natalie Sabanadze who has served in Brussels for almost eight years before her recent resignation said visa-free travel is 'a symbol of breaking down barriers and acquiring a privilege of freedom'.

Georgian citizens holding biometric passports can travel to EU/Schengen Zone visa-free for 90 days within a 180-day period, whether it be for tourism, family visits, or business. However, international flight have been restricted for over a year now due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dozens of people were killed in coordinated jihadist attacks in northern Mozambiques Palma town, the government said on Sunday, four days after the raid was launched and forced the evacuation of thousands of survivors to safety in the provincial capital Pemba.

Seven people were killed in an ambush during an operation to evacuate them from a hotel where they had sought refuge, it said.

Last Wednesday, a group of terrorists sneaked into Palma and launched actions that resulted in the cowardly murder of dozens of defenceless people, defence ministry spokesman Omar Saranga told a news conference.

Foreigners were among those caught in the violence, but the government did not say how many foreign nationals were killed.

So far one South African is known to have died during the attack, his family confirmed to AFP.

Adrian Nel had been holed up in the Amarula hotel with his father and brother for two days, his mother said.

As they were making their way to a convoy of cars that had come to evacuate them, Nel was shot dead, she said. His father had to carry his body until they were rescued.

Theres no way to possibly describe what you feel when you get news like that, Meryl Knox told AFP.

Its just devastating, body numbing, mind numbing.

Martin Ewi, a senior researcher with the Pretoria-based think-tank, the Institute for Security Studies, said that over 100 people were still unaccounted for since the attack.

Thats what we know so far, he said, but added that the situation on the ground was confusing.

 Rescue efforts 

On Wednesday, an unknown number of militants began attacking Palma, a town of around 75,000 people in the province of Cabo Delgado that is home to a multi-billion-dollar gas project being built by Frances Total and other energy companies.

Human Rights Watch said the militants indiscriminately shot civilians in their homes and on the streets.

In the last three days, government security forces had prioritised the rescue of hundreds of citizens, nationals and foreigners, said Saranga, without giving a breakdown of the numbers.

Some were temporarily taken to the heavily guarded gas plant located on the Afungi peninsula, on the Indian Ocean coast south of the Tanzanian border, before being moved to Pemba, around 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Palma.

A boat laden with evacuees landed in Pemba on Sunday, according to police patrolling the city port.

According to a source close to the rescue operation, there were about 1,400 people on board.

Those evacuated included non-essential staff of Total and Palma residents who had sought refuge at the gas plant.

Several other small boats packed with displaced people were on their way to Pemba and expected to arrive overnight or Monday morning, according to humanitarian aid agencies.

Airport officials in Pemba said humanitarian aid flights had been suspended to free up space for military operations.

Caritas, a Catholic aid agency which is active in the province, also reported new arrivals to Pemba.

Now we await the arrival of people who are most vulnerable so that we can provide assistance, the local head of Caritas, Manuel Nota, told AFP.

 Appalling violence 

The militant attack on Palma is the closest yet to the major gas project during a three-year Islamist insurgency across Mozambiques north.

Since October 2017, extremist fighters have raided villages and towns in the region, forcing nearly 700,000 to flee their homes.

Although they launched their campaign in 2017, experts say they had begun mobilising a decade earlier as disgruntled youths starting to practise a different type of Islam, drinking alcohol and entering mosques dressed in shorts and shoes.

The violence has now taken root and claimed at least 2,600 people lives, half of them civilians, according to the US-based data-collecting agency Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED).

Local media reports said British workers may have been caught up in the Palma attack, and Britains Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said its embassy in Maputo was in direct contact with authorities in Cabo Delgado to urgently seek further information on these reports.

The UK wholeheartedly condemns the appalling violence in Cabo Delgado. It must stop, minister for Africa James Duddridge tweeted.

The United States, whose troops are helping train Mozambican forces to fight the insurgency, said Sunday it continues to monitor the horrific situation in Palma, adding one American citizen who was in Palma had been safely evacuated.

The embassy announced earlier this month that American military personnel would spend two months training soldiers in Mozambique.

SOURCE: AFP
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MILWAUKEE, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Teamsters Joint Council 39 announced its endorsement of Dr. Jill Underly for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Dr. Underly has worked on all levels of public education in Wisconsin, establishing an outstanding reputation as a teacher, principal and superintendent. In her more than two decades of experience, Dr. Underly has fought to ensure every child in the Wisconsin public school system has the opportunity for a first-class education.

"Wisconsin Teamsters know a hard worker when they see one, and Dr. Jill Underly is the type of tireless champion our children need as State Superintendent of Public Instruction," said Joint Council 39 Political Coordinator Bill Carroll. "Her leadership will promote our Wisconsin values and her support from the teachers in the school system is unquestioned. Dr. Underly will do whatever it takes give our children the head start they need through a high-quality public education."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Teamsters Joint Council 39 represents more than 18,000 workers at four locals across Wisconsin. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Bill Carroll, (414) 258-4545

[email protected]

SOURCE Teamsters Joint Council 39
Burma Striking Civil Servant Shot Dead by Myanmar Security Forces

Pathein residents set up barricades on Sunday night.

A striking government employee of the Ayeyarwady Region Parliament Office was shot dead on Sunday evening, after security forces fired live rounds in residential wards in the Ayeyarwady Region capital Pathein.

As of Sunday, at least 452 civilian anti-coup protesters have been killed in crackdowns by the military regime.

Ko Zin Lin Aung, 26, was shot in the throat around 9 pm on Sunday while he was on night watch at a makeshift barricade on a main road set up by local residents to prevent security forces from entering residential wards. He died immediately. Two other people were injured in the shooting.

There is a barricade on Bantbwegon Street to prevent the security forces from coming into the wards. He was on night watch there last night and the security forces opened fired with live rounds. A bullet hit his throat and he died on the spot, said a family member of Ko Zin Lin Aung.

Security forces fired shots in nearby wards before they came to our barricade. Ko Zin Lin Aung was holding a steel shield. The bullet penetrated his shield and hit his throat. After the shooting, the security forces demolished the barricade, said a Pathein resident who was present at the barricade.

Security forces also rampaged through wards and shot at anyone on the streets, said local residents. Seven civilians have died during crackdowns on anti-regime protesters in Pathein, which is the headquarters of the militarys South-Western Command.

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LOS ANGELES  A man who was convicted of brutally murdering five people, including a 10-year-old Riverside County boy he abducted at knifepoint, died Sunday while awaiting execution for his crimes, authorities said.

Joseph Edward Duncan III, 58, died in a hospital outside federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Riverside County district attorneys office said in a news release. A cause of death was not disclosed, but he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, prosecutors said.

Duncan was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of Dylan Groene, 9, whom Duncan kidnapped along with his sister Shasta Groene, 8, after using a claw hammer to bludgeon to death the childrens mother, Brenda Groene; her fiance, Mark McKenzie; and her 13-year-old son, Slade Groene, inside their rural Idaho home.

A Coeur dAlene, Idaho, waitress ended the nationwide hunt for Duncan when she recognized Shasta, whose face was on missing flyers around town, at a Dennys in July 2005. Dylan was later found dead at a Montana campsite. Duncan sexually assaulted both children, authorities said.

The convicted sex offender was 16 when he first served time for the 1980 rapes of a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint in Washington state. He told psychiatrists at a state mental hospital that he had raped other boys, as young as 12. He was released in 1994 after serving more than 14 years but was twice re-incarcerated for failing drug tests.

After his 2005 arrest, Duncan reportedly told FBI agents that he was also connected to the 1997 killing of Anthony Martinez, 10, who was forced into a sedan at knifepoint while he played in a fenced-in alleyway behind a neighbors home with his brother and some friends in Beaumont in Riverside County.

The kidnapping coincided with one of Duncans periods out of prison, when hed gone to California to visit his father in the San Bernardino County town of Highland, about 22 miles northwest, authorities said.

Duncan, who approached the boys and offered them $1 to help him find his lost cat, had at first tried to grab Martinezs younger brother but took Martinez when he intervened, prosecutors said.

After an extensive 15-day search, a park ranger found Martinezs body, naked and bound with duct tape, buried under rocks 70 miles away in remote Berdoo Canyon north of Indio. Investigators believe he was killed by blunt force against a rock, and he had been sexually assaulted.

There is less evil in this world, Martinezs younger brother Marcos said Sunday in a statement. Nothing can bring my brother back, but now Duncan can never hurt anyone ever again.

The killing weighed heavily on the town of Beaumont, where billboards pleading for information about the case remained for years. Investigators said they chased down about 15,000 leads before they found their suspect eight years later. Duncan pleaded guilty to the murder in 2011.

The world is a more beautiful place without the evil that is Joseph Duncan, Martinezs mother Diana said in a statement. God chose to make his end a long suffering and I believe that is fitting. The horror of his thoughts consumed him.
Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday.
SPRINGFIELD  With three Massachusetts congressmen on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal heading the powerful Ways and Mean Committee, east-west passenger rail through Springfield will likely get a piece of President Joe Bidens $3 trillion to $4 trillion infrastructure package.

U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch, D-South Boston; Seth Moulton, D-Salem; and Jake Auchincloss, D-Newtown; are members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The committee is chaired by U.S. Rep. Peter A. Defazio, D-Oregon, who is a Massachusetts native.

I think that we are very well positioned in Massachusetts, said Neal, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, on Monday. All got on the (Transportation and Infrastructure) Committee with some help from me. They know the priority we have on east-west rail . We have spoken about it.

The Springfield Democrat also spoke with Biden himself about the long-awaited enhanced passenger service just minutes after the presidents $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

Rail boosters have complained that the state Department of Transportation and the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker has moved slowly on the long-talked-about passenger rail plan linking the booming Boston economy with ample housing elsewhere in the state.

Congressman Richard Neal speaks during a press conference at the Springfield Federal Courthouse in this file photo. Neal said his influence helped get other Massachusetts congress members on the House infrastructure and Transportation Committee and they know his commitment to east-west rail. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

Neal said hes spoken with Baker repeatedly. Neal also issued a reminder that the state Rescue plan  about half of which was the responsibility of the Ways and Means Committee  meant $8.3 billion in state and local aid the package promises to send to Massachusetts and its towns and cities. Also consider the total amount of Massachusetts founding that might be included in the upcoming infrastructure plan.,

I cant imagine that the state wouldnt be prepared to do their formulaic match for an infrastructure bill, Neal said. The governor understands clearly the federal partnership here.

The infrastructure plan will also address education and skill-building for the construction industry as well as projects like increased broadband Internet capability and clean up polluted industrial brownfields for redevelopment, Neal said.

The Ways and Means Committee, Neal said, will be in charge of the plan from the revenue side.

He said he hopes that enough Republicans support the infrastructure plan so the Democrats can avoid the reconciliation process used to pass the American Rescue Plan. But reconciliation is still an option.

Infrastructure used to be the easiest thing to do, Neal said. But now its fallen into the partisan trap. "

Congressman Lynch spoke about the infrastructure plan and east-west rail Monday with the New England Council.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said Massachusetts is well positioned to do well in the upcoming infrastructure package from Joe Biden. That would include east-west rail.

Lynch told the think-tank that each member of Congress will be able to put forward 10 proposed community projects with a handful of those 10 expected to be selected for inclusion in a final package., according to State House News Service.

We are at that moment now in the New England delegation where some of these big projects are being primed, Lynch said.

East-west rail has other friends in powerful positions, said Ben Heckscher, co-founder Trains In The Valley, an advocacy group pushing for increased passenger rail.

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, also represents areas that stand to benefit. McGovern is chairman of the powerful House Committee on Rules. U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, is assistant speaker of the House.

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, are also supportive, Heckscher said.

MassDOT and the MBTA have been timid, said Heckscher said, adding they dont know if ridership and funding will rebound after the pandemic and tried to cut back service.

In January, the state released a final rail study showing enhanced passenger rail service could attract 278,000 to 469,000 riders per year. The cost for extensive track upgrades would range from $2.4 billion and $4.6 billion. At that ridership and cost, the project doesnt meet guidelines for federal funding.

But backers say MassDOT is underestimating ridership and overestimating cost. MassDOT promised continued study.

State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, introduced a bill in the state legislature that would mandate MassDOT run at least five daily trips from Boston through Springfield to Pittsfield and back. It would be a start towards higher-speed service.

The state legislature has approved $50 million in bonding for preparatory work, Lesser said. He and his colleagues on the Western Massachusetts delegation plan to send a letter later this week to Baker and the administration urging that that money get into the states capital investment plan so work can begin.

Another factor in the expansion of east-west rail is that the state doesnt own much of the track. Freight railroad CSX does own it and has been reluctant to partner on increased passenger service.

But both Lesser and Heckscher said the state and federal governments have more leverage with CSX now.

The rail giant wants to buy rival Pan Am Railways in a deal that would include the east-west line running through Greenfield and the right to operate north-south freight on the state-owned line running from therethrough Springfield and Amtrak line from Springfield through Connecticut.

A CSX freight train rumbles through Westfield in March 2021. CSX Transportation's desire for federal approval of its purchase of Pan Am Railways gives state and federal officials some leverage in securing access for passenger rail, including proposed east-west passenger rail that would take this same route. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican)

To do the deal, CSX, Pan Am and their partners need federal approval. The U.S. Department of Transportation agency responsible ruled last week that the CSX-Pan Am deal was a major transaction and requires a 270-day review.

And access to passenger trains  either by guaranteeing MassDOT the right to run trains over CSX or by selling tracks to the state or a mixture  can be a condition of approval, Lesser said,

Neal is among the federal lawmakers who urged the U.S. Department of Transportation, through its surface Transportation Board, to do the more through review.

It does feel like a once-in-a-generation moment here, Lesser said.

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Mantra Robinsons son Miles loves his summers at Camp Tawonga. The Jewish sleepaway camp near Yosemite provides the 13-year-old with weeks of swimming, archery lessons and other activities far from the harsh glow of a screen at the familys home in Oakland.

So after Miles learned camp would be closed last summer, he was heartbroken, according to Robinson.

When school was canceled he was upset, but the day camp was canceled, that was the low point for him for the whole pandemic, she said.

Like many U.S. families, the Robinsons struggled during the summer of 2020. Both parents work full time, and their kids  13-year-old Miles and 9-year-old Julia  spent lots of time inside on their phones and in front of the TV. The family made do with occasional hikes and trips to Stinson Beach.

Many Bay Area schools have been largely closed to in-person learning for the school year so far. Robinson said her children have continued to face isolation and Zoom fatigue. But on March 11, California announced summer sleepaway camps in counties that are at red tier level or below would reopen for 2021.

While camps including Tawonga have anticipated the announcement  Robinson signed her son up for camp in December  she and other parents have still welcomed the news.

Im so excited that summer camp is open, I want to shout it from the rooftop, Robinson said.

Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle

Last summer, most counties canceled sleepaway camps and other large group activities. But this summer looks to be different. The Bay Area is seeing a gradual but steady decline in coronavirus cases and deaths as vaccine distribution ramps up; most of the regions nine counties have vaccinated close to one third of their residents with one or more doses.

These low rates mean that Robinson and her community see sleepaway camp as an activity with acceptably low risk of disease, particularly because of the low case and death rates among children.

My peer group of friends, I would say were unanimous that the mental health harm of our kids being locked up for a year far outweighs the risk of camp, Robinson said. The studies are showing teen eating disorders and suicide rates are all on the rise, and the science is showing us that children are not super spreaders, schools are not super spreaders.

Kiel Murray, a screenwriter living in Piedmont, is sending all three of her kids to Camp Augusta this summer for the same reason.

The weeklong summer camp is the greatest place on Earth for her kids, she said, and she hopes it will help counteract some of the effects of spending a year learning in isolation. After a year of doing school in their bedrooms, they need it more than ever, she said.

Jeanne Noble, head of UCSFs emergency department COVID-19 response, said that sleepaway camps can be safe, provided that directors test all staff and children as close to the beginning of camp as possible to minimize chances of COVID exposure after testing and before camp arrival.

Additionally, Noble said, camps should also require everyone at camp to have negative results from a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of the start of camp  so parents should test their campers a day or two before they arrive.

Camps should still do symptom screening to further minimize the small chance of cases that slipped through the testing protocol and exclude campers and staff with a recent high-risk COVID exposure (household contact) in the 10 days prior to the camp, Noble said. Additional measures like social distancing and outdoor dining should be encouraged but are not required, she added.

Camp Tawonga, which has its own volunteer COVID task force that includes experts from UCSF, will be abiding by these recommendations and then some, according to Jamie Simon, chief executive officer at the Tawonga Jewish Community Corporation.

Simon said the camp will require kids to quarantine for 10 days prior to arriving at camp, and get a coronavirus test once they arrive at camp. For the first week of their session, campers will spend most of their time with the others in their cabin and will wear masks around other campers and counselors; roughly a week after the start of camp, theyll get a second coronavirus test. If those tests are negative, the campers may be allowed to mingle with other pods unmasked, Simon said.

I hope it feels for kids like it always does  they need it so badly, she said.

Randy Grayson, director of Camp Augusta, said his camp is going even further. The camp, which will offer three two-week sessions and three one-week sessions, plans to require that all campers take a PCR test prior to arrival and a rapid test once they arrive.

For the first several days, campers will stay in small pods until the results of their second PCR tests, which they take onsite, arrive. Then, group sizes would increase. A few days later, if their third PCR tests come back negative, we run camp like it was two years ago, he said.

Sign-ups for Camp Augustas sessions have proceeded steadily, and Grayson said parents concerns about safety have dropped significantly in the last two weeks.

Six weeks ago there was more concern, with people like, what are your COVID protocols, how is this going to work?  he said. Over the last three weeks, this has basically disappeared. People arent calling about COVID protocols; theyre calling and asking, Do you have a spot?

Susie Neilson is a data reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/susieneilson.
 Flash

From New York to San Francisco, people of different colors and ages took to streets across the United States on Saturday, to protest against the alarming rise in anti-Asian violence, which has stoked fear and angry across the Asian American community in the country.

"This affects all of us, and we don't want any violence against anyone," Ling Liu, who marched on Saturday in Indianapolis, capital city of midwest state Indiana, told local media.

The "National Day of Action" demonstrations to show solidarity with the Asian community were held in dozens of major U.S. cities including New York, Washington, San Francisco, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle and Salt Lake City.

In Chicago, more than 1,000 people of various races gathered at Chinatown Square on Saturday afternoon to protest against rising crimes targeting people of Asian descent during the coronavirus pandemic and recent shootings that saw eight deaths in the Atlanta area, six of whom were Asian women.

Protesters holding banners reading "Zero tolerance for racism," "Stop Asian Hate," "I stand with Asian Americans," "We are not virus, discrimination is virus" flocked to Chinatown Square starting noon to make their voices heard. Local officials and district police chief, including President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois State Representative Theresa Mah, joined them.

"We hope to be heard ... We cannot keep silent anymore," Grace Chan, executive director of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community in Chicago, told Xinhua.

In Koreatown, a community in Los Angeles downtown, drums and chants resonated through the streets as hundreds of demonstrators marched on Saturday and held up placards saying "Stop Asian Hate" and "Enough is enough."

At the rally, community leaders, local politicians and activists shared personal experiences of being bullied, scapegoated, discriminated against and treated like they are outsiders or something less than American, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

Many spoke out against the alarming increase in hate crimes against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities during the pandemic and demanded government action to stop the racist attacks, said the report.

"I'm sick of all the hate -- the entire mentality of blaming the new group," said Carolyn Dao, a psychology student at Cal State Long Beach. "It's sickening to see people go after our most vulnerable."

Also on Saturday, a number of people attended a rally in Yellow Springs, midwest state Ohio, holding signs with slogans like "Racism is a Pandemic," "Stop China-bashing," according to CBS-affiliated local television WHIO-TV.

"The opportunistic scapegoating of China during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the intensity by which China is deemed the enemy and adversary of the United States, has driven a widespread Sinophobic sentiment nationally," said the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, the rally organizer, in a press release online.

"The Asian American community suffers the brunt of the hatred fomented as a weapon of war," it said.

"What is happening to Asian Americans is simply un-American. 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," 26 U.S. governors said Friday in a joint statement.

According to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based nonprofit social organization tracking incidents of violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, it received nearly 3,800 reports of attack or abuse against people of Asian descent between March 2020 and February 2021.
Family & Parenting, Local News, Religion, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Chris Boyle Published: March 29 2021

One and all are invited to attend services on this wonderful day.

True Life Christian Worship Center, located in Oyster Bay, NY, is a place that values community and spreads a message of hope to bring hope, and theyre inviting one and all to attend Easter services with their congregation this April 4.

Formerly known as the North Shore Assembly of God for many years, the church is headed up by the dedicated husband and wife duo Ray and Diane Melograne, who serve as Co-Pastors.

North Shore Assembly of God Church recently rebranded itself as True Life Christian Worship Center as to reflect the goal of bringing a hope filled message to the community of Oyster Bay and the surrounding towns, Diane said.

We changed our name to reflect what you experience when you come to our church, she said. We want to have people experience Jesus through a personal relationship, and we want them to encounter God's word through intense Bible studies. We're finding that many, many people, even of the Christian faith, don't have a firm foundation in the word of God. So that's what we give them here.



A greeter welcomes parishioners at the church doors. Photo Credit: True Life Christian Worship Center

Steeped in history, the church in various forms has been located in Oyster Bay for over 300 years, and has changed denominations several times over the years. It initially started out as Baptist and changed to Independent Pentecostal in 1939, and then in the late 1980s became The Assembly of God, since that organization was running a Bible school on the grounds at the time.

As the years went by, the grounds of what would one day become the North Shore Assembly of God Church grew and evolved; the main sanctuary was originally constructed in 1908, with a Bible school and other buildings added later on. Currently, the congregation is made up of approximately 70-80 close-knit people.

One of the greatest holy days on almost any calendar is Easter, and to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, Pastors Ray and Diane feel it is vital to extend a heartfelt invitation to anyone and everyone who would like to visit True Life Christian Worship Center this Easter Sunday, April 4th, and worship with them.



Photo Credit: True Life Christian Worship Center

There will be two services held on Easter Sunday; the first at 9:30 a.m., and the second at 11:30 a.m. To register to attend one of these services, visit their website at https://truelifecwc.org/easter for you and your loved ones. One and all are invited to attend services on this wonderful day.

For those interested in attending Easter service but are concerned about the current COVID-19 pandemic, Ray and Diane are quick to point out that their church strictly adheres to all social distancing and mask guidelines, and they regularly clean and sanitize - in addition to taking the temperatures of everyone entering - to ensure the health and wellbeing of all.

True Life Christian Worship Center also values providing support for their local community during the hard times that the pandemic has brought on. Ray points out that they hold an outdoor food pantry every Tuesday; the reason it is outdoors is to minimize the chance for COVID-19 spread while still making their vital services available to those in need.

We're feeding about 50 families at the moment in partnership with Island Harvest and Long Island Cares, he said. We keep the pantry outdoors most of the time, and on the occasions that we have to have it indoors we take the same social distancing precautions that we do for our services. It remains a real blessing to our community that way.



The church's food pantry, open every Tuesday, feeds about 50 families. Photo Credit: True Life Christian Worship Center

North Massapequa residents, Ray and Diane have been pastors at North Shore Assembly of God going on 16 years now. Ray is a retired electrical engineer and Diane a retired schoolteacher, and while both of them were always religious, their faith was solidified to an untold degree after experiencing a genuine miracle with their daughter many years ago.

Back in the early 1980s, our daughter had a miracle healing and that really strengthened our faith," Ray said. We started attending Bible courses towards this calling, and that's how the ministry side of our lives developed.

After initially helping local area churches by setting up and running parenting groups and even helping new, smaller churches in getting off the ground, one day their senior pastor, Steven Milazzo at Bethlehem Assembly of God asked the two to come to Oyster Bay, a church that was having difficulty keeping long-term pastors. It was thought that Ray and Dianes strong faith, compassion, and dedication would bring an element of stability and community to the church.

16 years later and counting, and its more than obvious that Ray and Diane have fit in perfectly with True Life Christian Worship Center church; Ray said that the experience of co-pastoring with his beloved wife in Oyster Bay all this time has been wonderful for a variety of reasons.

The congregation is a warm, solid, and supporting group of people to us, he said. We've been able to accomplish some really extraordinary things with just a small group of people who really know how to serve God.

In the past weve run substance abuse programs, and have been involved with the local OBEN triathlon beginning of the event with prayer, Diane added. We also have a children's ministry - for such a small congregation we have about 25 children - headed up by Pastor Michael Elliott, our children's pastor.



Pastor Michael Elliott, the church's children's pastor. Photo Credit: True Life Christian Worship Center

For anyone living in the Oyster Bay community or its surrounding areas that is looking for a diverse and inclusive place to worship, Ray and Diane invite anyone who is interested to come down and experience what True Life Christian Worship Center is all about.

Oyster Bay is a very ethnically diverse community...we have people from Africa, Honduras, El Salvador, Jamaica, as well as local Long Islanders, in our congregation, as well as believers of various ages, young to old, Diane said. We want anyone, regardless of their background, to come and experience our Worship Service, our Bible study, our various ministries, and all of the services and outreach events that we hold every year.

With all the things people have been going through the past year with this pandemic, we know there are a lot of people out there who have lost jobs and who are financially stressed, Ray added. We try to offer some hope to them. The key word that we like to get across is hope. People can come here and find camaraderie, sensitivity, and moral support, and even networking opportunities if they're looking for a job. We can point them to our source of hope, Jesus Christ.

To find out more about True Life Christian Worship Center, please visit their website. To register for their April 4 Easter services, please click here.
Quite possibly the biggest mistake President Trump made in 2020 was to trust Anthony Fauci. The career bureaucrat can be considered largely responsible for the nations confused response to the Wuhan virus that came from China. His advice was contradictory and often wrong, and he proved to be a vicious partisan who worked to undermine Trump. Now, hes seeking to erase Trump altogether by claiming for himself responsibility for the vaccine.

From the beginning, President Trump relied on Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where Fauci has worked since 1974. This was reasonable because Faucis job calls for him to be the go-to person when it comes to infectious diseases, whether AIDS or Ebola. That doesnt mean hes good, though.

In late 2020, a startling video from the 1990s emerged showing Kary Mullis (1944-2019), who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry because of his invention of the polymerase chain reaction, talk about Faucis dangerous combination of ignorance and arrogance. Mullis was an eccentric, but Faucis behavior in the past year supports Mulliss charges.

Fauci has inundated the American people with mixed messages and constant fear-mongering. Moreover, basking in the glow of mainstream media adulation, he often says, really, anything. Like this:

Apparently, dear Dr. Fauci has never heard of suicidal depression triggered by an economic collapse or people not going to the Dr. because he has scare mongered us into staying home and not getting cancer treatments or checkups. https://t.co/dd6ohJfkAh  Ellie Bufkin (@ellie_bufkin) October 12, 2020

Faucis had limitless pronouncements about masks. In the beginning, he dismissed them. Then he demanded them. Then he demanded two of them simultaneously. Then he talked about keeping them on people indefinitely.

He was equally inconstant about what constituted herd immunity, eventually joining the World Health Organization in abandoning the traditional idea (enough people develop a natural immunity that the disease can no longer gain a foothold) in favor of saying herd immunity can be achieved only through total vaccination.

There are whole web pages dedicated to counting Faucis constantly changing positions on all things COVID. Worse, Fauci manipulates science to commit fraud on the American public. No wonder Americans have finally concluded that Fauci is a self-serving liar.

While Fauci talked in 2020, Trump got things done. One of the things he got done was Operation Warp Speed, which was intended to facilitate developing a vaccine for COVID. The Trump administration announced it on May 15, although it had already been in place for months:

On Friday, the Trump Administration announced the appointment of Moncef Slaoui as chief advisor and General Gustave F. Perna as chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the administration's national program to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics (medical countermeasures). Dr. Slaoui is a venture capitalist and, formerly, Chairman of Global Research and Development and Chairman of Global Vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline, where he led the development of five major novel vaccines. As the four-star general in charge of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, General Perna oversees the global supply chain and installation and materiel readiness for the U.S. Army, including more than 190,000 military, civilian, and contract employees. Among its other objectives, Operation Warp Speed aims to have substantial quantities of a safe and effective vaccine available for Americans by January 2021.

Trump made good on that promise. But in Faucis world, Trump no longer exists. Its all about the little megalomaniac:

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, appeared to claim credit for the decision to quickly develop vaccines against COVID-19 on Sunday - in comments that are sure to anger Donald Trump. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the comment in an interview with CNN for a special, diving into the details of America's pandemic response. 'When I saw what happened in New York City, almost over-running of our healthcare systems, and that's when it became very clear that the decision we made on January 10 to go all out and develop a vaccine, may have been the best decision that I've ever made with regard to intervention as the director of the institute,' Fauci said. Fauci's remarks seemed to gloss over the key role played by pharmaceutical companies and Operation Warp Speed - the Trump administration's program to manufacture, test and deliver vaccines to the public in record time.

Im beginning to wonder if Fauci is all there. By now, he seems to be a giant ego thats abandoned any semblance of having an attached brain or moral compass.

IMAGE: Anthony Fauci. YouTube screengrab.
THE FORUM We deserve better

Electors can only vote for the candidates on the ballot paper. Which pushes the onus back onto the parties and their preselection processes. Assuming they do not actually want people of dubious character as their candidates, they need a much more thorough vetting of possible candidates, including standard pre-employment psychometrics and deeper questioning of referees. In far too many cases lately, we deserve better than what is being served up.

Jim Spithill, Ashburton End memorial waste

The $500 million revamp of the iconic Australian War Memorial in Canberra seems to me to be a hugely excessive exercise. If memory serves me correctly the project was initiated by the then CEO, Brendan Nelson some years back. Surely the Australian taxpayers must have serious reservations about the scale of the project. The federal government has invested billions of dollars in helping Australia deal effectively with the coronavirus. But the Job-Keeper scheme ended over the weekend, and may be up to 250,000 people will suffer enormously as a result.

My late father served at Gallipoli in 1915, and he said there needed to be a limit to the scale of War Memorials. He felt that Melbournes Shrine of Remembrance was the right scale. The Australian Government needs to call a halt to this project.

Len Millar, Newstead Lack of awareness

Kristine Ziwicas article (29/3) said it all: the Minister for Women, Marise Payne, had not attended or addressed a meeting, called by the PM, of 400 Coalition staffers, to discuss their female situation.

The PM says he listens, he wants to talk to women, to introduce a healthier, safer workplace, but how can he do that without the input and guidance of the Minister directly involved: did he not think of asking her or did she have more important things to do? Either way it showed a dreadful lack of awareness.

Mary Cole, Richmond Words matter

Words matter. Our media refers to our politicians as Leaders. This reinforces their sense of entitlement. Democracy depends upon representatives who understand the distinction, from whom we hope leaders will grow.

Our Parliament has become dominated by career politicians. Our bureacracy has lost much of its sense of service in favour of careerism and incentives driven by political patronage and

corporate donations. Corporations are not citizens or voters, their capacity to distort democracy by donation, lobbying, and sinecures for retired politicians needs to reined back. We electors need to attract more real talent by choosing and electing representatives with a vision for future, community and environment, rather than self interest.

John Poppins, Mount Waverley Outrageous fees

I met the anaesthetist in the operating theatre reception five minutes before my major surgery. She informed me that I would be charged an out of pocket fee of $350 for her services. What options did I have? At this late stage I was not in a position to say that I didnt agree and wish to employ the services of another specialist. On receipt of the invoice I note that she had charged Medicare and my private health fund a total of $1949. Still she demands a further $350. My surgery lasted 215 minutes, her total fee was $2299; not bad for a little more than three and a half hours work. Who else gets paid more than $656 an hour? I consider this outrageous.

Michael Higgins, Erica Growth the real monster

The climate change debate rages on. Meanwhile the monster that causes the debates around CO2 emissions, plastic waste, deforestation, chemical pollution, dwindling fish stocks, species extinctions, ocean acidification, is meticulously avoided.

Climate believers and deniers are totally united in pushing onward with new technology for economic expansion. But massive growth in new wind and solar will simply extend the disaster of massive growth in old coal, oil and gas. The real monster is unbridled growth itself; growth in production and demand for known stuff, growth in population, and growth in expectation for new tech stuff. Thats growth cubed! Advertisers constantly insist we buy their latest fads or gadgets to fix our miserable and incomplete lives. If I believed that, I would see my 1950s wild and free (but poor) childhood as horrible. But it wasnt!

Robbert Veerman, Buxton Wheres the frontline?

The latest outbreak of COVID-19 stems from an unvaccinated doctor treating coronavirus patients. If medical staff treating COVID patients are not at the absolute front of the line for vaccinations, who is? If the doctor had a reason for not being vaccinated they should not have been working with COVID patients. The hospital should have ensured all staff working with such patients were vaccinated.

Dr Ralph Frank, Malvern East Grid inequity

It is unfair to charge solar homes and businesses when big coal and gas-powered generators dont have to pay for pumping electricity into the network.

Solar households should be rewarded for the economic, environmental and health benefits they provide, especially as feed-in tariffs are dropping.

Georgette Courtenay, Mount Martha Green incentives

Ending JobKeeper and JobSeeker will increase unemployment, poverty and social inequality at the very time there are not enough jobs (Job hunt gets tougher as more compete, The Age, 29/3). It is essential that the federal government urgently incentivises new clean energy businesses with consequent jobs for techies, marketers, managers and trainers.

Barbara Fraser, Burwood Not funny

The funniest thing about Rebecca Shaws article on Daryl Somers (An old white man walks into a bar. Have you heard this joke?, The Age, 28/3) is her self description as a comedy writer. Shaw proudly states she was part of the team that gave us such comedic gems as Tonightly with Tom Ballard (fronted by a white bloke), Hard Quiz (a show fronted by an old white male who specialises in insulting his guests) and The Weekly, a typically unfunny ABC satire fronted by a white bloke.

Hey Hey may be dated now but it was a ratings blockbuster for decades and is fondly remembered by a great many Australians, most of whom would not give Ms Shaws efforts a second glance, let alone a laugh.

Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully Cruel treatment

I saw thousands of people marching through the streets on Sunday, protesting outside the prison on Swanston Street, where refugees who just asked for help are still locked up in hotel rooms. Surely by now most Australians understand this cannot continue?

If it is not covered by the media the refugees are truly doomed.

If you think this cruelty is OK, do nothing.

Melissa Vollebergh, Alphington Big power play

The autonomy that comes with generating and, sometimes, storing your own electricity was always anathema to big power companies, who found themselves losing market share. Instead of upgrading outdated infrastructure to incorporate roof-top solar, they have found a way to discourage clean, home solar - charge for contributing excess electricity to the grid.

Bill Burns, Bendigo Let her speak

How can we can believe the Liberal Partys commitment to addressing gender inequality and discrimination when in 2013 the then prime minister Tony Abbott appoints himself to the ministerial role of Minister for Women and now we have Marise Payne who appears to be gagged (Paynes silence speaks volumes about the Liberal Party, The Age, 29/3). Still no voice for women.

Sharon Allan, Castlemaine Expulsion threshold

Just what has someone got to do to be expelled from the Liberal Party? How bad does it have to be?

Counselling or courses wont change life-long attitudes and values that are unacceptable and harmful. Poor behaviour should lead to the exit, regardless of the balance of power in parliament.

Stephen Dinham, Metung

Intellect in the shadows

Tony Ralston (Letters, 29/3) calls for a leader with vision and the ability to make their party

appeal to voters. He says Morrison is becoming less convincing by the day. Recent history tells us Labors Bill Shorten, didnt appeal to voters, he lost the unloseable election. I fear it could be the same with Anthony Albanese. Labor has two MHRs of character, intellect and competence who could deliver the new Australia we need. Both are women: Tanya Plibersek and Clare ONeil. They are tough and authentic human beings, not saleswomen.

Paul Ormonde, Northcote AND ANOTHER THING ... Andrew Laming

If Scott Morrison was ethical he would sack Andrew Laming, but as numbers control parliament ethics are put to one side.

Lou Ferrari, Richmond Dr Laming knows the requirements of sick leave certificates. What is written on his?

Dr Sean Geary, Southbank

Politics

Parliament House in Canberra to introduce a naughty corner?

Margaret Skeen, Point Lonsdale Morrison has belatedly discovered the importance of empathy in politics  once you can fake that, youve got it made.

Mark Summerfield, Northcote I thought JobKeeper had finished. It appears the PM has a new version running in Canberra for Liberal MPs.

Simon Gould, Arawata Empathy training or conversion therapy, neither work.

Brent Baigent, Richmond People need to know they will be caught. Install security cameras with microphones. Let the offenders know they will be heard.

Melanie Bennetts, Lower Templestowe

To lose one minister may be regarded as misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness

(apologies to Oscar Wilde).

James Ogilvie, Kew Will the Prime Minister create a Minister for Empathy and Return to Work in the latest reshuffle?

George Reed, Wheelers Hill Drug and alcohol testing for our leaders and their cohort. It seems they need psychometric testing at preselection.

Mary Wise, Ringwood Was Craig Kelly chosen on merit?

Bernd Rieve, Brighton If the PM wants to be taken seriously in tackling Liberals woman problem he must stop talking and start walking. His first step should be appointing Katie Allen as Minister for Women.

George McGregor, Malvern
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FORT COLLINS, Colo.  Authorities say one person was found dead following a fire at a home in northern Colorado.

The Coloradoan reports firefighters were called to the home in Old Town Fort Collins on Sunday night. Annie Bierbower, a spokeswoman for the Poudre Fire Authority, says two other residents were not home at the time of the fire, and there were no other injuries.

The victim has only been identified as an adult.

The home sustained extensive smoke damage, but the fire was largely contained to the kitchen and floor below. No other information was released.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................
CAIRO, March 27 (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 27:

-- The Suez Canal was blocked for a fifth day, and the Egyptian authorities are continuing efforts and trying to make new attempts to free the giant vessel and reopen the waterway.

-- Yukito Higaki, president of Japanese firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha, owner of the megaship, told a press conference Friday night that there were no signs of damage to the engines and other instruments of the 220,000-ton Ever Given, Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported. "Once it refloats, it should be able to operate," Higaki was quoted as saying.

-- The president also apologized for blocking the traffic of the waterway and causing tremendous trouble and worry to the people and parties involved.

March 26:

-- The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) expressed gratitude for all the offers of assistance to free the ship, reiterating its keenness to restore maritime traffic in the Suez Canal as soon as possible. In a statement, it also welcomed cooperation with the United States in dislodging the giant cargo ship.

-- Oil prices advanced as traders were concerned that the continuing blockage of the Suez Canal could threaten supplies. The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery added 2.41 U.S. dollars to settle at 60.97 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude for May delivery increased 2.62 dollars to close at 64.57 dollars a barrel.

-- "If the blockage lasts much longer, however -- there is now talk of it taking up to a week to free the ship -- we could see local supply bottlenecks," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note.

March 25:

-- The company Shoei Kisen Kaisha 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 that an earlier attempt to refloat the vessel had failed.

-- The 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

[ Editor: WXY ]
Towing and recovery equipment company will create nearly 80 new jobs

Expansion will include renovation of existing industrial site

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe and Miller Industries officials announced today that the company will repurpose a portion its Greene County operations and create approximately 80 new jobs over the next five years.

Miller Industries will invest $15.4 million over a five-year period to renovate and upgrade an industrial site located at 515 Bohannon Ave. in Greeneville, Tenn., which is part of the companys existing facilities in Greeneville. In addition to the renovations, Miller Industries will invest in new equipment, including CNC lasers and press brakes, which will enable the company to perform fabrication work in-house.

Since its formation in 1990, the company has provided innovative and high-quality towing and recovery equipment for customers around the world. Miller Industries has four manufacturing facilities in Chattanooga and Greeneville, Tenn. and Hermitage, Pa. as well as two in Europe.

Over the last five years, TNECD has supported 10 economic development projects in Greene County, resulting in nearly 1,000 job commitments and $171 million in capital investment.

QUOTES

Miller Industries decision to invest is a welcome addition to the Greene County manufacturing landscape. We have seen positive growth, especially in manufacturing, as we continue to recover from the pandemic. I congratulate Miller Industries on its success and look forward to seeing the positive impact this will have on Northeast Tennessee.  Gov. Bill Lee

Since last year we have located over 20 transportation and distribution-related projects that represent an investment of $1.2 billion in Tennessee. Miller Industries continued investment and job creation is a testament to our states exceptional workforce, and we thank the company for contributing to the success and growth of Greene County in the years ahead.  TNECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe

Miller Industries is excited about our state-of-the-art fabrication facility and thankful for the partnerships that helped make our vision a reality. Our employees commitment to operational excellence has allowed us to expand our in-house capabilities, as well as position the Company to capitalize on future opportunities.  Jamison Linden, chief manufacturing officer, Miller Industries, Inc.

We are pleased that through a collaborative effort with the Greene County Industrial Development Board, TVA, and the State of Tennessee we were able to coordinate assistance that will help enable Miller Industries to smoothly transition in a very competitive and turbulent business environment. This assistance means that a long-standing community partner will stay in Greene County and preserve a significant number of jobs. We greatly appreciate the assistance from the State of Tennessee. Their role was critical in providing the assistance necessary for this transformation and sustaining the collaborative and productive relationship for many years to come. Jeff Taylor, president and CEO, Greene County Partnership

TVA and Greeneville Light & Power System congratulate Miller Industries on its decision to expand operations in Greeneville. Its always an exciting day when we can celebrate a companys commitment to continued growth in the Valley. We are proud to partner with Greene County Partnership and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to help support companies, like Miller Industries continued business success.  John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of Economic Development

Im proud to help announce that Miller Industries will be expanding their successful operations in Greeneville with the addition of 79 new jobs. This sizable investment is great news and will be a tremendous boost to our local economy. Helping to foster job creation is a key part of our efforts, and I am proud to partner with Governor Lee, TNECD, Representative Hawk, and our local officials to help further that mission.  Sen. Steve Southerland (R-Morristown)

I am grateful to Miller Industries for choosing to expand in Greeneville. Their investment will have an incredible impact on our community, and I appreciate the work of our state and local partners to bring these jobs to Greene County.  Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville)

TNECD Media Contact

Molly Hair

Public Information Officer

(615) 878-0063

molly.hair@tn.gov

About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Developments mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment to the state and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.

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The conversion of a commercial building into apartments is underway in the 200 block of Penn Avenue in downtown Scranton.

Businessman John Basalyga is turning the former Delta Medix medical office building at 225 Penn Ave. into 12 apartments.

Basalygas realty firm bought the one-story building in April 2018, as part of having Delta Medix move into the Marketplace at Steamtown, which he also owns. He was unable to rent out 225 Penn Ave. for offices or commercial use, and decided to make it into apartments.

The unique thing about 225 Penn Ave. is youll enter from the ground level on both sides of an apartment unit, Basalyga said. The whole exterior will be changed, so it wont look like a clinic.

The work at 225 Penn Ave. comes on the heels of Basalyga recently completing a different apartment project in South Side, where he converted a century-old former factory at Meadow Avenue and Maple Street into a 37-unit apartment building called the Lofts at Village Square. This 1919 building was a silk mill, a pants factory and a showroom of Giant Floor and Wall Covering Co., before falling vacant in recent years.

The two projects reflect a trend of growing demand for apartments in the city, in both the downtown and neighborhoods.

It was fully rented even before we finished the renovation, Basalyga said of the Lofts at Village Square.

In recent years, the growing number of apartment dwellers has included young professionals and 30-somethings  some relocated from New York or Philadelphia to work form home  and empty nesters and retirees, drawn to the citys mix of urban living and small-town feel.

I think its convenience, Basalyga said of demand for apartments. I think its still a good value compared to other cities. In Scranton, give credit to our Police and Fire Departments. Its a safe city.

Developer Charles Jefferson, who converted the Connell, 426 Mulberry, Samters and Stoehr & Fister buildings into apartments, expects demand for apartments to continue.

The pandemic only increased interest in Scranton, as people rethink where they spend their time and work, he said.

Scranton officials began a Work from Here strategy last year, marketing the city to remote workers as an affordable alternative to more expensive metropolises.

The short answer to demand for apartments is theres a demand for apartments, Jefferson said. I dont see that ending. The downtown has so many factors that make it attractive and I dont see that going away.

Jeffersons company began renting out apartments at the Stoehr and Fister building in November.

As of (Thursday) morning, we have 56 out 65 units leased (at Stoehr and Fister), which is a great testament to the market, Jefferson said.

Basalyga received zoning approval in November to convert a commercial building at 1008-10 N. Washington Ave. into 33 apartments. Work there has not begun, but hes considering switching his plans there to a mixed-office use.

Ill make a decision soon. I could go either way on it, Basalyga said of 1008-10 N. Washington Ave. Its honestly great that the city works with developers to take these empty properties and make something out of them.

Other projects also are reshaping some streetscapes.

Jefferson just completed a conversion of a former button/Capitol Records factory in South Side at Cedar Avenue and Cherry Street into the new home of the Scranton Counseling Center. A ribbon cutting will be held in April, he said.

That Jefferson project spurred Basalyga last year to buy the neighboring Astro Apparel warehouse complex on Cedar Avenue at Brook Street, as well as a casket company building around the corner on Cherry Street. His plans for these two properties are undetermined.

The counseling center (project) made my interest pique in those properties, Basalyga said.

After the Scranton Counseling Center vacates its two buildings in the 300 block of Adams Avenue, Jefferson will turn his attention to converting those spots into retail/apartment buildings.
A Kenyan-born scholar has been elected to head the highest decision making body of the first historically 'black university' in the State of Oklahoma in the United States.

Prof Edward Ombati Manyibe was this week elected chairman of Langston University Faculty Senate, a prestigious and influential position in the governance and management of the institution.

The scholar who was born and raised up in Kisii, is the first Kenyan immigrant to head the faculty senate in the US.

The Senate is a deliberative body that reviews University-wide policies and proposes changes in university practices and structure and ensuring that academic programs are of high quality. The apex body makes its recommendations to the president of the university.

Prof Manyibe will now preside over the meetings of the senate and the institution's council and serve as the official spokesperson for the Langston University Faculty Senate.

The scholar also serves as the Capacity Building Director and Research Associate Professor at the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities, Langston University.

"The mission of the Langston University RRTC is to empower minority-serving institutions to improve their disability and rehabilitation research capacity and infrastructure. The RRTC also serves as a center of national excellence in rehabilitation, research capacity building and research infrastructure research," Prof Manyibe told nation.africa via zoom interview.

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Prof. Manyibe holds a Ph.D. degree in Rehabilitation from the University of Arizona, a Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Bowling Green State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Literature from the University of Nairobi.

Langston University was founded in 1897after black citizens - who were not permitted to attend any of the institutions of higher education in Oklahoma Territory - petitioned territorial Governor William Gary Renfrow that Langston have a college.

Eventually, Territorial Governor William Gary Renfrow, who had vetoed a civil rights bill that would have disregarded segregation, proposed a reform bill establishing the university.

Prof Manyibe is currently co-principal Investigator of several federally sponsored research projects and technical assistance efforts focused on research capacity building for minority entities and empowering traditionally underserved populations.

"My areas of research include research capacity building, research mentorship, disability policy in developing countries and rehabilitation outcomes," says Prof Manyibe who recently won the prestigious 2018 Bobbie Atkins Research Award from the National Association of Multicultural Rehabilitation Concerns (NAMRC).
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Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
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I have with me today, who accompanied me on my journey here to Springfield, to the State Capitol, my good friend, Rudy Acosta, Sandoval said then, according to a transcript.. He is a  the Hispanic liaison to the 14th Ward Alderman, the City of Chicago. And he also is the precinct captain to the Alderman of the 14th Ward, my Alderman, Ed Burke. Id like to give a warm welcome to my guy, Rudy Acosta.
For the select retail locations that will begin to offer COVID-19 vaccinations on March 31, appointments will start to become available for booking on Tuesday, March 30, as the store receives shipments of vaccine. Vaccines at participating CVS Pharmacy locations in Delaware will be administered to individuals meeting state criteria, as well as K-12 teachers and staff and childcare workers. Patients must register in advance at CVS.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app, and people without online access can contact CVS customer service: (800) 746-7287. Walk-in vaccinations without an appointment will not be provided.

"We're proud to play a part in increasing access to the vaccine to as many people as possible to enable reopening efforts in the communities we serve," said Neela Montgomery, President of CVS Pharmacy and Executive Vice President, CVS Health. "Feedback on every aspect of the vaccination process has been incredibly positive, from the digital experience to interacting with our team of health care professionals whose incredible efforts are helping to move us one step closer towards a healthier post-COVID world."

There is no cost for the vaccine to patients with insurance or through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration program for uninsured patients.

Participating CVS Pharmacy locations are in Kent and New Castle counties. As more supply becomes available, the company will expand vaccine access through an increasing number of store locations and in more Delaware communities.

The sites in Delaware are among hundreds of CVS Pharmacy locations across 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico where the company is administering COVID-19 vaccine through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program and, in some cases, with state supply. Vaccines will eventually be administered at CVS Pharmacy locations throughout the country subject to product availability, with the capacity to administer 20  25 million shots per month.

Multimedia assets, including b-roll and still photography from long-term care facility and in-store COVID-19 vaccinations, are available here. More information on steps CVS Health has taken to address the pandemic is available at the company's frequently updated COVID-19 resource center.

About CVS Health

CVS Health is a different kind of health care company. We are a diversified health services company with nearly 300,000 employees united around a common purpose of helping people on their path to better health. In an increasingly connected and digital world, we are meeting people wherever they are and changing health care to meet their needs. Built on a foundation of unmatched community presence, our diversified model engages one in three Americans each year. From our innovative new services at HealthHUB locations, to transformative programs that help manage chronic conditions, we are making health care more accessible, more affordable, and simply better. Learn more about how we're transforming health at www.cvshealth.com .

Media Contact:

Amy Thibault

401.318.2865

[email protected]

SOURCE CVS Health

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Udora Orizu writes that, House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila finally calmed rising tension by accepting a petition from Tivs in Diaspora, earlier rejected by his deputy, Hon. Idris Wase

On March 10, 2021 the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Idris Wase was enmeshed in an unnecessary controversy, when he stopped a Benue lawmaker, Hon. Mark Gbillah from presenting a petition against the Federal Government on an alleged taking over of their lands by herdsmen.

The rejection generated widespread condemnation and criticism with many accusing Wase of being an ethnic jingoist, who has total disregard for the plight of the displaced persons.

Nigeria is currently facing various security challenges. As the days go by, the country's security situation moves from bad to worse. From Boko Haram insurgency, to banditry in the North-west, armed robbery, kidnapping, arson in all parts of the country, to killer herdsmen going scot free as they continue to cause mayhem in various parts of the country.

With these security challenges bedevilling the country, public officials are expected to be wary of their utterances, as some statements can easily be seen as divisive with the possibility to cause unrest in the country. This is also because such utterances and actions of the people in position of authority seem to encourage perpetrators of these ignoble acts in their atrocious activities, leading to innocent citizens living in constant fear.

Petition Rejection

At the House of Representatives, a fortnight ago, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase prevented a member representing Gwer East/Gwer West Federal Constituency of Benue State, Hon. Mark Gbillah from presenting a petition against the Federal Government on the alleged plunder of their land by herdsmen.

The petition filed by Mzough U Tiv Amerika (MUTA) on insecurity in Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba states accused the Federal Government of nonchalance towards the perils facing those who have been displaced as a result of the dastardly activities of herdsmen.

But Wase said Nigerians abroad are not eligible to file petitions against the Federal Government on crimes linked to herdsmen.

He argued that Nigerians abroad had no rights to file a petition on the crises, saying it would be understandable if the petition came from those in the country.

"Honourable Gbillah, did you say Tivs in America? What do they know about Nigeria? What is their business? They can't sit in their comfort zones and know what is happening in Nigeria," Wase said.

Responding, Gbillah argued that Nigerians abroad should be able to file complaints, because they have family members residing in the state. But Wase questioned whether or not MUTA was even registered with the Corporate Affairs of Commission to begin with.

Gbillah, however, countered Wase on the grounds that Nigeria has been pursuing a policy of inclusiveness for its citizens in the Diaspora, an aim he said would easily be defeated if the same category of Nigerians cannot be allowed to speak on raging matters of national concern.

Rejecting the petition, Wase said "I'll refer you to the functions of the committee on diaspora, if you go through that, it is nothing relevant to what you're now presenting. I'm not convinced that we have to take that petition."

Gbillah, Tivs, NIDO React

Speaking later on the rejected petition, Hon. Gbillah said that he was shocked by the Deputy Speaker's statement.

He said, "I was completely shocked and outraged when I tried to present the petition. Unfortunately for the Deputy Speaker and me, I did not carry the standing orders of the House on that day because at no point did I envisage that I have to refer to them to defend the presentation of a petition because the standing order did not require any condition or give the presiding officer any power like the Deputy Speaker claimed for it to be at his leave to accept a petition.

"There is no such position and it is important at this point to remind the Deputy Speaker and the leadership of the House that they serve at the leave of their colleagues. They are first among equals. They are not superior to us and so none of us gave them the power to deny the opportunity to present petitions from our people."

On its part, the Tiv people in the United States (USA) decried the neglect given to their petition by the House leadership.

MUTA President, Mr. Simon Kusugh, and MUTA IDP Committee Chairman, Prof. Joseph Zume, in a statement said the group viewed the deputy speaker's action as "highly reprehensible", given that the subject of the petition addressed the fate of thousands of authentic Nigerian citizens, who have been displaced from their communities for years.

The group said as national representatives of Nigerians, the lawmakers should ordinarily be expected to empathise with those hapless citizens they represent, whose normal livelihoods have been truncated by unfortunate circumstances.

The group described the incident as hostile to their cause and an extension of the general insensitivity that the national leadership has shown about the welfare of the internally displaced Tiv people over the years.

Also, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) threatened to withhold home remittances after the deputy speaker's statement.

The organisation said Wase's utterances rubbished 20 years of the Federal Government's Diaspora engagement at a time, when the contributions of Nigerians in Diaspora were highly needed and desired, insisting that it is the fundamental right of the Nigerians in the Diaspora to intervene in respect of their kinsmen back home.

The organisation, therefore, asked the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, to convene an urgent Virtual Meeting with NIDO within 14 days to address the issue and to reassure it of his full support, failing which it might be compelled to call out all Nigerians in Diaspora to withhold further home remittances with immediate effect.

They also demanded a retraction of the statement, a public apology from Wase to Diaspora Nigerians and a representation of the Tiv people petition.

Wase's Justification

Following the backlash, the Deputy Speaker, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Umar Puma, on March 15, said the coverage and reportage of the incident have mostly been doctored, slanted and bent to give political and ethnic coloration to the event that was otherwise strictly based on rules of parliamentary procedures.

He reiterated that the crux of the encounter between him and Mark Gbillah was on the legal identity and flowing from that, the locus of the petitioners and not on the whether Nigerians in diaspora have a right to petition the House or not.

He noted that he was just guiding the sponsor of the petition on the proper procedure to adopt in presenting the said petition.

Wase added that it would have been unnecessary to respond to such show of clear mischief, but it has become imperative to clear the air on the matter in order to educate the ignorant and reassure the enlightened.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa Calls for Calm

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has appealed to all stakeholders especially, Nigerians living abroad to remain calm over the issue.

Dabiri-Erewa, in a letter to Gbajabiamila, a copy of which was sent to the House Committee Chairman on Diaspora, Hon. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, said the commission had received complaints from Nigerians in the Diaspora over the stand of the deputy speaker, when the matter was presented at the house.

"The video has inflamed tension and caused a significant uproar amongst the Nigerian in Diaspora community. In view of this, we appeal to Mr. speaker to intervene and use your good office to do all that can be done to mitigate the effect of this unfortunate incident," she said.

The Vote of Confidence

On 22nd March, members of the Plateau State Caucus in the House of Representatives passed a vote of confidence in the leadership of the Deputy Speaker, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase.

The lawmakers in a statement by its leader, Hon Beni Lar said their resolve became imperative as incident has been given an ethnic and political coloration which ought to be a purely parliamentary affair.

The caucus described Wase as a seasoned legislator, known to have listening ears and accommodating of all views.

The caucus implored the public not to misunderstand the intentions of the Deputy Speaker who according to them is known to act in accordance with laid down procedures.

Gbajabiamila Accepts the Petition

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila at the plenary March 23, finally accepted the petition, which was presented again by Hon. Mark Gbillah.

The Speaker said that the House of Representatives cannot discriminate against any Nigerian wherever they may be in any part of the world.

Gbajabiamila said, "I believe this is the same petition that has been causing a lot of misunderstanding. The misunderstanding came from the issue of signature. Having cleared that misunderstanding, please, go ahead and lay your petition to be given proper attention. Thank Hon Mark Gbillah. Thank you for your patience."

For Gbillah, It's Time to Sheath the Sword

Speaking to THISDAY after plenary, Hon. Gbillah while commending the Speaker for his intervention, appealed to Nigerians in diaspora to sheathe their swords and rescind their earlier threat of withholding their home remittances in the light of the acceptance of the petition.

The lawmaker also appealed to the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase to apologize for his statement.

He said, "I would also like to first all commend Nigerians in diaspora for rising up to defend their constitutional rights. It is their privilege to do so. I appreciate their rallying around us, the Tiv people and the Tiv Association in America who brought up this petition in the first place. I don't want us to lose focus on the crux of the petition itself.

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"I want to appeal to them in the light of the final submission of the petition and Mr. Speaker's confirmation of the commitment of the House in the furtherance of the issue of our people in diaspora to sheathe their swords and rescind their earlier ultimatum with regards to remittances."

For Wase it's Another Justification

After the petition was accepted, the Deputy Speaker, Wase said the incident was blown out of proportion by mischief makers, saying the House will not be distracted.

Wase who spoke when he received a delegation of APC Elders from Plateau state on a solidarity visit said the petition was not the first petition or motion and bill to be rejected by the House.

While insisting that the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the House Rules would be protected under the watch of the 9th House, the Deputy Speaker said he will not join issues with those who decided to amplify the issue to give the House a bad name.

Wase said that the House would remain guided by its rules and would not do anything outside the provisions of the law, adding that "we will not be distracted, we shall remain focused, we shall not throw away our rules. We all remain one because we are guided by our rules.

He said, "Those following the matter heard when the Speaker was asking the sponsor of the petition of the identity of those who sent the petition and weather the petitioners have now signed it and he confirmed that they have signed. We will not join issues with anybody, we will not be distracted, but remain focus on what God has given us to do for Nigerians. We will try as much as possible to ensure justice to all Nigerians but we cannot by any means throw out our rules."

QUOTE

At the House of Representatives, a fortnight ago, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase prevented a member representing Gwer East/Gwer West Federal Constituency of Benue State, Hon. Mark Gbillah from presenting a petition against the Federal Government on the alleged plunder of their land by herdsmen. The petition filed by Mzough U Tiv Amerika (MUTA) on insecurity in Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba states accused the Federal Government of nonchalance towards the perils facing those who have been displaced as a result of the dastardly activities of herdsmen. But Wase said Nigerians abroad are not eligible to file petitions against the Federal Government on crimes linked to herdsmen
As many as five vulnerabilities have been uncovered in Ovarro's TBox remote terminal units (RTUs) that, if left unpatched, could open the door for escalating attacks against critical infrastructures, like remote code execution and denial-of-service.

"Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could result in remote code execution, which may cause a denial-of-service condition," the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in an advisory published on March 23.

TBox is an "all-in-one" solution for automation and control systems for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) applications, with its telemetry software used for remote control and monitoring of assets in a number of critical infrastructure sectors, such as water, power, oil and gas, transportation, and process industries. TBox devices can be programmed using a software suite called TWinSoft, which allows for the creation of interactive web pages, where users can monitor and control their site assets.

The flaws were detected and reported to CISA by Uri Katz, a security researcher for operational technology security company Claroty. They affect multiple products, including TBox LT2, TBox MS-CPU32, TBox MS-CPU32-S2, TBox MS-RM2, TBox TG2, and all versions of TWinSoft prior to 12.4 and TBox Firmware before 1.46.

Claroty found that of all the internet-accessible TBox RTUs that were found online, nearly 62.5% of the devices required no authentication, thus potentially enabling attackers to exploit the HTTP service and take control of the units. Most of the devices are said to be located in Canada, Germany, Thailand, and the U.S.

Further investigation into the remote terminal units revealed multiple vulnerabilities in its proprietary Modbus protocol used for communications that could be leveraged to run malicious code in TBox (CVE-2021-22646), crash a TBox system (CVE-2021-22642), and even decrypt the login password (CVE-2021-22640) by capturing the network traffic between the RTU and the software.

A fourth flaw discovered in Modbus file access functions granted an attacker elevated permissions to read, alter, or delete a configuration file (CVE-2021-22648), while CVE-2021-22644 made it possible to extract the hard-coded cryptographic key.

As a proof-of-concept, the researchers chained three of the above flaws  CVE-2021-22648, CVE-2021-22644, and CVE-2021-22646  to access the configuration file, extract and decode the hard-coded key, and ultimately deploy a malicious update package in the RTU.

Given the prevalence of TBox RTUs in critical infrastructure, the research demonstrates the dangers involved in exposing such devices directly on the Internet, thereby posing a threat to the integrity of automation processes and public safety alike.

"Connecting unprotected critical infrastructure components to the internet carries with it unacceptable risks that industrial enterprises must make themselves aware of," Claroty's Katz and Sharon Brizinov noted.

"That may sound like an obvious statement, but it's becoming increasingly clear that many organizations aren't heeding the warnings from researchers about exposing misconfigured web-based interfaces online and mitigating control system software and firmware vulnerabilities in a timely fashion."
Microsoft recently posted a new ad to promote the capabilities of its 2-in-1 convertible PC  the Surface Pro.

To highlight the efficiency of the Surface Pro, Microsoft India compared it to a conventional Apple MacBook laptop, which it has jokingly labelled a BackBook.

In the advert, Microsoft demonstrated how the Surface Pros screen can be detached and reattached to its keyboard, and showcased the versatility of its kickstand.

While a conventional clamshell laptop is not in the same category as a 2-in-1, Microsoft India appeared to push the message that the BackBook was outdated and not as versatile.

Apple, however, has adopted the same 2-in-1 form factor with its iPad Pro tablet but has made a conscious effort to differentiate it from its laptops.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is experimenting with different form factors for its laptops, including 2-in-1 devices like the Surface Pro and Surface Book.

MacBooks taking flak

This is not the first time this year that Microsoft has tried to make its laptops appear superior to the MacBook.

Back in January, it published an advert for the Surface Pro 7 comparing it to the MacBook Pro.

The video focused on the characteristics of both devices, underlining the difference between the Surface Pros touch screen and the MacBook Pros Touch Bar, while also mentioning that its a much better gaming device.

In March, Intel released a series of ads promoting PCs, featuring former Im a Mac actor Justin Long.

In these 30-second ads, Long criticised MacBooks for a lack of gaming capability, 2-in-1 features, support for numerous monitors, and colour options.

Below is the Microsoft advertisement referring to the MacBook as the BackBook.

Now read: Microsoft renames Xbox Live to Xbox network
Most scientists in this workforce were trained in teams located in universities and research institutes whose research was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and the Australian Research Council (ARC). Over the past two decades Australian taxpayers have spent about $15 billion on life science research funded through these schemes .

It has become clear in recent weeks that if most Australians are to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in 2021, it will be mainly thanks to locally made supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine. These vaccines will be manufactured by the Australian-owned and operated biotechnology firm CSL in Melbourne under a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca . That we have this high-tech manufacturing capacity in Australia at all is thanks to a remarkably cost-effective Australian investment over the past 20 years in a skilled biomedical workforce.

In the coming weeks Australians will start to be vaccinated against COVID-19 using product manufactured in Melbourne by CSL, and approved last Tuesday by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), a feat made possible by the extremely hard work of highly skilled staff at both CSL and TGA.

However, such expenditure is considerably less than that of similar economies. Australian investment in research and development (less than 1.8 per cent as a percentage of GDP) lags far behind technologically advanced economies in our region like Japan (3.3 per cent) or Korea (4.1 per cent). Our investment is also dwarfed by the immense human benefits and financial savings that will flow from being able to expeditiously immunise Australia and our near neighbours using an Australian-produced vaccine.

But the production of a workforce with the knowhow to put together this super -high tech vaccine is only one benefit of this investment in life sciences. Australian research funded by taxpayers has led to drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics against numerous human diseases, protected and enhanced our agricultural sector, created a better understanding of our ecosystem, and improved knowledge of the basis of life itself.

Australian research has also underpinned the striking emergence of an Australian biotech industry that is now valued at over $100 billion. Credit:Peter Braig

Australian research has also underpinned the striking emergence of an Australian biotech industry that is now valued at over $100 billion and employs 48,000 people and the strengthening of Australian universities as world-leading institutes. In 2005 Australia had two universities widely considered to be in the top 100 in the world  today we have seven, mainly on the basis of improved research output, contributing to what is now Australias third largest export sector.

The path to creating this workforce isnt a predictable one  scientists trained in my own laboratory researching basic questions about the malaria parasite now work in product approval at TGA and therapeutic development in CSL. Other researchers who developed their skills through fundamental discovery projects in our school now work to sequence and track Australian COVID outbreaks, to predict the spread of COVID, and were the first outside China to isolate and sequence the virus that causes COVID-19.
Panic buying has set in across Greater Brisbane, with supermarkets stripped of many essential items ahead of a snap lockdown that will start at 5pm on Monday in response to a growing COVID cluster.

The lockdown is expected to affect Easter sales as customers on Monday started panic buying, leaving shelves bare of products such as toilet paper and meat.

Empty toilet paper shelves at New Farm Coles on Monday. Credit:Cloe Read

Customers have reported long queues at supermarkets across the Brisbane region.

It has prompted Woolworths to reinstate its purchase limits on a range of products, including milk, eggs, pasta, rice, flour, and toilet paper across Greater Brisbane because of the spike in demand.
AGL has launched a new venture with Britains OVO Energy as the power giant accelerates its response to the rapid changes rocking the energy market and hammering its profits.

The new partnership, under which OVOs technology platform will be adapted for the Australian market, comes as AGL prepares to brief shareholders on Tuesday about how it will reshape its business strategy amid the deepening challenge of rising renewable energy pushing down daytime electricity prices.

AGL head of future business and technology John Chambers said OVOs Kaluza platform would provide customers with real-time information on their energy use and would optimise charging times as the uptake of rooftop solar panels and electric vehicles continued to grow.

AGLs profits are under pressure as renewable energy hollows out daytime power prices. Credit:Paul Jones

AGL and rival Origin Energy have been accelerating their push into future energy technologies to find new revenue streams as earnings from their power plants decline.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 16:55:56|Editor: huaxia

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MANILA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Monday 10,016 new COVID-19 infections, the highest ever daily tally since the outbreak began in January last year, raising the nationwide count in the Southeast Asian country to 731,894.

The death toll climbed to 13,186 after 16 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

"Our data shows continuing and swift rise of cases (in Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces)," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online briefing, stressing the need to reimpose "harder lockdowns or measures" to curb the infections.

Otherwise, she warned the country's active cases could balloon to 430,000 by the end of April and 350,000 cases in Metro Manila alone.

Vergeire said Metro Manila and the outlying areas are already at "critical risk" or "high risk" based on the two-week growth rate and the average daily attack rate.

The government reverted to the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to address people's non-compliance to the health protocols and ramp up detection, contact tracing, and isolation of COVID-19 patients, she said.

The DOH attributed the new wave of infections to "low masking compliance, more infectious variants, breached surveillance contact tracing, and delayed testing."

Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, Department of Interior and Local Government spokesperson, said over 9,000 police officers are now deployed at the start of this week in Metro Manila and the four areas to implement the strict lockdown measures.

The government imposed a curfew effective from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time to limit people's mobility. Only authorized persons outside of the residence, cargo vehicles, and public transport will be allowed.

Malaya said there are now 1,106 police checkpoints around the lockdown areas. In Metro Manila alone, 7,876 police officers are operating 929 checkpoints, he added.

The strict lockdown measures, which the government reimposed on Monday, will end on April 4. The government will decide whether to extend or lift the lockdown restrictions on Sunday. Enditem
Two senior officials of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) are currently enmeshed in a N122 million fraudulent claims scandal, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report.

The officials, Yakubu Gontor, head of the finance department, and Philip Eretan, former head of the internal audit department of the agency, received the funds as allowances for trips they never made.

They were indicted by an investigative committee which was set up by the commissions governing board in 2020.

While Mr Gontor was said to have received a total of N54 million as accruable allowances for official trips he never made, Mr Eretan is said to have fraudulently raked in about N68 million.

The committee, which was headed then by Millionaire Abowei, a professor and member of the board of the commission, recommended that apart from refunding the illegally received monies, the two officials should be made to face a disciplinary panel with appropriate sanctions meted out to them, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

However, the Umar Danbatta-led management of the NCC, which in 2020 won the Ethics Compliance and Integrity Scorecards (ECIS) award of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has refused to discipline the indicted officials as recommended by the committee, nor call for their prosecution.

When contacted, the agency did not deny the allegations against its officials but said it is an administrative matter that has been handled.

Our reporters findings, however, revealed that the amount fraudulently claimed by these officials is being deducted in instalments from their emoluments.

Despite this, many workers at the agency, who are privy to the development, are wondering why the management of NCC has continued to shield the accused officials from prosecution.

Some of the workers, who spoke to our reporter on the condition that their names are not disclosed for fear of victimisation, said the leadership of the commission has, by its conduct, made the agency undeserving of the award it received and celebrated just last November.

They also alleged that the agencys pledge to promote the culture of accountability during the launch of the ICPC anti-corruption unit at NCC headquarters was a mere window dressing.

NCCs executive vice-chairman, Mr Danbatta, at the inauguration of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) in December, pledged to continually maintain high ethical standards in all its regulatory activities consistent with the federal governments efforts to entrench the culture of accountability and transparency in the ministries, departments and agencies.

How it all began

In 2019, about 70 NCC officials noticed irregular deductions from their allowances over a period of time.

According to reliable sources, some eventually noticed cumulative deductions that ranged between N500,000 to N3 million depending on their levels and grades.

The development led to complaints by the workers who were told by the management that they flouted the agencys cost-cutting measure that was put in place to minimise the cost of governance.

We were accused of travelling beyond three times in a month as recommended by the cost-cutting circular. But our trips were approved by the same management and we reported when we returned, an angry junior official told our reporter.

NCC Board sets up committee

The board of the NCC, which was then led by a former senator, Olabiyi Durojaye, set up an investigative committee to probe the matter but the coronavirus pandemic lockdown slowed down the committee.

Also, the abrupt removal of Mr Durojaye from office was also said to have affected the task of the committee.

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But Mr Durojayes successor, Adeolu Akande, a professor of political science, could not ignore the cries of the workers, who had insisted that they did not flout any rule.

The new board, therefore, in 2020, set up another five-member investigative committee chaired by Mr Abowei. Other members of the committee included Ubale Maska, an engineer; Adeleke Adewolu, a lawyer; Salmon AbdulAzeez, an engineer, and the Commissions secretary, Felix Adeoye. Mr Adeoye served as the committees secretary.

The committee commenced its probe in May 2020 and submitted its report to the board on June 24, 2020.

According to insiders, out of about 70 officials whose names appeared on the list, only the duo of Messrs Gontor and Eretan were indicted by the investigative committee.

However, almost one year after the report was submitted to the NCC board, and the boards directive to the management to ensure the prosecution of the two indicted officials, the management is not known to have taken any action.

Another official of the commission, who also does not want to be named, told our reporter that; All the other workers were refunded by the management but N54 million and N68 million respectively are being deducted from the pay of Gontor and Eretan.

Though a disciplinary committee was initially set up by the board which was chaired by Mr Adewolu Adeleke, the committee insisted that the management needed to have queried the officials before facing the disciplinary committee. And since then, the management which is led by the executive vice-chairman, Prof Dambatta, has kept mute.

EFCCs aborted probe

PREMIUM TIMES is aware that between January and February 2020, both Messrs Guntor and Eretan frequented the Kaduna zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following a petition by a yet-to-be-identified group.

But the new leadership of the EFCC in the zone has said it could not trace the details of the matter.

Speaking with our reporter in February, the new head of the zone, Sanusi Abdullahi, said he was only transferred to the zone in July 2020, and that he could not trace the files of the matter.

But we are still investigating and I can assure you that we will do our best to know what is amiss, Mr Abdullahi said.

Group sues NCC, EFCC

A non-governmental organisation  Lygel Youths and Leadership Initiatives (LYLI), has filed an ex-parte motion at the Federal High Court in Abuja, against both the NCC and the EFCC.

The case with suit number, FHC/ABJ/CS/395/2021/ is seeking an order for leave of the court to apply for an order of mandamus directing and or compelling the first defendant/respondent to reopen the investigation albeit discontinued or conducting a fresh investigation concerning the allegation of fraud against the former head of the second defendants department of audit and its incumbent head of the finance department.

While the EFCC is the first defendant in the case, the NCC is the second defendant.

The groups action according to its director of legal and compliance unit, Lekan Oladapo, is a reaction to the NCC refusal to accede to its request on the details of the corruption allegations against its staffers.

Mr Oladapo told our reporter on the phone that his organisation had in December 2020, written the executive vice-chairman of the NCC, accusing the management of condoning corruption.

The letter, a copy of which this newspaper obtained, is titled; Condonation of Corrupt Practices and Obtaining Public Funds Under False Pretences: Our complaints

it has come to our attention that there are serious cases of festering corruption being allowed to go unpunished in your organisation which was discovered sometime on or about June-July this year and the step being taken by the management of your organisation has been far from satisfactory, the letter reads in part.

It, therefore, requested the report of the investigative committee and urged the NCC management to prosecute the indicted officials without delay.

In its response to the groups enquiry, which was dated January 8, 2021, and signed by the director of legal and regulatory services, Josephine Amuwa, the NCC said the detail requested by the group was too broad.

The agency, therefore, demanded the specifics of the cases and pledged to respond appropriately.

On January 22, another letter was addressed to the agency by the NGO stating the specifics of the cases and demanded the report of the investigative committee and the resolutions of the board of the organisations on the matter as reportedly taken on June 24, 2020.

It is our further request that the Commission should furnish us with official steps taken towards enforcing the reports with the related documents. Furthermore, your office is urged to enforce the relevant disciplinary actions to the affected staff and facilitate the speedy criminal investigation and prosecution as required by laws, the letter reads in part.

In its second response to the groups follow-up enquiry, the NCC noted that it could not honour the requests of the group.

Ms Amuwa said, The Commission has reviewed the contents of your letter and notes that you have maintained that the information you seek is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and therefore cannot provide the information you required under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.

NCC, accused officials evade questions

PREMIUM TIMES on several occasions reached out to Messrs Gontor and Eretan on the matter but they refused to respond to our reporters enquiries.

Calls and text messages sent to the duo were not responded to. Our reporter also sent them WhatsApp messages and even after reading the messages, they failed to respond.

This newspaper on Sunday also reached out to the spokesperson of the agency, Ikechukwu Adinde, on why the NCC has for months failed to act on the matter and he responded by saying the matter is purely administrative.

Hours after speaking with our reporter, he called back to say he would provide a substantive response to his inquiry. He is yet to do so as of Monday morning.

A right activist, Olowolafe Dunsi, said the actions of the agency show that they did not deserve the transparency award given to them last year by ICPC. The officials indicted for fraud should be adequately dealt with.
One person was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer Monday morning during what police described as an armed confrontation, according to Chicago police.

The shooting happened about 2:35 a.m. in the Little Village neighborhood, near the intersection of West 24th Street and South Sawyer Avenue on the West Side, according to Tom Ahern, a police spokesman and a police media notification.

There were few immediate details about the fatal shooting. Ahern said police had responded to the area because of an alert from the citys gunfire detection system, called ShotSpotter.

Ahern said officers were dispatched to the area of 24th and Sawyer following a ShotSpotter alert.

Officers observed two subjects in a nearby alley, one subject fled on foot which resulted in an armed confrontation, Ahern wrote.

One of the two males, who was armed, fled from officers, according to a police media notification. Police began running after the person, and there was a confrontation in an alley in the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue, with the armed male getting shot in the chest by an officer, according to the media notification.

The shooting took place behind Farragut Career Academy High School, according to the medical examiners office. The male who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

Ahern also noted that a firearm was found, and shared an image on Twitter of a handgun on the ground, next to an evidence marker.

Ahern added that the second person had been taken into custody. Ahern and a police media notification did not say whether the person who was killed was a man or a woman, but the Cook County medical examiners office indicated the person killed was a male, without giving an age.

The name of the deceased had not been released Monday morning.

Currently, the specifics of this incident, including the comprehensive use of force investigation, are being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability with the full cooperation of the Chicago Police Department, police wrote in a statement.

Story continues

Check back for updates.

kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @312BreakingNews
In his dissertation, mathematician Abel Stern managed to reconstruct the shape of a drum on a computer from hearing merely the lowest tones. He will obtain his Ph.D. from Radboud University on 30 March.

How is it possible to hear the shape of a drum by hearing only a limited set of tones? This theoretical problem has been solved by mathematician Walter van Suijlekom of Radboud University. Last year, he showed how it is possible to recognize the shape of an object by studying the ways in which it can vibrate, even if only a limited range of the vibrations can be observed.

The research by Abel Stern, a Ph.D. candidate in Van Suijlekom's group, builds on this finding by taking it a step further. With a limited number of vibrations at our disposal, can we use a computer to reconstruct a shape that we have no prior knowledge of?

From single points to a map

Together with postdoc Lisa Glaser, Stern developed a technique that makes this possible. "We studied how the object conducts heat," Stern explains. "Heat waves can be described accurately using the vibrations that we do in fact have at our disposal. Just like sound, heat is very geometrical: It "feels" the shape that it flows through. When these two properties are properly balanced mathematically, it is possible to create a sketch of the object."

The new technique explores the object by simulating a series of heat sources and detecting the spacing between them. Then, based on these distances, the computer reconstructs what the object must have looked like. "It could be compared to the map of an underground rail system. If we would look at a list of individual stations and the distances between the stations, it wouldn't be of much use. But if we create an image based on this list, we could see at a glance whether it's the London Underground or the Tokyo Subway."

Heat flows through a sphere. Credit: Abel Stern

Artificial intelligence and quantum gravity

In order to reach new insights in science, it is vital to be able to make connections or to see the bigger picture. At the same time, measurements and experiments only offer a limited amount of information. When we visualize the available data by creating an image, this often yields new insights.

Computer scientists have been working on getting computers to recognize patterns in many different ways, which is a key ingredient for artificial intelligence. However, it is often still unclear why these methods work. "We are now providing a scientific foundation to an entire series of such methods, because we know exactly how determining a shape based on a limited number of vibrations works mathematically. This creates space to further refine methods of pattern recognition based on vibrations and heat."

This technique could be very useful in high energy physics. "We hope that it will eventually be possible to simulate and interpret spectral models of quantum gravity using computers. This research is a necessary part for that: after all, computers cannot process infinite numbers of vibrations."

Explore further How we 'hear' the shape of a drum
BOSTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- rsted, the global leader in offshore wind development, announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with NOAA to share physical and biological information and data in rsted-leased waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The agreement is the first of its kind between an offshore wind developer and NOAA.

NOAA, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides the country with weather, water, and climate data, as well as forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property, the sustainable management of the nation's marine fisheries and conservation of protected resources, and enhancement of the national economy. rsted relies on collected data from the waters it leases to be used in the analysis, development, construction, and operation of the company's offshore projects. The data rsted collects and shares will contribute to NOAA's data analysis efforts, which will translate into lifesaving information supporting America's coastal resilience.

"rsted believes in making a concerted effort to work with all stakeholders to grow key learnings and work from a complete data set to better protect our planet," said David Hardy, CEO rsted Offshore North America. "Climate change is a reality, and we are proud to work with NOAA to provide crucial information and to demonstrate how our industry can be stewards of our oceans while providing American individuals and businesses with clean, renewable energy."

The data rsted collects, and will share under this MOA, is used for environmental site characterization to inform project development. rsted's contributions are meant to support NOAA's mission to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, living marine resources, and coasts.

"This partnership with industry is delivering data Americans use for business, science, and education, while at the same time mitigating effects of climate change," said Ben Friedman, NOAA's acting administrator. "Our ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources are critical to national security and well-being, and NOAA is pleased to work with willing partners to understand and maximize the potential of these national assets."

The physical and biological information data falls under the following themes:

Air quality, water quality, and emissions;

Biological communities;

Meteorology;

Coastal and ocean currents, circulation, and waves;

Hydrographic services and mapping; and,

Physical oceanography.

Offshore wind energy is poised to provide significant environmental and economic benefits for the United States. The nation's needs for secure and sustainable energy require quality data and science to better understand and predict the ecological, economic, and societal consequences of particular energy choices, as well as the effectiveness of strategies for minimizing environmental impacts and maximizing energy efficiency, particularly in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

As part of the agreement, NOAA will share its publicly available data with rsted. Together, these data and information resources will be used to plan and ensure the effective deployment, sustainable operation and maintenance, and the efficient use of weather-dependent and oceanic renewable energy technologies and infrastructure.

In addition to direct data share, rsted will identify further opportunities with NOAA's Technology Partnership Office to foster preeminent science and technological innovation that can support NOAA and the Department of Commerce's goals to stimulate sustainable growth in the U.S. blue economy. The MOA will run through Sep. 30, 2025.

About rsted Offshore North America

The rsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. rsted ranks as the world's most sustainable energy company in Corporate Knights' 2021 Global 100 index of the most sustainable corporations and is recognized on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action.

In the United States, rsted operates the Block Island Wind Farm, America's first offshore wind farm, and constructed the two-turbine Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project  the first turbines to be installed in federal waters. rsted has secured over 2,900 megawatts of additional capacity through five projects in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. rsted Offshore's North American business is jointly headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island and employs more than 150 people. To learn more visit us.orsted.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@OrstedUS).

SOURCE rsted

Related Links

https://us.orsted.com


(Natural News) The government watchdog group Judicial Watch has revealed that corrupt National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Anthony Fauci colluded with communist China to spread lies about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

Perhaps the biggest misinformation spreader out there, Fauci conspired with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to deceive the American public as to the true nature of the plandemic.

Both Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) obtained 301 pages worth of emails showing communications between Fauci and H. Clifford Lane of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In these emails, Fauci agreed to abide by the CCPs request that he keep one of its epidemiology analyses, released in January 2020, strictly confidentiality.

These emails, according to DCNF editor-in-chief Ethan Barton, set the tone early on in the coronavirus outbreak.

Its clear that the WHO (World Health Organization) allowed China to control the information flow from the start, Barton explains. True transparency is crucial.

According to Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, the emails also show WHO and Faucis NIH (National Institutes of Health) special accommodations to Chinese communist efforts to control information about COVID-19.

Early on in the plandemic, Fauci approved a WHO-requested press release especially affirming communist Chinas Covid-19 response, which was draconian in every sense of the word. Since that time China has gone back to normal while the measures imposed here in the United States, such as wearing a mask and avoiding other humans, remain intact.

The latest revelations also show that Fauci was complicit in spreading fake data and numbers about the spread of the Chinese virus that were procured by the CCP. Every step of the way, Fauci committed treason with the CCP and he systematically proceeded to destroy America with his tyrannical impositions.

Fauci is guilty of committing treason against the United States

Other emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that was filed after the HHS failed to directly respond to information requests from The Daily Caller back on April 1, 2020, reveal other conversations among corrupt government officials that colluded with communist China.

Communiques between Lane and WHO Technical Officer Mansuk Daniel Han, for instance, reveal that certain data forms were tailored to accommodate Chinas terms.

 so we cannot use the ones from before, Han stressed to Lane in his effort to comply with the CCPs requests.

A briefing package from the WHO that was sent to NIH officials traveling to China on Feb. 13, 2020, also show that American officials were told to not share information with the public until an agreement was made with China.

IMPORTANT: Please treat this as sensitive and not for public communications until we have agreed communications with China, the header read.

On March 4, 2020, a Chinese journalist by the name of Zeng Jia sent an email to Lane pointing out that the number of Chinese virus cases reported in the WHO Joint China Missions report were inconsistent with the number reported by the Wuhan Public Health Committee.

Other emails show that communist Chinas National Health Commission had been allowed to call all of the shots concerning foreign officials traveling to the country to investigate what was then a largely unknown situation concerning the nature of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

It is beyond reprehensible all the positive attention that Fauci gets for a virus that he is responsible for, wrote one commenter at WND.

He broke the rules because he is arrogant and irresponsible. He refused orders not the do the virus. He is responsible for all the deaths and destroyed economies of the world. What does he get? Celebrity status and more arrogance for him.

More of the latest news about the Chinese virus and Faucis complicity in using it to usher in communism here in America can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

WND.com

NaturalNews.com
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SAN FRANCISCO  Prosecutors in Seattle and San Francisco have charged men with hate crimes in separate incidents that authorities say targeted people of Asian descent amid a wave of high-profile and sometimes deadly violence against Asian Americans since the pandemic began.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, the latest in a series of rallies in response what many said has become a troubling surge of anti-Asian sentiments.

We can no longer accept the normalization of being treated as perpetual foreigners in this country, speaker Tammy Kim told a rally in LAs Koreatown.

At rally attended by more than 1,000 people in San Franciscos Civic Center, the citys police chief, Bill Scott, drew loud applause when he said, Hate is the virus, and love is the vaccination.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

On Friday, prosecutors in King County, Washington, charged Christopher Hamner, 51, with three counts of malicious harassment after police say he screamed profanities and threw things at cars in two incidents last week targeting women and children of Asian heritage, The Seattle Times reported Saturday.

In San Francisco, Victor Humberto Brown, 53, made a first court appearance after authorities say he repeatedly punched an Asian American man at a bus stop while shouting an anti-Asian slur.

Brown was initially booked on misdemeanor counts, but prosecutors recently elevated the case to a felony, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. He said in court that he has a post-traumatic stress disorder.

In Seattle, according to court documents, Hamner yelled profanities and threw things at a woman stopped at a red light with her two children, ages 5 and 10, on March 16. Three days later, authorities say Hamner cut off another car driven by an Asian woman, yelled a profanity and the word Asian at her and then threw a water bottle at her car after charging at her when she pulled into a parking spot.

Hamner was being held on $75,000 bail on Saturday. It wasnt immediately clear if Hamner, who has not yet made a court appearance, had retained an attorney or would be assigned a public defender.

In the first instance, the woman told her 10-year-old daughter to try to take a cellphone photo of the man. The woman, identified by KIRO-TV as Pamela Cole, posted about the incident on social media and a friends husband identified Hamner as a possible suspect.

The second woman who was accosted had a dashboard camera in her vehicle that captured the license plate of the other car, which is registered to Hamner, according to court documents. The police detective investigating the case reviewed the video and determined the womens assailant was clearly Hamner, according to the charges.

Cole, who said she identifies as part Chinese and part Malaysian, told KIRO-TV she felt like a sitting duck when Hamner approached her car, hitting his fists together and screaming at her to Get out! Get out! while spewing profanities about her Asian heritage.

I was in complete shock. Are you talking to me? Cole told the station.

He jumps out the car, and hes charging at us, she said. That was the scariest part for me.

In San Francisco, Ron Tuason, an Army veteran of Filipino, Chinese and Spanish descent, told the Chronicle he was at a bus stop in the citys Ingleside neighborhood on March 13 when Brown approached him, yelling Get out of my country before using a racial slur meant to denigrate Asian people. Tuason said Brown also said, Its because of you theres a problem here.

Tuason, 56, said he believes Brown was referring to the coronavirus. Brown punched him multiple times, he said, knocking him to the ground. He suffered a black eye and a swollen cheek as a result of the attack and said hes also experiencing memory loss.

Police found Brown shortly after Tuason called 911.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
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Up to 400 million doses of the Company's single-shot vaccine candidate will be made available to African Union member states

Availability of the vaccine is subject to national regulatory approvals

Data have demonstrated vaccine candidate protects against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death in broad geographic regions, including those with variants of significant concern

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company), has entered into an agreement with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) to make available up to 220 million doses of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine candidate to African Union's 55 member states with delivery beginning in the third quarter of 2021. AVAT also has the potential to order an additional 180 million doses, for a combined total of up to 400 million doses through 2022. The availability of the vaccine candidate is subject to its successful approval or authorization by the national regulatory authorities of AU member states.

"From the beginning of this pandemic, Johnson & Johnson has recognized that no one is safe until everyone is safe, and we have been committed to equitable, global access to new COVID-19 vaccines," said Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson. "Our support for the COVAX Facility, combined with supplementary agreements with countries and regions, will help accelerate global progress toward ending the COVID-19 pandemic."

Johnson & Johnson is committed to ensuring equitable global access to its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine candidate on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use. In December 2020, the Company entered into an agreement in principle with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) in support of the COVAX Facility, which is supporting the initial vaccination needs of 190 participating economies, including many countries in Africa. The Company and Gavi expect to enter into an Advance Purchase Agreement (APA) that would provide up to 500 million doses of the Company's vaccine to COVAX through 2022.

Additionally, Johnson & Johnson recognizes the increasingly severe impact of COVID-19 in Africa, as well as the emergence and continued spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant in the Republic of South Africa that demonstrates increased transmissibility.

Data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study showed that the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was well tolerated and demonstrated a 67 percent reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 disease in participants who received the vaccine in comparison to participants given the placebo. The onset of protection was observed from day 14 and was maintained 28 days post-vaccination.

The data also demonstrated the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death across countries with different variants, beginning 28 days after vaccination. Variants observed in an ongoing analysis in the ENSEMBLE study included the B.1.351 variant which was identified in 95 percent of the COVID-19 cases in South Africa.

Manufacturing and Supply Chain Information

Johnson & Johnson has established a global manufacturing and supply network for its COVID-19 vaccine, collaborating with nine partners across four continents, including Aspen Pharmacare in South Africa. Aspen will support vaccine shipments to the AU member states and will also contribute to global availability of the vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-shot vaccine is compatible with standard vaccine storage and distribution channels enabling delivery to remote areas. The vaccine is estimated to remain stable for two years at -25 to -15C, a maximum of three months of which can be at routine refrigeration at temperatures of 2-8C. This enables the vaccine to be shipped using the same cold chain technologies used to transport other medicines and vaccines in routine use.

Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine

The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine uses the AdVac vaccine platform, a proprietary technology that was also used to develop and manufacture Janssen's European Commission-approved Ebola vaccine regimen and construct its investigational Zika, RSV, and HIV vaccines.

Regulatory Filings

The Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine was granted Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 12, Conditional Marketing Authorization from the European Commission on March 11 and Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on February 27, 2021. The single-shot COVID-19 vaccine has also been granted Interim Order authorization in Canada, and additional rolling submissions have been initiated in several countries worldwide.

For more information on the Company's multi-pronged approach to helping combat the pandemic, visit: www.jnj.com/coronavirus.

About Johnson & Johnson

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That's why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world's largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Learn more at www.jnj.com. Follow us at @JNJNews.

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at @JanssenGlobal.

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding development of a potential preventive vaccine for COVID-19. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of the Company, any of the other Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments.

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Kolkata, March 29 : Three Bangladeshi nationals, along with an Indian tout, have been apprehended while crossing the International Border into Indian territory in West Bengal, the Border Security Force (BSF) said on Monday.

On the basis of specific information, BSF's 78th Battalion caught the infiltrators in Murshidabad area of Border Out Post Boyraghat.

"The Bangladeshi nationals and the Indian tout infiltrated Indian territory after illegally crossing of International Boundary," the BSF said in a statement.

During questioning, three of the four apprehended persons revealed that they are from Bangladesh and were coming to India with the help of an Indian tout for work as masons.

The apprehended persons were identified as Anarul Sheikh, 45, Alameen Sheikh, 25, Konkan Sheikh, 22 -- all from Bangladesh's Rajshahi district -- and Indian national Badshah Sheikh, 30, a resident of Murshidabad district.

All the four, along with the seized items, were handed over to the police.

Battalion Commandant Vijay Kumar Singh said that the BSF is taking strict steps to prevent infiltration and human trafficking along the Indo-Bangladesh border, "due to which the persons involved in such crimes are facing a lot of difficulties and many of them are being caught and are getting punished".
Editors note: This story was updated to include comments from the county, provided on April 5.

A white chemistry professor is suing Camden County College alleging racial discrimination after finding out several Black colleagues make significantly more money than him.

In the lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Camden, William T. Lavell, 66, claims that he is paid between $45,000 and $50,000 less than two Black engineering professors despite having similar qualifications and experience.

Lavell, whose address is listed as Annapolis, Maryland, has taught at Camden County College since 1995 and has served in various roles including department chair and interim dean for the Division of Mathematics, Science and Health Careers.

Last September, according to the lawsuit, Lavell requested the colleges salary records under the states public records law and learned that two Black men he considers his counterparts at the college, professors Melvin Roberts and Lawrence Chatman, were being paid annual salaries of $137, 157 and $142,606, respectively. In comparison, Lavells salary in 2021 is $91,923, according to the suit.

The suit suggests that racial bias is the only explanation for the pay disparity but does not cite other examples or evidence of discrimination.

In a statement April 5, a spokesman for Camden County College said the claims were outrageous and the lawsuit frivolous because professors are in a union, so all their salaries and any increases is dictated purely by the terms of those negotiated union contracts.

Messages left for Lavell and his attorney, William Rieser of Philadelphia, were not returned.

The suit says the three are all professors who have similar tenure, qualifications, and experience. Lavell actually has more professional degrees in his field of concentration than the others, according to the suit.

The collective negotiated agreement between the union and CCC by law controls salary increases. The qualification comparisons identified by Mr. Lavell are not those that the contract uses to determine salaries, college spokesman Ronald Tomasello said in the statement. The allegation that any differentiation in pay is race based is offensive and blatantly untrue.

According to Camden County Colleges website, Chatman has taught at the school for 30 years and Roberts for 31 years. Lavell has taught there for more than 25 years, according to the lawsuit.

Lavell sent a complaint in November to a number of college administrators, including President Donald Borden and one of the colleges vice presidents, Kathleen Kane, featuring a comparative analysis of the racial disparities in compensation between himself and similarly situated, non-Caucasian counterparts, according to the lawsuit.

The suit claims that Kane rejected his request for a salary adjustment and failed and refused to investigate or address plaintiff Lavells complaint of race discrimination.

The college said that the complaint was in fact investigated and found to have no merit. The spokesman also pointed out the professors union chose to take no action on his behalf in this matter.

In the court filing, Lavell signaled he is seeking an amount greater than $150,000 in damages, including damages from loss of earnings and for mental anguish, distress and loss of self-esteem.

Jamison Mark, an employment lawyer practicing in Springfield, said lawsuits claiming reverse discrimination generally have to meet a slightly higher standard in court when suing under discrimination laws because the plaintiff is not a member of a minority group.

A plaintiff of color has to prove that he or she was discriminated against only due to race, or a female only due to her gender. But he said the courts have held that a plaintiff who is part of the majority group also has to prove that the employer is of the type that discriminates against the majority by, for instance, showing a pattern of discrimination against a certain type of employee.

Its a tougher case to make to a jury, he said, but the laws were written to protect everyone from discrimination.

The laws for discrimination are there for a reason. Whether youre white, Black or brown, it doesnt matter, you cant be treated unfairly, he said.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30)  President Rodrigo Duterte defended anew on Monday the national government's COVID-19 pandemic response, saying other countries are in lockdown too because of surge in infections.

Duterte said other countries under lockdown like Ukraine, France, Germany, Poland, and Italy are also having a hard time dealing with the pandemic. The situation worsened because of different COVID-19 variants which are believed to be triggering the rise in cases.

"Hindi lang tayo, nauna nga sila sa vaccine and yet itong bagong strain...pero may mga reinfections sila," Duterte said during the weekly Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases meeting.

[Translation: We're not the only country experiencing it (surge in COVID-19 cases). They first got the vaccines and yet the new strain came and they also recorded reinfections.]

Duterte also aired his frustrations despite the many efforts by the national government to combat the health crisis that has infected 731,894 persons and claimed 13,186 lives in the country. On Monday, the Philippines recorded its highest single day tally with 10,016 new COVID-19 cases reported by the Department of Health.

"I would be the last person, ako ang pinakahuling tao dito sa Pilipinas na magpapahirap sa Pilipino. If only I had the power...na maalis kaagad itong problema natin, gagawin ko. I'm having a hard time. I'm grappling with the issue of COVID-19, it takes most of my time," the President said.

[Translation: I would be the last person here in the Philippines to make life harder for my fellow Filipinos. If only I had the power... to eradicate our problem, I will do it. I'm having a hard time. I'm grappling with the issue of COVID-19, it takes most of my time.]

Several critics lamented the national government's perceived poor response on the COVID-19 pandemic. The Twitter hashtag #DutertePalpak is also a trending topic online amid the surge of COVID-19 cases.
Using trillions of IoT data points, Samsara's Connected Operations Cloud helps more than 20,000 customers improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the operations that power the global economy. More specifically, Samsara's AI safety solution uses sensors and AI-enabled cameras to bring insights to customers in real-time. Some of these insights include: distracted driving detection, real-time incident alerts, and preventative in-cab coaching, all of which are used by customers to protect drivers from potential accidents and to lower costs.

"We're thrilled to be recognized as a winner of the Artificial Intelligence Excellence awards," said Ingo Wiegand, senior director of product management at Samsara. "Our differentiated AI safety solution enables customers to take a more proactive approach to their safety initiatives and as a result, can identify opportunities for driver recognition and training, lower insurance premiums, and in some cases, even prevent road accidents before they occur."

Wiegand continued, "The value of Samsara's AI safety solution is measured in real lives and real dollars saved, which is why it has seen rapid growth and adoption in the market."

Samsara's AI safety solution is an integral part of its Connected Operations Cloud. This video technology powered by computer vision enables customers to improve safety across their operations and protect employees in real-time.

"We are so proud to name Samsara as a winner in our inaugural Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program", said Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer for Business Intelligence Group. "It was clear to our judges that Samsara was using AI to improve the lives of their customers and employees. Congratulations to the entire team!"

About Business Intelligence Group

The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs , these programs are judged by business executives having experience and knowledge. The organization's proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers. Learn more at www.bintelligence.com .

About Samsara

Samsara is the pioneer of the Connected Operations Cloud, which allows businesses that depend on physical operations to harness IoT (Internet of Things) data to develop actionable business insights and improve their operations. Samsara operates in North America and Europe and serves more than 20,000 customers across a wide range of industries including transportation, construction, field services, utilities and energy, government, food and beverage. Learn more about Samsara's mission to increase the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of the operations that power our economy at www.samsara.com

SOURCE Samsara

Related Links

www.samsara.com


South Africa: Nzimande condemns costly vandalism of university property

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has condemned the recent vandalism of university property and theft conducted by criminal elements during student protests.

According to a department report, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology recently reported two cases, mainly related to the vandalism of fire extinguishers and fire hoses, with the bill for repairs amounting to R250 000.

There were also reported cases of damage from arson which involved the burning of the pre-fab structure which is used as classrooms. The repair costs have amounted to R2 690 000, with R1.2 million still to be used for repairs.

The Central University of Technology had violent incidences reported in 2020 during student protests on both the Bloemfontein and Welkom campuses. The costs for the repairs amounted to R1 457 201.84, and all repairs were completed in 2020, Nzimande said.

Rhodes University reported minor vandalism cases due to burglary or forced entry with the damage amounting to R5 000.

Six cases of vandalism to university property were reported at Sefako Makgatho University during the student protest in June last year. The repairs were valued at R30 220.

The University of Johannesburg reported seven cases of vandalism and repairs were done to the value of R202 826.30.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal had several cases of damage to property and burning of buildings due to student protests in 2020. The value of repairs is R27 388 914.25. The repairs commenced in July 2020 and ended February 2021 this year.

The University of Fort Hare had incidents of vandalism in March 2020 and December 2020. It cost the university R468 000. Repairs to the value of R68 000 were carried out and repairs totalling R400 000 are due for completion in July this year.

The University of the Western Cape reported two cases of vandalism and theft, costing the university R166 007.50 to repair. The University of Venda reported three cases of vandalism during student protests in November 2020 and repairs were done at the cost of R133 227.50, Nzimande noted.

The Minister said the current information is based on information received from 21 universities.

The department is still awaiting reports from the University of Zululand, Vaal University of Technology and Walter Sisulu University.

Given the incidents, the total cost of repairs that have been completed, as well as those still to be carried out, amounts to R32 791 397,39. None of these acts and massive losses incurred could be justified or associated with any legitimate forms of protest and should be condemned unequivocally by all, including our student and union stakeholders.

I am also convinced that all progressive stakeholder organisations will agree that criminal and violent acts have no legitimacy in genuine political protests around demands for greater equality in post-school education and training, Nzimande said.

Law enforcement agencies called to act against property destruction

The Minister has called on law enforcement agencies to act swiftly against any acts of violence and destruction of public and private property.

He called on university vice chancellors to tighten up appropriate safety and security measures to prevent any form of destruction and to protect life and limb.

The destruction of property is a criminal offence and all those engaging in such acts must be apprehended by law enforcement agencies and face the full might of the law, the Minister said.

He said the acts of sabotage undermine the significant advances made by government since 1994 in progressively expanding access to, and success in both universities and colleges across the length and breadth of South Africa.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
- By GF Value





The stock of Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA, 30-year Financials) is believed to be significantly undervalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $227.26 per share and the market cap of $616.4 billion, Alibaba Group Holding stock gives every indication of being significantly undervalued. GF Value for Alibaba Group Holding is shown in the chart below.





Alibaba Group Holding Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Significantly Undervalued

Because Alibaba Group Holding is significantly undervalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much higher than its business growth, which averaged 45% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 33.66% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Companies with poor financial strength offer investors a high risk of permanent capital loss. To avoid permanent capital loss, an investor must do their research and review a company's financial strength before deciding to purchase shares. Both the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage of a company are a great way to to understand its financial strength. Alibaba Group Holding has a cash-to-debt ratio of 3.93, which which ranks better than 81% of the companies in the industry of Retail - Cyclical. The overall financial strength of Alibaba Group Holding is 7 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Alibaba Group Holding is fair. This is the debt and cash of Alibaba Group Holding over the past years:

Story continues

Alibaba Group Holding Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Significantly Undervalued

Investing in profitable companies carries less risk, especially in companies that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. Typically, a company with high profit margins offers better performance potential than a company with low profit margins. Alibaba Group Holding has been profitable 10 years over the past 10 years. During the past 12 months, the company had revenues of $94.6 billion and earnings of $8.566 a share. Its operating margin of 16.45% better than 93% of the companies in the industry of Retail - Cyclical. Overall, GuruFocus ranks Alibaba Group Holding's profitability as strong. This is the revenue and net income of Alibaba Group Holding over the past years:

Alibaba Group Holding Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Significantly Undervalued

Growth is probably one of the most important factors in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus' research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long-term performance of a company's stock. If a company's business is growing, the company usually creates value for its shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. Likewise, if a company's revenue and earnings are declining, the value of the company will decrease. Alibaba Group Holding's 3-year average revenue growth rate is better than 96% of the companies in the industry of Retail - Cyclical. Alibaba Group Holding's 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 38.1%, which ranks better than 86% of the companies in the industry of Retail - Cyclical.

Another way to evaluate a company's profitability is to compare its return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted cost of capital (WACC). Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it indicates that the company is creating value for shareholders. Over the past 12 months, Alibaba Group Holding's ROIC was 9.22, while its WACC came in at 6.48. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Alibaba Group Holding is shown below:

Alibaba Group Holding Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Significantly Undervalued

In conclusion, The stock of Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA, 30-year Financials) is believed to be significantly undervalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is strong. Its growth ranks better than 86% of the companies in the industry of Retail - Cyclical. To learn more about Alibaba Group Holding stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


[March 28, 2021]

Insider is Firmly Positioned as the #1 Leader on G2's Mobile Marketing and Personalization Reports for Spring'21 - 17th Quarter in a Row

SINGAPORE, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- G2.com, a leading P2P product review and rating platform released its Spring'21 Report naming Insider a top leader in Mobile Marketing and Personalization grids. With this report, Insider ranks #1 Leader for the 17th consecutive quarterwith a user satisfaction score of 4.6/5.0.



Insider's recognition as a leader among the top vendors extends across multiple categories and indexes. Based on 100% user reviews, Insider has been rated as a top platform for:



Best Estimated ROI

Best Relationship

Easiest Setup

Easiest to Use

Best Meets Requirements, and much more.

Insider is trusted by more than 800 global enterprise brands, including industry powerhouses like UNIQLO, Singapore Airlines, Unilever, Santander, Media Markt , Marks & Spencer , Estee Lauder, Samsung , Toyota , Carrefour , Burger King , Puma , GAP, Virgin , AVIS, Avon , Nissan , BBVA , IKEA , and CNN . The company helps global brands and marketers across industries connect data from multiple channels, predict the future behavior of their customers with AI, and deliver individualized experiences on any channel. Insider has a pulse on emerging channels like WhatsApp Business and Facebook Messenger and continuously improves its platform with future-proof technologies.







Category leader with a mobile-first approach

G2's Mobile Marketing Software Grid recognizes Insider as a leader among the top mobile marketing vendors. What sets Insider's mobile marketing suite a class apart is the powerful engagement and conversion features for mobile web and mobile apps .



With a wide range of use-case scenarios, templates, and AI-driven customer journey orchestration, marketers can tackle key engagement and conversion metrics across the funnel on smaller screens more effectively.



See why Insider is #1 in Mobile Marketing Software



Here's what users have to say about Insider's mobile marketing capabilities:



"When we started working with Insider our goal was to improve our eCommerce arm. By using Insider's mobile and desktop web personalization tools, web push notifications, smart recommendation, and triggered emails, we quickly achieved 6X ROI!"

Alice L, Clarins

"Insider's web push product works amazingly well, our conversion rate from Insider's Conversion Push Notifications was 2X higher than the industry average. Highly recommend this platform for others looking to optimize their UX."

Alexander K, Tele2

Read all G2 reviews >



Leading AI-powered, cross-channel personalization

The multi-channel customer seeks personalized engagement that is consistent and relevant to their needs, meaning marketers need to focus on the holistic customer journey and be present where their users are.



Insider's personalization capabilities include a wide range of AI-guided predictive and behavioral segments such as 'likelihood to purchase', likelihood to churn', 'discount affinity', and predicted 'conversion range' to help marketers deliver more meaningful cross-channel customer journeys and also target their audiences more accurately.



See why Insider is #1 in Personalization Software



With an all-powerful contextualized recommendation engine Smart Recommender that works by identifying user intent as opposed to standard recommendation algorithms and highly engaging web experiences that deliver Instagram-like stories , Insider enables top global brands to optimize their engagement and drive greater ROI across channels.



See what users are saying about Insider's personalization software:



"Driving traffic to our website was a challenge from the start. We wanted to start using personalization solutions on our website to improve the traffic, and we found Insider's platform to contain all the solutions we were looking for. The scenarios they provide us with and the real-time support we get when we are creating personalization campaigns have been a life-saver on many occasions. Not only that we were also able to improve our subscriber opt-in rates in a span of three months."

Abigail K, Digital Marketing Executive

"Our goal was to optimize the onsite engagement and improve the personalized experience for our website visitors. We started using Insider's web suite as well as a cross-channel approach targeting our visitors on the web, mobile web, and email. In a short period of time, we saw an uplift in conversions on the web and in our revenue. Their web suite has all the tools required to optimize some of the most challenging metrics from reducing bounce rates to improving conversion rates and AOV."

Aysegul F, eCommerce Performance Marketing Strategist

Read all G2 reviews >



Learn more about Insider's mobile and personalization features in this blog post and explore success stories.



Get in touch with Insider's growth consultants for a personalized demo to discover how Insider can help you overcome your toughest growth challenges.



Follow Insider on Linkedin , Twitter , and Facebook

SOURCE Insider

(CNN)  The paralyzing effect of the stricken Ever Given container ship on global traffic became clear on Sunday as nearby Syria, already scarred by years of war, imposed fuel rationing to safeguard dwindling oil supplies.

Suez Canal officials hoped that high tide and dredging efforts could see the giant ship freed on Saturday night, four days after it ran aground. But despite progress in loosening the bow and freeing the rudder and propeller, the vessel remains wedged across the canal.

Dredging efforts continued Sunday, according to Ever Given's operator, Evergreen Marine, with attempts to refloat the vessel due to resume from 2 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET).

Meanwhile, the backlog of ships waiting in the area has grown to 327, according to Leth Agencies, the canal's service provider. Of those, 151 are on the canal, 42 are at the midway point of Great Bitter Lake, and 134 are at Port Said, which connects to the Mediterranean Sea.

Syria's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said the blockage of the Suez Canal had "hindered the oil supplies to Syria and delayed arrival of a tanker carrying oil and oil derivations to Syria," state-run SANA news reported.

Amid fears over fuel supplies, the Middle Eastern nation has been forced to ration "the available quantities of petroleum derivatives mainly diesel and benzene to ensure their vital availability for the longest possible time," SANA said Saturday.

The step has been taken "in order to guarantee the continued supply of basic services to Syrians such as bakeries, hospitals, water stations, communication centers, and other vital institutions," according to SANA, citing the ministry.

Syria will continue to ration oil supplies until "the return of normal movement of the navigation via the Suez Canal, which may take an unknown time," it added.

The Ever Given, a huge ship almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall, ran aground in the Egyptian canal on Tuesday after being caught in 40-knot winds and a sandstorm. Authorities are also investigating possible human or technical errors.

The blockage, in what is one of the world's busiest and most important waterways, could have a major impact on already stretched global supply chains, with disruption escalating with each day that passes.

A team of expert salvors from Dutch firm SMIT Salvage and Japan's Nippon Salvage -- who have worked on several high-profile operations in the past -- has been appointed to help the Suez Canal Authoriity re-float the ship, the charter company Evergreen Marine said.

Dredgers have been working to extract vast quantities of sand and mud from around the port side of the 224,000-ton vessel's bow.

"Having removed more than 20,000 tons of sand and mud, the dredging operation underway has succeeded in loosening the Ever Given's bow within the bank of the Suez Canal and the ship's stern has been cleared from the sand bank," Evergreen Marine said in an update Sunday.

"The rudder and propeller of the vessel are fully functional and expected to provide additional support to tugboats assigned to move the container ship from the accident site so that normal transit may again resume within the canal."

The head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Osama Rabie, said in a live phone interview Sunday with Egypt's Extra News television channel that the Ever Given had shifted slightly on Saturday.

"We managed to move the ship from the bow side by 4 meters, and likewise from the stern side," Rabie said. "The dredging operations led to the ship moving, albeit a slight move, but it is a positive development, because in the first two days the ship was not moving at all."

Egypt is also making preparations so that if a decision to unload containers from the ship is made -- currently the third-case scenario -- there would be no further delay, Rabie said.

But, the SCA chairman added, to implement this plan would require assistance from the international community. One challenge is that specific equipment is required, including a crane high enough to remove containers from the ship's bow, which Egypt does not have.

Speaking at a news conference Saturday, Rabie said: "Plan C is the difficult one, the unloading operation. It's difficult because there are 18,000 containers, and there is no crane that can access the containers."

He said the United States, China, Greece and the United Arab Emirates had offered help.

In his phone interview Sunday, Rabie added that Egypt's President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi was checking in on a daily basis and advising on matters, including the decision to obtain the unloading equipment required in case they had to pursue that course of action.

Two additional heavy tugboats are expected to arrive at the Ever Given "presumably early evening" on Sunday, a spokesman for Boskalis, a sister company of SMIT Salvage, told CNN.

The pair have a combined pulling capacity of around 400 tons, said spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer. Once the tugboats arrive, it could take a few hours to hook up to the Ever Given, he said.

Boskalis' chief executive said Friday that he hoped those two tugs' extra pulling power -- combined with dredging, a high tide of 40 to 50 centimeters, and the "lever power" of the ship's stern being relatively free -- could be enough to wrest the container ship free.

A crane that could be used to remove containers from the ship's bow, should that plan fail, has also not yet arrived, according to Boskalis.

Speaking Saturday, Rabie said the reasons behind the accident remained unclear. "There are many factors or reasons, fast winds and the sandstorm could have been a reason but not the main reason -- it could have been a technical mistake or human error," he said. "There will be further investigations."

Meanwhile, billions of dollars' worth of vital cargo and sensitive products are backlogged on the hundreds of vessels whose way is blocked. Around a dozen of them are carrying livestock.

The EU director of NGO Animals International Gabriel Paun warned that thousands of animals being transported on the vessels -- mostly Romanian -- could be at risk of dying if the situation is not resolved in the next few days.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'Syria forced to ration fuel as stricken ship keeps Suez Canal blocked'
Wally the walrus sleeps on the slipway of Tenby Lifeboat station at Tenby, Wales. Picture: Reuters

Wally the wandering walrus that made such a splash during its visit to the coast of Co. Kerry is back in Wales, where he has been spotted sunbathing in Pembrokeshire.

Crowds gathered by the boathouse in Tenby to take pictures of the walrus splayed out on the slipway.

Expand Close Wally the walrus sleeps on the slipway of Tenby Lifeboat station at Tenby, Wales. Picture: Reuters / Facebook

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Whatsapp Wally the walrus sleeps on the slipway of Tenby Lifeboat station at Tenby, Wales. Picture: Reuters

Meanwhile, speculation about how the creature made its way from the Arctic to Ireland continued to swirl since its first sighting.

Experts  who are unsure of Wallys gender, as both males and females have tusks  believe the meandering mammal may have dozed off on a block of ice and drifted across the ocean during its trip to Ireland.

The Arctic walrus made waves when it was spotted on Valentia Island in Kerry on March 21, when a stunned public and baffled experts watched in amazement as it sunned itself on the rocks thousands of kilometres from home.

Expand Close Muireann Houlihan, 5, first spotted the walrus in Kerry earlier this month. Picture: PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Muireann Houlihan, 5, first spotted the walrus in Kerry earlier this month. Picture: PA

The walrus, believed to be a young adult, is over two metres long and was first spotted by a father and daughter as they strolled along the beach.

The sudden appearance of the walrus  which the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group think is the same creature who was spotted in the waters off Denmark in mid-February this year  is an extremely rare occurrence in Ireland, with fewer than 20 confirmed sightings over the past several centuries.

Expand Close Onlookers watch the walrus luxuriating on the slipway in Wales. Picture: Reuters / Facebook

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Whatsapp Onlookers watch the walrus luxuriating on the slipway in Wales. Picture: Reuters

The walrus next appeared 450km away at Pembrokeshire in Wales on March 21.

The second sighting over the weekend in Wales led the RSPCA being called out to check.

Animal rescue officer Ellie West said: "It seems this Arctic walrus has swum over to Wales and was resting on rocks when I went to check [on it]."

She said the walrus was "resting" and "wasn't displaying any signs of sickness or injury", although did appear to be "slightly underweight".

After it had vanished for the second time, locals began to fondly call it Wally in a reference to the childrens puzzle book series Wheres Wally?

Muireann Houlihan, who first spotted the creature in Kerry, had suggested naming it Isobel if it was a girl or Cian if it was a boy.

Geoff Edmond of the RSPCA in Britain said: "This was a landmark day for the RSPCA's wildlife team.

"While we've been rescuing animals and responding to welfare calls for almost 200 years, I believe this is our first ever walrus call."

Ms West added: "I will certainly never forget this day, in fact it's still sinking in that I've been monitoring a walrus on the Pembrokeshire coast. It's been absolutely amazing."
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Sheriffs and police chiefs say they are seeing fewer people choose law enforcement and experiencing staff shortages after the police-custody death of George Floyd sparked weeks of protests and prompted the Colorado legislature to pass a sweeping reform bill last year.

Data from police departments in Colorados three largest cities initially paints varied pictures about the departments experiences with retention in 2020.

The Colorado Springs Police Department lost nearly 10% of its officers to resignations, early retirements and terminations in 2020, according to data provided by the agency. The El Paso County Sheriffs Office lost about 13.5% and Denver lost just over 2.5%. The Aurora Police Department had a turnover rate of nearly 20% in 2020, according to reporting by Sentinel Colorado.

But insights from agency heads reveals that officers concern about the public tone toward policing has been motivation for leaving. A recent report about a survey of the County Sheriffs of Colorado and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police showed 65% of respondents cited concerns about Senate Bill 20-217, the reform bill, and 60% cited concerns about the future of policing as reasons for officer departures. Sixteen percent cited safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our attrition rate has nearly doubled since mid 2020. There are varying reasons, but numerous exit interviews suggest that public perception and risks of civil litigation are among the top concerns, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder said in the report.

Among the most common reasons officers left the Colorado Springs Police Department were retirement, finding another job in law enforcement, not passing the academy, moving for a spouse's job or realizing "that law enforcement is not the job for them, spokeswoman Natashia Kerr said in an email, following The Gazette's request for an interview.

The increase in departures coincides with the departments goal to have 800 uniformed officers by 2022. Last year, the department hired 33 people compared with 71 in 2019 and 98 in 2018.

CSPD Chief Vince Niski previously said social unrest had hurt the departments recruitment efforts, making it more difficult to fill vacancies and to hire Black officers. He said one of the biggest challenges to attracting minority officers is "convincing their families that this is still an honorable profession" because of the national tone toward policing. The May 2020 death of Floyd, a Black man, while in custody of white Minneapolis police officers, triggered nationwide protests and calls to reform policing, especially related to race.

Among officers leaving the Denver Police Department, the agency experienced the most noticeable increase in early retirements in 2020 over 2019, according to four years of data provided by the department. The department recorded nine early retirements last year compared with three in 2019, and had 27 resignations in 2020 compared with 32 in 2019.

Although the number of officers that left the Denver force of well over 1,500 officers in 2020 is smaller than what Aurora and Colorado Springs saw, Chief Paul Pazen told the Denver Gazette last fall that officer resignations, including new recruits, jumped after May last year. According to data the department provided, seven officers resigned by the end of May, and the number had climbed to 25 by the end of October.

The Denver department also struggled with hiring in 2020, bringing on just over 40 new officers as of Dec. 31, according to data provided by the department, compared with a four-year high of 138 in 2019.

Pandemic impact

The decreases in hiring seem to be at least partially attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, data show. Denver originally planned two classes of lateral hires  veteran officers coming from other departments  and two classes of new recruits in 2020, but once the pandemic hit the department held one of each.

El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Jaqueline Reed told the Gazette that COVID-19 had the most severe impact on the agencys staffing. As the Sheriffs Office saw dozens of employees retire between March and December 2020, it were unable to hold academies to fill the positions, she said.

We do have a shortfall that we have to make up for because COVID absolutely stopped us in our tracks, Reed said. In 2021 the Sheriffs Office will hold five non-certified academies and two POST-certified academies, to help fill the shortage. To become a sworn officer in Colorado, all recruits must pass the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) exam, while jail deputies, do not.

Despite the barriers caused by COVID, Reed said staffing is always an issue. In 2019, the Sheriff's Office lost 13.7% of its staff, data show.

Sheriff Bill Elder was not available for an interview about staffing levels, Reed said.

New State Law

Mesa County Sheriff Matt Lewis, the president of the County Sheriffs of Colorado, cautioned against pinning agencies challenges with recruitment and retention last year solely on the state's reform bill. He said officers choices to leave the profession could also be due to pressure from family members because of the portrayals of policing shown on the news, a general shift in their perception of their careers because of how the profession has changed over time, and concerns about the risks of COVID-19 because of their front-line roles.

I don't want to connect that people are leaving law enforcement because Senate Bill 217 passed -- I think it's much more than that, Lewis said. I don't think you can connect it to any one single thing, nor can you put it in any one age bracket or experience bracket.

Among other changes, the law passed requires officers in Colorados local agencies and the state patrol to have body or dash cameras activated during interactions with the public or while responding to service calls. The mandate carves out a few exceptions, such as to avoid recording information not related to a case or if an officer is working undercover. The mandate goes into effect July 1, 2023.

The law also includes new reporting requirements for use-of-force incidents, officer resignations because of policy violations, contacts with residents and unannounced entries. It prohibits chokeholds by officers, limits the use of chemical agents and less-than-lethal projectiles during public demonstrations, and allows civil lawsuits against officers for violating a persons state constitutional rights.

And it creates a duty for officers to intervene when another officer uses unlawful physical force. Under the law, failure to intervene results in decertification by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.

County Sheriffs and even the most conservative state senators havent signaled intentions to significantly roll back Senate Bill 217. Instead, legislative work since the bill passed is focusing on tweaks that add definitions and clarify portions of the law.

Republican Sen. Paul Lundeen introduced Senate Bill 21-183 last week that adds language to portions of the law. Fellow Republican Sens. John Cooke and Bob Gardner, key conservative supporters of the version of Senate Bill 217 that became law last year, have also signed on as sponsors.

The bill would clarify officers duty to intervene to prevent illegal use of force by other officers. It also expands the law to include Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents in body-worn camera requirements and allows civil actions against Colorado Bureau of Investigation and state patrol officers for deprivation of rights.

It also says that any suspension or revocation of a peace officer's certification wouldn't take effect until the officer has exhausted all internal, contractual, and legal rights to review, challenge, and appeal the underlying decision.

What we're seeking, really, is clarifications to make sure that we're ... implementing it the way it was intended by the legislature, and that it's being implemented consistency consistently across the state, Lewis said. As we go through the implementation process, some things that maybe none of us considered earlier on, but are very important right now so that we can do it right.

Democratic Rep. Leslie Herod said the House has a version of a bill clarifying portions of Senate Bill 20-217 that hasnt yet been introduced. She said while it has small differences from Senate Bill 183, Herod doesnt see the Senate Republicans bill as trying to significantly roll back the reform bill. She plans to work with legislators across the aisle to get to a version of the bill they can move forward on together, she said.

We're going to work in good faith to try to get on the same page, ideally, and not have a Democrat versus Republican bill but instead have one that we can all move forward with together, Herod said. I don't see much in their bill as an attempt to roll back the work of Senate Bill 217. I do see it as providing that needed clarification.

Pazen said hed like for conversations about tweaking Senate Bill 217 to include more of a voice about what the laws impact on crime and public safety may be, but said the direct legislative work has been done for the most part by the police chief and sheriff associations.

I think that we can get there with accountability; with improving policing. We also have to realize that you have to keep our community safe and these things are not mutually exclusive.
Katie Price has discussed being raped at the age of seven in a candid new interview.

The former glamour model, 42, admitted male figures 'have always let me down' as she discussed the horrifying moment, which took place in a park.

Reality star Katie said on Changes with Annie Macmamus: 'The thing that's always been wrong in my life is men. That is from an early age. I was raped as a kid. At seven. That is in my first book. I was in a park.'

The mother-of-five also explained how her past traumas led her to seek help from The Priory last year.

'The thing that's always been wrong in my life is men': Katie Price has discussed being raped at the age of seven in a candid new interview (pictured last week)

The former Page 3 star first revealed the incident publicly in her autobiography, Being Jordan, in May 2004.

Katie detailed the damage the ordeal has caused during an appearance on Loose Women in 2017, stating: 'There was the sexual assault and I was later raped.

'I have discussed before and I do believe it led to me dressing provocatively and becoming a model.

'I had been training to be a nurse but the glamour modelling world is aimed at men. They can look but they can't touch. You can say or do what you like in a picture.'

Horrific: The former glamour model (pictured aged 7), 42, admitted male figures 'have always let me down' as she discussed the horrifying moment, which took place in a park

'It's been a trouble in life': The media personality also bravely spoke about being exploited by a photographer (stock image from 2009)

Elsewhere on the podcast, the media personality bravely spoke about being sexually exploited by a photographer.

The businesswoman added to host Annie Mac: 'And then I got involved with this photographer who ended up being in prison. He was obsessed with me.'

'He took indecent photographs that I thought were innocent at the time. I was 12. He made me do pictures where I was sticking my tongue out. They looked young and girly but to him. It is sexual. He used to make these milkshakes.

'I never took one because I didn't like it. The police when they came around.. that's what he did he made the girls drink them and he drugged them.'

The TV star went on to reveal that 'someone tried to get me in their car' before she became a teenager, sharing: 'My mum has had this constant all the time.

'My dad left although I can't remember... subconsciously your mind remembers everything. It is there.

'So they worked out (at The Priory) the reason I jumped in and out relationships.. it is not wanting that father figure they always let me down... that has been my trouble in life it is to do with men.'

The influencer later recalled when she was sexually assaulted while with three of her children - Harvey, 18, Junior, 15, and Princess, 14 - in South Africa three years ago.

Katie was groped and held at gunpoint when the family stopped at the roadside because her son Junior needed the toilet.

'We had no security': The influencer also recalled when she was sexually assaulted while with Harvey, 18, Junior, 15, and Princess, 14 - in South Africa in 2018 (pictured with her five kids)

The former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star said: 'We were out in South Africa with the kids Junior and Princess with ITV. We had no security.

'Junior wanted a wee. We got out the car. And all I remember him saying is ''mum imagine if I jump down here''. Next thing you know a car pulled up, six guys in it, out with their guns.

'They did things to me in front of my kids in the car. They had a gun to my head. We thought we were going to die.'

She confessed that the incident - which also saw a friend get knocked out - left her eldest daughter scared at night.

The entrepreneur said: 'Princess had therapy after that. She still doesnt like nighttime  there is a lot that has gone on with that. I cant even tell you how traumatic it was.We all thought we were going to die.

'I was holding the pillow up waiting to be shot to protect my children. It made the news out there because no one didnt understand why they didnt kill us there.

'The police said it was because they took the keys to the vehicles they were going to dump everything there and then come back. But luckily a passer by managed to get down.

'People just drive past they are used to it out there. The police came and said: it is so unusual that they didnt kill you.

'They worked out the reason I jumped in and out relationships': The mother-of-five explained how her traumas led her to seek help from The Priory last year (pictured at the rehab centre)

'A lot of the crew went home because they couldnt deal with it. I carried on because I am professional. That hijack was the nail on the head.'

Before her 2020 visit to The Priory, Katie visited the facility in September 2018 when she spent 28 days as an inpatient after her family urged her to seek help following wild partying antics in Mallorca.

She previously claimed she was sexually abused by a well-known person as a young woman.

At the time, the author insisted she will not be naming and shaming the person as she 'doesn't want the drama.'

During an industry event in 2017, the 2015 Celebrity Big Brother winner said: 'I was raped by a celebrity but no, Ill never name him, I just dont want the drama. I dont even know if he knows that Ive spoken about him, I doubt he does.'

A survey by UN Women UK recently revealed that 80% of women of all ages in Britain have been sexually harassed.

The fashion star is now in a healthy relationship with her boyfriend Carl Woods, 32, and the couple are rumoured to be expecting their first child together.
[March 29, 2021] LIVEKINDLY Collective Raises $335 Million to Accelerate Adoption of Plant-Based Living and Sustainability in the Global Food System

LIVEKINDLY Collective, a collection of heritage and start-up brands on track to become one of the world's largest plant-based food companies, today announced a successful capital raise led by The Rise Fund, the global impact investing platform managed by TPG. This round was joined by existing investor Rabo Corporate Investments, the investment arm of Rabobank, S2G Ventures, and other existing and additional mission-aligned investors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005419/en/ LIVEKINDLY Collective Raises $335 Million to Accelerate Adoption of Plant-Based Living and Sustainability in the Global Food System (Photo: Business Wire) This investment closes a growth funding round of $335 million, including $135 million converted from a prior round, bringing the total funds raised by LIVEKINDLY Collective in its first year to $535 million. With this latest investment, LIVEKINDLY Collective has become one of the top three highest-funded and fastest-growing plant-based food companies globally. "Our mission is to make plant-based living the new norm, creating a healthier, more sustainable global food system through our international portfolio that meets local tastes," said David Knopf, CFO of LIVEKINDLY Collective. "With the close of this funding round, we are ideally positioned to rapidly scale our model and lead the global consumer shift toward healthy, delicious and sustainable plant-based alternatives." The funding will be used to accelerate LIVEKINDLY Collective's expansion into growth geographies, like the U.S. and China, and fuel its acquisitions, key partnerships and investments in plant-based innovation. "We are building a global pureplay in plant-based alternatives - which we believe is the future of food," said Roger Lienhard, Founder and Executive Chairman of Blue Horizon Group and Founder of LIVEKINDLY Collective. "In just one year, we have raised a significant amount of capital, which testifies to the urgency of our mission and the enormous investment opportunity it represents. We believe the momentum behind plant-based living will continue to grow in both the private and public markets." The Rise Fund works with growth-stage, high-potential, mission-driven companies seeking to generate meaningful returns while advancing progress towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This investment in LIVEKINDLY Collective is The Rise Fund's second major investment in the global plant-based ecosystem. Steve Ellis, Co-Managing Patner of The Rise Fund, has joined the LIVEKINDLY Collective Board of Directors, effective March 1, 2021.



"We are excited to work with LIVEKINDLY Collective and its ecosystem of innovative companies and world-class leaders to meet the growing global demand for healthy, plant-based, clean-label options," said Ellis. "The company's unique, mission-driven model operates across the entire value chain, from seed to fork, to drive worldwide adoption of plant-based alternatives and create a healthier planet for all." LIVEKINDLY Collective has five companies under its umbrella and 470 employees around the world. In addition to Ellis, the company has recently seated six new directors, Suzy Amis Cameron, Barbara Kux, Shujun Li, Paul Polman, Walter Robb and Gaby Sulzberger.

About LIVEKINDLY Collective LIVEKINDLY Collective was founded by Blue Horizon Group on the belief that plant-based alternatives have the power to make the global food system sustainable. Its mission is to make plant-based living the new norm. As a collective of founders, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the globe, LIVEKINDLY Collective is uniquely positioned to create impact with speed, at scale. Through its portfolio of brands, Oumph!, The Fry Family Food Co., LikeMeat and No Meat, LIVEKINDLY Collective is providing consumers around the world with healthy, sustainable, delicious food options. Furthermore, the company is the voice of the plant-based movement, communicating informative, entertaining and inspiring content through its media and lifestyle platform, LIVEKINDLY, at www.livekindly.com and @livekindlyco on Instagram. LIVEKINDLY Collective has 470 employees and sells in more than 40 countries around the world. To learn more, visit www.thelivekindlyco.com. About The Rise Fund The Rise Fund is the world's largest global impact platform committed to achieving measurable, positive social and environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns. With more than $5 billion in assets under management across its platform, The Rise Fund works with growth-stage, high potential, mission-driven companies that have the power to change the world. Headquartered in San Francisco, The Rise Fund was founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll and offers deep expertise in business solutions to help achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. As part of TPG, The Rise Fund offers investment resources, business-building skills, rigorous measurement and a global network to help portfolio companies accelerate growth and impact. With the ability to invest across a wide variety of sectors and countries at scale, The Rise Fund focuses on opportunities in education, energy, food and agriculture, financial technology, healthcare and technology. For more information, visit www.therisefund.com or @therisefund on Instagram. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005419/en/

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New Delhi:

People should not to forward messages especially on WhatsApp without verification as anti-nationalists elements are trying to stir agitation in the society by circulating fake messages said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh after inaugrating the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) intelligence unit in Delhi.

The union minister added that fake news and wrong informations are widely being circulated on social media platforms by anti-nationalists and mischief mongers.

Do not believe on messages and forward it to anyone without verification as anti-national elements have been trying to create agitation in the society by circulating such messages, said Singh.

He added that everyone has to be careful before circulating such messages.

Also read: WhatsApp gets picture-in-picture video calling and text status updates; Know all about these features



During the opening ceremony the Union Home Minister even lauded the SSB jawans for guarding the 1751 kilometer-long Indo-Nepal and 699 kilometers-long Indo-Bhutan border.

Also read: Rajnath Singh says talks with Pakistan meaningless unless there is check on terrorism



He said, It is tough to guard such long open borders, which allow visa-free movement of people.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
[March 29, 2021] VTech Announces Collaboration with Save the Children

HONG KONG, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges on a global scale. Children living in poverty have been particularly affected as schools are closed and they lack the facilities and equipment to learn at home. As a global leader in electronic learning products, VTech Holdings Limited (HKSE: 303) has used its worldwide resources to collaborate with Save the Children to organise various events across multiple countries to support the vulnerable children in need. VTech is pleased to announce that during the period from December 1st, 2020 to November 30th, 2021, for every baby monitor and toy sold through its online shops in Canada and Hong Kong, and every baby monitor sold through its online shop in the U.S., US$1 will be donated by VTech to Save the Children. A worldwide toy donation programme has also been organised with over 4,400 electronic learning toys donated by VTech in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Netherlands, Spain, Australia and Hong Kong. The donation of electronic infant and toddler learning toys, which included Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker, Myla the Magical Unicorn, and Go! Go! Smart Wheels Ultimate Corkscrew Tower, would help children learn with fun while they are staying and playing at home. In addition, VTech employees have joined the "Letter Writing to Children" and "Save a Plate" events organised by Save the Children. Participating employees across the world have written letters with words of hope and encouragement to children in need of support, showing heartfelt care and love during this challenging period. Every dollar donated by VTech employees is matched by an equivalent donation on the part of the company. As for the "Save a Plae" fund-raising event, VTech hosted a global virtual table for employees around the world to join and connect. While the employees have enjoyed this fun programme organised in Christmas time, it has also helped lift struggling children out of hunger across the globe.



"With schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has severely disrupted the education and social life of children, especially for those living in under-resourced communities. Our collaboration with Save the Children will not only enable children to continue to learn through play, but also let them know that we are thinking of and caring for them," said Dr. Allan Wong, Chairman and Group CEO of VTech Holdings Limited. "The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating and long-lasting impact on children's education. Our latest analysis shows that children across the world have lost an average of 74 days of education each due to school closures and a lack of access to remote learning. We must work together to ensure that all children can return to school, safely and happily," said Carol Szeto, CEO, Save the Children Hong Kong. "The collaboration with VTech, an international brand originated in Hong Kong and a global leader in electronic learning products, is a strong testament to our determination and ongoing efforts to protect and support children during these challenging times."

To support the collaboration of VTech and Save the Children, please visit the following VTech online shops: US$1 donated by VTech on every VTech toy sold on

Canada : www.vtechkids.ca and

Hong Kong : hktoys.vtech.com/en





donated by VTech on every VTech toy sold on : www.vtechkids.ca and : hktoys.vtech.com/en US$1 donated by VTech on every VTech baby monitor sold on

the U.S.: www.vtechphones.com/save_the_children,

Canada : phones.vtechcanada.com/en/save_the_children and

Hong Kong : hkphones.vtech.com/en/baby-monitor-portal About VTech VTech is the global leader in electronic learning products from infancy through toddler and preschool and the largest manufacturer of cordless phones in the US. It also provides highly sought-after contract manufacturing services. Since its establishment in 1976, VTech has been a pioneer in the electronic learning toy category. With advanced educational expertise and cutting-edge innovation, VTech products provide fun and learning to children around the world. Leveraging decades of success in cordless telephony, VTech's diverse collection of telecommunication products elevates both home and business users' experience through the latest in technology and design. As one of the world's leading electronic manufacturing service providers, VTech offers world-class, full turnkey services to customers in a number of product categories. The Group's mission is to design, manufacture and supply innovative and high quality products in a manner that minimises any impact on the environment, while creating sustainable value for its stakeholders and the community. For more information, please visit www.vtech.com. About Save the Children Hong Kong Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we have changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. Established in April 2009, Save the Children Hong Kong is part of the Save the Children global movement which is made up of 30 member organisations and operates in almost 120 countries. In Hong Kong and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children  every day and in times of crisis  transforming their lives and the future we share. Visit our website, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. SOURCE VTech

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The foreign ministry is in the eye of a new storm: the diplomatic status of Showkutally Soodhun. The confusion stems from the fact that earlier this week, foreign minister Alan Ganoo told parliament, in response to questions about Soodhun's diplomatic status, that the latter was ambassador to Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

But on Thursday, the ministry rushed a communique stating that Soodhun was also still ambassador to Saudi Arabia. This, however is not the first time that the foreign ministry and the government have been caught scrambling in response to Soodhun's curious brand of diplomacy with Riyadh.

The road to Riyadh

Showkutally Soodhun's love for Saudi Arabia took a circuitous route. He cut his political teeth in the MMMSP, founded by one of MMM's co-founders Dev Virahsawmy after he broke with the MMM in 1973. The two men worked together in the by-election in Triolet in 1970, the first seat ever won by the MMM since independence.

"After I was released from prison in 1972, some friends told me that Soodhun was openly saying that he was supporting my position", Virahsawmy tells l'express. Soodhun (known as 'Toolia' back then) also supported the MMMSP in the 1976 elections and stood as its candidate in constituency No. 5. He did not win a seat. "After that he did help set up the union federation, FTU", Virahsawmy explains.

The FTU was founded by Virahsawmy, Peter Craig, Alan Ganoo, Alain Laridon and Soodhun to push for better wages and conditions in the special economic zones. But then, he found the MSM led by Anerood Jugnauth. "Already in 1982, it was becoming clear that Paul Berenger would not be able to work under anyone else, there was an incident where Berenger simply snatched the microphone while Anerood Jugnauth, his senior at the time, was still speaking. That showed a lack of respect for institutions, so to teach him a lesson, I joined with Anerood Jugnauth and Gaetan Duval in the 1983 elections", explains Virahsawmy.

As culture advisor to the new MSM government, Virahsawmy says that his policy of promoting Kreol as a national language was not being backed by the government, so Virahsawmy left, but Soodhun stayed.

So began Soodhun's rise within the MSM. "Soodhun became quite active as an ethnic politician representing the Muslim community for the MSM", Virahsawmy points out.

The affection for Saudi Arabia was to emerge much later. "The first politician in Mauritius to look to Saudi Arabia was actually Cehl Meeah of the FSM", Virahsawmy points out.

As the FSM rose into prominence as from the 1990s - winning a parliamentary seat in 2010 - the lesson was not lost on Soodhun. "I am sure that Soodhun was influenced by that", he adds, "he realized he could use his Muslim identity to grow close to the Saudis and become the link man between Mauritius and Saudi Arabia".

But it was not until after the 2014 election, when the MSM emerged as a dominant ruling party, unchecked by other powerful allies, that Soodhun put his new diplomacy to work.

After the fall...

It seemed that Soodhun's forays into foreign policy would come to an end when in November 2017, he was forced to step down after a video surfaced of him making communal remarks about NHDC housing allocations in Bassin.

Although in September 2019 the Intermediate Court acquitted Soodhun arguing that since the NHDC is an independent body, Soodhun was in no position to make such promises to allocate social housing to one ethnic group. But just because Soodhun has lost his seat as housing minister, it did not mean that he gave up on attempting to keep his political career going by looking to Saudi Arabia.

In 2018, he reached back to an old argument. In an official event at the Islamic Cultural Centre in the capital Port Louis, he announced that the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had offered him a job as the kingdom's 'goodwill ambassador' to Africa, reportedly with a monthly salary of Rs17 million.

Before 2014, Soodhun had made claims of similar (though markedly less lucrative) job offers from the International Labour Organization. Soodhun explained that he had turned down the impressive job offer from bin Salman.

Then in August that same year, in an event in Goodlands, Soodhun slammed his replacement on the government's front bench, Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo as an inadequate representative of Mauritius' Muslim community. He was still courting Saudi Arabia.

In July 2019, he gave interviews with gulf news outlets praising Mohammed bin Salman, slamming Iran for supporting 'terrorist groups' and drone strikes by Yemen's Houthis, the target of Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. None of this was official Mauritian foreign policy.

"I think that Mauritius has a funny way of conducting diplomacy, we are a nation of immigrants but politicians who rise often try to place the ethnic card to establish or deepen links with other states, don't forget that when Paul Berenger became prime minister, his first visit was to France, and Navin Ramgoolam and the Jugnauth's do that with India as well", argues Virahsawmy.

"There are others who try to do that too", says Makhan, "but they tend to be more discreet, the problem is that Soodhun was doing it so blatantly".

In January 2020, Soodhun's politics came full circle when he was officially named Mauritius' representative in Saudi Arabia. Here too, he brought his strange brand of diplomacy. After the then-leader of the opposition Arvin Boolell made some remarks about Saudi Arabia during debates on the 2020-2021 budget, Soodhun came out swinging. Attacking Boolell, Soodhun said that a meeting between him and officials from the oil giant ARAMCO had been cancelled following Boolell's remarks, with Soodhun reminding everyone that Riyadh had helped finance an eye hospital, a cancer hospital, social housing, provided grants, financed drain construction and import facilities.

Although sensitivities over criticising certain states are rife in Mauritius, usually this is done by politicians bottom-feeding to chase ethnic votes. Not sitting ambassadors pontificating from overseas. "The way that he was behaving I had to ask myself whether he was Mauritius' ambassador to Saudi Arabia or Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Mauritius?" asks Makhan.

The years in power

In power as minister of housing and lands, Soodhun circumvented the foreign ministry and his own government to try to decide Mauritian policy towards Saudi Arabia. And the signs of his growing proximity to the house of Saud roiled Mauritian politics domestically.

In 2016, Soodhun said that he fell ill during a mission to Saudi Arabia, looking for funding for government projects, and that Mohammed Bin Salman, the rising power within the kingdom, had given his private jet to fly Soodhun back to Mauritius.

Then, in July 2017, during a public ceremony in Flacq, Soodhun threatened to shoot the then-leader of the opposition Xavier-Luc Duval for criticising Saudi Arabia. The first such threat by a sitting minister against a leader of the opposition in Mauritian history.

But it was outside Mauritius where Soodhun's peculiar diplomacy with the Gulf Kingdom was making waves. In 2016, Saudi press started labelling Soodhun as Mauritius' 'Minister of Islamic Affairs'. No such post exists in Mauritius.

That however, is not unique to Soodhun. In the late 1980s, the then-commissioner of police Raj Dayal earned a rebuke from the government for introducing himself as a 'lieutenant general' during official visits to India. The government at the time pointed out that Mauritius had no army. And therefore, by implication, no generals.

That message however, did not seem to reach all quarters. In 2016, the Saudis organized a mammoth military exercise dubbed 'Northern Thunder' involving 150,000 troops from 20 states and aimed at militarily deterring Saudi Arabia's rival in the Middle East, Iran.

The lack of an army did not stop the Saudis from listing Mauritius as one of the countries taking part in the military exercise, nor Soodhun from being listed as one of the attendees of the closing ceremony of the military exercise. No official rebuke came from the government.

Emboldened by the free rein he was given, Soodhun proceeded to plunge Mauritius into a deeper international crisis. In 2017, Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf moved to cut all diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in a move to isolate it. On 5 June 2017, Soodhun's ministry of housing and lands using the official government letterhead, issued a communique announcing that Mauritius too was joining the Saudiled blockade of Qatar.

The news was picked up internationally. The next day, the foreign ministry, then led by Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo, simply released its own communique stating that Mauritius "favours dialogue between the countries involved in the interest of peace and stability in the region and in the world".

Normally, former foreign secretary and deputy secretary general of the AU Vijay Makhan tells l'express, "it is just the prime minister or the foreign minister that is responsible for foreign policy, so when anybody else talks about it, it is generally assumed that they must have been given directives from their government".

What Soodhun did, Makhan maintains, "was turn us into a laughingstock in diplomatic circles, Soodhun should have been pulled out as minister there and then, but no sanction was taken against him. In the meantime, obviously, we had to douse the flames that Soodhun had lit, Qatar is an important economic hub for investments".

What that meant in practice was that on 7 June 2017, the foreign ministry had to rush a letter to Qatar's head of state, Shiekh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani assuring Doha that Mauritius intended to continue maintaining its ties with Qatar.

On 11 June 2017, the foreign ministry had to contact the international news network Al Jazeera and on 20 June 2017, the French publication Le Monde to explain Mauritius' actual position.

The United Nations Mauritius' permanent representative there had to rush to meet states being canvassed for the upcoming Mauritian offensive over the Chagos in the UN to reassure them that Mauritius had not suddenly changed its foreign policy. In a subsequent media interview Soodhun simply denied that he had released any such communique about cutting ties with Qatar.

Soodhun's diplomacy has been high stakes but it was not unique. Mauritius suffering from a combination of a lack of a sufficiently empowered foreign policy cadre, a stream of political appointees and an insular public discourse, has seen its share of frilly diplomatic episodes far from home.

During the 1970s, Mauritius' top diplomat at the UN Radha Ramphul often raised criticisms for overstepping Mauritian foreign policy at the UN (when it came to resolutions over Korea, Namibia and Zimbabwe) Ramphul would often try to out-radical the African states, often in contradiction with stated Mauritian foreign policy. And often to the ire of the then-foreign minister Harold Walter.

"There is obviously no comparison between Soodhun and Ramphul, who was an accomplished diplomat and back then we had we had just become independent and had no career diplomats or ambassadors", Makhan points out.

Then, in the late 2000s, a Mauritian representative to the AU declared in Rabat that Mauritius was reviewing its recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which was eagerly picked up by the Moroccan press and angered Algeria, a key backer of the SADR. Although Mauritius briefly did de-recognize the SADR between January 2014 and November 2015, this was done by the government of Mauritius itself, not unilaterally by a functionary.

All this is to say that the Soodhun's diplomatic gaffes were embarrassing to be sure, but in the politicised foreign policy establishment of Mauritius, not unique.

The exit that never was

On Tuesday 24th March, in the National Assembly when asked about whether or not Soodhun has been pulled out of Saudi Arabia as ambassador, the foreign minister Alan Ganoo merely stated that Soodhun was Mauritius' roving ambassador to Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

This came after an open letter from Soodhun himself posted on social media (once again, something quite unprecedented in Mauritian diplomacy) where Soodhun demanding that Labour MP Patrick Assirvaden apologise to Soodhun as well as the Saudi government for asking whether or not Soodhun had been declared persona non grata: "I am still the accredited Ambassador of Mauritius to Saudi Arabia and is inter alia mandated to represent and promote the interests of Mauritius in Saudi Arabia and other countries to which I am accredited" (sic).

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A lot of the confusion stemmed from the fact that when asked point-blank whether or not the government planned to replace Soodhun in Riyadh, Ganoo did not answer the question directly, leading to another confusing episode in Mauritian diplomacy.

That was just the latest such episode in the long-running series of gaffes characterising Soodhun's special brand of diplomacy with Riyadh which has left the foreign ministry looking poorly as a result. This is a serious problem given the growing relative importance of Saudi Arabia to the Mauritian economy. Aside from a major source of grants and aid funds, until Covid-19 hit, it was also one of the fastest growing tourism markets for Mauritius. According to government figures, the number of Saudi tourists coming to Mauritius has grown from 5,142 in 2017 to 22,788 in 2019.

If Soodhun sought to position himself as the conduit for Saudi money coming into Mauritius, questions still remain about the actual fruit of those efforts. "Before the 2019 election, Soodhun had made statements in public meetings that he was getting $6 million (Rs240 million) from Saudi Arabia to refurbish mosques and for fishermen", explains opposition MP Osman Mahomed.

According to the government, these funds would be given out by a foundation set up by the Islamic Cultural Centre in the capital. "In July last year I asked Bodha (then foreign minister -ed.) a question about this money in parliament", says Mahomed.

On 21 July 2020, the government said that the finance ministry was working with the Waqf board and registered mosques on setting up that foundation and that an MoU between Port Louis and Riyadh was being worked out on how that money would be spent.

According to Bodha's reply in the National Assembly, on 10 July 2020 the Saudi government asked for a translation of the MoU into Arabic. When asked on when the money negotiated by Soodhun with the Saudis would be given out within Mauritius, Bodha in July last year responded, "In fact, things should have moved faster, but because of the Covid-19, as regard to the fishers, the Memorandum of Understanding is here, it will be submitted to Cabinet in the weeks to come. As regards the main Memorandum of Understanding, we are sending the Arabic version very soon."

Now nearly two years after Soodhun's announcement, nothing seems to have happened. "We know that the Saudis are generous in terms of funding, in my own constituency they are financing drain construction in Tranquebar, so how is it that two years down the road we still have not heard anything about that money? And what has the government been doing all this time?" asks Mahomed.

Although in July last year, Bodha said that the MoU regarding the part of the $6 million destined for the fishermen was ready and would shortly be submitted to cabinet, this week in parliament Sudheer Maudhoo said that no agreement had been signed yet.
Xi thanks Cuban leaders for congratulating China on complete victory in poverty alleviation

Xinhua) 08:21, March 29, 2021

Medical supplies donated by China are to be delivered to hospitals in Havan, Cuba on April 9, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CPCCC) and Chinese President Xi Jinping extended gratitude to Cuban leaders for their congratulations on China's complete victory in poverty alleviation.

Xi made the remarks in a reply letter recently to Raul Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Noting China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers, Xi said that in recent years, the two countries' traditional friendship has been deepening and their friendly cooperation has undergone all-round development.

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Cuba have stood together and supported each other, which has enhanced their friendship, he added.

Xi said that China will, as always, support Cuba in keeping to the path of socialism and push bilateral relations to higher levels.

Castro and Diaz-Canel wrote to Xi earlier, extending warm congratulations, on behalf of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban government and people, on China's complete victory in poverty alleviation.

They spoke highly of China's remarkable achievement in eradicating absolute poverty under the strong leadership of the CPCCC with Xi at its core, which has met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

Cuba stands ready to unswervingly deepen the two countries' friendly cooperative relations, they added.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji)
PEOPLE

Air Force seeking ideas in $500M advanced manufacturing tech effort

Mere days after one call for white papers, the Air Force has put out a second request for the same from industry on ideas to bolster advanced manufacturing technologies for new defense capabilities.

A broad agency announcement posted March 24 describes how the Air Force Research Laboratory wants to advance future factory technology, strengthen the overall digital manufacturing portfolio and further explore additive manufacturing.

The Manufacturing Research and Technology Development BAA will have a $500 million ceiling value over five years after the notices publication. Multiple awards will take the form of grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions as described in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Five technology domains called out as high priorities in the notice include advanced concepts; attritable and low-cost systems; networked command, control and communications systems; hypersonic strike; and emerging technologies.

White papers can be submitted at any time before the BAAs expiration in March 2026.
Whether its computers, smartphones or other lifestyle gadgets, technology has improved at an amazing pace. Rise of mobile to the rise of smartphones, something that is truly indispensable in today's life, would be nothing short of magical instruments for our great-grandparents or generations gone by.

Reuters

This realization was recently made by a US man who came out of prison after nearly four decades, unable to fathom and make sense of all the tech advances that have happened in that time.

Reported first by NBCNews, it spoke about how prisoners react when they see a smartphone for the first time in their lives and the learning curve that they experience. This was more of a necessity since several platforms that are in place to help ex-prisoners get back on their life, are online.

One Renaldo Hudson who was released from the Danville Correctional Centre on September 2, after spending 37 years there, shared his experience. He spoke about how people would say smartphones were so simple to use and access the Internet, asking him to log in using the browser, and all he could think of was who is this browser?

A similar feeling was experienced by several inmates that were released as a form of compassionate release in 2019 to lessen the density of prisons, releasing prisoners close to the ends of their sentences or elderly and medically vulnerable prisoners who were more susceptible to contract the novel coronavirus.

Maria Burnett, a Washington DC-based human rights lawyer who helped by taking pro-bono compassionate release cases, said in a statement, "I thought I had thought about a lot of factors and had been really meticulous in thinking through the challenges he would face. I didn't realize how dependent all of those factors would be on his digital literacy."

Via NBC News

Kids becoming the tech gurus

Apart from seeking friends from adults in their families, former prisoners have actually learned a lot from the youngest family members. One Wendell Robinson was taken aback when he saw his two-year-old nephew had such a command of technology that he could only dream of.

Robinson revealed how the little ones were the biggest supporters to help him get this technology-wisdom, My nieces and nephews, the little bitty kids, were like some of the best teachers when they came to helping me in, you know, those initial steps.

Seoul, March 29 : Hyundai Motor said on Monday it is considering suspending production at a domestic plant next month due to a global semiconductor chip shortage.

Hyundai Motor mulls halting the operation of the No 1 plant in Ulsan, 414 kms southeast of Seoul, which produces the Kona subcompact SUV and the IONIQ 5 all-electric model due to parts shortage, a company official said over the phone.

The possible suspension comes amid a lack of semiconductor parts used in the Kona's front vehicle camera system and a problem in Hyundai Mobis's production line which rolls out the traction motor for the IONIQ 5, he said.

"Hyundai Mobis is having a difficulty caused by stabilization issues at the very beginning of mass production for the component," a Hyundai Mobis spokesman said.

Hyundai Mobis is the main supplier of auto components for Hyundai Motor and Kia. They are all affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group.

Hyundai Motor said it has not decided on how long it will suspend the No 1 Ulsan plant, reports Yonhap news agency.

A week of the plant's suspension would result in 6,000 units of the Kona and 6,500 units of the IONIQ 5 in production losses, according to industry people.

They said any suspension in the mainstay plant would have a negative impact on sales of the IONIQ 5 given 3,000 preorders for the IONIQ 5 in Europe last month and nearly 24,000 preorders on Feb. 25, the first day of domestic launch.

On Feb. 23, Hyundai Motor unveiled the IONIQ 5, the first model embedded with Hyundai Motor Group's own EV-only electric-global modular platform (E-GMP), as it strives to morph into a future mobility solutions provider.

Hyundai said it will launch the IONIQ 5 in Europe in March, in the domestic market in the second quarter and in the United States and other markets later this year.

But Hyundai may have to temporarily shutter or cut production at some of its plants in line with global peers, such as General Motors Co. and Toyota Motors Corp.

Hyundai already reduced overtime work on weekends in the No. 3 Ulsan plant which produces the Avante compact due to lack of electric control units (ECUs).

The carmaker is expected to cancel all overtime work in the No 3 Ulsan plant in April due to parts problems.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Maputo  The Mozambican defence and security forces launched an offensive on Sunday against Islamic State terrorists in the northern town of Palma, reports Sunday's issue of the independent newssheet "Carta de Mocambique".

The terrorists, known locally as "Al Shabaab", launched a three pronged attack on Wednesday afternoon against Palma, and sporadic clashes continued for the next three days.

According to "Carta de Mocambique", the Mozambican offensive on Sunday involved ground and naval units, with air support. It was successful in driving the terrorists out of the town.

One of the paper's sources said "The insurgents are running away. They've run out of ammunition and food, and they're fleeing towards the Rovuma river (the border with Tanzania)".

But the paper claimed that terrorist reinforcements are arriving, and clashes have resumed in the vicinity of Palma.

Speaking to reporters in Maputo on Sunday night, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, Col Omar Saranga, said "dozens of people" had been killed in the terrorist attacks.

In particular, he confirmed that seven people died on Friday when the jihadists ambushed a column of vehicles attempting to take people out of the besieged Amarula Hotel.

Saranga said the defence forces were "cleansing" Palma of terrorists, "in order to guarantee safe return of the population".

He stressed that the raiders had been unable to occupy any of the positions held by the defence and security forces who had held their ground in Palma, and had ensured the evacuation of hundreds of people.

Saranga said the Mozambican forces are continuing to pursue the terrorists intending "to eliminate some pockets of sporadic resistance".

Some people escaped from Palma to the Afungi Peninsula, where a consortium headed by the French oil and gas company Total is building gas liquefaction plants. A ship carrying about 600 people made its way from Afungi to the Cabo Delgado provincial capital, Pemba. These were mostly employees (Mozambican and foreign) of Total and other companies involved in the gas project.

Other ships are expected to arrive in Pemba on Monday, and people with relatives in Palma are anxiously awaiting their arrival.

The British daily "The Guardian" reported that about 60 people are missing, feared dead, after the Friday attack on the convoy. The convoy consisted of 17 vehicles, but only seven made it to safety. The seven confirmed dead were in the recovered vehicles. It is feared that the terrorists killed everyone in the other ten vehicles.

One of the dead in the convoy was identified in South African media as Adrian Nel, who was killed when he, his father and younger brother joined the convoy attempted to escape from the hotel. Nel's body and family members were rescued by helicopter on Saturday and taken to Afungi.

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His mother, Meryl Knox, told the French news agency, AFP: "As they were leaving [the hotel], they were ambushed. They shot my son. There's no way to possibly describe what you feel when you get news like that. It's just devastating".

One particularly alarming report came from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) , which said "at least 12 South African citizens" are believed to be part of the group that attacked Palma.

The radio claimed that many South African security experts are calling for SADC (Southern African Development Community) to intervene and counter the possibility of any terror attacks on South Africa.

The Senior Training Coordinator at the South African Institute of Security Studies (ISS), Willem Els, said the islamist raids in Mozambique pose a huge threat to South Africa, both politically and economically.

A South African police spokesperson, he said, had admitted there were at least 12 South Africans fighting with the Islamic State terrorists in Mozambique. "That gives you an indication that they are very active in their recruitment here in South Africa", he told SABC. "Unfortunately, it will have a spin-off in South Africa; not only on the political front, but also on the economic front as you can see lots of South Africans are working there (in Cabo Delgado)."
Lawyer Lin Wood Launches Bid to Lead South Carolina Republican Party

Lin Wood, a lawyer who filed third-party lawsuits in support of former President Donald Trumps election challenges, has announced his bid to lead the South Carolina Republican Party.

Wood said in a March 28 statement that hes seeking to oust current state GOP chairman Drew McKissick, who has been at the organizations helm since 2017.

In his statement, Wood cited a dispute over control of a local Republican Party organization in Horry County.

A compelling reason for my decision to run for Chair of the South Carolina Party is that it is time for the leadership of the Party to recognize and appreciate the amazing Patriots stepping up to get involved in the partythis is NOT the time to take actions to exclude them, Wood said in the statement, in which he complained about moves by state Republican leadership to limit what he said were MAGA Republicans having a stronger voice in the county.

The current Chair, Drew McKissick, brought in a 25-year-old state representative, appointed by the state executive director, removed the person in charge in the county, and took over, Wood alleged.

Counties run their counties. Interference by the state has no place in this county process, he said.

McKissick, whom Trump recently endorsed for reelection, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times about Woods candidacy and allegations.

I detest shady back room deals as I support shining light on darkness, Wood said in the statement. I want to help my new neighbors in South Carolina return the Republican Party back to The People. The People have ALL the powernot the elite cabal of the old guard leadership.

In an earlier statement, Wood said he had been approached by several concerned South Carolina Republicans who are conservative Patriots and who asked him if he just talked the talk or would I walk the walk.

They want to take back their Republican Party. They want to return the power to the peoplethe members of the party. They have endured enough Rino Republicanism in the present leadership of the South Carolina GOP. They are demanding change, Wood wrote, adding that they explicitly asked him to run for the leadership of the South Carolina GOP.

I said YES, Wood wrote.

Wood recently announced he had moved to South Carolina after living in Georgia for some 65 years. Separately, he said that the State Bar of Georgia was seeking to discipline him, which followed news that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers office launched an investigation into whether Wood voted illegally in the 2020 election.

Wood made news headlines in late 2020 after he filed lawsuits in Georgia against alleged election fraud following the November election. In an interview with The Epoch Times Crossroads program in December 2020, Wood said that courts were dismissing evidence of election fraud because the judges were compromised or threatened, and the Chinese Communist Party was involved in the background.
Earlier this year, Taoyuan experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 in the hospital but made a successful block thanks to technological applications. For example, the "Hot Spot Warning Signal" was a smart tourism solution to lower the risks of cluster infection and received good feedback. The Taoyuan citizen card is not only the most useful citizen card in Taiwan, but an important tool for real-name registration. The citizen card provides all-in-one services on municipal service, social welfare, entertainment, transportation, education, and micro payment. The award-winning application even impressed French government, which is successful case of city diplomacy.

The industrial density is the highest in Taiwan with comprehensive industrial communities and supply chains, such as Apple and Tesla supply chains. Among the top 500 domestic manufacturers, over one third is based in Taoyuan, which contribute NTD 3 trillion industrial output value a year in terms of the highest one of the nation.

With its industry growing fast, Taoyuan attracts people from other cities and overseas, and shapes a diverse face of the population.

Taoyuan City, leading by Mayor Cheng Wen-Tsan, is actively aligning resources to facilitate digitalization and building a smart city using emerging technologies and data-driven thinking. It was even ranked as 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year by the Intelligent Community Forum.

Moreover, Taoyuan is the base of the national program, Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA). Under the leadership of Mayor Cheng Wen-Tsan, the "Hutoushan Innovation Hub" was established as the country's only science park for 5G V2X. In the future, it plans to recruit companies with high-end technologies in 5G network or AIoT. With the proximity to the Airport, Taipei Port, High Speed Rail, and Mass Rapid Transit, the charm of Taoyuan Aerotropolis and ASVDA are drawing attention of high-tech industry and setting Taoyuan City a new innovation hub in Asia-Pacific, bringing an economic growth domestically.

Welcome to visit the event to read more: https://smartcityonline.org.tw/pavilion.php?vip=taoyuan

SOURCE Taoyuan City Government
Family doctors play a big role in reducing coronavirus vaccine hesitancy, especially for those who are used to being vaccinated there, said Dr. Pamela Rockwell.

Rockwell, who has practiced for more than 20 years, said family physicians are already answering patient questions about the coronavirus vaccine and are ready to help.

Whether Im doing virtual medicine now or in person medicine, I am able to answer their questions and there hasnt been a single patient that has not been sort of convinced, said Rockwell, who currently practices through the University of Michigan health system.

According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 75% of people would be very likely to get the coronavirus vaccine from their doctor and 38% chose this as their most preferred vaccination site.

Now that vaccine supply is looking more promising, its time to consider family physicians for more allocations, Rockwell said.

Rockwell is also a member of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP), which has been advocating for more vaccine allocations. The group has written a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and advocated to the Michigan legislature.

MAFP President Dr. Mark Hamed has also been a part of this advocacy. Hamed is also the health director for Huron, Lapeer , Sanilac, Tuscola and District Health Department #2, as well as the medical director for several departments in the McKenzie Health System.

The type of vaccines available also make it a good time to start allocating to primary care physicians (PCPs), Hamed said.

While the deep freezer needed for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines barred small practices without proper equipment, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine requires temperatures consistent with other routine vaccines, Hamed said.

Overall, routine vaccinations and other typical health screenings are lagging after months of shutdown, Hamed said. Coronavirus vaccines cannot be administered within two weeks of other vaccinations, but the hope is that people getting their coronavirus vaccines with their doctor would gain the confidence to come back in.

I think the fact that people could actually get their COVID vaccine at their PCP office will incentivize them to want to go see their PCP in the first place, Hamed said.

Rockwell agrees. She said family doctors have been adamant about getting patients back in for routine vaccinations to avoid other types of outbreaks. If parents came in to get their child routinely vaccinated, doctors could offer coronavirus vaccines to parents.

Before administering coronavirus vaccines, PCPs would have to get the credentials to do so, Rockwell said. This would include ensuring they have the right equipment to monitor vaccine temperatures.

Initial vaccine allocations were based on vaccinating health care workers, which meant sending vaccines to health care systems, Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an email statement.

As distribution shifted, more vaccines were given to local health departments, federally qualified health centers and other providers who are best positioned to serve vulnerable populations, Sutfin wrote.

At this time we have nearly 2,900 vaccine providers enrolled to begin providing vaccinations across the state, Sutfin wrote. However the fact remains we still do not have enough vaccine to provide all 2,900 providers.

To date, MDHHS has provided almost 15,000 doses of vaccine to those categorized as family practice, internal medicine and specialty clinics, Sutfin wrote. An additional 55,000 doses have been given to federally qualified health centers who also provide primary care.

As more vaccines are received by the state, MDHHS will expand vaccine opportunities in which primary and family physicians are part of the plan, Sutfin wrote.

Rockwell said she realizes the difficulty between the wish for family doctors to have vaccines and the actual process of rolling out vaccine.

Its not a simple thing to just say, okay, were going to get this office the vaccine... but I think we have to all think outside the box right now and just start devising ways to make this happen, Rockwell said.
analysis

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc in our country, those who seek to cause confusion, chaos and public harm have powerful tools of mis- and disinformation to do just that.

Through Real411, Media Monitoring Africa has been tracking disinformation trends on digital platforms since the end of March 2020. Last week we had the good fortune to talk about disinformation at the South African Internet Governance Forum, as well as during a workshop hosted by CST and DFRLab. One of the central issues raised was just how tricky it is to deal with disinformation across the various platforms, not just because of its different forms but how the term is or isn't used, and what actions can be taken. The big platforms have also been strongly criticised for their role in the spread of disinformation. This week we look at how the big social media platforms define disinformation and see if we can make any sense of it.

Each of the platforms usually have blogs and press releases on dealing with disinformation, but for our purposes though we are looking at the content of their policies. Both Facebook and Twitter, for example, have taken strong action against anti-vaccine...
The tearful mother of a missing university student who had been shielding from Covid-19 for a year today pleaded for her teenage son to come home.

Evidence Joel today described son Richard Okorogheye as 'the reason I exist' in an emotional plea - made exactly a week since he was last seen near his family home in London.

Speaking about the missing 19-year-old, she told Sky News: 'It's my baby, it's my treasure. He's my oxygen, he's my crown.

'He's everything to me, he's the reason why I live, the reason I exist.'

It comes as police are said to be growing 'increasingly concerned' for the student, who has sickle cell disease.

Ms Joel, who is a nurse, had previously revealed her son had been 'struggling to cope' with university.

Richard, a business and IT student at Oxford Brookes, is believed to have left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on March 22. He has not been seen since, police say.

Ms Joel previously told the MyLondon website: 'Richard has never done anything like this. Something has gone wrong.'

She said her son was currently shielding from Covid due to his sickle cell disease - a serious and lifelong health condition in which sufferers have unusually shaped red blood cells.

Student Richard Okorogheye (pictured left), 19, said he was 'struggling to cope' with university and had been shielding during lockdown, according to his mother Evidence Joel (pictured right)

What is sickle cell disease? Sickle cell disease is a serious and lifelong health condition in which sufferers have unusually shaped red blood cells. It is caused by a gene that affects how red blood cells develop. The condition, which is more common in people with an African or Caribbean family background, can cause painful episodes, tiredness and shortness of breath and an increased risk of serious infections. Sickle cell disease varies between individuals from mild to serious, but most people with it lead happy and normal lives. However the illness can be serious enough to have a significant effect on a person's life and can increase the risk of a stroke or serious lung problems. Source: NHS.co.uk Advertisement

The condition can cause painful episodes, tiredness and shortness of breath and an increased risk of serious infections.

Ms Joel added: 'He would only leave the house to go to hospital for regular blood transfusions for his condition.'

Ms Joel recalled her son saying he was going to visit a friend - though friends say they have not seen him.

She also told MyLondon that he had told her to drive safe and that he would 'see me later'.

She returned home from a nursing shift at around 9pm and assumed he was in his room.

Ms Joel cooked him a meal but found he was not there when she knocked on his door and he did not answer his telephone.

The alarm was raised after a locksmith helped her gain entry to the room and he was not there.

However his wallet, bus pass and bank card were left behind.

The teenager was last seen Kensal Road, on March 22 at approximately 8.30pm, police said. He was reported missing on March 24.

Officers added that he was known to frequent London's Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham areas.

Chief Inspector Clare McCarthy, of the Met's Central West Command Unit, said: 'Our officers have been working tirelessly to locate Richard, using all investigative opportunities and data inquiries, speaking with witnesses and trawling CCTV.

The teenager (pictured) was last seen leaving his home and heading in the direction of Ladbroke Grove, west London, on March 22 at approximately 8.30pm, police said

'We are following every lead possible and are appealing for the public to help us in our work.

'If you may have seen Richard, please contact police.

'If Richard is safe and well, we ask him to contact us as a matter of urgency so that we can put his family's minds at ease.'

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting 21MIS008134, or they can call 999 in an emergency.

They could also go online - at https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/ - to pass any information on to the charity Missing People.
If you were to describe University of Cape Town (UCT) archivist, Lionel Smidt, as the collector, organiser and preserver of UCT's administrative historical records, you'd hit the nail right on the head.

And his job is no mean feat. Walking into Meulenhof - the home of UCT's Administrative Archives - is like stepping into a time machine. The large office is bursting at the seams with more than a century's worth of UCT records. If it dates back to 1829 and directly involves the university or a member of staff, the archives will have a record of it - and Smidt will have access to it.

Fascinating? I think so ...

"I've been doing this job since 1992 - I've grown in and with this place," Smidt said with a chuckle.

But his journey at UCT started eight years prior to that, in 1984. He was just a young boy, fresh out of school and "still wet behind the ears" when he was offered a job as a cleaner in Bremner Building, the university's administration headquarters.

"Of course I took the job!" he said. "Some people asked me why I chose a job as a cleaner. After all, I had passed matric. But the opportunity came my way when I was sitting at home, and I needed a job."

Admin afternoons

After more than a year at Bremner Building, Smidt said, he was moved to UCT's Department of Student Affairs (DSA). While his role remained largely the same, he also started helping with administrative tasks in the department.

For three years he spent his mornings cleaning the DSA offices. In the afternoons he would change focus and help out with administrative tasks in the department. Filing, collecting and distributing mail from the post room was part of his role, as well as working in the printing room when required.

"Let's just say all of us knew the smell of tear gas very well."

He also supported the vehicle maintenance staff with logging vehicles and ensuring services were conducted timeously. In addition to that, Smidt was responsible for generating receipts on behalf of the student health service department for all medical consultations.

"I have to say, my time at student affairs was something else. It was during the height of apartheid, and there was so much happening on campus at the time," he said.

"The apartheid police would come onto campus. The special branch would tell us to stop what we were doing, and we were not allowed to move while they conducted a search. It was crazy. Let's just say all of us knew the smell of tear gas very well."

Archival assistant

With a bit of administration experience, thanks to his stint at the DSA, Smidt applied for the position of archival assistant - and he got the job. Part of the contract agreement was that he'd continue his daily office cleaning for an hour in the morning, and for the remainder of the day he would concentrate on his archival tasks.

When then-archivist John Drew retired, Smidt applied for his job, but his application was unsuccessful. However, Smidt said, former UCT registrar Hugh Amoore offered him some sound advice: to obtain his qualification in archival studies.

"This job was part of my destiny - written for me long before I was even born."

He started his archival studies programme at Technikon South Africa, and when the institution no longer offered the course, he moved to the University of South Africa to complete it.

"Studying while working was no joke; it was tough. I'd often sit up till midnight or later to complete my assignments. But it needed to be done, and that's what I did," he said.

In February 2003 he was appointed the UCT archivist. By then he had been running the show for more than a year, while archivist Susan Sayers was away on sick leave. Sayers later passed away.

"This job was part of my destiny - written for me long before I was even born. And Hugh Amoore played a very big part in all of this. He's part of the reason that I am here today," Smidt said.

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Happy place

Smidt said that he will always be thankful to the university for providing him with the opportunity to further his studies, and to grow in a field that he has learned to love. He's also grateful to his colleagues for their continuous support and motivation over the years.

Eighteen years after he was officially appointed as the university's archivist, Smidt said, he has developed a passion for the job. He enjoys trawling the archives, sourcing information for academics and support staff, and sitting in a little quiet corner and simply getting on with the business of the day.

"This is my happy place. Don't get me wrong - there are many challenges, and sometimes things can get very busy in here. But irrespective, my heart's always full when I leave work in the afternoon, and that means it was a good day," he said.
In an event last week organized by the Ugla Mentawai Simariuriu Foundation, in collaboration with IMMJ and several alliances of Mentawai Youth/Student Organizations, respected professor Ade Armando from the University of Indonesia warns that there could be hidden motives behind the proposition to turn West Sumatra Province into the Special Region of Minangkabau.

In his webinar titled, "Discourse of MINANGKABAU SPECIAL REGIONS, Threats or Blessings?" Professor Armando laid his suspicion on the proposed separation and autonomy of a new province in West Sumatra. He thinks that those advocating for it are "from the radical Islamic circles...who want to make West Sumatra like Aceh, an autonomous region that implements Sharia law," the International Christian Concern reported.

The professor argued that these radical Islamists are following a narrative that will subject Minangkabau ethnicity under the Sharia law according to what they believe from the Book of Allah, hence the proposed name, "Special Region of Minangkabau" instead of "Special Region of West Sumatra."

Armando's conjecture isn't groundless as seen in the enforcement of Sharia law in schools in Padang City where teachers obliged their non-Muslim students to wear the hijab. Women in regions under the Islamic law will be vulnerable to such discriminatory regulations and other future policies. He and other speakers from last week's workshop are urging people native to the Sumatra region to oppose the proposition by speaking up and by doing everything they can to stop its implementation.

Juniator Tulius, an anthropologist from Mentawai, also surmises that if given consideration, the proposed MINANGKABAU SPECIAL AREA would discount the principle of a peaceful co-existence among diverse groups. Its regional effect including the future treatment of women and religious minorities could have far-reaching impacts at a national level.

"We remain alert to all developments in the West Sumatra region. A lot of information will appear in the media that we need to monitor to what extent there is an attempt to legalize it as a MINANGKABAU SPECIAL REGION," he said.

Fortunately, the critical discourse analysis on the possible expansion of the Sharia Regional Regulations in West Sumatra concludes that a proposition grant will affect the quality of democracy in West Sumatra.

"For most scholars and experts in Indonesia, the presence of religious-based regional regulations is claimed to be one of the sources of fertilizing the seeds of intolerance at the provincial level. As the second most productive region to produce Sharia regional regulations in Indonesia, the position of the province of West Sumatra is like a fire in the husk which over time will create a greater potential for conflict," the study said.

Religious reasons aside, the threat of terrorism is also felt in the island of Sumatra. ICC reports that from March 19 to March 21, the Densus 88 Anti-terror unit in Indonesia had arrested 18 suspected terrorists in North Sumatra in a silent operation.

The unit seized several items as evidence of their propaganda including 31 charity boxes used in swindling the unsuspecting people to fund their unscrupulous activities.
Georgia is preparing to apply for full EU membership in 2024, says Garibashvili

By Veronika Malinboym

Marking the 4th anniversary of visa-free travel to the EU member-states for Georgian citizens, the Prime Minister stated that Georgia is currently preparing to apply for full EU membership in 2024. PM Gakharia added that he would do everything in his power to let the Georgian society, as well as the population of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region, enjoy the benefits of Georgias European integration:Today we are celebrating the fourth anniversary of introducing the visa-free regime between Georgia and the EU member states/ countries of the Schengen zone. The historical decision of March 2017 marked the EU's recognition of Georgia as a reliable partner. This showed that our efforts in strengthening democracy and ensuring further development, as well as the reforms that we have carried out did not go unnoticed [ by our European partners].We will continue working towards achieving a full membership status with the EU, and we are now preparing to apply for it in 2024. We will do everything in our power to have our society, as well as the population of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, enjoy the benefits of Georgias integration into the EU to the fullest, said the prime minister in his statement.On his Twitter page, PM Garibashvili also noted that the 'visa-free travel' is one of the most visible successes in the history of relationships between Georgia and the EU:We are marking the 4th anniversary of the entry into force of the visa-free regime on March 28th. Visa-free travel is one of the most visible successes in Georgia  EU relations. Georgias recognition as a reliable and worthy partner by the EU has brought us even closer to the European family, read the prime ministers post.Former Ambassador of Georgia to the EU Natalie Sabanadze, who resigned a week ago after eight years of service, noted that receiving visa liberalisation on March 28, 2017, serves as a symbol of breaking down barriers and acquiring a privilege of freedom.As per the existing regulations, citizens of Georgia can travel to the countries within the Schengen zone for 90 days within 180 day period, both as tourists or on family or business trips.
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The key northern Mozambique town of Palma was all but deserted Monday, its residents fleeing by road, boat or on foot as the Islamic State (IS) group claimed control after a prolonged onslaught.

IS-linked militants attacked the town on Wednesday, escalating an insurgency that has spread bloodily across northern Mozambique since 2017.

Dozens of people, according to the IS and the authorities, were killed in what witnesses describe as a coordinated attack, and an unknown number were still missing.

It is the closest raid yet to a multi-billion-dollar gas project being built on a peninsula just 10 kilometres (six miles) away, by France's Total and other energy giants.

"The caliphate's soldiers seized the strategic town of Palma," IS said in a statement posted on its Telegram channels.

It claimed its offensive aimed at military and government targets, killing dozens of troops and "members of Crusader states," its term for Western nationals.

The town of 75,000 people in Cabo Delgado province was all but emptied of its population, said civil society activist Adriano Nuvunga.

"The violence has ceased, but it is believed some of the insurgents have pulled back and some are still around in hiding," he told AFP.

Witnesses said scores of fighters had sneaked into the town ahead of the attack.

"The attackers arrived a few days earlier and hid in the homes of locals whom they paid," said one Palma resident, speaking from Mueda, where he had taken refuge.

"The attacks started along the main roads to Palma," he said.

As police rushed out to try repel the invaders, the fighters inside the town mounted their own attack, according to witnesses.

The United Nations condemned the assault on Palma and said it was coordinating closely with local authorities to provide assistance to those affected by the violence.

"We are deeply concerned by the still evolving situation in Palma where armed attacks began on March 24, reportedly killing dozens of people," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Many survivors said they had walked for days through forest to seek refuge in Mueda, 180 kilometres (112 miles) to the south, where they arrived limping on swollen feet.

"Many people fell from fatigue and were unable to continue walking, especially the elderly and children," said one escapee in Mueda who did not wish to be named.

Some survivors fled to the gas project site, from where they are being sent to the regional capital Pemba via boat.

The government said dozens were killed in the militants' attack, including seven people caught in an ambush during an operation to evacuate them from a hotel where they had sought refuge.

A South African is among those killed, his family said.

"Attacks started shortly after a large ship with food had just arrived," one escapee told AFP via an online message, referring to food aid deliveries to the farthest northern coastal town.

"They attacked the city and brought trucks to carry the food."

Witnesses told AFP they first targeted banks and the police station before spreading across town.

Thousands of escapees were arriving on boats on Monday in Pemba, the provincial capital around 250 kms to the south, according to sources there.

International aid agency sources said between 6,000 and 10,000 people were waiting to be evacuated.

The attack forced expatriate workers and locals to seek refuge temporarily at a heavily guarded gas plant located on the nearby Afungi peninsula.

"A significant number of civilians rescued from Palma are also being transported to Afungi site, where they receive humanitarian and logistical support," side Total in a statement.

Sea Star, a large passenger vessel, arrived in Pemba on Sunday with around 1,400 people, mostly workers including Total employees.

Pemba is already packed with hundreds of thousands of other people displaced by the Islamist insurgency, which has uprooted nearly 700,000 from their homes across the vast province.

The latest attack "will unleash a new onslaught of displaced people," said Chance Briggs of the British-based charity Save the Children.

The defence ministry said late Sunday the security forces had "reinforced their operational strategy" to contain the attacks and restore normality in Palma.

In Portugal, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said his government was monitoring the situation with "great concern," adding that he had been in touch with President Filipe Nyusi.

The violent, calculated raid broke a three-month hiatus in Islamist attacks widely attributed to counter-insurgency tactics and the January-March rainy season.

Although the extremists launched their campaign in 2017, experts say they began mobilising a decade earlier as disgruntled youths started to practise a stricter form of Islam, upset over locals drinking alcohol and entering mosques dressed in shorts and shoes.

Their bloody campaign has claimed at least 2,600 lives, half of them civilians.

The insurgents are known locally as al-Shabaaab, although they are not believed to have links with the Somali jihadist organisation by that name.

The US State Department this month said the group reportedly pledged allegiance to IS in April 2018. It named its leader as Abu Yasir Hassan, and declared him a global terrorist.
On Wednesday, March 31, all Jersey Mikes stores across the nation will donate sales - not just profits - to charity.

Jersey Mikes said the annual Day of Giving is expected to generate $8 million to help local organizations.

Join us on Wednesday, March 31, our Day of Giving, when we give all of our sales  not just profit  to great local causes, said Peter Cancro, Jersey Mikes founder and CEO. Charities across the country need our help more than ever so please order and make a difference in someones life.

Jersey Mikes said that since the campaign began in 2011 it has raised more than $32 million for local charities.

In Pennsylvania the charities receiving money will be:

Harrisburg/Mechanicsburg - The Four Diamonds Fund

Lancaster/Ephrata - Aarons Acres

York - Autism York

Chambersburg - United Way of Franklin County

Philadelphia/Wilkes-Barre - Alexs Lemonade Stand

North Huntingdon - Beverlys Birthdays

Lewisburg - Evangelical Community Hospital

Williamsport - Lycoming County United Way

Pittsburgh Area South - Mario Lemieux Foundation

State College/Altoona - Pink Zone

Erie - Shriners Hospitals for Children

Pittsburgh/Cranberry Twp. - The Woodlands Foundation

Allison Park/Murrysville - Young Life

READ MORE
WASHINGTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Odgers Berndtson, a leading global executive search firm, is pleased to announce the successful recruitment of Jon Nass as the CEO and Executive Director of the Port of Gulfport following a national search lead by Tim McNamara, a partner and Vice Chairman of Odgers Berndtson and Head of the firm's Transportation and Infrastructure Practice based in Washington, D.C.

For the past two and a half years, Nass has been CEO of the Maine Port Authority where he helped develop Northern New England's only container terminal and secured tens of millions in funding for port and rail infrastructure. He also led efforts on a public-private partnership to construct Maine's only publicly available climate-controlled storage, supporting the state's food and beverage industries.

The Mississippi State Port Authority (MSPA) Board of Commissioners made the announcement with MSPA President E.J. Roberts stating, "The MSPA Commission is very pleased to announce we have selected a new executive director to lead the Port of Gulfport team. Jon's extensive background includes port management, economic development, homeland security, and policy advising, making him an ideal candidate to lead our State Port."

Commented Steve Potter, CEO of Odgers Berndtson U.S., "Once again, thanks to Tim McNamara's leadership, Odgers Berndtson has successfully recruited a CEO to a major US port. In October 2020, Tim also successfully completed the search for the new CEO of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA). This is the third time that both MSPA and the VPA have come to Tim McNamara to address these critical CEO needs. Odgers congratulates Tim for his terrific work recruiting Jon Nass for the State of Mississippi at a critical time in the movement of freight and economic and workforce development, which has a significant impact on the U.S. economy.

Tim McNamara said of the appointment, "With his deep expertise in port management and infrastructure, his successful leadership of building thriving container terminals over the years, and his passion for policy making, Jon Nass is a perfect fit for the Mississippi Port Authority as it develops future value for its customers."

In addition to his port experience, Nass was previously Deputy Commissioner at the Maine Department of Transportation, worked as a senior policy advisor in the State of Maine Governor's Office, and served seven years in the U.S. Congress, most recently as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security. A graduate of St. Lawrence University with a B.A. in Government and History, Nass also has a J.D. from The Catholic University of American, Columbus School of Law.

"I am thrilled to join the Port of Gulfport as its next CEO and Executive Director, leading what is an outstanding organization with an experienced Board of Commissioners, a dedicated team, modern infrastructure, and a diversified revenue base," Nass said. "This is a great opportunity to run an incredible operation."

About Odgers Berndtson

For more than 50 years, Odgers Berndtson has delivered executive search, leadership assessment, and development strategies to the world's biggest and best organizations. Odgers Berndtson's 250+ partners span more than 30 countries around the world. The U.S. wing of the firm launched in 2011 and is one of the fastest growing search firms in the Americas. Odgers Berndtson currently has U.S. offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York,, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

CONTACT

Odgers Berndtson 646-612-7208

[email protected]

SOURCE Odgers Berndtson

Related Links

http://www.odgersberndtson.com


Veteran news anchor Peter Hitchener has been taken off air mid-bulletin after stumbling over his words during Channel Nine's 6pm Melbourne news.

The 75-year-old, who has been reading the Nine news since 1998, was struggling to speak when producers quickly cut to a pre-recorded story.

Nine issued a statement on social media to say that he was suffering from a migraine.

'He is now resting and we expect to see him back on deck tomorrow night. He is grateful for everyones concern,' Nine's Twitter account confirmed.

Veteran news anchor Peter Hitchener has been taken off air mid-bulletin after suffering a migraine

Hitchener was replaced on the broadcast by Clint Stanway who acknowledged the anchor's absence before moving on with the news.

Nine tweeted that the news legend was feeling OK before the end of the broadcast, with Hitchener himself tweeting just after its conclusion at 7pm that he was fine.

'Thanks so much for your well wishes... I am feeling better already. I am most grateful for your support,' the 75-year-old said.

Peter Hitchener has been a mainstay as the face of Nine News Melbourne since 1998

Nine tweeted that the news legend was feeling OK before the end of the broadcast, with Hitchener himself tweeting just after its conclusion at 7pm that he was fine

There was immediate concern for Hitchener's health, with Australian wheelchair star Dylan Alcott one of the first to comment

There was immediate concern for Hitchener's health, with Australian wheelchair star Dylan Alcott one of the first to comment.

'@9NewsMelb can someone please replace Peter Hitchener for the rest of the night and make sure the king is ok? Worried about him!!!' the reigning Australian Open champion tweeted.

'Fingers crossed he is feeling a bit better. I know all his viewers would be very concerned,' another Twitter user said.

Other observers said Hitchener looked to have been struggling throughout the broadcast and were relieved to see him taken off and hear that he was fine.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
ALBANY - The Danish Embassy is expected to participate in an online discussion on the offshore wind industry with Capital Region business and civic leaders next month.

The Center for Economic Growth in in Albany is hosting the April 13 event, called the Capital Region Offshore Wind Virtual Summit, which will take place via Zoom from 9:30 to noon that day.
Security forces in Myanmar unleashed machine guns and grenades on protesters Sunday, a day after the armys slaughter of more than 100 protesters sparked demands for international action and marauding troops in Mandalay burned a night watchman alive while shooting at people who tried to help him.

The fallout from eight weeks of increasingly violent army attacks on civilians since the Feb. 1 military takeover spilled across the border into Thailand, where 3,000 villagers in southeastern Karen state fled after air attacks by the army killed three in a district controlled by an ethnic armed group, aid groups said.

The 13 deaths in Yangon, Sagaing, Mandalay and other regions  following Saturdays killing of 114 people  including six children  pushed the death toll since the coup to over 450 people, as international condemnation poured in along with calls for action to halt the violence.

We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions, said a statement by the defense chiefs of Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Britain, and the United States.

The United States will continue to promote accountability for the coup and the abhorrent violence committed by the Burmese military regime. We call on all countries to speak with one voice against the brutal violence by the regime against the people of Burma, said State Department Spokesman Ned Price in Washington.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thailand-based NGO, said it had confirmed 459 deaths and 2559 arrests as of Sunday, with 119 people in hiding. Radio Free Asias confirmed death toll surpassed 400 people at the weekend.

3,000 cross into Thailand

In Karen state, several thousand villagers fled to nearby Thailand on Sunday after the military launched airstrikes on camps of the Karen National Union (KNU), whose fighters had seized an army outpost, killing 10 people.

The International Karen Organization said Myanmar military fighter jets bombed Karen territory for the first time since the early 1990s, killing at least three people and driving more than 1,000 local people into hiding in the jungle.

Reuters news agency quoted the Karen Womens Organization as saying more than 3,000 Karen crossed to Thailand. The agency cited the Thai Public Broadcasting Service as reporting that about 3,000 had reached Thailand.

The KNU, which was part of a 2015 ceasefire with the government that has been thrown into uncertainty by the coup, has been sheltering hundreds of people who have fled violence in central Myanmar, Reuters said.

The weekend carnage showed that Myanmars security forces need to be urgently stripped of the weapons, money and resources that enable them to operate, through a global arms embargo and targeted economic sanctions enforced by a U.N. Security Council mandate, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

Its time for the international community to do more than issue toughly worded statements when the Tatmadaw and police are shooting dead children in their homes and protesters on their streets, he said early Sunday in a statement from Bangkok.

Only bones were left

Inside Myanmar territory, witnesses to the grisly burning of neighborhood watch volunteer Aye Ko, a 42-year-old father of four children, said he was shot in the chest as he observed police and the military arrive at the scene of a fire at a local government office.

A witness said the man was still alive and screaming for help when soldiers threw him onto a pile of burning tires, but non-stop gunfire prevented onlookers from coming to his aid.

They dragged him and threw him into the burning flames, said a local woman who witnessed the incident in Mandalay, Myanmars second largest city.

Only bones were left by the fire. It was a very inhumane, wild and cruel act. They burned him alive, she said.

This inhumanity is a tactic of the junta to create a climate of fear among the people, said AAPP in a blog post. The group said some 60 houses in Mandalay were destroyed by fire and people in nearby neighborhoods were prevented from helping when the junta shot at them.

Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister agency of BenarNews, was able to confirm the killing of nine protesters in the Sagaing region, two in the Mandalay Region, and one each in the Bago, Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions.

In the commercial center and former capital Yangon, police and the military used sound bombs, teargas and live grenades in crackdown on protests near a railway stop in the citys Hlaing township, residents said.

They came in by train in the morning, around five or six soldiers at Thiri Myaing Station. Then they started shooting, said a local witness. Soon after, they started using teargas and grenades.

One of the protesters picked (a grenade) up and tried to throw it back, but it exploded in the air and he lost his hand, while other man was hit in the thigh ad others nearby were also hit with shrapnel, the witness added.

They were shooting in and out, street by street, he said. They came in from all direction, around 100 soldiers.

The relentless killings and brutal crackdown did not stop protest marches in Monywa, Myaing, Salay, Dawei, Mandalay, Sal and several other towns.

We faced two attacks today, said a protester in Myitkyina, the Kachin state capital. They were shooting at all the gatherings using rubber bullets.

Reported by the Myanmar Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA).
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[March 29, 2021] Wisk Prepares to Launch Trial to Advance Autonomous Passenger Transport

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wisk, the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) company behind the first all-electric, self-flying air taxi, is progressing with its Transport Trial, which will advance autonomous passenger transport under the New Zealand Government's broader Airspace Integration Trial Programme (AITP). Wisk is working towards rolling out the implementation phase later this year. Wisk's Transport Trial, part of New Zealand's Airspace Integration Trial, will advance autonomous passenger transport. In February 2020, Wisk announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the New Zealand Government to establish the Transport Trial under the broader AITP. Since then, both parties have been undertaking detailed planning of a highly structured and integrated program, with implementation of the trial expected to start in the second half of 2021. Wisk is also bringing Insitu Pacific Pty Ltd ., a Boeing subsidiary and industry-leading unmanned aerial syste (UAS) company, into the program to support the trial. Through this partnership, Wisk will combine its leadership of autonomous flight operations and the advanced technology and expertise of Boeing to deliver on the passenger trial objective: to safely evaluate, test, and demonstrate the integration of unmanned aircraft into existing airspace.



Wisk brings over a decade of autonomous eVTOL expertise to the trial, including learnings from approximately 1500 test flights and the backing of Boeing's expertise in integrating piloted and autonomous technology. Built on the core values of safety and collaboration, the Transport Trial will address the challenges of airspace integration and help realize the significant opportunities of urban air mobility across a range of industries and applications. "Wisk has always seen the distinct advantages of New Zealand, including the country's globally respected Civil Aviation Authority and flexibility for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)," said Gary Gysin, CEO of Wisk. "These factors, combined with the advantages of testing and operating in a relatively uncongested airspace and the innovative culture of early adoption, makes New Zealand uniquely positioned as a leader for autonomous UAM integration trials."

"New Zealand presents a unique opportunity and we are immensely proud to have been recognized by the New Zealand Government as the first airspace integration industry partner," added Anna Kominik, Asia Pacific Region Director for Wisk. "New Zealand's focus on decarbonizing its economy as part of the electric transport evolution directly aligns with Wisk's mission to deliver safe, everyday flight for everyone through effective, accessible and sustainable urban air mobility solutions." Autonomy, electric aviation and urban air mobility are set to redefine transportation and this trial will help lay the foundations for the future of transport. For more information on the New Zealand Government's Airspace Integration Trials Programme, see here . ABOUT WISK Wisk is an urban air mobility company dedicated to delivering safe, everyday flight for everyone. Wisk's self-flying, eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) air taxi, will make it possible for passengers to skip the traffic and get to their destination faster. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New Zealand, Wisk is an independent company backed by The Boeing Company and Kitty Hawk Corporation. With a decade of experience and approximately 1500 test flights, Wisk is shaping the future of daily commutes and urban travel, safely and sustainably. For more information, follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , Instagram or Facebook , or visit wisk.aero . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wisk-prepares-to-launch-trial-to-advance-autonomous-passenger-transport-301257738.html SOURCE Wisk Aero, LLC

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Passerby Talks Suicidal Man Down From Edge of Bridge: I Wasnt There to Judge Him

A compassionate good Samaritan from North Carolina is being recognized as a hero after talking a suicidal man down from an interstate bridge.

Anthony Buzz Brown, a leak detection specialist from the city of Asheville, was crossing a bridge over Interstate 40 off Sand Hill Road on March 3 when he spotted a stranger in distress.

My first thought was I needed to help him, because we are here to love and care for one another on this earth, Brown told The Epoch Times.

Having lost his brother to suicide, Brown knew he couldnt ignore the suicidal stranger. Seeing that others were driving by without stopping, he quickly turned his car around, pulled over, and gently approached the man.

The distressed man initially claimed there was nothing Brown could do to help him. Yet when Brown opened up about his personal experience with suicide, the man listened.

I let him know that I was not there to judge him and that I cared for him, Brown said.

I also told him about my brother that committed suicide. He was shocked that a stranger stopped and cared enough about his wellbeing.

Interstate 40 from the bridge at Sand Hill Road. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

As the pair talked, empathy blossomed. The distressed man opened up to Brown.

Slowly but surely, Brown noticed that the man had retreated from the edge of the bridge and was following him back to his car, according to a report by WLOS.

Asheville police arrived on the scene to escort the distressed man to a hospital for medical support. The police credited Brown for saving a life, the report said.

Anthony tried to leave and not make a big deal of this, Officer Vincent Garetto said in a statement, but I had to get his name, because I am confident without Anthony stopping and talking with the man, he may have possibly jumped before officers arrived on scene.

Brown, who does not see himself as a hero, was recognized by Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell at a city council meeting held days after his kind act.

I felt honored, Brown told The Epoch Times, because maybe the story can help someone else that is struggling with depression and suicide.

If I was to meet [the distressed man] again, Brown added, I would tell him that it is not his time to die yet, that God has bigger plans for him.

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 at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) is often spotted rocking stylish outfits while jaunting around Sydney.

So it's not surprising the 33-year-old made a style statement when she stepped out in Bondi on Monday.

The model flashed her toned abs in a black sheer bodysuit which featured G-string inspired detailing at the bottom.

Dressed to impress! Lara Bingle (pictured) flaunted her slender physique in a sheer G-string inspired bodysuit and baggy black trousers as she stepped out in Bondi on Monday

Stylish: She teamed the stylish bodysuit with baggy black trousers and a pair of black boots

She teamed the stylish bodysuit with baggy black trousers, a pair of black boots and retro sunglasses.

Lara styled her blonde locks straight and appeared to be wearing a neutral palette of makeup.

The model also wore a brown watch and held her mobile phone as she arrived at the QT hotel.

Sleek: Lara styled her blonde locks straight and appeared to be wearing a neutral palette of makeup

Rockstar arrival: The model also wore a brown watch and held her mobile phone as she arrived at the QT hotel

Reunited: Lara was seen embracing a friend after arriving to the Bondi venue

Style statement: The model also wore a pair of retro sunglasses as she walked alongside a friend

Lara and her husband Sam Worthington arrived back in Australia with their children in January.

Sam returned to Australia to star in the Sydney Theatre Company production of the Wesley Enoch directed comedy, Appropriate.

Reports surfaced last year that the couple were planning to move Down Under on a permanent basis after spending years living in the U.S.

Obeying the rules! She was seen paying for a parking ticket before entering the establishment

Back home: Lara and husband Sam Worthington arrived back in Australia with their children in January

Moving back? Reports surfaced last year that the couple were planning to move Down Under on a permanent basis after spending years living in the U.S

The couple have been based in the US with their sons Rocket, five, and Racer for a number of years.

In June 2020, they welcomed their most recent addition, a baby boy, whose name is yet to be revealed.

Lara and Sam began dating in 2013 and married in secret a year later.

Home: The couple have been based in the US with their sons Rocket, five, and Racer for a number of years
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi lawmakers have begun voting on details of a state government spending plan for the year that begins July 1.

They are considering giving 3% pay raises to state employees and at least a 1% raise to most public university and community college staff.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson said the proposed 3% raises for state employees would go into effect by January 1, 2022.

The full years cost of the raises is estimated to be $13.9 million.

The 1% pay raises for Institutions of Higher Learning and community colleges are estimated to cost $12.5 million.

They would go into effect July 1.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 14:12:58|Editor: huaxia

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SUVA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to vaccinate at least 20 percent of Fiji's population by the end of this year, said WHO Representative to the South Pacific Akeem Ali on Monday.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), Ali noted the WHO-led COVAX facility, saying there are three vaccines that have emergency use license from the WHO and they are being made available across the world, with Fiji being one of the countries that is benefitting.

COVAX has agreed with manufacturers to make sure that the vaccines become available, he said, adding that Fiji is receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Fiji, an island nation with a population of around 900,000, is targeting to get 1.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Currently, Fiji has received the first batch of 12,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility. As of last Thursday, a total of 6,278 individuals in Fiji have received the first jab of the vaccine.

Fiji's Health Ministry has said earlier that people coming to the island nation will still need to be quarantined even if they have received the COVID-19 jab because this is the process being followed by many countries around the world.

Since its first case of COVID-19 was reported on March 19 last year, Fiji has now recorded 67 cases, with one active case, 64 recoveries and two deaths.

Fiji maintains a strict travel restriction for foreign visitors alongside a nationwide curfew effective since March 30 last year. Enditem
[March 29, 2021] AgJunction Appoints Cheryne Lowe as Interim CFO

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AgJunction Inc. (TSX: AJX) ("AgJunction" or the "Company") today announced that it has appointed Cheryne Lowe as interim chief financial officer of the Company, replacing the former interim chief financial officer, Peter Newton, whose contract has concluded.

Ms. Lowe has nearly twenty years of experience in finance, including roles at a big four accounting firm and CFO of a publicly-traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange. AgJunction continues its previously announced search for a permanent CFO in the greater Scottsdale area. The Company thanks Mr. Newton for his contributions and wishes him the best in the future. About AgJunction AgJunction Inc. is a global leader of advanced guidance and autosteering solutions for precision agriculture applications. Its technologies are critical components in over 30 of the worlds leading precision agriculture manufacturers and solution providers and it holds over 200 patents and patents pending. AgJunction markets its solutions under leading brand names including Novariant, Wheelman, Whirl and Handsfreefarm. AgJunction is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol AJX. For more information, please go to AgJunction.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws and is based on the expectations, estimates and projections of management of AgJunction as of the date of this news release, unless otherwise stated. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information. Such forward-looking nformation is provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to its current and future operations. These statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. Although the Companys management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievement since such expectations are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and political uncertainties and contingencies as well as unanticipated force majeure events. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by the Company. In particular, forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements with respect to: the Companys strategy, plans, objective sales, financial position and focus. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information contained in this press release.



In respect of the forward-looking information, AgJunction has provided such information in reliance on certain assumptions that it believes are reasonable at this time, including, but not limited to, the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities; that AgJunction's future results of operations will be consistent with management expectations in relation thereto; product and market expansion; availability of key supplies, components, services, networks and developments; the impact of competition; conditions in general economic, agricultural autosteering and financial markets; uncertainty around the duration and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the pandemic and actions taken in response on global and regional economies and economic activity; demand for the Company's products; and the continuity of existing business relationships. Since forward-looking information addresses future events and conditions, such information by its very nature involves inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to the risks associated with the industries in which AgJunction operates; competition; inability to successfully introduce new technology and new products in a timely manner; legal claims for the infringement of intellectual property and other claims; negative conditions in general economic, agricultural and financial markets; and reduced demand for the Company's products. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

Additional information on other factors that could affect the Company's operations or financial results, are included in reports of AgJunction on file with applicable securities regulatory authorities, including but not limited to, AgJunction's Annual Information Form which may be accessed on its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and AgJunction undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Contact: Media

press@agjunction.com Investor Relations

Gateway Investor Relations

Cody Slach or Cody Cree

1-949-574-3860

AJX@gatewayir.com



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Tug boats work to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal (Suez Canal Authority/AP)

Authorities plan to resume efforts to free the ship blocking the Suez Canal on Monday, after Sundays planned attempts were cancelled while extra tug boat power was assembled.

Two additional tugs were sent to the canal on Sunday aimed at helping float the skyscraper-sized MV Ever Given, as major shipping firms increasingly diverted their boats out of fear the vessel may take far longer to free.

The Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe got stuck in a single-lane stretch of the vital waterway on Tuesday.

Authorities have been unable to move the vessel, and traffic through the canal  valued at more than nine billion dollars (6.53 billion) a day  has been halted, further disrupting a global shipping network already strained by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 320 ships are now backed up waiting to traverse the vital waterway.

Expand Close The Ever Given on Sunday (Suez Canal Authority/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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The Dutch-flagged Alp Guard, a specialist tugboat, arrived at the location on Sunday, according to the stuck ships technical management company, Bernard Schulte Shipmanagement. The Italian-flagged tug Carlo Magno was also close, having reached the Red Sea near the city of Suez early on Sunday, satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed.

The tugboats, along with at least 10 others already there, will be used to nudge the quarter-mile-long Ever Given as dredgers continue to vacuum up sand from under the vessel and mud caked to its port side, Bernhard Schulte said.

Excavators dug at the eastern wall of the canal on Sunday, hoping to free the bulbous bow of the Ever Given that ploughed into the embankment, satellite photos showed. Bernard Schulte said the team was also waiting for the arrival of additional equipment to dredge the canals seafloor. The THSD Causeway, a dredger registered in Cyprus, was expected to arrive by Tuesday.

Authorities cancelled Sundays planned freeing attempts until sufficient tug power is in place, said canal services firm Leth Agencies. They plan to conduct an effort to free the vessel on Monday to coincide with high tides, it said.

Expand Close Crowds gather to watch the Ever Given on Saturday night (Mohamed Elshahed/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Crowds gather to watch the Ever Given on Saturday night (Mohamed Elshahed/AP)

Officials have been desperately trying to avoid unloading the vessel, which likely would add even more days to the canals closure. Taking containers off the ship would require a crane and other equipment that have yet to arrive.

On Saturday, the head of the Suez Canal Authority told journalists that strong winds were not the only cause for the Ever Given running aground, appearing to push back against conflicting assessments offered by others. Osama Rabei said an investigation was ongoing but did not rule out human or technical error.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement maintains that their initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding. However, at least one initial report suggested a blackout struck the hulking vessel carrying some 20,000 containers at the time of the incident.

Mr Rabei said he remained hopeful that dredging could free the ship without having to resort to removing its cargo, but added that we are in a difficult situation, its a bad incident.

Asked about when they expected to free the vessel and reopen the canal, he said: I cant say because I do not know.

Expand Close More than 320 ships are backed up waiting to use the canal (Mohamed Elshahed/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp More than 320 ships are backed up waiting to use the canal (Mohamed Elshahed/AP)

Speaking on Sunday to the pro-government Egyptian television channel Extra News, Mr Rabei said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi had ordered the canal authority to prepare for all options, including taking containers from the vessel. He said officials had been in talks with the US about that possibility, without elaborating.

Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, the company that owns the vessel, said it was considering removing containers if other refloating efforts failed.

The Ever Given is wedged some 3.7 miles) north of the canals Red Sea entrance near the city of Suez.

A prolonged closure of the crucial waterway would cause delays in the global shipment chain.

Some 19,000 vessels passed through the canal last year, an average of 52 per day, according to official figures. About 10% of world trade flows through the canal.

The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East. Already, Syria has begun rationing the distribution of fuel in the war-torn country amid concerns of delays of shipments arriving amid the blockage.

As of early Sunday, more than 320 ships were waiting to travel through the Suez, either to the Mediterranean or the Red Sea, according to canal services firm Leth Agencies.

At least 10 of those vessels carried livestock, raising concerns about the animals. Mr Rabei told the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya that authorities planned to offer provisions to help them.

Expand Close Tug boats and dredgers work to free the ship (Suez Canal Authority/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Tug boats and dredgers work to free the ship (Suez Canal Authority/AP)

Dozens of others still listed their destination as the canal, though shippers increasingly appear to be avoiding the passage.

The worlds biggest shipping company, Denmarks AP Moller-Maersk, warned its customers that it would take anywhere from three to six days to clear the backlog of vessels at the canal. Already, the firm and its partners have 27 ships waiting to enter the canal, with three stuck in the waterway itself.

We have until now redirected 15 vessels where we deemed the delay of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa equal to the current delay of sailing to Suez and queuing, the shipper said.

Mediterranean Shipping Co., the worlds second-largest shipper, said it already had rerouted at least 11 ships around the Cape of Good Hope.
The Rangers have informed infielder Rougned Odor that he will not make the teams Opening Day roster, as NBC 5s Pat Doney first reported (Twitter link). Odor will be designated for assignment, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Texas still owes him $27MM over the next two seasons, and because he has five-plus years of MLB service, he can still collect that salary even if he clears waivers and is released. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that the Rangers will select the contract of veteran infielder Charlie Culberson, who has made the roster.

Odors DFA further emphasizes the Rangers youth movement and closes the book on one of the more regrettable financial commitments in the franchises history. Nearly four years ago to the day, Odor inked a six-year, $49.5MM contract extension buying out his arbitration seasons and a handful of free-agent years. At the time, he was coming off a two-year run that saw him bat .267/.305/.487 with 49 home runs  including a 33-homer campaign in 2016.

Questionable on-base skills gave some reason for concern, but Odor was a former Top 50 overall prospect who looked the part of a slugging second baseman. Few couldve reasonably forecast such a stark decline in such rapid fashion, however. Odor struck out at just a 19.4 percent clip from 2015-16 with the Rangers, but his whiff rate jumped to 25 percent in 2017 and has now climbed as high as 30.9 percent from 2019-20. Odor maintained much of his power, but his suddenly sky-high strikeout rates made it difficult to keep his average north of .200. His OBP, meanwhile has routinely been south of .300.

In all, since signing the extension, Odor has turned in an awful .215/.279/.418 batting line and fanned in about 27 percent of his plate appearances. His defensive ratings have tumbled in recent seasons as well, further shining a spotlight on his struggles.

With Odor now out of the picture and Elvis Andrus traded to Oakland, it looks to be a new era for the Rangers infield. Theyll task Isiah Kiner-Falefa with manning shortstop on the regular, and Odors departure should pave the way for Nick Solak to get everyday at-bats at second base. While Solaks glovework draws questionable reviews itself, hes a well-regarded offensive prospect  even if he struggled during last years shortened schedule.

The Rangers will have a week to trade Odor, place him on outright waivers or release him. That timeline is something of a moot point, however, as no team is going to agree to acquire the remainder of the contract either via trade or waivers. Its perhaps possible that the Rangers will find some kind of bad contract swap, but the likeliest outcome is that Odor will simply be released and free to seek opportunities with other clubs. Should he sign elsewhere, his new club would only be required to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. That sum would be subtracted from the $27MM the Rangers still owe him.
Voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams told CNN on Sunday that a slew of bills introduced by Georgia Republicans that generally restrict voter access in the state are "a redux of Jim Crow."

Why it matters: Republicans in the state say the measures aim to curtail voting fraud. They would make it harder for people to vote in a state that recently gave Democrats power in the Senate with a 50-50 split and flipped blue for Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

The legislation would end no-excuse absentee voting, move ballot drop boxes and limit in-person early voting, among other effects.

Some of the bills introduced by state Republicans "seem to be inspired directly by arguments made in the failed lawsuits" brought by former President Trump as he attempted to contest the results of the 2020 election, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution writes.

Where it stands: At least 12 bills remain after the majority failed to pass Georgia's Senate or House of Representatives prior to a legislative deadline, per AJC.

What they're saying: "I do absolutely agree that it's racist," Abrams told CNN. "It is a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie."

"We know that the only thing that precipitated these changes, it's not that there was a question of security  in fact, the secretary of state and the governor went through great pains to assure America that Georgia's elections were secure,"

"The only connection that we can find is that more people of color voted and it changed the outcome of elections in a direction that Republicans do not like."

"Instead of celebrating better access and more participation, their response is to try to eliminate access to voting for primarily communities of color, and there is a direct correlation between the usage of drop boxes, the usage of in-person early voting especially on Sundays, and the use of vote by mail, and a direct increase in the number of people of color voting."

 Abrams on CNN's "State of the Union"

Georgia's Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that although "some good ideas" have come out of election-related bills brought this year by Democrats and Republicans, "Republicans don't need election reform to win, we need leadership."

Duncan said Republicans were hurt "in any sort of conversation around election reform" following misinformation spread after the 2020 election, which preceded Trump's unfounded claims that Democrats rigged the vote.

"We lost credibility," Duncan said. "Those were 10 weeks that we can't take back. January 6th was a pivot point for this country and for this party."

Go deeper: Jimmy Carter "disheartened, saddened, and angry" by Georgia bill restricting voting access
WORCESTER, Mass., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

"We find it disheartening and reckless that Tenet would spend millions to keep St. Vincent Hospital nurses out on the street to protect their profits while our patients continue to suffer and go without life-saving care and the dignity they deserve,"

Marlena Pellegrino, St. Vincent Hospital RN

"In all the articles I have read they [Tenet] never said they can't afford to give you what you are asking for, not one article. So that means you got the money, you just choose not to use it, and that's a problem," Rev. Clyde Tally, pastor, Belmont AME Zion Church

As the 800 striking nurses of St. Vincent Hospital move into their fourth week of an open-ended strike against Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, the for-profit corporations will spend more than $22 million* to prolong the strike and the City of Worcester has confirmed that Tenet is spending more than $30,000 a day and $210,000 per week on police details alone.

Based on the funds used for police details alone, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), using a conservative analysis of a nurse's salary and benefits, calculates that at the same cost, Tenet could easily have addressed key proposals by the nurses that drove the nurses to strike. This includes the nurses' call for a cadre of critical care and rapid response nurses (similar to what is in place at nearby UMass Memorial Medical Center) to provide specialized care to critically ill patients boarding in the emergency department or on other units waiting for an ICU bed, or to assist in caring for patients experiencing a life- threatening downturn in their condition. The police details are but a small cost compared to the multimillions Tenet spends each week to prolong the strike, millions that should be spent improving staffing throughout the hospital to provide the safe, high quality care that patients deserve.

"While we appreciate the protection of the police on our strike line, the issue here is not with the police, but with Tenet's decision to cause and prolong this strike, at the expense of our core concerns  patient safety," said Marlena Pellegrino, RN, longtime nurse at the hospital and co-chair of the nurses local bargaining unit with the MNA. "We find it disheartening and reckless that Tenet would spend millions to keep St. Vincent Hospital nurses out on the street to protect their profits while our patients continue to suffer and go without life-saving care and the dignity they deserve."

The strike by the St. Vincent Hospital began on March 8, after Tenet had refused to negotiate with the nurses over improvements the nurses are seeking to improve unsafe patient care conditions in the hospital. The decision followed earnest and painstaking efforts over the last two years by the nurses to convince Tenet to improve the patient care conditions at the facility, poor conditions that have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Adding insult to injury, the same day nurses voted to authorize the strike, Tenet announced annual profits of more than $400 million.

The nurses' strike and their stand for safer patient care has galvanized support from a variety of public officials, labor and community advocates, including the entire Worcester City Council, the Worcester state legislative delegation, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Edward Markey and Congressman Jim McGovern and Attorney General Maura Healy who have all visited the nurses strike line and sent their own letter to Tenet's CEO in Dallas urging Tenet to negotiate with the nurses to address the nurses concerns over needed staffing improvements to ensure safe care.

Last Wednesday Worcester Interfaith, a community coalition comprised of 21 faith-based organizations, held a candlelight vigil to support the nurses. "Worcester's Faith Communities stand in solidarity with the St. Vincent Nurses, as they hold steadfast in seeking safety standards in staffing and for patient safety," said Isabel Gonzalez-Webster, Executive Director. "In the middle of a worldwide pandemic and widespread economic, housing, health and food insecurity, it is not the time for corporations to put profit over safe working conditions and patient safety. We must support our front-line workers who have put their lives at stake to support our most vulnerable residents."

Prior to the closing benediction to the vigil, Reverend Clyde Talley, pastor at the Belmont AME Zion Church, perfectly summed up the immorality and intentionality behind Tenet's decision to invest in a strike rather than the care of the community. "In all the articles I have read they [Tenet] never said they can't afford to give you what you are asking for, not one article. So that means you got the money, you just choose not to use it, and that's a problem," Rev. Tally said. "We're out here now because you are not being heard, and we as a community are out here with you to let you know you are not alone."

As the issue of Tenet's misplaced spending priorities are being raised, the local media, and staff working inside the hospital have shared disturbing reports of poor patient care being delivered by hundreds of inadequately trained strike replacement nurses who have been flown in from all over the country to break the nurses' strike.

While nurses are walking outside the hospital carrying signs that read "on strike for safe patient care" Tenet Healthcare is operating the hospital with a cadre of replacement nurses who have never worked in the facility, at times using the physicians and other staff in the hospital to deliver care generally provided by the nurses. According to a number of accounts received by the MNA, the MNA believes that these strike replacements are providing substandard care. The reports show the nurses did not know how to operate key pieces of operating room equipment, have mislabeled labs, failed to respond to patients in a timely way (neglecting the needs of those patients) and failed to follow basic protocols designed to prevent serious errors in care.

For a more detailed review of the staffing crisis, efforts by nurses to convince Tenet to address the crisis, as well as proposals nurses are seeking to improve patient care, click here to view a previous press release on the matter.

*The estimate of $22 million is based on Tenet's public disclosure at the outset of the strike that the cost of replacement nurses was $5.4 million for the first week multiplied by the four weeks of the strike, and also including the city's confirmed weekly cost for police details of $210,000 multiplied by four weeks. This figure does not include the hospital's cost for its own expanded internal security force, the installation of special high tech camera systems outside the hospital entrances, and the fleet of buses and vans the hospital is using to transport the strike replacement nurses to and from the facility throughout the day every day of the strike. The MNA last week sent a letter to St. Vincent Hospital's attorney requesting a copy of the contracts for the strike replacement nurses so that the nurses, and the public have a full picture of the resources Tenet is using to prolong this strike. For a copy of this letter, see the "For the Press" section at www.massnurses.org/StVincentNurses.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association

Related Links

http://www.massnurses.org


The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Bharat Biotech International are looking at bringing the messenger RNA platform to India after seeing its successful use in quick development of covid-19 vaccines by US-based Pfizer and Moderna.

Today, we dont have any mRNA-based vaccine platform in the country and Dr (Krishna) Ella and us are already talking about how we actually bring it, and Dr Ella is very confident that we can bring this particular platform in the coming few months," CSIR director general Shekhar C Mande said.

CSIR has earlier developed the molecule TLR 7/8, which was used as an adjuvant for Hyderabad-based vaccine makers Covaxin. An adjuvant is a chemical that is added to the drug substance of a vaccine to boost the immune response provided by it.

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) will be looking at supplying lipid nanoparticles, which are used to stabilise the drug substance for mRNA vaccines, while Bharat Biotech will manufacture the vaccine.

We will make sure that between CSIR and Bharat Biotech, we get end-to-end solutions for these kind of things," CSIR-IICT director Srivari Chandrasekhar said.

The announcement comes on a day when Bharat Biotech, Biovet and Sapigen Biologix signed a master collaborative agreement with CSIR-IICT.

Under the agreement, the three companies will provide necessary financial support to CSIR-IICT for developing key raw materials required by the collaborators, and also perform in-vitro and in vivo studies for further development of potential vaccine candidates and bio-therapeutics formulations to be designed by the collaborators. Animal vaccine manufacturer Biovet and biotech research firm Sapigen Biologix are both led by promoters of Bharat Biotech.

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With Brazils COVID-19 catastrophe raging uncheckedreaching a rapidly rising average of 77,000 cases and 2,500 deaths a day, and a total of 12.5 million cases and 312,000 deathsthe government of fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro is rapidly erecting the framework of a police state.

In the last month alone, over 30 individuals have been subpoenaed under the countrys anti-subversion National Security Law, a draconian piece of legislation enacted under the last president of the 1964-1985 US-backed military dictatorship with the stated goal of giving the military control over future civilian governments.

On March 19, the conservative daily Estado de S. Paulo reported that the first two years of the Bolsonaro government had seen the expansion of the use of the law by a staggering 285 percent, with a total of 77 inquiries into alleged violations of the law, as opposed to 20 over the two previous years.

Jair Bolsonaro (Credit: Marcelo Camargo/Agencia Brasil )

The recent crackdown began on March 4, with the targeting of 24-year-old Joao Reginaldo Jr. for a social media post related to an official presidential visit to his city, the agribusiness hub of Uberlandia, in the state of Minas Gerais. Reginaldo Jr. had asked on Twitter if anyone wanted to become a national hero during the presidents visit, suggesting some public display of opposition would attract widespread support.

Reflecting Bolsonaros own extreme sensitivity to the explosive social conditions in Brazil, where 22 million more people have been thrown into poverty, the tweet was taken as a threat to national security. The intelligence unit of the Minas Gerais state Military Police took Reginaldo Jr. into custody by 10 p.m. the same day, barely six hours after his tweet, which received 400 responses, some of them suggesting violent opposition to the government. Despite Reginaldo Jr.s small following of just 150 people, his post had been shared 1,000 times. At the local Federal Police headquarters, Reginaldo Jr. was questioned about his connections to political parties or student unions, which he denied. He was sent to prison, being released only the next day.

By March 18, a group of Uberlandia attorneys following the case had already identified 25 individuals, overwhelmingly young people, who had been subpoenaed in relation to the case without any knowledge of possible crimes they were involved in, for simply responding to or re-tweeting Reginaldo Jr.s original message.

Also on March 18, five Workers Party (PT) activists were detained in the capital Brasilia by the local Military Police and brought to the Federal Police precinct accused of violating the National Security Law for associating Bolsonaro with Nazism and genocide. Their crime was unfurling for barely a minute a banner bearing a cartoon of Bolsonaro painting a swastika over a hospitals red cross, with the caption genocidal.

Fascist demonstration outside Bolsonaro's house in Rio de Janeiro on March 22 (YouTube)

The cartoon had been produced by the cartoonist Aroeira in June, 2020 at the height of the first wave of the pandemic in Brazil, and was shared on social media by Ricardo Noblat, a columnist with the powerful Globo media group. On June 15, both were charged by Justice Minister Andre Mendonca with falsely accusing the president of associating with Nazism, which itself is a crime under the National Security Law.

The local Federal Police deputy in Brasilia eventually dismissed the case against the PT activists after party deputies flocked to the precinct.

In another high profile case three days earlier, on March 15, a 33-year-old YouTube personality known as Felipe Neto, whose social media channels boast more than 41 million followers, was subpoenaed on the basis of similar charges by the Rio de Janeiro state police cyber crimes division. It issued a warrant against him for carrying out a crime against the honor of the president of the Republic provided for in the National Security Law. The reason for the charge was Netos repeated use of the term genocidal to refer to Bolsonaro and his sociopathic handling of the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil.

As was later revealed, the charge had been brought by none other than Bolsonaros son, Carlos, a city councillor in Rio. The investigation was suspended three days later, on March 18, by a judge who ruled that national security issues could not be handled by the Rio police and should be directed to the Federal Police.

While the case against the PT activists was dismissed by the intervention of the party, and the case of Felipe Neto is suspended due in large measure to his prominent social media presence in Brazildefenses not shared by the 25 unknown youth charged in Uberlandiathe March national security scare poses the gravest dangers. It not only exposes the accelerating buildup of a police state under the weight of the vast crisis gripping bourgeois rule, but also reveals the fascistic moods being cultivated among low-ranking state police forces, the most solid constituency for the far right in Brazil.

In all three March cases, individuals were subpoenaed, charged or detained by state police forces. Given that investigations or enforcement under the National Security Law are part of the federal legal framework, these actions amount to rogue demonstrations of loyalty to the would-be Brazilian dictator Bolsonaro in the face of his growing political isolation. Brazils state-based Military Police kill over 6,000 Brazilians a year, and are virtually immune to prosecution under their own Military Justice system.

Bolsonaro has made one of his mottos the call for security forces not to obey absurd orders, referring to the enforcement of search and seizure warrants related to corruption probes against himself, his family or his political associates. And on March 8 he declared that my army will not go to the streets to enforce governors decrees, referring to mild restrictions on economic activity imposed by local authorities in Brazil in order to avoid an even more horrific COVID-19 death toll.

On March 8 Bolsonaro told supporters that the limited curfews in some cities amount to a state of siege. He threatened to react by imposing his own state of siege in order to ensure unrestricted economic activity and let the virus spread unchecked. Is the Brazilian population prepared for a federal government action on that front? he asked.

In direct response to Bolsonaros appeals, on March 22, the presidents birthday, dozens of fascists dressed in army fatigues and red berets, identifying themselves as members of the airborne infantryBolsonaros own branch of the Army in the 1970s and 1980smarched in front of his private home in Rio de Janeiro. A video of the event included the threat of civil war in Bolsonaros defense. If you want to impeach our president, remember he is not alone, the videos narrator warned. Addressing himself to lefties, he concluded, youd better gather the best youve got and try it.

In response to a question from TV Globo, the Eastern Military Command stated that there was no relation between the institution and the event cited, adding that the Brazilian Army does not condone any type of illicit conduct on the part of its members. It made no attempt, however, to deny that those involved in the fascist march were indeed active-duty paratroopers.

Rogue police elements are also responding to earlier calls by Rio de Janeiros Military Club, the 133-year-old center of military coup-plotting in Brazil, for the National Security Law to be used against the left. This came in response to the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) ordering the arrest of federal Deputy Daniel Silveira, a former Rio de Janeiro Military Police soldier and Bolsonaro loyalist, for demanding the shutdown of the court.

On Sunday, this political struggle between the various political representatives of the ruling class to show which is more loyal to the military apparatus took to another stage, in response to what authorities described as a psychotic episode on the part of a Military Police soldier in the state of Bahia, ruled by the Workers Party (PT). The soldier, Wesley Soares Goes, broke into a section of beach cordoned off as part of the states COVID-19 restrictions, and started shooting in the air, shouting that he would not allow the violation of the dignity and honor of workers, and I am not going to arrest workers anymore; I didnt join the police to arrest fathers of families.

After several hours of negotiations, Goes started shooting at the BOPE special operations troops sent to seize him, and was brutally gunned down with 10 shots. While what precisely prompted Goes outburst is as yet unknown, the episode was immediately seized upon by the far right, which cast him as an anti-lockdown martyr. The episode was cited by no one less than the head of the House Constitutional Committee, the Bolsonaro loyalist Bia Kicis, who tweeted that it was the beginning of a mutiny by state Military Police forces against governors, concluding with Bolsonaros rallying cry: enough with obeying absurd orders!

The latest developments lay bare the political criminality of the complacency and dismissal of the military coup threats by the largest opposition force, the Workers Party, and its foremost leader, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, politically rehabilitated by the recent annulment of corruption convictions barring him from elections. Lula used his rehabilitation speech at the headquarters of the ABC Metalworkers Union on March 10 to declare he could not take seriously the crackdown calls by the Military Club. Making a pro-military profession of faith, he declared, those who need guns are our Armed Forces, our police, who go into the streets to fight crime with a rusty .38 revolver. The speech was made against the backdrop of a police strike threat against Bolsonaro, welcomed by the PT with the charge that Bolsonaro had betrayed his constituency in the state repressive apparatus.

With staggering hypocrisy, the party has feigned indignation at the persistence of the dictatorial law whose application it oversaw when mass opposition to the party broke out in 2013. The PT is principally responsible for providing a draconian backup in case the hated law was struck down by the judiciary. It vastly expanded the framework for the prosecution of political opposition with the enacting of the anti-terrorism law of 2016, which its governors want to expand to include the torching of buses and blocking of streets, common tactics of demonstrators in response to often deadly police crackdowns.

The PT has one overriding concern: avoiding the eruption of mass opposition to Bolsonaro, which could sweep aside the PT itself, which is politically responsible for his rise and is complicit in his crimes. In the northeastern states where the PT holds power, it has pursued the same homicidal herd immunity policy. All the while, the self-styled opposition is leaving Bolsonaro free to hatch his conspiracies in plain sight.

Every one of these forces is acting in response to the growing restiveness of the working class, which is not willing to accept mass death, impoverishment and repression. In order to carry their struggles forward, workers must break free from the PT-imposed political straitjacket, drawing a balance sheet of the partys role in preparing the current crisis, and building a section of the International Committee of the Fourth International as a new political leadership.
Animal Agriculture Companies Contribute to Both the Physical Impacts and Public Opinion of Climate Change

The vast majority of the worlds largest meat and dairy companies have not made an explicit commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, finds a new analysis by researchers at New York University.

The study, which appears in the journal Climatic Change, examines the climate impacts of the biggest 35 largest meat and dairy companies around the globe as well as their influence in shaping political responses to climate change.

It is the first peer-reviewed study to assess climate responsibilities of the largest meat and dairy companies.

Large meat and dairy companies are not doing enough to tackle climate change, and countries are not doing enough in terms of holding them accountable, says Jennifer Jacquet, an associate professor in NYUs Department of Environmental Studies and one of the authors of the study. In general, their commitments center on mitigating energy use, with little focus on emissions resulting from animal and land use, which make the biggest warming contributions in the agricultural sector.

The assessment provides an in-depth look at the major animal agriculture corporations. While animal agricultures role in climate change has been well-documentedit is estimated to cause nearly 15 percent of human-generated greenhouse gas emissionsprevious analyses have mainly focused on the sector as a whole. The Climatic Change study centered on the largest meat and dairy companies.

The researchers, who included Oliver Lazarus, an NYU graduate student at the time of the study and now a doctoral student at Harvard University, and Sonali McDermid, an associate professor in NYUs Department of Environmental Studies, examined these companies climate reporting and policies.

Of the 35 companies studied, only Dairy Farmers of America (U.S.), Nestle (Switzerland), Danish Crown (Denmark), and Danone (France) had made commitments as of July 14, 2020 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The other 31 largest meat and dairy companies, including JBS* (Brazil), Cargill (U.S.), Hormel (U.S.), Fonterra (New Zealand), and Smithfield* (China), had not. In addition, there are large discrepancies in how companies report emissions and plan to achieve mitigation efforts, if they do so at all.

If you look at the individual companies, and how they claim to be working on climate change, their mitigation efforts focus on carbon dioxide, which is a small fraction of their emission across their supply chains, said McDermid. They should be talking about methane, which is the more potent greenhouse gas, especially when it comes to cows.

The analyses also included projections of these companies future emissions based on existing practices and compared them to the climate commitments of countries where those companies are based.

The researchers found that, with a continuation of existing practices, two companies will each make up over 100 percent of their headquarters countrys emissions targets by 2030: Fonterra in New Zealand and Nestle in Switzerland. In addition, Arla in Denmark would make up 60 percent of Denmarks total emissions. The authors acknowledge that extraterritorial emissions by multinational companies are not, under the Paris Agreement, applied to a headquarters countrys commitments, but considered this analysis a useful exercise in considering the climate responsibilities of individual companies.

The researchers also scrutinized the Paris climate commitments of countries that are home to big meat and dairy companies. Only seven of the 16 countries where these companies are based make explicit reference to direct and indirect emissions of animal agriculture in their climate commitments.

The team also examined the political influence of the 10 largest meat and dairy companies in the U.S. Using a set of 20 questions to assess influence, they found that Tyson and National Beef engage on the issue of climate change more than any of the other 10 largest U.S. livestock companies. But each company has contributed to research that minimizes the link between animal agriculture and climate change and have influenced climate-related policies and discourse.

The largest meat and dairy companies in the U.S. have spent a considerable amount of time, money, and effort into downplaying the link between animal agriculture and climate change, and into fighting climate policy more generally says Lazarus. Documenting their influence in this area is critical to understanding the failure of the U.S. government to adequately address climate change.

The teams analysis also showed the following:

JBS (Brazil) and Tyson and Cargill (both in the U.S.) are the three companies with the largest emissions in absolute terms.

Companies headquartered in New Zealand, Denmark, and Switzerland make up the largest proportion of future emissions as a portion of total country target emissions under the Paris Agreement.

Nine U.S.-headquartered companies combined currently represent 6 percent of U.S. total emissions, which would increase to 9 percent in 2025 if the U.S. complies with its commitments to the Paris Agreement (as of 2015). This small percentage is the result of high overall U.S. emissions as well as weak ambition in terms of emissions reductions.

Eight of the 10 companies have consistently lobbied Congress and the EPA on environmental and climate issues. Cargill has issued 173 quarterly lobbying reports on these issues since 2000, with a peak of 24 in 2010, when the cap-and-trade bill was up for debate. These companies have issued 545 quarterly lobbying reports since 2000 on environmental and climate issues.

U.S. meat and dairy companies act collectively to block climate legislation that might limit production. Six of these groupsthe National Cattlemens Beef Association, the National Pork Producers Council, the North American Meat Institute, the National Chicken Council, the International Dairy Foods Association, and the American Farm Bureau Federation and its state groupshave collectively spent approximately $200 million in lobbying since 2000, lobbying yearly on climate-related issues like cap-and-trade, the Clean Air Act, and greenhouse gas regulations.

U.S. beef and dairy companies appear to act collectively in ways similar to the fossil fuel industry, which built an extensive climate change countermovement, the authors conclude. Meat- and dairy-related trade associations have more traditionally been used to lobby for access to grazing lands and fees and manure management regulations, and to influence government regulation, but more recently they have been involved in blocking climate policy that would limit production.

*Since this studys data were collected, Smithfield and JBS announced their commitment to becoming net-zero.
If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is unaware, it means that there are no negotiations with Turkey, and negotiations arent being held in any format. This is what Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ara Aivazian told reporters during todays briefing.

Asked what the Secretary of the Security Council was talking about when he said Armenia needs to make certain corrections in its approaches to Turkey, Aivazian said he didnt have any comment and asked reporters to ask the Secretary of the Security Council.

Asked if certain corrections can be made by a government that led the country to a war with devastating consequences through its policy and when there is an issue of prisoners of war that remains unsolved, Aivazian stated that he doesnt agree with these evaluations, adding that the first step needs to be the speedy solution to the major issue on the return of prisoners of war, without any preconditions.

When told that Armenias Ambassador to Israel was recalled during the war and asked if there is a decision on the Ambassador, Aivazian said the following: I wasnt foreign minister during the war.




Haiti - FLASH : Joe Biden expels more Haitians than Donald Trump





A flight scheduled to leave Miami on Friday March 26 to deport Haitians in an irregular migratory situation to Haiti sparked a critical report from a coalition of immigration advocacy groups.



In his report entitled "The Invisible Wall: Title 42 and Its Impact on Haitian Migrants" the coalition led by the "Haitian Bridge Alliance", "UndocuBlack Network" and "The Quixote" criticizes Biden who systematically denies migrants an asylum application. and denounces the continuation of Trump's Haitian expulsion policy



Since last year, the United States has returned approximately 2,200 Haitians to Haiti. 60% of them were returned, not under the Trump administration, but under the new Biden administration, which is supposed to be more immigrant friendly.



The controversy centers around Title 42, a federal public health law (seldom used in the past) known as "Title 42", which is used to restrict asylum seekers due to the pandemic of Covid-19 and activated by the White House under the Trump presidency.



Steven Forester, Miami-based Immigration Policy Coordinator for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti said "Haiti is a Nation in systematic collapse [...] extraordinary conditions exist which make it dangerous. to deport anyone there," stressing about deportations that it is an "unacceptable policy "



He recalls that the Biden administration did not explain why it considerably increased Haitian expulsions. But Forester says it contradicts what President Biden told Haitians last year as a candidate "President Biden when he was in Miami said he would end deportations to Haiti"...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33062-haiti-usa-congresswoman-clarke-urges-ice-to-immediately-stop-deportations-of-haitians.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33039-haiti-usa-500-haitians-repatriated-to-haiti-trump-or-biden-nothing-changes.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33011-haiti-usa-congresswoman-wilson-urges-biden-to-suspend-deportations-to-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32984-haiti-usa-ice-defies-jo-biden-and-deports-72-haitians-to-haiti-including-22-children.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32961-haiti-flash-the-united-states-suspends-deportation-flights-of-haitians.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















According to a blog on the IBM website, the technology giant has launched a proof of concept (PoC) with Movistar, a Telefonica brand, to deploy one of the first fully functional Open RAN networks, covering 81,000 inhabitants in the city of Puerto Madryn in Argentina.

This PoC, says IBM, is enabling the company to test live, commercial traffic and serves as an important early proof point for Open RAN technology as it continues to evolve and mature.

For this PoC, IBM says it has led the systems integration, pre-integrating the solution and enabling its end-to-end deployment. The company has also brought together components and systems from multiple software and hardware vendors, including Altiostar, Red Hat, Quanta, Gigatera and Kontron.

IBM says that this implementation demonstrates the telco industry's trust in IBM's experience as a systems integrator, as well as its proven tools and processes, to enable leading mobile operators to embrace emerging Open RAN technology.

The company adds that the PoC serves as an additional proof point for the maturity of Altiostar's Open RAN software and further strengthens Altiostars position as an IBM Cloud for Telecommunications ecosystem partner in the Open RAN domain.

As you might expect, IBM has been involved in Open RAN for several years now and sees a very strong future for the technology. Quoting information from analyst group Rethink Technology Research, it says that Open RAN technology is expected to be deployed at nearly two thirds of all cell sites by 2026.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2021) - East West Petroleum Corp. (TSXV: EW) ("East West" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has retained a technical advisory team in New Zealand to assist in oversight over operations at Cheal.

The Cheal productions assets are held by the Company's wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary and the subsidiary has concluded an agreement with 3TCF Limited ("3TCF"), a private New Zealand corporation, with a team of seasoned oil and gas professionals in order to have oversight and guidance on operating matters. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic travel has been difficult for both the Company and the permit operator. As a result, the Company now has a New Zealand based technical team, which can provide oversight over ongoing operations.

Headed by Mr. Bill Treuren, a successful New Zealand businessman and entrepreneur, with a 30-year background in oil & gas pipelining, facilities, drilling and completion engineering, 3TCF can provide the necessary foundation to have New Zealand operator capability allowing us to manage existing and new exploration and production operations. Other key members of the 3TCF management team include Dave Bennett, Duncan Hardie and Allister Richardson. Dave has 40 years' experience in petroleum exploration holding senior roles in numerous economically viable oil & gas discoveries. Most recently Dave was Technical Director of Tag Oil, which held acreage adjacent to the Company's New Zealand properties. Duncan has 40 years' experience as a successful entrepreneur in minerals and petroleum exploration & other business areas. Duncan is Principal of Hardie Pacific & Munuku Pty. Ltd., which holds and has under application a total of seven EPM permits north of Cairns, Australia. Allister is a consulting geologist with 17 years oil industry experience, was previously Tunisia exploration manager for Oil Search & later Chairman of Rawson Resources Ltd.

Said interim CEO Mr. Nick Demare: "We are pleased to have concluded this agreement with 3TCF and look forward to working with the 3TCF team."

Said 3TCF President Mr. Bill Treuren: "We look forward to working with East West in order to assist them in managing their New Zealand assets."

About East West Petroleum Corp.

East West Petroleum Corp. (www.eastwestpetroleum.ca) is a TSX Venture Exchange listed company established in 2010 to invest in international oil & gas opportunities. The Company has its primary focus on two key areas: New Zealand, where it has established production and cash flow and Romania where it is carried to production on an exploration program. In Romania the Company has exploration rights in four exploration concessions covering 1,000,000 acres in the prolific Pannonian Basin of western Romania with Naftna Industrija Srbije ("NIS"). The Company does not own the acres but has exploration rights.

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.

Nick Demare

ndemare@chasemgt.com

Tel: (604) 685-9316

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78764
press release

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his sincere condolences at the passing of former Deputy Minister and Special Envoy on Investment Ms Elizabeth Thabethe.

Ms Thabethe was also recently appointed as a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Investment.

The former Deputy Minister of Small Business Development, Trade and Industry and Tourism passed away today, Friday, 26 March 2021, at the age of 62. She passed away following a period of hospitalisation after a road accident.

The President offers his sincere condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and comrades of Ms Thabethe.

President Ramaphosa said: "As government and the nation we mourn the passing of a leader and campaigner who served her political movement, the Gauteng legislature, the National Assembly and various economic portfolios in government with distinction and determination.

"She was a champion of economic transformation and equity, who worked tirelessly in our country and internationally in pursuit of economic inclusion and shared prosperity.

"Elizabeth Thabethe's contribution to our society will endure in the networks she built and unlocked in support of our economic objectives. It also lives on in the work opportunities, new enterprises and growing investment flows that are making a difference in the lives of millions of South Africans.

"She will be greatly missed by the many structures on which she brought her passion and wisdom to bear during a lifetime devoted to the betterment of the lives of all South Africans."
Alden, a New York-based hedge fund and Tribune Publishings largest shareholder with a 31.6% stake, reached an agreement last month to buy the rest of the company at $17.25 per share and take it private. The deal, which values Tribune Publishing at about $633 million, requires approval from two-thirds of the other shareholders in a proxy vote to be scheduled, as well as regulatory approval.
Chinese authorities raided a house church in Chongqing and returned days later to confiscate church materials from the property.

The Yuzhong District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau on March 21 raided the Mt. Olive Church in Chongqing, where several members of the house church were sent home during the raid. Chinese police sealed off the church without presenting legal documents and captured Pastor Zhu Dong and several other house church leaders, who were taken to the police station.

International Christian Concern reported that just three days following the raid at Mt. Olive Church in Chongqing, Chinese officials returned to confiscate items, including chairs and books, again without presenting proper documentation.

The Chinese police were seen with moving trucks just outside the church, into which the confiscated church belongings was loaded and taken away, ChinaAid reported.

Christian persecution and abuse in the hands of the Chinese police isn't new to members of Mt. Olive Church in Chongqing. Back in January of 2018, the Mt. Olive Reformed School, which was founded by the same church, was raided and sealed off by Chinese police for being an "illegal venue for proselytization."

According to the International Religious Freedom Report 2010: China, proselytizing or the act of religious conversion is only allowed in china in "registered places of worship and in private settings."

Such acts in public or unregistered places of worship or those conducted by foreigners are not permitted. Thus, "house churches" are often the targets of Chinese police as they are "not permitted to openly hold religious services unless they affiliate with a patriotic religious association." They are also targeted for "illegal religious activities" or "disrupting social stability."

Chongqing is no stranger to raids by the Chinese police. Earlier this month, Chinese police in plainclothes descended upon the Living Fountain Church during its Sunday service to confiscate two computers and capture two Christians. Chinese police also demanded the church to refrain from gathering to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and because the church had "not registered itself."

The week before the February 28 raid, Chinese police already visited the church to warn them to refrain from gathering because they lacked government registration. The church was also reprimanded for having minors amongst their members.

Results of a poll released this month showed that there has been an increased concern among the U.S. Catholics regarding Christian persecution around the world. A survey revealed that up to 57% of U.S. Catholics believe persecution of Christians around the world is 'very severe," compared to last year's 41%. Up to 67% expressed that they were "very concerned" about Christian persecution around the world and 61% of U.S. Catholics admitted to donating to organizations that assisted persecuted Christians.

Last week, the U.S. Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken released a statement announcing the sanctions imposed against several Chinese authorities "in response to serious human rights abuse against members of ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang," where the most terrifying human rights abuses and religious persecution is occuring in communist China.
All schools have faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, but rural districts were already a step behind, says state Sen. Adam Hinds, who is pushing for seats on a Massachusetts Rural School Commission to be filled.

Hinds is co-chair of the 19-seat commission, which was supposed to be done with its work in December, Hinds said. The state senator said he is frustrated with the pace of commission appointments, delaying any work by the group.

Now were in a situation where we need to extend the deadlines in law and were incredibly frustrated that we havent had the appointments made by the appointing authorities, the biggest one being the governor with six of the, I believe, 19 slots, Hinds said.

However, officials said that Gov. Charlie Baker so far has made three appointments to the commission, including Sheila Muir, Alexander Kastrinakis and Sharon Harrison. The governors office intends to make more appointments soon and is looking forward to the Legislature convening the commissions first meeting, officials said.

The commission would be tasked with identifying how the foundation formula for education funding would address the financial challenges of rural schools, or schools experiencing low and declining enrollment.

Right now, the formula does not address those needs and so this will find a way to do so, Hinds said. Superintendents and principals that I speak with, have been working with throughout the year, highlight the sense that we were behind the eight ball to start with.

Wireless internet access is a struggle for rural schools, one that became heightened during the pandemic as districts were called on to offer remote learning.

Part of the challenge has been using one-time federal funds to try and get back to a level playing field, Hinds said.

A focus on rural schools dates back to 2018, when the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education studied the fiscal conditions of such districts and determined that rural schools pay more for teachers, aides and transportation, Hinds said. If a school sees a decline in enrollment, it still must pay for the teacher even if there are five fewer children in the classroom, Hinds explained.

That led to a rural school aid line item, which reached $3 million in Fiscal 2021. Districts are eligible for rural school aid based on their student density - not more than 35 students per square mile - and per capita income - less than $41,794 per capita according to 2018 Census estimates - according to DESE.

On Monday, Hinds is visiting some rural schools in his district to announce aid amounts for some of the rural schools. Hes scheduled to stop at Gateway Regional and Mohawk Trail Regional School, districts that are receiving $223,213 and $192,644, respectively, in Fiscal 2021 rural school aid.

So far to date, I know Mohawk used [rural aid funds] on tablets and making sure that kids had access anywhere, Hinds said. But uses for the funds can change from year to year.

In Fiscal 2021, there were 50 school districts eligible to receive rural school aid, according to DESE.

Hinds, noting that many of the schools in his district are considered rural, said rural schools did not see the increase that other schools did from the Student Opportunity Act. Its another obstacle for rural districts and was a factor in fighting for the Rural School Commission.

If the Rural School Commission seats are filled soon, the commission could be done working by this calendar year to include changes in next years budget, Hinds said.

The pandemic has really revealed a lot of challenges for the region and access to education, Hinds said. Its time to make sure that were addressing our statewide budgets and policies so that we dont have regions of the commonwealth left behind.


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Mama Sarah Onyango Obama, the grandmother of former US President Barrack Obama, is dead.

She was aged about 99 years, having been born around 1922.

Her demise was confirmed by her daughter, Marsat Obama, who told the Nation that her mother died at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu at 4.45am on Monday morning. She had been admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning.

She said her mother had been ailing for some time now and had suffered a stroke in September last year.

"She was diagnosed with stroke in September last year and had blood sugar related problems," she told the Nation by phone.

The family is making arrangements to have her buried today (Monday) at the Muslim Cemetery in Kisumu.

"We are trying to see whether we shall be able to bury her today and if not, we shall bury her tomorrow," a relative said.

Contacted, Mr Malik Obama, the former US president's Kenyan half-brother, told the Nation that he would comment on the matter later.

"I have no comment for now, I've just woken up," he said by phone on Monday morning.

Condolences

Following the news of Mama Sarah Obama's death, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o sent his condolences to the family and the Kogelo community in Siaya County, where she fails from, saying she will be greatly missed.

"She was always very charming and warm to those who visited her at home in Kogelo," Prof Nyong'o said.

According to Prof Nyong'o, the late Mama Sarah Obama was his late mother's great friend "and a dear grandmother to all of us".

"Mama Sarah Obama was not only a matriarch of the larger Obama family but a mother figure to many people. She was a philanthropist who helped to mobilise funds to pay school fees to many orphans and vulnerable children. She also supported many widows. May her soul rest in peace," said the Kisumu governor.

Promoted education of girls

In his message of condolences, ODM Leader Raila Odinga said Mama Obama used her grandson Barack Obama's rise to US presidency to promote the education of girls and fighting social ills through her foundation.

"In the passing of Mama Sarah Obama, we have lost a matriarch who lived ahead of her time. She single-handedly kept the family going long after [her] husband departed," said Mr Odinga.

"In between, she became a symbol of the resilience and confidence of the African woman with a unique capacity to face the challenges of life," he added.
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In a year that saw a historic oil crash caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Houston specialty chemical maker Huntsman Corp. nearly doubled its profits to $1.03 billion from $562 million in 2019, even as revenues slipped 11 percent year over year to $6.02 billion.

The Woodlands-based company, under the direction of CEO Peter Huntsman, has refocused its operations with a portfolio that includes specialty chemicals such as polyurethanes used in foams, insulation, textiles and automotive manufacturing.

Peter Huntsman, 58, worked his way up the corporate ladder at the company founded by his father Jon Huntsman Sr., in 1974. Starting as a truck driver at the petrochemical company, he took over as chairman just before his father died in 2018.

The company has transformed under his leadership. Gone are units that made low-margin base chemicals such as ethylene oxide. The company sold its chemical plant in Port Neches to Indorama Ventures in January 2020 as part of a $2 billion deal that sold Huntsmans chemical intermediates and surfactants businesses to the Thailand-based company. Huntsman held onto the portion of the facility producing amines, derivatives of ammonia.

The move was a push into downstream markets to create a more stable cash flow for the company as it left behind production of base chemicals.

Huntsman has also grown by acquiring smaller competitors, allowing the chemical-maker to further develop its technologies and specialty products. In January, Huntsman completed the $250 million, all-cash acquisition of Gabriel Performance Products, a chemical manufacturer of additives and epoxy curing agents based in Akron, Ohio.

The business traces its roots to the senior Huntsmans creation of the clamshell container for McDonalds Big Mac. From there, the company grew organically and through a series of major acquisitions. Peter Huntsman became chief executive in 2000 and the company went public in 2005.

The family legacy extends well beyond Texas. Huntsmans older brother, Jon Jr., is a former Utah governor who served as ambassador to China from 2009 to 2011 under former President Barack Obama and as ambassador to Russia from 2017 to 2019 under former President Donald Trump.

The Chronicle spoke with Huntsman about expansion, focus and staying profitable through a global downturn.

Q: The company posted a $1.03 billion profit in 2020 at a time when other chemical firms were struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. How did you accomplish this?

A: Weve gotten out of yesterdays businesses and are getting into tomorrows businesses. In the past couple of years, weve probably sold off about 40 percent to 50 percent of our company. We now have a far more renewable-oriented portfolio. What you will see, over the next decade in particular, will be the groundwork laid for a greening economy.

If you want to get into wind, batteries, solar, lightweighting (building automobiles that are less heavy as a way to achieve better fuel efficiency and handling), and carbon fiber manufacturing, the whole next generation is going to be built on technologies that by-and-large come out of the chemical industry.

People think of the petrochemical sector as yesterdays old-line making plastic containers. But you look at the electric vehicles of the future and they have very little metal on them if any. Its going to be lightweighting, not welding. It is going to carbon fiber, not metal. Its going to be battery operated, not internal combustion engines.

Q: What does that mean for the oil industry?

A: Oil will be the technology that we will eventually replace, or in some cases, use as a raw material. And when I say that, there will come a time in the next couple of years, not decades, where you will see carbon dioxide starting to be a very valuable raw material for this industry.

If you look at where the future is, a lot of its going to be based on the chemistry thats been developed in the last few years and will be developed in the next two or three years.

Q: Its happening that quickly?

A: Looking at the number of homes that are being built, how people are transporting themselves, how theyre communicating, how they are shopping  if youre on the right side of that, I think youre doing quite well.

If you are on the wrong side of that, and you happened to have put all your money into a restaurant chain or hotel, youre probably really struggling.

For big chunks in the economy, these are actually pretty good times. For other chunks of the economy, it is an unmitigated disaster.

Q: The company in 2018 outlined a plan to invest as much as $2.2 billion in small acquisitions through 2020. That included the December acquisition of Gabriel Performance Products. Will the company continue to make acquisitions in 2021?

A: I would hope that this year we would be on an even greater pace. We call this strategy a string of pearls. Rather than going and trying to get just one big diamond, or one big acquisition, we are looking for where we can fill certain niches of our portfolio.

Lets take electric vehicles. We want to be able to supply the seating for Tesla, which we are already doing. We also want to build the epoxy that encases the motors going to be in its cars.

Electronic vehicles will have five times the number of circuitry and electronics than a diesel vehicle has. There is an opportunity. How do you capitalize on it? It is usually not just one big acquisition.

Q: You oversee more than 70 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries, with approximately 9,000 employees. How do you define your leadership style?

A: My leadership style is incredibly easy, and Im incredibly successful at it. That is to surround myself with people that are smarter and better than me.

I want a diverse group of people around me and I want to listen to them. I want a spirited debate and I want people to question my ideas. At the end of the day, when I come up with a conclusion, I want their support. But in the meantime, it is fair game. My ideas arent any better than anybody elses.

Q: You didnt finish college, did you?

A: I went to college for a few months and found that Id rather drive a truck than sit through psychology 101. With the last name Huntsman, Ive obviously felt incredibly privileged to have the parents that I did and the opportunities. But Ive found it so easy to find people that are better educated. Surround yourself with them, and theyre automatically going to lift and inspire you. So my leadership style is to get as good of people as I can find.

Q: Your interests extend beyond the chemical business

A: My father started the Huntsman Cancer Foundation in Utah 25 or 30 years ago. I would argue with him about how much money he was taking out of the company and putting into it. And then a couple of years before he died, my father passed away two years ago, he asked me to get involved.

I needed that balance in my life to be able to walk into the infusion center, to be able to walk to the imaging center, and to be able to see the children and the impact  it puts a human face on so much of what we do.

We have been very privileged as a family to be able to give more than $1 billion into cancer research and care over the past 25 years. Our foundation also made a $150 million downpayment, we intend to do more than that over the next 10 years, into mental health.

These are two things that affect your family and my family, regardless of race or gender or economic status. Long after the chemistry business is gone, I think our legacy will be what we actually leave for society.

Q: Youve also responded to the recent freeze that left millions in Texas without power.

A: Just because the weather improved doesnt mean peoples finances improved.

I decided to see if I could raise $10,000 to $20,000 over a 24-hour drive with our associates here in Montgomery County and Harris County. We raised $100,000 in less than 24 hours. That ballooned to $600,000.

Why do we have to wait for a freeze for something like this to happen? Why dont we look at what we can be doing on a sustainable basis going forward? I think theres a lot more we can be doing.

Q: Such as?

A: If we could get every petrochemical company in the Houston area to give $1 a day, and each employee does $1 a day  I am looking into the numbers. I dont know how to get the word out to get something going, but we need a catalyst for something like that.

The energy and chemical industry would be known as ending hunger in the fourth largest city in America. It would be a great legacy for an industry to be able to say, Yeah, we provide energy but we also provide relief.
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Islamabad, Mar 29 (PTI) Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday commuted the death sentence of a convict who spent 23 years on death row, after concluding that he was a juvenile when he committed a murder almost three decades back, according to a media report.

FGN13 PAK-TEMPLE-ATTACK Hundred-year-old Hindu temple in Pakistan's Rawalpindi attacked by unidentified people

Islamabad: An over 100-year-old Hindu temple undergoing renovation in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi has been attacked by a group of unidentified people, according to a complaint registered by the police. By Sajjad Hussain

FGN1 US-BIDEM-MYANMAR Biden expresses outrage over civilian killings in Myanmar

Washington: US President Joe Biden has expressed outrage over the recent killings of innocent people by the security forces in Myanmar, where military junta overthrew a democratically elected government. By Lalit K Jha

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
In our ignorance about the year to come, many of us made some weird decisions at the start of lockdown: bought stuff we didnt really need; made fluffy Dalgona coffee; freaked out over the ethics of wearing masks; told our co-workers, See you in two weeks. I got a fish subscription.

For almost a year now, Ive been receiving random fish and seafood in a bag from Sea Forager, a local Community Supported Fisheries (CSF) company, picking it up from a neighbors cooler once every two weeks. It gave me a welcome sense of routine this year: Wednesdays were fish days, and I had to get out of my apartment to go fetch it no matter how nebulous and goo-like I was feeling. With just two portions of food in each bag, the CSF shares are less intimidating for a DINK (dual income, no kids) couple than overflowing, cornucopia-like farm boxes, and the fresh fish are freezable, so you dont necessarily have to deal with it immediately. (Though cooking it the same day is always ideal.)

Sea Foragers halibut, oysters and albacore tuna are fished or harvested sustainably, mostly from Bay Area fishermen. Usually, the bays haul is exported to overseas markets; Sea Forager is a rare opportunity for Bay Area households to get local seafood into their kitchens. When shelter-in-place hit the Bay Area last March, demand for the CSF skyrocketed as residents sought out ways to reduce their grocery trips: Founder Kirk Lombard told The Chronicle that Sea Forager enrolled a years worth of new subscribers in a five-day period.

Sea Forager / Sea Forager

San Francisco is slowly shedding its pandemic-era restrictions on businesses like restaurants and salons, and entry into the states less-strict yellow tier of reopening seems imminent. At first, when I assumed that the pandemic would be over in two shakes of a lambs tail, I figured I would cancel my subscription in a month or so. But I think Im going to stick with it for as long as I can afford to do so.

The routine continues to ground me in ways that I never could have foreseen. Sea Foragers products arrive mostly cleaned, but theres a faint DIY element to them that Ive come to delight in. Live Manila clams need to be soaked several times before cooking; I also scrub the rough shells with a toothbrush to loosen any lingering grit. I run my fingers over fillets to find the familiar prickle of pinbones, which I carefully tweeze out while listening to the neo soul sounds of Angie Stone. I dwell in my memories while shucking oysters, remembering sunny Mardi Gras days in New Orleans when I would set up camp with a bag of them to grill with butter and bacon while watching the parades float by.

On Mondays, when Lombard alerts subscribers to what theyll likely be receiving, I spend my lunch hour looking up recipes in my copy of The Pacific Northwest Seafood Cookbook (Countryman Press, 2019) by Naomi Tomky, which has treated me to some truly amazing miso-marinated rockfish tacos.

In a strange way, taking care of this fish has felt like taking care of me. In a time when I have felt so disembodied, it makes me feel like a part of the world again  as real and mammalian as an otter cracking a sea urchin with a stone.

On the podcast

Listen on your favorite app

Were taking a quick breather this week as we prepare to record a particularly intense set of episodes, so were re-running one of our favorite interviews. In this episode, Justin Phillips and I spoke with two of the folks behind the free fridge in the Mission District: Gabriela Aleman of the Mission Meals Coalition and Ashley Rahimi Syed of SF Community Fridge. They challenged the idea of free fridges as top-down charity, pressing that an effort like this can only work with the active input of the community it purports to serve.

In the meantime, we would love to hear from you: How are you feeling about the seemingly growing anti-Asian sentiment both in the Bay Area and elsewhere in the U.S.? And how do you think we can put a stop to it? You can send us your responses by sending us a voice recording to extraspicy@sfchronicle.com, or you can also leave us a voicemail at 415-777-6156. We really hope to hear from you, and we look forward to including your thoughts on next weeks episode.

What Im eating

This week, we put out my list of my favorite spots in Fishermans Wharf, a neighborhood that supposedly cool San Franciscans turn their noses up at. Well, Im here to say that Fishermans Wharf is cool: damn the haters! I love grabbing a pourover coffee and a sticky coconut-mozzarella bun ($5) from Cafe de Casa and walking down to the fiddlehead-shape municipal pier on the weekends.

Sam Wolson / Special to the Chronicle 2013

One thing that I found fascinating as I learned more about the food scene at the Wharf was the fact that finding local and/or fresh seafood at the restaurants there can be a crap shoot. So my recommendations include places where thats not even a question, like Scomas, where the generously portioned and thick tomato cioppino ($43) is filled to the brim with local shellfish and ocean fish. (Pro tip: Order a loaf of sourdough bread with takeout and turn it into garlic bread at home.)

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

I also recently checked out Bicycle Pies, a hand pie delivery business in San Francisco. Yes, the pies are mostly delivered via bicycle by baker Michael Barrett. These big boys come with sweet and savory fillings wrapped in the most gorgeous and flakiest pastry you can imagine. A vegetarian cauliflower pie ($7) featured tender bits of Parmesan-crusted cauliflower, juicy melted leeks and fennel; the caramelized vegetables made it straddle the line between sweet and savory. Eating outside, so that you can casually brush the crumbs off your shirt, is highly recommended. Barrett delivers to the San Francisco metro area and parts of the East Bay.

Recommended reading

 Boston chef Irene Li wrote an essential and accessible piece aimed toward anyone who has felt frustrated by conversations about cultural appropriation. So yeah, people appropriate... then what? Li lists very doable actions that restaurateurs and chefs can take to show up for communities that have inspired their restaurants.

 Looking for some special Passover takeout? Check out Janelle Bitkers guide to Bay Area restaurants you can rely on for traditional dishes like flourless macaroons and brisket. Floodwaters $70 five-course meal  with house-made gefilte fish, even!  sounds baller.

 We just published wine critic Esther Mobleys list of her Top 25 Wineries, which I am so excited about. Its a wide-ranging list with lots of suggestions for wineries with vineyard vistas and urban tasting rooms that have a more industrial feel. I hope to see some of you up in Wine Country sometime!

 Steel yourself for a bummer read. At Civil Eats, Dakota Kim digs into the myriad ways fast food companies are marketing to youth via TikTok. Influencers, some with millions of followers, are posting videos made in partnership with national fast food brands like Dunkin and McDonalds. The explosive growth in food advertising to children on social media is unregulated, making it even more powerful.

Bite Curious is a weekly newsletter from The Chronicles restaurant critic, Soleil Ho, delivered to inboxes on Monday mornings. Follow along on Twitter: @Hooleil

GENEVA - A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely, according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, a WHO-China Joint Study Press Conference is held at the end of a WHO mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

GENEVA - A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely, according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers' conclusions.

The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis  a speculative theory that was promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump among others. It also said the role played by a seafood market where human cases were first identified was uncertain.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, said he would like to see the report's raw information first before deciding about its credibility.

Id also would like to inquire as to the extent in which the people who were on that group had access directly to the data that they would need to make a determination, he said. I want to read the report first and then get a feel for what they really had access to -- or did not have access to.

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, Marion Koopmans, right, and Peter Ben Embarek of a World Health Organization team arrive for a joint press conference at the end of their mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

The report, which is expected to be made public Tuesday, is being closely watched since discovering the origins of the virus could help scientists prevent future pandemics  but it's also extremely sensitive since China bristles at any suggestion that it is to blame for the current one.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said experts from seven different U.S. government organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Health and the Department of Homeland Security had the report in hand.

Seventeen experts, longstanding leaders from the field, including epidemiology, public health, clinical medicine, veterinary medicine, infectious disease, law, food security, biosafety, biosecurity -- we have a lot of experts in government -- will be reviewing this report intensively and quickly, she said at a daily briefing.

Matthew Kavanagh of Georgetown University said the report deepened the understanding of the virus's origins, but more information was needed.

It is clear that that the Chinese government has not provided all the data needed and, until they do, firmer conclusions will be difficult," he said in a statement.

Last year, an AP investigation found the Chinese government was strictly controlling all research into its origins. And repeated delays in the reports release have raised questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew its conclusions.

A cat pauses to look at visitors to a temple in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Feb. 9, 2021. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The report said that highly similar viruses have been found in pangolins, but also noted that mink and cats are susceptible to the COVID virus, which suggests they could be carriers. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Weve got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent CNN interview.

China rejected that criticism Monday.

The U.S. has been speaking out on the report. By doing this, isnt the U.S. trying to exert political pressure on the members of the WHO expert group? asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

Still, suspicion of China has helped fuel the theory that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first identified. The report cited several reasons for all but dismissing that possibility.

It said that such laboratory accidents are rare, that the labs in Wuhan were well-managed and there is no record of viruses closely related to the coronavirus in any laboratory before December 2019.

The report is based largely on a visit by a WHO team of international experts to Wuhan. The mission was never meant to identify the exact natural source of the virus, an endeavour that typically takes years. For instance, more than 40 years of study has still failed to pinpoint the exact species of bat that are the natural reservoir of Ebola.

Residents visit the Yangtze River in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, March 29, 2021. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (Chinatopix Via AP)

In the draft obtained by the AP, the researchers listed four scenarios in order of likelihood for the emergence of the new coronavirus. Topping the list was transmission from bats through another animal, which they said was likely to very likely. They evaluated direct spread from bats to humans as likely, and said that spread to humans from the packaging of cold-chain food products was possible but not likely.

That last possibility was previously dismissed by the WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but researchers on this mission have taken it up again, further raising questions about the politicization of the study since China has long pushed the theory.

While its possible an infected animal contaminated packaging that was then brought to Wuhan and infected humans, the report said the probability is very low.

Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, said even that very low probability was an overstatement. There's no compelling evidence of people actually being infected through packaging, he said, calling the theory far-fetched.

Woolhouse said it was possible the source of COVID-19 might never be identified.

The emergence of a new (disease) is always a sequence of unlikely events, he said. It's hard to be definitive and rule anything out. But he said most scientists agree that bats are the most likely source.

Bats are known to carry coronaviruses and, in fact, the closest relative of the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in bats.

The report said highly similar viruses have been found in pangolins, a scaly anteater prized in traditional Chinese medicine, but scientists have yet to identify the same coronavirus in animals that has been infecting humans.

The AP received the draft copy on Monday from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO-member country. It wasnt clear whether the report might still be changed prior to release, though the diplomat said it was the final version. A second diplomat confirmed getting the report too. Both refused to be identified because they were not authorized to release it ahead of publication.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged he had received the report over the weekend and said it would be formally presented Tuesday.

All hypotheses are on the table and warrant complete and further studies, he said at a news conference.

The report is inconclusive on whether the outbreak started at a Wuhan seafood market that had one of the earliest clusters of human cases in December 2019. Research published last year in the journal Lancet suggested the market may have merely served to further spread the disease rather than being its source.

The market was an early suspect because some stalls sold a range of unusual animals  and some wondered if they had brought the new virus to Wuhan. The report noted that animal products  including everything from bamboo rats to deer, often frozen  were sold at the market, as were live crocodiles.

Ken Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press writers Maria Cheng in London, Victoria Milko in Jakarta, Indonesia, Zeke Miller in Washington, and Frank Jordans in Berlin, contributed to this report.

The AP Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
With nearly four months since the farmers have been protesting against the Union farm laws at various borders of the national capital, farmers are busy celebrating Holi at the borders.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) National spokesperson, Rakesh Tikait, celebrated Holi with his supporters at the Ghazipur border. He said that till the time the Union farm laws are not repealed, the farmers would not return to their homes. Earlier, on the occasion of 'Holika Dahan' on Sunday, the farmers burnt the copies of the farm laws.

Tikait also conveyed his Holi greetings to all and said, "Until the government agrees to repeal the farm laws, the farmers would not return to their homes. The farmers will remain in the scorching heat. As much as the Central government causes inconvenience to the farmers, the more they will protest against the government."

Appealing to the people, Tikait said, "Celebrate Holi in a peaceful manner. Colours play a significant part in our lives."

Other farmers present at the border also celebrated Holi with great fervour by applying colours at each other. The farmers had already decided that this year's Holi would be celebrated with simplicity as nearly 300 farmers had died during the farmers' protests since November 26 last year, they said.
(Reuters) -Myanmar's security forces have killed at least 510 civilians in nearly two months of efforts to stop protests against a Feb. 1 coup, an advocacy group said on Monday, as thousands of people took to the streets again despite the growing toll.

Another 14 civilians were killed on Monday, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said, as it also updated figures for previous days. The total killed on Saturday, the bloodiest day so far, had risen to 141, figures showed.

The White House condemned the killings of civilians as an "abhorrent" use of lethal force and renewed a call for the restoration of democracy, while U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Myanmar's generals to stop the killings and repression of demonstrations.

Monday's dead included at least eight in the South Dagon suburb of Myanmar's main city, Yangon, the AAPP said.

Security forces there fired a much heavier-calibre weapon than usual to clear a barricade of sand bags, witnesses said and a video clip showed. It was not immediately clear what type, although a community group posted a picture of a soldier with a grenade launcher.

State television said security forces used "riot weapons" to disperse a crowd of "violent terrorist people" who were destroying a pavement and one man was wounded.

Police and a junta spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment.

Two people were also killed in shooting in the central town of Myingyan, student leader Moe Myint Hein told Reuters.

Despite the violence, crowds turned out in towns across the country, according to media and social media posts.

One of the main groups behind the protests, the General Strike Committee of Nationalities, called in an open letter on Facebook for ethnic minority forces to help those standing up to the "unfair oppression" of the military.

"It is necessary for the ethnic armed organisations to collectively protect the people," the group said.

Story continues

'HEARTLESS ACT'

Insurgents from different ethnic groups have battled the central government for decades for greater autonomy. Though many groups have agreed to ceasefires, fighting has flared in recent days between the army and forces in both the east and north.

Heavy clashes erupted on the weekend near the Thai border between the army and fighters from Myanmar's oldest ethnic minority force, the Karen National Union (KNU).

About 3,000 villagers fled to Thailand when military jets bombed a KNU area after a KNU force overran an army outpost and killed 10 people, an activist group and media said.

Thai authorities denied accounts by activist groups that more than 2,000 refugees had been forced back, but a local official said it was government policy for the army to block them at the border and deny access to outside aid groups.

"Thailands heartless and illegal act must stop now," Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher on Thailand for Human Rights Watch, wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he wanted Myanmar's latest problems to remain there, while dismissing accusations Thailand backed the junta.

"We don't want to have an exodus, evacuation into our territory but we will observe human rights," Prayuth told reporters in Bangkok.

In Myanmar's north, fighting erupted on Sunday in the jade-mining area of Hpakant when Kachin Independence Army (KIA) fighters attacked a police station, Kachinwaves media reported.

GRIP ON POWER

Both the KNU and KIA have expressed support for the anti-coup movement and called on the army stop the violence against civilian protesters.

Myanmar's military has for decades justified its grip on power by saying it is the only institution capable of preserving national unity. It seized power saying that November elections won by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party were fraudulent, an assertion dismissed by the election commission.

Suu Kyi remains in detention at an undisclosed location and many other figures in her party are also in custody.

When asked for his message to Myanmar's generals, Guterres told reporters: "Stop the killings, stop the repression of the demonstrations, release the political prisoners, and return power to those that have legitimate right to exercise it."

U.N. Special Rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews said the army was carrying out "mass murder". U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the United States was suspending all trade engagement with Myanmar until the return of a democratically elected government.

But foreign criticism and Western sanctions have failed to sway the generals.

China and India have declined to condemn the coup and Russia has maintained its close ties with a visit by a Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin and a pledge to beef up military ties. The Kremlin said Russia's long and constructive ties with Myanmar did not signify its approval of "tragic events" there.

(Reporting by Reuters Staff; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland in Washington and Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Writing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel; Editing by Stephen Coates, Nick Macfie, William Maclean)
(Newser)  Julie Eberly and her husband were en route to Hilton Head Island, SC, for an anniversary trip when a lane change led to the 47-year-old Pennsylvania woman's death. As her husband Ryan merged into a lane while driving on I-95 in North Carolina on Thursday around noon, the couple's vehicle came close to hitting another vehicle, the Robeson County Sheriffs Office says, per ABC News. The other driver then came around to the passenger side of the Eberlys' car, rolled down the window, and fired multiple times into the passenger-side door, hitting Julie Eberly, who died at a hospital. Her husband was not hurt, the New York Times reports. The suspect, believed to have been driving a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu or Impala, has not yet been located.

story continues below

A GoFundMe campaign established in Julie Eberly's honor had raised more than $43,000 as of Sunday night, ABC 6 reports. "We will be using the funds to help others and to give to the organizations that were close to her heart," the family says. Parents to six, the Eberlys had left their kids home with their grandparents. "Taken from us way to soon in the most awful way, she did not deserve this," a 21-year-old who identified herself as the Eberlys' daughter wrote on Facebook. "My mom deserved to die old, with family surrounding her." An anonymous donor is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case, and police are asking the public to come forward with any tips. Surveillance video is being reviewed, and witnesses are being interviewed. (Read more North Carolina stories.)
Kalon Resources specialises in the physical commodity trading and supply chain management of industrial minerals and metals including concentrates of tin, tungsten, niobium, tantalum, alumina, aluminium and special ores such as chrome, manganese and iron ore.

The three-year binding offtake agreement is for the sale of 600 tonnes of tin concentrate from Manono per annum.

( ) (OTCMKTS:AZZVF) (FRA:3A2) has signed a binding offtake agreement for the sale of tin concentrate from the Manono Project in the DRC to Kalon Resources Limited, a 100%-owned subsidiary of Noble Group Holdings Limited.

The three-year binding offtake agreement is for the sale of 600 tonnes of tin concentrate per annum from the Manono Lithium and Tin Project.

It is the first tin offtake deal for Manono and equates to approximately 43% of the proposed total tin concentrate that will be available for sale.

Shares have been as much as 7.5% higher this morning to A$0.215 while AVZ's market cap is approximately A$578 million.

Significant agreement for Manono

AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson said: We are very pleased to have finally signed with Kalon, our first tin offtake agreement  just weeks after having signed our second lithium offtake agreement that cumulatively provides binding commitments for more than 50% of our saleable SC6 product.

Given the rising LME cash price of tin metal, up approximately 30% YTD, this offtake agreement is significant for the Manono Project and also significant given that Kalon is a considerable participant in the tin industry.

While this agreement represents a relatively small, but growing portion of revenue for the Manono Project, it does confirm another large international business is willing to secure future supply from the project.

The agreement was completed by AVZs 100%-owned entity AVZ International Pty Ltd acting on behalf of the seller - Dathcom Mining SA.

Industrial minerals trader

Kalon specialises in the physical commodity trading and supply chain management of industrial minerals and metals including concentrates of tin, tungsten, niobium, tantalum, alumina, aluminium and special ores such as chrome, manganese and iron ore.

The Noble Group subsidiary has a global footprint and works in close partnership with mining companies, mining communities, mineral processing facilities and industrial end-users with teams in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Africa, Rwanda and Brazil and handles several thousand tonnes of tin concentrate per annum.

Key terms

The key terms of the offtake agreement with Kalon include:

Term: three-year term;

Annual supply of 600 tonnes of tin concentrate (+/-20% in sellers option);

Product specifications: minimum 55% tin content, with expected typical product grade between 60 and 70% tin;

Pricing formula linked to LME tin price (exact terms are commercial-in-confidence);

Delivery Point: Free Carrier (FCA), bonded warehouse Lubumbashi;

Provisional payment for each shipment via telegraphic transfer against loading documentation at the delivery point; and

Agreement by the parties to place an importance and focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) development through the commercial partnership.

Meeting financing conditions

Ferguson said: Similar to our recent lithium offtake agreements, this tin concentrate offtake agreement with Kalon will assist the company in meeting certain conditions precedent which are required from our prospective financiers.

Again we look forward to finalising some further offtake agreements for the remainder of the projects products to satisfy some of the criteria our potential lenders have requested.
Following a series of brutal attacks on Asian Americans this month, Bay Area businesses are standing up to the violence by supporting their community.

Last week, Rooster & Rice announced on Instagram that all its 10 Bay Area locations would be available to anyone seeking refuge, and that it would also donate $2 from every meal to Hate Is A Virus, a nonprofit that advocates justice and equality for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

They can come in and sit down if that's what they need, said Bryan Lew, founder of Rooster & Rice. Were letting our staff know to ask if people need assistance, call 911 for them, or whatever they need to feel safe.

We want to be an influence hopefully for other restaurants. We're not restaurateurs without the people. We just want to make sure we're doing our part, Lew added.

Rooster & Rice took the initiative days after the Atlanta shootings on March 16, which claimed the lives of eight people, including six Asian women. Then on March 17, a 75-year-old Asian woman walking on Market Street was punched in the face minutes after an 83-year-old Asian man was assaulted that same day.

The [attack] on Market Street with the elderly lady could have easily been my grandmother, Lew said. I'm Chinese American, born and raised here in San Francisco. My partner is Thai and he's a first-generation immigrant. It definitely hits close to home that this is happening in the community.

Third Culture Bakery is also raising funds for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by offering safety kits to protect those most vulnerable from these random unprovoked attacks, the business website reads.

"We started the safety kits as an idea between my partner Sam and I because we knew that we didnt want to just donate money but wanted to offer a tangible item to make people feel safer and secure," Wenter Shyu, co-owner of Third Culture Bakery, told SFGATE via email. "We wanted to give people something more tactile. We thought it would have just been a few hundred but when reaching out for pick-up locations in San Francisco and Oakland Chinatowns, we received requests of 5,200 plus safety kits. Each kit costs [us] $8 and they will be passed out at senior homes, vaccination sites, and more locations in both Chinatowns. We are currently at 800 safety kits and we'll likely need to fundraise an additional $30,000 to meet the demand."

Each safety kit includes a keychain alarm, pepper spray and lanyards and the kits are expected to be distributed among local community centers throughout California and Colorado  the two states with Third Culture Bakery locations.

San Francisco-based Jina Bakes likewise announced on Instagram that it would raise funds for Stop AAPI Hate and Compassion in Oakland by raffling seven of its kalbijjim croissant boxes for $5 a box.

As Lew thinks about the series of events within the last month, he says that it blows his mind that racism, in general, keeps on coming up. He said he hopes that the initiative at Rooster & Rice helps raise awareness and helps usher in a better world for his two-year-old son.
Analysis Myanmar Regimes Cabinet Includes Some Old China Hands

The Myanmar military regimes newly appointed Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin participates as a Union Solidarity and Development Party member in a public forum on Rakhine State security issues in Naypyitaw in September 2017. / The Irrawaddy

Coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has not always seen eye-to-eye with the Chinese leadership, but he wont mind setting aside those qualms if Myanmar finds itself facing isolation in the wake of his Feb. 1 coup; in fact he seems to have planned for just such a scenario.

Looking at the juntas cabinet lineup, one finds a number of ministers who have long associations with the Chinese government and institutions.

One of them is the new minister for international cooperation, U Ko Ko Hlaing, who began cultivating strong ties in Chinas Yunnan province shortly after his appointment as an adviser to President U Thein Seins government in the early 2010s.

Following the end of his term in 2015, U Ko Ko Hlaing took on a formal position as an adviser to Yunnan Universitys Center for Myanmar Studies, working closely with Li Chenyang, who has long promoted closer ties between China and the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw).

Li, who graduated from a school under the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in the early 1990s, was one of three Yunnan-based strategists involved in developing plans for the Sino-Myanmar pipeline project in 2004. Li later became an advocate of the Yunnan land bridge and the two oceans strategy as a means of exploiting Myanmar to enhance Yunnans status among Chinas western provinces. Li is known to have repeatedly called for closer ties between the PLA and the Myanmar armed forces, and is known for playing up the Tatmadaws fighting capabilities within Chinese policy circles, famously claiming that the Myanmar army could easily defeat the ethnic armed groups if it wanted to.

U Ko Ko Hlaing was named an adviser to the Universitys Center for Myanmar Studies in 2016, a title he apparently maintains to this day. In this capacity, he has published a series of books in Chinese on Myanmar-China relations in collaboration with Yunnan University, one of which discusses why China must become the worlds leading power, and a second offering a series of case studies purporting to demonstrate how China has been a responsible player in Myanmar.

In 2018, his status in China was considerably enhanced when he took on a key task for the Chinese government and the Communist Party of Chinaauthoring the Burmese-language version of Chinese President Xi Jinpings book The Governance of China, which was launched at a government ceremony in Yangon in 2020. In October 2019, U Ko Ko Hlaing was interviewed by the Chinese Guangming Daily Newspaper. He discussed at length how his involvement in the project had convinced him of the importance of Myanmar riding to prosperity on the train of Chinese development. Prior to this, U Ko Ko Hlaing had been very vocal in the Chinese media, criticizing the NLD government for its handling of Chinese investment projects. In March 2019, he told Chinese Radio International that the Myanmar government has wasted at least two years by reviewing the Muse-Kyaukphyu Railroad and the Kyaukphyu Port Projectswhich are obviously win-win projects. He went on to say that the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor would bring benefits to all of East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Beyond economics, U Ko Ko Hlaing has played a key role in legitimizing Chinas moves vis-a-vis Hong Kong and Taiwan. In July 2020, he penned a long article in Burmese, which was published in translation by several Chinese media outlets, supporting Beijings position on the former British colony, arguing that it represents an effort to use legal mechanisms, and keep the use of force to an absolute minimum as a means to restore security and order in Hong Kong. He has also published multiple articles in Burmese and Chinese translation commending China on its handling of COVID-19 and pushing back against domestic criticism of China.

In a personal capacity, U Ko Ko Hlaing has played a significant role in promoting the interests of certain Chinese companies in Myanmar, including GAC Motors, a provincial-level state-owned Chinese manufacturer of automobiles. He has attended multiple promotional events on behalf of the company in Yangon.

Another member of the junta cabinet with notable ties to China is Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin.

He served as foreign minister under President U Thein Sein. The former army officer has also served as director-general of the Ministry of Border Affairs as well as ambassador to Israel, France, Belgium and the EU from 2004 to 2007, and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva. He is a key member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (UDSP). Former regime leader Senior General Than Shwe established the partys predecessor organization, a mass association, in 1993 before registering it as a political party in 2010. The USDP contested the 2010 election and became the ruling party following a vote denounced by the international community as a sham.

Under the U Thein Sein government, U Wunna Maung Lwin was assigned to travel to China as a special envoy to smooth over relations following Myanmars suspension of the controversial China-funded Myitsone Dam project in Kachin State in October 2011.

He subsequently became the key fixer for the regime-installed government vis-a-vis its relations with Beijing. This included smoothing over ties with China after the accidental destruction of Chinese property when fighting in Kokang spilled over into Yunnan province in 2015. The foreign minister also worked with his counterparts in Aseana role he reprised on his recent trip to Thailand, where he held a meeting with the Thai and Indonesian foreign ministers weeks after the military staged the coup.

In 2016, at Lis invitation, the then former foreign minister visited China, where he gave a keynote lecture on China-Myanmar Relations at Yunnan University. Throughout 2016 and 2017, he was invited to deliver similar presentations at a number of other Chinese institutions, through which he promoted the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation platform and the proposed connectivity scheme linking China to the Indian Ocean through Myanmar.

U Wunna Maung Lwin remained active within the USDP and paid several visits to the Kokang Border Guard Force on the Myanmar-China border. He also gave interviews to the Chinese Guangming Daily news to promote ChinaMyanmar ties, emphasizing the USDPs importance to the relationship.

It is also worth noting that newly appointed Minister of Electricity and Energy U Aung Than Oo is involved in a joint venture with the Jiangsu-based Great Wall Tomorrow High Tech Agriculture Company. Involved in agriculture and forestry, this company maintains a timber sales office in China.

Last month, news emerged that an Israeli-Canadian lobbyist, Ari Ben-Menashe, had been recruited to represent the Myanmar junta internationally. He has downplayed the military coup in the country, claiming the generals will leave politics shortly.

Theres a real push to move toward the West and the United States, as opposed to trying to get closer to the Chinese, Ben-Menashe said. They dont want to be a Chinese puppet.

In light of the juntas past ties with China and its inclusion of handpicked cabinet members with longstanding connections to Beijing, however, his comment doesnt make much sense.

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Weekend Bloodshed Continues to Push Myanmar Death Toll Higher

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Wounded Mandalay Volunteer Burned Alive by Myanmar Regime
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When Fatme Ibrahim arrived in Sweden on a November night 28 years ago after having fled from Lebanon, she felt very cold and very alone. She arrived with her husband and their young children  and without any formal work experience. Today, Fatme works at Yalla Trappan, a social enterprise and womens cooperative for social and labour market inclusion, supervising 40 women.

Yalla Trappan was formally established in 2010, after having been run as a temporary project in different forms since 2006. The organization was set up by Christina Merker Siesjo with the aim of creating opportunities for migrant and refugee women to be included in social and professional life in Malmo, Sweden. Building on skills that the women often already have  including cooking, sewing, and cleaning  Yalla Trappan provides a dedicated space and training for these skills to be developed in order for participants to reach a professional standard.

The name Yalla Trappan  where Yalla loosely translates from its original Arabic to an encouraging come on!, and trappan is Swedish for staircase  was suggested by the women themselves. They wanted to communicate the gradual development that the organization provides, coupled with continuous encouragement along the way.

Representing over 20 nationalities, a majority of the women have a refugee background. Over the past years, the employment rate of refugees in Sweden has increased. However, refugee women still have lower employment rates than both foreign-born men and the native-born population.

Situations like these require proactive and targeted labour market inclusion measures that allow refugee women to develop their self-reliance, says Karolis Zibas, Integration Officer in the Nordic and Baltic countries for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

When Yalla Trappan started, migrant and refugee women with limited formal education or work experience were often overlooked in integration initiatives, explains Christina Merker Siesjo. According to her, many of the women who enter into contact with Yalla Trappan have very low self-esteem, have spent long periods of time on sick leave, and feel excluded from society.

For many of the women, the tradition is to work in the home. To be able to build on those skills, and in turn develop a professional identity, is a very big step, Christina Merker Siesjo explains.

We have sometimes been criticized for focusing on work that is traditionally prescribed to women, Christina says, explaining her philosophy as follows: If a woman has two years of education, it is not reasonable to expect her to become a pilot. You need to build a platform from where the woman is currently standing.

Most women arrive at Yalla Trappan through a referral from the Swedish Public Employment Office. They are then offered a six-month internship in one of Yalla Trappans three main services  cafe and catering, the sewing workshop, and cleaning services  and are supported to find employment. During the internship, the women receive Swedish language and job skills training and are supervised by women, such as Fatme, who are experienced in their field of work and who once started in the same position.

As a supervisor, Fatme sees newly arrived women go through the same professional and personal development as she did when she started with the organization ten years ago.

Before Yalla Trappan, I was at home, feeling bored and depressed, she says.

Through her internship and, later, employment at Yalla Trappan, however, Fatme had the opportunity to use her cooking skills from home to cook at Yalla Trappans catering service.

When I work at Yalla Trappan, I feel much happier, and interacting with customers makes me feel like I am part of society, Fatme says. The women are like a family, and Yalla Trappan has become my second home.

After the six-month internship, the women either move on to employment with Yalla Trappan or with one of their partners or pursue further studies. Approximately 100 women take part in the internships each year.

Having your own income is essentially a question of freedom. In my opinion, economic independence is fundamental for gender equality, says Christina Merker Siesjo.

The organizations efforts have been recognized both nationally and internationally through several prestigious awards. In February 2021, Yalla Trappan was awarded both the Swedish Equality Award and the European Parliaments European Citizens Prize.

Yalla Trappan has developed close partnerships with municipalities and other public bodies, as well as with the private sector through companies including IKEA, H&M and Skanska. The organization has also published three books and run workshops to share knowledge and experience with other organizations, municipalities, and the private sector. Inspired by Yalla Trappan, local independent Yalla initiatives have sprung up all across Sweden.

We are very happy to see that Yalla Trappan is addressing the specific needs and vulnerabilities of refugee women. The organizations approach of developing partnerships with integration authorities creates sustainable solutions for refugee labour market inclusion and provides a great example for Sweden and elsewhere, says Karolis Zibas, Integration Officer with UNHCRs Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries.

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GOTHENBURG, Sweden, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Three out of four Getinge employees who have worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic believe that the setup has improved their productivity as well as their work-life harmony. As a result, the company is introducing a long-term flexible working offer globally.

"We are convinced that this is a win-win approach. A recent study from Harvard Business School* concludes that knowledge workers are more productive from home. This is well in line with our internal surveys, both our people and the company will benefit from a flexible workplace concept," says Magnus Lundback, Executive Vice President Human Resources and Sustainability at Getinge.

A recently conducted survey covering Getinge's office-based workforce in top 10 countries, shows that what started as a health and safety measurement in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, has now turned into an established way of working in the company's worldwide organization.

More than 70% of the employees believe that working remotely has improved their productivity and made a positive impact on the work-life harmony.

"Getinge's brand promise `Passion for Life' also covers the lives of our employees. Also beyond COVID-19, we want to be an attractive employer offering existing and future office-based employees the opportunity to work where they can do their job best," Magnus Lundback explains.

Getinge's flexible workplace offer, which is voluntary and based on the employees' choice, includes possibilities to work full time outside the office, partly at the office or continue working from the office. The company has developed its concept to fit local adaptation and implementation needs.

The flexible workplace approach is currently being rolled out and is expected to be finalized during 2021.

Learn more about Getinge on www.getinge.com.

* Research: Knowledge Workers Are More Productive from Home (hbr.org)

Media contact:

Anna Appelqvist, Vice President Corporate Communications

Phone: +46 (0)10 335 5906

E-mail: [email protected]

About Getinge

With a firm belief that every person and community should have access to the best possible care, Getinge provides hospitals and life science institutions with products and solutions that aim to improve clinical results and optimize workflows. The offering includes products and solutions for intensive care, cardiovascular procedures, operating rooms, sterile reprocessing and life science. Getinge employs over 10,000 people worldwide and the products are sold in more than 135 countries.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/getinge/r/getinge-introduces-a-long-term-flexible-workplace-approach,c3315373

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https://mb.cision.com/Main/942/3315373/1393582.pdf Getinge introduces a long-term flexible workplace approach https://news.cision.com/getinge/i/smart-workplaces,c2894080 Smart workplaces https://news.cision.com/getinge/i/magnus-lundback,c2894081 Magnus Lundback

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A version of this article first appeared in Emily Osters newsletter, ParentData.

Up until now, the problems with the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out have been largely about supply. More people want to be vaccinated (in total) than doses that are available right now. Butslowlywe are starting to see this ease up. And in more and more places, were seeing the first hints of softer demand, states opening up vaccines to all age group because demand is waning among older people. My emails, where until recently vaccine questions clustered around when one would be eligible, have subtly shifted to What do I do, having just realized my parents refuse to be vaccinated?!

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With this looming, I thought it would be useful to talk through issues of vaccine resistance, both from a policy standpoint and in our personal lives.

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From a public health perspective, the end-goal of vaccination is often said to be herd immunity. However, it is unclear what the COVID-19 herd immunity level is. In writing this, I asked two experts I really trust and one told me 50 percent and the other 80 to 85 percent. This is a big range! Most estimates I have seen are around 60 to 70 percent but, again, it isnt clear what this is based on.

Perhaps more importantly, moving from a herd immunity number to a number need to be vaccinated is difficult. This translation depends, first, on the vaccine efficacy against illness. If a vaccine is 95 percent effective against any disease then youd need 63 percemt vaccinated to get to 60 percent immune. If the vaccine is only 80 percent effective, then youd need 75 percent vaccinated.

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But even without knowing all these factors, it seems likely herd immunity would be a challenge in the short run. Twenty percent of the population (kids under 16) are not vaccine eligible yet and there is clearly some pretty staunch vaccine resistance in the US (not to mention low vaccination rates worldwide).

In my view, however, the focus on some (unknown!) herd immunity number should be put aside in favor of a focus on vaccinating as fast as possible. The exact herd immunity number may be of academic interest, but our goal should simply be: more vaccines.

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If we want to increase vaccination rates, more supply is the first answer. But encouraging demand is going to be necessary. The most stark fact for me is that 25 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives has not chosen to be vaccinated despite months of eligibility. This is bad.

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Ive found it helpful in thinking about this problem to consider, basically, three broad groups: the vaccine-eager, vaccine-neutral and vaccine-hesitant. This is a simplification! But it might help us think about solutions.

The first group, the vaccine-eager, really want vaccines. Some of this group has already been vaccinated; the already vaccinated group has been disproportionally white and wealthy, almost certainly due to access issues. If you need to be up at 2:30 am refreshing seven websites to get an appointment, thats going to favor certain groups. This aspect of the roll-out has been unfair. As we look to expansions in supply, we should be mindful of how we use them. Hopefully, such expansions will mean that within a few weeks anyone who really wants a vaccine can get one.

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The second group Im going to call the vaccine-neutral. People who arent actively opposed to the vaccine, but arent seeking it out, either. Ive been doing some volunteering at a vaccine clinic, helping people sign up for second doses. When I ask people if theyre happy to have a first dose, some definitely are, but for many others its just  fine. Theyre not anxious or unhappy to have been vaccinated, it just doesnt seem that important.

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There is a policy temptation (at least among some) to try to convince this group that vaccines are important. This is a nice goal, but its probably very hard to do, in part because this group just isnt thinking about this that much.

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I would suggest that, instead, we simply try to make it easy and provide incentives. What would this mean?

First, ease of access: Better sign-up procedure. More pop-up sites. More accessible locations. More use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in places where it may be hard to get people to return for a second dose.

We are going to need to start bringing the vaccine to the people, rather than asking them to find it. Improving access will also start on the path to improving vaccine equity, since we can hopefully target pop-up sites to underserved areas and communities of color.

We should also offer incentives: Give people stuff for being vaccinated. Krispy Kreme says you can get a free donut every day if youve been vaccinated. Some of the fun police oppose this on the grounds that donuts are bad for you, but I think it is great. Publix has offered its workers monetary incentives to get vaccinated. At a minimum, employers should give their employees time off for vaccination.

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Im sure Im missing other creative ideas. Bottom line: make it easy, make it fun(ish). Make an experience that some people are otherwise neutral about net-positive. This is something we can start thinking about now, and should be our next top priority. It should be possible to get this vaccine-neutral group vaccinated, if we do it right.

Then we get to group three: the vaccine-hesitant. (I do not like the term anti-vaxxer; its politicized and unnecessarily pejorative.) There was a lot of talk initially about vaccine hesitancy in the Black community, which has historic reasons to distrust vaccines and health care in general. As vaccines have rolled out, though, this seems to have improved (see this article as an example) and there is a hope that addressing issues of access will improve this further. In the most recent data, vaccine resistance lies much more along political lines than anything else.

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What can be done? For people who are nervous rather than actively opposed, progress can probably be made by simply waiting and exposing the vast number of safe vaccines which have been administered. Role models may help. This paper shows that Black men are more likely to sign up for preventative care services if matched with a Black doctor; if this extends to COVID vaccination, vaccine promotion efforts like this one are crucial.

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The more actively opposed are much harder to convince. We know from childhood vaccine resistance that giving people in these groups information about vaccine safety tends to actually backfire.

In the end, the last mile of vaccines may have to happen with more active encouragement. After a large measles outbreak in 2015, California ultimately achieved high vaccination rates in schools by, basically, mandating them. Im not suggesting we do this now (in fact, it would be impossible given that the vaccines are approved only under Emergency Use Authorization). But as we look to the long term, it is something we need to consider.

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Its all well and good to write about how we can improve vaccination rates with policy, but what if it is your parents (or sister or uncle or etc.) who doesnt want to be vaccinated?

(Related questions have come up with caregivers; this is an overlapping but slightly different situation since theyre your employee. Similarly, if the resistant party is your partner and not some more distant family, its different. Im going to focus on the extended family situation here, but you can adapt and apply these ideas to different situations.)

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I do not have a magic bullet. This is a hard problem. It is frustrating and annoying. No one can drive us crazier than our own family. Take a deep breath.

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I have two thoughts on framing here, which may help.

First: You do not need them to agree with you, you just need them to get the shot. This lesson is in part why I started with the policy discussion. When we think about the vaccine-neutral group above, we should fight our instincts to spend time convincing them that vaccines are great. Who cares? If people get the shot, then they have it.

It may drive you out of your mind that one of your parents thinks the Pfizer mRNA delivery technology is some kind of liberal voodoo, but if theyll get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine because they trust the company then that is fine. Paradoxically, arguing about the merits can make people dig into their position and make things worse.

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Second: You can control the rules for your immediate family, and thats about it. In the end, if relatives will not be vaccinated, all you can do is set your own boundaries. Its not dissimilar to how people advise setting them with kids: Take time to decide what your rules are, what you feel safe and comfortable doing, and then be consistent.

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Lets say your parents dont want to get vaccinated, and they want to see your children. You could decide no visits until the grandparents are vaccinated, period. You could decide on no indoor visits, or no indoor visits until everyone in your family, children included, has gotten the vaccine. You could also decide that if your parents wont be vaccinated, they need to quarantine, and possibly also test, before a visit where theyll be inside with you and your kids.

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There are infinite possibilities here, and what you decide is going to depend some on your risk tolerance, some on the situation in your location, and some on your relationship with said relatives. You might hold a harder line with a more distant relative, where seeing them isnt as important. Your rules may be different if you (the adults in the household) are vaccinated. It may also matter if the people in question have had COVID-19; recovered people should still have the vaccine, but previous infection confers some protection.

As with most of my advice about decision-making, Id suggest you take time with this, make a decision that works for you and then stick to it and move on. Your parents may decide that hugging their grandchildren is more important than their vaccine doubts, or they might not. These boundaries are about hopefully moving your extended family toward vaccination, but theyre mainly about keeping you and your immediate family safe in a way that feels comfortable for you.

The pandemic has provided many moments when control is wrested from us and this may be another. Its frustrating to feel like there is a solution available and someone isnt taking it for reasons which seem wrong or crazy to you. But like with everything else, there is value to recognizing what you can control and working on that.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Home to 129 listed companies, Anhui ranked ninth in China and first in the Central China region as of March 26, statistics showed.

In 2020 alone, 20 local companies got listed in the A-share market, hitting a record high, according to the Anhui Bureau of China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Of the 20 IPOs, the STAR board accounted for eight, bringing the province to the sixth spot in the country.

Listed companies and corporate bond issuers raised 74.3 billion yuan (about US$11.4 billion) from the capital market during the past year. Meanwhile, two companies were merged and reorganized, with a transaction value of more than 3 billion yuan.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the province consolidated the strategic position of listed companies as the fundamentals of the real economy and the source of driving force of the capital market, the bureau said.

Listed companies contributed to over 30 percent of the total profits of major industrial firms in the province, although they made up less than 1 percent of those industrial companies.

More than half of the provinces listed companies were privately-owned ones.

In addition, over 50 percent of the total listed companies were engaged in strategic emerging industries like quantum communication, information technology and bio-medicine.

From 2016 to 2020, listed companies and corporate bond issuers raised 408.6 billion yuan from the capital market, and 29 mergers and acquisitions were completed, with a transaction value of 159.0 billion yuan.

The bureau called for joint efforts to promote the high-quality development of Anhui-based listed companies.




China has earmarked 80 million yuan (about 12.23 million U.S. dollars) worth of drought relief funds to seven provincial-level regions in east and south China, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) said Monday

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :China has earmarked 80 million Yuan (about 12.23 million U.S. Dollars) worth of drought relief funds to seven provincial-level regions in east and south China, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) said Monday.

Allocated by the MEM and the Ministry of Finance, the funds will help mitigate the effects of drought and safeguard the domestic water supply in the provinces of Yunnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong, as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the MEM said.

The drought was caused by the recent low precipitation in these areas, said the MEM, adding that it has cooperated with water conservancy and agriculture authorities to monitor the situations and tailor relief solutions.

The MEM and the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters have dispatched two work teams to Yunnan and Zhejiang to assist drought relief work.
After each of the regions litany of hurricanes, floods and storms, apartment renters can quickly realize that their protections in the state are anemic at best.

The February storm that brought power outages and busted pipes was the most recent example of the dynamic that allows landlords to end a lease after a unit becomes uninhabitable, while tenants who suddenly find their situations unbearable face a thorny set of options unless their landlords cooperate.

Texas is one of the most restrictive states when it comes to tenants rights, renters attorneys said. On paper, the states renters have the right to end their lease if their apartments condition has deteriorated to the point where it impacts their physical health or safety and the landlord does not make repairs in a reasonable time frame  usually defined as seven days. To exercise that right, renters are required to either give their landlords two notices or send them a letter by certified mail.

Most landlords will respond, said Tracey Benson, president of the National Association of Independent Landlords, which helps landlords screen tenants and collect rents. She recommended staying in constant contact with a landlord, and using certified mail to create a paper trail, before ending a lease.

Landlords want their properties repaired, she said. They dont want long-term damage  because it will cost them more in the longterm.

Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

On HoustonChronicle.com: 'It is a disaster': Houston renters demand repairs after weeks without water

But simply communicating with landlords is not always enough, said Fred Fuchs, an attorney at the nonprofit Texas RioGrande Legal Aid.

Where you can run into problems, Fuchs said, is you can give notice and say, This is uninhabitable as a tenant, and the landlord disagrees.

In that situation, a tenant who has given proper notice and moved out may find that their landlord has nonetheless reported a broken lease to credit reporting agencies, making it very difficult to find another apartment to rent. And Fuchs said that while a former tenant could sue over the situation, that option was not realistic because few have the means and there are not enough nonprofit lawyers to take on such cases.

So youre stuck in this netherworld, Fuchs said.

One renter trying to figure out his options after Februarys storm burst a pipe in his apartment was Jaider Vera. Mold had mushroomed along the walls surrounding the bed where his five-year-old daughter slept. Soaked carpeting had been removed, leaving concrete floors; the air was musty, wet. And still, a month after the storm, water slowly seeped through the base of a kitchen wall.

The office is unresponsive, Vera said in Spanish. My lease is over in December, but I cant stay here any longer  Im afraid our health is at risk.

Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

While Comuna Property Management, the management company for the Villas del Paseo complex where Vera lived, said in an emailed statement it had made considerable progress to fix in-unit damage to apartments caused by the disaster, Veras was still in disrepair. He moved out in early April, saying he felt forced to do so, whether or not it would damage his credit. I cant continue to expose my wife and my daughter to the mold.

Fortunately, in his case, it did not come down to that.

Vera said Comuna Property Management initially turned down his request to move, but a spokesperson for the company said it would allow renters such as Vera to leave without penalty.

In the emailed statement, Comuna said that as long as renters at Villas del Paseo  many of whom are engaging in a rent strike until demands, including repairs are made  bring their accounts up to date, those who choose to leave will not owe any future rent, which can be in the multiples of thousands and we are waiving our rights to that future rent.

Also, it added, we will not report on or penalize rental history due to the early termination of the lease. We wanted to go above and beyond what is customary.

While Comuna said it was making an extra effort, Meghan Smolensky, a staff attorney at the nonprofit Lone Star Legal Aid, said, The problem is, they dont have to.

Texas law with regard to renters ability to vacate substandard housing stands in stark contrast to those in other states.

In Oregon, if an apartment falls below the states comprehensive standards for habitability  including keeping floors, walls and ceilings in good repair  the process is more straightforward: The renter is allowed to give a landlord a 30-day notice of an intention to move unless the building is made habitable, said John VanLandingham, a legal aid lawyer with the Oregon Law Center.

In Washington state, a renter may reach out to a local health inspection agency to inspect the apartment, said Tyler Graber, an attorney at the Northwest Justice Project. If the agency deems the rental substandard or dangerous, it can condemn it, entitling the renter to relocation assistance of $2,000 or three times the monthly rent, whichever is greater.

But in Texas, whether the condition of a unit impacts physical health and safety and whether or not repairs were made in a reasonable timeframe can be more ambiguous. And because there are few checks against a landlord filing a poor credit report and renters have few options to defend against such retaliation outside of the courts, Fuchs said, as a practical matter there is little relief for tenants.

In the four weeks following the storm, ended March 23, Houstons 311 helpline service received 651 complaints about habitability issues  including problems with plumbing and electricity  health code violations, and failure to meet minimum standards. The same period the year earlier saw 472.

On HoustonChronicle.com: A quarter of all Houston water customers experienced leaks during winter freeze, city estimates

If a local agency finds a unit falls short of habitability standards, Houston Public Works, the city agency responsible for streets, water distribution, permitting and regulation of construction and other municipal, services can try to work with a landlord to correct issues. If the landlord does not, the agency, like the tenant, is forced to take the landlord to court.

Smolensky called the lack of tenant options ridiculous.

She is representing a client who moved out of her apartment because of unrepaired drywall damage as a result of the February freeze. Now she has to pay for her new place and pay for her old rent. And its legal within those lease terms.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com;

twitter.com/raschuetz
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This is the house seized from Limerick drugs boss Kieran Collopy - the latest member of the crime clan to lose a property, thanks to his illegal activities.

It is just one part of a legal onslaught against the gang who played a key role in the city's decade-long underworld feud.

Currently serving an eight-year sentence for possessing 38,000 worth of heroin along with his brother Brian, he claimed he will now have nowhere to live when he is freed from prison.

He said he would not get involved in anti-social behaviour when released later this year.

Expand Close The council house in St Itas Street, Limerick, that was once the home of Kieran Collopy / Facebook

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Local authorities in Limerick won a legal battle this week to repossess his council house in The Island Field in the city.

The 45-year-old gave evidence in court as he appealed a previous decision in 2016 by the city council to take back the house at St Ita's Street.

The council acted after complaints about Collopy's anti-social activity, which gave them the legal grounds for the move.

It emerged that while he had been a council tenant since 2005 he hadn't lived at the property since 2005. However, Collopy argued that he had since had an acrimonious break-up with his partner and the property is the only place he can go to live when he has completed his sentence.

He said it had been left uninhabitable while he had previously been in prison.

The council argued that while his drug dealing took place at another address in the area it was still a breach of his tenancy agreement.

It was also heard gardai are concerned about the purpose for which the property is being used, and Collopy has made no attempt to secure it or stop it being used by other people.

It's not the first time a member of the Collopy clan has lost a house due to gangland activities.

His brother Brian, who has been served tax demands by the Criminal Assets Bureau, has previously had his Fedamore house sold off by the authorities.

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The most recent tax demand totalled 1.3 million. The criminal faction to which they belong also remain the targets of CAB.

Last summer officers from the specialist unit led a massive operation against the Keane/Collopys that saw two cocaine presses seized as well as about 220,000 in cash.

Jewellery, watch and a vehicle were also seized along with deeds to a property in Dubai while 119,000 was frozen in two bank accounts.

The Sunday World has previously revealed how Brian and Kieran Collopy continued to deal drugs behind bars, where they are suspected of controlling the supply into Limerick prison.

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Another brother, Jonathan, is fighting a High Court challenge to stop his extradition to Bulgaria over a drunk-driving charge, claiming prisons there are over-crowded and unsafe.

The court previously heard that Collopy, who has a serious drugs conviction from 2004, was arrested last year after a European Arrest Warrant was issued by Bulgarian authorities.

His brother Vincent Collopy has been extradited in the opposite direction, from Bulgaria to Ireland, over making threats to a witness, and served three years in prison.

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Brian, Vincent and Damien Collopy all served time over making threats to the same man in 2011, a former associate who gave evidence against two of the brothers.

Their brother Philip had been a notorious gangland enforcer in the city until he accidentally shot himself in the head while showing off a gun in 2009.

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Brian was shot twice in the leg and ankle in 2006 in what was believed to be an assassination bid. His son Kenneth is serving life in prison for the 2011 murder of Damien Fitzgerald.

The criminal clan had been one of the key gangs in Limerick and were aligned to the Keane faction based in their stronghold of St Mary's and St Ita's Park on 'The Island'.
A WOMAN who livestreamed videos as she allegedly led up to 20 Garda cars on a chase on the M50 has been ordered to surrender her passport.

A judge said she was imposing bail conditions after hearing Gemma Greene (24) had left the country to go to Spain on holiday since she was arrested over the Garda pursuit.

At Dublin District Court, Judge Treasa Kelly said Ms Greene will now also have to be under curfew at night and stay sober.

In an interjection from the dock, Ms Greene claimed to have been pinched during her arrest by gardai and they were taking this very personal.

Judge Kelly remanded her on continuing bail for four weeks.

Ms Greene, from Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin, is charged with two counts of dangerous driving, on the M50 at Junctions 4 and 9 northbound last March 1. She has not yet entered a plea.

Gardai chased a car on the M50 until it stopped at the Hampton Wood Drive area of Ballymun. Footage was livestreamed on social media with a driver recorded singing to music.

After the incident, Ms Greene was arrested, charged and granted Garda station bail before appearing in court last week.

At that hearing, Judge Kelly was told Ms Greene had broken quarantine rules by attending court, as she had been out of the jurisdiction recently.

Today, she was back in court for a Garda application to tighten bail conditions.

Gda Jane Keegan said her reason for the application was she was aware of published newspaper interviews in which the accused stated that she intends to leave the jurisdiction.

Ms Greene had been out of the jurisdiction since she was granted bail and it was the garda's understanding that she had been to Spain.

Objecting to bail conditions, defence solicitor John Quinn said the court was to be concerned with whether an accused person answered bail. His client had answered bail twice and conditions were not required, he argued.

Leaving the jurisdiction was a separate matter and there were other procedures, such as the health regulations, to deal with that.

The judge said she had the power to impose conditions and did not see any difficulty with doing so.

She was doing this on the basis that the circumstances had changed considerably when the accused left the jurisdiction after being granted bail.

Conditions are that Ms Greene continues to reside at her home address, observes a curfew between 11pm and 6am, remains sober, surrenders her passport by 9pm tonight, does not apply for other travel documents, and signs on daily at Coolock Garda Station between 9am and 9pm.

Why do I have to stay out of Ballymun? Ms Greene asked from the dock. You are taking this very personal now, yous are. Why dont you tell them you were pinching the back off me when you were arresting me?

The judge asked the accused to address the court through her solicitor.

Why was she pinching the back off me when she was arresting me?" Ms Greene continued. "She is taking it personal. She was abusing me when she was arresting me.

Gda Keegan said a file was being prepared for the DPP and directions were outstanding.

The charges related to an incident involving up to 20 Garda patrol cars and the Garda air support unit, she said.

There was a large amount of statements involved".

Judge Kelly remanded the accused on continuing bail to April 26, saying she was requiring Ms Greene's presence in court on that date.

Over recent weeks, Ms Greene has gained thousands of Instagram followers and has set up a pay-per-view OnlyFans account to boost her online profile. She has also built up her social media presence with photos from her recent one-week holiday to Spain.

When she appeared in court last week, gardai said Ms Greene was at that time still four days off completing quarantine after her holiday.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New coronavirus cases and deaths due to the pandemic in the United States fell significantly at the weekend after witnessing a surge in both COVID metrics over the rest of the week.



Only 487 new coronavirus deaths were reported in the country on Sunday. This is less than half of the 7-day average of 990.



Likewise, 45552 new cases were reported in the country on the same day, which is sharply lower than the weekly average of 63199.



With this, the national total of COVID cases increased to 30262379, according to latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.



The U.S. COVID death toll rose to 549335.



The significant fall in both COVID metrics concurrently reflected state-wise.



California and Texas, the two worst-affected states, together accounted for only 177 deaths, while most cases were reported in New York. New York also crossed the 50000 mark in deaths on Sunday.



President Joe Biden said the reason for the recent surge in COVID cases is because 'people are letting their guard down.'



Responding to a reporter's question at Delaware Air National Guard Base, Biden said, 'Based on what I'm hearing, apparently people are letting their guard down'. He added that he is having a meeting with the White House COVID Response Team on Monday, and he will get 'a better sense' about the situation then.



Things like Spring Break and pulling back on the mitigation methods are behind COVID cases going up in the country, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.



The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that about 143 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have so far been administered in the United States.



More than 28 percent of the U.S. population have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 15.5 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated.



Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reportedly concluded that the coronavirus disease most likely passed to humans from a bat through another animal.



WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that a long-awaited report into the origins of the virus will be officially released on Tuesday.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Former President Donald Trump took to the dance floor of his Mar-a-Lago country club which was hosting a wedding reception to bemoan his election loss and rail against President Biden, China, Iran and the current crisis at the southern border, before finally wishing the happy couple well.

Trump appeared at the reception dressed in a tuxedo where it appeared as though he was going to toast the bride and groom.

But no sooner had he got behind one of the band's microphones, Trump suddenly shifted gear turned all political, as if he were back on the campaign trail.

Donald Trump was set to make a toast at a wedding being held at his country club but ended up talking about losing the 2020 election and the border crisis

The former president hogged the limelight on the couple's big day for more than two-and-a-half minutes covering a range of topics including Biden's shortcomings, foreign policy, China, Iran and the border situation with Mexico.

Much like one of his rallies, he then asked the crowd to cheers, 'Do you miss me yet?' before eventually toasting the newlyweds John and Megan Arrigo.

'I get all these splash reports, and they're telling me about the border, they're telling me about China, they're telling me about Iran,' Trump began as he grabbed the mic.

'We were ready to make a deal, they were ready to do anything, they would have done anything. And this guy [Biden] goes and drops the sanctions and then he says we'd like to negotiate now.

'We're not dealing with the United States now. They don't want to deal with that stuff. And now China the same thing. They never treated us that way. What happened a few days ago was terrible.'

Former President Donald Trump has remained at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida since leaving the White House on January 20th

Trump then doubled down on the issues at the border and described it as the 'worst it has ever been' saying children are living in 'squalor'.

'The border is not good. It's the worst that it has ever been ... what's happening to the kids, they're living in squalor. They are living like nobody has ever seen. There's never been anything like this ...

'These things are showing thousands and thousands of people coming up from South America.'

All the while Trump was speaking, the band appeared to be getting ready to play for the couple's first, but the former president had a few more things to say and seemed better placed to debate policy with guests as he went on to state how country could not afford illegal immigrants and border blunders.

'It's a disaster. It's a humanitarian disaster from their standpoint and it's going to destroy the country. And frankly, the country can't afford it.

The former president was making a guest appearance at a wedding reception at his Mar-a-Lago resort for the newly married couple John and Megan Arrigo

The wedding toast felt more like one of Trump's traditional campaign speeches

'You're talking massive amounts ... Our school systems, our hospital systems. Everything. It's a rough thing.'

Before finally turning attention away from himself, Trump felt compelled to ask the audience once more question.

'And I just say, do you miss me yet?' he asked, before the crowd cheered.

But even then the former president was not finished and managed to slip in a claim about election fraud saying a 'strange thing' happened last November.

'They said get 66 million votes, sir, and the election is over. I got 75 million votes, and you saw what happened.

'At 10.30pm in the evening, all of a sudden, they said that's a strange thing, why are they closing up certain places. There's a lot of things happening right now.'

Finally, after almost three minutes of Trump talking about himself, he turned the attention to the married couple for the first time.

'It's an honor to be here. It's an honor to have you at Mar-a-Lago. You are a great and beautiful couple,' Trump said before the clip came to an end.

Instead of talking about the newlyweds, Trump used the occasion to take a dig at President Joe Biden's administration

A family of immigrants who arrived illegally across the Rio Grande river from Mexico stand in line at a processing checkpoint before being detained at a holding facility by border patrol agents in the border city of Roma, Texas on Saturday

On Saturday night, Donald Trump said he plans to visit the border soon claiming officials at the border 'asked me to go.'

'A lot of people want me to, the Border Patrol and the people of ICE want me there and have asked me to go. I feel I sort of owe it to them,' Trump said to Fox News.

'They are great people doing an incredible job. It's impossible with what they have done to stay in Mexico should have been left. Now they stay in the United States, by the way, stay in and never leave.'

He added: 'Thousands and thousands of people are coming up right now as we speak. And you will have millions of people pouring into our country. It will destroy our country. It's a very, very dangerous situation.'

Trump also called getting rid of the Migrant Protection Protocol was a 'very bad decision' while criticizing Biden for undoing his 'Remain in Mexico' policy.

'You're going to have millions of people pouring into our country. It's a very dangerous situation. I would love not to be involved. Someone else is supposed to be doing it.'

On Saturday evening, Trump claimed that the United States will soon see 'millions of people pouring into our country' as he called it a 'very dangerous situation

Trump also touted his relationship with the Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and blasted Biden for ending that.

'We had a great process with the President of Mexico, who is a terrific guy and a friend of mine. It was a strong process. Frankly they weren't coming into Mexico,' Trump said.

'By the time we got it going, they weren't coming in at Mexico's southern border because they knew they couldn't come into the United States.'

Trump also said that Mexico had 28,000 soldiers who stopped people from coming in to the United States, before then touting his signature border wall.

Trump last visited the border during his final weeks in office when he traveled to Alamo, Texas, to celebrate the completion of more than 450 miles of his border wall.

Since Biden was inaugurated, the United States has seen an unprecedented surge of migrants at the border as the number of unaccompanied children are on track to surpass numbers from May 2019.

U.S. border agents conducted 100,441 apprehensions or expulsions of migrants at the border with Mexico in February - the highest monthly total since a border crisis of 2019, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said recently.

President Joe Biden claimed on Wednesday that a 'surge' of migrants at the southern border started during the Trump administration.

Biden also blamed Trump for getting rid of a $700 million foreign aid program that would have prevented the migration surge by strengthening the economies of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
analysis

South Africa was on Saturday considering sending special forces to the northern Mozambican coastal town of Palma to evacuate several South Africans believed to be still trapped or held hostage by the Islamist insurgents who overran the town this week.

But the Mozambican authorities - who have been widely criticised anyway for failing to protect both locals and expatriates - were not cooperating with Pretoria, Daily Maverick heard. However, it was possible that President Cyril Ramaphosa might get the go-ahead in a direct call to his Mozambique counterpart Filipe Nyusi.

An unknown number of South Africans were among the other foreigners and many locals killed in the four days of fighting in the town which lies in Mozambique's northernmost province of Cabo Delgado. The numbers of dead, injured or still trapped was impossible to establish as the insurgents were still in control of Palma on Saturday.

One of the South Africans who died was Adrian Nel who was shot in an insurgent ambush on Friday afternoon when he and his father and younger brother joined a convoy of 17 vehicles that tried to break out of the Amarula Lodge, which had been besieged by the insurgents for three days.
By the end of Monday, thousands of yellow envelopes mailed to a squat brick building in Birmingham, Ala., will hold the fate of one of the most closely watched union elections in recent history, one that could alter the shape of the labor movement.

The envelopes contain the ballots of workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer. Almost 6,000 workers at the building, one of Amazons largest, are eligible to decide whether they form the first union at an Amazon operation in the United States, after years of fierce resistance by the company.

The ballots were mailed out to workers in early February and must be signed and received by the labor board by the end of Monday. On Tuesday, the vote counting begins  a process that could take many days.

The organizers have made the case in a monthslong campaign that Amazons intense monitoring of workers infringes on their dignity, and that its pay is not commensurate with the constant pressure workers feel to produce. The union estimates that roughly 85 percent of the work force at the warehouse is Black and has linked the organizing to the struggle for racial justice.
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[March 29, 2021] SPIN Partners with NAX to Create Environmentally-Friendly NFT Marketplace Fueled by SPIN's Iconic Cover Art

SPIN, a legendary American music media company, and NAX, a company that brings liquidity to corporate assets, today announce a partnership to release sustainable Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) featuring SPIN's celebrated photography. As the first major music media brand to make its full content archive available via NFT, SPIN will leverage NAX's software and methodology, alongside its historic 36-year IP library, to introduce an environmentally conscious option. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005289/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) One of the major critiques of NFTs today is their negative CO2 impact on the environment as a result of mining. This new marketplace will utilize ESG friendly and energy-efficient technology and ultimately aims to accelerate the sustainable advancement of the NFT space. SPIN NFT selections will feature highly-collectable rare photography, videos, and signed, limited-edition covers and related media. Custom collaborations with artists, celebrities, musicians and brands and exclusive videos and TV-qulity behind-the-scenes footage are also being considered for minting. NFT tie-ins with SPIN's physical art galleries, events and experiential installations will provide unique value-added opportunities on the platform.



Jimmy Hutcheson, CEO, SPIN said: "A music, media and art collectibles marketplace supported by NAX's digital expertise and marketplace technology, fueled by SPIN's access to talent, celebrities and brands is a no brainer. We are excited to launch this with NAX and create something really special for the fans." In addition to being environmentally-friendly, the platform will provide favorable terms to artists, and a streamlined onboarding process for consumers.

NFTs will be released to the marketplace on a recurring basis, allowing for a continual feed of fresh images, collector packs and other assets for fans to engage with. Over time, the joint marketplace will expand to feature a broad selection of distinguished brands and personalities curated by SPIN. Jeff Schumacher, CEO and Founder, NAX said: "I am thrilled that NAX can help bring liquidity to SPIN's iconic catalog of music assets. Through this transformative NFT partnership, we are able to unlock the enormous value of these assets and open them up to the public market in an environmentally sustainable way." To sign up for updates on SPIN's NFT releases, please visit https://www.spin.com/nft/ About SPIN SPIN is one of the most recognizable names in music journalism and pop culture. It's acquisition by Next Management Partners in early 2020 has launched a new generation for the legendary media group, putting the brand back where it belongs at the center of the cultural zeitgeist. Recent covers have featured some of today's biggest stars, like Run the Jewels, Machine Gun Kelly, and Kehlani, coupled with in-depth interviews, merchandise, and original video content. About NAX NAX is a platform to create asset-backed products, ventures and securities for the world's leading institutions. The company co-leads the commercialization of these initiatives with its partners. NAX maintains its headquarters in Manhattan Beach, CA (News - Alert) for North America and Paris, France for Europe with offices in Palo Alto, New York, London, and Frankfurt. In 2021, it will be expanding to Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005289/en/

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Ethos is a nationally recognized, award-winning independent student publication. Our mission is to elevate the voices of marginalized people who are underrepresented in the media landscape, and to write in-depth, human-focused stories about the issues affecting them. We also strive to support our diverse student staff and to help them find future success.



Ethos produces a quarterly free print magazine full of well-reported and powerful feature stories, innovative photography, creative illustrations and eye-catching design. On our website, we also produce compelling written and multimedia stories.



Ethos is part of Emerald Media Group, a non-profit organization thats fully independent of the University of Oregon. Students maintain complete editorial control over Ethos, and work tirelessly to produce the magazine.



Since our inception as Korean Ducks Magazine in 2005, weve worked hard to share a multicultural spirit with our readership. We embrace diversity in our stories, in our student staff and in our readers. We want every part of the magazine to reflect the diversity of our world.
Cargo ships circumnavigating Africa to avoid Suez Canal blockage risk piracy encounters

The massive container ship blocking the width of the Suez Canal has other vessels weighing the lengthy, costly, and perilous decision of whether to detour around Africa instead.



As demonstrated in this story by Insider's Mia Jankowicz, the sea route from the Red Sea to the east Mediterranean is a journey of 15,000 miles and ventures through the world's most dangerous waters for piracy.



Ships taking the long way around will be forced to navigate the Horn of Africa past Somalia and, eventually, past West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea  where piracy rates are the highest in the world.



According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), there were 135 maritime kidnappings recorded in 2020  130 occurred in the Gulf of Guinea.



"We see that the pirates are acting with greater impunity," IMB Director Michael Howlett told Deutsche Welles in February. "They are spending more periods of time on board vessels. In one case, they were on board a vessel for more than 24 hours, totally unchallenged."



The Ever Given blocks the Suez Canal. Satellite image 2021 Maxar Technologies

A spokesperson for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, told the Financial Times it had been contacted by numerous shipping firms over the past couple of days concerned about the risk posed by pirates to their ships are being forced to circumnavigate Africa.



"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 (of Africa)," Genevieve Giuliano, a professor at the University of Southern California's Sol Price School of Public Policy, told The Washington Post.



The huge Ever Given container ship has been stuck in the Suez Canal since Tuesday, and while its Japanese owners said it hopes to free the ship by Saturday, some experts say that freeing the ship could take weeks.



It's unclear how the Ever Given veered off course, but officials attributed the accident to high winds and sandstorms, which are not unusual at this time of year in Egypt.



As the world waits, London-based shipping news journal Lloyd's List estimates that the blockage is costing $400 million per hour in delayed goods.

 2000 MENAFN. All rights reserved.

Theme(s): Others.
Mar. 29Tuesdays in April will bring the gift of music.

Tuesday Noon Recitals are set to resume at First Lutheran Church, 415 Vine St., downtown Johnstown, after the church had only one recital last year due to COVID-19.

George Fattman, task force chairman, said they are proceeding with caution.

"Like all organizations that present the arts, we're eager to get going again in some form," he said.

"We still can't serve lunch, and distancing and masks will be required, but we've scheduled programs that have been highlights in our long history. We think people will be glad to hear them again."

Benjamin Bugaile, who last played at the church when he was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, will open the series on April 6.

His program "Around the World in 45 Minutes" will be preformed on the church's 3,000-pipe Skinner organ and feature works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn, as well as later composers from England, Japan and the United States.

He will conclude with the "Sortie in E-Flat" by the French composer Louis James Alfred Lefebure-Wely.

"That will sound wonderful on our Skinner organ," Fattman said.

A native of Washington, Washington County, Bugaile earned a degree in music from IUP. He participated in numerous choral, instrumental and dramatic performances, and played four recitals at the University of Pittsburgh's Heinz Chapel.

After graduation, he served as music director at Dulin United Methodist Church in Falls Church, Virginia.

Bugaile is director of music ministry at Ingomar United Methodist Church in Pittsburgh.

On April 13, Johnstown Christian School's bell choir, under the direction of Kristen Lloyd, will perform.

The choir will present a program that they will take on a ministry tour to eastern Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

The April 20 concert will feature classical guitarist Bruce Schettig, a real estate appraiser in Lilly who has played guitar in churches, colleges and taverns throughout the region.

Story continues

He is an exponent of finger-style classical guitar, and his repertory ranges from Renaissance to rock.

The series will conclude April 27 with pianist and gospel improvisation Henry Davis.

He has performed in major venues and once accompanied the Billy Graham International Crusade. The Smithsonian Institute selected him to represent the gospel segment of its "100 Years Celebration of Development of the Piano."

Davis serves as an administrator at Peniel Residential Treatment Center.

"This is a solid list and we try to have a variety," Fattman said.

There is no fee to attend the concerts.

"It's a break in the middle of weekday, and it's going to be especially welcomed now because we haven't really been able to go to hear live performances," Fattman said. "People are going to feel good about the experience."

Funding for the series is provided from contributions and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

For more information, call 814-536-7521.
The Berejiklian government has tried to end a bitter standoff in the upper house and obtained legal advice which it says shows Liberal MLC Natasha Maclaren-Jones is the elected president.

In a move that will inflame tensions in the house, which is on an indefinite break amid the deadlock, the government has circulated legal advice from the Crown Solicitor to all upper house MPs.

he Berejiklian government says Natasha Maclaren-Jones has been elected president of the upper house. Credit:Jon Reid

The government says the Crown Solicitors advice shows Ms Maclaren-Jones, who Premier Gladys Berejiklian handpicked for the role, was rightly elected under the parliaments standing orders.

However, in a move that could still scupper the governments plans, the Clerk of the Parliaments is also seeking independent legal advice from leading Sydney barrister Bret Walker, SC.
The new OnePlus 9 family is here and this time around, it's even bigger with an R model joining the vanilla and Pro. Granted, it's availability is limited, but it may be big in what is quickly becoming the company's biggest market.

There was a slight price increase but also an exciting partnership with Hasselblad and its $150 million overall investment in its camera R&D. Our early thoughts on the lineup follow.

Camera is better, but not quite up there with the best

We were lucky enough to get the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro early and complete their reviews. The overall camera quality has been improved significantly over last year's OnePlus 8 series, mostly when it comes to color accuracy and the new 50MP ultrawide camera with free-form lens. Yet, it's still slightly behind the competition from Samsung, Apple and Huawei.

It's not to say the Hasselblad partnership is in vain as not too long ago even comparing OnePlus to the big names in the industry would sound ridiculous. However back then the company was aggressively undercutting the competition's pricing was its camera shortcomings were far easier to forgive. Theses days OnePlus charges a pretty penny for its flagship models, making it much harder to get over the fact that the camera performance just isn't there yet. On the upside the hardware really is great so perhaps future software updates might improve the quality, as it did with its last two generations.

The value proposition is still there

Despite the lack of great camera performance, the OnePlus 9 series offer great bang for your buck. No matter which of the three you are getting, the impeccable display quality is ensured. The vanilla 9 misses on that LTPO tech but the difference isn't as big.

Some of the fastest charging around (wireless included on the vanilla and Pro), speedy performance, good build, solid stereo loudspeakers and a solid balance between clean Android feel and added features.

And despite the price hike the 9 and 9 Pro are still somewhat cheaper than their direct rivals in some markets.

Vanilla version in no-man's land

For a second year in a row, it feels like OnePlus is deliberately handicapping its vanilla offerings. The OnePlus 8 cut too many features and the same goes for the 9 family. Indeed there's a 180 difference, but it's not quite a cheap phone and yet it still has a bunch of compromises. There's no telephoto camera, the main one lacks OIS, you miss on the super fast wireless charging and the plastic frame and downgraded Gorilla Glass protection feel outright insulting at this price point.

We get that OnePlus wants to sell more 9 Pro units but sacrificing the vanilla model to get there may end up hurting it in the long run.

India is the big winner

Those in India will have even fewer reasons to buy the OnePlus 9 since they have the arguably smarter choice - OnePlus 9R. Based on the well-received OnePlus 8T, the 9R may be missing on the Snapdragon 888 chipset, but is otherwise not too far from the vanilla 9.

Asking INR 40,000 (465), the device has OIS on its main camera, has Gorilla Glass 5, keeps the 120Hz OLED display and runs on the still powerful Snapdragon 870 SoC. We are pretty excited to take that one for a spin when we get the chance.

In short, the OnePlus 9R can do pretty much everything the vanilla 9 can (except for the wireless charging) and is considerably cheaper.

Furthermore, Indian prices are a lot lower than in Europe and the US on both devices. The Pro is around 140 cheaper and the vanilla 9 is priced 150 lower.

The company at a crossroad

OnePlus is trying to reposition itself both in terms of market segments and locations. Previously the company relied on strong sales of phones priced below the competition's flagships with Europe being one of its strongest markets. Now it's rearranged its portfolio gradually moving its flagship lineup higher and higher up, while introducing the Nord series to cover the entry level and mid-range.

Ironically this leave its historically strongest segment void as the company clearly feels it's now good enough to compete with the big names on features and performance rather than having to rely on undercutting their pricing.

Meanwhile there's a clear attention shift to India and the US at the expense of Europe, which risks its large fanbase on the Old Continent. Will the new fans won elsewhere be enough to offset that? And are the current turbulent times the best to undergo such major transitions or is it just adding more instability to what is already a precarious situation. Only time will tell if we are witnessing a genius move or a major blunder.
SPRINGFIELD  On his many lists of to dos for today  from working with veterans to ensure they are accessing their benefits to setting up COVID-19 vaccination sites in the citys North End  City Councilor Gumersindo Gomez added taking a phone call from Vice President Kamala Harris this morning to his roster.

I appreciate her making the call and she had definitely read my bio because she was familiar with my work and the work we are doing here in Massachusetts to support our veterans, Gomez said.

Gomez, an Army veteran of Vietnam, is also executive director of the Bilingual Veterans Outreach Centers of Massachusetts and president of the Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts State Council, as well as chairman of Minority Veterans of the national chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America.

The call came on Mondays observance of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, after Harris office expressed an interest in speaking with a Vietnam veteran in the Bay State.

The vice president posted about the call on her Twitter page @VP saying, Our veterans sacrifice to protect our country. Today, on #NationalVietnamWarVeteransDay, I called U.S. Army First Sergeant (Retired) Gumersindo Gomez, to thank him for his service in Vietnam, his 20 years of service in uniform, and the work he continues to do for veterans.

Gomez said they spoke about his work with the veteran population, but also about the residents of Springfield in particular.

Our veterans sacrifice to protect our country. Today, on #NationalVietnamWarVeteransDay, I called U.S. Army First Sergeant (Retired) Gumersindo Gomez, to thank him for his service in Vietnam, his 20 years of service in uniform, and the work he continues to do for veterans. pic.twitter.com/DdVjJ4oy6T  Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) March 29, 2021

She was impressed with what we are doing here in Springfield with veterans, and I spoke with her as a city councilor about what we are doing with vaccinations and taking them to the wards and how people are anxious to receive their stimulus money, Gomez said. I told her how pleased the majority of the citizens are with the new administration in providing the funding and the vaccinations so we can come out of the hole we are in.

She also commented on his familys many years of military service. Gomez father Ismael Gomez served in the Army during World War II. His wife, Eva Gomez, is also an Army veteran, and their eldest son, Giovanni Gomez, served in the Army for 25 years. Grandson Tyler Rodriguez is serving in the Army, and their granddaughter, Adrianna Hernandez, had just been sworn into the Army in 2017 when she was killed in a car crash.

Gomez son, state Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, said military service is honored in his family.

Vietnam Veterans Day is very important for my family. Service, duty, and commitment to our country is something our father instilled in us always, he said. Today our vice president Kamala Harris validated all that our father has taught us during a 20-minute phone call where she spoke to Ward 1 city councilor, my dad, on the different issues impacting Western Massachusetts.

Gumersindo Gomez was recently appointed to the Ward 1 council seat vacated by his son after he became senator. The elder Gomez has been a community activist for more than 30 years with a particular focus on veterans.

Gumersindo Gomez said he is proud Vietnam veterans are being taken care of for their service to the nation.

For the most part Vietnam veterans are elderly now, and most of them have been taken care of with their benefits, Gomez said. There are no longer many out there in the street that I know of. Here in Springfield we do not have any Vietnam veterans that are homeless and I dont think many, if any, in the state.

Gomez said he credits the work by the 15 chapters of the Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts State Council for helping address the needs of the veteran population.

Harris left the call open ended, Gomez said.

She told me to save her number and call her office if I needed anything for the community, he said. She said she is very excited to see what we have done in Western Massachusetts in terms of caring for our veterans and our residents, which means she has left the door to possibly come out this way some day.

Related content:
ROME, MAR 29 - Italy's Easter poverty crisis will be the worst since the start of the century this year with COVID-19 having pushed 5.6 million Italians into absolute poverty, farm group Coldiretti said Monday presenting food solidarity programmes to Premier Mario Draghi at the premier's office in Rome. "Never before have so many Italians been in difficulty at Easter," Colduretti said, estimating that the poor this Easter will be one million more than last. The percentage of poor in the north of Italy has risen from 6.8% to 9.4%, the worst hit part of Italy in the health emergency, Coldiretti said. The crisis has hit over 1.3 million children and under-18s, the association said, 209,000 more than last Easter, (ANSA).
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A joint venture coal-fired power station built by Chinese investors and their Zimbabwean counterparts in Hwange will see the feeding of 50 Megawatts (mw) of power into the African countrys national grid soon.

An official of the company said on Monday that the project would be ready in the next two months, the government-controlled Herald newspaper reported.

The coming on stream of the plant will help ease power shortages which have crippled the economy for many years.

A 13-km power line linking the Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electrical Energy Ltd. (ZZEE)s plant and the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is being done in readiness to start feeding the initial 25mw into the grid, the official said.

ZZEE is a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe ZhongXin Coking Company (ZZCC), a joint venture project between Qualisave Mineral Resources of Zimbabwe and Yuxia ZhongXin Coking Company of China.

The company was given a license to be one of the many independent power producers in 2019 and has delivered even ahead of those who were issued licenses before it.

The power generation will be done under the 50mw Phase 1 of the 320mw project, at an estimated cost of about 10 million U.S. dollars.

As you can see, we are working on the 13 km high-voltage power line linking us with ZPC.

We have done almost 80 percent of the job and we are only left with 13 intermediate poles, said project public relations manager Bob Wang.

After this, we will start connecting wires and our target is to complete this within the next month or two.

We need a power connection from ZPC to enable us to start trial testing of our plant.

We will do this testing exercise for a month to allow adjustment of our equipment and thereafter we can start feeding power to the national grid.

We want to start with the first 25mw unit, he added.

(NAN)
Deputy Commissioner of Operations at The Gambia Police Force has underscored that security is an integral component in any electoral process.

Sireh Jabang was speaking on Thursday at a two-day training convened for election and law enforcement officials on access to information. The event was held at Baobab Holiday Restaurant in Kololi.

She observed that ensuring security in any electoral process is essential to retaining the participant's confidence and commitment to an election.

Jabang, however, reminded that confrontations may be unavoidable in elections but urged people to rather focus on its management and containment within accepted boundaries.

Elections, she went on, are national struggles and therefore requires national security.

"The security of an election can be unique to the circumstances in which it is conducted .The institutions responsible for the administration and security of an election must fulfill their mandates impartially. It is also important to note that security is prevalent in electoral processes. We recognised the fact that it can affect both the actual and perceived as well as the legitimacy of the electoral outcomes."

She, however, affirmed that an equitable secure environment for electoral participants is fundamental.

"It is not that the security forces are not willing to give information when needed, but because it could be detrimental to the security of the nation."
ASHEVILLE, N.C., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Level Up conference hosted by Quility and Symmetry Financial Group provided two days of education and industry-leading innovation for attendees. This year in a virtual format, the conference welcomed thousands of insurance professionals from across the nation.

The event was held on March 24 and 25, 2021 on a virtual platform that provided attendees the opportunity to meet with insurance carrier partners, network with some of the most profitable agents in the industry, tune in to breakout sessions and attend general sessions hosted by founders Brandon Ellison, Casey Watkins and Brian Pope.

"Our annual conferences have an incredible impact on our organization, and this year was no exception. With over 22,000 conference registrants, this event exemplified the growth and success of Quility," said Joe Dendy, Chief Marketing Officer at Quility.

The conference featured the rollout of several new components of the Quility Tech agent enablement platform as well as a conversation with the company's founders and #1 New York Times Best Selling Author and Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey to discuss key points from McConaughey's book "Greenlights."

Quility is backed by a network of thousands of licensed insurance agents nationwide, a recent combination of partner companies Symmetry Financial Group and Asurea Insurance Services. The company partners with more than 80 companies to give clients the power of choice when it comes to shopping for insurance and offers innovative, best-in-class technology to support its agents.

Quility insurance agents are available to connect clients with a suite of solutions including mortgage protection, term life insurance, and Debt Free Life, a turnkey program designed to eliminate debt in nine years or less without any additional expenses to the client.

About Quility

Quility uses innovative and proprietary technology to modernize the process of qualifying for and purchasing life insurance. The Quility digital platform offers clients the option to apply for life insurance online through a ten-minute application with the support of a licensed insurance agent. To learn more, visit quility.com.

About Symmetry Financial Group

For ten years, Symmetry Financial Group has provided life insurance solutions to families across the nation. Symmetry Financial Group has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as a Fastest-Growing Company for the last five consecutive years and was recognized for a Top Company Culture by Entrepreneur Magazine for two years in a row. Symmetry is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. For more information, visit sfglife.com.

Media Contact

Quility Press

[email protected]

SOURCE Quility
Mayor Ron Nirenberg reminded San Antonio residents on Sunday to continue engaging in safe practices to slow the spread of the coronavirus as city officials reported an uptick in new cases.

The 317 newly reported cases are the most reported in one day since March 11 and more than two times the number of cases reported Saturday.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases now stands at 184, up from 166 on Saturday. That figure was 368 one month ago and 1,459 two months ago.

Maintaining discipline is the best way to end this pandemic, Nirenberg said in a statement. We have to play it safe while the vaccination process continues. Wear a mask, maintain social distance and wash your hands frequently.

On ExpressNews.com: State of the pandemic in San Antonio, in Texas and across the U.S.

There were no new deaths reported Sunday, but officials added 67 deaths recently confirmed to have been caused by COVID-19, as well as 1,259 backlogged cases from more than two weeks ago. The deaths occurred between July 29 and March 11.

Since the pandemic arrived in the region about a year ago, 205,099 San Antonians have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,144 have died of COVID-19.

San Antonios hospitals were treating 182 patients with COVID-19 Sunday, and 14 of those patients were admitted in the past 24 hours. One month ago, there were nearly 500 people hospitalized with COVID-19 here. That figure peaked at 1,520 in mid-January.

There were 74 patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit on Sunday, and 37 patients needed a ventilator to breathe.

Vaccines

The coronavirus vaccines are the most effective weapon against serious illness from the virus, and on Monday, millions more people across Texas will become eligible to receive it, as appointments will be made available to anyone 16 and older.

On ExpressNews.com: A guide to getting vaccinated in San Antonio

But the expanded eligibility means demand for the vaccine will increase even as supply has remained limited.

In Bexar County, about 461,000 people had been partially vaccinated by Sunday. Another 263,600 people had been fully vaccinated, Texas Department of State Health Services data shows.

Bexar County is expected to receive more than 50,000 vaccine doses this week. Overall, communities across Texas will get more than 1.5 million doses this week, according to DSHS.

Residents can sign up to receive a text message when vaccination appointments become available by texting VACCINE or VACUNA to 55000.

The Express-News vaccine FAQ page has detailed information  updated daily  about vaccination locations, vaccine supplies and how to make appointments.

andy.picon@hearst.com | Twitter: @andpicon
Actor Adarsh Gourav, who played the lead role in Ramin Bahranis The White Tiger, bagged the nomination in the lead actor category at BAFTA 2021.

The film had Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao playing integral roles in The White Tiger directed by Ramin Bahrani. The story revolves around the character of Balram Halwai, who lives in Laxmangarh village, who becomes a successful entrepreneur from scratch. He becomes the driver of a rich man from Delhi and later ends up murdering his boss.

Adarsh Gouravs performance in the film impressed everyone so much that he stole the spotlight from Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao in the film.

So, heres all we know about Adarsh Gourav, who just bagged a BAFTA nomination in the lead actor category-

He Was A Musician

Adarsh was a musician and the lead vocalist of a rock band, Oak Island which was also featured in MTV Indies-Never Hide Sounds.

Trained Hindustani Classical Musician

Adarsh who is originally from Jamshedpur is also trained in Hindustani classical music for over 9 years and has also worked with a lot of people from the industry including Sukhwinder Singh, Illayraja, and Subhash Ghai.

Debut Movie

Adarsh Gourav made his big debut with Shah Rukh Khans movie My Name Is Khan. He played the role of young Rizwan Khan. Since then, he has already worked with prominent names like Manoj Bajpayee, Sridevi, Kumud Mishra, and more.

His Notable Performances

Some of his notable performances before The White Tiger are from Rukh, Mom, Leila, and Hostel Daze.

We definitely want to see more of such deserving talent. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
Miami, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2021) - Miami-based United American Corp (OTC Pink: UAMA) ("UnitedCorp") announced today 2019 year-end financial results and provided an initial corporate update for 2019 and 2020. Year-end 2020 results will be released on April 5, 2021, as well as management's plans for the future of the company.

The Company also announced that primary Heat Station Dome operations were resumed on February 12th of this year after suspending them in May 2020 due to poor market conditions. With the resurgence in prices and with more institutional recommendations that cryptocurrency be included in investment portfolios as well as the mainstreaming of currencies such as Bitcoin by companies like Tesla, the Company believes that the time is right to re-enter the mining sphere. The Company is also encouraged by an overall push to more green mining initiatives such as Jack Dorsey's announcement that Square has created a fund to support companies driving the adoption of renewables in their mining activities.

"It was important for UnitedCorp to wait until there were sufficient signs of market stability before deciding to re-start operations," stated UAMA Vice President, Lawry Trevor-Deutsch. "We are now of the belief that the cryptocurrency market has been well tested and that its long-term importance as a financial instrument looks very promising. We also believe that the pandemic has emphasized the need for a higher level of local food security and we will renew our efforts in using the heat generated from operations to supply greenhouses that can operate year-round. Our goal has always been to go beyond simply being carbon neutral and towards a completely green closed-system which reuses its energy as much as possible."

Operations are currently at approximately 6 megawatts of the site's 8.4-megawatt capacity. The Company also intends to complete its 2018 and 2019 financial audits as well as commencing the audit for 2020. It will also begin to assess options to upgrade its servers to allow for more efficient mining.

2019 Financial Highlights

(all figures in US dollars)

Generated revenue of $4.7 million 1 for Heat Station Dome operations a gross profit of $2.2million 2

for Heat Station Dome operations a gross profit of $2.2million Consolidated net earnings of $1.49 million

EBITDA for the year was $1.79 million 3

Increase in tangible assets from $3.0 million to $4.9 million

1Revenue is based on hosting services, mining operations and consulting

2 Gross profit consists of billings less direct costs (mainly electricity) and is a non-IFRS measure.

3 EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure

Financial Review

Year End (US$) Dec 31, 2019 Dec 31, 2018 Total Revenue 5,415,822 1,703,259 Cost of Revenue 2,556,790 911,574 Gross Profit 2,859,032 791,685 General Expenses 1,068,199 587,264 Financial Expenses 158,042 37,363 Depreciation 243,767 52,786 Net Income1 1,389,024 114,272 EBITDA 1,790,833 339,842

1 Excludes gain/loss on foreign exchange

Financial Statements

The Company's financial statements are available on www.otcmarkets.com under UnitedCorp's profile.

About United American Corp

Established in 1992, United American Corp is a Florida-based development and management company focusing on telecommunications and information technologies. The company currently holds the rights to manage a portfolio of patents and proprietary technology in telecommunications, social media and Blockchain technology, and owns and operates the Data Center Domes which are amongst the world's most efficient and green data centers and are designed to provide heat for agricultural operations using computer equipment in naturally cooled data centers where efficiency and low-cost operations are a priority.

About the BlockchainDome

The UnitedCorp BlockchainDome was designed to provide heat for agricultural operations using ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit chip) mining operations where efficiency and low-cost operations are a priority. The BlockchainDomes, which utilize a proprietary passive cooling ground-coupled heat-exchanger technology, are particularly suited for situations where rapid cluster deployment is required as they can be erected and commissioned in a matter of weeks rather than up to a year using the traditional "Bricks and Mortar" approach. BlockchainDomes can be configured in a wide range of sizes to service any type of greenhouse operation.

How BlockchainDomes work can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDmhhaJKHLg.





Cannot view this video? Visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDmhhaJKHLg

Aerial View of an Operating BlockchainDome and Rendering of Additional Greenhouses



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6697/78801_df82af6b34a3e809_001full.jpg

Internal View of BlockchainDome



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6697/78801_df82af6b34a3e809_002full.jpg

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors that may be beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances in management's expectations or opinions change.

Source:

United American Corp

Contact:

Jenna Trevor-Deutsch

Investor Relations

investorrelations@unitedcorp.com

604 398 5000 Ext: 109

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78801
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed enormous physical, emotional and psychological strains on the parents and families of school-aged children. Children in Ontario and across Canada are expected to attend school as if there were no pandemic raging out of control in their communities. These children, their mothers, fathers and grandparents have been placed at high risk for contracting the virus and are living in fear of bringing it home to other loved ones and their co-workers in the community.

Students at a Peel Region elementary school. (Photo Credit: Twitter/Grade 3 @Lorenville)

World Socialist Web Site reporter Ken Lagerfeld spoke last week to Yvonne about her experience having her child sent home due to a COVID-19 outbreak at his elementary school in Brampton, Ontario. A Toronto suburb, with a large working class immigrant population, Brampton and the Peel Region, of which it is part, have emerged as the epicentre of the pandemic in Canadas most populous province. The more infectious and lethal B.1.1.7 variant is running rampant through the regions schools and workplaces, as was recently shown by a massive outbreak at one of Amazons largest Canadian warehouses.

***

Ken Lagerfeld: What was your initial reaction when you learned that your sons school was being closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak?

Yvonne: My first reaction was shock, to be honest with you. I did not expect a full closure of my sons whole school. But I guess it had to happenit was a necessary measure that they had to do. I was shocked, concerned and scared at the same time.

This past Sunday, they sent out an email advising that there were four separate COVID cases in four separate classrooms, but the school was not shut down. I did not see that email. My son went to school as usual on Monday, and I was at work. Around 11:00 a.m. I just happened to check my personal email account and saw that the school had sent an email letting us know that the school was closing because a whole lot of teachers had to isolate and to come pick up our kids ASAP.

So I sent my father, who is 73 years old, to go get my son from school, since I was at work. I am angry that I had to do that because now my father is at risk too, after going into the school, and my elderly mother, too. I did not have time to think about it at the time.

KL: Were you satisfied about how the school notified you? Do you feel you got all the necessary info you needed to feel safe?

Yvonne: Not really. It would have been nice if we had more info and were notified actually how many kids and teachers were sick with COVID, in what classrooms and grades, and when they got it exactly. I only found out that there were cases in my sons friends classrooms because other mothers told me. The school never told me anything.

I think that we have a right to know. I want to know if my son was close to the infected people in the school. Why didnt they close it on Friday? Parents are only sent a heads-up email that does not tell you anything. What kids are sick? Was my son close to them? With COVID in the school I want to know what I can do to make my son safer, how to react. I am not happy with the lack of information. Heads up, we have COVID is not good enough for me.

KL : Which members of your household are most at risk from potential COVID-19 infection?

Yvonne: Given that I am currently living with my parents (my kids grandparents), they are because of their age group and because they have not yet been vaccinated. I have another son in a high school, and his school has had about 30 COVID cases. It seems like it is spreading more now within the schools in this third wave. I believe schools and day cares should have been closed with the third wave coming.

I know people who teach and also many parents with kids. I go on the internet, and I am aware of whats happening, and there is more spread from school child to school child. It is spreading more in the elementary schools. The spread is within the schoolnot brought in. The kids are spreading it to each other. I believe its the new variants. Yet people are more relaxed about it, (when it should be) more of a concern than ever.

KL: Why do you think that is the case?

Yvonne: Because it has been going on for over a year. It is a different ballgame now because we dont trust the government anymore. This off and on, off and on, closed and opened, lockdown and opened up runaround. The (authorities) are not serious. People are sick of it. If they had done it properly from the beginning, it would be different now. I would blame how the government is handling the pandemicit starts from there. Of course, opening up the economy has been a big reason, and now indoor dining is about to open again.

I heard about Amazon [being ordered to close] through the news, and the [Brampton] bus routes being canceled as well. I think the media, the corporations and the government are hiding the true state of the pandemic from the people. They dont want us to know. This could have been 100 percent prevented. Amazon does not want you to know they have 500 or 1,000 sick employees. (See: Canadian health officials shut Amazon warehouse after mass COVID-19 outbreak)

KL: How could this have been prevented?

Yvonne: For example, with Amazon, a safer work environment. If that building has thousands of employees, why are they all still working? Social distancing, mask wearing. I dont know what happens inside but obviously their practices were not safe. I dont believe they did a good job. Same thing with the bus situation. The bus drivers are not being protected. Are they determining how to safely do work on a crowded bus? How many people can safely get on a bus?

KL: What supports should be available so that workers can be safe at work and if they need to isolate?

Yvonne: Workers should be able to safely isolate, of course! If they need to take time off work, they should be getting some accommodation so they can isolate as long as necessary and get fully paid at the same time. Their expenses should be covered, some sort of sick leave benefit. But (Ontario Premier Doug) Ford has said No to that!

At the beginning of the pandemic, I had faith in Doug Ford, but things have changed. I thought in the beginning he was doing a wonderful job. I followed him on Instagram, but now I am so fed up, I unfollowed him.  The government just does not know how to handle this. But then I flip flop, you know. Maybe they do.

KL : What do you mean?

Yvonne: Maybe they want it to be like this. Maybe they want it to spread. Maybe they want people to get infected. Maybe they want people to die. Maybe they want to shut down the small businesses and keep the big corporations and the big companies still afloat. We have lost thousands of small businesses since the pandemic began! If you go down to Queen Street, all you see are signs for lease, for lease, for lease everywhere! So we have lost a lot of small businesses, and I think that is what they want. They do not care about workers.

I dont have any confidence in the government and how they handled this pandemic. Absolutely not!

KL: Educators are taking things into their own hands and have formed a Cross-Canada Rank-and-File Safety Committee to stand up and promote safety in the schools. Many staff and teachers feel they must take matters in their own hands because they feel they are not supported by their unions and their school boards. They want to stand up and make the schools safe. Do you think they should do this?

Yvonne: They should do this.  I would support closing all the schools in Brampton right now because the third wave is going to get worse before it gets better.  There are way too many cases and transmission at the schools right now. It would be smart to close everything now. Stay home until the summer comes and wait until everyone gets vaccinated. See how things pan out and go back in September. I dont think its safe for my kids to go back!
The Danish government says the EUs intention to weigh-in on a minimum-wage framework across the bloc might be more than Copenhagen is willing to swallow.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Danish Employment Minister Peter Hummelgaard Thomsen said sovereignty over labour laws has always been a condition of Denmarks EU membership. He said Denmark is ready to fight the EU to maintain that independence.

In the 1970s, Danish labour unions agreed to EU membership based on an assumption that handing over authority to the EU would not endanger the Danish labour market model, Mr Hummelgaard Thomsen said.

But the European Commissions insistence on an EU-wide framework for minimum wages has triggered frustration and concern in Denmark, as the country wakes up to the fact that Brussels could potentially intervene in something very, very sacred to us, he said.

Denmarks labour market model, dubbed flexicurity, is a point of pride in the Nordic country. The idea is that Danish workers are guaranteed security through unemployment benefits while employers enjoy a certain flexibility that allows them to hire and fire relatively freely. Pay is negotiated between labour unions and employers groups, without government intervention.

The model has resulted in some of the worlds best pay levels for low-skilled jobs.

The concept of a minimum wage has taken on renewed significance amid a spike in income inequality that has only become worse since the global financial crisis of 2008.

In October, the European Commission presented its proposal for a new directive that would require all member states to establish procedures for adequate minimum wages. That came as US lawmakers failed to include a Democratic proposal for a federal $15-per-hour (12.70) minimum wage in the countrys $1.9 trillion (1.61trn) pandemic relief bill.

Mr Hummelgaard Thomsen says the answer to the widening income gap is for more countries to embrace the kind of unionised collective bargaining model that Denmark has, rather than a legislated minimum wage.

In Denmark, politicians keep their long, greasy fingers to themselves when it comes to labour-market conditions. he said. The reason why employees at McDonalds in Denmark can earn $22 (18.60) an hour is that theres no legal minimum wage.

Mr Hummelgaard Thomsen says that if a minimum wage were introduced in Denmark, he can almost guarantee that workers wouldnt earn more than that minimum wage.

Denmark is not alone in its frustration with the EU over its planned minimum-wage regulation. Sweden, where collective bargaining is also the norm, has voiced similar concerns.

Last month, it mobilised seven other member states aside from Denmark to join its letter to the EUs rotating presidency opposing the directive.

Mr Hummelgaard Thomsen says his key concern is that Denmark and Sweden wont be able to muster a big enough minority to block an EU vote.

He is urging the commission to hold off and give member states more time to figure out how such legislation would impact their economies.
COLUMBIA  South Carolina students will spend the final weeks of the school year preparing for and taking high-stakes standardized tests after the federal government denied Superintendent Molly Spearman's request for another reprieve.

But parents can opt out, since the federal government did erase all penalties that normally result from lack of participation, she announced March 29.

Still, the decision from the Biden administration means testing may occupy the bulk of the education effort after spring break, just as more schools bring students back five days a week.

All but three school districts  all of them rural  will be offering five days of face-to-face learning by mid-April, following spring break. The majority of schools already do, including high schools in Richland One in Columbia, where the full-week option began March 29. No school is still operating online-only, according to Spearman's agency.

Every state was given a waiver from high-stakes testing last spring amid forced school shutdowns nationwide. But the federal Department of Education denied states' requests to skip them a second time.

Spearman asked permission to allow different tests that schools already give  which provide teachers quicker, more useful results  to serve as a temporary substitute. The denial means schools must set aside time in the last 30 days of the academic year to give state-standardized tests, which are used to grade a school's performance as per state and federal education accountability laws.

"I was very disappointed," she told reporters. "It will take valuable time away from classroom teaching when we so desperately need every minute we have to instruct our students."

The data is valuable, she said, but "because of the pandemic, we didn't need our students to go through extra testing this year."

Spearman stressed to the tens of thousands of parents and educators who have contacted her office pleading for a suspension: "I've done everything I could possibly do."

Spearman announced her decision last June to seek another waiver. Days later, the Legislature passed a law officially directing her to do so and, if the federal government approved, suspending all state-mandated testing requirements, too.

Her request was denied in a letter dated March 26.

"Still, we recognize that some schools and school districts will face circumstances where they are not able to successfully administer summative assessments to all students," wrote Ian Rosenblum, a deputy assistant secretary at the federal agency, about approving a separate part of Spearman's request.

Normally, districts face a loss of federal funding if less than 95 percent of each school's students participate. Those penalties won't kick in this year.

While Spearman encouraged families to participate, "it's a decision left up to that family," she said.

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Students in third through eighth grade take state-standardized tests in English and math. Fourth and sixth graders also take science tests to comply with state and federal law.

In high school, end-of-course tests in biology, algebra, and English are required by federal law, while state law additionally requires an end-of-course U.S. history exam. Normally, those tests account for 20 percent of students' final grades in those subjects, but that state rule was waived last fall.

The testing will generally take up a week of instructional time for each school, which can set the dates at any point within the 30-day window.

But the preparation will take up far more time, said Patrick Kelly with the Palmetto State Teachers Association.

For students who haven't been in the classroom for much of the year, "teachers may end up spending a lot of time to the run-up of the tests on the testing format rather than the contest," he said.

Plus, "you'll have assistant principals doing nothing but test preparation for the next month," he added. "It will really inhibit the ability of schools to have something close to normal for the last nine weeks."

Due to the security involved in the tests, they must be taken in person at school. Allowing students to take them virtually at home is not an option, Spearman said.

At the very least, that likely means the vast majority of students whose families have kept their children learning remotely  regardless of a school's in-classroom operating status  won't participate.

Teachers have long complained the high-stakes tests are useless for their classrooms, since the results come months later and give a score but provide no details on which questions or areas students struggled with in each subject.

Having large chunks of students opt out will likely strip any meaning from the testing results, negating all objections for suspending them, Kelly said.

The results aren't going to reveal anything not already known, said Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, adding the teachers' advocacy group echoes Spearman's disappointment.

Scores from 2019, the last time the tests were given, showed most third- through eighth-graders could not read on grade level. Fourth graders posted the best reading results that year, with just 51 percent meeting or exceeding expectations.

And it's well known that students have backslid, as seen by local testing the Legislature required districts to report.

"We know from years of testing we have a literacy problem. Why would we waste money and valuable time testing it again? To say we're worse? We know that," East said. "We need every moment we can get teaching, not testing."
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 for Tennesseans who may have sustained home or auto damage from the tragic storms that swept across Tennessee.

The severe weather produced heavy rains, flooding and hail that claimed lives, knocked out electric power for thousands and caused damages to homes and vehicles across Tennessee.

Our Department expresses our heartfelt condolences to those who may have lost loved ones during the weekend storms, said TDCI Commissioner Carter Lawrence. During the challenges of the past year, we have seen the resiliency of Tennesseans repeatedly demonstrated as we have worked together to help our friends and neighbors recover and rebuild. I am confident that the spirit that makes us the Volunteer State will help carry us forward in the wake of the weekends storms.

Tennessee consumers who have questions about filing a claim or about their insurance policy can contact TDCIs team at (615) 741-2218 or 800-342-4029. Consumers can may visit our website for additional information or to file a complaint online regarding potential disputes with their insurance carrier.

TDCI Assistant Commissioner Bill Huddleston said: Our team is committed to ensuring that claims are being adjusted and paid appropriately and in a timely manner. Consumers who feel as if they have been unfairly denied a claim should contact our team and file a complaint immediately.

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, consumers should file a complaint with TDCI

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.

Flood Insurance:

Purchasing or renewing flood insurance is one of the most important steps you can take to financially prepare for a disaster. Its important to note that just one inch of water in the average-sized home can cause more than $25,000 in damage. While flood insurance cannot stop flooding, it can help prevent a financial catastrophe. Traditional homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Therefore, consumers should consider buying flood insurance sooner rather than later because you must hold the policy at least 30 days prior to when a flood occurs. Visit FloodSmart.gov to learn more about purchasing a new flood insurance policy.

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 .

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 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:

Never sign over your insurance check for rebuilding, do not pay with cash or pay the total charges before the work is complete.

State home improvement law prohibits contractors from asking for a down payment of more than 1/3 of the total contract.

Only conduct business with licensed insurance agents and contractors. To verify an insurance license, visit the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

###

About the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance: Fostering fair marketplaces, public safety, and consumer education that promote the success of individuals and businesses while serving as innovative leaders. Our divisions include the State Fire Marshals Office, Insurance, Securities, Regulatory Boards, Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy, Tennessee Emergency Communications Board and TennCare Oversight. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
on Monday received 'Made in India' COVID-19 vaccines, informed External Affairs Minister

" receives Made in India vaccines. Another expression of our African solidarity. #VaccineMaitri," Jaishankar wrote in a tweet.

Under the 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative, India has been providing vaccines to its neighbouring countries. Over 70 countries have already received vaccines under the program.

Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Srilanka, and Myanmar are among many countries that were aided by India during the pandemic.

(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 nearly a decade now the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) has been reorganizing itself. Over the last few decades its weapons and equipment got heavier, so that it could work with army units during combat operations on land. This made your average marine combat unit heavier and more difficult to move ashore for amphibious operations. In response, marine commanders say they would prefer to be a smaller force, one that concentrates on its main mission: amphibious and commando type operations.

The reorganization and process has been underway during the past few years now and has led to a lot of support units (tank, artillery, aviation, engineer and military police) disbanded or moved to the reserves. Three of 24 current marine infantry battalions and one regimental headquarters are being deactivated as well. The marine focus is now on the Pacific and potential conflict with China. That means the marines want to get back to World War II-type operations, when the marines were all about taking fortified islands from their Japanese garrisons.

The pre-reorganization marines that gained a lot of its armor, engineer and artillery units evolved 2001, when major operations in Afghanistan, and Iraq and a few other places required forces similar to what the army had, and needed more of.

The last major reorganization took place in the 1980s. Back then, the marines turned their divisional and regimental headquarters into administrative operations, and created new organizations to do the actual fighting. The new units were MEUs (Marine Expeditionary Units, actually reinforced infantry battalions), MEBs (Marine Expeditionary Brigades, which were brigades reinforced with support units so they could operate independently) and MEFs (Marine Expeditionary Force), which was a headquarters for controlling MEUs and MEBs. When there was a large operation, the old regiment and divisional designations were used, but the units were basically MEBs controlled by an MEF. This task-oriented organization remains. Even the army adopted this type of thing fifteen years ago when reinforced brigades became the primary combat unit rather than the division. Divisions headquarters became a tactical headquarters for brigades and other units for an operation.

Meanwhile, many marines were unhappy with the way they have been used as an army auxiliary in the decade after 2001. The marines consider themselves specialists, while the army are generalists who, for example, carried out more amphibious operations than the marines did during World War II. By 2013 marines comprised a quarter of America's ground combat forces. That's active duty, when you count the much larger army reserve force, the marines are 18 percent of ground combat forces. The marines never wanted to be just another part of American ground combat forces. This has caused some tension within the marine leadership, as some commanders want to maintain as broad a range of skills as possible. This has led to disputes over how to handle development and procurement of specialist equipment, especially amphibious and armored vehicles. Eventually the originalists won the debate and now the marines are going back to their modern origins in World War II.

The marines were also concerned with their relationship with the U.S. Navy, which has now formed another ground combat force. To understand how this came about you have to understand the relationship between the navy and the marines. The marines are not part of the navy, as they are often described. Both the navy and marines are part of the Department of the Navy. The Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force each have only one component, while the Navy Department has two (the fleet and the marines) who are separate services that are closely intertwined. For example, the navy provides many support functions for the marines which, in the army and air force, are provided by each service. Thus, navy personnel serve in marine units (wearing marine combat uniforms) as medics and other support specialists. The use of the navy for support functions means a much higher proportion of marines are combat troops than in the navy, army, or air force. This gives the marines a different attitude and outlook.

Over the years, the marines have acquired more and more autonomy from the navy. When the U.S. Marine Corps was created, over two centuries ago, marines were sailors trained and equipped to fight as infantry, and they were very much part of the navy and part of ship crews. This changed radically in the late 19th century, when all-metal steam ships replaced wooden sailing ships. The new "iron ships" really didn't need marines and there were proposals to eliminate them. In response, the American marines got organized and made themselves useful in other ways. For example, the marines performed very well as "State Department Troops" in Latin America for half a century (late 19th century to just before World War II), where American troops were frequently used to deal with civil disorder abroad and nation building. During World War I (1914-18), they provided a brigade for ground combat in Europe where the marines demonstrated exceptional combat skills.

In the 1930s, as World War II approached, the U.S. Marine Corps really ran with the ball when the navy realized they would have to use amphibious assaults to take heavily fortified Japanese islands in any future war. Thus, once the U.S. entered World War II, the marines formed their first division size units and ended the war with six divisions, organized into two corps. Only four of those divisions survived the post-World War II demobilization and one of them is now a reserve division.

After World War II the Marine Corps was no longer just a minor part of the navy but on its way to being a fourth service. By the late 20th century, they basically achieved that goal. But in doing so, the navy lost control of its ground troops. Navy amphibious ships still went to sea with battalions of marines on board. But because the marines are mainly an infantry force, and the war on terror is basically an infantry scale battle, the marines spent a lot more time on land working alongside the U.S. Army.

In response to all this, U.S. Navy began building a new ground combat force in 2006, staffed by 40,000 sailors. This is NECC (Navy Expeditionary Combat Command), which is capable of operating along the coast and up rivers, as well as further inland. NECC units have served in Iraq and are ready to deploy anywhere else they are needed. The 1,200 sailors in the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) teams are particularly sought after, because of increased use of roadside bombs and booby traps by the enemy. NECC organized three Riverine Squadrons which served in Iraq. NECC basically consists of most of the combat support units the navy has traditionally put ashore, plus some coastal and river patrol units that have usually only been organized in wartime.

As major U.S. troops commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan declined after 2011 so did the need for NECC. Currently NECC is a smaller force of 20,000 sailors trained and equipped for coastal and riverine operations. There is still a need for that and the marines are content to let the navy handle it with sailors trained as infantry who operate from small boats along coasts and waterways.

NECC and the strategy that came with it, was a surprise to many people, especially many of those in Congress who were asked to pay for it. It came as a surprise to many NECC sailors as well. The navy even called on the marines to provide infantry instructors for the few thousand sailors assigned to riverine (armed patrol boat) units. The navy already had infantry training courses for Seabees (naval construction personnel) and members of EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) teams. Now all that was combined in the Expeditionary Combat Skills (ECS) course, which is conducted at a base in Mississippi.

Initially the Marine Corps had mixed feelings about NECC, for the marines have long been the navy's ground combat troops. The navy says that the USMC mission will remain. Thus, some marine leaders want to shrink the Corps so they become small enough to handle anticipated navy amphibious operations and not large enough to have troops available for large scale support of army operations.

In effect, many American marine commanders want to be more like the British marines. That's interesting, because British marines are called Royal Marine Commandos and are quite different from their American counterparts. Britain invented the modern concept of the commando but disbanded its ten army commando's (as the battalion size commando units were called) at the end of World War II. The Royal Marines, however, saw the commando concepts as a welcome addition to their own amphibious doctrine and retained three of their nine Royal Marine Commandos. Since World War II, the Royal Marines have maintained at least three commando battalions. Artillery and engineer units are supplied by the army.

Like the U.S. Marines, the Royal Marines realized that assault from the sea was always a commando-like operation which required special training, bold leadership, and an aggressive spirit. The Royal Marines, like their American counterparts, continued to innovate. In 1956, it was a Royal Marine Commando that launched the first helicopter assault from ships against a land target (during an invasion of Egypt). The Royal Marine Commandos were used extensively to keep the peace in Ireland during the 1970s and 80s. In 1982, it was two Royal Marine Commandos and one parachute battalion that did most of the fighting to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina. The Royal Marines have performed peacekeeping duty in the Balkans and Africa, and served as an amphibious fast reaction force.

While the U.S. Marines made a name for themselves with multi-division amphibious operations in the Pacific during World War II, the Royal Marines stuck with the commando type operations that characterize what marines spent most of the time doing between major wars in the past. Remember, the last large scale amphibious operation took place over seventy years ago (Inchon, Korea in 1950). Since then, the typical marine mission has been a quick assault using a small (usually battalion size) force.

In anticipation of this, the U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) was created in 2006. Since then, it has kept its 2,500 personnel busy with dozens of deployments in South America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. MARSOC is organized into a headquarters, a two battalion Special Operations Regiment, a Foreign Military Training Unit, and a Marine Special Operations Support Group. There are 3-4 Special Operations companies in each battalion.

The marines basically lost two of their four Force Recon companies (one of them a reserve unit) in order to build MARSOC. Meanwhile, more troops have been added to division level reconnaissance units, to take up some of that slack. The Special Operations companies (with about 120 personnel each) can provide Force Recon capabilities to marine units they are attached to. The two Special Operations Battalions provide a combination of services roughly equal to what the U.S. Army Special Forces and Rangers do, as well as some of the functions of the Force Recon units.

With MARSOC the marines are playing catchup. In the late 1980s all the other services, except the marines, contributed to the formation of SOCOM (Special Operations Command). The marines finally got around to working with SOCOM in 2005, when it was agreed that they would create a marine special operations command (MARSOC). The Marine Corps had long resisted such a step, largely because of its belief that marines are inherently superior warriors capable of highly specialized missions. This attitude began to change during the fighting in Afghanistan, when marines were assigned to support SOCOM troops there and were duly impressed.

Most marine commanders see their future as a smaller (by up to a third, at least) even more elite and better equipped force. The marines want to get back to sea, and that is what the marines have done over the last decade. One major benefit was avoiding the loss of a lot of the valuable combat experience the marines have gained since September 11, 2001. Recruiting was reduced for a few years, and some marines transferred to the navy, usually in jobs that both sailors and marines handle, especially the NECC force. Marines have long moved over to the army, and the army would be glad to get an infusion of combat experienced marines, especially NCOs and officers. The marines also want to expand their reserve force so that marines who decide to get out can simply move over to the reserves.

The marines are now experimenting with some new concepts, like littoral regiments to do the jobs that are too tough or too distant for NECC to handle right away. The marines found a home in SOCOM, a multi-service organization where all forces involved (army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and special operations aviation units from the army and air force) remain with the military service that created them. SOCOM sees to it that all these separate special operations are used for special operations and not diverted to more mundane tasks.
We need to change how we power just about everything we do, and quickly. Waiting for the market to shift on motor vehicles, whose years of productive lives extend into the double digits, will not effect change fast enough.

Plus, the oil and gas lobby also seems to frame its vision of the future in terms of continuing to produce some smaller amount of carbon fuels, relying in part on nascent and questionable technology to suck carbon out of the air and bury it.

If we don't put carbon in the air in the first place, we don't have to develop technologies to remove it. So let's stop producing it and focus our technological innovations on bringing clean power to every part of the transportation sector, and making renewable energy better, cheaper and more reliable.

The Los Angeles Times editorial board endorsed a carbon tax 14 years ago, recognizing that "the proposed fixes for climate change are as numerous as its causes. Most only tinker at the edges of the problem. ... To produce the cuts in greenhouse gases needed to slow or stop global warming, the world will have to phase out the fossil fuels on which it relies for most of its power supply and transportation."

That conclusion has only become more concrete in the ensuing years as we've watched climate change accelerate.
Stick a fork in Kansas City journalism, it's done.



The ongoing collection of circle jerks who comprise the readership of this blog should provide ample proof of journalism's death but right now we're serving up even juicer red meat on a Sunday evening and roasting a publication that most people don't know exists.

To wit . . .

KICK-ASS TIPSTERS CATCH KANSAS CITY PBS MAG PRINTING BBQ FOODIE PR HYPE FROM A COWTOWN FLACK!!!



Here's the word . . .

"Flatland just published this hyping five new BBQ pits:"

Flatland: KCs Craft Barbecue Scene Heats Up

"The author is Jill Silva.



"Jill SIlva is LITERALLY their PR person (recent release pasted below).



"This is INSANE..."

Accordingly . . .

Click this link or the presser below for a bigger, better view. However, for those who need independent verification, one of the last working journalists at The Pitch called out "PR outfit" Stern + Silva pre-COVID for worsening the blurring line betwixt news vs. hype.

Close readers know that Flatland also publishes the talking points of a real estate hack who spins press releases for downtown developers.



Whilst TKC isn't working with the "Hale Center for Journalism" like KC PBS, we think that even a small tag noting the author affiliation should provide a warning to Kansas City readers who might unknowingly stumble upon what seems like clandestine PR.



Sadly our suggestion might not matter much given that we're mere bloggers and not respected "journalists" funded by donations from (the government, political hacks and) "viewers like you" who might not mind news served with spin.

Admittedly, we're simply beefing about a labeling issue by calling out flacks and professional beggars on the not-so-important topic of cowtown gristle whilst letting our blog community of creeps chew the fat.



The only problem is that Kansas City Public Television playing fast and loose with their "journalistic ethics" (don't laugh) when it comes to foodie news raises suspicions about their far more important local coverage.



To be fair, most grannies who watch the station don't care about journalistic standards and are content to simply keep sending a check in order to ensure Downton Abbey reruns.

You decide . . .


MASON CITY, Iowa  A man convicted of multiple crimes is going to prison.

Austin Anthony Stokka, 26 of Kanawha, has been sentenced to a maximum of five years behind bars.

Stokka was accused in June 2020 of breaking into a vehicle and using a stolen credit card, then was caught with a stolen pickup truck and multiple items stolen from different places in November 2020. He eventually pleaded guilty in Cerro Gordo County District Court to two counts of second-degree theft, third-degree burglary, and credit card fraud.
This article will be updated with the latest San Antonio news about the coronavirus vaccine and other need-to-know information about the pandemic.

Thursday May 27

Ease the sting of your COVID-19 vaccine shot  with help from WellMed and Beethoven Mannerchor. The "Shot and a Beer at Beethoven" promotion will give a free beer to non-vaccinated, drinking-age adults who receive their vaccination at Beethoven Mannerchor on Friday, June 4.

WellMed's vaccination station, which will administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, will be on-site from 4 to 7 p.m. Yes, that means you'll just be showing up early for First Friday.

Though walk-ins are welcome, interested adults are encouraged to register online for the vaccine and asked to show a photo ID.

Tuesday May 25

Beginning Tuesday, San Antonians who get vaccinated at any scheduled clinics will receive a complimentary one-day ticket to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. You can check eligible clinics and dates here.

In case you missed it, San Antonio has passed the mark for one million vaccinations. In Monday's COVID-19 update, the City of San Antonio announced that 1,008,521 residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. About 784,115 locals are fully vaccinated.

Friday May 21

Family Service is partnering with Walmart to host three COVID-19 vaccination events in May and June, aiming to bring needed access to the West and South sides of San Antonio.

Those who want to get vaccinated can get the Pfizer COVID-19 shot for free. Resources like gas cards, food boxes, and hygiene items will be provided to those who get the dose as well.

The clinics will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the following dates at the following locations:

May 22 Family Services Neighborhood Place, 3014 Rivas St., San Antonio, TX 78228 May 22 South San ISD, 2707 W. Gerald Ave., San Antonio, TX 78211 June 5 Harlandale ISD, 4040 Apollo St., San Antonio, TX 78214

Follow up appointments for the two-dose shot are scheduled on June 12 and June 26.

Thursday May 20

WellMed and the City of San Antonio are partnering to bring a Fiesta themed drive-thru vaccination event to the city on Saturday, May 22.

From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m at the Plaza Building at 2600 SW Military Dr., the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine will be available to those lined up.At the clinic will be El Rey Feo and other Fiesta royalty. Those who get their shot can take home a free Fiesta medal.

The clinic is open to those 18 and older with no registration required. Those getting vaccinated must present an ID such as a drivers license, state ID or passport is required. Vaccinations are free and WellMed does not collect insurance information or bill insurance.

Friday May 14

The City of San Antonio announced Friday that mask-wearing and social distancing will be optional for vaccinated government employees starting Monday, May 17.

City departments will resume normal work days with signs that states that unvaccinated people are required to wear masks and that those feeling ill should stay or go home. City facilities will operate at 100 percent occupancy.

Thursday May 13

Sul Ross Middle School on the northeast side will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for children over 12 on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents can register at http://book.novelhealth.ai/nursing. Vaccines are also available for walk-ups, but only residents who have registered are guaranteed a vaccine.

Saturday May 1

The Bexar County Sheriffs Office announced Saturday that inmates at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center will now be offered the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with University Health System and Carvajal Pharmacy. Carvajal Pharmacy will be administering the first of two vaccines to nearly 200 inmates. Nursing staff at the jail will also offer new arrestees the option to receive the vaccine starting Saturday.

Tuesday April 27

H-E-B announced Tuesday that they will begin to offer walk-in vaccines at all store pharmacies for two hours each day. Those without appointments can visit their H-E-B from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for their shot. All other times are still by appointment only.

Thursday April 22

WellMed will schedule all new appointments for the two-shot Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center, 517 SW Military, starting next week. New appointments will no longer be available for the other WellMed-run community vaccination clinic at the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center, 8353 Culebra Road. People who received their first shot of Moderna at the Lopez Center will be able to take their second-dose appointments there through May 21.

Meanwhile, CommuniCare Health Centers is partnering with the Alamo Colleges' Eastside Education & Training Center to provide free vaccines. The entities will host a vaccination drive-thru clinic at 4551 Dietrich Road on Wednesday, May 5 from 9 a.m. to noon. Interested individuals will need to fill out a pre-registration form in order to be secure an appointment time and date. You can find out more information by calling (210) 485-0848 or emailing DST-EETC@alamo.edu.

Baptist Health System is offering the Pfizer vaccine at clinics scheduled at its hospital campuses through May 12. Available appointments for first dose of the vaccination can be viewed at this link: https://www.baptisthealthsystem.com/our-response-to-covid-19/covid-19-vaccine-registration

Wednesday April 21



UT Health is now offering walk-ins for people 16 and older. Those wanting a vaccine can go to the School of Nursing Hurd Auditorium at 7703 Floyd Curl Drive between 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. No appointment is necessary.



Monday April 19



Holy Cross High School will host a COVID-19 vaccine drive on Tuesday, April 20. The walk-up or drive-up event will start at 11 a.m. at 426 N. San Felipe Ave. Anyone 16 and up are welcome to attend and receive a free Pfizer vaccine. Those ages 16-18 must have a parent or guardian with them. No appointment is necessary.

Monday April 19

University Health opened 15,000 new appointments for no-cost COVID-19 vaccinations at its hub location at Wonderland of the Americas, at 4522 Fredericksburg Rd. The appointments are available for this week beginning Monday. Appointments can be scheduled at WeCanDoItSA.com or a: universityhealthsystem.com. Wonderland of the Americas COVID-19 Vaccination Center is open for walk-ins on the lower level Monday  Friday from 8 a.m.  7 p.m. St. Philips College COVID-19 Vaccination Center is open for walk-ins 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday  Friday.

Friday April 16

The Alamodome is now accepting walk-in appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 years and older. The walk-ins can stop by from 2 to 5 p.m. starting Friday. No appointment is necessary.

Wednesday April 14

WellMed has opened online registration for two clinics in San Antonio that will be offering the Moderna vaccine next week, according to a press release.

The release says they are booking 9,000 appointments for those who need to receive their first dose shots to schedule on April 19-23. The shots will be distributed to patients at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center.

Anyone 18 or older can sign up using the online registration link for the Cisneros Center or the registration link for the Lopez Center.

The City of San Antonio has also launched a COVID-19 vaccine waiting list to help residents obtain an appointment. Residents who would like to sign-up for this waitlist can register online in English at sanantonio.gov/waitlist and in Spanish at sanantonio.gov/listadeespera. Residents may also call 311 and select option 8 or 210-207-6000 to speak with an operator to assist them. The hotline hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

Tuesday April 13

WellMed plans to offer anyone signed up to receive a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine through its clinic their first dose of Moderna instead after news that the Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control recommended pausing the vaccine while serious side effects are investigated.

Metro Health, UT Health, and University Health  other local providers of the J&J vaccine  have also paused administering it. According to a press release 45,800 doses of J&J vaccines have been allocated to Bexar County since March 8th, 2021.

READ MORE: FDA recommends pausing Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for investigation into clots

Monday April 12

All ages are now allowed to sign up for the vaccine at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center, 517 SW Military. WellMed is now taking online appointments for more than 4,000 first doses of the two-shot Moderna vaccine, to be administered Monday-Friday at the Cisneros Center. Anyone 18 and older can sign up. Go to https://signup.com/go/TYKxGUs Appointments also are available by calling the toll-free vaccination hotline at 833-968-1745. The hotline also is taking appointments for a community vaccination clinic at Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center, 8353 Culebra Road. The phone line is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

Wednesday April 7

University Health has opened another COVID-19 vaccine hub at St. Philips College and they are allowing walk-in appointments for all ages from 3 to 5 p.m. each afternoon. The St. Philip's College COVID-19 Vaccination Center is located at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive in the St. Philips College Library and open from 8 a.m.  5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Tuesday April 6

Starting Tuesday, April 6, people ages 75 or older may drive through the Alamodome vaccine site to receive a dose without an appointment, city officials announced at Monday's COVID-19 briefing. Health officials said 517,067 people have received their first dose, and 312,544 people in Bexar County are fully vaccinated.

VIA will also continue offering complimentary transportation for anyone traveling to or from a city- or county-sponsored vaccination site, according to a press release.

More than 1,900 passengers have taken advantage of this free service since it began in January, the release notes.

In order to receive the free ride, passengers must present their appointment registration in print, electronically on their cell phones, or show their COVID-19 shot record.

Tuesday, April 2

Gonzaba Medical group said to call 210-905-4276 to make an appointment for one of it's 2,000 Pfizer vaccine slots. Appointments will be made from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 5, April 6 and April 7. The shots will be given at the Gonzaba Event Center at 933 Pleasanton Road.

University Health is also scheduling multiple vaccinations through its web site: WeCanDoItSA.com

Monday, March 29



Starting today, March 29, Texas will open COVID-19 vaccinations to all adults, according to a statement by the Texas Department of State and Health Services.

This move makes Texas the first large state to open up vaccine eligibility for all adults, according to a report by the San Antonio Express-News.

Thursday, March 25

Texas MedClinic will provide 2,500 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines through Metro Health starting March 25 through March 31 at four clinic locations, according to a press release from Texas MedClinic.

The four Texas MedClinics are located on Broadway, Culebra, Southwest Military and Eisenhauer. Individuals must check-in online to receive an appointment.

The vaccines are free and no cost to the patient.

Wednesday, March 24

The Alamodome will open 30,000 first dose Pfizer vaccine appointments starting tomorrow, March 25 at 7 p.m., according to a press release from the City of San Antonio.

The appointments will be available from April 6 - May 1 and are scheduled through the Metro Health COVID-19 vaccine registration website.

Those without internet access can book their appointments by phone through the Customer Service COVID Hotline by dialing 311.

Tuesday, March 23

Texas will open COVID-19 vaccinations to all adults beginning on March 29, according to a statement by the Texas Department of State and Health Services.

"We are closing in on 10 million doses administered in Texas and we want to keep up the momentum as the vaccine supply increases," said Imelda Garcia, DSHS associate commissioner for laboratory and infectious disease services and the chair of the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel.

DSHS is directing vaccine providers to still prioritize and accommodate people 80 and older, according to their Twitter.

Friday, March 19



Have a vaccine appointment next month at the Alamodome? It may be rescheduled. San Antonio Metro Health announced that the Alamodome will be rescheduling all vaccine appointments from on April 2 to April 5. Patients will still have the same times.



Monday, March 15



Starting today, all Texans, 50 and over, are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, Texas Health and Human Services made the announcement of activating Phase 1C of the vaccine distribution. This phase includes people 50 to 64 years of age.

Thursday, March 11

CVS Health announced Thursday they will begin administering the COVID-19 vaccine in Texas on Sunday, March 14, according to a press release.

CVS says they will administer the vaccines to eligible populations at 74 more COVID-19 vaccine sites.

Were proud to play a part in increasing access to the vaccine to as many people as possible to enable reopening efforts in the communities we serve, said Neela Montgomery, President of CVS Pharmacy and Executive Vice President, CVS Health.

Individuals can book their appointments on Saturday, March 13 as the stores begin to receive the vaccines.

To register, individuals can go to CVS.com, the CVS Pharmacy app or call the CVS Customer Service line at (800) 746-7287.

Walk-ins will not be accepted without an appointment.

Wednesday, March 10

Starting March 15, all Texans above the age of 50 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a release from Texas Health and Human Services. "More than 93 percent of the Texas fatalities directly caused by the coronavirus have been in people 50 and older, with those ages 50 to 64 accounting for 20 percent of all fatalities," the release states.

Tuesday, March 9



Target stores are partnering with CVS Pharmacy to offer COVID-19 vaccines to over 600 stores nationwide, according to a release.



The retailer says they will administer the vaccine through state and federal guidelines.



Target will also make fitting rooms available to CVS at select stores to host appointments, their release states. To see participating locations visit CVS.com





Monday, March 8



There will be 40,000 vaccine appointments at the Alamodome available throughout the next four weeks, with 10,000 allotted per week. Those appointments for the first-dose Pfizer vaccine will start today at 6 p.m.



Residents can register on the Metro Health COVID-19 vaccine registration website.

For residents who don't have access to the Internet they can call 311, option 8 to help with registration.

Sunday, March 7

The appointment hotline for two of WellMed's community vaccination clinics is closed today for maintenance, according to a release.

WellMed's COVID-19 vaccine hotline will reopen on Monday, March 8 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until all the vaccine supply is finished.

Currently, there is still 4,600 slots available, according to the release.

The vaccines are given at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez One-Stop Center vaccination site.The hotline number is 833-968-17845.

Thursday, March 4

WellMed's COVID-19 vaccine hotline will reopen on Friday, March 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. where they will be taking first-dose appointments only for the 9,000 new doses of the Moderna vaccine, according to a release. The hotline will be open everyday until all slots are filled. The hotline number is 833-968-17845 and is the only way to get an appointment. The vaccines are given at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez One-Stop Center vaccination site.

Wednesday, March 3

WellMed's COVID-19 vaccine hotline has shutdown because all appointment slots at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior are full, according to a release. The hotline should be restored by Friday after 9,000 more COVID-19 vaccine shots are delivered. The hotline number is 833-968-17845. WellMed continues to require people to wear masks in its facilities.

Monday, March 1

The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District latest batch of vaccines  10,000 first dose vaccines  were filled.

All of the appointments were taken within minutes, according to Laura Mayes, city spokeswoman.

Due to limited quantity, vaccine registration is temporarily unavailable, read a message on the citys vaccine website. The link to register will become available when more vaccines are received.

Thursday, February 25

Governor Greg Abbott announced a newly launched "Save our Seniors" initiative that will deploy more than 1,100 National Guardsmen to assist Texas communities in vaccinating homebound seniors, according to a press release.

The initiative will launch on Monday, March 1, sending up to 8,000 vaccines through organizations such as Meals On Wheels and nursing homes to help identify homebound seniors in its first week.

Wednesday, February 24

Text updates: The City of San Antonio announced Wednesday that they've partnered with some of the Bexar County vaccine distribution sites to create a vaccine availability text alert system to keep the community informed about the release of more COVID-19 vaccines.

Individuals who decide to opt-in, can text VACCINE to 55000 or in Spanish VACUNA to 55000 starting Wednesday. By signing up they will receive a text notifying them which locations have available appointments.

Tuesday, February 23

WellMed: The reservation hotline reopened at 8 a.m. Wednesday to schedule 30,000 first-time COVID-19 vaccine doses. Operators will be staffing the hotline, 833-968-1745, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until slots are filled. This number must be called to get an appointment.

The appointments will be scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25, through Saturday, Feb. 27, and Monday, March 1, through Friday, March 5, at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center.

In addition, appointments that were canceled last week because of bad weather have been rescheduled for the same day, time and place this week. Visit the website or WellMeds Facebook page for the latest information.

Thursday, February 18:

University Health: Due to the continued freezing temperatures expected tomorrow morning and the timing of the vaccine's arrival, the University Health COVID-19 Vaccine site at Wonderland of the Americas will be closed on Friday, Feb. 19. Those with appointments to get the vaccine on Friday will automatically be rescheduled.

 All Monday, Feb. 15 appointments have been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20 at the same time.*

 Those who missed their appointment on Tuesday, Feb. 16, who did not come the next day, should come on Saturday, Feb. 20, anytime between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

 Those who missed their appointment on Wednesday, Feb. 17, may come on Saturday, Feb. 20, Monday, Feb. 22 or Tuesday, Feb. 23, anytime between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

 All Thursday, Feb. 18 appointments are rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 22 at the same time. *

 All Friday, Feb. 19 appointments are rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23 at the same time.*



*Coming at the appointed time will help reduce lines. However, if people are not able to come at that time, they will not be turned away as long as they come to Wonderland on their new scheduled day.

Alamodome: Second dose vaccine appointments at the Alamodome will begin at noon on Friday, Feb. 19. Due to road conditions, anyone with second dose appointments scheduled for Friday will be vaccinated from noon to 6:30 p.m. Appointments for different days will not be accepted.

Those with appointments for Tuesday have been rescheduled for Saturday and, Wednesdays appointments have been moved to Sunday and Thursday's appointments were moved to Monday, Feb. 22.



Wednesday, February 17:

Alamodome: Appointments for Thursday will be rescheduled to Monday, Feb. 22 at the same time.

University Health: Citing vaccine delivery delays and road conditions, appointments for Feb. 18 will be rescheduled for Monday, if the vaccines are delivered. Patients with appointments for Friday should check University Health social media or WeCanDoITSA.com for availability before visiting.

Tuesday, February 16:

WellMed to reschedules again: WellMed-run facilities are expected to re-open on Feb. 22. Patients who were scheduled to receive their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are asked to return to their assigned location on the same day of the week next week to get their shot. For example, if patients were originally scheduled to receive their vaccine on Wednesday, they will get their second dose on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The WellMed-run clinics administer the Moderna vaccine. The CDC says the second dose can be administered up to 42 days after the first inoculation to remain effective.

University Health: Appointments will proceed as scheduled with a noon start time unless Wonderland Mall loses power. Missed your Tuesday appointment? University Health says you can visit Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Monday, February 15:

WellMed reschedules: Both WellMed vaccination clinics in San Antonio will be closed again on Tuesday, Feb. 16 due to severe winter weather conditions and out of concern for the safety of patients and staff. Patients with appointments to receive second-dose vaccinations will be contacted and re-scheduled for an appointment later this week, per a press release.

Alamodome reschedules: Appointments for Monday and Tuesday of this week at the Alamo will be rescheduled for Friday and Saturday at the same times as freezing on Monday temperatures mean road conditions are poor. Tuesday weather is also forecast to have low temperatures in the single digits and teens, per the National Weather Service. Metro Health states individuals who are scheduled for the dates will receive further communication through the email address or phone number provided with their registration.

Tuesday, February 9:

More vaccine access: Walmart and Sams Club announced Tuesday that they have started making vaccines available at their Texas pharmacies. As of now, their only distribution site in San Antonio is at the Walmart Supercenter at 5555 De Zavala Road. Appointments must be made through walmart.com and samsclub.com.

WellMed Hotline reopen: San Antonio Senior Centers are once again taking reservations for COVID-19 vaccinations. Call the WellMed hotline at 833-968-1745 to start making appointments as soon as Wednesday Feb. 10. The hotline will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until all appointments are booked.



Tuesday February 3:

WellMed Hotline booked: As of Wednesday, Feb. 3, all available doses of the COVID-19 vaccine being offered at San Antonio senior centers have been spoken for and scheduled, according to a post on WellMed Medical Management's Facebook page.

Monday February 2:

COVID-19 vaccine appointments rescheduled: The Texas State Health Department have delayed the shipment of COVID-19 vaccines that were supposed to supply those with appointments receiving the second doses.

The appointments scheduled at the Alamodome on Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 have been rescheduled to Feb. 16 and 18 at the same times.

Friday January 29:



Reservation hotline for COVID-19 vaccine resumes Saturday: You can once again make an appointment for both WellMed community vaccination clinics starting Jan. 30 at 8 a.m. Appointments will begin Feb. 1. To make an appointment call 833-968-1745. You must schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine.



The vaccinations will be held at the following clinics:



Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center

517 SW Military Drive

San Antonio, TX 78221



Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center

8353 Culebra Road

San Antonio, TX 78251





Tuesday January 26:

Johnson & Johnson gives hope to Texas: Gov. Greg Abbott said in a press conference Tuesday that the approval of Johnson & Johnson's one dose COVID-19 vaccine will speed vaccinations in the state. But it's unclear when approval of the vaccine would take place. The company hoped to have clinical data available by the end of this month, according to CNN.



Monday January 25:



Search for COVID-19 vaccine sites through Google Maps: Looking for vaccine sites? Pretty soon you will just need to open up Google Maps. According to Google, searches for vaccines near me have increased five times since the beginning of the year. To make sure they're providing locally relevant answers, COVID-19 vaccination locations will be available in Google Search and Maps, the tech giant announced.



The initial rollout will include a limited number of states, including Texas.



The vaccine location will include details like whether an appointment or referral is required, if access is limited to specific groups, or if it has a drive-through.

Friday, January 22:

H-E-B COVID-19 Tracking Site: Wondering which H-E-B pharmacy locations will have the COVID-19 vaccine? There is now a new website that will tell you. H-E-B launched a website dedicated to COVID-19 vaccine distribution information. You can visit the website at https://vaccine.heb.com/

Take Your Second Dose in S.A.: Metro Health has an update for anyone needing information on how to take the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Metro Health staff will call you or you can call 311 and choose option 8. Residents can also email COVID19@sanantonio.gov.
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The Court of Appeal on Monday held the inaugural sitting of its Mediation Centre in Abuja.

The president of the court, Monica Dongban-Mensem, in her remarks at the session, recalled that the idea of the centre was initiated in 2018 to ensure speedy and efficient dispensation of justice through promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism.

She said the centre would promote amicable settlement as opposed to the adversarial justice system obtained in the regular courts.

Ms Dongban-Mensem, who charged the judiciary to rise up to the challenges of adjudication in the 21st Century, said good performance of the third arm of government would improve employment opportunities and domestic economic growth.

She said that ADR system represented an innovation which, if fully utilised, would bring about a multi-track justice delivery channels at the appellate court level and would further boost the justice delivery system.

Appellate mediation is now part of the global legal lexicon, straddling the appellate courts of countries like the United States of America, United Kingdom and Thailand, she said.

Centre to enchance expeditious determination of suit

According to her, the overriding objective of the Court of Appeal Mediation Centre is to promote mediation and other alternative dispute resolution mechanism towards enhancing the administration of justice and speedy resolution of disputes.

She said the centre would assist parties in reaching an expeditious resolution of their disputes in a fair and efficient manner.

She said, We must not only build a structure but a mindset that will drive the process of alternative, less expensive and less onerous dispute resolution process such as mediation.

There is also need for us to build a culture where peaceful resolution of disputes becomes more attractive than litigation.

She appealed to the bench and bar to uphold the ideals of the centre for quick and amicable resolution of disputes.

She said this could be be achieved if all sides imbibed the highest code of ethics and global best practices in the operation of the centre

She commended some judges of the court  Williams Daudu, Sotonye Denton-West and Philomena Ekpe  for their commitment to the success of the centre and the consultant for the project, Kehinde Aina, for making the establishment of the center a reality.

Among the appellants at the session are a businessman and politician, Ned Nwoko, who described the ADR as a right step in the right direction.

He appealed to Nigerians to imbibe the new justice dispensation system.
Humanity has always been fascinated by its own mortality, but death seems to exert an almost irresistible pull where a celebrity is concerned. The bigger star, the bigger the appeal. The more controversial the stars passing, the higher the value of the collectible.That is the only way you can explain how a Chevrolet Suburban hubcap is on sale for $150,000 on the collector market. It is currently listed with Moments in Time memorabilia dealer, and it is one of the four hubcaps on Notorious B.I.G.s death car.On March 9, 1997, as he was driving away from the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles with his crew, rap icon Biggie (Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls) was gunned down while stopped at the lights in an intersection not far from the venue. The murder hasnt been resolved to this day, but authorities know that the shooter was traveling in a dark-colored 1994-1996 Chevrolet Impala SS.As for Biggie, he was seated in the front passenger seat of the Suburban. Another Suburban and a Chevrolet Blazer were part of the convoy, and neither was shot at. Four bullets hit the rapper, and one proved fatal: he was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital.The hubcap now being sold still has part of the ad sticker that reads THINK B.I.G. MARCH 25 1997, which was used to promote his upcoming album, Life After Death, that was coming out later that month. The cost: a whopping $150,000, but the memorabilia dealer stresses that it comes with a lifetime certificate of authenticity. TMZ reports that the hubcap has been around before this public offering. It used to belong to a family friend of the owner of the rental company that owned the Suburban, and theres an implication that its been part of several private collections. So, if you have money to throw around, heres an item thats tied down directly to what many rappers call nearly the end of rap. Morbid? Sure. Valuable? You bet (on the right market).
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta is calling for renewed commitment to the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (eMTCT) of HIV and Syphilis in the country through concerted efforts to accelerate progress made towards achieving eMTCT by promotion of stronger partnerships.

"I am convinced our successes rely on harmonised efforts from both the public and private sectors. I believe our targets are achievable because of the solid partnerships we have built with you," she said.

The First Lady commended the innovative implementation of the Kenya eMTCT Framework adopted by counties through the county business plan model.

"So far, we have successfully launched 11 county business plans. It is my hope that we, as partners, will commit to resourcing and supporting the remaining county governments on their respective journeys," she said.

The county business plans provide for the sustainable and timely implementation of activities for counties to meet their unique eMTCT circumstances.

As the national patron and champion of eMTCT, Ms Kenyatta said her overall mission is to end preventable deaths of women and children as well as to eliminate new cases of HIV infections from mothers to their children.

She applauded the existing partnership between the Beyond Zero initiative and other health stakeholders including the national and county governments for working together in promotion of maternal and child health.

"Since I began my own journey in 2013 with the Beyond Zero initiative, we have depended on partnerships with the national and county governments and other health stakeholders. As partners, we remain inspired to do what we can to realize a world free of HIV and syphilis transmission to new-borns. A world with zero maternal deaths," she said.

The First Lady spoke during a virtual meeting on accelerating the progress towards achieving validation for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis by 2021.

She observed that it was through the support of partners that the Beyond Zero initiative was able to deliver 52 mobile clinics across the country, adding that the initiative extended its resolve to increase access to healthcare through the Beyond Zero medical safaris.

"Our work is driven by our understanding that access to decent and affordable healthcare plays a huge role in saving lives. So far, we have conducted successful medical safaris in Nyanza, North and South Rift, Central and Nairobi regions," she added.

She noted that a lot of work needs to be done to curb the spread of HIV infections in the country as there are still significant healthcare gaps affecting Kenyans particularly underprivileged women and children, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

"This is why the Government of Kenya has committed, through universal health coverage, to scale up its efforts to improve access to HIV treatment to improve the health and well-being of women and children living with HIV," she said.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mr Mutahi Kagwe, in a speech read on his behalf by Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dr Mercy Mwangangi, commended the First Lady for using her Beyond Zero initiative to stop new HIV infections among children and preventing mothers from dying while giving birth.

Records show that Kenya has made progress on the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and curbing maternal mortality with new HIV infections reducing by 47 per cent from 12,826 in 2013 to 6,806 in 2020.

The First Lady in 2017 during a Beyond Zero Summit, launched the Kenya Framework for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Syphilis 2016-2021 that contributed to the achievement.

According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kenya is among the 22 countries which collectively account for 90 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines AIDS Kenya Children 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.

Without proper care, about 40 per cent of all babies born to women with HIV will acquire the virus either during the mother's pregnancy, childbirth or while breastfeeding.

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs in Kenya have, however, made significant inroads in reducing the proportion of infants who acquire HIV from their mothers.

Each year, it is estimated that 100,000 women with HIV give birth and nationally, about 11,000 (11 per cent) of their infants become HIV positive with some regions having achieved eMTCT.

This has been an improvement, but the goal is to reduce the number of babies acquiring HIV to less than five per cent of births to HIV-positive women.

It is estimated that HIV and Aids contributes to 20 per cent of maternal deaths in Kenya, which is already unacceptably high.
Prime Minister Florin Citu on Monday stated that Romanians are free to protest as long as they do not violate the legislation in force, adding that the new measures taken to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 were triggered by the fact that hospitals are "very crowded", according to AGERPRES.

"Romanians are free to protest as long as they do not violate the in force legislation. (...) We have the right to have an opinion in Romania, even if we have different opinions. For me, it is very important to continue with the vaccination campaign, it is very important to find the best measures to help Romanians. The hospitals are very crowded, at this point, that's why we have taken these measures. (...) People must respect the law. We must all respect the law. (...) I understand Romanians, that, after one year of pandemic, they got tired. We are all tired. We've been fighting the pandemic for a year and we've made every effort. We've ordered more doses of vaccine than we need just to make sure that, if necessary, we will have it next year too. And if we don't need it, then we will be able to export, because we have to help the population around Romania. It is not enough to vaccinate only the citizens of Romania if we want to get rid of the pandemic. We will make all the efforts and I am ready to sit at the table with anyone who comes up with solutions to help Romanians in this difficult period," said Citu, before the meeting of the Executive Bureau of PNL (the National Liberal Party), in which the head of DSU (the Department for Emergency Situations), Raed Arafat, also participates.

He underscored that the measures taken last week are aimed at slowing down the spread of the virus. "These measures are unique in Europe, because they depend on the degree of incidence. Throughout Europe such measures are being taken for the entire country, as a whole, while in Romania they are being taken depending on the incidence precisely because we know that there is already fatigue in society after a year of fighting this pandemic. But we did not overcome it yet so that we still need to make an effort to get through this period together. We have taken these measures to slow down the spread of the virus and also to be able to speed up the vaccination campaign," the Prime Minister explained.

According to Citu, the number of people vaccinated against COVID will increase to 100,000 per day, in April. "Compared to the initial plan, if this vaccine delivery schedule is maintained, we will be able to talk about vaccinating 10 million citizens in August, instead of September. We have advanced things by a month, but everything depends on us. Let's go get vaccinated," the Prime Minister said.

In his opinion, PSD (the Social Democratic Party) comes with "slightly confusing" messages, but he is ready to listen to the opinion of the specialists from this party.
Line Of Duty

Rating:

Keeping Faith

Rating:

Lazy screenwriters dont need to bother inventing memorable names for their characters any more. Theres an app for that.

At the tap of a button, the software does it for you.

One popular word processor features an automatic name generator that even allows writers to choose names by nationality, or mix them up.

If you want your hero to have a Japanese first name and a Polish surname, it takes a couple of clicks: how about a detective called Saburo Wolkowski or Yoshiyuki Stelmaszyk?

Acting DI Steve Arnott , played by Martin Compston, above, shares his surname with crimewriter Jake Arnott, while DI Kate Fleming is the namesake of 007s Ian. And then theres Captain Hastings from the Poirot tales

Despite his own unusual moniker, Jed Mercurio, the creator of Line Of Duty (BBC1), specialises in names that any computer would dismiss as uninspired. Ive long suspected that he chooses them by staring at thrillers on his bookcase.

Acting DI Steve Arnott shares his surname with crimewriter Jake Arnott, while DI Kate Fleming is the namesake of 007s Ian. And then theres Captain Hastings from the Poirot tales (Agatha Christies character is an Arthur, not a Ted).

This year, the coppers of AC-12 are hunting a murderer with an exceptionally boring alias, Ross Turner.

Then theres Captain Hastings from the Poirot tales (Agatha Christies character is an Arthur, not a Ted). This year, the coppers of AC-12 are hunting a murderer with an exceptionally boring alias, Ross Turner. Ted Hastings is played by Adrian Dunbar

Perhaps its just a Sunday night coincidence that it appears to be constructed from Poldarks first name and the surname of the actor who plays him, Aidan Turner.

What cannot be denied is Mercurios penchant for bland, two-syllable names: not just Arnott, Fleming and Hastings, but Corbett, Ifield, Denton, Huntley, Dryden, Waldron, Cottan, Trotman, Morton, Hilton, Bishop.

One reason they all sound so similar is that the emphasis is always on the first half of the word. Maybe Jeds computer is stuck.

After a disappointing start, with an insipid opening sequence and a script constructed largely from random initials, the second episode struggled to pick up pace.

It did feature a trademark Line Of Duty confrontation in the interview room, between Superintendent Hastings and softly spoken DCI Jo Davidson (Kelly Macdonald), but the scene lacked the explosive tension and sudden shocks weve come to expect.

Other twists seemed forced. Trainee constable and undercover gangster Ryan (Gregory Piper) has been assigned to the murder investigation, before hes even had a chance to go walking the beat.

Meanwhile, Ted was shoehorning his catchphrases in at every opportunity. Im interested in one thing and one thing only, and thats bent coppers, he chorused. It all feels very much as if Line Of Duty is running out of energy and impetus. Six seasons is one too many.

Keeping Faith (BBC1) has opted to stop at the end of the current series  a better, braver choice than flogging the story until were sick of it.

Its a drama of turbulent emotions, where characters gaze at stormy seas from clifftops, crumpling as their theme songs pound over the soundtrack.

It is like watching the video for Bonnie Tylers Total Eclipse Of The Heart on repeat  a damburst of soft rock and overwrought acting.

Its a drama of turbulent emotions, where characters gaze at stormy seas from clifftops, crumpling as their theme songs pound over the soundtrack

That makes it perfect viewing for a Saturday evening, telly to enjoy with a box of chocolates or a brimming glass of cheap vino.

Eve Myles plays solicitor and single mum Faith, who turns up to discuss her divorce settlement in leopard print stilettos. The meeting is held, for some reason, in a castle turret, which allows her to apply her lipstick on the windswept battlements.

Celia Imrie joins the cast as a gangland boss, a figure from Faiths past, who wears even more garish lippie than our heroine. The colours are immense: characters are silhouetted against walls of purple, or curled sobbing on crimson carpets.

Its sheer MTV drama  turn up the volume, and indulge.

Tonsure of the weekend: On the peaceful documentary Brotherhood: The Inner Life Of Monks (BBC4), the abbeys barber joked as he wielded his clippers: In the 70s, Brother George here looked like Phil Collins. Very long hair. George, 86, is a bit thinner on top now.
A combination of esophageal brushing and extensive genetic sequencing of the sample collected can detect chromosome alterations in people with Barrett's Esophagus, identifying patients at risk for progressing to esophageal cancer, according to a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University.

In Barrett's Esophagus (BE), chronic acid reflux from the stomach damages the cells lining the lower esophagus, causing them to become more like cells of the lower digestive system. Cells in the lower esophagus progress through several precancerous stages before sometimes developing into esophageal adenocarcinoma, a cancer with a five-year survival rate below 20 percent. BE is the only known precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Clinicians can detect these progressive states in BE by looking for chromosomal alterations known as aneuploidy--a common feature in most cancer cells--but until now the process has involved multiple biopsies.

A single esophageal brushing paired with the sequencing technique called RealSeqS is sensitive and specific enough to identify aneuploidy at several stages of BE progression, and can even match specific types of aneuploidy with specific stages of the disease, the researchers say.

"Aneuploidy has long been implicated in the development, initiation or progression of esophageal cancer but the assays or experimental methods to detect this have not been as easily achieved or as high throughput as we would have wanted to allow for clinical implementation," says senior study author Chetan Bettegowda, M.D., Ph.D., Jennison and Novak Families Professor of Neurosurgery at the Kimmel Cancer Center.

The method could help clinicians identify people at higher risk of having BE progress to esophageal adenocarcinoma, "instituting more intensive follow-up for those patients or instituting treatments at earlier stages of the disease," Bettegowda says.

Results were published online Jan. 21 in the journal Gastroenterology.

Esophageal brushing uses a soft brush attachment for an endoscope to collect cells from the esophageal lining. The method can sample cells from a larger surface area of the esophagus than a usual biopsy. Endoscopy, often with brushing, "is part of the standard of care for people who have Barrett's," Bettegowda says, so incorporating the aneuploidy detection method would not change substantially change clinical practice.

Only a few cells out of hundreds sampled through brushing may demonstrate aneuploidy, however, so combining brushing with massively parallel sequencing is key to finding these cells. The researchers used a technique called RealSeqS to look across more than 350,000 regions of the genome to identify specific chromosome arm alterations. RealSeqS can typically detect aneuploidy at the level of about 1 in 200 cells, which is necessary when large portions of the esophageal brushing are derived from normal cells, says study lead author Christopher Douville, the Kimmel Center researcher who designed RealSeqS.

"The method is quick and can process hundreds of samples cost effectively, making it an ideal choice for the BE research," says Douville.

The researchers obtained esophageal brushings from patients without BE, with BE and no abnormal cells, with BE and either low or high-grade cell abnormalities, and patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma. They trained their identification system to distinguish brushings from BE patients without cell abnormalities from those with adenocarcinoma using samples from 79 patients. The research team then looked at samples from 268 patients to test whether the method could distinguish different stages of BE progression.

Bettegowda, Douville and their colleagues identified a threshold of aneuploidy that distinguished patients with high-grade cell abnormalities and adenocarcinoma from BE patients with no cell abnormalities. At this threshold, the method identified high-risk patients in 232 or 86.7% of cases.

The method also identified specific chromosomal arm changes at each stage of BE progression toward adenocarcinoma. Some of these specific changes have already been linked to disease stages by previous research, "but they were not comprehensive enough to be used in some diagnostic or prognostic way," says Douville.

The researchers used these changes to develop an assessment tool they called BAD (Barrett's Aneuploidy Decision), for distinguishing stages of BE progression. The tool could be especially useful for identifying high-risk individuals when cell biopsies look benign, because the BAD tool points out molecular changes that are linked to more aggressive disease, Bettegowda says.

"Aneuploidy is as universal a biomarker as we can find at the moment for cancer, so we are excited to see how we can employ this technology for a multitude of cancers," he says. "We are optimistic that given the versatility of the RealSeqS assay that we could study other disease processes, other cancer types and potentially find other ways to intervene earlier."

The work was supported by grants CA150964, CA163060, CA152756, and UH3 CA205105-03 from the National Institutes of Health; grants RA37 CA230400-01, U01CA230691, Oncology Core CA 06973, from Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists; Earlier Detection of Cancers Using Non-Plasma Liquid Biopsies; The Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research; The Sol Goldman Sequencing Facility at Johns Hopkins; and The Conrad R. Hilton Foundation.

###

Other contributors to the work were from Case Western Reserve University; University of North Carolina; and Mayo Clinic.

Co-authors Kenneth Kinzler, Nickolas Papadopoulos, and Bert Vogelstein are founders of and hold equity in Thrive and Personal Genome Diagnostics. Kinzler and Papadopoulos are consultants to and are on the Board of Directors of Thrive. Kinzler and Vogelstein are consultants to Personal Genome Diagnostics, Sysmex, Eisai, and CAGE Pharma. Vogelstein is also a consultant to Catalio and is compensated with equity. Kinzler, Papadopoulos, and Vogelstein are consultants to Neophore. Bettegowda is a consultant to Depuy-Synthes and Bionaut Labs. Douville is a consultant to Thrive and is compensated with income and equity. The companies named above as well as other companies have licensed previously described technologies related to the work described in this paper from Johns Hopkins University. Douville, Bettegowda, Kinzler, Papadopoulos and Vogelstein are inventors on some of these technologies. Licenses to these technologies are or will be associated with equity or royalty payments to the inventors as well as to Johns Hopkins University. The terms of all of these arrangements are being managed by Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies.
Facebook said on Monday it planned two new undersea cables to connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America in a project with Google and regional telecommunication companies to boost internet connection capacity between the regions.

"Named Echo and Bifrost, those will be the first two cables to go through a new diverse route crossing the Java Sea and they will increase overall subsea capacity in the trans-pacific by about 70%," Facebook Vice President of Network Investments, Kevin Salvadori, told Reuters.

The cables, according to the executive, will be the first to directly connect North America to some of the main parts of Indonesia, and will increase connectivity for the central and eastern provinces of the world's fourth most populous state.

Also read: Venezuela accuses Facebook of 'digital totalitarianism' for suspending Maduro

Salvadori said "Echo" is being built in partnership with Alphabet's Google and Indonesian telecommunications' company XL Axiata and should be completed by 2023.

Bifrost, which is being done in partnership with Telin, a subsidiary of Indonesia's Telkomsel, and Singaporean conglomerate Keppel is due to be completed by 2024.

The two cables, which will need regulatory approval, follow previous investments by Facebook to build up connectivity in Indonesia, one of its top five markets globally.

While 73% of Indonesia's population of 270 million are online, the majority access the web through mobile data, with less than 10 percent using a broadband connection, according to a 2020 survey by the Indonesian Internet Providers Association.

Swathes of the country, remain without any internet access.

Facebook said last year it would deploy 3,000 km (1,8641 miles) of metro fibre in Indonesia across twenty cities in addition to a previous deal to develop public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Reporting by Fanny Potkin and Aradhana Aravindan.
Amanda Burke covers Pittsfield City Hall for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Find her on Twitter at @amandaburkec.
HOUSTON (AP)  The Biden administration is not requiring FBI fingerprint background checks of caregivers at its rapidly expanding network of emergency sites to hold thousands of immigrant teenagers, alarming child welfare experts who say the waiver compromises safety.

In the rush to get children out of overcrowded and often unsuitable Border Patrol sites, President Joe Biden's team is turning to a measure used by previous administrations: tent camps, convention centers and other huge facilities operated by private contractors and funded by U.S. Health and Human Services. In March alone, the Biden administration announced it will open eight new emergency sites across the Southwest adding 15,000 new beds, more than doubling the size of its existing system.

These emergency sites don't have to be licensed by state authorities or provide the same services as permanent HHS facilities. They also cost far more, an estimated $775 per child per day.

And to staff the sites quickly, the Biden administration has waived vetting procedures intended to protect minors from potential harm.

Staff and volunteers directly caring for children at new emergency sites don't have to undergo FBI fingerprint checks, which use criminal databases not accessible to the public and can overcome someone changing their name or using a false identity.

HHS issued a statement Friday saying that direct care staff and volunteers must pass public record criminal background checks." Public records checks generally take less time but are reliant on the subject providing correct information.

The agency says those giving direct care are supervised by federal employees or others who have passed fingerprint-based background checks. In the Emergency Intake Sites, HHS is implementing the standards of care used for children in an emergency response setting, the agency said.

During former President Donald Trumps administration, HHS for months did not ensure FBI fingerprint checks or child welfare screenings were done for workers at a large camp in Tornillo, Texas. An Associated Press investigation in 2018 also found staff at another camp at Homestead, Florida, were not given routine screenings to rule out allegations of child abuse or neglect.

HHS inspector general warned then that FBI fingerprint checks provide a unique safeguard over most commercial background checks that search a persons name.

While the various background checks could identify some past criminal convictions or sexual offenses, these checks were not as extensive as the FBI fingerprint background checks, the inspector general found.

Laura Nodolf, the district attorney in Midland, Texas, where HHS opened an emergency site this month, said that without fingerprint checks, we truly do not know who the individual is who is providing direct care.

Thats placing the children under care of HHS in the path, potentially, of a sex offender, Nodolf said. "They are putting these children in a position of becoming potential victims.

Dr. Amy Cohen, a child psychiatrist who is executive director of the immigration advocacy group Every Last One, noted that HHS requires fingerprint checks of relatives who seek to take in children as part of a vetting process that takes more than 30 days on average.

Failure to check fingerprints of frontline facility staff exposes vulnerable migrant children to a significant danger of physical and sexual abuse, she said.

The Biden administration has 18,000 children and teenagers in its custody, a figure that has risen almost daily over the last several weeks. While Biden continues to expel most adults and many families crossing the border, he has declined to reinstate expulsions of unaccompanied immigrant children, which stopped last year after a now-stayed federal court order.

More than 5,000 youths are in border custody, many of them in a South Texas tent facility with limited space, food and access to the outdoors. But Border Patrol is apprehending hundreds more minors than HHS is releasing every day  a difference of 325 just on Thursday.

At the downtown Dallas convention center, one of HHS' emergency sites, almost all of its 2,300 beds were filled just one week after it opened this month.

Child advocates say that rather than opening more unlicensed emergency facilities, the administration must speed up placing children with sponsors, especially the approximately 40% of youths in custody who have a parent in the country ready to take them.

HHS has tried to expedite processing of minors in recent weeks, allowing some youths to be placed with parents while fingerprint checks are pending and authorizing the use of government funds to pay for airfare when a child is released.

Ana, the mother of a 17-year-old teen detained in Dallas, told AP said her son fled gangs trying to recruit him in El Salvador and hoped to join her in Virginia. After an eight-day journey, the teenager crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on March 9. Eight days would pass until she heard from authorities at the border that they had him in custody.

She received a 10-minute call from him on March 20, after he was taken to the Dallas facility. It was the first time she's spoken to him since he entered the country. She says she has repeatedly called HHS' Office of Refugee Resettlement to ask if they would release him to her family, but they have refused, saying they have to process her case. In the meantime, she's ready to present documentation proving she is his mother and fit to take him.

I dont understand why they are making it so difficult," said Ana, who is not being identified by her last name to protect her sons privacy. I know that we are in a pandemic, but maybe I think that it is that they are behind schedule, that maybe there are a lot of people there.

Tornillo and Homestead were sharply criticized by Democrats and child welfare experts who warned of the potential trauma of detaining thousands of teenagers without adequate support.

Volunteers from the American Red Cross provided care at the first two emergency HHS sites, a converted camp for oil workers in Midland, Texas, and the Dallas convention center. Those volunteers are now being phased out.

The Red Cross and HHS for several days refused to acknowledge that the volunteers werent given FBI fingerprint checks. The Red Cross first said that all of its volunteers underwent background checks when they joined the group. On Tuesday, the group said it was refreshing checks on about 300 volunteers sent to care for children and that it had not found any new red flags.

HHS spokesman Mark Weber said he could not yet identify which companies or groups will now step in. The department asked contractors in mid-March to submit bids to provide child care and transportation.

Leecia Welch, an attorney for the nonprofit National Center for Youth Law who monitors the treatment of immigrant children, said lawyers would pay close attention to whether this temporary waiver becomes standard operating practice.

Given the urgency of the current placement crisis, families deserve the same flexibility as the for-profit companies contracting with the federal government, she said.

Safety concerns have already been raised about the Midland camp. One official working there noted a lack of new clothes and caseworkers when teenagers initially arrived, and state regulators last week warned that the water on site may not be safe, forcing U.S. authorities to give teens bottles until they could arrange for water deliveries.

Michelle Saenz-Rodriguez, a Dallas-based immigration lawyer, described the Dallas convention center as reminiscent of a barracks but very welcoming. She visited the convention center in its first days as a volunteer for Catholic Charities and said that cots for more than 2,000 boys have been placed in socially distanced rows in a ballroom.

After being bused to the site, the boys get clean clothes, a pillow, a blanket and a COVID-19 test, Saenz-Rodriguez said. She saw them last week sitting together at tables, talking and playing card games. Most did not understand why theyd been brought to Dallas or what would happen to them next, she said.

Their number one question is How long are we going to be here? Whats going to happen to us? Saenz-Rodriguez said.

___

Associated Press journalist Jake Bleiberg in Dallas contributed to this report.
Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is sworn in as president after he was declared the winner of the election held at the Mogadishu Airport hangar in Mogadishu on February 8, 2017.

Mogadishu, Somalia  Somalia's parliamentary session was called off Saturday after pro-government and opposition members could not agree on the agenda.

The House was expected to discuss COVID-19, but opposition members complained the agenda also included a proposed term extension for President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, popularly known as Farmajo.

The parliament speaker, Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdurahman, called off the meeting after members of the opposition disrupted his attempt to chair the session.

Somali parliament meeting ends in disarray after disagreement between MPs over the "intentions" behind a quickly arranged session. MPs were told Covid19 to be the agenda but some MPs argue they feared the Lower House may force "unilateral" term extension for the executive. pic.twitter.com/l5lbXRR4FB - -- Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) March 27, 2021

Opposition lawmakers claimed the speaker and pro-government members of parliament were planning to pass a term extension for the president's administration, a claim denied by pro-government members, including Hani Mohamed Adan.

She said some members of parliament tried to cause chaos in the parliament, which was against the standing orders. She said the speaker must take action against the legislators who broke House rules.

Later, the speaker issued a letter suspending 15 lawmakers from attending the next five sessions of the parliament, according to government media. The lawmakers were accused of obstructing Saturday's planned session of the parliament.

Somalia's Speaker of Parliament suspends 15 lawmakers from attending next 5 sessions of the Lower House of Parliament. The MPs rioted and obstructed Saturday's Parliament session on Covid-19. pic.twitter.com/GiMo4dZABq - -- SNTV News (@sntvnews1) March 27, 2021

One suspended MP said the speaker's move violated House rules.

The terms of parliament and the president have expired, and elections, once planned for February, have been delayed while the country's leaders work out differences about how to conduct the vote.

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Sadik Warfa, a former cabinet minister and member of parliament, stressed the need to wait for the outcome of election talks between federal and regional leaders in the capital, Mogadishu.

Warfa said they were warning against term extensions for the government by the parliament and were supporting talks among the leaders to resolve the election standoff.

Warfa added that they were confident about the prospect of transparent, peaceful elections in the country, underscoring the challenges facing ordinary citizens in the Horn of Africa nation.

International partners, including the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, are pressuring Somalia to hold an election, and they reiterated this week their opposition to parallel electoral processes or term extensions for the incumbent government.

VOA's Harun Maruf contributed to this report.
Monday, employees at Duke University Press announced they have formed Duke University Press Workers Union, a new unit of The NewsGuild, TNG-CWA Local 3203, in hopes of forming a union to negotiate with Duke University Press. The NewsGuild represents over 20,000 journalists, media, and nonprofit workers including employees at The Associated Press, the New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune. The organizers said they had a majority of the 80 non-management employees of the 120 total employees at the press, agreeing to participate in a union.

In a press release, the organizers said they seek to ensure an "equitable working environment that mirrors the themes of equity, justice, and inclusion that are central to the books and journals the press publishes." Duke is a nonprofit publisher that produces some 140 books and 50 journals a year. In February the press announced the launch of the Scholarly Publishing Collective, which would entail it managing sales and other digital services for journals from Michigan State University Press, Penn State University Press, Society of Biblical Literature, University of Illinois Press, and Longleaf Services -- which works with to Cornell University Press, Texas Tech University Press, and the University of North Carolina Press.

"For years, the press has struggled with constant turnover, extended vacancies, low compensation, inconsistent policy enforcement, and patterns of discrimination," the union organizers said. "The expansion of different initiatives, including those related to acquisitions, platform development, product creation, and distribution, has come at the price of employee well-being. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the precarity experienced by staff members."

The press release continued: "Employees urge Duke University Press and Duke University to recognize the union and to collaborate together to build a strong, transparent, equitable, and diverse future. The press publishes content at the forefront of fields traditionally marginalized within the academy, including Black studies and queer studies, that work toward a more just world. Now is the chance for Duke University Press to prove that it really does stand for those ideals." Organizers have gotten support from the union representing Duke University faculty and also consulted with the Verso Books Guild.

The union is seeking several changes, including better compensation, longer family leave, better retirement options, as well as a stronger influence on hiring decisions. One staff member who spoke to PW said they estimated their starting salary was $15, which is the equivalent of minimum wage in New York City, where much of publishing is headquartered.

Several employees reflected on the need for a union, including Alejandra Mejia, an assistant editor at the press, who said, "As a formerly undocumented immigrant with a working-class background, I grew up in a context where I witnessed constant precarity, manipulation, wage theft, and fear in my community. Through those experiences, Ive learned that workers are the experts of our own condition, and we must have a say in the working conditions that affect our lives. I believe that a union would be the most powerful mechanism to ensure equity at DUP. I care about my colleagues and I want to see us all thrive."

More than 50 Duke University Press authors and journal editors have signed a petition in support of the move to unionize.
A harrowing letter revealing the bravery of a Royal Navy Officer who risked his life to rescue Allied troops from Dunkirk has come to light 81 years later.

Lieutenant Walter Bonham penned a six page letter to his father Lieutenant Colonel Charles Bonham from a hotel in Margate after ferrying troops on a small vessel back to Britain while being dive-bombed by the German Luftwaffe in May 1940.

In his letter, the Royal Naval officer recounts pulling soldiers 'almost dead from exposure and exhaustion' aboard after they had jumped into the sea from a nearby burning ship and describes how the troops 'burnt to hell' during the evacuation.

He goes on to describe how he rubbed the troops until he 'sweated blood' to warm them up and handed out blankets containing beer bottles filled with hot water as improvised hot water bottles.

Lieutenant Walter Bonham (right with his brother Harry) penned a letter to his father Lieutenant Colonel Charles Bonham after ferrying troops back to Britain in May 1940

The six page letter is now expected to fetch 1,200 with London-based auctioneers Bonhams

The survivors were comforted with whisky as the damaged motor cruiser made it back to Kent.

The letter, which has been consigned by a Kent private collector, is now expected to fetch 1,200 with London-based auctioneers Bonhams.

In his letter Lt Bonham wrote: 'During the last two days I have had command of a small private motor cruiser which I took over to France yesterday to run a ferry service for the evacuation of our troops.

'I was in a continuous air raid for five or six hours at the end of which the boat broke down, smashed, and full of splinter-holes.

'Most of the poor devils, in addition to being burnt to hell, had been in the water and were almost dead from exposure and exhaustion.

'I had to cut the wet clothing off most of them as they were too badly burned to be undressed in the normal way.

'I stripped them, rubbing them all over till I sweated blood, and then wrapped them up in blankets with beer-bottles filled with hot water as hot water bottles.

In his letter, Lt Bonham recounts pulling soldiers 'almost dead from exposure and exhaustion' aboard

The Royal Naval officer recounts how he rubbed the troops until he 'sweated blood' to warm them up

The officer goes on to say that he handed out blankets containing beer bottles filled with hot water as improvised hot water bottles

'After our first trip the destroyer I was alongside was dive-bombed and she went full ahead to get out of the way, smashing my boat with her rat-guard and breaking one of my crew's hands.

'I went over to a burning ship hundreds of whose wounded were swimming around in the drink.

'Have you ever tried pulling a man on board a boat single-handed?.

'I got a dozen on board and then had to stop.

'The poor devils hung onto the back of the boat and got their clothes wrapped round the screws and rudder finally getting back to the sloop and giving medical help to those on board.'

The letter is being sold with the father's understated reply which states: 'Your telegram received. Well done - Harry doing well. God Bless, proud of you.'

Also going up for auction with Bonhams are papers belonging to members of the Royal Naval officer's family

Lt Bonham was just 19 when he served on the HMS Exeter in December 1939 which fought the German 'pocket battleship' Graf Spey at the Battle of River Plate.

The evacuation of soldiers from Dunkirk The evacuation of British soldiers from Dunkirk was one of the largest military operations of the war, with approximately 338,000 men rescued from the beaches during Operation Dynamo. The evacuation took place between May 27 and June 4, 1940. The operation came after hundreds of thousands of British, French, Belgian and other Allied forces were trapped by the German army on the beaches of Dunkirk following a failed attempt to set up a base on mainland Europe. The evacuation saw an estimated 338,000 Allied troops rescued from northern France. But 11,000 Britons were killed during the operation - and another 40,000 were captured and imprisoned. The failed attempt saw the Allied armies abandon huge amounts of equipment when they left the beach, including 2,472 guns, 63,879 vehicles, 20,548 motorcycles, 76,097 tons of ammunition and 416,940 tons of stores. Most were recycled by the German army, who captured 40,000 French troops when Dunkirk eventually fell. Advertisement

He was killed in action in 1943, while his brother Harry died of wounds sustained on board the HMS Fleetwood in June 1940.

Matthew Haley, specialist at Bonhams, said: 'This remarkable letter reveals the extraordinary bravery of just one of the many thousands of servicemen and civilians who risked their lives to rescue over 330,000 allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk.

'It is extremely vivid and one of the most harrowing I've read, as he pulls no punches in recounting what he faced.

'It is especially poignant as this man who displayed such great bravery was killed in action in 1943.

'And his brother Harry who he asks his father about in the letter died just weeks later from his wounds.'

The sale takes place on Wednesday.

The evacuation of British soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940 was one of the largest military operations of the war, with approximately 338,000 men rescued from the beaches during Operation Dynamo.

The operation came after hundreds of thousands of British, French, Belgian and other Allied forces were trapped by the German army on the beaches of Dunkirk following a failed attempt to set up a base on mainland Europe.

Operation Dynamo got under way on May 27, 1940 and the beaches were ideal places to gather the men together.

However, the vast stretches of gently sloping sand and shallow waters were the worst possible place to try to get the men aboard ships.

To counteract this, 700 private boats sailed from Ramsgate in Kent to Dunkirk to rescue the soldiers.

The 'little ships' appeared off the beaches and long lines of men snaked into the sea as they waded out to meet the small craft, while in the distance destroyers and larger ships could be seen scurrying to and fro.

The evacuation saw an estimated 338,000 Allied troops rescued from northern France. But 11,000 Britons were killed during the operation - and another 40,000 were captured and imprisoned.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 01:26:13|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that China and Burundi should strengthen unity and cooperation and make joint efforts to safeguard international equity and justice.

In a telephone conversation with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, Xi suggested the two sides continue to firmly support each other on issues related to their core interests, uphold independence and sovereignty, and oppose foreign interference.

Xi pointed out that China and Burundi have over recent years maintained high-level development of bilateral relations, enjoyed firm political mutual trust, achieved remarkable results in various fields of cooperation, kept close coordination in international affairs, and thus become a model of South-South cooperation.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have supported and helped each other, and further deepened their friendship, Xi noted, adding that China appreciates the Burundian side's adherence to a friendly policy towards China.

Xi stressed that China is willing to work with Burundi to enhance political and inter-party communication, deepen exchanges and cooperation between their legislatures, local governments and think tanks, increase sharing of governance experience, and better synergize their development strategies, so as to realize mutually beneficial cooperation and common development at higher levels and lift China-Burundi relations to new heights.

China supports Burundi's social and economic development as well as infrastructure cooperation projects, Xi said, suggesting that the agricultural demonstration centers built by the Chinese side and the agricultural experts from China be fully employed to push for more outcomes in bilateral agricultural cooperation and help Burundi achieve food security and eradication of rural poverty.

China, Xi added, is also willing to work with Burundi to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and contribute to making a success of the next forum.

Ndayishimiye, for his part, extended warm congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and spoke highly of the great achievements made by the CPC in eliminating poverty and battling the pandemic.

The Burundian side appreciates China's support for its efforts to safeguard sovereignty, territorial integrity and national independence, he said, adding that cooperation between Burundi and China has brought tangible benefits to the Burundian people and that the two countries will always be good friends and good brothers.

He said his country firmly supports China's positions on issues concerning its core interests, including Taiwan, Xinjiang and the South China Sea, as well as the adoption by China's National People's Congress of the decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Burundi side attaches great importance to the development of its relations with China, he said, adding that his country hopes to learn from the CPC's governance experience, strengthen bilateral cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure and epidemic control, and promote the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Ndayishimiye added that his country is ready to help make the next FOCAC meeting a success. Enditem
There is a beautiful, small town on the North Island of NZ called Mangakino.

Living in Auckland, with all its light pollution, means I often dont pay attention to the evening sky. The reason: it just isnt that spectacular. Most of the starts arent visible so it doesnt make for great viewing.

But, Mangakino, well thats a different story. The town is hours away from any major developments and is quite remote  meaning light pollution is minimal. This results in a spectacular night sky. I sat outside, braving the cold, for hours on end, overawed with its beauty and its magnificence.

Its not hard to find pictures of the evening sky on Instagram or online, and these pictures look incredible. However, nothing compares to seeing it in person. A wonder is evoked which simply cannot be replicated by its digital version.

Whats more is the longer I sat there, and as my eyes began to the adjust to the light, the more stars I started to see. It was if the sky was unravelling before me. Crazy to think that same sky is above me right now, hidden beneath the veil of light pollution cast by city.

Funnily, it made me think: isnt this how it is with the God and His Spirit?

He is always present

Just like those stars, Gods Spirit is always present, and He is continuously active in lives (1 John chapter 3, verse 24). Yet, often, He is drowned out by hustle and bustle, the busyness of life; the city lights.

All it takes is for us to step back. To get rid of those distractions and things which drown out God and, suddenly, we will see the world like weve never seen before.

Taste and see

My night of star gazing also got me thinking about a point raised by a popular NZ musician: Strahan Coleman. He argues that, in our contemporary Christian culture, a knowledge-based faith is promoted over a spiritual-based faith.

Today, information is so rapidly disseminated and easily accessible that we have associated knowledge with the quantity of information an individual knows.

We have made the assumption that the amount we know about God, about the Bible, is directly proportional to our closeness with Him. Reading the Bible, Christian books and listening podcasts are promoted over silent meditation and prayer.

Now, Im certainly not trying to denounce intellectualism. I, myself, love uncovering the Bibles nuances and symbolism, and find it brings me closer to God. Having an intimate knowledge of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians chapter 6, verse 17b) guides me in times of uncertainty.

Rather than undermining intellectualism, what I am trying to say is: there is more to knowing God than merely knowing about God.

Lessons from Job

Something that confounded me upon realisation was that Job is the first book of the Bible ever written. He was described as someone blameless and upright (Job chapter 1, verse 1) before God. He knew God and was close to Him as evident in his faith through the trials and tribulations he faced.

Astoundingly, he achieved all this without any literature about God, without a Bible. He had no choice but to find God spiritually.

Yes, there would have been countless oral stories passed down through generations, and this would have helped. But all you need to do is play a game of broken telephone to realise that oral stories are largely prone to distortion and corruption.

He wouldnt have been able to take each story he heard about God at face value, like we can in the Bible. He would have had to discern the truth of a story using what he already knew about God, through spiritual communion, as a reference.

Unlike Job, we have a Bible that is just a few clicks away. Unfortunately, we can often settle for complacency. Its easy to just settle for the Bible and not seek genuine communion with God. Its easy to make the knowledge about God the end, instead of God Himself.

Go and see the stars

Just like that Mangakino night sky, we could see countless pictures of the stars, and have numerous people describe these stars in detail to us. But until we truly see them and experience them for ourselves, there will always be so much beauty and wonder that we are missing out on.

How can we know the peace that passeth all understanding (Philippians chapter 4, verse 7) if we merely restrict our faith to an intellectual experience of Him?

I, like Strahan, would like to challenge us to seek real communion with God. Lets put the Bible down for a few nights and really seek His Spirit. Ridding ourselves of the distractions, lets fix our gaze towards the heavens, and strive to get to know God, not simply about God.

When we allow Gods Spirit to shine, to illuminate our lives, the world will unravel before us in a beauty and wonder that we cannot yet comprehend, nor yet know.
DUSSELDORF, Germany, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytion, an internationally operating IT business consultancy specialized in search-based solutions and content integration, announces the general availability of its Raytion Enterprise Search Connectors for ServiceNow AI Search. AI Search is included in ServiceNow's newly released Now Platform Quebec release. The Raytion Connector Hub for AI Search allows all 45+ Raytion Enterprise Search Connectors to integrate content from external third-party information systems into the ServiceNow platform. The Raytion Connector Hub is a Now Platform app certified by ServiceNow. It is available immediately for download and trial in the ServiceNow Store.

Raytion's Connectors are generally available for ServiceNow AI Search

ServiceNow AI Search combined with the Raytion Connector Hub offers context-awareness and timely access to corporate knowledge. By integrating content from external information systems into the Now Platform, knowledge managers, support managers and service engineers can efficiently find answers to their cases and resolve incidents in less time. A single and unified view of the results to a search query using AI Search will show all relevant information within the context of a workflow, regardless of the content system it resides in. Knowledge workers will avoid time-consuming browsing through disparate systems and circumvent interruptions of their work. The systems supported by the connectors are on-premises and cloud platforms from Atlassian, Box, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft, OpenText, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, Slack and more.

"Avoiding information gaps in an integrated, mostly digital workplace is crucial for effective workflows," says Valentin Richter, CEO of Raytion. "Therefore, corporate knowledge needs to be seamlessly integrated into organizations' processes - and that is exactly what ServiceNow provides. We feel honored being selected by ServiceNow as its partner for introducing third-party connectors for AI Search with the launch of the Quebec release."

The Raytion Enterprise Search Connectors are available for all major search platforms including ServiceNow AI Search. With the Raytion Connector Hub for AI Search, Raytion is introducing the eighth generation of its family of 45+ enterprise search connectors. Additionally, Raytion offers tailored connectors for custom requirements. The connectors are used by Fortune 500 companies worldwide and serve millions of business users. ServiceNow provides cohesive and coherent search capabilities, which allow users to intelligently find, command and navigate information all across an organization's data - both inside and outside of the Now Platform.

The Raytion Connector Hub for AI Search is available immediately alongside all the Raytion Enterprise Search Connectors.

About Raytion

Raytion is an internationally operating IT business consultancy. With a strategic focus on collaboration, search and cloud, Raytion designs, builds and operates rich business applications, including intelligent search-based solutions and enterprise search platforms. Raytion is one of the leading vendor-independent enterprise search specialists and a long-term integration partner of the major search technology vendors. Since 2001, Raytion has been implementing and operating high-quality, large-scale solutions for Global 500 companies and organizations worldwide.

Contact:

Manee Withoft

[email protected]

Phone +49 211 55 02 66 0

www.raytion.com

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Raytion's Connectors for ServiceNow AI Search

Raytion's Connectors are generally available for ServiceNow AI Search

SOURCE Raytion GmbH
OTTAWA - The head of Facebook Canada says it will try to avoid a repeat of the news blackout it imposed in Australia, so long as impendinglegislation doesn't force it to dim the lights of democracy.

Guest are welcomed by people in Facebook shirts as they arrive at the Facebook Canadian Summit in Toronto on Wednesday, March 28, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Donovan

OTTAWA - The head of Facebook Canada says it will try to avoid a repeat of the news blackout it imposed in Australia, so long as impendinglegislation doesn't force it to dim the lights of democracy.

"It is never something we would ever want to do unless we really have no choice," Kevin Chan told a parliamentary committee hearing Monday.

Facebook blocked all news on its platform in Australia for five days last month in response to proposed legislation that would require digital giants to pay legacy media outlets for linking to their work.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Australian counterpart agreed to continue "co-ordinating efforts" to ensure Big Tech revenues are shared more fairly with creators and media after Facebook struck a deal with the Australian government on a revised bill, which still demands tech titans fork over cash for linked content.

The standoff Down Under shone a spotlight on Facebook's massive clout  despite the public relations disaster that ensued  as well as broader questions around shifting media business models and modes of information consumption.

Ottawa is working on a three-pronged response to the challenges that social media platforms and other online content providers pose to how media in Canada has been financed, regulated and policed in the past.

Part of that solution is a bill currently before the House of Commons to modernize the broadcasting regime in a way that could force internet steaming sites like Netflix and Spotify to make Canadian content more discoverable and to cough up financial contributions to bolster Canadian creators and producers.

Online hate is a focus of the second prong, as global observers continue to question Facebook's role in tragedies ranging from the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand to deadly military violence directed at Myanmar's Rohingya minority, along with racist posts in Canada.

The third prong seeks to address how major internet companies are taxed  with Australia providing a possible model  and in turn how traditional media companies are financially supported.

Facebook already props up struggling legacy news firms by directing traffic to their sites, Chan said, arguing that cumbersome regulation would hinder a free and open internet.

He pointed to Ontario-based Village Media, whose CEO estimates that Facebook and Google generated 24 million page views for the online community news company in January, amounting to $480,000 in ad revenue. Facebook Canada has also announced investments of $18 million in sustainable media models over six years.

Even if Facebook did choose to choke off news access, the platform doesn't currently function as an essential source of information for most Canadians, Chan said. He cited a Ryerson Leadership Lab study showing that about one-quarter of the population gets its news from Facebook, below several other sources including television, which topped the list, but above newspapers and magazines.

"Its not the case that Facebook is somehow synonymous to the internet or somehow synonymous with access to news," he said.

Critics argue that paying publishers for links that they or their readers choose to post on social media  effectively a form of promotion  is backwards; if anything, news outlets should pay Facebook for the privilege of putting up de facto ads on its platform.

In a statement to The Canadian Press, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said the government is consulting with France and Australia over the "market imbalance between news media organizations and those who benefit from their work."

"News is not free and has never been. Our position is clear: publishers must be adequately compensated for their work and we will support them as they deliver essential information for the benefit of our democracy and the health and well-being of our communities," he said.

In Australia, Facebook secured concessions in an agreement with the government that allows more room for private deals between Facebook and media firms  such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp  and an extra round of negotiation with publishers before binding arbitration kicks in.

But settling that dust-up did little to pacify concerns over the might and motivations of Big Tech.

People are increasingly concerned about the power of the web giants and the ravages of the spread of online hate speech, the impact of unfair competition of these giants on local media, and the total lack of justice when people work hard to pay their fair share and multinational web companies do everything to circumvent the rules," said New Democrat MP Heather McPherson.

She accused the Liberal government of fostering a "cosy relationship" with digital giants that protects platforms' profits at the expense of local media and Canadian taxpayers.

The government hopes to table legislation on fair remuneration this year, Guilbeault said.

It also aims to put forward within weeks a bill on online hate speech that would establish a regulator responsible for enforcing an updated definition of hate and ensuring illegal content comes down within 24 hours, subject to strict penalties  which Chan says Facebook would support.

"If we arent seen to be in good faith building the right systems to enforce against our standards, then absolutely we should be subject to some kind of penalty and held to account," he said.

Lawmakers also raised concerns Monday about disinformation around COVID-19 vaccines as Canadians rely increasingly on digital communications to stay informed amid a pandemic, an issue that Chan says the company is trying to address while respecting freedom of expression.

The challenge is, we do need to strike a balance between peoples ability to speak their minds and share their own feelings and ideas ... and also prevent harmful misinformation about the vaccine from being spread," Chan said.

Facebook has 35,000 moderators screening content around the world, including for misinformation and hate speech, he said.

Current Criminal Code provisions barring hate speech can seem increasingly feeble against the daily tide of content that washes up online.

Bigoted speech is always out there," said University of Windsor law professor Richard Moon in an interview. "But the rise of social media as the principal platforms for personal and public engagement has helped hateful views of different kinds move more into the mainstream."

Moon pointed to algorithms on sites such as YouTube, owned by Google, that can wind up fanning inflammatory posts.

"In order to try to maintain the attention of the viewer, they make suggestions of videos that are more and more extreme because people are often more and more engaged and it holds their attention," he said.

Mohammed Hashim, executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, says one reason hate has been so tough to rein in online is a lack of government "guidance."

The harm that its creating not only to victims who face it but to our sense of common decency as Canadians is eroding our faith in democracy," he said in an interview.

"And all of it is happening because of how social media platforms have allowed fringe voices to take over.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.

Facebook funds a fellowship that supports journalism positions at The Canadian Press.
NISKAYUNA  Town Supervisor Yasmine Syed will not be seeking a third term.

Syed, viewed by many as a rising star in the Republican party locally, told the Times Union she plans to finish out her second 2-year term at the end of this year, but will be moving in January to Central New York to be with her husband, Matthew Murray, a U.S. Air Force Medical Service Corps Officer at the 174th Attack Wing.

My husband has been incredibly supportive and understanding of the sacrifice required of a public servant, supporting my stay in Niskayuna despite his service to our country requiring him to move to Central New York in 2020, Syed wrote in a letter announcing her move. My decision to not seek re-election was anything but an easy choice to make. However, after much prayer and reflection, it is one that I feel is best for my family.

The couple, who have been married since February 2020 will be living in the Syracuse area.

Syed, who comes from a prominent Niskayuna family, said it has been "one of the greatest honors" in her life to serve as supervisor in the place where she was born and raised.

"I remain humbled by the trust you first put in me in 2017, and again in 2019, to lead our wonderful town ... I remain committed to serving you for the remainder of my term, especially in light of ever-present budget considerations, and as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic collectively," added Syed, 37.

She also expressed her profound gratitude to family and friends for their unwavering support.

As for her detractors, Syed said "it was still a great pleasure to be your supervisor."

Schenectady County GOP Chairman Chris Koetzle described Syed as a "phenomenal supervisor" who will be sorely missed.

"It's a big hit to the party, it's a big hit to Niskayuna," said Koetzle, adding Syed "had a bright future in the party ... It's unfortunate for us, but I'm happy for her that she's following what she wants to do with her life."

He explained that Syed, who received the Republican nomination, is declining to accept it.

He said the committee on vacancies has a meeting scheduled for Monday night, (March 29) to discuss possible candidates to succeed Syed.

"I'm confident that you're going to see an equally as strong a candidate and appealing a candidate to the voters," said Koetzle, who serves as Glenville supervisor, adding they need to make a decision by the end of the week.

The Democrats have endorsed Jaime Lynn Puccioni, a newcomer, as their candidate for supervisor. She's running on a ticket with incumbent Town Board members Denise Murphy McGraw and John Della Ratta.

Syed listed among her accomplishments serving as a mentor to young women of color with an interest in government and public service, crafting the towns first fund balance policy, reducing reliance on debt spending, and ensuring the safety of town residents during the COVID-19 pandemic by declaring several states of emergency among other safeguards.

She has also worked to retool town facilities and infrastructure, made town government more transparent by launching a

dedicated YouTube channel, improved services to residents and spearheaded initiatives, including the Niskayuna Farmers Market, to enhance the quality of life for local residents.

More than anything, I have sought to inspire the next generation of leaders, which has led me to begin work on an autobiography titled 'Yes for Yas,' " which chronicles her journey to becoming an elected official and her experience as a young biracial, multi-ethnic Republican in Democratic New York. state.

Syed is not done with politics.

My draw to public service is ever-present and I remain committed to the noble endeavor of serving my fellow citizens, whether it be the communities of Central New York, or more broadly, the people of the State of New York," she said.
New Delhi: Veteran actress Neetu Kapoor, who is also an avid social media user, took to Instagram and shared a throwback picture of late husband and classic actor Rishi Kapoor. She recalled the good old days with a heartfelt caption on Holi.

Remembering Rishi Kapoor, wife Neetu Kapoor wrote: Feel blessed to experience the times when HOLI was enjoyed and celebrated with colours of true love and happiness

In the major throwback picture, megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been lifted on a person's shoulders while late actor Rishi Kapoor can be seen enjoying. Both immersed in Holi colours, bring back nostalgia.

Several celebrity friends such as Soni Razdan, Manish Malhotra, daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahni etc and others commented on it too.

Rishi Kapoor breathed his last on April 30, 2020, Thursday at 8.45 am in Mumbai's Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital where he was admitted the day before. He was 67.

The veteran actor battled Leukemia for two long years and underwent treatment for it in New York where he stayed for almost a year. He is survived by his wife and actress Neetu Kapoor, children Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and actor Ranbir Kapoor.

This year, Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi was on March 28 and the nation celebrates Holi on March 29 respectively.

Play a Happy and Safe Holi, everyone!
Khartoum  A Sudanese human rights defender has been charged with publishing "false news" under Article 24 the 2018 Cybercrime Act, based on Facebook post discussing the health situation in Sudan, announced the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) on Friday.

On November 29, two policemen arrived at the house of human rights defender, Khadeeja Aldewaihi in El Isba neighborhood in Khartoum.

According to the ACJPS statement, the police met one of her relatives at the main gate and lied about being former colleagues of Aldewaihi from the El Shorouk TV channel. The officers were let in and when Aldewaihi met them, she did not recognise them. One of them told her that they knew her contract with El Shorouk TV had ended but they had something for her. He then handed her a document summoning her to appear for questioning at the police station on November 30 in relation to a criminal a complaint under article 24 of the Cybercrimes Act.

The following day, Aldewaihi went to the police station with her sister. She was interrogated about posts on her Facebook account written on May 13 concerning the health situation in Sudan. Aldewaihi admitted that it was her Facebook account and that she wrote the post. The investigator questioned why she wrote about health issues when she is an agricultural engineer. She was released that day.

On the morning of December 14, she was summoned to appear at the Office of the Prosecutor at 12:00 to complete the investigation. She was asked the same questions as before, in addition to a question about her political affiliation and her engagement with the Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS). Aldewaihi stated that she shared posts on Facebook in her personal capacity.

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She was summoned again on December 16 and was interrogated about her relationship with the Graduate Association and their Facebook account. She denied any relationship with this association.

On March 18, the Prosecutor in charge of cybercrimes charged Aldewaihi with publishing false news online under articles 24 and 25 of the 2018 Cyber Crimes Act and issued an order to refer the case to the court for trial. "No court session has been held yet, but she will be summoned before a court at any given time," said the ACJPS statement.

In a statement, ACJPS urged the Sudanese authorities "to respect and guarantee the right to freedom of expression as provided for in article 56 of the 2018 Constitutional Declaration and international and regional human rights treaties that Sudan is a state party to." The organisation also called on the government "to ensure that this freedom is protected both online and off-line," and "instruct its law enforcement agencies to cease harassment and intimidation of individuals exercising their rights legitimately."

The decriminalisation of false news should also be a priority for the Sudanese government, said ACJPS, proposing a law reform to adhere to regional and international standards to which Sudan is committed, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

ACJPS has also called on the authorities to take the necessary steps, legislative and others, to put an end to discriminatory actions that impair equal enjoyment of rights by women, after a human rights and women's rights defender was sentenced to one year in prison over a Facebook video she broadcast.
AG Burkard | Schematic image of the new spin qubits consisting of four electrons (red) with their spins (blue) in the surrounding semi-conductor structure (grey)

The race for the quantum computer will most likely be decided at the quantum bit (qubit)  the smallest information unit of the quantum computer. The coupling of several qubits into a computing system is currently one of the greatest challenges in the development of quantum computers. A key question is which physical system and which material are best suited for qubits. Development of qubits based on superconductors has advanced farthestbut there are increasing signs that silicon semiconductor technology may be a promising alternative with decisive advantages in chip production.

The classical bit is the smallest data storage unit of our current computers. It can take on exactly two values: One and zeroor in other words: A current either flows ("one") or does not flow ("zero"). The quantum bit, on the other hand, is not limited to these two states: It can assume an intermediate state of one and zero at the same time, known as "superposition." Only at the moment of measurement is this intermediate state brought to a fixed value. In other words: Whereas normal bits have a defined value at any given time, qubits take on a defined value only at the respective moment of measurement. This property is the basis for the massive computing power that quantum computers can harness for some problems.

This makes storage of such quantum information much more complicateda simple "current on/current off" is not enough. Instead, the fastest and smallest processes in space and time serve as the basis: Quantum states of electrons or photons can be used to implement a qubit. In the case of silicon quantum bits, the intrinsic angular momentum of a single electronthe electron spinis used for information storage. Here, the rotational direction of the electron in combination with its quantum state encodes the quantum information. This is, understandably, highly fragile, as even the most subtle disturbances at the atomic level can affect the angular momentum of an electron and destroy the quantum information.

Today's challenge: Coupling quantum bits

An even more difficult task is interconnecting quantum bits because a single quantum bit is not sufficient to carry out an arithmetic operation. Just like standard computers, quantum computers require multiple (quantum)bits to be linked together to form a computing system: Consequently, the individual qubits must be able to interact with each other. If the qubits to be coupled are far apart on the chip, one qubit must first be brought into the vicinity of the other with a kind of "quantum bus" to enable a computing operation.

Quantum gate comprised of two silicon electrons. The angular momentum of both electrons is controlled by two nano-electrodes (VL and VR). A third nano-electrode (VM) coordinates the interaction of both electrons. Credit: University of Konstanz

In the case of the spin-based qubit, this means that the angular momentum of an electron must be transported or transferred to another electron precisely and with a minimum of disturbanceand not just once, but potentially thousands or even millions of times. A challenge for scienceinterconnecting the qubits is currently probably the biggest obstacle in the development of quantum computers. "It makes a difference whether you set up a single quantum bit or whether you team up tens, hundreds or thousands of them. Interactions can occur between the qubits that are difficult to control," describes Professor Guido Burkard, professor of theoretical condensed matter physics and quantum information at the University of Konstanz.

Currently, the most advanced quantum computer prototypes achieve coupling of some 20 to 50 qubits. "This is a major success already. However, there is still a long way to go before we come to an actual application. Thousands or millions of qubits are needed to perform meaningful arithmetic operations," says Guido Burkard.

The potential of silicon

The most advanced quantum computer systems to date are based on superconductors. Superconductor-based systems are extremely powerful, but they have to contend with limitations: They do not operate at room temperature, but at temperatures just above absolute zero (at around -273 C). In addition, superconductors are relatively energy-intensive and comparatively large from the point of view of technical miniaturization, so that only a small number of superconductor-based qubits fit on a chip.

Alongside the further development of superconductor qubits, research is also going into alternative systems. Silicon is one of the most promising materials: "We believe that silicon-based semiconductor qubits offer great prospects," explains Guido Burkard. Silicon-based quantum bits have the advantage that, being only a few nanometres in size, they are decidedly smaller than superconductor systems. Consequently, many more of them can be put into a computer chippotentially millions. "Moreover, industry already has decades of experience with silicon semiconductor technology. The development and production of silicon-based qubits benefits enormously from thiswhich is no small advantage," Guido Burkard explains.

As early as 2017, Guido Burkard's research team, in collaboration with Princeton University and the University of Maryland, succeeded in creating a stable "quantum gate" for silicon qubitsi.e. a switching system for initially two-qubit systems that was capable of performing all the basic operations of the quantum computer. A milestone on which the physicists are now building: "Our task now is to scale up and interconnect as large a number of silicon qubits as possible with a minimum of crosstalk," Burkard says. To achieve this goal, he has now joined forces with leading research teams in the field of qubit development within the framework of three large research networks at the levels of Europe, Germany and Baden-Wurttemberg.

Explore further Semiconductor qubits scale in two dimensions
Nandigram: Accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of indulging in minority appeasement, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Monday (March 29) urged people to not vote for TMC in order to prevent the state from becoming a mini Pakistan.

Adhikaris comment came after paying obeisance at a local temple in Nandigram, metes away from where the Banerjee was to address a public meeting.

He hit out at the TMC supremo saying that she has got used to wishing Eid Mubarak and therefore she wished Holi Mubarak to people.

Mamata Banerjee used to say Eid Mubarak and such was the habit that she congratulated people on Holi with Holi Mubarak, Adhikari was quoted as saying by ANI.

"Dont give vote to Begum (Banerjee). If you vote for Begum, this will become mini Pakistan. Begum knows no one except Sufiyan," he added.

Adhikari further said that Banerjee has suddenly started visiting temples as she fears losing the upcoming elections.

Hailing Uttar Pradeshs administration, the BJP leader said that if BJP comes to power, Bengal would witness Yogi Adityanath-like governance.

"Just like Yogi Adityanath, the way he is administering his state, we too will govern. If Uttar Pradesh can do transformation, we too can do it," said Adhikari.

Notably, Banerjee has accused BJP of bringing goons from Uttar Pradesh to create disturbance in the poll-bound state.

Adhikari also targeted Banerjee saying that earlier she used to commute in a car, but now travels in a chopper. He also commented on the saree she wears.

"Now she is commuting by a chopper. She used to wear Ajanta shoes now she is wearing branded shoes. She used to wear Rs 400 saree now she wears Rs 6,000 saree," he said.

"There is no change in Suvendu Adhikari. I have not changed and wear the same what I used to wear in 2004," while drawing a comparison and stated that people need to choose between Begum and son, brother and friend.

He said that "Begum is coming in air and will vanish in air."

Nandigram is going to polls on April 1, the second phase of polls out of eight phases that will see Bengal voting for 294 Assembly seats.

Live TV
Taxpayers will fork out $116 million to clean up a heavily contaminated site near Parramatta for the NSW governments light rail project, more than double the original bill.

The cost comes on top of the governments controversial $53.5 million purchase of the six-hectare block at Camellia in 2016, which months later was valued as worthless in a secret report commissioned by Transport for NSW.

The escalating bill means the government has had to spend almost $170 million to get the land to a stage where the transport agency can start building a maintenance yard for trams at Camellia by midyear. The trams will run on the first stage of Parramattas multibillion-dollar light rail line when it opens in 2023.

The cost of cleaning up the six-hectare site at 6 Grand Avenue has now cost taxpayers $115 million. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Labor finance spokesman Daniel Mookhey said the agency had been out maneuvered over the land at every turn. The original clean up bill was $52.7 million.
Any surplus coronavirus vaccines in the UK should be offered to the Republic of Ireland, Arlene Foster has said.

By Sunday, more than 850,000 Covid-19 vaccines had been administered in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Foster said more than 50% of the adult population have received their first dose.

Northern Irelands first mass Covid-19 vaccination centre at the SSE Arena, Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

NI Health Minister Robin Swann said he hopes that Ireland will catch up within a month.

Mrs Foster said she discussed the issue with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he visited a vaccination centre in Fermanagh earlier this month, and pledged to continue that conversation.

I think he does understand the difficulties, particularly around border areas and the movement of people in relation to vaccination, she said.

If there is surplus vaccine then we should share it with our nearest neighbours out of neighbourliness but also out of the fact it will have an impact of course on us here in Northern Ireland, so theres a very practical reason why I believe that should happen.

Arlene Foster receiving her first Covid vaccination at Castle Park leisure centre in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, from local GP Dr John Porteous (Press Eye/PA)

Mrs Foster received her first dose of the vaccine at the weekend.

On Monday she commented that apart from a sore arm, she felt well.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said she would like to see more co-operation.

What happens across these two islands has implications because we move freely across the two islands, so it is crucially important that we have an all-island approach to dealing with vaccination rollout, she said.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill (Liam McBurney/PA)

Its the right thing to do, its the good thing to do. Its responding to a global pandemic and we are all in this together, so we need to work together in order to protect our people. I would like to see a lot more co-operation as we come out of this period and into the future.

Mr Swann said offering vaccine surplus to Ireland was the right thing to do.

My responsibility is to the people of Northern Ireland so, as of our operation here today, my key aim is to get as many people in Northern Ireland vaccinated as quickly as possible, he said.

We hope to have everyone receive their first vaccination by the end of July.

In the Republic of Ireland, Ive heard the Taoiseach say they hope to catch up in a couple of weeks or a months time, so thats something we would like to see.

If youre in an eligible group, book your vaccine and dont delay says Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride speaking at the opening of the regional vaccination centre at the @SSEBelfastArena pic.twitter.com/5AiLDUusvo  Department of Health (@healthdpt) March 29, 2021

He described the difference in vaccine rates as simply down to supply chains.

Were part of the UK pre-bought programme which bought into seven different vaccine sources even before they had been authorised, and the Republic has tied in with the European Unions vaccine purchasing programme, and were seeing the challenges that has brought but were also hopeful that any difficulties between the UK and EU or Oxford/AstraZeneca will be ironed out and ironed out very soon, because this shouldnt be about politics, this is about public health, he said.

There were reports in a Sunday newspaper that UK ministers were working up plans to share 3.7 million doses with Ireland.

Speaking at the weekend, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: There isnt an offer that Im aware of, or that the Governments aware of, from the UK.
With the government's vaccination programme against Covid-19 underway, in the midst of a second lockdown since the pandemic hit Mauritius last year, a number of contradictions seem to be cropping up in the health minister Kailesh Jagutpal's response to this second wave of Covid-19 and its vaccination campaign. So what are they?

Who gets the vaccine?

At the start of the vaccination programme, the government identified essential workers obligated to work and come into contact with the public, the elderly and those living with non-communicable diseases (co-morbidities) as priority groups for receiving Covid-19 vaccinations.

In practice however, things have turned out quite differently. Following the start of the second lockdown in March, the government suspended anti-Covid-19 vaccination for the elderly. In parliament last Tuesday, Minister of Health Kailesh Jagutpal explained the decision: "It seems very risky to continue vaccinating the elderly in the centres, even by maintaining all hygienic measures, without exposing them to the risk being infected. Our government chose to stop the vaccination in order to better protect them." Vaccinations of the elderly, Jagutpal continued, will resume once the second wave of Covid-19 is brought under control. Out of the 228,284 elderly in Mauritius, only 18,034 (or 8 percent) have been vaccinated so far.

"They had a strategy before, but that was when there was no virus in Mauritius," explains Dr. Vasantrao Gujadhur, former Director of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, who played a key part in fighting the first wave of Covid-19 when it hit Mauritius in 2020.

The problem with suspending vaccination for the elderly and confining them at home during the lockdown is a problem. "The elderly should confine themselves, okay, but for how long? They have to be vaccinated and it should have been done by opening vaccination centres in health centres in their neighbourhoods, so it's close by and with no big crowds. The 8 percent of senior citizens who have been vaccinated, how many of them are working as front-liners? It's just too little. They need to fast-track vaccination for them," Gujadhur insists.

For critics of the government's decision to suspend vaccination for the elderly, the problem is not so much who is not getting the vaccine, but rather who is. According to Jagutpal, "with the lockdown, the vaccination programme was targeted to persons who had been granted the work access permit (WAPs-ed.)".

The trouble with vaccinating those with WAPs, Gujadhur maintains, "the government themselves don't know how many front-line workers there are in the country, there is no data on this, so people with WAPs, even though they are not essential workers, are just going to get vaccinated".

Speaking to l'express, Leader of the Opposition Xavier-Luc Duval says, "Those with WAPs are basically those who are relatively young and in good health, right now when it comes to vaccines, it's just a free-for-all."

The WHO and the vaccines

One of the biggest contradictions coming from Kailesh Jagutpal, however, is the choice of vaccines being doled out in Mauritius. This month, Mauritius approved the use of Covaxin, currently not yet approved for use by the WHO. The same for the Sinopharm vaccine.

This represents a sea-change in the attitude of the health minister from as recently as December. "First he said he will never order any vaccine not approved by the WHO, now suddenly they are proposing that every vaccine should be used, including Covaxin that has not even applied for WHO approval yet," argues Duval.

To understand Jagutpal's contradictory stance towards vaccines and WHO approval, one needs only go back to 8 December 2020. Back then in parliament, Jagutpal rejected the need to order vaccines not approved by the WHO by arguing, "currently countries around the world are purchasing vaccines which are not yet endorsed by WHO... there is therefore, absolutely no necessity, at this stage, for us to impose a candidate vaccine, which is yet to be approved, on our population".

So when this week, Jagutpal was challenged about Mauritius using and ordering vaccines not yet approved by the WHO, Jagutpal replied, "Back in December, we were Covid-19 safe." Presumably, the one thing that changed between then and now is that back then, there was no urgency because of Covid-19 cases unlike today, hence the rush to embrace all the vaccines we can get. Indeed, back on 8 December, Jagutpal made this even more clear when explaining why unlike other countries, Mauritius was not buying vaccines not approved by the WHO, "Why those countries are doing so is because they are in a chaotic situation where cases are rising daily. Mauritius is not in this situation. Mauritius being Covid-safe, we should not rush into engaging ourselves with any countries about purchasing a vaccine."

But Jagutpal's statements in parliament this week indicated that the government's attitude towards WHO approval for vaccines has never been very strong from the start.

Take the AstraZeneca vaccine to begin with. This week, on 23 March 2021, Jagutpal told parliament, "on 27 January 2021, a firm order was placed with the Serum Institute of India for the purchase of 300,000 doses of Covishield (AstraZeneca -ed.) vaccines, that is, 100,000 doses to be supplied in February 2021, 100,000 doses in Quarter 1 and 100,000 doses in the second Quarter". And then on 16 December 2020, the health ministry approached the Russian Direct Investment Fund (suppliers of the Sputnik V vaccine) to buy 250,000 doses of that vaccine.

Here is the contradiction: AstraZeneca was only approved for emergency use by the WHO on 15 February 2021. So when Mauritius placed its order for these vaccines - and actually first started using them on 26 January - it was not actually approved by the WHO. Nor was Sputnik. Nor was it the case - as Jagutpal said of other states then buying vaccines not yet WHO-approved - that Mauritius was struggling with Covid-19 cases at the time.

The first wave of Covid-19 effectively ended locally in April last year and the first case of the second wave was only found in March this year. So, at the time, Mauritius was "Covid-safe".

So was Jagutpal misleading when he said that Mauritius would not countenance imposing non-WHO approved vaccines back in December?

Clearly his own answer this week shows that Mauritius had no such qualms about non-WHO approval. Or is he misleading now when he says that the resurgence of Covid-19 is forcing the state to turn to vaccines not approved by the WHO? Once again, Jagutpal himself says that the state was placing orders for vaccines not yet approved by the WHO at a time when there were no locally-transmitted cases being found.

Which is it? It also indicates why it should not come as such a surprise why the state rushed approvals for Covaxin without waiting for WHO approval. After all, the state didn't wait for the WHO when it came to AstraZeneca either. Nor Sputnik for that matter. Nor Sinopharm. "It is a contradiction, the problem is that we don't have enough vaccines, but we are being pushed to the wall, what can we do?" asks Gujadhur.

Consent forms and compensation

The next set of apparent contradictions concerns the question of the consent forms and the issue of compensating those who might suffer from serious side-effects from these vaccines. First the consent forms. Speaking in parliament this week, the health minister explained that those supplying the vaccines to Mauritius, "have also made it a condition prior to the supply of any vaccines to have the following clauses, i). no claim clause, ii). a hold harmless clause and iii) a no liability clause".

The result is the consent form required to be signed before any vaccine jabs. Section 5 of the form reads, "I waive all claims against the state of Mauritius, the Global Health Partnership also known as GAVI alliance, donor states or organizations, manufacturers of the vaccine and their agents or preposes for any adverse event following immunisation, including injuries and death, whether known or unknown, foreseen or unforeseen, which arise from/during or as a result of the vaccine, regardless of whether or not caused, in whole or part, by the negligence or fault on their part, I release and forever discharge them from all claims."

As for the question of compensation, matters seem a lot less clear. According to Jagutpal, having funds to compensate those suffering from vaccine side-effects was something that the World Health Organization's (WHOs) COVAX facility insisted that high-and middle-income countries do: "Hence, it would be advisable to establish a compensation mechanism to compensate individuals suffering from adverse events associated with COVID-19 vaccines distributed under COVAX and to pay any legal awards in that regard against the indemnified Entities." Will such funds be paid in case of all vaccines given out, or just those distributed under the WHO's COVAX facility?

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Explaining matters still further the health minister continued that due to the fact that the State Law Office and the Attorney General's Office advised against setting a cap on compensation claims, any such funding for compensation would come out of the consolidated fund (the general fund for financing government activities). With no changes to the consent form being required.

"This seems to be very confusing," Labour MP and ex-leader of the opposition Arvin Boolell tells l'express, "there is no clarity or certainty, will the compensation be automatically paid in cases where the recipients of these vaccines get side-effects, or will they be paid if they bring cases in court?"

For Duval, there is an obvious contradiction here, "what are the parameters for making these compensation payments? How long do you have to be incapacitated for to qualify for compensation? How much can you be compensated? What if you have to go overseas for treatment that costs more than the maximum the state currently allows? First you make people sign a consent form waiving the liability of the state and then talk about compensation as if it would just be given voluntarily, it just does not make any sense."

This is not a small matter: according to the 2018-2019 Audit Report, the health ministry was then dealing with 230 case files alleging medical malpractice or negligence, with just 63 of them with claims totalling Rs530 million. "Total estimated contingent liabilities arising from the litigations may amount to some Rs1 billion," the report reads.

While refusing to set up a preset no-fault vaccine injury system (which has set parameters and caps for payment, as an alternative to potentially expensive lawsuits) while at the same insisting on people sign a form waiving the right to sue the state in cases of negligence in vaccine administration, for his critics, the minister is sending out a mixed signal. "They have far more to gain, and it is more economical, for the state to just get everybody vaccinated and then deal with compensation as when they arise, rather than asking people to sign such forms that may lead to people becoming reluctant to take the risk and get vaccinated," argues Duval.
[March 29, 2021] Data Storage Corporation Announces Appointment of Thomas Kempster as Executive Vice President of Strategic Development

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Data Storage Corporation (OTCQB: DTST) (the Company), a provider of diverse business continuity, disaster recovery protection and cloud solutions, today announced that it has appointed Thomas Kempster to the new position of Executive Vice President of Strategic Development. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Kempster served as President of Service Operations for the Company.

In his new role, Mr. Kempsters responsibilities will include development of enterprise distribution channels, expansion of existing service lines, and formation of strategic partnerships, as well as other business development activities. Chuck Piluso, CEO of Data Storage Corporation, stated, This appointment recognizes Toms immeasurable contributions to the Company, and allows us to refocus our internal resources with the goal of accelerating our growth strategy, including expansion into new industries and verticals including government and international. Tom is uniquely qualified for this position based on his many years of experience and expertise developing new business and cultivating enterprise relationships. He has an extensive industry network and understands the importance of identifying synergistic opportunities. Prior to DCSs acquisition of ABC in 2016, Mr. Kempster founded and developed ABC Services, Inc., a solutions provider specializing in IBM power environments since 1994. Mr. Kempster was responsible for developing strategic partnerships with many industry leaders such as IBM, Microsoft, and VMware to build a successful solution-driven business. ABC Services, Inc., with the help of its strategic partnerships, worked with organizations across the United States and continued to expand. Mr. Kempster began his career in 1985 as a computer technician at Systems Configuration Services (SCS) where he was trained on IBM System hardware and software operating systems. In 1989, he was hired by Diversified Data Corp. as their general manager to assist in buildig a Technical Division to support IBM-specific sales. Mr. Kempster spearheaded the service division into a successful and profitable entity. Mr. Kempster then joined CAC Leasing where his business development experiences further inspired his vision to form ABC Services, Inc.



About Data Storage Corporation Data Storage Corporation is a 25-year veteran in business continuity services, providing Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Cyber Security as a Service (CSaaS) and Data Analytics as a Service (AI). Data Storage Corporation provides clients subscription based, long-term agreements for disaster recovery solutions, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (cloud Hosting), telecom-munications solutions, and high processing on-site computing power and software solutions. While a significant portion of the Companys revenue has been subscription based, Data Storage Corporation also generates revenue from the sale of equipment and software for cybersecurity, data storage, IBM Power systems equipment and managed service solutions.

Please visit us at http://www.DataStorageCorp.com. Safe Harbor Provision This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created thereby. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "estimates," "anticipates," or "believes" or the negative thereof or any variation thereon or similar terminology or expressions. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and include statements regarding the expected contribution of Mr. Kempster as the Companys Executive Vice President of Strategic Development and the appointment allowing the Company to refocus its internal resources in order to accelerate its growth strategy, including expansion into new industries and verticals, including government and international. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from results proposed in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, but are not limited to, Mr. Kempsters ability in his new role to develop enterprise distribution channels, expand existing service lines, and form strategic partnerships, as well as successfully engage in other business development activities, the Companys ability to accelerate its growth strategy, and expand into new industries and verticals, including government and international, those factors set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and its other filings and submissions with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Investor Relations Contact:

Crescendo Communications, LLC

Tel: 212-671-1021

Email: DTST@crescendo-ir.com





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Yuma Library

Yuma, Arizona - Storytime is just a phone call away! Dial-a-Story featuring pre-recorded stories for children of all ages in English and Spanish, is now available at the Yuma County Library District. Call YCLDs Dial-a-Story line at (928) 597-3131.

New stories are available each week! There is no charge for this service.

This project is supported by the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal CARES Act funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
On Saturday night, Kamala Harris and husband, Doug Emhoff, opened up their home for an intimate Passover dinner, and we dont mean they invited exclusively their nearest and dearest. No, instead, Maya Rudolphs vice-president and Martin Shorts Second Gentleman have to sneak in their passionate canoodling in between the arrivals of the motley crew of political guests attending their Kamala Harris Unity Seder.

Aidy Bryants Ted Cruz stops by with pigs in a blanket and cupcakes, which, of course, no one can eat, while Chloe Fineman walks the living room catwalk as inauguration meme herself Ella Emhoff. Kenan Thompsons Georgia senator Raphael Warnock comes baring bad news about the future of his home state, and Cecily Strongs Marjorie Taylor Greene climbs in the window insurrection-style.

Even Alex Moffats Joe Biden stops in, accompanied by his hell hound Major, who proceeds to attack Doug Emhoff. Maybe Major knew how the sketch was going to end: with Doug weirdly manhandling Kamala into a kiss. Please, not in front of Elijahs chair, Martin.
WASHINGTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts aboard the International Space Station will mark another first for commercial spaceflight Monday, April 5, when the four astronauts will relocate the Crew Dragon spacecraft to prepare for the arrival of new crew members in late April and the upcoming delivery of new solar arrays this summer.

Live coverage will begin at 6 a.m. EDT on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, will undock Crew Dragon Resilience from the forward port of the station's Harmony module at 6:29 a.m. and dock to the space-facing port at 7:15 a.m.

The relocation will free Harmony's forward port for the docking of Crew Dragon Endeavour, set to carry four crew members to the station on NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet are scheduled to launch to the station Thursday, April 22, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Crew-1 astronauts will depart the station and return to Earth in late April or early May, leaving the space-facing port of Harmony vacant. A Dragon cargo spacecraft carrying several tons of supplies and the first set of new solar arrays for the space station is scheduled to launch this summer, and requires the space-facing port position to enable robotic extraction of the arrays from Dragon's trunk using Canadarm2.

This will be the first port relocation of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission lifted off Nov. 15, 2020, and docked to the space station Nov. 16. The mission is the first of six certified crew missions NASA and SpaceX planned as a part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program.

Get breaking news, images and features from the space station on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Learn more about NASA's Commercial Crew Program through these student and family resources.

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

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(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu Monday discussed the bilateral ties, regional peace and other issues of mutual interest.

The meeting between the two foreign ministers was held on the sidelines of 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) Ministerial Conference being held on March 30 at Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe.

During the meeting, Qureshi said Pakistan and Turkey enjoyed brotherly ties deeply rooted in religious, civilizational and traditional affinities.

According to a press release, the foreign minister observed that the establishment of high-level strategic cooperation council had transformed the bilateral ties between the two countries into strategic cooperation.

Both the foreign ministers also discussed in detail the Afghan peace process and Foreign Minister Qureshi stressed that permanent and durable solution to the Afghan issue could be achieved through a comprehensive dialogue led by the Afghan leadership.

He also reiterated Pakistan's sincere efforts for bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan, besides the whole region.

Both leaders also welcomed the holding of the HoA-IP conference which would further contribute towards efforts for peace in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also lauded Turkey's steadfast support to Pakistan over Kashmir issue and termed it encouraging for the oppressed Kashmiris of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kahsmir.

He also said that holding of conference was also manifestation of Turkey's efforts for peace in the region.

Turkish foreign minister appreciated Pakistan's efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan and the whole region and extended full support to these efforts.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived at Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe to attend 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) Ministerial Conference.

Upon arrival at the airport, the foreign minister and his delegation was warmly received by Tajikistan Deputy Foreign Minister Huseynzoda Muzaffar, Pakistan ambassador Imran Haidar, Deputy Ambassador Shahid Ali Sehar and other high officials.

The foreign minister will lead Pakistan's delegation at 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) Ministerial Conference, besides holding meeting with his Tajik counterpart Sirodjidin Muhriddin and Tajik leadership.

During these meetings, the two sides would discuss bilateral ties and cooperation in diverse fields.

Meetings with other foreign ministers from key members countries are also part of Foreign Minister's schedule.

The visit by the foreign minister and his delegation would further enhance the bilateral ties between the two countries.

/867

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Bullying at boarding schools has a negative impact on students' emotional health, but for male students, having a school staff member to rely on for support may mute the harmful effects of bullying, according to a new University at Buffalo study. Support networks did not have the same effect for female students, the researchers say.

The study, recently published in School Psychology Review, is one of few to examine the impact of bullying at boarding schools, which provide a unique environment where most students live on school grounds, away from their families. It is also one of the first studies to observe the effects of bullying on both the physical and emotional safety of students.

"If students feel unsafe at school, it can impair their ability to concentrate and engage academically, socially and emotionally, resulting in mental health challenges," says Stephanie Fredrick, PhD, lead investigator and associate director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention at UB. "When schools support both academic success and mental health, students may feel safer at school despite being aware of or experiencing bullying."

These support systems may be even more crucial for the nation's 250-plus boarding schools, where students may be at increased risk for bullying, stress and internalizing depression and anxiety, she says.

"Boarding students do not have the ability to disconnect from peers or school by going home at the end of the day," says Fredrick, also an assistant professor in the UB Graduate School of Education.

"Although schools have historically focused on teaching academic skills, they are increasingly involved in character development and mental health promotion," she says. "Mental health professionals play a critical role in promoting health and safety for boarding students, especially because these students are apart from their families more than typical students."

Buffers against bullying

The study surveyed more than 300 boarding students in the U.S. to understand their perceptions of school safety and practices to promote student mental health.

Available mental health services included licensed counselors who functioned as therapists, and a learning specialist who supported students with emotional, learning and cognitive disabilities. Emotional safety was defined as feeling comfortable with expressing emotions, taking risks and engaging in new experiences.

The researchers discovered that male students who perceived that the school supported mental health reported feeling emotionally safe on campus, regardless of their experiences with bullying. School mental health support did not improve perceptions of emotional safety for female students.

"It may be that school mental health supports were not robust enough to buffer against feeling unsafe for female students," says Fredrick. "Other aspects of the school environment, including disciplinary or physical structure, or even peer support, may be needed for female students to feel emotionally safe."

The research, she says, highlights the importance of policy standards to guide school mental health professionals in addressing boarding student safety concerns.

"The effect of bullying prevention programs tends to be small-to-moderate, so it is likely that students will always see a certain level of bullying at their school," says Fredrick. "Simply having mental health professionals present and available throughout schools may enhance student perceptions of school safety."

###

Additional investigators include UB Graduate School of Education doctoral student Abbey McClemont; Lyndsay Jenkins, PhD, associate professor at Florida State University; and school psychologist Michael Kern, PhD.
Washington, March 29 : US President Joe Biden on Sunday called the military violence in Myanmar "absolutely outrageous" and said Washington was working on reacting with sanctions.

The situation in Myanmar, which has seen almost daily protests since a military coup in February, was "terrible," Biden said in comments reported by journalists travelling with the US President on his return from Delaware to Washington, DPA news agency reported.

Asked whether the US would respond with sanctions, Biden said "we're working on that now." The bloodiest day of violence so far on Saturday - which marked Armed Forces Day in Myanmar - reportedly left 114 people dead.
CALGARY, AB, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - TransAlta Corporation ("TransAlta" or the "Company") (TSX: TA) (NYSE: TAC) today filed its notice of meeting (the "Notice") to holders of common shares ("Shareholders") along with its management information circular (the "Circular") in connection with its annual and special meeting of Shareholders to be held virtually on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. (Calgary Time) (the "Meeting"). A copy of the Notice and Circular can be downloaded from the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and the Company's EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. The Notice and Circular are also available on TransAlta's website.

As described in the Circular, registered Shareholders are entitled to participate at the Meeting if they held common shares of TransAlta as of the close of business on March 24, 2021, the record date. Non-registered (beneficial) Shareholders who wish to vote at the Meeting will be required to appoint themselves as proxyholder in advance of the Meeting by writing their own name in the space provided on the voting instruction form provided by their intermediary, generally being a bank, trust company, securities broker, trustee or other institution. Detailed instructions for Shareholders to participate in the meeting and a copy of the Virtual AGM User Guide are available at http://www.transalta.com/investor-centre/events-and-presentations/. Additionally, the Company is sending this information directly to Shareholders.

Each of Mr. Richard Legault, Mr. Yakout Mansour and Mrs. Georgia Nelson are not standing for re-election at the Meeting and will retire from the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") immediately following the Meeting. The Company acknowledges with gratitude the many contributions that each of Mr. Legault, Mr. Mansour and Mrs. Nelson have made to the Company.

The Company is also pleased to announce that four new highly qualified individuals are being nominated for election to the Board at the Meeting. The four new director nominees consist of:

Laura W. Folse  Ms. Folse is the former CEO of BP Wind Energy, North America . As CEO for BP Wind Energy, North America , she led a business with over 500 employees and contractors, which was comprised of 14 wind farms across 8 states with an operating capacity of over 2.5 gigawatts. Prior to her role as CEO of BP Wind Energy, North America , she served at BP p.l.c. as Executive Vice President, Science, Technology, Environment and Regulatory Affairs, in which she led the operational, scientific and technological programs within the multi-billion dollar clean-up and restoration effort in response to the 2010 BP Macondo well explosion off the coast of Louisiana .





 Ms. Folse is the former CEO of BP Wind Energy, . As CEO for BP Wind Energy, , she led a business with over 500 employees and contractors, which was comprised of 14 wind farms across 8 states with an operating capacity of over 2.5 gigawatts. Prior to her role as CEO of BP Wind Energy, , she served at BP p.l.c. as Executive Vice President, Science, Technology, Environment and Regulatory Affairs, in which she led the operational, scientific and technological programs within the multi-billion dollar clean-up and restoration effort in response to the 2010 BP Macondo well explosion off the coast of . Thomas O'Flynn  Mr. O'Flynn is currently President, Chief Financial Officer and a Director of EIP Acquisition Corp I, a special purpose acquisition corporation and an affiliate of Energy Impact Partners LP, a private energy technology fund investing in high growth companies in the energy, utility and transportation industries. Mr. O'Flynn was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, AES Infrastructure Advisors, at AES Corporation until his retirement in 2020. Prior thereto, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at AES Corporation and responsible for all aspects of global finance and the mergers and acquisitions teams across six global regions.





 Mr. O'Flynn is currently President, Chief Financial Officer and a Director of EIP Acquisition Corp I, a special purpose acquisition corporation and an affiliate of Energy Impact Partners LP, a private energy technology fund investing in high growth companies in the energy, utility and transportation industries. Mr. O'Flynn was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, AES Infrastructure Advisors, at AES Corporation until his retirement in 2020. Prior thereto, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at AES Corporation and responsible for all aspects of global finance and the mergers and acquisitions teams across six global regions. Jim Reid  Mr. Reid is the Managing Partner of the Brookfield Private Equity Group based in Calgary, Alberta . He is responsible for originating, evaluating and structuring investments and financings in the energy sector and overseeing operations in the Brookfield private equity energy segment. Mr. Reid established Brookfield's Calgary office in 2003 after spending several years as a Chief Financial Officer for two oil and gas exploration and production companies in Western Canada . Mr. Reid is also one of the Brookfield nominees to the Board pursuant to the investment agreement entered into between an affiliate of Brookfield and TransAlta in 2019.





 Mr. Reid is the Managing Partner of the Brookfield Private Equity Group based in . He is responsible for originating, evaluating and structuring investments and financings in the energy sector and overseeing operations in the private equity energy segment. Mr. Reid established office in 2003 after spending several years as a Chief Financial Officer for two oil and gas exploration and production companies in . Mr. Reid is also one of the nominees to the Board pursuant to the investment agreement entered into between an affiliate of and TransAlta in 2019. Sarah Slusser  Ms. Slusser is the CEO of Cypress Creek Renewables, LLC ("Cypress Creek"), a solar and storage independent power producer that develops, owns and operates projects in the United States . Cypress Creek owns a 1,600 MW operating fleet and has a 7,000 MW development pipeline. Ms. Slusser joined Cypress Creek as CEO in 2019 to reposition the company for sustainable growth. Prior to joining Cypress Creek, Ms. Slusser founded Point Reyes Energy Partners LLC, a solar and energy storage advisory and development company, where she provided strategic advice to a number of large companies in the renewable sector.

More information on each of the nominees is included in the Circular. We encourage Shareholders to vote by proxy as early as possible so that their shares are represented at the Meeting. We also remind Shareholders that they can participate in the Meeting live by logging in online at https://web.lumiagm.com/438758405, password "transalta2021".

About TransAlta Corporation:

TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia with a focus on long-term shareholder value. TransAlta provides municipalities, medium and large industries, businesses and utility customers clean, affordable, energy efficient, and reliable power. Today, TransAlta is one of Canada's largest producers of wind power and Alberta's largest producer of hydroelectric power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud community-member where its employees work and live. TransAlta aligns its corporate goals with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and we have been recognized by CDP (formerly Climate Disclosure Project) as an industry leader on Climate Change Management, having recently achieved an A- score from CDP.

For more information about TransAlta, visit our web site at transalta.com.

SOURCE TransAlta Corporation

Related Links

http://www.transalta.com


Fernando Alonso has denied declaring that he is "better" than 2021 title chargers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Earlier in Bahrain, the returning two-time world champion was asked if he is still as good after two years away from Formula 1 as when he was racing Hamilton and Verstappen in 2018.

"I'm better," he responded, triggering a spate of headlines and accusations of arrogance.

However, the 39-year-old said he misheard the question. While he heard 'are you better than then?', Alonso was actually asked 'are you better than them?'

"My answer was that of course I hope to be better because all the experience I've gained outside of Formula 1 makes me a better driver," he is quoted by Speed Week.

"It wasn't about Lewis or Max or any other driver, first of all because it is very difficult to make comparisons between the drivers and also because they have dominated the sport in recent years.

"So I would never say that I am better than them - that was never my intention," the Alpine driver insisted.

(GMM)
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.

Abuja  Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr. Tony Ojukwu has commended the joint afford of the European and United Nations Spotlight Initiative On its various programs, tailored towards ending violence against women and the girl child in Nigeria.

The Executive Secretary gave the commendation at the weekend in Abuja during the Livelihood Pathway Programme Outdoor Food Fair/Exhibition organised by the Spotlight Initiative to support as well as empower women and girls who were victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in Nigeria.

Mr. Ojukwu who said the support was coming at the right time when cases of SGBV has continued to be on the rise in Nigeria, also promised that his Commission will always welcome and support any initiative that seeks to uphold the rights of any Nigerian.

"We have been moving around on public hearing on SGBV and we discovered that most victims or survivors are people who when they report a case, they withdraw from it due to empowerment issues. They find out they cannot sustain their livelihood if they don't withdraw from that process of holding perpetrators accountable".

The significance of what is happening today is that it is going to empower the survivors and that will go a long way to help them to be out of situations where they will find themselves abused. So we commend the organisers , the UNDP, and EU-UN Spotlight Initiative and we encourage other human rights workers as well as other development partners to please empower women and girls because it is the root of SGBV, he said".

Chief Technical Advisor on Rule of Law and Human Rights, UNDP, Simon Ridley said the spotlight initiative seeks to address the issues of poverty which most times puts the victims of SGBV in positions where they will be abused. He added that the initiative has so far, within Nigeria, empowered about 87 beneficiaries in various programs which includes catering, fashion designing and make-ups.

A beneficiary from the Buari Area Council of the FCT, Eunice Abraham who thanked the spotlight initiative for providing them with basic skills to stand in business, also said the gesture will go a long way to assist her provide support to her family as well train other victims/ survivors of SGBV to stand on their own.
Gov. Kay Ivey toured sites in Alabama today where tornadoes last Thursday upended homes and lives, killing five and laying a path of destruction across the state.

Today, every Alabamian grieves for these families and their losses and their hearts and prayers go out to these that have lost loved ones, Ivey said at a press conference earlier at Bowery Oak Baptist Church in Ohatchee.

This is the time when Alabamians show what were made of. Were made of grit, passion and resilience. Were a state where neighbors help neighbors.

Ivey was scheduled to tour sites in Hale and Shelby counties later today.

Ohatchee saw four people die, three in the same family. Ivey went to the site along Grayton Road South where three members of one family were killed in their mobile home - Joe Wayne Harris, 74, Barbara Harris, 69, and Ebonique Harris, 38.

Kalvin Bowers, a family member whose home was destroyed in the storm, pointed out where homes once stood to Ivey as she walked the family property. He said his brother required hip surgery after being injured in the storm.

Here is full coverage of the storms

Bowers said family members were getting ready to leave when the storm hit. Barbara Harris stayed with her husband, Joe Wayne, because he had just had eye surgery.

All it took was a few seconds, he said. Its devastating. Theres nothing here. We lost everything. We lost people.

He said the families are trying to get their bearings - checking on injured loved ones, planning funerals, arranging for temporary housing and thinking about the next step.

As he took Ivey through the area, she passed cars with smashed in windows, torn and twisted sheet metal, toys and scattered household articles left in the storms wake.

Unbelievable, Brian Hastings, Alabama EMA Director said, standing next to Ivey at the storm site.

Ivey said state officials are still gathering a tally of damages to seek federal assistance, so its important for those who suffered damage to reach out to local authorities and report damage.

One of the people she spoke to was Latashia Harris-Ramos, whose sister Ebonique Harris, 38, died with her parents, Joe Wayne Harris, 74, Barbara Harris, 69.

Also killed in Calhoun County were James William Geno, who would have turned 72 this past Saturday, and Emily Myra Wilborn, 71.

Harris-Ramos told Ivey about Ontarriah Braxton, 13, the daughter of Ebonique Harris, who is currently in Childrens of Alabama with a fractured spinal column. Doctors say it will take another three weeks for her to leave the hospital and a year to gain a full recovery.

What she remembers is that she and her mother were getting into the bathtub when the storm came, Harris-Ramos said. They usually wore their helmets, but her mother didnt wear a helmet. Then, when she woke up, she was pinned up against a tree and the family was calling her name.
Brisbanes latest coronavirus cluster began three weeks ago inside the corridors of a quarantine hotel and has potentially already spread over the border into New South Wales.

The supercluster  made up of two outbreaks a fortnight apart  now stands at 10 cases and has forced more than 2 million people in south-east Queensland into their second snap lockdown this year.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palazczuk announces a three-day lockdown for the Greater Brisbane area, effective as of 5pm on Monday. Credit:Getty Images

Brisbanes most serious cluster, which spread through Ipswich Hospital, a Youth Detention Centre and prison training academy in August 2020, had a total of 55 cases.

The 72-hour shutdown is scheduled to end at 5pm Thursday but health authorities may choose to extend that when they hold a formal review on Wednesday evening.
(Newser)  Lil Nas X is apologizing after his "Satan Shoes" created an uproaroh, wait, no, he isn't. The rapper got both himself and Nike in hot water after announcing a collaboration with streetwear company MSCHF on the aforementioned shoes, apparently modified Nike Air Max 97s, which will be decorated with a pentagram and a Bible verse about Satan, and contain a drop of human blood. The 666 (of course) pairs produced will be available Monday for $1,018 each (a reference to the Bible verse, Luke 10:18), and after much uproar from Christians about the whole thing, Nike issued a statement to outlets including NBC News clarifying that it has no relationship with the rapper or MSCHF. "Nike did not design or release these shoes and we do not endorse them." As for that apology, Lil Nas X responded to the controversy by tweeting a link to a video in which he supposedly "apologizes" for the shoe (tweet here, but be warned, the video is NSFW).

story continues below

But, just as he appears to be gearing up to say he's sorry in the video, it cuts to a (graphic) scene from his latest single, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," in which he dances suggestively with the devil. He was similarly not having it when people came for the song on Twitter, Insider and People report. His response to criticism from South Dakota's governor? "ur a whole governor and u on here tweeting about some damn shoes. do ur job!" And for those who say it's inappropriate for him to be releasing suggestive videos since many children are fans of his song "Old Town Road"? "i am an adult. i am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. that is your job." As for "Montero," it's about "a guy i met last summer," the rapper writes in a poignant letter to himself posted on Twitter: "i know we promised to never come out publicly, i know we promised to never be 'that' type of gay person, i know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist." (Read more Lil Nas X stories.)
Adrienne Harris

Adrienne Harris, who has advised financial/fintech companies and venture capital firms, has signed on as a senior advisor at Brunswick Groups DC office.

She also served as special assistant to president Obama for economic policy at the White Houses national economic policy office.

Most recently, Harris was founding chief business officer and general counsel at San Francisco start-up Insurtech. At the University of Michigan, she is a Gates Foundation senior research fellow at the center for finance, law and policy.

George Little, Brunswicks Washington chief, said Harris is highly networked, accomplished in the private sector and brings deep experience in the fast-changing fintech and broader financial services industry.
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.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 20:20:39|Editor: huaxia

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ABIDJAN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- At least four people, including two soldiers and two perpetrators, were killed early Monday morning in an attack on a military post in Cote d'Ivoire's Kafolo, near the border with Burkina Faso, security sources told Xinhua.

The attack was carried out in the early hours of Monday by unidentified gunmen, the sources said, adding that this is the second attack that the same military post suffered.

According to a preliminary assessment, four people were killed, including two soldiers.

So far, no group or individual has claimed responsibility for this attack.

In June last year, an attack on the mixed army-gendarmerie post in Kafolo killed 12 soldiers and one gendarme. Enditem
Const. Michael Rampone, a member of the Penticton RCMP Indigenous Policing Services section, with local student Summer Paige, who took it upon herself to teach classmates about how to become an officer.
The on Monday sought to know if there was "a secret deal" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister and the

national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surejwala said Kerala respects honesty, abhors secret deals, is known for transparency and demanding accountability as he asked Vijayan to come clean on whether the LDF government, acting through the Solar Energy Corporation of India, a nodal agency of the Union New and Renewable Energy Ministry, decided to purchase 300 MW long term wind power for 25 years at approximately Rs 8,785 crore from the

Asking whether this 300 MW long term wind power would be purchased at the rate of Rs.2.82 per unit and Rs 2.90 per unit, he sought to know if the tariff of power from other 'renewable energy source' i.e. solar power is Rs 1.99 per unit as on November/December 2020, and if so, why was the LDF government purchasing wind power at a higher rate.

Surjewala also asked if the Vijayan and the Modi governments together reduced Kerala's quota of solar energy from 2.75 per cent to a mere 0.25 per cent, and whether this facilitated the purchase of wind power from the

He alleged that Vijayan's opposition to handing over of Thiruvananthapuram Airport to Adani Group was a farce and facade to cover up other secret understandings.

He also wondered if there was any common link between the gold smuggling case, and the "suspicious refusal" of the Enforcement Directorate/Income Tax Department and other Central government agencies to act against Chief Minister, three Cabinet Ministers and the Assembly Speaker and the consequent award of 300 MW long term wind power project to Adani Group.

" All this points towards a secret understanding between and Narendra Modi," he alleged.

--IANS

sg/vd

(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.)
District Attorney Andrea Harrington gives a briefing on the arraignment of 17-year-old Angel Nieves.

Teenager Arraigned on First-Degree Murder Charges

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The teenage stepson of Benjamin "Chuck" Martinez Jr. has been arraigned in his murder last week in an Adams apartment that police say is a known drug trafficking site.

Angel Nieves, 17, was arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court on Monday on first-degree murder charges. District Attorney Andrea Harrington said she will be seeking from a grand jury.

According to police reports, Martinez was found shot in the head on Thursday night by a female acquaintance who called police about 9:08 p.m. The murder weapon is said to be a small semi-automatic handgun, probably a .38. The autopsy report stated that Martinez was killed by a single shot to the back of the head.

Nieves was purportedly given this type of gun by Martinez because they worked together in the drug trade, according to the police report. Harrington declined to say if the weapon had been recovered but said she was "confident that we have more than enough probable cause for the current complaint against Mr. Nieves."

She also declined to comment on if any other individuals are under investigation.

The case is unusual for the area because of the age of the suspect, Harrington said. "Mr. Nieves is a 17-year-old defendant, under the current statute, he is being prosecuted basically the way that any individuals are prosecuted for murder. That's a fairly new procedure here in Massachusetts."

Nieves name had initially been withheld because of his age.

A separate witness interviewed by police put the murder close to 2:30 p.m., saying he had gone to the second-floor apartment to buy crack and had heard a gunshot and seen the body on the third floor.

The witness, whose name is withheld in the report, told police a young man he knew as "G" sold him the drugs and told him someone had been hiding upstairs and stealing drugs from him. G went upstairs where Martinez, of Springfield, had been reportedly subletting; there was a noise like a gunshot, G came rushing down with his things, then told the witness to go upstairs and get his phone charger.

"I complied out of fear since I thought for sure that he was going to kill me," the witness said. "As soon as I got to the top of the stairs, I found a guy lying on the floor who was dead."

The lack of public transportation made it difficult for G to leave the area  no buses or cabs or Ubers were immediately and he was calling people trying to get a ride to Springfield or Pittsfield after the witness took the opportunity to flee. He was arrested in Springfield on Friday.

G is described as medium height, thin, with frizzy hair and light brown skin. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black backpack as he walked down Park Street. Martinez's mother told police that Nieves was his stepson though it was not clear if Martinez and the teen's mother were married, though they reportedly have children together.

Martinez lived in Springfield and worked as a roofer but he apparently spent a good deal of time in the Berkshires engaged in selling drugs, according to several people interviewed by police.

"Money, money. Everyone knows what happens in Adams and North Adams, street life," the woman who found him told police.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has started construction on its first hospital  a $430 million facility that will offer cutting-edge cancer treatment and staff experts to take on the most complex diseases that disproportionately affect people in South Texas.

The UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital is expected to open in the fall of 2024, creating 50 new medical residency spots and 800 new jobs.

The 144-bed hospital will be built on 12.2 acres in the South Texas Medical Center, on land donated by the San Antonio Medical Foundation, and is funded by the University of Texas Systems capital improvement program.

The cornerstone for the building will be unveiled today.

UT Chancellor James B. Milliken said the new hospital is a good thing for patients in the region but also for the systems educational mission because itll attract new medical residents to San Antonio.

Its hard for me to think of a more important investment that we could be making to further develop whats already an outstanding health science center, Milliken said.

Currently, patients with difficult-to-treat medical conditions are leaving town for care, often driving to Houston and taking on the burden of finding temporary housing while there.

On ExpressNews.com: UT Health San Antonio to build teaching hospital, strengthen partnership with UHS

We have an opportunity with this new hospital to chart a path that will provide the highest levels of sophisticated care, said Dr. William Henrich, president of UT Health San Antonio. And I think its much better for healing if patients can be treated closer to home.

Patients will be admitted for advanced cancer treatment, including immunotherapy and stem cell therapy, but also to see physicians who specialize in orthopedics, urology, and thoracic and bariatric surgeries, as well as clinical trials.

About nine years ago, Henrich needed to seek cancer care in Houston for a stem cell transplant. He and his wife moved into a condo there for nearly four months, which he knows is something most San Antonians cant afford.

Thats the kind of care we aim to deliver to the people who are citizens of this city, this county and this region so that they dont have to leave and go someplace else, unless you want to and have the means, he said.

Dr. Robert Hromas, vice president for medical affairs at UT Health San Antonio, said the new hospital will enhance the systems partnership with University Health.

Bexar Countys public hospital system and UT Health have collaborated since they both opened in 1968. In September, the organizations announced a plan to form a top-tier integrated health delivery system together to improve care throughout Bexar County.

Near UT Healths new hospital, University Health is building a 12-story tower, which will serve as a new womens and childrens hospital and is expected to open in early 2023.

These two new hospitals arent the only expansion of medical services in a widely underserved area.

Baptist Health System is adding maternity services to its Mission Trail Baptist Hospital on Brooks City Base, which will allow mothers-to-be to have their children closer to home on the Southeast Side starting in August. Its part of a $10 million renovation project throughout the systems campuses in San Antonio.

A new $375 million, 300-bed hospital will replace the old San Antonio State Hospital, which provides psychiatric and rehabilitative services. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission contracted with UT Health to work with other providers in the region on the hospital, which is expected to open in 2024.

The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department is expected to complete a $19.4 million outpatient health care center at Texas 151 and Rogers this year.

Methodist Healthcare System, which operates nine local hospitals under a 50-50 ownership between nonprofit Methodist Healthcare Ministries and major hospital operator HCA, is investing $86 million into its Live Oak hospital. The system has plans to build a hospital in Westover Hills, as well as reopen a hospital, formerly known as Forest Park Medical Center, near Methodists headquarters at Loop 1604 and Interstate 10.

Hromas, who is also dean of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, said that once UT Healths new hospital opens, students will be able to get hands-on training there and at University Hospital using the same electronic health records system.

The online platform, called Epic, handles everything from billing to ordering lab tests to keeping patient records.

UT Health San Antonio will gain new residency training slots each year. UT System documents show the university hopes to add 130 residency slots within five years of opening the new hospital.

We find that about half of our trainees stay in the region permanently, Hromas said. South Texas is underserved in health care generally, so we hope these additional training opportunities address that deficit.

On ExpressNews.com: Editorial: UT Healths new teaching hospital will boost region

Design plans for the eight-story free-standing hospital include 12 operating rooms, an intensive care unit, infusion center, emergency department, pharmacy, laboratories and imaging center, as well as private patient rooms.

There will also be a skybridge connecting the 448,819-square-foot hospital to the Mays Cancer Center, one of four National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers and home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson.

There will also be a seven-floor parking garage and a surface lot.

Inside the front lobby will be a two-story limestone wall, a nod to the Hill Country. Architectural firm EYP also helped the university select colors and materials reminiscent of a Southwest landscape.

Henrich said administrators hope the buildings design will reflect a warm and welcoming ambiance for patients and their families, but also make it easier for visitors to find their way around.

A week before the hospitals ground-breaking, the university mourned the death of longtime benefactor and namesake for the universitys medical school, Teresa Terry Lozano Long of Austin.

Henrich said his heart is full with both these events happening in close proximity because Longs vision for the university was to serve the public good by providing excellent medical care for a needy population.

Over the years, she gave millions of dollars to the university and forged lifelong friendships with the students who she saw had the ability  but not the financial opportunity  to study medicine.

This hospital is an expression of that love. Its an expression of our earnest desire to do whats right for San Antonio and do whats right for our medical community and the way that we can help, Henrich said.

laura.garcia@express-news.net
Proving her fashion prowess once again, Queen Leitiza of Spain looked chic in a white peplum jacket teamed with stylish black trousers for a visit to Zaragoza today.

The royal mother-of-two, 48, was the epitome of sophistication as she joined her husband King Felipe VI, 53, to celebrate the renowned Spanish artist Francisco Goya, who was born near the city in the town of Fuendetodos in 1746.

Wearing face masks, the couple met with members of the Goya Foundation in Aragon and the Goya Fuendetodos Cultural Consortium to mark the 275th anniversary of the birth of Goya.

Letizia paired her white jacket, which she first wore in July 2008, with a pair of cropped black trousers and trendy kitten heels with a bow on them.

Queen Letizia of Spain (pictured) looked stylish in a white peplum jacket with cropped bell sleeves on a visit in Zaragoza today

The royal mother-of-two, 48, was the epitome of sophistication as she joined her husband King Felipe VI (pictured centre), 53, to celebrate the renowned Spanish artist Francisco Goya, who was born near the city in the town of Fuendetodos in 1746

She wore a black and white striped t-shirt underneath the jacket and kept her accessories to a minimum, wearing her usual rings and a pair of gold hoop earrings.

Letizia kept her hair in a mid-height ponytail, and sported simple makeup with a small amount of brown eyeshadow and natural coverage foundation.

She kept herself safe during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic with a white face covering, while her husband also donned a face mask.

Meanwhile, King Felipe looked adoringly at his wife as she waved at crowds during the visit. He wore a pin-stripe suit with a classic white shirt, multi-coloured tie and smart black shoes.

Letizia first wore the jacket in July 2008 and paired the outfit with smart, cropped black trousers and trendy heels with a bow on them

The royal couple carried small bunches of flowers wrapped in pink tissue paper as they attended the event in the Spanish city. Crowds in face masks lined up along the city's streets to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.

Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter and printmaker during the Romantic movement and is known for his paints and drawings.

He is often referred to as both the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns, as he was very successful during his lifetime and is now considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Goya suffered a severe and undiagnosed illness in 1793 which left him deaf and his work became darker and more pessimistic.

They have been keeping busy so far this year with royal engagements, and visited Andorra last week for their first state visit to the principality since King Felipe VI became King in 2014.

Residents of the city lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the Spanish royal, who was wearing a white face covering to protect herself amid the ongoing pandemic

Letizia wore her hair in a simple ponytail, wrapping a strand of hair around the knot to hide the hair band

Last Friday, Queen Letizia looked stylish in a houndstooth jacket during the second day of their visit to the principality.

She opted for a business casual look with a Carolina Herrera jacket she first wore in February to visit the Spanish School Maria Moliner.

On Thursday 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.

The following day the royal couple met with pupils and staff of a local Spanish school during a socially distanced visit where they both wore masks.

The natural beauty opted for simple make-up, with light coverage foundation and subtle eyeshadow with lashings of mascara

Meanwhile, King Felipe, who wore a pin-stripe suit with a multi-coloured tie, looked adoringly at his wife as she waved at crowds during the visit

The two day trip marked 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.

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.

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.
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Under the agreement, Valeo will be responsible for medical and commercial activities for Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler for an initial eight years

"We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Novartis to launch these two asthma drugs in the coming weeks," said Steve Saviuk, CEO of Valeo

Shares in Valeo Pharma Inc (CSE:VPH) ( ) (FRA:VP2) headed north on Monday as it struck a deal with Novartis Pharmaceuticals to commercialize two Health Canada approved asthma therapies.

Under the agreement, Valeo will be responsible for medical and commercial activities for Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler for an initial eight years, positioning it as one of the leading Canadian respiratory companies.

Currently, nearly 4 million Canadians are living with asthma and there is an urgent need to add treatment options, noted Valeo.

"We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Novartis to launch these two asthma drugs in the coming weeks," said Steve Saviuk, CEO of Valeo.

"Commercializing Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler will immediately position Valeo as one of the leading Canadian respiratory companies providing first in-class and best in-class asthma therapies. The Canadian asthma maintenance market exceeds $700M annually.

"This partnership is perfectly aligned with Valeo's vision and mission of building a Canadian anchor pharmaceutical company by driving therapeutic innovation to patients in need.

"We look forward to building a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Novartis that will help both companies fulfill their respective missions."

Frederic Fasano, Valeo's recently-appointed president and COO, noted that both therapies were "benefitting from an extensive phase III clinical trial program including more than 7,500 asthma patients".

"The efficacy of both treatments on symptoms, lung function and rate of exacerbations have been demonstrated and this will provide Canadian patients with a significant improvement over current standards of care," he said.

Shares of Valeo added over 15% to C$1.25 on the day.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
ALBANY  Intel Corp. and IBM will collaborate on next-generation semiconductor research in a new initiative to be based in Albany, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday. The collaboration would bring hundreds of jobs to the area, Schumer said.

Schumer made the announcement after a call with the CEOs of IBM and Intel. The work would take place at IBM's Albany Research Facility located on the campus of SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

This major new collaboration between Intel and IBMs Albany Research Center is a job-creating match made in Upstate heaven and highlights IBMs deep history and investments in the semiconductor industry, as well as the world-renowned talent of the nearly 1,000 strong semiconductor workforce at IBM and the broader set of industry and research partners in the Capital Region, Schumer said. "The Capital Region is the perfect place to conduct semiconductor R&D and expand the countrys leadership in competitiveness in next generation chip research and manufacturing."

Schumer said the collaboration also could position IBM to land a federally funded National Semiconductor Technology Center, which would create additional jobs locally.

"The semiconductor technology ecosystem we have assembled in Albany is uniquely positioned to deliver rapid new breakthroughs that will catalyze the economic and societal benefits of AI, quantum computing and other technologies while transforming industries," said Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM. "We look forward to bidding for the NSTC, which would drive innovation at an even faster pace and double the 1,000-plus strong semiconductor innovation workforce in and around Albany.

Officials at NY-CREATES, the state run non-profit that oversees real estate research programs at SUNY Poly and affiliated sites across upstate, have been working with IBM and other corporate and academic partners on a bid for the NSTC.

The NSTC would involve billions of dollars in potential new funding for Albany Nanotech, which operates the cleanroom facilities used by IBM and other research partners at the SUNY Poly campus.

Schumer led the effort to boost funding to support domestic semiconductor manufacturing in the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

As much as $37 billion will be available to support construction of new fabrication factories, or fabs.

GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield earlier this month told Reuters that GlobalFoundries would seriously consider building a second chip factory in Malta if Congress approves the program, which was originally spelled out  but not financed  in the Defense Department budget bill passed by Congress just before President Donald Trump left office in January.

Schumer proposed the program under a bill called the CHIPS Act. That measure was eventually rolled into the Defense Department spending bill, although Congress still must approve the spending. The funds could subsidize new fabs by companies such as GlobalFoundries, as well as launch the federal chip research lab.

Schumer is seeking emergency funding to implement the NDAA semiconductor programs, as part of his Endless Frontier Act to support U.S. research and technology efforts.

Intel revealed its new research partnership with IBM last Tuesday as part of a larger announcement that the company will be spending $20 billion to build two new computer chip factories in Arizona and that it will be entering the so-called foundry industry making chips for other companies, putting it in direct competition with GlobalFoundries, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Intel said the work with IBM would take place both in Albany and in Hillsboro, Ore. where Intel does its research and development. Its unclear how many Intel workers would come to Albany or how much Intel and IBM would spend.

Both IBM, which also announced the new research partnership last week, and Intel say they will focus both on chip technology and packaging technology, which is the process of taking a silicon "die" cut from a completed wafer and packaging it with connections and an outer shell to be used in electronics. Almost all packaging of chips is done overseas, although the National Semiconductor Technology Center envisioned for Albany would have a major focus on bringing packaging facilities back to the United States.

"This collaboration aims to accelerate semiconductor manufacturing innovation across the ecosystem, enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor industry and support key U.S. government initiatives," Intel said about the IBM collaboration.

GlobalFoundries employs 3,000 people at its Fab 8 factory in the town of Malta. A second fab built there would likely be called Fab 8.2.
In a high-profile case that dragged on for years as he avoided arrest by both U.S. and Mexican authorities, the former governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas has pled guilty to one count of money laundering.

MORE CRIME: Texas man pleads guilty to $24.8 million PPP loan scheme involving luxury cars

Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba entered a guilty plea in court Thursday, eight years after he was hit with a 53-page indictment, as reported by Jason Buch of the San Antonio Express-News.

The U.S. government accused Yarrington of taking bribes from the Zetas drug cartel while he was in office, actively taking part in their drug trafficking operations and laundering bribe money in the United States.

In the end, Yarrington admitted to using Texas real estate transactions, including investing in property in San Antonio, to launder millions in bribes he received from individuals and companies who wanted to do business with Tamaulipas. But he did not admit to taking bribes from drug traffickers.

Among the property prosecutors alleged Yarrington purchased in the San Antonio area was a 46-acre tract on La Cantera Parkway.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was deterred from flying to the United Arab Emirates through Saudi Arabian airspace last week because of the threat of missile fire from Iranian proxies in Yemen

Netanyahu, whose comments came Saturday, had called off a visit to the Emirates last week over a spat with neighboring Jordan which had temporarily closed its airspace to the Israeli prime minister's flight.

But rather than bypass Jordanian airspace and take a more southerly route across Saudi skies, Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 13 there were also problems a week ago in the skies of Saudi Arabia, referring to recent missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Netanyahu did not elaborate, nor did he say his plane was targeted by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Yemens Houthi rebels, who control the capital and much of the countrys north, have escalated their cross-border attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure in recent weeks, crashing bomb-laden drones and missiles into the kingdoms Patriot missile batteries and revealing gaps in the countrys defenses.

Last week, missiles and drones hit one of the worlds largest oil shipping ports and halted air traffic toward the international airport in the port city of Jiddah. While Houthi-claimed attacks on Saudi Arabia rarely cause substantial damage, such strikes have roiled the world economy and raise the risk of a disruption in global oil supplies.

Netanyahu was slated to make the first official visit by an Israeli leader to the United Arab Emirates, half a year after the countries established formal relations. He had hoped to use the audience with the UAEs crown prince to boost his reelection campaign less than two weeks before Israel's March 23 parliamentary elections.

The Prime Ministers Office said it had difficulties coordinating the flight over Jordanian airspace after Jordans crown prince canceled a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a sensitive holy site under Jordanian custodianship, due to disagreements over security arrangements.

The prime minister insisted that relations between the two countries were positive, adding that Jordan needs good relations with us no less than we need good relations with Jordan.

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(Natural News) Official data released by the British government shows that Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injections are killing unborn babies at an astounding rate.

The latest Medicines and Healthcare produce Regulatory Agencys (MHRA) Yellow Card Scheme report, dated Dec. 9, 2020, through March 7, 2021, reveals a whopping 366 percent increase in the rate of miscarriage thanks to Chinese virus jabs.

This is the seventh such report to be released by the MHRA and it clearly shows that Wuhan flu shots are extremely deadly, especially for pregnant women who, for whatever reason, decide to get jabbed.

It is important to note that there is no scientific data to suggest that Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injections are safe or effective for pregnant women, and yet doctors and health authorities are still administering the shots to expectant mothers, resulting in many of them losing their unborn children.

The British government already warned pregnant women that they might not want to take the jab due to no or limited data showing its safety or efficacy in pregnant women.

Animal reproductive toxicity studies have not been completed, the government admitted, adding that Wuhan flu shots are not recommended during pregnancy. Even so, the injections are still being administered to pregnant women in the United Kingdom.

For women of childbearing age, pregnancy should be excluded before vaccination, the government added, clearly deterring pregnant women against getting the injection.

In addition, women of childbearing age should be advised to avoid pregnancy for at least 2 months after their second dose.

To keep up with the latest news about injuries and deaths caused by Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injections, be sure to check out ChemicalViolence.com.

Chinese virus injections could taint breast milk, cause infertility

The U.K. government also warned women who have already given birth but are still breastfeeding to avoid the jab because it is currently unknown whether or not the experimental gene therapy chemicals are excreted into their milk.

A risk to the newborns / infants cannot be excluded, the warning states. COVID-19 mRNA (messenger RNA) Vaccine BNT162b2 should not be used during breast-feeding.

Similarly, the government warned against women taking the jab if they hope to get pregnant any time soon. This is due to the fact that it is unknown whether Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injections turn a person sterile.

Still, untold numbers of pregnant women in the U.K. chose to get injected anyway, and now they no longer have their babies. This amounts to genocide of the unborn.

We are still unable to answer why these women were given one of the Covid vaccines against the governments own advice, reported the Daily Expose, a British news outlet.

But what is truly shocking is how much this number has increased in the six weeks that have unfolded since.

A closer look at the data in the MHRAs seventh report actually shows that there has been a 475 percent increase since Jan. 24 in the number of pregnant women who lost their babies after receiving the Chinese virus injection from Pfizer and BioNTech, which permanently alters human genes.

Since the same date, there has been a 150 percent increase in miscarriages due to pregnant women receiving AstraZenecas Wuhan flu shot, which is also linked to deadly blood clots.

As it turns out, the U.K. government later updated its recommendations for pregnant women to suggest that some of them may still want to get injected despite a total lack of associated science.

Pregnant women should only consider Chinese virus injections when the potential benefits outweigh any potential risks for the mother and the foetus, British authorities now claim, leaving it up to pregnant women who are not scientists or doctors to make this critical determination.

Sources for this article include:

DailyExpose.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
Representative of Ukraine in the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Andriy Kostin says that behind the intention of Russia to open a representative office of the Fair Russia - For Truth political party in the temporarily occupied certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (ORDLO) is an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of Ukraine.

"This is interference in Ukraine's internal affairs and an encroachment on Ukrainian sovereignty. There can be no other assessment here. This is absolutely illegal and violates all norms of international law," Kostin told Interfax-Ukraine.

"Moreover, Russia does not recognize the pseudo-republics. This resembles a policy of double standards. Not recognizing the subjectivity of ORDLO, Russia wants to allow itself to introduce the political activities of Russian parties abroad," the representative of Ukraine in the TCG political subgroup said.

According to Kostin, intending to open the representative office of its party, Russia "is trying to force Ukraine to be compliant on Donbas issues."
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the worlds largest aluminium smelter ex-China, has won the International Safety Award from the British Safety Council in recognition of its commitment to manage the risk of workplace injury and ill health during the 2020 calendar year.

Commenting on this occasion, Albas Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali said: There is no limit when it comes to the safety and well-being of our employees and contractors workers.

Our priority on Safety First & Always has helped us build a strong Safety culture all-year-round as well as empowered us to successfully navigate through the challenging times of Covid-19.

We are pleased to be recognised again by the British Safety Council which is vote of confidence that we are what we repeatedly do  Safety Excellence is not an act but a lifelong habit.

British Safety Council recognises organisations that have demonstrated to the satisfaction of the schemes independent judges their commitment to preventing workplace injuries and work-related ill health as well as mental health during the previous calendar year, Alba said in a statement.TradeArabia News Service
Juba  The head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, welcomed the signing of the Declaration of Principles (DOP) between the Sudanese transitional government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North rebel movement under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu). He described it as an important step towards comprehensive peace in Sudan.

In South Kordofan, people from Delling also welcomed the signing of the declaration. "As Sudan moves forward, all movements must adopt this Declaration of Principles", one of them said. Another said: "Sudan is a country with multiple religions and cultures. This deal is the only solution." SPLM-N controls territory in South Kordofan and Blue Nile state.

A leader of the Freedom and Change (FFC) in Delling, Ali El Amin Hasan, said that "this is a starting point for negotiations". He stressed that the two most important articles in the Declaration of Principles are "the decentralisation of federal governance and the acknowledgement that certain customs and beliefs do not have negative consequences for basic rights".

President of the Sovereignty Council Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan called the signing of the DOP with the SPLM-N "a new beginning of the transitional period".

SPLM-N leader El Hilu praised Abdelfattah El Burhan's signing of the DOP. He stated that "this would lead to an important breakthrough in the negotiation process which could lead to lasting peace and unity in Sudan". He added that the signing of the DOP will pave the way for broader negotiations which will ensure "change, human rights and the continuation of reform that will help the country move from totalitarianism towards democracy".

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El Hilu pointed out that Sudan faces many problems, such as the drafting of a democratic constitution, ensuring an independent judiciary, and establishment of the rule of law. He also spoke about the recent deterioration of the economy, the current security challenges and the challenge to manage diversity. He stressed that he hoped that the negotiators would regard "the national interest as their number one priority".

The South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who mediated the negotiations that lead to the signing of the DOP, stated that he will continue to work hard to involve the Darfur rebel movement SLM-AW lead by Abdelwahid El Nur into peace negotiations. In his speech during the signing ceremony, Salva Kiir Mayardit said that "bleeding in Darfur also means bleeding throughout Sudan and in South Sudan".

The National Umma Party and SPLM-N Agar deputy chairman Yasir Arman reacted positively to the deal as well.
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Her Katy Keene series was canceled after just one season last year.

But Pretty Little Liars alum Lucy Hale recently celebrated the news she's been cast in a leading role in the upcoming limited series Ragdoll for AMC.

And on Sunday, the actress, 31, was spotted enjoying a refreshing beverage after a workout session in LA.

Vibes: Lucy Hale was spotted kicking back after a workout session in LA on Sunday, looking trim in a cream hoodie and red animal print leggings from Balance Athletica

Hale was dressed in a cream hoodie and red animal print leggings from Balance Athletica and a pair of white trainers.

She wore her hair tied back from her face and had a designer purse slung across her body on a long gold chain.

She had a pair of sunglasses tucked into the top of her hoodie and pulled down her face mask to sip on her coffee to go.

Refreshment: The actress, 31, wore her hair tied back from her face and a designer purse slung across her body on a gold chain. She pulled down her face mask to sip on her coffee to go

New role: The Pretty Little Liars alum recently celebrated news she's been cast in the limited series Ragdoll for AMC, after reacting tearfully when her show Katy Keene was canceled last year after one season

Earlier this month, it was reported that Hale will play a young detective constable investigating a series of murders in which the victims have been dismembered and sewn together into one grotesque 'ragdoll'.

The mystery thriller, set to unfold over six episodes, is based on the novel Ragdoll by Daniel Cole.

The TV series is scheduled to start filming in the UK in the not too distant future and is expected to premiere later this year.
Asia will soon be hit by a steel tsunami," a veteran trader in Vietnam told Fastmarkets recently, with a combination of factors expected to keep prices high into the second and third quarters of 2021.

Looming China export rebate cut

The looming export rebate cut in China, possibly from 13% to 9%, is likely keep prices higher in the coming months, he said.



We are already seeing this effect now, with India being the sole supplier of HRC to Vietnam, he said.



Vietnamese buyers have no choice but to book HRC cargoes from major Indian steelmakers in the absence of supplies from China, because Chinese steelmakers have been hesitant about export cargoes ahead of the policy change, which has been heavily rumored to start on April 1 for all steel products.



Major Indian steelmakers have been keen to capitalize on this and have been steadily raising their offer prices on strong demand from regional buyers.



The gap between Asia and Europe has to narrow, especially with European buyers willing to pay a premium for imported HRC, a seller source in India told Fastmarkets on Friday March 26.



Buyers in north Europe have been purchasing HRC at 770-800 ($908-943) per tonne cfr, while buyers in Vietnam are purchasing at $805 per tonne cfr - a gap of around $103-138 per tonne.



There have also not been any wire rod or offers from China due to the possibility of a rebate cut, while Chinese mills are aiming for more than $700 per tonne for rebar exports to Singapore.



Soaring freight rates

Chinese sellers have been rushing to book vessels to carry their cargoes ahead of the impending policy change, causing freight rates to soar.



Freight rates have increased so much that it is very hard to conclude any deals on a cfr basis, a seller source handling South Korean HRC told Fastmarkets.



He said freight costs were about $60-80 per tonne to ship HRC from South Korea to Southeast Asia.



This would make landed prices at around $860-880 per tonne cfr Southeast Asia if South Korean steel mills were to offer any HRC, he said.



And the blockage of the Suez Canal has caused havoc, sparking rumors of fresh freight-rate hikes around the world.



I expect freight rates to remain high in the second and third quarters of 2021. Shipping companies have already started to raise freight rates because global container trade flows have already been affected, a ferrous scrap trader in East Asia said.



Tangshan production restrictions

The year-long production restrictions on errant steelmakers are expected to keep steel prices in China high for the rest of 2021.



A source at Tangshan Iron & Steel told Fastmarkets that HRC output in the city overall has fallen by around 30% in the past few weeks after the government ordered local producers to cut production.



On March 19, the local government in Tangshan ordered seven steelmakers - including Tangshan Medium Thick Plate Co and Hebei Xinda Iron & Steel Group Co - to halve their production from March 20 until the end of June, and reduce output by 30% from July 1 until December 31.



Sixteen other mills have also been instructed to cut production by 30% from March 20 until December 31.



A Shanghai-based trader said HRC output has fallen by that much, based on a survey by his company, which has bolstered HRC prices.



On Monday March 29, HRC prices gained 140-150 yuan per tonne after market participants sensed that supplies would be further limited.



Fastmarkets' assessment for steel billet domestic, exw Tangshan, Northern China was 4,780 yuan per tonne on March 29, up by 510 yuan per tonne from 4,270 yuan per tonne on March 1.



Rerolling mills are seeing good margins and have steady demand for billet while supplies are tight.



However, an industry analyst said: Tangshan billet supplies may increase soon because of the high profit [margin] of around 1,000 yuan per tonne.



Iron ore shortage

Operational issues and heavy rains in Brazil are affecting iron ore shipments, supporting higher prices for 65%Fe fines.



A trading source in Singapore said that seasonal rains in Brazil had affected the volumes of iron ore reaching the ports, resulting in fewer high-grade Iron Ore Carajas fines (IOCJ) shipments.



Prices for high-grade iron ore could also continue to remain high due to the profitable margins that steel mills are currently seeing from strong steel prices.



We have recently seen a clear uptrend in the spread between 65% Fe and 62% Fe swaps contracts on the Singapore Exchange. The emissions restrictions in Tangshan pushed up demand for high-grade fines such as the IOCJ and iron ore concentrate despite the decrease in overall iron ore prices, he said.



A recovery in demand in Europe, Japan and South Korea has also limited the supplies of high-grade iron ore bound for China.



A second Singaporean trader said that demand for iron ore pellet and lump will be supported because of the extended emissions restrictions imposed on steelmakers in Tangshan.



This is because the consumption for direct-charge raw materials, such as iron ore pellet and lump will increase.



Coking coal shortage

Overall supplies of domestic and imported premium hard coking coal have become increasingly constrained in China, supporting prices in the country.



Coking coal exports from Mongolia to China have also fallen sharply since mid-March amid the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Mongolia, sources told Fastmarkets.



A local information provider in China said the number of daily coking coal trucks arriving in China from Mongolia had fallen from an monthly daily average of 331 trucks to just 30 trucks per day by March 25.



Mongolia was the second biggest supplier of coking coal to China in 2020 after Australia, supplying 24.21 million tonnes



The shortage has been exacerbated by coal mines in north Chinas Shanxi province facing safety inspections in March. The government said on March 16 that it will carry out regular spot-check safety inspections on 21 coal mines throughout 2021.



Fastmarkets' price assessment for hard coking coal domestic China spot market, Shanxi-origin, delivered Tangshan was 1,315-1,690 yuan per tonne on March 29, up from 1,300-1,665 yuan the previous week.



Some local coke plants have adjusted their procurement activities for domestic and imported coking coal to control overall cost.



We will compare all kinds of coking coal from Shanxi and Mongolia and try not to focus on one single product to achieve an efficient product portfolio, a coke plant in Tangshan said.



Meanwhile, supplies of seaborne hard coking coal from North America have been limited in the cfr China market because most volumes have been allocated to term contract with buyers around the world. However, interest in coking coal from North American has been weak due to poor demand from steel mills in south China.
Hyderabad: Lakes in the GHMC limits are dying a slow death. In the absence of effective functioning of the Lake Protection Committee (LPC), the inevitable is bound to happen.

A member of the first LPC said: The purpose of having a committee was to ensure that all the stakeholders meet and resolve issues pertaining to lakes, which are basically about encroachments. The stakeholders included senior civil service officers, but they seldom attended a meeting and instead sent their subordinates or juniors to simply write down the minutes of the meeting.

It was in 2010 that the Andhra Pradesh High Court established the lake protection committee. Its job was to ensure that reports were periodically submitted to the government for action. Yet, till June 2018, not a single report was submitted. Apart from this, while it had resolved to meet every month, it met only 16 times since its formation.

Significantly, the view expressed by the former LPC member was echoed by the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor Generals report presented in the assembly recently. The report said, The erstwhile state of unified Andhra Pradesh evolved a state water policy in February 2009 for effective participation of users by way of mandatory development and management of water resources with involvement of primary stakeholders.

Any evidence about its adoption by Telangana state subsequent to its formation in June 2014 was, however, not furnished by the government. While lake protection suffered due to lack of coordination between multiple agencies, there was no effort by the LPC or the state government to include an important stakeholder in the activity  i.e., the citizen.

As for urban lakes, such stakeholders would-be fishermen and residents of areas around the lake. Evidence of user groups being involved in the conservation of lakes by HMDA/GHMC was not found.
THE achievements of more than 2,000 graduates and students at Mary Immaculate College have been marked at a Ceremony of Recongnition which took place virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic

The annual three-day conferring ceremonies, which usually take place in October, had to be cancelled and in its place, students were conferred in absentia allowing them receive their parchments for employment and career progression purposes.

Students from across 31 counties throughout Ireland, as well international students from Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, India, China and the United States, graduated from almost 40 different undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Over 150 graduates and current students of Mary Immaculate College also received awards and scholarships in recognition of their academic and sporting achievements. A further 19 graduates were conferred with doctoral awards.

Speaking at the virtual, Professor Eugene Wall, President of MIC, said: "While the social restrictions around Covid-19 may have prohibited us from celebrating in a proper and time-honoured way, it will not thwart our efforts to recognise your remarkable achievements, accomplishing what you have against the backdrop of a global pandemic. You met a litany of challenges during your course of study here at MIC, more so than any other preceding graduating class, but you successfully and bravely overcame them, displaying a determination and strength of character that will serve you well throughout your life.

Addressing the students and graduates, he added: "This pandemic has demonstrated that things can be done differently, that we are resilient, that we can and will adjust to new ways of life, in particular new ways of communicating, learning and teaching. The knowledge and skills you have acquired both during your time as a student here with us, but also during this pandemic, will stand the test of time and enable you to continue learning throughout your lifetime."

It is with great pride that, on behalf of the entire MIC community, I congratulate you, the Class of 2020, on reaching this tremendous milestone under such adverse conditions. We are so very proud of you all.

Of the over 2,000 students who graduated, 19 hailed from Brazil and are the first cohort to graduate from MICs Graduate Diploma in Mentoring and Leadership in Schools (International) programme.

In another first for the College, almost 100 students from Mexico graduated following completion of the San Patricios Teacher Education programme, which was delivered by the College in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Irish Embassy in Mexico, and the Mexican Ministry of Education. The programme was designed to empower student teachers with the requisite knowledge, understanding, skills and dispositions to enable children in Mexico to confidently meet the demands of the 21st century.

Also included in those who were acknowledged at the ceremony were 72 students from MIC Thurles as being the first cohort to enter MIC Thurles in 2016 following the incorporation of St Patricks College by MIC earlier the same year.

Included in those who received awards and scholarships was Bachelor of Arts graduate Keith O Riain (pictured below) who received the Award for Outstanding Achievement, as well as two academic awards from the Faculty of Arts for achieving the highest results in Gaeilge and History.

Keith, a native of Crecora, was the Global Winner in the History category of the 2020 Global Undergraduate Awards, and was one of 25 students worldwide to receive this prestigious award, which recognises the undergraduate research of some of the worlds brightest students.

Eight College Medals were presented to graduates who achieved rst place in their programme of study, including Sarah Reynolds from Kilfinane, a graduate of the BA in Contemporary and Applied Theatre Studies programme.

Other awards included the Saint Bonaventure Trust Prize, which was awarded to Colin Moran (pictured below) from Gouldavoher, Limerick city who achieved rst place in Theology and Religious Studies. Bachelor of Arts graduate Colin also received an award from the Faculty of Arts for achieving the highest results in Theology and Religious Studies.

In addition, a number of awards were presented to MIC graduates for academic excellence including Bachelor of Arts graduate Darren While from Broadford who was awarded for excellence in mathematics and Bachelor of Education graduate Niamh Mulcahy from Fedamore who was awarded for excellence in social, personal and health education.

Monika Culhane from Askeaton, a graduate of the LINC programme, received the award for Best Regional LINC Portfolio Awards in the Tipperary region.

Current students at the College were also presented with awards in recognition of their academic and sporting achievements, including over 50 first-year students who were presented with Entrance Scholarships, valued at 2,000 each, on the basis of results obtained in the 2020 Leaving Certificate.

Third-year Bachelor of Education student Cathal Flannery from Lisnagry received the John Hayden Memorial Award in recognition of his signicant contribution to society through his volunteering with the Irish Red Cross, particularly during Irelands first national lockdown.

Six current students were awarded the Saint Bonaventure Trust Prize, including Michael O'Doherty from Edward Street, Limerick and Mary Campbell from Cappamore.

Postgraduate research student Asmae Ourkiya from Rosbrien in the city received the MIC Doctoral Studentship, while Edmond Gubbins from Bruff and Miranda Mateus De Souza from Ballinacurra Road, Limerick were each awarded scholarships under the Irish Research Councils Government of Ireland programme.

Finally, first year student Sophie Hennessy from Carrigkerry received the Rachel Kenneally Memorial Award, a bursary funded by Munster LGFA in honour of MIC graduate, Rachel Kenneally, who sadly passed away in 2018 at the age of 26.

Congratulating all the award recipients, Professor Wall said, Individually and collectively, all of the students whom we honour here today embody our Colleges mission - ultimately to make the world a better place through our ideas, our innovations and our engagement.

Click here to watch the ceremony of recognition.
Of course, it would be better if those dollars went towards preventing heart disease. This is where Alexanders book is especially valuable. People should be responsible and eat better, we might think, but over time, grocery stores offering fresh, nutritious foods have closed, leaving dollar stores, with their sugary drinks and snack foods as the alternative. Working multiple jobs to make up for low wages means grabbing fast food on the run. No paid time off means ignoring that cough or that chest pain; if you dont work, the fragile economics of life falls apart.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The repercussions of the pandemic continue to dog the global auto industry, with manufacturers shuttering production on certain models due to the supply of semiconductor chips not being able to meet demand.

While analysts forecasted that during the pandemic demand across the board would be down, the complete opposite happened with greater purchases of consumer electronic products such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones, and greater-than-expected demand for cars.

The one thing all of these products have in common is the need for semiconductor chips. The shortage is expected to continue into the middle of this year.

According to sources last week, South Korea's Hyundai Motor will become one of the latest manufacturers to be hit by the shortage, with production expected to be hit in April.

Production of several popular models, including the Palisade, the Tucson and the Genesis GV will be unaffected, but the company has stopped using overtime and weekend hours to produce unpopular models, a spokesman for the company said.

Earlier last week, Japanese automaker Honda said it will extend production shutdowns at most of its plants in the United States and Canada by a week until March 29 because of various supply chain problems.

In recent months, some automakers have been prioritizing the assembly of higher-margin models such as pickups by cutting back on production of sedans and crossovers.

GM and Stellantis have so far managed to maintain production on their truck brands, but Ford has had to cut production shifts on its F-150 pickups.

Swedish manufacturer Volvo, which is owned by China's Geely, announced last week that it is being forced to halt its truck production due to the global shortage of semiconductors.

Consulting firm AlixPartners estimates the chip shortage to cost the auto industry $60.6 billion in revenue this year.

Production in China has not been unaffected either, with industry leaders voicing their opinions and potential solutions to the issue at the recently held two sessions in Beijing.

Zeng Qinghong, chairman of GAC Group and National People's Congress deputy, said that at present, domestic investment in China's chip industry is relatively conservative, and the lack of relevant standards and verification system also limits development.

The chairman suggested that the government further strengthen its support for the automotive electronics industry and more social capital should be invested in chips and key automotive electronic parts.

Despite being the largest vehicle market in the world, and with a robust domestic auto industry, China relies heavily on semiconductor chip supply from countries such as the US, Japan and South Korea.

The independent research and development rate of computing control chips in China is less than 1 percent, communication chips less than 3 percent, and China's market share of sensor chips and memory chips is less than 5 percent, according to An Qingheng, a veteran of China's auto industry and the former chairman of BAIC Group.

The silver lining to the current problems could be the greater development and strengthening of China's domestic chip industry, providing the country with a more secure supply chain.

And industry players have not been sitting on their hands.

Horizon Robotics, a Beijing-based artificial intelligence chipmaker, has made impressive strides in the development and application of autonomous driving intelligent chips. The company is working with an array of mainstream automakers, including Changan Auto, SAIC Motor and Great Wall Motors.

In addition, automakers like Dongfeng Motor and Leap Motor have also sped up their pace of entering the semiconductor industry.

Dongfeng Motor's semiconductor subsidiary, with an annual capacity of 300,000 sets of power chip modules, will go into mass production in April this year.

Chinese telecommunications companies, including Huawei and ZTE, have also developed their own chips and systems.

"While we are far from changing the situation where chips are mainly imported, the entire automobile industry has made progress in high-computing chip platforms, vehicle-to-road collaboration, autonomous driving AI algorithms, and collaboration between chip companies and carmakers, which is very encouraging," An said.
On March 28, 1,585 people in Ukraine received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to data published on the Vaccination against COVID-19 portal of the Ministry of Health.

In total, 198,465 people in Ukraine have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine since the start of the vaccination campaign. In particular, people vaccinated with first dose  198,464, fully vaccinated people (received 2 doses) - 1.

On March 28, 51 mobile vaccination teams and 72 stationary vaccination points operated across the country to conduct vaccination.

On March 28, the highest vaccination rate was recorded in Kharkiv region  230 injections. Since the start of the vaccination campaign in Ukraine, the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate has been registered in Dnipropetrovsk region  13,929.

As reported by Ukrinform, Ukraine launched the coronavirus vaccination campaign on February 24, 2021.

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Seven years on, Xi's vision of civilization inspires hope in world of uncertainties

Xinhua) 08:26, March 29, 2021

-- "We need to encourage different civilizations to respect each other and live together in harmony while promoting their exchanges and mutual learning as a bridge of friendship among peoples, a driving force behind human society, and a strong bond for world peace," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in 2014 at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris.

-- "Throughout the centuries, people have yearned for lasting peace, but war has haunted mankind every step of their progress. As we speak, many children on this planet are subjected to the horror of armed conflicts," Xi noted in the speech.

-- "We need a mind that is broader than the sky as we approach different civilizations ... we should seek wisdom and nourishment from various civilizations to provide support and consolation for people's mind, and work together to tackle the challenges facing mankind," Xi said seven years ago.

-- "Civilizations have become richer and more colorful with exchanges and mutual learning. Such exchanges and mutual learning form an important drive for human progress and global peace and development," noted Xi in 2014, proposing to the world China's understanding of harmony, which is deeply rooted in the spirit of the Chinese people.

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- "We need to encourage different civilizations to respect each other and live together in harmony while promoting their exchanges and mutual learning as a bridge of friendship among peoples, a driving force behind human society, and a strong bond for world peace," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in 2014 at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris.

Seven years have passed, but Xi's vision of civilization featuring diversity, equality and inclusiveness in his UNESCO keynote speech is still reverberating in a world that is grappling with the raging COVID-19 pandemic, as well as global political and socio-economic challenges.

SEEDS OF PEACE

"Throughout the centuries, people have yearned for lasting peace, but war has haunted mankind every step of their progress. As we speak, many children on this planet are subjected to the horror of armed conflicts," Xi noted in the speech.

Indeed, for quite some time, people in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and other countries in turmoil have been suffering from unimaginable violence and indignities. Stigmatization, xenophobia, racism and discrimination as well as hate speech have also been running wild in many parts of the world.

Dima al-Kaed, a Syrian citizen, told Xinhua she has lost both her parents during the war. "I once dreamed of changing the world, but the war has changed my dream," she said, holding a photo of herself taken when she graduated from the University of Damascus years ago.

Faiz Ahmed, an Afghan citizen living in the city of Kabul who is about to reach his 50s, said he has spent almost his whole life in an environment of war and violence. "I have not seen a single day of peace in my homeland. I hope that my country could achieve lasting peace and stability as soon as possible, and I pray to experience such a day."

"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed," Xi stressed on the importance of the idea of peace in his speech, quoting the preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO as saying.

To keep war as far away as possible from mankind, Xi has provided the answer -- to "step up inter-civilization activities in education, science, technology and culture across border, time and space to spread the seeds of the idea of peace far and wide so that they will sprout, take root and grow in the hearts and minds of the world's people, and provide the planet we share with more and more forests of peace."

These are not empty talks. In fact, guided by Xi's wisdom on peace, which has been revealed time and again through his remarks on various occasions, China has been making great contributions to regional and global stability, development and prosperity.

China is now the largest contributor of personnel to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Moreover, the country has played a constructive role in addressing global issues such as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the conflicts in the Middle East.

Anita Kiki Gebe, deputy joint special representative of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), awards UN peace medal to a soldier of the 2nd China Medium Utility Helicopter Unit (CMUHU02) in El-Fashir, Sudan, July 17, 2019. (Xinhua)

China always "works to resolve conflicts with peaceful methods and giving priority to the logic of humanity and the logic of the international law over the logic of force and hegemony," said Muhammad Zahra, a Syrian expert on China affairs.

The idea of peace espoused by Xi "does resonate very well with the fundamental principles of harmonious coexistence between people," said Cavince Adhere, an international relations researcher in Kenya. "We have seen this to be the basis of Chinese engagement both at home and abroad."

BROADER MIND

"We need a mind that is broader than the sky as we approach different civilizations ... we should seek wisdom and nourishment from various civilizations to provide support and consolation for people's mind, and work together to tackle the challenges facing mankind," Xi said seven years ago.

His remarks still bear profound significance now, as the world has yet to walk out of the severe global public health crisis -- diversity will support and enrich the global efforts against COVID-19.

While COVID-19 vaccines must be a global public good, accessible and affordable for all, as emphasized by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in February, some Western countries have stockpiled large quantities of vaccines against the virus, creating stark inequity between the rich and the poor.

According to a report by The New York Times on Monday, residents of wealthy and middle-income countries have received about 90 percent of the nearly 400 million vaccines delivered so far.

Against such a backdrop, China, as a responsible major country with a broader mind to help humanity prevail against the common enemy, has not only delivered medical supplies and sent expert teams to places in need at the early stage of the fight, but also made an all-out effort to promote the fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

So far, China has provided vaccine assistance to 80 countries in need, and is exporting vaccines to 47 countries. It has also decided to provide 10 million vaccine doses to the multilateral vaccine alliance COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries, and to donate vaccines to UN peacekeepers.

As the second batch of the Sinovac vaccines donated by China arrived in the Philippines on Wednesday, Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque said "the arrival of these vaccines could not have occurred at a more opportune time considering the continued rise in cases."

The second batch of the Sinovac vaccines donated by China arrive in Manila, the Philippines, on March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

"China the lion has awakened, but it is a peaceful, amicable and civilized lion," Xi said in 2014 at a gathering marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-France diplomatic relations, stressing that the Chinese dream is about pursuing peace, questing for happiness, and contributing to the common good of the world.

"As the (Chinese) vaccines were released and aided, this becomes the biggest proof of China's sincerity of intentions and its willingness to lend a helping hand and reaching out to everyone who needs it," Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Shaaban, secretary-general of the Egyptian Socialist Party, told Xinhua.

What China is doing is "beyond nationalism," said Farhat Asif, president of the Islamabad-based Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies. "It's not for the one nation, and it's (for) a community of the shared future. When you're saving somebody, when you're saving a life, it's also saving humanity."

HARMONY WITHOUT UNIFORMITY

"Civilizations have become richer and more colorful with exchanges and mutual learning. Such exchanges and mutual learning form an important drive for human progress and global peace and development," noted Xi in 2014, proposing to the world China's understanding of harmony, which is deeply rooted in the spirit of the Chinese people.

In today's uncertain world, where protectionism, unilateralism and the so-called "clash of civilizations" are on the rise, and where some Western countries are forming cliques, turning back the wheel of history, inciting division along ideological lines, or instigating confrontation between different groups, Xi's remarks have become even more thought-provoking.

"To meet our common challenges and create a better future for all, we look to culture and civilization to play their role, which is as important as the role played by economy, science and technology," Xi said in 2019 at the opening ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations.

Through a series of global events, and within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS that groups emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the Belt and Road Initiative, and other organizations, Xi has continuously stressed the wisdom of "harmony without uniformity," which the Chinese have come to appreciate. Over the past seven years, during his trips to other countries, the Chinese president has offered to the world the Chinese idea of upholding inclusiveness.

Chinese engineers discuss solutions at the construction site of a joint Argentina-China hydropower megaproject in southern Argentina, April 22, 2020. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has seen resilient cooperation with the Belt and Road (B&R) countries in 2020. (China Gezhouba Group Corporation/Handout via Xinhua)

China has initiated an important dialogue among civilizations, sharing with other countries the ideas that the only way of peaceful coexistence is through understanding, through communication to resolve all differences, said Asif, adding this is "the essence of China's peaceful scene at the global level."

"On international exchanges as an avenue of cementing peace and development across the world, China has also played a very key role," said Adhere.

For example, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation has become a key platform to promote multi-civilizational exchanges between China and African countries, he said, adding it is only through these exchanges that people can have mutual understanding.

"This decision by China to promote civilizational exchanges is a key component. It speaks to the aspiration of the UN, the multilateral settings, and it's something that eventually leaves every human being better," he said.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji)
Sevastopol court gives local woman 12 years in prison for treason

 flickr.com/ Vyacheslav Argenberg

14:41 29/03/2021

MOSCOW, March 29 (RAPSI)  The Sevastopol City Court on Monday sentenced a local woman to 12 years in penal colony for transfer of secret information to Ukrainian intelligency bodies, RAPSI has learnt from the courts press service.

She was found guilty of treason.

According to the case papers, the woman born 1955 cooperated with the Ukrainian Defense Ministrys Intelligence Agency. She collected information on an aviation regiment of the Black Sea Navy Fleet considered a state secret. The transfer of such information could be used against Russias security.
IRVINE, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced the appointment of Yasutake Tsuchida to Senior Director of Design, effective immediately. In this role Tsuchida will oversee design operations, including next-generation vehicle planning and brand strategy development.

Yasutake Tsuchida Appointed as Senior Director of Design

Tsuchida joins the MNAO team with more than 22 years of experience at Mazda's headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan. He most recently served as the Chief Designer of the latest generation of Mazda3, which launched in November 2018 and went on to win the 2020 World Car Design of the Year award. Tsuchida was also the Chief Designer of the Kai Concept, and in the late 2000's Tsuchida worked in the Design Studio at MNAO, where he led design on the Furai concept car. Tsuchida began his career at Mazda specializing on exterior design and in the late 1990's and in the early 2000's was lead designer for Mazda3, CX-7 and the Ryuga concept car.

Tsuchida's approach to design focuses on timeless beauty, and in his designs he aspires to evoke strong human emotion to give them energy and enthusiasm. His favorite Mazda is the RX-7 and is an avid surfer.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through approximately 620 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom.

Follow MNAO's social media channels through Twitter and Instagram at @MazdaUSA and Facebook at Facebook.com/MazdaUSA.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at www.mazdausamedia.com. (PRNewsFoto/Mazda North American Operations) (PRNewsfoto/MAZDA NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yasutake-tsuchida-appointed-as-senior-director-of-design-301256491.html

SOURCE Mazda North American Operations
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Climate labels informing us of a meat product's carbon footprint cause many people to opt for climate-friendlier alternatives. This applies to people who are curious about a product's carbon footprint, as well as to those who actively avoid wanting to know more. The finding is published in a new study from, among others, the University of Copenhagen. As such, climate labeling food products can be a good way of reducing our climate footprint. But according to the researcher behind the study, labels must be obligatory for them to be effective.

Certain situations exist where we humans strategically avoid greater knowledge and more informationa phenomenon known as "active information avoidance". It could be that we don't want to know how many calories are in the bag of chips that we've just opened. Or, that we avoid going to the doctor because we fear a certain diagnosis.

But it can also have to do with us not wanting to know about how what we shop for at the supermarket impacts the climate. This is the finding from a new study conducted by the University of Copenhagen and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, who investigated the efficacy of climate impact information as a way to influence consumer choice.

"Our experiments demonstrate that one out of three people doesn't want to know the climate impact of the food they eat. But at the same time, we can see that there is a psychological effect when people are informed on its climate impact, in so far as more people end up buying a less CO 2 heavy product," says Associate Professor Jonas Nordstrom of the University of Copenhagen's Department of Food and Resource Economics.

Information could have a cost

In the experiment, 803 participants were asked to choose between six alternatives consisting of variations of ground meat and a plant-based mixture, each without a climate label. The participants were then asked whether or not they wanted to know the climate information for the products. Thirty-three percent of the participants said no. All of them were then asked to make new choices, where the products now had a label with their CO 2 information.

For those who said yes to the information, there was a 32 percent reduction in the climate footprint through their new product choices, while the "information avoiders" collectively reduced their footprint by 12 percent after being exposed to the climate labeling.

Hence, the researchers believe that a portion of the information avoiders actively chose to opt out of more information as a way of remaining unknowledgeablefor example to avoid any inner conflict between what they want to do and what they ought to do.

"Our assumption is that being aware of a product's climate impact has a psychological cost for the consumer. If someone who enjoys red meat is informed of its climate impact, it may prompt them to feel a bit of shame or have a guilty conscience. By actively opting out of this information, it becomes less uncomfortable to make a choice that would be seen as a climate sin," explains Associate Professor Nordstrom, who adds:

"However, if information about the climate impact is forced upon the consumer, some will opt to buy chicken instead of beef, and in so doing, mitigate some of the negative feelings associated with making a decision that has a greater climate consequence. In our experiment, this resulted in a 12 percent lower carbon footprint."

Climate labeling ought to be obligatory

While some Danish supermarkets have begun to inform consumers about the climate effects of their purchasing decisions, there are few products with labeled CO 2 footprint information. The researchers believe that the study's results can be used as an argument for implementing obligatory climate information on foodstuffs.

"Climate-labeling clearly effects consumersboth those people who are keen to be aware of the climate impact, as well as those who actively seek to ignore this sort of knowledge. The study demonstrates that the latter group can only be affected if they are provided with the information. For climate labeling to be effective, it needs to be obligatory as certain producers of climate threatening products won't voluntarily provide their products with this type of information," says Jonas Nordstrom.

He adds that the effect could be even greater if there is a simultaneous drive towards informing the public that everyone's contribution is important when it comes to achieving climate goals.

Explore further Consumers care about carbon footprint

More information: Anna Kristina Edenbrandt et al, Interested, indifferent or active information avoiders of carbon labels: Cognitive dissonance and ascription of responsibility as motivating factors, Food Policy (2021). Anna Kristina Edenbrandt et al, Interested, indifferent or active information avoiders of carbon labels: Cognitive dissonance and ascription of responsibility as motivating factors,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102036
recorded 403 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 3,06,742, while the death toll rose to 1,690 with two more fatalities, the state government said on Monday.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 146, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri and Rangareddy districts with 40 and 34 cases respectively, it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on March 28.

The bulletin said 313 patients recovered from the infection on March 28.

The cumulative recovered cases stood at 3,00,469, while 4,583 were under treatment.

The bulletin said 33,930 samples were tested on March 28.

Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 1,00,53,026.

The samples tested per million population was 2,70,097, it said.

The recovery rate in the state was 97.95 per cent, while it was 94.3 per cent in the country, it said.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.55 per cent, while it was 1.3 per cent at the national level, it 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.)
Claire and Stanley Keyles planned a dream vacation for June 2020.

They would fly to Italy and take an 8-day Viking River Cruise called Italian Sojourn, which would travel around Italys boot from Civitavecchia to Venice. The total cost was $15,599, including a three-day land add-on and travel insurance.

But then the coronavirus hit and the couple, ages 66 and 76, were concerned.

We both have autoimmune conditions. As we watched the COVID pandemic expand and followed the news about the cruise ship outbreaks, we knew we would not be going on our upcoming trip, Claire Keyles said.

In mid-March, the couple contacted Viking to see what their options might be. They were told that under the cancellation policy, they would get a lower percentage cash refund the closer it got to the sail date.

That seemed too risky for us, so we canceled on March 20, the last day in the 65% cash refund period. If we had waited even one more day, we would have only been entitled to 50% cash and 50% travel vouchers, Keyles said. Since we knew with our health concerns and our ages we would likely not take any other cruises, we did not want to risk losing any more money by waiting.

With penalties and costs that would not be reimbursed, including the cost of travel insurance, the couple had lost nearly $6,500 in cash. They were given $8,953.75 in cash and $3,322.95 in travel vouchers, but they didnt think they would ever use them.

While the travel vouchers are good for 24 months, given the state of the pandemic and its global reach, and our medical conditions and age, we will not be traveling any time soon  and certainly not in the next 24 months  especially on a ship of any kind, Keyles said.

Ten days later, on March 30, Viking announced the cruise was canceled and 100% cash refunds would be given to customers  but only for those who hadnt canceled previously.

That didnt seem fair, Keyles said. Had they waited 10 more days, they would have received the full refund. And while the travel vouchers are good for 24 months, given the state of the pandemic, the couples medical conditions and age, they didnt think they would be traveling any time soon.

And certainly not in the next 24 months  especially on a ship of any kind, Keyles said.

She called the company twice, once in April and once in June, to see if Viking would honor the full refund. No, the representatives said.

Keyles reached out to Bamboozled for help.

THE LONG ROAD

We reached out to the company to ask it to reconsider, especially because some of its customers did indeed receive full refunds.

In late June, Keyles got a call from a Viking representative who said he would be reviewing the case.

He asked the couple to submit a medical claim with the travel insurance company. Keyles said she expected it would not be approved because they were not sick at the time of the planned travel.

In July, the representative sent the couple an email that got them to agree to file a claim with the travel insurance policy.

If you do not get cash compensation (from the travel insurance), Viking agrees to revisit your case and work out a settlement involving some amount of cash compensation rather than travel vouchers, he wrote. Cash compensation would not necessarily cover the full amount owed and the travel insurance premium is not eligible for reimbursement in any event.

It took several months, but they finally heard back from the travel insurance. Their claim was denied and the couple let Viking know.

A different Viking representative called them back.

Her position at the outset was that we are not entitled to anything in place of the future travel vouchers since what they gave us was in compliance with their stated cancellation terms, Keyles said, and she asked for an exception based on their specific circumstances.

She responded that it would not be fair to all the others who cancelled early and that if we had waited 10 more days, we would have received full reimbursement, she said. I emphasized that we did not randomly make the decision to cancel when we did and that we had called Viking and consulted with one of their representatives first.

Keyles reminded the representative of the promise she had in writing from the other agent said about working with them on a cash settlement instead of the vouchers.

Ultimately she said that she would honor his statement, even if he wasnt authorized to make any offer to us, and would offer us a $500 cash settlement as a gesture of goodwill, Keyles said.

But Keyles wasnt ready to accept such an offer.

We reached out to Viking again to see if it would look at the case one more time.

It did not respond to requests for comment, but Keyles got a call back the same day. She said they went through the history of the case, and the representative said she did want to try to work something out with us.

The representative went through options, she said, including larger vouchers, extended time periods to use them and considering U.S. based trips instead of international travel.

It is not the geographical location of the trip as much as being in any enclosed space with a large group of people  and the U.S. has not been a model of controlling the virus anyway, Keyles said. She talked about Vikings new safety protocols and while they sound good, I emphasized that group travel is not in our future.

The representative promised to get back to Keyles. The next day, they got a phone call.

We think we were able to reach a reasonable settlement and are glad to put this behind us, Keyles said, noting that Viking asked them to sign a non-disclosure form that prevented them from giving the details of settlement.

Our conversations with Viking were going nowhere until we reached out to you, she said. Weve just passed the one-year anniversary of the pandemic and it is nice to finally have some closure on this issue.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
A woman has died in a house fire in Brisbanes south on Monday night.

Emergency services were called to Rowe Terrace at Darra about 11.30pm when they found the house engulfed in fire and a womans body inside.

Police said a member of the public was treated for smoke inhalation after trying to help at the scene before emergency services arrived.

A crime scene has been declared and investigators are determining the cause of the fire.

Police have urged anyone with information to contact police.
Hazleton, PA (18201)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.


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NEW HAVEN  A wounded 30-year-old Elm City man arrived at Yale New Haven Hospital Friday afternoon, leading investigators to the West Rock neighborhood, according to police.

Officers responded to a report of a gunshot victim at the Saint Raphael Campus of Yale New Haven Hospital around 4:15 p.m. Friday, Capt. Anthony Duff said in an email.
BAODING, China/BEIJING (Reuters) - will roll out its first hydrogen fuel-cell sport utility vehicles and launch a fleet of 100 hydrogen heavy trucks this year as it plans to become a major fuel-cell vehicle maker globally.

Zhang Tianyu, chairman of FTXT Energy Technology Co Ltd, a Great Wall unit for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle technologies, made the remarks at an event at Great Wall's headquarters in Baoding city. He did not give details of the model. Great Wall, which sold 1.11 million vehicles last year, is China's top pickup truck maker.

After the event, Great Wall's chairman Wei Jianjun told reporters that Great Wall's plan, which was decided around five years ago, is encouraged by shrinking cost of solar power.

Great Wall will invest three billion yuan in hydrogen-related technologies in the next three years, Wei said. He also said FTXT will seek external fundraising.

Great Wall has planned eight new models under WEY marque, which it aims to compete with Toyota and Volkswagen, Wei said.

It plans five for the newly-launched Tank brand, Wei said, without offering a timeframe for the products.

Great Wall, which is also selling eletric vehicles (EV) and building an EV factory with BMW, will have manufacturing capacity of at least 200 gigawatt-hours in 2023, Wei said.

China, the world's largest auto market, rolled out supportive policies for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles last year, which require local governments and to build a more mature supply chain and business model for the industry.

Great Wall rivals including Toyota Motor Corp, Hyundai Motor Co and Geely are developing their own hydrogen fuel-cell models.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Tony Munroe; Editing by Giles Elgood)

(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 incidence of Covid-19 in Laois has surged above the national average on the eve of possible easing of some Level 5 restrictions by the Governement.

Latest National Public Health Emergeny Team (NPHET) figures show that there were 16 new cases confirmed in the county on Sunday, March 28.

It means the daily average is now 15 each day over five days. The latest new cases indicate that the virus is spreading more widely and rapidly in the county because of an incidence increase.

The incidence of the disease in Laois is now 180.6 per 100,000 populartion on the back of 153 cases in the past two weeks. It passed the national average of 163.7 per 100k over the weekend.

The figures also mean Laois has dropped in the the ten counties with the worst incidence of the diseas in Ireland. The decline in Laois has been rapid in March. COUNTY BY COUNTY TABLE AT END OF STORY.

Nationally, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of one additional death related to COVID-19.

There has been a total of 4,667 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

NPHET said that as of midnight, Sunday, March 28 the HPSC has been notified of 539 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 235,078* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified to NPHET on Monday, March 29:

288 are men / 249 are women

73% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 32 years old

NPHET also highlighted: 262 in Dublin, 32 in Kildare, 30 in Westmeath, 26 in Galway, 21 in Meath, 21 in Offaly and the remaining 147 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

The 7-day incidence per 100 k in Ireland is 84.2 while the five day moving average is 591 new cases a day.

As of 8am Monday, 331 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 70 are in ICU. 19 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of March 26th 2021, 786,569 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

567,023 people have received their first dose

219,546 people have received their second dose



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.
In a shocking incident, a 100-year-old Hindu temple in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi was attacked. The temple that was undergoing renovation was stormed in by around 10-15 people at around 7:30 in the evening on Saturday, who damaged the main door and the staircase, as shown in the video.

This is not the first time that a Hindu shrine has been attacked. In December 2020, an angry mob demolished a Hindu Temple in the Karak district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. As per reports, A Muslim cleric, who enjoyed the support of a militant group, allegedly instigated a group and provoked them to demolish the Temple.

After the incident, Pakistan received a lot of backlash for its treatment of the minorities, after which, the government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province initiated an investigation that led to FIRs being filed against more than 350 people and also promised the Hindus and even directed the authorities concerned to make all arrangements for the reconstruction of the temple.

Today's happening is, however, a sad reminder that not much has changed in Pakistan and the attitude of the Pakistans towards its minorities.

Attacking Temples has become a trend: National Spokesperson - VHP

National Spokesperson of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vinod Bansal, in conversation with Republic World, condemned the attack. Questioning the attitude of Pakistan, he said that the neighbouring country talks about peace and then, attack the Hindus, and especially, attacking the temples has become a sort of trend in the country.

Recalling the demolition of the temple in the Karak district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, he asserted that the reconstruction had been initiated by the government after the Court's orders, but even the reconstructed temple was damaged thereafter.

Having said that, he said," Such incidents have rightly maligned the image of Pakistan in the International world."

Pakistan is a country of terrorists: Abhijeet Jasrotia

BJP leader Abhijeet Jasrotia also came forward to express his dismay over the attack. "Pakistan is a country of terrorists, a country that follows Vahabism and the ruins of such country is destined," he said while outlining that a fate similar to that of Afghanistan awaits the country.
THREE suspected fraudsters have been arrested on allegations of duping several people of over US$36 000 in and around Bindura between February 10 and February 14.

The three are Collen Chairuka (36), Tatenda Brenda Pangidzwa (34) and Malvern Chiyangwa.

In a statement, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the first complainant lost US$4 100 after receiving a text message of $538 000 payment to Innscor Africa.

"Second complainant lost US$10 000 after a fake message of $1 230 000 for alleged NetOne airtime," he said. "He realised this after NetOne Mt Darwin dismissed the alleged payment. Third complainant lost US$12 000 for alleged payment to Zimra for vehicle importation duty clearance."

The public has been urged to verify transactions before parting with their hard earned cash and desist from illegal foreign currency dealings. Meanwhile, in a case of theft and making a false report to the police which occurred at Eldorado Mine in Chinhoyi on March 18, 12 artisanal miners connived with security guards at the mine to conduct illegal mining activities.
John Power who this day last year blew out his birthday cake candles while his grandparents Conor and Ruth McCarthy were cocooning. Photo: Mark Condren

What a difference a year makes. A couple who made headlines in the initial stages of the pandemic are celebrating receiving their Covid-19 vaccine.

Conor McCarthy and his wife Ruth were two of the faces that became associated with some of the now iconic lockdown imagery in Ireland, as they were photographed socially distancing from their grandson John during his birthday.

That was March 25, 2020. On that same day one year later, both of them got a dose of the Pfizer vaccine  which has led Mr McCarthy to reflect on just how much has changed.

We got huge coverage from that photograph last year, he said.

We were staying together by staying apart while celebrating his [Johns] birthday.

Expand Close Conor and Ruth McCarthy holding their Covid-19 vaccination cards. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook

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Whatsapp Conor and Ruth McCarthy holding their Covid-19 vaccination cards. Photo: Mark Condren

While Mr McCarthy is originally from Cork, hes been living in Dublin for more than 40 years now, and was previously the principal of St Malachys school in Finglas.

One of my ex pupils spotted me on the television. They [the TV] just gave a flash the time they were doing the booklet of the pandemic  the Sunday World were doing it.

He put it up on the Finglas website: how many people remember this man? There was a hundred or whatever messages came in. And thank God, 100pc positive.

While that photograph provided him with positivity at the time, there are now even more things to look forward to in the future  especially with the further roll-out of the vaccine.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, he said.

John did send me a text and say: Granddad, the best gift Im getting is you getting the vaccine.

While for now Level 5 lockdown restrictions are still in place, when society does begin to open back up again, it will be safer for Mr McCarthy and his wife to visit their large family.

Weve had a grandchild in September that weve never held, he said.

There was another one born in May. Weve had limited time with that child  we havent seen them since Christmas. So we are very relieved that weve gotten our first vaccine.
WASHINGTON - (March 29, 2021) - The Wells Fargo Foundation has awarded the George Washington University a $75,000 grant to launch the Entrepreneurial Development Network DC (EDNDC). EDNDC will help Washington, D.C., entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups test the viability of an idea or product, create successful business models and develop go-to market strategies.

The funding is part of the Wells Fargo Foundation's strategy that combines business expertise with resources to create more economic opportunity for people and a greater community impact. Wells Fargo is committed to making a positive societal impact and this support will enable EDNDC to provide the training necessary to assist rising entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups.

As an extension of GW's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, EDNDC is designed for Washington's aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs across all industries, and works closely to develop their ideas through free training and counseling services with instructors and local mentors. The GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship hopes the program will be an essential step for inventors and entrepreneurs looking to bring new technologies and innovations to market or those pivoting when old models no longer work.

"EDNDC is a wonderful pre-accelerator opportunity for D.C.-based entrepreneurs to receive the support they need to strengthen their businesses post COVID-19," Qyana M. Stewart, EDNDC program director, said. "This joint venture between GW and Howard University means the D.C. entrepreneurial community will have access to unique resources as part of a larger mentorship network. It also means that we can extend these resources to businesses that represent diverse industries from tech, to health and beauty, and everything in between. We have already seen impressive success as the first round of participants advance through the program. I look forward to witnessing the impact as the program grows."

Shanice Black, a native of Jamaica and founder of the tech-forward digital beauty brand Belsou, is in the current cohort of the EDNDC program and describes her experience as a game changer.

"The idea of Belsou came when I received a high-cost bill for an advanced eczema prescription cream that was not covered by my insurance," Black said. "At the time, my eczema was so out of control, I was desperate for a solution and didn't have the time to research more affordable alternatives so I paid for it. While going through this process, I wondered how many other people were like me struggling to understand their skin - and trying to find what works and what doesn't work, floundering for a solution while their self-esteem and confidence are on the line and being limited by knowledge or cost."

The name Belsou originated from the Creole term bel, which means "beautiful," and sou, an ancient African-Caribbean practice Black grew up admiring. A sou-sou is an informal savings club where mostly women ban together to form a collective savings fund to support their families and gain financial stability. Today, the tech-forward beauty brand aims to inspire smarter skincare purchases by connecting consumers to quality products, professionals and services that are suitable for their skin type; making the process more simple, affordable and beautiful.

A GW MBA graduate, Black spent the duration of her MBA program identifying foundational skills of entrepreneurship and uncovering the challenges women face as it relates to skincare, but yearned to build a strong network. Following the completion of her program, Black was introduced to EDNDC and has built a community filled with industry experts and mentors who have all walked this path before.

"Being part of EDNDC has me constantly excited about the future of Belsou and its potential impact," Black said. "Because of this program, I am constantly reimagining the process and a potential future where women can consume and make educated skincare choices in a way that is affordable, simple and fun."

Over EDNDC's introductory pilot program, 75 entrepreneurial teams and small business owners from diverse backgrounds, including emerging neighborhoods and under resourced communities, will receive business counseling and strategic assistance from industry experts. Teams will receive an introduction to the Lean Startup methodology of business model development, including the customer discovery process, which helps businesses scale and adapt their business models based on interviews with potential customers.

"Without the generous support of Wells Fargo Foundation, there would be no EDNDC," Bob Smith, director of I-Corps programs at GW, said. "Together with our partners at Howard University, Pepco and the Washington, D.C., Economic Partnership, GW is excited and proud to help the next wave of D.C. entrepreneurs take the right first step in their innovation journey. We also look forward to contributing to building a strong, integrated, equitable and inclusive D.C. entrepreneurial ecosystem."

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed many inequities, the new program could help inventors, entrepreneurs and established business owners pivot to provide innovative solutions aimed at COVID-19.

"The pandemic has highlighted the deep inequalities that still exist in society. There are dramatic disparities across education, health and economic opportunity. This program is part of the multi-faceted effort needed to address these issues and will help support underrepresented founders," Grant Warner, director of innovation at Howard University, said. "The partnership between GW, Howard University, Wells Fargo, PEPCO and the Washington, D.C., Economic Partnership will help activate and catalyze entrepreneurs throughout the district and position the region for inclusive economic growth post-pandemic."

The EDNDC program will provide the necessary expertise and training that entrepreneurs need to take the next step and succeed.

"The Wells Fargo Foundation is proud to support the Entrepreneurial Development Network, a partnership between George Washington University and Howard University," Anna Bard, Wells Fargo senior vice president & community relations manager, said. "D.C. entrepreneurs like Shanice Black, and many others, will benefit from curriculum pertaining to their business stage, expert university faculty and supportive mentors who have personally experienced the joys and challenges of owning a business. This is a critical addition to D.C.'s small business ecosystem, and I can't wait to watch participating businesses thrive."

###

To learn more about the EDNDC program, please visit: https:/ / innovation. gwu. edu/ edndc .

-GW-
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Paul Laubin, a revered oboe maker who was one of the few remaining woodwind artisans to build their instruments by hand  he made so few a year that customers might have had to wait a decade to play one  died on March 1 at his workshop in Peekskill, N.Y. He was 88.

His wife, Meredith Laubin, said that Mr. Laubin collapsed at his workshop during the day and that the police found his body that night. He lived in Mahopac, N.Y.

In the world of oboes, his partisans believe, there are Mr. Laubins oboes and then there is everything else.

He was in his early 20s when he began making oboes with his father, Alfred, who founded A. Laubin Inc. and built his first oboe in 1931. Paul took over the business when his father died in 1976. His son, Alex, began working alongside him in 2003.
Ten countries, including Germany and France, will no longer extradite their nationals to the UK after Brexit ended the country's participation in the European Arrest Warrants scheme.

The decision was announced by the government on Friday in correspondence with the House of Lords EU Committee.

A letter from the Home Office told the committee that Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden will be 'invoking constitutional rules as a reason not to extradite their own nationals to the UK.'

Additionally, Austria and the Czech Republic will only extradite their nationals to the UK with their consent.

The move does not apply to foreign nationals living or staying in the ten countries, Austria or the Czech Republic.

According to Home Office guidance, the UK will 'as a matter of policy, extradite its own nationals, providing no bars to extradition apply'.

Such bars include human rights concerns, for example extraditing a UK national to a country where they might receive the death penalty for an alleged crime.

Ten countries, including Germany and France, will no longer extradite their nationals to the UK after Brexit ended the country's participation in the European Arrest Warrants scheme. The decision was announced by the government on Friday in correspondence with the House of Lords EU Committee [Stock photo]

Following Brexit, the UK is no longer part of the European Arrest Warrants scheme which streamlines the extradition process between EU member states.

Under the scheme, countries are required to send a criminal suspect to the member state that issued the warrant for trial or to enforce the completion of a jail sentence.

Introduced in 2004, it has been used for cases involving high-profile terrorists, drug smugglers and murderers.

Now, the UK may have to attempt prosecutions in other countries or liaise with Interpol in the hope that a suspect leaves their home nation and can be caught elsewhere.

The UK drew up a new extradition process as part of its post-Brexit security agreement, however it does not have the same power as the European Arrest Warrant scheme, which can bypass strict constitutional restrictions on transferring nationals.

EU countries can also opt not to surrender suspected criminals to the UK if the alleged offence does not exist in their country or if it is a 'political' crime.

Richard Martin, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead on Brexit planning previously said that a new national extradition unit had been formed in December.

He told the Home Affairs Committee that there were two options for police if countries refused to extradite suspects.

'One is we work with the Crown Prosecution Service and decide whether it is in the public interest to try and prosecute these individuals in their home countries.

'The second is we circulate them anyway on Interpol because as soon as they enter another country they're fair game, so we can arrest them in that country and bring them back.'

The new extradition arrangements are 'untested' and their 'operational effectiveness' should be scrutinised a report published by the Lords EU Committee on Friday said.

A letter from the Home Office told the committee that Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden will be 'invoking constitutional rules as a reason not to extradite their own nationals to the UK.' Additionally, Austria and the Czech Republic will only extradite their nationals to the UK with their consent. The move does not apply to foreign nationals living or staying in the ten countries, Austria or the Czech Republic [Stock photo]

According to a summary of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK's extradition agreements are now 'akin to the EU's Surrender Agreement with Norway and Iceland, but with appropriate further safeguards for individuals beyond those in the European Arrest Warrant.'

Norway and Iceland's agreement largely mirrors the European Arrest Warrant and includes limited grounds for refusal to surrender own nationals and strict time limits on execution of warrants.

The UK-EU agreement includes these limited grounds of refusal and time limits as well as 'additional provisions which make clear that a person's surrender can be refused if their fundamental rights are at risk, extradition would be disproportionate, or they are likely to face long periods of pre-trial detention.

'Where extradition of own nationals from certain EU Member States is not possible due to their constitutional principles, we have ensured there is nevertheless a path to justice in every case, for example, by obliging EU Member States to refer cases to their own prosecution authorities,' the agreement reads.
Juba, South Sudan (PANA) - The Sudanese government and a rebel group have signed a document guaranteeing freedom of worship and that the country is racially, ethnically, religiously and culturally diverse
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The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Monday confirmed the death of four persons in an accident on Iwo road in Ibadan, with one other person injured.

Uche Chukwurah, the FRSC sector commander in Oyo State, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the accident occurred when a lorry rammed into a motorcycle conveying five persons.

The accident involved a lorry and a motorcycle, the lorry was speeding but lost control and rammed into the motorcycle that was carrying five persons  four males and one female.

The driver of the lorry is now at large. The four males died, while the only female sustained injury, the sector commander said.

Mrs Chukwurah said the corpses had been deposited at the Adeoyo Hospital morgue, while the injured was taken to Fatimoh Hospital, Idito, for treatment.

NAN gathered that among the dead were students of Idito High School, prompting some students of the school to go on a rampage burning no fewer than three vehicles.

However, Olugbenga Fadeyi, spokesperson of the police command in the state, said that adequate personnel had been moved to the area to restore law and order. (NAN)
More than two months after being sworn in as vice president, Kamala Harris is still unable to move into her official residence due to ongoing renovations.

An administration source told CNN that its unclear why work is taking so long at the traditional home of vice presidents, on the grounds of the Naval Observatory.

Vice President Harris is reportedly getting frustrated according to another source, with the network saying that she is ostensibly, living out of suitcases.

For now, the vice president and her husband, second gentleman and Georgetown law professor Doug Emhoff, continue to live at Blair House, an official guest residence across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

Their future home, One Observatory Circle, is a 9,000-plus square foot home built in 1893. It is two and a half miles from the White House and has seen a multitude of projects to correct issues in recent years.

Read more:

Given the age and size of the building, repairs and upkeep are constant, in addition to the security requirements needed to house the nations second-in-command.

There is also an ongoing contract worth $3.8million for plumbing, heating, air-conditioning contractors according to government records.

However none of the contracts appear to indicate why the vice president cannot move in, according to a review by CNN, though an administration source said that the work included renovating the chimneys.

Elizabeth Haenle, who managed the residence for former vice president Dick Cheney, told the network that it is not unusual for there to be a gap between occupants to allow time for upgrades that are more easily done with the building empty.

Perhaps the biggest luxury of the vice presidents official home is that it sits in 13 private acres within the 72 acres of the Naval Observatory, affording a calm, private retreat  with a pool  a short drive from downtown Washington.

Blair House meanwhile, though luxurious, is a more formal setting in the heart of town, filled with museum-quality antiques and somewhat lacking the comforts of home.

Ms Harris has been seen visiting her future home at Naval Observatory. Approximately three weeks ago she stopped by to look around for an hour.
Minnesota lawmakers are facing growing pressure to update the state's criminal sexual conduct laws to make it easier for victims of extortion and alcohol-related assaults to get justice.

A proposal with bipartisan support at the Capitol aims to tackle gaps in state laws that make it harder to prosecute cases where the victim is too intoxicated to consent or they are coerced or blackmailed into unwanted sexual contact.

The legislation got renewed attention last week after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that, according to current law, someone is only "mentally incapacitated" if the person is involuntarily drugged or intoxicated. The bill would include voluntary intoxication in the definition of mentally incapacitated and make it a felony to engage in a sexual encounter with someone who is incapable of understanding or consenting.

"I was just shocked, being in 2021, and having voluntary intoxication be a reason for someone not being a felon is just absolutely insane to me," said Kenna Groschen, who organized a rally at the Capitol on Monday. "If something like that happens to us we need to know that we'll have the courts on our side."

More than 100 people gathered on the Capitol lawn on Monday carrying signs that said "drinking is not consent" and "boys will be held accountable" to try and urge the Republican-controlled Senate to hold a hearing on the bill this session.

The Supreme Court ruling also granted a man convicted of criminal sexual conduct a new trial. In 2017, Francios Momolu Khalil picked up a woman who had been refused entry from a Dinkytown bar for being too intoxicated and brought her back to his north Minneapolis home. She passed out and woke up to Khalil raping her. A jury had found Khalil guilty of third-degree criminal sexual misconduct.

The proposal came out of a yearlong working group prompted by the Star Tribune's Denied Justice series, which showed the challenges in getting justice in cases where the victim was drinking.

Story continues

It would also add a new crime of sexual extortion, where someone is blackmailed or threatened into unwanted sexual contact. The proposal has passed out of two committees in the DFL-led House but has not yet been heard in the Senate, where Dave Senjem, a Republican from Rochester, is carrying the proposal. Senate Republicans did not respond to questions about the proposal's status.

Madisyn Priestley, a 19-year-old student at the University of Minnesota and a sexual assault survivor said it "doesn't feel like we have anyone to protect us."

"We need to keep pushing our Legislature to make them know that this is not OK. No means no. Being drunk is not consent," she said. "You have to keep pushing legislators because if you don't nothing will happen."

Briana Bierschbach  651-925-5042

Twitter: @bbierschbach
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Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012.
A new study finds that coffee pulp, a waste product of coffee production, can be used to speed up tropical forest recovery on post agricultural land. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence.

In the study, researchers from ETH-Zurich and the University of Hawai`i spread 30 dump truck loads of coffee pulp on a 35  40m area of degraded land in Costa Rica and marked out a similar sized area without coffee pulp as a control.

"The results were dramatic" said Dr Rebecca Cole, lead author of the study. "The area treated with a thick layer of coffee pulp turned into a small forest in only two years while the control plot remained dominated by non-native pasture grasses."

After only two years the coffee pulp treated area had 80% canopy cover compared to 20% in the control area. The canopy in the coffee pulp area was also four times taller than that of the control area.

The addition of the half metre thick layer of coffee pulp eliminated the invasive pasture grasses which dominated the land. These grasses are often a barrier to forest succession and their removal allowed native, pioneer tree species, that arrived as seeds through wind and animal dispersal, to recolonise the area quickly.

The researchers also found that after two years, nutrients including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous were significantly elevated in the coffee pulp treated area compared to the control. This is a promising finding given former tropical agricultural land is often highly degraded and poor soil quality can delay forest succession for decades.

Dr Cole said: "This case study suggests that agricultural by-products can be used to speed up forest recovery on degraded tropical lands. In situations where processing these by-products incurs a cost to agricultural industries, using them for restoration to meet global reforestation objectives can represent a 'win-win' scenario."

As a widely available waste product that's high in nutrients, coffee pulp can be a cost-effective forest restoration strategy. Such strategies will be important if we are to achieve ambitious global objectives to restore large areas of forest, such as those agreed in the 2015 Paris Accords.

The study was conducted in Coto Brus county in southern Costa Rica on a former coffee farm that is being restored to forest for conservation. In the 1950's the region underwent rapid deforestation and land conversion to coffee agriculture and pasture with forest cover reduced to 25% by 2014.

In 2018, the researchers set out two areas of roughly 35  40m, spreading coffee pulp into a half meter-thick layer on one area and leaving the other as a control.

The researchers analysed soil samples for nutrients immediately prior to the application of the coffee pulp and again two years later. They also recorded the species present, the size of woody stems, percentage of forest ground cover and used drones to record canopy cover.

Dr Cole warns that as a case study with two years of data, further research is needed to test the use of coffee pulp to aid forest restoration. "This study was done at only one large site so more testing is needed to see if this strategy works across a broader range of conditions. The measurements we share are only from the first two years. Longer-term monitoring would show how the coffee pulp affected soil and vegetation over time. Additional testing can also assess whether there are any undesirable effects from the coffee pulp application."

A limitation of using coffee pulp or other agricultural by-products is that its use is mostly limited to relatively flat and accessible areas where the material can be delivered and the risk of the added nutrients being washed into nearby watersheds can be managed.

On further research into the use of coffee pulp, Dr Cole said: "We would like to scale up the study by testing this method across a variety of degraded sites in the landscape. Also, this concept could be tested with other types of agricultural non-market products like orange husks.

"We hope our study is a jumping off point for other researchers and industries to take a look at how they might make their production more efficient by creating links to the global restoration movement."

- Ends -

###
LOS ANGELES  Peter Jacobsen, 64, has made only five trips to Trader Joes since the pandemic began. Each time he moved quickly to limit his potential exposure to the coronavirus.

I know what Im getting, he said. I dont shop around, just pick it up, bag it and get out of there.

But on a recent trip to the market in mid-March, he ran into an older friend who wanted to stop and chat.

She had recently received her second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and this was her first visit to Trader Joes in a year, she told Jacobsen  another sign of life finally getting back to normal.

As she talked, Jacobsen grew increasingly anxious. He was happy for his friend, but at the same time he wondered when he would experience a similar sense of relief. He also wanted to get back home. And fast.

I was still in that pandemic mode and shes relaxed, he said. Vaccine envy is real.

The pandemic has taught us a lot about ourselves  how we handle fear of the unknown, cope with isolation, and respond to the deep inequities that the coronavirus laid bare.

And as more people across the country joyfully announce they have received that long-awaited shot in the arm, many who are still eagerly awaiting their turn are also confronting their own feelings of envy.

I like to say that envy is a universal emotion that nobody seems to have, said Josh Gressel, author of the book Embracing Envy: Finding the Spiritual Treasure in our Most Shameful Emotion. Its the one emotion that everyone is ashamed to admit.

And yet some people are admitting it.

My vaccine envy is such that Im questioning if Im really a good person after all, David Wagoner of Virginia tweeted Thursday.

Bei Deng, a 24-year-old with no underlying health issues who lives in Koreatown, said shell probably mute friends who post photos flaunting their vaccinations on social media to keep her anxiety down until she too gets the shot.

And Kat Sambor, 36, an event planner in Echo Park, acknowledged that seeing friends and acquaintances getting vaccinated ahead of her was emotionally confusing.

Im super happy for every person who said they got it  I want everyone to get it, I want my loved ones to be safe, she said. I know every person who gets vaccinated gets us closer to the end of the pandemic, but at the same time theres that duality with jealousy.

Californians who are struggling with vaccine envy can take solace in the fact that its a temporary phenomenon. State officials said last week that residents 50 years and older will be eligible to get a vaccine starting April 1. Everyone 16 and up will be eligible starting April 15.

At last, Jacobsens long wait of not knowing when he will be eligible to get the shot is over. (At 64, he was just one year shy of qualifying earlier.) But it will still be weeks before full immunity kicks in and hell feel safe enough to corner a friend in a Trader Joes to gush about his own newfound freedom.

For better or worse, envy has always been part of the human condition. Every known language has a word for envy. It shows up in the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not covet. Studies have shown that even capuchin monkeys experience envy.

Envy is the desire for something that someone else has, and its an unpleasant emotion, said Christine Harris, a psychology professor at the University of San Diego who studies negative emotions.

Most experts agree that envy serves an evolutionary purpose  comparing ourselves to others and striving to obtain the things they have can help us expand and grow.

If we didnt feel envy, we would wither away on the evolutionary vine, said Richard Smith, an envy expert and retired professor of psychology who taught at the University of Kentucky.

Still, most of us feel ashamed of any envy we experience.

I think of it as a two-headed monster, Harris said. Theres one head that wants to devour what the other person has, and the other head wants to chew on yourself for having such loathsome feelings.

But Harris encourages those who are berating themselves for having vaccine envy to give themselves a break.

Experiencing envy does not make you a bad person, she said. Its natural, and we are wired to have these emotions.

It is also true that we can feel happy for someone and envious of them at the same time.

One of the reasons people feel really dirty for experiencing envy is because they forget we are complicated and can have multiple emotions at once, Harris said. This happens in friendships all the time. You do want whats best for your best friend, but you also think: Why cant I have that too?

Smith said the degree of envy we feel toward others is often regulated by how deserving we perceive them to be.

If you think someone doesnt deserve something, quite naturally you get angry when they get it, he said.

This aspect of envy has become front and center in the last few weeks as vaccine eligibility has expanded.

It was easy to feel unfettered happiness when healthcare workers  who had bravely exposed themselves to the coronavirus for months  became eligible for the vaccine. Similarly, many felt joy and relief when older people were able to get protection.

But as younger, seemingly able-bodied people began posting vaccine selfies on the internet, envy inevitably raised its head.

One of the things often said about envy is you are more likely to envy someone who is similar to you, Smith said. So, if you see someone who is similar to you get the vaccine, your initial reaction is, Why?

New York comedian Matt Buechele encapsulates this feeling in a video he calls, Trying to figure out how all your friends got the vaccine.

What does Kevin do for a living? Is he a nurse? he asks. Hes a software engineer? I dont know. ... Did I miss an eligibility list?

Obviously Im happy for them, he continues. I just ... I gotta learn more about our friends.

Wondering how a seemingly healthy friend got the vaccine is understandable, Smith said. But when a friend you believe to be healthy and able to keep themselves safe exuberantly posts on Instagram about receiving the vaccine, it may be prudent to reserve judgment.

There is so much invisibility around illness, said Dr. Stephanie White, chief medical officer of WesternU Health in Pomona. We may not know about someones recent cancer diagnosis or a pregnancy they are not ready to share.

White, who runs a vaccination clinic, also said theres no reason to vilify those who had the time and patience to wait outside a clinic to get a leftover dose.

It is very hard to perfectly distribute vaccines, she said. Actually, its impossible.

Doses remain viable for only six hours after theyve been mixed. Therefore, if any are left over at the end of the day, White would rather give them to people who have waited outside the clinic than throw them in the trash.

As long as these folks are polite and respectful, were glad theyre there, White said.

Envy experts say those who have received the vaccine have a role to play in mitigating the pain they may inadvertently cause when sharing their good news.

I think people are so focused on the joy they are experiencing when they know the lottery has come up for them that they forget many people are still suffering, Harris said.

And for those experiencing guilt around receiving a vaccine early, White suggests celebrating and then setting out to help others. For the first time in a year you can safely offer to babysit a friends kid, do grocery runs for a neighbor, or volunteer at a Boys & Girls Club.

If you are an able-bodied person who out of luck, privilege or connection was able to snag a vaccine, you are an asset, White said.

Shes glad youre safe. Now she wants your help. And feel free to take a selfie of that too.
Newly released police body camera footage showed officers detaining a 5-year-old boy who left his school grounds in Maryland, putting handcuffs on him and repeatedly saying he should be beaten and spanked.

The footage, released Friday, showed two Montgomery County Police officers responding to a call from East Silver Spring Elementary School about a child who ran away from the school on Jan. 14, 2020.

The officers are heard in the video repeatedly discussing how the child should be disciplined saying he needs "whoopings" and "spanking." At one point, the female officer said he should be put in a crate.

"These are for people who don't want to listen and don't know how to act," the male officer says, putting a handcuff on one of the child's wrists and placing his hands behind his back. "Is that how you want to live your life?" the male cop says while holding handcuffs.

The child's family filed a lawsuit in January against the police officers involved in the incident, the county, and the Montgomery County Board of Education.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and claims the child suffered "severe and extreme emotional distress" following the incident, ABC News reported.

The officers' conduct is described as "malicious, grossly negligent, reckless and in deliberate disregard of the emotional stress it would inflict on the child, in the court document.

Montgomery County Police Department said there was an investigation into the officers' conduct, but the findings are confidential under Maryland law and both officers remain employed by the force.
ONTARIO  A state judge last week ordered officials at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario to devise a plan to enforce mask use at the prison and to deploy mass testing after finding that the states treatment of two inmates reflected indifference during the pandemic.

Multnomah Circuit Court Judge Amy Baggio issued her findings and orders after two inmates sued prison officials in Malheur County Circuit Court. Local state judges recused themselves from the case.

Certain SRCI staff view mask wearing as an issue of politics rather than one related to health and welfare during a pandemic, Baggio concluded. Mask failures by staff are particularly troubling considering the very nature of their jobs: to oversee a large, congregate environment.

Her findings came in civil cases filed by inmates Mark Lawson and Don Skelton, who claimed they received poor medical care that put their lives at risk. They claimed the care so was bad that it violated their constitutional rights.

Baggio ordered the Oregon Department of Corrections to provide her with documentation as to how SRCI is enforcing the masking policy, including proof of specific enforcement and consideration of a plan to engage in mass COVID-19 testing at SRCI, particularly rapid testing of staff prior to entry.

While she set no deadline, Baggio said she would conduct a status check in 30 days.

Court filings and the judges orders paint a picture of a prison where, despite heightened precautions such as locking down inmates and eliminating most programming, the danger of COVID-19 is taken lightly by some staff and inmates.

Dr. Garth Gulick, chief medical officer for the prison, testified that he is at war with COVID-19 misinformation in SRCI, the court order said. He described how staff are on the whole very conservative and have doubts about the virus and the vaccine.

The order said Gulick testified that misinformation is totally engrained in staff and some inmates. He testified that many staff believe that masking is stupid and that the virus is harmless.

Jason Bell, assistant superintendent at Snake River, said that staff at SRCI mostly live in Idaho where masks are not required. He explained that it is difficult for staff to understand why masks are required in one state and not the other. He stated that very few people wear masks in Idaho, the judges order said.

Unannounced COVID-19 safety assessments conducted in February 2021 and documented in the ruling found that neither staff nor inmates were reliably wearing their face masks correctly, including indoors, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the danger of airborne virus transmission is greater.

Bell testified that inmates can be disciplined for mask noncompliance, but recognized that enforcement was inconsistent. He said enforcing mask orders also raised a security issue because the prison did not want to risk the inmates organizing and resisting prison officials.

He also said inmates feared reporting employees who werent wearing masks.

He further testified that there is potential for retaliation by staff in positions of power over inmates, with Gulick repeating this observation, the judges ruling said.

Bell testified about a six-step process to discipline employees, ranging from a private conversation to a predismissal hearing, the ruling said. Bell testified that only one staff member had progressed in discipline to the sixth step for mask violations.

While Gulick had asserted in testimony that he considered testing harmful and stated that it can be the enemy, Baggio found that there was no law preventing the prison from conducting mass testing of its inmates and employees. She pointed out that even without mass testing, it had been on Tier 4 status, the highest level of COVID-19 alert within the Oregon prison system, since July 2020.

The current plan has proven ineffective, she wrote. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is unreasonable, irrational and unjustifiable.

In separate cases, Baggio found that prison officials had been deliberately indifferent to treating Lawsons chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as treating Skeltons asthma and hypertension, violating their Eighth Amendment rights to protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Baggio also ruled that the prisons management of mask orders creates an unjustifiable risk.

She said that SRCI cannot throw up its hands in the face of chronic mask noncompliance and simultaneously fail to explore other options such as rapid testing of staff before entry.
March 29 : Kangana Ranaut, who is currently shooting in Jaisalmer for her forthcoming film Tejas, is celebrating the festival of colours on the sets. After celebrating her birthday recently in Mumbai, along with the launch of her film Thalaivi, Kangana resumed shoot for Tejas in Jaisalmer recently. The actress was given a warm welcome as soon as she landed in the city by traditional dancers. The Panga actress took to social media and shared the amazing dance. The actress was also greeted by the crew at the set as they celebrated the actress belated birthday.

 Send personalized Holi wishes to your family and friends

Taking to her Instagram handle, Kangana shared her working Holi picture, in which the actress can be seen wearing a beautiful lime green coloured suit while sitting on the stairs with the crew of Tejas.       ,       .... We are having a working Holi here in Jaisalmer but nothing can stop us from having pre Holi and Holika celebrations. This is my squad #Tejas #HappyHoli, Kangana wrote.

Meanwhile, Kangana plays the role of a fighter pilot named Tejas Gill in the film Tejas. The film is written and directed by Sarvesh Mewara and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. Kangana is leaving no stone unturned to play a pilot for the much-anticipated film as she is braving the scorching heat in Jaisalmer while shooting. On Sunday, the actress gave a glimpse into her shooting schedule as she tweeted a picture from the sets of Tejas. Action in almost 50 degrees When the survival instinct kicks in something tells me, I cant do this but then something I dont recognise says, eventually this body will be burnt in this same fire what you saving yourself for, give yourself to me,all of you. Ok then, take me.

Action in almost 50 degrees

When the survival instinct kicks in something tells me, I cant do this but then something I dont recognise says, eventually this body will be burnt in this same fire what you saving yourself for, give yourself to me,all of you. Ok then, take me  pic.twitter.com/VNtwK4BOAB  Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 28, 2021

Tejas takes inspiration from the landmark event when Indian Air Force became the first of the countrys defence forces to recruit women in combat roles in 2016.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021
Style Defined, Celebrity Edition: Kendall Jenner

Get Fitted with Model Kendall Jenner

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Product photos from retailer sites.

In Style Defined, we feature a haute look from a celebrity or influencer that you can recreate. We know everyone doesnt have the same budget to work with, so well give you affordable and luxury versions to make the look your own.

Reality TV star turned model Kendall Jenner is no stranger to the spotlight. Weve watched her practically grow up on our television screens, thanks to her familys show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which premiered its 20th and final season last week. For years, we got a firsthand glimpse into the stars lavish lifestyle and even got to see her modeling career take off. In 2018, Forbes reported that Kendall Jenner was the highest-paid model in the world. She earned an outstanding $22.5 million last year.

RELATED: Last Week: Style Defined, Celebrity Edition: Harry Styles

Jenner has walked fashion runways in London, Milan, and Paris for several brands, including Burberry, Versace, and Off-White. But one of the most memorable moments in her modeling career was walking the Victoria Secret Fashion Show, which she expressed on her show. As you might expect, Jenner has an impressive personal style, and so does her sister Kylie Jenner. And thanks to their growing influence over the fashion industry, the duo collaborated and released their namesake fashion line, KENDALL + KYLIE. The collection features several items ranging from apparel, eyewear, handbags, and shoes.

GettyImages / LRNYC/MEGA/GC Images

When Jenner isnt walking runways or filming for her KUWTK, you can find her hanging out in her hometown of Calabasas with friends and family. No matter where the model is or who shes spotted with, she loves to have her style on display. Whether shes wearing athleisure sets for a workout or a pair of pants with a sweater for a night out in the town, Jenner always shows just how effortless and chic she can make anything look.

With the Spring season underway, that means a whole new wardrobe of clothing. So whether youre a guy or gal looking for a fresh start, theres no shame in taking a few style pointers from the stylish model Kendall Jenner.

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Come back next week to get style inspiration from another celebrity. If you have suggestions on celebs youd like to see featured, DM us on Instagram or Twitter.

You Might Also Dig:

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HALIFAX - Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan paid tribute Sunday to Canadas only all-Black unit to serve during the First World War, saying the 600 members of No. 2 Construction Battalion and their descendants are owed an apology for the racism they faced despite their willingness to serve.

Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan takes part in a press conference via video link in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

HALIFAX - Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan paid tribute Sunday to Canadas only all-Black unit to serve during the First World War, saying the 600 members of No. 2 Construction Battalion and their descendants are owed an apology for the racism they faced despite their willingness to serve.

Sajjan told a virtual event plans are in the works for a formal apology from Ottawa, which will highlight the fact that hundreds of Black men in Canada were turned away when they volunteered to fight overseas in 1914.

"They stepped forward and volunteered for our country, only to be denied because of the colour of their skin  denied to fight in a so-called 'white-man's war,'" Sajjan said in a brief speech from British Columbia.

"We know there are painful parts of our history, injustices that contradict the values of our nation. These are parts of our history we must never forget ... These are the wrongs that we must acknowledge and learn from."

After two years of protests, the Canadian military was granted approval in 1916 to establish a segregated, non-combat battalion that would be tasked with building roads, railways and forestry operations as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

"Today, we are deeply grateful for their bravery and resilience in the face of hate and adversity," Sajjan said. "This was critical work that was often overlooked in our history books."

Established July 5, 1916, in Pictou, N.S., the battalion was the last segregated unit in the Canadian military.

Recruitment took place across the country. More than 300 of those who enlisted were from Nova Scotia. Others joined from New Brunswick, Ontario, the West and the United States.

Douglas Ruck, co-chairman of the Black Battalion Historical Marker Society, said the newly enlisted men had already seen their share of fighting.

"They have fought and struggled for close to two years for the right to (fight for Canada)," he said. "They fought and struggled against institutionalized racism, against bigotry and prejudice."

Ruck said the battalion's legacy would have been forgotten, were it not for his father, the late Nova Scotia Sen. Calvin Ruck, who explored the history of the unit in his book "The Black Battalion 19161920: Canadas Best-Kept Military Secret."

In the spring of 1917, the battalion was deployed to Seaford in southern England, and was later sent to Lajoux, France, where it worked in the foothills of the French Alps.

Commanded by Lt.-Col. Daniel Sutherland, a native of River John, N.S., all the unit's 19 officers were white, except one. The unit's chaplain, Capt. William A. White, held the rank of honorary captain, making him the only Black commissioned officer in the Canadian military at that time.

For the most part, the unit supported three major forestry operations in conjunction with Canadian Forestry Corps. Their duties included felling trees, operating lumber mills and maintaining roads, vehicles and railway equipment. At the mills, they produced railway ties, as well as boards and stakes for use in the trenches.

At one point, the unit helped build a narrow-gauge railway from the timber lots to the mills in Lajoux.

Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin said battalion members were responsible for important work that aided in the war effort.

"It is a great inspiration because their commitment came in the face of widespread institutional, anti-Black racism," Rankin said. "Deep prejudice in Canadian society made it difficult for Black men who wished to fight for Canada."

In September 1917, the battalion was ordered to move closer to the front lines in northeast France, where the unit continued working in forestry and roadwork operations.

Only a few of its members would see combat, mainly because the battalion was repeatedly told its help wasn't wanted on the front lines.

Members of the unit were shipped home in 1918 and the battalion was disbanded in 1920.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.
Belgaum, March 29 : Karnataka's Congress unit working president Satish Jarkiholi on Monday filed nomination to contest for the Belgaum Lok Sabha by-election on April 17 in the presence of the Opposition party's state leaders.

"Jarkiholi filed four sets of nomination papers, proposed by the party's state unit president D. K. Shivakumar, opposition leader in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, senior leaders R. V. Deshpande and M. B. Patil," a party official told IANS here.

The by-election is being held to fill the vacancy caused by the Covid death of Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi on September 23, 2020.

Satish (58) is the younger brother of the ruling BJP's tainted former state minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who is embroiled in the sleaze CD that has rocked the southern state recently.

BJP has fielded Mangala, widow of Angadi, to retain the high-profile seat, which the late member held for four consecutive terms since 2004.

Satish is a Congress legislator from the Yemakanmardi assembly seat in the border district of the state.

"The people of Belagaum should give me an opportunity to represent them in Parliament and work for their welfare as I have been doing as an MLA and earlier as an MLC (member of legislative council) and as a minister in the past," Satish told reporters after filing the nomination.

Satish was Minister for Forests and Environment in the 14-month-old Janata Dal-Secular-Congress coalition government during 2018-2019.

"I am sure the people will bless me to work for them as an MP too," Satish added.

In addition to Satish, 11 more candidates filed nominations to enter the fray.

Mangala will file her nomination on Tuesday, which is the last date for filing nominations for the contest.

As per the schedule, scrutiny is on March 31 and last date for withdrawal of nominations on April 3. Vote count is on May 2.

By-elections are also being held on April 17 for two Assembly seats at Basavakalyan in Bidar district and Maski (ST) in Raichur district in the state's northern region.

Vacancy for the Basavakalyan seat was caused due to the Covid death of opposition Congress legislator B. Narayan Rao on September 24, 2020 at a private hospital in Bengaluru.

The Maski reserved seat has fallen vacant after Congress rebel MLA Pratap Gowda Patil resigned in July 2019 and defected to the ruling BJP.
Around one in 57 (1.76%) children in the UK is on the autistic spectrum, significantly higher than previously reported, according to a study of more than 7 million children carried out by researchers from the University of Cambridge's Department of Psychiatry in collaboration with researchers from Newcastle University and Maastricht University.

Black and Chinese pupils were 26% and 38% more likely to be autistic respectively and autistic children were much more likely to face significant social disadvantage. The results are published today in JAMA Pediatrics.

The team drew on data from the School Census from the National Pupil Database, collected by the Department for Education from individuals aged 2-21 years old in state-funded schools in England. Of more than 7 million pupils studied, 119,821 pupils had a diagnosis of autism in their record in the English state educational system, of whom 21,660 also had learning difficulties (18.1%). Boys showed a prevalence of autism of 2.8% and girls showed a prevalence of 0.65%, with a boy-to-girl ratio of 4.3:1.

Prevalence was highest in pupils of black ethnicity (2.1%) and lowest in Roma/Irish Travellers (0.85%), with these estimates being the first to be published for these populations. Pupils with a record of autism in schools were 60% more likely to also be socially disadvantaged, and 36% less likely to speak English. The findings reveal significant differences in autism prevalence, as recorded in formal school systems, across ethnic groups and geographical location.

The lead researcher of the study, Dr Andres Roman-Urrestarazu from the Autism Research Centre (ARC) and Cambridge Public Health at the University of Cambridge, said: "We can now see that autism is much more common than previously thought. We also found significant variations in autism diagnosis in different ethnic minorities, though the reason why this should be the case isn't clear and warrants further research."

Previous estimates of the prevalence of autism in the UK by the same research group in Cambridge, and based on a school-based survey, suggested that one in 64 children (1.57%) were autistic. The new study, based on school records that usually underestimate the actual proportion of children who meet diagnostic criteria, shows a considerable increase in the autism prevalence in England. The researchers say the increase is likely to be because autism has become better recognised by both parents and schools in recent years.

Professor Carol Brayne, Co-chair of Cambridge Public Health and Professor of Public Health Medicine, said: "This study shows how we can draw on large datasets in a way that is rigorous and valuable for our understanding of autism."

Professor Fiona Matthews from Newcastle University added: "This study highlights the need for more attention to the unrecognised and differing needs of autistic children from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds."

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the ARC, said: "We can now see a snapshot of how many autistic children there are, and can drill down into local and ethnic variation, and reveal links with vulnerability. It is important that we safeguard the rights of children to access diagnostic services and education, tailored to their needs."

###

Reference

Roman-Urrestarazu, R et al. Association of Race/Ethnicity and Social Disadvantage With Autism Prevalence in 7 Million School Children in England. JAMA Pediatrics; 29 March 2021; DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0054
PLEASANTON, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare Triangle is proud to announce its launch of readabl.ai, a state-of-art, advanced automatic capture solution powered by Artificial intelligence (AI) & Natural Language Processing (NLP) for document classification, information extraction and routing. It is specifically designed for healthcare organizations - to help them automate their document driven processes.

Evolving digital healthcare options  computers, mobile apps, telehealth, and other available technology makes patient data critical to care delivery and research. However, most of the details are trapped in silos that are not connected and involves time consuming manual data work which makes the entire patient health history not easily accessible in a broad view.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way data is accessed and processed within the healthcare industry. HTI, with its key deep expertise in healthcare and advanced technologies, built readable.ai, an automated document capture and processing solution which intelligently identifies document type, captures data, digitally transforms to usable format, and logically routes the collected details to line of business systems. readabl.ai  uses state-of-the-art public cloud artificial intelligence and machine learning to recognize and extract healthcare information from documents, faxes, and narrative reports. readabl.ai is designed with security & compliance as its core pillar and it exceeds standards for handling of protected health information.

Including readabl.ai in your workflow streamlines the process to improve patient care and clinical efficiencies while maintaining security and confidentiality. readabl.ai ensures the necessary health information is available for patient care with minimal time and labor effort.

"We listen to our healthcare clients and continue to hear about the challenge of document-based healthcare information. readabl.ai helps organizations unlock the data in these documents and speed up healthcare." says Joe Grinstead, Vice President of Technology for Healthcare Triangle.

"Healthcare has long been challenged by the flow of paper and deriving patient care insight from unstructured information," said Suresh Venkatachari, Chairman and CEO of Healthcare Triangle. "The power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the core of readabl.ai will enable a digital transformation for our customers that will streamline workflows and improve the patient care and clinical efficiencies that play an increasingly important role in the evolution of care delivery and the patient experience."

Find out how Healthcare Triangle can support you in unlocking the document based health data with readabl.ai, contact [email protected] for more information or visit https://www.healthcaretriangle.com/readablai

For Media Enquiries:

Michael Campana

[email protected]

About Healthcare Triangle, Inc.

Healthcare Triangle, Inc. (HTI) is a leading healthcare information technology company focused on advancing innovative, industry-transforming solutions in the areas of cloud services, data science, professional and managed services for the healthcare and life sciences industry. HTI reinforces healthcare progress by enabling the adoption of new technologies, data enlightenment, business agility, and response to the immediate business needs of healthcare organizations. Visit www.healthcaretriangle.com for more information.

SOURCE Healthcare Triangle, Inc.
A Chinese man was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient last week after he illegally entered Vietnam from Cambodia.

Coded patietn No. 2,585, the Chinese is the director of a company in Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province, where he lives with his wife and two daughters, the provincial Center for Disease Control said in a report.

In January, he crossed the Vietnamese border into Cambodia to meet a partner there.

In March, he tried to find ways to sneak back into Vietnam when the COVID-19 epidemic in Cambodia became complicated, given the detection of a series of cases.

On March 23, he entered Vietnam unlawfully by motorbike.

He was then taken in a four-seater car steered by a Vietnamese driver from Moc Bai in Tay Ninh Province to Thuan An.

On March 24, he stayed home with his wife and daughters, then driving to his company but coming into contact with nobody there.

On March 25, he took his wife in a car to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control for a COVID-19 test as he feared infection.

His test returned positive on the evening of the same day.

He is being isolated for treatment in Binh Duong.

Contact tracing and mandatory quarantine related to this case have been underway ever since.

No further transmission from the Chinese has been confirmed so far.

Vietnam reported three imported coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the national tally to 2,594 patients, including 1,603 local infections, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country has recorded 910 domestic cases since January 27.

It has announced 2,308 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths as yet.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A bill to legalize and regulate medical marijuana products in Alabama faces a key vote in the House Judiciary Committee this week.

Approval by the committee is one of several steps needed to make Alabama the 37th state to allow medical marijuana.

The legislation, by Sen. Tim Melson, a Republican, physician and medical researcher from Florence, would allow doctors to approve the use of medical cannabis products for a wide range of symptoms and conditions, including anxiety, chronic pain, sleep disorders, cancer-related nausea and weight loss, PTSD, and others.

The bill would create an Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission to license and regulate everything from the cultivation of the plants to the dispensaries that would sell the tablets, capsules, gel cubes, oils, and other products. The bill would not allow smoking marijuana or products that could be smoked or vaped, or food with marijuana mixed in, like cookies or candies.

The bill would set up a tax on the sales of the products and license fees to cover the cost of the regulations.

In February, the Senate approved Melsons bill for the third straight year. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic limited the chance for consideration. But it has never passed the House.

In 2019, the House changed the legislation to appoint a study commission, rather than approve medical marijuana. The commission held several public meetings and issued a report in December 2019. Twelve of the 18 members recommended legislation to approve medical cannabis.

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said in February the House would take an extra step before voting on the medical marijuana bill. If approved by the Judiciary Committee, the bill moves to the Health Committee before coming to the House for a vote. Bills normally go through just one committee.

Melson is optimistic his bill will win committee approval Wednesday. He said Alabamians should have the option of trying medical cannabis products for certain symptoms not relieved by other medications.

I just think theres just a lot of patients out in the state that have tried other things with mixed results or no success at all and we ought to give them an opportunity to try this if theres some literature or some physician out there that thinks its a good, responsible way of treating it, Melson said.

Melson said he has done medical research for almost 30 years. He said he was skeptical at first about medical marijuana until he started researching it about four years ago.

I never would have thought that I was a believer until I started listening to patients and patients families and reading the literature, Melson said. And I think it does a lot of good in a subset of population of patients.

Sen. Larry Stutts, an OB-GYN and one of the most outspoken opponents of the legislation, has said the Legislature should not apply the term medical to products that have not gone through the usual process for pharmaceutical drugs. Stutts said the list of conditions that doctors could recommend it for is so broad that it would lead to an increase in recreational marijuana.

Melson said he is opposed to recreational use.

Lawmakers return from spring break on Tuesday.
A new type of tactical guided missile is launched from the North Korean town of Hamju, South Hamgyong Province, last Thursday, in this photo released by the North's Korean Central News Television the following day. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



North Korea's launching of two short-range ballistic missiles has increased tensions between the United States and North Korea, while the Joe Biden administration is in the final stages of reviewing its North Korea policy.



Pyongyang watchers said North Korea is likely to continue missile tests claiming they are for the country's self-defense.



On March 21, Pyongyang fired two cruise missiles and four days later fired the ballistic missiles. Following the latest launch, U.S. President Joe Biden said there would be "responses" if Pyongyang chooses to escalate tensions and Washington would "respond accordingly."



The hermit regime has since expressed "deep apprehension" over Washington's criticism of its missile tests, saying they were exercises of "self-defensive right" to deter military threats posed against the regime, issuing statements under names of high-ranking officials through its state-run Korean Central News Agency.



Some North Korea experts say the North could escalate tensions by conducting tests of other types of ballistic missiles including submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), while others predict Pyongyang will still not cross the "red line" by testing weapons that could reach territories of the U.S. such as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).



"There are two reasons behind North Korea's continuing missiles tests," said Moon Sung-mook, a senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. "From North Korea's point of view, the Biden administration would stay firm with its stance that North Korea should give up its nuclear weapons and push ahead with the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) of the North, which it could never accept. Pyongyang is trying to gain an advantageous position in upcoming denuclearization negotiations with Washington by continuing weapons tests to escalate regional tensions, in a form of protest against the Biden administration's message to the reclusive regime."



Moon also said because North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un publicly vowed to complete the development of weapons including SLBMs during the eighth congress of the country's ruling Workers' Party of Korea in January, the regime would need to continue weapons tests for such internal military purposes aside from negotiations with the U.S.



But Cho Seong-ryoul, a senior adviser at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said North Korea would not cross the "red line" by testing weapons that could strike U.S. territories, as they are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions and could bring additional sanctions to the regime, which is already suffering from the existing ones.



"But I believe North Korea would continue to conduct tests of short- or middle- range missiles as they claim they are for the regime's self-defensive rights," Cho said.



Meanwhile, U.S.-based North Korea monitoring website 38 North reported last Friday that recent commercial satellite imagery of the North's shipyard on its east coast indicated that the floating dry dock, normally moored at a nearby pier, has recently been repositioned along the construction hall's submarine-launch quay, suggesting it may be ready to launch a new ballistic missile submarine in the near future.


Ioan Gruffudd's estranged wife Alice Evans has apologised for claiming their daughters 'cry every day' amid their ongoing divorce drama.

The actress, 49, took to Instagram on Monday to admit she 'should have been more careful with my words' about her children Ella, 11 and Elsie, seven, after accusing her ex, 47, of 'abandonment' after he 'walked out' on them in January.

A hopeful Alice joked her eldest has already 'worked out that she can get more deliveries by going back between two abodes' as she thanked her fans for their support following her public split.

'Theyre doing better than I would've imagined': Ioan Gruffudd's estranged wife has apologised for claiming their daughters 'cry every day' amid their divorce (pictured last year)

The screen star wrote: 'I cant find where I said this but Im sure I did, and I should have been more careful with my words. They cry a lot, but kids tend to anyway, and they cry every day is definitely hyperbole! Im sorry.

'Theyre doing much better than I would have imagined, to be honest. Just that there are certain discussions about the future (near and far) that come up that make them sad. And as yet, I dont have any answers.

'But Ella has already worked out that she can get a lot more Ubereats deliveries by going back and forth between two abodes.

'I'm sorry': Actress Alice Evans, 49, took to Instagram on Monday to admit she 'should have been more careful with my words' about her children Ella, 11 and Elsie, seven (pictured in 2018)

'That's at least one silver lining already': A hopeful Alice joked her eldest has already 'worked out that she can get more deliveries by going back between two abodes'

'So thats at least one silver lining already. Thank you again for all your love and support. Youve no idea how much it means to me. Alice xx .' (sic)

Back in January, Alice revealed she and the actor they were breaking up after 20 years in a shock Twitter statement and claimed he 'mentally tortured' her.

The thespian has been taking to social media regularly to update fans on the split and, in a recent post, shared a picture of an columnist article on her page.

'Their dad abandoned them': Back in January, Alice revealed she and the actor they were breaking up after 20 years in a shock Twitter statement and claimed he 'mentally tortured' her

The piece slammed her for opening up about her painful break-up from Ioan so publicly and commented on how it could affect her children 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?'

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 had contacted Ioan's representatives for comment.

Fury: Last week, the thespian accused the Fantastic Four star of 'winding the s**t up me' as she posted a vitriolic video about their 'collaborative divorce' talks

Last week, Alice accused Ioan 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".

The TV and film star then insisted he misled 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.

Heartbreak: In another post, the TV star alleged that Ioan had changed her Twitter password

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.

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.'

Up and down? In February, the media personality confirmed the couple were pressing ahead with discussions over a 'legal separation' (pictured in 2018)

Open: The blonde has taking to social media regularly to update fans on the split

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.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky canceled presidential decree No. 256 of May 14, 2013 on the appointment of O. Tupytsky as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

The corresponding decree on some issues of ensuring the national security of Ukraine was signed on March 27, according to the website of the head of state.

By the same decree, Zelensky canceled presidential decree No. 513 on September 17, 2013, on the appointment of O. Kasminin as a judge of the Constitutional Court.

The decree comes into force on the day of its publication.

According to the text of the document, the decree was signed with the aim of guaranteeing the Constitution of Ukraine, human and civil rights and freedoms, ensuring state independence and national security.

It is also noted that the head of state was guided by the national interests of Ukraine in accordance with the law on National Security of Ukraine, according to which a democratic constitutional system is one of the fundamental national interests.

He also took into account the statement of the Verkhovna Rada in connection with the seventh anniversary of the Euromaidan and the events of the Revolution of Dignity, approved by the parliamentary resolution of February 17, 2021, which emphasized that the usurpation of power in 2010-2014 by Viktor Yanukovych led to undermining of the foundations of national security and defense, as well as violation of human rights and freedoms.

The decree notes that "certain judges of the Constitutional Court appointed by Viktor Yanukovych, while continuing to exercise their powers, pose a threat to the state independence and national security of Ukraine, which violates the Constitution of Ukraine, human and civil rights and freedoms."

The decree on the cancelation of the appointments of Tupytsky and Kasminin as judges of the Constitutional Court was signed in accordance with Part 2 of Article 102, Paragraphs 1 and 17 of Part 1, Part 3 of Article 106 of the Constitution, and Articles 3 and 13 of the law on National Security of Ukraine.

Part 2 of Article 102 of the Constitution stipulates that the President of Ukraine is the guarantor of state sovereignty, territorial integrity, as well as observance of the Constitution, human and civil rights and freedoms.

Article 106 of the Constitution stipulates that the President ensures the independence and national security of the state. This article also stipulates that the President, on the basis of and in pursuance of the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine, issues decrees and orders that are binding on the territory of Ukraine.

As reported, on October 27, 2020, the Constitutional Court recognized as unconstitutional a number of provisions of the law on prevention of corruption and criminal liability for declaring false information. This decision drew criticism from Ukraine's international partners and creditors.
Israels 4th election in two years has failed once again to produce a clear winner, due largely to what is attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus error, reports said on Monday.

In the latest development, the pro-Netanyahu group has declared the support of 52 members of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), while his opponents have 57 Knesset Members (KM).

To form a government, 61 members of the Knesset are needed.

Israel is clearly heading towards a period of paralysis and acrimony among the various parties, which may lead to a fifth election late in the summer, a report said.

The Israeli electoral representation system makes it almost impossible for a single party to outrightly win an election.

Mr Netanyahus party, Likud, won 24.2 per cent of the votes and now has 30 Knesset Members (six less than before), while the centrist Yesh Atid, the main opposition party, won 13.9 per cent of the vote, having secured 17 seats in the Knesset.

The heterogeneous coalition of the anti-Netanyahu parties of Yesh Atid (17 seats), Kahol Lavan (8 seats), Yisrael Beiteinu (7 seats), Labour (7seats), New Hope (6 seats), Joint List (6 seats) and Meretz (6 seats) garner together 57 KMs and need another four to form a government.

Mr Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing, religious and Zionist allies control 52 KMs  Likud (30 seats), Shas (9 seats) United Torah Judaism (7 seats) and Religious Zionism (6 seats).

So, they need the support of another nine members of the Knesset.

Two parties  the right-wing Yamina party of Naftaly Bennet, which has elected seven KMs and the United Arab List (Raam) of Mansur Abbas, which managed to elect four KMs, so far remain uncommitted.

They will be the kingmakers, as Mr Netanyahu needs the support of both these parties to form a government, while his opponents need at least one of the two parties.

Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, this week will have consultations with all parties and eventually give the mandate to the candidate who has the highest probability of forming a government.

Negotiations between the parties that will eventually succeed in forming a governing coalition, which usually takes several weeks.

Criminal Trial

Many Israelis believe that the real reason Mr Netanyahu caused the March 23 election was to halt his criminal trial that will start on April 5.

He is accused of getting gifts from millionaire friends and for giving regulatory favours for media tycoons in return for favourable coverage.

Yisrael Beiteinu, leader, Avigdor Liberman, said he would advance a bill that would prevent a criminal defendant from forming a government.

This will ensure that if a fifth election is held, Mr Netanyahu will be barred from running.

The wily Mr Netanyahu, in the hope of achieving a clear victory in the elections, reneged on all his campaign promises to Benny Gantz of the Kahol Lavan party and by failing to agree on the countrys budget law, caused the collapse of his coalition government with Gantz.

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ALSO READ: Israeli lawmakers reject bill to block another Netanyahu term

So he forced the holding of a fourth election in two years.

He had expected that he would dissolve Kahol Lavan and win a lot of votes from the fact that by election day most adult Israelis were vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Evidently, he failed, as Kahol Lavan succeeded in winning eighth seats and Israelis were not so impressed by the vaccination success.

Even if Naftali Bennet, the leader of the right-wing Yamina Party, joins the Netanyahu coalition, after hard bargaining and after securing the cabinet posts he wants, Mr Netanyahu will still need the Arab KMs of Mansur Abbas.

Mr Abbas did not rule out the possibility of forging a coalition with the Netanyahu group, if he gets serious concessions from the embattled Netanyahu.

This, however, would be anathema for the ultra-orthodox religious parties, which flatly refused to sit in a government-supported by an Islamist party.

Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times says: Whoever receives the invitation (to form a government) is expected to struggle to form a coalition.

If Mr Netanyahu persuades Raam to join his coalition, he could lose the support of a far-right alliance already in his bloc.

With that ally, he said, Religious Zionism would refuse to serve in a government-supported by Raam.

Similarly, Lapid may struggle to persuade two right-wing parties within his alliance to sit not just with Raam, but with another Arab group called the Joint List.

The coming weeks will be full of suspense as intensive negotiations among the various parties of the two coalitions will continue and Mr Netanyahu will remain Acting Prime Minister while being on trial for criminal offences.

(NAN)
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TigerGraph , provider of the leading graph analytics platform, today announced that the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), a leading university in the areas of technical and natural sciences, is using TigerGraphs advanced graph analytics with machine learning and AI techniques to improve the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.



Researchers at DTU are part of a major project across Denmark and Sweden to map genetic material for everyone with childhood cancer. As part of a larger collaboration through the EU-funded iCOPE (Interregional Childhood Oncology Precision Medicine Exploration), the process starts with patient blood tests that through Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) paired with RNA-seq expression data are used to find aberrant expression patterns correlated or possibly caused by enhancer mutations. The long term goal of iCOPE is to improve diagnostics, treatment, cure rates, and the overall life situation of children with cancer.

This process generates enormous amounts of data that using TigerGraph will be linked together with various other data points about the patient's life, illness, and treatment in order to understand to a much greater extent why children get cancer, provide earlier

diagnosis and far more effective treatment.

As Jesper Vang, PhD Student, Department of Health Technology, Cancer Systems Biology at DTU explains, Our current system only hosts raw data such as genotype and whole-genome sequenced data. This raw data is run through a custom pipeline that calls genetic variants and annotates the data in a MySQL DB. However, we needed something easier to work with specifically for the clinical personnel, that also allows them to look up genetic associations which is a perfect use case for graph analytics.

DTU opted for an on-premise graph database platform that would deliver the required performance and evaluated a number of options, in particular, Neo4j but concluded that only TigerGraph could scale and provide the analytical depth the project required. In our testing, TigerGraph was the only solution offering the highest performance with the ability to scale to the levels we will eventually need, explains Vang.

DTU is in the final stages of bringing the full system online and it is already being used in a specific project that combines the fields of AI, machine learning and translational bioinformatics to create models that can predict the risk of relapse and toxicity within acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatments.

Martin Darling, VP EMEA at TigerGraph added, The work at DTU and across the wider iCOPE project is transformational and highlights how the application of clinical excellence with innovative technologies can unlock breakthrough insights within areas such as life sciences. We are delighted to have Jesper present a full case study on the project at the upcoming Graph + AI Summit this April.

TigerGraphs upcoming Graph + AI Summit, the industrys only open conference for accelerating analytics, AI, and machine learning with graph, will feature customer use case sessions and speakers from the worlds largest companies and most innovative startups and universities. Keynote speakers include Harry Powell, director of data and analytics at Jaguar Land Rover, who will share how Jaguar Land Rover used graph to accelerate supply chain planning from three weeks to 45 minutes and deliver three times the business value from data. Noel Yuhanna, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, will bring insights from Forrester clients across all industries who are driving business outcomes by combining graph-based analytics, AI, and machine learning. Danny Clark, Head of Fraud Strategy at NewDay, will explain how they identify and prevent fraudsters from joining their network faster than ever before by using graph and machine learning to check data against known and new fraud syndicates. Graph + AI Summit, the industrys only open conference for accelerating analytics and AI, will run as a virtual conference on April 21-22, 2021. To register for the event, please visit https://www.tigergraph.com/graphaisummit/ .

About the Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

DTU was founded in 1829 and has ever since been dedicated to developing the natural and the technical sciences with a view to creating value for society. During the past two centuries, DTU has undergone a transformation from a 19th-century polytechnical institution to a present-day international, multidisciplinary institution that caters for research, teaching, and collaboration across scientific, professional, and geographical borders.

Helpful Links

About TigerGraph

TigerGraph is a platform for advanced analytics and machine learning on connected data. Based on the industrys first and only distributed native graph database, TigerGraphs proven technology supports advanced analytics and machine learning applications such as fraud detection, anti-money laundering (AML), entity resolution, customer 360, recommendations, knowledge graph, cybersecurity, supply chain, IoT, and network analysis. The company is headquartered in Redwood City, California, USA. Start free with tigergraph.com/cloud .

Media Contact

Cathy Wright

Offleash PR for TigerGraph

cathy@offleashpr.com

650-678-1905
The United States is immediately suspending all engagement with Myanmar under a 2013 trade and investment agreement until the return of a democratically elected government, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Monday.

Saturday was the bloodiest day of protests in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 military coup with 114 people killed. Five more were killed on Monday when thousands took to the streets again in opposition to the military returning to power after a decade.

Tai said in a statement that Myanmar security forces' killing of peaceful protesters, students, workers and labor leaders and children "has shocked the conscience of the international community."

"These actions are a direct assault on the countrys transition to democracy and the efforts of the Burmese people to achieve a peaceful and prosperous future," said Tai, who was sworn into office on March 18.

In addition to suspending work on 2013 framework agreement, Tai said USTR would consider Myanmar's situation as it works with the U.S. Congress on reauthorizing the Generalized System of Preferences program, which reduces U.S. tariffs and provides other special trade access for some developing countries.

Participation requires countries to maintain certain worker rights protections, and Tai said reports that Myanmar's military leaders have targeted trade unions and workers for their role in pro-democracy protests raise serious concerns.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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A journalist who was at the Bristol protests has said the police broke his camera after aggressively smashing the device and his arm with a baton.

Christopher Walls, who has been covering protests in the UK for the last decade, told The Independent he has never witnessed the police act so heavy-handedly with protesters or journalists in his life.

Protesters gathered in Bristol on Friday night to demonstrate against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which Labour has warned could lead to harsher penalties for damaging a statue than attacking a woman.

Riot police could be seen pushing people to the ground with their shields in videos, while a Daily Mirror journalist was the subject of an assault by police and at least 10 people were arrested.

Mr Walls, who lives in West London, said has been left with swelling on his wrist and is in some pain in the wake of the protest.

The 30-year-old photojournalist said the police were using horses and dogs to push protesters back - adding that he had been filming video footage at the moment the officer whacked him on a side road close to Bridewell Street.

Mr Walls added: The officer pushed a demonstrator next to me. As I was moving back, he struck me with his baton. He hit my arm and camera and broke the flash.

It did hurt. I was surprised Id been hit given the circumstances - it was just me and another person on the pavement. I was annoyed when I looked down and realised my camera had been damaged.

It certainly felt far more aggressive than anything Ive documented before from the police side of things. It seemed like the level of force was unwarranted for what was happening. The protesters werent showing any hostility.

Read more:

I have heard of a few other journalists who had been targeted as well. It seems like maybe they were targeting journalists intentionally. In other demonstrations Ive covered, if you say you are press and its clear youve got an expensive camera, usually theyll do their best not to interact with you in that manner. But they werent too fussed whether you were press or not.

His comments come after Avon and Somerset force withdrew a claim that two officers suffered broken bones at a Kill the Bill protest held last Sunday.

Mr Walls said there was a lack of appreciation from the police journalists are there to do a job and instead they just thought cameramen and photojournalists were there to take a few pretty pictures and were getting in their way.

He said other protesters were much more badly hurt than himself - adding that there were plenty of people who had head wounds.

Police officers detain man at Bristol protests against police and sentencing bill (PA)

People were passing out, he added. People were unconscious. I saw one girl who was a bit wobbly on her legs. She looked like she was going to pass out. Whether it was shock or dehydration or whether shed been hit, I dont know in that situation. I saw a video of a girl getting knocked out with a shield.

Mr Walls said he would struggle to afford the few hundred pounds it would cost to get his camera fixed, but he would not be bothering to seek compensation from the police due to it being a very long-winded process.

Kill the Bill protests have erupted in response to a controversial piece of government legislation that would bolster police powers to impose conditions on non-violent protests, with offenders potentially slapped with prison sentences.

On Saturday, a young man who attended Fridays protests and is in the final year of a Physics masters at Bristol University, told The Independent he feels dazed after police whacked him with a baton leaving him with a large bump on his head.

Lockdown restrictions mean large protests are presently banned in the UK - with Superintendent Mark Runacres, commander for Bristol at Avon and Somerset Police, saying the protest was held against our advice and the advice of the authorities and a peaceful demonstration had been facilitated for many hours.

He added: We had bottles being thrown at officers, paint being thrown at officers. Our officers will deal with offences where they are being committed effectively and robustly, in line with ... approved public order training tactics.

We want our officers to be deployed on their routine duties  while they are being drawn into policing operations such as these, they are being taken away from other frontline duties. Victims are being let down by us not being able to respond to them as quickly as we would like.

Superintendent Runacres added: A free press is a cornerstone of our democracy and we fully respect the medias vital role in reporting events fairly and accurately.

To that end, at briefings this week officers were reminded of the likely presence of the media within the protest group.

Following the protest march on Friday night, people were given warning to disperse as bottles, debris and other items were thrown at officers. Dispersal tactics in accordance with College of Policing guidelines were used.

Policing public order incidents is challenging. Its very difficult in that dynamic scenario to differentiate between someone protesting who is ignoring officers commands and being deliberately obstructive, and someone being there to report events. This is especially so when no clear visual or verbal identification is offered to help officers establish if they are a member of the press.

We are an organisation that wholeheartedly believes in transparency and want to work with the media constructively to ensure journalists are able to go about their professional business.
COPENHAGEN, 29 March 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DigiPlex, the Nordic leader for sustainable, scalable, and secure data centers, welcomes Dansk Telemedicin A/S to its Copenhagen data center. As a leading and well-known supplier to the healthcare sector across Denmark, Dansk Telemedicin specializes in developing flexible, internet-based systems for collecting, structuring and sharing medical data.

Working with hospitals and care providers, Dansk Telemedicin creates data services and workflows that meet the specific needs of the sector. This includes handling confidential and sensitive personal data. Security, resilience and availability are crucial to the company's service to its customers so it needed a data center partner that could guarantee the same. DigiPlex's reputation and track record in these areas was key in the company's decision to move to the DigiPlex facility in central Copenhagen.

Moving to DigiPlex not only provides Dansk Telemedicin with a flexible resource for its data center needs but places it into an ecosystem providing connectivity to current and potential partners, suppliers and customers.

"We believe that our systems should adapt to our customers, not the other way around," said Thomas Berner, Head of Sales and Compliance at Dansk Telemedicin. "The flexibility and stability, as well as the understanding of our area of work, weighed heavily in the choice of colocation-provider."

"Dansk Telemedicin is a recognized name in Danish healthcare IT and we are pleased to welcome them to DigiPlex," said Fredrik Jansson, DigiPlex CCO. "Any organization dealing with healthcare data needs 100% confidence in the security and stability of the infrastructure they rely on. We are pleased to be able to deliver this confidence to Dansk Telemedicin."

DigiPlex was established in Copenhagen in 2018 following the takeover of an existing data centre from Telia, which subsequently became one of DigiPlex's key customers. The data centre is 1,600 square meters. See here for site specifications.

Just last month, DigiPlex announced it had expanded its Danish portfolio further through the acquisition of a plot of 110,000 m2, secured enough renewable power to support the development, as well as onsite water, planning and building permissions to construct five data centers for a major new campus site. This second DigiPlex datacenter site in Denmark will feature waste heat recovery technology to feed into the existing district heating system as part of a significant environmental sustainability commitment.

CONTACT:

Elisabeth Lennhede

Head of Communications

+46703322705

[email protected]

Anders Hansen,

Salgsdirektr, DigiPlex Danmark

[email protected], +45 20 47 77 97

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/digiplex/r/dansk-telemedicin-choose-digiplex-for-colocation-services,c3315037

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https://mb.cision.com/Main/7526/3315037/1393898.pdf Dansk Telemedicin Choose DigiPlex for Colocation Services https://news.cision.com/digiplex/i/fredrik-jansson--chief-commercial-officer--digiplex,c2894179 Fredrik Jansson, Chief Commercial Officer, DigiPlex

SOURCE DigiPlex
Albumedix Ltd. (Albumedix), an enabler of advanced therapies and world leader in recombinant human albumin (rHA), announced today that they have entered into a distribution agreement with established and well recognized reagent supplier FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation (FUJIFILM Wako) in Japan and China including Hong Kong. The partnership further strengthens Albumedix' commitment to advanced therapy and biopharmaceutical developers in the region. Under the terms and conditions of the agreement, FUJIFILM Wako will act as a commercialization partner and distributor of Albumedix' recombinant human albumin products (Recombumin), including joint marketing efforts in Japan, China, and Hong Kong.

Albumedix already has a long-standing history of servicing biopharmaceutical developers in Japan and China and have been investing in this region for a while, recently exemplified with the announcement of Drug Master File (DMF) submissions to the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device Agency (PMDA) and DMF lodged with the Chinese National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). FUJIFILM Wako is well established within these markets, developing, and producing high quality reagents to address the needs of life science innovators. The partnership further demonstrates Albumedix' commitment to expand and accelerate its activities in these regions. Together FUJIFILM Wako and Albumedix will work to address the availability shortage of high quality and consistent human albumin in the region. Albumedix will continue to support its existing client base and invest in its commercial presence in the region.

"With this partnership, Albumedix gains a valued and experienced partner with an established presence in Japan, China and Hong Kong. FUJIFILM Wako is highly experienced in the advanced therapy and biopharmaceutical space, where Albumedix products have proven to be vital enablers. We look forward to a strong collaboration with FUJIFILM Wako in order to enable the continued development of transformative therapies in the region." Says Gregor Kawaletz, Chief Commercial Officer at Albumedix.

The now established partnership between Albumedix and FUJIFILM Wako builds on highly synergistic capabilities and focus with Albumedix' Recombumin products supporting FUJIFILM Wako's product portfolio and client base.

"Albumedix' products are an integral part of the processing and formulation of advanced therapies and biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines, cell and gene therapies. The high quality and purity along with extensive regulatory documentation and expert support will offer a versatile tool for the customers of FUJIFILM Wako. FUJIFILM Wako will be working through well-established sales channels and mature network of dealers and local representatives, relying on local language and dedicated specialists to broaden the use of Albumedix products and enable the development of therapies and biopharmaceuticals in the respective territories." Says Mr. Kuniaki Okamoto, General Manager, Life Science Development Operations.

About Albumedix  Dedicated to Better Health

Albumedix is a science-driven, life-science company focused on enabling the creation of superior biopharmaceuticals utilizing our recombinant human albumin products. We believe in empowering excellence to enable advanced therapies and facilitate otherwise unstable drug candidates reach patients worldwide. We are proud to be recognized as the world leader in recombinant human albumin with products and technologies used in clinical and marketed drugs by pharmaceutical and medical device companies worldwide. Headquartered in Nottingham, England with more than 100 people all committed to improving patient quality of life. We are just as passionate about albumin and albumin-enabled therapies today as we were when we started more than 35 years ago. For more information, please contact us today.

About FUJIFILM Wako

Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemical has continued to develop and manufacture high quality reagent to address research need in cutting-edge fields and expands business areas to Specialty Chemical and Clinical Diagnostics Reagents as well as Laboratory Chemicals. Based on the corporate philosophy With commitment to the future of science, the company is dedicated to create the source of happiness for all people, Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemical will contribute to the development of academic research, industry, and medical fields.
Anyone who is stuck in quarantine at their respective homes right now and loves doing TikTok videos for fun? Hasbro is looking for someone who loves uploading TikTok videos while shooting stuff with Nerf guns.

It is a job that targets adults who are young at heart with a good sense of humor and good with shooting Nerf guns in the living room. The best part is the lucky fan will be paid to do it!

How to Apply as a NERF Chief Tiktok Officer

According to the Hasbro website (Click here to Apply), the company is looking for a NERF Chief TikTok Officer that is 18 years old and above to create TikTok videos using Nerf guns. Hasbro said that they are looking for a creator who is a Nerf enthusiast, a TikTok extraordinaire, has good comedic timing, and knows how to use a ring light.

The individual chosen for the NERF Chief TikTok Officer will find themselves lucky, as the company will pay him or her $10,000 a month for three months--a total of $30,000 to create TikTok videos, including unlimited supply of Nerf toys. The individual who will be hired for the job will upload 10-12 videos each month and have a weekly meet-up with Nerf's marketing team..

Applicants who want the NERF Chief TikTok Officer title must send a Nerf-related TikTok video using the hashtag #NerfApplication and tag @nerf between March 26 and April 2. Then, they need to follow @nerf on TikTok, and the applicants can review the company's job posting @nerf TikTok bio. After that, the company will have a required formal application and interview process for the selected finalist.

The NERF Chief TikTok Officer's duration and location will be a three-month at-will role. The company is looking for a creative person who can begin working from Mid-April through Mid-July.

Also, applicants who want the NERF Chief TikTok Officer title must be currently living in the US as the position is non-union.

Also Read: TikTok No Beard Filter Goes Viral With Over 87 Million Views: How to Use It?

However, competition will be high for people who are planning to apply for the position, as there will be thousands of applicants that want the role. If someone is willing to apply for the job, make sure that the video they send will be as creative as it can be.

PCMag reported that the role could possibly be a consistent contract position. If the company does like the hired content creator, it could extend the contract for more than just the specified three months..

A Real Gun Disguised as a Nerf Gun

On other related news, Deputies in North Carolina found a real gun concealed as a Nerf toy gun in a drug raid. The disguised weapon turned out to be a Glock model 19 pistol with a 50-round drum magazine altered to resemble a plastic Nerf gun that shoots foam projectiles.

The Sheriff's said on a Facebook post that the concealed Glock could be concerning Law Enforcement, as it is not illegal to carry a Nerf toy gun everywhere. It can be alarming to other officers of the force to see a Nerf gun in the streets..

Also, law enforcement said that the disguised weapon is a game changer to anyone, as it can lower the guard of policeman and other auhtorities if they see a person carrying a Nerf toy gun that it turns out to be a real gun that can hurt innocent people, as reported by Click Orlando.



Related Article: 'The Mandalorian' Sniper Rifle Nerf Gun: How to Pre-Order, Price, PLUS Other Release Details
TOKYO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cactus Communications (CACTUS), a technology company accelerating scientific advancement, is proud to announce that Haruko Isomura has been appointed to the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) Certification Board as Director for the Asia-Pacific region, effective January 1, 2021.

Haruko Isomura has been appointed to the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) Certification Board as Director for the Asia-Pacific region

Haruko currently serves as Account Director for Cactus Life Sciences, a CACTUS brand that offers scientific communication solutions to pharmaceutical, life sciences, and medical device companies. She became an ISMPP Certified Medical Publication Professional (CMPP) in 2018 and has since been instrumental in championing publication ethics among biopharmaceutical companies in Japan. With her appointment to the ISMPP Certification Board, Haruko hopes to leverage her network and expertise in life sciences publishing to strengthen the activities of ISMPP in the Asia-Pacific region.

Speaking on the appointment, Elvira D'souza, President, CACTUS Life Sciences, said, "It is an extremely proud moment for CACTUS that one of our own is chosen by the ISMPP Certification Board to represent the Asia-Pacific region. Haruko is a talented professional and I am sure she will excel in the additional responsibility and will be an asset to ISMPP. Her contribution to her new role will benefit the research community across the Asia-Pacific region and we at CACTUS wish her the very best."

Commenting on her appointment and responsibilities for the role, Haruko Isomura said, "I think it is essential for Asian countries to have more specific support to help authors understand publication guidelines and ethics in their local languages. ISMPP aims to bolster professional development among publication professionals all over the world and it is an honour to contribute to this cause."

About Cactus Life Sciences

Founded in 2010, Cactus Life Sciences (lifesciences.cactusglobal.com) helps pharma, biotech, and medical device organizations worldwide with content strategy, development, and dissemination. Cactus Life Sciences is a brand of Cactus Communications (cactusglobal.com), a technology company accelerating scientific advancement. CACTUS solves problems for researchers, universities, publishers, academic societies, and life science organizations through innovative products and services developed under the brands Editage, Cactus Life Sciences, R, Impact Science, UNSILO, and Cactus Labs. CACTUS has offices in Princeton, London, Aarhus, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai; a global workforce of over 3,000 experts; and customers from over 190 countries. CACTUS is considered a pioneer in its workplace best practices, and has been consistently ranked a great place to work over the last several years.

Media contact:

Indrani Das

[email protected]

755-905-9538

SOURCE Cactus Communications
Supreme Court rejects appeal from church threatened with closure by Chicago gov't

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The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a Chicago church that faced the threat of summary abatement and temporary closure for holding worship services in violation of coronavirus pandemic-related gathering restrictions.

Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church in Albany Park, which objects to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's past actions to close down churches during the COVID-19 pandemic, sued the state government to guarantee that it cant be closed by the governor in a future lockdown.

In an orders list released Monday morning, the nations high court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari, adding that Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the proceedings.

Last year, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, Pritzker issued orders limiting in-person worship services to no more than 10 people.

In May, as the orders were taking effect, Elim held services that followed social distancing guidelines, such as keeping attendees six feet apart and checking people's temperatures before entering their buildings.

The Chicago Department of Public Health sent a letter to Pastor Cristian Ionescu at the time, demanding that his church stop holding services that defy state orders. The city sent similar letters to other churches.

I appeal to you as a leader in your community and remain hopeful that you will work with me for the health, safety, and welfare of all Chicagoans, wrote Department Commissioner Allison Arwady last year.

If you continue to operate in defiance of the Executive Order, the city will pursue all available legal remedies  Any future gatherings conducted contrary to the order will be considered a failure to abate and the city will take steps necessary to abate, including Summary Abatement.

Elim Church and Logos Baptist Ministries filed legal action against the states stay-at-home orders, arguing that they infringed on their First Amendment rights.

By late May, Pritzker announced an easing of restrictions on houses of worship, including a change to the Phase III reopening plan that would allow churches to hold services with no more than 100 people or a 25% capacity, which is lower.

Having received many plans and ideas from responsible faith leaders, [Illinois Department of Public Health] has reviewed many detailed proposals and has provided guidance, not mandatory restrictions, for all faith leaders to use in their efforts to ensure the health and safety of their congregants," Pritzker said at the time.

The Liberty Counsel, which represents Elim, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, arguing that the church was still facing the threat of closure from the government.

The pastors and the Romanian churches are resolved to continue to fight for religious freedom," Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement Monday. "It is time to stop the abuse of the First Amendment once and for all.

The legal group said in a statement last week that although the state claims the case is "moot" since churches are meeting again in Illinois, "Pritzker continues to insist he can reimpose restrictions against churches at will."

And the Summary Abatement notice threatening to seize and destroy Elim Romanian Pentecostal's beautiful buildings still stands, meaning the city may still seize and bulldoze the church at any time," the statement adds.

Last week, Chicago released new guidelines for capacity restrictions for indoor and outdoor gatherings, both secular and religious, known as Phase IV.

According to the guidelines, houses of worship can hold indoor services at 50% capacity with no more than 50 people. Meanwhile, outdoor services have no capacity limit but must maintain six feet distances among attendees.

Last week, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump lifted restrictions on houses of worship in Washington, D.C., that limited in-person services to 25% of the building capacity or 250 people.

Judge Trevor McFadden clearly acknowledges that the First Amendment does not disappear because of Coronavirus, Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement.

Mayor Muriel Bowser has clearly discriminated against every church in D.C. while participating in a mass gathering of protestors with no limitations. This unequal treatment of churches is unconstitutional. We will continue the fight until religious freedom is totally restored.



The Supreme Court ruled last month in favor of California churches that sought relief from restrictions put in place by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The ruling allowed churches to restart indoor worship services at 25% capacity.
NURSING HOME VISIT GUIDELINES CHANGE: Booze takeout extended, COVID survivors' antibodies. The latest episode of Hot Zone, with a focus on Cuomo's new nursing home directive, COVID-19 antibodies, coronavirus numbers, and more. (Hot Zone) Posted by Staten Island Advance on Friday, March 26, 2021

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Gov. Andrew Cuomo loosened guidelines for visits to nursing homes, as Staten Island saw a disturbing number of borough residents hospitalized for COVID-19 on Friday.

But there was some good news for bar and restaurant owners.

Nursing home visitations will be permitted for all residents at all times, with the exception of unvaccinated residents living in areas where there is high community spread, low vaccination rates, residents who have confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) or residents in quarantine.

This replaces the states Feb. 23 guidance, which states a facility must be COVID-19 free for 14 days for visits to be allowed.

On Staten Island, there were 190 people in areas hospitals being treated for coronavirus, the highest number in more than a month.

Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that takeout and delivery of alcohol would be allowed to continue until April 6. There is a bill in the state Legislature to extend takeout and delivery booze for two years following the pandemic.

Walk-up service window at The Hop Shoppe, Stapleton, amid coronavirus pandemic, March 22, 2020. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

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 Mayor Bill 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.
Digital wallet and payments company MobiKwik, reportedly planning an initial public offering (IPO) around September this year to raise $200-250 million, on Monday denied claims that sensitive data of millions of its users has been leaked.

Independent cyber security researchers have claimed that a database containing details of nearly 3.5 million users of is up for sale on the Dark Web.

First tweeted by independent cyber security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia and then by French researcher Elliot Alderson on Monday, the alleged breach includes 8.2TB data containing users' phone numbers, emails, hashed passwords, addresses, bank accounts and card details.

MobiKwik, however, vehemently denied any such breach.

"Some media-crazed so-called security researchers have repeatedly attempted to present concocted files wasting precious time of our organisation as well as members of the media," the company said in a statement shared with IANS.

"We thoroughly investigated and did not find any security lapses. Our user and company data is completely safe and secure," the company added.

Alderson had tweeted: "Probably the largest data leak in history."

Rajaharia had claimed earlier that "11 crore Indian cardholder's cards' data including personal details and soft copy (PAN, Aadhaar etc) allegedly leaked from the company's server in India".

According to the researchers, the entire database is available for 1.5 Bitcoin (nearly $84,000) on the Dark Web.

The reports surfaced as last week raised $7.2 million in a funding round prior to the listing on the stock exchange, according to regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

According to Entrackr, Mobikwik's post-money valuation currently stands at $493 million with the latest funding round.

--IANS

na/vd

(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.)
Bauchi  The Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, has enjoined members of the Conference of Nigerian Speakers (CNS) to allow their legislative proceedings to be driven by technology in line with international best practices.

Mohammed gave the advice yesterday when he hosted the principal officers and members of the CNS to a state banquet and gala night at the Government House, Bauchi, after the conduct of their national meeting in Bauchi.

He said that members of the conference are so important in ensuring good governance in Nigeria and urged them to initiate knowledge driven policies for better delivery rather than focusing only on passage of budget and other executive bills.

The governor emphasised the need for collaboration between the NCS and the Nigerian Governor's Forum to enable them to contribute positive solutions to the numerous challenges facing the country.

He said: "I am highly delighted to be with you at this moment and to thank you for coming to witness our hospitality by attending this reception after spending many hours discussing Nigerian challenges."

"I want to use this medium to tell you that our politics in Bauchi is different with others because despite our party differences in the Bauchi State House of Assembly, I am very proud to inform you that I have enjoyed their tremendous support and that's why we have been able to achieved successes."

Mohammed pleaded with the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), to consider immediate suspension of their strike because their agitation for legislative autonomy is being addressed by critical stakeholders, including governors and the Presidency.

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He said: "No need for the workers of the House of Assembly in the country to go for strike because of the autonomy. I want them to give the speakers the benefit of doubt by coming back to work because what they are agitating for is on the table and being discussed at high level.

"Let me thank members of the CNS on behalf of the government and people of Bauchi State because we are grateful for selecting Bauchi Speaker to lead you and I congratulated the Speaker for his proactive leadership in handling the conference and we will continue to support him to succeed."

The Speakers of Delta, Enugu and Kogi States Houses of Assembly applauded the governor in their respective goodwill messages for his good synergy and understanding with the state assembly despite political differences.

They also commended his transformational agenda and appealed to him to continue to focus on the execution of people-oriented projects that would have direct impact on the lives of the people of the state.

"Your Excellency, we are not surprised, we have come and we have seen. With the little resources, you decided to embark on projects in housing scheme, water expansion project and road constructions among others," the speakers said.
General Assignment Reporter

Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012.
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Some Ghanaian celebrities have been appointed as Ambassadors for the COVID-19 National Trust Fund to assist the Board of Trustees in creating awareness about the COVID-19 protocols and raising funds to support infected and affected persons in the current global pandemic.



The COVID-19 National Trust Fund was established by an Act of Parliament (Novel Coronavirus) COVID-19 National Trust Fund Act, 2020 (Act 1013) with objectives to complement efforts of Government of Ghana to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by providing an opportunity for individuals, groups and corporate bodies to contribute monies and resources to fight against the pandemic.



The Trust Fund is specifically aimed at supporting the needy and vulnerable persons infected with the disease or affected by the pandemic as well as persons engaged in the combat of the disease.



Sources close to the Trust Fund reveal that the government has appointed five hardworking celebrities in the persons of actress and UTVs United Showbiz Presenter, Nana Ama Mcbrown, broadcasters Israel Laryea and Abeiku Aggrey Santana, actress Emelia Brobbey and music legend Reggie Rockstone.



The responsibilities of the Ambassadors are clear-cut.



The sources added that the Ambassadors are tasked to "participate in public events of the Trust Fund including fund raising and resource mobilization activities, sensitization campaigns, community engagements, advertisements and promotional programmes".



In furtherance of the effort to promote the Trust Fund, the Ambassadors are "to come up with initiatives and organize programmes, activities and events to help market and promote the Trust Fund, particularly fundraisers and educational programmes on vaccination and adherence to the COVID-19 protocols"  wearing mask, social distancing, regular hand washing with soap under running water, use of hand sanitizers among others.



It is also highly important to state that the Ambassadors work is "voluntary" and "non-political or partisan".

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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Danny Mac came very close to flashing his manhood in a shirtless snap with his pregnant wife Carley Stenson on Sunday.

The ex-Hollyoaks star, 33, uploaded a mirror selfie to Instagram wearing nothing but a very low pair of orange shorts, as he joked about his pending 'dad-bod'.

But Danny was spared from revealing too much as Carley, 38, protected his modesty by covering his crotch with her hand while brushing her teeth with the other.

Risque: Ex Hollyoaks star Danny Mac came very close to flashing his manhood in a shirtless Instagram snap with his pregnant wife Carley Stenson on Sunday

In the photo, the Strictly Come Dancing star proudly showed off his chiseled physique for the snap which was taken from the couple's bathroom.

The father-to-be gave a cheeky smile for the camera as he poked fun at his lack of a 'dad-bod' while his wife also laughed in amusement at her husband's antics.

The former Hollyoaks actress later reshared the pic to her Instagram Story, with three crying-with-laughter emojis.

Danny captioned the snap: 'Daddy-to-be: Pre-dad-bod. Stay tuned for progress... Mummy-to-be: Perfect as always '

Dad bod: The Strictly Come Dancing star proudly showed off his chiseled physique for the snap but was spared from revealing too much as Carley covered his crotch with her hand

The racy snap comes as the couple recently revealed they are expecting their first child.

Danny and Carley made the announcement in a sweet Instagram video on Mother's Day, in which they showed off a sonogram.

Sharing the identical video, they both captioned their posts: 'Possibly the greatest thing we've created since we put Nutella between two salt & vinegar Pringles.'

Proud parents to be: Danny and Carley recently revealed they are expecting their first child together (pictured in 2017)

The cute clip featured the words 'coming soon' before cutting to a photo montage of Danny and Carley laying out their hands next to their dogs' paws.

A sonogram picture then appeared on the hands, confirming the couple's good news.

It will be the first child for the couple, who began dating in 2011 and finally tied the knot in 2017 after six years of romance.

Creative: They made the announcement in a sweet Instagram video on Mother's Day, in which the couple showed off a sonogram

Making an announcement: The cute clip featured the words 'coming soon' before cutting to a photo montage of Danny and Carley laying out their hands next to their dogs' paws

Both stars are ex-Hollyoaks actors, Danny playing Mark Savage in the soap until 2015 and Carley portraying Steph Cunningham until 2011.

Since leaving the show Carley has gone on to carve out a career in musical theatre.

She appeared in West End musical Spamalot and played the lead in the UK tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Meanwhile, Danny was the highest scoring male celebrity on Strictly Come Dancing 2016, making the final with partner Oti Mabuse.

He missed out on the Glitter Ball trophy - which was taken that year by eventual champions Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton.

Dancing king: Danny was the highest scoring male celebrity on Strictly Come Dancing 2016, making the final with partner Oti Mabuse

Although there is always plenty of buzz about the the infamous Strictly curse (which has seen many a celebrity split from their partners during or shortly after competing) Danny insisted this was never an issue for himself and Carley.

Speaking to OK! Magazine during his stint on the show, he said there was no chance he'd ever be getting romantically involved with his pro partner Oti Mabuse, stating: 'It's not even an issue. Carley and I are stronger than we've ever been'

True to his word, the couple then wed the following year in a 'magical'ceremony.

Carley told OK! of her big day: 'I felt so calm yet so excited. I just couldn't stop smiling and giggling.

'It felt like our plan had come together perfectly and I was about to say "I do" to my best friend in front of everyone we loved. It was magical.'
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Monday and not separately reported by Alliance News:







SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust PLC - London-based investor in energy efficiency, solar, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure projects - Inks agreement with BP PLC's Chargemaster Ltd, operator of public electric vehicle charging points, also known as bp pulse. Says the agreement with bp pulse represents a significant step forward in the roll-out of national EV charging infrastructure, expected to result in the development and construction by Electric Vehicle Network of a "significant" number of rapid and "ultra-fast" EV charging locations, contracted through a 20-year, fixed price, energy service agreement. In early August last year, SDCL made an initial GBP50 million investment commitment to Electric Vehicle Network as its development partner in EV charging infrastructure.







Angus Energy PLC - UK-focused onshore oil and gas development company - Receives additional commitments of GBP3 million from Aleph Energy Ltd, now totalling GBP12 million, which completes funding sought for the Saltfleetby finance facility required to develop the Saltfleetby Gas Field in Lincolnshire, England. Angus operates Saltfleetby field and holds a 51% working interest with Saltfleetby holding the remaining 49%.







Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Ltd - private equity firm exclusively dedicated to investments in revenue generating music copyright assets - Says it is unlikely to complete by March 31 the investment regarding the acquisition of a 29% share in RH Carlin Holdings LLC, owned by Round Hill Fund One, a private fund whose investments are managed by Round Hill.







Abbey PLC - Hertfordshire, England-based building and property development, plant hire and property rental company - Confirms shares to be cancelled on AIM and Euronext Dublin on April 30.







Cora Gold Ltd - West Africa-focused gold explorer - Sees improved results from the re-analysis of drilling at Dako II at its flagship Sanankoro gold project in southern Mali. Says the re-analysis "delivered significantly enhanced results". "We are pleased by the enhanced results from the bottle roll analysis of last year's drilling at Dako II. Having over +3km of surface mineralisation still to be drilled at Dako II offers the potential for even more. Dako II is 7km south of our existing resources at Sanankoro and we hope to see this discovery turn into part of the future resources and mine plan for the Project. Drilling is ongoing at Sanankoro with first results from the recently commenced programme due during Q2 2021. Dako II will be drilled later in this campaign to follow up on these results," says Chief Executive Bert Monro.







Keras Resources PLC - London-based mineral resource company - Sees encouraging results from the Falcon Isle marketing campaign over the winter period which has reinforced management's confidence that 2021 sales targets will be met. Says Covid-19 travel restrictions, which prevented the plant manufacturer's engineer to be on site during construction, has slowed the construction timeline and the new Diamond Creek processing plant will now be commissioned in Q2 2021. Diamond Creek is a direct shipping ore and phosphate mine in Utah. "The demand for our range of products has been very encouraging and we are looking forward to a very busy period as we move in to Spring and the recommencement of mining operations," says Chief Executive Russel Lamming.







Kavango Resources PLC - exploration company focused on Botswana - Inks two agreements that would allow Kanye Resources Pty Ltd, a 50/50 joint venture between Kavango and Power Metal Resources PLC ,to acquire a 100% interest in eight prospecting licences in the Kalahari copper belt region in Botswana. Says Kanye has signed two separate agreements to purchase 100% of the eight licences. "The acquisition (subject to approvals in Botswana) of eight new prospecting licences is a major step forward in the development of Kanye Resources Plc as a significant player in the exploration for copper in the highly prospective KCB," says Kavango Chief Executive Michael Foster.







Power Metal Resources PLC - metal exploration and development company - Notes the acquisition of eight licences as outlined by Kavango Resources.







By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Attendees will also be presented with a broad overview of the problems and perceptions in the food industry, a bacteriophage solution, as well as practical applications of phage used during processing in a variety of food products.

This webinar will give results of the recent trial conducted in South Africa on 3 million chickens. The objective of this trial was to scientifically prove the efficacy of bacteriophages FO1a and S16 in the reduction of salmonella on white meat in the processing setting.

Ms. Najib Salim from RCL will give an overview of her experience in the food industry regarding microbiological risk mitigation in the food industry. Professor Frank Devlieghere of the University of Gent will guide us through an in-depth look at the future of food safety with phage science around the world. Professor Pieter Gouws from The Centre for Food Safety at Stellenbosch University will discuss the results of a recently completed trial in South Africa and the methodology used during this trail.

Mr. Izaak Breitenbach, CEO at the South African Poultry Association will discuss how he has seen bacteriophages innovation have an impact on the poultry industry, when used as a food processing tool.

Attendees will also be presented with a broad overview of the problems and perceptions in the food industry, a bacteriophage solution, as well as practical applications of phage used during processing in a variety of food products, including meats, poultry, dairy, vegetables and as an environmental tool to help eliminate biofilms.

Finally, a summary will be presented on how you can use phages as part of your health and safety protocol for any future recalls or contamination claims.

Register for the live webinar on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 4am EDT (9am BST/UK) to experience scientific proof of the power of phages as an additional tool for the food safety toolbox.

For more information, or to register for this event, visit Effect of Bacteriophages in Reduction of Salmonella on White Meat During Processing.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/


Nearly 16 years after murdering three young boys and a North Idaho family, a convicted child molester and killer has died of brain cancer while on death row.

Joseph E. Duncan died early Saturday at a hospital in Terra Haute, Indiana near the federal prison he was serving his sentence on federal death row, KXLY reported.

He was sentenced to death in 2007 for the Idaho murder of nine-year-old Dylan Groene, his brother Slade Groene, 13, his mother Brenda Groene, 40 and her fiance Mark McKenzie, 37. In 2011, he admitted murdering another young boy, ten-year-old Anthony Martinez.

Duncan's attorneys disclosed late last year that he had terminal brain cancer and did not have long to live. He lost the final appeal of his death sentence in 2019.

'The sun is a little brighter today,' said Diana Martinez, Anthony's mother. 'My soul is lighter. The world is a more beautiful place without the evil that is Joseph Duncan. God chose to make his end a long suffering and I believe that is fitting. The horror of his thoughts consumed him.'

Duncan was arrested following the brutal murders of the Groene family in May 2005.

The killer had broken into their Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, home, and kidnapped the two youngest; eight-year-old Shasta Groene and nine-year-old Dylan, before bludgeoning Brenda, Slade and Mark to death.

Joseph E. Duncan, pictured in a police booking photo in 2008, right, and in 2011, left, died Saturday of brain cancer in an Indiana hospital while serving a sentence on death row for several murders

VICTIMS: Anthony Martinez of Beaumont, California, (left) was murdered by Joseph Duncan in April 1997, Dylan Groene (right) was killed in 2005

Duncan held the children captive for weeks in a cabin in Montana, molesting and then killing Dylan before returning Shasta to a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene.

After his arrest, DNA evidence linked him to the April 1997 killing of Martinez of Beaumont, California.

Martinez was killed while Duncan was on parole for a rape charge in Washington. He was kidnapped while playing outside of his home and his body was found 15 days later.

Duncan was not suspected of the crime until after his arrest in Idaho and he was extradited to Southern California to be tried for the crime.

Brenda Groene, pictured in an undated photo, was killed along with her son, Slade Groene, and her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, by child molester Joseph Duncan

Steve Groene, left, with his daughter, 8-year-old Shasta Groene, in July 2005 in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho

Flowers were left at a memorial service for Dylan Groene in July 2005 in Post Falls, Idaho

An undated evidence photo shows the cabin in Montana where Joseph Duncan held Dylan and Shasta Groene and filmed his crimes

Slade Groene (left) and Mark McKenzie (right) were murdered by serial killer Joseph Duncan in 2005

Duncan was also linked to the killings of two young girls in Seattle in the 1990s.

In 2005, Duncan was accused of molesting a young boy on a playground in Minnesota. He posted a low bail and skipped town.

Duncan was driving to Washington, where his family lived, when he said he spotted the Groene children playing outside their home along Interstate 90.

He planned to kidnap the children, buying night vision goggles and stalking the family.

Duncan videotaped many of his crimes against the Groene children, leading a veteran investigator to say the footage shook him to his core.

'While I would've liked to witness his execution, knowing he is now standing before God being held accountable for what he has done, what he did to my son, and the horrible crimes he committed to others, that is the real justice,' Anthony Martinez's father, Ernesto, said.

Anthony's younger brother, Marcos, said there is now 'less evil in the world.'

'Nothing can bring my brother back, but now Duncan can never hurt anyone again. Because of him, I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to fight against any evil left in the world,' Marcos Martinez said.

'God has brought pure justice for all those Joseph Duncan has hurt,' he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed his new cabinet after being forced to make changes with two ministers on medical leave and the government engulfed in scandals stemming from the treatment of women.

Attorney-General Christian Porter and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds have both been stripped of their current portfolios and demoted - but will remain in cabinet.

Mr Porter took mental health leave after revealing he was the person accused in media reports of a historic rape in 1988, which he strongly denies.

Senator Reynolds, who is also on medical leave, recently came under heavy fire for her handling of Brittany Higgins' rape allegations in 2019.

Mr Morrison announced more female representation in cabinet, declaring on Monday he now has 'very capable women operating in very important portfolios'.

Michaelia Cash has been promoted to Attorney-General and Industrial Services Minister to replace Mr Porter, who lost his job as the nation's first law officer. He is now is the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.

Karen Andrews will replace Peter Dutton, who is also taking Mr Porter's role as leader of the house, as Home Affairs Minister. Mr Dutton will in turn replace Senator Reynolds as Defence Minister.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured on Monday) has unveiled his new cabinet, with the changes forced by Christian Porter and Linda Reynolds taking medical leave

Senator Michaelia Cash (pictured) has been promoted to attorney-general and industrial relations minister to replace Christian Porter

Anne Ruston is the minister for the newly created portfolio of Women's Safety, in addition to her current role in families and social services.

'I have always wanted to ensure there is a strong voice of women in my government, and there has been. I think what we are announcing today has gone further than that,' Mr Morrison said.

'Previous governments had a minister for women, who was expected to cover all issues that affect women... I don't think that is a constructive way to get outcomes for women.

'The whole government needs that. What I have done here is not have one, but many.'

Senator Reynolds will become Government Services Minister, replacing scandal-prone minister Stuart Robert, who will take over the workforce skills, employment and small business portfolios.

She was forced to apologise after it emerged she called Ms Higgins a 'lying cow'.

Senator Linda Reynolds (pictured) is no longer the Minister for Defence. Instead, she has been tasked with the role of Government Services Minister

Christian Porter (pictured) is no longer the attorney-general. He is now the Minister for Industry Science and Technology

KEY CHANGES TO CABINET - Christian Porter demoted from attorney-general and industrial relations minister to industry, science and technology - Linda Reynolds bumped from defence to government services and the NDIS - Peter Dutton moves from home affairs to defence and leader of the house - Karen Andrews moved from industry to home affairs - Melissa Price elevated into cabinet as defence industry minister - Michaelia Cash moves from employment and industry to attorney-general and industrial relations - Stuart Robert goes from government services to employment - Anne Ruston adds women's safety to social services - Jane Hume adds women's economic security to her role in the outer ministry OTHER CHANGES - One position has been added to the new Morrison cabinet, with the number of women at its highest level on record - Cabinet ministers' task force to deal with women's equality and safety Advertisement

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price has been returned to cabinet. The Prime Minister also announced a new cabinet task force to focus on women's equality, safety, economic security and health.

The new group will be led by Minister for Women Marise Payne and comprise all female ministers, along with the deputy prime minister, treasurer and finance minister.

'Minister Payne... is effectively, amongst her female colleagues, the prime minister for women, holding the prime ministerial responsibility in this area as the minister for women,' Mr Morrison said.

In the outer ministry, Jane Hume will add women's economic security minister to her other roles.

Queensland senator Amanda Stoker will become assistant minister for industrial relations and women.

Anne Ruston (pictured) is the minister for the newly created portfolio of Women's Safety, in addition to her current role as Minister for Families and Social Services

'These changes will shake up what needs to be shaken up while maintaining the momentum and the continuity and the stability that Australia needs,' Mr Morrison said.

The cabinet reshuffle comes as the latest Newspoll numbers confirm Mr Morrison's approval ratings have taken a hit as he struggles to deal with sexual assault and harassment allegations in parliament.

Mr Morrison now has an approval rating of 55 per cent, although it's nowhere near his lowest of 37 per cent during the 2019/20 bushfire crisis.
What are the key issues officials are investigating? The Greater London Authority probe will examine whether Mr Johnson breached the Nolan Principles of Public Life over his affair with Miss Arcuri. These require officials to behave with 'honesty and integrity'. The key lines of inquiry are: If Mr Johnson breached the Nolan Principles by failing to report the relationship. If the future PM gave Miss Arcuri 'preferential treatment' over - 126,000 in taxpayer' money she received in event sponsorship and grants. The majority 100,000, came in a government grant in 2019;

Mr Johnson's decision to speak at her technology events;

The privileged access she gained to three official overseas trade missions led by him. Advertisement

Number 10 today claimed Boris Johnson acted with 'honesty and integrity' over his relationship with Jennifer Arcuri as he faced a City Hall investigation into sensational new claims about their 'four-year affair'.

The PM's press secretary Allegra Stratton said Mr Johnson would co-operate with the standards committee probe as she insisted he had not broken rules governing the conduct of elected officials.

When Miss Stratton was asked this afternoon if Mr Johnson believed he behaved with honesty and integrity - a requirement of the Nolan Principles of Public Life - she replied 'yes'.

This weekend Miss Arcuri admitted for the first time to having an 'intimate relationship' with Mr Johnson - as she claimed she slept with him on a sofa at his marital home just minutes before his wife came home.

The 36-year-old US tech entrepreneur, who took a selfie in the kitchen of the 3.35million Grade-II townhouse during the visit, claims to have shared an 'intimate relationship' with the future PM between 2012 and 2016.

It is the first time Miss Arcuri has directly admitted to the affair, which happened while Mr Johnson was Mayor of London.

The London Assembly's oversight committee had already been investigating whether the 56-year-old breached the mayoral code of conduct by failing to declare the relationship, or abused his position to benefit his mistress.

In 2019, it emerged that she had been given 126,000 of public money and privileged access to three official overseas trade missions led by him, leading to claims he had abused his position to benefit her.

Today a City Hall source said the committee would now investigate the new evidence presented by Miss Arcuri this weekend.

The source told MailOnline that the new revelations in Miss Arcuri's interview with the Mirror were significant because it suggested there had been a 'substantial relationship' over a long period of time.

The source also noted that Miss Arcuri had said she believed Mr Johnson should have declared their relationship and said officials would be interested in this.

Last year the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) decided not to open a criminal investigation into the allegations, although officials said he should have reported the relationship.

The committee probe will take place after the May 6 elections. A spokesman for No 10 today told MailOnline it had 'nothing to add' to the claims. MailOnline has contacted the London Assembly for comment.

Jennifer Arcuri has claimed that she and Boris Johnson (together in 2014) had four-year affair where she sent him 'arty' topless pictures - but insists they had an 'intellectual attraction'

Mr Johnson with his former wife Marina Wheeler outside their flat before their divorce

In an interview, the former model revealed the couple would meet for weekly trysts and exchanged sexual messages.

In a bid to avoid getting taught, Miss Arcuri also told him to empty the bins after cutting her foot on the way to the house, and having to dispose of her tights.

Mr Johnson told her one raunchy photograph she sent him was 'enough to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window'.

Miss Arcuri claims in March 2016 she had sex with Mr Johnson on the sofa in the living room of his marital home, which he shared with his wife Marina Wheeler.

Messages between the pair reportedly show him texting her his Islington address, before telling her he wanted to 'check the coast is gonna be clear'.

That evening he cooked her cheesy pasta and they read Shakespeare's Macbeth, which was 'kind of foreplay routine we had', she said.

'After we made love I felt conflicted being there in his family home and seeing him like this but I couldn't help but love the feeling of being desired.'

She left just ten minutes before Miss Wheeler, a QC and the mother of four of his children, returned home from work.

Miss Arcuri, who is 20 years younger than Mr Johnson, had initially denied rumours of the affair when the scandal broke.

But in an interview with the Daily Mail in October, she admitted for the first time that they had been intimate.

The latest interview is her most explicit account yet of the lengths Mr Johnson went to pursue her and the extent of their affair.

Miss Arcuri was a business student when she met him at an event in 2011. A few months later she volunteered to help his 2012 campaign for re-election as mayor.

She said there was an 'obvious spark' when he recognised her on his 'Boris Bus' campaign vehicle and they exchanged numbers.

Ms Arcuri claims the pair first had sex in her flat on Shoreditch High Street, where she had pole dancer's apparatus installed, just hours before he attended the opening of the 2012 London Paralympics

Weeks later he texted her asking to go for a private drink.

She told how he 'showed up late, dishevelled and chaotic' and walked in with his bike helmet still on.

She said: 'He went to the bar and came back within a minute and said, 'Jennifer can I borrow 3.10?'

'On their second date some weeks later, he was ''very forthright'' and told her: 'I can't stop thinking about, I want to date you, I really like you.'

She said he stroked her leg under the table and 'begged to go home' with her but was 'frustrated' when she refused and 'biked off in a huff'.

Outside the restaurant, despite posing for selfies with members of the public 'he screamed, 'Kiss me!' And I said, 'Mr Mayor, I do not kiss politicians on the street'.

He said, 'This is my city, I don't care'.'

They first had sex at her flat in Shoreditch, east London - where she had installed a dance pole - on August 29, 2012, she said, just before the Paralympics ceremony.

Afterwards, Mr Johnson, who had turned up in his mayoral suit with Olympic badges, 'was very clearly distraught because he wanted to stay. I think I couldn't even find his sock - it was just the most bizarre experience'.

Despite sitting beside Miss Wheeler - the mother of four of his children - and senior royals during the televised event, which was also attended by Princess Anne, Prince William and Kate Middleton, he continued to text and call her all evening.

She also claimed she sent an 'arty' picture of herself topless with the snapshots being from professional shoots

They met regularly over the next four years, she said.

'He'd say, 'You are the most beautiful woman, I can't stop thinking about you... Of course I love your body, and your face, and your breasts, but you are a very clever woman'.'

She told how she once sent Mr Johnson an 'arty' pin-up picture of herself topless by a fireplace.

His enthusiastic reply was a quote from Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely: 'It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.'

Miss Arcuri ended the affair in 2016. Mr Johnson's marriage to Miss Wheeler ended in 2018 when the then Foreign Secretary began an affair with his current fiancee Carrie Symonds, 33.

Last year the Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had found no evidence Mr Johnson had committed a criminal offence of misconduct in public office - but he may still face a GLA inquiry.

Ms Arcuri maintains that she was invited on trade trips in her own right as a member of the London tech-scene.

But she slammed Mr Johnson as a 'cowardly, wet noodle' for not standing by her during the fallout.

The Prime Minister has previously never confirmed or denied that the pair were involved in an affair.


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They were unable to celebrate the festive season in style in Melbourne last year, due to restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But Rebecca Judd and Nadia Bartel more than made up for it on Sunday, as they threw a belated Christmas party to celebrate tanning company Spray Aus at the Cumulus Inc. restaurant on Flinders Lane.

The genetically blessed duo were joined by the brand's founders Ellie Pearson and Emily McKay, who looked cheerful despite her break-up with AFL star Majak Daw in December.

WAGs gone wild! Rebecca Judd (right) and Nadia Bartel (left) enjoyed a belated Christmas party with their pals on Sunday to celebrate their tanning company Spray Aus

Bec, 38, oozed sex appeal in a short pink mini-dress, which showed off her tiny waist and sun-kissed pins to perfection.

She teamed her look with a pair of low-heel sandals, and accentuated her striking features with dewy foundation and peach lip gloss.

Nadia, 35, looked nothing short of sensational in a crochet top which plunged down to her naval, showing a glimpse of her toned physique underneath.

Wowza! Bec, 38, oozed sex appeal in a short pink mini-dress, which showed off her tiny waist and sun-kissed pins. Pictured (L-R) Emily McKay, Nadia Bartel, Rebecca Judd and Ellie Pearson

Stunner: Nadia, 35, looked nothing short of sensational in a crochet top which plunged down to her naval, showing a glimpse of her toned physique underneath

All smiles: The ladies posed up a storm with Emily (left), whose two-year relationship with AFL star Majak Daw ended in December, just one year after they welcomed their first child together

She completed her look with a pair of white trousers and stiletto heels.

The ladies posed up a storm with Emily, whose two-year relationship with Majak ended around the festive season, just one year after they welcomed their first child together.

She beamed in an ab-flashing white shirt, which she teamed with a flowing skirt.

Shock break-up: Emily split from AFL star Majak Daw (left) in December

Joy: The group of women celebrated the popular tanning brand, which was founded in 2014

Beaming: The ladies appeared in very high spirits as they gathered to celebrate the brand

Spray Aus co-founder Ellie looked gorgeous in a black jumpsuit and heels.

They were joined by an array of jaw-dropping women, who were all there to celebrate the popular tanning brand which was founded back in 2014.

They sat down for a lavish meal, with oysters as a main dish while Aperol Spritz and champagne appeared to be flowing throughout.

Fancy! They sat down for a lavish meal, with oysters as a main dish while Aperol Spritz and champagne appeared to be flowing throughout
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30)  President Rodrigo Duterte wants to speed up the vaccination of health workers so the national government can proceed in inoculating other sectors in the COVID-19 vaccine priority list.

"They must go now. They must look for a way to have the vaccine ahead of time," Duterte said during the weekly Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases meeting on Monday.

Some 1.7 million medical frontliners in private and public health facilities are at the top of the national government's vaccine priority list. Some 668,018 health workers have been vaccinated as of Monday afternoon, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

Duterte emphasized that medical professionals who are not actively engaged in COVID-19 response are not part of the priority list .

"Let's be frank. The 1.2 million doses that arrived today will just be enough for the frontliners the health workers and all those connected with the efforts in fighting COVID-19," the President said, referring to the China-made Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses which the government bought and arrived in the country on Monday.

Next in the vaccine priority list are senior citizens aged 60 years old and above, whom Galvez said will start to be vaccinated by April 1. Some local government units in Metro Manila have already started to inoculate their elderly residents.

Also part of the national government's vaccine priority list are persons with comorbidities, frontline personnel in essential sectors identified by the IATF, and other members of the indigent population.

Duterte suggested merging all categories so the national government can begin vaccinating the rest of the population.

The country started to inoculate healthcare workers last March 1 using the donated doses from the Chinese government and the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 00:44:31|Editor: huaxia

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Workers load North Macedonia's first batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines received through the UN-backed Covax program, at Skopje's International Airport in Skopje, North Macedonia, March 28, 2021. (Photo by Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua)

SKOPJE, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of 24,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived at the Skopje International Airport on Sunday, Health Minister Venko Filipce said.

Filipce, who welcomed the shipment at the airport together with representatives of foreign embassies in the country, declared that around 20,000 elderly people over the age of 70 who suffer from chronic diseases will be inoculated first.

Filipce thanked foreign representatives for the assistance provided in the transport of the vaccines, which are part of COVAX, a global vaccine equity mechanism.

According to Filipce, the vaccines will first be stored in the capital city of Skopje and later will be distributed across the country.

The minister said that an additional shipment of 76,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines is expected to arrive in the country through the COVAX mechanism by the end of April.

To date, according to the Health Ministry, the total tally of coronavirus cases in North Macedonia amounts to 126,230, with 104,345 recoveries and 3,642 fatalities.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some 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
Felecia Smith doesnt want to grow old in the room she calls home in the Tenderloin. She dreams of one day having her own apartment in a safe neighborhood  a long shot in San Franciscos impossibly pricey housing market.

Smith, 59, pays nearly half her income to live in one of the citys permanent supportive housing units, which help the formerly homeless. While shes thankful for the roof over her head, she said the neighborhood shes loved for four decades is becoming untenable, with drug dealers harassing her on the sidewalk.

Its getting pretty dangerous, said Smith, who has bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders and is on permanent disability. If they dont clean up down here, I need to get out.

As people like Smith grapple with their limited options, Mayor London Breed is working on the citys biggest expansion of permanent supportive housing in 20 years  one that includes more choice and could place more people outside of neighborhoods like the Tenderloin. Part of that plan includes a relatively new approach: Giving out 1,100 rental vouchers that allow homeless people to, in theory, live in apartment buildings around the city or elsewhere in the Bay Area.

Those who use the program, called flexible housing subsidies, also have a case manager to help connect them to needed services, such as drug treatment, therapy or someone to help them settle a dispute with their landlord. That could be a welcome opportunity for people like Smith.

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

The special vouchers are part of the mayors Homelessness Recovery Plan, announced in July amid intense pressure to address the citys highly visible homeless crisis. Frustration among businesses and residents reached a crescendo in the Tenderloin last summer, when UC Hastings College of the Law sued the city over an explosion of tents in the neighborhood.

In addition to the vouchers, the plan includes constructing 1,500 new units of supportive housing by 2025. But building anything in San Francisco is a challenge, and it can take years  and about $700,000  to create a single unit. Thats why the mayors team is also focusing on placing people in existing apartments, and bringing the services to them.

Its a way to more quickly get house keys into peoples hands, said Emily Cohen, director of strategy for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

The tactic is widely used around the country, but relatively new to San Francisco. Officials hope the approach will also get people away from neighborhoods like the Tenderloin and SoMa, where some supportive housing buildings are run-down and bug-infested, with drug use common.

At the same time, however, some experts and advocates worry that the voucher program leaves vulnerable people at the whims of private landlords and also wont provide enough services to those who struggle with mental health and drug use.

So far, the city has secured $6.5 million from a 2018 business tax for about 340 out of a total goal of 1,100 vouchers. The nonprofit Tipping Point Community created an $11 million fund last summer to launch the program. The rest will need to be funded through the upcoming budget process  and every year thereafter  which will cost about $41 million annually.

Under the voucher program, people must pay 30% of their income in rent and the city makes up the rest, up to $1,800. Each persons case manager will check on them at least once a month, or as needed. Thats different from the current model where people live in buildings dedicated to people who have physical or mental disabilities and also have access to on-site staff.

Margot Kushel, director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at UCSF, said while the city can choose to provide lighter staffing in the scattered sites, it does not necessarily have to be that way  and is often not the case in other parts of the country.

While she said its unquestionable that some people do better with a case manager in the building, she added that the program has been successful around the country when paired with adequate services.

You cant just put someone in a building and forget about them, she said. If youre going to do (the flexible housing program), you need to be really prepared to support the person.

About 100 people have moved into units so far, in neighborhoods including Glen Park, North Beach, Hayes Valley, the Presidio and the Bayview. As Breed looks to expand the existing program and also secure ongoing funding for it, the stakes are high.

Not only are there hundreds sleeping in tents and on the sidewalks, but nearly 2,000 people who moved into hotel rooms at the beginning of the pandemic need to find permanent shelter. Breeds homeless department has promised that anyone who moved into the hotels before November would not go back out to the streets when the program ends, likely in the fall.

Stephany Ashley, the Northern California director of housing services at Brilliant Corners, which helps run the citys voucher program, said the city needs to quickly ramp up the program so it can take advantage of the relatively weak housing market.

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

Rents nosedived due to the pandemic but have now plateaued. The current median rent for a one-bedroom in San Francisco is over $2,600  the most expensive in the country.

What is happening in the market is temporary, and thats why we feel an urgency to get people into housing now, she said. We might not see the vacancy rates that we see now, possibly ever again.

Carol Galante, professor of affordable housing and urban policy at UC Berkeley, said that while subsidies are worth doing to get people off the streets and out of shelters and into housing, they do nothing to increase the overall supply of homes.

In addition to the 1,100 flexible vouchers, the city has also contracted with three hotels in the Tenderloin, where it will provide another 340 subsidized units.

But even as the city expands its stock of permanent supportive housing, nearly 10% of the citys current units are vacant. Officials largely blame a confusing system used to match people to housing, and they say they are working to fix it.

Juthaporn Chaloeicheep, who was homeless and drug addicted for two decades before moving into permanent supportive housing in 2014, said she hopes any housing, whether new builds or leased apartments, is clean and safe.

She also said many people she knows need intensive services  which people under the subsidy program will likely still receive, but not on site and around the clock.

You cant just put people from homelessness to housing. They have mental health issues, they have drug addiction issues, she said. Youre never going to get rid of the homeless problem in San Francisco if you think building housing is it.

Trisha Thadani and Mallory Moench are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com, mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani, @mallorymoench

FashionNovacares



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Good for her.

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I absolutely love her, but oh my I am so sick of celeb donations and GoFundMe's and people asking for donations, not because I'm heartless and I don't want to donate to causes because I do, but because our government should fucking do something. gun control please. PLEASE.

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Especially when it comes to gun control.

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mte. it's so sick that relying on crowdfunding to get by has just become the norm because the government is fine to let us wallow without it

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One side of the political aisle has more energy to scream about Lil Nas X giving satan a lap dance in CGI hell than to address the back to back mass shootings that just happened.

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Its fucked, we shouldnt have to crowdfund for shooting victims and healthcare expenses and yet its like a default course of action now. Really wish GFM didnt have to exist.

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I think bowen yang said it the best on snl. I think bowen yang said it the best on snl.

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Sadly, in our country, it's all pay-to-play. Your letters, your emails, your calls, your marching all go unheard (And I say this as someone who still does these things). Unless you can get a physical seat in their offices and make significant campaign donations/have high-profile lobbyists, you're not going to influence their policy/lawmaking. It sucks. But it also explains why lobbies (both good and bad) with money get the laws on the books that they want, regardless of whether it's actually beneficial to constituents or not.

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That's very kind of her.

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our government doesn't give a flying fuck about anyone who isn't white and wealthy

biden can say he cares and is trying, but we all know nothing is going to change

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I'm glad she's doing this.

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that's awesome

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Bless 

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$50,000 isn't much for a millionaire, but at least she is doing something I guess

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I'm all for eating the rich but I don't think she's quite at the millionaire point yet.



She seems like a sweet woman who wants to do her bit to make the world a better place (wish she'd not partied during Covid but still, people mess up and she seems nice).

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she's definitely a millionaire. but yeah not like uber-rich

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It matters less that it's not a lot for a millionaire. It's a lot to the organization who can use it immediately to help those who need those resources now. It's not fair to talk about donations like a tax of the donator's total net worth when the the core of it comes down to the Government's mismanaged funds and misplaced priorities.



Megan's solidarity with the Asian community means a lot, especially right now when the media is more focused on diluting the real issue by pitting minorities against each other.

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This is very kind of her.

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you know what? it's about time more prominent people start supporting stopasianhate.



reading comments from theshaderoom, balleralert and other predominantly black community igs really has me messed up mentally and emotive.



i don't even want to look at meg's ig post comments cuz i already know the same anti-asian comments will be there.



even when they post, it's always 'do you support asians?' and then every comment is telling asians to hold their own nuts or they bring up the anti-blackness in the asian community as a reason for them not standing up to injustice and racial violence.



they never post anything in support. they just post the violent videos and tell asians that they deserve it.



people need to start seeing how much asian hate is being thrown around on social media and from every community.



my bf deleted instagram from my phone because he saw how all of these comments are affecting me and its been so freeing not waking up to another video of another senseless act of violence against another asian.



i hate all this asian vs black rhetoric in the media, saying asians never stood with black americans when the opposite is true, since asians and black americans have fought against inequality together since the 1800s and especially since i have marched for blm since its inception and have supported the black community in every way.



all of the asian vs black shit going on only radicalizes a new generation of racial hate and it needs to stop.



We need to stand together against racial violence.

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I really don't want to what about ist you but this energy expended towards what black people are or not doing is very heavy for us as well you know and is really accusatory. Especially since the perpetrator is white?? Like, Megan is one of the few non-asian celebrities to donate just generally. And I'm confused as to why baller alert, the shaderoom and other black social media sites that are just as a vile towards other black people should be a measure of our activism and concern for anti asian racism especially when, historically speaking, black american and asian-american solidarity has plateaud in the last, like, 20 years. That's like saying how white people don't care about racism based on what TMZ or Sharon Lester comments/viewers are saying online (which we clearly don't need to determine whether they do or not, they don't). Like, issues of gentrification, xenophobia, racism, poverty, etc are very deep between these two groups and I just think a lot of y'all are like glossing over this even though like you said racial violence should be the focus right now but very much paints the reaction to this and all of the other incidences that went down this past year between black and asian people.

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i don't mean it to be accusatory in any way. I'm just stating what i see and how it's affecting me.



it's not just those pages that have the comments, its all over social media and it keeps being dismissed as if it's not a big deal.



there needs to be a dialoguem

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That's really awesome. I wish I was in a position to donate more instead of being a broke-ass grad student.

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This is great to see. The whole thing has me so stressed and sad and angry. I started following more aapi support accounts but a lot of them I've noticed are just straight up posting violent beatings and the first thing I woke up to was a (*TW*violence*TW*TW*idk how to do it!) video of an asian man being beat & choked unconscious on a subway in manhattan and everyone around (like 5 men!!) we're just watching say "oh man" while women were screaming to stop and its like wtf why did those men just sit there? why didn't they help? they could've easily taken him on. and they just let him walk away? it was so fucking horrible. I've had to mute the account and multiple others cause its almost like they're post violence/trauma porn? I get the point of wanting people to be fully aware of whats going on but its just kind of traumatizing

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i saw that video, i was literally on that train the same day, im not sure what time that incident took place. but i was like the subway was so fucking full and no one did ANYTHING and let the attacker walk off like nothing happened. im so mad and so sad about it.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed calls to remove disgraced Queensland MP Andrew Laming from the Coalition party room after a female Liberal senator said she would feel uncomfortable if he returned.

Dr Laming, a long-time Liberal MP, is accused of trolling two female constituents online and taking a photo of a young Brisbane woman while she was bending over with her underwear visible.

A move by Andrew Laming to the crossbench would send the Coalition into minority government. Credit:Andrew Meares

He has publicly apologised and is currently on medical leave, seeking counselling and empathy training and will not contest his suburban Brisbane seat of Bowman at the next election.

Several government sources told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Dr Lamings replacement needed to be a highly qualified female candidate, with Queensland senator Amanda Stoker, who was appointed assistant minister for industrial relations on Monday, emerging as a potential replacement.
Preliminary information from the Cook County medical examiners office said the driver of each vehicle was a woman, but their names and ages had not been released Monday. State police at first said the driver of the Honda may have been a man but later confirmed she was a woman. The driver of the Infiniti was a 21-year-old woman from Melrose Park, and her passenger was a 26-year-old man from Berwyn, according to state police, who corrected earlier information the passenger was a woman.
Security forces in Myanmar unleashed machine guns and grenades on protesters Sunday, a day after the armys slaughter of more than 100 protesters sparked demands for international action and marauding troops n Mandalay burned a night watchman alive while shooting at people who tried to help him.

The fallout from eight weeks of increasingly violent army attacks on civilians since the Feb. 1 military takeover spilled across the border into Thailand, where 3,000 villagers in southeastern Karen state fled after air attacks by the army killed three in a district controlled by an ethnic armed group, aid groups said.

The 13 deaths in Yangon, Sagaing, Mandalay and other regionsfollowing Saturdays killing of 114 people, including six childrenpushed the death toll since the coup to over 450 people, as international condemnation poured in along with calls for action to halt the violence.

We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions, said a statement by the defense chiefs of Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Britain, and the United States.

The United States will continue to promote accountability for the coup and the abhorrent violence committed by the Burmese military regime. We call on all countries to speak with one voice against the brutal violence by the regime against the people of Burma, said State Department Spokesman Ned Price in Washington.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thailand-based NGO, said it had confirmed 459 deaths and 2559 arrests as of Sunday, with 119 people in hiding. RFAs confirmed death toll surpassed 400 people at the weekend.

Witnesses to grisly burning of neighborhood watch volunteer Aye Ko, a 42-year-old father of four children, said he was shot in the chest as he observed police and the military arrive at the scene of a fire at a local government office.

Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade they burn to make defense line during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Credit: AP

Only bones were left

A witness said the man was still alive and screaming for help when soldiers threw him onto a pile of burning tires, but non-stop gunfire prevented onlookers from coming to his aid.

They dragged him and threw him into the burning flames, said a local woman who witnessed the incident in Mandalay, Myanmars second largest city.

Only bones were left by the fire. It was a very inhumane, wild and cruel act. They burned him alive, she said.

This inhumanity is a tactic of the junta to create a climate of fear among the people, said AAPP in a blog post. The group said some 60 houses in Mandalay were destroyed by fire and people in nearby neighborhoods were prevented from helping when the junta shot at them.

RFA was able to confirm the killing of nine protesters in Sagaing region, two in Mandalay Region, and one each in Bago, Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions.

In the commercial center and former capital Yangon, police and the military used sound bombs, teargas and live grenades in crackdown on protests near a railway stop in the citys Hlaing township, residents said.

They came in by train in the morning, around five or six soldiers at Thiri Myaing Station. Then they started shooting, said a local witness. Soon after, they started using teargas and grenades.

One of the protesters picked (a grenade) up and tried to throw it back, but it exploded in the air and he lost his hand, while other man was hit in the thigh ad others nearby were also hit with shrapnel, the witness added.

They were shooting in and out, street by street, he said. They came in from all direction, around 100 soldiers.

Villagers shelter in the open in fear of military airstrikes, in Deh Bu Noh, in Karen state, March 27, 2021, Credit: Free Burma Rangers via AP

3,000 seek haven in Thailand

The relentless killings and brutal crackdown did not stop protest marches in Monywa, Myaing, Salay, Dawei, Mandalay, Sal and several other towns.

We faced two attacks today, said a protester in Myitkyina, the Kachin state capital. They were shooting at all the gatherings using rubber bullets.

In Karen state, several thousand villagers fled to nearby Thailand on Sunday after the military launched air strikes on camps of the Karen National Union (KNU), whose fighters had seized an army outpost, killing 10 people.

The International Karen Organisation said Myanmar military fighter jets bombed Karen territory for the first time since the early 1990s, killing at least three people and driving more than 1,000 local people into hiding in the jungle.

Reuters news agency quoted the Karen Womens Organization as saying more than 3,000 Karens crossed to Thailand. The agency cited the Thai Public Broadcasting Service as reporting that about 3,000 had reached Thailand.

The KNU, which was part of a 2015 ceasefire with the government that has been thrown into uncertainty by the coup, has been sheltering hundreds of people who have fled violence in central Myanmar, Reuters said.

The weekend carnage showed that "Myanmars security forces need to be urgently stripped of the weapons, money and resources that enable them to operate, through a global arms embargo and targeted economic sanctions enforced by a UN Security Council mandate," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

"Its time for the international community to do more than issue toughly worded statements when the Tatmadaw and police are shooting dead children in their homes and protesters on their streets," he said early Sunday in a statement from Bangkok.

Memorial for a shooting victim from a violent crackdown on anti-coup protesters in Mandalay, March 27, 2021.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Kyaw Min Htun. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League

March 29, 2021

NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /Standard Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on children who want to change their sex:

It is all the rage among elites in many quarters to sanction sex transitioning for minors. It is time to call this madness for what it is--child abuse. The damage that is being done is incalculable. Consider what this process involves.

Puberty blockers are used to facilitate the sex transition process. These medications stop the normal estrogen or testosterone progression in girls and boys during puberty, affecting vocal chord changes, the development of breast tissue, brain development and the like. So little is known about the long-term effects of puberty blockers that some doctors say we are dealing with a "blank slate."

Children who want to continue physically transitioning by taking hormones create a real challenge for doctors, never mind the child. The physical changes are irreversible. Minors who transition are at risk later in life for heart disease, diabetes and blood clots. Taking the hormones of the opposite sex can also reduce fertility. Are adolescents really capable of making these permanent life-altering decisions?

The mental problems associated with sex reassignment are multiple, and they are so serious as to make one wonder what kind of health professional would countenance it. Adults who undergo the transitioning are at risk not only for depression, but suicide. It will not due to say that these maladies are a function of the lack of support these people receive. If that were the case, why do transgender people suffer from high rates of suicide in places like Sweden where they are totally accepted?

If adults are at risk mentally following sex reassignment, we can only guess what minors are likely to be faced with down the line. Do those who profit from their "services" even care?

Dr. Rachel Levine is a man who now identifies as a woman. He was chosen by President Biden to be his new assistant health secretary. Given his status, both physical and professional, it is important to know what his position on sex transitioning is. [Note: Many insist that a biological man who transitions to a woman should be called "she" or "her," and that the correct term is gender transitioning, not sex transitioning. But they don't count. Truth counts.]

When Roger Severino was director of the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Trump administration, he asked Levine a question that even an elementary student could answer. "What does it mean to be male or female?" The good doctor couldn't answer.

At the Senate hearing for Levine, Sen. Rand Paul asked him a pointed question. "Dr. Levine, do you believe that minors are capable of making a life-long changing decision as changing one's sex?" Levine dodged the question saying, "Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field."

Paul followed up with another question. "Do you support the government intervening to override the parent's consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and/or amputation surgery for breasts and genitalia?" Levine dodged the question again saying, "Senator, transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field."

Levine is not alone in refusing to answer such basic questions. At the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Xavier Becerra, Biden's nominee to head HHS (he has since been confirmed), Sen. James Lankford said, "The vast majority of Americans do not believe that a nine-year-old child can consent to puberty blockers or that a thirteen-year-old girl can consent to a double mastectomy." He then asked Becerra what his position was on such matters. The best Becerra could promise is that he would follow the law.

Is President Biden aware that these men think it is okay for minors to switch their sex? Absolutely. He himself says that little kids should be afforded the chance.

Last October, during a town hall conversation, Biden was asked by a mother of a transgender child what he would do to help people like her and her child. "The idea that an 8-year-old child, a 10-year-old child decides, you know, 'I want to be transgender, that's what I think I'd like to be, it'd make my life a lot easier'--there should be no discrimination."

Does Biden believe that parental consent should be required before a minor can elect to sex reassignment? We do not know, but we do know that parental consent is already being ignored in some places, leading to lawsuits.

Most children who seek to transition, if given time, will change their minds. What they are experiencing is not normal.

According to Dr. Paul McHugh and Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer, two prominent psychiatrists who are experts in this field, the idea that "a person might be 'a man trapped in a woman's body' or 'a woman trapped in a man's body'--is not supported by scientific evidence." We need to help young people who suffer from this disorder to get better, not get deeper into trouble.

Once the boys and girls are subjected to the treatments, it is too late. Unfortunately, Biden is stacking his administration with those who are ratifying his twisted vision of the sexes.

It's time we put an end to this child abuse.

Boris Johnson has appealed for the public to show caution when meeting relatives and friends in the coming days, as his chief medical officer warned that there will be an uptick in coronavirus cases due to the relaxation of controls coming into effect today.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister said that the graphs for infection among the younger age groups were curling up like an old British Rail sandwich, three weeks from the reopening of schools in England on 8 March.

But Mr Johnson stressed that he had seen nothing in the data to suggest that the government should delay its roadmap towards the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions on 21 June.

As thousands across England took advantage of new freedoms to meet in groups of up to six people or two households and take part in outdoor sports, Mr Johnson said it was inevitable there would be more infections, hospitalisations and deaths, particularly if the third wave of the virus currently sweeping the continent of Europe reaches the UK.

The prime minister confirmed that a deal had been done with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to provide fill and finish capacity for the Novavax vaccine at its Barnard Castle facility to deliver up to 60 million UK-manufactured doses, subject to regulator approval.

Despite increasing levels of vaccination in the population, with more than 30 million people having received their first jab, chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance advised against hugging at outdoor family reunions over Easter.

Read more:

While most elderly people have received their first, if not their second, jab, the vaccination will not be 100 per cent effective for all, they explained. And the virus can still be expected to be circulating among younger people who have not been vaccinated, even if it does not give them symptoms or cause hospitalisation and serious illness.

Prof Whitty explained: As there is gradual unlocking in the way the prime minister has described, it is inevitable that there will be some increase in the number of cases because the people who are most likely to catch and to transmit Covid are in that younger unvaccinated group.

It will not be until vaccinations have been given to the people around vulnerable individuals  as well as the vulnerable people themselves  that social-distancing guidelines can safely be phased out, he explained.

There were already signs of an increase in infections among children of school age following the reopening of educational establishments in England earlier this month, said Prof Whitty.

But he said the impact should be modest if people continue to follow social-distancing guidelines.

Yes, there is a high likelihood that there will be some uptick as a result of the relaxations today, and that was anticipated right from the beginning of trying to lay out where the roadmap would go, he said.

But if people stick to social-distancing rules and they are outside, the risk of transmission is massively lower than if they are very close together and inside.

As the lockdown is gradually relaxed, Mr Johnson said it will be vital for the public to be sensible in sticking to government advice, which was today revised to read hands, face, space, fresh air in reflection of growing scientific evidence that outdoor contacts are far safer than indoor.

Asked if he could categorically rule out another lockdown, the prime minister said: Yes, if everybody continues to obey the guidance with sufficient caution and we continue to work together to keep the virus under control and get it down in the way that we have

And yes, if the vaccine rollout continues and the vaccines continue to be as effective as it looks as though they are.

Those are the two conditions that would have to be to be satisfied.

He added: Im hopeful. I dont see anything in the data right now that would cause us to deviate from the roadmap but weve got to remain humble in the face of nature and weve got to be prepared to do whatever it takes to protect the British public, which has been our approach throughout.

Mr Johnson said that April will be the second dose month as the NHS focuses its vaccine drive on boosting the immunity of the most vulnerable groups who had their first jabs in January and February.

What we need to do is to continue flat out to build the immunity of our population, build our defences against that wave when it comes, he said.

And he added: We dont know exactly how strong our fortifications now are, how robust our defences are against another wave.

We have seen what is happening with our European friends. Historically, at least there has been a time lag and then we have had a wave ourselves.

Thats why I stress the importance of everybody maintaining the discipline people have shown for so long.
Maputo  At least 7 victims are among the people who fled from the Amerula Hotel in a convoy that was attacked, in an ambush, by armed terrorists. This was announced by a spokesman for the Mozambican army, which has carried out an operation to free the people trapped in the hotel in Palma, a city in northern Mozambique, attacked by a group of at least 100 jihadists.

The assault on Palma began on the evening of March 24, when a jihadist outpost infiltrated the town, located near an important gas installation worth over 60 billion euros. Although the assault itself began on March 25, when more than 100 militiamen savagely attacked the civilian population, most of whom took refuge in the forest. Some of the victims may have been beheaded.

Some 190 people, mostly foreign technicians working in the nearby Afungi gas field, took refuge in the Amerula hotel, protected by a handful of Mozambican soldiers, supported by artillery helicopters from a South African private military company (see Fides, 27/3/2021).

The following day, a convoy of 17 vehicles tried to escape from the city, but they were stopped in an ambush, and only 7 vehicles manage to escape. The city was set on fire by the jihadists. On Sunday, 28 March, 1,300 people were evacuated by sea from the Afungi gas site. And now, on the fourth day of the siege in Palma, the situation remains uncertain as rescue operations continue.

Palma is part of the province of Cabo Delgado, ravaged by the violence of thte jihadists since 2017.

"We trust that Jesus will put an end to the sufferings of our province of Cabo Delgado, so that this war that no one understands and tramples on everyone, ends as soon as possible", said His Exc. Mgr. Antonio Juliasse Ferreira Sandramo, Auxiliary Bishop of Maputo and Apostolic Administrator of Pemba, capital of the province, in his homily on Palm Sunday.

The Bishop then underlined that "there is no religion of violence" and those who govern cannot "wash their hands" like Pilate, because "washing hands is condemning the innocent".

At the end of the celebration, the Apostolic Administrator of Pemba expressed his "communion with the brothers from the district of Palma" and invited the Catholics of the region to participate in the Holy Week celebrations through radio and social networks, given the impossibility of doing it in person due to the suspension of the service due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (L.M.)
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -The Australian Aboriginal group whose sacred rock shelters Rio Tinto destroyed last year rejected a plan by mining company Fortescue's founder Andrew Forrest to build dams along a river in the same region, citing the cultural damage it would cause.

Australia is considering new legislation to protect Aboriginal heritage after Rio, in the process of building an iron ore mine, destroyed the 46,000-year-old sites in Western Australia state that had been among the oldest evidence of global human habitation.

Australia's richest man, Forrest, who is chairman and the largest shareholder of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, has applied to the state government to build a series of weirs, or low dams, along a river that runs through his cattle property to control water flow.

The plan has met with opposition from the Thalanyji traditional owners and was rejected by the minister for Aboriginal Affairs, a decision that Forrest is now appealing.

"The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Peoples strongly oppose the plan by Andrew Forrest to construct 10 weirs along the Ashburton River on his pastoral lease of Minderoo Station," the PKKP said in a statement issued on Sunday.

"What is not widely understood outside of Aboriginal history and cultural knowledge, is that any impact on a river downstream will have a devastating effect all along the river and forever change the entire ecosystem for the traditional owners upstream."

A spokesman said Forrest's philanthropic Minderoo Foundation had a strong desire "to work in a cooperative manner with the Thalanyji People... to preserve heritage at Minderoo Station and the natural landscape, whilst developing sustainable agriculture in a challenging environment currently experiencing prolonged drought conditions."

The Ashburton river and its tributaries flow through the terrain of many language groups in the Pilbara and include sacred sites, the PKKP said.

"The creation of the river by the Warlu (snake) means that it must be free to flow, and the fish and eels can travel along it. The Creation stories must not be broken, and the water flow must not be blocked or the Spirit of the Warlu will affect all people along this river," the PKKP said, explaining their beliefs.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2021) US President Joe Biden has extended an existing national emergency declaration with respect to South Sudan because activities there continue to pose a threat to the United States, the White House announced in a release on Monday.

"The situation in and in relation to South Sudan continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For this reason, the national emergency declared on April 3, 2014, must continue in effect beyond April 3, 2021," the release said. "Therefore... I am continuing for one year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13664."

The situation in South Sudan is characterized with widespread violence and atrocities, human rights abuses, recruitment and use of child soldiers, attacks on peacekeepers and humanitarian workers and obstruction of humanitarian operations, the release also said.

In July, South Sudan will mark ten years of independence from Sudan. The country has been engulfed in a civil war between the government of President Salva Kiir and the opposition since 2013. Some 400,000 people have been killed during the conflict while more than four million have been displaced, according to the United Nations.

In September 2018, Kiir signed a peace agreement with rebel leader Riek Machar, after which the Transitional Government of National Unity was formed in February last year.
Dr Anthony Fauci has said that it was him who decided it was time to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, something former President Donald Trump has long said was his doing along with the "Operation Warp Speed" vaccine project.

Dr Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to president Biden, told CNN in a special report broadcast on Sunday: "When I saw what happened in New York City, almost over-running of our healthcare systems... thats when it became very clear that the decision we made on January 10 to go all out and develop a vaccine may have been the best decision that Ive ever made with regard to intervention as the director of the institute."

Mr Trump claimed credit for the shots in a statement earlier this month, saying: "I hope everyone remembers when they're getting the COVID-19... vaccine, that if I wasn't president, you wouldn't be getting that beautiful 'shot' for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn't be getting it at all. I hope everyone remembers!"

Trump advisor Jason Miller tweeted in response: "If it were up to Fauci we still wouldnt have a Covid vaccine."

Operation Warp Speed was a collaboration between public and private entities to develop and test vaccines as quickly as possible. While Dr Fauci was one of the top members in Mr Trump's Coronavirus taskforce, he's not reported to have had any formal role in the project, The Daily Mail writes.

Read more:

Operation Warp Speed worked separately from the taskforce and Dr Fauci has not previously been reported as a key figure in the development of the vaccines.

The Director of the National Institutes of Health Dr Francis Collins has previously said that the Trump administration deserves credit for the fast development of vaccines. He told Axios in February: Its just breathtaking that that got done in 11 months from when we first knew about this virus. It is at least five years faster than it has ever been done before.

He added: "Operation Warp Speed, for which I give a great deal of credit to [former Health Secretary Alex Azar], was an effort that many of us were not initially convinced was going to be necessary. And it was thought about as a Manhattan Project."

The Manhattan Project was a secret US government project to develop a nuclear bomb during World War II.

Dr Collins said: "Those words were used sometimes to describe what needed to happen in order to get all parts of the government together in an unprecedented way to test up to six vaccines in rigorous trials... so that if any of those trials happen to work, you would already have doses ready to go into arms.

"That effort and the recruitment of Dr Moncef Slaoui [Head of Operation Warp Speed from 2020 to 2021] was an incredibly important step forward that the administration deserves credit for because that did motivate a lot of actions, a lot of coordination."
Scott Stafford has been a reporter, photographer, and editor at a variety of publications, including the Dallas Morning News and The Berkshire Eagle. Scott can be reached at sstafford@berkshireeagle.com, or at 413-496-6301 and on Twitter at @BE_SStafford.
In this Feb. 2, 2021, file photo, a member of a World Health Organization team is seen wearing protective gear during a field visit to the Hubei Animal Disease Control and Prevention Center for another day of field visit in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers' conclusions.

The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesisa speculative theory that was promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump among others. It also said the role played by a seafood market where human cases were first identified was uncertain.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, said he would like to see the report's raw information first before deciding about its credibility.

"I'd also would like to inquire as to the extent in which the people who were on that group had access directly to the data that they would need to make a determination," he said. "I want to read the report first and then get a feel for what they really had access toor did not have access to."

The report, which is expected to be made public Tuesday, is being closely watched since discovering the origins of the virus could help scientists prevent future pandemicsbut it's also extremely sensitive since China bristles at any suggestion that it is to blame for the current one.

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 news conference at the end of the WHO mission in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said experts from seven different U.S. government organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Health and the Department of Homeland Security had the report in hand.

"Seventeen experts, longstanding leaders from the field, including epidemiology, public health, clinical medicine, veterinary medicine, infectious disease, law, food security, biosafety, biosecuritywe have a lot of experts in governmentwill be reviewing this report intensively and quickly," she said at a daily briefing.

Matthew Kavanagh of Georgetown University said the report deepened the understanding of the virus's origins, but more information was needed.

"It is clear that that the Chinese government has not provided all the data needed and, until they do, firmer conclusions will be difficult," he said in a statement.

In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, Marion Koopmans, right, and Peter Ben Embarek, center, of the World Health Organization team say farewell to their Chinese counterpart Liang Wannian, left, after a WHO-China Joint Study Press Conference at the end of the WHO mission in Wuhan, China. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Last year, an AP investigation found the Chinese government was strictly controlling all research into its origins. And repeated delays in the report's release have raised questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew its conclusions.

"We've got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent CNN interview.

China rejected that criticism Monday.

"The U.S. has been speaking out on the report. By doing this, isn't the U.S. trying to exert political pressure on the members of the WHO expert group?" asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

Still, suspicion of China has helped fuel the theory that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first identified. The report cited several reasons for all but dismissing that possibility.

In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, a WHO-China Joint Study Press Conference is held at the end of a WHO mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

It said that such laboratory accidents are rare, that the labs in Wuhan were well-managed and there is no record of viruses closely related to the coronavirus in any laboratory before December 2019.

The report is based largely on a visit by a WHO team of international experts to Wuhan. The mission was never meant to identify the exact natural source of the virus, an endeavor that typically takes years. For instance, more than 40 years of study has still failed to pinpoint the exact species of bat that are the natural reservoir of Ebola.

In the draft obtained by the AP, the researchers listed four scenarios in order of likelihood for the emergence of the new coronavirus. Topping the list was transmission from bats through another animal, which they said was likely to very likely. They evaluated direct spread from bats to humans as likely, and said that spread to humans from the packaging of "cold-chain" food products was possible but not likely.

That last possibility was previously dismissed by the WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but researchers on this mission have taken it up again, further raising questions about the politicization of the study since China has long pushed the theory.

Residents visit the Yangtze River in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, March 29, 2021. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (Chinatopix Via AP)

While it's possible an infected animal contaminated packaging that was then brought to Wuhan and infected humans, the report said the probability is very low.

Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, said even that "very low probability" was an overstatement. "There's no compelling evidence of people actually being infected through packaging," he said, calling the theory "far-fetched."

Woolhouse said it was possible the source of COVID-19 might never be identified.

"The emergence of a new (disease) is always a sequence of unlikely events," he said. "It's hard to be definitive and rule anything out." But he said most scientists agree that bats are the most likely source.

Bats are known to carry coronaviruses and, in fact, the closest relative of the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in bats.

In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, Marion Koopmans, right, and Peter Ben Embarek of a World Health Organization team arrive for a joint press conference at the end of their mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

The report said highly similar viruses have been found in pangolins, a scaly anteater prized in traditional Chinese medicine, but scientists have yet to identify the same coronavirus in animals that has been infecting humans.

The AP received the draft copy on Monday from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO-member country. It wasn't clear whether the report might still be changed prior to release, though the diplomat said it was the final version. A second diplomat confirmed getting the report too. Both refused to be identified because they were not authorized to release it ahead of publication.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged he had received the report over the weekend and said it would be formally presented Tuesday.

"All hypotheses are on the table and warrant complete and further studies," he said at a news conference.

Statues along a street are seen with masks placed on them as a WHO mission team visits Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Feb. 9, 2021. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A cat pauses to look at visitors to a temple in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Feb. 9, 2021. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The report said that highly similar viruses have been found in pangolins, but also noted that mink and cats are susceptible to the COVID virus, which suggests they could be carriers. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The report is inconclusive on whether the outbreak started at a Wuhan seafood market that had one of the earliest clusters of human cases in December 2019. Research published last year in the journal Lancet suggested the market may have merely served to further spread the disease rather than being its source.

The market was an early suspect because some stalls sold a range of unusual animalsand some wondered if they had brought the new virus to Wuhan. The report noted that animal productsincluding everything from bamboo rats to deer, often frozenwere sold at the market, as were live crocodiles.

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.
On Sunday, an opinion piece by two Iranian ladies appeared in the New York Times pressuring the Biden administration to return to Obama's Iran "deal" that gave legitimacy to Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a fifteen-year hiatus in producing the actual weapon.

In the mind of these ladies, Trump's withdrawal from that "deal" revealed the fundamental hypocrisy of his administration that ostensibly advocated gender equality, only to wreck it in practice by reimposition of sanctions: "the women of Iran deserve the same freedoms that the men of Iran possess, Mike Pompeo said. But the Trump administration then dealt a tremendous blow to Iranian women by reimposing sanctions on Iran, restricting oil sales and access to the global banking system, and pushing the economy into a deep recession. The decimation of Irans economy is unfolding in the lives of the very constituency that has been working for reform and liberalization, and in whose name Pompeo and other leading American officials speak: middle-class Iranian women. The slump is tearing away at their fragile gains in employment, upper management positions and leadership roles in the arts and higher education, while reducing their capacity to seek legal reforms and protections... womens lagging production and representation in a number of sectors, including a cultural sphere dominated by men, has worsened since Pres. Trumps maximum pressure campaign. Cries to support human rights from champions of sanctions sound hollow when those sanctions dismantle a countrys economy and the livelihood of its people. You cant tell people, Starve and then seek freedom.

Simply put, these ladies count on the force of an emotional argument that is inherent in the use of "human shields:" if you hurt the bad guys, the innocents will suffer too. To save the innocents, get the bad guys off the hook. Or, translated to the language of the nuclear standoff with Iran, the logic is this: because U.S. sanctions Iran over its nuclear ambitions, Iranian ladies suffer hardship. To relieve it, get back into the "deal," lifting the sanctions.

We live in a gender-equal world, yet there's got to be some residual gentlemanly feeling left in the U.S. -- and the Iranian ladies appeal to it in their op-ed. Years ago, when the Obama administration feared an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, a catchy slogan was thrown around, "better bomb, than bombing." Nowadays, on the pages of the New York Times, it got morphed into "better bomb, than economic hardship of the Iranian ladies."

I think the argument the two ladies put forward is deeply disingenuous. "Starve and then seek freedom" is not what is asked of them. "Gain freedom by dumping the regime, and you won't starve" is the proper way of thinking about it.

It may not be that hard to do. As I suggested elsewhere, the intellectual keystone of regime's ideology is demonstrably wrong. Iran's ladies are as well positioned as Iran's men to see that ayatollahs feed them on falsehoods, and can discuss it with their fathers, brothers, and husbands. By tearfully pleading victimhood at the hands of the callous U.S. instead, they not only fail to grasp who is in the right, and who is in the wrong, but they actively prop up the regime, by acting as human shields for Iranian nuclear program, and for its export of terrorism. To gain freedom, Iranian ladies should free themselves from the regime, not try to pacify it by acting as useful idiots in the pages of the New York Times -- the paper that, to its huge discredit, is itself unbecomingly eager to play that nefarious and treasonous role.

Image: A. Davey
People on Grafton street in Dublins city centre as Ireland remains in a level 5 lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic (Brian Lawless/PA Wire)

Public health officials and Government ministers are due to meet later to review the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures in Ireland.

It comes amid increasing concern over rising Covid-19 cases in the country.

The most severe level of restriction, Level 5, is currently in place until April 5.

The National Public Health Emergency Team is expected to make its recommendations to Government following a meeting on Monday morning.

Those will be considered by the Cabinet sub-committee on the pandemic response on Monday evening before a full meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin is to make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting.

Expand Close Taioseach Micheal Martin will make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting (Julien Behal Photography/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Taioseach Micheal Martin will make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting (Julien Behal Photography/PA)

Some limited relaxations, potentially in relation to outdoor activities and the 5km limit on travel, are expected.

But it is believed it will be May or June before a greater easing of restrictions will be made.

On Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the Government would only have a very narrow scope to ease restrictions amid fears of triggering a fourth wave of infections between now and when the majority of adults in the country will be vaccinated.

Mr Coveney said the Government also wanted to make sure the full return of schools was completed as intended after Easter.

He said he would also like to see an increase in construction activity, but only if public health advice allowed.

As of March 25th 2021, 760,168 doses of #COVID19 #vaccine have been administered in Ireland:



a548,945 people have received their first dose

a211,223 people have received their second dose  Department of Health (@roinnslainte) March 28, 2021

Sunday saw 13 further Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland and another 604 cases of the virus notified to the Department of Health.

The five-day moving average of cases now stands at 620, while the 14-day incidence of the virus per 100,000 population is now at 164.5.

As of Sunday morning, 322 coronavirus patients were in hospital, of whom 66 were in ICU.

As of Thursday last week, a total of 760,168 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland. Some 548,945 people have received their first dose, while 211,223 people have received two doses.
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Imperial Valley News Center

IT Contractor Sentenced to Two Years for Deleting Carlsbad Companys Microsoft User Accounts

San Diego, California - Deepanshu Kher was sentenced Monday in federal court to two years in prison for accessing the server of a Carlsbad Company and deleting over 1,200 over the companys 1,500 Microsoft User Accounts.

According to court documents, Kher was employed by an information technology consulting firm from 2017 through May 2018. In 2017, the consulting firm was hired by the Carlsbad Company to assist with its migration to a Microsoft Office 365 (MS O365) environment. In response, the consulting firm sent its employee, Kher, to the companys Carlsbad headquarters to assist with the migration.

The company was dissatisfied with Khers work and relayed their dissatisfaction to the consulting firm soon after Khers arrival. In January 2018, the consulting firm pulled Kher from the companys headquarters. A few months later, on May 4, 2018, the firm fired Kher, and a month after that, in June 2018, Kher returned to Delhi, India.

On August 8, 2018, two months after his return to India, Kher hacked into the Carlsbad Companys server and deleted over 1,200 of its 1,500 MS O365 user accounts. The attack affected the bulk of the companys employees and completely shut down the company for two days. As the companys Vice President of Information Technology (IT) explained, the impact was felt inside and outside the company. Employees accounts were deleted  they could not access their email, their contacts lists, their meeting calendars, their documents, corporate directories, video and audio conferences, and Virtual Teams environment necessary for them to perform their jobs. Outside the company, customers, vendors and consumers were unable to reach company employees (and the employees were unable to reach them). No one could inform these buyers what was going on or when the company would be operational again.

Unfortunately, even after those two days, the problems remained. Employees were not receiving meeting invites or cancellations, employees contacts lists could not be completely rebuilt, and affected employees could no longer access folders to which they previously had access. The Carlsbad Company repeatedly handled multitudes of IT problems for three months. The Vice President of IT closed by saying, [i]n my 30-plus years as an IT professional, I have never been a part of a more difficult and trying work situation.

In pronouncing the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn L. Huff noted that Kher perpetrated a significant and sophisticated attack on the company, an attack which was planned and clearly intended as revenge. In addition to the two years in custody, Judge Huff sentenced Kher to three years supervised release and restitution to the Company of $567,084, the amount that the Company paid to fix the problems which Kher caused.

Kher, an Indian national, was arrested when he flew from India to the United States on January 11, 2021, unaware of the outstanding warrant for his arrest.

This act of sabotage was destructive for this company, said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. Fortunately, the defendants revenge was short-lived and justice has been delivered. Grossman commended the excellent work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra F. Foster and the FBI agents on this case.

The FBI was able to identify, arrest, and prosecute Deepanshu Kher, despite the fact that he committed this harmful hack while outside the United States. This case shows the commitment, expertise, and reach of the FBI in working cyber intrusion cases, said Suzanne Turner, Special Agent in Charge of FBI's San Diego Field Office. We encourage companies to develop a relationship with the FBI and local law enforcement prior to a cyber security incident and incorporate us into incident response plans. In this case, the victim companys swift notification and cooperation with the FBI contributed greatly to the successful outcome. Living in a digital world, it is important to get ahead of the threats, be proactive and predictive in the way we approach cybersecurity.

If victimized in a cyber security incident, the FBI encourages companies to immediately contact the FBI. Specialized cyber agents will work with companies to protect company information and the personal data of its customers. Please contact the FBI San Diego's cyber program by calling our field office at (858) 320-1800 or submitting tips at Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

DEFENDANTS Case Number 19cr4643-H

Deepanshu Kher Age: 32 Delhi, India

SUMMARY OF CHARGE

Intentional Damage to a Protected Computer (18 U.S.C.  1030(a)(5)(A) and (c)(4)(B)(i))

Maximum Penalty: Ten years in prison; $250,000 fine.

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

FBI
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the central and southern regions of New Jersey for Sunday evening, warning of the possibility of wind, hail and tornadoes.

The services Mount Holly office said in a series of social media posts that severe weather could impact the region, including in New Jersey counties from Monmouth and Mercer and further south.

Isolated, severe thunderstorms are forecast to develop ahead of a cold front from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. across the state. The storms are expected to be limited in duration and intensity. The severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 9 p.m.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of DE, DC, MD, NJ, PA, VA until 9 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/oK85tVNVBT  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) March 28, 2021

A wind advisory is also in effect from 9 p.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday covering Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Union and Hudson counties.

West winds of 15 to 25 miles per hour with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour are expected.

Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects, tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result, the National Weather Service said.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The International Criminal Court is probing reports that war crimes suspect and Libyan militia leader Mahmoud al-Werfalli was shot dead in the eastern city of Benghazi, the tribunals chief prosecutor said Monday.

Security sources told AFP last week that Werfalli, a member of forces loyal to eastern military strongman Khalifa Haftar, was shot dead with his cousin Ayman by unidentified gunmen.

The pair were said to have been seriously wounded before being pronounced dead on arrival at Benghazi Medical Centre, located near the scene of the shooting, another security source said.

Fatou Bensouda said her office was aware of and is currently verifying reports of the assassination of the ICC suspect, Mr Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli.

But the outgoing prosecutor added that reports about an ICC delegation on the ground in Libya for this purpose are inaccurate and misleading.

The ICC issued a first warrant for Werfallis arrest in August 2017, accusing him of having ordered or personally carried out seven separate rounds of executions of 33 people in 2016 and 2017.

ICC judges referred to video footage allegedly showing Werfalli personally shooting hooded and bound prisoners, or ordering a firing squad to open fire on them.

In July 2018, the ICC issued a second arrest warrant for Werfalli for his alleged responsibility for murder as a war crime.

The court said he allegedly shot dead 10 persons in front of the Biat al-Radwan Mosque in Benghazi on January 24 that year.

Born in 1978, Werfalli was a commander of the Al-Saiqa Brigade, an elite unit that defected from Libyas military during the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Libya has been mired in chaos and repeated rounds of conflict in the decade since, with the main cleavage in recent years pitting a Tripoli-based government against an administration in the east loyal to Haftar.

Fighting came to a halt last summer and a formal ceasefire in October has been followed by the establishment of a new Government of National Unity.

The two rival administrations this month formally handed over power to the new entity, which is mandated to steer the country to elections in December.

However, the security situation remains precarious in Benghazi, the principal eastern city.

Two other Libyans remain wanted by the ICC  Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, a son of the countrys ex-dictator, and Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, formerly head of the internal security agency.
The Virginia Ready Initiative (VA Ready), a non-profit dedicated to retraining unemployed and under-employed Virginians across the Commonwealth, is partnering with Fairfax Radiology Centers (FRC) to connect VA Ready graduates with career opportunities as medical assistants, patient coordinators and schedulers.

We are excited to add Fairfax Radiology to our growing list of strategic business partners, said Caren Merrick, CEO of VA Ready. Healthcare is an industry with a huge skills gap, and the demand for skilled healthcare workers has only grown in light of Covid-19. This partnership with Fairfax Radiology will provide our students with the opportunity to gain good jobs with a career pathway and help to meet an increased demand for healthcare workers in Virginia.

Fairfax Radiology, the largest radiology practice in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, was established in 2020 as a joint venture between the physicians of Fairfax Radiological Consultants, P.C. and Inova/Radiology Imaging Associates with the goal of constantly improving patient safety by providing technologies that lower the dose of radiation for all patients.

Fairfax Radiology was founded on the premise of providing high-quality patient care by staffing our centers with skilled individuals who have a passion for helping others, said Rick Lassiter, CEO of Fairfax Radiology Centers. This partnership allows us to do just that as we build a talent pipeline made up of qualified and motivated Virginians looking for a new career opportunity.

All under- or unemployed Virginians are eligible to enroll in one of VA Readys 34 approved credential courses. The state-led FastForward program enables students to take pre-approved classes at any of the Virginia Community College Systems (VCCS) 23 community colleges.

VA Ready provides an additional incentive for students to complete the credential, offering a $1,000 award upon completion of the program and an opportunity to be matched with any of VA Readys business partners to explore open positions.

For more information about VA Ready or to apply for the program, visit https://vaready.org/

About the Virginia Ready Initiative (VA Ready)

VA Ready is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that launched in June 2020 with a mission to help thousands of under and unemployed Virginians access the short-term training needed to get back to work in todays most in-demand jobs. With its Public-Private-Partnership design, VA Ready brings together the Virginia Community College System's (VCCS) 23 colleges, the Commonwealth's FastForward program, and more than 20 business partners who employ millions of Virginians. VA Ready Scholars have access to 34 healthcare, technology and other skilled training programs; learn the skills needed to secure one of today's most in-demand positions; receive $1,000 upon credential completion; and are connected to VA Ready's business partners for interview opportunities. Learn more at http://www.vaready.org

About Fairfax Radiology

Fairfax Radiology Centers, LLC (FRC), established in 2020 as a joint venture between the physicians of Fairfax Radiological Consultants, P.C. and Inova/Radiology Imaging Associates, is the largest radiology practice in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. With over 90 subspecialized radiologists and 800 employees, FRC provides leading-edge medical imaging at more than 20 outpatient locations throughout Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland. FRC works with local hospitals and health care providers to deliver an excellent patient experience and top quality, specialized care for the better health of our community. The radiologists at Fairfax Radiology Centers are affiliated with the region's top-ranked hospitals and are consistently selected as "Top Doctors" by Northern Virginia and Washingtonian magazines. They have many years of experience in treating patients in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. area, and are highly regarded by their medical peers in the community. But more importantly, they are trusted and respected by patients. For more information, visit http://www.fairfaxradiology.com.

Media Contact:

Nicole Tidei

Director, Pinkston

203.376.1192

nicole.tidei@pinkston.co
Ivory Coast became the second country in the world on Friday to receive a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the global COVAX initiative, with 504,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India.

The vaccines arrived in the commercial capital, Abidjan, as part of the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines sent by COVAX, which was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to doses.

The first COVAX shipment was sent to Ghana on Wednesday, marking the beginning of the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The COVAX initiative has been hampered by the severely limited global supply of doses as well as logistical problems that set vaccinations behind globally.

Some 24 other countries are expected to start receiving vaccines via COVAX next week, according to WHO Africa.

Ivory Coast will begin its vaccination campaign Monday, the government said. Health Minister Eugene Aka Aouele said the West African nation's first phase will target health personnel, defense and security forces and teaching staff in Abidjan, where 95% of the country's cases have been recorded.

The minister said this first batch will target more than 250,000 people. Ivory Coast has a population of more than 25 million.

Like many African countries, Ivory Coast faces a resurgence of the pandemic that has increased cases and hospitalizations. It has recorded 32,295 cases and 188 deaths since its first case was recorded on March 11, 2020, according to Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures.

Ivory Coast is among 92 countries that will receive vaccines for free through the COVAX initiative, which is led by the WHO; Gavi, a vaccine group; and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Another 90 countries and eight territories have agreed to pay for doses.

"Today is an important first step towards achieving our shared vision of vaccine equity, but it is only the beginning," said the WHO representative in Ivory Coast, Dr. Jean-Marie Vianney Yameogo, adding that by June the country expects to receive more than two million doses through COVAX initiative.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Nairobi  The Ministry of Health has reported 1,152 new COVID-19 cases a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced tough new measures to stem the rising infections.

In the new measures, the president declared a lockdown in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu, Machakos and Kajiado which were zoned together due to high infections recorded in the counties.

On Saturday, the five counties were listed with more cases with Nairobi alone recording 458, followed by Nakuru which posted 139, Kiambu recorded 93 cases, Machakos 50, Kajiado 48.

A night curfew was reviewed to start at 8pm in the five counties while the rest of country maintained the 10pm which had been in effect since last year. It ends at 4am.

6 more patients succumbed to the virus pushing fatalities to 2,104.

President Kenyatta said the five counties requires tough restrictions after the third wave of the pandemic swept the country with unprecedented infections and deaths since February.

"That fully conscious that 70 per cent of Kenya's reported cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the Counties of Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru. These counties are individually and collectively declared a disease-infected area," he declared in a televised address Friday.

Effectively, he said, "there shall be a cessation of movement into and out of the five counties effective Saturday until further notice."

Citing statistics from the Ministry of Health, Kenyatta said "if you test 100 Kenyans today, 20 will be positive compared to January this year when only 2 would have been positive."

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"This tells us that the rate of infection has gone up 10 times between January and March 2021," he added.

Worse still, he said, out of every 10 positive cases countrywide, 6 are reported in Nairobi.

On Saturday however, the government eased the lockdown restrictions to enable anyone caught off-guard to travel.

Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna said the restrictions for travel in the five counties zoned areas will be relaxed until Sunday 8pm.

This is to enable anyone locked out of their areas to travel before strict enforcement starts. The measures which also include closing bars and reviewing the night curfew time were put in place to help curb the rising COVID-19 infections in the country.

But even as he spoke, police had already erected roadblocks in the affected boundaries in line with President Kenyatta's directive.
Joint Statement from Ireland and Norway at UNSC Briefing on Syria - Humanitarian

Statement

I make this statement on behalf of the co-penholders of the Syrian humanitarian file, Ireland and Norway. We would like to thank Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, Executive Director Henrietta Fore and Dr Amani Ballour. Dr Ballour, we thank you for your courage over many challenging years and we thank you for sharing your powerful story with us here today.

This month we mark ten years of conflict in Syria. A decade of loss and suffering it is hard to comprehend. The cost for the people of Syria has been staggering.

This morning I spoke with ICRC President Peter Maurer, who has just returned from the country. He conveyed some sense of the hopelessness of a country facing possibly its worst humanitarian situation yet.

This Council and the international community have sadly failed to protect civilians from the nightmare of this terrible conflict. At the same time, we have witnessed one of the largest humanitarian responses the world has ever seen. Tomorrow, the UN and the EU will host the 5th Brussels conference on the future of Syria. The conference will again reaffirm the international communitys extraordinary support and solidarity with the people of Syria.

However, the reality is that despite all efforts, overall humanitarian needs continue to increase, and are now greater than at any previous point of this conflict.

Today, over 13 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance. That includes 5 million children, who have never known anything but conflict.

Violence continues to claim civilian lives in Syria. Last week artillery shell attacks on a hospital in Atareb in Aleppo killed 7 people including two cousins; a 10-year old and a 12-year old boy. More than a dozen civilians were injured, including 5 medical staff. On the same day, there were multiple airstrikes near Bab al Hawa on the Syria-Turkey border, where life-saving UN cross-border humanitarian deliveries take place. 24 trucks used for the transport of humanitarian supplies were destroyed or damaged.

And improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including vehicle-borne IEDs and explosive remnants of war, are still causing numerous civilian casualties. We support the Secretary-Generals Independent Senior Advisory Panel on Syria Humanitarian Deconfliction System in their efforts to strengthen the deconfliction mechanism.

We would also like to echo the Secretary-Generals statement that direct attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including medical units such as hospitals, are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.

The fragile ceasefire that has broadly held in parts of Syria over the past few years has not provided peace for these civilians or their loved ones. There is a need for a lasting, nationwide ceasefire.

The accelerating depreciation of the Syrian pound continues to spur concerns over additional food price increases and subsequent further deterioration of the food security situation. Indicators across Syria show a sustained deterioration over the first two months of 2021. There is now a very real prospect of hunger in parts of Syria. As the Secretary-General forcefully argued before the Council earlier this month: if you dont feed people, you feed conflict.

International humanitarian law, reinforced by unanimously adopted Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2417, prohibits parties to a conflict from depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival  including food, crops, livestock, and water installations. Humanitarian access must be unimpeded, and the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited.

We, the international community, pledged to prevent a lost generation in Syria. Syrian children, however, have largely not been able to realise their right to an education and to a childhood. 2.5 million children are out of school, and their future is uncertain. Too many schools have been damaged or destroyed, or used as shelter for displaced families or even for military purposes. Many children have left school to help their families survive. This is the generation that will one day be tasked with rebuilding the country.

To address these needs, all the strategic objectives of the Humanitarian Response Plan must be fulfilled. Life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance is essential. Humanitarian resilience activities are needed, such as transport of water and protection of water sources, and these must be carried out in full accordance with humanitarian principles and based solely on need.

The COVID-19 situation continues to be very unpredictable. The anticipated first delivery of vaccines through COVAX will be a step forward in our fight to combat the pandemic. We reiterate the Councils repeated demands that all parties allow unimpeded humanitarian access and uphold ceasefires to enable medical humanitarian teams to safely roll-out COVID-19 vaccinations to those who need it the most.

We are very concerned by the Secretary-Generals report that the parties to the conflict continue to target humanitarian and healthcare personnel and services. We therefore also call on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law. Health workers are not a target.

President,

The UN and its humanitarian partners need rapid, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access to all of Syria. As the Secretary-General recently stated, and as we have heard USG Lowcock reiterate today, greater access is needed.

As long as the situation on the ground is as it is, intensified cross-line and cross-border deliveries are essential to reach everyone in need everywhere, including for the purpose of COVID-19 vaccination.

Responding to the humanitarian needs of the more than 3 million civilians in northwestern Syria requires the continued provision of UN support through the border crossing at Bab al Hawa. This cross-border access is essential to reduce hunger, ensure access to health care, and implement efforts to contain COVID 19. Without this life-saving humanitarian assistance, lives will be lost.

We fully support the UNs efforts to put in place a cross-line support mission to North-Western Syria and we call on all parties to facilitate this without further delay. Cross-line operations providing aid across the front line in Idleb have the potential to complement cross-border operations. However, in light of the overwhelming humanitarian needs, such cross-line missions cannot be expected to supplant the cross-border operation at Bab al Hawa. There is currently no viable way to replace the 4,369 trucks that have crossed the border bringing life-saving support over the past eight months. We need all modalities for humanitarian assistance to reach those in need.

Before concluding, let me also add a small note in my national capacity: tomorrow at the Brussels conference, Norway will pledge a further minimum of USD 190 million in support to Syria and the region this year, reaffirming our position as one of the largest donors to the international response.

President,

In closing, when speaking to partners on the ground they have one message to convey: the Syrian people need hope for a better future.

For a decade, Syrian children, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters have borne the brunt of the failure to end the conflict. They continue to experience first-hand the suffering caused by years of protracted conflict and resulting humanitarian emergencies, compounded by impeded access for humanitarian aid.

We give our full support to the UN-led efforts to find a political solution. We know that progress on the political track is the key to improving the situation on the ground.

This Council must exercise its responsibility to do its utmost to bring the suffering of the Syrian people to an end.

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US deploys Green Berets to Mozambique; ISIS-linked militants accused of beheading children

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The United States has deployed U.S. Army Green Berets to Mozambique to train local troops as the country faces a growing insurgency that has seen children as young as 12 beheaded as well as thousands killed and displaced in the southern African country.

Analysts say this intervention is long overdue with a worsening humanitarian crisis and rise in appalling atrocities. More than 2,600 people have died since 2017 from the fighting and terrorist activity that began in north Mozambique, according to the United Nations.

The U.N. reports the mysterious group of insurgents has committed killing, rape and other atrocities.

The U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were sent to train Mozambican marines for two months to counter the spread of violence by the Islamic extremist group, al-Shabab.

The United States is committed to supporting Mozambique with a multifaceted and holistic approach to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism, the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique said in a statement. Civilian protection, human rights, and community engagement are central to U.S. cooperation and are foundational to effectively counter the Islamic State in Mozambique.

This approach addresses socioeconomic development issues as well as the security situation, the statement adds.

The elite Green Berets are often deployed worldwide to build relationships, go on missions with locals and teach them how to fight effectively, Business Insider reports.

The U.S. government launched the two-month Joint Combined Exchange Training program to help prevent the spread of terrorism and will also provide communications and medical treatment.

The U.S. recently designated the Islamic State-linked insurgents in Mozambiques Cabo Delgado province a foreign terrorist organization on March 10.

Islamic State affiliates in Mozambique are also known as Ansar al-Sunna and known locally as al-Shabaab. The group reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in 2018.

Since October 2017, ISIS-Mozambique, led by Abu Yasir Hassan, has killed more than 1,300 civilians, and it is estimated that more than 2,300 civilians, security force members, and suspected ISIS-Mozambique militants have been killed since the terrorist group began its violent extremist insurgency, a State Department announcement reads. The group was responsible for orchestrating a series of large-scale and sophisticated attacks resulting in the capture of the strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado Province.

According to the State Department, attacks by Islamic extremists in Mozambique have caused the displacement of nearly 670,000 persons within northern Mozambique.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a March 11 press briefing that designating Islamic State-Mozambique and Islamic State-DRC as specially designated global terrorist organizations is a decisive action against extremism and an important step in the global fight to defeat ISIS.

The United States will continue to expose and isolate terrorists, disrupt their support networks, deny them access to the U.S. financial system, and do everything in our power to preserve the security of the United States, Price said. We remain decisively engaged with our partners to address security challenges and to advance peace and security in Africa.

Islamic extremist-fueled violence in Mozambique has become a trend since 2017.

Senior leaders with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees warned of the urgent need in the Cabo Delgado province due to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of individuals.

The number of internally displaced people has increased from around 70,000 about a year ago to nearly 700,000 today. U.N. officials predict the number is expected to reach 1 million by June.

Most displaced people have fled south or found shelter with family or friends. The government is developing sites for those who remain. More than half of the displaced people are children.

The British aid organization Save the Children published a report earlier this month featuring interviews with survivors who recalled children as young as 11 being killed by insurgents.

A 28-year-old mother told the aid agency that her 12-year-old son was beheaded.

That night our village was attacked and houses were burned. When it all started, I was at home with my four children," she recalled. "We tried to escape to the woods, but they took my eldest son and beheaded him. We couldn't do anything because we would be killed too.

Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors said the fresh wave of extremist violence in Mozambique ranked the country at No. 45 on the groups World Watch List of countries where Christians face the greatest persecution.

Instability in the region prevents a reliable count of those affected, but we believe the violence is widespread and often religiously motivated, Open Doors USA spokesperson Amy Lamb told The Christian Post in an email. Its part of a greater spread of extremist violence throughout the entire Sub-Saharan region, as factions of ISIS, al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, and their splinter groups expand their reach.

Lamb said this matter is of grave concern and is often fueled by religion against believers.

Make no mistake: this violence is religiously-motivated, and Christians alongside other religious minorities are being systemically targeted, Lamb wrote. Christians in the U.S. should pray urgently for the protection and provision of people in this region.

Christians make up over half of Mozambique, yet Islamic oppression is strong and accelerating.

Islamic extremists have destroyed Christian places of worship, schools and business, as many Christians have been forced to flee their homes, Open Doors reported. The presence of drug cartels in some areas also leads to increased persecution, especially in the country's northern region.
Alleged live images of the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 and some supposed domestic price tags for the upcoming smart bracelet have appeared on Chinese social media. The Mi Band 6 fitness tracker will soon be launched as part of Xiaomis Mega Launch event. It has been rumored that the latest Mi Smart Band will have built-in GPS and SpO2 sensor.

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A couple of likely real-world photos of the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 (global: Mi Smart Band 6) have been shared on Weibo. One shows the fitness tracker powered up and worn on the users wrist while another seems to show the Mi Band 6 displaying a device meter. The full-screen display looks impressive when compared with that of the Mi Band 5, with the latest iteration utilizing as much space as possible.

The purported real-life images of the Mi Band 6 dont really reveal any secrets ahead of launch. There is a clock face sandwiched between a step counter at the top and a heart-rate monitor at the bottom. Rumors concerning the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 have suggested it will also offer NFC functionality, Amazon Alexa for global model users, and a much larger selection of fitness modes compared to the previous-generation Mi Band.

However, it seems that shoppers in China might be charged more than they expected for the additional features and full-screen display. While the Mi Band 5 was released at a price of 189 yuan (US$29) for the base model and 229 yuan with NFC (US$35), it has been claimed that the Mi Band 6 will up the ante with Xiaomi charging around 250 yuan (US$38) and 300 yuan (US$46) for the non-NFC and NFC variants, respectively.

Buy the Mi Band 5 on Amazon
TORONTO - MPs grilled executives of Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday after the telecom CEOs said a combination of the two companies will increase competition and ultimately benefit Canadians.

TORONTO - MPs grilled executives of Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday after the telecom CEOs said a combination of the two companies will increase competition and ultimately benefit Canadians.

"You promised increasing jobs, new investment, lower prices and to reach markets that you wouldn't before  be it Aboriginal or rural (or) remote. I mean these are promises that would make a robber baron blush," said New Democrat Brian Masse said in one exchange.

"I guess I'm not seeing how ... eliminating a competitor is going to be advantageous for the long run for competition," Masse added.

Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith questioned what Shaw's executives said today, given previous statements about the value of having strong, independent regional competitors such as Shaw to compete against Canada's three biggest players.

"In this deal, we lose that competition and disruption (and) we lose a pressure toward affordability," Erskine-Smith remarked to Shaw chief executive Brad Shaw.

"If we take your past statements of January of this year at face value, shouldn't we expect a negative impact on affordability of telecommunication services in this country if this deal goes through?"

Conservative telecom critic Pierre Poilievre said later that Shaw is downplaying the importance of its Freedom Mobile wireless carrier as a fourth competitor in some markets.

"Do you believe a fourth carrier reduces prices?" Poilievre asked Paul McAleese, former head of Freedom Mobile and now president of its parent company Shaw Communications.

"I believe a dynamic competitive environment reduces prices," McAleese replied. "It's all situational, Mr. Poilievre."

In response to a similar question from Bloc MP Sebastien Lemire, McAleese said there isn't a "magic" number of rivals that causes competition.

"It is not simply a matter of how many carriers are in the marketing, but in fact what they're doing," McAleese said.

CP A woman holds two cellphones in this photo illustration, Monday March 29, 2021 in Chelsea, Que. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is hearing from Rogers and Shaw Communications executives on a merger. (Adrian Wyld / Canadian Press files)

Both Shaw chief executive Brad Shaw and Rogers CEO Joe Natale argued that their companies should combine their assets and focus spending on a new generation of networks during a race to bring faster wireless and internet to rural as well as urban parts of the country.

Critics of the proposed Rogers takeover of Shaw's cable, internet and wireless businesses argue that Canada needs more competitors in the industry, not fewer.

But Rogers and Shaw say the scale of a larger, combined company is necessary to make the kind of infrastructure investments they need to be competitive.

Brad Shaw told the committee that the Calgary-based company founded by his father isn't big enough on its own to carry the billions of dollars it would need to build a competitive 5G wireless network.

Natale said that Toronto-based Rogers  which owns Canada's largest national wireless service and one of the country's largest cable and internet business  also needs to grow if it plans to remain competitive in telecom services with BCE's Bell Canada and Telus Corp.

The competition between the Big Three is intense and that won't change, Natale said.

"Every week, people are fighting hammer and tong for that next customer," said Natale, particularly with lower-than-expected immigration in Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic. "They haven't had the same number of customers to try to attract.

"So the competitive intensity will not change. In fact, it will only get greater because of the capabilities of both the Shaw, and the Rogers organization."

The proposed deal has faced opposition from consumer groups, academics, customers and others since Rogers and Shaw jointly announced their agreement two weeks ago.

The Rogers and Shaw executive teams appeared at a virtual hearing of the Industry, Science and Technology committee in Ottawa. The committee is scheduled to hear additional testimony from executives from other telecom companies and consumer advocates on Wednesday.

Natale said when announcing the deal on March 15 that he was confident of gaining regulatory and government approval by early 2022.

He also noted the most complex part of the approvals would involve Freedom Mobile, which is a direct competitor to Rogers and its other brands in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B, TSX:SJR.B)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged LBRY, a blockchain company, with conducting an unregistered offering of digital asset securities.

According to the SEC's complaint, from at least July 2016 to February 2021, LBRY, which offers a video sharing application, sold digital asset securities called "LBRY Credits" to numerous investors, including investors based in the US. The complaint alleges that LBRY did not file a registration statement for the offering, and that the offering failed to satisfy any exemption from registration. The complaint further alleges that by failing to file a registration statement, LBRY denied prospective investors the information required for such an offering to the public. As alleged, LBRY received more than $11 million in U.S. dollars, Bitcoin, and services from purchasers who participated in its offering.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the federal district court in New Hampshire, charges LBRY with violating the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

The SEC's case is being handled by Peter Bryan Moores, Sofia Hussain, Eric Forni, Marc Jones, and Amy Gwiazda of the Boston Regional Office.
President Donald Trump participates in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Ariz., on June 23, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Addresses Border Crisis in Wedding Speech at Mar-a-Lago

Former President Donald Trump lamented the worsening crisis on the southern border during a brief speech at a wedding party at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend.

The border is the worst anybody has ever seen it. And what you see now, multiply it times 10, Trump said, according to a video obtained by TMZ.

Whats happening to the kidstheyre living in squalor. They are living like nobody has ever seen anybody, he added. Its going to belook, its a disaster. Its a humanitarian disaster from their standpoint and its going to destroy the country. And frankly, the country cant afford it because youre talking about massive, just incredibly massive amountsand thats our school systems, our hospital systems, everything.

President Joe Biden revoked or put on hold more than a dozen Trump-era immigration directives and policies. Some experts say the revocations are to blame for the flood of unaccompanied minors and family units crossing the border illegally.

They have the airplane photosthey call them shotsand these things are showing thousands of people coming over from South America, Trump said.

So its a rough thing and I just say, Do you miss me yet?' Trump said to cheers from the crowd.

The former president also touched on the Biden administrations handling of the relationships with China and Iran.

China  they never treated us that way right? You saw what happened a few days ago? It was terrible, the former president said in an apparent reference to a rebuke a top Chinese official delivered on U.S. soil earlier this month to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The Trump administration had imposed massive tariffs on China and crippling sanctions on Iran.

Theyre telling me about China. Theyre telling me about Iran. How are we doing with Iran? How do you like that? Boy, they were ready to make a deal. They would have done anything. They would have done anything and this guy goes and he drops the sanctions, Trump said in reference to Biden withdrawing sanctions on Iran in February.

Trump also spoke about the election, raising doubts about Bidens come-from-behind victory.

We did get 75 million votes. Nobodys ever gotten that, the former president said. They said, Get 66 million votes, sir, and the election is over. Well, I got 75 million and you saw what happened.
Mazowe Dam, a major dam in Mashonaland Central province, is at 40,9 percent full despite improved inflows into other inland dams due to above normal rains received in the 2020/2021 cropping season.

Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) spokesperson Mrs Majory Munyonga told The Herald last week that poor rains in the catchment area of the dam upstream had led to a decline in water flows.

"The dam had dropped to as low as nine percent at the beginning of the current rain season," she said. "In addition to the dam having dropped so sharply in the past year, the dam's catchment has received below normal rains in the current season, leading to highly subdued inflows into the dam.

"The performance of Mazowe Dam's catchment area in the current season is in sharp contrast to that of most parts of the country."

A rainfall update by the Meteorological Services Department as at the March 17 2021 showed that the Henderson Research Rainfall Station upstream of Mazowe Dam had measured a cumulative rainfall amount of 484,3mm which translates to 57 percent of the 853,4mm normally expected at that time of the year in this agro-ecological zone.

This means the catchment area received below normal rainfall despite other parts of the country receiving above normal rains.

Henderson Research Rainfall Station, is one of the five stations out of the 85 meteorological stations to receive the least rainfall accumulation in the country during this season.

"Ordinarily Mazowe Dam requires two seasons of normal rains to fill up," Mrs Munyonga said. "With the current depressed levels at the dam, there is need to create a balance between the levels and the water abstraction in the coming irrigation season.

"Farmers that irrigate using Mazowe Dam are encouraged to obtain water abstraction agreements ahead of the upcoming winter cropping season, which will allow ZINWA to efficiently and sustainably allocate the water in the dam amongst the competing requirements of users."

The falling water levels in Mazowe Dam have largely been attributed to back-to-back droughts that have ravaged the country due to climate change.

Other hydrological experts say the dam is very close to where the river starts and there are not many tributaries that could help boost inflows into the dam.

They argue that the low inflows into the dam have little to do with illegal mining activities and other unsustainable environmental practices.

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On the other hand, environmental critics suggest that widespread riverbed mining activities and rampant abstraction of water from boreholes upstream in areas such Hatcliffe, Glen Forest and Christon Bank had led to siltation and reduced inflows into Mazowe Dam.

It holds 39 million cubic metres of water and has a surface area of 445 ha when full.

The dam which last spilled in April 2018, had recorded the lowest inflows among all the major in-land dams in the country.

It was built across the Mazowe River in 1918 for irrigating citrus plantations and other crops such as maize, soya beans and wheat.

It is a concrete arch dam which also offers a number of recreational activities for both local and international visitors who throng the area all year round.

The recreational activities include fishing, bird -- viewing and sight -- seeing of mountains and a variety of natural vegetation as well.
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"This is a thrilling time for Partake Brewing and we are proud to work with both our retail and distribution partners to redefine the non-alcoholic category and continue to deliver on our market position as a leading North American non-alcoholic craft beer," said Ted Fleming, Partake Brewing Founder and CEO. "After an accelerated year of sales growth, the addition of these important U.S. markets provides us with an opportunity to meet the consumer's growing interest and demand for non-alcoholic offerings while providing an unparalleled drinking experience."

Partake is available in more than 5,000 retail locations and can be found in Total Wine, Whole Foods Pacific Northwest, Wegmans, BevMo!, Ralphs, Vons, and Pavilions.

"Partake Brewing is a trusted partner and we are excited to offer their range of great tasting, low calorie craft beer to meet the ever changing needs of our customers," said Nick Funchion, President and Chief Operating Officer of Penn Beer. "We're seeing many consumers opting to make healthier choices and seeking a non-alcoholic beer option to complement their current alcohol consumption habits."

Last December, Partake announced its first foray into the U.S. market with distribution in Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. Today's announcement also comes on the heels of the brand's recent $4 million Series A funding round led by CircleUp Growth Partners .

Partake was established in 2017 to offer people a variety of great-tasting, non-alcoholic craft beers suitable for any occasion or location. Beer inspired by enjoying the moment, not the alcohol. Partake was founded by Fleming after a diagnosis of Crohn's Disease led him to give up alcohol. To maintain the social connection and interaction that comes from socially drinking Fleming turned to non-alcoholic beer. However, he found that variety and taste were often missing from the NAB offerings available. This ultimately inspired him to brew his own, giving consumers a variety of great-tasting, non-alcoholic craft beers suitable for any occasion or location.

Partake currently offers PALE, IPA, BLONDE, RED, DARK (U.S.), STOUT (Canada) and limited seasonal editions. Consumers consistently seek out Partake for its exceptional taste, unmatched calorie count (10-30 calories per can), vegan all-natural ingredients and brewing process.

As a recipient of numerous international awards for high-quality product and innovation, including a Gold Medal at the World Beer Awards for Best Non-Alcoholic Beer, Partake is a leader in the North American non-alcoholic craft beer industry.

For any press inquiries, please contact the below:

United States: KLG PR, [email protected]

Canada: Praxis PR (Tyonna Shears), [email protected] , 416-897-0472

About Partake Brewing

At Partake, we are beer lovers first. We're on a mission to transform the non-alcoholic beer experience so fellow beer lovers can enjoy great tasting beer that pairs perfectly with every occasion, no matter the reason for cutting back on alcohol. Partake Brewing has become a leader in craft non-alcoholic beer in North America with distribution in major retailers across Canada and the United States. Brewed using a proprietary process, Partake Brewing is praised by customers for its unique combination of exceptional flavour, classic styles, and game-changing nutritionals.

For more information about Partake Brewing and its craft non-alcoholic beers, please visit https://drinkpartake.com/ or follow along on Instagram at @ PartakeBrewing or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DrinkPartake/ .

SOURCE Partake Brewing
South Texas is quickly shaping up to be the epicenter of the states political universe in 2022, a notable shift after the two major parties spent the last two elections duking it out in the suburbs.

There are ample unknowns, starting with redistricting. But the number of political attractions cropping up in South Texas are becoming numerous, especially after the news Monday that U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, would not seek reelection.

Velas seat was already one of three in South Texas that national Republicans, emboldened after former President Donald Trump overperformed across the region last year, were targeting for 2022. Democrats will have to defend those seats, whose districts will first be redrawn in a process controlled by GOP state lawmakers  and likely to favor the party in power.

But before the general election, Democrats will also have to navigate a primary for Velas open seat  as well as potentially another serious primary challenge to Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. And the stakes could not be higher nationally: Republicans only need to capture about eight seats to win back the House. Control over that chamber could depend in part on how South Texans vote in 2022.

Recent headlines about the influx of unaccompanied minors at the border have only intensified the GOPs drive to turn South Texas into a new political background. National Republicans have sought to put their new South Texas targets on the defensive over the Biden border crisis, while some of the targets have been more vocal than many of their Democratic colleagues about the extent of the problems unfolding in their districts.

Cuellar has suggested Biden needs to visit the border himself, criticized the administrations messaging around its more human approach to immigration and leaked photos of a Border Patrol tent in Donna as the administration restricted media access to such facilities. Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez sent Biden a letter requesting a meeting to share how the current situation on the border is precarious and in need of our immediate attention.

It is not the only area where the South Texas Democrats have split from their party under Biden  and under new national GOP pressure. Cuellar and Gonzalez were among four Texas Democrats in the House who asked Biden in January to rescind his executive order temporarily halting fracking on federal lands.

The foundation for a South Texas-centered election cycle was laid in November, when Biden underperformed across South Texas in stunning fashion. In 28 counties in South Texas or near the border, he won by a combined 17 percentage points after Hillary Clinton carried them by about double that four years earlier. In the Rio Grande Valley  made up of the four southernmost counties in Texas  Biden won by 15 points after Clinton ran up a 39-point margin there.

The results in some individual counties were even more striking. Zapata County, which sits just north of the Rio Grande Valley along the border, flipped to Trump, who won it by 5 points after Clinton carried it by 33.

Democrats have a big problem in Texas, Vela said in a late January interview, shortly after he became vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. For the first time in generations, or maybe ever, we lost  South Texas counties with significant Hispanic populations. And we are going to have to  wrap our arms around exactly why that happened. It may be a difficult issue to reconcile.

There have been a number of analyses of what went wrong for Democrats in the region. A state Democratic Party report released last month concluded that Republicans turned out their Latino voters at a higher rate than Democrats did theirs. A December report from Cambio Texas, a progressive group in the Rio Grande Valley, advised Democratic leaders to devise a messaging plan tailored for the area that treats it less like a progressive region and more like a rural conservative county. And on Wednesday, Nuestro PAC, a national Democratic super PAC that targets Hispanic voters, gave a presentation to reporters that also zeroed in on messaging, saying national Democrats approach does not work in the Valley.

Weve all said Latinos arent a monolith, but in the Valley in particular, theres three major employers, said the super PACs founder, Chuck Rocha. Theres border security, theres the local government and theres oil and gas, and all of those folks dont line up with the value set that woke brown consultants or woke white consultants in New York or D.C. are selling as a national narrative to these Democrats.

In the January interview, Vela said he still had to study the trends closer, but sensed that some South Texas voters went with Trump because they were scared Democrats were gonna take their jobs in the oil and gas industry. Republicans in Texas raised alarm in October when Biden said in a debate that he would transition from the fossil fuel industry that powers much of this states economy.

If that continues to be the message that voters hear, Vela said, well continue to lose those voters, so you have to come up with something different.

These guys are out busting their ass, leaving their homes for two or three weeks at a time, working night and day, but theyre making upwards of $80,000 a year, Vela said. If they dont do that, theyre back at home looking for a job thats paying a third. And if youre telling somebody, We want you to go make $30,000 instead of $80,000, you think theyre gonna vote for you?

Mayra Flores, the first Republican to declare for Velas seat in 2022, said the economy is the No. 1 issue for South Texas. No. 2 is law enforcement, she added, arguing voters were turned off by the movement to defund the police that cropped up after George Floyds death last summer.

When you have some of these Democrat congress[people] calling [law enforcement officers] names, its, Hey, thats my son, thats my husband, thats my daughter, thats my wife that youre attacking, Flores said. When it comes to politics, family comes first. That type of message does not resonate in South Texas.

The term defund the police does not mean the same thing to everyone calling for police reforms  and not all supporters of police budget cuts want law enforcement agencies to lose all of their money and be disbanded.

The three districts Republicans are targeting run from north to south as jagged columns from the Rio Grande up to San Antonio and its surrounding areas. The heavy Democratic vote in each seat tends to cluster in the south, while the more rural stretches trend conservative. From west to east is Cuellars Texas 28th District, Gonzalezs 15th District and Velas 34th District.

For years, this design helped Democrats easily win reelection in each general election. But now Republicans hope to take advantage of this construct. All three districts overlap in mostly inexpensive television markets where Republican groups can easily experiment and maneuver between races with the same advertising buys in the districts shared television and radio markets.

Last fall, Cuellar and Vela won by double digits, while Gonzalez had a surprisingly close call with a 3-percentage-point margin. The opportunity for Republicans is in the presidential numbers: Biden carried each of the districts by fewer than 5 points.

So far, Gonzalez has faced the most heat ahead of 2022. His Republican challenger from last year, Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez, is already running again. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Gonzalez a Frontline member in early March, indicating that they view him as one of the most endangered Democrats in the House. And on Thursday, the NRCC placed him on their 2022 Exit List  Democrats who the committee believes could abandon their reelection campaigns  and launched digital and radio ads against him.

The ads attack Gonzalez over recent reporting that for three years he maintained a six-figure bank account with the state-owned Bank of China, urging voters to call Gonzalez and tell him Americas money doesnt belong in China. When national GOP groups began making an issue out of the bank account last month, his office said the account was American based and was closed last year.

The head of the Texas Democratic Party, Gilberto Hinojosa, brushed off the idea that Gonzalez was in trouble. In a statement, Hinojosa said that if Republicans are foolish enough to expend their resources here in a very different race than the one last year, they will get what they deserve. Hinojosa also suggested the GOP focus on South Texas will ultimately help retain and gain other seats in tougher regions.

Cuellar may be the biggest question mark of the GOPs three targets in South Texas. He is already one of the most moderate Democrats in Congress, a distinction that earned him a high-profile primary challenge last year. He also has cultivated a powerful in-state ally in Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who expressed coolness Thursday to his partys push to take out Cuellar.

Henry Cuellar is my friend and hes my partner, and its one of those rare instances of good bipartisan cooperation that I believe benefit his constituents and my constituents as well, said Cornyn, who visited Laredo earlier this month to tour the border with Cuellar. I think hes certainly well-regarded and I think done a good job, and I think  there are better targets than Congressman Cuellar.

In Washington, D.C., and Texas, Democrats tend to fall into two camps when looking at South Texas. Some Democrats take the Republican threat incredibly seriously and are urging top-to-bottom engagement.

On the other side of the strategic divide, more confident Democrats argue that the 2020 race was a fluke. In this worldview, GOP South Texas outperformance is rooted in part because Democrats backed off retail politicking amid the COVID-19 pandemic and in part because Trump turned out voters who will not return to the polls when he is not on the ballot.

Either way, it is expected that the House Democratic campaign arm will keep a close eye on the region.

Republicans record of opposing much-needed pandemic relief for working families and small businesses is deeply toxic with South Texas voters, DCCC spokesperson Chris Hayden said in a statement. Democrats are committed to meeting voters where they are and arent taking any votes for granted this cycle. We know theres more we can do to effectively communicate our message with voters in communities like South Texas, and we are investing early in the resources needed to reach these voters.

The DCCCs Republican counterpart is confident that Bidens agenda in particular will doom Democrats in South Texas. NRCC spokesperson Torunn Sinclar said in a statement that voters already see that Biden and House Democrats disastrous anti-energy and open borders policies are wreaking havoc across Texas, and that spells big trouble for Texas Democrats in 2022.

Given the strategic importance, operatives in both parties are eager to game out their strategies to win these seats. But the enthusiasm comes to an abrupt halt at the mere mention of one word: redistricting.

Democrats concede a shared sense of dread as they await a map drawn by the state Legislature. And Republicans have already considered the implications of the Vela retirement in this context as well: A vacant 34th District could give Republicans more freedom with their South Texas redraw.

It is a far more incendiary political move to dramatically redraw the district of an incumbent running for reelection, rather than an open-seat race like the 34th District. This retirement gives them more flexibility to completely dismantle that district.

There are other uncertainties. Operatives in both parties say candidate quality will matter, whether the census will delay the Texas primaries and how much national fundraising will influence these once sleepy races.

Theres going to be an injection of the unknown that weve never seen, said Moses Mercado, a Washington lobbyist who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley.

He pointed to the locally driven political culture in the Valley, where personalities and family political dynasties have historically carried significant sway with voters. But given the nationalized environment and fundraising networks, these races could become sophisticated and with well-funded television air wars.

At this point, the primary to succeed Vela is expected to be a crowded one. And last year, Cuellar nearly lost his primary to political newcomer Jessica Cisneros. It remains unclear if she will run again, but outside Democratic groups have not ruled out another challenge to Cuellar.

A former longtime Cuellar aide, Colin Strother, discouraged competitive Democratic primaries in South Texas this cycle.

A lot of our partners, our allies, last cycle spent millions of dollars going after someone that was a safe incumbent, and that was money that could have gone to shore up other races, Strother said.

A lot of money was wasted on someone who wasnt perfect according to some people in the Democratic Party, he later added.

Democrats also worry about how much Republicans are willing to spend in the region, and if local Democrats, who have long dominated in general election campaigns, are prepared for tough general election fights.

Much remains uncertain, and until the maps are drawn later this year, the future of South Texas politics is theoretical. But Flores, the Republican running for the Vela seat, said there is tangible change in the region.

People just werent any longer ashamed to come out and say, Im a conservative.  Now they say it, she said. Theyre no longer afraid to stand up for their values.
[March 29, 2021] Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Is Appointed Lead Counsel in Securities Fraud Class Action Against Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR)

The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP ("Kessler Topaz") announces that the firm has been appointed Lead Counsel in a securities fraud class action lawsuit pending against Restaurant Brands International Inc. ("Restaurant Brands"). The action, captioned Graney v. Restaurant Brands International Inc., et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-20508-KMM (the "Action"), is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and is brought on behalf of Restaurant Brands investors who purchased or acquired Restaurant Brands common stock between April 29, 2019 and October 28, 2019. Investors who purchased or acquired Restaurant Brands common stock (NYSE: QSR) between April 29, 2019 and October 28, 2019 are encouraged to contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1413 or Adrienne Bell, Esq. (484) 270-1435 or toll free at (844) 887-9500 or via e-mail at info@ktmc.com. For additional information about this Action please click: https://www.ktmc.com/restaurant-brands-international-ic-securities-class-action?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=restaurant_brands



Restaurant Brands is a Canadian corporation and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the world's largest restaurant chains with over 27,000 Tim Hortons, Burger King, and Popeyes restaurants in more than 100 countries and U.S. territories. On April 24, 2018, Restaurant Brands announced a new strategy designed to improve performance within its Tim Hortons brand. Specifically, the "Winning Together Plan" would focus on three key pillars: restaurant experience; product excellence; and brand communications. Then, on March 20, 2019, Restaurant Brands announced "Tims Rewards" - a new loyalty program for Tim Hortons customers in Canada. Under the Tims Rewards program, customers would be eligible for a free hot brewed coffee, hot tea, or baked good after every seventh paid visit to a participating Tim Hortons restaurant. On April 10, 2019, Restaurant Brands announced that it was expanding the Tims Rewards program to include customers in the United States. On the heels of Restaurant Brands touting the benefits of these initiatives, the company completed two stock offerings on or about August 12, 2019, and September 5, 2019, collectively resulting in proceeds of over $3 billion to insiders.

On October 28, 2019, the truth about Restaurant Brands' execution of its Winning Together Plan and Tims Rewards loyalty program was revealed when the company announced disappointing financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019. Among other things, Restaurant Brands reported a 0.1% system-wide year-over-year sales decline for Tim Hortons-representing a 1.4% same-store sales decline-on system-wide sales of $1.774 billion. Following this news, the price of Restaurant Brands common stock declined $3.59 per share, or more than 5%, from a close of $68.45 per share on October 25, 2019, to close at $64.86 per share on October 28, 2019. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, please visit www.ktmc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005529/en/

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Paul Nemeth, a retired US Air Force Officer, a retired clinical psychologist with a PhD; has completed his new book Tai Mo Shan: a gripping and potent novel that follows the exploits and missions of an Air Force officer after the war and Vietnam conflicts.

This book is a compilation of events that occurred to Paul Nemeth during his four-year classified assignment with a British Air Force Intelligence Signals Unit in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong.

These events include being bitten by the Hong Kong governors guard dog, various visits to Vietnam, and many encounters with high-ranking members of the defense department and members of the United States Armed Forces Committee.

The book was written in a humorous vein to instill some humor for the reader about a conflict that was very unpopular and deeply divided the American people.

Published by Page Publishing, Dr. Paul Nemeths interesting tale recognizes the efforts of the men and women in uniform and non-uniform who are wholeheartedly serving the country without hesitation.

Readers who wish to experience this amazing work can purchase Tai Mo Shan at bookstores everywhere or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex and time-consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 29 - "Today and tomorrow I will be on a mission to Montenegro and Bosnia and I will be exerting maximum efforts to create, including abroad, new economic and growth opportunities for Italian companies," Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Monday about his trip to the Western Balkans.



The minister arrived in the morning in Montenegro, where he will be meeting with his counterpart Djordje Radulovic.



He will reportedly afterwards be meeting with Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic and Parliament Speaker Aleksa Becic.



Di Maio is the first foreign minister among the country's main international partners to go to Montenegro since the new government was formed.



The foreign minister will fly to Bosnia in the afternoon.



(ANSAmed).


A Malaga court has ordered a six-year prison sentence for a 37-year-old man for raping a 19-year-old British tourist in a nightclub toilet in the city.

The court heard that the attack took place on 11 July, 2017, when the victim met the man at the club and, despite language difficulties, they struck up a conversation. According to court documents the pair began to dance and kiss on the disco floor.

At about four in the morning, the girl asked the defendant where the women's toilets were and he offered to accompany her. Once there, when the young woman entered one of the toilets, he followed behind her and closed the door. The man then grabbed her tightly, lifted her dress and raped her.

The court papers say the man carried out the sexual assault while she "insistently" pleaded for him to stop, while crying inconsolably.

After that, the man quickly left the toilet and the girl told a friend, who alerted the doorman of the nightclub. He asked her if her attacker was still inside and if she could identify him, to which she responded yes. They both returned inside so that she could discreetly point out the man. After several unsuccessful attempts to find him, the doorman notified the police.

Malaga Local Police, after an initial interview with the girl, activated the protocol for suspected cases of sexual assault and handed over the investigations to the National Police.

Officers took a statement from the girl, interviewed witnesses and reviewed footage from all the security cameras on the premises.

When police traced the man they found contradictions in his account. He acknowledged the sexual encounter, but maintained that it was consensual at all times and that she even pulled his arm for him to enter the toilet and asked him to have sex, denying that she said "stop".

The victim, who suffered eight finger-shaped bruises on the inner side of her left thigh, immediately returned to Britain after the attack, as she was on holiday in Malaga with a group of friends.

The girl maintained her version of events at the trial, in which she testified by videoconference due to the health crisis. The girl stated that, when he entered the bathroom, she thought they would continue kissing or even that he would touch her body, which she said, she would not have opposed, since he seemed like a "good person". But she said that at no time did she agree to continue, and vehemently opposed and "physically" resisted the rape, which according to her she could not prevent due to the small size of the cubicle.

The man was found guilty of the sexual assault and sentenced to six years in prison, an order banning him to communicate by any means with the victim for another 11 years and, finally, compensation of 15,000 euros for the injuries and emotional trauma suffered.
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Monday, March 29, 2021

Why would biodiversity loss be important?

The Climate Clock is ticking. In key cities all over the world the clock illustrates how little time is left to attempt and achieve net zero carbon emissions if we want to keep the global temperature to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Currently, it says 6 years, 298 days, and 23 hours, and 5 seconds.

Its now 2030. The world missed its climate targets and extreme weather events pound the planet. Scientists observe a most confounding pattern of plant migration from the infernal equator towards the poles, while a variety of species move to warmer and wetter climes. A climate sensitive industry, agriculture has been hit hardest. As the shifting climate disrupts the natural rhythm of seasons making warmer summers longer, winters become colder and shorter. Dangerous levels of droughts, or heavy snowfall and precipitation attack farms, degrade soil nutrient levels, and drastically reduce yields. With diminishing floral species, the balance of supply and demand tilts towards trepidation. In a couple of years, famine fears could become a reality.

The forests, many of which have started to be replanted massively in the 2020s in a bid to create more carbon sinks, have begun dwindling due to widespread wildfires or killer frosts, eliminating various tree and plant species. Forest simplification minimizes its own ability to cope with the changing climate and invasive species and diseases, further weakening its capacity to rejuvenate and survive as an ecosystem. While a biodiverse forest provides humanity a plethora of cures, as a habitat, simplified forests lose viability. This causes many wild species of insects and animals to venture out and find food and shelter, taking with them viruses and bacteria that have been locked away from humanity for millennia. These vectors fulfill the prophecy of a pandemic era, the black elephant to which nobody paid attention until the mad rampage.

While plants and animals migrate to seek more benign conditions, humans do not just flee climate extremes, harsh environments, and consequential famine. They also try to escape the pandemics that vectors bring. Once in a while, zoonotic diseases strike the already weak and undernourished, threatening even the healthier segment of the population. Often, families have to make the devastating decision to leave the infected behind in their search for more benevolent circumstances.

Countries with poor environments and weak economies could hardly provide what their people need. The most affected communities start to lose faith in government. They simply want to survive but there is very little to live by, so populations start to move towards places where there is at least a promise of food. We see the beginnings of this today in Africa. The conditions during mass migrations are dismal, but it is a choice between hunger and danger. Cross-border migration brings its own ills such as human trafficking, abuse of women and the vulnerable, and other unspeakable crimes. Left with no choice, people decide to risk what little they have and their very life for a hint of hope.

Governments that are faring better are prepared for large-scale cross-border migration earlier on. They barricade their otherwise pockets of hope with military might, keeping them impenetrable from outsiders. They have food, medicine, resilient infrastructure, cooperative systems and functional governance and they are not in any way giving it all up. They are poised to attack any potential threat. We can see this today in the way in which the European border is policed. Cross-border conflict is expected to worsen and war seems inevitable. Its only a matter of time.

Facing a host of challenges, other cooperating countries can decide to focus. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault began to open to the worlds leading scientists through the biggest global cooperation initiative to propagate food and medicinal plants in a highly controlled and closely protected environment. While the rest of the world reels with wicked problems, hope is high in that Norwegian island. But scientists soon realize their progenitors failed to see the forest for the trees. Having seeds and a few preserved DNA here and there is not enough. Trial after trial, the worlds greatest minds fail to generate the plants en masse because the current conditions are not conducive to address the challenge at hand. The missing ingredients: millions of types of soil, air, and water bacteria, diversity of other plants, insects and animals symbiotically supporting each other, as well as the most appropriate weather conditions that different species require to provide the perfect environment for the plants to thrive.

There is no dearth of knowledge and information in the digital world. Super artificial intelligence churns out various possible solutions. But whatever solutions computers take seconds to come up with, humanity takes a long while to put together and deploy in the physical world. It is a race against time, a luxury that humanity simply doesnt have.

In the last two hundred years, human awareness of the inherent value of each life form in the web of life has succumbed to myopic perspectives of separation and utility. A failure to recognize the individual and collective value of all life forms translates to a failure to protect them. What is it but either ignorance, greed, and a lack of foresight to allow the world to unravel as it has?

Biogenesis is essential to the planet. At least for the foreseeable future, only natural life could create life on the scale and reach required to sustain the fragile planet as we know it. Johann Gottlieb Fichte said "you could not remove a single grain of sand from its place without thereby changing something throughout all parts of the immeasurable whole". Could a crushed butterfly trigger a series of events that could change the trajectory of the future? If so, what are the other probable futures that massive biodiversity loss could bring about? What might be the blind spots that could suddenly surprise or even shock us?

Could technology catch up fast enough to create lasting and impactful solutions? Could comprehensive DNA banking offer an assurance that when appropriate technologies mature, we can recreate animals and plants that have gone extinct and refabricate our natural world? And if this recreated world is seen as a remote possibility, would humanity rally behind biodiversity in the present?

Biodiversity is what differentiates the earth from other planets in the solar system. It provides for everything that humanity requires and thus protects us from the threat of possible extinction. Why is biodiversity important? Life begets life. Loss of life induces loss of life. The clock continues to tick.

 Shiela R Castillo 2021
The Palestinian Authoritys financial support for terrorism circumvents U.S. and Israeli law By Yoni Ben Menachem

The Palestinian government has decided to pay grants to terrorists and their families through the Palestinian postal banks to circumvent the Israeli prohibition on West Bank commercial banks involvement in terrorism-related activity. Israel and the U.S. Congress see these payments as rewards and incentives to terrorists. The Cat and Mouse game continues as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas challenges Israels regulations with impunity and takes advantage of Israels reluctance to destabilize his rule. The struggle between Israel and the Palestinians over the payment of grants to terrorists and the families of shahids [martyrs] entered a new phase after the Palestinian government decided to pay the funds through postal banks to some 12,000 families. The PAs postal banks are not considered banking institutions. The Palestinian governments action came after the West Bank commercial banks shut the accounts of the terrorists and the families of the shahids and the wounded following an order issued by the IDF Central Command threatening to impose penalties on any bank that transfers funds to those accounts. Amendment 67 of the military order issued by the commander of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Nadav Padan, stipulates that banks through which salaries are transferred violate the Terrorism Law. The order also warned bank managers operating within the PA that they and their employees will be considered criminal accomplices if they continue to manage accounts of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel because it supports, promotes, funds or rewards terrorism, punishable with up to 10 years in prison. The PAs Chairman of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Qadri Abu Bakr, said that the salaries of the security prisoners in Israeli jails for March would be paid early in April through the post offices in the West Bank until automated teller machines (ATMs) are established from which the salaries can be withdrawn with a smart card. The Palestinian Ministry of Communications and Technology has already begun to install a network of ATMs in branches of the postal bank in the West Bank. Qadri Abu Bakr said 7,500 released terrorists would receive salaries for official jobs in the PAs civilian and security institutions and that they would receive the wages in the same way that government officials are paid. The PA was forced to pay three months in advance at the end of last year after the Palestinian banks closed the terrorist accounts in their West Bank branches. Dozens of released terrorists demonstrated in Ramallah two weeks ago in front of Palestinian government buildings demanding faster hiring into Palestinian Authority institutions so that they could receive their salaries. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said last week that Israel had cut NIS 52 million each month from the tax revenues it collects for the Authority to offset the amount paid by the PA to the terrorists and the families of those killed and injured. Deductions Mandated by Israeli and American Laws Last year, Israel began deducting tax revenues in accordance with the offset law approved by the Knesset and following the comparable American Taylor Force legislation passed by Congress. The PA initially considered establishing an independent bank to transfer the grants to terrorists and their families but eventually dropped the idea, deciding to make the payments through the postal bank branches. Cat and Mouse Game Paying the salaries to terrorists through post offices is a new evasive maneuver to circumvent Israels demand to halt paying salaries to terrorists and their families. This is a cat and mouse game. Israel is obligated to transfer the tax dollars to the PA under the Paris Agreement. Israel does not seek the PAs collapse and wants tens of thousands of PA officials to receive salaries. However, the PA takes shameless advantage and uses the money it receives from Israel to pay terrorists and their families. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas knows that Israel is not interested in the collapse of the PA or Hamas control of the West Bank after the May 2021 elections. He is confident Israel will continue to transfer tax dollars, so, with impunity, he continues this confrontation with Israel and presents himself as a national hero who cares about the rights of the Palestinian fighters. He claims that the PAs financial support for terrorists and their families was a red line that he would never cross. An Ironic Postscript In December 2020, Palestinian Authority civilian and security employees protested to European donors that the PA finance minister had suspended their salaries because they supported the election of opponents to the Abbas regime. Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as Director General and Chief Editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Home
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NEW YORK and PERTH, Australia, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PYC Therapeutics (ASX: PYC), a biotechnology company developing a new generation of precision RNA therapeutics to change the lives of patients with inherited diseases, today announced the appointment of Jason Haddock to its Board of Directors. Mr. Haddock brings more than two decades of financial, commercial and operational leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, and currently serves as a Board Director of Codiak BioSciences, a biotech company developing precision exosome therapeutics.

Throughout his career, Mr. Haddock has held a variety of leadership roles at biopharma companies, overseeing finance, commercial and business development strategies in the U.S. and worldwide. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer at Array Biopharma, where he was instrumental in developing a research, development and commercialization strategy that culminated in the successful launch and commercialization of two oncology therapies and Array's acquisition by Pfizer for $11.4 billion. Prior to Array Biopharma, he worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb in a variety of finance, strategic, commercial and business development capabilities including CFO and COO roles for business units in Asia Pacific, Europe and the U.S.

"As we look to set up PYC to access the important U.S. biotech capital markets, Jason brings a wealth of valuable industry experience, having served as a financial, operations and strategic leader at a range of biotech companies," said Sahm Nasseri, U.S. Chief Executive Officer of PYC Therapeutics. "We welcome him as our second independent U.S. member of PYC's Board of Directors and part of the growing U.S.-based leadership team as we continue to transform into a clinical stage biotechnology company. Jason's unique expertise will play an important role in shaping our strategic path forward as we continue to enable corporate development in the U.S. and move our pipeline closer to clinical development."

"It is an honor to join PYC at such a critical time for the company and partner with the growing PYC executive team as it develops and executes on roadmaps that advance its pipeline of multiple candidates towards the clinic and engages key stakeholders in the U.S.," said Mr. Haddock. "I look forward to contributing my insights gained from a career dedicated to the development of therapies that can change the lives of patients, as PYC works to address unmet needs for ocular and other inherited diseases."

Mr. Haddock has also served as the Chief Financial Officer at ArcherDX as the company was acquired by Invitae to create a global leader in comprehensive cancer genetics and precision oncology. Mr. Haddock earned his BS in accounting from Illinois State University and his EMBA from Washington University in St. Louis  Olin Business School.

About PYC Therapeutics

PYC Therapeutics (ASX: PYC) is a development-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new generation of RNA therapeutics that utilize Cell Penetrating Peptides (CPPs), a revolutionary delivery technology designed to overcome the major challenges of current gene-based therapies. PYC believes its CPP technology provides safer, more effective access for a wide range of potent and precise drug cargoes to the highest value drug targets that exist inside cells. The Company is leveraging its leading-edge science to develop a pipeline of novel therapies with an initial focus on inherited eye diseases for which it has unveiled three preclinical stage assets. PYC's discovery and laboratory operations are located in Australia and the Company recently launched an expansion into the U.S. for its preclinical, clinical, regulatory and business development operations. For more information, visit pyctx.com, or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward looking statements

Any forward-looking statements in this ASX announcement have been prepared on the basis of a number of assumptions which may prove incorrect and the current intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs about future events are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the Company's control. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from assumptions or expectations expressed or implied in this ASX announcement include known and unknown risks. Because actual results could differ materially to assumptions made and the Company's current intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs about the future, you are urged to view all forward-looking statements contained in this ASX announcement with caution. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACTS:

SOURCE PYC Therapeutics

Related Links

https://pyctx.com


DES MOINES, Iowa and CAIRO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services, is growing its presence in the global vaccine market by becoming majority shareholder of MEVAC, an animal vaccine manufacturer based in Cairo, Egypt, and a shareholder in MEVAC's sister company, UVAC, to further expand Kemin's portfolio in the global animal vaccine market.

"We entered into a partnership with MEVAC over a decade ago and are thrilled to become the majority shareholder," said Chris Nelson, President and CEO, Kemin Industries. "Kemin and MEVAC share the goal of transforming lives and creating a sustainable future  one in which non-antibiotic alternatives are becoming more and more important to customers. By extending our partnership to MEVAC's sister company, UVAC, we can do even more to bring our innovations to animal vaccines."

First investing in the MEVAC in 2010, Kemin has increased its participation in the Egyptian-based company over the years. In 2019, Kemin increased its share in MEVAC and received the right to distribute its vaccines globally, outside the Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East already served by MEVAC.

"As Kemin has grown its partnership with MEVAC, our capabilities and technologies have expanded, as well, and we are thrilled to bring this beneficial cooperation to UVAC," said Dr. Magdy El Sayed, Founder, MEVAC and UVAC. "We share a commitment to advancing technology and accessibility of animal vaccines, and together, we can create an even greater impact."

As part of its investment in MEVAC, Kemin has access to a modern vaccine plant with production and R&D capabilities to support future growth. UVAC, MEVAC's sister company, also in Egypt, and in which Kemin is a shareholder, has been established to produce foot-and-mouth disease and tissue-culture vaccines for animals, as well as human vaccines.

"Over the past decade, MEVAC has proven to be an excellent partner for Kemin as we enter the animal vaccine market. Animal production is continuing to evolve, and by working together, Kemin and MEVAC have been able to introduce innovation to animal vaccines," said GS Ramesh, Global Group President, Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health. "As our work with MEVAC has yielded such beneficial results, we are looking forward to bringing this same dedication and drive to our collaboration with UVAC."

About Kemin Industries

Kemin Industries (www.kemin.com) is a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services. The company supplies over 500 specialty ingredients for human and animal health and nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies, textile, biofuels and animal vaccine industries.

For over half a century, Kemin has been dedicated to using applied science to address industry challenges and offer product solutions to customers in more than 120 countries. Kemin provides ingredients to feed a growing population with its commitment to the quality, safety and efficacy of food, feed and health-related products.

Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with more than 2,800 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.



Media Contact:

Lauren M.G. Burt, Head of Worldwide Communications, [email protected], +1 (515) 559-5589

 Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2021. All rights reserved.  TM Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., U.S.A.

Certain statements, product labeling and claims may differ by geography or as required by government requirements.

SOURCE Kemin Industries

Related Links

http://www.kemin.com


BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's science news from the past week:

REFRACTING TELESCOPE

Chinese scientists are working to set up the world's largest refracting telescope in Tibet Autonomous Region for observing stars and planets. Construction for the telescope has already started in the regional capital of Lhasa.

The 1-meter refractor will be mounted on a planned regional planetarium, which is likely to start construction this year and emerge as the world's highest astronomical observatory upon completion. Scientists will use the refractor to carry out sky surveys, including monitoring near-Earth asteroids.

CHINESE COVID-19 DRUG CANDIDATE

A Chinese COVID-19 drug candidate is undergoing clinical trials in the United States after receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers commenced phase-1 clinical trials for the drug, coded DC402234, at a clinical research center of New Jersey-based Frontage Laboratories, Inc., the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said.

COVID-19 VACCINE FOR EMERGENCY USE

China has approved the emergency use of a self-developed recombinant protein subunit vaccine against COVID-19, its main developer, the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Researchers have been holding phase-3 trials of the vaccine (CHO Cells) since November 2020 in China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Ecuador and Indonesia, planning to enroll up to 29,000 adults.

SPACE-BRED RICE

About 1,500 rice seeds have sprouted and grown leaves in the greenhouse of the National Engineering Research Center of Plant Space Breeding of South China Agricultural University, after returning from a space journey.

These rice seeds traveled more than 760,000 kilometers to the moon last November and returned to Earth on Dec. 17 after 23 days of flight aboard China's Chang'e 5 lunar probe.

ION IMPLANTERS

A subsidiary of China Electronic Technology Group Corporation has developed full series of homegrown ion implanters for chipmakers, the CETC said in Beijing on Wednesday.

The ion implanters are all made in China and can provide a one-stop service for global chipmakers. Enditem

[ Editor: WXY ]

ANN ARBOR--In a two-year study that could help guide educators developing the post-pandemic new normal, student groups at the University of Michigan assigned to make video presentations showed more creativity and risk-taking than groups making conventional in-person presentations.

"Given the importance of project-based learning, our study provides a way to turn virtual limitations into an advantage," said Fei Wen, U-M associate professor of chemical engineering. "We can enhance the student experience and learning outcomes."

Higher education, along with society at large, anticipates a shift in the balance between in-person and remote activities even after COVID-19 is controlled, say Wen and colleagues. While many might assume hands-on learning is best done entirely in person, the study presents an alternative perspective.

The team began conducting the research in 2017--well before anyone knew COVID-19 was coming--as an effort to examine how different formats improved engaged learning outcomes. They split the students in a mass and heat transfer chemical engineering class into two cohorts: one doing an in-person presentation to high school students, with a poster and a demonstration; and the other making videos posted online. The 248 students who participated self-reported the degree to which their method enabled creativity, risk-taking, teamwork, self-confidence, communication and social responsibility.

"This turned out to be really timely," Wen said. "We did this without realizing the world would be switching to virtual."

At first, the students had some doubts about the video format. But the study revealed its potential. For one, it unlocked a larger range of experiments that the student teams could demonstrate--they were no longer limited to something that would run in a few minutes. Experiments that needed hours or days could be shown with time-lapse approaches.

In an in-person presentation, students have to get the demo right the first time. In contrast, a video can be reshot until the experiment works properly, enabling students to dream up more difficult concepts.

In addition, the video format encouraged a larger range of narrative methods. The "talking head" approach may most closely resemble a conventional presentation, but students also performed skits to explain concepts, added background music to the demonstrations or made the entire presentation into a song. They also used multiple locations, special effects and animation.

"The change in student perception before and after the project was really surprising to us," said Andrew Zak, a Ph.D. student in chemical engineering and first author of the study in the Journal of Chemical Education. "Heading into the project, most students felt the in-person presentation would have a greater impact on four of the six learning outcomes, but after completing the project, only social responsibility was more positively impacted by the in-person format."

Social responsibility means understanding their obligations to act for the common good as engineers. Unlike students assigned to in-person presentations, the video cohort didn't interact with high school students. Their presentations were on the web for anyone to access. Wen believes that this accounts for the lower ratings in social impact.

She has ideas about how to address that, such as arranging a video call with a high school class. However, she recognizes barriers as well, such as the reduced access to technology in low-income schools. It's an area she intends to explore further.

###

This study was supported by the U-M College of Engineering and the Center for Research in Learning and Teaching, as well as Wen's CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation.

Written by Kate McAlpine

Links

Study abstract:

https:/ / pubs. acs. org/ doi/ full/ 10. 1021/ acs. jchemed. 0c01033

Fei Wen:

https:/ / che. engin. umich. edu/ people/ fei-wen/
On a recent episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick was joined by Adam Cohen, the author of Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Courts Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America, to discuss the Supreme Courts role in the countrys ever-widening inequality gap. For a brief nanosecond in history, the court was a champion of the poor, but, Cohen explains, that all changed in the late 60s. A portion of their conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, has been transcribed below.

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Dahlia Lithwick: Were all taught this very cheerful narrative about how the Supreme Court exists to protect vulnerable minorities. At a minimum, the court has to ensure equal justice under the lawthats emblazoned on the building itself. But the main point of your argument is that actually when it comes to poverty, the court has done more, or as much, to create the structural income inequalities we see today than any of us actually believe. So my very obvious question is why are we so in love with this narrative about the court defending the underdog, when it did so only briefly and glancingly and hasnt done so before and is not doing so now?

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Adam Cohen: I think we all grew up with this myth: the Supreme Court, the champion of the underdog. We grew up with it being fed to us through movies and books about Brown v. Board of Education, about desegregating the South. Its a nice story; its a story wed like to believe.

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But if you really look at the history of the Supreme Court, boy, it couldnt be more different. Think about what the court was doing during slave times. We know in Dred Scott they were upholding slavery. Look what they did after the Civil War, when there was segregation in the South. In Plessy v. Ferguson, they upheld segregation. What did they do during the Progressive Era when the president and Congress really got around to protecting the little guy and the worker? They struck down laws against child labor and upheld the liberty of contract of the bosses. When eugenics was sweeping the country, more than half of the states had eugenic sterilization laws, and the Supreme Court upheld eugenic sterilization. We go to the beginning of the New Deal. When FDR is trying to get the country back on its feet with the Agricultural Adjustment Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act, the court strikes it all down. Then Korematsu, of course, during Japanese internment.

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There was a brief period during the Warren era when the court did a lot of good stuff, and for some reason that has become the Supreme Courts brand, and it shouldnt be.

The court has in the last 50 years, since the time youre talking about, seen the cratering of that vision of the Warren court. But it has done really good things in terms of womens reproductive rights, in terms of marriage equality, in terms of curbing executive powers in wartime. Is there a theory for why the court has actually in some ways continued to do really good things, even into the 80s and 90s? Is there a way to parse this that explains why the court just threw up its hands at the end of the 60s on poverty but continued to do some really important liberty-affording things for a long time after in other areas?

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Well, you might just say that in a capitalist system like ours, wealth and money and the current income and wealth distribution are really where the rubber hits the road. Look at how corporations actually have gotten a lot better on things like affirmative action, inclusion, gay rights, and things like that, but they havent gotten good at distributing their money to the poor. Thats really the thing that separates the corporate mentality from a more progressive outlook.

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Its just as you say: Yes, the court has actually slowly but eventually championed things like same-sex marriage. Theyve come around. But yes, on the poor, there was a brief period during the Warren era where the court really believed in the problems of the poor and had language that we would never see now about how poor peoples problems are not of their own making, theyre societal problems. That was a brief period when there was a strong liberal majority, but also those liberals were people whod grown up in poverty themselves. It was a very different court, a very empathetic court. But boy, it was a nanosecond, and were far away from that again.

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That brings us exactly to where I want to really start. In that nanosecond you describe, the court comes just within a hair of enshrining meaningful, constitutional protections for Americas poor, and then it all collapses. The court changes under Nixon. But I wonder if you could just set the table a little bit and tell us about some of those cases that really were, at least in the rearview mirror, startling in terms of the scope of what the Warren court was trying to do.

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One of the most stunning cases from that period is Gideon v. Wainwright. The famous case where the court said that if you cant afford counsel, counsel must be appointed to you. Now thats really a striking, huge right because there are so many criminal suspects in the United States if you look at the entire nation. That required every state, every locality to come up with a way to find lawyers for all these poor defendants as a constitutional right. That was huge.

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Then throughout the 60s, they strike down the poll tax and say that that discriminates against poor people who want to vote. Theres the man-in-the-house rule. This was a very common rule across the country that if the welfare authorities heard even by rumor that a mother had a boyfriendand the boyfriend could be someone who, as in the King v. Smith case, just visited occasionally, had his own familythat would be enough to throw the children and the mother off of the welfare rolls. The Supreme Court strikes that down. And then as you allude to, in these cases we begin to see language that is suggesting that the court might actually say that poor people in poverty are a suspect classification.

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Whats really sad from our perspective is there are these actual poor school children in poor districts around the country who really should have had this ruling, should have had more funding for their schools.  Adam Cohen

The story on that is that back in the 1930s, in an obscure case called Carolene Products, the court wrote a famous footnote in which they said, Were going to start identifying groups that are so excluded from the political process that we need to give them special protections. Lo and behold, the court starts doing that for religious minorities, racial minorities. Whats remarkable is that in the 60s, this nanosecond, the court actually begins to say, Now, lets look at poor people and how poor people are placed in America. They actually have these same attributes like racial minorities and religious minorities. Maybe we should make them a suspect class. If they had, so much could have followed. So many laws mightve been struck down because they discriminated against the poor.

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Another very important case there was Goldberg v. Kelly, which in some ways was the high watermark of poverty law. The court said that its not that you have a right to welfare, but if youre currently receiving welfare, it is so disruptive to your life if the government suddenly takes it away, that youre entitled to a due process hearing. It was so revolutionary; it was another thing that like the right to counsel, every jurisdiction in the country had to set up a process. How are we going to afford hearings to all these people on welfare if were going to take it away? These were very bold, far-reaching decisions.

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Then just two weeks after Goldberg, the court issues one of the worst poverty law rulings and everything changes.

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This brings us to Richard Nixon and his single-minded obsession with changing the court. Hes monitoring the health of the older justices, and hes sweeping in his attorney general and federal investigations and putting direct pressure on Earl Warren. He eventually annihilates Abe Fortas career at the court. He was gunning for William Brennan; he was gunning for William Douglas. This was really a crusade. Can you talk a little bit about, first of all, what Nixon was doing and how he was doing it? I guess Im just curious because Fortas keeps popping out in your counterfactual throughout the book, where you say had Fortas remained on the court, X would have happened. It feels as though this is the linchpin.

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Yes, indeed. People often ask you when you write a book, What did you learn? Some of what I wrote about, I knew already from law school, but the Fortas stuff was really new. Because when I talked to my professors about Abe Fortas, liberals always look down at the ground like it was a big embarrassment. Like, Oh, he did terrible things. We cant even mention his name. That isnt entirely wrong, but its certainly not entirely right.

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So yes, Nixon is the key. We have this Warren court, and its chugging along doing some of the great stuff we were talking about. Then Nixons elected with this vow to really undo the court. And just by a little bit of luck and a lot of scheming, he gets to appoint four justices in three years, which is remarkable. Thats one of the biggest turnovers in court history and totally redirects the court. Some of it was luck that he comes in and the chief justiceship is opening up because Warren had already said he was leaving, and some other justices are in poor health that eventually leave.

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But one of the key moments in the courts history is Nixon driving Abe Fortas off the court. Now, Fortas was not an angel by any means and he did some things that I think you and I would say were not good practice for a justice. But the main thing that Nixon got him on was taking some fees to consult for a foundation while he was on the court. Now, other justices have done that; other judges were doing that at the time. There was no prohibition. As we know, theres actually no set of ethics rules for the court, its self-enforcing. But Nixon used that to threaten him with prosecution and, even worse, to threaten his wife. She was a lawyer at the same firm he was at. Shed been investigated for some possible impropriety and was cleared. But Nixon threatened to put both of them in jail, and he succeeded in getting Fortas off the court. Fortas was probably not wrong to leave, in that the Nixon Justice Department really mightve put them both in jail. So there was some self-preservation going on there.

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But that gives Nixon crucially one more seat, the fourth of the four seats. When I look at some of the cases in the next few years, some of the most heartbreaking cases, including one very close to my heart, which is Rodriguez v. San Antonio School Board. The court came within one vote of saying that school funding in every state in the country had to be equal; we couldnt fund rich school districts more than poor school districts. That was 54, and if Fortas had not been driven off the court through real shenanigans and illegality by Nixon, that fifth liberal vote would have been there to give poor kids all across America a better start in life. I think it is really one of the great tragedies in Supreme Court history.

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One of the things that really struck me reading about Fortas was just the irony that the things he was being tagged fordoing this lectureship at a law school that was paid and doing consulting for a guy with very shady associations. Fortas is tagged for enriching himself in inappropriate ways, and then this becomes the catalyst for a court that goes on to enrich the wealthy. Its really striking that the claim against Fortas is that hes doing something hinky with his financial affairs and that gives birth to the entire arc of the story that gives us the plutocracy we live in today.

Totally right. The lectureship you mentioned, it was thousands of dollars, and you look at the millions and billions and trillions of dollars that have flowed from some of the courts rulings. And yes, it was penny ante, another irony. Theres so many said ironies: The people threatening to put Fortas in jail for being unethical themselves went to jail. Attorney General John Mitchell was the leader of this, saying, How could we possibly allow Fortas to accept this small amount of money? And then Mitchell ends up in jail for Watergate crimes.

Theres so many levels of irony, but whats really sad from our perspective is there are these actual poor school children in poor districts around the country who really should have had this ruling, should have had more funding for their schools. It was the Nixon machine that really cheated them and led to them being deprived of a lot of educational opportunity.

To hear their entire discussion, listen below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
'I Am a Woman, and I Am the President' - Tanzania Leader Suluhu

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the first woman to hold the highest office in the country's history, was born in semi-autonomous Zanzibar on January 27, 1960. She attended school at a time when very few Tanzanian girls were offered the opportunity of an education outside the traditional roles of wife and homemaker. Her education includes an advanced public administration diploma, a postgraduate diploma in economics from Manchester University and an MSc in community economic development.

Her political journey began in 2000, after she was elected as a special seat member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives and was appointed as minister. At the time, she was the only high-ranking female minister in the Cabinet, writes Inekde Mules for Deutsche Welle. After serving two terms, she sought election to the National Assembly in 2010, winning the vote by more than 80%. President Jakaya Kikwete appointed her as the minister of state for union affairs and in 2014, she was elected as the vice chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly tasked with drafting Tanzania's new constitution.

In 2015, President John Magufuli selected Suluhu Hassan as his running mate - a surprise choice over many more prominent members of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, in an election that they won. On October 28, 2021, the pair won the presidential elections. With the death of President John Magufuli on March 17, 2021, Suluhu Hassan became the country's first woman president. She will serve the balance of Magufuli's second five-year term.
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RENTON The Renton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, at 80 S.W. Second St., sold for nearly $6.2 million, according to King County records.

The seller was CF Renton LLC, which acquired the property in 2017 for about $4.8 million.





. . .
Doubeks group is forming a commission of citizens to help draw an independent map of Chicago City Council wards that is nonpartisan and doesnt carve up communities of need  and still respects the diverse population of Chicago. It can be done. You can visit CHANGEs website, https://www.changeil.org/, to learn how to get involved in that citizen-driven effort. The Better Government Association also put together examples of what nonpartisan maps would look like.
The current period of structural upheaval in Australias energy sector provides an opportunity for more affordable energy- and savings for consumers - and must not be wasted, according to Australias competition watchdog chief Rod Sims.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair also said that, in relation to electricity, the focus on reliability and sustainability need not, and therefore should not, come at the expense of affordability.

We must make sure that consumers and businesses are not wearing increased costs as a result of them being required by governments to take on risk which sits better with private investors, Sims said.

Sims - who was speaking at the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA) online seminar series - said that while recent reductions in wholesale electricity prices have been of benefit, there is still much work to be done to ensure electricity retailers are passing on the large cost savings to all Australians.

Sims said the long-term supply factors of increasing renewable generation and falling fuel costs have been the main reasons for lower wholesale prices since mid-last year.

If retailers are not passing on these large wholesale price reductions to consumers, they will need to explain why, Sims said.

The Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct (PEMM) laws came into effect in June last year and allow the ACCC to take action where retailers have not reduced their prices in line with reductions in wholesale costs. And we will take action, Sims warned.

Sims also said the ACCCs most recent gas report showed that LNG exporters and other gas suppliers also have the opportunity and capacity to offer cheaper gas to the domestic market, and could do more.

The development of a voluntary Gas Code as requested by the Government provides an opportunity for industry to collectively develop a new set of rules that addresses poor selling practices and facilitates competitive outcomes, Sims noted.

The government said it wanted to see a substantially progressed gas code by February this year and it is unacceptable that as at 25 March, users had not even seen the code.

The ACCC chief said that export parity prices are also an important factor influencing domestic gas prices and affordability in the east coast gas market, noting that in October 2018, the ACCC started publishing its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) netback price series to improve gas price transparency.

Global LNG markets have since changed, and the factors that could influence pricing strategies and industry views about the most appropriate international price marker have also changed.

As reported by iTWire the ACCC published an issues paper on the LNG netback price series last week and invited submissions.

We welcome feedback on a range of issues to do with the LNG netback price series and we believe its important to get this right and debate the issues publically and transparently, Sims concluded.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The pilot of a small plane was uninjured after a crash landing at the Petaluma Municipal Airport Saturday, officials said.

The pilot of the American Legend Cub-AL3 told authorities a wind gust forced the plane to the ground during an attempt to land just before 4:15 p.m., Petaluma police said.

Before the crash, the plane had circled the citys airport on East Washington Street near Old Adobe Road several times, said Joel Sinkay, a maintenance worker at the airport who witnessed the crash.

The plane came in for a landing and made contact with the ground a little hard but not bad, but then the tail began to spin and the plane veered off the runway, he said.

 The plane tipped on its wing and it nose-dived right on the pavement, went up in the air about 40 feet, Sinkay said. It sounded like a car crash.

Sinkay, who said he was about 150 yards away, jumped into his pickup and drove to the crash site. He said the pilot, a woman and the sole occupant, seemed stunned but unhurt. The plane had damage to its front.

Airport manager Dan Cohen said runway 29 was closed for about an hour after the crash.

The pilot, who was unidentified, had departed from Napa.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
DUBLIN, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Fiducial Markers Market by Cancer Type, Product, End User, Modality and Geography - Global Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, Trends, and Forecast up to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Fiducial Markers Market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 4.90% with a market value in 2026.

Fiducial markers are the tiny objects placed in or near a tumor to spot the area that needs to get surgery. These markers are designed to spot the precise position of the tumor and assist the doctor in providing the radiation on that specified area because the radiation can damage the other tissues.

These fiducial markers are widely used in cancer treatment, where radiotherapy is performed. Dramatically increasing cases of cancer, growing favorable reimbursements, and rapidly growing investments in the cancer research and development sector are the few significant factors that are contributing to the market growth. But somehow, the substitute therapies for radiotherapy and the expensive costs for the fiducial markers are making the market drawback.

Based on cancer type, the market can be divided into Prostate Cancer, Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Gastric Cancer, and Other Cancers. Among all cancer types, the prostate cancer can be taken as the most affected cancer, and it is dominating the market share due to the changing modern life and extension of healthcare framework and increased capabilities of research.



Fiducial markers based on the product is categorized into metal-based markers and other fiducial markers. Metal-based markers are the most used markers in this process of radiotherapy, and the metal-based markers are further divided into pure gold, gold alloys, and other metal-based markers. Pure gold markers are very effective in this segment as these markers are immovable and do not react to the tissues.

As per the end-users, the fiducial markers market is separated into hospitals and outpatient, independent radiotherapy centers, and cancer research centers. The hospitals and outpatient segment is anticipated to have a major share in the market growth due to the improvised facilities in the hospitals and outpatient care. Further, the fiducial markers included in radiotherapy is a relatively less critical process, which is more suitable in outpatient care.



The ultrasound modality segment plays a major role on the basis of modality in the fiducial markers market. Because the ultrasound is the less harmful method compared to all modalities as in most cases, people prefer less invasive procedures.



As per the geography, the fiducial markers market is segregated into majorly four regions-North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. North America accounted for the largest share in the market because of the potential companies present in this region and in addition, the growing adoption of the latest radiotherapy treatment in the healthcare centers in North America.

In this scenario, of globally increasing prevalence of cancer is the major attribute to support market growth. The other lucrative factors contributing to the fiducial markers market growth such as, not only in developed countries but also the developing countries are concentrating on the favorable reimbursements. Nonetheless, the lack of skilled professionals in this field is a challenge for the fiducial markers market.



CIVCO RADIOTHERAPY, Boston Scientific Corporation, IZI Medical Products, IBA, Naslund Medical AB, Medtronic, Best Medical International, Inc., Nanovi A/S, Carbon Medical Technologies, Eckert & Ziegler., Innovative Oncology Solutions, QlRad Inc, Stellar Medical, JJ-Medtech, QFIX, Varian Medical Systems, Inc, Beekley Corporation, Innomedicus Ag, Meditronix Corporation and Seedos Ltd. These are the companies that are leading the market.



Therefore, the fiducial markers act as a significant role in cancer treatment. Furthermore, the stakeholders in the emerging markets are also investing heavily for the better improvement of the healthcare centers in the respective countries, thus enabling further growth in the market. The fiducial markers market report gives the PEST analysis of the regions expresses the micro-environmental factors.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Industry Outlook

2.1. Industry Overview

2.2. Industry Trends



3. Market Snapshot

3.1. Market Definition

3.2. Market Outlook

3.3. PEST Analysis

3.4. Porter Five Forces

3.5. Related Markets



4. Market characteristics

4.1. Market Evolution

4.2. Market Trends and Impact

4.3. Advantages/Disadvantages of Market

4.4. Regulatory Impact

4.5. Market Offerings

4.6. Market Segmentation

4.7. Market Dynamics

4.7.1. Drivers

4.7.2. Restraints

4.7.3. Opportunities

4.8. DRO - Impact Analysis



5. Cancer Type: Market Size & Analysis

5.1. Overview

5.2. Prostate Cancer

5.3. Lung Cancer

5.4. Breast Cancer

5.5. Gastric Cancer

5.6. Other Cancers



6. Product: Market Size & Analysis

6.1. Overview

6.2. Metal-based Markers

6.2.1. Pure Gold

6.2.2. Gold Alloys

6.2.3. Other Metal-based Markers

6.3. Other Fiducial Markers



7. End-User: Market Size & Analysis

7.1. Overview

7.2. Hospitals & Outpatient Facilities

7.3. Independent Radiotherapy Centers

7.4. Cancer Research Centers



8. Modality: Market Size & Analysis

8.1. Overview

8.2. CT/CBCT

8.3. MRI

8.4. Ultrasound

8.5. Radiotherapy



9. Geography: Market Size & Analysis

9.1. Overview

9.2. North America

9.3. Europe

9.4. Asia Pacific

9.5. Rest of the World



10. Competitive Landscape

10.1. Competitor Comparison Analysis

10.2. Market Developments

10.3. Mergers and Acquisitions, Legal, Awards, Partnerships

10.4. Product Launches and execution



11. Vendor Profiles

11.1. CIVCO RADIOTHERAPY

11.1.1. Overview

11.1.2. Product Offerings

11.1.3. Geographic Revenue

11.1.4. Business Units

11.1.5. Developments

11.1.6. Business Strategy

11.2. Boston Scientific Corporation

11.3. IZI Medical Products

11.4. IBA

11.5. Naslund Medical AB.

11.6. Medtronic

11.7. Best Medical International, Inc

11.8. Nanovi A/S

11.9. Carbon Medical Technologies

11.10. Eckert & Ziegler



12. Companies to Watch

12.1. Innovative Oncology Solutions.

12.1.1. Overview

12.1.2. Market

12.1.3. Business Strategy

12.2. QlRad Inc

12.3. Stellar Medical.

12.4. JJ-Medtech

12.5 Innovative Oncology Solutions

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ejcxo8

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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HERKIMER, N.Y. (UPDATED)  A 16-year-old girl was charged with assault after allegedly cutting her neighbor with a box cutter during an argument in Herkimer on Saturday.

Police Chief Mike Jory says officers were called to a home on King Street around 8:30 p.m. Saturday evening for a report of a disturbance. When they arrived, they found the man with two wounds, one to the neck and one in the upper back.

The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The teen girl was charged with second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Her name will not be released due to her age.

She was released her own recognizance, and is scheduled to return to court at a later date.
The pandemic property boom has driven mortgage approvals up nearly 40 per cent on the 10-year average, according to official data.

A total of 87,700 mortgages for new house purchases were approved in February, compared to an average of 63,500 over the past 10 years, according to Bank of England figures.

This represented a fall compared to the peak of 103,700 approvals in November 2020, and also a 10 per cent fall compared to the 97,400 approved in January 2021.

However, the snapshot was taken at a time when home buyers believed they were unlikely to benefit from the Government's stamp duty holiday, which could save them up to 15,000 on their property purchase.

Home loan: The number of mortgages approved for new homes was nearly 40% more than the ten-year average in February 2021, according to data from the Bank of England

The tax holiday, which eliminates stamp duty on the portion of a house purchase under 500,000, was initially set to end on 31 March.

It will continue in its current form until the end of June, and then with a lower nil rate band of 250,000 until the end of September which is likely to mean mortgage approvals tick higher again in the coming months.

February is also often a notoriously slow month for approvals, with interest usually picking up in Easter - while it is also the shortest month of the year.

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent, said: 'The dip in approvals occurred as many thought that benefiting from the stamp duty concession would be impossible in view of the backlog.

'However, since the deadline was extended and vaccination rollout has taken off, the market has gained new impetus and more balance as sellers in particular are not as fearful of welcoming visitors to their homes.'

On the rise: Mortgage approvals dipped dramatically during the first national lockdown in summer 2020, but have now reached highs not seen for more than a decade

People borrowed a net total of 6.2billion secured against their homes in February 2021, the highest since March 2016.

The average rate of a new mortgage has also edged up slightly to 1.91 per cent. Rates have been gradually increasing since they hit a low of 1.72 per cent in August 2020.

Property agents are predicting a busy start to the traditional spring home buying season.

Anthony Codling, founder and chief executive of property data website Twindig, said: 'The increasing trend in mortgage rates is likely to encourage more homebuyers to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

'Property portals and estate agents are likely to be very busy this Easter weekend.'

Looking further ahead, first-time buyers will also be spurred on by the Government's announcement of a mortgage guarantee scheme which will allow them to borrow 95 per cent of a property's value.

Several major lenders will begin to offer this in April, but others have jumped the gun and launched their own five per cent deposit mortgages independent of the Government scheme.

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: 'Mortgage rates remain low and with the government introducing a guarantee scheme on high loan-to-values, there will be more choice for first-time buyers, the lifeblood of the market.

'With several lenders including Skipton, Yorkshire Building Society and TSB already launching 95 per cent deals, and others expected to follow suit in coming weeks, rates could also potentially fall, which is further good news for borrowers.'
MOSCOW -- Jailed Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny says he fears the possibility of solitary confinement in a punishment cell after being accused of minor infractions.

Navalny said in an Instagram post on March 29 that he had been given six reprimands within two weeks at the correctional colony where he is being held.

"You get two reprimands and you go to punitive isolation, which is an unpleasant place, conditions there are close to torture," he said.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, is currently incarcerated in Correctional Colony No. 2, about 100 kilometers from Moscow, which is known as one of the toughest penitentiaries in Russia.

Navalny said his infractions include "getting out of bed 10 minutes before the 'wake up' command" and wearing a T-shirt during a meeting with his lawyers.

"I'm waiting for a reprimand with the wording 'grinning though the routine of the day said it was time to suffer,'" Navalny said in the post, adding that the situation reminded him of grade school, when students were told not to argue with the teacher because they knew "everything better."

Navalny's health condition became an issue last week after allies said they were concerned over his deteriorating health and called on prison authorities to clarify his condition.

Navalny said he was suffering from severe back pain and that "nothing" was being done by prison authorities to solve the problem.

He said in a message on Instagram on March 26 that "getting out of bed is hard and very painful" and that the prison doctor prescribed two tablets of ibuprofen a day.

Members of the Public Oversight Commission in the Vladimir region visited the colony and met with Navalny "in order to learn about problems with his health and the provision of medical treatment," according to the commission.

Commission Chairman Vyacheslav Kulikov said on March 28 that Navalny "complained about pain in his leg and asked for assistance in getting injections to treat this pain."

"We asked doctors to pay attention to this and, in case it is necessary, to carry out an additional medical checkup," Kulikov said.

Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport in January immediately upon returning from Berlin, where he had been 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 it was an assassination attempt 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 national protests and a crackdown on 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 Reuters
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opinion

It looks like President Uhuru Kenyatta is finally ready to dump his Handshake partner Raila Odinga.

Not that Mr Odinga will be shocked by the divorce letter if and when it arrives at Opoda, Karen, Capitol Hill or his other addresses.

Baba, as the ODM party leader is fondly referred to by his followers, has in the past said the Handshake was never meant to last beyond the BBI constitutional referendum.

He has said that the vow they took not to talk 2022 politics was to lapse after BBI - suggesting that either of them would then be free to engage other political suitors, for example.

So the only thing that makes the current turmoil in the Handshake intriguing is the timing of Mr Kenyatta's early divorce notice.

A falling-out at this time would sound the death knell for BBI, which you would think the President needs to pass badly to enable him to influence his succession and remain relevant in the local politics of his Mt Kenya region.

The omens don't look so good for BBI all of a sudden. Sulking ODM MPs have backed the push to amend the constitutional referendum Bill in Parliament, something that would expose the process to more challenges in the courts and possible collapse.

It is unlikely this is the only card the party of Kenya's foremost political Godfather had left to play.

Although BBI appeared headed for smooth sailing at the referendum after its harshest critic, the Deputy President William Ruto, beat a tactical retreat, it might yet run into strong opposition headwinds.

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Power-sharing incentives

If BBI were to collapse, the President wouldn't have the power-sharing incentives he needs to build the pre-election coalition of buddies from the Kanu leadership production line.

He wouldn't also deliver on the 'one man, one vote, one shilling' promise he made to buy back the love of his disgruntled central Kenya base.

So why has the President served his Handshake partner with an early divorce notice despite the high personal stakes for him in BBI?

If I had to hazard a guess, I would put it down to an arrogant palace gamble.

Mr Kenyatta appears to reckon that Mr Odinga, having been the face of BBI in the past three years, can't walk away from it anyway.

He also seems to believe the former Prime Minister has outlived his usefulness in the absence of a formidable opposition to the referendum and that the coalition of Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi, Gideon Moi and Moses Wetang'ula can be trusted with the lighter campaign duties anyway.

Social media rumour mills have also been buzzing with reports of a power clique exploring a path for constitutional changes without going to the referendum.

If there is any element of truth in this, it would add another piece to the puzzle in what is shaping up to be quite an intriguing power game.
ROME - An international conference on Syria, organised for the fifth consecutive year by the EU, started Friday morning via videoconference due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.



Hundreds of Syrian and foreign delegations are taking part and the conference will end on Tuesday.



On Tuesday, a ministerial meeting is planned between EU member states and other countries involved in the Syria issue.



Some ten years after armed conflict broke out, Syria is severely fragmented and in an economic collapse due to the war, the financial crisis in nearby Lebanon, US sanctions, and repercussions from the pandemic.



The EU plans to urge all those involved not to abandon about 20 million IDPS, refugees, and families that are ever more impoverished and without prospects for the future or decent living conditions for the present.



Brussels has said that the conference is an opportunity to reiterate the EU's support and that of the entire "international community" for the peace and reconstructions process of the suffering Mediterranean country.



In addition to other more strictly humanitarian and emergency aspects, during the two-day conference issues linked to political negotiations - UN-mediated and stalled for months - will be dealt with.



At the same time, efforts will continue to try to facilitate dialogue among various Syrian civil society groups inside and outside the country.
Woman dies after being run over by would-be robbers near LA

LANCASTER, Calif. (AP)  A 31-year-old woman who confronted a group of would-be robbers was killed when she was run over by their car in Southern California, authorities said.

Samantha Mena ran outside when she heard a commotion and saw two men trying to hold up her boyfriend at gunpoint March 26 at her apartment complex in Lancaster, Los Angeles County sheriffs officials said.

Mena chased the men to a waiting silver sedan and stood in front of the car, sheriffs Detective Ray Lugo said. The driver hit the gas and struck Mena with the car, Lugo said.

She died at a hospital, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Detectives described the robbery suspects and the getaway driver as men in their 20s.

Mena, the oldest of three siblings, grew up in the high desert city of Lancaster and worked as a manager of a Starbucks there, the Times reported. Her co-workers at the Starbucks were so distraught over her death that the coffee shop was closed Sunday, according to her father, Mauricio Mena.

His daughter was the most beautiful girl, he told the newspaper, beautiful inside and outside.
The World Bank has assured government of its support for the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project and other flood mitigation projects being implemented in the country.



This was made known by the World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Mr. Pierre Laporte when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Works and Housing, Hon. Francis Asenso-Boakye in his office.



The World Bank is committed to supporting governments efforts at mitigating flooding and its negative impacts on the people of Ghana. I appreciate your dynamism and commitment as a Minister and trust that we can work together to find a lasting solution to flooding and sanitation challenges in the country said the Mr Pierre Laporte, the World Bank Country Director.



Hon. Asenso-Boakye expressed his gratitude to the World Bank for the continuous support for governments interventions. He assured the Country Director that the Ministry has already taken steps to address the implementation challenges being faced by the GARID project.



Finding a lasting solution to flooding and sanitation challenges in Ghana is very dear to the heart of this government. That is why we have already taken some pragmatic measures to address the initial implementation challenges faced by the project. We have, for example, set up a land task force to address issues concerning land acquisition to be used as temporary and final disposal sites for the dredged materials



The Minister also noted the governments intention to expand flood mitigation and drainage interventions to other basins outside of Accra, such as Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale. He indicated that the Ministry is establishing priority list of the most vulnerable locations for both flood mitigation solutions and early warning systems and will soon approach the World Bank for support.







On Housing, Hon. Asenso-Boakye said, the issue of Affordable Housing is one of the top-most priorities of Government. We, however, identified a gap that must be filled to ensure that the implementation of housing projects continue irrespective of the government in power. As a result, the Ministry would like to reform the institutional framework for housing delivery and accessibility. This is expected to lead to a National Housing Authority and National Housing Fund.



The Minister indicated that the Ministry will seek to partner with the Bank and its sister agencies such as the International Finance Cooperation and other International Partners to pursue these programmes.



The World Bank Country Director assured the Minister of the Banks readiness to collaborate with government to address the housing challenges in the country.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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A procession to move 22 royal mummies from one museum in Egypt to another has coincided with a number of strange incidents last week that some are blaming on Pharaoh's curse.

Officials are planning on transport the mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat on April 3, which will include remains of King Ramses II and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari.

News of the parade was followed by a number of disasters including a giant ship blocking the Suez Canal, a fatal train accident and fires across the country.

Social media users are blaming such events on the curse of the pharaohs that says: 'Death will come on quick wings for those who disturb the king's peace.'

Archaeologists are rebuking the claim stating that none of the ancient tombs were harmed during excavations and that 'the occurrence of these accidents is just fate.'

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Officials are planning on transport the mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat on April 3, which includes remains of King Ramses II and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari (pictured)

Egypt has made headline for a number of disasters that plagued the country in just one week, ArabNews reports.

The ancient legend suggests anyone who disturbs mummies of ancient Egypt will be plagued with a curse laid upon the remains by mythical priests during the burial.

Other than the ship in the Suez Canal, the country witnessed a fatal train accident in Sohag, a 10-story building collapsed at Suez Bridge and a massive concrete pillar came tumbling down during construction of a bridge in Mariotia.

Although Twitter is flooded with posts pointing to the curse of the pharaohs, renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass has assured 'there is no such thing.'

Speaking to Al-Arabiya television, Hawass explained that the deaths of archaeologists who had excavated tombs in the past were due to germs present at the sites.

Pictured is a satellite image showing the Ever Given container ship after it has been moved away from the eastern bank of the canal and tugboats trying to reposition the ship, in the Suez Canal. It was blocking the canal for days before being moved

However, news of the parade last week follows a number of disasters including a giant ship blocking the Suez Canal, a fatal train accident and fires across the country that has led people to say it is the pharaoh's curse

Social media users are blaming such events on the curse of the pharaohs that says: 'Death will come on quick wings for those who disturb the king's peace.'

'The procession of the royal mummies is the biggest publicity for Egypt.

'The eyes of the whole world will be fixed on Egypt amid great respect during the transport of the mummies that will take 40 minutes,' he continued.

Among the museum exhibits to be transferred are the mummies of King Ramesses II, Seqenenre Tao, Thutmose III, and Seti I, and queens Hatshepsut, Meritamen, the wife of King Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari, wife of King Ahmose.

King Ramesses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was the most powerful and celebrated ruler of ancient Egypt.

King Ramesses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was the most powerful and celebrated ruler of ancient Egypt. He is remembered principally for the colossal statues he commissioned and for his massive building program (pictured)

Archaeologists have come forward to rebuke the claim stating that none of the ancient tombs were harmed during excavations and that 'the occurrence of these accidents is just fate'

Known by his successors as the 'Great Ancestor', he led several military expeditions and expanded the Egyptian Empire to stretch from Syria in the east to Nubia in the south.

Ramesses was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BCE.

He is remembered principally for the colossal statues he commissioned and for his massive building program.

The procession of the royal mummies is the biggest publicity for Egypt, but Twitter users warn about the curse of the Pharaoh's that may follow due to disturbing the mummies

The Pharaoh's curse came about following the death of more than 20 people working to uncover the secrets of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 (pictured)

Egyptian historian and writer, Bassam El-Shammaa, also rejected rumors of a pharaohs' curse, saying phrases and shapes carved on the walls of temples simply expressed the imagination of ancient Egyptians.

He added that some mummies were moldy, causing a build up on tomb walls of bacteria which could attack the respiratory system and be fatal.

El-Shammaa is also agreeing with Hawass regarding past deaths on site.

Coffins can leak ammonia, resulting in burning to the eyes and nose, pneumonia, and sometimes death, and that bat excrement found inside some graves carried a fungus that could bring on respiratory disease similar to influenza, he said.

The Pharaoh's curse came about following the death of more than 20 people working to uncover the secrets of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922.

British archaeologist Howard Carter  employed by Lord Carnarvon  discovered the tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamun, sparking a mania for all things Ancient Egyptian.

And it also led to rabid speculation that, in disturbing the resting place of a pharaoh, Carter had unleashed a curse that would follow all associated with the raiding of King Tuts chamber in the Valley of the Kings.

A number of events gave rise to a media frenzy about the so called Curse of the Pharaohs. First, a cobra, the symbol of Egyptian monarchy, broke into Carters bird cage and Carters canary died in its jaws.

Then Lord Carnarvon died: he had been bitten by a mosquito and accidentally cut the bite while shaving. It became infected, and blood poisoning resulted.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, suggested that Lord Carnarvons death had been caused by elementals created by Tutankhamuns priests to guard the royal tomb, and this further fueled the media interest.
100%

Website desinfos.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 208172 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 89918 bytes (87.81 kb uncompressed) and 23849 bytes (23.29 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-03-29, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
UK PM urged to start sharing coronavirus vaccines with poorer nations

Xinhua) 09:07, March 29, 2021

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) thumbs up after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at St Thomas' Hospital in London, Britain, March 19, 2021. (Andrew Parsons/No 10 Downing Street/Handout via Xinhua)

There is "high risk that the UK will be hoarding limited supply whilst health workers and the most vulnerable in low- and middle-income countries do not have access," said a letter to the prime minister by those including British government science advisor Jeremy Farrar.

"The UK will be sitting on enough surplus vaccine doses to vaccinate the world's frontline health workers twice over," it said.

LONDON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing calls on Sunday to immediately begin donating vaccines to poorer nations or risk hoarding supplies while frontline workers are exposed to coronavirus, the Evening Standard newspaper reported.

British health and development charities urged the prime minister to take "accelerated action" and "swiftly clarify" how doses will be shared, according to the newspaper.

The appeal was contained in a letter to the prime minister by those including British government science advisor Jeremy Farrar and Save the Children UK, among others.

With more than half of adults having received a jab, they said Britain is "one of the world's highest per-capita buyers" of vaccines and is on track to have more than 100 million surplus doses.

A man wearing a face mask cycles past the Francis Crick Institute Vaccination Centre in London, Britain on March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

"There is therefore the high risk that the UK will be hoarding limited supply whilst health workers and the most vulnerable in low- and middle-income countries do not have access," said the letter.

"The UK will be sitting on enough surplus vaccine doses to vaccinate the world's frontline health workers twice over," it said.

They also urged Britain to immediately begin donating doses through the COVAX initiative, which is working to provide vaccines for low and middle-income countries.

The British government responded that it will share "the majority of any future surplus" vaccines with the COVAX pool "when these are available," the London-based newspaper said.

Workers transfer boxes of COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Abidjan International Airport in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, Feb. 26, 2021. Cote d'Ivoire is the second African country after Ghana to receive COVID-19 vaccines under the WHO-backed COVAX mechanism. (Photo by Yvan Sonh/Xinhua)

COVAX is a global initiative backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure effective and equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Farrar said Britain will still have contractual access to at least 100 million surplus doses once the entire population is vaccinated, which he said "won't be of use in the UK".

"Now is the time to think beyond our borders," he said. "The world won't be safe while any single country is still fighting the virus."

"The prime minister has confirmed the UK will share the majority of any future surplus coronavirus vaccines from our supply with the COVAX pool, when these are available. No one is safe until we are all safe," a British government source said.

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.

Workers load North Macedonia's first batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines received through the UN-backed Covax program, at Skopje's International Airport in Skopje, North Macedonia, March 28, 2021. (Photo by Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Hongyu)
One death as hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to fall in South Dakota
HOUGHTON COUNTY, MI  A peregrine falcon nest located atop an Upper Peninsula bridge has been removed as the bridge undergoes repairs.

The nest has been located at the Portage Lake Lift Bridge in Houghton County since 2013.

Repairs to the bridge service elevators were scheduled for earlier this year but were delayed because of unavailability of parts. Concerns also arose over potential disturbance of the birds while theyre nesting.

In light of upcoming scheduled maintenance work, including a painting project in 2027, weve determined its best not to put the nest boxes back on the bridge in the near future, said Rob Tervo, manager of MDOTs Ishpeming Transportation Service Center. Working with the DNR, well re-evaluate the long-term viability of the bridge as an appropriate nesting site going forward.

Despite the removal of the nest boxes, a pair of falcons has been sighted at the bridge again this year, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. They may be attempting to establish a nest elsewhere on the structure.

If this happens, MDOT will attempt to minimize disturbance to the nesting area from bridge operations, according to a news release, however the birds nesting elsewhere would be the ideal result.

The nest boxes have been relocated to the Michigan Technological University campus on top of the Electrical Energy Resources building and atop the Quincy Mine shaft house. Additional locations for nesting boxes are being considered, according to MDOT.

birds eye view, toward a camera and the surround landscape, from the peregrine falcon nest box installed atop the Quincy Mine shaft house, just north of Hancock in Houghton County.MDOT

The birds could still use the bridge as a nesting site even with the nest boxes removed, said Brad Johnson, a DNR wildlife technician at the Baraga Customer Service Center.

The falcons have hatched more than 20 chicks at the bridge location over the years.

Peregrine falcons have been known to nest in at least eight counties in the Upper Peninsula and 18 counties in the Lower Peninsula.
Joe Biden pleaded on Monday with Republican governors who ended mask mandates to reinstate the requirements in their states and pause reopenings as the administration goes ahead with expanding vaccine eligibility and inoculation sites.

'I'm reiterating my call for every governor, mayor and local leader to reinstate the mask mandate,' Biden said during remarks on the White House coronavirus response Monday afternoon. 'Please, this is not politics.'

Biden's calls come after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing Monday that she is 'scared' and warned of 'impending doom' as cases are back on the rise.

'Reinstate the mandate if you let it down,' Biden demanded of governors who have either ended the orders or allowed them to expire. 'And Businesses should require masks, as well. The failure to take this virus seriously, precisely what got us into this mess in the first place, risks more cases and more deaths.'

'Look, as I do my part to accelerate the vaccine distribution and vaccinations, I need the American people to do their part as well. Mask up,' Biden said. 'Mask up. It's a patriotic duty. It's the only way we ever get back to normal.'

Earlier this month, Biden called it 'neanderthal thinning' when the governors of Mississippi and Texas ended their mask mandates.

President Joe Biden pleaded with Republican governors on Monday to 'reinstate mask mandates' and stop reopening in their states

'I'm reiterating my call for every governor, mayor and local leader to reinstate the mask mandate,' Biden said during remarks on the pandemic Monday. 'Please, this is not politics. Reinstate the mandate if you let it down'

Biden also announced Monday that by April 19, there would be an inoculation site within five miles of 90% of Americans and those 18 and older will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine

During remarks in the South Court Auditorium of the White House, the president announced that the administration is launching an initiative to get a vaccination site within five miles of 90% of Americans by mid-April.

Also by April 19, Biden said that nine in 10 U.S. adults will be eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccination.

Eligibility, however, doesn't ensure individuals will be able to get inoculated any time soon as states struggle with low stock and appointment restrictions.

At the conclusion of his remarks Monday, a reporter shouted a question asking if the state should stop reopening plans, to which Biden turned around when halfway from the room and said, 'Yes.'

The plan is to 'get more people vaccinated quickly,' according to the White House. It's unclear, however, if the processes, wait times and appointment windows for vaccination will improve with the expansion of those eligible.

Biden announced that by mid-next month, 400,000 pharmacies will be distributing COVID vaccines, nearly doubling the sites for inoculations.

'I am scared,' CDC director Dr. Walensky said during an emotional Monday briefing when speaking about the recent influx and warning signs of a fourth wave.

'When I first started at CDC about two months ago, I made a promise to you: I would tell you the truth, even if it was not the news you wanted to hear. Now is one of those times when I have to share the truth, and I have to hope and trust that you will listen,' she continued.

'I am going to pause here, I'm going to lose the script and I am going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,' she said. 'We have so much reason for hope, but right now I'm scared.'

In the past week, the average number of new daily infections has risen by 10 % to nearly 6,000 each day, according to CDC data.

Hospitalizations have also risen to more than 4,800 new admissions per day.

Even new daily deaths, a metric that typically doesn't rise until weeks after new infections increase, have increased by about 3% to just shy of 1,000 a day, compared to the prior seven-day rolling average.

'I'm speaking to you today not necessarily as your CDC director and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer,' Walensky said. 'I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but we are not quite there.'

'So I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer, to please get vaccinated when you can, so that all those people we all love will still be here when the pandemic is over,' she pleaded.

When inaugurated, Biden set a goal of getting 100 million people vaccination in his first 100 days in office. With a successful vaccination rollout, Biden has now doubled that goal to 200 million in his first 100 days as president.

With already long waits and vaccine and appointment shortages, it's unclear if eligibility will also increase and improve access

Biden recently double his goal to getting 200 million vaccine doses in the arms of Americans in his first 100 days in office

Despite a largely positive outlook on the vaccine situation in the U.S., several states that have opened up inoculations for all adults are facing troubles.

Biden's announcement comes as more than a dozen states have already opened vaccination eligibility to those above the age or either 16 or 18, depending on the state.

The Texas Department of State Health Services announced Monday that all Texans 16 and older  about 22 million people  are now able to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. However, as eligibility expands in the state, getting the shot in the arm has become increasingly difficult.

Vaccine doses are running on short supply in the Lone Star State and it takes weeks, sometimes months, to secure an appointment to get inoculated.

After already administering more than 10 million vaccine doses, Texas is expected to receive more than 1 million first doses this week.

Minnesota also announced this month vaccine eligibility will expand to all those 16 and older on March 30.

Finding an appointment for vaccination there is also a daunting task.

Minneapolis Vaccine Hunters in a Facebook group of 40,000 people dedicated to finding and compiling accurate and up-to-date information on where to find vaccine appointments in the area.

In several states like Texas and Minnesota where vaccines are in short supply by high demand, many have taken to sitting on webpages and refreshing throughout the day to try and snag an appointment.

Some states have already opened up vaccinations to all citizens 16 or 18 years and older

But some states have shortages, and are unable to schedule inoculation appointments as quickly as people are requesting them and becoming eligible

In some states, getting an appointment is less of an issue, but wait times at the inoculation sites span into several hours.

West Virginia, Alaska, Texas and Mississippi already allow all adults to receive the shot while future plans for the same move are in place for Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee, Arizona, Minnesota and others.

Other states are keeping the process a bit more restrictive, including hard-hit areas like New York and Florida.
A former supervisor of the Tangipahoa Sheriff's Office Criminal Records Division has pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme in which she accepted bribes in exchange for fraudulent bonds used for the release of incarcerated people, according to the Eastern District of Louisiana's U.S. Attorney's Office.

Sonja Dyson Evans, 58, of Ponchatoula, and nearly 15-year employee with the sheriff's department, pleaded guilty to use of an interstate facility with intent to carry on unlawful activity.

Dyson Evans' guilty plea stems from a 2017 investigation that led to the arrest of 10 people, including three sheriff's office employees.

Sheriff: Four more people implicated in Tangipahoa Parish jail bond scheme Four more people have been implicated in an illegal bond scheme that had already led to the arrest of six others, including three Tangipahoa P

Detailed in Dyson Evans' guilty plea is a scheme that took place from January 2016 to January 2017 where she would create fraudulent bonds using the property of unaware third-party individuals as collateral for the bonds and then forging their signatures.

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Dyson Evans worked with Tangipahoa resident Shawanda Dove, who communicated with incarcerated individuals or their families to obtain payment for the fraudulent bonds, according to court records.

Dyson Evans would then exchange the forged bond paperwork with Dove in exchange for money, which Dyson Evans kept or shared with other employees of the criminal records division within the sheriff's office, according to court records.

Dove then took the forged bond paperwork to the inmate's family member, who used it to obtain the release of their family member, according to court records.

The money received was not recorded within the criminal records division, according to court records, and Dyson Evans' and "other co-conspirators" received at least $31,000 in bribe payments.

Dyson Evans was hired by the sheriff's office in August of 1992 and was placed on administrative leave in early January 2017. She retired from her position in the office Jan. 10, 2017, according to the sheriff's office Chief of Operations James Travis.
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - A court in Russian-controlled Crimea has sentenced a woman to 12 years in jail for state treason on behalf of Ukraine at a trial that was held behind closed doors, the court said on Monday.

The woman, identified by Russia as citizen D. and of pension age, was found guilty of carrying out reconnaissance to gather information about an aviation regiment in Russia's Crimea-based Black Sea Fleet for Ukrainian military intelligence.

The trial was closed to the public as the case materials were classified, the court said. It was not clear how she had pleaded.

Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, drawing Western condemnation and tit-for-tat sanctions. Ukraine wants the region back.

Lyudmyla Denisova, the human rights ombudsman for the Ukrainian parliament, identified the jailed woman as Galina Dovgopolaya and said the case against her was fabricated.

"I urge the international community to use all possible instruments to increase pressure on Russia to release as soon as possible all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens and to end the terror against them," she wrote on social media.

The verdict was handed down on March 24, but the court in Crimea's city of Sevastopol did not make the ruling public until posting a statement on its website on Monday.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Natalia Zinets; editing by)
Kashmiri villagers carry the coffin of elected official Riyaz Ahmad in Sopore, 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, March. 29, 2021. Gunmen killed an elected official of India's ruling party and a policeman in disputed Kashmir on Monday, police said. Police blamed anti-India militants for the attack. None of the rebel groups that have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989 immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. (AP)

SRINAGAR: A municipal councilor and a police guard were killed and another councilor was injured in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's north-western town of Sopore, 48-km from here, on Monday.

A report said that the slain councilor represented BJP in the Sopore municipality and that he and others had arrived at its office for a scheduled meeting minutes before the attack took place.

The police said that gunmen targetted the Sopore municipal office with automatic weapons on Monday afternoon, injuring three persons. They were rushed to a nearby hospital where councilor Reyaz Ahmad Peer and Special P olice Officer (SPO) Shafqat Nazir Khan succumbed to their injuries and another councilor Shamas Din Peer was battling for life. The injured councilor has since been shifted to a Srinagar hospital for specialized treatment, the hospital sources said.

J&K police tweeted "#Terrorists fired at Municipal Office #Sopore. In this #terror incident, police personnel Shafqat Ahmad & councillor Riyaz Ahmad got #martyred & councillor Shams-ud-din Peer got injured. Injured shifted to hospital for treatment. Area cordoned off & further details shall follow." End it
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The board of the Beacon Hospital has announced a review and apologised following the vaccination of teachers at a private school.

It emerged last week that the private hospital had vaccinated 20 teachers at St Gerard's School in Bray, Wicklow which the children of chief executive Michael Cullen attend. Mr Cullen was reported to have contacted the school. It also emerged that childcare staff were vaccinated.

In a statement tonight the board makes no mention of Mr Cullen who Opposition politicians had asked to resign.

He remains in his post.

Read More

Former Managing Partner and Chairman of Arthur Cox Eugene McCague will conduct an independent review.

In a statement the board which met today said it "unreservedly apologises to our patients, staff and the wider community for the upset caused by the vaccination of teachers in the Beacon vaccination centre".

"The Board is proud of the excellent standards of care maintained by our hospital and its adherence to the highest levels of governance and clinical excellence.

"In order to ascertain all of the facts associated with the operation of the Vaccination Centre and in line with our responsibility to ensure due process, the Board is appointing Mr Eugene McCague, former Managing Partner and Chairman of Arthur Cox and former Board member of the HSE to conduct an independent review on behalf of the non-executive Directors.

Read More

"Upon completion of the Review, the non-executive members of the Board will consider its findings and will at that time take any necessary actions required.

It said that since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, Beacon Hospital has sought to utilise our resources to play a significant role in assisting the National effort to combat the crisis.

"The hospital offered its resources to the HSE to assist with the roll-out of the National vaccination programme in January of this year.

"To date, the centre has vaccinated over 9,000 HSE staff. This vaccination centre was fitted out, staffed, operated and funded by Beacon Hospital in line with our commitment to assist the National effort to combat the pandemic and the devastating impact it has had in our country.

"The Board of Beacon Hospital would like to take this opportunity to reassure our patients of our continued commitment to the delivery of exceptional patient care."

Read More





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One of the things about living in a totalitarian society is that, once something has been identified as problematic, everyone ends up competing to attack in the most aggressive way. Fail to do so, and you may find yourself being the next person identified as problematic. Perhaps that explains why the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, is contemplating ending sheet music because its part of white supremacy.

To be honest, its a little bit hard to make sense of the story because its so screamingly stupid. Apparently, music professors are claiming that all Western classical music has complicity in white supremacy. This seems to include such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Handel, all of whom were living in continental Europe in the 17th through 19th centuries and none of whom had anything whatsoever to do with Blacks, Africa, or the slave trade.

The problem is that they and their musical notations existed at the same time as the African slave trade. And thats not a typo:

University staff have argued that the current curriculum focuses on 'white European music from the slave period', according to The Telegraph. Documents seen by the publication indicate proposed reforms to target undergraduate courses. It claimed that teaching musical notation had 'not shaken off its connection to its colonial past' and would be 'a slap in the face' to some students. And it added that musical skills should no longer be compulsory because the current repertoire's focus on 'white European music' causes 'students of colour great distress'.

A couple of comments. First, this strikes me as being profoundly insulting to students of colour, who are presumably so dull-witted and hypersensitive that they are incapable of coping with anything from the past. The reality is that Africans have been enslaving each other since time immemorial because all people enslaved each other.

The only ones to break from this idea were the Jews (think Passover, the celebration of the worlds first slave revolt). It took the Christian world until the late 18th century to catch up with that idea. The Muslim world still hasnt. The reality is that slavery has always been part of the human condition and its only because of White Jews and Christians (with or without musical notation) that it ended in the West.

Second, I think the Oxford music teachers know this is bunkum. Theyre raising it only because they feel that, unless they chime in on the Black Lives Matter issue and show themselves to be on board with it, they will be the next target. Under the tyranny that is BLM, if youre not with them, youre against them, and if youre against them, you will be destroyed in the next purge (and theres always a next purge).

As I watch the endless waves of BLM stupidity in corporations and academic institutions in the English-speaking world, Im reminded of nothing so much as the mourners at Kim Jong-ils funeral. They knew that the secret police were watching and that anyone showing insufficient grief was at risk of being carted off to a concentration camp. Thats why you see videos such as the one below showing thousands of people engaged in hysterical weeping. Yes, they were told that their communist godhead had died, but what youre seeing in these videos isnt grief, its fear:

That same stench of totalitarian fear is, quite disgracefully, oozing out of Oxford. An institution with over a thousand years of solid academics behind it shouldnt be groveling before the Marxist BLM thugs.

IMAGE: West Facade of the Old Bodleian Library by Tristan Surtel. CC BY-SA 4.0.
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25 years ago: US trade mission flight crashes in the Balkans, killing commerce secretary

Funeral of Ron Brown

On April 3, 1996, a United States Air Force Boeing CT-43A crashed into a mountainside while on an official trade mission to Dubrovnik, Croatia. The craft was carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and 34 other people. There were no survivors.

Browns trip was part of the US attempt to gain economic dominance in the Balkans. Accompanying Brown were a senior Vice President of construction giant Bechtel; an AT&T senior executive; the president and chief executive officer of Asea Brown Boveri Inc., the US subsidiary of the Zurich-based industrial products conglomerate; an executive vice president and head of international banking operations at Riggs National Bank in Washington; and the president of Guardian Industries glass manufacturing in Europe.

Browns mission was part of Washingtons attempt to use US military predominance to further American economic hegemony in the region. He was meeting with the Croatian and Bosnian regimes to secure deals for US-based firms, largely at the expense of their European competitors.

Their aim was to use the trip and the influence of the US government to negotiate lucrative contracts for the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed by the civil wars in Bosnia and Croatia. The Bosnian government estimated that reconstruction in that state alone would reach around $47 billion.

Browns death was a considerable political blow to the Clinton administration. He ran the Commerce Department as a lobbying service for US big business abroad, becoming one of Clintons key links to corporate America. Brown led similar trade missions of top CEOs to China, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa, in many cases awarding seats on the plane to major Democratic Party contributors.

Brown was an operator within the Democratic Party. He chaired Jesse Jacksons bid for the Democratic nomination in 1988. In the wake of Michael Dukakiss defeat, he became chairman of the Democratic National Committee and was a key organizer of Clintons 1992 election victory. If it had not been for various investigations into his personal finances throughout the early and mid-1990s, he likely would have played a more prominent role in the reelection campaign.

50 years ago: 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union opens in Moscow

Brezhnev in 1969

In Moscow on March 30, 1971, the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union opened. The congress saw about 5,000 delegates of the Stalinist bureaucracy gather in the Soviet capital to present the political position of the party and formally affirm the ninth Five Year Plan.

Despite the pompous displays and speeches, the congress gathered at a time of immense crisis for the Stalinist leadership. The congress itself was delayed by one year amid vast conflicts both with the capitalist world and within the Soviet sphere of influence. Under conditions of working-class uprisings and national liberation struggles in every corner of the world, the Communist Party affirmed their commitment to be a bulwark against revolution and to negotiate concessions with world capitalism.

Leonid Brezhnev, the general secretary of the party, gave an opening report that outlined the Stalinist perspective on recent developments. He made clear that the partys main concern would be to crush any opposition that might threaten the privileges of the bureaucracy in the USSR, and, more implicitly, to assist imperialism in suppressing the revolutionary upsurges brewing in the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe.

Speaking on the war in Vietnam, the Stalinists issued the usual platitudes declaring opposition to the US war. However, in nearly the same breath they announced their willingness to negotiate a settlement that would create a coalition government in South Vietnam that would allow the US to maintain a foothold. This in spite of the undeniable defeats of the US invasions of Laos and Cambodia and the increasingly likelhood of their defeat by the North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front forces.

On Czechoslovakia, Brezhnev attempted to defend the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion. He denounced the workers and youth who rose up against the bureaucracy as counter revolutionary. Brezhnev said, It was quite clear to us that this was not only an attempt on the part of imperialism and its accomplices to overthrow the socialist system in Czechoslovakia.

Brezhnev also declared his willingness to enter into a confrontation with the rival Stalinist bureaucracy that ruled China. In 1969 a number of skirmishes had broken out between Soviet and Chinese military forces over disputed border regions. Brezhnev called the orientation of the Chinese Communist Party anti-Soviet and reiterated that, We shall never forsake the national interests of the Soviet state.

In regard to the United States, the Congress made clear that at every turn it would be prepared to negotiate concessions. Brezhnev affirmed that bureaucracys goal with respect to the capitalist countries, including the U.S.A., is consistently and fully to practice the principles of peaceful coexistence, to develop mutually advantageous ties, and co-operate with states prepared to do so.

75 years ago: Anne Franks diary publicly announced

Anne Frank

On April 3, 1946, Jan Romein, a prominent Dutch historian, made the existence of Anne Franks diary publicly known for the first time in a frontpage article for Het Parool, a daily newspaper associated with the anti-fascist resistance.

Under the headline, A Childs Voice, Romein wrote: [T]his apparently inconsequential diary by a child ... stammered out in a childs voice, embodies all the hideousness of fascism, more so than all the evidence at Nuremberg put together.

The historian, who did not name Anne Frank, added: When I finished the book, it was night and I was amazed that the lights were still on, that there was bread and tea, that I did not hear the roaring of airplanes or the thumping of soldiers boots in the streetI had been captivated and taken back to the unreal world that is now almost a year behind us.

Frank had written the diary between 1942 and 1944, while in hiding from the German Nazi forces occupying the Netherlands. In 1940, when the Nazis invaded, the Frank family was unable to leave the country. In July 1942, as mass deportations of the Jewish population to the concentration camps began, they took refuge in concealed rooms behind the family business owned by Annes father Otto Frank. With his business partner joining them, a total of eight people lived in the cramped quarters for two years, with the secret aid of friends, colleagues and opponents of the Nazis.

In August 1944, they were discovered by the Nazi Gestapo. Anne Frank died of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northwestern Germany shortly before her 16th birthday. Her mother and sister were killed at Auschwitz.

With the defeat of the Nazis in May 1945, Otto Frank was the only member of their immediate family to have survived the Holocaust. He was given Annes diary by Miep Gies, who had aided the family and rescued the document after the Gestapo raid. Frank gave the diary to Annie Romein-Verschoor, who unsuccessfully sought to have it published.

She then showed it to her husband Jan Romein, resulting in the Her Parool article. The diary was published in Dutch the next year, followed by five more print runs to 1950. Translations received large audiences over the next several years in the United States, France and Germany, while the first edition published in Japan rapidly sold out, with more than 100,000 copies distributed. The diary has since become known to millions as a powerful and moving exposure of the barbarity of fascism and the courage and humanity of its victims.

100 years ago: Britain declares state of emergency over miners strike

Logo of National Union of Railwaymen

On March 31, 1921, the British government of David Lloyd George declared a state of emergency after coal miners struck at midnight that morning. The strike, organized by the Miners Federation of Great Britain, had been called in response to the decision to return control of the mines, which had been operated by the government during the First World War, back to the owners. It was widely anticipated that the mine owners would lower wages.

According to press reports, despite the state of emergency, the government had no plans to send troops to the mines, although there was the possibility that the mines might be flooded because pump-workers had joined the strike.

Railways were due to be returned to control of private owners in August.

Militancy was running high in the British working class. Over 1 million workers were unemployed and the working class had had already gone through a massive postwar strike wave and such experiences as the Battle of George Square in Glasgow in 1919, and the Russian Revolution of 1917.

The principal question was if two unions, the National Transport Workers Federation (comprised of dockworkers, seamen, tram drivers and other workers) and the National Union of Railwaymen, which, together with the Miners Federation, comprised the Triple Alliance, would join the strike. The Alliance had been created in 1914 to coordinate common industrial action but had been quiescent during the war when many industries came under government control.

By April 3, mass meetings of transport and railway workers had passed resolutions of support for the miners. Nevertheless, the minersand the working class as a wholesuffered a blow on April 15 when the transport and railway union leaders decided not to join the strike, under the claim that striking against wage reduction in time of high unemployment was difficult. Some local unions disobeyed the national leadership and struck, particularly in Scotland, and dockers engaged in a month-long strike against wage reductions.

However, the betrayal by the Transport and Railway unions destroyed the Triple Alliance. The decision was so unpopular in the working class that April 15 came to be known as Black Friday. Memory of the event was a factor in the development of the 1926 general strike.
Mar. 29The Marine Corps just wrapped up a pair of ambitious multiservice island-hopping exercises, offering a blueprint for how it plans to fight in the Western Pacific by bringing to bear fast-moving and highly connected forces from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Space Force.

Exercises Castaway 21.1 in Japan and Spartan Fury 21.1 in Hawaii were linked and conducted on five islands including Okinawa and nearby Ie Shima as well as Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii island.

About 1, 000 personnel were involved in the March 1-20 training.

"We know that everything in the future is going to be joint (service operations ), " said Col. Michael Roach, Okinawa-based commanding officer of the 12th Marine Regiment and overall mission commander for the exercises. "The way the Pacific is, you have to be. You have to fight joint and coordinate joint to be successful."

China already has the world's largest land force and navy and sophisticated missiles to keep U.S. forces at bay. The Marines and Army want to deter China by developing ground units that can seize islands and sink ships with missiles.

The U.S. military as a whole hopes to gain an outsize advantage by greatly meshing Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Space Force capabilities on land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.

Ultimately, the goal of the Okinawa and Hawaii exercises was projecting power quickly with missile units dispersed across islands in support of Navy ships.

Operations on Ie Shima included :Reconnaissance Marines, Army Special Forces and Air Force special operators arrived by parachute via MV-22B tilt-rotor Osprey and amphibious infiltration under cover of darkness to scout for enemy forces and determine the airfield's suitability.Support came from several F-35B short-takeoff and vertical-landing fighter aircraft.Hundreds of Marine infantry arrived by Ospreys and helicopters.A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System truck was flown in using a Marine Corps KC-130 aircraft with the 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines simulating firing missiles at ships at sea.Infantry from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines set up coastal defenses on a portion of Okinawa and used low-profile boats to strike targets at sea.

Story continues

During Exercise Spartan Fury in Hawaii, meanwhile :Army Logistics Support Vessels, big cargo carriers that can pull up on a beach, transported 1st Battalion, 12th Marine personnel, artillery and trucks from Oahu to both the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai and the Big Island.An Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft flew an Army HIMARS rocket launcher truck and specialized Army "Multi-Domain Task Force " from Fort Lewis, Wash., to the Pacific Missile Range Facility to simulate missile launches.Marines worked directly with the Pearl Harbor destroyer USS Halsey, using its sophisticated sensors to provide improved targeting information.

The exercises also utilized small unmanned aircraft and satellites to share targeting information. Resupply to the islands was conducted by Osprey, helicopters and C-130 aircraft.

Carl Schuster, a retired Navy captain and former director of operations at U.S. Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center, said the exercise "does represent a significant step forward in joint training in the Indo-Pacific theater."

It also demonstrates that command, control, communications, computer systems, intelligence and surveillance have become better integrated.

"No nation on this earth can match that capability, " Schuster said. "More importantly, it greatly complicates any enemy's efforts to maintain control over any uninhabited or recently occupied islands in ocean areas it may desire to control."

Potential adversaries "have no choice but to take note " of the capability, he added. "This shows the inherent flexibility and reach of U.S. joint forces, including their ability to hit at long range and move. That complicates an enemy's planning and targeting."

Roach, the mission commander, said that with so many disparate forces, the exercises were not the easiest to organize.

"For me personally, as an artillery regimental headquarters, this is the first time that we've had a scale of jointness " like this with other services and skill sets, he said.

But getting those forces to participate "was an easy sell." Roach said that "everyone bought in. (We ) got tremendous buy-in from all the senior leaders who are seeing that there's a need to be joint, there's a need to be maritime. So it's an open door that we're being welcomed in to put these opportunities together."

That doesn't mean that everything went exactly according to plan. The ability to communicate across serv ices and platforms is one sticking point.

"I would say we found challenges, we found opportunities, " Roach said in an interview. "I mean, I would be lying to say it worked perfectly."

But, he said, "we found ways to work around that. We've certainly found unique ways to make sure we create that digital link to close that decision cycle, but there's a way to go."

The artillery regimental commander said he "absolutely " expects Marines to operate a lot more with Army Logistics Support Vessels that are based in Hawaii. The Navy is pursuing a new class of vessel called the Light Amphibious Warship for Marines, but in the interim the Army beach-landing vessels provide "such a unique capability that can't be replicated right now."

He also said the 1st Battalion, 12th Marines in Hawaii will evolve from its traditional cannon artillery role as the service shifts toward greater emphasis on island operations and missile forces.

The artillery battalion "is going to have a capability in the future to be more lethal or be more capable for a maritime operation, " he said.

Roach said in future iterations of the exercises, he'd like to see allies participate.

Going through the exercises, one thing he learned was that "what makes the 'hard' easier is attitude, " he said. "The attitude we found with the joint forces that are on sometimes different tactical data links, sometimes using different radio systems, is complicated, but the attitude we have with everyone wanting to find solutions just created a solutions-based environment."

That high level of cooperation across services will be necessary in future warfare.

"You need a joint approach, but you also need to be fast (moving ). I would say fast and thinking, " Roach said. "So when you have joint partners that are integrated on a common network that can out-cycle an adversary's decision, then you'll be successful."
The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has commissioned a dozen Filipino artists for the countrys pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai.



Sculptors Duddley Diaz and Dan Raralio, and multi-media artists Toym Imao and Riel Jaramillo Hilario, four of artists, will collectively present a cosmopolitan profile of the Philippines at the countrys pavilion at the Expo.



Employing their individual artistic languages, these artists will provide the Philippines Pavilion with a sequence of visual and physical experiences that draw on both updated scientific data and the mythological imagination of the Filipino.



Instead of reusing folk art concepts, they wield their fluency in Modern and Contemporary Art idioms to inspire fresh insight into the Philippine experience. Their collective vigour is expected to drive the pavilions intent of showing to the world a Philippines where art, science, and powerful imaginativeness prevail despite the odds.



Duddley Diaz immense, blue, and confrontingly pregnant figure of the mythic Haliya  positioned to hugely mark the pavilion entrance plaza  sets the tone for experiencing myth as simultaneously ancient and a projection to the deep future. Diaz well-known virtuosity with expressive massing is used in the pavilion to communicate a major message: confidence in Philippine culture, in the context of the Expo District on Sustainability.



Suspended nearby in the same entrance plaza, Dan Raralios Mystiquecross is an ambiguous fish-like figure taking form as an amalgam of old-tech shapes, made oddly older by the verdigris finish. The Raralio machinic fish carries aloft the theme Diaz begins for the pavilion  the activations of the mythic imagination to speak to the future confidently bringing together the ideas of metallic weight and animal buoyancy.



The themes of mythic flight and creatures of the mind also end the pavilion experience. Toym Imaos sculpture of an explosion of bird forms is located at the topmost level of an extended outdoor ramp wrapped around the pavilion core. Visitors will enter a space marked by columns; its roof are birds in flight. Confluence of Wings resurrects birds in Philippine mythology as symbol of elevated states of being.



The same bird symbology is reiterated in Riel Hilario Jaramillos Limokon and Timamanukin: half-human-half-avian, suspended creatures. The creatures appear to accompany visitors in one midway passage, poised above ground as though waiting for take-off. Birds alternatively omen animals, or materializations of spirits in flight, in oral traditions from all over the Philippine archipelago  are in Jaramillos sculptures, the Filipino male and female avatars.



Duddley Diaz trained at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts and the School of Painting, Academia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy. It is in particular his Italian academic background that sustains his explorations of sculptural forms for Philippine themes, especially in the ways he achieves a sense of monumentality that is unusual in the countrys Traditional, Modern, and Contemporary Art fields.



The other three sculptors (who also paint) are also graduates of the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. Each took widely divergent paths in their decades-long explorations of form and technique, even as they remained in the thrall of aesthetic ideas from the Philippines artistic traditions.



Hence, while Dan Raralios metier is the industrial, machinic form that seem as though fossils from an archaeology of earlier technological eras, his references and motifs tend to refer to local symbolic worlds. His contribution to driving the Philippine pavilion messages of confidence is his bold approach to metals, with a sure sense of uncanny assemblage.



And while Riel Jaramillo Hilarios explorations are strongest in the medium of wood, his continuing passions are also the symbolic universes of the Philippines. His close study of Ifugao and other woodworking traditions from different parts of the country informs a sculptural body of work that is redolent of the past but is securely in the future of sculpture in the Philippines.



Even as Toym Imaos robust approaches to large-scale assemblages with overtly political content is immediately recognizable in the Philippines for their bravura, his frequently referenced sub-texts move around traditional worlds of imagery. Imao is particularly drawn to Muslim Philippine iconographic systems; to which he often returns.



The sculptors are joined in the Philippine Pavilion by visual artists Lee Paje, Baby and Coco Anne, Charlie Co, Dex Fernandez, Patrick Cabral; wildlife photographers Scott Tuazon and Ivan Sarenas; choreographers Denisa Reyes and JM Cabiling, composer Teresa Barroso; and National Artist for Museum Ramon P. Santos.



The Philippines at Expo 2020 Dubai, slated to open on October 01, 2021 to March 31, 2022, is a project of the Philippine government through the DTI led by DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez as Commissioner-General and DTI Assistant Secretary Rosvi C. Gaetos as Alternate Commissioner-General.



The DTI, which leads the countrys participation at the Expo 2020 Dubai, looks at the Expo as an opportunity for the Philippines to present, on the world stage, a surprising, complex, and stirring self-portrait of a national community.  TradeArabia News Service


Holy Week, the beginning of the high tourist season in Spain was muted this year with COVID-19 restrictions still widely affecting the hospitality sector.

Measures in place to contain the spread of the virus were proving controversial because they were allowing tourists to fly in from abroad to enjoy the Spring weather with a negative COVID-19 test, while travelling nationally is still barred for Spanish people.

Lisa Neves has traveled from Germany with her partner to the Costa del Sol. Remote work has allowed her to travel and she chose to visit sunny Spain during Easter but she said she understood the discomfort of locals, prohibited from travelling to enjoy Holy Week in their own country.

"I think they are just making no sense trying to keep up the economy but actually you cannot do both things, or you keep up with the rules and keep people safe or you keep up the economy," she said.

Lis Cachon and Christian Namatura, Dutch tourists in Granada, landed at Malaga Airport and have traveled through the provinces to get to know Andalusia. They didn't think the rules were fair either.

"It makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable, I have to say because we are privileged here, just because we are tourists, and yes it's not so easy actually."

Over the weekend groups of French, German and Dutch tourists have landed at the Costa de Sol airport.

The beaches are ready, bars and restaurants will be open until 10:30 pm, alongside museums and monuments.

Despite the measures keeping the Spanish at home, William Antech, owner of the "La Fragata de Tito" restaurant in Torremolinos Malaga, hopes the hospitality situation will improve due to the visits of international tourists.

The Alhambra, Granada's most visited momument, expects an increase in visits during the Holy Week but only Granada residents and international tourists will be allowed to visit.

Businesses say that the regional lockdowns will generate large losses to tourism during the Holy Week season.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Minister Coveney's Statement at the UNSC Briefing on Syria - Humanitarian

Statement

Thank you Secretary Blinken and thank you for the invitation to be with you this morning. Your presence today as chair of our meeting - and the strength and clarity of your remarks - are welcome signs of the urgency the United States attaches to alleviating the plight of Syrias long suffering people. Let me begin by aligning myself with the co-penholder statement that was delivered on behalf of Ireland and Norway by Minister Sreide.

Our joint role as humanitarian co-penholders reflects a consistent support to the humanitarian response in Syria. For what is now over a decade of conflict. Ours is a shared commitment to ensuring that humanitarian assistance continues to reach all people in need.

I would like to make two brief points this morning in my national capacity.

The first is to focus our attention on the devastating scale of need in Syria.

I want like others to thank our briefers  Mark Lowcock, Henrietta Fore and in particular Dr. Amani Ballour  for their stark and unsparing accounts of the terrible realities of life in Syria today. A full decade after this conflict began.

We are confronted in Syria with a humanitarian crisis that continues to be truly staggering in scale and severity.

We know the cold, hard facts we hear them very month. And the situation is worsening. The Secretary-General tells us that humanitarian needs have increased by one fifth in the last year alone. History will judge this council so harshly for failing after a full decade to protect the Syrian people from mindless war, violence and utter misery. Women, children, hospitals, schools  whole cities in rubble. And even now, we are unable to fully deliver basic humanitarian assistance to children in tents starving without even basic needs and supports being met.

Mr President,

We, collectively around this table, have a duty to act  even 10 years late.

This Council must ensure that humanitarian actors can carry out their work safely.

My second point is to amplify what we have heard clearly from the Secretary General - and from OCHA, once again today  that in order to meet the significant humanitarian needs on the ground, intensified cross-line and cross-border deliveries are both essential.

This includes the continued provision of UN support through the border crossing in the North West.

I visited Bab Al-Hawa crossing a number of weeks ago, and saw first-hand the UN operation that provides a vital lifeline to over 3 million people in North West Syria.

While there, I met with Syrian and international NGOs and UN agencies working in North West Syria.

Their first-hand accounts brought home to me again the sheer human misery  and the waste of human potential - that results from this conflict.

I also met with the Head of the United Nations Monitoring Mission and was very impressed by the thorough nature of the monitoring and oversight at the transshipment hub. The ability to confirm the humanitarian nature of consignments which of course is important - and provide thorough supervision and inspection - is an essential part of the overall UN operation there.

All of the evidence that we have before us tells us clearly that this Council needs to renew the mandate for this crossing before it expires in July. In truth we need more crossings, more than just one, but at an absolute minimum we must maintain whats currently there.

Ireland believes in the UNs efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria. And we will work to support that.

Only a sustainable political solution can end conflict and bring hope and stability to a country that has been torn apart.

But in the meantime, many millions of Syrians are desperately in need of humanitarian assistance. And they are relying on us to provide the answers and support. Lets not make them wait any longer.

This Council must not fail  any more than it already has - in our collective responsibility to the Syrian people.

Thank you.

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Airport authorities on Ecuador's Galapagos Islands on Sunday discovered a suitcase with 185 endangered baby land turtles inside.

The reptiles were found individually wrapped in plastic inside luggage on Santa Cruz island and were less than three months old, according to officials.

Ten of them had died.

Jorge Rosillo, who is the manager of Galapagos Ecological Airport said that it was believed the turtles were intended to be shipped to Guayaquil Airport on mainland Ecuador for the "trafficking of species."

He also said that species of turtle originating from the Galapagos Islands were "really sought after in the Asian market."

The surviving turtles were placed in the care of a team from the Galapagos National Park, according to a press bulletin issued by the airport.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
One death as hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to fall in South Dakota


Earn your Associate of Applied Business in Business IT (BIT) degree online from the University of Cincinnati. This program can be completed fully online, with curriculum customized to fit your schedule, interests and how quickly you want to complete your degree. Application deadline July 1, 2021. Learn More 

Microsoft on Monday reported that multiple malicious actors were taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the company's Exchange software last week to attack systems at organizations that have failed to patch the flaws.

To help organizations that haven't deployed Microsoft's security tools, the company released the malware hashes and known malicious file paths which can be used to address the vulnerabilities manually.

Microsoft revealed on March 4 that it had detected multiple zero-day exploits being used to attack on-premise versions of its Exchange Server software. It added that in the attacks observed by the company, the threat actor used the vulnerabilities to access email accounts, and allowed installation of additional malware to facilitate long-term access to victim environments.

At the same time, Microsoft released software to patch the vulnerabilities.

The company attributed the attacks "with high confidence" based on observed victimology, tactics and procedures to Hafnium, a group believed to be state-sponsored and operating out of China.

"We are working closely with the [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency], other government agencies, and security companies, to ensure we are providing the best possible guidance and mitigation for our customers," Microsoft said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld.

"The best protection is to apply updates as soon as possible across all impacted systems," it continued. "We continue to help customers by providing additional investigation and mitigation guidance. Impacted customers should contact our support teams for additional help and resources."

Hackers Rushing In

Initially, it was estimated that 20,000 organizations were affected by the attacks, but according to Bloomberg, that number has ballooned to 60,000 and is continuing to rise. That could be because other hackers are rushing through the door opened by Hafnium.

In the days after the attacks were made public, Cynet, a New York City-based maker of an autonomous breach protection platform, discovered a number of attacks related to the Exchange vulnerabilities using a piece of malicious software called China Chopper.

That malware is a Web shell backdoor that allows threat groups to remotely access an enterprise network by abusing a client-side application to gain remote control of the compromised system.

Cynet identified four groups using China Chopper: Leviathan, Threat Group-3390, Soft Cell and APT41.

"The fact that China Chopper is a tool used by certain APT groups and the fact that China Chopper was specifically used to attack the vulnerable Microsoft services leads us to believe that additional APT groups are targeting these vulnerabilities," Cynet Senior Threat Researcher Max Malyutin wrote in a company blog.

Although broad exploitation of the Exchange vulnerabilities has begun to spread and is now in the hands of criminal actors, some organizations will have more to lose than others, added John Hultquist, vice president of analysis at Mandiant Threat Intelligence.

"The cyber espionage operators who have had access to this exploit for some time aren't likely to be interested in the vast majority of the small and medium organizations," he said in a statement.

"Though they appear to be exploiting organizations in masses," he continued, "this effort could allow them to select targets of the greatest intelligence value."

Data Trove in Emails

While the exact goals of the attackers are not known at this time, experts agree the threat actors are tapping into a rich trove of data.

"Even without being able to authoritatively name all of the involved threat actors, think about what you would find in email accounts," observed Ben Smith, field chief technology officer, at RSA Security, a global security solutions provider.

"Intellectual property and information about individuals associated with the targeted organization are two broad categories of very sensitive data found in email," he told TechNewsWorld.

There may not be any direct evidence of an immediate single motive, but stealing data would be the general goal, noted Purandar Das, CEO and co-founder of Sotero, a data protection company in Burlington, Mass.

"In this case, the potential outcomes may take a while to emerge," he told TechNewsWorld. "Sensitive email content leading to strategy, financial transactions, user credentials may all be at stake."

Matt Petrosky, vice president of customer experience at GreatHorn, a cloud email security company in Waltham, Mass. added that it is safe to say that there will be an increase in impersonation-based attacks with attackers having access to internal communications, as well as accounts receivable and payable information.

"Attackers can use that data to insert themselves via email impersonation to misdirect payments or exploit internal information," he told TechNewsWorld.

Nation-State Attack

Nailing down the source of a cyberattack can be a dicey proposition -- even if Microsoft is confident it has identified the perpetrators of the Exchange attacks -- although the characteristics of the forays seem to strongly point to a nation-state.

"The scale, scope, and third-party supply-chain focus of this attack all definitely point to a level of sophistication typically seen with a nation-state attack," Smith said.

"Anecdotally, the scale, volume and speed with which the attack has accelerated indicates a well-organized group has orchestrated the attack," Das added.

"Those orchestration and organizational skills are the kind that a nation state could deploy," he observed.

Karen Walsh, the principal in Allegro Solutions, a cybersecurity marketing company in West Hartford, Conn. agrees with Microsoft that not just any nation-state is behind the attacks. The indicators of compromise and the signature of the attack appears to point to China, she explained.

"Malicious actors have their favorite ways of doing something," she said. "Just as artists have a certain style, hackers have a certain style."

SolarWinds Reprise

As with the massive SolarWinds attack last year, the Exchange attack is targeting a third-party provider to many organizations.

"Both attacks targeted the supply chains of affected organizations," Smith explained.

"It's too easy to forget," he continued, "that even if you aren't in the widget-making business, if you are dependent on third parties to operate your business, you also have a supply chain that can be compromised."

The attacks are similar because they both targeted a third-party platform to infect a large customer base, but they're different, too, Das added.

"They are different in that the SolarWinds software hack was one where they penetrated the code base and installed a back door that was then leveraged to gain access to a customer's network," he explained.

"In the case of the Microsoft hack," he continued, "the criminals identified a vulnerability in a production release and used that to gain access to emails."

Petrosky maintained that the attacks are similar only in the daunting number of potential victims, even though the Exchange incident appears to be outstripping SolarWinds five to one.

"SolarWinds victims were vulnerable mainly because they trusted the SolarWinds software to update itself through a secure channel," he said.

"The Microsoft attack is more of a classic zero-day attack," he continued. "The initial victims may have been selectively targeted, but the sheer volume of potential victims today is because these Exchange servers are sitting accessible to Internet searches like the Shodan tool and other scripts."

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.


Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
The claim: Since 2006 Texas has given $19B in taxpayer subsidies to wind energy companies. Over the past 2-3 years Texas has tripled our dependence on wind energy to 23-25 percent of our energy distribution system.  Allen West, Texas Republican Party chairman.

PolitiFact rating: False. Slicing the numbers various ways, its impossible to arrive at Wests $19 billion figure. And the wind energy composition has doubled, not tripled, over a five-year period, not a two- to three-year period.

Discussion

The deadly winter storms last month that left millions of Texans shivering in their homes without power has reinvigorated the debate over fossil fuels versus renewable energy, as many tried to cast blame for the outages even though all types of generators struggled to produce during the freeze.

Wind energy generators have received subsidies on the federal, state and local levels, as have other types of generators. West claimed that the state has given out $19 billion since 2006.

Carey King, research scientist at the University of Texas and assistant director at the universitys Energy Institute, who wrote a paper on state energy subsidies, said he could not see how West was coming up with that figure.

The 2018 white paper that King co-authored found that renewables do receive a lot more financial help than conventional technologies. Wind receives between $16 to $30 per megawatt-hour while conventional power sources receive up to $2 a megawatt-hour.

The wind number is so high because it includes the $7 billion cost of Competitive Renewable Energy Zone transmission lines, a ratepayer-funded project that helps bring power from West Texas wind and solar generators to large Texas cities hundreds of miles away.

One argument for excluding it is that subsidies are usually meant to incentivize investment; however, in the case of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone lines, consumers, not generators, are paying for an investment, the paper points out.

It adds that the wind farm developers arent the ones benefiting from cost savings here, but rather transmission and distribution utilities.

King added that the lines, which are also hooked up to traditional energy generation units, transmit more than just electricity produced by renewable generators.

If that project is removed from the calculation, researchers found that wind receives a comparable amount to other generators with $2 to $3 per megawatt-hour.

But even including the $7 billion, King said he has a hard time coming up with that ($19 billion) number for wind.

King guessed that West might mistakenly be including federal production tax credits, which were established in 1992 and provide a tax credit for the first 10 years of electricity generation for large-scale wind farms.

An April 2019 report by the conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, came up with a similar number when estimating state and local subsidies in Texas that are to be paid out through 2029 at nearly $18 billion.

Wests tweet, however, implies the time period he is referring to is 2006 to the present.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation papers calculation included the transmission line project but claimed the true cost was more like $14 billion when factoring in costs to transmission companies to use the lines that the paper assumes will be passed on to customers through rate increases.

Wests spokesman, Luke Twombly, said the party chair misspoke in the second part of the statement.

The chairman meant to put double in his tweet, not triple, Twombly said in an email, referring to the states increasing dependence on wind power in the last two to three years.

Data from the states electric grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, shows that wind grew from comprising 17 percent of the states energy mix in 2017 to 23 percent in 2020  an increase of 35.3 percent.

Asked about this, Twombly referred to an earlier PolitiFact that discussed how wind had become the states second-largest resource after natural gas since 2014, when wind provided just 11 percent of the states fuel. But that would be a five year, not a 2-3 year time frame.

Imprisoned Kremlin foe Aleksei Navalny says he is being tortured with sleep deprivation and accuses his jailers of a deliberate effort to undermine his health. Also, the plight of an award-winning forest ranger whose penchant for catching suspected poachers may have made him some powerful enemies. RFER/RL Senior Correspondent Robert Coalson joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss.
[March 29, 2021] Syracuse Group Announces Nominees for New Director for Client Development.

HONG KONG, CHINA, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Syracuse Group, the Hong Kong based financial advisory firm, announced in a press conference on Thursday four portfolio managers who have been shortlisted to become the firms newest Director of Client Development. Syracuse Groups ethos has always been at the heart of our culture. It has long been applied not only to how we communicate as colleagues, but also to how we connect with our clients, our investors and our communities. "We are delighted that nominees Brian, Mark, David and William are put forward for our new director of client development, four of whom reflect the dynamic value and customer-first mentality that we have embraced said Thomas Baumann Management Partner of Client Development. They represent the high ethical standards of our business, and I am sure either nominee will provide valuable guidance in further shaping our business Brian Mitchell joined the firm in 2011 formerly a PM at CIMB Group in London he is a graduate from Cambridge University with a bachelors degree in finance. He has 18 years of broad senior portfolio management and financial markets experience. Brian is a caring father and husband, and is involved with the Changing Young Lives Foundation. Mark Harris joined the firm in 2011 formerly at JP Morgan as portfolio manager, he is a graduate from UCL with a masters degree in Economics. Mark has over 15 years experience in financial markets. Mark is a devoted family man and active in a number of local charities.



David Walters joined the firm in 2013 formerly a non- executive director at Allan Gray, before that, David was with First National Bank where he started his career in the banking industry. David has over a decade of financial experience, he is a loving husband and is involved in a number of charities in South Africa. William Walker joined the firm in 2014 formerly at First Equity Limited as a senior trader he is a graduate from Imperial College London with a bachelors degree in finance. William spent 11 years in a cross asset trading capacity.

Syracuse Groups 9 nominees for new director of client development is composed of the following: Brian Mitchell

Mark Harris

David Walters

William Walker

Laura Watson

Paul Riverbank

Elizabeth Michaels

Carolyn Vickers

Jonathan Reed Syracuse Group offers a large choice of portfolio management services, and financial advice to their globally diverse client base. Syracuse Group have been in business since 2011 after successfully spinning off from a major New York-based hedge fund. As of March 25th , 2021, we have 85 full time employees and manage approximately US$3.7 billion of capital. To find out more about how Syracuse Group can assist you visit https://www.syracusegroup.com/

Media Contact

Name: Christina Harris (International Press Officer)

Company: Syracuse Group

Email: Info@syracusegroup.com

Website: https://www.syracusegroup.com



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ROCHESTER, Minn.  Four artist have been selected to contribute to the Art4Trails project in Rochester.

The project installed original art along the walking and bike trail system near the downtown area and this is the fifth year of new installations. The artists and locations of their work are:

Kristopher Tiffany | Slatterly Park

Sunghee Min | River Landing

Jamie Weinfurter | Recreational trail south of 7th Street NW at Silver Lake

Greg Mueller | Mayo Park East

Kristopher Tiffany, originally from Arizona, is a Rochester resident and a stained glass artist at Willet Hauser Architectural Glass in Winona.

Sunghee Min, now of Roseville, was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States in 1995. In the past year, she has had public art installations in Bemidji, MN, Chicago IL, and Clive IA.

Selected artist for the second year, Jamie Weinfurter lives in Minneapolis and is the creator of Loom, currently sited at Mayo Park east.

Although hailing from the North Shore, Greg Mueller is familiar to Rochester, having been a part of the 2020 Arts Elevated Regional Juried Exhibition at the Rochester International Airport.

The artists each receive a $3,000 stipend for these temporary installations, which will be put in place in summer 2021. All will be available to purchase from the artists after a year of placement on the Art4Trails sites.

More information on the Art4Trails project, including a map of current artwork, can be found by clicking here.
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That Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky often disagrees with infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is well known.

Recently, the pair clashed at a Senate hearing when Paul, a Republican, argued against mask recommendations for people who have had covid-19 or have been vaccinated against it.

At the hearing, Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, pushed back against Paul's characterization of wearing masks as "theater." Continued caution is advised, Fauci said, as scientists study the new variants now circulating in the U.S. and other countries.

Paul, an eye doctor by training, continued the squabble a few days later, calling out Fauci in a tweet, pointing to a study that he said "shows vaccines and naturally acquired immunity DO effectively neutralize COVID variants."

The tweet linked to a study published online at the JAMA Network, a family of specialty medical journals.

We reached out to Paul's office for additional sources for his tweet but did not receive a reply.

So, we asked the experts: Are covid variants effectively neutralized by vaccines or natural immunity conferred on people who recover from the illness?

In short, the research cited by Paul does show good blood levels of neutralizing antibodies against at least some of the current variants following infection or vaccination. But they're not the whole story.

Mehul S. Suthar, an author of the study Paul cited, said the results are encouraging but should not be seen as all-encompassing: "Our interpretation is that our study looks at one aspect of immune response, antibodies."

Small samples. Big questions.

Neutralizing antibodies are important because they can block the ability of a virus like the one that causes covid to infect cells. But the body also has other defenses. T cells, for example, can be spurred by infection or vaccination, Suthar said, although the study was not designed to look at those.

For the study, researchers gathered blood samples from 40 people who were in the hospital with covid or had recovered from it. From the National Institutes of Health, they also received blood samples drawn from 14 people who had gotten both doses of the Moderna vaccine, said Suthar, an assistant professor at Emory University's vaccine center.

Mask skeptic vs The facts Play

Then they ran tests on those samples against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and three variants, including the one dubbed B.1.1.7, which first appeared in the United Kingdom and is now circulating widely in the U.S.

They wanted to know: Did antibodies produced by being infected or vaccinated neutralize B.1.1.7?

"We are lucky with B.1.1.7 that our antibodies appear to work well against this virus," Suthar said.

However, as with any study, there are caveats. For one thing, the results were based on a small number of samples. And the analysis did not include other variants of concern, such as the ones that emerged in South Africa and Brazil, which limits the ability to draw broad conclusions.

Finally, antibodies are just one measure of potential protection against disease. Laboratory research measuring antibodies indicates that some immunity is created by both illness and vaccination, but the strength and longevity of that protection  the effectiveness in the real world  is a separate question. That's partly because the ideal level of neutralizing antibodies needed for protection is not known and other immune protections, such as T cells, aren't measured.

Also, in the real world, other factors  such as the variant a person is exposed to, and the presence of other mitigating factors, including masks and good ventilation  can make a difference.

"Part of the reason that real-world data are so important is looking at the whole picture of immunity," said Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "Also, with the level of community transmissions of disease, I would be concerned that there will be more variants that emerge."

Nuance matters

Paul's tweet  taking aim at what he sees as an overcautious approach by public health experts  doesn't capture that type of nuance, nor does it reference studies on the other emerging variants.

"Blanket assertions made by non-scientific experts are not going to help," said Gronvall.

Dr. Jesse Goodman, professor of medicine and a specialist in infectious diseases at Georgetown University, agreed.

"It's wrong to declare victory and say there's no problem with variants and that everyone previously infected will be fine," said Goodman, who served as chief scientist of the Food and Drug Administration under the Obama administration.

Viruses naturally mutate as they replicate. So it's not surprising that the coronavirus has done so. Several variants have emerged, including home-grown ones from California and New York.

Lab tests on blood samples from vaccine trial participants in South Africa showed lower levels of neutralizing antibody production, possibly related to the variant circulating there.

How big a difference the lower levels measured in those samples make isn't yet known.

Levels are still high and could "effectively neutralize the virus," Fauci wrote in an editorial published Feb. 11 in JAMA.

Even so, clinical trials used to test covid vaccines before they were approved for emergency use showed lower efficacy when tested in areas where the South African variant was circulating.

"We expect vaccines and prior infection to offer significant protection against variants that are closely related," said Goodman. "But as they become more genetically different  like the South African one  that protection could go down."

The main goal of the vaccines is to prevent hospitalization and death, and all the vaccines in use in the U.S. appear to substantially reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from covid, according to research.

"Even if the current vaccines may not be perfect, they do appear to prevent more severe outcomes," Goodman said.

Don't assume, as Paul's tweet implies, that recovering from covid or getting vaccinated means zero risk of infection.

For one thing, reinfection is rare but can occur.

Goodman pointed to a recent study conducted in Denmark showing that a small percentage (0.65%) of people who tested positive for covid in the spring fell ill again.

"People should not presume that even if they had the vaccine or were previously infected that there's no future risk," Goodman said.

Even though no vaccine is 100% effective, Gronvall at Hopkins said not to use that as an excuse to avoid inoculation.

"The vaccines appear to be great," she said. "Get one when you can."

Our ruling

Paul is correct that the JAMA study showed vaccination or previous infection appeared, based on a small sample of people, to help neutralize the virus. However, he left out important details that make his position an oversimplification of a complicated issue.

The study considered only one variant  the one that emerged in the U.K.  and did not include an analysis of other types now circulating, or the potential for additional variants that could emerge. Also, the type of antibody studied is just one factor in protecting against disease, and just what those levels of neutralizing antibodies measured in a laboratory experiment may mean in the real world is not known.

So, for those reasons, we rate the senator's statement Half True.
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32 U.S. senators and 101 U.S. representatives have co-sponsored a resolution to condemn anti-Asian hate after shootings in Atlanta killed eight victims, including six Asian women.

Why it matters: The push comes amid a yearlong spike in hate and violence against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Congressional leaders introduced the resolution, whose co-sponsors are all Democrats, last week.

Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

The resolution "condemns the recent shootings in Atlanta, reaffirming Congresss commitment to combat hate against the AAPI community," according to a press release distributed Monday.

It also condemns "the heinous and inexcusable acts of gun violence" that led to the shootings.

The resolution is led by Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and members of Congress from Georgia: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D), Reps. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D), Nikema Williams (D) and Lucy McBath (D).

Between the lines: The GOP will face considerable pressure to back the resolution, considering 164 House Republicans opposed a similar measure introduced by Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) last year.

GOP freshman Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), both of whom are Asian American women, have been outspoken about anti-Asian racism and former President Trump's "China virus" rhetoric.

What they're saying: "We must stand against AAPI hate and violence, full stop," Warnock said in a statement. "Let me be clear: hate, including hate that hurts and kills members of the Asian-American community, has no place in Georgiaor anywhere in our country."

"This was a hate crime, plain and simple," Chu added. "But this violence has long predated the murders in Georgia ... That is why it is so important that all leaders speak out to reject bigotry and violence."

Go deeper: Atlanta spa killings stir even more fear among Asian Americans

More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Feral pigs cost the agriculture industry at least $1.5 billion in damage, disease and control costs around the United States annually, running rampant on large swaths of grazing lands. The swine root in soil and eat most everything in sight.

Farmers and ranchers will benefit from research by University of Florida scientists who are using artificial intelligence to gather data on feral hog reproduction and movement.

As they roam grazing land, feral swine carry pathogens that cause multiple diseases in cattle, like Brucella. Other pathogens, like foot-and-mouth disease, are not present in the United States, but wild pigs have the ability to transmit these foreign animal diseases.

"If a foreign animal disease became established in wild pigs in the United States, it would devastate the commercial swine and cattle industry. These foreign diseases are pathogens not found in the United States, but because of the severity of disease and high contagiousness, infected cattle or swine are culled. It would be nearly impossible to rid ourselves of a foreign animal disease if it became established in wild pigs," said Samantha Wisely, a UF/IFAS professor of wildlife ecology and conservation. "Wild pigs also cause millions of dollars a year to cattlemen in lost forage and degraded pastures."

Wisely will conduct her latest feral pig research at Archbold's Buck Island Ranch, in southeastern Highlands County. There, she'll collaborate with station researcher Raoul Boughton, who used AI to identify pigs from millions of pictures taken by remotely triggered wildlife cameras. Using these techniques, Wisely and others will further use this AI-generated dataset of pictures to track the movements of groups of pigs, called sounders, to predict how pathogens spread from pig to pig in Florida grazing lands.

"The camera array on Buck Island Ranch allows us to monitor many animals over a large area to truly understand population level responses to animal control, disease transmission and cattle management," she said.

With this project, Wisely plans to expand on research already done by Tyler Buckley, a master's student in wildlife ecology and conservation in the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. For his thesis, Buckley used the large array of wildlife cameras to estimate reproduction in wild pigs.

Buckley used an AI-generated dataset that identified images of the wild pigs at Buck Island Ranch to learn more about how quickly they can reproduce. Machine learning algorithms allowed a computer to sort through millions of photographs from dozens of cameras to identify the pictures that contained wild pigs, said Wisely, who is co-supervising Buckley's thesis with Boughton.

Buckley studied the number of piglets associated with a sow and compared that number before and after a large wild pig-removal event. Landowners use several methods to reduce the number of pigs on their property, including hunting and trapping.

Buckley found that sows increased the number of piglets they produce once the population size began to decrease due to culling.

"We need to understand how to manage pig populations without creating an influx of young piglets. When young pigs make up the majority of a population, diseases transmit among individuals more efficiently because those young pigs are more likely to become infected than older individuals," Wisely said. "If we track the population's response to different types of removal plansperhaps we can find one that doesn't increase disease risk."

Buckley conducted his research while a graduate student at the UF/IFAS Range Cattle Research and Education Center in Ona, in Hardee County. He will defend his thesis this summer.

Explore further Reston ebolavirus spreads efficiently in pigs
Oil retreated as salvage teams partially refloated the giant vessel that has been blocking the Suez Canal, and traders weighed the impact of renewed lockdowns on global demand before an OPEC+ policy meeting.

West Texas Intermediate lost as much as 2.5 per cent, while Brent fell. Crude has been hit by rising volatility in recent sessions, with WTI swinging between gains and losses last week. The Ever Given is now being secured, according to services provider Inchcape, although it isnt clear when the canal will reopen.

Traders were also tracking the advent on Monday of a significant new contract, with Abu Dhabi kicking off futures for its oil in a bid to establish a new regional benchmark. The move represents a bold challenge to the way nearly one-fifth of the worlds crude is priced.

Oil is still set to close out a fourth consecutive quarterly gain this week, aided by sustained supply curbs imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, and optimism that global demand will expand as coronavirus vaccines get rolled out. But a run of three weekly losses for WTI has put a dent in crudes performance, driving speculation that OPEC+ will again refrain from easing curbs when ministers meet on April 1.





ALSO READ: Giant vessel blocking Suez Canal freed, logjam of 450 ships to be cleared

With the Suez and OPEC+ uncertainties on top of a foggy demand picture, we may see big mood swings and high intraday volatility, said Vandana Hari, founder of energy consultancy Vanda Insights. I dont see how OPEC+ or the Saudis could risk putting more oil into the market after the downward pressure on crude of the past fortnight.

The crisis in the Suez Canal has caused a vast backlog of ships on either side of the vital waterway, and spurred some vessels to avoid the congestion by taking the longer, much costlier route around Africa. Rates for tankers had increased, boosting the cost of shipping crude around the world.

Despite progress with vaccines, the Covid-19 pandemic remains a challenge. Global cases rose for a fifth week, with several European nations facing a resurgence. Brisbane, Australias third most-populous city, will enter a three-day lockdown, while Indias Maharashtra -- which encompasses Mumbai -- asked authorities to prepare for another shutdown if a rebound isnt quelled. Also in Asia, the Philippine capital is also back under strict curbs.

At the last OPEC+ gathering, the alliance surprised investors by sticking with curbs despite expectations the taps would be loosened. This time around, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is among banks forecasting no change for production in May. Citigroup Inc. has said the restrictions may even be tightened.

Brents prompt timespread was 14 cents in backwardation. While thats a bullish pattern -- with near-term prices above those further out -- its down from 67 cents at the start of March.
The colossal implications of one of the largest container ships in the world, the Ever Given, running aground and blocking Egypts Suez Canal have been felt internationally.

The huge container ship, wedged across the canal since last Tuesday during a seasonal sandstorm, was finally freed from the shoreline in the early hours of this morning by tugboats. Efforts to fully refloat it are ongoing at the time of writing.

The blockage of a vital artery of the world economy by a single shipan accident waiting to happenreveals fundamental aspects of modern society.

The ship is owned by the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, operated by the Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine Corporation, flagged in Panama and carrying goods worth $89 million.

Production and economic activity have become internationally integrated to an unprecedented extent, linking the working class in every country into a powerful interconnected network, such that the disruption of a single major transit hub quickly makes itself felt throughout the globe.

In this photo released by the Suez Canal Authority, tug boats and diggers work to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Sunday, March 28, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

Almost 50 percent of the vessels that transit the Suez Canal are container ships carrying car components, appliances, apparel and consumer electronics to and from continents. Goods heading for Europe will themselves be integrated into components to be shipped to the Americas and the rest of the world, often for final assembly elsewhere.

However, under the irrational, anarchic capitalist social order, with the world divided into rival nation states, there has been virtually no serious preparations for an event like the Suez Canal jam, which has long been predicted, given the huge expansion in the number and size of container mega-ships.

With more than 450 vessels now waiting at either end of the canal, analysts believe that the insurance industry could be facing claims in excess of $100 million. However, the final bill, including compensation for delays, loss of revenue for the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), potential damage to cargo and the cost of refloating the ship, could include sums even higher.

While the precise causes of the Ever Given accident have yet to be determined, it points to the incompetence and corruption endemic in the Egyptian state apparatus. The SCA, the state-owned and largely military-run corporation responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Suez Canal, including its computerized traffic management system, pilots and dredging, has sought to downplay the severity of the incident and is unable to say how long it will take to unblock the canal. The chief of the SCA, Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, has already announced that the agency is discussing compensation for the waiting ships, implying negligence on the SCAs part.

But the global implications are far greater. Analysts are warning that the blockage threatens a severe disruption to global trade supplies, with massive repercussions on global supply chains that now rely on minimal levels of stocks commensurate with just-in-time production techniques, and consequences for workers jobs and consumer prices. It is likely to further fuel national antagonisms.

The Suez Canal is one of the worlds busiest waterways, linking the Indian Ocean, the Red and Mediterranean Seas. The canal is traversed by 19,000 vessels a year, carrying $10 billion of goods every day, or an estimated 13 percent of global trade by volume, and around 10 percent of the worlds oil, mostly between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

As sea trade has grown, the size of container ships has also grown, driven by the need to lower shipping costs and achieve economies of scale. The average size of container ships is now five times larger than just 20 years ago, paving the way for both fewer ships and enormous cost reductions, to the extent vessels capable of carrying 20,000 20-foot equivalent containers are operated with a crew of just 20. But such ships are too deep and large to transit some shipping routes, such as the Panama Canal, or dock at some port quays, requiring significant investment to accommodate the ships, handle their loading and unloading and manage the scheduling to avoid port congestion.

With the Suez Canal blocked, some ships began to divert around the southern tip of Africa, a much more hazardous route, adding up to two weeks to the journey and with higher labour and fuel costs. This in turn will exacerbate the shortage of containers and container ships and create delays, shortages of goods and higher prices, with oil prices rising 7 percent in response to the news of the blockage. A report published by the German insurer Allianz Global estimated the bottleneck could cost global trade $6 billion to $10 billion a week.

Smaller tankers and oil products, like naphtha (a liquid fuel) and fuel oil exports from Europe to Asiaabout 20 percent of Asias naphtha is supplied by the Mediterranean and Black Sea via the Suez Canalwill also be affected if the canal remains blocked for several weeks.

The traffic jam in the Suez, when eventually freed up, will in turn lead to further congestion and disorganization as ships flood into ports which are already overstretched due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Suez Canal event also emerges amid severely hampered supply chains, including widespread shortages of semiconductors, a key component in cars, smartphones, PCs, tablets and TVs, the brutal winter storm in Texas last month, slowing production of plastic goods, and a major backlog of container ships in Southern California ports.

The blockage of the Suez Canal threatens a further intensification of geopolitical tensions under conditions in which numerous flashpoints exist and have been multiplying. Ships forced to reroute from the Red Sea towards South Africas Cape of Good Hope face the threat of piracy off the coasts of East Africa and West Africa, which have seen an increase in pirate kidnappings in recent months, leading several shipping companies to call on the US Navy to provide escorts.

Russian Foreign Ministry official Nikolai Korchunov argued the need for the development of new shipping routes, including a northern sea route through the Arctic Ocean, which has itself become the focus of increasing geopolitical conflicts as the adjacent countries seek to assert their territorial claims to secure access to the vast energy reserves and rare materials that are believed to be in the Arctic region.

Today, the global nature of capitalism is beyond dispute, as is the reactionary nation-state system that is driving the worlds major capitalist powers ever closer to global war and increasing social inequality at home, while preparing dictatorial forms of rule.

Capitalism has demonstrated over and over again that it is impervious to science and reason, criminally irrational and utterly opposed to addressing any social problems even as it demands ever fatter profits. Coming amid the pandemic, which has already killed 2.7 million people worldwide, it only confirms the necessity of abolishing the capitalist system and replacing it with an internationally coordinated, rationally and scientifically directed system of economic planning, based on equality and the satisfaction of human need: socialism.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 15:29:06|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with representatives of those honored for their outstanding work in China's campaign to fight organized and gang-related crimes in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2021. Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the event. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday met with representatives of those honored for their outstanding work in China's campaign to fight organized and gang-related crimes.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, expressed congratulations to the representatives, who were attending a gathering in Beijing to celebrate the victory of the campaign.

Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the event.

In 2018, China initiated a three-year campaign to crack down on organized and gang-related crimes. Significant results have been achieved, with more than 3,600 crime groups busted over the past three years.

Speaking at the event, Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, said the fight against such illegal activities should be advanced on a regular basis, calling for greater efforts to implement the Peaceful China initiative. Enditem
Abuja  Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has called on stakeholders and elder statesmen to intervene in the governance of Nigeria, noting that this administration lacks the capacity to address the nation's current challenges.

He however recommended that Nigeria must move towards a single exchange rate to be determined by market forces, reduce taxes to make Nigeria more business friendly and free financial and monetary institutions from the type of political influence that resulted in the prohibition of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

He added that the government needs to act on these urgently if they want to increase capital inflow.

Atiku stated this against the backdrop of a report from Bloomberg Business on March 27, 2021 which said Nigeria is to emerge as the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, at just over 33 per cent.

The former vice president who said he has never felt so bad at being proven right, said it was regrettable that repeated warnings by himself and other patriots on how to salvage the nation were scorned at.

In a statement he personally signed yesterday, Atiku said, "First, Nigeria must move towards a single exchange rate to be determined by market forces. Secondly, the federal and state governments must reduce taxes, to make Nigeria more business friendly. And finally, financial and monetary institutions, like the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, must be free from the type of political influence that resulted in the prohibition of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

"We are at a precipice as a nation and the truth is that all stakeholders and elder statesmen have to speak up on time, while there is still Nigeria to save. This government obviously lacks the capacity to address our current challenges, and we must help them, not because of the government, but because of our people."

"In a situation where we are simultaneously the world headquarters for extreme poverty, the world capital for out of school children, and the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, there is a very real and present danger that we might slip into the failed states index," he said.
A man has been charged with unlawful possession of two rifles, a pipe bomb, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at a property in Co Kerry.

Ivan Gilder, of Gearha North, Blackwater, Sneem, appeared before Bantry District Court having been arrested on Sunday at 5.27pm.

Det Garda Barry Cashman told Judge Colm Roberts that Gilder, 59, was then charged at Killarney Garda Station on the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at 8.09pm and had made no response to the charges.

Those charges are unlawful possession of a .22 Magnum Calibre JW bolt action rifle, a 12 gauge over and under shotgun, a pipe bomb, and 397 rounds of ammunition for the bolt action weapon and 125 rounds of ammunition for the second weapon, all at Gearha North on March 27 last.

Det Garda Cashman said gardai had no objection to Gilders release on bail, on certain conditions.

Gilder, originally from Scotland, is to relinquish his passport and the court heard he had already done so, and he is to sign on at Kenmare or Killarney Garda station three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

He is also ordered not to purchase or acquire any chemicals and must inform gardai of any change of address.

Judge Roberts said the alleged offences were very serious matters and queried whether those bail conditions were too general.

Gilders solicitor, Padraig OConnell, said his clients phone was in Garda possession for the purposes of an investigation which Det Garda Cashman said was ongoing.

The court heard that for one or possibly two nights, Gilder could reside at his sons home while that investigation at Mr Gilders home continued.

Det Garda Cashman said for those reasons, it would be difficult to apply any more restrictive bail conditions.

The court also heard Gilder was a solitary man who lived in a beautiful but isolated place.

Mr OConnell said his client had lived at his address for many decades and when the judge queried whether his son could go surety for Gilder, Mr OConnell said:

His son would not have enough money to put a jacket on a gooseberry.

The judge stressed that Gilder needed to be Covid compliant at all times and ordered he get a new phone within the next 48 hours and provide gardai with the number.

Mr OConnell said his client would comply with all conditions and that his mind had been focused by three days in Killarney Garda Station.

The court heard that Gilder is on a disability welfare payment and receives 220 a week and otherwise has no assets.

Judge Roberts released Gilder on bail on his own bond of 500 to appear before Killarney District Court on April 20 next.

Earlier, the Garda press office reported that a second man arrested in connection with the incident had been released without charge. A file will be prepared for the DPP.
TSX: MFI

www.mapleleaffoods.com

MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. ("Maple Leaf Foods" or the "Company") (TSX: MFI) today announced that it has filed its 2021 Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Management Information Circular (the "Circular") with securities regulators.

The Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place virtually on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 11 a.m. The virtual format allows Maple Leaf Foods to continue to take all prudent precautions to ensure the health and well-being of its employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders in the context of COVID-19, while providing shareholders with meaningful online engagement, where they will be able to ask questions and vote in real time by following the instructions provided in the Circular.

Shareholders are encouraged to review the Circular as it contains important information about the Annual Meeting, including the election of directors, the appointment of the Company's auditor, and the approval of amendments to the Company's Stock Option Plan. In addition, the Circular provides a detailed description of Maple Leaf Foods' approach to governance and executive compensation.

The Company is again using "Notice and Access" to deliver the Circular and related meeting materials, including its 2020 Annual Financial Statements, by providing Shareholders with notice of availability and access to the materials online at www.mapleleaffoods.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Notice and Access is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to distribute these materials since it reduces printing, paper and postage.

Please see below for links to the Notice and the Circular:

Management Information Circular

Notice and Access Letter

Shareholders are encouraged to cast their votes early by proxy and to check the Maple Leaf Foods website at www.mapleleaffoods.com for additional information about the Annual Meeting. Instructions for shareholders wishing to request paper copies of any of the materials are included in the Notice.

About Maple Leaf Foods

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. ("Maple Leaf Foods") is a carbon neutral company with a vision to be the most sustainable protein company on earth, responsibly producing food products under leading brands including Maple Leaf, Maple Leaf Prime, Maple Leaf Natural Selections, Schneiders, Schneiders Country Naturals, Mina, Greenfield Natural Meat Co., Lightlife, Field Roast and Swift. Maple Leaf Foods employs approximately 13,500 people and does business in Canada, the U.S. and Asia. The company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, and its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MFI).

SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mapleleaf.ca


Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 21:51:37|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Eastern Military District began large-scale exercises on Monday in the country's Far East.

The week-long drills in the Trans-Baikal and Amur regions will involve more than 12,000 servicemen, up to 3,000 units of weapons and military equipment, about 60 planes and helicopters, and over 10 drones, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The forces aim to "demonstrate their expertise and knowledge in ensuring military security in Russia's east." The exercises are the final stage of the regions' winter training program, it added. Enditem
Rep. Lee Yong-bin, right, and Rep. Song Young-gil, left, both of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, pose for photos with Myanmarese students at a special photo exhibition supporting pro-democracy protests in Myanmar at Seo District Office in Gwangju, March 16. Courtesy of Rep. Lee Yong-bin



By Kwon Mee-yoo



Korean lawmakers will sing "March for the Beloved," a song representing the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, in support of anti-coup protests in Myanmar.



Rep. Lee Yong-bin of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) suggested, Sunday, that legislators here sing the song in relay to show their support for pro-democracy protests in Myanmar and condemn the military junta's brutal crackdown on protesters.



"March of the Beloved" was composed in 1981 by then student activist Kim Jong-ryul and the lyrics were from a poem by activist Baek Gi-wan to commemorate the sacrifices of citizens who were killed during the 1980 Gwangju democratic uprising. The song has since been recognized as a tribute to the spirit of democracy and freedom sought by Gwangju citizens.



It has been said that the Gwangju movement shares similarities with the current protests in Myanmar against the military junta, as citizens of Gwangju were also suppressed and killed by a military dictator back in 1980 for their support of democracy.



"I came across the brutality of the military coup in Myanmar during a seminar last week and thought about ways to show solidarity on an international level," Rep. Lee said. "I thought we could sing March for the Beloved, a song representing the Gwangju pro-democracy movement, to comfort the people of Myanmar and honor the victims of the military crackdown. This will show international attention and solidarity to protesters of Myanmar."



Lee added that Myanmar's military junta is suppressing protesters violently and Korea should take part in protecting the lives of the protesters as well as Myanmarese people living in Korea.



Lee has been sending out written proposals for the singing campaign to lawmakers regardless of party affiliation to recruit participants through Tuesday.



As of Sunday, DPK lawmakers Song Young-gil, Lee Byung-hoon, Yoon Young-deok, Lee Yong-sun, Jo Seung-lae and Wi Seong-gon showed their intention to participate in the project.



The singing campaign was co-organized by the Gwangju Cultural Foundation and May Hall and will start from members of the National Assembly and then expand to the general public and writers.



When each lawmaker sends a video clip singing the song in Korean, the foundation will combine and edit them for a full song video with Burmese subtitles and post it on social media.


Due to the heavy rice exports from Kakinada, Krishnapatnam and Visakhapatnam ports, workers are getting more of employment and the trend will continue in future also.  DC file photo

KAKINADA: Even as humanity reeled under the devastating impact of Covid-19 and trade remained affected for over a year, India has earned a name as the bread giver to the entire world. It has exported rice to nearly 170 countries including China and Vietnam.

Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh is playing the lead role in exporting rice to nearly 25 African countries and also China and Vietnam. Rice here is aplenty and many exporters are choosing this port for export.

Traditionally, the anchorage port of Kakinada enjoyed a reputation for handling rice exports to African countries and Bangladesh. But, this past year, many countries including Vietnam and China faced food shortage as agriculture operations were also badly hit in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemics arrival.

According to shipping trade sources, for the first time, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada deep water ports too started handling the rice cargo during the 2020-21 fiscal.

According to sources, the ports under the AP Maritime Board fetched Rs 280 crore as against the Rs 220 crore the previous year. Out of this, Rs 40 crore in revenue came from the anchorage port.

There were some slowdowns in cargo handling due to festivals and cyclones twice during October-November-2020, but there was heavy rice cargo outgo at the anchorage port. The state and central governments noticed the heavy demand and allowed exports from Kakinada deep water port too without it having any adverse impact on the anchorage port.

The rice exports to destinations abroad are being handled from Visakhapatnam, Krishnapatnam, Chennai and Kandla ports this year.

The deep water port handled 1.79 lakh metric tonnes, the Visakhapatnam port 2 lakh tonnes and the Kandla Port 3 lakh tonnes so far. There was availability of large quantities of surplus rice in Telangana, Odisha and Chattishgarh as also in Andhra Pradesh, while there existed huge demand for rice in other countries.

Due to this reason, many traders have come forward to export rice and are purchasing it locally. Paddy is also being procured by exporters from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Due to the heavy rice exports from Kakinada, Krishnapatnam and Visakhapatnam ports, workers are getting more of employment and the trend will continue in future also, said V Veera Raghavulu (Babu), president of the Cocanada Chamber of Commerce.

He said that though nearly 24 ships were stranded at the anchorage port while handling rice cargo, the central and state governments took initiative for easing the pressure of the port by allowing exports from Kakinada deep water port. Rice export is being handled at the anchorage port for up to 10 ships at a time.

When more ships line up, the remaining cargo will be handled at the deep water port. This is helping the exporters save the demurrage payment for the waiting ships. The customs and port departments also are favouring the trade by giving quick clearances.
Unscheduled meeting of TCG security subgroup on escalation in Donbas didn't take place, it is being discussed by political advisers of Normandy format  Arestovych

An unscheduled emergency meeting of the security subgroup within the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) to discuss the incident with the deaths of the Armed Forces of Ukraine servicemen in Donetsk region on Saturday, March 27 was not held, but the situation is being discussed at the level of political advisers in the Normandy format, said spokesperson of the TCG Oleksiy Arestovych.

"It was decided not to hold an emergency extraordinary meeting of the security subgroup today to discuss the incident with the death of servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donetsk region on March 26 as a result of a mortar attack from illegal armed groups. Firstly, since the situation on preventing military escalation is currently being discussed at the level of political advisers to the Normandy Four, where Ukraine is represented by Andriy Yermak, and, secondly, the next meeting of the security subgroup should take place according to plan in two days - next Tuesday. Therefore, we decided to take a pause of two days and wait for the scheduled meeting," Arestovych said in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

According to him, consultations at the level of political advisers in the Normandy format will continue for two more days.

"Thus, by the time of the next TCG meeting, some decision can be worked out in the sphere of preventing the aggravation and preservation of the ceasefire regime," he added.

In addition, the TCG spokesperson added that Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak is currently at the scene of the incident in Donetsk region in the area of the village of Shumy, where four Ukrainian servicemen were killed on March 26.

"The President is awaiting his report," Arestovych said.

As reported, four servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed and two were injured as a result of shelling attacks by Russian mercenaries in the area of the village of Shumy of Toretsk City Council of Donetsk Region on March 26.
Twitter went into a frenzy after a report surfaced about Kanye West trying to rename Rye in Westchester County, New York, to rename itself to "Ye."

Kanye West City of Rye, NY to Ye

Weeks after news of his divorce to Kim Kardashian dropped, rumors started swirling that not only was he looking to move to Rye, New York, but he also wanted to rename the city to "Ye" after himself.

An insider for the Rye Record revealed ,"West has filed paperwork for Rye to drop the R from its name and rebrand to 'Ye' permanently."

The paper also claimed that the Grammy-winning star would "donate" $10,000,000 from his own money to wipe out the town's city and school debts.

How True Is This Kanye West Rumor?

Kanye West, whose hit songs include "All of the Lights," "Jesus Is King," and "Niggas in Paris," has been accused of many other stranger things during his time in the limelight.

A few days after the rumor has surfaced online, however, it was immediately debunked by Insider.

According to the outlet, Rye's city has not received official papers to necessitate a name change to "Ye" from its original name, "Rye."

As per a high-ranking city official named Gregg Howells, he hasn't even heard that the former husband of Kim Kardashian has expressed an interest in the town, nor in the building being leased by the Rye YMCA, which was something the rapper was previously looking at.

He told Insider, "We haven't heard anything about it."

"Were in the midst of preparing a build out for some new programming there," Howells explained. "So if Kanye's coming to town, we haven't heard about it."

Despite the rumor of West's plan, locals have reportedly heard about his unconfirmed report. However, it is safe to say that there is nothing confirmatory to suggest that Kanye West will be moving to Rye or is planning to change the town's name to "Ye."

Kim Kardashian Believes Kanye West Tore Down Her Family Amid Divorce

In a new episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," the KKW Beauty mogul claims that her controversial husband's social media rant last year was so "frustrating."

In the episode that was recorded months ago, the KUWTK star begged West's team to "talk to him" after going on his rant.

Last summer, the Sunday Service creator targeted his family members in a series of tweets, but it wasn't revealed in the latest episode if the SKIMS creator referred to them.

She told West's team in the KUWTK episode aired last Thursday, "Yes, please talk to him. I'm happy to come to Wyoming today, tomorrow. Whatever he wants. I'm still happy to come there and be supportive and chill with him and I think he needs that."

READ MORE: Tiger Woods Car Crash Shines Spotlight On Overlooked Luxury Vehicle Company

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Books by Dr. Seuss at the Chinatown Branch of the Chicago Public Library in Chicago, Ill., on March 2, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Filmmakers: Cancel Culture Seeks to Erode Traditional Values and Imprison the Mind

Filmmakers Clarence Felder and Chris Weatherhead say that, as cancel culture broadens its scope, its not only having a chilling effect on people working in creative fields, but it seeks to imprison the mind more generallyto the detriment of society and civilization.

I think the idea is to wipe out our history, wipe out our traditions, our values, everythingwith the idea of just having there whatever they are doing, which is terrifying, Weatherhead said of what she described as cancel culture run amok.

Whether its theater, or whether its film, or whether its television, or podcastits a way of communicating what matters, Weatherhead told The Epoch Times Crossroads program.

The filmmaking duo spoke of clashing views around creativitywith one camp advocating for greater freedom to introduce ideas so they can then be openly challenged, debated, andpotentiallyrelegated to the dustbin of history, and the second seeking to ever more tightly control the boundaries of acceptable dialogue, silencing dissenting opinions, and restricting artistic and creative freedom.

Felder said a core function of stories is to inform people of the consequences of decisions and actionswithout having to experience them directly.

The power of story is significantnot just to Western civilization, but to all civilizations, he said, noting that stories are a way to convey key messages and values to subsequent generations, who eventually start acting them out, and then make decisions that are meant to ensure they survive and thrive.

The whole idea is to help change somebodys life, help them make a better decision, which is what I was doing in the prisons, Weatherhead said, noting she had spent around eight years in the California prison system helping inmates rehabilitate.

And some of those people that were in prison were more free, because they had figured it out, she said. They had figured out life. And they were going to make good choices when they got out.

And I drive back down to [Los Angeles] and Id be in the company of people who were imprisoned by money, drugs, sex, power, whatever, and I felt like God had given me the ability to just seeits very sad that people could spend their whole lives in prisonand theyre not behind bars, Weatherhead added.

She said cancel culture was mounting an attack on the freedom of creatives to tell stories their wayand so undermining their ability to use narrative as a tool to educate, inspire, and guide.

It is so devastating, she said. I say no censorship.

There are things that I would love to utterly destroy, but I do not believe in censorship of any kind. Free societies do not tolerate censorship, flat out, she said.

The interview with Felder and Weatherheadwho have undertaken numerous joint projects over the yearscomes as cancel culture has broadened its targets to include cartoon characters like Speedy Gonzales and childrens authors like Dr. Seuss.
A man fighting extradition from Northern Ireland over a drugs-related murder in Florida would be at risk of barbaric conditions and sexual violence in jail, the High Court heard.

An expert on American prisons claimed Jonah Horne could be exposed to inhumane treatment with no guarantee for his safety.

Horne (26) is wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of Jacob Walsh nearly five years ago.

Mr Walsh (25) was shot outside apartments at North Military Trail, Boca Raton on June 7, 2016.

His killing was associated with an apparent drug deal, according to reports at the time.

A previous court heard claims that Hornes DNA, video and witness evidence links him to the murder, with the victims blood said to have been found on a vehicle connected to the wanted man.

He was arrested in Lisburn, Co Antrim back in March 2017 and remains in custody amid a protracted legal battle to have him returned to the United States.

As part of Hornes appeal against extradition, his lawyers want to introduce a report prepared by Paul Wright, director of the US-based Human Rights Defense Center.

Mr Wright appeared by video-link from America for a hearing to determine if the document should be admitted.

Frank ODonoghue QC, for Horne, told the court Mr Wrights report raised concerns about the potential for ill-treatment.

He says Mr Horne faces substantial risk of inhumane and degrading treatment, to include physical violence, sexual assault, solitary confinement and discrimination if he is imprisoned in the Florida Department of Correction (FDOC), counsel said.

The FDOC is both incapable and unwilling to guarantee the safety of any of the prisoners in its care and custody, and the State Governors Office and legislature are equally unconcerned about the state of affairs which has festered for decades and, if anything, worsened as prison employees have grown accustomed to total impunity and zero accountability regardless of what happens to prisoners in their care and custody.

Giving evidence last Friday Mr Wright disclosed that he was convicted of murder in 1987 and spent 16 years behind bars in Washington State.

Under cross-examination by Tony McGleenan QC, for the US authorities, Mr Wright confirmed he was never an inmate in Floridas prison system.

Judges were told his report included only one academic publication, with all of the remaining documents comprising articles from newspapers and Prison Legal News  which Mr Wright edits.

Mr McGleenan put to him: There is no actual research material before this court based on the conditions in Florida prisons.

Challenged on his academic qualifications, Mr Wright insisted he was held to be among the most knowledgeable and informed people about all aspects of prison and jail conditions in the US.

Im one of the leading experts around the American criminal justice system, he said.

During exchanges he told the court: The Florida Department of Corrections is a very dangerous, barbaric and inhumane place to serve a sentence, with abnormally high levels of violence and death among its prisoners.

Mr McGleenan maintained his claims about high levels of physical and sexual violence were not based on any empirical research.

Despite agreeing with the barrister, Mr Wright said he had reviewed statistics from the Department of Corrections, as well as dozens of not hundreds of news articles.

He added that his organisation also represents the state of a prisoner who was allegedly starved to death by employees of the FDOC.

Following submissions the case was adjourned until April.




New Jersey on Monday reported another 3,174 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 16 additional confirmed deaths as officials continued to warn about a relatively high number of positive tests recently.

Meanwhile, more than 4 million people have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose in the state and nearly 1.5 million have been fully vaccinated.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the update at his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton as another round of people became eligible Monday to receive the vaccine in the state  including restaurant employees, warehouse workers, hospitality workers, clergy, and more.

Murphy also estimated that about 10% of New Jerseys 9.2 million residents have tested positive for the virus over the last year, with the state now having reported more than 900,000 confirmed and probable cases (resulting in slightly more than 24,400 deaths).

The governor stressed the case total is likely higher because of the lack of testing the state had early in the pandemic.

One in every 10 New Jerseyans has been infected  and thats just those we know of, he said. We have to keep up the fight, and to push back against our pandemic fatigue for a little while longer, until we reach our vaccination goals.

In addition, Murphy announced hes signing an executive order increasing the outdoor gathering limit in New Jersey to 200 people as of 6 a.m. Friday. The states indoor gathering limit will remain 25 people.

Plus, venues that can seat 2,500 people will be permitted to increase indoor seating capacity to 20%, up from 10%, and outdoor capacity to 30%, up from 15%.

New Jersey health facilities and vaccine centers have now administered slightly more than 4.03 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since the states first shot was given Dec. 15. That includes about 2.63 million people with at least one dose and 1.47 million people considered fully vaccinated, according to state data.

The states goal is to vaccinate 70% of its eligible adults  about 4.7 million people  by the end of May. So far, about 21% of the states 6.9 million adults have been fully vaccinated.

New Jerseys daily caseloads have fallen the last three days, but the Garden State has one of the the highest new infection rates as nearly a dozen across the nation seeing an uptick in positive tests. New York and Connecticut are also experiencing jumps.

The Garden States seven-day average for newly confirmed cases is 3,648, up 8.9% from a week ago and 28.4% from a month ago.

Of the states 21 counties, 17 added more cases during the week of March 18-24 than the week prior.

There were 2,225 coronavirus patients across New Jerseys hospitals as of Monday night. Hospitalizations surpassed 2,000 last week for the first time since Feb. 25 and have been increasing incrementally since then.

The states latest rate of transmission was 1.10 for the fifth straight day. Any number over 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one other case.

The latest statewide positivity rate was 9.4% on Thursday, the day with the latest data, on 49,935 tests.

In all, New Jersey has now reported 792,616 coronavirus cases out of more than 11.9 million PCR tests in the year since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been 107,657 positive antigen tests, including 660 reported Monday. Those cases are considered probable, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem.

The state of 9.2 million people has reported 24,404 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19  21,869 confirmed deaths and 2,535 fatalities considered probable.

Officials said there are a number of reasons why cases have been rising lately, even as vaccinations increase: There are multiple COVID-19 variants spreading, there is pandemic fatigue, the weather is only now getting warmer, the state has the densest population in the nation, and its located next to New York City.

The state has reported 574 COVID-19 variants of concern, as defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control. The majority are of the U.K. variant, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said.

But the numbers could be larger. The state is testing for variants in only 2% of positive COVID-19 tests, said Dr. Ed Lifshitz, director of the state Department of Healths communicable disease service. Lifshitz said the state would like to increase that percentage and make the testing more random.

We are hoping within the next couple of weeks to be able to have a more widespread network that will give us better answers, he said.

Meanwhile, Murphy was asked why he wont lift restrictions more quickly because hospitalizations arent rising as much as cases.

I think were gonna continue to be incremental, he said. Were comfortable with that. We want to open, theres no question about that, but we want to make sure its a one-way street and we dont go back. With the variants in our state and the level of transmission right now, which is about as high as it is anywhere in the country, we are in the better-to-be-safe-than-sorry category.

Though demand has so far outpaced supply from the federal government, state officials say vaccine doses are expected to increase significantly in the coming days.

On April 5, people ages 55 to 64, those 16 and older with intellectual or developmental disabilities, higher education teachers and staffers, communication support workers, sanitation workers, and members of the media will become eligible.

In addition, a federally run pilot vaccination center in Newark had a soft opening Monday and will officially open Wednesday, Murphy said. It will eventually be able to vaccinate 6,000 people a day, seven days a week.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

COUNTY-BY-COUNTY CASES (sorted by most new)

Essex County: 76,336 confirmed cases (336 new), 2,495 confirmed deaths (284 probable)

Bergen County: 79,283 confirmed cases (307 new), 2,435 confirmed deaths (288 probable)

Middlesex County: 76,371 confirmed cases (304 new), 1,949 confirmed deaths (243 probable)

Ocean County: 59,264 confirmed cases (298 new), 1,833 confirmed deaths (152 probable)

Monmouth County: 60,319 confirmed cases (290 new), 1,352 confirmed deaths (133 probable)

Hudson County: 71,542 confirmed cases (269 new), 1,903 confirmed deaths (199 probable)

Union County: 54,302 confirmed cases (161 new), 1,634 confirmed deaths (213 probable)

Morris County: 37,516 confirmed cases (160 new), 930 confirmed deaths (240 probable)

Camden County: 42,959 confirmed cases (152 new), 1,122 confirmed deaths (97 probable)

Burlington County: 34,116 confirmed cases (148 new), 724 confirmed deaths (63 probable)

Passaic County: 57,661 confirmed cases (145 new), 1,591 confirmed deaths (191 probable)

Gloucester County: 23,222 confirmed cases (102 new), 546 confirmed deaths (30 probable)

Somerset County: 21,446 confirmed cases (94 new), 700 confirmed deaths (104 probable)

Atlantic County: 22,124 confirmed cases (93 new), 573 confirmed deaths (33 probable)

Mercer County: 28,253 confirmed cases (88 new), 865 confirmed deaths (43 probable)

Hunterdon County: 7,477 confirmed cases (56 new), 115 confirmed deaths (54 probable)

Sussex County: 9,644 confirmed cases (56 new), 217 confirmed deaths (66 probable)

Warren County: 7,508 confirmed cases (37 new), 201 confirmed deaths (25 probable)

Cumberland County: 13,114 confirmed cases (32 new), 363 confirmed deaths (36 probable)

Salem County: 4,691 confirmed cases (25 new), 157 confirmed deaths (12 probable)

Cape May County: 4,102 confirmed cases (13 new), 164 confirmed deaths (29 probable)

VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY

ATLANTIC COUNTY - 130,277 doses administered

BERGEN COUNTY - 460,268 doses administered

BURLINGTON COUNTY - 217,459 doses administered

CAMDEN COUNTY - 245,524 doses administered

CAPE MAY COUNTY - 56,822 doses administered

CUMBERLAND COUNTY - 58,729 doses administered

ESSEX COUNTY - 306,559 doses administered

GLOUCESTER COUNTY - 152,612 doses administered

HUDSON COUNTY - 206,993 doses administered

HUNTERDON COUNTY - 55,968 doses administered

MERCER COUNTY - 150,066 doses administered

MIDDLESEX COUNTY - 336,051 doses administered

MONMOUTH COUNTY - 305,541 doses administered

MORRIS COUNTY - 300,208 doses administered

OCEAN COUNTY - 246,801 doses administered

PASSAIC COUNTY - 180,754 doses administered

SALEM COUNTY - 27,149 doses administered

SOMERSET COUNTY - 164,267 doses administered

SUSSEX COUNTY - 63,655 doses administered

UNION COUNTY - 210,009 doses administered

WARREN COUNTY - 40,522 doses administered

OUT OF STATE - 102,403 doses administered

UNKNOWN COUNTY - 11,424 doses administered

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 2,225 patients hospitalized with confirmed (2,099) or suspected (126) COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Sunday night.

That included 491 in critical or intensive care, with 240 on ventilators.

There were also 253 COVID-19 patients discharged Sunday, while 276 were admitted.

Hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,000 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April.

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 205 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 947 cases among students, teachers and school staff this academic year, according to the states dashboard.

The state defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school. Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that cant be confirmed as in-school outbreaks.

There are about 1.4 million public school students and teachers across the state, though teaching methods amid the outbreak have varied, with some schools teaching in-person, some using a hybrid format and others remaining all-remote.

Murphy last week announced most New Jersey schools can move classroom desks three feet apart, instead of six feet, under new social distancing guidelines.

The governor also said the states schools will return to full in-person classes for the next school year and districts will not be allowed to offer virtual learning, even for parents who want that option due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

AGE BREAKDOWN

Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50-64 (23%), 18-29 (19.7%), 65-79 (10.7%), 5-17 (8.9%), 80 and older (4.8%) and 0-4 (1.8%).

On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (47.07%), followed by those 65-79 (32.79%), 50-64 (15.68%), 30-49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.37%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.02%).

At least 7,980 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

There are active outbreaks at 233 facilities, resulting in 3,914 active cases among residents and 4,613 among staffers.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of early Monday afternoon, there have been more than 127.3 million positive COVID-19 tests across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.78 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 30.26 million, and the most deaths, at more than 549,300.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
Ho  The Ho Magistrate Court One has adjourned to April 7, 2021, the case in which 20-year-old Philip Caesar Kumah is alleged to have subjected his girlfriend to severe battering in Ho, resulting in her death later in hospital.

This was after the accused made another appearance before the court yesterday provisionally charged with murder.

The court, presided over by Mr Robert Addo was earlier told that Kumah and the deceased, Elizabeth Yesutor Akpalu, 32, were Level 200 and Level 300 students respectively at the E.P. University College in Ho.

Sergeant Ben Amoako, who presented the facts, said that quarrels often ensued between the lovers, during which the accused assaulted the deceased.

Recently, the prosecution said, another misunderstanding arose between them in Ho and Kumah beat her up again.

After the assault, the deceased complained to a friend about the persistent pains she suffered in her heart and how she was no longer able to breathe with ease.

She was finally sent to the Ho Teaching Hospital on March 7, she but died the next day while on treatment.

The court heard that Kumah denied knowledge of the cause of his fiancee's death in his caution statement.

The body of the deceased has now been handed over to the family for burial.

The autopsy report is yet to be presented to the court.

Meanwhile, counsel for the accused, Mr Raymond Akpatsa on Monday filed an application for bail for his client at a Ho High Court.

The High Court, presided over by Mr Yaw Acheampong has deferred ruling on the bail application to April 12.
The genius of Chinas grey zone methods of warfare is once again on display. Three weeks ago the Philippines authorities discovered that a fleet of about 220 Chinese fishing vessels had entered the Philippines exclusive economic zone and anchored offshore at the Whitsun Reef in the West Philippine Sea. They are not the sort of low-slung fishing boats you might see unloading at an Australian harbour. The Chinese vessels are huge, steel-hulled, ranging in length from 30 metres to 100 metres, according to the Philippines National Security Adviser, Hermogenes Esperon. He calls them an intimidation.

And they havent been observed doing any fishing. They are lashed together in line formation. They run powerful lights at night but dont move. The Philippines government has described it as incursion. On March 21 it demanded publicly that the Chinese government remove them. Chinas ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, has said that the vessels were fishing boats that sought refuge at the reef due to rough sea conditions.

Mabini (Johnson) Reef part of the disputed islands China has built up in the South China Sea. Credit:New York Times

How could they be ordinary fishing vessels seeking shelter, as Ambassador Huang says, when the weather is so good? Esperon said to reporters on the weekend. And they have been there in increasing numbers since November 2020. And they are not visibly there to fish.

They are still there. Manila says the vessels are part of the China Maritime Militia; China denies this. Beijing says that theyre privately owned and operated fishing boats, end of story. They dont have any weapons systems in evidence but, says Andrew Erickson of the US Naval War College, they dont need to: The ships themselves are the main weapon. Far larger and stronger than typical fishing vessels from the Philippines or other South China Sea neighbours, their comparatively robust hull designs  with additional rub strakes welded onto the hulls steel plating aft of the bow, and  typically  powerful mast-mounted water cannons, make them powerful weapons in most contingencies, capable of aggressively shouldering, ramming, and spraying overmatched civilian or police opponents.
Spain has decided to lift the temporary coronavirus access restrictions across the land border from Gibraltar with effect from 6pm on Tuesday, 30 March.

The order has been published in Spain Official State Gazette (BOE), and includes, nevertheless, the extension until 30 April of the temporary restriction of "non-essential trips from [other] third countries to the European Union and Schengen associated countries for reasons of public order and public health due to the health crisis caused by COVID-19."

The order extends the restrictions that were due to end on 31 March.

This latest decision comes a few days after the government of Spain decided not to extend the limitations on arrivals of passengers on direct flights and ships from the United Kingdom at Spanish airports and ports.
The manager expects 23% EPS growth year-on-year in 2021 from the trusts portfolio

VietNam Holding Limited ( ) said its net asset value rose by 38.7% in the half-year to end-December 2020, helped by its exposure to banks and the country's success in combating Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Dynam Capital, the trusts manager, added it had been increasing the holdings in the banking sector throughout the pandemic given the attractive valuations and strong growth potential in an under-banked country.

In our view, Vietnam's Banking sector stands out unlike in many developed countries right now. Banks in Vietnam are regulated more than other industries and, as a result, must adopt best practice standards, which pushes them to maintain healthier balance sheets and operational resilience, said Dynam.

Vietnams eCommerce potential is also huge, the manager added, with less than 40% of the population currently having a bank account.

The trusts largest holding in the banking sector is Vietin Bank, currently the country's third-largest bank by assets with a market share of 11.4% in loans and 10.2% in deposits.

Dynam said Vietnams successful handling of the Coronavirus pandemic had also been behind the good performance, which has seen the virus contained and exceptional export performance. In addition to this, a vaccination programme is now underway.

The manager added it expects 23% EPS growth year-on-year in 2021 from the trusts portfolio with accelerated public investment as many projects suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic are set to resume next year.

Total Assets increased to US$138,5mln on 31 December 2020, from US$117.7mln on 30 June. Total Comprehensive Income was US$40.5mln in the six-month period, compared to US$2.6mln in the corresponding period in 2019.

The share price rose by 24.7% in sterling terms during the interim period.

The current price is 209p or close to its record high, while the net asset value per share at the end of last week was 251.2p.


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ANN ARBOR, MI - Leaders of the Congregations of Catholic Sisters in Michigan have added their name to a growing list of groups and individuals calling on University of Michigan regent and Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser to resign.

The group, which includes several Dominican Sisters chapters across the state, are the latest to condemn Weisers comments made 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.

This language is not only abhorrent on its face, it poses a real and present danger to the three elected leaders and to all women in Michigan, giving bullies and abusers public license to vent their anger and vitriol on the bodies of real women in our cities, neighborhoods, and State Capitol, the Congregations of Catholic Sisters in Michigan statement reads.

Support for Weisers resignation and condemnation for his remarks continues to grow since a video of the remarks surfaced late last week. 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.

Some UM regents, including Mark Bernstein, Jordan Acker and Paul Brown have called on Weiser to resign since the remarks surfaced. The Michigan Daily reported regent Michael Behm also said he would ask Weiser to resign, while regent Denise Ilitch called Weisers language repugnant and his comments crosses a line that is inconsistent with what should be our shared values, but she did not call on him to resign.

The university followed suit in condemning the remarks, including UM President Mark Schlissel, who said Weisers words were particularly abhorrent.

It is never appropriate to raise the specter of assassination or perpetuate misogynistic stereotypes against anyone in any setting, Schlissel said. Elected officials must adhere to a higher standard regardless of the context of their remarks.

In a statement made on Saturday, March 27, Weiser apologized to those he offended for the flippant analogy about three women who are elected officials and for the off-hand comments about two other leaders. I have never advocated for violence and never will.

While I will always fight for the people and policies I believe in, I pledge to be part of a respectful political dialogue going forward, Weiser said.

As the weekend progressed, many of the deans from UMs schools and colleges signed a letter sent to the university community Sunday condemning comments made by Weiser.

The letter was signed by six female deans at the university  Anne Curzan of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts; Patricia Hurn of the School of Nursing; Laurie McCauley of the School of Dentistry; Elizabeth Birr Moje of the School of Education; Lori Ploutz-Snyder of the School of Kinesiology; and Lynn Videka of the School of Social Work  and more than a dozen other deans signed in solidarity.

Your words do damage and disrespect not only to women in leadership positions, whether elected or appointed, but also to young women who will lead in the future, the letter reads. We must speak out in protest when women are threatened with violence because of the decisions they have made. We believe that sexist name calling and threats of violence, especially from those in positions of power, simply are not acceptable.

Provost Susan Collins said she fully supported the deans letter, noting that she also found Weisers remarks to be demeaning to women and contrary to the democratic values of the state and country.

The Michigan Democratic Party also called on Weiser to resign from the Board of Regents in a statement from Party Chair Lavora Barnes Friday.

Weiser faced pressure to resign in January from University of Michigan faculty and students who cited his complicity in the violence at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6.

He was elected to the board in 2016. Weisers board term runs through 2025.

READ MORE:

Some University of Michigan regents call on Weiser to resign following three witches, assassination comments

Several University of Michigan deans condemn comments made by GOP chairman

Student advocacy driving force behind University of Michigan discontinuing fossil fuel investments
One of Britain's most senior police chiefs has warned that the race crisis is damaging the fight against crime as he vowed to change 'generations of history' between officers and black communities across the country.

Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), said trust in policing was 20 per cent lower in the black population compared with the average, as he called for an increase in the number of black recruits in police forces.

In his first interview on race since the Black Lives Matter protests broke out globally last summer, Mr Hewitt told the Guardian that race was the fault line of British policing and 'a wicked and challenging issue'.

He added trust and confidence in the police was important for people to come forward and report crime and engage with officers, and could also lead to 'young black men and women saying I'm prepared to go and become a police officer'.

Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, praised Mr Hewitt's comments but warned 'progress' has not come quickly enough.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr George also called British policing 'institutionally racist', arguing that 'processes and systems that work within policing work to the detriment of ethnic minority communities'.

A landmark 1999 report by Sir William Macpherson into the failings that let the racist murderers of black teenager Stephen Lawrence escape justice for years found that the Metropolitan Police were 'institutionally racist'.

Labour's shadow justice secretary David Lammy said Mr Hewitt is 'exactly right' about the damaging effect distrust in British policing in black communities is having on the effectiveness of law enforcement.

Police in Britain have been heavily criticised over the years over the disproportionate use of powers, such as use of force and stop and search, by forces across the country on black and ethnic minority people.

Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), said trust and confidence in policing was 20 per cent lower in the black population compared with the average, as he highlighted the need to boost the number of black recruits in police forces

Official figures show black people are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched, according to the latest data. There were six stop and searches for every 1,000 white people, compared with 54 for every 1,000 black people

'Institutional racism': The Macpherson Report which called for policing reforms after the 1993 killing of Stephen Lawrence Sir William Macpherson produced an historic report into the death of the teenager in which the country's biggest police was described as 'institutionally racist'. The bombshell inquiry in 1999 paved the way for sweeping reform at Scotland Yard and led to the abolition of the double jeopardy law. Stephen, 18, was stabbed to death while waiting for a bus in Eltham, South-East London, in 1993. The report which followed an inquiry into his death found that the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist. A total of 70 recommendations for reform, covering both policing and criminal law, were made. These proposals included abolishing the double jeopardy rule and criminalising racist statements made in private. Sir William also called for reform in the Civil Service, local governments, the National Health Service, schools, and the judicial system, to address issues of institutional racism. Advertisement

It led to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) warning in a damning report published last month that police risk losing the trust of the communities they serve.

Official figures show black people are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched. There were six stop and searches for every 1,000 white people, compared with 54 for every 1,000 black people.

Following the death of George Floyd in the US, the NPCC said it would develop a plan of action to address racial inequalities in policing.

It said an independent scrutiny and oversight board will be established with members 'who can draw on a range of experiences to challenge and scrutinise us'.

Preempting critics, NPCC chairman Mr Hewitt added: 'This is not about political correctness. This is not about 'wokeism' or whatever anyone else wants to call it.

'This is about legitimate policing. Legitimate policing has to be legitimate for all the communities, and that includes the black community.'

Responding to Mr Hewitt's intervention, Mr George said he welcomed the drive to improve relations with minority communities in Britain but called to see 'actions to follow up on the words'.

In an interview with the Today programme, the president of the National Black Police Association said: 'The NPCC have been working on their race action plan for over nine months and I don't think progress has kind of come just as quickly as we'd have liked.

'We have been working with them thankfully and we are keen to progress it... it's definitely not about wokeism, it's not about all the HR matters, it's about being operationally competent and effective in the fight against crime and we need to work with communities to find out who's causing most harm in those communities.'

He went on to call British policing 'still institutionally racist', explaining: 'The definition itself has been lost over time.

'That's not to say that every officer and staff member in the Metropolitan Police or other forces or institutions are racist, that's to say that the processes and systems that work within policing work to the detriment of ethnic minority communities.'

Mr George added: 'Recruitment and the lack of recruitment of black officers is a symptom and a byproduct of poor relationships with those communities.

'What we've been calling for for a number of years but more recently in line with the Uplift Programme and the 20,000 extra officers is to have a long-term, targeted engagement plan with the black community, and that's necessary to increase confidence, and then, over time, black communities will start seeing police as a viable career.

'Policing thrives on community intelligence and information coming from communities. We need that before crime happens for someone to tell us what's going to occur.

'We need it for after crime as well for people to tell us what's been happening, witnesses are a key to solving most crimes, and if we don't have trust and confidence, people aren't going to be willing to come forward.'

Speaking on Times Radio today, Labour's shadow justice secretary described trust in the police as 'low' among black, Asian and minority ethnic populations, saying it is '20 per cent less in our justice system than in it is in white populations.'

Mr Lammy told Times Radio: 'I'm afraid if you are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched when you are a young black person going about your business and committing no crime, if you are twice as likely to die in police custody and - it is still the case in Britain that only 1 per cent of our police officers come from black communities - then you can understand that there is a lot to do.

British police have been heavily criticised over the years over its disproportionate use of powers, such as stop and search and use of force, on Black and ethnic minority people. It led to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) warning in a report last month that police risk losing the trust of the communities they serve

Scrap 'unhelpful and redundant' term BAME, racial disparity commission tells Boris Johnson The term BAME is 'unhelpful and redundant' and should be scrapped, Boris Johnson's racial disparity commission will suggest in a report. The acronym - which stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic - overshadows the fact that people from different ethnic groups have varying life experiences and should not be grouped together in one category, the commission found. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities also suggests that people of ethnic minority backgrounds generally prefer the term 'ethnic minority' over 'BAME' or 'people of colour' to describe themselves. Mr Johnson announced the establishment of the commission after a series of anti-racism protests on British streets triggered by the death in the US of George Floyd while in police custody. The 10-person group - comprised of representatives from the fields of science, education, broadcasting, economics, medicine, policing and community organising - are set to deliver a report on race disparity within various sectors. It is being led by Tony Sewell, who has previously said the absence of black fathers is the root cause of knife and gang crime. The term BAME is 'unhelpful and redundant' and should be scrapped, Boris Johnson's racial disparity commission will suggest in a report. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities is lead by Tony Sewell, who previous said the absence of black fathers is the root cause of knife and gang crime The report will claim 'the differences between racial groups living in Britain today are now as important as the commonalities', a source told The Daily Telegraph.

The term BAME will be a key part of the report which was supposed to be published last year but was delayed due to the amount of evidence to go through. Detractors will likely argue that a clear term such as BAME will help to systematically follow changes in firms' diversity figures. Losing the clear-cut terminology could complicate diversity efforts made so far. A source told the Telegraph: 'The commission has taken evidence from across the UK, examined the data to create a rigorous fact-based report on what is often a highly charged debate. 'It was important for commissioners to produce findings based on data and evidence to try and take down the temperature on this issue and have a debate based on the facts, not driven by ideology.' Advertisement

'I think he is exactly right.'

Last month the HMICFRS said it is still unable to explain a 'disproportionate' use of the controversial powers to search for drugs on BAME people.

The report, published today by HMI Wendy Williams, said the use of the tactic was causing 'far-reaching and long lasting' damage to community relations - especially when no drugs were typically found.

She also warned that the damage could outweigh any benefits and urged police forces to consider whether a focus on tackling drug possession with stop and search was an effective use of the powers.

Though police forces have stepped up use of the tactic in the past two years, there has been a decline following the killing of George Floyd in the US last May and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed globally.

In London alone, the number of stop and searches by Scotland Yard has fallen by 51 per cent from 43,938 in May 2020 to 21,243 in January this year.

The tactics have been defended by Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House, who said stop and search was being targeted 'where the problem lies'.

He told the Telegraph that meant an ethnic imbalance because 'young black men are dying on the streets of London and are being stabbed on the streets of London and, candidly, are also stabbing on the streets of London'.

However, Ms Williams in her report today said that there needed to be a 'national debate' on the use of the tactic.

She said one in 10 arrests from stop and search were for public order offences after nothing was found, which could 'cause or reinforce negative attitudes' toward the police and damage community relations.

Ms Williams said: 'Unfair use of powers can be counterproductive if it leads people to think it is acceptable to not comply with the law.

'It may also make people unwilling to report when they are the victim of crime or come forward as witnesses.

'The police must be able to show the public that their use of these powers is fair, lawful and appropriate, or they risk losing the trust of the communities they serve.'

She went on: 'Forces should reflect on the findings of this report. They should analyse their data and either explain, with evidence, the reasons for disproportionality, or take demonstrable action to address it.

'The police service must be able to show the public evidence that their use of the powers is fair, lawful and appropriate, or risk losing the trust of the communities they serve.'

The report also said that data from 2019/20 shows ethnic minority people were over four times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and that black people specifically were nearly nine times more likely.

It said: 'Over 35 years on from the introduction of stop and search legislation, no force fully understands the impact of the use of these powers.

'Disproportionality persists and no force can satisfactorily explain why.'

Data from the same time period found black people were about 5.7 times more likely to have force used on them than white people, with figures showing they were more than nine times as likely to have Tasers drawn on them.

The report reveals black people were also eight times more likely to be handcuffed while compliant and three times more likely to have a spit and bite guard used on them than white people, for reasons the inspectorate said are 'unclear'.

Brandishing the use of these powers as 'unfair', the watchdog warned this risks further reducing public trust in the police and could lead to more black and ethnic minority people being drawn into the criminal justice system, as well as disrupt their education and family lives and reduce their work opportunities.

'It feeds perceptions among the public and police about black people and crime, and may also influence how the police allocate and deploy resources,' Ms Williams said in the report.

While improvements were made in 2018/19 in monitoring stop and search, the report states too many police forces still do not analyse and monitor enough information and data 'to understand fully how fairly and effectively the powers are used'.

Inspectors found the most common reason given for the use of stop and search is due to suspected drug possession 'rather than supply', which it said indicates that 'efforts are not being effectively focused on force priorities'.

It cited one such priority as county lines, the criminal network of gangs that use a dedicated mobile phone line to distribute drugs, usually from an urban area to a smaller town.

'Forces often cite county lines as a reason for stop and search, but to be most effective, policing tactics to address this need to target drugs supply more effectively,' Ms Williams said in her report.

The inspectorate is calling on police leaders to consider whether focusing stop and search on tackling drug possession is an effective use of these powers.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) welcomed the report and said the use of stop and search powers 'within certain communities has long been a cause for concern'.

IOPC director general Michael Lockwood said: 'Only by understanding the causes of this disproportionality - and helping officers to understand fully how their use of stop and search and use of force impacts on those most affected - can we start to make the changes that are needed.

'The report highlights the fundamental shift we need to see in the culture of policing in being open and accountable when concerns are raised.'

NPCC's lead for stop and search, deputy assistant commissioner Amanda Pearson, said the police body will 'consider the recommendation around the best approaches to tackling drug crime'.

She added: 'We hold the power of stop and search on behalf of the public so it is vital our communities have confidence in the way it is used and that officers have the confidence to use it effectively and appropriately.'
Hundreds of British troops on a mission to promote peace in West Africa have been forced to use lifesaving netting to protect their vehicles from rocket attacks.

Soldiers from the Light Dragoons and Royal Anglian Regiments brought in rocket defusing netting after deadly attacks on foreign troops in Mali.

Using a technique known as crimping the fuse, the netting prevents a missile warhead from detonating on impact with the vehicle.

A picture obtained by the Daily Mail shows the netting attached to a Foxhound vehicle used on long-range patrols

The rocket still strikes its target and may cause significant damage but there is no explosion  preventing loss of life inside the vehicle.

The Tarian netting, which is manufactured in the UK, was earlier used with great success in Afghanistan. Three hundred UK troops were sent to Mali in December  the most significant deployment of British forces since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

At the time, experts warned that Britain risked getting into another costly military campaign.

UK defence officials insisted the troops were merely acting as United Nation peacekeepers.

But since then a series of deadly jihadi strikes on UN personnel has persuaded UK commanders to upgrade security measures.

In late December and early January, five French troops were killed in clashes with jihadis in Mali. A security guard is seen above in Libya, another country affected by war

Last month 20 UN peacekeepers were injured in an attack on their base. In January, four UN troops were killed and five were wounded when terrorists planted a roadside bomb along their patrol route.

A picture obtained by the Daily Mail shows the netting attached to a Foxhound vehicle used on long-range patrols.

A defence source said: I am not surprised to see the netting being added because the Mali deployment is more dangerous than most people think. While UK troops are not there to conduct anti-terrorist operations, their mere presence offers a target for jihadists.

This is the most deadly UN mission in the world based on the numbers of so-called peacekeepers killed there in recent years. Essentially, there isnt a peace to keep.

The Army continuously reviews operations to ensure the right resources are used and lessons are learned. Risks to UK troops are also under continuous review.

The Tarian anti-rocket netting has been with UK troops since the start of the deployment, but this is the first time it has been seen attached to British vehicles.

The 300 UK troops are part of a 14,000-strong UN stabilisation force drawn from 56 countries. It is separate to a French-led anti-terrorism operation in Mali which is considered higher risk.

In late December and early January, five French troops were killed in clashes with jihadis in Mali. Seventeen French troops also died there in 2019.

British troops were brought in to conduct long-distance reconnaissance patrols into desert areas.

Writing in a British military magazine last year, an RAF helicopter pilot who served in Mali warned that any suggestion that UK troops could avoid jihadis was wrong.

Chinook pilot Flight Lieutenant Andy Donovan said: It would be naive to suggest that British ground forces are likely to avoid confrontations with aggressive armed groups simply because they are in a peacekeeping role. Direct engagements should be expected.

Last night the Ministry of Defence said: The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Mali operates in a challenging environment and a thorough analysis of the UK contingents tasks and threats was completed prior to deployment. A range of equipment was chosen and UK personnel have been given the right protection to conduct their UN peacekeeping mission.
US Secretary on Monday came out in support of the after "China's maritime militia" amassed Chinese vessels at a boomerang-shaped Whitsun Reef in the West Philippine sea.

Blinken said the United States will stand by its allies and stand up for the rules-based order.

"The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of the PRC's maritime militia amassing at WhitsunReef. We will always stand by our allies and stand up for the rules-based order," Blinken tweeted.

The Philippines' air force has been holding air patrols over Chinese fishing vessels on the reef. Meanwhile, their air force has made repeated calls to Beijing for their withdrawal from the area, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier this month, the diplomatic row was touched off when around 220 vessels were first spotted at the Whitsun Reef.

In response to the Chinese vessels, the foreign ministry has filed a diplomatic protest against while the Philippine navy and coast guard ships have been deployed in the area to monitor the situation.

"We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines," said defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Last month, the Philippines threatened to order its navy to shoot back at any possible Chinese aggression after passed a coast guard law allowing it to shoot at vessels in territories claimed by the communist nation.

claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has overlapping territorial claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

China has been increasing its maritime activities in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea over the past few months, partly in response to Beijing's concerns over the increasing US military presence in the region because of escalating Sino-US tensions.

Beijing's rising assertiveness against counter claimants in the East and South Sea has resulted in unprecedented agreement across the Indo-Pacific.

(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.)
[March 29, 2021] Global Gaming PC and Monitor Market Hit New Record High in 2020, According to IDC

Throughout 2020, the global pandemic created new opportunities for many consumer technologies and gaming PCs and monitors have arguably been among the greatest beneficiaries. As consumers spent more hours at home and fewer dollars outside, shipments of gaming PCs and monitors grew 26.8% year-over-year in 2020 to 55 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Gaming Tracker. The growth rate and unit volume were the fastest and largest numbers recorded since IDC (News - Alert) began tracking this market in 2016. Aside from the sheer volume, 2020 brought other milestones that could alter future trends. North America and Western Europe combined overtook Asia/Pacific (including Japan) as the largest market for the first time, largely due to lockdown-induced demand. Gaming notebooks remained the biggest volume driver through a year marked by home restrictions. Despite being affected by display panel shortages through much of the year, gaming notebooks grew a record 26.9% in 2020 as consumers appreciated their versatility for both work and play. In parallel with PCs, gaming monitors also reached new heights in 2020, growing more than 77% compared to 2019 with shipments reaching 14.3 million units. Looking ahead, IDC expects the gaming market to remain a bright spot after the overall PC market returns to more normal replacement cycles after the pandemic. While gaming desktops will continue to fade in favor of notebooks, their demise will be more than made up for by notebooks and monitors. For example, IDC expects gaming monitor volume will exceed that of gaming desktops for the first time in 2021. Even as gaming desktops increasingly fall out of favor, except for the DIY and hardcore gaming segments, growing monitor attach rates to gaming notebooks means the gaming monitor market is expected to see a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 10%. IDC expects this momentum to carry forward as global volumes reach 72.9 million in 2025 with a CAGR of 5.8%. "Unfortunately, the supply of gaming PCs has tumbled recently and while crypto-mining may be partially to blame, the sheer demand for these products and growth in the player base is more likely the root cause of the shortages," said Jitesh Ubrani research manager for IDC's Worldwide Mobile and Consumer Device Trackers. "New GPUs, new games, added support for ray-tracing, and the growth in demand have also led to an increase in average selling prices during 2020 and will likely remain at these elevated levels in 2021." "Much like the notebook market, monitors also faced panel component shortages and surging demand," said Jay Chou, research manager for IDC's Worldwide PC Monitor Tracker. "OEMs have to be wise about where to allocate scarce resources and it makes sense to meet gaming display demand as commercial buying and office occupancy in many markets remains weak. IDC expects gaming monitors to capture an increasingly larger share of the total monitor market in the years ahead."







PC Gaming Forecast by Product Category, 2020-2025 (shipments in millions) Product

Category 2020

Shipments 2020

Average

Selling

Price 2021

Shipments* 2021

Average

Selling

Price* 2025

Shipments* 2025

Average

Selling

Price* 2020-2025

CAGR Desktop 16.7 $762 17.5 $750 15.7 $721 -1.2% Monitor 14.3 $338 19.7 $352 23.5 $343 10.5% Notebook 24.0 $1,041 27.9 $1,055 33.7 $1,030 7.0% TOTAL 55.0 65.1 72.9 5.8% Source (News - Alert) : IDC Worldwide Quarterly Gaming Device Tracker, March 29, 2021

* Table Note: Figures represent forecast data. IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Gaming Tracker gathers data in more than 50 countries and provides detailed, timely, and accurate information on the global gaming PC and display market. The program provides insightful analysis, quarterly market share data, and a five-year forecast that can be broken down by key geographies. For more information, or to subscribe to the research, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 or knagamine@idc.com. About IDC Trackers IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. Click here to learn about IDC's full suite of data products and how you can leverage them to grow your business. About IDC International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter (News - Alert) at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights: http://bit.ly/IDCBlog_Subscribe. All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005150/en/

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Frankie Muniz and wife Paige Price shared the first look at their new bundle of joy.

The 35-year-old actor joyously took to Instagram on Saturday to post the first photos of their newborn son, Mauz Mosley Muniz.

The couple welcomed their first child on Wednesday and Frankie said he is already '1000% obsessed' with him.

Meeting Mauz: Frankie Muniz and wife Paige Price joyously took to Instagram on Saturday to post the first photos of his newborn son, Mauz Mosley Muniz

'World, meet my son Mauz Mosley Muniz. He was born on March 22nd at 11:15 AM. That was the moment that my life changed forever,' he captioned a slideshow of photos of baby Mauz.

'I had heard that it would, but I never would have expected the impact seeing my son would have on me. Honestly, I didnt know it was possible to love anything as much as I love him. It took me a long time to post because Ive been 1000% obsessed with him, already striving to make every moment he lives on earth the best it can possibly be,' he continued, including a snap of him holding his son in the hospital.

'I found myself very emotional the other day as I pondered how lucky I was to have the most incredible wife and now the most amazing child and thought how all I want from now on is to make the world a better place, for them. Ive even chosen to give up my motorcycles and stick with listening to K-LOVE on the radio while driving the speed limit. I love you Mauz. I love you @pogmuniz,' he concluded, revealing he will now be making his job as a doting dad his top priority.

Obsessed: The couple welcomed their first child on Wednesday and the 35-year-old actor said he is already '1000% obsessed' with him

Seven pounds: In another snap of their son, the baby lay comfortably next to a sign revealing he entered the world at seven pounds

In another snap of their son, the baby lay comfortably next to a sign revealing he entered the world at seven pounds.

The pair originally announced that they were expecting in September of last year by uploading an adorable announcement video to Instagram.

The Malcolm In The Middle star also included a shot of his wife carrying her baby in the hospital as he remained bundled up in a cute hooded sweater, grey onesie, and matching knit booties.

Excited parents: Frankie Muniz excitedly took to Instagram on Wednesday to announce Paige had given birth to their first child. The couple tied the knot in a small ceremony in late February of 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona; they are pictured here in 2017

Paige also expressed her feelings about bringing a new life into the world on her own Instagram account the same day.

'No words can express what it feels like to be a new mom. My entire life, I was terrified of children and having that responsibility to raise them into good human beings,' she captioned a slideshow featuring the same photos, adding one of Mauz sleeping through the ride home from the hospital.

'Today, I am so proud of the fact that I have an ultra strong boobie hungry little monster that I get to call my own! Mauz Mosley Muniz was born on March 22, and weighed in at exactly 7lbs. Hes literally my dream boat. Now, to get a handle on this whole breastfeeding thing... yiiiiikes. (p.s. Mauz rhymes with pause, in case you were wondering how to pronounce it),' she added, answering any questions about how to say the baby's name.

Pronunciation: 'Today, I am so proud of the fact that I have an ultra strong boobie hungry little monster that I get to call my own!,' Paige captioned a post on her own Instagram. '(p.s. Mauz rhymes with pause, in case you were wondering how to pronounce it)'

Frankie revealed the news of Mauz's birth on his Instagram stories earlier this week.

'I'm a dad, guys. I love him so much. I love my wife so much,' he exclaimed in the video posted on Wednesday.

In the clip first announcing the pregnancy, the Agent Cody Banks performer described the adventures he and Paige experienced over the past four and a half years, as they traveled the world.

New dad: Frankie revealed the news of Mauz's birth on his Instagram stories earlier this week. 'I'm a dad, guys. I love him so much. I love my wife so much,' he exclaimed in the video

Expecting: The pair originally announced that they were expecting in September of last year by uploading an adorable announcement video to Instagram

'But nothing quite compares to the first time hearing your little ones heart beat,' the Stay Alive actor said.

'Baby Muniz, March 2021,' began Paige in her post's caption. 'We having a baby up in herrr! This video has taken me half the day to upload from Yellowstone National Park.'

Frankie stated at the time that he and Paige 'were shocked and thrilled to hear the news that we're going to be parents.'

Pregnancy reveal: 'Baby Muniz, March 2021,' began Paige in her post's caption. 'We having a baby up in herrr! This video has taken me half the day to upload from Yellowstone National Park'

Gender reveal: Continuing to share their road to parenthood with their joint Instagram followings, Frankie and Paige uploaded photos from their gender reveal party

By mid-October, the couple learned that they were having a baby boy.

Continuing to share their road to parenthood on social media, Frankie and Paige uploaded photos from their gender reveal party that same month.

Frankie and Paige tied the knot in a small ceremony in late February of 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed her country's difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic  from the slow vaccine rollout to the back-and-forth over lockdown rules  partly on a tendency toward perfectionism and called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases.

File - In this Wednesday, March 24, 2021 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel answers questions from lawmakers at German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has talked about her countrys difficulties, during the coronavirus pandemic. In a lengthy television interview late Sunday she called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed her country's difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic  from the slow vaccine rollout to the back-and-forth over lockdown rules  partly on a tendency toward perfectionism and called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases.

In an hour-long television interview with public broadcaster ARD late Sunday, Merkel acknowledged that mistakes were made by her government, including on plans for an Easter lockdown, which had to be reversed.

The long-time leader also expressed frustration over the actions of some of Germany's state governors, including members of her own party, who have resisted tougher restrictions they had previously agreed to.

But Merkel, who isn't running again in September's national election, said she stands by her pledge to offer every adult a vaccine by the end of the summer, and insisted Germany still compares well with most of its neighbours.

Perhaps we're very perfectionist at times and want to do everything right, because obviously whoever makes a mistake always faces quite a lot of public criticism, Merkel said.

But there needs to be flexibility, too, she added. That, I believe, is an attribute that we as Germans perhaps need to learn a little bit more, alongside our tendency toward perfectionism.

As an example, she cited the need for doctors and vaccine centres to have lists on hand of people who can receive shots left over at the end of the day. By Sunday, about 10.8% of the population had received a first dose of vaccine in Germany, a far smaller share than in Britain, the United States and Israel.

Merkel said she expects a significant increase in supply and the start of vaccinations in general practitioner offices next month to boost the vaccine program going forward.

With recent opinion polls showing falling support for her government and party, Merkel urged Germans not to become overwhelmed by despair.

We have a difficult situation," she said. But look at our neighbours. With the exception of Denmark they are all grappling with the same problems, in part from a much more difficult position.

We also need to voice a bit of courage and strength," she said.

Germanys disease control agency on Monday reported 9,872 newly confirmed infections in the past day, and 43 deaths.

Since the start of the outbreak, the country of 83 million has recorded almost 2.8 million confirmed COVID-19 infections and 75,913 deaths, significantly fewer per population than France, Britain or the United States.

Asked about Britain's decision to relax some restrictions Monday amid a sharp drop in infections, Merkel's spokesman insisted that it's not a race.

A look towards Britain shows light and shadow, and we're happy about the light, Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. And we grieve with Britain for the many, many dead they have already had to lament during this pandemic.

In her televised interview, Merkel also took aim at some state governors who have refused to trigger the so-called emergency brake they had agreed to put in place earlier this month, when weekly infection rates rise above 100 per 100,000 inhabitants.

We need to implement the necessary measures now with great seriousness," she said. "Some states are doing that, others arent doing that yet.

Merkel called out three states in particular  tiny Saarland on the border with France, the capital Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, which is run by her would-be successor Armin Laschet  for failing to adhere to either the spirit or the letter of the rules she and the governors had agreed.

Possible additional measures include curfews, Merkel said, and she indicated that she might seek legislative backing from parliament if the states aren't willing to enforce existing rules.

Markus Soeder, the governor of Bavaria and another hopeful to succeed Merkel in the Sept. 26 election, voiced support for stronger nationwide rules.

If the chancellor were to take the initiative at the national level to change the law and set clear guidelines, she would have my support, he told ARD television.

Laschet, his rival to lead the chancellor's centre-right Union bloc into the election, downplayed the tensions between the federal and state governments but backed Merkel's call for more flexibility.

"The bureaucracy that we apply in Germany is a constraint, especially when it comes to vaccination, where we're not making progress fast enough, he said.

Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.

Follow APs pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

321 vessels jammed around Suez Canal as salvage of stuck container ship underway

Xinhua) 10:27, March 29, 2021

Rescue vessels work at the site of a container ship trapped on the Suez Canal of Egypt on March 26, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority/Handout via Xinhua)

At least 321 vessels are now jammed around Suez Canal while the authority cannot tell when the salvage of the stuck giant ship will succeed.

SUEZ, Egypt, March 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 321 vessels are currently jammed around Egypt's Suez Canal awaiting salvage of the giant container ship Ever Given that has been stuck and blocking the vital waterway since Tuesday, Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), said Saturday.

"The number of ships waiting now, whether in the north, the south or in the Lakes is 321. We provide them with all the logistic services they ask for," the SCA chief told a press conference in the northeastern province of Suez.

"It's difficult to tell when the problem will be solved, because, as I said, the ship is huge with a large load and it is stuck in a shallow area," Rabie said.

He pointed out that 14 tug boats are working to salvage Ever Given from all directions.

Ships wait to pass the Suez Canal in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, on March 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

"Last night, there were signs of success ... to the point that we were very hopeful that the salvage will be completed last night," The SCA chief said, adding authority is prepared with several scenarios to refloat the mega ship that causes "a big crisis."

The 224,000-ton Panama-flagged Ever Given was grounded on Tuesday in the canal after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a sandstorm, which led the SCA to announce on Thursday temporary suspension of navigation in the man-made waterway.

Rescue vessels work at the site of a container ship trapped on the Suez Canal of Egypt on March 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Rabie said there will be investigation into the exact cause of the accident but after the rescue process is done.

Dutch firm Boskalis with its emergency response team Smit Salvage is hired by Ever Given's owner to assist the SCA in the rescue operations.

Linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, the Suez Canal is a major lifeline for global seaborne trade since it allows ships to travel between Europe and South Asia without navigating around Africa, thereby reducing the sea voyage distance between Europe and India by about 7,000 km.

Some 12 percent of the world trade volume passes through the Suez Canal.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Hongyu)
Endowments minister Vellampalli Srinivas, along with officials, on Monday inspected the site from where work on the retaining wall is to start.

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will lay the foundation stone for the construction of a 1.5-km retaining wall at Krishna Lanka in the city on Wednesday, March 31. The estimated cost of the retaining wall is Rs.125 crore.

Endowments minister Vellampalli Srinivas, along with officials, on Monday inspected the site from where work on the retaining wall is to start. Speaking on the occasion, he said the retaining wall will help solve the long-pending problem of inundation along the Krishna River banks in Vijayawada city.

Srinivas accused the earlier TDP regime of inordinately delaying construction of retaining wall. He vowed that YSRC government will complete this project whatever the odds.

Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu said the Chief Minister is keen on solving all development issues pending within the city, including the retaining wall to control floods.

Krishna district collector Md. Imtiaz said the upcoming retaining wall, once completed, will benefit nearly 3,000 families from impact of floods in the city.
Photo: (Photo : Photo by @wiki_solo from Twitter)

In Brighton UK, a teen mom abandoned her 20-month-old baby without food and water to celebrate her birthday with friends. 19-year-old Verphy Kudi from Brighton was accused of having left Asiah, her daughter, alone for six days without food or water to have a party with friends.

In December 2019, in a young family supported housing operated by the YMCA on behalf of Brighton and Hove City Council in the east of Sussex City, Kudi, who was only turning 18 during the incident, left her daughter. So, she could meet her friends for her week-long birthday celebration.

Officers kept a copy of a CCTV footage of teen Mom Kudi leaving the supported housing unit before attending parties for her 18th birthday in London, Coventry, and Solihull, about 150 miles from Brighton.

READ: 7-Month-Old Baby Missing Due to Daycare Negligence



According to the report, when she came home on the 11th of December, Kudi then dialed 999 and said that her daughter would not wake up. The baby girl was brought to the children's Royal Alexandra hospital but was confirmed lifeless upon arrival.

A few days later, unit staff at the residence where the young mother left baby Asiah contacted the police after reviewing CCTV footage showing she left on the 5th of December and did not return until the 11th.

The post-mortem assessment and forensic examinations have found baby Asiah died due to hunger, dehydration, and had developed flu. Her death has been classified as negligence. According to reports, Kudi came to the British Lewes Crown Court and lodged a guilty plea to murder on Friday.

ALSO READ: Suing A Negligent Doctor for Your Child's Birth Injury



The Teen Mom and Her Family

Later this year, she is due to stand trial. However, the prosecution has accepted her guilty plea. Instead, she will be sentenced on the 28th of May, awaiting a psychology report, but this date could be delayed, the court warned.

The teen mom Kudi has been held in custody since being indicted in October of last year.

Authorities revealed no other information in the short hearing about how baby Asiah's tragic death happened and how she was left alone for so long. Yet, Judge Christine Laing QC, the presiding judge, ordered all social services archives relating to the case be revealed to the defense before the sentencing date.

The sister of teen Mom Kudi, Aisha Batrane, said in an interview that they are heartbroken and angry at how Verphy behaved. She also noted that Verphy had been estranged from the family for quite a long time, and they had minimal contact with her.

READ MORE: Report: US Child COVID Deaths on the Rise as Death Toll Reaches 500,000 Mark



She added that "We have spoken to her, and we're 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 can't understand it."

Baby Asiah's grandad Muba Kudi, 59, spoke after the hearing, "My heart is so broken. He also said that his daughter has been missing since she was 14 years old.

The 20-month-old baby Asiah was under a child protection plan. However, on her last days, there was no social worker assigned to her. Thus, the Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Children Partnership (BHSCP) launched a safeguarding review.

They 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."
Hyderabad, March 29 : While many actors from the South have made their debut in Bollywood with film roles, Telugu actor Allu Sirish is trying the music video route. He features in video of the hit track "Vilayati sharaab" sung by Darshan Rawal and Neeti Mohan.

The song is composed by Lijo George and DJ Chetas, and penned by Kumaar. Featuring with Sirish is TV actress Heli Daruwala.

Sirish, brother of Telugu star Allu Arjun, calls the video a "stroke of luck", adding that he awaits "something exciting" for a Hindi film debut.

"I have not thought about a Hindi debut yet but if something exciting comes my way I will definitely do it," Sirish tells IANS.

He adds: "Right now my dubbing work only is travelling so much and that gets me so excited. With the films lined up here, I don't get time to actively pursue anything else."

Sirish made his acting debut as the lead star of the 2013 bilingual film "Gouravam" and later did successful films such as "Kotha Janta", "Srirasthu Subamastu" and "Okka Kshanam".

The actor's last release, "ABCD: American Born Confused Desi", got a great response from pan India television reach.

Talking about "Vilayati sharaab" and how it happened, Sirish says: "I don't know how did this land in my lap. This is a stroke of luck or something. Even while doing the video I didnt think how many views I would get. I just enjoyed it so much. I wish I could just again shoot the video because it was so much fun."

-- Syndicated from IANS
The Minister for Transport & Aviation, Hon. Kweku Ofori Asiamah has assured the Overlord and people of Dagbon that President Akufo-Addos second term in office will see him bring more developmental projects to their doorsteps, especially, in Yendi.



One of such developmental projects, he noted, is the construction of a DVLA Office with modern facilities to serve the area as well as other communities nearby.



Developing the northern parts of Ghana, especially, Yendi remains a top priority of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. What if we are able to put up a very nice DVLA Office here, it will as well serve the people of Saboba, Zabzugu, Tatale, Bimbilla, Kpandai, Wulensi and other communities. All of them will come here and transact business. We need to protect the lives of our people, he noted.



He added: If somebody buys a motor and wants to use it here in Yendi and you tell that person to go and register it in Tamale, he or she wont go. So, as part of the Presidents vision that we must take development to the doorsteps of the people, we will make sure that we build a modern DVLA Office and furnish it with modern equipment to enable us to train our people and license them properly. We dont want the police to continue to harass them because it is the duty of the police to make sure that whoever drives a motorbike or a car must have the appropriate license. So, if we dont bring a DVLA Office here, they will either go to Goro boys for them to be given a fake license or they wont even go at all.



Hon. Asiamah made this observation on Friday, March 27, 2021, when he in the company of the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Shani Alhassan Saibu, led a delegation from the Ministry of Transport & Aviation, Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to a pay a courtesy call on the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya Naa Abukari II, in Yendi, to ask for his permission and blessings to inspect the ongoing Tamale Airport phase II project.



Commenting further, Hon. Asiamah said it was important for one to live a worthy life. Therefore, a DVLA Office for the people of Yendi and nearby communities will help reduce the trauma that victims of a motor accident go through when the motorbike or car in which the victims were travelling do not have insurance.



If you license your motor and there is an accident, you get insurance. If you license a car and there is an accident, you will get an insurance package. But if you dont have a DVLA Office here to register your motorbike or car, there wont be any insurance package for you when you get involved in an accident. So, I am assuring the King of Dagbon that we are working on building a DVLA Office in Yendi. It will not be long for you to see the construction of the DVLA Office here, he posited.



His comment was in reaction to an appeal made by the Overlord of Dagbon in his welcome remarks which were read on his behalf by Dr Jacob Yakubu Mahama.



Appeal by Overlord of Dagbon



Ya Naa Abukari II had complained bitterly about the increasing indiscipline on road networks within the Yendi Municipality by drivers and motorists leading to hikes in the spate of motor accidents, a situation he largely attributed to unlicensed drivers.



Due to the situation at hand, he said precious lives are lost almost every day, stressing that there was the need to minimize the occurrence if not totally eliminated.



To curb the occurrence, the Overlord of Dagbon, appealed to the Transport & Aviation Minister to facilitate the opening of a DVLA branch office in Yendi to serve the Eastern Corridor.



Motorcycles are the most popular means of transportation in northern Ghana, and their accidents are major causes of out-patient attendance and admissions in our hospitals. Precious lives are lost daily due to motor accidents, especially among youth. Safety on our roads is also limited by unlicensed drives and riders. Many riders are unlicensed because they have to travel to Tamale to acquire a license and also to register their vehicles or motorcycles. It is in this light that I appeal to you to facilitate easy access to the services of the DVLA by opening a branch in Yendi to serve the Eastern Corridor, he appealed.



Air travel



The King also appealed to the government to as a matter of urgency, roll out phase III of the Tamale Airport Project which is the expansion of the terminal and some other facilities to avoid an encounter with serious difficulties upon the completion of phase II of the project.



He further appealed to the government to consider the development and upgrade of the Yendi Airstrip to the status of an airport since the area has little or no opportunity for water transport but huge potential for air transport.



Responding to the appeals made by the King, Hon. Asiamah assured me that the Yendi Airstrip project will soon take off when all the technical challenges are addressed.



For instance, the proposed site which was previously an airstrip has been encroached upon, with portions of the landed property housing several households. A portion of the land has also been fixed on it a telecommunication mast to facilitate communication services in the area.



These are against the International Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO) standards for developing an airstrip or airport which requires no object to be situated in the Runway End Safety Area (RESA). And if there should be, it should be 300m away from the Runway End Safety Area.



Government is now torn between choosing the old site and pay compensation to owners of the houses closer to the proposed airstrip location or go in for a new site.



Government can take a decision after the technical experts have completed their work. This is a promise that the President has made to the Overlord of Dagbon that the airstrip that we used to have in Yendi, which was very useful, we will not allow it to go waste. If you look at that zone, we need that facility, he emphasized.

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
DETROIT  The parents of a 3-year-old who shot himself in the arm this month have been charged with several felony counts related to the incident.

Anthony Smith, 32, of Detroit, is charged with second-degree child abuse, felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearm, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutors Office. Tenisha Christian, 39, of Detroit, is charged with felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearm.

Detroit Police and medics were dispatched to the 19100 block of Omira Street for a report of a child being injured by gunfire, the release said. Upon arrival, they found the 3-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his left arm. The victim was transported to a local hospital. It is alleged that the victim picked up an unsecured handgun in the home and shot himself with it.

RELATED: 3-year-old shot by child while playing with gun

Way too many innocent, very young children have easy access to these deadly weapons and this situation usually ends up with a seriously injured or fatally wounded child, Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy said in a statement. I do not understand why the adults cannot safely store their firearms.

Smith and Christian were arraigned on March 27 in 34th District Court in Romulus. Smith was granted a $10,000 personal bond, the release said. Christian was granted a $5,000 personal bond. Their probable cause conferences are set for May 5 in 36th District Court in Detroit.

READ MORE:

Mother charged in non-fatal shooting of 13-year-old son

Michigan woman dies after driving 100 mph, flipping car that landed on top of another vehicle

21-year-old man dies after shooting at Flint house party

23-year-old dies following single-car crash in Grand Traverse County

Woman critically wounded by gunshots fired into home

Michigan man arrested after bragging about storming the Capitol on Facebook
Record torrential rainfall lashing Tennessee has flooded Nashville-area buildings and resulted in the deaths of at least four people, authorities said Sunday.

Details: Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) told a briefing that 7 inches of rain had fallen in two days in Nashville  the second highest on record. Authorities told the briefing at least 130 people were rescued from the floods overnight.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

Cooper tweeted that he's signed an executive order "declaring a local state of emergency due to flooding" in the city. He's seeking state and federal resources to assist in Davidson County, the worst-affected area.

By the numbers: 5.75 inches of rain fell in Nashville on Saturday, making it the city's wettest March day on record, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The big picture: The flooding comes after powerful winds, rains, thunderstorms and hail pummeled the Southeast last week and deadly tornadoes struck Alabama and Georgia.

What to watch: While the rainfall has eased, flooding remains a real threat.

Per the NWS, the Cumberland River is forecast to peak at 49 feet by midnight Monday  9 feet above the flood stage.

For the record: During the May 2010 floods that killed 36 people, the river crested at 51.86 feet, the Tennessean notes.
Demi Sims revealed she approached her now-girlfriend Francesca Farago with a marriage proposal via Instagram DMs.

In an exclusive preview clip of their interview on PrettyLittleThing's Behind Closed Doors, the TOWIE star, 24, said she and the Too Hot To Handle personality, 27, have already considered tying the knot with a post-pandemic ceremony in Italy.

The make-up artist and the model, who have been in a relationship for just two months, also defended getting tattoo tributes of each other's names after just one week of dating during their trip to Mexico.

'I asked her to marry me': Demi Sims revealed she approached her now-girlfriend Francesca Farago with a marriage proposal via Instagram DMs

The couple uploaded radiant images of themselves modelling PLT outfits on their social media platforms on Monday as they touched on their whirlwind romance.

On taking things to the next level from their first chat, the Essex native said: 'The first conversation we ever had in the DMs was about a wedding, I actually asked her to marry me as my first message and she just went along with it which was great.

'But yeah we have spoke about it, obviously we've only been actually together for two months so I think I dunno it's up to you really isn't it because you said you're gonna do the proposing, so it's up to Francesca.'

(Francesca) I never really thought about doing it myself until I met her, right when I met her, I was like it's gonna be me, it needs to be me who's gonna do it. I already know how I'm gonna do it, she's not gonna see it coming.'

'We move fast': In an exclusive preview clip of PLT's Behind Closed Doors, the TOWIE star, 24, said she and the Too Hot To Handle personality, 27, have considered tying the knot

Going strong: The make-up artist and the model have been in a relationship for just two months

Despite not being engaged, the lovebirds already have their ideal nuptials in mind, with Demi sharing: 'I think it depends on lockdown, were moving into a new place on Monday which is gonna be really nice.

'Hopefully we're gonna move back to Essex because I miss the Essex life. We definitely don't want any lockdown weddings because that's like not a vibe.

'It needs to be like post pandemic, the very first thing I ever said to her was we need a post pandemic wedding in Italy at a vineyard, so I feel like we need to go all out.'

The reality stars shocked fans when they got their names tattooed on each other's bottom and wrist during a whirlwind holiday.

'I knew for sure I wanted to do it': The couple also defended getting tattoo tributes of each other's names after just one week of dating during their trip to Mexico

Lifting the lid: On taking things to the next level from their first chat, the Essex native said: 'The first conversation we ever had in the DMs was about a wedding'

Influencer Demi, who has been living in London with Francesca for a month, stood by their decision as she explained: 'I got her name tattooed on my butt like the first week we met, yeah literally 6 days in.

'From the day that I met Francesca she kept saying ''I really wanna get your name tattooed on me, I really wanna do it I love you so much'' I just thought she was bluffing, I didn't think she was being serious.

'Then this one specific day we was at this beach bar and she was like I wanna do it today so then we went into a tattoo shop didn't we and you ended up getting it done in my hand writing.

'Yeah, she wrote it out like 30 times and then I picked the cute one with the heart on the I. Then I felt left out so I wanted to get her initial put on my body, she was like no I'm not letting you do it.

'She doesn't have any tattoo's so this was her very first tattoo so I was like you need to think of what it will look like, like for me I have a few so I knew for sure I wanted to do it and I was thinking about it for like a week up to that.'

While they may seem strong now, the younger sister of Chloe Sims confessed her friends and family were apprehensive about Francesca at first.

'There's no stopping them!' The influencers have been living together in London for a month Demi

Demi shared: 'She was literally like come to Mexico and meet me and I was nervous because I've never met her before so I was like what am I gonna do, am I actually gonna fly to Mexico by myself and meet this girl I've never met? It was all just crazy.

'In my heart and my head, it felt like the right thing to do. My mum was like make sure that she's real, like your flying over to Mexico to meet this person you've just met on social media.

'All my friends were saying the same things as well like ''You're crazy, don't do that that's so dangerous'' and I was like no guys honestly this girl, I feel like me and this girl have got so much in common I have to go and meet her.'
China announced sanctions against two Americans, a Canadian and a human rights advocacy body Saturday following criticism of Beijing's treatment of ethnic Uighurs.

Americans Gayle Manchin, chair of the U.S. government's advisory Commission on International Religious Freedom, and Tony Perkins, the group's vice chair, are now banned from China and from communicating with its citizens for speaking out about China's human rights abuses.

'I feel flattered to be recognized by Communist China for calling out genocidal crimes against religious and ethnic minorities in the country,' Manchin said in a statement, Fox News reported.

'While I don't have plans to travel to China this summer, I won't stop speaking out when egregious violations of religious freedom are taking place as they are in China,' added Manchin, the wife of Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Canadian official Michael Chong, vice chair of the Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and eight members of its Subcommittee on International Human Rights were also hit with sanctions for criticizing the regime.

Chong called the sanctions a 'badge of honour.'

'We who live freely in democracies under the rule of law must speak for the voiceless,' Chong tweeted.

Officials in Washington, D.C., said the measure would only intensify the spotlight on the country's Xinjiang province, where alleged abuses have occurred.

Gayle Manchin, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, has been sanctioned by the Chinese government over allegations China has abused ethnic Uighurs

Tony Perkins, vice chair of the Commission on International Religious Freedom, was also sanctioned by China last week

Canadian Member of Parliament Michael Chong in the House of Commons in Ottawa on March 26. Chong is among the Canadian officials prohibited from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the sanctions by China against American and Canadian officials 'baseless'

China said the sanctioned officials are banned from entering China and its territories, and are not allowed to conduct business with Chinese citizens and institutions. They also warned they 'must stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China's internal affairs in any form,' the foreign ministry said. 'Otherwise, they will get their fingers burnt.'

'The Chinese government is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and urges the relevant parties to clearly understand the situation and redress their mistakes,' the foreign ministry said, according to Reuters.

China imposed sanctions after the officials criticized their treatment of ethnic Uighurs

At least one million Uighurs and people from other mostly Muslim groups have been held in camps in the northwestern region, according to rights groups that accuse Chinese officials of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labor on the minority group.

The BBC reported leaked documents showed China has attempted to systematically brainwash hundreds of thousands of Muslims in a network of high-security prison camps. The Chinese governments claim the camps are vocational education centers.

The European Union, Britain, Canada and the United States sanctioned several members of Xinjiang's political and economic hierarchy last week over the allegations.

China retaliated Saturday, accusing the U.S. and Canada of imposing sanctions 'based on rumors and disinformation.'

The gate of what is officially known as a vocational skills education center in Xinjiang province in September 2018

Canadian MP Michael Chong posted a tweet calling China's sanctions against him 'a badge of honour'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the sanctions 'baseless,' saying they would only shine a harsh spotlight on 'genocide' in Xinjiang.

'Beijing's attempts to intimidate and silence those speaking out for human rights and fundamental freedoms only contribute to the growing international scrutiny of the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,' Blinken said Saturday.

Blinken said the Biden administration is united with its allies in pushing back against China's increasing authoritarianism and assertiveness at home and abroad.

Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi followed with a list of Chinese complaints about the U.S. and accused Washington of hypocrisy for criticizing Beijing on human rights and other issues.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the measures as 'an attack on transparency and freedom of expression.'

Trudeau's comments came after top Canadian diplomat Marc Garneau accused Beijing of deploying heavy-handed tactics.

'Bullies don't change unless you send very clear messages to them,' Garneau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says sanctions against members of his goverment are 'an attack on transparency and freedom of expression'

Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi speaks at the opening session of US-China talks in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18. He accused Washington of hypocrisy for criticizing Beijing on human rights and other issues

Beijing denies any abuses in Xinjiang, describing detention centers as work camps intended to boost incomes and deter extremism.

The diplomatic standoff spilled into the business world last week when pledges made last year by several companies to boycott Xinjiang cotton resurfaced on China's social network Weibo.

The pledges by Sweden's H&M, American sportswear giant Nike, Germany's Adidas and Japan's Uniqlo, were denounced Friday by the United States, which implied it was a calculated move by Beijing.

'The US condemns... (China's) social media campaign and corporate and consumer boycott against companies, including American, European and Japanese businesses,' State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said.

Chinese celebrities and tech firms pulled out of partnerships with Nike, H&M, Adidas, Burberry and Calvin Klein.

China previously sanctioned dozens of American officials including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for 'crazy moves' against Beijing under the Trump administration.

Canada-China relations are also at their lowest point in decades, with China putting two Canadians on trial for alleged espionage this month while an extradition hearing in Vancouver for Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou enters its final months.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Imperial Valley News Center

San Diego Businessman Sentenced to Federal Prison and Ordered to Pay $1.5 Million in Restitution

San Diego, California - A local business owner was sentenced in federal court Monday on charges of bank fraud and tax evasion. David Daughtrey, 60, of El Cajon, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns to 18 months in custody and ordered to pay restitution of $1,519,590.63.

In July 2020, Daughtrey pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and tax fraud, and one count of filing a false tax return. Daughtreys illegal conduct spanned for a decade, from 2006 until 2016. For several years, Daughtrey evaded income tax by under-reporting his income and orchestrated an illegal scheme to fraudulently obtain a mortgage for his $1.8 million residence using a third party. The total tax loss to the United States in this case was $1,053,989.63.

The defendant abused our tax and banking systems for his own financial benefit, and the victims of that crime are ethical taxpayers and bank customers, said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. Todays sentence will hopefully remind others that there is a high price to pay for such deception. Grossman thanked prosecutor Oleksandra Johnson and agents from the IRS and FBI for their excellent work on this case.

While Mr. Daughtrey achieved business success, he failed in his obligations as an American by lying to our banks and cheating the government, said Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Korner, IRS Criminal Investigation. Todays sentencing shows that we will hold accountable those who deceive and exploit our people and financial institutions because of their greed.

The FBI and our partners at the IRS uncovered David Daughtrey's mortgage fraud and tax evasion scheme using our team's financial and fraud expertise, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner. Today's sentencing serves as a warning to those who attempt to personally gain by deliberately cheating the government and the integrity of the banking system through financial fraud. Our team of fraud experts will bring justice in these white-collar cases.

According to court documents, from July 2006 until April 2016, Daughtrey conspired with others to commit the crimes to which he pleaded guilty. As part of the bank fraud scheme, Daughtrey directed another individual to submit a mortgage application to a national bank to purchase a $1.8 million five-bedroom residence, and to falsely claim that the funds used as down payment belonged to, and the residence would be used by, the third party.

In reality, Daughtrey provided the funds and the home was intended to be Daughtreys primary residence. Daughtrey made monthly mortgage payments of approximately $8,000 for his residence but continued to represent to the bank that the third party owned the house. Daughtrey later submitted a false hardship letter on behalf of the third party in an effort to modify the terms of the loan on the home.

Over several years, Daughtrey conspired to commit tax evasion by filing tax returns listing substantially less income than Daughtrey actually earned. Daughtreys tax return for the year 2012, for example, omitted at least $498,612 in income. Daughtrey failed to report his total income in tax years 2013, 2014, and 2015, and did not file timely tax returns for subsequent years. Daughtrey agreed to pay $1,053,989.63 in restitution to the IRS, which includes the total tax loss plus penalties and interest.

DEFENDANTS Case Number 20cr2113-LAB

David Daughtrey Age: 60 El Cajon, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and Tax Evasion, 18 U.S.C.  371 (count 1); and

Making a False Tax Return, 26 U.S.C.  7206(1) (count 2).

Maximum penalty:

Five years imprisonment and $250,000 fine (count 1)

Three years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest (count 2)

AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Internal Revenue Service
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 17: People are seen entering Woolworths supermarket in Balmain on March 17, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Brisbane Residents Panic Buy Ahead of 3 Day Snap Lockdown

Residents in the impacted areas of Brisbane, in the southeast of Queensland, have rushed to buy staples ahead of the three-day snap lockdown imposed in the lead up to the Easter long weekend, ignoring the advice of Queensland Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk.

The panic buying comes after Queensland Health identified an outbreak of the British variant of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Please dont rush out and panic buy, Palaszczuk said on Twitter on Monday. The supermarkets are full of supplies and will operate as per usual. Groceries and essentials will still be available while were in lockdown.

However, residents ignored the appeal, with queues stretching around the corners at various major food retailers by 10 a.m. on Monday, with images of long lines in busy shops going viral on social media.

According to The Courier Mail, a woman who was nine-months pregnant was also run into with a trolley by a shopper who was desperate to get flour.

A man is seen shopping after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palazczuk announced a three-day lockdown for the Greater Brisbane area. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

In Brisbanes north side, a Woolworths supermarket employee told Nine News that their stock of toilet paper had disappeared in 30 minutes following the announcement of the lockdown.

Woolworths have since introduced product limits for stores in Greater Brisbane from this afternoon (see a full list below). Some of the panic buying hotspots include Hamilton, New Farm, North Lakes, and Chermside.

We have continued access to stock from our suppliers, and our team will be hard at work making sure it flows from our distribution centres into our stores over the coming days, Chris Peters, the Woolworths general manager for Queensland, said.

We encourage Queenslanders to continue shopping as they usually would and to be mindful of others in the community, he said.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette DAth also urged the public not to panic buy.

This is not required. Please stop! She wrote in a post on Twitter. Supermarkets and grocery shops will be open in the Greater Brisbane area, and people can go to the shops during the lockdown to get grocery items.

Full list of limited products (two per person per shop):
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 21:02:42|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China calls for an early resolution of the Syrian issue through comprehensive solutions including political, security, humanitarian and reconstruction means, Xie Xiaoyan, China's special envoy for Syria, said Monday.

As 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, Xie said in an interview that the evolution of the crisis in the past 10 years has fully proved the issue can only be solved through political means instead of military options.

He noted that imposing solutions and seeking regime change will not work, calling for giving full play to the role of the United Nations.

Ceasefire and cessation of violence should go hand in hand with the fight against terrorism, he said.

In the past 10 years, China has always opposed external forces interfering in Syria's internal affairs, opposed the resolution of the issue by military means, and advocated peaceful and proper solution through inclusive and political dialogue.

China has firmly upheld that Syria's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and safeguarded, Syria's future and destiny should be decided by the Syrian people, and a political settlement is the only realistic way out, said Xie.

Under the current circumstances, China once again calls for resolving the Syrian issue at an early date from four aspects, including upholding the general direction of political settlement, firmly opposing terrorism, earnestly improving the humanitarian situation, and providing support for economic and social reconstruction, Xie added.

Since the outbreak of the crisis, China has actively promoted dialogue among relevant parties, put forward various initiatives and proposals, and provided emergency humanitarian and anti-epidemic assistance to the Syrian people, he said.

Xie noted that some countries have imposed unilateral blockade and sanctions on Syria, flagrantly interfered in Syria's internal affairs, and politicized the humanitarian and refugee issues, worsening the humanitarian situation in Syria.

"These countries should ask themselves what historical responsibilities they should take on the dire humanitarian situation in Syria," said Xie, adding that the international community should work together to push for the lifting of blockade and sanctions against the Syrian people. Enditem
The lawyer making opening arguments for the prosecution is Jerry W. Blackwell, a lawyer who has represented a series of large companies and joined the attorney generals office just for this case on a pro bono basis, meaning he will not be paid.

In private practice, Mr. Blackwell has represented corporations including Walmart, 3M Company and General Mills, according to the website for his firm, Blackwell Burke, which is based in Minnesota. He has defended companies against lawsuits by people who said they were injured by asbestos, benzene and other potentially harmful chemicals. He has also represented companies in cases involving claims of false advertising.

Mr. Blackwell is known for his ability to untangle complicated legal issues for jurors, the website says, which could be vital in the prosecution of Mr. Chauvin, where jurors will have to evaluate the elements of second-degree and third-degree murder.

Last June, Mr. Blackwell won a posthumous pardon for Max Mason, a Black circus worker who was wrongly convicted of rape in 1920, months after three of his colleagues were lynched as a result of the false accusations. Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general overseeing the prosecution of Mr. Chauvin, had encouraged Mr. Blackwell to apply for the pardon, and he brought him on board for Mr. Chauvins trial a month later.
The foreign ministers of Japan and Indonesia agreed on Monday to strengthen the alliance between their two nations as part of efforts to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi called Indonesia a strategic partner during his opening remarks at the bilateral meeting held in Tokyo.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi mentioned Myanmar as one of the topics of discussion between the two ministers.

A meeting between foreign ministers and defense ministers of Japan and Indonesia is scheduled for Tuesday.

The so-called two-plus-two talks will be the second of their kind since December 2015.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Benzene market will register an incremental spend of about USD 6.5 Million MT, growing at a CAGR of 2.43% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Benzene 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

Benzene Market Procurement Research Report

Key Highlights Offered in the 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 Benzene market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Benzene 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 2%-4%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Benzene 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 Benzene suppliers listed in this report:

This Benzene procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Story continues

ExxonMobil Corp.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc

LyondellBasell Industries NV

SINOPEC Corp.

Total SE

Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

ENEOS Holdings Inc.

Braskem SA

Petroleo Brasileiro SA

LOTTE Chemical Corp.

Dow Inc.

Honeywell International Inc.

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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MedConnectUSA For more than thirty years, MedConnectUSA has been there for our clients when they have needed us the most.

MedConnectUSA is pleased to have helped, and to continue to help, hospitals and medical centers that could not take their own calls due to power outages and other issues that resulted from the ferocious ice storm that affected Texas and other states. In recent months, we have further strengthened our commitment to those medical business owners affected by disaster to help them to overcome the challenges that they face during these testing circumstances.

Our medical call answering team is committed to helping our clients and their callers through those difficult times. Whether your business has been affected by the global pandemic, a natural disaster, regional weather emergency, local service outage, fire, or natural disaster, MedConnectUSA will be there to help you to stay connected and serve your patients when they need you most.

In the past, we have been there for our clients during difficult moments and we will continue to be there moving forward. As the leading medical answering service in the United States, at MedConnectUSA, we understand that you need a service that you can rely on when unforeseen events wreak havoc on your business. At MedConnectUSA, we have received countless messages of praise from our clients, and their patients, for the efficient, effective, and professional service we have been able to provide during times of crisis.

Helping Businesses In Texas And Other States

MedConnectUSA is prepared and waiting to assist those medical practices and businesses in Texas and other states affected by the recent winter storm. The dangerous storm has caused power outages for millions, causing chaos for individuals and business owners alike. With more than four million people in Texas without power and temperatures plummeting to below -6, the State, many medical businesses are unable to serve their patients and customers. Our multi-award-winning medical call center services at MedConnectUSA can help medical businesses to stay in contact with their clients to provide assistance and support through these difficult times. With the help of the MedConnectUSA team, medical businesses in Texas and other states affected by the storm can offer much-needed services to those who need them, aiding in the recovery effort.

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The Coronavirus has turned the world on its head over the last twelve months. When local businesses were in lockdown, here at MedConnectUSA, we were busy helping our clients to stay in contact with their patients and clients so they could provide essential advice and healthcare when it was needed most. Our team continues to be there for medical practices and other medical businesses through the pandemic to provide the support and assistance that your patients need during these unprecedented times. MedConnectUSA will be there for your patients when you cant be to give your patients the support, advice, and guidance they need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and thereafter.

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More About MedConnectUSA

As a proud industry leader, MedConnectUSA provides the very best, multi-award-winning medical call answering services in the United States. For more than thirty years, we have been there for our clients when they have needed us the most. Whether its a local weather emergency, a global pandemic, a fire, or natural disaster, our team at MedConnectUSA is always here to help. Our highly trained operators are professional, knowledgeable, patient, and compassionate and will always treat your patients with respect and courtesy to ensure they feel safe and secure, regardless of what disaster or emergency may have occurred.

At MedConnectUSA look forward to continuing to provide a reliable medical call answering service and an unparalleled level of service excellence for our customers during what is a challenging period for many medical businesses, practices, and hospitals around the country.
Credit: Philipp Guenther, SOI

The 'hidden' continent of Zealandia is being partially mapped, thanks to a deepwater mapping expedition led by The University of Queensland in collaboration with Schmidt Ocean Institute.

The mostly-submerged continent has New Zealand and New Caledonia rising from its depths and was only put on the map by geologists in 2014.

Chief Scientist and UQ researcher Dr. Derya Gurer spent 28 days at sea on Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor, exploring the north-western edge of the continent located in Queensland's Coral Sea Marine Park.

"We're only just starting to discover Zealandia's secretsit's remained hidden in plain sight until recently and is notoriously difficult to study," Dr. Gurer said.

"Zealandia is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83 to 79 million years ago.

"It spans 4.9 million square kilometers and is around three times the size of Queensland.

"Our expedition collected seafloor topographic and magnetic data to gain a better understanding of how the narrow connection between the Tasman and Coral Seas in the Cato Trough regionthe narrow corridor between Australia and Zealandiawas formed.

"The seafloor is full of clues for understanding the complex geologic history of both the Australian and Zealandian continental plates.

The researchers sampling in the wet lab for microplastics. Credit: Dr Derya Gurer.

"This data will also improve our understanding of the complex structure of the crust between the Australian and Zealandian plates.

"It's thought to include several small continental fragments, or microcontinents, that were split from Australia and the supercontinent Gondwana in the past."

The mapping project offered 37,000 square kilometers of data to the Seabed 2030 project.

The project aims to produce a publicly available bathymetric map to measure the depth of the world's ocean floor depth by 2030.

In addition to seafloor bathymetric data, which measures ocean depths and topographical features, approximately 2500 square kilometers of magnetic data was collected.

UQ's Dr. Tara Jonell said the team on Falkor also took the opportunity to improve sampling methodology for microplastic monitoring and collected data on seabirds.

"Through the ship's underway seawater flow-through system, we analysed more than 100 samples for microplastics, in addition to 40 samples collected on a previous voyage, and only one sample didn't contain any visible microplastic," Dr. Jonell said.

Microplastic and plankton discovered on the voyage Dr. Derya Gurer.

Zealandia, the eighth continent between Australia and New Zealand. Credit: University of Queensland

Dr. Gurer, who is involved in a citizen science project to tackle marine plastic pollution, said the seawater collected from depths up to 3500 meters held a clear message.

"There seems to be a higher concentration of microplastic fibers in the deep ocean," she said.

According to Dr. Gurer one of the biggest rewards on the journey was seeing the value of scientific collaboration and the importance of training the next generation of marine scientists.

"Teamwork and a willingness to learn from, and teach each other, made this voyage a success," she said.

The researchers sampling in the wet lab for microplastics Dr. Derya Gurer.

"We've all been operating at the edge of our comfort zone for the past month and it's been very rewarding to see our emerging scientists grow.

"It's wonderful to be leading so many up-and-coming earth and marine scientists to learn the ocean's secrets."

UQ students are able to test their sea legs in a range of hands-on courses in the Marine Science program.

The multidisciplinary on-board science team was assembled from four Australian universities, including UQ, with a shore-based team from 12 institutions (nine in Australia, three overseas).
EU-mediated talks between the ruling party and opposition bloc to resume next week in Georgia

By Veronika Malinboym

Christian Danielsson, the special representative of the President of the European Council Charles Michel, returned back to Georgia in order to resume the talks between the countrys ruling party and opposition amidst the ongoing political crisis. Upon his arrival, Danielsson stated that now is the time for compromise:I am very glad to be returning to Georgia and I expect cooperation with the leaders of the political parties, opposition, and the ruling party, in order to help them reach an agreement and end the ongoing political crisis in the country. Now is the time for compromise and compromise should not be viewed as a sign of weakness, as it is a sign of strength. Compromise proves that democracy does work in Georgia and compromise is the European way, Danielsson said.Amidst the upcoming talks, both the ruling party and the representatives of the countrys opposition bloc have already expressed their readiness for dialogue and ultimately achieving an agreement. Founder of the opposition Strategy Agmashenebeli party Giorgi Vashadze said that the EUs position should be strict and well-defined especially in relation to the Georgian Dream:In my opinion, the position of the EU should be much better-defined and much stricter this time, especially in relation to the Georgian Dream party, as it was them who jeopardized the previous rounds of talks, Vashadze explained.Georgian Dream party member Mamuka Mdinaradze, in turn, stated that the ruling team is ready for a constructive dialogue even with the most destructive part of the countrys opposition.Earlier today, Christian Danielsson met with representatives of a few local NGOs to hear their views on how the ongoing crisis should be approached. According to Nino Dolidze, founder of the Fair Elections non-governmental organization, the political crisis that the country faces today can be used as an opportunity to solve the systematic shortcomings in Georgia. She added that the constitutional and legislative initiatives presented in the parliament are insufficient. Dolidze noted that the only way to address the existing problems of the system is by balancing the electoral system, election commission, and the judiciary to ensure equal opportunities and participation for the opposition.
Scott Morrison has taken the first step in a long journey to rescue his government by doing something simple: giving more women more influence.

His reshuffle is a good start in showing Australians he is serious about acting on the treatment of women, even if it is only about the structures within the government rather than policies for the world beyond.

The prominence of Marise Payne (left), who stood alongside Pm Scott Morrison in announcing the changes, is an important signal. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Prime Minister has to use the next six weeks to design policies for the May 11 federal budget that can prove his changes are more than window-dressing.

The reshuffle included significant promotions for women and no similar advancement for men. The effect is to give female ministers a bigger say  not only on issues that relate to women but also on policies across the board.
Gothenburg, Sweden - March 29th, 2021 - Thunderful Publishing & Studio Fizbin are excited to reveal that their highly anticipated NO!-Playing Game, Say No! More, is currently available for pre-order ahead of its April 9th release on Nintendo Switch, PC & Mac (Steam), iPadOS and iOS. Snag it ahead of time for 12.14/13.49/$13.49* Nintendo Switch and 4.99/5.49/$4.99* on iOS devices.



To celebrate, we have already applied a pre-order discount of 10% for Nintendo Switch and a pre-order discount of 17% for the iOS devices. If an educational establishment pre-purchases through the Apple School Manager there is a whopping 50% off*. There's more, remember to Wishlist now on Steam and grab Say No! More on launch day for PC & Mac with a 7-day discount of 10% too!

Say No! More is the world's first NPG (NO!-Playing Game), a brand new experience coming straight from the minds of Studio Fizbin. In a world where everyone sticks to the status quo of saying "YES", create your own custom character and take on the role of an intern on a mission to change the world with the positive power of "NO!". With this new power nothing will get in your way as you shout "NO!" at any absurd requests fired at you.



Using simple controls designed for anyone to pick up and play, start your working life through a predetermined path in a quirky office environment. As well as shouting NO! in your chosen language, use your NO! different emotional states to send them reeling. Confuse people with different actions to let their guard down, then charge up your NO! for an even greater effect on unsuspecting colleagues.



Touching on timeless and modern issues such as social etiquette, friendship and workplace standards, this hilarious adventure has tender depth. It's all wrapped up in a fun late 90s video game style, complete with chunky, colourful visuals, comical animations and jazzy music that you'll struggle to say "NO!" to.

"Imagine you've just had a hard day at work and all you want to do is play Say No! More, but what's this? You have to wait for it to download first? I say NO! to that" said Marius Winter, Game Director at Studio Fizbin. "Pre-order it now so you can install it ahead of time and jump right into the wish fulfillment fantasy of being the world's most empowering intern!"



"Say No! More is a clever inversion of typical video game tropes in which your stalwart hero takes on all manner of tasks to help random NPCs with their troubles," said Tyrone Walcott, Product Manager at Thunderful Publishing. "In Say No! More you're excelling through the use of boundaries and self respect. It's a timeless message that you needn't respond in the affirmative to be a real hero."






Hey Blake,

The obituary for longtime St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court Lena Torres mentioned she was a graduate of Soule Business School. Where was that located and when?

Dear reader,

Soule Business College, also known as Soule Commercial College and Literary Institute or just Soule College, was known as the first business school in the South. It was opened in 1856 by George Soule, a pioneer in business education.

Born in New York, Soule studied medicine, law and business in St. Louis before arriving in New Orleans and opening his school. He temporarily closed it during the Civil War, when he served in the Confederate army.

The first Soule College was at Camp and Common streets. Students learned bookkeeping, typing, shorthand and other business skills. Soule taught some of the classes himself and wrote several math and accounting textbooks. He was also one of the founders of the Rex Organization and was known as the Duke of Education. He reigned as King of Carnival in 1887.

In 1874, he bought and demolished the former Second Municipality Hall at 601 St. Charles Ave. next to Gallier Hall. It would become the second location of his college, designed by his son Robert and opened in 1902.

In 1923, Soule moved the school to an ornate three-story mansion at 1410 Jackson Ave. The home was designed by architect Lewis Reynolds and built in 1856 for cotton broker Henry Sullivan Buckner. Soule added a two-story brick building to the rear of the property to offer additional classrooms. In addition to Mrs. Torres, among the many notable Soule alumni were Louisiana Gov. Jimmie Davis, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Walter Hamlin, New Orleans Mayor Robert Maestri, Mississippi Gov. Hugh L. White and Wembley Industries co-founder Samuel Pulitzer.

On the sidewalk in front of the former school, youll find mosaic tiles containing a quote by 18th century English poet William Cowper: From education as the leading cause, the public character its color draws. According to a 1980 Times-Picayune/States-Item article, the words were placed in the sidewalk at the schools St. Charles Avenue location and moved to Jackson Avenue.

Soule died in 1926. His son and grandson operated the school until it closed in 1983. The family sold both the mansion and adjoining building, which are now private residences. The mansion was used in the TV series American Horror Story: Coven, where it doubled as Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies (to study witchcraft).

The St. Charles Avenue building which housed Soules college is now the headquarters of the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Blakeview: Former Medard Nelson school in the French Quarter has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places An historic French Quarter property was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. The house at 1218 Burgundy St. was the for
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Police hunting for clues in the disappearance of missing Briton Sarm Heslop in the U.S. Virgin Islands have narrowed their search to a series of uninhabited islands and coves, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Officers have also shifted their focus further inland, suggesting they no longer expect to find Sarm, 41, washed up at the water's edge.

'At this point the possibility of finding a body washed up on shore is considered highly unlikely. That window of possibility is gone,' said a well-placed source.

The areas being searched include Steven Cay, a scrub-covered, rocky island about half a mile west of St. John, where Sarm was living with boyfriend Ryan Bane on his catamaran before she vanished March 8.

Nobody lives on the low-lying strip of land but it's a popular tourist destination for scuba diving, kayaking and snorkeling.

Cops are also searching the north side of St. John, from Salomon Beach to Watermelon Cay, another tiny island, both of which can only be reached via a small boat or by hiking through the Virgin Islands National Park.

The search for former flight attendant Sarm Heslop is in its third week but, to the frustration of her family back in Southampton, England, is still being treated as a missing person case rather than a criminal inquiry

Police searching for Sarm Heslop have narrowed their search to a series of uninhabited islands and coves, DailyMail.com can reveal. The areas being searched include Steven Cay, Salomon Beach and Watermelon Cay

Heslop, from Southampton, England, met boyfriend Ryan 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

Aside from the three main islands of St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix, the U.S. Virgin Islands is made up of 50 other surrounding islands and cays - much of which are uninhabited.

'Many of the areas they are searching are not accessible by land at all. There are very few people over there, just the park rangers' homes and a few small tiki-type bars,' the source added.

Bane claims girlfriend Sarm vanished without trace from his catamaran while it was anchored overnight in the U.S. Virgin Islands

The search for former flight attendant Sarm is into its third week but, to the frustration of her family back in Southampton, England, is still being treated as a missing person case rather than a criminal inquiry.

And despite refusing to speak with detectives or let them search his 47-ft yacht, Siren Song, police have not declared Bane, 44, a suspect or a person or interest.

With no legal restrictions on his movements he sailed away from Frank Bay, St. John last Wednesday evening, hours after refusing to answer questions put to him by a DailyMail.com reporter.

Sources say the Michigan native is still in the US Virgin Islands but is hopping from island to island while he looks for a marina with a vacant boat slip.

Investigators from the Virgin Islands Police Department would need a warrant to search Siren Song but are yet to obtain one because they have no evidence of foul play.

Sarm met Bane on Tinder eight months ago and traveled to the Caribbean to work as a cook on his $500,000 vessel, which he charters out for more than $2,000 a day.

The couple went out for dinner on March 7 and were last seen by a barman in Cruz Bay, the main tourism hub in St. John.

Bane rang 911 at 2:30am saying he woke up 30 minutes earlier to find that Sarm was gone but her belongings were still on board.

Police said they took an initial account of the evening's events and urged him to call the US Coast Guard.

The call was not made until 11:46am, however - more than nine hours later - and a massive sea and land search failed to find any trace of Sarm.

Coast Guards boarded Siren Song twice but by the time detectives asked to conduct a full fingertip search Bane had lawyered up, invoked his right to silence and refused access.

Ryan Bane refused to discuss his girlfriend Sarm Heslop's disappearance last week as DailyMail.com confronted him on a secluded beach in the US Virgin Islands. He's pictured on Wednesday on shore

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 and then sailed away and has not been seen since

Bane's boat is no longer sat in Frank Bay on Saint John in the US Virgin Islands as of early morning on Thursday

Ryan Bane is seen in his mugshot after he was arrested in 2011 for attacking his ex-wife

A DailyMail.com investigation confirmed the couple dined at 420 to Center, a bustling dive bar, where friends say they were celebrating a successful charter.

In his initial account, Bane told officers they went back to the boat at 10pm, watched a movie then fell asleep.

Detectives supported by an FBI Task Force Agent based in nearby St. Thomas have obtained 'hours of CCTV' but have not found anything yet to verify Bane's claim that he and Sarm went back to Siren Song together.

A close friend insisted last week 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.'

Corie Stevenson was married to fellow American Bane, 44, for six years and came forward to say her ex 'went to jail for kicking my a**'

It was also revealed last week 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,' said her parents, Peter Heslop and Brenda Street.
The Biden administration is spending $3 million dollars a day to house migrants at a detention center in Dilley, Texas, where the number of people from Russia and the Middle East crossing the border from Mexico is growing at an alarming rate, DailyMail.com has learned.

Even more alarming, officials are being forced to 'catch and release' undocumented immigrants without properly vetting them, according to an official at the facility.

The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley is currently housing about 1,500 migrants at a cost of approximately $2,000 per person per day.

The facility, the largest immigration detention in the US, can hold a maximum of 2,400 detainees and was originally intended to house mainly women and children seeking asylum.

Russian and Middle Eastern migrants are becoming more and more frequent, joining the caravan from Mexico to cross into the United States along with Mexicans and Americans.

But due to the surgeof migrants at the border, officials say it has now become an 'intake and release center for illegal immigrant families' including men, who are being welcomed into the country after 72 hours to await their court dates.

'It's nothing more than catch and release,' a facility official, who wished to remain anonymous, told DailyMail.com.

The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas is now housing 1,500 immigrants at a time for approximately $2,000 per person per day by the federal government, DailyMail.com has learned

The facility, the largest immigration detention in the US, can hold a maximum of 2,400 detainees and is intended to house mainly women and children seeking asylum. Pictured: A mother and son walk outside the center in 2019

Officials at the facility say they have now been forced to take in men due to the recent surge in migration and are seeing more than 150 families arrive daily

'Before President Biden took over we had about 20 families a day arrive at our facility, now we are seeing more than 150 a day, we are overwhelmed. Before we never accepted men at our facility, but now we are.'

The 55-acre detention center is located off I-35 in a small Texas town with a population of 4,000. It is owned by Tennessee-based company, Core Civic, which manages private prisons and detention centers across 19 states, with a reported revenue of $1.98billion in 2019.

The inside source says the facility is also seeing an influx of immigrants from all parts of the world, not just Central and South American countries.

'Previously we'd get immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, but in the last few months we've had immigrants from Russia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam, Romania, Haiti,' the source said.

The South Texas Family Residential Center was built in 2014 and boasted a large gym and even a courtroom used for immigration matters, but those spaces are now being used as intake and sleeping areas.

According to the official, migrant families would typically stay at the center for months at a time while they waited for their asylum cases to go through the court system.

Inside the immigrants have medical, dental and all types of food at their disposal, toys, and even an Xbox for children

The residential center was built in 2014 and boasted a large gym and even a courtroom used for immigration matters, but those spaces are now being used as intake and sleeping areas

But now, due to the influx of people, the maximum time migrants are kept in the center is three days before being released into the United States with an immigration court date in hand.

The process has sparked security concerns at the center, where officials are no longer able to properly screen migrants or verify their identities in their rush to process everyone.

'Because the turnaround time is so short, the immigrants aren't being vetted before they are released,' the source said.

'Our government doesn't really know who they are releasing into our society. When these immigrant families come in from Russia, Syria and Iraq, some of them could be terrorists.

'When these men come into our facility with women and children, we have no proof any of them are actually related. Often they don't have documentation so we have to take their word on their name, age, nationality, etc. They could be anyone, child predators, traffickers, terrorists.'

'The entire immigration system is overwhelmed right now. ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is just trying to move people through the system as fast as possible,' the source added.

'We have more people than we can handle. It's a crisis situation, everyone is overworked.'

Pictured are general views of the Core Civic South Texas residential facility situated in Dilley, Texas

A source at the facility told DailyMail.com it has become a 'catch and release' operation as they try to move people through the system as fast as possible

The COVID-19 pandemic has also complicated matters now that officials have to administer tests to every arrival.

'When immigrants arrive at the facility they are given a COVD-19 test before they even step off the bus,' the source said.

'If they test positive they are taken to the medical unit. About 10 per cent of them test positive, and aren't released until they have a negative test.'

All girls over the age of 10 are also required to take a pregnancy test. Pregnant girls and women are then sent to the medical unit and hospital for more treatment.

According to the official, the center has seen girls as young as 12 produce a positive pregnancy test.

The immigrants are then are photographed and fingerprinted. ICE officials conduct a background check on each one of them, they can find out if someone has been arrested before in the United States, but it takes days to do a thorough background check.

'Three days isn't enough time to run a background on these immigrants before releasing them into the United States.

'The Border Patrol brings in the immigrants immediately after they are detained. They come in dirty, hungry and often smell. We have them take a shower and provide clean clothing for them. There are medical and dental facilities on premises for the immigrants.

'Most of the immigrants who arrive don't have any paperwork when they arrive. They say they've either lost it or it was stolen from them. So we have to take their word for it when they give us their name, age and nationality. But we have no way of checking them out, unless something comes back from their fingerprint check.

A detention center source told DailyMail.com Russian and Middle Eastern migrants are becoming more frequent as they are joining the caravan from Mexico to cross into the United States

Because the turnaround time in processing is so short, the official said immigrants aren't being properly vetted before they are released

'We've had men and women come in with children and we have to take their word for it they are an actual family, but you know if your heart it's not true, but you have no proof they are lying to you. We have to take their word for it and process them under the information they give us,' continued the insider.

'There was case recently of a women who was in her 70's and she brought along a young three-year-old girl, who she said was her daughter. You know that's not true, but sadly there is nothing that can be done about it. You just hope these kids are not getting sex trafficked.

'I'm sure there are other there are several children that are being smuggled into the United States with an adult that may not be their actual parents.'

After a migrant or migrant family is processed at the border, they are asked if they have any sponsors or relatives in the United States.

If they do, ICE will make attempts to contact them and make arrangements for the family to be released to them.

Often a relative will send bus or plane tickets for migrant to come stay with them. If the person can't afford a ticket, ICE usually foots the bill for the migrant to travel to the relative's house.

This system, however, is actually a fast tracked, water-down version of how migrants are usually processed.

Months ago ICE officials would have vet the sponsoring family or relative to make sure they are legitimate, but now the agency does not even have the time nor resources to be so thorough.

The migrant family is later given an immigration court date for their asylum case before being taken to the bus station or airport.

But because of the overwhelming number of asylum-seekers, the majority of cases are being scheduled for four years from now.

In the meantime, these immigrants will have to work, illegally, many will have more children, further disrupting the immigration process.

Joe Biden faced questions on the border crisis in his first press conference as president on Thursday

The situation has drawn fierce criticism from Republicans who have blamed the Biden administration for the surge

The source says immigrants being released into the United States may also pose health risks since many of them haven't received immunizations for small pox, measles, mumps, and other diseases.

'There have been several incidents where some of the immigrants have never used a toilet. Women would squat down and use the bathroom in a corner of the room or in a trash can.

'There are other incidents where many of the young mothers from Central American have never put on a disposable diaper on their kids. Many of these immigrants lack basic skills to survive in America.'

The insider said the facility she works is in clean and safe, the immigrants have medical, dental and all types of food at their disposal, toys, and even an Xbox for children.

There are 12 beds to room, which house as many as five families and each room has its own bathroom and private telephone line where they can call anyone in the world. The phone lines aren't recorded so the immigrants are free to talk to whoever, wherever and whenever.

Muslim immigrants are provided with prayer rugs and non-pork dishes.

The source said the amenities at this facility are so nice, there have been some immigrants who have refused to leave - a stark contrast to photos of the crowded migrant encampment in Donna, released by Congressman Henry Cuellar over the weekend.

'It's only going to get worse, not any better. What's going on now is going to have lasting negative impact on the United States for years to come. People are being released into the United States without the proper coping skills,' the source added.

On Friday, Congressman Ilhan Omar and other Democratic lawmakers will tour the Carrizo Springs, Texas facility.

Press will not be allowed to join the Democratic lawmakers inside the facility, per guidelines from the Biden administration, but the members of Congress will hold a news conference outside the shelter afterward at 1 pm. EST, her office said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., led a group of progressive Democrats on Monday in demanding that President Biden's administration end contracts between federal immigration enforcement agencies and state and local detention facilities.

So far fellow 'squad' member Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has commented on whether or not she'll attend the holding facility with Omar.
Young people to be honoured by North American Manx Association

Young people who have made an outstanding contribution to Manx culture and Island life in 2020/21 will be recognised this summer by the North American Manx Association.



The North American Manx Awards cover a range of subjects including Manx language, music and art and are largely focussed on children under the age of 18.



Other awards will celebrate people who have made an outstanding contribution to Manx culture and their community and those who have overcome a disability to make a difference.



Nominations are now open and can be downloaded here, or obtained by emailing cpd.bookings@sch.im or calling Frances Cowin or Shelley Moffitt on 01624 693830/6.



The deadline for nominations is Friday 7 May and the winners will receive a specially minted medal at the Tynwald building in Douglas on Friday 9 July.



SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Dana Evans broke out of a shooting slump in a big way, carrying Louisville to the Elite Eight.

The senior All-America guard matched her career high with 29 points and the No. 2 seed Cardinals advanced to the regional final of the women's NCAA Tournament for the third straight time with a 60-42 win over sixth-seeded Oregon on Sunday night.

I knew it would end at the right time, when I needed it to, Evans said. "My teammates didnt need me to do what I did tonight (in) in the other games. Everybody has been stepping up. I think everything happens for a reason. My teammates were able to get their confidence and get going and now that I feel like that Im back to my normal self, I feel like were going to be just fine.

Evans had struggled late in the season and hadnt played well in the first two games of the tournament. She hadnt scored more than 15 points in any of the five ACC or NCAA Tournament games before Sunday.

She said former Louisville great Asia Durr had reached out to her over the last few days.

She sent me a nice text just telling me to just relax, let the game come to me and dont overthink it, Evans said. "I took her words, and it worked.

The Cardinals will face top seed Stanford on Tuesday night in the Alamo Region final.

Louisville (26-3) continued its stellar defensive play, holding Oregon (15-9) to 14 points in the first half, including six in the second quarter.

Evans provided the offense. After going scoreless in the first quarter, she started to heat up. Oregon had freshman Maddie Scherr guarding Evans in the opening period before she hurt her ankle and had to come out of the game. Evans responded by scoring 13 points in the second and ended the period with a nifty drive and dish right before the buzzer to give Louisville a 29-14 advantage at the break.

Oregon rallied in the second half, cutting its deficit to 10 after three quarters. The Ducks were down 41-33 with 50 seconds left in the third after two free throws by Nyara Sabally. But she went down with a left ankle injury 20 seconds later when she stepped on a teammate's foot. Sabally had to be helped off the court. She didn't return and finished with a team-leading 14 points.

Story continues

The Ducks got within 43-37 early in the fourth quarter, but seven straight points by Evans  including two deep 3-pointers  started a 13-0 run that put the game away.

Evans capped her night with a fast-break layup off a spectacular behind-the-back pass from Mykasa Robinson, who stole the ball with a minute left.

I knew she was about to do something, but didn't know what it was going to be," Evans said. "She doesn't surprise me for what she does for us. Her basketball IQ is really high.

Oregon was trying to get to its fourth straight Elite Eight and second consecutive Final Four. The Ducks had struggled heading into the NCAA Tournament, dropping five of six before getting to Texas.

Coach (Jeff) Walz had them ready and they deserved it tonight, Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. They played harder tonight and got us on our heels early. We couldnt quite recover. We made an effort to cut it to six, then they went on a run that we couldnt recover from. That being said, I'm proud of my team and don't think a month ago people thought we'd be here."

The Cardinals hadn't played well at the start of either of their NCAA games. They trailed by nine after one quarter in the first round against Marist and by 15 against Northwestern.

Louisville didn't light it up early this time, either, but managed a 10-8 lead after the opening quarter. The teams combined to shoot 9 for 35 in the first 10 minutes.

I completely changed up the pregame speech. It was more of a plead, Please play hard, Walz said. Whatever I told you to do, just do the opposite because the last two werent good at all. So happy how we came out and defended, especially in the first quarter.

MISFIRED

The Ducks missed all nine 3-point attempts in the first half and finished the game 2 for 18.

INDY BOUND

Graves will travel to Indianapolis in support of his son, Will, who is a walk-on for the Gonzaga men's team. The unbeaten Bulldogs will play in an Elite Eight game on Tuesday against either Southern California or Oregon.

We didnt win a national championship, but maybe they will, Graves said.

___

More AP womens college basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
The Ondo State High Court, in Akure, has sentenced Gabriel Akinsanmi to four years imprisonment for stealing and issuance of dud cheques for a refund of over N33 million to a client.

A statement by the spokesperson for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, stated that the trial judge, O. A. Adegbehingbe, convicted and sentenced the 49-year-old on March 26.

The convict was said to have been charged with two counts of stealing and issuance of dud cheque following a June 8, 2017 petition sent to the Ibadan Zonal office of the EFCC by Adebayo Alabi.

Mr Alabi alleged in his petition he had paid N105,000,000 to Gabriel Akinsanmi for the supply of six trucks of cashew nuts.

He alleged that Mr Akinsanmi only supplied four out of the agreed six trucks.

Mr Akinsanmi was later said to have issued four cheques of N8,452,387 each as refund of the balance, totaling N33, 809, 548.

But upon presentation of the cheques, only one of the four was said to have been cleared while the other three were reportedly returned unpaid.

The convict was arraigned on January 30, 2018 and he pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge preferred against him, setting the stage for trail.

Read statement in full:

EFCC Press Release

Man Jailed Over Dud Cheque in Akure, Two Others Convicted in Abeokuta

A 49-year-old man, Gabriel Akinsanmi has been sentenced to four years imprisonment for issuance of dud cheque, contrary to Section 1(1)(b) of the Dishonoured Cheques (Offences) Act, Cap D11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 1(1)(b)(i) of the same Act.

He was convicted on Friday, March 26, 2021 by Justice O. A. Adegbehingbe of the Ondo State High Court, sitting in Akure on two counts of a four-count charge of stealing and issuance of dud cheque brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office.

His journey to prison started when the Commission received a petition dated June 8, 2017, from one Adebayo Alabi alleging that he (the complainant) paid the sum of N105,000,000 (One Hundred and Five Million Naira) to Gabriel Akinsanmi for the supply of 6 trucks of cashew nuts.

After payment, he alleged that Gabriel only supplied four out of the six trucks and later issued him four cheques of N8,452,387.00 (Eight Million, Four Hundred and Fifty Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Eighty-Seven Naira) each as refund of the balance, totaling N33, 809, 548.00 (Thirty-Three Million, Eight Hundred and Nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Forty-Eight Naira).

Upon presentation of the cheques, only one of the cheques was cleared while the other three were returned unpaid.

Gabriel was arraigned on January 30, 2018 and pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge preferred against him, setting the stage for trail.

During trial, the prosecution called 15 witnesses and tendered documents which were admitted in evidence. The defendant also called six witnesses.

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After reviewing the arguments of counsel, Justice Adegbehingbe found Gabriel guilty on counts two and three and sentenced him to two years in each count. The jail term is to run concurrently, from March 26, 2021.

Similarly, Justice Mohammed Abubakar of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abeokuta on Friday March 26, 2021 convicted and sentenced two internet fraudsters to three months imprisonment, following a plea bargain with the Commission.

Oluwaseyi Adekunle (a.k.a. Terri Hunt) was convicted and sentenced to three months jail term with an option of N20,000 (Twenty Thousand Naira) fine , while Akanbi Mayowa Adebayo (a.k.a. Cecilia Waru) was convicted and sentenced to three months without an option of fine.

They were both found guilty on a one-count amended charge bordering on impersonation contrary to Section 22(2) (b) (i) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015.

Aside from their jail terms, the Court also ordered them to make restitution to their victims and forfeit items recovered from them to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Wilson Uwujaren

Head, Media & Publicity

29 March, 2021
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Americans Continue to Flock to Mexico for Retirement



Within Mexico, Puerto Vallarta is a top choice beach destination for retirement. If you have been thinking about spending your golden years on the sunny beaches of our region, CONTACT one of our agents today. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco - Mexico is America's choice for sunny foreign retirement living, with more Americans retiring to Mexico than to any other country outside of the USA.



In fact, according to government data collected in 2019, Americans account for the largest group of foreign residents living in Mexico, with over 1.2 million people from the USA now calling this country home. So, what are some of the reasons that it is so appealing to retire to Mexico?



Affordable cost of living - The popular website



Social security benefits - Americans living in Mexico are still eligible to receive all their social security benefits.



Quality health care - Private hospitals and clinics offer an excellent caliber of healthcare with many doctors speaking English fluently and with training from the United States. Doctors, dentists, and specialists are not only highly qualified and extremely affordable, but appointments can generally be gained with very little waiting time.



Social life - Areas with large American communities of retirees, like Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerias, tend to be very social with Facebook groups dedicated to meeting friends and making connections.



Safety - Puerto Vallarta consistently ranks as one of the most secure destinations in Mexico, both in international rankings and polls taken from local and foreign residents.



Within Mexico, Puerto Vallarta is a top choice beach destination for retirement, and if you have been thinking about spending your golden years on the sunny beaches of our region,



Click HERE for more Puerto Vallarta real estate and lifestyle tips from Tropicasa Realty.

Since 1997, Wayne Franklin and his team at Tropicasa Realty have been a trusted name in Puerto Vallarta real estate. Tropicasa Realty is the region's representative for "The Leading Agents of the World" and with over 100 years of combined experience in real estate, all agents of the company are affiliated with AMPI. Wayne Franklin or any member of his knowledgeable team can be contacted in-person at their Romantic Zone Office - Pulpito 145-A at Olas Altas. While in PV they can be reached at (322) 222-6505 or by calling 866-978-5539 (Toll-Free) from the U.S.



- Mexico is America's choice for sunny foreign retirement living, with more Americans retiring to Mexico than to any other country outside of the USA.In fact, according to government data collected in 2019, Americans account for the largest group of foreign residents living in Mexico, with over 1.2 million people from the USA now calling this country home. So, what are some of the reasons that it is so appealing to retire to Mexico?- The popular website Live and Invest Overseas has recently published the list of the 9 most affordable places for Americans to retire in Mexico. Additionally, InternationalLiving.com polled Americans living in Mexico and estimated that $2500 USD per month will provide a very comfortable standard of living for a couple, complete with extras like a vehicle, private health care, and a weekly housekeeper.- Americans living in Mexico are still eligible to receive all their social security benefits.- Private hospitals and clinics offer an excellent caliber of healthcare with many doctors speaking English fluently and with training from the United States. Doctors, dentists, and specialists are not only highly qualified and extremely affordable, but appointments can generally be gained with very little waiting time.- Areas with large American communities of retirees, like Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerias, tend to be very social with Facebook groups dedicated to meeting friends and making connections.- Puerto Vallarta consistently ranks as one of the most secure destinations in Mexico, both in international rankings and polls taken from local and foreign residents.Within Mexico, Puerto Vallarta is a top choice beach destination for retirement, and if you have been thinking about spending your golden years on the sunny beaches of our region, CONTACT one of our agents today. We will work with you to find the perfect home in the right neighborhood that will make your retirement dreams come true.Since 1997, Wayne Franklin and his team at Tropicasa Realty have been a trusted name in Puerto Vallarta real estate. Tropicasa Realty is the region's representative for "The Leading Agents of the World" and with over 100 years of combined experience in real estate, all agents of the company are affiliated with AMPI. Wayne Franklin or any member of his knowledgeable team can be contacted in-person at their Romantic Zone Office - Pulpito 145-A at Olas Altas. While in PV they can be reached at (322) 222-6505 or by calling 866-978-5539 (Toll-Free) from the U.S. Click HERE to learn more about Tropicasa Realty , or visit tropicasa.com.



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South Africa: SAPS makes inroads in policing, crowd management response

Significant inroads in attempts to professionalise crowd management processes within the South African Police Service (SAPS) have been made, says Police Minister Bheki Cele.

The Minister made the remarks on Monday while releasing the Panel of Experts Report on policing and crowd management of the SAPS.

The panel was appointed by Cabinet in 2016.

The panel, in its 596-page report, put forward a detailed programme for the professionalisation of the SAPS for reforms in crowd management.

The tragedy of Marikana is an occurrence that is etched in the minds of all of us, as a nation. More so, for those who lost their fathers, uncles, sons and breadwinners on that fateful day in 2012, said Cele.

The 16 August 2012 event was preceded by the killing of ten people, including two security guards and two police officers.

This mass shooting of 34 mineworkers has certainly forced the South African Police Service to correct where it went wrong, said the Minister at the briefing held at the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) head office in Pretoria.

The Marikana Commission of Inquiry, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, looked into the days events and presented a report with findings and recommendations.

Steered by the late Judge David Sakelene Vusimuzi Ntshangase, the panel sought to analyse the recommendations in line with the strategic imperatives of the National Development Plan.

The panels terms of reference included strategy and policy; public order policing processes and procedures; professionalisation and demilitarisation of the police; and accountability and transparency in all SAPS operations.

In its report, the panel put forward a detailed programme for the professionalisation of SAPS for reforms in crowd management.

The review of the SAPS code of conduct; issues of discipline; training and recruitment as well as competency are also contained in the panels findings. The panel sought to give advice on the approaches and possible policy interventions in this regard, said Cele.

The Minister assured South Africans that accountability was in motion, with police members involved in the Marikana tragedy being criminally prosecuted.

To date, the SAPS has paid out over R176 million compensate the families of those killed in the Marikana tragedy. R18 million-rand worth of civil claims to yet to be finalised. The process to finalise other categories of compensation are ongoing, said the Minister.

Cele added that Cabinet had directed that the issue of the families of those killed on that fateful day be looked at.

The Marikana Commission called on the SAPS to address the systematic problems relating to governance, leadership and accountability.

Legislative reforms

In this regard, the Minister said legislative reforms had commenced.

The bulk of the recommendations are to be realised in the short to medium term as they are incorporated into the SAPS Act Amendment Bill, he said, adding that the bill had already gone through a round of public comments.

These inputs are being finalised before the bill is tabled in Parliament.

The Bill gives the assurance that no automatic rifles may be used in crowd control management. It will also address matters of vetting and integrity testing for those employed under the SAPS Act, including municipal police, said Cele.

Those joining the service will also need to be subjected to processes that ensure the integrity of the organisation is maintained. He said the Civilian Secretariat for the Police Service will monitor the implementation of the recommendations and provide regular progress reports.

De-militarisation of the SAPS

Among the matters raised by the Commission was the de-militarisation of the SAPS.

Cele said the Civilian Secretariats research studies had established that the SAPS Visible Policing units were not militarised.

There were, however, sections within the SAPS that are paramilitary by virtue of the crimes they have to deal with. These included the Tactical Response Team (TRT), National Intervention Unit (NIU) and Special Task Force. This was due to the units using specialised techniques to deal with serious and violent crimes.

Overall, the professionalisation of the SAPS is being realised through ongoing internal training courses. These are earmarked for officers at every section of the SAPS to understand the law as well as the rights of the people they serve, he said.

Over and above that, the police recruitment process continues to attract professional graduates.

SAPS is now employer of choice for graduates of law, criminology, forensics and other policing related degrees. Attracting the best will bolster policing and better serve South Africans, he said.

IPID

Another recommendation was that the Ministry continues to work towards beefing up the staffing and resourcing of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

Cele said it was crucial for IPID to remain responsive in its mandate.

It also must have the freedom to build strong capacity and remain an effective impartial oversight body of the SAPS, said the Minister.

The Ministry remains fully committed to capacitating and resourcing the Directorate to ensure it functions effectively and is supported in maintaining its independence.

Public Order Policing units

On public order policing (POP) units, interventions such as the equipping of the units were already in place.

POP units are better resourced today than they have ever been before. Nearly R598 million has been spent toward resourcing and capacitating of the POP units.

The units are equipped with twoway radios, loud hailers, video cameras and PA systems for ease of communication during operations. Beyond this, 6 324 officers have been trained through numerous courses and found competent in proper crowd management.

Officers in the unit have also been trained on the use of specialised equipment such as water cannons and stun grenades.

New generation water cannon driving workshops have also been conducted to further equip and empower officers, the Minister said.

In addition, all POP officers are trained in first aid and each vehicle used for the units operations is equipped with first aid kits as per the Expert Panels recommendations.

One of the sharpest criticisms of the SAPS by the Marikana Commission was the lack of transparency on the events 16 August 2012.

One recommendation was to encourage the video recording of protests, public unrest and other mass gatherings by the police.

Cele said this had now become a standard operating procedure in the SAPS.

In this regard, hundreds of professional video cameras, external hard-drives as well as voice recorders and stills cameras have been secured for this purpose, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Australia needs to rapidly speed up the vaccination of all healthcare workers, health experts have warned, as the Queensland outbreak shows the current rollout pace is not fast enough.

There were four new locally acquired cases reported in Queensland on Monday morning, with fears COVID-19 may have spread from Queensland into NSW after two people travelled to Byron Bay while unknowingly infectious.

Health Minister Greg Hunt on Monday. Credit:Joe Armao

Those two new cases  a nurse working on a COVID-19 hospital ward and her sister  visited Byron venues popular with holidaying Sydneysiders before they tested positive for the virus.

The new cases take the latest Queensland cluster to seven. One of the new cases could also be the link to a Princess Alexandra Hospital doctor who was infectious two weeks ago.

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A traveller kidnapped, on Friday, at Osu town, along the Ife-Ilesha expressway in Osun State has regained his freedom.

The spokesperson of police in the state, Yemisi Opalola, said in a statement on Monday, that the victim was released without ransom paid on Sunday evening.

It was earlier reported that kidnappers intercepted travellers vehicle on Friday and kidnapped three people.

The police, however, said that only one person was kidnapped and the fellow is identified as Usman, a brother to Seriki Hausa of Iyere town, Haruna Tanko.

Mr Tanko had earlier said that the kidnappers demanded N50 million ransom to free his brother.

However,, Ms Opalola who announced the release of the victim said no ransom was paid.

She said unrelenting efforts and collaboration from other security outfits to rid the state of criminal activities since the incident of the kidnap was reported led to the release of the victim at about 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The Commissioner of Police wishes to set the record straight that, it was only one person that was kidnapped against the bad drop that three persons were kidnapped.
[March 29, 2021] Operation Triumphus Captures Vietnam Veteran Stories to Preserve History

OMAHA, Neb., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Operation Triumphus is a new platform designed to preserve the stories and memories of Vietnam Veterans in an interactive multimedia experience. The site is designed to crowdsource and catalogue stories, pictures, and videos from Veterans and share them in a way that is engaging and interactive. We are in danger of losing the stories and voices of the diverse Veterans who served during the Vietnam conflict. While a number of other projects have captured oral histories into archives, the focus on long-form single interviews has made them inaccessible for people trying to understand a particular topic or experience. By splitting stories into themed segments and applying hashtags and links, Operation Triumphus will allow users to dive deeply into related content, dates, themes, locations, and even military units. The platform will allow users to share their stories, photos, and videos and interact with other user's stories. The site is currently collecting material in a limited focus group and will launch to the public on April 15, 2021. It is free to make an account, and both Veterans and their family members can share content.



"Vietnam Veterans weren't given the same celebration as other Veterans who returned home, and if we aren't careful, before too long our stories and legacies will be gone. That is why a project like Operation Triumphus is so important! Our stories deserve to be heard," said Brooks W. Outland, USN (retired), YNCS(SW) - Former Crewmember U.S.S. Missouri BB-63.

In the history of our country no American military returning from a war has ever been as poorly treated as the Vietnam Veteran. Abandoned by the people who sent them to war and facing ridicule and stigmas when they returned home, they made a powerful statement, "Never again will one generation of Veterans abandon another." Every modern Veteran and every Veteran moving forward owes their increased quality of life after service to the work of Vietnam Veterans. To share your stories about Vietnam, please visit https://operationtriumphus.org or email Steve at steve@operationtriumphus.org If you would like more information about this topic, please call Steven Downey at 330-760-4707, or email Steve@OperationTriumphus.org. Related Images

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Operation Triumphus Logo View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/operation-triumphus-captures-vietnam-veteran-stories-to-preserve-history-301257401.html SOURCE Operation Triumphus

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Verdi, Germanys second-largest trade union with around 2mln members, has called on workers at Amazons sites in Rheinberg, Werne, Koblenz, Leipzig and at two locations in Bad Hersfeld to go on strike for four days on Sunday night

Amazon Inc ( ) is facing yet more problems on the labour relations front after a trade union in Germany, the companys second-largest market, called on workers at six of its distribution sites to go on strike from Sunday evening.

Verdi, Germanys second-largest trade union with around 2mln members, has called on workers at Amazons sites in Rheinberg, Werne, Koblenz, Leipzig and at two locations in Bad Hersfeld to go on strike for four days in a bid to force the corporation to recognise collective bargaining agreements.

The union is also demanding a 4.5% pay increase for workers in the retail and mail order industry, which are due to start in the next few weeks.

Verdis call for strike action will add more pressure to Amazons PR department as it struggles to contain growing outrage over the treatment of its employees and accusations of union-busting activities in the US.

Last week the corporation suffered a PR fiasco after internal documents were published that revealed the company was aware of delivery workers urinating in bottles due to being unable to access toilets, despite having previously denied such events on Twitter.

The ecommerce giant is also alleged to have employed tactics to prevent or discourage workers from organising at its huge fulfilment centres.

Shares in Amazon were flat at US$3,050 in pre-market trading in New York on Monday.
In a warm gesture, highlighting the strong ties shared between India and Nepal, New Delhi on Sunday sent one lakh doses of Coronavirus vaccine for the Nepal Army in Kathmandu. Nine packages of Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) were ferried in an Air-India plane.



Santosh Ballav Paudel, the spokesperson for Nepal Army said "Assisting in fight against COVID-19 pandemic, one lakh doses of vaccine for Nepal Army being provided by Indian Army has arrived in Kathmandu today. Its formal handover is scheduled to take place in a few days."

Nepal: Indian Army gifted 1 lakh doses of Made in India COVID19 vaccine to Nepal Army yesterday.#VaccineMaitri pic.twitter.com/B3Z6kyefmt  ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2021

Oli: Vaccine drive in India has given Nepal 'great hope'

Nepal sought help from India in combatting Covid-19 in January as Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli had approved the emergency use of the Covishield vaccine. developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by SII. Oli had also said that the vaccine drive in India has given Nepal 'great hope' while the foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gaywali had also sought India's help.



"Today as we await for the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, India is one of the frontrunners. This has given us great hope. I take this opportunity to congratulate India and its innovative companies for success. Being next door, we believe we too will be availing these vaccines," Gaywali had observed at the Indian Council of World Affairs.

India will send 1.92 million more vaccine doses to Nepal by May

India sent 348,000 doses to Nepal earlier this month under the COVAX initiative. In order to support the Nepal government's countrywide vaccination drive, India will send 1.92 million more vaccine doses to Nepal by May end. The neighbouring country has already received a million doses of Covishield from India under grant assistance. Moreover, 1.6 million people have been vaccinated in Nepal till now and the Oli government aims to vaccinate at least 70 percent of its population by the end of 2021.


The worlds tallest mountain has been closed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But Nepals Mount Everest will be open to visitors again next month. The news pleases mountain climbers from around the world.

Climbing season begins in April with the start of better weather. A representative from Nepals department of tourism expects about 300 climbers will try to reach the top of the mountain this year.

During the climbing season in 2019, a record 381 climbers attempted to reach the top of Everest.

This year, if someone wants to climb the mountain, they must show a recent negative test for the virus. Visitors also must stay away from other people for a week after arriving in Nepal.

Mountain climbing is an important part of Nepals economy. Eight of the worlds 14 highest mountains  including Everest  are at least partly in the South Asian country.

Nepal closed its mountains in 2020 as the coronavirus spread in the country, which borders India and China. Nepal has recorded nearly 275,000 infections and just over 3,000 deaths from the virus.

The virus is more controlled now that vaccinations have started.

The part of Everest in China remains closed, so it is possible that more climbers than usual will come to Nepal.

Lukas Furtenbach is with Furtenbach Adventures, a California-based company that leads mountain climbing trips. He plans to bring 22 people to Nepal for climbing trips this year. Two of his groups will try to climb Everest.

He said his groups will follow COVID-19 rules such as living in a bubble at the start of the trip.

Garrett Madison owns an adventure company called Madison Mountaineering. He plans to bring climbers from April through May.

We are not afraid of COVID, but will take precautions, he said.

Another company, however, will stay away this season.

Adrian Ballinger works for Alpenglow Expeditions in California.

He said it is not a responsible time to lead trips to Nepal because of the countrys weak healthcare system.

Ballinger added, The last thing we want to do is put our climbers in harms way or create a rescue situation on the mountain if someone were to get sick that would put others in danger.

Im Dan Friedell.

Gopal Sharma wrote this story for Reuters. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Have you ever thought about climbing Everest? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

negative adj. not showing the presence of a particular germ, condition, or substance

bubble n. a group created during the pandemic that prevents new people from entering and keeps the group safe from infection

precautions n. something that is done to prevent possible harm or trouble from happening in the future
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday used his wife's Facebook account to broadcast a government briefing, after the social network temporarily suspended access to his page for violating policies against spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Maduro was restricted from posting on his page for a month after recommending the use of an antiviral treatment against COVID-19 remedy that hasn't been scientifically proven.

"Facebook, in a totalitarian and abusive way, censored me," Maduro said in a televised coronavirus news conference, a day after his suspension. "They think they are above the rights to freedom of expression," he added.

Maduro also said his government was "ready and prepared" to exchange oil for COVID-19 vaccines, without giving additional detail. "Venezuela has the oil tankers," he said. "It has the customers to buy oil from us and it would dedicate part of its production to guarantee all the vaccines that Venezuela needs", Maduro said. Venezuela's government has repeatedly claimed it has enough funds in foreign banks to pay for necessary vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX facility, but is unable to freely move the money because of a US blockade.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
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.
Netizens Speculate Ajay Devgn Got Beaten Up In A Brawl Near Delhi Airport; Actor's Team Issues Clarifiction

A video of a brawl that broke out near the Delhi airport is going viral on social media with rumours claiming that a drunk Ajay Devgn is the man getting beaten up in the video. The matter finally reached Ajay himself and the actors spokesperson has now issued a clarification in the matter.

A man in a white T-shirt is being beaten up in the fight caught on camera and it took no time for speculations to float that the man is Ajay. His team in a statement issued has clarified that the atcor has not visited Delhi in over a year so he cant be the man in question.

"Post the promotion of Tanhaji-The Unsung Warrior in January 2020, Actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn has not visited Delhi. So media reports of a brawl involving the superstar outside a Delhi pub are absolutely baseless and untrue, the statement clarified.

Not really sure if this is #ajaydevgan or not but #Kisanektamorcha agitation seems to be spreading up. Social media floating with this video that drunk @ajaydevgn got beaten up?? #RakeshTikaitpic.twitter.com/Fv8j0kG5fv  lalit kumar (@lalitkumartweet) March 28, 2021

"We request news agencies and media to please note that Mr Devgn has been in Mumbai the entire time shooting for Maidaan, MayDay and Gangubai Kathiawadu and he hasnt set foot in the Capital in 14 months. Request all media to please cross-check before putting out anything, the spokesperson added.

The brawl in the video broke out near a pub in Aerocity between two groups of men after one of their vehicles had a touch and go incident with another. The police has registered a complaint in the matter on March 27.

[March 29, 2021] Avicannas Majority Owned Colombian Subsidiary Attains 2021 THC Production Quota and Completes First Commercial Export of Aureus Branded THC Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients to Chile

Avicanna has been granted its 2021 quota from the Colombian government to cultivate and process up to 10,267 kg of dry flower for exports in the form of crude and standardized extracts and final phyto-therapeutic pharmaceutical products and to produce seeds from registered psychoactive varieties for commercial purposes.

This is the first known import of THC Cannabis Extracts into Chile and will be utilized for pharmaceutical drug registration and commercialization.

This marks the first export of psychoactive Cannabis Extract as a part of the Aureus branded product offerings which have been successfully exported into 7 other countries.

TORONTO, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avicanna Inc. ("Avicanna" or the "Company) (TSX: AVCN) (OTCQX: AVCNF) (FSE: 0NN) a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of plant-derived cannabinoid-based products is pleased to announce that through its majority owned Colombian subsidiary, Santa Marta Golden Hemp S.A.S. (SMGH), the Company has been granted a quota by the Colombian government to cultivate and process up to 10,267 kg of dry flower to manufacture psychoactive (THC) crude and standardized extracts and final phyto-therapeutic pharmaceutical products for export purposes and to produce seeds from registered psychoactive varieties for commercial purposes. The Company also announces that through SMGH it has completed its first commercial export to Chile. SMGH has successfully completed the export of 20.75 kilograms of high THC and high CBD full spectrum psychoactive cannabis resin (the Cannabis Extracts) to a leading Chilean homeopathic and naturopathic pharmaceutical company. Substantial 2021 quota for THC SMGH has been granted a cultivation manufacturing quota by the Colombian government permitting the company to process up to 10,267 kg of dry flower from its registered and optimized genetics to produce psychoactive derivatives. This substantial sum will be collectively utilized for the exports of crude and standardized extracts and finished phyto-therapeutic pharmaceutical forms. The quotas also allow SMGH to cultivate up to 1,720 cannabis plants to produce seeds from four of SMGHs registered genetics. These seeds can be utilized to supply other licensed companies either inside Colombia or in foreign markets that permit the import, commercialization, and cultivation of cannabis. This positions the Company to be a supplier of THC-containing active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished products for medical purposes to several markets around the world that are welcoming such imports. Commercial export into Chile The Cannabis Extracts will be utilized for the manufacturing of cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products which are currently in the final stages of clinical development and registration before being commercialized in South America. The Cannabis Extracts branded as Aureus are cultivated, extracted, and manufactured by SMGH. SMGH also supplies pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies with cannabinoids including CBD, THC and rare cannabinoids such as CBG in addition to supplying global cultivation companies with standardized and feminized seeds. Lucas Nosiglia, President of Avicanna LATAM commented: We continue to set the standards, pioneer and establish our footprint in South America across our different business units. This milestone acts as Avicannas first commercial export of standardized psychoactive extracts into South America and evidence that the industry is evolving towards the need for quality standards and full traceability of input materials for cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products. We are pleased to see legislation and opportunities related to cannabinoids-based cosmetics, medical and pharmaceutical products evolve at a rapid rate and believe we are in a great position to fortify or leadership position in the region.



To the knowledge of the Company, it carries out its operations in compliance with all applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which it operates. About Avicanna

Avicanna is a diversified and vertically integrated Canadian biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of plant-derived cannabinoid-based products for the global consumer, medical, and pharmaceutical market segments. Avicanna is an established leader in cannabinoid research and development, which it primarily conducts at its R&D headquarters in the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centre, JLABS @ Toronto, Canada and in collaboration with leading Canadian academic and medical institutions. In addition to its developing pharmaceutical pipeline, Avicannas team of experts have developed and commercialized several industry leading product lines, including: Pura H&W: an advanced and clinically tested line of CBD consumer derma-cosmetic products; and,





RHO Phyto: an advanced line of medical cannabis products containing varying ratios of CBD and THC currently available nation-wide across Canada in partnership with Medical Cannabis by Shoppers, a subsidiary of Shoppers Drug Mart. RHO Phyto is the first strictly medical formulary of advanced Cannabis 2.0 products, containing oils, sprays, capsules, creams, and gels, all developed with scientific rigour, manufactured under GMP standards and supported by pre-clinical data.

With ongoing clinical trials on its derma-cosmetic (Pura H&W), medical cannabis (RHO Phyto) and a pipeline of pharmaceutical products, Avicannas dedication to researching the important role that cannabinoids play in an increasingly wider scope of products has been at the core of the Companys vision since its inception. Furthermore, Avicannas commitment to education is demonstrated through its annual medical symposium, the Avicanna Academy educational platform, and the My Cannabis Clinic patient program through its subsidiary company. Avicanna manages its own supply chain including cultivation and extraction through its two majority-owned subsidiaries, Sativa Nativa S.A.S. and Santa Marta Golden Hemp S.A.S., both located in Santa Marta, Colombia. Through these sustainable, economical, and industrial scale subsidiaries, Avicanna cultivates, processes, and commercializes a range of cannabis and hemp cultivars dominant in CBD, CBG, THC, and other cannabinoids for use as active pharmaceutical ingredients. Avicannas Avesta Genetica program specializes in the development and optimization of rare cultivars for commercial production along with feminized seeds for global export. In June 2020, Avicanna made history with a shipment of hemp seeds to the United States of America by completing the first ever export of hemp seeds from Colombia. SOURCE Avicanna Inc. Stay Connected For more information about Avicanna, visit www.avicanna.com, call 1-647-243-5283, or contact Setu Purohit, President by email at info@avicanna.com. The company posts updates through videos from the official company YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5yBclNIsNf7VrE34iwt8OA. Please join the conversation on our Avicanna supporters telegram group at https://t.me/Avicannainc. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as, "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "anticipate", "believe, "intend", "plan", "forecast", "project", "estimate", "outlook" and other similar expressions, and includes statements with respect to the ability of SMGH to produce seeds from registered psychoactive varieties for commercial purposes, the ability of SMGH to cultivate and process up to 10,267kg of psychoactive flower, the ability of SMGH to produce psychoactive derivatives, the ability of SMGH to cultivate up to 1,720 cannabis plants to produce seeds. The ability of the Company to supply other licensed companies in Colombia or globally with cannabis seeds, the Company being positioned to be a supplier of THC-containing active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished products for medical purposes around the world, the ability of the Company to export crude extracts and finished phyto-therapeutic pharmaceutical products, the ability of SMGH to complete additional exports of Cannabis Extracts to Chile, the ability of SMGH to continue to cultivate, extract, and manufacture the Cannabis Extracts, the ability of Avicanna to use the Cannabis Extracts for the production and manufacture of finished products, and the ability of SMGH to supply pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies with cannabinoids (including rare cannabinoids) in addition to supplying global cultivation companies with standardized and feminized seeds. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors relevant in the circumstances, including assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions, the current and future regulatory environment; and the availability of licenses, approvals and permits. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to current and future market conditions, including the market price of the common shares of the Company, and the risk factors set out in the Company's annual information form dated April 15, 2020, and final short form prospectus dated November 27, 2020, filed with the Canadian securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.



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Even when they firmly believe in gender equality, many opposite-sex couples struggle to remain truly equal in their partnership, especially once children are in the picture.
document

The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attacks and violence against civilians in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique. The attacks show a complete disregard for the local population, which has suffered tremendously because of the terrorists' brutal and indiscriminate tactics. We call for an immediate end to the violence and for those responsible to be held accountable to the full extent of the law.

The United States remains committed to working with the Government of Mozambique to counter terrorism and violent extremism and ensure security and prosperity for all its citizens and residents. Our thoughts are with the people of Mozambique as they confront this crisis.
Connecticuts inmate population would no longer be considered residents of the towns in which their prisons are located under legislation approved in a key legislative committee on Monday.

Aimed at so-called prison gerrymandering, if approved in the Senate, House of Representatives and Gov. Ned Lamont, the legislation would allow the inmates to be listed in the U.S. Census as residing in their last known addresses, possibly changing the existing boundaries of some districts, but bringing more resources to the inmates hometowns.

The bill, which passed along party lines in the Government Administration & Elections Committee, next heads to the Senate.

Prison gerrymandering lets lawmakers inflate the population and give places with prisons more representation, and thats how incarcerated populations impact our elections, said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut, the elections watchdog, in a phone interview after the committee action.

But since they cannot vote, state government is exploiting bodies for political gain, Quickmire said. Gerrymandering can also distort equal representation by creating districts that appear to give them representation by electing the candidate of their choice, when they cannot even vote.

Prison gerrymandering is racist and undemocratic, and its long past time for Connecticut to join the ten other states that have abolished it, said Claudine Fox, Interim Public Policy and Advocacy Director of the ACLU CT, in a statement.

Prison gerrymandering disenfranchises Black communities and needs to end, said Scot X. Esdaile, president of the NAACP CT. I thank the members of the Government Administration & Elections Committee for supporting this historic legislation.

Advocates note that rural districts where prisons are located are predominantly white, at the expense of cities with higher populations of Black and brown people. Overall prison populations have been steadily declining in the last 13 months, with 8,960 behind bars last week, down 3,449 since March 1, 2020 and nearly 11,000 since 2008, according to the state Department of Correction.

Advocates want to enact the bill into law in time to affect the upcoming redistricting this fall that coincides with the release of Census figures that are used for the 10-year national and statewide political redistricting process.

Why do we have this before us? asked state Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, ranking member of the committee who led Republican criticism and opposition. I really dont understand what the goals are. I dont believe there is an injustice going on. I believe that this bill, in fact, is gerrymandering. Who is to say theyll ever return to that address?

But Democrats led by Sen. Douglas McCrory, of Hartford, said that the current system is another example of institutional racism.

Weve been doing this business in Connecticut for far too long, McCrory said. These counts are extremely important, especially when it comes to the Census. It dictates where resources are going, who needs them and all kinds of things that matter. Its extremely important for Connecticut to come around and get with the 21st Century and stop counting individuals who are located in correctional facilities as residents of that community. That community doesnt support that individual, their families or anything.

McCrory said that inmate families remain in their hometowns, and the vast majority of prisoners will be returning there when their prison terms are finished.

We have a false count, currently, McCrory said. At one point, when our prison population was up over 17,000, 18,000, I know specifically 4,000 people from the city of Hartford was not counted. I think its extremely important to move forward, pass this legislation and stop doing the injustices that weve been doing for individuals, for families, for communities in the state of Connecticut.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
The panel says its report which will contain its recommendations will be ready by end of April or early May.

The Osun State Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality, Human Rights Violations and Related Extra-Judiciary Killings, has concluded its hearing.

The chairman, Akin Oladimeji, a retired judge, said Friday that all the 34 petitions received by the panel were considered.

Mr Oladimeji said the panel, which is one of those set up by various state governments and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the aftermath of last year's #EndSARS protest, struck out 11 of the 34 petitions due to incompetence or lack of diligence prosecution.

A post on the Facebook page of the Office of CPS, Osun State, stated that Mr Oladimeji spoke with journalists after Friday's proceedings.

He said the panel's report would be ready by the end of April or early May.

The panel chairman added that the petitioners deserving of compensation would be invited by the panel after the submission of the recommendations to the state government for implementation.

He said: "We have concluded all the cases before us. As you know, 34 petitions were filed to us and we are winding up today (Friday) to go and review evidence and submission of counsel before we proceed to make recommendations to the government.

"Out of the 34 petitions, 11 of them were struck out due to incompetence or lack of diligence prosecution.

"The other 23 cases, parties gave evidence in them, and counsel(s) represented the parties too. Their lawyers made final submissions and we have concluded all the cases.

"We will invite the petitioners after we have presented our recommendations to the (state) government who is solely responsible for the payment of the compensations to give them their compensations.

"As we all know, the recommendations must be in line with the financial capacity of the government, and I can assure you that we are going to make our recommendations to the governor before the end of April or early May.

"We shall do everything possible to ensure that whoever has been injured gets remedy, and that no petitioner shall go unjustified."

Petitioner weeps over husband's death

Meanwhile, a petitioner, Kafayat Ibitoye, burst into tears while narrating her ordeal over the alleged killing of her husband, Abdul-Akeem Ibitoye, in 2017.

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She said she approached the panel to seek justice for the gruesome killing of her husband by police officers in 2017 at Erin-Osun, Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State.

According to Mrs Ibitoye, the untimely death of her spouse forced her to withdraw her three kids from a private school for a public school and resort to bread hawking.

The mother of three urged the panel to award N50 million compensation for the killing of her husband whom she said was the breadwinner of her family.

She said, "It is unfortunate that I find myself in this situation. As was established in the court, my husband was killed unjustly. He was murdered by police who out of overzealousness fired gunshots at him and his elder brother where they went to.

"Since his demise, I have been carrying the financial burdens up and down. I had to withdraw my children from private school to public school when I couldn't afford the tuition fees."

She also said her deceased husband's corpse had not been seen since his killing.

But she said with the recent order of the panel for the release of the corpse, it would be complied with that day (Friday).
Reuters

Nowhere is this more evident than in the rising popularity of a Federal Reserve program that lets firms stash their cash overnight with the U.S. central bank in exchange for at best a small return. But usage is soaring to record highs as money market funds and other eligible firms cope with what some analysts are calling a "tsunami" of cash. The banking system is swimming in nearly $4 trillion of reserves, thanks in part to the Fed's asset purchases, a fall off in Treasury bill issuance and a rapid drawdown in the government's store of funds at the Fed. The Treasury General Account, or TGA, has dropped by nearly $1 trillion since last fall, mirrored by the surge in bank reserves.
Sri Lanka's Catholic church called Monday for the former president and his officials to be prosecuted for failing to prevent the suicide bombings two years ago that killed 279 people.

An investigation ordered by ex-leader Maithripala Sirisena soon after the April 21 bombings found that he and his intelligence officials had precise information from India about the impending attack 17 days earlier, but failed to prevent it.

The report, parts of which were released last month, held Sirisena -- now a member of successor Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party -- criminally liable.

"It is absolutely necessary to prosecute without any hesitation and further delays all those political leaders and officials... seconded for prosecution in the report," Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said in a statement, without directly naming Sirisena.

He said such individuals must be held accountable "for shirking their duty so callously and doing absolutely nothing to prevent the massacre".

The statement -- signed by 12 other Sri Lankan church leaders -- warned they would organise a national demonstration next month if those named in the report were not prosecuted.

In March, the church had asked the faithful to wear black and attend Sunday Mass as a sign of protest against the delay in ensuring justice for the victims.

The church also called for an ongoing investigation to cover military and intelligence officers said to have had contacts with the local jihadist who led the coordinated suicide bombings.

The inquiry heard testimony from officials who claimed that jihadist Zahran Hashim had dealings with security forces during the country's Tamil separatist war that ended in May 2009.

Church leaders urged a further investigation.

Sri Lanka has arrested over 200 people in connection with the attacks, but is yet to prosecute a single individual.

However, the US Justice Department in January charged three Sri Lankans with supporting terrorism for their alleged participation in the attacks, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Story continues

All three are in custody in Sri Lanka but have not been charged locally. The Justice Department said it would support their prosecution in the country.

At least 45 foreigners, including five Americans, were among those killed.

aj/rbu/jfx
Good morning, Bay Area. Its Monday, March 29, and San Franciscos apartment rents are seeing a strong rebound. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

After a year of staying cooped up indoors, things are starting to pick up again in the Bay Area with many businesses reopening and activities resuming as more and more people get vaccinated.

But some Bay Area residents arent feeling quite ready to go back to the lives they lived before the pandemic changed everything.

Its just easier to stay home, said Emily Liu, 24, of San Francisco.

Some are concerned about social pressures of pre-pandemic life, while others think things are moving too quickly right now. Experts say these feelings of anxiety are normal. Read more from Aidin Vaziri and Kellie Hwang.

 Contra Costa County officials said Sunday they expect to offer coronavirus vaccinations this week to everyone 16 and older  a first in the Bay Area. The move would precede by about two weeks the same broadening of statewide eligibility set for April 15, which will provide more benefits and challenges to disadvantaged communities.

 S.F. supervisor says Tenderloin and Treasure Island neighborhoods are not receiving enough vaccine despite state push for equity.

 Heres how vaccination rates vary among some of the Bay Areas counties.

 Bay Area parents are assessing the risk of sending their kids to sleepaway camps this year, which are allowed to open statewide in June.

 Confusing plans and setbacks in restarting in-person learning in San Francisco and Oakland are frustrating families.

 Rental prices in San Francisco see the biggest increase since the start of the pandemic.

Around the Bay

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

 Justin Phillips: Jack Londons racist ideas should be enough to rename the popular Oakland tourist waterfront area.

 The high cost of travel: This is why Californias gas prices are soaring above the national average.

 A retail politician: Vice President Kamala Harris is currently traveling across the country, cementing her role as salesperson to sell the presidents plans. Garofoli: Will V.P. Harris be able to influence President Joe Biden when it comes to big issues?

 Direct to consumer: Local delivery startups have brought San Francisco restaurants to customers across the Bay Area during the pandemic.

 Blackout silver lining? A new analysis shows that PG&Es controversial power shut-offs in 2019 may have prevented millions of acres from burning, but some are skeptical of the firms modeling.

Housing solution

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

San Francisco is in a housing shortage, yet has nearly 16 million square feet of office space available to lease or sublease. So it seems like it would make perfect sense to turn that space into housing.

There are some just inherent challenges with doing it. Not impossible  its certainly been done, said Manan Shah, co-managing director at a Bay Area architecture firm.

Office buildings cant be too big or too small, must provide open space, and may need seismic upgrades. And even amid the pandemic, office space is still more lucrative than apartment rents.

But if the office market slump continues, there may be more reason to consider these conversions. Read more from Roland Li.

Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown, Anna Buchmann and Kellie Hwang and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writers at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com and kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com.
Yang Jiechi (R), director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, and Wang Yi (L), China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, at the opening session of U.S.-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool via Reuters)

Yang Jiechis 17-Minute Talk in Alaska Breaks Bidens Strategic Balance With China

Commentary

During the U.S.-China talks in Alaska on March 18 and 19, Yang Jiechi, a member of the CCPs Politburo and director of the Foreign Affairs Office, gave a tough speech to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens team. In his speech, there were several paragraphs on international order, which were key and revealed a lot of information.

Yang Jiechis speech broke the triangle of competition, collaboration, and adversary in Bidens strategy toward the CCP: The United States relationship with China will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be, Blinken said during the talks. In the future, adversary between the two sides will increase, while competition and collaboration will be substantially reduced.

International Order Is Key to US-China Talks

In the talks between Blinken and Yang Jiechi on the 18th, the U.S. sides purpose was stated right at the beginning, with two paragraphs being the most crucial.

Blinken began by referring to the world system, emphasizing a rules-based international order. The alternative to a rules-based order is a world in which might makes right, and winners take all. And that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us, he said.

Blinken added that the United States wanted to discuss deep concerns with actions by China, including Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber-attacks on the United States, [and] economic coercion toward our allies.

Each of these actions threatens the rules-based order that maintains global stability, he said. Thats why theyre not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today.

In other words, the United States is raising these issues to the CCP because what the CCP does is not just a matter of the Chinese regimes internal affairs, but a matter of global stability. If every country that has the power does what the CCP does, then the world may become one in which might makes right and winners take all.

This could also be interpreted as the reason why the Biden administration held the talks with the CCP after Biden took office. He wanted to warn the CCP face-to-face once again that, if it wants to stay in the Western-dominated world order, it must change its behavior, otherwise it will destroy the whole system.

But Yang Jiechis subsequent reply left Blinken speechless.

What China and the international community follow or uphold is the United Nations-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, not what is advocated by a small number of countries of the so-called rules-based international order, Yang said.

What Yang said at the end of his 17-minute speech is exemplary of the CCPs insolence.

I dont think the overwhelming majority of countries in the world would recognize that the universal values advocated by the United States or that the opinion of the United States could represent international public opinion, and those countries would not recognize that the rules made by a small number of people would serve as the basis for the international order, Yang said.

The United Nations-centered international system, as Yang Jiechi calls it, refers to the fact that, after decades of currying favor with the United Nations, the CCP now leads four of the 15 United Nations agencies and has begun to set international norms and standards that are led by the Chinese regime. For example, in air navigation, the International Civil Aviation Organization is now led by a CCP representative; the CCPs secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, who took office in 2015, supports Huawei. About 30 U.N. agencies and organizations have signed memoranda of understanding in support of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

In other words, the CCP has begun to implement its own set of rules and order by controlling various U.N. organizations and redefining international order. Yang Jiechis words tell the U.S. side unequivocally that the CCP will no longer abide by U.S. international standards.

What the talks have shown so far is that there is no consensus between the two sides on this most critical aspect.

Yangs Remarks Break Bidens Strategic Balance Toward the CCP

After taking power earlier this year, the Biden administrations strategy toward the CCP can be divided into three parts, which are competitive, collaborative, and adversarial, as expressed by Blinken in his remarks during the high-level talks in Alaska in March, which have been designed to strike a balance among the three elements.

However, what the United States governments competition refers to is rule-based competition, a concept of U.S.-style competition, rather than the competition, as Yang claimed, under the rules and order led by the CCP.

This was also reflected in the speech by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. After Blinkens statement on international rules and order, Sullivan told Yang Jiechi that the United States welcomes stiff competition, and added that the United States will always stand up for our principles.

Yang Jiechis refusal to abide by the rules-based international order proposed by the United States has severely impacted the balance of Bidens strategic triangle. The CCPs disregard for the rules and order of the United States will make it impossible for the United States to compete with the CCP.

Lets look at the CCPs photovoltaic production, which is basically using solar power to generate electricity. The vast majority of the worlds solar panels are made in Xinjiang, China, which is under United States sanctions for human rights issues. For the United States, if the CCP does not play by human rights rules (United States rules) and continues with its persecution in Xinjiang, it is impossible for the United States to ignore the human rights issue and order huge amounts of solar panels from Xinjiang. If the United States cant even buy solar panels, how can it compete with the CCP in the photovoltaic field?

In other words, when Yang Jiechi personally told Blinken that the CCP would not follow the United States rules in the future, it created serious consequences. The rules-based competition of Bidens strategic triangle with the CCP will be severely curtailed in the future.

The CCP has been developing its economy and military in a way that violates rules and order, and the United States is unable to compete with the CCP in many areas for various reasons. When competition is substantially diminished, it could be inferred that the United States and the Chinese regime will cooperate less and less.

Let me give you another example. In the South China Sea arbitration case, after The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled in favor of the Philippines, the CCPs former top diplomat Dai Bingguo referred to the then-pending ruling as nothing more than a piece of waste paper, saying that no country should implement the award in any form. If we follow Yang Jiechis so-called international order, what will happen in the future is not whether the ruling of the international court can still be binding to the CCP, but that the CCP will probably bring a group of Beijing-friendly countries of the United Nations to discuss the legality of the existence of the PCA itself.

Perhaps realizing that Yangs remarks had gone too far, the Xinhua News agency issued a report on March 20 summarizing the talks, declaring that China has no intention of interfering with the United States political system or challenging or replacing the status and influence of the United States.

In any case, Yang Jiechis rebuttal of the United States international order in the face of the U.S. delegation, coupled with the CCPs internal talks on the rising East and the declining West, is believed to have greatly impacted the Biden administration and broken Bidens balanced strategic triangle with China. Even if Biden wants to ease relations with the CCP, there is not much room left for maneuvers in his Chinese policy.

The Biden Administration Is Changing

The U.S.-China talks in Alaska are symbolic.

On the one hand, Yang Jiechis performance of looking at the world on a level playing field (meaning the CCP views itself as now equal or even higher than the West), a quote from Xi Jinping at this years top CCP national sessions, has shocked the U.S. government. At the same time, it also made European countries warier of the CCP. In the future, Western countries will be more united when they deal with the CCP.

What the CCP is doing now is validating some of the claims emphasized by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. At the G7 summit held in March last year, Pompeo reportedly urged the G7 leaders to refer to the coronavirus as Wuhan virus in an attempt to hold the CCP accountable for the virus, as the Chinese Communist Party poses a serious threat to the health and lifestyle of Americans. He said in an interview with Mark Levin of Life, Liberty & Levin in September 2020 that the greatest external threat to the United States is the Chinese Communist regime. On Jan. 12, 2021, Pompeo tweeted that  the biggest threat to @UN integrity and international human rights is the CCPs effort to pervert norms.

One of the two senior administration officials at a briefing on March 16 said that with the CCP were going to be looking at deeds, not words, adding that the United States had a very clear-eyed view about the Peoples Republic of Chinas pretty poor track record of keeping its promises.

This suggests that Biden administration officials realize that the Trump administration was right to approach the CCP with a distrust-and-verify policy. The change of opinion by Biden administration officials marks the end of the United States trust-and-verify approach to the CCP.

On the other hand, Yangs move will leave the CCP with less room to maneuver in future diplomacy and will make it more likely to cause friction between the CCP and other countries.

Linyi Li is senior editor and commentator at the Chinese Epoch Times focused on China and international affairs. Prior to this he was a journalist in Ottawa, Canada, focused on Parliament Hill news.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

The White House confirmed that Biden's $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan is in two parts. Democrats want the Republicans to agree to it as a bipartisan bill. They are dead set to push the Infrastructure Plan like the COVID relief bill. Last time the GOP said it was a trillion-dollar payout from the Democrats.

Biden's $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan, ready or not

Last Sunday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed how the next big democrat bill works. The Biden administration intends to split the infrastructure package into two parts. To win over Republican support for various objectives, reported The Epoch Times.

The first portion of the President's proposal focuses on rebuilding highways, bridges, and other facilities. It will be expected to be unveiled this week for good measure. Another set for a separate plan for children and health care later in April.

During the campaigning period, he proposed to the voters but did not explain it in depth. It is described as the Green New Deal that, according to the Vox, Biden did not support. The deal is often associated with the Democrat socialist agenda.

Jen Psaki was interviewed by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace about the infrastructure bill on her thoughts. He asked if it's one or two bills as proposed by the House Democrats. She said it was two parts to make sure that Republicans won't object in the Senate.

The DEMS indicated Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan to fund multiple infrastructure projects. With an emphasis on green and renewables, especially electric vehicle charging stations. It comes after the executive order of Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline.

Joe Biden's $2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Disguises Socialism

This infrastructure bill will finally push the DEMS green energy agenda stalled by Trump's winning in 2016. Doubts about whether if green energy is enough and can compete are common. Other states would prefer a good mix of energy sources, not only what is dictated by Biden.

The next part of the set are benefits for recipients like workers. Other inclusions will be free community college, universal pre-kindergarten, and paid family leave on the bill. Who will pay for these bills is a reasonable question by the GOP.

Biden and the Democrats have criticized for their bill that doesn't mention who pays for it? GOP members complained of hidden items in the last bill.

The White House is not transparent, and not cost of the infrastructure bill was given. They are again raising suspicions over another Biden bill getting pushed. Democrats might impose a wealth tax and mileage tax. It will be another tax imposed on how much American's drive in their cars.

Democrats are looking at carbon tax with an increased gas tax. Psaki said these would be used to tax his expensive bills. He was looking at all the add-on taxes that Trump predicted if Biden won.

President Biden threatened to take away the filibuster. The Democrats used the same filibuster on GOP bills as well.

Whether the proposal of Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan is acceptable, it's a question mark. If the Republicans accept, the extra tax burden is left to be seen. The GOP was not included in the last bill passed by legislation.

President Joe Biden's Tax Hike: Not Advisable, Reverses Trump Era Gains Says Rep. Meuser

Joe Biden's $3 Trillion Package to Come Next After Stimulus Bill

Biden Approves $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Ready for Rollout

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.


Sinn Fein has confirmed two party supporters based in Serbia are involved in managing their Facebook accounts.

The party said their Facebook accounts are managed in Ireland but admitted two supporters based in Eastern Europe help out on their social media team.

They also confirmed a member of their social media team is based in Germany and is involved in managing their Facebook accounts.

Sinn Fein did not provide any details on what work their overseas supporters do.

The admission came after Fine Gael Senator John Cummins called on the party to explain why Sinn Feins Facebook accounts were being managed by people based in Serbia and Germany.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonalds account along with those of several senior TDs are been managed by people outside the island of Ireland, according to political transparency information on Facebook.





Facebook ad library data shows Sinn Feins main account has been managed by people in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Serbia. Meanwhile, Ms McDonalds account has been operated by people based in Ireland, the UK and Germany.

Other Sinn Fein members whose accounts have been managed from Germany include Eoin O Broin, Pearse Doherty, David Cullinane, Martin Kenny, Padraig Mac Lochlainn, Matt Carthy and Donnachadh O Laoghaire among many others.

Fine Gael Senator John Cummins said Sinn Fein has serious questions to answer about why their social media accounts are being managed by people outside the island of Ireland.

The main Sinn Fein Ireland page is managed by numerous administrators including two based in Serbia and one in Germany. Data from Sinn Feins Facebook ad library shows 26 out of 37 of its Dail representatives have a German-based Facebook administrator, Mr Cummins said.

Why is it necessary that party leader Deputy Mary Lou McDonald has a Facebook account which is also managed in Germany? Why is the page of Northern leader, Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill overseen by someone in Serbia? he added.

Mr Cummins said he plans to raise the issue with Facebook when they come before an Oireachtas Committee tomorrow to discuss electoral reform.

The party must also outline how these services are paid for. As they are outside the State, it is impossible for a regulatory body in Ireland to monitor this aspect of their digital operation, both from the perspective of the direct advertising media spend and any associated fees, the senator said.

Two key questions are how long have these connections with Serbia and Germany been in place and has this spend has been declared in Sinn Feins Exchequer and/or Election returns? If not, this represents a potentially very significant breach. It also begs the question of where the funding comes from to sustain this operation?
The New Yorker acknowledged that Feinstein was still sharper than other aged senators. But many others familiar with Feinsteins situation describe her as seriously struggling, and say it has been evident for several years, the article said. Speaking on background, and with respect for her accomplished career, they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she cant keep up.
Click the image above to view slideshow

An exhibition and sale currently on at Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa aims to celebrate the creativity of Balinese artists, provide an ethical source of crafts and promote sustainability.

The Kindness Furniture on display features handmade items from Bali, many using recycled materials including wood from old boats. Natural products, including bamboo straws and items made from rattan, are also included.

Everything is for sale, with a portion of the proceeds  around 5-10 percent  going to the Kindness Project. Its founder, Gary Parkinson, says in addition, everything sold supports the Balinese village economy.

As a consumer society our obsession for things is straining the planets ability to survive, Gary says.

Often we are using materials that are not planet friendly and take hundreds of years to break down once discarded. Through our offerings not only do we help people survive in traditional craft-making, we also become part of the solution for being kind to the planet. We have wonderful partners in Bali that ensure the sources are genuine and the supply chain has integrity.

The project, which also supports an orphanage in Bali, is based in Albany. It started just over a year ago and Gary says its been a steep learning curve. He says Bali has been severely impacted by the drop off in tourism as a result of Covid-19.

The Kindness Project is linked to the Global Giving Initiative, B1G1, which helps businesses become a real force for good.

Estuary Arts Centre manager Kim Boyd says as well as sustainability, hosting the sale is a way of bringing diversity to the gallery.

As we cant go to Bali, we thought wed bring it to Orewa, she says.

The exhibition and sale is on now at the arts centre, until April 18.

Estuary Arts gives back

Estuary Arts Centre manager Kim Boyd says the centres new giving back to community strategy is needed now more than ever. Some of the projects resulting from the strategy are: Emerging artists can apply for support in the form of an exhibition, event, use of studio space, mentorship or internship  Providing art activities at Whangaparaoa school gala  Raising awareness for the I am Hope Foundation and fundraising for Gumboot Day in May with an exhibition.  Support workshops for adults with aphasia and their families  Young adults under 18 Photographic competition in July  winners receive mentorship and an exhibition. The arts centre also continues to support Hospice with its annual fundraiser and have held themed exhibitions in support of Riding for Disabled and cancer charities.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 19, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Rep. Davis Rips Height of Hypocrisy in Pelosi Moving to Unseat Iowa Republican

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) charged House Democrats on March 29 with displaying the height of political hypocrisy in moving to remove Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and replace her with Rita Hart, the Democrat she defeated last November.

Its the height of political hypocrisy for Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to talk just a few weeks ago about how sacrosanct certificates of election are, Davis told The Epoch Times.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks possesses a certificate of election from the state of Iowa signed by Republican and Democratic elected officials after bipartisan recounts, Davis said.

Davis was referring to claims by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House Democrats prior to and during the Jan. 6 congressional debate to consider state-certified electoral votes in the presidential election between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.

Republicans claimed Congress has the power to reject a states certification in that case, while Democrats rejected the argument. Now those positions are reversed, because of Harts challenge of Miller-Meekss six-vote victory, even though the Republicans win was certified by Iowa election officials and she was sworn in to Congress on Jan. 3.

The Jan. 3 edition of the Congressional Record included Miller-Meeks among 434 reelected or newly elected members of the House of Representatives, who presented state certificates of being duly elected to the 117th Congress.

Harts challenge bypassed Iowa courts and went directly to the House Administration Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and has jurisdiction over such issues.

Peter Whippy, a spokesman for Lofgren and Democrats on the panel, referred to a March 24 statement when asked by The Epoch Times for a response to Daviss comments.

Republicans know how this process works, Lofgren said in the release. Over the past 90 years, the Congress has adjudicated, in a bipartisan manner, more than 100 contested elections cases filed by Republicans and Democrats alike in races nowhere near as close as Iowas Second.

With that history in mind, it is profoundly disappointing some of my Republican colleagues are now painting this process as somehow nefarious. Under the law, state certification is a requisite for establishing a contested election case.

Hart is represented by attorney Mark Elias. He and the Seattle-based Perkins Coie law firm frequently represent Democratic campaigns and candidates in election law and ethics cases.

He and colleagues from the firm were recently sanctioned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit for filing redundant and misleading information and were ordered to pay legal and punitive costs of their opponents in the case.

In that case, the Elias firm was representing the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in a lawsuit against Texas officials in the case that prompted the sanctioning.

Elias also represented 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whose campaign paid for the opposition research firm he hired, Fusion GPS that produced the since discredited Steele Dossier containing multiple false allegations against Trump.

Davis said March 29 that Marc Elias is representing Rita Hart, being paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and at the same time, he is the personal campaign finance attorney for three [Democratic] members of the House Administration Committee.

How in the world can you have Mark Elias being the attorney of record for both the plaintiff in the case [Hart] and the judges [members of the administration panel]?

Asked if Lofgren or any other member of the House Democratic leadership had responded to his March 19 letter describing the multiple Elias conflicts of interest, Davis said, No, not all.

Davis was also critical of the rules adopted by committee Democrats for processing Harts challenge.

The process Zoe Lofgren put forward was backwards. It put the onus of discovery on the back of Congresswoman Miller-Meeks to prove that Rita Harts case is wrong, rather than Rita Hart having to prove that Miller-Meeks should not have been seated, he said.

Its typical coming from a lawyer like Marc Elias. The rules dont apply to them.

Davis said he believes there are seven House Democrats who have either said they wont support seating Hart or that they have serious questions about the current process.

I can only go by the public statements, and right now, my count has about seven Democrats either saying they are not going to vote to unseat Miller-Meeks, or that theyve got concerns with the process, Davis told The Epoch Times.

Pelosi can only afford to lose five votes right now, and at this point, I dont think she has unanimity in her own caucus. I think there are a lot of folks in that caucus that are taking a step back and saying its pretty hypocritical to talk about how sacrosanct certificates of election were just a few weeks ago and to now question the certificate of election from the state of Iowa, he said.

Congressional correspondent Mark Tapscott can be reached at mark.tapscott@epochtimes.nyc
Newly elected rector of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Volodymyr Buhrov says that the university is working to prevent corruption.

"The law enforcement agencies must fight this, and we must prevent and not allow it. This is my principled position ... The university has no law enforcement functions, we cannot establish the truth, but we can prevent," Buhrov said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

In particular, according to him, the university has a constant monitoring of sessions, there is a telephone "hot line" and a postal address, and from time to time specialists from the administration attend exams and tests at faculties.

"To say that I am 100% sure that there are no negative phenomena, perhaps it would be an exaggeration. But we are doing everything that can be done rationally and legally in this situation," he added.

As for the possible corruption during the settlement process in dormitories, Buhrov stressed that the safety mechanism is that the Settlement Commission includes students, and everyone knows who is who in the student environment. "It is clear that the best option is to have enough space, where there is a deficit, there is a possibility of abuse right away. Therefore, we must strive for the construction of a new dormitory," the elected rector stated.

When asked whether he would audit the previous activities of the university, Buhrov positively answered. "Of course, this is a normal procedure. When a new leader takes office, he must understand what he is taking: financial balances, economic balances, especially with regard to the current criminal proceedings on thermo-modernization under the Kyoto Protocol. Therefore, when I have such powers, we will conduct an audit. But this is not even from the point of view to accuse someone, but from the position that we should know the real state of affairs, because they are passing on to us," he said.
Prep Golf: Riley Zebroski earns all-conference honors, Arrows take 7th in ESD tourney

MITCHELL  Sophomore Riley Zebroski earned all-conference honors by tying for 5th place on Wednesday in the Eastern South Dakota Conference girls golf tournament at the Lakeview Golf Course.
Kilkenny LEADER Partnership, members of The Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) have acknowledged the publication of the Governments Rural Development Strategy  Our Rural Future.

As one of Irelands 49 Local Development Companies (LDCs), Kilkenny LEADER Partnership welcome todays policy announcement and its potential for Kilkenny.

Local Development Companies such as ours have been pillars of rural development for over 30 years," said Kilkenny LEADER Partnerships CEO Declan Rice.

"Covid-19 and the rollout of the National Broadband plan provides an opportunity for a reimagining of the potential of Rural areas. The strategy identifies the creation of Local Master Plans to meet the long term needs of Rural areas. Local Development Companies, with our track record in rural development and strategic planning will be central to this process.

Referring to the role of LEADER in the Strategy, Mr Rice said the LEADER programme had been identified as a key measure in the plan.

"As the providers of LEADER across the country we welcome the continued commitment to this critical programme and call on the Government to fully support LEADER through maximising EU funding and Exchequer co-funding in the years ahead," he said.

"LEADER can provide the required development capacity and finance needed to deliver measures identified in the strategy. Furthermore LDCs have been at the forefront of the emerging 'Smart Village' concept which will be a major element of the next round of EU programming and an important element of any successful rural development approach.

KLP has pioneered many projects that support and chime with the Governments Our Rural Future strategy, from community shop networks, to integrated public transport systems, fibre to the home in rural towns outside the National Broadband Plan, Energy Towns optimising the potential; of local sourced renewable energy, The Nore Vision catchment scale initiative, and many more."

The role of Local Development Companies is interwoven throughout the strategy.

"We particularly note the commitment in the Programme for Government to support, a LEADER Programme and deliver a Rural Development Programme that is led by independent Local Action Groups. In addition to LEADER, as providers of employment support measures such as the Rural Social Scheme, Tus and Community Employment and the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, as well as Outdoor Recreational and Walks measures, our LDCs will be vital partners in ensuring that the ambition of this plan is realised and look forward to working positively with Government in this endeavour," Mr Rice said.
Shade uses offensive attack to take down Shanksville in D5-A semis
There has been a 'drastic deterioration' in human rights in Swaziland (eSwatini), a United Nations group investigating the kingdom, ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III, was told.

Human Rights Watch said since the 1973 Royal Decree, 'political parties are banned, the judiciary is severely compromised, and repressive laws have been used to target independent organizations and harass civil society activists'.

In a submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland, Human Rights Watch said, 'There has been no progress on essential rights reforms, including the removal of all legislative and practical restrictions to free exercise of civil and political rights, in particular those related to freedom of association and expression to allow the registration and operation of political parties; introducing greater political freedoms through free, fair, transparent democratic elections; ensuring the right to health without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; abolition of the death penalty; and decriminalization of same-sex relations and prevention of discrimination based on marital status and sexual orientation.

'The government has yet to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, despite previously agreeing to do so.'

Human Rights Watch added, 'The government has yet to repeal, or amend as appropriate, a number of repressive laws that restrict basic rights to freedom of association and assembly, despite these rights also being guaranteed in eSwatini's 2005 constitution.

'Police have sweeping powers under the Public Order Act. The king's 1973 decree banning political parties remains in force despite repeated calls from local political activists to have it revoked. The constitution does not address the formation or role of political parties. Section 79 of the constitution provides that eSwatini practices an electoral system based on individual merit and excludes the participation of political parties in elections. Traditional leaders and chiefs have powers to restrict access to their areas, and have often used these powers to bar civil society groups and political groups like the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) and the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).'

It added, 'Restrictions on freedom of association and assembly continue. On October 20, 2020, the High Court heard a challenge by the eSwatini Sexual and Gender Minorities (ESGM), a human rights community-based advocacy organization which aims to advance the protection of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and intersex persons. In September 2019, the eSwatini Registrar of Companies had refused to register ESGM as a company saying that "ESGM's objectives were unlawful because same-sex sexual acts are illegal in the country."'

Human Rights Watch is calling on the Swazi Government to guarantee freedoms of association, assembly, and expression, including freedom of association on the basis of sexual orientation and to revoke the king's 1973 decree on political parties, allow the registration and operation of political parties, and introduce multi-party democratic elections.

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Earlier this month (March 2021) Freedom House in its annual report declared Swaziland was 'not free'.

It reported, 'The king exercises ultimate authority over all branches of the national government and effectively controls local governance through his influence over traditional chiefs. Political dissent and civic and labor activism are subject to harsh punishment under sedition and other laws. Additional human rights problems include impunity for security forces and discrimination against women and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people.'

The Universal Periodic Review is a process through which all UN Member States are provided the opportunity to review the human rights records of all other Member States. At the same time, each State under review has the opportunity to report on human rights conditions within their own borders, including actions that have been taken to address concerns detailed by other States.
Its a cliche, but its true. A week is a long time in politics. For Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the six weeks since former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins aired her rape allegations must seem like an eternity. And yet, for all Mr Morrisons impassioned responses to the barrage of disturbing revelations, he has never lost sight of his own survival, and that of his government.

The case of federal Liberal National Party MP Andrew Laming makes that clear. A member of Parliament for 17 years, Dr Laming is accused of online bullying and taking a photo of a womans bottom without her permission while her underwear was visible. In the vast majority of workplaces, that would be a sackable offence.

It seems not so for Dr Laming.

Liberal MP Andrew Laming apologises last week for his online behaviour. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Instead, after being reprimanded by Mr Morrison on two occasions, he has taken medical leave while seeking clinical counselling. And while the behaviour was considered serious enough for Dr Laming to step down at the next election, there was no talk of the Prime Minister demanding his immediate resignation.
I am a huge proponent of transparency in government. I believe there are some secrets that must be kept in the interests of national security but the border crossing between Mexico and the United States isnt one of them. Over the weekend about a dozen Republican politicians went to see why the Biden administration is not allowing pictures to be taken of what we are told is catastrophic and Ted Cruz  a U.S. Senator, mind you  was told he personally was not allowed to take pictures.

Brother, when you do not allow a U.S. Senator to take a picture, that is blatant censorship, from which all roads lead to peril. My thought is that I dont care how bad or grimy or telling something might be, you should never try to hide it.

Instead, you admit it down to the littlest detail, you apologize, do what it takes to correct the problem, and make a solemn vow to yourself to never be that stupid again.

Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., said the entire group was shocked at what inhumanity they saw but the thing that shocked me most were the hecklers  I asked one of the Border Patrol agents what they were saying: We dont care what you do  well come back every day.

The U.S. Border means big money to the smugglers and coyotes who charge between $4,000-$20,000 to get you into the United States. Its a $2 billion (with a b) industry, said Braun, and President Bidens relaxed grip on immigration has created a firestorm.

Asked if he was aware Biden officials forbade Cruz to take pictures, Braun said. Are you kidding! I was the first one they made erase pictures on my iPhone. They asked all of the delegation to do so (If Im a U.S. Senator, I would have pounced on eraser momma rather than give in.)

On Sunday, a Democrat Congressman from Texas, Henry Cuellar, appeared on CBS "Face the Nation," and provided illegal? pictures that showed dozens of kids packed into glass-walled rooms, lying shoulder-to-shoulder with foil blankets at a facility in Donna, Texas. The pictures are indisputable.

The world-famous non-profit Doctors without Borders castigated what is being allowed to happen and other human rights organizations are enraged by the crisis the Biden administration has created.

But wait  into the fray steps a Congresswoman from El Paso, and she, Veronica Escobar, claims the whole border calamity is no more than a theatrical prop by the two Texas Senators, Ted Cruz, and John Cornyn. Heres what she just told Business Insider:

* * *

TEXAS LAWMAKER THROWS COLD WATER ON IMMIGRATION DILEMMA

(Note: This is an excerpt from the website, businessinsider.com, from a story entitled, Rep. Veronica Escobar says that Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn are using the southern border 'as a prop'. The article appeared on March 28, 2021)

* -- Rep. Veronica Escobar said that Senators Cruz and Cornyn are using the border "as a prop."

* -- Escobar said that the root causes of immigration must be addressed, or the situation will not change.

* -- "They had their chance to govern," she said of Cruz and Cornyn. "They chose not to."

Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas also said in a recent Daily Beast podcast:

During an episode of "The New Abnormal" featuring editor-at-large Molly Jong-Fast, Escobar lamented that immigration has been politicized to a point where crafting real solutions has been absent from the debate.

"I think there are 18 senators that are parachuting into Texas and that delegation is led by John Cornyn and Ted Cruz," she said. "These are people who are about to engage in political theater, use the border as a prop, [and] do a whole lot of complaining and finger-pointing. But these are the same people who've been in the Senate for a number of years."

She added: "They were in the Senate when their party had control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. They did not solve this problem."

* * *

Neither did Rep. Escobar, and let the record show, she aint exactly all frothed up and ready to try. Talking trash is far more fun these days.

royexum@aol.com
Brisbane Under Another Three-Day Lockdown After Recording Four Local Cases

Greater Brisbane has been ordered into another three-day lockdown from 5 pm today after four locally acquired cases of the highly-infectious UK strain of the CCP virus were recorded in Queensland overnight.

The four cases include two colleagues of a man from Strathpine; a nurse who worked in a COVID ward, and her sister. One of the cases also travelled to Gladstone while infectious, while the other two travelled to Byron Bay.

Six other cases of the current outbreak were acquired overseas.

The genome sequencing results will be released late tonight or tomorrow morning to show if the nurse was infected at work.

There is now more community transmission, and these people have been out and about in the community, and that is of concern to Queensland Health, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. This is essential that we do this to stop further transmission.

Palaszczuk noted in an update on the situation in a post on Twitter that the state now had 73 active cases.

Monday 29 March  coronavirus cases in Queensland:  4 new locally acquired

 6 overseas acquired

 73 active cases

 1,456 total cases

 2,147,661 tests conducted Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,343 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/Il8rFIUdAy  Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) March 28, 2021

The new lockdown order applies to Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, and Redlands. Only four reasons are acceptable for going out, including essential work, shopping for essential supplies, care for vulnerable people, and exercise with members of their household or one other person. Masks will be mandatory.

Gatherings in homes will be limited to 30 people. Schools will be closed from Tuesday except for the children of essential workers. Anyone who has been in the Greater Brisbane area since March 20 will also be under restrictions.

People outside Greater Brisbane are not required to wear a mask, although Jeannette Young, the Chief Health Officer advised them to do so inside public venues or when physical distancing cannot be guaranteed.

The premier said that the lockdown will last for at least three days before the Easter holiday break.

I know this is a big callwe have Easter coming up and school holidaysbut lets do it now and come through the other end. This is a protective measure but its the right thing to do on the health advice, Palaszczuk said.

New South Wales Health Authorities are also calling for people in the Byron Bay area to get tested after two members of the Brisbane cluster travelled to Byron Bay while infectious.

New South Wales Health is urging anyone in the Byron Bay Area with even the milder symptoms to come forward for testing and self isolate immediately, Dr McAnulty, who is the Director of NSW Health Protection said. Urgent investigations and contact tracing are underway.

He also urged those who had been at the Byron Bay Beach Hotel between 7:15 pm and 8:30 pm on March 26, and The Farm in Ewingsdale from 8 am to 9:30 am on March 28 to isolate and get tested immediately.

New South Wales Health will provide further updates throughout the day, he said

NSW health department is also looking to contact trace nearly 20,000 people who have entered the southern state from Queensland during the March 20 and March 26.

Queensland Tourism operators are the most concerned though that the new lockdown orders and outbreak will make people cancel their Easter holiday plans, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lamber told AFR that with the Easter and school holidays just around the corner the recent lockdown could be the final blow for many businesses, who have spent more than 12 months struggling to survive.

However, this lockdown is different. There is no JobKeeper safety net for these businesses, and little to no support will be forthcoming until after the lockdown is over, Lamber said.

AAP contributed to this report.
You are here: World

 Flash

Two suicide bombers, one man and a woman, in the blast outside a cathedral church in Indonesia were killed on Sunday, Spokesman of Provincial Police Office Senior Commissioner E. Zulpan told local media.

The number of injured people from the blast rose to 19. The explosion happened at the cathedral church complex in South Sulawesi's Makassar city, when the church was about to start the third mass congregation.

"Two suspected attackers tried to enter the church grounds, and then security officers tried to arrest them, and an explosion occurred," Pastor Wilhelminus Tulak said.

The Indonesian government strongly condemned the bombing attack, saying it was a heinous act that had tarnished the peace of social life.

Indonesian Religious Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said he hoped that the police could reveal the mastermind behind the attack as soon as possible.

Chairman of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia Rev. Gomar Gultom said this bombing attack added to the list of acts of violence and terror in Indonesia.

The incident occurred when Christians in Indonesia were celebrating Palm Sunday, a Christian feast that falls on the Sunday ahead of Easter.

Churches have been targeted by extremists in Indonesia.

In 2018, dozens of people were killed when suicide bombers launched attacks at three churches during Sunday services in the city of Surabaya in East Java.
The woman from a poor village was only 19 years old when she started a sexual relationship with a local police chief. Soon, she had trysts with other local leaders, including police and hospital officials.

Some of the men gave her money. A lot of it. By the time the authorities caught her and charged her with extortion, Xu Yan had received $573,000 from nine men, including eight officials, according to court documents. In December, she was sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay the money back, plus $869,000 in fines.

That could have been the end of what seemed to be another tawdry tale of sex and corruption. But when people online learned the details, they began to ask questions.

Why did Ms. Xu get such a long sentence? How did all of the men but one avoid prison time? Where did public officials from such a poor place get so much money? And around such powerful men, can a teenager from such a destitute area really say no?
Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar will undergo surgery at a hospital here after it was diagnosed that he has gall bladder issue, a minister of his party in the Maharashtra government said here on Monday.

"Our party president Sharad Pawar saheb was feeling a little uneasy due to a pain in his abdomen last evening and was therefore taken to Breach Candy Hospital for a check-up. Upon diagnosis it came to light that he has a problem in his Gall Bladder," Nawab Malik tweeted.

"He is on Blood Thinning Medication which is now being stopped due to this issue. He will be admitted to the hospital on the 31st of March 2021 and an Endoscopy and Surgery will be conducted. Hence all his programmes stand cancelled until further notice," the minister added.

The development comes amid speculation that Pawar (80) met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a top industrialist's residence in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

At a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, Shah parried a query on the purported meeting, saying everything cannot be made public.

Malik, whose party shares power in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and Congress, had said no such meeting took place, adding there is an attempt to create confusion by spreading such rumours.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Tirupati, March 29 : The candidates of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Janasena filed nominations for the forthcoming Tirupati bypoll on Monday.

"BJP and Janasena's Tirupati by-poll joint candidate Ratna Prabha filed her nomination on Monday after going in a rally with party activists," said a BJP official.

BJP and Janasena activists took out a rally carrying flags of both the parties in vehicles as well as walking towards the returning officer's office.

During her nomination, BJP candidate Prabha was accompanied at the returning officer's office by Rajya Sabha members G.V.L. Narasimha Rao and C.M. Ramesh, along with Adinarayana.

"With the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara and support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entire BJP-JSP family, I am going to file my nomination," Prabha had said earlier in the day.

Before filing her nomination, she visited the Tirupati temple early on Monday morning to seek the deity's blessings.

On Saturday, the former Karnataka Chief Secretary met with actor-politician Pawan Kalyan and invited him to canvass for her in the run up to the big by-poll scheduled on April 17.

"Met Kalyan and invited him to canvass at Tirupati. His instant positive response makes our campaign stronger and closer to the victory," claimed Prabha.

She also discussed the election road map with BJP National Secretary and Andhra BJP co-incharge Sunil Deodhar, party state President Somu Veerraju, Purandeswari and Madhukar.

"Suddenly a big challenge before me. Gearing up to be a passionate Parliamentarian touching the heart of every voter and reaching out to the last mile of my constituency. God give me strength and stamina," the former IAS officer said.

Prabha said that she was flooded with phone calls and messages on being selected as the BJP candidate and observed that there is so much of expectation from her.

"Will work day and night with the people of the constituency and never let them down," she added.

Despite being retired, Prabha has been active in public life in Karnataka, keeping herself busy with several programmes aimed at empowering women, promoting skills and others.

Likewise, YSRCP candidate M. Gurumoorthy has also filed his nomination on Monday. He went in a huge rally to the returning officer's office.

Senior YSRCP leaders Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, Y.V. Subbbareddy, Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy and others accompanied the physiotherapist as he filed his nomination for the by-poll.

"With the blessings of Tirumala Venkateswara Swamy and under the leadership of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy our YSRCP Tirupati Lok Sabha candidate M. Gurumoorthy filed his nomination today in the presence of senior leaders," confirmed S. Rajiv Krishna, advisor to the government of Andhra Pradesh.
Since Arizona legalized medical cannabis in 2010, more than 300,000 residents of the state have been approved as medical patients. Businesses have kept up: Total annual sales grew to more than $1 billion last year, and more than 20,000 people work in the states cannabis industry, according to Leafly, a trade publication.

But for years, theres been resistance to expanding the legal market. In fact, just a few years ago, Arizona voted against legalizing recreational marijuana.

In 2016, a group of conservative donors banded together to oppose Proposition 205, which would do just that. They included the owner of Discount Tire, a national tire and wheel company headquartered in Scottsdale; the opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics, whose founder was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in 2020; and Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino and hotel developer who died in January.

Those in support of legalization included the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that works to reform laws around marijuana, and Dr. Bronners, a soap company. Though both sides had millions of dollars in donations behind them, legalization lost by less than three percent of the vote.

For a while, we just licked our wounds, said Steve White, the chief executive of Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. They also fortified their war chests. In 2016, we just werent capable of raising enough money ourselves, Mr. White said.

For the 2020 campaign, called Smart and Safe Arizona, his company donated $1.8 million, joining Curaleaf and Copperstate Farms, two other cannabis companies, as major investors. Along with other donors, they hired Strategies 360, a public affairs firm in Seattle that ran a successful 2016 campaign to unseat Joe Arpaio, the anti-immigration crusader who once sent a team to Hawaii to collect Barack Obamas birth certificate, from his 24-year tenure as the Sheriff of Maricopa County.
South Africa: Faith communities urged to be innovative this Easter

With experts warning about a looming third wave of COVID-19 infections in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged faith communities to be innovative when they hold the upcoming Easter, Passover and Ramadan services.

He urged congregational worship to be innovative as it was last year.

Large gatherings, whether religious or otherwise, have the potential to spread the virus, despite the application of measures around social distancing and sanitising, President Ramaphosa.

The President remarks comes as millions of South Africans of faith will join others across the world in important religious observances.

These include Jewish faith members who will be celebrating Pesach, Christians who will observe Easter, and Muslims who will soon start the holy month of Ramadan.

For the second year in a row, faith communities will mark these occasions in the midst of a devastating global pandemic that has cost the lives of more than 2.5 million people across the world.

In his weekly newsletter published on Monday, President Ramaphosa noted that in a country that enshrines the right to religious freedom, all effort must be made to support our people in the exercise of this right.

In exercising this right, we need to make sure that we do not place the rights or the lives of others at risk. This is a principle that the religious leaders I met with fully support and appreciate.

Like Martin Luther, they understand the responsibility of all people of faith  indeed of all South Africans  to observe the practical measures put in place to protect peoples health and save lives, President Ramaphosa said.

He said that faith-based organisations have been vital to the countrys national response to COVID-19, not only providing spiritual comfort and guidance, but also by caring for those most vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic. This includes through the provision of food, shelter and other social services.

Religion plays an important role in the lives of millions of South Africans, and congregational worship forms a vital part of their religious practice. Being able to gather for religious services is also a welcome respite from a period of great hardship for individuals, families and communities.

It is understandable that after more than a year of labouring under restrictions on religious gatherings that the faith community are keen for a return to a semblance of normality. In recognition of the importance of congregational worship to the lives of our people, government has been engaging with the faith community, the President said.

The President recently held a constructive virtual meeting with leaders of the faith community, and the leaders understand and appreciate the very real danger of a new wave of COVID-19 infections.

Precautionary measures

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, religious organisations have taken proactive and positive measures to limit the spread of the disease among worshippers.

In the light of these precautionary measures, a number of religious organisations have asked that some of the existing restrictions on the size of congregations be eased, especially as we prepare for Easter and Ramadan observances. Government is currently deliberating on these and other issues, and will make an announcement in the coming days.

Another important factor is that during the various alert levels, religious organisations have incurred substantial financial losses that threaten their sustainability. As government we remain committed to working with the faith community to find workable solutions, said the President.

The President said public health and safety must be of paramount consideration.

The religious community has shown innovation and initiative in the holding of worship at a time when there was a great deal of uncertainty over the trajectory of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the President said the country is now at a time where precaution is needed above all, warning that the Coronavirus pandemic has not been eliminated.

The threat of a third wave is real and ever-present. International experience has taught us that we should not tempt fate. Many countries have eased restrictions, only for there to be resurgences, necessitating the imposition of even harsher restrictions.

The President said that for more than a year, government has worked together with society to contain the pandemic, and now as we work to overcome it, we need to reaffirm our shared determination to act responsibly and cautiously.

In doing so, we will be giving practical effect to the universal messages of hope, salvation, freedom and solidarity that will be spoken of in the churches, synagogues, mosques and homes of our land in the days and weeks ahead, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Trails caused by the fifth deployment of satellites making up the Starlink constellation. Credit: Andreas Moller, Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

Scientists reported new research results today suggesting that artificial objects in orbit around the Earth are brightening night skies on our planet significantly more than previously understood.

The research, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, finds that the number of objects orbiting Earth could elevate the overall brightness of the night sky by more than 10 percent above natural light levels across a large part of the planet. This would exceed a threshold that astronomers set over 40 years ago for considering a location "light polluted."

"Our primary motivation was to estimate the potential contribution to night sky brightness from external sources, such as space objects in Earth's orbit," said Miroslav Kocifaj of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Comenius University in Slovakia, who led the study. "We expected the sky brightness increase would be marginal, if any, but our first theoretical estimates have proved extremely surprising and thus encouraged us to report our results promptly."

The work is the first to consider the overall impact of space objects on the night sky rather than the effect of individual satellites and space debris affecting astronomers' images of the night sky. The team of researchers, based at institutions in Slovakia, Spain and the US, modeled the space objects' contribution to the overall brightness of the night sky, using the known distributions of the sizes and brightnesses of the objects as inputs to the model.

The study includes both functioning satellites as well as assorted debris such as spent rocket stages. While telescopes and sensitive cameras often resolve space objects as discrete points of light, low-resolution detectors of light such as the human eye see only the combined effect of many such objects. The effect is an overall increase in the diffuse brightness of the night sky, potentially obscuring sights such as the glowing clouds of stars in the Milky Way, as seen away from the light pollution of cities.

"Unlike ground-based light pollution, this kind of artificial light in the night sky can be seen across a large part of the Earth's surface," explained John Barentine, Director of Public Policy for the International Dark-Sky Association and a study co-author. "Astronomers build observatories far from city lights to seek dark skies, but this form of light pollution has a much larger geographical reach."

Astronomers have expressed unease in recent years about the growing number of objects orbiting the planet, particularly large fleets of communications satellites known informally as 'mega-constellations."

In addition to crowding the night sky with more moving sources of artificial light, the arrival of this technology increases the probability of collisions among satellites or between satellites and other objects, generating further debris. Recent reports sponsored by the US National Science Foundation and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs identified mega-constellations as a threat to the continued utility of astronomy facilities on the ground and in low-Earth orbit. In the UK the Royal Astronomical Society has established several working groups to understand the impact of mega-constellations on optical and radio astronomical facilities used by scientists.

The results published today imply a further brightening of the night sky proportional to the number of new satellites launched and their optical characteristics in orbit. Satellite operators like SpaceX have recently worked to lower the brightness of their spacecraft through design changes. Despite these mitigating efforts though, the collective effect of a sharp increase in the number of orbiting objects stands to change the experience of the night sky for many across the globe.

The researchers hope that their work will change the nature of the ongoing dialog between satellite operators and astronomers concerning how best to manage the orbital space around the Earth.

"Our results imply that many more people than just astronomers stand to lose access to pristine night skies," Barentine said. "This paper may really change the nature of that conversation."

Explore further Thousands more satellites will soon orbit Earthwe need better rules to prevent space crashes

More information: Anthony Mallama. The Brightness of VisorSat-Design Starlink Satellites, arXiv:2101.00374v1 [astro-ph.IM] Anthony Mallama. The Brightness of VisorSat-Design Starlink Satellites, arXiv:2101.00374v1 [astro-ph.IM] arxiv.org/abs/2101.00374 M Kocifaj et al, The proliferation of space objects is a rapidly increasing source of artificial night sky brightness, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slab030 , dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slab030 Journal information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
A driver who struck a utility pole and fled early Sunday in Washington Township, Warren County turned himself into police in the afternoon.

Washington Township Police Lt. John Kaufmann single-vehicle accident occurred just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday along Cemetery Hill Road near by Sky View Drive. The 29-year-old male driver from Washington, who police did not identify, fled in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a witness reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, the vehicle was unoccupied with airbags deployed and no one in the area, the witness said.

It appeared the Jeep was traveling north on Cemetery Hill Road just prior to the crash; the utility pole was located off of the right side of the road, according to the witness.

The driver turned himself into police headquarters shortly after 1 p.m., Kaufmann said. He had facial and shoulder injuries but declined medical treatment, Kaufmann said.

Washington Township police continue to investigate the accident. Also responding to the crash were the Washington Township Fire Dept., Washington Borough Fire Dept., and Washington Rescue Squad.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-28 22:48:23|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on April 22, 2020 shows the release of the Chinese sturgeons to the Yangtze River in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Zheng Jiayu)

WUHAN, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Over 3,000 captive-bred sturgeons were released into the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Sunday to revive the wild population of the endangered Chinese sturgeon and Dabry's sturgeon.

The release of 2,020 Chinese sturgeons and 1,000 Dabry's sturgeons took place in the city of Jingzhou, central China's Hubei Province.

In recent years, China has stepped up efforts to rescue the Dabry's sturgeon and other endangered endemic species in the river, such as Chinese sturgeon, said Wei Qi of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences that jointly launched the event.

Dabry's sturgeon, also known as the Yangtze sturgeon, has lost its natural ability to reproduce since 2000 due to overfishing and crowded rivers, among others. Nicknamed "aquatic pandas," Chinese sturgeons have existed for more than 140 million years. The size of the population of the flagship species in the Yangtze, however, plummeted in the late 20th century due to intrusive human activities.

According to Wei, about seven million captive-bred Chinese sturgeons have been released in the Yangtze sturgeon since 1983. 
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic became a raging outbreak in multiple countries, the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on social and economic life threatened to become intolerable and unsustainable. This led to intensive research on vaccines to build population immunity against the pathogen responsible, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

The successful development of multiple vaccines and their emergency use authorization by American and European health regulatory agencies have resulted in their rollout in many countries the world over, in a period of approximately one year from conception.

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server describes successful immunization of the vaccinated population with a single dose of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.

Study: Past SARS-CoV-2 infection elicits a strong immune response after a single vaccine dose. Image Credit: A.METELKIN / Shutterstock

Limited vaccine availability threatens success

Even today, the stocks of COVID-19 vaccines remain low in most places, making the rollout slower than required for optimal protection and the prevention of vaccine-resistant variants. The situation is still worse in low-resource countries.

The Argentinian regulatory authority has authorized two vaccines as of now, and both developed on adenovirus viral vector platforms. These are the Gam-COVID-Vac (SPUTNIK V) and Oxford-AstraZeneca, with two doses being recommended for both of them.

Effect of pre-existing immunity on vaccination results

With the results of immunological research on recovered COVID-19 patients now being available, both humoral and cellular immunity has been found to persist for months following infection. This has raised the question of whether two doses of mRNA and adenovirus vaccines are needed in such patients as in naive individuals.

The current study aims to examine the antibody response to the Sputnik V vaccine in a group of seropositive individuals for the virus compared to an uninfected cohort.

Study details

The participants consisted of volunteers from healthcare workers who received the vaccine between December 2020 and February 2021. The immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody status following vaccination was examined using a high-quality enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that targeted the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Antibodies to this protein have been shown to correlate well with neutralizing activity.

The baseline antibody titers directed against the RBD showed that 45% of the HCWs, overall, were seropositive, even though only 21% had a documented history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, as defined by a positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or rapid antigen test.

Humoral immune response elicited in 602 individuals after receiving the SPUTNIK V vaccine. (A) Distribution of vaccinated population according to the presence of basal IgG anti-RBD and the history of previous documented COVID-19 diagnosis. (B) Anti- RBD specific titers, as measured by ELISA, at 0 days post-vaccination (dpv) (black circles), 14 dpv (dark grey squares) and 28 dpv (light grey triangles). *** p<0.0001. Statistical analysis was performed with Dunns multiple comparison test. (C) Anti-RBD specific titers in female (black triangles) or male (black squares) HCP. * p<0.05. Statistical analysis was performed with Mann- Withney test. (D) Anti-RBD specific titers in four defined age groups: 21-30 (circles), 31-40 (squares), 41-50 (triangles), 51-60 (diamonds) at 28 dpv. Mean antibody titer for each group is indicated as a red line. ns=not-significant. Statistical analyses were performed with Dunns multiple comparison test.

What were the results?

Post-vaccination RBD-directed antibody titers were assessed on the day of vaccination and 14 and 28 days thereafter. The average titer of anti-RBD antibodies was 210 at day 0, but increased to 753 and 1771 on day 14 and day 28, respectively.

Seroconversion occurred in 97% of individuals following vaccination, with males and females showing a slight difference in the 28-day antibody titer. No age-based differences in titer were visible, however.

Seropositivity enhances immune response to vaccination

A subset of vaccine recipients was followed up to observe the longitudinal trend of antibody titers within the same individuals. Of this group, half received the second dose.

At 14 days from the first dose, both naive and previously infected individuals showed higher antibody titers, but the titer was much higher in the seropositive group. This indicates that one dose of vaccine in this cohort fulfills the function of the booster dose, eliciting secondary rather than primary immunity.

This was confirmed in individuals who were thought to have had an asymptomatic infection, with the post-priming dose antibody titer on day 14 being 5.5-fold higher than in the seronegative cohort. It is notable that the asymptomatic-infection group had significantly higher baseline antibody titers relative to the controls, though the increase was slight.

In the group that received two doses of the vaccine, the seropositive cohort showed higher antibody responses than the seronegative group, at ~2,300 and 1,300, respectively. The response after the first dose among seropositive individuals on day 14 was higher, in fact, than that elicited by two doses of the vaccine in the seronegative cohort, on day 28.

Baseline antibody titer influences post-vaccination titer

It is noteworthy that the antibody response within the seropositive group is very heterogeneous, with the median titer being less than the average. Most individuals in this group who had a baseline anti-RBD IgG titer above 400 showed an impressive increase after one dose of the vaccine, compared to those with lower baseline titers.

This is despite the overall significant rise in anti-RBD titers following both the first and the second doses, indicating vaccine efficacy. This implies that that the anti-RBD IgG titers at baseline have a direct consequence in the overall response to the vaccine.

The study also showed that the duration since the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection did not affect the eventual antibody titer following vaccination in seropositive individuals. Any duration from diagnosis, up to 120 days, seemed to elicit the same strong antibody response in this cohort.

What are the implications?

In a context of limited access to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, our findings show that in individuals previously exposed to the virus, the first dose of SPUTNIK V elicits a strong humoral immune response comparable or even higher than that reached after two doses in individuals without previous exposure to the virus.

The effect of the intended prime vaccine dose in such individuals appears to be identical to that of the boost dose in a regular two-dose vaccine protocol, whether the initial infection was symptomatic or not. Thus, seropositive individuals with a baseline titer of above 400 could be assigned to receive a single dose without fear of eliciting an incomplete or non-protective immune response.

*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 man works at a workshop of Hefei plant of Changan Automobile in High-tech Industry Development Zone in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) To sustain growth, China is pushing a "dual circulation" development paradigm, which has been mentioned as a guiding thought in a blueprint for its development in the next five to 15 years. "China will advance the building of a strong domestic market and a strong trading nation in a concerted way, based on the domestic circulation," read 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. What is the new development paradigm? Why did China put forward it in 2020? How will the country foster it? Here are some explanations. -- What is the new development paradigm? First floated by China's leadership in May 2020, the new development paradigm of "dual circulation" allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay. The key to building a new development pattern lies in unimpeded economic circulation and industrial connectivity, according to an article by Vice Premier Liu He expounding on the new paradigm. The fundamental requirements are enhancing the creativity and connectivity of the supply system, removing various bottlenecks of development, and smoothing the circulation of the national economy, Liu wrote. Workers make protective suits at a workshop of Hodo Group in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo) -- Why did China propose the new paradigm? Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new development pattern comes not as a passive, short-term response, but as an active policy choice based on changes in the country's development conditions and demand for long-term high-quality growth. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, Chinese authorities have put forward strategies including expanding domestic demand and supply-side structural reforms, suggesting the gradual shift toward internal circulation has long been underway, said Liu Yuanchun, vice president of the Renmin University of China. Currently, protectionism and anti-globalization are on the rise, but the main driving force for the new development pattern is the shift in China's comparative advantage from a cheap labor force to huge domestic consumption potential, said Yao Jingyuan, a research fellow at the Counsellors' Office of the State Council. It is a natural choice to focus on the domestic market as China's per capita GDP rises above 10,000 U.S. dollars and its middle-income population exceedings 400 million, entailing mass opportunities at home. -- Will China close its door under the new pattern? Making the domestic market the mainstay does not mean China is developing its economy with the door closed. By giving full play to the potential of the domestic market, both domestic and foreign markets can be better connected and utilized to realize robust and sustainable development. Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, said that taking the domestic market as the mainstay doesn't mean a return to an inward-looking economy. He said it will not affect China's commitment to opening-up. Despite the impact from COVID-19 last year, the country made strides in opening its market by unveiling three new pilot free trade zones. More notably, it signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement in November 2020, which launched the world's biggest free trade bloc to date. For the next five years and beyond, China will promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and steadily advance institutional openness, which stresses rule-based, transparent regulatory models and business environment that better aligns with international norms, as outlined in the new five-year plan. A customer selects drinks at a supermarket in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Sept. 16, 2020. (Photo by Zhao Song/Xinhua) -- Why will China's new development paradigm be successful? China's economic development over the past 40 years has laid a solid foundation for the country to forge the new development paradigm. China has the world's most complete industrial system and largest middle-income population, and leads the world in terms of retail sales of consumer goods and total import and export volume. This makes it possible for the country to tap domestic demand for future growth. China's ability to eradicate institutional obstacles through tireless reforms will support the operation of dual circulation as the market is playing a more decisive role in allocating resources and the country's business environment continues to improve. According to a World Bank report, China's ease of doing business ranking rose to 31 last year, and it is also among the 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business after implementing reforms. -- How will China work to forge the new paradigm? China's leadership has underscored that enhancing independent innovation capabilities and making breakthroughs in key and core technologies are vital to establishing the new paradigm. For the next five years, China's research and development spending will grow by over 7 percent annually, according to the outline. For domestic circulation, the outline noted that China will deepen its supply-side structural reform and innovate its modes of production to provide high-quality products and services. Other measures include rectifying resource misallocation and allowing the financial sector to better serve the real economy. Meanwhile, the country will strive to become a strong magnet for global resources and production factors, promote the coordinated development of domestic and external demand, imports and exports, as well as foreign and outbound investment, according to the outline.

Americans stuck at home bought a whole lot of stuff this past year, some items more useful than others.

Our pandemic spending habits reflect how much we splurged on ourselves to make life cozier at home: online sales of housewares, electronics and other general merchandise grew by 34% in 2020, according to the research firm NPD Group. With a third stimulus check on the way, though, we may be more selective with our pandemic purchases this time around.

Many acquisitions served as retail therapy to self soothe, though some stuff was practical for life stuck at home. Certain purchases were hot-ticket itemssales of Peloton bikes soared, and so did canned goods and packages of yeast for home baked bread. Parents did battle with remote schooling kids who wanted to shop their own desires off the internet (no, kids, you dont need fog machines, or endless video game upgrades).

There were duds: infrared sauna blankets that went unused, too many air fryers, inflatable hot tubs that failed and froze, and karaoke mics that never met a song. In an ode to buyers remorse, Monica Lewinsky recently tweeted, I have an idea: a pop-up museum of all the sh*t we bought (mostly off Insta) and didnt use during the pandemic. And then it gets donated. Not a bad idea. There are plenty of people who find treasure in anothers trash.

As an administrator of a local Buy Nothing Project, this year the page blew up; so many people moving and clearing out stuff, says Susan Rubin, whose page serves the Lower Hudson Valley.

Still, there is plenty people purchased and adore! Heres an ode to the good stuff, all bought (or at least shipped) locally.

NEW PALTZ

Alexandria Wojcik, village trustee, is a millennial with housing rental struggles, which means she doesnt usually get to buy stuff for herself. But, thanks to no commuting costs, she spent a few months of 2020 not rent-stressed for the first time in her life, so she bought basics she has needed for a very long time. Hiking boots that are aren't used! A cheap rowing machine that I use every day, keeps me sane! A hammock that I take literally everywhere! Several pairs of SmartWool socks! Bluetooth headphones so I can rock out and not piss off the upstairs apartments! Seriously in love with each of these purchases so so so much!

Wojcik, who notes how lucky she is to be employed and able to work from home, has also been able to pay her utilities and phone bills on time. I know an extra $300 bucks a month doesnt seem like much, but its been truly amazing, she says.



HIGH FALLS

Abagail Upton Brown does somewhat regret the steady stream of slime ingredientsglue, glitter, plastic fishbowl beads, etc. she has had in full supply for her daughter all year, but does not regret the fun her kid has had, and how making slime has kept her girl occupied.

KINGSTON

Sarah Safer is thrilled with the projector and screen she added to the mix this year for socially distanced outdoor movies. She also loves her new snowshoes, giant Kitchen Aid mixer for her daughter's baking projects, and, yes, a Peloton. The laptop stands and keyboards she ordered for slouchy remote students remain untouched, but shes holding out hope.

NEW PALTZ

Debbie Lan leads music ensemblestricky work during a pandemic. We cant sing gathered inside anymore so I bought a fabulous new battery-powered keyboard and portable battery powered amp so I can be anywhere and sing with folks outside in warmer weather. No power necessary. So far Ive led singing in backyards, parking lots, around fire pits and in a lovely old barn. Shes very happy with her new equipment.

ESOPUS

Stacey Shaffer and her family managed to score an off-grid Sprinter camper vanno easy feat this year. Were planning trips throughout the Hudson Valley and Adirondacks this spring, summer, and fall. Also, we will be using it to drop our daughter at college this fall, as it will easily carry everything. Winning!

To go with the van, her family joined Harvest Hosts. For a minimal yearly fee, we can make same-day reservations at farms, breweries, and vineyards everywhere. Im so excited.

Ezra Smith via Getty Images

WOODSTOCK

Suzannah Kellner joined the ranks of 2020 Peloton users. Hers is refurbished and replaces the bike she used to ride in her gym in New York City. I have used it every day since September. I love it! It makes me happy, she says.

A similarly joyous purchase was nail stickers to replace manicures. Kellner says ColorStreet brand nail stickers work better than Manime; you have to take pictures of your fingers and they try to send custom manicure sets. They are vinyl, feel annoying, and did not fit, she notes.

For new and useful necessities, she cant say enough about her dog trimmer, additional sweatpants (I get up and put on workout clothes that dont come off until I work out), and a pullout couch as well as vintage chair to furnish an office.

NEW PALTZ

Elise Gold has been out and climbing mountains this year. To support her adventures, she has been loving her new hiking gear, snowshoes, trekking poles, and a backpack. Love, love, love these purchases, she says.

GARDINER

Kim Mayer wasnt thrilled about her most necessary pandemic purchase: more laptops for her kids remote school. I dont like having them around. There is too much easy accessibility to screens right now, she says.

More enjoyable was a subscription to Misfits Market: Organic produce and pantry stuff that would ordinarily go to the landfill. I adore this service as we are now able to avoid weekly shops to supermarket! This gives the family more time to eat their way through one 50-pound bag of lentils and another 50-pound bag of garbanzo beans she also ordered. This was a bit overboard, she admits. We do like lentil soup and will be eating it for eternity!

BOVINA

Jessica Wapners giant pandemic purchase is a prefab house! Shes thrilled to have a new home that is double the size of their existing two-bedroom trailer.

Also, driving from Florida to New York recently, my car was suddenly taken over, she joked. I lost control and found myself smack in front of a Le Creuset outlet store. Not my fault butno regrets. Every house could use a few new pans.
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 44 Master's in Science 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 44 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 Science Education Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-science-education-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Science Education Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Auburn University

Boston University

City University of New York, Lehman College

Colorado State University

Columbus State University

East Carolina University

Georgia State University

Iowa State University

Lesley University

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Michigan Technological University

Montana State University

Morgan State University

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

North Carolina State University

Northeastern State University

Northern Arizona University

Nova Southeastern University

Oregon State University

Southern Connecticut State University

State University Of New York, Fredonia

Texas A & M University, College Station

University of Alaska, Southeast

University of Central Florida

University of Findlay

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University of Nebraska, Kearney

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University of Texas, Dallas

University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

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Western Michigan 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/.
AMES, Iowa (AP)  Emergency workers recovered the body of an Iowa State University student on Monday, a day after a school crew club boat capsized during practice on a lake, killing one other student.

The students were practicing Sunday morning at Little Wall Lake in Hamilton County when the scull capsized, the university said. Three members were rescued by people who live around the lake, officials said, and a dive team recovered the body of one student later in the day.

The search for the missing student was called off Sunday night, but resumed around 7 a.m. Monday. Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons said sonar technology was used to help pinpoint the likely location of the body, and the body was recovered around 9:45 a.m.

The three students who were rescued were treated at an Ames hospital. The names of the students had not been released by Monday morning.

The students were part of the Iowa State Crew Club, a recognized student organization. Members typically practice on Sunday afternoons, according to the club's website, but also hold early morning practices during the week.

Timmons said winds at the time of the accident were around 20-25 mph (32-40 kph), which made conditions on the lake pretty rough." With air temperatures around 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius), the water would have been cold enough for hypothermia to set in within minutes.

Little Wall Lake is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Ames.

University President Wendy Wintersteen said in a written release that the accident left the Iowa State community heartbroken.

At this time, we are focused on providing support to club members, their families and friends," Wintersteen said. "We ask that everyone keep them in their thoughts during this very difficult time.
It won't be long before Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) reveals its turbocharged hot hatch to the country. After confirming that the all-new GR Yaris is heading to the Philippines, TMP has now revealed the official price.

Initially, we reported that Toyota's new hot hatch will cost around PHP 2.7  2.9 million. But according to the automaker, it will cost less than that: Toyota will sell the GR Yaris for PHP 2,650,000.

While it sounds steep, the price actually makes the PH-spec GR Yaris one of the most affordable in Southeast Asia. Over in Thailand the hot hatch is priced at THB 2.69 million (about PHP 4.2M), while in Malaysia it retails for MYR 299,000 (around 3.5 million).

Toyota has yet to state when will the GR Yaris arrive in the country. But they did say that will release the list of dealers that will be accepting reservations on the official GR Yaris website soon. In a way, this will be similar to what they did to the GR Supra which can only be bought and serviced at select dealerships.

The exact specifications of the PH-bound GR Yaris have yet to be revealed. What we do know is that it will come with a 1.6-liter, turbocharged three-cylinder that cranks out 272 PS and 360 Nm of torque. Power is then sent to all four wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. Other key features that will be available on the hot hatch include 18-inch forged alloy wheels, bigger disc brakes, as well as Torsen limited-slip differentials for the front and rear axles.

This will be fun to drive head to head against the Honda Civic Type R even though the Toyota has less power. The all-wheel drive system will make it interesting though.
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 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.
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Margaux Constantin and Matthieu Francois, associate partners in Ho Chi Minh City McKinsey & Company

For most players in the travel industry, the idea of holiday-goers lounging on a beach thousands of miles from home or sailing the high seas seems like a distant memory. Globally, countries experienced a decline of 35-48 per cent in tourism expenditures last year compared with 2019. Vietnam, with its year-long international border closures, has not been exempted.

As Vietnams travel sector continues to evolve and as prospects of international travel become increasingly feasible with vaccination rollouts, travel and tourism players have to adapt to survive.

The tourism sector relies heavily on international travel, which plunged last year. International flights dropped 80 per cent in October from the same period a year earlier. Hotels filled only 30 per cent of their rooms.

The sharp drop in foreign travellers has had an outsized impact on tourism expenditures, and Vietnams overall economy, because they spend significantly more than their local counterparts. In 2019, a year in which the tourism industry accounted for 12 per cent of the countrys GDP, international travellers made up only 17 per cent of overall tourists in Vietnam, yet accounted for more than half of all tourism spending  averaging $673 per traveller compared with $61 spent on average by domestic ones.

The tourism sector created 660,000 jobs between 2014 and 2019, and this sharp expenditure dive has also stunted the countrys food and beverage and retail industries. As a return to pre-pandemic levels of international tourism may be far off, the travel sectors short-term revival could depend on local tourism.

In 2019, Vietnamese tourists spent $15.5 billion, of which $5.9 billion flowed overseas. The majority of tourists are unable to leave the country, so they are looking domestically to scratch their travel itch. Travel companies should therefore rise to the occasion and capture value from this opportunity.

Even with favourable 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 markets, with those from China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan accounting for around 80 per cent of Vietnams foreign tourism spending. Vietnams strong economic ties with these markets could lead to a relatively fast tourism industry recovery compared with other key tourist destinations in Europe and North America.

To make the most of these ties, Vietnam has been pursuing a zero-case-first strategy since the start of the pandemic. This strategy is associated with markets in which COVID-19 transmission rates are low and as a result traveller confidence, at least on a domestic level, is relatively high.

By implementing this approach and taking into account Vietnams resilient local economy and proactive government campaigns, Vietnams tourism sector could recover to pre-crisis levels in 2024, and the country can expect to see international tourism rebound first with travellers from other Asian economies.

With borders remaining closed for outbound travel, an increase in domestic luxury trips could occur as travellers reallocate their budgets. Of course, as noted above, the spending power of domestic tourists is weaker than that of foreign tourists, so this type of travel cannot completely fill the gap created by the lack of globetrotters.

Meanwhile, Vietnam currently has strict travel restrictions in place and allows only a select number of weekly international flights for travel by experts and diplomats, who are subject to mandatory quarantine on arrival. Vietnam needs to protect the status quo of having near-zero rates of COVID-19 cases and cannot risk opening its borders freely until herd immunity is reached, most likely through mass vaccinations. Thus, it could take some time before inbound foreign tourism returns at scale.

In the meantime, there might be some opportunity to pursue more gradual and less risky measures. For instance, there have been discussions about establishing travel bubbles to allow travel between other countries with zero or near-zero transmissions, such as Australia, China, and Singapore. Travel companies should be prepared for two scenarios: one in which travel bubbles open up for inflows of international tourists, and the other in which domestic tourism remains the main driver of value.

The time for digital

Even before the pandemic, consumer reliance on digital for travel-related bookings had been growing. In 2018, online travel activity made up 19 per cent of the total tours and activity market size. The pandemic has made the adoption of mobile and digital tools even more essential. 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 the customer experience. This is already starting to happen: the website of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has virtual tours for its most popular destinations, and some tour guides have organised real-time online tours for international customers.

In addition, a commercial titled, Why not Vietnam aired on CNN in October 2020 to drive international traffic to the website, and on a domestic level, a reality show with the same name offered up weekly online travel photo contests to engage viewers.

Companies could also think about placing digital tools in new places within the customer journey. They must recognise that factors promoting customer loyalty may have changed; near-term uncertainty may mean, for example, that the ability to cancel a reservation matters more than brand choice or price.

Furthermore, to capture early outbound demand, travel players could benefit from tracking the development of travel bubbles. This is especially relevant for Vietnam, as the majority of tourists are from nearby regions with strong economic ties and relatively low transmission rates. As already stated, our analysis finds that nearby countries such as China, Malaysia, and Thailand could provide inbound expenditure growth of at least compound annual growth rate between 2020 and 2025.

Local operators, as fact, who often lag behind big travel companies in terms of resources but are more agile in organising personalised activities, can leverage increasingly popular online players to connect directly with customers and provide these options.

International online travel agencies such as TripAdvisor, as well as closer-to-home players such as Traveloka and Triip.me, have been building dedicated experience platforms to inspire users and allow them to choose the most suitable tours by providing a range of attractive options for destination adventures. Tourism companies could shift their efforts away from building resorts and selling sightseeing tickets to design exceptional activities, and leverage these platforms to take advantage of travel-experience trends.

Government role in tourism

In most countries, reinventing the tourism industry will involve industry professionals working in concert with industry groups and governments. Vietnamese tourism administrators have an exciting opportunity to reimagine their roles and lead the sector through recovery and beyond

Firstly, this is by boosting domestic demand to make up for lost income from international travellers, and second by promoting Vietnams image as a country that has managed the pandemic fairly well. To do this, three things should occur.

In the short term, the government and industry associations need to ensure survival of operators. They 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. This would allow hotels to optimise variable costs and reduce the need for government stimulus plans.

After that, 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 per cent of travel suppliers in 2018.

Finally, Vietnam has a solid opportunity to boost its stature as an adventure destination. Authorities and associations can leverage the overall momentum of the country, as well as the expected return of international travel, to boost demand. Our analysis finds that in the AsiaPacific region, adventure remains the leading travel trend searched by travellers, so Vietnam is well positioned to leverage this trend.
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Pay transparency and diverse representation on hiring committees are first steps to leveling the financial playing field in medicine. Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Women account for half of all doctors and medical trainees in Canada, but too often in medicine, that's where gender equality ends. Studies show female physicians earn less, advance slower and face higher risks of burnout than their male peers. So, what can the profession do about it?

According to Dr. Clover Hemans, "waiting for voluntary steps to rebalance gender inequities and power does not work."

At a recent Ontario Medical Association briefing, Hemans presented 10 actions to advance the role of women in medicine in the next 12 months. Her top recommendations: include women from diverse backgrounds on hiring committees and demand transparency in job descriptions and compensation.

While many healthcare organizations pay lip service to female physicians' contributions, they're seldom transparent about how much they pay women compared to men performing the same roles.

Recent Canadian research shows that salary disclosure laws reduced the gender pay gap in the public sector by about 30%. But medical associations, including the OMA, have tended to resist such "sunshine" laws being applied to physicians.

According to Hemans, it's even difficult to determine how many women hold medical leadership positions in Canada "because we simply do not measure this metric."

Hemans called on healthcare organizations to measure and report numbers of female clinical chiefs of departments, corporate division heads and equally paid leaders. She also urged physicians to press for fair parental leave, mandatory bias training and the enforcement of anti-discrimination policies.

Moreover, Hemans urged physicians to continue to resist "pink pointing" women towards some specialties and away from others because of their gender and family situation.

Men are not viewed as less when work and family life collide, nor are they expected to pick up the "second shift" of childcare and household duties, said Hemans. And men interested in competitive programs "often have an implicit advantage through mentorship and informal relationships with senior male leaders."

Hemans said women must elevate and amplify each other in the same way. "We must make ourselves visible and undeniable. We must learn to leverage informal networks, make friends with writers and journalists, be comfortable with writing so we can share our insights and experiences, and learn to brand out work."

Meanwhile, men can make a point of including and mentoring women. "We need allies and sponsors in our male leadership to not be afraid to mentor female trainees," said Dr. Kimberly Lazare. "As trainees and young physicians early in our careers, we need to look not only to female mentors but also to male mentors for those opportunities."

According to OMA President Dr. Samantha Hill, closing the gender pay gap will also require modernizing physician fee schedules and payment models. "Patients who are complicated or need more time are often referred to women because the referring doctor knows that woman will take the time," even when that extra time isn't compensated, Hill said.

Fee schedules have tended to incentivize quantity of procedures over time spent with patients, which may not reflect what's best for patients, especially as Canada's population ages and becomes more medically complex, Hill and Lazare noted.

"Studies have shown that having more women in health policy leadership enhances the provision of high-quality patient care and patients of women physicians have higher levels of satisfaction and reduced readmission and mortality rates after being discharged from hospital," Lazare said. "We cannot make progress in this area with respect to gender inequity without capitalizing on and celebrating these contributions of women in medicine."

Explore further Physician billing data reveal striking gender pay gap
DCT

Thankfully, Lamborghini has the backing of the Volkswagen Group for the transition to hybrids and electrics. In the first instance, the Italian marque will follow up on the Sian with a hybrid-assisted successor for the Aventador. Our friends at Autocar understand that the mystery model will roll out in 2022, packing the same 6.5-liter V12 plant as before.Lamborghini told Autocar that 2021 is a moment of stabilization before it starts pushing for the next level next year. A key priority for the super-sporty automaker is to develop a clear vision of what electrification means for the brand, starting with the said follow-up to the acclaimed Aventador.None other than Stephan Winkelmann, the head honcho of Lamborghini, told the British motoring publication that a couple of V12-engined machines will be revealed this year. The man in charge of the Raging Bull didnt go into detail, but hearsay suggests the Sians supercapacitor technology for the first model and a preview of the Aventadors replacement for the other.The challenge is how to match the requests of the legislators while not diluting the expectations of customers in the coming years, signed off the man who also helms Bugatti. This is what we are working on right now.Maurizio Reggiani, the technical boss at Lamborghini, previously mentioned natural aspiration and a hybrid element for the supercar that will supersede the Aventador. He also told the media that electric all-wheel drive is a serious consideration, a setup that Ferrari utilizes in the SF90 Stradale The Prancing Horse employs no fewer than three electric motors in addition to a twin-turbo V8 and a dual-clutch transmission. Two e-motors up front provide torque vectoring for better handling in the twisties, and theyre also used to reverse the vehicle because thedoesnt feature a reverse gear.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 02:49:12|Editor: huaxia

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RAMALLAH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Monday urged Israel to allow the Palestinians in East Jerusalem to participate in the upcoming general elections scheduled for May 22.

Several Palestinian factions said in a joint statement that the right of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem to participate in the general elections "is inalienable."

"The Palestinians in East Jerusalem have the right to effectively participate in the democratic process through running for and voting in the elections," the statement said.

It called on the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (PCEC) to assume its responsibilities in completing the electoral registration and to ensure that the Palestinians in East Jerusalem would cast their ballots at polling stations.

Meanwhile, Palestine's Jerusalem Minister Fadi al-Hadami said in a separate statement that Palestinians are granted the right to hold elections in East Jerusalem according to an agreement signed between Israel and Palestine.

"Under the agreement, we have the right to vote and stand as candidates. We do not take permission from Israel to hold elections. On the contrary, we ask it, as an occupying power, not to obstruct our participation in the elections," he said.

Earlier in the day, the PCEC said in a statement that 15 electoral lists were already registered to race in the upcoming legislative elections, including the electoral list of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

In January, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the 2021 general elections will include the legislative elections on May 22, the presidential elections on July 31, and the elections of the Palestinian National Council, the highest decision-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organization, on Aug. 31.

The Palestinians insist on holding the general elections in all Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians in East Jerusalem participated in the last presidential and legislative elections held in 2005 and 2006. Enditem
Nearly 80 per cent of the work on the infrastructure, land paving, road construction, service delivery and administrative office buildings within the Phase One of King Salman Energy Park (Spark), the regions only fully integrated energy hub, has been completed, reported Arab News .

This announcement coincides with the completion of a project connecting the city to the main Shedgum Gas Plant, 64 km away, allowing Spark to meet the electric power needs of its investors.

With work in full swing, Phase One is due for completion later this year, said the report.

Its near-completion means that the allotted land is now ready for investment, and 35 investment applications have been approved for companies and their support services, stated the report.

Contracts have already been signed with 23 other companies. Early this month, Spark had inked two strategic agreements with the Industrialization and Energy Services Company (Taqa) and the Arab Minerals Company (Amco).

Under the agreement, Taqa is seeking to expand its local operations through the Taqa Industrial Complex, with an initial investment of up to SR300 million ($80 million). Amco is investing SR260 million to develop a new centre in the city, stated the report, citing a top official.

Chairman Dr Muhammad Yahya Al Qahtani said the investments of the projects first phase would form a 'global gateway' to the regional energy sector, amounting to approximately SR6 billion.

"Despite the challenges and exceptional circumstances that have occurred as a result of the pandemic, we were able to achieve more progress in construction operations in line with the goals set for the month of July of this year, especially after adopting advanced and environmentally friendly building solutions," he stated.

"Spark is the first in the Middle East region to adopt such innovative solutions to ensure that sustainability remains a primary focus for the development of the project," stated Dr Al Qahtani.

Spark has also launched 'green building' solutions in order to enhance sustainability and support the circular carbon economy, as well as enhancing safety levels on site and reducing time spent and materials used in construction, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
QINGDAO, China, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SOS Limited (NYSE: SOS) (the "Company" or "SOS") announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary SOS Information Technology Co., Ltd. has entered into a joint venture agreement with Qingdao Ronghe Finance Holding Group Co., Ltd. ("Ronghe Finance") to form a new joint venture, SOS Ronghe Digital Technology Co., Ltd. ("SOS Ronghe"). SOS Ronghe Digital Technology Co., Ltd received its business license on March 27, 2021

Ronghe Finance is an affiliate of Qingdao West Coast New Area Ronghe Holding Group Co., Ltd, a large state-owned enterprise in Qingdao Shandong Province, China. Pursuant to the joint venture agreement, both parties are to contribute their resources to establish a supercomputing center in Qingdao. The registered capital of the joint venture will be approximately $9,174,000, of which the Company will contribute 51% and Ronghe will contribute 49%. SOS has the right to appoint two of the three directors, the CEO and the CFO of the joint venture.

The mission of the joint venture is to establish the first large-scale Supercomputing Center in Qingdao and become a leading data and supercomputing and R&D base in China. SOS-Ronghe is expected be primarily focused on the following fields: cloud computing, high performance computing, big data, blockchain-based asset and cryptocurrency activities.

Yandai Wang, CEO of SOS Limited commented, "we believe our joint venture with Ronghe is a key infrastructure investment focused on blockchain and big data, which will be a growth engine for both SOS and Ronghe."

About Ronghe Holding

Qingdao West Coast New Area Ronghe Holding Group Co., Ltd. is a state-owned holding company in Qingdao West Coast New Area, with an AAA corporate credit rating according to China Lianhe Credit Rating Co. Ltd. It plays a key role in the industrial investment, capital operation and equity management in promoting urban development, civil-military integration, science and technology development, venture capital, medical and health care, major transportation facilities, comprehensive land development, island protection and utilization, and functional zone construction and park operations in the Qingdao West Coast New Area. For more information, please visit: http://rongkong.net.cn/

About SOS Limited

SOS, is an emerging blockchain-based and big data-driven marketing and solution provider, with a nationwide membership base of approximately 20 million in China. Recently, SOS started to get ready to roll out its cryptocurrency mining business and plans to develop insurance and security management solutions for digital assets and cryptocurrencies. The core infrastructure of SOS' marketing data, technology and solutions to insurance and emergency rescue services is built on big date, blockchain-based technology, cloud computing, AI, satellite, and 5G network, etc. SOS Limited, through its operating subsidiary, SOS Information Technology Co., Ltd. is a high-technology company providing a wide range of services to its corporate and individual members, including marketing data, technology and solutions for emergency rescue services. SOS transforms digital technology into data-driven operations through the research and development of big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence. We have created a SOS cloud emergency rescue service software as a service (SaaS) platform with three major product categories, including basic cloud (medical rescue card, car rescue card, financial rescue card, mutual assistance rescue card), cooperative cloud (information rescue center, intelligent big data, intelligent software and hardware), and information cloud (News Today, E-Commerce Today). This system provide marketing-related data, technology solutions, and technology-driven big data to clients such as insurance companies, financial institutions, medical institutions, healthcare providers, auto manufacturers, security providers, senior living assistance providers and other service providers in the emergency rescue services industry. For more information, please visit: http://www.sosyun.com/

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, our expectations for future financial performance, business strategies or expectations for our business. These statements constitute projections, forecasts and forward-looking statements, and are not guarantees of performance. SOS cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Words such as "may," "can," "should," "will," "estimate," "plan," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "seek," "target," "look" or similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. There is no assurance that the supercomputing center will be established as planned, when it will start operation nor any of the planned activities will be implemented by the supercomputing center.Specifically, forward-looking statements may include statements relating to the Company's:

ability to execute its business plan;

changes in the market for SOS' products and services; and

expansion plans and opportunities.

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release and our management's current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but not are limited to, the risk factors described by SOS in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). These risk factors and those identified elsewhere in this press release, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from historical performance.

Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in deciding whether to invest in our securities. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact our expectations and projections can be found in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. SOS's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov . SOS disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE SOS Limited
Young buck quickly gets irritated by the birds and attempts to shake them off

Jackdaws were spotted landing on fallow deer's back to pinch clumps of his hair

A gang of cheeky birds have been spotted pinching clumps of hair off the back of a deer before flying off to make their nests.

On the lookout for home-building materials, the clattering of jackdaws jumped onto the young buck and quickly started pecking away.

Adorable footage shows the fallow deer quickly getting annoyed with the pesky birds, and desperately tries to shake them off.

The clip was recorded by photographer Paul Browning in Bushy Park, west London, yesterday at the start of British summer time.

'The ring leaders of the deer fur heist today,' Paul quipped on social media alongside photos of the birds.

'This deer was getting a bit annoyed and throwing them off.'

Bushy Park is the second largest of Londons eight royal parks, spanning 1,100 acres, and is home to more than 320 red and fallow deer.

Having gone through the winter rutting season and losing their long antlers, male deer are usually calmer during the spring season.

Adorable footage shows the young male deer in Bushy Park quickly getting annoyed as cheeky jackdaws descended upon and pinch clumps of his hair, causing him to desperately try to shake them off

Paul added that he was fascinated by the interaction between the deer and jackdaws on a previous visit, and had returned to the park to capture the birds pinching fur.

'It was something I'd never seen before, the Jackdaws were stealing fur from the deer to build their nests and the deers didn't mind at all!'

Bill Swan, Assistant Park manager, Bushy Park, said: 'Together, Bushy and Richmond Parks are home to over 1,000 free roaming deer.

'These are powerful and wild animals so we urge the public to show their respect by keeping a minimum of 50metres away, and to not photograph the deer at close range or feed them.

'Currently, a large number of female deer are heavily pregnant, so now more than ever, its essential that visitors keep their dogs under close control at all times.'
*As Buhari, Lawan, Sanwo-Olu, others eulogise ex-gov at 69

NATIONAL leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said, yesterday, that Lagos and Kano states must remain peaceful, given their large population and economic potential.

This came on a day President Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan; Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; the Progressive Governors' Forum, PGF; Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Rotimi Akeredolu of Lagos and Ondo states, respectively, and the APC, yesterday, hailed Tinubu on his 69th birthday, saying he has nurtured talents for the benefit of the country.

Tinubu said this when he paid a visit to Aminu Ado Bayero, Emir of Kano, as part of the activities slated to mark his (Tinubu) birthday.

The former governor of Lagos said Kano and the centre of excellence, which possess common population densities and hold economic growth, must lead other parts of the country on a peaceful mission.

Tinubu said: "Nigeria is going through difficult times especially challenges of insecurity and other tough times. Yet there cannot be peace, development and industrial growth in the country in the absence of peace and stability.

"Kano being the most populous state of the Federation has enjoyed stability and peace despite the challenges in Nigeria. The Governors have promoted unity; sustained one Nigeria in the face of difference. We must commend them."

You're a unifying factor, Emir of Kano tells Tinubu

Responding, the Emir of Kano described Tinubu as a unifying factor and personality.

The monarch said this is evident with Tinubu's attendance of the Arewa House Lecture in Kaduna and series of the colloquium organized which he said shows how patriotic he (Tinubu) is.

The monarch said: "We are commending you for attending Arewa House Lecture in Kaduna. This shows how patriotic you are.

"In the last five, I attended a similar Colloquium in Lagos. We saw how you (Tinubu) went round places, which shows how you've become a unifying factor."

Tinubu has inspired many leaders for Nigeria's benefit--Buhari

Meanwhile, President Buhari, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina in Abuja, acknowledged Tinubu's role in the stability of the party and advocating good governance.

The statement reads: "President Muhammadu Buhari joins the governing party, All Progressives Congress, APC, and its teeming members in congratulating Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his 69th birthday, March 29, 2021, sharing the joyous occasion with the former two-term Governor of Lagos State, whose acumen and influence continue to resonate around the country and beyond."

"The President affirms that the former Lagos State Governor has inspired many leaders and continues to nurture talents for the benefit of the country, while acknowledging his role in the stability of the APC, and advocating good governance", the statement added.

Lawan, Omo-Agege greet Tinubu @ 69

Similarly, Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media, Ola Awoniyi, said: "A leader of leaders, political strategist and astute administrator, Asiwaju Tinubu has, in three decades of active roles in the politics of Nigeria, impacted many lives and greatly contributed to improving the polity.

"His achievements and the development foundations he laid in Lagos as the first elected governor of the state in the Fourth Republic have secured his place in the history of the state."

Also, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege said Tinubu remains an inspiration to many.

We look up to Tinubu for guidance--APC govs

Also, Chairman of the Progressive Governors' Forum, PGF, and Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, in a statement, said: "We in particular wish to acknowledge and commend your untiring and selfless leadership and commitment to a united prosperous Nigeria. We acknowledge your contributions to the emergence and growth of our party, APC.

"Under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, in partnership with many other leaders of our party, including Asiwaju Tinubu, the politics of Nigeria is passing through fundamental changes, which is a necessary condition for the institution of enduring progressive governance.

"As our national leader, you certainly represent one of the inspirations for our successes."

Nigeria's democracy not complete without Tinubu -- Sanwo-Olu

On his part, Governor Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, lauded the contributions of Bola Tinubu to the development of Nigeria, saying the country's democracy cannot be complete without him.

Sanwo-Olu, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, said: "The story of Nigeria's democracy cannot be told without the name of the Jagaban Borgu written in gold. Thousands are today direct beneficiaries of his political benevolence.

"As a pathfinder, Asiwaju charted the developmental trajectory of modern Lagos, raising the bar of governance and public service in the State and indeed, Nigeria. A cheerful giver who cares about the welfare of the people, Asiwaju personifies tolerance and humanity."

He is legendary -- Akeredolu

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has described Tinubu as legendary.

Akeredolu, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde said: "Asiwaju, the Jagaban Borgu can best be described as a man of many parts.

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Tinubu's foresight in hunting for talents and leaders, particularly, those around him, has projected him to the admiration of many in the country and beyond.

"Tinubu touches are all-encompassing, long-lasting and inexorably memorable. He has been part of every development in the country.

Tinubu a developmental democrat --APC

Similarly, the APC, in a statement by the National Chairman of its Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC and Governor of Yobe state, Mr. Mai Mala Buni said the former Lagos governor has dedicated his life to the service of humanity.

The statement reads: "The All Progressives Congress APC celebrates a man of excellence, a true democrat and a great leader, the Jagaban of Borgu, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his 69th birthday anniversary."

"Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has no doubt dedicated his life to the service of humanity, promotion of good governance, growth and development of democracy in Nigeria.

"As a leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is passionate about the future of the people, as a developmental democrat, he is a proponent of due process and rule of law. His humble and humane disposition made him a great philanthropist. The APC family is so proud of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu's many achievements."

Vanguard News Nigeria
African leaders and finance ministers have called on global leaders and financial institutions to support the continent's recovery measures from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They made the urgent call during the Conference of African Finance Ministers (COM), which was hosted by the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Tuesday, in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, told the ministerial gathering that Africa demonstrated that it is not only capable of facing the crisis in the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also ready to formulate and implement solutions.

Ahmed, however, stressed that African countries must focus on digital transformation, climate-smart economy and the institutional framework for implementation and accountability as the continent responds and races to recover from the pandemic.

He called on global leaders and institutions to support measures to ease the impact of COVID-19 on Africa's citizens and economies.

Ahmed urged African countries to invest more in the digital economy, a source of growth and a key competitive enabler of other productive sectors.

The ministerial conference was held in a hybrid format, under the theme "Africa's Sustainable Industrialization and Diversification in the Digital Era in the Context of COVID-19."

UNECA Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe, on her part, said there has been a decoupling of the world's response between the advanced and developing countries, as advanced economies reacted swiftly to shore up their economies, providing trillion of dollars in liquidity.

Africa is not out of the response phase yet, as the continent needs liquidity to move from response to recovery and an extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative to the end of the year, she said.

"As the developed world transitions from response to recovery, Africa should not be left behind," Songwe stressed, noting that the continent's recovery must be focused on job creation and green jobs.

He emphasized the need to leverage Africa's integration and regional value chains to fast track the continental recovery measures.-Xinhua
[March 29, 2021] Inzyon launches CSR monitor for company sustainability intelligence and compliance measures

STOCKHOLM, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Inzyon launches its Corporate Social Responsibility - CSR - Monitor, supporting companies' analysis, measures and activities to comply with the rapidly and ever-increasing volumes of regulatory requirements on the topic of sustainability. It provides a combination of near-real-time global Sustainability Intelligence with tools for hands on analysis and reporting for increased compliance and competitiveness. "With the CSR Monitor we aim at supporting companies' management teams to keep up with, act upon, and utilize the competitive edges enabled by the developing frameworks of sustainability. We are proud to provide a tool for industry that will contribute to a gradually increased fulfilment of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals", says Gabriel Anderbjork, CEO of Inzyon and continues, "By adding the CSR monitor to our already existing services, the Sustainability Classification Framework and the ESG monitor, we now cover the entire field of sustainability compliance, from financial market actors to industry operations management, with identical information models, thereby enabling coherent communications and reporting structures through the entire chain." Background - why is this needed? Companies, in particular listed Companies, are rapidly becoming subject to harsh requirements on sustainability compliance, not only on Climate Action matters, as many believe, but on the full scale of UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Regulators such a ESMA (European Securities and Market Authority) and UN backed bodies such as PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) have adopted a "follow the money approach" by putting severe requirements on the financial industry that is rapidly spilling over on any listed, and later unlisted, companies, seeking funding of any kind. The EU regulation 2019/2088 (the SDFR - Sustainability Finance Disclosure Regulation) with its PAI (Principal adverse Impact) measures, the EU TEG taxonomy with its DNSH (Doing No Significant Harm) factors and the NFRD (the Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014/95/EU, that is in the process of being update) are three of the currently most discussed frameworks, gradually being put into effect during 2021. The challenge is that few, if any, today have clear views on how these regulations are to be implemented, even if they are rapidly coming into force.



Further, the days when Green Bonds was a novelty is rapidly becoming history and the requirements for green bonds are already now rather a basic hygiene factor for a financial commitment. The EU GBS (Green Bond Standard) is also more stringent than existing CBI (Climate Bonds Initiative) and GBP (Green Bond Principles). For investee companies, Companies that are listed or seeking funding on Financial Markets, this is already a major challenge that many might not even yet have identified and if they have, probably still are seeking answers to how to address in a cost-efficient way (including the severely rising costs of financing that will be the inevitable result of non-actions).Taking action is today not an if-question, it is a how-question and Inzyon CSR Monitor (https://csr.inzyon.com) is a tool to support such actions.

Our customers Inzyon's CSR monitor is directly targeted at all companies globally that are already, knowingly or unknowingly, subject to regulations on compliance regarding sustainable operations. Based on near real time news, narrative data and other unstructured information, Inzyon's CSR monitor enables competitive advantages as insights on developing CSR requirements, strategies and performance can be spotted at the earliest possible occasion. Customers of the CSR monitor are also enabled to undertake internal logging, reporting and knowledge sharing for the purpose of development and external regulatory compliance reporting. Technical aspects Inzyon CSR Monitor is a for purpose configured, automated, SaaS-application for monitoring, analysing and acting upon CSR related matters. Although customers' off the shelf starting configuration only differs with regards to their own industry and business environment, each customer can then configure algorithms and sources to increase their own competitive advantage in their CSR deployment strategy. The CSR monitor uses applicable parts of Inzyon's Sustainability Classification Framework (https://scf.inzyon.com/). For further information on the CSR monitor, please visit https://csr.inzyon.com/or mail to sales@inzyon.com For questions, please contact: Gabriel Anderbjork, CEO, Inzyon

gabriel.anderbjork@inzyon.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/inzyon/r/inzyon-launches-csr-monitor-for-company-sustainability-intelligence-and-compliance-measures,c3314213

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Protesters attempt to pull down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square near the White House in Washington on June 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A Near Call: Whether the Left Will Implode or Triumph

Commentary

Heres a question that I do not know the answer to: Is the Left on the Cusp of Permanent Triumph, Or Is It Committing Suicide?

Thats the title of an essay by Francis Menton at his blog Manhattan Contrarian.

Menton points out that the sudden acceleration of cancel culture and social media de-platforming are only two arrows in the lefts quiver of intimidation.

Another weaponmore bludgeon than arrow, perhapsratchets up the lefts coercive suppression of dissent to new, Soviet or Chinese communist levels of ferociousness.

One main tactic is the universalization of diversity imperatives. The whole diversity gambit was always noxious because it never had anything to do with fostering genuine diversitywhich requires a sedulous fostering of dissenting opinion and open debate about contentious issues.

On the contrary, the diversity racket was always about enforcing conformity and ideological purity.

The difference now is that what had been confined to a few administrative proclamations and particular consciousness-raising classes has metastasized and is poised to dictate the emotional and ideological weather of entire institutions.

This development was possible only because of the lefts long march through the institutions. It began in the 1960s with a handful of outside agitators.

It gained steam in succeeding decades as activists slipped into more and more positions of poweradministrators as well as faculty. The puzzle was completed and fully weaponized when the government stepped in and backstopped the radicals.

Bureaucratic Instruction

They didnt necessarily look like radicals. Many of the examples that Menton adduces are just ordinary academic administrators who, in embracing the poison of woke ideology, have trampled all over the ideals of individual rights, due process, and fostering an atmosphere where substantive, fact-based argument, not racial grievance-mongering, could thrive.

Menton quotes William Jacobson, a law professor and genius loci of the Legal Insurrection blog, who recently detailed the ways in which various neo-Marxist theories have transformed large swaths of campus life into something indistinguishable from Maoist struggle sessions.

The catastrophe can sometimes appear almost innocuous because its typically promulgated in the rancid soporific syllables of bureaucratic instruction.

Jacobson cites the case of Martha Pollock, the wretched president of Cornell University, who last summer not only recommended Ibram X. Kendis truly egregious book How to Be an Anti-Racist, but went on to designate, with enthusiastic approval of the faculty Senate, that the book be an official Cornell Community Book Read.

Nor was that all. The central message of Kendis book is that whites are bad and that the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. Pollock apparently agreed, for she declared that we must embed anti-racism across all aspects of life at Cornell.

As a start, she issued various directives mandating an emetic equity and cultural competence training and making such competence in diversity, equity, and inclusion part of the staffs performance review.

Permanent Triumph

Menton is undoubtedly right that the people pushing this toxic (and, by the way, deeply anti-American) ideology believe that they are on the cusp of permanent triumph in America.

They control (if but narrowly) all the levers of official power in Washington.

They are not so well-positioned in state legislatures, but Washington is in the midst of a huge push to federalize, well, everything: elections, border control, and education at all levels.

Sure, there are remaining pockets of dissent. But its disorganized and, more to the point, its partisans lack the single-minded fanaticism of the left.

Those dissenting from the dictates of critical race theory and the rest of this garbage mostly just want to get on with their lives.

The left is determined to get on with everyones life.

Hence, the rituals of humiliation and excoriation that have become such a prominent feature of campusand, increasinglyof corporate life and governmental overreach.

Menton ends by wondering whether its all hurtling toward a reductio ad absurdum that is tantamount to suicide.

Perhaps. But, recalling the progress of that great battle for liberte, egalite, fraternite in France circa 17931795, I would not be at all surprised if this malevolent melodrama had a few more acts to perform.

We have already reached the point where the dictum silence is violence is enforced on many campuses.

That is to say, if you dont offer full-throated support of todays roster of politically correct initiativestransgender rights, Black Lives Matter, the inextricable evil of whitenessthen you are just as guilty as those who actually criticize or oppose the revolutionary menu.

Dance of Death

The French dealt with such implicit counter-revolutionary activity through the Law of Suspects, promulgated in 1793.

It required all citizens to carry certificates of civism, attesting that the bearer was a citizen in good standing.

Perhaps we will start in this country with a Fauci Vaccine Voucher, attesting to the bearers vaccination status, and hence, by implication, his subservience to the whole government program.

It wont stop there, of course. Robespierre and his colleagues famously defined suspects as those who have done nothing against freedom, also have done nothing for it.

That could easily be dusted off and reformulated in terms of ones support for Donald Trump, couldnt it? Arent we almost there?

Christopher Wrays FBI has already made a good start on the first provision of the Law of Suspects.

All suspect people who are to be found on the territory of the Republic, and who are still in freedom, will be put under arrest. How many innocent people has he rounded up and incarcerated?

Some estimates put Robespierres catch of people who had failed to consistently demonstrate their commitment to the Revolution at some 500,000. Maybe it was not quite so many.

Wray and his colleagues in the corrupt DOJ have a ways to go if they are to catch up. But they have all the time in the world and the entire apparatus of the U.S. government at their disposal.

I believe that Menton is probably right that they are engaged in a sort of dance of death that will result in its implosion. Eventually.

The trouble is, no one can say exactly when. I suspect there will be a lot of damage to individual liberty and what we used to be able to call, without irony, the American way of life between now and then.

Roger Kimball is the editor and publisher of The New Criterion and publisher of Encounter Books. His most recent book is Who Rules? Sovereignty, Nationalism, and the Fate of Freedom in the 21st Century.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
MANISTEE COUNTY  On Monday, a Manistee man was sentenced for selling methamphetamine and heroin last year.

Jeremy Arkwright, 34, appeared from the Manistee County Jail via video technology in front of Judge David Thompson in 19th Circuit Court on Monday morning.

For the charge of delivery/manufacturing of methamphetamine, he was sentenced to the Michigan Department of Corrections for a minimum of 60 months to a maximum of 20 years. He will be given credit for 124 days served.

According to court documents, this charge stemmed from selling methamphetamine in Norman Township on Feb. 25, 2020.

Arkwright was also ordered to pay a crime victim assessment of $130, and $68 in state costs on that charge.

For the charge of delivery/manufacturing of cocaine, heroin or another narcotic less than 50 grams, Arkwright was sentenced to the Michigan Department of Corrections for a minimum term of one year and a maximum of 20 years with credit for 124 days served.

According to court documents, this charge stemmed from selling narcotics in the city of Manistee on Feb. 27, 2020.

On that charge, he is expected to pay a $130-crime victim assessment charge, and $68 in state costs.

The sentences are to run concurrently.

Thompson said his concerns centered on Arkwrights behaviors such as prior convictions.

Thompson noted Arkwrights rather lengthy criminal history as he had also been convicted of charges like being a minor in possession of alcohol in 2005, domestic violence in 2006 and delivery of a counterfeit substance morphine.

Thompson also pointed out that Arkwright had not been gainfully employed since 2017.

Its described in the presentence report that youre unemployed. I feel differently. I see you as self-employed, frankly, as a drug dealer, Thompson stated.

Prior to sentencing, Arkwrights attorney had said that Arkwright was selling the meth and heroin to support his addiction.

Thompson emphasized that there are people literally dying in our communities from overdose of heroin. Their lives are being destroyed because theyre addicted to methamphetamine.

And someone such as yourself that chooses to profit (from) instances by delivering this type of controlled substance in this community  there has to be a consequence, Thompson said.
Ferrari can "finally" rely on two competitive drivers in Formula 1.

That is the controversial claim after Bahrain of team boss Mattia Binotto, having decided to oust Sebastian Vettel and replace him for 2021 with Carlos Sainz.

"It's a good starting point," Binotto told Sky Italia, after Charles Leclerc and Sainz finished sixth and eighth in the 2021 season opener.

"Carlos is already working very well with Leclerc. We can finally count on both drivers, and knowing that we can all count on each other is important for us as it also affects the team spirit.

"At the moment our rivals are the other teams. When we return to the top, our drivers will be rivals to each other," the Italian added.

Many believe that while the aerodynamic rule changes since 2020 have given Red Bull the edge over Mercedes, the biggest beneficiary has perhaps been Ferrari.

"We definitely performed better than last season, but there is still a long way to go," Leclerc said on Sunday.

For instance, Leclerc admitted that McLaren currently has a faster car.

"In this area we had a deficit compared to Lando Norris (in Bahrain). He was very, very fast, as were Red Bull and Mercedes, both of which are not yet within range," said the Monaco-born driver.

"I'm more optimistic now than I was last year, so when you look at the progress we have made, it doesn't look too bad. Now we have to keep working hard."

It is possible, however, that Ferrari will soon begin to fall behind - because Maranello is more focused on the all-new car for 2022, while Mercedes and Red Bull may need to aggressively develop this year for their title battle.

"What Red Bull and Mercedes will do, I don't know," said Binotto.

"But for us, this year it is difficult to fight for the podium - they are stronger than us. We can aim for third in the constructors, and for that we will have to fight with McLaren."

(GMM)
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Rochester businesses are coming together to raise money and awareness for transplant patients.

Jack's Bottle Shop is a fairly newer business selling beer, but the message the owner wants you to know goes beyond the craft. KIMT News 3 told you a couple months ago the story of Marcus Tolbert, who passed away in 2019 while waiting for a dual lung transplant. His dad, Jack Lester, wanted to stay busy and continue on with his legacy and that's how Jack's Bottle Shop was made possible.

Over the weekend would have been Marcus' 10th birthday. To celebrate, Lester is partnering with several Rochester businesses to create a 'Marcus Swag Bag' with the proceeds going to the Gift of Life Transplant House. "Transplant homes change people's lives and save people. Whether they're a guardian, whether they're a recipient, whether they are family, explained Lester. "Transplant homes - I can speak for both sides of our family - I think changed our lives for the better even though we didn't get to bring Marcus home."

Lester and his family lived in a transplant house for 6 months while Marcus was waiting for the transplant. He said staying there gave him a new outlook on life. "I learned from people that were given a second opportunity at life. That's what we were all on board for our son, Marcus, as well and we just ran out of time," explained Lester. "But he's still very much here with us and he knows what we're doing. He knows we're celebrating the best that we can. But the people that live at a transplant home, the appreciation for life is next to none."

The 'Marcus Swag Bags' are already on sale and they will be until April 10th. If you order one, you can expect to receive it in May.
Gorham, NY -- An Ontario County town justice, who retired from that countys sheriffs office, is being publicly scolded for two instances in which he publicly supported law enforcement.

John Peck, of the Gorham Town Court, was taken to task by the states judicial conduct commission for two actions: a Facebook post about his attendance at a Back the Blue rally last summer and a picture on Facebook in which he posed in his old sheriffs office uniform at his daughters police academy graduation.

Its the second time the commission has found fault with Peck: he was privately warned in April 2019 regarding another Facebook post he made critical of a candidate for sheriff at the time.

Peck should be admonished for his latest displays in support of law enforcement, the commission ruled. Thats equivalent to a public scolding, but does not remove Peck from office. The judge has since been contrite and regrets his actions, the commission noted.

Respondent now recognizes that individuals viewing his Facebook posts, and seeing him in a law enforcement uniform, would reasonably question his ability to conduct himself in a fair and impartial manner while presiding over cases involving law enforcement, the commission wrote in a ruling earlier this month.

The commissions ruling details Pecks behavior:

On July 19, 2020, Peck rode in a local Back the Blue event while displaying a sign, two feet tall by three feet wide, that read Thank you in blue letters, the commission wrote. That was not necessarily a big transgression standing alone, the commission indicated.

But on July 21, Peck wrote on Facebook about his attendance at the rally. The commission quoted him in detailing what it felt were troubling statements for a sitting judge:

Today, my daughter  and I stood at the side of the road and watched in appreciation as hundreds of motorcycles and other vehicles passed by  It was the Back the Blue ride in support of law enforcement 

I always tell her that she and her brothers and sisters in blue are still appreciated in OUR community. Todays event, and the overwhelming number of participants is a true example of that appreciation. We both had tears streaming down our cheeks as folks waved and honked, acknowledging our sign thanking them for their support.

It is a tough time for law enforcement. To those of my friends who served or continue to, always remember that you have chosen the noblest of professions and you ARE making a difference 

On the same day, July 21, Peck posted a photo from his daughters graduation from police academy from August 2018. In the picture, both Peck -- who was retired at the time -- and his daughter are in their police uniforms. That public photo garnered nearly 1,000 likes on Facebook, as well as 219 comments, with one referring to him as Judge! the commission found.

Those actions could clearly lead to questions about whether Peck could remain impartial when presiding over cases involving law enforcement, the commission found.

A judge must be and appear impartial, Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian wrote. Identifying himself with the police, publicly and in uniform on Facebook, undermined public confidence in Judge Pecks impartiality, which to his credit he promptly acknowledged and remedied.

Peck, who is not an attorney, has been a town justice since 2018. His term expires at the end of this year.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
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Over 400 Academics Condemn Chinas Sanctions Against UK Scholar Over Uyghurs

More than 400 academics from all over the world have signed an open letter condemning the Chinese regimes decision to sanction a British scholar for her criticisms of the regimes abuse of Uyghur Muslims.

Dr. Joanne Smith Finley, a China expert at Newcastle University, was among the nine British citizens sanctioned by Beijing on March 26 for speaking out against the Chinese regimes human rights violations in Xinjiang.

Beijings sanctioning of Dr. Joanne Smith Finley is a threat to universities core principle of academic freedom, the academics said in the open letter, which was published by The Times of London on Monday.

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)

The letter said Beijings unprecedented step matters for three reasons.

First, the Chinese Communist Party has long used covert attempts to silence critics outside its territory, but these overt new measures against academics are a serious escalation.

Second, it reflects a misunderstanding of British universities. They are not organs of the state but autonomous institutions devoted to the pursuit of truthhowever inconvenient to those in power.

Finally, by in effect insisting that self-censorship is a prerequisite for academic partnership with Chinese universities, UK scholarly cooperation with China is rendered very difficult, if not impossible.

The academics said they would stand in full solidarity with Smith Finley and assert their commitment to academic freedom. They also called on the UK government and all UK universities to do likewise.

Dr @j_smithfinley has been a leading voice in this important area of research on the #Uyghurs and we fully support her in this work. @UniversitiesUK @RussellGroup pic.twitter.com/iAK9Vf9abY  Newcastle University (@UniofNewcastle) March 26, 2021

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, Smith Finley said she was totally overwhelmed by the expressions of solidarity she had received.

I have by now received hundreds of messages from support from all over the world, including UK politicians (Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office FCDO, peers in the UK Parliament House of Lords, e.g. Lord Tariq Ahmad and Lord David Alton); academic colleagues; academics Ive never met; students, past and present; think tank researchers; NGOs; Uyghur advocacy organisations; family and friends.

I am totally overwhelmed by the solidarity expressed, and also heartened by the encouragement to continue doing what I do, no matter what attempt is made to bully or intimidate me. I have no intention of being cowed into silence or self-censorship. La lutte continue! (The struggle continues)

After Beijing announced the sanctions, Newcastle University issued a statement saying: Academic freedom underpins every area of research at Newcastle University and is essential to the principles of UK Higher Education.

Dr. Jo Smith Finley has been a leading voice in this important area of research on the Uyghurs and we fully support her in this work.
Vietnam's coffee exports in the first three months of the year are estimated to have fallen 17% from a year earlier to 428,000 tonnes, while rice exports are seen down 30.4%, government data released on Monday showed.

Coffee

Coffee exports from Vietnam are estimated to have fallen 17% in the first three months of this year from a year earlier to 428,000 tonnes, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on Monday.

Coffee export revenue for Vietnam, the world's biggest producer of the robusta bean, is seen down 11.3% to $771 million in Q1.

The country's coffee shipments in March are estimated at 145,000 tonnes, valued at $275 million.

Rice

Rice exports in January-March are estimated to have decreased 30.4% from a year earlier to 1.1 million tonnes.

Revenue from rice exports in the period is expected to show a fall of 17.4% to $606 million.

March rice exports from Vietnam likely totalled 450,000 tonnes, worth $246 million.

Energy

Vietnam's January-March crude oil exports were seen decreasing 33.6% from the same period last year to an estimated 849,000 tonnes.

Crude oil export revenue in January to March is expected to fall 21.6% from a year earlier to $384 million.

Oil product imports in the first quarter were estimated at 1.859 million tonnes, down 48.9% from the same period last year, while the value of product imports decreased 50.5% to $772 million.

The GSO trade data is subject to revision next month.
6.4 per cent of Manitobans infected with highly contagious strains of COVID-19 had to be hospitalized, the province confirmed Monday.

6.4 per cent of Manitobans infected with highly contagious strains of COVID-19 had to be hospitalized, the province confirmed Monday.

As Manitoba moves closer to tracking the real-time effects of novel coronavirus variants of concern, the proportion of hospitalizations and intensive care admissions is expected to become an important indicator of the province's pandemic response.

In other provinces, more people  many of them young  are getting sicker, are ending up in hospital and having to stay longer due to highly contagious variants.

It could happen here, Manitoba's top doctor warned Monday.

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said the province will now report the number of cases determined to be caused by variants of concern, after screening by Cadham Provincial Laboratory.

That's why, he said, the number of highly contagious variant cases announced Monday was more than double Friday's total.

The total number of concerning variant cases has now reached 250.

Of those, 16 people had to be hospitalized and seven ended up in the ICU, a provincial spokesperson said in response to a Free Press inquiry. It's not clear how many of those cases were still in hospital, since screening for variants took some time.

Previously, the province would wait until the Winnipeg-based National Microbiology Lab performed genetic sequencing  a time-consuming and resource-intense process  to confirm the presence of a variant before making a public announcement.

"Not every variant of concern screened-positive sample requires sequencing anymore," Roussin said.

"To date, we have only been reporting sequenced positive (variants of concern) but because our manner of screening has become so precise, well begin reporting on all VOCs that screen positive."

Current public health orders that mandate physical distancing and limit gathering sizes will still combat the rapidly spreading variants, Roussin said when asked if Manitobans should change their behaviour in response to increasing transmission of variants of concern.

He said most of those cases are still being spread via household contacts rather than community transmission. Roussin could not provide data on outdoor transmission of the more-contagious variants in Manitoba.

"The public health measures that are in place are, if followed, theyre still going to be useful against the variants of concern, and those are just those fundamentals," he said.

It's often more important to look at the proportion of contagious variant cases and how quickly they're spreading, than simple daily COVID-19 case counts, said Winnipeg epidemiologist Cynthia Carr.

"It really doesn't take much for these variants of concern to become the dominant strain," she said Monday. "So we don't want to panic people, but this is more in line with what an epidemiologist would consider a... new wave," as compared with general caseload surges.

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, was keynote speaker Monday at an Institute of Corporate Directors webinar, which Carr attended. Tam made clear there is even less room for error in the country's pandemic response because of the emergence of highly infectious variants, Carr said.

"We really need to do everything we can to keep these cases controlled and stop the spread. So, Dr. Roussin used his terminology, and Dr. Tam just today said 'leverage our strengths,'" Carr said.

"She didn't also say we need to go back to more restrictions, but she said we need extreme caution and not to let our guard down because... she said very clearly, the variants mean there's less room for error right now."

A total of 250 cases involving highly contagious variants have been detected in Manitoba, the majority being the U.K. variant.

Up to one-third of all cases screened in Manitoba on a single day last week were caused by the B.1.1.7 variant, Roussin said Monday.

"This is showing us that the B.1.1.7 strain, like many jurisdictions in Canada, is becoming the predominant strain," he said.

"As these numbers get higher and higher, the value of sequencing, the value of screening becomes less and less because we know what the predominant variant is."

Meanwhile, 53 new COVID-19 cases were reported Monday in Manitoba. The five-day test positivity rate was 4.2 per cent province-wide.

Twenty-one cases were logged in Winnipeg, where the test positivity rate was 3.3 per cent.

There were 27 cases reported in North Health, two in Interlake-Eastern, two in Prairie Mountain, and one in Southern Health.

No new deaths due to COVID-19 were reported Monday.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Danielle Da Silva

Reporter Danielle Da Silva is a general assignment reporter. Read full biography
Taipei Claims China Deployed 20 Aircraft into Taiwans Air Defense Identification Zone

March 28 , 2021 (EIRNS)Focus Taiwan, the English division of Taiwans official Central News Agency, reported March 26 that 20 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ), including bombers and fighter jets.

Among the PLA aircraft that allegedly participated in this exercise, reported Focus Taiwan, based on a report of Taiwans Ministry of National Defense, were 10 Chinese J-16 multirole fighters, two J-10 multirole fighters, four H-6K bombers, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes, one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control plane and one Y-8 tactical reconnaissance plane. This is the largest deployment in this vicinity since at least September 2020. Britains Guardian called it the largest deployment yet. According to the Congressional Research Service, An ADIZ is an area of airspace beyond a countrys sovereign territory within which the country requires the identification, location, and air traffic control of aircraft in the interest of its national security. There is no international law that specifically governs ADIZs.

A number of media, including Focus Times, have attributed the Chinese air wing deployment as a response to the provocative action by the Biden administration and Taiwan signing on March 25, a memorandum of understanding establishing a joint U.S.-Taiwan Coast Guard Working Group to coordinate policy, that would include the coordination to improve communications, build cooperation, and share information. Thats what was published, but the full extent of the understandings reached may not be known. On March 26 Bloomberg reported that the statement ... did not say whether closer cooperation meant that U.S. vessels would be used in Taiwanese waters. This follows Taiwans passing a law in January that allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels.

However, there is a larger context of Anglo-American provocations against China, for which China might be sounding that it will not be inactive. This includes the sustained campaign of lies that China has carried out genocide against Uighurs in Xinjiang, and the statement by Adm. Charles Richard, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, that There is the real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia and China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons. On March 3, President Biden and his security team issued a 24-page United States Interim Security Guidance, which has particularly aggressive language against China.

The MOU was signed between Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a Taiwan-based private corporation, which is largely funded by the U.S. State Department, established in 1979 when the U.S. recognized the Peoples Republic of China, including the One-China policy. Since the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, AIT and TECRO have worked to encourage deeper cooperation between our two societies, and todays MOU is the latest reflection of these efforts, wrote AIT in its March 25 press release.
A 30-year-old Girrawheen man has been charged with murder over the death of a baby girl.

Three-month-old Elyssia Ahrens died on March 14, two days after being hospitalised with brain injuries stemming from an incident at a Girrawheen home.

Zach Meier has been charged with murder over the death of a baby girl. Credit:Facebook

Zach Meier  who is not the father of the child  fronted Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, where his original charge of grievous bodily harm was upgraded to murder.

His relationship to the child is not yet known, however the incident occurred on his birthday.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
One of the biggest longitudinal research studies of its kind in the world led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) suggests that positive outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more common than previously thought.

ASD refers to a group of neurodevelopmental conditions resulting in challenges related to communication, social understanding and behaviour. One in 100 people may have ASD and although a person can be diagnosed at any time, ASD symptoms generally appear and are diagnosed in the first few years of life.

The multi-site study, published in JAMA Open on March 29, applied a strengths-based approach to outcome assessments in children with an ASD diagnosis, measuring participants' proficiency (level of competency) and growth (improvement over time) in five key developmental health areas: communication, socialization, activities of daily living and emotional health (internalizing and externalizing).

The study found that 80 per cent of children experienced growth or proficiency in at least one of the five domains and 23 per cent of children were doing well in four or more of the domains by mid childhood. Core to the study approach was shifting the definition of a 'good outcome' to 'doing well'.

"It was encouraging to find that most ASD children were doing well by 10 years old by some measure. By using different criteria to track their development apart from those used to diagnose autism -- such as ASD symptoms and cognitive ability -- we were able to reframe more holistically how we conceptualized progress in the autism field," says co-author Dr. Peter Szatmari, Psychiatrist in Chief, Department of Psychiatry and Senior Scientist, Neurosciences & Mental Health at SickKids, and Chief of the Child and Youth Mental Health Collaborative between SickKids, CAMH and the University of Toronto.

"Specifying an outcome implies that there's an end point, whereas doing well relates to an individual's circumstances at a particular point in their life's journey with autism -- especially important since these kids are just at the start of a journey."

Strengths-based approach provides more holistic view of "doing well"

Historically, research literature and outcome evaluations have focused on the deficits people with ASD may experience in intellectual or skills development and less has been studied in the Canadian paediatric context.

The researchers followed 272 children diagnosed with ASD from clinics across Canada from the ages of 2 to 10 years old, or mid childhood, a notable age as children transition to greater autonomy and increased social and academic demands.

Unique to the approach was the use of growth as a measurement, which allowed for comparison of whether an individual child improved in a domain against their younger selves.

"Changing the narrative away from a deficit-based system to one that recognizes growth and success can serve as a foundation for building up each unique child as they tackle new skills and developmental stages in life," says Dr. Katherine Cost, co-author of the paper and Research Associate in the Department of Psychiatry at SickKids.

Family context may attribute to positive outcomes

The study also examined contextual factors such as household income, parent coping and family functioning (such as positive communication and support among family members).

The findings indicated that higher household income and better family functioning were important predictors in several aspects of doing well -- suggesting that adequate income and a well-functioning family may help improve outcomes for a child with ASD.

"Contextual factors like household and family functioning remind us that an autism diagnosis exists alongside the social context in which ASD children are growing up," says Cost.

Cost says while social and environmental factors have been studied in relation to their effects on child development, there is little research among children with autism.

A strengths-based perspective on an autism diagnosis can help support a more flexible approach to developing future interventions that's tailored to each child.

"There is no one way of doing well, but these findings open up a new avenue of research to assess what types of specific interventions, such as providing more income resources or alternative treatment planning for families at an earlier stage of development, may help increase the likelihood that more children with ASD will do well over time," says Szatmari.

The team - which also included researchers from Dalhousie University, McGill University, McMaster University, Simon Fraser University, Tel Aviv University, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of Ottawa and University of Toronto - says future research will focus on outcomes among adolescents with autism as well as ways to further incorporate the perspectives of the participants themselves in outcome definition and measurement.

###

This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Kids Brain Health Network, Autism Speaks, the Government of British Columbia, Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, and the Sinneave Family Foundation.

About The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is recognized as one of the world's foremost paediatric health-care institutions and is Canada's leading centre dedicated to advancing children's health through the integration of patient care, research and education. Founded in 1875 and affiliated with the University of Toronto, SickKids is one of Canada's most research-intensive hospitals and has generated discoveries that have helped children globally. Its mission is to provide the best in complex and specialized family-centred care; pioneer scientific and clinical advancements; share expertise; foster an academic environment that nurtures health-care professionals; and champion an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system. SickKids is a founding member of Kids Health Alliance, a network of partners working to create a high quality, consistent and coordinated approach to paediatric health care that is centred around children, youth and their families. SickKids is proud of its vision for Healthier Children. A Better World.

About the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and a world leading research centre in this field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental illness and addiction. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please visit camh.ca or follow @CAMHnews on Twitter.

Media contact:

Hayley Chazan

Manager, Media Strategy

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

416-452-6530

Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

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Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

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Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

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Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

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Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

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Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 18:14:35|Editor: huaxia

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-- The "Skywalker" gibbon is a new species found in the Gaoligong Mountains of China's Yunnan Province in 2017.

-- The Gaoligong Mountains are home to about 17 percent of higher plants, about 30 percent of mammals and 35 percent of birds in China.

-- Kunming, capital city of Yunnan, will hold the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) scheduled in October.

by Xinhua writers Li Yin, Zhao Jiasong and Wu Xiaoyang



KUNMING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Don't be confused if you are told that the "Skywalker" has been spotted amidst the forests of southwest China. The only difference -- instead of the Jedi in the "Star Wars" series, it refers to a gibbon species named by Chinese scientists.

The species, with white eyebrows, was found in the Gaoligong Mountains in 2017. The mountain range links three biodiversity hotspots including the Himalayas and vast mountains in southern Asia.

The total 34 biodiversity hotspots globally are areas that are both rich in life and at high risk of destruction, while in terms of the number of species, the Gaoligong Mountains are home to about 17 percent of higher plants, about 30 percent of mammals and 35 percent of birds in China.

The eco-region sits in Yunnan Province, with its capital Kunming chosen to be the host city of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) scheduled in October.

Undated combo photo shows a "Skywalker gibbon" (L), a red-webbed tree frog (R, top) and a kind of wild tree lizard (R, bottom) in Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Gaoligong mountain national nature reserve/Handout via Xinhua)

A HOTSPOT OF BIODIVERSITY

The Skywalker gibbon, or the Gaoligong Mountains hoolock gibbon, is morphologically and genetically distinct from other species, according to a research paper published in the American Journal of Primatology.

Their beards are completely black or brown instead of white, and white hair is absent in the suborbital area. They are far rarer than the giant pandas in terms of the population -- less than 150 in China, according to Fan Pengfei, one of the authors and a professor in life sciences at Sun Yat-sen University.

Fan said the English name "Skywalker" was inspired by Luke Skywalker from the "Star Wars." The name bears hopes of scientists that the species can survive tenaciously in the wild, as the corresponding Chinese name "Tian-xing" comes from a Chinese classic "I Ching," or "Book of Changes," he noted.

A family of three Skywalker gibbons resides near Nankang Village in the city of Baoshan.

Pointing to the gibbons foraging on the distant treetops, Yang Youshan, a forest ranger, read out their names so easily as if they were his friends.

It is not an easy task to track and monitor the gibbons as they are highly vigilant, wandering in the tree crown and jumping fast.

Yang has been following the traces of the gibbon family for 12 years, and the three have already got accustomed to the presence of Yang and his coworkers.

Patrols and scientific research monitoring works are of great significance in managing a nature reserve. Meanwhile, authorities have set up 29 vegetation sample plots, 22 plant sample plots and six wildlife monitoring spots, and installed more than 600 infrared cameras.

"We have to protect our green home like protecting our eyes," said He Guipin, who has spent 26 years exploring the forest.

He leads a patrol team of 20 people, managing and protecting over 53,300 hectares of forests in Gaoligong. They are responsible for protecting forest resources, preventing forest fires and cracking down on illegal logging and poaching.

He Guipin and six of his team members patrol in the Gaoligong Mountains, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on March 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

In 2011, He and his colleagues took a photo of a black monkey. It was later confirmed as a new species of the golden monkey after DNA identification of extracted feces and hair.

The Chinese primate expert group named it "Nujiang River golden monkey." He deems his participation in the discovery and protection of the species the most fulfilling thing ever.

"This is the fifth golden monkey species in the world, and now it has become a star animal in Gaoligong while being under top-class protection," said He, noting that the population of such monkeys has risen from about 100 to 250, with their range of activities expanding.

Statistics show that since 1980, more than 620 new species of animals and plants have been discovered in Gaoligong, outnumbering any other eco-region in China.

Incomplete statistics also indicated that there are 5,728 species of higher plants, 205 species of mammals, 525 species of birds and 1,720 species of insects in Gaoligong, including more than 100 species of wild plants and animals under national-level protection.

A rescued Nujiang River golden monkey rests in a residence imitating wild environment at a protention center in the Gaoligong Mountains, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on March 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

HARMONY BETWEEN HUMAN AND NATURE

Hou Tiguo, 52, lives in Baoshan's Baihualing, a village sitting at the eastern foot of the Gaoligong Mountains.

More than 520 bird species have been recorded in the village, accounting for over 30 percent of the total across the country, thus it is dubbed a top bird-watching destination.

But, bird watching didn't always thrive in the region, as the idea of this activity barely crossed the minds of locals earlier.

"When I was a child, I had no meat to eat. So I went up the mountain to shoot birds with a slingshot," Hou said.

But, 1989 was a turning point in his life. A traveler couple stopped by Hou's house and asked him where can they watch birds. He became their tour guide and took them around the area, receiving some tips in return. This serendipitous encounter inspired him to take up tour guiding as a profession.

As Hou's village gained more fame and received more tourists, Hou started to work as a "bird guide."

He discerned that wherever there was water, birds would come to bathe and quench their thirst. So, he built a "bird pond" by emulating the ecological system in a bid to provide more convenience for tourists to take photographs.

The eco-tourism mode is in the ascendant in recent years. Hou has rendered his services as a guide to tourists from over 100 countries and regions. Once he received so many guests in a single day that they were enough to occupy a plane cabin, he recalled with a sense of pride.

Photo taken on Dec. 4, 2020 shows Hou Tiguo (2nd R) at his "bird pond" with tourists in Baihualing, a village sitting at the eastern foot of the Gaoligong Mountains, Baoshan City, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

Hou's successful endeavors in tourism have set an example for his fellow villagers, and they have followed suit. Over 20 homestays have been built for tourists, and more than 60 people are providing tour guide services.

The featured bird watching tour has also boosted catering, homestay, backpacking and transportation services, generating over 10 million yuan (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) every year for the village.

The first environment conservation organization of farmers in China was founded in the village in 1995. As of today, the number of its members has exceeded 150.

With thriving eco-tourism that has induced benefits for the village and more awareness of environmental protection, the bad practice of shooting birds has dissipated to oblivion.

(Xinhua correspondents Yao Bing and Zhang Wen contributed to the story. Video reporter: Pang Fengwei; Video editor: Zhang Qiru)
Mar. 29The authorities issued an Amber Alert for a 1-year-old girl who was abducted Sunday in Grants.

Investigators believe Mia Nolasco may have been taken by her mother, Michelle Nolasco, who does not have custody of the child, according to an alert issued by New Mexico State Police and the Grants Police Department.

Authorities said the girl was last seen at 11:14 a.m. Sunday at 1101 Roberta's Place in Grants.

Mia Nolasco is around 29 inches tall, weighs 19 pounds and has short brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing red pajamas with polka dots.

Michelle Nolasco is 4 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs 120 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black tank top and gray sweatpants and was carrying a pink backpack purse.

Anyone with information on Mia's whereabouts is urged to call 911 or the Grants Police Department at 505-287-4404.
An aggressive series of tweets sent from Amazon's corporate account against two of the Senate's most liberal members and frequent critics of the retail giant were ordered from the very top: company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

Amazon went after Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on social media following Bezos's orders to fight back against what the senators were saying about an ongoing drive to form a union at an Amazon fulfillment center in Alabama.

Bezos expressed dissatisfaction in recent weeks that company officials were not more aggressive in pushing back against criticisms that he and other leaders deemed inaccurate or misleading, Vox's Recode reported.

Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Sanders, and independent from neighboring Vermont, have both been slammed the company, with Warren tweeting broadsides about the Amazon not paying taxes or treating its workers fairly and Sanders saying it's trying to stonewall the union effort in Alabama.

An exchange with Warren on Friday began with her criticizing the company's tax payments and calling to 'break up' Big Tech.

Amazon followed with a response, saying: 'This is extraordinary and revealing. 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.'

The official 'Amazon News' Twitter account criticizes Sen. Elizabeth Warren as part of a campaign of social media pushback against liberal lawmakers last week

An exchange with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts began with her criticizing the company's tax payments - and Amazon soon hit back hard, leading to a back-and-forth that was reported to have been orchestrated from the very top: Jeff Bezos himself

Jeff Bezos is said to have been frustrated by the beating the company was taking from liberal lawmakers as a fulfillment center in Alabama gets set to vote on a union. He directed the company's social media managers to hit back harder again the firebrand politicians

The Twitter back-and-forth comes at a potentially big inflection point for Amazon.

The union election results at the fulfillment center in Alabama are expected to be tallied this week following a months-long dispute that has sparked intense debate over workplace conditions at Amazon, which has more than 800,000 U.S. employees.

A majority of employees voting to unionize the warehouse could set off a chain reaction at other facilities and potentially force the e-commerce giant to overhaul management of its frontline U.S. workforce.

In Alabama, nearly 6,000 workers are eligible to vote, whereas the last unionization vote at an Amazon U.S. facility occurred in 2014 and only involved 27 technicians and mechanics at a warehouse in Delaware.

'Amazon's biggest fear already happened: 3,000 of their own employees said we cannot work in these conditions,' said Joshua Brewer, the local president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. 'It exposed a systemic problem in Amazon's warehouses.'

Now, it appears Bezos is orchestrating the effort to fight back on social media.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaks at a press conference after a rally in support of unionization for the Birmingham Amazon facility at the RWDSU office in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 26

A Twitter post by Amazon CEO Worldwide Consumer Dave Clark attacks Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has voiced support for unionization efforts at the company's warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama

Dave Clark of Amazon attacks Sen. Bernie Sanders on Twitter as part of a reported mandate from the company to fight back against its critics

Dave Clark, Amazon CEO Worldwide Consumer, speaks during a press conference in Seattle, Washington, on June 27, 2018

Plans for a Sanders visit to the Alabama facility made news last week, which opened the tweet barrage against lawmakers starting with a March 24 post by Amazon's CEO for its worldwide consumer division, Dave Clark.

'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,' Clark wrote.

Within hours, the official 'Amazon News' media relations Twitter account, which has more than 170,000 followers, targeted Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, who questioned Clark's 'progressive workplace' assertion by alluding to stories of Amazon's work pace being so demanding that employees have to 'urinate in water bottles.'

Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin at the U.S. Capitol on on September 20, 2019. Pocan received pushback from Amazon for repeating claims about workers at the company's facilities having to pee in bottles to avoid repercussions from supervisors

'You don't really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you?' Amazon News tweeted. 'If that were true, nobody would work for us.'

A potential deflection scheme by Amazon appeared to work as media outlets and industry observers focused on a trillion-dollar company sparring online with powerful lawmakers rather than discussing the union vote.

Amazon's pushback on Pocan's comment about workers peeing in bottles also started another news cycle when The Intercept revealed internal Amazon communications acknowledging contractors delivering packages for the retail giant sometimes defecate in bags and urinate in bottles.

The 'Amazon News' Twitter account directly responds to comments by Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan about working conditions at the company's facilities, including claims that workers are under so much pressure to perform they feel forced to pee in plastic bottles instead of taking bathroom breaks

Amazon's response to Pocan and other legislators was part of an aggressive online campaign last week against the company's critics

Amazon workers have said it is rare to hear of warehouse employees urinating in bottles, Recode reported.

But others say it is not uncommon for workers to take other measures, such as limiting how much they drink, to reduce bathroom trips for fear of missing production quotas or receiving supervisor write-ups for too much 'time off task,' in Amazon's terminology.

A supporter holds a 'Vote Union Yes!' sign during a protest in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate and the unionization of an Amazon fulfillment center in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 27

A 'Vote' sign hangs outside the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, on March 26

Sen. Bernie Sanders, right, and Rapper Michael 'Killer Mike' Render, left front, speak in support of the unionization of Amazon's fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, on March 26

Within the company, some employees were perplexed by the Twitter assault.

A screenshot viewed by Recode of an internal support ticket, known internally as a trouble ticket, filed by an Amazon security engineer last week was titled, 'Suspicious activity on @amazonnews Twitter account.'

'Over the past two days, there have been two threads by @amazonnews in response to comments made by US Government officials that have received considerable attention,' the ticket said. 'The tweets in question do not match the usual content posted by this account.'

The security engineer noted the tweets were posted using Twitter's web app rather than Sprinklr, the social media management software typically used by the Amazon News account.

The tweets, the engineer wrote, 'are unnecessarily antagonistic (risking Amazon's brand) and may be a result of unauthorized access.'

The support ticket was closed without action, a source told Recode.
Pope Francis spoke today to priests and students from the Mexican Pontifical College focusing his address on the priestly vocation. In it, he said, we must not underestimate the worldly temptations that can lead us to insufficient personal knowledge, self-referential attitudes, consumerism and multiple ways to evade our responsibilities.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis met this morning with priests and students from the Pontifical Mexican College in Rome. In his address, the pontiff spoke about the priestly vocation today, in a globalised reality of interconnected social media and networks.

What is needed, Francis said, is a vision of the whole and of unity, one that can encourage us to create fraternity, that allows us to highlight the points of connection and interaction within cultures and in the ecclesial community. In this situation, priests are called to bring a gaze of tenderness, reconciliation and fraternity, ensuring that it conforms with the one with which the Lord contemplates us.

Taking his cue from the College's own educational task, underscored by the dean, Father Victor Ulises Vasquez Moreno, Francis said that to read the signs of the times from Gods perspective, it is essential to harmonise the academic, spiritual, human and pastoral dimension in ongoing education.

Noting the need to become aware of personal and community shortcomings, as well as the negligence and shortcomings that we must correct in our life, the pontiff said not to underestimate the worldly temptations that can lead us to insufficient personal knowledge, self-referential attitudes, consumerism and multiple ways to evade our responsibilities.

Referring to De Lubac, he noted that spiritual worldliness is the worst of evils that can happen to the Church. Faced with today's problems like corruption as well as the lack of hope, especially among the youngest, Francis pointed to Mary as a model of tenderness that reflects the love of God who welcomes everyone.

For this reason, it is necessary however to let ourselves to be modelled by the Lord so that our pastoral charity may be intensified, and no one is excluded from our concern and our prayers.

This will also prevent isolation at home, in the office or in hobbies; instead, it will encourage people to go out to meet others, and not sit still. Priests, he noted, should not become clericalised: clericalism is a perversion.

With regard to reconciliation, pastors are called to help rebuild respectful and constructive relationships between people, human groups and cultures within society, inviting everyone to 'let themselves be reconciled by God' and to commit themselves to the restoration of justice.

Finally, together with Christ the Servant and Shepherd, we must be able to have a vision of the whole and of unity, one that can encourage us to create fraternity, that allows us to highlight the points of connection and interaction within cultures and in the ecclesial community.

This means having A gaze that facilitates communion and fraternal participation, which encourages and guides the faithful to be respectful of our common home and builders of a new world, in collaboration with all men and women of good will.
Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :The French government said Monday that "the time has come" to increase international pressure on Lebanon's deeply divided political class to form a viable government for the crisis-wracked nation.

"The solution for ending Lebanon's crisis requires the creation of a competent government that is ready to work seriously and for the common good on implementing reforms that everyone acknowledges," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"After seven months of blockage, the time has come to increase the pressure for this to happen," it said.

It added that Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had spoken with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun as well as parliament president Nabih Berri and prime minister-designate Saad Hariri after they again failed to break the political deadlock.

"He reminded them that all of Lebanon's political parties bore all the responsibility for this impasse," the ministry said.

The Lebanese economy is in free-fall, with parliament approving Monday an emergency funding package simply to keep the lights on after one of the country's largest power plants ran out of fuel.

More than half the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations, and protests flared again this month by a population fed up with a ruling elite lambasted as inefficient and corrupt.

"In this context, the deliberate obstructions to ending the crisis, in particular on the part of certain actors of the Lebanese political system with unreasonable demands dating from another era, must cease immediately," the French ministry said.
A cat in Turkey melted hearts after walking into a hospital carrying her new-born kitten in her mouth seeking medical help.

Video footage recorded in a hospital in the Karabaglar district in Izmir, Turkey, showed the cat walking into the hospital with its kitten clutched in its mouth.

People in the video can be seen stepping aside to allow the mother cat through the building, with some telling other people to move out of the way.

The mother cat had previously been helped by the hospital staff who had left food and water out for the animal.

A mother cat melted hearts after walking into a hospital in the Karabaglar district in Izmir, Turkey, carrying her new-born kitten in her mouth seeking medical help

The kitten (left) was suffering with an eye infection and had been left unable to open its eye, causing its mother to search for help. The medical staff had previously left out food and water for her

After examining the kitten, doctors and nurses discovered the animal was suffering with an eye infection and, following a consultation, a veterinary clinic intervened to help treat the kitten.

Additional video clips recorded by members of staff at the hospital in Turkey showed two kittens sitting in a box while a health worker talked to them.

While another showed a nurse applying eye drops to help treat the kitten's infection.

Speaking to local media, one of the health workers said: 'We were giving food and water to the mother cat living on the street with other people living in this area. However, we did not know that she gave birth to kittens.

After examining the kitten, doctors and nurses discovered the animal was suffering with an eye infection and, following a consultation, a veterinary clinic intervened to help treat the kitten and administer eye drops

'As we began to receive patients in the morning, she showed up with her kittens. She asked for help, meowing for a long time. We were shocked.

'Upon careful examination, we saw that the kittens were not able to open their eyes due to infection.

'We consulted with veterinarians and gave medicine as described. When the kittens opened their eyes a short time later, we were thrilled.

'Later, we sent the mother cat and kittens to Uzundere for further care. This is the first time something like this has happened to us. We were emotional and delighted to see that they recovered well.'
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed calls to remove disgraced Queensland MP Andrew Laming from the Coalition party room after a female Liberal senator said she would feel uncomfortable if he returned.

Dr Laming, a long-time Liberal MP, is accused of trolling two female constituents online and taking a photo of a young Brisbane woman while she was bending over with her underwear visible.

A move by Andrew Laming to the crossbench would send the Coalition into minority government. Credit:Andrew Meares

He has publicly apologised and is currently on medical leave, seeking counselling and empathy training and will not contest his suburban Brisbane seat of Bowman at the next election.

Several government sources told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Dr Lamings replacement needed to be a highly qualified female candidate, with Queensland senator Amanda Stoker, who was appointed assistant minister for industrial relations on Monday, emerging as a potential replacement.
UPDATE #1 (3/29): Oregon Parks and Recreation Department spokesperson Chris Havel said the mule was found around 7:30 a.m. Monday.

UPDATE #2 (3/29): Hickory the mule is back home after leading hikers to injured owner, then disappearing into forest

----

On Sunday, a mule led a pair of hikers through a Clackamas County state park to the spot where its injured owner had fallen earlier in the afternoon.

Then it disappeared into the forest.

The Clackamas County Sheriffs Office said a 60-year-old man, whom they have not publicly identified, was riding his mule on trails at Milo McIver State Park, when they believe he fell off and hurt himself.

At noon today, deputies responded to Milo McIver State Park near Estacada with @clackamasfire and @AMRMultCo Reach and Treat team to render aid to a 60-year-old male who was injured from a fall from a mule while on a trail ride. We assisted the park rangers with this incident. pic.twitter.com/bXt6m5EJcM  Clackamas Sheriff (@ClackCoSheriff) March 28, 2021

The mule began walking alone on the trail until it found two people hiking, said Sgt. Marcus Mendoza, then led them back to the injured man.

One of the hikers who found the mule, Doug Calvert, said he and his wife were on foot on a popular equestrian trail around noon when they saw what they thought was a horse walking toward them.

As they got closer, they realized the animal was a mule, and it was alone and watching them.

It kept stopping and looking back to make sure we were following it, Calvert said in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive on Sunday night. So we started going faster, and it picked up speed. Eventually we got within view of the gentleman who had fallen.

Calvert said as soon as the mule led them to its fallen owner, it walked back into some bushes and kept its distance.

Calvert said he focused on tending to the injured man and stayed away from the mule to avoid spooking it. He called the park rangers office and, failing to reach anyone, called 911.

In the meantime, the mule went back on the trail. It hasnt been found since.

On Monday morning, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department spokesperson Chris Havel said their rangers did not receive any reports of the mule leading hikers to the injured man, but said they did hear that hikers in the park had spotted a riderless mule, which prompted authorities to investigate.

Calvert said hes not sure why the man fell off the mule. He said the trails are in reasonable condition, but were only recently reopened after closures from the February ice storm. Sunday afternoon was also fairly windy, he said, and there is still debris on the trails.

He said medics arrived shortly after he called and began loading the man onto a gurney. Calvert said the man initially seemed to be in mild shock, but he seemed to be more cognizant as medics carried him away.

Mendoza said he did not have an update on the mans condition.

As for the mule, Calvert said he heard some local equestrian groups had been out looking for it later on Sunday afternoon.

He seemed very determined to get us to follow him, he said.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
In theory, data on the current temperature isnt necessarily a must-have because, you know, all it takes to figure out if its cold outside is opening the window of your car. But its still a nice feature to have, especially because the old version of Android Auto came with a weather widget that got the ax when Google rolled out the major overhaul in mid-2019.As it turns out, this temperature icon shown on the status bar has stopped working for some after a recent update, and at first glance, Android 11 might be the one to blame.In all cases, users claim the weather indicator is no longer displayed at all, so in theory, it looks like Android Auto isnt allowed to access the forecast for your current location. While this may suggest a permission problem, I double-checked on my Galaxy Note9, and everything seems to be just alright.Oddly enough, the weather indicator is missing for me when I run Android Auto with a Galaxy Note9 (already updated to Android 11). Still, it is there when I switch to the Galaxy Note20, which was one of the first to receive the new operating system.On the Google forums , users confirm this is a problem happening mostly on Samsung devices running Android 11, so theres a chance this update is indeed the one to blame for the whole thing.Google says its already investigating the problem, but of course, its too early to tell when exactly a workaround could land.In the meantime, theres not much you can do to restore the weather icon, as the generic workarounds dont seem to make any difference.
NASA should get Taiwan status right

17:49, March 29, 2021 By Chi Zao ( People's Daily Online

Enraged Chinese netizens have bombarded NASA with demands to withdraw their names from the organisation's initiative to "send your name to Mars" after they found out that NASA has labelled Taiwan as a "country," as well as omitting part of Tibet from China's territorial boundaries on its official map.

The initiative, which is open to netizens worldwide who can sign up to have their names sent into space on NASA's future Mars mission, has attracted over 18 million participants around the globe as of press time. Over 4 million applicants from the Chinese mainland, as well as more than 130,000 from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have signed up for the initiative, making China the top country on NASA's list of name submissions.

NASA labels Taiwan as an independent country on its official website.

However, on its application portal, NASA has labelled Taiwan as an independent country, as well as excluding parts of Tibet from China's territory on its online page featuring a world map. The move was first exposed on Chinese social media earlier in March and has led to an online campaign to boycott NASA in China.

"I wasn't aware of NASA's petty trick when I signed up for the mission. Exploring the red planet is a noble cause for all human beings; it is despicable of NASA to exploit our good intentions for political reasons, and it is sad to see science being plagued by politics," said a netizen on Douban, a Chinese social networking platform.

Netizens on Weibo have also called for a campaign to withdraw their signed applications from NASA, calling the organisation "despicable and rude."

For a "politically correct" institution like NASA, this is not its first "politically incorrect" move against China. In 2013, NASA faced a fierce backlash from researchers worldwide after it rejected applications from Chinese nationals who wanted to attend a conference at the agency's Ames Research Center in California on the grounds of national security.

The latest public wrath is to be well expected as NASA has undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, hurting the feelings of the Chinese people.

The Biden administration has reiterated its adherence to the one-China policy on the Taiwan question. In February, a spokesperson at the US Department of State, Ned Price, reiterated the Americans' stance on Taiwan, noting that the US' one-China policy has not changed. Meanwhile, NASA's Taiwan stunt has been nothing more than a smack right in the face of the US government.

NASA is a US government agency. And so, it is obliged to honor its government's words and actions, and should show a greater understand regarding the sensitive nature of the Taiwan and Tibet questions.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. This is a fact recognized by the international community and a basic norm of international relations.

China has always stressed that the one-China principle is the political foundation for the China-US relationship, and a red line that should not be crossed. On the Taiwan question, there is no room for compromise or concessions from the Chinese government.

As a scientific research center, NASA has the capability to send probes to Mars and has successfully sent humans to the moon. Thus, on what is fundamentally a much more simple, down-to-earth matter, NASA should get the status of Taiwan and China's map right, and do so with likewise care and precision.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
Three men have been banned from a Queensland courtroom after jurors raised concerns about being stared at during the trial of a world champion kayaker and his brother charged with trying to import cocaine into Australia.

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 about three 'young men' staring at them for extended periods earlier in the trial.

Three people had been identified and would not be allowed back in the building during the trial, Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Ann Lyons said on Monday.

Further investigations were 'ongoing'.

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

'We don't know why the persons who were thought to be staring were here,' she added.

'If they do come to the court house again they will not be allowed to enter the court building.'

Strategies were also put in place to ensure the safety of jurors for the rest of the trial after one juror also believed they were followed last Wednesday evening while walking to the train station, despite changing course.

'Most of us have a sense of when we are being followed and clearly this juror felt that,' Justice Lyons said.

Dru Baggaley, 39, has 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.

Dru Anthony Baggaley (left) and Anthony Draper (right) are seen on a vessel with navy personnel as they are arrested for alleged drug smuggling

Nathan Baggaley is seen at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games

Dru Baggaley said Draper provided $100,000 cash for the rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), which Baggaley could keep to start a whale-watching business.

Nathan Baggaley said he was 'up for a career change' when he agreed to buy the boat and said his brother 'seemed genuine' when he spoke about the whale-watching venture in May 2018.

The Olympic kayaker worked as a fibre-glasser mainly making surf skis, but was up for a career change, he told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.

He bought a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) and equipped it with navigation equipment, a wireless router and a satellite phone.

'I had no suspicions it was going to be used for anything like this,' Nathan Baggaley said.

When Dru Baggaley and Draper were at the boat ramp at Brunswick Heads about 9.30pm on July 30, 2018, Draper was 'panicking' 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 $1million 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.

Black bags allegedly filled with almost 650kg of cocaine were seized by Queensland Police

Draper, 56, earlier told the court he flew from Sydney to Coolangatta at Dru Baggaley's request.

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.

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.

The trial continues.
The Accra Regional Police Command has commenced investigations into a case of an Uber driver who was drugged and his vehicle worth GH30,000 stolen at Achimota in Accra on Saturday.

The victim Joseph Aryee told the police the suspect bought him a drink suspected to have been laced with a substance.

The Public Relations Officer of the Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge disclosed this to the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday.

She said last Saturday Aryee reported that he was driving a Toyota Vitz Uber cab with registration number GT-7159-21 last Friday when a male adult who he can identify picked him from Osu, Accra to Virgin City Drinking Spot at Achimota Mile 7.

She said according to Aryee on reaching Achimota the passenger alighted and bought cooked noodles and brought him a drink which he drunk while waiting for the passenger at the drinking spot.

DSP Tenge said after taking the drink he became unconscious but when he gained consciousness at about 10 pm, he found himself at the drinking spot without his car, ignition key and could not trace the passenger who hired his services.

She said the driver told the police the passenger mixed his drink with a substance and stole his car worth GH30,000.
Hundreds evacuated after fire at Indonesian oil refinery View Photo

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  More than 900 people from a nearby village were evacuated after a massive fire broke out early Monday at the Pertamina Balongan Refinery in Indonesias West Java province, officials said.

About 20 people were injured, including refinery workers and several villagers who suffered burns while passing through the area, the local disaster mitigation agency said.

Nicke Widyawati, chief executive officer of state-owned oil and gas corporation Pertamina, said firefighters were still battling the blaze and attempting to cool down the area to prevent it from spreading.

The cause of the fire was still being investigated, she said at a news conference. Pertamina officials said there was lightning and heavy rain at the time the fire broke out.

Satellite images from Planet Labs Inc. analyzed by The Associated Press showed a massive plume of black smoke rising from the refinery over the nearby village. The fire appeared localized at a set of four tanks in the middle of the refinery.

The Balongan plant has a refining capacity of about 125,000 barrels of crude oil a day. It supplies fuel to Jakarta, Banten and some regions of West Java.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said 912 residents were staying at three evacuation centers.

___

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Nicke Widyawati is female.

By EDNA TARIGAN

Associated Press

Parents have lashed out at a Victorian school after male students were forced to stand in assembly and apologise for the sexual assaults caused by their gender.

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.

Levi, a 12-year-old student at the school who had only attended the college from the start of 2021, said he was forced to get up in front of his new classmates and apologise, many of whom he hadn't met.

'They told us to stand up and turn to a girl in our class and say sorry,' Levi told A Current Affair.

'I don't think it's okay to be sexually assaulted. I felt a bit under pressure to stand up and if I didn't I felt like I was a bad person.'

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

Parents have lashed out at a Victorian school after male students were forced to stand in assembly and apologise for the sexual assaults caused by their gender

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 6037 votes Now share your opinion





Another student named Vini said there were several girls in the assembly hall that began crying because they'd been revealed in front of everyone as having been victims.

'I had girls behind me crying because they'd basically been exposed to the entire school and we had to apologise for stuff we didn't actually do.'

The boys' mother said the decision from the school was making it seem like the boys would be 'perpetrators in the future'.

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.

'He said that he was made to stand up and basically apologise... it wasn't 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.'

Levi (pictured), a 12-year-old student at the school who had only attended the institution from the start of 2021, said he was forced to get up in front of his new classmates and apologise

The boys' mother (pictured) said the decision from the school was making it seem like the boys would be 'perpetrators in the future'

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.

A male student was also critical about having to apologise for his gender in an angry Snapchat post

'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.'
Head of Monitoring at the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu has called on government to expedite the prosecution of the bankers whose conduct has caused many Ghanaians to lose their monies.



Charles Owusu wondered why the court hasn't yet ruled on the case when these people have been found to have mismanaged their financial institutions leading to a near-collapse of the financial sector.



It could be recalled that the Government of Ghana under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in 2018, embarked on a mission to rescue the financial sector and in rescuing the sector, some financial institutions were shut down or merged.



Charges were brought against the financial heads and executives caught in various financial malfeasances but it appears little has been done with prosecution.



Speaking to host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", Charles Owusu asked ''why are they walking free?'' adding ''if it were an ordinary Ghanaian who stole a goat, he would have by now been sentenced to jail".



"If it's true that those sent to court indeed mismanaged the sector, how many years do we want to hear the case? Since November 2018 did the banking cleanup happen. Since November 2018 till date, they are walking free. Some have even had the audacity to rather send the government to court," he fumed.







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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Dueling groups of demonstrators faced off near the grounds of the Oregon Capitol building Sunday afternoon. Police tried to separate them, but skirmishes broke out in the surrounding blocks.

In a particularly volatile moment, one man was taken into custody by police after he confronted a crowd with a gun. Others were detained as police ordered the crowd to disperse.

Salem police said three adults were arrested. A 34-year-old man faced charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. A 33-year-old man was charged with disorderly conduct. An 18-year-old man was charged with five counts of unlawful pointing of a laser.

All three were lodged in the Marion County Correctional Facility. Oregon State Police made a fourth arrest, a 33-year-old man who was charged with interfering with a police officer. He was cited and released at the scene.

Oregon State Police Capt. Tim Fox said on Sunday night that the man who brandished a gun had not yet been arrested, and that officers were investigating that case.

Right-wing demonstrators initially gathered in Sandy for a Freedom Rally with plans to travel to the Capitol. A flyer for the event said they planned a flag wave to honor those who fought for our freedoms.

The plans attracted more than 150 left-wing counter-protesters, who arrived at the Capitol hours earlier, some carrying banners with symbols tied to the antifa movement. They billed their gathering as a direct action in opposition to a fascist event.

The crowd pelted passing trucks  some flying a combination of American, Thin Blue Line and Trump flags  with paint-filled balloons and other objects. In one case, police said someone threw a tree limb through the front window of a passing vehicle.

Police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, telling the crowd to disperse.

Police said they used less-than-lethal munitions while trying to arrest two people. They said they did not use force on the other protesters.

The Salem Police Department said it turned away the caravan arriving from Sandy. But small groups nonetheless clashed in the area surrounding the Capitol, chased by local and state police officers in tactical armor.

A few blocks from the Capitol, a man in a truck being hit with thrown objects got out of the vehicle. He was confronted by demonstrators with pepper spray and pulled out a gun.

Police officers arrived and ordered the man to the ground. More police arrived, pushing the crowd back as the man was cuffed and his truck, decorated with American flags, was searched.

Authorities said Monday the man had a valid concealed handgun license. He was released after being detained and interviewed, and reports will be sent to the Marion County district attorneys office for review, police said.

In multiple confrontations, demonstrators deployed pepper sprays.

Police repeatedly ordered the crowds to leave the area and go home. Dozens of officers could be seen in the downtown core, responding to one confrontation after another.

The Salem Police Department and Oregon State Police had posted a notice ahead of the weekends events.

Causing physical harm to others, damage to property or purposefully blocking streets are unacceptable situations which will be addressed to best ensure community safety, the notice said.

A small group of armed right-wing protesters previously gathered at the Capitol on Jan. 17 as part of a nationally publicized day of statehouse protests that mostly failed to materialize. Counter-protesters showed up, but the groups did not confront one another.

Protesters also demonstrated at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the same day a mob supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Counter-demonstrators arrived in Salem a few hours after the local rally began, and clashes ensued before police appeared and declared an unlawful assembly.
IF YOU need evidence that the Democratic administration in Washington is hostile to the Granite State, look no further than its disposition toward our states lawsuit against Massachusetts over the Bay States bad faith policy of imposing its income tax on New Hampshire telecommuters who bot
Canada is pausing its use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for people younger than 55, amid 'safety concerns.'

The country's National Advisory Committee on Immunization is recommended the pause, citing lingering worries over rare blood clots, and Health Canada officially called for the suspension on Monday.

So far, no cases of the rare but life-threatening clotting condition have been reported in Canada.

Canada is set to receive a shipment of 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine from the U.S., which has not yet authorized the shot.

It comes after European health regulators ruled that concerns that the shot might cause blood clots were unfounded. Before that, some European countries thought paused use of the shot in elderly people, due to claims it was ineffective.

Canada is suspending the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in under-55s amid concerns that it could cause blood clots in young people (especially women) - despite the fact that EU regulators ruled the shot does not cause the rare phenomenon

Astrazeneca's vaccine is 100 percent effective at preventing serious illness or death from COVID-19, and is authorized in more than 50 countries, as well as by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The shot is between 62 and 80 percent effective, depending on where and when trials were conducted, as variants emerged and dulled the potency of antibodies from the vaccine.

But it has been dogged by accidents, safety suspicion and production snags throughout development and production.

WHAT IS 'CSVT'? Cerebral sinus vein thrombosis (CVST) occurs when the vein that drains blood from the brain is blocked by a blood clot, resulting in potentially deadly bleeding on the brain. Symptoms can quickly deteriorate from a headache, blurred vision and faintness to complete loss of control over movement and seizures. According to Britain's regulators, CSVT is so rare that experts aren't even sure how common it is in the general population. Chief of the UK's regulatory agency, Dr June Raine, said the blood clots in the vaccinated patients could also have been caused by Covid itself, rather than the vaccine. John Hopkins University estimates CSVT affects five in a million people in the US every year, which would suggest 330 patients in Britain suffer from the condition annually. According to the university, it can affect patients with low blood pressure, cancer, vascular diseases and those prone to blood clotting. Head injuries can also trigger the condition. Advertisement

So far, none of the safety claims have proven to be valid concerns, but they continue to crop up.

And now, even if there's no basis for these worries, the vaccine is haunted by a new problem: a marred reputation.

AstraZeneca's PR nightmare could become a very real international issue.

The WHO hung its hopes on AstraZeneca's vaccine - which was designed by Oxford University - because it is cheaper and far easier to ship and store compared to vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.

Its low cost and simple storage requirements make it ideal for distribution to poorer countries that lack the sophisticated infrastructure of countries like the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

But several European countries that had suspended using the vaccine over concerns it could cause blood clots have resumed administering it after the EUs drug regulator said the vaccine was safe.

In January, French president Emmanuel Macron called the shot 'quasi-ineffective' for people 65 or older, despite its EU approval for use for all adults. By February 2, French regulators had formally recommended against its use for seniors.

And now Canadian health officials are saying that the shot is safe for older Americans - but not for younger ones.

Three of Canada's 10 provinces have already suspended the shot's use in under-55s, amid concerns over its link to rare blood clots, which have been reported in young women more frequently than men or older people.

Officials in Manitoba, Quebec and Prince Edward Island already initiated their moratoriums.

Dr Joss Reimer of Manitobas Vaccine Implementation Task Force expressed that the province still had concerns about blood clots for young women, despite the EU's exonerating findings.

'So out of abundance of caution, Manitoba will be recommending that these vaccines only be used in people who are 55 or older at this time. I do want to say this is a pause while we wait for more information to better understand what we are seeing in Europe,' Dr Reimer said.

Five people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK have developed cerebral sinus vein thrombosis. It occurs when the vein that drains blood from the brain (shown) is blocked by a blood clot, resulting in potentially deadly bleeding on the brain

'While we still believe the benefits for all ages outweigh the risks Im not comfortable with probably. I want to see more data coming out of Europe so I know exactly what this risk benefit analysis is.'

Canada is expected to receive 1.5 million does of AstraZeneca from the U.S. this week.

The pause raises questions over whether the vaccine doses will go from sitting uselessly in one warehouse in the U.S. to doing the same thing a little further north.

The vaccine is used widely in Britain, across the European continent and in other countries, but its rollout was troubled by inconsistent study reports about its effectiveness, and then more recently a scare about clots that had some countries temporarily pausing inoculations.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
An Accra based businessman Nana Obiri Yeboah Agyemang has cautioned the music duo GH Story to refrain from releasing their new song titled Romann.



In his recorded voice message, Nana Obiri Yeboah vehemently expresses his utmost dissatisfaction with the coming soon thriller of the song which he saw on konkonsa.com Instagram page. He considers the lyrical content of the Romann song as a blatant disrespect to the Holy Catholic Church and an attempt to tarnish the hard earned reputation of the church which has been built for over two thousand (2000) years



I dont believe that any discerning catholic will allow such a thing to go on against the church. I entreat bloggers and the media to desist from supporting such music.



According to Nana Obiri Yeboah, he is speaking as a Knight of the Catholic church and would do everything possible to prevent Gh Story from releasing that song.

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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CAMBRIDGE, MA - Using an ordinary light microscope, MIT engineers have devised a technique for imaging biological samples with accuracy at the scale of 10 nanometers -- which should enable them to image viruses and potentially even single biomolecules, the researchers say.

The new technique builds on expansion microscopy, an approach that involves embedding biological samples in a hydrogel and then expanding them before imaging them with a microscope. For the latest version of the technique, the researchers developed a new type of hydrogel that maintains a more uniform configuration, allowing for greater accuracy in imaging tiny structures.

This degree of accuracy could open the door to studying the basic molecular interactions that make life possible, says Edward Boyden, the Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology, a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, and a member of MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

"If you could see individual molecules and identify what kind they are, with single-digit-nanometer accuracy, then you might be able to actually look at the structure of life. And structure, as a century of modern biology has told us, governs function," says Boyden, who is the senior author of the new study.

The lead authors of the paper, which appears today in Nature Nanotechnology, are MIT Research Scientist Ruixuan Gao and Chih-Chieh "Jay" Yu PhD '20. Other authors include Linyi Gao PhD '20; former MIT postdoc Kiryl Piatkevich; Rachael Neve, director of the Gene Technology Core at Massachusetts General Hospital; James Munro, an associate professor of microbiology and physiological systems at University of Massachusetts Medical School; and Srigokul Upadhyayula, a former assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an assistant professor in residence of cell and developmental biology at the University of California at Berkeley.

Low cost, high resolution

Many labs around the world have begun using expansion microscopy since Boyden's lab first introduced it in 2015. With this technique, researchers physically enlarge their samples about fourfold in linear dimension before imaging them, allowing them to generate high-resolution images without expensive equipment. Boyden's lab has also developed methods for labeling proteins, RNA, and other molecules in a sample so that they can be imaged after expansion.

"Hundreds of groups are doing expansion microscopy. There's clearly pent-up demand for an easy, inexpensive method of nanoimaging," Boyden says. "Now the question is, how good can we get? Can we get down to single-molecule accuracy? Because in the end, you want to reach a resolution that gets down to the fundamental building blocks of life."

Other techniques such as electron microscopy and super-resolution imaging offer high resolution, but the equipment required is expensive and not widely accessible. Expansion microscopy, however, enables high-resolution imaging with an ordinary light microscope.

In a 2017 paper, Boyden's lab demonstrated resolution of around 20 nanometers, using a process in which samples were expanded twice before imaging. This approach, as well as the earlier versions of expansion microscopy, relies on an absorbent polymer made from sodium polyacrylate, assembled using a method called free radical synthesis. These gels swell when exposed to water; however, one limitation of these gels is that they are not completely uniform in structure or density. This irregularity leads to small distortions in the shape of the sample when it's expanded, limiting the accuracy that can be achieved.

To overcome this, the researchers developed a new gel called tetra-gel, which forms a more predictable structure. By combining tetrahedral PEG molecules with tetrahedral sodium polyacrylates, the researchers were able to create a lattice-like structure that is much more uniform than the free-radical synthesized sodium polyacrylate hydrogels they previously used.

The researchers demonstrated the accuracy of this approach by using it to expand particles of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which have a distinctive spherical shape. After expanding the virus particles, the researchers compared the shapes to the shapes obtained by electron microscopy and found that the distortion was lower than that seen with previous versions of expansion microscopy, allowing them to achieve an accuracy of about 10 nanometers.

"We can look at how the arrangements of these proteins change as they are expanded and evaluate how close they are to the spherical shape. That's how we validated it and determined how faithfully we can preserve the nanostructure of the shapes and the relative spatial arrangements of these molecules," Ruixuan Gao says.

Single molecules

The researchers also used their new hydrogel to expand cells, including human kidney cells and mouse brain cells. They are now working on ways to improve the accuracy to the point where they can image individual molecules within such cells. One limitation on this degree of accuracy is the size of the antibodies used to label molecules in the cell, which are about 10 to 20 nanometers long. To image individual molecules, the researchers would likely need to create smaller labels or to add the labels after expansion was complete.

They are also exploring whether other types of polymers, or modified versions of the tetra-gel polymer, could help them realize greater accuracy.

If they can achieve accuracy down to single molecules, many new frontiers could be explored, Boyden says. For example, scientists could glimpse how different molecules interact with each other, which could shed light on cell signaling pathways, immune response activation, synaptic communication, drug-target interactions, and many other biological phenomena.

"We'd love to look at regions of a cell, like the synapse between two neurons, or other molecules involved in cell-cell signaling, and to figure out how all the parts talk to each other," he says. "How do they work together and how do they go wrong in diseases?"

###

The research was funded by Lisa Yang, John Doerr, Open Philanthropy, the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Simons Faculty Scholars Program, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Friends of the McGovern Fellowship, and the Fellows program of the Image and Data Analysis Core at Harvard Medical School.
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.
Tripoli, March 29 : The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that 483 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libya's western coast.

The illegal migrants were rescued in two separate operations by the Libyan Coast Guard, Xinhua news agency quoted the UN migration agency as saying on Sunday.

"While IOM teams were there to provide emergency assistance, including medical support, we maintain that Libya is not a safe port," it said.

The agency estimated that more than 4,500 illegal migrants were intercepted or rescued so far this year off Libyan coast and ended up in arbitrary detention.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores, in order to escape insecurity and chaos that have plagued Libya since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

In 2020, a total of 11,891 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the agency estimated.

It added that 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the central Mediterranean route during the same period.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centres across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centres.

Didi, the worlds leading mobile transportation and local services platform, will start to offer ride-hailing services in Cape Town soon.

DiDi announces this new expansion following the successful pilot launch of its operation in Gqeberha on 1 March 2021.

Over 2,000 drivers connected to DiDis app this month and more than 20,000 Gqeberha residents signed up for the service.

Didi said it has started its registration process for drivers in Cape Town and will begin offering ride-hailing services this fall.

Stephen Zhu, senior vice president and head of DiDis International Business, said the launch of DiDi in South Africa marks another milestone for the company which aims to bring safe and affordable transportation options to people around the world.

DiDi offers ride hailing services in 14 countries outside of China, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Russia, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina.

South Africa has been hit particularly hard by this pandemic that has upended all of our lives  so as this beautiful country looks to recover and rebuild, we would like to do our part, said Zhu.

He said DiDi will help by providing better earning opportunities for drivers as well as safer and more affordable mobility options for South Africans.

DiDi said it brings its wide range of safety features to benefit users and driving partners, including:

Facial recognition for drivers

SOS buttons for riders and drivers linked to local police

24/7 support via a dedicated safety hotline

Preview information for riders and drivers

Safety training for drivers.

DiDi has also introduced health guard technologies to ensure that masks are worn during trips and that all vehicles are disinfected.

It further provides financial assistance to driver-partners in overseas markets through a dedicated USD$10 million relief fund.

Riders can immediately download the DiDi app from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store now.

However, they will be presented with a Currently unavailable in your area message until the service is launched in their area.

DiDi cars and drivers

The DiDi South Africa website offers details on driver requirements and the vehicles which can be used.

Driver applicants will need to use the DiDi Driver app to submit all the required documentation to use the platform.

Documents needed as part of the application include a copy of your ID, Professional Driving Permit (PrDP), Operators Card, and Operating Licence.

As an added incentive, drivers who register and are activated pre-launch will be eligible for 0% commission for their earnings during the first four weeks after launch.

According to a vehicle requirements section, there will be four DiDi ride hailing products  Hero, Express, Care, and DiDi Go.

For the Hero, Express, and Care offerings, drivers will require a four-door sedan or multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) with a model year of 2015 or later.

These include models from Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, Kia, Nissan, and others.

DiDis Hero, Express, and Care services will compete with Uber and Bolts standard and luxury ride-hailing options.

DiDi Go drivers can operate with smaller and older cars, similar to Uber and Bolts budget Go services.

These include hatchbacks with four seats from 2013 and later, in addition to sedan models going back to 2011.

The models which are approved by DiDi for the various products are shown in the tables below.
A 33-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were indicted Friday by a Bristol County grand jury in connection with the death of a 14-year-old boy, who police found unresponsive and covered in feces in October in Fall River.

John Almond and Jaclyn Marie Coleman were indicted on charges of second degree murder and neglect of a disabled person resulting in serious bodily injury. Coleman was also indicted on a charge of withholding evidence from an official proceeding, after police said she attempted to destroy a cell phone in the presence of police officers.

The charges stem from an incident on Oct. 21, 2020, when Fall River police responded to 107 Green St. in Fall River for the report of an unresponsive person. When officers arrived, authorities said, they found David Almond to be covered in feces and living in abhorrent conditions.

Almond, who suffered from an intellectual disability, was rushed to Charlton Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities said.

During the investigation, authorities determined that one of Almonds triplet brothers, Michael, was the victim of neglect, the Bristol District Attorneys office said.

On the same day police found David Almond, his brother, Michael, was found in emaciated condition. The boys weighed approximately 80 pounds at 5 feet 10 inches tall, investigators said, according to the Herald News.

Michael was transported to Hasbro Childrens Hospital for treatment, authorities said.

The siblings were living at Devereaux Advanced Behavioral Health in Rutland until earlier this year, the newspaper reported. The two brothers reportedly returned to live with their father in March and were remote learning at the request of the parent.

The cases will be heard in Fall River Superior Court. An arraignment date has yet to be scheduled by the court.
Former head of PrivatBank's board Oleksandr Dubilet has been put on the wanted list under a criminal investigation into embezzlement of financial institution's funds, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) said.

"The former head of PrivatBank's board has been put on the wanted list as part of the investigation," the SAPO told Interfax-Ukraine.

The prosecutor's office said he has been wanted since March 26, 2021.

As reported, on February 23, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova notified on the reconciliation of the suspicion of three former officials of PrivatBank of embezzlement of other people's property through abuse of office, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, on an especially large scale, and in an official forgery, which led to UAH 136 million embezzlement.

It was about former head of the bank's board Dubilet, former first deputy head Volodymyr Yatsenko and first deputy head of the board of Ingosstrakh (Dnipro) Olena Bychykhina.

On February 25, former first deputy head of PrivatBank's board Yatsenko was released on bail of UAH 52 million, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) told Interfax-Ukraine.
Le Ngoc Thuan, a restaurateur and artist in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam is known for making art using an unlikely material  driftwood from a local river.

From July to October every year, the flow of Thu Bon River, which starts from the watershed on Ngoc Linh Mountain in Kon Tum Province, about 167km away, carries large chunks of tree branches and woody debris to its outlet area of Cua Dai District in Hoi An, a small city in Quang Nam.

This debris turned out to be a gold mine for Thuan's creative endeavors.

An artwork made from driftwood by Le Ngoc Thuan and associates in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

Thuan is by no means a one-trick-pony.

Long before his wood carving project took off, he was already known as a mogul in Hoi Ans hotelier community, who owns and helped design a successful chain of homestays along An Bang Beach.

Thuan also channeled his eccentricities into the decorations of many nightclubs and restaurants in Hoi An, which helped draw in swathes of foreign tourists.

In late 2020, Thuan was contacted by a friend who jokingly asked him to create art from the wood scraps that washed up near the Thu Bon outlet, which was inundated during the historical flooding that hit central Vietnam from October to November that year.

On the other end of the line, Thuan felt like he had struck gold. He promptly rode his pickup truck to the location and searched the waterfront for pieces of driftwood that matched his vision.

One week later, Thuan called up the friend to show him a piece of art, which stretches 0.8 meters tall and 1.5 meters long, that was created out of the joke he made.

For this piece, Thuan set out to illustrate different shades of human expression facials out of wood.

What he achieved found resonance with many foreign art collectors, who offered to buy the piece at high prices.

Thuan immediately saw a business opportunity out of the driftwood that laid in abundance on the river shore.

I quite like the 'driftwood' moniker that people started to call me. It implies that I made marketable arts from discards, and that I gave this waste a new life, Thuan said.

An artwork made from driftwood by Le Ngoc Thuan and associates in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

From waste to bucks

In early 2020, Thuan opened a new restaurant with DIY esthetics in Hoi An, where he strives to showcase fewer concrete structures and more upcycled art pieces.

Then the COVID-19 crisis arrived, dragging its shadow on Hoi An tourism throughout the last year.

To keep his businesses afloat during the new situation, Thuan had to come up with many initiatives, including art festivals on the beach and cuisine competitions that feature the best chefs in town.

In December last year, Thuan was featured in a night art fair that displayed notable arts and DIY crafts of the artists community in Hoi An, where his driftwood pieces emerged as a standout to visitors.

Artworks made from driftwood by Le Ngoc Thuan and associates in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

Thuans approach of retaining the original color and grains of the material, while using minimal carving and avoiding wood shine products, was aided by the technique of a visual artist in the area.

Using one week to chisel the details, Thuan managed to pull out the touches of facial expressions from the wood caricature, which convinced an art fair goer to purchase the artwork on the spot.

The initial success convinced Thuan to branch out with more bizarre designs, which became the specialties of his stall at the local art fair.

An artwork made from driftwood by Le Ngoc Thuan and associates in Hoi An City. Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

Minimalism in hospitality

After the initial phase of experimentation, Thuan reached a decision to pursue the driftwood work as a business venture.

He started out carving all products by hand, but later scaled up to a workshop with a woodworking machine due to the overwhelming demand of customers.

Thuan also headed to the Kim Bong Carpentry Village in Hoi An to pick up discarded wood and even recruited carpenters for his facility.

By now, his production has been able to run consistently, providing ornaments, napkin boxes, and furniture for lodging and restaurants all over Hoi An.

A piece of furniture from Thuans workshop can be sold for as much as US$1,000.

Le Ngoc Thuans booth at a local art fair in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

This product line proves the perfect fit to the emerging lifestyle of minimalism," Thuan said.

"Each of the pieces is not simply an item for consumption.

"They are also works that harbor stories from the past."

Echoing Thuans point, Tran Van Khoa, director of travel agency Jack Tran Tours Hoi An, said that eco-friendly decorations with artistic features are in vogue among the hospitality sector.

Meanwhile, in Hoi An, the penchant for modernism with glass and metal galore remains a hindrance for the rise of minimalism.

Le Ngoc Thuans approach is the way to go, he remarked.

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CHICAGO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Spaulding Ridge, a top management consulting firm, announced today the opening of a new office location in Sydney, to help organizations in Australia and New Zealand achieve scalability, high performance, and drive local economic growth. Spaulding Ridge currently has global offices in Toronto, Canada; Calgary, Canada; London, UK; Stockholm, Sweden; Paris, France; and Manila, Philippines.

"Our expertise aligns very well with demand in the local market, and we look forward to showcasing the value we can bring to our client and partner needs."

Australia and New Zealand are priority markets for Spaulding Ridge's global strategy. In response to growing demand in these regions, Spaulding Ridge aims to assist companies in realizing digital transformation through drawing on local resources and experience. As strategic alliance partners for Anaplan, DocuSign, and Salesforce, Spaulding Ridge will be able to better serve the increasing demands for best-in-cloud solutions across these regions. This is a strong testament to the firm's commitment to serving leading companies worldwide.

"We are excited about the opportunity to formally expand our unique service offerings to the markets in Australia and New Zealand," said Tassos Siatras, Spaulding Ridge Partner and Head of International Markets. "Our existing technology and industry expertise aligns very well with demand in the local market, and we look forward to showcasing the value we can bring to our client and partner needs."

"Spaulding Ridge's entry into the region underlines the commitment we have to delivering better business outcomes to the market," said Andy Thiss, Area Vice President A/NZ, Anaplan. "Spaulding Ridge has a superb reputation in the Anaplan ecosystem globally. Their professionalism, skills, and experience will further enhance the enormous impact Anaplan is already having with organizations across the region, enabling accelerated business success."

Story continues

"As one of our premier Agreement Cloud partners, it's exciting to see Spaulding Ridge increasing its commitment to the local and regional market," added Paul Cross, the customer success VP for APJ at DocuSign. "Working together, we believe there's a huge opportunity to help companies across the region to connect, automate, and transform their agreement processesall the way from preparing and signing agreements, to acting-on and managing them. That should in turn drive growth in the local IT economy, which is a positive for everyone."

ABOUT SPAULDING RIDGE

An award-winning provider of Cloud solutions and advisory services, Spaulding Ridge helps leading companies deploy Best-in-Cloud solutions on a global scale. Spaulding Ridge enables organizations to accelerate operational efficiency, drive digital transformation, and increase competitive advantage.

Spaulding Ridge partners with digitally savvy companies to help:

Finance gain control: Increase top-line revenue, gross margins, and profits through better insight. Connect financial planning to strategy and automate financial close processes.

Sales increase productivity: Manage quota and territories more consistently and effectively, automate customer contracts and onboarding.

Operations drive efficiency: Improve supply chain agility, automate strategic sourcing and purchasing, deliver superior customer service experiences.

To learn more, visit spauldingridge.com and follow @SpauldingRidge.

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(BEGIN ITAL)Note: This article contains spoilers about the novel "Behind Her Eyes" and its Netflix adaptation.(END ITAL)

If you thought the Netflix series "Behind Her Eyes" had an exasperating ending, you're not alone. When British novelist Sarah Pinborough was shopping around the screen rights to her 2017 page-turner of the same name, some TV executives thought the story needed a more uplifting conclusion.

To spoil the divisive twist: The book follows a London receptionist named Louise, who becomes romantically entangled with her psychiatrist boss, David, while secretly befriending his enigmatic wife, Adele. But the psychological thriller turns out to be a stealth supernatural drama, and themes of envy, resentment and double lives take an unexpected turn when it's revealed that Louise and Adele have the ability to separate their souls from their bodies.

In fact, Adele is not Adele at all, but rather her former rehab companion Rob, who years ago used astral projection to swap bodies with her, dispose of the real Adele and take over her life. The novel concludes with Rob repeating the trick, as he seizes Louise's body, ruthlessly kills her (while she's trapped in Adele's body, if you're keeping track) and uses his new form to elope with an unwitting David.

So yes, it's bleak - and strange.

Those TV executives thought it was too much. "They wanted a happier ending," Pinborough says. "I think they wanted Louise to survive. You know, I get that. But yeah, that wasn't going to happen."

Instead, Pinborough sold the rights to British production company Left Bank Pictures, which envisioned a more loyal adaptation. Starring Simona Brown as Louise, Eve Hewson as Adele, Tom Bateman as David and Robert Aramayo as Rob, "Behind Her Eyes" was released as a six-part limited series Feb. 17 on Netflix. Although the casting of Brown led to a reimagined Louise, and two of Rob's dastardly deeds from the book were dropped, the series otherwise hews closely to the book's narrative.

Speaking earlier this month over video chat from her London home, Pinborough discussed those changes from page to screen, the discourse around the ending and how she thinks some detractors misinterpret the plot's twists.

(BEGIN ITAL)(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)(END ITAL)

Q: So, they didn't change the ending, but they did change other things. Some cast members, for example, don't quite match the characters in the book. How did you respond to that?

A: They're all so beautiful! Now I can't see [the characters] any differently. In the book, Louise was definitely older than Adele, whereas now they're kind of similar ages. And obviously in the book, Louise was a dumpy blonde and we've now got this beautiful woman of color. When I wrote the book, it was six, seven years ago, and I gave her very stereotypical female insecurities, like, "I'm a bit overweight, I drink too much, I smoke too much." Whereas Simona is so gorgeous that they couldn't have her worrying about her weight, so they just made her more insecure in her life, which I think worked really well. She really got the ditziness of Louise's character and the wanting-to-please element.

Q: Were there any other changes from the novel that stuck out to you?

A: I'm very glad they didn't kill the cat [as Rob does in the book], because when I was watching it the first time and we got to the cat, I was like, "Oh, my God, oh, my God - writing it is one thing, but I don't want to watch the dead cat." I think it would have been a step too far for the show. Actually, if I was writing it again, I probably would have taken that out. And I'm glad they took out that when Rob went into Adele's body, she was pregnant [and he has an abortion]. I think that would have been really too dark for TV.

Q: I was going to ask about how the series, though still quite dark, softened the book's edges with those decisions. So you agreed with them?

A: Oh, totally. Because we're killing Louise - we've got the main character dying, which is quite a dark thing anyway. I think to then have an abortion would be too much, way too much. I tend to go to extremes when I'm writing. I tend to go, "I'll put that in and see if my editor lets me keep it in."

Q: The book's ending created quite the stir back in 2017, and now you've seen that happen all over again with the reaction to the series. What has that experience been like?

A: I've got to say it was amazing. When the show landed, some of the British press were quite snobby about it and they were like, "Oh, this is ridiculous," which is fine. But then to see the reactions - it was rolling and rolling and rolling on Twitter, and it was just making me smile. Even the people who hated it - I was like, "Get on here. You're allowed to hate it. It's fine!"

Q: Some of the people frustrated with the ending criticized it as just going for shock value. What's your take on that?

A: I'm an ex-teacher, and I get very teacherlike when people say, "She just drew that out of nowhere." And I'm just like, "No, go back and look at it again. There are clues. It's all there!" [Laughs] So that's the only thing that annoys me. I don't mind if they expect it to be a straight crime thriller and then it's not, because that's fine. But when they think [the twist] was just sort of added for shock value, then I think, "No, that was planned all along." And there's nothing wrong with a bit of a shock.

A concert at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on Sunday night was the first massive event in Spain since the start of the pandemic in which social distancing measures were not in force.

As before the Covid-19 restrictions, in this event, held as a clinical trial, people could stand, dance, jump and sing, shoulder to shoulder, as the Spanish band Love of Lesbian performed on stage.

All concertgoers, who had paid 25 euros for admission and had to take a rapid antigen test in the morning, wore a FFP2 mask that they were given by the organisers when they entered. Only those who tested negative for coronavirus were able to access the Palau.

Five thousand people might seem like a lot but the Sant Jordi venue has capacity for 18,000 spectators. The public were not allowed in the stands, but were separated into three groups on the floor level, each with its own bar area.

The clinical trial was carried out with each of the attendees signing a document authorising a follow-up via an app for the next 14 days to know how many people may have been infected.

"It was not a commercial concert," said Ventura Barba, of the organisers. And it was, he says, "99.9 per cent safe". Of the 5,000 people who were tested hours before the concert, only half a dozen tested positive and consequently had to go home.

The concert was an initiative of the Catalan association of music festivals and had the medical support of the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Badalona and the official endorsement of the Catalan Ministry of Health and Barcelona City Council.

Minutes before the group made an appearance on stage, the public were reminded to "Be aware," and not to smoke, drink or eat in the main concert floor space.
Nelson Chamisas opposition MDC Alliance has reportedly resolved to roll out countrywide mass demonstrations dubbed winter protests against President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration.

The planned protests, likely to be ruthlessly crushed by State security forces, come against the backdrop of the recall of 40 MDC Alliance legislators and 80 councillors by rival opposition parties aligned to the ruling Zanu PF party.

Chamisas party has also lost its headquarters and $7,5 million State funding, with the party claiming the move was engineered by Zanu PF to decimate it ahead of the 2023 polls.

A party insider yesterday said the opposition partys national standing committee (NSC) took a position to abandon the non-confrontational route and take the Zanu PF government head-on.

Its one of the resolutions made at the NSC on Wednesday. The majority of the members of the organ were in agreement that we have to change strategy and confront the government of Mnangagwa on the streets. We also agreed to consolidate the agenda 2021 which is centred on the citizens convergence for change, the source said.

Part of the NSC communique read: The party has commenced the execution of Zimbabwe agenda 2021, the roll out of which has reached all provinces in the country The meeting received feedback on the massive nationwide programme to energise the base in light of the well-received agenda 2021.

Party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere could neither confirm nor deny the planned protests.

The MDC Alliance will continue to use multiple strategies to champion the peoples cause. In Zimbabwe, we have a governance and legitimacy crisis that can only be resolved by a return to legitimacy and democracy. The MDC Alliance has articulated its roadmap to address the national crisis in our RELOAD document  a roadmap to economic recovery, legitimacy, openness and democracy.

Mahere said Mnangagwas refusal to address issues of bad governance was holding back the nation.

We are a people-driven party, so the people will dictate the form of expression that our confrontation of the joblessness, corruption, public health, education and authoritarian crises will take in accordance with the Constitution. Crucially, we seek convergence and a finding of each other to take the nation forward and win Zimbabwe for change.

Party deputy spokesperson Clifford Hlatywayo confirmed that they were, indeed, mobilising members to confront the Zanu PF government.

We are mobilising the citizens of Zimbabwe and citizens of the world of like-minded to converge and fight for a peoples government. Zimbabweans deserve a better leadership, not these comedians who thrive on abductions of the ordinary and looting of taxpayers hard-earned money. The dictator wants to create a one-party State, it will fail, and it has failed. MDC Alliance is a peoples party and the leadership is a product of the people. President Chamisa is the peoples hope, Hlatywayo said.

Contacted for comment, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo curtly said: No comment. Zanu PF subscribes to the rule of law, period. Political analyst Austin Chakaodza said the planned protests were likely to be brutally crushed.

In principle, protests and demonstrations are allowed as enshrined in the Constitution as long as they are peaceful. However, in practice, protests and demonstrations even if they are peaceful have proved to be futile. The Zimbabwe Republic Police are often ruthless in putting down such street protests. This shows that Zimbabwe is experiencing a huge democratic deficit, he said.

The MDC Alliance is facing a dilemma regarding the issue of winter street protests. They can go ahead, but there will be casualties. Disregarding the norms of the Constitution seems to be the order of the day in Zimbabwe, Chakaodza added. Newdsay
Bulandshahr : , March 29 (IANS) A priest of the famous Dhakwale temple in Achru Kalan village of Shikarpur Kotwali circle area in Bulandshahr district was allegedly strangled to death on Monday.

Harendra Kumar, Superintendent of Police, said, "The body of Ashok Kumar, 50, the resident of Kailawan police station, was found near the temple in the field and there are injuries on his neck. A week earlier, he had come to work as a priest at Dhaka temple in village Anchru Kalan and was living in the temple premises." The SP further said that Ashok Kumar was guilty of vandalizing the Ravidas Temple a year ago, and and police were also looking for him in the matter.

He also used to consume cannabis and alcohol. During the investigation, the police have found some injections.

"We are investigating every aspect. The matter will be solved soon," he added.

Further details are awaited.
New South Wales residents who have recently returned from Brisbane must immediately go into a three-day lockdown after a string of popular venues were found to be exposed to the latest coronavirus outbreak.

Greater Brisbane has been ordered into a three-day lockdown after a coronavirus cluster grew to seven cases with evidence of 'significant community transmission'.

Four new cases were reported on Monday, all of which are likely close contacts of three existing and historical cases.

NSW Health released an alert on Monday evening saying anyone that had visited the Queensland capital since March 20 must immediately self-isolate and not leave their house until Thursday at 5pm.

Residents of Byron Bay are being urged to be especially vigilant in monitoring their health and are encouraging anyone with even the mildest symptoms to get tested immediately.

A number of venues at the popular tourist destination have fallen under the immediate testing category, with anyone who attented the Byron Beach Hotel, The Farm, Mokha Cafe and Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park told to immediately seek a test and self-isolate until told otherwise.

Ghanda Clothing, Tiger Lily, Black Sheep, Quicksilver, Suffolk Bakery and the Park Hotel Bottle Shop are also in the same category.

The relevant times for the enforced isolation period can be found on the NSW Health website.

New South Wales residents who have recently returned from Brisbane must immediately go into a three-day lockdown with Byron Bay (pictured) a potential hotspot

Several venues in Byron Bay have been listed as potentially at-risk including the Beach Hotel (pictured) - anyone who attended on Friday March 26 must be tested and isolate immediately

Byron Bay is believed to have been exposed to the latest outbreak of coronavirus that originated in Brisbane

People with even the slightest of symptoms are being encouraged to seek a test immediately and self-isolate until further notice

Greater Brisbane has been ordered into a three-day lockdown after a coronavirus cluster grew to seven cases with evidence of 'significant community transmission'

NSW Health say the lockdown will remain in place for residents who visited Brisbane since March 20 for the same duration as the Queensland mandate.

They will only be allowed to leave for essential reasons including food, medical care and exercise.

The state has also issued entry declaration forms from March 27 for people who have spent time in the Greater Brisbane area.

The forms are to help authorities track anyone who may be linked or exposed to the new outbreak of the UK strain of the virus.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the infected people have been out in the community and travelled to central Queensland and northern NSW.

To stem transmission, Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands will go into a three-day lockdown from 5pm on Monday - an area with about 2.5 million people.

'I didn't sleep last night so I think I am very worried, I'm very concerned,' Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

'But we've done it before, we've got through this together, and I'm sure that if everyone does the right thing we will be able to get through it.'

NSW Health released an alert on Monday evening saying anyone that had visited the Queensland capital since March 20 must immediately self-isolate and not leave their house until Thursday at 5pm

New South Wales residents who have recently returned from Brisbane must immediately go into a three-day lockdown

Thousands have attempted to leave Brisbane after the three-day lockdown threw Easter long weekend plans into disarray

Brisbane residents had until 5pm on Monday to leave the state or be locked down

Ms Palaszczuk said the lockdown would be reviewed on Thursday, ahead of the Easter holiday break this weekend.

Greater Brisbane schools and all non-essential businesses premises must close from Monday afternoon.

'This will also enable our health authorities to get on top of the contact tracing,' the premier said.

'This is a huge job now that we have to do because we've got more of this community transmission.'

It is the second Greater Brisbane lockdown this year after an earlier shutdown in January.

Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 will also come under the lockdown restrictions.

One of the cases travelled to Gladstone and Gin Gin from March 25 to March 27 and two cases visited venues in Byron Bay in NSW on March 26 and March 28.

The premier said face masks would be mandatory in Brisbane, and will need to be worn indoors throughout the rest of Queensland.

All venues outside Greater Brisbane will only be allowed to host seated patrons.

Greater Brisbane schools and all non-essential businesses premises must close from Monday afternoon

It is the second Greater Brisbane lockdown this year after an earlier shutdown in January

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says four of the new cases are linked to two men in northern Brisbane and a Princess Alexandra Hospital doctor who tested positive.

Two cases are colleagues of a Strathpine man who tested positive on Friday night, while the other cases are a doctor, who tested positive on March 12, and her sister.

Dr Young said it was unclear where the transmission occurred and genomic testing on both latter cases was underway.

'We now have significant community transmission,' she said.

States and territories have also moved to restrict incoming travel from Brisbane and the state.

Western Australia will close its border to the entire state of Queensland from 1201am (WST) on Tuesday.

Tasmania has shut its border to Greater Brisbane travellers, while South Australia will do so from 4pm (CST) and Victoria closes to Brisbanites from 6pm (AEDT).

Anyone from Greater Brisbane must isolate and get tested upon entering the Northern Territory and the ACT.

In NSW, people who have been in the lockdown area since March 20 are now subject to the same stay-at-home restrictions as Greater Brisbane.

Entry declarations that ask for details of visits to venues of concern are required for Greater Brisbane arrivals, and NSW Health is advising against non-essential travel to the northern city.
Former US President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, who has died in Kenya at the age of 99.



She was the matriarch of the family and raised his father.



Mr Obama called her the bridge to his past and a constant, stabilising force.



For decades, Sarah Obama ran a foundation in Kenya to help orphans and girls receive an education, something she felt strongly about as she had no formal schooling herself.









My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as Mama Sarah but known to us as Dani or Granny. We will miss her dearly, but well celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life. pic.twitter.com/avDY4f1PVu

 Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 29, 2021

Source: BBC









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Featured Video
The Ever Given seen in an image from a Facebook Live video by the Suez Canal Authority on Monday announcing that it had been freed. Suez Canal Authority/Facebook

The Ever Given has been freed after spending nearly a week stuck in the Suez Canal.

Video showed the vessel moving again after a long effort to unstick it.

The ship is being dragged farther up the canal to an artificial lake for inspection.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

The Ever Given, the massive container ship that spent days stuck in the Suez Canal, was set free Monday, restoring traffic to the crucial waterway.

Boskalis, a Dutch company that worked with Egyptian authorities, announced in a statement that the 1,300-foot long vessel was freed from its position blocking the canal at 3:05 p.m. local time Monday.

This video, posted by the NBC reporter Raf Sanchez, clearly shows the vessel's movement:

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According to the Associated Press, tugboats were able to pull the 220,000-ton ship from the bank of the canal where it had been stuck for nearly a week.

The Ever Given was stuck for about 152 hours. With the costs of the blockage having been estimated at $400 million an hour, that amounts to a total cost of about $60 billion.

The ship's crew of 25 Indian nationals are in good health, according to Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the ship's technical manager.

The tugs will now pull the ship to Great Bitter Lake - a wide body of water midway through the canal - where it will be inspected, the AP reported.

The Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal. Google Maps

This livestream, posted to Facebook by the Suez Canal Authority, showed the ship after it had been freed.

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It is unclear when the canal will reopen to ordinary traffic, the AP reported. But the backlog of vessels numbers about 400 and could take up to a week to clear.

The Ever Given became wedged in the canal at about 7:40 a.m. last Tuesday, blocking one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

Smaller vessels were redirected along the canal's older, parallel route, but this was too small for the largest ships.

The Suez Canal in 2014, before its expansion, and in 2016, with the new channel. Landsat

The exact cause of the grounding is still unclear. But high winds - common at this time of year in Egypt - were blamed as one of the main reasons the ship lost control and ended up with its bow and stern lodged on opposing banks of the canal.

Story continues

The Suez Canal Authority worked fruitlessly with tugboats and excavation equipment for two days before partnering with the Dutch firm Boskalis on Thursday.

On Friday, authorities hailed a minor victory as the ship's rudder was freed. But it took until Monday morning for the entirety of the stern to be released, through the use of tugboats, the ship's own winches, and a specialist dredging ship that can move upward of 70,000 cubic feet of sand an hour.

Thirty thousand tons of sand were shifted in the effort, according to Boskalis.

The Mashhour dredger removing sand from around the stuck Ever Given ship in the Suez Canal. Satellite image 2021 Maxar Technologies/Business Insider

The Egyptian-Dutch partnership opened up a path of clear water for the first time in six days.

This avoided the much-feared necessity of removing cargo - a costly and time-consuming activity that would have needed new equipment.

"The time pressure to complete this operation was evident and unprecedented," Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski said in the company's statement.

Some companies had started to send their ships on a long detour around Africa's southern tip to avoid the situation.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Story Highlights In 2020, 47% of U.S. adults belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque

Down more than 20 points from turn of the century

Change primarily due to rise in Americans with no religious preference

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.

Line graph. U.S. church membership was 73% in 1937 when Gallup first measured it. It stayed near 70% through 2000 before beginning to decline, to 61% in 2010 and 47% in 2020.

U.S. church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70% for the next six decades, before beginning a steady decline around the turn of the 21st century.

As many Americans celebrate Easter and Passover this week, Gallup updates a 2019 analysis that examined the decline in church membership over the past 20 years.

Gallup asks Americans a battery of questions on their religious attitudes and practices twice each year. The following analysis of declines in church membership relies on three-year aggregates from 1998-2000 (when church membership averaged 69%), 2008-2010 (62%), and 2018-2020 (49%). The aggregates allow for reliable estimates by subgroup, with each three-year period consisting of data from more than 6,000 U.S. adults.

Decline in Membership Tied to Increase in Lack of Religious Affiliation

The decline in church membership is primarily a function of the increasing number of Americans who express no religious preference. Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998-2000 to 13% in 2008-2010 and 21% over the past three years.

As would be expected, Americans without a religious preference are highly unlikely to belong to a church, synagogue or mosque, although a small proportion -- 4% in the 2018-2020 data -- say they do. That figure is down from 10% between 1998 and 2000.

Given the nearly perfect alignment between not having a religious preference and not belonging to a church, the 13-percentage-point increase in no religious affiliation since 1998-2000 appears to account for more than half of the 20-point decline in church membership over the same time.

Most of the rest of the drop can be attributed to a decline in formal church membership among Americans who do have a religious preference. Between 1998 and 2000, an average of 73% of religious Americans belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque. Over the past three years, the average has fallen to 60%.

Line graph. Changes in church membership among Americans who express a religious preference or affiliation. Between 1998 and 2000, 73% of religious Americans were members of a church, synagogue or mosque. That dipped to 70% between 2008 and 2010, and it fell to 60% between 2018 and 2020.

Generational Differences Linked to Change in Church Membership

Church membership is strongly correlated with age, as 66% of traditionalists -- U.S. adults born before 1946 -- belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers, 50% of those in Generation X and 36% of millennials. The limited data Gallup has on church membership among the portion of Generation Z that has reached adulthood are so far showing church membership rates similar to those for millennials.

The decline in church membership, then, appears largely tied to population change, with those in older generations who were likely to be church members being replaced in the U.S. adult population with people in younger generations who are less likely to belong. The change has become increasingly apparent in recent decades because millennials and Gen Z are further apart from traditionalists in their church membership rates (about 30 points lower) than baby boomers and Generation X are (eight and 16 points, respectively). Also, each year the younger generations are making up an increasingly larger part of the entire U.S. adult population.

Still, population replacement doesn't fully explain the decline in church membership, as adults in the older generations have shown roughly double-digit decreases from two decades ago. Church membership is down even more, 15 points, in the past decade among millennials.

Changes in Church Membership by Generation, Over Time 1998-2000 2008-2010 2018-2020 Change since

1998-2000 % % % pct. pts. Traditionalists (born before 1946) 77 73 66 -11 Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) 67 63 58 -9 Generation X (born 1965-1980) 62 57 50 -12 Millennials (born 1981-1996) n/a 51 36 n/a Note: Given that Gallup's polls are based on the 18+ U.S. adult population, the 1980-2000 period would have included only a small proportion of the millennial generation, and the 2018-2020 period includes only a small proportion of Generation Z (born after 1996). Gallup

The two major trends driving the drop in church membership -- more adults with no religious preference and falling rates of church membership among people who do have a religion -- are apparent in each of the generations over time.

Since the turn of the century, there has been a near doubling in the percentage of traditionalists (from 4% to 7%), baby boomers (from 7% to 13%) and Gen Xers (11% to 20%) with no religious affiliation.

Line graph. Changes in the percentage with no religious identification, by generation. Each generation of U.S adults has seen an increase in the proportion of the generation with no religious preference.

Currently, 31% of millennials have no religious affiliation, which is up from 22% a decade ago. Similarly, 33% of the portion of Generation Z that has reached adulthood have no religious preference.

Also, each generation has seen a decline in church membership among those who do affiliate with a specific religion. These declines have ranged between six and eight points over the past two decades for traditionalists, baby boomers and Generation X who identify with a religious faith. In just the past 10 years, the share of religious millennials who are church members has declined from 63% to 50%.

Line graph. Changes in church membership among those with a religious affiliation, by generation. There has been a seven-point decline in church membership, from 79% in 1998-2000 to 72% now, among traditionalists with a religious preference. There has been a six-point decline over the same period, from 71% to 65%, in church membership among baby boomers with a religious preference. There has been an eight-point decline in church membership among those in Generation X with a religious preference, from 68% to 60%. And there has been a 13-point decline since 2008-2010 among millennials with a religious preference, from 63% to 50%.

Church Membership Decline Seen in All Major Subgroups

As would be expected given the 20-point decline in church membership overall, the Gallup data show declines among all major subgroups of the U.S. population beyond age, with some differences in the size of that decline.

Among religious groups, the decline in membership is steeper among Catholics (down 18 points, from 76% to 58%) than Protestants (down nine points, from 73% to 64%). This mirrors the historical changes in church attendance Gallup has documented among Catholics, with sharp declines among Catholics but not among Protestants. Gallup does not have sufficient data to analyze the trends for other religious faiths.

In addition to Protestants, declines in church membership are proportionately smaller among political conservatives, Republicans, married adults and college graduates. These groups tend to have among the highest rates of church membership, along with Southern residents and non-Hispanic Black adults.

Over the past two decades, declines in church membership have been greater among Eastern residents and Democrats. Still, political independents have lower rates of church membership than Democrats do.

Changes in Church Membership, by Demographic Subgroup 1998-2000 2008-2010 2018-2020 Change, 1998-2000

to 2018-2020 % % % pct. pts. Men 64 58 46 -18 Women 73 65 53 -20 Non-Hispanic White adults 68 62 52 -16 Non-Hispanic Black adults 78 70 59 -19 College graduate 68 65 54 -14 Not college graduate 69 60 47 -22 Married 71 68 58 -13 Not married 64 55 42 -22 Republican 77 75 65 -12 Independent 59 51 41 -18 Democrat 71 60 46 -25 Conservative 78 73 64 -14 Moderate 66 59 45 -21 Liberal 56 46 35 -21 East 69 58 44 -25 Midwest 72 66 54 -18 South 74 70 58 -16 West 57 51 38 -19 Protestant 73 72 64 -9 Catholic 76 73 58 -18 Gallup

The smaller declines seen among conservatives and other subgroups are largely attributable to more modest change among older generations within those groups. For example, conservatives in older generations have shown drops in church membership of between five and 13 points since 1998-2000, compared with the 20-point change among all U.S. adults. However, the influence of generation is apparent, in that church membership is lower in each younger generation of conservatives than in each older generation -- 51% of conservative millennials, 64% of conservative Gen Xers, 70% of conservative baby boomers and 71% of conservative traditionalists in 2018-2020 belong to a church.

Hispanic Church Membership

Church membership among Hispanic Americans in 2018-2020 was 37%, among the lowest for any major subgroup. Analysis of changes over time in Hispanic adults' church membership is complicated by a shift in Gallup methodology to include Spanish-language interviewing in all surveys beginning in 2011. Church membership rates are significantly lower among Hispanic respondents interviewed in Spanish than among Hispanic respondents interviewed in English. Thus, a comparison of current Hispanic church membership to past membership would overstate the decline by virtue of comparing mixed-language Hispanics today to English-speaking Hispanics, alone, in the earlier period.

Implications

The U.S. remains a religious nation, with more than seven in 10 affiliating with some type of organized religion. However, far fewer, now less than half, have a formal membership with a specific house of worship. While it is possible that part of the decline seen in 2020 was temporary and related to the coronavirus pandemic, continued decline in future decades seems inevitable, given the much lower levels of religiosity and church membership among younger versus older generations of adults.

Churches are only as strong as their membership and are dependent on their members for financial support and service to keep operating. Because it is unlikely that people who do not have a religious preference will become church members, the challenge for church leaders is to encourage those who do affiliate with a specific faith to become formal, and active, church members.

While precise numbers of church closures are elusive, a conservative estimate is that thousands of U.S. churches are closing each year.

A 2017 Gallup study found churchgoers citing sermons as the primary reason they attended church. Majorities also said spiritual programs geared toward children and teenagers, community outreach and volunteer opportunities, and dynamic leaders were also factors in their attendance. A focus on some of these factors may also help local church leaders encourage people who share their faith to join their church.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
press release

Initiation Programme joint media statement by Western Cape MEC of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Anroux Marais and the Initiation Reference Committee of the Western Cape Cultural Commission

The Cabinet of the Western Cape has in its meeting on the 24th March 2021 taken a decision to lift the suspension on initiation practice in the Western Cape as from 1 June 2021, subject to the following:

The status of the COVID-19 pandemic and

The approval of the Western Cape Risk Adjusted Plan by the National Department of Traditional Affairs

The Minister for Cultural Affairs and Sport has been granted the authority to give provincial approval for a Risk Adjusted Plan after consultation with the Minister of Health in the Province, before it is finally submitted to the national Cabinet Member responsible for Traditional Affairs. This is required in terms of section 76 of the current Alert Level 1 regulations, a prerequisite to the resumption of initiation in all provinces. The decision is in line with the announcement made by the State President on the 28 February 2021, that of lifting suspension on the initiation rite of passage pending the implementation of risk adjusted plans to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In the interests of the safety of all, initiation will immediately be suspended should the expected 3rd wave occur over the period for which initiation has been approved to resume.

The proposed start date of 1 June 2021 subject to the status of the pandemic, allows enough time for stakeholder training, mandatory health inspection as well as cultural preparation of prospective initiates, and preparation of initiation sites by Initiation Forums.

Initiation rite of passage is predominantly practiced by AmaXhosa, AmaHlubi and Basotho in the Western Cape. The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) worked with all relevant sectors of society, beginning with Traditional Leaders who are the custodians of the practice. DCAS also engaged the Provincial Initiation Coordination Committee (PICC), Initiation Reference Committee (a sub-committee of the Cultural Commission), and Initiation Forums, whilst it kept close contact with all interested formations in this fraternity. This cooperation was critical as it paved the way for the formulation of a roadmap towards a "safe rite-of-passage", a central principle of this programme, as well as the development of a Risk Adjusted Plan for the Initiation practice under COVID-19 conditions.

The Chairperson of the Initiation Reference Committee, Mr Lungelo Nokwaza, who is also a Traditional Leader, reconfirmed the importance of following COVID-19 safety protocols when initiation schools reopen. He said, it will assist in achieving the safe rite of passage and ensure zero deaths of initiates. He also emphasised that all stakeholders must do whatever it takes to prevent loss of life during this difficult time.

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In terms of the roadmap, one of the key interventions towards ensuring a safe right-of-passage for initiates under COVID-19 conditions will be the training of the various role players. DCAS has already commenced with the training of cultural practitioners and members of the initiation forums from the Metro and Cape Winelands. It is currently in a process to train cultural practitioners and members of the initiation forums from the four remaining districts of the province.

DCAS applauds Traditional Leaders and the Initiation Forums for their input and willingness to adjust some of the initiation rite-of-passage procedures in order to mitigate risk where possible. "This will ensure our boys go in healthy and come out healthy", said one of the cultural practitioners during the training. The collaborative Whole of Society Approach to the challenges brought on by the pandemic and cooperation of communities will ensure the safe rite-of-passage.

Minister Marais indicated that "we have navigated and exited a 2nd wave of COVID-19 with a clear and consistent decline in cases, hospitalisations and deaths. We move into a heightened surveillance, vigilance and urge everyone to adhere to protective behaviours to reduce new cases while in level 1, especially over the coming holiday period in order to avert an early 3rd wave which could have an impact on the commencement of initiation."

Sydney Swans players and staff were sent into isolation on Monday night, while the Gold Coast Suns will join the Brisbane Lions in exile from Queensland as the AFL deals with fresh chaos from the Brisbane COVID-19 outbreak.

A matter of hours after the AFL shifted Thursday nights Collingwood-Brisbane game from the Gabba to Marvel Stadium, the league organised for the Suns to fly to Adelaide on Tuesday morning, where they will play the Crows on Friday night.

The Lions train at Port Melbourne on Monday morning. Credit:Joe Armao

The relocation is to minimise the risk should the outbreak spread beyond Greater Brisbane. There has not been a case of community transmission on the Gold Coast for 11 months.

The Lions, meantime, face the strong possibility that they will be forced to remain in Melbourne beyond the Collingwood fixture, to play the Bulldogs in Ballarat on the Saturday of round four.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2021) - OBSIDIAN ENERGY LTD. (TSX: OBE) (OTCQX: OBELF) ("Obsidian Energy", the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") announces that it has filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities its audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 and related Management's Discussion and Analysis. Obsidian Energy has also filed its Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020, which includes the disclosure and reports relating to reserves data and other oil and gas information required pursuant to National Instrument 51-101. Obsidian Energy's Annual Report on Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to its rules and regulations.

Copies of these documents may be obtained electronically via www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml (for the Form 40-F) or through Obsidian Energy's website at www.obsidianenergy.com. Hard copies of Obsidian Energy's audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related MD&A are also available upon request, free of charge, by contacting our Investor Relations group or by requesting them through our website.

CONTACT

OBSIDIAN ENERGY

Suite 200, 207 - 9th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 1K3

Phone: 403-777-2500

Toll Free: 1-866-693-2707

Website: www.obsidianenergy.com;

Investor Relations:

Toll Free: 1-888-770-2633

E-mail: investor.relations@obsidianenergy.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78831
A pedestrian was seriously injured in a crash on Interstate 5 near Wilsonville on Sunday morning, causing the highway to be closed for several hours.

The Clackamas County Sheriffs Office said just after 11 a.m., crews responded to Interstate 5 south near milepost 283 for a pedestrian who had been hit by a car. The pedestrian, who has not been identified, was flown to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in a helicopter. The sheriffs office said that Oregon State Police were investigating the crash.

Tim Fox, an Oregon State Police spokesperson, said the driver who had struck the pedestrian stayed at the scene.

The sheriffs office said all southbound lanes of the freeway would be temporarily closed while police investigate the crash.

As of 2:30 p.m., deputies had not released any updates on the pedestrians condition. The freeway reopened around 1:30 p.m. According to the Oregon Department of Transportations TripCheck page, traffic was still slow in the area.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
GREENWICH  She was family to us. That is how one family remembered Carolyn Tarpey, as the community celebrated the life of the Greenwich nanny who died Saturday night after battling esophageal cancer and COVID-19 concurrently.

She was 53. Tarpey died at Yale New Haven Hospital, where she had been in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator for almost a month.

Tarpey is survived by her 14-year-old son, Henry, a student at Eagle Hill School in Greenwich, who had an unbreakable bond with his mother, friends said Monday.

Carolyn has basically been a second mom for me, and I wholeheartedly believe that I wouldnt be the person I am without her, said David Beeson, whom Tarpey took care of for 13 years as his nanny. Her kindness, generosity, and compassion are imprinted on me forever.

Friends described Tarpey as kind, generous, compassionate, strong, loyal and devoted to caring for her son. The community had rallied around the single mother in recent weeks by raising money for her medical expenses and for Henrys future.

Last August, Tarpey began having difficulty swallowing and keeping food down. After several doctor visits and procedures, she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She was prescribed chemotherapy and radiation treatments just after New Years Day.

She made it almost halfway into the eight-week cycle of treatments but had to stop when she contracted COVID-19, and then pneumonia.

After five weeks at Greenwich Hospital, Tarpey was moved to the COVID-19 intensive care unit. Shortly after, she was transferred to the intensive care unit at Yale New Haven Hospital, said Joan Andrews, Tarpeys friend and employer of nearly 30 years.

Carolyn was my everything, Andrews said Monday. She never took a vacation in the seven years she was our nanny. She worked with extraordinary energy, love, enthusiasm and knowledge. She did it for us.

Tarpey went above and beyond, organizing holiday parties and researching the best schools, summer camps and after-school programs for the children, Andrews said.

She was our Mary Poppins, Andrews said of Tarpey. She was family to us. I could travel and sleep well all those years, knowing my boys were safe, happy and protected.

Four women who had known Tarpey for years met at Bruce Park earlier this month to share her story and rally support through a GoFundMe page created for Tarpey while she was battling COVID-19 and cancer.

The page will remain active as a memorial to Tarpey and in support of her son, Henry, and his future.

By Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe page had raised about $149,000 of the $250,000 goal, with support from more than 800 donors.

During her hospitalization, Tarpey expressed concern for her son, Henry.

Right now, he is staying very strong, Andrews said. I hear hes doing well. The families watching him know him well. He has a lot of love and support from them.

Becoming a nanny and a mother was a longtime dream for Tarpey, Andrews said.

In 2007, several people, including Andrews and Amanda Vigale, a friend for 25 years, accompanied Tarpey to adopt Henry in Kazakhstan. Vigale as well as Lea Leavitt-Arpell and Stephanie Karp, other friends of Tarpey, were so inspired that they adopted their own children from Kazakhstan.

Words alone cannot express the sadness I feel, said Vigale. We have shared in such life-changing events in each others lives.

I will continue that for her son Henry, Vigale said. He will know all these wonderful memories that he and his mom shared and will always know how loved he was by her and will continue to be loved by all her friends and family.

Carolyns mother, Ellen Tarpey, and her sister, Kimberly Saetta, said theyre thankful for the community members for their support.

Carolyn was a very special person and a wonderful mother to her son, Saetta said. She will be in our hearts forever.

Funeral services will likely be held after Easter.

To donate to the GoFundMe campaign, visit www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-carolyn-and-henry-tarpey?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_34wd+support-for-carolyn-and-henry-tarpey

tatiana.flowers@thehour.com @TATIANADFLOWERS
High Court Judge Lydia Mugambe Ssali made the ruling this afternoon, after Kasango's widow Nice Bitarabeho filed the case seeking permission to bury her husband in Kabarole district, after contention with family members who wanted to bury him in Tororo.

"It is easy to discern in the circumstances of this case, that while the deceased can safely be buried in Tororo or Fort Portal, the deceased's children have almost only their mother to look up to for their welfare. They have not bonded with the Tororo relatives," Judge Lydia Mugambe ruled.

"As a nucleus family they are uncomfortable with the burial of the deceased in Tororo where they've never been. However, they're comfortable and at peace with the burial on their family land in Fort Portal which they know as intended to be their family burial grounds."

Kasango died last month. Court however has agreed with him in a petition he filed in 2016 against the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) who was prosecuting cases against him.

Justice Mugambe concluded that "it is also in the best interest of the children that the deceased is buried as soon as possible to avert the psychological torture they continue to suffer from the prevailing impasse."

The applicant, Bitarabeho, was represented by Mujurizi Jamiru and Tumwesigye Hamphrey of M/s. Mujurizi, Alinaitwe & Byamukama Advocates and the Respondent represented by Odokel Opolot Deogratius and James Njogu of M/s. Odokel Opolot & Co. Advocates.

Kasango succumbed to heart-related complications while serving a 16-year jail term for theft of more than Shs15 billion meant for pensioners.

The constitutional court recently also made a ruling on a case he had filed, questioning the legality of the DPP who was prosecuting the case against him. He argued it was unconstitutional for a serving judge to be DPP, and the court last week agreed with him.

Details of Mugambe ruling

In her ruling on March 26 Judge Mugambe explained her decision in detail. She said court had found out that the deceased's wife and children have never been to Tororo; were taught or told nothing about Tororo or Japadhola culture by the deceased; merely knew or interacted with the Tororo relatives of the deceased at his behest.

"On the other hand, they have severally visited Fort Portal as their village; spent time there with the deceased; are aware that the deceased desired that Fort Portal be their country home and burial place and there is no dispute regarding the ownership of the Fort Portal land by the deceased and his family and its one-acre size is sufficient for burial grounds and a country home which were the deceased's plans for and with his family."

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On the issue of who the deceased's biological father is, court heard that his dad was a one Kasimo who was a musoga.

"Then there is no justification for Respondent to impose the Japadhola culture on the deceased or his family. The deceased's mother's love for the Japadhola culture is indisputable; it is the culture she's grown up in and practiced even though she has Busoga ancestry. However, this too does not justify her desire to impose it on the deceased especially when I consider the nature of relationship between her and the deceased in his life," the judge concluded.

In brief

Court set 6 conditions

1- To bury body in Fort Portal

2- This has to be done in 4 days from the day of ruling

3- To allow the family of Bob's mother to bury

4- Police and LC system take charge

5- Each side takes care of their legal costs

6- Kasango be given a decent burial
A Scottish national has been charged following a Garda seizure of weapons and explosives in Kerry.

Ivan Gilder (59) appeared before Bantry District Court on charges of unlawful possession of a rifle, shotgun and pipe bomb and hundreds of rounds of ammunition for both guns.

Judge Colm Roberts was told that the charges all arose from a seizure conducted at Gearha North in south Kerry on Saturday last, March 27.

Gilder has an address at Gearha North, Blackwater, Killarney, Co Kerry, but is originally from Scotland.

Detective Garda Barry Cashman told the court that Gilder, after being arrested, cautioned and charged, made no reply to the various counts involved.

He is charged with unlawful possession of a JW bolt action rifle of .22 magnum calibre and unlawful possession of a 12 gauge double barrel over-and-under shotgun.

He is also charged with possession of a pipe bomb.

Gilder is further charged with unlawful possession of 522 rounds of ammunition - 397 rounds for the bolt action rifle and 125 rounds for the shotgun.

All charges related to Gearha North on March 27 last.

Judge Roberts was told that gardai have no objection to the defendant being remanded on bail once certain conditions are met.

These include that he surrender his passport and undertake not to apply for new travel documents.

He must further sign on at a named Kerry Garda station three times each week.

Any proposed change of address must be notified in advance to gardai.

Gilder was also told he must not either purchase or seek to obtain chemicals.

Defence solicitor Padraig O'Connell also confirmed to the court that his client's phone was given to gardai as part of their investigation.

Gilder gave a commitment to the court to secure another phone within 48 hours so as to be contactable by gardai at all times.

While the investigation is ongoing at Gilder's home address, the court was told he can reside at a separate property used by his son.

Gilder was described in court as "a solitary man."

His home was described as being in "a beautiful...but isolated place."

Mr O'Connell said he had resided at the specified address for a considerable period of time and would comply with all bail conditions imposed.

Gilder is in receipt of a disability welfare payment of 220 a week. He has no assets.

Judge Roberts noted that the charges involved were "very serious."

He asked whether Gilder's son could provide surety for his father as part of the agreed bail conditions.

"His son would not have enough money to put a jacket on a gooseberry," Mr OConnell explained.

Mr OConnell confirmed his client will comply with all bail conditions specified by the court.

Gilder was released on bail in his own bond of 500 to appear before Killarney District Court on April 20. The defendant was also told by thecourt he must be compliant at all times with Covid-19 controls and restrictions.
Joanne Todd and Belinda Vickers formed a tight bond following their experience on Married At First Sight.

And on Sunday, the 39-year-old Melbourne based barber proved she had a heart of gold after she treated Belinda's husband Patrick Dwyer to a free new hair do.

Uploading a selfie to her Instagram, Jo wrote: 'Giving Patty a fresh cut and colour.'

Home visit: Married At First Sight's Joanne Todd, 39, (left) treated her co-star Patrick 'Patty' Dwyer (centre) to a free haircut and fresh colour on Sunday

In the photo, Jo is seen pointing to Patrick, 29, who sat between the two brides shirtless grinning while he waited for his new colour to settle.

The photo appeared to be taken inside Patrick's Melbourne apartment.

Another image shows Jo combing Patrick's hair while using electric clippers to give him an undercut.

That's nice! Uploading a selfie to her Instagram, Jo wrote: 'Giving Patty a fresh cut and colour'

The trio are understood to have become friends after Belinda and Patrick defended Jo during a tense argument with her 'husband' James Susler.

Belinda got into a tense confrontation with James, 44, during a heated dinner conversation - which played out on television earlier this month.

An angry Belinda accused James of being 'so controlling', and told him he'd been treating Joanne 'like absolute s**t'.

Confrontation: The trio are understood to have become friends after Belinda and Patrick (pictured) defended Jo during a tense argument with her 'husband' James Susler

'I've actually heard that you've been talking about me behind my back as well... Apparently I'm a frigid. You called me a frigid,' Belinda, 29, snapped.

While James didn't deny making the offensive remark, he argued that he'd posed it as a question, not a comment.

Watching the conversation play out from across the table, Patrick was seen becoming increasingly agitated as James traded insults with his 'wife'.

'Did you not just hear me before? I said how offensive that was!' continued a seething Belinda.
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
A woman carries her baby at a screening center run by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, outside Baghouz, Syria, on Feb. 25, 2019. (Felipe Dana/File/AP Photo)

US-Backed Syrian Forces Raid Camp of ISIS Families, Arrest 9

BEIRUTThousands of Kurdish-led forces, with assistance from the U.S.-led coalition, launched a military operation Sunday at a sprawling camp in northeast Syria, in a new effort to identify and arrest ISIS terrorists and tamp down escalating killings and violence in the camp.

The security sweep at the al-Hol camp will continue over time and is being conducted with indirect intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support provided by the coalition, U.S. officials said Sunday.

The Kurdish-led forces said they have nearly 5,000 fighters participating in the operation and on Sunday they arrested nine people, including an Iraqi ISIS member who worked in recruitment.

The al-Hol camp houses some 62,000 people, including wives and children of ISIS members, and U.S. officials say it has become a breeding ground for the next generation of ISIS terrorists.

There have been 47 killings in the camp since the start of 2021, according to the Kurdish-led forces, while U.S officials put the figure at well over 60.

Military leaders have long warned of the growing security problems in the camp. In comments to the Middle East Institute in February, Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the systemic indoctrination of the camps population to ISIS ideology is an alarming, long-term risk.

Col. Wayne Marotta, spokesman for the U.S.-backed coalition, said the new military operation is designed to disrupt ISIS activities in the camp and ensure the security of the residents.

He said coalition forces will provide support during the operation for early warning and situational awareness. He added that coalition forces will be in a rear support position, but are/will be close enough to provide operation advisement, assistance and enablement.

Marotta also said the Kurdish-led forces are enrolling residents in the camps using biometric technology to help maintain security by identifying (those residing in the camp) connected to terrorist activities.

Most of the recent victims at al-Hol were shot in the back of the head at close range, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Rojava Information Center, an activist collective that tracks news in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led forces: the Syrian Defense Forces and local Kurdish security forces known as Asayish.

This picture taken shows a discarded ISIS terrorist group flag lying on the ground in the village of Baghouz in Syrias eastern Deir Ezzor province near the Iraqi border, on March 24, 2019. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)

Among those killed so far this year were a policeman who was shot, an Iraqi man who was beheaded, a local official who was gunned down, and at least five women. Most were killed in their tents or shelters at night, RIC said.

The slayings at the camp are largely believed to have been carried out by ISIS terrorists punishing perceived enemies and intimidating anyone who wavers from their extremist line, according to Syrian Kurdish officials who run the camp but say they struggle to keep it under control.

The jump in violence has heightened calls for countries to repatriate their citizens languishing in the camp. The repatriations were already limited, but they have slowed dramatically because of the coronavirus epidemic.

Unless the international community finds a way to repatriate, reintegrate into home communities, and support locally grown reconciliation programs, we will bear witness to the indoctrination of the next generation of ISIS as these children become radicalized, McKenzie said last month. Failing to address this now means ISIS will never be truly defeated, as the ideology will continue well into the future.

McKenzie and other U.S. defense officials have expressed frustration at the slow pace of repatriation of the refugees to their home countries.

Its concerning to me that were moving so slowly because we could either deal with this problem now, or deal with it exponentially worse a few years down the road, McKenzie said in comments to the U.S. Institute of Peace last summer. And what worries me tactically also is the prospect of massive infection in the camp from coronavirus, although again, there are many other bad things that could happen in that camp as well.

Al-Hol houses the wives, widows, children, and other family members of ISIS terrorists, hundreds of whom are held in prisons. More than 80 percent of the 62,000 camp residents are women and children. As of earlier this year, McKenzie said about two thirds of the population is under the age of 18, with more than half under the age of 12 and one third under the age of 5.

The majority of the population are Iraqis and Syrians, but there are also some 10,000 people from 57 other countries.

It has been two years since the U.S.-led coalition captured the last sliver of territory held by the ISIS terrorist group, ending its self-declared caliphate that covered large parts of Iraq and Syria. The brutal war took several years and left U.S.-allied Kurdish authorities in control of eastern and northeast Syria, with a small presence of several hundred American forces still deployed there.

Since then, remaining ISIS terrorists have gone underground in the Syrian-Iraqi border region, continuing an insurgency. Thousands of family members who had stayed in the last sliver of land the group held were moved to the camp or prisons.

By Sarah El Deeb and Lolita C. Baldor

Youth leader of The Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) in Upper Fulladu constituency, Alagie Jawo has strongly refuted reports circulating online that hehas switched allegiance to President Barrow's National People's Party (NPP).

Jawo, a native of Farato Njobo village made this rebuttal recently after supporters of NPP shared an audio on messaging app -WhatsApp, in which he (Alagie Jawo) is purportedly assuring President Barrow of his support to amass more fans for NPP in the constituency.

He admitted meeting the President in Mankamang Kunda, but strongly denied joining his NPP party.

"One NPP supporter told me that President Barrow wanted to see me and my children, in which I told him my children cannot be available. I then went to Mankamang Kunda on a Monday to treat about my children who didn't have support since last year. I'm sorry to all GDC militants and I want to assure them that I cannot leave GDC." he explained.
John Trumbull's painting, "Declaration of Independence" (1819), depicts the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress. The painting can be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill. The original hangs in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. (Public Domain)

Defending the Constitution: Why the Founders Couldnt Abolish Slavery

Commentary

This is the third in a series of essays defending our Constitution against unfair accusations from so-called progressives. The first essay rebutted the charge that the Constitution discriminated against women. The second corrected the claim that the three-fifths compromise was motivated by racism.

This essay responds to incessant efforts to link the Constitution with slavery.

Why a Key Progressive Claim Is Deceptive

Progressives base some of their case on the fact that perhaps 25 of the Constitutions 55 framers (drafters) were slaveholders.

But this statistic is deceptive. The constitutional convention also included influential opponents of slavery. John Dickinson had inherited bondsmen, but freed them all. Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, among others, were abolitionists. Even among the minority who held slaves, some, such as James Madison, favored gradual emancipation. There was much criticism of slavery at the Constitutional Convention, and only the South Carolina delegates offered even a tepid defense.

Another reason the statistic is deceptive is that the framers composed only a tiny slice among the 2,000-or-so Founders. The Founders also included leading participants in the constitutional debates, such as Noah Webster of Connecticut and Tench Coxe of Pennsylvania, as well as the elected delegates to the state conventions that ratified the Constitution. Relatively few of these people owned slaves.

Slavery Seemed Headed for Extinction

Why then, didnt the Constitution abolish or curb slavery?

One reason is that issues of property were seen as matters of state law rather than federal. A more important reason was that slavery seemed to be on the path to early extinction.

The English-speaking peoples were the first major demographic group in history to abolish slaverya fact the woke crowd always overlooks. This process was well underway when the Constitution was written. In 1772, the English Court of Kings Bench had decided Somerset v. Stewart, which banished slavery from the English homeland. Soon after American Independence, 10 of the 13 states abolished the slave trade and one (North Carolina) imposed steep taxes upon it. Several states also began general emancipation. Five granted the vote to free African Americans.

Thats why Constitutional Convention delegate Roger Sherman of Connecticut remarked that the abolition of slavery seem[s] to be going on in the U.S. & that the good sense of the several States would probably by degrees compleat it. His Connecticut colleague, Oliver Ellsworthlater chief justice of the United Statespredicted that Slavery in time will not be a speck in our Country. Tragically, they didnt foresee the invention of the cotton gin.

Compromise Was Necessary for Unity

Still, it was clear that the elite in a few states were clinging to slavery and wouldnt approve a Constitution that curbed it. South Carolina delegate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney said: If himself & all his colleagues were to sign the Constitution & use their personal influence, it would be of no avail towards obtaining the assent of their Constituents. S. Carolina & Georgia cannot do without slaves.

The framers were forced to conclude that a Constitution curbing slavery couldnt unify the country and might even fail the nine-state ratification threshold.

Only Unity Would Prevent War

Why was unity so important? Because the probable result of disunion would be never-ending war on the American continent.

The common cause against Great Britain tied together colonies that never had much to do with each otherbut by 1787, this connection was unraveling. The Confederation Congress was widely ignored. Rhode Island and Connecticut were in a creditor-debtor spat that threatened resort to arms. Many spoke of dividing the country into several confederations, with some states remaining entirely independent.

On the costs of disunity, European history was instructive. The previous 150 years had witnessed about 70 European wars (in addition to rebellions), and the results were horrific. The Thirty Years War, which ended in 1648, may have killed, directly or indirectly, as many as 8 million people. The War of the Austrian Succession (174048) resulted in perhaps half a million casualties; the Seven Years War (175663) caused perhaps a million.

That was why Gov. Edmund Randolph introduced his Virginia Plan by emphasizing that the current system couldnt protect against foreign invasion, couldnt prevent states from provoking foreign powers, and couldnt prevent interstate conflict. To do that, a stronger government was necessary.

The Constitutional Debates Emphasized Unity

During the public debates on the Constitution, an important part of the advocates successful argument was the need for unity to avoid war. Although I believe modern writers rely too heavily on The Federalist Papers when searching for constitutional meaning, those essays do offer a good sample of the arguments for unity.

John Jay, who had served as the Confederations foreign secretary, wrote in Federalist No. 4:

But the safety of the people of America against dangers from foreign force depends not only on their forbearing to give just causes of war to other nations, but also on their placing and continuing themselves in such a situation as not to invite hostility or insult; for it need not be observed that there are pretended as well as just causes of war. One government can collect and avail itself of the talents and experience of the ablest men, in whatever part of the Union they may be found. It can move on uniform principles of policy.  In the formation of treaties, it will regard the interest of the whole. It can apply the resources and power of the whole to the defense of any particular part, and that more easily and expeditiously than State governments or separate confederacies can possibly do, for want of concert and unity of system. It can place the militia under one plan of discipline, and, by putting their officers in a proper line of subordination to the Chief Magistrate, will, as it were, consolidate them into one corps, and thereby render them more efficient than if divided into thirteen or into three or four distinct independent companies.

But 

Leave America divided into thirteen or, if you please, into three or four independent governmentswhat armies could they raise and paywhat fleets could they ever hope to have? If one was attacked, would the others fly to its succor, and spend their blood and money in its defense?

In Federalist No. 5, Jay outlined the danger of warfare among the American states themselves, and in Federalist No. 6, Alexander Hamilton carried the argument further:

If these States should either be wholly disunited, or only united in partial confederacies, the subdivisions into which they might be thrown would have frequent and violent contests with each other.  To look for a continuation of harmony between a number of independent, unconnected sovereignties in the same neighborhood, would be to disregard the uniform course of human events, and to set at defiance the accumulated experience of ages.

In Federalist No. 41, Madison pointed out that European nations would intervene to turn American states against each other:

The fortunes of disunited America will be even more disastrous than those of Europe. The sources of evil in the latter are confined to her own limits. No superior powers of another quarter of the globe intrigue among her rival nations, inflame their mutual animosities, and render them the instruments of foreign ambition, jealousy, and revenge.

Madison summarized in Federalist No. 45: The union  [is] essential to the security of the people of America against foreign danger [and] essential to their security against contentions among the different states.

So before criticizing the Founders for permitting the states to allow slavery, we must understand the choice they faced: tolerating a vile institution that was (then) dying anyway or consigning the American continent to perpetual warfare at a cost of millions of lives and incalculable misery.

Parting Shots

The progressive crowd attacks the Constitution in part because some slaveholders advocated it. But slaveholders were at least as prominent among the Constitutions active opponents. By the woke crowds own reasoning, their criticism is tarred by antifederalist slaveholders such as Virginias Richard Henry Lee and North Carolinas Willie Jones.

Finally: The claim that the Founders should have abolished slavery at all costsno matter how horrible the resultsill becomes those who accept, or even promote, evils such as street violence, government attacks on freedom, and infanticide. Such people should reassess their own conduct before railing against the Founders.

Robert G. Natelson is a former constitutional law professor, constitutional historian, and senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver. He is the author of The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant (3rd ed., 2014).

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Some elected New York officials at the weekend lauded the contributions of the Nigerian community to the development of the city.

They spoke during a farewell party organised by the Nigerian American Public Affairs Committee (NAPAC) in honour of the outgoing Consul-General of Nigeria, Mr Benaoyagha Okoyen.

Okoyen is proceeding to Cuba as Nigeria's Ambassador with concurrent accreditation to The Bahamas, Honduras and Nicaragua

In her remarks at the virtual event, the President of Manhattan Borough, Ms Gale Brewer, said that the Nigerian community was a significant part of New York.

Brewer specifically acknowledged the impact of Okoyen in the diplomatic circle, describing him as a symbol of excellence for which Nigerians were known.

New York State senator, Mr Robert Jackson, said Okoyen's appointment as an ambassador was a promotion well deserved.

"I looked at your background in education and training and I have no doubt that you are going to be a positive aspect of the diplomatic community in the Caribbean.

"I know you will work hard in your new assignment and make us all proud," said Jackson, a close friend of the Nigerian community.

Mr Alfred Taylor, a member of the New York State Assembly, commended the outgoing envoy for giving Nigeria great visibility in New York, and wished him well.

Other guests, who delivered comments at the occasion, including the Consul-General of Algeria in New York, Mr Brahim Chennouf, lauded Okoyen's exemplary leadership and professionalism.

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"Amb. Okoyen worked hard during his term as Consul-General of Nigeria and all colleagues recognised his personal involvement and leadership within the African Group.

"I am glad his country awarded him the promotion he deserves," Chennouf said in a Zoom chat message.

Earlier, the President of NAPAC, Dr Nelson Aluya, said the event was part of efforts to celebrate outstanding Nigerians in the U.S.

"It's time we begin to identify those among us who are champions. We should celebrate them and highlight the things they do to serve as a template for those coming behind.

"We gather here because of an individual who has exemplified what it is to be not just an ambassador, but also a leader.

"Okoyen has demonstrated not just the capacity to lead but also the trust to lead," Aluya said, highlighting his achievements.

Responding, the envoy thanked members of the Nigerian community for their support, especially during the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Okoyen also expressed gratitude to the host authorities and elected officials present, for their guidance and support.

"Let me assure everyone that I will continue to work hard. If there are areas you think I have not done well, please feel free to advise me so that I can improve.

"This game is a learning process. Nobody knows it all. That is why I will never forget my team here in New York.

"I will continue to make Nigeria and Nigerians my priority wherever I am and in whatsoever I do," he said.(NAN).

Vanguard News Nigeria
Unvaccinated American children will need to continue to wear masks if they interact with groups from other households, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.

The nations top infectious disease expert said that it is conceivable parents will be able to send their kids to playgrounds and summer camps so long as mass vaccination continues at the same pace.

We now have three to 3.5 million vaccinations each day, Fauci, who is President Biden's chief medical adviser, told CBS News Face the Nation.

If we keep up at that pace, invariably thats going to drive the rate and the level of infections per day to a much, much lower level.

FAUCI COMMENTS ABOUT CHILDREN START AT 2:50

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said children should continue to wear masks while playing with other kids 'from different households'

If we get into the summer, and you have a considerable percentage of the population vaccinated and the level in the community gets below that plateau thats worrying me and my colleagues in public health, it is conceivable that you will have a good degree of flexibility in the summer, even with the children with things like camp.

Fauci added: We dont know that for sure, but I think thats an aspirational goal that we should go for.

When asked if vaccinated parents should be worried about their unvaccinated children playing in groups with other kids who have not been inoculated against COVID-19, Fauci said there is still a risk of infection.

He said that families do not need to wear masks when theyre indoors with each other and the parents have gotten the vaccine.

But Fauci added: When the children go out into the community, you want them to continue to wear masks when theyre interacting with groups from multiple households.

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.

Earlier this month, Fauci 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. The image above shows students wearing face masks at St. Joseph Catholic School in La Puente, California on November 16

So far in the United States, 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 Pfizers 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 six- 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 three.

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 wont need to be nearly as large: Researchers have safety information from those studies and subsequent vaccinations of millions of adults.

And because childrens infection rates are so low - they make up about 13 per cent of COVID-19 cases documented in the US - the main focus of pediatric studies isnt 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 US alone and more than 13,500 have been hospitalized, according to a tally by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Thats 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, Fauci 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.

Fauci expressed concern that the country is beginning to ascend on an upward trajectory - a reversal of the trend that has taken hold in recent weeks.

'When you're coming down from a big peak and you reach a point and start to plateau, once you stay at that plateau, you're really in danger of a surge coming up,' he said.

'And unfortunately, that's what we're starting to see.'

After the nation emerged from post-holiday peaks in January and February, the number of confirmed new cases hovered between 50,000 and 60,000 throughout March.

The plateau has now turned into a rise as some 30 states and the District of Columbia are reporting an increase in the rate of infection.

Fauci said that states' rolling back of mitigation measures coupled with increased travel during spring break are likely the main reasons for the uptick.

'Several states have done that. I believe it's premature,' Fauci said of the decision by several governors to lift mask mandates and restrictions on public gatherings and businesses.
Several anxious, angry seniors and others expressed frustration recently about why they had not yet received the latest, third round of stimulus cash, according to the Detroit Free Press, a USA TODAY Network publication.

"I thought it would be here by now," one older woman lamented on a Detroit Free Press voicemail.

"Do you have any idea when people on SSI (Supplemental Security Incomewill get their stimulus money? Desperate to hear something," another woman emailed me.

Another reader who receives government benefits via a Direct Express card complained that while stimulus money was expected on March 17, nothing showed up. "All I hear is that the IRS screwed up and it will be taken care of. It's hard enough to live in $800 a month."

Save better, spend better: Money tips and advice delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here

Not receiving something by now doesn't mean you're completely out of luck.

More money will be issued in the coming weeks as direct deposits and through the mail as paper checks or debit cards.

It might not matter all that much to wait a few weeks, if you've been steadily employed. But such delays clearly hurt people who have difficulty making ends already.

The third set of Economic Impact Payments  which offer up to $1,400 each for those who qualify  began hitting many bank accounts via direct deposit on March 17. Others have begun receiving paper checks or plastic prepaid Visa cards, issued by MetaBank.

Stimulus checks sent to 127M Americans: How to check IRS status of your COVID-19 relief payment

IRS says more stimulus checks on the way: But when will seniors, others on Social Security get COVID payments?

So far, about 127 million people were on track to receive a total of $325 billion in the first two weeks since President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law March 11, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

That includes the latest 37 million payments in the second batch of Economic Impact Payments issued last week.

Story continues

Millions still wait for stimulus check

But nearly 30 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries are waiting to get money through their Economic Impact Payments, according to a letter sent by leaders on the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

"Because SSA has inexplicably not sent the necessary payment files to the Internal Revenue Service, tens of millions of beneficiaries have yet to receive their desperately needed EIPs," according to Chairman Richard Neal, the Massachusetts Democrat, and oversight subcommittee chairman Bill Pascrell Jr., the New Jersey Democrat and others.

Last Wednesday's letter followed another scathing commentary when Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee criticized both the commissioners of the IRS and the Social Security Administration about the handling of the latest stimulus rollout.

"Some of our most vulnerable seniors and persons with disabilities, including veterans who served our country with honor, are unable to pay for basic necessities while they wait for their overdue payments," according to the letter signed by Neal, Pascrell Jr., and others.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass.

The letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig and Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul expressed alarm that most Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Railroad Retirement Board, and Veterans Affairs beneficiaries who are not required to file a tax return had not yet received their payments.

And the letter expressed concern that "the IRS is unable to provide an expected timeline for these payments."

Saul's office issued a press statement last Wednesday that the Social Security Administration has worked with the IRS during the past year to assist with the three stimulus programs. But the statement also noted that the agency faced various hurdles, budget restrictions and did not receive any direct appropriation to support its work on the Economic Impact Payments as part of the American Rescue Plan.

"In fact, it was the substantial efforts of SSA that successfully overcame the fact that the IRS did not have a mechanism to automatically identify Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, some of the most financially insecure people in America," Saul said in a statement.

He noted that the Social Security Administration sent initial test files to the IRS on March 22 and the IRS confirmed "testing success" March 24.

"Production files were delivered to IRS before 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 25  more than a week sooner than we were able to provide a similar file to IRS during the first round of EIPs," Saul said in the statement.

He noted that the Social Security Administration has been updating the files that IRS will use to issue payments to Social Security beneficiaries.

"Those updates to our files ensure that payments go to correct bank accounts and addresses, and, that those who are deceased are removed from the files," Saul said.

"In short, Social Security employees have literally worked day and night with IRS staff to ensure that the electronic files of Social Security and SSI recipients are complete, accurate, and ready to be used to issue payments."

A year ago during the first stimulus effort, many people who received government benefits faced similar delays. Many lower income families desperately wanted to know back in early May 2020 the whereabouts of their first Economic Impact Payments.

What makes the waiting game worse now is that the latest stimulus package is far more generous than the last two, and really could provide serious relief.

The IRS has not given any expected timeline for when people who are beneficiaries of these government programs will receive their stimulus money.

"Many federal beneficiaries who filed 2019 or 2020 returns or used the Non-Filers tool were included in these first two batches of payments, if eligible," according to an IRS press release issued Wednesday.

Others, though, continue to wait. The IRS indicated that federal beneficiaries who did not file a 2019 or 2020 tax return or did not use the non-filers tool last year at IRS.gov, may still be waiting for the latest stimulus payments.

The IRS said it is working with the Social Security Administration, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the Veterans Administration to obtain updated 2021 information to send these beneficiaries "fast, automatic payments."

"More information about when these payments will be made will be provided on IRS.gov as soon as it becomes available," the IRS said.

On Wednesday, the answers posted at the FAQ at www.IRS.gov remained vague, as well, when it comes to questions regarding Social Security, Railroad Retirement and Department of Veteran Affairs benefit recipients.

What's going on with Direct Express?

Many people who receive federal benefits get monthly payments on existing prepaid debit cards through Direct Express.

But the Direct Express site only noted on March 23: "According to the IRS, updates on the timing of Economic Impact Payments for federal beneficiaries are expected soon. This includes information for Direct Express cardholders who didnt file a tax return in 2019 or 2020. Updates will be posted on IRS.gov as soon as possible."

The Direct Express program provides 4.5 million Americans  the majority of whom do not have a bank account  with a prepaid debit card to receive their monthly Social Security or veterans benefit payments. The expectation is that the IRS would put those stimulus payments automatically on existing Direct Express cards.

The IRS is rolling out the stimulus payments in batches  including by direct deposit, as well as mailing paper checks and plastic prepaid debit cards.

Many people who received their money already had filed tax returns, as they made enough money to be required to file a return.

The second batch of payments includes about 17 million direct deposit payments, which were officially available Wednesday, that totaled more than $38 billion.

Like the first batch of payments, the IRS said, the payments announced Wednesday primarily were sent to eligible taxpayers who filed 2019 or 2020 returns. People who dont typically file a return but who successfully used the Non-Filers tool on IRS.gov last year were sent payments in second batch, too.

Those bringing home better than average paychecks won't get money this time around, though.

For example, a married couple filing a joint return won't receive the third payment if their adjusted gross income exceeds $160,000.

The cutoff is $120,000 if filing as head of household and $80,000 for single filers and married people filing separate returns.

Why would a married couple get two payments?

A wide range of questions remain regarding the complex program. And not everyone is seeing their payments show up in the way they might expect.

Some married couples, for example, are questioning why they received two forms of payment or just what appears to be half of their expected payment.

IRS officials noted married taxpayers who file jointly  but whose tax return includes an injured spouse claim  may receive their third Economic Impact Payment as two separate payments.

"In most cases, the second payment will be delivered as directed by the tax return," according to IRS officials.

"In a few instances, one payment may come as a direct deposit and the other mailed."

An injured spouse claim is filed with the IRS to make sure that the entire tax refund won't be used to offset your spouse's past debt, including past federal income taxes by your spouse but not by you.

"By filing Form 8379," the IRS notes, "the injured spouse may be able to get back his or her share of the joint refund."

What's confusing is that the second Economic Impact Payment may come the same week or within weeks of the first payment.

"Both taxpayers on the tax return should check Get My Payment separately using their own Social Security number to see the status of both payments," according to the IRS. See www.IRS.gov for the Get My Payment Tool.

Contact Susan Tompor via stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @tompor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Check my stimulus check: When will Social Security get third payment?
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Scott Dalton / Bloomberg

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Monday urged states to put mask mandates back in place, saying reckless behavior is threatening progress in containing COVID-19 as cases have started to climb, despite a rapidly accelerating vaccination push.

Please, this is not politics: Reinstate the mandate if you let it down, Biden said. The failure to take this virus seriously  precisely what got us into this mess in the first place  risks more cases and more deaths.
Commissioners Make Appointment To Pct. 1 Justice Of The Peace Spot After interviewing five candidates in closed session, the Hill County Commissioners Court appointed an applicant to replace Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Martis Ward in a meeting held Tuesday, March 23.



The court selected Whitney Mayor Doyle "Trey" Jetton, who is also a Hill County Sheriff's Office deputy, to fill the position. Jetton will be sworn in Thursday, April 1, with Ward's last day on the job set to be Wednesday, March 31.



Ward recently informed the court that he would be resigning from his position when a replacement was selected to fill the office until the next election.



In addition to his positions as Whitney mayor and a sheriff's deputy, Jetton is a decorated Iraq War U.S. Army veteran and has been a heavy equipment operator for the U.S. Army and Hill County. He has also served as a jailer.



Jetton did not file to run for another term as Whitneys mayor in the upcoming May election. In a letter to the Whitney City Council last Thursday, Jetton resigned as mayor effective Friday, March 26, at 5 p.m.



"It has been an honor to serve as the mayor of the City of Whitney and serve the residents of our city," he wrote. "I look forward to continuing to serve our community and am committed to a working relationship with the city."



Jetton reported that he has also turned in his resignation letter to the sheriff and will only be holding the justice of the peace position at the time he is sworn in to office.



He added that the Whitney City Council can choose whether to appoint a new mayor until the election or have the mayor pro tem serve in his place until the election.



The court also voted to set a public hearing on a proposed game room ordinance in the county.



County Attorney David Holmes said that the proposal has the support of the sheriff's office due to issues with criminal activity.



Hill County Judge Justin Lewis said that, under certain circumstances, game rooms can be legal in the state. "However, a lot of times people take the appearance of legality and do a little bit of shadier stuff on the back end of things," he said.



"We have found that there have been problems that have come to our attention: human trafficking, delivery and manufacturing of controlled substances and illegal gambling on top of it at some of these game rooms." He explained that the state has given counties some ability to regulate game rooms, and he believes it is a health and safety issue for the county.



The proposed ordinance would create a permitting process in which the county would review the operation and the ownership before issuing a permit. "No longer can we have nefarious characters with questionable backgrounds operating these," Lewis said.



A public hearing will be held during the Tuesday, May 11, meeting to move forward with the proposal.



The court made selections regarding providers of county supplies over the next year after opening bids submitted by companies recently.



Companies selected for road and bridge materials include Yoder Bridge, Monarch Mountain Minerals and Aggregates, Vulcan Construction Materials, Conner's Crushed Stone, Martin Marietta and Rattler Rock.



Those selected for asphalts, oils and emulsions were P2 Emulsions, Texas Materials, Ergon Asphalt and Sustainable Pavement Technologies.



All of the companies above can be selected by commissioners based on quantity, quality and availability as needed.



Others approved included: Yoder Bridge for bridge and concrete box culverts; Wilson Culverts for corrugated steel pipe; Janek & Whitten Construction for hauling services in precincts 1, 3 and 4; Hillsboro Sand & Gravel for hauling in Precinct 2; Scott Oil for offsite fuel in Precinct 1; Big Czech for onsite fuel in Precinct 2; Independent Oil for offsite fuel in precincts 2 and 3; and Itasca Co-op for fuel in Precinct 4.



The court also approved a final plat for Lake Whitney Acres subdivision going up across from White Bluff Resort near Whitney, reappointed Gayla Coleman and Andrea Wimberly to the Hill County Child Protective Services Board and observed and recorded the appointment of Rachel Parker as assistant county auditor by District Judge Lee Harris.



Commissioners approved an agreement with the Heart of Texas Council of Governments that will allow the county to be receive a $4,275 reimbursement for mental health counseling services during fiscal year 2021. The funds are provided through HOTCOG through the Juvenile Justice Alternative grant program offered by the Office of the Governor.



In other business at the meeting, Hill County Judge Justin Lewis reported that work is continuing on the Hill County Courthouse after Februarys winter storm resulted in a burst pipe and flood damage throughout the building.



The courthouse repairs will likely be a six-month to one-year process, Lewis said, although some offices will be repaired and ready for use more quickly than others.



Sheetrock has been removed in many damaged areas, and work is underway on the flooring. The judge said that pine flooring in the courthouse that came out of the state capitol during the 1989 capitol renovation project is largely salvageable, as the water was trapped between layers of subflooring.



The county should get more concrete numbers regarding the cost of the project soon, but any repairs not covered by insurance are expected to be covered under the storm-related disaster declaration.



Lewis said that the information technology department's main server room is being moved out of the courthouse and into a secure room at the Support Services Building on Waco Street.



The room and equipment sustained damages in the recent flooding, as water collected in a low spot on the third floor above the server room and flooded it.



In a COVID-19 update, Lewis said that current numbers are low, with the hospitalization rate at 7.5%, but the judge warned that the threat still exists.



"I don't want anybody to think this pandemic is over," he said. "We are in an artificial lull at the moment. I hope it lasts. I pray it lasts. But, folks, don't let down your vigilance."



He also encouraged the continued use of masks.



"I encourage youI beg youplease continue wearing your masks in public. I'm not going to tell you that you have to. I'm just saying its the right thing to do, and if you happen to follow the teachings of Christ like I do, I think it's the Christian thing to do, to wear your mask in public to protect one another."



Lewis reported that 1,660 people were vaccinated during the most recent vaccine clinic hosted at the Hill County Fairgrounds, and the county is currently in discussions with the Texas Military Department and the Texas Division of Emergency Management about holding a recurring clinic at the fairgrounds.


The Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate remained below 1.3800 at the start of the new trading week, as US Dollar remained top of the global league table.

GBP/USD failed to advance on Monday despite UK recovery optimism maintaining a firm overall Sterling tone.

Global expectations and relative performances have remained key drivers of global exchange rates. Given vaccine optimism, markets continue to expect that the US and UK economies will out-perform the Euro area.

The Pound-to-Euro exchange rate has maintained a strong tone to trade around 1.1690, but has so far has been unable to break key resistance above 1.1700.

Dollar supremacy has kept the Pound-to-Dollar exchange rate below the 1.3800 level.

Vaccine hopes continue to provide net British Pound support

Unease over the UK-EU vaccine row undermined the Pound last week, but there was further relief on Friday that the worst-case scenario had been avoided.

The gradual UK re-opening remains on track at this stage with a slight relaxation of restrictions across the country.

There were still some reservations over near-term supply disruptions with no new first-dose vaccinations scheduled for April as the programme focusses on second doses.

Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets, commented that; the UK-EU vaccine row was having limited impact on the pound because it had not escalated into a tit-for-tat trade spat, and sterling was being lifted by the "risk-on" sentiment in markets more broadly.

April tends to be a strong month for the Pound, but there is scope for further position adjustment ahead of the month-end period.

He added that EUR/GBP could weaken towards 0.84 as April is a seasonally strong month for the UK currency.

ING added; Concerns about a worsening virus situation and the slower vaccination progresses in the eurozone may widen the UK-EU gap in terms of recovery expectations and we could see EUR/GBP test the key 0.8500 support in the coming days.

US Dollar (USD) maintains global supremacy

The US dollar has maintained a strong tone in global currency markets amid expectations of US out-performance and a strong recovery.

Underlying confidence in the Euro-zone outlook remains weak which has continued to undermine the Euro with the Euro-to-Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate trapped below 1.1800.

Westpac currency analyst Imre Speizer commented; The U.S. is also being helped on its own by some pretty good economic data, fantastic rollout of vaccines, good pace of vaccination and (positive) stock markets.

Pepperstones head of research, Chris Weston focussed on the potential for a bumper US jobs report on Friday; One million jobs would set the reflation trades alight and cause a solid sell-off in bond yields taking USD/JPY and USD/CHF higher. He added; The euro should push through last weeks lows of 1.1761 and towards 1.1690.

Global equities made net headway on Friday with the S&P 500 index posting net gains to record highs. There was, however, a more cautious tone on Monday given concerns that a robust recovery had been priced in. There were also specific concerns surrounding fund selling.

Marshall Gittler, Head of Investment Research at BDSwiss Group noted overnight developments; Nomura Holdings warned of a significant loss (estimated at $2bn) from transactions with a US client, which is rumored to be Archegos Capital Management. Archegos stunned markets on Friday with some massive block trades amounting to over $1bn each in single stocks. The selling caused huge moves in a few US media companies and Chinese technology firms, such as ViacomCBS and Discovery, which fell around 27% each on Friday.

Equities overall have been resilient, however, limiting the risk of any follow-through selling with the UK FTSE 100 index opening marginally higher.

The Pound-to-Yen (GBP/JPY) exchange rate retreated to near 150.50 before a recovery to 150.90.

Hedge funds pull back from Pound Sterling (GBP) buying

COT data released by the CFTC recorded a further decline in long Sterling positions to 22,000 contracts for the latest week from 29,000 the previous week which suggests a further cooling of hedge fund interest in the Pound.

The number of long Sterling contracts a month ago and coincided with the GBP/USD peak. If short-term speculators maintain a more cautious stance, GBP/USD will find it more difficult to make headway.
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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings reports by London-listed companies, issued on Monday and not separately reported by Alliance News:







Dev Clever Holdings PLC - career guidance and development platform - Posts pretax loss of GBP1.1 million in 2020, flat with the prior year. Says the loss reflects the group's ongoing investment in the productisation of its software platforms, the strengthening of its executive and senior management teams, and the establishing of a dedicated marketing function. Administrative expenses increase to GBP1.6 million from GBP999,660. Revenue jumps to GBP1.3 million, from GBP480,585, thanks to the establishment of sales channels for its core "Educate" platforms. Says "dividends to the company's shareholders are recognised when the dividends are approved for payment". Says the business' overall momentum continues to keep accelerating and management remains highly confident that with a strong product, partner and capital line up combined with "a very focused implementation and delivery program", the business can expand its market share.







Brighton Pier Group PLC - operator of Brighton Pier - Posts pretax profit for half-year ended December 27 of GBP2.7 million, rising 50% from GBP1.8 million a year prior. Says this was due to the income from business interruption insurance, summer trading, government support by way of furlough, grants, rates and VAT reductions. Operating expenses decrease to GBP7.2 million from GBP12.1 million a year before. Revenue falls to GBP8.2 million from GBP17.3 million in 2019. Says in the short to medium term, the key aim for the business is to focus on reopening as soon as the Group is able, in accordance with the recently announced roadmap, and to return all three divisions to pre-Covid-19 levels of trade. Planning for this is already well advanced.







RM Secured Direct Lending PLC - closed-ended investment trust - Posts net asset value per share at December 31 of 93.25 pence, down 4.6% from 97.79p a year prior. Declares a 6.5 pence per share dividend for the full year, down from 7.025p a year prior. "The board is pleased to report a resilient year for RMDL amid an unprecedented market environment. This has been demonstrated through our portfolio which has continued to diversify and grow," says Chair Norman Crighton, adding that the company has entered into 2021 in a "strong position". Says it "has every confidence in the long-term future" of the company. Secures new funding to pay GBP12.1 million final capital entitlement for RM ZDP PLC shares, which will come to end of 3-year life on April 6.







Eleco PLC - London-based construction software developer - Posts pretax profit of GBP3.9 million for 2020, rising 11% from GBP3.5 million a year prior. Other selling & administrative expenses fall to GBP16.7 million from GBP17.4 million. Revenue decreases 0.8% to GBP25.2 million from GBP25.4 million. Proposes final dividend of 0.40 pence per share. Says the start to trading this year has been strong and is confident that the business "will begin to bear the fruit of its new refined vision and strategy over the next 12 months".







VietNam Holding Ltd - investment firm focussed on high-growth companies in Vietnam - Posts net investment income of USD42.2 million in the first half ended December 31, soaring from USD4.4 million a year prior. Says its overweight position in steel & steel pipe firm HPG was the leading contributor to its results. Basic and diluted earnings per share rises to USD0.83 from USD0.05 a year before. Total assets increases 18% to USD138.5 million on December 31 from USD117.7 million at June 30. Says although the global risks due to Covid-19 still linger, despite the positive news on vaccines, we could not feel more positive about Vietnam moving into 2021.







Upland Resources Ltd - oil & gas company with operations in Tunisia and south east Asia - Posts pretax loss of GBP367,687 for the six months to December 31, narrowing 29% from GBP516,552 a year prior. Administrative costs fell to GBP367,687 from GBP512,630 the year before. Says the principal reasons for the decreased costs are reduced overhead expenditure and lower costs due to the constraints on activity as a result of coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Says it plans to grow through the identification and closure of significant new business opportunities which should facilitate access to additional finance. Says there is uncertainty on its ability to continue as a going concern as there is no guarantee that additional finance will be found.







By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
NEWBURY, England, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone" or the "Company") announced today the results of its previously announced 10 concurrent, but separate, offers to purchase for cash any and all of the outstanding series of notes listed in the table below (collectively, the "Notes"), which were made upon the terms of and subject to the conditions in the offer to purchase dated March 19, 2021 (the "Offer to Purchase") and the accompanying notice of guaranteed delivery (the "Notice of Guaranteed Delivery," and together with the Offer to Purchase, the "Tender Offer Documents"). The Company's obligation to complete an Offer with respect to a particular series of Notes was conditioned on the aggregate Purchase Price Consideration for the Offers (excluding the applicable Accrued interest), after taking into account Notes of each series accepted for purchase with a higher Acceptance Priority Level, not exceeding 4,000,000,000 (or the as-converted equivalent, if applicable, as converted on the basis set forth in the Offer to Purchase) (the "Cash Cap"), subject to the provisions set forth in the Offer to Purchase (the "Maximum Purchase Price Condition").

The offers to purchase with respect to each series of Notes are referred to herein as the "Offers" and each, an "Offer." The Notes denominated in U.S. dollars are referred to herein as "Dollar Notes" and the Notes denominated in Euros are referred to herein as "Euro Notes." Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this announcement have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Offer to Purchase.

The Offers expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 26, 2021 (the "Expiration Time"). Because the Maximum Purchase Price Condition has been satisfied with respect to each Offer, all Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the Offers have been accepted for purchase, and will be paid for, by the Company. The FX Rate (as defined in the Offer to Purchase) used for purposes of determining whether the Maximum Purchase Price Consideration Condition was satisfied for any Offer was determined at the Price Determination Time (as defined in the Offer to Purchase) to be $1.1788 per 1.00.

The following table sets forth the aggregate principal amount of Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Time and not validly withdrawn, according to information provided by D.F. King Ltd., the Information and Tender Agent for the Offers:

Acceptance

Priority

Level Title of Security CUSIP / ISIN Principal

Amount

Previously

Outstanding Principal

Amount

Tendered(1) All

Validly

Tendered

Notes

Accepted? Principal

Amount

Remaining

Outstanding(2) Purchase Price

Consideration(3) 1 3.750% Notes due

January 2024 92857WBH2 /

US92857WBH25 $2,000,000,000 $1,229,676,000 Yes $770,324,000 $1,087.07 2 1.750% Notes due

August 2023 N/A /

XS1372838679 1,250,000,000 370,889,000 Yes 879,111,000 1,050.83 3 4.65% Notes due

January 2022 N/A /

XS0479869744 1,250,000,000 182,563,000 Yes 1,067,437,000 1,041.54 4 Floating Rate Notes due

January 2024 92857WBN9 /

US92857WBN92 $1,000,000,000 $511,016,000 Yes $488,984,000 $1,022.00 5 5.375% Notes due

June 2022 N/A /

XS0304458051 500,000,000 90,384,000 Yes 409,616,000 1,069.46 6 0.500% Notes due

January 2024 N/A /

XS1499604905 750,000,000 218,782,000 Yes 531,218,000 1,021.39 7 0.375% Notes due

November 2021 N/A /

XS1574681620 1,000,000,000 524,760,000 Yes 475,240,000 1,005.38 8 1.250% Notes due

August 2021 N/A /

XS1372838240 751,639,000 145,557,000 Yes 606,082,000 1,006.92 9 2.950% Notes due

February 2023 92857WBC3 /

US92857WBC38 $897,402,000 $274,485,000 Yes $622,917,000 $1,050.05 10 2.50% Notes due

September 2022 92857WAZ3 /

US92857WAZ32 $603,476,000 $128,480,000 Yes $474,996,000 $1,032.86





(1) The principal amounts of Notes listed in the table above include the following aggregate principal amounts of Notes that were tendered pursuant to the Guaranteed Delivery Procedures, the acceptance of which remains subject to the valid delivery at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 30, 2021 (the "Guaranteed Delivery Date") of such Notes, pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase: (i) $39,091,000 aggregate principal amount of the 3.750% Notes due January 2024, (ii) $1,228,000 aggregate principal amount of the 2.950% Notes due February 2023 and (iii) $464,000 aggregate principal amount of the 2.50% Notes due September 2022. (2) The principal amounts of Notes remaining outstanding listed in the table above assumes that Notes tendered pursuant to the Guaranteed Delivery Procedures will be validly tendered at or prior to the Guaranteed Delivery Date and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offers. (3) Per $1,000 or 1,000, as applicable, in principal amount of each series of Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Time or the Guaranteed Delivery Date pursuant to the Guaranteed Delivery Procedures, not validly withdrawn and accepted for purchase.

In addition to the applicable Purchase Price Consideration, Holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase will be paid the applicable Accrued Interest. Interest will cease to accrue on the Settlement Date for all Notes accepted in the Offers.

In respect of accepted Notes that were delivered at or prior to the Expiration Time, the Company expects the Settlement Date to occur on the second business day after the Expiration Time, March 30, 2021. In respect of accepted Notes that are delivered pursuant to the Guaranteed Delivery Procedures, the Company expects the Guaranteed Delivery Settlement Date to occur on the business day after the Guaranteed Delivery Date, March 31, 2021.

For additional information, please contact the Dealer Managers, HSBC Bank plc at +1 888 HSBC 4LM (toll free), +1 (212) 525 5552 or +44 20 7992 6237 (in London), or by email at [email protected], Merrill Lynch International at +1 (888) 292-0070 (toll free), +1 (980) 387-3907 or +44-20-7996-5420 (in London) or by email at [email protected], to MUFG Securities EMEA plc at +1 (877) 744-4532 (toll free), +1 (212) 405-7481 or +44 20 7577 4218 (in London) or by email at [email protected], to NatWest Markets Plc at +1 (866) 884-2071 (toll free), +1 (203) 897 6166 or +44 20 7678 5222 (in London) or by email at [email protected] and to RBC Capital Markets, LLC / RBC Europe Limited at +1 (877) 381-2099 (toll free), +1 (212) 618-7843 or +44 20 7029 7063 (in London) or by email at [email protected] or the Information and Tender Agent, D.F. King Ltd., at +44 20 7920 9700 (London), +1 (212) 269-5550 (New York City) or +1 (877) 732-3614 (New York City toll-free), or by email at [email protected].

This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. No offer, solicitation, or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. The Offers are only being made pursuant to the Offer to Purchase. Holders of the Notes are urged to carefully read the Offer to Purchase before making any decision with respect to the Offers.

The distribution of announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required by each of the Company, the Dealer Managers and the Information and Tender Agent to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.

This announcement is made by Vodafone Group Plc and contains information that qualified or may have qualified as inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of domestic law in the United Kingdom by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the "EUWA") ("UK MAR"), encompassing information relating to the Offers described above. For the purposes of UK MAR and Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055 as it forms part of domestic law in the United Kingdom by virtue of the EUWA, this announcement is made by Rosemary Martin, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary of Vodafone.

Offer and Distribution Restrictions

Italy

None of the Offer, this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or any other document or materials relating to the Offers have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedures of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to Italian laws and regulations. Each Offer is being carried out in Italy as an exempted offer pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended (the "Financial Services Act") and article 35-bis, paragraph 4 of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May 1999, as amended. Holders or beneficial owners of the Notes that are located in Italy can tender Notes for purchase in the Offers through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in the Republic of Italy in accordance with the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 16190 of 29 October 2007, as amended from time to time, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, as amended) and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or with requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority.

Each intermediary must comply with the applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-a-vis its clients in connection with the Notes and/or the Offers.

United Kingdom

The communication of this announcement and the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Offers is not being made and such documents and/or materials have not been approved by an authorised person for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Accordingly, such documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of such documents and/or materials as a financial promotion is only being made to those persons in the United Kingdom falling within the definition of investment professionals (as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Financial Promotion Order")) or persons who are within Article 43(2) of the Financial Promotion Order or any other persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be made under the Financial Promotion Order.

France

The Offers are not being made, directly or indirectly, and neither this announcement, the Offer to Purchase nor any other document or material relating to the Offers has been or shall be distributed, to the public in the Republic of France other than to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies) within the meaning ascribed to them in, and in accordance with, Article 2(e) of the Regulation (EU) 2017/1129. Neither this announcement nor the Offer to Purchase has been or will be submitted for clearance to nor approved by the Autorite des Marches Financiers.

Belgium

Neither the Offer to Purchase nor any other brochure, document or material related thereto have been, or will be, submitted or notified to, or approved by, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (Autorite des services et marches financiers/Autoriteit voor Financiele Diensten en Markten). In Belgium, the Offers do not constitute public offerings within the meaning of Articles 3, 1, 1 and 6 of the Belgian Law of April 1, 2007 on takeover bids (loi relative aux offres publiques d'acquisition/wet op de openbare overnamebiedingen), as amended or replaced from time to time. Accordingly, the Offers may not be, and are not being advertised, and this Offer to Purchase, as well as any brochure, or any other material or document relating thereto (including any memorandum, information circular, brochure or any similar document) may not, have not and will not be distributed, directly or indirectly, to any person located and/or resident within Belgium, other than those who qualify as qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies/qekwalificeerde beleggers), within the meaning of Article 2, e), of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC acting on their own account. Accordingly, the information contained in this Offer to Purchase or in any brochure or any other document or material relating thereto may not be used for any other purpose, including for any offering in Belgium, except as may otherwise be permitted by law, and shall not be disclosed or distributed to any other person in Belgium.

General

This announcement does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell Notes (and tenders of Notes in the Offers will not be accepted from Holders) in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation or acceptance is unlawful. In those jurisdictions where the securities, blue sky or other laws require the Offers to be made by a licensed broker or dealer and any Dealer Manager or any of the Dealer Managers' affiliates is such a licensed broker or dealer in any such jurisdiction, the Offers shall be deemed to be made by such Dealer Manager or such Dealer Manager's affiliate, as the case may be, on behalf of the Company in such jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Information

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's intent, beliefs or current expectations about the future and can be recognized by the use of words such as "expects," "will," "anticipate," or words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of any future performance and are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of the senior management of the Company and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. As a consequence, these forward-looking statements should be considered in light of various important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements, which include, without limitation, the risk factors set forth in the Offer to Purchase. The Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized, although it believes it has been prudent in its plans and assumptions. Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Vodafone Group Plc
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Just what can Nigeria do with its bandits? Shoot them or talk to them?

Already questions are being asked if the Sheikh Gumi-led mediation with the bandits would yield positive results.

The cleric has been able to reach many notorious bandit's groups suspected to be terrorizing people in the North West and preached to them to lay down their arms.

His intervention generated heated debates between Muslims and Christian clerics. But one question that keeps popping up is does Gumi agree that the bandits are criminals?

On the other hand, the National Security Adviser, the Kaduna and Niger states governors insisted that negotiations with bandits are a sign of weakness.

However, the role of mediation in ending banditry in the North West cannot be over-emphasized.

Through negotiations, some bandits in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto have laid down their weapons. However, recent students abductions in Kagara and Jangebe and attacks in Niger, Kaduna and Sokoto states have thrown spanners in the works.

Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari issued a two-month ultimatum to bandits to surrender. This came a week after the presidency also declared Zamfara state a no-fly zone. While the Nigerian Army deployed 6,000 troops to the state to crush the bandits.

The state governor, Matawalle, estimated that about 30,000 bandits are hiding in the forests in his state alone.

What plans is the government putting in place should these number lay down their arms and rejoin society?

A repentant bandit, Awwal Daudawa, who led the Kankara Abductions, said that for peace to reign, the government must be sincere in its pronouncements.

The government's refusal to fulfil its promises to herders is one of the reasons most bandit leaders are not taking part in the peace process.

Another bandit leader, Alhaji Tirji, also expressed the same feelings during a peace dialogue with Gumi.

Since it is agreed that not all herdsmen are criminals, security agencies should ensure that their freedom of movement of innocent herdsmen is guaranteed.

Also, overhauling the nomadic education system is key to the success of the peace dialogue between the government and the bandits. Education will give the herdsmen a chance to open new pages in their lives and give them alternatives to crime.

Since President Buhari has ordered the military to shoot anybody they sight carrying an AK-47, does this order also include the vigilante?

Since as the idiom says, "idle hands are the devil's workshop," it is important to establish skills acquisition centres to train the ex-bandit on handworks, cattle ranching, irrigation farming, fish farming and modern livestock farming.

Are the bandits themselves ready to learn new skills? If yes, is there any arrangement by the state governments to engage commercial banks to provide the herdsmen with a soft loan of cattle and other domestic animals?

Answers to these few questions and others will be critical to the government's efforts to successfully fight banditry or mediate with the bandits in the North West.

The Sarkin-Fulani Galadiman Gusau, Alhaji Makwashi Janyau described the peace process as a success.

Janyau, who is also the Miyetti-Allah secretary Gusau branch, said, "Instead of giving the 2-month ultimatum, I think Gumi's mediation should be encouraged by the federal government because it has recorded success here in Zamfara. Through his mediation, many villages that suffered bandits' attacks before can now sleep with their two eyes closed. The state governor is doing well as well to support the mediation process.

"But my concern is about the government's inability to make adequate plans for the provision of alternative ways for the survival of the already repentant bandits and those that might quit soon."

Animal loan

Janyau added, "Most of the bandit are typical herdsmen who don't know how to do any other thing. Therefore, there is a need for the government to source a loan for them. The loan should be refundable in at least six years. Thus, instead of giving them money, it is better to provide them with domestic animals like cattle, sheep, goats or even fowls.

"They should also construct boreholes, dams and schools for Fulani communities. Because right now, we have only three Ruga schools and they are like secondary schools. There is one at Maradun, one at Zurmi and another at Dansadau. They should build at least one nomadic primary school in every ward."

'Two-month ultimatum unfeasible'

Yahuza Ahmed Getso, a public security analyst expressed doubt over the two months ultimatum issued to the bandits.

He said that the military needs to study the depth of the forests that give the bandits access to the Trans Sahara routes.

"I don't think the ultimatum is feasible because, in 2015, I conducted a study in Somalia which shows that herdsmen from Nigeria can travel down to Somalia and other sub-Saharan countries through these forests. These are the routes used by arms merchants for their illegal business. For any operation to succeed, there is a need for international collaboration between the countries in this region," he said.

Need for psychological rehabilitation

Getso added, "Government should ensure adequate provision of alternative ways of livelihood for the repentant bandits. It is dangerous to allow them back into society without undergoing any psychological rehabilitation. Otherwise, the majority of them may end up going back into crime."

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Nomadic Education, solutions to banditry

The Acting Director, the Sokoto State Nomadic Education Board, Abdullahi Abubakar Balanga described nomadic education as one of the solutions to insecurity in the North West.

Balanga said, "It is a well-known fact that most of these bandits are not educated. What do you expect from somebody who had been neglected in the forest with neither Western nor Arabic education?

"In Sokoto State, we have about 83 nomadic schools in Balanga, Diddiba, Janzomo, Gidan-Dare and Kebbe. This number is significant compared to other states. Seven of them are even secondary schools and they are all doing well."

While responding to the question of whether the government had embarked on rehabilitation or building new nomadic schools as part of its programme to disarm bandits in the next two months, Balanga said, "Actually, the government has not yet approached us on such a programme. But I believe both the federal and state governments are making efforts to overhaul the nomadic education system especially with the current security challenges the country is facing."

All efforts to curtail insecurity in the North West region would be incomplete without an adequate plan for the future of nomads.
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Each human being is made of billions of cells. In order to ensure his survival, cells must coordinate with each other and attach in the right place to perform their tasks. Scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in collaboration with the University of Tampere in Finland, have highlighted the key role of a protein called paxillin, which enables cells to perceive their environment and anchor at the right place with the help of cellular "crampons". Indeed, without functional paxillin, the cell is unable to attach properly and slips continuously. These results, to be read in the journal Communications Biology, shed new light on how cells adhere or migrate, mechanisms essential to the good functioning of our organs, but also involved in the development of metastatic tumors.

To ensure our survival, each cell performs specific functions in coordination with their neighbours. In such a dynamic system, the migration of cells and their anchoring at the right place are essential. But how do cells manage to coordinate with each other? Scientists have long believed that cells communicate mainly through chemical signals, such as hormones. However, recent discoveries suggest that mechanical signals play a major role in cell coordination. "This is why we started to study the ability of cells to decipher and respond to their physical environment", explains Bernhard Wehrle-Haller, Professor at the Department of cell physiology and metabolism at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine. "Especially as it could help us to understand how cancer cells use these mechanisms to invade other organs and form metastases."

From a mechanical cue to a biological signal

When a cell has to move, it "senses" its environment with the help of proteins on its surface, the integrins. When the cell detects a suitable location, a complex network of proteins, called focal adhesion, is then set up to form cellular crampons that anchor the cell to its environment. "But how is this anchoring mechanism regulated? This is what we wanted to find out," explains Marta Ripamonti, researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Bernhard Wehrle-Haller and first author of the study.

By studying paxillin, one of the many proteins that make up these crampons, researchers were able to unravel the mystery. "We knew that this protein played a role in the assembly of focal adhesions, but we didn't expect it to be the key regulator", says Prof. Bernhard Wehrle-Haller with enthusiasm. Without functional paxillin, cells are unable to anchor, regardless of the suitability of their environment. In addition, paxillin has also the function of informing the cell that anchoring has taken place correctly, thus transforming a mechanical response into a biological signal that the cell can understand.

Disrupting the crampons to prevent metastases?

These in vitro experiments highlight the major role of paxillin in the migration and adhesion of healthy cells, but they could also be a starting point for a better understanding of cancer development. "It is indeed likely that cancer cells use paxillin to find a place that enhance their survival. Would it be possible to block this mechanism in tumor cells and prevent the formation of metastases? Yes, we think so! " concludes Prof. Bernhard Wehrle-Haller.

###
The woman was trephined while still alive and then decapitated. Her skull was deposited next to that of a man 25 years older than her and, possibly, of a high social standing. A lamb or goat was slaughtered as well and painstakingly decorated ceramic vases laid alongside them. The scene took place between 4,800 BC and 4,500 BC in the Dehesilla caves in the mountains of Cadiz in southern Spain at a time when burials were commonly individual or multiple and performed outside or in simple cavities in the rock. The mix of ritual elements, including stone tools, plant residues and stones arranged as a type of altar make Dehesilla a unique place for studying the culture of the mid-Neolithic age. Excavations at the site, led by University of Seville archeologist Daniel Garcia Rivero, will continue when the coronavirus pandemic permits. The cave has been social distancing, jokes Rivera, who is putting the finishing touches on a batch of new findings.

Evidence of trepanation and other injuries on the skull of the woman found at Dehesilla. Daniel Garcia Rivero

The community that lived at Dehesilla was ahead of its time. A paper on the most important discoveries to date, published in the scientific journal Plos One, notes that the monumental nature of some of the earth and stone funerary structures is a distinctive trait of the Late Neolithic and the appearance of megalithic elements is generally associated with this period, which is dated to between the third and fourth millenniums BC. However, centuries beforehand in the mountains around Cadiz, a group of men were already performing extraordinary burial rituals as confirmed by the discoveries at Dehesilla.

Determining the age and gender of the Dehesilla couple has not been easy, due to a lack of teeth and pelvic bones, but detailed examinations of the morphology of the remains have allowed researchers to conclude they belong to a man and a woman. Estimates of their ages vary between the different models employed but based on dental decay on a canine and a molar and other dating methods, the woman is believed to be between 24 and 40 years old and the man between 30 and 50.

The site of the archeological dig at the Dehesilla cave. Daniel Garcia Rivero

Their skulls were deposited within 20 centimeters of each other with both facing to the west. Garcia Rivero  who has been researching the site for five years  explains that the remains of the woman display a fissure from an unfinished trephination, but one that is very deep and reached to within a few millimeters of the brain. Initially, it was thought that this could have been the cause of her death but further investigation revealed signs of healing in the bone, meaning that the procedure, possibly with surgical intent, was performed before she died. Both sets of remains show signs of physiological stress, which the researchers have attributed to anemia. The womans remains show three indications compatible with a benign tumor.

Decapitation

Based on the cut marks on the occipital of the womans skull, the researchers believe that decapitation occurred shortly before her death. Although it cannot be stated categorically, it is quite possible that death was chronologically close to the time of deposition of the skull (if not at the time of death itself, before complete tissue decomposition). The male skull showed no evidence of similar cuts. The stratigraphic information guarantees the contemporaneous deposition of both skulls and several other elements of the context. Although the simultaneous natural death of both individuals (or the secondary burial of one of them) cannot be ruled out, the natural death [of] one and the ritual sacrifice of the other, or the sacrifice of both, may be equally likely, the report concludes.

The remains of an animal, either a goat or sheep, found without its head during excavations. Daniel Garcia Rivero

Among these elements was the striking discovery of the headless remains of an infant sheep or goat. It is possible that it was also decapitated, says Garcia Rivero. This find, the paper states, lends weight to the theory of new anthropological scenarios, perhaps sacrifices (human and animal) related to propitiatory activities, divine prayers and/or commemorative festivities (cosmogonic, seasonal rites).

These festivities, the study suggests, may have been linked to the arrival of spring due to the youth of the discovered animal. Its ritualistic nature is supported by the stone platform situated in a natural alcove in the wall of the cave, which the researchers believe could have been used as a form of altar. Whats more, researchers also discovered ceramic vases featuring a ramiform design common in the schematic rock art of the era, but with a very unique design. Along with these finds, objects and tools made of flint, carbonized seeds and branches and carved bones were also uncovered. Its a unique combination, notes Garcia Rivero.

The archeologist explains that the presence of skulls at similar sites can usually be attributed to the remains of enemies, placed there as trophies of war, or if the location was considered to possess magical properties. But in the case of Locus 2, as the Dehesilla site has been named, the hypothesis is that this was a place of ritual significance that was maintained for a long time and held special significance. The sacrifice discovered in Cadiz doesnt appear to have taken place as the result of a punishment based on the time invested in the ritual, in the putting together of the stone structures and given the characteristics of the objects uncovered, explains Garcia Rivero. Everything points to the two skulls belonging to people who had religious or social relevance in the population. The age of the man could indicate a prestigious elder in the community.

Fragments of a decorated vase found in the Dehesilla cave. Daniel Garcia Rivero

The exceptional preservation of the remains  which have survived the passing of millennia and the actions of water, animals and humans  the accumulation of objects and the age of the site make Dehesilla a unique location. The presence of human skulls has been documented at other settlements but these are much more recent. Maria Giovanna Belcastro, an archeologist at the University of Bologna, has unraveled the mystery of one belonging to a woman who died between the ages of 24 and 35 sometime between 3,630 BC and 3,380 BC. In an article also published in Plos One, Belcastro says that the find, made in 2015 in an indentation in the wall 12 meters off the ground in the Marcel Loubens cave in France, showed signs of mutilation that took place after a funerary ritual. The location of the skull had perplexed researchers but Belcastro believes that it was probably pushed to its eventual resting place by the movement of water and earth in the cave. Another study by a team at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, notes the presence of sacrificial dogs in ceremonies dated to between 4,200 BC and 3,600 BC.

But the discovery of a combination of ritual elements on the Iberian peninsula, where they are most documented, as well as the date of the find, make the Dehesilla cave a unique site that could rewrite the pages of prehistory.

English version by Rob Train.
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Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

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Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

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Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

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Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

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Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
100%

Website wprost.pl 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 18244 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 422685 bytes (412.78 kb uncompressed) and 52177 bytes (50.95 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-03-29, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
Vietnam looks to address bottlenecks in logistics infrastructure

Removing bottlenecks in transport infrastructure and policy mechanisms is considered an important solution to help cut logistics costs and improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses and goods in the time to come.





Removing bottlenecks in transport infrastructure and policy mechanisms is considered an important solution to help cut logistics costs. - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)





Figures show that Vietnam boasts 630,546 km of roads, including less than 2,000 km of expressways.



It also lacks infrastructure connecting roads with seaports, resulting in logistics costs being insufficiently competitive.



According to Tran Thanh Hai, Vice Director of the Department of Export and Import under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam has been building more expressways and national highways and has large seaports that play a role as international transit gateways.



Vietnam has also upgraded existing airports and developed new ones, he added.



However, railway infrastructure remains underdeveloped and has not yet promoted the role of transport in development, he noted.



Vietnam has regularly posted annual GDP growth of 6-8 percent over the last decade.



The rapid growth of goods production and trade has caused a sharp increase in demand for logistics infrastructure and services. But Vietnams logistics infrastructure and services are yet to meet demand, resulting in high costs.



To improve the situation, it is necessary to adopt comprehensive measures, Hai said.



The Government needs to issue specific policies and build appropriate orientations on logistics development, including those related to the development of localities, according to Hai.



He also underlined the necessity of promoting administrative reform and the digitalisation of administrative procedures, increasing links between logistics infrastructure networks, and paying due regard to training and improving the quality of human resources in the industry./.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

After a proposal to legalize recreational cannabis burned out at the end of the legislative session earlier this month, growers in New Mexicos medical cannabis industry are optimistic that the proposal will have better luck during this weeks special session.

This is the best shot weve had so far, said Indy White, director of sales for PurLife Dispensary and president of the board of the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce.

Still, industry leaders agree that some details need to be agreed on during the session, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday, from license caps to a start date when adults without a medical card will be able to purchase cannabis.

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If legalization isnt handled correctly, youre going to see a lot of outside corporations coming into New Mexico with capital  that wont allow New Mexicans to really take advantage of this industry, said Willie Ford, founder of R. Greenleaf Organics.

Recreational cannabis legalization came closer to becoming law than it has previously in New Mexico, as House Bill 12 made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee before dying when the session ended March 20. For advocates, how close the bill came to approval brought frustration but also optimism that the work could be finished during the special session announced by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

I really do believe that the votes are there, and I think its the smart thing to do, said Ben Lewinger, executive director of the Cannabis Chamber.

Lewinger said he expects work during the special session to build on a framework of HB12.

An amended version of the bill would allow the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department to limit the number of licenses issued to ensure market equilibrium.

Caps on licenses and plant counts remain contentious in the cannabis industry. Wylie Atherton, head grower at Seven Point Farms, said capping production would help New Mexico avoid growing more cannabis than customers could consume. Atherton pointed to Oregon, which legalized recreational cannabis without a cap on the number of licenses, as a cautionary tale for New Mexico. Atherton, who worked in Oregons cannabis industry during legalization, said the states industry developed a massive oversupply, which caused prices to plummet and forced smaller growers out of business.

It was extremely devastating for an already established, pretty grassroots industry, Atherton said.

Duke Rodriguez, president and CEO of Ultra Health, the largest chain of dispensaries in New Mexico, has pushed for looser restrictions and said he wants to avoid an environment in which growers in the state can sell their licenses for profit without investing in their production.

Rodriguez said he believes New Mexico is at a greater risk of growing too little legal cannabis than too much.

I think there is clear evidence that (oversupply is) unlikely to happen in New Mexico, Rodriguez said.

Another point of contention in a potential legalization bill would be when the recreational program should begin operation. Rodriguez said he believes the state would be best served by starting recreational sales soon, possibly by this fall. He said having it in place by then would give the industry a chance to capitalize on  and market to  an influx of tourists associated with large events like the New Mexico State Fair and Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The amended version of HB12 would have prohibited public consumption of cannabis outside state-designated cannabis consumption areas.

Ford, on the other hand, has pushed for a longer period before legalization goes into effect. Ford said that it would take about a year to scale up production to meet the needs of a recreational market and that opening sales in 2021 could jeopardize access for medical patients.

That will be our No. 1 concern, is making sure theres a healthy timeline that protects medical patients access to medicine, Ford said.

Each of the producers stands to benefit from legalization, but theyre taking different approaches. Atherton said Seven Point Farms would favor a low and slow approach over scaling up production quickly.

Were probably on the more cautious side of things, Atherton said.

Ultra Health and PurLife, on the other hand, have made significant investments already in the hopes that recreational cannabis would pass. Rodriguez cited public studies that a mature recreational market would generate more than $600 million in sales and employ up to 15,000 people, and said he hopes Ultra Health could be responsible for as much as 20% of those totals.

KYODO NEWS - Mar 29, 2021 - 19:36 | World, All

China has been strengthening entry restrictions into the country from Myanmar, sources familiar with the matter told Kyodo News Monday, as political confusion has been increasing in the Southeast Asian nation following February's coup.

Chinese authorities have started to prohibit Myanmar people from staying at hotels and sometimes detained them, the sources said, highlighting Beijing's concern that the social turmoil in the neighbor will spill over to the country.

The Chinese Communist-led government has refrained from condemning Myanmar's military coup, unlike Japan, the United States and the European Union, as it has traditionally tried to deepen ties with the neighbor in the economic and security fields.

However, the leadership of President Xi Jinping has apparently become worried that a possible huge influx of refugees from Myanmar would deteriorate the security situation in China, the sources added.

Myanmar is located right on the path of China's strategic plan to get direct access to the Indian Ocean as part of Beijing's "Belt and Road" project for the development of infrastructure and trade across Asia, Europe and Africa.

China has also put emphasis on economic and security relations with Myanmar, as it has imported natural resources such as gas and crude oil through pipes from the neighbor.

The sources in Ruili in Yunnan Province, China's southwestern border city with Myanmar, said China's security authorities in mid and late February ordered accommodation facilities there not to allow Myanmar citizens to use them.

Earlier this year, hotels in the city were available for Myanmar nationals, although the Chinese government stepped up measures to curb the intrusion of the novel coronavirus from the Southeast Asian country, the sources said.

A source related to a hotel in Ruili said a person from Myanmar was recently detained after checking in with a Myanmarese who has long lived in China, saying, "Once we return to Myanmar, we cannot come back to China due to strict restrictions."

In Ruili, tight security has been in place near the border with Myanmar, and some roads have been closed. Chinese authorities have also arrested several Myanmarese people who attempted to protest leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention by the military junta.

Related coverage:

Protests continue in Myanmar as death toll rises to 459

Myanmar people mourn after 114 reportedly killed in crackdowns

Defense chiefs from U.S., Japan and allies condemn Myanmar violence
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In this Nov. 20 photo, a bald eagle grabs a fish from the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam, in Havre De Grace, Maryland. The number of American bald eagles has quadrupled since 2009, with more than 300,000 birds soaring over the lower 48 states, government scientists said in a new report.
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To restore and develop the economy of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, it is planned to attract four sources of funding with the ultimate goal to create a success belt in the region.

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine  Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov said this on the air of Dom TV channel.

The official noted that $21 billion was needed to eliminate the consequences of the Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.

We announced this figure referring to a research made by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. It is envisaged that Ukraine will need this sum of money to restore the destroyed economy due to the occupation of only a part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Crimea is not taken into account, he explained.

According to Reznikov, the Government considers four sources of funding for the restoration of territories: state budget, donor assistance, foreign loans, and investments.

He noted that investors would be attracted to implement the main idea: to create a belt of success in the government-controlled part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Therefore, according to the Deputy PM, the Government's task is to create conditions that will attract investors. In particular, four main points are taken into account. First, investments must be insured against military and political risks.

In addition, it is necessary to ensure the work of branches of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), international commercial arbitration which will consider the possible disputes with investors.

At the same time, administrative procedures and bureaucracy should be reduced to facilitate doing business, speeding up the process of starting a business, and so on.

Finally, the fourth aspect is the focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Reznikov clarified that the creation of a belt of success would be implemented primarily in the government-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. After the return of the temporarily occupied territories to Ukraine, the project will be implemented in the rest of the region.

The official added that the Government had already approved the concept of economic development of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, on the basis of which a strategy is being formed and the final package of bills will be submitted to the Parliament.

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The State paid 127,484 over the last decade to accommodate judges at the Ballymaloe House Hotel.

Data obtained by former transport minister Shane Ross and released over the weekend showed judges spent 526 nights at the hotel in the period.

They were provided with bed and breakfast, dinner and a packed lunch while attending court sittings in Co Cork.

Ballymaloe has been used as accommodation for travelling judges, who stay to allow superior courts to sit in provincial locations.

Among those to have used the accommodation are High Court Judge Kevin Cross, who incurred three bills in June 2019, costing a total of 3,135.

In 2018, Court of Appeal Judge Seamus Noonan took up residence at Ballymaloe for three five-day sessions at a total cost of 3,760, the Sunday Independent revealed yesterday.

The Courts Service said in a statement it had always sought and achieved considerably reduced rates for suitable accommodation and board.

It said it regularly reviews hotels used for judges.

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Rates for judges hotel stays are sanctioned by the Department of Finance, but they may opt to stay in hotels where prices are above the sanctioned rate. Having superior courts sit in location saves associated travel costs for lawyers, parties to a case, witnesses and gardai, if they had to come to Dublin. A spokesman for the Courts Service said there was nothing to add.

The hotel is run by the Allen family and is known for its association with high quality food.

Rachel Allen runs a 12,000-per-place cookery programme at the famous Shanagarry complex in east Cork, near the site of the world-renowned hotel and restaurant.

Last night Rory Allen told the Irish Independent judges have been staying at their hotel for many years and suggested the hotel rates were reasonable.

The judges do stay here, he said. Were not massively expensive. Judges have been coming and saying here for 30 or 40 years. We were slightly surprised to see our name [raised in connection with judges expenses]. Lots of places are very expensive and were not that, he said.

In 2018 and 2020, excess amounts incurred for stays at Ballymaloe were paid by judges directly to the hotel. Documents show 480 was repaid by judges to the Courts Service in 2019 for excess amounts, including 110 by Mr Justice Cross.

There were only two stays at the hotel by judges last year before the pandemic interrupted court sittings. High Court Judges Mary Rose Gearty and Michael Twomey each spent five nights there at a cost of 1,425 each.

It also emerged over the weekend that Irish judges have made hundreds of foreign trips in recent years at a significant cost to the taxpayer.

Documents on foreign travel show judges made more than 500 foreign trips between 2015 and the early part of 2020 which have cost the Courts Service almost 180,000.

Buenos Aires in Argentina, Chilean capital Santiago, Jerusalem, Sydney and a number of US trips were on the itineraries of some judges.

Chief Justice Frank Clarke has made 36 foreign trips since he was appointed in July 2017. Since 2015 he has made more than 50 trips abroad on official duty.


The United States and Taiwan are natural partners when it comes to important computer parts, the head of an American research group said this week.

Brent Christensen is director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). He said that increasing this cooperation is important for the U.S.

The United States increasingly considers Taiwan an important part of its plan to get supplies and products from places other than mainland China. This is especially the case for computer technology and chips.

Computer chips are small pieces of hard material that contain many electronic circuits. These devices are used in computers and other electronics.

Christensen spoke at a ceremony for a new chip factory for Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation in central Taiwan. Christensen said he was there to restate the U.S. governments focus on supply chain security.

The term supply chain describes the processes involved in producing goods and getting them to the people who will use them.

Christensen said that both President Biden and President Tsai have rightly identified the semiconductor industry as very important.

Semiconductors are used in electronic devices. They are materials that help control electricity or heat.

Christensen added that semiconductors were not only important for economic reasons but also national security. His office provided a written record of his comments.

Christensen pointed to last years launch of the U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue as a way the two sides can build a group, or coalition, against the PRCs unfair economic and investment policies. PRC is short for the Peoples Republic of China.

Taiwan's President Tsai also attended the event. She said she would guarantee that the government will fully support the development of the semiconductor industry. Tsai described the industry as a mountain range protecting the country."

Taiwans central part in producing chips has gained attention during the COVID-19 crisis. Demand has increased for laptops, tablets and other computer equipment that permit people to work from home.

This increased demand has helped companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It is one of the worlds largest contract chipmakers.

Foreign governments and companies have also asked Taiwan to help reduce a shortage of chips used in car manufacturing. The shortage has slowed down car factory work around the world.

U.S. companies also have plans. This week Intel announced a $20 billion plan to increase its chip manufacturing abilities.

Im John Russell.

Ben Blanchard reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. _____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

focus  v. to cause (something, such as attention) to be directed at something specific  + on

range  n. a series of mountains or hills in a line

contract -- n. a legal agreement between people, companies, etc.
Moses Ikiara, the Managing Director at Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest), responded to questions from the public via Sunday Nation.

How is KenInvest helping counties to be mega-investment hubs? Hassan Malik Mohamed, Garissa County

Counties are teeming with attractive investment opportunities and therefore have what it takes to be mega hubs but the opportunities have to be systematically identified and packaged. The government, through KenInvest, launched the Kenya Investment Policy (KIP) in 2019 to address investors concerns relating to tedious investment processes, lengthy dispute resolution timelines, inadequate information on investment opportunities and procedures, among others. KIP is a comprehensive and harmonised policy to guide attraction, facilitation, retention, monitoring, and evaluation of private investment.

There are other ways in which KenInvest is working with the counties to boost investment hubs, including by encouraging and advising them to set up explicit and effective County Investment Units (CUIS) which will act like mini KenInvest, advising counties on how to identify and package investment opportunities and market their investment opportunities to local and international investors.

What is the authority doing to create a better investment environment for young people? Komen Moris, Eldoret

We have developed a concept known as Investing Made Easy Business Clinics, which aims at helping aspiring entrepreneurs and startups walk their investment journeys from idea generation, packaging to implementation. Moreover, KenInvest has always involved MSMEs in investment forums, conferences as well as business-to-business meetings and offered linkage opportunities both nationally and internationally in collaboration with local and development partners. The national government has further bolstered the support for MSMEs by putting in place Biashara Centres, an infrastructure that is meant to provide a one-stop centre experience for MSMEs.

Isnt it time to merge KenInvest with other State institutions that have more or less similar mandates? I have in mind Kenya Tourism Board, Kentrade and Brand Kenya. Masai Mandela

A Presidential Task Force on Parastatal Reforms was established with the responsibility of interrogating the policies on the management and governance of Kenyas parastatals and how best they would contribute to national development.

One of the recommendations of the taskforce was to merge key government agencies with mandates to promote exports, investment and tourism. The amalgamation of those entities was expected to play a significant role in building the capacity of Kenyas export products, tourism and investment portfolio to the world market thereby contributing to the country brand and economic growth. So far, two of the initially targeted institutions have already been merged, the Export Promotion Council and Brand Kenya Board.

While mergers can deliver enhanced efficiency and effectiveness, it is necessary but not sufficient. Ireland for example has two government agencies doing what KenInvest is doing. One of them focuses on foreign direct investment and the other one domestic investment. Each of them has more than five times the staffing level KenInvest has and a much larger budget.

The outcome is that out of every 100 multinationals, at least 80 have a presence in Dublin. Thus, with or without the merger, critical factors for success are adequate budget and also an institutional architecture that ensures effective coordination of institutions relevant for delivery of each mandate.

The high cost of doing business in Kenya has been cited as one of the major reasons that scare foreign investors. What should be done to check on this trend? Dan Murugu, Nakuru

The high cost of doing business is a genuine concern. However, the issue remains a top priority for the government and progress is being made to resolve it. Moreover, the country has other factors helping to compensate for the relatively higher costs in some of the areas. Kenya has a market-based economy and is the economic, commercial, and logistics hub of East and Central Africa. With the strongest industrial base in the region, and much higher labour productivity compared to many other countries, Kenya has been successful in attracting multinationals. The average annual FDI inflow into our country around year 2000-2002 was $0.4 billion. Ten years later, around 2010-2012, this had grown to $1 billion and further to $1.4 billion around 2017-2019.

Because of the importance of land as a factor of production to all investors, the government has set up a number of Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones where the government undertakes infrastructure development to attract investors by reducing the cost of land. Further, the zones are also linked with key transport infrastructures like roads and railways.

Local investors face a myriad of challenges including lack of capital, technical support, market, poor prices for their goods and services, flooding of counterfeits and unfair competition by foreign investors. Can the government help them overcome these challenges? Dan Murugu, Nakuru

The government has prioritised the elimination of counterfeits and has deployed a multi-agency approach to deal with the menace. Since the establishment of this team working closely with the Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA), the reported cases of illicit goods entering the country has greatly reduced.

Regarding competition being faced by smaller segments of the business sector, innovative programmes such as preferential procurement by government agencies in favour of enterprises ran by women, youth and people living with disability, promotion of local content and Buy Kenya Build Kenya (BKBK), and identification of almost 200 categories of products that will be promoted domestically, are evidence of supporting public policy.

It is disappointing that KenInvest still tells investors to rely on a 2013 Regulation of Wages Order when so much has changed in the economy. This could be abused by investors to exploit Kenyan workers. What is your take on this? Susan Amondi, Ngong

The government, as required by the Labour Institutions Act, 2007, publishes the Regulation of Wages Order that sets out minimum wages. Investors tend to add a premium of 20 per cent to this. One of the labour market reforms that the government has sought to achieve over time is to remove market rigidities and other impediments to employment creation.

Specifically, the government has been aiming to align wage determination to labour productivity. Kenyas industrial relations machinery provides for collective bargaining between employers and trade unions. The agreements have staggered long-term contracts, conditions of employment, fringe benefits and union membership drives.

Nevertheless, Kenya ranks quite highly globally (top 60-70) on labour market flexibility and this, combined with high labour productivity and work culture, enhances our attractiveness to investors. In my opinion, we have a reasonable balance where there are structures to guard against exploitation of workers while also providing labour market flexibility for investors to cope with changing business realities.

What are you doing to ease procedures of obtaining licences and other documents related to investment by foreigners who intend to come to Kenya? Shariff Mohamed, Thika Town

The government has set up a One Stop Centre (OSC) at KenInvest with the following agencies under one roof: National Environmental Management Authority; Export Processing Zones Authority; Special Zones Authority; Department of Immigration; Kenya Revenue Authority; Business Registration Services and Kenya Power. This is to help reduce costs of establishing new investment.

How are you helping small enterprises to navigate the Covid-19 disruption? Davis Basweti Ombane, Juja

At the height of the pandemic, we played our role by contributing to the design of economic stimulus packages and the Covid-19 Response Guides that were crucial in assisting businesses to navigate the pandemic period. Moreover, a number of counties have partnered with KenInvest to generate Post-Covid Recovery Strategies and Implementation Plans, economic blueprints that seek to position MSMEs on the path of economic recovery.

What investment opportunities have you marketed in the past five years and what has been the response both from internal and external investors? Virginia Nthenya, Nairobi

From 2016-2020, KenInvest has been able to facilitate 1,089 projects with proposed foreign capital investment worth Sh470.39 billion and local capital investment worth Sh116.26 billion. The proposed investment has the potential to create employment to 67,580 Kenyans.
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Wanchai, Hong Kong, March 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- What Is KoreTrak Fitness Tracker?

The KoreTrak fitness tracker is a sleekly designed device that aids you in tracking your health and exercise metrics on the go.

KoreTrak fitness tracker is narrowing the gap between fitness trackers and smartwatches. With koretrak, you'd only need one wearable to do the job of both.

Ease of use is a priority for the KoreTrak fitness tracker. It's very easy to use and even easier to sync with your gadgets. More about this later.

It has become essential for anyone striving for the best in fitness to own a Fitbit watch or other high-end fitness smartwatches. Why waste your hard-earned money on smartwatches that cost hundreds of dollars?

KoreTrak fitness smartwatch offers you all those things and even more but isn't out to drain your pockets with outrageous prices. It is indistinguishable from the top brass smartwatches except when it comes to the cost, and that's a good thing.

Are you thinking of getting yourself a koretrak smartwatch? Then stay tuned. In this blog post, we dive into all you need to know to make an informed buying decision. I hope you enjoy it!

Features Of KoreTrak Fitness Tracker

Fitness Tracking

Of course, this has been predetermined. The KoreTrak fitness tracker will help monitor your progress during your daily routine.

It'll measure units such as distance covered and calories burnt. This feature will not only help you keep your goals in sight but also crush them regularly.

Health Monitoring

You can agree that your heart rate does not remain the same during an exercise. This device would help you keep tabs on these health statuses in real-time.

In a few seconds, it can measure your heart rate and oxygen saturation. It gives you insight into the state of your health so that you can make good decisions.

These are features you find in the top brass fitness trackers/smartwatches, but KoreTrak fitness tracker is bringing it to you for a fraction of the cost.

Sleep Monitoring

The KoreTrak fitness tracker helps you sleep better. It does so by analyzing your sleep pattern and giving you feedback. Working on this data would open up things to do to improve your sleeping habit.

It's a worthwhile feature to have as it could give you pointers when you have difficulty staying asleep. It does not replace the need for a doctor's help, but it can tell you when you need to see one.

Connectivity

Yeah, it's always a hassle to keep fiddling with your phone during exercise because of a call or SMS. With the KoreTrak fitness tracker, all that will be in the past.

It is compatible with both Apple and Android devices; hence you can easily connect to your smartphone.

You could see who's calling or texting you just by glancing at your wristno need to stop your workout.

Adaptability

In other words, KoreTrak can go anywhere with you, be it rain or sunshine. The wristband on the KoreTrak fitness tracker is durable and comfortable. In addition, it's both sweat and water-resistant.

With these features, you can wear them for as long as you want while doing anything.

Intuitive User Interface

With this many features being tracked, I'm sure you might be wondering if looking at the watch screen and understanding all those data might be a bit complicated.

Don't fret

It has been made so easy that a quick glance at your wrist and you'll view all the health metrics you're interested in.

Stay Active Feature

KoreTrak doesn't only become useful when working out. It can also be customized to alert and remind you to get up and move when needed.

All are gearing you towards a healthy and fit lifestyle.

Technical Specifications Of KoreTrak Watch

Display: Full-color LCD display with touch button operation

Sensors: Heart rate sensors, G-sensors, and blood oxygen monitoring

Memory: Up to 7 days of data storage

Battery: Direct USB charging

Waterproof Rating: IP67 rated

Benefits Of Using Koretrak

The KoreTrak smartwatch took all the important and necessary features from all the big brand smartwatches and made a smartwatch/fitness tracker that stands out. This gives it the high standard and wide scope we've come to see.

To see how koreTrak competes with big brands here's a peek at what you stand to gain by using this watch.

Get Fit Faster - KoreTrak watch pushes you to remain on your feet and encourages you to keep improving. With the array of apps, it is connected to, Koretrak tracks and records your progress and gives you insight into areas to improve on.

Aims To Keep You Fit And Healthy - KoreTrak fitness smartwatch gives you notable information about your heart and body as a whole. This allows you to make decisions about your health and possibly avert a crisis.

Crush Your Goals - As it records and tracks your progress, KoreTrak also allows you to set daily goals for yourself. With this, it tracks how consistently you've been achieving your goals.

Remain Connected - With the koreTrak smartwatch, you don't need to disrupt your workout routine just to get a call or read an SMS. It allows you to do those by just glancing at your wrist. It keeps you in your routine while also keeping you well connected.

Works To Improve Your Sleep - During sleep, the KoreTrak app tracks your sleeping habits and provide information to you. This will give you an idea of how to improve your sleep in order to get a rejuvenating night's rest.

Wear It Anywhere - The build of the KoreTrak watch is a solid one. It comes with a strong and resilient wrist band, a battery that will last you throughout the day without charge, and water-resistant packaging. With these perks, you can use the KoreTrak watch in any environment or situation you find yourself in.

How Does KoreTrak Work?

Just like other fitness trackers, to use the KoreTrak fitness smartwatch, you have to charge the gadget, wear it on your wrist, and connect it to your phone. To provide accurate data about your fitness and wellbeing, the KoreTrak watch uses both onboard sensors and smartphone sensors.

KoreTrak fitness tracker uses sophisticated biometric technology to analyze your body and spits out your fitness and health metrics in real-time. Therefore, it can follow your heart rate without needing your smartphone's sensor. However, KoreTrak does not have a GPS sensor. So to track your location and movement, it uses that GPS of your smartphone once it's connected.

Once you wear the KoreTrak fitness watch, it continuously updates you on your fitness and well-being at a glance. And it does so without delay.

Prior to charging and using the Koretrak smartwatch, you need to download the KoreTrak app to your iPhone or Android. Just like any other fitness tracker apps, it gives you an in-depth understanding of your fitness and health. In addition, you can see your sleep pattern while also being able to see your daily or weekly progress.

KoreTrak will essentially be a reservoir of your health and fitness data for future references.

While using this fitness smartwatch, all you need to focus on is crushing your already set goals.

By doing so, you tend to enjoy your fitness journey.

How To Use KoreTrak Watch?

Of course, to use the KoreTrak smartwatch, you need to download the app, charge the gadget and wear it on your wrist. With that, you're good to go.

The screen of the KoreTrak smartwatch supports a touch screen allowing you to choose whatever you need by scrolling past different applications within it. The KoreTrak watch doesn't work in a different way from other smartwatches, but one may argue that it does better.

Nevertheless, it keeps tracking your movement and health continuously. It's not far-fetched to say it doubles as both a smartwatch and a fitness tracker.

>>Get Koretrak at a 40% one-time discount. Discount expires soon <<

KoreTrak Review  What is different about this device?

It's very easy to use, demanding no skill at all to operate.

KoreTrak helps you crush your fitness goal as it keeps a tab on your progress and also sets goals for you.

It can be a pointer to a potential health issue hence saving you from deteriorating health conditions.

Are you worried about looks?

Do not. The KoreTrak fitness tracker is designed to be sleek and comfortable. Therefore it is pleasing to both the wrist and eyes.

You can safely assume that the goal of KoreTrak is to easily incorporate exercises into your daily lifestyle. And we can all agree they did a wonderful job.

KoreTrak Review  Pros And Cons

Pros

 It has sensors to monitor useful health parameters.

 You can use it to track your sleep.

 It helps you fasten your fitness journey.

 KoreTrak keeps you connected always.

 It is water-resistant

 KoreTrak comes with durable, pliable, and comfortable bands.

 It helps you set goals and track your progress.

 It is very affordable.

Cons

 You can only buy it online.

 Limited stock.

Who Is KoreTrak Fitness Tracker For?

This is one of the best fitness trackers available. It takes pride in its multi-functionality.

These are just my views, but I believe that if you fall into any of the following categories, you will benefit greatly from this fitness tracker.

If you're concerned about your health when exercising, having KoreTrak is undoubtedly in your best interests.

The KoreTrak fitness tracker has a sleek and mature design that makes it suitable for everyday use. Yes, it can be worn for occasions other than workouts.

So, you're a fitness nut? Are you looking for a wearable that can do everything?

This high-tech item is exclusively for you.

>>Get Koretrak at a 40% one-time discount. Discount expires soon <<

Who Is Behind The KoreTrak Watch?

You can contact KoreTrak by means of the following:

Support Page: https://www.koretrak.com/en/contact-us.html

Email: support@korehealth.com

Telephone: (US and Canada): 609-414-7087

Telephone: (UK and Ireland): 08708 200084

Telephone: (Australia and New Zealand): (02) 8607 8316

Postage information: Suite 2201, 21/F Chinachem Century Tower, 178 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Customer Reviews On KoreTrak Fitness Tracker

Hearing what other customers have to say would make you appreciate this fitness tracker better.

"I've looked at a lot of smartwatches, and I was shocked at how much cheaper KoreTrak is. At first, I thought it might just be a cheap knockoff, but it has all the same apps and works just as well as the expensive models. Why pay an extra $150 just for a brand name? Save your money, go with KoreTrak." Jeremy N.

"Keeps me motivated to stick with my workout. It was my New Year resolution to finally get in shape, and KoreTrak has been a HUGE HELP! The daily goals feature is great, and it keeps me motivated to stick with my workout. I've lost 14lbs since I bought it!" Meg G.

"Highly recommend this for anyone who works out. It's almost like having a personal trainer. You can check your stats at any time and see how your body is doing. It's really cool seeing the numbers show how I'm improving!" George L.

"I've been trying to live healthier lately, and my KoreTrak has really helped with that. The step counter reminds me to walk more, and the sleep tracker helps me make sure I'm getting enough rest." Adam S.

"I love my KoreTrak! It's comfortable, easy to use, and all the fitness apps work great. I don't know why anyone would pay an arm and a leg for the other big brands when this thing costs a tenth of the price and has all the same features." Laura V.

Price Of KoreTrak Fitness Tracker

I've been going on and on about all KoreTrak has to offer you. It won't be surprising if you think it's going to be expensive or almost expensive.

Well, with just $49.99, you can get one for yourself.

You could gain almost everything a branded fitness tracker has but just for a fraction of the cost.

If that isn't superb, then I don't know what is.

Though I'll tell you it's currently on a discount price at 50% off, so the earlier, the better. It's really no surprise that the demand for this fitness tracker has risen so much.

Where To Buy KoreTrak Fitness Tracker

The KoreTrak fitness tracker is not sold in retail stores. The best and safest place to buy KoreTrak is the official website. Doing it this way, you're sure you get a genuine product and enjoy all the available discounts being offered.

There are various modes of payment made available to you, such as PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, etc. It's also worthy to note that your payment information is always protected by 256-Bit SSL encryption.

Another feature you enjoy if you purchase from the official website is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

>>Get Koretrak at a 40% one-time discount. Discount expires soon <<

30 Day Money Back Guarantee

According to the seller, if you're not happy with what you received, you can send it back for a full refund (less S&H) within 30 days of purchase.

Their request is for you to simply send back the item in the original unopened package. Your 30-day countdown begins as your purchased item is shipped.

Should You Buy The KoreTrak Smartwatch?

Just to drive my point home, you can walk into any gadget store and check out the smartwatches or fitness trackers there. You will realize that many of them have the same features as the KoreTrak watch, but then something is different....the price. Those other brands are priced at four to five times the cost of KoreTrak smartwatch.

These features are not exclusive to Koretrak, but they offer them to you at a very low price. Since KorerTrak deals directly with customers and not through middlemen, it's understandable why their products are priced that low.

As one who loves being fit, Koretrak offers you a cheap but useful gadget that can buff up your fitness routine while making it easier at the same time. With time, you will get used to wearing a less known smartwatch that does all you need.

KoreTrak Fitness Smartwatch Against Others

With all the features and benefits we've seen so far, it has become clear that the KoreTrak smartwatch can go head to head with all the big names in the industry.

Due to how important the KoreTrak can be to your fitness routine, I find it better than many smartwatches out there. It offers you functionality in the simplest possible interface.

You can hardly find any fitness smartwatch out there with the level of simplicity offered by KoreTrak in terms of ease of use. With so many features stuffed into this watch, it's really surprising how clean the interface is.

The bit that probably tickled your fancy was the price of this piece of tech. With KoreTrak, you're actually buying the watch itself and not some brand name. This multipurpose fitness smartwatch is sold for just a fraction of the cost of those big brands. So you get more for less.

When it comes to big companies, all they see are numbers. They rarely have packages that are in favor of the consumer. KoreTrak guarantees you several packages and discounts as a customer. By dealing directly with customers, KoreTrak is able to predict what they want and give it to them. At the moment, they are even offering a 50% discount and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Isn't that just amazing?

>>Get Koretrak at a 40% one-time discount. Discount expires soon <<

Frequently Asked Questions

Being relatively new, the KoreTrak fitness smartwatch would be met with several questions as it has differences from other mainstream smartwatches. This section will deal with any unanswered questions you might have. It will be regularly updated to include more.

Can I Use KoreTrak Without My Phone?

Yes, you can. The KoreTrak smartwatch can store data for up to a week without syncing to your phone. Whenever it comes within Bluetooth range with your phone, it automatically synchronizes with it.

What Color Options Are Available To Customers?

The only available option available at the official site is the dark color. The makers claimed to have a customization option for the wristband at the checkout point, but it isn't available at the moment.

Can I Go Swimming With KoreTrak Smartwatch?

Yes. This watch is waterproof and rated IP67. This means it can be submerged 1-meter underneath water for about 30 minutes. Though we suggest, you are mindful of how you immerse the smartwatch in water. It's not totally uncommon for gadgets to be mislabeled or given higher ratings than they deserve when it comes to water resistance.

Is It A Smartwatch Or Fitness Tracker?

Actually, it's both! KoreTrak has the biometric sensors of a fitness tracker yet comes with the elegance and style of a smartwatch.

What Phones Are Compatible With KoreTrak Watch?

This smartwatch can perfectly sync with any android device or iPhone once they have Bluetooth connectivity enabled.

KoreTrak Review  Conclusion

You've made it this far because you like what you've read so far. As for that, we all accept that offering too many features for such a low price places the rivalry at the bottom of the priority list.

It's a major win for you if you can keep track of your fitness progress and health status during an activity or workout. It not only makes things simpler, but it also gives you the mental fortitude to accomplish your everyday objectives.

Still on the fence?

Imagine a workout where all you have to do is concentrate on smashing it and nothing else. The rest is taken care of by the KoreTrak fitness tracker. Is it beginning to sound appealing?

When you purchase KoreTrak, you are purchasing consistency and features rather than a brand name. If you walk into any shop, you'll find a slew of fitness trackers and smartwatches that perform the same functions as KoreTrak but cost five times as much.

As time passes, a lot of people have chosen KoreTrak over brand names. If you're in search of an affordable gadget that can spice up your fitness and wellbeing, then the KoreTrak smartwatch is a good pick for you.

>>Get Koretrak at a 40% one-time discount. Discount expires soon <<

Official Website - https://www.koretrak.com/en/contact-us.html

Contact Details: KoreTrak

support@korehealth.com

Telephone: (US and Canada): 609-414-7087

Telephone: (UK and Ireland): 08708 200084

Telephone: (Australia and New Zealand): (02) 8607 8316

Suite 2201, 21/F Chinachem Century Tower,

178 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

About Genisis Reviews

Genesis Reviews - We help you save time by doing the heavy lifting and doing research on trending products online, to enable you make a buying decision quicker and more efficiently

Affiliate Disclosure:

The links contained in this product review may result in a small commission to Genisis Review if you opt to purchase the product recommended at no additional cost to you. This goes towards supporting our research and editorial team and please know we only recommend high-quality products.

Disclaimer:

The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase made from the above press release is made at your own risk. Consult an expert advisor/health professional before any such purchase. Any purchase made from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the website's selling mentioned in the source. The content publisher and its downstream distribution partners do not take any responsibility directly or indirectly. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the company this news is about.

Product support: support@korehealth.com

Media Contact: genesisreviews@outlook.com

Attachment
CARY, N.C., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chiesi USA (key-ay-zee), the U.S. affiliate of Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A., an international research-focused healthcare Group (Chiesi Group), has appointed Martin Marciniak, RPh, MPP, PhD, as Vice President of Medical Affairs to progress the companys therapeutic area efforts.

With more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical field, Mr. Marciniak will provide strategic input to late-stage drug development and drive Chiesi post-marketing clinical efforts.

Martin holds a proven track record of delivering medical and health economic results in support of healthcare providers, payers and policy makers in specialty care therapeutics, said Jon Zwinski, General Manager and CEO of Chiesi USA. With his demonstrated leadership and expertise, Martin is a remarkable addition to Chiesi USA, and Im excited for him to lead our medical affairs team as we grow our therapeutic areas.

Mr. Marciniak brings significant experience in medical affairs, market access, research and development, partnerships and mergers, with broad knowledge of the healthcare and managed care industry at a global and local level. In his most recent role as Vice President of U.S. Medical Affairs for GlaxoSmithKline leading Customer Engagement, Value, Evidence and Outcomes, he delivered key performance metrics through executing strategic and tactical plans to ensure market access for therapies. Other roles he held at GSK included Interim Head of the Respiratory Therapeutic Area and Vice President of US Health Outcomes and Medical Policy.

It is an honor to join Chiesi USA at this time of exciting growth, said Mr. Marciniak. I look forward to supporting the team to deliver meaningful value and results for patients and providers alike.

Prior to his time at GSK, Mr. Marciniak served as Senior Director of Global Health Outcomes at Eli Lilly and Company, where he led cross-functional U.S. teams in the design, development and execution of the first prospective oncology observational study in underrepresented populations.

Mr. Marciniak earned his Doctorate degree from the University of California at Berkeley, his Master of Public Policy degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and his Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from Purdue University.

About Chiesi USAChiesi USA, Inc., headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercialization of products for the hospital and target office-based specialties. The Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of family-owned Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A, a global R&D-focused pharmaceutical company based in Parma, Italy. In the United States, the Company delivers therapies and enhances care for patients in the areas of acute cardiology, neonatology and cystic fibrosis. Recognized as a Certified B Corporation, Chiesi is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of its communities through its employee-led corporate social responsibility program, Chiesi in the Community. Innovation, collaboration and impact are the cornerstones of the Chiesi culture. For more information, visit www.chiesiusa.com.

About Chiesi GroupBased in Parma, Italy, Chiesi Farmaceutici is an international research-oriented group with 85 years experience in the pharmaceutical sector and operates in 29 countries. The Group researches develops and markets innovative drugs for respiratory treatment, Special Care medicine and rare diseases. The Groups Research and Development Centre is based in Parma, Italy, and forms part of four other important R&D groups in France, the USA, the UK and Sweden to promote its own pre-clinical, clinical and registration programs. The Group employs over 6,000 people. Chiesi is a Certified B Corporation. For more information, please visit www.chiesi.com.

ContactsMedia: FleishmanHillard, Elizabeth Comtois, (919) 334-3786, elizabeth.comtois@fleishman.comChiesi USA: Michael Wasyluk, (919) 678-6611, michael.wasyluk@chiesi.com

2021 Chiesi USA, Inc. All rights reserved.

PP-G-0574 V1.0

PDF available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/78dfcca0-ce6b-41a5-9993-764fad95aebf

Source: Chiesi USA, Inc.


This article is the third in a four-part series highlighting the importance of ESG criteria in management and making suggestions for Korea's financial, industrial and public sectors to come up with better ESG strategies for sustainable growth.  ED.



Drastic board reshuffles considered necessary for banking groups



By Park Jae-hyuk



Domestic financial holding companies faced harsh criticism for their poor corporate governance structures again during this year's proxy season, because most of their nonexecutive directors successfully retained their seats despite growing calls for diversity in their board members.



Experts warned their apparent indifference to governance issues may even make their ongoing efforts for environmental factors less meaningful, causing the undervaluation of bank stocks in line with the global trend to prioritize the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria.



According to regulatory filings by the nation's top banking groups, several foreign institutional investors have already carried out divestments from them over the past few years, amid lingering concerns over their governance.



BlackRock, Capital Group and Franklin Resources, which once held over 5 percent stakes in Hana Financial Group, are not its major shareholders anymore. Shinhan Financial Group is expected to cut its ties with BNP Paribas soon, considering the French firm did not recommend anyone to serve as a nonexecutive director of the Korean banking group, taking over for BNP Paribas Securities Japan CEO Philippe Avril.



Although foreign private equity firms, such as the Carlyle Group, Affinity Equity Partners and Baring Private Equity Asia, became new major shareholders of some domestic financial groups, they have been considered to be seeking short-term profits rather than making long-term strategic investments.



"From foreign investors' point of view, there are not many Korean companies having a fully functioning board of directors," McKinsey & Company Senior Partner Richard Lee said. "The governance of conglomerates by their owner families has already been discussed many times, so the advancement of governance in the domestic financial sector will be the key question in the future."



After ESG emerged as a global trend, Shinhan and KB financial groups have been regarded as the industry leaders in terms of sustainable management. Hana, Woori and NongHyup financial groups started to go after the large players recently, emphasizing the importance of ESG in their New Year addresses.



Their main focus has been on the environmental factors, which are considered relatively easier for financial firms to pursue. Earlier this month, 113 financial companies declared they will support the Carbon Neutrality by 2050 initiative to counteract climate change by divesting from industries using fossil fuels.



In contrast, financial groups have been criticized for ignoring calls from financial authorities, unions and global proxy advisers to reshuffle their board members.



Last year, the Financial Supervisory Service sent warnings to Woori and Hana to urge them to enhance transparency in their management of boards. Shinhan was also advised to reduce the proportion of Korean Japanese nonexecutive directors without expertise. It followed the recommendation by adding two more board seats.



Unions of KB and state-run lenders have continued to call for a codetermination system which provides board seats to employees or their representatives. Institutional Shareholder Services recommended shareholders of Shinhan and Woori to oppose reappointments of some of their directors, citing their failures to dismiss the CEOs, who are liable to get sanctions for fund fiascos that caused major investor losses.



"Although the six largest banking groups' boards are ostensibly managed by their nonexecutive directors, they have just acted as yes men for group chairmen and bank CEOs," lawyer Kwon Ho-hyun of People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said in a conference this month.



Data compiled by the progressive civic group showed directors of KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NongHyup and Industrial Bank of Korea passed 97.2 percent of topics in their original forms without any opposition or revisions between 2017 and 2019.



Critics pointed out that financial groups are just looking for legal experts and former government officials as their nonexecutive directors to lobby financial regulators, instead of attracting various experts in finance and technology.



The lack of female directors has also been mentioned as a risk factor for ESG in the domestic financial sector. The nation's four largest banking groups only have four women among their 33 nonexecutive directors. Woori did not appoint any women as nonexecutive directors again this year.



"Financial holding companies should widen their pools of nonexecutive director candidates, following the changing industry trend that emphasizes female experts," Korea Capital Market Institute Senior Research Fellow Park Chung-gyun said.





Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung speaks during the company's general shareholders meeting, Thursday. Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group
Editor: Donald Trump told a lot of lies while president. One source counted more than 25,000 false or misleading statements.

These lies were not just about COVID-19, like it was the same as the flu and it would just disappear. But even with his awesome mendacity he left behind a residue of evidence to judge his tenure, as outlined by journalist George Packer.

During his term more than 250,000 Americans died from the coronavirus, some 20% of the worlds pandemic deaths while we have only 4% of the world population. Prepandemic, 2.3 million Americans lost health insurance, which translates into 10,000 excess deaths. Trump withdrew the United States from 13 international organizations, agreements or treaties.

Refugees entering this country annually fell from 85,000 to 12,000. Almost 400 miles of barrier were built along our southern border and U.S. taxpayers paid for it. The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown.

Trump reversed 80 environmental rules and regulations. He appointed more than 220 conservative judges to the federal bench with more rated not qualified by the American Bar Association than under any recent president. The national debt increased by 37%, or $7 trillion, and in his last year the trade deficit will have exceeded $600 billion. His signature legislation, the tax cuts of 2017, mostly benefited corporations and the wealthy.

Trump was not a businessman or a negotiator as he vociferously proclaimed. He was a hillbilly in a suit, really out of his depth.

GEORGE J. MOTSAY, M.D.

UPPER MACUNGIE TWP.,

LEHIGH COUNTY

Editor: The Times-Tribune recently published a New York Times article on the Postal Service (Postal Service still struggling to find its way, March 22).

It failed to mention that the service has not received tax dollars in decades or that the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act forces the service to pay for the next 75 years of postal employee retirements at $5 billion a year.

No other government agency, nor any private business or corporation, has ever had that kind of financial albatross. This poison pill was inserted into the law to cause the service to fail financially. Over 14 years the venom has seriously infected the service financially. The service has utilized emergency postage increases to fund itself while suffering this albatross, but still has the lowest first-class postage costs in the industrialized world.

New Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was appointed by the postal board of governors who were appointed by former President Trump, who wanted to privatize the service. The New York Times reported that DeJoy has presented a plan to save the service by closing thousands of post offices and many mail processing plants. That will seriously delay service. He intends to further delay service by transporting all first-class mail and packages by truck instead of airlines.

DeJoy owns or has interests in trucking companies that would most surely benefit tremendously from his plan to move millions of tons of first-class mail by truck.

I spent nearly 35 years as a postal employee and the motto every piece, every day was always important to all employees.

I am surprised the article failed to report the true cause of the services financial problems and failed to focus or even mention DeJoys major conflict of interest. The swamp that was supposed to be drained under Trump has grown to now engulf the Postal Service.

KEVIN GALLAGHER

SCRANTON

Editor: I recently learned of Postmaster General Louis DeJoys plan to lengthen mail delivery times.

In February I sent a bill payment from Lake Ariel to Harrisburg. It took 44 days to get there. I have had bills arrive two weeks after payment was due. This results in threats of cancelation and late fees, confusing phone calls and the legitimate concern that whatever is being canceled may take months to reinstate.

Thats especially worrisome when it comes to things like insurance. For multiple reasons Im not a fan of doing business over the internet. Lets hope this scheme and its author are replaced by someone with common sense before DeJoys plan is approved.

PATRICIA WARE

LAKE ARIEL

Editor: I read with interest comments specific to President Bidens alleged failing health, specifically his slack verbal control in public appearances.

It was obvious people do not understand the serious nature of his failing health.

During a recent appearance of his, I believe doctoring was done to the video. First, they said it was a live conference then we learned it was live when it was filmed but edited before being shown to the nation. Biden is declining quickly and that is why he is rarely in public, in comparison to other modern presidents.

However, leftists need Biden in public enough to show the appearance of normalcy. To do that they have to put him out there occasionally and be ready and willing to edit out his gaffes. That is not conspiracy thinking, it is what people with access to wealth and power will do to protect the wealth and power.

Two brain aneurysms that Biden suffered and the two emergency surgeries he underwent are public knowledge.

Anyone who looks at a video of Biden speaking from as late as 2017 to other videos after that can see a world of difference in his ability to speak coherently, stay on subject and move his body in a coordinated fashion. Over these last three years it is undeniable that he is steadily declining and will not get better.

Finally, all American politicians lie but the Democratic Party is by far the most guilty of lying outrageously to the American people. Deceptively editing a video is well within the norms of the way they conduct their politics.

RICHARD OTIS LENAHAN

CLARKS SUMMIT
High-cost drugs remain the primary cost driver for Canadian public and private drug plans. In 2019, seven of the top ten selling patented drugs had annual treatment costs that exceeded $10,000/year.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched a bid to recover from weeks of political damage over the treatment of women by naming a new cabinet team, shifting problem ministers and punishing a disgraced Liberal MP.

Mr Morrison named Peter Dutton as the countrys next Defence Minister and leader of the government in the House of Representatives and Michaelia Cash as the new Attorney-General and Industrial Relations Minister in the two biggest appointments in the changes.

Scott Morrison has given Michaelia Cash and Peter Dutton new portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Industry Minister Karen Andrews will be elevated to Minister for Home Affairs, replacing Mr Dutton and taking a high-profile position as one of the cabinets most senior women.

The Prime Minister has faced a wave of anger about the treatment of women in the six weeks since former Liberal adviser Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in Parliament House in March 2019.
Tug boats and diggers work to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Egypt, on March 28, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

Container Ship Stuck in Suez Canal Partially Refloated

CAIRO, EgyptThe stranded container ship blocking the Suez Canal for almost a week has been re-floated, Inchcape Shipping Services said on Monday. The ship is currently being secured, raising expectations the vital waterway could soon be reopened.

The ship was successfully re-floated at 4:30 a.m. local time on a high tide, Inchcape, a global provider of marine services said on Twitter.

The MV Ever Given was successfully re-floated at 04:30 lt 29/03/2021. She is being secured at the moment. More information about next steps will follow once they are known. #suezcanel #maritime pic.twitter.com/f3iuYYiRRi  Inchcape Shipping (@Inchcape_SS) March 29, 2021

Ship-tracking service VesselFinder has changed the ships status to under way on its website.

However, according to disinformation researcher John Scott-Railton, the channel may still be partially obstructed by the Ever Given, with half of the ships body remaining in the undredged half of the canal.

Made a quick diagram. This is a big change from the initial stuck situationbut the navigation channel is still partially obstructed by the #EVERGIVEN The #Suez Canal is not opening to vessel traffic just yet pic.twitter.com/4FtIDxLMJh  John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) March 29, 2021

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early on Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

At least 369 vessels were waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie told Egypts Extra News on Sunday.

Over two dozen vessels had earlier opted for the alternative route between Asia and Europe around the Cape of Good Hope, adding some two weeks to journeys and threatening delivery delays.

Egypts Leth Agencies tweeted the ship had been partially refloated, pending official confirmation from the Suez Canal Authority.

The Suez Canal Authority had earlier said in a statement that tugging operations to free the ship had resumed. The Suez Canal salvage teams intensified excavation and dredging on Sunday and were hoping a high tide would help them dislodge it.

Crude oil prices fell after news the ship had been re-floated, with Brent crude down by $1 per barrel to $63.67.

The ships technical manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

The skyscraper-sized Ever Given became stuck in the Suez Canal last Tuesday and has held up $9 billion in global trade each day, bringing disruption to the vital waterway. Already, hundreds vessels remained trapped in the canal waiting to pass, carrying everything from crude oil to cattle.

The Epoch Times contributed to this article.
In December 2019 an operation targeted the 'Ndrangheta families based in the southern Italian city of Locri in the Calabria region - the rural, mountainous and under-developed 'toe' of Italy's boot and the heartland of the worldwide crime group.

As a result of the swoop, Italian police arrested 334 people, including a police colonel and a former MP from Silvio Berlusconi's party.

Despite intense police attention and frequent arrests, the 'Ndrangheta - which derives its meaning from the Greek word for 'heroism' - has continued to extend its reach.

Notoriously ruthless, the 'Ndrangheta has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra to operate on all continents thanks to the wealth it has amassed as the principal importer and wholesaler of cocaine produced in Latin America and smuggled into Europe via north Africa and southern Italy.

That trade is worth billions and previous police operations have indicated that the 'Ndrangheta has well-established links with Colombian producer cartels, Mexican crime gangs and mafia families in New York and other parts of North America.

In 2016, a suspected 'Ndrangheta boss, Ernesto Fazzalari (left), was arrested after two decades on the run, fleeing a life sentence for murder. A year later, another suspected boss of the crime clan, Santo Vottari (right), was detained in Calabria having been on the run for a decade

The organisation's tight clan-based structure has made it hard to penetrate but police have made some in roads in recent years.

In 2015, 163 people were arrested in a major crackdown on the notorious mafia gang, which by that time had become the most powerful crime organisation in the country.

In another sting that year, police snatched assets worth 1.4billion from the 'Ndrangheta, which included more than 1,500 betting shops, 82 online gambling sites and almost 60 companies.

In 2016, one of Italy's most wanted mafia bosses Ernesto Fazzalari was arrested after two decades on the run, fleeing a life sentence for murder.

The 'Ndrangheta member was captured in an apartment in a remote part of the southern region of Calabria.

On the run since 1996, he was convicted in absentia in 1999 of mafia association, kidnapping, illegal possession of weapons and a double homicide linked to a bloody 1989-91 feud which left 32 people dead in his home town of Taurianova.

His arrest was hailed by the government as a significant victory for the state in its battle against the powerful mafia group.

In 2018, another suspected boss of the crime clan, Santo Vottari, was detained in Calabria having been on the run for a decade.

He was arrested hiding behind a trap door of a bunker having gone to ground over a 2007 massacre in Germany.

Vottari was convicted in absentia in 2009 of being one of the heads of an 'Ndrangheta clan whose feud with local rivals culminated in the Duisburg killings.

He was given a prison term of 10 years and eight months, two years after he went on the run.

Vottari was one of 31 people sentenced to prison terms in 2009 in connection with the Duisburg killings, which happened after a vendetta between two clans based in the same village, San Luca, spiralled out of control.

The feud between the Nirta-Strangio and Pelle-Vottari clans reportedly began with an egg-throwing prank in 1991.

Reprisals escalated after the killing, on Christmas Day, 2006, of Maria Strangio, the wife of clan leader Giovanni Nirta.

The feud was blamed for at least 16 deaths in total, with the killings in Germany bringing it to international attention.

Giovanni Strangio was convicted in 2011 of being the mastermind and one of the authors of the Duisburg killings.

He was sentenced to life in prison. Seven others were given life sentences linked to the feud at the same trial.

Notoriously ruthless, the 'Ndrangheta has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra in influence thanks to its control of Europe's cocaine trade.

The organisation is made up of numerous village and family-based clans based in the rural, mountainous and under-developed 'toe' of Italy's boot.

The name 'Ndrangheta comes from the Greek for courage or loyalty and the organisation's secretive culture and brutal enforcement of codes of silence have made it very difficult to penetrate.
Border quarantine rules must be tightened as some European countries experience a third wave of coronavirus, Sir Keir Starmer has insisted.

To prevent the roadmap out of lockdown restrictions being derailed, the Labour leader reiterated his call for a comprehensive scheme of hotel quarantine for all arrivals into the country.

As measures on socialising were relaxed on Monday  allowing six people to meet outdoors  Sir Keir said: Its good we have got to this stage of lifting some restrictions, we have got to be cautious about it.

I think the single biggest risk is, of course, what we are seeing happening in other countries where the numbers are still going up, he told reporters.

One of my primary concerns is that, under the governments scheme, only 1 per cent of those coming from abroad is quarantining. That seems wrong.

Read more:

We should have a comprehensive scheme of quarantine because that, it seems to me, is the single biggest threat to the progress that we are making.

Under current government rules, those travelling from red list countries to the UK must quarantine in a government-designated facility for 10 days on arrival while others must self-isolate at home and take multiple tests.

Labour has previously suggested fatal flaws exist in the programme and have called for the hotel quarantine system to applied for all arrivals into the country to prevent the fight against the disease being jeopardised.

Earlier, professor Sir Mark Walport, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, said data should be one of the deciding factors in whether people can travel abroad later this summer.

Certainly at the moment many countries in Europe have got case numbers that are going up  there are 36,000 cases a day in France, 16,000 in Germany, 22,000 in Italy. The numbers speak for themselves.

Next month, the Global Travel Taskforce is expected to publish a report into how overseas travel could resume, but ministers have said that holidays will not be permitted before 17 May at the earliest and those flouting the rule can face a 5,000 fine.

In recent weeks, scientists have raised concerns about the import of variants into the UK potentially undermining progress in bringing down case rates as the NHS continues to rollout Covid-19 vaccines across the population.

Health secretary Matt Hancock insisted on Monday that the door is not shut on foreign holidays this summer, but said the biggest problem was variants such as those first found in South Africa and Brazil.

We're not yet sure, but we're doing the science in Porton Down, and watching very closely, and if that all goes well, then we haven't got a problem and then we'll be much more relaxed about international travel," he said. We will know more over the next few weeks.

Asked if there may be foreign holidays this summer, he said: "There may well be, I wouldn't rule that out. The door is not shut, it's just too early to say, but what we can say with confidence is that the unlocking at home is on track."
The first meeting of an all-female working group established to examine proposals for maternity leave for county and city councillors will take place on Monday.

A group of six female councillors from each of the five main Government parties plus an independent candidate will meet with the Minister of State Peter Burke who will host the meeting.

There are currently no contingency plans in place for councillors, ministers, senators or TDs to take maternity leave if they become pregnant.

The issue was highlighted after Minister for Justice Helen McEntee announced she is pregnant and said that the lack of provision for politicians to take maternity leave is not a very encouraging signal for women who want to get into politics.

The Government have arranged for Minister McEntee to take a six-month maternity leave in an ad hoc agreement.

The problem for female councillors was also brought to light by Green Party councillor Clare OByrne, who resigned due to the lack of maternity leave which she said was a huge barrier for female politicians.

Read More

Minister Burke said he plans for measures to be in place as soon as possible.

In a statement, he said: To say that maternity leave for female politicians is overdue is an understatement, and establishing a maternity-leave system for female councillors is a political priority of mine. While attention has been drawn to this subject recently by my colleague Minister Helen McEntee, it has been an ongoing issue not just in the Dail but in our Local Authorities.

Many candidates start their political careers in our council chambers. If we want to increase female participation and retain the talent we have in local government, we must take steps now to address one of the main barriers to female representation; lack of maternity leave and policies which do not favour family life.

Minister Burke continued: While there are legal obstacles to consider as well as the lack of employment rights available to office holders such as councillors, I am confident that this group can come up with workable proposals to present to me as Minister.

For too long, women have been under-represented in politics and right now, we are failing dismally at achieving equality of representation. While the reasons for this are complex, I am confident that introducing maternity leave will provide support for female candidates and politicians and enable increased participation in the years to come.
High risk of acute kidney injury in patients undergoing treatment for infected total knee replacement

March 29, 2021 - Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred in nearly 20 percent of patients who underwent surgery with implantation of antibiotic-loaded "spacers" and intravenous (IV) antibiotics for the treatment of deep infections after total knee arthroplasty, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.

Patients with preexisting chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at particularly high risk of AKI, according to the new research by Matthew P. Abdel, MD, and colleagues of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

High doses of antibiotics in bone cement linked to higher risk of AKI

Deep, periprosthetic joint infections are a devastating complication of failed total knee arthroplasty. The most common treatment is two-stage exchange arthroplasty, in which the knee implant is removed to enable treatment of the infection. This is often followed by placement of antibiotic-loaded bone cement (ALBC) spacers, which deliver high doses of antibiotics directly and continuously to the site of the infection. Once the infection has been eradicated, another operation is performed to place a new knee prosthesis.

However, there is a risk that high doses of antibiotics from the spacers, in addition to IV antibiotics, may result in a toxic effect on the kidneys. This toxicity could contribute to AKI: a serious complication marked by a sudden decline in kidney function. Orthopaedic surgeons have little evidence about the risk of AKI related to ALBC spacers and IV antibiotics, and even less evidence regarding the long-term outcomes of patients who develop AKI.

Dr. Abdel and colleagues analyzed the rates, risk factors, and outcomes of AKI in 424 patients who underwent two-stage exchange arthroplasty with ALBC spacers and IV antibiotics for chronically infected knee replacements. The patients were managed at the Mayo Clinic between 2000 and 2017. Before surgery, 15 percent of patients had preexisting CKD.

Overall, 19 percent of patients developed AKI while the ALBC spacers were in place and IV antibiotics were administered. Patients with preexisting CKD were significantly more likely to develop AKI compared with patients without preexisting CKD (45 percent versus 14 percent). After adjusting for other factors, patients with CKD were five times more likely to develop AKI (odds ratio 5.0).

The study identified several risk factors for AKI, including high doses of antibiotics used in the ALBC spacers (especially the commonly used antibiotics vancomycin and aminoglycoside). Certain factors linked to reduced blood flow to the kidneys, including high blood pressure, low blood volume, and atrial fibrillation (a heart rhythm disorder), also predicted an increased risk of AKI. Diabetes was another important risk factor.

Most patients who developed AKI regained kidney function. However, at an average of 6 years postoperatively, eight patients had developed CKD while four were on dialysis.

Acute kidney injury is a relatively common complication of many medical conditions and procedures, including orthopaedic surgery and heart surgery. The study provides new evidence on AKI in a large series of patients treated for infected total knee replacements at a single medical center.

The findings highlight the particularly high risk of AKI among patients with preexisting CKD. Dr. Abdel and colleagues emphasize the importance of screening to identify patients with possible decreases in kidney function before two-stage exchange arthroplasty.

The study also draws attention to the risk of AKI related to toxicity from ALBC spacers and IV antibiotics. Dr. Abdel and coauthors have taken steps to limit the doses of certain antibiotics used in spacers. However, they add, "While higher antibiotic doses in ALBC spacers can lead to AKIs, these doses are also a crucial factor for infection eradication."

###

Click here to read "Acute Kidney Injury When Treating Periprosthetic Joint Infections After Total Knee Arthroplasties with Antibiotic-Loaded Spacers: Incidence, Risks, and Outcomes."

DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.20.01825

About The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery

The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (JBJS) has been the most valued source of information for orthopaedic surgeons and researchers for over 125 years and is the gold standard in peer-reviewed scientific information in the field. A core journal and essential reading for general as well as specialist orthopaedic surgeons worldwide, The Journal publishes evidence-based research to enhance the quality of care for orthopaedic patients. Standards of excellence and high quality are maintained in everything we do, from the science of the content published to the customer service we provide. JBJS is an independent, non-profit journal.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the clinicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of 4.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

Wolters Kluwer provides trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students with advanced clinical decision support, learning and research and clinical intelligence. For more information about our solutions, visit https:/ / www. wolterskluwer. com/ en/ health and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth.

For more information, visit http://www. wolterskluwer. com , follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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Boris Johnson tonight revealed GlaxoSmithKline will support the manufacturing of up to 60million doses of the Novavax coronavirus vaccine in the UK.

No10's vaccines taskforce has signed a deal with British drugs giant GSK to 'fill and finish' supplies of the American jab at its factory in Durham starting from May.

Mr Johnson said the move will 'further boost our vaccine rollout', which is slow down next month due to a a shortfall of five million AstraZeneca jabs from India.

The decision comes amid a vaccine war between the UK and EU which has seen the bloc threaten to block supplies of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines made on the continent from being shipped to Britain.

The GSK deal means the Novavax jabs will not have to leave the UK. The raw chemicals are being produced at a site in Stockton-on-Tees, but the original plan was for the vials to be prepared and packaged in Europe.

Britain has secured 60million doses of the two-shot Novavax vaccine under an advance purchase agreement with the American firm, enough to fully vaccinate 30m Brits. Earlier this month Novavax announced its jab was 89 per cent effective at blocking symptomatic illness and stopped 100 per cent of hospital admissions and deaths.

The Prime Minister told tonight's Downing Street press conference: 'I'm delighted by GSK's investment, which shows the strength of UK manufacturing, and will further boost our vaccine rollout.

'The vaccines taskforce has worked hand in glove with business to successfully deliver vaccines to the whole of the UK and this agreement will continue to support our approach.

'We remain on track to offer a first jab to all over-50s by April 15, and all adults by the end of July, and I want to once again encourage everyone to come forward for a vaccine when you're called.'

Novavax is due to submit its late stage trial data to Britain's medical regulator in the coming weeks and approval is expected in May. So far three vaccines have been approved by the MHRA - made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna - and a fourth developed by Johnson and Johnson is currently under review.

Britain already has enough doses on order from AstraZeneca and Pfizer alone to vaccinate the entire nation with two doses. But officials anticipate 'booster' shots will need to be given annually to the elderly and vulnerable because immunity wears off quicker in those groups.

Boris Johnson tonight revealed the British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline will support the manufacturing of up to 60million doses of the Novavax vaccine in the UK

Britain has secured 60million doses of the Novavax vaccine under an advance purchase agreement with the American firm

The GSK site at Barnard Castle is a specialised facility in GSK's global manufacturing network which supports production of GSK pharmaceutical and vaccine products

In other coronavirus developments today:

Pfizer says it plans to drastically ramp up production and is prepared to break with German firm it partnered with on breakthrough vaccine;

Health workers are 90 per cent less likely to catch Covid after they receive two doses, according to US-based study on Pfizer and Moderna jabs;

Fewer than 60 per cent of black Britons over-70 have had their Covid vaccine, while the rate is 91 per cent among white adults, ONS data reveals;

Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin says jabs passports would be the 'last straw' for many struggling pubs;

And amid loosening lockdown restrictions to allow three people from two households to meet, the Government confirms long-distance trips to the seaside are allowed;

France won't be added to the UK's 'red list' of travel countries from which arrivals are subject to hotel quarantine rules, it has been claimed;

Matt Hancock says trips abroad 'may well' happen this summer sparking hope getaways will still be allowed.

Cheers to Happy Monday! Britons head to beauty spots in their droves to enjoy evening drinks as lockdown is eased Britons were seen enjoying a tipple in the sun today as the nation raised a glass to the easing of lockdown restrictions on the hottest day of the year so far. England has stepped out of lockdown straight into a three-day spring heatwave, with temperatures hitting 66.2F (24C) this afternoon and a predicted 76F tomorrow and Wednesday - just shy of the record. A top temperature of 67.3F was recorded at Heathrow Airport this afternoon - marking a high point for 2021. The all-time UK record temperature for March was 78.1F on March 29, 1968 in Mepal, Cambridgeshire. It came as Boris Johnson warned Britons 'don't risk the progress we've made' as he said it was 'vital' to continue abiding by social distancing rules, as police vowed to continue cracking down on large gatherings. As of today - six people, or two full households - are allowed to meet outside, including in back gardens, for the first time in four months, while the Government's 'stay at home' rule has been replaced with 'stay local'. People have also been quick to take advantage of the reintroduction of outdoor sports, with golfers, tennis players and outdoor swimmers already out in force - while others took to Twitter to announce their plans to have drinks. Weddings can also go ahead, and Ben and Gabriela Lloyd were the first couple to get married at St Albans registry office today. Advertisement

The Novavax jab differs from those already being used in the UK. It combines a genetically engineered protein that causes a weakened version of Covid with a plant-based ingredient to help generate a stronger immune response.

Novavax says people should be given two doses of the vaccine, three weeks apart. The vaccine, officially named NVX-CoV2373, can be stored in a regular medical fridge.

The site at Barnard Castle is a specialised facility in global manufacturing network which supports production of GSK pharmaceutical and vaccine products.

The protein antigen component of NVX-CoV2373 is also produced in the North East of England by Novavax's manufacturing partner, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, at their site in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees.

Roger Connor, president of GSK vaccines, said: 'GSK is delighted to support Novavax and the UK vaccines taskforce with this manufacturing arrangement for the UK and our Barnard Castle facility is now undertaking the rapid preparation work required to manufacture up to 60 million doses of this vaccine.

'We have ensured that we can deliver these volumes without impacting supply of our other vital medicines and vaccines, and without disruption to the other Covid-19 collaborations GSK is engaged in globally.'

It came as Britain's daily Covid cases dropped 13 per cent in a week with 4,654 more infections today.

Deaths have risen slightly to 23  up from 17 last Monday. But the Department of Health's official fatality toll relies on registrations, meaning day-to-day counts can fluctuate.

Experts would be baffled by any genuine spike in deaths because infection rates have not spiralled out of control since schools in England reopened on March 8. The mammoth vaccine drive, which has now reached 30.4million vulnerable adults, will also save thousands of lives.

Mr Johnson today warned Britons 'don't risk the progress we've made', as England stepped out of lockdown straight into a three-day spring heatwave, with temperatures hitting 66.2F (24C) this afternoon and a predicted 76F tomorrow and Wednesday - just shy of the all-time record of 78F.

Meanwhile, Professor Chris Whitty warned tonight that Britain's 'wall of vaccination' against Covid is 'leaky' because jabs aren't 100 per cent effective and millions have still yet to be fully inoculated,

England's chief medical officer acknowledged the wall  designed to stop the NHS from being overwhelmed and thousands from dying in the event of a third wave  will get stronger when top-up doses are dished out en masse in April.

But when asked if the UK was really at risk of enduring a third wave when lockdown restrictions are eased over the coming months, Professor Whitty said it is 'not complete'.

England's chief medical officer acknowledged the wall  designed to stop the NHS from being overwhelmed and thousands from dying in the event of a third wave  will get stronger when top-up doses are dished out en masse in April

Flanked by Boris Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance, Professor Whitty also warned it was 'inevitable' infections would rise when restrictions are relaxed over the coming months. He claimed reopening schools in England has already caused Covid cases to flatten off

Large crowd of young people have gathered in Hyde Park, Leeds, to bask in today's sunshine as lockdown measures were eased and the Rule of Six returned

A group of friends enjoy drinks in beautiful spring weather in St James's Park, central London today as the rule of six was reintroduced

Britain's 'wall of vaccination' against Covid is 'leaky', Professor Chris Whitty warns Britain's 'wall of vaccination' against Covid is 'leaky' because jabs aren't 100 per cent effective and millions have still yet to be fully inoculated, Professor Chris Whitty warned tonight. England's chief medical officer acknowledged the wall  designed to stop the NHS from being overwhelmed and thousands from dying in the event of a third wave  will get stronger when top-up doses are dished out en masse in April. But when asked if the UK was really at risk of enduring a third wave when lockdown restrictions are eased over the coming months, Professor Whitty said it is 'not complete'. Addressing the country from Downing Street's new 2.6million White House-style press briefing room, he said: 'It's a kind of a leaky wall, and, therefore, there will always be some people who either have chosen not to be vaccinated, or where the vaccine has had much less effect.' Flanked by Boris Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance, Professor Whitty also warned it was 'inevitable' infections would rise when restrictions are relaxed over the coming months. He claimed reopening schools in England has already caused Covid cases to flatten off. Pointing to Sir Patrick's slide that showed how vaccines drastically cut the risk of being hospitalised with Covid, Professor Whitty said it showed 'we do have kind of a wall of vaccination that will get stronger with the second vaccines. 'But it is not a complete wall, it is a kind of leaky wall. Therefore, there will always be some people who either have chosen not to be vaccinated, or where the vaccine has had much less effect. 'If we get a small surge, there will be cases of people who have been vaccinated who will have severe disease, and there will be cases of people who are not vaccinated, a much higher proportion, who will get severe disease, and some of those will go on to die.' Professor Whitty added: 'If you get a very big wave, that would obviously lead to a significant impact. 'So thats the reason why the Prime Minister and ministers have been absolutely determined that this is a slow and steady unlocking, looking at data between each step.' Advertisement

Addressing the country from Downing St's new 2.6million White House-style press briefing room, he said: 'It's a kind of a leaky wall, and therefore there will always be some people who either have chosen not to be vaccinated, or where the vaccine has had much less effect.'

Flanked by Mr Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance, Professor Whitty also warned it was 'inevitable' infections would rise when restrictions are relaxed over the coming months. He claimed reopening schools in England has already caused Covid cases to flatten off.

Pointing to Sir Patrick's slide that showed how the rate of coronavirus hospitalisations among four different age groups would be drastically lower if everyone was vaccinated, Professor Whitty said 'we do have kind of a wall of vaccination that will get stronger with the second vaccines.

'And I want to repeat my emphasis it is critical people get their second vaccine.

'But it is not a complete wall, it is a kind of leaky wall. Therefore, there will always be some people who either have chosen not to be vaccinated, or where the vaccine has had much less effect.

'If we get a small surge, there will be cases of people who have been vaccinated who will have severe disease, and there will be cases of people who are not vaccinated, a much higher proportion, who will get severe disease, and some of those will go on to die.'

Professor Whitty added: 'If you get a very big wave, that would obviously lead to a significant impact.

'So thats the reason why the Prime Minister and ministers have been absolutely determined that this is a slow and steady unlocking, looking at data between each step.'

Despite the gloomy warning that Britons could still die because vaccines aren't a panacea, the Prime Minister said he could 'categorically rule out' another national lockdown.

But he admitted that his promise came with 'two very important provisos', calling on Britons to keep obeying the guidance and making sure the current vaccines being deployed remain effective.

More than 30.4million Britons have now had their first dose of a Covid vaccine, with 3.7million fully jabbed.

Sir Patrick's slide showed how the rate of coronavirus hospitalisations among four different age groups would be drastically lower if everyone was vaccinated.

For example, at the current rate of infection No10's top scientists predict there would be almost 30 people out of every 100,000 Brits aged between 55 and 64 hospitalised with Covid over the next four weeks. With everyone in that age group vaccinated, it would plunge to six.

He said the data showed that vaccines are 'very effective at reducing hospitalisations in everyone who gets them', urging everyone eligible for a jab to book an appointment.

However, he cautioned that jabs currently being deployed in Britain are not 100 per cent protective and that the modelling was based on current rates of infections.

Sir Patrick said: 'If the rates were much higher then obviously the amount of hospitalisations would be higher, which reinforces the point that the thing that we all must do is try to keep rates down and be sensible as we unlock and get back to more interaction.'
March 29, 2021 in Financial (E)

[prMac.com] Putney, Vermont - IGG Software, Inc. today announced the release of Banktivity 8.2, a new version of their money management app. The new version includes over 25 new features and enhancements including new account types for Canadian and United Kingdom customers. The new account types bring even more accurate money management to international customers. In addition to many bug fixes Banktivity has added several features unique to each platform.



macOS:

The macOS version of Banktivity 8.2 brings better drag and drop support, support for a new auto-installer (make updates even easier). Other improvements include a new context menu to duplicate transactions and a new reporting setting to make it easier to find uncategorized transactions.



iOS:

The iOS version of Banktivity 8.2 brings the transaction downloading and update settings up to par with the macOS version. This will help ensure that sitting at your desk or on-the-go your accounts can stay up to date. The new version also makes is easier to access and edit transactions directly from your budget.



"Almost all of the new features we've added for version 8.2 have been requested by our customers. They have great ideas and everyone wins when we execute on them to make Banktivity even more powerful," said IGG president, Ian Gillespie.



Subscribers can count on immediate access to great connected features like automatic transaction downloading, cloud sync, stock prices and currency exchanges rates. Today's release includes a range of bug fixes, customer-requested features and enhancements.



System Requirements:

Banktivity 8.2 for Mac requires macOS Catalina or higher and the iOS version requires iOS 13.5 or higher.



Pricing and Availability:

Pricing An annual Banktivity subscription starts at just $49.99 (USD) per year. This includes Direct Access (connecting you to over 14,000 banks). A free 30 day trial is available directly from banktivity.com, and Apple's App Stores. Banktivity is ad-free. There are no third-party services offered to users. Customer data and financial records are never stored, accessed, aggregated or analyzed in any way that benefits IGG or any other marketers. IGG never sells, trades, rents or shares customer information.

Based in Putney, Vermont, IGG Software, Inc. was founded in 2003 by developer Ian Gillespie to offer intuitive, elegant and powerful applications for individuals and small businesses exclusively for the Mac and for iOS devices. IGG develops the Banktivity (formerly iBank) family of apps exclusively for the Mac and for iOS devices. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2021 IGG Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac OS X, iPhone, iPod, iPad and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.

###
A research project is underway to detect the presence and location of TB infection in badgers in the southern edge area.

Farmers in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and East Sussex - collectively known as the southern edge area - are being urged to take part.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) says the evidence of the presence and location of TB infection in badgers within each area is valuable to inform future policy.

Starting in spring 2021 and ending in 2022, the aim is to collect a number of fresh, found-dead badger carcasses, especially those killed on roads in these counties.

These will then be examined and tested for TB, APHA explains.

It comes as the government is implementing a new strategy looking to eradicate bovine TB in England.

A key feature of the strategy is the division of the country into three bovine TB risk areas  High Risk, Low Risk and the Edge Area which lies between the two.

These risk areas determine the disease control measures used in both cattle and wildlife.

"We are looking for volunteers to help collect badger carcasses," APHA said.

"Carcasses will need to be fresh and collected according to a simple protocol that will be provided along with collection kits containing everything needed by collectors.

"Carcasses will then be collected from your premises by a specialist courier and taken to the University of Nottingham.

"We offer a contribution of 25 towards any personal expenses associated with the collection of carcasses."

Farmers and landowners willing to support the project have been told to email southernedgerta@apha.gov.uk.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The Biden administration has expressed concern over the Chinese governments role in drafting a forthcoming World Health Organization report about the source of the coronavirus pandemic.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken suggested that Beijing had too much influence over the report, which is being compiled for the global health agency by a team of international experts as well as by Chinese scientists. Several of the Chinese scientists hold official positions or work at government-run institutions.

Weve got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it, Mr. Blinken said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNNs State of the Union.

Mr. Blinkens remarks come as the Chinese government works to take control of the narrative before the release of the report, which will explore several theories for how the virus initially spread to humans.
Eurasia Mining has established itself as a considerable force in Russian PGMs

( ) signed a legally binding agreement to create a new joint venture with Russian state-owned company Rosgeo.

The deal expands Eurasia's portfolio of mining assets on the Kola Peninsula and allows the company to gain a 75% equity stake in nine new mining assets. The remaining 25% will continue to be held by Rosgeo.

Eurasia paid an initial consideration of approximately US$500,000 in cash for its share in the joint venture.

In addition, incremental consideration will become payable under an earn-out structure if Eurasia decides to proceed to develop the assets.

The total of the initial consideration and the earnout is capped at 75% of the value set under relevant Russian law if the assets had initially been auctioned by the Russian state instead of being acquired by Rosgeo.

The decision to proceed is at Eurasia's discretion.

The new assets have a total of 104.6mln ounces of platinum-equivalent resources as at the end of 2020, comprised of four palladium, platinum, copper, nickel and cobalt open pit deposits.

Each of the four open pit deposits, which are located directly adjacent to Monchetundra, have already been studied by Eurasia with block modelling and open pits' optimisations performed by the company.

A further five mostly open pit palladium, platinum, copper, nickel and cobalt assets are also included in the joint venture.

In total Eurasia has already invested some US$8.3mln across the additional assets.
Family and friends of a New Jersey toddler mauled to death by two dogs earlier this month held a rally for Azizs Law, seeking accountability from owners with their dogs attack.

We dont want any family to [go through] that. We dont want that, the boys father, Tanveer Ahmed told reporters from outside the familys Carteret home Sunday evening.

Aziz Ahmed, 3, was killed earlier this month when two unregistered dogs broke into his backyard and attacked him and his mother as his older brother was present, officials said.

Mourners use orange glow sticks at a vigil in the memory of Aziz Ahmed on Sunday March, 28, 2021.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Shabana Mohammed, Azizs mother who was hospitalized after the attack, stood silently with her husband and older son in the driveway of the familys Laurel Street home. She wore a mask as she wept, clutching a childrens blanket.

Sunday was the first time the family had been home since their son died, a family friend told the media. Ahmed and Mohammed declined to answer additional questions.

The two dogs, both pit bulls, were euthanized following the attack, borough officials said.

Anger ran through the event, as family, friends, and community members chanted for justice, rallying for an Azizs Law that would allow for the criminal prosecution of owners whose dogs cause fatal injury.

If were not safe in our own backyard, where are we safe? Nowhere! a rally organizer cried during hours-long chants.

He was murdered by those dogs, and the owners should be held liable, Oma Morgan, a coworker of Ahmeds and a co-organizer of a GoFundMe for the family, told NJ Advance Media.

While civil charges are straightforward, experts say its difficult to criminally prosecute dog owners when their dogs attack, even if those attacks prove fatal. New Jersey does not currently have a specific charge for dog attacks.

The prosecutors office has not contacted the family, she said, calling for the owners to face criminal charges, and change the laws if prosecution is not possible.

The rain held off as an imam lead a large crowd in prayer, winds gusting under a dark sky.

I know the rain is coming. That is a sign that all of us together ... open our hands and to bow down our head to the creator and to pray on behalf of Aziz, the imam said, followed by a moment of silence.

A large, masked crowd gathered in the street outside the home, holding glow sticks in place of candles, as the ambulance that responded to the scene chimed three times, once for each year of Azizs life.

Morgan said she was not asking for a ban on pit bulls, but a way for irresponsible owners to be held responsible for their dogs actions.

Im not saying its the pit bulls fault, its the owners fault-- whether they saved them, beat them whatever they did to train them, and Aziz paid the price, Oma said.

A fundraiser has raised nearly $220,000 to help relocate the family from their Carteret home. Ahmed and Mohammed have been unable to work, Morgan said.

Aziz Ahmed's parents Tanveer Ahmed Shabana Mohammad with a family friend at a vigil in honor and remember Aziz on Sunday March, 28, 2021.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- A plan by a North Royalton developer to build a medical office building near the southeast corner of Royalton and State roads has been approved by the Planning Commission.

The developer, Norwood Development Group, also wants to construct a second building, which would contain a bank, on the same site. It hopes to present the bank plan to the commission later this year.

Dean Asimes, owner of Norwood Development, told cleveland.com last week that he was in dialogue with a major user that would lease the medical building. However, he said no tenant had yet been signed.

There is a need for a high-quality medical office in North Royalton, Asimes said.

Asimes said he would like to start construction by the end of this year and finish the medical office building in 2022.

The supply chain on some building materials is still a little disrupted, like by nine to 10 months, due to COVID-19, Asimes said. Hopefully, with COVID dying down, we can have a more predictable supply chain and get started as quickly as we can.

Norwood will construct the office building in the middle of a long, 2-acre lot off the south side of Royalton, just a few lots east of State and next to a KFC restaurant. The lot is in the citys mixed-use town center district.

In addition to Royalton and KFC, the lot is bordered by the residential streets Swan Lake Boulevard to the east and Trumpeter Boulevard to the south. Norwood, under the limited liability company Tri Norwood Holdings LLC, bought the property in March 2019.

Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz said Norwood tore down a house and garage that was on the property. According to the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office website, both structures were demolished in 2020.

Antoskiewicz said that at the March 3 Planning Commission meeting, residents on Swan Lake expressed concern that flooding on their properties would worsen because of the new office building and parking lot. He said stormwater naturally flows toward Swan Lake.

However, Antoskiewicz said Norwoods plan includes an underground stormwater control system that would store excessive rain and release it slowly, thus alleviating existing flooding issues.

As for the bank building, that would stand north of the medical office, closer to Royalton. Asimes hopes that building will also be finished in 2022, but when asked which bank he is proposing, he said he wasnt at liberty to say.

Norwood Group has developed other projects in North Royalton. Those projects include a multi-tenant building, which opened in 2016, containing Sherwin-Williams Co. and Freedom Design Kitchen & Bath on Royalton just west of State.

Also, Norwood built Royalton Business Park, another multi-tenant building, on Royalton just west of York Road. Construction of that project started in 1996, according to Crains Cleveland Business, and it cost more than $4 million.

Read more from the Sun Star Courier.
Angela Stanton-King said that the abortion industry is committing "black genocide" by targeting people of color in the United States.

Attending the "Roe v. Wade" movie premiere held at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 26 in Atlanta, Stanton-King addressed the black community in her response to the Christian Post when asked the significance of her attendance.

"I'm here today because it's important for us to make sure that we are speaking out and making sure that the black community is aware of this black genocide, how abortion has specifically targeted black life," she said.

"When we are saying that 'black lives matter,' we have to acknowledge the fact that black life begins in the womb," she explained and continued, "so when we talk about white supremacy, the black community needs to understand that they're playing a role in white supremacy when they're aborting the black lives of their own children."

Stanton-King's presence at the premiere was on behalf of her godmother and Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, Alveda King, a longtime pro-life advocate who's featured in the film.

Soon to be released in theaters on April 2, the "Roe v. Wade" film showcases the historical 1966-1973 events which overturned then anti-abortion state laws leading to the founding of pro-abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood. Its founder, Margaret Sanger and her mission "to eradicate blacks and people with disabilities" were among the highlights covered in the film.

In her 2019 talk with the American Family Salvation, Alveda King revealed that Sanger once said that "colored people are like weeds, and they need to be eliminated. They need to be exterminated."

"My godmother, Alveda King," said Stanton-King, "had a huge part in this movie. Now that she has kind of grown a little bit older, she's passing the torch and I'm here to be a voice to let people know, 'Hey, when we say 'black lives matter,' we're gonna talk about Roe v. Wade and why it needs to be overturned."

Talking further about her godmother's influence on her, Stanton-King shared her first meeting with Alveda King. That was 15 years ago when the younger Stanton-King thought that abortion was not much of an issue.

"She told me that I would be a pro-life advocate," a beaming Stanton-King said of her godmother.

"Back then I was pro-choice, I didn't believe her. But look, I'm here now. I've been walking with her for the last 15 years and she is absolutely a pro-life warrior," she added.

Stanton-King is the founder and president of the American King Foundation whose mission, according to their official statement, is "to reunite American families separated by mass incarceration with a pathway to justice, economic stability, and relational wellness." She's also the community outreach coordinator for The Alive Center which aims to raise awareness how Planned Parenthood clinics (85%) are in black neighborhoods, whereas "white suburban neighborhood get fertility clinics."

"Civil rights for life! We are fighting! We just want people to understand how important it is for people of color to understand how they have been targeted," said Stanton-King at the end of her brief interview with CP.
A C-27 J Spartan aircraft of the Romanian Air Force is carrying out on Monday an international humanitarian assistance mission in support of the Republic of Moldova, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the transport of 1.5 tonnes of sanitary protection equipment, a Ministry of National Defence (MApN) release sent to AGERPRES informs.

The mission is carried out at the request of the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces in Europe.

According to the Ministry of National Defence, the aircraft took off at 08.00, from 90th Otopeni Air Base, bound for Luxembourg, for loading the equipment and transporting it to Chisinau.
DENVER, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Theralink Technologies, Inc. (OTC: OBMP), a precision medicine and molecular profiling company specializing in patented, biomarker assay services that target multiple areas of oncology, today announced that the Company has received Clinical and Public Health License from the State of California for its Golden, Colorado laboratory, effective March 11th, 2021.

The CLIA program is put in place by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to regulate laboratories that test human specimens. The results of the California CLIA License allow Theralink to accept and perform testing on human specimens from California. The California Clinical and Public Health License survey showed that all CLIA Condition-level requirements were met, adhering to the highest standards in the industry.

"We are thrilled to receive the California Clinical and Public Health License for our Golden, CO laboratory as this was truly a team effort. Receiving the California licensure is a key step in our growth strategy as we plan to expand our testing capabilities and uncover key insights that may improve cancer treatment for breast cancer patients," said Mick Ruxin, M.D., President & CEO of Theralink Technologies, Inc. "With the Clinical and Public Health License from the State of California, we expect to begin receiving, testing and billing for patient's breast cancer tumor specimens in California in Q2 2021."

About Theralink Technologies, Inc.

Theralink Technologies is a proteomics-based, molecular profiling and precision medicine company with a CLIA-certified laboratory located in Golden, Colorado. Through its unique and patented phosphoprotein and protein biomarker platform and LDTs, Theralink's technology targets multiple areas of oncology and drug development. Theralink provides precision oncology data through its powerful Theralink Reverse Phase Protein Array assays to assist the biopharmaceutical industry and clinical oncologists in identifying likely responders and non-responders to both FDA-approved and investigational drug treatments. Theralink intends to help improve cancer outcomes for patients, help reveal therapeutic options for oncologists, and support biopharmaceutical drug development by using a beyond-genomics approach to molecular profiling that directly measures drug target levels and activity. For more information, please visit www.theralink.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, anything relating or referring to future financial results, patient enrollment and plans for future business development activities, and are thus prospective. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties some of which cannot be predicted or quantified based on current expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in reports filed by Theralink Technologies with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the financial condition of our business and although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Consequently, future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward the forward-looking statements contained herein. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release statements made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

SOURCE Theralink Technologies

Related Links

http://www.theralink.com




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New Delhi, March 29 : Digital wallet and payments company MobiKwik, reportedly planning an initial public offering (IPO) around September this year to raise $200-250 million, on Monday denied claims that sensitive data of millions of its users has been leaked.

Independent cyber security researchers have claimed that a database containing KYC details of nearly 3.5 million users of MobiKwik is up for sale on the Dark Web.

First tweeted by independent cyber security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia and then by French researcher Elliot Alderson on Monday, the alleged breach includes 8.2TB data containing users' phone numbers, emails, hashed passwords, addresses, bank accounts and card details.

MobiKwik, however, vehemently denied any such breach.

"Some media-crazed so-called security researchers have repeatedly attempted to present concocted files wasting precious time of our organisation as well as members of the media," the company said in a statement shared with IANS.

"We thoroughly investigated and did not find any security lapses. Our user and company data is completely safe and secure," the company added.

Alderson had tweeted: "Probably the largest KYC data leak in history." Rajaharia had claimed earlier that "11 crore Indian cardholder's cards' data including personal details and KYC soft copy (PAN, Aadhaar etc) allegedly leaked from the company's server in India".

According to the researchers, the entire database is available for 1.5 Bitcoin (nearly $84,000) on the Dark Web.

The reports surfaced as MobiKwik last week raised $7.2 million in a funding round prior to the listing on the stock exchange, according to regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

According to Entrackr, Mobikwik's post-money valuation currently stands at $493 million with the latest funding round.
WINNIPEG, MB, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV: MPH) (OTC: MCUJF), announced today that it will be participating in Renmark Financial Communications Inc.'s live Virtual Non-Deal Roadshow Series to discuss its latest investor presentation on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 1:00 PM EST (12:00 PM CST, 11:00 AM MST). Medicure welcomes stakeholders, investors, and other individual followers to register and attend this live event.

The presentation will feature Dr. Albert Friesen, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board. Topics to be covered will include the latest investor presentation followed by a live Q&A. Investors interested in participating in this event will need to register using the link below. As a reminder, registration for the live event may be limited but access to the replay after the event will be on the Company's website (www.medicure.com).

REGISTER HERE:

https://www.renmarkfinancial.com/events/renmark-virtual-non-deal-roadshow-tsx-v-mph/2021-03-30-170000

To ensure smooth connectivity, please access this link using the latest version of Google Chrome.

About Medicure Inc.

Medicure is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the U.S. cardiovascular market. The present focus of the Company is the marketing and distribution of AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection and ZYPITAMAG (pitavastatin) tablets in the United States, where they are sold through the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Medicure Pharma Inc. Medicure also operates Marley Drug, Inc. ("Marley"), a pharmacy located in North Carolina that offers an Extended Supply mail order drug program serving all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Marley is committed to improving the health status of its patients and the communities they serve while reducing overall health care costs for employers and other health care consumers. For more information visit www.marleydrug.com. To learn more about The Extended Supply Generic Drug Program call 800.286.6781 or email [email protected]. For more information on Medicure please visit www.medicure.com. For additional information about AGGRASTAT, refer to the full Prescribing Information. For additional information about ZYPITAMAG, refer to the full Prescribing Information.

About Renmark Financial Communications Inc.

Founded in 1999, Renmark Financial Communications Inc. is North America's leading retail investor relations firm. Employing a strategic and comprehensive mix of exposure tactics; Renmark hosts Virtual Non-Deal Roadshows as well as in-person corporate presentations and maintains daily communications with thousands of brokers and money managers across Canada and the United States. Renmark empowers its publicly-traded clientele to maximize their visibility within the financial community and strengthen their investor audience.

SOURCE Medicure Inc.

Related Links

www.medicure.com


US robotics company Boston Dynamics have unveiled a new machine to work in warehouses that can shift up 800 boxes per hour.

The robot  dubbed 'Stretch'  is the first from the company that was developed to handle just one specific task.

The product was inspired by requests for such a design received from companies all around the world, the firm explained.

Boston Dynamics have yet to reveal how much a Stretch unit will cost.

US robotics company Boston Dynamics have unveiled a new machine to work in warehouses that can shift up 800 boxes per hour. Pictured: the 'Stretch' robot moves boxes

'We heard pretty much universally across warehousing that truck unloading is one of the most physically difficult and unpleasant jobs,' Boston Dynamics' vice president of business development, Michael Perry, told Reuters.

'And that's where Stretch comes into play. It's a fast moving, highly versatile robot.' he added.

'We're looking at picking up boxes around 50 pounds (23 kilograms), and our maximum rate of picking up and moving boxes can reach up to 800 cases per hour.'

Stretch is equipped with an arm that terminates in a smart-gripper with advanced sensing and computer vision cameras that can identify and handle a large variety of boxed as well as shrink-wrapped cases.

Boston Dynamics is perhaps best known for its dog-like 'Spot' and humanoid 'Atlas' robots  which have been made famous by dancing in videos on YouTube.

A controlling stake in the Massachusetts-based company was recently purchased by the Hyundai Motor Group from the SoftBank Group Corp in a deal that valued the robot maker at $1.1 billion (0.8 billion).

According to Mr Perry, the time is ripe for the new 'bot on the block' to capitalise on the ever-increasing consumer demand for speedy home delivery.

Boston Dynamics is perhaps best known for its dog-like 'Spot' and humanoid 'Atlas' robots  which have been made famous by dancing in videos on YouTube

According to analysts, the warehousing sector experienced an extremely strong 2020, with growth expected to continue this year.

Online shopping amid the pandemic has driven the need for a massive expansion in order fulfilment services.

Although Boston Dynamics has yet to release any pricing for Stretch, they have said that the system can be installed 'without requiring costly reconfiguration or investments in new fixed infrastructure.'

This, they explained, is because Stretch has a small mobile base that allows it to move around tight spaces in existing warehouse layouts.
The father of the RE teacher at the centre of a blasphemy row after allegedly showing students a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad fears says his son fears he will be murdered and will never be able to return to his old life.

The teacher, in his 20s, who is not being named, has gone into hiding with his partner after receiving death threats.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, his father said: 'My son keeps breaking down crying and says that it's all over for him.

'He is worried that he and his family are all going to be killed.

'He knows that he's not going to be able to return to work or live in Batley. It's just going to be too dangerous for him and his family.

'Look what happened to the teacher in France who was killed for doing the same thing. Eventually they will get my son and he knows this. His whole world has been turned upside down. He's devastated and crushed.

'When he starts speaking, he just breaks down and cries. He's become an emotional wreck.

'He feels that everything is broken and to be honest, it's hard to console him at the moment because that is the truth.'

The Batley Grammar School teacher sparked fury by allegedly showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a RE lesson. Pictured: Protesters outside the school on Friday

It prompted a wave of protests last week with those taking part in a prayer outside the school in Batley, West Yorkshire. The school was shut down and the unnamed teacher was suspended

The teacher also criticised Batley Grammar School for its handling of the incident.

In the immediate aftermath, the school suspended him and Headteacher Gary Kibble apologised to parents for the 'inappropriate' use of the cartoons, taken from the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

However, his father fumed: 'The school has thrown my son under a bus. The lesson that he delivered in which the picture of the Prophet Muhammad was shown was part of the curriculum, it had been approved by the school. Other teachers have done exactly the same thing.

'So why is my son being victimised like this? The school should have come out fighting for him and made it clear to the protestors that if offence was caused, then it was not my son's fault. It was the school's policy to show this picture, it wasn't an individual decision made by him.'

He revealed that a CCTV camera had been set up to monitor his son's home after neighbours reported gangs of young men arriving at the property to look for him.

His father said: 'Even if he gets his job back, how can he possibly return to Batley Grammar School? It will be far too risky. And how will he be able to walk around the town with his kids, doing normal things knowing that he could be killed?

'Sadly, his life here in Batley is over and it's very daunting for him to think about starting somewhere else afresh.'

The teacher's mother has also gone into hiding following fears that other members of the family may also be attacked and is currently not staying at her marital home in Batley.

Protesters spoke to the Press during demonstrations at the school gates during the furore

He said: 'My wife is petrified that we'll also be targeted and has become a bag of nerves since all this happened. She's unable to stay in our home. This whole incident has had a devastating impact on us, and we are all scared about the situation we find ourselves in.'

He revealed that a CCTV camera is also being set up at his home and that police officers have also visited to provide advice on how he and his wife can keep themselves safe.

Referring to the protestors that gathered outside Batley Grammar School, he said: 'This issue obviously means a lot to them and I can understand that.

'But the school and my son have issued a full apology, and both have said that they won't allow the same thing to happen again. That should be the end of the matter and my son should be allowed to get on with his life.'

He described his son as a 'stand up' Yorkshireman who had worked hard throughout his life, holding down a job at a local supermarket to help him pay his way through university, where he studied Religious Education.

The father said: 'He balanced studying, bringing up kids and working in a local Tesco and has achieved a lot in his life. I can't really fault him, he's a fantastic son and a role model dad.'

He said that as a youngster his son was a keen amateur rugby player at Dewsbury Celtic Rugby League Club and is also a passionate supporter of Batley Rugby League Club, where he holds a season ticket.

He added: 'He's just a normal Yorkshire lad who loves his rugby and looks after his family. I'm very proud of him and it breaks my heart to see him so broken.'

The incident sent shockwaves around the Yorkshire school last week - but Muslim community leaders have now called on protests to stop.

Community leaders were concerned that with children, having had their education disputed over the past year due to Covid, they faced yet more missed lessons after the school was shut early for the Easter holidays.

A petition in support of him keeping his job has been signed by 64,000 people.

Now, leaders of nearby mosques revealed they have urged people to stay away from the gates after the school said it would carry out a formal investigation.

The French teacher beheaded for showing pupils Prophet cartoon The family of the Batley Grammar School teacher at the centre of the Prophet Muhammad picture row fear that he may meet the same fate as French man Samuel Paty, who was beheaded close to a school where he taught outside Paris. Mr Paty, 47, a history and geography teacher was targeted for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students and was killed in October 2020 outside the gates of the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north of the French capital. His killing stunned France and led to an outpouring of support at memorial ceremonies and marches around the country with President Emmanuel Macron hailing him as 'a quiet hero' and 'the face of the Republic.' He also posthumously granted the teacher France's highest civilian award, the Legion d'Honneur. Mr Paty's killer, Abdullakh Anzorov, 18 was shot dead by police shortly after the attack. But seven people, including two students and a parent of one of Mr Paty's pupils, were detained in the days following the killing. Prosecutors later revealed that said six of the suspects had been charged with complicity in a terrorist murder and placed under judicial investigation, which is continuing. As he had done in similar lessons on free speech in previous years, Mr Paty warned students that he was about to show a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. He said anyone who thought they might be offended could close their eyes. Two teenage students, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were allegedly paid around 300 (270; $355) by the killer to identify Mr Paty outside the school. The killer told the students he wanted to 'hit' and 'humiliate' Mr Paty and 'make him apologise for the cartoon of the Prophet [Muhammad].' Prosecutors have also established that an online hate campaign was orchestrated against Mr Paty by a parent of one of his pupils, one of those arrested. He was also found to have exchanged WhatsApp messages with Anzorov in the days leading up to the attack. Mr Paty's funeral was attended by some 400 guests, including senior political figures while thousands attended rallies in his honour around the country. Last December, Anzorov was buried in his native Chechnya with around 200 mourners attending the service and hailing him as a 'lion of Islam.' Advertisement

Snowdon Mosque chairman Akooji Badat said: 'We're working together with the parents and the teacher, and the school have been kind to all the sectors by suspending the teacher so there's no real cause for a peaceful protest outside the school.

'The school has done its job and cooperated well with us.'

Speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community', one protester 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.'

However, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick called reports the teacher was in hiding 'very disturbing' and branded the protests 'not right', adding teachers must be free to 'appropriately show images of the Prophet Mohammed'.

However, Dr Alyaa Ebbiary, a researcher in Islamic studies at the SOAS University of London, disagreed with Mr Jenrick's comments.

'From the majority Muslim community perspective it's safe to say that showing images of the Prophet Muhammad would not be considered a 'right', but at best disrespectful, and at worst a provocation,' she said.

'For some pious Muslims, it's so hurtful to the point of going beyond the realm of common decency - I know that's hard for a Western liberal mindset to understand.

'The matter of depicting a Prophet in images is very problematic in the Islamic tradition, and so creating images, in and of itself, is considered disrespectful to someone held to be sacred.'

West Yorkshire Police said a number of complaints have been made in relation to the incident. Officers attended both protests after dozens of people stood outside the school, partially blocking the road.

A police spokesperson said: 'As might be expected given the high public profile of what has happened, there have been a number of complaints about various matters relating to this issue.

'These are being reviewed in more detail but this is an ongoing situation.'

It comes after MailOnline revealed that the RE teacher reportedly 'defended his right to freedom of speech' in a heated telephone call with the father of a Muslim pupil.

The teacher, who has not been named, is also disclosed as saying 'British values allowed him to present a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad to his class of year nine students as part of their course work'.

The Muslim parent demanded to speak to the teacher after his year 9 son returned from school and reported the matter to him.

When the teacher returned the call he told the father that he had warned his pupils that some would find it offensive, but his aim was to pose a question to his class.

He believed he was 'right' to show the cartoon which has offended Muslims across the world. He wanted to discuss whether the cartoonist was to blame or the terrorists who had committed murder over it in France after the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo had published it.

The angry father said the teacher did not appear apologetic when told that showing the cartoon to his son was offensive and instead was 'arrogant'. The teacher asked the father to voice his concerns to another staff member.

In a group WhatsApp message, shared among Islamic parents and protesters who have demonstrated outside the school and seen by MailOnline, the father said: 'He should have known better.

'I expressed I was not happy with his actions and he had caused offence to the community. He should have known better, after all these images caused international outrage.

'He was not apologetic and was arrogant in his response that what he did was right. He stated that he knew some of the pupils would tell their parents.'
Good morning, North State. Here's what you need to know to start your day on Monday, March 29.

3 arrested in Sunday night Chico bar fight

Chico police arrested three people and an employee was knocked unconscious at Quackers bar on East Avenue Sunday night. Police said the three suspects are now facing public intoxication charges and may face battery charges. Witnesses said that the arrests came after a fight broke out. The ambulance left the scene with its sirens and lights on, Action News Now is working to learn the extent of any injuries.

CHP investigates deadly freeway shooting on I-5 in Sacramento

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is investigating a deadly shooting on Interstate 5 in Sacramento. It happened Sunday in the southbound lanes between Arena Boulevard to Interstate 80. Officers said one man was killed in the shooting and another person was injured and taken to a nearby hospital. The CHP said the shooting does not appear to be random.

Cal Fire Butte County cancels residential burning for Monday

Do not think about starting a burn pile in your backyard today. Cal Fire Butte County is canceling all residential burning today. The agency said a high wind advisory could bring winds up to 35 miles per hour -- with gusts expected to be up to 50 miles per hour. As of right now, they are continuing ag burns the ban is set to last until Tuesday morning. Shasta County Cal Fire officials also announced Monday is a no-burn day in all areas of Shasta County.

Wildfire in Siskiyou County 80% contained

Cal Fire is working to put out a wildfire burning in Siskiyou County fanned by gusty winds. The Refuge Fire grew to 873 acres Sunday. It is now 80% contained. Cal Fire said the fire started Saturday in the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge near lower Klamath Lake and Dorris Brownell roads. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. There is no report of any immediate threat to homes.

American Legion hosts Vietnam Veteran ceremony Monday

There will be a celebration of Vietnam veterans today, hosted by a regional organization. At noon, post 167 of the American Legion is conducting a ceremony in celebration of all Vietnam veterans. It will be held at the corner of Main and Pine streets in Red Bluff.

Derek Chauvin's trial in death of George Floyd begins with 9 minutes and 29 seconds of infamous video

The murder trial of a former Minneapolis police officer has begun. Derek Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter in connection to the death of George Floyd. Jury selection lasted nearly three weeks and the judge said the trial could take anywhere from two to four weeks. Security has been tightened around the Hennepin County government center where the trial is being held.
An 8-foot tall steel fence topped with concertina razor wire circles the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 29, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Bipartisan Proposal Would Ban Permanent Fencing Around US Capitol

A bipartisan pair of senators on March 25 introduced legislation that would ban permanent fencing around the outer perimeter of the U.S. Capitol complex, following widespread criticism about the fencing erected amid security concerns following the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

The legislation was announced by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) at a press conference alongside Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who last month introduced an act in the House that would prohibit the installation of permanent fencing on Capitol grounds.

The Capitol is the citadel of democracy, and we should not turn it into a fortress, Van Hollen told reporters. We should not wall the peoples house off from the people of the United States.

The pairs bicameral bill, based on legislation introduced in the House, prohibits funding for permanent fencing around the U.S. Capitol complex.

It was erected following the incidents that occurred on Jan. 6, amid fears of violence during President Joe Bidens Jan. 20 inauguration.

The fencing, however, remained after Inauguration Day, prompting more than 40 Republicans to sign a letter (pdf) calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to remove what they feared was poised to become permanent military-style fencing around the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds a news conference one day after Congress passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-related stimulus package at the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington on March 11, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

On March 24, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) said that all fencing around the outer perimeter of the U.S. Capitol complex had been removed, saying theres no credible threat at this time. The USCP said, however, that the fencing closer to the Capitol building, the inner perimeter, will remain in place, as will the National Guardsmen.

The U.S. Capitol is the most iconic symbol of democracy in the world. How we respond to the January 6th attack will send a clear message to everyone watching, Blunt said in a statement. Over the past two months, we have come together in a bipartisan way to look at the security failures that occurred and determine what needs to be done to prevent a similar attack from happening again.

There are clearly steps that need to be taken to strengthen security around the Capitol complex, but permanent fencing should not be a part of that response, the Republican added, noting that the bill has bipartisan backing in both chambers of Congress.

Norton told reporters on March 25 that permanent fencing would send an un-American and unnecessary message to the nation and the world by transforming our democracy from one that is accessible and of the people to one that is exclusive and fearful of its own citizens.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 21, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Already the distance between government and the people has grown. Trust in government is at historic lows. We should not entrench that distance further by placing intimidating barriers between ourselves as public servants and the people we serve, especially when such barriers are neither effective nor necessary, she said.

Norton told The Epoch Times last month that a way to bolster security without a fence is to increase intelligence gathering.

Were able now to find out what people are thinking and doing through the devices that they use, she said. And those are available to intelligence officials, as well.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 21:43:34|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China's National Immigration Administration said Monday that a total of 7,194 individuals have been seized for illegal border crossing since the end of 2020, up 326 percent year on year.

Investigations were carried out into 2,514 criminal cases involving actions that jeopardized border security, capturing over 6,200 suspects nationwide, since the Ministry of Public Security launched a related crackdown late last year.

Targeting criminal networks and organizers behind the scenes, Chinese police and border authorities have busted 93 groups disrupting border security, as well as 25 dens functioning as transfer stations, seizing 412 vehicles.

Efforts have also been made to improve the efficiency of such work, such as by launching joint law enforcement efforts and enhancing information sharing.

An official with the administration said Chinese police and border authorities will further strengthen the crackdown on border control-related crimes, resolutely prevent the imported COVID-19 cases due to illegal border crossing, and safeguard national security and social stability. Enditem
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An author known for her exploration of American gender politics will connect with a virtual audience in Syracuse on Wednesday as part of the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series.

Meg Wolitzer, author The Female Persuasion and The Wife, will discuss her writing process, her award-winning novels, and the importance of books.

Wolitzers latest novel, The Female Persuasion, stands out among the sea of romance novels for telling a different kind of love storythe relationship between a role model and mentee.

The book is about the person you might meet when youre young who changes your life, who sees something in you, and sort of, you know, changes the path of your life, Wolitzer told Syracuse.com.

Of her numerous works, Wolitzer said she has different favorites depending on the day.

She started writing The Female Persuasion before the #MeTooMovement, inspired by ideas she grew up learning and exploring through her mother and in her young adult life, Wolitzer said.

The idea of women helping one another remains emotionally resonant to me, so I feel something for those characters without a doubt to this day, Wolitzer said.

Catch up on your Meg Wolitzer reading before you log on to watch her compelling talk and Q&A with FOCL on March 31!... Posted by Friends of the Central Library on Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Wolitzer said the pandemic has influenced her current writing, and that an upcoming book will incorporate material related to this historical moment.

The author spoke of her struggle with the writing process, particularly the notorious writers block.

I think that the notion really has to be of sort of being excited and passionate about what youre writing but its hard to sustain that over a great period of time, Wolitzer said.

Reading a favorite author can help writers remember being excited about a particular passage or work, she added.

Not all days are great writing days, Wolitzer said. Producing on-demand is difficult for authors, but writing on deadline and forcing yourself to create can be helpful. Personally, deadlines excite Wolitzer because she enjoys giving her editor new material to read.

I like to know that someone is waiting for a book, Wolitzer said. I have a very good relationship with my editor and I know that it, you know, it means a lot that shes waiting for my next book.

For writers who dont have editors, its difficult to produce without someone to read your material, she added.

I think for writers who are starting out and dont have that, its harder, because you can feel like youre writing into a void, Wolitzer said. When you have somebody whos waiting to read it, it feels different, which is why I always suggest that people have what I call a designated reader. Somebody whose taste they share in books and who also wishes them well and that might be a good person to show your work to.

Now in its 26th year, the Rosamond Gifford Lecture series has brought more than 150 authors to entertain, inform and inspire Central New York, and is one of the largest library-related series in the United States.

The virtual lecture will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31. Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased through Ticketmaster. More information is available on the Friends of the Central Library website.

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Expressing warm congratulations on 82nd Pakistan Day, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that China supported Pakistan in pursuing peaceful diplomatic polices and it would work with Pakistan to inject more positive energy into the regional peace and stability as well as development

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :Expressing warm congratulations on 82nd Pakistan Day, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that China supported Pakistan in pursuing peaceful diplomatic polices and it would work with Pakistan to inject more positive energy into the regional peace and stability as well as development.

"China expresses warm congratulations on the 82nd Pakistan Day. We believe that Pakistani Government and people will make further progress on national building and revitalization," Chinese Foreign Ministry's Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing held at the International Press Center.

While taking note of the positive remarks delivered by President Dr. Arif Alvi about China on Pakistan Day Parade last week, he said, "We highly appreciate that. China also values the All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between the two countries." In the speech, President Alvi had said, "China is our closest and friendliest country." "President Alvi also noted in his speech that Pakistan would focus on development and peaceful coexistence with other countries and he urged world especially South Asian countries and their leaders to abandoned hatred, bias and religious extremism to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability," he added.

The spokesperson remarked that seeking peace and development is the common aspiration of countries in the region.

On Pakistan's peaceful diplomatic policies and its efforts to help secure peaceful solution of Afghan issue, he said, "China supports Pakistan in pursuing peaceful diplomatic policies and we support the peace and reconciliation process of Afghanistan." On the relations between Pakistan and India, he said, "We are happy about the active interactions between Pakistan and India." He said that China would like to work with Pakistan to inject more positive energy into regional peace and stability as well as development.

"I would like to take the opportunity of the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties to work with Pakistan to fight Corona virus and carry forward our traditional friendship to expand our all dimensional cooperation and build a closer China-Pakistan community of shared future in a new era," he added.

Pakistan and China are celebrating the seven decades of friendship and establishment of diplomatic relations this year and launched a series of more than 100 activities in the both countries.




Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won speaks during a virtual meeting with 50 people from different parts of society at the KCCI in downtown Seoul, Monday. The meeting replaced Chey's supposed inauguration ceremony after officially beginning his term, March 24. Yonhap
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While more than 100 million Americans are being sent a third payment as part of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill passed in March, theres already talk among lawmakers about a fourth government check that could be coming your way in 2021.

President Joe Biden has talked about a potential $3 trillion spending bill for 2021, according to a report in Cnet.com. The third stimulus bill would focus on revving the economy, combatting inequality, and repairing the countrys infrastructure that has been fractured due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the report says.

A group of 10 progressive senators, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, in March asked the president to consider including recurring stimulus payments in the next spending bill, the report says.

We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan. This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, said the senators.

To date, 64 members of Congress have pushed for more direct payouts to Americans until the pandemic ends, according to a Newsweek report.

In January, 53 House Democrats asked Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for recurring stimulus checks in a letter, where they said that one more check is not enough, the report says.

It was very encouraging to see the inclusion of direct cash assistance in your current economic rescue plan. However, it is clear that during this unprecedented time in our nations history that we must take additional unprecedented action, the group said.

THIRD STIMULUS

If you are eligible for the third stimulus check but have yet to receive payment, you can learn when the payment will hit your bank account by using the Internal Service Revenues (IRS) Get My Payment tool.

You can use the Get My Payment tool, available in English and Spanish, only on IRS.gov. It updates once per day, usually overnight.

IF YOURE ELIGIBLE

Many families will get more money from the third stimulus bill than they did from the first two stimulus packages because payments are being sent for adult dependents.

Unlike the first two stimulus payments, the third payout is not restricted to children under 17. Eligible families will get a payment based on all of their qualifying dependents claimed on their return, including older relatives, like college students, adults with disabilities, parents and grandparents.

The payment per person will be larger for most people than what they received from previous packages.

Most families will get $1,400 per person, including all dependents claimed on their tax return. Typically, this means a single person with no dependents will get $1,400, while a family of four (married couple with two dependents) will get $5,600.

To qualify for the full amount, an individual must have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or below. For individuals who are the head of household, the adjusted gross income must be $112,500 or below. If youre a married couple filing jointly, total yearly earnings must be $150,000 or below to receive the full stimulus check.

No action is needed by most taxpayers to receive payment.

PREVIOUS STIMULUS PAYMENTS

The first round of stimulus under former President Donald Trump sent checks in the amount of $1,200 to individuals who filed a tax return with an adjusted gross income of up to $75,000. Payments were reduced for singles earning up to $99,000 -- it dropped $5 for every $100 in income above $75,000. Individuals who earned more than $99,000 did not receive a check.

Married couples who filed a joint tax return in 2018 got $2,400, as long as the combined adjusted gross income was up to $150,000  those earning up to $198,000 received a partial payment.

Eligible dependents aged 17 and under got $500.

After much negotiations, the second stimulus check sent $600 to all eligible Americans and dependents.

IRS: Stimulus payments can hit bank accounts as early as this weekend

Additional information is available on IRS.gov.


Specialty teams on Monday set free a large container ship that had stopped international trade through the Suez Canal.

For nearly one week, the ship has brought one of the worlds most important sea trade routes to a complete stop. It held up nearly $9 billion of trade each day.

Several tugboats pulled the large ship, called the Ever Given, from the canals side, where it has been stuck since last Tuesday.

The teams pulled the 220,000-ton ship toward the Great Bitter Lake, which is halfway between the north and south end of the canal. Experts will examine the ship there.

Video released by the Suez Canal Authority showed the Ever Given moving, surrounded by the tugboats that helped free it. The tugboats sounded their horns to celebrate the end of the crisis.

We pulled it off! said Peter Berdowski, the head of Boskalis, the specialty company that was asked to move the Ever Given. He said his team and experts from the Suez Canal Authority had successfully refloated the Ever Giventhereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again.

It remained unclear when ships will be permitted to enter the canal for normal passage. At least 367 ships, carrying everything from oil to cattle, are waiting to pass at both ends of the canal.

It is estimated that it could take more than 10 days to clear the number of waiting ships. Many ships did not wait and left to travel around the Cape of Good Hope at Africas southern tip. That route takes two weeks longer because it adds 5,000-kilometers. It also costs hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

The freeing of the Ever Given succeeded after heavy equipment pulled up dirt that was holding the front of the ship in place. Ten tugboats pushed and pulled it for five days. Early Monday morning the ship began to pull free.

It was not clear if the Ever Given would continue to its original destination, Rotterdam, or if it would go to a port for repairs.

The Ever Given flies the flag of Panama and is owned by a Japanese company. It normally carries goods from Asia to Europe.

Officials did not offer a time for the canal to reopen. The Suez Canal carries over 10 percent of international trade, including seven percent of the worlds oil. Over 19,000 ships passed through last year, said canal officials.

Millions of barrels of oil and gas move through the canal from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America. Goods made in China that are being carried to Europe also must go through the canal, or else take the longer route around Africa.

The shutdown had threatened to stop oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East. It caused fears of extended delays, shortages and rising costs for most of the worlds economies.

The operation to free the Ever Give succeeded using only the tugboats and other heavy equipment. Canal officials did not have to lighten the ship by removing its 20,000 containers.

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

route  n. a way, or path, to get from one place to another

tugboat  n. a small powerful boat that is used for pulling or pushing ships in harbors

horn  n. a device that is used to make a loud noise

stuck adj. unable to be moved from a position

original adj. happening or existing first

destination n. the place where someone or something is going

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page.
[March 29, 2021] AwareGO Named in the 2021 CRN Partner Program Guide

Security awareness training company AwareGO is being acknowledged by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, in its 2021 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide provides a conclusive list of the most distinguished partner programs from leading technology companies that provide products and services through the IT Channel. Given the importance of IT vendor channel programs, each year CRN develops its Partner Program Guide to provide the channel community with a detailed look at the partner programs offered by IT manufacturers, software developers, service companies, and distributors. Vendors are scored based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication. AwareGO offers its partners a highly successful and differentiated best-in-class security training program with no setup fees or required revenue targets making it an attractive solution to help partners of all sizes and geographies expand their business. AwareGO's dedicated partner team with strong sales and marketing support has made it a leading choice for security awareness training. "We are honored to be included in this year's Partner Program Guide as it reflects the significant and ongoing investment we are continuing to make in growing an attractive and mutually beneficial program with te industry's leading security training platform," said Neil Butchart, General Manager, North America at AwareGO. "We are excited to build upon this success in the coming year with the addition of new content and solutions designed to attract and grow our managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service provider (MSSPs) partner network."



"As innovation continues to fuel the speed and intricacy of technology, solution providers need partners that can keep up and support their developing business," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN's 2021 Partner Program Guide gives insight into the strengths of each organization's program to recognize those that continually support and push positive change inside the IT channel. The 2021 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2021 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG.

About AwareGO AwareGO is a global provider of security awareness training solutions that help enterprises improve cybersecurity awareness in the workplace and protect their business from modern-day cybersecurity risks. AwareGO's continuously growing library of training videos applies best-in-class tools and techniques from the advertising industry to create effective one-minute, real-life videos proven to increase security awareness. To date, the company has successfully trained more than 8 million employees worldwide. Based in Iceland, AwareGO has locations in the United States, Czech Republic, and Croatia. For more information visit awarego.com. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by nearly 40 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com. Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  2021. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005459/en/

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Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 45 MBA No GMAT Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 185 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 185 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 45 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 MBA No GMAT Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-mba-no-gmat-degree-programs/

2021 MBA No GMAT Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Auburn University

Babson College

Baylor University

Bethel University

Carson-Newman University

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

College of William and Mary

Colorado State University

Concordia University, Wisconsin

Fitchburg State University

Florida Atlantic University

Florida International University

Frostburg State University

Grand Canyon University

Grantham University

Howard University

Kettering University

Lewis University

Liberty University

Louisiana State University

McKendree University

Northcentral University

Northeastern University

Norwich University

Ohio University

Old Dominion University

Pace University

Prairie View A&M University

Quinnipiac University

Rochester Institute Of Technology

Saint Joseph's College, Maine

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

Sam Houston State University

Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Suffolk University

University Of Delaware

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Louisiana, Monroe

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

University Of Saint Mary

University Of Scranton

Walsh College

West Texas A&M University

Wilmington 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/.
Reshicka Upshaw wakes before dawn to get her children ready for school. She makes sure their teeth are brushed, their clothes clean, their homework done.

Sometimes she prays with them before she starts work:

Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Lead us, guide us, teach us and comfort us as only you know how. Hallelujah.

Here is the tricky part of the prayer. Her children live in Cincinnati. Upshaws job is more than 2,000 miles away at a COVID-19 vaccination site in hard-hit San Bernardino County. Her prayer is a text.

The 40-year-old Upshaw is a travel nurse, one of a band of sisters and brothers who have flown in from all over  Detroit, Syracuse, N.Y., Dyersburg, Tenn., and beyond  to aid and comfort Californias overburdened healthcare system during the year-long pandemic.

They have witnessed golden California  the fifth-largest economy in the world  in its most fragile state.

Travel nurse Reshicka Upshaw, 40, of Cincinnati, gets a thank-you fist bump from Alfred Gutierrez, 70, after he received a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 shot at a mass vaccination site at the Ontario Convention Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

As of March 15, there were nearly 2,000 travel nurses deployed by the California Department of Public Health across the state to help with vaccinations. In San Bernardino County, including Upshaw, there are 160 SnapNurse workers.

"We had a sense of relief when we saw their five buses arrive, said Melissa German, public health program manager for San Bernardino County. Its just what we needed. We wouldnt have been able to do it without them.

It had been a journey.

Upshaw didnt tell her siblings she was going to California until she was on the plane.

It was a rough last year for the family. In June, about 30 family members  her eight children, five of her siblings, cousins and Upshaw herself tested positive for the coronavirus. Upshaw endured headaches and body aches and lost her sense of taste and smell; she couldnt even catch the odor of her 1-year-old daughter's dirty diaper.

"By the grace of God, all of us survived," she said.

In August, after she had recovered, Upshaw told her family that she wanted to work as a travel nurse. It had been a lifelong dream to travel and help people across the country.

Story continues

You could die, her brother said. So she held off.

Travel nurse Reshicka Upshaw holds her 22-month-old daughter, Jayianna Shelton. Upshaw flew her eight children from Cincinnati to be with her for a week in a hotel in Loma Linda. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

But the licensed practical nurse still took on a risky assignment, working with COVID-19 patients at a nursing home. Then a friend told her about giving vaccinations as a travel nurse.

First, she talked it over with her children. Her 22- and 24-year-old daughters agreed to care for their younger siblings, including the baby, their brother and their 13,- 16- and 18-year-old sisters. But, her daughters told her, "You can only do 30 days."

Three days after she applied, on Jan. 20, Upshaw awoke to an email with her plane ticket  for that afternoon.

This was my opportunity to jump out and put the fear behind me, she said.

For decades, travel nurses have flown across the country to aid hospitals struggling with nursing shortages. Employed by agencies, they typically work on short-term contracts at elevated wages.

SnapNurse, founded in 2017, saw a significant increase in demand for travel nurses last year, said Cherie Kloss, the founder and chief executive.

The agency, which has around 5,000 workers in the field, is 90% Black. Black Americans disproportionately work in essential jobs and don't have the luxury of working from home. The rate for Black Americans with COVID-19 was almost two times higher than for white Americans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Travel nurse Marjoy LeBrun, left, from Atlanta, talks to Vernell Jones before giving him the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Ontario Convention Center. Employed by agencies, they typically work on short-term contracts at elevated wages. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Upshaw had seen the virus' toll firsthand, so helping vaccinate would allow her to contribute while avoiding more risky duty. Still, she wondered how relatives would react  and before she put her phone on airplane mode, she texted her siblings, cousins and aunts that she was heading to California. Most of them wished her safe travels.

"What a fine way to tell us," her brother responded.

Upshaw explained that she wouldn't be working with COVID-19 patients. Her brother eventually came around.

Her children had worried about her staying more than a month, but once Upshaw got to California they were more at ease. She talked her 26-year-old daughter  also a nurse  into coming a week later.

"It's important to save as many lives as I can possibly save," Upshaw said. "One vaccination at a time."

The travel nurses stepped off charter buses and out of rental cars, well before county residents lined up outside the Ontario Convention Center. The nurses wore gray and blue scrubs and carried coffee to steel themselves for the 10-hour day ahead.

Upshaw had already been up for hours after calling her 8-year-old son to make sure he was ready for class. Some days Upshaw woke up at 3:35 a.m. for these calls; other days she was able to sleep in until 5:25 a.m.

Out-of-state nurse Leshea Moore, left, helps nurses working for the first time at a mass vaccination site established at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

I woke up this morning, thats the best part, Upshaw said.

The vaccination site was fully booked, with 440 appointments for the morning and 600 in the afternoon.

"Today might be the day we hit a thousand, guys," said Adrianna Nelson, the site manager. "If we hit that, Im going to have to get our sparkling cider."

Some nurses administered vaccines, others did data entry or staffed the observation area. Upshaw was the floater for the day, filling in where needed.

Its important to save as many lives as I can possibly save. One vaccination at a time.

Reshicka Upshaw, traveling nurse from Cincinnati, Ohio

Reshicka Upshaw, right, speaks with Robert Keler, 91, before giving him a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. "It's important to save as many lives as I can possibly save," Upshaw said. "One vaccination at a time." (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Five minutes before the site opened at 10 a.m., Upshaw grabbed her gray visor and headed to the vaccination station outside, meant for residents who needed to get the shot while in their cars because of mobility issues. The nurses stored the Pfizer vaccine bottles inside a red cooler to protect them from the California sun.

Nearby, there were already 40 people in line waiting to get into the convention center. Some leaned on walkers and canes, joked with strangers and thanked workers taking their temperature.

Upshaw estimates that she's given at least 800 vaccines since she arrived in late January. Residents have invited her to church and to join them on vacation in Hawaii. More than one person has told her she has "the hands of an angel."

"I get a lot of them that pray for me," she said.

Within 20 minutes of the site opening, Alejandra Rodriguez and her husband, Ricardo Martinez, were directed into a parking space in front of the vaccination station. Like in a fast-food drive-through, Upshaw asked the screening questions through the Camry's windows.

Leshea Moore, from Michigan, prepares a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Ontario Convention Center. This was the 35-year-old's first stint as a travel nurse. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

In the last two weeks, had they tested positive for COVID? Did they have any ongoing symptoms? Any allergic reactions to vaccines in the past?

"Are you pregnant over there?" Upshaw asked Martinez, which prompted his wife to burst out laughing. The joke helped ease their nerves.

Upshaw put a check mark on a Post-it Note that she stuck to the windshield. It meant that the couple were ready to be vaccinated. Another nurse, Leshea Moore, came over and swabbed Rodriguez's arm with an alcohol wipe through the driver's side window before she pushed the needle into her skin.

It was over in less than 10 seconds. Moore scribbled "10:41"  15 minutes from then  on the Post-it to signal the end of the observation period.

"Thank you so much for coming out today," Moore said.

This was the 35-year-old's first stint as a traveling nurse. When Moore told family members in Detroit that she was leaving for California, they came to her house, gathered in a circle and prayed that she wouldn't catch COVID-19. They acted, Moore said, "like I was about to go to war or something."

But there was no misery of war here, only joy and tears of relief.

"They feel like theyre getting closer to a chance to see their loved ones. Thats what its all about, just giving the world some sense of comfort," Moore said. "It might not be OK, but we are working toward a better way.

When Leasha Moore told family members in Detroit that she was leaving for California, they came to her house, gathered in a circle and prayed that she wouldn't catch COVID-19. They acted, Moore said, "like I was about to go to war or something." (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Upshaw was also waiting to see her loved ones, though she took comfort in knowing her daughter was giving vaccinations just an hour away in Joshua Tree. They would often meet halfway for dinner.

That morning, she fielded calls from her son who told her his baby sister needed Pampers instead of Pull-Ups.

Travel nurse Reshicka Upshaw arrives for duty at a mass vaccination site at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. More than one person has told her she has "the hands of an angel." (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

If his day's going good, hes not calling, she said. Sometimes I have to call him and say, Did you forget about me?

Although some of the travel nurses came with their families, many were apart from their children. They used bathroom and lunch breaks to check on home, and the break room served as an unofficial parenting zone. It's where Upshaw called her daughters on FaceTime shortly after 2 p.m.

She reminded the girls to pack a game for their brother, get their little sister's clothes together and make sure they cleaned the house.

Because the next day they were flying to California to support Upshaw on the anniversary of her mother's death. Upshaw hadn't held them in her arms for more than a month.

"Every time I think about them, I tear up," she said. "I can't wait."

By 3 p.m. Upshaw was back outside, where time seemed to move slower than it did in the busy convention center. During lulls, the nurses sat underneath gray and blue canopy tents at the station.

They had a front-row seat to the state's economic inequalities. They saw cars with tape holding up the bumpers and a Tesla Model X with doors that opened like wings. But even more noticeable were the residents who weren't coming to get vaccinated.

Reshicka Upshaw on her lunch break at a mass vaccination site in Ontario. She estimates she's given at least 800 vaccines since she arrived in late January. Residents have invited her to church and to join them on vacation in Hawaii. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

You dont see many African Americans here, said Jasmine Chestnut, a travel nurse who got her first dose before she arrived. Its so disappointing.

In the nursing home where Chestnut had worked back home in Syracuse, more than 30 residents caught COVID-19. Her father's best friend died because of the virus.

"It bothers me that so many people don't get it," Chestnut said of the vaccine. "After my father lost his friend, he was begging for it."

As the day wore on, the winds turned chilly and the setting sun tinged the sky pink. The nurses packed up the tents and chairs before they headed inside to help clean up.

The site manager tallied the total vaccinations. No sparkling cider celebration today, but they had vaccinated 764 people.

The next night, Upshaw was still in her scrubs when her children piled into the hotel lobby.

Within 20 minutes, she found herself refereeing arguments, comforting her son about the "scary" flight and cleaning up her youngest daughter's apple juice spill in the lobby.

Leshea Moore prepares a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. "They feel like they're getting closer to a chance to see their loved ones," she said. "That's what it's all about, just giving the world some sense of comfort." (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Rashianna Moore, 24, was grateful she was old enough to help out with her siblings, but relieved to be reunited with their mom.

We were sad, but we ended up adapting to it because we knew it was what was best for her, she said.

I love that shes a nurse and that she cares for others, her daughter added. Im happy and thankful that she cares for others as much as she cares for herself and her family."

Her mother inspired her. Shes now studying to become a registered nurse. Maybe one day shell travel too.

Reshicka Upshaw greets her eight children who had flown in from Cincinnati. Within 20 minutes, she found herself refereeing arguments, comforting her son about the "scary" flight and cleaning up her youngest daughter's apple juice spill in the lobby. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
analysis

It is important for Cyril Ramaphosa to free himself of the CR17 albatross around his neck. Even if the high court rules in his favour - by keeping the bank statements sealed - it will be nothing more than a Pyrrhic victory. Legally, he would have won the fight, but not politically.

First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.

While the ANC national executive committee (NEC) discussed some important matters over the weekend, it also listened to complaints about the social media behaviour of Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula.

The agenda included the final guidelines from the Kgalema Motlanthe panel on the contentious "step aside" rule as well as the various reports of the party's Integrity Commission.

The Mbalula issue involves two ministers who wrote to ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule calling on the party to censure Mbalula for his tweets, which they found offensive.

Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma was not pleased with Mbalula's tweets pointing to a Jacob Zuma "dynasty" in reference to her failed campaign to lead the ANC in 2017. Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu took issue with Mbalula allegedly calling her a "criminal". Mbalula denies this and has refused...
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) President Rodrigo Duterte has requested the removal of the remaining Chinese vessels situated at the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef), according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Lorenzana said Duterte made the appeal to Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian during their recent dialogue.

In that meeting, the defense chief said Duterte relayed to the Chinese envoy that the ships presence in the West Philippine Sea has been alarming the Filipino people.

Sinabi rin niya sa ambassador na kung pwede, tanggalin yung mga ships doon. Dahil it is alarming the Filipino people, Lorenzana told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday. Thats his exact word alarming the Filipino people.

[Translation: He told the ambassador, that if possible, remove the ships from the area. Because it is alarming the Filipino people. Thats his exact word, alarming the Filipino people.]

Huang  who earlier maintained that the vessels were only fishing boats and not the suspected maritime militia  assured that he will relay Duterte's concern to Beijing, according to Lorenzana.

Authorities earlier confirmed that 183 Chinese vessels remain at the reef, which is part of the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Lorenzana said the ships have not left the vicinity as of Monday morning, despite a diplomatic protest and a demand from the Philippine government.

EXCLUSIVE: Video shows flotilla of Chinese ships around Julian Felipe Reef

During the conversation, Lorenzana said Duterte also raised the countrys 2016 arbitral win against Beijing in the maritime dispute. The ruling recognized the sovereign rights of the Philippines in areas of its EEZ, and invalidated China's sweeping claims to the South China Sea.
Kenyans have been forced to revised their travel plans following Friday's move by the government to bar the movement of people into and out of Nairobi and four other counties.

Traditionally, Kenyans travel upcountry from the Capital so as to be with their loved ones during the Easter period but that will likely not happen this year as President Uhuru Kenyatta has barred people from moving out and into Nairobi, Nakuru, Kajiado, Machakos, and Kiambu.

That said, there was a mad rush for a section of passengers in Nairobi on Friday evening.

Hundreds of commuters jammed Latema road within Nairobi's CBD where Naivasha and Nakuru-bound shuttles matatus operate from.

"Within an hour after President Kenyatta addressed the nation, we booked more than 15 vehicles which have since left. As you can see we do not have any more vehicles yet there are still passengers who want to travel out of town," a matatu Sacco representative told the Nairobi News.

With the new set of travel rules, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala says tourists in different parts of the country who wish to travel back home via Nairobi have until Monday mid-day to do so.

He clarified that domestic flights between other parts of the country and Nairobi will cease operating on Monday, which implies that tourists on transit into Kenya but had planned to tour places outside Nairobi have until mid-day on Monday to finish their trips or risk being confined.

Meanwhile, budget airline Jambojet has added a flight on its Nairobi-Mombasa route so as to meet an increase in demand for travel between these two cities.

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"Due to the rising demand of passengers returning back home, we have added an additional flight between Nairobi and Mombasa this evening," it said in a statement on Friday.

Kenya Railways also announced changes in both the Madaraka Express Passengers Service and the Nairobi Commuter Rail services operations.

In a statement via social media pages, the parastatal announced the Madaraka Express Passengers Services will run normally on Saturday and Sunday between 8am and 6pm and on Monday until noon, after which the services will be halted until further notice.

Kenya Railways also informed commuters that the passenger service between Nairobi terminus and Suswa will run over the weekends.

Kenya Airways has also added more flight capacity ahead of the Monday deadline when domestic flights will be suspended in five counties.

The National Carrier increased the number of flights between Nairobi to Mombasa and Nairobi to Kisumu. Today (Saturday), KQ will have four flights - two flights from Nairobi to Mombasa and Mombasa to Nairobi.
Divided: former colleagues Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond together on the campaign trail in 2015. Now the pair are locked in a deeply antagonistic row

Sometimes the tide of history turns on the fate of one individual and that person's tangled personal relations. Nicola Sturgeon's future, and that of Scotland's independence, is still in the balance. We will know an awful lot more in little over five weeks' time - when the people of Scotland vote in elections for their devolved parliament in Edinburgh on Thursday, May 6. The outcome of that vote - and to a lesser extent a similar vote in Wales - will have huge implications for Ireland, north and south, where the future of partition is being debated.

There are also curious historic echoes between the story of bitter conflict between Sturgeon and her predecessor, Alex Salmond, and the case of Charles Stewart Parnell's personal life, and the damage it did to the Irish Home Rule cause in the 1890s.

Over the weekend Salmond launched a new party, Alba, the shared Gaelic name for Scotland. This fledgling party, despite his own protestations, will rival the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the election on May 6.

Last week former UK prime minister John Major wrote very trenchantly about the winds of constitutional change blowing across the islands of Ireland and Britain. In his usual no-nonsense writing style, he noted Brexit had put focus on the very existence of the United Kingdom.

Major said that even in Wales support for independence has grown, while in Ireland a growing debate about ending partition raises the prospect of a border poll. But he also noted that Scotland carries the biggest and most immediate threat.

The 2014 Scottish independence referendum was defeated by 55pc to 45pc. A key argument was that Scotland was better inside the UK which was part of the EU. Then two years later an English-dominated vote "yanked Scotland out of the European Union" against its voters' wishes.

Major did not say that in 2014 strong signals were sent to Scotland about huge impediments to it joining the EU as a separate entity. This was in part driven by fears in Madrid that such a move would encourage separatists in Catalonia and the Basque country. Nor did he say that nowadays Brussels' messages to Edinburgh are quite the opposite and an independent Scotland would be welcomed into the fold as an embarrassment to London.

Of course, Major's piece in the Financial Times was a case to preserve the UK intact. "There is now a genuine danger that the separatist ambitions of Scottish nationalism and tepid unionism in England may break up a union which has served the UK well for over 300 years," Major wrote.

He trenchantly added that if Scotland wants another independence referendum it would be very unwise of London to deny it, in line with its strict legal rights.

Current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose party is likely to have a good day on May 6 in local council elections across England, has argued that such a referendum must wait the completion of another generation.

Johnson cites the parallel of votes on UK EU membership, held first in 1975, and not again until 2016. Major argues that Brexit changes everything, adding that it would be unwise and unfeasible to try to force Scotland to remain in the UK against the will of the Scottish people.

There is a certain echo there of the words of Charles Stewart Parnell in Cork way back in January 1885. "No man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation," the 'uncrowned King of Ireland' famously said. That was before the official news in 1890 of his affair with Katharine O'Shea, the wife of a parliamentary colleague, which bitterly split the Home Rule movement and put the entire cause back by a generation when political and revolutionary events intervened.

Proponents of Scottish independence will hope the echoes of Parnell have no bearing on the forthcoming Edinburgh parliament elections via this deeply antagonistic row between Sturgeon and Salmond. The SNP, which Salmond brought to new heights through the 1990s and into this century, is now at war with its old leader.

Salmond led the SNP until 2014 and for a long period Sturgeon, who successfully took over the leadership mantle, was a protege of his. The rift between the two comes from a Scottish government investigation into Salmond following sexual harassment allegations by civil servants.

In 2019 the Scottish government was forced to concede serious flaws in its inquiries rendering it unfair. In March 2020, a jury found Scotland's former first minister not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges facing him, while another was found "not proven".

His move to start his new party has predictably triggered a bitter war between nationalists as the SNP poured vitriol on its former leader.

Ironically, two SNP members in the London parliament have jumped ship to join Salmond. This prompted him to quip that soon Scotland would need no representatives in Westminster.

Salmond seeks to downplay his move by saying Alba will not go head-to-head with the SNP in constituency contests. His party will instead contest the regional top-up list of MSPs under the system designed to boost minority parties' participation in the Edinburgh parliament.

One independent observer, Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University, has suggested that Alba could, at best, pick up six seats this way. But that could deprive the SNP of an overall majority, which in turn would raise doubts about another independence vote.

Old history could be re-run.
ROSTOCK, Germany, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDA Cruises currently offers seven-day trips around the Canary Islands with AIDAperla departing from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.

With a testing strategy for guests and crew members already utilized on several cruises, it is AIDA's top priority for all guests to enjoy their vacation safely. Thanks to the Spanish government's regulations for safe travel, which coincide with AIDA's enhanced health and safety protocols, many AIDA guests have been able to enjoy relaxing holidays in the Canary Islands.

The enhanced health and safety protocols -- tested by SGS Institut Fresenius and confirmed by the classification society DNV GL -- includes a mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for detecting viruses and bacteria before traveling, as well as regular health checks, social distance and hygiene rules, medical care including test capacities on board and other measures.

Unfortunately, cruises in other AIDA destinations are currently not possible.

AIDA Cruises very much wants to enable all guests to enjoy their planned AIDA vacation this coming spring. Thanks to the company's travel program in the Canary Islands, all affected guests can be offered an attractive alternative with the seven-day cruises of AIDAperla.

This applies to guests who originally booked a cruise in the Mediterranean on AIDAblu, AIDAprima and AIDAmira with departure dates up to and including May 9, 2021.

The same applies to all guests who were originally scheduled to depart from Hamburg to Northern Europe or Norway with AIDAdiva, AIDAsol or AIDAluna up to and including April 28, 2021.

All guests whose voyage cannot take place as originally scheduled will be informed immediately. AIDA Cruises appreciates all guests affected for their understanding.

With the "AIDA promise," the cruise company offers guests more flexibility and security in planning. Generous booking options are part of AIDA's commitment to its guests, ranging from small down payments to free rebooking. The "AIDA promise" is included in the travel price for new bookings up to May 31, 2021 and applies to departures up to March. 31, 2022.

All cruises are carried out in compliance with AIDA's enhanced health and safety protocols, as well as applicable laws and regulations for infection protection. More information is available at www.aida.de/sichererurlaub.

All trips from the AIDA cruise program can be booked through summer 2022 with a local travel professional, online at www.aida.de or through the AIDA customer center.

SOURCE AIDA Cruises

Related Links

http://www.aida.de


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A group of Democratic lawmakers has introduced new legislation aimed at curbing dangerous levels of heavy metals that have been detected in popular baby food products.

Last week, four federal legislators introduced the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021, a new bill that would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish maximum allowable levels for various toxic metals that have been found in excess in baby food products.

For too long, industry has been allowed to self-regulate baby food safety, and the results have been appalling and extremely harmful to our kids, said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). We will not stand for that any longer. The Baby Food Safety Act will protect our little ones by setting strict limits on toxic heavy metals in baby foods.

The legislation comes on the heels of a February report detailing dangerous levels of heavy metals -- like inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury -- found in popular baby food products.

If passed, the bill would require the FDA to set the following maximum levels, measured in parts-per-billion (ppb), for the aforementioned metals:

Inorganic arsenic: 10 ppb, 15 ppb for cereal

Lead: 5 ppb, 10 ppb for cereal

Cadmium: 5 ppb, 10 ppb for cereal

Mercury: 2 ppb

The legislation would require these maximum levels to be set even lower within two years through FDA guidance, and lower still within three years via regulation.

Currently, baby food manufacturers are only required to test ingredients for heavy metals, but not final products.

If passed, this bill would require all baby food manufacturers to test their final products and publicly post the results of that heavy metal testing online at least twice a year.

The legislation would also provide $50 million for agricultural research to reduce the amount of toxic metals in crops, and would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to launch a public awareness campaign regarding the risk of heavy metals in baby food products.

Its unacceptable that despite parents best efforts to keep their children safe, some leading baby food manufacturers have put products on the market that expose children to dangerous toxins. This legislation will protect children and ensure they get a healthy start by holding manufacturers accountable for removing toxins out of infant and toddler foods, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

FEBRUARY REPORT

The February report, commissioned in response to a 2019 study that found heavy metals in 95% of popular U.S. baby food products, analyzed internal documents and test results from some of the countrys largest baby food manufacturers to determine whether unsafe levels of these heavy metals were, in fact, present in their products.

High concentrations of these heavy metals have been found to have serious detrimental effects on a childs development.

Exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk of future criminal and antisocial behavior in children. Toxic heavy metals endanger infant neurological development and long-term brain function, according to the report.

In total, the House requested documents from seven companies, though just four agreed to provide the information: Nurture, Beech-Nut, Hain and Gerber.

Meanwhile, Walmart, Campbell and Sprout Organic Foods refused to provide the requested documents, prompting additional concerns.

The Subcommittee is greatly concerned that their lack of cooperation might be obscuring the presence of even higher levels of toxic heavy metals in their baby food products than their competitors products, according to the report.

In reviewing documents from the four companies that willingly provided them, researchers determined that various baby food products far exceeded the maximum allowances for these heavy metals.

The Food and Drug Administration has set the maximum allowable levels in bottled water at 10 parts-per-billion (ppb) inorganic arsenic, 5 ppb lead, and 5 ppb cadmium, and the Environmental Protection Agency has capped the allowable level of mercury in drinking water at 2 ppb, according to the report.

The test results of baby foods and their ingredients eclipse those levels: including results up to 91 times the arsenic level, up to 177 times the lead level, up to 69 times the cadmium level, and up to 5 times the mercury level, the report continued.

STATEN ISLAND MOMS LAWSUIT

In February, a Staten Island mom sued five of the companies that appeared on the reports list.

Michelle Walls filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Eastern District of New York against Beech-Nut, Hain, Nurture, Gerber and Campbell after the findings of the report claimed that they were producing foods with high levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, the complaint indicated.

Walls had been almost exclusively feeding her son, identified in court documents as N.W., with baby products from the five companies she is suing from July 2020 to February 2021, as she believed that Defendants baby foods were safe, according to the complaint.

Walls is a dedicated and loving mother who places a premium on ensuring her son is healthy, and consumes food that will keep him healthy, growing, and developing, states the complaint.

Walls, however, began to grow concerned as her son was not hitting certain developmental benchmarks, including but not limited to: walking, imitating others, verbalization and pointing. N.W. also has outbursts where he wildly thrashes, according to the complaint.

She had no reason to believe the organic baby food products she had been purchasing from Defendants could be the cause, having paid a premium to buy baby food she believed to be safer and healthier than their competitors, her lawyer wrote.

On Feb. 11, Walls asked her sons doctors to run a heavy metals blood tests, which would detect levels of the Toxic Heavy Metals in his blood.

Walls is also arranging for [her son] to receive early intervention special education services, as she tries to understand what [he] will need as far as educational, social and medical services in order to help close the gaps of his developmental delays, and any other delays or conditions that may arise as a result of his consumption of elevated levels of Toxic Heavy Metals in the Tainted Baby Food Products, according to the complaint.

The complaint went on to allege that the companies conducted false advertising because despite the disturbing results of these product and ingredient tests for Defendants baby food products, Defendants published advertisements, communications, and product labeling that present the Tainted Baby Food Products as healthy, safe, suitable for babies, and that they help in childrens development.

Walls is currently the only plaintiff, but the lawsuit has been filed with the possibility of making it a class action lawsuit on behalf of all others similarly situated.

Were continuing to hear from more concerned parents, that plaintiff Michelle Walls experience is not unique, and were looking forward to having our claims heard before the Court, Christopher Leung, who is representing Walls, said in a statement to the Advance/SILive.com. These defendant baby food companies hold a position of trust with parents and infants alike, and they must ensure that their products are safe.
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A 1-year old boy who was struck by a falling tree in Townsend on Friday night has died, according to the Boston Globe.

Roxxe Perkins told the newspaper that her son, Jaxx, died shortly before 10 p.m. on Saturday.

A GoFundMe page was created on Sunday and already eclipsed its goal of $10,000. As of Monday morning, more than $23,000 had been raised. The funds, the page said, will go to funeral expenses and medical bills.

The boys father was holding him when the tree fell on them at 34 New Fitchburg Road at 7:45 p.m., the Globe reported.

Jaxx was airlifted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston with serious injuries, the report said.

According to the GoFundMe page, Jaxxs organs will be donated. The page also said that Jaxxs father, Chris, is physically OK after the incident.
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We see the local water authority has increased fines again for wasting water. Does this mean the increased fines will be on top of the increased rates the water authority imposed on ratepayers not too long ago?

 Albuquerque Journal Speak Up, March 22

Since the reader asked:

The Water Authoritys water waste fines have remained unchanged for many years. In times of drought, the utilitys governing board may  as it did March 17  declare a Stage One Drought Watch, under which water waste fines are doubled for the duration of the declaration. Water waste is defined as allowing water to flow or overspray onto the public right-of-way or adjacent property. Fines also can be imposed for time-of-day watering violations  no sprinklers between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., April 1-Oct. 31. Two warnings are issued, and Water Authority staff will work with the customer to identify solutions before any fines are assessed. The fines are aimed at changing wasteful behaviors; they are not intended as a revenue generator.

Water and sewer rates for Water Authority customers have not increased since 2017, and no rate increase is planned for the fiscal 2022 year, which starts in July. Keeping rates affordable has been a priority for the Water Authority board; the utilitys most recent rate comparison survey shows Water Authority customers pay less for water and sewer service than residents of Rio Rancho, Austin, Texas, Santa Fe, Colorado Springs, Tucson, Arizona, and Denver.

We wish to thank the people of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County for the excellent job they have done in saving water over the past two decades, and for supporting the occasional and necessary rate increase to ensure the reliability and integrity of our water and sewer systems. It looks like we are in for a very dry year, so the communitys continued vigilance with respect to water waste is of utmost importance. Please follow the Water by the Numbers program and visit our website, abcwua.org, for information about rebates for the installation of water-saving technology, replacement of turf with desert-friendly alternatives, and completion of virtual Drought Smart classes.

A video about the Water Authoritys long-term plan for securing our water supply while addressing climate variability, called WATER 2120, can be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sYhINqjtDuc.

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Theres nothing like understanding the challenges that a surgeon faces in the operating room and the qualities of the materials at our disposal. We use that knowledge at ALM Ortho, Inc in every implant we develop, states Steve Block.

ALM Ortho, Inc, a technology company specializing in developing 3D printed titanium orthopedic implants, welcomes Steve Block as the Vice President of Personalized Medical Devices.

Block began his career in engineering for orthopedics in the 1990s and is one of a handful of industry-trained professionals worldwide with over 25 years of direct experience providing patient-specific solutions to physicians. Block has been directly involved with creating implant solutions for the shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, elbow, wrist, long bones, and spine through his work with companies like DePuy Orthopaedics, J&J, Tournier, and 4WEB Medical.

As the Vice President of Personalized Medical Devices, Block brings his in-depth engineering and clinical experience to the team. He is tasked with establishing and growing ALMs bespoke implant solutions and Patient-Specific Implants (PSI), including but not limited to ALMs LLIF Cage and ALMs SI Implant. Block also will work closely with partners on medical device R&D and regulatory requirements.

Block states: I am pleased to join the team at ALM Ortho, Inc. Over the past three decades, implant technology has advanced significantly. We have moved from using 2D imaging and hand-drawn designs to MRIs and CT scans coupled with advanced CAD software systems. Along the way, one thing has remained the same: the need for bespoke implants to fit an individual patients unique clinical needs. Surgeons have continually asked for help from the orthopedic industry, as implants are not a one-size-fits-all proposition. The skeletons nature, the patients history, and how they move and use their body all impact how the implant will function. Theres nothing like understanding the challenges that a surgeon faces in the operating room and the qualities of the materials at our disposal. We use that knowledge at ALM Ortho, Inc in every implant we develop, states Block.

About ALM Ortho

ALM Ortho focuses on developing and delivering innovative orthopedic implants for the spine, total joints, oncology, CMF, and extremities. ALM Ortho is leveraging advanced software tools to build an innovative platform to deliver more patient-matched device solutions to market while also holding steady with the more traditional serial implant manufacturing and sales model.

Contact:

Almortho.com // info@almortho.com
Nearly a third of the farmland around the world is at high risk of pesticide pollution, according to a new report.

Scientists in Australia examined how nearly 100 agricultural chemicals were used across 168 countries, to determine which pesticides surpassed recommended levels.

Pointing to 'widespread global pesticide pollution risk,' the research found 64 percent of agricultural land had levels of pesticide chemicals higher than what industry standards consider 'no-effect concentrations.'

A third were considered high-risk, with pesticide levels more than 1,000 times higher than no-effect concentrations.

That includes over 60 percent of European farmland, which is treated with dangerous levels of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides.

Nearly a third of the farmland around the world is at high risk of pesticide pollution, according to a new report

Researchers at the University of Sydney developed a model to estimate the environmental pollution risk caused by 92 chemical compounds 59 herbicides, 21 insecticides and 19 fungicidesin 168 countries.

They estimated usage based on the latest United States Geological Survey data and country-specific data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

'The higher the risk score, the higher the probability for a non-target species to experience an effect,' chemist Fiona Tang, lead author of a new report published in Nature Geoscience, told AFP.

Tang's team found that overall 64 percent of farmland around the world, or about 9.4 million square miles, had higher than recommended levels of at least one active ingredient.

The team found that overall 64 percent of farmland around the world, or about 9.4 million square miles, had higher than recommended levels of at least one active ingredients

Thirty-one percent was considered 'high risk,' or had levels of pesticide residues more than a 1,000 times what is considered harmless.

Asia had the most land at risk1.9 million square mileswith China accounting for more than half.

Elevated contamination levels in Russia, Ukraine and Spain meant over 60 percent of European farmland is at high risk of pesticide pollution.

'The potential pollution is widespread,' Tang said.

The report targeted watersheds in South Africa, China, India, Australia and Argentina as high-concern regions 'because they have high pesticide pollution risk, bear high biodiversity and suffer from water scarcity,' according to the report.

Direct contact with pesticides can cause irritation, rashes, nausea, dizziness and diarrhea, while exposure to residue in food products has been linked to a myriad of ailments including Parkinson's disease, lymphoma, and asthma.

There are several reasons why regions are focal points for agricultural pesticides, AFP reported, including excessive use or use of highly toxic varieties.

Direct contact with pesticides can cause irritation, rashes, nausea, dizziness and diarrhea, while exposure to residue in food products has been linked to a myriad of ailments including Parkinson's disease, lymphoma, and asthma

Cold temperatures may slow their breakdown, while heavy rains can lead to high levels of runoff contaminating waterways.

As demand for crops has soared, the use of commercial pesticides has increased exponentially to meet it, and Tang's report builds on a growing body of research on these chemical's impact.

A study published in August found pesticides and fertilizers had overtaken fossil fuels as the largest human source of sulphur, a key component of acid rain .

It used to come primarily from coal-fired power plants but experts from the University of Colorado found that the increasing use of sulphur in farming is having a similar effect, even hundreds of miles from industrial centers.

Just going green might not be enough: According to a report this month in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, pesticides can continue to affect the environment long after their use stops.

Researchers in Switzerland found residue from herbicides and fungicides in the soil at farms that went organic more than 20 years ago.
Q: Mr. Seiter, Mr. Ekerot, you both joined Bosch Building Technologies business unit Video Systems & Solutions as Senior Vice Presidents in March 2020, when the Coronavirus pandemic was just beginning. How did your business unit get through 2020?

Magnus Ekerot:

The crisis was also felt at Bosch. At the same time, demand has risen for solutions that keep businesses open and protect people's health. We offer corresponding video solutions that can make a significant contribution to containing the pandemic.

Michael Seiter:

Overall, we managed the past year well despite the challenges and have been growing again since the third quarter compared to 2019. We see good opportunities for further growth in 2021.

Q: Has the Corona crisis again accelerated the development of smart technologies in the security technology market, and does the security market in contrast to most industries benefit from the crisis more than it suffers?

Michael Seiter:

The Corona crisis has definitely demonstrated that the future lies in data-driven solutions. Thanks to our product development strategy already being based on this, we at Bosch were very quickly able to develop new products for the New Normal and to expand existing products accordingly.

To give one or two examples: in cooperation with Philips, we very quickly developed a people counting solution for retail operations  smart Philips displays in conjunction with smart cameras from Bosch that provide protection for staff and customers. The In-Store Analytics software solution was also implemented with additional features. Shop owners can now make decisions based on customer movement data such as Where do we position products to avoid queues or crowds?

HTD involves a touch-free monitoring system to accurately and speedily identify people with heightened skin temperature

The latest highlight is the Bosch Human Skin Temperature Detection solution, in short HTD. This involves a touch-free monitoring system to accurately and speedily identify people with heightened skin temperature at control points in offices, factory floors, or airports. The benefits of previously existing solutions on the market are sometimes called into question. Competitors are often unable to deliver what they promise because, for example, the measured temperature of the skin does not correspond to the core temperature of the person, or fluctuates, due to environmental influences. Therefore, we developed a software-based solution that, in compliance with GDPR, first allows people with potentially elevated body temperatures to be filtered out, and in a second step, allows medical personnel to perform a more targeted fever measurement.

Q: You see a lot of potential for the video security industry in new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. What specific opportunities do you mean, and how are you leveraging these technologies at Bosch Building Technologies?

Michael Seiter:

Bosch has committed itself fully to an AIoT  AI meets IoT  strategy. The development of AI algorithms and software, in general, is at Bosch significantly driven in the security space. By AIoT, we specifically mean the networking of physical products and the deployment of artificial intelligence.

With AI we aim to enable clients to understand events at an ever-deeper level and predict them in the future  the keyword being predictive  so that they can act proactively. This is particularly important for health and safety. An example is the Intelligent Insights solution where the user can anticipate potentially dangerous situations, for instance in maintaining social distance and a maximum number of people numbers in any one area.

Q: From your point of view do you have an advantage over other suppliers when it comes to AI-based products in the video arena?

Michael Seiter:

The analysis and utilisation of video data have long been front and centre with us. Since 2016 weve been following the strategy of offering AI applications in the form of integrated intelligent video analytics as a standard in our network cameras.

Data such as colour, object size, object speed, and direction are all measured. Simply put, you can say this is seeing and understanding  which is the principle behind smart security cameras. Today its much more a question of intelligent, data-based solutions than collecting high-quality pictures and storing them for the record.

Bosch has been investing heavily in AI for years, from which we can benefit greatly in our area. In the first quarter, for example, we will launch a vehicle detector based on deep learning that is already running on our cameras. This will create significant added value for our customers in the area of intelligent traffic control.

Q: Mr. Ekerot, what advantages do customers have in AI-based video security from Bosch?

Magnus Ekerot:

A key advantage is strong customer focus with tailored solutions that are at the same time modular and scalable through new AI algorithms

A key advantage is our strong customer focus with tailored solutions that are at the same time modular and scalable through new AI algorithms. Take the example of Camera Trainer, a machine learning software that can be directly uploaded to Bosch network cameras. The camera is thus trained up on recognising objects and situations  tailored to the specific needs of our customers. If the camera detects the defined scenario, it performs a predefined action in real-time  for example, a count or an alarm.

The latest example is our new camera platform Inteox. As a completely open camera platform, Inteox combines Bosch's intelligent video analytics with an open operating system. This allows programmers to develop specific software applications - or apps - for various application purposes. These can then be loaded onto cameras  the same principle as an app store for smartphones. To sum up, Bosch AI applications support customer-specific needs related to data analysis while enabling totally new applications within and beyond the video security market.

Q: Can you name a specific current project where Bosch has deployed an AI-based solution?

Magnus Ekerot:

A current ground-breaking project using our smart cameras is being implemented as a pilot in the USA. Smart Ohio enables users to configure more intelligent traffic flows and thus ensure mobility, safety, and the efficient use of roads today and tomorrow.

The new vehicle detector mentioned by Mr. Seiter also plays a central role here. Our overall goal is to provide connected smart sensor solutions for public and private transportation agencies to enable them to operate their roads safely and efficiently.

The Intelligent Insights can anticipate potentially dangerous situations, for instance in maintaining social distance and a maximum number of people numbers in any one area

Q: Mr. Seiter, you have been involved with the topic of mobility for some time. What experience from your previous job in the automotive business of Bosch might help you when it comes to further develop the video portfolio of Bosch Building Technologies?

Michael Seiter:

There's a lot to tell. First of all, the development of core algorithms for video-based solutions, whether for autonomous driving, for vehicle interior monitoring, or for our Bosch Building Technologies video systems, all come together at Bosch's Hildesheim location. This gives us considerable synergies and allows us to bring R&D results to market faster and more flexibly.

Essentially, assisted driving systems use AI algorithms that process ever-increasing volumes of video data. Attempts are being made to imitate the human being and enable the vehicle to understand better the surrounding environment with its eyes. This predictive capability is especially critical with autonomous driving. For example, key questions include: How should the car respond and what could potentially happen next? What kind of environment does it find itself in? etc. There are many activities in this area at Bosch that in my new role in security we can also strongly benefit from.

I am now bringing a lot of this experience and existing R&D achievements to Bosch Video Systems & Solutions, which also results in further synergies with our mobility division: At Stuttgart Airport, autonomous driving is already being implemented together with Mercedes-Benz and the parking garage operator Apcoa as part of the "Automated Valet Parking" project, or AVP for short, in which intelligent video systems from Bosch Building Technologies are making a significant contribution.

Mr. Ekerot, you have a lot of experience in the video security area. Where do you position Bosch Building Technologies now in this market and what specific goals are you pursuing?

Magnus Ekerot:

Our clients are looking for reliable partners and products. We are a strong brand; you can rely on Bosch products. Bosch is a thought leader in video and a pioneer in AI applications in this field since 2016. Data security is everything to us: Our products conform to the EUs GDPR regulations. Beyond that, we have an extensive camera portfolio that complies with the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for video security devices. This enables our portfolio to be deployed for example within US government buildings.

We are planning to conclude more software maintenance agreements with our clients in 2021. These deliver investment and future security for our customers and include for example a patch guarantee along with regular updates with new functionalities. This is the first step in a comprehensive plan to access new revenue channels for us and our partners delivering the best technology and excellent service to the end-user!

Overall, many new products will be launched this year and this trend will intensify. Our goal is to establish new product families that follow a simple principle: The development and delivery of disruptive, predictive video solutions that every user can trust because of the underlying sustainable forward-thinking mindset.

Its been much discussed of late that Bosch is one of the very first companies globally that operates on a CO2-neutral basis. How does sustainability impact your business?

Magnus Ekerot:

IoT solutions are actually sustainable and contribute to environmental protection

Our IoT solutions are actually sustainable and contribute to environmental protection. For example, our cameras are sustainable in that they remain up-to-date through software updates and neednt be constantly exchanged for new ones. Our systems demonstrate sustainability also operationally as they can be managed remotely. System integrators dont need to be physically present, thus avoiding unnecessary travel with its accompanying emissions.

All in all, Bosch Building Technologies develops ways to accompany and support our clients in reaching their climate goals via new technologies. This can be done, for example, through improved energy efficiency, the total cost of ownership models, organising and simplifying the supply chain, and helping our customers meet their social responsibilities.

The Power of Bosch helps us here to leverage company-wide research to be two steps ahead, a shade faster, when it comes to new technologies and initiatives that our and future generations will benefit from. I should also say that I am personally very proud to work for a company that set an ambitious climate goal for itself and achieved it!

Can you already share a preview of your technology innovations in 2021?

Michael Seiter:

We see great market potential for our cameras that use artificial intelligence and can be updated flexibly throughout their lifecycles. I have already mentioned the deep learning-based vehicle detector in our cameras.

More such solutions  also for other applications where object and person recognition are important  will follow in the course of the year. And the best part is: with AI, the more data we collect and the more intelligently we use it, the better the solutions become and the more added value they bring to the customer. This will revolutionise our industry!

Another example is our cloud-based solutions, for example for alarm monitoring. Here, we can now also integrate third-party cameras and, building on this, offer and jointly develop our intelligent software-based solutions. This gives our customers more opportunities to take advantage of the opportunities created by AI.

The trend towards integration of the various security technologies seems to be driven mostly by the rapid progress in software development. Does this affect full-range suppliers such as Bosch and what specific plans for fully integrated security solutions do you have for the future?

Michael Seiter:

Naturally, this suits us as a full-scope supplier. Bosch solutions are deployed in many cross-domain client projects. We have experts for the different domains under one roof and a strong brand with the same quality promise for all areas. Nevertheless, it is always also about specific domain excellence. Only when you master all different areas and have profound and proven expertise in each of them you can succeed in integrated cross-domain projects. The respective business units craft their future strategies and innovation roadmaps with this in mind  as we do in the field of Video Systems & Solutions.

Our business unit offers fully integrated Bosch video solutions that can be extended and operated on open systems. This is why we drive open platforms such as Inteox, to offer customers from a wide range of industries the right solutions. Our Bosch Integration Partner Program that we launched in 2012 is also heading in this direction  every product can be integrated into multiple other systems and VMS solutions.

In summary: At Bosch, we are both a one-stop-shop, but also an open-system, meaning we offer customers maximum flexibility in their choice of products and services.
Cloudbric was invited to participate in the upcoming ATISI Digital Forum: Cybersecurity and Data Protection in 2021 and Beyond to share their technical expertise in web security.

The ATISI Digital Forum, organized by the Association of Technology for Security Industry Indonesia on March 25, offered a chance for the cybersecurity community of Indonesia, and in a broader sense Southeast Asia to connect.

It gathered together a group of Indonesias foremost industry experts to impart their knowledge to 300 participants from diverse sectors across government, e-commerce, financial services, telecommunication, and state-owned enterprises.

Cloudbric was represented at this forum by Albert Oh, Head of Global Business at Cloudbric. He spoke about artificial intelligence (AI) in web security and Cloudbrics endeavors to innovate the detection engine in its web application firewall (WAF).

Cloudbric was invited to the forum by its new strategic partner Professtama, one of the largest security solutions providers in Indonesia, as part of its wide-ranging collaboration. Professtama, in fact, is a board member of ATISI, and responsible for the security of the ATISI website and webserver. Cloudbric, as the security service provider for Professtama, secures the website for ATISI as well.

Specifically, the ATISI Digital Forums webinars covered cross-layered detection and response (XDR), authentication, email security, website security, and data loss prevention. Cybersecurity experts from Microsoft Indonesia, Traveloka (an online travel unicorn startup company with a valuation of $1 billion), KoinWorks (a peer-to-peer lending platform), and Korea's very own KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency) presented these topics.

This was an exciting opportunity for us to connect with the cybersecurity communities in Indonesia. We were pleased to share Cloudbrics knowledge and solutions with the audience, said Taejoon Jung, CEO of Cloudbric. He continued, We are proud of the partnership with Professtama, collaborating to combat the rising cybersecurity challenges.

About Cloudbric

Cloudbric offers a fully managed WAF servicea cloud-based web application protection tool based on artificial intelligence. Cloudbrics WAF provides industry-leading precision in malicious traffic detection, courtesy of its proprietary logic-based detection engine. With more than 20 years of industry experience as an in-house venture of Penta Security, Cloudbric combines WAF, DDoS attack protection, and traffic encryption using SSL certificates to provide an affordable, comprehensive web security service for companies. For more information, visit http://www.cloudbric.com. Managed security service providers, IT consultants, distributors, and resellers may contact Cloudbric at partners@cloudbric.com.

About Professtama

Professtama, first established in 1986, provides various security solutions and services to local enterprises as well as the public sector. With nearly 270 dealers and more than 1,000 security and technology professionals on staff, Professtama has partnered with Hanwha Techwin, Jisung Protech, Oncam, Digifort, and Red Piranha.The company offers integrated security solutions, including video surveillance management, physical security information management, facial recognition, palm vein biometrics, and asset tracking. To learn more about Professtama, visit http://www.professtama.com.

Media Contact

Mingki Choi

Global Marketing Manager at Cloudbric

+82-2-2125-6510

mingki@cloudbric.com
Good morning.

The weather forecast today calls for sunshine across the state, with barely a cloud on the horizon for the next week or so.

Pour yourself a nice, cool glass of water  and then think about how youre going to start conserving it.

The lack of rain and snow during what is usually Californias wet season has shrunk the states water supply. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, a crucial source of water as it melts over the spring and summer, is currently at 65 percent of normal. Major reservoirs are also low.

Two state agencies warned last week that the dry winter is very likely to lead to cuts in the supply of water to homes, businesses and farmers. The federal Bureau of Reclamation also told its agricultural water customers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to expect no water this year.

More than 300 new landslides have been discovered on Raoul Island following the M8.1 earthquake, which triggered tsunami warnings in the Bay of Plenty earlier this month.

GNS Science says the landscape on Raoul Island is dominated by steep forested slopes of the volcanic Raoul caldera and rugged coastal cliffs.

"The ground shaking from the M8.1 earthquake on March 5 was estimated to be between 0.15g and 0.75g (from software ShakeMap NZ) which triggered more than 300 landslides, that our team have mapped," says a statement in their website.

"The mapping was done using photos of Raoul Island captured by the GeoNet and NZDF teams who visited the island after the earthquake as well as a 0.5m resolution image captured by the satellite Pleiades on March 9.

Pleiades Satellite image captured on March 9, 2021 with the mapped landslide distribution overlaid.

"A combination of pre-earthquake imagery (Google and Sentinel) was used to make sure the landslides were triggered by the earthquake (i.e. werent there before the earthquake)."

The most spectacular landslides were around Blue Lake, and along the rugged coastline, says GNS Science.

"There was a significant slip at Bells Beach, where about 400 m of coastal cliffs collapsed, leaving a plume of sediment in the ocean.

"Most of the landslides were relatively small (100-200 m3) rock and soil avalanches and falls, but there were some larger ones up to about 20,000 m3 (think two rugby fields neck-deep in rocks).

"The largest landslides were on the north-east coast near Hutchison Bluff, and around the crater of Blue Lake, most landslides comprised rock and soil avalanches and falls."

Landslides triggered on the crater rim of Blue Lake.

"Before the field teams left for Raoul Island, we ran our Earthquake-induced landslide forecast tool (EQIL Tool) (Massey et al 2020) to give them an indication of where to look for landslides and to provide information relating to potential safety risks. "The EQIL Tool predicts where landslides are likely to occur given the earthquake shaking (PGA) and the underlying topographic and geologic controls on where landslides occur (distance from fault, slope, geology, elevation, vegetation, aspect, etc.)." The results from the tool (using a PGA of 0.4g) are shown in the image below, with the mapped landslide distribution overlaid. Landslide probability estimated for the M8.1 earthquake assuming a PGA of 0.4g, across the entire island. The areas in red and orange have a high probability of producing earthquake-induced landslides. Visual comparison of the forecast model results with the mapped landslide distribution, indicate a generally good correlation, says GNS Science. "The coastal slopes generally have a high simulated landslide probability, and most of the mapped landslides occurred on these slopes. "This is because they are generally steeper in angle and higher in local slope relief. Some of the larger landslides occurred on the volcanic crater rim, again corresponding to areas of high simulated landslide probability. "Quantification of model accuracy on forecasting landslide occurrence is currently ongoing."

Cliff collapse along Bells Beach, north coast.

Coastal landslides near Raynor Point.

- Chris Massey, Brenda Rosser and Biljana Lukovic. GNS Science.
LA JOLLA, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have identified 5 genes of previously unknown function which are used in cell division by nearly all modern bacterial species. Identifying these genes is an extension of decades of synthetic biology advances at JCVI, expanding on our understanding of the first principles of life.

JCVI constructed the first cell with a synthetic genome (Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0) in 2010, which is nearly identical to the wild type Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri (with the addition of watermarks), a bacterial parasite commonly found in goats. Building on this work in 2016, the team constructed a bacterial cell that encoded only 473 genesfewer than half the number of genes found in JCVI-syn1.0needed for replication and other vital cell functions. This new, near minimal cell, which has the smallest genome of any known cell capable of growth in laboratory media, was dubbed JCVI-syn3.0.

At the time of the minimal cell discovery, scientists noted that while JCVI-syn1.0 cells looked identical to the wild type, JCVI-syn3.0 cells were notably larger and exhibited unusual behavior when dividing. Senior author Elizabeth Strychalski, Ph.D., group leader of the Cellular Engineering Group at NIST, and first author James Pelletier, Ph.D., then a graduate student in the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, developed microfluidics experiments where it was possible to observe and compare cellular division of JCVI-syn1.0 and JCVI-syn3.0.

"James and Elizabeth's observations told us that we had removed genes from a naturally occurring organism that enabled it to divide like a normal cell. This sent our team on a seven-year journey to discover what genes were responsible for modern cell division," commented John Glass, Ph.D., senior author and leader of the synthetic biology group at JCVI.

===

Video: https://youtu.be/BBaUM7AyoIs

Caption: Time-lapse video showing cell division and growth of three organisms with synthetic genomes.

===

Motivated by the striking differences between the normal cell division exhibited by JCVI-syn1.0 and the lack of cell division shown in time-lapse videos of the minimal cell growing in microfluidic chambers, the JCVI team began a long series of experiments to determine which genes would be necessary to restore normal cell division to JCVI-syn3.0.

Fortunately, the JCVI team found a mutant made during the construction of the minimal cell that had an additional 19 genes beyond JCVI-syn3.0. This mutant, JCVI-syn3A, both looked and divided like the wild type and JCVI-syn1.0. Armed with the knowledge that one or more of the additional 19 genes in JCVI-syn3A enabled that organism to divide normally, the JCVI team set out to determine which gene or genes were involved.

JCVI scientist Lijie Sun, Ph.D., co-lead author on the paper, undertook the laborious task of constructing dozens of mutants in which individual genes and then groups of genes were added back to JCVI-syn3.0. After years of effort, she discovered to her and the project team's astonishment that only a specific set of seven otherwise non-essential genes were responsible for allowing JCVI-syn3A to divide and look like a modern bacterial cell. That set included two known cell division genes, ftsZ and sepF, plus 5 genes whose roles in the cell were completely unknown before this work.

Dr. Strychalski stated, "Designing whole genomes to achieve desired phenotypes stands as a grand challenge in synthetic biology. But our capacity to synthesize and modify genomes has rapidly outpaced our ability to predict phenotype from genotype for large-scale genome design. Our work uses reverse genetics to understand the function of genes of unknown function involved in the basic cell processes of controlling cell size and shape, and cell division. Every gene we are able to pair with its function gets us closer to realizing the goal of designing genomes for engineering cells."

JCVI-syn3.0 and JCVI-syn3A now provide a robust platform for investigating how modern cell division and cell size evolved. The synthetic cell and minimal cell are being used by over 40 labs worldwide. Among those research studies there are adapted laboratory evolution experiments being done by Bernhard Palsson's lab at University of California, San Diego and Jay Lennon's lab at the University of Indiana, research into membrane composition work being done in James Saenz's lab at the Technische Universitat Dresden, and whole cell computational modeling being done by Zan Luthey-Schulten's group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The cells are even being explored for commercial application.

The National Center for Imaging and Microscopy Research at the University of California, San Diego also contributed critical scanning electron micrographs of the cells being studied in this project.

The complete study, "Genetic requirements for cell division in a genomically minimal cell," may be found in the journal Cell.

About J. Craig Venter Institute

The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a not-for-profit research institute in Rockville, Maryland and La Jolla, California. dedicated to the advancement of the science of genomics; the understanding of its implications for society; and communication of those results to the scientific community, the public, and policymakers. Founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., the JCVI is home to approximately 150 scientists and staff with expertise in human and evolutionary biology, genetics, bioinformatics/informatics, information technology, high-throughput DNA sequencing, genomic and environmental policy research, and public education in science and science policy. The JCVI is a 501(c)(3) organization. For additional information, please visit www.JCVI.org.

SOURCE J. Craig Venter Institute

Related Links

http://www.venterscience.org


Environmental conservation key focus of Agri Aware Farm Walk and Talk with Teagasc Kildalton

Environmental conservation is the key focus of this years Agri Aware Farm Walk and Talk 2021 notes & video series, in conjunction with Teagasc and Kildalton Agricultural College. The series is also supported by the Irish Agricultural Science Teachers Association (IASTA) and Agri Aware patrons.

The free, educational notes and 12-part video series, which features expert Teagasc staff, filmed in Kildalton Agricultural College in Co Kilkenny, will act as an invaluable resource to Leaving Certificate Agricultural Science students and teachers, who have had limited class time in the last year due to Covid-19 restrictions.



The theme of the virtual series is in line with the current Leaving Cert Agricultural Science project topic -Supporting conservation of the environment through Irish agricultural practices" - and features in depth talks and demonstrations from expert Teagasc staff based in Kildalton Agricultural College.



The talks will cover a range of curriculum linked topics from grassland management to anti-microbial resistance, as well as providing a real-life insight into the practicalities of modern, Irish farming. The notes also cover the benefits of conservation and how Irish farmers are working towards enhancing conservation on their farms.



Over 460 Agricultural Science teachers and 17,000 Agricultural Science students nationwide have already signed up to receive the free video resources, which also include free notes that align with the new curriculum and focus on themes such as conservation and sustainability.



The video series is in replacement of Agri Awares flagship Farm Walk and Talk physical event series, which usually takes place each spring and welcomes thousands of students and teachers but due to Covid-19 restrictions this year, this was not possible.



Speaking about the Agri Aware Farm Walk and Talk 2021 video series, Agri Aware chairman, Alan Jagoe stated: We are delighted to present this Agri Aware Farm Walk and Talk video series supported by Teagasc and aimed at supporting Leaving Certificate Agricultural Science students and teachers, who have had a challenging year with limited classes and access to farms due to the Covid-19 pandemic.



The videos will give students who do not live on farms an opportunity to gain a real insight into Irish agriculture and will also showcase the many positive environmental practises Irish farmers are implementing every day on their farms.



On behalf of Agri Aware I would like to thank Teagasc and Kildalton Agricultural college for their support in creating this video series and for providing their valued knowledge and expertise, said Mr Jagoe.



Kildalton Agricultural College Principal, Tim Ashmore also added: Teagasc Kildalton College are delighted to work in conjunction with Agri Aware to produce this series of short educational videos which will help to replace the Farm Walk & Talk events which unfortunately could not go ahead this year.



These videos were developed by college staff in Kildalton to help provide students with an insight into the key learning outcomes on the Leaving Certificate Agricultural science syllabus. They provide a visual link between Agricultural Science and practical agriculture. We look forward to welcoming secondary schools back to Kildalton in the near future, said Mr Ashmore.
President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in stressed the need Monday to introduce legislation on preventing civil servants from seeking private advantage via their positions, citing public fury over alleged speculative land purchases by employees at the state-owned housing enterprise.



"On this occasion, we will have to enact a law on preventing the conflict of interest among public officials at any cost," he said during an Anti-Corruption Policy Consultation Council meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae.



It marked the first time in nine months for the president to convene the session joined by heads of major ministries and other government agencies with power and authority to handle the anti-corruption issue.



It came in response to a snowballing real estate speculation scandal that began with a revelation that some officials at the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) had used undisclosed information for the purchase of undeveloped land around Seoul, where new residential towns would be built.






Democrats Weigh Strategy to Force Through Bidens Infrastructure Plan The presidents Build Back Better proposal could cost $3 trillion to $4 trillion, and faces Republican opposition as well as some Democratic resistance. His energy plan includes East Coast wind farms. Senator Lisa Murkowski has a new Republican challenger.

Democrats start preparing a path for Bidens spending plans, but it will be a bumpy one. Representative Tom Suozzi, Democrat of New York, warned that he would not support the presidents spending plan unless it eliminated a rule that prevents taxpayers from deducting more than $10,000 in local and state taxes from their federal income taxes. Credit... Cheriss May/Getty Images Senior Democrats on Monday proposed a tax increase that could partly finance President Bidens plans to pour trillions of dollars into infrastructure and other new government programs, as party leaders weighed an aggressive strategy to force his spending proposals through Congress over unified Republican opposition. The moves were the start of a complex effort by Mr. Bidens allies on Capitol Hill to pave the way for another huge tranche of federal spending after the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that was enacted this month. The president is set to announce this week the details of his budget, including his much-anticipated infrastructure plan. He is scheduled to travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to describe the first half of a Build Back Better proposal that aides say will include a total of $3 trillion in new spending and up to an additional $1 trillion in tax credits and other incentives. Yet with Republicans showing early opposition to such a large plan and some Democrats resisting key details, the proposals will be more difficult to enact than the pandemic aid package, which Democrats muscled through the House and Senate on party-line votes. In the House, where Mr. Biden can currently afford to lose only three votes (not eight votes, as an earlier post said), Representative Tom Suozzi, Democrat of New York, warned that he would not support the presidents plan unless it eliminated a rule that prevents taxpayers from deducting more than $10,000 in local and state taxes from their federal income taxes. He is one of a handful of House Democrats who are calling on the president to repeal the provision. And in the Senate, where most major legislation requires 60 votes to advance, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, was exploring an unusual maneuver that could allow Democrats to once again use reconciliation  the fast-track budget process they used for the stimulus plan  to steer his spending plans through Congress in the next few months even if Republicans are unanimously opposed. While an aide to Mr. Schumer said a final decision had not been made to pursue such a strategy, the prospect, discussed on the condition of anonymity, underscored the lengths to which Democrats were willing to go to push through Mr. Bidens agenda. The presidents initiatives will feature money for traditional infrastructure projects like rebuilding roads, bridges and water systems; spending to advance a transition to a lower-carbon energy system, like electric vehicle charging stations and the construction of energy-efficient buildings; investments in emerging industries like advanced batteries; education efforts like free community college and universal prekindergarten; and measures to help women work and earn more, like increased support for child care. The proposals are expected to be partly offset by a wide range of tax increases on corporations and high earners. Jim Tankersley and

The Biden administration makes a swath of ocean between New York and New Jersey an offshore wind zone. Wind turbines near Block Island, R.I. The White House is setting a goal of deploying 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind in the United States by 2030. Credit... Michael Dwyer/Associated Press The Biden administration announced a plan on Monday to vastly expand the use of offshore wind power along the East Coast, aiming to tap a potentially huge source of renewable energy that has so far struggled to gain a foothold in the United States. The plan would designate an area between Long Island and New Jersey as a priority offshore wind zone and sets a goal of installing 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind turbines in coastal waters nationwide by 2030, generating enough clean electricity to power 10 million homes. To help meet that target, the administration said it would accelerate permitting for proposed wind projects off the Atlantic coast, offer $3 billion in federal loan guarantees for offshore wind projects and upgrade the nations ports to support wind construction. The White House said on Monday that the plan would avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The moves come as President Biden prepares an approximately $3 trillion economic recovery plan that will focus heavily on infrastructure to tackle climate change, an effort he has framed as a jobs initiative. Officials made a similar case on Monday, saying offshore wind deployment would directly create 44,000 new jobs, such as building and installing turbines, and indirectly create another 33,000. The president recognizes that a thriving offshore wind industry will drive new jobs and economic opportunity up and down the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico and in Pacific waters, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said during a briefing on Monday. Republicans said they were skeptical of Mr. Bidens promise of millions of green jobs. They have criticized his earlier moves to suspend new oil and gas leases and revoke permits for the Keystone XL pipeline as responsible for killing well-paying jobs in their states. Gina McCarthy, the White House national climate adviser, called offshore wind a new, untapped industry that will create pathways to the middle class for people from all backgrounds. Last month, the Biden administration took a key step in approving the nations first large-scale offshore wind farm, off the coast of Marthas Vineyard in Massachusetts  a project that had stagnated under the Trump administration. The proposal for 84 large turbines with 800 megawatts of electric generating capacity is slated to come online by 2023. Vineyard Wind is one of 13 offshore wind projects proposed along the East Coast, and the Interior Department has estimated that as many as 2,000 turbines could be rotating in the Atlantic Ocean by 2030. Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting. Lisa Friedman and

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Bidens lesson from the 2009 stimulus bill? Go bigger, and go greener. Solar power, which generated less than 1 percent of the nations electricity in 2010, now generates about 2 percent and is growing fast. Credit... Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times, via Associated Press President Biden, charged as vice president under President Barack Obama to oversee the implementation of the 2009 stimulus bill, is preparing a new, vastly larger, economic recovery plan that would once again unite the goals of fighting climate change and restoring the economy. While clean energy spending was just a fraction of the Obama stimulus bill, Mr. Biden wants to make it the centerpiece of his proposal for trillions of dollars  not billions  of government grants, loans, and tax incentives to spark renewable power, energy efficiency and electric car production. Mr. Bidens plan, for example, is expected to call for funding at least half a million electric vehicle charging stations. But the failures of the Obama stimulus and Mr. Bidens role in them  he oversaw Recovery Act spending  could haunt the plan as it makes its way through Congress. The risk to taxpayers could be much higher this time around, and Republicans for years have proven adept at citing Solyndra  a solar panel company that went defunct after securing federal subsidies  to criticize federal spending. Mr. Bidens advisers, many of whom worked on the Obama stimulus, say the situation is very different this time around. For one, the market demand for electric vehicles is much higher, and the cost of the cars much lower than in 2009, the year after Tesla Motors produced its first roadster. Solar power is more economically competitive. The use of wind power is expanding rapidly. You have to step up to the plate and take a swing in order to hit the ball, and sometimes you swing and you miss, said Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary, who served as governor of Michigan during the Obama years. Advisers to Mr. Obama concede they fell short, especially on electric cars. The recovery act was supposed to put a million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015, but mustered fewer than 200,000. Even today, fewer than 1 percent of vehicles on the road are electric. Republicans are already weaponizing the losses of the Obama green stimulus in their political attacks against the Biden plan. The Obama administration promised thousands of green energy jobs, said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee. These jobs never materialized. Most economists say that, on balance, the Obama green stimulus spending did lift the economy, and had a long-lasting impact. Clean energy spending created nearly a million jobs between 2013 and 2017, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. It also made money for taxpayers: The Energy Departments loan guarantee program ultimately made $2 billion. That is why Democrats say that one of the biggest lessons from the Obama stimulus is to go bigger  much bigger. One element of the spending in Mr. Bidens bill that was not in the Obama plan could draw bipartisan support: Mr. Biden has spoken explicitly of the need to adapt the nations roads and bridges to a changing climate, which will bring stronger storms, higher floods and more intense heat and drought.

Mike Pompeo grows more combative as he eyes 2024. Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo speaking last month, on the third day of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla. Credit... Erin Schaff/The New York Times In a series of speeches, interviews and Twitter posts, Mike Pompeo is emerging as the most outspoken critic of President Biden among former top Trump officials. And much as the former Trump secretary of state did when in office, he is ignoring the custom that current and former secretaries of state avoid the appearance of political partisanship. In back-to-back appearances in Iowa and during an interview in New Hampshire over the past week, Mr. Pompeo questioned the Biden administrations resolve toward China. In Iowa, he accused the White House of reversing the Trump administrations immigration policy willy-nilly and without any thought. He derided Mr. Biden for referring to notes during his first formal news conference on Thursday. Whats great about not being the secretary of state anymore is I can say things that when I was a diplomat I couldnt say, Mr. Pompeo said the next morning, to a small crowd at the Westside Conservative Club near Des Moines. It seems clear that Mr. Pompeo, a onetime Republican congressman from Kansas, is animated not just by freedom but also by a drive for high elective office long evident to friends and foes. His appearances in a pair of presidential battleground states only seem to confirm his widely assumed interest in a 2024 presidential campaign. Usually former presidents and secretaries of state try not to quickly trash their successors  especially in foreign policy, said Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian. He said Mr. Pompeo probably believes he is demonstrating his Trumpiness by castigating the performance of the newly installed President Biden. Last week, Mr. Pompeo tweeted that the Biden administrations plans to restart aid to the Palestinians canceled under Mr. Trump were immoral and would support terrorist activity. Americans and Israelis should be outraged by the Biden administrations plans to do so, Mr. Pompeo wrote. But his commentary goes beyond foreign policy. Mr. Pompeo has also condemned Mr. Bidens backward open border policies. And on March 19, he simply tweeted the number 1,327  an apparent reference to the number of days until the 2024 election. There is little sign that Mr. Pompeos criticism has struck a nerve among Biden officials and their allies. Asked about the remarks last month, a State Department spokesman, Ned Price, declined to respond directly but said the Biden and Trump administrations shared the goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. No one cares, Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, tweeted in response to a recent news report about a Pompeo critique of Mr. Bidens policies. Lara Jakes and

An Alaska official who backed Trumps fraud claims will challenge Lisa Murkowski in 2022. Kelly Tshibaka, a former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration, spoke to reporters in Anchorage. Credit... Mark Thiessen/Associated Press Kelly Tshibaka, an Alaska Republican who promoted former President Donald J. Trumps false claims of rampant election fraud, announced Monday that she would challenge Senator Lisa Murkowski, one of Mr. Trumps fiercest Republican critics, in 2022. Ms. Murkowski, a moderate who called on Mr. Trump to resign after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and then voted to convict him on a charge of incitement in his subsequent impeachment trial, had expected a fight after the former president called her disloyal and invited challengers. Ms. Tshibaka  who is from Alaska, served as the chief data officer in the U.S. Postal Service inspector generals office, and held other high-profile jobs over a 17-year career in Washington before returning home in 2019  is pitching herself as an outsider taking on the insider, Ms. Murkowski. In a preview of the kind of campaign she intends to run, Ms. Tshibaka posted a five-minute ad on her campaigns Facebook page that included a scathing takedown of Ms. Murkowski, who was censured by the state party earlier this year for being one of seven Republicans to vote for Mr. Trumps conviction in the Senate. Lisa Murkowski is so out of touch that she even voted to remove Donald Trump from office, even after he was already gone, Ms. Tshibaka said, in a video that alternated footage of her speaking in her kitchen with images of her standing in front of snow-blanketed mountains. (If Mr. Trump had been convicted in the trial, the Senate could have voted to bar him from running for office in the future.) Earlier on Monday, Ms. Tshibaka stepped down as commissioner of Alaskas sprawling Department of Administration, which oversees many of the states agencies. In a resignation letter posted on her personal Facebook page, Ms. Tshibaka wrote that she was leaving, effective immediately, to pursue other endeavors. Last November, Ms. Tshibaka, a graduate of Harvard Law School, wrote an op-ed in which she claimed, inaccurately, that there were many credible allegations and documented incidents of fraud, voter oppression and voting irregularities during the election. She slammed the news media for what she called its premature announcement that Biden is our president-elect. Ms. Murkowski  a daughter of Frank Murkowski, who served as governor and represented Alaska in the Senate  has not formally announced her intention to run again, but she filed the necessary federal paperwork this month. Speaking to reporters in Juneau last month, Ms. Murkowski said she was doing what I should be doing to ensure that I have that option and that opportunity to run for yet another term. Ms. Murkowski, a resourceful and tenacious campaigner, has managed to win all four of her Senate campaigns, despite never breaking the 50 percent threshold, thanks to the presence of third-party candidates who have divided the opposition. She has faced tough primary opponents before. In 2010, she lost the Republican nomination but managed a stunning victory as a write-in candidate with strong backing from local unions and Alaska Natives. But the dynamic will be different next year. In 2020, Alaska voters approved a ranked-choice system that eliminated party primaries and replaced them with a free-for-all primary from which the top four candidates, whatever their affiliation, will advance to the November election.

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The Supreme Court faces an odd quandary in a lawsuit that pension funds brought against Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachss headquarters in New York. Credit... Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images A frustrated Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a securities fraud class-action case against Goldman Sachs, with several justices indicating puzzlement about what they were supposed to do in light of both parties seeming to agree about the governing legal standard. Two justices, using the same metaphor, said they saw little daylight between the two sides. The case was brought by pension funds that said they had lost as much as $13 billion because of what they called false statements about the investment banks sales of complex debt instruments before the 2008 financial crisis. The contested statements were abstract and general. One example: Our clients interests always come first. Another: Integrity and honesty are at the heart of our business. The plaintiffs argued that those statements and others were at odds with what they said were conflicts of interest at the firm, which they accused of packaging and selling securities intended to fail even as Goldman Sachs and its favored clients bet against them. Goldman has denied deceiving investors. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, said Goldmans statements, in context, were enough to allow the case to proceed as a class action. If that decision is upheld, it would simplify future plaintiffs task in bringing class-action fraud suits. Securities fraud cases often involve examining whether false statements caused a companys stock price to rise, but in this case, the plaintiffs argue that the statements served to keep the stock from falling, until it plummeted in 2010 on word that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating one of the banks funds that dealt with subprime mortgages. A lawyer for Goldman Sachs, Kannon K. Shanmugam, said the exceptionally generic and aspirational statements could not have affected its stock price, but conceded as a general matter that courts could take account of generic statements in deciding whether investors had relied on them. Justice Amy Coney Barrett said the positions of the pension funds and Goldman Sachs had evolved and converged during the litigation. It seems to me that youve both moved toward the middle, she told Thomas C. Goldstein, a lawyer for the pension funds. Theyve backed off on how important they think generality is and whether it can be decided categorically. But youve also conceded that generality is relevant. And Justice Stephen G. Breyer suggested there might be nothing for the Supreme Court to do, as its main job is to announce general legal principles rather than to decide particular disputes. This seems like an area that, the more that I read about it, he said, the less that we write, the better.

U.S. trade with Myanmar is suspended over killings by the military. Myanmars military has killed more than 420 people and assaulted, detained or tortured thousands of others since the Feb. 1 coup, according to a monitoring group. Credit... The New York Times The Biden administration suspended a trade pact with Myanmar on Monday following one of the deadliest weekends in the country since the military ousted the civilian leadership and began a killing spree on civilians. United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement that the halt on a 2013 trade agreement with the country would remain in place until a democratically elected government is restored. The killing of peaceful protesters, students, workers, labor leaders, medics and children has shocked the conscience of the international community, Ms. Tai said in a statement. These actions are a direct assault on the countrys transition to democracy and the efforts of the Burmese people to achieve a peaceful and prosperous future. The suspension is largely a symbolic move to condemn the violence in Myanmar, where more than 100 people were killed on Saturday during protests against the Tatmadaw, the countrys military, according to the United Nations. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said during a briefing on Monday that the suspension would take effect immediately. Were deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence against peaceful protesters in Burma, Ms. Psaki said. Burmese security forces are responsible for hundreds of deaths in Burma since they perpetrated a coup on February 1st. Myanmar, formerly Burma, is the United States 84th-largest trade partner, with the two countries exchanging $1.4 billion worth of goods during 2020. And the country was the United States 100th-largest goods export market last year, according to the Trade Representatives office. The Treasury Department last week also announced sanctions on two miliary holding companies in Myanmar to target the economic resources of Burmas military regime. The Tatmadaw has killed more than 420 people and assaulted, detained or tortured thousands of others since the Feb. 1 coup, according to a monitoring group. Many of the civilians killed on Saturday were bystanders, including teenagers and a 5-year-old boy. A baby girl in Yangon, Myanmars largest city, was also struck in the eye with a rubber bullet. Last weeks killing of children is just the most recent example of the horrific nature perpetrated by the military regime, Ms. Psaki said.

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Biden pushes governors to reinstate mask mandates, as the C.D.C. director warns of impending doom. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:22 - 0:00 transcript C.D.C. Director Warns of Possible Fourth Coronavirus Surge Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, delivered an impassioned plea on Monday for Americans to recommit to following coronavirus guidelines as infections increase across the country. When I first started at the C.D.C. about two months ago, I made a promise to you: I would tell you the truth, even if it was not the news we wanted to hear. Now is one of those times when I have to share the truth, and I have to hope and trust you will listen. Im going to pause here. Im going to lose the script. And Im going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now, Im scared. We have come such a long way: Three historic scientific breakthrough vaccines, and we are rolling them out so very fast. So Im speaking today not necessarily as your C.D.C. director, and not only as your C.D.C. director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer. I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but not quite yet. We can change this trajectory of the pandemic, but it will take all of us recommitting to following the public health prevention strategies consistently while we work to get the American public vaccinated. We do not have the luxury of inaction. For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, delivered an impassioned plea on Monday for Americans to recommit to following coronavirus guidelines as infections increase across the country. Credit Credit... Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times President Biden, facing a rise in coronavirus cases around the country, called on Monday for governors and mayors to reinstate mask mandates as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of impending doom from a potential fourth surge of the pandemic. The presidents comments came only hours after the C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, appeared to fight back tears as she pleaded with Americans to hold on a little while longer and continue following public health advice, like wearing masks and social distancing, to curb the viruss spread. The nation has so much reason for hope, she added. But right now, she said, Im scared. The back-to-back appeals reflected a growing sense of urgency among top White House officials and government scientists that the chance to conquer the pandemic, now in its second year, may slip through its grasp. According to a New York Times database, the seven-day average of new virus cases as of Sunday was about 63,000, a level comparable with late Octobers average. That was up from 54,000 a day two weeks earlier, an increase of more than 16 percent. Public health experts say that the nation is in a race between the vaccination campaign and new, worrisome coronavirus variants, including B.1.1.7, a more transmissible and possibly more lethal version of the virus that has been spreading rapidly. While more than one in three American adults have received at least one shot and nearly one-fifth are fully vaccinated, the nation is a long way from reaching so-called herd immunity  the tipping point that comes when spread of a virus begins to slow because so many people, estimated at 70 to 90 percent of the population, are immune to it. The warnings come at the same time as some promising news: A C.D.C. report released Monday confirmed the findings of last years clinical trials that vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer were highly effective against Covid-19. The report documented that the vaccines work to prevent both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in real-world conditions. The seven-day average of vaccines administered hit 2.76 million on Monday, an increase over the pace the previous week, according to data reported by the C.D.C. On Sunday alone, nearly 3.3 million people were inoculated, said Andy Slavitt, a senior White House pandemic adviser. Mr. Biden said on Monday that the administration was taking steps to expand vaccine eligibility and access, including opening a dozen new mass vaccination centers. He directed his coronavirus response team to ensure that 90 percent of Americans would be no farther than five miles from a vaccination site by April 19. Sharon LaFraniere and

The Biden administration will investigate Trump-era attacks on science. Alondra Nelson, the Biden administrations deputy director for science and society, speaking in Wilmington, Del., in January. Credit... Amr Alfiky/The New York Times The Biden administration will investigate Trump-era political interference in science across the government, the first step in what White House officials described as a sweeping effort to rebuild a demoralized federal work force and prevent future abuses. In a letter to the leaders of all federal agencies, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced Monday the formation of a task force aimed at identifying past tampering in scientific decisions. It will review the effectiveness of policies that were supposed to protect the science that informs policy decisions from inappropriate political influence and develop policies for the future. We know that there were blatant attempts to distort, to cherry pick and disregard science  we saw that across multiple agencies, Jane Lubchenco, the new deputy director for climate and the environment at the White House science office, said in an interview. The Biden administration, she said, is ushering in a new era. Kelvin K. Droegemeier, who led the White House science office during the Trump administration, declined to comment on the Biden administrations plans when reached through a former aide. Former President Donald J. Trumps disregard for science was regularly on display in his various efforts to belittle masks, dismiss the need for social distancing and declare cold snaps to be evidence against global warming. Behind the scenes, federal scientists said Mr. Trump and his top political officials also routinely sidelined researchers who worked on issues the administration disliked, like climate change; disregarded studies that identified serious health risks from certain chemicals; and meddled in scientific decision making, particularly around the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Alondra Nelson, deputy director for science and society at White House science office, said that scientists across the government would review Trump-era policies that eschewed science for politics and develop new safeguards. While the review may uncover or substantiate more instances of political tampering in science, White House officials acknowledged that there are few avenues for holding Trump administration officials to account for past actions. They also said that was not the point. The goal wont be to look backward, Dr. Nelson said. The goal will be to try to implement practices and policies that prevent anything that might be uncovered from happening again. She and Dr. Lubchenco said it remained unclear whether the office would develop one new governmentwide scientific integrity policy or move to strengthen rules at individual agencies around things like improving transparency or prohibiting abuses like suppression and distortion of findings. Citizens need to trust the information from the federal government. Dr. Lubchenco said. The move follows on an plan already underway at the Environmental Protection Agency to create a public accounting of decisions in which politics undermined science. Mandy Gunasekara, who served as chief of staff at the E.P.A. under the Trump administration, maintained that all the agencys decisions were rooted in scientific advice from career staff and criticized the effort as an attempt to delegitimize work done over the past four years.

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China seeks to lead a new world order, as Biden aims to forge an alliance of democracies. Sergey V. Lavrov, left, and Wang Yi, the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, in Guilin, China, last week. They urged the United States to reflect on the damage it has done. Credit... Lu Boan/Xinhua, via Associated Press President Biden called for an alliance of democracies at his first presidential news conference on Thursday, presenting a foreign policy based on geopolitical competition between models of governance. China is making it clear that it has alliances of its own. After a rancorous encounter between American and Chinese officials in Alaska, Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, joined his Russian counterpart last week to denounce Western meddling and sanctions. He then headed to the Middle East to visit traditional American allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as Iran, where he signed a sweeping investment agreement on Saturday. Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, reached out to Colombia one day and pledged support for North Korea on another. Although officials denied the timing was intentional, the message clearly was. China hopes to position itself as the main challenger to an international order, led by the United States. A U.S.-dominated system does not represent the will of the international community, Mr. Wang told his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, when they met in the southern Chinese city of Guilin. In a joint statement, they accused the United States of bullying and interference and urged it to reflect on the damage it has done to global peace and development in recent years. The threat of a United States-led coalition challenging Chinas authoritarian policies has only bolstered Beijings ambition to be a global leader, one that not only refutes American criticism of its internal affairs but that presents its own values as a model for others. Theyre actually trying to build an argument like, Were the more responsible power. Were not the spoilers or an axis of evil, John Delury, a professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, said of Chinas strategy. It is the United States dividing the world into blocs, Chinas leaders argue. Mr. Xi recently said multilateralism should be based on consensus among many countries, not a view advanced by one or the few. China and Russia have drawn closer since Mr. Putins annexation of Crimea in 2014. While the possibility of a formal alliance remains remote, the Peoples Liberation Army and the Russian military now routinely hold exercises together. Still, Mr. Xis outreach to North Korea and Mr. Wangs visit to Iran could signal Chinas interest in working with the United States to resolve disputes over those two countries nuclear programs. Mr. Bidens administration may be open to that. But in other areas, a chasm is widening. Since Mr. Bidens election, China appealed to the new administration to resume cooperation after the confrontations of the Trump years. It made trade and investment agreements, including one with the European Union, hoping to box out Mr. Biden. It didnt work. The first results of Mr. Bidens strategy emerged last week, when the United States, Canada, Britain and the European Union jointly announced sanctions on Chinese officials over Xinjiang.

New Jersey expands voting rights as some Republican-led states seek to limit them. I plan to take action to ensure that early voting becomes the law of the land in New Jersey, Gov. Philip D. Murphy said on Friday. Credit... Bryan Anselm for The New York Times New Jersey is expanding voting rights, countering a push among conservative state legislators in Georgia and elsewhere to restrict voting access after Democratic gains in recent elections. In Trenton on Tuesday, the Democratic governor, Philip D. Murphy, will sign a bill authorizing early in-person voting in a ceremony laden with symbolism. Mr. Murphy will be joined in a videoconference by Stacey Abrams, whose decade-long effort to enroll voters in Georgia helped Democrats win two runoff elections in January, winning them control of the Senate and handing President Biden an important victory. New Jersey lawmakers final approval of two bills that expand voter access was not surprising. Democrats control the State House and Democratic voters outnumber Republican voters by more than one million in the state. The legislation requires each of the states 21 counties to open three to seven polling places for machine voting in the days before an election. For the Nov. 2 contest, there would be nine days of early in-person voting, including two weekends, ending the Sunday before Election Day. The bill calls for fewer days of early voting before primaries. New Jersey will become the 25th state to allow voters to cast ballots in person before elections for a period that includes a weekend day. Our accountability over government, opportunities to better our lives and the chance to elect our representatives all depend upon our ability to access the ballot, said Senator Nia Gill, a Democrat who represents parts of Essex and Passaic Counties and was a sponsor of the bill. Separate legislation that was also approved on Thursday calls for drop boxes for vote-by-mail ballots to be spaced out more evenly throughout counties, ensuring that there are access points closer to residential neighborhoods. Some county elections leaders, while supportive of the intent of the early-voting bill, had urged lawmakers to delay implementation until after Novembers election, when the governor and all members of the Legislature are up for re-election. The bill will require most counties to purchase new voting machines and electronic poll books, and could cost upward of $50 million. Thursdays final votes in New Jersey came on the same day that Georgia adopted a law that added voter identification requirements for absentee voting, limited drop boxes and expanded the Legislatures power over elections. In a statement on Friday, Mr. Biden condemned the Georgia law as un-American and Jim Crow in the 21st century. Republicans have already passed a similar law in Iowa, and are moving forward with efforts to limit voting in states including Arizona, Florida and Texas.

Lara Trump Joins Fox News as a Paid Contributor Lara Trump with her husband, Eric, in January. I sort of feel like Ive been an unofficial member of the team for so long, Ms. Trump told the co-hosts of Fox & Friends on Monday. Credit... Pete Marovich for The New York Times Fox News just hired a Trump. But not Donald. Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of former President Donald J. Trump, is joining the cable channel as a paid on-air contributor, the network announced on Monday. The move was not exactly a surprise, as Ms. Trump acknowledged during a morning appearance on Fox & Friends. I sort of feel like Ive been an unofficial member of the team for so long, Ms. Trump told the shows co-hosts, Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade. Over the past five years, I would come there so often that the security guards were like, Maybe we should just give you a key. Mr. Doocy, Ms. Earhardt and Mr. Kilmeade welcomed their new colleague with an on-air round of applause. Ms. Trump, who is married to the former presidents son Eric, was a frequent guest on Fox News during the 2020 campaign, when she served as a surrogate for her father-in-law. Recently, Ms. Trump floated the possibility of running for a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina, her home state. On Monday, she told Fox & Friends that she had not officially made a decision, but hopefully sometime soon. She is the second member of Donald Trumps inner circle to join the Fox News payroll in recent weeks. Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary, signed on this month as a contributor. If Ms. Trump does pursue a run for public office, Fox News policy would require that she and the network cut ties. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, another close ally of Mr. Trump who served as his press secretary, joined Fox News as a contributor in September 2019 after leaving the White House. The network terminated her contract in January after she announced that she would run for governor of Arkansas. During her Monday appearance, Ms. Trump criticized the Biden administration for its handling of immigration policy and offered 100 percent complete credit to her father-in-law for this years national vaccine rollout. Her hiring was the latest example of the revolving door between Fox and Mr. Trumps circle. Larry Kudlow, a former CNBC anchor who directed Mr. Trumps National Economic Council, was hired by Fox in January. He has since debuted a weekday Fox Business program and regularly appears as an analyst on Fox News. Previously, Heather Nauert, a former Fox & Friends anchor, and John R. Bolton, a Fox News commentator, accepted roles in Mr. Trumps administration. So did Bill Shine, a former Fox News co-president, who served as Mr. Trumps deputy chief of staff. Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former co-host of The Five on Fox News, worked as a top official on Mr. Trumps 2020 campaign and is dating the former presidents eldest son, Donald J. Trump Jr. When Mr. Bolton appeared on Fox News in March 2018 shortly after being named Mr. Trumps national security adviser, he appeared briefly confused about his status at the network. I think I still am a Fox News contributor, he told the anchor Martha MacCallum. No, Ms. MacCallum replied. Youre not.

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PITTSFIELD TWP., MI  A man accused of robbing a bank and crashing on U.S.23 while fleeing the scene has been arraigned on multiple felony charges.

Ken Kenyatta Wilson, 48, was arraigned Friday, March 26, on 11 felony counts connected to the March 23 armed robbery of the Chase bank branch on E. Ellsworth Road, according to the Pittsfield Township Police Department.

Wilson, of Ypsilanti, was arraigned on one count each of bank robbery, armed robbery, third-degree fleeing from police, wearing body armor in the commission of a violent crime, possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, felon in possession of ammunition, two counts carrying a concealed weapon and three counts of felon in possession of a firearm.

Bank robbery suspect who crashed on U.S. 23 was wearing body armor, police say

Police were responding to the reported bank robbery at 1:22 p.m. when they spotted the male suspect and attempted to pull him over, police said.

The suspect, later identified as Wilson, disregarded the stop and fled police who pursued him onto northbound U.S. 23 where he lost control of his vehicle and crashed, police said.

Wilson was the only person injured in the crash. He was taken to an area hospital to be treated for serious injuries, police said.

He was wearing body armor and clothing matching witness descriptions of what the bank robbery suspect was wearing at the time of the robbery, police said.

Police recovered an undisclosed amount of cash from the vehicle that was taken during the robbery, along with several firearms, police said.

The freeway was shut down for several hours while police collected evidence and cleared the wreckage.

Wilson is being held in the Washtenaw County Jail without bond and is scheduled for his first court appearance April 8.

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A man holds an Antifa flag at the Oregon statehouse in Salem, Ore., on March 28, 2021. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Heavily Armed Antifa Clash With Drivers at Oregons Capitol

Armed members of the far-left Antifa network clashed with passing-by motorists and counterprotesters outside Oregons Capitol on March 28.

Video footage showed members of the anarcho-communist group assaulting people who had pro-Trump and pro-law-enforcement flags driving by the Capitol in Salem. At one point, someone in the crowd threw a rock directly at a driver, shattering his drivers side window.

Some of the group flew Antifa flags; the vast majority donned gear favored by the network, including all-black clothing and items to obscure their faces from being identified by law enforcement.

Antifa had planned a Hate Has No Home Here event, also described as a Fascist Free 503, in Salem to counter a Freedom Rally organized by a conservative nonprofit called The Conservative Wing that they said was fascist.

Approximately 100 Antifa members, armed with guns, bats, and shields, arrived on the Capitol mall grounds shortly before noon, according to the Salem Police Department. A police tweet described the group as heavily armed.

Soon after their arrival, the Salem Police Department began to receive reports that individuals from the Court Street group were targeting vehicles driving by. The victims reported that their vehicles were damaged by paint-filled balloons, rocks, and other hard objects being thrown at them as they passed. One vehicle sustained significant damage after a large tree limb was thrown through the front window into the vehicles passenger seat. Patrol officers responded and took several reports to initiate criminal investigations, police said in an incident summary.

Oregon State Police officers and local officers responded and declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, attempting to disperse the crowd with crowd-control munitions. They closed Court Street in front of the Capitol, which prevented a conservative caravan from entering the area.

The dispersed crowd began moving about nearby streets and became embroiled in various altercations, with property damage reported.

Antifa members gather in Salem, Ore., on March 28, 2021. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

A driver displaying U.S. and Trump flags grimaces after being attacked with pepper spray by Antifa members in Salem, Ore., on March 28, 2021. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Law enforcement officers arrest a man during violent protests in Salem, Ore., on March 28, 2021. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

A driver pulls a handgun on Antifa members after they smashed his truck lights, in Salem, Ore., on March 28, 2021. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Three arrests were ultimately made. Andrew Alan Foy, 34, was arrested on disorderly conduct and criminal trespass charges. Nathan McFarland, 33, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge. Anthony Villaneda, 18, was arrested on unlawful pointing of a laser charges.

A bail fund said it was coordinating with the Salem Antifa chapter to pay bail for those arrested. It later said it got enough money to pay for bail for two of those taken into custody.

Videos and photographs from the scene showed that one man flying American flags from his truck was detained after brandishing a handgun at Antifa members. He did so after they smashed his truck lights. The man appeared to have been released shortly afterward. The Salem Police Department didnt immediately respond to a request for more information.

Antifa stands for anti-fascist, though critics say the network regularly uses tactics that are fascist. The network is most active in Oregon and Washington state.

Later on March 28, the states House of Representatives passed a bill that would bar openly carrying guns and other weapons at the Capitol as well as at demonstrations across the state.

The Democrat-controlled chamber approved the legislation 5740. The state Senate passed it last month.
A Paterson man was sentenced to seven years in state prison Friday after a jury found him guilty of a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian more than three years ago.

Jesus Herrera, 65, faced up to 15 years in prison for the death of Luis Arango, 48, who was struck Nov. 11, 2017 while crossing the street in front of 910 Main Street in South Paterson, according to Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes.

Superior Court Judge Justine A. Niccollai sentenced Herrera to seven years for second-degree leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and a concurrent term of four years for third-degree endangering an injured victim.

Valdes said the jury heard evidence that Herreras GMC Sierra truck hit Arango shortly after 9:15 p.m. and kept going.

The defendant did not stop, but rather left the scene, returning later after a civilian witness chased him down, Valdes said, adding that Arango died of injuries from the crash.

The Paterson Police Department, the countys vehicular homicide unit, and the sheriffs department investigated, Valdes said.

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. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
LONDON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kindred Group plc's Nomination Committee proposes re-election of the following Directors for the AGM taking place on 12 May 2021:A A A A A A A A A A A

Peter Boggs

Gunnel Duveblad

Erik Forsberg

Carl-Magnus MAnsson.

As new members, the Nomination Committee proposes the AGM to electA A A A A A A A A A A A

Evert Carlsson

Fredrik Peyron

Heidi Skogster .

As previously communicated, Anders StrAm, Founder and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Kindred Group plc, on 2 December 2020, informed the Nomination Committee of Kindred that he would not stand for re-election at the Annual General Meeting 2021 of the Kindred Group.

The Nomination Committee proposes that Evert Carlsson is elected as new Chairman.

The AGM will take place on Wednesday 12 May 2021 in Stockholm and the Notice will be published not later than 14 April 2021. The Nomination Committee's Motivated Opinion is attached.

CONTACT:

For more information:

Cecilia Marlow, Chair of the Nomination Committee, phone +46 73 094 51 45 A

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/kindred-group/r/kindred-group-s-nomination-committee-proposals-for-the-forthcoming-agm,c3315917

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/824/3315917/1394102.pdf Motivated opinion AGM 2021 https://mb.cision.com/Public/824/3315917/a30abf186bde6ea0.pdf Press Release NomComm ENG

A
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PHOENIX  Arizona has a new state holiday.

Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill Monday to honor Native Americans who used their language to transmit coded messages during World War II.

Arizona has recognized code talkers by proclamation and through legislation for years. The bill sponsored by state Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai makes Aug. 14 a state holiday. It will be observed on a Sunday when state offices already are closed.

While hundreds of Navajos were recruited as code talkers, about a dozen Hopis and members of other tribes also covertly sent wartime messages.

Peshlakai, who is Navajo, said its important that Arizonans remember their service and bravery. Less than a handful of Navajo Code Talkers are still alive.

The Navajo Nation celebrates Aug. 14 as a tribal holiday, marking the date Japan announced it would surrender to the Allied forces. The annual ceremony typically is held in person but was moved online last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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I have never felt so bad at being proven right, as I am by the report from Bloomberg Business on Saturday, March 27, 2021 that Nigeria is to emerge as the nation with the highest unemployment rate on earth, at just over 33 per cent. We warned about this, but repeated warnings by myself and other patriots were scorned. And now this. How did Nigeria get here?

We got here by abandoning the people-centred leadership and free trade and deregulatory policies of the Obasanjo years (which saw us maintain an almost single digit unemployment rate), and implementing discredit command and control policies that have led to massive capital flight from Nigeria.

And even with the paucity of funds, we continue to ramp up government involvement in sectors that ought to be left to the private sector, with the latest being the illadvised $1.5 billion so called rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery that has failed to turn a profit for years. What this government must realise is that the unprecedented insecurity Nigeria is facing is the result of youth unemployment. Idleness is the worst feature of unemployment because it channels the energy of our youth away from production, and towards destruction, and that is

their children in school. My recommendation still stands, and stands even stronger now that we have crossed the Rubicon in youth unemployment. If we can get the 13.5 million outof-school Nigerian children into school; we will turn the corner in one generation. If we do not do this, then the floodgates of unemployment will be further opened next year, and in the years to come. We can no longer say we cannot afford this.

We can. As a nation, we are better off privatising our refineries and the NNPC through the time-tested LNG model in which the FG owns 49 per cent equity and the private sector 51 per cent. Recall that in 20 years ending 2020, the NLNG had delivered $18.3 billion dividends to government irrespective of taxes and other benefit accruals to the country. This will not only free the government of needless spending, but also clean up the infrastructure mess in the petroleum downstream sector.

I say this because the fastest way to bring down a world record unemployment rate is via incentivized education. An educated citizenry are more employable and more self-employable. Increased education has been scientifically linked with lower rates of crime and insecurity, along with lower infant and maternal mortality, and a higher lifetime income. We must then incorporate those youth who are above school age into a massive public works programme.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Education Nigeria 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.

There was talk of 774,000 Special Public Works jobs for the youth, which was to have started in January of 2021. This is a commendable step, but it must be done with proper agenda, rather than propaganda. Perhaps we may want to consider the Malaysian model, whereby with the exception of very few highly specialised jobs, foreign contractors are not allowed to import labour into the country. And we also need to do three things urgently to encourage capital inflow and foreign direct investment.

First, Nigeria must move towards a single exchange rate to be determined by market forces. Secondly, the federal and state governments must reduce taxes, to make Nigeria more business friendly. And finally, financial and monetary institutions, like the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission, must be free from the type of political influence that resulted in the prohibition of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

We are at a precipice as a nation and the truth is that all stakeholders and elder statesmen have to speak up on time, while there is still a Nigeria to save. This government obviously lacks the capacity to address our current challenges, and we must help them, not because of the government, but because of our people. In a situation where we are simultaneously the world headquarters for extreme poverty, the world capital for out of school children, and the nation with the highest unemployment rate on earth, there is a very real and present danger that we might slip into the failed states index - God forbid!

*Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa and Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999-2007), wrote from Abuja

Vanguard News Nigeria
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, has reaffirmed the UN's commitment to complete the stages of the democratic process with the support of the High National Electoral Commission (HNEC) to this important agenda in the country's history
The world has witnessed another catastrophe by the Suez Canal situation that happened last Tuesday. This crisis is turning into the lengthiest ever accidental finality. The incident shortened vast shipments of Crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), also a big number of containers of Robusta Coffee, the type used in Nescafe. Europe is one of the major that got affected more than the others. Suez Canal is the gateway to Europes import business. The bang will be felt globally as the shipping delays intensify a shortage of containers that turn over food markets.

Ever given, one of the massive container ships of Panama became flocked in the primal trade route of the Suez Canal by blocking the entire passage for ships carrying almost 10 billion trade goods through the Egyptian Waterway. Detaching this enormous ton vessel, could take days or even weeks, and deadlock around the pathway of the canal has already got doubled. Ever Given supplies all types of trade goods between Asia and Europe. This giant ship overloaded with oil containers disrupted the whole traffic in a short time.

Authority of Suez Canal, states, to re-float Ever Given, the effort has been started, an attempt done to wrench it and to complete the operation will resume during a higher tide later on Monday morning.

On Friday, Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM), the technical department of the Ever Given, has made pressure to remove the blockage and got failed. Media is not allowed to the site of the incident in the Canal. The ships crew includes 25 Indians.

Coffee industries in Europe import most goods from East Africa and Asia. It streams through the Suez pathway. The continents Coffee roasters are already been struggling to get coffee from Vietnam, the world's largest Robusta producer, due to a scarcity of shipping containers. Canal blockage brought another annoyance just when the availability of boxes started improving.

Due to the commotion that happened in the delivery of edible goods that are transported through Canal waterway, this blockage has hardly affected Europe the most but it is probable to bang the rest of the world too. The interlude in supply led to a 2.8 percent spate in Robusta coffee futures. Any delay in the removal of disruptions on the delivery of goods might push Coffee futures even higher. Suez Canal is used for major 12 trades.

The US has offered to help Egyptian authorities.

We have equipment and capacity that most countries dont have. And we are seeing what help we can be, US President Joe Biden

Europe's coffee roasters lately turned to supplies from East Africa to overpass the deficit of Robusta beans from Vietnam. As a result, traders clarified demand for Robusta beans from Uganda or the milder-tasting Arabica beans from other East African nations. Those beans are also transporting through the Suez pathway.

Whoever contains the storage of beans in European warehouses is charging a hefty premium in the market. At the delicate time of container squeeze, traders were demanding up to 450 USD, three times the normal.

International crude oil prices cooled off a little after four sessions of wild swings, in the meantime, laborers continued to dig out the enormous container ship bottleneck the Suez Canal and little news emerged in the mandate picture.

Brent oil was down 18 cents, or 0.3 percent, at 64.39 per barrel on Monday, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract down 22 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 60.75 per barrel. Crude oil prices had jumped more than 4 percent on Friday, as traders and investors nervy to weigh the impact of the obstruction of a key trade transfer point and the broader outcome of lockdowns to stop coronavirus infections.
In this July 21, 2020 file photo, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, speaks during a news conference in Washington. In December, U.S. officials discovered that federal agencies had fallen victim to a cyberespionage effort pulled off largely through a hack of SolarWinds software .The hackers accessed accounts belonging to then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who focus on finding cyber threats from nation-state adversaries like Russia, according to current and former senior Homeland Security Department and intelligence officials who were briefed on the extent of the breach. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned.

The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is not publicly known, but the symbolism is stark. Their accounts were accessed as part of what's known as the SolarWinds intrusion, and it throws into question how the U.S. government can protect individuals, companies and institutions across the country if it can't protect itself.

The short answer for many security experts and federal officials is that it can'tat least not without some significant changes.

"The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS," said Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, top Republican on the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "We are talking about DHS's crown jewels."

The Biden administration has tried to keep a tight lid on the scope of the SolarWinds attack as it weighs retaliatory measures against Russia. But an inquiry by the AP found new details about the breach at DHS and other agencies, including the Energy Department, where hackers accessed top officials' schedules.

The AP interviewed more than a dozen current and former U.S. government officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the ongoing investigation into the hack.

The vulnerabilities at Homeland Security, in particular, intensify the worries following the SolarWinds attack and an even more widespread hack affecting Microsoft Exchange's email program, especially because in both cases the hackers were detected not by the government but by a private company.

In December, officials discovered what they describe as a sprawling, monthslong cyberespionage effort done largely through a hack of a widely used software from Texas-based SolarWinds Inc. At least nine federal agencies were hacked, along with dozens of private-sector companies.

U.S. authorities have said the breach appeared to be the work of Russian hackers. Gen. Paul Nakasone, who leads the Pentagon's cyber force, said last week that the Biden administration is considering a "range of options" in response. Russia has denied any role in the hack.

Since then, a series of headline-grabbing hacks has further highlighted vulnerabilities in the U.S. public and private sectors. A hacker tried unsuccessfully to poison the water supply of a small town in Florida in February, and this month a new breach was announced involving untold thousands of Microsoft Exchange email servers that the company says was carried out by Chinese state hackers. China has denied involvement in the Microsoft breach.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the government's initial response to the discovery of the SolarWinds hack was disjointed.

"What struck me was how much we were in the dark for as long as we were in the dark," Warner said at a recent cybersecurity conference.

Wolf and other top Homeland Security officials used new phones that had been wiped clean along with the popular encrypted messaging system Signal to communicate in the days after the hack, current and former officials said.

One former administration official, who confirmed the Federal Aviation Administration was among the agencies affected by the breach, said the agency was hampered in its response by outdated technology and struggled for weeks to identify how many servers it had running SolarWinds software.

The FAA initially told the AP in mid-February that it had not been affected by the SolarWinds hack, only to issue a second statement a few days later that it was continuing to investigate.

At least one other Cabinet member besides Wolf was affected. The hackers were able to obtain the schedules of officials at the Energy Department, including then-Secretary Dan Brouillette, one former high-placed administration official said. The schedules were not confidential and are subject to open records laws.

Energy Department spokesman Kevin Liao said it "has found no evidence the network that maintains senior officials' schedules was compromised."

In this Aug. 18, 2020, file photo acting-Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, center, arrives to join President Donald Trump at Andrews Air Force Base in Md. In December, U.S. officials discovered that federal agencies had fallen victim to a cyberespionage effort pulled off largely through a hack of SolarWinds software .The hackers accessed accounts belonging to then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who focus on finding cyber threats from nation-state adversaries like Russia, according to current and former senior Homeland Security Department and intelligence officials who were briefed on the extent of the breach. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The new disclosures provide a fuller picture of what kind of data was taken in the SolarWinds hack. Several congressional hearings have been held on the subject, but they have been notably short on details.

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, indicated at one of the hearings that a DHS secretary's email had been hacked but did not provide additional detail. The AP was able to identify Wolf, who declined to comment other than to say he had multiple email accounts as secretary.

DHS spokesperson Sarah Peck said that "a small number of employees' accounts were targeted in the breach" and that the agency "no longer sees indicators of compromise on our networks."

The Biden administration has pledged to issue an executive order soon to address "significant gaps in modernization and in technology of cybersecurity across the federal government." But the list of obstacles facing the federal government is long: highly capable foreign hackers backed by governments that aren't afraid of U.S. reprisals, outdated technology, a shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals and a complex leadership and oversight structure.

The recently approved stimulus package includes $650 million in new money for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to harden the country's cyber defenses. Federal officials said that amount is only a down payment on much bigger planned spending to improve threat detection.

"We must raise our game," Brandon Wales, who leads the cybersecurity agency, said at a recent House committee hearing.

The agency operates a threat-detection system known as Einstein. Its failure to detect the SolarWinds breach before it was discovered by a private security company alarmed officials. Eric Goldstein, the agency's executive assistant director for cybersecurity, told Congress that Einstein's technology was designed a decade ago and has "grown somewhat stale."

Anthony Ferrante, a former director for cyber incident response at the U.S. National Security Council and current senior managing director at FTI Consulting, said part of the problem, both in government and in the private sector, is the lack of a skilled workforce.

The Microsoft Exchange hack, which to date has not affected any federal government agencies, was also discovered by a private firm.

One issue that's flummoxed policymakers is that foreign state hackers are increasingly using U.S.-based virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade detection by U.S. intelligence agencies, which are legally constrained from monitoring domestic infrastructure. The hosting services of Amazon Web Services and GoDaddy were used by the SolarWinds hackers to evade detection, officials said recently.

The Biden administration is not planning to step up government surveillance of the U.S. internet in response and instead wants to focus on tighter partnerships and improved information-sharing with the private-sector companies that already have broad visibility into the domestic internet.

Responsibility for responding to breaches, preventing new ones and providing oversight of those efforts is still unsettled, and last month leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee initially criticized the Biden administration for a "disorganized response" to the SolarWinds hack before the White House issued a statement clarifying its leadership structure.

The Biden administration tapped Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, to respond to the SolarWinds and Microsoft breaches. It hasn't appointed a national cyber director, a new position, frustrating some members of Congress.

"We're trying to fight a multifront war without anybody in charge," said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine.

The Biden administration says it's reviewing how best to set up the new position. "Cybersecurity is a top priority," said White House spokesperson Emily Horne.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Akane Sano wins NSF CAREER Award

HOUSTON - (March 29, 2021) - Forget the mood ring. Akane Sano has a far better idea.

The Rice University electrical and computer engineer is developing software to detect and predict emotional stress in people through data from wearable and mobile technologies and provide safe and personalized feedback to manage and enhance emotion. She has received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to pursue that goal.

CAREER grants are awarded each year to fewer than 400 early career scientists and engineers who are expected to make significant impacts in their fields of study. The five-year, $550,000 award will bolster Sano's ongoing development of algorithms to interpret the growing deluge of data about one's personal health from wearable and Internet of Things technologies.

According to Sano's proposal, technology is already capable of gathering moment-to-moment physiological, behavioral, social and environmental data on the mobility patterns, sleep and central and peripheral nervous system activity of people, all without disrupting their daily routines.

Those capabilities promise new ways to detect and predict emotional stress and provide feedback to users to help them manage their mental states.

"We want to develop a system that adaptively collects and analyzes data from wearables and also from mobile phones with self-reported emotions and clinical assessments to help understand people's personalized behaviors and physiological responses," said Sano, an assistant professor at the Brown School of Engineering's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

"We have developed and tested some machine-learning models, but they have to evolve because our behaviors and physiology are always changing," she said. "We're also developing a feedback system to safely guide users to improve their mental health."

Ethical issues will be a critical part of her research. "We have to think about where and how we gather private data," Sano said. "How can we use this type of technology for social good and to prevent misuse? We will need to evaluate our technology in different stakeholders and diverse populations.

"That's why privacy and ethics are important to us, and why ethical artificial intelligence is already part of my graduate class," she added.

Sano noted her lab is already working with psychiatrists and psychologists to advance data analysis and feedback delivery for mental health care. "I also have collaborations with people at the Texas Medical Center to see how we can interpret this kind of data from each individual and leverage it for personalized medicine in other fields," she said.

Sano said it will also be important to know when to turn stress sensors off. "Technology is useful, but we probably shouldn't rely too much on it," she said. "I mean, we can learn something from it, but eventually, we want to be independent from it."

Sano joined Rice in 2018 after earning bachelor's and master's degrees at Keio University in Japan and her doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She won a Sony Faculty Innovation Award and a Microsoft Pandemic Preparedness Award (with Fred Oswald, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences) in 2020.

###

Read the abstract at https:/ / www. nsf. gov/ awardsearch/ showAward?AWD_ID= 2047296&HistoricalAwards= false .

This news release can be found online at https:/ / news. rice. edu/ 2021/ 03/ 29/ akane-sano-wins-nsf-career-award/

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Related materials:

Computational Wellbeing Group (Sano lab): https:/ / compwell. rice. edu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: https:/ / eceweb. rice. edu

George R. Brown School of Engineering: https:/ / engineering. rice. edu

Image for download:

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 03/ 0328_SANO-1-WEB. jpg

CAPTION: Akane Sano. (Credit: Rice University)

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,978 undergraduates and 3,192 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 1 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

Jeff Falk

713-348-6775

jfalk@rice.edu

Mike Williams

713-348-6728

mikewilliams@rice.edu

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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The Government has published its 'Rural Development Policy 2021-2025 - Our Rural Future'.

Welcoming the strategy, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Donegal TD, Charlie McConalogue said it would "help develop and revitalise communities".

He added: "It is a commitment by the Government to improve the lives of people living in rural communities. This was one of my key goals in entering politics and I Will continue pressing the need to protect rural Ireland at the Cabinet table.

"The policy reflects the unprecedented change in living and working patterns during COVID-19 and the significant opportunities this presents for rural communities  from remote working and revitalising our town centres to job creation, developing a green economy and enhancing our outdoor amenities."

The five year strategy was launched in Croke Park by An Taoiseach Micheal Martin, An Tanaiste Leo Varadkar, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, and Minister for Transport and the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan.

Our Rural Future sets out a blueprint for the development of rural Ireland over the next five years.

It is supported by 150 commitments across Government, which will address the challenges facing communities and deliver new opportunities for people living in rural areas.

The policy will help rural Ireland to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, enable long-term development of rural areas, and create more resilient rural economies and communities for the future.

Commenting on the launch, Minister McConalogue said: This whole of-Government approach to rural development highlights the importance of our rural and coastal communities. Balanced economic development throughout the country, including the development of our rural and coastal communities, is necessary for the overall economic and social wellbeing of Ireland as a whole.

"One of the key policy commitments identified is the preparation of a new Agri-Food Strategy to 2030, which is also a commitment under the Programme for Government, and will be published in the Summer.

"It will set a high ambition for the sector in the years ahead, focussing on sustainability in its three forms: environmental, economic and social. This will ensure that the agri-food sector, encompassing agriculture, seafood and forestry, will continue to be the foundation for rural and coastal development.

"l look forward to working with Minister Heather Humphreys, her Department and the rest of Government in realising the vision outlined in the Rural Development Policy, and to progressing the specific actions relating to the agri-food sector," concluded Minister McConalogue
The Milan Tribunal ruled on 17 March 2021 that the 13 defendants in OPL 245 international corruption trial had no case to answer.

The partial freedom granted oil giants by Italian courts in the celebrated OPL 245 corruption case will not stop the prosecution of the accused in Nigeria, a foremost global anti-corruption coalition has said.

In a letter addressed to President Muhammad Buhari, the world acclaimed anti-corruption coalition said Nigeria should press on with the corruption charges and should not be cowed by any bully tactics of the oil giants who may see the Italy ruling as a shield.

The coalition's petition was signed by Luca Manes of Re:Common, Nicholas Hildyard of The Corner House, Olanrewaju Suraju of Human and Environmental Development Agenda, (HEDA Resource Centre) and Simon Taylor, Global of Witness.

Eni, Shell and some Nigerian officials were involved in backwater dealings involving billions of illicit funds embezzled.

The Milan Tribunal ruled on 17 March 2021 that the 13 defendants in OPL 245 international corruption trial had no case to answer. But there are prospects of an appeal in Italy.

The coalition said it understands that the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office will likely appeal the verdict.

It said unlike in Nigeria and other common law jurisdictions, Italian law does not permit judges to convict on the basis of circumstantial evidence.

The group recalled that the recent Supreme Court rulings have set the bar for international corruption so high that a conviction is difficult unless there is naked evidence of a bribe being paid, captured on camera or on tape.

"We fear that the OPL 245 case may have fallen at this hurdle, despite the voluminous evidence submitted by the Prosecutor as to the knowledge of Shell and Eni that bribes would be paid; that the Resolution Agreements were designed by the two companies to use the Federal Government of Nigeria as a shield to protect themselves from making direct payments to Etete; and the meticulous tracing of where the payments ended up."

The coalition said because of the differences between legal systems in Italy and Nigeria, no "double jeopardy" agreement exists between the two countries, hence, Eni, Shell, Etete, Abubakar and several others who were charged in Milan are also being prosecuted in Nigeria.

"We are aware of mischievous, self-serving calls in press from allies of those being charged that the Nigerian prosecutions should be dropped on the basis that Milan has found no case to answer. These calls must be rejected. Italy is not in charge of Nigeria's justice system. The judges in Nigeria must be allowed to hear the cases and to judge them on the basis of Nigerian law. Indeed, the world is now watching the Nigerian prosecutions," it said.

The group said the judgment of the international community, already alarmed by the dismal Italian ruling, is likely to be harsh were Nigeria to drop the cases, given the strength of the evidence amassed by the EFCC.

"The need to put the Milan judgment into perspective is all the more urgent given allegations that the trial may have been polluted. The Milan Prosecutor sought to admit a statement by Piero Amara, a former outside counsel for Eni, that Eni had conducted surveillance of the prosecutors, key witnesses and the judges in order to discredit witnesses or gain an advantage in the trial."

The anti-corruption group said the full transcript of Amara's statement was not made public, that large parts were blacked out and the judges refused to admit the evidence.

It noted that an Italian newspaper has now reported on the blacked out parts of the statement, which reportedly allege that Eni's lawyer had "preferential" access to OPL 245 judges.

"The allegations were investigated by the Italian authorities but were dismissed after Eni denied them. If true, Amara's allegations would constitute strong grounds for a retrial. We, therefore, urge Nigeria, as the victim in the case, to demand that the full text of Amara's evidence is made public so that the Nigerian public - and the wider international community - can be satisfied that there was nothing untoward in the conduct of the trial."

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It applauded the stance of Mr Buhari in his letter to Eni of June 14, 2018, in which he stated that there should be no decision on whether or not to award an OML to the companies until extant prosecutions were complete.

"We urge you to hold the line and to resist siren calls for negotiations with Eni and Shell in the wake of the Milan trial. We believe that the companies should respect the prosecutorial process in Nigeria and should not use a judgment in Italy to bully Nigeria into making concessions that undermine the rule of domestic law."

It said recent arbitration cases filed with ICSID by both companies claiming unsubstantiated and exaggerated damages are a confirmation of their bullying and not respectful attitude towards the Nigerian government and people.

"We as civil society organisations and partners in the promotion of accountability in the extractive sector are in solidarity with the Nigerian Government and Italian Prosecutors in ensuring justice is delivered in this and other relevant cases," it said.
March 29 : Even if Holi 2021 is not an extravagant affair, Bollywood celebs are keeping up the festive spirit by sharing glimpses of their Holi celebrations at home with their family members. While megastar Amitabh Bachchan walked down memory lane on the occasion of Holi, Kangana Ranaut celebrated a working Holi on the sets of Tejas. Priyanka Chopra, on the other hand, enjoyed the festival of colours with husband Nick Jonas in London.

 Send personalized Holi wishes to your family and friends

Kareena Kapoor Khan, who recently welcomed her second son, treated her fans with an adorable picture of her elder son Taimur Ali Khan. Kareena took to her Instagram handle and shared a picture of the little munchkin from their Holi celebrations. Sharing the picture, the actress asked her fans to stay safe and follow all necessary precautions to keep COVID-19 at bay. Stay safe people. Happy Holi from me. While fans flooded the comments section with their messages, Kareenas bestie Malaika Arora dropped a comment, calling him, Cutie.

While Holi parties and playing Holi in public places have been banned in Mumbai this year due to COVID-19 pandemic, nobody could stop Taimur and cousin Inaaya Naumi Kemmu from having a Holi party at home. In the pictures shared by Kareena and Soha Ali Khan, the cousins can be seen having a blast while enjoying the festival of colours.

Image Source: Instagram/kareenakapoorkhan Kareena Kapoor Khan shared on her Instagram story

Earlier, Kareena shared a video from one of her songs which featured Holi celebrations with Akshay Kumar. Kareena selected two slow motion shots; in one the actress can be seen clad in a saree throwing colours. The second shot features Akshay Kumar diving in the background. Wishing her fans and followers, Kareena captioned the post as, "Reminiscing the happy Holi days with @akshaykumar and @shabskofficial."

Image Source: Instagram/kareenakapoorkhan Kareena Kapoor Khan shared on her Instagram story

Meanwhile, after delivering her second son in February, Kareena resumed work last week. The actor was seen at a studio in Mumbai, shooting for a celebrity cooking show. The actress is a part of the Discovery+ show titled Star vs Food. Kareena also shared a behind-the-scenes photo where she was seen with her team on the set.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021
Mar. 29Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pushed back Friday against conservation groups' claims that a plan to dredge this summer in coastal Georgia waters will significantly threaten nesting sea turtles.

Experts with the corps' South Atlantic Division participated in a phone call with reporters to discuss environmental concerns regarding plans to begin dredging outside of the traditional winter timeframe.

The corps plans to begin dredging in Brunswick this summer, and sea turtle nesting season begins in May. A winter dredging policy has been in place in Georgia for more than 25 years to protect sea turtles during their nesting period.

Corps' representatives say the plan to dredge in the summer is part of a more holistic approach that will protect more species, like the North Atlantic right whales. Critics of the schedule say little to no scientific data backs up the claim that it is a responsible approach to take.

The corps wants a better way to accomplish dredging and material replacement responsibilities while maximizing protections for all species, said Nicole Bonine, an environmental compliance sustainability and energy program manager for the corps' South Atlantic Division.

"The goal is to try to figure out how to do everything better for all the species," Bonine said. "We're really hoping that if we can get all of these techniques in place and continue to build on information gathered year over year we can ultimately reduce the number of turtle takes (deaths or injuries) every year."

Conservation groups sounded the alarm about this planned change in dredging protocols and have argued against the idea that dredging during other parts of the year will offer better protections for more species.

"The corps is making an emotional argument, not one that's grounded in science  and they're hoping we won't recognize the difference," said Catherine Ridley, vice president for education and communications for One Hundred Miles, a local environmental advocacy organization, and coordinator of the SSI Sea Turtle Project.

Story continues

"They aren't giving us a lot of credit, but I'm confident the public isn't going to fall for it. Georgians care about all of our wildlife, and we can see through this for what it is: spin by a federal agency that isn't willing to listen to our scientists."

Thirteen years of negotiations went into the planning process that led to this change, Bonine said, and those conversations included the corps, National Marine Fisheries Service, experts in dredging and species protections and other specialists.

"We worked with state resources, NGOs, researchers and came up with this 650-page document that everybody's now looking at," she said.

That document is the SARBO, or the South Atlantic Regional Biological Opinion.

Published in March 2020, the SARBO updated the 1997 version and took a more holistic approach than the prior document, which focused more on turtle protections, said Debby Scerno, an environmental planner with the corps' South Atlantic Division.

"From an environmental standpoint, you can't understate that," Bonine added. "This is about looking at not just one project, which often happens, but looking at everything over an entire ecosystem  in this case four states and two territories  and trying to figure out cumulatively what effects that has to species, to habitats, and how to continue to reduce that risk."

Ridley said the SARBO update was developed without adequate input from state agencies and species experts in the Southeast.

"Georgians deserve the right to fully engage in this process, but the corps has not held any opportunities for public comment on the removal of dredging windows," she said.

Bonine said the corps also has to consider the risks to other species, like the North Atlantic right whale, which every year comes to south Georgia and north Florida waters during its calving season.

"The North Atlantic right whale in the last four years alone, 10 percent of that population has been lost," Bonine said. "Vessel strikes and entanglements are the biggest risks. They're really hard to see even if you're looking for them. They're the same color as the water, they don't have a dorsal fin."

Critics of the dredging plan say there is little evidence that shows that winter dredging has been harmful to right whales.

"There has been maintenance dredging during winter calving season in coastal Georgia for more than 30 years without any history of dredging operations harming right whales. Zero," Ridley said. "You can't decide to overturn a policy that's been overwhelmingly successful over three decades based on a problem that doesn't exist."

The corps plans to spend more than $1 million next year to do additional aerial surveys to track whales and avoid causing them harm, Bonine said.

The corps has also faced issues harming sturgeon while dredging during the winter time period and must consider ways to avoid impacts to coral in Florida and other species, she said.

"We're looking at all other species and habitats outside of those considered in SARBO and trying to be protective of those and working with state agencies to figure out the best time to do work in those areas," she said.

Different kinds of dredging technology can minimize the likelihood of contact with species like sea turtles, Bonine said, or can reduce the consequences for certain species.

The best way to minimize potential impacts on whales is to move away from the winter-only dredging policy, she said.

Ridley disagreed.

"The corps is using right whales as a red herring to muddy the waters," she said. "It is absolutely ridiculous to overturn decades of overwhelming success in protecting sea turtles, right whales and other species based on no scientific evidence whatsoever. Georgians and the beloved wildlife we have worked so hard to protect for decades deserve better."

The SARBO allows the corps to legally "take," or injure or kill, 214 turtles over a three-year period in a region that includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

"It's a take for the whole region," Scerno said. "We have a lot of work to do across the whole region, so we would not have a reason to take all of that in Georgia because then we wouldn't be able to do work in the rest of the region ... There's a lot of work that needs to be done across the region."

The corps plans to begin its dredging project in Georgia in May or possibly before.

"I know there's a lot of passion around this issue," Bonine said. "We're very passionate about it as well, and we just hope that you think about what we've said and you understand we're really not trying to do some evil thing here. This is really about trying to be more proactive environmentally, ecosystem level, and trying to find better ways to do it. And we want to continue to partner with all of those who are involved and interested and aware in any way we can."

The Coastal Resources Division of Georgia's Department of Natural Resources opened a public comment period regarding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan to widen the shipping channel, which includes annual operations and management dredging. The comment period ends today.

"The Corps proposes to use a cutterhead dredge to widen the Brunswick Harbor channel bend near Cedar Hammock Range and expand the turning basin, and widen the official channel at St. Simons Sound without the need for dredging, to reduce transportation cost inefficiencies," according to the notice.

Comments can be submitted in writing to DNR's Diana Taylor at One Conservation Way, Brunswick, Georgia 31520 or at CRD.Comments@dnr.ga.gov. Comments must be received by 4:30 p.m.
[March 29, 2021] Virtana Appoints Christina Richards Chief Marketing Officer

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtana today announced that Christina Richards has been appointed as Chief Marketing Officer. Richards will be responsible for leading global marketing and will report directly to Kash Shaikh, President and CEO of Virtana. The announcement follows news of the recently appointed VP of Product Management and Senior Vice President of Customer Success , as well as the company's product announcement of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based Virtana Platform the first unified observability platform for migrating, optimizing, monitoring, and managing application workloads with flexible consumption across public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. A Women of Influence , as awarded by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Richards brings more than 20 years of full-spectrum marketing, business operations, and engineering experience in technology sectors including SaaS and IoT applications. For the past four years, Richards served as Vice President of Global Marketing at Aeris Communications, a connected vehicle SaaS applications provider. In that role, she ledefforts to increase B2B demand generation by 10X in her first year, yielding 23% revenue growth. She helped quadruple the customer base for its e-commerce business; launched Aeris' first account-based marketing (ABM) program for SaaS product.



Kash Shaikh, President and CEO of Virtana said, "I met Christina a few years ago and was impressed by her focus on customers and understanding of the business. It was clear that her hands-on, deep technology experience and vision to create simple yet powerful communications were a unique combination. There are very few tech marketing executives with a clear understanding of technology. As a result, she truly understands how to create clear and compelling messages to help drive success for customers, partners, and all team members." Shaikh added, "Virtana is seeing impressive growth this year and we look forward to our Global 2000 customers and channel partners benefitting from that momentum and the clear, powerful marketing programs that will be created and executed by Christina and team. Christina's e-commerce experience will also be an asset as we deliver self-service product-led SaaS capabilities with Virtana Platform."

Said Christina Richards, "Virtana is sitting on a wealth of opportunity for customers, partners, and team members. We are in a unique position to lead the Global 2000 in migrating, optimizing, monitoring, and managing application workloads across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. While cloud migration has been accelerated by the pandemic, it is still in its infancy. In looking at the Virtana Platform, I am certain we will continue to successfully guide companies on their cloud journey, leading them with data-driven insights. Specifically, enterprises want reassurance that what is working in their current cloud configurations will not be disturbed in the quest for cloud optimization." Richards further noted, "There are many parallel issues in cloud migration that I have experienced before in other technology transitions. Hybrid IT issues and the surrounding technology are complex  we need to connect the dots for our customers in a way that is relevant for them and also can be absorbed by partners and analysts. At Virtana, we have a deep, strong value proposition  we need to make sure it is simple and clear so it resonates easily with all our constituencies. At the same time, we are responsible for leading clear communication for our industry, to grow the market share to meet a tremendous opportunity. The trend data shows our space is just getting started." This trend was recently confirmed by IDC 2020 research, which showed that less than 20% of applications have migrated to a public cloud to date. Cloud predictions are showing that by 2022, over 90% of enterprises worldwide will be relying on a mix of on-premises/dedicated private clouds, multiple public clouds, and legacy platforms to meet their infrastructure needs. Shaikh noted, "I agree that both the space and our proactive movement into it are ripe for growth, and our hard work has already started to pay off. Virtana was recently honored as one of CRN's coolest cloud companies, a Silicon Review leading company of 2021, and a top 10 player keeping public cloud costs under control by Business Insider." Richards has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Beyond work and technology, she is a member of Hipower, a tribe of women leaders laser-focused on accelerating one another's success, and a volunteer with the Junior League of San Jose, providing education and support for transitional foster youth as they move into adulthood. Learn more about Virtana and its expanding team and technology at www.virtana.com About Virtana Virtana delivers the industry's first unified observability platform for migrating, optimizing, and managing application workloads across public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Using artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) technologies, including machine learning and advanced data analytics, the cloud-agnostic Virtana Platform solves the most difficult challenges facing enterprises as they seek to leverage public clouds. The SaaS platform enables a "know before you go" approach by providing intelligent observability into which workloads to migrate. It also ensures that unexpected costs and performance degradation are avoided once workloads are operating in the cloud. With the Virtana Platform, enterprises can confidently speed cloud adoption and reduce cloud operating costs by simplifying management of their IT environments. Follow Virtana for industry insights on Twitter | LinkedIn | Virtana : #KnowBeforeYouGo View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/virtana-appoints-christina-richards-chief-marketing-officer-301256868.html SOURCE Virtana

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You might say, But, most local mayors work for little or no compensation! That is correct  and the system in Illinois  but that doesnt make it right! I respect differing opinions, but would you like to work 20-30 hours/week (On-call 24/7) and get paid only $6000/year? I know, it was their choice, but does it make sense if someone who reports to you (and you hired) sitting next to you at board meetings, i.e., the Village Administrator, earned more in two weeks than you did all year? Let that sink in.
Amazon is now facing a lawsuit that was filed by its former workhouse employee, particularly because of a rest and meal break setup that was dishonored by the retail company, despite deducting it from their wages, reported on Sunday, March 28. The popular e-commerce company in the world is notoriously known for its work conditions which were protested and fought off by its employees.

Whether it was blocking off unionizing parties or lawsuits on working conditions, Amazon has been faced with a lot of disputes regarding working conditions within the company and has been the center of attention for this. A lot of employees have been lashing out against the company, and most of them are from the heart of its operations, the workhouse, and logistics.

Former Amazon Employee Files Lawsuit Regarding Break Times

In a lawsuit filed under the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California last Friday, Mar. 26, Lovenia Scott, a former logistics specialist has revealed the unfair treatment of the company to them. Most of what Scott focused on is the deduction of their payment for taking their breaks, with the company not letting them finish their intended break times.

Every five hours on the shift, Amazon employees are entitled to 30-minute meal breaks, or the additional rest of 10 minutes for every four hours worked on the job. Scott allegedly claimed that Amazon does not let them finish these intervals from their jobs, and was forced to get back on where they left off without fully maximizing their time.

On the other hand, Amazon cuts or deducts these break times from their wages, which was a known setup from the e-commerce company when they hired these workers. The prosecution team with Scott is now seeking the court to make it a "class action" lawsuit and to be placed in front of juries to present the case and make Amazon accountable.

Read Also: [UPDATE] Elon Musk Confirms SpaceX SN11 Test Flight New Launch Date: How to Watch, When, and What to Expect

Amazon's Work Conditions via its Former Employee

According to Gizmodo, Scott divulged certain information regarding her stint as a workhouse employee for Amazon, and here she revealed their conditions as they were employed under the e-commerce company. Here, she said that there were no written rules as to their 30-minute and 10-minute meal or rest breaks that were unknown to other employees.

Moreover, the company does not schedule meal shifts and breaks among its employees, which means that the workers should choose their time to use their time and leave their work during their preferred moment. Additionally, the company forces them to carry their walkie-talkie radios around, despite going on meal breaks.

Scott also added that the company has also made it so, where everyone would take their meal breaks at the same time, resulting in a long line in their cafeteria which takes 10 to 15 minutes of their time already. Employees are forced to clock-in and out at exactly their intended break schedules, or it would be a problem within the management.

Related Article: Amazon's At-Home COVID-19 Test Kits Gets Approved by the FDA for Company Employees' Use

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isaiah Alonzo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
29th March 2021

Boston Dynamics warehouse robot to debut in 2022

Boston Dynamics has revealed its latest creation  a new robot called 'Stretch' that will automate warehouse operations.

Boston Dynamics  famous for robots like Atlas, BigDog, Handle, and Spot  has now revealed Stretch, its new box-moving robot designed to support the growing demand for flexible automation solutions in the logistics industry. This debut marks the company's official entrance into warehouse automation, a fast-growing market fuelled by increased demand in e-commerce.

Stretch is Boston Dynamics' first commercial robot specifically designed for warehouse facilities and distribution centres, of which there are more than 150,000 around the world. The multi-purpose, mobile robot is designed to tackle a number of tasks where rapid box moving is required, first starting with truck unloading and later expanding into order building. Stretch's technology builds upon Boston Dynamics' decades of advancements in robotics to create a flexible, easily-integrated solution that can work in any warehouse to increase the flow of goods, improve employee safety in physically difficult tasks and lower expensive automation costs.

The robot's small, omni-directional base allows it to navigate loading docks, manoeuvre in tight spaces and adapt to changing facility layouts, eliminating the need for costly, fixed automation infrastructure. It comes equipped with a custom-designed lightweight arm and a smart-gripper with advanced sensing and controls that can handle a wide variety of boxed and shrink-wrapped cases. Stretch also includes Boston Dynamics' computer vision technology that enables it to identify boxes easily and without extensive training for each customer. This vision system works in tandem with pick and place activity, enabling high pick rates.

Traditional warehouse automation approaches require either installation of fixed infrastructure, or mobile robots that convey goods but struggle to meet productivity requirements to be an attractive investment for warehouse operators. Stretch offers logistics providers an easier path to automation by working within existing warehouse spaces and operations, without requiring costly reconfiguration or investments in new fixed infrastructure.

"Warehouses are struggling to meet rapidly increasing demand as the world relies more on just-in-time delivery of goods," said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. "Mobile robots enable the flexible movement of materials and improve working conditions for employees. Stretch combines Boston Dynamics' advancements in mobility, perception and manipulation to tackle the most challenging, injury-prone case-handling tasks, and we're excited to see it put to work."

The company is now seeking customers to pilot test deployment of Stretch with truck unloading tasks ahead of its commercial deployment in 2022.

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[March 29, 2021] Parsons CEO Speaking at 2021 Global Infrastructure Innovation Summit

CENTREVILLE, Va., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) chief executive officer Chuck Harrington will join industry experts on April 6, 2021, to discuss the future of asset management in the critical infrastructure industry. The discussion will occur during the virtual 2021 Global Infrastructure Initiative (GII) Summit, hosted by McKinsey and Company. Harrington will share thoughts on the gravity of the cybersecurity threat within critical infrastructure, offer recommendations on addressing the cyber threat, and discuss making critical infrastructure more equitable in a post-COVID world. "The pandemic's acceleration of technology in our critical global infrastructure has forced the industry to ask: is there a better way?" said Chuck Harrington, Parsons' chief executive officer. "I believe there is. I look forward to joining this distinguished panel of experts to discuss the need for critical assets to include robust resilience and risk reduction planning, accounting for cybersecurity, and the requirement for building more sustainable, environmentally focused infrastructure." Since 2012, the Global Infrastructure Initiative Summit has convened many of the world's most senior leaders in infrastructure and capital projects to identify ways to improve the delivery of infrastructure and get more out of existing assets. The seventh GII Summit will occur virtually from April 6-8, 2021, and focus on realizing the "project of the future" in a post-COVID-19 recovery. Global industry trendssuch as digitization, industrialization, vertical and horizontal consolidation, and rising technology investmentare poied to change all stages of the project life cycle dramatically.



For more information on the 2021 GII, please visit: https://www.globalinfrastructureinitiative.com/summit Read how Parsons is driving the future of critical infrastructure by visiting: https://www.parsons.com/business-units/critical-infrastructure/

About Parsons Parsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading disruptive technology provider in the global defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cybersecurity, missile defense, space, connected infrastructure, and smart cities. Please visit parsons.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we're making an impact. Media Contact:

Bryce McDevitt

+ 1 703.851.4425

bryce.mcdevitt@parsons.com Investor Relations Contact:

Dave Spille

+ 1 571.655.8264

dave.spille@parsons.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/parsons-ceo-speaking-at-2021-global-infrastructure-innovation-summit-301257195.html SOURCE Parsons Corporation

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The 15th International Pediatric Conference held from March 18 to 20 gathered 55 world-leading experts from top medical institutions in the USA, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Virtually hosted by Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), the largest healthcare network in the UAE, it was one of the largest forums in the region presenting the latest innovations and developments in pediatric research and clinical practice.

The eminent speakers were also joined by 50 young researchers from the UAE as they virtually connected with more than 2,000 participants from across 25 countries to engage in state-of-the-art lectures, interactive sessions, case studies, demonstrations, practical workshops, and presentations, encouraging the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices.

The online scientific assembly was chaired by Dr Anwar Sallam, Group Chief Medical Officer, Seha; and co-chaired by Dr Jamal Al-Jubeh, Chair of Department-Pediatrics & Medical Affairs, SKMC; and Dr Walid Kaplan, Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics Tawam Hospital.

Dr Anwar Sallam, Group Chief Medical Officer, Seha, commented: As a global community of pediatricians, nurses and allied health workers, we must recognise that safeguarding our future is safeguarding our children. There is no greater need than ever before for the industry to come together to prioritise the wellbeing of children in light of the pandemic  to share evidence-based guidance and best practices, to inspire research and innovation, and to engage in learning. Reflecting Sehas mission of transforming the healthcare system in Abu Dhabi to meet and exceed international standards, we are delighted to have welcomed global experts and participants to the 15th Seha International Pediatric Conference as we take a significant step forward in encouraging continuous medical education and knowledge development.

This years edition focused on the recent advancements and emerging trends in the diagnosis and management of common problems in general pediatrics, such as obesity, and all pediatric sub-specialties such as hematology/oncology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology, and many more.

A dedicated session also reviewed the latest information relating to the effect of Covid-19 on children, the best treatments for children who develop complications from the virus, as well as the psychological effects of the infections and vaccines.

Dr Jamal Al-Jubeh, Chairman of Seha Pediatrics Council, Consultant Pediatric Endocrinologist, SKMC said: While children are resilient, we cannot underestimate the impact the pandemic is having on their mental wellbeing and overall health. There have been many sudden changes to their lives, which require us to be ever more vigilant and do everything possible to limit the impact on young minds. Forums like the 15th Seha International Pediatric Conference are integral in helping us collaborate as a community, and better understand how we can all transform this unprecedented challenge into a new opportunity to prioritise and invest in childrens health and wellbeing as part of our collective response to the pandemic.

The Conference was held in association with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital, London; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ohio; Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus, Ohio; Childrens National Hospital, Washington DC; Children's Hospital, Los Angeles; University of Minnesota Medical School; and Boston Childrens Hospital. -- Tradearabia News Service
EU imports of products including palm oil, soybeans, and beef contribute significantly to deforestation in other parts of the world. In a new study, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and the University of Louvain, Belgium, evaluated over a thousand policy proposals for how the EU could reduce this impact, to assess which would have the largest potential to reduce deforestation - while also being politically feasible.

"Unsurprisingly, there is weaker support for tougher regulations, such as import restrictions on certain goods. But our study shows that there is broad support in general, including for certain policies that have real potential to reduce imported deforestation," says Martin Persson, Associate Professor of Physical Resource Theory at Chalmers University of Technology.

Previous research from Chalmers University of Technology has already shown the EU's great impact in this area. More than half of tropical deforestation is linked to production of food and animal feed, such as palm oil, soybeans, wood products, cocoa and coffee - goods which the EU imports in vast quantities. The question is, what can the EU do to reduce its contribution to deforestation?

"This issue is particularly interesting now, as this year the EU is planning to present legislative proposals for reducing deforestation caused by European consumption. The question has been discussed by the EU since 2008, but now something political is actually happening," says Simon Bager, a doctoral student at the Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and lead author of the study.

The authors of the article mapped 1141 different proposals, originating from open consultations and workshops, where the EU has collected ideas from companies, interest groups and think tanks. The researchers also compiled proposals from a large number of research reports, policy briefs and other publications, where different stakeholders have put forward various policy proposals. After grouping together similar proposals, they arrived at 86 unique suggestions.

Two suggestions stand out from the crowd

Finding proposals for measures that would have the desired effect but are also possible to implement in practice, and enjoy the necessary political support, is no easy task. But after their extensive survey, the researchers identify two policy options in particular which show promise. The first is to make importers of produce responsible for any deforestation in their supply chains, by requiring them to carry out the requisite due diligence.

"If the importing companies' suppliers have products that contribute to deforestation, the company may be held responsible for this. We consider such a system to be credible and possible to implement both politically and practically - there are already examples from France and England where similar systems have been implemented or are in the process thereof," says Simon Bager.

"Due diligence is also the measure which is most common in our survey, put forward by many different types of actors, and there is broad support for this proposal. However, it is important to emphasise that for such a system to have an impact on deforestation, it must be carefully designed, including which companies are affected by the requirements, and which sanctions and liability options exist."

The other possibility is to support multi-stakeholder forums, where companies, civil society organisations, and politicians come together to agree on possible measures for ridding a supply-chain, commodity, or area, of deforestation. There are positive examples here too, the most notable being the Amazon Soy Moratorium from 2006, when actors including Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature gathered with soy producers and exporters and agreed to end soy exports from deforested areas in the Amazon rainforest.

"Examples such as these demonstrate the effect that multi-stakeholder forums can have. And in our opinion, it is a measure that is easier to get acceptance for, because it is an opportunity for the affected parties to be directly involved in helping design the measures themselves," says Martin.

Such discussions can also be adapted to the relevant areas or regions, increasing the likelihood of local support for the initiatives.

A delicate balance

The researchers also investigated how to deal with the trade-off between policy impacts and feasibility. An important part of this is combining different complementary measures. Trade regulations on their own, for example, risk hitting poorer producing countries harder, and should therefore be combined with targeted aid to help introduce more sustainable production methods, increasing yields without having to resort to deforestation. This would also reduce the risk of goods that are produced on deforested land simply being sold in markets other than the EU.

"If the EU now focuses on its contribution to deforestation, the effect may be that what is produced on newly deforested land is sold to other countries, while the EU gets the 'good' products. Therefore, our assessment is that the EU should ensure that the measures introduced are combined with those which contribute to an overall transition to sustainable land use in producing countries," says Simon Bager.

In conclusion, the researchers summarise three essential principles needed for new measures, if the EU is serious about reducing its impact on tropical deforestation.

"First, enact measures that actually are able to bring about change. Second, use a range of measures, combining different tools and instruments to contribute to reduced deforestation. Finally, ensure the direct involvement of supply chain actors within particularly important regions, expanding and broadening the measures over time," concludes Simon Bager.

The authors hope that the research and identified policy options can serve as inspiration for policy makers, NGOs, industries, and other stakeholders working to address the EU's deforestation footprint. With at least 86 different unique alternatives, there is a wide range of opportunities to focus on the problem - very few of these are political 'non-starters' or proposals which would have no effect on the issue.

The full study, Eighty-six EU policy options for reducing imported deforestation is available open-access in the journal One Earth.

For more information, contact:

Martin Persson, Associate Professor, Physical Resource Theory at Chalmers University of Technology, martin.persson@chalmers.se, +46 31 772 2148

Simon Bager, Ph.D. candidate UCLouvain and MSCA fellow COUPLED, simon.bager@uclouvain.be, +45 2721 7414

More detailed information regarding how the study was conducted:

To investigate the potential impact and political feasibility of the 1141 proposals, the researchers first categorised them based on who submitted the proposal, who the policy would affect, and what type of policy is proposed. Since many of the proposals were essentially the same or similar, they were then summarised, resulting in 86 unique suggestions. The majority are based on weaker measures, such as making more information and types of support available to producers, rather than statutory restrictions and regulations on imports and exports. The researchers interpret this as meaning that there is greater support for softer proposals. However, the researchers themselves consider these proposals to be less effective.

"One example is eco-labelling, where the purpose is to influence consumers to stop buying products that contribute to deforestation. The intent is good, but previous research does not support the argument that this changes consumer behaviour to such a level that production itself is affected. But if import restrictions are instead introduced on goods that are linked to deforestation, it is already known that this has direct effects," says Martin Persson.

After evaluating the likely effects, the next step was to see which proposals could actually receive political support, and how complex and costly the formulation and implementation was likely to be. For this evaluation, methodological innovations were required.

"After categorising the 1141 proposals, we could see how many stakeholders, and of which kind, proposed a certain type of measure. If the same option was proposed by many actors, of different kinds - environmental organisations, companies, and authorities - we interpreted that as strong, broad support for the proposal," explains Martin Persson.

The last two steps in the assessment of the measures were then about how complicated and expensive it would be to realise the proposals.

"For example, commissioning a research institute to investigate, at a detailed level, what drives deforestation - that would be quite easy. But a new tax or punitive duty at EU-wide level would be very difficult and costly to successfully implement. There are some measures, which the EU can take alone, while others require cooperation with the individual member states or third countries. And there we simply rated the institutional difficulty for implementation of each proposal," says Simon Bager.

The last aspect for assessing the political feasibility was looking at the economic impact of the proposal.

"If you influence a large import flow, that will result in major economic consequences. Directing the EU aid budget to support less forest-intensive production, meanwhile, would have a significantly smaller financial impact," says Martin Persson.

The consequences for the economy also depend on how much of a market is affected. It is important that a will to change taxation or regulation in the area exists.

###
Chennai, March 29 : In a damage control measure, A.Raja, the DMK's Deputy General Secretary and Lok Sabha member, on Monday apologised to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami for hurting his sentiments by the alleged derogatory speech made against the latter's mother.

Speaking to the mediapersons at Ooty on Monday, Raja said he apologised to Palaniswami if his remarks had hurt him.

With condemnations for his derogatory speech against Palaniswami and his mother pouring in and to avoid any negative impact on DMK's electoral prospects, Raja regretted his speech.

Recently the DMK leader said Stalin's slipper is worth Rs one more than that of Palaniswami.

Raja had insulted Palaniswami's late mother saying the Chief Minister was an 'illegimate child' while DMK National President M.K. Stalin was a 'legitimate child'.

On Sunday Palaniswami while campaigning for his party turned emotional citing Raja insulting his mother.

Justifying his speech, Raja said he had tried to explain the political leadership capacity of Stalin and Palaniswami citing a baby as an example.

However, the DMK and its alliance parties did not condemn Raja but maintained a frivolous stand on the matter.

Earlier, Stalin released a statement urging his party leaders not to use indecent language while campaigning.

In a scathing attack on DMK and A. Raja, Pattali Makkal Katch (PMK) founder, S. Ramadoss, said the former was not ready to respect women and cited the late M. Karunanidhi's responses to various issues in the past.

Ramadoss also said Palaniswami, who rose in the AIADMK rank to become the state Chief Minister has more political acumenship than Stalin, the son of DMK's late President and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

When there are several decent words to compare Palaniswami and Stalin, the choice of words used by Raja shows his stature and also that of the DMK, Ramadoss added.

Ramadoss said it was Stalin's son and party's Youth wing leader Udayanidhi Stalin, who started the trend of making disgusting remarks about Palaniswami and V.K.Sasikala.

Few days back, one of DMK's Propaganda Secretary Dindigul I Leoni body-shamed women while campaigning in the Thondamuthur constituency for Karthikeya Sivasenapathy.

Leoni had said women have lost their hour-glass figure and have become like a barrel after drinking milk of foreign cows.

DMK's Lok Sabha member, Kanimozhi, said whoever be the political leader, if they are speaking ill about women -- they must be condemned.

The month-long collapse of Scott Morrisons authority has been so morbidly fascinating that it has diverted attention from what I see as a deeper problem. In the 25 years of Tony Abbotts public life, it never became clear to me what he stood for, but at least I was in no doubt as to what he was against. With Morrison, I dont even feel that frigid comfort. I honestly have no idea what the man is trying to achieve with his prime ministership, as his sole political goal seems to be to extend it. Is this what politics in this country have become  the prime ministership is now an end in itself? I worry for my country as each passing week reinforces this dismal hypothesis. - Len Keating, Balmain East Scourge of misogyny will be hard to shift I am closer to 80 than 70 and while out doing my daily exercise, a group of young men came up behind me, and one, following a loud, crude expletive, told me I was well stacked for an old lady. Its sadly indicative that even advanced years are no protection against unwanted harassment, (Weve carried this burden for too long, March 29). - Elizabeth Kroon, Randwick Many men are already supportive, but there are also many men who, if they read any of the letters in Saturdays Herald, would just raise a mental high five at the power they have over women. This power exists and wont be suppressed. Too many men feel entitled to act as they wish against women and too many turn a blind eye. Allan Kreuiter (Letters, March 29) is right to worry about his daughters and I weep with him. Despite the current publicity, nothing will change. It hasnt before as society has just held its breath and continued to grin and bear it until the furore has died down. The precedent has been set. - Valerie Craig, Orange Allan Kreuiter, dont make your daughters fearful. Rather, make them strong, resilient and unafraid. Teach them that women are equal and to stand up to the unthinking monsters - and just to be safe, teach them martial arts/self defence. - Rosemary Wolf, Mount Warrigal

How right you are Kristine Ziwica (Paynes silence speaks volumes, March 29). Why should we expect the Minister for Women in this government do anything worthwhile, make changes, address the endemic problems of misogyny and abuse? The boys club cant be disrupted. After all, why would all these middle-aged white men give up, or even share, their positions of power? - Pauline Paton, Centennial Park Just wondering if, given what we now know, Minister Paul Fletcher has apologised to Ita Buttrose and the ABC Four Corners team for questioning the public interest and news value of the November 2020 program Inside the Canberra Bubble? - Katharine Maxwell, Rydalmere A lewd act masturbation may well be, but at least its usually regarded simply as a misdemeanour or offensive behaviour (Letters, March 29). Rape is a criminal act and an indictable offence. Yet the individual who masturbated in Parliament is publicly condemned and sacked. In stark contrast, a person accused of rape  a charge vehemently denied  not only remains in his role, but continues to enjoy the expressed confidence of the PM. - Edward Loong, Milsons Point Getting the sack for behaving like a tom cat in the offices of Parliament House is not homophobia, Chip Le Grand (Letters, March 29)! It just shows that the Morrison government cares more about desks than women! - Cathy Davitt, Waverley Oh what a (sinking) feeling

With oil supplies at risk and now potentially blocked in the Suez Canal, its time for our elected leaders to move towards the use of electric vehicles. However, I despair of any leadership from this government (Electric vehicle uptake set to surge, March 29). There cant be an oil lobby holding this back, can there? There cant be a fossil fuel car lobby as we dont make them anymore. I am 85, and Id like to replace my Toyota Yaris with a full electric vehicle at a price I can afford. Get a move on now. - Sheila Meixner, Yass Theres a lot of misinformation when it comes to electric cars, and the notion that the majority of people will come home at 5 or 6pm to charge, which will coincide with the evening peak is ridiculous. EV owners might plug their cars in then, but the charge timer in the car wont actually start charging until off-peak electricity rates kick in, typically after 10pm. Why would any EV owner fill up their car at around 40-50 cents per kWh at 6pm when they can do it for a quarter of the price at midnight? - Brendan Jones, Annandale It seems mind-boggling that the NSW Treasurer would happily put a tax on electric vehicles (Dont plug in tax on electric vehicles, March 27-28). Havent the Liberals always argued they will never consider a carbon tax as they are the party of fewer taxes? - Peggy Fisher, Killara I agree with Matt Kean, there should be a road user charge on electric vehicles once they become 20 per cent of new vehicle sales. In the meantime, place a health tax on fossil fuel cars for the respiratory and other health issues caused by their concentrated toxic emissions in towns and cities. - Dennis OHara, Wanniassa (ACT) Hard Labor lessons

Darcy Byrne seems to miss the point (State Labor risks another decade in opposition, March 29). Its not that Jodi McKay is lacking integrity its the sad fact she lacks media savvy credibility. The loudest critics of the Coalition state government are the Greens David Shoebridge and, to a lesser extent, Labors Daniel Mookhey and Walt Secord. The opposition leader has been delivering a deafening silence since she became leader and Byrnes assertion that she has a record of speaking out against impropriety is simply not true, particularly since the Berejiklian government is awash with the stuff at present. The opposition lacks visible leadership, and it will remain in opposition until it has a leader who is willing to be heard. - Simon Pitts, Riverview Make batteries cheaper I would have thought the most obvious solution to the problem of oversupply of electricity from domestic solar panels (Letters, March 29) would be for domestic solar batteries to be supplied at a subsidised price. This would reduce output to the grid during peak solar production and reduce input from the grid later in the day. - Stephen Kirk, Blackbutt Self-righteous Minister should butt out Stuart Robert needs to come out from under his delusory sanctimonious haystack (Specious approach to reform a threat to NDIS consensus, March 29). Of course people with a disability want to live as normal lives as they can. The problem with the NDIS is to do with its general administration. I know of a woman with Lupus who is really quite ill much of the time, but in order to receive a disability pension she is told she has to work two days a week for charity. A day of work means the next day in bed for her, so for four days a week she is either working for the required two days or recovering in bed. That is the sort of thing Mr Robert should be concerning himself with, not the fact that one woman accessing NDIS hired a sex worker. I find Mr Roberts attitude yet another example of how this self-righteous government is totally out of touch with the real world. - Joanna van Kool, Crows Nest

Bus changes a step backwards Lets hope the new chief of Transport for NSW can bring with him a customer focus from his Virgin airline days (Former Virgin executive unveiled as NSW Transport boss, March 27-28). The transport agencys recent changes to Sydneys bus services, resulting in the widespread need to change bus en route, have wreaked havoc on the predictability of travel times. Passengers now have longer walks to the better-served bus stops, and between stops when changing. There was no community consultation before the changes were introduced. The main beneficiaries seem to be the privatised bus companies, the new routes better arranged around their bus depots. If the new transport chief cant fix it, perhaps voters in the affected largely Liberal electorates will. - Kevin Eadie, Drummoyne More Power to your reporting Julie Powers historical piece about the Hawkesbury River (Aboriginal place names back on the map along Dyarubbin, March 27-28) was interesting, educational, inspirational and touching. Accompanied by a sublime Joy Lai photo, it contributes to our sympathetic understanding of this land and its people. - Ian Muldoon, Coffs Harbour With all due reference to the inspiring engineer John Bradfield , the naming of the western Sydney airport conurbation does not engender a geographical reference that highlights the uniqueness that is Australia. As with Sydney itself, Bradfield Im afraid paints a pretty insipid palette of the nature and antiquity that is this country. Many a contemporary nation has changed the name of a major city or even the nations name itself to one that reflects a greater sensitivity to its founding history and culture and land. Recognise historical characters by all means but raise the identity of sense of place at every opportunity. - Steve Dillon, Thirroul

Picture imperfect The NSW Photo Card is intended as an identity document for people who dont hold a drivers licence, and should be accepted as identification everywhere a driver licence is recognised. Except for NSW government online services, it seems. Try using it to get your Dine & Discover vouchers through the Service NSW app. It doesnt come up as an eligible identification document. Also, the Service NSW webpage listing eligible forms of identification doesnt include the Photo Card. This is a larger issue than $100 worth of vouchers. - Robert Curran, Drummoyne Affirmative Hamilton As wondrous, groundbreaking and marvellous as Hamilton is, I would like to know when the balance is going to be corrected and a follow-up musical created that pays tribute to Eliza Hamilton, Alexanders incredible wife. - Sue Durman, Pyrmont Hamilton is here: and congratulations to all concerned. An Australian story of great significance could be musicalised and put on stage worldwide. In 1835, NSWs dutiful governor Sir Richard Bourke, with his Proclamation, invalidated treaties under which the squatters sought to assume ownership of land by purchase from the Indigenous people. The proclamation affirmed the British claim to have taken possession of the land and reinforced the notion of terra nullius, that the land had previously belonged to nobody. It was instrumental in land rights law until the Mabo case in 1992. My acts and scenes are in their infancy, but the title is locked in: What a Bourke! - John Kingsmill, Fairlight
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:03:22|Editor: huaxia

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China-donated COVID-19 vaccines are unloaded at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 29, 2021. A chartered flight of the Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, brought back the vaccines donated by China on Monday, giving a major boost for Nepal to continue its vaccination campaign against the pandemic. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)

KATHMANDU, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday lauded China's contribution to the world in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic after a batch of Chinese vaccines arrived in the Himalayan country.

A chartered flight of the Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, brought back the vaccines donated by China on Monday, giving a major boost for Nepal to continue its vaccination campaign against the pandemic.

During the handover ceremony at Prime Minister Oli's residence in Kathmandu, Oli extended heartfelt thanks to the Chinese government on behalf of the Nepali government and in his personal capacity for donation of the COVID-19 vaccines.

He also appreciated China's anti-COVID-19 efforts as well.

"I would like to appreciate the steps taken by China and the works done by the government of China to fight against COVID-19," he said. "The policy of success that China has adopted is a lesson to other countries."

Earlier in the day, a welcome ceremony was organized at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu after the plane carrying the Chinese vaccines landed in the airport.

Nepali Health Minister Hridayas Tripathi, senior Nepali government officials as well as Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi attended the ceremony.

Minister Tripathi expressed gratitude to China for donating the vaccines, saying the Chinese doses would contribute to Nepal's fight against COVID-19.

"We are very thankful to our neighbour China. Nepal went through a prolonged lockdown (last year). It is not easy to fight against nature and its consequences. The ministry is trying its best to avoid lockdown (again). This vaccine will help the government's plan to avoid second lockdown," he said.

Chinese Ambassador Hou said, "This batch of vaccines is not only an implementation of the solemn commitment of China to make Chinese COVID vaccine a global public good, but also a vivid manifestation of our two countries' joint construction of a community with shared future."

She added that the vaccines provided by China would help Nepal overcome the COVID-19 pandemic at an early date and contribute to early resumption of normal economic and social life in Nepal.

The Chinese vaccines arrived in Nepal at a time when the Himalayan country is struggling to get enough vaccines to continue its vaccination drive. Nepal started the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 on Jan. 27 and has so far inoculated over 1.7 million people in two phases, according to Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population.

On Feb. 17, the Nepali Department of Drug Administration granted approval to the vaccine developed by China's Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd. under Sinopharm, for the emergency use in Nepal. Enditem
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president on Sunday promised to visit the people of Tamil Nadu's Salem district in all situations and not only during elections.

"This AIDMK government has taken back 50 years. All the rights of the people of have been taken by introducing NEET, the new education policy and the Citizenship Amendment Act," he said, adding that this election was not only to change the government but also to get back Tamil Nadu's rights.

He further promised to visit the people of Tamil Nadu's Salem district in all situations and not only during elections.

"Whatever be the situation, I will visit you all. Not only for elections. I am here not only to seek votes for other candidates of my party but also for myself as the Chief Ministerial candidate of our Alliance," Stalin told DMK supporters at a roadshow.

The DMK chief also said that only the DMK-Congress alliance is there to fight against these activities.

"After Jayalalithaa's death, all the things that are happening in is in the BJP's master plan. The Chief Minister is lying when he says the ruling government is close to the Central Government through which we get funds," he added.

The assembly elections in Tamil Nadu will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2.

Polls will be held for 234 seats in the state with the Congress-DMK and BJP- alliance being the major groups contesting against each other.

(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.)
No fewer than 497 police officers were killed in different attacks across Nigeria in the last six years, a report has said.

It also said at least, 1,175 civilians were also killed in different attacks in the country.

The report by SBMorgen, a Lagos-based intelligence platform, covered the period between January 7, 2015 and March 22, 2021, about 75 months.

According to the report, sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the 497 police officers and men were killed in 554 incidents across the country during the period.

The group, which based its data on reported incidents, said its findings were corroborated by at least two different media sources across the six geopolitical zones in the country.

The figures arguably underscored the extension of the mind boggling cases of insecurity in Nigeria in recent years.

Zonal analysis

SBMorgen said, of all the six geopolitical zones in the country, the South-south region tops the chart with 163 incidents that sent 174 policemen to their early graves during the years under review.

It said 51 policemen were killed in Delta State alone within the period, making the state the highest among the six states in the region.

Akwa Ibom State recorded 11 deaths within the 75 months.

The North-central zone trailed the South-south zone having recorded 85 deaths of police officers out of the 88 reported attack incidents in the zone.

In the geopolitical zone, Benue recorded the highest number with the killing of 22 police officers during the 16 reported incidents during the period under review. The state witnessed herders-farmers clashes during most of the 75 months.

It is followed closely by Kogi which recorded the deaths of 19 police personnel in 49 violent attacks.

Kwara State, the report said, recorded two deaths out of the three cases reported in the state.

As fairly safe as the South-west seems, the region recorded 112 incidents, which led to the demise of 72 members of Nigerian police.

In the region, Lagos topped the chart with 47 attacks and 21 reported cases of death.

Ondo State recorded 11 deaths of police officers out of the 16 attack incidents. Ekiti recorded the least.

The report said the North-west and South-east respectively accounted for 59 and 58 deaths of police personnel in 64 and 82 incidents in the geopolitical zones.

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The North-east region surprisingly recorded 45 attack incidents and 49 death cases. The zone, comprising Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Adamawa and Taraba, is one of the volatile regions in the country.

Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States have been the epicentre of the insurgency in the region.

State by state basis

One a state by state basis, the gathered data by SBMorgen, showed that Kebbi was the safest state for police officers while Zamfara, Delta, Edo, Kogi, Yobe, Benue, Borno, Adamawa, Rivers, Abia, Plateau and Cross Rivers are states where more than one police officer was killed per attack.

There were more reported killings of police officers across the six geopolitical zones between 2018-2020 than in 2015-2017.

Between January 1, 2021 to March 22, 2021, the report said 48 police officers were killed across the zones.

The South-eastern part of Nigeria accounted for 16 of those deaths while the South-south accounted for 20. They both accounted for more than 60 per cent of the total figure.

Commenting on the report, a data expert with SBMorgen, Joachim MacEbong, told PREMIUM TIMES that the firm arrived at the figures after compiling reports from at least two newspapers over the years.
SOHC

The fascinating piece of custom machinery you see here hails from Officine Sbrannetti, a revered enterprise based in La Spezia, Italy. These fellows will gladly tackle just about any manufacturers two-wheeled beasts in their quest to deliver something truly outstanding, and the results are spectacular. Lets examine the crews accomplishments on a 2005 Moto Guzzi Griso 1100 Mandello del Larios warrior is put in motion by an air-cooledV-twin powerplant that prides itself with a humungous displacement of 1,064cc. This untamed monstrosity is fully capable of supplying up to 86 horses at about 7,800 rpm, along with 63 pound-feet (85 Nm) of torque at 6,000 revs. A six-speed transmission is tasked with handing the engines force over to the rear 17-inch wheel via a shaft final drive.As for Sbrannettis bespoke showstopper (dubbed  Caffe Lungo ), the Italian pros began by cutting the Grisos standard subframe to make way for a fresh loop-style alternative that hosts an integrated LED lighting strip. The original three-spoke shoes were discarded in favor of laced hoops developed in collaboration with Jonich Wheels. Their rims have been enveloped in top-grade SportSmart tires from Dunlops catalog to ensure that ample grip is achieved.Up front, La Spezias moto artists installed a set of premium Ohlins forks, while rear suspension duties are handled by a state-of-the-art monoshock transplanted from an Aprilia RSV 1000 R. To enhance the bikes handling further, the new forks were upgraded with race-spec internals for good measure. Additional stopping power is summoned via high-performance brake modules from Brembo.Next, the firm tasked the gurus over at Mass Moto with creating a unique two-into-two exhaust system wearing reverse megaphone mufflers. At the front end, you will spot a pair of clip-on handlebars and an MV Agusta Brutales gorgeous headlight item, as well as a digital aftermarket gauge and LED turn signals from Motogadgets inventory. To leave the V-twin's cylinder heads completely exposed, Sbrannetti proceeded to fabricate custom side panels in-house. Finally, the finishing touch comes in the form of a sexy leather saddle painstakingly upholstered by a local craftsman.
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned NSW will likely see fresh local coronavirus cases, as more Byron Bay venues are placed on alert after a group who travelled from Queensland for a bachelorette party later tested positive for coronavirus.

An additional eight local cases were detected in the sunshine state on Tuesday, one day into Greater Brisbanes three-day snap lockdown designed to stop the spread of local cases which have been linked to healthcare workers at a Brisbane hospital.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (left) and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant (right) during a visit at Homebush Boys High School on Tuesday. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Five of the cases are linked to the bachelorette group, which included a nurse in the COVID-19 ward at Brisbanes Princess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said.

One of these cases was a male entertainer who also works as a tradesman and had been on-site at a Gold Coast aged care home while contagious. A sixth case, a close contact, is believed to also be linked to this cluster.
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-28 23:22:50|Editor: huaxia

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By Tafara Mugwara, Zhang Yuliang

HARARE, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A month after the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine was administered in Zimbabwe, the country's inoculation drive is gaining momentum each passing day, with more than 65,000 people already received their first jabs of either Sinopharm or Sinovac doses from China, while more than 7,900 people received their second doses as of Saturday.

Wilkins Hospital in the capital Harare on Friday was abuzz with activity as people of all ages and diverse racial backgrounds thronged the facility to receive their first shots of the Sinopharm vaccine.

Zimbabwe's vaccination drive gained momentum on Wednesday when President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other prominent political leaders across the political divide received their first shots of the Sinovac vaccine during the launch of the second phase of the inoculation program in the resort city of Victoria Falls.

Wilkins Hospital is now attending more than 1,000 people daily.

People who spoke to Xinhua in Harare after receiving their first jabs expressed confidence that Chinese vaccines are providing some hope that the end of the global pandemic is approaching.

Sixty-five-year-old Deborah Birch, who has an underlying condition, was excited to have received her first jab.

"So the fact that I have got the vaccination, I feel so much relieved, and I feel free, yes I will still take precautions completely absolutely, but I don't feel as much endangered as I have been up to now," she told Xinhua shortly after receiving her shot.

Birch said before taking the shot she consulted her doctor who assured her that it was safe to do so.

"I am confident that I have taken the Chinese vaccine. In fact, my professor of gastroenterology told me that he likes this vaccine, the Chinese vaccine over any other because of the old school, the way they went about it, it's nothing new, it's tried and tested and safe," she said.

Isaac Bhunu, who also got his first shot, expressed gratitude to China for providing vaccines to Zimbabwe.

"China, as a country, assisted us when we were fighting for independence. This means it's providing us with safe remedies that can help us to survive, it cannot let us down, because we have come a long way together," he said.

Kudakwashe Ncube, who works in the education sector, could not contain her excitement after receiving her first jab.

"I was a bit skeptical about coming for the jab, I thought it was going to be very painful, it wasn't, it was just a prick and there is a lot that has been said about this jab, but coming here I have just seen that it's the best way to go, I have done it and I am really excited that I have taken this step," she told Xinhua.

While more Zimbabweans are now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, speculation about the safety of the vaccine has been rife on social media platforms.

Trina Chadoka encouraged people to ignore the conspiracy theories about vaccines being spread online.

"I have just come for my first jab, and I really appreciate what the government has done for us. It seems things are going on well, just this speculation of the social media, I think they are all lies, things are happening and people should just come and do vaccination," she said.

Olga Bacar, who also received her first jab, said, "I would advise everyone to just get the vaccine, it's good for them."

Zimbabwe is currently in its second phase of the inoculation program.

While the first phase targeted frontline health workers, journalists, prison officers as well as ports and immigration officials, the second phase is targeting teachers, the clergy, members of the security sector, the elderly and people with chronic conditions, among other priority groups.

Epidemiologists estimate that up to 60 percent of the country will need to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity.

Zimbabwe launched the first phase of its vaccination drive on Feb. 18 after receiving its first batch of Sinopharm vaccines that were donated by China.

Last week, Zimbabwe also took delivery of another batch of Sinopharm vaccines donated by China, and an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines that it purchased from the Asian country.

China and Zimbabwe enjoy cordial bilateral ties and China has offered a helping hand to Zimbabwe's fight against the pandemic since the onset of the virus in the country last March.

From providing funds to upgrade Wilkins Hospital, which is the main COVID-19 isolation and treatment center, to donating medical equipment and dispatching a medical team, China has always been at the forefront of fighting the pandemic in Zimbabwe. Enditem


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The United States government is trying to get smarter about getting smart. Throughout the federal government, and especially in defense and national security, artificial intelligence (AI) is getting an increased amount of attention, including the adoption of hefty AI budgets. That should lead to increasing contract opportunities for information technology vendors with high competence in AI.

Federal civilian and defense contract spending for artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) is likely to grow to $4.3 billion in fiscal year 2023, according to a recent report from Bloomberg Government.

In the defense sector, AI/ML contract spending was estimated at $1.4 billion in 2020, with projections reaching $2 billion in 2021; $2.4 billion in 2022 and $2.8 billion in 2023.

Civilian agency contract spending for AI/ML was estimated at $606 million in 2020, also according to the Bloomberg Government analysis. In 2021, the amount of such spending will reach $945-million and will grow to $1.16 billion in 2022 and hit $1.44 billion in 2023.

AI Spending Growing Quickly

One notable example of the fast pace of federal AI/ML investing is the U.S. Defense Department's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). Established in June 2018, JAIC was involved in awarding three major contracts between May and October of 2020 with a total potential contract value of more than $1.4 billion.

In addition to contract spending, federal agencies are investing heavily in AI/ML research -- with such spending reaching $1.5 billion in fiscal 2020. The 2021 budget for AI research activities at the National Science Foundation (NSF) alone was $868 million.

The surge in federal spending has occurred in parallel with policy directives initiated during former president Donald Trump's administration, which are likely to be continued with the incoming Biden administration.

In January, the U.S. Congress adopted the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (NDAA) which includes a host of provisions designed to implement the Trump administration's AI policies, including the creation of a National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office.

"The expansion of AI research funding and coordination by the new National AI Initiative Office places the federal government in a more prominent role in AI research," noted Mark Lyon, a partner and chair of AI practice at Gibson Dunn and Crutcher. The AI office will be housed in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Programs Supported by Congress

The provisions in the NDAA received bi-partisan support, a good omen for contractors with an interest in federal AI/ML activities. Enactment of the provisions "sends a signal to both our allies and adversaries that the United States will continue to be a global leader in the development and adoption of trustworthy artificial intelligence," said Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Frank Lucas (R-OK) in a joint statement. Johnson is chair, and Lucas is ranking member, of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Some of the AI/ML contracts that have been awarded have been large in value and ambitious in substance. In the defense sector, several contracts awarded by the JAIC are reflective of the scope of such projects:

In October 2020 JAIC awarded contracts to five companies for software development, machine learning, cognitive and systems engineering, operations research, and user experience design. The companies included Redhorse, Cyber Point International, Elder Research, Barbaricum, and Enterprise Resource Performance. The companies were awarded five-year competitive blanket purchase agreements, with a potential value of $100 million for each firm.

The JAIC, working through the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), awarded a four-year task order contract with a potential value of $106 million to Deloitte Consulting. The company will design and build the Joint Common Foundation (JCF) Artificial Intelligence development environment for JAIC. Deloitte will operate as the lead system integrator of all contractor service solutions for the JCF and "will provide, operate, maintain, secure, and enhance the JCF with platforms and tools that can be shared and distributed to end-users across the DoD enterprise," according to the JAIC.

In May 2020, Booz Allen Hamilton received a five-year contract with a potential value of $800 million awarded through the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Defense to provide artificial intelligence services to support the JAIC. Under the task order award, Booz Allen will support the JAIC's Joint Warfighting National Mission Initiative, "as the prime systems integrator in the development of new AI technologies and products to improve operational effectiveness in all domains," according to the company.

Federal civilian AI/ML investments are also gaining support. For example, in September 2020 the GSA awarded a $9 million contract to Deloitte Consulting and Esper Inc. to support a federal program for utilizing artificial intelligence to modernize government regulatory activities.

Also, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has been active in awarding a series of contracts designed to use analytics and AI in connection with remote camera surveillance towers at U.S border locations; and the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service has launched a study to assess whether artificial intelligence capabilities like machine learning and natural language processing can be used to facilitate funding management for government agencies.

Continuing Pace of Contracting

The momentum for utilizing AI/ML will likely continue within the Biden administration.

"We expect that the Biden administration will increase spending for non-defense related AI research. While President Trump proposed doubling the AI research and development budget near the end of his term, his administration primarily treated AI as a geopolitical tool and focused on funding defense-related AI research," said Gibson Dunn's Lyon.

"President Biden's campaign platform committed $300 billion to non-military technology research and development, which includes AI. While it is unclear how exactly this budget will be allocated, President Biden's decision to elevate the OSTP to a cabinet level position speaks to his administration's apparent intent to promote the use of AI for scientific progress," Lyon told the E-Commerce Times.

"Overall, I think we can expect a great deal of continuity between the Trump and Biden Administration approaches when it comes to investment and policy around artificial intelligence," said Chris Cornillie, federal market analyst at Bloomberg Government. Last year the Trump administration pledged to double federal research and development investments in AI and quantum information science over two years, he said.

"I would expect AI funding to remain on that trajectory under Biden, given its implications for national security and economic competitiveness," Cornillie told the E-Commerce Times.

Policy Continuity Likely

These significant and growing investments in AI/ML are rooted in policies supportive of the emerging technology. "I expect a lot of continuity on the policy side as well, in terms of encouraging federal agencies to adopt AI and publicizing training data sets for public consumption," said Cornillie.

"There have been no indications that President Biden plans to disavow any of the commitments or proposals made during the last presidential term with respect to the government agencies with AI-related mandates, such as the OSTP, the NSF, and the National Institutes for Science and Technology (NIST)," Lyon said.

President Biden's appointments to the leadership at the OSTP "suggest a stronger emphasis on accountability and regulatory oversight for breakthrough technologies like AI," he noted. The NDAA included a legislative mandate for NIST and "we expect that the new administration will support the development of technical standards and guidelines to promote trustworthy AI systems," Lyon said.

Both Lyon and Cornillie agreed that whether Trump's "light touch" policy on regulating AI will be continued is yet to be determined.

John K. Higgins has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2009. His main areas of focus are U.S. government technology issues such as IT contracting, cybersecurity, privacy, cloud technology, big data and e-commerce regulation. As a freelance journalist and career business writer, he has written for numerous publications, including The Corps Report and Business Week. Email John.


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Photo: YouTube/LilNasX

Since the beginning of popular music, rock stars have often invoked Satan as a surefire way to scandalize parents and freak out the squares. In his latest endeavor, Lil Nas X is freaking out the squares in two different mediums. First, with the riotously gay music video for his latest single Montero (Call Me By Your Name), which features the rapper giving a lap dance to, then snapping the neck of, Beelzebub himself; and, now, with a limited-edition drop of Satan Shoes, 666 pairs of pentagram-accessorized Nike Air Max 97s that allegedly contain one drop of human blood. In case there was any doubt in your mind that they might be, Nike clarified Sunday that the Satan Shoes, currently setting the internet aflame and set to drop March 29, have not been officially endorsed by the brand. Presumably because of the, you know, human blood part.

We do not have a relationship with Little Nas X or MSCHF, Nike told the New York Times Sunday. Nike did not design or release these shoes, and we do not endorse them, nor was the company involved in any capacity in the production of the sneakers. The Times also checked in with MSCHF, the Brooklyn brand selling the shoes, who claim about six employees drew their own blood to donate to Lil Nas Xs fashion endeavor. Said MSCHF co-founder Daniel Greenberg, Uhhhhhh yeah hahah not medical professionals we did it ourselves lol. A drop of blood was allegedly mixed in with ink that fills an air bubble in the sneaker.

Even as the nations youth-group leaders, not to mention South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, panic at the prospect of making both gay lap dances and occult footwear seem cool, Lil Nas X posted an apology video Sunday to address peoples concerns, an apology video that cuts almost immediately to the rappers above-mentioned scandalous music video.

As for the origin for his demonic aesthetic, Lil Nas X explained his inspiration on Twitter following his singles release. In a nutshell, if some people insist Lil Nas X is going to hell for being queer, he might as well shoot a music video there and set himself free.

Its about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never be that type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist, he wrote in a letter to his 14-year-old self. You see this is very scary for me, people will be angry, they will say Im pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the fuck out of other peoples lives and stop dictating who they should be.

And to anyone worried about their children purchasing Satan Shoes behind their backs: Dont worry, theyre $1,018, a number inspired by Luke 10:18, which is also written on the shoes themselves: And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Update: Monday, March 29, at 10 a.m.: Lil Nas X isnt even arguing with the conservatives angrily tweeting at him, hes simply stating facts. From right-wing pastors to public officials to gun girl Kaitlin Bennett, no one escaped Lil Nas Xs clapbacks. ur a whole governor and u on here tweeting about some damn shoes, he responded to South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. do ur job! No Bible verses shall prosper against the rapper. When Noem responds, he hits her with his own Montero 1:08: Shoot a child in your mouth while Im ridin. The 21-year-old knew he did something right when Candace Owens, outrage personified, tweeted about the Satan shoes. Lil Nas X also had to set the record straight about Old Town Road, when Joyner Lucas claimed Nas X dropped some left field ish with Montero, catching parents and kids off guard. i literally sing about lean & adultery in old town road, Lil Nas X quote-tweets with the harsh truth. u decided to let your child listen. blame yourself. If youre gonna let musicians raise your kids, dont be surprised when they turn out cool as hell. Take notes on Lil Nas Xs comebacks below.

i literally sing about lean & adultery in old town road. u decided to let your child listen. blame yourself. https://t.co/gYmTi49BqB  nope  (@LilNasX) March 29, 2021

Shoot a child in your mouth while I'm ridin'



-Montero 1:08 https://t.co/AFjBdcBEtG  nope  (@LilNasX) March 28, 2021

i still see ur tweets shitty pants https://t.co/ErZfnY13Rl  nope  (@LilNasX) March 29, 2021

u cant last 30 seconds in bed with your wife https://t.co/6mFCJlceWb  nope  (@LilNasX) March 29, 2021

Update: Monday, March 29, at 5:35 p.m.: In an epic display of marketing dissonance, Nike is suing MSCHF, the designer behind the Satan sneak, for copyright infringement. According to a filing obtained by New York Times reporter Kevin Draper, the complaints include trademark infringement, false designation or origin, trademark dilution, and common-law-trademark infringement. Lil Nas X processed the news by making a meme.

me after the nike lawsuit pic.twitter.com/XVLjHlSrru  nope  (@LilNasX) March 29, 2021

The thing is, the Satan shoes are actually a sequel to a 2019 MSCHF design: Air Max 97s filled with 60 cubic centimeters of water from the River Jordan, allowing its wearer to walk on water like Jesus himself. Nike really shouldnt have picked a fight with the internets sharpshooter. Lil Nas X is out for blood.

Update, Thursday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m.: U.S. District Court Judge Eric Komitee has stopped the sale of Lil Nas Xs limited-edition Satan shoes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Nike followed up their trademark lawsuit with a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The company claims the shoe will dilute the integrity of its icon, the swoosh. Lawyers for MSCHF argued the shoes are not sneakers, but individually numbered works of art, in a letter to the federal judge yesterday. At a hearing on Thursday, Nike stressed that both general consumers and sophisticated sneakerheads were confused. We have submitted numerous evidence that some consumers are saying they will never buy Nike shoes ever again, said Nikes attorney, per THR. MSCHF says all but one pair have already been sold and shipped, but Komitee ruled in favor of Nikes temporary restraining order. A hearing to consider a longer-lasting preliminary injunctive will follow.
With Section 144 in place amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in on the occasion of Holi, the Ganga ghats in the city remained desolate on Monday morning as people refrained from venturing out to celebrate the festival.

The police have put a ban on the operations of boat services at all the ghats in

"Police are requesting the public to celebrate the festival safely and follow all the guidelines put forth by the local administration," said a policeman.

The police officials also are not letting people take holy dips in the deep waters of the Ganges.

Himanshu, a local resident, said, "I come to Ganga ghat every year on This year, it seems that there is no "

In fact, more policemen were seen on the ghats than the people playing

In the last three days, there has been a threefold increment in the cases of COVID-19 in

As many as 68,020 fresh infections and 291 related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload of the country to over 1.20 crore, the union health ministry informed on Monday morning.

(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 first time in months, COVID-19 cases are climbing again in Illinois. So is the percent of tests coming back positive. So are hospitalizations. All as vaccines are injected into tens of thousands of Illinoisans a day. These developments come after months of hope that the worst pandemic in a century would simply peter out, after a brutal fall infection surge gave way to massive drops in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
The container ship is again a float thanks to a high tide and the excavation of the embankments in recent days. The goal is to open a space in the canal to facilitate the transit of other vehicles. At least 400 ships have been blocked in recent days. During the operations, dozens of tugs and dredgers were mobilized to vacuum the sand.

Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Evergreen container ship was freed this morning after blocking the Suez Canal paralyzing maritime traffic and causing daily damage for billions to world trade since last March 23.

After days of frenetic digging away at the embankments, the ship is again a float thanks to a high tide, which allowed it to be moved, bringing it back to a position almost parallel to the canal.

In recent days, several tow ships have flanked the stranded boat on both sides, trying to widen the banks of the canal using excavators. Later, the operators used large ropes to pull the craft aft and bow, with the aim of making it rotate as necessary to free it. An operation complicated by the weight of the freight it sis carrying which exceeds 200 thousand tons.

Some videos posted on social networks in recent hours seem to show the stern beginning to sway and move away from the western shore and opening a space in the channel to allow the transit of other ships. Marine services company Inchcape also reported that the vessel was released.

The ship transports goods from Asia to Europe, along one of the most used trade routes in the world, to the port of Rotterdam. Built in 2018, the MV Ever Given is one of the largest cargo ships in the world and can carry up to 20,000 containers at a time. Meanwhile, the Bloomberg agency, using data published by Lloyd's List, estimates the damage caused by the accident at the Suez Canal at 9.6 billion dollars a day, although experts clarify that these are "crude" calculations and the amount it could be even greater.

The blockade of the ship forced the other boats to circumnavigate Africa, with an enormous expenditure of time - at least two more weeks of navigation - and of money. Through the channel, built over 150 years ago and 193 km long, the shortest way to reach the Mediterranean from the Red Sea, approximately 12% of global trade travels and is a major source of income for Egypt.

Among the repercussions of these days, the doubling of the costs of maritime oil shipments. In total, nearly 400 ships remained stuck at the ends and centre of the canal. During the operations, at least a dozen tugs and dredgers were mobilized to suck the sand from under the ship.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 29, 2021--A first-of-its-kind instrument that samples smoke from megafires and scans humidity will help researchers better understand the scale and long-term impact of fires--specifically how far and high the smoke will travel; when and where it will rain; and whether the wet smoke will warm the climate by absorbing sunlight.

"Smoke containing soot and other toxic particles from megafires can travel thousands of kilometers at high altitudes where winds are fast and air is dry," said Manvendra Dubey, a Los Alamos National Laboratory atmospheric scientist and co-author on a paper published last week in Aerosol Science and Technology. "These smoke-filled clouds can absorb much more sunlight than dry soot--but this effect on light absorption has been difficult to measure because laser-based techniques heat the particles and evaporate the water, which corrupt observations."

The new instrument circumvents this problem by developing a gentler technique that uses a low-power, light-emitting diode to measure water's effect on scattering and absorbtion by wildfire smoke and hence its growth. By sampling the smoke and scanning the humidity from dry to very humid conditions while measuring its optical properties, the instrument mimicks what happens during cloud and rain formation, and the effects of water are measured immediately. Laboratory experiments show for the first time that water coating the black soot-like material can enhance the light absorption by up to 20 percent.

The instrument will next be tested and the water effects probed in smoke from wildfires sampled at Los Alamos' Center for Aerosol-gas Forensics (CAFE). Los Alamos will be deploying instruments to Houston next year as part of the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility's Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions Experiment (TRACER) campaign. Los Alamos's effort, called TRACER-CAT, will measure how water uptake by soot interacts with deep convective storms.

###

Dubey worked with Christian M. Carrico of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology on a research team that included scientists from Los Alamos, New Mexico Tech, and Michigan Technological University and Aerodyne Research, Inc. The novel findings of experiments were performed by the Los Alamos Director's postdoctoral fellow Kyle Gorkowski and Department of Energy graduate fellow Tyler Capek.

Paper: "Humidified Single Scattering Albedometer (H-CAPS-PMSSA): Design, Data-Analysis, and Validation," Christian M. Carrico, Tyler J. Capek, Kyle J. Gorkowski, Jared T. Lam, Sabina Gulick, Jaimy Karacaoglu, James E. Lee, Charlotte Dungan, Allison C. Aiken, Timothy B. Onasch, Andrew Freedman, Claudio Mazzoleni, and Manvendra K. Dubey, Aerosol Science and Technology, volume 55, issue 4,

https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 02786826. 2021. 1895430

Funding: This work was supported by the U.S. DOE, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) under the Visiting Faculty Program (VFP) for Carrico and Lam and the DOE Student Undergraduate Laboratory Intern Program for Lam and Karacaoglu. Capek was partially supported by a fellowship through a DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program. Additional support was provided by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research's Atmospheric System Research program. Research at Los Alamos National Laboratory's was supported by the DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) and Atmospheric System Research (ASR) Program, the Lab's Directed Research portion of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and Gorkowski as a Director's postdoctoral fellow.

About Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl.gov)

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-21-22850
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD, today (Monday), welcomed the Governments launch of 'Our Rural Future'.

This policy will promote rural development over the next five years, supported by more than 130 measures which will address the challenges and capture the opportunities for people living in rural Ireland.

Minister McGrath said:

I believe it is important to set out a vision for rural Ireland which will be particularly important for post-COVID recovery and integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing and development.

This policy is intended to encourage more people to live and work in rural Ireland, with our rural towns becoming vibrant hubs for commercial and social activity, with good career prospects for people living in these areas.

I note, in particular, that the policy proposes investing in remote working infrastructure and targeting 400 new IDA investments for regional locations outside of Dublin. This will be an important economic counterbalance for our regional and rural areas, as envisaged under the National Planning Framework and National Development Plan.

The Government has committed in the Programme for Government to mandating public sector employers to move to 20% home and remote working in 2021.

Commenting on ambitions for the Civil and Public Service, Minister McGrath said:

My Department is, as a matter of priority, working with employers across the civil service to develop the longer term approach to remote working in the sector. DPER is also working closely with the wider public sector to ensure a consistency of approach. To this end, the Department is working on a Blended Working Policy Framework for Civil Service Organisations which will assist those organisations in developing long-term remote working policies.

ENDS



Contact:

Claire Godkin - Press Officer, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - 085 806 3969
Washing your hands is very important to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and when coupled with cold weather, all that hand-washing can come at a cost: dry, cracked skin.

Alcohol-based formulas and soaps can take a toll on your skin after awhile, especially when washing your hands several times a day.

For some tips to keep your skin in tact, we spoke to New Jersey-based dermatologist Dr. Rebecca Baxt, whos board-certified and the Medical Director of BAXT CosMedical in Paramus.

Severe hand and wrist dryness from over-washing is a condition I see multiple times a day during the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Baxt told NJ Advance Media. To prevent it, it requires using moisturizer every time the hands are washed.

Dr. Baxt recommends the following products, depending on severity.

Severe

If the skin is very cracked and raw, the thing to use is an ointment such as Vaseline, Aquaphor or Vanicream, Dr. Baxt said. These tend to be a bit greasy, so sometimes it is hard to use them many times a day, but at the very least twice a day  morning and evening.

All three products are readily available at big retailers like Amazon and Walmart, or your local drug stores.

Moderate

The next level down would be a cream  Neutrogena Norweigan formula is a popular option, but any moisturizing cream would be good as an alternative to the ointment if it is too greasy, Dr. Baxt said. Lotions are good, but often too thin in this scenario.

One other very popular hand cream product out there is OKeeffes Working Hands Hand Cream, which is less than $8.

Maintenance

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends washing your hands for at least 20 seconds each time, but if your hands need a break from harsh soaps, hand sanitizer is an alternative.

Once its healed, I actually recommend hand sanitizer as a less drying alternative to constant washing with soap, Dr. Baxt said.

The most popular hand sanitizer brands are Purell and Germ-X, which offer bottles in bulk as well as travel sizes.

Other skincare tips

Dr. Anjali Mahto, a dermatologist in London, has been posting skincare tips on Instagram throughout the pandemic. Two skincare tips Mahto gives are to use an anti-microbial hand wash and to wear a hand mask at bed in the form of cotton gloves.

If you dont want to wear gloves while sleeping, there is a lotion called Gloves In A Bottle that creates a pair of invisible gloves.

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Nicolette Accardi can be reached at naccardi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @N_Accardi. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

BEDFORD, Mass., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Waltzing Matilda Aviation LLC ("WMA") announced today its management team to lead its new scheduled operations.

"Just like with our recently announced Board, we have been able to assemble some of the best talent in the industry with deep expertise and the same passion for a customer centric and financially successful airline. This team has worked together at various stages through their prior careers over the past 20 years," said John Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of WMA.

The Management team will consist of:

Chief Executive Officer: John Thomas. John is the current CEO and co-founder of WMA. He led the Global Airline Practice for LEK Consulting for over 20 year advising the world's leading airlines on M&A, ancillary revenues, loyalty programs, alliances, and restructuring; led a turnaround as Group Executive, Virgin Australia Airlines, and currently also sits on the Boards of Icelandair Group hf and SkyService Investments.

Chief Operating Officer: Dave Marcontell. Dave joins WMA from Oliver Wyman where he was a Partner leading their aviation technical services and consulting division, CAVOK. Dave has over 30 years of airline and transportation industry experience with senior roles at Delta Air Lines, ABX Air, Boeing, and North-South Airways, as well as hundreds of successful consulting projects generating billions in value for major airlines across the globe. David is an FAA licensed pilot, A&P mechanic and former FAA DER. He is also the 2018 A4A Nuts and Bolts Award winner recognizing a distinguished career in commercial aircraft maintenance and engineering.

Chief Financial Officer: Ryan Gilman. Ryan has spent more than 20 years in the airline industry through various financial and commercial roles at Delta and Northwest, and most recently as an independent advisor. He brings deep experience in financial analysis, corporate strategy and commercial partnerships through high-level projects including: M&A, Chapter 11 restructuring, network optimization and joint ventures.

Chief Technology Officer: Ajay Singh. Ajay has three decades of experience in the travel, transportation, and hospitality sector. As a management consultant he has helped global airlines deploy innovative solutions both in commercial and operational functions. Prior to that, as an executive with United Airlines, he led numerous transformational programs in the areas of technology, commercial planning, operations and worldwide real estate optimization, including relocation of United's headquarters. In his role at WMA, he will be responsible for design, delivery and management of all customer, employee and vendor facing systems. "

Chief Commercial Officer: Doug Leo will join our board and will focus on helping build the right set of commercial capabilities to best suit our planned operations culminating in the appointment of a CCO. Doug was most recently SVP Network, Pricing and Revenue Management for United Airlines having also been in senior commercial roles at Northwest Airlines and USAirways.

Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer: Dr. Alex Lee. Alex has over 15 years of deep airline strategy and operational expertise having advised leading airlines around the globe on some of their most critical issues with an emphasis on fleet and network planning, operational improvements, M&A, and financial turnarounds.

Progress on Part 121 certification process

WMA is being supported in its air carrier certification efforts by FAA Qualified Certification Consultant and pre-eminent aviation technical services and advisory firm, Oliver Wyman CAVOK. Oliver Wyman CAVOK is the global leader in new air carrier startup and entry-into-service support with numerous successful certification efforts in its over 15-year history.

Having submitted its application to the FAA to add Part 121 authorization to its existing Part 135 approval, WMA has hired all of its Part 119 post holders and is deep into the startup and ramp up process. John Thomas, CEO, having been the Accountable Executive at Virgin Australia Airlines (~6,000 employees and fleet of 125 aircraft ranging from ATR72s through to B777-300ERs) will be WMA's Accountable Executive. The Company has also filled the positions of Head of IOCC and Head of Inflight with highly talented and experienced individuals, both of whom have over 30 years' experience in their respective areas of expertise.

"Various members of the management team have been working tirelessly over the past 12-18 months in preparing the company for its transition from 135 to 121 and the company remains on track to launch its scheduled services in October 2021 with the venerable De Havilland Q400 aircraft", said Mr. Thomas. Having launched a job posting section on its company website for roles in our new 121 operation, WMA has been overwhelmed by the level of interest from prospective job applicants.

The move to expand its services comes off the back of an unprecedented year of growth for WMA, which has seen its existing jet charter business growing by 80% year on year 2019 to 2020. Further expansion in the existing jet charter business is expected in the coming months.

For more information: http://www.waltzingmatildaaviation.org/scheduled-passenger-service/

About Waltzing Matilda Aviation

WMA is a Boston based FAA Part 135 jet charter operator (Certificate number 6WZA614N) that has started the process to add FAA Part 121 scheduled and non-scheduled services to its Air Operators Certificate.

WMA began private (Part 91) operations in June 2008 and has operated thousands of hours of safe and reliable flying with a focus on delivering superior customer service. WMA owns and operates both its own aircraft as well as managed aircraft. WMA brings together a group of aviation professionals, many of whom have been involved in jet charter operations in the Boston area for over 20 years. WMA is passionate about flying and dedicated to providing a high quality of service.

WMA was co-founded by John Thomas. John has been actively involved in the aviation industry for the past 40 years, both as a senior operating executive as Group Executive at Virgin Australia Airlines and as a strategic advisor to the global aviation industry. He advised major airlines around the world as well as OEMs, Business & General Aviation, FBOs, airports, and ANSPs.

In addition to actively managing WMA, John sits on the Board of SkyService, the largest Corporate aviation service provider in Canada, as well as the Board of Icelandair Group, and continues to provide advisory services to the broader aviation industry including as Senior Advisor to Spike Aerospace Inc., ATM Consultants Group, and CAPA Centre for Aviation.

Please visit www.wmaviation.org to learn more.

Contact: John Thomas, CEO (617) 763 3434 [email protected]

SOURCE Waltzing Matilda Aviation LLC

Related Links

www.waltzingmatildaaviation.org


Teaching pupils of 42 nationalities  more than half of whom count English as a second language  may be considered challenging enough.

Throw in a pandemic, multiple lockdowns and a shortage of home-schooling resources and it soon becomes apparent how difficult it has been for the staff and pupils at Erdington Hall primary over the last year.

Headteacher Wendy Cotterill said many families struggled to deal with remote learning  with one mobile phone often having to be shared between four or five people in a household.

Headteacher Wendy Cotterill said many families struggled to deal with remote learning  with one mobile phone often having to be shared between four or five people in a household

Pupils at Erdington Hall Primary School, Birmingham receive a delivery of laptops from Mailforce+

So Mrs Cotterill and her pupils were delighted to receive a delivery of four boxes of laptops last week, courtesy of the Mail Force charity, which she said will be crucial in helping pupils to catch up.

The headteacher said the school provided up to four hours of online lessons a day when it was closed, but added: We are at the centre of what is quite a deprived community and it has been a struggle for some families. Nobody should think that just because lockdown is over, there will no longer be a need for laptops. Children will be catching up at home for months to come because lockdown represented lost learning time.

She said of the Mail Force delivery of 20 Dynabook Satellite Pro laptops: These devices look like they are brand new. Im amazed. Were very grateful.

The school in north-east Birmingham previously received around 50 laptops from the Department for Education and purchased additional devices using its own funds.

Vice-principal David Barker said: Schools like ours need as many laptops as they can get. When we rolled out the earlier laptops we immediately saw engagement (in online lessons) increase.

At Erdington Hall, 56 per cent of the 383 pupils speak English as a second language. Some families at the school, which is part of the Summit Learning Trust and is rated Good by Ofsted, are refugees.

Other pupils come from a domestic violence refuge  having been forced to flee their homes, sometimes leaving behind vital phones or other devices.

While some schools in wealthier areas have received donations of laptops or other resources from parents or the wider community, Mrs Cotterill, who grew up in Erdington, said her local community just do not have [them] to give.

Parts of the suburb, including the ward where the school is situated, are in the top ten per cent of deprived areas in England.

On hand to meet the Mail Force delivery on Thursday was Khadija, nine, as well as sisters Olivia, six, Abigail, seven, and ten-year-old Caitlyn, who told how her family had to share one laptop between four children during lockdown.

She said: It took a long time for us all to be able to do our work. It was really difficult to share.

Another pupil, Dania, aged nine, added: Im happy to be back at school so I can work hard with my friends. I have missed being with them in lockdown.

Mrs Cotterill added: Even though schools have reopened again, the effects of the pandemic are still being felt. When the children are working remotely, we can use these laptops to monitor engagement online  we can see who has logged in and who hasnt.

Mail Force has teamed up with Vodafone to make thousands of SIMs available free of charge. Mrs Cotterill has successfully applied for 50 cards, each providing 30GB of data  enough for about nine weeks of learning  through the scheme.
Health care workers prepare to take patients at a drive-thru COVID-19 mass vaccination site at Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario, Monday, March 29, 2021. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada on Monday suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under age 55 following concerns it might be linked to rare blood clots.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization had recommended the pause for safety reasons and the Canadian provinces, which administer health in the country, announced the suspension Monday.

"There is substantial uncertainty about the benefit of providing AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines to adults under 55 given the potential risks," said Dr. Shelley Deeks, vice chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Deeks said the updated recommendations come amid new data from Europe that suggests the risk of blood clots is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.

She said most of the patients in Europe who developed a rare blood clot after vaccination with AstraZeneca were women under age 55, and the fatality rate among those who develop clots is as high as 40%.

Dr. Joss Reimer of Manitoba's Vaccine Implementation Task Force said despite the finding that there was no increase risk of blood clots overall related to AstraZeneca in Europe, a rare but very serious side effect has been seen primarily in young women in Europe.

Reimer said the rare type of blood clot typically happens between four and 20 days after getting the shot and the symptoms can mirror a stroke or a heart attack.

"While we still believe the benefits for all ages outweigh the risks I'm not comfortable with probably. I want to see more data coming out of Europe so I know exactly what this risk benefit analysis is," Reimer said.

The AstraZeneca shot, which has been authorized in more than 70 countries, is a pillar of a U.N.-backed project known as COVAX that aims to get COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries. It has also become a key tool in European countries' efforts to boost their sluggish vaccine rollouts. That makes doubts about the shots especially worrying.

A vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination on a table prior to Croatia's Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic being vaccinated, in Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Admir Buljubasic/Pool via AP)

"This vaccine has had all the ups and downs. It looks like a roller coaster," said Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, the chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, when asked if the latest news will lead to further vaccine hesitancy.

Health Canada said it has not received any reports of blood clots in Canada, and the department's chief medical adviser, Dr. Supriya Sharma, said she still believes the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks.

Last week, the department changed its label on the vaccine to warn about the rare risk of blood clots.

Only those 60 and above have received AstraZeneca in Ontario, Canada's most populous province.

"We have no concerns with those who have received it so far," said Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer.

Mark Mendelson, a 63-year-old Toronto man who has had heart surgery, said that he has no regrets about getting his first AstraZeneca dose two weeks ago and that he will get the second.

"Get what you can," Mendelson said. "I had no ill effects at all from the AstraZeneca. I am in a better position than those who don't have any vaccine at all. If you are betting person you would take those odds any day of the week. I'm quite prepared to roll the dice."

Several European countries that had suspended using the vaccine over concerns it could cause blood clots have resumed administering it after the EU's drug regulator said the vaccine was safe.

The vaccine is used widely in Britain, across the European continent and in other countries, but its rollout was troubled by inconsistent study reports about its effectiveness, and then more recently the scare about clots that had some countries temporarily pausing inoculations.

Nicole Picard receives a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from pharmacist Nabil Chikh as pharmacies begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations Monday, March 22, 2021, in Montreal. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada is expected to receive 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca from the U.S. on Wednesday.

"The messaging has been brutal overall. I am fearful it is toast. It shouldn't be," said Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto and the medical director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Sinai-University Health Network.

Morris thinks those who are at a high risk for a bad COVID-19 outcome and over the age of 55 should get AstraZeneca if the other vaccines are not available to them, especially during a third wave of coronavirus infections.

Canadian regulators approved the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Canada has placed bigger bets on Pfizer and Moderna, ordering up to 76 million doses of Pfizer and up to 44 million of Moderna, compared with up to 20 million of AstraZeneca. It's not known when Canada will receive its first shipment of Johnson & Johnson.

Canada received its first shipment of AstraZeneca this month500,000 doses from India. Of the 194,500 doses that Ontario received, about 10,000 remain. They expire April 2.

Canada has lagged on vaccinating its population because it lacks the ability to manufacture the vaccine and has had to rely on the global supply chain for the lifesaving shots, like many other countries.

With no domestic supply, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government bet on seven different vaccines manufactured elsewhere and secured advance purchase agreementsenough to get 10 doses for each of Canada's 38 million people. While acquiring them has proven difficult, deliveries have ramped up this month. Canada expects to have more than 36.5 million doses by July and officials hope to get at least one dose into all adults who want one by the end of June.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization earlier recommended a four-month delay between doses after data from the U.K. and Quebec showed a good level of protection offered by the first shot. The U.K. has instituted a similar delay.

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.
- By GF Value





The stock of Cornerstone Building Brands (NYSE:CNR, 30-year Financials) is estimated to be fairly valued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $13.08 per share and the market cap of $1.6 billion, Cornerstone Building Brands stock shows every sign of being fairly valued. GF Value for Cornerstone Building Brands is shown in the chart below.





Cornerstone Building Brands Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

Because Cornerstone Building Brands is fairly valued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be close to the rate of its business growth, which averaged 13.7% over the past five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

It is always important to check the financial strength of a company before buying its stock. Investing in companies with poor financial strength have a higher risk of permanent loss. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage is a great way to understand the financial strength of a company. Cornerstone Building Brands has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.18, which is worse than 81% of the companies in Construction industry. The overall financial strength of Cornerstone Building Brands is 3 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Cornerstone Building Brands is poor. This is the debt and cash of Cornerstone Building Brands over the past years:

Story continues

Cornerstone Building Brands Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

It poses less risk to invest in profitable companies, especially those that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. A company with high profit margins is also typically a safer investment than one with low profit margins. Cornerstone Building Brands has been profitable 6 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $4.6 billion and loss of $3.84 a share. Its operating margin is 6.28%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Construction industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks the profitability of Cornerstone Building Brands at 6 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Cornerstone Building Brands over the past years:

Cornerstone Building Brands Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term performance of a company's stock. The faster a company is growing, the more likely it is to be creating value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth rate of Cornerstone Building Brands is 13.7%, which ranks better than 80% of the companies in Construction industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is -57.4%, which ranks in the bottom 10% of the companies in Construction industry.

Another way to evaluate a company's profitability is to compare its return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted cost of capital (WACC). Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it indicates that the company is creating value for shareholders. Over the past 12 months, Cornerstone Building Brands's ROIC was 6.53, while its WACC came in at 9.51. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Cornerstone Building Brands is shown below:

Cornerstone Building Brands Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

To conclude, The stock of Cornerstone Building Brands (NYSE:CNR, 30-year Financials) gives every indication of being fairly valued. The company's financial condition is poor and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks in the bottom 10% of the companies in Construction industry. To learn more about Cornerstone Building Brands stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Racehorse owner Damion Flower has pleaded guilty to two charges for his role in a syndicate smuggling commercial quantities of cocaine through Sydney Airport.

Flower, the 48-year-old part owner of champion stallion Snitzel, was arrested in May 2019 along with Qantas baggage handler Tooro John Mafiti for importing cocaine from South Africa hidden in the holds of commercial flights.

Damion Flower has pleaded guilty to charges relating a cocaine importation plot. Credit:Phil Hearne SpecialX Races

Flower had maintained his innocence until, just as his trial was due to begin, the matter was resolved with prosecutors, and he pleaded guilty to one count of importing a commercial quantity of prohibited drugs and one count of dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The prominent racing identity, who worked as a baggage handler between 2000 and 2004, had previously faced three counts of importing a commercial quantity of prohibited drugs and two counts of dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 22:45:32|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that China and Burundi should strengthen unity and cooperation and make joint efforts to safeguard international equity and justice.

In a telephone conversation with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, Xi suggested the two sides continue to firmly support each other on issues related to their core interests, uphold independence and sovereignty, and oppose foreign interference. Enditem
The Covid-19 status of at least 72,900 truck drivers across the East Africa region is being monitored through a mobile application (App), according to TradeMark East Africa.

The App, which was launched in September 2020 by the EAC Secretariat in partnership with TradeMark East Africa and the European Union, has been key in the fight against Covid-19, especially among cross border traders.

Speaking during the World Trade Organisation Aid for Trade stocktaking conference, Mr Alban Odhiambo, the TradeMark East Africa senior director for trade environment, said the App - Regional Electronic Cargo and Drivers' Tracking - which is available on the Google Play Store, is monitoring at least 90 per cent of truck drivers across East Africa.

The App is built with two versions, one of which is used by drivers while the other is used by border post officers for verificatione.

"Since we launched the App in September, 2020, more than 72,900 drivers have downloaded it. This represents more than 90 per cent of cross border trade drivers in the entire EAC," Mr Odhiambo said, adding that whereas the current App was built in English, there are on-going efforts to localise it in languages spoken widely in EAC such as French and Swahili, among others.

Whereas Covid-19 has been a major problem for all sectors of the economy, truck drivers have been more affected due to their cross border movements.

During the lockdown, the Ministry of Health in Uganda would on average record at least 100 Coronavirus suspected cases.

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Therefore, the Regional Electronic Cargo and Drivers' Tracking App, which automatically picks test results for all cross border truck drivers indicating which is negative and positive, will go a long way in fighting Covid-19 and promoting trade, especially at a time when disruptions have not subsided.

Prior to the roll-out, cross border truck drivers had been spending many hours in long queues at border posts, which had disrupted both trade and movement of goods, services and people. During the virtual meeting, Ms Caroline Kobusinge, a health officer at the Malaba One Stop Border Post, said the App had eased clearance at border posts because by the time truck drivers arrive, their certificates are already in the digital system.

"When a driver arrives, he opens the App and displays the code to the port health official. The code is scanned to confirm that the results displayed are authentic [to] clear to trucker to continue to immigration," she said.

The Regional Electronic Cargo and Drivers' Tracking App is part of TradeMark East Africa's $23m Safe Trade Emergency Facility that seeks to support governments in the region to undertake critical measures along the transport and trade routes.

Mr Frank Matsaert, the TradeMark East Africa chief executive officer, said because Covid-19 is going to be around for some time, it was important that the region focuses on long term recovery measures to support trade.
Taiwans military has stepped up training of troops and added defensive weaponry on the contested South China Seas biggest natural island to prepare for any attack by Beijing, analysts believe.

Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told parliament March 17 China was capable of attacking and that he wanted Taiping Island to be ready at all times, local media reports said. He was referring to a sparsely populated feature in the Spratly archipelago that is located 1,500 kilometers southwest of Taiwan and disputed by five other governments, including China.

That signals unequivocally that Taipei is concerned and takes Chinas ambitions, statements and actions  reaffirming that Beijing intends to [capture] the island  very seriously, said Fabrizio Bozzato, senior research fellow at the Tokyo-based Sasakawa Peace Foundations Ocean Policy Research Institute.

China has alarmed Taiwan since mid-2020 by sending military aircraft almost every day over a corner of Taiwans air defense identification zone. On Friday, the defense ministry spotted 20 planes, an unusually high count. China has added hangars and radar systems to its own seven holdings in the Spratly chain over the past decade.

Taiping Island, an outpost also known as Itu Aba, would be easier for China to take compared to Taiwan because it covers just 46 hectares (110 acres), some analysts say. The tropical landform supports an air strip, a pier and a small hospital.

To strain and exhaust Taiwans air crew and sailors and aggravate Taiwans citizens, China could demonstrate its power by invading one or another offshore island controlled by Taiwan including Taiping, the research organization Council on Foreign Affairs said in a special report last month.

The Beijing government claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, a leftover issue from the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, and it has not ruled out the use of force to unify the two sides.

Taiwanese have told government polls they prefer autonomy over unifying with China. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen rejects Beijings one-China principle as a condition for any dialogue. The two sides have not spoken formally since 2016.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam claim all or parts of the South China Sea, as well. Vietnam, worried about China as well, has landfilled its Spratly holdings over the past two years and the Philippines asked this month that China withdraw about 200 fishing boats from the archipelago. The six claimants look to the sea for fisheries and undersea fuel reserves.

Vietnam warily eyes Taiwans development on Taiping Island but it is not considered a threat.

Beijing cites historical usage records to back its Spratly claims and has alarmed the other South China Sea claimants by developing islets for military infrastructure. China maintains the worlds third largest armed forces and ships occasionally rile Southeast Asian states by entering their exclusive economic zones.

Taiwan further bulked up last week by signing a coast guard cooperation memorandum of understanding with the United States. The two sides said Thursday they would create a working group to build cooperation and share information. Taiwans coast guard is in charge of protecting Taiping Island.

The U.S. government already sells advanced weapons to Taiwan and has the option of defending it if attacked. Washington recognizes Beijing diplomatically but remains Taiwans staunchest informal ally. China resents U.S. help for Taiwan and condemned last weeks coast guard agreement.

Taiwan is definitely a spot between the U.S. and China, and also cross-Strait relations are really deteriorated, said Wang Wei-chieh, Taiwan-based analyst and co-founder of the FBC2E International Affairs Facebook page. When considering the threat of war, he said, we are not really scared of it, but we are also prepared for it.

There is no immediate reason for China to attack Taiping Island, Wang said.

China has not said it plans to attack any Taiwanese holdings and on March 4 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said his government was committed to peaceful growth of relations. Chinese officials base their own claim to 90% of the disputed 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea on a demarcation line established by Taiwans constitutional government, the Republic of China.

How could it attack Taiping Island? China is doing everything possible to create an impression that the two sides are united fighting against outsiders including the United States, Vietnam and the Philippines, said Chao Chien-min, dean of social sciences at Chinese Culture University in Taipei. If they want to strike, it wont be there.
The minister for Higher Education, Mr John Chrysostom Muyingo, has said primary and secondary teachers will earn same salary once the new teacher's policy that was approved by Cabinet is fully implemented.

The policy that was approved by Cabinet in 2019 stipulates that a teacher should have a maximum education qualification of a bachelor's degree.

Speaking to journalists after the closing of the 3rd Teachers Symposium in Kampala on Friday, Mr Muyingo said that once the policy is implemented, the government wants teachers in nursery, primary and secondary schools to earn the same salary because they will all be having degrees.

According to Mr Muyingo, most teachers have been preferring to teach in secondary schools because they pay more money than primary schools.

He said after the implementation of the policy, teachers will be comfortable to teach either primary or secondary based on the skills they will acquire from their institutions because they will get the same pay. He did not say when the new policy will be implemented.

"The government has put in place a Public Service Salary Committee to review salaries of all public servants and we are going to ask them to take up the interest of teachers so that they earn the same pay. We want these teachers to be motivated and stop moving from one place to another looking for an increment," Mr Muyingo said.

Accrued benefits

He said the policy will help to attract brilliant students to the teaching profession because the pay will be favourable.

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The acting commissioner for Teacher/Tutor, Instructor Education and Training (TIET), Mr Jonathan Kamwana, told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday that the policy had initially been slated to be implemented this year but due to the Covid-19 pandemic that led to closure of schools across the country, the plan has been interrupted.

He said the policy will, however, be implemented in a phased manner, explaining that they have started the online registration of all teachers across the country and the exercise is ongoing.

He said once the new policy is implemented, the existing national teachers colleges (NTCs) that are currently teaching diploma courses in secondary education and primary teachers' colleges (PTCs) will start teaching degree courses.

"We shall then start phasing out the current diploma and certificate courses those institutes are currently teaching. This will be fully done in 10 years," Mr Kamwana said.

Teachers at the Friday symposium welcomed the government's move for same salary across the board.

Mr Nobert Bolla, a lecturer of music at Mubende NTC, said the teaching profession will be respected right from the grassroots because currently, heads of nursery schools are employing unqualified teachers to teach learners.

Current situation

Currently, a primary teacher (Grade III) earns about Shs500,000 while secondary teachers (diploma holder) are earn Shs650,000 and graduates Shs800,000. Under the new policy, all teachers in the above categories will earn the same pay irrespective of whether they are teaching in nursery, primary or secondary schools.
Managed services provider Intergen and its parent company Empired have appointed Mark Dyer to the newly established role of CTO for New Zealand.

"Intergen and Empired are delighted to have Mark Dyer come on board in the strategically important new role of chief technology officer to help drive this focus for customers and continually optimise their modern managed services and cloud transformation," said Empired COO and Intergen CEO Simon Bright.

"Mark brings a depth of skill and capability as well as leadership and innovation that will help customers accelerate their digital strategies and continually optimise and transform to achieve the best outcomes for their businesses, people, and customers or citizens in a fast-moving and ever-changing world."

Bright added that Dyer's appointment will provide an opportunity to expand the company's New Zealand capability.

Dyer joins Intergen from NTT, where he held several roles, most recently that of director of services.

He has more than 20 years' IT experience gained at Plan B, Dimension Data, Coca-Cola Amatil and Aqua-Cool in New Zealand, plus Lehman Brothers, Kleinwort Benson and Aspen Insurance in the UK.

Dyer holds a B Comm from the University of Auckland.

"Right now, every digital organisation is driving hard to transform customer and employee experience, reduce technical debt and cost, and move faster. Traditional managed service providers are not enabling these objectives and often only provide status quo service operations, rather than working as a partner to drive joint strategic objectives," said Dyer.

"Intergen and Empired have a unique opportunity to enable organisations' ongoing transformation through close partnership, drawing on Intergen's deep expertise in business applications such as enterprise resource planning; customer relationship management; application development; modern workplace; data; and cloud, and by bringing a modern managed services approach to ensure ongoing continuous service evolution."
Update: As per reports from Egypt, the ship has now been re-floated, though it is unclear how soon it will pave way for traffic on the Suez.

Egyptian Media says the vessel was freed (to an unclear extent) at roughly 4:30 am local time. Ship tracking sites are beaming live position and orientation data regarding the Ever Given showing that it has been moved away from the wall of the canal.

BREAKING: SERIOUS MOVEMENT HAPPENING NOW.



Latest AIS data shows that the #EVERGIVEN's stern has been dramatically pivoted off the #Suez Canal's Western wall.



Stern now appears to be in the channel. pic.twitter.com/89KFvfjqeR  John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) March 29, 2021

An all-Indian crew comprising 25 Indian nationals remains aboard the MV Ever Given container ship that continues to be wedged in the Suez Canal, blocking it. According to the Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) - the technical company that manages the ship- the crew is safe, in good health, and working closely with all parties involved to re-float the vessel. Their hard work and tireless professionalism are greatly appreciated, the company's statement reads. Efforts to dislodge the vessel are continuing at full speed, though with limited success, as it has only been moved a few inches. The Egyptian government which runs the Suez Canal is considering plans also to unload it, if required.

The company BSMs primary objectives are to safely refloat the vessel and for marine traffic in the Suez Canal to resume, it says. Recovery efforts on the ground are being coordinated by Smit Salvage and the Suez Canal Authority. BSM said that they are grateful for the continued efforts of all those involved in the ongoing re-floating operations as they continue to work closely together. On 23 March 2021, the container ship ran aground after strong winds and a sandstorm caused low visibility and poor navigation, further resulting in a traffic jam.

Indian Govt Chalks Out 4-point Plan for Suez Canal Blockage

On March 27, in order to deal with the situation arising from the blockage of the Suez Canal, the Ministry of Commerce has come up with a four-point concept. It advised that the ships get re-routed via Cape of Good Hope. The plan chalked out in a meeting convened by the logistics division, Ministry of Commerce on Friday also includes prioritisation of cargo, freight rates, advisory to ports and re-routing of ships.

The meeting was chaired by Pawan Agarwal, Special Secretary (Logistics) and attended by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, ADG Shipping, Container Shipping Lines Association (CSLA) and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

Blockage of Suez Canal

Suez Canal is a 193-km canal- an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. It also provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe, bypassing Africa. On Tuesday, the 224,000-tonne container ship MV Ever Given was grounded after strong winds and a sandstorm caused low visibility and poor navigation, which caused complete blockage of the traffic and delayed a number of ships carrying cargo ranging from oil to consumer goods.

(Image Credits: AP)

I thought if each had their own rooms, theyd have a measure of control and that would help, she said.

Around the beginning of the year, she started looking at rental listings and realized that prices had fallen during the pandemic and she could now afford a three-bedroom nearby for what she was paying, $2,500 a month. And if she bumped up her budget to $3,000 a month, she could get things she really wanted, like a washer and dryer and outdoor space.

Hoping to get a better feel for what was available, she went to an open house for a three-bedroom a few blocks away in January.

A newly renovated floor of a three-unit house, the apartment wasnt much larger than her old one, but the layout was what they needed: three separate bedrooms, all with real doors, as well as a good-sized living room and kitchen. The apartment also had a washer and dryer and shared a backyard with the two other units in the building.

But at $3,300 a month, it was several hundred dollars over her budget. The landlord was also looking for a February 1 move-in, and her lease wasnt up until April.

A few days later, however, the agent called, offering her the apartment for $3,150 a month with a March 1 move-in date.
Striking before and after pictures of the iconic Bondi Icebergs swimming pool have highlighted how devastating rains across New South Wales have turned the normally-clear blue waters to a murky green.

Photographer David Wade shared footage of the famous sea baths to TikTok last week after torrential rain sweeping across the state's east coast washed dirt and debris into the ocean.

The clip shows the pools prior to the wild weather event, with the lines at the base visible through the sparkling light blue water.

But on Friday, two days after wet conditions across Sydney eased, the markings at the bottom of the main bath could no longer be seen as scattered silt painted the water olive.

Photographer David Wade shared a photo online of Bondi Icebergs (pictured) before widespread flooding battered New South Wales last week

Despite the murky conditions, which health officials warn can give swimmers infections or make them sick, several brave locals returned to the sea bath to complete laps.

Mr Wade, who works under the account @dwaroundtheworld, said he was surprised to see people entering the water.

'I couldnt believe how green the water was,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'I thought that I wouldnt swim until it had returned to normal. I live in Coogee and all along the coast the sea was really foamy and green.'

Poll Would you swim in it? Yes No Would you swim in it? Yes 11 votes

No 40 votes Now share your opinion





Social media users agreed, with many saying they would have waited until the water was clear.

'[I] would not go swimming in the green water,' one person commented.

'I don't go swimming after a day or two of heavy rain but with all the flood that is still happening, I don't understand how people swim in the run off,' another added.

'I'll wait for it to turn back blue,' a third said.

Torrential rain and flooding across the state has swept dirt and debris into the ocean, turning the sea baths murky green (pictured)

Wild weather caused widespread flooding across the state's east coast and in southeast Queensland last week inundating towns and blocking rocks.

The mid-north coast was particularly hard hit, with 15,000 residents ordered to evacuate low-lying areas, including Taree, Macksville, Port Macquarie, Lower Macleay and Kempsey.

Thousands of residents have since returned to their homes to survey the damage, with many finding precious belongings destroyed and silt-covered floors.

One couple from the area tragically lost their home, with viral footage showing their house floating down the Manning River, at Mondrook, during heavy flooding.

Conditions started to ease in flood-ravaged parts of the state on Wednesday, but massive volumes of water continue to flow down river systems, with some areas yet to see floods peak.
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Monrovia  The opposition Unity Party Secretary-General, Mo Ali, who was released from police custody at 4:00 am today after being held for comments on Facebook says he stands by his posts and has no regrets over them.

Ali was charged and incarcerated on Thursday morning for terrorism, criminal attempt to commit murder, arson, and terrorist threat.

Mr. Ali was incarcerated at the headquarters of the Liberia National Police (LNP) on Thursday over two Facebook posts which the police believe can be linked to the recent arson attacks on the home of Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe and the headquarters of the Liberia National Police.

On March 1, Mr. Ali posted to Facebook: "Dear National Elections Commission (NEC), we understand the ploy. But try it and you will see what is gonna be the end result".

And on March 4, he again wrote on Facebook, "I don't believe in the integrity of the Supreme Court. Most of the justices there have been corrupted. Justice Nagbe is a hardcore tribalist."

Mr. Ali was surprisingly ordered arrested on Thursday when he made his second appearance for an investigation to provide clarity on his Facebook posts.

He told FrontPageAfrica on Friday that his release was unconditional and was at the instruction of Attorney General Frank Musah Dean.

Cllr. Dean on Thursday told FrontPageAfrica that there was no need for the Police to arrest and charge Ali when there is no clear evidence linking him to the charges.

He ordered the police to release him from prison until there is sufficient evidence.

Upon his release, Ali posted to Facebook:

"As it is told, there's no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice. Freedom of Speech is fundamental and must be protected at all times even in our partisan disagreements.

In so doing, let me reecho, that we stand by our posts of March 1&4, 2021. No amount of tension, threats and imprisonment will cowered us into silence.

Thanks a lot to all of our supporters and party leaders."

The International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) has donated over one hundred thousand (105,000 ) pieces of N95 masks worth GHc 150,000 to psychiatric hospitals.



The General overseer of the church, Pastor Mensa Otabil who made the donation said the gesture was part of efforts to keep patients and workers at the hospitals safe from the Covid-19 pandemic.



Mental health is a big issue in Ghana . . . We all know somebody who has had to deal with issues of mental health at one point in time or the other in their lives, and its not easy, he noted as he handed over the masks to Chief Executive Officer of the MHA, Dr. Akwasi Osei.



He observed that mental health patients are very vulnerable members of our population who cannot fend for themselves hence the need for all to support them especially in times of a pandemic.



This is the second major support ICGC is offering the authority. In 2019, the church following its annual Generational Life Walk donated GHc 200,000 to the authority to cover the entire cost of procurement, set-up and installation of 3 electro-convulsive machines (popularly referred to as the miracle machines) for the Accra, Pantang and Ankaful Psychiatric Hospitals. These machines are important in the treatment of patients.



Life in psychiatric homes in times of a pandemic



The Accra Psychiatric Hospital as early as 30th April 2020, a few weeks after Covid-19 got into Ghana, recorded cases of the disease. Hundreds more have been recorded since. And there is evidence that death rates from Covid-19 are higher in care homes and long-term care facilities like mental hospitals across the world, although such specific data is unavailable in Ghana.



According to data from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as at February this year, whiles only 5% of USAs Covid-19 cases have occurred in long-term care facilities including mental homes, Covid-19 deaths in these facilities account for about 34% of the countrys total pandemic fatalities.



The masks are for onward supply to the various mental health facilities across the country to keep patients, doctors, nurses, caretakers and administrators there safe from the Covid-19 pandemic, Pastor Otabil said as he handed over the masks.



Dr. Osei was grateful to the church for the gesture. He said the masks would be of great use to the mental homes as Covid-19 cases have been recorded in some of its facilities.



He urged everyone to continue to practice all the safety protocols in this pandemic



Generational Life Walk



Members of the ICGC would usually do donations to the Mental Health Authority (MHA) after the churchs annual Generational Life Walk activity.



Last year, the walk which would usually begin from the Independence Square in Accra over a 12 km distance could not come off because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the church asked members to undertake the walk in their neighbourhoods and then gather for a virtual donation.



In this era when a lot of us are working from home or are less active at work because events and meetings are virtual, the value of taking time off to walk and exercise cannot be over emphasized. And weve also heard the doctors talk about the need to exercise regularly as that also serves as an immune booster, Pastor Otabil said.



Ps. Otabil also used the opportunity to thank all who were able to donate to the cause.









Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The last two weeks brought new rounds of horror in America, as two mass shootingsone in Atlanta, and one in Boulderclaimed the lives of 18 people.

Some media outlets portrayed the carnage as a departure from a gun-violence calm brought about by the covid lockdown. In fact, 2020 was the deadliest year for gun violence in two decades, with nearly 20,000 Americans killed, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. The majority of the victims were people of color.

If it seemed like gun violence had ebbed during covid and the final year of Trump, it is only because the press lost interest. Gun deaths, it would seem, simply couldnt compete with lies about a stolen election and debates about whether we should be wearing masks.

It is time to radically reconsider how guns and gun deaths are covered by the press in America. On April 6, CJR, in partnership with our Columbia Journalism School colleagues at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, is convening a virtual summit to rewrite how we think about gun coverage. Were gathering journalists, academics, and activists to find ways to keep this unique American tragedy in the spotlight, to explore why it continues unabated, and to brainstorm new ways to tell the story of possible solutions. Well be joined by colleagues from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Trace, and The Guardian, and others.

Please join us by signing up here. We will share more details on speakers and schedules in the days ahead.

To bring home the need for a new approach, starting today weve placed news boxes around New York featuring broadsheets were calling The Inevitable News. The papers are 14 pages of fill-in-the-blanks news stories, featuring details from a selection of mass shootings since the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Each article is identical; only the victims names and locations are changed.

Those newspapers, created with our pro bono ad partners at Area 23/An FCB Health Network Company, show how gun violence has been treated as rote, and inevitable, by the nations media.

That is an approach that no longer works. Join us as we begin the conversation to start again.

Update: You can now watch a recording of the panel below

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Kyle Pope is the editor in chief and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review.
Ingenuity, a small robotic helicopter currently attached to NASA's Perseverance rover, will attempt the first powered flight on another planet in just over a week.

The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft is attached to the belly of Perseverance, which touched down on Mars on February 18.

Ingenuity is now 'uncocooned' from its carbon-fibre shield that acted as a protective casing during landing, and is set for deployment from April 8, NASA says.

Before it can track the first flight of an aircraft on the Red Planet, Perseverance needs to 'drop off' Ingenuity in a clear, safe area that will become the first Martian helipad.

Ingenuity carries a small amount of fabric that covered one of the wings of the Wright brothers aircraft, known as the Flyer, during the first powered, controlled flight on Earth in 1903.

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A handout photo made available by NASA shows an image of NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter attached to NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. This image was acquired using the SHERLOC WATSON camera, located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm, on Sol 37, the twentieth Martian day of the mission, March 28, 2021. Having landed on Mars on February 18, Perseverance's main mission on Mars is astrobiology and the search for signs of ancient microbial life

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter preps for its 'Wright brothers moment' NASA is set to fly where no one has flown before  Mars' atmosphere. Named Ingenuity, the craft will fly at an altitude that is similar to 100,000 feet on Earth, allowing it to gather geology data in areas the rover can't reach. NASA is comparing this mission 'to the Wright brothers moment,' as it will be the first time in history an aerial vehicle has flown on another world. It will first spend up to 60 days charging strapped to the Perseverance rover, before being released. If it survives the hard -90C Martian night, NASA will make the first flight attempt within 30 days. While Ingenuity will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet, the first powered, controlled flight on Earth took place Dec. 17, 1903, on the windswept dunes of Kill Devil Hill, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and Wright covered 120 feet in 12 seconds during the first flight. The Wright brothers made four flights that day, each longer than the previous. A small amount of the material that covered one of the wings of the Wright brothers aircraft, known as the Flyer, during the first flight is now aboard Ingenuity. 'Since the Wright brothers first took to the skies of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, December 17, 1903, first flights have been important milestones in the life of any vehicle designed for air travel,' NASA said in a statement Advertisement

'Aptly named, Ingenuity is a technology demonstration that aims to be the first powered flight on another world,' said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters.

'If successful, [it] could further expand our horizons and broaden the scope of what is possible with Mars exploration.'

Before Ingenuity takes its first flight on Mars, it must be squarely in the middle of its 'airfield'  a 33-by-33-foot patch of flat Martian land, which it's currently making its way towards.

Once the helicopter and rover teams confirm that Perseverance is situated exactly where they want it to be inside the airfield, the process to deploy the helicopter on the Martian surface begins.

'As with everything with the helicopter, this type of deployment has never been done before,' said Farah Alibay, Mars Helicopter integration lead for the Perseverance rover.

'Once we start the deployment there is no turning back  all activities are closely coordinated, irreversible, and dependent on each other.

'If there is even a hint that something isn't going as expected, we may decide to hold off for a sol [a Martian day] or more until we have a better idea what is going on.'

The helicopter deployment process will take about six sols  which equates to six days, four hours on Earth.

On the first sol, the team on Earth will activate a bolt-breaking device, releasing a locking mechanism that helped hold the helicopter firmly against the rover's belly during launch and Mars landing.

The following sol, they will fire a cable-cutting pyrotechnic device, enabling the mechanized arm that holds Ingenuity to begin rotating the helicopter out of its horizontal position. The rotorcraft will also extend two of its four landing legs.

During the third sol, a small electric motor will finish rotating Ingenuity until it latches, bringing the helicopter completely vertical, and on the fourth sol, the final two landing legs will snap into position.

On each of those four sols, the Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON) imager will take confirmation shots of Ingenuity as it unfolds into its flight configuration.

An illustration of NASAs Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars. The space agency confirmed that the 30 days 'test flight window' for the rotorcraft will begin 'no earlier than the first week of April'

In its final position, the helicopter will hang suspended at about five inches (13 cm) over the Martian surface.

At that point, only a single bolt and a couple dozen tiny electrical contacts will connect the helicopter to Perseverance.

On the fifth sol of deployment, the team will use the final opportunity to make use of Perseverance as a power source and charge Ingenuitys six battery cells.

Once deployed, Ingenuity will have 30 Martian days, known as sols, (31 Earth days) to conduct its initial test flight.

This image shows where NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team will attempt its test flights. Helicopter engineers added the locations for the rover landing site, the airfield (the area where the helicopter will take off and return), and the flight zone (the area within which it will fly) on an image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars in 2006

'Ingenuity is an experimental engineering flight test  we want to see if we can fly at Mars,' said MiMi Aung, project manager for Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at JPL.

'There are no science instruments onboard and no goals to obtain scientific information.

'We are confident that all the engineering data we want to obtain both on the surface of Mars and aloft can be done within this 30-sol window.'

The exact timing of the first flight will remain fluid as engineers work out details on the timeline for deployments.

The Perseverance rover has been on Mars for more than a month, collecting data and finding a location to deploy the Ingenuity helicopter

The rover currently is in transit to the airfield where Ingenuity will attempt to fly. Once deployed, Ingenuity will have 30 Martian days, or sols, (31 Earth days) to conduct its test flight campaign

NASA said: 'Several factors will determine the precise time for the flight, including modeling of local wind patterns plus measurements taken by the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) aboard Perseverance.'

Flying in a controlled manner on Mars will be far more difficult than flying on Earth, as the Red Planet has about one-third the gravity of Earth's.

Mars' atmosphere is also just 1 per cent as dense as Earth's at the surface.

During Martian daytime, the planet's surface receives only about half the amount of solar energy that reaches Earth during its daytime.

Nighttime temperatures can drop as low as minus 130F (-90C), which can freeze and crack unprotected electrical components.

To survive the frigid Martian nights, it will need enough energy, generated by its solar powers, to power internal heaters.

Perseverance hosts Ingenuitys base station, enabling communication with mission controllers on Earth.

Diagram showing the different components of Ingenuity. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the technology demonstration for NASA Headquarters

The main mission of Perseverance, or 'big friend', as NASA calls it, is astrobiology and searching for signs of ancient microbial life on the Martian surface.

It's continuously sharing new images of the Red Planet, including the rock-strewn landscape that mission command used to find a take-off location for Ingenuity.

Its primary goal is to look for 'biosignatures'  signs of past or present microbial life  as well as gathering rock samples.

The rover will drill into the dusty surface and gather material into titanium, germ free tubes in the vehicle's belly.

NASA aims to gather at least 20 samples with a variety of material that can be brought back to Earth for further analysis.

However, Perseverance is not bringing the samples back to Earth  when the rover reaches a suitable location, the tubes will dropped on the surface of Mars to be collected by a future retrieval mission, which is currently being developed.

A multi-billion dollar project to bring back a piece of Mars to Earth will involve three separate launches and would only be successful as soon as 2031

Currently, NASA and ESA plan to launch two more spacecraft that would leave Earth in 2026 and reach Mars in 2028.

The first will deploy a small rover, which will make its way to Perseverance, pick up the filled sampling tubes and transfer them to a 'Mars ascent vehicle'  a small rocket.

This rocket will blast off  in the process becoming the first object launched from the surface of Mars  and place the container into Martian orbit, meaning it will essentially be floating in space.

At this point, the third and final spacecraft involved in the tricky operation will manoeuvre itself next to the sample container, pick it up and fly it back to Earth.

Providing its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere is successful, it will plummet to the ground at a military training ground in Utah in 2031, meaning the Martian samples won't be studied for another 10 years.
By Marcheta P. Evans

At Bloomfield College, we see our students, many of them hit hard by the pandemic, working part-time jobs  often two or three  while studying for their degrees. Our students are some of the poorest college students in the nation. More than half are the first in their families to go to college.

Im in awe of their grit and determination.

Were a designated Predominantly Black Institution, or PBI, in Bloomfield, and one of the few PBIs in the Northeast.

The challenges for our students are real, but so, too, are the opportunities of this moment as Americans, from governments to philanthropists to corporations, start addressing the need for racial and economic equity as never before.

Im asking those who care about dismantling the systemic racism that has harmed our students to use this moment to learn more about Predominantly Black Institutions like ours. Predominantly Black Institutions make up 3% of college institutions but they enroll 9% of Black college students. Institutions like Bloomfield College create pathways for low-income Black students and other people of color to earn a higher education degree.

When Americans think of higher education institutions that serve a large percentage of Black Americans, they usually think of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which are institutions founded before 1964 to educate Black Americans. There are 107 HBCUs in the United States.

The more than 100 PBIs in the United States are different, and were perhaps not as well understood. The federal PBI designation was incorporated into the Higher Education Act in 2008. PBIs must have a student body that is at least 40% African American, and half of the students must be low-income or first-generation college students. At Bloomfield College, our student body is 51% Black and 31% Hispanic.

Were heartened and applaud the philanthropic support for HBCUs, especially the recent high-profile donations to these colleges and universities. But we need more Americans to have a greater understanding of PBIs, especially now, and to consider the powerful impact their support could have on our students. We advance not just our students through education but also their families. After graduation, our students and their families move from the bottom economic quintile to the second economic quintile.

Our students are studying biology, finance, nursing, education and other majors and minors to start their careers and begin to make contributions in their communities.

Our mission as a Predominantly Black Institution also needs greater federal and state support. For instance, the recent CARES ACT allocated $447 million to 96 HBCUs while 83 PBIs received just $18 million. Thats a tremendous disparity.

When people understand our mission, and especially when they meet our students, they recognize the powerful role we play. These are students who sometimes dont know where their next meal is coming from or if they will be able to keep their heat on all winter. And still, they study. As a private college of nearly 1,600 students, they benefit from a close connection to our professors, who regularly go above and beyond to help their students both inside and outside the classroom.

In the past year, the Black Lives Matter movement has expanded our understanding of the permeating inequities across all races. Its the right time to educate everyone  our legislators, philanthropists and the public  about the significant impact PBIs are making.

I feel a deeply personal connection to our mission. Im the only Black female president of a four-year college in New Jersey and, I, too, overcame challenging life circumstances being raised by my grandparents in Alabama during the civil rights movement. It alarms me that a clear path to a college degree is still systemically out of reach for many in communities of color.

My fear is that the limited information about PBIs will keep them underfunded and underappreciated. Im compelled to bring urgent attention to the needs of Black students attending our nations PBIs who dream of something better. Especially now, as the pandemic has caused thousands of low-income students, who are often minorities, to abandon, delay or alter their pursuit of a college degree.

We cant let that happen.

I was taught that education is key  and something no one can ever take from you. I will continue to advocate for the financial support of PBIs as the distinct educational institutions that they are until they become central to our nations conversation about Black families, education and social mobility.

Dr. Marcheta P. Evans is the president of Bloomfield College in Bloomfield.

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Scientists view Florida  the state furthest along in lifting restrictions, reopening society and welcoming tourists  as a bellwether for the nation.

If recent trends there are any indication, the rest of the country may be in trouble.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida has been steadily rising, though hospitalizations and deaths are still down. Over the past week, the state has averaged nearly 5,000 cases per day, an increase of 8% from its average two weeks earlier.

B.1.1.7, the more contagious variant first identified in Britain, is also rising exponentially in Florida, where it accounts for a greater proportion of total cases than in any other state, according to numbers collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wherever we have exponential growth, we have the expectation of a surge in cases, and a surge in cases will lead to hospitalizations and deaths, said Bill Hanage, a public health researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Florida has had one of the countrys most confusing and inefficient vaccination campaigns and has fully vaccinated about 15% of its population  well below what top states, like New Mexico and South Dakota, have managed. Still, immunization of older people and other high-risk individuals may blunt the number of Floridas deaths somewhat. The state has announced it will start offering the vaccine to anyone older than 18 on April 5.

At least some of the cases in Florida are the result of the states open invitation to tourists. Hordes of students on spring break have descended on the state since mid-February. Rowdy crowds on Miami Beach this month forced officials to impose an 8 p.m. curfew, although many people still flouted the rules.

Miami-Dade County, which includes Miami Beach, has experienced one of the nations worst outbreaks and continues to record high numbers. The county averaged more than 1,100 cases per day over the past week.

In Orange County, cases are on the rise among young people. People 45 and younger account for 1 in 3 hospitalizations for COVID, and the average age for new infections has dropped to 30.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has rejected stringent restrictions from the very start of the pandemic. Florida has never had a mask mandate, and in September DeSantis banned local governments from enforcing mandates of their own. Among his scientific advisers now are architects of the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for political leaders to allow the coronavirus to spread naturally among young people, while the elderly and those with underlying conditions sheltered in place.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
State lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates are decrying what they call poison pills in state budget negotiations that could make it more difficult for undocumented people and other workers to receive retroactive COVID-19 relief.

At issue is a potential fund in the state budget to support workers who have not been eligible for unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates are calling for $3.5 billion. A state Senate version of the fund includes $2.1 billion. But now, on the 14th day of a hunger strike for the fund, documentation barriers are reportedly getting discussed during negotiations.

At a rally in Manhattan on Monday, legislators and activists said Gov. Andrew Cuomo is fighting to make the application requirements more stringent than those laid out in the state Senates one-house budget proposal. Namely, they said hes pushing to require pay stubs, bank statements or individual tax identification numbers in order to prove financial hardship or loss of income during the pandemic. Bianca Guerrero, coordinator of the Fund Excluded Workers coalition, said during the rally that many people who would benefit from the fund, especially undocumented immigrants, day laborers and delivery workers, dont always have access to those documents, or have a bank account. We cannot create a fund that requires these documents in order to access relief, Guerrero said. We are calling for a flexible application process for all excluded workers who have access to this fund.

In the state Senate one-house proposal, people applying to the fund would be allowed to self-attest their eligibility for aid if they dont have the documents to prove it. That version does, however, require some form of identification authorized by the state Department of Taxation and Finance, such as an individual taxpayer identification number, for tax purposes. The original legislative proposal did not include that requirement. Guerrero told City & State the Senate version was not perfect, but the specific language in question was added with the understanding that it would act as a placeholder while lawmakers worked with advocates to figure out how not to exclude workers without individual tax identification numbers. She said that the problem arises when people without those numbers are treated differently, and are not eligible for benefits.

The devil is in the details, and were here to fight the devil, said Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani. He warned that if the requirements to get the money are too restrictive, the money would not get spent. Mamdani pointed to a $100 million rent relief program passed last year that reportedly only gave out $47 million despite a large number of applicants, with critics blaming an overly restrictive application process. If you set up this fund with all of the governors suggested requirements, youre not going to give money to excluded workers  so we want $3.5 billion and we want it to be easily accessible, Mamdani said.

Spokespeople for Cuomo and the state Division of the Budget did not return a request for comment asking for confirmation that the governor is pushing for these requirements, and if so, why he is asking for them.

After years of positively representing Switzerland through his sporting excellence and friendly,

down-to-earth manner, Roger Federer has now become an official brand ambassador for the

destination of Switzerland.

Hes entering into a long-term cooperation with the Swiss national tourism board, Switzerland Tourism (ST). The common goal: attracting guests to visit Switzerland with its energizing nature.

Roger Federer, who also calls Dubai home, and Switzerland Tourism (ST) will together develop

initiatives to promote Switzerland globally. The support is much needed at this time, emerging from the biggest tourism crisis since the Second World War. Nobody is more equipped to do so than this iconic personality wearing the Swiss Flag, officials at ST are convinced, says a Switzerland Tourism statement.

This is a perfect match, because Switzerland and its unblemished nature have clearly contributed to Rogers unprecedented career, explains STs CEO, Martin Nydegger.

"I have always felt, whenever I step on the court, I am representing Switzerland. Whenever it says my name, there is a Swiss flag next to it. I have been very proud to do that for the first 22 years I have been on tour, and it will always be like that. To join forces with ST now is a logical step for me, says Roger Federer in a conversation with Nydegger. Both are excited to start this long-term partnership.

Energized by Swiss nature

Communication activities will begin throughout the month of April with a focus on European cities

followed by the USA and Asia Pacific. A series of visuals and short clips will showcase Roger Federer

being energized by Swiss nature. On MySwitzerland.com, guests will be able to discover Switzerland

through Rogers eyes. He presents his preferred places, Swiss highlights as well as hidden gems.

I have been all over the world. My favourite place has always remained Switzerland. Its the country I

miss the most, when Im travelling confesses Federer.

The stage is set

Switzerland Tourism and Roger Federer share countless values. Establishing this partnership is a

unique opportunity and of great importance to us. Making a difference while recovering from the

challenges of the past months and beyond will be a journey with numerous highlights," emphasizes

Nydegger.

Roger Federer is highly motivated to support his home country, and he will do it for a charitable cause. The compensation for his appearances as new ambassador for ST goes to the Roger Federer Foundation supporting disadvantaged children in Switzerland. - TradeArabia News Service
THE government has insisted it will continue encouraging and strengthening women participation and decision making on land issues.

Opening a side event of the 65th Session of Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) recently, Commissioner of Social Welfare, Dr Naftali Ng'ondi said women empowerment and their involvement in economy was crucial.

He said the government was aware of the need for women participation in land governance issues, and hence, taken a number of measures to make it work.

"We are aware that the priority theme is women's full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls" he said during the zoom meeting.

He affirmed the government commitment that articulates the issue of promoting equality in access, ownership and use of land as one of the priorities in achieving inclusive development.

In his speech, he noted women's economic development as pre-requisitely determined by how easily the access and use of land are their productive resources in economic growth.

Statistics, Dr Ng'ondi said show that, more than 65 per cent of women in the country depend on land as their key productive resource to support their livelihood, adding that it's unfortunate that they only own between 10 and 20 per cent of the available land.

The Social Welfare Commissioner said gender inequalities in land rights are pervasive and unjust given the culture and traditions, which support male inheritance of family pieces of land.

"Not only do women in Tanzania have lower access to land than men, but they are also restricted to 'secondary land rights', meaning that they hold these rights through male family members" he stressed.

The government has instituted various policy measures to set standards to ensure that land ownership rights are equally shared. It has also made significant progress in ensuring women's participation and decision making in land Governance at all levels.

He noted that ownership of land and other productive assets remain a serious constraint to women's progress as the country women still face discrimination in both laws and practices.

The Customary Laws of Inheritance of 1963 prohibits women, widows and daughters from inheriting land.

Lack of secure ownership of land for women contribute to the lack of identity as household owners, leaving women less able to effectively engage themselves in decision making at various levels.

However, Dr Ng'ondi added, women do not have the same opportunities as men to own assets and improve their economy, which in turn leads to limited opportunities to increase their resource base and investments.

He sad it is time to strengthen land rights and tenure security Legal reform to improve women's inheritance rights, it is therefore required to improve socio-economic outcomes for women.

The Commissioner also called for strengthening public awareness, participation and education regarding women's inheritance rights, and women enhancement of open and accessible appeal system to address the concerns, are taken as a strategic issue.

He highlighted some of the initiatives and achievements made by the government in the implementation of Women land Governance as the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania recognises equality to own property for all citizens regardless of their gender.

Moreover, there are the existence of legal framework to execute land rights and women's participation in lands Governance and the 1999 Land Act, revised in 2019, establishes principles that help to safeguard women's land rights and the 1982 Local Government (District Authorities) Act establishes the village council which requires that a minimum of one-fourth of village council members are women.

Also the government is reviewing Policies that are in line with Gender Equality and Women Empowerment issues to incorporated women rights to access and own land in the Country. Amongst is the review of Women and Gender Development Policy of 2000 which focuses to articulate the current situation.

The village council is the executive body vested with power in respect of all village affairs, including managing village land, therefore, decisions made at the village council are then subject to approval from the village assembly - a village's highest decision-making body, which includes all villagers including women.

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The government, he said ensures women have access to land without limitations imposed by customs, culture, norms and traditions.

These kinds of reforms contribute significantly to the effort of eradicating discriminatory practices which hinders women's participation in land governance.

These efforts have resulted into several achievements which include increase in number of individual women ownerships of land from 9 per cent to 25 per cent and joint ownership increased from six per cent to 16 per cent respectively.

He was optimistic that the meeting panelists and community members who will showcase best practices in ensuring Women's participation in Land Governance in line with Sustainable Development Goals.

"My expectation is that, at the end of this Side event, we shall come up with strategies and recommendations on how the Government in collaboration with stakeholders can enhance Women's participation in land governance in our communities" said Dr Ng'ondi.
Highlights Xiaomi is set to host a mega launch event tonight.

Xiaomi will unveil number of smartphones.

The famous Mi Mix to make comeback as well.

Xiaomi is hosting a massive launch event today in China where it is expected to unveil a number of devices including the all-new Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, youth-centric Mi 11 Youth Edition, the next Mi Mix smartphone and its next-generation fitness band Mi Band 6. The electronics maker had earlier launched the Mi 11 in China and global markets which became the first smartphone to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. Both Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11 Pro are expected to be upgrades on the same.

Interestingly, Xiaomi has already confirmed the India launch of the Mi 11 series but is yet to attach an exact date to it. It is expected to bring more than one Mi 11 smartphones to India. The March 29 Xiaomi event will also mark the comeback of Mi Mix smartphones. There are rumours that the phone can be called the Mi Mix 4 Pro Max or the Mi Mix Fold.

Xiaomi launch event time and livestream

The launch event is scheduled for March 29 i.e. today. According to the official post by Xiaomi, the event will start at 19:30 GMT which converts to 1:30 am IST. It will be an online event. Xiaomi launch event livestream will be available on company's official YouTube channel as well as social media platforms. You will get all the updates about new Xiaomi products on India Today website after the launch.

Mi 11 Ultra specifications and price (expected)

The new Mi 11 Ultra is expected to be powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor used on the Mi 11. It is tipped to feature smartphone maker's new silicon-oxygen anode battery for the smartphone and super-fast charging. Mi 11 Ultra will reportedly feature a 5,000mAh battery. It is expected to support 67W wired charging, 67W wireless charging, and 10W reverse charging.

The smartphone is expected to be launched in three colour options - Truffle Black, Citrus Yellow, and Mint Green.

Mi 11 Ultra is likely to feature a 50-megapixel main sensor, two 48-megapixel cameras  one for ultra-wide and the other for zoom shots up to 120x and a 20-megapixel selfie shooter housed in a punch hole. Given the improvements in camera and battery departments, the smartphone is expected to cost more than the Mi 11.

Mi 11 Youth Edition specifications and price (expected)

Mi 11 Youth Edition or Mi 11 be a more affordable addition to the Mi 11 line-up. It is expected to be launched in both 4G and 5G variants. The smartphone is expected to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 780 5G chipset. This will make the Mi 11 Youth Edition the first smartphone to pack this processor.

Xiaomi has already confirmed that the smartphone will be extremely slim at just 6.81mm thin. This means that it might skip the 3.55mm headphone jack. The Mi 11 Youth Edition is expected to get 6.55-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution.

The phone should get a 64-megapixel main camera with 5-megapixel macro sensor and 8-megapixel ultrawide angle lens. It is likely to have a 20-megapixel front camera. The Mi 11 Youth Edition is expected to get up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The phone is expected to be powered by a 4,250 mAh battery which will also get 33W fast charging.

Mi Mix specifications and price (expected)

There are rumours that the new Mi Mix smartphone might come with a folding smartphone. It is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset coupled with 12GB or 16GB RAM and possibly 256GB storage. The device should pack a 4,500mAh battery with support for 65W fast wired charging.

The camera is likely feature a 50-megapixel 50MP main sensor, a 48-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, and another 48-megapixel camera with 5X or 2X optical zoom. There is no clarity on whether Xiaomi wants to bring this smartphone to other markets or not.

Mi 11 Pro specifications and price (expected)

Mi 11 Pro is expected to feature a 6.81-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1440x3200 pixels. It should pack a triple rear camera including a 108-megapixel main lens and two 48-megapixel sensors. The phone should run Android 11 and is expected to pack a 4970mAh battery with fast charging.

Mi Band 6 specifications and price (expected)

The new fitness band will succeed last year's Mi Band 5 and is expected to have an NFC chip on board. It will also feature an in-built GPS, SpO2 sensor, and 19 new exercise modes. Xiaomi is expected to equip the band with a Pomodoro Timer which will let you control your smart home devices using the Mi Home platform. It's unclear if this feature will be available on both the global and Chinese variants.
Heavy caseloads, job stress and biases can strain relations between parole and probation officers and their clients, upping offenders' likelihood of landing back behind bars.

On a more hopeful note, a new University of California, Berkeley, study suggests that nonjudgmental empathy training helps court-appointed supervision officers feel more emotionally connected to their clients and, arguably, better able to deter them from criminal backsliding.

The findings, published March 29 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show, on average, a 13% decrease in recidivism among the clients of parole and probation officers who participated in the UC Berkeley empathy training experiment.

"If an officer received this empathic training, real-world behavioral outcomes changed for the people they supervised, who, in turn, were less likely to go back to jail," said study lead and senior author Jason Okonofua, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley.

The results are particularly salient in the face of nationwide efforts to reduce prison and jail populations amid a deadly pandemic and other adversities. The U.S. criminal justice system has among the highest rates of recidivism, with approximately two-thirds of incarcerated people rearrested within three years of their release and one-half sent back behind bars.

"The combination of COVID-19 and ongoing criminal justice reforms are diverting more people away from incarceration and toward probation or parole, which is why we need to develop scalable ways to keep pace with this change," said Okonofua, who has led similar interventions for school teachers to check their biases before disciplining students.

At the invitation of a correctional department in a large East Coast city, Okonofua and graduate students in his lab at UC Berkeley sought to find out if a more caring approach on the part of court-appointed supervision officers would reverse trends in recidivism.

Among other duties, parole and probation officers keep track of their clients' whereabouts, make sure they don't miss a drug test or court hearing, or otherwise violate the terms of their release, and provide resources to help them stay out of trouble and out of jail.

For the study, the researchers surveyed more than 200 parole and probation officers who oversee more than 20,000 people convicted of crimes ranging from violent crimes to petty theft. Research protocols bar identifying the agency and its location.

Using their own and other scholars' methodologies, the researchers designed and administered a 30-minute online empathy survey that focused on the officers' job motivation, biases and views on relationships and responsibilities.

To trigger their sense of purpose and values, and tap into their empathy, the UC Berkeley survey asked what parts of the work they found fulfilling. One respondent talked about how, "When I run across those guys, and they're doing well, I'm like, 'Awesome!'" Others reported that being an advocate for people in need was most important to them.

As for addressing biases -- including assumptions that certain people are predisposed to a life of crime -- the survey cited egregious cases in which probation and parole officers abused their power over those under their supervision.

Survey takers were also asked to rate how much responsibility they bear, as individuals and members of a profession, for their peers' transgressions. Most answered that they bore no responsibility.

Ten months after administering the training, researchers found a 13% decrease in recidivism among the offenders whose parole and probation officers had completed the empathy survey.

While the study yielded no specifics on what prevented the parolees and people on probation for reoffending in the period following the officers' empathy training, the results suggest that a change in relationship dynamics played a key role.

"The officer is in a position of power to influence if it's going to be an empathic or punitive relationship in ways that the person on parole or probation is not," Okonofua said.

"As our study shows," he added, "the relationship between probation and parole officers and the people they supervise plays a pivotal role and can lead to positive outcomes, if efforts to be more understanding are taken into consideration."

###

Co-authors of the study are Kimia Saadatian, Joseph Ocampo, Michael Ruiz and Perfecta Delgado Oxholm, all at UC Berkeley.
Sunday afternoon, Carolyn Guidry had a celebration fit for a queen. A gilded throne set atop a red carpet along Crockett Street was the setting from which Guidry enjoyed a parade of dozens of vehicles, some decorated with balloons and signs, all bearing smiles, waves and shouts as they passed beneath an arch of purple and white balloons. Even the rain didnt stop our parade, Guidry said, adding she was overwhelmed with the number of people throughout Jefferson County and even Houston who joined in the parade. It was almost endless! Among the procession were judges, candidates, friends, family, Hebert High classmates, Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie, and countless other county and city officials. Former staff and family accepted cards and gifts from the passing cars, while handing out cookies and other gifts to parade-goers. The turn-out and pageantry of the event, provided by A. J. Turner, spoke to the impact Guidry had in her 16 years and 4 months serving as Jefferson County Clerk. The trust people put in me means so much, Guidry said. After the final vehicle passed, Democratic Party Chair Joseph Trahan presented Guidry with a plaque honoring her contributions to the county and the Democratic party. Shes so popular, she could run for any office and win, he said.
Yaounde  Prisoners in Cameroon's overcrowded prisons are protesting what they say is neglect in prison centers, leading to a rapid spread of the coronavirus. Over the past month, protests were reported in several locations, including the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in the capital, Yaounde, the New Bell prison in the coastal city of Douala, and the central prison in the English-speaking western town of Bamenda, according to authorities.

A Kondengui prison inmate told VOA that prisoners have been holding 'prayer protests' for 30 minutes every day for the past two weeks. During these protests, prisoners say they have been crying out for help, pleading for protection against the spread of the virus. The prisoner, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, was able to speak to VOA via the WhatsApp messaging platform.

"The COVID-19 is ravaging our country. We need to be able to have proper hygiene. At times they cut water for two to three days. To wash hands is very very difficult. Government should come and look for solutions so that together we can help to fight this COVID-19 and ensure that we have proper hygiene," the prisoner said.

The prisoner said sanitation at the facility is poor and it is overcrowded. About 4,500 inmates are being held there, he said, even though it was built to hold fewer than 1,500 prisoners. Lack of sanitation and face masks add to the difficulties prisoners face in conditions where access to health workers is limited.

Authorities say the country has about 30,000 inmates in 78 detention facilities built to accommodate a maximum of 9,000. The government says close to 700 of the 16,250 inmates tested within the past three months in 21 prisons were COVID-positive. Fewer than 300 tested COVID-positive last year.

Justice Minister Laurent Esso said there was a spike in COVID cases among inmates, but he rejects prisoners' claims that inmates get very little assistance, saying the claims are unfounded.

He said a few inmates whose health conditions were already critical died while being rushed to hospital. There is lack of awareness among inmates about the virus and many inmates don't come forward once they do test positive, he said.

Additionally, following precautions to keep a 1.5-meter distance from one another is difficult, due to the overcrowding of these centers, Esso admitted. However, he added that inmates are required to wash their hands regularly and face mask requirement are enforced. Also, the government has reduced the number of visitors and suspended all social gatherings and activities at prison yards to limit the spread of COVID, he said.

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Esso said all inmates will be tested for COVID, and those infected with the virus will get free treatment. He said the government will administer anti-COVID vaccines to prisoners who will accept vaccinations.

Fabrice Vavemi Lena, coordinator of the nongovernmental group Prison Watch Cameroon, which works to improve living and health conditions for inmates, said that to reduce the spread of COVID among inmates, the government should release pretrial detainees who have been held for long periods with no evidence of wrongdoing.

"The prisons are overcrowded. This is largely due to the number of persons that were from the Anglophone crisis (conflict in southern Cameroon's regions), some whose cases have not been opened at the military tribunal and some who have already been condemned. With the new variant of the COVID-19, the government had to take measures because the procedures of law are very cumbersome. If the spread continues at the magnitude in which it is, it might also affect the prison guards," he said.

Lena said the government could also grant freedom to prisoners, incarcerated for misdemeanors, if they have served half of their sentences.

Esso said he had given instructions to judges to speed the trial of suspects in tribunals all over Cameroon.

In April 2020, President Paul Biya announced that thousands of the country's prisoners would be released in an effort to lessen prison crowding and to prevent the spread of COVID.

Inmates have been among the groups with the highest level of exposure, according to the government.
As cases are surging, the lockdown option was discussed at a meeting Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had with Health Minister Rajesh Tope, Health Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas, and the Covid Task Force to consider ways to bring the surge in cases under control.

Over the last three days, Maharashtra has recorded more than 1.13 lakh new infections; 40,414 new cases were detected on Sunday. Maharashtra on Sunday reported 40,414 fresh coronavirus positive cases, the highest rise so far in a single day, taking its tally beyond 27 lakh to 27,13,875, the state health department said. The state had reached the 26 lakh-mark of cases only on March 25. With 108 fresh fatalities due to Covid-19 infection, the overall toll in Maharashtra reached 54,181, it said. Mumbai also reported the highest number of new cases in a day on Sunday, by adding 6,933 infections, taking its overall tally to 3,98,724. As cases are surging, the lockdown option was discussed at a meeting Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had with Health Minister Rajesh Tope, Health Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas, and the Covid Task Force to consider ways to bring the surge in cases under control.

Chief Minister Thackeray is considering a lockdown for a limited number of days, officials said. Essential services like grocery shops and medical stores will be open and deliveries will continue, but private offices will be advised to encourage employees to work from home or cut attendance in offices to less than 50 per cent.

Thackeray asked the Department of Relief and Rehabilitation to formulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) for a limited lockdown. A detailed plan will be released soon, the officials said. Senior state health officials said they have advised a lockdown for at least 15 days to interrupt the chain of transmission. More than 1.07 lakh of the 3.57 lakh isolation beds in the state are already occupied. No beds are available in districts like Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Nashik, health officials said.

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Mumbai and Pune are inching towards a similar situation. A senior heath official commented that as hospitals are running full and there is an increase in new infections and the only solution at this point to bring the situation under control is lockdown. Data from the health department show that 12,701 of the 60,349 oxygen beds are occupied, and 1,881 of the 9,030 ventilators are taken.

The Task Force is of the view that the night curfew should be extended to day curbs as well, until the situation is brought under control. At the meeting, members of the Task Force said delayed treatment and testing was leading to rising fatalities. BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal said they expect cases in Mumbai to touch 10,000 a day. Night curfew has also been imposed in Maharashtra between 8pm and 7am. However, the vaccination drive has been hard hit by the rising cases and doctors have stated there must be some innovative steps to speed up the vaccination drive.

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A NYPD police car in the snow in New York, on Dec. 17, 2020. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

New York City Cuts Qualified Immunity for Police Officers

Critics say the move will have a chilling effect on policing

The New York City Council has passed a series of measures that affect police operations, including a hotly debated measure that makes it easier to sue officers for misconduct.

The council voted last week to adopt five bills and three resolutions that it stated are designed to increase police accountability and reimagine public safety in our city.

One of the most significant of the measures adopted by the council was to eliminate qualified immunity, a doctrine that insulates government officials from civil liability for their conduct. Qualified immunity became the focus of intense public debate after it was cast into the limelight amid protests last summer following George Floyds police-custody death.

Proponents say the doctrine is important to allow government officials such as police officers to carry out their jobs with protection from undue interference and threats of liability. They also say it prevents frivolous or retaliatory lawsuits against officers.

Critics say the doctrine prevents officials from facing consequences for misconduct or abuse of power if their actions violate the U.S. Constitution but dont contravene a clearly established rule.

Brooklyn Councilman Stephen Levin, who sponsored the legislation, told Pix11 in an interview that limiting qualified immunity makes officers more accountable.

There has to be consequences for misconduct, he told the outlet on March 26. I was really searching for legislation that we can pursue that would have a meaningful impact.

That officer can walk into court and on the very first day, say, Im not even supposed to be here because this plaintiff doesnt even have the right to bring me to court, Im immune.

Critics of the move to remove qualified immunity protections from law enforcement officers have argued that it would make the public less safe by making police reluctant to take decisive action against violent criminals for fear of being sued.

Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz called the decision to ax the protections an outrage as it leaves those on the front lines of the fight against crime more vulnerable.

This is an outrage to take away qualified immunity only from the police, Dershowitz told Newsmax in an interview March 27. He argued that the measure will have a chilling effect on responding officers, who are likely to begin asking themselves, Will they be able to sue us for making an honest and simple mistake under pressure? he said.

The idea that every police officer, when they have to make a decision whether to protect us, whether to protect innocent people, will be thinking about, Are going to take our home, are they going to take our childrens allowance, or are they going to take health care away from us?' Dershowitz said.

He suggested that its unfair to target police officers by removing the protections that other officials continue to enjoy.

Remember, prosecutors have it, judges have it, many other public officials have it. Police are the lowest paid people of everybody on this chain, he said.

Its a sentiment echoed by Patrick Lynch, president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association (PBA), which represents some 24,000 police officers.

New Yorkers are getting shot and police officers are out on the street all day and all night, trying to stop the bloodshed, Lynch said in a statement. Where are these City Council members? Safe at home, hiding behind their screens and dreaming up new ways to give criminals a free pass. It wont get better unless New Yorkers shame the politicians into doing their job.

Other legislation passed by the council provides additional oversight and requires more transparency from the police. One of the resolutions that were voted on supports a state bill that gives final authority on the discipline of officers facing civilian complaints to the Civilian Complaint Review Board rather than the police commissioner. Currently, the police commissioner has the right to make final calls on disciplining officers.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, in a statement to CNN, expressed concern about measures that would undercut the departments ability to manage disciplinary issues.

Right now, the commissioner hires them, trains them, asks them to go in harms way to keep New Yorkers safe, and if an officer breaks the rules, I discipline them and if necessary fire them, Shea told the outlet. If I am not doing that the right way, I am accountable. The buck stops here. To take that away from the Commissioner, ask yourself who has the accountability then?

No other city agency uses that system, nor does the FBI, the Secret Service, or the Marines. There is a reason for that. You need to know where the buck stops.

Federal efforts to remove qualified immunity from all local, state, and federal law enforcement officers are also underway, with the House recently approving the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (H.R. 1280) on a largely party-line vote, with two Democrats crossing the aisle to vote against it.

In a press statement by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Democrats summed up the change to the legal doctrine, saying the legislation reforms qualified immunity so that individuals are not barred from recovering damages when police violate their constitutional rights.

A nearly identical measure passed the House last summer but didnt get a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Republicans oppose the federal measure because, beyond removing qualified immunity protections, they say it will take millions of dollars away from police departments.

Former mayor and first responder Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (R-Fla.) spoke about the importance of qualified immunity.

Democrats discuss ways to push needed police reforms, but in this dysfunctional Congress, we got a bill that strips our frontline police officers from qualified immunity, that will weaken and possibly destroy our communities police forces, he said.

Taking away qualified immunity will lead to police officers not taking the decisive action and rendering impossible [the ability] to do their job. Without the security, officers will resign and deplete our [forces].

Janita Kan and Masooma Haq contributed to this report.
Actors Song Seung-heon, left, and Lee Ha-na / Korea Times file





By Kwak Yeon-soo







Actors Song Seung-heon and Lee Ha-na have been confirmed to star in the fourth season of OCN's crime thriller series, "Voice."







Song will play Derrick Cho, a headstrong gang unit officer for the Los Angeles Police Department who collaborates with the Korean police to solve crime case. Lee will reprise her role as police officer Kang Kwon-joo gifted with perfect hearing-analysis skills.







Song and Lee will showcase their seemingly conflicting yet ultimately complementary work relationship.







"Voice" tells the story of a 112 emergency call center and its dispatch team solving mysterious crime cases using limited information they get from urgent calls. Jang Hyuk starred in the first season, followed by Lee Jin-wook who played the male lead in seasons 2 and 3. "Voice" received international acclaim and was sold to North America, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines among others.







Director Shin Yong-hwi, best known for his previous works such as OCN's "Tunnel" (2017) and tvN's "Cross" (2018), will helm the series. Ma Jin-won, who has written scripts for the first three seasons of the show, will pen the fourth installment.







"Song is most suited for the role of Derrick Cho, who is very charismatic. We believe that Song will bring out the appeal of Cho, a character who possesses top skills as a police officer, but hides emotional pain and secrets," the production team said in a statement, Monday.







"I initially felt lot of pressure about returning for the new season, thinking it should be better than the previous one. After receiving the script, however, I have good feelings for the upcoming season. I hope viewers will look forward to it," Lee said.







The fourth season of "Voice" will premiere in June.


Some tasty Tennessee Whiskey has landed at our door today so we thought youd like to learn more about this intriguing newcomer. Heres the lowdown on Daddy Rack.

Most of you will know two things about Tennessee Whiskey. One, its made in Tennessee with almost the same legal regulations as bourbon (at least 51% corn mash bill, must be aged in new, charred oak etc.) apart from the use of a method of additional filtration through maple charcoal known as the Lincoln County Process. And two, Jack Daniels is a Tennessee Whiskey.

There are, of course, numerous other producers that make whiskey the Tennessee way. George Dickel is the other giant alongside Jack, while Uncle Nearest is growing so fast well be calling it Great Uncle Nearest soon. The latest brand to join the esteemed ranks is Daddy Rack Tennessee Straight Whiskey. Founder J.Arthur Rackham was drawn to the category because he loves the soul of the state and wanted to bottle a bit of that magic.

Its the realisation of a lifelong ambition. Booze has always been a part of Rackhams life. He was born above his fathers liquor store in Portobello Road, west London. In 1968 he got an apprenticeship with the Camus family in Cognac, which began a more than 50-year career in the international spirit merchant business. Rackham says that all this time in the industry underlines that there is nothing more important than understanding the DNA and the tradition of the spirit youre working with.

Making whiskey the Daddy Rack way

So were expecting to see that Daddy Rack was made without taking any shortcuts with ingredients, fermentation, distillation and barrel selection and ageing. First, we begin with a mash bill of corn (80%), rye (10%) and malted barley (10%). The grade one corn comes from local farmers within 50 miles of the distillery. Were off to a good start. Rackham explains that Tennessee whiskey conveys a sense of place and that he wanted to amplify that by supporting the communities local to the distillery, whose produce is amazing quality.

He elaborates, This all goes into creating a liquid that conveys quality and provenance in every sip. We sit in the middle of a corn belt, with high-grade corn grown locally, so it was an amazing chance to source locally. The mash after fermentation is also sent to local cattle farmers for feed, meaning Daddy Rack is lowering its carbon footprint and supporting the local farm industry in one fell swoop.

Once the milling of the grains has taken place a 72-hour sour mash follows. Then a first distillation is in a copper column still, followed by a second pot doubler still distillation. The spirit comes off the stills around 67.5% ABV, but before its placed into barrels theres one more step. The Lincoln County Process. Daddy Rack does things a little differently by employing a light second round of maple charcoal filtration to increase the smoothness.

Passion, provenance and philanthropy

We cant reveal the distillerys name. But there are some clues in the article. And very few options for what it could be Rackham does say that hes been fortunate enough to always be surrounded by real stalwarts in the industry and along the way met some incredible people. Luck has played a part. I met the owners of the distillery and they were keen to work with me on a project to show what they could do with their impressive facility in Columbia with their team, he said. It has been a joy to work with them and find a like-minded production partner.

Rackham says he selects about 20 barrels to mature a batch of Daddy Rack. He only uses casks with a light char level (no. 3), to avoid stripping too much character from the spirit. Which makes sense. No point spending all that money on great corn only to kill it with fire. It means barrel selection from the rackhouse is very important. We use an algorithm of picking barrels. Some from the top tier with higher evaporation and some from the mid and lower tier with low evaporation to balance the blend and preserve our inherent core flavours. Its all about managing the harsher congeners from the sour mash fermentation to make a mellow, balanced and smooth Tennessee whiskey with genuine flavour. Rackham explains. Sure, its a bit more work, but its definitely worth it.

To that end, Daddy Rack is bottled at 40% ABV with no colouring, caramel or additional flavours added. Its clear theres a tremendous amount of care and passion gone into this project. After all, Rackham gave the whiskey his name. Daddy Rack is what eldest daughter Grace calls him. He feels like it truly represents him, explaining that its like wed bottled a bit of my heart and soul. His ambition is to be the number two Tennessee whiskey in the global market after Jack Daniels. And to help a new generation of whiskey imbibers appreciate Tennessee Whiskey. Rackhams also working on a cask strength expression with a little more age, which we look forward to tasting.

The taste test

Before we get to the review, we would be remiss not to point out the brands fantastic support of CORE. The charity. with roots in Tennessee, receives 50 cents of every bottle of Daddy Rack sold to help support its mission of providing financial relief when a food and beverage employee with children faces a health crisis, injury, death or natural disaster. With the year weve had it was more important than ever that we supported people in the hospitality industry who have faced so much uncertainty and struggle, Rackham says. It also has roots in Tennessee. So we felt a real synergy with it as a charity, and have nothing but admiration and respect for what it does. I am a Trustee of The Drinks Trust. CORE mirrors these values.

As for how the whiskey tastes, overall I enjoyed Daddy Rack. Its a touch thin on the palate at times and doesnt quite carry all of its early promise into the finish. It could maybe do with being bottled at a slightly higher strength. But the nose has a lovely array of flavour and all of them are balanced well throughout. The sweetness never becomes saccharine, the spice is aromatic and there are some interesting depth and variety in places. Daddy Rack is a moreish, fun and versatile expression with a host of pleasant notes for a reasonable price point in this category. Its a whiskey you can sip neat, but theres also a number of cocktail recipes it works with.

My favourite is the Rackhouse Lemonade, which also happens to be Rackhams. He made it with his friend Simon Difford and it should be no great surprise to anyone to learn that its absolutely smashing. Ill be having one or two of those at the first BBQ I can go to this year. For now, we can still bring some of this liquid sunshine into our own homes. The full tasting note and cocktail recipe are below and you can purchase Daddy Rack Tennessee Straight Whiskey now!

Daddy Rack Tennessee Straight Whiskey Tasting Note:

Nose: Vanilla pod earthiness, maple syrup and banana milkshake lead with red apples, fresh-cut grass, Kinder Bueno and toasted oak in support. In the backdrop, theres melted salted butter, winter spice, cereal sweetness and peanut brittle.

Palate: Notes of candy floss, toffee popcorn, bruised apples and loose-leaf tobacco appear initially, with sultanas, manuka honey and vanilla cola in support. Barrel char, green tea, oily espresso beans and sour cherry brings some nice bittersweet depth. With brown sugar, custard and chocolate-covered raisins joining them underneath. Theres a measured prickle of spice throughout from cinnamon and black pepper.

Finish: Spearmint, orange peel and some lingering nutmeg, milk chocolate and caramel elements.

How to make a Rackhouse Lemonade

45ml Daddy Rack Tennessee Straight Whiskey

10ml Giffard Creme de Peche de Vigne

15ml lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

90ml lemon-lime soda

Pour all ingredients into an ice-filled Collins glass. Stir and garnish with a slice or twist of lemon.
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Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Healthy under-50s who live with an adult with a weak immune system will be added to the UK's Covid vaccine priority list.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed today that all adults who share a home with someone who is immunocompromised will be offered a vaccine by mid-April.

Those include people living with someone who is having chemotherapy, has HIV or blood cancer, or are taking drugs to dampen their immune system after an organ transplant.

Vaccines don't work as well in these people because the immune system's reaction to the jab is what protects people from the virus. If their body can't muster a strong response to the vaccine it can't form the cells needed for long-term immunity.

So although the patients themselves are already on the priority list and have mostly been vaccinated already, jabbing their households will protect them even more by preventing the virus getting into their home, health chiefs hope.

Mr Hancock told the NHS to expand the roll-out after being advised to do it by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Officials have not given a figure for how many people will be bumped up the priority list.

The same move has not been made for family members of children with weak immune systems because children are not at risk of severe Covid-19 except in very rare circumstances.

Today's decision follows the addition of all adults with learning disabilities to the priority list in February.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed today that all adults who share a home with someone who is immunocompromised will be offered a vaccine by mid-April (Pictured: A man gets vaccinated in Belfast)

This is the basic vaccine priority list  since it was drawn up, adults with learning disabilities and those who live with people with weak immune systems have been added to group six

Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of Covid vaccines at the JCVI, said: 'The vaccination programme has so far seen high vaccine uptake and very encouraging results on infection rates, hospitalisations and mortality.

'Yet we know that the vaccine isn't as effective in those who are immunosuppressed.

'Our latest advice will help reduce the risk of infection in those who may not be able to fully benefit from being vaccinated themselves.'

The move is understood to be the first time entire households are being prioritised in the vaccination programme because of someone they live with.

The hope is that vaccines successfully stop transmission of the virus and immunising housemates and family members will prevent Covid getting into the house.

There is 'increasing evidence' that this will work as hoped, the JCVI said.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of vaccines at Public Health England, said: 'Our surveillance systems and research studies are showing the vaccines can reduce asymptomatic infection and limit transmission of the virus.

'By vaccinating those who live with adults who are immunosuppressed, we can further help protect vulnerable people.'

SINGLE JAB CUTS COVID CASES BY 62% IN CARE HOMES Just one dose of a coronavirus jab more than halves the risk of a care home resident catching the disease, a study has found. Scientists from University College London saw that infection rates fell by 62 per cent five weeks after someone's first dose of a jab, and 56 per cent after four weeks. This suggests at least half of England's care home residents are now protected from the disease  10,321 out of 10,413 homes across the nation were visited by medics by the end of January. More than 41,000 care home residents have died of Covid during the pandemic and the survivors were top of the vaccine priority list because they are at such high risk. UCL's study, which looked at more than 10,000 people, was one of the first to look at how well vaccines protected elderly people. Researchers said there was 'substantial' protection. Dr Laura Shallcross added: 'A single dose has a protective effect that persists from four weeks to at least seven weeks after vaccination. 'Vaccination reduces the total number of people who get infected, and analysis of lab samples suggests care home residents who are infected after having the vaccine may also be less likely to transmit the virus.' Advertisement

People with weakened immune systems are among those who will still be at risk even when the jab roll-out is complete because vaccines may not work for many of them.

Scientists and ministers have repeatedly warned there will be more hospital admissions and deaths from Covid in a third wave and people for whom the jabs don't work are likely make up a large proportion of them.

People in the immunosuppressed group include people who:

Are having cancer treatment such as chemo or radiotherapy;

Have a cancer that affects the immune system such as leukaemia or lymphoma;

Have HIV or AIDS;

Have had an organ transplant;

Take medicine to weaken their immune system to control illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease.

Only over-16s who live with the patients will get the jab because none have yet been approved for use in children.

And the household members will be listed alongside JCVI priority group six, which includes the patients themselves and other adults with serious health conditions.

In a reply letter to the JCVI, Mr Hancock said: 'I am asking NHS England and Improvement to take this advice forward and prioritise household contacts of the severely immunosuppressed for vaccination as you recommend.

'My officials have also shared your advice with colleagues leading the Covid-19 vaccines programmes in each of the four nations of the UK.'

The most recent tweak to the vaccine priority list was the addition of all adults with learning disabilities in February, which came after a campaign by BBC radio DJ Jo Whiley, whose sister is learning disabled and caught Covid.

The JCVI added people in this group into priority group six.

Whiley praised the policy change as 'absolutely crucial' and said she was 'delighted'. She said her 53-year-old sister Frances, who was hospitalised with the virus, was 'doing great' after recovering.

Anyone who is on the GP Learning Disability Register is now eligible for a vaccine, the JCVI said, regardless of how severe their disability is.

People with profound disabilities were already in group six but it now includes milder conditions, officials said, because the register may not differentiate between them.

This register is open to anyone with a diagnosed learning disability. These include autism and Asperger's, William's syndrome, global developmental delay and cerebral palsy.
For years we have been hearing about a coming storm. It was to be biblical and would bring pain to members of the deep state ruling class who, after exposure, would not be able to walk down the streets.

The storm was to begin with spygate, a coordinated effort among top officials in the nations justice and intelligence agencies, to prevent Donald Trumps election; then after failing, to undermine his transition, cripple his presidency, then stop his reelection, the latter goals achieved.

Then there were crimes against humanity: child abuse, trafficking, and the like, all to be exposed via the Anthony Weiner laptop or the Jeffrey Epstein cabal. Both seem distant memories now. In fact, we are now going in the opposite direction with the Biden administration suspending FBI background checks for migrant children caregivers.

We have lived in the calm before the storm for years and to this day it remains calm. There are no storm clouds building, nothing on the horizon. The forecast is for sunshine and a light breeze, only enough to supposedly knock President Biden to the ground three times while he feebly attempted to ascend a short staircase.

YouTube screen grab

Many of us, myself included, thought there would be an eventual reckoning. We believed this was one of President Trumps primary goals as president, to drain the swamp. He made it clear before he was even elected what his intentions were. From a speech in October 2016,

Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. There is nothing the political establishment will not do, and no lie they will not tell, to hold on to their prestige and power at your expense. This is not simply another 4-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not We The People reclaim control over our government. For them, it is a war  and for them, nothing is out of bounds. This is a struggle for the survival of our nation. This election will determine whether we are a free nation, or whether we have only the illusion of Democracy but are in fact controlled by a small handful of global special interests rigging the system.

So, what happened? Was Trump blowing smoke? I dont think so. Or was he hopelessly outnumbered, enemies everywhere, within his own political party and even among his inner circle? Was he Gulliver tied down by a bunch of Lilliputians, each one ineffectual but in unison enough to keep Trump the giant pinned down?

Those claiming to be in the know have been promising big things ahead. From Sean Hannitys incessant tick tocks to ace reporter John Solomons constant predictions of indictments from John Durham, both as US Attorney and then as Special Counsel.

In July of 2020, John Solomon reported, DOJ activity indicates John Durham preparing indictments. Last May, almost a year ago, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) said on Fox News he expects Durhams report in two to three months.

Lets see, that would have been last August. Any report? Any indictments? The only reports were from Dr Fauci and the medical establishment arbitrarily deciding how many masks we should wear and how many feet we need to be apart from each other.

This past January, Solomon told us, Durham is building a small number of indictments. Maybe yes, maybe no. Such building is going the way of American infrastructure, crumbling while politicians of both parties promise to rebuild it, instead only building an unsustainable national debt.

This is not to bash John Solomon, one of few genuine journalists in the country, unlike the court eunuchs of cable and network news who act more like Democrat press secretaries than actual reporters. Perhaps Solomons sources were from the enigmatic and now vanished Q group.

This group, supposedly a small gaggle of military intelligence insiders, were providing a glimpse behind the Trump curtain, explaining current events, and predicting future storms. Was this group ever real and legitimate or just an intelligence community psyop to keep Trump supporters hopeful and distracted from the soft coup of the past four years?

Now its the left chasing the incorrectly termed QAnon, with an HBO special and serving as a bogeyman hiding under the beds of CNN anchors. If Solomon and others forecasting a storm from Durham, basing their predictions on Q drops, that would explain why there was no pony under the Christmas tree, despite assurances to the contrary.

Even President Trump is questioning the exalted John Durham. Just days ago, Trump asked, Wheres Durham? Is he a living, breathing human being? Will there ever be a Durham report?

Good question, one many of us have been asking. Attorney General Barr, who appointed Durham special counsel, believes spying did occur on the Trump campaign. Barr retired with his bagpipes and spying was swept under the rug.

The spygate coconspirators are all running free, with university teaching appointments or cable news gigs, some worming their way back into the Biden administration, like John Carlin, who lied to the FISA court, and is now back at main Justice.

The sole indictment was Kevin Clinesmith, a low level FBI attorney who fabricated evidence, and only received probation. Some reckoning.

There is no shadow Trump government, controlled by the military, under devolution or secret executive orders. Deep state actors are not at Gitmo or appearing in public as body doubles or CGI creations. No one is wearing an ankle bracelet.

Biden and the Democrats are running the show, his feebleness of mind and body on full display, mocking Trump and his supporters as losers to a Chauncey Gardiner president. They opened the southern border floodgates, transforming America as Obama promised, pushing the great reset with little if any pushback from elected Republicans.

The longer this goes on, damaging and socializing the country, the harder it will be to stop or reverse. Are we still to trust the plan?

Will Trump run in 2024? Who knows? As Hillary Clinton would say, What difference, at this point, does it make? If the ruling class stole an election from a sitting president, and is in process of changing election law to make their cheating entirely legal, what chance does Trump have running against a deep state incumbent?

Did Trump let this all happen as some claim to wake up the population, the proverbial red pill? Was it his intention to allow America to be destroyed to make a point? Will the ruling class ever give up their newfound power? To paraphrase Q, where Democrats go one, they go all.

Tom Clancy said, The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. Fiction is a coming storm, Trump and the military riding to the rescue along with a slew of Durham indictments. There is no evidence of this happening and it doesnt make sense. Reality is Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer and Fauci in charge, and as depressing as that is, it makes sense as it is todays reality.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a physician and writer. He is on sabbatical from social media.
Health official proud of residents turning out for vaccine shots
The APC candidate, Mascot Kalu, is the younger brother of the Chief Whip of the Senate and former Abia governor, Orji Kalu.

Mascot Kalu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturday's Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency bye-election, said he has accepted the result of the poll.

Mr Kalu came a distant second with 3,674 votes to trail behind the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chimaobi Ebisike, who polled 10,592 to emerge winner of the exercise.

The Returning Officer, Fidelis Okpata, announced the result of the poll at about midnight on Saturday.

The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Destiny Nwagwu, polled 1,584 to occupy the third position.

Reaction

Reacting to the outcome of the poll, Mr Kalu ruled out legal action to challenge the result but noted that he had enough evidence to do so.

In a message he circulated to reporters in Abia, he stated: "Even though we have enough evidence to reclaim our mandate, we won't be going to court.

"This is to allow the winner to concentrate and provide good representation and infrastructure to the good people of Aba.

"Once again, I thank the Aba people for coming out en masse to vote for the APC and I congratulate the winner, Chimaobi Ebisike and PDP.

"It is not because they won but because it is gentlemanly to do so."

Mr Kalu, who is the younger brother of the Chief Whip of the Senate and former Abia governor, Orji Kalu, decried the level of "thuggery, violence and rigging" that allegedly characterised the poll.

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He stated that the "unfortunate development" called for "a deeper review of our electoral laws".

"Every country is peculiar to its people. Nigerians should support the electoral law being amended because it will help us to strengthen our democracy.

"The Electoral Act, as it is, renders the security agencies with arms weak in the face of violence at the polls and therefore needs a revisit," Mr Kalu added.

He stated that the election was over, and appealed to APC members and his supporters "to accept the outcome of the election in good faith.

"While the opposition wanted the election at all cost, we chose life over bloodshed and, therefore, won lives and lost the polls. To us, that was a greater victory," he said.

The Independent National Electoral Commission conducted a bye-election in the constituency to replace the late representative, Prestige Ossy, who died in Germany in February.

(NAN)
Vanessa Bryant has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by her mother Sofia Laine against her late husband Kobe Bryant's estate.

Vanessa, 38, claims that her mother previously said she and Kobe had no obligation to support her during spousal support hearings from 2004 and 2008, TMZ reported on Monday.

Laine filed a lawsuit against Kobe's estate back in December, claiming that the Los Angeles Lakes star had promised to support her for life.

Family feud: Vanessa Bryant has asked a judge to dismiss her mother Sofia Laine's lawsuit against her late husband Kobe Bryant's estate, claiming her mother previously said she had no right to his money, TMZ reported on Monday

In her newest filing, Vanessa zeroes in on Sofia's statements from her spousal support hearings against her ex-husband.

At the time, her ex told the court that he wasn't required to pay spousal support to Sofia because her daughter Vanessa and Kobe were supporting her with his wealth.

But she claimed at the time that her daughter and son-in-law were not obligated to support her, and that anything she had received from them was merely a gift.

Sofia's ex-husband also cited reports that Vanessa had purchased a $1 million home for her mother, which he claimed meant that she wasn't in need of support from him as well.

Receipts: Sofia (R) claimed that Vanessa and Kobe weren't required to support her in 2004 and 2008 spousal support hearings with her ex. She also shot down rumors that Vanessa bought her a $1 million home at the time; seen in 2015

But Sofia denied those reports in court, calling them 'absolutely false.'

'I would never permit Vanessa to do such a thing. I have not and do not (nor should I be required to) rely on Vanessa for my support,' she said at the time.

Vanessa also pushed back against her mother's claim that Kobe had promised to 'take care of her financially.'

Vanessa's team says that even if the star athlete said that, the statement is too vague, making it unenforceable.

Too vague: Vanessa's legal team said that even if Kobe had promised to 'take care of [Sofia] financially,' the statement was too vague to be enforceable; pictured together in 2017

Fighting back: Vanessa shot down Sofia's claims that she was owned back pay for babysitting her children, calling her 'a grandmother who, at times, helped her daughter and son-in-law by spending time with her grandchildren';pictured in November 2019

Sofia is also seeking compensation from Kobe's estate because she claims he and Vanessa violated California labor law because she babysat for their children without being paid at least minimum wage.

She also says she should be compensated for not being given legally required meal breaks and and rest periods.

In her filing, Vanessa legal team wrote that, '[Sofia] was never an "employee,"' calling her 'a grandmother who, at times, helped her daughter and son-in-law by spending time with her grandchildren.'

To cap everything off, Vanessa says all of her mother's claim to Kobe's estate are baseless because she didn't file a creditor's claim to it within one year of his death, which she says Sofia would have been required to do.

Her side: Vanessa took to her Instagram stories in December to defend both her and Kobe's treatment of her mother over the past two decades

Different realities: 'She now wants to back charge me $96 per hour for supposedly working 12 hours a day for 18 years for watching her grandchildren,' she wrote. 'In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers '

Back in December, Vanessa addressed her mother's legal claims on Instagram with a lengthy text post.

'My mother is continuing to find ways to extort a financial windfall from our family,' she said in the post. 'I have supported her for nearly twenty years, and she was never my or Kobe's personal assistant, nor was she a nanny.'

She claimed she and Kobe had always had 'full-time caregivers' and she called herself a 'stay-at-home mother,' implying she wouldn't have needed the amount of childcare Sofia claimed to have provided.

'For nearly two decades, we arranged for my mother to live in our nearby properties, at no cost to her because she claimed that she didn't have money to buy her own home after her divorce,' Vanessa continued.

'She now wants to back charge me $96 per hour for supposedly working 12 hours a day for 18 years for watching her grandchildren,' she wrote. 'In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers.

'As of ten years ago, our kids were full time students and athletes and I didn't have another child until 2016.'

Kindness: Vanessa added in her post that she had still been voluntarily supporting her mother, despite not being required to; seen in February 2020

Hurtful: Vanessa said that she did still try to work things out with her mom. 'Because I did not give in to her hurtful threats and monetary requests, she has spiraled out of control and is making false and absurd claims,' she wrote

Vanessa added in her post that she had still been voluntarily supporting her mother, despite not being required to.

'Earlier this year, I was looking for a new home for her and, a week later, she went on television and gave an interview disparaging our family and making false accusations while living rent-free in a gated apartment complex in Newport Coast.

'Even after that betrayal, I was willing to provide my mother with monthly support for the rest of her life and that wasn't good enough. She instead contacted me through intermediaries (contrary to what she claims, my phone number hasn't changed) and demanded $5 million, a house and a Mercedes SUV.

'Because I did not give in to her hurtful threats and monetary requests, she has spiraled out of control and is making false and absurd claims. She is now trying to get more money than my husband and I ever spent to provide for her while he was alive,' she wrote.
Duke Energy's DUK business subsidiary, Piedmont Natural Gas, recently requested a filing with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) to approve a 10.4% overall rate hike, which will likely be implemented in November 2021.

A Detailed Note on the Filing Request

The filing was made primarily to recover approximately $1.7 billion in capital investments for expansion and accommodating growth in its communities, infrastructure to decrease price volatility for its customers and to make federally-required safety improvements to its system. If approved by the regulators in North Carolina, a residential customers average monthly bill would almost escalate by $8 per month or $95 per year.



Construction of a new natural gas storage facility in Robeson County, NC, and enhancements to an existing storage facility in Huntersville, NC, represent major capital investments that Piedmont included in its request to the NCUC.



Piedmont Natural Gas major capital investments in its recent request to the NCUC include the construction of a $250-million liquified natural gas (LNG) storage facility in Robeson County. This will enable the company to store up to 1 billion cubic feet of LNG. It also includes a $60-million enhancement to an existing LNG storage facility in Huntersville. The company also announced the expansion of energy efficiency programs, alongside providing effective and improved customer assistance.



Interestingly, in a separate filing request, Piedmont Natural Gas has proposed to offer three new energy efficiency programs in North Carolina.

Consistent Growth for Duke Energy's Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas' customer base in North Carolina has increased by more than 42,000 customers since January 2018, as the subsidiary serves six of the 10 most populated cities in the state. Evidently, the company strongly emphasizes on strengthening and improving its systems to accommodate new customers and continue providing reliable natural gas services to existing customers in this state.

Story continues

Duke Energys Long-Term Plans

We applaud Duke Energys long-standing efforts to expand its scale of operations and implement modern technologies at the utilitys facilities, by investing heavily in infrastructure and expansion projects. The company has a robust five-year capital plan and currently intends to invest $5.68 billion in its Gas Utilities & Infrastructure growth projects during the 2021-2025 time period. This investment plan will bolster earnings base growth in the companys gas businesses by approximately 10%, over the next five years.



We believe that the latest rate hike proposal filed by the company will enable it to duly achieve the aforementioned targets.

Utilities & Rate Hikes

Utilities follow a systematic strategy of rate hikes, which has historically boosted their results.



Recently, in March, Dominion Energy D revealed its plans of seeking its first natural gas rate hike since 2016 and expects to file the details by Apr 1, 2021. If approved, this should definitely boost Dominions operational results in the coming days.



On Mar 1, 2021, CMS Energy's CMS subsidiary, Consumers Energy, filed a request for a $225-million application with the Michigan Public Service Commission seeking an increase in its electric generation and distribution rates based on a test year ending December 2022.



Similarly, rate cases completed in 2020 increased Essential Utilities WTRG top line by $21 million on an annual basis, while cases completed in 2021 are expected to increase annual revenues by $8.5 million.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.



Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.



Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



CMS Energy Corporation (CMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Dominion Energy Inc. (D) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
"Today's developments mark a truly ground-breaking moment for the company, said Colin Harrington.

Zephyr Energy Plc ( ) raised 10mln of new equity and struck a deal to acquire a package of producing wells in the Bakken Formation, in North Dakota, USA.

Some US$3.5mln of proceeds will, meanwhile, fund the drilling of the proposed State 16-2 CC LN lateral appraisal well, designed to establish production in the Paradox basin portfolio, in Utah.

The company is issuing 500mln new shares to new and existing institutional investors, family offices, Zephyr board members and other investors.

New shares are priced at 2p each, marking a 2.5% discount to Fridays closing share price.

Zephyr highlighted that the funding and acquisition will transform the company into a self-sustaining platform for organic growth, with a diverse portfolio of production assets in two established basins.

"Today's developments mark a truly ground-breaking moment for the company, said Colin Harrington, chief executive.

Following the completion of this ambitious fundraise, Zephyr is poised to transform itself into a well-capitalised, self-sustaining platform with a financial flexibility that will enable the company to pursue - on an independent basis - the significant upside potential which exists in our Paradox project.

Harrington added: The key benefit of our proposed Bakken project acquisition is its potential to generate substantial cashflows which can be reinvested into our Paradox project.

This, combined with the funding secured to drill the company's first production target in the Paradox later this year, means we have taken a massive step towards unlocking the substantial potential value from the Paradox project on a timeline and in a manner that is now within our control.

The Zephyr chief described the Bakken assets as a perfect addition and an ideal complement to the Paradox base.

He highlighted that the company had negotiated the acquisition on highly favourable economic terms.

The asset package comprises non-operated interests in five wells  a producer and four presently uncompleted wells  operated by . The producer has been online since March 2020 and the four remaining wells are slated to be completed in May with production revenues anticipated by August.

The assets are described as low-risk with substantial near-term cash flow expected.

Zephyr had previously agreed the headline terms of the deal at a time when crude oil prices were marked at around US$45 per barrel.

"The next few months will see a flurry of corporate and operational activity - including the completion of the acquisition, first Bakken oil production and revenues for the company, the Bakken well completions, the drilling of the State 16-2 lateral well targeting our first production in the Paradox and the release of additional analysis of the overlying reservoir zone in the Paradox, Harrington said.

The team has shown fantastic energy and resilience to get the company to this position, and we look forward to continuing delivering on these key objectives for our shareholders.
Last Thursday, Republicans in Georgia passed a law imposing restrictions on voting in the state, including new ID requirements for absentee voting (replacing a signature-matching process), a reduction in the number of absentee-ballot drop boxes (compared to 2020), greater powers for the state legislature over local election officials, and even the criminalization, in some cases, of the distribution of food and water to voters standing in line outside polling places. The changes will disproportionately impede Black voters. Governor Brian Kemp signed the law in private and beneath a painting of a plantation; outside, Park Cannon, a Black state lawmaker, was arrested for knocking on the door. Georgias Democratic US Senator Raphael Warnock, who visited Cannon in jail, condemned her treatment at a press availability; he started to walk away, but turned as a reporter shouted a question about the effect the new law might have on Democrats discussions about removing the filibuster that, at present, is impeding their efforts to legislate national-level voting protections. Warnock stressed that Republicans are the bigger impediment. Folks keep asking what we are going to do about the filibuster, he said. I think they ought to ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: what are they going to do about voting rights?

Questions about the Senate filibuster are legitimate. And the Georgia law is complicated; not all of its provisions are restrictive, and some of the restrictions could easily have been even worse. (Stephen Fowler, of Georgia Public Broadcasting, has the most thorough breakdown that Ive seen.) As Media Matters for Americas Eric Kleefeld has noted, however, the fact that a less extreme bill passed is not simply a non-story if it followed weeks of controversy and efforts to prevent something even worseand, more broadly, the law ought to be covered less through a lens of partisan politics, and more as a civil rights issue. Much coverage has hit the latter mark, but a number of stories have used the former frame, with complaints like Warnocks at the thin end of the wedge. On Friday, Politicos Playbook newsletter headlined the Georgia news with the caption, YOUR MOVE, DEMOCRATS; yesterday, some of the Sunday shows bothsidesily referenced the fight or battle over (not for) voting rights in Georgia, and the dueling reactions to the law. On Meet the Press, Republican Senator Pat Toomey attacked Democrats for a completely false narrative about so-called voter suppression in Georgia, and asserted that the new law has nothing to do with race. Rather than interrogate that language, specifically, Chuck Todd asked whether such laws were a good look for Republicans.

New from CJR: Its time to rethink how journalism covers guns and mass shootings

Its not just Georgiatheres vital broader context here. As of last month, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU had counted more than two hundred and fifty bills, across forty-three states, that would make voting harder, mostly by restricting mail-in voting and imposing tougher voter-ID laws; a Washington Post analysis of these bills concluded that they could lead to the most sweeping contraction of ballot access in the United States since the end of Reconstruction, when Southern states curtailed the voting rights of formerly enslaved Black men. Lawmakers in Iowa (where Republicans did well in November) recently voted to curtail early and absentee voting, and to close polls earlier; one bill in Arizona even proposed allowing the state legislature to override the will of voters in presidential elections. The greater the number of such restrictions one considers, the more coverage organized around the competing claims of political sides looks less like a lazy endrun around engaging with the complex specifics of a given bill, and more like a systemic media failure to truthfully characterize a broad, urgent threat to democracy. As the election lawyer Marc Elias, who is now involved with challenges to the Georgia restrictions, told CNNs Brian Stelter recently, reporters are uncomfortable treating one side as correct and one side as wrong on topics that they see as fundamentally about politics.

The why of the restrictive voting bills is also vital, arguably as much so as the what. Republicans across the country have pitched new laws as correctives to public fears about election integrityeven though such fears were, for the most part, simply made up by Donald Trump and his enablers in the right-wing political and media firmament. Denizens of the reality-based press have often pushed back strongly against the deranged letter of Trumps big liebut we have, on the whole, arguably been less consistent in characterizing just how rare electoral fraud is (no widespread voter fraud, a phrase that can regularly be heard in interviews with Republican politicians, is perhaps not specific enough), and in tracking the big lies ongoing impact, including in state-level voter suppression efforts. It is, perhaps, most useful at this point to conceive of the work of covering voting and elections as fighting multiple big lies, rather than just the one. As the NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen put it over the weekend, so many Republican voters now believe the lie that the election was stolen! that a second order lie is required to persuade them to keep voting: we fixed it with new laws.

The original big lie continueseven in its time-limited, post-election senseto have direct relevance for the press. Coverage of the insurrection continues apace. And, on the right, actors caught up in the lie are continuing to seek accountability. On Friday, Dominion Voting Systems, an election-tech company at the heart of Trumpworlds fraud smears, sued Fox News over remarks made on its air, alleging that hosts on the network platformed and amplified blatant lies. The Dominion suit follows a similar defamation action filed against Fox and three of its hostsone of whom, Lou Dobbs, has since been let go by Fox Businessby another voting-tech company, Smartmatic. Fox, which already asked a court to dismiss the Smartmatic case, pledged to vigorously oppose the Dominion suit, too, calling it baseless, and arguing (yes, really) that Foxs election coverage stood in the highest tradition of American journalism.

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In addition to asserting basic newsworthiness, Fox, the New York Times reports, has argued that its election coverage should be viewed in its totality, pointing out that at least one host, Tucker Carlson, voiced skepticism about the fraud lies of Trumps lawyers. The legal merit of such defenses has yet to be seen, but, as I wrote in November, any pushback by Carlson and others does not earn Fox much moral credit, since the only media standard for election denialism must be zero tolerance. The same standard should apply, going forward, to the second-order lies around voting laws that erode democracy, including by making it harder for Black Americans to cast their ballots; theres little point in debunking Trumps big lie if we dont follow through with similarly sharp scrutiny of the restrictions being imposed in its name. Thats not to say we should abandon nuance or detail in covering these laws, of course. Its to reject the facile partisan framing that itself has become a dubious high tradition of American journalism.

Below, more on voting:

Bridging gaps: Recently, CJRs Lauren Harris profiled Votebeat, a nonprofit newsroom that was recently established to cover voting rights and election administration beyond election cycles. Votebeat, Harris writes, sees America facing two big problems when it comes to local voting coverage: either newsrooms are neglecting election coverage, or they dont have enough reporters to cover the beat. It aims to address these problems via partnerships with local newsrooms or establishment of their own local offices.

Recently, CJRs Lauren Harris profiled Votebeat, a nonprofit newsroom that was recently established to cover voting rights and election administration beyond election cycles. Votebeat, Harris writes, sees America facing two big problems when it comes to local voting coverage: either newsrooms are neglecting election coverage, or they dont have enough reporters to cover the beat. It aims to address these problems via partnerships with local newsrooms or establishment of their own local offices. A local reaction: In an editorial, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that Georgia Republicans cynical actions put them firmly on the wrong side of history: Weve said it before here; and lawmakers actions necessitate saying it again. There was no voting fraud or related shenanigans of a magnitude that would have affected the outcome of the November electionsor the January US Senate runoff. Lawsuits and other claims shakily asserting otherwise were quickly cast aside by the work of due process. The papers editorial board also predicted that rather than stomping into oblivion voter-engagement activity, GOP supporters of the law have likely emboldened it.

In an editorial, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that Georgia Republicans cynical actions put them firmly on the wrong side of history: Weve said it before here; and lawmakers actions necessitate saying it again. There was no voting fraud or related shenanigans of a magnitude that would have affected the outcome of the November electionsor the January US Senate runoff. Lawsuits and other claims shakily asserting otherwise were quickly cast aside by the work of due process. The papers editorial board also predicted that rather than stomping into oblivion voter-engagement activity, GOP supporters of the law have likely emboldened it. The Dominion perspective: On Stelters show, Reliable Sources, yesterday, he interviewed Stephen Shackelford, a lawyer for Dominion, about the companys Fox suit. Our complaint lays out in gory detail [that] over days, and days, and weeks in November and December of last year, Fox kept spouting these lies about Dominion even while they were being told the truth over and over again, Shackelford said, referring both to letters from Dominion itself, and to a chorus of bipartisan officials in the country.



News from the home front: On April 6, CJR and Columbias Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma will convene a virtual summitwith media participants including the Times, The Guardian, and The Tracededicated to rethinking the medias approach to covering guns and shootings in America. You can sign up for the summit here. In the meantime, weve placed news boxes around New York City containing newspapers headlined The Inevitable News. The papers, our editor and publisher, Kyle Pope, explains, are fourteen pages of fill-in-the-blanks news stories, featuring details from a selection of mass shootings since the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Each article is identical; only the victims names and locations are changed. You can read more about the initiative here.



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: All communities deserve deeply-reported, beautiful journalism

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
Bengaluru, March 29 : Beleaguered Karnataka former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi on Monday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing into alleged Sleaze CD case, in which he was seen in a compromising position.

Flanked by lawyers, Jarkiholi reached the SIT interrogation cell in Kadugodi where the police officials interrogated him for more than four hours.

A source close to him told reporters that he had sought four days time to answer all queries by the SIT.

The Sleaze CD came into the public domain on March 2, after a social activist, Dinesh Kallahalli lodged a complaint with the police, as a result of this, Jarkiholi was forced to quit on March 3 from his Cabinet ministerial berth.

Jarkiholi did not interact with mediapersons prior to post his interrogation, sources close to him told reporters that he was advised by his well-wishers and legal counsellors not to interact with the media till the case reached its final stage.

"Unlike his brothers, Ramesh gets carried away by emotional topics and gets angry very fast. Hence, he has been advised not to speak on anything related with the case," the leader said.

Soon after his interrogation was over, he reportedly decided to go to Belagavi, where he will be closeted with his brothers to chalk out future course of action.
BUKAVU,Mar.29 -- The instruction team from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCOcame to the Chinese peacekeeping level II hospital in Bukavu to inspect the vaccine inoculation preparation recently.

The team inspected the staff and equipment preparations, and communicated with the Chinese peacekeepers on issues related to vaccination. A member of the instruction team expressed great satisfaction with the effort of the Chinese level-II hospital.

At the beginning of this year, MONUSCO designated the hospital as one of its vaccination sites, where the Chinese peacekeeping medical team was responsible for vaccinating UN staff.

After receiving the task, the Chinese peacekeepers set up a specialized vaccination team. Based on China's anti-epidemic experience and taking the UN's vaccination requirements into consideration, the team streamlined the vaccination process and made a detailed plan to ensure the smooth progress of follow-up vaccination.
Canadian provinces suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in people under age 55 on Monday, acting on an advisory committee's concerns about a possible link between the shot and rare blood clots.

A health-care worker holds up a vial of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Montreal, Thursday, March 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Canadian provinces suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in people under age 55 on Monday, acting on an advisory committee's concerns about a possible link between the shot and rare blood clots.

Meanwhile, British Columbia imposed new public-health measures for the next three weeks to slow the rapid spread of the virus, as it announced 2,518 new cases over the past three days.

Dr. Shelley Deeks, the vice-chair of Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization, said the committee updated its recommendations amid new data from Europe that suggests the risk of blood clots is now potentially up to one in 100,000  much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.

Health Canada demanded Monday that AstraZeneca do a detailed study on the risks and benefits of its COVID-19 vaccine across multiple age groups, and Deeks said the advisory committee recommended the shot be suspended for younger groups pending the outcome of that review.

"NACI has determined that there is substantial uncertainty about the benefit of providing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to adults under 55 years of age, given the potential risks associated with it," Deeks said.

"As a precautionary measure, while Health Canada carries out an updated benefit-risk analysis based on emerging data, NACI recommends that the vaccine not be used in adults under the age of 55 years."

She said most of the patients in Europe who developed a rare blood clot after vaccination with AstraZeneca were women under the age of 55, and the fatality rate among those who developed clots is as high as 40 per cent.

The blood clot condition is known as Vaccine-Induced Prothrombotic Immune Thrombocytopenia. Deeks said it is treatable, and the fatality rate could go down now that it has been identified and symptoms are communicated.

Health Canada said it has not received any reports of the blood clots in Canada, and the department's chief medical adviser, Dr. Supriya Sharma, said she believes the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks.

The department changed its label on the vaccine last week to warn about the rare risk of blood clots. Sharma said Health Canada hasn't changed its decision to authorize AstraZeneca.

The company said in a statement that its vaccine is safe and effective and has been approved by European regulators and Health Canada.

"The extensive body of data from two large clinical data sets and real-world evidence demonstrate its effectiveness, reaffirming the role the vaccine can play during this public health crisis," the statement read.

The federal government is expecting around 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the United States on Tuesday, which will arrive by truck and represent the first to come from south of the border.

Provincial governments decide on their own how to use a vaccine, but Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief medical officer of health, said all provinces and territories had agreed to suspend the use of the vaccine for those under 55, pending the results of further study.

Several provinces announced throughout the day that they will limit the use of the vaccine.

Quebecs Health Department said it was pausing the use of the vaccine for those under 55 as a precautionary measure, saying it is impossible to rule out the possibility of a link to blood clots.

The (European Medicines Agency) still considers this product to be safe and effective, but the possibility of a link between the vaccine and clotting issues ... cannot be completely ruled out at this time, the province said in a statement.

The medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine task force said it is seeking more information around some adverse symptoms in younger people noticed in the United Kingdom.

Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador also said they were suspending use of the shot for younger age groups while awaiting new data.

Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.'s chief medical officer of health, said the risk of developing a serious problem after being immunized is "very, very low."

She said people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine should look for symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, persistent abdominal pain, sudden onset of severe or persistent headache or blurred vision and skin bruising elsewhere than the site of vaccination, developing four to 20 days after vaccination.

Alberta's chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said about 900 people under 55 have received AstraZeneca shots in the province. And with a 16-week gap between first and second doses, she said there's time to gather more evidence around blood clots before a decision is made on what do about the second shots.

In B.C., provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said those who have received the vaccine should watch for symptoms of a blood clot, and there are tests and treatment in such instances.

Premier John Horgan added that rising case numbers in his province are "unacceptably high."

"We cannot blow it now, said Horgan. We need to redouble our efforts.

The tightened restrictions include no indoor dining or adult group activity at fitness centres for the next three weeks. The Whistler Blackcomb ski resort is also being closed as cases spread in that community.

AstraZeneca has previously been dogged with questions over its preliminary trial data in the United States and confusion over whether it is safe for seniors.

Its vaccine was approved in Canada for all people over 18 on Feb. 26, but NACI then said there weren't enough seniors included in clinical trials to be confident about how the vaccine would perform on people over the age of 65.

Two weeks later, NACI retracted that advice, citing new real-world evidence from the United Kingdom that showed the vaccine was very effective when used on seniors.

Canada received 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca, made at the Serum Institute of India, but it's not clear how many have been administered to date. Many provinces prioritized their use for people aged 60 to 64, but some focused on younger groups.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.
A 16-year-old girl who was allegedly raped was tied to her suspected attacker and beaten while she was paraded though an Indian village by her family in order to shame her.

Harrowing video footage has emerged of the alleged rape victim being tied to the 21-year-old suspect with ropes, while a crowd chanted slogans and beat the girl in the Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh yesterday.

The girl was tied around her waist as dozens of men chanted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', which means 'Long Live Mother India'.

The alleged rape victim's family were among those who forced her to make the humiliating walk with her suspected attacker - who is married with two children - to shame her, local media reported.

A 16-year-old girl (left) who was allegedly raped was tied to her suspected attacker (right) and beaten while she was paraded though an Indian village by her family in order to shame her

Harrowing video footage has emerged of the alleged rape victim being tied to the 21-year-old suspect with ropes, while a crowd chanted slogans and beat the girl in the Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh yesterday

The girl was seen sat in front of her attacker with her head in her hands while surrounded by a crowd at one stage.

Six people, including the alleged rapist, were arrested by police after the video went viral and caused outrage.

Officers were able to free the girl when she was being paraded, police officer Dilip Singh Bilwal told local news agency PTI.

The girl was seen sat in front of her attacker with her head in her hands while surrounded by a crowd at one stage

He said two cases had been registered against the alleged rapist as well as family members and villagers.

'One of the cases was registered against the 21-year-old man who is accused of rape,' Mr Bilwal said.

'Another First Incidence Report was registered against family members of the girl and villagers for parading her in the village and beating her.'

India's abysmal record on sexual violence has been the focus of international attention since the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus sparked nationwide protests.

In 2019, the country recorded 88 rape cases per day, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

India's top judge, Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, was facing calls to resign earlier this month after telling an accused rapist to marry his schoolgirl victim to avoid jail.

Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde attending the farewell ceremony of his predecessor in 2019. The top judge now faces calls to resign over remarks he made to an alleged rapist

His comments sparked a furore and prompted women's rights activists to circulate an open letter calling for his resignation that has secured more than 5,200 signatures, campaigner Vani Subramanian said.

According to the letter, the man is accused of stalking, tying up, gagging and repeatedly raping the girl before threatening to douse her in petrol, set her alight and have her brother killed.

'By suggesting that this rapist marry the victim-survivor, you, the Chief Justice of India, sought to condemn the victim-survivor to a lifetime of rape at the hands of the tormentor who drove her to attempt suicide,' the letter said.

Victims in India are regularly subjected to sexist treatment at the hands of police and courts, including being encouraged to marry their attackers in so-called compromise solutions.

Meanwhile, last month, a college student who was found naked and severely burnt along a national highway in India has said she was set on fire by a gang of men who had attempted to rape her.

The unnamed woman was discovered lying along a national highway in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, police said at the time.

Superintendent of Police S Anand said the woman told investigators that three men had tried to rape her in a field near Rai Kheda village. When they did not succeed, they poured kerosene on the woman and set her alight.

The second-year BA student was admitted to a district hospital and later referred to the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital in Lucknow, where she continues to receive treatment, The Hindustan Times reported.


Photo: VPD

The Vancouver Police Department's canine unit is mourning the loss of its oldest retired police service dog, Knight.



The German Shepherd died Thursday night, after serving the citizens of Vancouver for nine years as part of the VPD's canine unit from 2005 to 2014.



"Knight made it to his 17th birthday and lived a wonderful life with his handler [Const.] Wong," the VPD canine unit shared on Twitter. "Rest easy guardian of the night, you will be missed."

Last month, the department also bid farewell to retired police service dog Bosco, who died on Feb. 17 after fulfilling his role from 2007 to 2016. "A pocket rocket at only 60 lbs., he was one of our best tracking dogs!," the VPD's canine unit remembered. "He enjoyed a wonderful retirement with his handler [Const.] Rhode, and passed away peacefully."

Vancouver's Police Canine Unit was established in 1957, making it the oldest municipal police dog unit in Canada.



Today, it's comprised of 16 dog teams that are trained in a variety of disciplines like tracking, criminal apprehension, evidence recovery, narcotics, and firearms and explosives detection, police say.

"Depending on the units needs," these police dogs  typically German Shepherds, carefully selected from breeders known for producing top working dogs for police, military, and search and rescue purposes  arrive when they are between seven weeks to two years old.

"Prospective police dogs must be social and high in drive," police explain, and "are X-rayed and must be rated 'excellent' in the hips, back, elbows, and knees prior to entering our training program."



The dogs begin the 14- to 17-week basic dog handler course when they are at least one year old. VPD police service dogs will work, on average, until they are aged eight to ten, following which they are retired to live out the rest of their days at home with their handler.



Since the canine unit's inception, eight Vancouver police service dogs have died in the line of duty. "Each lived with his handler and was considered a member of their family," reads a memorial page posted to the VPD's website. "All are deeply missed."
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Leading Bahraini bank Al Salam has announced the handover of the first villa to a customer in the second phase of the Deerat Al Oyoun project, located in Diyar Al Muharraq, following the recent announcement of the special financing offer under the Mazaya scheme.

This comes as part of the banks ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, and Eskan Bank to provide housing solutions that meet the needs of Bahraini citizens, said the Bahraini bank in its statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Housing, Engineer Bassim bin Yaqoob Al Hamar, said: "Our ongoing collaboration with the private sector has significantly contributed to the diversity of housing projects we offer, further accelerating the provision of homes to citizens according to their needs."

"This has been heavily supported by the financing facilities and offers we have been able to provide through our ongoing partnerships with leading banks in the Kingdom, and we are proud to collaborate with Al Salam Bank as one of the partnering banks," he stated.

Al Salam Bank Group CEO Rafik Nayed said: "Owing to our swift completion of financing procedures, this marks the second time in a row we have emerged as the first bank in the kingdom to handover a villa to a customer for the Deerat Al Oyoun housing project in record time."

In addition to its strategic location in close proximity to Dragon City and other tourism and commercial destinations, the residential villas of Deerat Al Oyoun's phase two, which spans a total built-up area of 215 sq m and land area of 205 sq m, are distinguished by four prominent categories, boasting Bahraini, Modern, Spanish and Mediterranean architectural designs.

All the villas encompass comprehensive features designed to meet the needs of a modern family, comprised of 4 bedrooms and equipped with the latest facilities, he stated.

"This milestone achievement comes as a testament to our ongoing commitment to deliver exceptional customer service, all while ensuring our customers needs are met efficiently and effectively," he added.

Lauding the Al Salam efforts, Dr Khalid Abdulla, the General Manager of Eskan Bank, said: "I would like to commend the achievements of Al Salam Bank on its cooperation together with Eskan Bank and the Ministry of Housing, wishing them continued success on their unprecedented quality of service."

Deputy CEO Anwar Murad said: "As part of Al Salam Bank Bahrain's continuous commitment to help customers own their dream home in the Deerat Al Oyoun project, we are offering special benefits including; instant approvals on financing, the waiver of both down payment and administrative fees, and competitive profit rates."

"Moreover, customers will get the opportunity to win back up to 6 months worth of instalments and the chance to win free points in the Loyalty Rewards Scheme," added Murad.-TradeArabia News Service
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling for a co-ordinated global response to ensure a smooth economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Trudeau is calling for a co-ordinated global response to ensure economic recovery after COVID-19 pandemic at virtual meeting organized by the United Nations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling for a co-ordinated global response to ensure a smooth economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a virtual meeting organized by the United Nations, Trudeau said Canada cant defeat the novel coronavirus and rebuild its economy unless all countries have the resources to recover.

"We need to make sure at the same time as we're focused on the health (of people), we are also focused on the health of the global economy," Trudeau said.

"That means taking real action by leading countries around the world to recognize that it isn't just in the global interest but in their own interest to ensure a more equitable global recovery."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the lack of action to support vulnerable middle-income countries affected by the crisis presents a risk of spiralling into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

The effect will be greatest on the poorest people in the most vulnerable countries, but it will also affect people in high-income countries.

"There have been credible forecasts of losses of global output in the trillions of dollars," he said.

"We are already in the worst global recession in 90 years."

The meeting followed a series of sessions held last year to mobilize efforts for economic recovery from the pandemic.

Guterres said the world is on the verge of a debt crisis, as six countries have already defaulted and one-third of emerging-market economies are at high risk of fiscal crisis.

"Many developing countries face financing constraints that mean they cannot invest in recovery and resilience, nor can they access the vaccines that provide the fastest route out of the pandemic," he said.

He said developing countries urgently need access to additional liquidity to respond to the pandemic and to invest in a sustainable and inclusive recovery.

Trudeau said Canada, along with Jamaica and the UN Secretary-General, have been leading the discussions on ensuring a more equitable and just economic recovery.

He said countries need access to cash so they can support their citizens and small businesses to get through the crisis.

"It is part of our own domestic self interest to see countries around the world succeed through (the pandemic), so that we can all get back to the global economy as best as we possibly can," Trudeau said.

He added there are middle-income countries that are extremely vulnerable, either to the fallout from this pandemic because of their reliance on tourism, for example, or generally due to the crisis of climate change.

"We need to ensure that the international financial institutions are ready to support them."

In a new policy brief issued Monday, the Secretary-General said that while many steps taken to date have been significant, they have not been sufficient to help restore economic health.

Risks remain high for more countries to tip into a debt crisis, especially if the COVID-19 shock is more protracted and deeper than forecast.

Guterres said the pandemic has already resulted in more than 2.7 million deaths and over 125 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide, moving beyond a health crisis to become a global development emergency.

"Unless we take decisive action on debt and liquidity, we risk another lost decade for many developing countries."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.



This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Im honored and excited to recognize Eno for his years of dedication to our company, said John Rahe, CEO of Meta Special Aerospace. His commitment to the team and hard work is evident each and every day.

Meta Special Aerospace is honored to recognize the dedication of our employee, John Eno, as he reached his 20-year anniversary milestone.

Eno began his aviation career over twenty years ago with Gulfstream. After joining Valair Aviation, now Meta Special Aerospace, he spent many of his early years working on the Commander aircraft. He now focuses primarily on the integration, restoration, and repair of King Air aircraft.

Im honored and excited to recognize Eno for his years of dedication to our company, said John Rahe, CEO of Meta Special Aerospace. His commitment to the team and hard work is evident each and every day.

About Meta Special Aerospace

Meta Special Aerospace provides a full range of aerospace solutions from integrated Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) operational services, to specialized training and exercise support, to advanced mission payload technologies, to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and aircraft integration services.
In this March 3, 2021, file photo, licensed vocational nurse Jelisa Stewart prepares a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for farmworkers at a County of Santa Clara mobile vaccination clinic at Monterey Mushrooms during the coronavirus pandemic in Morgan Hill, Calif. In California, mobile clinics are helping to vaccinate farmworkers who may not have transportation to larger vaccination sites or who cannot navigate the state's online signup portal. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

More than a dozen states will open vaccine eligibility to all adults this week in a major expansion of COVID-19 shots for tens of millions of Americans amid a worrisome increase in virus cases and concerns about balancing supply and demand for the vaccines.

Meanwhile, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that she had a recurring feeling of "impending doom" about a potential fourth wave of infections after cases in the U.S. rose 10% over the last week. She pleaded with Americans not to relax preventative practices such as social distancing and mask-wearing.

"Just please hold on a little while longer," Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing. Several Northeastern states and Michigan have seen the biggest increases, with some reporting hundreds or thousands more new cases per day than they were two weeks ago.

A new study by the CDC concluded that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were 90% effective after two doses, a finding that Walensky said should offer hope.

States opening eligibility to anyone ages 16 and older on Monday included Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, North Dakota and Kansas.

The rapid expansion has fueled concerns that the number of eager vaccine seekers will far outstrip the available supply of shots, frustrating millions of newly eligible people who have waited since late last year for a chance to get an injection. Other officials have put their faith in a promised glut of vaccines and instead turned their attention to the next challenge: pressing as many people as possible to get the shots so the nation can achieve herd immunity at the earliest opportunity.

Chicago area residents head into a walk-in mass vaccination site Monday, March 29, 2021, across the street from the United Center, home to the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks in Chicago. At least 11 states opened vaccine eligibility to all adults this week in a major expansion of COVID-19 shots for tens of millions of Americans amid a worrisome increase in virus cases and concerns about supply and demand for the vaccines. In Chicago, the vaccine will not be available to everyone until at least May 1 because the city does not have enough shots on hand. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Vaccination rates in Texas have lagged behind much of the U.S., and although state officials put at least part of the blame on delays in data reporting, they also acknowledged that appointment slots are going unfilled.

Demand "has definitely decreased over the past couple of weeks," said Imelda Garcia, head of the state's expert vaccine allocation panel.

Texas is supposed to receive more than 1 million new doses this week. On Monday, the state launched a new online vaccine scheduler and phone number, taking a bigger role in efforts that had largely been done at the local level.

In Kansas, where some local health officials have said they are also struggling to find people to vaccinate, an additional 400,000 people are now eligible for shots. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has been criticized by Republicans for a slow, disorganized vaccine rollout, and she faced more criticism Friday when she announced the plan to expand eligibility. One Republican lawmaker said people with chronic medical conditions could be left behind.

In this Feb. 11, 2021, file photo, registered nurse Marife Edquilang, left, administers a dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Anthony Monroe during a vaccination drive at Texas Southern University in Houston. At least 11 states opened vaccine eligibility to all adults this week in a major expansion of COVID-19 shots for tens of millions of Americans amid a worrisome increase in virus cases and concerns about supply and demand for the vaccines. States opening eligibility to anyone ages 16 and older on Monday included Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio and Kansas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has said the state will soon have enough shots for everyone who wants one and that the challenge now is to make sure people want to get vaccinated.

Some counties in Illinois are being allowed to expand eligibility to all this week if they find doses are going unused. But in Chicago, the vaccine will not be available to everyone until at least May 1 because the city does not have enough shots on hand.

On Tuesday, Minnesota opens eligibility, followed by Indiana and South Carolina on Wednesday, Connecticut and Montana on Thursday, and New Hampshire and Colorado on Friday. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that residents over 30 will be eligible for vaccinations starting Tuesday, and everyone over 16 can sign up starting April 6.

Connecticut officials said "priority access" will be given to people with high medical risks or developmental disabilities once everyone 16 and up is eligible. That could include some hospitals organizing dedicated clinics or reserving appointment slots for people with those conditions, officials said.

Members of the Philadelphia Fire Department administer COVID-19 vaccines at a site in Philadelphia, Monday, March 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Arizona opened up eligibility to all adults last week, but it has since been dealing with an unintended consequence: Interest in volunteering at four state-run vaccination sites plummeted almost immediately. Since February, thousands of volunteer shifts filled up within an hour. Now many remain vacant, said Rhonda Oliver, CEO of HandsOn Greater Phoenix, a nonprofit handling online volunteer recruitment.

"People saw it as a way to get the vaccine sooner," Oliver said. "We anticipated a drop-off, but we just didn't expect it to go off a cliff in a matter of 24 to 48 hours like this."

On Wednesday, the first day of the new eligibility, only 70 of the scheduled 145 volunteers appeared at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, and dozens of people either withdrew earlier or did not show up. Oliver said that put an unfair burden on volunteers who did show up and could not take breaks.

The shortage of volunteers should not affect wait times for those with appointments, Oliver said. HandsOn Greater Phoenix is hoping to lessen the hemorrhaging by reaching out to large companies and community groups looking for service activities. The group also is encouraging friends or family members who have been vaccinated to volunteer together.

In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, Hispanic farm workers wait in line to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Mecca, Calif. In California, mobile clinics are helping to vaccinate farmworkers who may not have transportation to larger vaccination sites or who cannot navigate the state's online signup portal. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Many other states are still limited by a continued lack of supply.

California officials said the state can administer 3 million shots a week now, and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has predicted that maximum capacity will climb to 4 million by the end of April. But supplies have limited the effort so far to 1.8 million shots per week, a figure that is expected to increase to 2.5 million per week in the first half of April and then 3 million by the end of April, when everybody 16 and older will be offered the vaccine.

Santa Clara County has been told it will get 58,000 doses this week, health officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib said, but the state will begin allowing about 400,000 more people between 50 and 64 in the county to sign up as of Thursday, in addition to the current backlog.

"We don't have the vaccine, and we are concerned," Fenstersheib said.

A tent erected for drive-thru vaccinations Monday, March 29, 2021, occupies a parking lot across the street from the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, in Chicago. At least 11 states opened vaccine eligibility to all adults this week in a major expansion of COVID-19 shots for tens of millions of Americans amid a worrisome increase in virus cases and concerns about supply and demand for the vaccines. In Chicago, the vaccine will not be available to everyone until at least May 1 because the city does not have enough shots on hand. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Among the methods officials are employing to reach underserved communities are vans used as mobile clinics that travel to hard-hit neighborhoods and provide on-the-spot vaccinations.

In California, mobile clinics are helping vaccinate farmworkers who may not have transportation to larger vaccination sites or cannot navigate the state's online portal. Los Angeles also plans to have 10 mobile vaccination teams.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Monday that four mobile bus clinics will distribute vaccines to underserved communities.

While demand has dropped off in some communities, it's as brisk as ever in others, and sign-up hassles continue.

Lena Lawson, a 37-year-old technology consultant in Phoenix, tried to book a vaccine appointment since the new eligibility rules started. Working from home, she was able to periodically refresh appointment websites but had no luck for three days.

People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus wait in line to receive COVID-19 vaccines at a site in Philadelphia, Monday, March 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Chicago area residents pass between a drive-thru and walk-in mass vaccination site Monday, March 29, 2021, across the street from the United Center, home to the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks in Chicago. At least 11 states opened vaccine eligibility to all adults this week in a major expansion of COVID-19 shots for tens of millions of Americans amid a worrisome increase in virus cases and concerns about supply and demand for the vaccines. In Chicago, the vaccine will not be available to everyone until at least May 1 because the city does not have enough shots on hand. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

She happened to be up at 2 a.m. Sunday and finally got a slot at a Walgreens on Tuesday.

"I was pretty surprised. Oh, my God, I got an appointment. I'm good," Lawson said.

The effort was smoother for University of Utah professor Bill Johnson. He said he was bracing for a time-consuming and confusing experience but instead found it remarkably easy.

"We had to make the appointment online and got in two days later," said Johnson, 59, who got his first shot at the convention center in Salt Lake City. "It took us 10 minutes to drive there, and they jabbed us two minutes after we arrived."

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.
Attorney Allen N. Schwartz I am honored to receive these prestigious recognitions for my work in personal injury law. At Schwartz Injury Law, our dedicated legal team prides itself on delivering high-quality representation to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients, Al stated.

Attorney Allen N. Schwartz of Schwartz Injury Law, a division of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz, was recently named to the Top 100: 2021 Illinois Super Lawyers list and The Best Lawyers in America for work in Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Al has been selected for the Super Lawyers list every year since 2006.

Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys across the United States who exhibit excellence in the field of law. This rating service acknowledges outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Best Lawyers highlights one lawyer in a specific location and practice area who received the highest number of votes from his or her peers in a given year.

Prior to establishing Schwartz Injury Law, Al began his legal career as an associate at William D. Maddux & Associates. Attorney Maddux later became a Circuit Court of Cook County Judge and Al became an owner of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz; the successor firm to William D. Maddux & Associates.

Al has a strong commitment to fighting for the rights of injured individuals and has secured multi-million-dollar settlements in medical negligence, automobile/truck litigation, workplace injury, as well as general negligence cases. His verdicts in DeKalb County (1993) and McHenry County (2001) set records for the largest verdicts ever obtained in those counties.

I am honored to receive these prestigious recognitions for my work in personal injury law. It is a privilege to advocate for victims who have suffered as a result of another partys negligent actions. At Schwartz Injury Law, our dedicated legal team prides itself on delivering high-quality representation to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients, Al commented.

Al is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), the Illinois Bar Association (ISBA), the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), and the American Association for Justice. He is also a member of the esteemed American College of Trial Lawyers, a select fellowship for which attorneys must be privately nominated, vetted, and voted on to gain entry. Allen earned his Bachelors degree from the University of Illinois and his Juris Doctorate degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law, with Honors.

Al has received many additional awards and accolades from his peers in recognition of his outstanding work in personal injury law. These include being named the top-rated medical malpractice attorney by Super Lawyers; the top 5 percent of Illinois lawyers by Leading Lawyers; one of the Top Attorneys in Illinois by Chicago Magazine; and one of the Leading Personal Injury Lawyers by Crains Chicago Business.

About Schwartz Injury Law, a Division of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz

The accomplished attorneys at Schwartz Injury Law, a division of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz, have aggressively represented injured victims for more than two decades and have achieved in excess of $2.5 billion in verdicts and settlements in the last several years alone. Schwartz Injury Laws experienced legal professionals exemplify the skills needed to recover deserved compensation for the injured and neglected. Our attorneys are committed to treating each client with the utmost integrity and respect while seeking justice on their behalf.

To learn more about Schwartz Injury Law, a division of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz, visit https://www.schwartzinjurylaw.com/ or call 708-316-9640 to schedule a free consultation.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 20:09:32|Editor: huaxia

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Indonesian police anti-terrorism officers stand guard behind cordon lines at the site where suspected terrorists were arrested in East Jakarta, Indonesia, March 29, 2021. The Indonesian police said that its anti-terror squad Densus 88 on Monday arrested a suspected terrorist in West Java Province's Bekasi district and two others in Kramat Jati district of the administrative city of East Jakarta. (Photo by Dasril Roszandi/Xinhua)

JAKARTA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian police said that its anti-terror squad Densus 88 on Monday arrested a suspected terrorist in West Java Province's Bekasi district and two others in Kramat Jati district of the administrative city of East Jakarta.

On the arrest made in Bekasi, the Jakarta police's Chief Inspector General Fadil Imran said, "We have arrested a suspected owner of the bomb and explosives."

In Kramat Jati, a man and a woman were arrested at a house with a second-hand car showroom.

Further investigations are underway into the two cases.

On Sunday, a suicide bomb exploded at a cathedral church in Makassar city of South Sulawesi province, killing the two perpetrators and injuring 19 other people.
Thousands of people are cancelling Queensland holiday plans as Brisbane is plunged into lockdown just hours after the federal governments JobKeeper wage subsidy ended, delivering a two-fold blow to the tourism industry.

A surge of southern visitors spending millions of dollars had been expected to boost Queensland tourism during the Easter long weekend, which coincides with the start of school holidays, but that has been upended by Brisbanes growing COVID-19 cluster.

Queenslands struggling tourism industry has been kneecapped by another lockdown. Credit:Tertius Pickard

Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind described the lockdown as the most cruel blow imaginable that would put jobs in jeopardy.

JobKeeper just ended and Easter was the great big hope we all had would mark the beginning of a prosperous winter season, he said.
Police in Bungoma South have rescued two children who were locked inside a rental house for hours by a disgruntled landlady.

The children aged three and 10 spent five hours in the house on Friday, until their mother, a salonist, returned at about 5pm.

The mother said she did not expect a landlady well known to her to resort to such an action.

"When I came back, I found the doors to my rented house welded by unknown people. Reports indicated that my landlady accompanied welders from Kanduyi market to this place and did this to my children," she said.

She explained that her rent payment was delayed by tough economic times but that she had promised to pay before the end of the weekend.

Police vow action

The mother identified the landlady as Catherine Malaba, widow of Kabuchai politician Tale Nabangi.

She reported the matter at Bungoma Police Station and later, Bungoma South OCS Moses Munywoki intervened by leading a break-in and rescuing the children from the house in Mewa estate within Kanduyi.

"This is inhumane. She could have employed other techniques or asked the tenant to move. Welding the doors with children inside is criminal," said Mr Munywoki.

"What if a fire broke out in this house? How would the children have been saved?"

He said a case will be opened against the landlady for disregarding human rights laws.

"This is wrong. We will not take this matter lightly so that it serves a lesson to other heartless house owners. We will not allow this to continue taking place."

Residents condemned the act, saying police should take stern action against the woman.

Police launched a search for the landlady. She neither answered phone calls nor messages sent to her by the Nation, requesting her comment on the matter.
Needless to say, I cant do the yoga. I mean I can do it, but not properly. But then, that should be no surprise. Isnt that why Im learning? But its not exactly coming naturally to me, if you know what I mean.

And look, its hard when you are a grown man to go and learn something new, something that is not in your normal realm. I am used to being able to do the things I need to do. So its vaguely humiliating to become like a child again.

For some reason, for me, its harder because its a man teaching me. I dont know what this says about me, but Im more comfortable learning things from women.

The last big thing I learnt in the realm of the body was the swimming, and it was mainly learnt from a woman. And for some reason I have no issues around letting a woman have that dominance over me, where we go to a place where I know nothing and I have to make myself vulnerable by trying something new that I cant do. While she knows everything, and is in charge.

So here I am, a reasonably in-charge monkey in most of my life, feeling like for the yoga classes, I am having to be a junior monkey, taking a few steps down the monkey pecking order, and giving another monkey this power over me.

This is in his realm, and it is a realm where I am uncertain, and take tentative baby steps. I have to watch the Zoom classes back, to practise the routines. So I have to listen to myself talking too much and asking stupid questions and being unsure of myself. Shut up, you fool, I want to shout at the me in the Zoom class. Past me, yesterdays me, embarrasses me.

But I dont see any choice but to continue. This painful birth into the realm of the body has got to be done.

Ive lived in my head for half a century now and its got me precisely nowhere. Ive overthought everything as much as I can, and its time to accept that Im not going to think my way out of my situation.

The universe has been telling me this for a while. For example, how can you account for the fact that having never heard of the book The Body Keeps the Score for 50 whole years, in the last year it suddenly started popping up all the time.

It was while standing near a funeral that I finally resolved to read it, as a friend I hadnt seen in a while ranted to me about how I had to read it.

Technically the book is about trauma, but the undertow to it is precisely what it says in the title. We carry our wounds and our neuroses and our scars in the body, and we cant talk or think our way out of everything. We have to somehow set those ghosts free from the body.

As I was reading The Body Keeps the Score, I interviewed the world-renowned Cork philosopher Richard Kearney, who has written a wonderful book on the importance of touch. The universe knocking again.

The thing that stayed with me from Kearney was that when he was recovering from a bout of depression once, and hed been doing all the head stuff to recover, a friend of his gently said at a particular point: Enough of that now, back to the body. And that was the final phase of recovery for him  touch, nature, animals, the body.

So you can see its a very intimate journey Im going on here with this yoga business.

The swimming and the running are all very well, and indeed I do those, like most people, for the head more than for the body. But neither of those things are really connecting with the scores that this body keeps.

With the yoga, theres no hiding place. I am here, with this stranger, who is a man, which means I have difficulty seeing him as a nurturer, and we are delving into the whole history this battered flesh holds.

Beyond the physical scars and the wear and tear, there are the ghosts that cause me to hold myself how I do, and the things I have held clenched tight to me down the years that are no good to me.

Here, with this stranger, I am making myself vulnerable, peeling off the layers, trying to learn a new way to do the dance of life, trying to learn to let go. I spend my life trying to get into flow with the head, but now its time to get the body flowing, or flowing as much as is possible for an unco-ordinated lump like me.

And I know what youre thinking. Jesus Christ, hes managing to overthink the yoga now. Its just a bit of stretching. Theres no hope for this poor fool. Hell never get out of his head. But Ill keep trying for now. Because if I dont do it now, Ill never do it.

When we get our lives back, therell be other things to do.
James Dobson outraged by Bidens first press conference: Outright lies

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Evangelical leader James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, called President Joe Bidens first formal press conference held last Friday after over two months in office an hour of misrepresentations and outright lies."

In a statement last Friday, the author and psychologist blasted the president for pointing fingers at former President Donald Trump, calling his remarks outrageous for those who hold Judeo-Christian values.

"'Press conference' is an inadequate description of what took place, which was nearly an hour of misrepresentations and outright lies, as he claimed responsibility for the continued success of President Trumps 'Operation Warp Speed,' blamed the Trump administration for problems that he, himself, created at the border, and totally distorted the truth about legislation the Democrat party is seeking to ram through Congress," the 84-year-old Dobson wrote.

"All of this was communicated under the guise of uniting the people of our country."

He argued that even though the "press may have been satisfied" with Biden's press conference, "freedom-loving Americans and people who hold true to our Judeo-Christian values should rightfully be outraged."

Responding to Biden stating that his administration met his goal of getting "100 million shots in peoples arms in my first 100 days," Dobson contends that "[a]stute observers noted that the only way President Biden could have failed to deliver was if he completely bungled the process begun by the Trump administration."

"[T]o be specific, on the day Joe Biden was inaugurated, the U.S. administered almost 1.5 million vaccine shots!" Dobson, whose Family Talk radio show broadcasts on hundreds of radio stations nationwide, stated.

Dobson, who was among several conservative evangelical leaders who engaged informally with the Trump White House, further argued that Biden engaged in "co-opting of President Trumps accomplishments" on the economic front by predicting economic growth reaching 6%.

Given the roaring economy President Trump created  which only a worldwide pandemic could decrease  its not surprising we will see a spike in growth as the virus begins to recede," Dobson stressed. "Worth celebrating? Absolutely! But the credit shouldnt go to the Biden administration?

Referring to the ongoing crisis at the southern border, Dobson criticized president Biden for removing the previous administrations immigration policies, which he believes created a humanitarian and a national security crisis all within his first two months in office.

More than 100,000 people crossed the southern border illegally in February.

The Washington Post recently reported that the Biden administration planned to convert immigrant family detention centers in South Texas into rapid-processing hubs to screen migrant adults and children and release them within 72 hours.

While the Biden administration has not referred to the influx of migrants at the southern border as a crisis, White House Press Secretary Jen Paski rejected the term border crisis outright.

At the press conference, Biden blamed Trump for [dismantling] all the elements that exist to deal with  a problem for a long time."

"He, in fact, shut down  the number of beds available," Biden stated. "He did not fund HHS to get people to get the children out of those  Border Patrol facilities.

The president added that his administration "now is attempting to rebuild ... the system that can accommodate ... what is happening today.

Dobson pointed out that some of the thousands of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. are wearing Biden t-shirts" and "think Joe is a nice guy.

But this nice guy so happens to be our President who is charged to uphold the sovereignty and security of our nation," Dobson added. "Yet, he has no regrets for his actions  throwing open the border and putting his nations security at risk, and spending $86 million on hotel rooms for individuals illegally crossing our borders, when national guard troops were forced to sleep in a parking garage in the dead of winter while protecting our Capitol."

People outside the country need to be helped with great compassion, but we cannot usher in chaos, compromise national security, and embrace lawlessness in the process, Dobson continued.
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EDITORS NOTE: On April 13, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts a virtual networking event, featuring professionals in the legal cannabis industries. Tickets are limited.

New Jerseys 15th medical marijuana dispensary will open this week, marking more slow but steady progress in the states cannabis industry.

The Botanist, which is operated by Canadian cannabis giant Acreage, will open its doors to patients this week in Williamstown once it receives final state approval. Its the companys third dispensary in the state. The other two are in Atlantic City and Egg Harbor Township.

The new dispensary will make cannabis more accessible to the states 100,000 medical marijuana patients. But it also inches New Jersey closer to legal cannabis sales to those 21 and older.

The number of patients in New Jersey has ballooned in recent years, but new dispensaries have not kept pace. Patients often complain of product shortages, high prices and long lines.

A new medical marijuana dispensary, The Botanist, will become the 15th in the state, Friday, March 26, 2021. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

It will take months, if not a full year, for new dispensaries to begin selling weed to the general public. But medical dispensaries can get a head start on that market once they prove they have enough cannabis for patients and others.

The Botanist will offer marijuana flower, vape cartridges, lozenges, tinctures and pre-rolls. The other two dispensaries serve 9,000 active patients, with about 400 in the Williamstown area who have been driving to Atlantic County, said Brian Sickora, general manager of the companys New Jersey and New York operations, said during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the dispensary Friday.

Discussions on the dispensary started about 18 months ago, said Richard DiLucia, the mayor of Monroe Township, which includes Williamstown. Replacing the former Starbucks and Verizon stores with the medical dispensary wasnt a tough sell to the town, he said. But allowing sales to those 21 and older could prove more controversial.

Under the new legal marijuana law, towns have six months to decide if they want to block weed businesses. They must pass ordinances to do so.

A new medical marijuana dispensary, The Botanist, will open this week in Williamstown, Friday, March 26, 2021.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

But towns can also collect additional taxes from legal weed sales. Already, DiLucia said the current 2% Williamstown can collect from medical marijuana will boost the budget ravaged by the coronavirus lockdown.

He said estimates show that the dispensary could bring in $250,000 in new revenue.

Thats going to be really good, DiLucia said. This is new revenue.

Acreage isnt just expanding its storefronts. Sickora said the cannabis growing facility in Egg Harbor has added plants.

The company also won a court case that allow it to grow more cannabis. A court ruled earlier this month that Mantua Township could not block a second grow site Acreage began building in 2019.

Hand pipes on display at a new medical marijuana dispensary, The Botanist, which will open this week in Williamstown, Friday, March 26, 2021. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Sickora said Acreage is still negotiating with the town on permits, but remains hopeful about the expansion.

He also said the company has interest in opening one consumption lounge, which is allowed under the new legal cannabis law. But its waiting to see how the regulations from the newly minted Cannabis Regulatory Commission shake out.

Right now, our focus is all in on the medicinal, Sickora said.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovern
(Corrects day in first paragraph)

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the leaders of Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, and Sudan to discuss a massive regional tree-planting project, state news agency (SPA) reported early on Monday.

"The Middle East Green Initiative aims, in partnership with the countries of the region, to plant 50 billion trees as the largest reforestation program in the world," SPA said.

The crown prince unveiled the ambitious campaign on Saturday that sees Saudi Arabia planting 10 billion trees in coming decades and working with other Arab states to plant another 40 billion trees, to reduce carbon emissions and combat pollution and land degradation.

SPA added that initiative also aims "to enhance the efficiency of oil production and increase the contribution of renewable energy, in addition to multiple efforts to preserve the marine and coastal environment, and increase the percentage of natural reserves."

The Saudi Green Initiative is part of the prince's Vision 2030 plan to reduce its reliance on oil revenues and improve quality of life.

(This story corrects day in first paragraph)

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Sam Holmes)
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa  On May 26, my husband and I were in Norfolk to pick up a dog. We were to meet the seller at the main entrance to Ta-Ha-Zouka Park. We arrived and I did not think we were at the right entrance. I flagged down a young man and he told me where the right entrance was, and 
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La) speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee on the fourth day of hearings on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, on Oct. 15, 2020. (Susan Walsh / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Sen. Kennedy: Border Crisis Can Be Fixed If Biden Goes Back to Trump Immigration Policies

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said on Sunday that he believes the flow of illegal immigrants to the U.S. southern border can be curbed if the Biden administration reinstates former President Donald Trumps policies.

All you have to do is talk to the Border Patrol members. Theyll tell you straight up. All we have to do is go back to what we were doing before President Biden, Kennedy told Fox News Sunday Morning Futures. President Biden undid everything that the Republican Congress and the Trump administration did.

Itll be fixed in a week, he said.

The United States is facing a significant influx of illegal immigrants in recent weeks, 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 more 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.

Over 16,500 unaccompanied migrant children were in the custody of either Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as of March 23, according to the HHS Administration for Children and Families.

Republican lawmakers have argued that the burgeoning crisis is a result of President Joe Bidens move to overturn several Trump-era immigration policies that helped curbed the flow of illegal border crossings. This includes his predecessors cornerstone Migrant Protection Protocol, which effectively ended the problematic catch and release policy, significantly stemming the surge of illegal immigrants that were seen at the southern border in 2019.

In a return to the Obama-era policies that facilitate catch-and-release, the Biden administration is again releasing unaccompanied minors into the country. The lawmakers argue that Bidens act has been interpreted as a signal to prospective migrants to travel to the United States.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who led a delegation of Republican senators to the border on Friday, called the situation at the border a heartbreaking humanitarian crisis that is a direct consequence of policy decisions by the Biden administration.

This needs to stop. It is a crisis, it is a tragedy and it is a man-made crisis. This was avoidable. This was preventable, the Texas senator said.

The Biden administration, on the other hand, has sought to shift the blame on former President Donald Trumps administration, with Mayorkas saying that the previous government had dismantled the orderly, humane, and efficient way of allowing children to make their claims under United States law in their own country.

The number of family units (19,246) and unaccompanied minors (9,457) crossing illegally rose significantly in February, compared to 7,294 family units and 5,585 unaccompanied minors in January, and 4,404 family units and 4,993 unaccompanied minors in December 2020.

Similarly, the United States also faced a sharp spike of enforcement encounters in February at 100,441 encounters compared to 78,442 in January, 74,018 in December, and 72,111 in November.

Either President Biden, or if hes not making the decisions then the people that hes put in charge, believe in open borders, Kennedy added.

They think that vetting people at the border is racist. I and every other country in the world think its prudent. What were doing now is dangerous, its expensive and puts downward pressure on wages, and it unreservedly undermines the rule of law and legal immigration.

Kennedy, who joined Cruzs delegation on Friday, also encouraged Biden to go to the border and visit the facilities. The president has previously indicated to reporters that he has plans to do so but has not provided concrete details as to when he will visit.
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Talia Kaganovsky has struggled with her mental health for years. But when Covid-19 hit, "it was almost like a giant slap in the face," the 18-year-old freshman at University of Pittsburgh said.

Kaganovsky, like all Americans, had to readjust her habits and expectations when the pandemic began a year ago. For many high school seniors, that meant realizing there would be no high school graduation or the quintessential freshman year of college. But the coronavirus pandemic also meant she would have to create new ways to cope with her mental health. "I've been dealing with mental health for a pretty long time now, but only recently started looking into treating and coping more with it," Kaganovksy told CNN.

"I was starting to do really well, and then all of a sudden it was like I lost all of the coping mechanisms that I had discovered before."

Kaganovsky is among the many young Americans who have struggled with their mental health this year.

More than half of 18- to 29-year-olds reported feeling symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder in the last month alone, according to data from the CDC. Mental health advocates and experts are calling on the federal government to address the issue.

"Part of the national response to Covid has to be a national response to the mental health aspect of the pandemic," Dr. Roy Perlis, a professor and doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told CNN.

"Now is an important time to remind [the Biden administration] to the extent we can that mental health is part of health care," he said.

The Biden administration has said it is both taking note and taking action. The President's Covid-19 relief package, signed into law earlier this month, includes increased funding for mental health services such as funds for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, youth suicide prevention and pediatric mental health care access.

For his part, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says he aims to place a renewed focus on mental health when reopening the country's K-12 schools.

"We need to recognize the emotional impact this had on our students, and we need to be prepared when we re-open schools to ensure that social emotional supports are a bigger part of the whole experience," Cardona told NBC's Hoda Kotb on the Today Show last week.

Now, advocates and experts alike are calling on Biden to prioritize the implementation of youth mental health services through increased support programs and research, not only for K-12 students, but for young adults as well.

Like Kaganovsky, Ryan Doucette, also 18 years old and a current senior at Bedford High School in Massachusetts, said the pandemic "disrupted all the activities of senior year."

Doucette, who lost a friend by suicide when he was 14, says he recognized there was a youth mental health crisis years before the pandemic.

Many young people were already struggling with their mental health, Doucette told CNN, but, "Covid-19 as a pandemic has only worsened that, isolating people further."

"Even as Covid vaccines come out, there's not a vaccine for the youth mental health crisis and the administration better be prepared for it," Doucette said.

Experts warn of mental health toll from pandemic

While the pandemic has immediately impacted young Americans' mental health, experts also warn of future problems. They say the Biden administration has a time sensitive opportunity to address the issue, which could cripple this generation for years to come.

Dr. Susan Borja, chief of the Dimensional Traumatic Stress Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health, says that in looking back at prior disasters such as hurricanes, pandemics and financial collapses, it is clear that the mental health impact of trauma does not disappear after the isolated incident.

"There is a longer tail of impact," Borja said, adding that for young adults in particular there may be a "developmental impact."

"Based on a long history of all these kinds of events, we expect there to be in the short term, a lot of people reporting they're having trouble," Borja said. It will be likely for young people to report increased levels of general stress, depression and anxiety, she added.

"For most people, those will go away and recede over time without intervention," Borja said, but, "unfortunately there's going to be a portion of people with more enduring chronic illness that will benefit from intervention."

Perlis shared similar concerns.

"Unfortunately, we know from other kinds of disasters: war, 9/11, Fukushima, this doesn't go away as soon as people are physically safe again. We know it's coming, which is part of the reason to jump up and down now and say, 'Hey we need to have the infrastructure to deal with not just folks experiencing this now, but folks who will have fall out years from now,'" he told CNN.

Perlis researched the impact of Covid-19 on youth mental health along with John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, who has surveyed young Americans for over 20 years.

In the past four years, Della Volpe said mental health has become a defining issue for young Americans.

"We talk a lot in the country today about intersectional issues, like racism, climate and education. This [youth mental health crisis] is perhaps the ultimate intersectional issue," Della Volpe said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Angela Diaz, director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center in New York City, works with thousands of young people ages 10 to 26, 94% of whom are youth of color. Many of the youth Diaz serves come from low income communities and are uninsured.

"Imagine if you are a low income kid, who's Black, parents lost job, mom died, just imagine the amount of stress that brings," she told CNN.

"Everything has just been exacerbated. There were major issues before, but since the pandemic, they got much worse. There's much more depression, anxiety, substance use and interpersonal violence. There's the financial impact, lack of food, the racial impact... this was so many different things all at once on these kids, the intersectionality really had a major impact," Diaz said.

White House says youth mental health is a priority

Aware of the unique set of challenges facing young Americans today, the Biden administration says it is committed to addressing the rising concerns over young people's mental health.

Before the President took office, the Biden transition team held a Zoom call with young leaders in mid-January focused entirely on youth mental health. The call gave young people the opportunity to speak about their experiences with mental health, and allowed for experts, including policy analysts from groups like the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), the opportunity to present their research.

On that call, Nia West-Bey, a senior policy analyst at CLASP, stressed five areas the Biden administration could prioritize when it comes to mental health including telehealth, removing law enforcement from mental health calls, investments in community based care and investments across all areas where young people are, she told CNN.

"That means not just in schools, but in libraries, parks and rec, community based organizations," West-Bey said.

West-Bey also emphasized to the Biden transition team that young people need to be centered in conversations about the services meant to benefit them.

According to Arielle Geismar, a 19-year-old student at George Washington University who also participated in the Biden team youth mental health call, the call gave young people dealing with mental health a place to voice their concerns.

Geismar lost a friend by suicide in high school and has advocated for youth mental health support ever since.

"There are times when it feels like the whole world is closing in, and I'm supposed to be doing math homework. We're living in multiple crises right now, and it's scary. This is confusing and there's no guidebook on living through these times," Geismar told CNN.

"There have been spaces previously created [by Biden] for young people to voice our concerns and I hope to see those continue," Geismar said, adding that the Biden administration could build a public resource campaign on social media to promote the resources available to American youth, in addition to beefing up funding for mental health resources in public schools.

According to Geismar, she believes the campaign could help to de-stigmatize mental health and would let young people know that Biden is on their side.

"The President has been clear that expanding access to mental health care, including for youth, is a priority and we look forward to sharing more in the months ahead," Kevin Munoz, a White House spokesperson, told CNN.

For her part, first lady Jill Biden, an educator, has stressed the importance of focusing on the mental health of students.

In an interview with Kelly Clarkson last month, Biden said she recognizes that students, parents and teachers are all struggling.

"I think when we get back into the classroom, you know, mental health is going to be a big issue. We got to help heal these kids," Biden said.

"I mean kids have been dealing with food insecurity, domestic violence, child abuse, so many things that they're going to be bringing back with them into the classroom, and teachers are going to need help," she added.

And since taking office, Biden announced his Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force, which includes Dr. Octavio Martinez, the executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at The University of Texas at Austin, and Vincent Toranzo, a student who serves as the State Secretary of the Florida Association of Student Councils and advocates for the input of student voices in their community.

The inclusion of both a psychiatrist and a student on the task force demonstrates that the White House recognizes mental health as a part of its Covid-19 recovery.

Martinez says he will work to elevate the youth perspective in his role on the task force.

"One of our task force members is an 18-year-old," Martinez told CNN, referring to Toranzo. "I've not seen a task force that has done that before that I've been on personally, so I'm so excited that that was recognized. Too often we're not including our youth voice."

"These are formidable transition times in terms of development," Martinez said, noting that young people develop through building relationships with others and interacting with peers at school. "And so that being taken away from our kiddos this past year and ongoing into 2021 is very concerning," he told CNN.

Martinez said that if the opportunity presents itself on the task force, he will advocate for increased funding from the federal government to support youth mental health.

"If we're not dedicating research dollars as well as additional funds to ensure that there's treatment, that there's access, that there's support, then we're unfortunately not making a difference," Martinez said.
A year in lockdown feels much longer to a childand can be particularly devastating, researchers warn. (esthermm/Shutterstock)

Child Suicide Becoming an International Epidemic

The damage were inflicting on children is too devastating to be waved away in the name of public health

Billions of people across the globe continue to live under COVID-19 lockdowns or heavily restricted life. And for almost all of us, life amid the pandemic in 2020 was an isolating and difficult year.

Now, doctors are warning that children, in particular, are experiencing grave mental health consequences as a result of the lockdownsleading to an international epidemic of child suicide.

The Associated Press interviewed Dr. David Greenhorn on the subject, who works in the emergency department at Englands Bradford Royal Infirmary. The number of mental health crises he has seen, such as suicide attempts, has gone from a couple per week pre-pandemic to now several per day.

This is an international epidemic, and we are not recognizing it, Greenhorn said. In an 8-year-olds life, a year is a really, really, really long time. They are fed up. They cant see an end to it.

Dr. Richard Delorme heads the psychiatric department at one of the largest childrens hospitals in France, and he offered a similar warning to the AP.

Delorme pointed out that its clearly COVID restrictions and lockdowns taking this toll on children that end up in his hospital.

What they tell you about is a chaotic world, of Yes, Im not doing my activities anymore, Im no longer doing my music, Going to school is hard in the mornings, I am having difficulty waking up, I am fed up with the mask.

Delormes hospital went from seeing roughly 20 suicide attempts per month involving patients 15 or younger, the AP reports, to more than double thatand, disturbingly, more determination than ever before in the attempts.

We are very surprised by the intensity of the desire to die among children who may be 12 or 13 years old, Delorme said. We sometimes have children of 9 who already want to die. And its not simply a provocation or a blackmail via suicide. It is a genuine wish to end their lives.

Merely typing out this story flooded my eyes with tears. But the life-threatening unintended consequences of drastic pandemic measures are too important to overlook.

Government restrictions that wouldve been unthinkable two years ago have been forced through amid the fear and uncertainty of the pandemic. Advocates undoubtedly hoped to save lives. Yet government restrictions have proven dubious in their effectiveness, with both studies and real-world examples demonstrating little clear relationship between lockdown stringency and COVID deaths.

In the meantime, lockdowns and other restrictions have harshly curtailed social interaction and catalyzed a youth mental health crisis. Here in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 25 percent of young adults considered suicide during the lockdowns, while overall mental health and suicide rates appear to have spiked as well.

Child suicide is only the latest mortifying revelation showing just how big a toll these policies have taken on us. We must factor this human damage into our analysis when it comes to ending pandemic restrictions; not just COVID case counts.

Like any policy, public health orders must be evaluated on their outcomes. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. Pandemic lockdowns may have stemmed from an earnest desire to protect the public, but their consequences have done the opposite.

Why? Well, any government action, particularly sweeping mandates, has not just its intended effect, but its second- and third-order unintended consequences.

Every human action has both intended and unintended consequences, economist Antony Davies and political scientist James Harrigan explained for FEE.org. Human beings react to every rule, regulation, and order governments impose, and their reactions result in outcomes that can be quite different than the outcomes lawmakers intended.

When it comes to lockdowns, weve extensively documented the unintended consequences at FEE, including isolation, depression, suicidality, unemployment, drug abuse, domestic violence, and more. Such severe second-order effects offer a painful reminder of why policymakers should be humble in the scope of their actions. Sweeping lockdowns are anything but humble: They presume that bureaucrats in an office somewhere can save society with top-down orders and nothing will go wrong.

Governments the world over must consider more than mere COVID case counts when evaluating current and future lockdown policies. The damage were inflicting on children is too devastating to be waved away in the name of public healthits an emergency in its own right.

If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). You can also text a crisis counselor by messaging the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and opinion editor at the Foundation for Economic Education. This article was originally published on FEE.org
Dan Levy made headlines when he started a lovely tradition after hosting Saturday Night Live in February.

The Schitt's Creek co-star/co-creator left a note for the next week's host, One Night in Miami director Regina King.

While the kind gesture started a new tradition, the 37-year-old actor and writer clarified in an interview with TODAY that he didn't actually start the tradition.

Tradition: Dan Levy made headlines when he started a lovely tradition after hosting Saturday Night Live in February

Didn't start: While the kind gesture started a new tradition, the 37-year-old actor and writer clarified in an interview with TODAY that he didn't actually start the tradition

'I feel the need to clarify this I didnt start (the tradition). I kind of continued it,' Levy revealed.

He added that when he arrived on the SNL set, he found a note Woody Harrelson wrote for the next host, Fleabag star/creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

'So I asked if I could leave a note for Regina because the process is such a strange experience,' Levy added.

Clarify: 'I feel the need to clarify this I didnt start (the tradition). I kind of continued it,' Levy revealed

'Strange, wonderful and intimidating experience that like, a little note from the person that had just done it felt like such a sweet vote of confidence,' he added.

After Levy left his note for King, she in turn left one for Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Page, who would leave one for Nick Jonas.

It isn't clear if Nick Jonas left a note for Maya Rudolph, who hosted SNL last night, the first new episode in nearly a month.

Tradition: After Levy left his note for King, she in turn left one for Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Page, who would leave one for Nick Jonas

Levy also opened up about working with his legendary father Eugene Levy on Schitt's Creek, which they both co-created.

'You have to really respect the person you're working with and I think when you do, it makes for a very easy go of things,' Levy began.

'I have so long admired what my dad had done and  I think he really let me have space to find my own footing, he added.

Father and son: Levy also opened up about working with his legendary father Eugene Levy on Schitt's Creek, which they both co-created

While Levy had no writing experience before starting work on Schitt's Creek, Dan revealed he learned a lot from his father.

'I think what I learned from him, just from a comedy standpoint, is that  there's so much generosity, I think, to great comedy,' Levy said.

'You have to just give people space. There's just such a joy in knowing that you have each other's back,' he added.
Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this image taken from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, defendant and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, and Nelson's assistant Amy Voss, back, introduce themselves to potential jurors on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over jury selection in the trial of Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. The huge task for jurors at the trial of Chauvin showed during jury selection as some would-be jurors said they were unnerved by the very thought of being on the panel. (Court TV, via AP, Pool)

The former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd went on trial Monday, with a prosecutor telling the jury that the figure to remember is 9 minutes, 29 seconds  the amount of time Derek Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck as the Black man pleaded for his life and went limp.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told jurors that Chauvin "didnt let up, he didnt get up even after Floyd said 27 times that he couldnt breathe and went motionless.

He put his knees upon his neck and his back, grinding and crushing him, until the very breath -- no ladies and gentlemen -- until the very life, was squeezed out of him, Blackwell said.

He said bystander witnesses would include a Minneapolis Fire Department first responder who wanted to administer aid. He said Chauvin pointed Mace at her.

She wanted to check on his pulse, check on Mr. Floyds well-being, Blackwell said. She did her best to intervene. When she approached Mr. Chauvin . Mr. Chauvin reached for his Mace and pointed it in her direction. She couldnt help.

Widely seen bystander video of the encounter sparked outrage across the U.S. and led to widespread protests and scattered violence.

A jury of 14 people will hear the case  eight who are white and six who are Black or multiracial, according to the court. Two of the 14 will be alternates. The judge has not said which ones will be alternates and which ones will deliberate the case.

Legal experts said they expected prosecutors to play the video to the jury early on.

If youre a prosecutor you want to start off strong. You want to frame the argument -- and nothing frames the argument in this case as much as that video, said Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor and managing director of Berkeley Research Group in Chicago.

Floyd, 46, was declared dead after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyds neck as he lay handcuffed on his belly on the pavement, crying I can't breathe."

Chauvin, 45, is charged with unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Almost all of the jurors selected during more than two weeks of questioning said they had seen at least parts of the video, and several acknowledged it gave them at least a somewhat negative view of Chauvin. But they said they could set that aside.

About dozen people chanted and carried signs in the middle of the street outside the courthouse entrance as Floyd family attorney Ben Crump, the Rev. Al Sharpton and members of the Floyd family passed by on their way inside. The group also carried a makeshift coffin, on top of which they placed flowers.

Crump said the trial would be a test of whether America is going to live up to the Declaration of Independence. And he blasted the idea that it would be a tough test for jurors.

For all those people that continue to say that this is such a difficult trial, that this is a hard trial, we refute that," he said. "We know that if George Floyd was a white American citizen, and he suffered this painful, tortuous death with a police officers knee on his neck, nobody, nobody, would be saying this is a hard case.

The trial is expected to last about four weeks at the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, which has been fortified with concrete barriers, fencing, and barbed and razor wire. City and state leaders are determined to prevent a repeat of damaging riots that followed Floyds death, and National Guard troops have already been mobilized.

The key questions at trial will be whether Chauvin caused Floyds death and whether his actions were reasonable.

For the unintentional second-degree murder charge, prosecutors have to prove Chauvins conduct was a substantial causal factor in Floyds death, and that Chauvin was committing felony assault at the time. For third-degree murder, they must prove that Chauvins actions caused Floyds death, and were reckless and without regard for human life.

The manslaughter charge requires proof that Chauvin caused Floyds death through negligence that created an unreasonable risk.

Unintentional second-degree murder is punishable by up to 40 years in prison in Minnesota, with up to 25 years for third-degree murder, but sentencing guidelines suggest that Chauvin would face 12 1/2 years in prison if convicted on either charge. Manslaughter has a maximum 10-year sentence.

Chauvins attorney, Eric Nelson, was expected to use his opening statement to tell jurors that medical testimony and use of force experts will show a different view. Nelson has made clear that the defence will make an issue of Floyd swallowing drugs before his arrest, seeking to convince the jury that he was at least partially responsible for his death.

The county medical examiner's autopsy noted fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system, but listed his cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.

This case to us is a slam dunk, because we know the video is the proof, it's all you need, Floyd's brother Philonise said Monday on NBC's Today show. The guy was kneeling on my brothers neck ... a guy who was sworn in to protect. He killed my brother in broad daylight. That was a modern-day lynching.
Six Loose Women panellists joined forces for an al fresco picnic outside ITV's London studios on Monday, as they celebrated the loosening of lockdown rules.

As Brits embraced the first day of the new rules  which allow six people to meet up socially outdoors, among other things  the stars marked the occasion by hosting in a group of more than three for the first time in more than a year.

Charlene White, Judi Love and Jane Moore presented the bulk of the show in the studio alongside Denise Welch, who joined remotely, before going outdoors to meet up with Linda Robson, Nadia Sawalha and Brenda Edwards.

Rule of six party: Six Loose Women panellists joined forces for an al fresco picnic outside ITV's London studios on Monday, as they celebrated the loosening of lockdown rules

'We thought we'd use this as an opportunity to hang out outside,' said news presenter Charlene, as she pointed out the many treats on displays, including bubbly beverages, jerk chicken, jollof rice.

'This is so lovely,' continued Charlene, who is the newest recruit to the panel. 'I don't know a time i could've done this with you ladies. I feel quite emotional, I think.'

The as they sat together in the sunshine, the stars spoke about their experiences with picnics, leading Brenda to reveal that she'd never attended one before.

Birds Of A Feather star Linda responded: 'I like a picnic  what a way to spend your first picnic, Brenda!'

Festive mood: Linda Robson got into the spirit of things, wearing a festive paper hat and a lei

Pour it up: Show moderator Charlene White sipped on a bubbly beverage as they celebrated

Linda then went on to discuss all of the social activities she's looking forward to enjoying with her loved ones, thanks to the new, more relaxed rules.

She said: 'I'm looking forward to seeing my family, my sisters especially. And I'm looking forward to seeing my grandchildren. I normally only see them when I'm looking after them.'

As the show came to a close, songstress Brenda led the group in singing the Peaches & Herb classic Reunited.

Britons are expected to flock to beaches over the next few days to enjoy this week's mini-heatwave after the Government confirmed families from London and elsewhere can now travel to the seaside.

Indulging: Jane Moore also indulged as she spoke with her co-stars during the outdoor party

Bash: Charlene, Linda and Jane were joined by Nadia Sawalha, Brenda Edwards and Judi Love

People in England will be taking advantage of the relaxation of lockdown measures as outdoor gatherings and sport events resume, with highs of 66F (19C) expected in the South East on Monday and 75F (24C) on Tuesday.

There is now no legal limit on how far people can travel to enjoy day trips at the countryside or coastline, although overnight stays are still banned at hotels, self-catering accommodation and other people's homes.

But there will be concerns among Ministers that the unseasonably warm weather will make social distancing very tricky on beaches after the likes of Brighton and Bournemouth were swamped with visitors last summer.

The Government's 'stay at home' order ended on Monday morning, with messaging moving to 'stay local', but people are still being asked to continue to work from home where possible and overseas travel remains banned.

Lovely: 'This is so lovely,' said Charlene, who is the newest recruit to the panel. 'I don't know a time i could've done this with you ladies. I feel quite emotional, I think'

Show: Charlene White, Judi Love and Jane Moore presented the bulk of the show in the studio alongside Denise Welch, who joined remotely, before going outside

Government officials confirmed to the Evening Standard that it is now legal to travel from London to the seaside for a day on the beach, and there is no limit on the distance you can travel to see friends or family.

The newspaper also put two examples to the Government, which it confirmed were acceptable. These were driving to the New Forest in Hampshire to ride a trial, or taking a windsurfer or kayak to the coast for the day.

A Government spokesman said: 'Whilst the 'stay at home' rule has ended, many restrictions remain in place. We ask everyone to act responsibly and cautiously and minimise travel where possible as these restrictions ease.'

Temperatures in parts of the UK are expected to be significantly warmer this week as families and friends are reunited and sporting activities are allowed to resume in England.

The warm weather coincides with the major easing of England's coronavirus lockdown measures as families and friends are reunited under the outdoor 'rule of six' and sporting activities are allowed to resume in England.
Falling scrap prices and a weaker Turkish lira have caused import prices to fall continually, market sources said.There were multiple transactions heard concluded in the past week.Around 200,000 tonnes of Turkish rebar was heard sold to Singapore at $650-660 per tonne cfr on a theoretical weight basis, split among four vessels.But this could not be confirmed by key buyers.There is not one single steel fabricator in Singapore who has so much credit on hand to purchase four cargoes at one time, a buyer source in the country said on March 26.

Other...
The Andersons love of chili started out like so many other quests for perfection: with a little romance and some good, old-fashioned family one-upmanship.

On their first date, John made Diana a bowl of classic Texas red. As time passed, Diana didnt like the fact that John made a better batch than she could, so she did everything in her power to beat him at his own game.

Express Newsletters Get the latest news, sports and food features sent directly to your inbox.

Thats just her nature, said John, who has been married to Diana, self-dubbed Chili Queen of San Antonio, for 14 years. She gets something in her head, and theres just no stopping her.

Now the two have their own chili business, JDs Chili Parlor, and sell hot bowls of the state food of Texas and jars from their line of chili bases to the crowds at farmers markets. Since 2014, the family-run business has been a regular presence at the Saturday downtown New Braunfels Farmers Market and the Alamo Heights Farmers Market in the Alamo Quarry Market on Sundays. They are also branching out into markets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

On ExpressNews.com: Chucks Food Shack: Chili season is here, and here are three versions of the Texas classic

After winning a Canyon Lake chili competition in 2012, the Andersons were urged by their son Wade, who was 12 and in middle school, to start their chili business. They had no experience in the food industry. John was an engineer, and Diana, an Oklahoma native, had a background that included teaching, interior design, photography and design.

I guess you could say that Im the creative arm of the business, then John is the guy who figures out how in the heck we can pull it off, Diana said.

They started with the recipe that won the contest and created a bowl made from hash browns, which was shaped in a waffle iron, to serve it in at the area markets. JDs also offered weekly specials that included chili tacos, Frito pies and whatever else they could think of.

The hash brown bowl took a lot of research and development before we could figure out how to do it without making a huge mess, John said. I think every food business goes through growing pains like that.

Diana started learning all she could about the San Antonio history of chili. More people should know it, but the famed dish was invented here more than a century ago. The famed Chili Queens served up pots of the good stuff to hungry crowds in Alamo Plaza and other public spaces.

Chili has Mesoamerican origins, with stewed chiles mixed with proteins and vegetables for a hearty meal. The Queens based their recipes on peppers blended with random, inexpensive cuts of beef and spices, and this became recognized as the classic Texas take on chili.

On ExpressNews.com: As San Antonio restaurants and bars ramp up to 100%, theres more new restaurants, more unemployment benefits and fewer workers

The more research I put into it, the more connected I felt with the history and what we are doing, said Diana, who considers herself something of an ambassador for the chili legacy. Those women were real pioneers. And we can go to Dallas or wherever, and people dont know of the San Antonio connection to chili. My goal is to change that.

JDs is now a full-time business for the Andersons. They do everything from the canning and labeling to all the research and development for new products in a modest kitchen space that looks like a science lab inside the LocalSprout Food Hub.

They have nine types of Chili Fixins jarred chili bases. They come in 16-ounce jars for $6 and include blends made with ghost peppers, tequila, pineapple, whiskey and bock beer; they even have a red wine blackberry blend. All you need to do is add a pound or so of meat  and beans, if thats your thing  and you have chili in 15 minutes.

The Chili Fixins work great as simple sauces over other meats, too. I like to mop the pecan-smoked whiskey blend over grilled pork chops.

But Dianas most recent invention of Chili Mary mixes, 36-ounce bottles for $10, may be her most brilliant. And they are exactly what you think they are: tomato juice with various peppers and fruits for combos like pineapple morita, honey hot habanero and grapefruit hatch. They just need a little vodka or tequila to make it a party. In addition to the farmers markets, its available at Alamo City Liquors locations throughout the city.

I picked up a bottle of the pineapple morita at the market, and it was far better than any other bloody mary mix, with engaging layers of flavors and heat that gave way to a refreshing fruit finish. It didnt need anything more than Titos Vodka, a pickle spear and a few olives for a great Sunday eye-opener.

As far as I know, we are the first to develop this type of product, Diana said. We are on that constant quest to chili-fy the world.

Spoken like a queen.

JDs Chili Parlor, 210-573-1092, jdschiliparlor.com .

cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver
I recently wrote a column wherein I accused the American Left and its wholly owned subsidiary, the Democrat party, of using Fascist or Nazi tactics in their determination to permanently transform the nation into a one-party hybrid socialist state by exploiting nonexistent systemic racism and baseless fears of white supremacy. This characterization did not set well with the gullible and self-righteous Democrat voters I know or those who contacted me. They, rather vociferously, claimed that the utilization of Nazi tactics only applies to the American right and that they, the left, are only motivated by caring for the people.

However, any thoughtful and unemotional examination of the tactics the Nazi Party used to gain and maintain power in the 1920s and 30s will reveal numerous stark similarities to those being used by the left and the Democrat Party today.

First, racial division was a central component of Nazi political strategy and philosophy. The Nazi Party was, without doubt, the most racially obsessed political party in human history. Todays Democrat party is second only to the Nazi Party in their racial obsession. Every piece of legislation, every accusation against their opponents, every aspect of American society, even weather and climate is framed in racism.

The Nazi Partys obsession with race focused on their perverted belief in the inferiority and superiority of the races. This opened the door for blaming various racial groups for all the problems facing the country. The American left are claiming the root cause of virtually all problems facing the nation is systemic racism as theoretically instigated by one particular race.

This obsession with race led to what is now often referred to as identity politics. Identity politics was not invented by the modern American left. It was, in fact, a weapon in the arsenal of the Nazi Party. As the Nazis, using the national media they controlled, sliced and diced the populace into specific identity groups and then promulgated grievance-riddled policies aimed at these manufactured factions in order to foment anger at a specific identity group previously isolated by the party, the Jews. The Democrat party and the left, using the so-called mainstream media, is doing the same among their manufactured identity groups (as defined by race or sexual orientation or ethnicity) in order to foment anger and isolate a specific group: white, heterosexual Christians.

Second , the Nazi Party was fixated on censorship and eliminating any cultural institution, publication or speech that did not fully support them. In other words, their version of todays cancel culture. The Nazis were notorious for book-burning rituals in order to intimidate and send the message that they would shut down anyone and anything that did not align with their ideology. Once in control of the national levers of powers, they did so with impunity. The American left is figuratively burning books as it uses social media mobs as the vehicle to send the message that they will shut down anyone or anything that does not align with their ideology.

Cancel Culture, Nazi style

Photo credit Georg Pahl, German Federal Archive

Third , the Nazis perfected the art of indoctrinating the citizenry through propaganda and fake news. Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of propaganda, is credited with saying: If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. and Think of the press as a great keyboard on which government can play.

This strategy has been and continues to be used to great success by the American left and their fellow travelers in the mainstream (Democrat) media. Whether it is the Russian collusion hoax, the so-called armed insurrection on January 6, 2021, climate change as an existential threat to mankind, suppression of voting rights, white supremacy running rampant, the necessity of lockdowns for the Covid pandemic or a myriad of other fabrications, they left lies with impunity as a means to their ends as did the Nazis.

Fourth, the Nazis, true to socialist ideology, preyed on class envy to stoke tensions and resentment as they blamed the Junker Class (the equivalent of todays one percent) for the nations economic woes. The American left and the Democrat party hierarchy, true to socialist ideology, has long blamed the evil one percent or greedy billionaires for income and economic inequality in order to foment class envy and resentment.

But the similarity does not end there. In an extraordinary juxtaposition the Nazis were able to vilify the wealthy and the industrialists while the subjects of their vitriol voluntarily financed the Nazi Party and its political campaigns. Hitler assured the German corporate titans that, despite their rhetoric, the Nazis would leave them alone and award them lucrative contracts if they supported the Party through massive financial support and favorable newspaper coverage. Greed overcame good sense, and they did so. These gullible cowards were ultimately responsible for unleashing the Nazis on an unsuspecting planet.

The American left has established a similar rapport with the corporate establishment, in particular the tech titans, by tacitly letting them know that the Democrat party will leave them alone if they financially support the party. Additionally, their disciples have infiltrated the management ranks of many companies further exacerbating the pressure to support the agenda. In the inane belief that they will be left alone by the left and the Democrat party, the American corporate elites have financed the ascendancy of the radical left as the left learned their lesson well from the Nazis and the wealthy elites did not. As virtually all the financial support for the Democrats to manipulate the 2020 election came from these naive and credulous buffoons. Thus, unleashing radical leftism, societal chaos and a senescent president on the United States.

Fifth , in the 1920s and early 30s the Nazi Party routinely relied on street riots, property damage and gratuitous violence utilizing their militant cadre, the Sturmabteilung (SA), to project power through intimidation while blaming the communists for the violence. Every time a riot was met with little or no response from the established authorities, the more emboldened they became. While the Nazis ostensibly came to power through the ballot box, their ability to terrorize the citizenry and national political leadership played a major role as they promised peace on the streets if elected or given leadership positions in government.

The American left revealed in the summer of 2020 that they too have the wherewithal and inclination to provoke street riots, property damage and gratuitous violence utilizing their militant cadre, Antifa and Black Lives Matter, to project power through intimidation while blaming white supremacy and police brutality for the violence. In the presidential campaign of 2020, the Democrat party implicitly promised peace on the streets if elected and insinuated there would be renewed violence if not.

Sixth, in January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Within four weeks a mysterious fire broke out in the Reichstag (Congress) Building which they blamed on communist agitators and that this was the opening salvo in a violent coup. Using this pretext, the Nazis were able to force through the Reichstag The Enabling Act of 1933 in March of the same year. This law embedded the Nazis as the sole dominant political party and ensured that only the Nazis could win future elections, if any were held. They were the first modern proponents of never letting a crisis, real or manufactured, to go to waste.

The left and the Democrat party seized upon the disturbances at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to proclaim that it was an armed insurrection and the opening salvo in a violent coup attempt by white supremacists. To further reinforce this false narrative, they theatrically brought in 20,000 National Guard troops and built fortifications around the Capitol building. Further following in the footsteps of the Nazi Party, the Democrats almost immediately pushed to pass H.R. 1 (euphemistically entitled The For The People Act) which would overturn virtually all existing voter laws, embed the Democrats as the sole dominant political party and ensure that only the Democrats could win future elections.

This list of parallels between the Nazi Party and the American left cannot be ignored. These wannabe autocrats, in a de facto admission, try to obfuscate their adoption of Nazi tactics by shamelessly claiming that it is the American right or conservatives that have embraced the Nazis. Yet the right has not utilized or espoused any Nazi tactics in their quest for political office.

While it goes without saying that I am not insinuating that the American left and the Democrat Party has the objective of imposing worldwide dominance via a horrific world war or emulating the horrors of the Holocaust, it must be acknowledged that there are important commonalities. The manner in which a small fringe far-left socialist party was able to rise to power and how the left in America is emulating it should frighten all Americans.
A childrens graphic novel by the creator of the popular Captain Underpants series was pulled from circulation last week by its publisher, which said that it perpetuates passive racism.

Scholastic said last week that it had halted distribution of the book, The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, originally published in 2010. The decision was made with the full support of its author, Dav Pilkey, the company said, adding that it had removed the book from its website and had stopped fulfilling orders for it.

Together, we recognize that this book perpetuates passive racism, the publisher said in a statement. We are deeply sorry for this serious mistake.

Image The 2010 graphic novel "The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, which Mr. Pilkey credited to characters from his Captain Underpants series. Credit... Scholastic

The graphic novel, which purports to have been written and illustrated by characters from the Captain Underpants series, follows Ook and Gluk, who live in the fictional town of Caveland, Ohio, in 500,001 B.C. The characters are pulled through a time portal to the year 2222, where they meet Master Wong, a martial arts instructor who teaches them kung fu.
Eurasia Mining has established itself as a considerable force in Russian PGMs

( ) signed a legally binding agreement to create a new joint venture with Russian state-owned company Rosgeo.

The deal expands Eurasia's portfolio of mining assets on the Kola Peninsula and allows the company to gain a 75% equity stake in nine new mining assets. The remaining 25% will continue to be held by Rosgeo.

Eurasia paid an initial consideration of approximately US$500,000 in cash for its share in the joint venture.

In addition, incremental consideration will become payable under an earn-out structure if Eurasia decides to proceed to develop the assets.

The total of the initial consideration and the earnout is capped at 75% of the value set under relevant Russian law if the assets had initially been auctioned by the Russian state instead of being acquired by Rosgeo.

The decision to proceed is at Eurasia's discretion.

The new assets have a total of 104.6mln ounces of platinum-equivalent resources as at the end of 2020, comprised of four palladium, platinum, copper, nickel and cobalt open pit deposits.

Each of the four open pit deposits, which are located directly adjacent to Monchetundra, have already been studied by Eurasia with block modelling and open pits' optimisations performed by the company.

A further five mostly open pit palladium, platinum, copper, nickel and cobalt assets are also included in the joint venture.

In total Eurasia has already invested some US$8.3mln across the additional assets.
BURNABY, BC, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- To advance its goal of creating better learning environments for students and educators, Natural Pod  is adding two senior U.S. leaders who will help the Canada-based company expand its impact in the education sector.

New Natural Pod U.S. leaders: Michelle Carpenter and Casey Demers

Joining the team are Michelle Carpenter , Chief Strategy Officer, and Casey Demers , Solutions Partner. These two savvy education design leaders will help Natural Pod bring its exceptional customer service and innovative support to educators who are working to create better learning environments that are practical, healthy, and sustainable.

Natural Pod holds holistic learning environment change and positive impact on people and planet as its core values. As CEO and Founder Bridgitte Alomes was exploring team expansion, she sought partners who shared these values. "We are a furniture company," Alomes says, "but we function as a change management organization in some ways. We support educators who are thinking broadly about how space supports the learning experience. Furniture is part of delivering on that possibility, but it involves health, sustainability, indoor/outdoor connections, and more. When partnering with educators, our team works to encourage students to have ownership of their learning outcomes and experience -- the environment in which they learn is a part of that process."

Alomes sought Carpenter out after the two met at an education industry event in 2018, where they connected over a deep conversation around what education could be if student and educator voices and experiences were actively part of the planning equation. Carpenter will be the "bring it to life" component of Alomes's vision of ensuring that every learner and educator has a practical, healthy, sustainable environment to learn, enabling them to reach their full potential. Carpenter joins Natural Pod after working with Herman Miller and Shaw Contract, two companies who also focus on the people learning and working within the environments they create.

"There is nothing quite like seeing the faces of students and educators when they see their new learning environments that a team visioned and brought to life with them in mind," Carpenter says. "Those smiles and wide eyes are what makes this work fulfilling and meaningful."

Demers is also passionate about creating spaces that set children, like her daughter, up for success as they learn to understand the world and their surroundings. As a Solutions Partner, Demers will join the Natural Pod team in partnering with school leaders, educators, architects, and designers to create learning environments that support optimal teaching and learning experiences. Demers joins Natural Pod after a long-time presence in the furniture industry with a furniture distributor and Herman Miller, both where she created dynamic learning environments.

"Facilitating a planning process that considers the overall space design is key," Demers says. "When all the elements of a space come together with intention, furniture included, a space can drive engagement, foster creativity, and set the stage for a transformative experience for students and educators. When a sustainable footprint is also present, the impact is even greater."

ABOUT NATURAL POD

Natural Pod creates beautiful, high-quality, non-toxic furniture for better learning environments all over the world, with an emphasis on functionality and sustainability.The furniture solutions offer flexible and unlimited options to create better learning environments for students of all ages. Find Natural Pod Founder/CEO Bridgitte Alomes on Natural Pod LIVE. Natural Pod is a privately owned and operated company based in British Columbia, Canada. Learn more at naturalpod.com.

Media Contact:

Kira Gould, [email protected], 415 690 0182

SOURCE Natural Pod
New Delhi:

Eyeing a multi-billion dollar contract from the Indian Navy for the supply of fighter aircraft, Russian military aviation firm MiG today said it was not averse to the transfer of technology and joint development of MiG-29 K jets with Indian companies.

MiG CEO Ilya Tarasenko said his company would submit a detailed proposal to the Indian government shortly, detailing its readiness for the joint development of aircraft for the Navy to deepen its already close engagement with India.

We are considering various options for long-term and perspective cooperation, including those within the framework of the Make in India programme, Tarasenko told PTI in a written interview.

In January, the Indian Navy had kick-started the process of procuring 57 multi-role combat aircraft for its carriers by issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to leading military jet makers.

Currently, six planes are compatible for the aircraft carrierRafale (Dassault, France), F-18 Super Hornet (Boeing, US), MIG-29K (Russia), F-35B and F-35C (Lockheed Martin, US) and Gripen (Saab, Sweden). While F-18, Rafale and MIG-29K are twin-engine jets, the other three have a single engine.

Tarasenko said MiG had been working with Indian defence forces for more than 50 years, delivering planes and providing service. He said the company was eager to further strengthen its relationship with India.

Russia has been one of Indias key suppliers of arms and ammunition. Then Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had visited Russia in June during which the issue of transfer of technology and joint development of high-end military platforms and weapons systems were discussed at length.

ALSO READ: DRDO-IAI to deliver medium range missile MRSAM system to Indian Army by 2020

Hard-selling MiG-29K as the best option for the Indian Navy, Tarasenko said a fleet of the aircraft had operated from Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as part of its operations in Syria recently and showed excellent results, including in striking ground targets.

He said the MiG-29K was part of the recent Malabar exercise involving the navies of India, the US and Japan and it proved its operational prowess while operating from the Indian Navys aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

Tarasenko claimed MiG-29K aircraft have serious tactical and technical advantages compared to Boeings F/A-18.

In addition, the MiG-29K aircraft were successfully tested in combat conditions as part of the Russian Navys military squadron in the Mediterranean in 2016 and have a unique experience of real combat use, he said.

The US defence major has offered to set up a manufacturing facility in India for the production of its F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft, if the company gets contracts for their supply.

At present, the Navy operates 45 MIG-29K jets. The RFI by the Indian Navy says the aircraft required by it should be day-and-night capable, all-weather, multi-role, deck-based combat aircraft which can be used for air defence, air-to-surface operations, buddy refuelling, reconnaissance etc. from IN aircraft carriers.

The Indian side has sent an RFI to companies that produce aircraft, which is one of the procedures preceding the official tender. MiG corporation has received such a request, now we are preparing our proposal, Tarasenko said.

In a major step towards defence indigenisation, the Indian government had in May unveiled a strategic partnership model under which select private firms would be engaged along with foreign entities to build military platforms such as fighter jets, submarines and battle tanks.

ALSO READ: From shortage of ammunition for Army to low quality food on trains, know major issues CAG highlighted

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2021 -- Stay up-to-date and exploit latest trends of Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market with latest edition released by AMA.

Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market Comprehensive Study is an expert and top to bottom investigation on the momentum condition of the worldwide Manufacturing Scheduling Software industry with an attention on the Global market. The report gives key insights available status of the Manufacturing Scheduling Software producers and is an important wellspring of direction and course for organizations and people keen on the business. By and large, the report gives an inside and out understanding of 2021-2026 worldwide Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market covering extremely significant parameters.



Key Players in This Report Include,

Visual Planning (United States), MaxScheduler (Canada), FrePPLe.com (Belgium), JobPack (United States), Delmia Works (United States), MRPeasy (United States), Monday.com (United States), Oracle (United States), TCS (India) and Infosys (India).



Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/167216-global-manufacturing-scheduling-software-market



Brief Summary of Manufacturing Scheduling Software:

Manufacturing scheduling software is software that helps manufacturers to meet consumer demand on time. Manufacturing Scheduling Software aims to create a production schedule that accounts for resources, machinery, inventory, demand, and employees to optimize the production according to the demand. It also enables to assign tasks to crewmembers. Manufacturing scheduling software makes it easy to take into account the potential bottlenecks, delays, and unexpected costs and try to minimize them. This software analyses information to determine an optimal schedule that meets the time-bound goals of manufacturing. It gives a clear understanding of the manufacturing process and removes uncertainty. Along with this, manufacturing scheduling software forecasts demand and recommends inventory to keep up with it. With increasing manufacturing activities all over the world; the demand for manufacturing scheduling software is also increasing.



Growth Drivers

- Increasing Demand of Manufacturing Scheduling Software for Planning Manufacturing in Advanced

- Growing Demand of Manufacturing Scheduling Software to Keep Track of Manufacturing Process

- Manufacturing Scheduling Software is in High Demand Due to The Need for Smooth Coordination Between Internal Teams.



Market Trends

- Rising Demand of Manufacturing Scheduling Software Due to Intuitive Interface

- Increasing Use of Manufacturing Scheduling Software for On-Time Deliveries



Roadblocks

- Availability of Free Alternatives to Manufacturing Scheduling Software



The Global Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below:

by Application (Small-medium Size Enterprise, Large Size Enterprise), Platform (Windows, MacOS, Linux, Web), Pricing (Monthly Subscription, Quarterly Subscription, Annual Subscription), Features (Scheduling, Data Analytics, Task Assignment, Reporting, Inventory Overview, Others)



This research report represents a 360-degree overview of the competitive landscape of the Global Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market. Furthermore, it offers massive data relating to recent trends, technological, advancements, tools, and methodologies. The research report analyzes the Global Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market in a detailed and concise manner for better insights into the businesses.

Regions Covered in the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market:

- The Middle East and Africa (South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Egypt, etc.)

- North America (United States, Mexico & Canada)

- South America (Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, etc.)

- Europe (Turkey, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.)

- Asia-Pacific (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia).



Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/167216-global-manufacturing-scheduling-software-market



The research study has taken the help of graphical presentation techniques such as infographics, charts, tables, and pictures. It provides guidelines for both established players and new entrants in the Global Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market.



The detailed elaboration of the Global Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market has been provided by applying industry analysis techniques such as SWOT and Porter's five-technique. Collectively, this research report offers a reliable evaluation of the global market to present the overall framework of businesses.



Attractions of the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market Report:

- The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share, historic market (2014-2018) and forecast (2019-2025)

- The report covers in-detail insights about the competitor's overview, company share analysis, key market developments, and their key strategies

- The report outlines drivers, restraints, unmet needs, and trends that are currently affecting the market

- The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and start-up's details that are actively working in the market

- The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario



Get 10% - 25% Discount on The Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/request-discount/167216-global-manufacturing-scheduling-software-market



Key Points Covered in the Table of Content:

Chapter 1 to explain Introduction, market review, market risk and opportunities, market driving force, product scope of Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market;

Chapter 2 to inspect the leading manufacturers (Cost Structure, Raw Material) with sales Analysis, revenue Analysis, and price Analysis of Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market;

Chapter 3 to show the focused circumstance among the best producers, with deals, income, and Manufacturing Scheduling Software market share 2020;

Chapter 4 to display the regional analysis of Global Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market with revenue and sales of an industry, from 2020 to 2022;

Chapter 5, 6, 7 to analyze the key countries (United States, China, Europe, Japan, Korea & Taiwan), with sales, revenue and market share in key regions;

Chapter 8 and 9 to exhibit International and Regional Marketing Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis, Trade Type Analysis;

Chapter 10 and 11 to analyze the market by product type and application/end users (industry sales, share, and growth rate) from 2020 to 2026

Chapter 12 to show Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market forecast by regions, forecast by type and forecast by application with revenue and sales, from 2020 to 2025;

Chapter 13, 14 & 15 to specify Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source of Manufacturing Scheduling Software market buyers, merchants, dealers, sales channel.



Browse for Full Report at @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/167216-global-manufacturing-scheduling-software-market



Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market research provides answers to the following key questions:

? What is the expected growth rate of the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market?

? What will be the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market size for the forecast period, 2020  2026?

? What are the main driving forces responsible for changing the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market trajectory?

? Who are the big suppliers that dominate the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market across different regions? Which are their wins to stay ahead in the competition?

? What are the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market trends business owners can rely upon in the coming years?

? What are the threats and challenges expected to restrict the progress of the Manufacturing Scheduling Software Market across different countries?



Contact US:

Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)

AMA Research & Media LLP

Unit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJ

New Jersey USA  08837

Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218

sales@advancemarketanalytics.com
Media Tech SPAC's John Mahtani introduces his new company to our Proactive London audience as well as his media career having worked at Time Warner. Mahtani is a chartered accountant, he joined the media industry in 1993 working for Universal & Paramount Pictures as a Marketing Accountant.

Mahtani has teamed up with Rick Senat, the non-executive Chairman who has worked on key projects including Harry Potter films and Celia Li, the chief media officer, a TV presenter for the worlds largest independent Chinese TV broadcaster Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Ltd.
NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Potash market will register an incremental spend of about USD 0.82 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 1.56% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Potash 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:

Potash 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 Potash market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Potash 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 4%-6%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Potash 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 Potash suppliers listed in this report:

This Potash procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Yara International ASA

Nutrien Ltd.

K+S AG

PJSC Uralkali

BHP Group Ltd.

Israel Chemicals Ltd.

EuroChem Group AG

Arab Potash Company (APC)

Acron Group

VALE SA

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

Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us.

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

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Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

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Related Links

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New Delhi, March 29 : Credit Suisse and Nomura Holdings have flagged concerns of significant losses after a major US-based hedge fund defaulted on margin calls made last week, following which shares of the two financial institutions slumped on Monday.

In a statement on Monday, Credit Suisse said that a significant US-based hedge fund defaulted on margin calls made last week by it and certain other banks, and following the failure of the fund to meet these margin commitments, Credit Suisse and a number of other banks are in the process of exiting these positions.

Archegos Capital Management is the hedge fund which defaulted on the margin calls, according to media reports.

"While at this time it is premature to quantify the exact size of the loss resulting from this exit, it could be highly significant and material to our first quarter results, notwithstanding the positive trends announced in our trading statement earlier this month," Credit Suisse said.

Shares of Credit Suisse plunged 14 per cent on the Swiss Stock Exchange. Similarly, stock price of Japan's Nomura fell 16 per cent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In a statement, Nomura Holdings, Inc said that on March 26, an event occurred that could subject one of its US subsidiaries to a significant loss arising from transactions with a US client.

Nomura is currently evaluating the extent of the possible loss and the impact it could have on its consolidated financial results.

"The estimated amount of the claim against the client is approximately $2 billion based on market prices as of March 26. This estimate is subject to change depending on unwinding of the transactions and fluctuations in market prices," it said.

It added that Nomura will continue to take the appropriate steps to address the issue.

"As of the end of December 2020, Nomura maintained a consolidated Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of over 17 percent, which is substantially higher than the minimum regulatory requirement. Accordingly, there will be no issues related to the operations or financial soundness of Nomura Holdings or its US subsidiary," it said.

Further, it announced that it has reached an agreement with the underwriters of the US dollar senior notes (TLAC-eligible debt) priced on March 23, 2021, to cancel the issuance due to the event which could impact the company's consolidated financial results.

Nomura intends to consider issuing similar notes after the impact on its consolidated financial results is known and has been properly disclosed, it said.
She set temperatures soaring the day before with stunning throwback bikini photos from a tropical getaway.

But Kim Kardashian cooled things down on Monday when she showcased her curves in some of her terrycloth items from her SKIMS shapewear label on Instagram.

The mini fashion show comes amid 40-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star's ongoing divorce from her husband, rapper Kanye West, 43.

Plush style: Kim Kardashian, 40, showcased her stunning curves in a set of beige underwear from her SKIMS terrycloth line posted to her Instagram on Monday

Kim rocked low-key beige designs with the plush fabric, including a bralette that highlighted her bust and toned tummy.

She was surrounded by mirrors and racks of her clothing and Skims outfits as she posed.

In addition to her bralette, she wore a high-cut set of matching beige panties.

The 5ft2in beauty highlighted her pert derriere in a second photo while staring into the camera.

She had her raven locks tied back and wore a long braided ponytail extension that reached down to the top of her thighs.

Long hair, don't care: The 5ft2in beauty highlighted her rear in a second photo while staring into the camera. She had her raven locks tied back and wore a long braided ponytail extension

Kim dressed up a bit more with her brand's terry leggings.

Another picture showed her admiring herself in the mirror while getting some caffeine from a Starbucks cup.

She wore the bralette and panties with an enveloping robe that reached down to her knees.

The reality star cinched her robe together as she sat down in one of her makeup chairs for some pampering.

Cozy: She wore a bralette and panties with an enveloping robe that reached down to her knees

Starting the day: The reality star cinched her robe together as she sat down in one of her makeup chairs for some pampering

She showed she was a fan of the same earth tones a day earlier when she posted steamy throwback photos to Instagram.

Kim revealed her stellar figure in a busty beige bikini with a high-cut string bottom while wearing reflective gold wraparound sunglasses.

The photos were taken from an older vacation, as the shapewear mogul had her dark hair dyed a lighter brown shade.

Bathing beauty: She showed she was a fan of the same earth tones a day earlier when she posted steamy throwback photos to Instagram

Curves ahead: Kim revealed her stellar figure in a busty beige bikini with a high-cut string bottom while wearing reflective gold wraparound sunglasses

She posted more recent photos from a short trip to Mexico this week showing her lounging in a seaside hammock while wearing a black two-piece string bikini.

The social media star was spotted hurrying through LAX airport on Thursday after returning from her trip south of the border.

She appeared to have forgotten a mask, so she had to keep her jacket held up to her face while walking out of the airport to a waiting SUV.

Newest getaway: She posted more recent photos from a short trip to Mexico this week showing her lounging in a seaside hammock while wearing a black two-piece string bikini

Kim is in the midst of her divorce from her husband Kanye West, with whom she shares four children: North, seven; Saint, five; Chicago, three; and Psalm, one.

The KUWTK star made it official with her divorce filing in February, and the two are reportedly planning to split custody of the children.

Kim has hired top Hollywood divorce lawyer Laura Wasser, reportedly the inspiration for Laura Dern's Oscar-winning role in Marriage Story.

The attorney also represented her when ending her second marriage to husband Kris Humphries, which lasted only 72 days.

According to TMZ, Kim may get to hold on to the family's Hidden Hills home so as not to uproot the children.
Nearly 60 hourly steelworkers at the Bradken specialty steel casting mill in Atchison, Kansas, walked out on strike on Monday, March 22. There are 131 workers employed at the plant in total. The strike enters its second week today.

The striking workers are organized under United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6943. Workers voted overwhelmingly to strike at a March 12 vote, after unanimously voting down Bradkens last, best and final offer. The USW waited to give the company the required 72-hour notice of intent to strike until March 19, a full week after the strike vote passed.

The local has not publicly detailed the demands of the company or its own in the press or on social media. According to local union officials, the strike is an unfair labor practice strike and not a strike that raises any economic demands.

Signs for a Bradken Inc. foundry are displayed next to photos of metal being processed, in Tacoma, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The timing of the strike at Bradken is important. It started just over one week before over 1,000 USW workers at Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) in Pennsylvania are set to go on strike this Tuesday after passing a 95 percent in-favor strike vote on March 5. Workers in Atchison must be wary of the USW making attempts to isolate steelworkers by ending the strike before ATI workers walk out.

Bradken is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of cast iron and steel products, according to its website, and is headquartered in Mayfield West, New South Wales, Australia. The corporation runs manufacturing and mining operations in the US, Australia, Canada, China, India, and Myanmar.

Workers produce locomotive rail and transit components and assemblies, mining, construction, industrial and military castings and general steel castings at the Atchison plant. The operation relies on electric-arc furnaces to produce an output of 36,500 tonnes per year.

Bradken became a subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. in 2017, a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. recorded $2.3 billion in gross profit in 2020, a drop from $2.68 billion in 2019, but still well above its 2017 gross profit of $1.57 billion. Bradken is incorporated in the state of Delaware, a notorious tax haven.

The USW has claimed that Bradken has refused to bargain fairly with the union. Local 6943 President Gregg Welch told the Atchison Globe that service bargaining and unfair labor practices are why were doing this. Its not about protecting our seniority rights and keeping our senior people working.

Like every contract negotiated by the USWand all other unions for that matterthe negotiations with Bradken are held between company executives and union officials on the bargaining committee behind closed doors. Workers are routinely kept in the dark about the terms that are being discussed, knowing nothing until a contract is about to be pushed through. Then, workers receive only the highlights of the contract signed off by union officials and company management before being rushed to vote. In recent years, workers have rarely been given the full contracts to read that have been negotiated by the USW before voting, in violation of their rights.

Workers have denounced a March 21 letter sent to them by Bradken Vice President of Operations Ken Bean, which stated that workers can cross the picket line to continue working if they decide by becoming either a dues-paying only, non-member or resign from the union. Kansas is a so-called right-to-work state, meaning that workers can work at a unionized workplace without being required to join the union or pay dues.

Bean also told the Atchison Press that the company was using scab labor to continue production during the strike, reporting that the company was taking all steps possible to make sure production was not interrupted, utilizing all options at their disposal.

Workers at the Atchison mill and the community have professed their determination not to cross the picket lines at Bradken on the USW 6943 and 6943-1 Facebook page. As one worker wrote in response to a post announcing the last, best and final offer from Bradken: 98% of Transportation will NOT cross the line! My family will be there to support the strike, it is important to our family and our communities.

In order to intimidate and wear down the morale of the striking workers, Bradken has deployed local police to the picket lines and has issued a restraining order to prevent local supporters from walking outside the facility in the areas where workers are picketing. The USW has effectively done nothing to protect workers from these intimidation tactics, leaving workers isolated on the picket lines from the working class in the area, including some 8,000 autoworkers at Fords Kansas City Assembly Plant roughly 55 miles away in Claycomo, Missouri.

Against the backdrop of mass unemployment, the economic crisis facing workers worldwide, and the public health disaster as a result of the ruling class decision to prioritize profits over public safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the AFL-CIO and the USW are using another tactic. Unable to contain opposition through previous methods of strike suppression, they are seeking to use the strike to string workers out on starvation wages on the picket lines, isolate them from other sections of workers nationally and internationally, and force through a concessions contract that will allow Bradken to accumulate enough profit to remain competitive in the short term against its national and international rivals in the industry.

A growing wave of militancy is coursing through the working class internationally in response to the ruling class criminal neglect of public safety during the pandemic and demands for austerity measures even as it forces workers back into unsafe workplaces to produce profit. The strike at Bradken in Atchison is an expression of this militancy, and the World Socialist Web Site is in full support of the workers fight against the company. However, the WSWS also urges workers to take their struggle into their own hands and not allow it to be sabotaged by the USW, which is planning to give in to corporate demands behind the backs of workers.

Workers at Bradken in Kansas and ATI in Pennsylvania must draw conclusions from the valuable lessons of two recent strikes betrayed by the USW and the international trade unions. The USW isolated mineworkers at Asarco in Texas and Arizona last year for nine months in a bitter strike against the international mining conglomerate. Aluminum workers at Constellium in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, were sold out after nearly one month of struggle against the French-owned manufacturer. Each struggle ended in the USW giving the corporations what they demanded.

The USW is not only isolating workers at Bradken from their fellow workers at ATI, but from their brothers and sisters being exploited by the same corporation throughout the world, and from steelworkers and metalworkers globally who are facing attacks by the ruling class on their livelihoods. Workers at Liberty Steel in the UK stand to lose their jobs and have their communities decimated if the corporation and the Community union collaborate to shutter operations at its mills in Rotherham and Stocksbridge, according to the BBC.

The ruling elites use nationalism to whipsaw workers in one country against another, with the aim of preventing the working class from linking their struggles internationally to deal a collective blow to the capitalist system. The nationally based trade unions tie workers to the interests of their exploiters, declaring that what is good for the national interest is good for the working class, and seek to channel class tensions into support for the war plans of the ruling class.

USW International President Tom Conway recently penned a piece for Independent Media Institute which calls for the US to manufacture more component parts within national borders in response to an international semiconductor shortage which has interrupted production in the auto industry. Rather than call out the nationalist and profit-driven policies of the ruling class for the job and wage cuts that have resulted from the shortage, Conway backs Bidens nationalist America is Back plan as he did Trumps America First, both of which are ultimately aimed at deepening trade war measures against China.

Across the world, workers are rejecting the nationalist framework of the trade unions and are fighting to take their struggles against the capitalist system into their own hands by forming independent rank-and-file safety committees. Workers in these committees are drawing up their own demands, based on what they need and not what the unions and corporations say that the ruling class can afford. Very importantly, these committees are providing the organizational framework for workers to link up their struggles across industries and international borders to fight to end the capitalist system of exploitation and replace it with socialism, the only economic system that can achieve the promise of social equality.

We urge workers on strike at Bradken and workers at ATI to form rank-and-file committees of their own so that their strikes can link up and fight against the isolation imposed by the USW. These committees must demand an end to dangerous working conditions, substantial increases to wages and benefits, full income and health benefits for all retirees and a reinstatement of the eight-hour day. Workers must also demand that all negotiations between the USW and the corporations be livestreamed and that the full contract be made available to members to study and discuss for two weeks before voting.

The Socialist Equality Party and the WSWS will do everything possible to support the organization of these committees. Contact us today if you are interested in forming a rank-and-file strike committee at your plant.
Could a decades-old antidepressant be a secret weapon against Covid? A few scientists think so, after two small studies showed that fluvoxamine, typically prescribed for obsessive-compulsive disorder, prevented serious illness in all participants who took the pills soon after developing symptoms.

It's an exciting notion: A $10, two-week course of this drug could reduce death and hospitalizations. The drug could be used to fight ongoing outbreaks in the United States and would be a particular godsend for lower-income countries that may have to wait years for vaccines against the virus. But fluvoxamine, as well as other old drugs showing potential against Covid, face hurdles to full evaluations.

Drug companies have no incentive to spend millions to test new uses for cheap, off-patent drugs. Chances are slim that any drug, even one showing promise in early trials, would provide a major benefit. And early enthusiasm for Covid treatments that later flopped has "made people gun-shy," said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California.

In particular, former President Donald Trump's premature promotion of hydroxychloroquine likely stymied efforts to find other generic cures. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use of the malaria drug in March, then revoked the authorization less than three months later after evidence showed it was more likely to harm than help patients.

"We doctors who want to use evidence-based medicine feel somewhat burned by the hydroxychloroquine experience and really want to see good studies before we actually jump on the bandwagon," said Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston.

And that poses a Catch-22. Until recently, the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest public funder of biomedical research, has shown little interest in studies of repurposed drugs. Without big money, it's hard to do the research needed to show whether existing treatments could work against Covid.

As a result, efforts to repurpose drugs have fallen to philanthropists, some in the Bay Area. "We're missing out on public health benefits of the drugs we already have because were relying almost entirely on capitalism and private industry to make advances," said Elaine Lissner, founder of the San Francisco-based Parsemus Foundation, which is supporting Covid research on fluvoxamine and other low-cost oral drugs.

Repurposing is a long shot, yet compared to creating drugs and vaccines, the approach has clear advantages during a fast-moving pandemic. "If it works and it's on the shelf, you don't have any development time," said Dr. Lisa Danzig, a specialist in infectious diseases who consults with companies, investors, government and philanthropies. One of the best treatments in the Covid arsenal  the common steroid dexamethasone  is a repurposed drug. But it is recommended only for hospitalized patients who are seriously ill.

Danzig was "very excited" last April by news that a team led by University of California-San Francisco researchers had identified 69 possible drugs that, when used early on, could counteract infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid. "I'm thinking, if we can rapidly test some of these in clinical trials, we can have answers by October."

Yet these studies struggled to get off the ground. Solid Covid trials of early treatments are particularly hard to pull off. Patients often must enroll within days of noticing symptoms. And without a national research infrastructure, "it's hard to get anyone's attention to participate in a trial or refer to it," said Dr. Eric Lenze, a psychiatrist at Washington University in St. Louis who teamed with his colleague Dr. Angela Reiersen last year to conduct a trial of fluvoxamine in newly infected Covid patients with mild symptoms.

Participants in that early study logged symptoms on a website while taking fluvoxamine or placebo tablets that were mailed to their homes. Fluvoxamine, sold under the brand name Luvox, is one of the oldest drugs in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is prescribed for major depression in many countries and was approved by the FDA in 1994 to treat OCD.

The results of the trial, published in November in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that none of the 80 fluvoxamine-treated patients became seriously ill, while six of 72 patients who took placebo pills worsened and required hospitalization.

Last month, another journal published results of a real-world study that echoed the JAMA results: Among 113 horse racetrack workers who were offered fluvoxamine after contracting Covid during a Bay Area outbreak, none of the 65 patients who chose to take the drug got sicker, whereas six of 48 people who declined the drug wound up hospitalized, and one died.

The evidence for fluvoxamine  which includes cell and animal data showing that the drug blocks harmful inflammation through a molecular pathway different from the way it treats depression or OCD  puts it "among the more promising non-proven therapies," Sax said. He is waiting for more definitive results from an ongoing national trial being conducted by the Washington University team. "Based on years of watching therapeutic trials in infectious disease," Sax said, "a lot of these things turn out to be busts."

Smaller studies are more likely to overestimate a drug's effects, said Elizabeth Ogburn, a biostatistician at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Experiences with several experimental treatments illustrate this word of caution. Earlier in the pandemic, some doctors jumped on early lab data and started treating people with convalescent plasma  blood donated by recovered patients. Enthusiasm for plasma, however, has waned somewhat as the pandemic eased and larger studies suggested it did not improve survival in hospitalized patients.

Research on the gout drug colchicine caused similar whiplash. A news release in January claimed the drug reduced Covid deaths by 44%, but once the full data was released, enthusiasm cooled, said Dr. David Boulware, a physician-scientist at the University of Minnesota Medical School who led several hydroxychloroquine trials that helped disprove that drug's value in fighting Covid.

"It's tough to weed through what's real and what's not," he said.

With NIH showing little interest in generics, private funders have seized an opportunity. Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Steve Kirsch launched the Covid-19 Early Treatment Fund last spring to support research on promising outpatient drugs.

Kirsch's fund helped finance the published fluvoxamine trial and coordinated fundraising for most of the $2 million needed for the current nationwide study. But his zeal gave some the impression that Kirsch was hyping the drug. Newspapers have rejected his op-eds, Facebook took down his posts, and Medium removed Kirsch's story titled "The Fast, Easy, Safe, Simple, Low-Cost Solution to Covid That Works 100% of the Time That Nobody Wants to Talk About," and closed his account.

Claims about a drug's efficacy and safety can be made only after authorization of the product by the FDA for its intended use, said Danzig, who serves as a volunteer medical adviser for Kirsch's fund. These rules "are not widely known to people in the tech world."

Agency-level guidelines are slow to change, and for good reason, Boulware said. "If something's a guideline, and you're not doing it, that starts to become medical malpractice."

In the case of fluvoxamine, though, Boulware finds the data promising and hopes the larger trial can be completed quickly. "If this was the first drug that came along and there wasn't the hydroxychloroquine experience, people would view it very differently," he said.

Earlier this month, CityHealth Urgent Care, which has two Bay Area clinics and a national telehealth program, began making fluvoxamine available to high-risk Covid patients.

Besides the fluvoxamine study, other drug repurposing trials are enrolling U.S. patients, including an NIH trial comparing monoclonal antibodies, inhalable beta interferon and camostat, and separate trials evaluating the diabetes drug metformin or vitamin D for Covid treatment or prevention. Plans are underway for additional trials supported by a public-private partnership. And a multi-site, placebo-controlled trial coordinated by McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, is comparing fluvoxamine, metformin and an antiparasitic agent, ivermectin, in patients with mild Covid.

"I think we're going to get some answers," said Dr. Vikas Sukhatme, dean of the Emory School of Medicine. "It just would have been nice to get them sooner."

This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
China's new "dual circulation" development paradigm

Xinhua) 09:10, March 29, 2021

A man works at a workshop of Hefei plant of Changan Automobile in High-tech Industry Development Zone in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- To sustain growth, China is pushing a "dual circulation" development paradigm, which has been mentioned as a guiding thought in a blueprint for its development in the next five to 15 years.

"China will advance the building of a strong domestic market and a strong trading nation in a concerted way, based on the domestic circulation," read 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.

What is the new development paradigm? Why did China put forward it in 2020? How will the country foster it? Here are some explanations.

-- What is the new development paradigm?

First floated by China's leadership in May 2020, the new development paradigm of "dual circulation" allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

The key to building a new development pattern lies in unimpeded economic circulation and industrial connectivity, according to an article by Vice Premier Liu He expounding on the new paradigm.

The fundamental requirements are enhancing the creativity and connectivity of the supply system, removing various bottlenecks of development, and smoothing the circulation of the national economy, Liu wrote.

Workers make protective suits at a workshop of Hodo Group in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

-- Why did China propose the new paradigm?

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new development pattern comes not as a passive, short-term response, but as an active policy choice based on changes in the country's development conditions and demand for long-term high-quality growth.

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, Chinese authorities have put forward strategies including expanding domestic demand and supply-side structural reforms, suggesting the gradual shift toward internal circulation has long been underway, said Liu Yuanchun, vice president of the Renmin University of China.

Currently, protectionism and anti-globalization are on the rise, but the main driving force for the new development pattern is the shift in China's comparative advantage from a cheap labor force to huge domestic consumption potential, said Yao Jingyuan, a research fellow at the Counsellors' Office of the State Council.

It is a natural choice to focus on the domestic market as China's per capita GDP rises above 10,000 U.S. dollars and its middle-income population exceedings 400 million, entailing mass opportunities at home.

-- Will China close its door under the new pattern?

Making the domestic market the mainstay does not mean China is developing its economy with the door closed. By giving full play to the potential of the domestic market, both domestic and foreign markets can be better connected and utilized to realize robust and sustainable development.

Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, said that taking the domestic market as the mainstay doesn't mean a return to an inward-looking economy. He said it will not affect China's commitment to opening-up.

Despite the impact from COVID-19 last year, the country made strides in opening its market by unveiling three new pilot free trade zones. More notably, it signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement in November 2020, which launched the world's biggest free trade bloc to date.

For the next five years and beyond, China will promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and steadily advance institutional openness, which stresses rule-based, transparent regulatory models and business environment that better aligns with international norms, as outlined in the new five-year plan.

A customer selects drinks at a supermarket in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Sept. 16, 2020. (Photo by Zhao Song/Xinhua)

-- Why will China's new development paradigm be successful?

China's economic development over the past 40 years has laid a solid foundation for the country to forge the new development paradigm.

China has the world's most complete industrial system and largest middle-income population, and leads the world in terms of retail sales of consumer goods and total import and export volume. This makes it possible for the country to tap domestic demand for future growth.

China's ability to eradicate institutional obstacles through tireless reforms will support the operation of dual circulation as the market is playing a more decisive role in allocating resources and the country's business environment continues to improve.

According to a World Bank report, China's ease of doing business ranking rose to 31 last year, and it is also among the 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business after implementing reforms.

-- How will China work to forge the new paradigm?

China's leadership has underscored that enhancing independent innovation capabilities and making breakthroughs in key and core technologies are vital to establishing the new paradigm.

For the next five years, China's research and development spending will grow by over 7 percent annually, according to the outline.

For domestic circulation, the outline noted that China will deepen its supply-side structural reform and innovate its modes of production to provide high-quality products and services. Other measures include rectifying resource misallocation and allowing the financial sector to better serve the real economy.

Meanwhile, the country will strive to become a strong magnet for global resources and production factors, promote the coordinated development of domestic and external demand, imports and exports, as well as foreign and outbound investment, according to the outline.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Hongyu)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 16:31:38|Editor: huaxia

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Zhang Shangbao (L) measures the blood pressure of a villager in Tietou Village of Shilou County, north China's Shanxi Province, March 23, 2021. Zhang, 61, who has only one hand, has been walking through the mountains day after day since 1976, safeguarding the health of the locals. There are more than 600 villagers living in 5 hamlets of Tietou Village tucked away in the Lyuliang Mountains. In the past, it was difficult to access healthcare, which had plagued the masses here for a long time. In 1976, Zhang Shangbao graduated from a health school at the age of 16 and returned to his hometown to work as a village doctor. From then on, Zhang started his life staying on call around the clock to see patients. Unfortunately, Zhang lost his right hand in an accident when he was 35. With the tenacity of not bowing to fate, he quickly mastered the skills of living on his own. Through repeated practice, Zhang also learned how to inject fluids, vaccinate and fill in health records with his left hand. Last April, Zhang Shangbao reached retirement age, but he chose to continue with his work. "As long as the villagers need me," He said, "I will stick to my post." (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)
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Request Immediate Publication Headline: Post Brexit UK can tap the $5 trillion global halal consumer market to become the global hub & gateway to Ethical & Shariah Finance: Indian American Dr. Tausif Malik Post-COVID -19, the startups can give a great fillip to the UK economy and UK can be hub for Islamic Fintech, Halal food manufacturing, Halal cosmetics, and, Modest fashion Halal Angels Network has partnered with two UK organisations - Educational 
Upon being informed of the tragic train collision in Sohag yesterday, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi directed relevant state bodies to mobilize all their resources to deal with the consequences of the accident, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said Saturday 27/03/2021.

Madbouli made the remarks during a news briefing in Sohag, after visiting those wounded in the deadly crash, in the presence of the ministers of health, higher education, local development and social solidarity, as well as the governor of Sohag.

He said that a crisis management room had immediately been set up by the Cabinet to coordinate with the ministries and state bodies concerned to move the accident victims and provide necessary medical care to the injured.

In addition, a special plane had also been deployed to the accident site in Tahta city, about 460 kilometers (285 miles) south of Cairo, to transport those who needed delicate surgeries.

Having checked on the injured, Madbouli said, a meeting was held with the ministers of health, higher education, local development and social solidarity, as well as the governor of Sohag, to conceptualize a plan to deal with the accident's consequences and its implications on the victims' families.

As per presidential directives, it has been agreed to double the normal financial compensation for casualties in a public transport accident, providing EGP 100,000 for the victims' families, and EGP 20-40 thousand pounds for the families of the injured, according to injury severity.

The president also ordered an immediate probe to determine the root cause of the crash, the premier said.

He noted that a competent committee formed by the technical and oversight bodies concerned has already started its work at the scene of the accident.

Madbouli also pointed to the public prosecutor's visit to inspect the accident site, accompanied by a team from the public prosecution's technical office.

He urged all citizens not to prejudge the results of the ongoing investigations by specialized technical, supervisory and criminal committees.

During the press conference, Premier Madbouli also touched upon the outdated infrastructure of the railway service after decades of negligence."

"Upon embarking on upgrading the railway service, which is of crucial importance for millions of citizens, we found that some train carriages had already exceeded their lifespan," the premier said.

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He noted that the State had allocated hundreds of billions of pounds to modernize this vital sector.

The State has taken serious steps in this regard; however, much more work is still lying ahead, Madbouli said.

He added that funding is no longer a pressing issue compared to the required time-frame needed to complete to the upgrading process.

Another challenge to modernization efforts is keeping the railway network running in tandem with the upgrading process, the prime minister said.

He also asserted the urgent need to speed up the modernization process in order to eliminate human error in railway operations and ensure maximum safety for all in such a vital sector.

Madbouli extended his heartfelt condolences to the victims' families, wishing the wounded speedy recovery.

The premier concluded by affirming the State's commitment to bringing those behind the tragic crash to justice upon the completion of ongoing investigations.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:45:15|Editor: huaxia

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (L) stands beside Health Secretary Francisco Duque as they present a case containing government-purchased Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines in Manila, the Philippines, on March 29, 2021. The Philippines on Monday received the first batch of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines its government has purchased from China. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines on Monday received the first batch of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines its government has purchased from China.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed the arrival of the CoronaVac vaccines alongside Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, at an air force base in the capital Manila.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the vaccine arrival "is very timely and most crucial," especially when Metro Manila and its adjacent provinces are experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections.

Two batches of the China-donated Sinovac vaccines had previously arrived in the Philippines since last February, allowing the Southeast Asian country to kick off its vaccination drive on March 1.

"China now is the first and only country to provide vaccines to the Philippines through both donation and commercial procurement, which is a testament to our traditional friendship with solidarity and closer partnership in the new era," Ambassador Huang said at the handover ceremony on Monday.

The Philippines' Department of Health reported 10,016 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the highest ever daily tally since the coronavirus outbreak in January last year in the country, raising its total tally to 731,894.

The death toll rose to 13,186 on Monday after 16 more patients died from the viral disease.

The Philippine government is ramping up the vaccination efforts in Metro Manila and its four adjacent provinces where most infections have been detected. It aims to inoculate up to 70 million Filipinos this year to achieve herd immunity, starting with health care workers and the elderly.
A project spearheaded by six farmers hopes to develop blockchain technology allowing shoppers to trace their oats back along the supply chain.

The digital technology would allow consumers to trace their oat products and be confident that they are 100 percent gluten-free.

This would then provide a blueprint for other cereals and foods, according to the oat growers, who worked with SAC Consulting and data firm Wallet Services last year as part of trials.

These aimed to establish whether information could be practically accumulated on-farm and uploaded to a server to provide full and instant traceability at any stage in the supply chain.

The farmers are now seeking funding to recommence trial using apps, sensors and API to minimise the effort needed to input data at farm level.

Blockchain is a digital ledger into which information from different places can be entered and then linked together in a chain.

A quick scan of a QR code can trace a product throughout the entire supply chain using these blocks.

Paul Mayfield of SAC Consulting, who coordinated the project, said last year's trial were very successful and had proved the concept works.

But he also highlighted that that the technology needed to be easier to implement and affordable for small to medium size farms, as well as bigger commercial ones.

The technology is excellent and can provide instant answers to what at the moment can take a couple of weeks to investigate along a paper trail," said Mr Mayfield.

"But if we want to see it widely used, we need to make it very easy and affordable for farmers to adopt."

Blockchain could be used not only to counter food fraud or source contamination but to evidence environmental and sustainability credentials, which may be the direction of travel for retailers and the government.

If we can create a blueprint to accurately and openly trace the origin of foods  and potentially their carbon footprint - we can help farmers do what they may well be required to do for contracts or rural payments in the future, he said.

What we need, though, is for farmers to help us understand the technology they need and would use on the ground so that it works for them.

"Not only can it be used as an advanced management tool to improve their business, but the data becomes a commodity they can sell.

"The tech is there, but we need farmers to help shape it, Mr Mayfield said.
COLUMBIA  Lin Wood, the attorney who pushed baseless fraud claims in support of President Donald Trump after the 2020 election, is running for chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party against an incumbent who has already scored Trump's endorsement.

The decision by Wood, confirmed in a March 29 email to The Post and Courier, comes just months after he moved to the Palmetto State from neighboring Georgia. Wood is now registered to vote in Beaufort County.

"My decision to run for the office was heavily influenced by my well known desire to reform local and state political parties and return power to the people," Wood said. "Here, I want to return power and control of the South Carolina Republican Party to the members of the party."

Wood will be challenging incumbent chairman Drew McKissick, whom Trump endorsed with a hand-written note in February. The chairman is elected at the state party convention, which is currently slated for May, and counties will hold local conventions throughout April.

"You have my complete and total endorsement," Trump wrote in the short note to McKissick. "Great job!"

In a statement responding to Wood's announcement, McKissick said, "Any South Carolina Republican has the right to run for State Chairman and I welcome the challenge."

"In the past four years, we've brought record numbers of new conservative patriots into our party who want to make a difference, and the result has been the greatest growth and electoral success in the history of the SC GOP," said McKissick, who has led the state party since 2017.

Despite Trump's national loss to Democrat Joe Biden, South Carolina Republicans are coming off one of their best election cycles in party history.

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In addition to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's double-digit reelection victory, the party also won back a Lowcountry congressional seat that they lost in 2018 and expanded their majorities in both the state House and Senate.

The greater GOP control in the Statehouse allowed the party to pass a strict abortion ban earlier this session after years of unsuccessfully trying. The measure has been blocked in federal court.

Wood first announced his intentions in a post late March 28 on the messaging app Telegram, writing that several "concerned South Carolina Republicans who are conservative Patriots approached me a few days ago to ask me if I just talked the talk or would I walk the walk."

"They want to take back their Republican Party," Wood wrote. "They want to return the power to the people  the members of the party. They have endured enough Rino (Republican In Name Only) Republicanism in the present leadership of the South Carolina GOP. They are demanding change."

The Georgia state bar is investigating complaints against Wood and ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, a request that Wood said he refused, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is also reportedly investigating whether Wood had already moved to South Carolina before the 2020 election and illegally voted in Georgia afterward. Wood refuted those allegations, telling CNN that he did not change his residency to South Carolina until early February 2021.
Monrovia  Upon his historic election as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Representatives, U.S. Congress, Monrovia City Major Jefferson T. Koijee has sent out a message of congratulations to Representative Gregory Meeks, his friend of many years.

Ethnically, Meeks is of African-American heritage, and according to a DNA analysis, he descended, mainly, from people of Sierra Leone. His great-grandparents were living in South Carolina when slavery was abolished.

As Meeks is now the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a whole, he serves as an ex-officio member on all subcommittees.

Koijee hailed Meeks for being the first African-American to ascend to this noble height of congressional undertakings in the United States of America (USA).

The Monrovia City Mayor sees Meeks' victory as an advancement for color people, particularly the blacks. Koijee added that this is a documented step rise against discrimination in all forms as it signals a boost for democracy worldwide.
New Delhi:

In yet another case of sexual abuse in schools, a class 12 girl was allegedly gang-raped by the director and a teacher of Janta Bal Niketan School in Rajasthans Ajitgarh area of Sikar district.

According to the reports, school director Jagdish and teacher Jagat Singh were sexually abusing the victim for the last few months.

After the repeated incidents of gang rape, the girl got pregnant and the accused took her to a private hospital in nearby town Shahpura.

Also Read | Delhi shame: 5-year-old girl allegedly raped by peon in school, accused arrested

The incident came to light when the girl started bleeding heavily after reaching home. Her parents took her to a hospital in Ajitgarh where doctors told them about the alleged rape and abortion of the victim.

The victim has been referred to Jaipur where her condition is still critical.

The police have registered a case against both accused director and teacher of the school. Both accused are absconding ever since the incident was reported and a team of police is searching for them.

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By Juliet Nalwooga

Uganda Prisons Spokesperson Mr Frank Baine has dismissed reports on social media that the Kitalya prison facility is a torture-detention center for political prisoners.

Addressing journalists in Kampala, Baine revealed that a one Lumbuye and group on social media are targeting to tarnish security agencies reputation including Prisons by naming them torture chambers.

He says Uganda prisons runs an open door policy and members of the public are free to visit.

Members of parliament recently visited, they even talked to the inmates. So it is very surprising that somebody is calling Kitalya a torture chamber. Unfortunately for us we dont have political prisoners, all who we have are those who have defaulted on the penal code act says Mr Baine.

Relatedly in a tweet, the opposition National Unity Platform party leader Robert Kyagulanyi recently noted that the conditions at Kitalya where party supporters like Nubian Li and Eddy Mutwe are detained are dire.

The conditions at Kitalya where Nubian Li and hundreds of comrades are detained for no crime whatsoever, are dire. Theyve complained of being denied basic rights, a healthcare crisis, an acute water shortage, and other humiliating conditions. Read one his (Kyagulanyis) recent tweets.
Mary Laurenzano, a math teacher at Bennett Middle School in Fruitland, Maryland, died of COVID-19 on March 22. Laurenzano had returned to her school voluntarily last September, at which point all of her students were still learning remotely. On February 8, some of her students returned for in-person learning under a hybrid model, and on March 9 Laurenzano developed COVID-19 symptoms and went into quarantine. She continued to teach from home right up to the day she succumbed to the virus last week.

Laurenzano taught at Bennett Middle School starting in 2004 and earned numerous accolades and praise for her devotion to her students. In 2018, she was a Wicomico County Teacher of the Year semifinalist and a year earlier was honored by a local television station as a Teacher Who Makes A Difference.

Mary Laurenzano (photo from Bennett Middle School's Facebook page)

After being honored in 2018, Laurenzano said, Every student is capable of being successful, but not all are traditional learners. Many come from homes that dont have the ability to support their child academically. She added, Educational systems have to be creative in meeting the needs of every student, give equal opportunity for them to try different programs if they are being unsuccessful in a traditional environment. The community has to work together, put aside all of our differences and see the value in working together to help any child realize their potential.

In the 2017 television profile, she said, Im thankful for the staff that I have, the peers that I have, because without them were not able to have good instruction. These guys make it fun, because its one big family and its all of the different personalities that make it great.

One of Laurenzanos colleagues told the World Socialist Web Site, Mary was the heart of our school. She was the first person to greet me and talk to me on my first day at Bennett Middle School. Ive recently learned that many people can tell that same story about her. She was unbelievably devoted to teaching. She was the first person to arrive each day and it was so she could provide math tutoring. She also tutored most afternoons as well.

Laurenzano also helped ensure students had enough to eat. She always kept snacks in her room and would intervene if ever a student lost or didnt have lunch money, her colleague added. Ive also known her to take care of student lunch debt if the student was being denied lunch.

Dozens of former students and parents took to Facebook to mourn the loss of Laurenzano. One wrote, I had her in 2008. She was one of the few teachers I knew who would help you with whatever you were having issues with. I never stopped thinking about her She made my least favorite subject enjoyable.

A parent wrote, Our whole family is mourning this devastating loss. She nurtured all three of my sons. All of her students are saying that they were her favorite. Thats the kind of teacher she was. She made every student feel special, encouraged them to do their best, challenged, teased and coaxed them to try and try again and she did all that with great sense of humor, infinite patience and wisdom.

Laurenzanos death is a direct result of the criminal push by the Biden administration and Marylands Republican Governor Larry Hogan to reopen schools before the pandemic is contained. A day after Biden was inaugurated, Hogan announced that all Maryland schools should return to at least hybrid instruction by March 1 and threatened action against teachers who did not return. Schools in Wicomico County had been virtual throughout the 2020-2021 school year, but after Hogans announcement the school system began a rapid reopening in early February.

According to Education Week, as of March 23, 2021, at least 906 active and retired K-12 educators and personnel have died of COVID-19, of whom 252 were active teachers. The corporate media, both big business parties, the teachers unions, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have all pushed for school reopenings in order to coax working class parents back into unsafe workplaces to ensure the flow of profits to the major corporations.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) have played an especially filthy role in sending teachers back to school, with AFT President Randi Weingarten telling the New York Times last month that she spends 15 hours a day on the phone with the White House, the CDC, local mayors and union leaders working to force schools open.

Notably, there is a conspiracy of silence around the cause of Laurenzanos death. Neither Bennett Middle School, the Wicomico County school system, nor published press accounts have even noted that she died of COVID-19. The Wicomico County Education Association (WCEA) has issued no statement at all about Laurenzanos death.

The newspapers said she died suddenly and was teaching on the day she died, Laurenzanos colleague told the WSWS. What [they] failed to explain is that she was quarantining at home because of COVID symptoms.

This wall of silence by the union, the school system and the corporate media about the cause of Laurenzanos death is a deliberate attempt to conceal the real dangers that the coronavirus continues to represent and is aimed at forestalling teachers and the wider working class from taking action to close schools and prevent further needless sickness and death.

The general feeling around the school is pain, sadness and anger, said Laurenzanos colleague. We can all see that they are trying to cover up the fact that she died of COVID from our community. The plan is still to go ahead with the three-foot junk propaganda science which translates to a full face-to-face reopening.

The latter reference is to the CDCs recent revision of social distancing in schools from six to three feet. On March 17, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky made clear in testimony to the House of Representatives that science is being manipulated to serve the ruling class offensive to reopen the schools.

Walensky stated, As soon as our guidance came out [last month], it became very clear that six feet was among the things that was keeping schools closed, and in that context science evolves. In fact, the science is clear that closing schools is one of the most important public health measures that can be taken to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Another Wicomico County teacher informed the WSWS that the school system will be open for daily in-person instruction in mid-April. The teacher also noted that the school system recently announced that they will no longer accommodate social distancing on school buses.

Here on the Eastern Shore, it is almost as if COVID is over, the teacher explained. The only safety measures in schools for now is regular chemical sprays on desks. Its obvious there have been no deep cleanings. My floor hasnt even been swept in weeks. Cleaning in the classroom is solely up to the teacher.

The teacher explained that distancing was never strictly enforced, so this change to three feet is essentially arbitrary. The teacher also noted that there is no COVID-19 testing available through the school system and the only screening is a COVID agreement that parents must sign affirming that their children do not have COVID-19 symptoms.

Regarding the Biden administrations push to reopen, the teacher stated, Somehow Im beginning to think I was safer as a teacher under the Trump administration. The CDC is sending two completely conflicting messages: variants are coming, everyone stay home but also open schools and allow our children to congregate. I feel that three feet is closer than most people stood near each other before COVID. Its so close it basically negates distancing all together.

This teacher also reported that 130 students were recently put in quarantine at Wicomicos Snow Hill Middle School due to exposure to COVID-19, apparently stemming from a band class and school buses.

A third Wicomico teacher told the WSWS that a fully vaccinated teacher recently tested positive for COVID-19, marking the third known case in his school since February. He also explained that the school systems policy makes it nearly impossible for a teacher to be identified as a close contact with a student who tests positive.

To be considered a close contact, you would have to be within six feet of a person for at least 15 minutes, the teacher said. So even if a student in my class gets COVID, I would not be considered to be a close contact and would not have to quarantine or miss school because technically I was at least six feet away, even though that student is in my class for over 80 minutes and seven feet away from me.

He also explained that at a recent WCEA meeting, the union president said that the school system was rejecting almost all requests for teacher accommodations pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, forcing numerous teachers with high-risk medical conditions to either retire, quit or go on unpaid leave.

Teachers and school staff who want to organize resistance to school reopenings should sign up to join the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, which has local committees in numerous cities and states across the US and internationally. It is only through these safety committees, organized independently of both big business parties and the pro-corporate trade unions, that educators can wage the necessary struggle to shut down schools and prevent further death of teachers, school personnel and students. Sign up today to get involved!
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The flexible, laminated plastic packaging pouch found on the food products are Retort Pouches and the packaging is called as Retort Packaging. Retort Packaging found it`s application in the packaged food industry to pack a wide range of products like from water to fully cooked meals such as Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) which can be eaten cold, warmed by submersing in hot water and so on. They have wide range of thermal stabilization.

Global Retort Pouches Market is Segmented on the basis of Product type: Stand-up Pouches, Spouted Pouches, Zipper Pouches, Others; on the basis of material type: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polyester, Polypropylene, Food-Grade Cast Polypropylene, Nylon, Other; on the basis of end-use: Food, Beverages, Pharmaceutical, Personal care.The major growth driver for the Retort Packaging Market is it`s thermal stability as it can withstand high temperature thus keeping it`s content safe.

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A former senator, Shehu Sani, has urged popular Islamic cleric, Ahmed Gumi, to intervene in securing the release of the 39 students of Federal Forestry College and members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) held by kidnappers in Kaduna State.

The former lawmaker made the appeal when he visited the cleric in his residence in Kaduna, Monday afternoon.

Mr Gumi has been in the news in recent times after following an appeal he made to the government to grant amnesty to bandits.

The cleric has also met bandits in Kaduna, Katsina, Niger and Zamfara to negotiate their peaceful surrender after years of killing hundreds and displacing many from numerous communities.

He also reportedly met the bandits responsible for the abduction of 27 students and 15 others from the Government Science College, Kagara in Niger State to negotiate the release of the hostages. He has been criticised for his efforts by some Nigerians.

But he had argued that the easiest way to end the menace is to negotiate with the killers.

Visit

Speaking during the visit, Mr Sani expressed his desire to see the end of banditry in the country.

He urged the cleric not to relent on his efforts as many people were proud of what he was doing.

Im one of the Nigerians passionate about bringing an end to insecurity in the country and I will not relent. I beg you not to retreat from whatever effort you are putting in place, the former lawmaker said.

We cannot also defeat people until we understand them and win some of them over. So do not be discouraged by words and lack of recognition.

A mother whose child is in the hand of kidnappers will simply want their release at all cost. I call on you to use the privilege, the opportunity and the power which God has personally endowed you with to help free the 39 Afaka forestry college students and the RCCG members in captivity.

Responding, Mr Gumi appreciated Mr Sanis efforts towards restoring peace in the country.

He said he had met the parents of the abducted students prior to their meeting with the Kaduna State Government.

As for the college students, we have done all we can do. In fact, I had a meeting with parents of the kidnapped students, sequel to their meeting with the government. I show them what the problem is and they went to visit the government and returned, Mr Gumi said.

He said he was not a negotiator for bandits, as he always ensured that government officials were present in his discussions with bandits in the forests, before the federal governments shoot at sight order on armed bandits.

As for the college students, we are making arrangements for them through a contact to see how these problems can be solved.

The case has been referred to someone and he is doing his best, the cleric said.
Not only has Hannah Miller carried on a formidable family tradition by playing the saxophone: She also inherited a well-used instrument.

"It kind of runs in my family," said Miller, a Meridian Early College High School senior who plays both alto saxophone and baritone saxophone. "My grandpa John Miller, my dad Donovan Miller, and my aunt Valarie Johnston all played sax. My brother Jonathan Miller played it at Meridian High School and Junior High.

"Our saxophone was passed down until it broke," Miller noted. "Four or five people used that alto sax."

Miller took up the alto sax in fifth grade and added the bari sax to her repertoire early in high school. She marches with the alto and plays the bari in concert band.

"Marching band is my absolute favorite (part of band)," Miller enthused. "Everyone goofs off, we have a lot of fun, and its a good bonding experience.

With the music we play, just being loud and being outside and moving to the beat, its pretty awesome."

Meridian band director Matt Shephard said Miller inspires her fellow musicians with her fun-loving spirit.

"I cannot think of a more down-to-earth, easy-going, yet driven leader than Hannah," Shephard said. "Her leadership within the saxophone section during our marching season brought a unique energy that encouraged others to step out of their comfort zone and take chances. This encouragement to make the band experience fun brought a contagious energy to the rest of the band."

In fact, Miller has had so much fun in high school band that she looks forward to returning as a Meridian graduate to play some more.

"Im pretty sure Mr. Shephard's going to have some opportunities for (this year's seniors to come back and play) next year," she said. "Im going to come back for those opportunities."

Miller's love for making music is equaled perhaps only by her love for conceiving culinary creations.

"I am planning on becoming a baker and opening my own bakery," explained Miller, who got a good foundation in the art of baking at Bay Arenac Career Center as a junior and since then has worked at Robaire's Bakery in Mount Pleasant and Enjoy Bakery in Midland.

She has even opened her own bakery at home, and has been accepted at the Culinary Institute of Michigan in Port Huron.

"There aren't many high school students as well rounded as Hannah," Shephard said. "Her talents extend beyond the music classroom as she also is a phenomenal baker and (cake) decorator. I have appreciated both her musical gifts to our program as well as her culinary talents. As much as I'll miss her delicious treats, her presence within our band will be missed even more."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Joe Bidens White House will get a Chief Manufacturing Officer if Ohio Congress members Marcy Kaptur, Tim Ryan and Rob Portman get their way.

On Monday, the three Ohioans teamed up with a bipartisan group of legislators in both Houses of Congress to introduce legislation that would create the new White House post, as well as a new Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Policy (OMII) to help strengthen Americas manufacturing industry and workforce, improve global competitiveness following the coronavirus pandemic, and enhance research and development. Initial operations would be funded with $20 million.

The legislation is backed by an assortment of unions and manufacturing groups, and a Kaptur spokesperson said the legislations sponsors are optimistic it will pass because of its bipartisan backing in Congress and its support from President Joe Biden. One avenue for passage would be inclusion in the infrastructure package Biden plans to unveil in coming weeks.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, America has become far too vulnerable because we have lost the manufacturing capacity to make critical goods, said a statement from said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. We must dramatically upscale our investments in infrastructure, innovation and the workforce. A national manufacturing strategy, combined with an office dedicated to strengthening domestic manufacturing in the Executive Office of the President, will help ensure those investments create the resilient supply chains we need to rebuild our economy and safeguard our security.

The idea of a manufacturing czar isnt new. President Barack Obama appointed Ron Bloom as his chief manufacturing adviser after rescues of General Motors and Chrysler, but Bloom left office in 2011. Obama subsequently appointed an Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee to help the United States create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance its global competitiveness. President Donald Trump appointed an American Manufacturing Council to advise him on manufacturing policy. He disbanded the group in 2017 after several of its members quit over Trumps response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A statement from Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat, said the legislation will play a pivotal role in strengthening our governments collaboration with and responsiveness to manufacturing leaders, sectors and workers across the country. Manufacturing businesses, no matter how small or large, play a monumental role in strengthening our communities and our country  they are our backbone.

Portman compared the proposed Chief Manufacturing Officer to a National Security Adviser, who would create a strategic plan to ensure our nations manufacturing and industrial sector remains world-class. The Republican Senator said the proposed Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation would work to coordinate existing federal programs and resources for manufacturers, while providing the President with analysis and perspective.

Ryan observed the nation has lost nearly 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, mostly due to automation, trade deals and off-shoring. The Niles Democrat said the manufacturing sector employs 8% of the United States workforce and plays a critical role in almost every part of our economy, stretching from construction to pharmaceuticals; transportation to agriculture.

We introduced this legislation to ensure that we are looking at the big picture, and doing everything in our power to give American manufacturing the tools it needs to grow and thrive, Ryans statement continued.

The Chief Manufacturing Officer the bill envisions would coordinate manufacturing and industrial innovation initiatives across the federal government and work with representatives in state and local government, labor, non-governmental groups, and private business to develop and implement enhanced coordination of manufacturing policy. The office would develop and update a National Strategic Plan every four years with short and long-term goals to ensure American leadership in manufacturing.

It would also create a presidential committee on manufacturing and industrial innovation composed of representatives from the business, consumer, defense, public interest and labor sectors that would analyze the landscape of manufacturing efforts and activities in America and recommend ways the federal government could strengthen manufacturing.

The bill would also establish a federally funded research and development center called the Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Policy Institute that would gather, analyze, initiate studies, and assist the federal government on issues and concerns related to American manufacturing and industrial innovation. The National Institute of Standards and Technology would sponsor the Institute.

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The Irish Government's refusal to nominate an official to the body celebrating Northern Ireland's centenary suggests it is "failing to live up to the standards they lecture others about", the DUP has said.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney personally turned down an offer from Secretary of State Brandon Lewis asking for a representative to sit on the Northern Ireland Centenary Forum.

Mr Lewis, in a letter to the Irish government, wrote that the centenary "is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate Northern Ireland and its contribution to the UK over the last 100 years".

But Mr Coveney responded: "We would not propose that the Irish Government (through the Department of Foreign Affairs) be a member of or be formally represented on the forum."

Details of the correspondence relating to the forum were revealed following a Freedom of Information request by Dublin's Business Post newspaper.

The forum, announced last August by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, held its first meeting in October.

It is chaired by the chief communications officer of the Northern Ireland Office, and is a 19 member body made up of politicians, community and business leaders. Its stated aim is to explore ways to mark the centenary "in a spirit of mutual respect, inclusiveness and reconciliation".

East Belfast DUP MP Gavin Robinson, who sits on the Centenary Forum, said: "This appears to be another example of Mr Coveney and the Irish Government failing to live up to the standards they lecture others about.

"This is a Government putting forward a 'shared island' initiative which talks about mutual respect for all traditions but when it comes to the Centenary of Northern Ireland none of that rhetoric finds its way into action.

"An absence of leadership across nationalism has seen it stand outside everything marking this significant milestone. That has not demonstrated a willingness to reflect and respect all traditions nor to work in the spirit of building a shared future."

The SDLP said the Irish Government's decision tallied with its reasoning for not joining the forum.

"The decision by the Irish Government was the very same reason the SDLP did not join the NIO Forum," a spokesperson said.

"The NIO were talking about celebration and we could not be part of that. We will absolutely engage positively in remembering and reflecting, and we will run our own events on this basis but the NIO's approach hasn't been inclusive of all the experiences of partition."

Dublin's Department of Foreign Affairs said that it "continues to develop its commemorative programme to mark the centenaries that will fall in 2021".

"In doing so, it continues to be guided by the advice of the Government's Expert Advisory Group on centenary commemorations," the department said.

"This advice aims to ensure that this complex period in our history is remembered appropriately, proportionately, respectfully and with sensitivity.

"Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs have been engaging with a broad range of stakeholders from Northern Ireland, including officials from the Northern Ireland Office and members of the NIO's Centenary Forum, to inform the Government's approach to the forthcoming centenaries."

Officials from the department have attended meetings of the forum "to ensure good communication and sharing of experience in terms of our respective programmes," the DFA said.

In a statement, a NIO spokesperson said: "We are committed to working collaboratively on our ambitious programme to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland, including with the Irish Government.

"2021 marks a significant milestone in the history of Northern Ireland and provides an important opportunity to facilitate national recognition and international awareness of Northern Ireland, reflecting on our shared history and building for the future."

The Business Post reported that Mr Lewis wrote to the Department of Foreign Affairs to say he was "delighted" to invite a senior official to sit on the NI Centenary Forum.

On September 3, Mr Coveney responded directly to Mr Lewis to inform him that he would not be accepting his invite to nominate someone for the forum.
The two new cases, the nurse and her sister, travelled to Byron Bay before they tested positive for the virus but during their infectious period. They visited Byron Beach Hotel on Friday, March 26, between 7pm and 9pm, and The Farm on Sunday, March 28 between 8.45am and 10.30am. They also visited Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park womens communal toilets in Suffolk Park on Friday, March 26 between 6pm and 6.30pm and 9.10pm and 9.30pm, and again on March 27 between 3.20pm and 3.50pm, as well as Mokha Cafe on Lawson Street, Byron on March 27 between 10.30am and 11.30am. Anyone who was at these venues at these times must immediately self-isolate and get tested until NSW Health provides further information, the ministry said.

Several other Byron Bay venues have been identified as casual contact locations as of March 27: Ghanda Clothing, 3/8 Lawson Street, 12 noon-12.15pm

Tiger Lily, 3/17-21 Jonson Street, 12.25pm-12.30pm

Black Sheep, 46 Jonson Street, 12.30pm-12.40pm

Quiksilver, 2 Jonson Street, 12.40pm-12.45pm

Suffolk Bakery, Shop 1/2 Clifford Street, Suffolk Park, 2.45pm-3/15pm

Park Hotel Bottle Shop, 223 Broken Head Road, Suffolk Park, 7.30pm-7.45pm Anyone who visited these locations at these times should immediately self-isolate and get tested regardless of symptoms and stay in isolation until they receive a negative result. The manager at Suffolk Bakery said she had received a call from NSW Health on Monday afternoon to tell her at least one member of the party had visited the shop on Saturday afternoon. The four staff members working at the time were getting tested and will self-isolate. The bakery is closed for deep cleaning and will reopen on Wednesday, the manager said. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said NSW Health had contacted 1321 people who attended the Byron Beach Hotel and 166 people who visited The Farm during these times and checked in using the venues Service NSW QR codes.

We can keep living a relatively normal life in NSW, notwithstanding whats happening in Queensland, so long as people do the right thing and check in, the Premier said. On social media on Monday, The Farm said it had closed effective immediately for a full deep clean after being advised a guest on Sunday morning had tested positive for COVID-19. Wed like to thank the health authorities and all our health heros [sic] for the amazing work they are doing, it said. Thank you to our community for your continued support during this time. Byron Beach Hotels pub will be closed on Monday night for a deep clean and is expected to open on Tuesday. The resort and bottle shop will remain open, the operators said in a Facebook post.

NSW Health said urgent investigations and contact tracing were under way. We will probably be identifying some additional venues associated with our two cases later today, Dr Chant said, advising people to continue to check the Queensland and NSW health department websites for possible exposure sites. She said these were expected to be venues of casual exposure. The interviews of the two cases are being conducted by Queensland Health. NSW Health is urging anyone in the Byron Bay area with even the mildest of symptoms to come forward for testing. News of the cases comes on the first day of renewed freedom for NSW residents. From Monday, face masks are no longer mandatory  though strongly recommended  on public transport. There are no caps on visitors to homes or attendees at wedding and funerals and dancing is again permitted at all venues.

NSW Health reported no new locally acquired cases in the state from 8204 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday. The ministry has identified 13 close contacts of Queensland COVID-19 cases who have spent time in NSW. Some have since returned to Queensland and those remaining in NSW have been instructed to get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of their test result. Revellers expected for Bluesfest Organisers said Bluesfest, which is expected to attract 50,000 people over five days, would go ahead from Thursday. In a statement, the festival organisers said that, based on NSW Health advice, ticket holders affected by the Queensland lockdown would not be allowed to attend the first day of the festival. Loading

We will keep ticket buyers from the affected area updated and advise them to check with the Queensland government to check regularly for updates on the current three-day lockdown, the statement said. We are in continuous conversation with NSW Health and are committed to providing patron, artist and staff safety at all times, when visiting Bluesfest. This is our biggest priority and we will keep you updated. The festival organisers said attendees would need to avoid co-mingling with other patrons, stay seated during performances and remain in designated zones that they would be required to sign into daily. What I would just say to the people of Brisbane who may have bought tickets to come to that festival is: dont, dont come, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said. Mr Hazzard said 14 COVID-19 clinics had been established, or adjusted their hours, in the Ballina-Byron area to accommodate an increased number of people needing to be tested.

Dozens of locals were queuing for tests at two new COVID-19 clinics that opened on Monday at a drive-through at Cavanbah sports ground and a walk-in pop-up clinic at Byron Bay Surf Club. People wait in their parked cars to be tested for COVID-19 at Byron Bay. Credit:Oli Ayo The existing clinic at Byron Central Hospital will extend its operating hours to 9am-6.30pm, seven days a week. Nearby testing clinics at Tweed and Ballina will also extend their operating hours. Brisbanes three-day lockdown will begin at 5pm on Monday, with masks to be mandatory across Queensland after confirmation that an infectious COVID-19 case travelled to Gladstone, about 500 kilometres north-west of the state capital. This is a huge job now that we have to do because weve got more of this community transmission, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One to depart for Washington, D.C. from Newcastle, Delaware, March 28. Reuters



US President Joe Biden on Sunday decried the bloodshed unleashed against anti-coup protesters in Myanmar as "absolutely outrageous," after security forces killed more than 100 people including at least seven children.



Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, triggering mass protests demanding a return to democracy.



On Saturday, at least 107 people were killed across Myanmar as security forces opened fire on protesters.



"It's terrible," Biden told reporters in brief remarks he gave in his home state of Delaware.



"It's absolutely outrageous and based on the reporting I've gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily."



Saturday's killings came after the junta staged a major show of might for its annual Armed Forces Day.



The European Union described the deadly violence as "unacceptable".



"Far from celebrating, the Myanmar military has made yesterday a day of horror and of shame," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.



The condemnation came after the defence chiefs of 12 countries including the United States, Britain, Japan and Australia denounced the Myanmar military.



"A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting  not harming  the people it serves," the rare joint statement said.



"We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions."



According to a local monitoring group, the death toll from crackdowns since the coup has climbed to at least 423.



Funerals were held Sunday for some of the victims, after the bloodiest day since the putsch.



In Mandalay, the family of Aye Ko, a father-of-four, commemorated his life at a service after he was killed overnight.





Men run during a protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, March 28. Reuters



'Shameful, cowardly'



"I am very saddened to lose my husband  together with my children I'm heartbroken," his wife Ma Khaing told AFP.






Police warning about social media posts over potential dog thefts that may encourage misguided vigilante behaviour

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 29th, 2021

Local police have asked people not publish unfounded allegations about individuals on social media.

Earlier one report of an attempted dog theft has been published on Facebook that documented an alleged incident in Wrexham area Queens Park, This morning my sister was assaulted by two men trying to steal her dog. They grabbed her by her pony tail, they had a knife but luckily she wasnt too hurt. Luckily she slipped off her dogs lead to set her free, managed to run away whilst they attempted to pursue the dog. Luckily the dog ran home with her.

They later clarified, My sister or the family do not know who these men are from this incident. I had shared this incident to bring awareness and for people to be safe.

That post has been shared over 10,000 across the social media platform  with other posts now surfacing and being widely shared naming individuals in relation to the alleged incident.

Wrexham Rural Police said this afternoon, We are aware of speculation on social media regarding two unconnected alleged incidents in the last 24 hours, primarily regarding the potential theft of dogs.

We would encourage the public to report such incidents to us at the earliest opportunity, before posting anything on social media, as this can encourage misguided vigilante behaviour, potentially as a result of unfounded allegations.

We can confirm categorically that despite much speculation on social media, there has not been a spike in dog thefts in North Wales over recent months.

Please do not take the law into your own hands, and do not publish unfounded allegations about individuals. Please contact us and we will investigate in the correct manner.

Queensway councillor Carrie Harper has also highlighted the above message in her Caia ward, adding Please see statement from the police regarding alleged dog thefts. Just to confirm, the individual whose picture is being shared across social media has done nothing wrong. The police have confirmed this. The 2 incidents are not connected.

The warning mirrors incidents last year where Facebook again was a platform where rumours regarding the use of cable ties and chalk circulated, despite being debunked.

Wrexham.com has asked North Wales Police for details about the above incident, any further details to help with an appeal and reference, as yet had no response.
BEIJING -- To sustain growth, China is pushing a "dual circulation" development paradigm, which has been mentioned as a guiding thought in a blueprint for its development in the next five to 15 years.

"China will advance the building of a strong domestic market and a strong trading nation in a concerted way, based on the domestic circulation," read 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.

What is the new development paradigm? Why did China put forward it in 2020? How will the country foster it? Here are some explanations.

-- What is the new development paradigm?

First floated by China's leadership in May 2020, the new development paradigm of "dual circulation" allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

The key to building a new development pattern lies in unimpeded economic circulation and industrial connectivity, according to an article by Vice Premier Liu He expounding on the new paradigm.

The fundamental requirements are enhancing the creativity and connectivity of the supply system, removing various bottlenecks of development, and smoothing the circulation of the national economy, Liu wrote.

-- Why did China propose the new paradigm?

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new development pattern comes not as a passive, short-term response, but as an active policy choice based on changes in the country's development conditions and demand for long-term high-quality growth.

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, Chinese authorities have put forward strategies including expanding domestic demand and supply-side structural reforms, suggesting the gradual shift toward internal circulation has long been underway, said Liu Yuanchun, vice president of the Renmin University of China.

Currently, protectionism and anti-globalization are on the rise, but the main driving force for the new development pattern is the shift in China's comparative advantage from a cheap labor force to huge domestic consumption potential, said Yao Jingyuan, a research fellow at the Counsellors' Office of the State Council.

It is a natural choice to focus on the domestic market as China's per capita GDP rises above 10,000 U.S. dollars and its middle-income population exceedings 400 million, entailing mass opportunities at home.

-- Will China close its door under the new pattern?

Making the domestic market the mainstay does not mean China is developing its economy with the door closed. By giving full play to the potential of the domestic market, both domestic and foreign markets can be better connected and utilized to realize robust and sustainable development.

Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, said that taking the domestic market as the mainstay doesn't mean a return to an inward-looking economy. He said it will not affect China's commitment to opening-up.

Despite the impact from COVID-19 last year, the country made strides in opening its market by unveiling three new pilot free trade zones. More notably, it signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement in November 2020, which launched the world's biggest free trade bloc to date.

For the next five years and beyond, China will promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and steadily advance institutional openness, which stresses rule-based, transparent regulatory models and business environment that better aligns with international norms, as outlined in the new five-year plan.

-- Why will China's new development paradigm be successful?

China's economic development over the past 40 years has laid a solid foundation for the country to forge the new development paradigm.

China has the world's most complete industrial system and largest middle-income population, and leads the world in terms of retail sales of consumer goods and total import and export volume. This makes it possible for the country to tap domestic demand for future growth.

China's ability to eradicate institutional obstacles through tireless reforms will support the operation of dual circulation as the market is playing a more decisive role in allocating resources and the country's business environment continues to improve.

According to a World Bank report, China's ease of doing business ranking rose to 31 last year, and it is also among the 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business after implementing reforms.

-- How will China work to forge the new paradigm?

China's leadership has underscored that enhancing independent innovation capabilities and making breakthroughs in key and core technologies are vital to establishing the new paradigm.

For the next five years, China's research and development spending will grow by over 7 percent annually, according to the outline.

For domestic circulation, the outline noted that China will deepen its supply-side structural reform and innovate its modes of production to provide high-quality products and services. Other measures include rectifying resource misallocation and allowing the financial sector to better serve the real economy.

Meanwhile, the country will strive to become a strong magnet for global resources and production factors, promote the coordinated development of domestic and external demand, imports and exports, as well as foreign and outbound investment, according to the outline.
The Irish Association of Funeral Directors say staff should be safeguarded

The Government has been urged to prioritise vaccination of all funeral directors to protect them against exposure to Covid-19 as they carry out their work.

President of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors (IAFD) Donal Forde said there should be a dedicated vaccination programme for funeral directors and their staff to safeguard them as they provide an essential service to grieving families.

We cannot continue to ignore the potential risk posed to funeral directors who are currently not considered a priority for vaccination, he said.

We also have a duty to protect the vulnerable people with whom we come into contact from contracting the virus, especially in nursing homes and hospitals.

In time, these facilities may be reluctant to admit anyone who has not been vaccinated, including funeral directors, the IADF president warned.

He said a dedicated vaccination programme for the 2,500 people working in the funeral profession in Ireland would provide them with reassurance as they did their job.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr Forde, whose members conduct 80pc of funerals across Ireland, said the association was aware of funeral directors and their staff having contracted Covid-19, but did not have specific numbers.

He said the association was not aware of any deaths of funeral directors from Covid-19-related illnesses in Ireland.

However, he stressed that funeral directors have a high risk of exposure as they come into contact with a lot of people in various settings.

On a regular basis, funeral directors enter nursing homes, hospitals and private residences, they host reposals for families at their funeral homes, and they attend funerals which themselves have been identified as high risk for increased transmission.



The Association of Catholic Priests said it was logical to include undertakers and priests on priority lists for vaccines. Its spokesman, Fr Gerry OConnor, said: Funerals inevitably involve close interaction between families and funeral teams. High levels of adherence to Covid-19 regulations still leaves an inevitable possibility that the Covid-19 virus may took root and infect all those in funeral ministry.
Irish Ferries first ever Dover-Calais freight service  and its new fast ship from Rosslare to Pembroke  shows the UK landbridge may have been forgotten, but it is not gone.

Since Brexit, most firms, including Irish Ferries, Stena Line, DFDS, Brittany Ferries and CLDN, had been ramping up direct services between Ireland and France in order to avoid customs delays in Britain. By March, there had been a 150pc increase in the frequency of sailings.

And while freight volumes between Ireland and Britain were down 40pc in January and February, continental volumes were up 80pc compared to 2020.

The routes were so popular that in January, some operators had to refuse hauliers so that essential medical supplies could get through.

The Port of Dunkirk is a location that is hoping to benefit from one of the new direct roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) cargo services set up by Danish shipping giant DFDS, along with a container service run by Containerships, part of Germanys CMA CGM group.

More important than the direct routes, however, are the other services the port can offer, said Yvan Gomel, the ports commercial director.

Its not just the links  the maritime routes  but the warehousing and the logistics, he said. What we are developing is how Dunkirk can become an extension of Rosslare or Dublin or Cork or Waterford, in order to help, especially, the small and medium-sized companies to better export within the EU.

Before, Irelands imports of groceries, clothing, electronics, and cars came to the country via the UK. Exporters, too, used the UK to package and distribute Irish dairy and other produce to the rest of Europe.

I mean, fair enough. The first market was and it will remain the UK, Mr Gomel said.

But they were exporting to the UK and giving the power to English logistics companies in order to deliver to France, Germany, Spain and so on.

But since Brexit, most companies have found it uneconomical to use the UK as a distribution hub because of complex rules of origin tariffs  which do not apply to goods distributed from France.

Dunkirk is Frances third-largest port, after Le Havre and Marseille, and is well-established in steel, petrochemicals, fruit and vegetables exports and imports.

The port also has more than 150,000sqm of warehouses providing storage, customs clearance and distribution and is marketing a new 150-hectare turnkey area for logistics.

Read More

Its easier to use one of the facilities that we have in Dunkirk for dry or reefer cargo  or even better, to try to have a kind of a dedicated Irish facility with the Irish flag out front, Mr Gomel said.

He said the port is in talks with large pharmaceutical and food and drink companies, but welcomes exporters from any sector.

Irish high-performance cement manufacturer Ecocem moved its export business from Dublin Port to Dunkirk before Brexit because of the higher variable costs in Ireland and the slightly longer shipping time to Britain, one of its most important markets.

The company also had to close down its bagging facility in Dublin because the space was grabbed for customs clearance.

The company still has a production facility on the Pigeon House Road, as a back-up plan for its British customers.

But the proximity to Dover and the presence of steel giant ArcelorMittal  Ecocem produces cement from steel by-products  makes Dunkirk a no-brainer for Conor ORiain, Ecocems managing director, Europe.

The company is looking at using direct routes to Ireland but the landbridge will still be the main artery.

Were now investigating using the direct routes, but then you still have to drive it on a truck from Dublin to Rosslare, so were weighing up the pros and the cons of doing that, Mr ORiain said. But its definitely beneficial because we not only look at the cost footprint, we look at the carbon footprint.

He said its much preferable from an environmental point of view to eliminate the drive through Wales and England and move cement products by ship, as they are transported in bulk (without containers).

Before Brexit, 150,000 trucks a year used the landbridge to transport three million tonnes of freight between Ireland and continental Europe.

Although weekly RoRo freight capacity to continental EU ports has doubled in the past year, it requires quite a lot of investment before it can replace the landbridge, said Patrick ODonnell, a senior equity analyst at Goodbody stockbrokers.

I would be of view that, longer term, the landbridge remains more important.

The direct route will still have optionality but given the time of the journey and the cost for hauliers, it may only work for certain types of freight, in reality.

Bad weather and fewer sailings on the longer direct crossings to France mean a bigger risk for hauliers carrying high-value or fresh cargo.

Irish companies will, as well, always use the landbridge for fresh cargo  its a question of time, Dunkirk Ports Yvan Gomel said.

Take Dublin to Dunkirk: through the landbridge, it is taking 13-14 hours, if there is no bottleneck in Dover; the direct route is 22-24 [hours]. So the difference is not huge, but I guess that both will remain. Even if I think the direct route will increase.
Prep Golf: Riley Zebroski earns all-conference honors, Arrows take 7th in ESD tourney

MITCHELL  Sophomore Riley Zebroski earned all-conference honors by tying for 5th place on Wednesday in the Eastern South Dakota Conference girls golf tournament at the Lakeview Golf Course.
Under the guidance of the 4IN (Innovation, Integration, Internationalization, and Intelligentization) strategy, Fosun Pharma practices innovation and transformation, integrated operation and steady development. Rooted in China with expanding global business, Fosun Pharma strategically operates businesses in the pharmaceutical and health industry, including pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical devices and medical diagnosis, and healthcare services. Through its associated company Sinopharm Co., Ltd., Fosun Pharma's business extends to pharmaceutical distribution and retail.

During the Reporting Period, Fosun Pharma achieved steady growth as the revenue increased by 6.02% yoy, to RMB30,307 million; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company amounted to RMB3,663 million, representing an increase of 10.27% yoy; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company after deducting extraordinary gain or loss amounted to RMB2,718 million, representing an increase of 21.65% yoy. During the Reporting Period, the Group's core business, the pharmaceutical manufacturing segment, realized revenue of RMB21,880 million. The medical devices and medical diagnosis segment realized revenue of RMB5,217 million. The healthcare services segment realized revenue of RMB3,172 million.

Continues to increase R&D investment with multiple innovative products launched

Took innovative R&D as its core driver and through in-house R&D, co-development, in-licensing and incubation, Fosun Pharma had established platforms for small molecule innovative drugs, antibody drugs and cell therapy, focusing on major therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, "4 hypes" (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia) and their complications, as well as central nervous system. In the meantime Fosun Pharma keeps close track of cutting-edge technologies, such as Protac, RNA, oncolytic virus and gene therapy to enhance its innovation ability.

During the Reporting Period, Fosun Pharma continued to increase R&D investment. The annual R&D expenditure totaled RMB4,003 million, representing an increase of 15.59% yoy; of which, R&D expense was RMB2,795 million, representing an increase of 36.94% yoy. The R&D expenditure of pharmaceutical segment was RMB3,670 million, representing an increase of 17.21% yoy, accounting for 16.77% of the revenue from the segment. In particular, pharmaceutical R&D expense increased by RMB727 million or 41.76% yoy to RMB2,468 million, accounting for 11.28% of the revenue from the segment.

Fosun Pharma established in-house R&D platforms in China and the US since 2009, including Fochon and Henlius, and strived to improve its R&D competence through 24-hour ongoing R&D globally. In recent years, CMO office was established to manage global clinical registration, and an upgraded Global R&D Center has been set up in early 2020 to coordinate project approval and internal and external resources. It also prioritized strategic products, strengthened global clinical and registration capabilities, and improved R&D efficiency. In addition, Fosun Pharma cultivated a global Business Development team to search for the industry-leading products and technology platforms and realize the value. As of the end of the Reporting Period, there were nearly 2,300 R&D professionals (about 1,200 are with master's degree or higher), representing approximately 7% of the total number of employees in the Group. The Group had 247 pipeline projects including innovative small molecule candidates, generic candidates, biosimilars and consistency evaluation of generic candidates, of which 56 were innovative candidates.

With over 10 years of investment, multiple products have been approved for marketing and realized increasing sales in the past two years, with innovative products being the major driver for sustainable growth. Among them, Rituximab Injection achieved rapid sales growth after obtaining approval for its additional production capacity (2,000L), with revenue amounting to RMB750 million for the year. The coverage of new patients was more than 50%. The new products, Avatrombopag Maleate Tablets and Trastuzumab Injection, which was launched to market in August 2020, accelerated market access and have been included in the National Drug Reimbursement List, with revenue reaching approximately RMB140 million respectively.

While improving its in-house research and development capabilities and promote the launching of products under development, Fosun Pharma actively seeks collaboration opportunities with the world's leading pharmaceutical enterprises. By accessing the world's leading technologies and high-value products, the Group enriched its product pipelines and enhanced its market expansion capabilities. In terms of in-licensing, on 16 March 2020, BioNTech and Fosun Pharma announced a strategic collaboration to work jointly on the development and commercialization of COVID-19 vaccine products in Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong SARMacau SAR and Taiwan Region based on BioNTech's proprietary mRNA technology platform. The BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine has been granted Authorization for Emergency Use in Hong Kong in January 2021 and was used in the COVID-19 Vaccination Program of Hong Kong and Macau in March 2021. The phase II clinical trial in Mainland China was also in progress.

As for out-licensing, Fochon, a subsidiary of Fosun Pharma, entered into a licensing agreement with Eli Lilly in October 2020, authorizing Eli Lilly exclusive rights of a selective small-molecule BCL-2 inhibitor targeting hematological malignancies, to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize in all countries and regions excluding Mainland China. Under the terms of the agreement, Eli Lilly will pay the Group an upfront payment up to $440 million. In addition, HLX02 (trastuzumab for injection) has been launched in the UK, Germany and Portugal through a strategic partnership with Accord.

Strengthening marketing system and global commercialization capability in shape

During the Reporting Period, Fosun Pharma continued to strengthen the construction and integration of its marketing system, formed a product line-based system matching the existing products and products to be launched, and adhered to the strategy of specialization, branding and digitalization. As of the end of the Reporting Period, Fosun Pharma had a commercial team of nearly 6,000staff, divided into multiple business units around the major product lines, covering more than 2,000 Class III hospitals and 10,000 Class I and Class II hospitals. There were around 1,500 sales professionals in the innovative drug commercialization team and around 1,000 in the OTC and online "new retail" channels. There were around 1,000 staff in the professional marketing team in Africa, Europe and the United States. Besides, Fosun Pharma's clinical medicine, market access, brand promotion and other support systems to achieve efficient R&D realization of innovative products, and serve the implementation of more innovative drugs and comprehensive treatment programs in the future.

The medical devices segment has built a marketing network that combines global direct selling and distribution. The sales network of Breas mainly covers Europe, the United States, China, Japan and Australia, while Sisram Medical's marketing network covers more than 90 countries and regions around the world, including 7 direct sales regions.

Values ESG management and take on corporate social responsibility

Fosun Pharma has always regarded sustainable development as an important benchmark of corporate operations, and has issued corporate social responsibility report for 13 consecutive years to show stakeholders the Group's practices and achievements in the field of social responsibility. In 2020, in order to further improve its corporate governance structure, Fosun Pharma upgraded its internal ESG management structure, established the ESG Committee at the Board of Directors and its subordinate ESG working team, to carry out ongoing ESG management. Fosun Pharma strives for sustainable development in terms of health, environmental protection, occupational health and safety, staff development and business ethics. In the meantime, the MSCI ESG rating of Fosun Pharma has been upgraded from BB to BBB.

Looking forward, Wu Yifang, Chairman and CEO of Fosun Pharma, expressed that "China's pharmaceutical and healthcare industry is still in the crucial phase of development and transformation in 2021. The opportunities and challenges coexist under the recovery time of post-COVID-19. As a large-scale pharmaceutical and medical enterprise with excellent products, Fosun Pharma takes the lead in internationalization and uses Internet technology to expand its business. Fosun Pharma will continue to accelerate its innovation and transformation, strengthen its integrated operation and expands its global market steadily. In the same time, Fosun Pharma will focus on the unmet demand in the therapeutic areas to take actions on mergers and acquisitions. As for the healthcare services, Fosun Pharma will continue to manage effective operation, and focus on disciplined clinical department construction and operation, leverage its development in specialty, so as to reinforce the leading position of private hospital management in China. Fosun Pharma will firmly follow the path of innovation transformation to provide patients with more affordable new treatment methods."

-End-

About Fosun Pharma

Founded in 1994, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. ("Fosun Pharma"; stock code: 600196.SH, 02196.HK) is a leading innovation-driven international healthcare group in China. Fosun Pharma strategically operates businesses in the pharmaceutical and health industry, including pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical devices and medical diagnosis, and healthcare services. Through its associated company Sinopharm Co., Ltd., Fosun Pharma's business extends to pharmaceutical distribution and retail.

Fosun Pharma takes pharmaceutical manufacturing as its core business and sticks to innovative research and development. Through in-house R&D, co-development, in-licensing and incubation, Fosun Pharma had established platforms for small molecule innovative drugs, antibody drugs and cell therapy, focusing on major therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, "4 hypes" (hypertension, hyperlipemia, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia) and their complications, as well as central nervous system. In the meantime Fosun Pharma keeps close track of cutting-edge technologies, such as targeted protein degradation, RNA, oncolytic virus and gene therapy to enhance its innovation ability.

Looking forward, under guidance of 4IN strategy (Innovation, Internationalization, Integration and Intelligentization), Fosun Pharma practices innovation and transformation, integrated operation and steady development, as well as the concept of Sustainable Development. Fosun Pharma is committed to becoming the first-class enterprise in the global mainstream healthcare industry.

For more information, please visit: www.fosunpharma.com

Forward-looking statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, the discussions of the Company's business strategies and expectations concerning future operations, margins, profitability, liquidity and capital resources, the future development of the Company's industry and the future development of the general economy of the Company's key markets and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include words and expressions such as "expect", "seek", "believe", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "may", "will", "would" and "could" or similar words or statements, as they relate to the Company or its management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Subject to the requirements of applicable laws, rules and regulations, the Company does not have any and undertakes no obligation to update or otherwise revise the forward-looking statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise. In this press release, statements of or references to the Company's intentions are made as of the date of this press release. Any such intentions may change in light of future developments. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by reference to the cautionary statements set out above.

SOURCE Fosun Pharma
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Abducted Nigerian Christian girl Leah Sharibu gives birth to second baby in Boko Haram captivity Leah Foundation urges Nigerian President Buhari to secure her release

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Leah Sharibu, who was among 100 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in 2018, gave birth to her second child in captivity, according to reports.

The report was initially circulated by the Washington, D.C.-based U.S.-Nigeria Law Group, which told The Christian Post on Saturday that a trusted source had confirmed that Sharibu gave birth to two children last year.

However, Emmanuel Ogebe, convener of the U.S.-Nigeria Law Group, said in a statement reported by the Daily Post on Tuesday that while the update about Sharibu came from a "usually knowledgeable source," they "have not corroborated this by multiple sources."

Sharibu was kidnapped on Feb. 19, 2018, by Boko Haram militants who raided the Government Girls Science and Technical College Dapchi, Yobe state. While 104 of the girls were released within a month, Sharibu is the only one of the Dapchi girls who has continued to be held against her will because she refused to renounce Jesus Christ and adhere to the militants' version of Islam. Boko Haram has pledged to enslave her for life.

According to a statement released by Sharibu's parents, Nathan and Rebecca, and signed by their spokesperson, Gloria Puldu, president of the Leah Foundation, the family feels abandoned by President Muhammadu Buhari, who many have accused of doing little to protect Christians from kidnappings by terrorist groups operating in Nigeria.

The statement, released to the Daily Post and other news outlets, reads in part: Morning of March 23 was another very difficult day as we woke up to the very sad and heartbreaking rumors that Leah Sharibu, who is still in captivity for three years, has given birth to a second baby in captivity.

It is a very big shame on General Buhari and his entire government. He has abandoned this young child in captivity. ..."

Executive director of Save the Persecuted Christians Dede Laugesen said the latest update about Sharibu, who's 17 years old, is both sad and difficult.

If true, someone knows where Leah is and how shes faring  she should be free! If untrue, it is devilish deceit, Laugesen said in a statement shared with CP.

Little information flows out of the terrorist dens of Sambisa Forest, long the domain of Boko Haram and their ISIS-affiliated splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa, who reportedly holds Leah captive," she added.

In February, American missionary Abu Zacharia traveled to Nigeria in an attempt to negotiate with Boko Haram for Sharibus release in exchange for himself, according to Nigerian Canadian News.

Ogebe referenced Zacharia's efforts in a statement shared by the Daily Post, noting that despite the offer, "there has been no tangible response from her captors."

That notwithstanding, intelligence received on the status of Leah indicates that she has delivered a second child in captivity, Ogebe added. This means both children were born in 2020 as the terrorists announced her childbirth earlier in 2020. We are still investigating this."

Puldu added in the statement that the government's failure to rescue Sharibu from her captors is shameful.

[The Nigerian president] has abandoned this young child in captivity. Leah Sharibu represents the face of women and girls in all forms of slavery and captivity in Nigeria, Puldu said.

That is why a #FreeNigerianSlaves campaign was started in the United States of America due to Sharibus plight, to advocate for the freedom of every Nigerian  especially women and girls in any form of slavery, she continued. We call on all well-meaning Nigerians not to remain silent but speak up against the injustice against our children.

Puldu noted that Nigerians saw the United States government rescue one American citizen abducted in Niger because it values the life of every of its citizen.

Yet Leah, a minor, has been abandoned and forgotten by her government. We know that the American government has recently offed to assist Nigeria in its fight against insecurity if the Nigerian government request for its assistance, Puldu said. Leah's parents are calling on General Buhari to please accept the American offer of assistance to secure the release of their daughter, especially if his current successful negotiators are not able to secure her release as they did with the recent school abductions.

In January 2020 it was reported that Sharibu delivered a baby boy who is the son of a top Boko Haram commander. In response to the news of Sharibus first child, Puldu said at the time that the reports were "just a rumor as far as we are concerned."

What we even desire is to see a proof of life so that we see Leah by ourselves. If they are able to have Leah safe, we will understand, Puldu said.

The most important thing is that we want her to be alive. And if she is alive, we will praise God for that. They should release her, despite whatever condition she is in. That is all; it doesnt matter whether she is pregnant or with a baby," Puldu continued.

On International Womens Day, Sharibus parents renewed pressure on Buhari to rescue Sharibu by releasing an open letter to the president who promised them their daughter would be released.

Sharibus parents noted the Nigerian government recently secured the safe return of nearly 300 abducted schoolgirls on March 2 and secured the release of other mass kidnappings but has failed to release their daughter after over three years of bondage.

Over 100 of the Chibok schoolgirls also remain missing after more than seven years.

Puldu and Rebecca Sharibu visited Washington, D.C., in June 2019 to urge then-President Donald Trump and Congress to help rescue Sharibu.

Shortly after meeting Sharibu, then-Vice President Mike Pence called Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the White House to raise questions about the rise in terrorism and abductions, especially those involving Christians.

Osinbajo assured at the time that the Nigerian government was doing all it could to secure Sharibus release.

Due to widespread mass kidnappings, attending school is often dangerous for children in Nigeria. Due to the risks associated with going to school, around 10.5 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 do not attend school, according to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.

In northern Nigeria, where Sharibus kidnapping occurred, some 53% of children attend school.
eijing has announced sanctions against two Americans, a Canadian and a rights advocacy body that had criticized their treatment of the Uyghurs which US officials have said constitutes genocide. Guterres raised the concern for the fate of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who are being held prisoner in China on charges of espionage.

Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the UN has been in negotiations with Beijing without restrictions to Xinjiang to see how the Uighur minority is being treated. At least one million Uyghurs and people from other mostly Muslims have been held at concentration camps, according to the US and Australian right groups who have accused Chinese authorities of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labour.

As a response, Beijing has announced sanctions against two Americans, a Canadian and a rights advocacy body that had criticized their treatment of the Uyghurs which US officials have said constitutes genocide. Guterres raised the concern for the fate of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who are being held prisoner in China on charges of espionage.

Their detention, which Ottawa has denounced as arbitrary, is widely viewed in the West as a reprisal for the arrest and continued detention in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, an executive of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Our position has been very clear, Guterres told CBC: that in all situations of this kind, there must be due process and full respect for the human rights of the people involved.

Also Read: Days after IMFs $500 Million aid, Pak economic crisis continues; World Bank loans over $1 Billion

Also Read: Junta chief faces global criticism; over 90 killed in Myanmar by Armed forces

Guterres told Canadas CBC television network that a serious negotiation is at the present moment taking place between the Office of the (UN Human Rights) Commissioner and the Chinese authorities. The UNs High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said in February that reports of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, sexual violence and forced labor in Xinjiang necessitated a thorough and independent assessment.

Also Read: WB Assembly Elections 2021: Audio war erupts between BJP and TMC
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 02:34:04|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed on Sunday the controversial Ethiopian grand dam built on the Nile River, the recent developments in Libya, and counter-terrorism efforts.

During a phone conversation, both presidents also discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in many fields, especially at the economic and military levels, said Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady in a statement.

They also talked about the activities of the French companies working on various development projects in Egypt, the spokesman added.

President Sisi touched on the latest developments of the Libyan issue and Egypt's firm strategic position in this regard, stressing his country's efforts to support the new interim executive authority in Libya.

Sisi also affirmed the necessity of evacuating Libya from mercenaries and preventing illegal foreign interference in the Libyan affairs.

The two presidents also exchanged views on the developments of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Grand Dam (GERD) built on the Nile River, Rady said.

Sisi affirmed that Egypt gives this issue the utmost attention within the framework of defending Egypt's historical rights in the Nile waters through reaching a comprehensive and legally binding agreement by the three countries of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the rules of the filling and operation of the dam.

Macron, for his part, expressed his aspiration to reach a solution that serves the interests of all parties as soon as possible.

The French president also praised Egypt's vital role in resolving the Libyan crisis, which led to the political path to a solution of the Libyan issue, stressing France's keenness to continue intensive cooperation and coordination with Egypt in this regard.

The two presidents also agreed to intensify joint efforts to combat terrorism in the Sahel region, in light of the mutual keenness to support the countries of the region in restoring security and stability and achieving desired development.

They also stressed the challenges posed by terrorism to regional security as a whole.

Both leaders expressed keenness to promote bilateral cooperation in various fields, especially at the economic, investment, development, security and military levels. Enditem
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Research News

Helheim Glacier study to focus on power, mysteries of water

A view of a crevasse field on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Photo: Clement Miege / University of Utah

By CHARLOTTE HSU

The subglacial hydrology of this glacier is not very well known, and we are trying to learn about it so we can understand how it might change in the future, and how the glacier will contribute to future sea level rise.  Kristin Poinar, assistant professor Department of Geology

On the surface of Greenlands mighty Helheim Glacier, huge, narrow cracks called crevasses act as a conduit to the subglacial world. Meltwater flows into these fissures from a massive aquifer enclosed in the ice, and the weight of this liquid causes the fractures to grow ever deeper, until the cracks reach all the way down to the glacier bed. There, beneath a kilometer of ice, the falling water feeds a complex network of moving water channels that helps determine the speed at which Helheim Glacier sheds ice into the sea. How does all of this happen? How fast do the crevasses grow? And what does the water system look like at the glacier bed? This movement of water through and under Helheim Glacier  called hydrology  is the topic of a $2.2 million project that brings together researchers from UB, Georgia Institute of Technology and Dartmouth University. Funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation, the research has implications for predicting global sea level rise. When we talk about glaciers in Greenland, sometimes we refer to the Big Three. Helheim Glacier is one of the three largest contributors of ice from Greenland to the ocean, says Kristin Poinar, assistant professor of geology, College of Arts and Sciences, and a researcher in the UB RENEW Institute. The subglacial hydrology of this glacier is not very well known, and we are trying to learn about it so we can understand how it might change in the future, and how the glacier will contribute to future sea level rise. Poinar is leading the effort with Winnie Chu, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Georgia Tech, and Colin Meyer, assistant professor of engineering at Dartmouth.

Understanding how quickly deep canyons grow

Helheim Glacier in southeast Greenland is visible during an Operation IceBridge flight on Sept. 11, 2016. Photo: NASA / John Sonntag

Poinars portion of the grant  $770,000  will be devoted to understanding how fast the crevasses reach the glacier bed after they form, and how this changes the patterns of water flow and ice flow. This work will help scientists understand whether water flows in a fairly consistent manner to the glacier bed from the aquifer, which lies about 15-20 meters below Helheims surface at the study site, about 35 kilometers upstream of where the glacier starts shedding ice into the ocean. As Poinar explains, outlet glaciers like Helheim arent just stagnant towers of ice and snow. Instead, they are akin to rivers, their frozen contents flowing toward the sea. The crevasses that form in the glacier travel with the ice, slowly edging downstream. But the aquifer largely stays put. The whole glacier is moving, and the aquifer is basically staying in the same place, Poinar explains. So if you have a crevasse that reaches all the way down to the glacier bed, this crevasse is going to leave the aquifer behind one day, and the glacier bed below it will be cut off from this water source. Additionally, when new cracks that form upstream get deep enough to reach the aquifer, they will begin to draw from the water, and can block the water from reaching the deeper crevasses that feed the glacier bed. What we want to know is how fast new crevasses that form on the surface take to reach the glacier bed, Poinar says. Its important to know the time-scale of this process of hydrofracture. If the glacier bed is without a water source for a few days, thats one thing. But if its without a water source for a couple of months, that has a good chance of changing the ice flow rates above it and downstream below it.

Field team to include scientists, mountaineers

UB geologist Kristin Poinar conducting field research in Greenland several years ago. Poinar will lead field expeditions to Greenland to study Helheim Glacier starting in the summer of 2022. Photo: Sarah Das / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
BOSTON and CLIFTON PARK, N.Y., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, EnergySage and NABCEP released the results of the sixth annual Solar Installer Survey , the largest and most comprehensive business survey of solar companies nationwide. Over 650 residential and commercial installers across the country participated in this year's survey, which was fielded and authored by EnergySage in partnership with the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).

As was the case for every person and every sector, the story of 2020 for solar was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This report captures key observations about the U.S. solar industry from local, regional, and national solar installers -- and provides a detailed look at the current state of affairs, as well as the mentality of installers going forward and their plans for growth. With that in mind, here are several key findings from the 2020 Solar Installer Survey:

Despite the pandemic, installers reported an all-time high in industry confidence

Over half of respondents reported that their businesses were negatively impacted as a result of the pandemic. Still, installers expressed more confidence in the industry than in any previous Installer Survey, with just 18% of installers saying COVID-19 decreased their confidence. Nationally, three-fifths of installers stated being more confident in the solar industry than in 2019. Additionally, when asked about their three-year plans for growth, 67% of respondents continue to place a greater emphasis on gaining market share than on increasing the gross margins of each installation.

The shift to 100% online selling is permanent for some, but temporary for most

When asked when they plan to resume selling solar in person, the majority of respondents stated that they are already doing so, or plan to soon, while many don't expect to sell in person for several more months  if at all. However, 12% of solar installers plan to continue selling 100% remotely moving forward as a result of adjustments made during the pandemic.

One in five solar installations nationwide included a battery

2020 was the best year ever for residential energy storage installations in the US, a trend that solar installers confirm. According to survey respondents, both consumer interest and the storage attachment rate jumped by over 30% between 2019 and 2020, resulting in a nationwide average attachment rate of 20%. Resilience, better known as emergency backup power, remains the primary driver for battery demand, as evidenced by what we're witnessing in Texas after the state's devastating February power outages. Registrations for solar and battery quotes on EnergySage.com increased 392% in Texas, with interest remaining very high in the weeks following the storms.

"Like so many solar installers across the country, we too are excited for the industry's future and about our abilities to help people feel secure and resilient," said Vikram Aggarwal, CEO and founder of EnergySage. "With extreme weather events and subsequent power outages now a common occurrence - not to mention an aging electrical grid - consumers are turning to our industry for solutions, and we're well-positioned to deliver."

EnergySage fielded this survey throughout January 2021. In addition to EnergySage, NABCEP, the leading certification organization for renewable energy professionals, as well as several large manufacturers, distributors, publications, and industry associations, sent the survey to their own installer networks. In total, 651 solar installers participated across 48 states and two territories: Washington DC and Puerto Rico.

"As always, thank you to everyone who took this year's survey, and to the organizations that continue to help us collect such valuable insights into the state of the PV industry," said Shawn O'Brien, President & CEO of NABCEP . "Our team relies on important information like this to better understand the current needs and future challenges of solar professionals so that we can adjust our programs and services accordingly."

The latest report can be downloaded for free at: www.energysage.com/data/#2020-survey. All solar installers who download this survey will be invited to participate and have their voice heard in the 2021 edition. For questions and feedback, please contact [email protected] .

ABOUT ENERGYSAGE, INC.

EnergySage is the leading online comparison-shopping marketplace for rooftop solar, solar financing, energy storage, and community solar. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, EnergySage is now trusted by over 10 million consumers across the country to help them make smarter energy decisions through simplicity, transparency, and choice. Unlike traditional lead-generation websites, EnergySage empowers consumers to request and compare competing quotes online from a network of more than 500 pre-screened installation companies  a formula that is proven to result in a higher rate of adoption, 20 percent lower prices on average for consumers, and significantly lower costs for renewable energy providers. For these reasons, leading organizations like Connecticut Green Bank, Duke University, Environment America, Kaiser Permanente, and National Grid refer their audiences to EnergySage. Visit EnergySage for more information, and follow us on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Twitter , and YouTube .

SOURCE EnergySage, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.energysage.com/


We hate to play our regular role of being the (early) bearer of bad tidings. For some time, weve been pointing to information and developments that suggest that efforts to contain Covid are having only limited success. That means Covid will be with us a very long time. Yet theres still a tremendous amount of wishful thinking and denial which has the potential to make this bad situation worse.

Ambrits take yesterday: The Pandemic is not even slowing down, yet, a false sense of triumphalism holds sway on that front is consistent with by a Bloomberg article last week, When Will Covid End? We Must Start Planning For a Permanent Pandemic. In other words, even as the idea that Covid will be with us for years at best is moving from the fringes to a legitimate viewpoint, more and more people (outside the EU and UK) are acting on the assumption that normalcy is nigh.

Consider:

Poor countries denied Covid vaccines until 2023. That means virus will keep circulating there. Even if these countries get to be very successful at identifying and distributing prophylactics, they have to be administered regularly, which is even more difficult logistically than administering vaccines, so there are certain to be large gaps in who will get these treatments. That insures that variants will keep developing.

Only temporary immunity. Pfizer is already salivating from the profit potential of annual Covid shots. Immunity to other common coronaviruses lasts anywhere from 6 months to 34 months. Various studies, like the large-scale periodic surveys in the UK, have suggested immunity lasts six months, and some have argued at least eight months. But then we come across datapoints like this one: SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and subsequent infection risk in healthy young adults: a prospective cohort study:

Seropositive young adults had about one-fifth the risk of subsequent infection compared with seronegative individuals.

The healthy young adults were Marines undergoing basic training. Of the ones who had tested positive, 10% tested positive again during a six-week follow up. The reinfections were of the same strain. And the Daily Mail layperson translation stressed:

Researchers say the three negative tests during quarantine helped ensure that infections diagnosed during basic training were not persistent infections but rather new infections.

We dont know how much the vaccines reduce contagion. Given the concerted effort to vaccinate nursing home residents and staffs, the impressive decline in cases there points more to vaccine success among the vaccinated than in reducing transmission. The assumption has been that the vaccines will reduce disease spread since they considerably reduce the number of severe cases, and lower viral loads and fewer Covid coughs ought to mean less disease propagation. Were flying even blinder in the US than we ought to be because in the US, the push for vaccinations has pulled resources away from testing.

But we now also know that mild and asymptomatic cases can spread the disease, and can also produce lasting damage, to lungs, kidneys, the heart, as well as long Covid.

Uncertainty about effectiveness of existing vaccines will be with new variants. mRNA vaccines are touted for speed of development, so it should come as no surprise that Pfizer and Moderna are looking into whether a third shot will be necessary to contend with new variants.

Vaccination levels wont be high enough tamp down the disease. This is not new news but it bears repeating. From Bloombergs permanent pandemic piece:

In the case of SARS-CoV-2, however, recent developments suggest that we may never achieve herd immunity. Even the U.S., which leads most other countries in vaccinations and already had large outbreaks, wont get there. Thats the upshot of an analysis by Christopher Murray at the University of Washington and Peter Piot at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The main reason is the ongoing emergence of new variants that behave almost like new viruses. A clinical vaccine trial in South Africa showed that people in the placebo group who had previously been infected with one strain had no immunity against its mutated descendant and became reinfected. There are similar reports from parts of Brazil that had massive outbreaks and subsequently suffered renewed epidemics. That leaves only vaccination as a path toward lasting herd immunity. And admittedly, some of the shots available today are still somewhat effective against some of the new variants. But over time they will become powerless against the coming mutations. Of course, vaccine makers are already feverishly working on making new jabs. In particular, inoculations based on the revolutionary mRNA technology Ive previously described can be updated faster than any vaccine in history. But the serum still needs to be made, shipped, distributed and jabbed. And that process cant happen fast enough, nor cover the planet widely enough.

And from a newer story in Bloomberg:

What that means is that new Covid cases will likely emerge in younger age groups. That occurred in Israel, where infections were recently plateauing despite the countrys world-leading immunization program. It turned out that cases among young people were surging, even as infections dropped in the 50-and-older crowd.

Mind you, the problem of variant development within and outside the US alone is enough to defeat getting infection levels down any time soon, even before you get to the wee problem of 30% to 40% of Americans being either anti-vaxxers or vaccine hesitant.

Lack of will to take stringent enough control measures. South Korea has shown how to get Covid down to a low enough level to allow for normal life to continue: impose strict quarantines for all incoming travelers, track and trace any new infections, and require those exposed to quarantine. In the West, weve only done leaky lockdowns and our quarantines have almost all been jokes (see New York as an example). By contrast, a friends significant other went to Poland to see her family. She was under a strict quarantine at her parents home, not even allowed out in the yard, with cameras on the house and the neighbors enlisted as spies. The fine for a first violation was 5,000 euros; for the second, a 15,000 euro fine plus six to 12 months of incarceration.

But not only are US infections generally too high for contact tracing to work, but we also lack the capacity do do enough testing and decades of telemarketing (and now identity theft) abuses means many people wont respond to a call or text from an unknown sender.

Inadequate official action compounded by optimism bias and compliance fatigue. Lambert and the Institute for New Economic Thinking both have warned that the CDCs failure to take aerosol spread as a serious risk and its biased reading of other data have led it to recommend school reopenings without implementing adequate safety measures or pumping for improved ventilation. Here in Birmingham, the mask mandate has been lifted even though less than 13% of the public is fully vaccinated. Conventions are set to start again in Las Vegas in June.

Its deeply unpleasant to consider that Covid restrictions might go on and onthat the US relaxed spring might lead to another wave of lite or tougher lockdowns. But the cost of Covid isnt just death and disease, its also experienced professionals quitting, both in medicine and increasingly in schools. A short section from I just feel broken: doctors, mental health and the pandemic in the Financial Times last week:

Emerging research from countries including the UK, the US, China, India and Italy has shown alarmingly high rates of mental health disorders among front-line healthcare workers during the pandemic. In February, a group of academics led by Talya Greene of the University of Haifa and Jo Billings of University College London published a paper in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology which found that, during the first wave of the pandemic, 22 per cent of all UK medical staff met the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, 47 per cent for anxiety and the same number for depression. Monica Durrette, a clinical psychologist in Virginia, says, I have had physicians in tears during sessions, because theyre so exhausted, angry, frightened. And Ive had people say, This is breaking me, I just feel broken. Its heart-wrenching. For many of these health workers, the bleak reality of their daily battle contrasts painfully with glowing narratives of heroism propagated in the media and local communities. It also illustrates a deeper crisis that long predates the pandemic, an undercurrent of burnout and mental illness plaguing a profession that should be uniquely placed to look after itself. According to Gary Price, president of the Physicians Foundation, 300-400 doctors took their own lives every year in the US, even before the pandemic  the highest suicide rate of any profession. That translates out at a conservative estimate to about one million patients losing their physician every year just to suicide, Price says

The article describes at length one of the common features of post-traumatic stress disorder, that of moral injury, a feeling that theyd violated their own fundamental values, and how many Covid doctors are afflicted by it:

In addition to witnessing extraordinarily high volumes of death and suffering over the past year, many have been forced to make unprecedented ethical decisions that they would never have been faced with in normal practice, such as choosing which patient gets a ventilator and which doesnt. Natalia Guzman-Seda, a resident anaesthesiologist at a teaching hospital in Brooklyn, says the case numbers during the first wave were so overwhelming that she and her colleagues barely had time to restock their supplies to keep up with the influx. At the peak of the first wave in early April 2020, New York City had more than 6,000 new cases a day. I would go to intubate a patient, and then go back to the [operating room] to restock, and then I would get another [call] and I would say, I feel like Ive been here before, she says. And I realised that Im intubating the neighbour of the patient that I had intubated earlier. And that one was already dead. As New York Citys case numbers started to climb again later that year, Guzman-Seda began experiencing panic attacks, as well as a paralysing sense of guilt about her actions during the first wave In particular, she was fixated on the idea that she had assured patients she was intubating that they would be OK if they allowed her to insert the breathing tube into their airway  necessary for them to be placed on a ventilator  despite knowing that very few would survive. I felt like, Who am I to take away hope from them? she says. But at the same time I feel very conflicted I felt, in a way, I was lying to them.

Its not just that there are no easy answers. There are also no good answers. We live in a complex and highly interdependent society. We blew the chance to do a hard lockdown, restrict transportation, particularly internationally, unlock state by state, region by region, when infection rates got low with test and trace and possibly a resumption of restrictions as necessary. We ignored South Koreas lesson to our peril.

Large-scale, leaky restrictions mean some businesses and workers suffer acutely, yet we dont really strangle infection numbers down as far as we could even with this approach. And legitimately increasing the rejection of this approach, and the US and most other countries have done a terrible job of keeping the hard-hit afloat and making it easier to stay at home, particularly for those who are asked to quarantine. Yet if we keep going as we are, well see so much attrition among doctors and nurses that getting adequate turnaround at the ER in years to come will be even dicier, and even worse area crises like earthquakes or fires.

So keep wearing your masks. Its the least you can do. If nothing else, it shows solidarity with the medical community.
Vertically Integrated Hemp Business with Real Estate

Green Farming Inc, established in 2018, is a vertically integrated industrial hemp company with operations in CO and KY. From seed to sale, the company handled it all. The company has 300L CO2 CBD extraction/ distillation equipment in 8600 Sq. ft. industrial building in Delta, Colorado; Alcohol Extraction/ distillation equipment along with Indoor Hemp Clones in 14,000 Sq. ft facility in Louisville, Kentucky. Besides growing Smokable flowers at Louisville facility, Green Farming had been cultivating Hemp on 80 acres (out of 300 Acres) in Gravel Switch, Kentucky for 2 seasons. The company planned Indoor Hemp and Greenhouse facility along with packaging of own branded CBD Products (CBDboost) at 62,000 sq. ft La Junta, CO facility. Some of the equipment purchased in 2020 is still in Boxes at Delta Facility.

Green Hemp Farms had been looking for an established manufacturer and distributor based in the United States last year that would mutually benefit from incorporating high-quality CBD isolate / distillate into their product line. It was not successful. Then over and above, due to oversupply of Hemp and COVID, the price of Hemp and CBD slumped. Green Farming Inc. closed their Delta, CO facility in June 2020 and planned not to cultivate Hemp in 2021; only growing smokable Hemp Flower with skeletal crew.

Now the company is looking to sell all the four facilities along with equipment as Turnkey Business at 50% discount for $16 mil. Recently, Broker checked that buyer can get $10 mil loan on real estate and equipment. There is $3 mil worth of Inventory in the form of CBD oil, Dry Hemp, CBD infused Products and Smokable flower for immediate cash out.

This vertically integrated Hemp business can be well suited to any Marijuana company that is looking to expand into Hemp sector. It could multiply in to $200 mil to $300 mil revenue business in 2 to 3 years.

For more information, feel free to contact CEO, Garry Dhaliwal, MD on his cell at 727-514-5544 or email at dhaliwalg@yahoo.com
LOS ANGELES  The countdown is on.

California on Thursday announced that all adults will become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine beginning April 15, spurring an immediate flurry of phone calls, appointment requests and people trying to secure their spots in line.

But the two-week window before the free-for-all begins marks a critical point in the states vaccine rollout  particularly for people between the ages of 50 and 64, who become eligible April 1. A patchwork of rules, uncertainty about supply levels and questions about capacity and accessibility remain even as they ready themselves for their turn.

Two weeks is not enough time for the 50 to 64 rollout, Burbank resident Jim Chadwick, 64, said Friday. Its going to be a mad rush on April 1.

The California Department of Finance, which monitors population data, projects that there are nearly 1.9 million people in L.A. County between the ages of 50 and 64, and 7.2 million in the state. Currently, only about 23% of Californians in that age group have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the state, compared to 37% of people 18 to 49, likely due to occupation or health status.

Rafi Nazarians, associate state director at AARP, said the short vaccination window for people 50 to 64 is a cause of some apprehension.

The two-week period is concerning given the challenges that remain with supply and access to technology, he said. Were going to continue to urge the prioritization of those 50-plus Californians  just to ensure that those who are highest risk are able to obtain vaccines.

Its not clear exactly how many people between the ages of 50 and 64 have yet to be vaccinated in L.A. County. Some would have already become eligible either through their work or because they have qualifying health conditions.

So its not like were starting from scratch, said Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the county Department of Public Health.

However, he estimated Friday that somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million additional people would become eligible as of April 1.

There will likely be a rush. I want to make sure the public recognizes that there may be challenges to getting an appointment immediately, he said during a briefing. It just, again, reflects the limited supply of vaccine.

On a positive note, state officials have said that a major surge of supply is imminent  with weekly allocations expected to grow to about 2.5 million doses over the first half of April  which will help accommodate the huge swell of people.

Federal officials said they expect more than 11 million Johnson & Johnson doses  which require only one shot  will be delivered nationwide next week, a huge number compared with whats been shipped to date.

L.A. County is already starting to see a boost in its supply of shots. The county anticipates getting 338,100 total doses next week, which is a 21% increase from this week and, Simon said, appears to be the highest weekly allotment to date.

Over the last month, the county had been receiving more in the neighborhood of 250,000 to 280,000 doses a week, he said.

However, it will take time for the county to work through its already lengthy vaccination queue, as well as accommodate those who will soon become eligible.

This, as is the case with so many things in the time of COVID-19, will be a balancing act, Simon said.

Even with an increased supply of vaccine, we certainly cant handle close to a million people over that first week, given all the other groups that are also currently being vaccinated, he said. But I would expect, over the following several weeks, the demand will diminish a bit and things will open up, particularly as this vaccine supply continues to increase. And so I urge people to just be patient.

But people over 50 have been tremendously impacted by the pandemic and should not be forgotten, AARPs Nazarians said. More than 90% of all COVID-19 deaths in California have been people 50 and older, according to state data, and many are still facing issues with mobility, language barriers and technology.

Were going to be urging the state of California to do more to reach older adults, particularly those that arent online and those who are homebound, he said. Its just important to us that all Californians have access to accurate and transparent information on the vaccines.

Santa Monica resident Jon Ferrara, 61, was also concerned about barriers for his age group.

I am not worried about my ability to secure a vaccine appointment as I am quite resourceful and technical, he said, but I am concerned about those who are older or have less access to digital technology required to fill out forms.

He was skeptical about the states ability to vaccinate the group between April 1 and 14. California would need to vastly scale vaccine delivery sites and sign-up access to get all residents 50 to 64 vaccinated in two weeks, Ferrara said.

Contributing to the two-week gauntlet is a lack of consistency  not only across the state, but even within some counties. Some parts of California, including Long Beach, and Solano and Contra Costa counties, have already opened COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to people ages 50 to 64. Residents still arent sure whether and when its acceptable to cross county lines.

And while some counties have already expanded eligibility beyond state guidance, others continue to vie for more supply. In Santa Clara County, which recently moved into the states orange tier for further reopening, officials on Thursday once again announced that it was awaiting adequate supply to meet the current and upcoming demand.

We are excited to expand eligibility. That is why we have been scaling up capacity so rapidly  so that we can quickly vaccinate as many eligible people who live and work here as possible, said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, COVID-19 testing and vaccine officer for the county. Currently, our challenge is not one of capacity or eligibility, but supply.

The county, like the state, has the capacity to administer a significant number of doses once allocation increases. Officials said the county is capable of delivering 200,000 vaccination per week. So far, 805,000 doses have been administered.

Posing another potential problem is the challenge of access in getting an appointment, and getting to a vaccine destination. A federally run vaccine site at Cal State L.A. had prioritized itself as a destination for people who relied on public transit. The center included a drive-through site in addition to a walk-up facility near the schools transit hub. Its unclear how its closure on April 11 will affect those who are less mobile.

Access to obtain an appointment has been an ongoing challenge as more people compete to obtain available slots.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health said its vaccine hotline received a notable increase in calls last week after the state expanded eligibility to nearly 5 million more people. Appointments were difficult to come by for many those first few days, in part because the scheduling website didnt open for pre-registration prior to the date that eligibility went into effect and a surge in traffic made it difficult for some to get through the system.

I do think it will be several weeks before I can find an appointment, L.A. resident Jeanette Ziolkowski, 63, said Friday. Ziolkowski has waited patiently for her chance at a shot, even as she watched her 68-year-old husband receive both of his Pfizer doses. Shes not convinced that there will be enough time for her cohort to get vaccinated before everyone becomes eligible April 15.

65 and over has been open since January, and I believe that it is still a struggle for many in that group, she said.

But as confirmed cases of coronavirus variants increase throughout the state, and some counties see slight increases in projected transmission, state and local officials have stressed the importance of vaccinating residents as soon as possible to avoid another surge.

And despite the tight time frame for the group, many in their 50s and 60s were elated by news of the expansion.

I am so happy, I cant even begin to tell you, said Travis Stewart, 51, who has been quarantined in her Valley Village home for almost 400 days.

For Stewart, the news came much sooner than expected: She thought her shot at a vaccine wouldnt come until June or July. Now shes got everything bookmarked on her computer  CVS, Walgreens, My Turn and other sites  ready to go come April 1.

I feel like what the state is doing is a sort of soft open, she said, to ready the infrastructure for the flood that will be coming their way.

After so many months of home cooking, Stewart said she is very much looking forward to eating in a restaurant again. And she is not only happy that her chance will come soon, but also that those under 50 wont be far behind: Her husband, a few years younger than her, will be in the group that becomes eligible April 15.

It means nothing to me Stewart said, unless we are both vaccinated.
The accident of the container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal, which ran aground and blocked the movement of ships, did not affect the rhythm of the shipment of Ukrainian exports, Stark Shipping has said on Monday.

"Loaded bulk carriers from China do not go to Ukraine, and empty ships do not come from those directions that require passage through the Suez Canal," the press release said, citing company's Director for Business Development Andriy Sokolov.

According to him, imports by bulk carriers to Ukraine (in particular bauxite), which are washed and then loaded, also do not pass through the Suez Canal.

According to the company, eight vessels with the cargo of Ukrainian companies such as Nibulon, Cargill, Metinvest, ArcelorMittal got stuck in the Suez Canal. Among the cargo: corn, wheat, iron ore and metal products. Most of them go to China. In general, more than 680,000 tonnes of Ukrainian exports got blocked.

As reported, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Monday, March 29, announced that the operation to unblock the Suez Canal has been successfully completed.

Stark Shipping is one of the largest shipping agents in Ukraine and provides services in all Ukrainian ports, serves more than 700 ship calls per year, working with international companies operating in the Black Sea ports.
(Natural News) Rutgers University has announced that students must be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus this fall. All three of its locations  New Brunswick, Camden and Newark  will require students to have the jab, making it the first American university to violate students health freedom by essentially forcing them to get an experimental vaccine.

Students must prove they have been vaccinated in a mandate that will even apply to 17-year-olds, who currently are only eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine. There will only be a few exemptions issued for those who cannot get the vaccine on medical or religious grounds. Its not yet clear how these exemptions will be granted and what sort of documentation will be needed. Those who take online or other types of off-campus courses exclusively will not need the vaccine.

A letter from the university signed by its president and other officials says: Most important, a safer Rutgers community supports a safer New Jersey for our families, our friends, and our neighbors across the state.

Faculty and staff are being encouraged to get the shot as soon as possible, but there are no specific requirements applying to them at this time. A Rutgers spokeswoman, Dory Devlin, said that students have a positivity rate that is as much as 70 percent higher than that of faculty and staff.

Devlin said: Given that students are easily identified as a cohort creating transmission and infection, we chose to concentrate on them. Further, this is the community that goes back to their extended families and communities, and we believe that by concentrating on them, we will make New Jersey safer.

The university believes that the requirement will allow for more face-to-face courses, a wider variety of on-campus events and activities, greater collaboration and better dining options.

Rutgers has an enrollment of 71,000 students, 51,200 of which are undergrads. More than 2,000 people at the school have tested positive since last May, including 1,756 students and 558 employees.

Reversing course

The requirement is particularly surprising given that a top official at the school said in January that the vaccine would not be required. On that occasion, Biomedical and Health Sciences Senior Vice Chancellor Vicente Gracias said: Rutgers, with our stance of human liberties and our history of protecting that, the vaccine is not mandatory.

A Pennsylvania attorney told CNN that the mandate is perfectly legal as long as processes are put in place for exemptions.

Nevertheless, Rutgers is currently the only university forcing its students to get a largely untested vaccine. A spokeswoman for the American College Health Association told USA Today: While we know it has been a topic of discussion among campus decision-makers, at this point in time, we are not aware of any other colleges or universities that are mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for students.

Rutgers also requires all students be vaccinated against other illnesses, such as measles, mumps and rubella.

Even those students who are inclined to get the vaccine despite the risks may face hurdles as getting the vaccine in New Jersey is currently rather difficult. The available doses are still limited to those with preexisting conditions, smokers, and people who are 65 or older. However, federal officials have said that they believe vaccines will be available to every American who wants one by the end of May.

The universitys website says that students, staff and faculty on campus must continue to participate in the schools COVID testing program, wear masks and practice social distancing.

As the vaccines become more widely available, it wont be surprising to see more schools following in Rutgers footsteps. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of what is likely to be a long list of places people who are not willing to get the vaccine will be unwelcome.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

USAToday.com
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VANCOUVER, BC, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Mantaro Silver Corp. (the "Company" or "Mantaro") is pleased to announce the appointments of Mr. Don Anderson as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors and Mr. Jos Hantelmann as Exploration Manager for South America. Dr. Christopher Wilson will remain as Chairman of the Board and Chief Geologist.

Dr. Christopher Wilson, Chairman and Chief Geologist of Mantaro, "The board of Mantaro are delighted to welcome Don and Jos to the company. Mr. Anderson's significant capital market experience, coupled with his obvious passion and vision, provides an important foundation on which the company's success will build. At the project level, Mr. Hantelmann brings industry-proven experience at all stages from grass-root to prefeasibility. Jos has intimate knowledge of the Peruvian mining industry and legislation, and is an exceptional team builder of diverse, multi-faceted, high-talent exploration teams."

Mr. Anderson, CFA, has 25 years of capital markets and business experience including 10 years as a mining analyst at brokerage firms in Toronto and Vancouver (Newcrest Capital & Salman Partners) and 5 years as an equity fund manager at one of Canada's largest investment management firms (RBC Phillips, Hager & North). More recently, Mr. Anderson has been involved in financing and managing mineral exploration projects in Southern Africa  including the re-start of a steeply-dipping, narrow-vein gold mining operation in Zimbabwe. He has previously been recognized by Brendan Wood International as one of "Canada's 50 Top-Gun Equity Portfolio Managers" in 2008 and as a "Top Ranked Analyst" in 2004-5.

Mr. Hantelmann, AusIMM (CP), has over 15 years of experience in mineral exploration with a focus on precious and base metal deposits throughout the Americas  from grass roots through brownfields exploration to prefeasibility. For the last 10 years Jos has worked a consulting geologist providing specialized geological services to more than 30 companies. He has been responsible for managing over 500 sq. km of greenfield mineral exploration licences, preparing technical NI 43-101 reports, conducting audits and due diligence, project evaluations, target generation, as well as planning, executing, and supervising a variety of mineral exploration activities.

Mr. Hantelmann has specialist experience in database management; design and implementation of Best Practice and QA/QC protocol; exploration project design and management; and integration of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data into 3D models which places mineralization in the broader context of deposit development, ensuring appropriate drill targeting of the high value targets. Jos has significant resource estimation experience.

Mr. Hantelmann is based in Lima, Peru and is fluent in Spanish. He is a registered as a member and Chartered Professional (Geology) of the AusIMM since 2012.

About Mantaro Silver Corp.

Mantaro Silver Corp. is a British Columbia company that holds a 100% interest in its flagship Santas Gloria Silver Property as well as a 100% interest in the San Jose, La Purisima, Cerro Luque and Huaranay Properties.

On behalf of the Company

Dr. Christopher Wilson

Chairman, Chief Geologist

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by many material factors, many of which are beyond their respective control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history, its exploration and development activities on its mineral 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, the Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

SOURCE Mantaro Silver Corp.
The Virginia Beach NAACP called for a full investigation into a city police officers fatal shooting of a man Friday night at the Oceanfront. And, the advocacy group said, the public should know the results  something that often doesnt happen.

In a press release, the NAACP chapter said one of the primary reasons the public gets little to no information about shootings by police  Its a personnel issue  is unacceptable.

Disciplinary actions surrounding an officer misconduct should not be withheld from the public, the release said.

The NAACP asked for a Citizen Review Board with full investigative and subpoena powers.

We are watching and listening for the departments inquiry into this shooting and expect a thorough and expeditious report, the release said. The community is waiting!

The man shot by police was Donovon W. Lynch, 25, from Virginia Beach.

Police initially said he was an armed citizen, but at a press conference Saturday night, Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said a gun was found in the vicinity of where this incident occurred.

He said that while it was still early in the investigation, theres no evidence that suggests it was Lynchs gun. He also said the officer who shot Lynch did not have his body camera activated and investigators did not know why.

Police said in a news release that the officer who shot Lynch is assigned to the Special Operations Division and has been with the department for five years. The officer has been placed on administrative assignment during the investigation.

Lynchs shooting was one of several Friday, police said. They came on a warm night when the Oceanfront was full of locals and tourists.

Police were called to the first one, at Atlantic Avenue and 20th Street, around 11:20 p.m. Investigators said a group of people got into an argument that turned into a physical fight. Several pulled guns and started shooting at each other, with multiple people being struck.

Story continues

Neudigate, the police chief, said an officer was nearby when shots were fired and chased down one of the shooters, who was later charged.

Several minutes later, police heard more gunshots coming from a couple of blocks away, near the 1900 block of Pacific Avenue, where Deshayla E. Harris, 29, from Norfolk was shot and killed.

Around the same time, Lynch was fatally shot, police said.

Lynch played football for Norfolk Christian Schools and later at University of Virginias College at Wise. A LinkedIn page with his name says he graduated from UVA Wise with a bachelors degree in physical education in 2019.

Police have charged three people in the first shooting: Ahmon Jahree Adams, 18, from Chesapeake, Nyquez Tyyon Baker, 18, from Virginia Beach, and Devon Maurice Dorsey Jr., 20, from Virginia Beach. They are all charged with seven counts of felony assault and gun counts, police said, and were being held at the Virginia Beach city jail.

During the shootings, a Virginia Beach police officer was hit by a vehicle. The officer was taken to a hospital, treated and released.

Altogether, 10 people went to Sentara hospitals that night. A Sentara spokeswoman said four remained at Virginia Beach General as of 6 p.m. Saturday, and all of them were in good condition.

On Monday morning, a Sentara spokesman said two of the victims were still at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, but that he couldnt release their conditions because both chose to be no information patients under medical privacy law.

Saleen Martin, 757-446-2027, saleen.martin@pilotonline.com
The Alliance of Registered Churches of Kenya (ARCK) has opposed the government's ban on in-person gatherings at places of worship in five counties due to a rise in Covid-19 cases.

The ban affects Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Nakuru and Kajiado counties, which President Uhuru Kenyatta declared disease-infested. In the other parts of the country, worship centres will adhere to the requirement to host just one third of their capacities.

The directive on Friday came a few weeks to the Easter weekend and the Holy Month of Ramadhan.

Addressing the press on Saturday, Rt Rev Samuel Manyonyi Welimo, the Presiding Bishop of Hope of God Gospel Mission and the ARCK chair, said the government should allow a maximum of 100 people in churches.

"We advise the State not to close places of worship," he said, noting the importance of spiritual nourishment amid a pandemic.

"The virus will not be contained overnight. Covid-19 is going to be in our midst, just like malaria, HIV/Aids and other diseases, so life must continue," he said.

"No doctor or human knowledge can end the pandemic. Let us therefore return to God and speak the truth and love to one another. God is going to heal the country," he said.

However, he urged church leaders and the public to take the Covid-19 vaccine, saying it is not harmful, as some have claimed.

Government directives

Rev Welimo further advised the government to always give room for adjustments after announcing new measures against the virus.

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After President Kenyatta banned movement into and out of the five counties on Friday, operators of passenger service vehicles and other transports hiked charges, leaving many stranded.

In his response to complaints about hiked fares, Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya warned Saturday that matatu operators cashing in on the new anti-virus regulations will be arrested.

Mr Natembeya noted that the pandemic has greatly affected everybody in the country, so there is no need to harass commuters.

"What has changed between Nakuru and Nairobi that can necessitate an increase of fares? We are going to arrest all those taking advantage of the situation to siphon money from commuters," he said.

"Hiking fares is extremely baffling. Every time the government announces new restrictions to contain the spread of Covid-19, some public transport operators take advantage and increase fares. This is unacceptable. The government will deal firmly with PSV operators trying to cash in on the new regulations."
Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
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Free Press Head Start for March 29              Sign up here if you would like to receive future editions of Head Start Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Free Press Head Start for March 29 Good morning. Its going to be a wild week in terms of the weather. Winnipeg is in store for some unseasonably warm temperatures today, but theres a likelihood of rain beginning this afternoon. Tuesday will see snow and unusually cold temperatures, and Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the city. Wednesday will also be cold, but the forecast high will be in the double digits Thursday and beyond. A draft copy of a joint WHO-China study on the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19 says transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that it is extremely unlikely it came from a lab. Engineers have partially refloated the container ship blocking traffic in the Suez Canal. Families Minister Rochelle Squires is holding a news conference on housing initiatives at the legislature at 10 a.m. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce is hosting a virtual fireside chat with federal Conservative Leader Erin OToole over the lunch hour today. The trial of a former Minneapolis police officer for George Floyds death is set to begin today.  Adam Treusch, assignment editor Whats happening today

Erin Chorney was killed in 2002 by her ex-boyfriend Michael Bridges, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2005. (Brandon Sun files) Faint hope hearing: Michael Bridges, who is serving a life sentence for killing Erin Chorney and hiding her body in a freshly covered grave in 2002, is scheduled to begin his bid for early release at a "faint hope clause" hearing in Brandon. Read More Taking advisers place: Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez is set to testify at a parliamentary committee about the since-cancelled WE deal instead of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or members of his staff. Read More Details on deadly attack: North Vancouver RCMP are expected to release more information about their investigation into a stabbing rampage that left a young woman dead and six people injured in and around a library on Saturday. Yannick Bandaogo, 28, is charged with second-degree murder. Read More New COVID-19 numbers: Health officials are slated to hold their first news conference since they announced Friday that 46 previously reported COVID-19 cases were of the U.K. variant. Read More Series split so far: The Winnipeg Jets face the Flames in the last of three consecutive games in Calgary at 9 p.m. CT, ending a seven-game road trip out west. The Jets won the first game in the mini-series Friday night and lost Saturday. Read More Weather

Your forecast: A mix of sun and cloud with a high of 17 C, a 60 per cent chance of showers late this afternoon and throughout the evening, and wind from the south at 40 km/h gusting to 60. Snow and blowing snow Tuesday morning. In case you missed it

Simarpreet Singh is a University of Manitoba PhD student in chemistry. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press) Hardest hit: Dylan Robertson reports on how young Canadians have been disproportionately affected financially and mentally by the pandemic. Read More Ready to roll: Some food trucks have already started operating this season despite some weird March weather and the likelihood of cancelled events because of the pandemic. Malak Abas reports. Read More Cleaning up communities: In her latest column, Shelley Cook says picking up garbage can be a great experience. Read More Donations up, not down: Some Canadian charities based in Winnipeg have seen an increase in donations despite the economic fallout from pandemic closures and restrictions. John Longhurst reports. Read More On this date

On March 29, 1974: The Winnipeg Free Press reported the provincial government was planning to buy 1,347 acres of land in and around Winnipeg for low-income residential housing developments. The federal government would soon introduce rail relocation legislation to free extensive land holdings in downtown Winnipeg and other Canadian cities. Government officials anticipated gasoline prices would likely jump by as much as 10 cents per gallon west of the Ottawa valley and up to five cents to the east because of the new national oil agreement. Exiled Soviet writer Alexander Solzhenitzyn arrived in Switzerland from Moscow. Today's front page

Get the full story: Read today's e-edition of the Winnipeg Free Press Read More
It was, for Harpers, a sensation, receiving 2.5 million views. The magazine  whose paywall is now more porous, but is still years behind the kind of digital subscription machine that drives The New Yorker and The Atlantic  grew its subscription base 13 percent and bounced back above 100,000 subscribers. It is still far down from a peak of 231,670 during the George W. Bush years, and so far from breaking even that Mr. MacArthur told me he hadnt done the math of what it would take to get there.

The Harper's staff, since Mr. MacArthur broke the union, is not a rebellious bunch. No current staff member would speak to me on the record about the magazine. But when the letter appeared on the website, they revolted, and in an emotional Zoom meeting on July 8 (they werent yet back at the office), Mr. Beha took responsibility for publishing the letter and defended it. A former Harpers assistant editor who is now a New Yorker fact-checker, Shirley Ngozi Nwangwa, recalled that editors argued that regardless of its intent, the letter would be used as ammunition against the racial justice protests.

Mr. Beha also told the Harpers employees they were free to speak up on social media against the letter; an editor responded that they feared Mr. MacArthur would fire them if they did. The next day, Mr. Beha wrote an elliptical email that didnt mention Mr. MacArthur, but acknowledged that he had been trying to make the parts of the office that are under my control as open, respectful and tolerant of difference as I could, while insulating my staff as much as possible.

Harpers didnt publish the letter in print until October, packaging it with several scathing attacks on it and one signatorys apology for signing. In an editors note, Mr. Beha wrote that the attacks themselves were an instance of the kind of debate the letter supported, and that in that sense, even the letters loudest critics were in a kind of agreement with it.

There are two ways to read the Harpers letter. One is to see it as a rejection of elements of the protests against racism, and a direct rejoinder to claims that some speech is physically dangerous. Thats how it was read by many of the Harpers editorial staff members who opposed it, and also apparently how it was read by Mr. MacArthur, who signed it.

Though he has contributed to Harpers only twice over 40 years, Mr. MacArthur writes an occasional column in French for the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir. (In another Harpers oddity, the column is translated back into English by someone else, then published without further editing on the Harpers website.) There, Mr. MacArthur described the letter as a public stand against political correctness and cancel culture. Earlier this month, he denounced the McCarthyism and mob rule at work when The New York Times forced out a veteran journalist who had used a racial slur on a trip with teenagers to Peru. Mr. MacArthur wrote the word in full, a matter of honor, as a matter of principle, to use it informationally like he did, he told me.

But Mr. MacArthurs columns dont appear in the print magazine. Relatively little railing against cancel culture does. And indeed, theres also another way to read the Harpers letter, which is simply its plain language, which called for a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk taking, and even mistakes. Thats how Mr. Beha said he has strained to interpret it, and why hes avoided taking Harpers down an overtly reactionary  if commercially promising  path.
[March 29, 2021] Advanced Battery Concepts (ABC) announced the appointment of Randy Moore to its Technical Advisory Board

CLARE, Mich., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Battery Concepts (ABC) announced the appointment of Randy Moore to its Technical Advisory Board. Randy Moore brings over 30 years of diverse experience in such fields as aerospace, defense, medical and the energy industry. In his current role as CEO at AESir Technologies, Randy is leading the effort to develop revolutionary, high performance batteries that are safe and environmentally responsible. Randy's experience in battery chemistries, like Nickel-Zic, can help push ABC's technology into the next generation.



Bob Galyen, Chairman of ABC's Technology Advisory board stated "I am pleased to add Randy to our advisory board for Advanced Battery Concepts. His desire to achieve excellence in performance technology driven industries will be a great asset to ABC." Dr. Edward Shaffer, CEO and Founder of ABC also had this to say, "Advanced Battery Concepts' GreenSeal Technology is a revolutionary advancement for lead batteries. Even better, the technology has further potential in the storage industry using other chemistries. Randy's broad experience in other battery chemistries, particularly Nickel-Zinc, can help push ABC's technology into the next generation." Randy Moore joins the technical advisory board's other members which encompass broad expertise in lead batteries, flow batteries, vehicle electrification, and grid energy.

About Advanced Battery Concepts Advanced Battery Concepts LLC is a global battery technology development company based in Michigan, USA, and is the first company to successfully design a bipolar lead acid battery and develop and implement a commercially viable manufacturing process for such batteries. Advanced Battery Concepts is currently working with existing lead acid battery producers and engaging licensees to realize the commercial potential of its technology, as well as on-going production of batteries and additional research from its Battery Research & Engineering Development Center in Michigan to broaden its technology portfolio. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/advanced-battery-concepts-abc-announced-the-appointment-of-randy-moore-to-its-technical-advisory-board-301257813.html SOURCE Advanced Battery Concepts

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Rep. Richard Heath's Legislative Update

By Rep. Richard Heath

MAYFIELD - Legislators return to Frankfort on March 29 and 30 to vote on a handful of bills left this session and consider overriding vetoes issued by the Governor. The Governor had from Wednesday, March 17, and concluded on March 27. During this time period, the Governor considers legislation passed thus far, and will either sign or veto the bill. As of Friday morning, the Governor vetoed a total of 29 bills this session, 21 of which during the veto period. I expect there will be more issued after my deadline for this piece. Either way, our goal remains the same - to enact good long-term public policy and restore common sense to our state government.Among the bills vetoed this week is HB 258 which creates a new, fully funded hybrid tier for new teachers within the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System (KTRS). The result of numerous meetings with education stakeholders, this bill would partially address the skyrocketing costs of funding KTRS while still providing competitive retirement benefits. To put it into perspective, the $12 billion state budget we approved this session includes $1.15 billion for the KTRS fund, almost twice what is required by law but every dime is necessary to keep the fund alive. The proposed new tier includes a stabilization fund that prevents the pension from being underfunded and a combination of defined benefit and defined contribution approaches. We chose to do this because teachers are not allowed to participate in Social Security, so a defined benefit approach is critical to ensuring a consistent benefit. Regardless of what some might say, this bill does NOT affect current KTRS members. New hires who start their career after January 1, 2022 would automatically go into this new tier. I think it is important to note that no education group opposed this measure when it passed.The Governor also vetoed HB 563 which includes two major provisions intended to provide parents and guardians a historic opportunity to choose which public school system best meets the needs of their children. First, this measure allows SEEK funds to follow a student to other public school districts and requires public school districts to develop a plan for accepting non-district students. In essence, the Support Education Excellence and Knowledge (SEEK) funding will follow a student to any eligible public school district they choose to attend.Second, this measure creates Education Opportunity Accounts (EOA) to provide financial assistance to families at or below 175 percent of the federal poverty level. These accounts could be used to pay tuition at all public schools as well as private schools in counties with 90,000 or more people and used to provide tutoring, therapy, transportation, testing and a number of other tools. This bill does not eliminate funding for public education nor does it add any unnecessary burdens. Instead, this bill provides an option to the typical one-size-fits all approach in an attempt to help all children reach their potential.SB 65 allows the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee to serve its purpose, and nullifies deficient regulations. The Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee meets monthly during the interim to track and mark deficient regulations. However when the committee finds a deficient regulation, the regulation can still go into effect. This measure would nullify the deficient regulations and provide incentive to the Executive Branch to carry out the will of the General Assembly.After meeting during the interim, the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee found three regulations deficient and recommended they be nullified by the Cabinet. This measure is incredibly important because it allows a statutory subcommittee to serve its purpose and provide legislative oversight.The Governor claims that part of this measure would deprive Kentucky children of essential food assistance, but we need to remain mindful that the regulations that would be nullified under this bill effect non-custodial parents that are behind on their child support, not the custodial parent. If there is a child living in the house of the non-custodial parent, the parent could go to court, where the Judge could issue an order that they receive the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit. However, most times when the non-custodial parent is behind on their child support, children living with the custodial parent are not getting the benefits they need, and the burden is placed solely on the custodial parent.HB 312 alleviates local governments from being inundated with open records requests. Under the current law, local governments have to respond to open record requests whether they come from a reputable source, or an out of state blogger. This puts a tremendous burden on our local governments as they lack the manpower or the funding to employ more staff for this purpose.This measure would restrict open records requests to only residents of the Commonwealth or news-gathering organizations. It would also limit access to records of elected officials, including the privacy of our constituents who contact us for assistance. Rest assured, our intent in HB 312 is not to dismantle the Open Records Act. In fact, the Open Records Act remains totally intact after this provision, instead it simplifies the process to file an open records request, and the process of the local government or agency to fulfill the request.As I mentioned previously, while we will consider the Governors stance on these bills, we will also consider the opportunity to override vetoes, and continue to strive to make Kentucky the best place to live, work and raise a family. Now more than ever, it is important enact good long-term public policy and restore common sense to our state government.As always, am grateful to serve this district and our communities. If you are needing assistance or have any questions, I can be reached during the week from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (EST) through the toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181. You can also contact me via e-mail at Richard.Heath@lrc.ky.gov. You can keep track of committee meetings and potential legislation through the Kentucky Legislature Home Page at legislature.ky.gov.
The trial for officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd is shown on the outdoor televisions at the Fox News headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

Credit... Hilary Swift for The New York Times
The other day, Sharon Gillenwater made an early morning trip to the Moscone Center vaccination center. She didnt have an appointment for the vaccine  at 55 years old, she wasnt eligible. But she really, really wanted one, and a friend of hers had done the same thing the day before, managed to get herself on a wait list and, later that night, got her first dose of the vaccine.

After an hour, though, the news wasnt great: The list was full, the site was overwhelmed. So Gillenwater did what any rational person would do: I drove straight to my doctor and got my shingles vaccine. Im six years overdue. At least it was a vaccine and, more critically, it meant that Gillenwater, who lives in Noe Valley, would have to wait at least two weeks before she could start hunting again for the coronavirus vaccine. Anything to take the edge off.

A couple months ago I was perfectly happy to wait and my expectation was that I would be lucky to get it in July, she said. But that was before her husband got a shot. And her three best friends. Its just messing with my head.

About 43% of all eligible adults in San Francisco have had at least one shot; 20% are fully vaccinated. These figures can vary widely depending on the city, but even in East Palo Alto, the least vaccinated city, 1 in 4 adults has had at least one shot. Thats great for the people who have received the vaccine  but for those still waiting, even as everyone around them gets theirs, a certain sort of vaccine FOMO, or fear of missing out, has started to set in.

I dont think Ive ever really understood the concept of FOMO, Gillenwater said. Its just such the topic. Anybody you talk to its all about who has gotten their shot. Ive never been the person who feels left out of something like this.

Its all about managing your own expectations. But thats been really surprisingly hard to do.

It wont be long before Gillenwater is eligible. Come Thursday, anybody 50 years old and older in California will be able to sign up for the vaccine. Two weeks later, thatll expand again to anybody over the age of 16. In the meantime, though, all she, like so many others, can do is wait.

Its a lucky thing. Its a good thing, says Shubhi Nigam, a South of Market resident, as she explains how most of her friends have already been vaccinated. That means theyre safe, and it means shes safer, too. Because theyre vaccinated, I feel good about seeing them  but also theres a little bit of vaccine FOMO.

Waiting patiently is one thing when youre waiting with everybody else, she says. Its harder when everybody around you seems to be posting vaxxies (vaccine selfies). Theres a sense of self-doubt that starts to creep in. Am I not trying hard enough to get it? Should I be calling 50 pharmacies up every day? But no, she says, You cant let yourself get frustrated. Its just a matter of luck.

Hopefully, Nigam says, shell be fully vaccinated for the summer. First things first: Visiting her family in India. I havent been able to see them for a really, really long time. And after that, rescheduling last years birthday parties. We all turned 30 last year, and all of our birthdays kind of got shelved.

For some, theres a certain pressure not to hold up everybody elses return to normal. Right now Josh Steinfeld, 42, is the odd man out. His wife, Marissa Hockfield, is vaccinated (shes an educator) and so are their parents and extended family. So were really just waiting on me.

Once hes been vaccinated, they can finally go see family in other states  hers in New Mexico, his in New Jersey.

Would you go to Austin without me? he asks his wife, sort of laughing as he says it.

I think if it took you a really long time to get vaccinated  I would probably go without you because we havent seen my parents in a year, she says. Then again her parents have offered to come to San Francisco. But that means I wont see my sister, brother-in-law and 3-year-old nephew.

And theyre vaccinated.

So much of the wait is about what comes after: a whole world of possibilities  even if theyre not particularly flashy ones.

Gillenwater wants to see her friends again, maybe have them over for a dinner party, go see a play and eventually, one day, stop getting a mask caught around her earrings.

Rob Cocks, 45, imagines big things like going to the gym or sipping a cup of coffee inside a cafe. Having a meal with my friends without a jacket on, he says, like hes going down a list. Being able to smile at somebody as I pass them.

He was fine waiting his turn, but the wait got a little harder after he was the lone adult in the family yet to be vaccinated. The feeling is that after a year of this stuff, I sort of see some light at the end of the tunnel and I feel like there could be a little semblance of normalcy. I could accept a dinner invitation  or maybe I could do something crazy like give somebody a hug.

Cocks, who lives in San Francisco, had been trying for days to register as a vaccine site volunteer  to help out, of course, but also because volunteers become eligible for the vaccine after a shift. Its one of the few ethical shortcuts for someone his age. As of last Tuesday, he wasnt having any luck. But then the next day he sent a message: Full disclosure my volunteer paperwork did go thru so may be volunteering Saturday and on the vaccination trail. And a few days after that, another message, this one a picture of his vaccination card. Hed spent a day volunteering and at the end of the shift, they asked him if hed like a shot of his own.

Last week, Erich Valos wife managed to schedule her first dose of the vaccine. His parents have had it, so have hers, so that left him the last man standing. The Oakland resident was sanguine about the situation. I dont feel like Im missing out on anything right now, he said. Although there is still that feeling of that, Oh this summer could be a vaccinated summer, there is that feeling that the end is in sight. He didnt really imagine that being the case as recently as this past December.

That night he drove his wife to the appointment  she hates driving. As she was signing in he asked if there might be an extra dose lying around.

No luck. But then, during that 15-minute observation window, as he and his wife waited, a nurse came up to him. Looks like were going to have some, she said.

My heart rate was definitely going when I was getting the vaccine. I was super excited, he says. Now its exciting looking to the future.

Hes looking forward to getting back to work as a photographer and thinking about a little road trip with the family and maybe a trip to Krispy Kreme, where theyre offering free donuts with proof of vaccinations.

First, he just has to wait for his second shot. And then two weeks after that.

Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @RyanKost
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Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
Man dies after motorbike crashes on wet Kathu-Koh Kaew Rd

PHUKET: A 39-year-old Myanmar man died after the motorbike he was riding crashed into a concrete roadside drain and struck a power pole along the Kathu-Koh Kaew Rd yesterday evening (Mar 28).

transportaccidentsdeathpolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 29 March 2021, 10:13AM

Police were called to the scene, just north of the Tin Mining Museum, at about 6pm, reported Lt Adisorn Juhong of the Kathu Police.

Police and rescue workers from the Thung Tong branch of the Kusoldharm Foundation arrived to find the body of the Myanmar man in the concrete drain.

He had suffered fatal head trauma from hitting the power pole.

The man was identified by his Overseas Worker Identification Card as construction worker Kyaw Swar Hlaing.

Beside him was his Krabi-registered Yamaha Mio GTX.

No helmet was found at the scene.

Lt Adisorn reported that eyewitnesses saw Mr Kyaw riding at speed northbound along the road, which was wet from rain, before losing control of his motorbike and crashing into the drain.

Mr Kyaws body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital and his motorbike taken to Thong Tong Police Station for further investigation in order for police to conclude their investigation, and his body released to relatives to hold Mr Kyaws funeral, Lt Adisorn noted.
Geneva  The U.N. refugee agency says two refugee camps for Eritreans in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have been destroyed and abandoned.

U.N. agencies have been unable to access Tigray since November, when Ethiopia began its military offensive to wrest control of the region from the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front. Aid workers finally were allowed to reach two refugee camps, Shimelba and Hitsats, that had been out of bounds for months.

The UNHCR and U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs conducted a joint mission to the area recently and found both camps had been destroyed.

UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov says the camps, which formerly housed some 20,000 Eritrean refugees, were deserted and all the humanitarian facilities had been looted and vandalized.

"In Hitsats, most of the shelters in an area known as zone A, as well as UNHCR's offices and staff guest houses, were found burnt to the ground," Cheshirkov said. "The mission confirmed what satellite imagery and accounts from refugees had indicated at the beginning of this year. UNHCR is deeply concerned for the well-being of the Eritrean refugees who had been residing there, all of whom have fled the camps."

Earlier in the crisis, more than 7,000 of the refugees had fled the camps for security reasons and headed for two other Eritrean refugee camps that were not directly affected by the conflict.

Cheshirkov says his agency has been in contact with more than 2,000 other refugees who have fled to various parts of the country for safety.

"We have around seven to 10,000 Eritrean refugees still dispersed in the region and also in places where we have not yet had access, but we are working to identify where they are and to provide them with support working, of course, closely with our partners and the authorities," he said.

Local authorities have reported the presence of some 95,000 Ethiopians, who are internally displaced within Tigray's Shiraro administrative area. Cheshirkov says all the refugees, as well as Ethiopian displaced, are in dire need of urgent life-saving assistance, including food, shelter, health care, water and sanitation.
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Loan from debt fund ACRE Credit the latest in a series of deals to support multifamily communities in growing Sun Belt markets

Asia Capital Real Estate (ACRE), a global real estate private equity firm, today announced it has finalized a $41.75 million bridge loan with joint venture TTI Companies and Viking Companies, to acquire the luxury apartment community Verso in Davenport, Florida.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005700/en/

The 250-unit 'Verso' luxury apartment development in Davenport, Florida. (Photo: Business Wire)

The loan, issued through ACREs latest debt fund "ACRE Credit", will support the joint ventures purchase of the 250-unit community. Executed in mid-March, the two-year agreement carries a loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 70.2 percent, with options for two single-year extensions.

Berkadia Managing Director Jason Brown served as lead broker for the deal.

"Davenport and the broader Orlando region has been attracting new jobs and residents for many years, and is now benefitting from migration patterns that are driving workers to Florida and the rest of the Southeast," said ACRE Head of Origination, Daniel Jacobs. "Verso is a well-designed community that has already performed extremely well under adverse conditions brought on by the pandemic. The development stands to benefit even further from accelerated demand from professionals in high growth industries such as technology, healthcare and logistics  all of which are booming across Central Florida. Were proud to partner with successful and reputable companies in TTI Capital and Viking Companies, and are confident this loan will mark the start of a long-term strategic partnership with both firms."

Located at 6100 Echelon Way, Verso is adjacent to Davenports Ovation Town Center, which offers residents easy access to a Publix supermarket, Anytime Fitness and a variety of other retail destinations. Verso also benefits from Central Floridas strong employment market, fueled by the blue-chip US 27 Logistics Corridor, which supplies thousands of jobs with companies including Amazon, Walmart, FedEx, UPS, Ford and CVS to the immediate area.

Story continues

Verso was built and delivered by Garrett Companies in mid-2020. The community is currently 94 percent occupied and 97 percent leased, having maintained its target rents with minimal concessions despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The developments 250 luxury units feature a variety of modern finishes, including high ceilings; curved archways; quartz countertops; stainless steel appliances; NEST thermostats; walk-in closets; electronic keyless entry; built-in USB charging ports; walk-in showers; full-size washers and dryers; and backyard balconies.

Community amenities include a clubhouse; resort-style swimming pool with a sun-shelf and private cabanas; a spa; an outdoor kitchen and grill area with fire pits; a game room; a full circuit fitness center featuring yoga and an on-demand fitness studio; a guest suite rental; and a coffee bar and pet park.

TTI Capital is a real estate investment and private equity firm strategically focused on investments in middle market companies and commercial real estate properties. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the companys portfolio of real estate holdings is concentrated in the Southeast and Texas.

Located in Gainesville, Florida, Viking Companies is a real estate investment firm with a focus on creating lasting community environments. The companys portfolio includes multifamily and student housing assets, as well as mixed-income office and retail. Viking Companies currently has multiple deals under contract through their partnership with TTI Capital.

About ACRE

Asia Capital Real Estate ("ACRE") is a vertically integrated private equity firm specializing in commercial real estate through active investments in both direct equity and debt capital markets as well as special situation opportunities. ACRE manages a global portfolio in excess of $1 billion concentrated in U.S. multifamily with holdings in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia through separate verticals. ACRE has offices in Atlanta, New York, and Singapore.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005700/en/

Contacts

Media Contact:

Dan Ivers

Antenna | Spaces

(646) 265-9760

Dan.ivers@antennagroup.com

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YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Secretary-General of the Association for Prevention of Torture Barbara Bernath sent an open letter to President of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, noting that the financial independence of the Defender should be preserved.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, the open letter runs as follows,

''Dear President Mirzoyan, The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) is an international non-governmental organisation that is at the origin of the international torture prevention system established by the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). This system opens all places of deprivation of liberty to independent monitoring by both an international body  the United National Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)  and national preventive mechanisms (NPMs) in over 90 states. We work closely with both the SPT and NPMs around the world to strengthen this system and to prevent torture and ill-treatment. In this context, we have a long history of close and constructive cooperation with the Armenian Human Rights Defender / NPM.

I am writing to you in relation to the proposed amendments to the Constitutional Law on the Human Rights Defender, submitted by the Armenian government on the 11th of March 2021. I understand that the current proposals would remove Article 8(5) of the Constitutional Law, which provides that the amount of funding in the state budget for the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) cannot be below the amount provided in the preceding year. I further understand that these changes have been initiated without proper consultation or discussion with the Human Rights Defender.

These proposals must also be considered in the context of other reported actions with a negative impact on the resources and technical capacity available to the NHRI and NPM, including restrictions on the use of government vehicles, which are essential to its work, including its ability to effectively monitor places of deprivation of liberty across the country.

As you are no doubt aware, Article 18(3) of the OPCAT, to which Armenia became a party in 2006, contains a positive obligation on states parties to provide both the necessary resources and adequate funding for the effective functioning of NPMs.

In line with the Paris Principles, financial autonomy is a fundamental requirement of NPM independence. It underpins the essential ability of NPMs to take operational and other decisions free from undue pressure or influence. As the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) notes in its 2010 Guidelines on NPMs, the NPM should enjoy complete financial and operational autonomy when carrying out its functions under the Optional Protocol.

The current constitutional guarantee against a regressive provision of funds to the Armenian Human Rights Defender has been widely considered an international best practice and is commonly cited by us in our advice to other countries in the process of establishing NPMs. Indeed, it is this and other guarantees of independence that have made the Armenian Human Rights Defender such a strong and reliable partner in the fight against torture and ill-treatment. Our cooperation over many years is built on the foundation provided by the NPMs independence and technical expertise.

While many states face budgetary constraints, particularly in the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also at such times that the most vulnerable in society are at the greatest risk. It is thus essential that institutions mandated with their protection are not only supported but further strengthened at such moments in time.

In the light of the relevant international standards and Armenias obligations as a state party to the OPCAT, we thus recommend that the current Article 8(5) of the Constitution of Armenia is retained  as a best practice among NHRIs and NPMs  and that the Human Rights Defender is fully consulted in relation to any further discussions relating to amendments to its founding legislation.

We remain available for further information and discussion'.
Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned.

FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2020, file photo acting-Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, center, arrives to join President Donald Trump at Andrews Air Force Base in Md. In December, U.S. officials discovered that federal agencies had fallen victim to a cyberespionage effort pulled off largely through a hack of SolarWinds software .The hackers accessed accounts belonging to then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who focus on finding cyber threats from nation-state adversaries like Russia, according to current and former senior Homeland Security Department and intelligence officials who were briefed on the extent of the breach. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned.

The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is not publicly known, but the symbolism is stark. Their accounts were accessed as part of what's known as the SolarWinds intrusion, and it throws into question how the U.S. government can protect individuals, companies and institutions across the country if it cant protect itself.

The short answer for many security experts and federal officials is that it cant  at least not without some significant changes.

The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS, said Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, top Republican on the Senates Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. We are talking about DHSs crown jewels.

The Biden administration has tried to keep a tight lid on the scope of the SolarWinds attack as it weighs retaliatory measures against Russia. But an inquiry by the AP found new details about the breach at DHS and other agencies, including the Energy Department, where hackers accessed top officials' schedules.

The AP interviewed more than a dozen current and former U.S. government officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the ongoing investigation into the hack.

The vulnerabilities at Homeland Security, in particular, intensify the worries following the SolarWinds attack and an even more widespread hack affecting Microsoft Exchanges email program, especially because in both cases the hackers were detected not by the government but by a private company.

In December, officials discovered what they describe as a sprawling, monthslong cyberespionage effort done largely through a hack of a widely used software from Texas-based SolarWinds Inc. At least nine federal agencies were hacked, along with dozens of private-sector companies.

U.S. authorities have said the breach appeared to be the work of Russian hackers. Gen. Paul Nakasone, who leads the Pentagons cyber force, said last week that the Biden administration is considering a range of options in response. Russia has denied any role in the hack.

Since then, a series of headline-grabbing hacks has further highlighted vulnerabilities in the U.S. public and private sectors. A hacker tried unsuccessfully to poison the water supply of a small town in Florida in February, and this month a new breach was announced involving untold thousands of Microsoft Exchange email servers that the company says was carried out by Chinese state hackers. China has denied involvement in the Microsoft breach.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the government's initial response to the discovery of the SolarWinds hack was disjointed.

What struck me was how much we were in the dark for as long as we were in the dark, Warner said at a recent cybersecurity conference.

Wolf and other top Homeland Security officials used new phones that had been wiped clean along with the popular encrypted messaging system Signal to communicate in the days after the hack, current and former officials said.

One former administration official, who confirmed the Federal Aviation Administration was among the agencies affected by the breach, said the agency was hampered in its response by outdated technology and struggled for weeks to identify how many servers it had running SolarWinds software.

The FAA initially told the AP in mid-February that it had not been affected by the SolarWinds hack, only to issue a second statement a few days later that it was continuing to investigate.

At least one other Cabinet member besides Wolf was affected. The hackers were able to obtain the schedules of officials at the Energy Department, including then-Secretary Dan Brouillette, one former high-placed administration official said. The schedules were not confidential and are subject to open records laws.

Energy Department spokesman Kevin Liao said it has found no evidence the network that maintains senior officials schedules was compromised.

The new disclosures provide a fuller picture of what kind of data was taken in the SolarWinds hack. Several congressional hearings have been held on the subject, but they have been notably short on details.

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, indicated at one of the hearings that a DHS secretary's email had been hacked but did not provide additional detail. The AP was able to identify Wolf, who declined to comment other than to say he had multiple email accounts as secretary.

DHS spokesperson Sarah Peck said that a small number of employees accounts were targeted in the breach and that the agency no longer sees indicators of compromise on our networks.

The Biden administration has pledged to issue an executive order soon to address significant gaps in modernization and in technology of cybersecurity across the federal government. But the list of obstacles facing the federal government is long: highly capable foreign hackers backed by governments that arent afraid of U.S. reprisals, outdated technology, a shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals and a complex leadership and oversight structure.

The recently approved stimulus package includes $650 million in new money for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to harden the countrys cyber defences. Federal officials said that amount is only a down payment on much bigger planned spending to improve threat detection.

We must raise our game, Brandon Wales, who leads the cybersecurity agency, said at a recent House committee hearing.

The agency operates a threat-detection system known as Einstein. Its failure to detect the SolarWinds breach before it was discovered by a private security company alarmed officials. Eric Goldstein, the agency's executive assistant director for cybersecurity, told Congress that Einsteins technology was designed a decade ago and has grown somewhat stale.

Anthony Ferrante, a former director for cyber incident response at the U.S. National Security Council and current senior managing director at FTI Consulting, said part of the problem, both in government and in the private sector, is the lack of a skilled workforce.

The Microsoft Exchange hack, which to date has not affected any federal government agencies, was also discovered by a private firm.

One issue that's flummoxed policymakers is that foreign state hackers are increasingly using U.S.-based virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade detection by U.S. intelligence agencies, which are legally constrained from monitoring domestic infrastructure. The hosting services of Amazon Web Services and GoDaddy were used by the SolarWinds hackers to evade detection, officials said recently.

The Biden administration is not planning to step up government surveillance of the U.S. internet in response and instead wants to focus on tighter partnerships and improved information-sharing with the private-sector companies that already have broad visibility into the domestic internet.

Responsibility for responding to breaches, preventing new ones and providing oversight of those efforts is still unsettled, and last month leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee initially criticized the Biden administration for a "disorganized response to the SolarWinds hack before the White House issued a statement clarifying its leadership structure.

The Biden administration tapped Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, to respond to the SolarWinds and Microsoft breaches. It hasn't appointed a national cyber director, a new position, frustrating some members of Congress.

"Were trying to fight a multifront war without anybody in charge, said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine.

The Biden administration says its reviewing how best to set up the new position. Cybersecurity is a top priority, said White House spokesperson Emily Horne.

Associated Press writer James LaPorta contributed to this report.
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China's tech firms explore building zero-carbon internet

Xinhua) 08:42, March 29, 2021

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China's internet industry has seen robust growth in recent decades, but its data centers, large-scale servers and cellular base stations are consuming energy at a faster pace. Hence, China's tech firms have started to work on green solutions.

According to a report by China's State Grid Energy Research Institute, the electricity consumption by data centers alone in 2020 is estimated to exceed 200 billion kWh, accounting for 2.7 percent of the country's electricity consumption.

By 2030, the data center electricity consumption in China will exceed 400 billion kWh, accounting for 3.7 percent of the country's total electricity consumption, the report added.

"The electricity consumption of China's internet industry is growing at an annual rate of about ten percent. It will double in seven or eight years, and become a major source of energy consumption in the future," Prof. Wang Yuanfeng of Beijing Jiaotong University told Xinhua.

Wang, a carbon emission reduction expert and an advocate of green development, said enterprises in the sector should act quickly to build greener internet infrastructure.

China's tech giants, such as Huawei and Tencent, have been trying to build a zero-carbon internet industry.

In Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2021 held in February, Huawei unveiled its solution for zero-carbon network, including minimalized base stations, server rooms, data centers and wide use of green electricity.

Vice President of Huawei and President of its Digital Power Product Line Zhou Taoyuan said Huawei can reduce energy consumption by using high-performance, low power-demand and highly-integrated servers, and minimizing the room occupation of base stations.

Its data centers can use indirect evaporative cooling technology to save 17 percent energy compared to traditional chilled water solution, Zhou added.

Senior Vice President of Sugon Energy Yao Yong believes that the improvement of liquid cooling technology is the best way to break the bottleneck of data center energy efficiency.

"It can improve servers' stability, efficiency and service life, and improve the deployment density of servers. The data centers can be more environment-friendly with less noise and more recycled spare heat."

Tencent has chosen regions with sufficient green energy to build its data centers, such as Huailai in north China's Hebei Province that has abundant wind electricity, or Qingyuan in south China's Guangdong Province that has abundant hydro power.

In Qingyuan, besides consuming hydroelectricity, data centers have used high-efficiency power module, and free cooling technology which uses natural cold sources, to cut the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) value down to 1.25.

PUE is a measure of how efficiently a computer data center uses its power. The lower the PUE, the greener the data center.

In 2019, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Government Offices Administration and National Energy Administration jointly issued a guideline to promote green data centers, proposing that by 2022, the PUE value of the country's newly-built large and super-large data centers should be below 1.4.

All these measures are a part of the country's efforts to achieve green and high-quality development.

According to this year's government work report, China will draw up an action plan to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and improve its industrial structure and energy mix.

Tencent has adopted "tri-supply" technology to combine the supply of power, heating and cooling in its data centers to improve the comprehensive efficiency of energy use.

It also uses clean energy generated by roof photovoltaic systems. In Qingyuan data center, the total installed capacity of roof photovoltaic system reaches 13.3 megawatt peak (mWp).

Tencent said just the use of "tri-supply" in its data centers can save 3,500 tonnes of standard coal and cut 23,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, which is equivalent to planting 36,000 trees every year.

Even a small improvement in energy usage efficiency of internet infrastructure will make a big difference after long-time service of equipment, Wang Yuanfeng said.

Wang called on Chinese internet firms to spread their carbon neutrality technologies to wider fields and empower traditional industries to cut more carbon emissions.

Huawei's smart photovoltaic projects combine artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and traditional photovoltaic station. By directing solar panels to actively follow sunlight, a smart photovoltaic station can generate up to 18.7 percent more electricity than a traditional one.

According to Huawei, its green power generation and efficient electricity consumption sectors have generated 325 billion kWh of green electricity so far and saved 10 billion kWh of power, equivalent to planting 220 million trees.

Pony Ma, chairman of Tencent and a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), put forward a proposal on the peaking of carbon emissions and carbon neutrality during the fourth session of the 13th NPC.

The proposal said that tech firms can provide green solutions for sectors like traditional energy industry to cut carbon emission, such as using AI technology to optimize boiler combustion rate in thermal power plants and flexibly allocate electricity.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
Evans Nyangano, UNHCRs Wash Associate, demonstrates how the water ATMs work. UNHCR/Mohamed Maalim

Hassan, a 48-year old Somali refugee is busy working alongside Kahin, a Kenyan Somali. At a busy water point, donkey carts are pulled in and out, towing water from a water Automated Machine (ATM) to supply water to refugees and host community businesses in the market. The two friends have been members of the Dagahaley water and market committees for the last decade.

We need more ATMs in the camps and settlements

Stored overnight in an elevated steel tank, water is supplied to the refugee market and nearby host community villages during the day powered by fuel that is bought by water committee. According to the committee officials, the water ATM uses less power, making it easy and cost effective because no grid power is needed, and it has a free or lower charged number of liters per consumer per day. The managers of the water project affirm that its suitable for quick filling even at low pressures and can operate without the presence of a mobile network.

Since the technology is a success, we need more ATMs in the camps and settlements, says Kahin who lives in one of the nearby host community villages.

In March 2020, UNHCR set up the first water ATM in Dagahaley refugee camp, at a time when the world was grappling with corona virus, that requires the constant handwashing with soap and water. UNHCR envisions that the ATMs will be fully operational by end of 2021 in all the three camps.

The kiosks, which are managed by water and market committees, supply water to refugee and host community businesses in the camps at a fee. The establishment of the water kiosks is part of the Garissa Integrated Socio-Economic Development Plan (GISEDP), allowing refugees and host communities to share sustainable development programmes.

We have a bank account with Equity Bank Dadaab and were provided with tokens linked to a Safaricom Mpesa Paybill number by UNHCR and CARE, says Hassan, water committee member and a resident of the camp.

Kahin, who is also a water committee member notes that they have in one month made sales worth USD 1,000, with a net profit of USD 600 having earned six tokens from their last transaction.

Osman Ahmed, UNHCRs WASH Officer in Dadaab, notes that money for use at the ATM is loaded through mobile money into the bank account, with a token issued for money paid. It costs four Kenyan shillings (KES) for every 20 litres of water. A CARE Kenya staff, and a member of the market committee monitor the total water dispensed on a daily basis.

At any one time, members who are custodians of the tokens are free to go to the water dispensing machines and draw water using the token. Every time water is drawn from the ATM, the quantity automatically reduces, until its exhausted.

The Dagahaley Market Water Committee that is formally registered by Garissa County and social services is run by a group of 12 members equally drawn from refugee and host communities in the Dadaab refugee complex. The committee has a Chair, Deputy Chair, and a treasurer responsible for various tasks in order to ensure the sustainability of the water system.

The introduction of this (ATM) technology will also help contain fires in the camps

In 2019, thanks to an idea dubbed sustainability in water, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, through its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) partner, CARE Kenya, set up ATM-style water dispensing kiosks in the three camps of Dadaab refugee complex in Garissa County in Kenya.

The water vending machines is a great breakthrough for business owners in the market that in September 2020 lost property of unknown value because of accidental fire in the main market of Dagahaley camp. The refugees and host communities consider the ATM a game changer for containing fires as trucks can easily load water from ATM machines located in the market.

The introduction of this (ATM) technology will also help contain fires in the camps, says Nassir Hassan, one of the shop owners in the market.

Prepaid Water ATM in Dagahaley refugee camp-one of two water ATMs in Dadaab refugee camps. By end of 2021, all three camps of Dadaab complex will have fully operational water ATMs. UNHCR/Mohamed Maalim. Refugees and firefighters working together to extinguish fire in Dagahaley refugee market UNHCR/Mohamed Maalim. Because of proximity to the market, in the event of fire, the water ATMs will help replenish water used by firefighting trucks. The residential tap stands have allocated running hours (morning between 7-9 and afternoon 4-6) while the ATMs use tokens and can be opened at any time.

UNHCR continues to tap into different innovative approaches in key areas of Cash-Based Interventions (CBI), education, and access to water and energy.

It is positive to see peaceful coexistence being strengthened by innovative systems and development-centered projects such as these that will benefit both communities, says Magatte Guisse, UNHCR Head of Operations in Dadaab.

Established in March 1992, Dagahaley currently hosts a refugee population of over 74,000 of the more than 224,000 refugees and asylum-seekers who live in the Dadaab refugee camps. For 14 years, the Dagahaley camp had a population of about 30,000. Between 2006 and 2011, new arrivals settled spontaneously in the outskirts of the camp. A significant number of refugees left spontaneously between 2013 and 2017.

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LA Landlords Arent Lowering Office RentsBut That Could Soon Change

Commentary

Los Angeles-area office building landlords could be the only ones in the country increasing rent during the ongoing pandemic.

Rental rates in the city were up 1.2 percent year-over-year, according to Collierss fourth-quarter 2020 office market snapshot. (Los Angeles landlords charged an average of $49.55 per square foot during fourth-quarter 2020, compared with $48.95 per square foot the year prior.)

Conversely, the San Francisco Bay Areas office rents plummeted 22.4 percent year-over-year.

Office rents in the northern California region are now less than those in Manhattan, where asking rents fell 5.8 percent year-over-year.

According to the Colliers report, rental rates averaged $72.13 per square foot per year in the San Francisco Bay Area during fourth-quarter 2020, versus $74.39 per square foot per year in Manhattan.

When averaging office rents in Los Angeles, Colliers considered office property in Downtown Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, and the Tri-City Area (Pasadena, Glendale, and Burbank).

The San Francisco Bay Area includes the citys financial district, the office property south of Market Street, and key office property markets in nearby Silicon Valley.

Even though landlords in Los Angeles might have increased their asking rents, they own properties in one of the countrys weakest large office property markets, from their perspective.

During fourth-quarter 2020, office vacancies were 16 percent (up from 14.2 percent year-over-year). Landlords could have been wise to wait out the pandemic, but they will likely start competing on price in this tenants market.

This is especially true given the large construction still underway in West Los Angeles.

San Francisco Bay Area landlords may be doing better collecting rent from master tenants, but it will likely be difficult for them to be leasing out additional square footage until a massive amount of office space being offered by tenants for sub-lease gets absorbed.

In percentage terms, the Colliers report shows that more office space is available in the San Francisco Bay Area for sub-lease than in any other major office market in the U.S.

About 8.5 percent of all office space in the San Francisco Bay Area is available from master tenants for sub-lease. The national average of sub-lease space available is 2.3 percent.

This is important not only because about 18 percent of all office space is empty (vacant plus available for sub-lease) but also because master tenants are offering their space for sub-lease at a nine percent discount versus what owner landlords are asking. Many potential tenants will obviously take the lower rent from a master tenant rather than moving into their own space.

In Los Angeles, where 16 percent of all office space is vacant, only an additional 2.5 percent of office space is available for sub-lease.

However, master tenants in Los Angeles are willing to share their space with sub-tenants for a whopping 39 percent discount from what landlords are asking directly to potential tenants.

This is another indicator that landlords in Los Angeles may have to reduce their asking rents going forward to attract tenants into their vacant space.

Tim Shaler is a professional investor and economist based in Southern California. He is a regular columnist for The Epoch Times, where he exclusively provides some of his original economic analysis.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
As the situation evolved and officials have recently expanded state and federal guidelines in regards to COVID-19, CarolinaEast Leadership made the decision to invite back the Volunteers that have been fully vaccinated and feel comfortable returning. CarolinaEast Volunteer Manager Kara Chadwick asked those Volunteers to come to the hospital on Thursday morning for a short reorientation. Instead, they were met with a literal red carpet, balloons and treats, and many of CarolinaEast Administration and staff members clapping and cheering in a joyful welcome back celebration.

"We love our volunteers, we've missed them, our patients have missed them," said CarolinaEast president and CEO Ray Leggett after a robust half-hour cheering in the reception line. "It's like part of the family is not in the house and we are glad to have them back. We have close to 400 volunteers and they do it because they have it in their hearts and it is a testament to the people of this area."

Volunteers have been a part of the hospital family since they opened their doors in 1963. Formerly affiliated with the American Red Cross, the CarolinaEast Health System Gray Ladies and Lads were proud to be the last civilian hospital-based group of Red Cross volunteers in the state of North Carolina. Over the years, the group has evolved and expanded to several roles across the health system, to include patient transporters, Sewers & Crafters, Library Service, Student Volunteers and many others.

Perhaps the most beloved group of Volunteers is the team of 13 Thera-Paws dogs that walk the halls of CarolinaEast, bringing smiles and comfort to patients and staff alike. Volunteer and Thera-Paws dog handler, Kathy Carnes stated, "We didn't realize how much therapy this is for us... both for Daisy and myself; we really missed it this past year. It's really difficult knowing the hospital staff needed us more than ever, patients needed the company more than ever, and we couldn't come in."

CarolinaEast is overjoyed to have their Volunteers back, and the Volunteers themselves no doubt feel the same. They were unanimously surprised and overwhelmed by Thursday's welcome. CarolinaEast Volunteer and US Navy Veteran Jim O'Connor claims "To put it mildly, this is one of the best days of my life."

To learn more about CarolinaEast's Volunteer program, or to apply to become a volunteer, visit https://www.carolinaeasthealth.com/employment/volunteer-opportunities/

Contact:

Brandy Popp, Manager, Public Relations

CarolinaEast Health System

2000 Neuse Blvd., P.O. Box 12157

New Bern, NC 28561

252-633-8154

[email protected]

SOURCE CarolinaEast Health System

Related Links

www.carolinaeasthealth.com


Serowe  The depressing COVID-19 pandemic, that created financial woes for many, has not discouraged Mr Edward Rantshu a farmer in Xhobatjenaa cattle post.

Mr Rantshu, who hails from Mogorosi in the central district is determined to produce enough food to sell countrywide.

The 48-year-old said after he retired from Botswana Police Services, he ventured into business where he supplied residents of Thabala and Mogorosi with government food parcels.

The profits from that business enabled him to buy a 6km by 6km farm in Xhobatjenaa lands to pursue farming as it has been his passion.

Although things are not where he wished, Mr Rantshu said he was determined to ensure that his dream of producing and supplying the country with agricultural products, came true.

His farm houses a variety of animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, duck, turkey, guinea fowl, chicken (Tswana, boschveld, light Sussex and others) and his latest addition, 12 large white pigs.

Mr Rantshu got most of his livestock from battering where he would exchange a goat for a guinea fowl or ducks for a pig.

He also ploughs with his main focus being on root vegetables such as potatoes, pumpkins, groundnuts and peanuts.

Mr Rantshu said his 12 pigs were his pride as they were going to open doors for him in the pig rearing business.

His 2 pigs Bruce (male) and Sadi (female), which he got from another farmer in Palapye, produced 10 piglets from their first birth and he is expecting another litter in May this year.

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The promising farmer said this will give him a push into pork production, which he said was not prominent in the country despite having market.

He intends to build a sty with expectation for more pigs in future.

The farmer said he injects and deworms them once in a while.

Eddy, as Mr Rantshu is popularly known, said his business was hindered by some challenges such as the unavailability of water in his surrounding for his plants and livestock, predators and lack of financial support from the government, especially in pig farming.

He received assistance from the LIMID programme which helped him with part of the money for drilling a borehole though he still does not have water in his farm due to some delays in the programme.

Mr Rantshu expressed his gratitude towards the President for the supporting small livestock farmers and wished for him to visit their farms, with the hope that such would aid them to get financial aid.

He hailed government agricultural schemes such as LIMID, adding that they were great initiatives capable of enhancing the lives of Batswana and consequently improve food security as well as self-sufficiency in the country.

Mr Rantshu said although most of his food productions had not taken off ground, he was confident that by the end of this year he would be selling pork and his root vegetables would be in the market.

<i>Source : BOPA</i>
The recent immigration surge at the Texas border is manufactured by decades of America intervening to prop up right-wing, South American dictators. This faux crisis is the new threat used by Republicans to deflect attention from the forthcoming trials of those involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

In Texas, the immigration crisis serves as a counter-narrative to the winter 2021 debacle under Gov. Greg Abbotts watch and the looming battle to rein in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

U.S. foreign policies have drained Latin American countries of their natural resources  such as coffee, sugar, bananas, oil and cotton products  while destabilizing their economies and making them interdependent, author Roberto Saviano wrote in The Migrant Caravan: Made in USA, published in 2019. When South American farmers shifted to harvesting cocoa leaves for cocaine and marijuana for consumption in America, the U.S. drug war went into full bloom.

Another example of U.S. exploitation is the infamous Iran-Contra affair in the late 1980s involving Ronald Reagans fall guy, Oliver North. Documents declassified from the National Security Archive cite North as informing Robert Owen, a liaison for the State Department, on Aug. 8, 1985, that a DC-6 which is being used for runs (to supply the Contras) out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into the U.S.

Our countrys history on immigration is a complex battle of ideology: One side is inextricably bound by bigotry; the other is tied to the spirit of generosity and renewal of America shaped by people who come here.

Immigrants take the low-paying, backbreaking jobs many Americans refuse to do. The Immigration Charade, written by Christopher Jencks in 2007, states that employers say that foreign-born workers tend to work harder, be more reliable, and complain less than the natives they can hire at the same wage. Unskilled immigrants have seldom finished secondary school, but they have overcome all kinds of obstacles both to get here and to stay here.

Of course, many of these immigrants would prefer to live in their own countries  but hurricanes, climate-change crop failures and failed U.S. foreign policies have disrupted their economies. These are the political consequences of empire-building and massive immigration that Juan Gonzalez explains in Harvest of Empire.

About half of undocumented U.S. workers pay income tax. They help fund public schools and local government services by paying sales and property taxes like any resident. They contributed about $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2010, according to research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

But what about undocumented migrants who use fake Social Security cards? The Social Security system has become reliant on their contributions as baby boomers retire.

Stephen Goss, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, estimated that in 2010 about 1.8 million immigrants worked with fake or stolen Social Security cards but expects that number to reach 3.4 million by 2040. According to his calculations, undocumented immigrants paid $13 billion into the retirement trust fund that year, and only got $1 billion in benefits. Thats a nice tidy sum for baby boomers.

Former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party turbocharged the nastiest rhetoric about immigrants since Woodrow Wilson and calculatingly stoked xenophobic fears through Ann Coulters Adios America!  turning its racist theories of immigrant invasion and infestation into existential threats aimed toward an implicitly evangelical conservative America.

Are the words In God We Trust only for show and exchange of capital?

Rafael Castillo is a writer and member of PEN America, the National Book Critics Circle and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
The ongoing Form Four exams have exposed the depth of the teen pregnancy crisis, with hundreds of candidates sitting their first papers in maternity wards.

Many more are expected to give birth before the exams end on April 21. The Education ministry is yet to reveal the number of pregnant teens but checks in individual counties indicate that thousands of schoolgirls could soon be mothers.

In Kericho, 10 candidates sat their first paper in labour wards in Bureti, Ainamoi, Belgut and Kipkelion East sub-counties. The girls are admitted to Roret Health Centre, Kapkatet Sub-county Hospital, Londiani Sub-county Hospital, Kipchimchim Hospital, Kabianga Health Centre and AIC Litein Hospital.

"One of the candidates from Londiani in Kipkelion East Sub-county delivered twins and is sitting the exams in hospital," said Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya.

In Rangwe Sub-county, Homa Bay County, six candidates started the exams from maternity beds after delivering. One was still in hospital yesterday.

Pregnant learners

Deputy County Commissioner Thomas Nyoro told Nation that arrangements had been made to ensure that the candidate comfortably sits the exam.

"We will make sure she sits and completes all her tests as instructed by the government. She will sit for some papers in the hospital while she is recuperating," Mr Nyoro said yesterday.

The high number of pregnant learners has been attributed to irresponsible teenage sexual behaviour during the long school closure forced by Covid-19 from mid-March last year.

KCSE and KCPE candidates reopened on October 12, 2020 while the rest of the learners resumed in-person learning in January.

In West Pokot, eight candidates did not sit their exams from school after giving birth in different hospitals, according to county director of education Jared Onyiego. The situation is also the same in Nandi County where four girls are doing their exams away from their schools.

Read: Candidates sitting KCSE in maternity wards as exams begin

County Commissioner Geoffrey Omoding said two girls are from Nandi Central while the others are from Nandi North and Nandi South. Health executive Ruth Koech said over 7,600 girls in primary and secondary schools fell pregnant during the long break.

The government had already projected the numbers would be higher this year and instructed education officials to ensure that all candidates sit the examinations, including those hospitalised. In Kisumu County, four candidates gave birth in different health facilities on Friday, the first day of the exams.

"We continue to record the numbers on a daily basis. We will ensure that those who are able to sit are given an opportunity in accordance Kenya National Examination Council regulations," County Director of Education Isaac Atebe told Nation.

In Kisii County, four candidates were admitted to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH) after developing labour pains whereas in Nyamira County, seven candidates at Gesiaga High School gave birth last week.

They are said to be in good condition and are sitting the exams from school.

"This is the highest number the school has recorded since it was established," said a teacher at the school.

Hospital wards

In Migori County, director of education Elizabeth Otieno revealed that Suna East and Kuria East sub-counties reported two cases each,

In Meru County, director of education Milton Nzioka said seven girls were sitting their exams in hospital wards.

"None has delivered so far but we will keep monitoring the situation," Mr Nzioka said.

In Nyeri, two students are siting for their tests at the Othaya Level Five Hospital following health emergencies. According to County Commissioner Lyford Kibaara, one of the girls was in labour while the other developed some complications after delivery.

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"We have the medical team readily available just in case of any emergency," he said.

At Bungoma County Referral Hospital, nine girls on Friday sat their KCSE exams from the wards. Six of them had given birth while the other three are undergoing treatment.

In Embu, three students are sitting their examinations in hospitals. Two students are undergoing treatment at Embu Level Five Hospital while a third one is at Kenyatta National Hospital.

According to the county director of education, Mr James Kairu, one of the students has given birth.

"We made arrangements and all those who are admitted are doing their examinations in hospital," he said.

Reporting by Vitalis Kimutai, Victor Raballa, George Odiwuor, Benson Ayienda, Gitonga Marete, Reginah Kinogu, Oscar Kakai, Tom Matoke, Brian Ojamaa, Evans Kipkura, Onyango K'onyango, Stanley Kimuge and George Munene
An historic French Quarter property was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. The house at 1218 Burgundy St. was the former Medard Nelson school and is now a private residence.

The home, a classic example of an early Creole cottage, was built circa 1810 by Antonio LaRionda. It took on the name of a later owner, architect Francois Correjolles, and became known as the La Rionda-Correjolles house.

In 1887, Medard H. Nelson, a free person of color, purchased the property. He used the home as his residence and established a school there which defied Jim Crow laws by educating both Black and white students. One of them was legendary musician Danny Barker.

In 1939, Nelsons heirs sold the property to the city for use by the New Orleans Recreation Department. Many remember it as the Doll House, for the doll museum NORD housed there for many years.
Mumbai, March 29 : Actor Ajay Devgn's office has issued a statement clarifying that a video being circulated of a man involved in a Delhi brawl is not him.

The video shows two men fighting outside a pub, using unparliamentary language. One of the men, wearing a white shirt, has been being mistaken for Ajay.

The statement reads: "Post the promotion of 'Tanhaji-The Unsung Warrior' in January 2020, Ajay Devgn has not visited Delhi. So media reports of a brawl involving the superstar outside a Delhi pub are absolutely baseless and untrue. We request news agencies and media picking this up to please note that Mr Devgn has been in Mumbai the entire time shooting for 'Maidaan', 'MayDay' and 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' and he hasn't set foot in the Capital in 14 months. Request all media to please cross check before putting out anything."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) -- According to the World Health Organization, one in three women have been sexually assaulted by someone they know. That person could be a husband, boyfriend, or even a family member.

The Director of the Kinsey Institute for Sexual Assault Research Initiative Zoe Peterson said it's important for us to see the extreme acts of violence against women in the media.

She said this sheds light on how violent things can get and reminds us that most violence against women takes place in close quarters.

Many of these acts include emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. She said many of these acts also go unnoticed.

Peterson said, "What we know is that all of these kinds of experiences of violence when they're perpetrated by someone close to the women are often not reported to the police. They're often invisible."

That invisible offense is unfortunately what we are seeing here in the Wabash Valley.

Sexual Assault Advocate for the Council on Domestic Abuse Tiffany Heaton told News 10 that many victims don't report their sexual assault.

She told us some of the main factors of why people don't report their abuse is because they don't how to, they're scared to come forward, or they don't want to put their partners in a bad situation.

Heaton said, "I feel like unfortunately a lot of women in some ways blame themselves. They're embarrassed, shy, and they have nowhere to go if they do report."

Heaton said she knows how hard it is to come forward about your partner, but you need to if you've been in that situation.

She told News 10 even if you don't want to report your partner to the police there are other ways you can get help.

She said you can call coda directly if you've been a victim of sexual abuse, and coda will not go to the police if you don't want to.

Heaton said she knows how scary the situation can be and she just wants to make sure the victims feel safe reaching out for help.

She said, "Especially when they don't have anyone else to turn to, sometimes it's just me in the hospital room or the police station. And that's the most fulfilling part is just being a friend."

If you need help or know someone that does, you can contact CODA directly.

You can click here to be directed to their Facebook page.
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An investigation is underway after an Alabama barrel racer died following an assault in Anniston more than a week ago.

Colten Farley, 23, died March 25, five days after police said he was punched while with friends on the citys popular Noble Street. There has been outpouring of support on social media for Farley during his hospital stay and calls for justice following his death. He has been described as a barrel racer, trainer, Quarter Horse and Appaloosa enthusiast, breeder, and ambassador.

He was a young guy, a member of our barrel racing community, a sweet kind soul who didnt deserve what happened,' according to a Facebook post by Western Dove in Texas.

Anniston Police Chief Nick Bowles said the assault happened about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, March 21. He said there were words exchanged and then Farley was hit and knocked unconscious. He collapsed on the ground, hitting his head on the concrete. The incident was caught on surveillance cameras from the downtown area.

Farley did regain consciousness at the scene and was treated by paramedics. He refused to be taken to the hospital, against medical advice, police said.

Later that morning, Farley was found unresponsive and could not be awakened. He was airlifted to UAB Hospital where he underwent surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain.

Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown said the cause and manner of death has not yet been finalized pending the results of the autopsy.

Colten Farley, a 23-year-old barrel racer from Alabama, died March 25, 2021, after he was punched and knocked unconscious on an Anniston street. (Facebook)

There have been multiple social media posts from friends and family claiming Farley was attacked in a hate crime targeting his sexuality, but police said theyve found no indication Farleys death was the result of a hate crime.

There were words exchanged. All of the people involved are loosely associated with each other, they know each other,' Bowles said. There was absolutely no bias. There were no sexual epithets or anything like that exchanged.

Colten Farley, a 23-year-old barrel racer from Alabama, died March 25, 2021, after he was punched and knocked unconscious on an Anniston street. (Facebook)

Multiple fundraisers were held for Farley over the past week, including the Colten Farley Memorial Appaloosa Sidepot at the Better Barrel Races World Finals and GoFundMe that has raised more than $15,000.

Our continued prayers go out to his family during this time of loss and sorrow. Colten will be truly missed by everyone that was ever blessed with the opportunity to know him and spend time with him,' according to a post on the Better Barrel Races Facebook page. He may have moved on to greener pastures and amazing arenas with perfect ground, but he will forever stay in our hearts and will truly be missed! Thank You Colten for touching our lives with your contagious smile, your kindness and your profound love of barrel racing! Sending out healing prayers from your family at Better Barrel Races.

Colten Farley, a 23-year-old barrel racer from Alabama, died March 25, 2021, after he was punched and knocked unconscious on an Anniston street. (Facebook)

According to Farleys obituary, his funeral will be held Thursday, April 1, at First Baptist Church of White Plains. A burial will follow the service in his familys pasture surrounded by his horses and dogs.

Farleys family declined comment but posted this on Facebook which was shared on the Facebook page Confessions of a Barrel Racer:

We never dreamed wed be making a post like this, but with a heavy heart here we are. I cant begin to Thank all of the friends, family, businesses, UAB staff, and just people that Colten Farley has affected in his life. The outpouring of love/prayers that have been shown will never be forgotten.

Unfortunately, Colten didnt overcome the injury that was caused by a senseless/cowardly act! I still cant understand why this happened for no apparent reason from someone that was not involved! We still pray for justice to be served!!!

Colten has helped, influenced, loved, and laughed with people all over this country. He was the type of person that would leave a lasting impression on you! If you ever had the opportunity to meet him.... you would not forget him and if he crossed your mind it would usually leave you with a smile. He is known for his outgoing personality, beautiful smile, sense of humor, amazing skill of finding, buying, swapping, and selling horses. He had a gift of riding and training his barrel horses and dogs. He loved to do anything with animals involved. He loved old people, little kids, and his animals, but most importantly they loved him more. He could take a shy kid and have them eating out of his hands in minutes. He would have them doing silly things and taking silly pics all the time. He loved taking care of old people, even from an early age, and they thought he hung the moon.

FRIENDS - Wow it would take hours.... hours to read all the messages that come from his friends, the stories they shared that told of how he inspired them or made them laugh. We knew he was loved, but never knew how much and far it spread. These stories were so good. They made us cry, laugh, and swell with pride from inside as we have read them. Those were someone elses stories and opinions, but ours is much higher! He was our first child and he exceeded the expectations we had for him. We loved him so much. He leaves a void so large that we didnt even want to come home just knowing he wouldnt be there. Our half mile driveway felt like miles driving up because it is full of memories of him everywhere we look. Please keep us in your prayers!!! We will love you forever our precious son and cannot even begin to imagine life without you. We are devastated. #JusticeForColten
Over 1,000 breaches of Covid-19 regulations last year have been classified as crimes by gardai including the non-wearing of face coverings and international travel.

Other criminal offences recorded among the 1,101 breaches were for people breaking domestic travel restrictions and licensed premises operating outside of guidelines.

The figures have been released as part of the Central Statistic Offices (CSO) review of recorded crimes in 2020 which show a significant drop in criminality during the pandemic.

Drug crimes were one of the few categories to increase, with a 9pc rise which gardai say is driven by enforcement, while there was an almost 15pc increase in weapons and explosive offences.

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Crimes for dangerous or negligent acts, including drink driving, were similar to the previous year with 8,717 recorded offences.

However, the number of people caught driving while under the influence of drugs more than doubled in 2020, with 2,643 crimes reported.

Physical assaults and similar offences decreased by 13.2pc, although the CSO noted that attacks on women have not fallen as sharply as assaults on men.

They also noted that assaults on women aged between 30 and 44 is the only group to have increased in 2020, albeit it marginally by 2.1pc.

Sexual offences have also decreased by 10.6pc with 354 less incidents reported, an offence category that had consistently increased year-on-year.

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Among the biggest drop in crime rates was for burglary offences, which fell by a third, while thefts dropped by a quarter last year and robberies were down 22pc.

The CSO said that homicide related offences had increased by nine cases compared to the previous year, but noted that this was driven by an increase of 10 in incidents classified as dangerous driving leading to death.

Crimes classified as damage to property fell by 11pc with a similar decrease for public order related crimes.

The CSO added that Covid-19 related offences were not included in their statistical table due to difficulties aligning them with the existing statistical classification.

Last July Operation Navigation was launched by gardai to target pubs and restaurants operating outside of Covid-19 regulations, as well as illegal Sheebens.

The number of liquor licensing offences recorded in 2020 fell significantly, by 42.6pc, from 530 to 304 crimes.

Sam Scriven, statistician with the CSO, said: The statistics released today show a considerable fall in the number of crime incidents recorded in 2020 compared to 2019 across a range of crime incident types.

The number of assaults on women in 2020 fell in comparison to 2019, but not as sharply as the decline in the number of assaults on males.

The number of homicides recorded rose by nine compared to 2019 but was driven by an increase of 10 in the number of incidents classified as dangerous driving leading to death. The combined figure for murder & manslaughter incidents fell by one compared to 2019, he added.

Read More




RTHK: Thousands flee to Thailand after Myanmar air strikes

Thai authorities along the country's northwestern border braced themselves on Monday for a possible influx of more ethnic Karen villagers fleeing new airstrikes from the Myanmar military.

Myanmar military aircraft carried out three strikes overnight Sunday into Monday, according to Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian relief agency that delivers medical and other assistance to villagers. The strikes possibly injured one person but caused no apparent fatalities, a member of the agency said.

Earlier on Sunday, an estimated 3,000 people crossed the river dividing the two countries into Thailands Mae Hong Son province following two days of aerial attacks.

Video shot that day shows a group of villagers, including many young children, resting in a forest clearing inside Myanmar, having fled their homes. They carried their possessions in bundles and baskets.

In Sundays previous attacks, Myanmar military aircraft dropped bombs on a Karen guerrilla position in an area on the Salween River in Karen states Mutraw district, according to workers for two humanitarian relief agencies.

Two guerrillas were killed and many more were wounded in those attacks, said a member of the Free Burma Rangers.

On Saturday night, two Myanmar military planes twice bombed Deh Bu Noh village in Mutraw district, killing at least two villagers.

The attacks may have been retaliation for the Karen National Liberation Army, which is fighting for greater autonomy for the Karen people, attacking and capturing a government military outpost on Saturday morning.

According to Thoolei News, an online site that carries official information from the KNU, eight government soldiers including a second lieutenant were captured in the attack and 10 were killed, including a lieutenant colonel who was a deputy battalion commander. The report said one Karen guerrilla had been killed.

The tension at the frontier comes as the leaders of the resistance to last months coup that toppled Myanmars elected government are seeking to have the Karen and other ethnic groups band together and join them as allies, which would add an armed element to their struggle.

The airstrikes mark an escalation in the increasingly violent crackdown by the Myanmar government against opponents of the February 1 military takeover.

At least 114 people across the country were killed by security forces on Saturday alone, including several children  a toll that has prompted a UN human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing mass murder and to criticise the international community for not doing enough to stop it.

The Security Council is likely to hold closed consultations on the escalating situation in Myanmar, UN diplomats said on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement. The council has condemned the violence and called for a restoration of democracy, but has not yet considered possible sanctions against the military, which would require support or an abstention by Myanmars neighbour and friend China.

The coup, which ousted Aung San Suu Kyis elected government, reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. It has again made Myanmar the focus of international scrutiny as security forces have repeatedly fired into crowds of protesters.

As of Sunday, at least 459 people have been killed since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which has tallied deaths it was able to verify. The true toll is thought to be higher. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The decision of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to step down in April does not demand immediate talks with Russias President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.



According to him, the contacts of the leaders take place all the time.



"He [Pashinyan] remains acting PM, therefore the announced decision does not require immediate discussions," Peskov said.



In addition, the spokesman added that the leaders of the two countries "have recently communicated, the contacts are permanent."
Coroner, Funeral Director, Minister reflect on the Pandemic

Since its first COVID-19 casualty was reported on March 19, 2020, Mississippi has been dealing with death. Around 7,000 of them, as of Saturday. Still, some individuals deal more with death than others simply by the nature of their occupations. Among them, coroners, funeral directors and ministers have been on the front lines doing the confirming, confronting and comforting as coronavirus cases surged and more and more Mississippians lost their lives.

The Daily Journal recently spoke with several Lee County professionals for whom dealing with death is a regular occurrence, and the ways in which their jobs and lives have changed during the pandemic.

`IF THEY THOUGHT IT WAS COVID, THEY CALLED ME

Workloads of coroners across the state saw a dramatic increase because of the pandemic. While a death from COVID-19 is considered a natural cause, state law required coroners to perform additional investigating and reporting when a patient died from complications with the virus.

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As Lee County Coroner Carolyn Green explained it, a section of the states legal code requires coroners to respond to any deaths that may affect public interest. That includes threats to public safety, like virulent or contagious diseases.

If they thought it was COVID, they called me, Green said. Most of the calls were at the hospital. We evaluated the chart and looked at pre-existing conditions to make a determination.

The types of deaths to which a coroner is required to investigate is long and varied. In addition to homicides and unidentified bodies, the coroners office reports deaths of people admitted to the hospital less than 24 hours earlier, people in accidents, suspected drug overdoses and those who die in the emergency room.

In March 2020, before the pandemics first death reached Mississippi, Green and her staff reported 129 deaths in Lee County. By August 2020, when the virus was wreaking havoc across the state, they filed reports on more than 200 deaths.

From last March through January, our call volume just about doubled, Green said. It was more paperwork and more hours. My three deputy coroners and I were able to handle it.

Because the North Mississippi Medical Center is located in Tupelo, Green already handles many cases where people from across Northeast Mississippi come to Lee County and die. So even before Lee County had its first COVID-related death, Green was reporting on them.

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When it hit other states, and they didnt have any COVID rooms left, they sent them here, Green said. We had folks from Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and all over Mississippi for a while. We had to report on them, but statistically they were listed under their home county in their home state.

Over the past few months, the workload for Green and her small staff has lessened significantly. Social distancing, mask-wearing and vaccinations have drastically reduced the number of people dying of COVID-19.

During the heat of the pandemic, I could be called to the hospital for one death and have two or three more die while I was there, Green said. It has slowed down dramatically. Now I might have one (COVID-19 death) every 7 to 10 days.

`WEVE BURIED FRIENDS, WE BURIED CLASSMATES

Since 1913, family has been an important value for Grayson-Porters Mortuary. Now in its fifth generation of being family-owned and operated, the funeral home has a long legacy, a fact that wasnt lost on funeral director Jacque Grayson and her staff of eight. The pandemic didnt change that. If anything, it made the weight of that legacy even heavier. What it did change, however, were a lot of traditions.

COVID-19 introduced a lot of donts, Grayson said. As a funeral director who loves serving families, she tried to think past how the virus would affect the business and instead consider how staff could show families love, have services and keep people safe.

Our minds are `OK, weve got to do what weve got to do for this family, Grayson said. Weve got to make it easier, we have to be everything for this family because losing a loved one from COVID is a devastating place to be in.

When the pandemic first hit, Grayson and her staff wondered how they were going to serve families. It was a frightening feeling. With their own families at home to consider, they took necessary precautions to stay safe. Instead of coming together as a group, they limited gatherings to a handful at a time.

Whenever serving, they always wear masks and PPE to protect one another. Grayson-Porters Mortuary followed CDC guidelines during services, viewings and any family gatherings. Crowds of mourners were gone. Instead of meeting families during removals, staff completed it alone.

The effects of the pandemic also hit Grayson personally. The funeral director and staff are part of the community: Lee County is where they raised their children and grandchildren, served as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts leaders, served politically, and worship.

This is our home, and we love this community and love the people of this community, Grayson said. COVID has impacted our staffs families, even our family. Weve buried friends, we buried classmates . . . it has really touched home.

Experience gave them an advantage. Grayson was around during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, and everything she learned during that time helped prepare her for the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. Many of those practices remained in place, and Grayson knew what she had to do, and be willing to do, to save others.

She said watching the generations that came before her as a child showed her what to do and how to keep a positive attitude while serving.COVID has hit families, Grayson said. For some families, the virus has been especially ruthless, taking multiple loved ones in a matter of days or weeks. Graysons job is to help ease the surviving members of those families through a portion of the grieving process through empathy and care. To take on that burden requires strength.

We have to be strong, she said. We want to be that arm; we want to be that shoulder; we want to be that person that they bring all their energy to, and we want to take it off of them.

For loved ones lost to COVID-19, Grayson said they tried to honor who the person was in life within the boundaries of the CDCs guidelines. Families chose the arrangements. While early chapel services could only have 10 people present at a time, they accommodated additional viewers with livestreaming if the families chose that option. Later on, many opted to have graveside services to accommodate a larger attendance.

The pandemic taught Grayson and her staff patience.It was a life-changing experience, and still is, Grayson said. We want to continue to serve and honor the life lived the way the family is requesting. It might be a little different, out of the norm, that they say, but thats OK too.

`OUR JOB IS TO LOVE

Just before the pandemic began, Rev. Phillip Parker of All Saints Episcopal Church came to Tupelo from the Sumner and Greenwood area of the Delta.

Pre-pandemic, average Sunday attendance between the churchs two services would be around 160 people. All Saints halted in-person worship services last spring and largely met via livestreamed services, with a couple of months of in-person, socially distanced meetings scattered throughout the year.

Its been a roller coaster up and down, Parker said. During the pandemic, several members have contracted COVID; some even spent time in the hospital. Fortunately, no members of the congregation have died from the virus.

Which, of course, isnt to say there werent deaths. There always are. As with any normal year, part of Parkers job as a religious leader is to comfort those who are grieving. The pandemic complicated that role.It was hard negotiating through that, not being able to come together and remember them, Parker said.

He conducted several socially distanced graveside services during the pandemic, but hopes to host a large celebration service to remember parishioners lost during the past year who couldnt receive a proper farewell.

Parker has worked full time in ministry for around three years. Before that, he worked as a community mental health therapist. That experience has helped him to connect with the churchs members this year as they struggled to process the onslaught of sickness and death in the community. Even with his experience, Parker said hes had to remain mindful of the boundaries that exist as a minister.

Ive had to remind myself, `Youre not a therapist anymore, Parker said. Ive had to remind myself, `Your job right now is to be with them and to journey with them through this, not to help them out of it. So Ive had to step back a couple of times and go, `You know, Im happy to talk with you, but if you need more, I can help you find someone.

Since Parker is still relatively new to Tupelo, the change the virus brought to the city didnt hit him as hard.

This has just been normal for me, he said. But the weight of this normal has been difficult.

His sermons have always focused less on doom and gloom and more on encouraging members to love their neighbor in any situation. Its a message he feels has been especially important during the past year.

They probably get tired of hearing me saying `Love people! Parker said. It doesnt matter who they are, where theyre from. Our job is to love. Death has always been a part of life. Dealing with it has too. Although that process is never easy, even for those who do it regularly, there are ways to lessen the burden.

From individual to individual, and from individual and God  no matter what we do, no matter what we try, we have to have help, Parker said. In spite of social distancing, surviving the pandemic isnt actually an exercise in isolationism. People need each other, especially during times of strife. Parker said his goal throughout the pandemic has been to remind people they cant go it alone.

Weve gone through tornadoes, Spanish flu, two world wars  marking (those occasions) was hard when we couldnt be together, but we tried, Parker said. Even if its just an encouraging smile from a little kid that gets you through the day or a beautiful sunny day, know that those are little moments where God is breaking through saying `Im here. Im with you, and its going to be OK.
Governor Pete Ricketts is rallying parents to condemn a proposed health education curriculum that teaches very young students about LGBT ideology.

Republican Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska has denounced the controversial proposal of the state's health education curriculum that would set the stage for incorporating ideologies of the LGBT agenda into very young minds.

The governor joins a number of conservatives who are criticizing the proposed Nebraska Health Education Standards, which was started in March 2020 and will be the foundation for K-12 education education in the state, if approved by the State Board of Education during the Fall season this year.

The proposed Nebraska Health Education Standards proposes that children in all levels including kindergarten will " learn characteristics relating to identity, sexuality and healthy relationships" through discussions on "different kinds of family structures," which includes "same-gender" among others, the Christian Post reported.

For first-graders, curriculum will include how to "define gender, gender identity, and gender role stereotypes," while third-graders will be subjected to topics of "sexual orientation" and "bodily autonomy," building on the first-grade curriculum by enabling students to "discuss the range of ways people express their gender and how gender-role stereotypes may influence behavior."

Meanwhile, the proposed Nebraska Health Education Standards will also offer concepts of gender identity and sexual orientation for fourth graders to enable them to "distinguish between sex assigned at birth and gender identity and explain how they may or may not differ," "explain the difference between cisgender, transgender, gender non-binary, gender expansive, and gender identity," and "define sexual identity and explain a range of identities related to sexual orientation," all of which subjects young children to convoluted ideas in the LGBT agenda.

In response to the controversial school curriculum teaching the LGBT agenda to kids, Nebraska Gov. Ricketts penned a statement criticizing these proposed plans and calling on the state Department of Education to immediately "scrap" it.

The 56 year-old governor, who is also a father to three children, argued, "The new standards from the department would not only teach young children age-inappropriate content starting in kindergarten, but also inject non-scientific, political ideas into curriculum standards."

"The sex education standards represent a significant shift in approach to health education, and many of the new themes are sensitive topics that should be addressed by parents at home and not by schools," Gov. Ricketts wrote. "The draft standards were developed with the help of political activists, and without the input of key mainstream organizations."

The Nebraska governor urged parents to "speak up now" and make their objections known to the Department of Education. The proposed school curriculum teaching the LGBT agenda to kids has also drawn ire from conservative groups.

Nebraska Family Alliance policy director Nate Grasz told the Lincoln Journal Star that his organization opposes the proposed standards, which he believes would "subject young children beginning in kindergarten and first grade to politicized, unscientific and ideologically driven content."

Grasz explained that the thought of teaching very young kids ideas about gender identity and genitalia has "troubled a lot of people across the state" and if approved, will cause a "mass exodus" of students and teachers from public schools.

Teachers will, per Grasz, feel like "they can no longer in good conscience teach" such controversial standards tantamount to indoctrinating very young children with the LGBT agenda.
Regional

NIA arrest separatist leader; brought to Imphal

Correspondent IMPHAL, MAR 29 | Publish Date: 3/29/2021 12:39:08 PM IST

Arrested self-styled external and defence minister Narengbam Samarjit of de-jure government of Manipur State Council was brought to Imphal on Monday.

Samarjit who was one of the two wanted persons in connection with declaration of Manipurs independence from India and formation of Manipur government in exile in London was arrested by a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) at New Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport on March 25 last.

He along with proclaimed chief minister of the de-jure government Yambem Biren was taking provisional asylum in London (United Kingdom) since the declaration of Manipur from the Indian Union.

Samarjit was arrested by the NIA, the agency investigating a case against him lodged by Manipur police from the Indira Gandhi International Airport where he arrived from London for onward journey to Imphal on March 25.

Sources said that he was brought to Imphal by NIA team after taking transit remand at Patiala Court, Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.

As soon as he arrived at Imphal airport around 3pm, a police team hurriedly took him away, avoiding a crowd allegedly waiting for his arrival.

Among the crowd, some shouted Long live Manipur, Victory to Samajit while the police took him away.

Samarjits arrest came up two days after the NIA submitted a charge-sheet against him and four others including the self-styled chief minister Yambem Biren and one of his (Samarjits) brothers.

The NIA was investigating the formation of the de-jure government exiled in the UK after declaring Manipurs independence from India and collection of funds for its illegal activities.

In the charge-sheet submitted before a special NIA court in Imphal, Manipur, Samarjit and his four associates were charged under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Samarjit along with Biren declared the formation of Manipur State Council in London on October 29, 2019 as he himself to be the external affairs and defence minister of said council and its chief minister, Yambem Biren.

In the charge-sheet, NIA revealed that Narengbam Samarjit was the chairman and managing director of Salai Group of Companies and SMART Society.

He, along with his associates Elangbam Brojendro Singh and Akoijam Deepa Anand, illegally collected huge amounts of money by inviting deposits to his companies with the promise of 36% annual returns.

The NIA further alleged that the funds, they collected were utilised for unlawful activities like declaration of independence of Manipur from the Union of India and the formation of the Manipur State Council.

Earlier, before the NIA took over the case for investigation lodged at Lamphel police station of Imphal West district, the state police declared him wanted in both the cases.

It is alleged that the surprised step of Samarjit has left high and dry to over 20,000 investors.
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After a solid year of living with a pandemic, the national press is beginning to ask the question that even Democrats have been quietly pondering in the Sunshine State: Was Gov. Ron DeSantis' pandemic response right for Florida?

Don't forget: More than 32,000 Floridians have died, a number the state's leaders rarely acknowledge, but our death rate is no worse than the national average  and better than some states with tighter restrictions.

The Los Angeles Times compared Florida and California's responses:

"California imposed myriad restrictions that battered the economy, and have left most public school students learning at home for a year. ... Florida adopted a more laissez-faire approach decried by public health experts  allowing indoor restaurant dining, leaving masks optional and getting children back in classrooms sooner."

But, it points out, "If California had Floridas death rate, roughly 6,000 more Californians would be dead from COVID-19, and tens of thousands of additional patients likely would have landed in already overburdened hospitals. And if Florida had Californias death rate, roughly 3,000 fewer Floridians would be dead from COVID-19."

On Sunday's front page, the New York Times explored the positives  from the booming real-estate market to Florida's low unemployment rate  of an early reopening: "Much of the state has a boomtown feel," writes Patricia Mazzei, "a sense of making up for months of lost time."

The Times notes that Florida's unemployment rate is 5.1%, compared to 9.3% in California, 8.7% in New York and 6.9% in Texas.

"That debate about reopening schools? It came and went months ago. Children have been in classrooms since the fall."

The big picture: Much of the public part of DeSantis' pandemic response feels more and more like an audition for a 2024 presidential run, which Politico's Marc Caputo has noted.

"With a COVID death count cover-up consuming New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a pandemic-related recall effort haunting California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Republicans are embracing DeSantis as a red-state exemplar."

Our thought bubble: We've long known that the state's pro-business Republican leadership was making a sort of grand bargain: that the death toll was the price paid for keeping commerce flowing and keeping kids in school.

The closer you are to either loss or to the fullness of life will likely determine how you feel about the state's response.

This story first appeared in the Axios Tampa Bay newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard.
[March 29, 2021] University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies Releases Special Diversity and Inclusion Edition of the Phoenix Scholar Academic Journal

University of Phoenix has released a special edition of its academic research journal, the Phoenix Scholar, focused on addressing societal issues related to diversity and inclusion. Phoenix Scholar is the quarterly academic research publication of the University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies. The latest edition includes articles discussing systemic inequity in education and other institutions; the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and simultaneous calls for social justice reform; as well as a candid interview about race with University of Phoenix President Peter Cohen. "Our university is very diverse, both in student and faculty population, so the issues that impact minorities are very important to us," said Hinrich Eylers, Ph.D., Editor-at-Large of Phoenix Scholar and Vice Provost of Doctoral Studies and Academic Operations at University of Phoenix. "Diversity and inclusion have always been central to the research that we do in the College of Doctoral Studies, and one of our three research centers specifically focuses on this key issue. This edition of Phoenix Scholar really highlights that work." University of Phoenix's student population is two-thirds female and over half (56.4%) are ethnic minorities. Likewise, the faculty is over half (53.66%) female and a quarter (25.55%) are ethnic minorities. The College of Doctoral Studies also houses the newly established University of Phoenix Career Institute, which recently released the findings of its first annual Career Optimism Index&trde;. The index measures working American's attitudes toward their career and barriers to career progression. The index found fewer women and people of color are optimistic about staying employed. Overall, 44% of employed Americans are worried about losing their job due to the economy - with higher rates among women (46%) and ethnic minorities (48%).



"Not only has this global pandemic shaken the foundation of this country, it has also forced us to revisit the disparities and inequities that have plagued this country for generations," said Kimberly Underwood, Ph.D., Guest Editor of Phoenix Scholar and University Research Chair at the College of Doctoral Studies. "This pandemic has disproportionately impacted women and people of color with furloughs and layoffs, exposed inequitable access to affordable healthcare, food insecurities, inequitable distributions of wealth and lack of affordable housing." To read the Diversity and Inclusion Issue of Phoenix Scholar, visit:

https://news.phoenix.edu/newsarticles/college-of-doctoral-studies-releases-special-fall-2020-edition-of-the-phoenix-scholar/

About the College of Doctoral Studies University of Phoenix's College of Doctoral Studies focuses on today's challenging business and organizational needs, from addressing critical social issues to developing solutions to accelerate community building and industry growth. The College's research program puts students in the center of an effective ecosystem of experts, resources and tools to help them prepare them to be a leader in their organization, industry and community. Through this program, students and researchers work with organizations to conduct research that can be applied in the workplace in real time. About University of Phoenix Career Institute University of Phoenix Career Institute's mandate is to conduct research into solutions that American workers need. Housed within the University's College of Doctoral Studies, the Institute will conduct research, share insights to inform problem-solving, and partner with leading organizations to effect solutions that help to break down barriers that Americans face in their careers. For more information about the University of Phoenix Career Institute and the Career Optimism Index Study, visit www.phoenix.edu/career-institute About University of Phoenix University of Phoenix is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses and interactive learning help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. We serve a diverse student population, offering degree programs at select locations across the U.S. as well as online. For more information, visit phoenix.edu View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005215/en/

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BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks edged up slightly on Monday as faster vaccinations and hopes of stimulus boosted optimism about a swifter economic recovery. On the Covid front, Chancellor Angela Merkel threatened to invoke federal emergency powers to stop the spread of the disease driven mainly by the British coronavirus variant. 'I will not sit and watch until we have 100,000 infections,' said the Chancellor in an interview. Elsewhere, U.S. President Joe Biden is set to outline his infrastructure spending plan on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. The economic package worth about $3 billion covers infrastructure, education, healthcare and environmental programs. The administration plans to split the package into two parts to avail support from congressional Republicans. The benchmark DAX inched up 20 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,769 after rising 0.9 percent on Friday. 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.
Boris Johnson swapped antique wood panelling for a Tory blue backdrop tonight as he hosted a coronavirus press conference from his new 2.6million briefing room.

The venue for the occasional television appearances has swapped from their former home in 10 Downing Street to a newly refurbished part of No9 after the taxpayer-funded work on kitting it out.

The look and layout of the new room has sparked comparisons with the press conference room used by US presidents in the White House.

And the difference with the previous location was quite clear. Though the Prime Minister was again flanked by a pair of Union Jacks, he entered stage left rather than walking up to the lectern from behind it.

And that lectern has been stripped the 'Stay Home - Protect the NHS - Save Lives' guidance. As of today the stay at home guidance has been replaced by a plea to stay local.

Ministers have signed off on a new 'let's take this next step safely' slogan which will appear on Government adverts when the stay at home order is dropped from March 29, according to The Sun.

The room will now be used for all future press briefings. Labour previously branded the hi-tech refurbishment a 'vanity project'.

New: Mr Johnson in front of flags and a cobalt blue backdrop in No9 Downing Street

Old: the former wood-panelled briefing room in No10 Downing Street

Mr Johnson's lectern has been stripped the 'Stay Home - Protect the NHS - Save Lives' guidance

Boris Johnson has said the new freedoms being enjoyed in England as lockdown eases were the result of the sacrifices made over recent months but warned it was 'inevitable' there were more deaths to come.

At a Downing Street press conference, he said it has been a 'big day for many of us' with the first chance to see friends and family outdoors since the lockdown was imposed.

'It's only because of months of sacrifice and effort that we can take this small step towards freedom today and we must proceed with caution,' he said.

'It's great to see that yesterday we recorded the lowest number of new infections for six months, deaths and hospital admissions across the UK are continuing to fall.

'That wave is still rising across the channel and it's inevitable, as we advance on this road map, that there will be more infections and unavoidably more hospitalisations, and sadly more deaths.'

Britain's daily Covid cases have dropped 13 per cent in a week with 4,654 more infections today, official figures have revealed.

Deaths have risen slightly to 23  up from 17 last Monday. But the Department of Health's official fatality toll relies on registrations, meaning day-to-day counts can fluctuate.

Experts would be baffled by any genuine spike in deaths because infection rates have not spiralled out of control since schools in England reopened on March 8. The mammoth vaccine drive, which has now reached 30.4million vulnerable adults, will also save thousands of lives.

Mr Johnson tonight revealed GlaxoSmithKline will support the manufacturing of up to 60million doses of the Novavax coronavirus vaccine in the UK.

The UK vaccines taskforce has signed a deal with GSK to 'fill and finish' supplies of the American jab at its factory in Durham starting from May.

Mr Johnson said the move will 'further boost our vaccine rollout', which will slow down next month due to a a shortfall of five million AstraZeneca jabs from India.

The 'fill and finish' is the completion stage of vaccine manufacturing, preparing vials of the final vaccine and packaging them for distribution and use.

Britain has secured 60million doses of the Novavax vaccine under an advance purchase agreement with the American firm.

The new briefing room in Number Nine Downing Street has drawn comparisons with the daily press briefing room in the White House

The new Number Nine Downing Street press briefing room in pictures released last week

People watching the press conference had views, which they shared on social media

Earlier this month Novavax announced its jab is 86 per cent effective against the Kent variant and 96 per cent against the original Covid.

According to results of phase three trial in the UK, the jab offers 100 per cent protection against severe disease, including all hospital admission and death.

Novavax is due to submit its late stage trial data to Britain's medical regulator in the coming weeks and approval is expected in May.

Mr Johnson also said the Government will be saying more on travel abroad on April 5.

He said: 'I think that the most important thing that we've got to do right now as we continue to immunise great numbers of people in this country is to protect our country insofar as we can, it's never going to be perfect, but do as much as we can to prevent the virus coming back in from abroad and new variants coming in from abroad.

'So, the rules about what you can do, what people can do, to see their families abroad will be governed entirely by the rules that cover travel abroad and people coming from abroad.

'At the moment, as you know, it's still forbidden to travel, we'll be saying a bit more on April 5 about what the global travel taskforce has come up with.

'Clearly, at the moment there are lots of countries that are on a red list, 35 countries are on a red list, where we have very stringent measures in place for them, for people arriving from those countries.'

He added: 'We will be saying more about seeing family abroad and travel abroad, but it won't be until at least April 5.'


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The cast and crew of the Ravi Teja-starrer Khiladi reached Hyderabad from Italy a couple of days ago. While they were originally slated to shoot till March 31, the unit seems to have cut short its schedule by a few days, setting tongues wagging.

However, while admitting that the lockdown measures in Italy had made things difficult, the films director Ramesh Varma clarified that the entire schedule was wrapped up on time.

We landed in Italy on December 9, but the place where we were put up went into lockdown from December 10, shared the director. The unit however obtained the necessary permissions to shoot, he said.

We represented to the local authorities that we had come from India, and that if we werent able to shoot, we would incur heavy financial loss. The authorities were kind enough to let us shoot, he said, adding that the schedule lasted from March 10 to March 26.

Talking about the difficulties of shooting during the lockdown, he said, Most of the local crew wasnt available; also getting permissions for locations was one hell of a task. There were hardly any shops open and people were not coming out from their homes. As a result, the cost of production shot up by a few crores. The Italy schedule cost around eight crore, he added.

Luckily, the government officials were helpful, he said. Admitting that he did panic when the lockdown was imposed, he said the producers and other members of the unit insisted that they return to Hyderabad.

We were tense about whether we would be able to complete the shooting or not. But I was determined to complete it, following all the COVID-19 protocols. In fact, the unit underwent COVID-19 tests every two days, said Ramesh, adding that the places where they were accommodated were red zones.

Apparently, one of the unit members tested COVID positive upon landing in Italy. He was quarantined for the entire schedule; the authorities warned that if there was one more positive case we would be sent back, but luckily there were no were no further cases, said the filmmaker.

I have been to Italy many times and enjoyed the crowds, the festive atmosphere, music and great nightlife. But it was so disheartening to see deserted roads and no people on the streets, he rued.

Since it was winter in Italy, shooting in chilly temperatures was really challenging. Our hands and feet would freeze, but that did not dampen our spirits; we wanted to wrap up our shooting, said the director, adding that they shot one song, a chase sequence and crucial scenes.

We have one more song left, and we want to shoot that in Dubai, so we are looking at different possibilities, he said. According to him, the biggest challenge was shooting scenes in a yacht. Since it was lockdown, permissions were denied, but we have managed to get it done finally, with a limited crew.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 06:59:28|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- As 10 years of protracted conflict in Syria have brought untold suffering to the country and its people, many issues with regard to the current situation in the country warrant deep reflections, said a Chinese envoy on Monday.

Facts have proved time and again that respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity is an international norm that must be upheld, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Political solution is the only viable way to address hot-spot issues. Supporting the path of development chosen by the people of every country that suits its national conditions is the fundamental way, he told the Security Council.

Regime change is not an option, nor will it work. Unilateral sanctions can only aggravate the situation. External military interference can only cause greater disasters and serious consequences, he warned.

Under the current circumstances, the international community should adopt a holistic approach, integrating the political, security, economic, and humanitarian aspects, so as to jointly promote the early achievement of peace, security, and development, said Zhang.

He called for commitment to the right direction of a political settlement, improving the humanitarian situation, lifting unilateral sanctions and economic blockade, and ending foreign occupation and fighting terrorism. Enditem
[March 29, 2021] Ameriprise Financial Welcomes Idaho Central Credit Union to its Financial Institutions Channel

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) today announced that Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) selected Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group (AFIG) as its broker-dealer. By leveraging the Ameriprise platform, ICCU established a wealth management program, Idaho Central Wealth Management. AFIG partners with community banks and credit unions to help their clients reach their goals through financial planning and investment solutions. "We welcome Idaho Central Credit Union to Ameriprise and look forward to partnering with them to help their members plan for their future," said Jay McAnelly, Group Vice President, AFIG. "With Ameriprise's combination of high-touch service, personalized advice, robust solutions and suite of integrated technology, our platform provides ICCU with a solid infrastructure to successfully grow its wealth management offering. We're thrilled that ICCU leveraged our recruiting resources to quickly attract talented advisors at the outset of the program, and we look forward to helping them bring more onboard." Through the new relationship, ICCU members have access to a full range of services and solutions from Ameriprise including: Personalized advice and financial planning that are tailored to their individual needs.

that are tailored to their individual needs. Robust investment solutions to help them achieve their financial goals.

to help them achieve their financial goals. Digital capabilities that allow members to connect with their advisors where and how they want - face-to-face, online, video or phone meetings. With 41 locations throughout Idaho and over $7 billion in assets, ICCU serves more tan 440,000 members. The Idaho Central Wealth Management program launched with five financial advisors. As the program expands, ICCU will continue to hire additional advisors to serve members in Boise, East Idaho, North Idaho and Magic Valley.



"When we started designing the wealth management program at ICCU, we knew we needed a strong and adaptable platform. Ameriprise focuses on financial planning and had the products we needed to be able to serve our entire membership," said Brenda Worrell, Chief Operating Officer at ICCU. "Ameriprise has a great reputation and this helped us recruit the best advisors possible. The platform is phenomenal, and we're excited to be using it to serve our members and help them achieve financial success." Ameriprise formed its Financial Institutions Group after acquiring Investment Professionals, Inc. (IPI) in 2017. Leveraging Ameriprise's strength as a wealth manager and IPI's expertise in serving the financial institutions market, the AFIG channel specializes in the on-site delivery of investment programs to banks and credit unions.

About Idaho Central Credit Union Idaho Central was organized as a state-chartered credit union in 1940. The credit union's administrative office is located in Chubbuck, Idaho. Idaho Central has over 1,400 employees serving over 440,000 members with 41 locations throughout the state and over $7 billion in assets. Idaho Central is a full-service, federally-insured financial institution and is ranked as a top credit union in the nation in returning value to its members. For an Idaho Central location near you, please visit ICCU.com. About Ameriprise Financial At Ameriprise Financial, we have been helping people feel confident about their financial future for more than 125 years. With extensive advisory, asset management and insurance capabilities and a nationwide network of approximately 10,000 financial advisors, we have the strength and expertise to serve the full range of individual and institutional investors' financial needs. For more information, or to find an Ameriprise financial advisor, visit ameriprise.com. Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.  2021 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005191/en/

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Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, says some of those pulling the strings of banditry and kidnapping are funding the activities of Bo...

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, says some of those pulling the strings of banditry and kidnapping are funding the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the north-east.

Fayemi said there is a direct correlation between the persistent insurgency and heightened insecurity in parts of the country.

Speaking after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa on Monday, he said both issues must be tackled collectively.

Fayemi, who is the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), also disclosed that President Buhari will approach the national assembly for more funding for the equipment of the armed forces.





He said: I can tell you, and I dont think Ill be breaching any confidence, that one of the good news I came away with, from the President now on this issue is that hes already informed the National Assembly that they will be receiving a special request from him on procurement of equipment on an accelerated basis for our security services because that was one of the issues that we put before him and he was very categorical that yes, we have a point.

Some of the equipment that had been procured are on the way, they havent arrived, but they will soon arrive. There is also a need to buy more equipment and he is going into government-to-government partnership with a number of countries and that would necessitate an accelerated clearance from the national assembly.

What Im saying, in essence, is theyve been able to assess their situation on coming to that office and they made a very honest assessment of whats on ground, which is militating against their effective clearance of the insurgents and thats something that will happen.





Having said all of that, I also dont think were naive enough to think that its simply a military action that will resolve all these security challenges. They have root causes and the root causes require political will, political action on our part against poverty, against inequality, against the disconnections between our youth and the government because these are some of the things that have pushed younger people into harms way and into becoming cannon fodder for those who dont have the interest of our country at heart and are ready to destroy the country.

There is a direct correlation, Ive said this to you before, between insurgency in the north-east, and what were seeing manifesting itself as banditry in the north-west, or kidnapping in the south-west. Some of the people involved in these are also the ones responsible for insurgency.

They are using the resources that they make from kidnapping for the activities that theyre conducting in the north-east. So we need to take a comprehensive look at all these things and not treat them in compartments. We must treat them as a comprehensive issue and then tackle them collectively.

Fayemi said apart from tackling criminality with force, the government must also resolve issues such as poverty, inequality, social disconnection between leadership and the youth, which had rendered the youth available to derailing tendencies.
Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws speak on the genocide amendment in the House of Lords in London on March 23, 2021. (Parliamentlive TV/Screenshot)

Peers Push for Former Judges on Genocide Committee

A group of UK peers are pushing to set up a committee of former judges to determine whether there is a genocide taking place in Chinas Xinjiang region, after the government prevented them from writing into law a Parliamentary Judicial Committee that can rule on genocide.

The best people to rule on genocide are judges who are well equipped and skilled in assessing evidence in an independent way, Baroness Helena Kennedy, director of the International Bar Associations Human Rights Institute, told NTD on Friday.

We were very keen that our own High Courts might be involved, but government is not very keen on that, she added, referring to the governments opposition to a genocide amendment to the Trade Bill, which originally sought to give UK courts power to rule on genocide.

And what weve suggested as an alternative is that a committee of the House of Lords is created, on which senior retired judges would sit and could fulfil that function of determination as to whether there is indeed a genocide in progress in Xinjiang province, and whether the evidential thresholds have been met, Kennedy said.

Were hoping that the government might agree.

Benedict Rogers, deputy chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, speaks to The Epoch Times during a video interview in the UK on March 26, 2021. (The Epoch Times/Screenshot)

Benedict Rogers, deputy chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission (CPHRC), said that the setting up of such a committee would be a very welcome move.

There are many very eminent retired judges in the House of Lords, who are some of the most experienced judges in the world, Rogers told The Epoch Times on Friday.

And the House of Lords would be entirely within its rights to form such a committee, and that at least will provide a legal expertise behind a genocide determination, he added.

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has also welcomed the idea.

If the Lords do set it up, thats everything we asked for. What they do will have impressive force. Four or five ex-judges opining on genocide is going to make people sit up, he told The Telegraph on March 23.

Genocide Amendment

Peers have pointed out that no British government in modern history have ever declared a genocide while it was taking place because its been the long-standing position of successive UK governments that only a competent court can rule on genocide, yet the international courts are paralysed due to Russia and Chinas veto power.

Lord David Alton proposed the genocide amendment last year to the UKs post-Brexit Trade Bill, in order to prevent the UK from entering trade deals with genocidal countries.

Alton has said that he proposed the amendment because, back in 2016, Parliament couldnt make the government declare what was happening to the Yazidis in northern Iraq to be a genocide because the government insisted that only a court can make the determination.

Lord Alton of Liverpool speaks to The Epoch Times during an online interview in England on Feb. 12, 2021. (The Epoch Times/Screenshot)

The original genocide amendmentwhich would have given UK domestic courts power to make preliminary judgements on genocidegained overwhelming cross-party support in Parliament and ignited a major Tory rebellion. It was defeated by only 11 votes, even though the Conservative government has an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons.

After three rounds of negotiations and compromises, MPs voted on March 22 on two competing versions of the amendment: the governments version, which designates a responsible parliamentary committee to examine evidence on alleged genocide and push the government to act on such evidence; and the Alton version, which would set up a Parliamentary Judicial Committee with ex-judges to do the job.

The government narrowly defeated the Alton amendment, which it said would confer quasi-judicial status on the Parliamentary Judicial Committee. However, Parliament was told that current rules wouldnt prohibit ex-judges from being put on a committee.

Parliamentarians can use standing orders to set up a joint committee of both Houses, Sir Robert Neill, the author of the governments amendment, told MPs.

That could, of course, from the Crossbench Members of the other House, include Members of the House of Lords with former judicial experience, but they would be there as members of the House, not as former judges and that is their proper constitutional position, he said.

Minister for Investment Lord Gerry Grimstone also assured peers that the government would support the setting up of a committee by standing order.

It is ultimately up to Parliament how it wishes to organise its own affairs, Grimstone told peers on March 23.

Alton replied by saying that a Joint Committee on Human Rights is not a bad precedent, were we to go down that route, while keeping other options open.

In line with what the House of Commons decided yesterday, our House could, if it wished, establish its own ad hoc committee comprising former judges who now sit in the Lords, he said.

To determine precisely what a genocide is will take time, expertise, and great knowledge of the lawthings that this House is uniquely equipped to contribute. Such a committee should urgently evaluate the evidence of the genocide and atrocity crimes being committed against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, Alton said.

This is undoubtedly urgent, and I will write to the Liaison Committee urging it to think about the various options open to it.

Sanctions

Hours before the last Commons vote on the genocide amendment, the UK government announced sanctions against four Chinese officials over the alleged human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims, but stopped short at calling the abuses genocide, a declaration that has already been made by several countries, including the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands.

Duncan Smith said the UK was dancing elaborately around the whole idea of genocide when it is clear that that is what is going on.

In retaliation to the UKs sanctions, the Chinese regime on Friday sanctioned nine British individuals and four entities for their stances on Xinjiang, including Alton, Kennedy, Duncan Smith, and the CPHRC, which Rogers chairs.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets British Parliamentarians sanctioned by China in 10 Downing Street, London, on March 27, 2021. (Prime Ministers Office)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday met with five of the parliamentarians on the sanctions list, and expressed his solidarity with them.

This morning I spoke with some of those who have been shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims, Johnson wrote on Twitter. I stand firmly with them and the other British citizens sanctioned by China.

Alexander Zhang contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 16:50:18|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Security personnel gunned down at least five armed rebels referred to as "Naxals", in India's southwestern state of Maharashtra, a local government official confirmed on Monday.

The slain rebels included two females.

The encounter between the Naxals and the security personnel took place in the Khobramendha forest area in the state's Gadchiroli district.

According to local media reports, the police and other security personnel had launched a combing operation on Saturday and exchanged fire with the Naxals. Three pressure cooker bombs were among the items recovered by the police after the Naxals fled.

On Monday, the security forces regrouped and ran into a group of 25 Naxals at around 7:30 a.m.(local time), added the media reports.

While five of them got killed in the encounter, others managed to flee. After the encounter ended, a cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the spot. Enditem
The Crown star Josh O'Connor has admitted he still has 'very little interest' in the Royal Family despite playing Prince Charles for two seasons of the Netflix hit.

The English actor, 30, admitted he 'definitely didn't' watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey and 'doesn't feel bad about it'.

Speaking to GQ, he added that he has a 'great fondness' for the Prince of Wales as a person because of all the research he did ahead of playing the part.

'I think I find it really hard pinning the real Royal Family to The Crown. They feel so far removed,' O'Connor told the publication. 'And basically, I had no interest in the Royal Family before I did The Crown. And I have very little interest now!'

The Crown star Josh O'Connor has admitted he still has 'very little interest' in the Royal Family despite playing Prince Charles for two seasons of the Netflix hit

O'Connor, who won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Charles, also appeared to confirm his successor is The Affair star Dominic West - and joked he'd 'laugh him off' if the 51-year-old approached him for advice.

He added that while he's said in the past it's 'brilliant' he doesn't have to play the future king anymore, that doesn't mean he didn't enjoy it.

'I absolutely loved it. But the reason I wanted to be an actor is to play different people,' he told GQ.

'Playing that character has brought me a lot of joy. But it's lovely to come away and go, "Great. Now hand it over to Dominic West" ... But if Dominic West came to me asking me for advice, I'd laugh him off. I'd be like, "Dom! You're Dominic West!"'

O'Connor, who won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Charles, also appeared to confirm his successor is The Affair star Dominic West - and joked he'd 'laugh him off' if the 51-year-old approached him for advice

The English actor, 30, admitted he 'definitely didn't' watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey and 'doesn't feel bad about it'

Earlier this month it was announced West has been cast as lothario Dudley Wrangel Clarke - a World War II spy known to be surrounded by women who were referred to as 'Dudley's Duchesses' - in the new BBC One drama SAS: Rogue Heroes.

In October last year, married West was seen sharing a scooter ride and caught kissing actress Lily James, 31, during a trip to Rome.

A source told The Sun of Dominic's casting: 'Viewers would be forgiven for thinking Dominic was getting typecast in roles on the back of what's happening in his private life. Signing up for Rogue Heroes comes after he was asked to play love cheat Prince Charles in Netflix blockbuster The Crown.'

Filming for series five of The Crown is set to commence this summer, with Imelda Staunton taking over from Olivia Colman as the Queen. Speaking about the scripts, the shows production designer Martin Childs gave little away other than to say they are 'really good' and 'juicy'.

Royal correspondent Michael Cole predicted the series, which is expected to cover Diana's relationship with Dodi Fayed and her death in August 1997, will contain plenty of 'dramatic material and startling revelations'. The show has already faced widespread criticism over its 'twisted' depiction of the Firm, which portrays Charles as callous and self-serving and his mother the Queen as cold.

Earlier this month it was announced West has been cast as lothario Dudley Wrangel Clarke - a World War II spy known to be surrounded by women who were referred to as 'Dudley's Duchesses' - in the new BBC One drama SAS: Rogue Heroes

In his GQ interview O'Connor revealed he's yet to receive the Golden Globe he won for Best Actor in a Drama TV Series in the post, and is hoping it doesn't end up being delivered to another flat because he's about to go away for work.

Read the full Josh O'Connor feature online at GQ Hype now

The actor, who will star alongside Jessie Buckley in an upcoming film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, spoke about his concerns about the impact of the global pandemic on mental health.

O'Connor, who actively campaigns for the charity Mind, said he has been 'concerned' for his own mental health as well as the nation's and fears Covid is pulling people further and further apart due to our increasing reliance on technology to communicate.

Speaking about filming Romeo and Juliet during the pandemic, he told how the cast would be tested for Covid twice a week and had a three hour 'intimacy window' when they received their results, during which they were able to film kissing scenes.

He added that rehearsing was challenging, with Buckley - whom O'Connor has known for nearly 10 years - often replaced by stand-ins and, at times, a pillow.

Romeo & Juliet airs on Sky Arts at 9pm on Sunday 4 April.
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The Supreme Court is seen in Washington on Nov. 5, 2020. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Supreme Court Takes Up Kentucky Abortion Case, With 63 Conservative Majority

The Supreme Court decided March 29 to take up an abortion case from Kentucky, its first since Justice Amy Coney Barretts addition to the court gave its conservative wing a 63 majority.

The case is Cameron v. EMW Womens Surgical Center, court file 20-601. EMW Womens Surgical Center, in Louisville, is Kentuckys only licensed abortion clinic.

The case revolves around Kentuckys 2018 ban on dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortions on unborn, living children.

I promised Kentuckians that I would defend our laws all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and thats what weve done, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, said in a statement.

Since day one in office, weve fought to defend House Bill 454, even when the Beshear Administration refused to defend it. This law reflects the conscience of Kentucky by banning the gruesome practice of live dismemberment abortions, and its important that Kentuckians have a voice before our nations highest court. I was elected to provide that voice, and we look forward to making our case to the Supreme Court.

Then-Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, signed the law, the Human Rights of Unborn Children Act, which stopped D&E abortions after 11 weeks of pregnancy and was subsequently enjoined by federal courts. After the succeeding administration of Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, refused to defend the statute in court, Cameron indicated he wanted to do so.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit turned down Camerons request, at which point, he filed his petition asking the Supreme Court to allow him to intervene in the case.

The Supreme Courts unsigned March 29 order states that its review will be limited to Question 1 presented by the petition.

That question states the issue to be considered is: Whether a state attorney general vested with the power to defend state law should be permitted to intervene after a federal court of appeals invalidates a state statute when no other state actor will defend the law.

Cameron asked the court to consider the constitutionality of the law after a 54 court, including the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, struck down Louisianas Act 620 in June Medical Services LLC v. Russo on June 29, 2020. That statute required abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges close to where the procedure takes place.

Chief Justice John Roberts gave pro-life activists a glimmer of hope when he authored a concurring opinion in the ruling indicating that courts could allow abortion restrictions that had no medical justification if they werent overly burdensome to patients.

But, in the case at hand, the Supreme Court decided only to consider the procedural question of whether Cameron could intervene in the case on behalf of Kentucky.

Oral arguments in the case are expected later this year.

Andrew Beck, counsel of record for the abortion clinic, was disappointed by the ruling.

This case is only about whether the Attorney General, after having sat on the sidelines of this lawsuit, can jump in at the last minute in an effort to revive an unconstitutional law, Beck, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement.

Cameron has shown that he will stop at nothing to prevent people from making their own decisions about a pregnancy. Major medical associations have condemned harmful restrictions like the one at issue here, and every court to consider a law like this has blocked it. We will continue to work to make sure this ban never takes effect.

Pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) celebrated the court decision.

It is encouraging news that the Supreme Court will hear this case, SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement.

The group praised Cameron for doing everything in his power to defend Kentuckys pro-life laws, including its ban on barbaric live-dismemberment abortions, which was enacted with overwhelming bipartisan support. State legislators acting on the will of the people have both the duty and the right to protect their most vulnerable citizensborn and unborn. We look forward to seeing this right upheld.
[March 29, 2021] Simplicity Esports and Gaming Company Announces Plans to Use Limited Edition NFTs to Promote a Membership Model at its Esports Gaming Centers

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique units of data secured on a blockchain digital ledger, and can represent creative works such as video, audio, and art. Boca Raton, Florida, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Simplicity Esports and Gaming Company ( OTCQB:WINR ) (Simplicity Esports), announced that it will be selling a series of limited edition NFTs exclusively available to members of its esports gaming centers. Simplicity Esports has the largest footprint of esports gaming centers in North America with a database of over 400,000 paying customers. Roman Franklin, President of Simplicity Esports, stated, As we enter the summer months, we will be promoting memberships throughout the footprint. The memberships will give customers exclusive access to purchase limited edition esports NFTs. I see an opportunity for us to reward our members with access to unique events and items, such as NFTs as a thank you for their recurring commitment to our gaming centers. We are also in discussions with Project Token regarding other ways blockchain can make our gaming centers more secure, efficient, and beneficial to customers. Simplicity Esports previously announced they have partnered with Project Token and the University of Central Florida (UCF Blockchain Innovation Lab to create, mint, and sell NFTs.



About Simplicity Esports and Gaming Company: Simplicity Esports and Gaming Company (WINR) is an established brand within the esports industry, competing and streaming in popular games across different genres, including Apex Legends, PUBG Mobile, Overwatch, League of Legends, and various EA Sports titles. Simplicity Esports is also in the process of designing, minting, and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for the esports and gaming industries. Simplicity Esports also owns and operates 12 and is the franchisor for more than 20 Esports Gaming Centers providing the public an opportunity to experience gaming and esports in a social setting, regardless of skill or experience. Simplicity Esports also organizes and hosts various in-person events and play from home, online tournaments. Simplicity Esports also owns a Riot Games League of Legends franchise and top Brazilian esports organization, Flamengo Esports.

Apex Legends, PUBG Mobile, Overwatch, League of Legends, Fortnite, EA Sports and Free Fire are registered trademarks of their respective owners. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond Simplicity Esports control, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of Simplicity Esports Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on August 31, 2020 and our subsequent SEC filings, as amended or updated from time to time. Copies of Simplicity Esports filings with the SEC are available on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. Simplicity Esports undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law. Simplicity Esports Contact:



Roman Franklin

President

Roman@SimplicityEsports.com

561-819-8586



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NEW YORK, March 29, 2021--The Vilcek Foundation recognizes the research contributions and work of Caltech professor Ibrahim Cisse in a new article and video. Cisse is the recipient of a 2021 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science.

The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science are awarded annually to young immigrant scientists living and working in the United States. The awards are bestowed on individuals whose early-career work exemplifies outstanding scientific accomplishment, and represents a significant contribution to their field of study. Cisse receives the award for his use of super-resolution biological imaging to directly visualize the process of gene expression in living cells, and for his application of the physical sciences to RNA transcription to understand the behavior of biomolecules in living organisms.

Born in Niamey, Niger, Cisse moved to the United States at the age of 17 to learn English and to enroll in university. The youngest of five children, Cisse loved science from a young age. With encouragement from his mother, the Cisse family's storage room was labeled "Laboratoire Cisse" and became the site of the budding physicist's first experiments: deconstructing, learning about, and reconstructing his family's appliances and devices.

The modern-day Cisse Lab uses single molecule and super-resolution imaging in live cells to study collective behaviors such as protein clustering as a result of dynamic biomolecular interactions in mammalian cells. Using physics as a framework for observation and understanding, Cisse says, "We unveil, often for the first time, that these clusters exist in living cells, and we expand both on the imaging approaches and the cellular and molecular biology techniques to discover the biophysical mechanisms of action, and their function in vivo." The techniques that Ibrahim's work has pioneered have the potential to help scientists to better understand the way protein aggregates form in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, ALS, and Alzheimer's.

Cisse has credited his undergraduate experience at North Carolina Central University as being fundamental in his approach to teaching and mentorship. "Having trained at a historically Black college was just an incredible way of learning to see and think about race, not just in America but also in Africa," he says. "It gave me the knowledge and that empowerment that, no matter what adversity I was going to face, it is important to move forward in a way that will empower others and create opportunity for others."

Says Leslie Voshall of the Rockefeller University, "Ibrahim's work using cutting-edge microscopy to look at liquid phase separation is incredible. Applying the tools of physics to look at single molecules is inspiring. His work is beautiful and rigorous."

###

Read the article and watch the video at the following link: http://vilcek. co/ vfp2021ibrahimcisseeapr

The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

For more information about the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, read the Vilcek Foundation's announcement from March 1, 2021, or contact creativepromise@vilcek.org.

The Vilcek Foundation

The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation was established in 2000 by Jan and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the foundation--to honor immigrant contributions to the United States, and more broadly to foster appreciation of the arts and sciences--was inspired by the couple's respective careers in biomedical science and art history. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded over $5.8 million in prizes to foreign-born individuals and supported organizations with over $5.3 million in grants.

The Vilcek Foundation is a private operating foundation, a federally tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Section 501(c)(3).
Clearing Prosopis juliflora, along with grassland restoration, can have positive benefits including climate change mitigation and protection of livelihoods for pastoralists. Credit: CABI

A new study suggests that clearing the invasive woody weed Prosopis julifora and grassland restoration in Baringo County, Kenya, may have significant financial benefits for local stakeholders and contribute to climate change mitigation.

Climate change, land degradation, and invasive alien species (IAS) such as Prosopis julifora are major threats to livelihoods in arid and semi-arid regions, having negative impacts on ecosystem services, including vegetation biomass, which is a prime resource for pastoralists and agro-pastoralists.

The team, comprising Ph.D. students and established scientists from four countries and different disciplinary backgrounds, developed land use scenarios and assessed implications of Prosopis management and grassland restoration for soil carbon accumulation and local communities.

The scientists studied the impacts of Prosopis invasion and grassland degradation on soil organic carbon (SOC) in nine sublocations in Baringo County, where it was introduced in the 1980s, and promoted by the Kenyan government to provide wind breaks, a source of timber, fuelwood and charcoal.

The study combined data collected by several Ph.D. students of the Woody Weeds project, such as socio-economic data to determine the size of the budget available for Prosopis management (Bekele et al. 2018) and the financial benefits of making charcoal from removed trees, soil measurements to assess changes in SOC following Prosopis removal (Mbaabu et al. 2020) and establishment of grassland. The data were linked to spatially explicit land-cover and land-use maps derived from satellite data (Mbaabu et al. 2019). Then, spatially explicit invasive alien species (IAS) management and restoration scenarios were generated.

Dr. Rene Eschen, an ecologist working for CABI in Switzerland and lead author of the paper, said, "While Prosopis does provide these benefits, it has also spread rapidly across a large area, leading to a loss of native vegetation, agricultural areas and grazing land. These changes are primarily driven by Prosopis invasion, along with human activities like deforestation, land clearing, overgrazing, and climate change.

"Our results show that the one-off budget based on the average willingness to pay expressed by inhabitants of Baringo would suffice to manage a considerable area ofProsopis in Baringo in a single year, and that the conversion of invaded areas into grassland would provide significant financial benefits. A sustained effort over several years might enable sustainable management of a large part of the areas invaded with Prosopis in most sublocations.

"The results also indicate what generates the financial benefit and which areas could be prioritized for treatment. Although Prosopis management is expensive, the results suggest that a large part of the costs in Baringo can be offset by immediate financial benefits from the sale of charcoal. This is important, because the affected communities have limited human and financial resources for environmental management."

The benefits of clearing Prosopis julifora and grassland restoration in Baringo County, Kenya. Credit: Journal of Applied Ecology

The researchers also argue that there are financial and immaterial benefits of restoring grasslands that may re-establish within 30 years if they are not overgrazed. They say that some of the benefits could, in fact, be realized within less than 10 years with only the full accumulation of SOC needing three decades.

Dr. Sandra Eckert, remote sensing specialist of the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland, said, "Grasslands provide non-monetary benefits, including cultural and regulating services including the regulation of climate, floods and erosion. However, the likelihood of grasses establishing depends on suitable climatic conditions and grazing management.

"With climate change and the associated higher variability of the beginning and duration of the various seasons, grass is considered a more secure crop compared to local staple crops like maize or beans; particularly perennial grass species require less rain for completion of a cropping cycle. Growing grass for seed production is widespread in some of the sublocations, and farmers can also sell the hay."

"Spatial and integrative management scenarios should be used more extensively to support land management decisions, especially where natural as well as financial resources are scarce and where the costs and benefits of managing IAS are unequally distributed among local stakeholders."

This study of Prosopis in Baringo County shows that relatively small investment in IAS clearing and restoration of degraded grassland in Eastern Africa may result in significant benefits for local communities managing the land that will support traditional livelihoods and increase SOC in the long term.

Dr. Charles Kilawe, an ecologist from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania, said that the benefits realized from the management of Prosopis juliflora revealed by this study should not be used to promote the introduction of the species to new areas, as this would likely cause serious negative environmental and livelihood impacts.

Dr. Eschen concluded, "Addressing climate change and land degradation are major issues that affect livelihoods of many people and that require targeted use of scarce financial resources. This study describes IAS management scenarios using a novel spatial and integrated approach using various detailed data about IAS distribution and density, management costs, financial benefits and land use history.

"Integrating and linking such data may be particularly useful to develop accurate and realistic IAS management scenarios that can be used to illustrate costs and benefits of management interventions, where they are most needed and most cost-effective, and thus help stakeholders select the most appropriate and feasible approach that suits their needs."

Explore further Restoration of degraded grasslands can benefit climate change mitigation and key ecosystem services

More information: Rene Eschen, Ketema Bekele, Purity Rima Mbaabu, Charles Kilawe and Sandra Eckert, 'Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC. management and grassland restoration in Baringo County, Kenya: Opportunities for soil carbon sequestration and local Livelihoods,' 29 March 2021, Journal of Applied Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13854 Journal information: Journal of Applied Ecology Rene Eschen, Ketema Bekele, Purity Rima Mbaabu, Charles Kilawe and Sandra Eckert, 'Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC. management and grassland restoration in Baringo County, Kenya: Opportunities for soil carbon sequestration and local Livelihoods,' 29 March 2021,

Provided by CABI
Chinas benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (000001.SH) gained 0.5% on Monday, while the Shenzhen Component Index (399001.SZ) rose 0.01%.

Shanghais tech-heavy STAR 50 Index (000688.SH) lost 0.47% for the day, while Shenzhens similar ChiNext Index (399006.SZ) fell 0.42%.

Below is a rundown of the top China business and finance stories, plus other news for the day:

 H&M Stores Shut by Chinese Landlords as Xinjiang Backlash Grows

At least six stores in lower-tier cities have been shut down by the owners of the properties

 China Sets Duties on Australian Wine for Five Years as Ties Sour

Imports will incur anti-dumping levies of between 116.2% and 218.4%

 Japan Looks to End Support for Overseas Coal Power Projects

Country will align with U.S. and Europe on moving away from carbon

 China State Shipbuilding Sails to Global Lead on Beijings Tailwind

Commercial-vessel maker is benefiting from countrys naval construction binge

 China Signs 25-Year Deal With Iran in Challenge to the U.S.

Chinese government plans to invest in and buy oil from the Islamic Republic, further straining ties with the U.S. already frayed by Chinas imports of covertly shipped Iranian crude

 Traders Are Glued to Their Screens and Set for Volatile Open

Markets are bracing for another wild day following an extraordinary $20 billion wave of block trades Friday that was driven by the family office of former hedge fund manager Bill Hwang

 Cover Story: Wheres the Pressure on Schoolkids Coming From?

President Xi Jinping leads crackdown on tutoring industry where worried parents are fueling a boom, but experts cite inequality in access to educational resources

 China Further Revamps Credit Ratings Rules in Wake of Massive Bond Defaults

Scandal-plagued credit ratings industry has been criticized for failing to fulfill its risk-warning role

 Why Chinas Covid Vaccination Drive Puts the Young Before the Old

Chinas epidemic situation allows for a focus on building a barrier of immunity, rather than directly protecting the most vulnerable, experts say

 Hong Kong Expects Initial Report on BioNTech Vaccine Next Week

Hong Kong will give priority to those needing booster shots when the BioNTech vaccination resumes, a senior official reportedly said

Click here to read more of the latest news.

This article was generated by Caixin Automation.

Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go.

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"I get an email almost every morning from some SPAC seller telling me to do a SPAC with them," said Johnny Boufarhat, CEO of Hopin, a virtual events platform. "It's interesting, but it also doesn't make sense for us."

Instead, Boufarhat said he wants his London-based company, which is valued at $5.65 billion, to be ready for a traditional initial public offering (IPO) later this year or in 2022.

Hopin is one of several leading European startups, also including Europe's most valuable fintech startup Klarna, that told Reuters they are steering clear of SPACs, or special-purpose acquisition companies, the hot new method of floating a company that has taken the American tech world by storm.

Their caution, driven by fears over heavy costs and regulation, underscores the potentially risky nature of this innovative form of financial alchemy, although bankers said the market was in its infancy and much could change in the future.

There have only been 10 SPAC listings in Europe in 2020 and 2021, with a total value of about $1.3 billion - figures dwarfed by the United States where 522 such listings have brought in over $300 billion, according to data compiled for Reuters by Refinitiv.

SPACs are shell corporations that list on stock exchanges and then merge with an existing company to take that target public without it going through the conventional IPO process.

Such deals have emerged as a form of public market venture capital for some startups that have struggled to raise funds through traditional routes. But they can carry a heavy cost, typically 20% of the equity of the acquired company - which goes to the sponsors, or promoters, of the deal.

European reluctance among both companies and investors partly reflects the relative maturity of the region's tech startups before they go public, compared with U.S. counterparts, according to Reuters interviews with more than 20 entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers and bankers.

For example several "unicorns" valued at over $1 billion, such as Swedish fintech firms Klarna and Trustly and London-based Wise, have years of operating history and healthy financials with little incentive to bear the extra costs of a SPAC deal.

The average age of venture capital-backed startups going public last year was 10.5 years in Europe, nearly double that of the U.S. ones, according to data from Refinitiv.

'NO ONE HAS CONVINCED ME'

Klarna, founded in 2005, told Reuters it aimed to list late this year or more likely in early 2022 and favoured an IPO, rather than a SPAC.

"No one has yet convinced me about why that would be a preferential route," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said.

Two sources close to Trustly said the 13-year-old company would likely go public later this year via a traditional IPO. Money transfer startup Wise, launched in 2011 and formerly TransferWise, is also not keen on a SPAC deal and wants to IPO in London this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Trustly declined to comment.

As a result of such resistance among established firms, some investors said that many companies that turned to SPACs could be untried and thus risky propositions, and expressed concerns about an eventual dotcom-like bursting bubble.

"The danger is that the SPACs will merge with businesses that are not ready to be public and if you're not ready to be a public business you end up disappointing at some point and you end up losing people's money," said Harry Nelis, a London-based investor at venture-capital firm Accel Partners.

Several investors said differences in U.S. and European listing rules were also playing a significant role.

Generally U.S. exchanges are more SPAC-friendly, allowing shares to be held in escrow until an acquisition is made, when investors have the option of getting their money back if they don't like the target company.

Major European exchanges don't allow that, although such regulations are expected to be eased in places like London and Amsterdam. For instance, a rule in London that suspends a SPAC's shares after it picks up a target is widely expected to be relaxed for investors, whose money can currently get locked up.

Conversely, Par-Jorgen Parson, general partner at Northzone, which has invested in companies like Spotify and Klarna, said heavier American regulation around traditional were also encouraging startups and investors to explore SPACs there.

"The European listing rules are not as draconian as in the U.S. so I don't think a SPAC has the same relative appeal to conventional methods as in the U.S. where you circumvent more of the red tape associated with an IPO filing," he added.

'WE'LL SEE A RECORD NUMBER'

However, SPACs proponents believe they will find their place in Europe among tech and biotech companies working on futuristic products. IPOs, unlike SPACs, cannot be promoted on the basis of future profit promises.

"You will see a lot of life science companies, a lot of electric vehicle companies and nascent technologies going public via a SPAC because you are allowed to talk about forecasts, because it's an acquisition," said Rosh Wijayarathna, head of corporate finance EMEA at Silicon Valley Bank.

German air taxi startup Volocopter Chief Executive Florian Reuter told Reuters that the company was considering a SPAC deal as an option, but gave no timeline.

SPACs were pioneered in the early 1990s but have only attracted consistent mainstream interest in the United States in the past 12-18 months, driven by deals for the likes of DraftKings and Virgin Galactic. The current boom is unprecedented and at historic levels.

Financier Nathaniel Rothschild, scion of the famous banking dynasty, was an early SPAC promoter whose investment shell Vallar raised $1.1 billion in 2010 to merge https://www.reuters.com/article/vallar-idUSLDE6AF0A020101116 with coal producer Bumi.

"I think the big difference between what we tried to do, and the vast majority of SPACs today, is we wanted to buy a business and stay with it," Rothschild told Reuters. "Many of these SPACs - they're just promoters and when the merger is done they will leave."

Yet Berthold Fuerst, co-head of investment banking in Europe at Deutsche Bank, pointed out it was still early days for the European SPACS market and that it was tough to predict how it would develop.

"Six SPACs were launched in Europe this year, as many have announced the plan to do so as well," said Berthold Fuerst, co-head of investment banking in Europe at Deutsche Bank. "Overall, we will see a record number (of SPAC issuance in Europe), even if the actual volume will be well below that in the U.S."

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Anirban Sen in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York, Arno Schuetze and Douglas Busvine in Frankfurt, Abhinav Ramnarayan in London; Editing by Pravin Char)

Khartoum  Sudan is celebrating the normalization of its relations with the World Bank Group after significantly reducing its debt with the help of a U.S. bridge loan.

A virtual celebration was broadcast Friday on national TV, featuring officials of the World Bank and the Sudanese government welcoming Sudan's re-engagement in the international financial institution.

The executive boards of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared Sudan eligible for debt relief under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok welcomed the beginning of the debt relief and praised the transitional government's economic reforms.

He congratulated the Sudanese people, the transitional government and the partners of the development for the achievement. Hamdok said this was the real beginning of removing the weight of the external debt from the Sudanese people and returning Sudan to the global financial markets. He said the debt had halted the growth and potential of a giant economy that suffered from corruption, mismanagement, wars and suppression of the Sudanese people.

Sudan's debt had mushroomed to $56 billion under three decades of the autocratic role of Omar al-Bashir.

A transitional government supplanted al-Bashir, making concerted efforts to alleviate Sudan's isolation brought on by his iron-fisted rule.

Economic reforms

Since 2019, the Sudanese government has made economic reforms to relieve its debt and meet IMF and World Bank Group requirements to access the international funds.

The U.S. Treasury provided a same-day bridge loan of $1.15 billion to help Sudan clear its arrears.

Sudan's debt to the International Development Agency (IDA) had blocked the country's access to international financial institutions like the World Bank Group.

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Sudanese Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim praised the U.S. role in helping Sudan clear its unpaid debt. He also thanked the World Bank for the unlimited support of the transitional government, including the grant of $1.3 billion to help with debt relief. Ibrahim said the strong partnership showed that the international community stoof with the nation after the December 2018 revolution in which al-Bashir was deposed.

The executive director of the World Bank, Axel Van Trotsenberg, confirmed the International Development Association's willingness to support Sudan's transition.

"This is a historic day," Van Trotsenberg said. "After nearly three decades, the Republic of Sudan has now officially normalized relations with the World Bank Group. This will allow us to open an exciting new chapter in our partnership. The bank stands ready and is willing to step up its support to Sudan and we would like to make available about $2 billion in IDA grants for poverty reduction and sustainable economic recovery."

Clearing arrears with the IDA is a key step toward meeting the requirements needed to assist Sudan with the HIPC Initiative, which is scheduled to make a formal assessment in June.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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A giant 3,200-year-old mural of a spider god has been discovered in Peru.

The scene reveals an arachnid holding various knives and it is thought locals prayed to the mysterious god in the belief the deity had control of fertility and rain.

Most of the relic has been destroyed by farmers who tried to remove the mural in an effort to expand their arable land.

Scroll down for video

The scene is said to show an arachnid holding various knives and it is thought the locals prayed to the mysterious god and believed the deity was linked to fertility and rain

Most of the relic has been destroyed by farmers who tried to remove the mural in an effort to expand their arable land. Images of the mural taken by local photographers reveal scars of the attempted demolition etched into the ancient mural

Who were the Cupisnique people? The Cupisnique people lived on the northern coast of Peru around 2,000 - 1,000 BC. They predate the Chavin culture and provided some inspiration for these people. Cupisnique culture extended along the Peruvian coast from the Viru valley up to the Lambayeque drainage. It had close relations with highland cultures and the occupants of the coastal valleys to the north and south. Sometime after 500 BC the culture became integrated into the Chavin. Advertisement

The discovery was made in the valleys of the province of Viru in the Peruvian department of Lambayeque.

Locals uncovered the ancient site while using large machinery such as excavators to expand their avocado and sugar cane plantations.

Images of the mural reveal scars of the attempted demolition etched into the ancient artwork.

More than half of the original temple was demolished in November 2020 but a 50ft x 20ft (15m x 6m) patch survived.

Archaeologist Regulo Franco Jordan was alerted about the site's discovery by a friend and immediately went to investigate.

'When I got there I was very surprised to see this impressive facade with geometric shapes,' he told local news.

It is believed the vibrant colours were made with ochre as well as yellow, grey and white paint on a mud wall structure.

The people that deemed the spider to be a god are thought to have belonged to the Cupisnique culture which dominated the northern coastal stretch of Peru around 1,000BC.

Jordan concluded the location of the burial site, a 'huaca', near a river is deliberate and likely indicates the spider mural adorned a temple to water deities.

The people who used the temple 2,300 years ago are thought to have belonged to the Cupisnique culture which dominated the northern coastal stretch of Peru around 1,000BC

Archaeologist Regulo Franco Jordan was alerted about the site's discovery by a friend and immediately went there to investigate. 'When I got there I was very surprised to see this impressive facade with geometric shapes,' he told local news

Locals uncovered the ancient site while using large machinery such as excavators to expand their avocado and sugar cane plantations and damaged the site

'What we have here is a shrine that would have been a ceremonial centre thousands of years ago,' Jordan told Peru's La Republica newspaper.

'The spider on the shrine is associated with water and was an incredibly important animal in pre-Hispanic cultures, which lived according to a ceremonial calendar.

'It's likely that there was a special, sacred water ceremony held between January and March when the rains came down from the higher areas.'

Officials were made aware of the presence of the monument and it has now been registered and protected from further damage.
A court in Mombasa has awarded an oil marketer Sh1 million in general damages in a land ownership dispute case they won against a public primary school.

The Khadija Primary School management board has been ordered to pay Total Kenya the money, on top of being barred from interfering in any way with the disputed piece of land.

"This court finds that the first to fourth defendants (board of management and three of its members) have caused the second plaintiff (Total Kenya Ltd) economic hardship," said Justice Yano of the Environment and Land Court in his ruling on Friday.

He awarded Sh1 million in general damages with interest and costs of the case to be borne by the four defendants, who had been sued by Elf Oil Kenya Ltd and Total Kenya Ltd.

"The plaintiffs have been unable to develop the land since the first to fourth defendants have deprived them of their quiet enjoyment of the property," said Justice Yano. He added that the defendants' entry into and occupation of the land constituted trespass. The two firms had told court that Elf Oil Kenya had acquired a 99-year lease for the land from the Municipal Council of Mombasa on August 21 1997.

They said that, in 2000, Total Kenya bought out the entire business from Elf Oil Kenya, including all assets and petrol stations, of which the suit property is part.

In 2002, Total Kenya started building perimeter wall around the petrol station. But, before the wall was completed, the defendants accompanied by other people demolished a section of it, claiming that the land belonged to Khadija Primary School.

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Arguments

The oil marketers claimed that they had been unable to develop or make use of the land due to threats and intimidation by the four defendants.

On their part, and through the Attorney General, the defendants accused the oil companies orchestrating a land-grab.

They further argued that the school and its administration was not involved in the protest or pulling down of the fence.

They argued that the court not to hold them liable for the activities of strangers they claimed were not acting on behalf of the school. They noted that Khadija Primary School is the only public school serving a large population in Kisauni and Bombolulu and is currently being expanded to accommodate a secondary school.

On its part, the Municipal Council of Mombasa told court that the school had failed to prove the suit property was part of the land it had been allocated.

According to the council, the four defendants alleged fraud on part of the plaintiffs but failed to provide evidence to support their claim.

It further denied double registration on the land, maintaining that Total Kenya Ltd is the only registered entity as seen from the sublease and letter of consent.
HORRY COUNTY  Residents with any remaining damage from Hurricane Florence will be able to attend a South Carolina Disaster Recovery Office mobile intake site on March 29 at the James R. Frazier Community Center, located at 1370 Bucksport Road.

Residents who may qualify for the Hurricane Florence Recovery Program can receive help filling out and submitting an application at the event, according to county spokesperson Kelly Moore.

For qualifying applicants the program can offer single-family home owners the ability to reconstruct, repair or replace damage to their homes, according to a flyer from SCDRO. There are also buyout opportunities for those located in floodplains, as well as the ability to repair single-family affordable housing rental units.

Along with the event, anyone with questions or wanting to schedule an intake appointment can call 844-410-8560, or submit an application online.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

SCDRO will host three additional events on March 31, April 6, and April 8.

This intake process is separate from the Socastee buyout program.
The soldiers also rescued some victims kidnapped by the Boko Haram, the official said.

The Nigerian Army troops of 28 Task Force Brigade in Chibok and Askira have killed about 48 Boko Haram terrorists and rescued 11 abducted victims in an onslaught in Borno.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Mohammed Yerima, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Yerima said that troops achieved the feat while acting on credible intelligence that some remnants of insurgents were fleeing due to the intensity of troops' operations in Sambisa Forest.

He said the troops laid ambush for the terrorists on Chibok-Damboa axis, killing nine while several others escaped with fatal gunshot wounds in one encounter.

Mr Yerima said that the troops also recovered seven AK47 Rifles and freed three kidnapped victims.

He said that troops of 28 Task Force Brigade located in Askira also laid a successful ambush along Askira - Chibok Main Supply Route (MSR) and neutralised 39 terrorists in another encounter.

The army spokesperson also disclosed that the troops successfully rescued eight kidnapped victims from the terrorists in the course of the encounter.

"Unfortunately, however, one of the kidnapped victims sustained injury to his leg while in the hands of his abductors.

"He has since been conveyed to a military medical facility for immediate treatment," he said.

Mr Yerima added that troops recovered another eight AK47 rifles with four magazines, among other items.

According to him, the gallant troops are presently dominating the area with aggressive patrols and are equally on a trail of fleeing terrorists to locate and neutralise them.

"The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru appreciated the gallantry and dexterity of the troops.

"He urged them to remain dogged and maintain their offensive posture in all operations until the area is rid of all remnants of terrorists.

"He equally appreciated members of the public for their continuous support to the troops and enjoined them to continue to provide credible information to the troops and other security agencies operating within their localities.
NetMotion's success over the past 20 years has been built on our teams obsession to innovate, adapt and modernize our solutions to meet the growing connectivity and security challenges faced by organizations everywhere, said Christopher Kenessey, CEO and President of NetMotion.

NetMotion, a provider of security solutions for the worlds growing mobile and distributed workforces, is today celebrating its 20th anniversary with a renewed commitment to improving the lives of remote and agile workers everywhere. Since its inception in 2001, Seattle-based NetMotion has been at the forefront of what is now known as the secure access industry, empowering organizations through technology to help workers outside of the corporate walls stay productive, secure and connected, wherever they are and on whatever network they are using. Today, well over one million workers and 3,000 plus organizations across more than 50 countries rely on NetMotions enterprise VPN, zero trust network access (ZTNA or SDP) and experience monitoring solutions.

Twenty years ago, when Wi-Fi was in its infancy and cellular networks were far slower than they are today, NetMotion entered the mobility market with a vision for how to better support the dynamic remote access needs of increasingly connected organizations. Fast forward to today and NetMotion boasts an annual customer retention rate that exceeds the global industry average by more than 50%, maintains a top one percent Net Promoter Score of 91, and enjoys longstanding partnerships with many major international transport and logistics companies, 85% of all U.S. first responder agencies and a rapidly-growing number of knowledge worker firms.

Other key milestones include:



In 2004, NetMotion launched the industrys first-ever built-for-mobile VPN

By 2011, NetMotion was ranked in Deloittes nationwide Technology Fast 500, highlighting the company as one of the most disruptive companies in the tech industry.

In 2014, the company opened its European headquarters in the UK.

In 2016, NetMotions Tokyo office opened to cater to the Japanese market.

That same year, NetMotion was acquired by Carlyle Group to support further development of next-generation mobile performance management solutions with global scale.

In 2018 NetMotion expanded further into the APAC region with an office in Australia.

NetMotion's success over the past 20 years has been built on our teams obsession to innovate, adapt and modernize our solutions to meet the growing connectivity and security challenges faced by organizations everywhere, said Christopher Kenessey, CEO and President of NetMotion. When I first joined NetMotion five years ago, I knew I would be entering a company with a strong culture and technical pedigree. But what I found was so much more. Im so grateful to our employees for their absolute commitment to excellence and world-class customer service, and so incredibly honored to work alongside this talented and driven team on a daily basis.

NETMOTION NOW AND IN THE FUTURE

The mobile workforce began to expand even before the pandemic prompted unprecedented remote work. To meet the demands of organizations increasingly employing a hybrid workforce, NetMotion is continuing to pioneer solutions that ensure secure and optimized network connectivity experiences. Last year, NetMotion publicly launched its software-defined perimeter (SDP) solution to support zero trust network access (ZTNA). Then, in November 2020, NetMotion announced updates to its digital experience monitoring solution amid research that showed half of IT departments in the United States and United Kingdom are considering investments in the technology. And in December, NetMotion unveiled its SASE platform as a cloud offering available globally via Microsoft Azure.

NetMotion will also continue to prioritize international expansion in the years to come, reinforcing its global footprint in strongholds such as Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom, while continuing to deepen its roots in Asia-Pacific and Africa. The company will continue to invest heavily in supporting industries increasingly moving to a hybrid working environment, including legal, government, healthcare and finance, among others.

To learn more about NetMotion, visit netmotionsoftware.com and follow the brand on social media @NetMotion.

About NetMotion Software

NetMotion provides security solutions for millions of devices deployed around the world, including 7 of the 10 largest airlines, 85% of US public safety agencies, and a variety of other major organizations ranging from utilities and healthcare to logistics and legal sectors. Customers choose the NetMotion platform for its powerful software-defined perimeter (SDP / ZTNA), experience monitoring and mobile-first enterprise VPN functionality. These solutions stand out for their ability to actively improve the employee experience, validated by a satisfaction rating of 97% and an NPS of 91. NetMotion is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Victoria, Chicago, London, Tokyo, Sydney and Frankfurt.
STMicroelectronics and OQmented to Jointly Develop, Manufacture,

and Market Advanced MEMS Mirror-Based Laser-Beam Scanning Solutions



Agreement focuses on increasing development and capacity

for ultra-compact, low-power laser-beam scanners to expand the market

Geneva, Switzerland; and Itzehoe, Germany, March 29, 2021 -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, and OQmented, a deep-tech startup focused on MEMS1-mirror technology, have agreed to collaborate on the advancement of the technology for Augmented Reality and 3D-sensing markets. The joint effort aims to build on the expertise of both companies to advance the technology and products behind the leading MEMS-mirror-based laser-beam scanning (LBS) solutions in the market.

ST, a world leader in the design, manufacture, and sales of a broad portfolio of MEMS sensors, actuators, and related components including drivers, controllers, and laser-diode drivers, is contributing its vast MEMS design and manufacturing resources to the collaboration.

To this foundation, OQmented, is moving to further industrialize and mass produce its Bubble MEMS technology, a patented 3D glass-encapsulation approach to hermetic vacuum sealing of the MEMS micro-mirrors. Sealing with these unique glass bubbles eliminates environmental contaminants and minimizes light-refraction effects. In fact, vacuum sealing is a key element for meeting automotive-grade requirements, while simultaneously reducing power consumption by an order of magnitude and enhancing performance for resonant, bi-axial scanners, where the MEMS mirrors move in both axes at their resonant frequency, creating an ultra-compact and extremely power-efficient scanning solution. These resonant mirrors are well suited for display and 3D-sensing applications in mobile devices.

In teaming with ST, weve chosen a solid semiconductor partner that has demonstrated its leading position in design and manufacturing of MEMS products, particularly MEMS mirrors, over the past 20 years, said Dr. Ulrich Hofmann, CEO/CTO and co-founder, OQmented. Combining STs expertise in developing, marketing, and manufacturing key components for laser-beam scanning solutions with OQmenteds knowledge and intellectual property will contribute greatly to our product offering, manufacturing capacity, and marketing channels, while also expanding the market in numerous application areas.

Story continues

Our goal in working with OQmented is to leverage our shared expertise and deep understanding of LBS technologies with the mutual vision to continue the adoption and growth of LBS in key applications, such as Augmented Reality and 3D sensing, said Anton Hofmeister, Vice President and General Manager MEMS Microactuator Division, STMicroelectronics. This collaboration further strengthens STs position as a world leader in LBS solutions and expands its market outreach to additional opportunities through the Companys product portfolio of MEMS mirrors and associated components, including STs MEMS drivers, controllers, and Laser Diode Drivers.



From this joint effort, ST and OQmented plan to market a wide range of scanning solutions. These would include MEMS mirrors, MEMS drivers and controllers, and complete reference designs of laser-beam scanning engines for a range of applications. In addition, the companies intend to collaborate on an LBS roadmap and in the development of future technologies and products.

About STMicroelectronics





At ST, we are 46,000 creators and makers of semiconductor technologies mastering the semiconductor supply chain with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. An independent device manufacturer, we work with more than 100,000 customers and thousands of partners to design and build products, solutions, and ecosystems that address their challenges and opportunities, and the need to support a more sustainable world. Our technologies enable smarter mobility, more efficient power and energy management, and the wide-scale deployment of the Internet of Things and 5G technology. Further information can be found at www.st.com .

About OQmented

OQmented is a deep tech company developing and selling high performance MEMS mirrors

for ultra-compact LBS displays and best in class 3D sensing solutions for mobile and stationary

applications. The unique Lissajous scan pattern in combination with the patented vacuum

packaging Bubble MEMS technology and proprietary electronics and software enable new

product categories in consumer and various other industries. Further information can be found at oqmented.com .

For Press Information Contact:

Michael Markowitz

Director Technical Media Relations

STMicroelectronics

Tel: +1 781 591 0354

Email: michael.markowitz@st.com

Judith Woehl

Public Relations

OQmented

Email: media@oqmented.com

1 Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) leverage Silicons unique properties to combine tiny 3-dimensional mechanical structures and electrical circuits on a chip to sense and actuate activity.









Attachment





The South China Sea is enclosed by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, and Taiwan. It is a major oil trade route and its dominance would allow any country to hold the strings of the international oil trade. The US, in turn, launched military ships and aircrafts in the name of 'Freedom of Navigation'

To Chinas envoy, the Philippine president expresses concern about Chinese vessels. In the South China Sea, Vietnam is urging Beijing to honor its maritime supremacy. More than 200 people have been identified as swarming and aggressive in the Philippines. Inside Manilas 200-mile exclusive economic zone, the vessels were moored at Whitsun Reef. We are highly worried, according to the president. Every nation will be worried about the number of ships, says one expert.

China has important building activity on an artificial island constructed on top of Subi Reef, according to satellite photos. The reef is also located within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone. The magnitude of the changes is important, and they could signal the start of major construction.

Satellite imagery shows land cleared for new Chinese construction on Subi Reef in South China Sea. @SCMPNews https://t.co/ViCPRZnync pic.twitter.com/oK6zZDZ8f6  AMTI (@AsiaMTI) March 25, 2021

On Friday, Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr asked on social media if the Chinese boats in the South China Sea were a fishing fleet or part of a dredging operation. In addition, foreign law specialist and retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio warned Filipinos to be very cautious of Chinese practices.

Also Read: China ups ante over Xinjiang row; low-cost Chinese drones now taking off

Im especially concerned that, as they did on Mischief Reef, theyll now start claiming and constructing on Julian Felipe Reef, he said. China began construction on a fishing shelter in Mischief Reef in 1995 in order to extend the facility and reclaim the land.

In the South China Sea, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, and Vietnam all have conflicting territorial claims. Chinas notorious nine-dash thread, says almost the entire shore. In 2016, the Philippines won a historic arbitration case that explained its territorial rights in the face of conflicting Chinese claims.

The Philippines president is in an uncomfortable position as a result of Chinas maritime assertiveness. A call for comment on Dutertes meeting was not returned by Chinas embassy in Manila. The vessels at Whitsun Reef, it was confirmed on Wednesday, were fishing boats seeking shelter from rough seas. Vietnam claims that Chinese warships off the coast of Da Ba Dau infringed on its sovereignty. On Thursday, a Vietnamese coastguard vessel was spotted moored near the contested location.

Also Read: WB Assembly Elections 2021: Audio war erupts between BJP and TMC
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Former vice mayor of Shanghai indicted for bribery

Xinhua) 16:08, March 29, 2021

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Gong Dao'an, former vice mayor and police chief of Shanghai Municipality, has been indicted on a charge of taking bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said in a statement on Monday.

Gong was accused of taking advantage of his various former positions while working in Hubei Province and Shanghai to seek illegitimate profits for others, and illegally accepting vast sums of money and gifts in return.

Gong's case has been investigated by the National Supervisory Commission. Upon the designation of the SPP, a procuratorate in the city of Tangshan, Hebei Province, reviewed the case and filed it in the city's Intermediate People's Court, the statement added.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
Hyderabad, March 29 : Like last year, the Telangana government will procure paddy from farmers by setting up procurement centres in villages, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced on Monday.

With this, the state government has reversed its earlier decision not to set up procurement centres in villages this year.

The Chief Minister said in view of the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was decided to procure paddy during the summer season through 6,408 centres in the villages all over the state.

The decision was taken at a high-level review meeting he held with ministers and top officials of Agriculture, Marketing, and Civil Supplies Departments.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, instructed Principal Secretary, Finance, Ramakrishna Rao to make all arrangements to give a Rs 20,000 crore bank guarantee by Tuesday evening. He also asked Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to conduct an emergency videoconference with all the Collectors for the setting up of the procurement centres.

The CM asked Agriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy to be in Hyderabad and monitor the setting up of the procurement centres and procurement of the paddy. The minister and the Chief Secretary were asked to take all precautions so that farmers were not put to any difficulty while the paddy is procured.

The procurement centres will comprise 2,131 Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) centres, 3,964 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS) centres and 313 others.

In December, the government had said that it will not be able to set up procurement centres in villages. It said the procurement was taken up during the pandemic on a humanitarian consideration that farmers should not suffer losses.

"It is not possible to do the same thing every time. The government is not a business organisation or trader. It is not a rice miller or a dal miller. Sale and purchase is not the responsibility of the government. It is not possible to set up purchase centre in the village from next year onwards," the officials had said.

They had also noted that the new farm laws being implemented in the country allowed the farmers to sell their crop anywhere and hence, the state government need not set a purchasing centres in the villages.

On Monday, KCR asked officials to ensure that Minimum Support Price (MSP) conditions are implemented during the procurement. He wanted the farmers to ensure that the paddy they are bringing in to the centres should have not more than 17 per cent moisture. The farmers should ensure that the moisture percentage is less and they should follow conditions of the MSP. The CM instructed the officials to keep the 20 crore gunny bags ready at the procurement centres.

The CM said in this summer season, paddy is cultivated in 52.76 lakh acres, and it is expected that the yield would be 1.17 crore metric tonnes of the coarse variety paddy and 21 lakh metric tonnes of the fine variety paddy.

KCR noted that the cotton produced in Telangana state had a better price in the international market. Since the cotton produced in the state has better quality and has higher price as well as higher yield, in the coming monsoon season, the farmers should be ready to grow cotton in 75 to 80 lakh acres. In this regard, the CM asked Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Janardhan Reddy to make arrangements for the procurement of the seed. In a similar way, arrangements should also be made to cultivate red gram in 20 to 25 lakh acres in the State. The CM said if cotton and red gram crops were given water periodically, the yield would be more.

The CM instructed the Chief Secretary to identify lands to be given on lease to the Central Warehousing Corporation which are ready to construct additional warehouses to store the food grains.
Police were called to 15 Tremont St. after numerous calls of loud vehicles grouping up and revving their engines at this location. Police found nine people in souped up vehicles. They told each person of the problems citizens have been having here. They were all told to move on. The complainants told police that the people who have been revving their engines hang out on Reggie

White Boulevard at the First Horizon Pavilion.

* * *

While patrolling on Tremont Street, an officer saw several motorcycles sitting near the "Blue Rhino". Two of the motorcycles did not have registration displayed on the rear. While speaking with the riders, police discovered both motorcycles had been bought within 48 hours. Both owners had their titles on them and were able to show the purchase date.

* * *

A man on E. 11th Street told police a man brought him $88 worth of fake cash and told him that a vehicle was driving by this location when someone tossed the fraudulent cash out of the window. The fraudulent cash was turned into CPD Property Division.

* * *

A man told police he had parked his truck in the Finley Stadium parking lot and when he returned his catalytic converter ($400) was stolen. There is no suspect(s) description and the man did not want to press charges.

* * *

A man staying at the Westin hotel on Pine Street said he left his vehicle parked there while he stayed overnight. The next morning he discovered some damage on the vehicle. He said there was a hole in the lower part of the front bumper around the fog lights on the passenger side. He said no estimate has been done yet, but he guesses possibly around $2,000 to fix it.

* * *

A man said that he works at Hawker PowerSource and he last knew everything was okay with his vehicle when he left home in it to go to work. He then drove the vehicle to other locations that day, including Publix, Walmart, etc. After leaving work around 4:15 p.m. that day, the vehicle's dash lights came on. He then discovered that the grill/emblem had been broken at the front of the vehicle and an electrical pigtail assembly had been damaged too, which was behind the front grill. He has not had an estimate done, but he guesses around $1,200 to fix it.

* * *

The service manager of Edd Kirby's at 400 W. MLK Blvd. told police that 12 of the 2021 Mitsubishi Outlanders had their catalytic converters cut out sometime over the weekend. The officer said it was apparent the catalytic converters were taken using some type of saw. The total loss is $24,000.

* * *

A man on E. Main Street told police that someone damaged the rear passenger door and tailgate on his company vehicle. He said it was a dent and he was able to get an estimated value of $5,271 to get it fixed.

* * *

A woman told police that an illegal charge for $684.84 was made online at WixWix.com on her First Bank debit card account. She said she has not lost her card, so someone must have used the card number. She has no idea who did this and her card has been cancelled.

* * *

An employee at the MAPCO, 6200 Lee Hwy., told police that they found two devices on their fuel pumps. She said a maintenance man found devices on pumps 7 and 8 and removed them. She said they were probably placed on the machines over the weekend and that no camera captured the incident.

* * *

A woman said someone stole $89 from the cash register at Waffle House, 7705 Lee Hwy. She said she believes an employee at the restaurant stole it. She has no evidence at this time, however. She said she is still reviewing the camera footage to find out who did it.

* * *

A man told police that he was loading his van and it was parked in front of his residence on Colville Street. When he came in to get more stuff to load, someone stole a Pelican case which contained numerous audio items. He said he would be able to locate the serial numbers for some items listed.

* * *

A man was reported unconscious in a white Honda Pilot at Bonny Oaks Drive and Jersey Pike. A woman called police after she was behind the Honda Pilot at the light and it was not moving. She said she got out and checked on the driver. She knocked on the window. After that, he did not wake up and then she opened the door and he woke up. She said he began talking with her and told her that he just fell asleep. They then pulled into the parking lot of a gas station and waited for police. The driver of the Honda Pilot said he was just tired and fell asleep. Police spoke with him, looked around in his car and decided that the man was telling the truth about just being tired and falling asleep. He was cleared by medical personnel and was allowed to leave the scene on his own accord.
Unaccompanied minors sleep side by side on the floor at a temporary processing facility in Donna, Texas, on March 23, 2021. (CBP)

Biden Administration Seeks Federal Volunteers to Help at Border

The Biden administration is asking federal government employees to volunteer for up to 120 days to assist border officials with the surge of unaccompanied minors who have crossed the U.S. southern border illegally.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent a memo on March 25 to the heads of executive departments and agencies seeking temporary assistance to bolster staff resources at the border. This comes as a significant influx of illegal immigrants in recent weeks, in particular unaccompanied minors, have overwhelmed border facilities and resources.

While single adults and some families are being expelled at the border, the administration is still accepting unaccompanied minors who arrive illegally, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week.

As of March 25, more than 18,000 unaccompanied migrant children were in the custody of either Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to the HHS Administration for Children and Families.

The OPM request is looking for volunteers who could assist at facilities in southwest U.S. border areas such as Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio, and Fort Bliss, the memo states. The volunteers will make contact with migrant children and various government and nongovernment stakeholders, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), American Red Cross, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Travel and lodging will be provided to volunteers.

We are actively working to screen, process, and deploy these volunteers while continuing our recruitment efforts and exploration of other avenues to bolster staff resources at the border, an OPM spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

The Biden-Harris Administration will use all available resources to ensure that unaccompanied migrant children (UC) are safe and unified with family members or other suitable sponsors as quickly and safely as possible.

The volunteer applicants will go through child checks to ensure their suitability for the role.

Recent photos of the detention facilities provided by CBP, lawmakers, and nonprofits show children sleeping in crowded conditions on floor mats, and in some cases on the floor. Other photos show very young children sleeping on mats or playing in a playpen.

A Border Patrol agent who spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity described the conditions as being unhygienic and conducive to diseases, including COVID-19.

Any diseases that are in there, its being kept in there like a petri dish. The smell is overwhelming, the agent said, describing the conditions in a facility in south Texas.

Similarly, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have also expressed concern about the administrations handling of the situation.

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose congressional district lies along the southern border, shared a new batch of photos of the harrowing situation at the border.

Border Patrol does not want to keep people there longer than 72 hours, Cuellar told CBS News on March 28. But theres two issues, two factors coming into play. One, there are so manytheres a large number of people coming across every single day, groups of over 100 individuals coming into Border Patrol custody. Number two, the flow-through, that is through [Health and Human Services], theyre moving and theyre trying to get more shelters open.

Meanwhile, Republican senators who visited the border on March 26 called the situation a heartbreaking humanitarian crisis that was preventable.

All of us today witnessed the Biden cages. What is occurring here on the border is heartbreaking and it is a tragedy, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told reporters.

President Joe Biden, who vowed to reverse his predecessors immigration policies during his campaign, 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. Asylum seekers are able to apply for refuge in the United States from their country of origin.

Upon taking office, Biden reversed several Trump-era immigration policies, including his predecessors cornerstone Migrant Protection Protocol, which effectively ended the problematic catch and release policy, significantly stemming the surge of illegal immigrants that were seen at the southern border in 2019.

In a return to the Obama-era policies that facilitate catch-and-release, the Biden administration is again releasing unaccompanied minors into the country.

The president on March 24 delegated the main responsibility of attempting to address the border crisis to Vice President Kamala Harris, saying shes the most qualified person to handle the situation.
Researchers in Canada have discovered two novel variants in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) gene sequences collected from mink in the United States.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has now claimed the lives of more than 2.78 million people globally.

The team identified a two-mutation (N501T-G142D) variant and a three-mutation (N501T-G142D-F486L) variant in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein  the main structure the virus uses to bind to and infect cells.

The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike attaches to the host cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to enable viral fusion and cell entry.

The two variants were not found in mink-derived SARS-CoV-2 gene sequences collected in any other countries.

Hugh Cai from the University of Guelph in Ontario and Allison Cai from the University of British Colombia say the findings suggest that the variants evolved during human infection before they spread to mink populations.

The team says it is vital to monitor the emerging new variants to determine their impact on human and animal health.

A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the medRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review.

Study: SARS-CoV-2 spike protein gene variants with N501T and G142D mutation dominated infections in minks in the US. Image Credit: Gallinago_media / Shutterstock

The virus has rapidly evolved mutations in the spike protein

Since the first SARS-CoV-2 sequence was isolated from samples collected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the virus has rapidly evolved spike protein mutations that have increased its transmissibility and virulence.

As of 17th March 2021, 22% of SARS-CoV-2 genomes within the GISAID (Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data) database contained the N501Y mutation. This variant has been identified in the spike protein of the more transmissible and potentially more virulent lineages that recently emerged in the UK (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (B.1.525).

In Denmark, large numbers of mink were also found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 containing the spike mutation Y453F, which triggered concerns that this variant could be spread from animals to humans.

Emerging timeline of human-derived (above the timeline) and mink-derived (below the timeline) SARS-CoV-2 spike protein N501T-G142D and N501T-G142D-F486L variants in the US. Timeline scale is not in proportion.

What did the researchers do?

The researchers set out to determine the genetic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein sequences collected from mink in the United States and Canada.

The team analyzed all animal-derived SARS-CoV-2 sequences (977), all sequences collected in Canada (19,529), and all sequences collected in the United States (173,277) that were deposited in GISAID between December 2019 and 12th March 2021.

The SARS-CoV-2 isolate Wuhan-Hu-1 collected on 19th December 2019 was used as a reference for mutation analysis.

The BLAST function of the bioinformatics software Geneious was used to determine the incidence of any novel mutations locally and globally.

What did the analysis reveal?

Neither the N501Y mutation shared by the UK, South African, and Brazil variants nor the Y453F mutation identified among mink in Denmark was present in any of the US and Canadian mink-derived SARS-CoV-2 sequences.

However, the team identified two dominant novel variants in spike protein sequences collected from mink in the US  the double mutation N501T-G142D and the triple mutation N501T-G142D-F486L.

The variants were not found in sequences collected from mink in Canada or any other country.

To determine the origin of the novel variants, the researchers analyzed all human-derived SARS-CoV-2 sequences collected from the US and Canada.

This revealed that the N501T mutation (without G142D or F486L) was present in US human-derived sequences collected as early as August 2020  two months prior to when the mink-derived sequences were collected (October 2020).

The team also says both the N501T-G142D and N501T-G142D-F486L variants were identified in the human-derived sequences before they were identified in the mink-derived sequences.

What are the implications of the study?

The results of this study indicate that the novel variants may have evolved during human infection and then been transmitted to mink populations in the US, writes the team.

The researchers say the occurrence of these new variants in the mink population warrants further study to establish how they may have affected spikes interaction with ACE2 and, therefore, viral transmissibility, virulence, and immunogenicity in humans and mink.

It is important to monitor the emerging new variants and determine their impact on human and animal health, they conclude.

*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.
Embracing peace and friendship through Beethoven

By:Wu Qiong,Wang Jiaye,Jiang Meiqing | 2021-03-29 09:46

Together with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, renowned pianist Lang Lang and conductor Tang Muhai presented a stunning concert on March 26, connecting Chinese and foreign hearts with music.

The concert was held in celebration of Ludwig van Beethovens 250th birthday at the Nine Trees Future Art Center in Fengxian District in south Shanghai. A relay concert of piano masters from the world was also kicked off the same day.

Nearly 100 people from 22 countries attended the event.

In China, Ludwig van Beethovens melodies are known to almost every household. In Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata, we taste the sweet and sour of love; from Destiny Symphony, we gain the power to survive and move forward; and Ode to Joy is the ultimate tribute to unity and the brotherhood of mankind, said Sha Hailin, president of the SPAFFC (Shanghai Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries). At this special moment when we are fighting against the COVID-19 virus, only through unity and cooperation can we solve the worlds problems and finally defeat the pandemic. Let us embrace peace in the melody, connect truth, goodness and beauty through Beethovens music, and warm our earth with beautiful notes in the human spirit of music without borders.

The melody that represents the European Union comes from the Ninth Symphony composed in 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven, when Beethoven set the music to Ode to Joy, said Israel Saraiva, Consul General of Portugal in Shanghai. On January 1, Portugal took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, until June 30. During such challenging times, a global challenge requires global action. Israel Saraiva believes that only together can we move forward on this path of hope, trust and credibility.

According to Christine D. Althauser, Consul General of Germany in Shanghai, activities commemorating the 250th anniversary of Beethovens birth were mostly cancelled in many countries and a part of them moved online. She said it was a great pleasure to be able to meet here in Shanghai and listen to the master musicians playing Beethovens works. At the moment when it is difficult for the orchestra and musicians to travel abroad, this concert is also needed by both Germany and China from the perspective of cultural exchanges.

The concert was officially launched after a wonderful performance of Beethovens Symphony No. 5 by six musically-talented children. In the beautiful theater, audiences enjoyed Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 and Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 by Lang Lang and Tang Muhai, members of the Nine Trees Committee of Arts Masters, along with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.

When asked about their favorite Beethoven pieces, Rosie Hawes and Alex Roberts from the UK replied with the same answer: Symphony No. 7. According to Rosie, chair of the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai, the strong sounds make her heart feel full, and give her a lot of imagination. Its a good sound to listen to when you want energy.

For Alex, a British lawyer who has been living in Shanghai for nine years and has married a Shanghainese wife, Mandarin is not difficult to understand. But in his eyes, one doesnt need to have understanding of the language of words to appreciate the music and the sound.

(Sha Hailin with Marshall Strabala)

Theater is one of the hardest buildings for architects to design, said Marshall Strabala, the designer of the citys landmark Shanghai Tower, noting that the audience is very close to the stage in this concert hall with a steep slope and well-arranged seats. The live show tonight was terrific and its very nice to start a wonderful year with the concert, he added.

(Sha Hailin with Noyan Rona)

I am very happy to have the opportunity to watch Lang Lang's live performance! said Noyan Rona, a Shanghai Honorary Citizen from Turkey. With spectacular skills and an unhurried demeanor, Lang Langs piano performance with the symphony orchestra shows a different facet of Beethovens style. It is also a different feeling for Noyan to enjoy the show in an art center nestled deep in a forest preserve. He looks forward to seeing more supporting facilities around the art center to make the place more attractive to urban residents and tourists.

(Zhang Xiaosong, director general of Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and executive vice president of SPAFFC, with Consul General of Serbia in Shanghai, Dejan Marinkovic)

After the concert, Mariana Usach Franck, executive director of the Chile Chamber of Commerce in China was still excited. I had goose bumps. I felt my heart all the time pumping like crazy. We are so lucky to be able to have this cultural event, especially when the world is all closed, said Mariana emotionally. She and her husband have been in Shanghai for more than one year. We love everything in Shanghai. The people here are very friendly and kind," she said, adding that she is working with the Chilean Consulate General in Shanghai to build stronger cultural bonds between Chile and China, which includes translating the poems of Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poetess Gabriela Mistral into Chinese.

(Mariana Usach Franck [4th from right] poses for a photo with friends)

Imbued with the melody of Beethovens masterpieces, the event was not only a music gala event, but also an excellent stage for the exchange of Chinese and Western music, enhancing the friendship between peoples of all countries. The piano masters, as friendship ambassadors for people to people diplomacy, will pass on emotions and build friendship through music.

The event was guided by the Shanghai Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Fengxian District Peoples Government.





Story by Wu Qiong & Wang Jiaye



Video by Jiang Meiqing

Photographer: Pan Jiandong

Some photos provided by Fengxian Integrated Media Center and interviewees




I love the phrase, Build it and they will come. Its ambitious but also practical; we can make a place better for people to work and play but only if we build in the first place. The key point is really the order. First you build, then they come. The thing to build is all the infrastructure needed to support a decent standard of living, not just the houses. Then they will come to a place they can enjoy.

In the case of the electorate I represent  Kaipara ki Mahurangi, stretching across Aucklands rural north and west  its been the case far too often that we encourage people to come here without having built properly beforehand. Thats as true in the rural north  think Warkworth and surrounding areas and the choke point that is the infamous Hill Street intersection  as it is in suburban west Auckland, where commuters crawl daily from intersection to intersection across State Highway 16.

Ive been contacting Government ministers and various officials about the solutions needed in these places consistently over the past three years. I believe its important to offer solutions, having pointed out problems, whenever asking for more. To that end, Ive published Penks Plan on my social media accounts for a couple of different geographical areas and will be expanding the map soon.

The traditional view about what needs to support people in housing still holds true. There are three key elements  transport links, safe and sanitary water systems, and social infrastructure such as schools, healthcare providers and community spaces to meet and play and, where appropriate, places to work too. I would add that planning in the 2020s should also include reliable, fast internet connectivity to round out the basics.

Its really the difference between houses and housing. Its easy enough to simply build houses, but the whole package to support reasonable living standards  the whole housing picture  needs much more thought and, dare I say it, political will. Ill keep pushing along those lines. Wish me luck!

Chris Penk, MP for Kaipara ki Mahurangi

chris.penkmp@parliament.govt.nz
The closure of the Suez Canal led to a moderate price rally last week, which came after a significant decline in oil prices triggered by new and stringent lockdowns in Europe. The impact of the Suez Canal crisis on oil markets has been marginal due to a number of factors including (1) slowing demand especially in the EU, (2) relatively high inventory figures, and (3) the low volumes of crude oil passing through the canal (less than 5% of global supply).

Now the shipping channel has been unblocked again, the markets have priced in a short delay as more than 400 ships remain stuck, waiting to pass the waterway. The total amount of damage remains to be seen, but we expect oil tankers not to change their shipping routes as this is likely to increase costs and risks.

The incident, on the other hand, may lead to increased investment in the capacity expansion of the SUMED pipeline, which currently stands at around 2.5 million bpd, running from the Ain Sokhna terminal in the Suez Gulf to offshore Sidi Kerir in Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea.

OPEC+ is expected to extend current cuts through May

OPEC+ is scheduled to hold a meeting this week to decide on its production policy in May. While multiple factors may impact the group's decision, the markets already priced in an expected rollover of current cuts through May.

Platts data for February 2021 concluded that current global oil demand stands at around 92 million bpd while global supply lingers around 91 million barrels per day, of which some 25.7 million barrels are produced by OPEC.

Related: Iran And China Strengthen Oil Ties With 25-Year Strategic Deal



Given the uncertainty about the global demand recovery, OPEC+ is expected to continue to roll over its current cuts through May. Yet, if OPEC+ decides to roll over current cuts, the question remains whether Russia, and perhaps Kazakhstan will continue to be allowed to increase production to pre-agreed levels, given the expected rise in demand in May.

Russia is set to increase its production by 125,000 bpd in April from 9.18 million bpd in February. The group is also expected to emphasize compliance levels especially for countries that failed to meet their output quota in recent months such as Iraq and Nigeria.

OPEC compliance for March is expected to exceed 100% supported by the voluntary Saudi cuts. We expect Saudi Arabia to sustain its 1 million bpd voluntary cuts in May, which is likely to keep crude prices steady during this period of uncertainty about crude demand and a new wave of COVID infections. Based on that, CMarkits expects Brent prices to trade around $60-$63 in April, assuming the resumption of shipping through the Suez Canal and continued lockdown measures in Europe throughout April.

US shale oil producers arent rushing to boost oil production despite the rise in WTI prices. Production only rose by some 100,000 bpd w/w to stand at 11 million bpd, while the number of oil increased to 324, from 309 rigs a month ago. Yet, sustained high prices could ultimately lead to a moderate rise of between 500,000 and 1 million bpd. Drillers may see themselves incentivized by not just higher crude prices, but also lower costs to service debt. Related: Russia Aims To Raise Production, Backs OPEC+ Cut Rollover

US oil stocks rebounding and diesel consumption falling

US oil demand has slowed down somewhat last month, which is reflected by increasing crude inventory levels and declining diesel demand. Crude stocks have risen during the last 4 weeks, in part due to the lasting effects of the Texas Freeze. U.S. oil inventories stand at 502.7 million barrels, 46.4 million barrels above their level a year ago. These figures are expected to be a point on the agenda during the OPEC+ meeting, as they offset the groups efforts in 2020 to bring inventories down to average levels.

U.S. oil refineries are almost back to their processing levels prior to the cold blast, at 14.39 million bpd, yet they continue to process 1.45 million bpd below their pre-pandemic levels. Currently, demand for petroleum products stands at 18.70 million bpd, around 718,000 bpd below its level before the pandemic.

By Yousef Alshammari for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
On Thursday, March 25, 2021, members of the House of Representatives took an action against one of their colleagues, Representative Yekeh Kolubah of Montserrado district number ten to correct what they termed correct his mistakes.

The body suspended for the period of three and a half months (30 meeting days).

His suspension is in keeping with rule 48.7 of that body which states that, "The House may, according to the circumstances and degree of the breach, take the following measures: a) it may give an oral warning, b) it may give a written warning; c) it may suspend a member for not more than 30 days of the meeting, stop the payment of salary and allowances due him/her for the days of suspension, as the case may be; and d) it may expel a member from the House where the breach is very serious or where it is committed repeatedly."

In keeping with their rules, a member of that body in person of Montserrado County District five lawmaker, Thomas Fallah wrote the plenary of the House of Representatives in which he said the constant act of insulting the President, is something that denigrates the "Honorable House."

Rep. Fallah furthered that Rep. Kolubah's continually insulting the Presidency and his 'reckless and insulting comments' are not only shameful, but bring them (Lawmakers) into what he calls 'disrepute'.

He said Rep. Yekeh's recent outburst, calling "the President a 'dog' is unacceptable and needs to be reprimanded."

After Representative Fallah's complain was read and discussed, a member of the opposition block at the House of Representative raised a motion to suspend Rep. Kolubah

Rep. Edward Kafiah, of the People's Unification Party (PUP) in his motion argued that his colleague (Yekeh Kolubah) has been warned more than four times to desist from acting dishonorably and breaching the rules and procedures.

"I therefore, move that Rep. Kolubah be suspended in line with 48.7 (c) of the House rules" the motion was carried.

Although majority members of that body are from opposition and independent block but when the motion was raised and called for it to be tested, majority of his colleagues constituting the total of 24 voted for his suspension while seven voted against him.

His suspension comes a day after he was humiliated by his colleagues in which he was thrown out for improper dress code.

On Tuesday, March 24, 2021, representative Thomas Fallah raised an observation to the Speaker of that body that his colleague, Kolubah was not dressed responsibly seeking the speaker's intervention to have the lawmaker thrown out of session, a request that was granted by Speaker Bhofal Chambers.

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After a day, the same lawmaker(Fallah) wrote the plenary of that body to have his colleague (Kolubah) reprimanded; a request which was also granted by that body with a majority vote of 27.

Not many persons in the House of Representatives welcome the constant outburst of Kolubah.

Representatives Sam Kogar of PUP, Rosana Schaack (Independent), and Julie Wiah (Independent) who are all members of the opposition described the invectives and behavior of their colleague, Rep. Kolubah, as "dishonorable" something they said does not have space in this current days.

The suspended lawmaker declined to speak. When asked for a respond, he said; "I have nothing to say", but after few minutes he made an attempt and raised his hands to speak, but was rejected by the Speaker Chambers.

This suspension can only be changed only and when a motion for reconsideration from Montserrado County District number eight Rep. is filed and tested in his (Kolubah) favor.

Outside of a proper defense of the motion of reconsideration which is expected to be tested after that body's Easter break which ends on April 13, 2021.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
(Newser)  A member of the rock band Alabama Shakes was arrested last week and hit with child abuse charges, a year after pleading guilty to breaching a protective order from his ex-wife. The Limestone County Sheriffs Office in Alabama confirms to Rolling Stone that drummer Steven William Johnson was arrested Wednesday and hauled off to the local jail, with his bail set at $21,500. Per the AP, Johnson, 35, has been indicted on charges of willful torture, willful abuse, and cruelly beating or otherwise willfully maltreating a child under the age of 18. It's not clear who the child involved in the case is. There's been no comment as of yet from Johnson or the band. The drummer was arrested in September 2019 and charged with violating a protection from abuse order issued to his ex-wife after she accused him of harassing and threatening her.

story continues below

At the time, AL.com reported that Johnson's ex, whom he'd been married to for three and a half years before they divorced in 2018, noted in her protection order request that he'd broken into her residence, while court records show she also said he stalked her, choked her, and otherwise injured her. "He's mad because (we're) divorced and he's mentally unstable," she wrote in her request. Johnson pleaded guilty to the charges last March and received a suspended yearlong jail sentence, plus two years of probation. The Guardian notes that the Grammy-winning Alabama Shakes went on hiatus the same year as Johnson's divorce, with member Brittany Howard branching off to take on solo projects. In 2019, Howard told Pitchfork that writing with the group had become "torturous." Johnson is set to be arraigned on April 7. (Read more child abuse stories.)
[March 29, 2021] Grupo Climatempo and Somar Meteorologia merge to create the largest meteorology company in the Southern Hemisphere

Carlos Magno continues as Climatempo CEO and Marcos Massari, CEO of Somar, becomes member of Climatempo's board of directors SAO PAULO and BERGEN, Norway, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Climatempo, a StormGeo company and leader in meteorological services in Brazil, and Somar Meteorologia today signed a merger agreement in which Climatempo acquires 100% of the shares in Somar, and the Somar founders become shareholders in Climatempo. With operations in multiple industries including agriculture, energy, media, transport, mining, construction, retail and others, the union of the two companies makes Climatempo the leading player in providing data and solutions in Brazil and Latin America. Carlos Magno do Nascimento, founder and president of Grupo Climatempo, leads the company as Climatempo CEO, while Marcos Massari, CEO of Somar Meteorologia will be a member of the Board of Directors. According to Soeren Andersen, CEO of StormGeo, "The combination of Somar and Climatempo will enable us to serve our South American customers even better, offering a wider range of services and focused product development. Together, Climatempo and Somar will be the leading Brazilian provider of weather services for businesses and consumers, born and grown from Brazilian roots. At StormGeo, we're very excited about this transaction and welcome Somar, their founders and their employees on board." Marcos Massari, CEO of Somar Meteorologia said, "The merger of Somar and Climatempo adds immense value to the market. We will gain technical quality by adding our products, modeling and the experience of our teams. Somar brings more than 25 years of strong expertise in serving Agribusiness, Energy, Media and Environmental Monitoring. Together we will be stronger and more competitive to face the competition of the big international players, and thus conquer the Latin American market. With the merger, we will have the most complete portfolio in the market, to better meet the needs of our customers." Since 2019, Climatempo has been a part of StormGeo, a global lader in meteorological intelligence and decision support solutions. The addition of Somar will provide access to new products and systems to companies that require environmental information, including services and solutions focused on the renewable energy sector.



By combining forces, Climatempo and Somar will be uniquely positioned to provide innovative meteorological intelligence not only for Brazil, but for all of Latin America. StormGeo's global presence expands Climatempo's network and allows the company to better serve its national and international customers. "Our intentions in merging with Somar were aimed at significantly expanding our B2B business," said Carlos Magno, CEO of Climatempo. "We have great expertise in the areas of energy, agriculture and media, and the addition of Somar gives us momentum to move forward with these segments, while strengthening our environmental monitoring. In 2021, we plan to launch new solutions for alerts of environmental disasters and a decision support system for critical sectors."

Magno continued, "Climatempo plans the launch of a product that uses artificial intelligence to interpret, in real time, the impact of atmospheric variables. Retail will be the main beneficiary of these new technologies, both for the production and distribution of products, as well as in support of marketing initiatives." About Climatempo

With 30 years of solid market experience and providing quality meteorological advice to several industry sectors, Climatempo is synonymous with innovation. It was the first private company to offer customized analysis for various market sectors, newsletters for the media, 24-hour channel on the main pay-TV operators and consolidated digital positioning with website and applications, which together add up to 20 million users monthly. In 2015, it started to invest even more heavily in technology and innovation with the installation of LABS Climatempo in the Technological Park of Sao Jose dos Campos, in the interior of Sao Paulo. LABS works in the research and development of solutions for severe weather, renewable energies (wind and solar), hydrology, commercialization and generation of energy, inland navigation, oceanography and smart cities. Currently, Climatempo is the main meteorological consulting company in Brazil and has specialized services to serve more than 22 segments of the economy. The Group is chaired by meteorologist Carlos Magno, who, with more than 35 years of experience, was one of the pioneers of the profession in the country. About Somar

With 25 years' experience, Somar has the strength, security and credibility necessary for a company that acts with a view to the future, anticipating changes, reducing risks and generating results. Somar is always in partnership with its customers, understanding and anticipating needs, with flexibility to solve problems and offer the best solutions in meteorology. Recognized for the assertiveness of the information offered, its solutions are focused on excellence, competence and intelligence, so that, in fact, they are relevant to people. Somar is an innovative company and believes that anyone who thinks about the future is always one step ahead. Therefore, it seeks new solutions with technology, accessibility and creativity, to foster the evolution of the market. Somar Meteorologia is a Brazilian company that operates in the segment of meteorology, oceanography and the environment, offering consulting services, content generation and technology solutions. And so, to guarantee relevant information, forecasts and recommendations to the market and the city regarding the impacts of the climate on business, life and the economy. About StormGeo

StormGeo is a global leader in meteorological intelligence services and decision support, with leading solutions in shipping, oil and gas, renewable energy, utilities, cross industry and aviation. Its products help customers manage risk, optimize performance, reduce costs and increase revenue. StormGeo operates 24 offices in 15 countries. As a participant in the UN Global Compact for Sustainable Business in the Oceans, StormGeo's passion for climate and the protection of natural resources is a motivation to support its customers in making environmentally responsible business decisions. The company is certified by ISO 9001 and is dedicated to providing the best possible support and quality of service. For more information, visit www.stormgeo.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1475660/StormGeo_Logo.jpg

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Dr. Robert C. Malenka is the Pritzker Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Nancy Pritzker Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University

NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. ("MindMed" or the "Company") (NEO: MMED), (OTCQB: MMEDF), (DE: MMQ), a leading psychedelic medicine biotech company, has announced the addition of Dr. Robert C. Malenka, an accomplished neuroscientist and psychiatry professor from Stanford University, to Chair the Company's Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Malenka is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine as well as an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He has served on the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse and as a Counselor for the Society for Neuroscience and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He is well known for his landmark contributions to understanding of brain plasticity mechanisms, and has extensive experience as an advisor to various pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

MindMed CEO J.R. Rahn said: "Dr. Malenka has tremendous knowledge and wisdom across several critical fields in which MindMed operates. We are honored to have him join MindMed as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. The entire MindMed team is elated to learn and receive guidance from an industry veteran who has guided several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies throughout their growth and development. As the MindMed team progresses toward achieving MindMed's goal of providing innovative new potential treatments to the mental health and addiction patient populations, we look forward to Dr. Malenka's input and guidance."

Dr. Robert Malenka added: "I am very excited to join the MindMed team and to help bring creative, sophisticated and rigorous scientific approaches to advancing MindMed's mission of developing new, more efficacious treatments to potentially improve the mental health of the large segments of the population in need. There are incredible opportunities to leverage the use of previously demonized drugs as therapies and combine them with other treatment modalities to potentially achieve more rapid, more effective and longer-lasting reductions in symptoms that often destroy lives and families. New approaches for improving mental health are desperately needed, and I look forward to working with MindMed on such approaches."

MindMed's Scientific Advisory Board is composed of a diverse group of members with expertise in psychiatry, neuroscience, and clinical development. Such Board leverages decades of deep knowledge in biotechnology and psychiatry to help guide MindMed's development programs. Members represent institutions such as Johns Hopkins, NYU Langone Health, Duke University, NIH, Stanford University, and Albany Medical College.

Dr. Robert C. Malenka Bio:

Dr. Robert C. Malenka is the Pritzker Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Nancy Pritzker Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. After graduating from Harvard College he received an M.D. and a Ph.D. in neuroscience in 1983 from Stanford University School of Medicine. Over the ensuing 6 years, he completed residency training in psychiatry at Stanford and 4 years of postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 1989, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Physiology at UCSF, at which he reached the rank of Full Professor in 1996. In addition to running an active research program at UCSF he was the Director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction and Associate Director of the Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry. He returned to the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1999. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine as well as an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He has served on the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse and as a Counselor for the Society for Neuroscience and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He is on the scientific advisory boards of numerous non-profit foundations and biotechnology companies. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including: the Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award (1993); the Daniel Efron Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacolgoy (1998); the Kemali Foundation International Prize in Neuroscience (2000); the CINP-Lilly Neuroscience Basic Research Award (2002), the Perl/UNC Neuroscience Prize (2006), the NARSAD Goldman-Rakic Prize for Outstanding Neuroscience Research (2010), the Pasarow Foundation Award for Extraordinary Accomplishment in Neuropsychiatry Research (2011), and the Society for Neuroscience Julius Axelrod Prize (2016). His laboratory continues to conduct research on the molecular mechanisms of neural plasticity as well as the role of circuit dysfunction in brain disorders including addiction, autism, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression.

About MindMed

MindMed is a psychedelic medicine biotech company that seeks to discover, develop and deploy psychedelic inspired medicines and therapies to address addiction and mental illness. The company is assembling a drug development pipeline of innovative treatments based on psychedelic substances including Psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT and an Ibogaine derivative, 18-MC. The MindMed executive team brings extensive biopharmaceutical experience to the company's groundbreaking approach to developing the next-generation of psychedelic inspired medicines and therapies.

MindMed trades on the Canadian exchange NEO under the symbol MMED . MindMed is also traded in the United States on the OTCQB under the symbol MMEDF , and in Germany under the symbol MMQ . For more information: www.mindmed.co

MindMed Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties relating to future events, results and the performance of MindMed, and actual events, results and the performance of MindMed may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Words such as "will," "may," "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "potential" and variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements related to the potential for psychedelic inspired medicines and therapies to achieve more rapid, more effective and longer-lasting reductions in symptoms in the mental health and addiction patient populations. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and those risks and uncertainties include, among others, MindMed's and its collaborators' ability to continue to conduct research and progress their preclinical, study and clinical trial programs; the nature, enrollment, timing, results and possible success and therapeutic applications of its products and product candidates and research and preclinical, study and clinical trial programs now underway or planned; and the likelihood, timing, and scope of possible regulatory approval and commercial launch of any product candidates and new indications for any products. Any forward-looking statements are made based on management's current beliefs and judgment, and MindMed does not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement.s Investors are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements and are encouraged to read MindMed's continuous disclosure documents, including, but not limited to, its current annual information form, as well as its audited annual consolidated financial statements which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mindmed.co


President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chairman of Nigerias Governors Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi, met in Aso Villa, Abuja, on Monday to discuss the challenges rocking the nation from the states to the federal level.

The two leaders discussed the solutions to security challenges such as incessant killings and kidnappings in the country.

Mr Fayemi, who is also the Ekiti State governor, spoke with journalists after the meeting. He said Mr Buhari agreed that there is need for more equipment for security operatives to combat insurgents.

The governor said even though Mr Buhari rarely talked about general challenges in the country, he has almost nitty gritty detail of whats going on in every state and yes, even more information than we do of these issues, as I discovered in my conversation with him.

So, hes clearly committed to doing more in terms of procurement of equipment, platforms for the military, particularly to support the new leadership thats just come on stream and also working with the states to find the best way of stemming the tide of our current insecurity challenges.

There are responsibilities that we have at our level in the states, there are also responsibilities that the federal government has to attend to. If we all do our parts, clearly, we believe that we will see the end of this challenge.

He said having changed the leadership of the security services, Nigerians should not expect an automatic transformation of the security situation, simply on account of change of leadership.

We were not that naive to think that would happen, however, precisely because theres been a change, you can see that there is also a concerted effort. Two or three days ago, all the service chiefs came together to issue a statement that we are accountable to our Chief of Defence Staff, thats a very significant position to take because we know what has been the source of inter service rivalry in our military, which then tends to affect performance on the field, where the air force does not communicate with the army and yet theyre supposed to be involved in the same war against insurgency.

One of the good news I came away with, from the President now on this issue is that hes already informed the National Assembly that they will be receiving a special request from him on procurement of equipment on an accelerated basis for our security services, because that was one of the issues that we put before him and he was very categorical that yes, we have a point, some of the equipment that had been procured are on the way, they havent arrived, but they will soon arrive.

There is also a need to buy more equipment and he is going into government-to-government partnership with a number of countries and that would necessitate an accelerated clearance from the National Assembly.

What Im saying in essence is theyve (service chiefs) been able to assess their situation on coming to that office and they made a very honest assessment of whats on ground, which is militating against their effective clearance of the insurgents and thats something that will happen.

Food security

Speaking threats to food security, he said the government would ensure that there is concrete action on the ground, dedicated to protecting them (farmers) in doing their business.

Thats why majority of our states are very focused on the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) that would at least confine those who want to graze their cattle to a dedicated space rather than roaming around and destroying crops, which then result in the kind of conflicts that weve had between farmers and herders.

Thats the primary way that we intend to reassure farmers, but pending the time that comes to fruition, on a state by state basis, we are all working hard by, in Ekiti for example, we have regular meetings between farmers and herders in the state to define the relationship and promote harmony between both sides, the representatives of the farmers, the ALFAN and the representatives of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, and that has been going reasonably well.

Thats a state, individual state response, we need a wider strategy to enable us to achieve food security because you are right. If we dont take concerted steps to address this, we are definitely going to end up with food shortage in the country, he said.

The governor said to achieve excellent results, poverty, inequalities and unemployment must be addressed.

There is a direct correlation, Ive said this to you before, between insurgency in the North-east, and what were seeing manifesting itself as banditry in the North-west, or kidnapping in the South-west. Some of the people involved in these are also the ones responsible for insurgency.

They are using the resources that they make from kidnapping for the activities that theyre conducting in the North-east. So we need to take a comprehensive look at all these things and not treat them in compartments. We must treat them as a comprehensive issue and then tackle them collectively, he said.

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Nigeria has been battling with insecurity in most parts of the country for years despite efforts by security agencies to curb the challenges.

After months of agitation by Nigerians that Mr Buhari change service chiefs, he recently did that but the security situation has remained challenging.
NOW IS OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE A NEW TRIBE OF NIGERIANS SAYS OSINBAJO AT TINUBUS 69TH BIRTHDAY COLLOQUIUM

REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE 12TH BOLA TINUBU COLLOQUIUM, KANO, ON THE 29TH OF MARCH, 2021

PROTOCOLS

May I join Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State and others to welcome you to the 12th Bola Tinubu colloquium. The colloquium has itself become an institution, an institution in honour of an institution Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

It was Barrister Ismaeel Ahmed at the 9th colloquium in Abuja, who said so insightfully and I quote there is perhaps no Nigerian leader who has been as instrumental in raising as many leaders as Asiwaju.

This explains why gathered here today is a serving Vice President, several governors, former governors, commissioners, and former commissioners, ministers, former ministers, local government functionaries, social agitators, top career journalists who can trace their careers and political trajectories to Asiwajus leadership. What is responsible for this phenomenon is Asiwajus leadership style, and it is an unusual one especially in developing democracies.

Central to that style is the following; first a belief that development, economic, social, political development depends on enabling a contest of ideas. Whether that is within a political party or its caucuses, a cabinet meeting or even just thinking through a problem.

By exposing his thoughts and ideas constantly to debate and contestation, he refines his views constantly and is at the cutting edge of issues as varied as artificial intelligence, vaccines, to even what sort of legal processes or arguments should be filed in a matter in court!

I remember once when he was suggesting to me that he thought it was better that we should contest jurisdiction in a particular case and so many other times when he had introduced his own legal thoughts to a matter. I have had to keep reminding him that he is not a lawyer! And I am sure others have had to remind him several times that he is not many different things.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, because he is not afraid of having his ideas scrutinized, criticized by even subordinates, he is able to lead a vast array of persons of strong, deeply held convictions, and a variety of ideologies.

The third in that leadership style is that he is completely comfortable engaging across ethnic, religious, and partisan divides.

It is his belief that national development is only possible where we, the leaders are constantly interrogating ideas, perspectives, and opinions which are what led some of us who worked with him through the years, to formalize our constant debates so that on his birthday we open up discussions on some issues or issues of national importance.

So, starting in 2009, the inaugural colloquium addressed the question of election integrity with the theme: Every Vote Must Count.

In 2010, our theme, similar to this years affirmed our belief in a united nation  This House Must Stand. Then, in 2011 we asked the question, Nigeria: Why isnt it working, how will it work?

2012 was an exercise in retrospection and prognosis, Looking Back, Thinking Ahead. The 5th Colloquium examined the driving philosophy behind the imminent political phenomenon at the time; the creation of a new political party by a merger of existing political parties and its implications, the theme Beyond Mergers: A National Movement for Change. Then came the Summit of the Common Man in 2014, chronicling the everyday challenges of citizens and proposals to remediate these concerns.

By 2015, the theme was Change: How will it work. In 2016, the focus was on the sector that contributes the highest to our Gross National Product- Agriculture. The theme was Agriculture: Action, Work, Revolution. The Spirit of Nigerian enterprise was on display in 2017 with the Make it in Nigeria theme.

In 2018, it was Investing in People to examine the shape and substance of Africas largest social investment programme, the National Social Investment Programme. 2019 addressed the question of employment and productivity under the rubric, Work for People.

Regrettably, 2020 was meant to be a showcase of innovative ideas in education but was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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We are here today to engage at another of those crucial points in our national journey. At a time when a combination of challenges worsened by the fallouts of a global pandemic has created a storm of socio-economic problems. The default mode of some at times like this is to stoke tendencies viewpoints and opinions that threaten the federation and our unity.

But the colloquium, as usual, bets as always on Nigeria and its creative and resilient people. Our theme, Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth focuses on peacebuilding and national cohesion. We intend to interrogate from a national and regional perspective innovative strategies for sustaining peace, and prosperity in a heterogenous society.

We believe that we now have an opportunity to increase the numbers of a new tribe of Nigerians; a tribe of men and women of all faiths, tribes and ethnicities committed to a country run on high values of integrity, hard work, justice, and love of country. A tribe of men and women who are prepared to make the sacrifices and self-constraints that are crucial to building a strong society; who are prepared to stick together, fight for equity, and justice side by side. A tribe consisting of professionals, businessmen, politicians, religious leaders, and all others who believe that this new Nigeria is possible and already we have built and are building the building blocks for this new Nigeria.

As I close, let me say how deeply indebted we are to His Excellency the Governor of Kano State, Governor Umar Ganduje. Only a few days ago, we were set to have a completely virtual colloquium with a hub in Lagos, the customary location of the colloquium, when Governor Ganduje graciously offered to host the physical aspect of the hybrid colloquium.

By this gesture, Governor Ganduje has helped us to tell two stories; this is the first time that the colloquium is being hosted outside Lagos and Abuja, the capital city. And it is befitting that Kano should be that place, this city of radical and progressive ideas and ideologies, a city whose leading political lights have been left of centre, which is the dominant tendency within our great party the APC.

Second, it helps us to underscore the point that this country and its people are stronger and more powerful together than apart. For the purveyors of breaking up into small components/countries, perhaps they should be reminded that we would not have been able to accept Governor Gandujes offer to come to Kano at short notice since we would all have needed visas to come to Kano.

Let me also thank our brothers, His Excellency, George Weah President of Liberia, and His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, former President of Sierra Leone who very kindly consented to participate and share their thoughts and experiences on the implications of conflict.

Asiwaju, may I, as I have done in the past 12 years, pray for you; the Lord God Almighty will help you, as your days so shall your strength, wisdom, and favour be with God in Jesus Name. Amen. God bless you.

God bless you all.

Thank you.

Released by:

Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity

Office of the Vice President
The normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has kick-started tourism and a number of significant business arrangements and investments in a remarkably short period of time. But the opportunity is there for so much more beyond the borders of just these two countries. This new relationship has the potential for using the combined economic know-how and innovative mindset to work together by implementing large-scale development projects in the majority Muslim post-Soviet countries in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. The benefits for both Israel and the UAE, as well as the potential for these countries, could be enormous. As The Jerusalem Post writes, as a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, six of the largely secular moderate Muslim states with a total population of 65 million people were created on the territory of Eurasia: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Over the past 30 years, each of these countries has followed its own development path, and their economies without exception rely on the foundations established in the last century. These economic models  dependent on extraction of natural resources, agriculture and some tourism  have done little to improve the overall financial stability and economic well-being of much of the population. There is growing recognition among these regional leaders that this old way is no longer sustainable and that the key to prosperity is innovation and rapid digitalization of all spheres of life. The Israeli-UAE consortium could become a partner in the implementation of a large-scale project for the digitalization of the region.The two countries have a say in the region. The UAE is not only a role model as a digital nation for Central Asia but also a traditional donor to the infrastructure and social projects in the region. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in road construction, energy, healthcare and social projects in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, recently launched its first educational program in Tajikistan for local youth. In Kazakhstan, with grants from the UAE, local women with many children are trained in sewing courses and receive equipment from donors to open their own small businesses.Israel, in turn, is recognized in the region as the Start-Up Nation. Israeli companies are implementing projects for the digital transformation of agriculture and green energy in Central Asia. The Kazakh sovereign fund has invested in Israeli start-ups.The region has already demonstrated its intention to become a part of the Israel-UAE Partnership. In January 2021, the Uzbek authorities announced that the country will invest $50 million in the Abraham Fund, established by the United States, the UAE and Israel as part of the Abraham Accords intending to bolster regional trade, enable strategic infrastructure projects and increase energy security.

HOWEVER, WE can offer the region much more. Together with the UAE, Israel can develop and implement a transition from a natural resource-based economy to a knowledge-driven economy.Initially, this could begin with what the countries in the region can easily undertake: the creation of Israel-UAE hi-tech parks. Local governments are already making the relevant efforts: Uzbekistan has developed advanced legislation in the field of blockchain technologies and has a state program The One Million Uzbek Coders. Kazakhstan has invested heavily in Astana Hub. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have become participants in the World Banks Digital CASA program, creating data centers and providing fast Internet access.But it is specifically the Israel-UAE consortium  possessing both the necessary expertise and finances  that is able to systematize these efforts and build an IT industry in the region that would be integrated into the global ecosystem.

There is a colossal intellectual potential of the youth in these countries. Educating hundreds of thousands of local young people, starting with basic coding, creating remote jobs for them in the global industry, can completely change the socioeconomic situation in the region. The experience of other post-Soviet countries, like Belarus and Ukraine, demonstrates that local IT industries create jobs with average wages exceeding $2,000. With average regional income of $300-$400, the new industry can create a new local middle class.Each IT job, according to the global statistics, creates an additional five jobs in non-related sectors: drivers, waiters, construction builders and more. Employment for millions can result from these investments. Importantly, this new employment model can prevent brain drain, encourage talented young people to see a future in their own country, and eventually create the formation of new elites in these countries, with rule of law and private property protection a natural part of their DNA.

The new digital economy of Central Asia and Azerbaijan will assist resolving the issues related to the inclusiveness of economic development. It will allow the residents of remote areas to find work, eliminate gender inequality, and contribute to the integration of ethnic minorities. And the sustainable, inclusive development of the region will prevent its possible Islamic radicalization and a reiteration of the worst consequences of the Arab Spring.

A targeted program of digitalization development in Central Asia and Azerbaijan in cooperation with international financial institutions like the World Bank and EBRD would conceivably yield significant returns for both the UAE and Israel. Perhaps even more importantly, it shows what these two important nations and this landmark relationship can mean for global stability.
It was a tense time in New Orleans.

A world away, U.S. troops were clashing in Korea. In New Mexico, atomic bomb tests promised a terrifying future. Closer to home, newspapers carried headlines like A-bomb attack might end city and Atomic bombing survival secrets vital during attack.

A story published in the Oct. 27, 1951, edition of The Times-Picayune encapsulated the Cold War fears of the local populace succinctly in its lead paragraph: In the event of an enemy bombing attack, the casualty rate in congested zones of New Orleans would run as high as 50 percent if suitable shelter is not provided.

And, so, rather than just wringing their hands, many New Orleanians did what civil defense officials recommended: They began digging.

Family fall-out shelters built to Civil Defense Specifications built on your lot as low as $1,195, read one Times-Picayune classified ad. (It went on to note that, even if the anticipated doomsday never came, the shelter would make a nifty photography darkroom, hurricane shelter or childrens playroom.)

George Palmer, a father of seven, was among those buying into the bomb-shelter craze of the time, installing an underground, concrete-reinforced bunker in the yard of his home at 5705 St. Charles Ave.

Ive done a lot of reading and stored a lot of statistics in my mind on the subject of the possibilities of an enemy attack, Palmer told a newspaper reporter in April 1955, and from the information Ive gathered, I am assuming that if there is such an attack, atomic bombs will be dropped on New Orleans.

William F. Gillen Sr. and his son showed off a similar shelter built in their yard at 6500 Franklin Ave. in the hopes of persuading others to enlist the services of their newly formed company, the A-B Shelter Co.

The most prominent local advocate of bomb-shelter-building, however, was Mayor Chep Morrison, who in 1949 pushed a plan to construct a three-level subterranean parking garage beneath Lafayette Square that would double as a city bomb shelter.

It was never built, although by 1960, the basement of the then-new City Hall on Loyola Avenue  previously home to the city archives  had been converted to a fallout shelter complete with electric generator, a dedicated well, a store of dehydrated food and enough cots to sleep 300 people at a time. Until those things were needed, it served as City Halls cafeteria.

It wasnt until after Morrison left office, however, that the city government finally got the bomb shelter he felt it deserved, in the form of a 15,700-square-foot civil defense shelter built beneath a grassy mound on the neutral ground of West End Boulevard.

Dedicated in late 1962  within just weeks of the Cuban missile crisis  it was designed by architect M. Wayne Stoffle and was intended to keep city government operational in the event of a nuclear attack. The total cost: $600,000, half paid by the city and half by the federal government.

The heart of the structure was built 14 feet below the surface, but in deference to the possibility of flooding, its entrance and the tops of its air intake and exhaust shafts were built nearly 15 feet above grade. Made of concrete and steel, and resting on 583 60-foot piles, the whole thing was covered with 4 feet of dirt, to provide further protection from potential nuclear fallout.

The outer wall is two feet thick, Orleans Parish Civil Defense Director Charles Erdmann told The Times-Picayune at the time. There are two circular inner walls which are one foot thick.

A staircase leads from the massive steel doorway at the entrance  designed to withstand a force of 14,400 pounds per square foot  and down to the main part of the structure, which consists of two levels. The upper level was to serve as living quarters big enough to house 200 to 300 people. The circle-shaped lower level was designed to serve as an operations base and boasted cubicles for a variety of city agencies as well as a robust collection of communications equipment.

An emergency well and two 150-kilowatt diesel generators were also incorporated, in the event city services were compromised.

As for the fear of water seeping into the underground facility, an official told the newspaper at the time that its 15-ton air-conditioning system generated more moisture than any amount of unintended seepage.

Its effectiveness as a fallout shelter was never tested, but it was occupied on a number of occasions.

In 1963, out-of-state marching bands were housed there during Carnival season. In 1965, city officials rode out Hurricane Betsy there. During the 1979 police strike, some 500 National Guardsmen from Bogalusa were headquartered there.

For a short time in 1986, around the time the city stopped using it with any regularity, Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Charles Foti housed 150 overflow female prison inmates there.

They werent the only ones to use it, though. In a 2003 interview with The Times-Picayune, Charles Erdmann Jr., the son of the citys former Civil Defense director, revealed that when his father went out of town, his mother  who knew where he kept his keys  would often pile the kids in the Oldsmobile for a sleepover inside the shelter.

Shed tell us, Your daddy will never know. Hes in Washington, Erdmann Jr. said. And I dont think he ever knew, because we cleaned things up real good.  We couldnt wait for him to go out of town.

In 2018, the old shelter was put on the Louisiana Landmarks Societys annual list of endangered New Orleans sites, but its still hanging on today, nestled behind a subdivision and screened by an overgrown copse of trees.

With no pumps to keep it dry, its filled with fetid water and all the slimy, slithery hazards that come with it  just waiting for somebody to drain it and turn it into a Cold War museum.

Thanks to reader Jimmie Paia for suggesting the civil defense shelter as a topic. Do you know of a New Orleans building worth profiling in this column, or just curious about one? Contact Mike Scott at moviegoermike@gmail.com.
[March 29, 2021] Bioasis Announces Publication of CNS Delivery of siRNA via xB  Platform Technology

NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIOASIS TECHNOLOGIES INC . (TSXV:BTI; OTCQB:BIOAF), (the Company or Bioasis), a pre-clinical, research-stage biopharmaceutical company developing its proprietary xB3  platform technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders in areas of high unmet medical need, including brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the publication of research validating the ability of the companys xB3  platform to efficiently deliver siRNA across the blood-brain barrier to the central nervous system in therapeutically relevant doses.

Scientists from Bioasis and Dr. Wilfred A. Jefferies evaluated Bioasis xB3  platform technology by investigating its application to siRNA brain delivery; this was followed by an efficacy study in an ischemic stroke model induced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. This research shows that the xB3  platform can act as a delivery vector to facilitate BBB translocation of siRNA; where the siRNA targeting NOX4, a gene thought to be responsible for oxidative stress in ischemic stroke, can elicit effective therapeutic knockdown of a gene in the CNS. The successful delivery was demonstrated by reduced stroke damage in the brain and improved neurological function. The research conducted by Eyford, et al., A Nanomule Peptide Carrier Delivers siRNA Across the Intact Blood-Brain Barrier to Attenuate Ischemic Stroke, was published in the Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. The data presented in this publication provide evidence for the utility of xB3  peptide (previously known as MTfpep) as a platform technology for delivery of recombinant and chemically conjugated drug across the BBB. This study demonstrates both siRNA-carrier delivery and therapeutic efficacy in CNS disease model where the BBB remains intact and thus offers new avenues for potential siRNA focused treatments in variety of neuropathologies that are currently refractory to existing therapies. Dr. Wilfred A. Jefferies, Professor at University of British Columbia, stated, This study demonstrates for the first time, the translocation of a small peptide, nanomule, across the intact blood brain barrier carrying a payload sufficient to modify a disease in thecentral nervous system, in this case an siRNA that ameliorates ischemic stroke. The implications of this discovery are wide ranging, and this platform may provide a general method to intervene in diseases of the brain."



The results from this research collaboration further validates the utility of our xB3  platform technology to achieve delivery of therapeutic compounds including siRNA across the BBB at levels that may help treat a variety of CNS diseases. This data is consistent with the previous studies where our technology successfully delivered antibodies and enzymes across the BBB with demonstrated efficacy in both the brain and the periphery in settings as diverse as brain cancers, neuropathic pain and lysosomal storage disorders said Dr. Deborah Rathjen, Executive Chair of the Board, Bioasis. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Bioasis Technologies Inc.

Deborah Rathjen, Ph.D.

Executive Chair of the Board

deborah@bioasis.us

+1.203.533.7082 Follow on:

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Twitter BTI-CRP About Bioasis Bioasis Technologies Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing the xB3  platform, a proprietary technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood brain barrier and the treatment of CNS disorders in areas of high unmet medical need, including brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. The delivery of therapeutics across the blood brain barrier represents the final frontier in treating neurological disorders. The in-house development programs at Bioasis are designed to develop symptomatic and disease-modifying treatments for brain-related diseases and disorders. For more information about the Company, please visit www.bioasis.us. Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 or forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation that may not be based on historical fact along with other statements containing the words believe, may, plan, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, expect and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, events or developments, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, events or developments express or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such factors include, among others, our stage of development, lack of any product revenues, additional capital requirements, risk associated with the completion of clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval to market our products, the ability to protect our intellectual property, dependence on collaborative partners and the prospects for negotiating additional corporate collaborations or licensing arrangements and their timing. Specifically, certain risks and uncertainties that could cause such actual events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from any future events or results expressed or implied by such statements and information include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties that: products that we develop may not succeed in preclinical or clinical trials, or future products in our targeted corporate objectives; our future operating results are uncertain and likely to fluctuate; we may not be able to raise additional capital; we may not be successful in establishing additional corporate collaborations or licensing arrangements; we may not be able to establish marketing and the costs of launching our products may be greater than anticipated; we have no experience in commercial manufacturing; we may face unknown risks related to intellectual property matters; we face increased competition from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; and other factors as described in detail in our filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements and information, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All forward-looking statements and information made herein are based on our current expectations and we undertake no obligation to revise or update such forward-looking statements and information to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law. 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.



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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 Security Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 202 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 202 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 Security Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-security-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Security Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Bellevue University

Boston University

Champlain College

Colorado State University, Global Campus

Columbus State University

Dakota State University

DePaul University

Drexel University

Eastern Illinois University

Excelsior College

George Mason University

George Washington University

Iowa State University

Jacksonville State University

Johns Hopkins University

La Salle University

Lewis University

Liberty University

Maryville University

Mercy College

New York University

Northeastern University

Nova Southeastern University

Oklahoma State University

Pennsylvania State University

Regis University

Robert Morris University

Saint Leo University

Sam Houston State University

Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia

Southern New Hampshire University

Southern Utah University

Stevenson University

Syracuse University

University of Arizona

University of California, Berkeley

University of Charleston

University of Colorado, Boulder

University of Dallas

University Of Delaware

University of Detroit Mercy

University of Detroit Mercy

University of Rhode Island

University Of San Diego

University Of Southern California

University of the Cumberlands

University of Washington, Bothell

Utica College

Virginia Tech

Western Governors 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/.
Scott will protect towns from Hartford

This letter is in support of Tony Scotts run for state representative of the 112th District to fill the seat recently vacated by JP Sredzinksi.

Tony Scott is determined to preserve our town and defend the rights of our town to make decisions of how we want to grow and develop Monroe. There is local control legislation in Hartford that Democrats have proposed wanting to take away locally elected planning and zoning officials decision making and having Hartford make decisions in Monroe/Newtown. This legislation includes mandates that would increase our population density by requiring housing options in Monroe that are not currently allowed, causing stress on our infrastructure, including the Monroe school system, which is already struggling with large class sizes and budget deficits.

Many residents of Monroe moved here for its New England charm and suburban-rural character. If Monroe loses the ability to control growth and development, the character of Monroe will change in a way that is not in alignment with its our goals and vision. Regionalizing education and creating a statewide property tax are initiatives that he does not support as those could change Monroe in ways that is yet to be understood. Tony Scott is willing and prepared to fight for solutions to our local zoning issues by advocating in Hartford while keeping the residents and future of Monroe and Newtown in mind.

Please help the Monroe Planning and Zoning Commission continue to improve & modify regulations that make Monroe a desirable town for developers, residents and businesses to live, raise families and conduct business by voting for Tony Scott in the special election on April 13.

Michael OReilly, P&Z Chairman

Bruno Maini, P&Z Vice Chairman

Ryan Condon, P&Z Secretary

Robert Westlund, P&Z Commissioner

Nicole Lupo, P&Z Alternate

Kapoor would serve district well

I didnt think Id be heading to the polls again so soon, but those of us in Connecticuts 112th Assembly District (both in Monroe and Sandy Hook) will be doing just that on April 13. As reported in the news, our representative, J.P. Sredzinski, abruptly resigned recently and, according to state law, Gov. Ned Lamont called for a special election to fill his vacant seat.

Whats really exciting is that Nick Kapoor, a lifelong Monroe resident, is running on the Democratic ticket. (J.D. Sredzinski, a Republican, ran unopposed for two election cycles and served for three.) Even more exciting is who Ned is. A current Monroe Board of Education member and Fairfield University mathematics professor with an MBA in finance, Ned has been serving the community for more than a decade. In 2012 he volunteered to fill a vacancy on the Monroe Town Council, proceeded to win that seat in 2015, and was elected to the Monroe Board of Education in 2019. On the state level, Nick has served on the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities since 2017. He also works as vice president of operations at I-Engineering.

I cannot be more enthusiastic about having Nick represent me and my family in Hartford. He understands the needs of small businesses and the importance of equal education and infrastructure improvement. He is experienced and smart, and is fully cognizant of how our legislature works. Whats more, Nick is approachable and easy to talk to.

If you live in the 112th and dont yet feel comfortable going to the polls, you can vote by absentee ballot by easily downloading a form from Nicks website, www.nickforct.com, and sending it to the Town Clerks office. Its easy and its important. Its important to vote for Nick.

Susan Kassirer

Sandy Hook

Scott will be a voice for the voters in Legislature

Dear Monroe voters,

You have a special election on April 13 for the state representative seat and I suggest you vote like your life depends upon it.

My friend Tony Scott deserves your vote. You may not know Tony, but I do and hes a resident you can trust to represent you in Hartford.

Tony and his wife choose Monroe 14 years ago as their place to live and raise a family. Tony has faithfully served Monroe on the Economic Development Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission (as chairman) and now serves on the Town Council. Tony has served without making himself the center of every meeting or newspaper article. Hes served without criticizing others or complaining when others disagree with him. Qualities which, in these divisive times, are valuable.

Monroe and Newtown need people like Tony Scott in Hartford. Tony is a Republican, but Ive never heard him engage in the partisan bickering so many others quickly turn to. Tony considers the question, asks himself what is best for his constituents and then votes.

Connecticuts Legislature has been run by the Democratic party for decades. The Democrats have brought you higher taxes on everything from your gas to your dry cleaning. Connecticut is one of the least affordable places to live or work thanks to Democratic control.

Monroe and Newtown need to send a voice to Hartford that will stand against the madness.

Get to the polls on April 13th or get an absentee ballot application at http://www.monroect.org/Special-Election

Everyone can vote absentee in this election so dont be silent on the most important election of your lives.

Vote for Tony Scott and vote to stand against the Democrat tax and spend machine hurting Monroe and Newtowns families.

Patrick OHara

Town treasurer of Monroe

Kapoor has the right experience

I am pleased to submit this letter in support of Nick Kapoor as the Democratic candidate to fill the vacant 112th state representative seat representing Monroe and the Sandy Hook section of Newtown. I cannot think of a better candidate to represent our District.

Nicks formidable educational background with degrees in political science, mathematics and his MBA in finance has been a significant benefit to our community, especially during tight budget times. Nicks knowledge and experience has benefited our state following his appointment to the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

As a lifelong resident and Monroe homeowner, former member of Monroe Town Council and current member of the Board of Education, Nicks lengthy history of community service and involvement is unmatched.

Having served with Nick on Town Council, I have seen, firsthand, his commitment to our community. Nicks experience with budgets in Monroe makes Nick the ideal candidate to serve us in Hartford.

Nick will use his determination, talents, and knowledge of how the legislature works to advocate and produce positive solutions for our 112th and Connecticut.

We need Nick in Hartford representing Monroe and Sandy Hook. Please vote for Nick Kapoor on April 13.

Daniel P. Hunsberger

Monroe
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Akinyi Yagomba has carved a unique niche for herself as a Tarot Card reader. Tarot card reading is the practice of using tarot cards to gain insight into the past, present, or future by formulating a question, then drawing and interpreting cards.

Yagomba, who is in her late 30s, is also an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She officially launched her tarot card reading business, Tarot By Akinyi, in 2016.

She spoke to Eve Woman about her passion-turned-side hustle:

My background:

I am an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. I have a Masters in Law  LLM that I acquired in Germany. Tarot reading is my side hustle.

It is a passion I turned into a business when many people started getting interested in what I saw in the cards.

I started doing it during my free time  most Saturdays or when someone hires me for the services.

The idea:

Tarot card reading is the practice of using tarot cards to gain insight into the past, present or future by formulating a question, then drawing and interpreting cards.

I first got interested in it in 2003 when I was a teenager because of watching Spanish Telemundo soap operas.

Although, I cannot remember the name of the exact programme that sparked my interest, the little I can recall is the characters would visit the tarot card reader, and she would read their future for them.

It made me want to know more about the cards that could predict the future.

At that time, they were not available in Kenya, so I pursued other interests, and I came back to the tarot later.

I bought my first deck of cards in 2005 when I was on campus in South Africa. Later, I purchased my second pack while I was doing my LLM in Germany.

At first, I was doing the readings for friends and family, and they enjoyed it very much. During that time, I put my studies first.

I did not imagine that I would one day earn from it. Gradually, they started giving me referrals, and I decided to make it a fully-fledged business.

What happened next:

The tarot is a system so I had to learn how it works before I started reading the cards. Then I would do the readings on myself first to see the outcome.

Fortunately, I noticed that it works! When I graduated to reading the cards for my family and friends, I affirmed that it is also possible on other people.

After a lot of research on the tarot through reading associations, watching videos on YouTube, and joining Facebook groups with other tarot readers from all over the world, I gained confidence to launch it as a business in 2016. That is how I also started to deduce the readings to strangers.

I settled on the name of my business because it describes it perfectly. My first real clients also encouraged me by giving me positive feedback on my work. Most of them were from social media.

I was a student when I first started, and I did it for fun, so there was no pressure. But now that I was dealing with real clients, I must deliver. Additionally, I continued upgrading my skills during my free time.

Currently, I am working as an advocate full time, but I already know that it only takes one hour to complete a session so I only do the readings during my free time.

Although the tarot reading is a viable business, I do it as a side hustle. I put my law career first since it pays most of my bills. I have a very supportive husband. My bosses and colleagues are also supportive, and that is how I can juggle a career, marriage, and the tarot side hustle.

Running a startup:

When I first started, it took me a lot of time to memorise the 78 cards in the tarot system. Also, you must know how to read and understand all the cards efficiently for the reading to run smoothly.

For instance, when the card is upright, it has a different meaning from when you reverse it. When the cards are combined, they also have another significance. A particular order also has another meaning.

I started with home visits, so I would charge Sh3,000 considering that I was using my own fare. Many people were not comfortable when I held sessions in their houses, and I also did not feel safe so I rented an office in Nairobi West where I would also feel secure. It made me increase the charges to Sh5,000. I also had to hire a receptionist, so I had to factor in her salary.

When the pandemic started, I had to close my business because of the physical contact with the clients. Currently, I do online or phone readings. I plan to reopen when the pandemic dies down.

Where I am now:

Tarot reading is a novel concept, and most people still do not understand it. Therefore, I get a lot of backlash from superstitious and religious groups.

Although I respect everyones views and beliefs, I developed a thick skin and a patient attitude. I try and explain my services to them.

If they do not understand what I do, I do not impose on them. My focus is on the people who are curious and want to know more about the business.

With time, I started renting stands at events to advertise my business. I also pay for marketing on social media. Just like any other business, it took some time to be fully established.

Explaining what I do to some people is a challenge because it is out of their reality. However, none of my clients has ever complained after a reading.

A typical face-to-face session starts with general reading to see what the cards pick up. Then we do specific prodding where you choose an area where you want the insight to focus. It could be a relationship, career, finance, business, health, sport among others.

I must decipher every card open to the client. An online session starts with arranging the cards then the client tells me which cards to pick so they still do it by themselves.

Last year, I was invited to Lord Errol to do a reading for a Henrik Gin event. I held sessions for more than 20 people in one evening. It was nice to see how happy they were after the readings, and I appreciated the payment.

My tip:

The business has its ups and downs. It is not easy to start and can get a bit lonely. However, do not give up on your dreams. Keep pushing, and it will only get better.

Before you start a business, get a business plan. Carry out a thorough research on the market. Never be afraid to fail because it is part of the business process.

Always put God first and pray for the business. God answers prayers at His own pace.
Russia's health ministry has registered the one-shot Sputnik-Light version of its COVID-19 vaccine for use, the TASS news agency reported on Monday.

Russia said last week that it had completed clinical trials for the slimmed-down vaccine, which it has cast as a possible temporary solution to help countries with high infection rates make the vaccine go further.

Moscow has said that its two-dose Sputnik V vaccine will remain the main version used in Russia.

Earlier on Monday, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund and China's Shenzhen Yuanxing Gene-tech have agreed to produce over 60 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 in China, RDIF said on Monday.

RDIF, which is marketing Sputnik V globally, said that commercial production was due to start in May.
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will finally start planning her wedding two years after her fiance Clark Gayford popped the question.

The pair have yet to tie the knot as the New Zealand Prime Minister has been forced to deal with a string of tragedies, including the horror Christchurch terror attack, the White Island volcano eruption and the coronavirus pandemic.

When asked how the wedding plans were going by AM Show host Duncan Garner on Monday, Ms Ardern laughed and said: 'Not well'.

Jacinda Ardern has announced she will finally get around to planning her wedding two years after her fiance Clark Gayford popped the question

'I've spent more time on housing plans than wedding plans,' she said.

After noting she and Mr Gayford became engaged two years ago this Easter, the prime minister said it was 'about time' they organise their big day.

'We will get there. A lot has been going on. It's fair to say the pandemic really got in the way of not just our plans, but a lot of people's plans,' she said.

Ms Ardern had earlier hinted at a possible location for the event while speaking at a conference in Hawke's Bay.

When asked if she had considered the area as the perfect place to walk down the aisle, she noted it was a 'beautiful' part of the country.

'There's a lot of pressure to make it local, and why wouldn't I?' she said.

After noting she and Mr Gayford became engaged two years ago this Easter, the prime minister said it was 'about time' they organise their big day

The pair first met at an awards night in 2012 and had their daughter Neve in 2018

Ms Ardern and Mr Gayford first met at an awards ceremony in 2012.

They then went on to have their daughter Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford in 2018.

Ms Ardern has time and time again impressed not only New Zealand but the rest of the world with her strength in handling of various devastating crises.

On 15 March 2019, Australian Brenton Tarrant stormed two mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 men, women and children as they gathered for prayer services.

Donning a black headscarf, Ms Ardern showed compassion to those mourning their loved ones and covered the cost of the funerals for those who were killed.

She also offered a heartfelt speech to those killed in the December, 2019 White Island volcano eruption.

She said the 22 people killed in the disaster were 'forever linked' to New Zealand.

Throughout the pandemic, New Zealand has suffered just over 2,000 cases of Covid-19 while 26 people have lost their lives.


The batch of 35 000 vaccines are part of a donation of 75 000 vaccines from the Indian Government.This comes as the country last week rolled out the second stage of the national Covid 19 vaccination exercise in Victoria Falls.

Speaking after receiving the consignment at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, President Mnangagwa said the gesture by the Indian Government was a welcome and timely intervention at a time the country is fighting the pandemic.

He said the vaccination rollout was key among strategies Government was implementing to combat Covid 19.

Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Vijay Khanduja said the donation was testimony to the strong relations India shared with Zimbabwe.

He expressed hope that the vaccines will provide the much needed relief from the pandemic
by Vladimir Rozanskij

At the National University, the museum has exhibits on the childhood, youth, political commitment and the travels of the "eternal" leader. Press heap praise on initiative to further their career. The new form of divinization is "in favor of the younger generations". The official title of the president is "Founder of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation". By law, this title cannot be abbreviated or summarized, under penalty of severe fines and punishments.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The first museum dedicated to the "eternal" president of Tajikistan was inaugurated on March 27 in Dushanbe, with the addition of new rooms, it honours Emomali Rakhmon, in power since 1992 as prime minister, and president since 1994.

The museum is located in one of the new buildings of the country's National University, where the president studied since 1977 to 1982. About 1200 objects are exhibited: childhood and student photographs, his books and manuals, his report cards, various school documents (photo 2).

There are also eight monothematic rooms, one for each official visit of the president to the university in the 30 years of his rule, embellished with decorative series of products of Tajik manufacturing and culture, which also give the museum the status of "art exhibition ".

The decision to open the "Rakhmon museum" was unanimously taken last year by the teaching council at the proposal of the rector, Professor Kobilzhon Khushvakhtzod, together with the project of the new buildings to be built, "in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of independence "Of Tajikistan. The presentation was solemnly given by the dean of the university's history faculty, Professor Rakhmonali Sharipov.

Several films and documentaries have been shot on the figure of President Rakhmon in these 30 years, and since 2017 his official title has become that of Founder of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation. By law, this title cannot be abbreviated or summarized, under penalty of severe fines and punishments.

Moreover, the museum is not allowed free access to ordinary citizens, and not even to university students, who can visit it only upon reservation in special lists and on days dedicated to them. Only a few journalists, mostly from state editions, were admitted to the presentation in honour of the Day of Tajik Journalism, which was celebrated on 11 March.

The journalists present reported that it was "a unique opportunity to see the president not only as head of state", but to get to know him humanly. As the journalist Kiemiddin Makhmadjonov tells currentime.ru, one of the most important moments for us was when we saw the autographed writings of the president when he was still a student, it was an emotional moment, almost as if they were manuscripts of the holy scriptures.

The independent political scientist Abdumalik Kadyrov observes that "the opening of the museum to the living leader means that in the state bureaucracy, even today, the only hope of a successful career lies in the exaltation of the president, which everyone falls over themselves trying to accomplish just that, drawing on all possible sources of financing, also considering the high costs of the new museum.

"I remember that some time ago in a province they built a special dacha for the president, on the occasion of his visit to the area, and since then in almost all the provinces of the republic there has been a competition to build special reception buildings, reserved for the president and to the highest officials, which are often not even used, despite being citizens' money, adds Kadyrov.

Patriotism in Tajikistan is now totally absorbed by the personality cult of Rakhmon, and the museum is a model of this form of divinization "in favour of the younger generations", as stated in the official reasons for its opening in the university. A competition is now expected among the other universities and schools in the country, which will in turn try to open spaces for "sacred patriotic devotion".
Overfishing in Congo threatens endangered sharks, report warns

March 28,2021 | Source: Reuters

Each day, fishmongers in Congo Republic pile up hundreds of dead sharks on the shore and begin lopping off fins and bartering over hammerheads and other endangered species.



The bustling seaside business could be jeopardising the marine environment in the Gulf of Guinea, wildlife trade group TRAFFIC warned this week. Artisanal fishermen are harvesting 400-1,000 sharks and rays per day, according to surveys it conducted last year.



The fishermen say they dont have a choice. A rise in industrial fishing by dozens of mainly Chinese trawlers in Congolese waters is eroding their livelihoods.



Since the Chinese trawlers arrived, its complicated things, said Alain Pangou, a 54-year-old fisherman. Its difficult to live.



In a short film released alongside the report on Monday, Pangou and his small crew lament bygone days of plentiful fish, as they clear a net of juvenile hammerheads  too young to have had any offspring to replace their numbers.



At the nearby Songolo Beach market, in Pointe-Noire, traders haggle over fins for export to Asia, while the rest of the meat is sold for local consumption.



The artisanal shark fishers shouldnt be targeted as the bad boys here, theyre getting squeezed by an unregulated industrial fisheries sector, said Emma Stokes who heads the regional office of another environmental group, the Wildlife Conservation Society.



Worldwide, shark populations are in trouble due to industrial fishing and the practice of finning  or slicing off shark fins for a soup considered a Chinese delicacy. Demand for fins has spurred a global raid on these apex predators.



A global ocean survey published on July 22 in the journal Nature found that sharks were functionally extinct at one fifth of 371 coastal reefs monitored since 2015.



In Congo, fishermen say their catches have declined since the Chinese boats began appearing in 2000. Oil platforms set up in the Gulf have also drastically reduced the area open for fishing.



The countrys waters have yet to be surveyed; officials say they need outside financing and expertise.



We fish them, we know how to do that, but the stock is unknown, said Fisheries Director Benoit Atsango in the video, which was financed by charitable fund Arcadia.

 2021 Reuters. All Rights Reserved.

Theme(s): Fisheries Resources.
Frazer Harrison

Ghislaine Maxwell, accused accomplice to sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, is facing more allegations of grooming underage girls for the pedophile.

In a superseding indictment filed Monday, Manhattan federal prosecutors added a fourth unidentified minor victim to their caseand two new sex-trafficking charges against Maxwell. The complaint says the girl was 14 when the British socialite allegedly began grooming her for Epstein, who abused her from 2001 to 2004.

In a letter to Judge Alison Nathan, federal prosecutors said a Manhattan grand jury returned the superseding indictment on Monday.

At this juncture, while the Governments investigation is still ongoing, if trial remains set for July 12, 2021 as scheduled, then the Government does not intend to seek any further indictments in this case, the assistant U.S. attorneys wrote.

According to the indictment, Maxwell met the girl, referred to as Minor Victim-4, at Epsteins Palm Beach home when she was 14 and subsequently interacted with her knowing she was underage at the time.

READ FOR YOURSELF: The Indictment Against Epstein Confidante Ghislaine Maxwell

Prosecutors say Maxwell asked the girl about her family and her life, as she did with the other victims mentioned in the complaint, and sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by discussing sexual topics in front of her and being present when the girl was naked in Epsteins massage room.

Maxwell encouraged and enticed one or more minor victims to engage in paid sex acts with Epstein from 2001 to 2004, the document states.

The 59-year-old heiress would allegedly call the girl, at times from New York, to book appointments for her to massage Epstein in Florida.

The indictment says that after these encounters, Epsteins employees including Maxwell would allegedly pay the girl hundreds of dollars in cash.

Both Epstein and Maxwell, court papers allege, invited Minor Victim-4 to travel with Epstein and offered to help her obtain a passport. The girl declined their invitations.

Story continues

Maxwell and other employees also allegedly sent the teenager gifts, including lingerie, from an address in Manhattan, New York to her home in Florida. One of those gifts was sent via FedEx in 2002, according to the indictment.

Epstein and Maxwell encouraged the girl to recruit other victims, the indictment says, and she brought multiple underage masseuses to the Palm Beach residence. She was paid hundreds of dollars in cash to recruit for Epstein, prosecutors say.

The initial indictment against Maxwell, who was arrested in July 2020, charged her with grooming and abusing three victims from 1994 to 1997.

Maxwell, a former girlfriend and employee of Epstein, has denied the accusations against her, and her family has embarked on a public-relations campaign to fight for her release from a federal detention facility in Brooklyn.

Her trial for sex-trafficking charges is scheduled for July.

The feds charged Maxwell about a year after they cuffed Epstein at a New Jersey airport in 2019. The 66-year-old sex offenderwhod secured a lenient plea deal in 2008 for molesting girls in Floridakilled himself in a Manhattan lockup soon after.

Other victims in Maxwells case include Minor Victim-1 who was allegedly abused by both Epstein and Maxwell from 1994 through 1997, starting when she was 14, and Annie Farmer, who came forward as Minor Victim-2. Farmer said Maxwell groped her during an unsolicited massage at Epsteins New Mexico ranch in 1996.

Maxwell is also accused of grooming a third girl, Minor Victim-3, for Epstein from 1994 to 1995 after meeting her in London.

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Tajikistans leading micro lending institution, Imon International (Imon), will continue providing financial services to more than 100,000 micro businesses and individual borrowers across the country thanks to an equity investment from Imons international shareholders.

Following the exit of Imons main shareholder Micro-credit Fund IMON, Mikro Kapital, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO paid US$ 5.4 million to acquire a stake of 43.5 per cent. As a result of this transaction and in compliance with the National Bank of Tajikistan regulation, the EBRD and FMO will each own 17.9 per cent, while Mikro Kapital will become the largest shareholder with a stake of 42.7 per cent.

The international shareholders of Imon are committed to supporting the companys activities, which are vital for grassroots businesses and farmers in rural mountainous areas of Tajikistan. The transaction also means Imon will be a sustainable and profitable institution compliant with the regulatory requirements as well as international standards of corporate governance and integrity.

George Orlov, Director, Financial Institutions Central Asia and Russia, said: We are pleased to support our long-standing partner and an investee company. It will now meet the regulatory requirements and will continue developing and supporting micro and small businesses in the country.

Vincenzo Trani, President of Mikro Kapital, stated: Since 2008 we have been focused on the development of microfinance, and this shares purchase of Imon International fully fits into Mikro Kapitals strategy. I am sure that with our international partners we will succeed in improving the growth and financial inclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises in Tajikistan and along the Silk Road.

Jaap Reinking, Director Private Equity of FMO, commented: With this increased investment in Imon we focus on the future development of the financial institution. The target group of grassroots businesses and farmers that Imon supports is fully in line with FMOs development objectives. The collaboration with our international partners in this transaction is of great value to us.

To date, the EBRD has invested 731 million through 139 projects in Tajikistans economy.
SHARJAH, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 29th Mar, 2021) The 18th edition of the Sharjah Heritage Days (SHD) continues in the city of Khor Fakkan "Heritage Area", as it witnessed a remarkable turnout of attendees on its second day.

In a joyful heritage atmosphere that brought together citizens, residents and heritage lovers in the area of Khor Fakkan, the second day of the 18th edition of Sharjah Heritage Days began with artistic performances and folk dances of AL-Ayyala art, presented by the Dibba War Band. In addition, traditional competitions were held at the SHD Theatre in Khor Fakkan for all age groups, presented by Ayman Ali Salem, aimed at spreading heritage and cultural awareness.

Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam, Chairman of Sharjah Institute for Heritage (SIH) and Chairman of the Higher Committee of Sharjah Heritage Days, said, "Khor Fakkan continues its activities for the Sharjah Heritage Days festival, and has witnessed an encouraging response and attendance from the emirates citizens and residents of all nationalities. The second day of activities was distinguished by the momentum it brought, with a variety of activities from songs, folk dances, heritage competitions, exhibitions and workshops, and the beauty and splendour of the traditional 'Haq Al Lailah' celebration. Sharjah Heritage Days has a lot to offer in educating the public on the culture and heritage of Sharjah."

A cultural symposium, as part of the activities of Sharjah Heritage Days, was organised at the Youth House in the Heritage Area, under the slogan "Inspired Among Us", entitled "Cultural Heritage in the United Arab Emirates". Speaking at the theatre was Dr. Rashid Khamis Al Naqbi, Chairman of the Khor Fakkan Municipal Council, Eng. Fawzia Rashid Al-Qadi, Director of Khor Fakkan Municipality, and Fatima Al-Mughni, a former member of the Consultative Council of Sharjah, a social researcher and expert in folklore.

Dr. Al Naqbi talked about the ancient folk games that were famous in the city, stressing that popular games must be revived.

Al-Qadi spoke about the popular terminology and phrases that no longer exist in language, and have been omitted due to social media, soap operas, and other influencing factors.

Al-Mughni talked about the mechanisms of heritage culture in the UAE, and the role of women and men and their support for each other in establishing customs and traditions in the Emirati family. In her speech, she also touched on the city of Khor Fakkan acting as a model for rooting the intangible heritage, thanks to the vision and guidance of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

The Sharjah Institute for Heritage (SIH) celebrated the tradition of "Haq Al Lailah", a cultural tradition that sees the distribution of special gifts to children, such as Emirati food and sweets at SHD. Traditionally, it is celebrated on the night of the fifteenth of Shaban.

Khaled Ahmed Obaid Al Shehhi, Director of Sharjah Institute for Heritage, Khor Fakkan branch, confirmed, "We are keen to revive the celebration of this occasion as an old custom that has a special place in the hearts of Khor Fakkans people, and all those in the emirates. It brings back memories of childhood which cannot be replaced, and must be celebrated and passed on to our children and grandchildren."

The Social Services Department is participating in Sharjah Heritage Days and displaying many handicrafts made from horse fronds, perfumes, and incense.

The corner of the Student Parents Council also formed an attraction point for students and parents, with students participating to review the ancient past of education in Khor Fakkan. Old pictures of schools and students were displayed, and the corner also included a free studio for children with workshops teaching them to draw and read from various traditional books.
We should learn what lessons from Fukushima? By Dr. Kelvin Kemm

A decade has passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the name Fukushima is etched into history. But few people know the truth of what happened. The phrase, the lessons learned from Fukushima, is well-known. But how do people implement them, if they dont know what happened, or what lessons they should actually learn?



It was after lunch on 11 March 2011 that a giant earthquake occurred 72 kilometers (45 miles) off the Oshika Peninsula in Japan. It registered 9.0 on the Richter Scale, making it the largest quake ever recorded in Japan. The undersea ground movement, over 30 km (18 miles) beneath the oceans surface, lifted up a huge volume of water, like an immense moving hill. Meanwhile, the ground shockwave travelled toward the land at high speed. It struck Japan and shook the ground for six terrifying minutes.



The shock wave travelled under 11 nuclear reactors, including two separate Fukushima complexes: Fukushima-Diani and Fukushima-Daiichi. (Diani means Complex 1 and Daiichi Complex 2.) All 11 reactors shut down, as they were designed to do, and no doubt all the reactor operators breathed a great sigh of relief. It was premature.



The mound of sea water was still traveling. As the water hill entered shallow water, nearer the land, it was lifted up into a towering wave as high as 40 meters (130 feet!) in places. Then, some 50 minutes after the earthquake, the tsunami struck the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station. Some kilometres away, when water struck the Fukushima-Diani nuclear power station, it was only 9 m (30 ft) high, which was not as devastating as at Daiichi. Diani did not make it into the news.



The water jumped the protective sea walls at Fukushima-Daiichi. The sighs of relief from a half hour before turned into concern and dread. Over at the Fukushima Diani power station, 12 km (7 mi) to the south, water also caused damage to machinery, but the reactors were not harmed. There was no risk of radiation release, so the Diani power station was of no interest to the international media. Diani was safely shut down to cold shutdown after two days.



As a result, over the past decade, any reference to Fukushima has meant only the Daiichi power station and not the other one.



The devastating tsunami swept up to 10 km (6 mi) inland in places, washing away buildings, roads, and telecommunication and power lines. Over 15,000 people were killed, mainly by drowning.



Although all the nuclear reactors had shut down to a state known as hot shutdown, the reactors were still very hot and needed residual cooling for many hours after the urgent fast shutdown. People instinctively know not to put their hands on the engine block of a car right after it has been switched off. Nuclear reactors are the same and need to cool down until they reach the safe state known as cold shutdown.



A nuclear reactor has pumps that send water through the reactor until it cools. But the Fukushima electrical pumps failed, because the tsunami had washed away the incoming electrical lines. So the reactor system automatically switched to diesel-driven generators to keep the cooling pumps going; but the water had washed away the diesel fuel supply, meaning the diesels worked for only a short while. Then it switched to emergency batteries; but the batteries were never designed to last for days, and could supply emergency power for only about eight hours.



The hot fuel could not be cooled, and over the next three or four days the fuel in three reactors melted, much like a candle melts.



The world media watched, and broadcast the blow-by-blow action. Japanese authorities started to panic under the international spotlight. The un-circulating cooling water was boiling off inside the reactors resulting in a chemical reaction between hot fuel exposed to hot steam. This led to the production of hydrogen gas. As the steam pressure rose, the engineers decided to open valves to release the pressure. That worked as planned, but it released the hydrogen as well.



Hydrogen, being light, rose up to the roof, where the ventilation system was not working, because there was no electricity. After a while some stray spark ignited the hydrogen which exploded, blowing the lightweight roof off the building right in front of the worlds TV cameras. The Fukushima news just became much more dramatic. Authorities were desperate to show the world some positive action.



They progressively ordered the evacuation of 160,000 people living around the Fukushima neighbourhood. That was a mistake. As days and weeks passed, it materialized that not one single person was killed by nuclear radiation. Not one single person was even injured by nuclear radiation, either. Even today, a decade later, there is still no sign of any longer-term radiation harm to any person or animal. Sadly, however, people did die during the forced evacuation.



So one of the lessons learned from Fukushima is that a huge amount of nuclear power can be struck by the largest earthquake and tsunami ever recorded, and nobody gets harmed by nuclear radiation.



Another lesson learned is that an evacuation order issued too hastily did harm and kill people.



World Nuclear Association Director-General Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon said: The rapidly implemented and protracted evacuation has resulted in well-documented significant negative social and health impacts. In total, the evacuation is thought to have been responsible for more than 2,000 premature deaths among the 160,000 who were evacuated. The rapid evacuation of the frail elderly, as well at those requiring hospital care, had a near-immediate toll. [emphasis added]



She added: When facing future scenarios concerning public health and safety, whatever the event, it is important that authorities take an all-hazards approach. There are risks involved in all human activities, not just nuclear power generation. Actions taken to mitigate a situation should not result in worse impacts than the original events. This is particularly important when managing the response to incidents at nuclear facilities  where fear of radiation may lead to an overly conservative assessment and a lack of perspective for relative risks.



Thus, a decade later, we can contemplate the cumulative lessons learned. Above all, they are that nuclear power is far safer than anyone had thought. Even when dreaded core meltdowns occurred, and although reactors were wrecked, resulting in a financial disaster for the owners, no people were harmed by radiation.



We also learned that, for local residents, it would have been far safer to stay indoors in a house than to join the forced evacuation. We also learned that governments and authorities must listen to the nuclear professionals, and not overreact, even though the television news cameras look awfully close.



Fukushima certainly produced some valuable lessons. Governments, news media and the public need to learn the correct lessons from them. Dr Kelvin Kemm is a nuclear physicist and is CEO of Stratek Business Strategy Consultants, a project management company based in Pretoria. He conducts business strategy development and project planning in a wide variety of fields for diverse clients. Contact him at Stratek@pixie.co.za. Contact me: pkdriessen@gmail.com. Home
Progress is being made in the attempt to free the container vessel blocking the Suez Canal, the head of the canals authority said Saturday, but declined to set a timetable for when the operation will be over.

A new attempt to re-float the 400-meter-long Ever Given could happen today or Sunday and authorities have raised to 10 the number of tug boats involved in operations, Osama Rabie told reporters in Suez City. But given the size and tonnage of the ship, he said the Suez Canal Authority was facing a difficult task.
When we breathe, we exhale CO 2 , as shown by this infrared camera. Outdoors, the CO 2 is rapidly diluted and the risk of transmission is very low because we dont breathe any air that has previously been exhaled by another person. In closed spaces with no ventilation, such as this car, a meter shows that parts-per-million (ppm) of CO 2 accumulate to the extent that within 15 minutes we re-inhale 4% of the air we have already breathed. If the car is shared and there is no ventilation, within the space of 10 minutes, 8% of the air we breathe in will have already been exhaled by the other passenger. That means we are sharing the air with another person and the risk of transmission is high. If one of the two people in the car is Covid-positive, the risk of the other catching the virus is 30% in 30 minutes or 71% in an hour. If both people open their windows just five centimeters, cross-ventilation can renew the air up to nine times every minute. The exhaled air disappears and the probability of transmission is low.

Humanity has been fighting an invisible enemy for more than a year. Of course we do not see the coronavirus and, in many cases, we do not even know if we are in contact with an asymptomatic case. But it is not the first time that an invisible threat has been fought using an indirect approach: think of the canaries that were once taken down the coal mines to detect gas leaks.

During this pandemic, it has been shown that poorly ventilated buildings are the most dangerous environments of all because particles containing the virus can linger in the air until someone breathes them in. And although we do not have a device that can show these particles, we can measure the air quality and CO concentration using a meter. The higher the concentration of CO, which is exhaled when we breathe, the worse the rooms ventilation. A simple measurement allows us to know if the room is loaded with air exhaled by other people or if it is well ventilated, thereby drastically reducing the risk of infection.

Because of its reduced dimensions, the interior of a car serves as a microcosm of what happens in larger rooms. When a person gets into a car where there is one other person and the windows are closed, the concentration of CO soars, as a percentage of what is breathed in has already been exhaled by the other passenger. However, simply by opening the windows just a few centimeters and generating cross-ventilation, the air gets constantly refreshed. In a house, a bar or a classroom, the premise is basically the same.

Link between CO 2 and breathed air The air we breathe outside contains an average of 412 parts-per-million (ppm) of CO2. If we observe this figure on a meter, the air has not been exhaled by anyone. Air already exhaled Outdoors CO2 412 ppm 0% Indoors Acceptable risk* 600 ppm 0.5% 700 ppm 0.71% 800 ppm 1% 1,000 ppm 1.5% WHO limit for healthy air quality *Harvard and IDAEA-CSIC-LIFTEC recommended guidelines Air already exhaled CO2 (ppm) 5,000 11.5% 9.0% 4,000 3,000 6.5% 2,000 4.0% 1,000 1.5% 400 0% Link between CO 2 and breathed air The air we breathe outside contains an average of 412 parts-per-million (ppm) of CO2. If we observe this figure on a meter, the air has not been exhaled by anyone. Air already exhaled Outdoors CO2 412 ppm 0% Indoors Acceptable risk* 600 ppm 0.5% 700 ppm 0.71% 800 ppm 1% 1,000 ppm 1.5% WHO limit for healthy air quality *Harvard and IDAEA-CSIC-LIFTEC recommended guidelines Air already exhaled CO2 (ppm) 5,000 11.5% 9.0% 4,000 3,000 6.5% 2,000 4.0% 1,000 1.5% 400 0% Link between CO 2 and breathed air The air we breathe outside contains an average of 412 parts-per-million (ppm) of CO2. If we observe this figure on a meter, the air has not been exhaled by anyone. Outdoors Indoors CO2 412 ppm 600 ppm 700 ppm 800 ppm 1,000 ppm 0% 0.5% 1% Air already exhaled 0.71% 1.5% WHO limit for healthy air quality Acceptable risk* Air already exhaled CO2 (ppm) 5,000 11.5% 9.0% 4,000 3,000 6.5% 2,000 4.0% 1,000 1.5% 400 0% *Harvard and IDAEA-CSIC-LIFTEC recommended guidelines Link between CO 2 and breathed air The air we breathe outside contains an average of 412 parts-per-million (ppm) of CO2. If we observe this figure on a meter, the air has not been exhaled by anyone. Outdoors Indoors CO2 412 ppm 600 ppm 700 ppm 800 ppm 1,000 ppm Air already exhaled 0% 0.5% 0.71% 1% 1.5% WHO limit for healthy air quality Acceptable risk* Air already exhaled CO2 (ppm) 5,000 11.5% 9.0% 4,000 3,000 6.5% 2,000 4.0% 1,000 1.5% 400 0% *Harvard and IDAEA-CSIC-LIFTEC recommended guidelines

While the virologist Margarita del Val keeps an eye on the levels of CO in cars that she uses with her own meter because it is an indirect indication that helps us to ventilate correctly, she is not in favor of promoting its use in the daily lives of normal people. She is, however, in favor of it being regulated and its use promoted as a tool for the authorities. In many stable environments, such as schools, it is not necessary to have one installed; just a few measurements and you know what is required to maintain good air renewal, notes Del Val, who is in charge of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) platform for Covid-19. And that includes limiting exposure to the cold, because sometimes it is enough to open the windows just a little.

Last week, Del Val and 100 other scientists and health professionals sent a letter to the Spanish authorities in which they demanded that urgent measures be taken to prevent transmission caused by poor ventilation. Among the measures advocated was the use of CO concentration as a benchmark by which to measure air quality. Another of the letters signatories, Javier Ballester of the University of Zaragoza, is critical of the fact that the government is doing little to tackle existing confusion on the issue. Its not enough to provide information via Twitter, he says. Its all very complex  biology and behavior  but there are two indisputably effective factors: ventilation and masks. Just as the government regulates the quality of masks, it should provide information on how to properly ventilate. There have been many anecdotes describing how some individuals and educational centers ventilate prior to occupancy, leaving the room freezing cold, then close the windows as soon as people arrive, which is when the risk exists. If they dont know this, they wont open the windows, or they wont sit by the window in the bar: individual awareness is decisive, says Ballester.

Risks entering closed spaces and how to avoid them Entering a closed space occupied by others entails a risk if we dont know if it contains air that has already been exhaled. Both CO 2 and the coronavirus can linger for hours in an unventilated closed space. If we are going to enter a closed space that does not have a CO 2 meter, it is essential to ventilate it first. Leaving two car windows open several centimeters while we drive allows for cross-ventilation that constantly renews the air. Opening two windows Renewals per minute 10 cm 1.2 Stationary vehicle 5 cm 6.6 50km/h 2.1 2 cm 100 km/h Source: Calculations of air renewal obtained by David Higuera, an industrial engineer and expert in installations, using an anemometer. Risks entering closed spaces and how to avoid them Entering a closed space occupied by others entails a risk if we dont know if it contains air that has already been exhaled. Both CO 2 and the coronavirus can linger for hours in an unventilated closed space. If we are going to enter a closed space that does not have a CO 2 meter, it is essential to ventilate it first. Leaving two car windows open several centimeters while we drive allows for cross-ventilation that constantly renews the air. Opening two windows Renewals per minute Stationary vehicle 10 cm 1.2 50km/h 5 cm 6.6 100 km/h 2 cm 2.1 Source: Calculations of air renewal obtained by David Higuera, an industrial engineer and expert in installations, using an anemometer. Risks entering closed spaces and how to avoid them Both CO 2 and the coronavirus can linger for hours in an unventilated closed space. Entering a closed space occupied by others entails a risk if we dont know if it contains air that has already been exhaled. If we are going to enter a closed space that does not have a CO 2 meter, it is essential to ventilate it first. Leaving two car windows open several centimeters while we drive allows for cross-ventilation that constantly renews the air. Opening two windows Renewals per minute Stationary vehicle 10 cm 1.2 6.6 50km/h 5 cm 2.1 100 km/h 2 cm Source: Calculations of air renewal obtained by David Higuera, an industrial engineer and expert in installations, using an anemometer. Risks entering closed spaces and how to avoid them Leaving two car windows open several centimeters while we drive allows for cross-ventilation that constantly renews the air. Both CO 2 and the coronavirus can linger for hours in an unventilated closed space. Entering a closed space occupied by others entails a risk if we dont know if it contains air that has already been exhaled. If we are going to enter a closed space that does not have a CO 2 meter, it is essential to ventilate it first. Opening two windows Renewals per minute Source: Calculations of air renewal obtained by David Higuera, an industrial engineer and expert in installations, using an anemometer. Stationary vehicle 10 cm 1.2 6.6 50 km/h 5 cm 100 km/h 2 cm 2.1

Scientist Pedro Magalhaes de Oliveira, from Cambridge University, has studied how infected aerosols  the suspended viral particles exhaled when talking, singing or breathing  work. To calculate optimum conditions for daily scenarios, Oliveira has developed an online tool called airborne.cam. The potential for measuring indoor CO levels has been largely overlooked, he says. Health authorities could do this to identify high-risk locations and better inform the people who manage them. He does point out, however, that even in a well-ventilated space, there could be short-range transmission when viral particles are breathed in soon after a positive Covid case exhales if there is not enough time for the aerosols to be diluted. Thats why its so important to wear a mask and keep a safe distance, even outdoors, he says.

Some authorities have taken note. For example, the regional government of Navarre in northern Spain includes the measurement of CO as a important tool for the hospitality sector. A document advising on measures to be taken during the Easter holidays states: Ventilate as much as possible and measure air quality, using CO meters If the concentration of CO exceeds 800 parts per million, increased ventilation is recommended or decreased attendance until it [CO] falls below that indicator. In the event, the region has opted to ban indoor drinking and dining altogether over the Easter period.

Effectiveness of constant ventilation School Measurements of air quality in more than 20 educational centers show that only constant ventilation in closed spaces, whether natural or mechanical, keeps the risk of transmission low. Constant ventilation maintains the concentration of exhaled air outside the risk zone. Windows open CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 1,000 500 0 3 hours Sporadic ventilation Windows Open Closed Every time the windows are closed, the levels of CO 2 shoot up. CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 High risk 1,000 500 0 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Francisco Javier Moya Lopez, director of Indoor Air Quality at Auding Control. Effectiveness of constant ventilation School Measurements of air quality in more than 20 educational centers show that only constant ventilation in closed spaces, whether natural or mechanical, keeps the risk of transmission low. Constant ventilation maintains the concentration of exhaled air outside the risk zone. Windows open CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 1,000 500 0 3 hours Sporadic ventilation Windows Cosed Open Every time the windows are closed, the levels of CO 2 shoot up. CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 High risk 1,000 500 0 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Francisco Javier Moya Lopez, director of Indoor Air Quality at Auding Control. School Effectiveness of constant ventilation Measurements of air quality in more than 20 educational centers show that only constant ventilation in closed spaces, whether natural or mechanical, keeps the risk of transmission low. Windows open Constant ventilation maintains the concentration of exhaled air outside the risk zone. CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 1,000 High risk 500 0 3 hours Sporadic ventilation Windows Closed Open Every time the windows are closed, the levels of CO 2 shoot up. CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 1,000 500 0 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Francisco Javier Moya Lopez, director of Indoor Air Quality at Auding Control. School Effectiveness of constant ventilation Measurements of air quality in more than 20 educational centers show that only constant ventilation in closed spaces, whether natural or mechanical, keeps the risk of transmission low. Constant ventilation Sporadic ventilation Windows closed Windows open Windows open Every time the windows are closed, the levels of CO 2 shoot up. Constant ventilation maintains the concentration of exhaled air outside the risk zone. CO 2 (ppm) CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 1,500 1,000 1,000 High risk 500 500 0 0 3 hours 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Francisco Javier Moya Lopez, director of Indoor Air Quality at Auding Control.

Meanwhile, countries such as Germany, Canada and the UK include CO monitoring in their pandemic guidelines. Last summer, the Harvard School of Public Health published a guide for reopening schools that became a reference. The guide points to these monitors as a key tool for calculating the air quality of classrooms. The CSIC also included them in its recommendations. And the World Health Organization has just released its own detailed manual for adequate ventilation against Covid.

Mechanical Air Extraction and Natural Ventilation Bar Measurements of CO 2 carried out in a bar occupied by almost 100 people on January 21 showed the effectiveness of mechanical air extraction and natural ventilation in reducing the risks of breathing shared air. Extraction and air conditioning Closed doors Open doors CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 High risk 1,000 Despite the mechanical air extraction and ventilation, the high number of customers maintained the concentration of CO 2 at high-risk levels 0 3 hours Capacity of the premises 100 people 50 0 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Javier Ballester, professor of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Zaragoza and LIFTEC researcher Mechanical Air Extraction and Natural Ventilation Bar Measurements of CO 2 carried out in a bar occupied by almost 100 people on January 21 showed the effectiveness of mechanical air extraction and natural ventilation in reducing the risks of breathing shared air. Extraction and air conditioning Closed doors Open doors CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 High risk 1,000 Despite the mechanical air extraction and ventilation, the high number of customers maintained the concentration of CO 2 at high-risk levels 0 3 hours Capacity of the premises 100 people 50 0 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Javier Ballester, professor of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Zaragoza and LIFTEC researcher Bar Mechanical Air Extraction and Natural Ventilation Measurements of CO 2 carried out in a bar occupied by almost 100 people on January 21 showed the effectiveness of mechanical air extraction and natural ventilation in reducing the risks of breathing shared air. Extraction and air conditioning Closed doors Open doors CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 High risk 1,000 Despite the mechanical air extraction and ventilation, the high number of customers maintained the concentration of CO 2 at high-risk levels 0 3 hours Capacity of the premises 100 people 50 0 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Javier Ballester, professor of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Zaragoza and LIFTEC researcher Bar Mechanical Air Extraction and Natural Ventilation Measurements of CO 2 carried out in a bar occupied by almost 100 people on January 21 showed the effectiveness of mechanical air extraction and natural ventilation in reducing the risks of breathing shared air. Extraction and air conditioning Closed doors Open doors CO 2 (ppm) 1,500 High risk 1,000 Despite the mechanical air extraction and ventilation, the high number of customers maintained the concentration of CO 2 at high-risk levels 0 3 hours Capacity of the premises 100 people 50 0 3 hours Source: Measurements of CO 2 coordinated by Javier Ballester, professor of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Zaragoza and LIFTEC researcher

But Del Val highlights a major drawback in CO measurement, namely that it does not distinguish between scenarios in which masks are worn or taken off. Measuring CO in a bar where you can uncover your mouth and talk and shout should not be the same as in a theater or a museum, where you are quiet all the time and wearing a mask, she says. Del Val believes that the benchmark CO levels for premises where the mask can be removed should be stricter. It would be a perfect tool for the hospitality industry, to get them on our side, she says. You have to support the bars, but first there needs to be a good understanding of what a lower-risk environment consists of, if using these tools.

Methodology: The infrared camera images were recorded by the Leeds Environmental Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. In-car measurements were taken with an air quality monitor (Aranet Pro Home) in a vehicle with the windows closed and no ventilation last February 25. The risk of transmission was obtained using the airborne.cam simulator developed by the University of Cambridge and the calculations of air renewal inside the vehicle were obtained with an anemometer (David Higuera, industrial engineer and expert in installations.)

Development: Jacob Vicente Lopez.
Vice Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), Dr. Eric Opoku-Mensah has advised the students to obey the school rules and regulations to avoid future conflicts.



The Management of the media institution 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.



"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," a statement by the management read.



Also, speaking in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", the GIJ Vice Rector explained the circumstances that led to the decision by management for the students to defer their courses.



He stated that the decision wasn't meant as punishment but rather it was in line with the rules of the school.



"Because they didn't pay their fees and so failed to register, if we don't allow them to write the exams, technically what it means is automatically they have dismissed themselves. So, the thing we could do to protect them was to make a public notice that any student who hasn't, up till this point, hasn't registered while we're about to write exams, if you don't defer; you will lose out your studentship. But it wasn't that, because they haven't paid their fees, we are punishing them to defer. We were only drawing their attention that, up till this point, that it's left with one week to the exams, if you haven't registered, the only option for you to remain a student is to defer," he said.



He advised the students to respect deadlines and those who have genuine concerns should interact with the Dean of Students because the school has a good arrangment for students who can't fully pay their fees before registration.



"Some didn't pay the fees but they have registered because they wrote a letter to the management," he disclosed.



He asked those who were affected by their decision; ''How many of them wrote a letter to management that they couldn't pay their fees?''







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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Police in Isiolo are holding 49 people, who include a business operator, arrested on Thursday night while smoking shisha inside a premise.

Acting on a tip-off from the public, the officers pounced on the revellers who were partying during curfew hours inside a hall near the Isiolo Law Courts.

The officers confiscated 20 machines that the revellers were sharing while in groups in blatant disregard to Covid-19 protocols.

Isiolo County Commissioner Herman Shambi said it was unfortunate that the flavoured tobacco was being sold in the town despite the government's ban in December 2017.

Mr Shambi lamented that such gatherings where health guidelines are flouted were likely of contributing to increased transmission of Covid-19.

"We will not allow anyone to ruin the lives of our people. This business must stop and those involved arrested and prosecuted," Mr Shambi said.

He said youth were putting their lives at risk for sharing the tobacco substance via pipes as could transmit infectious diseases and Coronavirus that continues to wreak havoc across the globe.

Isiolo County Police Commander Joseph Kigen said operation will be sustained in Isiolo town and its environs to eradicate the illegal businesses.

"Residents should volunteer information to assist us nab those selling shisha so that we rid our people of the health risks that come with smoking the substance," the police boss said.

Mr Shambi warned that those offering the water pipe tobacco risk having their businesses closed and licenses revoked.

The police boss said the suspects will be arraigned on Monday.
press release

Minister Didiza meets Agriculture and Agro-Processing Stakeholders for further discussions of the Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP)

Today, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Ms Thoko Didiza, MP met with the representatives of Agriculture Unions, Agribusiness, Labour Unions, and Civil Society, amongst other stakeholders, to assess progress on the drafting and consultations of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan.

Minister Didiza indicated that "the first meeting of the Master Plan took place on June 26, 2020, at the height of the pandemic, where social partners adopted the framework for developing the Master Plan. Since then, stakeholder consultations have examined various Agriculture and Agro-processing sub-sectors and how these can be expanded to contribute to economic growth, inclusiveness, and job creation. These efforts are part of the broader Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan the President announced late last year."

The process is rigorous and evidence-based, led by the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), Bureau for Food and Agriculture Policy (BFAP) and Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED).

"Today's engagement was fruitful in that it identified areas that require further negotiations amongst partners and action plans for implementation as we approach the completion of the Master Plan. We hope that social partners will continue supporting this important initiative and remain committed to implementing the Master Plan when we have completed drafting it," says Minister Didiza.

Minister Didiza congratulated the partners for this milestone and looked forward to the social partners' next engagement.
Two of three people who left mandatory quarantine at a Dublin hotel without authorisation have returned.

The quarantining rules came into effect on Friday, with the first passengers impacted having checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry near Dublin Airport.

Three people who had commenced their quarantine period left the hotel yesterday.

Gardai were called in on Saturday afternoon.

Sources said that three men, who had arrived on a flight from Dubai, were outside hotel smoking under supervision when they attempted to abscond.

One of the men returned voluntarily but two others left the premises.

One of the two men still missing was located last night in Waterford and returned to the Crowne Plaza.

The other man is believed to be a Northern Irish native and potentially went back over the border, sources say.

The search for the third person was ongoing on Sunday afternoon.

A Garda spokesperson said: An Garda Siochana are this afternoon liaising with the State Liaison Officer at a designated quarantine facility in the Dublin area, in accordance with current protocols.

As the Department of Health are the lead agency in relation to the management of mandatory quarantining, An Garda Siochana will not be commenting further at this time.

The Department of Health have refused to comment on the incident in the interests of protecting confidentiality.

The Defence Forces and private security guards are involved in monitoring compliance with the rules at hotel quarantine facilities but they do not have the powers to stop people leaving.

If a person leaves prior to the expiration of their quarantine period, it is a criminal offence and gardai are notified.

Those who leave their mandatory hotel quarantine without permission can be fined up to 2,000 or face up to one month in prison.

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Travellers arriving from 33 countries deemed high risk by the Government must quarantine for 12 nights at a designated hotel.

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.

Travellers are required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility and to pre-pay for their stay.

The cost per adult traveller for a 12-night stay inclusive of all services is 1,875.

The stay at the hotel could be reduced if a person receives a negative test for the virus taken on day 10 of quarantine.

The booking portal for mandatory hotel quarantining went live on the Government website last week with the Tifco Hotel Group appointed as the service provider.

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Lachlan Murdoch has emerged from 14 days quarantine driving a sleek, dark-coloured Gran Turismo Maserati after he and his family arrived in Sydney from Los Angeles on March 14.

The man most likely to take over his father Rupert's global empire arrived by private jet two weeks ago with his wife Sarah and their three children, Aerin, Kalan and Aidan.

The family completed the mandatory quarantine period for international visitors by remaining confined to their luxury home in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Lachlan Murdoch checks for oncoming traffic as he leaves his eastern suburbs mansion

The mogul and his family are believed to be in Sydney to avoid the threat of COVID-19 in LA

The Murdochs appear to have joined the exclusive home quarantine club, which includes fellow mogul, Kerry Stokes, and celebrities such as Matt Damon and Miranda Kerr, who were granted exemptions from hotel quarantine to reside in private quarters.

New South Wales and Queensland authorities have previously said that such exemptions are only granted if 'the alternative' met the same standards as quarantine hotels.

The cost of quarantining at home is at least $100,000 - but can be as high as $500,000.

The reasons for the presence of Rupert Murdoch's eldest son and his family in Australia are unclear, though it is believed they have escaped the continuing COVID-19 crisis in their usual residence of Los Angeles, where new daily cases still number over 500 a day.

The Murdochs bought the beautiful Georgian mansion in Sydney's Bellevue Hill in 2009 for $23 million and then reportedly spent $11.67 million renovating the property.

They also purchased an adjoining property for more $4.4 million in 2018. In the current Sydney market, the estate would be worth closer to $50 million.

Despite their life in Los Angeles, where Lachlan is Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, he and wife Sarah have always maintained the home in Sydney, where they first met in the late 1990s before marrying in 1999.

The Murdochs purchased Le Manoir mansion in Bellevue Hills for $23 million in 2009

Lachlan met wife Sarah in Sydney in the late 1990s before their marriage in 1999

It's not known how long the couple and their children plan to stay in Australia, though a large 90th birthday for patriarch Rupert is said to be planned for July this year in California.

The Murdochs own grand mansions in both Sydney and Los Angeles. In December 2019 it was reported that Lachlan was the purchaser of 1930s French neoclassical-style chateau 'Chartwell' in Los Angeles, also known as the 'Beverley Hillbillies mansion.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 09:30:23|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The value of Australia's resources and energy exports are expected to hit a record high in financial year 2020/21, government data showed.

According to projections released by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources on Monday, export earnings will hit a record-high of 296 billion Australian dollars (226 billion U.S. dollars) in the financial year 2020/21 on account of high international demand for iron ore, lithium, nickel and copper.

The department projects that the value of iron ore exports will grow to a record high of 136 billion Australian dollars (103.8 billion U.S. dollars) - up from the 123 billion Australian dollars (93.9 billion U.S. dollars) forecast in December.

However, it noted that any delay in the global rollout of coronavirus vaccines could affect the predicted recovery in trade from the pandemic.

"The increasing demand for Australian commodities has allowed export earnings to overcome challenging conditions for the benefit of the Australian economy and Australian jobs," Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said in a press release.

"The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines presents an opportunity to bring the pandemic under control and boost global economic activity and further demand for Australian commodities."

The data projected that exports would contract by 3 percent to 288 billion Australian dollars (219.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021/22 and would remain stable through to 2025/26.

Metallurgical coal exports are expected to rise from a 2021/21 low of 173 million tonnes to 191 million tonnes - or 31 billion Australian dollars (23.6 billion U.S. dollars) - by 2025/26. Enditem
BAY CITY, MI - Bay Citys government has been in the hands of many different leaders throughout the years.

However, this years batch of leaders at the helm is made up of the most women that Bay City Mayor Kathleen Newsham has seen since she took office for the first time as a commissioner in 1991.

This commission - this is the most women that weve ever had, she said.

At this time, there are four female commissioners out of the nine available seats.

Kristen McDonald Rivet oversees the 2nd Ward and Kathleen Zanotti has the 3rd Ward seat. Meanwhile, Rachelle Hilliker is seated in the 5th Ward chair while Kerice Basmadjian oversees the 7th Ward.

As for as the administrative side of things, City Manager Dana Muscott has held her role since 2017 in Bay City.

Newsham said that the current commission is made up of a great and respectful mixture of individuals.

This commission too, everyone is respectful of each others opinion. Thats a great thing too to have -- that mixture of men and womens voices being heard, she said.

To celebrate Womens History Month, MLive-The Bay City Times reached out to the women in leadership roles Bay Citys government.

Newsham, Muscott, Basmadjian, and Rivet responded to give a snapshot of what its like being a female leader in local government. Note: some responses have been edited for length.

MLive: Tell us a bit about your background - your career, education, how you got to your role in Bay City, positions held, etc.

Mayor Kathleen Newsham: I graduated from West Catholic Central here in Bay City in 1971 and I went to nursing school for a year and that didnt pan out like I would have hoped, I wasnt cut out to do that for the rest of my life. Many, many years ago, I was encouraged by a former commissioner to become involved and he kind of pushed me into it. The more I talked to people and the more I learned about it, I thought, You know, that would be a great way to giveback to the residents, to the community that I was a part of. I sat down with my husband and my three boys and they were encouraging and suggested strongly that I give it a whirl. And at that time I ran against an incumbent, it was another woman and I won by just ten votes and we didnt know until the day following the election because the city clerks office had a different number from the county clerks office.

I was elected in 1991 as a city commissioner and in 97 as mayor, I had two terms as mayor then I was city commissioner again for four years because no one was running. Then I took my time off and I got elected for my first four-year term and now this last election is a five year term.

Whenever theres been classes offered for anything involved with the government once I got elected Ive always tried to take those classes, its always best to better yourself for the residents and be up on how the latest things, Freedom of Information Act and what you can do and what you cant do, just things of that nature.

City Manager Dana Muscott: I started in local government 32 years ago at Saginaw Charter Township and I started out in the clerks office there. And then 21 years ago, I came to Bay City to be the city clerk and then quickly after that, about a couple years after that, I took the role on as deputy city manager for administrative services along with the city clerk position. So I was always in that deputy role most of my career in Bay City.

Then throughout the years as it went by we had managers come and go and I would be interim manager while they were searching for other managers. During that time, I took a certified public manager class at Saginaw Valley and became really interested in the management side of running a municipality. So the time was right, this last time I applied four years ago was a time in my life when my kids were grown, they were off on their own, and it was just timing that took place where I could dedicate a lot of my time to my career.

7th Ward City Commissioner Kerice Basmadjian: I moved to Bay City in 1987 when I was 15. Graduated from Handy High School in 1990. I have a daughter (whos almost 25 now!) but I spent a ton of time volunteering in her schools when she was young. I didnt go to college until I was about 35, but graduated from SVSU with a major in History and double minor in Political Science and Religious Studies. It was because of friendships that I developed in college that led me to my path of City Commissioner. I am currently in the 3rd year of my second term. I have held the office of both Vice President and President of the Commission. I am a Commission liaison for the Planning Commission and the Midland Street Management Board. I also sit on the Gateway Neighborhood Beautification Committee and I am also the Commission representative for the Bay Future Executive Board.

2nd Ward City Commissioner Kristen McDonald Rivet: I spent the bulk of my career working in the public policy realm. I was particularly focusing on improving outcomes in neighborhoods and for children and families. Earlier in my career, I helped design and launch the Great Start which is the early childhood education system for the state of Michigan. Ive spent a good amount of my time working on neighborhood revitalization, thinking about how to improve education in our schools and a lot of that was done in the city of Detroit, I also have worked in other communities around the state.

So I decided to run for the city commission two years ago because I really saw an opportunity to help my neighbors in my community and to be able to apply the life experience and the work that Ive had right here in my own neighborhood. We have lots of challenges and our residents often feel like their government isnt working for them, whether thats at the local, state or federal level, you feel it when you talk to people, they just dont feel like their government works for them and I wanted to lean in and see if I could help.

Q: With it being Womens History Month, whats it like being a woman in a governmental leadership role?

Newsham: Its very unique to say the least. So back in those days, Id go to seminars and municipal league events and you would see a lot of women but Id find out that they were wives of a commissioner  there werent a lot of women even back in 1991 who were involved.

I think that as time has passed youre seeing more and more women. Women are like what Hillary Clinton always said, breaking that ceiling and were getting our voices. Even though weve always had them now theyre more respected and theyre heard by everyone. I was fortunate because I had eight other commissioners who were there to help me when I first began this process and were still friends to this day. I was very lucky because I know that a lot of women didnt have that opportunity.

Im very honored to be in the position Im in currently because I love this community, Ive been blessed by this community and my whole reason for running back in 1991 was to give back. So I am fortunate in that regard that I am able to do all the things that I wanted to do as far as giving back where not everyone can say that. I am truly blessed by Bay City. I really do love this city.

Muscott: I can tell you that its a pretty awesome position to be in and for a couple different reasons. In city manager positions across the united states and particularly here in Michigan, there are not a lot of women that sit in those positions. It is a typical male dominated world for city management. The Michigan Municipal League has taken an initiative on to get more women involved in city government, and so time to time I do classes with them to reach out to women leaders that are in municipalities, it can be like a parks director it can be somebody working in the DPW office and we start to teach them on how to managers and bring them up through the ranks. I think its really an exciting time because I think women are starting to be more recognized as being leaders in their area.

Basmadjian: I have always felt very supported in my role as City Commissioner. The last few years especially have been exciting to see the changes in the dynamic of our Commission. I love seeing younger people getting involved and with three women in the Commission, as well as our female mayor and city manager we are well represented. And hopefully seeing women succeeding in these roles will make other women more comfortable traveling this path.

Rivet: I would say gender really does shape your leadership experience. I really believe that people expect different things from women leaders in our community. We carry the responsibility of leading and governing of course but also we carry the responsibility of holding the door for other women to come after us. We really are fortunate to have a lot of strong female leaders in our community but we have a long way to go. Its been decades since weve had a women represent us in the state legislature, decades. This is the first cycle in a really long time that weve seen a woman on the county board. So we have these great strong leaders but we also dont have enough of them, and as a woman in a leadership role in the city, I take very seriously my obligation to make sure that there are women who are coming alongside me and have the ability to come in after me so we can get more women into leadership roles here.

Q: What are some of the best parts or positives of your job? What are some of the challenges?

Newsham: Some of the best parts of course always involve the kids at the schools. I go to Kolb quite often, so I always like to go into the next two classes that I know I had the same kids two years ago, so I go to their classes and I pop in to see them and theyre always so happy to see me come in. So that makes me feel great and they remember the stories that I read to them. A lot of them have more questions, the questions are always a hoot, like theyll ask me where my mansion is or if I have someone that picks me up in a limo.

Then I like to do tours, we always do the second-grade class from All Saints but the last two years we havent been able to do that, but we do the clock tower and we go in my office and, of course, they go in the Chamber and they all get their pictures taken at the commissioners seats and stuff. The parents I think have as just as much fun as the kids, so hopefully next year we can start doing that next year again.

I guess the biggest challenges has been the bridge project. Trying to find ways to take care of that problem long term and to save the residents from continually putting money back into the bridges because the state never wanted to take them over. We spent a lot of time working on different ways to solve that problem to no avail. I think weve come to the best possible scenario with United Bridge Partners, theyre very involved with the community.

So much work has been put into the whole bridge project  sometimes I think that the residents though that we just did it because it was a quick answer. Well, if it was quick it would have been done many years ago.

Muscott: The best part of my role I think is helping our residents and our businesses. Thats always been very rewarding to me when I can help somebody with an issue that they have, whether it be with a neighbor, whether it be with their streets or whether it be just getting their trash picked up, its something thats pretty rewarding when you can actually help these people when theyve gotten to the end and there is no help. Thats always been my thing, I think that is so rewarding when someone walks away from city hall with a solution that works for all of us.

Some of the challenges I think is social media  I think that sometimes when things get put out into social media, and we have to go on the defensive to correct that because things just simply arent true, I get discouraged sometimes because I think somethings that are put out on social media just put the city in a bad light and I think we have a great city and a lot of people embrace the good things that we have going on in Bay City. But I just feel that sometimes some of the negative things that are posted, its really hard to overcome that because it becomes viral, or people believe things that are out there that just were not fact checked.

Basmadjian: The best part of my job is when I can help a constituent successfully navigate and resolve an issue they are having. In the big scheme of this, that is the real reason Im here, to represent the citizens in the 7th Ward and the City. So, when I can help its very satisfying.

Rivet: What I really love about it is you get to work directly with your neighbors and youre working on issues that impact their day to day. It doesnt feel like something thats far away, its really right here, standing in your neighbors driveway talking to them about whats happening and how city government can work better for them. Most of what we do on the city commission isnt attention grabbing  were working out problems with garbage, were talking about snow removal. But the cool thing is that we also get to be a part of the really important stuff to the community like the sidewalk cafe that kept our restaurants and businesses open during the COVID shutdowns, thats the kind of work thats really rewarding.

The challenging and hard part is the lack of resources. Our residents dont always understand how extremely limited the city budget is, weve been hit really hard over the last couple of decades by significant budget cuts that have come from the state of Michigan, like revenue sharing has really created a big whole in our budget. The failure to deal with massive infrastructure problems  a really good example of that is the roads, everybody is concerned about the state of our roads but the cost of doing a road is astronomical compare to what people think it is. Theres been so much deferred maintenance for so long and so many pieces of our infrastructure, Im talking about 30, 40 years of that, that trying to problem solve for the really big issues is really hard. Were talking about costs that run in the 100s of millions of dollars and it makes it really hard to tackle the big stuff.

Q: What would you say/ what advice would you give to girls or young women about pursuing a career in government/leadership roles?

Newsham: I would strongly urge young women to consider this. Theres always that door that will be open for them, especially in todays world. Theres more and more women in elected positions from the federal level down to local politics, and by the time these young girls get to be in their early 20s or even younger theres going to be more opportunities than I ever imagined back in 1991. So, you always have to dream big. You have to always want to maintain the highest level that youre comfortable with and you always have to have that dream of what you want to accomplish, be it in leadership roles, be it in the government, be it in life, thats whats the most important thing. And always be true to yourself, dont ever deviate from your beliefs because that can open a whole can of worms.

Muscott: I say if you are dreaming about doing that then you need to do it. I think no dream is too small to follow and accomplish. I think if you have the passion and the drive in you then you need to follow that drive and focus on what the end goal is and get there.

Basmadjian: As for advice, I would recommend getting involved in any way possible. Attending Commission meetings, engaging with your Commissioner, asking questions of City staff. There are generally openings on most of our Boards that represent different city services. Most importantly, dont worry that youre not qualified or dont have the right background. When I ran first ran I had absolutely no experience in City government, I come from a hospitality background. I was a server at Red Lobster for 15 years. I felt that I could have an impact on my city, so I just went for it. Ive learned so much over the years and Im still constantly learning new things. Its been a wild ride and I am always looking forward to whats next.

Rivet: The first thing that I would say is know what matters to you personally. Hold your own sense of purpose, and embrace your obligation to make your community strong. I have four daughters and what I tell them is that the world needs them to put their chin up and their shoulders back and speak their voice to make things better. Its an obligation and never let anyone tell you that you dont belong in a room.

5 Women continue to lead throughout Bay City government

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(CNN)  The Ever Given container ship has been dislodged and is now floating, after blocking the Suez Canal for almost a week, authorities said Monday.

Tug boats had spent several hours on Monday working to free the bow of the massive vessel after dislodging the stern earlier in the day.

Marine traffic websites showed images of the ship away from the banks of the Suez Canal for the first time in seven days following an around-the-clock international effort to reopen the global shipping lane.

The successful refloating was met with triumph and relief, as hundreds of vessels that have been trapped since last Tuesday prepare to restart their journeys.

"We pulled it off!" Boskalis, a salvage company which helped with the operation, said in a statement Monday.

"Boskalis announces the successful salvage operation of the grounded 20,000 TEU container vessel Ever Given in the Suez Canal," the firm said, adding: "With a length of 400 meters and a width of nearly 60 meters, this giant ship had been wedged in this vital shipping route since 23 March 2021 blocking all shipping traffic."

The ship is now being towed towards Egypt's Great Bitter Lake, where it will undergo an inspection, the head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie said, according to state-run Al Ahram newspaper. The vessel's charter company will decide on the next steps once that has been carried out.

"The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service. Once the inspection is finalized, decisions will be made regarding arrangements for cargo currently on board," charter company Evergreen said.

The ship was refloated at 3pm Egypt Standard Time on Monday (9a ET), according to Evergreen.

Marine traffic websites show the ship moving at a speed of 1.5 knots towards the lake.

The rescue operation had intensified in both urgency and global attention with each day that passed, as ships from around the world, carrying vital fuel and cargo, were blocked from entering the canal during the crisis, raising alarm over the impact on global supply chains.

Promising signs first emerged earlier on Monday when the rear of the vessel was freed from one of the canal's banks.

"The container ship began to float successfully after responding to the pulling maneuvers," said Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), in a phone interview with state TV. "Once the ship is withdrawn, we will resume navigation directly, and we will take it to the Bitter Lakes."

People at the canal cheered as news of Monday's progress came in.

"Thank God the ship has floated," one person could be heard saying in a video, as the surrounding boats blew their horns in celebration. "God is great. The ship has floated."

Journeys will soon recommence

Ships that have been stranded in the Suez Canal will restart their journeys after the Ever Given anchors in the Great Bitter Lake, a Suez Canal Official told CNN on Monday.

"As soon as the ship reaches the waiting place in the Bitter Lakes ... the 43 ships waiting in the Bitter Lakes will begin to move south towards the Gulf of Suez," the source said.

The ships will be traveling in convoys northbound and southbound of the Suez Canal, as the Ever Given stands by for inspections.

The average number of ships that transited through the canal on a daily basis before the accident was between 80 to 90 ships, according to Lloyds List; however, the head of the Suez Canal Authority said that the channel will work over 24 hours a day to facilitate the passage of almost 400 ships carrying billions of dollars in freight.

The journey to cross the canal takes 10 to 12 hours and in the event the channel operates for 24 hours, two convoys per day will be able to successfully pass through.

Still, shipping giant Maersk issued an advisory telling customers it could take "6 days or more" for the line to clear. The company said that was an estimate and subject to change as more vessels reach the blockage or are diverted.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Ever Given ship freed in the Suez Canal, authority confirms"
Minister of Agriculture el Sayyed el Qasir conferred on Friday with his Burundian counterpart Deo Rurema on aspects to boost bilateral cooperation in the agricultural field.

Qasir asserted the Egyptian support to Burundi comes upon directives from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to support the African brethren in the different fields.

Qasir also lauded the strong historical relations binding Egypt and Burundi.

He expressed the readiness of the ministry to present the technical support needed for Burundi in the different fields including training, building capabilities and the applied agricultural researches.

Qasir asserted the readiness of the Agriculture Ministry to present support in the domain of veterinarian convoys, vaccines and genetic researches.

He asserted the Egyptian readiness to establish joint farm in Burundi like the one established in the other African states so that it can be an easy way to transfer the Egyptian expertise in the field of agriculture.

Meanwhile, Rurema lauded the bilateral ties binding Egypt and Burundi and the efforts of the Egyptian Agriculture Ministry in view of the vast expertise Egypt enjoys in the agricultural sector.

The two ministers agreed on forming a working group to follow up on what has been agreed upon during their meetings. An invitation has been extended to an Egyptian agricultural delegation to visit Burundi to get briefed on their needs in the fields of water management, modern technologies and others.
Defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin listen as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over pre-trial motions prior to opening statements (Court TV via AP, Pool)

Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd when he arrested him last May, a prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement at Chauvin's murder trial.

Jerry Blackwell, a prosecutor with the Minnesota attorney general's office, told jurors that officers who wear the Minneapolis police badge pledge to never use "unnecessary force or violence."

"You will learn that on May 25, Mr. Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of George Floyd," Blackwell said.

He displayed a still image from a bystander's cellphone video of Chauvin, who his white, with his knee on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, saying it showed Chauvin "grinding and crushing him until the very breath no, ladies and gentlemen, the very life was squeezed out of him."

Floyd's death ignited a global protest movement and over the preceding two weeks of jury selection, many jurors told Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill and the lawyers on each side that they recognized the scrutiny their deliberations would come under, not least by those who view the trial as a reckoning for how Black people are policed in the United States.

Read More

"It's been a long time coming," a gospel choir sang on Sunday evening at a prayer service attended by Floyd's relatives. "But I know a change is gonna come."

The service was held in a church a few blocks east of the deadly arrest.

Philonise Floyd, a brother of George Floyd, said before the service began that he had faith that prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general's office would see Chauvin convicted.

"The video is the proof," he said.

Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with his lawyers arguing that he followed his training and that the main cause of Floyd's death, which the county examiner ruled a homicide, was a drug overdose. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.

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The courtroom in a tower in downtown Minneapolis was ringed with concrete barriers, barbed wire and soldiers from the state's National Guard. For blocks around, businesses are closed and windows boarded up, fearing a repeat of the arson and other property damage that occurred after Floyd's death.

Less than three miles away, residents maintain a vigil at the intersection where Chauvin kept his knee on a handcuffed Floyd's neck for about 9 minutes as Floyd uses his final breaths to plead for his life. Chauvin and three other officers were arresting Floyd on suspicion of passing a fake $20 bill at the Cup Foods grocery store nearby.

Four sets of barricades block police from coming to the intersection, now called George Floyd Square, which is filled with flowers, posters, murals and other tributes to Floyd.

The jury, including three alternates, is made up of six white women, three white men, three Black men, one Black woman and two multiracial women, according to court records.

"I'm thankful that it is a diverse jury," Paris Stevens, a cousin of Floyd who works as a nurse in North Carolina, said in a telephone interview. "I'm very anxious because you don't know what's going to happen, but I'm just glad that this process is starting."

She and other relatives have been told by the court they must take turns in using a single chair reserved for Floyd's family in the courtroom, which has been kitted out with plexiglass screens, hand-sanitizer stations and other anti-coronavirus measures.

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Chauvin has also been allocated a single chair for his supporters, which has not been used by anyone since the trial began with jury selection on March 8 except for the occasional sheriff's deputy overseeing security wanting to take the weight off his feet.

Legal experts have noted that U.S. police officers have almost never been found criminally liable for killing a citizen. Chauvin's lawyers have said they will try to convince the jury that the fentanyl, an opioid painkiller, found in Floyd's blood by the medical examiner played a bigger role in killing Floyd than the officer's restraint.

Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist who joined the Floyd family at Sunday's service, echoed prosecutors in calling this an "attempt to smear his name."

On Monday morning outside the courthouse, Sharpton, Floyd's relatives and local activists silently got down on one knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in a tribute to Floyd.

Tiffany Jeffers, a former Maryland prosecutor and a Georgetown law professor, said she saw the defense's case as an uphill battle in part because of the widely seen video. All members of the jury have said they already saw at least snippets of it.

"This video is just so powerful," Jeffers said.
The Khomas Regional Council's Windhoek West Constituency Office recently donated equipment and materials to the value of N$150,000 to entrepreneurs as assistance and support for the growth of income-generating activities in the Khomas region.

The donation came as part of the Income Generating Activities programme. The beneficiaries received materials or equipment such as the embroidery, industrial sewing, ice cream maker-mixer, drilling and welding machines, as well as the chest freezer, digital camera, stainless steel ladders, metal tool box with drawers, professional umbrella and daylight lamps for art studio drawing and painting.

Additionally, the beneficiaries received dining chairs with tables and many other items that aim at sustainable employment-creation in the constituency.

The projects supported include welding, tailoring, catering, salon, arts and craft studio that promote entrepreneurship, self-employment and at the same time boosting employment to others.

Khomas Regional Council's Acting Director of Development Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Fankline Chilinda (Second from left) is with the beneficiaries, Lazarus Classen, (First from left), Beata Uugwange (Third from left) and Samuel Matengu (First from right) at the recent handing over of equipment in the Windhoek West Constituency. (Photograph by David Adetona).
Long-time Channel Nine Melbourne newsreader Peter Hitchener was unable to finish his bulletin on Monday night and was replaced after appearing to have difficulty reading his teleprompter.

A Nine spokesperson told The Age Hitchener experienced a migraine and is now resting.

Longtime Nine newsreader Peter Hitchener experienced a migraine during Mondays nights bulletin.

The spokesperson said Nine expected Hitchener would be well enough to be back on air on Tuesday night.

Hitchener, a prolific social media user, assured supporters of his health less than an hour after he left the air telling his Instagram and Twitter followers he was feeling better already.
China-UAE vaccines cooperation new contribution to global COVID-19 fight: Chinese FM

Xinhua) 13:35, March 29, 2021

ABU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Sunday in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

The two top diplomats attended the virtual ceremony of the launching of a joint project between China and the UAE on Chinese vaccines filling production line.

Wang said that as China and the UAE jointly conducted the world's first international Phase III clinical trial of inactivated vaccines against COVID-19, it sets a record for a multi-national, large-scale clinical trial and promotes international recognition of the Chinese vaccines, which also makes important contributions to global fight against the epidemic.

The project marks a new stage of cooperation between China and the UAE in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Wang said that he was looking forward to the smooth and effective development of the project, and it was hoped that with the UAE as a platform, the Chinese vaccines could benefit people from more countries and regions, and make new contributions to building a global community of health for all.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah said the international Phase III clinical trial reflects the high mutual trust between the two countries, which was also fully recognized by the international community.

So far, more than 50,000 volunteers of over 120 nationalities have participated in the experiment and the result proved that the Chinese vaccine was safe and effective, and was being approved by the international community, he noted.

Sheikh Abdullah said that the UAE is willing to deepen cooperation with China on the COVID-19 vaccines and become a hub of vaccine production and transportation in the Gulf region by launching the vaccine filling project, so as to support more countries in fighting the epidemic.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was charged on Monday for the first time with sex trafficking of a minor, as federal prosecutors accused her of grooming a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual acts with Mr. Epstein and later paying her.

A new federal indictment filed in Manhattan charged that on multiple occasions between 2001 and 2004, the girl provided nude massages to Mr. Epstein at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate, during which he engaged in sex acts with her.

The new charges against Ms. Maxwell go further than those contained in an earlier indictment that accused her of helping Mr. Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse girls, but did not include sex trafficking allegations.

The new indictment says that after the girl provided Mr. Epstein with the massages, Ms. Maxwell or others who worked for him paid the girl hundreds of dollars in cash.
Israel's 4th election in two years failed once again to produce a clear winner, as the pro-Netanyahu group has the declared support of 52 members of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), while his opponents have 57 Knesset Members (KM). To form a government 61 members of the Knesset are needed. is clearly heading towards a period of paralysis and acrimony among the various parties, that may lead to a fifth election late in the summer.

The Israeli electoral representation system makes it almost impossible for a single party to win an election outright. Netanyahu's party Likud won 24.2 per cent of the vote and now has 30 Knesset Members (six less than before), while the centrist Yesh Atid, the main opposition party, won 13.9 per cent of the vote, having secured 17 seats in the Knesset.

The heterogeneous coalition of the anti-Netanyahu parties of Yesh Atid (17 seats), Kahol Lavan (8 seats), Yisrael Beiteinu (7 seats), Labor (7seats), New Hope (6 seats), Joint List (6 seats) and Meretz (6 seats) garner together 57 KMs and need another 4 to form a government. Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing, religious and Zionist allies control 52 KMs i.e. Likud (30 seats), Shas (9 seats) United Torah Judaism (7 seats) and Religious Zionism (6 seats), so they need the support of another 9 members of the Knesset.

Two parties- the right-wing Yamina party of Naftaly Bennet, which has elected 7 MKs and the United Arab List (Raam) of Mansur Abbas, which managed to elect 4 MKs, so far remain uncommitted and will be the kingmakers, as Netanyahu needs the support of both these parties to form a government, while his opponents need at least one of the two parties.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin this week will have consultations with all parties and eventually give the mandate to the candidate who has the highest probability of forming a government. Negotiations between the parties that will eventually succeed in forming a governing coalition usually take several weeks.

Many Israelis believe that the real reason why Netanyahu caused the March 23 election was to halt the criminal trial that will start on April 5. He is accused of getting gifts from millionaire friends and for giving regulatory favors for media tycoons in return for favorable coverage.

Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Liberman said he would advance a bill that will prevent a criminal defendant from forming a government. This will ensure that if a fifth election is held, Netanyahu will be barred from running.

The wily Netanyahu, in the hope of achieving a clear victory in the elections, reneged on all his campaign promises to Benny Gantz of the Kahol Lavan party and by failing to agree on the country's budget law, caused the collapse of his coalition government with Gantz. So he forced the holding a fourth election in two years. He expected that he would dissolve Kahol Lavan and win a lot of votes from the fact that by election day most adult Israelis were vaccinated against the coronavirus. Evidently, he failed, as Kahol Lavan succeeded in winning 8 seats and Israelis were not so impressed by the vaccination success.

Even if Naftali Bennet, the leader of the right-wing Yamina Party, joins the Netanyahu coalition, after hard bargaining and after securing the cabinet posts he wants, Netanyahu will still need the Arab KMs of Mansur Abbas. Abbas did not rule out the possibility of forging a coalition with the Netanyahu group, if he gets serious concessions from the embattled Netanyahu. This however would be anathema for the ultra-orthodox religious parties, which flatly refuse to sit in a government-supported by an Islamist party.

Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times says: "Whoever receives the invitation (to form a government) is expected to struggle to form a coalition. If Mr Netanyahu persuades Raam to join his coalition, he could lose the support of a far-right alliance already in his bloc. That alliance, Religious Zionism, said Thursday that it would refuse to serve in a government-supported by Raam. Similarly, Lapid may struggle to persuade two right-wing parties within his alliance to sit not just with Raam, but with another Arab group called the Joint List."

The coming weeks will be full of suspense as intensive negotiations among the various parties of the two coalitions will continue and Netanyahu will remain Acting Prime Minister while being on trial for criminal offenses. The paralysis of the Israeli government will continue for some weeks at least and for this Netanyahu is clearly responsible.

As Amos Harel wrote in Israeli newspaper Haaretz "it is Prime Minister who over the past two years has stalled the Israeli political system like the Egyptian ship that for several days now has been blocking busy ship traffic through the Suez Canal.

(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.)
Homeboyz Radio presenters Shaffie Weru and Dj Joe Mfalme were on Friday forced to apologise for remarks they made on-air regarding what happened to a woman who was thrown off a building after she said no to a man's sexual advances.

During their morning show, The Lift Off, the two together with Neville Musya and G-Money, discussed an incident in which Eunice Wangari Wakimbi, 20, was thrown off the 12th floor of Ambank House by a man she had met on Facebook.

In a clip that went viral on Thursday and has since been deleted, the hosts engaged their audiences by advising women on how they should play hard to get and occasionally be unavailable.

"Do you think Kenyan women, whether they are dating or not, are too available, too lose, too willing, or too desperate and is that the reason they get themselves in such situations?" Shaffie asks.

He continues to tell women to stop going out to drink with men whenever called upon. In the background, Neville can be heard laughing.

In their statements on Friday morning, Shaffie and Dj Joe issued almost similar apology statements to the victim, for uttering words that may have caused her harm.

"I realize and accept that my statements about the unfortunate incident that happened to Eunice were very insensitive and hurtful and could be interpreted by some as encouraging the already ongoing and unacceptable culture of violence against women and girls. I do not, have not and will never condone any form of violence against women and I will do my part to help put an end to it," read their statements in part.

The hosts' conversation centered on an ongoing case in which the woman narrated to a Nairobi court how her boyfriend, whom she met on Facebook, allegedly threw her from the 12th floor of Ambank House while they were drinking together on their first date.

She told Nairobi Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu that she had been invited by one Moses Gatama Njoroge and while drinking she rejected his sexual advances, angering him leading to a fight that saw her being thrown from a window on the 12th floor landing on the 9th floor balcony.

She suffered serious pelvic injuries and was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) where she was admitted for two months.

Njoroge was charged with one count of causing grievous bodily harm.

On Wednesday, Shaffie's former co-host at Kiss FM, Adele Onyango reacted to what they had said, saying that she was sending all her love to all sexual violence and abuse survivors. "I am sending all my love to survivors - every day we have to interact with people pushing the narrative that our NO isn't worthy, shouldn't be respected and should be met with violence and abuse. That is not true. You are not to blame."

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Bien Aime of Sauti Sol said the conversation being had in the studio was tasteless. "Why is this still on here? This conversation stinks. This is not the way brothers. Victim shaming is as stupid as the act itself. Do better."

This is not the first time Homeboyz Radio presenters are apologizing for victim shaming.

In 2019, the Radio station pulled a show and suspended Didge who had made fun of the macabre murder of medical student Ivy Wangechi.

Didge, a presenter on the then-popular show, Mtaani, is said to have made jokes and puns about the murder that happened as his co-presenters laughed.

In his remarks, Didge told girls to be mindful of the person they are dating because that is how they might die.

Ivy Wangechi was killed inside Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret where she was doing her final exams.

The suspect, Naftali Njahi Kinuthia, is said to have hit her with an ax before slitting the throat with a sword.

In a lengthy post on Instagram moments after his suspension, Didge said he regrets his utterances after realising his mistake and apologised to his fans and the public who might have been hurt by his comments.
Christian and conservative leaders reacted with dismay after Lil Nas X, the artist behind "Old Town Road, announced he is collaborating with the streetwear company MSCHF on a pair of "Satan Shoes that contain a drop of human blood in the sole.

The shoes, apparently modified Nike Air Max 97s  are decorated with a pentagram pendant and a reference to Luke 10:18: And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

The sneakers also contain a drop of human blood in the sole, drawn from members of the MSCHF team. A total of 666 pairs  a number widely recognized symbols for the devil  went up for sale Monday at the price of $1,018.

The release of the Satan Shoes coincides with Lil Nas X's latest single, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," and its accompanying music video. In the video, Lil Nas X descends down a stripper pole and gives Satan a lap dance.

Source:The Christian Post
The giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal has been at least partially refloated, the first step toward getting one of the worlds most important trade arteries moving again.

The Ever Given was successfully refloated at about 4:30 a.m. local time in Egypt and the vessel is currently being secured, maritime services provider Inchcape Shipping Services said in an email. It followed a new attempt to dislodge the ship involving 10 tug boats, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

There was no immediate clarity on the crucial question of when traffic in the canal will restart. The ship has a damaged hull and its not clear how soon it will be able to clear the way for other vessels to pass.

Ever Given--which is longer than the canal is wide and was wedged across the waterway--has been stuck since Tuesday, causing a backlog of hundreds of ships and snarling global supply lines that were already under pressure. Salvage teams used tugs and dredgers to extract the ships bow from the sandy bank where it was lodged at least five meters in.





ALSO READ: Insurance companies on hook for millions tied to Suez Canal crisis

Once the vessel has been cleared, authorities will work to allow traffic to resume through the canal thats a conduit for about 12% of world trade. At last count, 450 vessels were stuck, waiting or headed to the waterway. Others have diverted to the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.

The Suez Canal Authority released footage on Sunday showing workers fighting to free the #EverGiven by removing part of the canal's bank.



Shipping experts still anticipate already-stretched ocean freight markets will see even more tightness over the coming months because of disrupted schedules and the uneven wave of cargo that will hit ports down the line.

The dominoes have been toppled, Lars Jensen, chief executive of SeaIntelligence Consulting in Copenhagen, wrote on social media over the weekend. The delays and re-routing which have already happened will cause ripple effects on both vessels and empty equipment which will be felt for several months.

Companies from Ikea to Caterpillar Inc. have been affected by the snarl-up and thousands of live animals are stuck on ships in the area. Consumer goods, industrial inputs, and commodities from oil to coffee are caught up in the jam, with Asian exporters and European importers affected most directly.





ALSO READ: Suez Canal blockage: Traffic snarl is making shipping costs skyrocket

A rough estimate shows the blockage is costing about $400 million an hour, based on calculations from Lloyds List that suggest westbound traffic is worth around $5.1 billion a day and eastbound traffic is approximately $4.5 billion.

The accident--which happened as the giant vessel tried to navigate the canal with high winds and poor visibility--is another reminder of the fragility of global supply chains that have already been tested by the pandemic. The container industry was already suffering a supply crunch for the truck-size boxes that are now crucial to trade -- and operating at full capacity.

The investigation into what went wrong as the Ever Given tried to navigate the narrow waterway continues, as well as the untangling of liabilities and insurance claims

(With assistance from Brendan Murray, Alex Longley, Abdel Latif Wahba and Dan Murtaugh.)
A woman was able to flee her crashed car west of Melbourne before a commuter train ran into it, shutting down services and closing the road.

A regional Victorian commuter train has clipped a car left on tracks after a crash west of Melbourne.

A truck, driven by an allegedly drug-affected man, crashed into the white Hyundai sedan at Hopkins Road, Truganina on Monday morning.

The woman was driving this white Hyundai when a truck crashed into her and pushing her car onto the train tracks

It pushed the car onto the tracks, although the uninjured driver was able to exit her vehicle a few minutes before it was clipped by a V/Line train.

The car has been extensively damaged, with its front panel ripped off and windshield smashed.

The car driver, a 23-year-old Rockbank woman, was taken to hospital for observation, while the uninjured truck driver, a 42-year-old Maddingley man, later returned a positive drug test.

Police said the train driver and passengers on board were uninjured.

Train services between Southern Cross and Wendouree stations have been suspended and the road remains closed in both directions as level crossing signalling equipment is repaired.

Train services between Southern Cross and Wendouree stations have been suspended
Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times Talk Sen. Mazie Hirono Wonders How Some Republicans Live With Themselves

Even after being elected to the Senate in 2012, the Hawaii Democrat Mazie Hirono was, by her own choosing, a politician little known outside her home state. Then, around 2016 and the election of a particularly divisive president, Hirono, who was born in Japan and is the Senates only immigrant, decided that staying under the radar was unsustainable. She frequently made herself available to the national media. She publicly said President Trump was a misogynist and a liar and called for his resignation (as early as 2017, mind you). She unabashedly punctuated her comments with salty language. And it wasnt just her unexpected transition that raised her profile: Senator Hironos forceful questioning during the Kavanaugh and Barrett Supreme Court confirmation hearings, as well as, more recently, calling on President Biden to nominate more diverse people for senior positions in his administration, have also been central to her earning national stature. Its not the easiest thing for political people to speak candidly with the national media, says Senator Hirono, who is 73 and whose memoir, Heart of Fire, will be published on April 20. Im not doing it for effect. I dont go out there and spew things. Ive thought things through.

The Senate is supposed to be the worlds greatest deliberative body, and instead its where so much legislation goes to die. Do you feel that its broken? What I see in the Senate is how important one person is. That person on the Republican side is Mitch McConnell. There are very pragmatic reasons that he holds his caucus together: He is the money person. The Republican senators having tough races, they go to him, and he provides resources. If Mitch McConnell said, OK, were going to work with the Democrats, it would happen  even if there would be holdouts like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley and Tommy Tuberville and that handful of people who  I dont know who they think theyre representing except themselves. Mitch McConnell is a guy who single-handedly made the Supreme Court an eight-person court. Whoever heard of such a thing? And he got away with it. When one person has outsize influence like Mitch McConnell, we need to figure out ways to deal with it, and one way is filibuster reform. It could be totally removing the filibuster. I dont think a lot of my colleagues are there.

Senator Mazie Hirono, then a state legislator, at a committee hearing in Honolulu around 1993. From Senator Mazie Hirono

I dont think anyone doubts that McConnell and the Republican caucus would, if it were in their best interest, eliminate the filibuster. But there are questions about the Democrats resolve in that regard. Are those questions warranted? I think the Democrats have been much more concerned about the process. We actually care about the fairness of it all. Then you have another party that just wants power. I would say that is a fair assessment. Not every Republican is that bad, but Ill tell you, they pretty much toe the line. As we try to enact legislation that weve been talking about supporting, and that the House is going to keep sending over to us, there will be a growing recognition that we cant just go, Oh, well, the process is so important. The process cannot overtake the substance of results that we need to have.

What does it mean to say both that Democrats believe in process and also that process cant overtake what the party is trying to achieve? I never thought that the ends should justify the means. You know fairness when you see it. Like you know art when you see it. We still need to be fair, and therefore the talking filibuster, if we go there, would apply to everybody; there might come a time when the Democrats are in the minority, and that would apply to us. Limitations or changes in the process should apply to everyone. That strikes me as fair.

Hirono at her congressional campaign headquarters in Honolulu in 2006. Marco Garcia/Associated Press

What, if any, pressure is being exerted to move the Democratic senators hesitant about eliminating the filibuster  like Manchin and Sinema  in the direction that you think the party needs them to go? While were going to have differences, the bottom line is that the Democrats want to do things that help people as opposed to just trying to help the richest and most powerful. And for Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, as we try to get bipartisan legislation and it continues to be stymied, slow-walked or watered down to such an extent that its not tenable for us to support anymore, the realization will sink in that were going to need to take dramatic steps in order to pass legislation that Joe Biden wants and that we support.

Senator Manchin is mentioned in your book. Its after Al Franken has said hes resigning, and Manchin gives you a hard time for going to his resignation speech after you said he should step down  without realizing that Frankens office had given you the OK to be there. What was your intention in including that scene? The whole thing was painful. Al Franken, I really liked him. But this unacceptable behavior on the part of people with power  I and so many others are sick of it. So anyway, I mentioned Joe because he was the only one who said, What a bunch of hypocrites you are to show up after you forced him to resign. No, we did not force him to resign. He made that decision. I think that he made the right decision, although he has since said that he didnt. But I like Joe. He sits in front of me. I said to him during the long period, Do you think it should have taken 11 hours for your concerns to be resolved? He said he thought he had made it plain to our leadership that he didnt want to extend unemployment insurance benefits longer than July. He had his perspective.

Should Governor Cuomo resign? These kinds of allegations should be investigated. That certainly didnt happen in the Kavanaugh case, by the way. The sham FBI investigation was so limited in its scope that Dr. Blasey wasnt questioned, and other people who could have corroborated the allegations were never questioned.

You wrote in your book about a meeting you had with Dr. Blasey in Hawaii after Kavanaughs confirmation. She wanted to thank you for saying you believed her allegations. What else did she say about how that situation played out? She said it was bad enough when he was a federal judge and she was hoping, hoping, hoping that he would not be nominated to the Supreme Court. But when that did happen she had to come forward. She said she was prepared: She knew that he was probably going to be confirmed but she still had to go through with it. She conducted herself with such grace. It was such a contrast to Kavanaugh, who is just a political operative. In my view hes not a very good lawyer. Ive gotten to know Merrick Garland a little bit, and he told me he was watching the Kavanaugh hearings. Merrick Garland is not somebody who says anything bad about anybody, but the Garza case  when Kavanaugh said that was a parental-consent case, did you almost fall off your chair, as I did?

Garland said that to you about the Garza case? No, I said that to Garland. He just kind of looked at me like, Yeah. I knew that he was astounded.

Hirono with Joe Biden, then the vice president, in 2013. Joshua Roberts/Reuters

In your eyes, did the way that the Justice Kavanaugh and Barrett confirmations were rammed through hurt the legitimacy of the Supreme Court? The Supreme Court has become ideologically far to the right. So youre going to see 6-3 decisions along ideological lines, and that is not good for our country. Its not good for all the circuit courts and district courts. Its going to lead to a lot more cases being brought to the Supreme Court by right-wing groups. Janus was a case in point.

Wouldnt the left be doing the same things if Democrats had appointed the last three Supreme Court justices? I get that kind of argument often. I expect the Supreme Court to actually expand peoples individual rights and freedoms. I dont expect the Supreme Court to be constraining voting rights and a womans right to choose. I expect the Supreme Court to be protective of minority rights, and that is not where this Court is. So this is not an equivalency. I dont mind conservatives on the Court. I mean, of the three new ones Gorsuch is pretty conservative, but hes a literal person: If it says so right there in black and white, then hell go with it. Sometimes it results in really stupid decisions, in my view. If the law was there to protect people from falling through a round hole and a person fell through a square hole  too bad for you. Hes smart enough to know thats a ridiculous posture.

When you questioned Barrett at her appeals-court nomination hearing, it seemed as if you were trying to figure out how her Catholicism might influence her rulings. That avenue of questioning made some people uncomfortable. Wheres the line with religious questions for judicial nominees? It wasnt her Catholicism. It was her position. She was a co-author of an expansive law-review article talking about how judges should decide death-penalty cases. It was an area of inquiry, but her Catholicism  frankly, Im a Buddhist. Im not even a daily-practicing Buddhist because I find all religion to be very  Buddhism accepts other religions more so than many other religions I can think of. So it wasnt that she was a Catholic, but that theres supposed to be this thing called separation of church and state, which is becoming blurred. Her religion, I didnt care. What I care about is the use of religion as basically trumping every other right. I was presiding over the Senate, and Senator Tuberville says something like we should bring morality back and God and prayer should come back into our schools. Im sitting there going, What? But that is the view of too many Republicans.

Hirono at the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020. Shawn Thew/Getty Images

You cut yourself off earlier. You find all religion to be very what? I find a lot of religion to have all of the proscriptions and not openness and acceptance of other peoples legitimately held faiths. That is why I describe myself as a Buddhist. Buddhism, we dont even have a book. It is a way of living and being, which is to be compassionate and kind. I think those are two good things to try to follow. Im not perfect in that. I can be very terse with people. Part of it is that I dont think many of my colleagues have dealt with short Japanese women. So here I come, and Im saying, [expletive] you to them, and they dont quite know how to react.

Can you think of an example? Ted Cruz. I was his ranking on his Constitution subcommittee and we had a number of these hearings; not very many of my Democratic colleagues would come. A reporter asked me why and I said they have better things to do than to come to these half-assed hearings. There was one in which all these Republicans who showed up went over their five minutes, and it got me kind of irritated. I said to Cruz, Are you going to let everybody go eight minutes, nine minutes? And he said, When you get the gavel, you can do whatever you want. I put my hand on his shoulder  this was pre-Covid  and I said, It cant happen soon enough. At that same hearing  we had a break so the mics were not on; its not like Im saying this in an open hearing  he said, Look, its not my fault that your people are not here. I said, I dont give a flying [expletive] what your reasoning is. He stopped and said, I will always treat you with decorum, even if its not reciprocated. I said, I wasnt swearing at you.

Lately theres been a real rise in anti-Asian racism and violence. What steps need to be taken to stop it? Racism is never far below the surface in our country. The Chinese Exclusion Act, the internment of Japanese-Americans, the Muslim ban. By now this kind of overt racism is frowned upon to say the least, but President Trump brought it to the surface, calling the virus the China virus. We have an environment now where random acts of violence against Asian-Americans happen way too often. We need to prosecute these people. There are a number of bills that some of us have introduced. But it helps that you have a president who says this is totally unacceptable and an attorney general who is on that page.

Is there something distinct about how we understand anti-Asian racism as opposed to anti-Black or anti-Muslim racism? Well, were very identifiable as Asian, and it is very clear that we all look alike to people who think that we are the other. The systemic racism against Blacks in our country has been ongoing. Thats a huge issue. The racism against Asians comes up in certain instances, like World War II, but weve always been the other. Were probably not as threatening to whites as Blacks are. Maybe thats one distinction.

There is the model-minority myth. And we all know thats a myth! But were not as threatening maybe, and when you raise that, in a way its easier to target a minority group like Asians. But this is the U.S. of A., and people who do this kind of thing should be prosecuted to the ultimate.

Im curious about interpersonal relationships in the Senate after Jan. 6 and also in the light of continued threats of violence at the Capitol. Have things changed  on a human level  with you and your Republican colleagues since then? It is hard to talk with them in any other way than purely transactional. What am I going to say? How could you not condemn the incitement to insurrection? I often wonder how they wake up in the morning and face themselves, but they are obviously able to bifurcate. They act as if nothing happened. Thats the amazing thing. You have Cruz, Hawley and all these guys who continued to protest the counting of the electoral votes even after what we experienced. I dont know how they live with themselves. Then you have people like Lindsey Graham: When you enter the moral dead zone that is the Trump ambit, youve lost your soul. So I am pretty much just transactional with them. Some of them can be nice. But then when they vote en masse to screw people over, its hard to be all warm and fuzzy  and Im not a warm and fuzzy person to begin with.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity from two conversations.
Abuja  Hard drugs suspected to be cannabis as well as some arms carefully concealed in the ground in seven bags were discovered when the army, police and local vigilante group joined the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to raid some slums in Wuye District and Jabi over the weekend.

The action was to flush out criminals responsible the escalation of kidnapping in the FCT. Several suspects were arrested during the exercise.

The Director, Security Services FCTA, Adamu Gwary, said the raid was authorised following a report that criminals, constituting nuisance to the society, were hiding in the areas.

An army unit from the Presidential Brigade of Guards accompanied other security operatives when the FCTA Development and Control, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) and Abuja Parks and Recreation raided the slums in Jabi and DakiBiyu area of Wuye District of Abuja.

Some of the criminals opened fire upon sighting the security agent in Jabi.

Gwary said the arrested suspects had been handed over to the FCT Police Command for prosecution, while the seized cache of Indian Hemp had also been handed over as exhibit to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

He said: "We addressed the areas at the fringes of Jabi and Wuye District when we received a report. You can see the quantity of drugs uncovered during operation. We visited the shanties that are within the forest between Jabi and Wuye district, where such shanties were removed. Large quantity of weeds, found to be Indian hemp, was discovered. You can also see the way and manner at which such drugs were concealed in many bags. It presupposes that such shanties are not only covering the activities of the petty criminals but drug barons. The NDLEA, which the exhibits were handed over to, will weigh it and give their own reports, which will generally be put together and inform the administration."

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The director of security also addressed the problem of undeveloped plots of land and abandoned buildings used as cover for criminals in the territory. He said at a recent FCT security committee meeting, both the AMMC and Development Control as the city managers, were mandated to enumerate the property without further delay and take the necessary procedures against those who fail to develop or refuse to develop their allocated property.
MIAMI, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry leaders and top business executives from Europe, Asia, and the Americas are coming together to discuss the future of innovation and leadership in an exclusive certified executive program. The Aleph Speaker Series is hosted by Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education.

Aleph Holding is a global digital media partner, connecting businesses and brands to the leading digital players in over 60 markets worldwide. Throughout the series, Aleph will be unveiling its brand to the world, bringing together leaders from 47 countries worldwide to discuss diversity, geopolitics, disruption, innovation, leadership, robotics, and neurosciences.

"We are pleased to join Aleph in this program, bringing together a hand-picked selection of leading faculty to share expert research insights, proven tools, and skills, that will enable executives to develop and excel within their leadership skills and that of their organizations" explained Baba Shiv , Sanwa Bank Professor of Marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, who curated the program with top academic speakers.

"We all have the ability to create a new and improved tomorrow. The Aleph family of brands sits at the heart of the digital media world, creating connections that others cannot. It is therefore our responsibility to empower industry leaders in their quest for growth. It takes true initiative, unique ideas, and daring leaders to reach new horizons in both business and society. Our executive program brings all of this to the table" commented Gaston Taratuta, Aleph Founder and CEO.

The Aleph Speaker Series features a number of high skilled academics, including Margaret Neale , The Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emerita, at Stanford Graduate School of Business, on the topic of diversity; Larry Diamond , Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, discussing geopolitics in the Middle East; Ilya A. Strebulaev , The David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and Professor of Finance at Stanford GSB, breaking down the topic of disruption and corporate innovation; Jennifer Aaker , The General Atlantic Professor at Stanford GSB, offering a glimpse into a new kind of leadership; Niall Ferguson , the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at Hoover Institution, shedding light on social and political consequences of COVID 19; Paul Oyer , The Mary and Rankine Van Anda Entrepreneurial Professor and Professor of Economics at Stanford GSB, discussing robotics and automation; Jeff Hanc ock , The Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication and the founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab at Stanford University, discussing the future of trust and technology; and Professor Baba Shiv diving into neuroscience and the customer experience.

The program will be held virtually and includes eight live lectures, taking place between 31 March and 19 May. Each session will be accompanied by case studies from large companies and global perspectives from other corporate leaders. The participating executives will be able to interact with the university professors, allowing them to apply the concepts learned, and participants will earn a certificate upon completion by Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education.

About Aleph Holding

Aleph is a global digital media partner, connecting both businesses and brands to leading digital players across more than 60 markets worldwide. Our services create greater value for all parties within the digital media industry.

Through the Aleph family, we are able to harness our global infrastructure and scale to cover the last mile of the digital media industry. We help advertisers maximize their investment to support the growth of their brand, whilst enabling the largest digital media players to access new and under-served markets.

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European scientists believe they have an explanation for the blood clots reported in a tiny number of people who received Oxford-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine.

Two separate research teams in Germany and Norway claimed the shot may, in very rare cases, cause the body to attack its own blood platelets, triggering deadly clots in the brain.

Patients who endured the brain clot were likely to suffer severe headaches, dizziness and loss of vision in the days after being vaccinated.

Experts say the condition  which has not been proven to be caused by the jab and may be occurring naturally because millions of people are being vaccinated  can be diagnosed with a simple blood test and quickly treated with blood-thinners.

German academics, who collaborated with scientists in the UK, Ireland and Austria, said its findings meant people should not fear the vaccine. Norway's health ministry, however, has used the results to temporarily extend its ban on the jab while further tests are done.

More than a dozen European countries suspended AZ's jab last week after more than 30 cases of cerebral sinus vein thrombosis (CSVT). Most of the patients were under the age of 55 and a disproportionate number were women.

The extremely rare condition, which sees a major vein in the brain become blocked, is thought to have affected fewer than one in 2million vaccinated people.

AstraZeneca still maintains that the clots are not occurring any more frequently than they would in the general population, a claim which has been echoed repeatedly by medical regulators in the UK and EU to hammer home the message the jab is safe.

German researchers found signs of a type of antibody that forms in response to inflammation in some people and attacks platelets in nine people who developed clots after getting the AstraZeneca shot. These antibodies destroy the platelets and, to make up for the loss, the body overproduces platelets, causing them to clot (file)

Regulatory reports show that blood clot diagnoses are about equally likely after either the two jabs being used in the UK  slightly higher for Pfizer  and scientists insist the risk is no higher than a random person in the population could expect, meaning the vaccine remains safe. Rates of death soon after vaccination appear higher for AstraZeneca's vaccine but this is likely because it is used in care homes and the people receiving it are naturally more likely to die of any reason

Figures from AstraZeneca and the European Medicines Agency show the number of blood clot-related conditions from 17million doses dished out in the UK and Europe up to March 13

The UK is leading the way in Europe with its vaccine rollout, with the Netherlands, Belgium and France the furthest behind

WHAT IS CSVT? Cerebral sinus vein thrombosis (CSVT) is an extremely rare type of blood clot in the brain. It occurs when the vein that drains blood from the brain is blocked by a blood clot, resulting in potentially deadly bleeding on the brain. Symptoms can quickly deteriorate from a headache, blurred vision and faintness to complete loss of control over movement and seizures. John Hopkins University estimates it affects five in a million people in the US every year, which would suggest 330 patients in Britain suffer from the condition annually. According to the university, it can affect patients with low blood pressure, cancer, vascular diseases and those prone to blood clotting. Head injuries can also trigger the condition. Britain's regulator said CSVT is so rare they aren't even sure how common it is in the general population. Advertisement

The research teams from Oslo and Greifswald University believe the jab could cause the body to produce antibodies  normally used to fight off infections or pathogens  which mistake platelets in the blood for foreign invaders and attack them.

To compensate, the body then overproduces platelets, causing the blood to thicken  which risks clotting.

The experts have admitted they 'dont know why this is happening'.

But the researchers say the phenomenon is similar to one that can occur in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), when sufferers take a drug called heparin.

Among those with HIT, the drug triggers the immune system to produce antibodies that activate platelets.

Drugs other than heparin can cause clotting disorders that strongly resemble HIT, and researchers suspect that in rare cases, the AstraZeneca vaccine may be another such trigger.

Neither the German nor the Norwegian findings were published or peer-reviewed  a crucial scientific practice that irons out key holes in studies.

Andreas Greinacher, professor of transfusion medicine at the Greifswald University Clinic, said his team would submit the results for publication to the British medical journal The Lancet in the coming days.

The German team looked at nine cases of blood clots reported in Germany and Austria in patients who had been given the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Seven patients had cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), which is a blood clot in the brain; one had a pulmonary embolism, and one had a clot on a vein in their abdomen.

Blood samples from four of the individuals showed they had the same kind of antibodies that activate platelets and initiate clotting in HIT.

These samples were then compared to 20 individuals who were given the AstraZeneca vaccine and did not experience blood clots.

Cerebral sinus vein thrombosis occurs when the vein that drains blood from the brain (shown) is blocked by a blood clot, resulting in potentially deadly bleeding on the brain

Canada pauses use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine for under-55s over lingering blood clot fears Canada is pausing its use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine for people younger than 55, amid 'safety concerns.' The country's National Advisory Committee on Immunization is recommended the pause, citing lingering worries over rare blood clots, and Health Canada officially called for the suspension on Monday. So far, no cases of the rare but life-threatening clotting condition have been reported in Canada. Canada is set to receive a shipment of 1.5million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine from the US, which has not yet authorized the shot. It comes after European health regulators ruled that concerns that the shot might cause blood clots were unfounded. Before that, some European countries thought paused use of the shot in elderly people, due to claims it was ineffective. Advertisement

None of that group had the antibodies.

The researchers advise anyone receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine to keep an eye out for any bruising, swelling or headaches that begin four or more days after being immunized.

If vaccine recipients identify any of these symptoms early on, the situation can be treated easily by a doctor.

Meanwhile, a group of researchers in Norway say have been studying three cases of blood clots post-AstraZeneca vaccination.

Professor Pal Andre Holme of Oslo University Hospital told Norwegian newspaper VG that he had reached the same conclusion, with an antibody overreaction to blame.

'Our theory that this is a strong immune response that most likely comes after the vaccine,' Professor Holme said, according to an NPR translation.

'There is no other thing than the vaccine that can explain this immune response.'

The findings come on the heels of news that Canada is suspending use of the jab for people under age of 55 due to blood clot fears.

Some countries, such as Germany, France and Italy, resumed vaccinations with AstraZenecas shot last week, with the added warning that it could in very rare circumstances cause clotting.

Others, including Norway, Sweden and Denmark, have still not resumed their rollouts.

AstraZeneca's vaccine is still waiting on US regulatory approval.

The process was delayed last week after the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant was accused by US watchdogs of cherry-picking data to make it seem more effective than it actually was in the American arm of its human trials.

On the back of the criticism, AZ revised the headline efficacy figure slightly, from 79 to 76 per cent at stopping symptomatic infections.

The data was based on the final results of the exact same 32,000-person trial.

UK experts described the differences as 'tiny', adding that it was normal for results to fluctuate as more data from the studies came in. They also criticised US officials for potentially fuelling vaccine hesitancy.
VANCOUVER - American authorities are violating international law by bringing fraud charges against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou that have no connection to the United States, a defence lawyer argues.

Meng Wanzhou, centre left, chief financial officer of Huawei, returns to B.C. Supreme Court after a break in her extradition hearing in Vancouver on Monday, March 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER - American authorities are violating international law by bringing fraud charges against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou that have no connection to the United States, a defence lawyer argues.

Gib van Ert told a British Columbia Supreme Court judge on Monday that if Canada extradites Meng to face the charges, it will be guilty of breaking international law as well.

"The United States' extension of its criminal law to Meng, its indictment of her in a New York court and its pursuit of her in Canada through this extradition hearing are all serious misconduct by the U.S.," van Ert said.

"This proceeding is, we say, an abuse by the United States of the extradition process and of this court's own process, because it is all done in plain violation of international law."

The U.S. has alleged that Meng lied to HSBC about Huawei's relationship with a subsidiary called Skycom doing business in Iran, putting the bank at risk of violating American sanctions. She and the company both deny the allegations.

Meng was arrested in 2018 while passing through Vancouver's airport and her lawyers are arguing that the extradition process should be stayed because of an abuse of process.

Her lawyer said the U.S. is prohibited from applying its law to other countries. Meng is a Chinese national, HSBC is a bank based in the United Kingdom and China, and the 2013 meeting between them happened in Hong Kong, van Ert said.

"If any laws were broken that day, that is the concern of China, in whose territory the events occurred," he said.

Of course, he added, crime does not respect borders and international law acknowledges that. If the U.S. could show a "genuine and substantial" connection between its legal interests and what allegedly happened during that meeting, that would permit it to extend its criminal law to Meng, he said.

However, van Ert said the U.S. has claimed it has the right to bring the charges because payments between Skycom and HSBC were made in American dollars and cleared through U.S. banks.

The "incidental" clearance through the American financial system of foreign transactions between an English-Chinese bank and a Chinese company does not amount to a substantial or genuine connection, he argued.

The consequences of the violation of international law are "personal and real" for Meng, van Ert said.

"She has spent two years of her life and counting marooned in a foreign country, far from home, friends and her ordinary life, and she is prohibited from leaving," he said.

"The extradition process presumes that requesting states will not make claims against people and trigger complex extradition proceedings in the requested state without a lawful basis for doing so. Here, the requesting state has none."

Meng was granted bail days after her arrest and lives with her husband and children in one of her two multimillion dollar Vancouver homes.

Two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, were detained in China soon after Meng's arrest in a move widely seen as retaliation. They remain in custody and their one-day trials were recently held behind closed doors, although no verdicts were released.

Meng's lawyer noted that international law questions are not the day-to-day work of the B.C. Supreme Court. But van Ert said the court, and other Canadian courts, have been faced with breaches of international law in the past.

In each case, the attorney general of Canada, on behalf of the U.S., asked the court to disregard the international law violations, saying they did not abuse the court's process, van Ert said.

"In each case, the court concluded instead that to assist the United States in its extradition efforts, where those efforts involved violations of international law, was an affront."

The case is set to wrap up with an actual extradition or committal hearing in May.

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes is first hearing four branches of arguments over whether Meng was subjected to an abuse of process that would compromise the fairness of proceedings against her.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.
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YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. The National Security Service of Armenia denies the media reports according to which NSS Director Armen Abazyan has been dismissed.

The reports on the change of the NSS Director are not true, the NSS told Armenpress.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has directed to take all necessary measures to avoid train accidents in the future, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said.

Speaking to Sada Al Balad TV channel on Saturday, the spokesman said the president was keen not to suspend railway services during a process to upgrade the sector, as it serves some million commuters a day.

The President has directed to improve the sector by adopting security and safety procedures.

Sisi met with the ministerial group concerned with the train crash, and was briefed on the conclusions, circumstances and information available about the accident, which claimed the lives of at least 19 people and left scores injured in central Egypt on Friday.

Sisi also directed to apply all measures to achieve balance between the comprehensive upgrading plan of the railway system and the operation of trains nationwide.

Rady stressed that those who are responsible for the recent train crash will be held accountable after concluding the investigations.

On the blockage crisis of the strategic Suez Canal by the mega-ship Ever Given, Rady said Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie held a press conference to clarify all relevant points.

Rady stressed the authority has great experience to deal with such incidents, noting that some 18,000 ships transited the canal last year without reporting any single incident.

The spokesman said the crisis of the stuck ship has been exploited to raise the idea of using the Cape of Good Hope.

He extended thanks to several countries that offered help for Egypt to solve the crisis.
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Senegals Sonatel has won a contract from Benins government to run the state-owned SBIN (Societe Beninoise dInfrastructures Numeriques, or Beninese Digital Infrastructure Company) with the ultimate goal of launching a third network in the market.

Agence Ecofin notes that the government announced a year ago that SBIN would be the recipient of the countrys third mobile licence. At present, the market is a duopoly between private firms MTN and Moov.

In a statement, Benins government said: As delegated manager, the group [Sonatel] will have the mandate, in addition to the management of SBIN over a period of five years to make it a major GSM operator, to implement the necessary infrastructures for the rapid supply of mobile electronic communications services.

As reported by TeleGeography, Benins government began the process of tendering a management contract for SBIN in October 2019. In addition to Sonatel, applications included international firms such as Axione, Csquared, Inwi, Sparkle, Tata Communications and Telecel.

SBIN is set to assume control over a substantial holding of state-owned infrastructure, including the shuttered mobile operator Libercom, the assets of Benin Telecoms Infrastructures, and additional assets of Benin Telecoms Services. The latter includes a national fibre broadband backbone, a voice network, state data centre, e-government network and metropolitan fibre.

In addition, SBIN has been ordered to deploy a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network. To this end, the special purpose vehicle Benin ACE GIE is expected to transfer access management of its international submarine fibre network to SBIN by the end of the year.

Sonatel offers broadband, fixed and mobile services across Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali and Sierra Leone. The company is part of the Orange Group and its operations use this branding.

Researchers examined the traces of what was likely a human settlement in the Cradle of Humankind. Credit: Tim Forssman

About 50km outside South Africa's biggest city, Johannesburg, lies one of the most important sites in human prehistory: the Cradle of Humankind. Here, at sites like the Sterkfontein Caves, Swartkrans, Drimolen and Kromdraai, researchers have unearthed amazing fossil evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene (the last five million years). It is especially famous for the discovery of fossilized homininancient humanremains.

But there is a more recent and largely neglected layer to the landscape's history. My colleagues and I set out to investigate some archaeological traces found in part of the Cradle of Humankind. We focused on a stone-walled structure on a hill known as Driefontein; the name also given to the site we studied.

Our findings suggest that the Driefontein stone-walled structure was a residential area. It appears similar to settlements found elsewhere in South Africa's North West province and parts of Botswana dating to between AD 1450 and 1700, though certain features possibly suggest a later date. These findings place the settlement's occupation broadly within the "Tswana" period. This refers to roughly the last 500 years of history when Tswana communities, a southern African ethnic group, arose.

While the prehistoric sequence of the Cradle of Humankind operates at several levels spanning a very long period of time, a disproportionate amount of resources have been allocated to studies concerning human evolution and early stone tool technologies.

While this has global significance, our work is important, too, because it sheds light on heritage traces that reveal much about people's daily lives. It also helps us understand local, traumatic pasts which involved colonial oppression, land dispossession and racial policies.

Cultural remains such as those found at Driefontein allow archaeology to peel back historical discourse to reveal people's pasts that are not preserved in any other way.

An enclosure inside the western settlement likely used as a kraal for livestock. Credit: Tim Forssman

Mapping the settlement

Our work at the settlement involved an intensive mapping program conducted over four successive visits. Initially we determined the overall size of the settlement, in order to plan our field program, and then we examined the layout of the homestead's dry-packed stone-walled architecture.

To record the site, maps were produced using a combination of handheld GPSs and a Trimble Station; these use satellites to record geo-specific points that can be rendered digitally to resemble the settlement's structure and features.

Mapping the site is informative; as building designs today differ between people and over time, so did past stone-walled structures. By studying the layout of the settlement, we can then attempt to determine who occupied the site and when. Archaeologists have been doing this from the 1960s and there is a fairly good record of what the different types of sites look like.

By examining the structure of Driefontein, we could then match its architecture to typologies developed over the past 60 years and determine when it was occupied. We can also infer the use of different areas of the site.

There are other ways of doing this, such as through ceramic analysis or archaeological excavations, but at Driefontein very few items remain on the surface and there is no excavatable deposit.

However, two middens were identified. These were used as dump sites and often contain valuable archaeological material such as ceramic sherds, food waste, and personal ornaments. Unfortunately, at Driefontein this was not the case; this meant that studying the walls' layout was the only viable way of learning more about the history of the site.

Upright rocks indicate the presence of a hut, since disappeared, with this one possessing a front terrace. Credit: Tim Forssman

Driefontein includes two distinct areas; what we call west and east. Both have large circular structures outside the main walled area. These may have been kraals (enclosures) for livestock. The main portions of the two areas both have an internal walled area with separate smaller enclosures attached. Around this is a discontinuous and scalloping boundary wall. Between it and the inner enclosure are up to 20 individual huts, including several with outside terraces. These are indicated by upright rocks erected in a circular shape with extensions where terraces exist.

There are also grain bin foundations in the vicinity of several huts, which are similar in construction to the huts but are far smaller.

Based on the evidence, as well as the middens and a small collection of earthenware ceramics, the Driefontein stone-walled structure was a residential area. The structure appears similar to settlements dating to between AD 1450 and 1700. However, certain featuresnotably the upright rocks around the huts and lintels in the outside circular structureshave been identified at sites with a later date. This possibly suggests that Driefontein is younger than we may expect.

Though the settlement's occupation falls within the "Tswana" period, naming the occupants as Tswana is complicated. That's because Tswana history is not linear or direct. Rather, there are periods of migration, political growth and assimilation. Tswana origins are also unclear. At times, oral histories note multiple lineages and totems with several different groups appearing and blending with others.

When looking back at early archaeological sequences, such as may be the case at Driefontein, identifying "Tswana" groups is, for these reasons, quite challenging. Nonetheless, based on the evidence, we believe Driefontein was likely occupied by Tswana-like groups after about AD 1450.

Complex histories

This project was done with the involvement of the current landowners of the Nirox Sculpture Park and Project 58, where the site is located. Their interest in the site and openness to researchers is what ultimately led to us learning more of the region's prehistory.

Our work is far from over. Future studies at Driefontein will help to further acknowledge more recent complex histories, identities and pasts that overlay the deep-time sequences preserved in the Cradle of Humankind's cave systems.

Explore further Middle Stone Age populations repeatedly occupied West African coast

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
-They are the problems

Robertsport, Grand Capemount County-: President George Weah took a dig at Senator Varney Sherman and other lawmakers here Saturday saying, if they cannot develop their own counties as leaders of the people then it is a problem.

Speaking at his final town hall meeting in Robertsport, Grand Capemount County as he ended his second leg of county tour Saturday, Mr. Weah asked the cross-section of citizens that had gathered there if they had lawmakers in the county.

"Do we have lawmakers in this county?" President Weah asked "If there is any lawmaker in this county that did not invest in hotel or invest in his own house that when leaders come here they will host them, then they are the problem... You are the Representation or Representative of people and where you live, you can't develop the place for attraction?" Mr. Weah went on.

"Look into our government, we have men and women who are from Robertsport. If I make a list of those officials from Robertsports that are in the government... if they cannot improve this county then they don't have to blame the government," he noted.

"I entered Robertsport, the famous Robertsport that they talked about when I was young, we have been hearing about from time to time and to see Robertsport like this with all the great leaders that you have then... we need to think. It's not everything you have to blame the government.

The President's questions and comments followed Sen. Sherman who has earlier in a speech asked him (Weah) to help the county to complete a guest house in Robertsports so that during his next visit he would not stay in another guest house.

Sen. Sherman: "I'm told that you had lunch at Nana's Lodge. You probably saw the Superintendent Compound on your left side as you drove down to Nana Lodge. The larger building there Mr. President, we want to complete that building to be our Presidential guest house where the president of Liberia will reside whenever he visits our county. Please Mr. President, help us complete that guest house for you so you may not live in another Lodge, you will live in a proper home. We exalt you, plea with you and implore you to complete that building."

But Weah insinuated that if the lawmakers had planned enough to make a judicial use of the county development funds that have been allocated to them the wont be making request for some of those little thing.

Weah: "And what I want to say here, what I want to say here there are counties development funds. Now, you have to go back on the drawing board, leaders of Capemount, and my former colleagues. You gat to go back to the drawing board and first of all look at your numbers, if you are five or four here-you are four, you have County Development Fund. If the four or five persons decide every year, they will do a project for the county, before their 9-years over this county will be developed."

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Governance 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 lawmaker, let's assume that every year you get 1.6 million Dollars, you build a road this year, next year you can build the hotel and the other year you can't put light?" he queried.

Mr. Weah said it is important that officials of government tell their citizens the truth about their own role in government when they are speaking to them rather than making them to clap for nothing.

"We have to go to the parliament in whatever we do to seek their advice. So if a Parliamentarian stands here... when we are at this podium and when we are speaking to our people we have to be honest, we have to be ready to tell them the truth.
[March 29, 2021]

Ambiq Named Winner in 2021 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards

PHILADELPHIA, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Business Intelligence Group today announced that Ambiq was named a winner in its Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program . Ambiq is an industry-recognized technology leader in ultra-low power processor solutions for enabling intelligence at the IoT endpoints.



The Apollo4 SoC, the 4th generation system processor solution built on Ambiqs proprietary Subthreshold Power-Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform, is designed to enable the battery-powered IoT endpoint devices of tomorrow to achieve a higher level of intelligence without sacrificing battery life.

For the last ten years, Ambiq has consistently delivered record-low-power processor solutions for IoT, said Fumihide Esaka, Chairman and CEO of Ambiq. We are proud that our Apollo4 SoC is honored for its ability to enable intelligence for battery-powered endpoint devices with its performance and energy efficiency.

We are so proud to name Ambiq as a winner in our inaugural Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program, said Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer for Business Intelligence Group. It was clear to our judges that Ambiq was using AI to improve the lives of their customers and employees. Congratulations to the entire team!







About Business Intelligence Group www.bintelligence.com

The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs , these programs are judged by business executives having experience and knowledge. The organizations proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers.

Contact

Charlene Wan

+1.512.879.2850

cwan@ambiq.com

Maria Jimenez

+1 909-529-2737

jmaria@bintelligence.com



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a907fc81-1e89-4633-81ba-85737c649a64
Woman crouching against wall. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  A club bouncer who raped an unconscious woman after bringing her to a chalet was jailed for 12 years and three months, and given 10 strokes of the cane on Monday (29 March).

Yap Chun Chieh, 40, had pleaded guilty to one count each of rape and molest. The former manager of Club V5 Tycoon, currently unemployed, had raped the heavily intoxicated 24-year-old victim in 2018 at the encouragement of two male friends. One count of molest was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The sentencing had earlier been adjourned over Yap's purported psychiatric issues. Yap's lawyer, John Koh from Populus Law, raised differences in the state psychiatrist and a private psychiatrist's diagnoses of Yap's condition.

The prosecution had argued that Yap's mild neurocognitive disorder was not a psychiatric condition that warranted mitigating weight, as Yap was "perfectly capable and competent" in making his own decisions and acting on them.

"He is not an impaired automaton who has no mind of his own, but listens to others blindly," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen, who added that Yap had a sufficiently high level of functioning to present "facts" that were favourable to him, even lying to his private psychiatrist about not molesting the girl in the hotel.

However, the defence argued that Yap's condition had a direct contributory link to his behaviour in impairing his judgment and decision-making process. His commission of the offences should be seen "in context of someone with underlying cognitive impairments, and who was acting out under negative peer pressure and influence of authority.

Koh and co-counsel Muhammad Riyach Hussain Omar sought less than 11 years and nine months' jail with nine strokes of the cane.

Through clinical tests, the psychiatrist also found that Yap was of very poor cognitive functioning and extremely low adaptive functioning.

Referring to the Statement of Facts, the defence pointed out that Yap had been constantly influenced by peers into committing the acts against the victim, even though he had initially only intended to send the victim home when he brought her to the taxi stand.

Story continues

Delivering the sentence, Justice See Kee Oon said he did not accept that Yap's mild neurocognitive disorder  caused by an earlier illness  had impaired his ability to make decisions to such a serious extent as to warrant mitigating weight.

Evidence suggested that Yap retained his ability to function as a working adult within the community after completing his Institute of Technical Education studies and completing national service, the judge stated.

While the judge said that peer pressure was a factor he considered, he was not persuaded that it carried substantial mitigating weight.

Yap's friends were Tay Boon Huat, 28, Yong Chun Hong, 31, Gan Soon Chai, 35, a 42-year-old friend, and three others. The latter trio, Yong and Gan also worked at Club V5  Yong was a manager/bouncer and Gan was a cashier.

They were staying at a chalet at Downtown East, where the offences were committed.

Day of incident

On 17 September 2018, the victim arrived at the club around 3.35am with her friends after consuming alcohol at another club earlier. At Club V5, the victim drank more alcohol, and she later got involved in a dispute with a group involving Tay outside the club.

After the dispute, the victims friends left her behind. The victim continued drinking with Tay, Yong and the 42-year-old friend. At around 6.35am, Yong asked Yap to send the victim home by taxi.

After Club V5 closed at about 7am,Yong, Gan and Tay decided to return to the chalet and boarded the 42-year-old friends car. The group drove by the taxi stand at the Forum the Shopping Mall, where they saw Yap with the heavily intoxicated woman.

Yong managed to persuade Yap to join them at the chalet and pulled the unconscious woman into the car. While in the car, Tay, Yap and Yong molested the victim, who was seated on Yaps lap.

After reaching the chalet, the group placed the inebriated woman on the bed. Yong and Tay then egged Yap on, stating that the woman is already lying here and you still are not having sex with her. What are you waiting for?

Encouraged by what the men told him, Yap raped the unresponsive woman while Tay sexually assaulted her. Gan, who had been lying on the next bed, filmed the assault furtively.

After the sexual assault, Tay and Yap each spent some time with the woman in the toilet.

At about 9am that day, Yap got dressed and helped the woman get dressed as well before putting her in a taxi to send her to the address on her NRIC. When the woman could not be roused at a void deck near her house, Yap brought her to a Hotel 81 outlet to sleep.

Yap molested her again before she regained consciousness that evening. She realised she was beside Yap, who was a stranger to her, and that her clothes were in disarray.

The woman left the room with Yap after paying the bill. Although she knew something had happened to her, she did not make an immediate police report as did not know what to do.

She met a friend at Club V5 to talk about what happened to her. She returned on 23 and 24 September 2018 and confronted Yap about what happened to her. At this point, Yap admitted that he had had sex with her and apologised.

The victim eventually made a police report. Tay, Yong, Gan, Yap, and the 42-year-old friend were arrested, which led to the discovery of the sexual assault video.

Thus far, Gan and Tay have been dealt with. The 42-year-old friend was not charged over the incident, while Yongs case is still pending before the court.

For rape, Yap could have been jailed up to 20 years, and fined or caned. For molest, he could have been jailed up to two years, or fined or caned, or with any combination of the penalties.

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Related stories

Bouncer admits to raping unconscious woman at chalet egged on by 2 friends

Man who fondled and sexually assaulted drunk clubgoer at chalet jailed, caned

Man who recorded video of his friend allegedly raping unconscious woman jailed, fined
It was roughly a decade ago when hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, was identified as a crucial means for boosting Colombias meager hydrocarbon reserves and production. A shortage of proved crude oil and natural gas reserves along with declining production is threatening Colombias economy. Despite only possessing two billion barrels of proved oil reserves with a short six-year production life, Colombia is highly reliant upon petroleum production to drive the economy. During 2020, at the height of the pandemic and oil price crash, petroleum accounted for 28% of exports by income, 3% of gross domestic product, and 17% of fiscal revenue. A dearth of significant conventional oil discoveries since the late 1990s means Colombia must find alternate means of boosting crude oil and natural gas reserves if its hydrocarbon-dependent economy is to grow. In fact, a lack of significant discoveries combined with weak natural gas production due to rising decline rates at aging offshore fields and growing demand forced Bogota to start importing liquified natural gas in 2017. This shortage triggered a crisis that challenged the Andean countrys energy security, forcing the national government to work feverishly to resolve the crisis by implementing incentives aimed at promoting exploration and development activity, including paying higher than market natural gas prices at the wellhead.

In 2018, when President Ivan Duque was championing fracking as means of addressing Colombias lack of hydrocarbon reserves, the Council of State, the countrys highest administrative tribunal, placed a moratorium on the controversial technique. That essentially prevented the introduction of fracking in Colombia as a means of extracting crude oil and natural gas. In 2019 the tribunal upheld the ban on fracking but roughly a week after announcing that decision clarified it did not include pilot projects. A 2020 bid to block fracking pilots failed and in September that year the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH  Spanish initials) finalized the regulations for selecting pilot participants. Colombias fracking pilots are restricted to be conducted in the Middle Magdalena Valley and Cesar-Rancheria Basins. The head of the ANH, Armando Zamora, in a March 2021 Reuters article, stated he expects the 2018 moratorium on fracking in Colombia to be lifted during 2022 when environmental regulations are modified.

The Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, located in central Colombia between the eastern and central Andes mountain ranges, has over 40 discovered conventional oilfields with the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) predicting it holds undiscovered oil resources of up to 1.4 billion barrels.

Source: U.S. EIA.

Since 1918, when crude oil was first discovered in Colombia at the La Cira-Infantas oilfield in the basin, it has produced most of Colombias oil. The key fracking target in the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin is the La Luna geological formation which has been compared to the prolific U.S. Eagle Ford shale play. It is a Cretaceous age geological formation typified as a classic shale-gas system in which the rock is the source, reservoir, and seal. The USGS estimated in 2017 that the La Luna possesses undiscovered shale oil resources of up to 521 million barrels and over two trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It has been predicted that the Middle Magdalena Valley basin, in total, contains unconventional crude oil resources of up to seven billion barrels, or more than triple Colombias current proved reserves and 13 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Those copious hydrocarbon resources, if proven to be commercially viable to extract, will resolve the significant economic downside posed by Colombias limited crude oil and natural gas reserves.

The push to bring fracking pilots online is gaining considerable momentum after a fraught 2020 where significant risks, including sharply weaker oil prices and continued community opposition, indicated they may never eventuate. National oil company Ecopetrol, which is 88.49% owned by the Colombian government, launched the Kale fracking pilot in the Middle Magdalena Valley in the department of Santander near the town of Puerto Wilches. The national oil company has budgeted almost $77 million to develop the project, with drilling scheduled to commence during the second half of 2021. Earlier this month global oil supermajor ExxonMobil also announced it had submitted a proposal for a fracking project in the Middle Magdalena Valley near Puerto Wilches. Exxon has earmarked $57 million for the project, which has yet to be approved by the ANH.

Related: Houthi Rebels Launch Missile Attack On Saudi Oil Terminal

The economic importance of developing fracking in Colombia cannot be emphasized enough. The Andean countrys peak petroleum industry body, the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP  Spanish initials), believes commercial fracking in the Andean country could eventually add 450,000 barrels of daily production to current production and attract $5 billion of investment. That will provide an important source of revenue for a cash-strapped national government still reeling from the pandemics severe economic fallout and crude oils prolonged price slump. Bogota is struggling to restart a stalled economy which, despite being projected to grow by 4% during 2021 compared to contracting by 7.8% in 2020, will see the budget deficit blowout by almost one percent year over year to 8.6% of GDP. Unemployment is still alarmingly high with DANE, the national statistical agency, reporting it reached 17.3% in January 2021 the highest since July 2020 at the peak of Colombias pandemic lockdown. Those worrying numbers indicate that Colombia is still unable to shake off the profound economic aftermath of the pandemic, indicating that Bogota needs to find ways to restart the economy.

The Andean countrys considerable economic dependence on hydrocarbon extraction makes it especially vulnerable to its limited oil and natural gas reserves, including their short production life and oil price slumps. It appears that Colombia is unable to end its addiction to extracting fossil fuels to power the economy. The Andean countrys energy minister recently stated Colombia would double down on thermal coal mining, despite it being the first fossil fuel to be phased out as part of the fight against global warming. By bolstering hydrocarbon reserves and production Bogota will only further expose the economy to volatile oil prices and the immense downside which exists once peak oil demand arises, which according to some industry analysts could be in as little as seven years. Considerable community opposition to fracking remains tremendous. That, combined with the petroleum industrys slowly waning social license and ongoing security issues, is creating considerable uncertainty which is weighing on investment in unconventional oil and gas production in Colombia.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
opinion

LAST WEEK, President George Manneh Weah embarked on the second leg of his county tour which took him to Western Liberia. Like many of the President's previous attempts to change the narratives to the positives of his administration, last week was no exception.

FOR MUCH of the past few days, the country has been engulfed not so much in the narratives the Weah administration tried to project but rather, the controversial war lingering between the Minister of Justice Cllr. Frank Musah Dean and the Solicitor General of Liberia, Cllr. Cyrennius Cephus.

THE LATEST PUBLIC SPAT between the pair stems from the arrest last week of Mr. Mo Ali, Secretary General of the Unity Party, one of four political parties making up the Collaborating Political Parties(CPP).

MR. ALI WAS charged with "arson, criminal mischief, and attempted murder", for two postings on the social medium, Facebook.

HE WAS ORDERED jailed on Thursday afternoon March 25, 2021, after he appeared for questioning at the police headquarters for a second time.

THE CHARGES INSTITUED BY the Solicitor General Cephus implied that there was evidence of Mr. Ali's involvement in the recent attacks on the National Elections Commission and the residence of Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe.

THE FORMER RULING UP released a statement in Monrovia denouncing the charges against its national secretary-general. "We maintain that this is an effort by the Government to hold Mr. Ali as a political prisoner".

THE PARTY SAID it will "resist" the charges, "using legal and political means", adding "We do not believe that his Facebook posts, only, are sufficient evidence to charge Mr. Mo Ali for the above-mentioned crimes".

ADDING HIS VOICE, the Political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, declared that the arrest of Mo Ali, Secretary General of the UP, and Deputy SG of the CPP is provocative and a recipe for chaos.

THAT PRESIDENT WEAH allowed officials in his government to cause distraction on his county tour speaks volume and suggest that the President has lost control of the governance of Liberia and appears to be comfortable with lingering public infighting within his administration - and his top officials.

THE ALI SAGA COMES IN THE WAKE of a blistering attack on the administration from Congressman Chris Smith(GOP, New Jersey's 44th District), who accused President Weah of running a kleptocratic government that is milking the coffers of the country to the ground.

REP. SMITH is a ranking member of the US Congress serving on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.

REP. SMITH blamed President Weah for the high rate of poverty in the country by using his political power to appropriate the wealth of the county through embezzling or misappropriating government funds at the expense of the wider population.

SAID THE US LAWMAKER: "In Africa, we have a special relationship with Liberia which was founded by freed American slaves. Unfortunately, President George Weah leads a Kleptocratic government that is engaged in political corruption from the day he assumed office by depleting the government's coffers for personal use while the people of Liberia suffer."

SIMILAR SENTIMENTS WERE expressed during the confirmation of Mr. Michael A. McCarthy, the current US Ambassador accredited to Liberia.

SENATOR BOB MENENDEZ(Democrat, New Jersey( had queried the nominee on reports fo corruption under the Weah-led administration and asked what he would do to change the damaging perception of corruption that has been dogging the government, now in its fourth year.

PRESSED BY SENATOR MENENDEZ, a ranking member of the committee, on his assessment of the government's willingness and capacity to address corruption and what would he do if confirmed, to press the government to adequately address the corruption issue, Mr. McCarthy said he would devise a three-pronged approach toward making the case.

ALL THIS AMID murmurs of a purported list of Weah administration officials earmarked for sanctions by members of the US Congress.

PRESIDENT WEAH should be mindful of officials bent on trying to cause distraction toward negativity when he is trying to project the positivity in his administration.

ANYONE SUGGESTING that Mr. Ali is responsible for recent incidents of petrol bombs thrown at the residence of Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe and the headquarters of the National Elections Commission should be sent to a mental asylum and kicked out of the Weah government.

MR. ALI WHO WAS released from prison last Friday said his post was simply alluding to the fact that all will be done to ensure that the National Elections Commission face the full legal consequences should they implement a strategy intended to deny the certification of Senator-elect Brownie J. Samukai, thereby denying the people of Lofa County their choice of Senator."

MR. ALI also accused Joseph Nagbe, Associate justice of the Supreme Court, of being a tribalist.

IRONICALLY, JUSTICE MINISTER Dean had ordered Mr. Ali's release from custody. "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 last week.

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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.

THE MINISTER'S ORDER was initially ignored but Mr. Ali was eventually released.

WAS THIS DISTRACTION NECESSARY? Did any of those serving the government of President Weah take into consideration the ramifications of such unnecessary distraction?

ONE MAY never know. In fact, such distractions are bound to be repeated if the President continues to turn a blind eye to the little things that are crippling his governance of Liberia.

UNTIL PRESIDENT WEAH realizes that those kissing up to his Tubman-style patronage are simply causing him more harm than good, the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change Government will continue to have problems and continue to struggle with an image quagmire keeping progress and development in limbo to the administration's own detriment.
TEMPE, Ariz., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded Arizona State University an $8 million grant to lead an innovative workforce development partnership to help train workers for high-paying, high-demand jobs in advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and information technology (IT).

The One Workforce grant will help address a critical skills shortage in the U.S. by establishing the Arizona Workforce Training Accelerator Partnership for Next Generation Jobs (AZNext). The program, which will be led by ASU and its many partners, is designed to train at least 2,000 participants, with a goal of achieving industry-recognized credentials and permanent job placement over the next four years.

The grant was a collaboration of ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business , Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering , New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences , and several external partners, including Arizona Commerce Authority, Arizona Technology Council, [email protected], Infosys, and Pipeline AZ. The partnership leverages the state's educational and employment resources to create the workforce of the future.

For years, Arizona has been prioritizing jobs in advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and IT. The state ranks second in the U.S. when it comes to creating jobs in those emerging sectors, and has filled more than 350,000 related positions since 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . Through this new partnership, ASU will help close the skills gap faster and help employers reach new, diverse talent.

"The grant program enables ASU to help the unemployed/underemployed find meaningful careers in fast-paced industries," said Raghu Santanam , chair of the Department of Information Systems at the W. P. Carey School of Business and primary investigator of the grant. "It will also create career opportunities for underrepresented populations in technology-focused industries."

AZNext is designed to use a combination of multidisciplinary and industry-relevant training, with multiple insertion points for degree-seeking or non-degree seeking learners. ASU will leverage programming from multiple colleges and enterprise units, while industry employers will leverage paid internships, train-to-hire programs, boot camps and simulated work experiences. AZNext will also build on another grant-funded program through ASU's business school: Digital Workforce Apprenticeship Partnership  which was established through ASU's first department of labor grant to help close the skills gap in America's workforce.

The Polytechnic campus in Mesa, which is home to some of the engineering school's top programs, will be the hub for advanced manufacturing education where project-based curriculum and hands-on learning are already taking shape with top industry employers like Honeywell Aerospace, Pilgrim Aerospace, PADT, Siemens, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, and TPI Composites.

"The Polytechnic campus is poised to lead the effort in advanced manufacturing including additive manufacturing, robotics and automation, and new battery technologies," said Tom Sugar , co-principal investigator of the grant. "As an associate dean for Barret, The Honors College [at the Polytechnic campus], we are always finding ways to enhance the education of our engineering scholars."

"Today's and tomorrow's technicians and engineers need the background and software skills necessary to digitalize product design while increasing manufacturability and quality through field support and workforce development," said Gerald Deren, vice president of Siemens Digital Industries Software  an AZNext partner. "We feel that the best approach towards building this talent pool resides in the partnerships we develop with universities like Arizona State. Siemens looks forward to working with ASU in preparing students and continuing education professionals for rewarding careers across many industries."

On ASU's West Campus in Glendale, programs from the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences will help educate and train AZNext participants in the fields of biological data science and cybersecurity. This effort is being led by Karen Watanabe , an associate professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences who has been nurturing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce development initiatives for many years.

"I've worked to expand inclusion and access to STEM fields to persons of color for years," said Watanabe. "AZNext offers tangible opportunities for those who have traditionally been underrepresented in STEM fields to advance in high-demand career fields including biological data science and cybersecurity."

One of the many goals of AZNext is to build a workforce development model that not only works in Arizona but can be applied in other states  eventually upskilling all of America's workforce. ASU's partnerships with agencies like Arizona Commerce Authority, which leads economic development and workforce programs across the state, will be critical in this effort.

"Talent is often the key driver in business location decisions," said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of Arizona Commerce Authority. "Through AZNext, Arizona is further enhancing our workforce and helping ensure a ready supply of talent to fill the highly technical and advanced jobs of tomorrow. We look forward to working with ASU and other partners on this important initiative to advance Arizona's competitive position in the global economy and create new opportunities for Arizonans."

AZNext will help ASU build on partnerships that already exist  like the innovative train-to-hire program model with Fortune 500 company Cognizant Technologies  which began in 2019, and allows participants to complete a digital business analyst certificate program through ASU's business school in 10 weeks, while potentially landing an opportunity to interview with Cognizant after completion.

"As a leading technology firm, Cognizant recognizes the importance of maintaining a highly skilled, deeply knowledgeable workforce," said Eric Westphal, assistant vice president of workforce strategy and operations at Cognizant. "This proposal with ASU builds on our established Digital Business Analyst Certificate Program and will position us to develop new curriculum and programs designed to help prepare individuals for in-demand digital economy careers."

ASU's experience building custom educations for adult learners  like the university's Starbucks college achievement and Uber programs  have benefited more than 48,000 learners since 2018 and will help strengthen AZNext's goals and the work already underway by ASU and employers looking to create sustainable, long-term infrastructure for workforce training in emerging technologies in Arizona and beyond.

About the W. P. Carey School of Business

The W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is one of the top-ranked business schools in the United States. The school is internationally regarded for its research productivity and its distinguished faculty members, including a Nobel Prize winner. Students come from more than 100 countries and W. P. Carey is represented by alumni in over 160 countries. Visit wpcarey.asu.edu.

For more information, contact:

Shay Moser, W. P. Carey School of Business

[email protected]

480-965-3963

SOURCE W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University

Related Links

https://wpcarey.asu.edu


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The boyfriend of missing Briton Sarm Heslop was charged with obstructing law enforcement agents who boarded his yacht hours after she vanished in the US Virgin Islands, it has been revealed.

Ryan Bane, 44, was handed a citation - not a criminal record - for refusing to allow the US Coast Guard onto his yacht, Siren Song, on the afternoon of March 8 - the day after Ms Heslop disappeared.

It comes as the couple's friend, Kate Owen, who moved with Ms Heslop to the Caribbean 15 months ago, reportedly said she does not understand why Mr Bane is refusing to cooperate with detectives.

Mr Bane told investigators he and Ms Heslop had drinks in Frank's Bay, St John, before returning to his catamaran on the night of March 7 and he awoke in the early hours to find her gone.

But while a marine search was ongoing for Ms Heslop, Mr Bane told officers they could not come inside his 46ft catamaran.

Sarm Heslop, right, is pictured with her best friend Kate Owens. The pair moved to the Caribbean together 15 months ago

Ryan Bane and an unknown woman post for a photo on a dinghy

Bane's 46ft yacht Siren Song. He is said to have sailed off in the vessel last Thursday and federal officers have chartered their own boat to track him down

'The operator denied access to the interior and was cited for obstruction of a boarding, in addition to other safety citations that have not been adjudicated,' the coastguard told The Times.

Citations are written notices of non-compliance for an alleged violation, they do not count as a criminal record.

American Mr Bane reportedly sailed away from the US Virgin Island last Thursday and the FBI dispatched vessels to find him.

It comes as the couple's friend Ms Owen demanded answers in the investigation.

Ms Owen has told friends that she does not understand why Mr Bane has stopped contacting her or why he is refusing to cooperate with detectives, The Mirror reported.

She is helping efforts to find Ms Heslop in the Caribbean and wrote online: 'She is a daughter, a sister, a niece and an auntie. A Godmother, a girlfriend, a colleague and my best friend.

In his initial conversations with the VIPD, Bane (pictured) said he finished dinner and went straight back to his boat with Sarm at 10pm

'We will not leave quietly, we need a thorough investigation, we deserve answers. She deserves answers.'

Another friend of Ms Heslop's, Anna Wilson, said she was worried about claims that Mr Bane was refusing to talk.

Ms Wilson, for whom Ms Heslop was a bridesmaid, told The Mirror: 'Ryan had contact with Kate [Owens] in the early stages but ceased contact.'

Asked what Mr Bane had told Ms Owens, Ms Wilson said: 'He just said everything was fine and they had dinner out and then took the dinghy back to the boat.

'Nothing seemed untoward. They went back to the boat at about 10pm and watched a film. Ryan said that he woke and realised she was gone but that her phone and wallet were still aboard the boat.'

In the search for answers, police are trawling through CCTV from the island to trace Ms Heslop's movements that night to verify his story, The Telegraph reports.

Tony Derima, a spokesman for the Virgin Islands Police Department said: 'Nothing so far actually confirms the couple went back to the yacht together that night.'

Officers are in the process of trying to verify Mr Bane's account of events that night and attempting to confirm if Sarm was on the dinghy which returned to the luxury yacht that night.

The latest development comes as it was revealed the FBI has launched a hunt for Ryan Bane (pictured) after he sailed away from the US Virgin Islands on Thursday

Heslop (pictured) met Bane on Tinder eight months ago and traveled to the Caribbean to work as a cook on Siren Song

Bane claimed he was woken up at 2am by an anchor alarm, which triggers an alert if the boat strays from its position, and found Ms Heslop (pictured together) gone

Detectives are also reportedly planning to interview staff at 420 to Center, a dive bar popular with St. John locals, where the couple visited.

Federal agents have chartered a boat to try to track down Mr Bane, who disappeared from St. John where his luxury yacht had been anchored for several weeks, according to the New York Post.

Mr 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.

His yacht had been anchored at the same secluded spot in Frank Bay for weeks but was gone Thursday morning.

Authorities need a search warrant to board the $500,000 vessel but are yet to obtain one because Ms Heslop's disappearance has not been classified as a criminal inquiry.

Bane was last seen Wednesday afternoon (above) returning to his boat. Federal agents have chartered a boat to try to track him down, after he disappeared Thursday from St. John where his luxury yacht had been anchored for several weeks

Ms Heslop met Mr 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.

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.

Mr Bane 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 Mr 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 Mr 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 Ms Heslop vanished when DailyMail.com caught up with him on shore Wednesday, stonewalling questions by saying 'no comment' four times.
A 28-year-old Providence man admitted to participating in a scheme that spanned several states in New England and involved stealing and selling nearly $700,000 worth of excavators, sport boats, jet skis, all-terrain vehicles, and trailers.

Jared Santiago, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen goods, acting United States Attorney of Rhode Island Richard B. Myrus said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17.

Santiago was one of nine individuals indicted by a federal grand jury for participating in the schemes, which took place in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, specifically Auburn, Easton, Rehoboth and Seekonk, authorities said.

Authorities said that between November 2019 and July 2020, three Bobcat excavators, ten jet skis, four boats, eight all-terrain vehicles, and ten trailers valued at over $700,000 were stolen.

Many of the stolen items were stored in Rhode Island and several of the stolen items were hauled to Florida to be sold, authorities said.

Santiago admitted that in December 2019, he and others stole two boats, a 24-foot boat valued at $102,065, and a 22-foot boat valued at $90,914, from Dons Marina in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and transported one of the boats to Sarasota, Florida.

Santiago is the second person to plead guilty in the scheme. In December, Luis M. Morales, 37, of Providence, admitted that on July of 2020, he and others stole a 2020 Yamaha watercraft, a 2019 Can-Am Maverick Sport off-road vehicle, and two trailers in Connecticut.

Months earlier in July, he stole three jet skis in Easton, authorities said.

Morales pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21.

Seven other defendants, including the alleged leader of the conspiracy, Jose A. Montes, aka Jose Tuto Rivera, 36, of Cranston, Rhode Island, are awaiting trial.

As part of the scheme, two Bobcat excavators valued at $60,000 and $75,000, were stolen in Auburn in April of 2020, authorities said.

Using GPS built into the equipment, the excavators were located and recovered by law enforcement. Two of the machines were located in Johnston, Rhode Island, the other was in North Providence.

GPS data showed that two of the stolen machines were stored on a farm in North Scituate before being moved to Johnston, authorities said. One of the excavators was brought briefly to a residence in Warwick.

The third excavator, authorities said, was first taken to a location in Glocester, Rhode Island, then moved to North Providence, where it was located and seized by law enforcement.

According to court documents, a 2019 Yamaha jet ski and two 2018 Sea Doo jet skis were stolen in Rehoboth. In May of 2020, a 2020 Yamaha jet ski and a 2020 Kawasaki ATV were taken in Seekonk.
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Canada should be ready to weather any export issues to deal with China: O'Toole

WINNIPEG  Federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says Canada has to work closely with its allies to counterbalance China's actions while recognizing that could mean risks to Canadian exports.

O'Toole spoke Monday to Winnipeg's business community at a virtual event held by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

The Opposition leader was asked about his stance on Canada's relationship with China and his message to workers in the agriculture industry who depend on trade with that nation.

O'Toole said Canada needs to diversify into new markets, like the Indo-Pacific, because it's likely to run into more issues with China in the years ahead.

He repeated that Canada's values are not for sale and it won't ignore the treatment of Muslim Uighurs in China's Xinjiang province to maintain export access.

O'Toole also pointed to China's recent sanctioning of members of Parliament who are looking into human rights issues, including Conservative MP Michael Chong.

"We have to, as a sort of Five Eyes Alliance, counterbalance some of the bad conduct by the Communist party of China and recognize that there could be some disruption to export to that country," O'Toole said.

"We are prepared to weather that storm to do the right thing."

O'Toole outlined his party's recovery plan and said that, unlike Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he doesn't want to "reimagine" the economy.

"What if your job is in resources or agriculture or in one of the sectors that (Trudeau) doesn't want to build back better?" he said.

"How is that recovery going to hold your family and your community back? Is it going to lead to even more alienation in the West  more division, more uncertainty, more inequality?"

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.

The Canadian Press
FORT COLLINS, Colo., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytocom, Inc., a leading biopharmaceutical company creating second generation immune therapies, announced today that Mike Handley, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Spring 2021 meeting of the Virtual Oncology Investor Conference, sponsored by the National Foundation for Cancer Research, taking place March 29, 2021 to April 1, 2021. The presentation will be available for all registered attendees.

During the presentation, Mr. Handley will provide an overview of Cytocom's business and recent corporate achievements, as well as the anticipated near-term milestones in clinical programs for COVID-19, pancreatic cancer and Crohn's disease.

Details of Cytocom's presentation are as follows:

Event: Spring 2021 Oncology Investor Conference Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2021 Time: 11:50 a.m. ET Registration: https://www.oncologyinvestorconference.com/register

Members of the Cytocom's management team will also be available to participate in virtual one-on-one meetings with investors and representatives of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies who are registered to attend the conference. Following the conclusion of the event, a recording of Mr. Handley's presentation will be available under "Recent Presentations" in the Investors section of the Company's website at www.cytocom.com.

About Cytocom Cytocom, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunotherapies targeting autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious diseases and cancers based on a proprietary platform designed to rebalance the body's immune system and restore homeostasis. Cytocom is developing therapies designed to elicit directly within patients a robust and durable response of antigen-specific killer T-cells and antibodies, thereby activating essential immune defenses against autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious diseases, and cancers. Specifically, Cytocom has four programs in late-stage clinical development for Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and pancreatic cancer. To learn more about Cytocom, Inc., please visit www.cytocom.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, uncertainties inherent in research and development; the uncertainties inherent in business and financial planning, including, without limitation, risks related to Cytocom's business and prospects, adverse developments in Cytocom's markets, or adverse developments in the U.S. or global capital markets, credit markets, regulatory environment or economies generally; the impact of COVID-19 on our business, operations and financial results; and competitive developments. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or future events or developments.

Contact Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc. Maureen McEnroe, CFA (Investors) (212) 375-2664 mmcenroe@tiberend.com Johanna Bennett (Media) (212) 375-2686jbennett@tiberend.com

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cytocom-to-present-at-the-spring-2021-virtual-oncology-investor-conference-301257320.html

SOURCE Cytocom, Inc.
(Natural News) Lakes all over the world are decreasing in size due to the impact of human activities. The rate at which these bodies of water are disappearing is such that experts are warning that they could become a thing of the past in the future.

Lisa Borre, a researcher at the Cary Institute in Millbrook, New York and coordinator of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network, said that human activities are one of the main reasons why lakes are starting to decrease in size.

Extensive research on the worst of these disasters, including well-documented examples such as the Aral Sea and Lake Urmia, show that the main culprit is diverting water or other mismanagement in the watershed that prevents enough water from reaching the lake, Borre explained. That said, the situation on every lake is unique and requires [an] understanding of its natural setting and climate as well as what is happening to the source of water feeding the lake and the amount of water leaving the lake through natural and human causes.

In addition to human activities, she did not discount the fact that climate change could also play a role in the disappearance of certain parts of the lakes.

Climate change can exacerbate problems caused by mismanagement of water resources. With few exceptions, lakes across the globe are warming. The warming climate, combined with more frequent or extreme droughts, creates conditions for increased evaporation and less water reaching lakes, Borre added.

Here are some lakes in the world that are in huge trouble:

Owens Lake, United States  Once a lake that covered around 108 square miles near the California-Nevada border, the diversion of the Owens River to the LA Aqueductleft the lake totally desiccated by 1926. Aside from the loss of a source of water, residents near the area have also suffered from dust storms clouds coming from the Owens now dry lakebed. Aral Sea, Kazakhstan  Once the fourth largest body of fresh water in the world, the Aral Sea lost significant volumes of water as a result of to irrigation projects in the former U.S.S.R. It is estimated that the lake lost 167 billion gallons of water, leaving it with only 10 percent of its original area. Dead Sea, Middle East  The lowest body of water in the world. The southern part of the Dead Sea has been transformed into ponds in order to extract salt and other minerals which has contributed to its decrease in size. (Related: Dead Sea secrets revealed: Scientists explain why salt crystals pile up in the Dead Sea.) Lake Fagibine, Mali  Droughts during the past century have greatly reduced the size of this lake. By 1990, the lake had completely dried up. This has forced people living along its shores to seek subsistence from other sources. Lake Assal, Djibouti  Lake Assal will eventually dry up from evaporation due to its location near a volcanic crater and lack of rainfall. Only subsurface water flow from the nearby Gulf of Aden keeps the lake from drying up. This lake has 10 times greater salinity than seawater and supports the local economy as people in the area harvest salt from it. Lake Chad, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon Irrigation projects caused this lake gave up 95 percent of its total area  from 10,000 square miles to just 580 square miles. This massive decrease happened in just a span of 38 years. Lake Urmia, Iran  Once a luxury vacation destination, Lake Urmia is now a cracked salt bed that only retains 40 percent of its original 2,000 square mile area. This is due to the six dams that now capture the water from a majority of the rivers that used to feed it. Poyang Lake, China  One of the factors blamed for the decrease in water levels of this lake is the construction of Three Gorges Dam, which caused the water sources of the lake to be diverted. In 2014, the water levels in the lake went so low that it revealed an ancient stone bridge that had been submerged for hundreds of years. Lake Chapala, Mexico  As of 2001, more than 25 percent of the lakes surface area had disappeared. Drought and water diversion are blamed for the loss of the lakes water levels. Great Lakes, U.S./Canada  Since 1999, these lakes have been losing an average of 1.5 feet of their water level every year. At present, around 2.5 million gallons of water have disappeared from these lakes. The deepening and widening of the St. Clair river is said to be the main culprit of this.

Visit CleanWater.news to learn more about the effects of human activities on lakes.

Sources Include:

DailyMail.co.uk

StrangeSounds.org

GeoChange.er.usgs.gov
POTTSVILLE  Approximately 12 people gathered in front of the Schuylkill County Courthouse Sunday afternoon to protest against county Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr.

The protestors were calling for Halcovages resignation or impeachment over the federal lawsuit against him for allegedly sexually harassing four female courthouse employees, including one accusation of sexual contact.

Catherine Mahon, of Schuylkill Haven, organized the protest as part of the Schuylkill County Young Democrats out of frustration from the lack of action against Halcovage.

Its been going on for months, and nothing has happened, she said.

Since she announced the event, the county Republican Committee leaders, state Reps. Joe Kerwin, R-125, Lykens, Jerry Knowles, R-124, Rush Township, and Tim Twardzik, R-123, Butler Township, and six female Republican county row officers called for Halcovages resignation. Halcovage is a Republican.

Im thrilled about that, but the reality is Halcovage is not going to resign, Mahon said. Thats the nature of how people like him operate. They will never admit to it.

Mahon created an event on Facebook to promote the protest, and friends and community members arrived in the rain with signs.

Police responded to a domestic dispute between Mahon and her father during the event about matters unrelated to Halcovage. No arrests were made, but officers stayed on the scene to monitor the situation. The protest continued peacefully afterward.

Lisa Hollenbach, president of Schuylkill County Democratic Womens League, held a sign reading, Halcovage is no choir boy.

Halcovage sings for church choirs, but hes no choir boy, she said.

Hollenbach said in the year 2021, this is not how the county should be represented, and if Halcovage does not resign, he needs to be impeached.

We cant depend on our vote anymore, Hollenbach said. We have to depend on our Legislature to remove him so we can go about the business of government in a way that is safe for all people in the county, not just women.

Hugh Reiley, chairman of the Schuylkill County Democratic Committee, said he wanted to represent the committee and show support for the women of the courthouse.

Not just me, but our whole committee has a strong support for all victims of sexual assault and harassment, Reiley said.

Maria Casey, Schuylkill County Clerk of Courts, said she was happy to see people letting their voices be heard for womens rights.

Someone needs to speak out for women and girls in the county, she said.

Mahon said while she wishes more action had been taken by county leaders rather than an individual like herself, she hopes the protest will show others in the county how they can speak out.

I was inspired to do this, because when something was going on in my county, I didnt want all I did to be post on my Facebook about it, Mahon said. I hope this shows others how important it is to stop a problem when you see a problem.

An internal county investigation of the employees allegations 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 way to remove him from office is to have the state Legislature impeach and convict him.

Gerard J. Geiger, Stroudsburg, Halcovages lawyer, could not be reached Friday for comment after the letters from the committee members, legislators and row officers calling for Halcovages resignation were made public. Halcovage has denied the accusations.
The situation at our nations southern border is a problem. A serious problem.

No rational person can disagree with that statement. As such, the question that everyone should be asking: What can be done to make things better?

Realistically, theres no easy answer, no simple fix. The stream of migrants, many of them unaccompanied minors, are often seeking to leave their home countries because of conditions that are unbearable if not even dangerous. As such, weve got to view whats happening first and foremost as a humanitarian crisis.

But recognizing the situation for what it is, is merely a first step. Its important, but it doesnt provide a way to house and process those whove crossed our border.

With President Joe Bidens decision to make Vice President Kamala Harris the point person on the border crisis, hes moving to get a handle on the untenable situation. Harris is charged with finding ways to stem the flow of migrants to our nation and will also be working to forge strategic partnerships with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

This makes sense on the most basic of levels for a very straightforward reason: Doing nothing is not an option. Nor is simply blaming Bidens predecessor for exacerbating the crisis with his anti-immigrant rhetoric, his call for a wall and his endless drumbeat of vitriol about those looking for a better life in America.

The problem predated Donald J. Trumps election as president. The problem, simply stated, is that Congress lacks the political will to craft a solution. Some members had once worked for some sort of a bipartisan fix, but found themselves castigated as favoring amnesty  even when what theyd been suggesting was nothing of the sort.

Harris, of course, has been given an impossible job. One can imagine that when Biden told her hed be putting the border crisis on her plate, she responded with one of his favorite quips: Cmon, man!

There are some at our nations southern border who are fleeing dangerous situations at home and are seeking asylum here. Many others are unaccompanied minors. We should, of course, give priority to those seeking asylum and must treat children as children.

There are no easy fixes, but merely acknowledging the crisis and seeking to work with our neighbors to the south is a good first step.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched a bid to recover from weeks of political damage over the treatment of women by naming a new cabinet team, shifting problem ministers and punishing a disgraced Liberal MP.

Mr Morrison named Peter Dutton as the countrys next Defence Minister and leader of the government in the House of Representatives and Michaelia Cash as the new Attorney-General and Industrial Relations Minister in the two biggest appointments in the changes.

Scott Morrison has given Michaelia Cash and Peter Dutton new portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Industry Minister Karen Andrews will be elevated to Minister for Home Affairs, replacing Mr Dutton and taking a high-profile position as one of the cabinets most senior women.

The Prime Minister has faced a wave of anger about the treatment of women in the six weeks since former Liberal adviser Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in Parliament House in March 2019.
" " Labor unions exist for a wide variety of professions, representing everyone from construction workers to doctors.

 A labor union is an organization of workers dedicated to protecting their interests and improving wages, hours and working conditions. Many different types of workers belong to unions: mechanics, teachers, factory workers, actors, police officers, airline pilots, janitors, doctors, writers and so forth. To form a bargaining unit -- a group who will be represented by a union in dealing with their employer -- a group of workers must be voluntarily recognized by their employer, or a majority of workers in a bargaining unit must vote for representation.

In general, it is legal for employers to try to persuade employees not to unionize. However, it is illegal for a company to attempt to prevent employees from unionizing by promises of violence, threats or other coercive action. It is also illegal for unions to use lies or threats of violence to intimidate employees into joining a union.

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An employer is required by law to bargain in good faith with a union, although an employer is not required to agree to any particular terms. Once an agreement is reached through negotiations, a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is signed. A CBA is a negotiated agreement between a labor union and an employer that sets terms of employment for members of that union and provisions for wages, hours, conditions, vacation, sick days, benefits, etc. After a CBA is signed, an employer cant change anything detailed in the agreement without the union representatives approval. The CBA lasts for a set period of time, and the union monitors the employer to make sure the employer abides by the contract. If a union believes an employer has breached the CBA, the union can file a grievance, which may be ultimately resolved through a process known as arbitration.

Union members pay dues to cover the unions costs. Most unions have paid, full-time staff that helps to manage its operations. While the staff is paid by union dues, members sometimes volunteer with the union. Some unions also create strikes funds that support workers in the event of a strike. Dues vary but many are around $50 a month.

" " Labor unions are an important constituency for elected officials. Here Congressman Dennis Moore (D-Kansas) meets with members of the Service Employees International Union. Photo courtesy Offices of Congressman Dennis More

A union works somewhat like a democracy. Unions hold elections to determine officers who will make decisions and represent the members. There are many laws governing union elections, which well discuss later in the article.

A locally based group of workers who have a charter from a national or international union is known as a union local. The union local might be made up of workers from the same company or region. They may also be workers from the same business sector, employed by different companies.

" " The AFL-CIO, one of the most powerful labor federations in the United States, traces its origins back more than 120 years. Photo courtesy Tooele Army Depot - Union Office

Benefits of Union Membership

Union members have the benefit of negotiating with their employer as a group. This basic right gives them much more power than if they were to negotiate individually. On average, union employees make 27 percent more than nonunion workers. Ninety-two percent of union workers have job-related health coverage versus 68 percent for nonunion workers. Union workers also have a great advantage over nonunion workers in securing guaranteed pensions.

Through their CBAs and the grievance and arbitration processes, unions help to protect their employees from unjust dismissal. Therefore, most union employees cannot be fired without just cause, unlike many nonunion employees who are considered at-will employees and can be fired at any time and for almost any reason.

Another powerful union tool is the strike. As we mentioned earlier, a strike is when a group of workers stops working in protest to labor conditions or as a bargaining tool during negotiations between labor and management. There is significant debate about whether or not strikes are effective, but there may be circumstances where a strike is a necessary last resort for a union.
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A Hawaii travel agent has been charged with nearly four dozen felonies for allegedly defrauding clients, including family friends and former classmates, for thousands of dollars.

Wendy Wong, the owner of the now-defunct House of Aloha Hawaii travel agency, was charged last December with 47 felony counts  45 of them for failing to refund her clients for trips that she failed to book, and two more for withdrawing from a business account for unapproved purposes. She was arraigned March 18, and pled not guilty to all of the charges.

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tamalca Harris told SFGATE that Wong appeared in court remotely with her attorney due to the ongoing pandemic.

According to a KGO investigation, Wong listed a litany of reasons for failing to refund her customers, citing bad weather and canceled flights.

Jennifer Sioxson, one woman who worked with Wong and considered her a family friend, said that she was left without a hotel by the time she arrived to Hawaii for a vacation. She was forced to pay for a hotel out-of-pocket, she told KGO, but was unable to get a refund from Wong.

"She was a family friend, our kids are friends, she's hosted my kids at her house many times, so you know it's just, I thought she'd come around," Sioxson told the news outlet.

Another client named Johnny Phan who allegedly booked a trip with at least 80 people costing nearly $100,000 to renew wedding vows, had their trip canceled last minute by Wong, who again neglected to refund them for the trip. Phan told KHNL in Hawaii that he trusted Wong because they had attended middle school together in Milpitas.

She was not licensed by the state of Hawaii to be a travel agent, KHNL reported. The Better Business Bureau also cited the agency, noting that the organization "received a pattern of complaints concerning contract and service issues" from disgruntled customers.

The Bureau also said that customers were sent fake itineraries, leading customers to believe that trips were booked.

If theres anybody who believes theyre a victim with House of Aloha Hawaii, report it to their local law enforcement, Harris told SFGATE. Santa Clara County residents can email travelcomplaints@dao.sccgov.org. The next hearing for this case will be held May 3, Harris told SFGATE.

"You reap what you sow. I mean all these people put their trust in her and their money," Sioxson told KGO.
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Three police officers were killed and two civilians were wounded in two separate roadside bomb blasts in Afghanistan on Sunday, authorities confirmed.

In eastern Laghman province, three police officers of Afghan National Police (ANP) were killed when a police armored vehicle was struck by a Taliban roadside bomb in Omarzai, a locality on the outskirts of provincial capital Mehtarlam city at mid-day, a provincial police source told Xinhua anonymously.

In northern Kunduz province, two civilians were seriously wounded after their vehicle touched off a roadside bomb along a district road in Qalay-i-Zal district Sunday morning, a provincial government spokesman, Esmatullah Muradi, told Xinhua.

Militants in Afghanistan have been using home-made Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to target security forces, and the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.
Hyderabad, March 29 : Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Monday announced that Nomula Bagath Kumar will be its candidate for April 17 by-election to Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly seat.

He is the son of late MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah, whose death in December last year, caused the by-election.

Chief Minister and TRS President K. Chandrasekhar Rao finalized the candidature of Bagath Kumar, who is an advocate practicing in the Telangana High Court.

Rao handed over B-Form to the young leader, who will file his nomination on Tuesday. The TRS chief also handed over a cheque of Rs 28 lakh to him for the campaigning.

The ruling party announced the candidate a day before the last date for filing of nominations. The party chief took the decision after holding consultations with the party leaders from Nalgonda district and after taking into account the outcome of five surveys which the party conducted this month.

TRS leader Koti Reddy was also a strong contender for the ticket. The TRS chief, however, assured him that he will be made a member of Legislative Council.

Speaking on the occasion, Bagath thanked Chandrasekhar Rao for reposing faith in him and fielding him from Nagarjuna Sagar constituency represented by his father.

Bagath Kumar said ever since his father joined the TRS, Chandrasekhar Rao gave him suitable positions in the party. He said it was because of KCR government's policies that his father won the seat in 2018 elections.

He exuded confidence that people will elect him in the by-election which was necessitated by his father's death. He said he was happy to get the opportunity as successor of his father.

Bagath Kumar contended that the constituency has 1.5 lakh beneficiaries of various government schemes. He claimed that there was no growth for BJP in the constituency since the 2018 elections.

In 2018, Nomula 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.

Congress has once again fielded veteran leader Jana Reddy. BJP is likely to officially announce its candidate later in the day but Niveditha Reddy last week filed the nomination as the BJP candidate without waiting for the party's announcement.
After several years of legal wrangling, Indias has won a decisive victory over its disgruntled minority shareholder. But the boardroom coup that turned into a courtroom drama will only be over with a divorce. That could still get messy.

The Shapoorji Pallonji Groups claim of being an oppressed junior partner in the storied Indian empire has been set aside by the countrys Supreme Court, which also held SP scion Cyrus Mistrys 2016 sacking as chairman as legal. The next step will be for SP to exit its 18 per cent-plus stake in holding company Ltd. That chunk is worth anywhere between $11 billion to $24 billion, depending on whether you ask the buyer or the seller. The court refused to get drawn into deciding the terms of separation.

Ratan Tata, the 83-year-old chairman emeritus, will no doubt want an early closure. Once free of ownership tussles, the sprawling 153-year-old conglomerate, with tentacles extending from auto and aviation to tea and technology, will be free to dive into e-commerce and other digital businesses. Theres room in India for a Tata super-app to compete with Mukesh Ambanis Ltd.

But eagerness to end the rambling saga doesnt mean having to meet SP Groups asking price. Now that the court has upheld the change in Tata Sons charter to a private company, the Mistry familys ability to freely monetize its shareholding will be truncated. The majority shareholders of are charitable trusts. They will be loath to overpay for what they might view as a 692 million rupee ($9.5 million) investment between 1965 and 1995. That investment  worth a little less than $50 million in todays money  had a fantastic run, earning $120 million in dividends alone between 1991 and 2016. But now the compounding party is over.

Even though had anointed as chairman upon his own retirement in 2012, the notion that the two families were business partners stretched credulity. The Mistry clan entered the only in 1965 by acquiring a 6 per cent stake from a private individual for 1.1 million rupees, worth $800,000 in todays money. In 1969, the family bought another 5 per cent block  this time from Tata Trusts, the majority shareholder. A third chunk, purchased in 1974 for 1.3 million rupees, took the Mistry stake to 17.5 per cent. It rose to 18.4 per cent after the family brought in the equivalent of about $45 million today by subscribing to a 1995 rights issue.

Overall, that works out to a total investment of under $50 million in a group whose 29 listed firms were recently valued at $230 billion, with the bulk of the market capitalization coming from just one company, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Indias No. 1 exporter of software services.

But within four years of giving the top job, fell out with him. After his dismissal, Mistry named business units ranging from steel and small cars to mobile services, hotels and power as legacy hot spots that could destroy up to $18 billion of the $29 billion capital employed in them. This outburst led the to remark that Mistry acted like a person who tries to set his own house on fire for not getting what he perceives as legitimately due to him.

As the spat turned public and ugly, the SP Groups ability to sell or pledge its shares came under a cloud.

A waiting game may not have mattered to Mistry in 2016, but two years later India had a shadow-banking crisis, its own mini-Lehman Brothers moment, as I then described it. The waves of mistrust triggered by the collapse of IL&FS Group threatened to sink businesses with long-term property assets funded with short-term borrowings. The SP Group, which had its roots in construction, found itself in the unenviable position of being such an overextended player. The group is now asking creditors to restructure half of its $3 billion debt, according to BloombergQuint.

All of SPs troubles would be over if it could get a nice divorce settlement from the Tata empire. Trouble is, also knows it. As for the hot spots identified by Mistry, telecom has been sold, and Tata is exploring options to make the U.K. steel business sustain itself without Indian funding. Indian Hotels Co., which owns the Taj brand and operates The Pierre in New York City, has been hit hard by the pandemic. It, too, needs a fresh assessment. After that, its time to script a fresh growth chapter in e-commerce.

Now that the court has thrown out his entire case, the 52-year-old Mistry might take longer to bounce back. It seems theres a limit to how lucky one can get with $50 million.
Aurora is a leading U.S.-based cybersecurity solutions provider with over 140 clients and revenue of US$28.11 million (CAD$35.82 million) in 2020

Victoria, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2021) - Plurilock Security Inc. (TSXV: PLUR) (OTCQB: PLCKF) ("Plurilock" or the "Company"), a leading provider of invisible and continuous authentication technologies for enterprises, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive share purchase agreement dated March 26, 2021 (the "Definitive Agreement") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Aurora Systems Consulting Inc. ("Aurora"), a provider of advanced cybersecurity technology and services based in California (the "Acquisition").

Since 2001, Aurora has provided cybersecurity products and offered professional services to U.S. clients across three main segments: (1) federal government institutions; (2) state, local, education ("SLED") government agencies; and (3) commercial firms. Aurora's main clients comprise large and reputable organizations such as the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of the Air Force, U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Department of the Army.

Key Highlights of Aurora

Revenue of US$28.1 million (CAD$35.8 million) in 2020 1

Gross Margin of US$1.4M in 2020 1

Diversified client base consisting of over 140 tier-1 organizations

Numerous prominent master service agreements with state and federal agencies in the United States

Aurora marks the first acquisition by Plurilock since completing its reverse takeover transaction in September 2020 when it began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). Upon closing of the Acquisition, the Company will assume Aurora's United States Small Business Administration COVID related assistance long term debt of US$149,0001 (as of December 31, 2020).

As part of the Company's growth strategy, Aurora will operate as an additional sales force to deliver Plurilock's state-of-the-art identity assurance solutions to Aurora's vast network of clients. As a result, it is expected that the Acquisition will accelerate Plurilock's sales growth to rapidly deploy its high margin software products within regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and defense in the United States.

Through the Acquisition, Plurilock will obtain a professional services team, a new office on the West Coast of the United States, a larger market presence in the U.S. cybersecurity industry and an offshore office in India built for quoting government deals. The Company will also bring more products and services to its clients without having to add additional vendors. Aurora will gain access to the Company's cutting-edge AI platform, resulting in a high-level of cross pollination between Plurilock's and Aurora's technology offerings.

"The acquisition of Aurora will represent a significant milestone in Plurilock's development and in our M&A strategy of acquiring attractive assets that have the ability to scale," said Ian L. Paterson, CEO of Plurilock. "With an established customer base of top-tier organizations, the Aurora acquisition provides us with an opportunity to integrate our higher margin cybersecurity software into their existing solution offering in order to increase sales while expanding their overall margins. We expect this acquisition will rapidly advance our growth initiatives and we are looking forward to working with Philip de Souza and his impressive team as we continue to aggressively build our company."

"We are pleased to join Plurilock in delivering cybersecurity offerings to North American organizations across key industry verticals," said Philip de Souza, Founder and President of Aurora. "By incorporating Plurilock's cutting-edge technology platform into our product offering, our clients will receive a more robust and comprehensive identity authentication solution, which has been adapted to provide safe and secure remote work access to employees working from home."

Once the Acquisition is completed, Aurora will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary under the guidance of Plurilock's management team.

Terms of the Definitive Agreement

The Company entered into the Definitive Agreement with Plurilock Security Corp., the Company's wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Aurora and the shareholder of Aurora (the "Seller"), whereby Plurilock Security Corp. will acquire all of the outstanding securities of Aurora. Pursuant to the terms of the Definitive Agreement, the Company has agreed to pay the Seller aggregate consideration of US$1,500,000 payable as follows: (i) US$900,000 in cash payable on closing (the "Closing Cash Payment"), subject to a working capital adjustment; (ii) US$300,000 in common shares of Plurilock (the "Closing Consideration Shares") payable on closing; and (iii) a performance-based earnout of US$300,000 in common shares of Plurilock (the "Earnout Shares"). The Closing Consideration Shares will be issued at a deemed price of C$0.54 per share. The Earnout Shares will be issued at a deemed price equal to the closing trading price of the common shares of Plurilock on the TSXV on the date prior to announcement of issuance of the Earnout Shares, subject to a minimum share price of $0.30. The Closing Consideration Shares will be subject to certain contractual restrictions on trading for a period of 18 months from the date of issuance. The Closing Cash Payment will be paid from a portion of the cash proceeds raised from Plurilock's recent C$5.1 million private placements that closed in February 2021.

In addition, upon closing of the Acquisition, US$90,000 of the consideration will be placed in escrow for 12 months to satisfy any indemnification obligations to the Company, as well as any purchase price adjustments pursuant to the terms of the Definitive Agreement.

In connection with the Acquisition, the Company will be paying a transaction fee to an arm's length third party consultant in $25,000 in cash and 46,296 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of C$0.54 per share. These shares are subject to statutory hold period expiring on the date that is four months and a day from the date of issuance.

The Acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of the approval of the TSXV. The Company expects to close the Acquisition on or around March 31, 2021.

About Aurora

Aurora is revolutionizing the Cybersecurity approach with products and services that proactively prevent, secure, and manage advanced threats and malware. Aurora's technology offerings and portfolio of services protect hundreds of enterprise clients worldwide including Fortune 1000 organizations, local government, and federal institutions.

About Plurilock

Plurilock is a cybersecurity company that provides advanced and continuous authentication for standards and regulatory compliance. Plurilock's software leverages state-of-the-art behavioral-biometric, environmental, and contextual technologies to provide invisible, adaptive, and risk-based MFA solutions with the lowest possible cost and complexity. Plurilock enables organizations to compute safely-and with peace of mind.

For more information, visit https://www.plurilock.com or contact:

Ian L. Paterson

Chief Executive Officer

ian@plurilock.com

416.800.1566

Roland Sartorius

Chief Financial Officer

roland.sartorius@plurilock.com

Prit Singh

Investor Relations

prit.singh@plurilock.com

905.510.7636

Disclaimers and Additional Information

This press release contains certain Financial Information (as defined in footnote 1 below) which represents the most current information available to the Company. As the Company receives the Aurora final auditor's report, the actual Financial Information may result in changes to the Financial Information summarized in this press release. Although the Company believes the Financial Information reflected in this press release are final, the Company can give no assurance that actual results will not differ from those presented in this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") which relate to future events or Plurilock's future business, operations, and financial performance and condition, including with respect to the Company's business plan with Aurora following the closing of the Acquisition, the anticipated closing date of the Acquisition and the anticipated growth of the Company's sales following closing of the Acquisition. Forward-looking statements normally contain words like "will", "intend", "anticipate", "could", "should", "may", "might", "expect", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "potential", "project", "assume", "contemplate", "believe", "shall", "scheduled", and similar terms. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, actions, or developments and are based on expectations, assumptions and other factors that management currently believes are relevant, reasonable, and appropriate in the circumstances. Although management believes that the forward-looking statements herein are reasonable, actual results could be substantially different due to the risks and uncertainties associated with and inherent to Plurilock's business. Additional material risks and uncertainties applicable to the forward-looking statements herein include, without limitation, unforeseen events, developments, or factors causing any of the aforesaid expectations, assumptions, and other factors ultimately being inaccurate or irrelevant. Many of these factors are beyond the control of Plurilock. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as at the date hereof and Plurilock undertakes no obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

1 The Company cautions that the Aurora financial information ("Financial Information") in this press release is audited but subject to receipt of the final auditor's report which is expected before or at closing. Any changes to the Financial Information, if any, are anticipated to be immaterial.

2 Based on an exchange rate posted by fx-exchange.com as of December 31, 2020, being the fiscal year end of Aurora.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78793
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 21:38:57|Editor: huaxia

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MACAO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- No locally transmitted COVID-19 case had been reported for 365 days in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) as of Monday, according to the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of Macao.

A total of 48 confirmed cases had been reported in the SAR and all of them had been discharged from hospitals. No medical staff had been infected with the virus.

The center said one Macao resident who had recently returned from Britain tested positive on Friday to the COVID-19 variant that was first detected in Britain.

The patient, a 24-year-old female student, had shown no symptoms, the center said, adding that the case would pose a very low risk to Macao because she had been under closed-loop management since arriving in the city.

As of Monday, altogether 47,483 people in Macao had been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines. Last week, the SAR suspended the inoculation of mRNA vaccines made in Germany due to package flaws related to the vial tops. Enditem
A bill has been introduced in the Texas Legislature to create a regional district that could levy taxes and issue bonds to build and maintain a proposed $26 billion storm surge barrier on the southeast Texas coast.

The measure, SB1160, is sponsored by state Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, with a companion bill in the state House filed by Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston. The legislation would establish the Gulf Coast Protection District, an entity composed of members from Harris, Galveston, Chambers, Jefferson and Orange counties.

The proposal marks the first time that lawmakers have outlined a clear local funding and management mechanism for the long-discussed coastal barrier, once known as the Ike Dike, the majority of which would be funded by the federal government. In addition to taxing authority, the local protection district could use eminent domain to seize property or land for the exercise of the districts functions, according to the bills text.

Taylor told a Senate committee on Monday that the bill is vital to the Army Corps of Engineers proposed coastal barrier project, which aims to protect the region from the kind of catastrophic storm surge experienced during Hurricane Ike in 2008.

This is a very important bill, and not just not just for the state of Texas, but for our country, Taylor told the Senate Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee. The No. 1 supplier of military aviation fuel is in this area. So if youre talking about national security, (if) this area gets wiped out and we dont have the aviation fuel, that would be a security problem. Its our No.1 military port. And its our No. 1 petrochemical complex.

The barrier proposal calls for a gated structure stretching across the mouth of Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel. It also calls for 43 miles of dunes protecting the Galveston and Bolivar Peninsula coastline, as well as a ring levee that would protect the north side of Galveston island.

The entire coastal barrier project, which includes ecosystem restoration extending southwest to South Padre Island, is expected to cost $26 billion, with the dunes and sea gate at the ship channel alone accounting for $14 billion to $18 billion of that total. Once fully constructed, the Corps estimates the project will save $2.2 billion in storm damages every year.

This project will pay for itself time and time again, Taylor said. Once we get it built, itll be there for the next 80 to 100 years.

A final report on the coastal barrier study will be completed in April, according to the Texas General Land Office, which is co-sponsoring the study. The report will released to the public in September and submitted to Congress for final approval.

The Gulf Coast Protection District would be governed by a board of 11 directors appointed by the governor in consultation with the respective commissioners courts from each county. Each of the five counties would have one representative except for Harris County, which, because of its larger population, would have two. The district would also include one representative each for the regional ports, the environmental sector. the regional industrial complex, and for all of the cities within the five counties.

The district would have to hold a vote among its member counties before it began collecting property taxes, but would be able to issue bonds.

Several witnesses at Mondays committee hearing spoke in favor of the bill, including Hector Rivera, president and CEO of the Texas Chemical Council, a statewide trade association of chemical manufacturing facilities in Texas, and the government relations staffers from the city of Galveston and Galveston County.

Danielle Goshen, a water policy and outreach specialist for the Galveston Bay Foundation, was the only speaker opposed to the bill. Goshen said the environmental organization opposed the bill for providing momentum for a coastal barrier plan that is too expensive, will take too long, and where better alternatives exist.

We could scrap the gate system and spend a fraction of the total cost on a combination of buyouts, flood-proofing, and elevation structures, Goshen said during her testimony.

The Corps estimated that annual maintenance and operation of the coastal barrier would exceed $100 million annually. The protection district would be required to pay 35 percent of the local share of the $26 billion project. A previous report released by the Corps in 2019 estimated that would be nearly $9 billion.

Taylor said he hoped Congress would prove a direct appropriation for the project, much like the Corps levee reconstruction in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. The hope is that a direct appropriation would expedite the construction timeline, which is currently estimated to be anywhere from 10 to 15 years.

I think we have a pretty good case for getting this done on a direct appropriation from Congress, particularly in light of the infrastructure bill (that) is being discussed right now in D.C., Taylor said.

nick.powell@chron.com
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Members of Karachi's Hindu community in Pakistan celebrated the colourful, religious festival of Holi on Sunday.

The main celebrations were held at the Swaminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple in downtown Karachi.

Holi is the most expressive and effervescent of the traditional Hindu festivals.

People throw coloured powder and squirted water at each other, and also distributed sweets as part of the celebrations.

The Holi Bonfire, referred to as the Holika Fire, symbolises the burning of the demoness Holika.

It signifies the defeat of evil and the triumph of good.

Although traditionally a Hindu festival, Holi also sees participation from members of other religions, including Muslims.

Hindus believe that Holi brings a message of unity and friendship and bridges the communal divide.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Tunis/Tunisia  Professor and urologist Saaddedine Zmerli died on Friday at the age of 91.

The deceased held the position of Health Minister from 1988 to 1989, before being appointed Ambassador to Switzerland.

He is a founding member of the Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH), of which he was the first president for four terms, from May 7, 1977 to February 14, 1982.

Zmerli played an important role in the creation, in 1973, of the urology department at Charles-Nicolle Hospital in Tunis, where he succeeded with a medical team in performing the first kidney transplant at the Maghreb level, in 1986.

He is also a founding member of the National Committee of Medical Ethics and the Maghreb Medical Congress.
Oklahoma pastors wife, accomplice arrested for husbands murder

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Days after Oklahoma Pastor David Charles Evans was shot dead inside his home, police arrested his wife and the suspected shooter.

The late pastors 47-year-old wife, Kristie Dawnell Evans, reportedly told investigators that she and her husband were sexually involved with a 26-year-old man, and she asked him to murder her husband.

Responding to a 911 call, officers from the Ada Police Department found the 50-year-old pastor, who led the Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, severely wounded. Paramedics later pronounced him dead at the scene on Monday morning.

His wife called 911 to report the murder, claiming a stranger had entered their home and shot her husband. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Friday that she admitted to having played a role in her husbands murder, News On 6 reported.

She said that she and Kahlil Square (the suspect shooter) had planned this, Captain Beth Green at the OSBI was quoted as saying. She laid in bed until she heard Kahlil come into the house. She talked with him briefly in the living room and she stayed in the living room.

The pastor's wife added that Square, a resident of Newalla, Oklahoma, went into the bedroom and shot her husband with his own gun while he was asleep.

Kristie Evans and Square had an intimate relationship  a sexual relationship with the involvement of the pastor, at least at one point, Green added. Neighbors reported that they had seen a white Mustang in the area and over at that house for several days.

Square has earlier been convicted in cases in Cleveland County.

The pastor's wife also told investigators that her husband was controlling and verbally abusive, according to News12, which also reported that Square met the Evanses a few months ago at a motel.

Evans is being held in the Pontotoc County Jail and Square in the Cleveland County Jail.

OSBI Director Ricky Adams thanked the whole team involved in the investigation.

OSBI agents from across the state worked tirelessly on this investigation for days, Texomas Homepage quoted Adams as saying. With the help of OSBI intelligence analysts and multiple law enforcement agencies, the suspects responsible for Evans murder are in custody. Our team will always follow the evidence and find the truth.

Oklahoma Freewill Baptist Churchs Executive Director Mike Wade told KXII earlier 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.
Downing Street today played down the prospects of spare coronavirus vaccines being handed to Ireland before July.

The PM's spokesman stressed that the 'first priority' is still to cover all UK adults, despite claims that 3.7million doses have been earmarked for gifting in a 'poke in the eye' for the EU's slow rollout.

The comments came as Northern Ireland politicians backed the principle of sharing British supplies, with speeding the Republic's progress considered crucial for easing the lockdown safely on the island.

Asked about reports that the government is ready to offer spare vaccines as early as next week, No10 said: 'We don't currently have a surplus of vaccines but we will consider how they are best allocated as they become available.'

Pressed on whether that meant supplies would not be shared until every single adult in the UK has been offered a vaccine, the spokesman said: 'Our first priority is to protect the British public.

'So, of course we want to ensure that we have offered all of those over 50 their first dose by April 15, and then we provide all adults with their first dose by the end of July, as we continue to work through our road map.'

DUP First Minister Arlene Foster (pictured right today with Sinn Fein deputy Michelle O'Neill left) said she discussed the issue of gifting vaccines with Boris Johnson when he visited a vaccination centre in Fermanagh earlier this month

Ireland's vaccine rollout has been lagging behind the UK's - causing problems for lockdown easing in Northern Ireland

A spokesman for the PM (pictured out running today) played down the prospect of any vaccines being given to Ireland soon

Dublin said yesterday that it was 'not aware' of any offers from the UK to share coronavirus vaccines - despite suggestions Cabinet ministers view the move as 'good politics' as well as solving a 'genuine' issue about the gulf in vaccination rates on the island.

As of yesterday more than 850,000 Covid-19 vaccines had been administered in Northern Ireland - with over half the population having received their first dose.

By contrast in the Republic the proportion of people covered has only crested a tenth.

DUP First Minister Arlene Foster said she discussed the issue of gifting vaccines with Boris Johnson when he visited a vaccination centre in Fermanagh earlier this month.

'I think he does understand the difficulties, particularly around border areas and the movement of people in relation to vaccination,' she said.

'If there is surplus vaccine then we should share it with our nearest neighbours out of neighbourliness but also out of the fact it will have an impact of course on us here in Northern Ireland, so there's a very practical reason why I believe that should happen.'

Ms Foster's Sinn Fein deputy Michelle O'Neill said she would like to see more co-operation with Ireland.

'What happens across these two islands has implications because we move freely across the two islands, so it is crucially important that we have an all-island approach to dealing with vaccination rollout,' she said.

'It's the right thing to do, it's the good thing to do. It's responding to a global pandemic and we are all in this together, so we need to work together in order to protect our people. I would like to see a lot more co-operation as we come out of this period and into the future.'

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said yesterday he was unaware of an offer of vaccines but would be 'very interested' in talking to the British government.

He told Sky News: 'There isn't an offer that I'm aware of, or that the government's aware of, from the UK.

'Of course, if there was we'd be very interested in talking to the British government about that.'

Government sources have stressed that Easter will be too early to know whether spare jabs will be available.

Any allocations to other countries would depend on 'supply chain reliability' and whether booster doses are needed in the Autumn.

The UK's stunning vaccination rollout is expected to move up another gear next month when the Moderna jab is deployed for the first time.

The imminent arrival of more than 500,000 doses of the new US vaccine  to add to millions of Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca shots  will herald the expansion of the programme to the under-50s.

Doctors are expected to administer the first Moderna jabs within three weeks.

The Republic has said it is not aware of any UK plans to gift vaccines. Pictured, Irish PM Micheal Martin

Ursula von der Leyen has been under massive pressure for the EU's shambolic vaccine rollout
Ministers are battling over a plan to ban online junk food ads that has been condemned as 'not even half-baked' by industry experts.

The proposals were put out to consultation before Christmas, but have been branded 'insane' by critics after research suggested they might only shave a couple of calories a day off children's intake.

There have been claims the restriction could affect avocados, hummus and Marmite - although officials insist it would be targeted at foods high in sugar, salt, fat or calories.

MailOnline understands that there is strong resistance to the plan at the top levels of government, with a decision expected within weeks.

Boris Johnson was once a vocal opponent of state meddling in eating and drinking habits, speaking out against efforts by Jamie Oliver to reform school meals.

Boris Johnson was once a vocal opponent of state meddling in eating and drinking habits, speaking out against efforts by Jamie Oliver to reform school meals

There have been claimed the restriction could affect avocados and Marmite - although officials insist it would be targeted at foods high in sugar, salt, fat or calories

What might be covered by online ad ban? The proposed ban on junk food adverts online will target food and drink products are high in fat, sugar and salt. How a product is classified as HFSS has not been finalised yet. Experts suggest the 'traffic light' system on food packaging could be used. The Government has also developed the Nutrient Profile Model which uses nutritional information to calculate out a products quality Foods that could be considered HFSS under these methods could include: Avocados

Salmon

Marmite

Mustard

Hummus

Ketchup

Cheese

Honey

Oils and dressings

Butter and spreads

Breakfast cereals

Crisps and savoury snacks

Biscuits Advertisement

undergone a Damascene conversion after admitting being 'too fat' was part of the reason for needing hospital treatment for coronavirus.

Last summer the PM unveiled a wide-ranging drive to improve public health, including a ban on buy-one-get-one-free deals for junk food, as well as the ban on online junk food adverts.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock previously pointed to studies suggesting children see 15billion adverts for unhealthy food every year.

He has voiced determination to 'help parents, children and families in the UK make healthier choices' and offer reassurance that children are not being exposed to adverts promoting unhealthy foods 'which can affect eating habits for life'.

But while the Obesity Health Alliance and British Heart Foundation welcomed the idea many Tories view it as an unacceptable intervention by the 'nanny state'.

Whitehall insiders told the Sun at the weekend that ministers now accept a boycott would be 'disproportionate' and cost businesses tens of millions.

There have been claims it could stop pubs struggling with Covid from putting menus on social media.

The food industry has condemned the scheme as 'not even half-baked', saying it 'beggars belief'.

The Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank warned it would cover 'everything from jam and yoghurt to Cornish pasties and mustard'.

The think-tank added in a statement last year: 'It is an ill-considered policy designed by fanatics who have missold it to politicians as a ban on 'junk food' advertising.'
[March 29, 2021] Sercomm Philippines Reaches Milestone of Cumulative Production of 10 Million Units

MANILA, Philippines, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sercomm Philippines today announced a major milestone of the cumulative production of 10 million units of networking devices. Aimed to be a world-class professional networking equipment manufacturing site, Sercomm Philippines, an affiliate of Sercomm, was established in Carmelray Industrial Park 1 in 2019. Collaborating with local business partners, Sercomm Philippines hit a major milestone in March, cumulatively producing 10 million units in eighteen months, accompanied by more than 2,000 local employees. Sercomm Philippines has now become one of Sercomm's major global manufacturing sites, accounting for more than 20% of group's manufacturing capacity. Being a professional CPE (Consumer Premise Equipment) manufacturing site for global Telecom operators, Sercomm Philippines uses the most advanced manufacturing processes to produce high-quality products. The Philippines factory is a state-of-the-art automation facility that specializes in wireless devices. With the strong support of DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and MECO (Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan) in its inception, Sercomm Philippines responds to global customers' demand through continuous operation during the pandemic and support Sercomm's future business growth. Sercomm (TWSE: 5388), the parent company of Sercomm Philippines, is a leading global manufacturer of telecoms and broadband equipment. Founded in 1992 with annual revenue of USD 1.27 billion in 2020, Sercomm has focused on developing embedded solutions to make networking simple and affordable. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Sercomm's global operations network covers markets in North and Central America, Europe, and te Asia Pacific. Its customer base includes the world's top service providers, networking OEMs, and system integrators.



Secretary Ramon M. Lopez of the Department of Trade and Industry said, "Sercomm, leads the way among other Taiwanese companies that have decided to establish their manufacturing bases in Philippines, growing rapidly in the past two years from inception. This is an excellent example for other companies still considering to make the Philippines their second home, with Sercomm posting record gains in export volumes with their ability to meet the fast-growing global demand for their products. We are very pleased that the Philippines has played a major role in the company's stellar performance." "We are very happy to note that Sercomm's decision to locate a major part of its global manufacturing operations to the Philippines in 2019 is overwhelmingly validated by the numbers in their recent filing. Recognizing the opportunities then and the ability to meet global demand by strategically growing their capabilities in the Philippines in support of their global supply chain in a relatively short period of time have certainly contributed to these milestones," said DTI Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo. "We expect more manufacturing companies following the positive experience and success of Sercomm," added Rodolfo, who also serves as Managing Head of the Board of Investments (BOI).

"We are very proud to have achieved the production milestone in such a short time, especially during this unprecedented time. Sercomm Philippines has become a crucial portion of Sercomm's global operations," said James Wang, CEO of Sercomm, "We plan to continuously expand our operations to support future business growth in the local and global markets." Michael Alfred Ignacio, Trade Representative and Director of Commercial Affairs at the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan said, "We have worked very closely with Sercomm since about two years ago, when they have first chosen the Philippines as a major manufacturing hub for their clients, and I am amazed at how fast this global leader in communications technologies was able to scale their production capacity with us in so little time, while continuing to remarkably expand their market share. Sercomm is a shining example for many other Taiwanese companies that are looking to potentially locate their production capacities to the Philippines, particularly those that highly value our people, a world-class human resource that is globally sought-after." About Sercomm Corporation Sercomm Corporation (TWSE: 5388) is a worldwide leading manufacturer of telecom and broadband equipment. Founded in 1992, Sercomm has focused on developing embedded solutions to make networking simple and affordable. With its fully integrated engineering capability and its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, Sercomm offers comprehensive telecom broadband solutions such as small cells, residential/enterprise gateways, and IoT products, and is now a global leader in the industry. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Sercomm's global operation network covers markets in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. Its customer base includes the world's top service provider, networking OEM, and system integrators. For more information, please visit www.sercomm.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sercomm-philippines-reaches-milestone-of-cumulative-production-of-10-million-units-301256576.html SOURCE Sercomm Corporation

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MUMBAI : Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed he had warned some party leaders that Sachin Waze, the suspended Mumbai police officer who is currently in the NIA's custody, could create problems for the Maharashtra government.

Raut also said the Sachin Waze episode taught some lessons to the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.

The Sena, NCP and Congress share power in the state.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month arrested Waze over his alleged role in planting an explosive-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis residence in south Mumbai on February 25.

He was earlier also suspended in 2004 over the custodial death of Ghatkopar bomb blasts accused Khwaja Yunus, and was reinstated into the police force last year.

"When there was plan to reinstate Sachin Waze into the Maharashtra police force, I had informed some leaders that he could create problems for us. His behaviour and style of working could lead to some troubles for the government," Raut told a TV channel.

The Rajya Sabha member further said he cannot reveal names of those leaders, but "they are well aware of my conversation with them".

Raut said he has been a journalist for some decades and hence, knows about Waze.

A person is not bad, but sometimes a particular situation makes him so, he said.

"This whole incident of Waze's activities and controversies thereafter taught a lesson to the MVA government. It was good in a way that it happened and taught us some lessons," the Sena's chief spokesperson said.

On Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray backing the suspended police officer, Raut said they did not have enough information about Waze and his activities.

"The chief minister supported him, but with his (Waze's) activities having surfaced, there is no reason to shield the officer," he said.

On the speculation in political circles that Union Home Minister Amit Shah met NCP leader Sharad Pawar in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Raut said Shah is known for holding several meetings in the Gujarat city with various leaders.

"There is nothing to raise eyebrows over the rumoured meeting between Sharad Pawar and BJP leader Amit Shah. In fact, a dialogue between leaders of opposition (rival) parties is good. I am saying this provided they actually met each other in Ahmedabad," he said.

Raut further said even if Pawar and Shah had met, there was nothing to read too much into it.

"If it was really a secret meeting, how come it (news about it) came out," he said.

Raut also said the three-party alliance in Maharashtra will not be affected by the outcome of the Assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu or other states.

On his remark in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' where he called Maharashtra NCP leader Anil Deshmukh an accidental home minister, Raut said Deshmukh is a gentleman.

"He must have gone through a lot of trouble and hardship while handling a crucial portfolio like the home ministry. I had even spoken to him and told him that he would face lot of criticism," the Sena leader said.

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China has recently published a report on human rights violations in the U.S. in 2020, which has brought to light America's "double standards" and hypocrisy regarding human rights issues.

The report, issued by the State Council Information Office of China, revealed America's wrongdoings related to human rights, including incompetent COVID-19 pandemic containment, American democratic dysfunction, racial discrimination, continuous social unrest, growing polarization between the rich and poor, and its trampling on international rules.

By the end of February 2021, the U.S., 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, according to the report.

American police shot and killed a total of 1,127 people in 2020, and African Americans were approximately three times more likely than white people to be killed by police, the report noted.

The website for Bloomberg reported on Oct. 8, 2020 that the 50 richest Americans now hold almost as much wealth as the combined money and assets of the poorest 165 million people in the country, the report noted.

The U.S., a world leader in healthcare, and the so-called "city upon a hill" and "beacon of democracy", has been trapped in the nightmare that is the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting rock bottom with its seething social turmoil and unprecedented post-election insurrections.

The country, which has always considered itself to be an exceptional and superior force in the world, saw its own epidemic situation run out of control, accompanied by heightening political disorder, inter-ethnic conflicts, and social division.

Various new records of human rights violations in the U.S. have revealed that the American people enjoy their civil and political rights in name only.

The utterance "I can't breathe," the last words of unarmed African American George Floyd before he was brutally suffocated to death by a U.S. police officer, is not only now the rallying cry of black Americans, but also the inner voice of other ethnic minority groups and even the broader general public in the U.S.

The U.S., a country that has long masqueraded as a defender of human rights, has always ignored and trampled on the human rights of other countries.

Its most recent actions, such as imposing unilateral sanctions on some countries amid a raging worldwide pandemic that has hindered them from accessing medical supplies, forcibly expelling at least 8,800 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children regardless of risks to the spread of the virus, and withdrawing the country from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement, have fully proven that the U.S. has been relentlessly fueling isolationism and unilateralism, and has become a breaker of international rules, an instigator of humanitarian disasters, and the biggest troublemaker threatening global security and stability.

Human rights are never a mirror to be held up to the U.S. from which it can observe itself, but rather a big stick it waves around to strike others when opportune to do so.

The U.S., ignoring its sustained, systematic and massive infringement on human rights, is even acting as a "lecturer on human rights," piecing together human rights reports targeting other countries with invalid information, adopting so-called human rights acts, pointing fingers at other countries' internal affairs, and turning a blind eye to the questioning it receives on its own human rights record.

Such "double standards" once again prove that human rights issues are just a tool employed by the White House to meddle in other countries' domestic affairs. By slandering other countries and distorting facts, the U.S. is merely pursuing its own private interests and containing the development of others.

There are historical reasons for the human rights troubles found in the U.S. today. The philosophy of human rights in America is "congenitally" defective as the country's founders failed to shed enough ink on notions of equality, including for ethnic minority groups, women's suffrage, and the residency of migrants, in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

The historical human rights practices of the U.S. are even more notorious and telling, from hundreds of years of systematic slavery, to unreasonably starting wars in Iraq and Syria that have since led to the innumerable deaths of innocent civilians.

The U.S. owes an incalculable debt to both the international society and its own people given its flagrant human rights abuses  both past and present. Human rights protection is not achieved through empty talk, and history tolerates no fabrication in this domain. Self-righteous boasting and ill-intentioned cherry-picking can only be scoffed at by those who stand with justice.

Recently, representatives from 116 countries and international organizations reviewed the human rights situation in the U.S. and made 347 recommendations on human rights improvements.

It is well understood that the world of today no longer follows the same old pattern where only a few countries decided all major matters of international concern. The era when such countries could arbitrarily interfere in other countries' domestic affairs by cooking up a series of presupposed human rights concerns has now gone for good.

Anyone who attacks other countries with trumped up lies and rumors must eventually be brought before the court of human history.

A crooked man is never qualified to serve as a mediator to try and correct others' ways. Facing fury at home and growing opposition from international society, the U.S. government had better deal with the pains felt by its own nationals at home, abandon its hypocrisy, hegemony and "double standards", and meet the rest of the world halfway.

If some American politicians continue to go down a wrongful path, they will eventually pay the price for their stupidity and ignorance.
WASHINGTON  The Covid-19 vaccine had finally come to Forest Hills of D.C., a nursing home in a prosperous neighborhood of the nations capital, but there was a problem. Though nearly all of the homes residents agreed to get the shots, nearly half its 200 staff members declined.

Tina Sandri, the chief executive, vowed not to let those numbers stand.

Over the next two months, rounding out the most bruising year of her long career in elder care, Ms. Sandri tried everything. She bombarded employees with text messages containing facts about the science behind the vaccines. She assigned a popular young worker to try to sway reluctant colleagues as an influencer. She set up a giant screen to show a television special that the Black actor and director Tyler Perry made to fight vaccine hesitancy  on a continuous loop, no less. Most of all, she worked to understand their concerns.

You really have to listen to each persons story and address it from that standpoint, so they feel, This is a workplace that cares about me, she said.

Three months after the nations health care workers were among the first Americans to be eligible for the lifesaving new vaccines, long-term care facilities across the country continue to face a similar daunting challenge. The federal program that sent vaccinators from Walgreens and CVS into tens of thousands of nursing homes and assisted living residences has by one measure been strikingly successful, inoculating nearly all of the vulnerable residents of the facilities. Deaths in nursing homes have plummeted since the program began in late December.
Canberra, March 29 : Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday announced a cabinet reshuffle after a series of scandals that have dented his approval ratings.

Morrison has been facing increasing pressure over his handling of a slew of incidents that have sparked debate about harassment and sexual discrimination, reports dpa news agency.

He also announced the creation of a women's taskforce headed up by Foreign Minister and Minister for Women Marise Payne alongside the reshuffle, which saw two Ministers linked to recent scandals demoted to lower-level cabinet roles.

Peter Dutton will become Defence Minister and Michaelia Cash will be the new Attorney General, replacing Linda Reynolds and Christian Porter, respectively.

Questions had arisen over Porter's suitability to carry out his duties as Attorney General after he launched defamation action against the Australian broadcaster ABC in response to a story about a historic rape alleged to have taken place in 1988.

He wasn't named but came forward to strongly deny the allegation and went on mental health leave afterwards.

He will become Industry, Science and Technology Minister when he returns.

Reynolds recently came under fire for calling Brittany Higgins, a former Liberal party staffer who alleges she was raped by a male colleague at Parliament House in 2019, a "lying cow".

Reynolds said the comments did not relate to the truthfulness of the allegations but to suggestions she had not offered enough support to Higgins at the time.

She has since agreed on a defamation settlement with Higgins.

Reynolds is on health leave, but will take on a government services role on her return.

A poll published by The Australian newspaper on Monday showed Morrison's approval rating had dropped from 62 per cent satisfaction to 55 per cent in two weeks.

The newspaper reported it was the first time in a year his approval ratings have not been in the 60s.

An independent review into parliament's workplace culture was triggered by Higgins' allegation, and thousands of Australians took to the streets in a march against violence and sexual harassment of women earlier this month.

Morrison faced a backlash after he said it was a "triumph" that protesters were not "met with bullets", which was interpreted by some as a veiled threat.

During the weekend, Morrison ordered lawmaker Andrew Laming to take empathy training after he was accused of bullying two female constituents online in a report from Nine News.

A third woman later said he took a photo of her from behind while she was bending down.
Anandpur Sahib : , March 29 (IANS) Amid the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of men, women and children on Monday congregated at Takht Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five top Sikh shrines, as the three-day Hola Mohalla celebrations, which coincide with the festival of Holi, concluded.

This holy town, home to the second most important Sikh shrine after Amritsar's Harmandar Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, was beautifully decked up to mark the occasion.

Anandpur Sahib is located about 85 km from Chandigarh.

It was at this shrine that the 10th and final Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh had in 1699 baptised five men and founded the Khalsa Panth, which is the modern-day Sikh religion.

The Hola Mohalla celebrations made their beginning around 1701 as Guru Gobind Singh wanted his troops to have mock battles to keep them battle-ready.

Political parties like the ruling Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did not organise political conferences to mark the occasion owing to the pandemic.

Elsewhere, religious fervour was quite evident at the Golden Temple and other historic gurdwaras across the state as devotees began to assemble since early morning hours to offer prayers.

Theres no reason emergency services worker Jake Mackay shouldnt be able to find a rental in Perth  he has a stable, full-time job and a reasonable income.

But for 2 months, the 24-year-old kept getting knocked back by every landlord and outbid by other prospective tenants with deeper pockets.

Perth emergency services worker Jake Mackay at his Subiaco home. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola

Mr Mackay can recall an instance where he was visiting a three-bedroom home in Victoria Park and another renter offered an additional $80 a week on top of the advertised price off the cuff.

I didnt know what I could do to even have a fighting chance, Mr Mackay said.
The gold explorer is awaiting the first batch of auger samples from the Kada Project in West Africa with results expected in early April 2021.

Golden Rim will use six drilling rigs for programs at Kada Gold Project in Guinea and Kouri Gold Project in Burkina Faso.

( ) has completed the second tranche of a $5 million placement by issuing more than 141.05 million shares at an issue price of 0.9 cents per share.

Tranche-2 of the placement was approved by shareholders on March 24 and included participation by Golden Rims chairman Adonis Pouroulis for 40,222,210 shares with a total value of $361,999.89.

This purchase on March 29 in a direct interest represents a strong vote of confidence in the company's gold exploration strategy focused on West Africa with Pouroulis now holding almost 180.36 million ordinary fully paid shares.

Kathryn Davies steps in

The company's general manager corporate and company secretary Hayley Butcher is taking extended leave and non-executive director Kathryn Davies has stepped in to fulfil this role until Ms Butcher returns.

In accordance with corporate governance guidelines, the board has determined that, whilst fulfilling this position, Davies is not considered an independent director.

Drilling ramp-up at African projects

Golden Rim is ramping up drilling operations at its West African projects - Kada Gold Project in Guinea and Kouri Gold Project in Burkina Faso.

The West African gold explorer expects to have six drilling rigs  the most at any one time - operating at these projects.

A 15,000-metre power auger drilling program is progressing well at Kada in the company's maiden campaign since acquiring a stake in the project in January this year.

The aim of this program is to explore for gold mineralised saprolite (weathered bedrock), under the shallow laterite and soil cover, which lies across the bulk of the project area.
Valeo to commercialize Enerzair  Breezhaler  and Atectura  Breezhaler  , 2 innovative asthma therapies approved by Health Canada





Positions Valeo as one of the leading Canadian Respiratory companies





Almost 4 million Canadians afflicted with asthma1; Canadian market for asthma medication exceeds $700M annually2

MONTREAL, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Valeo Pharma Inc. (CSE: VPH) (OTCQB: VPHIF) (FSE: VP2) ("Valeo" or the "Company"), a Canadian pharmaceutical company, announced today that it has entered into a Commercialization and Supply Agreement (the "Agreement") with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. ("Novartis") for the Canadian commercialization by Valeo of two asthma therapies, Enerzair Breezhaler (indacaterol (as acetate), glycopyrronium (as bromide) and mometasone furoate)3 and Atectura Breezhaler (indacaterol (as acetate) and mometasone furoate)4.

Under the Agreement, Valeo will be responsible for medical and commercial activities for Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler for an initial 8 year period.

At present, almost 4 million Canadians are living with asthma1, a serious health issue affecting all age groups. Patients with severe asthma live in fear of potential exacerbations which remain highly prevalent even with today's most advanced therapies. Asthma related exacerbations are concerning because of their associated mortality burden and also because of the increased risk of side effects from the use of systemic corticosteroids. Furthermore, there is growing evidence highlighting the lack of symptom control currently achieved in asthma. 39%5 of patients remain uncontrolled, despite available dual LABA/ICS medications, primarily due to low adherence, treatment misuse and poor inhaler technique. There is an urgent need to add effective maintenance treatment options to more efficiently address symptoms as well as asthma related long-term complications and mortality.

"We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Novartis to launch these two asthma drugs in the coming weeks. Commercializing Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler will immediately position Valeo as one of the leading Canadian respiratory companies providing first in-class and best in-class asthma therapies. The Canadian asthma maintenance market exceeds $700M annually," said Steve Saviuk, CEO of Valeo. "This partnership is perfectly aligned with Valeo's vision and mission of building a Canadian anchor pharmaceutical company by driving therapeutic innovation to patients in need. We look forward to building a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Novartis that will help both companies fulfill their respective missions."

"This agreement with Valeo Pharma fits with our overall strategy to provide innovative medicines that have the potential to improve health outcomes," said Andrea Marazzi, Head, Country Pharma Organization, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. "Valeo's commitment and focus to bring Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler to Canadians, combined with our strong respiratory experience, brings a solution that will help make asthma control a more attainable goal for some Canadians."



Commenting on this commercial agreement with Novartis, Frederic Fasano, Valeo's recently appointed President and COO said, "Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler are both benefitting from an extensive phase III clinical trial program including more than 7,500 asthma patients. The efficacy of both treatments on symptoms, lung function and rate of exacerbations have been demonstrated and this will provide Canadian patients with a significant improvement over current standards of care." He added, "This significant addition to our expanding product portfolio is key to achieving our growth objectives. It will provide the basis for the upscaling of our organization and set the stage for future international expansion."

The Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler will both be available in the hydrofluoroalkane/chlorofluorocarbon (HFA/CFC)-free Breezhaler device.

Atectura, Enerzair and Breezhaler are registered trademarks.

References:

1: Government of Canada. Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Canada, 2018. Report from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/asthma-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-canada-2018.html#a1.



2: IQVIA CDH June 2020

3: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., ENERZAIR BREEZHALER Product Monograph, dated July 22, 2020

4: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., ATECTURA BREEZHALER Product Monograph, dated May 5, 2020

5: Buhl R et al. Respiratory Medicine (2020)

About Enerzair Breezhaler



Enerzair Breezhaler is indicated as a maintenance treatment of asthma in adult patients not adequately controlled with a maintenance combination of a long-acting beta 2 -agonist and a medium or high dose of an inhaled corticosteroid who experienced one or more asthma exacerbations in the previous 12 months3. This formulation combines the bronchodilation of indacaterol acetate (a LABA) and the glycopyrronium bromide (a LAMA) with mometasone furoate (an ICS) in a precise once-daily formulation, delivered via the dose-confirming Breezhaler device.

About Atectura Breezhaler

Atectura Breezhaler is indicated as a once-daily maintenance treatment of asthma in adults and adolescents 12 years of age and older with reversible obstructive airways disease. Atectura Breezhaler should be prescribed for patients not adequately controlled on a long-term asthma control medication, such as ICS or whose disease severity clearly warrants treatment with both a LABA and an ICS4. Atectura Breezhaler combines the bronchodilation of indacaterol acetate (a LAMA) with the anti-inflammatory mometasone furoate (an ICS) in a precise once-daily formulation, delivered via the dose-confirming Breezhaler device.

About Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada



Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., a leader in the healthcare field, is committed to the discovery, development and marketing of innovative products to improve the well-being of all Canadians. In 2020, the company invested $45 million in research and development in Canada. Located in Dorval, Quebec, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. employs approximately 1,000 people in Canada and is an affiliate of Novartis AG, which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. For further information, please consult www.novartis.ca .

About Valeo Pharma

Valeo Pharma is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the commercialization of innovative prescription products in Canada with a focus on Respirology, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Oncology and other specialty products. Headquartered in Kirkland, Quebec, Valeo Pharma has the full capability and complete infrastructure to register and properly manage its growing product portfolio through all stages of commercialization. For more information, please visit www.valeopharma.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements about Valeo's objectives, strategies and businesses that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are "forward-looking" because they are based on our current expectations about the markets we operate in and on various estimates and assumptions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements if known or unknown risks affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions turn out to be inaccurate.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE Valeo Pharma Inc.

Related Links

http://www.valeopharma.com


THE proposed re-organization of K-12 education in Manitoba being contemplated by the provincial governments Bill 64 is unlikely to have any impact whatever on the educational success of children and young people.

Opinion

THE proposed re-organization of K-12 education in Manitoba being contemplated by the provincial governments Bill 64 is unlikely to have any impact whatever on the educational success of children and young people.

What the government is proposing is an educational reshuffling, with elected bodies being eliminated here and appointed bodies and toothless advisory committees being created there. This administrative overhauling will preoccupy educational administrators for years to come. Meanwhile, the real educational problem will continue to go unaddressed.

The most significant impediment to the educational success of children and youth is poverty. Virtually all rigorous studies across the world over decades have reached the same conclusion: the most powerful predictor of educational outcomes is socioeconomic status. What this means is that the higher the level of poverty, the lower the level of educational attainment.

Multiple studies in Manitoba have found the same to be the case. In those areas of the city and the province where the incidence of poverty is the highest, levels of educational attainment are the lowest. This pattern begins even before children start school. Measurements of childrens readiness for school show that in those areas where poverty is highest, the proportion of children at age five who are ready to start school successfully is lowest.

The evidence is overwhelming and incontestable that poverty produces poor educational outcomes.

Poverty is a major problem in Manitoba. A December 2020 report prepared by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg based on 2018 data (the most recent available) found 87,730 children were living in poor families. This is 28.3 per cent  more than one in every four  of all children in the province.

This is the highest rate of child poverty of all the provinces in Canada. Manitobas child poverty rate is 10 percentage points worse than the national average. These astonishingly high rates of poverty have been found consistently over decades in Manitoba.

Rates of poverty are even worse for Indigenous children: 53 per cent are growing up in poverty in Manitoba. Consistent with all the evidence about the correlation between high levels of poverty and low levels of educational attainment, Indigenous people have, on average, lower levels of educational attainment than the population at large.

A major study done a decade ago found Indigenous people were, on average, approximately half as likely as the population at large to hold a high school diploma and to hold a university degree.

These educational outcomes are directly related to poverty. A study completed seven years ago found the incidence of poverty among Indigenous people in Winnipeg was almost 2.5 times that of the non-Indigenous population. In Brandon, the incidence of poverty among Indigenous people was three times, and in Thompson four times that of the non-Indigenous population.

That study, consistent with the 2020 Social Planning Council of Winnipeg study, found very high levels of poverty among Indigenous children under the age of six years  in other words, preschool children.

Given the proven connection between poverty and educational outcomes, it should be no surprise that, on average, Indigenous children experience lower school-readiness scores than non-Indigenous children. However, what is especially revealing and important is that when these data are controlled for parental income and education, the differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children almost completely disappear.

For those children who are not ready for school, it is their poverty  not their Indigenous identity  that is the cause.

The provincial governments proposed re-organization of K-12 education completely ignores these realities. The proposal to create and delete committees and councils  to shuffle administrative bodies far from the classroom and the community  while doing nothing whatever about the poverty that produces poor educational outcomes, would be laughable were it not such a total waste of time and energy.

The evidence is unequivocal: high levels of poverty produce poor educational outcomes. If we want to improve educational outcomes, we have to address the poverty. Bill 64 completely ignores this reality.

Imagine that the provincial governments proposed re-organization of K-12 education were a classroom assignment, with the instructions being to design a plan to improve educational outcomes. Any reasonable teacher would see that the students assignment has not followed the instructions. It has nothing to do with improving educational outcomes.

"Please rewrite the assignment, remembering to follow the instructions," might be the teachers comment. The grade assigned would be F.

Jim Silver is professor emeritus at the University of Winnipeg and a research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives  Manitoba.
Despite the pandemic, Canadian international relief and development organizations headquartered in Winnipeg did well when it came to donations last year.

Despite the pandemic, Canadian international relief and development organizations headquartered in Winnipeg did well when it came to donations last year.

At the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, donations were up 25 per cent compared with the 2019-20 budget year, at a record $14.8 million.

More than $4 million of those funds came from Manitoba, up $779,000 over the previous year.

"Donors have responded to the food security crisis brought on by the coronavirus containment measures around the world," Musu Taylor-Lewis, who directs resources and public engagement, said.

At the same time, donors "opened their wallets to help when we appealed for funds to reach out to people in Lebanon affected by the explosion at the port in Beirut."

In addition to regular supporters responding to pandemic-related food needs in the developing world, Taylor-Lewis also ascribed the increased donations to the Foodgrains Bank being named a top-impact charity by Charity Intelligence, an organization that ranks Canadian charities, for the third consecutive year.

"As a result of the designation, we saw media interest and therefore increased publicity which would have made more potential donors aware of the Foodgrains Bank," Taylor-Lewis said.

While unable to provide figures, donations across Canada and in Manitoba were also up at Mennonite Central Committee Canada.

"We are so grateful that Manitobans continued to care for MCCs work during the pandemic, especially when we know COVID-19 added many difficulties for families throughout the province," said Darryl Loewen, executive director of MCC Manitoba.

"Their support has helped ease suffering for communities around the world who struggled and continue to struggle due to the impact of COVID-19."

Loewen attributed the rise in giving to greater awareness of needs overseas due to the pandemic and to "faithful and generous donors."

With so many people isolated in their homes, staff members made it a priority to reach out to supporters over the phone or through virtual events, he said.

Although giving was up, the total revenue for MCC was down from the previous year because thrift shops across the country were closed for many months in 2020. In 2019, the shops accounted for 18 per cent, or $19.7 million, of MCCs total revenue.

2020 was also a good year for giving for Canadian Lutheran World Relief, said Carla Blakley, director of community and donor relations.

"Im grateful to say that thanks to the incredible generosity of Canadians, it was a very strong year for fundraising for our work," she said.

Altogether, the organization received more than $4.7 million in donations from across Canada, up $1.4 million over the year previous; $360,000 of that total came from Manitoba.

"Our donors seemed early on to really understand the global context and implications of this pandemic, and they were exceptionally generous right through the year," she said, adding, "It was actually our strongest year in recent history."

The Manitoba results were echoed across the country, said Nicolas Moyer, executive director of Cooperation Canada, an umbrella group for more than 80 national aid organizations.

"The sector did better than we thought it would," he said.

Moyer attributed the good results to "a rising sense of global solidarity" among Canadians during the pandemic, along with organizations putting more effort into donor relations and fundraising.

Although many international relief and development groups did well, others were glad to just hold their own, he said.

The better-than-expected results also occurred against the backdrop of the WE Charity scandal, Moyer noted.

While worrying the scandal "has taken some of the shine off the sector and undermined its credibility," he said WE Charity never joined Cooperation Canada or subscribed to its code of ethics for fundraising and operations.

"WE was an outlier in the sector in so many ways  fundraising, governance model, investments and real estate," he said.

Looking ahead, the longer-term impact of the pandemic "isnt clear," Moyer said. At the same time, he expressed optimism Canadians would continue to support efforts to assist people in need in the developing world.

faith@freepress.mb.ca


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Looking for a little something nefarious in your online shopping? Perhaps you need to spark some fresh finger traffic to your e-commerce store on Amazon. Neither of those forays is a good choice.

Trading in phony reviews may or not be legal, but such practices are clearly unethical and will have repercussions if underhanded activities are discovered, warns Amazon. Shoppers and sellers dealing in false reviews in exchange for cash rebates or commissions might face legal actions if Amazon catches you.

Online shoppers beware: a fast-selling marketplace of fake reviews is trying to lure you into buying products on major digital store sites and social media outlets. This latest review scam involves an under-wrap false review network operating among Amazon sellers.

Amazon told the E-Commerce Times that it has and will continue to take legal actions against those involved in phony reviews scams. Amazon wants to ensure customers see authentic and relevant reviews so they can make better-informed purchasing decisions.

No data on this is published by Amazon. For years reports have surfaced about review farms, according to Dr. Robin Gaster, president of Incumetrics.

Amazon sporadically acts publicly against them, and privately takes down reviews on a fairly random basis. There are also credible reports that bad actors use fake reviews to game Amazon's system (by) heavily upvoting a rival, for example, which may lead Amazon to then ban them for having fake reviews, he explained.

"Overall, it is fairly well established that this is a widespread issue. Amazon has also made the problem worse by recently allowing reviewers to post just a star review -- no commentary necessary. This massively encourages fake reviews, in part because no English language skills are required," Gaster told the E-Commerce Times.

Trail of Violations

Marketers know that in this changing digital storefront world, referrals and product reviews are gold-plated enticements for closing an online purchase. But consumers tend to view false reviews as one of the fastest ways to break their trust. Studies show that consumers burned by false reviews will take their purchasing power elsewhere.

"Over the long term, fake reviews erode customer and seller trust in the platform, and trust is absolutely central to long term dominance. If customers and/or sellers start to leave, Amazon has a problem, and once that slippage starts, I believe it will be very hard to reverse," Gaster observed.

The Washington Post in 2018 reported that a study found 61 percent of electronics reviews on Amazon are fake. Numerous other published accounts reveal unreliable product reviews on Amazon, eBay, and elsewhere.

U.K. consumer-rights group Which? ("Which") this week reported that a thriving fake review industry is gaming the Amazon marketplace.

Websites are selling fake reviews to Amazon merchants looking to boost their products' ratings, according to a Which investigation. One example Which revealed disclosed the German website AMZTigers was selling 1,000 reviews for US$10,950. Another website offered to help purchasers earn a coveted Amazon's Choice status for their products within two weeks.

Which disclosed numerous examples of phony review scams. For instance, one site was selling reviews for $18 each. Another offered for sale the contact and social-media details for Amazon reviewers. Some sites even asked for free or discounted products in exchange for reviews.

The Which revelations also pointed to a well-used practice of trading in what is called "incentivized reviews." This practice recruits or encourages consumers to write product reviews in exchange for refunds or commissions.

Amazon Not Complacent

Amazon's guidelines clearly prohibit sellers from paying for third-party reviews. The company claims that it is vigilant in rooting out such scams.

"We remove fake reviews and take action against anyone involved in abuse. We have won dozens of injunctions against providers of fake reviews across Europe, and we won't shy away from taking legal action," an Amazon spokesperson told the E-Commerce Times in a written response issued by Mary Kate McCarthy for Amazon.

However, Amazon and other online retailers cannot do this alone. Customers need to be able to trust the reviews they see online. The systematic manipulation of reviews needs consistent enforcement and global coordination with stronger enforcement powers given to regulators against bad actors, according to Amazon.

"We continue to work to protect the authenticity of customer reviews. We advise customers who doubt the credibility of a review on a product to click the 'report abuse' link available below each review. We will then investigate and take necessary measures," the Amazon spokesperson said.

Amazon does this by using powerful machine learning tools and skilled investigators to analyze over 10 million review submissions weekly, according to the company. The aim is to stop abusive reviews before they are ever published.

"In addition, we continue to monitor all existing reviews for signs of abuse and quickly take action if we find an issue," the spokesperson said, noting that the company also proactively works with social media sites to report bad actors who are cultivating abusive reviews outside its store.

Amazon claims to have sued thousands of bad actors for attempting to abuse its review systems.

Going Undercover

To conduct its investigation, the Which organization presented itself as an Amazon seller. The company registered for 10 e-commerce sites to sell "review manipulation services."

Its sales "inventory" included free or discounted products in exchange for reviews. It also offered sales campaigns to boost the positive reviews of their customers' wares.

The investigation Which conducted also found 702,000 product reviewers across just five businesses and a site claiming to have processed $8.9 million of refunds for reviews it had organized on Amazon.

This investigation is not the first involving the consumer group's inquiries into sellers gaming major online marketplaces, according to Which's published results.

Two years ago, Which published an account of a thriving marketplace it uncovered in the trading of fake Amazon reviews on Facebook.

Which reported that as a result of action by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in January 2020, both Facebook and eBay agreed to step up their efforts to combat fake and misleading reviews on their sites. Both signed up to agreements to better identify, investigate and respond to this activity.

Reviews Pathway to High Stakes

Customer reviews are a critical element to success on Amazon. It has been a long and hard-fought battle between Amazon and scam reviewers, according to Rohan Thambrahalli, president of UpstartWorks.

First, because it feeds Amazon's A9 algorithm, which is used to determine a product's relevancy when customers search on Amazon; and second, because customers rely on reviews to educate themselves on a product before making a purchase.

"I do not see that changing, and therefore there are always going to be sellers looking for ways to get quick and easy reviews," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Fake reviews are more important than they seem. They obviously affect the fairness of the marketplace, so it is absolutely critical to winning the Buy Box on Amazon, and reviews affect that, agreed Incumetrics' Gaster.

"Reviews are also a pathway for scammers to influence the competition. Getting entangled in Amazon's Kafkaesque justice system because a bad actor targeted you via fake reviews is a real problem," he said.

Given the high stakes for vendors on Amazon to maintain positive reviews, Amazon management needs to continue investing in AI and other technology to identify review traders. False reviews are appearing at too large of a scale to be manually caught, suggested Upstartworks' Thambraahalli.

"Reviewing trends such as sudden spikes in customer reviews that are inconsistent with the number of customer purchases occurring will allow Amazon to detect sketchy behavior," he offered.

No Policy Change Expected

Some speculation exists that a change in a pending shift in the top leadership at Amazon this summer might bring a change in the reviews criteria. Perhaps that is why some sellers are still relying on phony reviews to enhance their status. But that reasoning is no doubt just as false as the current crop of fake product reviews.

"I do not think so," reasoned Gaster. "Jassy (the incoming CEO) is from the same leadership team, and there likely will not be much change, at least initially. And certainly no loosening here -- more likely tightening under further PR and regulatory pressure."

Similarly, Thambrahalli does not think Amazon will change its mission to be the most customer-centric company. Customers rely heavily on reviews when doing product research and ultimately making a purchase on Amazon.

"If customers start to feel that they cannot trust this information because of rampant fake reviews, that would greatly impact the trust that customers have in Amazon. I strongly believe they will continue to make this a priority, along with other initiatives such a Project Zero that aims to have zero counterfeit products sold on Amazon," he concluded.

Shady Commerce

Some sellers do game the system to advance their products. The e-commerce marketplace has been full of entrepreneurs that are hustling, according to Claire Lefevre, vice president of customer operations at Perch, which acquires and operates Amazon FBA businesses.

"Many of them playing by the rules; many of them that are not. I think Amazon will always need to have meaningful resources marshaled against policing and enforcing in this area," she told the E-Commerce Times.

Reviews are the lifeblood of any Amazon business, and so the stakes are high for sellers to take care of their brand reputation. Those high stakes mean that some people will choose to play in the gray area of the rules or go well beyond the gray area, explained Lefevre.

"Amazon has rolled out various types of enforcement over the years. Their review purges have actually been quite effective at cleaning up some illegitimately gained reviews in the past, but anything that is done with bots can bring with it collateral damage along the way," she noted.

Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open-source technologies. He is an esteemed reviewer of Linux distros and other open-source software. In addition, Jack extensively covers business technology and privacy issues, as well as developments in e-commerce and consumer electronics. Email Jack.


New York must immediately begin to offer Covid vaccines to all incarcerated people in the states prisons and jails, a judge ruled on Monday, making the state one of few in the nation to provide doses to such a broad population behind bars.

The order, the first involving any of the countrys largest correctional systems, comes as the coronavirus continues to roar through facilities in New York. At least 1,100 people living behind prison walls have tested positive for the virus since the start of last month, and five have died.

But even as corrections staff and many other groups, including some who live in close-contact settings like group homes and homeless shelters, have gained access to the vaccines in recent weeks, most incarcerated people in New York have remained ineligible to receive doses.

Justice Alison Y. Tuitt of State Supreme Court in the Bronx wrote in her ruling on Monday afternoon that people in prisons and jails had been arbitrarily left out of the rollout and that doing so was unfair and unjust and an abuse of discretion.
Carlos Magno continues as Climatempo CEO and Marcos Massari, CEO of Somar, becomes member of Climatempo's board of directors

SAO PAULO and BERGEN, Norway, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Climatempo, a StormGeo company and leader in meteorological services in Brazil, and Somar Meteorologia today signed a merger agreement in which Climatempo acquires 100% of the shares in Somar, and the Somar founders become shareholders in Climatempo. With operations in multiple industries including agriculture, energy, media, transport, mining, construction, retail and others, the union of the two companies makes Climatempo the leading player in providing data and solutions in Brazil and Latin America. Carlos Magno do Nascimento, founder and president of Grupo Climatempo, leads the company as Climatempo CEO, while Marcos Massari, CEO of Somar Meteorologia will be a member of the Board of Directors.

According to Soeren Andersen, CEO of StormGeo, "The combination of Somar and Climatempo will enable us to serve our South American customers even better, offering a wider range of services and focused product development. Together, Climatempo and Somar will be the leading Brazilian provider of weather services for businesses and consumers, born and grown from Brazilian roots. At StormGeo, we're very excited about this transaction and welcome Somar, their founders and their employees on board."

Marcos Massari, CEO of Somar Meteorologia said, "The merger of Somar and Climatempo adds immense value to the market. We will gain technical quality by adding our products, modeling and the experience of our teams. Somar brings more than 25 years of strong expertise in serving Agribusiness, Energy, Media and Environmental Monitoring. Together we will be stronger and more competitive to face the competition of the big international players, and thus conquer the Latin American market. With the merger, we will have the most complete portfolio in the market, to better meet the needs of our customers."

Since 2019, Climatempo has been a part of StormGeo, a global leader in meteorological intelligence and decision support solutions. The addition of Somar will provide access to new products and systems to companies that require environmental information, including services and solutions focused on the renewable energy sector.

By combining forces, Climatempo and Somar will be uniquely positioned to provide innovative meteorological intelligence not only for Brazil, but for all of Latin America. StormGeo's global presence expands Climatempo's network and allows the company to better serve its national and international customers.

"Our intentions in merging with Somar were aimed at significantly expanding our B2B business," said Carlos Magno, CEO of Climatempo. "We have great expertise in the areas of energy, agriculture and media, and the addition of Somar gives us momentum to move forward with these segments, while strengthening our environmental monitoring. In 2021, we plan to launch new solutions for alerts of environmental disasters and a decision support system for critical sectors."

Magno continued, "Climatempo plans the launch of a product that uses artificial intelligence to interpret, in real time, the impact of atmospheric variables. Retail will be the main beneficiary of these new technologies, both for the production and distribution of products, as well as in support of marketing initiatives."

About Climatempo

With 30 years of solid market experience and providing quality meteorological advice to several industry sectors, Climatempo is synonymous with innovation. It was the first private company to offer customized analysis for various market sectors, newsletters for the media, 24-hour channel on the main pay-TV operators and consolidated digital positioning with website and applications, which together add up to 20 million users monthly.

In 2015, it started to invest even more heavily in technology and innovation with the installation of LABS Climatempo in the Technological Park of Sao Jose dos Campos, in the interior of Sao Paulo. LABS works in the research and development of solutions for severe weather, renewable energies (wind and solar), hydrology, commercialization and generation of energy, inland navigation, oceanography and smart cities.

Currently, Climatempo is the main meteorological consulting company in Brazil and has specialized services to serve more than 22 segments of the economy. The Group is chaired by meteorologist Carlos Magno, who, with more than 35 years of experience, was one of the pioneers of the profession in the country.

About Somar

With 25 years' experience, Somar has the strength, security and credibility necessary for a company that acts with a view to the future, anticipating changes, reducing risks and generating results.

Somar is always in partnership with its customers, understanding and anticipating needs, with flexibility to solve problems and offer the best solutions in meteorology. Recognized for the assertiveness of the information offered, its solutions are focused on excellence, competence and intelligence, so that, in fact, they are relevant to people.

Somar is an innovative company and believes that anyone who thinks about the future is always one step ahead. Therefore, it seeks new solutions with technology, accessibility and creativity, to foster the evolution of the market.

Somar Meteorologia is a Brazilian company that operates in the segment of meteorology, oceanography and the environment, offering consulting services, content generation and technology solutions. And so, to guarantee relevant information, forecasts and recommendations to the market and the city regarding the impacts of the climate on business, life and the economy.

About StormGeo

StormGeo is a global leader in meteorological intelligence services and decision support, with leading solutions in shipping, oil and gas, renewable energy, utilities, cross industry and aviation. Its products help customers manage risk, optimize performance, reduce costs and increase revenue. StormGeo operates 24 offices in 15 countries. As a participant in the UN Global Compact for Sustainable Business in the Oceans, StormGeo's passion for climate and the protection of natural resources is a motivation to support its customers in making environmentally responsible business decisions. The company is certified by ISO 9001 and is dedicated to providing the best possible support and quality of service. For more information, visit www.stormgeo.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1475660/StormGeo_Logo.jpg

Related Links

https://www.stormgeo.com



SOURCE StormGeo
New Jersey boy. Pro wrestler. Republican candidate in Nevada. Dan Rodimer has led many lives, but his latest - a cowboy-hat-wearing, Southern-drawling bull rider - might be the most extreme transformation to date.

In his first ad as a candidate for Texas's 6th Congressional District, "Big Dan" Rodimer speaks in a gravelly, indistinct Southern accent, throws jabs at Democratic policies and compares House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to a bull. The bull he's supposedly riding in the ad.

But the New Jersey native did not have the twang last year when he ran for Congress in Nevada. In one of those ads, resurfaced by the American Independent, Rodimer's voice was softer and more clear as he defended himself against assault allegations raised by his opponent. Rather than a rodeo arena, he was surrounded at home by his children and wife - who, at one point in the campaign, was asked to explain the 911 calls she had made against him.

Rodimer has remade himself again on a road he hopes will lead to Congress, though his latest ad has earned him ridicule, even from fellow Republicans.

The ad has renewed criticism that Rodimer, with no known connection to the 6th District, is a carpetbagger pandering to the Texas electorate. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., criticized Rodimer and the ad: "Fake Texan makes fake video of fake bull ride."

"We already have enough phonies in Congress," Gaetz said. "Texans, please send this Nevada man back to his true home state (where he lost two prior elections)."

The campaign declined The Washington Post's request for an interview with Rodimer and did not respond to questions about the ad or Rodimer's connections to Texas.

Originally from New Jersey, Rodimer attended a preparatory school in the suburbs before moving to Florida for college and law school. His campaign website says he previously lived in Houston, working as a home builder, and owned a home in Galveston - though neither location is near the district he's running for, just south of Dallas.

After losing bids for the Nevada legislature in 2018 and Congress last year, Rodimer is campaigning again, this time in Texas, to fill the seat of the late Rep. Ron Wright, a Republican, vying against 22 other candidates. He said he was encouraged to run by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and members of Donald Trump's family, according to Politico.

In an interview with Newsmax, Rodimer touted the ad's "Make America Texas Again" tagline, saying he was "in free America" now that he had moved to Texas. He boasted that he stayed on the bull for 11 seconds.

"I said I want to ride a bull; I've never ridden one. I've been a pro wrestler, I've been a fighter," Rodimer told the conservative network. "They said the hardest thing to do is to ride a bull."

But reporters and Internet sleuths are convinced that he used a stunt double for the bull-riding spectacle, noting that the camera angle in the bull-bucking ad never shows the face of the rider, which is presumably intended to be Rodimer. The candidate's boots and vest are also different from what the rider is wearing.

This is not Rodimer's first rodeo with a controversy-mired campaign. Two 911 calls in 2018 by his then-girlfriend, now-wife, were made public when he ran in Nevada. In the calls, she said that Rodimer stole money, jewelry and guns from her. Old arrest records from his college and law school days in Florida also resurfaced. Rodimer was accused of assault three times between 2010 and 2013, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge related to a confrontation at a Waffle House, The Associated Press reported in 2019. He completed a six-week anger-management course in exchange for the charge being dropped.

In contrast to his current cowboy persona, Rodimer in 2020 defended his past brushes with the law with a more subdued campaign ad in Nevada, in which he attempted to "set the record straight." Sitting on a couch with his family and sporting a polo shirt, Rodimer spoke in a higher pitch and enunciated his words.

"I had one arrest in my life, while in college," Rodimer says in the spot. "Those charges were dismissed."

In the Texas ad, Rodimer leans into his cowboy character. He lays out a platform against the fight for transgender students' rights and in favor of stricter border control. He said his wife and five children are hoping to settle in Texas, "a constitutional-friendly state."

Speaking over scenes of him walking through the district, Rodimer says "people in power" view Texans as "a threat."

"They hate Texas," he said. "They hate our way of life."

Rodimer's ad also earned rebuke from some of the 10 Democrats and 10 other Republicans in the race for the 6th District.

"I know you're new around here so let me introduce you to an important Texas phrase: all hat, no cattle," Democratic candidate Lydia Bean tweeted. "Doesn't take a bull to notice someone completely full of it."

- - -

The Washington Post's David Weigel and Alice Crites contributed to this report.

Shiv Sena MP on Monday claimed he had warned some party leaders that Sachin Waze, the suspended Mumbai police officer who is currently in the NIA's custody, could create problems for the

Raut also said the Sachin Waze episode taught some lessons to the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.

The Sena, and Congress share power in the state.

The Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month arrested Waze over his alleged role in planting an explosive-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis residence in south Mumbai on February 25.

He was earlier also suspended in 2004 over the custodial death of Ghatkopar bomb blasts accused Khwaja Yunus, and was reinstated into the police force last year.

"When there was plan to reinstate Sachin Waze into the Maharashtra police force, I had informed some leaders that he could create problems for us. His behaviour and style of working could lead to some troubles for the government," Raut told a TV channel.

The Rajya Sabha member further said he cannot reveal names of those leaders, but "they are well aware of my conversation with them".

Raut said he has been a journalist for some decades and hence, knows about Waze.

A person is not bad, but sometimes a particular situation makes him so, he said.

"This whole incident of Waze's activities and controversies thereafter taught a lesson to the MVA government. It was good in a way that it happened and taught us some lessons," the Sena's chief spokesperson said.

On Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray backing the suspended police officer, Raut said they did not have enough information about Waze and his activities.

"The chief minister supported him, but with his (Waze's) activities having surfaced, there is no reason to shield the officer," he said.

On the speculation in political circles that Union Home Minister Amit Shah met leader in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Raut said Shah is known for holding several meetings in the Gujarat city with various leaders.

"There is nothing to raise eyebrows over the rumoured meeting between and BJP leader Amit Shah. In fact, a dialogue between leaders of opposition (rival) parties is good. I am saying this provided they actually met each other in Ahmedabad," he said.

Raut further said even if Pawar and Shah had met, there was nothing to read too much into it.

"If it was really a secret meeting, how come it (news about it) came out," he said.

Raut also said the three-party alliance in Maharashtra will not be affected by the outcome of the Assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu or other states.

On his remark in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' where he called Maharashtra leader Anil Deshmukh an accidental home minister, Raut said Deshmukh is a gentleman.

"He must have gone through a lot of trouble and hardship while handling a crucial portfolio like the home ministry. I had even spoken to him and told him that he would face lot of criticism," the Sena leader 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.)
The NRL has put Brisbane players on standby to fly to Melbourne immediately with Queensland's capital city to go into lockdown from Monday evening.

The Broncos' Good Friday cash with Melbourne Storm remains the biggest concern for the NRL, with all arrivals into Victoria from Brisbane needing to pass a COVID-19 test.

The team had originally made moves to fly to Melbourne on a chartered flight on Tuesday afternoon, in a bid to be tested and be able to prepare as usual.

Queensland's lockdown threatens the Good Friday clash with Broncos (pictured) and storm, as Brisbane is put on standby to fly to Melbourne immediately

Lockdowns for Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton and Brisbane council areas come as four new Covid cases were confirmed overnight (pictured: Covid testing in Bowen Hills)

But they have since been told to be ready to fly at any time to avoid any further issues after four more cases of community transmission were confirmed in Brisbane on Monday.

Whether the Broncos will be able to return home immediately after the Storm game also remains in question, with the club due to host South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on April 8.

Brisbane players and staff were all tested over the weekend with results all negative, and have been in home isolation since.

Meanwhile, the NRL is trying to navigate Saturday's clash between Cronulla and North Queensland on the Sunshine Coast.

That region is not one to be placed in lockdown, with the most likely scenario being that chartered flights are used to avoid having to transit through Brisbane.

Gold Coast is to host Canberra on Saturday, but the holiday strip is also not included in the lockdown.
The company said the research shows that the xB3 platform can act as a delivery vector to facilitate blood-brain barrier translocation of siRNA, reducing stroke damage in the brain

The implications of this discovery are wide ranging, and this platform may provide a general method to intervene in diseases of the brain, University of British Columbia Professor Dr. Wilfred Jefferies said.

Bioasis Technologies Inc ( ) ( ) announced the publication of research validating the ability of the companys xB3 platform to efficiently deliver small interfering RNA (siRNA) across the blood-brain barrier to the central nervous system in therapeutically relevant doses.

Bioasis said the research shows that the xB3 platform can act as a delivery vector to facilitate blood-brain barrier (BBB) translocation of siRNA, reducing stroke damage in the brain and improved neurological function.

The results from this research collaboration further validates the utility of our xB3 platform technology to achieve delivery of therapeutic compounds including siRNA across the BBB at levels that may help treat a variety of central nervous system diseases, Bioasis Technologies executive chair Dr Deborah Rathjen said in a statement.

This data is consistent with the previous studies where our technology successfully delivered antibodies and enzymes across the BBB with demonstrated efficacy in both the brain and the periphery in settings as diverse as brain cancers, neuropathic pain and lysosomal storage disorders, Dr. Rathjen added.

University of British Columbia Professor Dr. Wilfred Jefferies also commented, stating: This study demonstrates for the first time, the translocation of a small peptide, nanomule, across the intact blood brain barrier carrying a payload sufficient to modify a disease in the central nervous system, in this case a siRNA that ameliorates ischemic stroke.

The implications of this discovery are wide ranging, and this platform may provide a general method to intervene in diseases of the brain.

The research conducted by Eyford, et al., A Nanomule Peptide Carrier Delivers siRNA Across the Intact Blood-Brain Barrier to Attenuate Ischemic Stroke, was published in the Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences.

The company said the data presented in the publication provide evidence for the utility of xB3 peptide (previously known as MTfpep) as a platform technology for delivery of recombinant and chemically conjugated drug across the BBB.

It added the study demonstrates both siRNA-carrier delivery and therapeutic efficacy in central nervous system disease model where the BBB remains intact and thus offers new avenues for potential siRNA focused treatments in variety of neuropathologies that are currently resistant to existing therapies.

Scientists at Bioasis have worked for over a decade to develop the patented xB3 platform, which helps small molecules shuttle across the BBB safely. Like a key designed to open a lock, the xB3 platform unlocks the door to the blood-brain barrier, allowing compounds into the brain. In a nutshell, the xB3 platform uses a small peptide to ferry molecules across the BBB in a process called receptor-mediated transcytosis.

Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com
Susan Carland is known for her academic credentials.

But the 41-year-old proved she's certainly competitive in the style stakes too as she attended the Sydney premiere of Broadway musical Hamilton on Saturday.

Susan, an accomplished lecturer at Monash University, opted to wear a tailored black pantsuit for the red carpet event.

Elegant: Waleed Aly's wife Susan Carland looked sophisticated in a black pantsuit as she joined The Project host at the Sydney premiere of Hamilton on Saturday

Susan teamed the pantsuit with a white high-neck blouse.

She completed her look with a black clutch and a pair of pointy-toe stilettos and drop earrings.

Meanwhile, Waleed, 42, looked dashing in a textured blazer and tailored pants.

Glam: The 41-year-old Monash University academic completed her look with a black clutch

The Channel 10 star added a crisp white shirt and a pair of black dress shoes.

Susan has become almost as famous as her Gold Logie-winning husband as she uses her platform as a public intellectual to provide commentary on social issues.

Back in 2016, Susan spoke about her decision to convert from Christianity to Islam at the age of 19, saying it 'felt like coming home'.

Power couple: Susan has become almost as famous as her Gold Logie-winning husband as she uses her platform as a public intellectual to provide commentary on social issues

The sociologist admitted she originally thought Islam was a 'barbaric, outdated and sexist religion', but after detailed research she realised this was not the case.

She told The Australian Women's Weekly these misconceptions still permeate society, with many still believing 'Muslims are all terrorists and kill people'.

Susan, who attended the Uniting Church in Sydney as a child before switching to the Baptist Church as a teenager, said her mother had initially opposed her decision to convert to Islam.

Finding faith: Back in 2016, Susan spoke about her decision to convert from Christianity to Islam at the age of 19, saying it 'felt like coming home'

But she was determined, saying: 'Becoming Muslim felt like coming home. It felt like a natural fit for me as a person.'

The university academic shares two children with Waleed, who describes himself as a 'moderate Muslim'.

She has previously said she didn't change religion for her husband, as her faith journey had actually started long before they met.

Misconceptions: She told The Australian Women's Weekly that misconceptions about Muslims still permeate society, with many still believing 'Muslims are all terrorists and kill people'

Speaking at an RTi Talk, Susan said that when people in the Muslim community suggested they would make a good couple, she would tell them: 'I wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth.'

Obviously she changed her mind and now they've been married for 19 years.
Bengaluru, March 29 : Concerned over surging Covid cases, the Karnataka government on Monday banned parties and celebrations in flats in the city to prevent them from turning into clusters.

"As many Covid cases are reported from flats or apartments in the city, parties and celebrations will not be allowed in their premises from Tuesday till further notice," the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement here.

After reviewing the pandemic situation across the state amid the second wave at a meeting with ministers, experts and senior officials including Health Minister K. Sudhakar, Revenue Minister R. Ashok, Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar, and Excise Minister K. Gopalaiah, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, however, decided not to impose a lockdown or night curfew but banned protest rallies and demonstrations to prevent crowding in public places and violation of Covid guidelines over the next 15 days.

"No lockdown is being imposed but strict action will be taken against those who don't wear mask or maintain social distancing," he said, as per the statement.

As annual exams are being held in many schools and colleges, they will not be closed for the time being and the situation will be reviewed after a fortnight.

Admitting that spike in positive cases across the state was a cause of concern, Yediyurappa urged the people to strictly follow Covid appropriate behaviour, avoid crowding and wash hands regularly.

"If Covid induced norms are violated, it will be difficult to bring the situation under control again, as cases are spiking in Bengaluru at an alarming rate," he cautioned.

According to the state health bulletin, 2,792 new cases were registered on Sunday, taking the state's Covid tally to 9,89,804, while recoveries rose to 9,53,416, with 1,964 discharged during the day.

In Bengaluru, 1,742 fresh cases were reported on Sunday, taking its Covid tally to 4,29,915, including 16,259 active cases, while recoveries increased to 4,09,065, with 1,356 patients discharged in the last 24 hours.

With 16 patients succumbing to the virus during the day, including 9 in Bengaluru, 3 in Hassan, 2 in Mysuru and one each in Bidar and Mandya districts, the state's death toll rose to 12,520.

Positivity rate shot up to 3.20 per cent while case fatality rate was 0.57 per cent.

As per the state health department data, infections are more in the 20-40 years age group.

"Though mortality rate is low or below 1 per cent, patients above 60 years of age are succumbing to the virus," added the statement.

Cumulatively, 6.6 lakh people have been vaccinated across the state till date since the drive was launched on January 16.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
South Africa: Employers urged to honour SARS obligations

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged employers to comply with their legal obligations by submitting accurate information during the annual filing season which gets underway next month.

The annual filing season for employers will run from 1 April to 31 May 2021.

In a statement, the revenue collector said: Employers are required to submit their Employer Reconciliation Declaration (EMP501) to SARS by 31 May, as well as outstanding monthly declarations (EMP201) and annual reconciliations (EMP501).

SARS said Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) payments must be up to date and the data provided to SARS must be clean and accurate.

The correct data is important so that SARS may pre-populate returns correctly and employees may submit their personal income tax returns with the correct information during the filing season for individuals, said the revenue service on Monday.

The revenue collector said employers are also required to issue an IRP5/IT3(a) to employees on time, to enable employees to submit their personal income tax returns timeously. SARS requests employees to check if their details on the IRP5/IT3(a) are correct.

Third party data suppliers such as medical aid schemes are also required to submit accurate information to SARS and to their clients, read the statement.

These are important requirements so that the revenue collector can offer a streamlined and seamless service to taxpayers in line with its objective to make it easy for taxpayers to comply with their obligations.

Employers, tax practitioners and payroll administrators need to download the latest Employers e@syfile version.

This is a channel that SARS offers to allow employers to submit their EMP501 electronically. The revenue service has also encouraged small businesses to use this platform and move from manual to automated payroll systems.

Meanwhile, first-time job seekers can register for personal income tax via eFiling. It takes less than 24 hours to receive an SMS with a new tax number when applying via eFiling.

To avoid penalties and interest employers must submit their annual reconciliation declarations to SARS by 31 May 2021, said SARS.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Statehouse Reporter

Danny Jin is the Eagle's Statehouse reporter. A graduate of Williams College, he previously interned at the Eagle and The Christian Science Monitor. Danny can be reached at djin@berkshireeagle.com or on Twitter at @djinreports.
Advertisement

The Miami skyline is set to be transformed in spectacular fashion.

Renderings have been released of a sensational new tower that will rise 100 stories and 1,049ft (319m) above the city in Biscayne Bay, becoming the tallest residential building south of New York City and the loftiest building in Florida, taking the crown from Miami's 868ft- (265m) tall Panorama Tower.

The property - Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami  is being billed as an 'architectural wonder' and will consist of 360 private residences costing from $1million (724,575), as well as 205 guestrooms and suites within a five-star hotel.

Renderings have been released of a sensational new tower that will rise 100 stories and 1,049ft above Miami, becoming the tallest residential building south of New York City

The property - Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami  will consist of 360 private residences costing from $1million (724,575) as well as 205 guestrooms and suites within a five-star hotel

The building, which will be located at 300 Biscayne Boulevard, will be made up of nine spiralling offset glass cubes that will 'transform Miami's skyline and distinguish the property's architecture from anything on the east coast'.

It has been designed by Sieger Suarez Architects in collaboration with Carlos Ott, with the interiors by California-based interior design firm BAMO.

Mr Ott said: 'The unique nature of this project largely comes from not only creating an iconic building but a distinguished sculpture that will permanently alter Miami's skyline with height and design never seen before.'

While Charles M. Sieger, of Sieger Suarez Architects, added: 'To fully evoke the feeling of transcendence throughout the property, we proportioned the floorplans and offset the cubes to provide viewers with the illusion that the building is even taller than it is.

'We've captured views at Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami that residents and travellers have yet to experience in this city.'

The hotel, the first Waldorf Astoria to open in Miami, will feature a resort-style pool deck with private cabanas, a spa and fitness centre, meetings and boardrooms, indoor and outdoor function spaces and a speciality restaurant called Peacock Alley.

A rendering showing what one of the residences inside the tower could look like. The building has been designed by Sieger Suarez Architects in collaboration with Carlos Ott, with the interiors by California-based interior design firm BAMO

One of the architects who has designed the tower said: 'We've captured views at Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami that residents and travellers have yet to experience in this city'

Meanwhile, all of the residences will offer 'the latest smart-home technology with custom mobile app access to concierge service'.

The app will feature 'a full menu of available offerings, including dining reservations, 24/7 room service, spa and fitness treatments, house car reservations, access to valet service, package delivery service and dog-walking services'.

The project is being developed by real estate development firm PMG, Toronto-based private equity firm Greybrook Realty Partners, global investment company Mohari Hospitality, S2 Development and Hilton - the owner of the Waldorf Astoria brand. The timetable for construction is dependent on sales of the residences, but developers are optimistic they'll break ground in 2022.

Ryan Shear, managing partner of PMG, said: 'Miami has become a true global city, drawing in a high concentration of international buyers and travellers, as well as those domestically predominantly from the Northeast, Midwest and California.

All of the residences will offer 'the latest smart-home technology with custom mobile app access to concierge service'

The timetable for construction is dependent on sales of the residences, but developers are optimistic they'll break ground in 2022

'Waldorf Astoria's rich history and heritage combined with Miami's flare has evoked an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from a new generation of luxury consumers, as well as generational Waldorf brand loyalists around the world.'

While Kevin Maloney, also a managing partner of PMG, added: 'Waldorf Astoria is one of the only five-star hotel brands worldwide, and we're honoured to expand this timeless portfolio to Miami.

'We feel confident with our renowned partners on board, Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami is poised to lead the new development cycle and deliver a completely one-of-a-kind, priceless experience to South Florida.'

Peter Politis, CEO Greybrook Realty Partners, said: 'It has been an absolute pleasure working with PMG, Hilton and the entire project team of very talented professionals to design this truly remarkable building in which every detail has been carefully considered and meticulously designed.

The building will be located at 300 Biscayne Boulevard. The hotel will be the first Waldorf Astoria to open in Miami

'We are very excited for the reveal of this iconic building that is a symbol of Miami's growing prominence on the world stage and is sure to attract discerning buyers seeking a luxury lifestyle experience that is in a league of its own.'

Dino Michael, senior vice president and global head, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, explained: 'We are incredibly excited to partner with PMG to bring the first Waldorf Astoria to Miami, one of the most dynamic and cosmopolitan destinations that draws discerning travellers from around the globe.

'Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences Miami will not only transform the city skyline but usher in a new level of service to the Miami market, creating unforgettable experiences for every resident and guest.'
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said he will not release the body camera footage of a deadly officer-involved shooting from January, according to a news release issued by SAPD on Saturday.

The mother of 26-year-old Erick Mejia asked the department not to make the footage public, the news release said. The mother said bystander footage played by local media has caused her great distress, according to the news release.

McManus said there was not enough compelling law enforcement or public interest to go against the wishes of the mother.

READ ALSO: Police shoot and kill a man after he runs from traffic stop near the South Park Mall

On Jan. 27, SAPD officers responded to the area of Interstate 35 and Zarzamora Street after Mejia, armed with a weapon, fled from a traffic stop and into the nearby South Park Mall.

When the officers found Mejia, sitting outside the doors of Dick's Sporting Goods, he was holding a gun. He then started walking through the parking lot as the officers, with their guns drawn, yelled at Mejia to drop his weapon, a bystander video shows.

Mejia can be heard on the video using explicit language and yelling at the officers to get away from him. The video shows Mejia raising the gun in his right hand and then police firing, hitting him several times. Mejia was pronounced dead at the scene.

Per SAPD's policy, the department has 60 days after a critical incident to decide whether to release video recordings and 911 records.

The department revised their body camera policy in December after criticism by the community, including San Antonio Mayor Ron Nierenberg, for its lack of policy and its reputation for not providing body cam footage after officer-involved shootings.

McManus makes the final approval and may choose to delay the release of recordings and footage for the protection or the safety of individuals involved, the integrity of an active investigation, confidential sources or the constitutional rights of an accused.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
Kingspan is to consider closing its Ballyclare plant pending a company consultation, with the potential loss of up to 23 jobs.

The global Kingspan group  which took over the factory in 2011 - runs a polystyrene factory in the Co Antrim town as part of its Springvale EPS subsection of the company.

In a statement on Monday evening, the company said: "Kingspan is engaged in a consultation process with staff regarding the future of its Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) production facility in Ballyclare, Co Antrim.

"Following a review of its operations due to declining sales, the company intends to consolidate all of its EPS production at its facility in Askeaton, Co Limerick.

"The proposed closure puts 23 staff members at risk of redundancy, following a consultation period. Kingspan will work with staff to explore the option to transfer to roles at other Kingspan facilities where suitable."

According to Unite the Union, consultations between the company and the union ended without any movement from the company. They added that closure of the plant in the coming months is imminent.

The union claimed the decision was driven by a desire to maximise profits.

Unite regional officer Kevin McAdam said: We have tried to persuade the company to continue with the County Antrim plant but it appears they are keener to concentrate their business on their plant in Askeaton in County Limerick.

All of this comes at the same time that parent company Kingspan announced the purchase of a leading insulation company in Denmark for 255 million last week.

The decision to close the Ballyclare site is driven by the desire to maximise profits over the livelihoods of workers who have helped build the companys success.

Our members are left baffled by the fact this company is still making money for the group yet they are closing it.

It just feels like its a simple case that bosses can make more elsewhere and their attitude is to hell with the small group of workers staff and management in this plant.

Responding to the initial reports of a potential closure, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party Steve Aiken said: If confirmed this will be a blow for Burnside & Doagh; on top of loss of jobs at Wiggle/Chain Reaction this is not great news. We will be urgently reaching out to Kingspan to seek clarification.
Geita  A FAMILY of the late Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere over the weekend visited the widow of the departed Tanzania's fifth President John Magufuli, Janeth, presenting a bull as part of their condolences.

The family's Spokesperson from Burito Clan of Zanaki tribe, Chief Japhet Wanzangi, said that presenting a bull was a must as that is how Zanaki customs and traditions direct.

"Mama Nyerere has offered this bull to comfort the widow but at the same time, meet the customs' requirements. It is a must for the Zanaki tribe to offer a bull whenever a tragedy occurs in the family of rulers (kingdom).

"We have come to present the clan's greetings to mama Janeth, following the sudden demise of our president and we are happy that we have made it soonest after the burial procedures," said the Chief Wanzagi.

Chief Wanzangi said that the late Magufuli will be remembered for his great service to the nation, adding that the late president has left a lasting legacy in the country's social and economic sectors.

He was accompanied by other family members, including Daisy Nyerere, Neema Nyerere, Nashom Jirabi and Madaraka Nyerere.

Chief Wanzangi, told the widow that Mama Nyerere wished her and all family members well, strength and patience in this tough moment of mourning.

Responding, mama Janeth expressed her gratitude to Mwalimu Nyerere's family and all Tanzanians, who kept on praying for the late Magufuli's family throughout the mourning period.

"Pass my greetings to mama Nyerere, tell her that I love her, she is my mother and we are together. I thank her for this great gift she has offered us... . She always loves me, my husband and my family. May God bless her and you the representatives," said mama Janeth.
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Adam Goers, a vice president of Columbia Care, a New York medical marijuana provider that's interested in getting into the recreational market, said New York's proposed system would "ensure newcomers have a crack at the marketplace" alongside the state's existing medical marijuana providers. "There's a big pie in which a lot of different folks are going to be able to be a part of it," Goers said.

The legislation would take effect immediately if passed, though sales wouldn't start immediately as New York sets up rules and a proposed cannabis board. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes estimated Friday it could take 18 months to two years for sales to start.

The legislation would allow recreational marijuana sales to adults over the age of 21, and set up a licensing process for the delivery of cannabis products to customers. Individual New Yorkers could grow up to three mature and three immature plants for personal consumption, and local governments could opt out of retail sales.

"My goal in carrying this legislation has always been to end the racially disparate enforcement of marijuana prohibition that has taken such a toll on communities of color across our state, and to use the economic windfall of legalization to help heal and repair those same communities," Sen. Liz Krueger, Senate sponsor of the bill and chair of the Senate's finance committee, said.

At least 14 other states already allow residents to buy marijuana for recreational and not just medical use, but New York's past efforts to pass marijuana legalization have failed in recent years. Democrats who now wield a veto-proof majority in the state Legislature have made passing it a priority this year, and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration has estimated legalization could eventually bring the state about $350 million annually.

New York would set a 9-percent sales tax on cannabis, plus an additional 4-percent tax split between the county and local government. It would also impose an additional tax based on the level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, ranging from 0.5 cents per milligram for flower to 3 cents per milligram for edibles.

New York would eliminate penalties for possession of less than three ounces of cannabis, and automatically expunge records of people with past convictions for marijuana-related offenses that would no longer be criminalized. That's a step beyond a 2019 law that expunged many past convictions for marijuana possession and reduced the penalty for possessing small amounts.

And New York would provide loans, grants and incubator programs to encourage participation in the cannabis industry by people from minority communities, as well as small farmers, women and disabled veterans.

Proponents have said the move could create thousands of jobs and begin to address the racial injustice of a decades-long drug war that disproportionately targeted minority and poor communities. "Police, prosecutors, child services and ICE have used criminalization as a weapon against them, and the impact this bill will have on the lives of our oversurveiled clients cannot be overstated," Alice Fontier, managing director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, said in a statement Saturday.

New York's Legal Aid Society also hailed the agreement. "This landmark legislation brings justice to New York State by ending prohibition, expunging conviction records that have curtailed the opportunities of countless predominately young Black and Latinx New Yorkers, and delivers economic justice to ensure that communities who have suffered the brunt of aggressive and disparate marijuana enforcement are first in line to reap the economic gain," the group said in a news release Sunday.

Melissa Moore, the Drug Policy Alliance's director for New York state, said the bill "really puts a nail in the coffin of the drug war that's been so devastating to communities across New York, and puts in place comprehensive policies that are really grounded in community reinvestment."

Cuomo has pointed to growing acceptance of legalization in the Northeast, including in Massachusetts, Maine and most recently, New Jersey. Past efforts to legalize recreational use have been hurt by a lack of support from suburban Democrats, disagreements over how to distribute marijuana sales tax revenue and questions over how to address drivers suspected of driving high.

It also has run into opposition from law enforcement, school and community advocates, who warn legalization would further strain a health care system already overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic and send mixed messages to young people.

"We are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the serious crisis of youth vaping and the continuing opioid epidemic, this harmful legislation is counterintuitive," said an open letter signed by the Medical Society of the State of NY, New York State Parent Teacher Association, New York Sheriff's Association and several other organizations March 11.

New York officials plan to launch an education and prevention campaign aimed at reducing the risk of cannabis among school-aged children, and schools could get grants for anti-vaping and drug prevention and awareness programs.

And the state will also launch a study due by Dec. 31, 2022, that examines the extent that cannabis impairs driving, and whether it depends on factors like time and metabolism. "One of the things that no country in the world has and everybody wants is a way to quickly and easily figure out if someone's high or impaired on cannabis," University of Buffalo psychologist and professor of community health and health behavior R. Lorraine Collins said. "Research is being done to find systems that can do that. But I think those efforts will not come to fruition for awhile."

The bill also sets aside revenues to cover the costs of everything from regulating marijuana, to substance abuse prevention. State police could also get funding to hire and train more so-called "drug recognition experts."

But there's no evidence that drug recognition experts can tell whether someone is high or not, according to Collins, who was appointed to Cuomo's 2018 working group tasked with drafting cannabis regulations. "I think it's very important that we approach that challenge using science and research and not wishes or unsubstantiated claims," Collins said.

Collins pointed to a 2020 report from the American Civil Liberties Union that found that Blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession compared to Whites, based on FBI statistics. "Every New York should be concerned about how these laws will be implemented or how those ways of examining drivers will be implemented in different communities," Collins said. "It's not likely to be equal."

The bill allows cities, towns and villages to opt out of allowing adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries or on-site consumption licenses by passing a local law by Dec. 31, 2021 or nine months after the effective date of the legislation. They cannot opt out of legalization.
Tunis/Tunisia  The Health Ministry received Friday aid in the form of health equipment worth 13 million from the European Union under Essaha Aziza programme.

This aid consists of 193 four-axle ambulances and type A ambulances for 995 public health facilities in 13 governorates. The medical transport fleet also includes 88 multidisciplinary vehicles and thirteen 4x4 cars for the transport of staff and medical monitoring in basic healthcare centres in remote areas.

Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi said the equipment aims to beef up frontline healthcare services in the 13 target regions of Essaha Aziza programme.

EU Ambassador to Tunisia Marcus Cornaro said the overall cost of Essaha Aziza programme stands at 20.500 million.

The EU decided to add 50 million to the budget of this programme from 2022, he further said. Priority regions will have healthcare services in connection to the health of mothers and children, reventive health ies and COVID-19 vaccination.
According to recent studies, renewable energies and batteries will secure Australia's power grid almost as well as coal and gas.

Energy Control

Clean technology offered the quick frequency response service and voltage control required to protect the energy grid and minimize costs, according to the report, which was commissioned by the Australia Institute think tank and published on Monday. However, according to the study, regulatory hurdles currently hinder green energy and battery storage's capacity to provide device security.

Can Australia's electricity grid be kept stable & secure when running on batteries & renewables? You bet it can!



Currently batteries make up just 0.5% of our grid's capacity, but they're already providing almost as much of a key frequency control market as the entire coal fleet. pic.twitter.com/Vt5pXaNhVd  Australia Institute (@TheAusInstitute) March 29, 2021

Controls are needed in the electricity grid to keep frequency and voltage within safe limits and have traditionally been generated by coal, gas, and hydropower plants.

"The coal and gas business models are crashing in front of our eyes, but the good news is that batteries and clean energies will now step in and keep the grid secure," said energy economist Prof Bruce Mountain.

Renewable Alternative

"Renewables now provide the cheapest energy on the market, leaving the fossil fuel sector with only the defense resources they have previously provided to stand on. Renewable energy is now delivering all such utilities more efficiently and sustainably, and this development can only continue in the future."

The think tank is pushing for new energy protection standards that would encourage renewables to support grid stability.

The study was funded by the Energy Security Board to aid in reorganizing the national power sector. In June 2021, Australian energy ministers will decide on a proposed "post-2025" design for the national economy.

Related Article: Australia's Ruling Party Opposes Prime Minister's Climate Policy; PM Put in a Tough Spot



Results of the Survey

According to Monday's report, 51% of Australian survey respondents would prefer to pay for new batteries to keep the grid stable. In comparison, 26% would prefer to keep paying coal generators for this operation.

Dan Cass, the Australia Institute's energy policy and regulatory lead, said that if coal generators begin to lose revenue, they will make financial choices that damage grid protection by cutting maintenance or mothballing units.

"Gas power plants are closing and being supplemented by alternative energy sources, but there is no national strategy in place to replace the security services provided by coal. Despite their exceptional capacity in this space, batteries, renewables, and demand response are kept back by obstacles that preclude them from contributing to device security."

Storing Energy

According to Cass, recent research has shown that clean energies will have adequate system security to help the grid, and Australians are "happy for the change to happen."

"Batteries have much more system protection than a coal generator of equivalent capacity."

Energy Supply

The Australian energy market operator (Aemo) said in a forecast published on Monday that the country's gas supply should be safe until 2026 if expected investments and pipeline extensions in the east and south-east go ahead.

However, if the Port Kembla gas terminal is postponed and winter demand in Victoria peaks, the forecast highlights southern supply risks for 2023.

The projection, which was based on data from gas suppliers and industrial gas consumers, suggested that the market was on the brink of transition.

Also Read: Australia Proposes the World's Most Ambitious Project on Renewable Energy

For more Environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Ever since plans for a new 150m terminal at one of the norths biggest airports were first drawn up three years ago, bosses have been at pains to highlight how it would be a net-zero building.

Its a bizarre boast, says opponent Chris Foren today. This is a development designed to facilitate thousands more flights every year. Making it carbon neutral is a bit like cutting down the Amazon rainforest using an environmentally-friendly axe.

Controversial proposals to transform Leeds Bradford Airport into the norths second busiest such hub have long scythed opinion in West Yorkshire.

Advocates argue the expansion would build on Boris Johnsons levelling up agenda by creating thousands of jobs in an area much in need of a post-coronavirus boost. Critics call it an environmental catastrophe in the making.

Now, after councillors approved the plans, an alliance of more than 75 environmental groups, residents associations and politicians from across the political spectrum have this week written to the government demanding the decision be called in for a public inquiry.

Read more:

In a battle which echoes the ongoing fight over a planned new coal mine in Cumbria, campaigners say the proposed terminal  and the resulting 3 million more annual air passengers  would devastate the UKs commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

They argue that the final say over such a scheme should not have been left to Leeds City Council alone because the environmental ramifications will be felt by everyone across the country.

Two years ago, the council here declared a climate emergency; well, this would blow that to smithereens, says Foren, chair of the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport, the collective behind the new letter. Theres no point saying they believe there is a climate emergency and having all the council vehicles running on electric if they then allow a new terminal which means a 75 per cent increase in passengers at the local airport. It is a complete contradiction. It goes against everything we need to achieve.

Crucially, perhaps, this is a fight with significance far beyond this particular corner of Yorkshire.

With a raft of other regional airports seeking permission to expand in the coming months  notably Stansted, Southampton and Bristol  what happens here may well pave the way for what happens elsewhere.

If we keep allowing things like this to go ahead  if we dont take curbing emissions seriously  its soon going to be game over, says Foren, a retired prosecutor who lives in Leeds. As we say in the letter, this is the aviation equivalent of the Cumbria coal mine and it is just as important the government views this as a national - a global - decision and blocks it from going ahead.

The new terminal itself was first mooted in 2018 as part of a scheme that would turn Leeds Bradford into the second busiest airport in the north (after Manchester) and the 10th busiest in the country.

The scheme would see the old 1960s terminal replaced with a new three-storey, glass-fronted complex enabling up to 17 extra flights a day (as well as significantly more retail space). It would, says airport chief executive Vincent Hodder, create thousands of jobs, thus contributing significantly to the governments levelling up agenda and plans for improved connectivity.

A petition backing the expansion has been signed by more than 1,600 city residents. The numbers demonstrate that ordinary people want this scheme to go ahead, claimed Ross Bailey, spokesperson for the Leeds Bradford Airport Support Group, in a previous statement.

For its part, the Labour-run Leeds City Council says it does not believe approving the expansion contradicts its own stance on the climate crisis.

Artists impression of new Leeds Bradford Airport terminal (Leeds Bradford Airport)

Not a single elected cabinet member was willing to answer questions from The Independent for this piece. Leader James Lewis and executive board members for economy Mary Harland and for environment Mohammed Rafique all declined to discuss the thinking behind approving the plans.

But in a statement issued by the authoritys press office, it was said that aviation emissions were something that should be primarily tackled at a national level and addressed through international agreements, rather than by suppressing growth at individual airports in a way that could simply export passengers to other nearby airports at a higher financial cost to them.

The councils decision to approve the plans will, it adds, automatically be considered by the government because it impacts on greenbelt land.

Yet this falls short of the public inquiry demanded by opponents .

Climate change is an existential threat, we cannot dodge that, says Andrew Cooper, the Green Party candidate to become West Yorkshires first directly elected mayor in the upcoming local elections. Thinking you can deal with global warming but keep sending more and more planes into the skies is the stuff of cloud cuckoo land.

On the same day the plans were approved here in February, he points out, authorities in France canned similar proposals to expand Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Our neighbours are doing their bit, says Cooper. What does it say about the UK if we are not doing ours?

Is he not won over by the thought of jobs for his region? One estimate suggests it could create 12,000 new roles by 2030.

Of course we need jobs, he says. But tying us into a long-term carbon economy is not the right way forward. We need to be looking to our childrens future and investing in a sustainable industries.

He adds that noise pollution and increased road traffic were all among other concerns raised by the proposals.

For now, then, all eyes will turn to communities secretary Robert Jenrick, who will decide if the expansion should be called in for a government inquiry.

Among those urging him to do so in Tuesdays letter are Alex Sobel, the Labour MP for Leeds North West, as well as Labour, Lib Dem and Green councillors from across West Yorkshires five councils. It followed a previous letter in February signed by five Leeds parliamentarians, including Hilary Benn and Richard Burgon, which has been acknowledged by Jenrick but, so far, left effectively unanswered.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.

Back with Foren, who started campaigning against the plans three years ago, he remains hopeful they can still be stopped even at this late stage.

All we are really asking, he says, is for the government to show they are on the right side of history.
Over the course of five-plus hours on Thursday, a House Committee along with two subcommittees badgered three tech CEOs, repeatedly demanding that they censor more political content from their platforms and vowing legislative retaliation if they fail to comply. The hearing  convened by the House Energy and Commerce Committees Chair Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and the two Chairs of its Subcommittees, Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)  was one of the most stunning displays of the growing authoritarian effort in Congress to commandeer the control which these companies wield over political discourse for their own political interests and purposes.

As I noted when I reported last month on the scheduling of this hearing, this was the third time in less than five months that the U.S. Congress has summoned the CEOs of social media companies to appear before them with the explicit intent to pressure and coerce them to censor more content from their platforms. The bulk of Thursdays lengthy hearing consisted of one Democratic member after the next complaining that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google/Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have failed in their duties to censor political voices and ideological content that these elected officials regard as adversarial or harmful, accompanied by threats that legislative punishment (including possible revocation of Section 230 immunity) is imminent in order to force compliance (Section 230 is the provision of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that shields internet companies from liability for content posted by their users).

Republican members largely confined their grievances to the opposite concern: that these social media giants were excessively silencing conservative voices in order to promote a liberal political agenda (that complaint is only partially true: a good amount of online censorship, like growing law enforcement domestic monitoring generally, focuses on all anti-establishment ideologies, not just the right-wing variant). This editorial censoring, many Republicans insisted, rendered the tech companies Section 230 immunity obsolete, since they are now acting as publishers rather than mere neutral transmitters of information. Some Republicans did join with Democrats in demanding greater censorship, though typically in the name of protecting children from mental health disorders and predators rather than ideological conformity.

As they have done in prior hearings, both Zuckerberg and Pichai spoke like the super-scripted, programmed automatons that they are, eager to please their Congressional overseers (though they did periodically issue what should have been unnecessary warnings that excessive content moderation can cripple free political discourse). Dorsey, by contrast, seemed at the end of his line of patience and tolerance for vapid, moronic censorship demands, and  sitting in a kitchen in front of a pile of plates and glasses  he, refreshingly, barely bothered to hide that indifference. At one point, he flatly stated in response to demands that Twitter do more to remove disinformation: I don't think we should be the arbiters of truth and I don't think the government should be either.

Zuckerberg in particular has minimal capacity to communicate the way human beings naturally do. The Facebook CEO was obviously instructed by a team of public speaking consultants that it is customary to address members of the Committee as Congressman or Congresswoman. He thus began literally every answer he gave  even in rapid back and forth questions  with that word. He just refused to move his mouth without doing that  for five hours (though, in fairness, the questioning of Zuckerberg was often absurd and unreasonable). His brain permits no discretion to deviate from his script no matter how appropriate. For every question directed to him, he paused for several seconds, had his internal algorithms search for the relevant place in the metaphorical cassette inserted in a hidden box in his back, uttered the word Congressman or Congresswoman, stopped for several more seconds to search for the next applicable spot in the spine-cassette, and then proceeded unblinkingly to recite the words slowly transmitted into his neurons. One could practically see the gears in his head painfully churning as the cassette rewound or fast-forwarded. This tortuous ritual likely consumed roughly thirty percent of the hearing time. Ive never seen members of Congress from across the ideological spectrum so united as they were by visceral contempt for Zuckerbergs non-human comportment:

But it is vital not to lose sight of how truly despotic hearings like this are. It is easy to overlook because we have become so accustomed to political leaders successfully demanding that social media companies censor the internet in accordance with their whims. Recall that Parler, at the time it was the most-downloaded app in the country, was removed in January from the Apple and Google Play Stores and then denied internet service by Amazon, only after two very prominent Democratic House members publicly demanded this. At the last pro-censorship hearing convened by Congress, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) explicitly declared that the Democrats grievance is not that these companies are censoring too much but rather not enough. One Democrat after the next at Thursdays hearing described all the content on the internet they want gone: or else. Many of them said this explicitly.

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At one point toward the end of the hearing, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), in the context of the January 6 riot, actually suggested that the government should create a list of groups they unilaterally deem to be domestic terror organizations and then provide it to tech companies as guidance for what discussions they should track and remove: in other words, treat these groups the same was as ISIS and Al Qaeda.

Words cannot convey how chilling and authoritarian this all is: watching government officials, hour after hour, demand censorship of political speech and threaten punishment for failures to obey. As I detailed last month, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the state violates the First Amendments free speech guarantee when they coerce private actors to censor for them  exactly the tyrannical goal to which these hearings are singularly devoted.

There are genuine problems posed by Silicon Valley monopoly power. Monopolies are a threat to both political freedom and competition, which is why economists of most ideological persuasions have long urged the need to prevent them. There is some encouraging legislation pending in Congress with bipartisan support (including in the House Antitrust Subcommittee before which I testified several weeks ago) that would make meaningful and productive strides toward diluting the unaccountable and undemocratic power these monopolies wield over our political and cultural lives. If these hearings were about substantively considering those antitrust measures, they would be meritorious.

But that is hard and difficult work and that is not what these hearings are about. They want the worst of all worlds: to maintain Silicon Valley monopoly power but transfer the immense, menacing power to police our discourse from those companies into the hands of the Democratic-controlled Congress and Executive Branch.

And as I have repeatedly documented, it is not just Democratic politicians agitating for greater political censorship but also their liberal journalistic allies, who cannot tolerate that there may be any places on the internet that they cannot control. That is the petty wannabe-despot mentality that has driven them to police the unfettered discussions on the relatively new conversation app Clubhouse, and escalate their attempts to have writers they dislike removed from Substack. Just today, The New York Times warns, on its front page, that there are unfiltered discussions taking place on Google-enabled podcasts:

New York Times front page, Mar. 26, 2021

We are taught from childhood that a defining hallmark of repressive regimes is that political officials wield power to silence ideas and people they dislike, and that, conversely, what makes the U.S. a free society is the guarantee that American leaders are barred from doing so. It is impossible to reconcile that claim with what happened in that House hearing room over the course of five hours on Thursday.
Professor Elvis Nyarko, the Vice-Chancellor of the Regional Maritime University (RMU), has underscored the need for a sustainable maritime transportation system towards the development and growth of the Blue Economy.



He said, "Today, international trade has evolved to the point where almost no nation can be fully self-sufficient," stressing the need for countries to work together to build a robust maritime transportation sector.



Prof Nyarko was speaking at the University's matriculation in Accra, where admission was offered to 1,041 postgraduate and undergraduate applicants from both member and non-member countries.



Out of that number, only 691 applicants registered, representing 66.38 per cent, with 83 postgraduates and 608 undergraduate students.



He said every country was involved, at one level or another, in the process of selling what it produced and acquiring what it lacked and that none could be dependent only on its domestic resources.



Prof Nyarko said with over 90 per cent of traded goods transported across the worlds oceans from place to place, shipping had always provided the only really cost-effective mode of bulk transport over any great distance across the oceans.



He said the development of shipping and the establishment of a global system of trade were inseparably linked.



The Vice-Chancellor said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for shipping services over time would continue to rise.



He said the records showed that during the peak of the pandemic last year, when the land borders and airports were closed all over the world, sea transport continued to operate very actively as shipowners maintained their crew, thereby providing a lifeline for nations across the world during those difficult times.



"This confirms the vital role the maritime industry continues to play in the development of nations and the certainty of job security for the youth, even in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still with us," he added.



Prof Nyarko commended Ghana Government for the tireless efforts made towards the acquisition of the COVID-19 vaccine to halt the spread of the virus.



He urged all staff and students, to take part in the vaccination and also join the crusade and education in their communities on the need for all to take the vaccine.



"Please remember that the COVID-19 is still with us, and I will strongly advise all of you, to continue to strictly observe the safety and hygienic protocols," he said.



Prof Nyarko assured the students of the University's commitment to uphold, protect and ensure their peaceful stay on campus.

Source: GNA









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Tornadoes and severe storms tore through the Deep South, killing at least five people as strong winds splintered trees, wrecked homes and downed power lines.

Multiple twisters sprang from a super cell of storms that rolled over western Georgia early Friday after spawning as many as eight tornadoes in Alabama on Thursday, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

One large, dangerous tornado moved through Newnan, destroying homes there and damaging others in surrounding communities west of Atlanta, meteorologists said.

A day earlier, one tornado formed in southwest Alabama and carved up the ground for more than an hour Thursday, traveling roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) and causing heavy damage in the city of Centreville, south of Tuscaloosa.

De Block said it dissipated in Shelby County, where another twister had already heavily damaged homes and businesses and devastated the landscape. The county is home to suburban Birmingham cities such as Pelham and Helena and the unincorporated subdivision of Eagle Point  all suffering heavy damage.

Still another of the eight suspected tornadoes that hit the state killed five people in Calhoun County.

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. Coroner Pat Brown identified them Friday to Al.com as Joe Wayne Harris, 74, Barbara Harris, 69, Ebonique Harris, 28; Emily Myra Wilborn, 72, and James William Geno, 72.

One of the victims in the hard-hit town of Ohatchee in eastern Alabama, a small community of about 1,170 people, was Dwight Jenningss neighbor. Geno went by J.W. and had been a rodeo bull rider in his youth. He could make anything out of wood, and loved to catfish, Jennings said. They had planned to go fishing this weekend; instead he spent hours searching for Genos dog before the animal was found alive.

Reports of tornado damage in the Newnan area began coming in shortly after midnight. One-hundred-year-old trees were toppled and power lines downed.

Stephen Brown, fire chief in the city of Newnan said during a televised morning news conference that rescue teams were methodically checking every structure and assessing the destruction. Theyve found heavy, heavy damage in parts of the citys historic district, he said.

Itll never look the same, Brown said. But he also complimented the resiliency of the community. Theyre out. Theyre working. Family members are coming out there and theyre already on their own doing the cleanup.

The bad weather stretched across the southern U.S., raising concerns of thunderstorms and flooding in parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and the Carolinas. Emergency responders hospitalized one person in Sumner County, Tennessee, and the Nashville Fire Department posted photos on Twitter showing large trees down, damaged homes and streets blocked by debris.

More than 150,000 people were without power Friday in Ohio and Pennsylvania after 50 mph (80 kph) wind gusts ripped across the region. Forecasters reported peak gusts of 63 mph (100 kph) in Marysville, Ohio. Some 23,000 customers remained without electricity in Alabama, according to poweroutage.us.

Some school districts from Alabama to Ohio canceled or delayed class Friday due to damage and power outages.

In the Alabama city of Pelham, James Dunaway said he initially ignored the tornado warning on his phone, but then he heard a twister approaching. He had just enough time to leave the upstairs bedroom where he had been watching television for an interior hallway before the roof and sides of his house blew off. 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 Centreville, Cindy Smitherman and her family and neighbors  eight people in all  huddled in their underground storm pit as a twister passed over their home.

A tree fell on the shelter door, trapping them inside until someone came with a chain saw to help free them, said Smitherman, 62. They emerged to see downed trees, overturned cars and a destroyed workshop on the property.

Im just glad were alive, she said.

Centreville Mayor Mike Oakley told ABC 33/40 news that at the local airport, We have airplanes torn apart like toys. Weve got homes along here that are totally destroyed, trees down, power lines down. Its pretty devastating.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday extended condolences to the victims. She said theyre in close communication with state and local officials, and havent received any requests for federal assistance yet.

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.

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.

___

Yoganathan reported from Newnan. Associated Press writers Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Kevin McGill in New Orleans; Desiree Mathurin in Atlanta; Jeff Martin in Marietta, Georgia; and Rebecca Santana in New Orleans contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm
Police are in the initial stages of assessing allegations against Liberal MP Andrew Laming for an incident in which he allgedly took photos of a young woman.

Crystal White, who alleged Mr Laming took photos of her bending over with her underwear visible in 2019, attended Cleveland police station on Monday.

Liberal MP Andrew Laming. Credit:Andrew Meares

Ms White told 9News she had documented the incident.

Ive documented the incident and for now thats all I want to say, Ms White said.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - Thursday Mayor Nicholls rescinded Amendment No. 3 to the Citys Proclamation of Emergency regarding the wearing of face coverings in public spaces. This action results from Governor Duceys Executive Order 2021-06 issued.

Arizona and the Yuma community have met several important public health benchmarks related to COVID-19 and the new Executive Order updates several of the states COVID-19 measures.

To date, over 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to approximately 1.9 million individuals in Arizona, including over 1.1 million who have been fully vaccinated. COVID-19 cases have been declining throughout the state for the past 10 weeks and hospitalizations are at the lowest since the end of September. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks Arizona among the best states in the nation for providing our most vulnerable communities access to COVID-19 vaccinations.

Yuma Countys COVID-19 positivity rate is currently under five percent (5%) and the spread of COVID-19 in Yuma County has been reduced to moderate. Over 82,000 COVID-19 doses have been administered in Yuma County; 24% of Yuma County residents have been vaccinated per the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The governors new Executive Order provides the following:

Local businesses have the right to institute policies to protect against COVID-19 spread including the use of face coverings and physical distancing. Businesses continue to have the right to refuse service to those who do not comply with their policies.

All COVID-19 related requirements for businesses such as bars, restaurants, and gyms are transitioning to recommendations of the updated Arizona Department of Health Services guidance.

Individuals and businesses will need to continue to act responsibly. Businesses, and entities that physically serve the public are encouraged to continue to take actions recommended by the CDC, ADHS, and others.

Events of more than 50 people will no longer need the approval of local governments. These events should continue to follow safe practices and CDC recommendations, including physical distancing. This includes youth sports.

Starting April 5, City buildings will be open 7 a.m.  5 p.m. Monday through Friday; and closed every other Friday. Visitors to City buildings will continue to be asked to wear face coverings and social distance.

The City of Yuma encourages the community to continue to be vigilant in the mitigation efforts against COVID-19 and be safe and responsible moving forward.
The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV.
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Sanctions on a wide range of opinion leaders raises the profile of an issue China wants to hide, say grateful activists.

Retaliatory sanctions leveled by China against Western officials and scholars in response to U.S. and European measures over rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have drawn more attention to the issue and sparked accusations Beijing is merely silencing critics, experts said Monday.

On March 22, the European Union, U.S., Canada, and the U.K. sanctioned Chinese officials and security entities as part of a multilateral approach to hold to account those responsible for Beijings policies of oppression against Uyghurs in the region.

Among those hit with travel bans and asset freezes were Chen Mingguo, the director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau; senior Chinese officials Wang Mingshan and Wang Junzheng; and the former head of the XUAR, Zhu Hailun. Additionally, the quasi-military Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau was also targeted.

Authorities in the XUAR are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of internment camps since early 2017. The sanctions follow earlier ones by Washington on Chinese officials and entities last year, as well as the U.S. designation in January of Chinas policies in the region as genocidea label that has since been adopted through resolutions in the parliaments of Canada and The Netherlands.

Chinese officials have said camps in the XUAR are centers for vocational training, but reporting by RFA and other media outlets shows that detainees are mostly held against their will in cramped and unsanitary conditions, where they are forced to endure inhumane treatment and political indoctrination.

Chinas Foreign Ministry responded last week by announcing its own travel and asset sanctions on 10 individuals that severely harm Chinas sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread lies and disinformation, including members of the EU, Dutch, and Belgian parliaments, and several scholars.

The sanctions also targeted the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union, the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in Denmark.

The ministry warned that additional moves by the EU would lead China to resolutely make further reactions, before placing sanctions on a handful of U.S. and Canadian officials over the weekend. Those hit by Beijing included Gayle Manchin, chair of the bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and vice chair of the independent federal government body, Tony Perkins.

Also sanctioned were Michael Chong, vice chair of the Canadian Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE), and the eight members of the FAAE Subcommittee on International Human Rights.

In announcing the weekends sanctions, Chinas Foreign Ministry said the measures were meant to protect national sovereignty and warned targeted individuals to stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China's internal affairs in any form and refrain from going farther down the wrong path. Otherwise, they will get their fingers burnt.

Retaliation seen as badge of honor

The new sanctions drew swift rebukes in key Western capitals.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the measures, adding that Beijings attempt to silence criticism of serious human rights abuse in Xinjiang only contributes to growing international scrutiny. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau called the sanctions unacceptable and an attack on transparency and freedom of expression.

USCIRF Commissioner Gary Bauer told RFAs Uyghur Service that his agency expected the sanctions as part of Chinas attempts to control the narrative over what is happening in the XUAR.

Nothing really surprises us about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and what it will do to try to obfuscate and complicate what is now becoming a worldwide condemnation of their religious persecution, human rights violations against the Uyghurs and against many other religious and ethnic minorities in China, he told RFA in an interview.

I must say, I'm a little bit envious of my chairman and vice chairman. They were singled out, and I'd like to ask the Chinese Communist government what does Commissioner Bauer have to do to be put on this list? I've been very vocal in speaking out against the Communist Party and the oppression [in the XUAR].

Bauer likened Chinas response to broader Western sanctions over the XUAR to the sort of thing you would expect on a schoolyard in an argument between two children.

Theyre not sanctioning anybody in Europe or in the United States and accusing us of human rights violations or of oppressing people in Europe or the United States, they're sanctioning us merely because we have called them out on their repression of the Chinese people, he said.

I would think that the CCP would be deeply embarrassed at this point that increasingly they are isolating themselves and they're isolating themselves because, at the same time they want to be a great nation, they're treating their own people with little regard for the basic human rights that all individuals innately have.

UK academics, think tanks

Meanwhile, criticism of Chinas retaliatory sanctions against individuals and entities throughout the West united academics and politicians in crying foul over what they called a bid to curtail freedom of expression and play to the countrys domestic audience.

Three dozen heads of European research institutes that work to promote understanding and exchange between China and Europe issued a statement condemning Beijing for responding to EU sanctions against Chinese officials with ones that target EU politicians as well as China-focused academics and think tanks.

We are deeply concerned that targeting independent researchers and civil society institutions undermines practical and constructive engagement by people who are striving to contribute positively to policy debates, the statement said.

This will be damaging not only for our ability to provide well-informed analysis but also for relations more broadly between China and Europe in the future.

In a letter to the Times of London, nearly 400 British and U.S. scholars condemned Beijings sanctioning of fellow academic Dr. Joanne Smith Finley last week as a threat to universities core principle of academic freedom.

The move was unprecedented, they said, because while the CCP had long used covert attempts to silence critics outside its territory, these new overt measures against academics are a serious escalation.

The academics also said that the sanctions show China fails to understand that British universities are not organs of the state and that, by Beijing insisting that self-censorship is a prerequisite for academic partnership with Chinese universities, U.K scholarly cooperation with China is rendered near impossible.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks after a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels after the EU imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials accused of abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, March 22, 2021. AP Photo

Downing Street support

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson showed his support for those targeted by Beijing, tweeting over the weekend that he had met with those shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims and saying he will stand firmly with them and the other British citizens sanctioned by China.

Rahima Mahmut, U.K. director of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) exile group, welcomed Johnsons decision to meet with those sanctioned, including U.K. lawmakers who had expressed criticism of the prime minister and his foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, for being too soft on China over the XUAR.

Under such circumstances, the Chinese sanction of these parliament members and the strong support expressed by the Prime Minister is a great victory for us, she said.

It would have taken years for us to campaign and bring Prime Minister Johnson on board on the Uyghur issue, but the ill-intentioned retaliation by China has made this possible. This vindictive measure clearly shows China is a bully to everyone.

However, government support in the U.K. was not enough to bolster all entities targeted by the Chinese government. Over the weekend, the Essex Court Chambers removed a reference on its website to a legal opinion written by four of its lawyers that implicated the Chinese government in genocide in the XUAR after Beijing imposed sanctions on the group last week.

A statement from the chambers claimed that no other member of Essex Court Chambers was involved in or responsible for the advice and analysis contained in the legal opinion or its publication, without clarifying why the reference was removed.

EU trade as leverage

And while the EU sanctions last week marked the first by the bloc against China since an arms embargo in 1989 in the aftermath of the July 4 massacre of pro-democracy student protesters in Beijings Tiananmen Square, some have urged Brussels to adopt a sterner approach to its dealings with Beijing because of the situation in the XUAR.

China is the EUs second-largest trading partner after the U.S. and the two sides are currently seeking to finalize a major trade deal that was agreed to in principle last year, known as the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).

Bloomberg columnist Andreas Kluth wrote in an opinion piece Monday that the EU should reconsider the CAI, which must be ratified by several EU lawmakers who were among those targeted by Beijings sanctions.

Kluth suggested that the EU should remember whats at stake: a conflict between value systems pitting Western notions about rule of law and open societies (however imperfectly those may often be observed in practice) against a Chinese model of overt autocracy.

Europe cannot pretend to remain neutral in this contest. A good way to explain this to Beijing is for the EU to hold the investment deal to ransom, he wrote.

Reported by Alim Seytoff and Kurban Niyaz for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
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After months of rumors, the cats finally out of the bag.

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), through Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines, officially announced that the GR Yaris is arriving in the country. The all-wheel-drive hot hatchback will soon be making its way in showrooms and sold through the brands various dealerships across the country. With its arrival confirmed, all we have to do now is wait.

Apart from confirming its arrival, TMP did not disclose any information about the hot hatch just yet. Theres no word yet when the GR Yaris will debut, or what specs the local GR Yaris will have. However, according to our sources, who also gave us the price range, it will debut sometime in the 2nd half of 2021.

There is no final pricing yet. But as we reported earlier, the price ranges around PHP 2.7 to 2.9 million per the allocations offered to a few individuals.

Before you get sticker-shocked, do note that PHP 2.7-2.9 million for a GR Yaris is still more affordable compared to our neighboring countries. Over in Thailand, it retails for THB 2.69 million or roughly PHP 4.2 million when converted, while it costs MYR 299,000, roughly PHP 3.5 million in Malaysia.

What else can we expect from the GR Yaris? It uses a 1.6-liter three-cylinder turbocharged motor producing 272 HP and 360 Nm torque. A 6-speed manual then sends power to all four wheels. Depending on the variant, we could also get 18-inch forged wheels, larger brakes, and even Torsen limited-slip differentials for the front and rear. Want to know more? We got an up-close and personal look at it at last years Osaka Automesse, which you can read here.

So if youve been waiting for official the GR Yaris, here it is. Want to have one in your garage? Better head to a Toyota dealership soon (after ECQ 2). Ask around, they might just offer you an allocation already.
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.
The U.S. Capitol is seen at dusk in Washington on March 5, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

In Defense of the Filibuster

Commentary

In the first few months of 2021, we have seen many American institutions (such as Dr. Seuss) go by the wayside. Could the filibuster be next?

It sure seems so, at least according to many prominent Democrats and thought leaders on the left.

For instance, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) thinks the filibuster should be put on the proverbial chopping block. In a recent interview with MSNBCs Rachel Maddow, Schumer said eliminating the filibuster is on the table.

Schumer is far from the only Democrat who has recently come out against the age-old filibuster.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) also voiced her disapproval of the filibuster when she recently wrote in a tweet, Abolish the filibuster, and lets pass bold, progressive legislation to deliver on our promises.

Indeed, the list of those on the left who currently favor eliminating the filibuster is long.

Interestingly, many of these same politicians and pundits had the total opposite view on the filibuster just a few years ago.

In 2017, dozens of Democrats signed a bipartisan letter with the single aim of maintaining the procedure.

According to the letter: We are mindful of the unique role the Senate plays in the legislative process, and we are steadfastly committed to ensuring that this great American institution continues to serve as the worlds greatest deliberative body. Therefore, we are asking you to join us in opposing any effort to curtail the existing rights and prerogatives of Senators to engage in full, robust, and extended debate as we consider legislation before this body in the future.

Keep in mind that in 2017, when several Democrats adamantly supported the filibuster, they were the minority party in the Senate. In 2021, when they suddenly changed their tune on the filibuster, they are the technical majority.

Coincidence? I think not.

So, where do Americans stand on the filibuster? According to a March 2021 HillHarrisX poll, 43 percent of Americans, a solid plurality, think the filibuster should remain as is. On the other hand, only 20 percent think the filibuster should be eliminated. The rest, 37 percent, think it should be reformed.

And where did the Founding Fathers fall on the filibuster issue? Well, we know they intended the Senate to be more methodical and deliberative than the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to the U.S. Senate website: Writing to Thomas Jefferson, who had been out of the country during the Constitutional Convention, James Madison explained that the Constitutions framers considered the Senate to be the great anchor of the government. To the framers themselves, Madison explained that the Senate would be a necessary fence against the fickleness and passion that tended to influence the attitudes of the general public and members of the House of Representatives.

George Washington is said to have told Jefferson that the framers had created the Senate to cool House legislation just as a saucer was used to cool hot tea.

And how has the U.S. Senate typically cooled the hot tea from the U.S. House of Representatives over the past few hundred years? By invoking the filibuster.

In general, the filibuster is one of the many necessary checks and balances throughout our government. It protects the rights and desires of the minority party. Furthermore, it prevents a legislative steamroller when one party holds both houses of Congress and the White House.

Finally, given the deep partisan divide that exists in America right now, this could quite possibly be the worst time to forgo the filibuster.

In many ways, the republic is teetering on the brink. Eliminating the filibuster would only add fuel to the partisan fires. Furthermore, it would undermine our nations sacrosanct legislative process and move us further from a republic and closer toward a direct democracy.

Chris Talgo is an editor at The Heartland Institute.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
I'd read and heard so much about the miracle of poverty reduction in China that I had to go see it myself firsthand. That opportunity arrived when I went on an excursion to Dawan village in Anhui province, east China. I knew very little about the place. All I knew was that it sat 1,500 meters above sea level, and that President Xi Jinping visited it in 2016.



The high-speed train trip there was uneventful and the connecting train ran like clockwork. But what I took for granted was actually a huge leap for the county, Jinzhai. It used to be one of the poorest counties in China. Today a high-speed railway connects Jinzhai to the rest of the country, and it stepped out of poverty in April 2020.

The last leg of my journey was by road. I was expecting a dirt lane but the road was tarred and completely pothole-free.

The first sighting of the village reminded me of the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. Both are at about the same elevation and have similar looking shophouses, their main produce being tea. I already felt at home.

The hotel was surprisingly modern with central heating, air-conditioning and free WiFi. Electricity ran 24 hours a day and the water was piping hot.

The first order of the day after the local sumptuous hotpot lunch was to visit the local school. The kids were simply amazing! To break the ice, I performed a simple magic trick, making a red handkerchief disappear to squeals of laughter.

I was amazed by the English vocabulary these kids possessed. I did a short Q&A, rewarding every individual with a pen for each correct answer.

Next stop, the bee farm. I was stunned to learn that the owner was an engineering graduate who had returned from the city to start this two-time award-winning farm. On top of that, he teaches the elderly in the village how to rear bees in their spare time. He added that this suits them well, as it yields high income while requiring very little upkeep beyond the initial setup. Plus, bees are really good for the environment.

A hop and a skip away from the beehives, he keeps goats and sheep, all providing a tidy and steady income.

We drove a good 20 minutes from the bee farm, further up into the hills, to reach a smokehouse constructed from mud and wood. Scores of poultry hung from the ceiling, being cured by the smoke, awaiting shipment to hungry buyers.

The residents of Dawan market their products out to the rest of the country and to the world via a stable and modern infrastructure, including Internet connection 24/7. In stark contrast to some Southeast Asian countries where Internet penetration is not even 40 percent, China's is close to 100 percent. This makes a huge difference for poverty reduction and national development.

The government buys up old derelict houses, and with those funds, people are able to build new homes for themselves. In addition, the government also provides seed money so that people can start new businesses. Enterprising entrepreneurs can add to those funds soft loans procured from friends and relatives to kick it off. The results have been stellar.

On my last day at Dawan, I bumped into a lady who had not only moved back here from Shanghai but was sending money to her father who was still living there. This I believe is proof of the pudding that Dawan has certainly left the shackles of poverty behind.

The author is a Malaysian living in Beijing.

Press Release

March 29, 2021 Pangilinan suggests that govt buy food 'ayuda' from local farmers, fisherfolk AS THE budget department recommends that "ayuda" during this stricter lockdown be given in kind, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Monday suggested that national government agencies and local government units that will provide assistance buy food for food packs from local farmers and fisherfolk at fair market prices. "Kung food packs ang ipapamigay, tulong ito para hindi magutom ang pinaka-apektado (If in the form of food packs, this is still assistance that will address the matter of hunger for the most vulnerable)," said Pangilinan. "Suggestion ko, ituloy yung ginawa nung unang mga lockdown na bumili sa ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda ang gobyerno. Bumili ng bigas at iba pang pagkain ang DA, DSWD, DILG, at mga LGU sa ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda sa tamang presyo para rin kumita sila (My suggestion is to continue what was done during the first lockdowns when government bought from our farmers and fisherfolk. Let the Departments of Agriculture, Social Welfare and Development, Interior and Local Government, and local government units buy rice and other food items at fair market prices so that our farmers and fisherfolk would also earn)," he added. Pangilinan, who was former food security secretary, said this system of buying directly from farmers and fisherfolk is embedded in the 2021 General Appropriation Act. Section 22 of the 2021 GAA reads: "Procurement of Agri-Fishery Products. In order to ensure the availability of food for all sectors and to increase the income of our farmers and fisherfolk, the government, as procuring entity, shall directly purchase available agricultural and fisheries products from local farmers, fisherfolk, or their associations or cooperatives, pursuant to R.A. No. 11321 or the 'Sagip Saka Act' and consistent with R.A. No. 11494 or the 'Bayanihan to Recover as One Act': PROVIDED, That direct purchase of agri-fishery products shall be compliant with Section 11 of the Sagip Saka Act and existing procurement laws and rules. To this end, the DA, DSWD, DepEd, DOH, DILG, LGUs, and other relevant government agencies shall implement this as a policy in their feeding programs, relief operations, rice subsidy, and other programs." Pangilinan said the 2021 national budget has over 41 billion pesos worth of feeding and rice subsidy programs available for the direct purchase from local farmers and fisherfolk. "Gamit ang Sagip Saka formula, panalo ang lahat. Merong access ang gobyerno sa pagkain, ang mga magsasaka at mangingisda ay kikita, at ang taumbayang naka-lockdown ay hindi magugutom (It's a win-win solution. Government has access to food staples while at the same time, our farmers and fisherfolk will earn, and the locked-down citizens will not go hungry)," Pangilinan said. Pangilinan's Sagip Saka Act, which was signed into law in 2019, seeks higher incomes for farmers and fisherfolk through enterprise development and direct purchases by government agencies, LGUs, and the private sector. The farmer-senator encourages Filipino farmers and fisherfolk to organize into groups and cooperatives so that they would have economies of scale and can readily respond to bigger demands. "Pag ganito, lalaki ang kita nila at mas ma-e-engganyong magtanim at mangisda. Nasisiguro natin na meron tayong kakainin at naaalagaan pa natin ang kabuhayan ng ating mga food front-liners (This way, their incomes will grow and they will be encouraged to plant and fish. We ensure that we will have food and we take care of the livelihood of our food front-liners)," Pangilinan said.
President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Frank Ankobea has declared ''Operation Zero COVID-19'' aimed at raising awareness about the deadly Coronavirus as well as prevent its spread.



There is a decline in Ghana's COVID-19 cases, however, there are fears there might be an increase in cases as people celebrate during the Easter season.



Currently, the country's active Coronavirus cases stand at 2,641 after 106 cases were recorded.



The death toll is pegged at 737.



The GMA President has cautioned Ghanaians not to disregard the COVID-19 protocols during the Easter celebrations.



He called on the citizenry to, with a common purpose, continue to observe the protocols and fight COVID-19 till the country records a zero case.



''Let's challenge ourselves and say 'Operation Zero COVID-19'. Until we reach that stage, let's not stop the campaign. Let's sustain the campaign and the broadcast and strengthen the laws till we completely eliminate COVID-19'', he said in an interview on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo''.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Tunis/Tunisia  Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Othman Jerandi and Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese agreed, in a meeting held in Rome, to boost bilateral cooperation so as to find practical solutions to issues of mutual interest.

The two ministers discussed several issues including migration and ways to develop bilateral partnership, reads a statement of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

During the meeting, Jerandi spoke of the "comprehensive" approach of President Kais Saied to migration. An approach that considers this phenomenon as a humanitarian issue and a common responsibility requiring the mobilisation of the international community's efforts, the statement adds.

The Italian minister welcomed the level of cooperation reached by the two countries. She expressed Italy's readiness to strengthen these relations so as to overcome common challenges.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 22:31:30|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The UN humanitarian, refugee and development chiefs on Monday asked for generous donations to help Syrians in the country and host communities for Syrian refugees.

UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, and UN Development Program Administrator Achim Steiner made the plea on the eve of the fifth Brussels conference for Syria.

Today, 24 million people need humanitarian or other forms of assistance in Syria and the region. The number is 4 million more than in 2020, and more than at any other time since the conflict began 10 years ago, said the UN chiefs in a joint press release.

Sustained donor financing for the UN response plans will fund food, water and sanitation, health services, education, child vaccinations and shelter for millions of people living on the brink in Syria. It will also provide cash assistance, job or training opportunities, and other services such as access to primary and secondary education to millions in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, they said.

In 2021, over 10 billion U.S. dollars is needed to fully support Syrians and refugee-hosting communities in need. This includes at least 4.2 billion dollars for the humanitarian response inside Syria and 5.8 billion dollars to support refugees and host communities in the region, they said.

At last year's conference in Brussels, the international community pledged 5.5 billion dollars for 2020 activities. Enditem
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough suggested that reporters continuing to cover the fallout of the Trump-Russia collusion canard are useful idiots for Russia, or . . . on Russias payroll during a Monday morning segment.

Scarborough was responding to a statement from former president Donald Trump, who asked Friday wheres Durham? Is he a living, breathing human being? Will there ever be a Durham report? Trump was referencing now-special counsel John Durhams probe into the origins of the original investigation into alleged connections between Trumps 2016 campaign and the Kremlin, which has yet to conclude.

Im amused by so-called reporters who  I dont know if theyre useful idiots for Russia, or if theyre on Russias payroll  I dont know, I dont really care. But there are some gifted writers who spend all night and day, trying to dig through, looking for instances of where the press screwed up on Russia stories, pushing this Russian hoax fallacy. Its a joke. he said.

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The Morning Joe host subsequently admitted that I mean, yeah, the media screwed up at some points, and sometimes they screwed up badly. But he argued the totality of everything that happened showed how more often than not, they got it right  and they got most of it right.

Scarborough, who has said that he regrets giving a platform to then-candidate Trump ahead of the 2016 election, has used similar language to describe the former president himself. Donald Trump is either an agent of Russia or hes a useful idiot, Scarborough said in November 2019. Hes somewhere in between there. We dont know what it is. We will one day.

He also repeatedly peddled the infamous Steele dossier, saying in March 2018 that piece by piece by piece, its falling into place. Declassified footnotes from Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitzs December 2019 report show that the FBI received reports in 2017 suggesting that Steele may have been influenced by Russian intelligence assets. And many of Steeles most salacious claims, many of which were repeated on Scarboroughs program, were never proven, while others  like the suggestion that Michael Cohen traveled to Prague to meet with a Kremlin insider  were disproven.

Story continues

Independent journalist Matt Taibbi, a longstanding critic of the medias Russiagate coverage, responded to Scarboroughs criticism by asking for a debate on Morning Joe.

More from National Review
A 15-year-old boy accused of a series of violent and sexual attacks on schoolgirls will face trial next month.

The teenager, who cannot be named, allegedly attacked four girls, all 13, in the Thornton Heath area of south London in a spate of attacks between November 2019 and November 2020.

The youth, from Croydon, appeared at a pre-trial hearing today at Croydon Crown Court via a video link and denies two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of sexual assault, assault by penetration, common assault and robbery.

The trial will be held at Croydon Crown Court next month after today's pre-trial hearing

It is alleged he knifed one of the girls in Thornton Heath, south London at 8:50am on November 4 last year and struck again nearby in an almost identical attack at around 8:23am two days later.

The first victim was knifed in the thigh from behind while the second girl was stabbed in the arm from behind.

He is also charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in broad daylight on 21 November 2019.

On 2 September 2020 he punched a mother in the face then sexually assaulted her 13-year-old daughter in front of her by trying to remove her underwear, it is alleged.

The boy, 15, is alleged to have attacked four girls all aged 13 between November 2019 and November 2020.

He is also accused of pushing a 13-year-old girl into an alleyway on 6 October last year, pulling out a knife, stealing her headphones, grabbing her chest and trying to kiss her.

The teenager was arrested on 8 November 2020 after police released CCTV images of the alleged attacker jogging down a residential road after the second incident.

Jason Seetal, prosecuting, earlier said the offences all convey some form of sexual undertone to them and show a nature of violence.

He remains in youth detention accommodation ahead of his trial at Croydon Crown Court on April 12.
Chennai, March 29 : DMK chief and Chief Ministerial candidate M.K. Stalin on Monday asserted that the first priority of his government, once it assumes office, will be to pass a resolution against the three farm laws enacted by the Central government.

Addressing election meetings at Tirupathur and Jholarpet, he noted that while Punjab, Kerala, and West Bengal passed resolutions against the farm laws, the K. Palaniswami-led AIADMK government refrained from doing so.

Lashing out against both the AIADMK and its ally PMK for keeping quiet while the three farm laws and the CAA were passed in the Parliament, Stalin questioned their claims to be supporters of minority communities. The DMK had organised 2 crore signatures against the Citizenship Amendment Bill and its members had voted against it in Parliament, he added.

He also promised to establish a government medical college, a polytechnic college and a mango pulp factory in Thirupathur district as well open SIPCOT industrial complexes at two centres -- Natrampalli and Mallagunda -- in the district.

Local candidates - DMK's K. Devaraji (Jolarpet), A. Nallathambi (Tirupathur), and A.C. Vilwanathan (Ambur) and IUML's Nari Mohammed Nayeem (Vaniyambadi) were also present.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) A leader of labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno was gunned down in Calamba, Laguna, authorities said on Monday.

Initial investigation showed that Dandy Miguel, vice chairperson of PAMANTIK-KMU, was riding a motorcycle Sunday evening when he was shot by an unidentified gunman, an official from the Calamba City police confirmed to CNN Philippines on Monday.

The victim was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said.

An official spot report has yet to be released.

In a separate statement, the KMU condemned the killing of their member.

Panibagong kaso ito ng brutal na pagsalakay sa mga lehitimong lider at kasapi ng organisasyon na biktima ng red-tagging, KMU said.

[Translation: This is another case of a brutal attack against a legitimate leader and member of an organization subjected to red-tagging.]

The Commission on Human Rights also denounced the incident, and called on concerned government agencies including Congress and the Justice Department to give attention to the case.

We call on everyone, particularly the government as the primary duty-bearer, to reflect on the sacredness of life and concretely demonstrate commitment to uphold and protect the dignity and right to life of all. Justice must be delivered to the victims, CHR said in a statement.
At an event in China today, Xiaomi announced a new wireless charging pad capable of charging three devices at once. More importantly, the wireless charger can charge the three devices simultaneously at speeds of 20W each, with a total output of 60W.

The new charging pad from Xiaomi packs 19 charging coils, which allows it to charge devices irrespective of where they are kept on the pad. This is unlike other regular wireless chargers, which require that devices are placed at a specific spot on the pad. It will be interesting to see how Xiaomi has managed to workaround heating and interference issues with the 19 coils in its wireless charger.

Xiaomis charging pad is similar to Apples canceled AirPower. When Apple first unveiled the AirPower in late 2017, the company had claimed it would allow one to charge their iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods simultaneously. However, after a long delay, Apple ultimately canceled the AirPower reportedly due to overheating issues.

Xiaomi announced wireless charging pad with 19 coils, can charge 3 devices simultaneously. Available for ~$91 pic.twitter.com/MgNCEJcmG1  Ben Geskin  (@BenGeskin) March 29, 2021

Since the AirPower was first announced, several wireless charging pads from third-party accessory makers have launched to simultaneously charge two or three devices at once. However, Xiaomis wireless charger one-ups them all with its total charging output of 60W and its ability to charge each device wirelessly at a speed of 20W. Thats 5W more than the wireless charging speeds support by the iPhone 12 lineup with MagSafe chargers.

Xiaomis wireless charging pad will retail in China for roughly $90. It is unlikely that Xiaomi will sell its wireless charging pad outside of China.

We Want to Hear From You

Do you still want Apple to launch an AirPower-like wireless charging pad that can simultaneously charge your Apple Watch, iPhone, and AirPods? Or do you only use wireless charging to charge your iPhone? Drop a comment and let us know!
MBI said it has been actively implementing and tracking corporate performance on a number of the UNs sustainable development goals

Inc ( ) announced Monday that it has joined the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, the worlds largest corporate sustainability initiative committed to aligning business strategy and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.

MBI said it has been actively implementing and tracking corporate performance on a number of the UNs sustainable development goals (SDGs) including those around sustainability (water, land, energy and climate change), gender equality and global partnerships.

Sustainability has been one of the cornerstones of Marrone Bio Innovations since our beginning in 2006, CEO Kevin Helash said in a statement. We look forward to linking arms with many other like-minded companies through our involvement with the UN Global Compact and are committed to further aligning our corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy with the UNs 17 sustainable development goals.

In January 2020, MBI released a comparative greenhouse gas impact study to determine the effects of its biopesticides. The study, conducted in cooperation with UC-Davis Graduate School of Management, determined that switching from conventional crop protection products to current MBI bioprotectants would, on average, likely result in net reductions of greenhouse gas emissions of 69% to 91%, 39 to 46 kilograms of CO2 equivalents per acre per year.

We know our products offer tremendous value to growers and the environment, Chief Sustainability Officer Keith Pitts said. Conducting additional third-party studies to evaluate and quantify the climate and environmental impact and the carbon trading potential of our products are a key component of our ESG initiative and MBIs alignment with the UNs SDGs.

MBI also plans to release findings for an independent analysis conducted by Boundless Impact Research and Analytics assessing the climate impact for one its core products. The study evaluates the impact the product has on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, environmental and human toxicity, and ecosystem degradation.

The results are very exciting and affirm what weve known all along, using biological products is a critical part of the future of sustainable agriculture and reducing our climate impact, Pitts said. We are in the final stages of wrapping up the study and anticipate it will be available to the public shortly.

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel
London, March 29 : English actor Matthew Lewis has expressed frustration over the fact that he is still primarily recognised as Neville Longbottom, the character he played in the "Harry Potter" films.

"I still, to a degree, get a bit frustrated sometimes when people sort of say, 'Oh, he is (Neville Longbottom)'. For example, I'm doing this show at the minute and a lot of the headlines are, 'He's no longer Neville Longbottom anymore'. It's like, 'I haven't been that for 10 years'. I have done things that have been so wildly different," Lewis said in an interview on the "Inside Of You" podcast, reports by screenrant.com.

"Like, I've been in dramas that have won BAFTAs and done all of this kind of stuff. I'm not bragging -- it's just like I've done all this stuff and like 10 years later it's still like people are making the claim I've sort of jumped from Harry Potter into this and have completely ignored the journey it's taken to get there," added the 31-year-old actor.

Lewis played Neville Longbottom in all eight movies of the "Harry Potter" franchise, and rues the fact that he will probably not be known for doing anything else.

"That can be frustrating -- not that I'm frustrated with anything to do with Harry Potter -- but it's like you have that voice in your head that goes, 'Hey you know all that work you did for the past 10 years, No one saw it. No one cares.' They still think this is the first job you've done since Harry Potter," he said.
[March 29, 2021] Code42 Named in the 2021 CRN Partner Program Guide

Code42, the Insider Risk Management leader, today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has recognized Code42 for its Accelerate Partner Program in CRN's 2021 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide provides a conclusive list of the most distinguished partner programs from leading technology companies that provide products and services through the IT Channel. Code42 is the Insider Risk Management leader. Given the importance of IT vendor channel programs, each year CRN develops its Partner Program Guide to provide the channel community with a detailed look at the partner programs offered by IT manufacturers, software developers, service companies, and distributors. Vendors are scored based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication. Code42's Accelerate Partner Program was named to CRN's Partner Program Guide as a result of the company's revamped "channel-first" go-to-market strategy for the Code42 Incydr data risk detection and response product. Incydr helps security organizations identify and act on indicators of Insider Risk by monitoring data exposure and file exfiltration across a company's entire network - including computers, cloud and email through agent and direct integrations. I today's increasingly collaborative and remote work environment, Incydr is critical to protecting company data without impacting employee productivity which is common with traditional data loss prevention (DLP) technologies.



"Many companies have transitioned to a cloud-first, hybrid or remote work environment as a result of the pandemic. This shift has brought Insider Risk Management to the forefront of many businesses' security postures. In fact, Code42's 2021 Data Exposure Report found that employees are 85% more likely today to leak files than they were pre-COVID, yet more than half of organizations (54%) don't have an Insider Risk Response Plan," said Faraz Siraj, vice president of channel sales for Code42. "With our revamped channel program, Code42 will be able to help these companies manage Insider Risk and keep data and intellectual property safe." "As innovation continues to fuel the speed and intricacy of technology, solution providers need partners that can keep up and support their developing business," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN's 2021 Partner Program Guide gives insight into the strengths of each organization's program to recognize those that continually support and push positive change inside the IT channel."

The 2021 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2021 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG. About Code42 Code42 is the Insider Risk Management leader. Native to the cloud, the Code42 Incydr solution rapidly detects data loss, leak and theft as well as speeds incident response - all without lengthy deployments, complex policy management or blocking employee productivity. With Code42, security professionals can protect corporate data and reduce insider threats while fostering an open and collaborative culture for employees. Backed by security best practices and control requirements, Code42's Insider Risk solution is FedRAMP authorized and can be configured for GDPR, HIPAA, PCI (News - Alert) and other regulatory frameworks. More than 50,000 organizations worldwide, including the most recognized brands in business and education, rely on Code42 to safeguard their ideas. Founded in 2001, the company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is backed by Accel Partners (News - Alert) , JMI Equity, NewView Capital and Split Rock Partners. Code42 was recognized by Inc. magazine as one of America's best workplaces in 2020. For more information, visit code42.com.  2021 Code42 Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Code42, the Code42 logo and Incydr are registered trademarks or trademarks of Code42 Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other marks are properties of their respective owners. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by nearly 40 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  2021. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005219/en/

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PLANO, Texas, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pandemic-induced waived restrictions on Medicare admissions to CHC ContinueCARE's Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACHs) have proved to be a highly effective tool in improving patient outcomes, relieving strained resources on local healthcare systems, and providing a healthier environment for their communities overall.

Since the government lifted restrictions removing payment barriers to LTACHs and provided more funding for patient care last year, LTACHs have served as a relief valve to handle patient overflow from traditional Short Term Acute Care Hospitals. In many communities, LTACHs admitted patients from hospitals overwhelmed from the surge of COVID-19 patients requiring extensive hospitalization of several weeks or more.

The waived rules are part of legislation known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which helped expand patient access as a means of increasing hospital capacity by waiving prior restrictions on admission requirements.

The waivers removed certain restrictions that typically prohibit LTACHs from receiving the full standard rate for their services. The waivers eliminated the need for LTACH patients to meet an average length of stay greater than 25 days, spend at least three days in an ICU unit, or satisfy a required number of hours (96) on a ventilation machine in an LTACH.

The federal government's temporary waiver of these requirements has allowed CHC ContinueCARE LTACHs and other similar facilities across the country to provide quicker and specialized clinical care of severely-ill COVID patients, helping limit the disease's impact on patients, hospitals and the communities they serve.

For example, one Texas hospital reported it was 170 percent over its ICU capacity, while another was forced to put patients in ambulances because of a shortage of hospital beds. CHC ContinueCARE Texas LTACHs also have treated large numbers of COVID patients, with one of its hospitals admitting more than 200 virus-stricken patients during 2020.

April Myers, CHC's Senior Vice President of Post Acute Operations, commented: "The waived Medicare restrictions on LTACH admissions represent a true game-changer in terms of our ability to provide the best possible care to many patients who require long-term hospitalization due to this outbreak. We are hopeful that the government will keep the waivers in place, as it would allow LTACHs to continue to provide the level of care deemed essential to maintaining the highest quality of public health in a pandemic and post-pandemic environment."

The waived rules, which are reviewed quarterly, will remain in effect as long as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to declare the pandemic as a national public health emergency. The next quarterly meeting on the waived rules is expected in the latter part of April.

While it's uncertain if the government will retain all or part of the waived rules, there's no doubt that suspending the requirements allowed LTACHs to step up and fill a vital need during the pandemic while showcasing how LTACHs are uniquely equipped to effectively treat critically ill, complex and medically fragile patients.

For instance, CHC's LTACHs have freed up patient bed capacity at host or referral hospitals, which allowed them to better treat COVID patients and patients suffering from other ailments.

Physicians and other healthcare workers who refer patients to CHC ContinueCARE LTACHs praised their assistance in the pandemic. They said their hospitals would have struggled to provide adequate care to an influx of COVID-infected patients if LTACHs hadn't helped with some of these medically complex patient admissions.

The LTACHs also had positive patient outcomes weaning a higher percentage of their COVID patients off ventilators during the pandemic and demonstrating that long term care hospitals provide a unique level of care and clinical focus.

CEOs of CHC ContinueCARE hospitals also have been aggressively contacting their congressional representatives to inform them of how LTACHs have greatly benefited their communities in the pandemic. Healthcare industry groups also have been supportive of keeping the waivers intact. In fact, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended that the federal government increase LTACH's 2021 Medicare-based payment rate by 2 percent.

About Community Hospital CorporationHELP WHERE HOSPITALS NEED IT 

Community Hospital Corporation owns, manages and consults with hospitals through CHC Hospitals, CHC Consulting and CHC ContinueCARE, with the common purpose to guide, support and enhance the mission of community hospitals and healthcare providers. Based in Plano, Texas, CHC provides the resources and experience community hospitals need to improve quality outcomes, patient satisfaction and financial performance. For more information about CHC, please visit www.communityhospitalcorp.com .

Media Contact

Laura Schieber

Vivanti Group

214-686-2618

[email protected]

SOURCE Community Hospital Corporation

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http://www.communityhospitalcorp.com


An emergency meeting of the board of the Beacon Hospital is expected to take place today in the wake of the fallout from the vaccination scandal which saw CEO Michael Cullen organise that spare injections be given to some of the staff of a private school in Bray where his children are pupils.

It is understood the hospital board chairman was yesterday communicating with board members to organise the meeting.

The Beacon Hospital refused to confirm who is on the board when asked by the Irish independent, despite such information being a matter of public record.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney yesterday called for the board to hold certain individuals to account after it emerged that some teachers at St Gerards School in Bray, Co Wicklow, as well as carers at a creche that looks after children of Beacon Hospital staff, were given left-over vaccines.

He said the decision by the Beacon Hospital to give vaccines to the teachers was a slap in the face to so many people. Mr Coveney said the decision to suspend vaccine operations at the hospital was a clear signal of how the Government feels on the matter.

This is such a slap in the face to so many people and thats why people are so angry about this, he said,

So many people have loved ones that are vulnerable to the virus and are waiting patiently to be vaccinated, Mr Coveney told RTE Radio 1s This Week programme.

While Mr Coveney said it would not be a good precedent for a senior minister to be on the radio calling for people to resign, he said the board of the Beacon Hospital have a responsibility now to ensure that individuals are held to account.

He also said that the board had a responsibility to ensure the credibility of the vaccine programme was upheld.

I do expect the board to ensure that accountability is there in decisions that theyre going to make in the coming days.

What Im saying is pretty clear on what the board should be doing, Mr Coveney said.

The board at the private south Dublin hospital have been feeling the heat of public opinion and political pressure since the news first broke of its CEOs interventions into who should get the spare vaccines.

Read More

St Gerards school is around 14km away from the Beacon Hospital.

Pressure on the board ramped up when on Saturday Health Minister Stephen Donnelly directed the HSE to suspend vaccine operations at the Beacon after revelations that leftover jabs were given to teachers at the school.

Well-placed political sources said the Government had already applied significant political pressure on the Beacon Clinic and on a practical level has removed the Covid-19 vaccination facility from there as soon as scheduled vaccinations take place.

Other action, such as a review of any arrangements under the Treatment Purchase Fund, are not now being contemplated. Such moves would be legally complex and not in the interest of patients awaiting procedures or other care, the source told the Irish Independent.

Mr Coveney yesterday said he agreed with Mr Donnellys decision to end the vaccine programme at the Beacon in light of what occurred and said it was a fairly clear signal from Government on the decision process here that has resulted in the Beacon not complying with the protocol that should be in place.

He said Mr Donnellys first impression was to do nothing that slowed down the roll-out, but said on the back of the public anger on the issue, he made the right call.

He said there must be consequences to decisions such as the one the Beacon took.

Read More




GameStop Corp said on Tuesday it may sell new shares as the U.S. video game retailer that led the Reddit rally of "meme stocks" looks to take advantage of a more-than-800% surge in its stock price since January.

Shares of the brick-and-mortar retailer gyrated after hours and were last down around 14%, adding to a loss of over 6% during the regular trading session.

GameStop commented on the potential share offering in a regulatory filing for fourth-quarter earnings which showed a return to profitability, with 175% growth in e-commerce sales.

The company reported a dip in quarterly net sales, which missed analysts' expectations, and a decline in gross margins.

Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop's shares have skyrocketed this year as retail traders bet against Wall Street hedge funds that had shorted the stock. The company's valuation surged as high as $34 billion, more than Best Buy Co Inc.

Retail investors eagerly awaited the earnings report and the earnings call with analysts hit full capacity at least 45 minutes before it was due to start, forcing some to livestream the event on YouTube or Twitch.

Denizens of Reddits popular WallStreetBets forum have celebrated GameStops rallies and exhorted one another to hold onto the shares when they have dropped.

Many on the forum were disappointed after GameStop did not provide an outlook to justify its outsized valuation, and the stock's losses deepened immediately after the presentation concluded.

GameStop executives did not take questions on the call.

"Why is everyone disappointed?," wrote Reddit user adithya_chittem. I honestly felt the fundamentals have gotten much stronger. Why is everyone freaking out?

Many market pundits have urged GameStop to take advantage of its vastly increased share price to sell new shares to fund its turnaround.

However, the company decided it was restricted under U.S. financial regulations from selling shares because it had not yet updated investors on its earnings, Reuters reported last month.

This was despite GameStop having already registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December to sell $100 million worth of stock through an at-the-market offering (ATM).

"Since January 2021, we have been evaluating whether to increase the size of the ATM program and whether to potentially sell shares of our Class A Common Stock under the increased ATM Program during the course of fiscal 2021, primarily to fund the acceleration of our future transformation initiatives and general working capital needs," GameStop said in a regulatory filing.

'We have been evaluating whether to increase' is not a firm statement that they intend to issue any stock, but it at least says they are considering doing so," noted Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, adding he thought "they are getting overly conservative legal advice, and I think they should sell stock at current levels to firm up the balance sheet."

Company executives may announce a stock offering and allow themselves leeway to cancel it if the market reaction is too negative, said Sanjai Bhagat, Professor of Finance at the University of Colorado.

Top shareholder and board member Ryan Cohen, the billionaire co-founder of online pet supplies retailer Chewy Inc, is trying to transition GameStop into an e-commerce juggernaut challenging big-box retailers Target and Walmart, and technology firms such as Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp.

Turnaround supporters say that the U.S. gaming market, estimated at $41.3 billion at the end of 2020 by data analytics firm Newzoo, has plenty of room for an online company that better understands gamer needs and can sell products from $120 gaming mice to customized, water-cooled PCs costing thousands.

Still, Cohen faces an uphill battle as more consumers move to downloading games digitally or streaming.

Since his arrival, the company has seen two top executives depart, including chief financial officer Jim Bell. It said on Tuesday it appointed former Amazon executive Jenna Owens as Chief Operating Officer in March.

GameStop said it would boost the speed of delivery services, expand product offerings and hire people experienced in e-commerce. The company notched a ninth straight quarterly decline in overall sales, but investors were encouraged by a nearly three-fold jump in global e-commerce sales in 2020.

Net sales fell to $2.12 billion. Analysts on average had expected $2.21 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Adjusted net income rose to $90.7 million, or $1.34 per share, from $83.8 million, or $1.27 per share, a year earlier.

Reporting by Tiyashi Datta and Uday Sampath Kumar.
Yuba City Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

Sacramento, California - Scott Stephen Howard, 36, of Yuba City, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on April 11, 2016, Howard knowingly possessed visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shea J. Kenny is prosecuting the case.

Howard is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez on June 29. Howard faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
(NEW YORK) -- Here are today's In Crisis headlines:



Opening statements in Derek Chauvin trial to begin today

Opening statements are scheduled to begin today in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, charged in the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin faces three charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, where the trial is being held, is heavily fortified with barriers and fencing. The trial will be broadcast live.



Fifteen jurors have been selected, 14 of which will be seated today, with two of them serving as alternates. Presiding Judge Peter Cahill insisted on the 15th juror as a backup in the event one of the others should fail to appear today. Of the 14 expected to be seated, eight self-identify as white and six as people of color, including four who self-identify as Black. There are five men and nine women.



Chauvin is accused of murdering George Floyd during an arrest on May 25, 2020, when Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Three other officers involved in Floyds death face trial in August. Video of Chauvin's knee held on Floyd's neck, as Floyd repeatedly declared I cant breathe, ignited protests worldwide and triggered an ongoing national conversation on both race and police use of force with people of color in the U.S.



COVID-19 numbers

Here's the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections, deaths and vaccinations.



Latest reported COVID-19 numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University

Global diagnosed cases: 127,275,912

Global deaths: 2,785,296. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 549,335.

Number of countries/regions: at least 192

Total patients recovered globally: 72,194,988



Latest reported COVID-19 numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University

There are at least 30,262,694 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.

U.S. deaths: at least 549,335. California has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 58,949.

U.S. total people tested: 388,603,313



The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 3,660,713 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. This ranks second in the world after England, which has 3,789,899 cases. Texas is third, with 2,782,837 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 29 million.



Latest reported COVID-19 vaccination numbers in the United States

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports a total of 180,646,465 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. Of those, 143,462,691 doses have been administered, with 93,631,163 people receiving at least one dose and 51,593,564 people fully vaccinated, representing 28.2% and 15.5% of the total U.S. population, respectively. The Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines each require two doses to be effective. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single dose to be effective.



US will see 550,000 COVID-19 deaths this week

The United States is on track to see 550,000 reported COVID-19 deaths in the next few days. As of Monday morning, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University put the total number of people in the U.S. who had died from the virus at 549,335 since the first reported case in the U.S., in January 2020. Although reported daily deaths have continued to trend downward, now counted in the hundreds rather than thousands, its likely the 550,000 threshold will be crossed in the next 48 hours. The U.S. reported 500,000 COVID-19 deaths just 36 days ago, on February 22. Experts continue to advise that the number of COVID-19 deaths, like the number of total cases, is likely underreported. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions latest forecast predicts a total of 558,000 to 578,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. by the week ending April 17.

Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
New Delhi, March 29 : On March 19, 1986, Sahebrao Karpe, a graduate, killed his wife and four minor children -- the youngest 8-months-old -- before ending his own life at their home in the Chilgavhan village of Wardha district in eastern Maharashtra. It was the first officially-recorded suicide by a farmer in India.

The National Crime Records Bureau of India has reported that a staggering 2,96,438 Indian farmers had committed suicide since 1995, the year from which records are being maintained. Of these, 60,750 suicides were in Maharashtra and the remaining in Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.

Karpe, in his late 30s, owned a plot of agricultural land and a house, but was driven to taking the extreme measure after suffering huge crop losses and consequently defaulting on his debt payments to local loan-sharks.

Sadly, in the past 35 years, the situation "has moved only in a negative direction" and got aggravated since the early 1990s thanks to the new-liberal agriculture and agri-finance policies which have barely benefitted the peasantry, Ashok Dhawale, President of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) lamented.

"There was a steep increase in input costs as subsidies were gradually slashed, corporates and MNCs entered the agri-sector in a big way, there was no improvement in remuneration which trapped the farmers in the 'scissors of debts', and new policies with many changes in the credit laws by banks and financial institutions with finance largely going to the corporates,", Dhawale explained.

And now, as tens of thousands of farmers have laid siege at the various entry points to the national capital since December 2020 to demand the repeal of three farm laws they say would leave farmers at the "mercy of corporates" an event that has attracted attention worldwide, comes a poignant new book, "The Sickle" (Juggernaut). The author, Anita Agnihotri, through the lives of farmers, migrant labourers and activists in Marathwada and western Maharashtra, illuminates, with shocking clarity, a series of intersecting and overlapping events that have led to the crisis: female foeticide, sexual assault, the violence of caste, feudal labour relations, farmers' suicides and climate change in all its manifestations.

Written originally in Bengali and translated by Arunava Sinha, Agnihotri infuses a gripping fictional narrative with anthropology, geography and political economy, remaking the form of the novel as a way to bear witness to the farmers' crisis.

From Vaishali, trying to rebuild her life after her husband's suicide, to Yashwant, a dhaba owner driven to activism by his mother's murder, Agnihotri's indictment of Indian society is grounded in individual lives. Formally radical, incendiary and deeply humane, this novel tells the darkest truths about contemporary India.

How did the book come about? "I was deeply moved by the plight of the migrant sugarcane labourers who come to western Maharashtra from Marathwada every year from late winter till monsoon, taking advances from the middlemen. The subhuman condition in which most of them are compelled to live in temporary shanties without electricity and potable water, without any arrangement for health and education for children was appalling," Agnihotri, a 35-year veteran of the IAS, who retired as Secretary to the Government of India, told IANS in an interview.

Talking to the women and the activists working on the ground, she came to know about "the huge nexus of profit among some unscrupulous doctors and middle men for elimination of foetus of the girl children in Marathwada where sex ratio is the lowest in the country. Vulnerability of the migrant women in temporary shelters also makes them opt for removal of uterus at a young age." "I started with this dimension first when I was writing and then as I travelled more, studied the politics of water scarcity, poor water management in agriculture and farmers suicides, I could see all these as parts of a jigsaw puzzle, integrated at the core," Agnihotri explained.

To this extent, "Kaste" as the book was originally titled, "was written almost in real time" as she wanted to conclude the novel with the farmers' Long March of 2018 (repeated in 2019), "which was a non-violent protest against the government's inaction in regularisation of tribal land and issuing them pattas (ownership documents). Farmers from Marathwada and Vidarbha also joined this March which became a symbol of farmers' protest in neo-liberal India where the corporates dictate the government's priorities in use of land overriding the rights of tribals and traditional cultivators," Agnihotri pointed out.

A considerable amount of groundwork has gone into the writing of "The Sickle" -- and her other books, of which there are over 30 - Agnihotri said.

"Travelling at the time of writing has been there with me for many years. I don't sit at my desk and write. But I don't call it research. I try to understand the real issues at the ground, talk to common people and derive warmth from their company as a writer. In almost all my novels including 'Mahanadi', which is coming out in English shortly, this is the process. This travel, however, has no connection with my official responsibility," Agnihotri explained.

She visited Marathwada for the first time in 2010 and then again in 2012; then again twice in 2018. She travelled to Vidarbha in 2010 and again in 2018.

"I travel as an individual and connect with grassroots level workers and organisations wherever necessary. My understanding of Marathi has been useful though the language used in the villages is very different from the urban version of Marathi," Agnihotri added.

What next? What's her next project? "After 'The Sickle', I wrote a short novel called 'Labanakto', translated as 'Saline' about the life of the salt makers at the Rann of Kutch intertwined with the historical Salt March to Dandi. I will shortly commence my work on a novel on the Narmada dam movement along the course of Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

"This will involve a lot of travel and interactions with the people and organisations and may take 2-3 years to complete. It's the longest people's movement in post independence India and should form part of the literature in Bengali. I have worked in the area of displacement caused by large dams and the rehabilitation issues. My understanding and empathy will surely help," Agnihotri concluded.

Born in Kolkata, Agnihotri studied economics at the Universities of Calcutta and East Anglia. Her literary oeuvre spans poetry, novels, short stories, writing for children and critiques of development. She has won numerous literary awards in Bengal, including the Sarat Puraskar, the Pratibha Basu Sahitya Puraskar and the Bhuban Mohini Dasi Gold Medal from the University of Kolkata. Her collection of stories, "Seventeen", translated by Arunava Sinha, won the Economist Crossword Book Award for Indian Language Translation in 2011. Her writing has been translated into several Indian languages and also German and Swedish.

Arunava Sinha translates Bengali fiction, poetry and non-fiction into English, and fiction from other languages into Bengali. More than 60 of his translations have been published so far in India, the UK and the US. He teaches Creative Writing at Ashoka University.

(With inputs from Quaid Najmi in Mumbai. Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
A new pair of Nike shoes called 'Satan Shoes' is now under huge controversy. The Old Town Road artist and streetwear company MSCHF that collaborated the pentagram-stretching shoes. South Dakota governor even called it out via Twitter and said that this pair of shoes is "unacceptable." Only 666 of them will be available soon.

'Satan Shoes' controversy

According to NBC News, on Sunday, March 28, the "Old Town Road" artist Lil Nas X has collaborated with the streetwear company MSCHF in creating a limited edition of only 666 pairs titled "Satan Shoes."

The controversial kicks are supposed to be a modified Nike Air Max 97, decorated with a pentagram pendant and a reference to Luke 10:18, a Bible passage that discusses Satan's fall from heaven. They will be sold for $1,018.

Surprisingly, the sneakers said to contain human blood drawn from members of the MSCHF team.

The 'Satan shoe' release correlates with Lil Nas X's latest single, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," and its accompanying music video. During the music video, Lil Nas X goes into hell and lap dances with the devil.

Read Also: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Shows Off 'BlockClock Mini' Bitcoin Clock at US Congress Hearing: What Does it Do?

Nike gets canceled!

The video and shoe collaboration has been criticized by many people, resulting to a massive cancel culture on the idea.

Cancel culture is not exactly a new phenomenon since it advocates for the canceling' of people, products, companies, and even shows and movies due to remarks or ideologies that are considered offensive or problematic.

The video has been widely acclaimed on social media for its sumptuous, provocative imagery, as well as the expected criticism from those accusing Lil Nas X of indoctrinating children into becoming lap dancers, reports the RollingStone.

In part, the shoes have recently been under fire because Twitter users didn't like the imagery of satanism on the shoebox or part of the shoe.

Dear @Nike,



This isnt hard.



When someone asks you if they can make Satan Shoes under your brand...



YOU SAY NO.  Amber Krabach For WA (@AK4WA) March 28, 2021

These #SatanShoes by #Nike & #LilNasX with 666 and a drop of human blood in the sole is a reason why we Christians must be prayed up ready to battle in the spirit with the Voice of the Holy Spirit. This is evil & heresy and I pray that Christians rise up against this. pic.twitter.com/u7CK3NCIy7  Pastor Mark Burns (@pastormarkburns) March 27, 2021

Even the Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, released a statement on how the shoes are not okay in God's eyes and should not be exclusive.

Our kids are being told that this kind of product is, not only okay, it's "exclusive." But do you know what's more exclusive? Their God-given eternal soul.



We are in a fight for the soul of our nation. We need to fight hard. And we need to fight smart. We have to win. https://t.co/m1k1YWFpuo  Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 28, 2021

Nike denies creating 'Satan Shoes'

The appearance of the shoes was widely criticized, and Lil Nas X and Nike were both slammed for their actions. Nike, however, was quick to dissociate itself from this product, pointing out that it was simply a custom version of an existing product.

NBC News reports that Nike said in a statement that it did not have a relationship with Little Nas X or the MSCHF, "Nike did not design or release these shoes and did not approve them."

Despite all of this, much has yet to be done to prevent the rapper from promoting his album.While holding the sneaker, the rapper expressed his apology. Before anyone could hear the apology enough, the video interrupted to show the clip from "Montero," in which he lap dances with the devil.

He has also been tweeting about the shoes and has maintained that they are too cool. He believes that they should stop being bashed, and everybody should stop attacking them.

yall gotta admit... the shoes hard! u cannot sit here and lie  nope  (@LilNasX) March 28, 2021



Related Article: Steve Jobs First Job Resume Sold Shows Ex-Apple CEO didn't Have Phone in 1973

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Written by Lionell Moore

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Television cameras will offer the world a front-row seat today to opening arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer accused of killing George Floyd.

Mr Floyds death in Minneapolis last May, after being pinned to the ground by Mr Chauvin during an arrest, touched off a global movement against racism and police brutality.

Mr Chauvin is charged with second- and third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, with the trial expected to be one of the most closely watched in US history.

He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge.

In recognition of the global interest in the case, Judge Peter Cahill has allowed the entire proceedings to be live-streamed, a first in Minnesotas history. The access has been granted to Court TV, a US channel best known for its lurid coverage of the OJ Simpson trial and other high-profile criminal cases in the 1990s.

The network, which relaunched itself in 2019, will share its footage with other media outlets to allow the proceedings to be broadcast live to audiences across the world.

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The coverage will come from three cameras placed at different vantage points within the Hennepin County courtroom in downtown Minneapolis.

One of those cameras will be trained on Mr Chauvin (45), showing his reactions to the proceedings in real time.

The decision to allow TV networks access to the courtroom for the entirety of the trial has been met with mixed responses, with some praising the move to transparency but others raising concerns that public opinion may influence the proceedings.

Grace Wong, Court TVs director of field operations, said the biggest resistance had come from the prosecution.

They objected vigorously and challenged the decision, she said earlier this month. Their argument was that cameras would intimidate the witnesses, but in this case the witnesses are mainly experts who testify in trials all the time.

While Court TV will be looking to its popular coverage of the Simpson trial as a template, there will be notable differences with Mr Chauvins.

The cameras will not be permitted to zoom in or out on people within the courtroom and cannot show Mr Floyds family or any of the witnesses without their prior permission.

Many view the trial as a litmus test for racial change in the US, after footage of Mr Chauvin kneeling on Mr Floyds neck for more than eight minutes as he begged for air led to a national reckoning over Americas troubling record of police brutality.

Prosecutors have indicated they intend to frame the case in terms of race, and have sought to remove prospective white jurors who expressed staunch support for the police or negative attitudes to the Black Lives Matter.

Fifteen jurors, including three alternates, have been selected after weeks of extensive questioning on their knowledge of the case and their views on policing and racism.

The panel has a much more diverse composition than the population of Minneapolis, with one black woman, three black men, two mixed-race women, six white women and three white men.

The prosecution is expected to use todays opening arguments to retell the story of Mr Floyds death on May 25, 2020, after he was apprehended by police outside a shop in Minneapolis for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 note.

Mr Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, was among four officers who responded to the incident. The other three officers  J Alexander Keung, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao  also face charges over the death.

They are to be tried separately.

The prosecutors are expected to play footage of the arrest to the jury during their opening arguments. To secure a conviction they must convince the jury that Mr Chauvin used excessive force and was a substantial factor in Floyds death.

The defence is expected to argue that Mr Floyds death was caused by drug use and pre-existing health problems.

Download the Sunday World app Now download the free app for all the latest Sunday World News, Crime, Irish Showbiz and Sport. Available on Apple and Android devices Read More

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
press release

The Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, welcomes the arrest of ten suspects on Saturday evening following the robbery and kidnapping of a 47-year-old businessman from Bellville on Thursday morning.

Minister Fritz has subsequently called on residents with any information in relation to organised crime, including extortion and business kidnappings, to come forward and report such to SAPS.

A case of robbery and kidnapping was opened at the Bellville SAPS station. SAPS then followed up on crucial leads which led to the Nyanga address, where the victim was being held. The suspects, aged between 20 and 30 years old, have been charged with armed robbery and kidnapping and are expected to appear in the Bellville Magistrate's court on today.

The victim had been approached by four armed suspects on Voortrekker Road at 9:50 on Thursday morning and was robbed of a large amount of cash and their cellphone. The SAPS in the Western Cape reported that members of the National Intervention Unit (NIU) with Bellville detectives, the hostage negotiation team and crime intelligence closed in on a house in Nyanga and rescued the victim.

Minister Fritz said, "Let this arrest serve as a reminder to any engaging in related illicit activity such as business-related kidnappings and extortion. You will be caught, and you will be prosecuted. I commend the various units involved in these arrests on their efforts to apprehend those involved and return the victim home to his family."

Minister Fritz added, "Anyone with information on organised crime in the province is urged to report such to SAPS. Only by reporting these activities can we begin to crackdown on them. Reports can be made anonymously by calling the SAPS extortion hotline on 021 466 0011."
By Ishani Sarkar | Published on 2021/03/28

2021 has been a blessing in terms of brand new K-Dramas so far. From "Vincenzo" to "Sisyphus: The Myth", "Mouse" to "River Where the Moon Rises", the year is already turning out to be one of the best ones in the history of K-Dramas. April comes with a whole new arsenal of incredible K-Dramas and Korean films that are sure to garner a few more millions of fans. Here are the top 10 hottest K-Dramas you need to be looking out for in the month of April.

"Taxi Driver"

Also known as "Deluxe Taxi", this is a revenge drama about a specialised taxi service that exacts revenge on the behalf of those who avail this taxi. Led by Lee Je-hoon and Esom, it is already expected that this drama will be a thrilling ride to say the least.

"Dark Hole"

OCN's upcoming supernatural mystery deals with deadly mutants created by inhaling a strange black smoke. Amidst this pandemonium, there are certain survivors who are resisting their transformation through sheer human will. This drama will have 12 episodes and will star Kim Ok-vin and Lee Joon-hyuk in the leading roles.

"Law School"

With a star studded cast of actors, "Law School" is already raising great anticipation among fans of K-Dramas worldwide. From Kim Beom to Ryu Hye-young, Kim Myung-min to the Oscar winning Lee Jung-eun, this legal thriller is sure to blow your mind.

"Sell Your Haunted House"

Actress Jang Nara and CNBLUE's Jung Yong-hwa star in this fantasy comedy where one hot tempered real estate agent takes up the job of cleansing real estate properties through exorcising evil spirits that inhabit the areas. With such a novel concept, it is sure to attract attention from drama lovers worldwide.

"Undercover"

Ji Jin-hee and Kim Hyun-joo reunite on this remake of the BBC One television series of the same name where a couple face the shocking truth of reality as they navigate, power, justice and love through various trials and tribulations. The return of this on-screen couple is raising expectations for an unforgettable drama experience.

"Dramaworld - Season 2"

This season of "Dramaworld" is an international fan's dream come true. Set in both Seoul and Los Angeles, it tells the story of Claire Duncan, an American student who is a huge fan of Korean dramas. What happens when she suddenly gets transported into the world of her favourite drama?

"Night in Paradise"

Starring Um Tae-goo, Jeon Yeo-bin, Cha Seung-won and Lee Ki-young is the latest film by Noir master Park Hoon-jung which tells the story of Tae-goo who leaves a life of crime but ends up becoming the target of another rival gang. He flees and meets Jae-yeon, who doesn't have very long left to live. This pairing of actors is expected to be a fresh but intense combination.

"SEOBOK"

Park Bo-gum and Gong Yoo's upcoming film "SEOBOK", set to be released on the 15th of April, revolves around the first ever human clone with the secret to eternal life and a former intelligence agent whose final mission is to protect the clone. After months of anticipation, this film is finally going to be out in April.

"Love #Hashtag"

Starring a cast full of rising stars, this web drama tackles love from the perspective of social networking sites. Being a youth drama and owing to the appearance of Han Seung-woo-II, this drama is expected to garner a lot of attention from the get-go.

"Hospital Playlist Season 2"

"Hospital Playlist Season 2" has been slated for release in this half of 2021 and according to some sources, this season is set to air in April itself. Season 2 of "Hospital Playlist" is easily one of the most highly anticipated K-Dramas of the year as everyone's favourite medical squad returns to bring more hope and laughter to the world.

Ishani Sarkar
At Iraq's borders, a customs-evasion cartel is diverting billions of dollars away from state coffers, an AFP investigation has found

Along Iraq's borders, a corrupt customs-evasion cartel is diverting billions of dollars away from state coffers to line the pockets of armed groups, political parties and crooked officials.

The prime beneficiaries are Iran-linked Shiite paramilitaries that intimidate federal officials who dare obstruct them, sometimes through chillingly specific death threats, a six-month AFP investigation has found.

The network is so well-oiled and entrenched that revenues are parcelled out among rival groups with remarkably little friction, part of a parallel system that Iraq's finance minister has described as "state plunder".

"It's indescribable," said one Iraqi customs worker. "Worse than a jungle. In a jungle, at least animals eat and get full. These guys are never satisfied."

Like most of the government officials, port workers and importers interviewed for this story, this worker cited threats to his life and asked to speak anonymously.

The network they described arises from Iraq's glacially slow bureaucracy, fractious politics, limited non-oil industry and endemic corruption that is itself largely a product of years of chaos in the wake of the 2003 US invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein.

Customs provide one of the few sources of state revenues, and to keep disparate groups and tribes happy, many of them close to Iran, entry points are divvied up among them and federal duties largely supplanted by bribes.

"There's a kind of collusion between officials, political parties, gangs and corrupt businessmen," Iraq's Finance Minister Ali Allawi told AFP.

- 'Designed to fail' -

Iraq imports a vast majority of its goods -- from food and electronics to natural gas -- mostly from neighbours Iran and Turkey and from China.

Officially, the country of 40 million brought in $21 billion worth of non-oil goods in 2019, the latest year for which full government data is available.

Iraq has five official crossings along its 1,600-kilometre (1,000-mile) border with Iran and one on the nearly 370-km frontier with Turkey, while the single biggest and most lucrative gateway is the port of Umm Qasr in the southern province of Basra.

Corruption perception in Iraq

Duties on imports at these points of entry are meant to supplement state revenues from Iraq's huge oil sector -- but they don't.

Iraq's import system is infamously outdated and cumbersome, with a 2020 World Bank report citing frustrating delays, high compliance fees and frequent exploitation.

"If you want to do it the right way, you end up paying in the four figures for demurrage (docking fees) for a single month" in dollar terms, said an importer based in the region.

"It's designed to fail," he said.

An informal parallel system rose in its stead, in which parties and paramilitary groups have divided up Iraq's land and sea crossings, said officials, port workers, importers and analysts.

- Paramilitary groups -

Many of Iraq's entry points are informally controlled by groups within the Hashed al-Shaabi, a powerful state-sponsored armed network close to Iran, as well as other armed factions, officials confirmed to AFP.

The Hashed's members, their allies or their relatives work as border agents, inspectors or police, and are paid by importers who want to skip the official process entirely or get discounts.

"If you want a shortcut, you go to the militias or parties," said an Iraqi intelligence agent who has investigated customs evasion.

He said importers effectively tell themselves: "I'd rather lose $100,000 (on a bribe) than lose my goods altogether."

The Hashed publicly denies the claims. But sources close to its hardline member groups Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataeb Hezbollah acknowledged that customs posts are indeed parcelled out in the manner alleged.

They cited specific harbour berths, land crossings and products that matched what customs officials and the intelligence agent told AFP.

- $10,000 a day in bribes -

The Mandali crossing on the Iranian border, for example, is run by the Badr Organisation, an Iraqi movement founded in Iran, port workers, officials and analysts confirmed.

An official there boasted to AFP that a border operative can rake in $10,000 per day in bribes, the bulk of which is distributed to the overseeing armed group and complicit officials.

In other cases, an armed group controls a particular kind of trade.

"If I'm a cigarette trader," he said, "I go to Kataeb Hezbollah's economic office in the Jadriyah neighbourhood (of Baghdad), knock on the door, and say: 'I want to coordinate with you'."

At the Mandali crossing on the border with Iran, an official boasted to AFP that a border operative can rake in $10,000 per day in bribes

One key figure is always the "mukhalles" -- the state customs agent assigned to an incoming shipment who often doubles as a middleman for an armed group.

"There's no such thing as a neutral mukhalles. They're all backed by parties," the intelligence agent said.

Once paid -- in cash for smaller operations, and by bank wire for larger deals -- the mukhalles tampers with paperwork.

By misrepresenting the type or amount of goods imported or their value, the customs fee is sharply reduced.

One importer told AFP that under-declaring quantities could score a trader discounts of up to 60 percent.

- Right connections -

For high-tariff goods, meanwhile, the favoured trick is to declare them as something else altogether.

Cigarette imports are taxed with a regular import tariff of 30 percent, plus a further 100 percent to encourage consumers to buy local brands.

To cut those fees, cigarettes are often recorded as tissues or plastic goods.

The prime beneficiaries of the customs-evasion cartel are Iran-linked Shiite paramilitaries, AFP found

Facilitators also tamper with a shipment's estimated total value, which is first marked on the import license but re-evaluated at the point of entry.

In one case described to AFP by an Umm Qasr official, metal reinforcements were valued by the customs agent so cheaply that the importer was charged $200,000 in duties, when he should have paid over $1 million.

With the right connections, some cargo slips through with no inspection at all.

"I'm not corrupt, but even I have had to wave through cargo I didn't actually inspect because the shipment was linked to a powerful party," said the customs worker quoted earlier.

One importer told AFP he paid $30,000 to a customs agent at Umm Qasr to allow through prohibited refurbished electrical equipment.

He said he also regularly bribed port police to warn him of surprise inspections. For an additional fee, the officer offered an extra service -- to send patrols to hold up rival imports.

- 'A real mafia' -

With points of entry seen as cash cows, public servants pay their superiors for postings, especially at Umm Qasr.

"Minor clerks' jobs in some outposts change hands for $50,000 to $100,000, and sometimes it goes up to multiples of that," Allawi, the finance minister, lamented.

The subterfuge around the import system "contributes to state plunder," he told AFP.

To protect their pillaging, parties and armed groups use their political influence and threats of violence.

A worker at Mandali told AFP he once delayed a shipment from Iran because of missing paperwork, but then allowed it through, duty-free, after the mukhalles handling the cargo brandished his credentials as a Hashed member.

The intelligence officer said an informant at Zerbatiya crossing, which likewise borders Iran and is managed by Asaib Ahl al-Haq, was repeatedly put on leave for blocking efforts to import Iranian produce customs-free and eventually relented.

"We came back later to talk to him again and found he had joined Asaib," the intelligence officer said.

A senior member of Iraq's border commission told AFP he receives regular calls from private numbers threatening his relatives by name, in an effort to intimidate him into halting cargo inspections.

The customs worker was among others who also said they contended with death threats.

"We can't say anything because we'll be killed," he said. "People are afraid. This is a real mafia."

- Spoil-sharing -

This parallel system has become the lifeblood of Iraqi parties and armed groups, including Iran-backed Hashed factions, said Renad Mansour of the Chatham House think tank.

They professionalised this financing stream after Iraq's defeat of the Islamic State group in 2017.

That victory ended the allocation of large defence budgets to the anti-IS military campaign, which included the Hashed, sparking the need to find alternative funding sources.

They latched on tighter after Iran came under crippling sanctions imposed by former US president Donald Trump.

New sources of funding were needed after Iraq's defeat of Islamic State which ended the allocation of large defence budgets to the anti-IS military campaign

In March 2020, the US blacklisted Al Khamael Maritime Services (AKMS), a shipping company in Umm Qasr, for using Shiite paramilitary groups to help the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps "evade Iraqi government inspection protocol".

It also sanctioned two Iraqis and two Iranians linked to AKMS for financing Kataeb and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.

The spoil-sharing is surprisingly smooth, given the rivalries among parties and armed groups.

"One border point can make up to $120,000 a day," said Mansour. "This doesn't go only to one group, but is shared by many, which at times may even seem to be enemies when you zoom out."

Turf wars are rare, but do happen. In February, the separate killings of two members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq were described to AFP by two Hashed sources as "economically motivated".

But usually, the cartel operates smoothy.

"There's no competition," said the Iraqi intelligence agent. "They know if one of them goes down, they all will."

- Trickling down -

The parallel system starves the state of a funding resource for schools, hospitals and other public services at a time when the poverty rate in Iraq has reached 40 percent.

Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi says that just 10-12 percent of the customs resources reach the ministry

"We should get seven billion dollars (a year) from customs," Allawi told AFP. "In fact, just 10-12 percent of the customs resources reach the finance ministry."

The cost of bribes ultimately also trickles down to the consumer, an Iraqi official said. "As a consumer, you're the one who ends up paying for that corruption in the store."

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, within weeks of taking office in May 2020, prioritised border reform, to shore up government revenues hit hard by depressed oil prices.

In highly-publicised trips to Umm Qasr and Mandali, he vowed to send new troops to each entry point and regularly swap senior customs staff to break up corrupt circuits.

There have been some modest victories. The border commission now reports daily seizures of cargo in cases where importers tried to evade customs fees.

And Iraq collected $818 million in duties in 2020, the commission said, slightly higher than the previous year's $768 million, despite imports being hit by the coronavirus downturn.

- Stuttering reforms -

But importers, facilitators and even officials have laughed off the premier's measures.

They told AFP that while some importers were now paying government tariffs, they also still paid facilitators to stop goods being arbitrarily held up.

"In the end, we're paying double," said an Arab businessman, who has imported into Iraq for over a decade.

The well-connected, meanwhile, were not affected.

"Nothing changed," said an Iraqi importer, noting he brought in construction materials through Mandali without paying tariffs.

Security forces described chaos.

"The police there is all involved in the bribery," a soldier, whose unit had been briefly deployed to Mandali, told AFP.

"The traders drop money like crazy. We arrested one guy but they got him out the next day."

The senior border commission official admitted some promised deployments never happened.

"Other times, it's a joke of a unit" consisting only of "about two dozen guys," he told AFP.

But the main issue, importers and officials agreed, was that staff rotations did not extend to a crucial cog in the corruption machine: the mukhalles.

"The main facilitator of corruption is still there," said the customs official. "One rotten apple will spoil the rest."

- Threat of violence -

A US defence official told AFP that Kataeb Hezbollah, accused recently of firing rockets at the US embassy, was ordered to close its office inside Baghdad Airport's arrivals terminal to stop it from smuggling in high-value goods.

"Now they've got a position just outside the airport, but they can still drive up to the plane and do what they need to do," the official said. "Corruption still happens."

Duties on imports at Iraqi points of entry are meant to supplement state revenues from the country's huge oil sector -- but they don't

Instead of brazenly phoning each other, facilitators have moved to WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging apps.

"Our work has actually become harder because they're taking more precautions," the intelligence agent said.

The cartel remains intact.

Officials said they expect traders to react by increasingly avoiding official border crossings, relying on smuggling instead, or importing goods unofficially through Iraq's northern Kurdish region.

Trying to dismantle the lucrative network completely, they warned, would bring violence Kadhemi may be unprepared for.

"A single berth at Umm Qasr is equivalent to a state budget," the intelligence agent said, using deliberate exaggeration to emphasise the point.

"They won't compromise easily."
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
SERAP asks President Buhari to 'probe alleged misuse of N4.5bn COVID-19 funds by Kogi govt'.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to "direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate alleged misuse of the N4.5 billion donations, loans and support the Kogi State government obtained from the Federal Government, including N90,720,000 reportedly spent on software to track COVID-19 cases in the state."

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported how the Kogi government spent over N90 million for a COVID-19 tracking software that the developers now sell for N300,000.

A Kogi official also admitted that the state government actually spent less than N1 million on the project and could not explain how the state's official record showed the state spent N90.7 million for the software.

Read the full statement by SERAP calling for an investigation into the matter below.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to "direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate alleged misuse of the N4.5 billion donations, loans and support the Kogi State government obtained from the Federal Government, including N90,720,000 reportedly spent on software to track COVID-19 cases in the state."

SERAP stated that "if there is relevant and sufficient admissible evidence, anyone suspected to be involved should face prosecution, as appropriate."

In the letter dated 27 March 2021 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: "Directing the Attorney General of the Federation and appropriate anti-corruption agencies as recommended is constitutional, and would be entirely consistent with your promise in your inaugural speech to 'ensure responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country.'"

SERAP quoted Buhari as promising in his inaugural speech on 29th May, 2015 that: 'The Federal Government would not fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. It will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.'"

SERAP stated: "As you have correctly stated, the obligations of your government to combat corruption in Nigeria extend to all the three tiers of government, namely, the federal, state and local governments."

The letter, read in part: "Although primarily a matter of concern for Kogi State, the allegations of misuse of COVID-19 funds drawn from the Federal Government have assumed such a proportion as to become a matter of concern to the federation as a whole, and therefore, to your government."

"SERAP is concerned about growing allegations of corruption and mismanagement of public funds in several of the 36 states of the Federation, and the apparent lack of prompt, thorough, independent and transparent investigations into these allegations, allowing suspected perpetrators to frequently escape justice."

"Taking prompt action to probe the allegations would promote transparency and accountability, serve the common good, peace, order and good government of the federation (which includes Kogi State). It would help to enhance your government's fight against corruption and contribute hugely to improving the public confidence and trust in your commitment to combat grand corruption."

"We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request."

"SERAP also believes that given the history of corruption in Nigeria, especially several unresolved allegations of grand corruption involving many of the 36 state governments, your government cannot and should not look the other way regarding the allegations of misuse of COVID-19 funds involving the Kogi State government. Such allegations in any state of Nigeria are of concern to every Nigerian, and should therefore be of concern to your government."

"Taking the recommended measures would also show that your government is concerned with the overall well-being of the federation and willing and able to enforce important constitutional principles."

"According to our information, the Kogi State Government in 2020 allegedly spent N90,720,000 on 'COVID-19 software.' The software was reportedly approved Governor Yahaya Bello, for tracking COVID-19 cases and prevent the spread of the disease in the state. However, the company that developed the software has reportedly stated that it costs only N300,000."

"The software has reportedly stopped functioning just one year after it was installed. The N90,720,000 spent on COVID-19 software is part of the N4.5 billion donations, loans and support, which Kogi State reportedly obtained from the Federal Government."

"Ensuring the investigation and prosecution of the allegations would also be entirely consistent with the provisions of section 15 subsection (5) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], which requires your government to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power, regardless of the state where such practices are taking place."

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Legal Affairs 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.

"Section 15 specifically defines "government" to include the government of the federation, or of any state, or of a local government council or any person who exercises power or authority on its behalf."

"Similarly, the Attorney-General of the Federation has power, conferred on him by section 174(1)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution, and anti-corruption agencies have the powers to act on the allegations of misuse of the N4.5 billion donations, loans and support by the Kogi State government obtained, including N90,720,000 spent on software to track COVID-19 cases in the state."

"Our requests are brought in the public interest, and in keeping with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution; the country's international obligations including under the UN Convention against Corruption, and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, as well as your expressed commitment in your inaugural speech on 29th May, 2015 'to check gross corruption at the local level.'"

The letter is copied to Mr Malami; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, Chairman Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); and Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Kolawole Oluwadare

SERAP Deputy Director
AMER, Egypt (AP)  The sleepy farming village of Amer overlooks the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important waterways. Last week, the village was suddenly thrust into the limelight after a massive container ship, the Ever Given, got stuck nearby.

The contrast between tranquil village life and the busy artery of global shipping is stark.

Farmers in Amer eke out a living tending to small fields and livestock, while before them pass behemoths of world trade  vessels carrying millions of dollars worth of cargo.

But the canal is also a source of intense pride for residents of the area, including the nearby town of Suez. They call it our canal and the older ones still remember then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser's decision in 1956 to nationalize the canal despite fierce pressure from Western powers.

I was five or six years old, celebrations were everywhere, said Abdel-Wahab, 71, who works as a waiter in Suez. It was like you freed your son who was taken against your will."

The village, along with other areas along the western bank of the canal, was abandoned during the 1967 Mideast war and its residents were only allowed to return in the 1970s.

They are now rooting for canal authorities as they battle to dislodge the vessel.

It was a windy morning when the Ever Given  one of the world's largest container ships  got wedged sideways in a single-lane stretch of the canal last Tuesday.

Amer resident Fatima was feeding poultry on the roof of her three-story home when she saw the massive ship sitting motionless in the canal. At first, she didn't think it was unusual.

Sometimes, one vessel stops for a reason or another, the elderly woman said Sunday,

Dressed in a dark blue jalabiya, or traditional loose-fitting garment, she was sitting at the gate of her house with a neighbor. The women were chatting and drinking tea.

Like other villagers, they did not want to give their full names for fear of getting in trouble with the authorities who have restricted media access to the area.

Story continues

Almost a week after the accident, tug boats and dredgers, taking advantage of high tides, partially floated the Ever Given on Monday, but it remains unclear how long it would take to set it free.

The pointed bow of the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned vessel remains stuck on sandy clay along the canal bank. Experts said that despite the partial success, the worst option  having to remove containers from the vessel to lighten the load  is not yet off the table.

The giant ship carries some 20,000 containers. Taking them off would likely add even more days to the canals closure, further disrupting a global shipping network. A prolonged closure would cause delays in the global shipment chain. The canal handles some 10% of the world trade flow. Last year, some 19,000 vessels passed through it, according to official figures.

The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East. Already, Syria has begun rationing the distribution of fuel in the war-torn country because of delayed shipments.

Over the past week, the salvage efforts have been the main topic of conversation in Amer, home to several thousand people who grow clover and cabbage and tend to water buffaloes, cows, goats and sheep.

We have not seen anything like that before, Abdel-Wahab, the waiter, said of the Ever Givens misfortune.

Journalists have been visiting the village, in part to get a better view of the vessel.

For sure, youre coming for the ship, whispered a farmer to a reporter. His donkey cart was sitting in the middle of a narrow road just a few dozen meters (yards) from the vessel.

Its there, standing like the mountain, said another man when asked how to get closer to the ship.

Villager Mohammed Said, 72, who works in Suez as a garbage collector, said the grounding of the Ever Given is unique in the canal's history, and that he hopes the vessel can be dislodged quickly.

Its a tragedy impacting not only Egypt, but the whole world," he said.
Goose Creek, SC (29445)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Veronika Denisova during one of the Tasting Labs With 33 Italian wineries, 14 importers and many wine professionals, the first ever agile version of Vinitaly Russia represented Vinitalys first step towards its 2021s mission: help Italian wine producers build new trade relations worldwide.

Vinitaly and the Italian Trade Agency joined forces for the first agile version of Vinitaly Russia. Made up of two stops, the event took place in Moscow, March 23rd, and Saint Petersburg, on March 25th. Vinitaly Russia sported a hybrid format in both cities: a digital part, represented by remote B2B meetings, and a physical part, with Walk Around Tastings at the venue, where wines from participating wineries were tasted by local sector operators. Among the involved Italian companies were also the 8 wineries that took part to the Piano Export Sud 2" project organised by ITA for the relaunch of the Italian Southern regions.

Taking place at the Lotte Hotel, the Moscow stop was opened by Italian Ambassador in Russia Pasquale Terracciano, who commented: Once again, the Russian Federation proved to be an authentic admirer of our products, especially of the medium and high range ones. The demand for Italian wine in Russia not only remains high, it is actually growing.

Both days displayed three main activities: digital B2Bs, that saw producers connected from Italy coming together with Russian buyers, live Walk Around Tastings on site, during which importers presented their wines to Russian sector operators, and several Tasting Labs.

Tasting Labs organized by ITA saw Dmitry Fedotov shedding light on many Italian Southern regions such as Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily.

On the other hand, masterclasses arranged by Vinitaly International with the help of VIA Italian Wine Ambassadors Veronika Denisova, Anna Baranova, Ekaterina Osadchaya and Nikolay Chashchinov presented: Wine Road. Wines of Abruzzo, organized with the Consortium for the Protection of Wines of Abruzzo; Exploring Italian Wines: a journey of tradition, culture and passion; From effervescence and elegance to complexity and ageability. Styles of Italian wines and many more.

With 33 Italian wineries, 14 importers and many wine professionals, the first ever agile version of Vinitaly Russia represented Vinitalys first step towards its 2021s mission: help Italian wine producers build new trade relations worldwide. The Moscow and Saint Petersburg stops can admittedly be considered a preview to what will come at the end of the year, Vinitaly Russia 2021.

About

The grand Vinitaly 2022 will be held from April 10th to the 13th. Every year, Vinitaly counts more than 4,000 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from over 140 different countries with more than 30,000 top international buyers. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers, that will be exceptionally held on June 19th 2021, unites international wine professionals in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong. In February 2014 Vinitaly launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. Today, VIA counts 215 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 15 Italian Wine Experts.
Filipinos go to church on Palm Sunday despite imminent religious gathering ban

Newsflare  40,244 views  2 months ago

Hundreds of Roman Catholics in Manila flocked to Quiapo Church on Sunday 28 March, despite an imminent ban on religious gatherings. It comes amid a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the Philippines. Amongst Catholics in the Philippines, Palm Sunday is a tradition in which the priest anoints palm fronds with holy water. No more religious gatherings. Full stop! said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in a press conference on Saturday March 27. Metro Manila and the surrounding provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite have been placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the strictest quarantine level in the Philippines, to halt the coronavirus surge. ECQ is imposed in these areas, called NCR Plus, from Holy Monday, March 29, to Easter Sunday, April 14.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new study published in the journal Environmental Science and Policy addresses the impacts of COVID-19 and Cyclone Harold on Indo-Fijians engaged in small scale fisheries.

The paper says that countries, including Fiji, need to address ethical and social justice considerations and the politics of recovery efforts by putting vulnerable and marginalized groups front and center in the aftermath of pandemics and natural disasters.

What countries cannot afford is for economic recovery efforts to put additional burdens and risk on those invested in the SSF sector, and cause further widening of inequities, and increase food and economic insecurity.

While the attention of the global community is focused on the immediate health crisis, cyclones Harold, Yasa (Category 5, made landfall on 17 December 2020) and Ana (Category 2, made landfall on 31 Janaury 2021), were stark reminders for the Pacific that the existential threat of climate change has not gone away. The COVID-19 pandemic may simply be the 'first wave', especially if global climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development goals and targets, and addressing inequities through an intersectional lens, are not seen as integral to economic recovery.

The paper's lead author, Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society's program in Fiji explains, "In additional to dealing with the global COVID-19 health crisis, countries like Fiji are trying to understand and respond to the knock on economic impacts, while responding to other disasters. Our study specifically looked at how Indo-Fijians (that is, Fijians of Indian descent) in the small-scale fisheries sector were affected by COVID-19 and a Category 4 cyclone, with a focus on livelihoods, income and food security. This type of research is critical as governments and partners mobilize resources and respond to multiple and compounding crises, to ensure assistance is given to people who are most vulnerable do not widen inequities between different people and groups."

Co-author Chinnamma Reddy, a project officer at IUCN said: "Through our interviews with fishers, boat owners, boat crew and seafood traders we found the reduction in seafood sales resulting from a reduction in local consumption and loss of tourism markets had the greatest impact on these groups. The price of seafood dropped by an average of 36.5%, making fisheries less profitable. What was concerning was that a fifth of the people we interviewed did not have enough food for their families, because their ability to feed themselves depended on the state of the local economy."

Co-author Yashika Nand, Science Coordinator who has been leading WCS's work with Indo-Fijian fishers and traders explained: "Our study provided insights into how vulnerable different Indo-Fijian groups were within the fisheries sector. For example, since the borders closes in Fiji, these groups are earning very little (enough for daily needs) and do not have any social security or safety nets they can fall back on. Because they have limited access to land and other resources, they cannot easily shift livelihoods to compensate for how less profitable small-scale fisheries are right now, or to earn additional income to repairs boats and gear damaged by Cyclone Harold."

Co-author Dr. Arundhati Jagadish, a social scientist at Conservation International with expertise in community-based conservation and development highlighted "we specifically looked at vulnerability through an intersectional lens. In other words people's vulnerability to COVID-19 and disasters are influenced by a number of social factors, such as gender, ethnicity, culture, education, economic status, and access to resources. We are working in unchartered territory and bottom up processes aimed at understanding the ways people are affected and responding to these crises are necessary."

Explore further Study finds Tropical Cyclone Winston damaged fisheries as well as homes in Fiji

More information: Sangeeta Mangubhai et al, Politics of vulnerability: Impacts of COVID-19 and Cyclone Harold on Indo-Fijians engaged in small-scale fisheries, Environmental Science & Policy (2021). Sangeeta Mangubhai et al, Politics of vulnerability: Impacts of COVID-19 and Cyclone Harold on Indo-Fijians engaged in small-scale fisheries,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.03.003
A poll worker talks to a voter before they vote on a paper ballot on Election Day in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 3, 2020. (Brynn Anderson, File/AP Photo)

Georgia Election Integrity Law Challenged in New Lawsuit by Voting Groups

Georgias new election integrity law is being challenged in another lawsuit, with voting rights groups on March 28 filing a suit claiming racial discrimination.

The lawsuit (pdf) was filed on behalf of a coalition of groups, including the League of Women Voters of Georgia and the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other officials.

The legal action takes aim at SB 202, or the Election Integrity Act of 2021 (pdf), which cleared both state legislative chambers with no Democratic backing, and was signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on March 25drawing praise from backers of elections integrity measures and protests from those who claim the bill amounts to voter suppression.

Democratic state Rep. Park Cannon was arrested by Capitol police amid a protest after knocking on the door of the governors office while he was signing the bill.

SB 202 is the culmination of a concerted effort to suppress the participation of Black voters and other voters of color by the Republican State Senate, State House, and Governor, the plaintiffs claim in the suit.

The voting groups allege that the bill is a Republican voter suppression measure meant as a bulwark against demographic changes that favor Democratic candidates.

Unable to stem the tide of these demographic changes or change the voting patterns of voters of color, these officials have resorted to attempting to suppress the vote of Black voters and other voters of color in order to maintain the tenuous hold that the Republican Party has in Georgia, the plaintiffs allege. In other words, these officials are using racial discrimination as a means of achieving a partisan end. These efforts constitute intentional discrimination in violation of the Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Separately, Raffensperger was sued over the bill on March 25, with plaintiffs that include The New Georgia Project and Black Voters Matter Fund, alleging in court filings (pdf) that the bill puts unjustifiable burdens disproportionately on the States minority, young, poor, and disabled citizens.

Republicans have framed the election reform measures as necessary improvements to shore up integrity and build confidence in the states elections. The reforms include requiring photo or state-approved identification to vote absentee by mail. They also mandate that secure drop boxes be placed inside early voting locations, with constant surveillance, and the law expands early voting across the state to address a key Democrat concern.

The bill also shortens the election cycle for runoffs from nine weeks to four and requires a minimum of one week of early voting before Election Day.

Raffensperger responded to the criticism, saying, Theres no rational argument against requiring state IDprovided for free to those who dont have a drivers licensefor absentee ballots, according to a statement sent to media outlets.

The secretary of state dismissed voter suppression arguments, saying he implemented a version of the identification requirement during the November 2020 election, and that all absentee ballot requests that came through the state website were cross-referenced with a drivers license database or another record.

The left said that photo ID for in-person voting would suppress votes. It didnt. Registration and turnout soared, hitting new records with each election cycle. Their cataclysmic predictions about the effects of this law are simply baseless. The next election will prove that, but I wont hold my breath waiting for the left and the media to admit they were wrong, he said.

President Joe Biden has criticized SB 202 as a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience.

It adds rigid restrictions on casting absentee ballots that will effectively deny the right to vote to countless voters, Biden said on March 26 during his first solo press conference. And it makes it a crime to provide water to voters while they wait in linelines Republican officials themselves have created by reducing the number of polling sites across the state, disproportionately in black neighborhoods.

He labeled the law as a Jim Crow in the 21st century, referring to Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the south.

It must end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act, Biden said. What Im worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. Its sick, its sick.

Kemp rejected Bidens characterization of the law, arguing that it seeks to improve the integrity of elections in the Peach State.

It is obvious that neither President Biden nor his handlers have actually read SB 202, which I signed into law yesterday, Kemp said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times. This bill expands voting access, streamlines vote-counting procedures, and ensures election integrity.

The Biden administration is currently looking at pathways to address its concerns about the new law. Biden told reporters on March 26 that the Justice Department and his administration are taking a look at the legislation.

Were working on that right now. We dont know quite exactly what we can do at this point. The Justice Departments taking a look as well, Biden said.

The groups filing the lawsuits have taken issue with a number of measures in SB 202, arguing that identification requirements for absentee voting are unnecessary and burdensome, and that placing absentee drop boxes inside early voting locations would unduly restrict voting. They also argue that prohibiting the state from distributing unsolicited absentee ballot applications and prohibiting third parties from collecting absentee ballot applicationswhich Republicans say could result in ballot harvestingrepresents voter suppression.

Former President Donald Trump praised the passage of the Georgia law.

Congratulations to Georgia and the Georgia State Legislature on changing their voter Rules and Regulations. 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 said in a statement released via his Save America political action committee.

Raffenspergers press office didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment on the lawsuit.

Isabel van Brugen, Janita Kan, and Mark Tapscott contributed to this report.
Plans to protect the reputation of Japanese whisky have been unveiled, but do they go far enough? Shay Waterworth looks at the implications.

The release of a new set of regulations for the production of Japanese whisky in February brought a sigh of relief from major players in the category. The Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association announced the rules, stating that to be labelled Japanese whisky the product must be made from malted barely, use local water and be fermented, distilled, aged and bottled in Japan, while also being aged in wooden casks for three years and bottled at a minimum 40% abv. This prompted the creation of a tongue-in-cheek bottle shot of Nikka Whisky from the Ben Nevis, which made the rounds on social media. The edited picture was poking fun at the open secret that Japanese distiller Nikka has previously shipped whisky from its Ben Nevis distillery in Scotland for use in its Japanese blends.



To many consumers this would be a shock, but actually Japanese brands have a history of importing whiskies from around the world to use in their blends and its certainly not frowned upon by the local industry. A combination of the rise in popularity of Japanese whisky and a deep running corporate competitiveness has prevented distilleries from selling stocks to other domestic producers, therefore they rely on overseas whiskies to generate volumes. The use of foreign whiskies is actually acknowledged as part of the categorys culture by the JSLMA, but under its new regulations this looks set to change.

According to the association, the new regulations will aim to contribute to the appropriate selection of whisky products by consumers in Japan and abroad, and to thereby protect the interests of consumers, ensure fair competition and improve quality. So it seems that, while its taken a lot longer than expected, the association is planning for the future by protecting the reputation and integrity of Japanese whisky before word gets out among consumers.

However, while the principles are in place, they wont be enforced until March 31, 2024 and even then the regulations are voluntary, not law. This means that not only can brands still use foreign whiskies, but some may continue producing misleading products for the local and international markets.



In the long term it seems unlikely that the association will ever be in a position to truly enforce these regulations and therefore the integrity of Japanese whisky will largely rely on the leadership of big brands. Following the announcement, Beam Suntory, the biggest producer of Japanese whisky, gave this statement: We fully support the implementation of these new standards of identity for Japanese whisky. We believe that these standards will help to further distinguish the Japanese whisky category.



Hideki Kanda, chief executive of Suntory Spirits, adds: We believe the new definition will allow us to further promote the quality of Suntory whisky overseas, as well as help differentiating Japanese whisky from other whiskies around the world.



With the influence of major brands and a basic framework set out by JSLMA, the regulation of Japanese whisky has taken a big step forward. However, without any significant power and a three-year window of grace for brands, its hardly a cutthroat solution. And as prices of Japanese whisky continue to boom internationally, it seems unlikely the selling of stocks to other domestic producers will be prioritised and therefore the reliance on foreign whiskies will remain in order to satisfy the demand.
By Moses Ndhaye

The speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga has revealed that she is not ready to take up the post of the vice president if it is offered to her by the President in the next cabinet.

Kadaga announced her position on the issue as she was meeting with the Busoga elected members of parliament for the 11th parliament.

Kadaga is currently fighting to retain her seat as the speaker of parliament, a post that has eyes on three other people including; the deputy speaker Jacob Oulanyah, the Kira municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda and Bukoto central MP Richard Ssebamala .

The matter of rejecting the vice president post was first pushed by the members of parliament hailing from Busoga who told her never to accept any compromising post and leave the speakership post.

The member of parliament for Iganga municipality Peter Mugema aka Panado and the Luuka south county MP Stephen Kisa said that as Busoga members of parliament are not interested in any other post in cabinet but only want the post of the speaker.

Kadaga says she can not take up a position that does not put her in the decision making position arguing that as a vice, you only take up after the president.
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The Biden administration is asking for 'volunteers' from other federal agencies to assist border officials struggling to cope with a massive surge in illegal border crossing, as a Democrat in Congress released new photos of overcrowded holding facilities.

A memo from the federal Office of Personnel Management is asking various government agencies to send staff on 'volunteer deployments' at the border of up to 120 days, according to Fox News.

Border officials have been overwhelmed by the surge, and thousands of minors are stuck in substandard holding facilities as the government struggles through a backlog to process them.

More than 16,000 unaccompanied children were in government custody as of Thursday, including about 5,000 in substandard Customs and Border Protection facilities.

President Joe Biden is seen on Sunday. His administration is asking for 'volunteers' from other federal agencies to assist border officials struggling to cope with a massive surge in illegal border crossing

Unaccompanied children at a holding facility in Donna, Texas are seen in a handout photograph courtesy of the Office of Congressman Henry Cuellar, released on March 22

Photos from Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, shared these photos on March 22 of the Donna holding facility

Central American migrant children, who are seeking asylum or have been deported from the US, are living in a shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

The federal Office of Personnel Management is hoping volunteers can assist in dealing with the surge in unaccompanied minors

Now OPM is hoping volunteers from other agencies can assist CPB and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in dealing with the surge in unaccompanied minors.

'We are actively working to screen, process and deploy these volunteers while continuing our recruitment efforts and exploration of other avenues to bolster staff resources at the border,' an OPM spokesperson said.

ORR, an office within Health and Human Services, is building huge new facilities for the migrants in Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio and Fort Bliss, an Army base near El Paso.

'ORR provides a continuum of care for children, including placements in ORR foster care, shelter, and residential care providers that provide temporary housing and other services to unaccompanied children in ORR custody,' Kathleen McGettigan, acting director of OPM, told Fox News.

'ORR and its care providers work to ensure that children are released timely and safely from ORR custody to parents, other family members, or other adults ... who can care for the child's physical and mental well-being,' McGettigan said.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to block the press from entering the overcrowded holding facilities, a departure from policy under both the Obama and Trump administrations.

Federal lawmakers do have access though, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, on Thursday shared new images from inside a facility in the Rio Grande Valley.

The images were shared exclusively with CBS News and can be seen in an interview he gave with Face The Nation.

'Out of the 5,000 plus they have at the Rio Grande, over 65 percent are unaccompanied kids,' Cuellar told CBS News

Migrants are seen inside of a US Customs and Border Protection temporary overflow facility in Donna, Texas on March 22

Cuellar said that most single adults apprehended at the border were being expelled, but that unaccompanied minors and adults traveling with children are typically allowed to remain in the U.S.

'Out of the 5,000 plus they have at the Rio Grande, over 65 percent are unaccompanied kids,' Cuellar said in the interview.

Cuellar said that most single adults apprehended at the border were being expelled, but that unaccompanied minors and adults traveling with children are typically allowed to remain in the U.S.

'Over 2,000 of them have been released into the United States without a notice to appear' in immigration court, Cuellar said.

Cuellar last week shared other images taken inside the Rio Grande facility, which show similar crowded conditions.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday the Biden administration was committed to transparency and 'we're working to get that done as soon as we can.'

But she declined to provide a specific date for when the media will get access to Border Patrol facilities temporarily holding thousands of migrant children.

Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been calling on the administration to open the facilities to the cameras, asserting that the current policy is designed to keep the public from 'fully realizing' what is happening at the border.

Immigrants arrive illegally into the US on Saturday across the Rio Grande river from Mexico, near the border city of Roma

Migrant families were smuggled across the Rio Grande river from Mexico to the US in inflatable boats

Migrants arrive in the US near Roma, a town of 10,000 people that has become the latest epicenter for illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the US to seek asylum

An unaccompanied Guatemalan child immigrants, who both arrived illegally across the Rio Grande river from Mexico line up on Saturday at a processing checkpoint before being detained by border patrol agents in the border city of Roma

A family of immigrants who arrived illegally across the Rio Grande river from Mexico stand in line at a processing checkpoint on Saturday before being detained at a holding facility by border patrol agents in the border city of Roma

Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, called on the president to let the media accompany him to a temporary detention facility in Dallas on Monday.

'I again urge you to stop denying reality, confront the consequences of your policies, and allow the media access to these facilities,' Cruz wrote in a letter.

Cruz, after leading a delegation of GOP senators to the border on Friday and Saturday, next plans to tour the Dallas convention center, which has been converted into a massive ORR facility for unaccompanied migrants.

Republican officials are also blaming the Biden administration for actions they say are leading more people from Central America to seek entry into the United States.

'It's not a crisis, it's a complete loss of sovereignty down there,' Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said.

Graham recently visited the border and said he saw a facility designed to hold 80 children with about 1,000 in it. He called on the administration to turn away every unaccompanied minor after testing them for 'human trafficking abuses.'

'If you don't, we'll have 150,000 a month by this summer,' Graham said Sunday.

'It's not a crisis, it's a complete loss of sovereignty down there,' Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said

U.S. Border Patrol agents process a group of people they caught crossing the border from Mexico on Saturday in Penitas, Texas. The group ran from the agents before being caught.

Migrants who attempted to flee Border Patrol wait to be transported after being caught by U.S. Border Patrol agents illegally crossing the border from Mexico on Saturday in Penitas, Texas

U.S. authorities reported encounters with more than 100,000 migrants on the southern border in February, the highest since a four-month streak in 2019.

Encounters have averaged about 5,000 people per day throughout March, which would be about a 50 percent increase over February if those figures hold for the entire month.

White House communications director Kate Bedingfield claimed the surge was seasonal and unconnected to Biden's new border policies.

'They're not the result of one administration's policies or another administrations policies. They're the result of, for example, weather disasters in the region. Theyre the result of people fleeing poverty and violence,' Bedingfield said.

'So we saw spikes in 2014. We saw them in 2019 when the Trump administration had perhaps the cruelest imaginable policies in place, family separation to try to deter people from coming, and they still came.'

The Biden administration continued to emphasize on the Sunday talk shows that the U.S.-Mexico border 'remains closed' and that the majority of adults are being turned away. But Psaki said the administration was not going to force children to go back on a treacherous journey.

Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, called on the president to let the media accompany him to a temporary detention facility in Dallas on Monday

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday the Biden administration was committed to transparency and 'we're working to get that done as soon as we can.'

'They are fleeing challenging economic circumstances, hurricanes, prosecution in some scenarios,' she said.

'It does not mean that they get to stay in the United States. It means their cases are adjudicated and we want to treat them humanely, make sure they are in a safe place while their cases are adjudicated. Thats what were talking about here.'

Former President Donald Trump expanded and fortified border walls while championing 'zero tolerance' policies that made it more difficult to seek U.S. asylum and led to some immigrant parents being separated from their children.

Under federal law, children arriving at the border without parents should be transferred within three days from U.S. Border Patrol custody to long-term facilities run by U.S. Health and Human Services until they can be released to family members or sponsors.

Psaki said the administration is committed to transparency and providing access to those temporary Border Patrol facilities as soon as it can.

'We are mindful of the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic. We want to keep these kids safe, keep the staff safe,' Psaki said.

Psaki and Graham spoke on 'Fox News Sunday,' while Bedingfield was interviewed on ABC's 'The Week.'

U.S. authorities reported encounters with more than 100,000 migrants on the southern border in February, the highest since a four-month streak in 2019

Migrants from Guatemala and Honduras are questioned by a Border Patrol agent after being landing in Roma, Texas, on an inflatable raft on Sunday

Encounters have averaged about 5,000 people per day throughout March, which would be about a 50 percent increase over February if those figures hold for the entire month

The US has seen growing numbers of families and unaccompanied minors entering the US illegally and planning to claim asylum

Many groups of migrants have turned themselves into US Border Patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande and landing in Roma

According to the Biden administration, the Mexico-US border 'remains closed' and the majority of adult migrants will be turned away

However, Psaki said the administration was not going to force children to go back on a treacherous journey

Migrants from Central America have to travel through Mexico to reach the US border (pictured, migrants rest under a tree in Tenosique, Tabasco, Mexico)

Central American children, who travelled to the US with their parents, were deported and are now living in a shelter in Mexico
analysis

After weeks of creatives staging a sit-in at the National Arts Council Johannesburg offices, demanding answers about the R300 million stimulus package, the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture has taken action. On Monday, Nathi Mthethwa, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture announced that a forensic investigation will look into the mismanagement of the stimulus package.

At a media briefing on Monday, Nathi Mthethwa, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, said that there would be a forensic investigation into the mismanagement of the R300-million Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme the National Arts Council (NAC) was tasked to disburse.

This comes after three weeks of creatives staging a sit-in at the NAC's offices in Johannesburg demanding answers regarding the stimulus package. Other creatives held street performance demonstrations to highlight their plight.

According to Mthethwa, the new NAC council, which took office in January, sought answers from management regarding the disbursement of the stimulus package, "the answers [given to them] kept changing... council took a decision to suspend the CEO [Rosemary Mangope] and the CFO [Clifton Changfoot]. Subsequently, they discovered the budget as allocated was mismanaged by the NAC, mainly by way of an over-commitment of the available funds by more than double...
Thimphu, March 29 : The nationwide Covid-19 vaccination program in Bhutan witnessed a mass turnout with 142,000 people inoculated so far, the Ministry of Health said.

According to an update on Covid-19 from the Health Ministry, around 57,000 individuals were vaccinated on Sunday, while 85,000 were inoculated the previous day, taking the total coverage to over 142,000 people receiving the first dose, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bhutan aims to become one of the first countries in the world to administer the first doses of the vaccine to all its eligible population, said Prime Minister Lotay Tshering.

By April 4, Bhutan aims to vaccinate an estimated of 533,558 people eligible for vaccination, of the total population of 765,000 people.

As per the Health Ministry, following the first day vaccination few common and adverse reactions were reported, which includes headache, nausea and injection site tenderness/pain.

These reactions are common for all other vaccination, said the Ministry.

"All the adverse reactions reported across the nation were reviewed by the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG)," it added.

The Ministry also informed the public that, a separate vaccination program will be arranged for elderly people above 70 years and physically challenged individuals who cannot walk.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tshering reminded the nation that while Covid-19 vaccination remained key to opening the country and getting things back on track, relaxations, including quarantine protocols and duration, would be seen only after administering the second dose of the vaccine.

The second dose of the vaccination program is scheduled eight to 12 weeks from now, according to the Prime Minister.

Bhutan has so far reported 871 confirmed coronavirus cases, with one death and 867 recoveries.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
James M. Cote "Mr. Cote is admitted to practice before all Massachusetts courts, the United States District Court, and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts."

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The Haute Lawyer Network, well known for its exclusive and luxurious lifestyle publication Haute Living, is privileged to present Mr. James M. Cote as a member and expert in his field.

Haute Lawyer offers a prominent collective of leading attorneys. The invitation-only network features only two lawyers per market. This partnership allows Haute Lawyer to connect its affluent readers with industry-leading attorneys in their area.

ABOUT JAMES M. COTE

James M. Cote attended High School at St. Johns Preparatory School in Danvers, MA, and received his Bachelors Degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Boston College in 1987 and his Juris Doctor Degree, Cum Laude, from Boston College Law School in 1990. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Cote became associated with the law firm of Russell, Plummer & Rutherford in Boston practicing in the areas of real estate, taxation, estate planning, and probate administration.

In 1992, Mr. Cote joined the law firm of Plunkett & Plunkett in Salem where he practiced in the areas of residential and commercial real estate law, litigation and estate planning, and probate administration. In 1994, Mr. Cote, along with Daniel J. Casey, formed Cote & Casey, a general practice law firm, where he practiced in residential and commercial real estate conveyancing, family law, land use, litigation, business law, divorce and family law, and estate planning and probate administration.

On April 1, 2011, Mr. Cote formed Cote Law Offices where he continues to maintain a general and diverse practice. Mr. Cote is admitted to practice before all Massachusetts courts, the United States District Court, and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. Mr. Cote resides with his wife and two daughters in Danvers, Massachusetts.

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The Osun State Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality, Human Rights Violations and Related Extra-Judiciary Killings, has concluded its hearing.

The chairman, Akin Oladimeji, a retired judge, said Friday that all the 34 petitions received by the panel were considered.

Mr Oladimeji said the panel, which is one of those set up by various state governments and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the aftermath of last years #EndSARS protest, struck out 11 of the 34 petitions due to incompetence or lack of diligence prosecution.

A post on the Facebook page of the Office of CPS, Osun State, stated that Mr Oladimeji spoke with journalists after Fridays proceedings.

He said the panels report would be ready by the end of April or early May.

The panel chairman added that the petitioners deserving of compensation would be invited by the panel after the submission of the recommendations to the state government for implementation.

He said: We have concluded all the cases before us. As you know, 34 petitions were filed to us and we are winding up today (Friday) to go and review evidence and submission of counsel before we proceed to make recommendations to the government.

Out of the 34 petitions, 11 of them were struck out due to incompetence or lack of diligence prosecution.

The other 23 cases, parties gave evidence in them, and counsel(s) represented the parties too. Their lawyers made final submissions and we have concluded all the cases.

We will invite the petitioners after we have presented our recommendations to the (state) government who is solely responsible for the payment of the compensations to give them their compensations.

As we all know, the recommendations must be in line with the financial capacity of the government, and I can assure you that we are going to make our recommendations to the governor before the end of April or early May.

We shall do everything possible to ensure that whoever has been injured gets remedy, and that no petitioner shall go unjustified.

Petitioner weeps over husbands death

Meanwhile, a petitioner, Kafayat Ibitoye, burst into tears while narrating her ordeal over the alleged killing of her husband, Abdul-Akeem Ibitoye, in 2017.

She said she approached the panel to seek justice for the gruesome killing of her husband by police officers in 2017 at Erin-Osun, Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State.

According to Mrs Ibitoye, the untimely death of her spouse forced her to withdraw her three kids from a private school for a public school and resort to bread hawking.

The mother of three urged the panel to award N50 million compensation for the killing of her husband whom she said was the breadwinner of her family.

She said, It is unfortunate that I find myself in this situation. As was established in the court, my husband was killed unjustly. He was murdered by police who out of overzealousness fired gunshots at him and his elder brother where they went to.

Since his demise, I have been carrying the financial burdens up and down. I had to withdraw my children from private school to public school when I couldnt afford the tuition fees.

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She also said her deceased husbands corpse had not been seen since his killing.

But she said with the recent order of the panel for the release of the corpse, it would be complied with that day (Friday).
Canberra, March 29 : The approval rating of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has fallen to a 12-month low amid allegations of misogyny and harassment in the government, a new poll revealed on Monday.

According to the latest Newspoll published by The Australian newspaper, Morrison's approval rating has fallen from 62 per cent in mid-March to 55 per cent, while the percentage of voters dissatisfied with his performance rose from 34 per cent to 40 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

It marks the first time in more than a year that Morrison's approval rating has fallen below 60 per cent.

The opposition Labor Party leads Morrison's coalition 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis.

However, Morrison has maintained a comfortable lead over Labor leader Anthony Albanese.

Fifty-two per cent of respondents to the poll identified Morrison as the better leader, down from 56 per cent earlier in March, compared to 32 per cent for Albanese.

The poll was taken as Morrison faced severe backlash over his response to the sexual assault crisis that has engulfed the federal government.

The crisis began in February when former government staffer Brittany Higgins went public with allegations that she was raped by a colleague in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in March 2019.

Both Reynolds and Attorney-General Christian Porter, who has been accused of a historical rape which he has denied, spent much of March on medical leave and are facing demotions from their high-level ministerial portfolios.

Government MP Andrew Laming recently announced he would quit politics at the next election after he was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards women.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Laming's inappropriate behaviour was "absolutely unacceptable".
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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.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:15:50|Editor: huaxia

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Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of the 27th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese national lawmakers on Monday deliberated draft amendments to Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The two annexes concern the method for the selection of the HKSAR Chief Executive and the method for the formation of the HKSAR Legislative Council and its voting procedures, respectively.

The draft amendments were submitted to a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which opened on Monday, for deliberation.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the first plenary meeting of the session on Monday afternoon. It was attended by 167 members of the NPC Standing Committee.

The draft amendments were put forward by the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, following a decision made by the NPC earlier this month on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR.

Shen Chunyao, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, explained the drafts to the lawmakers at the session.

The session also deliberated other personnel matters. Enditem
OTTAWA - The conditions for a brawl appear to be set after Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez announced that he will testify at a parliamentary committee about the now-dead WE deal on Monday, rather than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or members of his staff.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves West Block on Parliament Hill to participate in a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, Friday, March 12, 2021. The federal Conservatives are demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or senior members of his staff appear before a parliamentary committee on Monday, as opposition parties continue digging into the Liberal government's now-dead deal with WE Charity to run a student grant program last summer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - The conditions for a brawl appear to be set after Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez announced that he will testify at a parliamentary committee about the now-dead WE deal on Monday, rather than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or members of his staff.

In a letter to the chair of the House of Commons ethics committee on Sunday, Rodriguez said that one of Trudeau's senior advisers had been instructed not to appear before the committee  and that he will be attending in his place.

"Staff are not elected members of the House, they do not have the same rights and privileges as MPs. Calling staff to testify at committee is at odds with the long-standing principle of ministerial responsibility," Rodriguez said in a letter to committee chair Chris Warkentin.

"Accordingly, Mr. Rick Theis, director of policy to the prime minister, has been instructed to not appear before the committee. In his place, I will attend the meeting on behalf of the government."

The letter represents the latest round of bickering between opposition parties and the Liberals over a Conservative-sponsored motion passed by the House of Commons last week calling for Theis and other members of Trudeau's staff to testify before the committee.

The motion also called Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's former chief of staff to appear at the defence committee to shed light on how the Liberals handled sexual misconduct allegations against the previous commander of the Canadian Armed Forces, Gen. Jonathan Vance.

Rodriguez had indicated on Friday that the Liberals would ignore the motion, accusing the Conservatives of trying to intimidate political staff and arguing that ministers are ultimately responsible for those who work for them.

The motion, passed with support from opposition parties, had indicated that Trudeau's staff could ignore the request to appear if the prime minister himself attended.

Hours before Rodriguez sent his letter to Warkentin, Conservative MPs Pierre Poilievre and Michael Barrett said if Trudeau's staff would not appear to answer the ethics committee's questions, then the prime minister himself must appear.

"If Trudeau staffers can't testify, then he can," Poilievre said during a news conference on Parliament Hill.

"We ask him to testify for no less than four hours before the ethics committee in person. ...He can answer why his staff were engaged in a long string of correspondence with the WE brothers about setting up programs and grants of taxpayer money."

Poilievre and Barrett did not say what measures opposition parties could or would take if the Liberals ignore the motion, and instead painted the issue as one of honouring the will of Parliament.

Barrett later blasted Rodriguez's plan to attend the committee meeting instead, noting that the motion passed by a majority of MPs in Parliament specifically named Trudeau and his staff.

"Nowhere does it include any reference to the government House leader," he added.

"For over a week, the Liberals have used the excuse that ministers should testify before the committee. The key players in Trudeau's WE scandal work for the prime minister, not the government House Leader."

Rodriguez's spokesman Mark Kennedy defended the government's decision to have the House leader appear instead of the prime minister.

"It was the government House leader that led the government's response last week to the Opposition motion to force staff members to appear at committee," Kennedy said in an email.

"He will represent the government at the ethics committee tomorrow. Ministers have collective responsibility for the actions of those throughout government."

While prime ministers don't usually testify before committees, Trudeau did appear at the finance committee in July to answer questions about his government's decision last year to have WE run a multimillion-dollar student volunteer program.

WE later backed out of the $543-million agreement following questions and concerns about its close ties to members of the prime minister's family, before the Canada Student Services Grant program was cancelled entirely.

The Liberals and WE co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger have insisted that it was non-partisan civil servants who came up with the idea of having the Toronto-based organization run the grant program.

But the Conservatives have held up some of the thousands of email exchanges and other documents released by the government in August, after Trudeau testified, as evidence the arrangement was directed by the Liberals.

Those include a message from Craig Kielburger in which the younger Kielburger brother appears to thank one of Trudeau's senior advisers, Ben Chin, for having helped shape the student-grant program.

Craig Kielburger told the ethics committee two weeks ago that Chin had no direct involvement, and the message was one of dozens an assistant sent as Kielburger sought to expand his LinkedIn network. Chin is one of those the Conservatives want to testify before the committee.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.
A devastated family are fighting for screening measures to be rolled out in Queensland after their baby girl was diagnosed with a deadly disease.

Little Oakley Gough's life could have been very different if she lived in New South Wales, where babies are tested for a rare condition called Spinal Muscular Astrophy.

If detected at birth, a baby with SMA can be treated and go on to live a relatively normal life.

But the five-month-old was not diagnosed immediately as she was born in the Sunshine State, and the damaging symptoms had already set in - leaving her relying on a ventilator and feeding tube to stay alive.

Now her parents Kate and Grant have launched a petition demanding the state government introduce a $10 newborn heel prick test to help save other children.

Kate and Grant Gough (pictured with their daughters Arabella, two, and Oakley, five months) have launched a petition calling on the Queensland government to fund Spinal Muscular Atrophy heel prick tests for newborns

'We were gutted,' Ms Gough told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are originally from NSW so Oakleys life could have been completely different if we lived a couple of hours south.'

'To learn that the knowledge, science and evidence all exist to provide newborn screening and presymptomatic treatment, yet this isnt currently happening in Queensland, just broke our hearts.'

SMA is a rare infantile version of motor neurone disease that causes muscle weakness and respiratory failure.

Motor neurons, nerve cells that send electrical outputs to muscles, then decay, and muscles waste away, eventually resulting in death.

Oakley has SMA type 1, the most severe form of the disease, which most sufferers do not survive past the age of two.

When she was born, the doting parents were told she was a perfectly healthy little girl, only to find out weeks later she had a fatal disease and, without treatment, would not make it to six-months old.

'We have been told that Oakley wont walk and it is unlikely that she will be able to come off the machines she requires for both feeding and breathing support,' Ms Gough said.

'Our greatest fear is that her precious little life is cut tragically short and that she wont get to live a long and healthy life like babies do just south of the border.

Oakley Gough was recently diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, leaving the infant reliant on a feeding tube and breathing machine

'If Oakley does live a life longer that a few years it will be very tough for her, both physically and emotionally.'

In a cruel contrast, a little girl with the same name was born in NSW just three months earlier and is thriving after receiving early treatment.

Oakley Atkins, from the Hunter Valley, was diagnosed with SMA at one-week-old after being given a heel prick test.

Her parents Karah McLeod and Jack Atkins said their little girl is now doing extremely well and meeting major milestones.

The Goughs, who connected with the Atkins after learning about their similar circumstances, said they had never heard of SMA and do not have any family history.

They are now focusing their energy into bring about change to ensure other families do not have to suffer the same heartbreak.

'We aren't doing it for us, we are doing it for the next family that has absolutely no idea what's about to hit them,' Mr Gough said.

NSW currently tests newborns for SMA unlike Queensland. If diagnosed early, babies with SMA can be treated and live relatively normal lives

The estimated cost for the Queensland government to add SMA to the newborn screening test would be $640,000 each year - or $10 per baby.

Once the irreversible symptoms take effect, parents desperate to save their children are often forced to fork out millions of dollars for life-prolonging drugs, which are typically only accessible overseas.

A spokesperson for Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told Sunrise the states health department was 'still assessing the trials'.

'With medical treatments constantly evolving, we will always look at new technologies if it means better health outcomes for Queensland children,' they said.

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support the Goughs and cover treatment as they work to raise $3.3million for gene therapy to give Oakley the best quality of life possible.

So far, the fundraiser has reached $41,815 of its $150,000 goal as the community rallies around the Brisbane family.

'While our hearts have been broken, they have also been warmed over and over by the amazing amount of support, kindness and generosity weve received from our family and friends,' Ms Gough wrote.

'We are thankful to not be in this fight alone.'
STOCKHOLM, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quant Service Peru S.A.C. ("Quant Peru") has signed a six-year maintenance service contract with Pesquera Exalmar S.A.A. ("Exalmar"), a leading company in the fishing industry in Peru, for maintenance execution at multiple plants dedicated to the production of fishmeal and fish oil for indirect human consumption. With more than 35 years of experience, Exalmar participates in the extraction, capture, processing, and commercialization of high-quality marine products with high protein value. Quant estimates that the contract revenue totals EUR 12-14 million per year for five years, after the initial year of reviewing the current maintenance operations. In its quarterly report for the first quarter of 2021, Quant will increase its contract portfolio value with EUR 12 million.

Exalmar and Quant Peru signed a six-year maintenance service contract for the Chicama, Chimbote, Huacho, Callao and Tambo de Mora plants in Peru, and Exalmar's fishing fleet. Quant has established a legal presence in Peru in connection with the signing of a letter of intent for this contract and the country belongs to the Americas region. During the first year of the contract, starting 1 December 2020, Quant will review the current maintenance operations and prepare for full responsibility for maintenance execution. Starting in 2022, Quant will be fully responsible for maintenance execution.

"The last three years of growth for Exalmar has led to a demand for increased manufacturing capabilities. Aware of this challenge, the company decided to professionalize the management of its assets in order to optimize the availability of plant and fleet, reduce and control maintenance spending, and commit to a safety campaign to reach zero accidents. The value proposition offered by Quant includes these initiatives in a contract to execute maintenance and management of equipment of five plants producing fishmeal and fish oil for indirect human consumption, and twenty-four fishing boats", says Rolando Pinto, Business Development Manager Quant Peru.

Stockholm, 29 March 2021

Quant AB (publ)

For further information, please contact:

Maximiliano Aqueveque

SVP Region Manager Americas: +56 9 92995544

Andre Stromgren

CFO: +46 708 410 796

E-mail: ir@quantservice.com

Quant AB (publ) is a global leader in industrial maintenance. For over 30 years, we have been realizing the full potential of maintenance for our customers. From embedding superior safety practices and building a true maintenance culture, to optimizing maintenance cost and improving plant performance, our people make the difference. We are passionate about maintenance and proud of ensuring we achieve our customers' goals in the most professional way. The group operates internationally in close to 20 countries world-wide, employing more than 2,400 people. The parent company is located in Stockholm, Sweden.

Quant AB (publ) is privately held by Nordic Capital since 2014. For additional information about the group, please visit www.quantservice.com.

This information is information that Quant is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 07:00 CET on 29 March 2021.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/quant-ab/r/quant-signs-contract-with-exalmar-in-peru,c3315563

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/17752/3315563/1393775.pdf Press release - Quant signs a contract with Exalmar in Peru

SOURCE Quant AB
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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.

###
These dont get easier the more you do them, every one of them is different because we usually have a different product mix and a different number of volunteers. All those variables make them all different, Keane said. All of the food banks have kind of adapted to the changes and increases the best that we can and were always trying to find where the food insecurities are. We kind of take the cards we are dealt.
A gunman has been arrested after the Everglades National Park was put under lockdown over reports of an 'active shooter'.

Florida police were searching for a long-haired white man, 33, after gunshots were reported on Sunday evening.

There are no reports of injuries or fatalities.

Everglades National Park closed just after 8pm and warned people nearby to 'shelter in place' as police hunt for the gunman.

'Active shooter incident happening at Everglades NP,' Everglades National Park shared on Twitter.

'Main park road (SR 9336) closed for public safety. Visitors/residents in Flamingo should shelter in place.'
Sigler, Willie

Willie Joe Sigler, 72, of Paducah, passed away on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at Baptist Health Paducah.

Willie became a member of Lebanon United Methodist Church during his youth. The words Scholar, Soldier, Craftsman are carved on his headstone and summarize his life. He was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle. He was a 1966 graduate of Paducah Tilghman High School and a 1971 graduate of Murray State University where he earned the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts in College Teaching, and Specialist in College Teaching in areas of Geography and Political Science. During the Cold War, Willie was a member of the reserve components of the United States Army and the Kentucky Army National Guard and was a Naval Aviation Officer Candidate in the United States Navy. During his almost twelve year military career, Willie was on Active Duty for training for a total of 28 months which included the Russian Language program at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Willie also attended intelligence schools in Arizona, Texas and Maryland during his military career. Upon returning home from the language school, Willie prayed the Lords Prayer in Russian in four of the annual Pentecost community programs presented by the Paducah Cooperative Ministry. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Willie was the financial clerk for client assistance with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Willie was a journeyman electrician licensed by the City of Paducah, Kentucky, and completed the last three decades of his electrical career in the Power Operations Department of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and was an essential employee at the plant during the COVID-19 PANDEMIC and was a COVID-19 SURVIVOR.

Willie is survived by three sons, Timothy Joe Sigler and wife, Tonya, Jeffrey Michael Sigler and Daniel Adam Sigler all of Paducah; a sister, Mary Yarbrough of Sheridan, Illinois; a brother, Robert Sigler of Cudjoe Key, Florida; his companion, Janet Free of Dyersburg, Tennessee; several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 42 years, Jeanne Louise Parks Sigler. His parents were, Robert Henry Sigler and Rubye Louise Collins Sigler.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2021 at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah with Rev. John Smithmier officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. until the service hour of 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2021 at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to St. Vincent de Paul Society P.O. Box 8433 Paducah, KY 42002 or to Paducah Cooperative Ministry 402 Legion Dr. Paducah, KY 42003.

https://siglerfamilytree.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/willie-joe-sigler/

We appreciate your help in maintaining state mandated Covid restrictions. This includes wearing a mask and maintaining the minimum six feet of distancing within our facility at all times.

During this difficult time of Covid, you may show your support by joining the Hugs from Home program by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, 2021 where your message will be attached to a balloon in the chapel to remind the family of your love and support. Please go to www.milnerandorr.com to send a hug.

You may leave a message of sympathy and light a candle at www.milnerandorr.com
He added that he expects that both projects beginning costs will be paid by the new federal money before NICTD, the state, and the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority begin drawing down the previously approved federal, state and local funds.
The number of people in Australia declined in the September quarter last year, the first such occurrence since before 1916.

Estimates released last week by the Australia Bureau of Statistics revealed that the countrys population dropped by 4,239 to 25,693,059 in the three months to September 2020. By comparison, in the 19 years to March 2020, Australias population grew by an average of 84,165 each quarter.

Population growth is typically second-highest in the September quarter, so the year-on-year decline was actually higher, at 111,022.

The Centre for Population, established in 2019 under the treasury department, predicts that the nations population will grow by just 0.2 percent in the year to July 2021, a dramatic reduction from the annual average of 1.7 percent over the last decade.

The immediate cause is the dramatic reduction in immigration as a result of COVID-19 border restrictions. But natural increase, defined as the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths in a given period, also fell over the quarter, continuing a decline that has been underway since 2012.

Immigration has been the primary driver of Australias increasing population for most of the last 20 years and was the source of 64 percent of the countrys growth in the year to March 2020.

Net Overseas Migration (NOM) is expected to remain negative until at least 2022-2023, based on estimates released in December, when the federal governments vaccine roll out promised to allow a relaxation of international border restrictions by the end of October 2021. With the vaccine roll out in a shambles and far behind target, the forecast may not be met.

This presents a major problem for the Australian economy, which for decades has relied heavily on population growth as a driver of productivity. Since 1991, the countrys population growth has exceeded the overall OECD figure in all but one year, and in 2019 the Australian figure of 1.52 percent was almost three times the OECD number of 0.54 percent.

Australias rapid population growth has masked economic downturns. While the country had only five quarters of negative GDP growth between 1991 and 2018, per-capita GDP fell in 21 quarters over the same period.

International students are the largest cohort of migrants, making up more than 30 percent of net overseas migration. According to data from the Department of Home Affairs, 189,477 visas were granted to higher education students in the 12 months to June 2019.

Overall university operating revenues fell by $1.8 billion last year, in part due to the lack of international students, and are set to plunge another $2 billion in 2021. International students are forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars in up front fees, and have been treated as cash cows by governments and university managements for decades amid continuous cuts to funding for the sector.

With the sharp fall in international student numbers, university managements, with the backing of the unions, responded last year by slashing as many as 90,000 jobs and intensifying a protracted assault on staff wages and conditions.

The governments Higher Education Relief Package, announced in response to the COIVD-19 pandemic, did nothing to replace the $4.6 billion shortfall in international student tuition fees as students were either prohibited from entering the country or forced to leave by the Liberal-National governments refusal to provide them with any financial support.

Instead, the pandemic was exploited to bring forward a major restructuring of higher education aimed at further subordinating Australias universities to the immediate vocational needs of big business and the state.

The overall economic impact is much larger than the fall in tuition fees, however. In 2018-19, international students were worth at least $38 billion to the Australian economy, making education the countrys fourth-largest export.

Over 500,000 temporary visa holders left Australia between March 2020 and February 2021 as a result of the widespread destruction of jobs and the fact that they were denied the JobKeeper wage subsidy and JobSeeker welfare payments throughout the pandemic.

This exodus has created havoc in industries, such as horticulture, that have come to rely on a steady stream of backpackers, students, and other migrant workers who are at once desperate for funds and subject to draconian restrictions on where and how much they are allowed to work. These workers are frequently on sub-poverty level wages or are paid in kind with food and boarding, and have been subjected to brutal mistreatment.

According to horticulture peak body Growcom, a shortage of 26,000 seasonal workers has cost the industry $45 million in unharvested crops over the last six months.

In a stark example of the irrationality of capitalist production, this supposed labour shortage comes in circumstances where almost two million Australian workers are unemployed, and hundreds of thousands more are likely to be thrown on the scrapheap as JobKeeper ends this week.

The ruling elite has argued that JobKeeper and the JobSeeker supplement must end in order to force unemployed city-dwellers to take up poorly-paid, short-term work in rural areas. The Morrison government has floated cutting welfare recipients off their benefits if they do not make the move. Other solutions it has advanced to the supposed labour shortage include quarantine exemptions for seasonal Pacific Islander workers.

The only solution not on the table is decent pay and long-term stable employment.

In recognition of the economic imperative to not only resume, but accelerate, the importation of migrants for super-exploitative, cheap labour, a federal Joint Standing Committee on Migration has issued an interim report insisting that the COVID-19 crisis must not be allowed to go to waste.

The report said: Now is the time to attract highly talented individuals and businesses to Australia. This is an opportunity we will never get again and we need to ensure Australia gets those settings right.

In other words, the unprecedented restructuring of the Australian workforce, carried out with the backing of Labor and the unions under the pretext of the pandemic, must be intensified.

The report called for the repeal of multiple restrictions on the recruitment of overseas workers, including requirements for jobs to be advertised locally and offered to the unemployed. Under the recommendations, employers would no longer be required to contribute to the Skilling Australia Fund, which supports trainees and apprentices. Places on repatriation flights and in quarantine hotels would be reserved for migrant workers while the international border remains closed.

The Labor opposition, which supports the pro-business overhaul of the economy, has responded to the report with nationalist denunciations. Speaking on the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Insiders program on March 21, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Kristina Keneally objected to the almost laughable report on the grounds that accepting its recommendations would leave Australian workers behind.

Keneally declared that this government has let temporary migration soar to historically high levels, and that has had an effect on the ability, particularly of young Australians, to get into the workforce.

Workers and young people should reject this with the contempt that it deserves. Labor and the unions are promoting nationalism to divert attention for their own responsibility for the social crisis. Both have presided over the destruction of hundreds of thousands of jobs and the closure of entire industries, to boost the profits of the corporate elite. This has led to the casualisation of the workforce, and has created a situation where all workers, migrant and non-migrant, are compelled to compete for an ever-decreasing number of full-time jobs.

Labors nationalist rhetoric is aimed at preventing a unified struggle by the working class against the corporate offensive, which it fully supports. Its purpose is to divide workers along national lines, and to scapegoat foreign workers for the mounting social hardships confronting all sections of the working class.

The fight against inequality and the corporate onslaught on jobs, wages and conditions, can only go forward on the basis of an internationalist perspective, aimed at uniting every section of workers in a struggle for their common class interests.

This must include the demand that all workers, wherever they are from, have the right to live, work and study in Australia, or anywhere else, with full citizenship rights and with decent wages and conditions, as a fundamental democratic right.
From the end of the eruption on the 8 December at around 07:15 local time, till the 9 December at 09:00 local time, 27 volcano tectonic earthquakes were recorded at 900 m of elevation, 1700 m below the western rim of the summit crater (named the Dolomieu crater). Except this remaining seismic activity, conditions seem to come back to normal. Notably, gas emissions are back to pre-eruptive levels (ground CO2 fluxes are stable and SO2 emissions near the summit are small). ...
Abuja  Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country have moved for greater stake in the economy in a bid to improve their contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Speaking at the first strategic planning meeting of the Forum of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Business Membership Organisations (FOMSBON) in Abuja at the weekend, its Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Dr. Albert Akinyemi observed that globally, MSMEs are regarded as the engine of economic growth.

He, however, regretted that in Nigeria, the reverse was the case as the sub-sector is renowned only for its marginal contribution to the national economy, expressing the need to change the ugly trend.

He said: "There is need for us to change the ugly story. That is why the Forum of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Business Membership Organisations has come on board.

"The organisation is aimed at institutionalising the MSMEs' sub-sector in Nigeria as it has been done in in the developed economies of the world, where MSMEs as a discipline is being taught in the Universities, has a say in the parliament with a database for projection and planning with high priority for adequate research."

Akinyemi noted that it was important for both public and private sectors to join hands in evolving enduring solutions to the seemingly intractable MSMEs' economic problems, adding: "Our togetherness would give us formidable strength. This is because a house divided against itself cannot stand.

"Much as the government may want to render help for the MSMEs operators through the provision of policies and regulations that would be favourable for the growth and development of the MSMEs sub-sector in Nigeria, however, we must first put our house in order.

"Though informal sector, we believe we should formalise our orientation in a way that will allow the public sector see seriousness in our operations."

In his remarks at the meeting, the Director-General, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMDC), Prof. Husseini Doko Ibrahim, assured of his organisation's continued support and assistance to enable FOMBSON achieve its objectives.

Ibrahim, who was represented by RMDC's Director, Industrial Extension Services, Dr. Bayo Olugbemi disclosed that the Council has provided a fully-equipped ultra-modern secretariat for FOMSBON.

He stated that most of the programmes of the RMDC were geared towards supporting the MSMEs, adding that there are no fewer than 34 of such strategic projects.



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Several industry groups, including the American Booksellers Association and the Authors Guild, have said the Simon & Schuster deal could destabilize the industry and leave authors with fewer opportunities. Critics of the deal have also noted that consolidation often leads to more consolidation, as smaller companies try to bulk up to compete.

Some analysts have warned that within a decade or so, the industry may be left with only two big publishing companies  Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, which is the second-largest trade publisher.

Increasingly, the two of them are going to be competing for all the big books, because theyre going to be the only ones who can afford to, said Mike Shatzkin, the founder and chief executive of Idea Logical, a publishing consultancy. The remaining publishers, he added, are going to find it harder and harder to keep acquiring the kind of high-profile new titles that make a big publisher a big publisher.

The sale of Houghton Mifflin will further transform the publishing landscape when the industry has been severely affected by the pandemic. Publishers have seen a huge shift to online retail, with e-commerce giants like Amazon and big-box stores like Target and Walmart gaining an even greater share of book sales, while many independent bookstores have struggled. At the same time, as more people have turned to books for entertainment during lockdown, publishers benefited from a surge in sales. Revenues in 2020 climbed to $8.6 billion, an increase of nearly 10 percent, according to the Association of American Publishers, which tracks revenue from about 1,360 publishers.

By acquiring a midsize trade publisher, HarperCollins, a global publisher that has more than 120 imprints and publishes 10,000 new books a year, will gain an even larger backlist. HarperCollins will also take over Houghton Mifflins warehouse facility in Indiana, giving it a bigger distribution footprint.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin made the extraordinary offer a few weeks back to debate President Biden, he set only one condition. He insisted that the debate be live. Now we know why.
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Additional funding is being freed up to help farmers weather the ebbs and flows synonymous with their industry.

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Additional funding is being freed up to help farmers weather the ebbs and flows synonymous with their industry.

Last week, the federal and provincial governments announced the elimination of reference margin limits in the AgriStability program.

The change affects how eligibility and benefits for the risk management tool are calculated, but ultimate means "theres a better chance of triggering a payment."

So described Keystone Agricultural Producers president Bill Campbell, who while fuzzy on the programs nuances knows its a win for farmers.

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau clarified via tweet that it amounts to approximately $95 million more per year in farmers pockets, and will be backdated retroactively to include 2020.

"Hopefully it will be beneficial to those who need it and have dealt with COVID and market disruption," Campbell said, adding while he considers the announcement a win, it wasnt as great a victory as farmers were striving toward.

In addition to eliminating the reference margin limit, farmers advocated for a compensation rate increase to 80 per cent from the current 70 per cent.

Although the federal government was on board, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta failed to reach an agreement.

The programs expenses are cost-shared, with the federal government covering 60 per cent and the provinces handling the 40 per cent balance.

The nature of input costs and how reference margin limits were calculated disproportionately affected cow/calf operations, which is why Carson Callum said last weeks news offered a boost to the industry.

The Manitoba Beef Producers general manager said the change makes the program "more equitable and responsive to poor production years where you take a margin hit," and requires a less drastic financial hit before the program is triggered.

"Prices are so volatile with the impacts of the overall market," he said, "especially with COVID  Its kind of all over the place, but the overall production year in 2020 was better than the previous few before."

Market volatility is an ongoing concern.

"I dont have that crystal ball in front of me, but COVID and other things in the market are still making prices fluctuate quite a bit," he said.

"The main worry is always moisture in the ag sector, and right now we have too little of it. Were still a few good rains from getting into better shape, but right now its looking pretty dry out there."

Campbell shared a similar sentiment  that moisture remains an ongoing concern in Westman.

"Weve probably got four weeks to make sure we have adequate moisture to get forage establishment and the grass growing," he said, adding farmers will need timely rains after that.

Although he said Keystone Agricultural Producers has their eyes trained on a number of regulatory changes coming down the pike, a silver lining to come out of the pandemic and the food shortages that came during its earliest days is that people are becoming more intentional about where their food comes from.

"Theres a bit more awareness of it, but I think its been taken for granted in the last generation," he said.

"We need to ensure we have that food security and producers producing food because I think most of the worlds revolutions and wars have been more about religion and food than anything else."

The deadline to enrol in the AgriStability has been extended two months to June 30.

A Manitoba Beef Producers release issued last week encouraged farmers to "evaluate this business risk management option to best determine how it fits into their operations in terms of mitigating against risk."

 tclarke@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
World should take tougher action against junta



It is shocking and heartbreaking to hear that an increasing number of Myanmar's people were killed in the military's brutal suppression of pro-democracy protests. According to Myanmar's local media, 114 were shot dead on Saturday alone during anti-coup demonstrations across the Southeast Asian country. This represented the largest daily number of deaths since the military junta took power through a coup Feb. 1.



More sadly, the bloody suppression even claimed the lives of children. Myanmar media reported four children aged between five and 15 were shot dead Saturday. The scene of a one-year-old baby with a bandage on her eye after being shot with a rubber bullet by the military angered people not only in Myanmar but also around the world.



According to human rights groups like the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring the incidents, the number of people killed by the military since Feb. 1 has reached 423. March 27 was "Resistance Day"  a day on which Myanmar marked the struggle against Japan's occupation of the country in 1945. The military rebadged the day as "Armed Forces Day" after taking power in 1962.



The military's chief commander Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said in a TV speech he would not tolerate any violent acts that undermine safety and security, heralding a bloodier suppression of the protesters.



Myanmar's local media reported more than 209 children have fallen victim over the past two months since the February coup. The international community has been threatening further pressures and sanctions, but to no avail; Myanmar has very low reliance on outside economy.



China is wielding huge influence over the nation, accounting for 40 percent of its external trade. China and Russia should play their roles as responsible members of the United Nations Security Council, rather than standing in the way of the U.N.'s attempts to protect the people of Myanmar.



Defense chiefs from 12 countries including South Korea issued a joint statement Sunday, condemning the military for using violence against the protesters. "We condemn the use of lethal means against unarmed people by the Myanmar Armed Forces and associated security service," the statement reads.



Korean citizens, reminded of the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, have been showing support for the people of Myanmar through a range of activities. The government should also join forces and impose additional sanctions, though it had already put in place sanctions prohibiting exports of military goods to Myanmar's military.



POSCO International and Myanmar POSCO C&C have been under criticism for having maintained cooperative ties with Myanmar's military. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Myanmar's provisional government, has called on POSCO International to cease its gas field project in Myanmar, claiming the money from the business has been funneled into the military. In response, POSCO International said it will make a decision in consideration of diverse factors like the impact of the project on Myanmar and the safety of company employees.






Military analyst Alexander Artamonov, who last month interviewed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev among several journalists, shared his impressions of this and other meetings in Baku. In an hour-long conversation on the Day TV channel, Artamonov touched upon virtually the entire spectrum of problems of the post-war settlement of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh.

He calculated that during the Second Karabakh War, Ilham Aliyev spoke about peace 23 times, while Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan never.

Today, according to Artamonov, Baku intends to build its relations with Yerevan and even talk about the return of ethnic Armenians to the territory of Azerbaijan. At the same time, about 35 thousand Armenians now live on the territory of Azerbaijan, who do not feel any pressure on themselves. "Azerbaijan is not ready to forgive the Khojaly tragedy, but people do not want a conflict with Armenia. I did not notice aggressive symbols in Baku," Artamonov said.

However, according to the expert, Yerevan is not ready to sign a peace treaty. Now on the territory of Armenia there are employees of Western intelligence services, including the French, who are trying to "muddy the waters", and "extremist groups sent from Western Europe are pursuing the goal of fanning the conflict."

Azerbaijan does not want to fight, does not want anything but peace. He sees himself as a regional force, equidistant from major centers of influence; is not included in any military bloc. Demonstrating this equidistance, Ilham Aliyev held a press conference for about four hours in four languages - Azerbaijani, Turkish, English and Russian. By the way, speaking about military cooperation, the President of Azerbaijan said that Russian weapons are the best in the world, and the army construction in the country follows the Turkish model.

Alexander Artamonov drew attention to the fact that today Azerbaijan hopes that Armenia will provide it with maps of minefields. However, the expert expressed doubt that Yerevan would provide these maps to Baku, since during the hostilities there was a "terrorist planting of mines", in particular, the bodies of servicemen were mined. Armenian sappers are not going to clear the territories themselves. Considering these problems, it may take about 20 years for the complete demining of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the expert's assessment.
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The skies above an Indonesian village erupted into a raging inferno this morning following an explosion at one of the country's biggest oil refineries.

Firefighters have battled to control the flames at the Balongan refinery in West Java since the early hours of this morning.

Plumes of thick black smoke have been seen towering into the sky from the refinery, which produces 125,000 barrels a day and is operated by state oil company Pertamina.

At least five people have been seriously injured, with 15 other suffering less serious injuries and emergency services are currently searching for three other people.

The skies above an Indonesian village erupted into a raging inferno this morning following an explosion at the Balongan refinery in West Java

Firefighters have battled to control the flames at the Balongan refinery in West Java since the early hours of this morning

Flames tear into the skies above the Balongan oil refinery in Indonesia following a massive explosion at the site. The cause of the explosion is not yet known but it is believed to have taken place during an eletrical storm

Plumes of thick black smoke have been seen towering into the sky from the refinery, which produces 125,000 barrels a day and is operated by state oil company Pertamina

One person died from a heart attack following the refinery explosion, according to the local disaster agency.

Emergency services worked to temporarily relocate around 1,000 local residents from the area to two evacuation centres as the fire broke out.

In a statement, Pertamina's president director Nicke Widyawati said: 'To prevent the fire from spreading we've shut down operations ... and are putting our efforts into handling the blaze.'

Nicke also said that while efforts to put the blaze out were ongoing, the fire had been contained to a small area.

The cause of the fire was not clear, but the company said the blaze broke out around midnight during a lightning storm and that there had been heavy rain at the time of the massive explosion.

At least five people have been seriously injured, with 15 other suffering less serious injuries and emergency services are currently searching for three other people

Emergency services worked to temporarily relocate around 1,000 local residents from the area to two evacuation centres as the fire broke out

An aerial photograph captures the scale of the smoke tower rising from the oil refinery in Balongan following an explosion

The cause of the fire was not clear, but the company said the blaze broke out around midnight during a lightning storm and that there had been heavy rain at the time of the massive explosion

Police confirmed to Reuters that the West Java police would be involved in the investigation into the explosion.

Pertamina said it did not expect the fire to cause fuel supply disruptions due to the high volume of stock it has on hand and the company's director Mulyono said the firm hopes to restore operations at the refinery within four or five days.

The sprawling refinery is about 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of the capital Jakarta and processes crude oil from the Duri and Minas fields in Riau province and supplies fuel to the capital and the western regions of Java island.

Pertamina will use fuel from its other refineries in Cilacap and Tuban to help provide supplies to Jakarta while Balongan is shut, Mulyono said.

A pillar of thick black smoke can be seen towering into the sky above the oil refinery this morning as firefighters continue to try and put the fierce flames out

Pictured: Indonesian military personnel stand guard along a road near to the Pertamina oil refinery in Balongan this morning as emergency services continue to tackle the blaze
A law firm linked to the case of 12 Hong Kong activists jailed in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong has announced it will shut down, while one of the defense attorneys who spoke out about the case has been issued with a travel ban, RFA has learned.



Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu both had their licenses to practise law revoked earlier this year after they were hired by two of the defendants' families.



The activists were intercepted by the China Coast Guard on Aug. 23, 2020 as they tried to flee Hong Kong. They are believed to have been heading for the democratic island of Taiwan.



Lu and Ren spoke regularly to the media about being barred from meeting with their clients, and about the huge political pressure brought to bear on their colleagues by local ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.



Now, Ren's law firm, the Henan Railway Law Firm, has announced it will close, he told RFA on Monday.



"Our boss was told by a vice chairman of the [CCP-controlled] lawyers' association on behalf of the bureau of judicial affairs that all of our lawyers are required to transfer to other firms, and that the firm must dissolve of its own free will," Ren said.



The law had been a last bastion of public interest and human rights cases in China, where the CCP has been clamping down on this segment of the legal profession since launching a nationwide campaign of arrests and investigations in July 2015.



Ren said the closure was linked to the revocation of his license.



"Under normal circumstances, if a lawyer in a firm has their license revoked, the firm has to reapply or submit files within a specified period of time on who is reapplying to be a partner," he said.



"Normally, if the application is in order, they should reissue the law firm's license within 20 working days, but they wouldn't do that for us," he said. "They used this as a way to force us to dissolve."



"The whole point is to stop the firm from staying together, because they say [our cases] are too sensitive," Ren said.

Barred from travel



Meanwhile, Lu has been barred from leaving China, despite plans to study in the United States after his license was revoked.



"I wanted to take an English course at the University of Montana," Lu said. "I would have needed a few months' study because my English isn't up to standard yet."



Lu said he was originally scheduled to apply for a visa at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, but that state security police had told him he is now under a travel ban, and should forget about trying to go overseas.



"They told me not to go," he said. "They said they wouldn't let me leave the country, so there was no point in getting a visa."



"This is definitely illegal."



Lu said the case of the 12 Hong Kong activists had likely contributed to this outcome.



"At the very least, the Hong Kong case was a very important factor," he said. "Now they are doing follow-up stability maintenance."



"They are not going to let up. They have destroyed my ability to make a living, and any other option I might have come up with -- it's all gone," Lu said.

Livelihoods destroyed



Du Song, director-general of the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, believes that the authorities' methods of maintaining stability have wiped out the dignity of lawyers.



"The authorities have destroyed their livelihoods, as well as the professional dignity of people in that industry," Du told RFA. "These lawyers used to work on sensitive cases, and now this has led to the closure of a law firm."



"How many lawyers are likely to take on sensitive cases in future?"



"The ability to hire a lawyer will be compromised, so there will be nobody to ensure that [the authorities] follow the rules, which the lawyers should have been able to do," Du said.



Lu and Ren both received notification around New Year that their licenses were being reviewed by their local judicial affairs bureaus because they had "posted inappropriate remarks" online.



Lu, who was never allowed to visit his client Quinn Moon in Yantian Detention Center in Shenzhen, despite having been hired by her family, was particularly vocal in the months following the initial detention of the 12 protesters aged 16 to 33 by the China Coast Guard on Aug. 23, repeatedly commenting about his attempts to gain access to his client, to no avail.



Judicial authorities in the central province of Henan sent a similar notice to Ren, who was hired by the family of Wong Wai-yin but similarly prevented from carrying out his instructions, and revoked his license a few weeks later.



Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..

Tonight

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
THE network known as the West Cork Railway developed from a short local line between Cork and Bandon.

During the railway investment mania of 1844, promoters of a Cork-Bandon line considered two routes prepared by renowned engineer, Charles Blacker Vignoles.

The first was a level but quite circuitous route, while the second option, albeit more direct, had to negotiate two high ridges between the Lee, Owenabue and Bandon rivers.

This route would be expensive as high embankments and deep cuttings would be needed to keep the track formation as level as possible for the underpowered steam engines of the time.

Viaducts over the Chetwynd valley, Halfway, and the Bandon river would also be necessary.

Nevertheless, the latter option was chosen and with parliamentary approval obtained in July, 1845, the Cork and Bandon Railway (C&BR) was incorporated, with capital of 200,000 for the 20-mile line.

After a much-publicised and flamboyant ceremony at Kilpatrick in October of that year, construction began.

Emphasis was put on the western half of the line first as this section would be easier to build.

Rail services between Ballinhassig and Bandon commenced in October, 1849, with passengers transferring between Cork and Ballinhassig by horse-drawn busses.

The Timoleague and Courtmacsherry line in 1952

Troubles, however, were never far from the C&BRs door through these years. Edmund Leahy, the resident engineer, was dismissed in 1846 and replaced by Charles Nixon of London. He quickly revised some of Leahys plans, substituting some deep cuttings with two tunnels, which saved the company 1,000.

Nixons best known legacy is the Chetwynd viaduct, with its fine stone pillars and metal superstructure. Leahys plan for this crossing was a flimsy wooden bridge.

More conflict, involving fisticuffs, contractor sabotage, and courtroom drama, had to be endured before trains could finally run between the places in the C&BRs title, late in 1851.

Even before work on the Bandon line began, other towns in County Cork also desired a railway, particularly during the railway mania period already mentioned.

With its long established fishing industry and seaside leisure potential, Kinsale soon came to the attention of promoters.

Kinsale and Bandon interests, in fact, had entered into an agreement whereby both concerns would share part of a line out of Cork that would also serve Passage, but it was not proceeded with.

Eventually, plans by an engineer, Henry Conebeare, were accepted for a line that would leave the Cork-Bandon railway at Crossbarry and run south-east to Kinsale via Bally-martle and Farrangalway.

An act of 1858 authorised this line and the Kinsale Junction Railway (KJR) set about its task.

Not helped by the loss of two shipments of rails at sea and a formidable obstructive rock outcrop near Kinsale, the company forged ahead and the line opened on July 16, 1863.

The guests who arrived on the inaugural train from Cork that day had a busy schedule. Having toasted success to the new concern and to future developments, the guests once again entrained at Kinsale, their next destination, Bandon.

Under the title, The West Cork Railway (WCR), yet another company had secured powers in 1860 to build a line from Bandon westward to Skibbereen.

The WCR proprietors arranged their sod-turning ceremony to coincide with the Kinsale opening, ensuring the revellers who attended both events would have a day to remember.

When this line eventually opened in 1866, lack of funds had confined construction to Dunmanway, but soon afterwards, plans were revived to reach Skibbereen by the Ilen Valley Railway (IVR).

A steam train running on the West Cork railway in 1956

Their scheme also included a branch from Drimoleague to Bantry and, with its act secured in 1872, work began three years later.

Skibbereen finally got its railway in 1877, while that to Bantry opened in 1881. When Clonakilty got its nine mile branch from Gaggin, renamed Clonakilty Junction, in 1886, the network was almost complete.

By the mid-1880s, C&BR passenger and goods trains now served places well beyond Cork and Bandon. From a much-expanded city terminus at Albert Quay, and a new through station at Bandon, main line trains ran to Skibbereen, with connections provided for, Kinsale, Clonakilty,and Bantry.

The C&BR had in fact, worked the Kinsale line from the outset, and was doing likewise for the recently opened Clonakilty branch, also built by a separate company.

In 1879, the C&BR had purchased the KJR outright and amalgamated with the WCR and IVR the following year, 1880.

Consequently, in 1888, the C&BR directors changed the name to the more accurate, Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR).

The final additions to West Corks railway were only made possible through government interventions.

Two concerns combined to lay a short line from Ballinascarthy on the Clonakilty branch, to Timoleague and Courtmacsharry.

Investors in this line, which reached Courtmacsharry in 1891, had their dividends guaranteed by local ratepayers if they could not be paid from rail-generated revenue.

For many decades, heavy excursion traffic ran over this line, especially from Cork city.

To stimulate development of its fishing industry, the line from Skibbereen was extended to Baltimore in 1893, aided by a Treasury grant that covered more than 90% of construction costs.

An extension of this line onto Baltimore pier in 1917 proved a great boon to fish traffic for some years.

Like other railways, the CB&SCR saw its fortunes reversed from its most profitable years before the Great War, to almost ruin by the time the Free State was established.

With a continuous rise in road competition, Kinsale lost its railway in 1931, while successive governments grappled with wanting a railway but not wanting to fund or own it.

State ownership of railways in 1950, and dieselisation of services through that decade, did sound a note of optimism throughout West Cork, but only to be dashed in late 1960 by the issue of closure notices for the entire network.

In spite of a spirited and vociferous cross-community drive against the closure, the national carrier was not for turning, and all regular services on West Corks railway ran for the last time on March 31, 1961, 60 years ago.

Up until its closure in 1961, Clonakilty was one of the busiest termini on the West Cork line. It was a major beet centre for West Cork and also in the 1950s a mecca for GAA supporters.

The railway land was sold to local landowners, and the wooden sleepers, 500 for every mile of track, were sold off for a shilling each. Many ended up being shipped to Nigeria for the railways there.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:48:31|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday refuted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's accusations regarding the WHO COVID-19 origin tracing report, and said that China will never accept groundless accusations and wanton slander on issues regarding the pandemic.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on Blinken's latest interview, in which he expressed "concern" over the upcoming final report from the WHO on COVID-19 origin tracing work in China, and claimed that China was helping to write the report.

Zhao said the WHO-China joint expert team had visited nine locations including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and conducted panel discussions with medical staff, scientific researchers, recovered patients, family members of medical staff who died from COVID-19, and ordinary people. All arrangements were made at the request of the WHO experts.

He said the Chinese side also provided original data that required special attention, item by item. The WHO experts have commented positively on the joint research, saying that China's openness was beyond expectation.

The drafting of the report was carried out between experts from both sides and will be concluded through repeated scientific research, said the spokesperson.

"I can't help asking, on issues regarding the pandemic and origin-tracing: When will the United States become as open and transparent as China? When will the United States invite WHO experts to their country for origin tracing? When will Fort Detrick be opened to international experts to conduct investigations and research? Does the United States intend to put pressure on WHO experts by continuously shouting at the outside world?" asked Zhao.

"The United States should ask the WHO experts which part of the report was written with the help of the Chinese government. Does the convenience provided by the Chinese government during the investigation equal behind-the-scenes manipulation?" he added. 

When University of North Georgia (UNG) student Jacey Sherman took her first multicultural literature class, she realized she wanted to explore foreign cultures. That seemed to oppose her plans to become a teacher.

Then Sherman, a senior pursuing a degree in English with a teacher certification, learned about Teach Thailand Corps (TTC). It recruits and places graduates of American colleges in schools in less-developed provinces to teach English and other subjects.

"They specifically serve underprivileged areas of Thailand," said Sherman, who interned at West Hall Middle School with English as Second Language learners. "I loved working with those students. I feel they need better teachers. That's why I need to do this."

Sherman, who has never been outside of the country, was accepted into the program in March and won't go alone. Her fiance, UNG alumnus Trevor Bowman, will join her.

Dr. Anastasia Lin, assistant vice president of research and engagement, said UNG has had students accepted into TTC, but Sherman and Bowman will be the first to go.

"Jacey and Trevor will make excellent cultural ambassadors and educators in Thailand, and I'm thrilled they will be the first to represent UNG on this competitive program," Lin said. "Jacey's academics, work ethic and interest in international cultures has impressed me since having her in my own class in 2019."

Sherman applied to the program first, followed by Bowman, a 2020 graduate with a degree in kinesiology.

"We knew we wanted to do something like this together, but didn't know if it was possible," said Bowman, a 23-year-old from Lafayette, Georgia. "When she got accepted, we decided I should apply, too."

Bowman said teaching abroad appealed to him after he started a study abroad program in Germany in spring 2020 through UNG's College of Education. The COVID-19 pandemic cut the program short.

"Even though I was only in the classroom with high school students for two days, it gave me the desire to do more," said Bowman, who works as a paraprofessional at Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy in Gainesville, Georgia.

Bowman said TTC fast-tracked his application and interview. Then he was accepted, allowing him to join Sherman.

"The stars just aligned for us," Sherman said.

The pair, who will leave in May for Thailand, do not plan to arrive empty-handed. They are sponsoring a children's book drive at UNG with a collection box outside of room 4164 in the Martha T. Nesbitt Academic Building on UNG's Gainesville Campus.

"We want books for grades kindergarten through high school," Sherman said.

Students interested in learning more about nationally competitive opportunities should contact ncs@ung.edu for more information. Students interested in learning about study abroad opportunities through various programs may visit UNG's Center for Global Engagement website.
Data of over 10 crore Mobikwik users is on sale on a hacker forum on the darknet, according to independent security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia. On Monday, renowned French cybersecurity expert Elliot Anderson aka Robert Baptiste backed Rajaharia's claim on the alleged server breach at the digital wallet company and called it the biggest KYC data leak to date.

Rajaharia had in February said a hacker was selling MobiKwik user data such as PAN card numbers, Aadhaar, debit/credit cards, phone numbers, and other personally identifiable details that are usually shared during the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure. Personal data of several high-profile Indian tech company founders were found in the compressed data dump, Rajaharia told DH. The data dump on the darknet is reported to be around 350GB in size.

Mobikwik has denied any data breach in its servers. "Some security researchers have repeatedly attempted to present concocted files wasting precious time of our organization. We thoroughly investigated and did not find any security lapses. Our user and company data is completely safe and secure," a Mobikwik spokesperson told DH.

Probably the largest KYC data leak in history. Congrats Mobikwik... pic.twitter.com/qQFgIKloA8  Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 29, 2021

In a bid to prove the authenticity of the data leak, the unknown seller opened a search bar on the dark web. Users can type their registered email-ID to see if their data is compromised or not, Rajaharia said to DH.

In addition to the data of 9.9 crore MobiKwik users, key identification details such as passport, Aadhaar cards, Pan cards, selfies, store picture proof of 30 lakh merchants including are also on sale, according to Rajaharia.

This leak was known for a long time... https://t.co/gS65YmYGyx  Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 29, 2021

The unknown seller is charging 1.5Bitcon (approx. Rs 63,20,535) and is promising to delete all the data after the transfer of the amount.

Rajaharia is also credited for flagging the bug that caused WhatsApp group invites to appear in Google searches earlier this year.

Last month, He also disclosed the data breach in the Bharti Airtel server. More than 2.5 million customers' details including phone numbers and Aadhaar numbers leaked online.

Read more | 25 lakh Airtel customers data with Aadhaar IDs leaked

New Update | March 30, 5:01 pm

Bipin Preet Singh, MobiKwik CEO has posted a statement on Twitter reiterating that there was no case of the data breach. Considering the seriousness of the allegation, the company has decided to do third-party forensic data security.

A note to our users. pic.twitter.com/J3WRM0Ko8v  Bipin Preet Singh (@BipinSingh) March 30, 2021

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
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A confused shopper has spotted a Woolworths-branded product at an Aldi store.

The mother, from Queensland, was doing her grocery shop when she went to pick up a packet of Aldi's home brand cocktail frankfurts from the fridge aisle on Monday.

But upon closer inspection, she stumbled across a bag of sausages featuring a green Woolworths logo printed on the top corner of the packaging.

The seemingly identical products come in a 500-gram pack - but with different price tags. Aldi is selling its cocktail frankfurts for $1.99 while Woolworths is $2.50.

A baffled shopper has spotted a Woolworths-branded cocktail frankfurts at an Aldi store

'I grabbed a normal pack and this was the next pack behind,' the shopper wrote in a Facebook group, alongside a picture of her unusual finding.

An Aldi spokesman declined to comment on the packaging error when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.

The woman's post was quickly met with confusion, while many shoppers saw the funny side to the mix-up.

'You had one job "Frank",' one joked, while another added: 'Frank in shipping has f***ed up again.'

And one said: 'I'm confused as to why Aldi staff still put them out on the shelves.'

While some former factory workers claimed the sausages are produced by the same manufacturers but with different packaging.

However, others were convinced another shopper may have accidentally dropped the Woolworths product in the Aldi store.

'Could of fallen out of someone else's bag maybe unless there is a lot more [of the same Woolworths product],' one suggested.

Last month, an eagle-eyed shopper discovered Aldi's budget toilet paper rolls are actually made by the same Australian brand that creates Quilton

The cocktail frankfurts come just weeks after shoppers discovered Aldi's budget toilet paper rolls are actually made by the same company that creates Quilton.

One customer shared a picture on social media showing two rolls of Aldi's Confidence toilet paper showing the 'Quilton' logo clearly printed on the cardboard in the centre of the roll, along with the brand's iconic slogan 'loves your bum'.

A 24-pack of toilet paper from the German supermarket store costs $7.99 - or 33 cents per roll - while Quilton's variety costs $12 - or 50 cents per roll - proving shoppers are saving $4.01 on almost identical products.

'Is the Aldi Confidence toilet paper made by Quilton with a different print and cheaper price?' the shopper wrote in a Facebook group.

'Someone in manufacturing forgot to change the "core" for the Aldi toilet roll.'

Thousands of shoppers were amazed with the discovery, saying they never knew Aldi's version was made by the same manufacturers of the well-known brand.

Many said they were 'gobsmacked' when they were told Quilton's toilet papers are 'disguised' under Aldi's exclusive brand.
First-ever report shows cooling industry slow to join race to net zero emissions; New tools released to support industry to join the race to zero; Major cooling industry player Johnson Controls reinforces commitment to net zero cooling

Paris, Nairobi, London, 29 March 2021 - Five major cooling suppliers are racing to net zero but they represent fewer than ten per cent of the 54 suppliers assessed in a new report, meaning the industry has a lot of work to do to catch up on climate action and reduce pollution from the sector, currently estimated at 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

With the world still falling short of meeting the Paris Agreement goals of holding global temperature rise this century to under 2 degrees C, and pursue 1.5 degrees C, action to reduce the climate impact of cooling will be essential.

According to the International Energy Agency, emissions from cooling are expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2100, driven by heat waves, population growth, urbanization, and a growing middle class. By 2050, space cooling alone will consume as much electricity as China and India today.

The UN has identified cooling as a key sector for action in its Race to Zero Breakthroughs, which are intended to galvanise action ahead of the next global climate meeting, COP26, which is due to take place later this year.

However, Cooling Suppliers: Who's Winning the Race to Net Zero (available at https:/ / bit. ly/ 3sBhnt0 ), finds that 49 out of 54 companies assessed have yet to commit to ambitious net-zero targets, despite some efforts to reduce their emissions.

The report - released by the Race to Zero campaign, the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP), Carbon Trust and other partners in the UN Environment Programme-hosted Cool Coalition - assesses cooling firms against three key impact areas defined in the Cooling Climate Action Pathway.

These are:

Super-efficient equipment and appliances: Making super-efficient cooling equipment and smart appliances powered by zero-carbon energy the norm;

Ultra-low global warming potential refrigerants; and

Passive cooling: Widespread adoption of measures that avoid or reduce the need for mechanical cooling, including reductions in cooling loads, human-centric design and urban planning.

The report calls on cooling firms to show increased ambition to line up with net-zero commitments from over 100 governments and many other private sector actors.

One company that recently announced new commitments is Johnson Controls, a global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings and producer of cooling equipment. The company has committed to moving its operations to net-zero emissions by 2040. Johnson Controls, which employs 100,000 people in more than 150 countries, is also a member of the Cool Coalition - a group of over 100 companies, governments, cities and organizations working to lower the climate impact of the cooling industry.

"Johnson Controls is proud of its recent commitment to achieve the most ambitious science-based targets by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions before 2040," said Clay Nesler, vice president global energy and sustainability at Johnson Controls. "Smart, healthy and sustainable cooling solutions are key to accelerating the race to zero for our company as well as our customers."

New tools to accelerate cooling action

To help other companies and countries join the race to net zero, Cool Coalition partners are also releasing a suite of products to guide their actions - with the support of K-CEP and the technical expertise of the Carbon Trust.

The report comes alongside the Pathway to Net Zero Cooling Action Plan for the COP26 Champions Team which highlights the areas where progress is needed. The action table has been endorsed by a range of leading organisations and institutions including CLASP, E3G, the Environmental Investigation Agency, IGSD, RMI, UN Environment Programme, University of Birmingham and the University of Oxford.

A 'Cool Calculator' scenario planning tool is also being launched to help companies and governments run simple calculations on key aspects of cooling decarbonization to enable them to identify the set of solutions that works best for them.

Additionally, the UK's Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has launched a net-zero cooling product guide that will allow companies, governments and consumers to cut their cooling footprint by choosing products that are energy-efficient and run on natural refrigerants with ultra-low Global Warming Potential.

"As consumers and producers of cooling look to reduce their carbon footprint, urgent action on both refrigerants and energy efficiency is needed," said Fionnuala Walravens, Senior Campaigner at EIA. "EIA's Pathway to net-zero cooling product list offers a range of climate-friendly solutions available now."

The EIA list also calls on governments to do more to support the uptake of sustainable cooling, by outlining cooling plans in their commitments under the Paris Agreement and looking at legislation to speed up the phasing out of hydrofluorocarbons - climate-warming refrigerants that are now being phased out under an international agreement known as the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

"The development and expansion of net-zero cooling is a critical part of our Race to Zero emissions," said Nigel Topping, UK High Level Champion for COP26. "In addition to technological breakthroughs and ambitious legislation, we also need sustainable consumer purchasing to help deliver wholesale systems change, and as such I welcome the EIA cooling products guide as an important contribution to accelerating the race."

Additional quotes:

"Efforts to race to net zero cooling present an incredible opportunity to meet ambitious climate, environment and development goals and unlock the clean energy transition" said David Aitken, Director, Innovation at the Carbon Trust. "These tools show how we can get there."

"From healthcare and agriculture, to transportation and buildings, the environmental performance of cooling impacts many sectors' pathways to zero carbon emissions," said Dan Hamza-Goodacre, K-CEP's Non-Executive Director. "We won't get to net zero without concerted and ambitious action on cooling."

###

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Race to Zero

Race To Zero is a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.

It mobilizes a coalition of leading net zero initiatives, representing 471 cities, 23 regions, 1,675 businesses, 85 of the biggest investors, and 569 universities. These 'real economy' actors join 120 countries in the largest ever alliance committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest. Collectively these actors now cover nearly 25% global CO 2 emissions and over 50% GDP.

The objective is to build momentum around the shift to a decarbonized economy ahead of COP26, where governments must strengthen their contributions to the Paris Agreement. This will send governments a resounding signal that business, cities, regions and investors are united in meeting the Paris goals and creating a more inclusive and resilient economy.

About the Cool Coalition

The Cool Coalition is one of the official outcomes and "Transformation Initiatives" put forward by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General for the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. Hosted by UNEP, the Cool Coalition is a global multi-stakeholder network that connects a wide range of key actors from government, cities, international organizations, businesses, finance, academia, and civil society groups to facilitate knowledge exchange, advocacy and joint action towards a rapid global transition to efficient and climate-friendly cooling. For more information, visit http://www. coolcoalition. org

About the Carbon Trust

Established in 2001, the Carbon Trust works with businesses, governments and institutions around the world, helping them contribute to, and benefit from, a more sustainable future through carbon reduction, resource efficiency strategies, and commercialising low carbon businesses, systems and technologies.

About the Environmental Investigation Agency

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) investigates and campaigns against environmental crime and abuses. Our undercover investigations expose transnational wildlife crime, with a focus on elephants, pangolins and tigers, and forest crimes such as illegal logging and deforestation for cash crops such as palm oil; we work to safeguard global marine ecosystems by tackling plastic pollution, exposing illegal fishing and seeking an end to all whaling; and we address the threat of global warming by campaigning to curtail powerful refrigerant greenhouse gases and exposing related criminal trade.

About Johnson Controls:

At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet.

With a history of more than 135 years of innovation, Johnson Controls delivers the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through its comprehensive digital offering OpenBlue. With a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology, software as well as service solutions with some of the most trusted names in the industry. For more information, visit http://www. johnsoncontrols. com or follow us @johnsoncontrols on Twitter.

About the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program

The Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP), a program of the ClimateWorks Foundation, is a philanthropic collaborative that works in tandem with the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol by helping developing countries transition to energy-efficient, climate-friendly, and affordable cooling solutions. K-CEP focuses on improving the energy efficiency of cooling in order to double the climate benefits and significantly increase the development benefits of the Kigali Amendment's efforts to phase down the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

For more information:
Antonio Sena, a Brazilian pilot working for wildcat miners, escaped death when his plane went down in a remote area. He walked through the jungle for 36 days before being rescued.

He fended off attacks from highly territorial spider monkeys, which proved to be a godsend. After watching them eat a pink fruit called breu, Mr. Sena assumed it was safe for human consumption, and it became his main source of sustenance. Besides that, he ate three small blue eggs from inambu birds, and little else.

His story has been a rare piece of uplifting news for a nation hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis. But it has also put a spotlight on Brazils illegal mining industry, which has flourished in recent decades in Indigenous territories and other parts of the Amazon that are supposed to be sanctuaries.

ARTS AND IDEAS

How The Times covers mass shootings

After a year without a large-scale shooting in a public place, the U.S. recorded two within six days. An armed man killed eight people, including six of Asian descent, in the Atlanta area on March 16, and 10 people were killed last Monday in Boulder, Colo.

Marc Lacey, an editor who manages The Timess live news coverage, shared the organizations approach in handling sensitive information. Heres an excerpt.

What are the areas of special sensitivity when dealing with victims families?

We want to give readers a sense of the human tragedy of the event, so that means calling up loved ones of that person. Making that phone call is never pleasant, but its remarkable how often relatives are eager to talk about their loved one and give the public a sense of who that person was after they died in such tragic circumstances. On the other hand, understand that the person is full of grief and may not want to talk to you.

What is something you have learned in your many years of covering mass shootings?

We should not cover a particular mass shooting as though its a singular event. We should cover it as part of an American phenomenon that occurs with regularity, and we should try to understand why there are so many of these shootings occurring.
Canadian service members participating in Operation UNIFIER have rotated in Ukraine.

"Today, the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security hosted a transfer of command authority ceremony of the Operation UNIFIER Canadian contingent. This is already the eleventh rotation. Since 2015, Canadians have been sharing their military experience with our soldiers. The acquired knowledge and skills are successfully used by Ukrainian servicepersons in hostilities in the east of our country," Head of the Lviv Regional State Administration Maksym Kozytskyi announced on Facebook.

Larisa Galadza, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ukraine, affirmed the transfer of command authority.

Operation UNIFIER is a military training mission of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), which began in 2015 in response to a request from the Government of Ukraine to support the Security Forces of Ukraine (SFU). The Operation helps improve and build capability and capacity of the SFU while working towards achieving interoperability with NATO.

Canada sends a group of about 200 CAF members to Ukraine every six months. CAF members come from all parts of Canada, selected based on the skills that they bring to the training program. CAF members will be there until the end of March 2022.

October 5, 2020 - March 29, 2021, the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in western Ukraine hosted the 10th rotation of the Canadian Armed Forces contingent led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sarah Heer.

ol
Arizona News

Tucson, Arizona - Last week, Jermal Daniels, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps to 33 months in prison. Daniels previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

On May 15, 2018, Daniels, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, was found with approximately 10 grams of methamphetamine concealed in his sock. Daniels admitted he intended to be paid for delivering the methamphetamine to other inmates. At the time, Daniels was serving a sentence for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Heroin out of the Western District of North Carolina.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorneys Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER: CR18-01738-TUC-JGZ

RELEASE NUMBER: 2021- 016_Daniels
Eight new local cases of COVID-19 have been added to Brisbanes growing outbreak, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed.

Of those, five were guests at a bachelorette party in Byron Bay and were infected by a nurse and her sister who tested positive on Monday.

Ms Palaszczuk said on Tuesday she believed there were two distinct coronavirus clusters, which spread from an unvaccinated doctor and nurse working at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Ten cases have been linked to the PA doctor cluster and eight cases to the nurse cluster since the start of the month.
Legendary group of business operators to support the Celonis business execution agenda and convene an exclusive annual meeting of CEOs

NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Celonis announced the formation of the Business Execution CEO Council. The founding council members represent current and former CEOs, founders, and board directors who have rewritten the rules of business execution and operations within their industries. Founding council members include:

Mitchell Rales, Co-Founder, Director, and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Danaher Corporation. He was one of the principal architects of the renowned Danaher Business System, which is today regarded as a world class operating system that can be used in every facet of a business.

Keith Block, former co-CEO and board member at Salesforce. During his tenure, he helped quadruple Salesforce's revenue to more than $17 billion and build the breakthrough cloud software category and software-as-a-service business model.

Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies. Known and admired for his astute business vision and bold moves, he now leads one of the world's largest IT companies serving global customers as they build their digital future.

William Fehrman, President and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. He is distinguished for helping to acquire, run and grow energy businesses that fit into Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio of energy assets.

Feroz Dewan, CEO of Arena Holdings. He has compounded capital in excess of 40% annually over the past 10 years by investing in exceptional companies at the forefront of technology-enabled innovation.

Stefan F. Heidenreich, former CEO of Beiersdorf. He more than doubled the value of Beiersdorf through best-in-class brand building and marketing expertise, and established Nivea as one of the world`s largest skin care brands.

Celonis formed the Business Execution CEO Council to set the standard of excellence for applying intelligence and data to business operations. The Council was inspired by members' personal experiences leveraging Celonis to rapidly unlock millions of dollars in trapped business value.

Story continues

The council charter is to help Celonis customers drive breakthroughs in their respective industries, to understand the business value of intelligent execution systems, and to convene an annual CEO meeting attended by business luminaries.

"We're honored that these legendary industry leaders are joining our mission to rewrite the rules of business execution," said Alex Rinke, co-CEO and co-founder of Celonis. "These business masters have driven some of the biggest industry transformations in our lifetime -- from empowering the desktop computing revolution, to creating the software as a service model, to revolutionizing the global science and technology industries."

Mitchell Rales of Danaher Corporation said: "Execution is one of the Achilles heels of business transformation. CEOs cannot run digital-first companies by using 20th century analog systems and practices. We must apply as much innovation, intelligence and data science to business execution as we apply to the products and services we deliver to our customers."

William Fehrman said: "At Berkshire Hathaway Energy, we deliver affordable, safe and reliable service each day to millions of customers around the world and consistently rank high among energy companies in customer satisfaction. One of our most important priorities is to transform our core operations to run on data and intelligence. In essence, Celonis provides us just that. An execution platform that allows us to not just understand how our core processes really operate, but to run them more effectively. Celonis is a key piece of our digital transformation strategy."

Keith Block said: "CEOs everywhere know that execution is everything. So why are modern enterprises still trying to run their businesses on top of legacy technology stacks and processes using outdated tools and systems? This very question is driving a shift to replatform all business execution, processes and models from aging analog systems to intelligent execution systems run on top of platforms like Celonis."

Celonis is at the forefront of helping companies digitize their business with intelligent execution. Celonis' combined leadership in process mining and Execution Management Systems (EMS) enable companies to shift away from running their operations on aging analog platforms. The Celonis EMS is an intelligent execution system that runs on top of the world's largest transactional systems including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. By applying process intelligence to real-time data from those systems, it can identify and unlock execution capacity across a business to improve performance.

CEO Council Meeting Hosted by William Thorndike, author of "The Outsiders"

William Thorndike, author of the bestselling book "The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success," will moderate the discussion for the business council's first meeting. The founding council members will be joined by Fortune 500 CEOs to discuss new strategies for executing in today's business climate, the shift from analog to intelligent execution systems, and what is required to achieve the last mile in digital transformation.

About Celonis

Celonis believes that every company can unlock its full execution capacity. Powered by its market-leading process mining core, the Celonis Execution Management System provides a set of instruments, applications, and developer studio and platform capabilities for business executives and users. The Celonis EMS offerings help companies manage every facet of execution management from analytics to strategy and planning, management, actions and automation. Celonis has thousands of customers, including ABB, AstraZeneca, Bosch, Coca-Cola, Citibank, Danaher Corporation, Dell, GSK, John Deere, L'Oreal, Siemens, Uber, Vodafone and Whirlpool. Celonis is headquartered in Munich, Germany and New York City, USA and has 15 offices worldwide.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fortune-500-leaders-establish-the-celonis-business-execution-ceo-council-301257556.html

SOURCE Celonis
Chinese premier stresses deepening reform, opening up

Xinhua) 08:34, March 29, 2021

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, communicates with students when visiting Nanjing University in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 26, 2021. Li made an inspection tour in east China's Jiangsu Province from Thursday to Friday. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

NANJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged efforts to deepen reform and opening up, enhance innovation capacities and development momentum, improve people's well-being, and promote high-quality development.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in east China's Jiangsu Province from Thursday to Friday.

When visiting Hengli Hydraulic Co., Ltd. in Changzhou, Li called on the company to consistently innovate through opening up and cooperation. During exchanges with executives of local manufacturing enterprises, the premier highlighted the country's commitment to market-based inclusive policies to stimulate the corporate sector's innovation power.

Li also paid a visit to a residential community in Changzhou, where he learnt about services including elderly care and nursery and lauded local authorities' practice of introducing non-governmental resources to promote development of elderly care.

The premier also urged local authorities to do their utmost in creating conditions for flexible employment of the people.

Li was briefed on the reform and development of the Jiangsu pilot free trade zone (FTZ), and urged local authorities to advance institutional innovations, pool talent, and give full play to the role of the FTZ in pioneering reform and opening up.

When visiting Nanjing University, Li encouraged researchers to strengthen cross-disciplinary cooperation and promote integration of innovations.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji)
Imperial Valley News Center

Federal Prosecutor in Los Angeles and Head of FBI Field Office Denounce Hate Crimes and Racism Targeting Asian Americans

Los Angeles, California - With a call to the public to report hate crimes to law enforcement authorities, Acting United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Kristi K. Johnson today condemned bigotry, racism and hatred against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

Discrimination against Asian Americans is a long-standing and malignant problem that has found new roots in the pandemic, said Acting U.S. Attorney Wilkison. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their communities, and attacks based on race, ethnicity or national origin have no place in our society. We urge the public to report potential racial discrimination and hate crimes to law enforcement so we can address these illegal and immoral acts.

The FBI is committed to reaching out to the AAPI community, among other groups who have been targeted historically with racial bigotry, so that affected individuals know their rights and know that they have an ally with their law enforcement professionals, said Assistant Director in Charge Johnson, who runs the FBIs Los Angeles Field Office. The FBI and partners with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and the Los Angeles Police Department operate the L.A. Hate Crimes Task Force to investigate and properly address hate crime allegations. We encourage anyone who believes their civil rights were violated to report it so that we can determine whether a crime occurred. Hate crime threats in the form of racially charged rhetoric or violent assaults are taken extremely seriously as we continue to safeguard the rights of every individual, citizen and non-citizen alike."

In addition to working with colleagues in law enforcement, the United States Attorneys Office and the FBI review allegations of hate crimes for possible federal prosecution. Members of the public may report a potential hate crime to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBIs Los Angeles Field Office can be reached 24 hours a day at (310) 477-6565, or reports can be made online at https://tips.fbi.gov/. The Civil Division of the U.S. Attorneys Office also investigates non-criminal instances of discrimination, and citizens may report potential civil rights violations by submitting this form.

The United States Attorneys Office is increasing its outreach efforts as more people are becoming aware of anti-Asian bias in our communities. The Office last week participated in a rally on the steps of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration to emphasize that we all stand together as we see an increase in the reporting of hate crime incidents against Asian Americans in our district. The event was presented by the LA vs Hate Campaign and featured representatives from County Supervisors offices, the Mayors office, the Anti-Defamation League, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and other civil and human rights leaders in Los Angeles County.

The United States Attorneys Office and the FBI, along with other federal partners and community stakeholders, are hosting a virtual community event on April 22 to discuss the federal governments multi-faceted response to hate against the AAPI community and other communities.

President Biden on January 26 issued the Presidential Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The memorandum mandates that the Attorney General explore opportunities to support, consistent with applicable law, the efforts of State and local agencies, as well as AAPI communities and community-based organizations, to prevent discrimination, bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI individuals, and expand collection of data and public reporting regarding hate incidents against such individuals.

The Justice Departments Civil Rights Division enforces federal anti-discrimination laws, and the United States Attorneys Office has dedicated units that prosecute civil rights violations in its Criminal Division and enforce civil rights laws in its Civil Division.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Yesenia Mata will represent Staten Island as she and 10 other leaders from across the city take on the daunting task of identifying and strategizing how to dismantle systemic racism in New York City.

On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the creation of a new Charter Revision Commission focusing on racial justice. The 11-person commission will examine various aspects of New York City society including its agencies and policies. At the end of the year, the commission will compile a report with its findings and a detailed plan outlining solutions including proposing revisions of the City Charter, New York Citys constitution.

Mata, who de Blasio describes as an extraordinary young leader is the executive director of La Colmena. La Colmena is a community-based organization that supports low-wage immigrant workers through advocacy, education, and legal assistance. Mata and the La Colmena staff have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to help one of the groups most impacted by coronavirus, immigrant workers, as theyve faced hardships such as dangerous work conditions, lack of access to PPE, threat of eviction, food shortage, and more. Mata is also a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.

As executive director of La Colmena, Yesenia Mata led a delegation through the pandemic with the goal of helping every undocumented immigrant worker in need (Courtesy of Yesenia Mata)

The Racial Justice Commission will draw inspiration from international models such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa as it takes on this unprecedented venture.

This is the first of its kind and I think its the first step to acknowledging that there are issues in our face, acknowledging that there must be something done, Mata told the Advance/SILive.com.

During the virtual news briefing on Tuesday, de Blasio explained that this commission is taking on a task in a way New York City has never seen.

Weve never had a model for actually addressing structural racism, institutional racism, identifying it, acknowledging it, formally apologizing for it, weeding it out, eradicating it, making the policy changes, changing the laws, doing the things that actually will have a lasting impact, he said.

Mata pointed out that the inequities that communities of color experience were magnified this past year.

Right now I really want to emphasize how the pandemic has demonstrated what activists and organizers have mentioned in the past. How our communities of color receive less resources; how they are often overlooked, said Mata.

It had been ignored until the pandemic. And it really showed the impacts that we saw  Latinos and Blacks were dying [from COVID-19] at a higher rate, she continued.

Yesenia Mata, the political director of the Dream Action Coalition, addresses the crowd at unveiling of the "Caged Angels" exhibition in honor of migrant children that died in ICE custody at the U.S. Border. - December 23, 2019. (Christine DeRosa/Staten Island Advance)

In February, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention published an article explaining some of the factors that may contribute to the increased risk of people of color getting COVID and potentially dying from it. These factors include discrimination, healthcare access, housing, job type, and the wealth gap.

The epitome of recovery for all of us is looking at the disparities that came out of the COVID crisis that were laid bare, said de Blasio.

Mata believes that understanding these disparities begins with understanding the history behind them.

This is something that really needs to be discussed  what are the root causes. Of course, those are very challenging conversations and conversations that we must have. We must look into our past to know why current things are happening and make sure that things that happened in the past dont happen in the future, said Mata.

Mata emphasized that this process is a collaborative effort not just within the commission, but with the community as a whole.

I will definitely need the guidance and the support of the community to make sure that we come up with a solution together, she said.

I am honored to be able to represent Staten Island and I am committed to working alongside leaders and organizations and just the community itself to come up with a plan, not just for now, but the future, Mata added.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 30, 2021 - 06:56 | All, World

A meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not among the options U.S. President Joe Biden currently plans to pursue in diplomacy with Pyongyang, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday.

"That is not his intention," Psaki told a press conference when asked whether "sitting with" Kim is part of what Biden had called "some form of diplomacy" he would be ready to engage in, even after North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Thursday.

North Korea said a day later that it test-fired new tactical guided projectiles.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the "destabilizing ballistic missile launches are subject to our condemnation," reiterating the U.S. position that the launches violated multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

He also noted that the United States and its two key allies in Asia -- Japan and South Korea -- are united in their commitment to "standing up against these provocations and advancing the denuclearization of the (Korean) Peninsula."

"What we're seeing from Pyongyang in terms of these provocations does nothing to shake the resolve of our three countries, along with allies and partners around the world, to approach North Korea from a position of strength in order to diminish the threat that it poses to the region and beyond," he said at an online press conference organized by the New York Foreign Press Center.

The Biden administration has been emphasizing the need for the three countries to improve their cooperation, which has been overshadowed by the fraught relationship between Tokyo and Seoul.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who also attended the press conference, said the Biden administration is looking at "additional actions" the United Nations may take in response to the recent tests.

The latest ballistic missile tests by Pyongyang were the first to occur during the Biden administration, which is currently continuing its review of North Korea policy.

Past U.S. administrations have sought to denuclearize North Korea to no avail, including Biden's predecessor Donald Trump who engaged in unprecedented summit diplomacy with the North Korean leader.

Psaki said Biden's "approach would be quite different," but did not elaborate.
Scottish livestock and dairy farmers have an opportunity to collaborate and beef up the value of Scotlands calf crop, according to SAC Consulting.

With the increased use of both sexed and beef semen in dairy herds, a network of dairy farmers and beef finishers would likely diversify income and improve margins.

Sexed semen is improving dairy herds year-on-year and effectively removing the lower-value black and white bull calf, said Robert Ramsay, senior beef consultant with SAC Consulting, which part of Scotland's Rural College.

He said: Farmers are selectively using sexed semen to breed replacement heifers from their best cows.

"The rest being put to beef bulls with very high genetic merit to produce beef calves that when finished, meet processor specification, helping to diversify farm income.

Many large retailers are phasing out butcher counters, and the reality is that theyre looking for smaller 350kg carcase beasts, which produce a cut that is consistent for standard packaging, and the dairy bullock that finishes at 320kg to 350kg deadweight fits perfectly into that regime.

In Scotland, losing a lot of beef dairy calves at their lowest value to big finishers in England results in farmers missing out on Scotch Beef PGI premium.

While milk sales will always make up the majority of dairy farm incomes, the sale of beef calves is of increasing importance on most dairy farms and represents a 13th or 14th milk cheque.

With retailers such as Morrisons now supporting dairy suppliers to sell Belgian and British Blue cross calves into Buitelaar Production - its beef-rearing partner - there is a market opportunity for dairy farmers, who specialise in milk production, to collaborate with beef finishers to create a new market.

The elephant in the room is that more than half of the cattle slaughtered in Britain are dairy-bred," Mr Ramsay explained.

"There will always be a place for the suckler cow in Scotland, however, as an industry, we need to acknowledge the importance of the dairy sector in providing affordable beef to the market."

While the number of dairy herds has fallen, and beef suckler numbers are also in decline, there is an opportunity to develop a more joined up approach to dairy beef production in Scotland.

Mr Ramsay added: "We currently send a large proportion of the beef bred animals from Scotland to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire for rearing and finishing.

The cattle kill in Scotland is in decline and we need to ensure that we retain a critical mass of cattle in order to allow our beef processing industry to thrive.

"There are some really good examples of integrated supply chains for dairy beef in Scotland but there is a real opportunity to grow this business significantly in the future.
Mumbai, March 29 : Amid reports of an alleged secret meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar early on Sunday, Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi on Monday rubbished the purported development and reiterated that the state government is safe and sound.

Though leaders of all three constituents - the Shiv Sena, the NCP, and the Congress -- have denied any such behind-the-curtains parleys even took place, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is fuelling the speculation on the unconfirmed clandestine meet at the home of a leading businessman.

Sena leader and Raja Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said he was "not aware of any such meeting", but "even if they meet, so what?" "If the country's Home Minister meets any MP or leaders of any political party, so what's wrong with it? Pawar Saheb is a senior leader and he can meet Shah... even I can meet," Raut countered when quizzed by media persons.

NCP General Secretary Praful Patel said in Kochi on Sunday: "The MVA was formed by the efforts of Pawar Saheb, and there is no reason to think about unnecessary things (toppling the MVA)." Raut continued that in politics, there's nothing really secret, and if it was so, "how did you come to know about it?"

"The Home Minister said that 'not every meeting can be made public'. However, I recall that in past, he had spoken about what had happened behind closed doors" Raut said, referring to the Shah-Uddhav Thackeray meeting in February 2019 at 'Matoshri', the latter's residence in Mumbai, ahead of the elections.

A Congress leader, preferring anonymity, said while there is nothing wrong with such meetings or confabulations among top national leaders, the laughable aspect of the alleged Shah-Pawar meet was the media's wild speculation that it could lead to a collapse of the MVA government here.

Attempting to needle the MVA, BJP state President Chandrakant Patil evaded a direct response but said: "Such meetings take place routinely... In Indian culture, politics is on one side, but we should all keep meeting. Recently, such meetings have reduced in Maharashtra. Since Pawar and Shah were there (Ahmedabad), they may have met." To a pointed query on whether a potential BJP-NCP team-up was acceptable to him, Patil guardedly said that whatever decisions are taken by the party's senior leadership would be accepted by all and would be always in the party's interests.
Themed Speak up for nature this year, the event launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Vietnam, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, has received warm response from people across 63 cities and provinces.

The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and its member companies nationwide encouraged organisations, offices and customers to switch off unnecessary electrical devices during Earth Hour.

This years event aimed to highlight the connection between humans and nature and the correlation relationship between species, thus prompting specific actions in saving energy so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Another target of the event is to calls on organisations and individuals to limit the use of single-use plastics to wipe out plastic waste in the environment.

The campaign in Vietnam this year focused on communications activities via social networks.

Starting as a symbolic lights out event in Sydney in 2007, the Earth Hour has become one of the worlds largest grassroots movements for the environment. It has inspired and empowered individuals, communities, businesses, and organisations in 190 countries and territories to take action on climate change and environmental loss.

Earth Hour  an initiative of the WWF - is the largest social event in the world, which has been observed in 7,000 cities and towns across 172 countries and territories.

Vietnam first joined the drive in 2009. Last year, the country saved 436,000 kWh of electricity, equivalent to VND812.9 million.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the COVID-19 response and the state of vaccinations in the South Court Auditorium at the White House complex in Washington on March 29, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Biden: 90 Percent of Americans Will Be Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine by April 19

Nine out of 10 Americans will be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine by April 19, President Joe Biden announced on March 29.

I am pleased to announce that at least 90 percent of all adults in this country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April the 19th, just three weeks from now, because we have vaccines for the vast, vast majority of adults. You wont have to wait until May 1. You will be eligible on April 19, he said at the White House.

Finally, the final 10 percent will be eligible no later than May 1.

Also by mid-April, 90 percent of Americans will be within five miles of a place where they can get the vaccine.

Biden spoke of several new developments in the battle against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

He said his administration is increasing the number of pharmacies in the federal pharmacy vaccination program to nearly 40,000 from 17,000 across the country, in addition to plans to open 12 more mass vaccination sites by April 19.

Some Americans cant currently get a COVID-19 vaccine, depending on factors such as their age and occupation. The first tranches of the vaccine went to front-line workers, a portion of the elderly, and other populations considered high risk or who interact frequently with others on a day-to-day basis.

Biden is pressuring states to open vaccinations to all adults by May 1 and 31 states have agreed to do so by April 19, the White House stated.

A Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination at Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal in New York City, on March 10, 2021. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Approximately 52.6 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the CCP virus, with another 42.5 million getting one of two doses, as of March 29. Two of the three vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States require two doses, spaced several weeks apart.

Biden also urged state and local leaders to reinstate mandates to wear masks.

Data from Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott rolled back his mandate earlier this month, showed COVID-19 cases continued to drop after the rollback. Other states that eased restrictions have also seen daily cases decrease.

But Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said in the United States overall, the seven-day average of new cases is close to 60,000 per day, an increase of 10 percent compared to the prior seven-day period, and that COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are also on the rise.

Im going to pause here. Im going to lose the script. And Im going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope, but right now Im scared, she said during a virtual briefing, adding that people should please hold on a little while longer before halting mitigation measures such as social distancing.

CDC researchers earlier on March 29 reported results of a real-world study that they said showed vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna reduced the risk of infection by 90 percent.

More and more data is coming out there, including this article here, to support the fact that its very effective in preventing virus transmission, Dr. Peter Gulick, an associate professor of Medicine at the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University and an expert on infectious diseases, told The Epoch Times.

So you might be asymptomatic and still carry the virus, still be able to transmit it to somebody if there was enough virus, but more and more things are coming out saying thats not so, that even if there was virus in your nose, that it wouldnt be enough to transmit to somebody else.
U.S. smear campaign against Xinjiang reveals true face of hegemony

18:14, March 29, 2021 By Ye Zhu ( People's Daily Online

Recently, the US and its allies from the Five Eyes, the British and Canadian governments, and the European Union (EU) have taken coordinated steps to gang up on China, imposing unilateral sanctions on some Chinese individuals and entities for so-called human rights violations in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The way they are acting is reminiscent of the Eight-Power Allied Forces.

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a non-governmental organization that aims to promote better standards in cotton farming, has persuaded some international retail giants including H&M and Nike not to source cotton from the region.

A reaper harvests cotton in a field in Manas County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Oct. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

While stating that they cared about the human rights of people in Xinjiang, some Western countries attempted to destroy the livelihoods of about 7 million farmers engaged in the cotton industry in the region by boycotting the cotton produced there. This farce of human rights sanctions, like a slap on the face, only reveals their ridiculous logic.

But paradoxically, they didnt impose sanctions when ethnic minorities in the US were the targets of racial bullying, when the COVID-19 epidemic spiralled out of control in the US and killed more than 500,000 Americans due to the US governments reckless response, and when 41,500 people were killed in shooting incidents across the US in a year.

However, they sanctioned Chinese individuals and entities even though counter-terrorism efforts have yielded significant results in Xinjiang, where people of all ethnic groups in the region enjoy security, stability, and prosperity.

This kind of human rights sanctions based on absurd logic is the greatest humiliation to human rights.

"Western countries do not like Muslims and China, but they care about Chinese Muslims," reads a comment below a YouTube video, laying bare some Western countries' ridiculous logic.

In 2019, the ambassadors of 37 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Kuwait sent a joint letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council to show their support for China's Xinjiang policy.

Diplomatic envoys posted in China from 20 Arab states and the Arab League toured Xinjiang in October 2020 and spoke highly of the region's achievements in counter-terrorism and protecting citizens' freedom of religious belief. But EU diplomatic envoys to China rejected China's invitations to see Xinjiang and delayed the visits in every possible way citing a variety of reasons.

The US has a bad record when it comes to its treatment of Muslims. The US government issued a Muslim ban for Muslim-majority countries and didnt take any active approach to cope with soaring hate crimes against Muslims after the 9/11 terror attacks. It also used washing powder as "evidence" for invading Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of people and forcing many to flee their homes.

While America neglects its own human rights issues, it turns its eyes to Xinjiang and colluded with its allies in showing unprecedented "care" for Muslims in the region in a high profile manner. That's not a decision of conscience, but is a move driven by hidden motives.

The Biden administration described China as America's "most serious competitor." In 2017, the national security strategy released by the Trump administration was regarded as a comprehensive document for dealing with China's rise.

By hyping up so-called Xinjiang-related issues, the US is attempting to smear China, and is kidnapping the EU to drive a wedge between China and Islamic countries, so as to destabilize China and contain its development. Such a motive is consistent with America's national strategy.

It's obvious that the US doesn't care about human rights in Xinjiang at all. Instead, the superpower only wants to maintain its supremacy.

The entire world should be laughing at America for pretending to care about Muslims in China, independent Australian journalist Caitlin Johnstone wrote on the Russia Today news website.

Once again we heard the US empire babbling about the plight of Muslims in China. Just ask any Muslim-majority country bombed by the US, Johnstone said.

Johnstone noted that the US government has a standing policy of dishonestly weaponizing human rights concerns against nations like China in order to strategically undermine them. It does not care about the plight of Uygurs in China. It doesnt care that the allegations regarding the abuse of their rights are riddled with glaring plot holes. All it cares about is undermining its chief geostrategic rival on the world stage, truth be damned.

Johnstones remarks were to the point.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)

-Following hours of power struggle on Thursday to have Mo Ali Released between the Liberia National Police (LNP) and his office, the Secretary General of the opposition politician was finally released late Friday.

Mo Ali was in prison for 24 hours under police detention in spite of the mandate from the Minister of Justice Frank Musa Dean to have him unconditionally release with immediate effect.

On March 25, 2021, Mr. Ali was accompanied by his lawyer Cllr. Finlay Karngar and some officials of Unity Party to answer to a inquiry regarding a Facebook post he made on March 1, 2021 which the police attributed to the Arson attack on the Headquarters of the National Elections Commission as well as attack on the home of Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe.

The police announced Mo Ali's arrest on the afternoon of Thursday, in Monrovia following an initial arrangement that he returns to the LNP headquarters within 48 hours for questioning on said post. Upon Mo's return to the headquarters of the LNP on Thursday, he was arrested and charged with 'arson, terroristic threats, and criminal attempt to commit murder'. It was said that Mo Ali would spend the required 48 hours in jail awaiting court appearance.

According to reports, the Justice Minister told the LNP to release Mr. Ali until the evidence was produced, reviewed and a determination made by the Attorney General.

According to Deputy Commissioner Prince Mulbah the orders to release Mr. Ali, was communicated to Police authorities early Friday morning, contrary to yesterday's media reports that Justice Minister, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean had instructed the 'unconditional release' of Mo Ali unto his lawyers.

Amin Modad, Chairman of the opposition party- Unity Party, told reporters Thursday that the rights of Mo Ali were totally violated by the George Weah-led CDC government.

Modad explained that upon their arrival in the morning hours, a questionnaire was given to Mo Ali to answer to something he did after which the police insisted that they have an additional questions for him to answer but they couldn't give those additional questions.

After spending more than one hour without producing the additional questionnaire, police authority went in a meeting and returned with several charges. But prior to that, they were surrounded by more than hundred armed police officers in the conference room where the investigation was taking place.

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According to the Unity Party Chairman, Mo Ali was charged verbally and not written charges and was expected to spend two days in jail.

The UP chairman described the action carried out by the police as 'improper, predetermined and premeditated' to have his party stalwart subjected to investigation rather than invitation.

Modad narrated that it is an abuse of his partisan's human rights and meant to silent the critical voices of opposition. He alleged that there were several elements within the ruling CDC, who had written some destructive statements on their various Facebook platforms and pages, but none has been called for questioning.

He added that the post of Mo Ali is not criminal for which he should be jailed for but all is happening to silent the voices of opposition figures and their actions are political.

Cllr. Finlay Karngar prior to his client release on Friday, 26, 2021, link Mo Ali 24 hours detention to call from higher authority.

Cllr. Karngar noted that the alleged charges against his client were drawn from top authority of the executive(he did not provide details) to satisfy their desires noting that the action of the Weah-led government is clear manifestation to silent opposition community
Australians who received JobKeeper face a hefty bill if they make a mistake on their upcoming tax return.

Monday marked the first day of the wages subsidy scheme ending, a year after the emergency welfare measure was introduced to compensate businesses for the Covid shutdowns.

On Sunday, 980,000 employees working for 370,000 businesses received their last JobKeeper payments.

This ended $1,000 fortnightly payments for those putting in 20 hours or more a week, with part timers working fewer hours getting $650.

H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman said Australians who received JobKeeper faced a hefty tax penalty if they made a mistake with their tax return.

Australians who received JobKeeper face a hefty bill if they make a mistake on their upcoming tax return. Monday marked the first day of the wages subsidy scheme ending, a year after the emergency welfare measure was introduced to compensate businesses for the Covid shutdowns. Pictured is a Sydney retail worker in October last year

'Even if you just put the wrong figure for JobKeeper in there, if you underestimated the amount you received because you missed off a few payments, that's going to raise a flag at the ATO,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'If you've done the wrong thing, absolutely you should be worried.'

The Australian Taxation Office imposes a 25 per cent penalty, if someone mistakenly underestimated the tax they owed but this increased to 75 per cent for deliberate tax evasion.

During the past year, 3.6million Australian workers have at some stage received JobKeeper payments through their employer.

Australian taxpayers have spent $90billion on JobKeeper, a major factor behind Australia's biggest budget deficit since World War II.

Mr Chapman said this would put more pressure on the tax office with the economy emerging strongly from the Covid recession.

'Look, I think they are under pressure. They will start to do a bit of work on people's tax returns, where they've disclosed it incorrectly,' he said.

'There's going to be a lot more compliance action generally from the ATO this year.

H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman said Australians who received JobKeeper faced a hefty tax penalty if they made a mistake with their tax return. Pictured are Melbourne diners at the end of 2020

JobKeeper at a glance JobKeeper debuted as a flat $1,500 a fortnight wage subsidy on March 30, 2020 for businesses that had suffered a 30 per cent plunge in turnover The payments were tapered to $1,200 on September 28 last year for those working 20 hours or more a week with part-time recipients putting in less time getting $750 The third tranche of the scheme tapered the fortnightly payment to $1,000 a fortnight from January 4 for those working 20 hours or more with the rest getting $650 The $90billion scheme ended on March 28, 2021 Advertisement

'There is a bit of a requirement from the government to bring in the tax dollars.'

Sole traders who have received JobKeeper since July 1 last year are more at risk of making a mistake as they had to manually calculate the figures for their own salaries.

Part-time workers who received more generous earlier JobKeeper payments, inflating their usual salaries, may get a shock too when they submit their tax return.

This would be the case, especially if they were earning above the tax-free threshold of $18,200.

'You could find yourself in a position where you're actually paying tax where you've never previously paid tax before so that could become a bit of a nasty shock,' Mr Chapman said.

JobKeeper debuted on March 30 last year, initially as a flat $1,500 fortnightly payment, days after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the closure of service businesses to stop the spread of Covid.

The fortnightly payments were tapered from $1,500 a fortnight to $1,200 from the end of September as the scheme covered 1.5million workers instead of 3.6million under the original design.

Since early January, fortnightly payments have fallen to $1,000 for those putting in 20 hours or more a weeks and $650 for those working less, with the scheme now covering one million workers.

'Last year, the ATO went quite softly on taxpayers, they didn't do a lot of compliance work partly because they were too busy administering JobKeeper but also, given the state of the economy, it didn't seem to be the right thing to do to go hard after taxpayers,' Mr Chapman said.
Former commander of Police Intervention Unit (PIU), Biran Mbaye, yesterday testified before the TRRC on issues relating to the alleged killing of West African migrants, stating that it was not the first time the PIU was stained with such massive atrocities.

Narrating the things he knew during the incident, Mbaye explained that the former deputy inspector general of police informed him about migrants, who were arrested and taken to Barra Police Station.

Former Commissioner Mbaye revealed that the migrants were transported to Banjul and then to Kairaba Police Station, adding that details of the migrants were written down.

"The relief commander obtained the details of the migrants and copies were handed over to all the service chiefs. We were at the Kairaba Station for more than one hour and there was abnormality in the behaviour of Bombardier and colleagues."

He said some were taken to Baba Jobe's residence in Kololi, while the last three who couldn't fit at the Kairaba Station were taken to PIU Headquarters.

He said when he got a call from the PIU officers at Brufut Ghana Town that they had discovered three dead bodies, he visited the scene and saw eight naked bodies.

The witness further told the commission that the killings were done in a mysterious way, in which their mouths and ears were oozing blood. He added that Musa Touray, one of his officers told him that the 'Junglers' usually picked some of the victims from the police station.

At this juncture, Counsel Essa Faal told him that while standing at the Tanji Bird Reserve, he knew fully well that those people killed were part of the migrants. The witness responded in the affirmative.

"There was no dispute that the group of eight were part of those migrants apprehended in Barra. The Gambia government lied when they stated that the group of eight were not part of the migrants."

On the burials of two additional victims at Ghana Town, he said he didn't give any instruction to anyone to do that and it was a lie for anyone to say that he gave that order.

Mbaye further testified that he and his personnel were threatened not to speak about the incident.

"I have high regards for Yankuba Sonko but what he said regarding the dairies was a lie. Jim Drammeh also lied when he said the dairies were not doctored."
Abuja  Determined to facilitate and support Nigerian smallholder farmers' access to fertilizers, AFEX Fair Trade has partnered the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) on sufficient financing of hub-agro dealers.

The collaboration recognised the funding gap in the production of fertilizers by blenders as well as the hub-agro dealers' inadequacies to purchase due to high input cost and distribute higher volumes of fertilizers to the end-users.

By leveraging on AFAP's African fertilizer financing scheme under the African Development Bank (AfDB) programme, AFEX Fair Trade will ensure liquidity in the fertilizer value chain which will strengthen availability, quality and value-cost ratio of fertilizers to farmers in the rural regions.

Speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Abuja, over the weekend, Managing Director, AFEX Fair Trade, Kamalden Raji,

said:"We are excited to consolidate our partnership with AFAP to deepen fertilizer production and drive capital flow and growth opportunities to the agricultural sector.

"This MoU resonates strongly with AFEX Fair Trade's mandate to provide support in trading, financing, and market system development for Africa's commodities market."

He pointed out that the company had over the past years, developed and introduced a wide array of securitised financial instruments to help lower the cost of financing in the sector and increase access to inputs and market for market players including the asset-backed commercial paper, input notes, exchange trade commodities among others.

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On his part, Country Manager for AFAP, Mr. Matthew Adetunji, said the agreement will boost liquidity and production of the commodity, thereby making it affordable to farmers to enhance their yields.

He said:"We believe our partnership with AFEX Fair Trade is key to ensuring liquidity between hub-agro dealers and blenders in the fertilizer market. While we provide a guarantee for dealers, getting support from a structured trading platform like AFEX completes the transaction process more efficiently and seamlessly.

"We are on a mission to solve the scarcity of fertilizers by pushing more volumes to rural areas for farmers to access anytime at a cheaper rate."

Both parties told THISDAY, that with the financing models introduced, fertilizer distribution is set to commence in the coming months, just in time for the planting season to increase productivity and revenue generation.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Group Corp CEO said on Monday the conglomerate's domestic internet business Z Holdings is in talks with South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang about bringing its services to

SoftBank's Vision Fund markets itself to potential investments as offering a gateway to Japanese markets. Z Holdings completed a merger with internet business Yahoo and chat app Line this month.

The turnaround in valuations at the $100 billion Vision Fund was underscored at Coupang's New York debut earlier this month. holds a 37% stake in Coupang, which has a market cap of $75 billion.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; editing by David Evans)

(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.)
Police are searching for a 14-year-old Texas girl who they warn is in 'extreme danger' after she was allegedly abducted by her sex offender father.

Justin Shaun Gray, 40, fled with his 14-year-old estranged daughter, Lexus Nichole Gray, in Point last Wednesday.

Gray is accused of abducting Lexus after assaulting the teenager's mother and chasing her with a knife.

Police said Gray fled the area on foot after abducting the girl.

An Amber Alert was issued that described Gray as 'dangerous and wanted'.

Justin Shaun Gray, 40, fled with his 14-year-old estranged daughter, Lexus Nichole Gray, in Point, Texas last Wednesday

'He is a registered sex offender and has a parole violation warrant that is active,' the alert from the Rains County Sheriff's Office said.

Authorities described Lexus as being in 'extreme danger'.

Gray had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in 2009, records show.

He was convicted of two counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

The pair were last believed to be in the Mesquite and Dallas area, according to authorities.

Gray doesn't have custody of his daughter.

Lexus is described as being 5'6' and 160 lbs with blond hair and hazel eyes.

Gray is described as 6'1' and 200 lbs with black hair and hazel eyes.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday amid concerns about possible disruptions in supply. However, news about freeing of the container ship that had got stranded in the Suez canal helped limit oil's downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.59 or about 1% at $61.56 a barrel. Brent crude futures were up $0.47 or 0.73% at $64.90 a barrel a little while ago. Traders were looking ahead to the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, with regard to production curbs. The OPEC+ will be announcing their decision on Thursday (April 1). Oil prices drifted down earlier in the day as the cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal was partially refloated, raising hopes the vital waterway will soon be reopened. The Ever Given, an enormous container ship almost the length of the Empire State Building, has been wedged since early last week in the canal. The authorities said they hoped the ship would soon be completely freed. Almost 15% percent of world shipping goes through the Suez Canal, which cuts through Egypt from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. 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.
Two students at Iowa State University have died after a boat carrying five members of the university rowing team capsized in icy conditions on Sunday morning.

The students from the Iowa State Crew Club had been training on Little Wall Lake in Hamilton County when their boat became submerged, the university said in a statement.

Three members of the crew were rescued by local residents who live around the lake and risked their own lives to enter the water and help the stricken rowers, officials said.

A dive team recovered the body of one missing student later in the day. The search for the second missing student was called off Sunday night, and resumed around 7am on Monday morning.

Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons said sonar technology was used to help pinpoint the likely location of the body, and the body was recovered around 9:45am.

First responders gather Sunday night at the site of a boat capsizing at Little Wall Lake. The body of one member of the Iowa State University rowing club was recovered on Sunday, and another remained missing. Three club members had been rescued

The search for a missing rower who had fallen into the icy waters of Little Wall Lake resumed on Monday morning

The water was so cold that hypothermia would have set in within minutes, according to Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons

At about 9:45am on Monday morning, divers using sonar equipment located the body of the missing Iowa State Crew Club rower

He told KCCI station lake residents had risked their own lives to help save the rowers.

'There are some people who took some risks that they didn't have to take to save some lives,' Timmons told KCCI.

'There were people who got in the water and went out there and helped.'

Timmons said winds at the time of the accident were around 20-25 mph, which made conditions on the lake 'pretty rough'.

With air temperatures around 37 degrees Fahrenheit, hypothermia would have set in within minutes, he said.

Iowa State rowers were practicing in very cold conditions; a file photo of an Iowa State team in warmer waters

The three surviving students were treated and released from Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, the university release said. The names of the students who died have not yet been released by the university.

University President Wendy Wintersteen said the accident left the Iowa State community heartbroken.

'At this time, we are focused on providing support to club members, their families and friends,' Wintersteen said in a written statement.

'We ask that everyone keep them in their thoughts during this very difficult time.'

According to its website, the Iowa State Crew Club was established in 2002 and has been 'tearing up the water ever since'.

The club had only recently resumed training after the Covid-19 forced them off the water.

On normal times the club takes part in five regattas in the fall, indoor competitions in the spring, and goes on an annual excursion to Arkansas over Spring break.

'No prior experience is necessary, we will teach you everything you need to know,' the club's website says.

The Iowa State Crew Club practice three mornings and three evenings during the week, with an extra training session on a Sunday.
With the new year comes another period of widespread kidnapping. This is not unusual, as the main drivers of kidnapping, opportunity and means, have been present in Nigeria since independence in the 1960s and the rapid growth of oil income. All that oil money created a culture of corruption that is now recognized as the core problem in Nigeria. Periodically there is rapid growth in kidnapping for ransom until it becomes such a general nuisance that it subsides.

The current kidnapping epidemic started back in 2014, in northern Borno State when Boko Haram raided a boarding school near Chibok and kidnapped over 200 teenage girls. Since then Boko Haram has continued to use kidnapping to obtain hostages for ransom or trade or to use as slaves.

By 2018 the Christian pirates operating off the southern coast added kidnapping for ransom to their usual robbery tactics. The pirates kidnapped more often, taking officers and key crew members with them as they fled a large tanker or cargo ship anchored off a major port waiting for an opportunity to dock and load or unload cargo. The hostages were held for large ransoms. For a while such kidnappings were rare because local security forces could usually locate the kidnappers and free their hostages. That changed when some of the pirates made deals with local political and military officials to share the large ransoms. Once these ransom sharing deals were in place it became more difficult to find the pirate hideouts where hostages were held. This corrupt profit-sharing arrangement is nothing new in Nigeria and has been a component of the crippling corruption Nigeria has suffered since independence in the 1960s.

The problems with local officials, both elected and the traditional tribal and religious leaders, cooperating with bandits and terrorists is becoming more visible. These unpublicized arrangements reduce police and military pressure on the bad guys, who in turn share their income from robbery, extortion and ransoms. This arrangement also enables local leaders to quickly and effectively intervene to resolve a kidnapping that has triggered too much bad publicity.

The kidnapping has even spread to the outskirts of the national capital (Abuja) and many residents are moving out of their suburban homes for better security in downtown locations. In many parts of the country communities form armed security groups that can get away with murder if they encounter real or suspected kidnappers. This is a sign that the kidnapping epidemic is about to burn itself out when too many of the corrupt political and security officials find their own families endangered and the media feels free (and safe) to publish all they (and most Nigerians) know about how this all works.

First Place In The Worst Ways

Going into 2021, the worldwide covid19 economic slowdown and recession began to reverse itself. That is not apparent to most Nigerians because the unemployment rate is still rising. At the end of 2020 unemployment was nearly 30 percent and now is up to 33 percent and is officially the highest in the world. Because the covid19 economic damage was worldwide, it has hurt Nigeria more than a local recession would. Even with the recession, Nigeria still has the largest economy in Africa and the 26th largest worldwide. Post covid19 economic recovery depends on how effectively the government spends funds allocated for recovery and how well corruption is controlled. In the past, post-disaster recovery money has been a favorite, and vulnerable, target for corrupt politicians and other government officials.

Many Nigerians believe the rising unemployment plays a role in the rising incidence of religion and tribal violence. The Islamic terrorism is nothing new. Since 2014 five nations; Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan, have accounted for most of the terrorism-related deaths worldwide. That list changed in the last few years with Syria and Pakistan replaced by Somalia and Mali (including neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso). The largest source of Islamic terror deaths during that period was ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), a more radical faction of al Qaeda that is currently the most radical practitioner of Islamic terrorism. Islamic terrorism continues to be, as it has been since the 1990s, the main source of terrorism-related deaths, accounting for about 90 percent of the fatalities. The remainder of the terrorism-related deaths are ethnic (often tribal) conflicts in Africa and Asia. Purely political terrorism accounts for a fraction of one percent of all terrorism-related deaths and are outnumbered by terrorism deaths inflicted by common (often organized) criminals.

In Nigeria Boko Haram has always been the source of most Islamic terrorist violence, but since 2015 Boko Haram divided into factions and one of them, ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) is one of several Central Africa ISIL affiliates. In Nigeria it is often difficult, at first, to determine which faction of Boko Haram made an attack. Ultimately one of the factions will take credit. ISWAP is usually quicker to do so and has a much more efficient media operation than most Africa based Islamic terror groups. ISWAP is also finding that there is a downside to using ISIL techniques. More Western nations are willing to help Nigeria or at least coordinate existing counter-terrorism in the region (from Somalia to Mali and the Atlantic coast). There are smaller ISIL factions in northern Somalia, Mozambique, Libya and Algeria. These groups were once larger but have suffered heavy losses from local and/or international counter-terrorism efforts.

For the last seven years Nigeria has been where a disproportionate fraction of Islamic terrorist deaths occurred. The main reason for this is that about half of all Nigerians are Christian but most of them live in the south, where the oil and most of the developed economy is. Christians are better educated and more successful economically, which strikes many Moslem Nigerians as not right. After all, Christians are infidels and enemies of Islam. Boko Haram is more direct and believes that all Christians must convert to Islam. Those who resist must be killed or enslaved. Most Nigerian Moslems disagree with these harsh Boko Haram attitudes, which include accusing Moslems who disagree with them over Christian misdeeds to be enemies of Islam and subject to death unless they change their attitude.

While Islamic terrorism remains a major issue in Nigeria, such is not the case in the rest of the world. Islamic terrorism no longer dominates the world news now that ISIL has been largely suppressed. Global Islamic terrorism-related deaths have fallen by over 50 percent since 2014 when there were 35,000. This activity is most visible in the GTI (Global Terrorism Index), which counts all forms of terrorism. That puts Nigeria in the top ten because its casualties from Boko Haram violence alone would not do it. In the last year or so most terror-related deaths in Nigeria have come from tribal warfare, which had been a problem long before Islam showed up in sub-Saharan Africa about a thousand years ago. That was about the same time Islam underwent a religion-based shift in which science and technology went from being a useful area of study to a forbidden topic for devout Moslems. That was a side effect of a civil war that destroyed the caliphate (Islamic empire) because of nationalism and disputes over who the new caliphs (head of the caliphate) should be. That shift 800-year-old shift in Islamic attitudes created Boko Haram, which translates as Infidel education is forbidden. Most Moslems would prefer a more positive towards tech but such attitudes will get you killed during the periodic outbreaks of Islamic terrorism.

The appearance of Islamic radical factions was a regular occurrence during the last millennium and the nature of those radicals evolved, usually for the worse. Within the Islamic world efforts are being made to change this. That is difficult because there was never any central authority to decide what is true Islam and what is not. This is a big deal among Moslems because Islam was founded as a religion that also served as a form of government. No other major religion has that as part of their basic beliefs (as described in the Koran, the Moslem bible). This ongoing civil war is currently represented by the conflict between Iran, which follows the Shia school of Islam and is currently ruled by a religious dictatorship and the Sunni majority. Shia represent about ten per cent of all Moslems while the mainline Sunni represent about 80 percent. The Sunnis have no recognized leader and are divided into numerous sub-sects. Saudi Arabia is considered the most influential Sunni state by virtue of being Arab and ruled by the Saud clan which took control of the two most important Islamic shrines (Mecca and Medina) in the 1920s when the Turkish Ottoman Empire was taken apart by the victorious World War I Allies, mainly Britain and France. Most of the Arab world had not been independent for centuries, since the Ottomans seized control of the eastern Roman Empire, a process that was completed in the 15th century and managed to survive until the 20th century (1918). The Turks solved the caliph/caliphate problem by declaring the Ottoman ruler (the sultan) the caliph and eliminating any Moslems who challenged that claim. The 20th century also brought global dependence on oil and most of that was found to be in Moslem majority areas. Suddenly Islamic radicals had access to more cash than ever before. Islamic radicals had no objections to accepting infidel cash for the oil, and the radicals eventually used much of that wealth to attack the infidel states, as well as seeking to gain control of Moslem majority areas by terrorizing Moslems who opposed them. That is why there was such an unprecedented outbreak of Islamic terrorism in the late 20th century. Groups like Boko Haram still despise infidel education but were eager to purchase all the gadgets and weapons that the Western scientific and industrial revolution made possible. The Moslem contribution to all that new tech was miniscule, and still is despite many Moslem majority states making an effort to become more competitive in tech.

March 27, 2021: In the northeast (Borno State) Boko Haram gunmen once more used explosives to bring down an electricity transmission tower and cut power to much of the state capital (Maiduguri). This is the third time this year that Boko Haram has done this, which is a form of terrorism and takes days to repair and get the power flowing again. At the same time the army reported success in a large-scale sweep up north, from the town of Chibok and into the nearby Sambisa Forest. The troops killed, wounded or captured several hundred of the Islamic terrorists while also capturing weapons and camps as well as freeing civilians being held for ransom. Sambisa remains a popular hideout for Boko Haram groups. The military uses air reconnaissance and regular multi-day ground operations to act on air recon discoveries and tips from locals.

March 26, 2021: In the southeast (Cross River state) police and soldiers have been raiding Igbo separatist hideouts used by armed members of IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and seizing weapons while arresting sixteen suspected IPOB members. Several days earlier in nearby Abia State similar raids against the ESN (Eastern Security Network) killed sixteen suspected ESN members, ESN was formed by IPOB to defend Igbos in the southeast from Fulani raiders and government violence. The government has responded by sending troops to areas thought to contain ESN members and bases. This was unpopular with the locals as Nigerian soldiers are notorious for their violent behavior. These troops had been ordered to behave but that proved difficult for them to so in the face of Igbo contempt and hostility.

March 25, 2021: In the southeast (Ebonyi State) Effium tribesmen attacked an Igbo town, killing fifteen civilians, wounding many others and setting fire to over 200 structures. The Effium are considered a branch of Igbo that speak a similar language that most Igbo speakers dont understand. These differences contribute to feuds between Effium and Igbo communities. This is a common pattern throughout the country and in Moslem majority areas of northern and central Nigeria religion is also an issue with militant Moslems often demanding that southern Christians who have moved to the north, return to the south. Most Moslem political and tribal leaders condemn these religion-based threats, in part because it is illegal and also because many Moslems have moved to the south for better educational and economic opportunities. There is much less religion-based hostility in the Christian-majority south.

March 7, 2021: Nigerian pirates are applying many of the techniques that worked for the Somali pirates. The Nigerian pirates are locals who know their way along the many small waterways found in the Niger River Delta. Like the Somali pirates, the Nigerians freebooters began to thrives only after establishing depend on a network of middlemen, some of them local politicians, who help broker the ransom deals. Bribes and political influence will often prevent the police and navy from finding pirate hideouts deep in the delta. For a while Nigerian pirates tried to loot cargoes by arranging for another ship to meet with a captured one to transfer a lot of the cargo before daylight and curious police came to check on the ship whose crew was no longer responding to calls from port authorities or the shipping company that owned or leased the ship. The police became more alert to the cargo transfer scam and did radio checks more frequently with large ships anchored off the major ports waiting for an opportunity to unload or take on cargo. The pirates have, so far, adapted more quickly than the shipping companies or local security forces.

Because of the pirates the Gulf of Guinea, which includes the Nigerian coast, shipping companies warn that this will increase maritime ship insurance and other piracy related costs that will be passed on to consumers in Nigeria and neighboring countries if something is not done. Off the Nigerian coast the pirate activity is increasing despite Nigerian efforts to curb the practice. This is not as bad as what Somalia once was but it is becoming enough of a problem to cause serious problems for shipping companies and their customers in the Gulf of Guinea.

Nigeria will not get as bad as Somalia, which was the only place in the world where pirates could, for nearly a decade, take a large ship and anchor it off a small coastal town controlled by pirates. With no threats from local authorities, the Somali pirates threatened to murder hostages, especially the ones taken ashore, if the anti-piracy patrol attempts to take back the ship. This lack of any Somali coast guard or government control of the entire coast was why Somalia was the only region seriously enough threatened by pirates that armed guards were allowed on large commercial ships passing through the danger zone.

In the other pirate hotspots, like Nigeria/Gulf of Guinea, the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia and parts of the Caribbean local police, navies and coast guard keep the pirates under control and forbid armed guards on ships. The main risk outside Somali waters is nighttime raids by local pirates who rob the crew of valuables and the ships of anything portable. That changed when the Nigerian pirates established economic links with local politicians.

These robberies, and the current kidnappings, are possible in areas where a lot of large ships have to anchor off a busy major port and await their turn to dock for loading or unloading cargo. What enabled the Nigerian pirates to become more of a menace was the entrenched gangster culture in the Niger River Delta. This is where most of Nigerias oil is produced. More of the oil is coming from offshore rigs and these became attractive targets for the pirates as well. The seemingly entrenched gangster culture is made possible by the culture of corruption among local politicians and local security forces. Many politicians adopt a local gang to provide muscle for ensuring elections select the most corrupt candidates. Nigeria has been undergoing increasingly vigorous and effective reform efforts since 2000 but the gangster culture is so pervasive and entrenched that eliminating it is slow going. Nigerian leaders dont like being compared to Somalia, but there are similarities. One difference is that there is more to steal in Nigeria and that many Nigerians, unlike Somalis, consider the outlaw culture a flaw not a feature.
Former Labor MP Kate Ellis says she constantly received death and rape threats during her time in office - and says she stopped using the MP's special entrance because guards always assumed she was a staffer.

Ms Ellis, who became the youngest federal minister at the age of 30, made the startling revelations as she released her new book 'Sex, Lies and Question Time' on Sunday.

The book details the experiences of Ms Ellis and other female politicians who claim they endured a culture of systemic inequality, sexism and sexual harassment.

Ms Ellis says she had to bat away rumours of having an affair with a male advisor in office and steel herself against vile and sexual slurs that included a staff member asking her point blank: 'How many blokes you f***ed in order to get into parliament.'

Former Labor MP Kate Ellis says she constantly received death and rape threats during her time in office

Ms Ellis says she had to bat away rumours of having an affair with a male advisor in office and steel herself against vile and sexual slurs that included a staff member asking her point blank: 'how many blokes you f***ed in order to get into parliament'

Ms Ellis says she was casual and calm while showing the death threat to her husband and prominent journalist, David Penberthy (pictured), as she had grown used to this type of behaviour

'There's this casual misogyny that shows up in a whole range of ways,' Ms Ellis told ABC.

'People are rewarded in politics for bad behaviour. If you undermine someone, then you're more likely to be promoted.'

Ms Ellis was elected as the member for Adelaide in October 2004, a fortnight after her 27th birthday, defeating 58-year Liberal incumbent Trish Worth.

She was one of three female Labor candidates to win a seat off John Howard's Coalition government when Mark Latham was opposition leader.

Three years later, in 2007, new Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd appointed her as the minister for youth and minister for sport.

Among her many achievements in parliament was introducing a national quality of standards for childcare and helping to shape the national plan to combat violence against women and children.

Though it was on her first day in office when Ms Ellis encountered her first obstacle because of her gender.

She says security guards had stopped her at the MP's entrance into parliament because they mistakenly thought she was just a staff member.

'I think that contributed to a massive impostor syndrome,' she told Stellar.

'Like I started believing 'What am I doing here? Should I really be here?'

A vile rumour then began to circulate about Ms Ellis when she was just 18 months into her new job.

Gossip had been spreading that Ms Ellis and a female chief of staff were having an affair with a male advisor in 2009.

Ms Ellis suspects it was started by a member within her own party in a bid to undermine her.

Although there was 'zero' truth to the rumour Ms Ellis was pushed to the point where she 'begged' a news editor to not publish the story.

Ms Ellis was elected as the MP for Adelaide in 2004, before becoming the youngest Australian to enter federal politics after then-Labor leader Kevin Rudd appointed her minister for youth and minister for sport in 2007

The 43-year-old also had to deal with slurs from the community and says she received rape and death threats online and even in the mail

'I promise I've never even kissed him,' she recalled saying at the time.

'I still cringe when I think how pathetic it was that I was begging.'

The rumour was just the start of a long uphill battle Ms Ellis faced during her time in parliament.

'Focus on physical appearance is much greater for women, focus on their private lives, issues around motherhood, slut-shaming, personal attacks, rumours and gossip used to undermine women in a way men don't have to face to the same extent in parliament,' she told ABC.

Ms Ellis was out for drinks with her colleagues when a staff member approached her and said: 'Kate, the only thing anyone wants to know about you is just how many blokes you f***ed in order to get into parliament.'

The 43-year-old also had to deal with slurs from the community and says she received rape and death threats online and even in the mail.

Ms Ellis also had to deal with slurs from the community and says she received rape and death threats online and even in the mail

Although Ms Ellis endured years of this kind of behaviour she admitted she only realised how 'toxic' the workplace was when she left politics in 2019

'I had a death threat once that was personally delivered to my doorstep when I was a single 30-something woman living on my own.'

One email she received she decided to show her husband, veteran journalist and now-editor-in-chief of News Limited David Penberthy.

Ms Ellis says she was casual and calm while showing him, as she had grown used to this type of behaviour.

'I made the mistake of showing it to Dave, who went into a rage,' she said.

'I was kind of calming, saying, 'We're having a fun Friday night. We're clearly in a better place than this bloke.' He just couldn't believe that was something we dealt with.'

Although Ms Ellis endured years of this kind of behaviour she admitted she only realised how 'toxic' the workplace was when she left politics in 2019.

'It's really strange how when you leave the parliament and re-enter normal life that you slowly start to realise how the rest of the world operates,' she said.

'Things that I used to accept were part of the job are really not OK.'
A motorcyclist was killed in a crash in San Jose early Sunday evening, police said.

The crash occured near Hillsdale and Ross avenues, where police were summoned at 5:11 p.m. A man was riding a motorcycle westbound on Hillsdale when his bike veered off the roadway onto the sidewalk, and struck a parked car in a parking lot and then a tree, police said. The man was transported to a local hospital where he died.

The death was the ninth traffic fatality in the city in 2021.

Police said the identity of the victim would be released by the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office after its confirmed and next of kin is notified.

Police ask people with further information to contact Detective Garcia at the police Traffic Investigations Unit at 408-277-4654.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench
Eric J. Nelson is one of a dozen defense lawyers in Minneapolis who work on a rotation basis to represent police officers charged with misconduct. Mr. Nelson, 46, took charge of the former police officer Derek Chauvins defense over the summer, after his first lawyer retired.

Before taking on Mr. Chauvins case, Mr. Nelsons most famous client was Amy Senser, the wife of the former Minnesota Vikings tight end Joe Senser. She was convicted of vehicular homicide for a hit-and-run accident in 2011 that left a man dead near a freeway exit ramp and was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

He has also defended a former high school basketball star for his role in a bank robbery, and a pastor who was charged with soliciting a prostitute after getting caught in a sting operation.

Over his career, Mr. Nelson has developed a specialty in defending clients accused of driving while intoxicated and has lectured on D.W.I. law and the manufacturing of methamphetamine, according to his bio on his law firms website.
Apples Irish employees donated 2m to charities in 2020, giving up 115,000 hours to support different causes.

The company says that volunteering hours increased 450pc annually during the pandemic months of March 2020 to March 2021.

The suicide prevention charity Pieta, which received over 70,000 crisis support calls and texts and supported over 600 households affected by suicide, was one of over 200 charities to benefit.

In 2020, Pieta delivered over 52,000 hours of in-person suicide intervention and suicide bereavement counselling, said Sinead Price, co-director of fundraising at Pieta.

We rely on public donations and the generosity of individuals, like the staff at Apple, to ensure we can provide our free service to those in need across the country.

Other charities to benefit included Cork ARC Cancer Support House, the LauraLynn Foundation and BUMBLEance.

Apple says that 2020 was the biggest year to date for its Giving program. For every hour an employee volunteers or euro they donate, Apple matches that with a monetary donation to the same organisation. The company says that since the programmes inception in 2011, Apple employees have raised almost 500m in total donations, including more than 1.6 million hours volunteered, for more than 34,000 organisations.
The Irish Hairdressers Federation is calling for salons to be allowed to reopen for those clients who are fully vaccinated.

They say this will be a huge boost for the mental health and well-being of those who have had to undergo the strictest lockdown for the last year and to frontline workers.

Do you agree?
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Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
Tuesday, March 30, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Outcomes of Turbulent 2020 in Pharmaceutical Sector, Prospects and Plans for 2021." Participants include President of the Association Manufacturers of medications of Ukraine Petro Bahriy; Manager of the Health Care Committee of the European Business Association (EBA) Dmytro Lurye; Deputy President of the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IPMA), Director of Euro Lifecare Private Limited Sanjeev Bhagat; General Director of the analytical company SMD Iryna Horlova. Moderator is Hanna Levchenko (8/5a Reitarska Street). The press conference will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Details by phone: (067) 946 1914 (Hanna). 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. During the broadcast, it is possible to follow the event and ask questions to the speakers in the broadcast chat.
Amid his legal battles, Johnny Depp is excited to get back on stage and perform some music, according to his friend and bandmate, Alice Cooper.

Speaking toThe Daily Beast, the 73-year-old musician revealed that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor's legal trouble and fallout from his rocky marriage to ex Amber Heard would not be getting in the way of their plans to release a new album for Hollywood Vampires.

Despite Depp's tarnished name in the spotlight, Cooper revealed that "there's no drama." He even called the "Edward Scissorhands" star "one of my best buddies."

Speaking of the actor going back to making some new music, Cooper revealed, "Johnny said, 'Hey, that's another world. That has nothing to do with what I'm doing in the band.'"

Cooper also revealed that Depp "'can't wait to get back onstage.'"

In the middle of everything, Depp has been writing songs, which Cooper believes and expects to have been inspired by his recent troubles and dramas.

He told The Daily Beast, "I know Johnny was writing all last year when the whole thing was going on with him."

Cooper added, "But you know, that's not going to stop him from going home and writing. In fact, it probably helped."

Being in the band was also great for them because, as per Cooper, "there's never been one argument."

He explained, "Nobody's ever even raised their voice to anybody in that band. It's really cool."

This wouldn't be the first time Alice Cooper has defended Johnny Depp amid his legal fight against the "Aquaman" actress, who has also accused him of domestic abuse.

In an interview with Billboard in 2019, Cooper said that everything reported in that year about his friend was "99% bull."

The Rockstar further added that in the same year, Depp looked better and happier.

"I never heard him play better and the way the press would've it is he's a total destruction and ready to die - totally not true!"

Johnny Depp's Band - Hollywood Vampires

In 2015, Johnny Depp formed the band alongside Alice Cooper and Aerosmith's Joe Perry.

The trio has performed cover songs to honor the music of rock stars famous since the 70s.

Hollywood Vampires released two studio albums titled "Hollywood Vampires" in 2015 and "Rise" in 2019 with features from Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, and Dave Grohl.

Aside from the three members, Tommy Henriksen is also part of the band, who is the band's rhythm and lead guitar.

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Howie Mandel wasn't taking any chances as he returned to work amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The television personality was spotted sporting a very unique headpiece as he arrived for a taping of season sixteen of America's Got Talent in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The infamous germaphobe, 65, wore a massive astronaut helmet to shoot the upcoming season of the talent contest series, which will be the second to air under modified protocols.

Helmet: Howie Mandel was spotted sporting a very unique headpiece as he arrived for the first taping of season sixteen of America's Got Talent in Los Angeles on Sunday

COVID protection: The infamous germaphobe, 65, wore a massive astronaut helmet to shoot the upcoming season of the talent contest series, which will be the second to air under modified protocols

The comedian took the coronavirus precautions to another level with the plastic piece, clearly feeling like a facemask would not suffice as protection.

Other than the helmet, the funnyman looked perfectly normal in a pair of navy overalls and black and yellow t-shirt.

He completed the look with white sneakers and his signature glasses.

Howie grinned and gave cameras two enthusiastic thumbs up as he made his way to the set to join fellow judged Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara.

Overalls: The comedian took the coronavirus precautions to another level with the plastic piece, clearly feeling like a facemask would not suffice as protection. Other than the helmet, the funnyman looked perfectly normal in a pair of navy overalls and black and yellow t-shirt

Germaphobe: Mendel is a self-described germaphobe, who also battles OCD, and has being taking safety protocols during the pandemic extremely seriously

Klum posted a boomerang of herself having fun with Mandel backstage on her Instagram account, tapping his mask as he continued to smile.

'@howiemandel can you hear me in there?,' the masked 47-year-old supermodel captioned the funny clip.

Mendel is a self-described germaphobe, who also battles OCD, and has being taking safety protocols during the pandemic extremely seriously.

Having fun: Klum posted a boomerang of herself having fun with Mandel backstage on her Instagram account, tapping his mask as he continued to smile. '@howiemandel can you hear me in there?,' the masked 47-year-old supermodel captioned the funny clip

He made headlines for showing up to a taping of the show in a full hazmat suit in March 2020, shortly before the United States went into lockdown to combat the virus.

The star told Page Six in May that he has been getting by during the pandemic with the help of therapy and medication.

'Some people call it a pandemic, I call it "told ya!"' Mandel told the outlet. 'I'm on medication... I'm moving my therapist into a whole new tax bracket on the phone.'

He commented on how society is now valuing the hygienic accessories he's utilized for years to stave off the germs.

Hazmat: Mandel made headlines for showing up to a taping of the show in a full hazmat suit in March 2020, shortly before the United States went into lockdown to combat the virus

Getting by: The star told Page Six in May that he has been getting by during the pandemic with the help of therapy and medication: 'Some people call it a pandemic, I call it "told ya!" I'm on medication... I'm moving my therapist into a whole new tax bracket on the phone.'

'I felt responsible in the beginning for the shortage of PPE because I'd been hoarding gloves and masks and hazmat suits for the last 50 years but I've given them all away,' he said.

'This is my nightmare, this is how I live and now the world has joined me in my nightmare,' he added. 'I hope we wake up and it's just mine and not everyone's. I take no solace in the fact that I was ahead of the curve.'

Mandel's aversion to germs has made its way into his America's Got Talent stint on multiple occasions.

Nightmare: 'This is my nightmare, this is how I live and now the world has joined me in my nightmare,' he added. 'I hope we wake up and it's just mine and not everyone's. I take no solace in the fact that I was ahead of the curve'

Mandel said he lives 'freaked out' and 'can't wait for this to be over' as people have spent the last year donning gloves and facemasks and keep a distance of six feet while out in public places with others

During the fifth season, he ran away amid an act that included sneezing; in the show's 10th season, he was put under hypnosis and told that his fellow judges on the panel were wearing gloves, so he shook their hands and gave them high fives. He subsequently said he 'felt betrayed' with the prank.

Mandel said he lives 'freaked out' and 'can't wait for this to be over' as people have spent the last year donning gloves and facemasks and keep a distance of six feet while out in public places with others.

The sixteenth season of America's Got Talent was confirmed last month after the fifteenth set of episodes underwent a troubled production process.
Joe Biden's border crisis isn't going away any time soon, with internal projections leaked Monday showing unaccompanied minor apprehensions are expected to surge as high as 26,000 in September.

In February, the administration projected the figure in illegal unaccompanied minor border crossings would be 13,000 in May, but the documents leaked to Axios show the new estimate is between 22,000 and 25,000.

These figures only represent minors crossing through the southern border from Central America  as those from Mexico can be more easily returned to their home country.

The massive increase in projected migrant minor numbers indicate Biden's team has vastly underestimated the immigration crisis as the administration continues to try and deflect blame on the last administration.

The previous record of minor border crossings was under Former President Donald Trump in May 2019 when it reached 11,475. This month, that record was shattered with numbers surpassing 16,000.

Biden administration projections leaked and revealed Monday show Border Patrol is projecting up to 26,000 minor border apprehensions in September  more than double the record reached under Trump in May 2019

The new projections come as Biden vows not to turn away any unaccompanied minors who arrive at the southern border

Overnight Sunday to Monday, more migrants arrived illegally from Mexico at the U.S. shore of the Rio Grande river

The group of migrants from Honduras and Guatemala where pulled ashore on an inflatable boat by a 'coyote' people smuggler

Customs and Border Protection projections in the leaked document go to September 2021, where the range of minor border apprehensions is expected to reach between 22,000 and 26,000  both numbers that more than double the record that was reached under Trump's hard line immigration policies.

Biden claimed at his first press briefing last Thursday: 'Nothing has changed,' adding that the massive influx 'happens every single, solitary year.'

White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield reiterated that point on Sunday, calling it a 'cyclical issue' that isn't any worse than other points in U.S. history.

'These are the same kind of surges that we've seen,' Bedingfield told ABC's 'This Week' host Jonathan Karl. 'They're not the result of one administration's policies or another administration's policies. They're the result of, for example, weather disasters in the region. They're the result of people fleeing poverty and violence.'

This argument is not true. The number of southern border apprehensions and illegal crossings, minor and otherwise, is the highest it's ever been regardless of circumstance.

The quickly devolving situation is exacerbated by the Biden administration's refusal to back down on its promise to take in all children arriving at the border without an adult or family unit.

With this and other current policies in place, Biden's government is facing unheard of numbers of kids illegally crossing the border this fiscal year. Numbers are projected to reache from 159,000 to 184,000.

The president and his senior officials insist the 'border is closed' and claim they are sending all adults and family units who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border back to their home countries.

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security, however, warn of a migration surge including adults and family units that could be the largest ever in the last two decades.

DHS expects somewhere between 500,000 to 800,000 migrants to arrive as part of a family group by September.

Biden insists family units and adults arriving at the border are being turned away and sent back to the country as the administration claims the 'border is closed.' Above a family of immigrants who arrived illegally stand in line at a processing checkpoint Sunday night

Border patrol processing and holding facilities have become quickly overrun and have reached at least 700% of its mass capacity.

The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking additional accommodations for minors, including a need for an extra 6,000 beds for shelters. The target is to keep facility occupancy at 90% capacity.

There are plans to open up space for an additional 5,000 minors on military bases.

Last week, Biden announced he is putting Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of the White House response to the situation at the border, which the administration still refuses to call a 'crisis.'

Also on the minds of Americans is a lack of transparency from the Biden regarding processes at border facilities.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday the administration is 'committed' to transparency, but would not give a timeline on when reporters and their cameras would be permitted to tour facilities where migrant kids are being held.

Biden said during his press conference Thursday 'I don't know,' when he was asked when reporters would be allowed to tour and capture images of the facilities.
Police in Virginia have arrested a juvenile suspect and charged him with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting of a young teenage girl.

Lucia Whalen Bremer was killed on Friday afternoon outside a home in the Gayton Forest West subdivision of Raintree, a suburb of Richmond, not far from her family home.

She was rushed to hospital but succumbed to her injuries, reportedly having been shot multiple times.

As the neighbourhood backs onto Godwin High School a temporary lockdown was issued in the wake of the shooting.

The girl, who was identified by her family on social media, was an eighth-grade student at Quioccasin Middle School in Richmond. The school principal said she radiated happiness in a statement.

On the Facebook page of the family business, a post read: Liberty Tree Farm is saddened to report that our beloved daughter and joyful farmer, Lucia Whalen Bremer, was killed in a senseless act of gun violence on March 26.

Thank you for keeping our family in your thoughts as we navigate the next few weeks.

Read more:

Henrico County officers arrested the suspect on Saturday afternoon. The identity of the suspect has not been disclosed because of his age but police said he was identified via tips called in by the public.

On behalf of the entire police division, we appreciate the community support through the tips called in and to our partners with the Richmond ATF who assisted in the investigation, said Lieutenant Matt Pecka.

Police confirmed that the suspect is also charged with possession of a firearm by a juvenile, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Footage on the Citizen app showed the suspect being taken into custody by two officers at a home approximately half a mile from the site of the murder.

Melanie Phipps, Lucias principal, sent a message to parents on Saturday saying that the loss has left her heartbroken and devastated.

Lucia was funny. She loved to tell jokes and made people laugh. She was an amazing public speaker, and you would just listen in awe as she spoke. Lucia was wise beyond her years. Talking to her didnt feel like talking to a middle schooler, Ms Phipps wrote.

Lucia was exceptional; truly one-of-a-kind. She was brave, hardworking, and kind to everyone. Her smile would light up the entire room.

In fact, her mother told me that Lucias name means light, which is just the perfect way to describe her. She radiated happiness, and she loved our school.

A virtual memorial service was planned for Sunday afternoon and extra security measures will be in place at the school on Monday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden does not intend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said on Monday.

Asked if Biden's diplomatic approach to North Korea would include "sitting with President Kim Jong Un" as former President Donald Trump had done, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, "I think his approach would be quite different and that is not his intention," she said.

North Korea launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile last week, prompting Washington to request a gathering of the U.N. Security Council's (UNSC) sanctions committee, which then criticized the test.

Biden on Thursday said the United States remained open to diplomacy with North Korea despite the tests, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

North Korea on Saturday said the Biden administration had taken a wrong first step and revealed "deep-seated hostility" by criticising what it called a self-defensive missile test.

Trump had three high-profile meetings with Kim, and exchanged a series of letters, but relations later grew frosty, and the nuclear-armed state said it would not engage further unless the United States dropped its hostile policies.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; writing by Andrea Shalal; editing by Chris Reese and Marguerita Choy)
It is time to change the debate around sex work from a moral issue to one of workers rights, a University of Otago study argues.

Author Peyton Bond, PhD candidate in sociology, gender studies and criminology, interviewed seven Dunedin-based sex workers and one brothel manager to determine what decriminalisation can look like under the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA).

The study found the act is successful when managers adhere fully to the provisions of the PRA and the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective guidelines; sex workers are confident and knowledgeable about their rights under the legislation; and councils do not introduce bylaws that contradict the provisions of the PRA.

Success is defined as a system that ensures workers rights and equitable and fair treatment. I name this success the Dunedin Model, says Peyton.

Post-decriminalisation sex workers in Dunedin felt confident about their rights and management was a large contributing factor to their positive experiences.

Another factor was the absence of bylaws in Dunedin. Bond says bylaws under some councils, including Queenstown and Christchurch, exist as an impediment to the benefits of decriminalisation.

Queenstown Lakes District Councils bylaws, which reduce the legal area of operation for brothels to within a two-block zone in both Queenstown and Wanaka, which cannot be located at ground level or beneath ground level of another building, or within 100m of any existing brothel, have been labelled draconian by Dame Catherine Healy of the NZPC. Such restrictive bylaws can cause sex work to move underground, or face legal trouble, she says.

Workers-rights oriented management carried more weight than the other three factors in the successful model. This, unfortunately, means that even in a decriminalised, bylaw-free region, where workers have strong knowledge of their rights, the whims and temporality of management in the industry hold harmful power, says Peyton.

However, times can change, the interviews were conducted in 2018, and with it legislation sometimes must  this model requires continued input from those working in the field, she says.

Peyton hopes the public can work on unlearning their own stigmas and preconceived notions around the sex industry and ensure that whatever their personal stance on the existence of sex work is, it does not mean that workers rights are not protected.

Too many people argue against decriminalisation on the basis that sex work is bad, without considering the real harms that this rhetoric and its corresponding policies cause  it is not plausible or best practice to make laws about peoples work without consulting and listening to those very people.

She also hopes the study is useful to sex workers and activists fighting for decriminalisation in other countries as evidence of what a decriminalised policy model could look like when workers know their rights, management respects those rights, and further legislation (bylaws) dont contradict the decriminalisation legislation.
"The World of the Married" star Shim Eun Woo set the record straight as she finally addressed accusations towards her.

For weeks, the 28-year-old actress has been hounded by online hate and criticisms for being linked to a bullying scandal.

After being in hot water, she broke her silence and released an official statement to speak about the harassment issues.

In her social media post, she began by admitting her wrongdoings and apologized to her former classmate "who was hurt" by her "immature attitude."

Upon learning the controversy, the "Love Scene Number" actress tried to reach out to the individual but only managed to speak to one of her family members.

Unfortunately, the alleged victim refused to communicate and meet her in person.

"However, as the issue received media attention, things began to snowball, and due to intensifying emotions, I was not able to meet with the individual [who wrote the post]," Shim Eun Woo Instagram caption reads.

Wanting to clear the air between her and her former classmate, the "Diary of a Prosecutor" actress requested again to meet the alleged victim. Luckily, she was able to speak with her alongside Shim Eun Woo's agency, SH Media Corp.

During their conversation, the actress reflected on her behavior and learned that her classmate still "harbors deep emotional wounds" towards her.

"I realized that the words and actions I thoughtlessly directed at someone when I was young could remain with that person for a long time as wounds, and I spent time deeply worrying about the life I have lived up until now and my present-day self," she added.

With this, she expressed her sincerest apology and vowed to "endlessly look back" at herself as she tries to be a better person.

In addition, Shim Eun Woo also apologized to her fellow actors and those who were involved with her current project.

The actress is set to star in JTBC's new drama "Fly High Butterfly" alongside Choi Daniel and Oh Yoon Ah.

Shim Eun Woo Accused of Bullying

The "The World of the Married" actress is among the celebrities being targeted by harassment allegations after a former classmate from Bukpyeong Girls' Middle School claimed that she was bullied by Shim Eun Woo, who was then known as Park So Ri.

In an online community post, the accuser mentioned she had experienced social ostracism and psychological bullying from the actress.

Moreover, the former classmate pointed out that Shim Eun Woo was a well-known school bully at the time, to which her agency all denied.

Shim Eun Woo Agency Claps Back at Bullying Allegations

SH Media Corp released a statement saying that they have confirmed that their talent was "an upright student" and has never been involved in any misconduct.

However, they have been looking into the situation and asked fans to avoid spreading malicious statements and false posts online.

"The agency is actively monitoring the situation and plans to take strong action against the spreading of false rumors, lies, and false information."

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Geca Wills
As the mother of a 17-year-old girl at a central London sixth form, I cant say the revelations over the past few days about a toxic culture of sexual abuse in schools have come as much of a surprise. In fact, if anything, Im amazed its taken this long.

Over 8,000 testimonies detailing incidents of sexual abuse have now been posted on the website Everyones Invited, founded by a young graduate called Soma Sara as a way of turning the spotlight on this problem. They range in severity from verbal harassment to sexual coercion to allegations of rape.

The Department of Education has responded by saying it will work with the police to establish the facts, and one of the countrys most senior officers, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, is now heading up a task force to investigate. A national hotline has been set up to encourage victims to come forward.

Over 8,000 testimonies detailing incidents of sexual abuse have now been posted on the website Everyones Invited (Pupils stage a protest against rape culture at Highgate School in London)

Its no coincidence that many of the abusive behaviours described on Everyones Invited mirror so many of the tropes of porn culture. And they are values that popular culture only reinforces such as the pop-porn videos and lyrics of global stars like Cardi B and Meghan Thee Stallion. (Pictured, Cardi B)

And so you have the perfect storm: boys who have grown up watching women being humiliated and abused online; and girls who feel its incumbent on them to dress like Kim Kardashian and writhe around like Cardi B at parties. (Pictured, Kim Kardashian)

It is a daunting task. Girls and young women sharing their experiences is one thing; its quite another to establish how many of these events actually took place.

Yes, victims of sexual violence should be believed, but then again people dont always tell the truth, and teenagers in particular can be particularly unreliable in this respect especially when there are other factors  parents, teachers, peer pressure  at play.

It will be incumbent on the police to protect the innocent as well as prosecute the guilty and, in the current climate of hysteria, thats going to be a tricky path to navigate.

In particular, it is vitally important that we dont succumb to the notion, already taking hold in some circles, that all teenage boys are abusers. Most of them are frightened and confused by these reports, paralysed by fear that they will somehow, inadvertently, get themselves accused of something awful, worried that they will never even be able to speak to a girl again without risking arrest.

At Dulwich College  one of the schools named on the website  innocent boys are being abused online and at the school gates simply by association. That is not justice, it is simple pitchforkery, and it must not be tolerated. I certainly dont envy Mr Bailey his job.

That said, I really think this is more than just another one of those moments of collective internet-driven hysteria that seem to characterise life at the moment. Ive read those testimonies on Everyones Invited, and Im sad to say that many of the incidents described chime with what Ive heard, anecdotally, over the past few years from my daughter and her friends.

Particularly familiar are the accounts of explicit images being shared, of girls being filmed without their consent and also certain recurring themes, such as pressure to perform specific types of sex acts, many of a particularly humiliating nature. Casual misogyny is another common theme, along with acts of sexual revenge and drug and alcohol abuse.

It all adds up to a sad and depressing picture of a generation for whom sex appears to have become less an intimate and private journey of personal discovery and more a source of unhappiness. There is no doubt in my mind that there is something very worrying going on, something that is not only deeply damaging for girls, but also boys.

Of course sexual harassment in schools is nothing new. Even in my day it existed, although we would probably not have called it that. There was always that one boy who took everything too far, the kind who would make it his mission to importune as many girls as he could, who would whip up your skirt in PE, make obscene suggestions and lurid gestures, overstep the mark at parties.

As young women, dealing with these types was part of growing up. We found safety in numbers, practised withering put-down lines. But in truth most boys were actually quite respectful of girls, certainly once you managed to get them away from their mates. Sure, they had urges, as teenage boys have had from time immemorial. But they had very little sense of what to do with those urges, and even less expectation of being allowed to act on them.

That, Im afraid, has all changed. In the decades since I was an 18-year-old girl living on my own in Brighton, the politics of sex have become much more complicated  and much more dangerous. Most 14-year-olds know more about sex than many people my age for the simple reason that they grow up watching online porn  and we didnt.

There is no question in my mind that this is the root cause of the problem. More specifically, the widespread availability of porn, its violent and explicit nature, and the messages of humiliation and debasement of women it sends.

This murky world  once confined to the back-alleys of the adult mind  has stepped out from the shadows and into the mainstream, and it has infected the minds of the most vulnerable and impressionable in society: our children. We now have a generation whose formative sexual experiences come not from the gentle awakenings of teenage desires but from the brutal humiliation of women for profit and the more depraved fantasies of men.

Its no coincidence that many of the abusive behaviours described on Everyones Invited mirror so many of the tropes of porn culture.

From on-camera copulation in shows like Big Brother and Love Island to mainstream TV programmes like Naked Attraction... which reduce people to nothing more than their genitals. (Pictured, Love Island contestants from Series 6)

A still from Channel 4's Naked Attraction, featuring Anna Richardson and two naked models

The assumption, for example, that we are all secretly desperate for it; the idea of group sex as standard; the obsession with certain types of acts designed to humiliate; the fetishisation of rape. Its clear from these testimonies that the depraved values of an industry that thrives on the abuse of women have penetrated the minds of young people and effectively normalised them at a crucially formative age.

And they are values that popular culture only reinforces. From on-camera copulation in shows like Big Brother and Love Island to mainstream TV programmes like Naked Attraction, which reduce people to nothing more than their genitals, to celebrity sex tapes featuring the likes of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian and beyond, to the pop-porn videos and lyrics of global stars like Cardi B and Meghan Thee Stallion, sexuality  and particularly if its female  is projected as nothing more than a commodity.

And like all commodities that are widely available, its value has plummeted. What used to be rather special and a little bit mysterious is now about as commonplace as a 2.99 pack of chicken thighs in Tesco. And worthy of about as much respect.

And so you have the perfect storm: boys who have grown up watching women being humiliated and abused online; and girls who feel its incumbent on them to dress like Kim Kardashian and writhe around like Cardi B at parties. An explosive, toxic mixture of assumptions and misunderstanding compounded by youth, inexperience, hormones and the feverish atmosphere of social media.

How we unpick this mess is anyones guess. Education is important, of course, and as parents it is important that we speak to our children about these issues. Ive certainly had some long conversations with both of mine. I wouldnt say they have been enjoyable (no parent really wants to discuss these things with their child) but they have been constructive and, I think, necessary.

But if there is one thing I could do, it would be this: put internet porn behind a paywall. Make it impossible  or at the very least less possible  for young children to see stuff their brains cant comprehend. Protect them from this stuff until they are old enough not to let it damage them. Because until that happens we run the risk of blaming our children for the sins of us adults.
Finally, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Samuel Onnoghen has revealed that his ouster from office was made possible by mere political intrigues orchestrated by the Federal Government.

For the first time since he was removed as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Samuel Onnoghen, penultimate week broke his silence on the possible reasons for his removal. The former CJN, who spoke at the unveiling of a book titled 'Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, Practice, Procedure, Forms and Precedents', by a senior lawyer, Chief Ogwu James Onoja (SAN), attributed his sack to political intrigues.

He disclosed that prior to his removal, he was accused by the executive of meeting with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, preparatory to the 2019 general election. According to him, the rumour was thick and spread fast, but he decided not to react to it because he never travelled to Dubai or held any meeting with anybody, including Atiku.

The former CJN, however, said he was surprised that despite the fact that the Federal Government had all the machinery to investigate the allegation of the rumoured meeting, it never did, but opted to go after him and his office.

Onnoghen was removed under controversial circumstances in 2018. Despite the plethora of orders and precedents, the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government proceeded to remove him from office.

Narrating his ordeal, the former CJN said he was not surprised when all of a sudden, his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) was arranged, even when he had not been invited to defend the allegation or any wrongdoing. He said the action of the government against him got to the peak when in the course of the trial and when parties had joined issues, an ex-parte was suddenly brought in, and what followed was his illegal and unlawful suspension as CJN.

Onnoghen said if the judiciary is not free from political manipulations, the dispensation of justice according to the rule of law would be a mirage. He emphasised that justice is possible when "you know who is dispensing justice," adding that the surest way to guarantee justice and democracy is to adhere to the rule of law.

The former CJN said that ordeal was not the first, adding that at a point during former President Olusegun Obasanjo's regime, a commission was set up and that he was indicted of wrongdoing, even when he was not invited or allowed to appear before the commission to defend himself. He, however, said because former President Obasanjo was a leader who listened to advice, the matter was referred to the NJC for review. He added that at the council, truth surfaced before he was appointed to the Supreme Court. He urged legal practitioners to be courageous enough to stand by truth by defending the rights of Nigerians because only justice can rescue Nigeria.

"Nigeria is structured on the rule of law, any democracy not founded on the rule of law is a dictatorship. It's only when the rule of law prevails that you can get justice. Prior to suspension, I was confronted with no allegation. There were rumours that I met with Atiku in Dubai. As I am talking here today, I have never met Atiku one-on-one in my life. As if that was not enough, I was also accused of setting free, high-profile criminals, whereas I seized to be a High Court Judge as far back as 1978.

"In Supreme Court, I did not sit alone. We sat in panel. In all these rumours and outright accusations, I was not given opportunity to defend myself. Let me make it clear that the office of the CJN was not for Onnoghen but for all Nigerians who had sworn to guide and protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic," he said.

Though the presidency has not responded to or debunked Onnoghen's revelations, the way it plotted his removal from office confirmed the impression that he was never wanted in the first place. Even when Nigerians were anxiously looking forward to the day he would on his own tell the story about what led to his ouster beyond the reasons the Federal Government gave, they didn't expect that it would be based on mere political intrigues.

For many who listened to the former CJN penultimate Friday, it was not a surprise that he was removed. Onnoghen was the longest to serve as acting CJN in the annals of the country.

Upon the retirement of Justice Mohammed Mahmud as CJN on November 10, 2016, the NJC forwarded two names to the Presidency - Onnoghen's name and that of the next in rank, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad. But the delay by President Muhammadu Buhari to transmit his name to the Senate for confirmation as provided in section 231(1), fuelled insinuations of conspiracy to truncate seniority status of the Supreme Court.

Aside alleged plot to sideline the former CJN who happened to be the first Southern jurist, in about 30 years, to attain such judicial height, insinuations were also rife that the second nominee, Justice Muhammad, who hails from Bauchi State, was President Buhari's first choice candidate for the position of CJN.

The theories got a boost after President Buhari, who hesitantly succumbed to pressure by allowing Onnoghen to head the judiciary in acting capacity, deliberately ignored him in that position till he almost became statutorily ineligible to take over as the substantive CJN.

While he had till February 10, 2017 to get his appointment validated by the National Assembly or be removed from office, President Buhari had travelled outside the country on medical leave. Perturbed by the situation, the NJC, at the end of its emergency meeting, wrote to the then Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, urging him to extend Onnoghen's tenure as the Acting CJN. According to Section 231(5) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, "Except on the recommendation of the NJC," Onnoghen's appointment by President Buhari, "shall cease to have effect after the expiration of three months from the date of such appointment, and the president shall not re-appoint a person whose appointment has elapsed."

Unknown to the NJC, Prof. Osinbajo had on February 7, 2017, transmitted Onnoghen's name to the Senate for confirmation as substantive CJN.

On March 1, 2017, the Senate screened and confirmed him as the 17th CJN, and on March 7, he was sworn in by then Acting President Osinbajo, while his boss was away. The first streak of trouble for the new CJN started simmering after President Buhari, upon his return to the country, described the judiciary as the "major headache" of his administration. The lamentation of the president came not too long after operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS), raided homes of eight superior court judges.

It did not end there. To show that he was not wanted in the position, from time-to-time, there were rumours that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was investigating him, but the commission would deny the reports. But he was taken by surprise on January 9 after the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) acting with unprecedented supersonic speed, recommended him for prosecution on the strength of a petition dated January 7. The said petition was lodged against him by a group known as Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative, promoted by a former aide to President Buhari, Mr. Dennis Aghanya.

It accused Onnoghen of corruption and failing to declare his assets as prescribed by law. The CCB, having recommended the former CJN for prosecution, the Federal Government immediately entered a six-count charge against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on January 11. The Danladi Umar-led CCT quickly summoned Onnoghen to appear before it on January 14 to take his plea to the charge.

Determined to fight back, the former CJN refused to honour the summon, even as he challenged the jurisdiction of the CCT to try him on the allegations contained in the charge. He contended that the Federal Government failed to follow the laid down judicial precedent as encapsulated in a recent Appeal Court decision in Nganjiwa v Federal Republic of Nigeria (2017) LPELR-43391(CA), to the effect that any misconduct attached to the office and functions of a judicial officer, must first be reported to and handled by the NJC, pursuant to the provisions of the laws.

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The same day, Federal Government filed a motion for the tribunal to compel Onnoghen to step aside as the CJN and Chairman of the NJC, and for him to hand over to his next in commend, Justice Muhammad.

While the CJN was contending with the CCT, three separate high courts, as well as the National Industrial Court, issued interim injunctions stopping the tribunal from taking further steps on the matter. On January 21, in two to one split decision, the CCT panel, said it would proceed with the trial the next day, despite the court orders. Not relenting, Justice Onnoghen, through his team of lawyers led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) persuaded the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to suspend further proceedings at the CCT, pending the determination of an appeal he lodged against his trial. Though he succeeded at the appellate court, in a counter move, the Federal Government secretly obtained an interim order from the CCT, which empowered it to suspend the CJN and appoint Justice Muhammad in his stead.

It was gathered that while chairman of the tribunal, Umar and another member, Mrs. Julie A. Anabor, granted the ex-parte orders sought by the Federal Government, the third member, Mr. William Agwadza Atedze, declined to accede to the request, insisting the applicant should go and put Justice Onnoghen on notice. Based on the said ex-parte order, President Buhari, immediately suspended Onnoghen and installed Muhammad to take over as acting CJN. For many, all that transpired was carefully plotted to achieve a pre-determined goal.

Though the country has moved on since Onnoghen was forced out of office, every time the issue comes up in political and judicial debates, it evokes sad memories.
Korean Air Boeing 787-9 / Courtesy of Korean Air



By Kim Hyun-bin



Korean Air, the country's leading full-service carrier (FSC), has delayed its purchase of Asiana Airlines to 2024, a move which will make Korean Air become the world's seventh-largest airline. However, there are several obstacles in the way, including monopolization issues and the future operations of low-cost carriers (LCC)  Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul  the two large airlines currently operate.



According to ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Park Yong-jin's office, Korean Air submitted a post-merger integration (PMI) plan to Korea Development Bank (KDB), proposing to acquire Asiana by 2022 and fully merge by 2024.



Korean Air initially planned to complete the merger by next year after injecting 1.5 trillion won into Asiana Airlines in late June to acquire a 63.7 percent stake.



Industry insiders say the delay comes as Korean Air struggles to obtain approval from eight antitrust authorities in countries serviced by the carrier.



The documents were submitted in January, but only Turkey has approved the deal so far, while seven other countries, including Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand have not given their approval.



A minimum of four approvals are needed, excluding the host country, for the merger to take place. If Korean Air fails to win approval, it could be banned from operating in countries that disapproved the deal.



Major airlines and carriers are wary of the Korean Air deal, since it will form the world's seventh-largest carrier, which will further increase competition in an already saturated market.



Korea and the U.S. are bound by the "Open Skies Treaty" which lets airlines from both countries choose the frequency of flights, routes and types of aircraft to use. But many U.S. routes are expected to undergo inevitable changes as Asiana Airlines is under the Star Alliance jointly operating the IncheonSan Francisco route with United Airlines (UA) and code sharing on the New York, Los Angeles, Seattle routes.





Asiana Airlines Airbus 380 / Courtesy of Asiana Airlines
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  From the breezy shores of Great Kills to a yayas Greek kitchen and the inner chambers of a cheesemaker, this weeks Dish drops in on proprietors around the borough. Its the busiest time of year for many in the food industry with some insights as to what to expect in the next few weeks with restaurant owners.

The first stop is Joe Mozzs eponymous Joe Mozz  thats former restaurant owner Joe Badalamente  who services restaurant owners around the region with his Staten Island-borne cow milk cheeses. His Port Richmond shop at 1021 Post Ave., 718-524-8030 is open on Saturdays to public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Some of the goods to grab are Scamorza, smoked cheeses, stuffed burrata and primo sale, a basket cheese aged 30 days.

Also find out whats on tap for Marina Cafe  154 Mansion Ave., Great Kills; 718-967-3077  and its resident Tiki Bar. A big question from Advance readers has been, When are soft shell crabs coming? And that answer comes from Marinas co-owner Rosemarie Saladis who also shows us the tiki bar area of the restaurant. Broadcast from the windy patio on sunny Monday morning, the staff of the decades-old venue looks forward to guests joining the waterside business as the balmy weather takes hold of the borough.

And Sophia Georgiopoulos of How Greek It Is and More  1734 Victory Blvd., Castleton Corners; 718-273-3200  recently moved the restaurant from its Grant City digs to Castleton Corners. In its new, permanent home, she hopes for a brisker breakfast trade. In the meantime, Georgiopoulos thanked the loyal, local community for support over the pandemic. During the whole COVID-19 crisis and despite the shift of operations the business remained open the whole time.

Here is a link to the 20-minute broadcast: Join it here.

Join us on Wednesday on The Dish with three owners setting up new places on the Island. Well talk with Peter Botros of Sophias Taqueria coming to Eltingville, Shawn-ae Dixons first venture in the former Vida location in Stapleton and Empire Szechuans taco-tastic concept in Port Richmond.

Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.

Missed prior episodes of The Dish? Check them out here:

3 Easter food tours around Staten Island | The Dish

3 S.I. restaurant proprietors sum up the state of the business | The Dish

Watch: What The Staaten looks like as catering halls reopen | The Dish

Tasting Taste of India II | The Dish

Novellis Brings Back the Mozzarella Bunny | The Dish

Throwing a party? Here are some tips in the pandemic | The Dish

A Forest Avenue restaurant conversation. Join in | The Dish

Food Network welcomes restaurant owner Ed Canlon to a new reality cooking show |The Dish

Watch: Dolce Fantasia for French-Italian food and fresh pastries on Forest Avenue | The Dish

Exploring a few of Rosebanks breakfast and vegan eats | The Dish

Juicy Lucy on her alter-ego restaurant, the new Juicy Lucia | The Dish

Beans n Leaves tests a Superior hot cocoa | The Dish

Take a tasty tour of a chocolate factory on Staten Island | The Dish

Watch a chocolate bomb explode and taste gourmet smores on Staten Island | The Dish
Imphal/Aizawl, March 29 : The Manipur government has asked the district administrations of bordering Myanmar not to entertain people from across the border to enter into the Indian territory, officials said on Monday.

The Manipur government directives, which issued to the five Deputy Commissioners of the bordering districts of Chandel, Tengnoupal, Kamjong, Ukhrul and Churachandpur, however, said: "In case of grievous injuries, medical attention may be provided on humanitarian considerations." The letter, written by Manipur government's Special Secretary (Home) H. Gyan Prakash to the Deputy Commissioners, said that as a fall out of the events taking place in Myanmar, it is reported that the country's nationals have been trying to enter India through the border states including Manipur.

Prakash asked the five DCs not to open any camps to provide food and shelter, the Civil Society Organisations also should not be allowed to open any camps to provide shelter and food, people trying to enter or seek refuge should be politely turned away and Aadhaar enrolment should be stopped immediately and Aadhaar enrolment kits should be taken into safe custody.

The Manipur Home Department has also sought a "report on action taken" by the concerned district administrations by Tuesday.

According to officials, on Friday, some Myanmarese including women and children tried to enter Manipur through the Moreh-Tamu border but the security forces did not allow them to enter on the Indian side.

Manipur media reported that three injured Myanmar nationals with bullet wounds last week allowed to enter Manipur and they have been admitted at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal. Two of them are in critical conditions.

Meanwhile, according to the different official sources and bordering villagers over a thousand Myanmar nationals including some security personnel so far entered in Mizoram and the local people and NGOs are providing them food and shelter on humanitarian ground.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide asylum, food and shelter to those refugees who have arrived in the state since the military seized power in Myanmar last month.

Zoramthanga's March 18 letter to Modi sought his intervention so that the refugees from Myanmar are given asylum, food and shelter in India.

Referring to Union Home Ministry's advisories to the Chief Secretaries of the four northeastern states bordering Myanmar and also to the Assam Rifles and Border Security Forces for taking action to prevent illegal influx from Myanmar into India, Zoramthanga said, "This is not acceptable to Mizoram." "I understand that there are certain foreign policy issues where India needs to proceed cautiously. However, we cannot ignore this humanitarian crisis," the Chief Minister said in his letter.

Zoramthanga said in his letter that India as the largest democracy in the world and Myanmar's immediate neighbour needs to do more and open up more in this matter.

Amid the government tightening the security along the India-Myanmar border to prevent influx from across the border, Zoramthanga recently held a virtual meeting with Myanmar's Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung.

Mizoram government delegations comprising state's Member of Parliament and senior leader of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) had already met separately with Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M.Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and others in Delhi and persuade them to impress upon the government not to forcefully push back the Myanmar nationals sheltered in Mizoram.

According to Mizoram's Rajya Sabha member K.Vanlalvena over a 1,000 Myanmar nationals including police personnel besides women and children have crossed the border are currently taking shelter in Mizoram.

Meanwhile, the MHA had recently given directions to the chief secretaries of four northeastern states -- Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur -- sharing borders with Myanmar to not entertain Myanmar refugees. It also instructed Assam Rifles to seal the border and prevent entry from the neighbouring country, the statement said.

The four northeastern states share a 1,643 km unfenced border with Myanmar.

The MHA reiterated that the state governments and UT administrations have no power to grant "refugee" status to any foreigner and India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. The four northeastern states share a 1,643 km unfenced border with Myanmar.

A one-year state of emergency has been declared in Myanmar where power has been transferred to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing after President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained by the military on February 1.
opinion

An effective and a well-directed planning strategy in the life of a country is pre-requisite and indispensable for the realisation of optimum economic growth development and prosperity.

In the light of this ideal perception, it is very significant that the National Development Planning Commission in the Ghanaian situation must be regarded as a great asset and a vital organisation that holds the destiny of Ghana as a country.

That the National Development Planning Commission is a non-partisan political organisation that is primarily focused on the realisation of the continual developmental aspirations of Ghana, cannot be denied or disputed by any sincere and well-informed Ghanaian cultural critic or authority.

For the purpose of this article, it will be of interest and necessary to present a concise background informational sketch in the context of development in the contemporary Ghanaian situation.

Ghana has a history of development planning that dates back almost hundred years. In 1921, the then Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Gorden Guggisberg, unveiled a ten - year programme (1920 - 1930) that in effect aimed to transform the mono-crop economy into a diversified and resilient one.

The programme covered everything from political and industrial maps to "hydro-electric works" to harbours, railways, water supply, and "town improvements".

The next major attempts at long-term development planning in Ghana was the "ten-year plan for the Economic And Social Development Of The Gold Coast" (1950-1960), which provided an outline of what it is hoped will be achieved in all fields of development during the ten-year period, beginning April, 1, 1950.

In allusion to what economist call "perspective (or long-term) planning the document referred to the Ten-year period as merely one phase in the development of the country which has been going on steadily for many years and will continue beyond the decade with which the plan had a budget of  75.0 million.

The most comprehensive national development plan designed for the country was the Seven-Year Development Plan (1963/64 - 1969/70) at a cost of  1,016 Million.

The Plan called a public investment programme and emphasis was placed on the "the growth of the productive economy in all its aspects.

The plan was thus represented the first-ever attempt at quantifying economic growth and its relationship to improving the living standards of Ghanaians.

It is significant to know that the present National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) was established under Articles 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution as part of the Executive.

The National Development Planning Commission Act 1994 (Act 479) and the National Developmental Planning (system) Act 1994 (Act 480) provide the core legal frame work for the establishment of the Commission and the performance of its functions. Article 86 stipulates the composition of the Commission as follows:

The Chairman shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Council Of State.

The Minister responsible for Finance and such as ministers of state as the President may appoint.

The government statistian.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

One representative from each region of Ghana appointed by the Regional Co-ordinating Councils of the regions and

Such other persons as may be appointed by the President having regard to their knowledge and experience of the relevant areas and roles pertaining to development, economic social, environment and spatial planning.

The Commission operates through a number of committees; and in accordance with the provision under Article 87 of the Constitution; the core mandate of the Commission is to advise the President on development planning policy and strategy.

The foregoing on the establishment, composition and functions of the National Development Planning Commission, provide a valuable piece of information, which every average concerned Ghanaian about the developmental aspirations of Ghana needs to know in order to get involved in the bandwagon of nation building; and contribute positively in a way to advance the developmental process of the country.

It is evident from the background sketch on the development of the country that the existence of the National Development Planning Commission is relatively recent since independence, when Ghana ceased to be a colony under British colonial rule; and began her own developmental programmes under the first Republic under the leadership of President Nkrumah.

At the present time in Ghana's political history since independence in 1957, one can safely argue that Ghana as a developing country has not really experienced much realistic and meaningful development as she should have achieved by now.

This argument can be justified by many a concerned Ghanaian cultural critic, who has the interest of the country at heart.

This is so, in the contemporary Ghanaian situation, due to several negative and militating factors that had arisen in the course of the developmental process of the country since independence.

Under President Nkrumah of the first Republic, Ghana embarked on both short-term and long-term developmental programmes that saw the country moving at a fast pace and momentum to experience economic growth, development and prosperity.

To this end, President Nkrumah and his C.P.P government did a great deal to lay a solid infrastructural foundation for the country to take off in development.

As a first step, President Nkrumah sought the financial and technical assistance from the U.S government to build the Akosombo Hydro-Electric Dan for the supply of energy to meet the country's requirements for a rapid industrial and agricultural development of the country.

This was followed by the expansion of the Takoradi harbour and the building of the Tema harbour and Township and the Tema oil Refinery.

The expansion of the Takoradi harbour was to enhance the exportation of cocoa, the main cash crop of Ghana, and the other agricultural and mineral products of the country such as coffee, timber, rubber, maize, palm oil, gold, diamond, bauxite, manganese etc to boost the growing economy of the country.

President Nkrumah went on further to establish the Aluminium Smelter at Akosombo, the Atomic Energy Commission at Kwabenya in Accra to promote scientific and industrial research. He also established the Black Star shipping line, the Ghana Airways Co-operation and other state corporations such as the Ghana National Trading Co-operation (G.N.T.C) the Ghana Publishing Corporation etc. to promote and hasten the developmental process of the country.

However, to the detriment and disadvantage of the country, this fast developmental pace and momentum was suddenly halted as a result of a military coup de tat that toppled Nkrumah's government on February 24th 1966 to oust him and his C.P.P government from power.

This change in the governance of the country which was brought about by the National Liberation Council (NLC) saw the abrogation, discontinuation and abandonment of many of the important developmental programmes for the country that were initiated by the first Republic under President Nkrumah's leadership.

Thus, the country was set back on the clock of progress with the emergence of military rule of the National Liberation Council (NLC).

After a period of three years of military rule, the country was returned to civilian rule in partisan politics; and the Progress Party (P.P) under the leadership of Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia assumed governance of the country in September 1969.

This change was however short-lived; and within a space of twenty seven months, the Progress Party government was overthrown in another military coup de tat led by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong on January 13, 1972.

Thus, Dr. Busia's government did not see the light of the day to enable it to carry out all its developmental programmes, particularly Busia's famous rural development programme which was designed to develop the rural areas of the country to ease the continual overcrowding of the urban areas and cities by providing job avenues to the youth in the rural set up of the country.

General Kutu Acheampong as he was later called, and his Redemption Council (NRC) and the subsequent Supreme Military Council (S.M.C) did not impact much on the developmental process of the country, except the unbriddled spate of corruption; and the massive looting of the national coffers to the brink of economic chaos and collapse in the later 1970's by the members of the Supreme Military Council and its chairman, General Kutu Acheampong and their well-wishers favourites and admirers in the upsurge of widespread and entrenched corruption in the Ghanaian society during that period of time in Ghana's history as a developing country in Africa South of the Sahara.

On the fringe and verge of economic collapse, Ft. Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings out of the blue emerged on to the political scene with his Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) to overthrow the Supreme Military Council (S.M.C) under the leaders hip of General F.W.K Akuffo on June 4th 1979; who had justtaken over the governance of the country, barely a year ago firm his boss, General Kutu Acheampong in a palace coup de tat.

The country began to recover from her economic malaise and chaos, and began to rebuild in the later 1970's, 1980's, 1990's under the governance of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), the Provincial Defence Council (PNDC) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under the able leadership of Ft. Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, Chairman of the AFRC and the PNDC respectively and the President of Ghana with the NDC Party governance of the country, during the 4th Republican Constitution of Ghana.

In fact, Ghana as one of the fastest African developing country at the moment, had gone through chequered experiences since attaining independence from British colonial rule.

To this end, Ghana has somehow experienced little economic growth development and prosperity; however, by critical analysis and evaluation, Ghana woefully falls short in significance as far as realistic and meaningful development of the country are concerned.

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It is indisputable that, Ghana should have experienced a much higher level of economic growth, development and prosperity than the position in which she finds herself now, if there had been a healthy sustainable and peaceful developmental atmosphere or situation.

This unfavourable political and economic experience that Ghana had experienced in the past is the result of her present unenviable developmental achievements as a country.

One can at this stage pose the pertinent question what is the ideal developmental expectation for a country like Ghana?

In my opinion, the definition and the assessment of a truly developing or developed country should not be restricted to the material or physical things only such as the construction and building of high class motorways, roads, railways, harbours, airports, scientific and research institutions, Universities, polytechnics, hospitals and the use of ICT computers and digital communication system etc; but moral and spiritual education consciousness of the people of a country is highly essential in the life of a country in her developmental aspirations.

When these two aspects of development are manifesting in a country, then I will personally describle this country as a truly or well-developing or developed country.

Because these two aspects of development must collaborate and complement each other in developmental aspirations of a country to effect an ideal development achievements and for that matter "utopia".

By virtue of its mandate and modus operandi in the developmental aspirations of Ghana as presented in the foregoing, the National Development Planning Commission must endeavour at all costs to effect the continual developmental aspirations of the country.

This will enable Ghana to move fast forward to experience optimum economic growth, development and prosperity within the present 21st century of historic time.

To this end, the National Development Planning Commission must be more prudent, more circumspect, more judicious and more nationalistic in its operation in order to ensure that, Ghana continues to benefit positively in all her developmental programmes that will be designed by successive governments of the country.

In conclusion, I state categorically that the National Development Planning Commission must not be interfered with or frustrated in any way by any ruling government of the country, so that it will be very effective in its modus operandi to influence, direct and champion the cause of all national developmental programmes of the country, such as the present on going one, which is popularly and well-described as Ghana beyond aid agenda.
Chinese vaccines rollout gains steam in Zimbabwe

Xinhua) 09:38, March 29, 2021

HARARE, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A month after the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine was administered in Zimbabwe, the country's inoculation drive is gaining momentum each passing day, with more than 65,000 people already received their first jabs of either Sinopharm or Sinovac doses from China, while more than 7,900 people received their second doses as of Saturday.

Wilkins Hospital in the capital Harare on Friday was abuzz with activity as people of all ages and diverse racial backgrounds thronged the facility to receive their first shots of the Sinopharm vaccine.

Zimbabwe's vaccination drive gained momentum on Wednesday when President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other prominent political leaders across the political divide received their first shots of the Sinovac vaccine during the launch of the second phase of the inoculation program in the resort city of Victoria Falls.

Wilkins Hospital is now attending more than 1,000 people daily.

People who spoke to Xinhua in Harare after receiving their first jabs expressed confidence that Chinese vaccines are providing some hope that the end of the global pandemic is approaching.

Sixty-five-year-old Deborah Birch, who has an underlying condition, was excited to have received her first jab.

"So the fact that I have got the vaccination, I feel so much relieved, and I feel free, yes I will still take precautions completely absolutely, but I don't feel as much endangered as I have been up to now," she told Xinhua shortly after receiving her shot.

Birch said before taking the shot she consulted her doctor who assured her that it was safe to do so.

"I am confident that I have taken the Chinese vaccine. In fact, my professor of gastroenterology told me that he likes this vaccine, the Chinese vaccine over any other because of the old school, the way they went about it, it's nothing new, it's tried and tested and safe," she said.

Isaac Bhunu, who also got his first shot, expressed gratitude to China for providing vaccines to Zimbabwe.

"China, as a country, assisted us when we were fighting for independence. This means it's providing us with safe remedies that can help us to survive, it cannot let us down, because we have come a long way together," he said.

Kudakwashe Ncube, who works in the education sector, could not contain her excitement after receiving her first jab.

"I was a bit skeptical about coming for the jab, I thought it was going to be very painful, it wasn't, it was just a prick and there is a lot that has been said about this jab, but coming here I have just seen that it's the best way to go, I have done it and I am really excited that I have taken this step," she told Xinhua.

While more Zimbabweans are now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, speculation about the safety of the vaccine has been rife on social media platforms.

Trina Chadoka encouraged people to ignore the conspiracy theories about vaccines being spread online.

"I have just come for my first jab, and I really appreciate what the government has done for us. It seems things are going on well, just this speculation of the social media, I think they are all lies, things are happening and people should just come and do vaccination," she said.

Olga Bacar, who also received her first jab, said, "I would advise everyone to just get the vaccine, it's good for them."

Zimbabwe is currently in its second phase of the inoculation program.

While the first phase targeted frontline health workers, journalists, prison officers as well as ports and immigration officials, the second phase is targeting teachers, the clergy, members of the security sector, the elderly and people with chronic conditions, among other priority groups.

Epidemiologists estimate that up to 60 percent of the country will need to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity.

Zimbabwe launched the first phase of its vaccination drive on Feb. 18 after receiving its first batch of Sinopharm vaccines that were donated by China.

Last week, Zimbabwe also took delivery of another batch of Sinopharm vaccines donated by China, and an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines that it purchased from the Asian country.

China and Zimbabwe enjoy cordial bilateral ties and China has offered a helping hand to Zimbabwe's fight against the pandemic since the onset of the virus in the country last March.

From providing funds to upgrade Wilkins Hospital, which is the main COVID-19 isolation and treatment center, to donating medical equipment and dispatching a medical team, China has always been at the forefront of fighting the pandemic in Zimbabwe.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
Ukraine, at a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on March 31, will focus on the parties to the conflict in Donbas returning to strict compliance with a full and comprehensive ceasefire, the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG has reported on Facebook.

"Regular meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group via videoconference are to be held according to the following schedule. Videoconferences of working groups on security and political issues, the humanitarian working group, and the economic working group will take place on March 30. A videoconference of the general meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group will be held on March 31," the report said.

The Ukrainian delegation said that the agenda includes ceasefire violations by Russian-backed forces, the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the results of the Paris summit, ensuring security in the conflict zone, compliance with the ceasefire, the further development of a joint action plan, and other issues.

The Ukrainian delegations recalled that consultations at the level of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four countries, aimed at returning to a full and comprehensive ceasefire, were underway.

On the instruction of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Ruslan Khomchak is conducting a relevant investigation into the death of four Ukrainian servicemen near Shumy on March 26.

"Our main efforts are focused on the parties returning to strict compliance with a full and comprehensive ceasefire regime. Ukraine's international partners support this direction of our policy," the Ukrainian delegation said.

op

Oklahoma spent approximately $4.3 million to rent and staff its contact tracing operation at Shepherd Center through October. The state has closed that Oklahoma City location, which opened in June with approximately 400 employees.

AIR FORCE

Peraton awarded $360M ICBM software check contract

The Air Force has awarded an 18-year, $360.4 million contract to Peraton for help in analyzing and addressing safety risks of software used to operate intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Peraton received the contract via a sole-source acquisition and work will take place through March 2039, the Defense Department said in its Friday awards digest.

Work will support the Nuclear Safety Cross-Check Analysis and Nuclear Safety Analysis and Technical Evaluation programs, both of which involve software evaluation processes performed by a verification organization independent of the ICBMs developers.

Those processes aim to ensure that software complies with established nuclear safety design criteria and does not perform unintended functions or actions.
More coverage that's worth a look as this NEXTGEN rally was probably the biggest in the Midwest.



Read more . . .
AKRON, Ohio, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- It's not easy for a pet parent to refuse the treatment their dog or cat needs because of cost. Pet insurance makes it easier to say yes to recommended treatments. To provide pet parents with customizable and high-quality coverage, Waffle and Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group, through its licensed agency, are joining forces to distribute ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, available in all 50 States.

"When we designed Waffle, we went through a rigorous process to identify the most user-friendly and credible insurance products that address the particular pain points in each personal line," said Quentin Coolen, Cofounder & CEO of Waffle. "There is no one better than the Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group to help protect our furry buddies that many of us, including myself, consider to be an integral part of our family."

With ASPCA Pet Health Insurance available directly on the Waffle platform, pet parents can select plans for dogs and cats that may include coverage for accidents, illnesses, hereditary and congenital conditions, alternative therapies, behavioral issues, chronic conditions, prescription medication, and microchip implementation. Pet parents can also add preventive care coverage for an additional cost to help cover things like vaccines, flea and tick medication, heartworm preventative, and dental cleanings that can help keep your pet from getting sick. Other services like wellness exams and screenings are covered up to a scheduled amount and give your veterinarian the opportunity to detect health issues in the early stages, which can mean a better outcome for your pet.

"We're excited to roll out our ASPCA Pet Health Insurance program with Waffle," said Rob Hall, Assistant Vice President for Partnerships at Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group. "Waffle's unique platform will allow us to reach more pet parents looking to help their dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives."

To learn more about Waffle, please visit www.trywaffle.com.

To learn more about Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group, please visit https://www.cfpetinsurance.com.

About Waffle

Waffle Labs, Inc. (Waffle) is reinventing personal insurance by offering the "YOU" insurance  a one-stop shop to meet all your insurance needs through high-quality products.

About Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group

Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group (C&F Pet) is committed to helping pet parents get access to reliable and affordable pet health insurance plans. With a history dating back to 1997, making it one of the original providers in the U.S., C&F Pet utilizes various go-to-market strategies, including direct-to-consumer, employee benefits, white labels, and other partnerships. Insurance plans are underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company (NAIC #21113. Morristown, NJ), and produced by C&F Insurance Agency, Inc.(NPN # 3974227), a Crum & Forster company. More information can be found at www.cfpetinsurance.com.

The ASPCA is not an insurer and is not engaged in the business of insurance. Through a licensing agreement, the ASPCA receives a royalty fee that is in exchange for use of the ASPCA's marks and is not a charitable contribution. More information on ASPCA Pet Health Insurance can be found online at www.aspcapetinsurance.com.

Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group, Crum & Forster, and C&F are registered trademarks of United States Fire Insurance Company. Crum & Forster is comprised of leading and well-established property and casualty business units.

Media Contact:

Travis Reynolds, AVP, Media Relations

[email protected]

(234) 231-1830

SOURCE Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group

Related Links

http://www.cfpetinsurance.com


Nagpur, March 29 : At least five Maoists, including two women were gunned down after two encounters with the security forces in the deep forests of Khobramendha in Gadchiroli, officials said here on Monday.

The first encounter took place when the Gadchiroli Police's C-60 Commandos team was engaged in a search and combing operation on Saturday morning, culminating in a fierce exchange of fire with around 50-60 extremists hiding in the jungles at various locations.

In that gun-battle, the firing continued for over an hour after which the Maoists retreated and escaped into the forest that morning.

Later, the police scanned the vicinity and recovered 3 pressure cooker bombs, 303 rifle magazines, live cartridges, electric wires bundles, fire-cracker bombs, solar plats, medicines and other material, DIGP Sandip Patil told mediapersons today.

After 48 hours lapsed this morning, when a new team of commandos resumed the jungle search operations based on intel-info around 7.30 am, they encountered a group of around 25 Maoists who opened indiscriminate firing in their diretion.

In the retaliatory firing during this second encounter, the C-60 commandos managed to gun down five Maoists including two women, and a search is on to trace out if there were more victims and terror material stashed in the vicinity, Patil said.

Efforts are underway to identify the slain victims, which groups or dalams they belonged to, their ranks, and other details even as the forces remain on high alert as the Holi festival is being celebrated on Monday.
The Protein Society announces its 2021 award recipients

The Protein Society, the premier international society dedicated to supporting protein research, announces the winners of the 2021 Protein Society Awards, which will be conferred at the 35th Anniversary Symposium (virtual), July 7 - 14, 2021. Plenary talks from award recipients will take place throughout the 6-day event. The winners' scientific accomplishments, highlighted here as described by their nominators, demonstrate their substantial and lasting impact on protein science.

The Carl Branden Award, sponsored by Rigaku Corporation, honors an outstanding protein scientist who has also made exceptional contributions in the areas of education and/or service to the field. The 2021 recipient of this award is Professor Sheila Jaswal (Amherst College). Professor Jaswal is an expert on kinetic and thermodynamic mechanisms for protein stabilization and an award-winning teacher. With a team of undergraduates, she has developed tools to better understand the diversity of protein folding kinetics and provided a theoretical framework for mapping energy landscapes under native conditions using hydrogen-exchange mass spectrometry. In response to a 2015 campus-wide Black Lives Matter protest, she collaborated with students to develop "Being Human in STEM" (HSTEM). In this moment of unprecedented recognition of racism in science, the HSTEM model offers a structure that welcomes participants in their complex intersecting identities, educates them about racism, and gives them practice with having difficult conversations, collaborating across differences, and making realistic and effective change.

The Christian B. Anfinsen Award, sponsored by The Protein Society, recognizes technological achievement or significant methodological advances in the field of protein science. The recipient of this award in 2021 is Professor Petra Fromme (Arizona State University). Professor Fromme is a world leader in developing and applying novel technology for determining the structures of proteins, including the most challenging among them: membrane proteins. She has led this field by assembling a large network of collaborators spanning chemistry, physics, data science, biology, materials science, and engineering to pioneer the method of serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX), which is used to collect snapshots of molecules in action. She has made important contributions to the structural biology of large membrane protein complexes, especially those involved in light capture and energy conversion.

The Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award, sponsored by Genentech, is granted in recognition of contributions in protein science that profoundly influence our understanding of biology. The 2021 recipient is Professor Janet Smith (University of Michigan). Professor Smith is recognized for exceptional contributions to our understanding of the biological function of proteins through knowledge of their 3D structures. In major studies of natural-product biosynthetic enzymes, she demonstrated how macrolactones form, how biosynthetic assembly lines function, and how nature has adapted enzymes from primary metabolism for surprising chemical transformations such as cyclopropane formation. Her recent investigations of viral proteins and host antiviral proteins led to an understanding of how the flavivirus NS1 protein increases the virulence of dengue and Zika viruses, and how the zinc-finger antiviral protein recognizes viral RNA.

The Emil Thomas Kaiser Award, sponsored by generous individual contributions, recognizes a recent, highly significant contribution to the application of chemistry in the study of proteins. The 2021 recipient is Professor Lei Wang (University of California San Francisco). Professor Wang has advanced the genetic introduction of unnatural amino acids into proteins in living systems. Professor Wang pioneered the concept of proximity-enabled bioreactivity, in which an unnatural amino acid selectively reacts with a nearby target natural amino acid, introducing a new covalent bond into a protein. Such modifications can confer exceptional stability, affinity, and optical control on targeted proteins. Technology that Professor Wang developed makes it possible to identify elusive protein interactions in living cells, and provides a route to covalent protein therapeutics. His contributions open up a new field with impacts on biological studies, biotherapeutics, and synthetic biology.

The Hans Neurath Award, sponsored by the Hans Neurath Foundation, honors individuals who have made a recent contribution of exceptional merit to basic protein research. In 2021, there are two awardees: Professor Amy Rosenzweig (Northwestern University) and Professor Toshiya Endo (Kyoto Sangyo University).

Professor Endo has made outstanding contributions to the fields of intracellular protein sorting and mitochondrial biology and is an international leader in the area of structure-function studies of cell organelles. His work combines biochemical, structural, and molecular biological approaches in a highly innovative and productive manner to solve major problems of protein research. The molecular understanding of the mitochondrial protein import machinery elucidated by Professor Endo is a highlight of mitochondrial research and provides an essential basis for understanding diseases of mitochondrial dysfunction.

Professor Rosenzweig is a preeminent protein biochemist who tackles problems at the forefront of bioinorganic chemistry. Her lab studies metal-dependent methane oxidation, oxygen activation, and metal uptake and transport using structural, spectroscopic, biochemical, genetic, and bioinformatics approaches. Her contributions characterizing the membrane-bound methane monooxygenase have inspired new ways to harness the energy of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, as an alternative liquid fuel source. Other work from Professor Rosenzweig on copper uptake may hold therapeutic potential in Wilson's disease, a genetic disorder leading to copper overload in humans.

The Stein & Moore Award, sponsored by The Protein Society with support from Wiley, is named for Nobel laureates Dr. William Stein and Dr. Stanford Moore. The award recognizes eminent leaders in protein science who have made sustained high-impact research contributions to the field. The 2021 recipient is Professor David Agard (University of California San Francisco). Professor Agard's contributions cover a broad array of scientific areas, from protein folding to chaperone mechanisms, and from cytoskeletal structure and function to the structure of the centrosome. His recent determination of the structural details of complexes of Hsp90 with substrates, partner chaperones, and co-chaperones have yielded unprecedented insights into client loading, remodeling, and maturation by this system. He has made important methodological contributions to the development of cryoEM and has integrated structural biology and biophysics to interrogate dynamic protein systems, opening up previously uncharted domains of cell biology. Professor Agard is also recognized for exceptional mentoring and advocacy for the field of protein science.

The Protein Science Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Wiley, recognizes a scientist within the first 8 years of an independent career who has made an important contribution to the study of proteins. The 2021 recipient is Professor Bruno Correia (EPFL). During his time at EPFL, Professor Correia has combined computational science with experimental studies in the area of protein design. He developed methods for the de novo design of proteins that present native binding epitopes, and he led a collaborative team to demonstrate that designed proteins can induce neutralizing antibodies against respiratory syncytial virus. Professor Correia has also pioneered impactful computational methods using machine learning to advance our understanding of molecular recognition.

###

proteinsociety. org

Delegates, exhibitors, sponsors, and the press can learn more about the 35th Anniversary Symposium on The Protein Society website http://www.

The Protein Society is the leading international Society devoted to furthering research and development in protein science. Founded in 1986, the purpose of the Society is to provide international forums to facilitate communication, cooperation, and collaboration regarding all aspects of the study of proteins. In support of these goals, the Society publishes Protein Science, the premier journal in the field, hosts an annual international symposium, and facilitates the education of early-career protein scientists across all lines of discipline. The Protein Society members represent a wide spectrum of academic, industry, governmental, and non-profit institutions from more than 40 countries around the world. Media inquiries can be directed to Raluca Cadar, Executive Director at 844.377.6834.

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Five personnel of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency, The Gambia have been indefinitely suspended after they were found to be cannabis and opium users, The Point has been reliably informed.

Ousman Saidybah, the spokesperson of the country's narcotic agency, who was contacted for comments, confirmed the development to The Point, saying the officers are currently indefinitely suspended pending the decision of the agency's board.

"As part of the continued reform initiatives aimed at maintaining professional standards and in compliance with policy instruments as provided for in the agency's Staff Service Rules and Staff Code of Conduct, the agency conducted drug of abuse tests for all staff of the agency."

He added: "Section II (11:12) of the Staff Service Rule talks about the conduct and discipline of staff. It prohibits staff from consuming any form of intoxicant or illicit drug while on duty, abusing any form of illicit drug while in the employment of the agency and equally directs the agency to conduct periodic tests on all staff to determine their drug use status."

Similarly, he went on, Part III (6) of the staff code of conduct deems staff intoxicated or under the influence of any form of illicit drug unfit for duty and service.

"Premise on this and with blessing from the Board of Governors, management contracted an independent laboratory firm to conduct the drugs of abuse test for all staff from the agency. No single staff was exempted."

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"The top most senior being the director general to be least most junior staff were all subjected to this test. It is important to note that neither the test was conducted in such a way that the person analysing the urine samples cannot know whose sample was being analysed."

"Samples were collected and labeled with EE numbers of staff rather using their names. Therefore, after the exercise, 22 staff tested positive for the use of cannabis. This result was presented to the board and they decided to suspend them for two months without salary with a condition to subject them to retest at their own cost."

After the two months period, Saidybah explained, they were subjected to another drug of abuse test.

"Twenty one (21) of those on suspension availed themselves for a retest while one (1) person abstained by failing to make himself available."

"After the second retest, five (5) persons were found to be positive. Four (4) for cannabis and one (1) for opium. These five persons in addition to the one who abstained presently on indefinite suspension pending decision of their fate by the Board of Governors"

"Management of the agency wants to assure the public of its stance of zero tolerance to any form of misconduct and unprofessionalism by its staff. The test will be a continuous process and it is here to stay. As the entity mandated by law to fight against drugs, we cannot in any way allow our own staff to be found wanting."

"Any staff found wanting will be dealt with accordingly"

"Furthermore, we want to make it clear that the DLEAG commissioner for the North Bank Region is not among those found wanting in this exercise. He is a fine gentleman who has dedicated his service to the Agency and country from his time at The Gambia Police Force to DLEAG," Saidybah clarified.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Gaborone  Botswana has joined many of the world's countries in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine.

The campaign, dubbed "Arm ready for Lemao", was launched on Friday at seven different centres covering greater Francistown, greater Gaborone, Kgatleng, Selebi Phikwe, Kweneng, Central, Ngami and Maun.

In Gaborone, BOPA reporter Mmoniemang Motsamai captured the moment where senior citizens such as former president Dr Festus Mogae, ex cabinet ministers, Dr Gaositwe Chiepe, Mr Daniel Kwelagobe, government officials including Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Edwin Dikoloti and Gaborone deputy mayor, Mr Lotty Manyepedza, were among the first to be vaccinated.

According to Department of Health Services director, Dr Malebogo Kebabonye-Tsie, the roll out was the first phase of a bigger exercise that would cover the entire country.

She said choosing the current seven areas was based on burden of the disease.

Based on the country's COVID-19 profile, priority for vaccination was currently being given to those aged 55 and above as they were more at risk of dying from the virus, Dr Kebabonye-Tsie said.

She stated that those above the age of 18 and frontline workers would be vaccinated as doses continued to trickle in.

The director said it was hoped that through administration of vaccine, COVID-19 infection rate, hospitalisation and deaths would reduce especially after 70 per cent coverage of the population.

Meanwhile, Dr Kebabonye-Tsie has assured Batswana that vaccines were safe but advised them to report any side effects that might arise after vaccination such as fever, flu-like symptoms, headache and dizziness.

Other uncommon side effects, she said, included allergic reactions, difficulty in breathing, chest tightness and aggressive salivating.

"These should be reported as they will help us to identify how each medication reacts in different people," she stressed.

In Selebi Phikwe, Kgotsofalang Botsang reports that former vice president Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe was the first recipient of the COVID-19 jab followed by Selebi Phikwe mayor Mr Lucas Modimana, deputy district commissioner Mr Mokgethi Nfila and Mmadinare's Kgosi Maureen Mphoen.

Selebi Phikwe Regional Health Management Team coordinator Mr Mpaphi Mbulawa said the team was ready to vaccinate the entire community of greater Selebi Phikwe encompassing the town itself as well as Bobonong and Mmadinare clusters.

The region has so far registered 4 704 positive cases out of which 881 were still active.

Some 2 793 patients had recovered while 26 lives were lost.

Mr Mbulawa said the acceptance and vaccine uptake promotion undertaken in the area had yielded the right results with a 78 per cent positive response.

He commended all those who were ready to partake in the campaign which would be extended to Bobonong and Mmadinare clusters today.

From Molepolole, Kebaeditse Baitlotli reports that the vaccine activation, which was graced by health and wellness permanent secretary, Mr Kabelo Ebineng saw Bakwena tribesman Kgosi Kgosikwena Sebele being the first to take the jab.

Mr Ebineng stressed the importance of taking charge and acting responsibly on issues affecting one's health as well as those around them.

Kgosi Sebele, who was chosen the district champion, expressed delight at being the face of the area's vaccination campaign.

"Let us not hesitate to take part in the exercise to avoid giving the pandemic chance to ruin our precious lives," he advised.

He therefore challenged Kweneng communities to join hands with health officials to make the undertaking easy.

In Francistown, Goweditswe Kome reports that Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe kick started the campaign by receiving the injection at the city's Block 9 Kgotla.

Addressing the elderly, Mr Lelatisitswe stressed that the injection was not a cure but a boost to one's immune system thereby preventing untimely death.

He encouraged those with non-communicable diseases such as high-blood pressure and sugar diabetes to take the injection as they were vulnerable to contracting coronavirus.

The vaccines, he explained, had been tested adding that taking the vaccine himself was a way of assuring the elderly of its safety.

For greater Francistown, the vaccination is carried out at Block 9 and Monarch as well as Tonota and Mathangwane.

Francistown mayor Mr Godisang Radisigo urged the community to work together to ensure the campaign's success.

Meanwhile in Serowe Portia Rapitsenyane reports that community leaders including specially elected councillor Mr Goabaone Sethaba, national organiser trade unions Mr Johnson Motshwarakgole and Central District commissioner Mr Rapetse Mathumo were among the first to take the vaccine.

Mr Mathumo said he found it fit to take the jab in order to lead by example.

Among the 10 people selected for vaccination on Friday were Mr Gabaresepe Batsile (79) and wife Kesego Gabaresepe (78).

They encouraged other elders to take advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated in order to protect themselves.

Serowe District Management Team has so far recorded 39 COVID-19 deaths.

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From Maun, Kedirebofe Pelontle reports that Batawana regent, Kgosi Kealetile Moremi, who was the first to be vaccinated, encouraged the community to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

The launch saw 10 elderly people taking the shot at Boseja Clinic. Roll out to the whole of Ngamiland is scheduled to commence today.

Kgosi Moremi, who is the Ngami district champion, described the vaccine as a ray of hope because it was believed to reduce the possible spread of COVID-19.

The other Ngami champion, who was the second to take the jab, was Maun businessman Mr John Wellio who also encouraged the community to take the vaccine.

Mr Wellio said the COVID-19 vaccine should not be a shocker because vaccines were common for children and animal diseases in the North West District.

Ngami regional health team acting coordinator, Dr Sandara Maripe-Ebutswe said to date, the area had registered 1 720 COVID-19 cases, 1 435 recoveries and 51 deaths.

At national level, over 500 have died from COVID-19 with approximately 1 600 active cases and 33 903 recoveries out of 36 077 confirmed cases.

<i>Source : BOPA</i>
Lucapa Diamond and its Lulo partners have been for close to a decade searching for the kimberlite source or sources of alluvial diamonds being recovered from within the Lulo diamond concession, in Angola.

The company believes that the frequent recovery of large and irregular-shaped alluvial Lulo diamonds point to a nearby primary source.

Lucapa chief executive Stephen Wetherall told Rough & Polisheds Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that the work programmes done over the years had been reduced from 350 anomalies and over 100 discovered kimberlites in the Cacuilo Valley to below 20 priority targets.

He said they are planning to bulk sample the priority kimberlites.

Funding for the exploration programme had been coming from Lucapa's internally generated cash flows.

Below are excerpts of the interview.

Lucapa Diamond and its Lulo partners have been searching for the primary kimberlite sources of the high-value alluvial diamonds at the Lulo project in Angola. What is the update on this project?

We have been applying funds and exploration efforts on a consistent and methodical basis given the anomaly endowed concession. The various work programmes conducted over the years have narrowed the over 350 anomalies and over 100 discovered kimberlites in the Cacuilo Valley to just under 20 priority kimberlites or targets that we are now going to bulk sample. The partners had planned the excavation and treatment of the first bulk samples just as the pandemic hit. The teams did manage to excavate and treat two kimberlite samples, successfully recovering diamonds from the one kimberlite. This unequivocally proved that at least some of the Canguige catchment area kimberlites, which are the focus of our current efforts, are diamondiferous. We look forward to returning to excavating and treating the remaining samples from the priority kimberlites as soon as the wet season ends in April  pandemic limitations permitting.

How confident are you of finding the primary kimberlite sources of Lulo alluvial diamonds?

Primary source exploration is not an easy assignment, but as these many large diamonds we are recovering in our alluvial mining campaign should not have travelled very far, we remain very optimistic that our exploration program in Angola will deliver in due course. We are working with our partners to unlock some hurdles to greater investment which if an agreement is reached should see a massively positive impact on the program  with an expanded and expedited programme in play, the chances of putting our hands on a source are materially improved.

How are you funding your exploration project in Angola given the current pandemic, which has seen some exploration companies struggling to raise funds?

We have primarily been funding the programme from Lucapa's internally generated cash flows. We had not asked shareholders to assist in funding this program for a while, however in June last year during the height of the pandemic, our shareholders gave strong financial support to Lucapa to ensure the key exploration programme kept its momentum during the difficult time.

Diamond prices have been on a recovery path for the past few months, how optimistic are you of a continued recovery?

If you had asked me the question before the pandemic, I may have given a different answer. Notwithstanding the rising prices in late 2019 and early 2020, it was not possible to see a sustained strong pricing environment as a result of the growing imbalance in the industry. However, post-pandemic, we are very optimistic about the future of diamond demand and pricing. We are naturally anticipating the usual cyclical plateauing in the second quarter after a strong festive season and start to the year, but because of a now much better balance in the diamond industry thankfully brought about by industry shutdowns during the pandemic, we believe both rough and polished diamond prices will be well supported by returning and growing retail demand, in the emerging economies specifically, for at least the near to medium term.

How are you auctioning your diamonds given the challenges with international travelling?

We do not conduct any auctions/ tenders currently for our rough diamonds. We have chosen a partnership methodology so that our mines benefit from a material share in polished margins made beyond the mine-gate. This relationship methodology worked very well for Lulo under the pandemic when all diamond markets were closed as we were able to continue selling to our preferred buyer.

How many carats have you channelled for diamond polishing from your Lulo and Mothae projects?

Mothae  100% run-of-mine production is channelled into the partnership; Lulo  the 60% as allowed to be sold to the producer's preferred buyer is channelled into the partnership. To note, any margins made by the partnership beyond the mine-gate is shared with the mines. Lulo has benefitted materially from this partnership structure and we see the same future for Mothae.

How did you manage to complete the Mothae expansion project on-time and within budget, despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic?

Strong management, budgeting processes and long trusting relationships with key contractors all helped, however, as noted in the expansion announcements, the expansion is being delivered by relatively uncomplicated upgrades/ refurbishments.

In terms of carats, what is the impact of the Mothae expansion on your output?

[A] 45% increase in carat recoveries post completion of plant expansion. Recoveries are estimated at more than 40,000 carats per annum on average.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
Panasonic Appoints New Rugged Handheld Distributors for Europe

Jarltech supports mainland Europe and CI Distribution to focus on the UK and Ireland.

BRACKNELL, UK. 29th March 2021 ? Panasonic has appointed two new distributors for its rugged handheld devices covering mainland Europe and the UK and Ireland. Jarltech, one of the largest European specialist distributors of rugged mobile computing devices, will now supply Panasonic?s range of Windows and Android Toughbook handheld devices, as well as its rugged tablets and notebooks, to resellers and system integrators in more than 30 countries across Europe.

Panasonic has also expanded its relationship with rugged device specialists CI Distribution. As one of the most experienced rugged computing distributors in the UK and Ireland, CI Distribution will now support more than 600 resellers with Panasonic Toughbook handheld devices as well as its rugged tablets and notebooks.

?Panasonic has an unrivalled reputation for providing the most ergonomically designed and resilient mobile computing devices,? said Axel Schmidt, Sales Director, at Jarltech. ?The valuable addition of its growing range of Windows and Android rugged handheld devices to our portfolio will enable our resellers and system integrators to offer the complete range of rugged solutions to their customers.?

?Panasonic has long been a market leader in the rugged notebook and tablet market and we are looking forward to helping grow its rugged handheld market share,? said Jon Atherton, Sales and Marketing Director, at CI Distribution. ?Our specialist knowledge of the Rugged market and its complete range of rugged solutions and accessories will make a potent partnership.?

Slim, lightweight and ergonomically designed to improve productivity, Panasonic?s market-leading range of rugged mobile devices are built to withstand the most extreme work challenges. The rugged handhelds reduce the need for multiple devices in the workplace by combining the capabilities of a handheld tablet, smartphone and barcode reader in fully rugged, pocket-sized packages. The devices are the ideal computing companions for mobile workers in logistics, manufacturing, retail and emergency services.
At issue was a small red card that named her as one of 12 candidates for public office promoted by citizens for better government. Goodrich, who objected to the card before, saying she did not give anyone permission to recommend her, asked for the card. She said she was told by District 163 Board member Randall White that she could not have one and when Goodrich tried to take the card forearm shoves were exchanged. No blood was shed, but on his Facebook page White said he called police, claiming the 86-year-old Goodrich assaulted him.
As COVID-19 cases continued to climb in Canada's two biggest provinces on Sunday, officials in Ontario and Quebec said there are vacant vaccination appointments that need to be filled.

Vaccine clinic visitors fill in paperwork as they wait in line at a mass vaccination clinic in Toronto on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Toronto's mayor is urging anyone 70 years or older to get vaccinated.

John Tory says three new COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics will open Monday, but there are still many appointments unfilled. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

As COVID-19 cases continued to climb in Canada's two biggest provinces on Sunday, officials in Ontario and Quebec said there are vacant vaccination appointments that need to be filled.

In Toronto, Mayor John Tory pleaded with those aged 70 and older to get vaccinated.

"We have the vaccines, we have the staff in place to do it and we have the appointments, so all we need now is you," Tory said.

"Its very, very important for people across the city of Toronto to get vaccinated."

The city is set to open two mass vaccination clinics Monday now that the vaccine supply has been fixed, he said

He said three new COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics will open Monday, but there are still many appointments unfilled.

"Were now in a position where we have lots of appointments available, even appointments available for this coming week," Tory said.

"We need you to sign up, not to put it off."

Ontario reported 2,448 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the fourth consecutive day with more than 2,000 daily cases.

Tory says more than 450,000 people in Toronto have received doses thus far.

"I will say Im not satisfied, and that doesnt mean Im critical or angry with anybody, it just means Im asking people to take advantage of the opportunity to get vaccinated now and well be satisfied when we have a sold out situation," Tory said.

Ontario has fully vaccinated 309,285 people and has administered nearly two million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Michael Garron Hospital and the Toronto East Health Network opened up a vaccination standby list for those who are part of the province's Phase 2 populations.

But the website crashed shortly after it opened up due to high volume, the Toronto East Health Network said.

On Sunday it said it has taken down the site for now due to "an extremely high volume of submissions" while it figures out how to move forward on standby vaccinations.

In Quebec, Minister of Health Christian Dube urged residents to get vaccinated.

"There are still appointments available in the coming days in some regions, especially in Montreal," he said for those aged 60 years and older.

Quebec has given doses to 76 per cent of those 80 and over, as well as 52 per cent of those 70 years and older and 17 per cent of those aged 60 to 69. The vast majority are first doses, very few have been fully vaccinated.

As of last week, Quebec said about 75 per cent or more of all age groups 65 years and older had either received a vaccine or made an appointment.

The province reported 917 news cases of COVID-19 on Sunday after breaking the 1,000-mark on Saturday for the first time since mid-February.

 With files from Morgan Lowrie in Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said three new vaccination sites would open in Toronto on Monday. In fact, two new sites will open.
LONDON  Mastercard, a global payment processor, is battling attempts to add about 14 million deceased people to a 14 billion pound-plus ($19.3 billion) British class action in an effort to limit the scope of the historic case.

A Mastercard lawyer told Londons Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on Friday that an application seeking to add those who died between 1992 and 2008 into the countrys first mass consumer claim, that alleges the company overcharged people over a near 16-year period, was a nullity.

Related: Mastercard Faces $18.6B Class Action in UK

A claim cannot be brought in the name of a deceased person, Mark Hoskins, representing Mastercard, said at the hearing.

Former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks, who is leading the claim, alleges that Mastercard overcharged almost 60 million people in Britain  including about 14 million people who are deceased  over the period. The case could entitle adults and their estates to roughly 300 pounds each if successful.

Hoskins said attempts to add new members  or their administrators, personal representatives, executors or next of kin  to the very serious claim was also now time-barred.

The company is also resisting attempts to add compound interest to any award, which the court heard could push up the value of the claim by more than 2 billion pounds.

Lawyers for Merricks pushed for the deceased to be included, questioned why death might time-bar a valid case and urged the tribunal either to certify the lawsuit with compound interest or defer the question to the trial tribunal.

The drawn-out case was brought in 2016, one year after the CAT was nominated to oversee Britains U.S.-style opt-out class action regime for breaches of UK or EU competition law.

The CAT blocked the case in 2017 but is re-considering authorizing it as a collective action and determining its scope  and establishing a standard for a string of other, stalled class actions  after the UK Supreme Court in December lowered the bar for allowing such actions to proceed.

Merricks, who is being advised by law firm Quinn Emanuel, alleges Mastercard charged excessive interchange fees  the fees retailers pay credit card companies when consumers use a card to shop  between May 1992 and June 2008 and that those fees were passed on to consumers as retailers raised prices.

Mastercard says it fundamentally disagrees with the claim, that people received valuable benefits from its payments technology and that the lawsuit is driven by U.S. lawyers and backed by organizations focused on making money for themselves.

A judgment will be made later.

($1 = 0.7264 pounds) (Reporting by Kirstin Ridley; editing by Jane Merriman, Kirsten Donovan)

Topics Lawsuits
In his March budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled Help to Grow: Digital," a new scheme to offer small businesses free, impartial advice on how technology can boost their performance through a new online platform.

Although the UK has long been a tech hub, an ever-widening skills gap among workers has long been a concern in the industry  even as it continues to grow. (Just recently, Microsoft predicted that the UK would require an additional 1.9 million software developers by 2025.)

Despite job losses that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, research has shown the gap could be set to narrow, with a report from CWJobs finding that more than half of non-tech workers are contemplating a career change and eyeing tech-based careers.

However, with university courses in the UK now costing 9,250 a year, traditional routes into work for those entering the labour market are starting to lose their appeal. Additionally, for workers who are already established in their careers, returning to education is not always a viable option.

The IT Skills and Salary Report by Global Knowledge found that 81% of unsatisfied IT professionals plan to switch jobs this year, a figure directly linked to a lack of investment in training by their employers. The report also found a lack of training can cost a company 520 work hours per year, or about 20,887.

The importance of building talent

With IT vacancies on the rise  CWJobs saw a 25% increase in jobs last June compared to the previous month, highlighting the shift in demand for tech talent after the switch to national remote work in March 2020  retraining and re-skilling is not just the preserve of those looking to enter the technology industry.

HPs 2020 Workplace Evolution Study found that a key theme in the UK has been the rise of the "empowered employee". Research showed that around 60% of UK office workers want to learn new skills, but more than a third (37%) found that their employers have deprioritised training.

The report also found that, compared to other markets, British office workers believe the most strongly (70%) that it is the employers responsibility to provide workers with the training they need to adapt to workplace changes.

While not every employee has the capacity to become a software developer, there will be individuals in every organisation with the potential to re-skill from existing legacy tech, or switch to tech for the first time.

Thomas OReilly, head of group strategy at UK-based technology talent provider QA, said the need to re-skill often results from a pragmatic economic perspective as legacy businesses continue to decline. He cited the number of UK retailers that have seen business move exclusively online and the need these companies now have for workers with tech skills.

You will not be able to transform your businesses to be a tech business if you do not have the requisite talent to do so, he said.

However, while hiring an outside candidate may be the best option to plug a one-person talent gap, many organisations dont have the luxury of building a new team with fresh talent.

OReilly points to a recent KPMG Harvey Nash survey that found 67% of CIOs believe a lack of available talent is holding them back, to which the only solution is to build talent. He said its easy to poach 50 developers from a rival company but ultimately, that just leaves someone else struggling with the talent shortage. As a result, re-skilling existing employees is the best option.

I actually think that most companies really care about their employees, OReilly said. And if faced with a choice between removing a large swathe of the workforce and bringing in new talent, [most companies would] rather not do that as those are very tough decisions to take.

He noted that when employees have been with a company for years, replacing them with a new hire not only puts someone out of a job, it also leads to a loss of knowledge and understanding about how a company works.

How do re-skilling bootcamps work?

QA works with companies across the UK that are looking to retrain and reskill large sections of their workforce. Most recently, the company worked with UK building society Nationwide to ehance its engineering team via a re-skilling programme. The society was looking to build a full complement of software engineering skills, covering DevOps and Agile. Over the course of 12 weeks, trainees from across the organisation  some with no previous IT skills  were taught a syllabus focused on Nationwides long-term business goals.

OReilly said QA takes a three-part approach when working directly with organisations, which starts with raising awareness around why a re-skilling project is needed. You need to softly build awareness of the hard truth, which might be that a company is going through a digital transformation that will mean ... closing branches and needing less front-end branch tellers as more work will be done online. Therefore, it will need more app developers and more cloud architects.

He explains that its also important to build a base-line level of awareness around these different technologies. If you've never heard of a cloud, it's pretty hard to make an informed judgment about what a career in cloud technology really means, let alone if its something you're going to like, he said.

A selection phase then takes place, where people apply and get accepted onto the re-skilling programme. OReilly said this can be difficult, as you cant use previous experience or knowledge as a selection criterion.

The actual training programme then takes place over a period of time most suited to the organisations. If employees have become redundant, training can happen a lot quicker than for workers that need to balance learning with continuing their day job.

What can the government do?

In September, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that 8 million would be spent on short courses in IT subjects such as cloud services, digital for advanced manufacturing, and cyber security with links to job interviews to help people 19 and over gain employment in the digital sector.

Bootcamps such as the ones run by QA have also been allocated funding through the Department, with a further expansion, to include sectors such as construction and engineering, being paid for using the National Skills Fund from April.

OReilly explains that although QA does work directly with corporations such as Nationwide who pay the company directly rather than use government grants, its vital that the UK government position itself at the forefront of the re-skilling revolution.

The government is uniquely placed to raise awareness and to provide endorsement of this route, he said. I think the government's even talking about the benefits of re-skilling, extolling its virtues and signposting people to the different routes available to them, is something which nobody else can do. It has a public relations pulpit that no one else has.

He added he would love to see the government raise awareness both for companies to take on individuals who have been re-skilled or think about helping individuals internally, and for individuals to consider new careers. The government should be far more active in endorsing tech careers and routes into tech, he said.

When it comes to re-skilling your workforce, OReilly said it pays to be radical and creative. He notes that a lot of companies might be tempted to stick with previously trusted routes, such as hiring from an established labour market. But recent data shows that this isnt viable long term.

In all cases of large change, particularly when it comes to how employees work, what they do and reskilling, there's never a good time. There's always some reason why it's uncomfortable or difficult, he said.

But at a time of profound economic disruption, which is so closely aligned with tech winning, now is the perfect time to be thinking about enacting much more radical, wide-reaching and creative reskilling options to build tech talent.
English Lithuanian

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

The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV.
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.
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Nigerians aversion for voting during elections is well pronounced, but the challenge saw a new low in the federal legislative by-election that was held in Aba North/Aba South federal constituency of Abia State this weekend.

Only about 3 in 100 registered voters showed up to vote in the election. The electoral umpire, INEC, declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chimaobi Ebisike, as the winner having polled 10,592 of the votes.

He beat Mascot Kalu of the All Progressives Congress who had 3,674 votes to second place, and Destiny Nwagwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance with 1,584 votes to third position.

Civic organization YIAGA Africa tweeted on Monday to say the low turnout for the election is now among the worst three in recent elections in the country. Of the three, two were elections held in Lagos, Nigerias largest economic hub.

Recent legislative elections with the worst (less than 5%) voter turnout. What we do to reverse low turnout in elections? #WatchingTheVote pic.twitter.com/a2hy2zQ9RC  #NotTooYoungToRun (@YIAGA) March 28, 2021

Data reviewed by this newspaper had shown that elections are costing the country huge outlays, but boycotting of national elections is on the rise in Nigeria, one that is at odds with what obtains among the electorate in neighbouring Ghana.

Lagos leads the pack of states where civic rebellion among voters is high. The state, Nigerias richest state with arguably the highest population and a cosmopolitan metropolis, has returned the lowest election turnout in the last two general elections as well as last years byelections.

The state again made up for the remaining two elections with the lowest election turnout in recent time, according to the data posted by YIAGA.

The Ifako Ijaiye federal constituency election which was held in December had a voter turnout of 2.9 per cent (with 9,884 people voting out of the 339,864 registered voters).

Likewise, in the state legislative election that was held in September 2017 at Eti-Osa, turnout was 3.42 per cent as only 6,280 votes were recorded out of the 183,551 registered for the election.

This is not a rejection of democracy, but a protest against bad governance, a senior programme officer at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Austin Aigbe, recently told this medium.

Nigerians are generally not excited by the governance outcome in the country, Mr Aigbe noted at the time.

Meanwhile, observers and citizens alike have told this newspaper that the plunging rate of election turnout is largely due to years of failed electoral promises, electoral violence, distrust in the electoral processes and torturous registration process.

Some believe there is a dearth of core national values and nationalism is ebbing in the heart of most voters, one that has triggered disinterest among Nigerians on national matters.

The conduct of the political class fueled by our winner takes all system is a disincentive, the director CDD, Hassan, had told this newspaper.

We need proportional representation where every party gets something in the end; electoral reforms to unburden INEC, and work more with the citizens.
Joint Ministerial Statement on Treaty Between UK and EU in Respect of Gibraltar

At the UK-Gibraltar Joint Ministerial Council held in Gibraltar on 29th March 2021, the Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC agreed a joint approach to the upcoming negotiations on a treaty between the EU and the UK in respect of Gibraltar.

They recalled the framework for this treaty was agreed with the Kingdom of Spain on 31st December 2020, welcoming the constructive and forward-looking approach taken by the Spanish Government in these negotiations, and reiterating their commitment to continue this next phase in the same spirit of shared partnership.

In visiting Gibraltar, the Foreign Secretary reiterated the UKs longstanding commitment that it will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes. Nor will it enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.

The Foreign Secretary and the Chief Minister made the following statement about the treaty:

"Our position reflects the unique situation of Gibraltar and the opportunity that this negotiation brings. At the core is a shared aim to secure future prosperity for Gibraltar and the surrounding region. This will be delivered through a treaty which brings confidence, legal certainty and stability to the lives and livelihoods of the people of Gibraltar and neighbouring communities, without prejudice to legal positions on sovereignty and jurisdiction. The treaty should ensure fluid and open movement of people and goods between Gibraltar and the EU.

"We are committed to work constructively and quickly with the objective of concluding a treaty in the coming months. That said, we repeat our position that a treaty must be on the right terms. Gibraltars British identity, and the United Kingdoms sovereignty, must be preserved. We believe that with commitment and flexibility, a treaty can meet these requirements. However, if this does not prove to be the case, or the deal on offer is not the right one for the UK and Gibraltar, we are fully prepared to accept the implications. The UK will stand fully behind Gibraltar, its people and its economy in any scenario.

"The framework agreed with Spain gives a clear basis for the treaty. In the forthcoming negotiations the position taken by the UK and Gibraltar will follow the provisions agreed in that framework.

"In particular, the framework provides a pragmatic model to achieve the fluid movement of people between Gibraltar and the Schengen area. Under this model, a joint operation with the European Border and Coastguard Agency (Frontex) may thus be established for an initial implementation period of four years. In the event that, after consultations on the results of the arrangements of the implementation period, either of the parts, namely Spain on the first part, and the UK and the Gibraltar authorities on the second part, are not satisfied with the results at the end of the implementation period, the agreement will be terminated at the end of that period. For both the UK and Gibraltar Governments, the operation of front line Schengen external border checks on the territory of Gibraltar by Spanish officials would not be acceptable.

"The UK and Gibraltar envisage that the model in the framework will be underpinned by agreement on other areas, including law enforcement and criminal justice. There is a shared interest in ensuring the Government of Gibraltar is able to effectively tackle crime and terrorism, bring criminals to justice and protect citizens within its jurisdiction.

"Spain and Gibraltar share a mutual interest in fluid movement of goods between the EU and Gibraltar. Any solution should reflect the unique character and limited scale of Gibraltars economy, with the aim of minimising barriers between Gibraltar and the EU without requiring a disproportionate regulatory, legal or administrative burden.

"The treaty should clarify the terms for the provision of services between Gibraltar and the EU, including the surrounding region. Consistent with this, we are prepared to make level playing field commitments, proportionate to the scale of Gibraltars economy and the levels of market access in the treaty, to ensure that unfair distortions do not occur.

"Consistent with the agreed framework, the treaty will also need to include provisions for: Transport; Environmental protection; Social Security Coordination; Citizens Rights (Frontier Workers); and Data Protection.

"The treaty should contain arrangements to ensure it is governed in an effective and proportionate way, reflecting the nature of the treaty as well as the judicial autonomy of the parties. This will include mechanisms for cooperation through a simple Joint Committee structure, dispute settlement and interpretation of the treaty."
Regular Supply Of Vaccines Now Expected Locally Hill Regional Hospital (HRH) has announced that it will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines on a regular schedule in partnership with Hill County effective Wednesday, March 31.



First doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to be received each week on Wednesdays (except on April 7), and they will require a return for the second doses three weeks later on a Thursday.



The State of Texas has now opened up the registration for the vaccines to all Texas residents 16 and older. The Pfizer vaccine is the only current vaccine approved for teenagers aged 16 and 17.



The vaccines will be administered at the Hill County Fairgrounds, 205 Stadium Drive in Hillsboro.



HRH said that it will use the county's system to set appointments, noting that the system worked well for the recent vaccination clinic that resulted in over 1,600 vaccines being administered.



"We thank Hill County Office of Emergency Management and Tom Hemrick for allowing us to use their system that worked so well the week of March 16-19," said HRH spokesperson Tricia Shelton.



A link at www.hillregionalhospital.com is currently being set up where one can click on the red COVID button, which will take them directly to the Hill County Emergency Management site at www.hilloem.com.



When appointments can be set, those signing up may receive a text or email alerting them that the link is now open. When appointments are full, it will not take additional ones.



By choosing your first vaccination on a Wednesday, HRH says that a person is committing to return three weeks later on a Thursday.



If appointment times for the desired day are unavailable, there is a process to sign up for emergency, last-minute vaccines.



"Sometimes things happen and people do not show up for their appointments. Those vials must be given within a certain time, and we absolutely do not want a single vaccine to go to waste," said Shelton. "If you choose an emergency list option, you must agree to answer all calls on that day. Voicemails will not be left, as HRH must fill that space immediately."



Those who are unable to navigate the website and cannot receive help from a relative or friend may call the hospital to set an appointment at 254-580-8500. This number can also be called with any questions.



"This new system may end the waiting list procedure currently in place, because now you have the opportunity to choose your time yourself," said Shelton. "People were hesitant to answer phones because of scams, fraud and nuisance calls. We certainly understand that, and making it an easier process for everyone has been a goal that we can now put in place."



For information about the vaccine itself, visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19.


Books by Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, at the Chinatown Branch of the Chicago Public Library in Chicago, Ill., on March 2, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Republican Congressman Introduces GRINCH Act to Combat Cancel Culture of Kids Books

A Republican congressman has introduced a bill that would withdraw federal funding from government agencies that try to ban books.

Cancel culture is rapidly encroaching on American institutionsstarting in our elementary schools, Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) said in a press release on his proposed legislation dubbed the Guarding Readers Independence and Choice Act, or GRINCH Act.

Inspired by the fictional creature in the Dr. Seuss book series, the GRINCH Act would bar states and local government agencies from receiving funding under the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program if they prohibits the availability of books that contain offensive or outdated language or images to students, teachers, or schools, with the exception of books containing obscene or pornographic texts or images.

As we have seen time and time again, the woke horde will target just about anyone, even Dr. Seuss, Joyce said, adding that no American should be forced to participate in this scheme against their will.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that manages the legacy of the celebrated childrens author Theodor Seuss Geisel, announced earlier this month that it has decided to cease publication and licensing of six Dr. Seuss titles because of imagery that was accused of being racist and insensitive.

These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement, saying that the move was part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprisess catalog represents and supports all communities and families.

First published in the 1930s and 40s, the books came under fire in recent years due to the depiction of different ethnic and racial groups, which some find offensive. In And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, an Asian man is portrayed wearing a conical hat and eating rice from a bowl with chopsticks. If I Ran the Zoo includes a drawing of two African men wearing grass skirts and carrying exotic-looking animals.

Joyce on Friday appeared on Fox News to discuss his bill, saying that it should be left to parents to decide whats on their childrens reading list.

If you find that these books are offensive to your children, then the parents should be the ones who make that decision, he told Fox News host Dana Perino. Government should not be making that. And federal dollars should not support anyone who bans books.

When asked if any Democrat is backing his proposal thus far, Joyce didnt answer, but said that the feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly positive and that he thought the bill should be able to reach across the aisle.

We have to understand that we cannot turn back and ban great historic people, great historic images, that are part of our childhood, he said.
I dont know if I was meant to, she says, but I actually found it really interesting because a lot of it involved speaking with partners, understanding what they are interested in, and thinking about the future direction of the firm. So what did the Stannage family do when she finally got the call late on Friday, March 5, letting her know that she had smashed through yet another glass ceiling with an outright majority of partner votes? "I had to keep it secret until it was announced to the partners and then the broader firm," she says. "So my celebration was just me, [husband] Chris and the kids having a celebratory champagne. I had to duck calls from partners, who I am sure must have thought I was devastated, having lost." They needn't have worried. In the 27 years since she commenced her articles at Freehills in Perth, Maslen-Stannage's career has shown scant sign of setback. She has been either winner or a finalist in the Australian "Dealmaker of the Year" awards every year since 2011 and acclaimed as "brilliant" by Chambers Global, which ranks the top lawyers and law firms around the world. TPG Telecom CEO Inaki Berroeta in the months after the groups tieup with Vodafone Australia where Mr Berroeta was CEO. Credit:Renee Nowytarger She advised TPG Telecom on its $15 billion merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia, helped David Jones with its takeover by South Africa's Woolworths, and guided Centro Properties Group through a restructuring that involved five interconditional schemes of arrangement and a $9.4 billion sale of its US assets - a deal, she says, "I really made my name on". Nobody was surprised then when Freehills, one of the "Big Six" Australian firms, selected Maslen-Stannage as its deal lawyer when negotiating its own 2012 merger with UK firm Herbert Smith, to create a multinational practice of 2,100 lawyers across 26 offices.

Yet there was one disappointment, in her early days at Freehills, that had a profound impact on how Maslen-Stannage manages her career. As she tells it, she had discussed with her supervising partner her expected timeframe for making senior associate. Then, out of the blue, Freehills named a new group of senior associates  and Maslen-Stannage didnt make the cut. It was ahead of the timing I had laid out, but I still thought, Well, hang on a minute, if you are making that person a senior associate, then I should be on there too. I was a typical lawyer, always pegging myself against others. While she laughs about the story now, Maslen-Stannage admits she was devastated. The lesson she took away was that she needed to be more explicit in her demands. "I should have said that this is my expected timeframe, but by the way, if you are considering making any of these people a senior associate, then I should be one too. I just realised at that point that I can't leave anything to chance. I have actually got to voice what I want." This advice is contained in every pep talk Maslen-Stannage delivers to the junior lawyers in her team, 80 per cent of whom are women and therefore more likely to "self edit". "My message to them is to view your career as something that you control, rather than hoping that one day someone will tap you on the shoulder and offer you this opportunity," she says. "Don't be afraid to state what your ambition is." Maslen-Stannages ambition, intellect and work ethic are lionised in Australian legal circles  but are hardly surprising when you consider her childhood. She was the fifth of eight children born to a nuclear physicist father, who met her British mother while a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University. As a teenager, she attended Mercedes College, a Catholic girls school in Perth, before graduating from the University of Western Australia with dual degrees in law and commerce and then adding a Bachelor of Civil Laws from Oxford for good measure.

Maslen-Stannage credits the chaos of her childhood with helping to drive her career. Not only did it make her comfortable with change, and capable of tuning out the noise to focus on the issues that really matter, but it also gave her what she regards as the key ingredient in any success. In a big family, youve got to be resilient, she says. To me, being resilient  in the law or any other career  is the most important factor because you have to be able to see your way through a challenge. If the team comes to me panicking about something, I say, There will be a solution here because there always has been and there always will be. James Palmer, the former global chairman of Herbert Smith Freehills. Credit:Herbert Smith Freehills So what does she see as the main challenges facing HSF as she prepares to take the reigns from current chair James Palmer? "Technology disruption," she says, without hesitation. Artificial intelligence is encroaching rapidly on law firms' bread and butter, providing analysis in due diligence processes, updating smart contracts, predicting outcomes based on case law, and carrying out the bane of every articled clerk's existence: discovery. (Although true to form, the ever cheerful Maslen-Stannage admits that she never minded discovery and found it a "good training ground"). The challenge is how do we push ourselves up the value chain as some [of our traditional] work becomes commoditised, she says. Whats going to be of strategic importance to clients and how do we make sure that we are shifting always into the next trend, the next thing, the next theme. Maslen-Stannage points to HSFs recent launch of a dedicated environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice  amidst a seismic shift in ESG awareness, regulation and enforcement  as an example of the firms adaptability.

Globalisation is another challenge  and opportunity  for the firm, as clients increasingly face cross-border legal problems. Maslen-Stannage is excited about the footprint that HSF currently offers clients, but says there is room for further growth in Europe, Asia and the Americas, particularly north America. There are a lot of opportunities there that we would love to position ourselves for, she says. The US is obviously the largest market for legal services in the world, so its a logical place as we look to increase our global presence. The US is also home to aggressive firms with massive wallets, which they are merrily using to poach star lawyers across Europe and Asia. This goes, in part, to the heart of the third major challenge facing HSF: how does it continue to attract and retain smart young lawyers, who no longer view themselves as "lawyers for life", in a market where there is increasing demand for work-life balance and fierce competition for talent from rival law firms, investment banks and corporates? In the year to last April, HSF's turnover increased by 2.5 per cent to 989.9 million ($1.8 billion), with profit down 7.7 per cent to 283.2 million ($508 million) and profit per equity partner dipping 9.7 per cent to 857,000 ($1.5 million). While the firm recently boosted this with a one-off bonus of 5 per cent of salary for all staff in recognition of the challenges faced during COVID-19, the figure is still dwarfed by, say, the US$5.2 million ($6.7 million) profit per equity partner that US firm Kirkland & Ellis pays out. Yet Maslen-Stannage argues that HSF is a "different proposition" from its US rivals. "Our lawyers could walk into a job with them tomorrow and earn more money but they don't want to because the culture is different," she says, somewhat optimistically. "It's all about hard work and less about the person - that's the stereotype." She is more realistic about the challenge of retaining women, who historically have dropped out of the partnership race due to the professions long, unpredictable hours, as illustrated by Maslen-Stannages own typical work day. She admits she begins at between 6.30am and 7am and often works late into the night  and this is before the demands that her new role will entail. Compared to its peers, HSF has made solid strides in partnership diversity since introducing gender targets in 2014. The cause has been helped by prominent partners (like Maslen-Stannage) who have combined children with successful careers and by firm signalling, such as its decisions to allow part-time partners and to make some lawyers partners while they are still on parental leave. However, despite more than 50 per cent of HSFs trainee intake being women, its partnership is still only around 30 per cent female.

"We have made a lot of progress but we still have further to go; there is still a lag," Maslen-Stannage admits. "The good thing is that it is getting better. There was this sense for decades that it was just not shifting." Loading She expects COVID-19 to give the movement another major shove. "The flexible working philosophy that has come out of COVID will let us go another step in retaining women and men we would otherwise lose," she says. "Even if you are working really hard, it makes all the difference in the world if you can be home with your family for dinner or at home while you are working late at night. It will really help partners with families to balance everything and make them feel that their career is not too great a sacrifice on the family front." So how has she managed to balance her own spectacular career with raising two children - Sylvie, now 18 and a first-year student at the Australian National University, and 16-year-old Rohan, in Year 11? First, Maslen-Stannage acknowledges the incredible support of her husband Chris Stannage, a fellow lawyer who has chosen a more flexible career path. Then she credits her rowdy childhood  again  for relieving her of the pressure to do everything perfectly. I have friends who feel they have to home cook every meal for their kids as well as working around the clock - its just not actually possible, she says. Coming from a more chaotic household where everything didnt need to be perfect - near enough was good enough  has been really helpful.
[March 29, 2021] Further Education Institute South Staffordshire College Selects PenTera to Mitigate Cyber Security Risk

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pcysys has announced that the UK-based South Staffordshire College has chosen Pcysys' Automated Penetration Testing platform, PenTera, to automate its cybersecurity validation efforts towards faster security risk mitigation. "The team was sold on PenTera during the demonstration stage alone. The value over manual penetration testing was clear instantly," says Jason Whitaker, IT Director at South Staffordshire College. "By running the platform in production and re-testing post-remediation, we get an accurate view of our security posture. PenTera is like that best friend who tells you the truth to your face when you need it the most, even if it hurts." The PenTera platform scans and ethically attacks the IT network with the latest hacking techniques, prioritizing remediation efforts based on proven kill-chains. With PenTera, organisations can benchmark, maintain and improve their cyber posture by performing penetration tests as frequently as needed -daily, weekly or monthly. The platform aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, ensuring the organisational network is held to the highest industry standard while reducing cybersecurity services cost.



"The further education space has been hit with quite a few cyber events recently and continues to be targeted especially in these times of increased remote access," says Eric Graves, Regional Sales Manager for the UK at Pcysys. "We're proud to partner with Jason and the South Staffordshire College team who truly believe in the value of continuous security visibility and validation, to help them in this time of transition and moving forward." About South Staffordshire College

South Staffordshire College is a leading further education college in Staffordshire, England. The college is a consortium of colleges spread across 4 campuses, serving over 11,000 students and employing 600 staff members. South Staffordshire College offers a wide selection of full time, part time and apprenticeship programmes, designed to meet the needs of the local community. About Pcysys Pcysys delivers PenTera, the agentless, automated penetration-testing platform, that assesses and reduces corporate cybersecurity risk. The platform is run remotely on the Cloud or on-site to identify, analyze and focus remediation efforts on breachable vulnerabilities. Hundreds of security professionals and service providers around the world use PenTera to perform continuous machine-based penetration tests that improve their immunity against cyber attacks across their organization networks. For more info visit: www.pcysys.com . Media Contact:

Aviv Cohen

Pcysys CMO

aviv@pcysys.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832279/Pcysys_Logo.jpg

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An anti-coup protester holds a smoke bomb behind makeshift barricade, as the protesters confront police in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 28, 2021. Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last months military coup. (AP Photo)

Thai soldiers have started sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled a series of air strikes by the military in neighbouring Myanmar, sources said.

The weekend strikes, which sent ethnic Karen people seeking safety in Thailand, represented another escalation in the violent crackdown by Myanmars junta against protests over its February 1 coup.

On Saturday, more than 100 people were killed in and around demonstrations throughout the country  the bloodiest day since the takeover.

The violence by the Myanmar military  on the border and in cities around the country  raised the question of whether the international community would respond more forcefully than it has so far to a coup that ousted the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and reversed years of progress towards democracy.

The UK called for a closed meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday afternoon, council diplomats said ahead of an official announcement.

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The council has condemned the violence and called for a restoration of democracy, but has not yet considered possible sanctions against the military, which would require support or an abstention by Myanmars neighbour and friend China.

On Monday the US suspended a trade deal with Myanmar until a democratic government is restored. US trade representative Katherine Tai said Washington was immediately suspending all US engagement with Burma under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres called the surge in killings by the military absolutely horrendous, and urged greater unity and commitment by the international community to put pressure on the coup leaders to reverse course and go back to a serious democratic transition.

My message to the military is very simple: stop the killing. Stop the repression of the demonstrations. Release the political prisoners, and return power to those that have really the right to exercise it, he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

In response to reports of people fleeing the air strikes, Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-ocha had said earlier on Monday that the country did not want mass migration but was preparing for an influx of people and would take human rights issues into consideration.

Three sources later said Thai soldiers had begun to force people to return to Myanmar.

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They told them it was safe to go back even though it is not safe. They were afraid to go back but they had no choice, said a spokesperson for the Karen Peace Support Network, a group of Karen civil society organisations in Myanmar.

A spokesman for Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs said claims that some Karen were being forced to return to Myanmar were inaccurate.

Myanmar aircraft carried out three strikes overnight on Sunday, according to Dave Eubank, a member of the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian relief agency that delivers medical and other assistance to villagers. The strikes severely injured one child but caused no apparent fatalities, he said.

Earlier strikes had sent about 2,500 people into northern Thailands Mae Hong Son province and left at least four people dead and many wounded, according to the agency.

As of Sunday, at least 459 people had been killed in Myanmar since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The true toll is thought to be higher.

On Saturday alone, at least 114 people across the country were killed by security forces, including several children, prompting a UN human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing mass murder and criticise the international community for not doing enough to stop it.
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New Delhi, March 29 : China was the only G20 country that saw a large increase in coal generation in the pandemic year, said a research published on Monday by energy think tank Ember. India, on the other hand, saw a decline of five per cent.

Globally there was a record fall in coal generation in 2020, which was mirrored in India and other top coal power countries. China is now responsible for more than half (53 per cent) of the world's coal-fired electricity.

The pandemic paused electricity demand growth in 2020, enabling new wind and solar to drive a record fall in coal power.

Wind and solar showed resilient growth in 2020, up by 15 per cent (plus 314 TWh), equivalent to more than the UK's entire annual electricity production.

This helped push coal power to a record fall of four per cent (minus 346 TWh).

China bucked this trend, standing out as the only G20 country that saw a large increase in both electricity demand and coal power in 2020.

Despite an impressive 16 per cent growth in wind and solar (plus 98 TWh), China's coal generation rose by 1.7 per cent (plus 77 TWh) as its demand for electricity grew by four per cent (plus 297 TWh).

"Despite some progress, China is still struggling to curb its coal generation growth," said Ember's senior analyst, Muyi Yang.

"Fast-rising demand for electricity is driving up coal power and emissions. More sustainable demand growth will enable China to phase out its large coal fleet, especially the least efficient sub-critical coal units, and provide greater opportunity for the country to attain its climate aspirations." It says coal power declines in India and other top coal countries.

The four largest coal-generating countries after China all saw coal power decline in 2020: India (minus five per cent), the US (minus 20 per cent), Japan (minus one per cent) and South Korea (minus 13 per cent).

India's coal power declined for a second consecutive year in 2020 (minus five per cent), driven by growth in solar (plus 27 per cent) and a drop in electricity demand (minus two per cent) due to the impact of Covid-19.

"India has started its clean electricity transition," said Ember's senior analyst Aditya Lolla. "India now needs to ramp up wind and solar considerably in the next decade to both replace coal and meet rising electricity demand. India has the opportunity to ensure that coal generation doesn't see resurgence after the last two years of coal falling." However, emissions are still not falling.

Despite the record fall in coal in 2020, power sector emissions were still around two per cent higher in the pandemic year than in 2015 when the Paris Agreement was signed.

Coal remained the world's single largest power source in 2020. Global coal generation was only 0.8 per cent lower in 2020 than in 2015 and gas generation was 11 per cent higher. Despite wind and solar generation doubling since 2015, this has not been sufficient to replace fossil fuels due to rising demand.

Global electricity demand rose 11 per cent since 2015. During this period, China's electricity demand rose by 1,880 TWh (plus 33 per cent), which is more than India's entire electricity demand in 2020.

In Asia, where electricity demand grew quickest, clean electricity was only able to meet part of the rising electricity demand; around half in both China (54 per cent) and India (57 per cent) from 2015 to 2020.

Where coal has fallen significantly, including in Europe and the US, the emission reductions have been partly cancelled out by an increase in fossil gas.

"Progress is nowhere near fast enough," said Ember's global lead Dave Jones.

"Despite coal's record drop during the pandemic, it still fell short of what is needed. Coal power needs to collapse by 80 per cent by 2030 to avoid dangerous levels of warming above 1.5 degrees. We need to build enough clean electricity to simultaneously replace coal and electrify the global economy. World leaders have yet to wake up to the enormity of the challenge."

CUPERTINO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2021 / It's no secret that college admissions is challenging for Asian Americans. Admissions in America is not a meritocracy - low income, legacies, under-represented minorities, athletes, and LGBT groups are heavily favored in the process, which takes spots away from possibly more deserving applicants.

At the Ivy League, Stanford, and MIT, the Asian American population comprises roughly 20-25% of the student body for more than the past decade despite a dramatic increase in scores, national recognition, and extracurricular activities to boast. The only exception are schools like Caltech and Berkeley, which doesn't practice race-based admissions and has nearly 40% of the student body who are Asian.

A recent report by AdmissionSight, a top tier college admissions consulting company that boasts a 75% acceptance rate track record to the Ivy League, breaks down the numbers of Asian American admits at top universities such as Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UChicago, MIT, Caltech, and other highly ranked institutions. Let's take a look at the data:

The official report by AdmissionSight may be found here.

"Asian Americans are definitely held to a much higher standard than their peers," says Eric Eng, the founder and CEO of AdmissionSight. "That's why we seek to help families in every way we can. If colleges demand more from our students, we'll work harder and make our students outshine their competition."

But using race and affirmative action is a poor way to judge an applicant. While it may make more sense to provide support to low income groups (as opposed to race) due to lack of resources, the advent of online education and ample free resources has significantly closed that gap as well. For colleges to prevent those who have a high degree of academic and extracurricular merit from matriculating on the basis of race (Asians, in particular - Jews, in the past) - is not okay.

A complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights alleges that in order for Asian-Americans students to gain admission, they need to have SAT scores 140 points higher than white students, 270 points higher than Hispanic students, and 45 points higher than African American students.

Lawsuits have been filed with the Department of Education against elite schools like Harvard and Princeton in the past by highly competitive Asian applicants who decried that the admissions process wasn't fair.

College admissions officers will have some big decisions to make on how it treats Asians in the admissions process, especially at a time when violence toward the minority group is at an all time high. The recent uprising in racial discrimination against Asian Americans has led President Biden to urge Congress to "swiftly pass" hate crime legislation to address the rise in discrimination and violence against Asian Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic. The recent congressional hearing was the first of its kind in 34 years.

"Asian Americans, while considered minorities, are not treated as such when it comes to college admissions," says Eng. "In fact, Asian Americans are penalized for their race and don't get in despite having superb qualifications."

The bar is set significantly higher for Asian Americans. Most have to go above and beyond compete in regional and national competitions such as the Intel Science and Engineering Fair, form nonprofits to showcase their leadership, and attend prestigious summer programs while juggling SAT's and a rigorous course load of AP exams.

"That's why we are here for our clients," says Eng, whose company works with students from all over the world, including the Bay Area, New York, Boston, Shanghai, Taiwan, London, Singapore, and many others. "We arm them with all the resources and tools to get an edge in the admissions process. In this day and age when it is so competitive, separating yourself from the rest of the pack is a must to get your foot into the door."

There are certainly many sweeping changes this year due to college admissions including the cancellation of the SAT Subject Tests and the SAT going test-optional. As the level of anxiety grows amid the pandemic, college admissions has faced greater uncertainty as students and parents prepare for the upcoming admissions cycle. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Media Contact:

AdmissionSight Inc.

info@admissionsight.com

(650) 338-8226

SOURCE: AdmissionSight

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637876/Asian-Americans-Diversity-and-Meritocracy-in-College-Admissions


WOONSOCKET (dpa-AFX) - CVS Health is set to offer no-cost COVID-19 vaccines at select CVS Pharmacy locations in Washington, West Virginia, Delaware and New Mexico as part of its bid to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines. The no-cost vaccine is available to patients with insurance or through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration program for uninsured patients.



'We're proud to play a part in increasing access to the vaccine to as many people as possible to enable reopening efforts in the communities we serve,' said Neela Montgomery, President of CVS Pharmacy.



The health care company is already providing access to COVID-19 vaccines through hundreds of CVS Pharmacy locations across 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program and, in some cases, with state supply.



CVS Health will begin vaccinating eligible populations on Wednesday, March 31 at CVS Pharmacy's six select locations in Washington, two select locations in West Virginia, two select locations in Delaware and five select locations in New Mexico.



The participating CVS Pharmacy locations are Burien, Lakewood, and Seattle in Washington, Charleston and Huntington in West Virginia, Kent and New Castle counties in Delaware as well as Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Roswell, and Santa Fe in New Mexico.



The appointments for vaccination at these locations will be available for booking on Tuesday, March 30, as the store receives shipments of vaccine. The vaccination will be administered to individuals meeting state criteria, as well as K-12 teachers and staff and childcare workers.



CVS Health noted that it will expand vaccine access through an increasing number of store locations and in more communities across the U.S. as more supply becomes available.



It added that the vaccines will eventually be administered at CVS Pharmacy locations throughout the country subject to product availability



With more than 90,000 health care professionals including pharmacists, licensed pharmacy technicians, and nurses, CVS Pharmacy is well positioned to administer 20 million to 25 million shots per month.



In October last year, the U.S. government had inked a public-private Pharmacy Partnership with CVS and Walgreens to provide and administer COVID-19 vaccines to protect vulnerable American residents of long-term care facilities (LTCF) nationwide with no out-of-pocket costs. These include skilled nursing facilities (SNF), nursing homes, assisted living facilities, residential care homes, and adult family homes.



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Power brokers linked to State House are in the spotlight for apparently implementing an elaborate scheme to cut down the influence of ODM leader Raila Odinga across the country and clear the way for a preferred successor.

It is an experiment that also involves propping up the One Kenya Alliance that comprises party leaders Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Gideon Moi (Kanu) and Moses Wetang'ula (Ford Kenya) -- and enticing regional kingpins that have over the years supported Mr Odinga.

In terms of strategy, an emboldened Mr Mudavadi -- if the Matungu parliamentary by-election where the ANC candidate Peter Nabulindo trounced Mr David Were of ODM is anything to go by -- is expected to lock Mr Odinga out of the western region, a significant vote he has always relied on in his State House quest over the years.

Handshake

Mr Wetang'ula, the senator from Bungoma, has been tasked to consolidate parts of the region that may be lukewarm in their support for Mr Mudavadi. The thinking is that with county assemblies having endorsed the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), it would be inconsequential for Mr Odinga to recall his troops and subsequently disengage from the handshake he has with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

To consolidate his Ukambani political base, Mr Musyoka has declared war on two governors -- Dr Alfred Mutua of Machakos and his Makueni counterpart Kivutha Kibwana -- whom he accuses of forging a working alliance with Mr Odinga in a plan to divide the region's vote.

"The ODM leader is attempting to craft a new alliance with non-starters namely Kibwana, Mutua and Mukhisa, in order to undermine his former Nasa principals in their strongholds, is an alliance dead on thought," Mr Musyoka said.

Jubilee Party Vice-Chairman David Murathe, Mr Kenyatta's confidante, said there is nothing unusual if there is such scheming even as he maintained that he supports Mr Odinga to be the next president.

He said that while it may appear they are pulling in different directions with One Kenya Alliance, the two camps will eventually team up before the elections.

"It is highly likely that One Kenya Alliance will link up with Jakom (Mr Odinga). It is in their best interest to work together, the other one (reference to Deputy President William Ruto) does not have the best interest of the country at heart. Through Jakom as President, the country will experience its Mandela moment," Mr Murathe said.

Zoning formula

The zoning formula adopted by the backers of the budding alliance is to ensure that Mr Odinga is only confined to his Nyanza backyard with insignificant votes in other areas ahead of the next General Election.

Coast, Lower Eastern and the Mulembe nation (Luhyaland) are, according to the strategy, projected to have turned their backs on Mr Odinga. But they are also aware that the former Prime Minister is no pushover.

An insider told the Nation that their hope is that the ODM leader's political magnet is losing power after his dalliance with the President and he will be the one proposing a deal, in which case he would be holding the shorter end of the stick.

One Kenya Alliance now has the backing of the "system" and had, before the recent Covid-19 restrictions, been receiving significant support to hold meetings across the country.

On Saturday, ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna said that while the handshake had got nothing to do with 2022 elections, it was wrong for "influential bureaucrats" in government to use their powers to guide the Uhuru succession.

"We know they are lining up certain individuals to take over power next year. This is wrong, what we want is a level playing ground for all those who want to contest," Mr Sifuna said.

Kitchen Cabinet split

However, the strategy to isolate Mr Odinga in the succession race has split the President's kitchen Cabinet as some, like Mr Murathe, insisting the former prime minister was the right person to take over next year.

Last week on Tuesday, Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya met the President at State House, a meeting we gathered touched on developmental concerns at the Coast as well as the future of the country's politics.

"Today Fatuma Achani and I had the privilege to have a meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House Nairobi. We have discussed issues pertaining to the development of our county, and matters of national importance," the governor said.

Mr Mvurya would lead his counterparts from the region Hassan Joho (Mombasa) and Amason Kingi (Kilifi) the next day into meeting with Mr Kenyatta at State House with aides kept at bay.

One of the county chiefs told us that the meetings were a culmination of months of consultations that will pave way for a 'new order' and change the country's politics for forever.

Coast political party

Mr Kingi, who has been vocal about the need to have a political party for the Coast, is expected to unveil it in the coming weeks. He is expected to be the party leader. Governor Joho, one of the staunchest supporters of Mr Odinga and his deputy in the Orange party, is said to be cautious but is not opposed to the new order that is also meant to deny the former PM an important support base.

Inspired by the truism of killing two birds with one stone, the new found alliance is also meant to check the deputy president's inroads at the Coast.

The second in command has since, politically, fallen out with his boss.

Even then, the fact that Interior PS Karanja Kibicho would come out in the open to dismiss ODM leaders who had demanded his removal from the BBI secretariat, is a sign that things may have fallen apart.

Politicians led by National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohamed recently accused Mr Kibicho of taking over the work of the secretariat he co-chairs with former Dagoreti MP Denis Waweru through "a parallel command system and causing political constipation".

Mass defection

In the works is also to occasion mass defection of MPs from ODM to portray Mr Odinga as losing clout in his primary base. The same is targeted at DP Ruto.

When Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa recently said he was taking a sabbatical from politics, what was interpreted to mean defection from Dr Ruto's Tangatanga movement, an insider pointed that more are lined up. One Kenya Alliance is supposed to be the beneficiary of the defections.

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The affiliated parties to the alliance are also expected to open more branches across the country to give them some oomph.

The next target, we gathered, will be wealthy businesspeople who have supported the former premier over the years. The aim will be to win them over and those adamant may face the wrath of the 'system'.

But in the face of raging fire in his camp, Mr Odinga, who is recovering after testing positive for Covid-19, is urging his lieutenants to stay calm insisting that the handshake with Mr Kenyatta was still intact if not salvageable.

Mr Odinga's camp is split into two, those who want him to work with DP Ruto and those opposed to it.

A lawmaker, also a lawyer is leading the group of those in favour of the DP while the other team is opposed to the move they say may diminish Mr Odinga's reform credentials.

Equally, in DP's corner, there are those who cannot wait to join forces with Mr Odinga not only for deja vu purposes but also as a way of revenging the 'betrayal' by the President who they believe would never have ascended to power were it not for DP's support.

"If the President can work with the opposition leader, then we cannot rule out Dr Ruto working with Raila in the coming elections. They once worked in the pentagon and they know each other well," a Ruto ally and Emurrua Dikir MP Johanna Ng'eno said.

A confidante of the President's inner circle, however, intimated that the Head of State may not be the driver of a plot to isolate Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga in the succession matrix in as much as his manoeuvres say otherwise.
A joint WHO-China report on the origins of COVID-19 claimed that transmission of the virus from bats to humans by another species is the most probable scenario and that a lab spill is "highly doubtful." The WHO report was as planned, but several questions remained unanswered. Except for the laboratory leak hypothesis, the team suggested further testing in every field.

WHO report claimed COVID-19 likely came from animals

The report's release has been repeatedly postponed, prompting concerns about whether the Chinese side is attempting to distort the findings to avoid taking responsibility for the pandemic. Late last week, a World Health Organization (WHO) official predicted that it would be available for release "in the next few days."

On Monday, the Associated Press obtained a near-final version from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO member country. It was unclear if the report would be changed until it was published. Since they were not allowed to disclose it before publication, the diplomat did not want to be identified.

In order of likelihood, the researchers identified four possibilities, N.Y. Post reported. They concluded that transmission through a second animal was possible. They also concluded that direct transmission from bats to humans was probable and that transmission through "cold-chain" food items was likely.

Vaccine Protection Stronger Among Those Previously Infected by COVID-19, Study Reveals

Bats, which are believed to bear coronaviruses, have been shown to have the nearest relative of the virus that causes COVID-19. According to the report, the evolutionary gap between these bat viruses and SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be several decades, indicating a missing link.

It claimed that pangolins have viruses that are very similar to the COVID virus. Still, mink and cats are also vulnerable to the COVID virus, suggesting that they may be carriers. The study is based in part on a mid-January to mid-February visit by a WHO team of foreign experts to Wuhan, China, where COVID-19 was first detected.

The report had been finalized and was being fact-checked and translated, according to Peter Ben Embarek, the WHO expert who headed the Wuhan mission. "I expect that the whole project will be finished in the next few days, and we will be able to announce it publicly," he said.

Pfizer Launches First-Ever COVID-19 Pill, Prevents Virus Mutation Inside the Human Cells

Officials are concerned with the WHO report about COVID-19 origin

Officials from the U.S. President Joe Biden administration voiced doubts on Sunday about how the main report on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic was published, including the suggestion that the Chinese government had a hand in it. The reports from the WHO's mission to Wuhan, China, in early 2021 will be ready in a few days, as per the Geneva-based organization.

The report was supposed to come out in March. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that the U.S. has "real concerns" about the report's methodology and process, including the fact that the Chinese government "apparently helped to write it."

Although there should be "accountability for the past," Blinken said on "State of the Union" that the emphasis should be on building a stronger system for the future. When asked about the study on CBS, Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases expert in the U.S., said he did not know whether it would be a "whitewash" and would not prejudge the findings.

For weeks, the Biden administration put pressure on China and the WHO over what it claims is a flawed probe, as per Bloomberg. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. is worried over a lack of clarity and evidence in the report's preparation.

People Who Had Common Cold Could be Protected Against COVID-19 Study Suggests

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Comebacks is a series about businesses that have made dramatic turnarounds during the pandemic, in partnership with Slates Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism podcast. The following article is a written adaptation of an episode of Thrilling Tales.

Remember the Peloton wife ad? The one with the wide-eyed woman whose husband gives her a Peloton for Christmas, perhaps not so subtly demanding she get in better shape? The commercial earned Peloton a lot of attention, and not in a good way. But that was 2019. 2020 brought with it a whole different way of life and a dramatic comeback for Peloton, as gyms closed and people looked for ways to exercise at home. Pelotons fortunes have lately climbed faster than a Tour de France cycliste.

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It all started with John Foley, who founded the company in 2012. He had young kids, and he and his wife were really into fitness, and they lived in New York City, so they really liked the wave of boutique fitness classes that were happening, says Amy Larocca, a writer with New York magazine whos working on a book about the wellness movement. But once they had kids, its very hard to get out of the house for those things and to keep those appointments. And they came up with an ideawhat if we could bring exercise of that level into the house?

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The product was an exercise bike with a big touch screen connected to the internet. Youd buy the bike for a flat fee and then take classes by paying for a monthly subscription. Youd get instructors as good as the fanciest New York City gym could offer, but you wouldnt need to live in New York or even leave your house. And you could do it on your schedule, not theirs. This seemed like a winning idea, but at first John Foley struggled to raise money from investors. He had trouble convincing them that the big upfront price of the bikea couple of thousand dollarswouldnt be a problem.

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What he understood, because he was in the world of boutique fitness as a consumer, was that people who do that kind of thing spend an incredible amount of money on it, Larocca says. One SoulCycle class is $36 or something like that. And your monthly at Peloton is $40. So the bike can amortize out pretty quickly.

Foley ended up going to Kickstarter instead of to venture capitalists for his early funding. He began selling his first Peloton bikes in 2014and something interesting happened. People pretty quickly began to develop communities around this piece of exercise equipment. According to Larocca, investors became more interested when they started seeing the devotion of the riders.

People began to develop communities around this piece of exercise equipment.

Part of the appeal of Pelotons community dynamic was the competitive aspect, with multithousand-person leaderboards updating on your screen in real time so you can see whos ahead of you and behind you as you take a class. But there was a social dimension, too. Facebook groups for Peloton riders started appearing, and they subdivided into different themes, like Pelo Moms and Pelo Wine Moms.

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Pelotons early, rapid success turned it into the first fitness unicorn, a startup company valued at over a billion dollars. It was becoming apparent that customers just loved their Pelotons. Larocca talked to someone who said she knew eight people with Peloton tattoos.

The two most crucial elements to staging a successful exercise class are probably the instructor and the music. Peloton could hire the very best instructors because it only needed to hire a few of them, compared with a fitness chain with in-person classes all over the country. As Larocca put it, You can only get 60 people in a SoulCycle room at once, so the SoulCycle celebrity teachers have pretty modest followings. But Peloton teachers have thousands of people logging on. Peloton instructors like Alex Toussaint and Cody Rigsby managed to become household names among a certain slice of fitness-obsessed Americans. Their level of fame is above reality show contestant. Like, are they as famous as someone who got eliminated quickly from The Bachelor? Yeah.

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There was already a Peloton-hating universe out there. And then there was the horrible Christmas ad.  Amy Larocca

As for the music played during classes, that became a bit of an issue for Peloton. Larocca explains: If youve got a little spin studio in Park Slope and you want to play Beyonce all day, no one cares. But if youve got 30,000 people doing your ride, you cant just play Beyonce. So theyve had a lot of licensing problems with music, and it ended up being much more expensive than I think they wanted it to be.

Pelotons been working out deals to pay royalties to music license holders, to make sure that instructors can play the hits that people want to work out to. Among Pelotons recent music partners: Beyonce herself. The brand announced a deal with her that has resulted in several Beyonce-themed classes. By 2018, Peloton, still a privately held company at that time, was being valued at $4 billion.

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But then Peloton hit a couple of snags. It went public in the fall of 2019, and that didnt go perfectly. The stock quickly dipped below its IPO price, raising some concerns that the company was overvaluedmaybe a competitor could swoop in and do something similar, stealing away business.

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Peloton also had a little trouble getting its marketing pitch just right. One run of TV ads drew some eye rolls because, according to Larocca, they made Peloton customers all seem ludicrously rich: The Peloton ads always had the bike in some sort of gorgeous setting, like you had this timber addition put on your house looking out over the Rockies or Hong Kong in order to ride your Peloton. That was the first thing of making fun of people putting their bikes in these really expensive places and just talking about what sort of jerks people who could have this must be. So there was already a Peloton-hating universe out there. And then there was the horrible Christmas ad.

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People described the womans facial expressions in that ad as looking like shes in a hostage video. Its a whole culture and an idea that is just so ripe to make fun of, Larocca says. And then they show a montage of her riding the bike all year, and its really hard, but she looks great and shes thin, and she stays thin. I mean, it looks just like rich people being rich.

It can be hard to know exactly why a stock price does what it does. But at the height of the backlash to this TV ad, Peloton stock nosedived. The company lost nearly a billion dollars in value in a single day. But 2019 was about to end. And a whole new kind of world was around the corner.

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When COVID happened, it was not immediately apparent that Peloton was going to benefit from it. The concern right off the bat was theyd have to close some of their studios, says Justin Post, who analyzes internet companies for Bank of America. The production value of some of their classes was actually in question. Do people want to keep watching reruns of old workouts? Would that affect usage?

Peloton filled the gap at first by having its instructors stream from their homes before they were able to get back into the company studios with better lighting and sound. Meanwhile, news of a deadly pandemic crowded out any lingering talk about Pelotons yucky holiday ad. And as it became clear that Americans might be stuck at home for quite some time, sales of home exercise equipment began to soar. A bike that lets you work out in your garage, but feel connected to other people, seemed perfectly suited to the times.

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Pelotons 2020 revenue was $1.8 billion, about double what it had done the year before, and it recorded its first profitable quarter. Peloton orders ramped up so fast the company failed to keep pace. Delivery delays got bad enough that the company eventually started flying its bikes over from factories in China, instead of floating them on ships, a move that Peloton says temporarily boosted its transport costs tenfold. Peloton has recently tried to develop some more domestic manufacturing, in part by acquiring another exercise equipment company for $400 million to prevent issues like this in the future.

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The thing that maybe excites Wall Street most about Peloton is its hybrid business model: a combination of a hardware business with a subscription business. Post says that when Peloton sells a bike at a price of around $2,000 to $2,500, depending on options, it basically just breaks even, once you figure in the cost to manufacture the bike and market it. But thats only the starting point for Pelotons relationship with its customers.

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Recurring subscription payments are the dream for lots of companies. Peloton hits up a bunch of peoples credit cards for about $40 each month automatically. The subscription part of the business is so important that the company doesnt even really mind if you buy a used Peloton bike at a discount, because that means youll become another subscriber. Right now, Peloton has fewer than 2 million paid subscriptions in just a handful of countries, but its target is significantly higher than that, which will require all kinds of expansion.

The big worry is that when gyms reopen, people wont want to exercise in their basements and spare rooms anymore.

Post says the No. 1 obstacle to bringing in new customers is the cost of a bike. Peloton has offered zero percent financing, a layaway plan where you pay for the bike in chunks each month on top of your subscription fee. When you look at it as no cost upfront and a hundred dollars a month for bike and subscription, its not dramatically different from the monthly cost of membership at a high-end gym.

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There are lots of threats on the horizon for Peloton, though. One is the end of the pandemic and a return to normalcy. Consider that Pelotons stock price went down 25 percent when news of a vaccine came out. The big worry, of course, is that when gyms reopen, people wont want to exercise in their basements and spare rooms anymore. But Post thinks the homebody culture we associate with the pandemic was actually an acceleration of existing trends, which wont go away. In a lot of categories, theres been a shift in home, he says. You can think about watching movies in home, getting restaurant delivery in home.

Another threat to Peloton is the competition, particularly future competition, because fitness is fickle. Remember Tae Bo or CrossFit? Lots of people bounce around and do whatever workout is trendy at a given moment. Peloton has branched out with a treadmill line in addition to its bikes, and its trying to offer more at-home strength, cardio, and yoga classes on its touch screens to appeal to a wider audience, even people who dont want to buy bikes and treadmills. Its also acquired some companies making other kinds of hardware and software, like wearable devices and interactive yoga mats. But what if somebody else just builds a better mousetrap?

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One company that people do think a lot about is Apple, Post says. If they would ever make hardware equipment, obviously they have quite an installed base of devices out there and a very big user base, and fitness has been a target for the company and theyve talked about it and they have apps for it. So could they come up with hardwaredefinitely something people have asked about.

If Peloton continues to thrive and survive a battle with a better-funded competitor, it might be because of the community its built up during the pandemic: all these people stuck at home looking for ways to stay active but, maybe more important, looking for a connection. Amy Larocca says this might be the real appeal of Peloton: Its a sort of church of self-improvement. When you start looking at what people dont get from organized religion and what people do get from these new types of exercise classes, its kind of alarmingly similar. A shared place, a shared community that meets regularly. Catharsis. Singing, music. Movement is a huge part of a lot of religious ritual. So the similarities are greater than you might want to think at first.

Listen to the full episode using the player below, or subscribe to Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.
NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott says raising the Warragamba Dam wall could pave the way for the release of more land for development in Sydneys north-west, putting him at odds with his ministerial colleagues.

As residents return to the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley to count the cost of the deadly and damaging floods that inundated homes throughout the region last week, Mr Elliott said the controversial project to raise the height of Sydneys largest reservoir by at least 14 metres could benefit the future growth of the area.

Water spilling over Warragamba Dam during last weeks floods. Credit:Nine News

It ... means that we can probably release more land in the north-west for construction and development, Mr Elliott told Triple M radio, adding he currently opposed development in his Baulkham Hills electorate  which was affected by floods  due to lack of infrastructure.

His comments contradict those of Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres, who is overseeing the $1.6 billion proposal, and who told The Sydney Morning Herald earlier this month that raising the wall will not allow development to take place in flood impacted areas where it is currently not permitted.
Matatu operators hiking fares following the lockdown of five counties over the Covid-19 pandemic will be arrested, Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya has warned.

Mr Natembeya noted Saturday that the pandemic has greatly affected everybody in the country, so there is no need to harass commuters.

"What has changed between Nakuru and Nairobi that can necessitate an increase of fares? We are going to arrest all those taking advantage of the situation to siphon money from commuters," he said.

"Hiking fares is extremely baffling. Every time the government announces new restrictions to contain the spread of Covid-19, some public transport operators take advantage and increase fares. This is unacceptable. The government will deal firmly with PSV operators trying to cash in on the new regulations."

A day after President Uhuru Kenyatta issued new directives specifically targeted at Nakuru, Kajiado, Nairobi, Kiambu and Machakos counties, travellers have taken a hit.

In Nakuru County, for instance, public transport vehicles ferrying passengers to Nairobi raised fares from the usual Sh600 to between Sh2000 and Sh3,000.

The move prompted Mr Natembeya to issue a stern warning against public service vehicle saccos including Likana, 4NT, 2NK, Mololine, Crossland and Molo Group.

Business people affected

Also hit by the president's new directives are civil servants and business people who work in Nyandarua, Baringo, Narok and Kericho County, but live in Nakuru.

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"I was restricted from entering Nyahururu town in Laikipia on Saturday morning. I opted to live in Nakuru because of the cold weather in Nyahururu. I hope this harassment by security officers will stop because the business I operate in Nyahururu feeds my family," said John Maina, a resident of Nakuru, who runs a mini-supermarket in Nyahururu town.

In Nakuru,which borders about eight counties, security officers have erected nine roadblocks manned round-the-clock since early Saturday morning.

Mr Natembeya said more roadblocks will be erected to enforce other security and Covid-19 containment measures.

"I take this opportunity to issue a stern warning against those who will flout the lockdown restrictions. Culprits will face the full force of the law," he said.

The administrator also warned police against accepting bribes to allow people to flout the containment measures, saying they will face immediate disciplinary action.
Americans who received flu shots last year were significant less likely to test positive for COVID-19, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that those vaccinated against influenza were 25 percent less at-risk of contracting the virus that causes the illness, known as SARS-CoV-2.

What's more, those who did later become infected with coronavirus had fewer complications if they had been immunized against the flu.

Scientists aren't yet sure whether the shot itself is protective, or if a person who gets a flu vaccine is simply also more likely to take precautions to protect themself against coronavirus, like mask-wearing and hand-washing.

The team, from Michigan Medicine, says the findings provide evidence for why the general public should get the flu shot if they haven't already, despite the fact that the U.S. is nearing the end of the 2020-21 flu season may be winding down.

A new study found that, of the 13,000 Michigan Medicine patients who received the flu shot, 4% contracted coronavirus compared to 5% of the 14,000 patients who did not get the flu shot (file image)

COVID-19 patients who were vaccinated against the flu were 40% less likely to be hospitalized and 100% less likely to need mechanical ventilation (above)

Senior author Dr Marion Hofmann Bowman, an associate professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine, said one of the inspirations behind the study was misinformation she had seen connecting the flu vaccine to COVID-19 infection.

Despite several prominent media outlets debunking this claim, she said she wanted to address vaccine hesitancy.

'Instead of a concerning connection between COVID-19 and the flu shot, our publication provides more confidence that getting your flu shot is associated with staying out of the hospital for COVID-19,' she said.

'It's particularly relevant for vaccine hesitance, and maybe taking the flu shot this year can ease some angst about the new COVID-19 vaccine.'

For the study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, the team looked at medical charts for more than 27,000 patients who has tested positive between March 2020 and mid-July 2020.

Researchers looked at flu shot status and controlled for other factors such as age, race, sex and pre-existing conditions.

Of the nearly 13,000 patients who had received a flu shot in the previous year, four percent tested positive for COVID-19.

Comparatively, five percent of the 14,000 patients who didn't get a flu shot contracted coronavirus - a difference of 25 percent.

Next, the researchers looked at the difference in clinical outcomes between COVID-19 patients with the influenza vaccine and those without it,

Patients vaccinated against influenza were 40 percent less likely to be hospitalized and half as likely to need mechanical ventilation.

The length of stay in the hospital was also reduced with coronavirus patients who had gotten the flu shot in the hospital for an average of 12 days compared to an average of 16 days for patients who had not gotten the flu shot.

However, there was no difference in death rates between the two groups of patients.

Hofman says the nature of the link between flu shots and COVID-19 illness or its severity.

'It is possible that patients who receive their flu vaccine are also people who are practicing more social distancing and following CDC guidelines,' she said.

'However, it is also plausible that there could be a direct biological effect of the flu vaccine on the immune system relevant for the fight against SARS-CoV-2 virus.'
This essay is Chapter 3 of State and Revolution, which Lenin wrote in the summer of 1917. At the time, Lenin was in hiding, first outside Petrograd and then in Finland, in the midst of the violent repression of the Bolshevik Party by the Provisional Government in Russia. The book was a critical component of Lenins preparation of the Bolshevik Party and the most advanced sections of the Russian working class for the October Revolution of 1917.

For a fuller review of State and Revolution, see the Russian Revolution Centenary lecture by Barry Grey.

1. What made the Communards attempt heroic?

It is well known that in the autumn of 1870, a few months before the Commune, Marx warned the Paris workers that any attempt to overthrow the government would be the folly of despair. But when, in March 1871, a decisive battle was forced upon the workers and they accepted it, when the uprising had become a fact, Marx greeted the proletarian revolution with the greatest enthusiasm, in spite of unfavorable auguries. Marx did not persist in the pedantic attitude of condemning an untimely movement as did the ill-famed Russian renegade from Marxism, Plekhanov, who in November 1905 wrote encouragingly about the workers and peasants struggle, but after December 1905 cried, liberal fashion: They should not have taken up arms.

Marx, however, was not only enthusiastic about the heroism of the Communards, who, as he expressed it, stormed heaven. Although the mass revolutionary movement did not achieve its aim, he regarded it as a historic experience of enormous importance, as a certain advance of the world proletarian revolution, as a practical step that was more important than hundreds of programmes and arguments. Marx endeavored to analyse this experiment, to draw tactical lessons from it and re-examine his theory in the light of it.

The only correction Marx thought it necessary to make to the Communist Manifesto he made on the basis of the revolutionary experience of the Paris Communards.

The last preface to the new German edition of the Communist Manifesto, signed by both its authors, is dated June 24, 1872. In this preface the authors, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, say that the programme of the Communist Manifesto has in some details become out-of-date, and they go on to say:

 One thing especially was proved by the Commune, viz., that the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes 

The authors took the words that are in quotation marks in this passage from Marxs book, The Civil War in France.

Thus, Marx and Engels regarded one principal and fundamental lesson of the Paris Commune as being of such enormous importance that they introduced it as an important correction into the Communist Manifesto.

Most characteristically, it is this important correction that has been distorted by the opportunists, and its meaning probably is not known to nine-tenths, if not ninety-nine-hundredths, of the readers of the Communist Manifesto. We shall deal with this distortion more fully farther on, in a chapter devoted specially to distortions. Here it will be sufficient to note that the current, vulgar interpretation of Marxs famous statement just quoted is that Marx here allegedly emphasises the idea of slow development in contradistinction to the seizure of power, and so on.

As a matter of fact, the exact opposite is the case. Marxs idea is that the working class must break up, smash the ready-made state machinery, and not confine itself merely to laying hold of it.

On April 12, 1871, i.e., just at the time of the Commune, Marx wrote to Kugelmann:

If you look up the last chapter of my Eighteenth Brumaire, you will find that I declare that the next attempt of the French Revolution will be no longer, as before, to transfer the bureaucratic-military machine from one hand to another, but to smash it [Marxs italicsthe original is zerbrechen], and this is the precondition for every real peoples revolution on the Continent. And this is what our heroic Party comrades in Paris are attempting. (Neue Zeit, Vol. XX, 1, 1901-02, p. 709.)

(The letters of Marx to Kugelmann have appeared in Russian in no less than two editions, one of which I edited and supplied with a preface.)

Karl Marx

The words, to smash the bureaucratic-military machine, briefly express the principal lesson of Marxism regarding the tasks of the proletariat during a revolution in relation to the state. And this is the lesson that has been not only completely ignored, but positively distorted by the prevailing, Kautskyite, interpretation of Marxism!

As for Marxs reference to The Eighteenth Brumaire, we have quoted the relevant passage in full above.

It is interesting to note, in particular, two points in the above-quoted argument of Marx. First, he restricts his conclusion to the Continent. This was understandable in 1871, when Britain was still the model of a purely capitalist country, but without a militarist clique and, to a considerable degree, without a bureaucracy. Marx therefore excluded Britain, where a revolution, even a peoples revolution, then seemed possible, and indeed was possible, without the precondition of destroying the ready-made state machinery.

Today, in 1917, at the time of the first great imperialist war, this restriction made by Marx is no longer valid. Both Britain and America, the biggest and the last representativesin the whole worldof Anglo-Saxon liberty, in the sense that they had no militarist cliques and bureaucracy, have completely sunk into the all-European filthy, bloody morass of bureaucratic-military institutions which subordinate everything to themselves, and suppress everything. Today, in Britain and America, too, the precondition for every real peoples revolution is the smashing, the destruction of the ready-made state machinery (made and brought up to the European, general imperialist, perfection in those countries in the years 1914-17).

Secondly, particular attention should be paid to Marxs extremely profound remark that the destruction of the bureaucratic-military state machine is the precondition for every real peoples revolution. This idea of a peoples revolution seems strange coming from Marx, so that the Russian Plekhanovites and Mensheviks, those followers of Struve who wish to be regarded as Marxists, might possibly declare such an expression to be a slip of the pen on Marxs part. They have reduced Marxism to such a state of wretchedly liberal distortion that nothing exists for them beyond the antithesis between bourgeois revolution and proletarian revolution, and even this antithesis they interpret in an utterly lifeless way.

If we take the revolutions of the 20th century as examples we shall, of course, have to admit that the Portuguese and the Turkish revolutions are both bourgeois revolutions. Neither of them, however, is a peoples revolution, since in neither does the mass of the people, their vast majority, come out actively, independently, with their own economic and political demands to any noticeable degree. By contrast, although the Russian bourgeois revolution of 1905-07 displayed no such brilliant successes as at times fell to the Portuguese and Turkish revolutions, it was undoubtedly a real peoples revolution, since the mass of the people, their majority, the very lowest social groups, crushed by oppression and exploitation, rose independently and stamped on the entire course of the revolution the imprint of their own demands, their attempt to build in their own way a new society in place of the old society that was being destroyed.

In Europe, in 1871, the proletariat did not constitute the majority of the people in any country on the Continent. A peoples revolution, one actually sweeping the majority into its stream, could be such only if it embraced both the proletariat and the peasants. These two classes then constituted the people. These two classes are united by the fact that the bureaucratic-military state machine oppresses, crushes, exploits them. To smash this machine, to break it up, is truly in the interest of the people, of their majority, of the workers and most of the peasants, is the precondition for a free alliance of the poor peasant and the proletarians, whereas without such an alliance democracy is unstable and socialist transformation is impossible.

As is well known, the Paris Commune was actually working its way toward such an alliance, although it did not reach its goal owing to a number of circumstances, internal and external.

Consequently, in speaking of a real peoples revolution, Marx, without in the least discounting the special features of the petty bourgeois (he spoke a great deal about them and often), took strict account of the actual balance of class forces in most of the continental countries of Europe in 1871. On the other hand, he stated that the smashing of the state machine was required by the interests of both the workers and the peasants, that it united them, that it placed before them the common task of removing the parasite and of replacing it by something new.

By what exactly?

2. What is to replace the smashed state machine?

In 1847, in the Communist Manifesto, Marxs answer to this question was as yet a purely abstract one; to be exact, it was an answer that indicated the tasks, but not the ways of accomplishing them. The answer given in the Communist Manifesto was that this machine was to be replaced by the proletariat organised as the ruling class, by the winning of the battle of democracy.

Marx did not indulge in utopias; he expected the experience of the mass movement to provide the reply to the question as to the specific forms this organisation of the proletariat as the ruling class would assume and as to the exact manner in which this organisation would be combined with the most complete, most consistent winning of the battle of democracy.

Marx subjected the experience of the Commune, meagre as it was, to the most careful analysis in The Civil War in France. Let us quote the most important passages of this work.

Originating from the Middle Ages, there developed in the 19th century the centralised state power, with its ubiquitous organs of standing army, police, bureaucracy, clergy, and judicature. With the development of class antagonisms between capital and labour, state power assumed more and more the character of a public force organised for the suppression of the working class, of a machine of class rule. After every revolution, which marks an advance in the class struggle, the purely coercive character of the state power stands out in bolder and bolder relief. After the revolution of 1848-49, state power became the national war instruments of capital against labour. The Second Empire consolidated this.

The direct antithesis to the empire was the Commune. It was the specific form of a republic that was not only to remove the monarchical form of class rule, but class rule itself.

What was this specific form of the proletarian, socialist republic? What was the state it began to create?

... The first decree of the Commune ... was the suppression of the standing army, and its replacement by the armed people. ...

This demand now figures in the programme of every party calling itself socialist. The real worth of their programme, however, is best shown by the behavior of our Socialist Revolutionists and Mensheviks, who, right after the revolution of February 27, actually refused to carry out this demand!

The Commune was formed of the municipal councillors, chosen by universal suffrage in the various wards of Paris, responsible and revocable at any time. The majority of its members were naturally working men, or acknowledged representatives of the working class. The police, which until then had been the instrument of the Government, was at once stripped of its political attributes, and turned into the responsible, and at all times revocable, instrument of the Commune. So were the officials of all other branches of the administration. From the members of the Commune downwards, public service had to be done at workmens wages. The privileges and the representation allowances of the high dignitaries of state disappeared along with the dignitaries themselves. ... Having once got rid of the standing army and the police, the instruments of the physical force of the old government, the Commune proceeded at once to break the instrument of spiritual suppression, the power of the priests. ... The judicial functionaries lost that sham independence ... they were thenceforward to be elective, responsible, and revocable.

The Commune, therefore, appears to have replaced the smashed state machine only by fuller democracy: abolition of the standing army; all officials to be elected and subject to recall. But as a matter of fact this only signifies a gigantic replacement of certain institutions by other institutions of a fundamentally different type. This is exactly a case of quantity being transformed into quality: democracy, introduced as fully and consistently as is at all conceivable, is transformed from bourgeois into proletarian democracy; from the state (=a special force for the suppression of a particular class) into something which is no longer the state proper.

It is still necessary to suppress the bourgeoisie and crush their resistance. This was particularly necessary for the Commune; and one of the reasons for its defeat was that it did not do this with sufficient determination. The organ of suppression, however, is here the majority of the population, and not a minority, as was always the case under slavery, serfdom, and wage slavery. And since the majority of the people itself suppresses its oppressors, a special force for suppression is no longer necessary! In this sense, the state begins to wither away. Instead of the special institutions of a privileged minority (privileged officialdom, the chiefs of the standing army), the majority itself can directly fulfil all these functions, and the more the functions of state power are performed by the people as a whole, the less need there is for the existence of this power.

In this connection, the following measures of the Commune, emphasised by Marx, are particularly noteworthy: the abolition of all representation allowances, and of all monetary privileges to officials, the reduction of the remuneration of all servants of the state to the level of workmens wages. This shows more clearly than anything else the turn from bourgeois to proletarian democracy, from the democracy of the oppressors to that of the oppressed classes, from the state as a special force for the suppression of a particular class to the suppression of the oppressors by the general force of the majority of the peoplethe workers and the peasants. And it is on this particularly striking point, perhaps the most important as far as the problem of the state is concerned, that the ideas of Marx have been most completely ignored! In popular commentaries, the number of which is legion, this is not mentioned. The thing done is to keep silent about it as if it were a piece of old-fashioned naivete, just as Christians, after their religion had been given the status of a state religion, forgot the naivete of primitive Christianity with its democratic revolutionary spirit.

The reduction of the remuneration of high state officials seem simply a demand of naive, primitive democracy. One of the founders of modern opportunism, the ex-Social-Democrat Eduard Bernstein, has more than once repeated the vulgar bourgeois jeers at primitive democracy. Like all opportunists, and like the present Kautskyites, he did not understand at all that, first of all, the transition from capitalism to socialism is impossible without a certain reversion to primitive democracy (for how else can the majority, and then the whole population without exception, proceed to discharge state functions?); and that, secondly, primitive democracy based on capitalism and capitalist culture is not the same as primitive democracy in prehistoric or pre-capitalist times. Capitalist culture has created large-scale production, factories, railways, the postal service, telephones, etc., and on this basis the great majority of the functions of the old state power have become so simplified and can be reduced to such exceedingly simple operations of registration, filing, and checking that they can be easily performed by every literate person, can quite easily be performed for ordinary workmens wages, and that these functions can (and must) be stripped of every shadow of privilege, of every semblance of official grandeur.

All officials, without exception, elected and subject to recall at any time, their salaries reduced to the level of ordinary workmens wagesthese simple and self-evident democratic measures, while completely uniting the interests of the workers and the majority of the peasants, at the same time serve as a bridge leading from capitalism to socialism. These measures concern the reorganisation of the state, the purely political reorganisation of society; but, of course, they acquire their full meaning and significance only in connection with the expropriation of the expropriators either bring accomplished or in preparation, i.e., with the transformation of capitalist private ownership of the means of production into social ownership.

The Commune, Marx wrote, made that catchword of all bourgeois revolutions, cheap government, a reality, by abolishing the two greatest sources of expenditurethe army and the officialdom.

From the peasants, as from other sections of the petty bourgeoisie, only an insignificant few rise to the top, get on in the world in the bourgeois sense, i.e., become either well-to-do, bourgeois, or officials in secure and privileged positions. In every capitalist country where there are peasants (as there are in most capitalist countries), the vast majority of them are oppressed by the government and long for its overthrow, long for cheap government. This can be achieved only by the proletariat; and by achieving it, the proletariat at the same time takes a step towards the socialist reorganisation of the state.

3. Abolition of parliamentarism

The Commune, Marx wrote, was to be a working, not a parliamentary, body, executive and legislative at the same time ...

Instead of deciding once in three or six years which member of the ruling class was to represent and repress [ver- and zertreten] the people in parliament, universal suffrage was to serve the people constituted in communes, as individual suffrage serves every other employer in the search for workers, foremen and accountants for his business.

Owing to the prevalence of social-chauvinism and opportunism, this remarkable criticism of parliamentarism, made in 1871, also belongs now to the forgotten words of Marxism. The professional Cabinet Ministers and parliamentarians, the traitors to the proletariat and the practical socialists of our day, have left all criticism of parliamentarism to the anarchists, and, on this wonderfully reasonable ground, they denounce all criticism of parliamentarism as anarchism!! It is not surprising that the proletariat of the advanced parliamentary countries, disgusted with such socialists as the Scheidemanns, Davids, Legiens, Sembats, Renaudels, Hendersons, Vanderveldes, Staunings, Brantings, Bissolatis, and Co., has been with increasing frequency giving its sympathies to anarcho-syndicalism, in spite of the fact that the latter is merely the twin brother of opportunism.

For Marx, however, revolutionary dialectics was never the empty fashionable phrase, the toy rattle, which Plekhanov, Kautsky and others have made of it. Marx knew how to break with anarchism ruthlessly for its inability to make use even of the pigsty of bourgeois parliamentarism, especially when the situation was obviously not revolutionary; but at the same time he knew how to subject parliamentarism to genuinely revolutionary proletarian criticism.

To decide once every few years which member of the ruling class is to repress and crush the people through parliamentthis is the real essence of bourgeois parliamentarism, not only in parliamentary-constitutional monarchies, but also in the most democratic republics.

But if we deal with the question of the state, and if we consider parliamentarism as one of the institutions of the state, from the point of view of the tasks of the proletariat in this field, what is the way out of parliamentarism? How can it be dispensed with?

Once again, we must say: the lessons of Marx, based on the study of the Commune, have been so completely forgotten that the present-day Social-Democrat (i.e., present-day traitor to socialism) really cannot understand any criticism of parliamentarism other than anarchist or reactionary criticism.

The way out of parliamentarism is not, of course, the abolition of representative institutions and the elective principle, but the conversion of the representative institutions from talking shops into working bodies. The Commune was to be a working, not a parliamentary, body, executive and legislative at the same time.

A working, not a parliamentary bodythis is a blow straight from the shoulder at the present-day parliamentarians and parliamentary lap-dogs of Social-Democracy! Take any parliamentary country, from America to Switzerland, from France to Britain, Norway and so forthin these countries the real business of state is performed behind the scenes and is carried on by the departments, chancelleries, and General Staffs. Parliament is given up to talk for the special purpose of fooling the common people. This is so true that even in the Russian republic, a bourgeois-democratic republic, all these sins of parliamentarism came out at once, even before it managed to set up a real parliament. The heroes of rotten philistinism, such as the Skobelevs and Tseretelis, the Chernovs and Avksentyevs, have even succeeded in polluting the Soviets after the fashion of the most disgusting bourgeois parliamentarism, in converting them into mere talking shops. In the Soviets, the socialist Ministers are fooling the credulous rustics with phrase-mongering and resolutions. In the government itself a sort of permanent shuffle is going on in order that, on the one hand, as many Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks as possible may in turn get near the pie, the lucrative and honourable posts, and that, on the other hand, the attention of the people may be engaged. Meanwhile the chancelleries and army staffs do the business of state.

Dyelo Naroda, the organ of the ruling Socialist-Revolutionary Party, recently admitted in a leading articlewith the matchless frankness of people of good society, in which all are engaged in political prostitutionthat even in the ministries headed by the socialists (save the mark!), the whole bureaucratic apparatus is in fact unchanged, is working in the old way and quite freely sabotaging revolutionary measures! Even without this admission, does not the actual history of the participation of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks in the government prove this? It is noteworthy, however, that in the ministerial company of the Cadets, the Chernovs, Rusanovs, Zenzinovs and other editors of Dyelo Naroda have so completely lost all sense of shame as to brazenly assert, as if it were a mere bagatelle, that in their ministries everything is unchanged!! Revolutionary-democratic phrases to gull the rural Simple Simons, and bureaucracy and red tape to gladden the hearts of the capitaliststhat is the essence of the honest coalition.

The Commune substitutes for the venal and rotten parliamentarism of bourgeois society institutions in which freedom of opinion and discussion does not degenerate into deception, for the parliamentarians themselves have to work, have to execute their own laws, have themselves to test the results achieved in reality, and to account directly to their constituents. Representative institutions remain, but there is no parliamentarism here as a special system, as the division of labour between the legislative and the executive, as a privileged position for the deputies. We cannot imagine democracy, even proletarian democracy, without representative institutions, but we can and must imagine democracy without parliamentarism, if criticism of bourgeois society is not mere words for us, if the desire to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie is our earnest and sincere desire, and not a mere election cry for catching workers votes, as it is with the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, and also the Scheidemanns and Legiens, the Semblats and Vanderveldes.

It is extremely instructive to note that, in speaking of the function of those officials who are necessary for the Commune and for proletarian democracy, Marx compares them to the workers of every other employer, that is, of the ordinary capitalist enterprise, with its workers, foremen, and accountants.

There is no trace of utopianism in Marx, in the sense that he made up or invented a new society. No, he studied the birth of the new society out of the old, and the forms of transition from the latter to the former, as a natural-historical process. He examined the actual experience of a mass proletarian movement and tried to draw practical lessons from it. He learned from the Commune, just as all the great revolutionary thinkers learned unhesitatingly from the experience of great movements of the oppressed classes, and never addressed them with pedantic homilies (such as Plekhanovs: They should not have taken up arms, or Tseretelis: A class must limit itself).

Abolishing the bureaucracy at once, everywhere and completely, is out of the question. It is a utopia. But to smash the old bureaucratic machine at once and to begin immediately to construct a new one that will make possible the gradual abolition of all bureaucracythis is not a utopia, it is the experience of the Commune, the direct and immediate task of the revolutionary proletariat.

Capitalism simplifies the functions of state administration; it makes it possible to cast bossing aside and to confine the whole matter to the organisation of the proletarians (as the ruling class), which will hire workers, foremen and accountants in the name of the whole of society.

We are not utopians, we do not dream of dispensing at once with all administration, with all subordination. These anarchist dreams, based upon incomprehension of the tasks of the proletarian dictatorship, are totally alien to Marxism, and, as a matter of fact, serve only to postpone the socialist revolution until people are different. No, we want the socialist revolution with people as they are now, with people who cannot dispense with subordination, control, and foremen and accountants.

The subordination, however, must be to the armed vanguard of all the exploited and working people, i.e., to the proletariat. A beginning can and must be made at once, overnight, to replace the specific bossing of state officials by the simple functions of foremen and accountants, functions which are already fully within the ability of the average town dweller and can well be performed for workmens wages.

We, the workers, shall organise large-scale production on the basis of what capitalism has already created, relying on our own experience as workers, establishing strict, iron discipline backed up by the state power of the armed workers. We shall reduce the role of state officials to that of simply carrying out our instructions as responsible, revocable, modestly paid foremen and accountants(of course, with the aid of technicians of all sorts, types and degrees). This is our proletarian task, this is what we can and must start with in accomplishing the proletarian revolution. Such a beginning, on the basis of large-scale production, will of itself lead to the gradual withering away of all bureaucracy, to the gradual creation of an orderan order without inverted commas, an order bearing no similarity to wage slaveryan order under which the functions of control and accounting, becoming more and more simple, will be performed by each in turn, will then become a habit and will finally die out as the special functions of a special section of the population.

A witty German Social-Democrat of the seventies of the last century called the postal service an example of the socialist economic system. This is very true. At the present the postal service is a business organised on the lines of a state-capitalist monopoly. Imperialism is gradually transforming all trusts into organisations of a similar type, in which, standing over the common people, who are overworked and starved, one has the same bourgeois bureaucracy. But the mechanism of social management is here already to hand. Once we have overthrown the capitalists, crushed the resistance of these exploiters with the iron hand of the armed workers, and smashed the bureaucratic machinery of the modern state, we shall have a splendidly-equipped mechanism, freed from the parasite, a mechanism which can very well be set going by the united workers themselves, who will hire technicians, foremen and accountants, and pay them all, as indeed all state officials in general, workmens wages. Here is a concrete, practical task which can immediately be fulfilled in relation to all trusts, a task whose fulfilment will rid the working people of exploitation, a task which takes account of what the Commune had already begun to practice (particularly in building up the state).

To organise the whole economy on the lines of the postal service so that the technicians, foremen and accountants, as well as all officials, shall receive salaries no higher than a workmans wage, all under the control and leadership of the armed proletariatthat is our immediate aim. This is the state and this is the economic foundation we need. This is what will bring about the abolition of parliamentarism and the preservation of representative institutions. This is what will rid the labouring classes of the bourgeoisies prostitution of these institutions.

4. Organisation of national unity

In a brief sketch of national organisation which the Commune had no time to develop, it states explicitly that the Commune was to be the political form of even the smallest village. The communes were to elect the National Delegation in Paris.

... The few but important functions which would still remain for a central government were not to be suppressed, as had been deliberately misstated, but were to be transferred to communal, i.e., strictly responsible, officials. ... National unity was not to be broken, but, on the contrary, organised by the communal constitution; it was to become a reality by the destruction of state power which posed as the embodiment of that unity yet wanted to be independent of, and superior to, the nation, on whose body it was but a parasitic excrescence. While the merely repressive organs of the old governmental power were to be amputated, its legitimate functions were to be wrested from an authority claiming the right to stand above society, and restored to the responsible servants of society.

The extent to which the opportunists of present-day Social-Democracy have failedperhaps it would be more true to say, have refusedto understand these observations of Marx is best shown by that book of Herostratean fame of the renegade Bernstein, The Premises of Socialism and the Tasks of the Social-Democrats. It is in connection with the above passage from Marx that Bernstein wrote that as far as its political content is concerned, this programme displays, in all its essential features, the greatest similarity to the federalism of Proudhon. In spite of all the other points of difference between Marx and the petty-bourgeois Proudhon [Bernstein places the word petty-bourgeois in inverted commas, to make it sound ironical] on these points, their lines of reasoning run as close as could be. Of course, Bernstein continues, the importance of the municipalities is growing, but it seems doubtful to me whether the first job of democracy would be such a dissolution [Auflosung] of the modern states and such a complete transformation [Umwandlung] of their organisation as is visualised by Marx and Proudhon (the formation of a National Assembly from delegates of the provincial of district assemblies, which, in their turn, would consist of delegates from the communes), so that consequently the previous mode of national representation would disappear. (Bernstein, Premises, German edition, 1899, pp. 134 and 136.)

To confuse Marxs view on the destruction of state power, a parasitic excrescence, with Proudhons federalism is positively monstrous! But it is no accident, for it never occurs to the opportunist that Marx does not speak here at all about federalism as opposed to centralism, but about smashing the old, bourgeois state machine which exists in all bourgeois countries.

The only thing that does occur to the opportunist is what he sees around him, in an environment of petty-bourgeois philistinism and reformist stagnation, namely, only municipalities! The opportunist has even grown out of the habit of thinking about proletarian revolution.

It is ridiculous. But the remarkable thing is that nobody argued with Bernstein on this point. Bernstein has been refuted by many, especially by Plekhanov in Russian literature and by Kautsky in European literature, but neither of them has said anything about this distortion of Marx by Bernstein.

The opportunist has so much forgotten how to think in a revolutionary way and to dwell on revolution that he attributes federalismto Marx, whom he confuses with the founder of anarchism, Proudhon. As for Kautsky and Plekhanov, who claim to be orthodox Marxists and defenders of the theory of revolutionary Marxism, they are silent on this point! Here is one of the roots of the extreme vulgarisation of the views on the difference between Marxism and anarchism, which is characteristic of both the Kautskyites and the opportunists, and which we shall discuss again later.

There is not a trace of federalism in Marxs above-quoted observation on the experience of the Commune. Marx agreed with Proudhon on the very point that the opportunist Bernstein did not see. Marx disagreed with Proudhon on the very point on which Bernstein found a similarity between them.

Marx agreed with Proudhon in that they both stood for the smashing of the modern state machine. Neither the opportunists nor the Kautskyites wish to see the similarity of views on this point between Marxism and anarchism (both Proudhon and Bakunin) because this is where they have departed from Marxism.

Marx disagreed both with Proudhon and Bakunin precisely on the question of federalism (not to mention the dictatorship of the proletariat). Federalism as a principle follows logically from the petty-bourgeois views of anarchism. Marx was a centralist. There is no departure whatever from centralism in his observations just quoted. Only those who are imbued with the philistine superstitious belief in the state can mistake the destruction of the bourgeois state machine for the destruction of centralism!

Now if the proletariat and the poor peasants take state power into their own hands, organise themselves quite freely in communes, and unite the action of all the communes in striking at capital, in crushing the resistance of the capitalists, and in transferring the privately-owned railways, factories, land and so on to the entire nation, to the whole of society, wont that be centralism? Wont that be the most consistent democratic centralism and, moreover, proletarian centralism?

Bernstein simply cannot conceive of the possibility of voluntary centralism, of the voluntary amalgamation of the communes into a nation, of the voluntary fusion of the proletarian communes, for the sole purpose of destroying bourgeois rule and the bourgeois state machine. Like all philistines, Bernstein pictures centralism as something which can be imposed and maintained solely from above, and solely by the bureaucracy and military clique.

As though foreseeing that his views might be distorted, Marx expressly emphasised that the charge that the Commune had wanted to destroy national unity, to abolish the central authority, was a deliberate fraud. Marx purposely used the words: National unity was  to be organised, so as to oppose conscious, democratic, proletarian centralism to bourgeois, military, bureaucratic centralism.

But there are none so deaf as those who will not hear. And the very thing the opportunists of present-day Social Democracy do not want to hear about is the destruction of state power, the amputation of the parasitic excrescence.

5. Abolition of the parasite state

We have already quoted Marxs words on the subject, and we must now supplement them.

It is generally the fate of new historical creations, he wrote, to be mistaken for the counterpart of older and even defunct forms of social life, to which they may bear a certain likeness. Thus, this new Commune, which breaks [bricht, smashes] the modern state power, has been regarded as a revival of the medieval communes ... as a federation of small states (as Montesquieu and the Girondins visualised it)  as an exaggerated form of the old struggle against over-centralisation. 

 The Communal Constitution would have restored to the social body all the forces hitherto absorbed by that parasitic excrescence, the state, feeding upon and hampering the free movement of society. By this one act it would have initiated the regeneration of France.   The Communal Constitution would have brought the rural producers under the intellectual lead of the central towns of their districts, and there secured to them, in the town working men, the natural trustees of their interests. The very existence of the Commune involved, as a matter of course, local self-government, but no longer as a counterpoise to state power, now become superfluous.

Breaking state power, which as a parasitic excrescence; its amputation, its smashing; state power, now become superfluousthese are the expressions Marx used in regard to the state when appraising and analysing the experience of the Commune.

All this was written a little less than half a century ago; and now one has to engage in excavations, as it were, in order to bring undistorted Marxism to the knowledge of the mass of the people. The conclusions drawn from the observation of the last great revolution which Marx lived through were forgotten just when the time for the next great proletarian revolution has arrived.

 The multiplicity of interpretations to which the Commune has been subjected, and the multiplicity of interests which expressed themselves in it show that it was a thoroughly flexible political form, while all previous forms of government had been essentially repressive. Its true secret was this: it was essentially a working-class government, the result of the struggle of the producing against the appropriating class, the political form at last discovered under which the economic emancipation of labour could be accomplished... Except on this last condition, the Communal Constitution would have been an impossibility and a delusion...

The utopians busied themselves with discovering political forms under which the socialist transformation of society was to take place. The anarchists dismissed the question of political forms altogether. The opportunists of present-day Social-Democracy accepted the bourgeois political forms of the parliamentary democratic state as the limit which should not be overstepped; they battered their foreheads praying before this model, and denounced as anarchism every desire to break these forms.

Marx deduced from the whole history of socialism and the political struggle that the state was bound to disappear, and that the transitional form of its disappearance (the transition from state to non-state) would be the proletariat organised as the ruling class. Marx, however, did not set out to discover the political forms of this future stage. He limited himself to carefully observing French history, to analysing it, and to drawing the conclusion to which the year 1851 had led, namely, that matters were moving towards destruction of the bourgeois state machine.

And when the mass revolutionary movement of the proletariat burst forth, Marx, in spite of its failure, in spite of its short life and patent weakness, began to study the forms it had discovered.

The Commune is the form at last discovered by the proletarian revolution, under which the economic emancipation of labour can take place.

The Commune is the first attempt by a proletarian revolution to smash the bourgeois state machine; and it is the political form at last discovered, by which the smashed state machine can and must be replaced.

We shall see further on that the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, in different circumstances and under different conditions, continue the work of the Commune and confirm Marxs brilliant historical analysis.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 17:33:16|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong will loosen some COVID-19 control measures from leisure facility closures to travel restrictions as new infections have continued to drop and an increasing number of residents have received the vaccine.

As the Easter holiday is coming, the government will allow some low-risk activities to resume starting Thursday, Sophia Chan, secretary for food and health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said Monday at a press conference.

Chan said swimming pools and beaches will be reopened to the public and the capacity cap for theaters and theme parks will be raised from 50 percent to 75 percent.

But high-risk venues including bars and night clubs will remain closed. Most social distancing measures, including group gathering limits, will be extended for another two weeks till mid-April.

The public health authorities will advise the Executive Council to allow religious activities to be held on the condition of a 30-percent capacity cap.

The travel ban for Hong Kong residents from Britain will be lifted and the government will arrange flights to take them home in late April, Chan said, adding that those people are required to undergo a three-week quarantine upon their arrival and take three compulsory virus tests.

Restrictions for travellers from other places will also be relaxed. Those from the low-risk places, firstly Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, will have their quarantine time reduced from 21 days to two weeks plus seven days of self-monitoring, and be required to take a compulsory virus test on the 19th day after their arrivals. As to visitors from places considered as medium risk, they can also have the same quarantine plus self-monitoring arrangement given having been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The loosening of restrictions comes amid an abating epidemic. Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection reported only one local infection on Monday, in addition to seven imported cases.

Meanwhile, the inoculation campaign is going on. Some 462,400 vaccine doses have been administered in Hong Kong under a government program starting Feb. 26, with 18,500 people fully vaccinated.

Despite the relaxation of control measures, Chan said residents should continue to follow existing social distancing rules and warned that the epidemic could rebound if the public members drop their guards off during the upcoming holiday. Enditem
's ( ) Simon Potter talks to Proactive London about the Perseverance well which was recently finished in The Bahamas as well as upcoming activities in Trinidad and Suriname.

Potter reaffirms his commitment to their high impact offshore exploration in the Caribbean with plans to extend its licences and seek partners ahead of new well drilling.
Santos, one of Australias largest oil and gas producers, has given the go-ahead to its $4.7 billion Barossa gas project north of Darwin after its plans were put on hold last year amid the coronavirus-driven market crash.

The green light for the offshore gas and condensate project also kickstarts a $US600 million ($786 million) investment in the Darwin LNG plants life extension and pipeline projects, which will extend the facility life for around 20 years, the company said.

Santos has given the go-ahead to develop a major gas field off northern Australia. Credit:Glenn Campbell

As the economy re-emerges from the COVID-19 lockdowns, these job-creating and sustaining projects are critical for Australia, also unlocking new business opportunities and export income for the nation, Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher said.

The Barossa and Darwin life extension projects are good for the economy and good for local jobs and business opportunities in the Northern Territory.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) The government is not closing the door on a possible extension of the newly imposed enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, a top task force official said on Monday.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, also the chairman of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, said all options remain open when it comes to measures needed to address the COVID-19 crisis.

Yes (government is open to possible extension). All options are open naman sa table ng IATF (on the table of the IATF), Lorenzana told CNN Philippines The Source.

In a separate media briefing, IATF and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government would have to strike a balance and consider the "total health condition" of Filipinos who could also suffer from hunger due to the temporary suspension of many businesses.

The capital region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal  dubbed as the NCR Plus  were placed under the strictest form of quarantine from Monday until April 4 to tackle the continuous surge in coronavirus infections.

LIST: One-week ECQ in Greater Manila area explained

Asked about the possible effects of the new lockdown, Lorenzana said this coming week would serve as an observation period for officials to check the trend of the virus.

That is the intention of the one week to see kung sapat ba yun para matigil natin yung pagtaas (if it is enough to stop the rise), Lorenzana noted.

However, he stressed that the IATF will be waiting for the projections and recommendations of health experts before making their next move.

The Health Department, for its part, reiterated that the policy is not cast in stone, adding they are constantly reviewing data to see if the ECQ should be extended or lifted.

Everything will be flexible, everything will be dynamic, DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media forum in the same day.

It will be based a lot of factors, but most importantly, it will be based on the capacity of our health system, she added.

The Philippines has been logging record high daily COVID-19 cases in the past few days. On Sunday, the DOH reported 9,475 more people contracted COVID the third consecutive day the nationwide tally breached the 9,000 mark. On Monday, the first day of the ECQ, the one-day increase in cases was even higher at 10,016, the DOH reported.
Texas prisoners over 65 and with health conditions are receiving coronavirus vaccinations, months after many of them were eligible, according to a statement Thursday from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Almost 2,000 vaccine doses have gone to qualifying prisoners as of Thursday, according to the statement. Most of those doses began being administered Monday. But that number includes several hundred doses that prisoners received in February after a freezer failure forced officials to distribute the remaining Moderna vaccines within a few hours.

RELATED: All adults in Texas are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. But there still aren't enough doses.

Those doses began to thaw and had only a few hours before they would not have been usable, said Jeremy Desel, spokesperson for the department.

Desel added that the department gave those doses from the broken freezer to staff and then prisoners. He said the prisoners who received the shots in February were "primarily" in Phase 1B of vaccine eligibility, which includes people 65 and older and people with chronic medical conditions.

Earlier this year, the Texas prison system refused to provide information on when its vulnerable populations would start being immunized, despite receiving thousands of doses. Up until late February, staff and employees received all of these vaccinations. So far, almost 11,000 first-dose vaccinations and 7,000 second doses were allocated to staff and employees.

TDCJ did not provide information on the split between first and second doses given to prisoners or how many prisoners have received shots.

Outbreaks have consistently occurred across the states 99 prison units since the pandemic first started, and more than 240 state prisoners have died after contracting the coronavirus, according to prison death reports analyzed by the Texas Justice Initiative.

Texas announced that all adults would be eligible for the vaccine starting next Monday. Around 6 million Texans have received their first dose so far. Only 3 million were fully vaccinated as of March 22. Thats about 11.1% of Texas 29 million people.
Since countries are singing praises about their Covid-19 vaccines, let me remind Kenyans that our own Muguga veterinary research station is credited globally for developing a vaccine that saved the world's livestock from rinderpest. Yes! We have been there, too.

But there is another story behind that discovery. But first, the good news: Some 10 years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared rinderpest eradicated. It was a victory that started, partly, in our own research station and a lesson to those countries playing politics with Covid-19 vaccines.

And now, the Muguga story; and it goes that when World War II broke out, there was fear that Germany, Japan and Italy might use rinderpest as a biological weapon to destroy herds in the US - the biggest meat-eating nation in the world.

For some years, both US and UK had been trying to develop a biological weapon from rinderpest and US Congress records confirm that the US War Department had established a laboratory - "for the purpose of experimentation of rinderpest" - at Grosse Ile, the Canadian island at the mouth of St Lawrence River and which was previously, from 1832 to 1937, set aside as a quarantine station for newly arrived immigrants.

By then, Kenya had in 1911 isolated a highly lethal strain of rinderpest at the newly-opened veterinary pathology laboratory at the Government Farm in Kabete and where research was also being carried out on East Coast Fever.

Lethal strain of rinderpest

Thus, by possessing the most virulent strain of rinderpest, and which had been kept safely and alive in the Muguga laboratory, Kenya was sitting on two things: a biological warfare agent or the answer to rinderpest control.

Scientists had designated this strain as "Kabete O". It is still one of the oldest laboratory strains of any virus in existence.

Back to the Canadian Island at Grosse Ile, a secret project to develop biological weapons had commenced as the World War II progressed. The man behind this research station and development of bacteriological weapons - but which were never used - was Canadian bacteriologist Prof E.G.D Murray, who once remarked that "when an international crisis arises, usually because of obstinate politics, the scientist must put his all into securing victory." He was also working with American scientists.

What we now know is that a vaccine was developed there. But we only know it, first, from a letter dated June 8, 1945 and from Oliver Stanley, the UK Secretary of State for the Colonies, when he urged the Kenyan governor, Sir Phillip Mitchell, to arrange tests of the new vaccine as a matter of "great importance." The tests were to be done in Muguga.

On the second top secret telegram, sent the same day, Stanley explained that there was fear that Japan might try to infect North America with rinderpest and there was urgency to test whether the vaccine would work. By then, no cases of rinderpest had been found in the US and it was worried that its dairy industry could be wiped by Japan.

Biological warfare project

We also know the link between the Muguga experiments and those at Gross Ile from a 1948 US Congress Hansard report which highlights the fears that led to the establishment of that Canadian research station: "We were afraid the Japanese were going to scatter the (rinderpest) germs all over this country, but we were ready for them. We produced 5 million doses and never had to use any of them. That was the first time a permanent-immunity vaccine for rinderpest had ever been produced and it took less than a year to do it," said George Gillie, the Indiana Congressman.

But had the US developed a permanent-immunity vaccine? Certainly, no - for that would come later.

Again, we now know that the US fear emanated from the activities of Unit 731, a covert biological weapon project of the Japanese army. It was said that Unit 731 was planning to drop epidemic-creating weapons after it finished conducting biological and chemical weapons tests on prisoners and captured prisoners of wars. It is now estimated that more than 10,000 prisoners died as a result of experimental infection during this Japanese programme between 1932 and 1945.

Here, they would deliberately inject men, women and children with lethal germs and then dissect them to see how the viruses transformed the organs. At least 3,000 of the victims were prisoners of war who were injected with experimental viruses.

You might need to read further on why this matter of biological experimentation on humans never surfaced at the Tokyo War Crime trials. But to cut a long story short, the US investigator, Norbert Fell, played a key role in concealing information about the biological warfare experiments in exchange for the reports from Shiro Ishii, the commander of Unit 731. The US needed those scientific reports and exchanged them for immunity.

But elsewhere, the desire to end rinderpest was of concern even after the end of the war. While rinderpest was not harmful to human beings, it was lethal to animals and had stopped the expansion of dairy industry in new colonies. Introduced to Africa in 1889, after infected cattle were shipped from India, the virus caused, perhaps, the most catastrophic natural disaster ever to affect livestock in the continent.

Rinderpest vaccine

Between 1889 and 1897, rinderpest swept across east and southern Africa killing 90 per cent of all cattle. That was akin to the 1700 devastation in Europe where it killed millions of cattle and led to the establishment of the first veterinary schools.

Before a vaccine was found, the best that was done was to quarantine the sick animals or slaughter them to save the herd.

When the story of the Rinderpest vaccine is told, the work of Walter Plowright in Muguga is usually silently celebrated. But he is regarded as the saviour of the dairy industry. The Muguga vaccine has for many years remained the vaccine of choice in the eradication of rinderpest and for mass campaigns, albeit with a few modifications.

So what did the Kabete laboratory scientist do? After he arrived in Muguga in 1956, Dr Plowright and his colleague R. D. Ferris began studying the rinderpest virus. While his fellow scientists had tried to develop a weakened version of the rinderpest virus to serve as a vaccine - the same way Edward Jenner had developed the smallpox vaccine from a weakened cowpox virus - Dr Plowright went for a new technique.

At the Kabete laboratory, he started developing a vaccine by picking the 1911 "Old Kabete" strain and growing it in some glass tubes and "in primary calf kidney cells". He would then harvest these cells and reseed them to create new ones - until he got a weakened version of the virus after eight years of experiments. Scientists agree that this weakened form of the virus, for the first time, "provoked immunity to rinderpest but did not produce disease. The weakened virus was inexpensive to produce and could be grown in large quantities."

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Muguga technique

Scientists called it "tissue culture rinderpest vaccine" but before its success, there had been attempts to make a vaccine at an Indian laboratory in 1920s but animals with weakened immune system still got it.

The Muguga technique and vaccine swiftly replaced all the other vaccines and inspired many other scientists to start similar research on viral diseases such as the African swine fever - and with great success.

The only drawback to the Plowright tissue culture vaccine (PTCV) was that it required cold storage and had to be used within 30 minutes of reconstitution to ensure potency. While this led to failure of rinderpest control in regions with hot climate, Tufts University scientists then made improvements to the Muguga vaccine by developing what is known as a thermovax.

As he was eulogised when he died in 2010, Plowright had spent his time in the field testing his products on wildebeests. One of his colleagues, Frank Dobson, was quoted by The Independent saying: "Surely, no one is going to go out there to wrestle with wild buffalo [wildebeest], and inoculate a quarter of a million of them - but Walter Plowright did!"

And with that experiment in Muguga, a Kenyan research station, entered into the world map by helping to develop a vaccine. I hope the legacy continues.
According to information published by Associated Press of Pakistan on March 29, 2021, Pakistan Navy Ships ALAMGIR and AZMAT during Overseas Deployment visited port HAMAD (Doha), Qatar and participated in bilateral exercise Asad Al Bahr-II with Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF).

According to information published by Associated Press of Pakistan on March 29, 2021, Pakistan Navy Ships ALAMGIR and AZMAT during Overseas Deployment visited port HAMAD (Doha), Qatar and participated in bilateral exercise Asad Al Bahr-II with Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF).

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

PNS Azmat during Exercise Asad Al Bahr-II (Picture source: Twitter account of Pakistan Navy)

Upon arrival at Doha, PN ships were warmly welcomed by senior officers of QENF and Defence Attache of Pakistan.

During the visit the Mission Commander of PN Flotilla called on various dignitaries of the host country. In addition, the planning and coordination of bilateral exercise was undertaken with Qatar Emiri Naval and Air Force officers.

On completion of port visit, the bilateral exercise Asad Al Bahr-II was undertaken between PN and QENF ships HUWAR, DAMSAH and KAAN participated in the exercise along with aircraft of Qatar Emiri Air Forces (QEAF).

The exercise was aimed to strengthen bilateral ties, enhance naval collaboration and interoperability among the two navies. Participation in exercise Asad Al Bahr-II is a manifestation of PN resolve to work with friendly navies to promote peace and security in the region.

Pakistan and Qatar enjoy closed friendly ties and cordial relations. Port visit by PN ships followed by Exercise Asad Al Bahr-II is expected to contribute in further enhancing the bilateral ties between friendly countries.

PNS Azmat is the lead ship of the Azmat-class missile boats of the Pakistan Navy based on the Chinese Type 037II Houjian-class.

The ship is equipped with C802A Surface-to-Surface Anti-Ship Missiles which has a range of 180 kilometers. AZMAT FAC(M) uses latest stealthy features to avoide detection from long ranges. force. Admiral Noman Bashir said that AZMAT FAC(M) is equipped with the high tech weapons and sensors to preform extremely versatile missions.

She has a crew of 12 to 14 sailors which is less than half that of similar FAC(M). Each FAC(M) will cost of around $50 million each.

PNS AZMAT is a 500-600 ton, 60-meter Fast Attack Craft (Missile) which will be equipped with eight C-802A/CSS-N-8 Saccade anti-ship missiles.
The giant container ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal on March 23, 2021. The image on the left, captured on March 21, shows routine maritime traffic in the canal with vessels visible every 2 to 3 km. The image on the right, captured on 25 March, shows the 400 m-ship blocking the canal. Ships can be seen accumulating in the Gulf of Suez. The canal connects Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Egyptian city of Suez on the Red Sea.

press release

Admiral Osama Rabie, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), has announced today, Monday 29th March, 2021, that the Panamanian container ship has been successfully refloated. This was the result of successful push and tow maneuvers which led to the restoration of 80% of the vessels direction; with the stern 102 m. away from the bank of the Canal now instead of 4 m. prior to the refloating.

Maneuvers are set to be resumed once more during high tide at 11:30 a.m.; as it shall reach 2 m., allowing for the full restoration of the vessels direction so it is positioned in the middle of the navigable waterway.

His Excellency, Admiral Rabie, would like to reassure the international navigation society as navigation shall be resumed immediately upon the complete restoration of the vessels direction and directing it to the Bitter Lakes waiting area for technical inspection.

His Excellency has also commended the efforts of the SCA workers who achieved this heroic feat saying that they have done their patriotic duty impeccably and that in all certainty work will be complete very soon.
VFS logo This years winners highlight impressive contributions made by VFS members in advancing the state of the art of VTOL aircraft, from decades of improvements to helicopters to the latest breakthroughs in advanced rotorcraft, unmanned VTOL aircraft and electric VTOL technology.

The Vertical Flight Society today announced the 2021 individual recipients of its prestigious awards program. Since the establishment of the VFS awards program in 1944, they have paid tribute to the outstanding leaders of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft and technology, serving as a catalyst for stimulating technological advances. This years winners will be recognized virtually during the 77th Annual VFS Awards Ceremony, premiering on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 2:00 pm EDT at http://www.youtube.com/VTOLsociety. The ceremony is open to the public.

For more than 75 years, the Vertical Flight Society has recognized the leading contributors to advancing vertical flight, said VFS Executive Director Mike Hirschberg. This years winners highlight impressive contributions made by VFS members in advancing the state of the art of VTOL aircraft, from decades of improvements to helicopters to the latest breakthroughs in advanced rotorcraft, unmanned VTOL aircraft and electric VTOL technology.

William (Bill) Welsh, Senior Technical Fellow, Dynamics at Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, is this years honored recipient of the Dr. Alexander Klemin Award, the highest honor the Vertical Flight Society bestows on an individual for notable achievement in advancing the field of vertical flight aeronautics. Welsh was recognized for more than 40 years of contributions in the field of rotorcraft dynamics, including his leadership in advancing the state of the art in the active control of noise and vibration in helicopters. His 35 patents attest to his unique combination of theoretical expertise, understanding of complex machinery, and ingenuity to solve problems and bring new products to fruition.

The title of Honorary Fellow is granted to highly distinguished Society members who have made exceptional leadership, innovative or other meritorious contributions that have significantly advanced VFS and the vertical flight community during their career. The 2021 Honorary Fellows are:



Daniel (Dan) Newman, Chief Engineer, Advanced Vertical Lift, Phantom Works Division, The Boeing Company: Newmans 38-year career in industry, academic and government has had major impacts on the development of advanced rotorcraft and other VTOL systems, while his leadership within VFS continues to support the education and development of future generations of engineers.

Dr. James Wang, Professor, and Director of eVTOL Research and Innovation Centre, Nanyang Technical University, Singapore: Wangs career has included leadership positions at Sikorsky and AgustaWestland/Leonardo, developing advanced rotorcraft and other VTOL systems, for which he received eight patents. He has been an ardent supporter and contributor to VFS, including educating and inspiring the next generation of VTOL engineers.

The title of Technical Fellow is granted to Society members whose career-based accomplishments towards the goals and objectives of the vertical flight technical community constitute an outstanding technical achievement. The 2021 Technical Fellows are:

Dr. Andreas (Andy) P.F. Bernhard, Director of Aircraft Design Engineering, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company: Bernhards 25+ year career in research and development in helicopter design has made notable advances in active rotor control, active vibration control, model-scale and full-scale wind tunnel testing, health and usage monitoring, and prognostics, resulting in five patents.

Dr. D. Douglas (Doug) Boyd, Jr., Senior Aerospace Engineer, NASA Langley Research Center: Boyd is a world-class authority on aeroacoustics computational modeling for vertical lift vehicles, and his research is internationally recognized as some of the most significant in this field.

Arnaud Le Pape, Director of the Helicopter Program at the Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA)  The French Aerospace Lab. Le Papes 20-year technical career has significantly advanced the state of the art in rotorcraft aeromechanics research, fostered international cooperation, and provided exemplary leadership in the planning and execution of rotorcraft research.

Dr. Jayant Sirohi, Professor, Eli H. Ramona Thornton Centennial Fellow, University of Texas at Austin: Sirohis pioneering contributions over 20 years on the theory and application of smart sensors and actuators in vertical lift, and experimental research of coaxial rotor systems, have greatly expanded and enriched the body of knowledge.

The John J. Schneider Historical Achievement Award is given in recognition of distinguished achievements by an individual in encouraging appreciation of, and enhancing access to, the history and legacy of vertical flight aircraft. This years recipient is Paul J. Fardink, who has made significant contributions to documenting rotorcraft history  particularly focused on developments by the US Army  through dozens of papers and articles, and by supporting the recognition of three VFS Vertical Flight Heritage Sites.

The Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Award is given to an individual Society member under the age of 35 for career-to-date outstanding contributions to vertical flight technology. This years winner is Dr. Michael Jones in the Rotorcraft Department of the Institute of Flight Systems at the Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)  The German Aerospace Center, for his innovative research in the fields of modeling and simulation, handling qualities and simulation fidelity.

The Societys Paul E. Haueter Award is given for an outstanding technical contribution to the field of VTOL aircraft development other than a helicopter or an operational vertical flight aircraft. The 2021 Haueter Award is awarded to John W. Piasecki, President and CEO of Piasecki Aircraft Corporation. Over his 35-year career, he has led the companys many innovative projects, most of which have been focused on novel VTOL research, development and flight demonstration programs to extend VTOL performance and capabilities beyond that of conventional helicopters.

VFS announced in January that Fabio Nannoni was selected for the prestigious 2021 Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship, awarded to an individual who has a highly distinguished career in vertical flight aircraft research and development and is skilled at communicating technical knowledge and experience. Nannoni is the Senior Vice President for Safety Management Governance for the Leonardo Companys Helicopter Division, based in Cascina Costa, Italy. This, the 41st Annual Nikolsky Lecture, will be entitled, Rotorcraft Design: The Crucial Influence of Safety from Concept to Fleet Support.

The Vertical Flight Society will separately announce the winners of its group awards for 2021, which, along with the Nikolsky Award, will also be honored at the 77th Annual VFS Awards Ceremony on May 5, 2021. Descriptions of the awards and past recipients are available at http://www.vtol.org/awards.

The Vertical Flight Society was founded as the American Helicopter Society in 1943 by the pioneers of the helicopter industry, who believed that technological cooperation and collaboration was essential to advance vertical flight. VFS is the global non-profit society for engineers, scientists and others working on vertical flight technology. For more than 75 years, the Society has led technology, safety, advocacy, and other important initiatives, and has been the primary forum for interchange of information on vertical flight technology.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. to approve documents that will allow the private sector to import anti-coronavirus vaccines.

I ordered Secretary Galvez to sign any and all documents that would allow the private sector to import at will. Maski magkano, ilan ang gusto nilang ipasok, okay sa akin (No matter how much or how many they want to import, its okay with me), said Duterte in his regular Monday night address.

Duterte pointed out that many private companies are seeking to procure their own supply of vaccines for their employees for the continued operation of their businesses.

You know the reason why? So the economy can be opened, he said.

Private firms are allowed to purchase COVID-19 vaccines through a tripartite agreement with the government and the vaccine manufacturer. Authorities point out that the government needs to cover the indemnity for any possible side effects of the vaccines, which havent been cleared for commercial use yet.

READ: Galvez: AstraZeneca, not govt., requires private sector to donate 50% of purchased COVID-19 vaccines

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the countrys largest business organization, earlier asked the government to allow the private sector to import and buy their own vaccines directly from accredited sources amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said that the members of the private sector have agreed to fund their own rollout as COVID-19 vaccines start to arrive in the country. He added that this is to ensure economic recovery by the end of the year.

Duterte signed last February the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, which allocated P500 million indemnification fund to compensate the vaccinees who may experience serious side effects or die after inoculation.

But the President earlier said that the national government cannot be held responsible for any side effects that may occur from the vaccines procured by the private sector.

The government has started its vaccination program with healthcare workers last March 1. Meanwhile, some local government units have are started inoculating senior citizens and those with certain comorbidities.

Galvez said that the national government is targeting a steady supply of COVID-19 vaccines within the year. He reiterated that the goal is to achieve herd immunity with 70 million Filipinos vaccinated this 2021.
Labour MP David Lammy hit back at a caller on his LBC radio show after she told him 'you will never be English because you're African-Caribbean'.

The MP for Tottenham said he is 'very, very proud' of his Caribbean roots, but also claims 'English' as his identity because he was born and grew up in England.

He said the idea of there being 'one English ethnicity' is 'a myth' as 'all sorts' of people have passed through for generations.

His remarks came amid a discussion about Boris Johnson's racial disparity commission calling for the term BAME - which stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic - to be scrapped.

The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities said the acronym is 'unhelpful and redundant' as it overshadows the fact that people from different ethnic groups have varying life experiences and should not be grouped together in one category.

They are also set to suggest in a report that people of ethnic minority backgrounds generally prefer the term 'ethnic minority' over 'BAME' or 'people of colour' to describe themselves.

Labour MP David Lammy (pictured) hit back at a caller on his LBC radio show after she told him 'you will never be English because you're African-Caribbean'

Speaking on his LBC show today, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Mr Lammy was told by the caller - who went only by Jean - that he 'will never be English because you're African-Caribbean.'

He replied by asking: 'Why will I never be English?

She said: 'Because you're African-Caribbean. I can't say I'm African-Caribbean.'

Mr Lammy countered her retort by saying: 'Just a little bit of history on this.

'Britain 400 years ago started going out into the world, colonised and conquered a lot of the world, a lot of the world has ended up coming back to the mother country.

'My parents were part of that generation who came from the Caribbean.

'When I took a DNA test I had Scottish in me. Probably as a result of that. Someone, somewhere, frankly, got their leg over with one of my ancestors and I've got Scottish blood running through me.

'I said that gently, but it could have been horrendous, lets be clear about that. And here I am, having grown up in this country, born of this country.

'And actually the truth is there's a myth there's one English ethnicity, there's not.

The Labour MP for Tottenham (pictured) said he is 'very, very proud' of his Caribbean roots, but also claims 'English' as his identity because he was born and grew up in England

'England has always been a country where Huguenots, Danes, all sorts have passed through.

'So when you say you are English - I'm not saying that doesn't mean something to you or matter hugely because there are probably, as you put it, hundreds of years of experience of that.

'But it is to say for me, the fact that I was born here and the fact that my sensibilities are English mean I want to claim that heritage as well.

'Now, I'm very comfortable saying I am British. Black-British. And I'm very, very proud. No one could say I wasn't because I talk about it all the time, about my Caribbean roots.'

Jean interrupts, saying he is 'British but not English', adding: 'If I was born in the Caribbean as a white person, I certainly wouldn't call myself a Caribbean.'

Mr Lammy replies: 'You probably don't realise but in countries like Barbados there are significant white Caribbean populations who have been there for hundreds of years.

'They are significantly more Caribbean than I am.'

Jean goes on to exclaim that the 'whole world is polluting everybody the way its going' and insists: 'You are what you are.'

Mr Lammy disagrees, replying: 'Where's that word "pollution" come from?

The term BAME is 'unhelpful and redundant' and should be scrapped, Boris Johnson's racial disparity commission will suggest in a report. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities is lead by Tony Sewell, who previous said the absence of black fathers is the root cause of knife and gang crime

'It's a very negative way to describe the fact that people meet one another, they fall in love, they have kids, they move borders - sometimes through war, sometimes through economic reasons - and they become what they become when they are of that country.

'Just as you can be in America and be African-American, or you can be Italian-American, or you can be Irish-American.

'How is it that here in England, you can only claim that Englishness, effectively Jean, if you are white?'

It follows the revelation that the Prime Minister's Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities are set to suggest the term BAME should be scrapped in an upcoming report.

Mr Johnson announced the establishment of the commission after a series of anti-racism protests on British streets triggered by the death in the US of George Floyd while in police custody.

The 10-person group - comprised of representatives from the fields of science, education, broadcasting, economics, medicine, policing and community organising - are set to deliver a report on race disparity within various sectors.

Mr Johnson (pictured today) announced the establishment of the commission after a series of anti-racism protests on British streets triggered by the death in the US of George Floyd while in police custody

It is lead by Tony Sewell, who previous said the absence of black fathers is the root cause of knife and gang crime.

The report will claim 'the differences between racial groups living in Britain today are now as important as the commonalities', a source told The Daily Telegraph.



The term BAME will be a key part of the report which was supposed to be published last year but was delayed due to the amount of evidence to go through.

Dr Tony Sewell: The Brixton boy awarded the CBE for services to education Dr Tony Sewell CBE is the head of the charity Generating Genius and has been appointed as the chairman of the new racial disparity commission. His charity works with BAME children to prepare them for careers in science and technology. He was born in Brixton in 1959 and has previously said 'scouts and the Church were important' to him growing up. His family attended a white majority Anglican church, which Mr Sewell said made him realise he wanted to go to university. Mr Sewell later moved to Essex and Sussex to go to University, before returning to London to teach. However, he became disillusioned and moved to Jamaica, before returning to the UK after two years. He then worked as a teacher and education consultant on a freelance basis, as well as setting up his charity. The international education consultant previously worked with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2013 when he led the then mayor's education inquiry into the capital's schools, which resulted in the creation of the London Schools Excellence Fund. Writing in Prospect magazine in 2010, Mr Sewell said: 'Much of the supposed evidence of institutional racism is flimsy.' In an interview with the Times newspaper last year, the former teacher suggested that the root cause of knife crime and gang culture among black youths was absent fathers, citing figures showing that about 50 per cent of black children grow up without a father. Advertisement

Detractors will likely argue that a clear term such as BAME will help to systematically follow changes in firms' diversity figures.

Losing the clear-cut terminology could complicate diversity efforts made so far.

A source told the Telegraph: 'The commission has taken evidence from across the UK, examined the data to create a rigorous fact-based report on what is often a highly charged debate.

'It was important for commissioners to produce findings based on data and evidence to try and take down the temperature on this issue and have a debate based on the facts, not driven by ideology.'

It will suggest that public bodies and companies stop using the term.

Last year, Downing Street defended the appointment of Mr Sewell to lead the new racial disparity commission, despite his previous claim that evidence of the existence of institutional racism was 'flimsy'.

He was confirmed by the Government as chairman of the new Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in July.

The international education consultant has previously worked with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2013 when he led the then-mayor's education inquiry into the capital's schools, which resulted in the creation of the London Schools Excellence Fund.

Writing in Prospect magazine in 2010, Mr Sewell said: 'Much of the supposed evidence of institutional racism is flimsy.'

In an interview with the Times newspaper in 2019, the former teacher suggested that the root cause of knife crime and gang culture among black youths was absent fathers, citing figures showing that about 50 per cent of black children grow up without a father.

'People often say I'm 'brave' to say that. It's so patronising,' he told the paper.

According to the Office of National Statistics in 2007, 48 per cent of black Caribbean families have one parent, as do 36 per cent of black African households.

Defending the decision to appoint Mr Sewell, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'In terms of Dr Sewell CBE, he has supported many young people from diverse backgrounds into stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers.

'The PM knows very well his work and how it has improved access to education across London.

The early stages of setting up the commission drew controversy after Mr Johnson gave Munira Mirza, head of the Number 10 policy unit, a major role in its creation.

Ms Mirza had previously questioned the existence of institutional racism and hit out at a 'culture of grievance' among anti-racism campaigners.

Commissioners include space scientist and broadcaster Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, chairman of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales Keith Fraser, ex-BBC journalist Dr Samir Shah, professor of surgery at University College London Lord Ajay Kakkar, economist Dr Dambisa Moyo, academies trust chief executive Martyn Oliver, co-founder of UKGovChat Naureen Khalid, Muslims for Britain co-founder Aftab Chughtai, and commentator Mercy Muroki.

Two representatives from the Windrush Working Group - director of Voice4Change Kunle Olulode and Blondel Cluff, chief executive of the West India committee - will attend meetings where relevant, No. 10 confirmed.
[March 29, 2021] Fujitsu Speeds Broadband Roll-out to Underserved Rural Communities in Virginia

Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. today announced the successful deployment of a 53-mile fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband network for Craig-Botetourt Rural Electric Cooperative (CBEC) headquartered in New Castle, Virginia. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the roll-out was expanded and expedited to enable CBEC to meet members' needs for reliable, high-speed internet and digital phone services throughout a heavily forested, mountainous area of southwestern Virginia. As demand for remote working and online learning accelerated in 2020, underserved rural communities in the area struggled with little to no access to broadband internet, trying to achieve connectivity with slow, unreliable DSL and dial-up technologies, or paying for expensive satellite services. CBEC recognized their cooperative members' critical need for high-speed communications, and prioritized deployment of new rural broadband infrastructure to provide connectivity for remote workers, telemedicine, distance learning, community services and online shopping. Fujitsu (News - Alert) was selected to be the prime broadband network and integration partner for the FTTP project, responsible for network design and build-out, multivendor equipment and software procurement, network integration, testing and service turn-up. While the first phase of the project began in February 2020, the scope was extended in mid-October. Fujitsu's ability to quickly mobilize resources and synchronize project elements enabld completion of phase two in just eight weeks, helping CBEC meet the December 31, 2020, CARES Act deadline for funding reimbursement.



The new fiber broadband network, which passes 700 addresses, makes it possible for CBEC to serve the essential connectivity needs of their cooperative members, delivering symmetrical, high-speed internet services up to 300 Mbps and digital voice services. Since the launch on February 1, 2021, the co-op already has 155 new subscribers. "The response from our community is overwhelmingly positive. Improved broadband means a better quality of life for our members, attracting new residents to the area and encouraging existing residents to stay when they might have otherwise moved," said Jeff Ahearn, CEO, Craig-Botetourt Rural Electric Cooperative. "The ability of Fujitsu to efficiently manage the overall project while accommodating a very tight turnaround means that we can deliver unmatched, next-generation fiber broadband services to our members at a time when they are most needed."

"Being connected with reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband has become a must-do for the economic vitality of communities of all sizes," said Greg Manganello (News - Alert) , senior vice president and head of wireless and service solutions, Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. "We applaud CBEC's vision as well as our partner's support that enabled us to complete the network expansion in record time despite pandemic challenges. Now local families, schoolchildren, and businesses can be online, fully engaged, and productive in creating their best future." About Fujitsu Fujitsu 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. About Fujitsu Network Communications (News - Alert) Inc. Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of digital transformation solutions for network operators, service providers and content providers worldwide. We combine best-in-class hardware, software and services with multivendor expertise to enable cost savings, faster services delivery and improved network performance. Working closely with our customers and ecosystem partners, we design, build, operate and maintain better networks for the connected world. For more information, please see http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom or connect with us on LinkedIn (News - Alert) at www.linkedin.com/company/Fujitsu-network-communications. Fujitsu (and design) and "shaping tomorrow with you" are trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved. All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005117/en/

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(Natural News) A major review found that rapid coronavirus tests can miss as many as two-fifths of infected people without symptoms. Lateral flow test kits are a quick testing method to find if someone is positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, giving results in as fast as 30 minutes. However, researchers who examined 64 studies of the test kits found that they failed to spot 42 percent of asymptomatic cases.

Lateral flow tests do not require trained medical personnel to administer them. Teachers and pupils use lateral flow test kits on an everyday basis to track COVID-19 infections in schools. Aside from schools, these kits are also used at care homes, hospitals and business establishments.

The researchers behind the review examined earlier studies mostly coming from the U.S. and Europe that scrutinized the accuracy of rapid antigen tests. Their paper published March 24 in the reputable Cochrane Library found that on average, lateral flow test kits only identified 58 percent of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. On the other hand, the review found that these rapid test kits accurately identified 78 percent of patients exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) set an 80 percent minimum standard for correctly detecting those with COVID-19 using tests.

The researchers wrote: In a population of 1,000 people with symptoms, where there are 50 people with [COVID-19]  we would expect that about 40 people would be correctly identified as having [the disease] by rapid test, and between six and 12 cases would be missed.

It was also found in the review that lateral flow test kits had a high tendency to give false-positive results. The report explained that in a population of 10,000 asymptomatic people, between 125 and 213 positive results would turn out  with around 90 to 189 of those positive results being false-positive ones. (Related: Inaccurate test results, patient histories fuel more coronavirus speculation.)

The inaccurate lateral flow test kits could contribute to the spread of the coronavirus instead of stopping it

The reviews findings caused concern among scientists, given that at least 50 percent of asymptomatic patients transmit COVID-19. While children are less likely to suffer from COVID-19, they can still spread the pathogen responsible for it. Thus, the scientists also voiced out concerns about the use of the test kits in schools.

University of Birmingham biostatistician and report author Jon Deeks said government ministers may have rushed the use of lateral flow test kits in schools without any supporting real-world evidence. KU Leuven associate professor of primary care and fellow review author Dr. Ann Van den Bruel also warned that the risk of false positives in these tests is very high. She commented: You may end up having the opposite effect of what you want to achieve and you may have to close more workplaces [and] more [school] classes.

Meanwhile, University of Birmingham epidemiologist and another review author Dr. Jac Dinnes remarked that the lateral flow test kits do not appear to perform as well in asymptomatic people infected with the coronavirus. Our review showed that some antigen tests may be useful in healthcare settings where [COVID-19] is suspected in people with symptoms, she said.

Dinnes continued: All antigen tests will miss some people with infection, so it is important to inform people who receive a negative test result that they may still be infected. She also suggested that those with a positive antigen test result undergo a confirmatory RT-PCR test, which is more accurate in detecting the coronavirus. This may help avoid unnecessary quarantine particularly in areas with low COVID-19 case counts, Dinnes explained. (Related: Abbott Labs five-minute coronavirus test misses HALF of positive cases.)

The accuracy of lateral flow test kits and other rapid antigen testing systems for COVID-19 has been put into question. Two incidents have shown that these inaccurate testing methods for the coronavirus miss detecting the pathogen in some infected people  but detect non-human samples as COVID-19 positive.

Back in May 2020, the late Tanzanian President John Magufuli sent samples taken from a goat and a papaya to a laboratory for coronavirus testing. The samples were given human names and ages, and lab technicians were not told of the samples origins. The goat and papaya samples tested positive for COVID-19, which led Magufuli to surmise that Tanzania was utilizing faulty test kits. He added that the faulty kits meant some people tested positive for the coronavirus without actually being infected.

In December 2020, National Council of Austria member Michael Schnedlitz slammed the inaccurate antigen rapid test being used in the country. The lawmaker brought a glass of Coca-Cola to the podium before beginning his speech. He then sprinkled a few drops of the soft drink on a rapid test kit  which then reflected a positive test result. Schnedlitz then proceeded with his speech by calling the test kits worthless and the Austrian governments purchase of those as akin to throwing tens of millions of tax money out of the window.

Visit Pandemic.news to read more articles about inaccurate COVID-19 rapid test kits.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

GAVI.org

CochraneLibrary.com

Independent.co.uk

GreatGameIndia.com
MELBOURNE, Australia, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With JobKeeper payments now officially stopped, many Australian based businesses will need to become even more selective and intentional about the way they hire. With many states still subject to strict and sudden lockdown measures, Melbourne labor-hire provider AIO Contracting says businesses are looking to reduce employment risks for themselves.

Labour Hire Melbourne

The hiring of full-time employees during such a fragile period may not seem wise from a management or business perspective. Many are hopeful that seeking out alternatives to traditional hiring will allow their business to continue in a new but efficient way.

This has led many managers and Human Resource staff to question whether they would outsource their staffing to a labour hire firm. In the past year, the state government has required each labour-hire company in Melbourne to register before providing these services, ensuring only qualified companies are allowed to offer these services.

AIO, a company that provides labour hire in Melbourne, is one of the few who have attained proper registration with the government (registered labour hire provider VICLHL04019). This company hopes to help Australian businesses begin to build their workforce without being locked into contracts should another lockdown situation arise. This will allow employers to create a layer of protection once they can no longer rely on JobKeeper.

AIO believes that labour agencies in Melbourne will provide a key partnership that will allow locally owned businesses to recover and spur new life into the economy. It also allows companies to seek out workers who are farther afield. When working with a labour-hire agency, there is the potential to find quality staff who wouldn't otherwise be found.

The beauty of a company like AIO is that it can attract high-quality candidates quickly and efficiently. That means that businesses can continue to work through the pandemic's current effects and the effects it will continue to have on the job market for years to come. With many companies feeling cautious of pulling in permanent staffers when the economy is uncertain, there is a huge potential for this new model in the labour-hire market.

Related Images

labour-hire-melbourne.png

Labour Hire Melbourne

Labour Hire Melbourne

SOURCE AIO Contracting
Socially disadvantaged British children of ethnic minorities are more likely to experience autism, a new study reveals.

According to University of Cambridge researchers, 1.76 per cent of children in the UK, or around one in 57, are on the autistic spectrum.

But black and Chinese pupils are 26 per cent and 38 per cent more likely to be autistic, respectively, compared to white children, they say.

Pupils with a record of autism in schools were 60 per cent more likely to also be socially disadvantaged, and 36 per cent less likely to speak English than white children.

The new figures are based on data from 7,047,301 pupils aged between 2 to 21 years in state funded education in England.

They come ahead of World Autism Awareness Day, which falls this Friday, April 2.

In the largest autism prevalence study to date, researchers report a national English autism prevalence of 1.76 per cent, with marked differences according to ethnic group (stock image)

SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS OF AUTISM According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with autism have trouble with social, emotional and communication skills that usually develop before the age of three and last throughout a persons life. Specific signs of autism include: Reactions to smell, taste, look, feel or sound are unusual

Difficulty adapting to changes in routine

Unable to repeat or echo what is said to them

Difficulty expressing desires using words or motions

Unable to discuss their own feelings or other peoples

Difficulty with acts of affection like hugging

Prefer to be alone and avoid eye contact

Difficulty relating to other people

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'We can now see that autism is much more common than previously thought,' said study author Dr Andres Roman-Urrestarazu from the Autism Research Centre (ARC) and Cambridge Public Health at the University of Cambridge.

'We also found significant variations in autism diagnosis in different ethnic minorities, though the reason why this should be the case isn't clear and warrants further research.'

Autism is a developmental disability  not an illness  that affects how people communicate and interact with others.

It's characterised by persistent difficulties in social communication and interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities across multiple contexts, the study authors say.

Previous estimates of the prevalence of autism in the UK by the same research group in Cambridge, and based on a school-based survey, suggested that one in 64 children (1.57 per cent) were autistic.

The new study, based on school records that usually underestimate the actual proportion of children who meet diagnostic criteria, shows a considerable increase in the autism prevalence in England.

The researchers say the increase is likely to be because autism has become better recognised by both parents and schools in recent years.

'We can now see a snapshot of how many autistic children there are, and can drill down into local and ethnic variation, and reveal links with vulnerability,' said study author Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the ARC.



'It is important that we safeguard the rights of children to access diagnostic services and education, tailored to their needs.'

The study of 7,047,301 pupils was conducted with researchers from Newcastle University and Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

The team drew on data from the School Census from the National Pupil Database, collected by the Department for Education from individuals aged 2-21 years old in state-funded schools in England.

Overall, 119,821 pupils had a diagnosis of autism in their record in the English state educational system, of whom 21,660, or 18.1 per cent, also had learning difficulties.

Boys showed a prevalence of autism of 2.8 per cent and girls showed a prevalence of 0.65 per cent, with a boy-to-girl ratio of 4.3 to 1.

At 2.1 per cent, prevalence was highest in pupils of black ethnicity and lowest in Roma/Irish Travellers, at 0.85 per cent.

These estimates are the first to be published for these populations, according to the study authors.

Of the other categorisations of ethnicity, based on the British census categories, Chinese pupils had 1.5 per cent autism prevalence, Asian 1.0 per cent prevalence and white 1.8 per cent prevalence.

The team drew on data from the School Census from the National Pupil Database, collected by the Department for Education from individuals aged 2-21 years old in state-funded schools in England

Researchers admit that the fact the sample only considered pupils from state-funded schools is a limitation to their study.

The proportion of pupils attending state-funded schools between the ages of 3-18 in England is 93 per cent, with the remaining 7 per cent being enrolled in independent schools and or in alternative arrangements such as home schooling.

Another limitation is that pupils from certain ethnic backgrounds, such as Roma/Irish Traveller tend to leave school prematurely.

'Some evidence showing that around half leave school by the age of 16,' the team say in their paper, published today in JAMA Pediatrics.

'Considering that we used WHO validated direct standardization methods using British census data, this issue has been tackled to the best of our resources.'

The new study contrasts findings of a 2010 paper that reported notably lower autism rates among the black community and people with a lower socio-economic status.

Last year, researchers found a link between how much a young child watches screens and the likelihood of developing autism-like symptoms.

However, other scientists reviewing the study were torn on the validity of the research and whether or not its findings could be trusted.


Education Minister Peter Weir is out of step with the public on measures to introduce a life-saving emergency skills into the school curriculum, it has been claimed.

SDLP South Down MLA Colin McGrath was speaking as his party made public the results of a survey of almost 1,000 people in Northern Ireland about making cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) part of the curriculum.

The party said the overwhelming majority of respondents were in favour of introducing compulsory CPR training in schools.

Among the survey results were:

98% of respondents want to be a part of changing survival rates;

88% feel it is extremely or very important for primary school children to have knowledge or awareness of CPR and using an automated external defibrillator (AED) to revive cardiac arrest victims;

94% of respondents believe this should be part of a wider curriculum;

92% think training should happen once a year from Year 8 to 12;

94% think it should be compulsory; and

98% believe government has a responsibility to ensure training is provided.

Mr McGrath said: "Nearly 1,000 people responded to our survey in a matter of weeks and the results are absolutely clear.

"The 94% in favour rate clearly shows that the overwhelming majority want compulsory CPR training on the school curriculum.

"Peter Weir's attitude has been at best dogmatic but his inaction has the potential to be a real issue.

"He must listen to the public and bring proposals to add this to the school curriculum and empower children and young people to save lives.

"Every year, around 1,400 people in Northern Ireland will experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting.

"As things stand, fewer than one in 10 of those people can expect to survive.

"That is a terrifying figure and it lags far behind the average survival rate in other developed nations," Mr McGrath said.

"If Minister Weir still refuses to act, I will be moving forward with legislation to make this mandatory."

Fearghal McKinney, head of the British Heart Foundation's Northern Ireland branch, said the UK-wide charity backed the SDLP proposal.

"If survival rates here were boosted to match those seen in other countries which legislate for all secondary pupils to learn CPR, more lives could be saved each year," he said.

"When a cardiac arrest strikes, for every minute without CPR, the chances of surviving drop by up to 10%."

He added that the charity already supplies free CPR training to post primary schools.

"But we need to do more to make sure that every young person leaves school with the skills to save a life.

"We know that the parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly support this move and we look forward to working with the Education Minister to take action on this now and make CPR training compulsory for all children in post primary school."

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: "The Education Minister recognises the importance of this issue and is supportive of initiatives which increase awareness of it in our schools and across society in general.

"There are opportunities within the Northern Ireland curriculum to cover important life skills such as first aid (including CPR), through the 'Personal Development and Mutual Understanding' area of learning at primary level and the 'Learning for Life and Work' area of learning at post-primary level.

"Subjects such as Citizenship Education, Physical Education and Science provide opportunities to cover such skills.

"A range of resources, including the British Heart Foundation's Heartstart Pack, have previously been made available to schools to support the teaching of emergency life support skills and children here have had the opportunity to learn emergency life saving techniques through the British Heart Foundation's Heartstart UK Schools initiative."
China, UAE FMs agree to enhance cooperation in varied fields

Xinhua) 08:32, March 29, 2021

Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) meets with his counterpart of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on March 28, 2021. (Xinhua)

ABU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday held a meeting with his counterpart of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, during which the two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in varied fields.

Noting that the two peoples are "good friends, good partners and good brothers," Wang stressed that the relations between China and the UAE are based on high level of mutual trust and deep-rooted traditional friendship. The strong friendship and mutual trust between the heads of the two states provide a solid guarantee for the continuous development of the China-UAE relations.

China supports the UAE in safeguarding its national security and stability, independently exploring a development path in line with its own national conditions, combating religious extremism, and playing a positive role in international and regional affairs, Wang said.

He said that China appreciates the UAE's strong support on the issues concerning China's core interests.

The phase-3 trial of the COVID-19 vaccine, jointly carried out by China and the UAE, has set a record for multi-nationality and large-scale clinical trials, and made important contribution to promoting international anti-coronavirus cooperation, the Chinese diplomat said, adding that China is willing to continuously innovate the models and expand the scope of cooperation with the UAE.

Wang said that China is willing to work with the UAE to enhance connectivity of the Belt and Road Initiative and the UAE's 50-year national development plan, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as energy, high and new technologies, finance and investment, and jointly promote international mutual recognition of health code.

The two sides also need to strengthen cooperation in anti-terrorism and de-radicalization, Wang said, adding that China will offer full support for the UAE to host the World Expo in Dubai and will work with all parties to ensure the success of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Wang said China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with the UAE in multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, jointly safeguard true multilateralism, promote democratization of international relations, support diversity of civilizations, give play to the central role of the United Nations, and defend the authority of international law and international treaties.

China and Arab states have reached an agreement on jointly proposing a data security cooperation initiative, indicating that both sides are willing to actively participate in formulating the rules of the global digital economy, the Chinese diplomat said.

China has put forward a five-point initiative for achieving security and stability in the Middle East, and hopes that regional countries will uphold the spirit of independence, explore a security framework that meets regional needs, and find a development path that suits their national conditions, Wang added.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah said the Chinese people should be proud of China's remarkable development achievements and its success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the UAE is also proud of having such a strategic partner as China.

He expressed the UAE's support to the one-China policy, China's endeavors to safeguard the diversity of world civilizations, and China's leading role in promoting global common development.

The UAE hopes to deepen its cooperation with China in the fields such as health, agriculture, science and technology, tackling climate change, and preventing desertification to achieve mutually beneficial results, the UAE diplomat said.

He said the UAE is willing to work together with China to combat terrorism, and in particular, to make more efforts in the field of de-radicalization, so as to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East.

Sheikh Abdullah also expressed the hope that the two sides will further coordinate and cooperate in the UN affairs. He said that the UAE appreciates China's active participation in the Dubai World Expo and supports China in hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The two sides also exchanged in-depth views on international and regional issues of common concern.

Additionally, the two sides reached an agreement in principle on the health code's mutual recognition. After the talks, the two ministers took part in an online ceremony to launch a joint vaccine liquid bottling production line.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji)
COVID put me out of business, Pascolla said. For two and a half months (in 2020) we were closed, and then, when we got back open, you could hear a pin drop in the place every day. The phone didnt ring at all.
Amaravati, March 29 : Andhra Pradesh registered 997 new Covid infections on Monday, while its active case tally breached the 6,000 mark to reach 6,104.

After less than 50 cases a day not very long ago, the southern state has transitioned to logging more than 900 cases each single day.

The new cases raised the tally over 8.99 lakh, while 282 more persons recovered from the virus to increase the total recoveries over 8.86 lakh.

Chittoor district reported the highest number of cases at 181, followed by Guntur (152), Visakhapatnam (139), Krishna (110), Nellore (84) and Kurnool (82).

Among other places, Srikakulam (61), Anantapur (57), Kadapa (45), Prakasam (41) and Vizianagaram (4).

East Godavari's tally has crossed 1.25 lakh, the highest among all Andhra districts, while the state's positive rate fell to 5.9 per cent, which is still higher than the national average of 4.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, five more persons succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the state's toll at 7,210.

With 31,325 more tests, the total number of tests conducted in Andhra Pradesh crossed the 1.5 crore-mark.
Xiaomi has confirmed that the Mi 11 Pro will ship with a new Samsung ISOCELL GN2 sensor for a main camera. It will also do so in very slim and 2021 retail packaging, as it lacks a charger as standard. Then again, the OEM will offer deals on its new, cutting-edge power accessories to the 11 Pro's Chinese audience.

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Xiaomi has expanded its Mi 11 line-up with several new variants on an international scale today. This includes the long-hyped Pro variant, which, despite posing a potentially appealing balance between the vanilla and new Ultra models, also seems to be a Chinese market exclusive.

This is somewhat of a shame, as the phone looks much like a Mi 11 from the back, albeit with (apparently popular) dark silver, green and black color options. However, this variant swaps the older HM2 main sensor with the new ISOCELL GN2, which might prove an advantage even if this new CMOS is 50MP rather than 108MP.

Xiaomi asserts that it has developed the Pro's new primary camera in conjunction with Samsung for over a year now, and that it exhibits new and cutting-edge features such as dual native ISO fusion and Stagger HDR as a result. Then again, unlike the Ultra, this camera is joined by more conventional 8MP periscope zoom lens and 13MP ultrawide lenses in the Mi 11 Pro.

However, it also does rock the same 6.81-inch 2K 120Hz E4 AMOLED display, new Dolby Vision support and all, as its top-end counterpart. It will be kept on with an all-new "silicon-oxygen anode" battery, which is set at 5000mAh in this variant. Then again, it also charges at up to 67W, even though the OEM also has 120W technology for older flagships.

Xiaomi notes it has made this choice with the Pro so as to strike a balance between fast charging and thickness in this device. Accordingly, its IP68-rated chassis comes in at 8.53mm high and 208g in weight (apparently optimal given its new battery technology), compared to 8.06mm and 196g in the 4600mAh Mi 11. Furthermore, the Pro also now charges wirelessly at 67W.

It might have dismayed some Mi Fans at Xiaomi's live presentation to learn the company will pull an Apple and ship the new Pro without a charger in the box. However, it may have made up for that by offering buyers the option to add its new 67W brick to their orders for free. Alternatively, it is bundling its new, ground-breaking 80W wireless charger with the phone for 199 yuan (~US$30) extra, as opposed to the new product's normal 499 yuan (~$76) price.

As for the Mi 11 Pro itself, it starts at 4999 yuan (~$760) for an 8GB RAM/128GB base model. This rises to 5299 yuan (~$808) for an 8/256GB unit, or 5699 yuan (~$868) for the top-end 12/256GB unit. It will go up for pre-order later today (March 29, 2021), whereas general sales start on April 2.
ChiCom Joe and the China Virus

By Mark Alexander



In the days following his inauguration, the waxy automaton Joe Biden issued a flood of executive orders and presidential actions. Among them was a "Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans," which effectively banned the use of the term "China virus."

"China virus" was President Donald Trump's label for the disastrous COVID-19 contagion, because it originated in ... CHINA. Biden's directive stipulates that the federal government shouldn't advance "xenophobic sentiments by" noting "the geographic location of its origin." Moreover, Biden claims, "Such statements ... have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes" against Americans of Asian origin. Biden and Kamala Harris were quick to claim an attack in Atlanta was motivated by racial animosity toward Asians. But this is a false narrative  or, to put it less delicately, a bald-faced lie.

With all due respect to Biden's faux political sentiments, last year I coined a much more fitting name for the China virus  the "ChiCom Virus." The origin and cover-up of the pandemic should not be laid on the backs of the Chinese people, but instead on the Chinese Communist regime under the dictatorial rule of strongman Xi Jinping. After all, he and his communist cadres colluded with the World Health Organization to hide the origin and outbreak of the deadly virus.

As you will note from our comprehensive ChiCom Virus chronology, the most complete timeline on the Web, it was on 22 January 2020 that Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) first warned that Xi's CCP regime was engaged in a systematic cover-up of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to Cotton: "Once again, a deadly virus is emanating from China. Hundreds have fallen ill in Asia and at least one confirmed case has reached the United States. It's imperative that the CCP be fully transparent and share information so we can stop this disease from spreading. ... In the past, the CCP has lied, falsified statistics, and suppressed information about outbreaks in order to cover for its own incompetence." Clearly, Sen. Cotton, who was roundly criticized for exposing this travesty, is owed a debt of gratitude for sounding an early alarm. He also noted, "We know that just a few miles away from that food market [where the disease was first contracted] is China's only biosafety Level 4 super laboratory, which researches human infectious diseases."

His assessment clearly influenced the Trump administration's decision to issue the travel ban and institute its White House Pandemic Task Force  links to which Biden has removed as he is now endeavoring to take credit for the Trump administration's unprecedented vaccine development and distribution.

On 31 January 2020, the day President Trump issued his China travel ban, his actions were met with a chorus of objections from Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the rest of the Democrat Party agitators, who were too busy promoting their phony impeachment charade to pay attention to the emerging pandemic.

Biden protested, "This is no time for Donald Trump's record of hysteria and xenophobia  hysterical xenophobia  and fear-mongering to lead the way instead of science." Biden repeated his vicious accusations on the travel ban for the next two months.

For her part, Pelosi condemned the travel restrictions and other measures, calling for her fellow Demos to pass the "No Ban Act" to prevent Trump from imposing what she said were "biased and bigoted restrictions." Pelosi declared, "The Trump administration's expansion of its un-American travel ban is a threat to our security, our values and the Rule of Law." (Yes, laugh out loud any time a Democrat references Rule of Law or their oath and obligation "to support and defend" it.) There were 219 House Democrat cosponsors of the No Ban Act. On 13 March, Pelosi quietly withdrew this politically correct and grossly irresponsible legislation.

Also on 31 January, well ahead of the Demos' Leftmedia parrots, The Patriot Post alerted you: "Officially, the communist Chinese government claims about 220 deaths and 10,000 infections. Our sources indicate that the actual rates of infection and deaths in China are much higher, and, in fact, official reports may only represent 5-7% of the actual dead and infected." We warned this could be as devastating as the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which, by the way, likely also originated in China, not Spain.

In retrospect, that fatality estimate was most assuredly understated, as the Chinese death toll may be 100-1,000 times the "official death counts," which, as of this date 14 months later, the ChiComs still insist only totals 4,636. That's 4,636 deaths in a nation of 1.4 billion mostly impoverished people who are in poor health, versus 541,000 U.S. deaths in a nation of 328 million and the best healthcare system in the world.

Of course, whatever the real number of Chinese fatalities, Xi's commissars have no compunction about killing their own citizens if it serves the purpose of the state. But the Biden administration and mainstream media still take the Red Chinese bait hook, line, and sinker.

Sen. Cotton sent letters to the secretaries of State, HHS, and DHS, warning "no amount of screening [at entry points] will identify a contagious-but-asymptomatic person afflicted with the coronavirus." A day later he warned in Senate testimony that COVID-19 was going to be "the biggest and the most important story in the world." He noted, "I commend the president greatly for ultimately making the right decision contrary to what the so-called experts were telling him."

The experts at The Washington Post were quick to condemn Sen. Cotton for "repeating a coronavirus conspiracy theory that was already debunked." But it had not been debunked  far from it.

In response, Cotton doubled down in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, reiterating: "Beijing has claimed that the virus originated in a Wuhan 'wet market,' where wild animals were sold. But evidence to counter this theory emerged in January. Chinese researchers reported in the Lancet [medical journal] Jan. 24 that the first known cases had no contact with the market, and Chinese state media acknowledged the finding. There's no evidence the market sold bats or pangolins, the animals from which the virus is thought to have jumped to humans. And the bat species that carries it isn't found within 100 miles of Wuhan."

Cotton noted further: "Wuhan has two labs where we know bats and humans interacted. One is the Institute of Virology, eight miles from the wet market; the other is the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, barely 300 yards from the market. Both labs collect live animals to study viruses. Their researchers travel to caves across China to capture bats for this purpose. Chinese state media released a mini-documentary in mid-December following a team of Wuhan CDC researchers collecting viruses from bats in caves. The researchers fretted openly about the risk of infection."

As Sen. Cotton shined a bright light on China's P4 labs in Wuhan, Xi's politburo began aggressively spreading disinformation about the outbreak, insisting the SARS-CoV-2 virus was a U.S. military bioweapon that the Americans had planted in Wuhan.

By May, Sen. Cotton had taken on the leading role of exposing ChiCom dictator Xi's agenda to conceal the outbreak, declaring: "There's no question that Xi Jinping and senior officials in the Chinese Communist Party were pressuring the WHO all the way back to December to undersell the risk of this virus. They knew in China early on, probably as early as the early days of December, and that this virus was both highly contagious in humans and very deadly for certain people. Yet they wanted to save face. In addition to saving face, they wanted once they realized this virus was going to cripple their own economy, that it did not remain limited to China."

In September of last year, Cotton called for a reckoning with the ChiCom government, insisting China should pay for its lethal and catastrophic cover-up, first seeking to end China's "most favored nation" trade status. At the same time, Biden was bizarrely blaming Trump for "all the people" who died from COVID-19: "If the president had done his job, had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive. All the people  I'm not making this up. Just look at the data. Look at the data."

Actually, even the leftist "fact-checkers" strongly condemned Biden's assertion as false, with The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler declaring, "Actually, Biden is making this up."

Vice President and White House Coronavirus Task Force leader Mike Pence made clear the implications of China's conspiracy to conceal the outbreak: "What appears evident now is that long before the world learned in December that China was dealing with this ... the outbreak was real in China." More to the point, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, declared, "Without commenting on any classified information, this much is painfully obvious: The Chinese Communist Party has lied, is lying, and will continue to lie about coronavirus to protect the regime."

So, how to punish China?

Prior to the November 2020 election, then-President Trump declared that the ChiComs will be held accountable "when they lose things like the manufacturing capacity that we've outsourced to them or when other democratic governments around the world respond to their people who know that China is responsible for this virus."

But as we argued then, there was a more direct way to send China the bill.

As President Trump and Congress were returning to the deepening well of national debt for trillions of dollars in relief payments, recall that at the end of 2019, when China was still concealing the pandemic it had seeded worldwide, it held $1.07 trillion in U.S. debt. That's almost 16% of the $6.7 trillion in treasury bills, notes, and bonds held by other countries.

As Trump has declared, "China is responsible for this virus." And one way or another, China must pay.

We suggested that one way to seek some remuneration for China's liability would be to send Xi Jinping the bill for the death and destruction caused by his regime's abject and willful negligence by way of a "default option" on debt held by China as a liability offset for the debt our nation is now incurring as a result of China's willful deception. We suggested seizing Chinese assets in the U.S., including its equity holdings in U.S. companies, and to settle the debt, Trump and Congress should authorize the U.S. Treasury to print $1.07 trillion in "trade dollar notes" as repayment. Xi can keep those notes in reserve to use as toilet paper during the next pandemic.

During his four years in office, President Trump became the most aggressive policy adversary of China among all U.S. presidents. But that was then. This is now.

After reaffirming U.S. support for China's puppet WHO, ChiCom Joe's foreign policy appeasers met with Xi's envoys to discuss the future of relations between the two nations. Of course, Biden has been compromised by the ChiComs and his "negotiators" proved no match for our nation's fiercest geopolitical foe.

Noticeably absent from the contentious discussions was any mention of the 800-pound gorilla in the room  China's unleashing of the pandemic on the world, the outcome of which was the devastation of the economies of its primary global competitors.

With Trump gone, speculation about the lab-based origin of the ChiCom Virus is now gaining traction. Even the Washington Post editorial board begrudgingly insists the "possibility" of a cover-up "must not be ignored."

Meanwhile, President Post Turtle is claiming full credit for the stunning success of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed vaccine development and delivery, as his equally demented side kick, Anthony Fauci, continues to drive the U.S. economy into ruin.

That notwithstanding, we owe a priceless debt of gratitude to three individuals for charting a path out of the pandemic. No, Joe Biden is not one of them.

First would be a heroic Wuhan whistleblower, Dr. Li Wenliang. Li, as you recall, died of the virus (according to Red Chinese officials), but not before boldly ringing the alarm about COVID-19 when the ChiComs were still concealing the outbreak.

Second would be the aforementioned Sen. Tom Cotton, who stood firm and largely alone in exposing Xi Jinping's cover-up.

Third would be Donald Trump for his early leadership to stop the spread of this unprecedented pandemic, as well as his leadership in the development of a vaccine in record time. Both achievements meant far fewer deaths than would otherwise have occurred.

China was the genesis of the pandemic, but we're grateful that Li, Cotton, and Trump led the way for our exodus.

Will there be a global repudiation of China when the dust settles on the graves and economies of the free world? I doubt it.

However, if the Chinese want to make amends, they can start by inviting Uyghurs to escort Xi Jinping to Tiananmen Square  and subject him to the same torturous genocidal fate he decreed against them.

We must never forget  never forget  that Xi and his communist regime are responsible for the Year of the ChiCom Virus, resulting in the deaths of millions worldwide.

Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post.
Syracuse, NY  An Asian-American deliveryman found bloodied outside his truck on Erie Boulevard East earlier this month suffered a naturally occurring brain bleed, not a hate-crime beating, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick says doctors have concluded.

The question of how Zeqiang Chen ended up unconscious overnight March 1 outside HK Takeout, 1640 Erie Blvd East, led to rumors online that he was the victim of an anti-Asian beating by unknown teenagers. But thats not what happened, the DA said.

Instead, Chens medical records and doctors point to a medical emergency, the DA said. Its unknown exactly what triggered the brain bleed, though it can be caused by a number of different things, he said.

Chen has not yet been able to remember anything about the incident, the DA said. Chen, who was at Upstate University Hospital, has transferred to a New York City-area rehabilitation center, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help him.

Chen made regular deliveries to HK Takeout and the nearby Asia Food Market on March 1, Quing Li, manager of Asia Food Market, told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard earlier this month. Chen parked his truck in the HK parking lot to get some sleep, he said.

Chen works for a New York City-based delivery company, Li said, and normally books a hotel room when he makes deliveries in Syracuse. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Chen opted to sleep in his truck near the restaurant, he said.

Police determined Chen parked outside the restaurant around 11:30 p.m. March 1. An officer found him seriously injured hours later in the cold outside the truck.

Peter Yang, owner of HK Takeout, said police called him at 6 a.m. March 2 and asked to check his security cameras.

The circumstances of Chens injury led to the GoFundMe page with more than $82,000 donated, as of Monday. That page describes Chens injury as being caused by a hate crime and beating, though the DA says thats not the case.

Fitzpatrick had previously said that security cameras showed no evidence of gangs of teens in the area at the time of Chens injury. In a March 10 statement, Fitzpatrick had warned the public not to jump to conclusions.

We will follow the evidence and are hoping for his full recovery, Fitzpatrick said at the time.
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2021) - ArcPacific Resources Corp. (TSXV: ACP) ("ACP" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has mobilized a diamond drill to its Rickard Gold Project (the "Property") near Timmins, Ontario, for its initial drilling program consisting of up to 4,000 metres of NQ sized core.

Highlights

Diamond Drill has been mobilized to Rickard project.

Planned 15 holes, up to 4,000 meters of NQ diamond drilling.

High grade gold in targets in well developed greenstone quartz carbonate vein system.

LIDAR Surface modeling completed; multiple property wide targets identified.

3D modeling completed, potential for extensions of mineralized zones and parallel structures.

Cost-effective road accessible skid drilling.

Adrian Smith, CEO of ACP Resources comments: "We are excited to begin our initial drilling program at the Rickard gold project. We have taken the time to build a 3D underground mine model and to project mineralization on trend. Visible gold mineralization was historically reported near surface from the Rickard mine, and it is our goal to follow this to depth and make new discoveries as we begin work on the property wide, geologically complex shear zone."

Initial drilling will target near mine extensions, and parallel structures identified in the LIDAR and data compilation work. The planned initial drilling program of up to 4,000 meters of NQ size core will utilize the detailed 3D modeling and aim to identify gold mineralization historically reported to occur in high-grade ore shoots within multiple sub-parallel well-developed vein structures. To date there has been very little to no systematic exploration on the property to identify and follow the structurally controlled gold mineralization. Notably the Property remains open in multiple areas for new discoveries.

The recently flown LIDAR survey on the Property was successful in identifying historic workings and disturbed areas and identified additional vein structures in multiple areas. These vein features are subtle resistive features in contrast with the country rock and can be identified though tree cover in places of minimal overburden. Some of the veins identified in the LIDAR are confirmed in historic trench locations with reported gold values. Work is now being planned to resample these areas and prioritize additional drill targets across the Rickard Project area which is now over 56 square kilometres in size.

Rickard Gold Project Overview

The Rickard Property is host to the historic high-grade Rickard gold mine in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Ontario, Canada. The project is located approximately 70 kilometres from Timmins in the Timmins Gold Camp which has produced over 80 million ounces of gold over the last 100 years. The project is well located and sits within 25 to 60 kilometers of six currently producing gold mines and eight previous producers.

Gold was discovered on the Property in 1917 and was quickly developed into a mine with the primary zone consisting of two, one-to-two-meter-wide, veins striking for at least 200 metres. Shafts have been sunk on the Property to a maximum depth of 85 meters, where no mining has taken place below this level.

Only limited exploration drilling has been completed on the Property and the vein systems are well developed with minimal exploration drilling testing the gold mineralization to depth and along strike. Given the significant vertical extent of many greenstone hosted quartz carbonate Archean lode gold systems in the region, potential exists to define a greater depth extent of the high-grade shoots historically mined and to identify additional high-grade shoots elsewhere on the Property.

The property consists of 5,656 hectares of mining claims including three patented parcels which are road accessible, proximal to power and a local work force. Access onto the project area is 20 kilometers from the nearest main highway where well developed road networks makes year-round operations possible.

The Company also announces that it has issued 300,000 stock options to consultants to purchase up to 300,000 common shares of the Company. The options are exercisable for a period of two years from grant with an exercise price of $0.10.

Disclosure

The Qualified Person ("QP") for the Company has not verified the historic sample analytical data disclosed within this release. While the Company has obtained all historic records including analytical data from the previous owner of the Property, the Company has not independently verified the results of the historic sampling.

Adrian Smith, P.Geo., is a QP as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the above-mentioned project. The QP is a member in good standing of the Professional Geoscientists Ontario (PGO) and is a registered Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.). Mr. Smith has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed above.

About ArcPacific Resources Corp.

ArcPacific Resources Corp. (TSXV: ACP) is a Canadian based exploration company expanding the exploration initiative at multiple historic past producing gold and silver mines in the Timmins Gold Camp, Ontario, and in the Nicola Mining Division in Southern British Columbia. The Company is focused on creating shareholder value through new discoveries and strategic development of its mineral properties. For further information, please visit http://www.arcpacific.ca.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

/S "Adrian Smith"

CEO and Director

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and ArcPacific Resources Corp. undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service 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 further information, please contact us at info@arcpacific.ca or 1.778.331.3816.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78780
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NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HC2 Holdings, Inc. (HC2 or the Company) (NYSE: HCHC) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its insurance segment, comprised of Continental Insurance Group Ltd. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Continental General Insurance Company and Continental LTC Inc. (collectively, Continental), to Continental General Holdings LLC (the Buyer), an entity controlled by Michael Gorzynski. Mr. Gorzynski, a director of the Company and beneficial owner of approximately 6.6% of the Companys outstanding common stock, is the managing member of MG Capital Management, Ltd. and has also served as executive chairman of Continental since October 2020. The total transaction value of approximately $90 million consists of a combination of $65 million in cash plus securities, including certain assets of Continental.

The Company previously announced receipt of a non-binding indication of interest from the Buyer on December 10, 2020. HC2 intends to use the transaction proceeds for general corporate purposes.

The sale of Continental will allow HC2 to focus on its three core operating segments  Infrastructure, Life Sciences and Spectrum, said Avie Glazer, Chairman of HC2. These are innovative businesses that reflect todays new economy.

This transaction can help HC2 achieve key strategic objectives pertaining to portfolio optimization and balance sheet strength, while enabling Continental to accelerate the execution of its strategy, added Mr. Gorzynski. Continental is focused on developing an industry-leading servicing platform, diversifying into new lines of business and further capitalizing on market consolidation. I look forward to continuing to help build a Continental that is a valued true partner to all policyholders and stakeholders.

We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Mr. Gorzynski and look forward to consummating this transaction subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals, added Wayne Barr, Jr., HC2s President and CEO. This represents a further opportunity to enhance our capital structure as we continue the strong momentum of change that has occurred at HC2 over the past several months.

The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of HC2, excluding Mr. Gorzynski and Kenneth Courtis (MG Capitals other designee on the HC2 Board), who recused themselves from the deliberations, is subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals (including review and approval by the Texas Department of Insurance), receipt of other required consents and approvals and customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

For further information regarding the terms and conditions of the agreement, please refer to the transaction agreement filed on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Duff & Phelps is acting as financial advisor to HC2 in connection with the transaction and issued a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of HC2 in connection with this transaction. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as HC2s legal advisor.

Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP is serving as legal advisor to Michael Gorzynski.

About HC2

HC2 Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HCHC) has a class-leading portfolio of assets primarily in Infrastructure, Life Sciences and Spectrum. HC2 is headquartered in New York, New York, and through its subsidiaries employs 2,864 people.

About Continental

Based in Austin, Texas, Continental strives to assist customers with managing the financial risks and challenges that come as they age. Our family of insurance companies and strategic partners provide administrative services to approximately 125,000 Long-Term Care, Life, Annuity and Supplemental Health customers. We are dedicated to upholding the commitments we have made to provide excellent service to all our customers and serve the needs of our claimants and their families during difficult times. Learn more at www.continental-ins.com.

About MG Capital Management

Based in New York City, MG Capital is a private investment firm that specializes in complex, value-oriented investments.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains, and certain oral statements made by our representatives from time to time may contain, forward-looking statements regarding the proposed sale of Continental by the Company and our expectations regarding building shareholder value, as well as those that may be identified by words such as will, intend, expect, anticipate, should, could and similar expressions, all of which involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside of the Companys control, and are subject to change. There can be no assurance that the Continental sale will be completed or the timing thereof. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the occurrence of any event, change or circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the definitive agreement with the Buyer and the inability to complete the proposed sale due to the failure to satisfy the conditions to the closing of the proposed sale, including that a regulatory authority may prohibit, delay or refuse to grant approval for the consummation of the proposed sale. Management cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and unless legally required, HC2 undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. HC2s actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of important factors, both positive and negative, that may be revised or supplemented in subsequent statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in our reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. These risks and other important factors discussed under the caption Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, and our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release.

Media Contact: Reevemark Paul Caminiti / Pam Greene / Luc Herbowy (212) 433-4600 HC2@reevemark.com

Investor Contact: FNK IR Matt Chesler, CFA ir@hc2.com (212) 235-2691

For MG Capital Management Media Inquiries: Profile Greg Marose / Charlotte Kiaie (347) 343-2999 gmarose@profileadvisors.com / ckiaie@profileadvisors.com

Source: HC2 Holdings, Inc.
Tunis/Tunisia  A petition denouncing the pollution suffered by the governorate of Gabes and claiming the right to a healthy life, was launched by the collective Stop Pollution on social media.

Bearing the slogan "Stop Pollution, I want to live", this petition addressed to the Prime Minister, comes after the fire that occurred on March 13, 2021, in a private industrial unit, located in the industrial zone of Gabes and which killed five people and injured one.

The collective says that this fire is the latest in a long series of disasters that have shaken the city, including the fires that occurred at the ammonitrate plant of the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT), in 2020.

The collective claims that no safety measures have been taken despite calls from civil society and environmental associations to check the compliance of the region's industrial units with safety standards, especially after the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020.

It considered that the lack of compliance with safety standards combined with the great deterioration of the quality of infrastructure in the majority of industrial units and ammonitrate and natural gas storage units in the region threatens not only the health of citizens but the existence of an entire city and increases the possibility of disasters.

Through this petition, the Collective demands the opening of an investigation into the fire that occurred on March 13, 2021, the prosecution of those responsible, and the support and moral and material compensation of the victims' families.

It also demands a change in the development model of the governorate of Gabes based on polluting industries with low employment capacity and the establishment of a new model that respects the environment and human beings and is capable of creating jobs.

The collective also calls on the State to honour its commitments by implementing the decision of June 29, 2017, on the immediate cessation of the dumping of phosphogypsum into the sea by phosphate processing plants, the closure of polluting units of the Tunisian Chemical Group and the fight against all forms of pollution resulting from industrial activity.
A man, 48, has been arrested for harassing an elderly Asian woman, 65, in Midtown Manhattan over the weekend, according to police. Bobby Eli was arrested one day after the incident occurred on Friday and has been charged with second-degree aggravated harassment and third-degree menacing. Both are being counted as hate crimes, police said.

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The East Harlem resident reportedly approached the victim on W. 40th Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, at 4 p.m. and began hurling racist insults at her, according to WINS. The suspect made comments such as, You stupid Chinese blue hair. You stupid Chinese b****, and, Why you have blue hair, b****? He also threatened the woman by swinging around unknown objects toward her before running away. Although the victim wasnt injured, she feared for her safety. Police were able to identify the man from a photo the woman managed to capture. According to a Manhattan District Attorney spokesperson, Eli was arraigned on Sunday afternoon and his bail was set at $1, NBC reported. The arrest was made on the same day community members in New York City rallied against the rise of anti-Asian violence. Activists at the demonstration advocated for building "community and solidarity" to end discrimination rather than increasing police activity. Feature Image via NYPD Hate Crimes

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Bronx, New York rapper Fat Joe says if it werent for the Dancehall and Reggae movement back in the mid-2000s, he wouldnt have created his hit single Lean Back that has had fans around the world leaning back for the last 17 years.

The track was one of Joes biggest releases under the Hip Hop group Terror Squad, which included himself, Remy Ma, DJ Khaled, the late Big Pun plus others. After its release in the summer of 2004, Lean Back topped both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts, grabbing major buzz in the media and massive airplay on the club scene.

Now almost two decades later, Fat Joe admits that the hook, which motion dancers to simply lean or slowly throwback a shoulder to the beat was inspired by Jamaican dance moves like the Rockaway and Signal The Plane. The hook even says, My n-ggas dont dance, they just pull up their pants and do the Rockaway and lean back lean back

In speaking with Dancehall sensation Sean Paul on his Instagram show TFJS, two days ago Joe said, I made lean back because of the Reggae movement. So when I come up with the hook, all that Signal The Plane and Rockaway everybody was doing all that and I said man I need a hook like the Reggae guys.

He started singing a part of the hook, Ah lean back, ah lean back, then added, Thats how I came up with that, it was really influenced by the Reggae movement.

Moved by the admission, Paul said he loved it when other artists like Joe are influenced by the genre and go on to release songs that turn into huge hits. Respect bro! So off a dat inspiration, off ah what people doing in Reggae and Dancehall you create a classic Hip Hop joint man, he said. That feeling you cant explain that to nobody.

Fat Joe, on the contrary, was accused of stealing the dance move by its captain, Dancehall star Elephant Man.

Just last year, the Energy God claimed that several of his dancing themed songs were stolen by leading international acts and pointed out Fat Joe as one of them. Fat Joe come and take Rockaway, him no know weh it come from, he said on an episode of Magnums Spice It Up talk show last December.

In 2019, it was revealed that Toronto writer Bee Quammie may have been responsible for introducing Joe to the dance move. According to HotNewHipHop, Bee dished on her happenstance meeting with Fat Joe. I snuck into a Club Bed in Miami when I was underage, was dancing during the reggae set, and Fat Joe asked me to teach him the dance I was doing, she wrote in a Tweet.

It was the Rockaway, and he recorded Lean Back the next week. I had told my brother about meeting Fat Joe, then literally a week later he told me he had something to play for me. He had downloaded Lean Back off Napster. When someone told her that Fat Joe owes her money for taking the dance, she said its bigger than her. He owes Jamaica money! I remember this cause I was a kid and Jamaicans were furious and I think a few artists made songs about it too.

As the discussion with Sean Paul continued, the rap star expressed his disappointment with other international acts who he said, Take from Jamaica  take riddims, melodies, flows and dont keep it real with Jamaica like theyre supposed to.

It prompted the argument from Paul that many artists from sub-genres like Reggaeton, Afrobeat, Trinibad, and Zess music which are all heavily influenced by Reggae and Dancehall dont give Jamaica the credit it fully deserves.

Similarly with top artists such as Justin Bieber, Drake, Swae Lee, French Montana and Ed Sheeran, he said, some of their songs are very Dancehall oriented. I just want them to say that, I just want them to say, Yo big up to Dancehall world and ah want them to also name songs (that influence them) say Garnet Silk, he urged.

Paul cited Bajan songstress Rihanna along with DJ Khaled as two of the loyal few who have always hailed and Bigs up our culture, to which Joe whole-heartedly agreed.

Khaled recently brought up a similar discussion on his latest episode of First One Podcast on Amazon Music last week. The guest on the show was, sure enough, Justin Bieber, who Khaled asked if his 2015 hit Sorry, was inspired by Dancehall and Reggae since the track clearly has distinct Dancehall drum beats and an accompanying music video that drew heavily on Dancehall fashion and dance moves dating back to the 1990s.

Bieber however failed to directly credit Jamaican and Dancehall culture but rather described the beat for the track as Island music.

Like with many international artists that snag beats from the genre, it could be said that they simply dont understand what Reggae and Dancehall music is or what it represents.

But thanks to the genres innovative dance moves back in the day, Lean Back was released as the second single from Terror Squads second studio album, True Story, on June 8, 2004. In 2008, the song was listed on VH1s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Watch below 

Syracuse, N.Y.  The Common Council approved an agreement with the owners of the Skyline Apartments under which the company will pay to station Syracuse police officers at the complex six hours a day, seven days a week.

Green Skyline LLC, owned by Tim and Troy Green, will pay for the officers wages, overtime and fringe costs like pension contributions for the hours worked at Skyline, per the agreement.

The agreement is good for six months.

Earlier this month, Troy Green said his company would be putting officers in the building to improve security. That came several days after a 93-year-old woman was found murdered in her apartment there. Police have been called to the building an average of three times a day over the last six months, according to city records.

According to the legislation, the police chief will station a detail at the building daily from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The police department will initially pay for the detail, then bill Green Skyline, LLC for reimbursement each month.

Lawyers for the city said they have a verbal commitment from the Greens companys lawyer to pay all the costs for police, but that nothing has been signed yet.

Deputy Police Chief Joseph Cecile said officers are already working at the building.

The council unanimously approved the deal at its voting meeting Monday. But there was debate beforehand over whether to delay that vote. The contract is backdated to begin March 22, and the council has a committee meeting Wednesday, March 31 to discuss it further.

Councilor Khalid Bey initially asked that a vote be delayed two weeks until the council got clarification on what, exactly, the Greens had agreed to pay for. He said it didnt make sense to hold a meeting Wednesday to talk about something if the council had already voted to approve it Monday.

But a city attorney said the legislation clearly stated the property owner would be responsible for paying for the officers pay and fringe benefits.

1st District Councilor Joe Carni, whose district includes the Skyline, balked at any delay, arguing the building badly needs more security. If the owners are willing to pay, he said, the city shouldnt hem and haw.

This is really something thats been a frustration for me my entire time on the council with this property, he said. And we finally have the company willing to go pay these costs. Its very difficult for me to sit here and say that were not going to accept this legislation as it is now. Ive read it. I think its crucial.

Ultimately, the council moved forward with a vote. They will still hold a public safety committee meeting to discuss more options on Wednesday.

Councilor Ronnie White has also said he plans to hold a committee meeting to hear from city officials on what they knew about the Skyline building and when they knew it.

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Many people have a tales of fleeting celebrity encounters from passing them in the street to spotting them in a restaurant.

But now a viral Instagram account has shared people's short, real-life stories about their brilliant and bizarre celebrity sightings at parties, in airports and in shops.

Overheard Celebs, which describes itself as an 'anti-gossip journal' is a collaboration between Comments by Celebs and Overheard LA, which have more than three million followers collectively.

The sweet and funny tales are clearly popular in themselves and have racked up more than 300,000 followers.

One encounter tells the tale of the incredibly compassionate Jennifer Garner praising a pregnant woman in the toilet of a Soho House, while another shows P Diddy making a Men In Black joke about a pug.

A viral Instagram account has shared people's short, real-life stories about their brilliant and bizarre celebrity sightings at parties, in airports and in shops. The sweet and funny tales themselves have racked up more than 300,000 followers. One story tells the tale of meeting Harry Styles at a Halloween party and accidentally smashing Robin Thicke's telescope

Another adds a funny tale of Robert Downey Jr joking about who he was during his early Avengers fame

Another entry showed someone who met P Diddy making a Men In Black joke about a pug

One story tells the tale of meeting Harry Styles at a Halloween party and accidentally smashing Robin Thicke's telescope.

'A few years ago, I was at Robin Thicke's Halloween parry up in the Hollywood Hills, watching my friend flirt with Harry Styles.

'I was very impressed and proud of her bravery. She waved me over to say hi, and right when I went to shake Harry's hand, I knocked over Robin Thicke's MASSIVE expensive telescope.

'When I looked up at Harry, he winked and said, "1 won't tell if you don't." And that was when I, too, fell in love with Harry Styles,' it read.

Alec Baldwin saved my marriage! One person revealed how a sighting of Alex Baldwin stopped a couple's argument

Kelly Rowland saved my bagel! One Instagram tale revealed how Kelly Rowland fought to get one customers cream cheese bag in a cafe after it was missing from her order

Michelle Obama told me off! One person revealed Michelle Obama told her to put some gloves on

Queen of oversharing! Chrissy Teigan, who is known for being honest and open, told a fan her Spanx were on too tight

Real life wedding crashers! One person told the tale of how Owen Wilson - famed for his 2005 role in Wedding Crashers - crashed their wedding

Another adds a funny tale of Robert Downey Jr joking about who he was during his early Avengers fame.

'One summer I was standing in line behind Robert Downey Jr. at Starbucks in East Hampton.

'It was a pretty cool sighting, as Iron Man had just come out that spring. The barista asked him, "Hey, aren't you that guy from that movie?" to which RDJ replied "Weird Science? Yeah, that was me." Flawless' it says.

A true sweetheart: Jennifer Garner told a pregnant woman she looked 'gorgeous' when she was feeling insecure in a bathroom

She wasn't born this way! One encounter revealed an Instagram user was sitting at the hairdresser next to Lady Gaga when she died her hair her trademark platinum blonde

A cheeky encounter! One user said they bumped into Miley Cyrus at a party while in the toilet

One person told the tale of meeting Britney Spears in Hawaii - saying that Britney called her 'too sweet' and offered to take a picture with her

The fan is pictured with Britney Spears in the early 200s after meeting in Hawaii at a buffet

Another explains how Kelly Rowland saved someone's bagel after they were shortchanged on cream cheese, while Harry Potter star Tom Felton commented on one encounter about himself saying he remembered it well.

The Draco Malfoy actor, 33, even cheekily correctly an American widow who said he'd given her Milk Duds, writing instead it was Maltesers.

'Last Christmas, my mom, sister and I went to London. My dad had just passed from cancer, so we spent the holiday in his favorite city.

Harry Potter star Tom Felton commented on one encounter about himself saying he remembered it well. The Draco Malfoy actor, 33, even cheekily correctly an American widow who said he'd given her Milk Duds, writing instead it was Maltesers

'We got tickets to a show, and Tom Felton sat next to my mom.

'She had no idea who he was. Tom chatted with her for the entirety of the intermission.

'We left the theatre and my mom said "that nice man offered me some milk duds, I love those." My mom had felt invisible since losing my dad, but Tom really made her feel special'. It read.
CCTV appeal launched after incident

Police have released CCTV images of a person they want to speak to in connection with an incident.

It happened at St German's Cathedral in Peel.

Officers have no given no further details in relation to the nature of the incident.

Anyone who can identify the person in the images is urged to contact Police Headquarters or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Photos
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0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



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Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
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Stanley Tucci has waded into the worlds sexiest bald man debate, after Prince William was crowned with the title via a dubious poll by a cosmetic surgery company.

On Saturday 27 March, a study reported by The Sun claimed the royal had the most mentions alongside the word sexy out of all the worlds most famous bald men.

However, the survey sparked a fierce reaction from pop culture fans, who began to list actors such as Stanley Tucci and Dwayne Johnson as more suitable candidates for the title.

Both have since reacted to the furore.

Johnson joked that he wanted a recount, while Tucci posted a montage of famous bald men  along with Tilda Swinton in a film role that involved a bald cap, and Ryan Reynolds  with the comment: Whose crown should wear this crown? So many wonderful choices.

Reynolds then responded to being included, commenting: Wait

So many domes, so many choices, Katie Couric wrote.

Read more

Meanwhile, Johnson wrote on Twitter: How in the cinnamon toast f*** does this happen - when Larry David clearly has a pulse?!?!

The Independent has contacted a representative for Tucci to see if he would also like to demand a recount.
Banks and Goodfellow test of 1880 vs Mental Capacity Act 2005 John Clitheroe's legal team claims the initial ruling was made using a law created in 1880. Under the law - known as the 'Banks and Goodfellow' test after the case it was first described in - the burden in proving their case when a deceased's capacity is under real question lies with the family member trying to uphold the will. In doing so, they must satisfy four criteria including proving the person making the will understood the 'nature of the business', had a general awareness of the property they wished to dispose of and could recollect those who may have claims to their estate. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the subject of proceedings is presumed to have mental capacity and it is up to those wishing to claim they do not to prove it. Mr Clitheroe's legal team claim this law supersedes the older law and is more appropriate for a modern understanding of mental health. Advertisement

A brother is fighting a bitter 325,000 High Court test case against his sister in a bid to scrap a 150-year-old law he says is an 'unjust' restriction on parents' right to disinherit their children.

John Clitheroe and his sister Sue Bond, a former bank manager, have been fighting in court since their mother Jean Clitheroe cut Sue out of her will.

'Feisty and stubborn' Jean left Susan without a penny when she died, aged 76, in September 2017, having declared that Susan was a 'shopaholic and would just fritter it away.'

She left almost all her 325,000 estate to John, 52, but the will was overturned last year after a judge found Jean had been suffering from 'insane delusions' about her daughter when she wrote it.

Estate agent John is now bringing a ground-breaking fight against the ruling, which his lawyers say was an 'unwarranted infringement' of his mother's right to decide who to give her money to.

For John, Vikram Sachdeva QC says the case was decided using out-dated laws from the 1880s which risk older people being 'wrongly denied autonomy to make their own decisions'.

The law - which is known as the Banks and Goodfellow test - puts the onus on those wishing to claim the testator had mental capacity to prove it.

But Mr Clitheroe's legal team claim this law has since been superseded by the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The QC says the case is of 'general public importance' and that a 21st century approach should be taken in future in cases where a person's capacity to make a will is questioned.

Susan Bond (L) won court battle against brother John Clitheroe (R) over their mother's estate last year but John is now seeking to have ruling overturned claiming it is based on 'unjust' law

He is now asking a top judge to rule that, in line with modern law, anyone challenging a will on grounds of mental capacity should have to prove the deceased was not mentally capable before it can be torn up.

Under the old law, when a deceased's capacity to make a will is under real question, the person seeking to uphold the will has to prove they had full use of their faculties when they wrote it.

That should now be reversed, providing a layer of legal armour-plating to the will making process and extra security that testators' instructions will be stuck to, says Mr Sachdeva.

'An aging population and increased incidence of dementia mean that sadly testamentary incapacity is an issue which is likely to face a growing number of testators,' he told Mrs Justice Falk. 'Legal certainty is therefore of particular importance.'

In the original hearing, the High Court heard that Jean, described as 'feisty and stubborn', had given detailed reasons for writing her daughter out of her 2013 will and leaving her with very little in a previous 2010 will.

Her 2010 will left the bulk of her estate - which largely consisted of her former home in Woodlands Close, Clacton-on-Sea - to John, while Sue was to receive only a diamond and garnet ring that once belonged to her great aunt.

Jean Clitheroe (circled top right) left her daughter Susan (bottom left) out of her final will in 2013, over fears she was a 'shopaholic' who would just 'fritter it all away', the court heard

The 2013 will again left John most of her estate, with some small legacies to grandchildren, but this time Sue was to receive nothing at all.

In written instructions to lawyers for the 2010 will, she claimed Sue was a 'shopaholic and would just fritter it away', while she also slammed her daughter's alleged 'spendthrift ways' when drawing up the 2013 will.

Jean, who was 76 when she died, also claimed Sue had deliberately severed ties with her and that she stole precious Swarovski crystal, a gold watch and a collection of Harry Potter books from her.

On top of that, the elderly widow claimed in a note to her lawyers: 'Susan hasn't done anything for me, as far as she is concerned I could have starved to death'.

However, the wills were overturned by a judge, Deputy Master John Linwood, last year after he found Jean had been in the grip of several 'insane delusions' when she made them.

They included wrongful beliefs that Susan was a shopaholic and spendthrift who had stolen from her and neglected her, he explained in his ruling on the case.

The court had previously heard that Jean herself, who died in 2017 aged 76, had amassed a 30,000 collection of Swarovski crystal and claimed Susan had stolen some of it (file image)

The court heard Jean had suffered intense grief after the death of another daughter, Debra, in 2009, and although still intellectually sound, had 'poisoned' her own mind with her fixed delusions about Sue.

He said John had failed to prove that his mother 'was not suffering from an affective disorder of the mind and was not suffering from delusions' which affected her ability to make a will.

His ruling effectively meant that Jean died intestate - without making a valid will - and her estate would therefore be split equally between the two surviving siblings.

But John is now appealing, arguing that the judge decided whether Jean had 'capacity' to make the will in the wrong way, by using now out-dated 150-year-old common law.

Mr Sachdeva argued that the 1880 test has been superseded by the Mental Capacity Act 2005, under which Jean would have been presumed to have had capacity and so it would be up to her daughter to disprove it.

'The judge was wrong to apply a test formulated 150 years ago, when medical science and attitudes to mental impairment were very different from today,' he said.

In the original hearing, the High Court (pictured) heard that Jean, described as 'feisty and stubborn', had given detailed reasons for writing her daughter Susan out of her 2013 will

With the 2005 Act, Parliament had created a new test which 'better reflects both medical science and the fundamental importance of ensuring that people are not wrongly denied autonomy to make their own decisions,' he added.

In Jean Clitheroe's case, her wills were in 'rational' terms and professionally drafted, he said, while there had been no evidence of any mental impairment in 5,000 pages of medical records.

'The evidence that the deceased lacked testamentary capacity in this case was conspicuously weak,' he told Mrs Justice Falk.

Mr Sachdeva said the presumption that someone has capacity is as important as the presumption of innocence in a criminal trial and should not be denied to testators.

But for Sue, Thomas Dumont QC argued that the old test for whether a person has capacity to make a will still stands and is not superseded by the Mental Capacity Act.

Lawyers for both John and Sue had agreed at the trial last year that the old test should be applied when considering Jean's capacity, said the QC.

He said the 2005 Act deals with testators who are living and who may need to have a 'statutory will' made for them by the Court of Protection because they cannot do so themselves.

But it has 'no bearing on the question of the validity of a will' made by a person themselves and then called into question after their death, he added.

Had Parliament intended to replace the old common law test for capacity to make a will with the Mental Capacity Act, it would have said so, he continued.

Urging the judge to dismiss John's appeal, Mr Dumont said there was nothing wrong with the way Deputy Master Linwood had considered the facts of the case.

'In an impressive and comprehensive judgment, he concluded - as he was entitled to - that Jean was indeed deeply and profoundly affected by Deb's death, something from which she never recovered,' he said.

'As he has found, one of the ways this manifested itself was that without any basis, evidence or reason - and in many respects in the face of clear and compelling evidence to the contrary - Jean began to form false, baseless, irrational and delusional ideas about Sue, and her mind had been poisoned against her, such that in consequence Jean cut Sue out of her will.'

Mrs Justice Falk reserved her decision on the appeal until a later date.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The German lender Commerzbank said on Sunday that its supervisory board would nominate Helmut Gottschalk as chairman of the bank, filling a vacuum as it goes through a radical overhaul.

It had launched a search for a new chair this month after Hans-Joerg Vetter resigned for health reasons.

Germany's second-biggest lender is shedding thousands of jobs and closing hundreds of branches. Its largest shareholder is the German government, after a bailout during the last financial crisis.

The search process had a hiccup last week when one candidate for the seat unexpectedly resigned from the board.

As a result, the bank postponed its annual general meeting scheduled for early May.

Gottschalk spent 15 years on the supervisory board of Germany's DZ Bank and served as its chair from 2010 to 2018.

He will be nominated to Commerzbank's supervisory board at the annual general meeting, and immediately after the meeting, he will be elected chairman, Commerzbank said.

The bank still has an open board seat. Commerzbank said it expected "a swift solution" for the vacancy "so that the AGM can be scheduled at short notice".

(Reporting by Tom Sims and Patricia Uhlig; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

(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.)
Minister of Trade Niven Gamea' conferred with her Swedish counterpart Anna Hallberg on means to boost trade and investment cooperation and establish joint business council to document cooperation between businessmen from Egypt and Sweden to establish joint projects in the industrial field especially in the food industries and engineering sectors.

Gamea' asserted that Egypt and Sweden have distinguished political and economic ties at the different levels.

She pointed out to the possibility of cooperation between Swedish financial institutions and the Egyptian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) and Export Development Bank to present credit facilitation to encourage joint cooperation between both countries in the field of small and medium enterprises.

Gamea' asserted the keenness of the Egyptian side on benefiting from the Swedish expertise in the field of entrepreneurships and supporting small and medium enterprises.

Gamea' highlighted the developments witnessed in the field of energy recently and what was established in the investment projects in the field of energy generation.

Gamea' asserted the importance of increasing the rates of trade exchange between Egypt and Sweden to be up to the distinguished political ties between both countries.

Meanwhile, Hallberg asserted her country's keenness on increasing volume of trade with Egypt as it is one of the most important partners in the Middle East and Africa.

Hallberg said that in spite of the repercussions of the coronavirus, the rates of trade exchange between Egypt and Sweden increased remarkably.
Kim Sang-jo, presidential chief of staff for policy, leaves a briefing room at Cheong Wa Dae after announcing his resignation, Monday. Yonhap



Chief of staff for policy replaced over rent hike controversy



By Nam Hyun-woo





New presidential chief of staff for policy Lee Ho-seung / Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae

In a desperate effort to turn around his faltering approval rating, President Moon Jae-in accepted the resignation of his chief of staff for policy, Kim Sang-jo, on Monday for hiking the rent on his Gangnam apartment.



The dismissal came amid aggravating public sentiment over allegations of real estate speculation by some employees at the state-run housing developer Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH).



The President also held a meeting with ministers and heads of other economy-related government bodies and announced a set of measures to eradicate real estate speculation by public servants, saying "rooting out corruption regarding real estate is the top priority of anti-corruption policies."



Pundits said Moon's dismissal of his top economic policy aide and drastic anti-speculation measures are interpreted as a desperate effort to prevent his administration from losing further momentum in managing state affairs during his remaining term of slightly over one year.



Presidential chief of staff Yoo Young-min said Monday that Moon named Lee Ho-seung, senior secretary for economic affairs, as his new chief of staff for policy.



The announcement came just a day after media reports indicated that Kim raised rent by 14.12 percent for a Seoul-based apartment he is leasing to a tenant when the contract was renewed last year. The hike came just two days before a new law took effect placing a 5 percent cap on rent hikes in renewed leasing contracts.



It wasn't illegal for Kim to hike the rent. But the move drew immediate backlash and criticism for applying a "double standard," because Kim was in charge of the administration's overall economic policy and designing a series of measures to stabilize the real estate market. Kim had served as chief of staff for policy since June 2019 after serving as chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) from 2017.









"The decision (for replacement) was made in consideration of the seriousness of the real estate situation," a Cheong Wa Dae official said, referring to the LH scandal. "Kim expressed his strong intention to resign last night saying the controversy may trigger a public distrust of the government's policies."



Kim apologized for disappointing the public at a time when the government is making its full efforts to eradicate real estate speculation. "It is my last duty to quit the job and help the government carry out ongoing real estate policies without setbacks," he told reporters at Cheong Wa Dae.





President Moon Jae-in speaks during an anti-corruption policy meeting on real estate speculation at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Yonhap
Syracuse, NY  A Syracuse man accused of illegal entry during the U.S. Capitol riot in January had his case delayed Monday as federal prosecutors acknowledged they were behind in collecting evidence.

Albert Ciarpelli, 65, was supposed to appear virtually Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. Hes accused of federal misdemeanors in the Jan. 6 incident and has remained at liberty. The judge granted a 60-day adjournment at the request of prosecutors.

In their request for a delay, prosecutors offered a general overview of the national prosecutions stemming from the riot. Crowds gathered at former President Trumps request to protest the results of the 2020 election. Rioters breeched the U.S. Capitol and crowds stormed into the building before order was restored. Five people died during the riot or shortly thereafter.

The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson wrote in Ciarpellis case. Over 300 individuals have been charged in connection with the Capitol Attack. The investigation continues and the government expects that at least one hundred additional individuals will be charged.

Kenerson later called the riot case likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Federal prosecutors are working on creating a database to track all of the defendants and all of the evidence in the cases, Kenerson noted.

Developing a system for storing and searching, producing and/or making available voluminous materials accumulated across hundreds of investigations, and ensuring that such system will be workable for both the government and defense, will take time, he said.

Besides Ciarpelli, at least one other Central New Yorker was charged: William Leary, of Utica, is facing local District of Columbia charges in connection with his participation in the rally.

And federal agents executed two visible search warrants in Onondaga County -- one at the home of the Solvay codes inspector and another on Burns Avenue in Syracuses Eastwood neighborhood -- in the weeks after the riot. Those raids have not officially been connected to the riot investigation. FBI agents will only say those investigations are continuing.

Numerous other Upstate New Yorkers have been charged.

No new date for Ciarpellis case has been determined in federal court.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
For people who missed the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, a Grand Strand hospital system is offering opportunities to make it up.

Gayle Resetar, chief operating officer for Tidelands Health, said the organization reached out to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control with concerns that people who missed a second shot or had an appointment canceled because of supply issues had no way to finish their vaccination series.

"There was a lot of angst out there about second doses," Resetar said.

DHEC responded by providing Tidelands Health with 2,300 doses of the Pfizer vaccine specifically for people who don't have a second appointment. Anyone interested can make an appointment at tidelandshealth.org/seconddose.

According to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a small portion of South Carolina vaccine recipients  about 2.5 percent  missed their second dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

People are supposed to wait four weeks for the Moderna option and three weeks for Pfizer. But the CDC has said the second shot "may be administered up to 42 days after the first dose when a delay is unavoidable." Still, state and federal health authorities think there is work to be done to drive that number down.

Nick Davidson, senior deputy for public health at DHEC, said the agency appreciates Tidelands Health's efforts to make sure second doses are delivered to people who had missed them. Davidson said DHEC would continue to look for opportunities to work with hospitals to make sure everyone gets their second dose.

"If you never get your second shot, it means you're never fully vaccinated," Dr. Michael Kacka, chief medical officer for COVID-19 at DHEC, said March 26. "All the benefits of getting fully vaccinated don't apply to you if you don't get a second shot."

The second shot is supposed to provide more long-term immunity, Kacka added. The CDC's recommendations say once fully vaccinated, people can gather indoors with other vaccinated people without wearing masks. You can also more safely visit relatives, the CDC has said, and you won't have to be tested or quarantine if exposed to someone who has COVID-19.

In addition, the CDC says scientists still aren't sure how effective the available vaccines are at preventing the spread of the virus. Up to this point, the vaccines have been proven to reduce the likelihood the recipient gets symptomatic COVID-19.

Statewide numbers

New cases reported: 499 confirmed, 280 probable.

Total cases in S.C.: 464,169 confirmed, 85,899 probable.

Percent positive: 4.7 percent.

New deaths reported: None.

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Total deaths in S.C.: 8,053 confirmed, 1,069 probable.

Percent of ICU beds filled: 65 percent.

How does S.C. rank in vaccines administered per 100,000 people?

41st as of March 28, according to the CDC.

Hardest-hit areas

In the total number of newly confirmed cases, Greenville County (92), Charleston County (42), and Spartanburg and York counties (both with 34) saw the highest totals.

What about the tri-county?

Charleston County had 42 new cases on March 29, while Berkeley had 22 and Dorchester had 12.

Hospitalizations

Of the 518 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of March 29, 125 were in the ICU and 59 were using ventilators.

What do experts say?

New research out from the CDC on March 29 further bolsters confidence in the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, with results from a study of health care workers and first responders showing 90 percent efficacy in preventing any COVID-19 infection.

Researchers followed about 4,000 vaccine recipients for 13 weeks. Each of the subjects took regular COVID-19 tests.

The results demonstrated that the COVID-19 vaccines are not only effective in preventing symptomatic coronavirus disease but also non-symptomatic disease. That is good news for everyone who takes the vaccines because researchers remain unsure if it is still possible to contract a mild case and spread the virus to others after vaccination.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the third option available in the United States, was not studied in the report.
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AUSTIN, Texas, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study by Harte Hanks shows that as more vaccines are distributed, people are beginning to bounce back from lockdown fatigue and frustration. In addition to feeling more hopeful, survey respondents are not only ready to leave isolation, they may be ready to start looking for a new relationship or an end to an existing one.

The Harte Hanks survey reveals that when asked about their current emotional state of mind, respondents indicated they were at a 73 on a scale of 0 (being anger) to 100 (being joy). This score reflects a strong leaning towards a "hopeful" emotional state of mind for the first time in the past year compared to its September score of 64, which leaned to uncertainty.

"Hope is replacing negativity and will clearly drive behavior moving forward," said Gretchen Ramsey, Chief Strategy Officer at Harte Hanks. "People are expressing a desire to resume some of their day-to-day routine and try new thingswhich may include a new relationshipwhile being mindful of the behavioral changes they want to uphold post-pandemic."

Expectations for the impact of the vaccine in their lives are very high among those surveyed. Key findings of the survey include:

HOPE AND JOY REPLACE HOPELESSNESS AND NEGATIVITY: There was a 44% increase in mindset of those feeling joy, and a 22% increase in those feeling hope since September. Conversely, there has been an 18% decrease in those feeling uncertainty, 27% decrease in feelings of fear, and a 45% decrease in feelings of anger since September.



There was a 44% increase in mindset of those feeling joy, and a 22% increase in those feeling hope since September. Conversely, there has been an 18% decrease in those feeling uncertainty, 27% decrease in feelings of fear, and a 45% decrease in feelings of anger since September. WOMEN FEEL IMPACT OF SHE-CESSION: Women are more likely to talk about what's been lost over the past year (e.g. jobs, economic opportunity) than men. Key concerns include the impact of schools being closed or only partially open; its effect on their child's education; and the loss of jobs or career opportunities.



Women are more likely to talk about what's been lost over the past year (e.g. jobs, economic opportunity) than men. Key concerns include the impact of schools being closed or only partially open; its effect on their child's education; and the loss of jobs or career opportunities. M GEN POSITIVITY COULD DRIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH: Millennials are feeling a significant increase in hopefulness and positivity. They are 24% more likely to feel optimistic about business travel; 23% more optimistic about their finances; 16% more optimistic about their mental health; and 15% more optimistic about their shopping habits than other population segments.



Millennials are feeling a significant increase in hopefulness and positivity. They are 24% more likely to feel optimistic about business travel; 23% more optimistic about their finances; 16% more optimistic about their mental health; and 15% more optimistic about their shopping habits than other population segments. READY FOR NEW THINGS: Whether it's a new relationship, new product or new experience, survey respondents are ready for new things in their lives. In fact, 42% say they are much more likely to try new things than they were a few months ago, representing a 17-point increase from the most recent study findings in the fall.



Whether it's a new relationship, new product or new experience, survey respondents are ready for new things in their lives. In fact, 42% say they are much more likely to try new things than they were a few months ago, representing a 17-point increase from the most recent study findings in the fall. HEALTHY BODY, HEALTHY MIND: More than half of respondents want to exercise more and eat healthy (57%) and are looking for new ways to keep their family healthy (56%). Another (41%) are hopeful that the vaccine's rollout will enable them to improve their mental health.



More than half of respondents want to exercise more and eat healthy (57%) and are looking for new ways to keep their family healthy (56%). Another (41%) are hopeful that the vaccine's rollout will enable them to improve their mental health. THE HUMAN TOUCH: Roughly a third of respondents want to be kinder to people around them (35%); get more sleep (35%); keep in closer touch with friends and family (34%); and stand up for what they believe in (31%).



Roughly a third of respondents want to be kinder to people around them (35%); get more sleep (35%); keep in closer touch with friends and family (34%); and stand up for what they believe in (31%). THE SIMPLE PLEASURES AND A RETURN TO ROUTINE: Respondents are looking forward to doing everyday activities post-vaccine including visiting a barber or hair salon (50%); eating out at a restaurant (46%); going to the office everyday (44%); shopping at the mall (38%); and no longer working at home (37%).

When it comes to brands, a third (35%) of respondents believe that the pandemic has made them much more mindful of the brands they choose. When it comes to brand selection, quality (76%) and affordability (70%) have become table stakes for customers. Also ranking high are brands that are reliable (68%), honest (56%), and protect people's health (40%) which may be why certain brands like Target, Teladoc, and Amazon continue to rank highly among customers.

"Relationships, whether with people or brands are up for grabs in the post-vaccine society," says Ramsey. "If you don't nurture them, they could quickly rebound into a new, more loving one pretty quickly."

About the study

The survey findings were based on the fifth wave of the Harte Hanks Behavioral Index, a global initiative conducted on a quarterly basis since the beginning of the pandemic to uncover emerging behavioral shifts that influence consumer behavior. The ultimate goal is to help brands understand how to best meet their consumers' needs.

The Index was developed using a proprietary method that evaluates brands on a set of criteria, such as Empathy and Action  both ways to serve consumers. The latest wave is based on 500 million global social conversations with 2,600 people surveyed, 20,000 global stories and 2 million semantic artifacts.

To learn more, watch a recording of the full webinar here.

Previous Behavioral Index findings can be found at hartehanks.com/insights.

About Harte Hanks

Harte Hanks (OTCMKTS: HRTH) is a global omnichannel customer experience company. We partner with clients to seamlessly manage experiences with their customers throughout the entire customer lifecycle through our marketing services, customer care, and fulfillment and logistics offerings. Harte Hanks works with some of the world's most respected brands including Bank of America, BMW Group, Cisco, HBO, IBM, Pfizer, Sony, and Unilever, among others. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Harte Hanks has more than 2,000 employees in offices across The Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

For more information, visit hartehanks.com.

For any questions, please contact [email protected]

SOURCE Harte Hanks

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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  Christian Flores and thousands of others on the USS Nimitz sailed through the Persian Gulf and the South China Sea last year.

But, they never left the aircraft carrier because the COVID-19 pandemic was wreaking havoc across the globe.

We were deployed for 341 days and the only thing going through my mind was whats going on at home, said Christian Flores, a nuclear mechanic and third class petty officer. Everyone was anxious more than anything. We had to maintain professionalism for our roles, but wed have leaks of emotion.

That saga began in spring 2020. Flores was visiting his family in Grand Junction, just as coronavirus was erupting. When he left for duty and eventually set sail from Bremerton, Washington, all his parents could do was wait for intermittent contact.

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Marni and Fernando Flores were worried for each of those 341 days, save for the occasional email or, if they were lucky, a phone call from their son.

As the virus worsened, the Floreses heard about carrier after carrier suffering from COVID-19 outbreaks.

I mean, he was on a boat with about 5,000 other people in the middle of a pandemic, so of course youre going to be worried, his father said. And any time we heard from him, he had to be careful about what he told us. But just hearing from him was great.

The feeling was mutual.

Any message that we got through to our family or that we got from them was the biggest thing to us, Flores said. It meant everything.

In between each message, Flores parents were understandably scared and anxious. To calm her nerves, his mother would research the Nimitz, scouring military news sites for the latest updates on her son.

That became a daily routine for me, she said. Even if it was two weeks old, at least there was something and I at least knew he was safe.

On three separate occasions, the Nimitz was set to return from its deployment. But each time, something would come up and their trek would continue.

Flores believes in the principle of Navy. He sees his job as important to the United States.

But 341 days at sea in a once-in-a-century pandemic can wear on even the most patriotic of sailor.

After about three false hopes, the family got word that Flores was coming back. Of course they had learned to not get their hopes up, so it didnt hit them until they saw his face at Grand Junction Regional Airport on Tuesday evening.

The first thing to go through my mind was that I was so happy to see him, his mother said.

Now that Flores is back, the family is mostly together. Some of his six siblings are out of town, but the Flores family is hoping to still have some sense of normalcy. Theyre following COVID-19 guidelines and not going out much.

They dont mind, though. Theyre just glad to have their son back.

Theres nothing that can prepare you for that as a parent, Fernando Flores said. It was one of those things where you need hope and faith to keep you going.

According to the Department of Defense, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III flew out to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz off the coast of California to thank the crew for a record-setting deployment.

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group returned after operations in U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Central Command areas of responsibility.

It was the first carrier strike group to deploy under COVID-19 protocols. By the time the carrier strike group reached home, the sailors and Marines aboard were gone for the better part of a year.

The Nimitz, the cruiser USS Princeton, and the destroyers USS Sterett and USS Ralph Johnson made up the group.

Youve just demonstrated incredible professionalism, resilience and focus, Austin told the crew over the ship-wide public address system. Its been very impressive.

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group had the longest deployment since the Vietnam War.

It was lengthened by COVID-19 protocols that called for a quarantine before departing and the elimination of port calls during the deployment. The Navy aims for deployments to be roughly six months. The Nimitz group were away from family and friends almost twice that.

Overall, the carrier strike group steamed more than 87,300 nautical miles during its deployment. The carrier launched 10,185 sorties totaling 23,410 flight hours logged.
"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
GREENWICH  Parishioners at St. Catherine of Siena celebrated Palm Sunday services this past weekend in the church in the Riverside section of Greenwich.

Palm Sunday is the Christian holiday that commemorates Jesuss entry into Jerusalem and the start of Holy Week. Palm fronds are often distributed during the service to symbolize the palm branches that the crowd scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem.
Supermarkets in Brisbane have been inundated with shoppers desperate to stock up on supplies as panic buying ramps up again ahead of the three-day snap lockdown.

The city will be plunged into the strict lockdown at 5pm on Monday after four new local Covid cases were found amid an outbreak of the highly-contagious UK variant.

Just 45 minutes after the announcement, reports emerged of locals brawling in supermarket aisles over toilet roll - with a nine-month pregnant woman in Arana Hills knocked out by a trolley-wielding shopper hunting for flour.

More than two million residents living in Greater Brisbane will be allowed outside only for essential reasons - for work, for exercise, to buy essential supplies or for care.

Despite being allowed to go the supermarket for food and supplies, many locals wasted no time in heading to their local grocery stores with alarming photos showing queues of shoppers spilling out the doors.

A woman is seen leaving a Brisbane shopping centre in Newstead in Brisbane on Monday as the city prepares to enter into a three-day lockdown

A young family stopped by a Woolworths in Newstead, Brisbane on Monday before the city goes into lockdown at 5pm

Shoppers line up outside a Woolworths at the Montague Markets in West End on Monday

Shoppers are seen at a Woolworths in Newstead on Monday after four cases of coronavirus were recorded (pictured, left) while cars queued to be tested in Bowen Hills (right)

A woman is seen at a grocery store in Brisbane as residents prepare to go into a lockdown

At a Coles supermarket in New Farm, in Brisbane's inner city, masked shoppers were seen lined up outside the doors while a staff member tried to organise the mass of customers coming and going.

Similar scenes were captured at a Woolworths in the nearby suburb of Newstead.

Customers socially distanced while waiting in the queue that had spilled out into the rest of the shopping centre.

Another line of shoppers were seen eagerly waiting outside a Woolworths store at the Montague Markets in West End.

Some shoppers have reported waiting in lines of up to an hour long with queues snaking around store aisles.

The mad rush into supermarkets has prompted Woolworths to enforce limits on some products.

Customers will only be able to purchase two packs of items such as toilet paper, antibacterial wipes, tissues, and frozen fruit and vegetables.

Other items like meat, bread, eggs, milk, pasta, handwash, deli goods and noodles will also be limited to two per customer.

Staff are also limiting the amount of shoppers allowed inside stores.

Queues were also seen at Covid testing clinics across Greater Brisbane, including this one in Bowen Hills (pictured)

Customers socially distanced while waiting in the the queue that had spilled out into the rest of the shopping centre (pictured Newstead in Brisbane)

At a Coles supermarket in New Farm, in Brisbane's inner city, masked shoppers were seen lined up outside the doors while a staff member tried to organise the mass of customers coming and going

Shoppers are seen filling up their trolleys at a store in Brisbane ahead of the city's lockdown

Most shoppers were seen carrying toilet paper with fears the scenes on Monday will escalate to how they were at the start of the year when Brisbane was thrown into another three-day lockdown.

Cafes, pubs and restaurants will be closed in Greater Brisbane, which includes Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands - and schools will also be forced to shut.

Huge queues were also seen at testing clinics across Greater Brisbane, after dozens of venues were put on alert.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had earlier called on residents not to overreact and start panic buying.

'The supermarkets, the shops are full of supplies and you will still be able to go out and get food as part of this lockdown,' she said.

'So please don't go out and panic buy today. The shops will operate  the food shops will operate as per usual.'

Woolworths has placed restrictions on some items such as toilet paper in bids to prevent panic buying

As news of the lockdown surfaced, residents raced to the shops to stock up on supplies (pictured Coles in New Farm, Brisbane)

A man is seen leaving a Coles supermarket in New Farm on Monday with a case of coco cola

Three of the new cases found in the Sunshine State are close contacts of existing or historical cases but those infected may have been out in the community - raising the risk more transmission may have occurred.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was declaring the whole of Greater Brisbane a hotspot from 5pm and called on other states and territories to do so too.

Two of the cases visited the popular tourist town of Byron Bay in northern NSW while infectious, sparking fears the virus has spread interstate.

While the city's in lockdown, only two visitors will be allowed in the home under the new rules and restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway service only.

The UK strain of coronavirus - known as B117 - is believed to be at least 50 per cent more transmissable than other variants.

Descent of a Champion 1997: Announces himself as a force in kayaking when he comes second to Olympics Gold medallist Clint Robinson in the K1 1000m race at the Australian Sprint Championships. 1998: Baggaley beats Robinson to become Australian 1000m champion, ending Robinsons seven-year title reign. 2000: Baggaley is selected for the Sydney 2000 Olympics in the K1 500m event but loses to Bulgarian Petar Merkov, a suspected drug cheat. 2001: Cleo Bachelor of the year finalist. 2002: Wins the first of three consecutive world championships in the K1 500m race at Seville, Spain. 2004: Wins two silvers in the K1 500m and K2 500m (with Clint Robinson) at the Athens Olympics. 2005: Test positive to steroids, which he blames on drinking from a bottle of juice owned by his brother Dru. 2006: Suspended for 15 months by the Court of Arbitration and Sport, who accept his excuse. 2007: The suspension increased to two years as Baggaley prepares for the 2008 Olympics. 2009: Nathan and Dru receive jail sentences for a pill-making operation. 2015: Jailed again for two years for multiple drug offences. 2018: Arrested along with brother Dru and boat driver Anthony Draper for his involvement in a plot to import $200 million worth of cocaine into Australia. 2021: Found guilty of his involvement in the plot, alongside Dru. Advertisement

While the city's in lockdown, only two visitors will be allowed in the home under the new rules and restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway service only (shopper in Newstead, Brisbane)

A man carrying groceries leaves a supermarket in Brisbane amid fears panic buying has ramped up again

Eager shoppers wait outside the Coles in New Farm on Monday

Brisbane residents have been urged not to panic buy ahead of the three-day snap lockdown

'There is now more community transmission, and these people have been out and about in the community, and that is of concern to Queensland Health,' Ms Palaszczuk said.

'This will also enable our health authorities to get on top of the contact tracing,' she said.

'I know this will mean some disruption to people's lives, but we've done this before, and we've got through it over those three days in the past, and if everyone does the right thing I'm sure that we will be able to get through it again.'
Fatima Sana Shaikh Goes Under Quarantine After Testing Positive For Novel Coronavirus

Actor Fatima Sana Shaikh on Monday said she has tested positive for COVID-19 and is under home quarantine. Shaikh, 29 took to Instagram and said she is following all the health and safety protocols after contracting the virus.

"I have tested positive for COVID-19 and currently following all the precautions and protocols and have been home quarantining myself. Thank you for all your wishes and concerns. Please stay safe guys," the actor wrote.

Shaikh was last seen in Anurag Basu's 2020 crime comedy Ludo and Manoj Bajpayee-led Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, which had a theatrical release. On Sunday, Mumbai reported the highest rise in COVID-19 cases so far by adding 6,923 new infections, taking the tally to 3,98,674.
The motive for the double murder of a brother and sister in Melbourne remain a mystery after 31 years, but detectives are hopeful someone will come forward.

A huge reward is being offered for information about the cold case murders of a brother and sister in Melbourne's south-east more than 30 years ago.

Doris McCartney, 71, and Ronald Swann, 69, were found dead in their Keith Street home in Moorabbin on October 22, 1989.

Doris McCartney (left), 71, and Ronald Swann (right), 69, were found dead in their Keith Street home in Moorabbin on October 22, 1989

Both had been assaulted but investigators have been unable to discover why they were killed.

But Victoria Police do believe someone came to the property to meet with Doris and there was an altercation.

'Doris was a widower and her younger brother had moved into her Keith Street home to support her,' Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Tim Day said on Tuesday.

'From all accounts, they lived a quiet life and police have never been able to determine why they were both murdered.'

Police are now offering a reward of up to $1 million for information about who was responsible for their deaths.

'There will be someone out there why knows why Doris and Ronald were killed and by who  31 years is a long time to carry a secret,' Inspector Day said in a statement.
Sweden's Inzyon Launches Sustainability Aid

Stockholm-based insight solutions firm Inzyon has launched a CSR Monitor, helping users to analyse and measure their Corporate Social Responsibility activities, and to comply with increasingly complex regulatory requirements on the topic of sustainability.



Inzyon provides services and solutions to help companies optimize their use of insights throughout their operations, including modelling and analysis of their current management information and deployment of insight solutions. The new SaaS tool combines near-real-time intelligence on developments in the global sustainability arena with tools for hands-on analysis and reporting, and can be customised for individual user companies.



Inzyon says listed companies in particular face an increasing burden of sustainability compliance, 'not only on Climate Action matters... but on the full scale of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals' - from regulators such a ESMA (European Securities and Market Authority) and UN backed bodies such as PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment). It notes that companies seeking funding on financial markets face a major challenge in meeting these requirements, and may not even have identified it as such.



CEO Gabriel Anderbjork (pictured) comments: 'With the CSR Monitor we aim at supporting companies' management teams to keep up with, act upon, and utilize the competitive edges enabled by the developing frameworks of sustainability. We are proud to provide a tool for industry that will contribute to a gradually increased fulfilment of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. By adding the CSR monitor to our already existing services, the Sustainability Classification Framework and the ESG monitor, we now cover the entire field of sustainability compliance, from financial market actors to industry operations management, with identical information models, thereby enabling coherent communications and reporting structures through the entire chain'.



The firm is online at www.inzyon.com .




Elementary students returned to classrooms in Long Beach, Calif., on Monday and campuses from Los Angeles to Boston prepared for significant expansions of in-person instruction as a majority of the nations districts have now begun to reopen school buildings, many of which have been closed for more than a year.

On Monday, Burbio, which monitors some 1,200 districts including the largest 200 in the country, reported that 53.1 percent of students were in schools offering daily, in-person classes, and that for the first time, the proportion of students attending school virtually or in hybrid classes had dropped.

The change, Burbio officials said, appeared to be driven by the return in elementary and middle schools to in-person classes, and by the new rules from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention permitting schools to allow three feet of social distance instead of six feet in elementary schools.

But a number of roadblocks to reopening remain. On the West Coast, large urban districts generally have lagged behind their counterparts across the rest of the nation. Surging infections in Southern California after the winter holidays were partly to blame for a slow rebound in the Los Angeles school system.
Created by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznickco-founders of global restaurant company Major Food Group the sauces are available in three varieties: Marinara, Arrabbiata, and Tomato Basil and are the result of meticulous craftsmanship. While typical tomato sauces simply mix tomato paste with dehydrated ingredients in a process lasting only eight minutes, Carbone's Sauces highlight fresh ingredients and take approximately one hour to produce. Each variety is made in small batches, using Italian tomatoes picked at peak ripenessjust like at the restaurant, whose outposts in Manhattan, Miami, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong draw consistent crowds and acclaim. Carbone's team of chefs has overseen the entire production process, painstakingly testing hundreds of iterations to ensure that the jarred sauces meet their standards.

The branding of the sauces is adapted from the beloved illustration that adorns the menu at Carbone. To produce it, the MFG Co-Founders originally commissioned the noted visual artists McDermott & McGough to depict the storefront of the Greenwich Village restaurant just as it would have appeared in 1958, paying homage to the history of New York City and the glamorous era of dining that inspired the concept. Some may notice that the three gentlemen standing on Thompson Street are in fact Zalaznick, Carbone, and Torrisi.

"Creating staple sauces for the home cook that possess the craft we're known for has been a goal for some time," says Mario Carbone. "The challenge was to create a product that would not only cut down cooking time but also truly deliver on the promise of unequaled flavor, and we can now say that that's exactly what we've done. We couldn't be more excitedand there's much more to come."

The Carbone team has brought on Eric Skae as CEO to shape the long-term strategic vision for the company. Eric is a seasoned CPG executive with a proven track record for organizing, structuring, and branding several prominent food and beverage companies, including Popcornopolis and Arizona Tea. Most notably, Eric served as CEO for Rao's Specialty Foods Group, Inc., leading the reorganization, rebranding, and eventual sale of the company in 2019.

"The sauce category is a crowded one, but what it is lacking is a premium product that can stand up to what's served in restaurants," CEO Eric Skae says. "Chefs Mario and Rich have created the highest quality sauce on the market. They found a way to jar the Carbone experience. I've never seen anything like it."

Available in the sauce aisle and via Amazon and online at carbonefinefood.com, Carbone sauces retail for $8.99/per 24oz jar. For more information on Carbone, follow their journey on Instagram @carbonefinefood.

About Carbone Fine Food

Developed by Mario Carbone, Jeff Zalaznick, and Rich Torrisico-founders of Carbone and the NYC-based restaurant group Major Food Group  Carbone Sauces allow consumers to bring the taste of the iconic, beloved Carbone dining experience into their home with three varieties of tomato sauce: Marinara, Arrabbiata, and Tomato Basil. One of the most celebrated American restaurants of the last decade, Carbone has also claimed its place in pop culture, with a following that includes such notable fans as Lebron James, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Barack Obama. This launch expands the brand even further, with the mission to cement Carbone as a trusted household name in kitchens across the country. Carbone sauces are available online and in Stop & Shop's across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island for $8.99/per jar.

About Major Food Group

Major Food Group (MFG) is a New York-based restaurant company founded in 2011 by Mario Carbone, Jeff Zalaznick, and Rich Torrisi. In just over a decade, MFG has gone from a small Little Italy restaurant to one of the most acclaimed hospitality groups in the world. They have pioneered a celebratory style of dining at such iconic restaurants as CARBONE and THE GRILL, developed dynamic new concepts across genres and maintained a reputation for uncommon consistency. Beyond building celebrated restaurants, MFG is proud of its support of various social causes and its lasting partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation, one of New York City's most important forces in the fight against poverty.

To date, MFG has been awarded a total of 19 stars from The New York Times and three from the Michelin Guide, as well as numerous distinctions from the James Beard Foundation and other noted organizations. MFG's 27 businesses are located in New York City, Miami, Las Vegas, Hong Kong, and Tel Aviv. The concepts include: CARBONE, Sadelle's, THE GRILL, ZZ's Clam Bar, Dirty French, Parm, and The Lobster Club.

Media Contact

Mia Fazio

[email protected]

SOURCE Carbone Fine Food
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President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo will participate virtually in the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium, contrary to the announcement by the organisers that they would appear in person at the event in Kano.

Mr Osinbajo cited weather conditions for his own change of plans.

His media aide, Laolu Akande, in a statement, on Monday, said Mr Osinbajo would participate and celebrate the 69th birthday of Mr Tinubu virtually from Abuja.

He said Mr Osibanjo was scheduled to fly to Kano Monday morning until the weather conditions aborted his travel plans.

He will, however, alongside President Muhammadu Buhari, join the colloquium virtually from the Presidential Villa.

The colloquium, billed to start at 11 a.m. was rescheduled to 12:30 p.m. The event seeks to discuss peace-building and national cohesion as tools for growth and prosperity in Africa.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje is hosting the event at the Kano Coronation Hall, and is being attended by top APC leaders, including the acting National Chair of the party, Mai-Mala Buni.

The President of Liberia, George Weah, former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, and Vice President of ECOWAS Commission, Finda Koroma, are also speakers at the event.

The colloquium is being held under the theme Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth.

Other speakers at the colloquium are Dani Rodrick, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy; Funmi Olonisakin, Professor of Security, Leadership & Development at Kings College, London; Amaka Anku, Practice Head, Africa Eurasia Group; Mohamed Yahya, Resident Representative in Nigeria, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Charity Namsoh, Founder/CEO, HoP Africa.

The speakers are essentially policymakers, mediators, innovators, security experts, thought-leaders, academics and individuals in governance.

Through its rich selection of speakers across different sectors, the colloquium seeks to bring relevant discussions and solutions towards national growth in Nigeria and Africa.

The Bola Tinubu Colloquium is an avenue to bring to fore rich debate and intellectual discussions to project the future of Nigeria and Africa, a statement from the organisers said.

According to the organisers, the colloquium is a platform for sharing knowledge, experience and information around socio-economic and governance issues.
The latest revision of the Mexican health ministry on the country's COVID-19 death toll has placed Mexico as the second nation in the world with the highest coronavirus-related deaths.

Mexico is now only behind the United States as more than 321,000 individuals are believed to have died on Mexican soil because of the virus.

Based on the report revised by the country's health ministry, by the end of the sixth week of this year, Mexico had 294,287 COVID-19 deaths, which is 60 percent higher compared to the initial figure given, which is only at 182,301.

And since the start of mid-February, more than 26,772 deaths have been reported that were connected to COVID-19 all over Mexico, putting the total death toll in the country to not less than 321,000.

Mexico's COVID-19 Death Overtakes Brazil

The latest figures put Mexico ahead of Brazil, which recently registered 310,000 deaths, and under the U.S. with 549,000 recorded fatalities. But the numbers for Mexico sound alarming as the country only has a population of 126 million, which is far smaller than the two countries.

Because of the emergence of the latest numbers, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has faced criticisms nationwide because of how he handled the pandemic crisis.

The opposition in Mexico has accused him of downplaying the severity of the pandemic and blamed him for the setbacks in the country's vaccination program.

According to BBC News, experts have long warned the Mexican government that the country's actual death toll is much higher due to a lack of testing. Experts also pointed out the shortage of intensive care beds in many Mexican states that have resulted in a huge portion of individuals dying at home.

Moreover, the latest figures came after the health ministry officials conducted a review on excess deaths and a review of death certificates.

The head of Mexico's response team to the pandemic, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, sent a warning to his people last week that Mexico has a risk of facing another wave of infections as millions of Mexicans are preparing for the Easter holidays.

RELATED ARTICLE: Mexico's COVID-19 Death Toll Hits 200,000, Real Numbers Could Be Worse

COVID Vaccine Relief

His political rivals and opponents have continuously accused the Mexican President, who himself is a COVID-19 recovered patient, for not taking the crisis seriously enough and is often seen in public not wearing a face mask.

The criticized vaccination program of Mexico has already sent out 6.1 million doses administered based on their latest numbers, Aljazeera reported.

Meanwhile, the U.S. recently announced the release of four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to countries like Mexico and Canada. The announcement gave purpose to a stockpile of vaccines as both countries have approved the vaccination of AstraZeneca, while the U.S. didn't get the approval.

The White House stated that 2.5 million of the seven million doses of vaccines in the U.S. would be transported straight to Mexico, while 1.5 million will be sent out to Canada.

Leaders from both countries had asked the White House for assistance. Officials from Mexico even pressed the Biden administration on the issue during their meeting about the security at the U.S.-Mexican border earlier this month, CNN reported.

WATCH: Mexico Says Country's True COVID Death Toll is 60% Higher Than Official - Inside News

READ MORE: Brazil Hits 300,000 COVID-19 Deaths, Bolsonaro Under Scrutiny
Royal fans and the British media have many names for Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. Some call her Princess Kate and others refer to her as Duchess Kate or Duchess Catherine. But those titles arent technically correct. In fact, Kates official title doesnt include her first name.

Kate Middleton | Victoria Jones  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Kate Middleton inherited the Duchess of Cambridge title

When Kate and William tied the knot in April 2011, Queen Elizabeth gave Prince William the title His Royal Highness Duke of Cambridge. As a result, Kate automatically inherited the title Her Royal Highness Duchess of Cambridge.

When in Scotland, she is known as the Countess of Strathearn. In Northern Ireland she is represented by the title Lady Carrickfergus. Kate has also received numerous honors since becoming a member of the royal family.

In 2017, she was granted the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II. In 2019, Queen Elizabeth made her the Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. Her military appointments include Honorary Air Commandant of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets and Canadian Ranger.

She is the Princess of the United Kingdom

Although she doesnt use the title formally, Kate is technically the Princess of the United Kingdom. As Insider points out, shes been officially acknowledged as a princess just three times since she married Prince William.

RELATED: Kate Middletons Latest Title Has a Special Connection to Princess Diana

Kate used the princess title in the occupation title section of her childrens birth certificates. The mom of three gave birth to Prince George in 2013. She and William welcomed Princess Charlotte in 2015 and Prince Louis in 2018.

Kate Middleton could be known as Princess William of Wales

If Kate did want to use her princess title in a formal capacity, she wouldnt be allowed to use her first name. Instead, she would be referred to as Princess William of Wales. This is because of royal rules.

According to royal expert Marlene Koenig, the British royal family uses the older German style of royal wives. This means that they style the wife by her husbands name. Koenig explained that only blood princesses get to use their first name with their title.

Blood princesses are females who are born into the royal family, like Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. Even though people refer to her as Princess Kate, this title is not correct because she married into the royal family.

She has a lot in common with Princess Diana

Koenig went on to explain that Kate has a lot in common with her late mother-in-law, Lady Diana Spencer. She was widely known as Princess Diana, but Koenig says Diana was never Princess Diana.

The press called her Princess Diana as the press still uses Prince Charles even though Charles not been styled as Prince Charles since his mother became queen, Koenig noted, referencing Charles title of Charles, Prince of Wales.

RELATED: Kate Middleton Is Often Compared to Princess Diana, But She Is Actually More Like Another Senior Royal

Another thing Kate has in common with Diana is her popularity. Back in the 1980s and 90s, Diana earned the nickname the Peoples Princess because of her commitment to public service. Recently, Kate earned the sweet nickname the Childrens Princess because of her natural rapport with young people.

Kate Middleton will eventually get a title with her first name

When Prince William does become king, Kate will finally get a title with her first name. As soon as William takes the throne, Kate will become queen consort and will be known as Queen Catherine.

This title is reserved for the wife of a king and indicates that Kate shares Williams social rank and status. The queen consort does not have the regents political or military powers. But when the media and fans call her Queen Catherine, it will be the correct title.
Anchorage, AK -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2021 -- Crowson Law Group is a law firm with an intricate understanding of legal procedures necessary to develop a winning strategy for personal injury cases. With 80 years of experience, the law firm has the competence in personal injury law to take every measure to protect the rights of its clients both inside the courtroom and out. They have a reputation for providing professional and efficient help with legal affairs concerning personal injury law in Anchorage. Their attorneys have extensive knowledge of the law and a commitment to keeping up-to-date with the changing law.



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The company spokesperson added, "With a disability lawyer, he or she can help a victim establish proper guidelines needed for Social Security disability benefits. Moreover, he or she can get the right evidence needed for the success of one's disability claim. The lawyer can argue out of how the mental issue resulting from a car accident has affected one's daily life. If it's proven one suffered from a mental condition, he or she will get disability benefits. The benefits will help him or her move on with life even after failing to maintain gainful employment."



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Queensland is battling to contain 10 new cases of Covid-19 as Annastacia Palaszczuk left open the possibility of Brisbane's snap lockdown being extended and Gladys Berejiklian warned NSW residents to brace for the virus to spread across the border.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Greater Brisbane lockdown which began at 5pm Monday and was to last three days was now a 'day-by-day' proposition.

'Do we expect to see more cases? Probably,' she said on Tuesday. 'Everyone is worried.'

Ms Palaszczuk also announced tough new vaccination rules banning frontline health care workers who have not had the Covid jab from working with infected patients.

The new rules come after a nurse at a major Brisbane hospital was found to be at the centre of the new wave while a tradesman who worked as a 'male entertainer' at Byron Bay hen's party was confirmed as one of the new cases.

The eight new local transmissions and two new infected returned travellers takes the number of active cases in the state to 78 compared to just five in February.

Six of the fresh cases are linked to confirmed infections, while two remain under investigation.

There are now two distinct clusters of the UK variant of Covid-19 in Greater Brisbane with both linked to frontline healthcare workers at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Woolloongabba in the city's inner west who had not been vaccinated.

Brisbane residents are seen in face marks on Tuesday, as Queensland records eight additional local Covid cases

Police patrol Fortitude Valley in Brisbane on Monday as more than two million people are plunged into lockdown

The shock lockdown came on Monday after four new local coronavirus cases - including two siblings - were discovered by authorities.

The siblings - an unvaccinated nurse and her sister - unknowingly had the virulent UK coronavirus strain while partying in Byron Bay, northern NSW, between March 26 and March 28.

The sisters visited a string of popular venues including the Byron Beach Hotel and The Farm - both of which are now on high alert for potential Covid-19 exposure.

Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said pathology results revealed the nurse has the same genome as a man who was treated in the PA Hospital and tested on March 22.

The nurse worked in the Covid ward on March 18 and then did a night shift on March 23 - but was not dealing with coronavirus infections that night.

'My hypothesis - and this all has to be tested, this all has to be checked out, this is very preliminary information - is that she has acquired the infection when at work that night,' Dr Young said.

'I don't know whether she's got it directly from that patient, because she wasn't working with Covid cases that night, but we have to confirm that, or whether she's got it from someone else in the hospital.

'They're all linked cases, and they all attended a party together down in Byron Bay.'

A healthcare worker is seen organising Covid-19 test collections in Brisbane on Monday

Brisbane residents queue to be processed through a drive-in Covid-19 testing site at Bowen Hills in Brisbane on Monday

Dr Young said all of Queensland's latest local infections are linked to either the first or second cluster.

'But we have had a lot of people now out in the community, infectious. So, that's why we need this three-day lockdown to get on top of all of the contacts of all of these positive cases, and work out where they've been,' she said.

'And having everyone in their home instead of out and about in the community just helps us get on top of all of the contacts and minimise the risk of further spread.'

The nurse and her sister attended a bachelorette party at Byron Bay where the adult entertainer performed.

He returned home to the Gold Coast and went to an aged care facility where fortunately residents had already received their first dose of the vaccine.

There were no new local infections in NSW on Tuesday but Ms Berejiklian warned more cases could emerge.

'We hope that we do not have any cases arise in NSW but I would not be surprised if we did, so we must brace ourselves,' the premier said on Tuesday.

Byron Bay is due to host the five-day Bluesfest starting Thursday and running across the Easter long weekend with up to 16,000 participants every day.

'We are expecting more cases [linked to] Queensland and hopefully most of those cases will be people in isolation or although we have to assume this is an evolving situation,' Ms Berejiklian said.

A line-up is pictured at a walk-through Covid-19 testing site at the Surf Life Saving Club in Byron Bay in northern New South Wales on Monday. A Covid-positive unvaccinated nurse and her sister visited the town on the weekend of March 26-March 28

Anyone who had been to Queensland since March 20 needs to comply with the state's lockdown rules while back in NSW.

Ms Berejiklian's borders are still open but she said the state 'will have to respond' if cases are identified in her state.

The premier urged people in NSW to 'please change your plans' if they intended to travel to anywhere in Queensland for the Easter break, warning there was a chance they could end up trapped in a lockdown.

'There's no better place to holiday than NSW,' she said.

Ms Berejiklian is also urging everyone in NSW to check in at every venue, socially distance and sanitise hands.

'I cannot stress enough the importance of being Covid-safe,' Ms Berejiklian said.

'And most importantly, if you've attended any of the venues NSW Health has identified, get tested, stay home and isolate for the full 14 days,' the premier said.

The Farm at Byron Bay (pictured) was closed after a positive case dined at the popular cafe

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said NSW Health had contacted 1321 people who attended the Byron Beach Hotel last Friday asking them to isolate and get tested.

And 166 people who visited The Farm last Sunday have also been contacted and asked to test and isolate.

Anyone who has returned from Brisbane from March 11 should be on high alert for symptoms, she said.

Anyone who has even mild symptoms should get tested and stay home and isolate until further advice.

NSW Health is advising people who had travelled to Queensland or Byron Bay to check each state's websites for information about venues they have visited.

The nurse and her sister partied in NSW's Byron Bay (testing site pictured) for a bachelorette party while infected with Covid

Today host Karl Stefanovic said it was 'disgraceful' the infected nurse had not yet received her Covid jab.

'You can say challenging, we can say 'disgraceful' because that's what it is,' he said on Tuesday morning.

'Every day [the nurses] are dealing with potentially Covid-infected patients. What are we doing in this country if we're not getting those vaccinations out?'

AMA Queensland's Council of General Practice's Chair Dr Maria Boulton said just 43 per cent of doctors in the state they surveyed had received a dose of the vaccine.

Of those doctors, half had been in contact with positive coronavirus cases.

'It's beyond comprehension,' Stefanovic said.

'The mind boggles why especially those on the frontline haven't been vaccinated yet,' Dr Boulton replied.

Amid criticism of the vaccine's slow rollout, Australia's Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan said Queensland Health was working hard to get the jab to healthcare workers as quickly as possible.

She conceded the task could take several more weeks.
SPRINGFIELD  The price of a gallon of gas in the city fell last week by more than a penny thanks to a growing supply.

The national average price of a gallon of gas also dropped last week, AAA said. It was the first decrease since November, and the statewide average price was stable.

In Springfield, a gallon of regular gas averaged $2.70 Monday, AAA said. Thats down from $2.715 a week earlier, but higher than the $2.60 a gallon a month ago. A year ago at this time, the price was $1.97 a gallon. Worcester averaged $2.73 a gallon, down from $2.74 a week ago but up from $2.62 a month ago and $2.14 a year ago.

Massachusetts average gas price is $2.76 per gallon, the same as a week ago.

Todays price is 12 cents higher than a month ago at $2.64, and 65 cents higher than March 29, 2020 price of $2.11. Massachusetts average gas price is 10 cents lower than the national average of $2.86 a gallon.

Growing supplies and cheaper crude oil prices are putting downward pressure on pump prices for the majority of motorists, said Sandra Marsian, vice president of AAA Northeast Pioneer Valley Region. These are positive signs that less expensive gas prices could be around the corner, but not enough to indicate a steady trend just yet.

Demand for gas is nearing pre-pandemic levels, AAA said.

The organization cited statistics from the Energy Information Administration showing demand was up by 174,000 barrels a day, to 8.6 million. That is just 222,000 short of demand a year ago, as pandemic stay-at-home orders took hold.

AAA said one piece of good news is that refinery utilization hit 82%, meaning gasoline stocks could build and keep prices in check.

Many states saw faster price declines last week: Kentucky (6 cents), Delaware (6 cents), North Carolina (4 cents), Maryland (4 cents), Illinois (4 cents), South Carolina (4 cents), Florida (3 cents) and Pennsylvania (-3 cents).

Related Content:
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix American, a full-service fund administration provider for alternative investment funds including DSTs, has published a new white paper examining the history, evolution and prospects for like-kind exchange investments on the 100th anniversary of the creation of the tax provision that made such exchanges possible. 1031 Turns 100: Industry Insights on the DST Market analyzes the development of the Delaware Statutory Trust, the investors and sponsors involved in these investment programs and offers perspectives from key industry participants.

Featuring insights from Mountain Dell Consulting, Institute of Portfolio Alternatives, Inland Private Capital Corporation, Capital Square, Passco Companies and R.A. Stanger

The paper draws on Phoenix American's observations as a fund administration provider, market data provided by Mountain Dell Consulting and contributions provided by Capital Square Realty Advisors, Inland Private Real Estate, Passco Companies and the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (IPA).

Top takeaways from the report include an analysis of the performance of DSTs during the Covid-19 pandemic, how it compares to that of Tenancy-in-Common (TIC) investments during the Great Recession and what it indicates about the durability of the DST during economic downturns.

The Typical DST Investor profiles the average participant currently exchanging into a DST and how that profile differs from popular perception.

profiles the average participant currently exchanging into a DST and how that profile differs from popular perception. The Evolution of Exchange Investments looks at the origin of the like-kind exchange, the advent of TICs and the evolution of the DST based on lessons learned from the Great Recession.

looks at the origin of the like-kind exchange, the advent of TICs and the evolution of the DST based on lessons learned from the Great Recession. Considerations at the Federal Level discusses the outlook of the new Biden administration on Rule 1031and the likelihood of significant change to the like-kind exchange provision.

discusses the outlook of the new Biden administration on Rule 1031and the likelihood of significant change to the like-kind exchange provision. Market Trends highlights the recovery of the 1031 investment market since the Great Recession, the new dominance of the DST and its practical distinctions from the TIC structure.

highlights the recovery of the 1031 investment market since the Great Recession, the new dominance of the DST and its practical distinctions from the TIC structure. Sponsor Landscape examines the sponsors, large and small, in the DST investment market.

examines the sponsors, large and small, in the DST investment market. Perspective Spotlights provide analysis and perspective from one of the industry's leading trade associations and two of the leading DST sponsors shedding light on the opportunities and threats the industry faces.

"Our clients are enjoying a lot of success with DSTs," said Ned Montenecourt, Chief Compliance and Risk Officer for Phoenix American. "We're happy to be able to share some of the perspective we've gained on this dynamic corner of the investment landscape."

About Phoenix American

Phoenix American Financial Services provides full-service fund administration, fund accounting, transfer agent and investor services as well as sales and marketing reporting to fund sponsors in the alternative investment industry. The Phoenix American aircraft group provides managing agent and accounting services for securitizations specializing in the commercial aviation leasing industry. The company is a subsidiary of Phoenix American Incorporated along with Phoenix American SalesFocus Solutions, providers of the cloud-based MARS CRM, Sales and Marketing Reporting and Compliance Management solutions for banks, insurance companies, asset management firms and other financial service organizations. Phoenix American was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in San Rafael, CA.

For more information, contact Phoenix American at 1-866-895-5050 or visit www.phxa.com.

Media Contact

David Fisher

Director

310-621-7822

[email protected]

SOURCE Phoenix American Financial Services
Western Australia will bring up a hard border with Queensland at midnight on Monday as Brisbane prepares to go into three-day lockdown because of a COVID-19 outbreak of the United Kingdom variant of the virus.

The designation of Queensland as a medium risk state means only a handful of Australians will be allowed into WA under exemptions including compassionate reasons.

Mark McGowan has all but eradicated the Liberal Party from West Australian state politics. Credit:Peter de Kruijff

Four new community spread COVID-19 cases were announced on Monday morning which have been linked to the Brisbane outbreak, including two people who travelled to Byron Bay in New South Wales over the weekend while unknowingly infectious.

Anyone who has arrived in WA from Queensland since March 27 needs to self-quarantine for 14 days and get a test on day 11 of isolating or any time they develop COVID-19 symptoms.
One death as hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to fall in South Dakota
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 17:14:22|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China urges relevant foreign companies to operate in the country in accordance with laws and regulations, and not become a pawn of certain political forces or challenge China's public opinion, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters Monday. Enditem
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She's been living in Australia with her husband and family while filming the new Marvel film, Thor: Love and Thunder.

And it appears as if Natalie Portman is well and truly settling into life in Sydney, after the American actress was joined by her parents.

On Sunday, the 39-year-old was pictured enjoying breakfast with her parents Avner and Shelley in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

Here to stay? It appears as if Natalie Portman, 35, (pictured) is well and truly settling into life in Sydney, after the American actress was joined by her parents on Sunday morning

Natalie fully embraced Australian culture in the Emerald City by wearing an Akubra.

The Closer star opted to pair the iconic hat with an always-classic black T-shirt and a pair of denim cut-offs.

She finished her look with a pair of crisp white sneakers.

Spotted: On Sunday, the 39-year-old was pictured enjoying breakfast with her parents Avner (right) and Shelley in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs

Low key: Natalie fully embraced Australian culture in the Emerald City by wearing an Akubra. The Closer star opted to pair the iconic hat with an always-classic black T-shirt and a pair of denim cut-offs

Stylish: Natalie's gynecologist father, Avner, was was dressed a peach coloured T-shirt which he paired with maroon coloured pants. Meanwhile, her mother, Shelley, opted for a button-up navy blue shirt and grey trousers

Natalie's father, Avner, was was dressed a peach coloured T-shirt which he paired with maroon coloured pants.

Meanwhile, her mother opted for a button-up navy blue shirt and grey trousers.

The sighting comes just days after Natalie took to Instagram as she explored the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, just outside of Sydney.

Adventurers: Earlier this month, Natalie took to Instagram as she explored the Blue Mountains with husband Benjamin

The actress shared a sweet photo of her and Benjamin, 43, hugging with a panoramic view of the mountainous range behind them.

'Favorite person to explore the Blue Mountains with... @visitnsw #loveNSW @wolganv,' Natalie wrote in the caption for her roughly 7.3 million followers.

Natalie wore a light blue T-shirt and beamed while wrapping her arms around her husband's waist.

Benjamin wore a plain black T-shirt and tan cap as he smiled for the camera with an arm draped around Natalie.

Natalie and Benjamin are parents to nine-year-old son Aleph and four-year-old daughter Amalia together.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2021) NORAD closely tracked two Russian TU-142 Patrol Aircraft as they flew in international airspace near Alaska, its Alaskan command said on Monday.

"At 4:50 a.m. (AKST), the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Region, in support of NORAD, positively identified and tracked two Tu-142 Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone," the Alaskan command said in a statement.

NORAD pointed out that the Russian aircraft did not enter either US or Canadian sovereign airspace.

"As always, NORAD remains vigilant and ready to protect the sovereign airspace of Canada and the United States to deter, deny and defeat potential threats to our air and maritime approaches," it added.

Two Russian aircraft Tu-142 flew over the water area of the North Sea and in the North-East Atlantic, the Northern Fleet said on Monday.

The flight was conducted over the neutral waters of the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas. In the initial phase of the flight over the Barents Sea, the aircraft were escorted by Su-33 fighters. The flight lasted about 11 hours.

During the flight over the water area of the Norwegian Sea, a pair of F-16 fighters of the Royal Norwegian Air Force were scrambled twice to escort them. In addition, two Typhoon fighters of the Royal Air Force escorted Tu-142 aircraft in the airspace over the North Sea, the Northern Fleet said.

The flight of the Russian aircraft was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace, it added.
She shot to stardom for her role in Heavenly Creatures almost thirty years ago.

And Kate Winslet has revealed that she felt objectified when filming certain sex scenes during her long and successful career.

Speaking to the Radio Times about the lesbian love scenes in her new film, Ammonite, the A-list actress, 45, said: 'We werent objectified in any way. But that also made me realise that Ive felt a little objectified in the past.'

Uncomfortable: Kate Winslet revealed on Monday that she felt objectified when filming sex scenes at some points in her long and successful career as an A-list actress

Kate stars in the Francis Lee film as a real-life English paleontologist called Mary Anning, who embarks on a secret relationship with Charlotte Murchison, played by Saoirse Ronan.

Of the numerous intimate scenes in the movie, the Titanic actress revealed: 'We realised that by removing dialogue, we could explore the desire and depth of connection between these two women further.

'I learnt a lot. It felt very equal and very safe; we werent objectified in any way.

'But that also made me realise that Ive felt a little objectified in the past without knowing it. It brought up a lot of interesting thoughts.'

'It felt very equal and safe': Kate's revelation comes after experiencing the positive atmosphere on set of her new film Ammonite, alongside Saoirse Ronan (pictured together in the film)

Kate has wowed audiences in a whole host of raunchy scenes in her previous films over the years.

In 2008, she won an Oscar for The Reader, in which she played an ex-Nazi prison guard who seduces a teenage boy.

In fact, filming was delayed so that Kate's co-star, David Kross, 30, had his 18th birthday before they filmed the explicit scenes together.

And the award-winning actress also uttered the iconic line: 'I want you to draw me like one of your French girls,' to Leonardo DiCaprio in 1997's Titanic, before de-robing and posing nude across a sofa.

Baring all: Kate has wowed audiences in a whole host of raunchy scenes in her films over the years (pictured in The Reader in 2008)

First outing: And the award-winning actress also uttered the iconic line: 'I want you to draw me like one of your French girls,' to Leonardo DiCaprio in 1997's Titanic, before de-robing and posing nude across a sofa

Question time: The A-list actress has said she has never been asked so many questions about a heterosexual love scene as she has about the ones with Saoirse in Ammonite

Kate spoke out on Tuesday about the insatiable interest in Ammonite's sex scenes in comparison to her other work.

She told Digital Spy: 'What I definitely found really striking is that people seem to talk about the love scenes in the film in ways that are much more focused, because it's two women.

Out now: Read the full interview in the latest issue of Radio Times

'And I'm telling you, with my hand on my heart, I have never been asked the same volume of questions about love scenes of a heterosexual nature  of which I have shot many in my life. And so that to me, that to me, that's a conversation.'

Gemma Jones, James McArdle and Fiona Shaw also star in the film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to mixed reviews in September 2020.

Director Francis Lee told The Guardian that Ammonite has taught him a 'real lesson in identity politics'.

The 52-year-old filmmaker - who also wrote the script - addressed the fact that some have questioned the historical accuracy of the character being in a same-sex relationship.

He said: 'It's been a real lesson for me in identity politics. I know I can't talk for Mary because I'm not a 19th-century palaeontologist, but I do think I can talk with her.

All-star cast: Ammonite also features Gemma Jones, James McArdle and Fiona Shaw and premiered at the Toronto Film Festival

'What I tried to do was to take this working-class woman, who hadn't been recognised in her lifetime, and elevate her.

'I wanted to contextualise her in terms of a relationship. And because men had blocked and overlooked her, and reappropriated her work for themselves, I felt that this relationship couldn't be with a man.'

He added: 'Also, I wasn't making a biopic.'

Francis has drawn parallels between himself and Winslet's character as both have struggled to 'find their voices'.

'Like Mary, I have found it very difficult to find my voice, professionally and personally. I feel very closed a lot of the time. I find it hard to be me, and to be truthful about me,' he said.

Read the full interview in the latest issue of Radio Times

There are growing calls for the State to introduce rapid Covid-19 testing in the community to stop the spread of the virus and help businesses reopen.

Professor Luke ONeill said it was a mystery why Ireland wasnt using antigen testing as an extra weapon against the virus, while Trinity College Dublin immunologist Kingston Mills said rapid testing would allow businesses to start operating again.

Currently in Ireland, the approved testing methodology to detect Covid-19 in patients is Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

An expert group, chaired by Mark Ferguson, the director general of Science Foundation Ireland, was appointed earlier this year to carry out an urgent review of rapid testing. The report submitted by the group has yet to be published.

The States health watchdog has said that the rapid-test kits have reduced diagnostic accuracy and should not replace PCR testing. However, the Health Information and Quality Authority did say they could be used to enhance the current system.

Rapid antigen tests have been identified as a potentially key technology for slowing transmission of Covd-19.

While they are not as sensitive as lab-based molecular tests, they are easier and cheaper to deploy and can, some experts argue, be conducted frequently enough to overcome any lack of sensitivity.

There is no question antigen testing us a superb extra weapon to use, Professor ONeill said.

Read More

Kingston Mills said the key benefit of rapid testing is that it can pick up asymptomatic cases and helps stops the spread of the virus to others.

He said targeted rapid testing in places like schools, nursing homes and workplaces should be added to the States testing strategy.

Its a method of allowing businesses get back operating, he said.

The real benefit of this is in the workforce, helping people get back to business and also in schools in universities."

Separately, Nursing Homes Ireland has written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to request that the introduction of antigen testing for nursing home visitors be considered and introduced.

"Whilst the majority of residents and staff have had their double vaccine, we need to ensure that every measure is taken to keep Covid-19 out of the nursing home environment, CEO Tadhg Daly said.

"Antigen testing can fulfil an important role in supporting visits in nursing homes, which are informed and guided by public health as part of a range of measures that include ongoing strict infection prevention and control protocols."

NHI previously sought information on the use of antigen testing in healthcare settings in previous correspondence which was sent on February 4.

The HSE said in a statement that it continues to examine emerging scientific developments in Covid-19 testing, including antigen and the potential role of such tests within the context of the pandemic response and the national testing and tracing strategy.

As part of HSE antigen validation studies, over 7,700 antigen tests were undertaken across a number of acute hospital, community testing and food producing locations in combination with confirmatory PCR testing.

The European Commission makes antigen tests available to EU Member States where required, and the HSE has received an allocation of tests to support testing nationally. The HSE will finalise its validation over the coming weeks.
Police and education authorities have been joining hands in ensuring safe campuses after a number of violent incidents in schools in recent years, and the efforts have paid off.

Since January 2020, more than 83,000 campus security risks nationwide were identified and rectified. Police have also helped resolve about 10,000 school-related conflicts and disputes, a Ministry of Public Security official said on Friday.

Apart from enhancing security patrols around campuses, police officers also tightened security measures inside campuses, said Zhang Zuoliang, deputy head of the ministry's public security administration bureau.

In recent years, there have been some violent incidents on campuses. For instance, a school worker injured 20 children at a primary school in Beijing's Xicheng district in January 2019.

The same year, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Education launched a campaign to build a campus security system combining internal and external prevention and control through traditional and technological means.

The plan aims to ensure all primary and secondary schools are under closed management during school hours, have full-time security guards and are equipped with emergency alarm devices and video monitoring systems that connect with local public security bureaus.

By March, 98 percent of primary and secondary schools nationwide were under closed management, and 91 percent of schools had full-time security guards. More than 90 percent of all schools have installed emergency alarm devices and video surveillance systems directly linked with police, Zhang said on Friday.

In the past two years, more than 250,000 public security posts were set up around campuses and over 300,000 police officers are serving as legal advisers in schools to help protect students, he said.

Public security and education authorities have also established a monthly consultation mechanism to share information and supervision.

Police nationwide have also strengthened the crackdown on child abduction and trafficking and have made full use of scientific and technological means to find the abducted children, according to the ministry.

In January, the ministry launched a nationwide operation named "Reunion" to bust suspended child trafficking cases and find missing children.

Tong Bishan, deputy head of the ministry's criminal investigation bureau, said public security departments would do their utmost to bust such cases and conduct comprehensive searches for children who have been reported missing since 1978.

In 2009, the ministry set up a DNA system to collect and match information between parents with missing children and people who suspect they were abducted.

Tong called for parents with missing children and suspected abductees to receive free DNA collection and give relevant information to public security organs.

In May 2016, the ministry built a platform to publish emergency information about missing children. By March, the platform had released 4,722 pieces of information about missing children, with 98.1 percent of the missing children having been found, according to the ministry.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - Resuming the once-weekly, in-depth course on the Citys various functions, departments, services and facilities, the Neighborhood Leadership Academy (NLA) seeks applicants for a limited number of openings.

NLA provides background and training on how the City works and is billed as a springboard for both local activism and public service, such as on a board or commission, or City Council.

Applications are available on the neighborhood leadership page of the Citys website, https://www.yumaaz.gov .

There is no fee to apply or attend. The deadline for applications is April 12; however, class size is limited, so prospective applicants are encouraged to apply soon.

Academy participants will meet this year for three-hour evening sessions, generally on Thursday evenings, every week from April 15 through July 21, culminating with a graduation event July 29. A maximum number of 20 Yuma residents will be selected for this years academy from the group of applicants.

The NLA is an effort to ensure that the goals of the City are shared at the neighborhood level and neighborhood issues are at the forefront of policy decisions considered by the City Council. The NLA supports the formation of neighborhood associations and empowers residents in a neighborhood to seek a better quality of life that is citizen-driven and focused.

In a creative learning environment, the NLA brings together some of the City of Yumas leading representatives to equip participants with valuable insight and direction about understanding the City Charter, roles and responsibilities of City Council and City administration, an understanding of how City government works and its role in community affairs.

Graduates from the Neighborhood Leadership Academy are prepared for appointments to official City boards and commissions and are ready to serve if asked to work with City staff and Council on ad-hoc committees focusing on special issues and topics, and on community events.

Past graduates have reported that they leave better informed and prepared to participate in neighborhood associations and community boards. Some have served on City Council.

For additional information on the Neighborhood Leadership Academy or questions regarding the application, call City of Yuma Neighborhood Services at 928-373-5187.
Over one year after the 36 state governors agreed to implement the unified rate of N145 per linear metre fee for Right of Way (RoW) in the laying of fibre optic cables for broadband deployment, 29 states have refused to implement the agreement, a situation that is slowing down the pace of broadband deployment and penetration in the country.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, who delivered the keynote address at a recent virtual stakeholders' forum, organised by the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said few days ago, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, gave his consent in writing, to begin the implementation of the agreement in the state.

The recent development would take the total number of states implementing the new RoW fee to seven, which includes: Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Ekiti, Kwara, Anambra and Imo.

Worried about the development, Pantami appealed to the 29 state governors to consider implementing the new rate as earlier agreed, to enable Nigeria meet its 70 per cent broadband penetration target by 2025, as enshrined in the 2020-2025 Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP).

According to the Minister, he had engaged with the members of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), facilitated by its chairman, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on the 22nd of January 2020, and they agreed on the unified rate.

"At that meeting, I made a presentation on the benefits of broadband and requested the buy-in of the governors for the implementation of Broadband Plan and the Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria, and the governors unanimously agreed to adopt a maximum of N145/linear metre.

"Some of the governors have even waived this amount altogether. Many of the governors have begun full implementation and some have notified us in writing.

"We received reports that some states have introduced some extraneous charges that have increased the charges beyond the amount agreed. We are discussing with states involved in such cases, with a view to addressing the disparity," Pantami said.

Before the January 2020 meeting there was disparity in the fees charged by state governors in their respective states, which range between N500 to N6,000 per linear metre.

Pantami's keynote address, which focused on the importance of broadband in national development, also assessed the level of broadband penetration in the country and how to achieve the country's broadband strategies, which seek to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria at a minimum of 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90 per cent of the population and penetration rate of 70 per cent by 2025 at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data.

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The NNBP also targets the deployment of nationwide fibre coverage to reach all state capitals, and provision of a point of presence in at least 90 per cent of local government headquarters. It also targets tertiary educational institutions, major hospitals in each state and fibre connectivity at statutory rates of N145/meter for Right of Way (RoW).

President of ATCON, Ikechukwu Nnamani, in his opening remarks, said: "The development of a solid digital economy rests on the foundation of a well distributed broadband infrastructure and involves the convergence of all technology types and classes of service.

"To this end we have brought together key industry leaders cutting across the nine sub-group of ATCON's membership to discuss and strategise with the leadership of the public sector on the best ways to achieve an accelerated implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan."

Chairman of MTN Board of Directors, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, said the private sector must be actively engaged in achieving the Nigerian National Broadband Plan, because broadband is the driver of economic growth and development. He stressed the need for more telecoms infrastructure rollout by telecoms operators and the need for funding of broadband rollout in rural areas by government.
Swiss bank Credit Suisse said it may have suffered a highly significant loss from a default by a US-based hedge fund on margin calls that it and other banks made last week, while Japans Nomura said it could face a loss of $US2 billion ($2.6 billion) due to an event with a US client.

Credit Suisse didnt identify the significant hedge fund or the other banks affected, or give other details of what happened. News reports identified the hedge fund as New York-based Archegos Capital Management.

Credit Suisse says the loss could be highly significant and material to our first-quarter results. Credit:Bloomberg

Following the failure of the fund to meet these margin commitments, Credit Suisse and a number of other banks are in the process of exiting these positions, the company said.

The Financial Times reported that Archegos had large exposures to ViacomCBS and several Chinese technology stocks and was hit hard after shares of the US media group fell last week.
On December 4, 2011, Kenyans were introduced to a nine-year-old girl with an enormous voice during Emmy Kosgei's launch of her album Ololo (No Turning Back) on national television.

Nikita Kering was the girl who gave a vibrant performance of Emmy's Taunet Nelel, and the nation took note.

Music, she says, has always been her passion, but what got her this far was her parents. Her father has been the base of her support, while mum pushed her every step of the way.

Now 19 and with a six-track extended play (EP) expected to come out in two months, and fresh from celebrating a milestone of 200,000 followers on Instagram, Nikita, still a vocal force to reckon with, says she is now confident enough to chart her own path.

The more she got exposed to pop, R&B and contemporary music and literature at school as she grew up, the more she felt at home with a much younger and hip sound. She has drawn vocal influences from global stars like Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce, Jasmine Sullivan, Kofee and Tems.

"The older I got, the bigger expectations became. I was no longer just the little girl with a great voice. People wanted to see more of what I could do," she says.

Nikita wrote her first song, Happy With You, at the age of 15.

"I didn't know I could compose songs before that because everyone was telling me to sing in a particular way," she says.

'Better Than Ever'

She recently released a song from her EP, Better Than Ever, a love song.

"I love studying people's experiences of love and break-ups and giving them a deeper meaning; a different view. These are my wishes and dreams of how I expect love to be, from an innocent perspective of someone who is yet to experience these things," she says.

Nikita has worked with big names in the industry over the years, including Sauti Sol during their virtual Christmas performance, and recently at a concert headlined by Juma Jux and Otile Brown.

"Having people 15 years older than I am calling me their peer makes me want to work even harder. I look at their successes and wonder how much more I can achieve by the time I get to their age. That keeps me from slowing down," she says.

Having been focused on her music, Nikita says she is yet to try out the dating scene. But it hasn't stopped people from "sliding" into her DMs (sending direct messages to her social media accounts).

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"Shoot your shot if you want to, but I don't respond to inappropriate ones. I would also 'slide' into a guy's DM and tell him I like his style or something. But I feel like someone is diverting me from my goal when they want to start going out with me," she says.

An advocate for body positivity and consciousness, she believes women -- no matter their size or shape -- shouldn't be sexualised or told what they can or can't wear as long as they are comfortable.

Nikita's parents advised her against having all her eggs in one basket and she has earned off her image through endorsements and appearances, doing corporate gigs, and from streaming.

She was unveiled as the new ambassador for Samsung during the launch of their S21 models in January, joining actress Foi Wambui and rapper Nyashinski as young entertainers who are ambassadors of the brand.

"I had been familiar with their devices and how much easier they would make my creative process. I also respected that they knew exactly how we can bring the best out of each other as two different brands," says Nikita.

But she still takes breather from work.

"Because of the age factor, there was a time in my life I was super famous and I needed something to clear my head. I love cooking and baking, and making cosmetic products; hair and make-up. I'd also make eye shadow from food colour. When beauty materials were expensive about seven years ago, I would try hacks like making hair rollers from toilet paper inside rolls or learning how to curl hair using a spoon. I also enjoy horse-riding."

Later on in her career, "at the age of 35", Nikita would like to turn her hobbies into businesses, too.
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Coffee pulp delivery (Day 1) Credit: Rebecca Cole

A new study finds that coffee pulp, a waste product of coffee production, can be used to speed up tropical forest recovery on post agricultural land. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence.

In the study, researchers from ETH-Zurich and the University of Hawai`i spread 30 dump truck loads of coffee pulp on a 35  40m area of degraded land in Costa Rica and marked out a similar sized area without coffee pulp as a control.

"The results were dramatic" said Dr. Rebecca Cole, lead author of the study. "The area treated with a thick layer of coffee pulp turned into a small forest in only two years while the control plot remained dominated by non-native pasture grasses."

After only two years the coffee pulp treated area had 80% canopy cover compared to 20% in the control area. The canopy in the coffee pulp area was also four times taller than that of the control area.

The addition of the half metre thick layer of coffee pulp eliminated the invasive pasture grasses which dominated the land. These grasses are often a barrier to forest succession and their removal allowed native, pioneer tree species, that arrived as seeds through wind and animal dispersal, to recolonise the area quickly.

The researchers also found that after two years, nutrients including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous were significantly elevated in the coffee pulp treated area compared to the control. This is a promising finding given former tropical agricultural land is often highly degraded and poor soil quality can delay forest succession for decades.

Year 1: Edge between coffee pulp and control plot. Credit: Rebecca Cole.

Dr. Cole said: "This case study suggests that agricultural by-products can be used to speed up forest recovery on degraded tropical lands. In situations where processing these by-products incurs a cost to agricultural industries, using them for restoration to meet global reforestation objectives can represent a 'win-win' scenario."

As a widely available waste product that's high in nutrients, coffee pulp can be a cost-effective forest restoration strategy. Such strategies will be important if we are to achieve ambitious global objectives to restore large areas of forest, such as those agreed in the 2015 Paris Accords.

The study was conducted in Coto Brus county in southern Costa Rica on a former coffee farm that is being restored to forest for conservation. In the 1950's the region underwent rapid deforestation and land conversion to coffee agriculture and pasture with forest cover reduced to 25% by 2014.

In 2018, the researchers set out two areas of roughly 35  40m, spreading coffee pulp into a half meter-thick layer on one area and leaving the other as a control.

The researchers analysed soil samples for nutrients immediately prior to the application of the coffee pulp and again two years later. They also recorded the species present, the size of woody stems, percentage of forest ground cover and used drones to record canopy cover.

Year 3. Coffee pulp plot. Credit: Rebecca Cole.

Dr. Cole warns that as a case study with two years of data, further research is needed to test the use of coffee pulp to aid forest restoration. "This study was done at only one large site so more testing is needed to see if this strategy works across a broader range of conditions. The measurements we share are only from the first two years. Longer-term monitoring would show how the coffee pulp affected soil and vegetation over time. Additional testing can also assess whether there are any undesirable effects from the coffee pulp application."

A limitation of using coffee pulp or other agricultural by-products is that its use is mostly limited to relatively flat and accessible areas where the material can be delivered and the risk of the added nutrients being washed into nearby watersheds can be managed.

On further research into the use of coffee pulp, Dr. Cole said: "We would like to scale up the study by testing this method across a variety of degraded sites in the landscape. Also, this concept could be tested with other types of agricultural non-market products like orange husks.

"We hope our study is a jumping off point for other researchers and industries to take a look at how they might make their production more efficient by creating links to the global restoration movement."

More information: Rebecca J. Cole et al, Coffee pulp accelerates early tropical forest succession on old fields, Ecological Solutions and Evidence (2021). Rebecca J. Cole et al, Coffee pulp accelerates early tropical forest succession on old fields,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/2688-8319.12054
Another COVID relief bill will be pushed by President Joe Biden in his continuous response to the needs of the Americans amid the pandemic. The announcement of the new relief bill is made by White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday, according to a Fox 10 report.

The announcement follows the speculation of the Americans online, which is driven by the prospects regarding the fourth stimulus check that will help Americans and the U.S. economy, according to a MoneyWise report. The new COVID relief bill that will be pushed by the president will focus on specific demographics as well as issues.

ALSO READ: Biden Speech Keynotes: COVID Relief Bill, Post-Pandemic View

New COVID relief bill

The news of the new COVID relief bill follows weeks after the president has signed the $1.9 trillion budget, according to The U.S. Sun. It can be remembered that the $1.9 trillion budget is intended for different expenditures such as $1,400 stimulus checks for the Americans, the funding for reopening the schools, and even reinforcing the efforts of the federal government in the COVID vaccine roll.

"When the president advocated for the American Rescue Plan, he talked about this being two stages: rescue then recovery," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Psaki noted that the Americans will hear the first step of the president's plan on recovery. The said bill will also include investments and infrastructure.

More than 60 members of Congress are urging President Biden to back a fourth stimulus check because they say that many Americans are still struggling more than a year into the COVID crisis. "One more check is not enough during this public health and economic crisis," said the letter sent by the House Democrats. The said letter was signed by 50 Democratic representatives and 11 members of the Senate. The letter does not suggest any amount.

A U.S. Bureau and Labors Statistics study suggested that many Americans have utilized their stimulus checks for their bills like rents, groceries, and other basic needs. The study is based on the first stimulus check amounting to $1,200.

New COVID relief bill's focus

The New COVID relief bill will focus on issues like healthcare and women. "It's a crisis right now," said Jen Psaki pointing out the number of women who have left their job because of the pandemic. Apart from the healthcare, childcare will also be addressed on the new COVID relief bill.

Meanwhile, Senior Democrats are proposing about $3 trillion in new spending on jobs and infrastructure bills. The proposed bill will become the foundation or basis of President Biden's "Build Back Better" program.

The said new COVID relief bill and the Democrats' infrastructure bill are assured by Psaki to be two different proposals. Psaki pointed out that they will work with the Senate and the House to determine how these proposals should move forward.

President Biden is expected to elaborate on the infrastructure package on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the final package or amount of the new COVID relief bill is not yet finalized and is still worked out by the administration.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden Says U.S. in Talks With Other Countries for COVID Vaccine Supply

WATCH: President Joe Biden signs $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill - from CNBC Television
(Newser)  Wildlife officials in California are worried about a strange ailment that appears to strip young bears of their fear of humansand also is causing fatal brain inflammation. Cases have been turning up in the state since at least 2014, including four in the last year, reports CBS Sacramento. As an example, the Sacramento Bee cites this popular video from 2019 in which a bear cub ventures up to a snowboarder. The video may evoke laughs, but the behavior is anything but normal for a bear. Sure enough, when the same animal was caught soon afterward, it was found to have brain inflammation. In this case, the bear didn't have to be put down, but the animal requires veterinary care to this day and likely will never be released back into the wild. So far, scientists have discovered five new viruses in the sick bears, though it's not clear whether the viruses are to blame.

story continues below

"We started seeing something strange, I believe it was about five years ago," an exec with the nonprofit BEAR League tells CBS. For example, a bear walked into a school, then into a classroom full of children. "He sat in the back just like a puppy dog," says Ann Bryant. "That was not normal. That bear should have been terrified to go into a building with a lot of people." Generally, afflicted bears just seem offoften with a tilted head or a zoned-out look. Wildlife officials say the ailment doesn't appear to make the "neurologically dull" animals more aggressive toward humans, though they're wary if close encounters continue to increase, per KRCR. There's also the possibility of a potentially harmful virus jumping to humans, though the chances of that happening appear to be low, per the Bee. Cases also have turned up in Nevada. (Read more bears stories.)
Manly star Daly Cherry-Evans has voiced his concern over the NRLs recent spate of injuries, asking how far the game is willing to push player welfare for the sake of entertainment.

The comments from Cherry-Evans, who was recently made president of the Rugby League Players Association, came as Roosters coach Trent Robinson revealed he only has 19 fit players inside the clubs top squad for their clash against the Warriors on Sunday, and that hell need an exemption from the NRL to fill team list requirements.

After a brutal round in which several teams suffered horror injury tolls, Robinson has barely been left with enough healthy players for their round four clash at the SCG. The NRL requires all clubs to name 21 players on Tuesday afternoon for their upcoming match.

Teenage phenomenon Sam Walker is certain to make his debut for the Tricolours while 17-year-old Joseph Suaalii, who was only recently granted dispensation by the NRL to make his debut before his 18th birthday, will be named in Robinsons extended squad.
STORY LINK Pound Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate Rises as UK Takes Big Step in Cautious Easing Lockdown Restrictions

GBP/CAD Exchange Rate as UK allows Outdoor Group Socialising

Canadian Dollar (CAD) Falls Despite Rebounding Oil Prices

GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Forecast: Could Rising Oil Prices Boost the Canadian Dollar This Week?

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The Pound Canadian Dollar exchange rate rose by 0.4% today as the UK takes a big step in a cautious easing of lockdown restrictions. The pairing is currently fluctuating around CA$1.74.Outdoor group socialising is now legal in the UK, buoying UK market confidence as the nation takes steps towards reopening its economy.Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged caution, however, saying:We must remain cautious, with cases rising across Europe and new variants threatening our vaccine rollout. Despite todays easements, everyone must continue to stick to the rules.Nonetheless, falling UK Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations have buoyed confidence in the UK economy, which is set to steadily reopen over the course of the next few months.In UK economic data, today saw the release of the latest mortgage approval figure for February, which fell from 97,000 in January to 87,000 last month.Howard Archer, the Chief Economic Advisor to EY Item Club, commented on the report:Bank of England reported mortgage approvals for house purchases dipped for 3rd month running in February and at [an] increased rate to 6-month low of 87,669 (97,350 in January & more than 13-year high of 103,708 in November). Feb level still 6th highest level since September 2007.Falling mortgage approvals have failed to dampen UK market mood, however, with investors largely expecting approvals to head higher in March and April, when lockdowns have begun to ease.The Canadian Dollar (CAD) failed to rise against the Pound today despite WTI oil prices rebounding about $60 and driving demand for the oil-sensitive Loonie.However, growing concerns over Europes third-wave of Covid-19 infections have dampened global market mood, leaving some CAD investors feeling more cautious.Mikal Skuterud, an economics professor at the University of Waterloo, commented on the state of the Canadian economy:Its really hard to understand whats going on.We saw some (economic recovery) in February. I expect almost certainly were going to see some of that improvement in March. But its slow. Were still a long way off.As a result, Canadian Dollar (CAD) traders are becoming largely cautious as the outlook for Canadas economy looks increasingly uncertain as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds.The International Monetary Fund (IMF), however, has expressed confidence in Canadas economic rebound in the months ahead.Canadian Dollar (CAD) traders will be looking ahead to Wednesdays publication of the latest Canadian Gross Domestic Production figure for January.Any marked improvement in Canadas growth at the beginning of this year would be CAD-positive.Oil prices will continue to drive the Canadian Dollar Pound (CAD/GBP) exchange rate, however, with any signs of rising prices driving-up the oil-sensitive Loonie.The Pound Canadian Dollar could head higher this week, however, if the outlook for the UK economy continues to improve as lockdown restrictions are cautiously eased.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: Canadian Dollar Forecasts Pound Canadian Dollar Forecasts
An Ocean County car dealer who sued an insurance company that refused to cover the businesss monetary losses during the coronavirus pandemic has lost its case in federal court.

Downs Ford of Toms River sued Zurich American Insurance Company, alleging the carrier was obligated to cover business losses that the dealer incurred after New Jersey shut down non-essential businesses last year.

But Zurich claimed Downs Fords insurance policy contained a virus exclusion. On Thursday, a federal judge sided with Zurich.

The language of the virus exclusion is clear, U.S. District Judge Brian R. Maritnotti wrote in his decision granting Zurichs motion to dismiss the case.

Downs Ford, which sells new and pre-owned cars on Route 37 East, argued in court filings the policy provided for a civil authority coverage, which would pay in the event adjacent commercial buildings, offices and retail establishments had also been damaged.

But Maritnotti, however, found that the virus exclusion overrode the civil authority claim.

We will not pay for loss or damage caused by or resulting from any virus, bacterium or other microorganism that induces or is capable of inducing physical distress, illness or disease, the contract states.

The lawsuit, which was first filed May 27, 2020 in Superior Court of Ocean County before it was transferred to federal court, stated that Downs Ford suffered a business income interruption after Gov. Phil Murphy signed Executive Order 107.

The order prohibited members of the public and potential buyers from entering most businesses.

As a result, the car dealer lost income due to the loss of customers, patrons, vendors, suppliers, supplies and other essential physical materials necessary to operate, the suit states.

Gary Ahladianakis, an attorney for Downs Ford, said the ruling ignores the reasonable expectations of the insured business owner.

Zurichs commercial business policy issued to my client clearly provides coverage for business income losses suffered as a result of official actions taken by civil authorities, Ahladianakis said in an email to NJ Advance Media.

Our firm will continue to assess all legal actions, remedies and options available in our efforts to limit the insurance companies systematic denial of valid insurance claims, Ahladianakis said.

The Downs Ford lawsuit is similar to others in New Jersey recently, including one filed on March 19 by RWJBarnabas in Superior Court of Essex County after Zurich allegedly refused to pay up to $2.5 billion in claims.

The hospital says in court papers that nine people died and more than 1,000 have been become ill with coronavirus at RWJBarnabas hospitals in New Jersey.

Attorneys for the hospital system allege Zurich removed the virus clause from the policy before the pandemic began.

Law360 reported Friday that insurance companies are facing a deluge of litigation over denying coverage of COVID-19 claims in the last year.

As of Thursday, 1,539 such cases have been filed since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from the University of Connecticuts Insurance Law Center.

Zurich faces more than 100 lawsuits from policyholders that are related to payouts and the pandemic, Law360 reported.

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. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A Brisbane gym has been added to a growing list of venues visited by an infected coronavirus case as the city is plunged into a snap lockdown.

Queensland has recorded seven local-acquired cases since Friday, sparking a three day lockdown of Greater Brisbane and surrounding regions.

Fourteen more locations were added to an already lengthy list of high risk Covid-19 hotspots late Monday as Queensland battles to contain a second wave of the virus.

Among the latest venues to be added is the FitStop Gym in Morningside after an infected case attended between 6.50am and 8am on Friday March 26.

Anyone who was at the gym during the listed time is regarded as a close contact and must self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the test result.

Other new venues include Woolworths in Carseldine and Aldi in Bald Hills, and a number of restaurants.

The popular Black Hops Brewery in East Brisbane has also been added to the Covid alert list

Anyone who attended the FitStop Gym in Morningside (pictured) between 6.50am-8am on March 16 must self-isolate for 14 days, even if they return a negative test

Three of the four locally-acquired cases announced on Monday are close contacts of known cases, but those infected may have been out in the community - raising the risk more transmission may have occurred.

Two of the cases - a nurse and her sister - visited the popular tourist town of Byron Bay in northern NSW while infectious, sparking fears the virus has already spread interstate.

People considered to be close contacts of a confirmed case have been urged to take a test and self-isolate for 14 days.

Casual contacts should get tested immediately and quarantine until they receive a negative result.

More than two million residents are only allowed to leave their homes for four essential reasons in Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands after lockdown came into effect on 5pm Monday.

Schools will be closed and businesses will have no choice but to shut up shop just days out from school and Easter holidays, which are touted to be one of the busiest periods for the hospitality and tourism industry.

The Coles in the Stockland shopping centre in Gladstone, has also been visited by a potentially infected customer

Brisbane residents are seen queuing up to get a Covid-19 test ahead of the three day lockdown

Health authorities have been left red-faced after earlier promising an end to the days of widespread lockdown.

Only on March 19, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young boasted health authorities had 12 months to refine an effective system of contact tracing so that widespread lockdowns would no longer be necessary.

'Absolutely, there's no need to go into lockdown when we've got responses like this,' Dr Young said.

'We've handled it beautifully, absolutely beautifully.'

Dr Young said authorities would only lockdown the most vulnerable people if there was ever a risk of another Covid-19 outbreak.
[March 29, 2021] MEDISCA Sponsors LP3 Network's Virtual Student Event Drawing Over 350 Pharmacy Students Worldwide

On March 19, 2021, future pharmacists from over 35 colleges came together to participate in a live FREE Virtual Student Event sponsored by Medisca, a global leader in the compounding pharmaceutical industry. The event, created and hosted by LP3 Network, attracted over 350 students from more than 10 countries and sought to promote the industry through interactive discussions and first-hand narratives about the vital role that compounding pharmacies played during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Virtual Student Event included experts from across the compounding industry, allowing pharmacists, business owners, policy experts, and Medisca representatives to host important conversations with interested students. The event was part of a larger initiative of Medisca and LP3 Network to consistently support the future of compounding pharmacy by exposing students to high quality education, research, and industry-leading experts. "A committed supporters of student initiatives for over 15 years, we are proud to continue our tradition of excellence with our global partner, Medisca," said Maurizio De Stefano, General Manager of LP3 Network. "We are thrilled to see so many students interested in the art and science of compounding, ready to engage as tomorrow's leaders and begin making a difference in their own communities. Together, we look forward to supporting them along their professional journeys."



About MEDISCA MEDISCA is the leader in providing turnkey solutions to the pharmaceutical compounding industry and allied health care professionals worldwide. Through its global partners, LP3 Network and MEDISCA Network, MEDISCA is committed to being a complete resource for prescribers, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians engaged in personalized medicine by offering educational trainings, products, and support. Founded in 1989, the company has locations in Canada, the United States and Australia, optimizing its service to the international market. For more information about MEDISCA, please visit www.medisca.com and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at @medisca.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005764/en/

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Daniel Sepiol Wins Record-Breaking MSPT Riverside $1,100 Main Event ($162,781)

March 29, 2021 Mo Nuwwarah

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) has come roaring back, and there's been no surer sign of the health of the tour than the state-record turnout of 862 entries that showed up for MSPT Riverside $1,100 Main Event in the tour's first-ever visit there.

Conquering that field after three long days of play was Indiana's Daniel Sepiol. The 27-year-old pro earned a career-best $162,750 that outdistanced his previous personal best of $52K by quite a bit. Playing for big money didn't rattle him at all though, as he said he was comfortable pretty much the whole time.

"I've played a lot of these tournaments and made some deep runs but never really made runs at the final table," he said. "So, it feels good."

Indeed, Sepiol had accrued four cashes on tour, but a ninth-place finish back in January 2019 had been his top placing. Here, he never put himself in danger of fizzling out as he held the chip lead nearly the entire time at the final table.

Official Final Table Results

Place Player Hometown Prize 1 Daniel Sepiol Michigan City, Indiana $162,750 2 Jason Crews Ankeny, Iowa $100,156 3 Kyna England Northbrook, Illinois $73,782 4 Jovan Sudar Omaha, Nebraska $55,086 5 Renato Spahiu Lombard, Illinois $41,732 6 Nick Pupillo Gilbert, Arizona $31,716 7 Austin Hohenadel Muscatine, Iowa $24,205 8 Andy Rogowski Chicago, Illinois $19,197 9 Lester Crew Colana, Illinois $15,024

Sepiol had to deal with several accomplished players as the field wound down, sitting with the likes of Phil Mader and Byron Ziebell. However, they'd fall short of the final table while Sepiol chipped up and carried the lead into the final nine.

Once there, he continued to have things break his way as he won a key early flip against Lester Crew by hitting an ace on the river with Big Slick against pocket eights. As Crew had come in with the third-place stack, Sepiol took control of a third of the chips with eight players remaining.

Jovan Sudar briefly challenged for the lead when he busted Nick Pupillo, who was appearing at his seventh final table on the tour. Sudar couldn't sustain his surge, though, and he handed out doubles to both Kyna England and Jason Crews before bowing out in fourth.

Sepiol, on the other hand, continued to have the key spots go his way. England made a big call blind versus blind with king-nine and was ahead of Sepiol's queen-ten but he found a queen on the flop to bust her and get heads up.

"I ran really, really well all day," he admitted.

His streak of all-in luck finally ended heads up as Crews doubled through him once and then pulled out a runner-runner chop after Sepiol got him all in with two pair against Crews' top pair. That one left Sepiol cursing in frustration, but he won enough of the other pots that it just didn't matter and he busted Crews not long after.

The big score will aid Sepiol as he continues to transition more of his play from online to live. He said he's been playing for a living for about three years, and while he was comfortable playing online during the shutdown, he was eager to get back to cards and felt he could feel and opponents he could see.

"Definitely," he said when asked if he returned to live play as soon as it was available. "I had the itch."

There will be plenty more ahead as he plans to tackle a busy schedule coming up. He's going to start by heading back to Vegas, where he's been grinding since last year, and then plans to hit Florida for the big WPT.

Then, Sepiol and the MSPT will meet up in California for another new event at Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego. Both will try to keep the momentum going after a hugely successful trip to Iowa.

Click here for more information on the MSPT's next stop, which will be its first-ever in California.
By Pamela Barbaglia and Abhinav Ramnarayan

LONDON (Reuters) - Food delivery group has narrowed the price range on its initial public offering, ensuring its order books were fully covered for what will be London's biggest in a decade.

The London-based company, founded by boss William Shu in 2013, could be valued at up to 7.85 billion pounds ($10.85 billion) in its stock market debut on March 31.

The listing is set to be London's biggest since Glencore in May 2011 and also the biggest tech float on the London Stock Exchange, dwarfing The Hut Group last year.

narrowed its price range on Monday to between 3.90 and 4.10 pounds per share, indicating a valuation of between 7.6 billion pounds and 7.85 billion pounds, excluding shares offered as part of an over-allotment issue.

The company opted against pricing the deal at the top of an original price range of between 3.90 and 4.60 pounds - which would have given it a market value of up to 8.8 billion pounds - citing market volatility.

Banks working on the deal said on Monday that order books were covered throughout the price range, showing demand would "exceed the full deal size."

" has received very significant demand from institutions across the globe. The deal is covered multiple times throughout the range, led by three highly respected anchor investors," a company spokesperson confirmed.

"Given volatile global market conditions for IPOs, Deliveroo is choosing to price responsibly within the initial range and at an entry point that maximises long-term value for our new institutional and retail investors."

A source familiar with the listing said the company had to take into account the performance of some recent deals, such as U.S. cloud computing firm DigitalOcean and British online reviews platform Trustpilot, which were both trading below their IPO price.

"By narrowing its target range, Deliveroo is trying to make sure it doesn't hit a bump in the road as it begins its journey on the stock market," said Hargreaves Lansdown's senior investment and markets analyst, Susannah Streeter.

Deliveroo has benefited from lockdown demand for takeaway food during the COVID-19 crisis when restaurants across Europe were forced to shut down.

Its revenues have soared and its so-called gross transaction value - a measure of the total value of orders received - jumped 64.3% in 2020 to 4.1 billion pounds.

'MANAGING EXPECTATIONS'

Deliveroo's order book has so far attracted strong interest from U.S. investors which are familiar with the dual-class share structures and the dynamics of tech listings, the source close to the IPO said.

Yet, some British institutional investors are not comfortable with the company's decision not to pursue a premium listing. This will allow its CEO Shu to retain enhanced shareholder rights but means the company will not join the FTSE indices.

UK fund manager Legal & General Investment Management said last week it was unlikely to participate in the IPO.

"It may be blaming volatile market conditions for the move, but the rejection of the IPO by a slew of institutional investors is likely to also have caused some concern at the delivery company," Hargreaves Lansdown's Streeter said.

"It's likely initial orders for the IPO have come in nearer the bottom of the target range, and by setting its sights nearer those prices, it is managing expectations on its ride to listed status," she added.

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are acting as joint global coordinators on the deal while Bank of America, Citigroup, Jefferies and Numis are the joint bookrunners.

($1 = 0.7232 pounds)

(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Abhinav Ramnarayan; Editing by Alex Richardson, Edmund Blair and Jane Merriman)

(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 Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr William Benjamin Assuah together with the party's Regional Executive Committee has embarked on a weeklong "Thank You" tour across the entire Western North Region.



The tour has the Regional Chairman and the team visiting the Bia East, Juaboso, Bodi, Akontombra, Aowin, Suaman-Dadieso, Wiawso and Bibiani constituencies, all in the Western North region.



The tour, according to Mr William Benjamin Assuah was a multi-purpose one that focused on acknowledging the efforts and contributions of the various constituencies in the outcome of the 2020 general elections.



The New Patriotic Party is noted to have relatively increased their gains in the Western North Region, contributing more votes than ever before to the entire vote difference that gave victory to H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



The tour also had the Regional Chairman and his executives explaining to the various constituencies how resources were distributed in the various constituencies and polling stations in ensuring there weren't any imbalances across the various constituencies.



He further explained the party's intention to keeping faith with the grassroots by constantly engaging them in such interactions that seek to advance the course of the elephant fraternity.



He added that their visit to the constituencies wasn't just to say "Thank you" but to further engage the constituents and have them voice out their challenges so the party can devise more resilient ways of addressing those challenges.



Speaking with the constituency executives, Mr William Benjamin Assuah addressed the numerous unemployment challenge facing them and reiterated the party's commitment to ensuring the necessary steps are taken in creating employment avenues and opportunities for their members as early as possible.



The various constituency executives expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Regional Executive Committee for their thoughtfulness and how impressed they were about the visit. They further applauded the Regional Chairman and his team and asked that they continue with the grassroots engagement as it helps them to better address their issues.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Featured Video
Giada De Laurentiis puts an Italian spin on turkey day with her Italian Thanksgiving menu and she does the same thing with Easter. The cooking show host makes an Easter Pie using only nine ingredients, including kitchen staples such as vanilla extract, eggs, and sugar.

Giada De Laurentiis Easter Pie is an Italian version of cheesecake

Giada De Laurentiis | Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for NYCWFF

RELATED: Giada De Laurentiis Reveals Her Food Philosophy

First up, what exactly is Easter pie? De Laurentiis gives a little bit of background on the dish via her website, Giadzy. Basically, its the Italian version of a cheesecake. And despite the name, Easter Pie isnt a dessert only made in the spring.

Italians love Easter pie so much, we make it year-round and its surprisingly easy to make, De Laurentiis said. Think of it as the Italian equivalent to cheesecake  creamy, light, and just sweet enough!

The cookbook author and celebrity chef made her Easter Pie recipe on an early Viewer Requests episode of her cooking show, Everyday Italian. Not only is it simple to make but its also vegetarian.

Giada De Laurentiis Easter Pie is a combination of crunchy and cream

De Laurentiis uses just nine ingredients in her Easter Pie recipe. Its got the creaminess of a cheesecake but with a few added twists.

The Food Network star makes the filling in a food processor by combining powdered sugar, eggs, orange zest, ricotta cheese, and vanilla extract. According to a video on Food Networks website, De Laurentiis says the orange zest adds great flavor and fragrance to the filling.

Easter pie is the Italian equivalent to cheesecake creamy, light and just sweet enough! @Giadzy https://t.co/NWvZanpx7l pic.twitter.com/uH0kZI7tVV  Giada De Laurentiis (@GDeLaurentiis) March 27, 2018

RELATED: Ina Gartens 5 Most Popular Barefoot Contessa Dessert Recipes, According To Food Network

After the ease of the filling, the recipe gets a little trickier. De Laurentiis layers delicate sheets of phyllo to make a flakey, crunchy crust. Using store-bought phyllo, she makes sure to cover the sheets shes not using with a damp cloth.

The trick to is you need to keep it very moist, she said. If you dont, it dries out and becomes brittle and difficult to work with. Itll just fall apart.

Dont worry about rips or tears because theyre all going to be covered up with a dusting of powdered sugar when the Easter Pie comes out of the oven.

How to Make Giada De Laurentiis Easter Pie

First, De Laurentiis uses a food processor to make the filling. She combines vanilla, orange zest, and ricotta cheese. Then comes brushing sheets of phyllo with melted butter. When six layers have been made, she adds cooked rice and toasted pine nuts for some crunch to the filling before pouring it into the dish.

After the pies been in the oven for approximately 35 minutes, its left to cool before being dusted with powdered sugar. Gartens recipe makes 8 to 10 servings.

Ingredients for Giada De Laurentiis Easter Pie:
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Megan Thee Stallion is helping donate $50K to the Asian community to honor the victims of the Atlanta-area spa shootings.

The 26-year-old rapper is using her star power and money in the wake of a rise in hate against Asian Americans since the COVID-19 outbreak.

This comes after eight people, six of of them women of Asian descent, were killed on March 16 during the rampage at three spas before police arrested a 21-year-old man suspected of being the lone gunman.

Taking a stance: Megan Thee Stallion, 26, is using her star power and money to honor the victims of the Atlanta-area spa shootings, which were nearly all Asian women

'I am heartbroken by the loss of eight individuals taken from their families on March 16 in a senseless, violent attack against Asian Americans,' Megan, 26, began in the caption of her announcement.

'To honor the memory of these victims, @FashionNova and I have partnered with the journalist and Asian activist @mayleeshow on a $50,000 donation to @advancing_justice_atl who work tirelessly to protect the civil and human rights of Asian Americans in Georgia and the Southeast.'

She ended the statement by adding, 'We stand in solidarity with all Asian Americans in saying that enough is enough. #StopAsianHate #StandWithAANHPICommunity'

Megan and Fashion Nova have partnered with journalist and activist May Lee on a $50,000 donation to the nonprofit, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is the first and only nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in Georgia and the Southeast, according to the statement.

Police arrested Robert Aaron Long of Woodstock, Georgia, and charged him with eight counts of murder in connection to the spa shootings.

The suspect reportedly told investigators that his actions were not racially motivated and that he frequented some of the spas where the shootings happened, according to USA Today.

Carnage: Eight people were killed, six of them Asian women, during the shooting rampage at three spas in the Atlanta area earlier this month

At last check, the Associated Press reported federal investigators had not found enough evidence that would meet the high bar to charge the suspect with a hate crime.

There has been a 150% increase in attacks against Asian Americans in 2020, according to research by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino.

Overall, there were about 3,800 recorded attacks over the past year, which included slurs on the street, stabbings, and vandalism at Asian American-owned businesses.

Megan also recently teamed with Fashion Nova for the $1 million Women On Top Fund aimed at financing 'women entrepreneurs, female students, women owned businesses, and women focused charities,' as reported by Billboard.
The Suez Canal blockage caused vessels to be backed up in the Mediterranean to the north and the Red Sea to the south is again open.

Thanks to a supermoon, the Ever Given, a mega-ship the size of the Empire State Building that had been blocking the Suez Canal, has been refloated and pushed down the canel. According to officials, rescuers safely rescued the front end of the monster freight boat after pushing the rear end.

The Ever Givens ran aground while transiting the Suez Canal on March 23, lodging herself against both banks.

Earlier today, satellite data revealed that the Ever Given had been straightened after its rear end was shifted due to high tides caused by a supermoon.

According to canal officials, the skyscraper-sized boat had been turned 80 percent towards the right direction after the stern was relocated with pulling maneuvers that moved it 335 feet from the bank.

The mega-ship was towed to the canals center and into Great Bitter Bay, a vast body of water halfway between the canals north and south ends.

The ship will be subjected to a technical inspection until it arrives, according to officials.

The ship was rescued, according to Peter Berdowski, CEO of the Dutch company Boskalis, which participated in the rescue operation.

He said, I am pleased to inform you that our team of experts, working together with the Suez Canal Authority, were able to achieve results."

The Ever Given was refloated on March 29 at 15:05 hrs local time, restoring free passage through the Suez Canal.

I am immensely proud of the excellent work performed by the on-site team as well as the many SMIT Salvage and Boskalis colleagues back home to accomplish this difficult operation under the watchful eye of the planet.

The time crunch to finish this operation was obvious and unprecedented, and the outcome is a true demonstration of our unique skills as a dredging and maritime services provider.

With Ever Given being refloated, it is estimated clearing the backlog of vessels would take at least 10 days, according to data firm Refinitiv.

Last Tuesday, the 400m-long Ever Given got wedged in the shipping lane owing to adverse weather conditions, halting $8.94 billion in global trade.

Rescue teams used tug boats and drilling to free the yacht, despite critics warning that the monster vessel might be too large for such an activity.

Berdowski explained that the rescue team used high-pressure water jets to dredge under the vessels bow to free the ship from the clay.

Eleven tugboats were supported by many diggers that vacuumed up sand under at high tide caused by a supermoon. According to canal management company Leth Agencies, the full moon increases the water volume owing to the magnetic force on the planet.

Berdowski said this morning that freeing the front end was not a piece of cake, but the tug boats were able to haul the mammoth boat across the clay of the canal bank.

The Suez Canal transports about 15% of the worlds shipping traffic - approximately 19,000 ships last year - and is a significant source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt.

At least 369 boats, including hundreds of cargo ships, bulk carriers, and oil and gas tankers, were awaiting passage through the canal.

Few ships opted to reroute their cargoes across the Cape of Good Hope, which added almost two weeks to journeys and raised fuel costs.

Brent oil dropped $1 a barrel to $63.67 on reports that the ship had been refloated.

Several dredgers operated overnight to clear 27,000 cubic meters of sand and mud from around the 200,000-tonne ship.

Another strong tugboat, the Italian-flagged Carlo Magno, arrived on Monday, and the flotilla will now concentrate its attention on the ships prow, according to Berdowski.

An official for the ships maker, Shoei Kisen, said it was unclear if the Panama-flagged, owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha (a subsidiary of Imabari Shipbuilding) and time chartered and operated by Taiwanese container line Evergreen Marine would need to go to a port for repairs.

The ship owners did not have a timetable for reopening the critical channel, which transports 7% of the worlds crude.

Hundreds of millions of oil and liquefied natural gas barrels travel across the Persian Gulfs artery on their journey to Europe and North America.

Goods manufactured in China, such as chairs, food, and grocery staples, must travel through the canal or take a detour across Africa.

The unexpected closure has continued to interrupt oil and gas exports from the Middle East to Europe, raising concerns about prolonged delays, product shortages, and increasing consumer prices.

High winds are thought to have swept the boat en route from China to the Netherlands through the small canal that connects Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.

According to Refinitiv, Egypt has already lost more than $95 million in sales due to the termination of canal transits.

According to sources, the ship, its master, passengers, and Egyptian officials who boarded the vessel in the canal are all under investigation.

Shoei Kisen has apologized for the accident and confirmed that every attempt is being made to free the stranded ferry.

Egypts authorities were investigating the accident and claimed strong winds were most definitely a cause.
As the Linda Boni operation intensified in Lamu, the easy routes for Coast youths to sneak into Somalia and join al-Shabaab were blocked.

This has now seen the youth head to Mozambique through the porous Kenya-Tanzania border to join the al-Qaeda linked group, Nation.Africa can reveal.

Cabo Delgado in Mozambique has become the new frontier for the disillusioned young men, some from the Coast, security reports and researches have also shown.

This week, it also emerged in a Mombasa court that two terror suspects from the town are among the latest youths to join the Isis-linked terror group in Mozambique known as Ansar al Sunnah.

According to an affidavit filed in court in a case where another terror suspect, Mr Richard Lazaro Kivatsi, was charged and released on bond, police said it emerged that terror suspects Alfan Ali Juma and Salim Rashid had fled to Mozambique.

In the case, the police claimed that a ballistics analysis of Kivatsi's two mobile phones indicates that he has allegedly been in close contact with Juma and Rashid, who are alleged to have fled to the Southern African country to joined the terror group.

The two, the court was told, are facing terror-related charges in Mombasa and Shanzu courts, but escaped to Mozambique after they were granted bond by the trial courts.

"These two accused persons 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," reads the affidavit by Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) officer Dickson Ndaru.

Intelligence reports indicate that a number of youths who were radicalised by Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo, who was shot dead on August 27, 2012, are among those who have been unleashing terror on the Coast of Mozambique.

A good number of suspects reportedly fled to Tanzania and Mozambique, among other African countries, following the death of Sheikh Rogo.

The members got to Mozambique through Tanzania in Kibiti where they had built a presence in 2015.

A 2019 research paper dubbed "Islamic Radicalisation in Northern Mozambique, the Case of Mocimboa da Praia" written by Saide Habibe, Salvador Forquilha and Joao Pereira, noted that the exclusivist views of the terror group in the region crystallised further when the group "incorporated the followers of Aboud Rogo Mohammed, the leader of al-Hijra, a Kenyan group allied to the al-Shabaab in Somalia.

According to another report by Ngala Chome, titled "Eastern Africa's Regional Extremist Threat: Origins, Nature and Policy Options" published by the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies last year revealed that Islamist militants fled from Tanzania to Mozambique following collaborative efforts between the governments of the two countries in 2018.

"Later in that year, the Tanzanian police force undertook operations to out to an end a series of killings along the coastal areas of Ikwiriri and Kibiti, where Tanzanian (and some Kenyan) Islamist militants had escaped to, following police crackdowns on suspected al-Shabaab members especially in 2014 and 2015," reads the research paper.

Meanwhile, the group, according to security reports, was being headed by, among others, terror suspect Abu Yassir Hassan, who was early this month classified among Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) by the US Department of State.

Hassan, reports indicate, is a Tanzanian, who has been leading the terror group in Mozambique, which is also known as Ahlal-sunnah wa al-Jamaa.

Hassan -- who is also known as Abu Qim -- led the group that coordinated a series of large-scale attacks that led to seizure of a strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique, according to Tanzania media reports.

Security reports indicate that under Hassan's command, Isis-Mozambique had killed more than 1,300 civilians while it is estimated that more than 2,300 civilians, members of security forces and suspected Isis-Mozambique militants have been killed since the group launched violent attacks in October 2017.

Speaking during a digital press briefing on US efforts in combating terrorism in Africa two weeks ago, counterterrorism and acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat Isis John Godfrey said in its efforts to deal with terrorism in Kenya, the US had made some progress in Somalia, blunting the effect of al-Shabaab to plan and execute attacks against Kenya, or inside Kenya.

There are obviously some notable exceptions to that - the January 2020 attack against the Manda Bay Air Base were terrible, and certainly, he said, a sign that the threat remains persistent.

In the January 5 attack at Camp Simba in Manda Bay, Lamu, the US lost one service member and two Department of Defence contractors, who were killed by the terrorists believed to be from Jaysh Ayman, a branch of al-Shabaab.

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The focus now is on Mozambique, where Mr Godfrey said the US is now taking a comprehensive approach to the terrorist threat in the region, and that includes countering terrorism finance, but also helping build counterterrorism capability on the part of the Mozambican government, he added.

He noted that the focus is currently on Mozambique because of the dramatic manifestations of the Isis threat in the region. The threat, he added has reflected in the more than 2,000 civilians who were killed by the insurgents and up to 670,000 internally displaced people in Cabo Delgado.

He said there is no dispute on the cross-border linkage of the Mozambique-Isis terror group to Tanzania.

"So, certainly, we're not ignoring the fact that this is a threat that spans across borders, and that phenomenon, I would note, is very prevalent in other areas of the continent where we're dealing with both Isis and al-Qaeda terrorist threats," said Mr Godfrey.

The US, he said, has focused on border security, after evidence that Isis in Mozambique links back to southern Tanzania.
A man accused of shooting three people at a Maryland convenience store, killing two of them, also fatally shot his parents and set his apartment on fire before he shot and killed himself, police said.

Joshua Green, 27, was identified Sunday night as the suspect in the deadly shooting at a Royal Farms store in Essex, Baltimore County police said in a statement.

Police also believe Green shot and killed his parents who were found dead at their home in an unincorporated part of the county called Baldwin.

Detectives said Green left the convenience store and set his apartment on fire, according to the statement. He was later found dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was unclear when his parents died but police said both appeared to have been shot.

Daniel Brennaman, 73, a neighbor who lives two doors down from the home where the bodies were found, said he noticed a police cruiser and saw a photographer out in front of the house when he was walking his dog on Sunday evening.

A storm blew through here, and I thought it was a car accident around the corner, he said. I havent heard a thing.

Brennaman said he has exchanged greetings and small talk with the husband and wife who live in that Manor Road home but couldnt recall their names and didnt know them personally.

I wave at him from time to time. Hes always working in his yard, he said.

Online property records show that the home where police found the parents bodies is owned by Olivia D. Green and Douglas J. Green.

Royal Farms spokesperson Breahna Brown said the company had no immediate comment on the shooting at its store.

The condition of the person who was wounded at the convenience store wasn't released. Police said the person was recovering at a local hospital.

Police said detectives believe all three shootings are connected and they were not looking for any additional suspects.

More information was expected to be released at a news conference Monday morning.

___

Kunzelman reported from College Park, Md.
A very different look into the history of the museum and its artworks is found in a limited-edition 2018 coffee-table book, Iran Modern: The Empress of Art. A foreword by Farah Diba Pahlavi tells the story from her point of view, including her personal encounters with artists like Chagall, Moore, Dali and Warhol. We could not afford old foreign masterpieces, but we could afford modern art, she wrote. She started on a sure footing  with the French Impressionists  and moved forward in time. Lavishly illustrated, protected in a linen clamshell presentation case, the book comes with

white gloves and a signature canvas tote bag. It costs $895.

As for the museum, its Western art collection remains intact, except for a Warhol portrait of Farah Diba Pahlavi  slashed long ago at one of the former palaces by a vandal  and Willem de Koonings Woman III, which the museum traded in 1994 for the remnants of a 16th-century book, known as the Shahnameh, or Book of Kings, containing miniatures. (Purchased for less than $1 million by the Iranians, according to Stein, Woman III sold privately in 2006 to the hedge-fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen for $137.5 million.) The Islamic Republics first comprehensive exhibition of the Western art collection was in 2005, and some works, such as the Pollock, are on permanent display. Others, including Renoirs Gabrielle With Open Blouse (1907), featuring a woman with naked breasts, have never been publicly shown.

After a 32-month renovation, the museum reopened in late January with an exhibition of conceptual photography and selections from 700 artworks donated by the estate of a well-known Iranian collector. The museum will publish its own study of the collection  it will require six volumes to tell the story.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with representatives of those honored for their outstanding work in China's campaign to fight organized and gang-related crimes in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2021. Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the event. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday met with representatives of those honored for their outstanding work in China's campaign to fight organized and gang-related crimes.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, expressed congratulations to the representatives, who were attending a gathering in Beijing to celebrate the victory of the campaign.

Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the event.

In 2018, China initiated a three-year campaign to crack down on organized and gang-related crimes. Significant results have been achieved, with more than 3,600 crime groups busted over the past three years.

Speaking at the event, Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, said the fight against such illegal activities should be advanced on a regular basis, calling for greater efforts to implement the Peaceful China initiative.
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.

Vote

View Results
Nandigram, Mar 29 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she does not support violence against women and is not aware of the real reason behind the death and wondered why Union Home Minister Amit Shah remains silent when women are "tortured to death" in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

But the BJP is now politicising the issue. Amit Shah is tweeting and saying Bengal Ka Kya Haal hain. Why does he remain, mum, when women are attacked and brutalised in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh?" The TMC supremo Banerjee said.

Highlighting that Model Code of Conduct is in place, law and order is now under the jurisdiction of the ECI, the chief minister said, "Three Trinamool Congress workers have been killed in the last few days."

She said too much greed is not good, they (Adhikaris) will be 'na ghar ka ghat ka'.

The TMC supremo held a massive 'padayatra' (roadshow) on a wheelchair, marking the first roadshow here after she was injured in an alleged attack earlier this month.

Thousands of people gathered around the chief minister waving party flags as Ms Banerjee hold the rally from Khudiram Mod to Thakur Chowk in Nandigram Block-2.

Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest in the second phase of the state assembly elections to be held on April 1 with the TMC supremo taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year.

Earlier, the chief minister came down heavily on Amit Shah over his claim of winning 26 of the 30 seats in the first phase on Bengal polling.

She retorted by saying that BJP will draw a blank.

Addressing a public meeting in the Chandipur area, Ms Banerjee asked why didnt BJP claim of winning all of the 30 seats or had left it for Congress and CPIM to occupy.

You (BJP) will get a big Rosogolla (zero) the TMC leader said.

She also urged the central forces to ensure neutrality in the following phase and not to manipulate the voters into voting for BJP.

Meanwhile, the BJP sources said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also likely to take part in a roadshow in Nandigram on Tuesday.

The union minister also appealed to the people of Nandigram to vote for change and a better future for the state.

Rejecting the TMCs criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Bangladesh, he said the visit is to strengthen bilateral ties and has nothing to do with elections.

UNI BM RN
March 29, 2021

The Upper Peninsula's two representatives serving on the Michigan Natural Resources Commission will answer viewer questions live Thursday night on "Ask the DNR," broadcast on WNMU-TV13.

Commissioners J.R. Richardson of Ontonagon and Dave Nyberg of Skandia will join DNR panelists and host Mike Settles for the hour-long program, which will air live at 8 p.m. EDT, Thursday April 1. The program will be available later online, where WNMU archives past shows.

The NRC is a 7-member panel appointed by the governor as the rule-making body for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

"This is a fantastic opportunity," said John Pepin, DNR deputy public information officer. "Viewers will be able to find out what they want to know directly from the region's representatives making decisions on all types of important natural resource issues in Michigan."

The NRC has the exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game and sportfish, and is authorized to designate game species and authorize the establishment of the first open season for animals.

Karen Sexton, DNR wildlife biologist in Escanaba, George Madison, DNR fisheries manager for the Western Lake Superior Management Unit, and Sgt. Marc Pomroy, who supervises conservation officers in Dickinson, Iron and Gogebic counties, will round out the panel participants.

The group will likely field questions about spring-related recreation activities, including the April 24 trout season opener and boating and off-road vehicle operation, though the discussion is typically wide-ranging, based on viewer questions.

To phone questions in during the live telecast, call 1-800-227-9668.

Find out more about the Michigan Natural Resources Commission at Michigan.gov/NRC.
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BEACHWOOD, Ohio, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance is proud to announce that Weatherproofing Technologies Inc., (WTI), its affiliated construction services company, has once again been awarded the E&I Cooperative Services (E&I) contract in the category of Roofing Systems, Exterior Building Maintenance, Products, Supplies and Related Services. WTI was first named as the national contract holder for this category in 2011.

E&I Cooperative Services is the largest, member-owned, non-profit purchasing cooperative serving the needs more than 5,000 higher education, community college and K-12 member institutions. The WTI contract provides options for each member institution to execute their roofing, weatherproofing, maintenance, asset management, indoor air quality or related building envelope projects in a manner they choose under a competitively solicited contract.

The scope of the new roofing and related building envelope services contract has been expanded to include building ventilation system cleaning and sanitizing, something which is top of mind for educational facilities as they respond to COVID and receive funding through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) and the recent American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The contract also now includes multiple options for the customized procurement of materials and/or construction services, including a national Contractor Network method of delivery.

"Roofing and building envelope continuity, HVAC disinfection and moisture management play a crucial role in achieving optimal indoor air quality and ensuring a dry, comfortable, healthy, and safe environment for learning," said Craig Nelson, Vice President of WTI GC Strategy, Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. "Through the WTI contract, E&I members can procure everything they need to safeguard their building environments as quickly and economically as possible, without sacrificing quality, performance or transparency."



"In a time when educational institutions are experiencing an enormous strain on their budgets, finding savings wherever possible is critical," said Saul Alvarado, Vice President, Facilities, E&I Cooperative Services. "We are proud to offer our members the opportunity to find these savings with the experience of WTI/Tremco."

To learn more about roofing and building envelope solutions through WTI/Tremco's E&I contract #EI00059~2021MA, please visit www.yourroofexperts.com/ei_cooperative_services.html .

About the Tremco Construction Products Group

Tremco Roofing & Building Maintenance and WTI are part of the Tremco Construction Products Group, the new master brand representing the combined forces of Tremco Incorporated companies, which also include the Tremco Commercial Sealants & Waterproofing and Tremco Barrier Solutions operating divisions; Dryvit Systems, Inc.; Nudura Inc; Willseal; and Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. Altogether, Tremco CPG companies operate 14 manufacturing facilities, six distribution sites, and three technology sites and employ more than 2,600 people across North America. For more information, visit us at www.tremcoinc.com .

About E&I Cooperative Services

E&I Cooperative Services (E&I) is the only member-owned, non-profit procurement cooperative focused on education and related facilities. E&I delivers unsurpassed value to members through a broad portfolio of competitively solicited contracts, technology-enabled procurement solutions, and consultative engagements. The Cooperative's strategic spend assessments enable members to make informed, analytics-driven decisions to capture more spend. By working together with industry-leading suppliers, E&I provides an exceptional member experience. For more information, please visit www.eandi.org .

SOURCE Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance

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External Affairs Minister met his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif here on Monday and discussed bilateral cooperation, including on the strategic Chabahar Port.

Jaishankar, who arrived in the Tajik capital to attend the 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) ministerial conference, would meet leaders of other participating countries on its sidelines.

"Began my Heart of Asia engagements with a meeting with Iranian FM @JZarif. A warm conversation that underlined our convergences. Also discussed our bilateral cooperation, including Chabahar, Jaishankar tweeted.

In September, Jaishankar made a stopover in Tehran while on his way to Russia to attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments with Zarif.

Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar port is being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan to boost trade ties.

Recently, India has supplied the second shipment of equipment to Chabahar port. In January, India had supplied a consignment of two mobile harbour cranes to the Chabahar port, having a total contract value of over USD 25 million.

Development of the Chabahar port will help in expansion of economic and mutual relations between India and Iran as well as give a further boost to the maritime trade between both the countries.

The location of the Chabahar port has strategic advantage and high potential to provide connectivity among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, specially Eastern CIS nations, and boost trade.

On Monday, Jaishankar also met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference here.

"Our discussions focused on Afghanistan-related developments and our bilateral relations, Jaishankar tweeted after meeting his Turkish counterpart.

The HoA-IP ministerial conference is part of the Istanbul Process - a regional initiative on security and cooperation for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan - that was launched on November 2, 2011 in Turkey.

At the conference, the representatives from around 50 countries and international organisations would discuss building regional consensus around the peace process in the war-torn country.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After the Galaxy S21 series, Samsung has now started rolling out the April 2021 Android security patch to the Galaxy Note 10 phones. Select variants of the Galaxy Note 10, Note 10+, and the Note 10+ 5G are currently receiving the latest Android security maintenance release (SMR) in Germany and Switzerland. The rollout should expand to other regions in the coming days.

The latest update for the Galaxy Note 10 phones comes with the firmware version N97xFXXU6FUCD. Judging by the version number, this update should also include some new features or enhancements, along with the vulnerability fixes for April 2021. However, we dont have a changelog yet to confirm the contents of the new update.

Samsung has yet to publish the detailed contents of the April 2021 Android security patch as well. It is likely still a few days away, for that matter. The Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S21 phones are a bit too early to the security update party for April. Perhaps the Korean giant has made a habit of pushing the latest Android SMR to its devices much before even Google could publish the contents. Kudos to the company on that.

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Anyways, Samsung tends to release the latest security bulletins within the first few days of every calendar month. So expect it to arrive by the end of this week. Confirmation on whether the latest update brings any new features to the Galaxy Note 10 series should also be available by then.

Galaxy Note 10 phone pick April security patch

Samsungs impressive run with software update rollouts sees the Galaxy Note 10 pick up the April 2021 Android security patch within a month after the devices received the big update to the Android 11-based One UI 3.1. Expect the company to roll out the latest update to more devices in the coming weeks.

As said earlier, the latest update for the Galaxy Note 10 phones is currently rolling out in Germany and Switzerland. Other regions should follow in the coming days. However, as always, updates are released in batches. So it may take a few days before the over the air (OTA) release reaches each and every eligible unit. You should receive a notification to download the OTA file once it becomes available for your phone.

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You can also manually check for updates by going to the Software update menu in your phones Settings app, and then tapping the Download and install option. Galaxy Note 10 users, be on the lookout for the update in the coming days.
The Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Crump, a lawyer for George Floyds family, told supporters on Monday, just as witnesses began to give testimony during the trial, that the world was focused on the case of the former police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of Mr. Floyd.

America is on trial to see if we have gotten to the place where we can hold police accountable if they break the law, the reverend, a longtime civil rights activist, said outside the Hennepin County Courthouse. The law is for everybody. Policemen are not above the law. Policemen are subject to the law, and thats whats going on in this courtroom.

Mr. Crump said the trial would be a moment for America to show the rest of the world that it remained the standard-bearer when it comes to liberty and justice for all.

George Floyd galvanized cities all across America, and all across the world, when that video, that video of torture was viewed millions and millions of times, Mr. Crump said. The whole world is watching.
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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A true New Zealand jazz legend will be remembered this year at the 58th National Jazz Festival in Tauranga, with Saturday and Sunday nights at the festival promising some poignant and emotional moments.

Phil Broadhurst, who passed away in April 2020 after battling cancer for almost two years, is widely acknowledged as one of the countrys leading jazz artists.

A pianist, composer and educator, Phil became the first jazz musician to be awarded the MNZM for services to jazz in 2001.

During his prolific career he performed in London and Paris, and enjoyed collaborations with many jazz greats, including saxophonists Ronnie Scott, Johnny Griffin and Scott Hamilton. In 2016, Phil won a NZ Music Awards Jazz Tui for the third album in his trilogy, Panacea, and in 2019 he released his fourth album Positif.

The Kiwi Jazz Legends and the Auckland Jazz Orchestra will be celebrating the music of this widely respected and much loved composer and pianist on Saturday, April 3, at the Addison Theatre, Baycourt.

Julie Mason.

Phils wife Julie Mason will lead the Kiwi Jazz Legends, performing Phils favourite standards. The group is made up of Kim Paterson on trumpet, Brian Smith on tenor saxophone, Frank Gibson on drums, Julie Mason on piano and vocals, and Alberto Santarelli on bass.

Following this, the Auckland Jazz Orchestra will perform a selection of Phils recorded works. Led by musical director Tim Atkinson, the orchestra has five saxophonists, four trumpet players, four playing trombones, as well as a guitarist, pianist, bass player and a drummer.

Kevin Field.

On Sunday night, in the X Space Theatre at Baycourt, Kevin Fields Supergroup bring the ultimate star line-up with saxophonist Nathan Haines, bass clarinetist Lewis McCallum and guitarist Keith Price  all respected bandleaders in their own right. Completing the virtuoso ensemble will be Kevin Field on piano, Cameron McArthur on bass and Steve Thomas on drums.

Kevin, a composer as well as a jazz pianist, has collaborated with some of the top international names in jazz, including Grammy-nominated guitarists Mike Moreno and Nir Felder, bassists Matt Penman, Orlando le Fleming and Charles Haynes  the drummer/producer for Kanye West and Lady Gaga.

He has featured on over 40 albums, is a senior lecturer in jazz studies at the University of Auckland and holds a doctorate in musical arts, awarded for research into the development of new and innovative approaches to jazz improvisation and composition.

To Phil Broadhurst with Love will be performed at the Addison Theatre, Baycourt at 8pm on Saturday, April 3.

Kevin Fields Supergroup will be performing at 8pm on Sunday, April 4, at X Space Theatre, Baycourt.

Tickets are available via Ticketek.

Lewis McCallum.
Sylvan Beach, N.Y.  A man has been charged with setting his ex-girlfriends Sylvan Beach home ablaze Friday while the woman was inside.

The man started the fire after his ex didnt come to the door when he knocked, troopers said.

Nathan A. Riley, 38, of Canastota, has been charged with arson, the New York State Police said in a news release Monday. Witnesses spotted him running from the burning home, police said.

The fire at 2012 Pleasant Ave. started around 12:15 p.m. Friday.

A woman was inside the house when she heard a knock at the front door, said Trooper Jack Keller, a state police spokesman. When she looked outside and saw her ex-boyfriends vehicle, she decided not to answer, he said.

When the woman didnt answer the door, Riley grabbed a gas can from his pickup truck and threw gasoline onto the house, Keller said. Riley then lit the fuel on fire, setting the home ablaze, he said.

No injuries were reported. The home was severely damaged.

Witnesses saw Riley run from the house and drive away in a pickup truck, troopers said. He was arrested the next day in Canastota.

Troopers found the gas can outside the home, Keller said.

Riley has been charged with second-degree arson, a felony. As of Monday afternoon, he remained in the Oneida County Correctional Facility, custody records showed.

Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.
Mr Reagan, 70, in pain but with the chances of a full recovery good to excellent, was resting comfortably after a three-hour operation removed a bullet from his lung.

Assassination attempt on President Reagan: Front page of the Sydney Morning Herald on April 1, 1981. Credit:Sydney Morning Herald

WASHINGTON, Tuesday.  As a stunned America responded with grief and outrage over the shooting of President Reagan, John Hinckley, 25, an expelled member of a Nazi group, appeared in court early today, charged with attempted assassination.

First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on April 1, 1981

With security intense at the US District Court House in Washington, Hinkley held his head in his hands and said only Yes, sir to the magistrate during the 43-minute hearing.

Hinkley, the son of a well-to-do oil executive from Denver, Colorado, was expelled from the National Socialist Party of America in November, 1979.

He wanted to shoot people and blow things up, Mr Michael Allen, president-elect of the party, explained yesterday.

Hinckley, whom Mr Allen described as a nut, had joined the party in 1978.

Americans, with the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King in 1968 and John Lennon last year still imprinted on their memory, reacted with horror and dismay over this new chapter of violence.
UW Project Seeks to Glean Factors Limiting High-Elevation Irrigated Meadow Production

Nonnative grasses take over hay meadows, forming a dense organic layer that ties up nutrients in forms not available for plant uptake. (Jay Norton Photo)

University of Wyoming researchers will study soil health and factors that limit yield in high-elevation irrigated hay meadows on 12 ranch sites in Wyoming and Colorado as part of a $500,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

This is a very cool project that were excited about, says Jay Norton, a UW Extension soils specialist, who is heading the project.

The sites are in the Laramie River Basin in Wyoming and the North Park Valley in northern Colorado. The project began in January and will run through 2024.

Norton, a professor in the UW Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, says irrigated meadows above 6,500 feet are critical -- but underperforming components -- of livestock operations in rangeland ecosystems.

We think its important because flood-irrigated grass hay is one of the most widespread crops in Wyoming, and producers agree that hay meadows are generally an underperforming resource that requires more and more nitrogen fertilizer to maintain productivity over time, Norton says.

Norton leads a group of researchers from UW, including Mengqiang Zhu and Linda van Diepen, in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management; Urszula Norton, from the Department of Plant Sciences; and Brian Sebade, a UW Extension educator; and Joe Brummer, a forage specialist at Colorado State University. Former UW students Daniel Adamson, from a ranch outside Laramie, and Rael Otuya, from Kitale, Kenya, have both returned to earn their Ph.D.s in soil science and are working on the project.

The scientists set four objectives.

First, they will evaluate soil processes and vegetation that affect nitrogen availability. This includes looking at soil health indicators; analyzing soil organic matter chemical composition; and soil microbial ecology and soil greenhouse gases. The information helps set the second objective, which is identifying key soil properties as a minimum dataset for meadow health.

The third goal will take place at the Laramie Research and Extension Center.

We will evaluate novel ways to disturb the dense root mat using hoof impact from controlled cattle concentration and light shallow rototilling, before then planting a mixture of clovers to increase diversity and forage value, Norton says.

The fourth goal, which includes exchanging information among researchers, producers, extension educators and others, entails monthly meetings with cooperating ranchers and annual progress meetings that will be open to the public, he says.

Participants will be invited to participate in data collection activities, plus an end-of-project workshop to share findings and discuss new management approaches, Norton says.

For more information, call Norton at (307) 766-5082 or email jnorton4@uwyo.edu.
Vaccinating the masses is underway in California, but Kern County continues to lag behind almost all other counties in its vaccination rates, 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 15:05:35|Editor: huaxia

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SUVA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's Minister for Women and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa said on Monday the COVID-19 pandemic may reverse years of progress in the fight against child labor in Fiji.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), Vuniwaqa said the COVID-19 crisis had worsened the financial situation of many families.

She said the challenges of addressing child labor had also taken new turns because of the pandemic.

"Children already in child labor may be working longer hours or under worsening conditions. More of them may be forced into the worst forms of labor, which causes significant harm to their health and safety," she said.

The minister said taking decisive action now is critical in reversing the growing issue of child labor.

In the last 20 years, almost 100 million children have been removed from child labor in the country, bringing numbers down from 246 million in 2000 to 152 million in 2016.

Fiji is working to end child labor in all its forms by the year 2025.

According to International Labour Organization (ILO) Project Officer Victoria Yee, who said early this year during an awareness session on child labor at one of the settlements outside Fiji's capital Suva that some children in Fiji are involved in the worst forms of child labor, such as commercial sexual exploitation and dealing in illicit drugs to provide for their families.

Yee said children were being used to transport and manufacture drugs and that such forms of child labor mainly existed in poverty-stricken areas.

A rapid assessment survey, conducted by ILO in 2016 on children working on streets, informal sectors and in the worst forms of child labor, showed that 186 working children reported they were engaged in commercial sexual exploitation, as drug peddlers and carried out domestic work for other family members even as security guards.

The report also said that some children worked two or more jobs to earn an income while others were engaged in market vending, worked as car wash-attendants, sold coconuts were bus checkers and shoe shine workers. Enditem
Deepak Sekar gave up a high-paying job to pursue a life as an entrepreneur. He was successful with his first venture in Chowbotics. Now he is looking to do it again with stealth mode startup Prof Jim. (photo provided)
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The commercial aircraft leasing market is driven by the strong market position of Irish and Chinese lessors. In addition, the influence of taxes on aircraft leasing is anticipated to boost the growth of the commercial aircraft leasing market.

The aircraft business originated in Ireland and the country has evolved to dominate the market in the past several years. Currently, over 45% of leased aircraft in the market have been leased out by Irish lessors. This can be attributed to the presence of several favorable policies in the country. Similarly, the leasing industry in China has been growing rapidly and significantly in the past decade owing to regulatory and policy support. As of May 2020, there were over 7,000 bank leasing companies in China and most of them are strongly backed by the funding by their parent firms, which are banks. Moreover, leasing companies in these countries are increasingly resorting to acquisitions to expand their business. All these factors are expected to positively influence the growth of the global commercial aircraft leasing market during the forecast period.

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Major Five Commercial Aircraft Leasing Companies:

AerCap Group

AerCap Group operates its business through the Unified segment. The company offers a portfolio of over 1044 commercial aricrafts worldwide to be leased.

Air Lease Corp.

Air Lease Corp. operates its business through segments such as Rental of flight equipment and Aircraft sales, trading, and other. The company is engaged in purchasing and leasing of commercial aircraft to its valued airline customers worldwide.

Avolon Aerospace Leasing Ltd.

Avolon Aerospace Leasing Ltd. operates its business through the Unified segment. The company is involved in the leasing of commercial aircrafts. The company has a fleet of around 842 aircrafts with operations in more than 60 countries.

BANK OF CHINA

BANK OF CHINA operates its business through segments such as Commercial banking business, Investment banking and insurance, and Others and elimination. The company offers a number of different aircraft to clients through their subsidiary BOC Aviation along with financial and technical assistance.

BBAM US LP

BBAM US LP operates its business through the Unified segment. The company provides a range of commercial aircrafts from their fleet of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer aircraft to over 90 carriers worldwide.

Commercial Aircraft Leasing Market Type Outlook (Revenue, USD bn, 2020-2025)

Wet lease - size and forecast 2020-2025

Dry lease - size and forecast 2020-2025

Commercial Aircraft Leasing Market Geography Outlook (Revenue, USD bn, 2020-2025)

APAC - size and forecast 2020-2025

Europe - size and forecast 2020-2025

- size and forecast 2020-2025 North America - size and forecast 2020-2025

- size and forecast 2020-2025 South America - size and forecast 2020-2025

- size and forecast 2020-2025 MEA - size and forecast 2020-2025

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Global Aircraft Engine MRO Market  Global aircraft engine MRO market is segmented by type (turbofan and turbojet and turboprop), geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America).

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Global Commercial Aircraft Interface Device Market  Global commercial aircraft interface device market is segmented by aircraft fitment (retrofit and linefit), application (narrow-body, wide-body, and regional jet), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA).

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dony Garment Company, a subsidiary of Dony International Corporation, has been one of the largest manufacturers of workwear, uniforms, and casual clothing in Vietnam since 2009. Last year, it responded to the Covid-19 pandemic with Dony Masks that have become synonymous with impeccable quality.

These masks are created to meet global standards for exports and use. Moreover, its design keeps users convenience in mind. As the strap of the Dony Mask extends to 270% of the original length, they reduce any discomfort caused to users. These marks also retain their 99% anti-bacterial properties even after 60 washes.

The Dony Mask offers unbelievable protection from COVID-19 and other viruses, and it is very comfortable to wear. We know health professionals are going to embrace this product because of the many benefits associated with it and because this mask is affordable,

All of Dony Mask products are sterilized by E.O. gas before reaching consumers, to ensure that the mask products are free from virus and bacteria. - said Mr. Henry Pham, CEO of DONY Garment Company.

Dony Mask is three-layered and extremely skin-friendly. Some of its user smart features include nose clips and adjustable earloops. They purify the air from dust, pollen and also offer 99.95% UV protection. But at the same time, they are sleek and stylish available in many cool colors for users.

The fact that these masks are reusable has added to their popularity as there is a growing emphasis on eco-friendly products. People can save the hassle of disposable masks and good amounts too while doing the right thing for the planet. Its not surprising then that Dony Masks are being sold widely all over the world.

Spotting the huge potential of these masks many sellers have come forward to distribute them. DONY MASKS FOR PARA PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS TRADING is one such name, which will take Dony Masks to KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain markets.

Finished units are shipped in medical packaging. They can be sterilized with EO gas technology that is commonly used for medical supplies. An indicator strip shows the wearer if the mask has been sterilized. This commitment to quality enables DONY to export the masks to demanding countries like the USA and destinations in Europe.

That is why Dony Mask confidently competes with leading competitors such as Shanghai Dasheng, Kimberly-Clark, BDS, Gerson, Halyard Healthcare, SAS Safety Corp, Honeywell, Irema, KOWA, 3M, McKesson, MolnlyckeHealth, CM, Sinotextiles, DACH, Te Yin, Hakugen, Uvex, Ohlone Press LLC (Vogmask), AirPop, idMASK, Cambridge Mask, Debrief Me Holdings LLC, Moldex-Metric, Teflex Gasket Company Limited.

The Dony Mask is of particular interest to wholesalers and distributors across the globe. The products can be customized with logos, color choices, labels, and various other options. They can be branded and are available in bulk so finished products can be exported, B2B.

This year, we have found that many international buyers are seeking new suppliers based in nations outside of China to purchase many goods and products, including reusable cloth face mask and protective clothing," notes Pham. "At Dony Garment, we are proud to welcome international customers, especially those based in the US, the Middle East, and the EU market to discover our professional line of products which are manufactured in our factory in Vietnam, especially our new products for COVID-19. We guarantee our products are of the highest quality, at an affordable cost, and easy to transport across the world.

On the evening of 5th June 2020, Dony Garment Company and other Vietnamese enterprises have donated medical supplies to the USs people.

At the Ceremony of Offering Medical Materials to the United States, Dony presented 100,000 reusable antibacterial community masks worth more than VND 10.5 billion. Overcoming many businesses that have signed up to give antibacterial masks, through testing, only Dony Mask has met the quality standards for use in the US.

It's a big honor for Dony. Dony Mask is the only available reusable face mask that successfully passes through multiple quality checks, to be accepted for use in the U.S finally.

Mr. Daniel Kritenbrink, U.S. Ambassador in Vietnam has extended his heartfelt gratitude and confirmed that Operation USA Organization which based in Los Angeles, USA will distribute these medical supplies to needed places such as California, New York, etc.

Henry Pham, director of Dony Garment, said his company had been significantly impacted by the pandemic, both in good and bad ways, so they understood what kinds of adversity other firms and people around the world face.

At a time when the disease is spreading in other countries, we want to contribute more to the international community. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have deducted 5 percent of Dony's entire revenue, from apparel to cloth masks, to the community." - Pham said.



Dony Garment Company

+84985310123

News Via KISS PR Story Press Wire for for Dony Garment Company
"The detection of ultrafine particles in air pollution is of great importance due to the negative health implications of particles that have high aggregate surface area for carrying chemical contaminants and that can penetrate tissues and enter the blood stream or nervous system directly.

AirSpeQ, a fine and ultrafine air pollution sensor company based out of Berkeley, California is excited to announce that it has been granted two patents for its innovative thin film bulk acoustic resonator based particulate matter (PM) air pollution mass sensors.

US patents 10,948,391 and 10,948,392 are the first two patents granted to the company. The company has four more patents in different stages of processing and will be submitting an additional two patents in the coming months. Patent 10,948,391 involves a method for analyzing particles including concentrating the particles in an interior region of an air stream, generating a thermal gradient to deflect the concentrated particles from the interior of the air stream to a peripheral region of the air stream, receiving orientation information, and adjusting the thermal gradient in response to the received orientation information.

US Patent 10,948,392 is a system for analyzing particles in an air stream that includes a first heater element configured to deflect particles in an interior region of the air stream towards a peripheral wall of an air channel encompassing the air stream, a second heater element controllable to deflect the particles in a first lateral direction along the peripheral wall, and a third heater element controllable to deflect the particles in a second lateral direction along the peripheral wall.

AirSpeQs National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant supplemental Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funding supported office actions that resulted in the granting of these two patents. NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering, said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.

AirSpeQ has won industry accolades including the NASA Earth Space Air Prize, the Top 100 Red Herring companies in North America, the Edison Award in 2020 and the Talents Taipei 2020 competition. David Woolsey, Chief Technology Officer and named inventor noted: Understanding the physics of thermophoresis on sub-micron particulates allows the manipulation and detection of particles that can not easily be detected by other means. The detection of ultrafine particles in air pollution is of great importance due to the negative health implications of particles that have high aggregate surface area for carrying chemical contaminants and that can penetrate tissues and enter the blood stream or nervous system directly.

About Aerodyne Microsystems Inc, dba AirSpeQ: AirSpeQ was founded at the end of 2015. AirSpeQ is committed to protecting human health and the planet with its affordable high-quality fine and ultrafine air pollution sensors. Based on patented Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) technology, it leverages over twelve years of research and development at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The company has received funding from NASA, NIH and NSF. For more information visit http://www.airspeq.com or watch a short introductory video at https://www.airspeq.com/intro-video
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The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR, parliamentary party) announces that it will protest, on Monday, in front of the headquarters of the prefectures from all over the country and in the Universitatii Square in Bucharest, and will demand the resignation of Prime Minister Florin Citu and Secretary of State Raed Arafat, as well as the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

"AUR will protest in front of the prefectures from all over the country and in the Universitatii Square in Bucharest, today, at 17:00 hrs, against the illegal measures by which the Citu Government violates the Romanians' fundamental rights and freedoms. (...) In this context, AUR calls on the Government to urgently lift all illegal, incoherent and irrational restrictions imposed under the pretext of the health crisis, (...) calls for public explanations regarding the scientific substantiation of the imposition of restrictions and the resignation of Prime Minister Florin Citu and the head of the Emergency Department, Raed Arafat," reads a press release of AUR, sent to AGERPRES.

AUR claims that the Government perpetuates a "climate of generalized psychosis (...) in Romania" and that it constantly "violates" the rights and freedoms of citizens.

According to the release, "AUR denounces (...) the constant violation of citizens' rights and freedoms committed with the complicity of the entire political class; dictatorial measures that project the collective punishment on all Romanians, considered criminals; complete lack of coherent public policies with prophylactic COVID-19 measures; the squashing of economic agents and the disaster in the business environment; the media tyranny through which experimental vaccines are promoted with the complicity of the press; the double measure approached in the application of sanctions".
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My patient was very upset. The 34-year-old mother of two young children had come to the emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain despite her COVID-19 concerns. I had just told her that she had a benign ovarian cyst rather than the life-threatening condition that she had imagined. She was happy with the diagnosis, but she feared that her employer-supplied health insurance would not cover this non-emergent diagnosis. How could it be, I thought, that this intelligent woman should be penalized by her insurance company for not diagnosing her own painful conditiona task that I could not accomplish without diagnostic tests?

In 1997, Congress first defined the Prudent Layperson Standard (PLS), requiring health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to cover emergency services for enrolled Medicare and Medicaid patients. They specified that covered services would include evaluation and/or treatment of any medical condition that a prudent layperson, possessing an average knowledge of medicine and health, believes would result in significant harm if he or she failed to seek care. Such conditions include serious pain, conditions that might place the health of the individual (or, concerning a pregnant woman, the health of the woman or her unborn child) in serious jeopardy, or cause serious impairment to bodily functions or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part. This legal standard was reaffirmed in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Who is the prudent layperson that this law was designed to protect? It is generally recognized as a sensible and careful person without professional or specialized medical knowledge who acts wisely and judiciously when seeking care. Congress subsequently expanded the protections afforded by the PLS to patients covered by commercial insurance. In doing so, they meant to shield people from profit-oriented insurance companies, ensuring their coverage for emergency medical conditions.

Recently, some insurers, including Anthem Insurance in several states and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, have challenged these protections. With counterintuitive logic seemingly designed to increase profits at their clients expense, they agreed to pay only for ED visits when patients final diagnosisnot their presenting complaintsmet the laws criteria. This premise is counter to the practice of medicine  in which a history and physical examination suggest a differential diagnosis, and diagnostic tests rule in or out specific conditions. Not only does this harm patients whose bills are retrospectively denied, but alsoand perhaps more tragicallymay dissuade those with symptoms of severe illness or injury from accessing emergency care in a timely manner.

Laypersons and physicians identify medical emergencies differently. Even health care professionals may be challenged to determine whether an emergent medical condition exists, and the definition of an emergency varies among specialties. The prudent layperson standard is designed to protect patients in this realm of uncertainty.

To be clear, the American College of Emergency Physicians asserts that refusing to honor commitments to provide health care coverage under the prudent layperson standard is not only bad policy and illegal, but it is clearly unethical. Besides being potentially harmful, it penalizes patients who, in good faith, go to EDs expecting to use their health insurance for what they believe is a threat to their health and well-being. While some may counter that using the discharge diagnosis rather than the presenting complaint does not explicitly limit care, stop patients from going to the ED, or tell doctors what tests or treatments they can order, it implicitly does all these things. Allowing patients to believe that their insurance will not cover some or all necessary interventions undermines respect for patient judgment to achieve a corporate benefit. This is nothing short of fear-mongering; using such an arbitrary post-hoc analysis disrespects patients autonomy and deviates wildly from established professional, ethical, and societal values.

ACEP is working to protect patients and uphold the prudent layperson standard. And there is some good news. Along with the Medical Association of Georgia, ACEP filed suit in federal court in 2018 to halt Anthems new policy in Georgia. The District Court initially dismissed it for the Northern District of Georgia. However, recently, the U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit overturned the lower courts dismissal, allowing the suit to proceed. They specifically note that using a trained physicians assessment to retrospectively determine if a visit is an emergency is irrelevant. The prudent layperson standards ask what someone with average knowledge of health and medicine would think is an emergency based on the severity of acute symptoms.

The practice of retrospective refusal of payment based upon final diagnosis compromises patients welfare and their fair access to care and denies emergency physicians the opportunity to provide professionally to their patients. It behooves patient-care advocates, clinicians, health care and insurance oversight bodies, and the political system to eliminate this tragic and unnecessary roadblock to seeking health care in an already complicated, expensive, and stressful medical system that is now in a pandemic crisis.

David Hoke, Kenneth V. Iserson, and Jesse Basford are emergency physicians.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
By Juliet Nalwooga

Police have revealed that a notorious serial killer behind the killing of four women and a 3 months baby is yet to be presented in court for hearing of his case.

The suspect Musa Musaasizi, aka, Uncle, 23, a resident of Mujomba Zone 6, Nankulabye in Rubaga Division, Kampala City, has since confessed to the murders revealing that he first had sexual intercourse with his victims.

Police spokesperson Mr Fred Enanga says upon arrest, Musaasizi was targeting another victim in Makerere-Kivulu.

At the time of his arrest, he was actually planning on inviting the 5th female target whom he was also set to murder after having sexual affair. Upon the successful arrest by our team, we managed to place him at the scene and he managed to confess before the magistrate the killing of women after having sexual affairs with them had turned into a hobby, Mr Enanga noted.

He strangled some of his victims to death over petty reasons like asking for too much money to plaint hair (50,000 shs) or for having contacts saved as baby boy in their phones who include, Maclean Ahereza, Viola Kansiime and Elizabeth Mutesi among others.

He told detectives that he also killed a 3 months old baby belonging to one of his lovers, a one Viola Kansime and put the babys body in a Laptop bag, before taking it to Makerere-Kivulu where he dumped it near the National Housing building.

Musasizi reportedly tracked his victims from Makerere-Kivulu and led them to his home in Nankulabye from where he strangled them, bundled the bodies in bags and set them ablaze.
The front page of The Age on April 1, 1981. Credit:The Age Archives

Washington, 31 March  President Ronald Reagan, although seriously wounded yesterday, survived an assassination attempt by a lone gunman who fired six shots from a range of three to four metres.

First published in The Age on April 1, 1981

Doctors removed a .22 bullet which had entered the Presidents left chest and collapsed a lung.

After an operation lasting more than two hours, the dean for clinical affairs at George Washington Hospital, Dr Denis OLeary, said the President was in a stable and good condition and that his prognosis was excellent.

Dr OLeary said this morning that Mr Reagan was in exceptionally good condition, although he did not get a lot of sleep last night. I would not be surprised to see him walking around in a couple of days, he said.

A 25-year-old university drop-out and drifter, John W. Hinkley, was arraigned last night on charges of having tried to assassinate the President and assault with intent to kill a police officer.

Three other people were seriously injured in the shooting which stunned America.
RTHK in hot water again over references to Taiwan

RTHK was accused of 'portraying Taiwan as a country', inciting hatred against the Peoples Republic of China, and 'insulting national sovereignty'. Image: Shutterstock

Wendy Wong reports

The Communications Authority upheld another complaint about RTHK on Monday, admonishing the station for comments in a show suggesting that Taiwan is able to establish its own diplomatic relations.



Two people complained about an episode of "Taiwan Stories 3" which was broadcast on March 28 last year.



The public broadcaster was accused of "portraying Taiwan as a country", inciting hatred against the Peoples Republic of China, and "insulting national sovereignty".



The 30-minute documentary looked at the life of students from Burkina Faso in Taiwan and community projects in Malawi.



At issue was the narrator and interviewees using terms such as "diplomatic relations between the two countries," and "break off diplomatic relations", when describing Taiwan's relationship with the two African nations.



The authority said that by suggesting Taiwan was a sovereign state capable of establishing formal diplomatic relations, RTHK had clearly breached the TV Programme Code which requires the factual contents of documentary programmes to be accurate.



It noted that RTHK had earlier admitted that the term "diplomatic relations between the two countries" was inappropriate.



But the authority said it had found no evidence that the broadcaster had incited hatred against the People's Republic.



"Having taken into account the specific facts, the circumstances of the case and other relevant factors, the CA decided that RTHK should be advised to observe more closely the relevant provision of the TV Programme Code," it said in a statement.



RTHK has received a series of warnings from the authority since the social unrest of 2019 when pro-Beijing figures accused the broadcaster of siding with the protesters.



In April last year, the government also said RTHK had breached Beijing's One China policy after a reporter asked the World Health Organisation whether Taiwan should be accepted as a member.
Women who earn higher incomes than their spouses are less likely to suffer intimate partner violence (IPV) in Ghana, a new study by researchers at the Department of Economics of the University of Ghana has found.



The study, titled: The Effects of Differential Spousal Earnings on Domestic Work and Intimate Partner Abuse in Ghana, notes that higher earnings relative to their spouses are an important factor for reducing womens domestic work and childcare burdens and for protecting women against intimate partner violence.



Womens higher relative earnings are found to be a protective shield against spousal abuse, the study noted, pointing out that men are more likely to recognise the benefits of an additional household income and place increased value on their wives, leading to a lower likelihood of intimate partner violence.



It states further that a woman who fulfils her obligations with regards to her contributions to the household may also enjoy greater confidence, allowing her to negotiate positive outcomes in her relationship.



The study also adds that another reason why higher earnings may be protective against IPV is that it likely provides a woman with the financial ability to exit an abusive relationship.



Womens prospects of being employed in high earning jobs will be improved with the acquisition of skills training, particularly in digital skills, financial and business literacy.





Funded jointly by the Institute of Labour Economics (IZA) and the UK Governments Department for International Development (DFID), the study called for widespread education to change social and cultural expectations that burden women with domestic work.



According to the study, cultural norms and expectations also play a significant role in the distribution of domestic and care work within the household. Early socialisation of boys and girls to carry out domestic work equally within Ghanaian households would go a long way to contributing to changing social norms and lessen the burden of women in the Ghanaian society.



Men and women should be socialised to appreciate the need for cooperation in carrying out domestic and childcare responsibilities within the household, the study noted, indicating that Traditionally gendered roles which place a heavy domestic work burden on women, combined with womens increased roles in the labour market, have adverse implications for their health and economic wellbeing.



Background



In almost all countries around the world, women and girls spend more time on domestic work and childcare than do men and boys. The unequal distribution of domestic work between women and men is greater in developing countries such as Ghana.



A consequence of womens domestic care burdens is that they are time-constrained leading to limited opportunities to engage in paid work and earn incomes, a situation which can limit their bargaining and decision-making power within the household.



Furthermore, because women are largely responsible for domestic work and child care, they face reduced opportunities for training and educational pursuits. The combination of engagement in income-earning activities and domestic work is tantamount to a double work shift for women. This can put their health at risk.



Coupled with the increasing incidence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Ghana this situation can have deleterious effects on the affected womens physical and mental welfare.



Research team



Conducted by Dr Nkechi S. Owoo, Dr Monica P. Lambon-Quayefio, Prof. Abena D. Oduro and Dr Sylvia E. Gyan, the researchers explored whether womens earnings improve their bargaining position and reduce their domestic and childcare burdens, as well as their experience of physical and/or emotional violence.

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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Are they willing to examine what it means to be labeled in the way they have been labeled and really think about dismantling the culture? Williams asked. What if they took a serious look at themselves and decided that everything about them is a symbol of the white ruling class?
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a sexual assault conviction last week, causing national outrage. According to court documents, Francois Khalil met a woman outside a Minneapolis bar in 2017. She had voluntarily taken five vodka shots and a prescription drug pill. The woman testified that she blacked out and woke up to Francois assaulting her.

A Hennepin County jury convicted Khalil. In Minnesota, a person is guilty of rape if the victim was mentally incapacitated. But as it turns out, there's a loophole in the law. The Minnesota Supreme Court voted unanimously that the victim wasn't mentally incapacitated because she had voluntarily gotten drunk. Khalil will be getting a new trial.

Now, pressure is on lawmakers to pass a bill closing this loophole. State Rep. Kelly Moller's bill H.F. 707 was already in action before the court ruling was made. One of its purposes is to modify and clarify criminal sexual conduct provisions.

State Rep. Liz Boldon of Rochester is supporting the bill as it moves through the House. "I was not aware of the intricacies of this issue, and so I was a bit surprised and like many others, was sort of outraged. Like, how could this happen? How could this be?" She explains this is not a problem in the courts, who are interpreting the law as it stands. It's a problem with the law itself. "We know that victims who are intoxicated beyond their ability to give consent deserve justice and that is why we need to pass this legislation to make this possible. This is a failing not necessarily of the court, but a gap in the statute and one that the legislature has in its power to fix, and we need to do so expeditiously," she explains.

The Senate has introduced a similar bill as well. Changing the language of the law has support on both sides of the aisle.

"I believe that everyone deserves justice. A person who is intoxicated to the point that they are not able to give consent should get justice as well and currently the way the statute reads, we're seeing that that isn't happening," says Boldon.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office and Minnesota Attorney General's Office are expressing support for the Minnesota legislature to close the loophole.

Khalils lawyer said Sunday theres no way the justices would unanimously agree unless the case against his client was fatally flawed.
Its not a border crisis. Its a border plan. Of course, they wont admit they have a plan but Biden administration officials, with the help of a rubber-stamp Democratic Congress, have begun their strategy of overloading the immigration system with the long-term goal of flooding the United States with so many millions of illegal border crossers that they will be able to reshape the country for decades to come.

Call it a variant of the Cloward-Piven model, the granddaddy of fundamental transformation of American society. As I explained in my book How We Got Here, the husband and wife team of Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven created the impetus for the modern American welfare state with a 1966 article in The Nation when they proposed using welfare as a means to force income redistribution.

Cloward and Piven recognized that American societys urge to take care of our poorest members could be used by an organized welfare class to leverage a guaranteed annual income and thus an end to poverty. That would happen by enrolling not fewer people in welfare programs, but more. It seems that the more people who are getting financial assistance from the government, the more power those people would have as a group. Cloward and Piven foresaw that a massive drive to recruit the poor onto the welfare rolls would challenge the resources of even a wealthy nation like the United States, leading to a profound financial and political crisis. That crisis has continued until the current day, and its effects can be seen in both the demand for COVID stimulus checks and the push for a guaranteed minimum income.

Now that we know what a fundamental transformation looks like, lets think about how the same pressures are being applied in the immigration system. The Biden administration almost overnight dismantled all of the Trump policies put in place over four years that were finally paying dividends. Hundreds of miles of wall had been built. Mexico was policing its own southern border and cooperating with the remain in Mexico policy for asylum seekers. The northern triangle of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala likewise had been making concerted efforts to slow the flow of migrants from their own countries.

But with the unmistakable signals from Biden, who as a candidate had promised free health care for illegal immigrants and talked optimistically about a path to citizenship for anyone who made it into our country, all that progress was lost within a matter of weeks. Now, the gaps in the wall have become a funnel for illegal immigrants, and the Biden administration has started shipping foreigners into the interior of the country, where they will be eligible not only for free health care, but also free housing, free education, and free food.

On what basis could Democrats justify giving all these benefits to illegal immigrants and then promise them citizenship? If you listen to the rhetoric of White House press secretary Jen Psaki, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas  and now, after President Bidens inaugural press conference  one is left with the impression that we owe the illegal immigrants a better life because of how hard it is for them to get here in the first place.

Think of it as instant reparations. As soon as an illegal immigrant makes the dangerous trek across the border, he or she is defined by the progressive left as a victim  a member of an oppressed class who was lured here by Americas filthy wealth and who suffered untold indignities as a result. Online reporter Drew Hernandez hit upon an apt description of how to think of the drug cartels that help illegal aliens cross multiple borders and dangerous terrain between South America and our southern border. He calls it a black market Uber service that delivers people from a life of poverty and fear to one they hope will lead to comfort and security.

Joe Bidens policies have created an incentive for human traffickers to fill the void between peoples hopes and dreams and the awful reality of rape, prostitution, and criminal exploitation that is the true nature of that black market. Yet progressives who cry about the centuries-old slave trade that exploited Africans are stubbornly silent about the profiteers who make billions of dollars from the human trafficking that is at the core of illegal immigration. It would be easy to blame liberal guilt for the instant reparations with which Biden wants to reward border crossers, but there is more to it than that.

This is part of a long-standing plan to globalize the American economy. Its not just the Democrats who are to blame either. You can go back nearly 20 years to the George W. Bush administrations ambition to create a North American Union that merged the economies of Mexico, Canada and the United States. Only the robust populism of Donald Trump was able to push back against the combined forces of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the multinational corporations and the progressive left to reverse the tide of globalism. But now it is back with a fury, and no one in the Republican Party seems to know how to stop it.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. What follows is a modest proposal for how to mobilize a functional majority of Americans into a united front to oppose the Democratic plan to void U.S. sovereignty, weaken the U.S. workforce, and dilute the voting power of U.S. citizens. Remember, unlimited immigration at the southern border will result in the suppression of wages across the entire country, and a path to citizenship for more than 10 million illegal immigrants and a huge power shift in politics.

Who will be hurt the most by those predictable effects? The people who live at the lower end of our economy today -- African Americans, Hispanics, and working-class citizens of all colors, races and religions. Unfortunately, many of those people are captive members of the Democratic Partys voting bloc and have tacitly granted approval to the very policies that will decimate their communities. Thanks to the black vote, in particular, Democrats have won the White House and both chambers of Congress, and are seeking ways to solidify that political clout for decades. That strategy includes not just the plan to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, but also the election scheme codified in HR 1 that will make it much more difficult for Republicans to win the White House.

Why, as an example, would anyone propose banning the use of an ID to verify your right to vote? It makes no sense. The only possible reason would be to protect the ability of people to vote who dont have a right to do so in the first place. Do you think its any coincidence that the Democrats are trying to do so just as millions of illegal immigrants are crossing the border? I dont.

But if Republicans hope to stop the Democrats from becoming the permanent ruling class, they can only do so by enlisting black Americans and Latino Americans to the cause. That means engaging in a massive outreach that needs to turn American politics on its head.

President Trump had begun this process, and was rewarded with the largest proportion of non-white voters won by a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon. But if we are being honest, Trumps gains were largely due to his economic successes, which saw record-low unemployment for minorities and better wage growth for the working class than had been recorded for more than a decade. Trump failed to campaign directly to blacks and Hispanics, perhaps due to the impact of COVID and perhaps due to the hijacking of the inner cities in the summer of 2020 by Black Lives Matter. Whatever the reason, minorities were not courted with enough vigor by Republicans to send the only message that matters: We care.

That needs to change. The Republican Party has to acknowledge its natural affinity with minority voters, who in general are more conservative on social issues than other Democrats, and it has to reach out with inventive policies that will prove it is a serious suitor.

One such possibility, as unlikely as it seems, is to support reparations for African Americans. Republicans have opposed reparations for the injustice of slavery in the past, for good reasons. They would cost trillions of dollars, might well exacerbate the racial divide in this country rather than improve it, and would give credence to the primitive concept that guilt and thus responsibility can be passed down through the generations.

But despite the risks, nothing would prove more conclusively that Republicans are serious about including blacks as full partners in the American dream. Instead of supporting instant reparations being given to illegal immigrants, Republicans could spend a much smaller amount of money to provide a symbolic peace offering to the ancestors of slaves who were not lured here by hopes of a better future but were ripped out of their homeland unwittingly by vicious merchants of death and despair.

It would be awkward for Democratic politicians, especially if they are people of color, to vote against such a bill, and if it were linked inextricably to a commitment to build and fund the southern border wall, reject amnesty and stop human trafficking, then it would be well worth it for Republicans to vote for reparations -- not as a reward for the hardships of the past, but as a thank you for saving our country today. In addition, the goodwill that such a bill would create for Republicans in the African American community would rival that which was bestowed upon Abraham Lincolns party for generations.

It is not a perfect equation, but little in politics is. Nonetheless, there is a kind of poetic justice in turning to those who have had to fight for every inch of the American dream they inhabit to stop the madness of giving away citizenship and its myriad benefits to a group of people who have no legitimate claim to them.

As for how it would work, how reparations could be incorporated into a bill to close the border and ban a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, those details would have to be worked out. Thats what think tanks are for. In the meantime, I have a proposal for what to call the legislation that would save Americas working class by repaying a debt to those whose unremunerated labor helped build the country in the first place: The Making America Whole Again Act.


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China makes remarkable results in gang crime crackdown

Xinhua) 09:45, March 29, 2021

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China has achieved significant results in its national crackdown on gang crimes, with more than 3,600 mafia-like groups busted over the past three years, 1.3 times as many as the total of the previous 10 years.

Another 89,742 cases involving gang crime-related corruption and "protective umbrella" that shelter gangs were also handled nationwide, according to official statistics.

In the past three years, Chinese courts have concluded 32,943 gang-related cases of first instance, involving more than 220,000 suspects, and a total of 53,405 defendants in related cases were given sentences from at least five years in prison to the death penalty.

Ever since China's launch of its targeted campaign against gang crimes in 2018, the country has endeavored to fight gang crimes through a series of actions, including but not limited to making legal policies and setting up a tip-off platform.

According to a poll conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in the first half of 2020, 95.1 percent of the Chinese people are satisfied with the results of the country's special campaign.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)

The matriarch of former President Barack Obamas Kenyan family has died at the age of at least 99, her family confirmed on Monday, as President Uhuru Kenyatta hailed Sarah Obama as a strong, virtuous woman.

Ms Obama, who was known in her rural village of Kogelo as Mamma Sarah, was an education advocate for girls and orphans. Her family said she was sick with normal diseases and had tested negative for Covid-19.

The former president was informed of his step-grandmothers passing shortly after her death, the Associated Press reported.

In a statement, the Kenyan president described Ms Obamas passing as a big blow to our nation and added: Weve lost a strong, virtuous woman, a matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values.

Sheik Musa Ismail, a spokesperson for the family, confirmed Ms Obama had not passed away from the coronavirus. They said the family matriarch, who was at least 99, had been sick for some time, and was being treated at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital in Kisumu.

Mr Obama said in a statement: My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as Mama Sarah but known to us as Dani or Granny. We will miss her dearly, but well celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life.

She will be remembered for her work to promote education to empower orphans, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo said while offering his condolences to the people of Kogelo village for losing a matriarch.

She was a philanthropist who mobilized funds to pay school fees for the orphans, he said.

Read more:

Sarah Obama was the second wife of President Obamas grandfather and helped raise his father, Barack Obama, Sr. The family is part of Kenyas Luo ethnic group.

The former president often showed affection toward her and referred to her as Granny in his memoir, Dreams from My Father. He described meeting her during his 1988 trip to his fathers homeland and their initial awkwardness as they struggled to communicate, but said they developed a warm bond. She attended his first inauguration as president in 2009. Later, Mr Obama spoke about his grandmother again in his September 2014 speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

For decades, Sarah Obama helped orphans, raising some in her home. The Mama Sara Obama Foundation helped provide food and education to children who lost their parents - providing school supplies, uniforms, basic medical needs, and school fees.

In a 2014 interview with theAP, she said that even as an adult, letters would arrive but she couldnt read them. She said she didnt want her children to be illiterate, so she saw to it that all her familys children went to school.

Kenya mourns death of Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai at 71 Show all 2 1 /2 Kenya mourns death of Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai at 71 Kenya mourns death of Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai at 71 651684.bin GETTY Kenya mourns death of Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai at 71 651560.bin EPA

She recalled pedaling the presidents father six miles to school on the back of her bicycle every day from the familys home village of Kogelo to the bigger town of Ngiya to make sure he got the education that she never had.

I love education, Sarah Obama said, because children learn they can be self-sufficient, especially girls who too often had no opportunity to go to school.

If a woman gets an education she will not only educate her family but educate the entire village, she said.

In recognition of her work to support education, she was honored by the United Nations in 2014, receiving the inaugural Womens Entrepreneurship Day Education Pioneer Award.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
In order to develop more effective drugs against a range of cancers, researchers have been investigating the molecular structure of many diseased-linked enzymes in the body. An intriguing case in point is Taspase 1, a type of enzyme known as a protease. The primary duty of proteases is to break down proteins into smaller peptide snippets or single amino acids.

Taspase 1 appears to play a vital role in a range of physiological processes, including cell metabolism, proliferation, migration and termination. The normal functioning of Taspase 1 can go awry however, leading to a range of diseases, including leukemia, colon and breast cancers, as well as glioblastoma, a particularly lethal and incurable malignancy in the brain.

Because Taspase 1 dysregulation is increasingly implicated in the genesis and metastasis of various cancers, it has become an attractive candidate for drug development. But before this can happen, researchers will need a highly detailed blueprint of the structure of this protease.

In a new study appearing in the Cell Press journal Structure, researchers from Arizona State University describe their investigations, which reveal the structure of Taspase 1 as never before.

The study unveils, for the first time, the catalytically active 3D structure of Taspase 1, revealing a previously unexplored region that is essential for the functioning of the molecule. The structure was solved using X-ray crystallography and confirmed with electron microscopy.

Petra Fromme, director of the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, highlights the great importance of the work: "I am so excited that we were able to solve the first structure of the functional active enzyme, as it will have huge implications for the structure-based development on novel anti-cancer drugs."

The study results show that reducing this critical helical region of Taspase 1 limits protease activity, while eliminating the helical region deactivates Taspase 1 functioning altogether. Earlier research suggests that disabling Taspase 1 activity to block the progression of cancer could be achieved without harmful side-effects.

"We have reported the importance of a previously unobserved long fragment of the protein in the catalytic activity of Taspase1, which can be used as attractive target to inhibit Taspase1," according Jose Martin-Garcia, lead scientist on the project and co-correponding author with professor Fromme. "The crystal structure of the active Taspase1 reported in our article will be greatly beneficial to advance the design of Taspase1 inhibitors for anti-cancer therapy."

###

Martin-Garcia is currently a researcher with the Department of Crystallography and Structural Biology at the Spanish National Research Council, Madrid.

Fromme and Martin-Garcia are joined by their Biodesign collaborators Nirupa Nagaratnam, Rebecca Jernigan, Brent L. Nannenga and Darren Thifault, along with their multi-institute colleagues.
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PELHRIMOV, Czech Republic  A year after the Czech Republic recorded its first death from the coronavirus, the central European nation paused to remember all the citizens who lost their lives in the pandemic. By the end of the day, the number had surpassed 25,000.

Bells tolled across the country at noon last Monday to mark the anniversary of when the pandemics first Czech casualty, a 95-year-old man, died in a Prague hospital. On March 22, 2020 and for some days to come, the Czech Republic reported daily COVID-19 deaths in the single digits. Few imagined then that the nation of of 10.7 million eventually would have one of the worlds highest per capita death tolls.

But its not just grim statistics that have torn the fabric of Czech life. Theres always a personal story behind each life lost. And the deaths of some people affected entire communities.

Jaromir Vytopils was one of them. Without him, the town of Pelhrimov wont be the same.

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As the countrys longest-serving bookseller, Vytopil had served the towns readers for almost six decades. They came to his eponymous shop to buy books, maps and music, or just to have a chat with him when they passed by. Books and customers literally were his life: He got into the trade at age 15, studied at a special school for booksellers and worked in six different towns before settling in Pelhrimov in 1963.

He died at the age of 83 on Nov. 9, another grim day during the month that until Saturday was the Czech Republics deadliest of the pandemic, Marie Vytopilova, says both of them likely caught the virus in the bookstore.

We didnt expect that to happen, she said of her husbands death. He was still full of life.

The Czech Republic was spared the worst of the pandemic in the spring only to see its health care system near collapse in the fall and again in January and March after the coalition government led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis repeatedly let down pandemic guards despite warnings by experts.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the Czech Republic has 240.7 cumulative deaths per 100,000 people, the worlds second-highest mortality rate after the microstate of San Marino.

Activists painted thousands of white crosses on the cobblestones of Pragues Old Town Square this week for all of the people who died. They blamed the government for an inadequate response to the pandemic. One of the crosses honored Vytopil.

As the news of Vytopils death spread in November, people placed flowers and lit candles in front of the bookstore, turning it into an impromptu memorial. About 600 mourners expressed their sorrow on the stores Facebook page.

A legend has gone, the only citizen everybody knew in Pelhrimov, resident Petr Kostka commented.

People like him form the heart of the town, Milan Pavlicek added.

Vytopil used to leave his familys home in a nearby village on his scooter at 7 a.m. On the way, he stopped to have a coffee and to read newspapers. Then, he was ready to greet his customers.

What was shining from him was an appetite for life and an effort to give people what he knew well, and that was the books, Marie Vytopilova recalled. He used to read a lot, really a lot, and over the course of the years, you accumulate knowledge.

U.S. poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who died last month at age 101, was among the booksellers favorite authors along with Czech writers Josef Skvorecky and Bohumil Hrabal. But he praised the people who visited his store for their choices and if needed, offered recommendations.

Many times, I laughed and called him a walking encyclopedia, his wife said.

Vytopils mission as a bibliophile extended beyond his shop. He advised Pelhrimovs public library on what titles to acquire, helped organize readings and book signings with authors, and once a year dressed up as a king to welcome children into the order of readers during a ceremony in which they received library cards, director Iva Rajdlova said.

He was young at heart, Rajdlova said. He was interested in everything, and it was so nice to talk to him about anything, not just about books. He was interested in people and anything that was going on. Simply, he was a very good man.

Promoting books and literacy, however, could be a dangerous pursuit during the communist era of Vytopils country. Private ownership of bookstores was prohibited. After the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia that crushed liberal reforms known as the Prague Spring, the hardline regime banned numerous authors and ordered bookstores to purge their works from store shelves.

My dad hid all the banned books he could, so when we attended high school, we were reading his favorite, Skvorecky, and also (Milan) Kundera and other banned writers, Vytopils son Jan said.

Martin Vana, who visited Vytopils bookstore for the first time in 1978, said he wasnt surprised by local reaction to his death. Vana, who works for the regional public radio station, approached Vytopil about 13 years ago to ask him to present new books on the air. For about 10 years, he had a popular show mixing the books and stories from his life.

He was such a distinctive personality. We didnt go to a bookstore, but instead we went to Vytopils, Vana said. In the course of his years in business, his name became synonymous with bookseller.

After the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution, Vytopil finally could open his own family bookstore, which he and his wife did on July 1, 1991.

He did exactly what he liked and did it right, no matter what it was, his wife said. When we started, I remember his enthusiasm for the business. It was him who was carrying the weight of it.

Despite his age, he didnt plan to retire, according to son.

The bookstore was all his life, he said. He used to say he only wanted to be carried out of it. That wish turned true, in a way.

The family announced in January they were putting the bookstore up for sale because they realized they didnt want to run it without our dad, husband and its soul any more.

___

Follow APs coronavirus pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Governor Wike in a viral video on social media said Burna Boy and the rest of the artists who performed at the homecoming party will receive N10 million each.

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has come under attack on social media for promising millions of naira to Grammy award-winning artiste, Damini Ogulu (Burna Boy), and others who performed at a homecoming party for the music star.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Burna Boy, his family members and his management team visited Mr Wike on Saturday.

Speaking during the visit, Mr Wike said when the music star was announced as the winner of the Best Global Music Album category at the 2021 Grammy Award, for his 'Twice As Tall' album, the entire state was elated.

A homecoming party, however, took place at Port Harcourt, the state capital, where the governor announced that all musicians who performed at the event would go home with N10 million gift each.

The speech of the governor had gone viral on social media, particularly Twitter.

"Those of you who have come to play, whatever you have agreed with the ministry of culture and tourism is not my business.

"All of you that have come today and the Niger Delta people that have come to play today to show the talent you have, I'm very proud of you. All of you will go home with N10 million each," Mr Wike said amidst cheers from the audience.

PREMIUM TIMES also discovered that most people at the event including Mr Wike and Burna Boy were not wearing face masks nor maintained social distancing despite the COVID-19 pandemic rocking the nation.

The governor's donation comes a week after public school teachers protested over five years non-payment of salaries by the Rivers government.

The protesting teachers told journalists that they have lost about ten of their colleagues due to the hardship experienced within the period.

Outrage

Many Nigerians have, however, attacked Mr Wike for what they tagged reckless spending on Saturday. The governor trended on Twitter on Sunday morning.

Wale Adetona, a social media marketer, said: "The impulse gifting by Governor Wike is so unnecessary for a state that has failed to pay gratuity & pension."

Mr Wike is yet to react to the criticism by Nigerians of his action.

See more tweets condemning the governor's action below.

Burna Boy has been gifted land in Old GRA, Port Harcourt and money to build by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.

Wike also promised to give each Artiste who performed at Burna's Homecoming Concert in Rivers State, Nigeria N10 million ($24,411) each. pic.twitter.com/tWwHIVWcoZ

- Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) March 28, 2021

This is the reason why they can never like Buhari. Kudos to Emperor Wike for teaching Bubu how to spend taxpayers money DiLiGeNtLy.pic.twitter.com/Fnfo2sXlnI

- TallJohn (@JohnFanimokun) March 28, 2021

Just saw a tweet where someone said that Burna Boy was cheering Wike for spending tax payers money.

Governor brought the man to town in a private jet, gave the man a landed property and you want him to object against the Governor publicly.

Una sabi lie for this app.

- Hydra  (@BrianJDennis) March 28, 2021

When they say Nigerians deserve the leaders it gets, this is part of why they say that. Gov Wike is so confident and unashamed to be paying artistes from government funds and people are hailing him but turn round and also criticize corruption in the same breath?  https://t.co/9s7D29kmxr

-  DaddyM (@therealdaddymo1) March 28, 2021

Lmao Burna boy will come on Twitter to drag politicians, he'll call them looters and all but see the hypocrite hailing Wike after receiving N10M. Teachers are being owed 5 years salary in the same Rivers State o. pic.twitter.com/xgp7BHfIAI

- OTUNBA (@ManLikeIcey) March 28, 2021

Is this him wasting taxpayer money and getting cheered, or is this going to be from his personal account?

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Entertainment 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.

Wike gets away with nearly everything all other governors get angrily criticized for. I wonder why it's like that?? https://t.co/hVV2iH8K55

- Man of Letters. (@Letter_to_Jack) March 28, 2021

Not you same insufferable fools who claimed you could get 150 million on your birthday as a governor or the same ones who called security votes their pocket money giving hot takes on how Governor Wike should spend his own birthday money too.

If you don't geddifok from my sight

- Lidocaine  (@trending_medic) March 28, 2021

Lol Wike is owing workers five years salaries, but he's out here giving gifts to the Sokoto State Government and BurnaBoy, because it's Emperor Wike no outrage. Democracy is not in danger because it's not coming from a certain quarter pic.twitter.com/S5ID2zFcVY

- Commander in Chief, Oduduwa Republic (@Joshibirogba) March 28, 2021

Wike o Daddy Wiks says he'd give all artistes that performed tonight N10m each That hailing from Burna though  pic.twitter.com/OGBDp4vUai

- Gift  (@Giftama_) March 27, 2021
It remained unclear how long it would take to fully re-open the canal with 6.5bn of trade held up every day

Fleet of tugboats used high tide to pull on the ship while rescue teams vacuumed sand from the canal bank

Bow of the 220,000-ton Ever Given was finally dislodged from the sandy bank of the Suez Canal on Monday

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The Suez Canal saga was nearing its end today after the container ship blocking the channel was set free and towed up the waterway by a fleet of tugboats, nearly a week after causing a traffic jam that strangled global trade.

The bow of the 220,000-ton Ever Given was finally dislodged from the canal bank on Monday after tugboats had straightened the vessel in an early-morning operation and dredgers had vacuumed away huge chunks of sand.

The salvage team made a major breakthrough by dislodging the ship's stern and straightening its position, taking advantage of a high tide brought on by a 'supermoon'.

Photos and tracking sites showed the Panama-flagged vessel being pulled up the waterway on Monday afternoon, opening the door for billions of dollars' worth of goods to resume their progress through the shipping lane.

Salvage teams were blaring their foghorns in celebration as they pulled the Ever Given towards the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water where Egyptian authorities say the ship will undergo technical inspections.

Egypt's president Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi had earlier declared that 'Egyptians have succeeded in ending the crisis' despite the operation's 'massive technical complexity.'

But it was unclear how long it would take to deal with the backlog, with the world's largest container firm, Denmark's Maersk, warning that 'it could take six days or more for the complete queue to pass'.

Satellite photos today showed an armada of cargo ships still stuck in a jam six days after the Ever Given got jammed in the Egyptian shore in high winds - with 6.5billion of global trade being held up each day.

Back on course: The Ever Given was floating in the Suez Canal again and being towed by a fleet of tugboats on Monday as the shipping saga which has brought billions of dollars' worth in trade to a standstill neared its end

Order restored: People watch as the container ship is refloated on Monday, unblocking the Suez Canal after a six-day stoppage which added to what was already a crisis in the shipping world

The Egyptian Team of the Tug boat Mashhour (pronounced mash- hoor) celebrates the success of freeing the #EverGiven After it got stuck in the Suez Canal.

They are chanting: Mashhour is number 1 pic.twitter.com/kZfFYvLP5f  Anas Alhajji (@anasalhajji) March 29, 2021

Although the ship is free, it is unclear how long it will take to deal with the backlog its grounding caused. Pictured: A satellite image shows the tugboats alongside the Ever Given on Monday

Egyptian boys celebrate across from the Ever Given after it was fully dislodged from the banks of the Suez Canal on Monday

Dugboats including the Dutch-flagged Alp Guard, which arrived in the canal on Sunday, were towing the Ever Given today

On the move: The Ever Given was back on its way in the Suez Canal today, being pulled by tugboats towards a wide stretch of water nearly a week after it got jammed in the Egyptian shore in a blockage that strangled global trade

Footage on Egyptian TV showed the Ever Given on the move today, bringing an end to the week-long saga in the Suez Canal

Progress: The Ever Given cargo ship was no longer wedged across the entire width of the Suez Canal today after tugboats managed to dislodge the stern in an early-morning operation

Challenge: Some way south of the Ever Given, a fleet of cargo ships was still waiting to get through the canal despite the progress made by salvage crews early on Monday morning

The ship had earlier been moved from its diagonal position across the waterway in the first stage of the salvage operation

Partially afloat: The Ever Given was straightened earlier today before it was eventually freed and resumed its progress

Breakthrough: This picture taken from a tugboat on Monday morning showed the Ever Given substantially straightened, although it remained unclear how long it would take to fully re-open the Suez Canal

A view from the canal early today as the captain of a rescue crew gives a thumbs-up (left) after the ship was rotated (right)

Satellite data early this morning showed the straightened Ever Given surrounded by a squadron of tugboats with its stern no longer appearing to be blocking the entire shipping route

The cargo ship, seen on Sunday before it was freed, had completely blocked traffic on the Suez Canal for a week

The bow remained wedged in the canal bank for several more hours after the stern was freed, but the tugboats finally wrenched it out after the high tide returned later on Monday - allowing the ship to float again.

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 Oceans. Before the canal, shipping from Europe either had to go overland or risk going around the Cape of Good Hope 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

The fully laden vessel was hauled over the canal bank at around 3pm and the head of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority announced shortly afterwards that shipping traffic had resumed in the waterway.

'She's free,' an official involved in the salvage operation said.

Evergreen Line, which is leasing the Ever Given, confirmed the ship had been successfully refloated and said it would be moved and inspected for seaworthiness.

The ship was due to head to Rotterdam after transiting the canal on its way from Asia, but it was unclear whether it would continue to the Dutch port after its inspection or head elsewhere for repairs.

The Ever Given's managers, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), said there had been no reports of damage to the cargo.

Peter Berdowski, the head of a Dutch salvage firm hired to extract the Ever Given, celebrated the successful operation by saying: 'We pulled it off!'

'I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given, thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again,' he said.

The Dutch firm said the operation carried out under 'the watchful eye of the world' had required 13 tug boats and the dredging of approximately 30,000 cubic metres of sand.

Egyptian authorities have said they can accelerate convoys through the canal once the Ever Given is out of the way, with canal chief Admiral Osama Rabie vowing that 'we will not waste one second'.

He said it could take from two-and-a-half to three days to clear the backlog, while another Egyptian source said more than 100 ships would be able to enter the channel per day.

But other estimates say it could take up to 10 days to clear the traffic jam, and Maersk said the knock-on disruptions to global shipping could take weeks or even months to unravel.

The tailback of ships carrying everything from crude oil to cattle had reached 425 by the end of the drama with vessels waiting in a queue at the two ends of the canal, in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Dozens more are taking the alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip - adding some two weeks and thousands of miles to journeys and threatening delivery delays.

With canal transits stopped, Egypt has already has lost over 69million in revenue, according to the data firm Refinitiv.

About 15 per cent of world shipping traffic transits the Suez canal, which is an important source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt.

Old sections of the canal - opened in 1869 and widened since - have been reopened to ease the congestion, but there is only one lane on the southern end where the ship was stuck.

Shipping giant MSC told customers that it 'expects this incident to have a very significant impact on the movement of containerised goods'.

The obstruction could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East, with Syria already rationing the distribution of fuel in the war-torn country amid fears of delayed shipments.

Romania's animal health agency said 11 ships carrying livestock out of the country were also impacted, while the charity Animals International warned of a potential 'tragedy' affecting some 130,000 animals.

Global container shipping was already in crisis because of disruptions caused by the pandemic, sending shipping costs rocketing because of limited space aboard the vessels.

Egypt's president al-Sisi had ordered preparations for some of the ship's 18,300 containers to be removed if dislodging efforts had failed.

Taking containers off the ship likely would have added even more days to the canal's closure, and required special equipment that would not have arrived until later in the week.

But as the high tides came in last night, diggers set to work removing parts of the canal's bank while specialist tugboats also joined efforts to float the giant ship.

The Dutch-flagged Alp Guard and the Italian-flagged Carlo Magno, which were called in to work alongside tugboats already on scene, reached the Red Sea near the city of Suez on Sunday.

Containers are seen on board the Ever Given, some of them bearing the label of the Evergreen Line which is leasing the vessel

Partially refloated: The ship was no longer stranded across the width of the Egyptian canal after the Monday morning operation

Nighttime operations taking advantage of the supermoon king tide successfully re-floated the Ever Given early on Monday. The 1,300-foot ship had completely blocked shipping traffic on the vital Suez Canal for a week

Peter Dotselaere, an instructor at the Antwerp Maritime Academy, stands at the controls of a mock-up Ever Given in a simulation of how the accident that has brought global trade to a standstill might have happened

The Ever Given is seen in the dawn on Monday after a successful operation to re-float the stuck container vessel

Some of the containers piled high on the Ever Given are seen from the canal bank today after the ship was partially refloated

The Ever Given is now in a more horizontal position when seen from this side of the canal, having previously been spreadeagled diagonally across the waterway

Rescue teams intensified excavation and dredging efforts around the Ever Given container ship after high tides were created by the full Worm Moon

The Japanese-owned ship disrupted global shipping valued at more than 6.5billion per day and exacerbated the global economic crisis triggered by Covid-19

This weekend it was revealed that ships containing livestock and IKEA furnishings had been left stranded in the maritime traffic jam.

Gerit Weidinger, EU coordinator for NGO Animals International, told The Guardian: 'My greatest fear is that animals run out of food and water and they get stuck on the ships because they cannot be unloaded somewhere else for paperwork reasons.'

Meanwhile IKEA said it had 110 containers on the stricken Ever Given and on other ships.

'The blockage of the Suez Canal is an additional constraint to an already challenging and volatile situation for global supply chains brought on by the pandemic,' an IKEA spokesperson said.

A man waves goodbye to the Ever Given on Monday as economists said its disruption of shipping through the Suez Canal probably won't have an impact on global trade for more than a few weeks

Economists say the Ever Given's disruption of shipping through the Suez Canal probably won't have an impact on global trade for more than a few weeks, and is unlikely to derail global growth this year as more people get Covid-19 vaccines and economies reopen.

But it's another wake-up call for companies that have set up their business to rely on supply chains with little room for error, said William Lee, chief economist at the Milken Institute.

'This is a warning about how vulnerable our supply chains are and how the just-in-time inventory techniques that have been so popular have to be rethought,' he said. 'The shortages and the supply chain shortages that cause assembly lines to shut down - that will have a greater impact.'

The incident is another ripple worsening shortages of shipping containers in Asia, which means retailers may be late getting TVs, furniture, clothes, auto parts and many other goods that are shipped via containers.

Many countries got a harsh lesson in those realities last year when commerce, was disrupted in myriad ways after new coronavirus outbreaks began in China, the world's factory floor.

Consumers everywhere soon found that ordering online was an adventure in the unknown, with many factories shut down and trade between Chinese provinces stalled. Obtaining supplies of medicines and vital personal protective equipment such as face masks and other medical supplies became challenging, and sometimes impossible.

About 12 per cent of global trade by volume goes through the Suez Canal, but it accounts for 30 per cent of the world's daily shipping container freight. That makes it the most important conduit for trade between Europe and Asia.

Officials had feared they'd have to unload the ship, a prospect that now appears off the table after the operation

Officials said they wanted to make use of the the high tides created by the supermoon to dislodge the 220,000-ton skyscraper-sized Ever Given

An aerial view taken on March 27, 2021 from the porthole of a commercial plane shows stranded ships waiting in queue in the Gulf of Suez to cross the Suez Canal at its southern entrance near the Red Sea port city of Suez

The closure also affects oil and gas shipments. Nearly 10 per cent of oil shipments and eight per cent of global liquid natural gas moves through the Suez Canal, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Much of the traffic involves transpiration of crude oil from the Middle East to Europe and the U.S. It's also become an important link for Russian oil to Asia.

The disruption from the canal blockage comes at tricky time for international trade and shipping, noted Fiona Boal, global head of commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

'The cost of shipping goods from Asia to Europe hit a record high in recent months and global freight rates are already near three times the level of a year ago,' she said.

At the same time, oil prices may be kept in check by worries that demand for oil will weaken amid renewed pandemic lockdowns in Europe. Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery fell $1.03 to $59.91 per barrel on Monday after rising $2.41 on Friday. Brent crude oil for May delivery lost $1 to $63.43 per barrel after gaining $2.62 on Friday.

North and Latin America are likely to be less affected than Europe by the blockage in the Suez Canal, because much of the shipping container traffic that runs between the Americas and Asia moves through the Pacific to hubs like the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, or crosses through the Panama Canal.

'The impact on the U.S. will be less than on Europe,' Hufbauer said.

On Saturday, the head of the canal authority told journalists that strong winds were 'not the only cause' for the Ever Given running aground, appearing to push back against conflicting assessments offered by others.

Admiral Rabei said that an investigation was ongoing but did not rule out human or technical error.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement maintains that their 'initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding.'

However, at least one initial report suggested a 'blackout' struck the hulking vessel, which is carrying some 20,000 containers, at the time of the incident.

Rescue crews desperately trying to free the container ship blocking the Suez Canal today said they have made a breakthrough and had managed to move the skyscraper-sized vessel by nearly 100ft

The massive Ever Given (pictured), a Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, got stuck on Tuesday in a single-lane stretch of the canal

A tugboat is seen on Sunday near the Ever Given container ship which ran aground in the Suez Canal, Egypt

The plan is for the tugboats to nudge the 400-meter-long Ever Given as dredgers continue to vacuum up sand from underneath the vessel and mud caked to its port side, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which manages the Ever Given, said

A handout satellite image made available by MAXAR Technologies shows excavation around the bow of the Ever Given and dredging operations in progress, in the Suez Canal, Egypt, March 28, 2021

Workers planned to make two attempts to free the vessel on Sunday, coinciding with high tides, a top pilot with the canal authority told The Associated Press

Stranded ships are now waiting in a queue in the Gulf of Suez after the container ship blocked the waterway
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By Ritah Kemigisa

The Alliance for Finance Monitoring (ACFIM) has expressed concern about the growing number of election petitions from the just concluded poll.

The election of about 40 MPs including the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and some ministers has been challenged in courts, with their opponents seeking to have their victory nullified.

The rivals allege voter bribery, lack of academic papers, election fraud and violence, non-compliance with electoral laws, among other issues.

The ACFIM executive director Henry Muguzi now demands that parliamentary Elections Act is amended so that a candidate found guilty of vote buying loses their seat and is banned for at least 10 years from contesting again even when the nullification is by a result of a civil suit.

According to Muguzi, sometimes the very culprits are the ones contesting again in a by-election, an act that is immoral.

He further warns that organizing a by-election is costly at approximately shs 320 million, a cost which is an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer.
Sonora, CA  Today is an ideal time to thank Vietnam Veterans for their sacrifices and properly welcome them home from duty.

March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day, and locally the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors declared it as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.

The official county proclamation reads, Vietnam Veterans Day commemorates the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans and their families and is part of a national effort to recognize the men and women who were denied a proper welcome upon returning home more than 40 years ago.

It adds, We also recognize the trials and hardships of the families, friends, and descendants of these Vietnam Vets whove they held in their hearts. That they have earned our respect for their courage and devotion to their service member and to the United States.

Read the entire proclamation by clicking here.

National Vietnam War Veterans Day was first observed in 2012. March 29 was picked because on this day in 1973 the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam disbanded and the final US combat troops departed the Republic of Vietnam.
The Illinois law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C. is proud to announce that Law360 has named the firms Founder and Managing Equity Partner, Patrick A. Salvi, a 2021 Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar. He is one of only eleven plaintiffs attorneys from across the country to receive this prestigious honor.

Each year, Law360s Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar series honors influential plaintiffs lawyers who had significant wins and influence in the field of law in the previous year. The attorneys on the list include firm executives, teachers and advocates, as well as champions of diverse legal theories holding corporations accountable and protecting the rights of consumers.

In a few weeks, Law360 will publish a profile on Mr. Salvi, outlining some of his major 2020 achievements.

The complete list of 2021 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar can be viewed on Law360's website.

Patrick A. Salvi founded the law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard in Lake County, Illinois in 1982. Today, the firm is regarded as one of the top plaintiffs firms in Illinois. Under Mr. Salvis leadership, the firm has obtained more than $1.5 billion in verdicts and settlements on behalf of injured clients. With offices in Chicago and Waukegan, the firm has 19 lawyers and is supported by more than 35 staff members.

For more information, please contact Marcie Mangan at (877) 823-1433 or mmangan@salvilaw.com.
opinion

East African women, and all of us their "mashabiki" (fans), are ending this International Women's Month on a particularly high note. This is mainly due to Rais Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, who, though under tragic circumstances, has ably taken over the United Republic's Presidency from her predecessor, the redoubtable John Pombe Magufuli.

Two things struck me, as a language and women's studies scholar, about the start of the new President's term. The first is the grammatical protocol (itifaki ya kisarufi) regarding how to address our first female President in Kiswahili. She certainly is not Mama Rais, or "Ma'Rais" as we commonly utter it. We have had these, First Ladies, ever since the arrival of Maria Nyerere on the scene.

On the other hand, no properly civilised Kiswahili speaker is going to deprive our President of the profoundly emotive honorific "Mama" entitlement. The solution, as our media communicators seem to be pointing, lies in the ordering of the words in the title. I am happy, so far, with "Rais Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan".

Incidentally, talking about protocol, I, too, was impressed by Rais Ndugu Uhuru Kenyatta's pausing for the "adhana" (call to prayer), in the middle of his tribute to Magufuli in Dodoma. His brief silence was an excellent illustration of the Swahili cultural sensitivities ingrained in us East Africans. Silence is, indeed, a key ingredient in the pragmatic, or practical, interpretation of communication.

Public discourse

Most striking, however, at the Dodoma event, was President Suluhu Hassan's laconic assertion to the doubting Thomases. "I want to tell you," she said, "mnayemwona hapa ni Rais (the person you see here is President)." This, for me, marked the moment of arrival of the woman at the summit of East African leadership. It probably also signalled the entry of a different style of communication in our public discourse.

This was detectable in not only the words said but also, and especially, in the way they were said. East African (male-dominated) political discourse, especially in Kiswahili, is famous for its loud, passionate and emphatic rhetoric. President Samia Suluhu Hassan's unflappable, level-toned and well-measured understatements since her assumption of power may be a fundamental game-changer, not only in words but also in action.

I do not know if I am reading some of this into the situation because of my notorious partiality for my sisters. But, to come clean, in moments like this, my emotions, like those of many of us who had the good luck to be educated in Tanzania in its early post-independence years, are strongly stirred. Joining the dots, you realise how deeply and fundamentally we were formed and shaped by the experience.

Dr Achola Pala, an undergraduate contemporary of mine in Dar and eventually a Harvard University scholar, shared a similar sentiment with me in some recent correspondence. "I have suddenly been bitten by a huge desire to see Dar again," she wrote. "As you know, Dar, just like Kiswahili, is quite magical. Once either of the two gets a hold of your heart, it is hard to let go."

I will tell you more, in a separate conversation, about Dr Achola Pala and her stellar career as a scholar, researcher, diplomat and international civil servant and, especially, an activist for grassroots transformation among Kenyan women. But, as you can see from the above, she is very much one of the women of Uswahilini, the precursors of Samia Suluhu, as I knew them during our formative days in Mwalimu Nyerere's inspiration of the East African "Swahili" nation.

Social class

For you did not have to be a native Mswahili, from the Islands or from the "Mwambao" (Coast) or even a Tanzanian, you did not have to be male or female or to belong to any specific faith or social class in order to share the vision. What the founders of Tanzania encouraged us, their charges, to embrace were the sterling values of discipline, impeccable ethics, a thirst for knowledge, African pride, self-reliance and social cohesion (the much-maligned "ujamaa").

Today's Tanzanian strong women, like President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Anna Makinda, the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Asha Rose Migiro, whom I mentioned last week, and Professor Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, former Director General of UN's Habitat, belong to a younger generation than ours. But they did not come out of the blue. Rather, they are a continuation of that tradition, to which we oldsters look back with understandable nostalgia.

I ascertained this when I had opportunities to interact and in some cases work with women academics from this younger generation. Among these are Prof Penina Mlama, the distinguished author and university administrator, and Dr Anna Kishe, whom I mentioned in my International Women's Day tribute. Two exceptionally brilliant scholars with whom I was privileged to work on the Feminist Press's Women Writing Africa project are professors Amandina Lihamba and Saida Yahya-Othman, both of Dar University.

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President Samia Suluhu Hassan reminded me particularly of Saida Yahya-Othman, because Saida, too, comes from Zanzibar. Moreover, in one of Saida's publications, an edition of the epic poem Howani Mwana by her aunt, Zeynab Himid Mohamed, she recalls the early struggles of Zanzibari Swahili girls to get an education.

Incidentally, my first and fortunate encounter with Rais Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan was also in Zanzibar. This was in her vice-presidential days, when she officiated at the Inaugural Conference of the East African Kiswahili Commission at the Golden Tulip Boutique Hotel in September 2017. I remember Her Excellency urging all of us East Africans to embrace Kiswahili as a major unifying tool in the region.

This was a moment of great elation for me, not only because of my long involvement in the formation of the Commission but also because Her Excellency was in the company of my fellow Makererean, Sheikh Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former President of the United Republic. This means that I have actually met up close with four of the six Presidents of Tanzania.

Do I have reason to be emotional, or to boast?

The writer is a leading East African scholar of English and literature.
A man holds a torch as he stands behind a barricade during a protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar. Photo: reuters

Security forces in Myanmar opened fire on mourners at a funeral held yesterday for one of more than 100 people killed during anti-coup protests the day before, witnesses said.

Troops shot at the mourners as they gathered in the town of Bago, near Yangon, for the funeral of a student who was among 114 people killed on Saturday, according to three people who spoke to the Reuters news agency.

While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us, said a woman called Aye, who had come to pay her respects for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old student.

Although there were no reports of casualties at the funeral, two people were reported to have been killed by security forces at protests yesterday elsewhere in Myanmar.

Thousands of villagers in a border area fled to Thailand after army air strikes on one of several ethnic militias that have stepped up attacks since the coup, witnesses said.

The latest trouble came as the defence chiefs of 12 countries condemned the use of deadly force by Myanmars military. Saturday was the worst day of violence since the military takeover on February 1.

In a rare joint statement, the defence chiefs of Britain, the US, Australia and other countries in Asia-Pacific and Europe urged Myanmars armed forces and security services to stop using violence against unarmed civilians.

A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting  not harming  the people it serves, the statement read.

It was issued by the defence chiefs of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and US.

The condemnation came as the death toll in the wake of the military coup rose to at least 423, and as the Myanmar embassy in London revealed that it had met the son of the deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is demanding to speak to his detained mother.

In recent weeks, security forces have been using intensifying violence to quell massive public opposition to the military takeover. The largest number of killings so far took place on Saturday, when indiscriminate violence by armed forces included a one-year-old baby being hit in the eye with a rubber bullet, the deaths of a five-year-boy and at least three teenagers, and the shooting and burning alive of a father of four.

Troops opened fire in an area of Mandalay, wounding Aye Ko (40) in the chest, and then put him on a stack of burning tyres, the Myanmar Now news portal reported.

Saturdays 114 deaths across 40 cities and towns drew swift international condemnation. Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said the bloodshed showed that the junta will sacrifice the lives of the people to serve the few. He added: The courageous people [of Myanmar] reject the militarys reign of terror.

But Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the international community needed to do more than issue toughly worded statements. Myanmars security forces need to be urgently stripped of the weapons, money and resources that enable them to operate, through a global arms embargo and targeted economic sanctions enforced by a UN Security Council mandate, he said.

Defiant protesters were back on the streets yesterday, with demonstrations held in the two biggest cities of Yangon and Mandalay, some of which were again met by force. Many thousands have been calling for the junta to step down and for the release of Ms Suu Kyi, who has not been seen since the morning of the coup eight weeks ago.

Read More

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
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.
Global 7500 (https://businessaircraft.bombardier.com/en/aircraft/global-7500) aircraft receiving positive market response for its unparalleled performance, innovative technology, unique cabin design and the smoothest ride

(https://businessaircraft.bombardier.com/en/aircraft/global-7500) Global 7500 aircraft deliveries reaching steady run-rate as the company continues to swiftly progress through the program's learning curve

Global 7500 in-service fleet demonstrating outstanding dispatch reliability rate of 99,7%

Global 7500 aircraft is the first business jet to have a third-party verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)

MONTREAL, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier announced today that it delivered the 50th Global 7500 aircraft. The milestone delivery was achieved as production of the industry flagship continues to mature, and as the aircraft's in-service performance continues to deliver very high levels of reliability.

The 50th delivery of the Global 7500 business jet follows a successful 2020, where Bombardier delivered 35 of these aircraft, including a record 16 deliveries in Q4. Bombardier continues to receive strong interest for the Global 7500 business jet and order activity is robust worldwide.

"The Global 7500 aircraft is unrivalled in the market," said Eric Martel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier. "It provides an unmatched combination of speed, range, comfort and reliability, making it both the industry flagship and a key driver of our growth strategy. As we mark this delivery milestone, I want to recognize and thank the many talented employees who supported the development and launch of this aircraft, as well as those currently working on the program and supporting our customers in the field. The world-class calibre of workmanship and technology found in each aircraft continues to drive strong market demand and industry-wide recognition."

Since its entry-into-service at the end of 2018, the Global 7500 business jet has demonstrated an outstanding dispatch reliability rate of 99.7% in-service and has proven to be the highest-performing aircraft in the industry by completing various key speed records and challenging flights, including the longest city-pair flown by a purpose-built business aircraft, connecting Sydney and Detroit non-stop. In its inaugural year of service, the aircraft received multiple accolades including the 2019 Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award, the 2019 Robb Report Best of the Best Business Jet of the Year Award and the 2018 Red Dot Award for Product Design.

Thanks to visionary design and superior performance, the Global 7500 aircraft is the industry flagship, redefining the business aircraft experience. With four distinct living spaces plus a dedicated crew rest area, it is unique among business jets in spaciousness, comfort, highly personalized design flexibility and patented cabin innovations.

The advanced wing on the Global 7500 aircraft was conceived to optimize speed, range and control, and ensure an exceptionally smooth ride. The aircraft's leading-edge wing design offers steep approach capability and short-field performance, while redefining flight comfort and wellness in business aviation. With its impressive and unsurpassed long-range capability of 7,700 nautical miles (14, 260 km) at M 0.85, it can fly eight passengers non-stop from New York to Hong Kong, and Singapore to San Francisco.*

Among its many distinctions, the Global 7500 aircraft is also the first business jet to have an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), which provides detailed information about the aircraft's life cycle environmental footprint. The Global 7500 aircraft is the first business jet conceived with this approach and reflects Bombardier's commitment to its overarching environmental sustainability strategy.

About Bombardier

Bombardier is a global leader in aviation, creating innovative and game-changing planes. Our products and services provide world-class experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier is present in more than 12 countries including its production/engineering sites and its customer support network. The Corporation supports a worldwide fleet of approximately 4,900 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments and private individuals.

News and information is available at bombardier.comor follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

Notes to Editors

To receive our press releases, please visit the RSS Feedsection.

Bombardier, Global and Global 7500 are either unregistered or registered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

*Under certain operating conditions.

For Information

Marie-Andree Charron

Bombardier

marie-andree.charron@aero.bombardier.com

+1-514-855-5001 ext. 26493
(Natural News) British scientists criticized the the U.S. vaccine watchdog group that drew attention to AstraZenecas cherry picking of data from coronavirus vaccine trials.

This was after the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), an independent panel overseeing vaccine trials, accused the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant of withholding data to make the vaccine seem more effective than it actually was in human trials done in the U.S., Chile and Peru.

Acting upon the urging of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), AstraZeneca provided updated efficacy to the DSMB. The new data bring the vaccines efficacy at stopping symptomatic infections from 79 to 76 percent.

The revision to the efficacy rate put AstraZeneca back on track for U.S. approval, with the firm hoping it will be given the green light in the coming weeks.

U.K. experts make excuses, say it is normal for trial results to fluctuate

U.K. experts described the difference as tiny, noting that it was normal for results to fluctuate as more data from the studies came in. They also slammed the DSMB for potentially fueling vaccine hesitancy.

Professor Stephen Evans, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said public disputes do not promote global health. This appears to be a call for watchdog groups to suppress information and keep the public in the dark.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is viewed by many as a crucial piece in tackling the spread of COVID-19 across the globe because it is easier and cheaper to transport than rival shots. It has been granted conditional marketing or emergency use authorization in more than 70 countries.

There may be hidden reasons for their actions, but so far it will have had serious damage to public confidence in this, and possibly all vaccines, globally and it is unclear what benefits to anyone the DSMBs announcement will have had, Evans said. It would be better if this dispute could be laid to rest and the U.S. and other regulators left to make their objective assessments of complete data without the glare of publicity. It does not make regulators tasks easier.

The DSMB is made up of around a dozen leading scientists and statisticians with no ties to the government or the drug firms making the jabs.

Dr. Peter English, the former chair of the British Medical Associations Public Health Medicine committee, said the DSMB acted in a way that risks doing serious harm to confidence in this vaccine and, more dangerous still, vaccination in general.

Talking about the revised efficacy figure, Dr. English said that the difference is to be expected because of the volume of the cases analyzed. We have not seen the confidence intervals, but they will almost certainly overlap, with this difference not being statistically significant, he said.

AstraZeneca official claims latest results are consistent with the controversial interim results

AstraZenecas Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceutical research and development, said the new data results were consistent with the interim results that sparked controversy. He added that the data confirms our COVID vaccine is highly effective in adults, including those aged 65 years and over.

The data said the vaccine showed 85 percent efficacy at blocking symptoms in people over 65 years old  higher than the 80 percent figure reported on Monday, March 22. The latest data was based on 190 infections among more than 32,400 participants in the U.S., Chile and Peru. The earlier interim data was based on 141 infections through Feb. 17.

The U.S. trial also confirmed the vaccine does not increase the risk of blood clots. (Related: Researchers confirm antibodies from the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine cause blood clots.)

In the trial, two doses were given four weeks apart in the study and the effectiveness of a single dose was not reported. It was carried out because U.S. regulators and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wanted a trial done on Americans before deciding whether to approve the jab or not, choosing not to use data from Oxfords tests in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil.

This original trial of the jab was not carried out to high enough standards. Some of the people in the study were accidentally given a dose the wrong size and the effectiveness of the vaccine varied across different people in the trial. The original trial also did not include enough people in older age groups.

AstraZeneca cant seem to catch a break

The hiccup was the latest in a string of public relation disasters for AstraZeneca, which has faced constant criticism over its vaccine.

Late last year, the firm published two different efficacy readings from an earlier trial as a result of a dosing error. Earlier this year, European Union officials claimed that the vaccine didnt work on older people. Just this month, more than a dozen countries from the European Union temporarily suspended giving out the shot after reports linked it to a rare blood clotting disorder.

But it was rare for a health organization like NIAID to publicly rebuke vaccine efficacy data.

The full NIAID statement read: Late Monday, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) notified NIAID, BARDA, and AstraZeneca that it was concerned by information released by AstraZeneca on initial data from its COVID vaccine clinical trial.

The DSMB expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data.

We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be made public as quickly as possible.

NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci called it an unfortunate unforced error.

This kind of thing does  nothing but really cast some doubt about the vaccines and may contribute to the hesitancy, he told ABCs Good Morning America.

The data really are quite good but when they put it into the press release it wasnt completely accurate.

Follow Immunization.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus vaccines.

Sources include:

Dailymail.co.uk

Reuters.com

Rappler.com
The Kyle and Jackie O Show was thrown into disarray on Monday morning when a producer announced live on air that Russians had 'hacked' the radio station.

KIIS FM staffer Jaimee 'Mayo' Hassos was alarmed when she noticed a button on her panel was clicking without her doing anything - sparking fears the network was being targeted by the same foreign agents who disrupted Channel Nine's Sydney operations on Sunday.

'Can you hear us?' she worriedly asked hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson. 'Our system's stuffing up here, and I'm worried that...'

Shook: The Kyle and Jackie O Show was thrown into disarray on Monday when a producer announced live on air that Russians had 'hacked' the station. Pictured: host Kyle Sandilands

'Oh, my God, we're getting hacked by Russia like Channel Nine!' Kyle said.

'I think we've been hacked, as I'm not even clicking the button and it's...' Mayo replied, sounding genuinely concerned.

Fortunately, cyber hackers working for the former Soviet Union hadn't infiltrated KIIS FM's servers and Kyle was able to solve the issue within seconds.

'Click your finger off it. You take your finger off it and it works,' he said.

Whoops! KIIS FM staffer Jaimee 'Mayo' Hassos (pictured) was alarmed when she noticed a button on her panel was clicking without her doing anything - sparking fears the network was being targeted by the same foreign agents who disrupted Nine's Sydney operations on Sunday

The whole studio then burst into laughter upon realising Mayo had just been pressing the wrong button on her panel.

Producer 'Snappy Tom' Whitaker said: 'It was never broken, Mayo!'

'It was broken but it seems fixed now!' she responded, a little embarrassed.

Kyle and Jackie O had been speaking about Mayo's peanut allergy just moments before the 'hacking' began.

'Silly girl,' Kyle said after the mishap. 'Peanut allergy - makes them a little soft in the brain as well, I think you'll find.'

'It was never broken, Mayo!' The whole studio burst into laughter upon realising Mayo had just been pressing the wrong button on her panel. Pictured: Jackie 'O' Henderson

This isn't the first time The Kyle and Jackie O Show has made headlines over alleged Russian interference.

In January 2019, the hosts joked that producer 'Intern' Pete Deppeler had been unknowingly recruited as a Russian spy after visiting the country twice in two years.

Jackie explained at the time that a friend who worked for the Australian government had advised her to keep a watchful eye on Pete's movements.

Bizarre: This isn't the first time The Kyle and Jackie O Show has made headlines over alleged Russian interference. In early 2019, the hosts joked that producer 'Intern' Pete Deppeler (right) had been unknowingly recruited as a Russian spy after visiting the country twice in two years

'He said to me that it's not that unlikely that Pete could be unknowingly recruited as a Russian spy,' Jackie explained.

'They target people who are called "useful idiots", someone who is useful but an idiot. [They are] too dumb to know what's going on but useful in the fact that he has access to celebrities, royalty and politicians.

'We have Prime Ministers and Premiers coming in [to KIIS FM] and because he's always known as the goon, he does silly things, they would target someone like him.'

Unsurprisingly, Pete denied the rumours. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting he was actually recruited as a Russian spy.

'They target people who are called "useful idiots"': Jackie explained at the time that a friend who worked for the government had advised her to keep a watchful eye on Pete's movements

Loyal to Australia: Unsurprisingly Pete (right, with Jackie O) denied the rumours. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting he was actually recruited as a Russian spy

The Nine Network was the target of a cyber attack on its systems on Sunday which affected its live programming out of Sydney.

The Australian broadcaster was unable to air its Weekend Today and Sunday Sport programs as a result of the disruption.

Security experts believe the 'massive ransomware attack' was orchestrated by Russia ahead of Monday's episode of Under Investigation, hosted by Liz Hayes, which is set to expose Russian president Vladimir Putin's deadly campaign of chemical assassination against his enemies in the West.

Shut down: The Nine Network was the target of a cyber attack on Sunday which disrupted its live programming out of Sydney. Weekend Today hosts Rebecca Maddern (left), Richard Wilkins (centre) and Jayne Azzopardi (right) were unable to broadcast

Retaliation: Security experts believe the 'massive ransomware attack' was orchestrated by Russia ahead of Monday's episode of Under Investigation, hosted by Liz Hayes, which is set to expose Russian president Vladimir Putin's deadly campaign of chemical assassination

In a note to staff, Nine's director of people and culture Vanessa Morley told all employees across the country to work from home until further notice.

'Our IT teams are working around the clock to fully restore our systems which have primarily affected our broadcast and corporate business units,' she wrote.

'Publishing and radio systems continue to be operational.'

Ms Morley said office workers can expect to 'experience disruption to the Nine IT network', although emails did not appear to be impacted.

Controversial leader: Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, is pictured here during a meeting with Novgorod Region Governor Andrei Nikitin at the Moscow Kremlin on March 24

Nine's National Rugby League coverage, 6pm news bulletins and Sunday evening coverage including 60 Minutes and Married At First Sight went ahead as planned after the company enacted 'several contingencies'.

However, some viewers did experience glitching when trying to watch Married At First Sight on Nine's streaming service, 9Now.

Earlier, the Australian media giant - the owner of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers - said it was responding to 'technical issues'.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers described the situation as 'serious'.

'These are very concerning reports,' he told reporters in Springwood, Brisbane. 'What we're hearing about here is a serious, and sophisticated, targeted attack on a media organisation.'

Contingencies: Nine's Sunday evening programming, including 60 Minutes and Married At First Sight, went ahead as planned after the company enacted 'several contingencies'. Pictured: Married At First Sight star Bryce Ruthven

'Stopped playing': However, some viewers did experience glitching when trying to watch Married At First Sight on Nine's streaming service, 9Now
Pakistani President Arif Alvi on March 29 said that he has tested positive for COVID-19 despite having been inoculated with a first dose of vaccine.



"My coronavirus test is positive," Alvi tweeted.

Defense Minister Pervez Khattak was also diagnosed with the virus.



On March 20, Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus.



Khan has made a steady recovery and was given the green light to resume work.



Pakistan on March 29 reported 41 additional deaths and more than 4,500 new cases in the past 24 hours. Pakistan has reported more than 659,000 cases in total, including 14,256 deaths, since last year.



Last month, Islamabad kickstarted the vaccination of health workers, but the campaign received a lukewarm response as some Pakistanis are skeptical about the vaccine donated by China.

With reporting by AP and dpa
Turkmenistan held its first elections to a newly created senate on March 28 with 112 candidates contesting 48 senate seats.

Turkmen authorities declared within hours of the vote that turnout in the country of 5.8 million people was 98.7 percent of eligible voters.

Profiles of candidates published by the government newspaper, Netralny Turkmenistan, indicated that most of the candidates in the March 28 vote were civil servants.



Turkmenistan's new two-chamber parliament, known as the Milli Genes, or National Council, will be made up of 56 senators and 125 deputies.



In addition to the 48 candidates to be declared as the winners of senate seats during the next week, Berdymukhammedov also will designate his own choices for eight other senate seats.
At the age of 34, Tamiswa Njovana of Shurugwi has broken stereotypes that farming is for the older generation.

He is one of many young farmers that are changing the face of Zimbabwe's agriculture.

At that youthful age, Tamiswa is taking up farming as a viable career option.

This growing interest in farming by young people is reshaping and transforming the agricultural sector.

Having inherited a farm from his grandfather, Rockford Farm in Ward 3, Shurugwi, without an agricultural background or expertise skills in farming, Tamiswa ventured into agriculture.

He took interest in gaining farming knowledge about crop rearing and agronomy.

"My projects started concurrently three years ago with only 20 chickens, but now l have lost count of the chickens which comprise road runners, Boschers and layers," he said. "I also have 150 goats and more than 50 cattle. I am also into horticulture, rabbit keeping and pen fattening.

"Currently, l have planted 13 hectares of maize which l will harvest any time soon. l have not yet started selling the chickens, but I am focusing mainly on laying and hatching the eggs."

Starting farming was never easy for Tamiswa.

"I did not apply for any loan from the bank, as the banks do not give youths loans without collateral demands," Tamiswa says. "So, l had to use the little money I had to start the projects, which was not sufficient."

Tamiswa has also created employment for other people.

"A number of youths in and around my community have managed to gain employment at the farm," he says. "All the projects have been successful and I have expanded them. Three field days were held at our farm, attracting farmers, Agritex officers and other members from the surrounding wards to share information and share experiences."

Farming is never easy and challenges abound, says Tamiswa.

"We are reeling from the impact of climate change and the intensity of droughts is increasing," he says. "We need drought resistant crops to get better yields. Funding is difficult for our projects. As young farmers, we need more funding so that we can expand our farming activities and build better farming infrastructure."

Tamiswa urged other young people to get involved in different projects being spearheaded by the government to support young farmers.

"As young people, we are the future leaders of the country and our communities," he says. "We have all the capabilities to venture into farming if we set our eyes and hearts to do it. The youths should not waste time and resources doing unproductive things.

"There is a need to get involved in all programmes that can develop and equip ourselves with different skills. Youths need to remove the mentality that money is found in urban areas only, wherever one is, there is money.

"Let us learn to utilise all the available resources at our disposal such as land to the maximum, no matter how small the portion might be."

With earnings from his farming ventures, Tamiswa is now able to fend for his family and expand his operations.

Besides being a farmer, he is also the councillor in his ward for the past eight years.

"The government is doing a commendable job through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in catering for the welfare of people living in the rural areas around the country," he says.

"Rehabilitation of roads which were damaged by heavy rains this year is underway and people are involved in these efforts."

Tamiswa is keen to support other young people to take up farming as a livelihood opportunity.

"Farming has opportunities for the youth to become empowered and self-reliant," he says.

Making agriculture more attractive to young people can help create decent employment opportunities for them in rural areas and reverse perceptions and stereotypes that agriculture is hard and less attractive to venture into.

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A number of young people still complain that agriculture is hard and boring, with little income.

The youth make about half of the country's 13 million people and should play an important role in shaping and influencing the direction of Zimbabwe's future food security.

Africa has the youngest population in the world, according to the United Nations.

There were 226 million people aged between 15 and 24 in 2015, about 19 percent of the global total and this figure is expected to double by 2045.

Southern Africa also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates on the continent, with 53 percent of young women and 43 percent of young men, not employed.

Making agriculture attractive to the young is critical for employment creation and to spur economic and social transformation.

Development experts say Africa's rural youth face particular barriers to accessing productive employment.
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In this picture taken on Feb. 11, 2021, a snowcapped Himalayan mountains peak is seen in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, days before a deadly flash flood in a remote Indian Himalayan valley. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Similar Catastrophes in Himalayas Viewed Differently in China, India

NEW DELHIDivided by a colonial-time boundary that initially separated Tibet and colonial India and now the boundary of contention between the two most populous countries of the world, the Himalayas unlike never before are narrated by two different paradigms drawn very distinctly along two different political linesdemocracy vs. communism.

According to Gabriel Lafitte, author and a noted expert on Tibets environment, this division is causing confusion in understanding whats happening with the Himalayas.

Lafitte whos the author of the book, Spoiling Tibet: China and Resource Nationalism on the Roof of the World, compared two catastrophes, the Uttarakhand floods of February 2021 in India and the dramatic events of October 2018 that flooded the Yangtze river and the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra river within two weeks of each other in Tibet.

The Uttrakhand floods happened after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke on Feb. 7 and caused an avalanche and deluge, leading to sudden floods in three downstream tributaries of the River Ganges. It damaged two hydro projects, trapped many laborers, and killed 32 people while 190 others went missing, according to Hindu, an Indian daily.

The Tibetan catastrophes on the other hand were caused by landslides that blocked the rivers, creating massive lakes that caused flooding, Chinas state-run media Xinhua reported.

All three events have much in common: steep valleys carved by rivers powerful enough to cut deep, in pace with the ongoing rise of the Himalayas; glaciers perched far above on the upper flanks of the rising mountains, with a vertical gap between glacier and riverbed of two, three or more kilometers, said Lafitte in an article on his blog on Feb. 11.

He noted that while the information about the floods on the Indian side of the Himalayas was discussed and debated, on the Chinese side, it was a state secret.

Lafitte said when millions of tons of mixed ice, water, rock, and earth plunge a great distance down into a riverbed, the catastrophe is incomparable. The world is engineering Himalayan rivers at its own peril, he said.

Once the human rescue hopes fade, what remains is the debate about causes and consequences. In democratic India, debate swiftly segued to arguments on the folly of hydro dams. On the silenced Tibetan side, no such debate is allowed, said Lafitte.

China has controlled Asias water map after its 1951 annexation of the Tibetan plateau from where it is driving hydro politics in Asia, said Brahma Chellaney in an essay in the Open, an Indian magazine. Chellaney, a noted geostrategist, is the author of two award-winning books on water: Water, Peace and War and Water: Asias New Battleground.

Almost all of Asias major rivers originate on the Tibetan Plateau, and China is erecting an expansive hydro-infrastructure to make itself the upstream water controller. In recent days, its rubber-stamp parliament has ratified a controversial plan to build a mega-dam on the Brahmaputra (known as Yarlung Tsangpo to Tibetans) just before the worlds highest-altitude river crosses into India, said Chellaney, adding that the plan is likely to unleash havoc in the downstream region in India.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel stand outside the entrance of the Tapovan tunnel during rescue efforts in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state of India on Feb. 11, 2021, where dozens were still feared to be trapped following a flash flood thought to have been caused when a glacier broke off on Feb. 7. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Follies of a Century Ago

Henry McMahon, a British Indian army officer and a diplomat in times when India was a British colony, drew a line through the Himalayan glacial peaks, demarcating British India from Tibet.

The McMahon line is accepted by India as its legal border. However, China doesnt recognize it and instead considers Line of Actual Control (LAC), which, in, places differs from the McMahon line, as the de facto border. According to Lafitte, this has caused a lot of confusion because it has divided the contiguous Himalayas, the existence of which doesnt follow any political logic.

The recent sudden catastrophic collapse of a glacier perched high above the deep river valleys of Indian Uttarakhand is also a casualty of McMahons logical but absurd peak-to-peak magical line, said Lafitte. He added that the colonial demarcation and the reality of India and China being governed by contradicting political ideologies make it difficult to draw a complete picture of Himalayan reality.

Initial reporting of the destructive surge of this outbreak flood (as scientists call it) were confused as to what could have caused it, and utterly unaware of recent similar events on the other side of McMahons line, thus lacking many bases for comparison.

On the one hand, dramatic footage of the Uttrakhand flood was captured by the drone and was available to the public. On the other hand, the drone footage of the Yangtze and the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra catastrophe was available to only the party-state officials and it was a state secret, Lafitte said.

According to him, it can typically take years to understand such Himalayan catastrophes when adequate scientific analysis isnt available.

The gap McMahon drew dividing the south face of the Himalayas from the north face, is a gift that keeps on gapping. In the absence of any interest or awareness of the Yarlung Tsangpo damming, journalists in India, needing to wrap this story, have focused on the follies of hydro damming, even though the dams India builds on its Himalayan rivers (so far) are nowhere near as big as that China builds on the Yarlung Tsangpo and other rivers flowing from Tibet, including the Za Chu/Lancang/Mekong, and the Dri Chu/Jinsha/Yangtze, Lafitte said.

Border Roads Organization (BRO) workers rebuild the destroyed Raini bridge in Chamoli district on Feb. 13, 2021, after the Raini bridge was washed away by a flash flood thought to have been caused when a glacier burst on Feb. 7. (Virender Singh Negi/AFP via Getty Images)

Adding to the Confusion

Lafitte said there are other stories about the catastrophes which are not true and have caused confusion, such as stories of the Uttrakhand floods being caused by a CIA nuclear-powered monitoring device emplaced on a nearby peak in 1965.

Indian environmentalists have been quick, as is possible in a democracy, to blame the hydro dammers; even suggesting Uttarakhand is a lesson China should heed, and not proceed with plans to build a 60MW dam in the Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge, he said adding that if the journalist would have heard about the 2018 catastrophe in Tibet they would have understood how similar the two crashes are and that such dams can never be built.

No dam, no matter how well-engineered, can withstand tens of millions of tons of ice and rock falling from four or five kms above, at a speed faster than a bullet train, he said.

He also said contrary to the metaphor of the Himalayas being fragile, the Himalayas are actually powerful and indifferent to human will.

Tibetans have always known and respected this, and made frequent offerings to the local gods of place, burning smoldering juniper leaves every morning as fragrant smoke to please the gods, Lafitte said.

Today, we put our faith in numbers and the sciences that generate them; while the gods of place, the deities dwelling in the mountains are dismissed as superstition. We disseminate conspiracy theories about CIA mountain top monitoring devices, as we shelter under Henry McMahons great line, not keen on dispensing with fictions.
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Comic-Con announced over the weekend that it will be hosting a Comic-Con Special Edition event in San Diego.

The only problem is that the event is set to take place from Nov. 26 to Nov 28Thanksgiving weekend.

The New York Post reports that the convention may be scrambling revenue-wise after it was forced to go virtual last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. It appears that the gigantic trade showwhich allows for fans of all kinds to show their loveis having a bit of trouble getting back on its feet when it comes to organization in-person events.

Our decision to hold an in-person event in 2021 was driven by a number of factors, explains the official Comic-Con press release. Our primary hope was to be able to gather in-person as a community, something we have not been able to do since early last year.

Another way was to try to determine how best to effectively and safely produce events in light of current health concerns with the least negative impact on attendees.

While many people remain concerned over the health implications of going to an event such as Comic-Con while the pandemic remains ongoing, many more people had gripes more-so with the fact it was scheduled during a time thats primarily reserved for family.

I live in San Diego and even then having Comic Con during Thanksgiving weekend is a bad idea, tweeted one Influencer, Parris, in response to the news. [Have] some compassion for the folks whod be forced to work that event and want to be with their families coming off a freaking global pandemic.

Currently, we do not know whether having this event is even feasible as we are still in the midst of the pandemic continues Comic-Cons statement. However, it was our desire to have something in place for our fans who have longed for an in-person event.

We truly hope that you will join us for this entry back into the world of in-person celebrations of the community we love so much.
A young man, who was allegedly in a group of 10 people that broke into a house in Dublin and attacked two pensioners, has been refused bail.

A 68-year-old woman was knocked unconscious, a man (72) was attacked and a third male was stabbed and sliced, at a house in Darndale on the night of October 3 last, Dublin District Court heard.

Darren Grimes (20) of Marigold Crescent, Darndale, appeared before Judge Gerard Jones.

Detective Garda Alan Roche told the court the accused had no reply to charge

He objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the case.

Det-Gda Roche said it was alleged that 10 people approached a house at Primrose Grove and entered forcibly.

The woman was rendered unconscious for a couple of minutes. The 71-year-old man was kicked and punched while a third male in the house was sliced and stabbed a number times.

The stabbed man was hospitalised and needed 50 stitches.

Further more serious charges may be brought.

The accused was allegedly one of the main aggressors carrying a knife, and lived less than 100 metres from the house that was broken into, the court was told.

Mr Grimes is the fifth person to be charged in connection with the incident which is connected to a local feud, the court heard.

Det-Gda Roche agreed with defence solicitor Roy ONeill that in the five months since the alleged incident his client had not left the country. He had also come voluntarily to the garda station to be charged.

He also agreed with the solicitor that he had not been in contact with any witnesses.

Mr ONeill said his client was a young man begging for bail and he would abide by strict conditions.

Judge Jones refused bail and remanded him in custody to appear again on Wednesday.
NEW DELHI - Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi. The two sides discussed the latest developments in the Afghan peace process and political, economic, and security cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Mr. Atmar discussed the peace plan of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for the success of Afghanistan peace negotiations. He said the plan would pave the way for a lasting peace based on the will of the Afghan people and strengthen Afghanistan's role as a bridge for connectivity and cooperation between regional countries and the international community.

The Foreign Minister added that the Islamic Republic was the only structure that could maintain equal participation of citizens for internal peace and cohesion and prevent the return of terrorist groups to Afghanistan needed for regional balance and stability.

Regarding the existence of terrorist groups and networks in the region, Mr. Atmar noted that the severance of ties between the Taliban and terrorist outfits was one of the group's commitments and a basic condition for the success of peace talks that can allow the return of the Taliban to political and civil life.

During the meeting, India's National Security Adviser stressed the need for continued strategic cooperation between India and Afghanistan and expressed his country's full support for the peace process, including the consolidation of regional and global consensus. Mr. Doval added that the unity among Afghans and consensus at regional and international levels were essential factors for achieving sustainable peace.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has entreated the government to forge closer collaboration with the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) to develop effective strategies to tackle some of the critical challenges in the country.



He said engineers had a key role to play in the accelerated growth of the country and, therefore, regular consultations with them could lead to best practices.



Our fate shall be sealed if we do not make use of our God-given talents, become innovative and bring new applications to the fore in the 21st century, the Otumfuo added.



This was contained in a speech read on behalf of the Asantehene by the Hiahene, Oheneba Boachie-Adjei Woahene II, at the 51st annual general meeting (AGM) of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) in Kumasi last Wednesday.



It was on the theme: "Engineering: Key to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."



Significance



According to the Asantehene, the country had progressed steadily due to the significant contribution of engineers, adding that engineering was a tool that could facilitate the economic development of the country, including the attainment of the SDGs.



"Engineering changes lives, it changes countries, and it will change our world ," he said.



On the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the Otumfuo said: COVID-19 has taught us many lessons, including learning at first hand what it takes to study at home.





He urged the private sector to be innovative to stay afloat in the wake of the pandemic as efforts were made to contain the spread of the virus.



Enforcement of standards



The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the conference, Nana Poku Agyeman, said the institution would continue to play a major role in ensuring that standards and guidelines governing engineering practice in the country were enforced.



He added that the GhIE would not hesitate to investigate cases of unethical behaviour by members and would ensure that those found guilty were penalised in line with the institution's code of ethics.



Present at the conference were the outgoing President of the GhIE, Mr Leslie Alexander Ayeh, the President-elect of the association, Rev. Professor Charles Adams, and the Executive Director of the GhIE, Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyapong.





Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
By Arthur I. Cyr





Serious, sensitive, tangled negotiations aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan have now reached and surpassed the six-month mark. Many knowledgeable people are surprised, in some cases amazed, that these talks have taken place at all.



Representatives of the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban movement continue their direct peace negotiations in Doha, capital of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. The two sides held their first meeting on Sept. 12.



An al Qaeda Islamic terrorist group based in Afghanistan planned and carried out the horrific, murderous attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Hijacked civilian aircraft became large lethal missiles; high-octane aviation fuel provided massive explosions on impact as well as propellant.



Planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and another went down in the Pennsylvania countryside. The last was likely intended to hit the U.S. Capitol building. American passenger heroes prevented that.



In response, the military forces of a comprehensive international coalition of nations led by the U.S. overthrew the fundamentalist Taliban regime in Kabul. Both the United Nations and NATO have been implicit to this effort, which has steadily developed increasingly large-scale economic modernization and political reform dimensions along with the military.



In February 2020, after nearly two decades of occupation, the U.S. government and the fundamentalist Taliban movement signed a formal agreement for the phased withdrawal of international troops. The accord includes detailed stipulations to help protect the population and discourage the return of terrorists.



This struggle to find a reasonably responsible, acceptable diplomatic route for departure reflects subtle but sustained sentiment among Americans. Donald Trump's 2016 election victory reflects this sentiment, including strong support among our rank-and-file military.



Context is important. Afghanistan has no established history of formal representative elections, Western-style rule of law or reliable national government. Local tribal leaders remain powerful, dominant politically and socially, and lethal in armed conflict.



The Soviet Union, after years of de facto control over the national government, in 1979 took over directly through that nation's massive military invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. A decade of unconventional warfare followed before Moscow finally faced reality and withdrew.



President Jimmy Carter to his great credit provided aggressive, effective leadership in supplying American weapons and related support for the Mujahideen warriors who fought the Russian military. President Ronald Reagan expanded aid to include light, relatively inexpensive Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.



Over time, Afghanistan became a continuing nightmare quagmire. The steady killing of mostly young men in the Red Army led to popular opposition, expressed even in the totalitarian Soviet Union.



The frustrating nature of the South Asia struggle can mask such positive changes as reasonably honest elections and growing participation of women. Despite lack of infrastructure, technology spreads steadily. Cellphones and the internet, as well as traditional television, are now features of isolated communities.



Afghanistan remains important for the U.S. in a manner broadly similar to the priority Great Britain attached to South Asia traditionally. Major East-West trade routes traverse the region today, as in ancient times.



Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, leased from Britain in 1966, contains a major American military base. B-52 bombers based there supported the allied military invasion of Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks.



The U.S. and allies were right to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan, and are now right to withdraw. In future, disciplined collective effort should guide Washington policy.



The Afghan people are responsible for their nation. That also is right.





Arthur I. Cyr (acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."


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OTTAWA COUNTY, MI  A 54-year-old stabbing victim was found early Monday, March 29, lying on the front porch of a house on 120th Avenue just north of Crosswell Street..

The victim suffered severe injuries in the Olive Township assault, Ottawa County sheriffs Capt. Mark Bennett said in a statement.

A resident in the 8500 block of 120th Avenue called 911 shortly after 1 a.m. to report that a stabbing victim was lying on his front porch.

The victim, a resident of Ottawa Countys Robinson Township, had suffered multiple stab wounds, police said.

He told police that he had been stabbed somewhere along the road on 120th Avenue.

He remains hospitalized, police said.

Sheriffs deputies are investigating and asked anyone with information to call Silent Observer at 877-88-SILENT.

Read more:

Woman critically wounded by gunshots fired into home

Man suffers serious stab wounds when argument turns violent, police say

Screaming and hollering after Newaygo High explosion, 911 caller says
Google says it will participate in the Echo undersea data cable linking North America and the Asia-Pacific, announced by Facebook

Google and Facebook have unveiled plans for two new undersea data cables linking North America and the Asia-Pacific region, weeks after halting one destined for Hong Kong.

Facebook said on Sunday it would be investing with partners on the subsea cables known as Echo and Bifrost to connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America, which would increase overall transpacific capacity by 70 percent.

"Around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the need for reliable internet access," Facebook said on its engineering blog on Sunday.

"Echo and Bifrost will support further growth for hundreds of millions of people and millions of businesses."

Google indicated Monday it would participate in the Echo cable which would run from Eureka, California to Singapore, "with a stop-over in Guam" and a future connection to Indonesia.

"Echo will be the first-ever cable to directly connect the US to Singapore with direct fiber pairs over an express route," Google Cloud vice president Bikash Koley said.

Earlier this month, the two firms halted efforts on a planned undersea cable that would have connected California and Hong Kong, due to tensions between the United States and China.

Last year, the US Department of Justice recommended that the planned cable proposed by Google and Facebook bypass Hong Kong amid concerns it could expose communications traffic to China.

In the new cable projects, Facebook said it was working with partners such as Indonesian companies Telin and XL Axiata and Singapore-based Keppel.

"While these projects are still subject to regulatory approvals, when completed, these cables will deliver much-needed internet capacity, redundancy, and reliability," Facebook said.

"Connecting Singapore, Indonesia and North America, these cable investments reflect our commitment to openness and our innovative partnership model."

Explore further Facebook halts project for undersea data cable to Hong Kong

 2021 AFP
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To



NASDAQ Copenhagen Executive Board

Lers Parkalle 100

DK-2100 Kbenhavn 

www.rd.dk







Telephone +45 7012 5300

Telefax +45 4514 9622













29 March 2021







Company Announcement No 29/2021

Prepayments, Realkredit Danmark A/S





Pursuant to 24 of the Capital Markets Act, Realkredit Danmark A/S hereby publishes prepayments as at Friday 26 March 2021. Please find the data in the attached file.

The information will also be available on www.rd.dk.





Yours sincerely

The Executive Board





Any additional questions should be addressed to Hella Gebhardt Rnnebk, Chief Analyst, phone +45 4513 2068.

Attachments




GREAT NECK, N.Y., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gary Rosen, Esq. of Rosen Law LLC, Great Neck, New York filed a federal lawsuit on March 28, 2021 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the New York City Police Department, the City of New York and three police officers / detectives.

Employees Michael Mazzio and Salvatore Mazzio were arrested for towing a tractor trailer truck in June 2019 owned by Western Express Inc. Salvatore Mazzio communicated with an employee of Western Express, Inc., having a fleet of 3,000+ trucks in the United States, and received authorization to tow one of its trucks, when its driver of the Western Express truck was arrested in New York for driving while intoxicated. Days later, a different employee of Western Express reported to the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") that their truck was "stolen" by Mike's Heavy Duty Towing Inc. and the Mazzio brothers in New York and the NYPD arrested the Mazzio brothers.

After being booked, spending a day in jail, spending money on attorneys' fees, six months later, the Queens County District Attorney's Office dismissed the charges against the Mazzio brothers stating that the Mazzio brothers are towing company operators who were charged with unauthorized towing of a Western Express truck, but the Mazzio Brothers presented evidence that the tow was authorized and Western Express became uncooperative with the criminal case, resulting in the dismissal of all charges. The Mazzio brothers claim that the NYPD had no probable cause to arrest them when the tow was authorized by one employee of Western Express but that the truck was reported stolen by another employee of Western Express.

A copy of the complaint is available at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5e2qcag1n4nmz4h/COMPLAINT%20FILED%20MARCH%2028%202021.pdf?dl=0

For information: Gary Rosen, Esq., Rosen Law LLC, 516-437-3400 X223

SOURCE Rosen Law LLC

Related Links

rosenlawllc.com


Alexei Navalny was last month jailed for two and a half years. Photo: Shamil Zhumatov

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has asked for help from a public commission to get access to painkiller injections for severe pain in his leg.

Mr Navalny was jailed last month for two and a half years on charges he called politically motivated. He was arrested as he returned to Russia from Germany in January, where he had been recovering from what doctors said was a nerve agent poisoning.

The 44-year old opposition politician has said in a statement that his request for treatment by a civilian doctor had been rejected and that he was being woken up by a guard every hour during the night in a deliberate attempt to undermine his health.

Members of a local Public Monitoring Commission, a semi-official body with access to Russian prisons, visited Mr Navalny at his penal colony east of Moscow on Friday.

From a conversation [with Mr Navalny] we learned that he feels pain in his leg and he asked for help in getting injections of Diclofenac to reduce pain. He is still able to walk, said Vyacheslav Kulikov, the head of the commission, in an online statement.

The commission did not say whether Mr Navalny received the painkiller injections he sought.

We made sure that his request had been recorded officially, Mr Kulikov said.

Diclofenac is a medicine that reduces inflammation and pain.

Mr Navalny has said that his only treatment was two Ibuprofen pills per day and his diagnosis was unclear.

His lawyer, Vadim Kobzev, who visited the politician the day before the public monitors, said he was not aware of his request for the painkiller.

Two-dozen Russian medics said in an open letter, published at the weekend, that Mr Navalny may be suffering from consequences of the poisoning or from a new illness caused by incomplete recovery.

We are afraid of the worst, the letter said.
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[March 29, 2021] DYOPATH Ranked in Great Place to Work's Best Workplaces in Texas 2021

DYOPATH, an industry leading Managed Service Provider (MSP), today announced that it is Great Place to Work's Best Workplaces in Texas certified. The certification comes at a time closely after DYOPATH celebrated its first anniversary from the merging of two managed services providers and a year of focusing on increasing their presence in the United States. Highlighting DYOPATH as one of the Best Workplaces in Texas solidifies the company's commitment to relentless passion, family compassion, and providing an environment where employees can thrive and excel. This certification is a significant achievement, with over 90% of employees reporting a consistently positive experience with DYOPATH. "We are very honored to be Great Place to Work's Best Workplaces in Texas certified," says Rob Koch, CEO at DYOPATH. "This certification substantiates our commitment to building an outstanding workplace culture that prioritizes relationships with employees and their families, clients, partners, and vendors. We are proud that our employees have a consistently positive experience and find personal satisfaction in their jobs." "We congratulate DYOPATH, on their Certification," said Saah Lewis-Kulin, Vice President of Best Workplace List Research at Great Place to Work. "Organizations that earn their employees' trust create great workplace cultures that deliver outstanding business results."



Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees around the world and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Great Place to Work helps organizations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. Emprising, their culture management platform, empowers leaders with the surveys, real-time reporting, and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Their unparalleled benchmark data is used to recognize Great Place to Work-Certified companies and the Best Workplaces in the US and more than 60 countries, including the 100 Best Companies to Work For and World's Best list published annually in Fortune. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a Great Place to Work For All. About DYOPATH: DYOPATH, a leading Managed Service Provider (MSP), was founded to empower organizations by delivering trusted IT solutions that are grounded in accountability resulting in exceptional customer service. With locations in Houston, TX and Chicago, IL, DYOPATH helps clients focus on what they do best by providing unparalleled support and services. No matter the industry, from education and energy to federal agencies, DYOPATH helps organizations use the power of their "business first" approach, resulting in efficiency gains and highly satisfied clients. DYOPATH has a US based Network Operations Center ( NOC (News - Alert) ), Service Desk, and provides services including: Advanced Security, Cloud, Connectivity, Education, IT Outsourcing, Managed & Professional Services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005558/en/

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BANNU, Pakistan -- Thousands of people protesting the killing of four teenage boys in Pakistans northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province have ended their demonstration following overnight talks with government officials.

Rahmanullah, one of the leaders of the sit-in protest in Bannu district, told RFE/RL in the morning of March 29 that the demonstration was called off and the participants were on their way back to the town of Jani Khel to bury the dead bodies.

Kamran Bangash, adviser to the provincial chief minister, said the government agreed to ensure security in the area by taking action against Taliban militants and other armed groups in the area, one of the protesters key demands.

WATCH: Pakistani Government Meets Demands Of Protesters Over Teenagers' Killing

The government also vowed to pay a compensation of 2.5 million rupees ($16,100) to the families of each of the slain boys.

The previous day, about 3,000 demonstrators from the rural area around Jani Khel launched a protest caravan comprising cars, trucks, motorcycles, and the bodies of the four teenagers in an attempt to reach the capital, Islamabad, to press their demands over the killings.

The group broke through a police blockage south of the town of Bannu, prompting police to fire tear gas at the protesters.

A member of national parliament and a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement were taken into custody and later released.

Many participants in the protest caravan were part of a sit-in protest that began nearly a week earlier in Jani Khel, which is on the border of the former tribal region of North Waziristan, after the bullet-riddled corpses of the four teenagers were discovered in a field.

The boys  aged between 13 and 17 years old -- had disappeared three weeks earlier.

Relatives said their bodies bore signs of torture when they were dug out of the ground.
Gold coast mayor Tom Tate has apologise for a clumsy attempted joke about Chinese people eating cats.

The gaffe came during a press conference in Townsville on Monday where Mr Tate was discussing disaster management lessons in the wake of devastating floods.

Mr Tate said he was interested in learning how the resilient north Queensland city recovers from flooding.

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate, who is himself of mixed European and Asian heritage, fumbled his chopstick diplomacy and cracked a terrible joke about Chinese people eating cats. He later apologised for the gaffe

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate (pictured) was born in Laos to a Thai mother. He had been talking to media in Townsville when he veered off script and landed unexpectedly in a 'racist' joke

The Gold Coast mayor, who is himself of mixed European and Asian heritage, was discussing how to make natural disaster victims comfortable in temporary accommodation before he veered off script.

'Bring your pets with you, too. I don't mind that,' he said.

'Everyone's not the same. You try to give them comfort.

Mayor Tom Tate (pictured) was trying to learn about relocating flood victims from Townsville

'You wouldn't want to put a Chinese next to someone who's got a cat, you know. She might be breakfast.

'You've got to work those things out.'

Mr Tate, who was born to a Thai mother and an Australian father in Vientiane, Laos, in 1959, issued an apology statement on Monday afternoon.

'I apologise for my clumsy sense of humour,' he said in a statement.

'There was no intention to cause offence.'

'Having thought through what was a poor joke, I sincerely apologise.'

More than 17,000 Gold Coast residents, or about 3.1 per cent of the citys population, listed their ancestry at Chinese in the 2016 Census, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Social media users were quick to express outrage.

'He has to GO,' wrote one enraged woman.

Twitter did not take kindly to Mayor Tom Tate's offensive joke, and the mayor swiftly said sorry

Twitter also can turn vicious, and did turn on Mayor Tate, who apologised for his 'clumsy' joke

The Mayor said he did not mean to offend anyone. ''Having thought through what was a poor joke, I sincerely apologise,' he said on Monday afternoon

'What a disaster,' wrote another Twitter user.

'This is a racist corrupted land shark,' wrote a third.

Other Twitter users, however, laughed.

'Isn't he Asian???' wrote one.

'Only thing he got wrong is they eat dogs (fact) not cats' wrote another.

The Gold Coast has sister city arrangements with Chinese cities  Beihai, Chengdu and Zhuhai.

According to the Humane Society International, about four million cats and 10 million dogs are believed to be killed for meat each year in China, although accurate figures are difficult to obtain.
Senior Reporter

Government is committed to the timely conclusion of court cases so that litigants and accused persons do not suffer undue delays, legislators heard yesterday.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said this in the National Assembly during question and answer session.

Minister Mutsvangwa said it was unfortunate that there have been some delays in concluding cases, most of them attributable to the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

Legislators had expressed concern on delays that were occurring particularly in the High Court where they said some cases were going for more than three years before they were concluded.

"Justice delayed is justice denied. Government is committed to ensure that cases are brought to court and concluded within a reasonable period. But as you know, we have been affected by the lockdown but we are working tirelessly to ensure that cases are completed within a reasonable time," said Minister Mutsvangwa.

Responding to another question, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said Government would accelerate the resurfacing and improvement of roads.

He said Government had come up with several methods that include floating bonds, national budget and toll fees collection from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration.

"It is no longer business as usual. We are starting both phase one and two immediately. This is everyone's responsibility and I implore you to interact with provincial road engineers in your areas to ensure that potholes or any problem are quickly attended to," said Minister Mhona.

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He said the thrust to repair roads would focus on every part of the country that included trunk roads and local authority roads among others.

He said Government had earmarked US$400 million towards road repair and maintenance with 20 percent of it set to come from Zinara.

"There was also money earmarked in the national budget. We have been doing pothole filling but what we want to do is resurfacing. Let it be the time for you to know provincial road engineers in your areas. I will soon be providing their contacts," said Minister Mhona.

He said residents should report cases of the presence of heavy trucks in residential areas as that would cause damage to infrastructure.

Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said Government was working to stabilise the economy as evidenced by stability, particularly the exchange rate. "There has been an improvement on the market where we have closed some ecocash accounts. For the past six months the exchange rate has been stable," he said.
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President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden made a brief visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to observe National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

The first lady laid down a bouquet of white flowers at the base of one section of the black granite memorial wall.

The first couple then moved to another section of the wall where they both used white paper to trace a veteran's name. The name of the soldier was Dennis F. Shine, the White House later said.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monday to mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day

President Joe Biden is seen making a tracing of a veteran's name at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday

The first couple left a bouquet of white flowers at the base of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday to mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day

First lady Jill Biden lays flowers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in honor of Vietnam War Veterans

President Joe Biden (left) and first lady Jill Biden (middle) walk alongside the reflective Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Monday

A reflection of President Joe Biden is seen from the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., Monday

As President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden left the White House for the brief excursion, a handler was walking Major Biden outside

The name of the soldier that President Joe Biden traced the name of was Dennis F. Shine (pictured), the White House later said

Spectators on the National Mall cheered for the president and first lady, according to the White House pool report.

Neither of them spoke.

Unlike his sons, Biden never served in the military.

He never was drafted to serve in Vietnam, because he had five deferments when he was a college and a law student, and then a medical exemption.

In 2008, when he was running for president a second time, a spokesperson said Biden was 'disqualified from service because of asthma as a teenager.'

Biden's trip to the National Mall followed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, who visited earlier Monday.

In a video message that he tweeted, McDonough also showed footage of the Vietnam Women's Memorial, which isn't as widely known as the large wall.

'Not everybody knows this memorial is here, it's very powerful, very moving and it's a very fitting, at the end of women's history month, that we just stop here for a moment to pay our respects also and express our gratitude on behalf of a grateful nation to the women veterans from the Vietnam War - to say to them thank you,' McDonough said.

The first couple, both wearing masks, braved the chill for the ceremony remembering the Vietnam vets

Spectators on the National Mall cheered for the president and first lady, according to the White House pool report

Unlike his sons, Biden never served in the military. He never was drafted to serve in Vietnam, because he had five deferments when he was a college and a law student, and then a medical exemption

The first couple later moved to another section of the wall where they both used white paper to trace a veteran's name. The name of the soldier was Dennis F. Shine, the White House later said

Biden's trip to the National Mall followed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, who visited earlier Monday

The women's memorial is a statue that shows three women caring for a wounded soldier.

Biden traveled to the National Mall at a time when the National Park Service is trying to keep crowds away, as it's 'peak bloom' for the cherry blossom trees that line the Tidal Basin and are present in nearby parks.

Traffic to a portion of the Tidal Basin has been cut off to decrease the number of people traveling down to the area as public health experts warned Monday of increasing COVID-19 numbers.

Biden's travel to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wasn't listen on his official schedule.

As the White House pool reporters were being loaded in van, journalists spotted Major Biden, the president's rescue dog, being walked on the South Lawn.
Medical staff prepares an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccine center in Ebersberg near Munich, Germany on March 22, 2021. (Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

Germany Reports More Blood Clot Cases Associated With AstraZeneca Vaccine

Germanys health department reported an additional 21 people who recently received the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine suffered blood clots, The Associated Press reported.

Seven of the people who had blood clots have died, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which is Germanys federal medical regulatory body, told The Associated Press. Nineteen of the individuals affected by the blood clots were women while just two were men.

Several European countries resumed administering the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month after halting vaccinations due to blood clots, according to Science Magazine. Denmark, Iceland, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia were among the nations to stop vaccinations using AstraZeneca doses.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) ultimately reaffirmed the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, but said it couldnt rule out the possibility that it caused rare blood clots, according to Science Magazine.

The evidence we have is, at the moment, not sufficient to conclude with certainty whether these adverse events are indeed caused by the vaccine or not, Sabina Straus, chair of the EMAs Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee.

The EMA recommended that patients and doctors were warned of possible side effects associated with the vaccine, according to the AP.

About 2.27 million AstraZeneca doses were given in the period when the 21 blood clot cases were reported.

By Thomas Catenacci

From The Daily Caller News Foundation

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
Auditor General Karen Hogan during a news conference following the tabling of reports in Ottawa, Canada, on March 25, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Canadas Health Agency Unprepared for COVID-19 Pandemic, Auditor General Says

The federal agency that is responsible for controlling and preventing outbreaks was unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic and underestimated the threat posed by the CCP virus, a new report by the auditor general says.

Released on March 25, the report says that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) failed to issue an alert on the threat of COVID-19, the disease the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus causes, during the early months in Canada, leading Auditor General Karen Hogan to conclude the agency was not as well prepared as it could have been to respond to the pandemic, among other deficiencies found.

We found that no alert from the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN) was issued to provide early warning of the virus, the report states.

According to the agencys criteria, an alert is to be issued for an unusual event that has the potential for serious impact or spread. However, no alert was issued when news of an unknown pneumonia was first reported, when the virus had spread outside of China, or when domestic cases were first suspected and confirmed.

The GPHIN was created in 1997 to warn of serious public threats such as disease outbreaks and infectious diseases with the use of alerts. Analysts at the agency monitor media reports worldwide and assess if the threats warrant issuing one.

In 2018, the PHAC, however, restructured GPHIN and removed the analysts authority to trigger the alerts. After this change, the number of alerts decreased significantly, the report said, as alerts now needed approval from senior management.

In 2019 and 2020, only two alerts were issueda drastic drop from an average of one to two per month from 2015 to 2018.

The audit found that GPHIN had issued daily reports about the CCP virus, of which the first one was sent on Dec. 31, 2019, with a link to an article describing an outbreak of viral pneumonia of unknown origin in China. Unlike alerts, daily reports were sent only within Canada to federal, provincial, and territorial partners.

Hogan said there is a difference between the reports and alerts, using the example of a smoke detector to illustrate her point.

I have a smoke detector in my home and I trust that when Im in my home, that it will go off to give me a warning, to go inspect and see whats going on and then react as needed, Hogan said during a press conference on March 25.

And thats the intention of alert, was to alert both domestically and internationally something of concern, something that was unusual, something outside of a daily report, and something that we saw issued in the past during H1N1 and SARS.

The audit also revealed PHAC had relied on a risk assessment tool incapable of assessing disease threats accurately coming from outside the Canadian borders.

The risk assessment tool was not designed to consider a pandemic which is really looking at the forward-looking spread of a disease, and so as such, for several repeated runs of the tool, the risk of the virus was assessed as low, Hogan said.

Moreover, the PHAC did not re-assess the COVID-19 risk until March 16, 2020, according to the auditor general.

We reviewed the meeting minutes of the agencys 2 key pandemic response committees and found little discussion concerning the ongoing low risk rating for COVID19, Hogans report states.

However, on 12 March 2020, in light of escalating case counts, senior provincial and territorial public health officials raised the need for aggressive public health measures, including mandatory quarantine for international travellers.

On March 16, the PHAC decided to raise the risk rating to high for the general public.

The Public Health Agency of Canada should strengthen its process to promote credible and timely risk assessments to guide public health responses to limit the spread of infectious diseases that can cause a pandemic, as set out in its pandemic response plans and guidance, Hogan recommnended in the report, to which the PHAC responded it would review its processes and update them by December 2022.

Following the release of the report, Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair released a joint statement on the same day, confirming the relevant federal agencies will accept all the recommendations from this audit.
Dublin, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "United Arab Emirates (UAE) Projects, H1 2021 - Outlook of Major Projects Spanning Construction, Oil and Gas, Renewable Energy, Transport, Power and Water, Industrial Sectors - MEED Insights" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



"UAE Projects H1 2021" focuses on data, it is aimed at helping companies create strategies for targeting and growing the market. It uses almost exclusively data from MEED Projects, the region's leading online projects tracking service. With 15,000 active projects tracked and more than 35,000 in total in the database, MEED Projects makes it possible to quantify current, historical and future trends in the projects market in the region.

Whichever way you look at it 2020 was a very difficult year for the projects market in the UAE. At just under $19bn of contract awards it was more than 40 per cent down on the 2019 figure, This represented the worst year in nearly two decades as the twin blows of Covid-19 and lower prices hit hard.



The pandemic's impact was particularly clear given the sharp fall in spending in the latter half of the year after the coronavirus had fully taken hold. Nonetheless, the market was already in decline. After years of falling real estate prices, construction activity had been decreasing over the previous three years and would no doubt have reached a crunch point with or without Covid-19.



This year should be a lot more promising as life gradually returns to normal. Spending will be spurred by a number of new oil and gas projects in Abu Dhabi led by the multi-billion-dollar Hail & Ghasha sour gas programme. However, construction sector expenditure is expected to remain muted in 2021 and even beyond until demand begins to pick up and oversupply dwindles.



In this challenging environment firms will have to be smart in order to prosper. Selecting the right clients, specialising in niche sectors, and introducing novel technologies are all tools companies can harness in order to stay ahead of the competition.



Likewise, the pipeline of projects in the UAE sits at more than $670bn. Although there are undoubtable challenges in the short term, the long term prognosis is still relatively healthy. Regardless of what happens, the UAE market will remain one of the largest projects markets in the region.



Reasons to Buy

Story continues

Opportunities and challenges in the UAE's projects market

Analysis of the pipeline of planned projects and contract awards

Key policies and drivers shaping the outlook for projects in the UAE

Political and economic background

The barriers and challenges that may arise

Sector-by-sector breakdown of future project plans

Key drivers of projects in each sector

The UAE's most valuable key projects and major project sponsors

Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

UAE Country Overview

UAE Projects Market

Oil and Gas

Construction

Transport

Industrial

Power and Water

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q4q2tp







CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




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Oded Brenner has a great job. He makes chocolate.

In the 1990s, he co-created an international chocolate company called Max Brenner Chocolate. His businesses included a 650-square-meter store on Broadway in New York City.

Then in 2012, Brenner left that business. A few years later, he began exploring a different side of chocolate. In 2015, during a trip to Jamaica, he developed a love and excitement for the fruit that produces chocolate: cacao.

The Jamaican people taught him a lot about cacao -- namely, it is more than just chocolate. Brenner saw Jamaican people making juice, liquor, and flour from the cacao fruit. And they used the whole fruit  not just the beans.

Brenner told the Associated Press that although he had worked with chocolate for 20 years, he knew little about cacao.

It is the most unknown fruit behind the most known fruit, Brenner said.

While the fruit might have been unknown to him, it is not unknown to the people of Jamaica and other countries like Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian people also taught Brenner how to use cacao. In Ecuador, he saw people drink cacao water and eat the dried fruit of the pods. You can eat the whole fruit, he learned. But in making traditional chocolate, he added, all of the other parts of the fruit are wasted.



The fruit is a little sweet and a little sour. The cacao water is described as refreshing. The seed inside is the cacao bean. This is the part that is processed to make chocolate.

With his new business and his new knowledge, Brenner said he wants to tell both sides of the chocolate story. So, he has created new products that celebrate the traditional side of chocolate-making and the natural taste of the cacao fruit.

Health experts have long noted the possible good effects that chocolate can have on health. The T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health says on its website that the dark chocolate produced from cacao has many necessary nutrients. These include iron, copper, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, and substances called flavanols.

Brenner said the unsweetened fruit has other nutrients as well. Cacao is high in antioxidants. And the water is full of natural chemicals called electrolytes. These are substances needed in the bodys fluids to control important processes including how your body uses vitamins and minerals and removes waste.

In addition to health, Brenner said that the cacao he uses for his products is farmed in a way that is not harmful to the environment. And it is also fair to the farmers.

Im Anna Matteo.

Elizabeth Karmel reported this story for the Associated Press from New York City. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, JR. was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

juice n. the liquid that can be squeezed out of fruits and vegetables

liquor n. an alcoholic drink; a product of chocolate processing made from cacao/cocoa beans

flour n. a fine powder made from grains or similar seeds that is used in cooking

pod n. a part of some plants that holds seeds

sour adj. having an acid taste like a lemon

antioxidant n. a substance that prevents chemical reactions that cause some chemicals in the body or in food to break down
MBABANE  SWEET members have launched an online petition, demanding to get back their money they made through savings and buying shares into the fund.

SWEET is an acronym for Swaziland Women Economic Empowerment Trust. It is a company that was established to facilitate lending services mainly to the marginalised population, mostly women. The company was established in April 2015 and its patron is Her Majesty the Queen Mother. It is one of the national economic empowerment initiatives that emanated from the Swaziland Womens Decade Plan of Action of 2010.

It is worth noting that previously, this publication reported that a number of women who purportedly contributed different amounts after the establishment of SWEET, instituted legal proceedings against the latter. Most of them in their particulars of claim alleged that in various dates and instances, they contributed money which they had expected to get back with interest. It was also reported that some women who appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for failure to repay the revolving fund, claimed that they could not repay the money because their monies were with the organisation (SWEET).

The online petition launched by its members, claims that some women sold everything they had before joining the company because they were promised they would be taken out of poverty. However, they alleged that they were left poorer. It further claims these are women who survived through selling grass mats, marula, guavas and firewood among many others. There were agents all over the country who assisted the women to join; the bank was at their premises and they did not have to go to town to join, reads the online petition. It further stated that the women were promised loans, interest and dividends from shares they contributed ranging from E500 to E1 000.

Closed

They purported that when the time came for them to borrow and withdraw their money, the offices of the company were closed to date. It was also alleged that those who were tasked by the Queen Mother to act on her behalf, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Thuli Dladla and Sibongile Mdluli, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE), were nowhere to be found to answer on this.

The members called upon those responsible for handling their money to be taken to task and bring it back. Meanwhile, Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) President Sibongile Mazibuko, who is the brains behind the petition, confirmed the online petition and said she represented the women in her capacity as a woman leader. I have been approached by members of the company who are also members of the NNLC, to help them get their dues. But this is not only for NNLC members, it is for every other woman as well, she said. By the time the interview was conducted, there were 197 participants and 95 comments on the online petition. Mazibuko invited more women who were affected to register and submit the list to her.
The West Australian government rejected a cattle companys application to destroy bilby habitat next to an ecologically sensitive wetland  then approved the clearing following a flurry of political donations.

Pardoo Beef Corporation, owned by Singaporean businessman Bruce Cheung, has cleared a total of 840 hectares of bilby habitat immediately adjacent to Eighty Mile Beach wetland, classified as being of international significance, south of Broome in WAs Kimberley.

The bilby is a threatened species and the area was found as likely to contain suitable habitat.

The action was to facilitate installation of seven giant pivots drawing groundwater to irrigate cattle fodder crops.

The companys application to clear 450 hectares of bilby habitat in early 2016 was initially rejected due to environmental impacts.
Australian media company Nine Entertainment claims Russia or North Korea may be behind a network attack on the company which led to major issues on Sunday, preventing its TV network from presenting a full line-up of programs.

In its evening news bulletin on Monday, a day on which it managed to broadcast the whole day, Channel Nine said the two countries were suspected because the network had run a program critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on its 60 Minutes program on Sunday night.

The attack was made public on Sunday morning, a day on which Nine could not broadcast its popular NRL Sunday Footy Show, though it managed to show the afternoon's rugby league games.

Russia and North Korea have been singled out as suspects in the biggest-ever cyber attack on an Australian media company  and experts say it could be retaliation from recent attention by the Nine Network. @DamoNews #9News pic.twitter.com/6YzQuUVjj7  9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) March 29, 2021

On Monday night, Nine ran a program about Russia's use of chemical poisons to kill its enemies abroad, as part of its new Under Investigation series, and speculation over Moscow's involvement has sprung from this.

Nine's new chief executive Mike Sneesby and chief information and technology officer Damian Cronan circulated a note to staff shortly before 10pm AEDT on Monday, outlining where the company was in terms of getting back to normal.

Sneesby said a cross-business working group had been set up to decide on which services needed to be restored sooner.

Cronan said the first 24 hours since the attack was noticed had been focused on containment, which he said had been successful.

Some not-polluted-with-any-evidence shitposts about the Channel Nine cyber attack.

1/ If this is one of the most sophisticated attacks expert security consultants have ever seen, maybe this says more about your experts than your attacker.  Christopher Biggs (@unixbigot) March 29, 2021

"The consequence of this containment strategy is that our corporate network has been disconnected from the Internet, and all internal networks separated from one another (e.g. Broadcast from Publishing, Sydney from Melbourne etc). Other upstream and downstream providers have also been disconnected," he added.

All staff were given instructions on how to run diagnostics on their laptops to ensure that any infected work streams could be isolated.

"We will be carefully assessing how we bring back controlled levels of connectivity into the network with an emphasis on service restoration, and I want to be clear it will take time before all our systems are back up and running," Cronan said.

Nine also said in its news broadcast that it had faced issues getting its newspapers  the company owns The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review  out, though there were more problems with publishing the online editions than the print publications.

In a note to subscribers, which was posted on Monday afternoon and then updated at 7.07pm, AFR editor-in-chief Michael Stutchbury and editor Paul Bailey said: "Production of the Australian Financial Review continues to be disrupted by the cyber attack on Nine on Sunday.

"To minimise disruption for subscribers while we work to restore our systems, all of our articles have been made available to read without logging in.

"Access to subscriber-only features has now been restored including for Todays Paper, Newsfeed, recently read, saved articles, markets data and company pages. Subscribers who cannot access the ipad and phone apps can read all of our articles on afr.com. Email newsletters are being sent as usual.

"We also have limited access to our print production system and are unable to use new photographs or create graphics. We are working to return production of the print edition to its usual high quality."

Given that the attack was on Nine's Sydney offices, most of the TV and newspaper work has been done from Melbourne, with staff working from home for the most part.

In the case of the TV output, the company has had to split between Melbourne and Sydney to run a full schedule on Monday.

Ransomware has been suspected to be used for the attack but Nine is still claiming it has not received any ransom note.
In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Mar. 29 ...

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Mar. 29 ...

What we are watching in Canada ...

OTTAWA - Canada is scheduled to receive a flood of new COVID-19 vaccine doses this week.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says pharmaceutical companies are expected to deliver around 3.3 million shots over the coming days.

That would mark the single-largest week of vaccine doses into Canada since the start of the pandemic.

Pfizer and BioNTech are scheduled to ship nearly 1.2 million doses this week, as the two companies continue pumping out shots at a rapid pace.

Another 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are set to arrive by truck from the United States on Tuesday.

And the government is expects Moderna to make good on its promised delivery of 600,000 shots this coming Thursday, which is about a week later than expected.

Moderna was supposed to have shipped around 846,000 shots to Canada last week, but only a fraction actually arrived due to what the company and government have described as a backlog in its quality-assurance testing.

Also this ...

REGINA - There is some new research on what Canadians think life will be like when the pandemic is over.

A study suggests most people believe COVID-19 will have negative consequences on mental health, travel and the economy.

Others feel the pandemic will bolster online shopping and make public mask-wearing more common.

The findings are from a phone survey by the Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research at the University of Saskatchewan.

Director Jason Disano says people are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel because of vaccines.

He says some of the data he found most interesting were about children's education.

Despite 63 per cent of people feeling like the pandemic will have a positive effect on the delivery of online education, 54 per cent thought it would be bad for children's learning.

Overall, the survey suggests there is a lot of uncertainty about what communities will look like once they are no longer threatened by the novel coronavirus.

And this ...

VANCOUVER - Police are expected to release more details today in their investigation of a stabbing rampage that left a young woman dead and injured six others in and around a library on Saturday in North Vancouver, B.C.

A 28-year-old man was charged Sunday with second-degree murder.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said Yannick Bandaogo is in police custody after undergoing surgery for self-inflicted wounds.

Police have not named the woman who died, but said she was in her 20s. Six others were injured in the attack at the Lynn Valley Public Library.

Police said their injuries vary in severity and all six are expected to survive.

In a written statement, Sgt. Frank Jang said police planned to hold a news conference today. IHIT investigators spent Sunday combing the area for evidence and interviewing witnesses, he said.

Supt. Ghalib Bhayani of the North Vancouver RCMP said the department shares "the community's grief and outrage."

The pile of flowers and wreaths left just outside the caution tape cordoning off the crime scene grew throughout the weekend as residents stopped by.

What we are watching in the U.S. ...

MINNEAPOLIS  A former Minneapolis police officer goes on trial Monday in George Floyds death, and jurors may not wait long to see parts of the bystander video that caught Derek Chauvins knee on Floyds neck.

Prosecutors have not said when they will play the video, but legal experts say they expect it to be early as part of an effort to remind jurors of what is at the heart of their case.

The widely seen video sparked waves of outrage and activism across the U.S. and beyond.

And while it will have an impact, the key questions at trial are likely to be whether Chauvin caused Floyds death and whether his actions were reasonable.

---

And this ...

WASHINGTON  U.S. President Joe Biden will lay out the first part of his multitrillion-dollar economic recovery package this week focusing on rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

A separate plan in April will address child and health care.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Sunday the administrations plans to split the package into two legislative proposals, though she says the White House will "work with the Senate and House to see how it should move forward.

Biden will release details in a speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh about his proposal for federal investments in physical infrastructure.

What we are watching in the rest of the world ...

SUEZ, Egypt  Engineers have partially refloated the container ship that is wedged across the Suez Canal.

But the massive ship is still blocking traffic and there are no details about when it might be fully freed.

The canal services firm says the ship was partially refloated after tugboats pushed and pulled while the full moon's tides raised the water level.

Dredgers are also removing mud and sand around the ship. Satellite images show the vessel's bulbous bow still wedged in the canal's eastern bank.

The skyscraper-sized Ever Given became stuck in the canal last Tuesday and has held up $9 billion in global trade each day.

And this ...

BEIJING  A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak of the coronavirus is extremely unlikely.

A draft copy was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The findings were largely as expected, and left many questions unanswered.

The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis.

The reports release has been repeatedly delayed, raising questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew the conclusions.

The AP received what appeared to be a near-final version from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO-member country.

ICYMI ...

HALIFAX - Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan paid tribute Sunday to Canadas only all-Black unit to serve during the First World War, saying the 600 members of No. 2 Construction Battalion and their descendants are owed an apology for the racism they faced despite their willingness to serve.

Sajjan told a virtual event plans are in the works for a formal apology from Ottawa, which will highlight the fact that hundreds of Black men in Canada were turned away when they volunteered to fight overseas in 1914.

"They stepped forward and volunteered for our country, only to be denied because of the colour of their skin  denied to fight in a so-called 'white-man's war,'" Sajjan said in a brief speech from British Columbia.

After two years of protests, the Canadian military was granted approval in 1916 to establish a segregated, non-combat battalion that would be tasked with building roads, railways and forestry operations as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Established July 5, 1916, in Pictou, N.S., the battalion was the last segregated unit in the Canadian military.

Only a few of its members would see combat, mainly because the battalion was repeatedly told its help wasn't wanted on the front lines.

Members of the unit were shipped home in 1918 and the battalion was disbanded in 1920.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Mar. 29, 2021
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 20:53:27|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

by Xinhua writer Xu Zheng

ACCRA, March 29 (Xinhua)-- Coffins in Ghana could not only be boxes that contain the deceased but also be artworks that vary in multiple styles, a unique way for people to commemorate their beloved ones.

Lying in bustling downtown Accra, capital of the West African country, a coffin workshop with an exhibition of wooden carved coffins in the shape of a bird, a hen, and even an apple, projected an air of relaxation.

"The coffin designs are mostly related to the profession (of the dead) when they are alive because we believe what you do in life, you have to continue in your afterlife, that is why we do it," said Lawrence Anang, a 22-year-old carpenter of the workshop.

"Maybe for a (deceased) teacher, we design a book or pen, a driver would probably go in for a truck, or maybe the car he drove before he passed away, while an apple could be for an apple seller or farmer," he added.

Despite sweat soaking his shirt and shorts under scorching sunshine, Lawrence concentrated on polishing a newly-made coffin. After completing high school, Lawrence has opted to stay in the workshop before going to college to burnish his carpentry skills.

"To design a coffin, we draw a pattern first, (based on) what you want to build, then we take measurements and cut the wood according to it, and shape it," said Lawrence.

"The work never bored me," said Lawrence, adding from creative design to coffin painting, he is now capable of dealing with customized orders.

Although it is somehow a pity that the delicately-carved coffins will be buried underground very soon, Lawrence said they still want to do their best to make the coffins attractive to everyone in order to show respect to the family and the dead.

Around 70 years ago, Lawrence's grandfather Seth set up the coffin workshop. He made the first coffin in the shape of an airplane for his late mother, who had a dream of flying in an airplane but never came true before she passed away.

Lawrence's father inherited the traditional family skill of coffin-making, and gradually established himself as one of the leading coffin-makers in Ghana.

Being "the third generation" of the family career, Lawrence and his brothers now aspire to make a difference by promoting Ghanaian coffin arts.

The industry has evolved over the years as people's demands for stylized coffins are on the rise, which has also attracted more makers to join in the lucrative business.

According to Lawrence, the workshop has even lured many foreign customers, who have a huge interest in purchasing coffins for art exhibitions in museums abroad.

"I will make sure my children also get to know (the business), it is a very unique and nice thing to learn," said Lawrence, adding that he is confident that the traditional skill will be inherited from generation to generation. Enditem
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the media during a news conference in Berlin, Germany, on Dec. 17, 2020. (Michael Sohn/Pool via Reuters)

UN Still Negotiating With China for Unfettered Access to Xinjiang: Guterres

The United Nations says it is holding serious negotiations with China for unfettered access to the Xinjiang region to verify reports that ethnic Uyghurs are being persecuted, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told CBC on Sunday.

A visit by the U.N.s High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet was delayed last month. Bachelet said that reports of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, sexual violence, and forced labor in Xinjiang necessitated an independent and comprehensive assessment free from oversight by Chinas ruling communist party.

Bachelets visit is being negotiated at the present moment between the office of the High Commissioner and the Chinese authorities, Guterres said in an interview aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corps Rosemary Barton Live show.

And I hope that they will reach an agreement soon and that the human rights commissioner will be able to visit China without restrictions or limitations, he added.

The Chinese Communist Partys sensitivity to criticism of its treatment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities was underscored on Saturday when it announced targeted sanctions against two American religious-rights officials and a Canadian lawmaker who had denounced Beijings treatment of them and other minorities.

Read More US Condemns Beijings Retaliatory Sanctions Over Uyghur Human Rights Dispute

Activists have expressed skepticism about the prospects for a meaningful visit with unfettered access in China given its long history of supervising external probes, including most recently, the World Health Organizations visit to ground zero of the pandemic Wuhan.

The Chinese government denies any mistreatment and has continued saying that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the Tibetan region enjoy wide-ranging freedoms.
Hanane Saoui is used to death. Sudden deaths and slow deaths. Painful deaths and peaceful deaths.

This year was different.

The coronavirus pandemic dramatically changed Ms Saouis work as a home hospice nurse in New York. Safety precautions created a physical distance between her and her patients and even cut some of her hospice colleagues off from their clients homes last year. It deprived families and caretakers of ways to grieve together, and confronted hospice workers, however familiar with death, with a staggering scale of loss.

Through all the pressures, Ms Saoui and other workers continued to provide solace and even moments of happiness to dying patients and their families.

You sit down and you listen, she said. They express their fear, they express their emotions, and you guide them and tell them what to expect. After a patient dies, she added, I often want to hug the family members, but I cannot do that now.

Read more:

Instead, Ms Saoui said, I pray and do the best I can.

More than 548,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, and many have died in pain, isolated from their families. Ms Saoui contrasted those conditions with what she called a good death: peaceful, pain-free, at home and surrounded by their loved ones.

While nurses have continued in-person home visits, some chaplain, social work and therapy sessions moved online because families preferred it. By August, most of that care switched back to in-person visits but with strict precautions, including wearing full PPE at times and keeping 6 feet apart when possible.

Though a vast majority of Ms Saouis patients in the past year did not have the coronavirus when they entered hospice, challenging restrictions have been placed on all patients and caregivers. Home hospice care can last for many months, and workers often develop close relationships with patients and their families.

But the pandemic has meant fewer occasions for families  and hospice workers  to mourn together in person at funerals or memorial services. For more than a year, the size of those gatherings has been strictly limited by many states to try to stem the spread of the virus.

When hospice patients die, their caretakers often work through their own grief and loss in weekly staff meetings and gatherings with colleagues who shared the same client. These staff meetings are now online, but the loss of being able to hold each other and shed tears together has deeply affected hospice workers, said Melissa Baguzis, a social worker who specializes in pediatric cases. She has developed her own ways to handle the loss of her young patients.

I take a moment, light a candle and read their favorite book or listen to their favorite song, she said. I have my own time for them. We do become connected with their families, but when Im in their houses, that is their grief and Im going to support them. I need to process my own loss outside of that.

The hospice workers in the MJHS Health System, a nonprofit that covers New York and Nassau County, are comfortable around death in a way that many Americans are not. But the pandemic has put an extra weight on them and their patients, Ms Baguzis said. We all share in each others grief now more than ever, she said.

The Reverend Christopher Sigamoney, an Episcopal priest who is a hospice chaplain, said he has tried to be there for his patients even with their frustration, anger, hopelessness, depression and anxiety.

He often told patients family members that it was ok to be angry at God over the loss of their loved one. But he said that the death of a beloved cousin from the coronavirus had changed his understanding of his work.

Rev Sigamoney and his family were unable to be with his cousin, a retired doctor visiting from India, during the three days while she was on a ventilator in the hospital at the end of her life. He and a handful of relatives said a few prayers in the funeral home, he said, but they were unable to have a proper burial or ship the body home to India because of virus restrictions.

I did not really understand when people would ask, Why me and why my family?  he said of the time before his cousins death. Now I was asking the same questions. I said to God, Now Im angry at you, and I hope you can forgive me.  Rev Sigamoney said he was slowly recovering through prayer and helping his patients.

Last month, Josniel Castillo was hooked up to a battery of medical machines and monitors, surrounded by his parents and a multitude of stuffed animals, as Javier Urrutia, a music therapist, and Ms Baguzis entered his cramped bedroom. Despite his declining medical condition because of a rare genetic disease, this was a happy day. It was Josniels 11th birthday.

Mr Urrutia launched into Las Mananitas, a traditional Mexican birthday song. Josniels mother and father, Yasiri Caraballo and Portirio Castillo, joined in. Ms Caraballo wiped away tears. They were, she said, tears of joy because she had not expected her son would live to be 11.

Afterward, Mr Urrutia said most people are unaware of whats happening behind closed doors, both the difficulty and the beauty.

This year in countless homes, there has been a lot of pain and suffering, it cannot be denied, he said. But in hospice work, he said, you also see all of the heroes out there doing the simple things of life, caring for each other. The husband taking care of his wife or the mother taking care of her son.

Dying is a part of life, he added. Only living things die.

The New York Times
Encouraging the younger generation to take charge and own the future of the planet, Pepsico's former CEO has said the youths have begun to shape the response to climate change and water security through their innovative thinking and appetite for risk.

"We witnessed a clear shift in the role the younger generations play. Rest assured, you not just have a voice, but that voice is being heard by the right people in the right place and in a way that is now leading to action, the 65-year-old Indian-American business executive said at the virtual Water and Climate Change: Risk and Resilience' event last week.

Nooyi underlined that with their innovative thinking, can-do attitude and appetite for risk, which many people in the older generations just don't have, the younger generation "has begun to act on and shape the response to climate, water security."



"I encourage you to take charge and own the future of the planet and the well being of your brothers and sisters around the world," she said at the event, organised by global non-profit organisation Safe Water Network.

Nooyi stressed that the magnitude of the combined challenges are much too great and the need for solutions is so urgent that there should be no territoriality for ideas on water and climate security.

Every single one of us...has a role to play in solutions. There is a collective responsibility towards climate change, including corporate action. It requires leadership in government, and requires community action, and most importantly individual action, she said.

Quoting cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, Nooyi said, Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

She said every individual of the younger generation can be part of the solutions that are so desperately needed. "And I know in my heart that you will collectively find the solutions to make the world a better place.

She encouraged the young audience at the virtual event to come together and act.

The world is yours. You're the younger generation. We're all stewards of the world for you so don't wait till you become our age to take over. Stand up, speak up and be counted, Nooyi said, adding, All the things we do wrong with our generation, try to make it right.

Parameswaran Iyer, Global Lead, Strategic Initiatives at The World Bank's Water Practice, talked about the central role of youth in creating citizen's movement, according to a press release by Safe Water Network.

Recalling the role of young leaders in the Swachh Bharat Mission, Iyer described how the project was able to galvanize young people, especially women, to help address the issue of sanitation all across India.

He encouraged the youths to take risks and address global issues, saying, You need to seize the moment. When an opportunity presents itself, don't let it go and never be afraid to take risks, particularly when you're young.

World Water Day was commemorated on March 22.

Safe Water Network is a global non-profit with 15 years of experience innovating and implementing small water enterprises (SWEs) in India and Ghana, providing access to more than 1.6 million people in over 500 communities with safe, affordable, and reliable water and demonstrating the potential of SWEs to reach millions of people in need of safe drinking water.

(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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A snap lockdown in Brisbane days out from the Easter weekend sparked commuter chaos at Brisbane Airport as thousands tried to escape the city.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ordered a three-day lockdown for Greater Brisbane from 5pm on Monday, after four new community cases of coronavirus were detected in the past 24 hours.

'I know this is a really big call. I know it is very tough but let's do it now and let's do it right,' she told reporters.

Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 has been told to abide by the lockdown.

Brisbane Airport was flooded with anxious travellers on Monday afternoon as residents tried to book last-minute flights out of the Queensland capital in time.

A snap lockdown in Brisbane days out from the Easter weekend has sparked commuter chaos at Brisbane Airport and threatens to spark nationwide disarray

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ordered a three-day lockdown for Greater Brisbane from 5pm on Monday

Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 has been told to abide by the lockdown

Victoria has declared Greater Brisbane a 'red zone' from 6pm AEDT under its travel permit system.

All Queenslanders will be locked out of Western Australia from midnight, unless they have an exemption, after the McGowan government moved to reintroduce a hard border.

The hardline measure also applies to anyone from other states who has been in Queensland since March 27.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her state would not shut the border, but asked residents eyeing a trip north over the Easter break to change their plans.

South Australia imposed a hard border on Monday afternoon, banning entry from Greater Brisbane and requiring the testing and isolating of those who had arrived since March 20.

Restrictions have also been imposed in the ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

Thousands are attempting to fly out of Brisbane ahead of the three-day lockdown

The hardline measure also applies to anyone from other states who has been in Queensland since March 27

Victoria has declared Greater Brisbane a 'red zone' from 6pm AEDT under its travel permit system

Shoppers lineup outside a Brisbane Woolworths as the state prepares to enter a three-day lockdown

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed the snap lockdown, saying it would allow Queensland health authorities to get on top of the latest outbreak.

'Thank you to all the residents of the Greater Brisbane region for your patience and cooperation as you head into another three-day lockdown,' he wrote on Facebook.

'Australia has been here many times before, whether it's been the recent outbreaks in Queensland, NSW, Victoria or South Australia, so we all know what to do.'

But questions have been raised about whether it would have been necessary if the vaccine had been rolled out faster.

Ms Palaszczuk took a subtle dig at the federal government over its slow vaccination rollout.

She said local outbreaks and lockdowns were going to be part of the Australian way of life until everyone was vaccinated.

'It is very important that the vaccination rollout continues and that people continue to book in with their GPs, especially those GPs that are administering the vaccine,' the premier said.

'But until we have the population vaccinated there is of course the risk of community transmission.'

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese expressed similar concerns.

'It just confirms what people have been saying for a long time: the vaccine rollout is our ticket out of this pandemic. We have to get a wriggle on,' he said.

Virgin Australia asked customers to ensure they check the latest information on government health websites prior to travel and warned flight schedules may be adjusted.

Virgin Australia asked customers to ensure they check the latest information on government health websites prior to travel and warned flight schedules may be adjusted

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed the snap lockdown, saying it would allow Queensland health authorities to get on top of the latest outbreak

The Queensland Premier said local outbreaks and lockdowns were going to be part of the Australian way of life until everyone was vaccinated

More than 541,000 Australians have received their first vaccines, including 259,000 in the past week.

There have been 82,500 aged care residents inoculated across 795 facilities.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed asymptomatic testing has been authorised across Greater Brisbane.

Vaccination is a legitimate excuse to leave home during the lockdown.

Aged care response teams are also taking pre-emptive action in case of a spread.

The lockdown will cause major headaches for families planning to visit Brisbane over Easter, as well as the many thousands of hospitality and tourism companies who rely on their business.

It also comes just a day after JobKeeper payments were wound up, leaving almost one million Australian workers facing an uncertain future.

Treasury estimates up to 150,000 jobs could be lost without the wage subsidies, with about 100,000 vulnerable businesses expected to collapse.
Australians could soon be able to fly to New York in as little as two-and-a-half hours by 2031.

Brisbane-based company Hypersonix Launch Systems has designed a hydrogen-fuelled scramjet engine that can reach speeds of 7,000km/h.

A Boeing 777, which can carry 396 passengers at a time, can only reach speeds of up to 1,036km/h.

Commercial flights currently take 22 hours, and a layover at Los Angeles, before reaching New York from Sydney.

Hypersonix co-founder and head of research and development Michael Smart said the superior engine would be a breakthrough for air travel.

Australians could soon be able to fly to New York in as little as two-and-a-half hours by 2031

'To combine our designs to create an airliner is 10 years away but we're talking now about making progress towards that, and we haven't found people to be not interested to talk to us,' he told The Australian.

'All this technology has been developed in Australia and we'd love for us to have an aerospace prime that was borne out of Australia.'

The superior scramjet engine is currently designed for space launch vehicles and has drawn interest from aviation giant Boeing.

The airline wants to create a reusable hypersonic space launch vehicle that would launch small satellites into the air and be used as a greener alternative to fuel-based rockets.

'That creates all sorts of pollution and is typically only used once, so it's really trying to develop the idea that you can fly to space rather than get blasted into space,' Dr Smart said.

Commercial flights currently take 22 hours, and a layover at Los Angeles, before reaching New York from Sydney

'Boeing make aircraft, so they would like to make an aircraft that could fly into space.'

Hypersonix is set up at Spring Hill in Brisbane, Queensland.

The company prides itself on its website as 'one of the worlds leading scramjet technologists and a proven technology sector entrepreneur.'
Transition metal perovskites oxides exhibit several desirable properties, including high-temperature superconductivity and electrocatalysis. Now, scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology explore the structure and properties of a perovskite oxide, PbFeO3, in anticipation of the unusual charge distribution and exotic magnetic transitions displayed by such systems. They report two of the magnetic transitions, with a distinctive transition above room temperature and look into its causes, opening doors to potential applications in realizing new spintronic devices.

The advent of electronics has revolutionized our lives to an extent where it is impossible to imagine going about our day without relying on an electronic device in some form. What is even more remarkable, however, is that we can improve these devices even further by harnessing the electron's "spin"--a property which makes the electron behave like a magnet--to create memory devices that are faster and use lower power than traditional electronics. Accordingly, the field devoted to this endeavor, aptly called "spintronics", relies on exploiting the "spin state" of the electron. However, controlling spin can be extremely tricky, a fact that often leads scientists on a hunt for materials with ordered spin states.

Their attention has recently turned to lead-based transition metal perovskite oxides, a class of materials represented by PbMO3 (where the "M" indicates 3d transition metal ion), that display rather interesting phase transitions in spin states, making them appealing for practical applications.

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, a team of scientists from China, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, France, and USA, examined the perovskite oxide PbFeO3, a compound that has evaded inspection until now, owing to difficulties in synthesizing samples and resolving its crystal structure. "The perovskite family of PbMO3 exhibits complex charge distributions and RFeO3 (R = rare earth) shows several interesting spin-related properties, such as laser-induced ultrafast spin reorientation, so we expect similarly characteristic charge distribution and rich spin-state transitions for PbFeO3," comment Prof. Masaki Azuma from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan and Prof. Youwen Long from Chinese Academy of Science, who led the study.

Consequently, the team investigated the structure, charge state, and magnetic properties of PbFeO3 using a variety of characterization techniques and backed up their observation with density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

The team found that PbFeO3 crystallized into a unique "charge-ordered" state in which a layer of Pb2+ ions was interleaved by two layers made up of a mixture of Pb2+ and Pb4+ ions in a 3:1 ratio, along the direction of layer stacking (Figure 1). On cooling the sample from high temperature, the team observed two distinct magnetic phase transitions: a weak ferromagnetic transition occurring at 600 K (327C) characterized by a "canted antiferromagnetic" spin ordering (oppositely directed neighboring spins), and a continuous spin reorientation (SR) transition at 418 K (145C) (Figure 2).

The SR transition, although common in all RFeO3 perovskites, stood out in this case because it occurred at a much higher temperature compared to those for other perovskites, and unlike the R--Fe magnetic interactions usually identified as the cause for this transition, there was no such counterpart in the case of PbFeO3. To resolve the conundrum, scientists turned to DFT calculations, which revealed that the unique charge ordering in PbFeO3 led to the formation of two Fe3+ "sublattices" with competing energies that, in turn, caused the peculiar SR transition.

The team is thrilled by these findings and their implications for future applications. "Our work provides a new avenue for studying the charge ordering phase and distinctive SR transition with potential applications in spintronic devices due to the high transition temperature and possible tuning," remarks the theoretical team leader, Prof. Hena Das.

One thing's for sure--we're one step closer to making spintronics the reality of tomorrow!

###

About Tokyo Institute of Technology

Tokyo Tech stands at the forefront of research and higher education as the leading university for science and technology in Japan. Tokyo Tech researchers excel in fields ranging from materials science to biology, computer science, and physics. Founded in 1881, Tokyo Tech hosts over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students per year, who develop into scientific leaders and some of the most sought-after engineers in industry. Embodying the Japanese philosophy of "monotsukuri," meaning "technical ingenuity and innovation," the Tokyo Tech community strives to contribute to society through high-impact research.
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PHOENIX  Hundreds of people took to the streets at two different rallies in the Phoenix area to protest violence against people of Asian descent and show solidarity with the Asian community.

The largest gathering was at the Asian District in Mesa. A protest march ended at AZ International Marketplace, where a vigil was held.

Earlier on Saturday, protesters came together at Wesley Bolin Memorial Park in downtown Phoenix to stand against hate crimes that target Asians.

Rally organizers said there have been 3,800 victims of violence against Asians during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic with 42 of the incidents occurring in Arizona.

The violence turned deadly in Georgia on March 16 as spa shootings in Atlanta area left eight people dead including six Asian Americans.

U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, a Democrat represents Arizonas Ninth Congressional District, attended the Mesa rally and stood with the demonstrators.

We need to stop Asian stereotyping and we need to make sure we treat crimes against the Asian community as a hate crime and prosecuted as a hate crime, Stanton told Phoenix TV station KPHO. We havent done a good job of tracking these types of crimes around the country.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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Ethos is a nationally recognized, award-winning independent student publication. Our mission is to elevate the voices of marginalized people who are underrepresented in the media landscape, and to write in-depth, human-focused stories about the issues affecting them. We also strive to support our diverse student staff and to help them find future success.



Ethos produces a quarterly free print magazine full of well-reported and powerful feature stories, innovative photography, creative illustrations and eye-catching design. On our website, we also produce compelling written and multimedia stories.



Ethos is part of Emerald Media Group, a non-profit organization thats fully independent of the University of Oregon. Students maintain complete editorial control over Ethos, and work tirelessly to produce the magazine.



Since our inception as Korean Ducks Magazine in 2005, weve worked hard to share a multicultural spirit with our readership. We embrace diversity in our stories, in our student staff and in our readers. We want every part of the magazine to reflect the diversity of our world.
State Police

PERTH - An Alabama man was charged with having an illegal assault rifle after State Police stopped his car Saturday.

Police said Joseph W. Mathis, of Jacksonville, Alabama was driving on Route 30 in Perth around 3 p.m. when he was stopped. During the stop, a trooper saw a gun box in the backseat. When State Police searched the car, they found an illegal AK-47 rifle and an empty 30-round magazine in the box, along with two loaded handguns and multiple high-capacity magazines, according to a news release. Mathis does not have a state handgun permit.
Johnson & Johnson will supply the African Union (AU) with up to 400 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine beginning in the third quarter, the drugmaker said on Monday, as the continent grapples with vaccinating 60 per cent of its people.

The virus has killed almost 121,000 people across Africa and infected 4.18 million.

J&J unit Janssen Pharmaceutica NV has entered into a deal with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) to deliver 220 million doses of its single-dose shot.

AVAT could order an additional 180 million doses through 202

The deal follows months of negotiations with the AU, which announced a provisional agreement in January to buy 270 million doses of vaccines from J&J, AstraZeneca and Pfizer -BioNTech.

The status of the talks with the other two companies is not known.

J&J's vaccine came to the market much later than those of AstraZeneca and Pfizer but has recently gained widespread acceptance globally, especially in Africa.

"J&J requires just a single dose, it makes it a very good programmatically to rollout," said John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

He said the price of the J&J's dose is likely to be $10.

In February, South Africa put use of AstraZeneca's shot on hold after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild-to-moderate infection caused by the country's dominant variant.

Several countries in Europe have suspended using AstraZeneca's vaccine as they investigate a small number of reports of rare blood clotting in people who got the vaccine.

Global regulators have said the shot is safe and effective.

Pfizer's shot has more complex storage and transportation needs than other vaccines, making it more challenging to deploy in warmer climates or in poorer countries.

AVAT said on Monday that many of the AU's 55 member states had shown a strong preference for J&J.

Africa is also grappling with a more-infectious variant identified in South Africa amid concerns about delays of deliveries of

AstraZeneca shots via the Covax scheme which is aimed at supplying poorer countries.

The continent is far behind nations, including Israel, the United States and Britain in its vaccination rollout. Almost half of

Britons have received their first dose, while in contrast only 0.4% of South Africa's population has received one dose.

"We need to immunise at least 60 per cent of our population in order to get rid of the virus from our continent. The J&J agreement enables us to move towards achieving this target," Nkengasong said.

Most of the supplies will be produced by Aspen Pharma in South Africa, AVAT said in a statement.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that South Africa will get 30 million vaccines from Aspen's facility while a total roughly 250 million will be distributed across the continent from the facility.

Aspen has contracted with J&J to manufacture 300 million doses.

As part of the AU vaccine plan, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved up to $2 billion in finance for countries to buy shots via the AU.

Europe approved J&J's single dose vaccine earlier this month. The United States, Canada and Bahrain have also approved the shot.

Late last year, J&J said it and the GAVI vaccine alliance expected to enter into a deal that would provide up to 500 million doses of the vaccine to Covax through 2022.
On Palm Sunday the apostolic administrator of Pemba, in Mozambique, issued an appeal for an end to violence in tne northern province of Cabo Delgado.

By Lisa Zengarini

The apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Pemba, in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, has called for an end to war in the province, where extreme violence by jihadi guerrilla has caused at least 2,000 dead and over 700,000 displaced. In his homily for Palm Sunday, Bishop Antonio Juliasse invoked Christs mercy so that all can be changed from within and this war that no one understands and that harms everybody can finish as soon as possible.

He reminded Mozambican leaders of their duty to guarantee justice so to preserve people from evils. Justice in a nation is non-negotiable. A leader who does not practice justice is no longer truly a leader, he said, stressing that the government should pay attention to the poorest and help them overcome poverty and no one should be excluded for religious, political, ethnic or even regional reasons".

Leaders should practice justice

He reminded Mozambican leaders of their duty to guarantee justice so to preserve people from evils. Justice in a nation is non-negotiable. A leader who does not practice justice is no longer truly a leader, he said, stressing that the government should pay attention to the poorest and help them overcome poverty and no one should be excluded for religious, political, ethnic or even regional reasons".

There is no religion of violence

He also pointed out that religious leaders should not foment violence, because, he said, there is no religion of violence. On the other hand, he added that Government leaders cannot wash their hands of their responsibilities, like Pilate, because this means condemning innocent people. "If a leader washes his hands, he condemns all the people he governs", he emphasized. Bishop Juliasse finally called on God to show Mozambicans another way: not the way of violence, not the way of cruelty, but the way of love, of fraternity.

Pope Francis' call for solidarity with Cabo Delgado

Violence in the northern province of Cabo Delgado broke out in late 2017, when a local jihadi group known as Ansar al-Sunnah, who has declared its allegiance to the so-called Islamic State, launched a revolt and has escalated in the last year. The province is one of the poorest in Mozambique, but is very rich in gas and rubies which have attracted many foreign corporations, but also the jihadi militias, who want to introduce the Islamic law and create a caliphate. The militias have attacked villages, churches, killed civilians, and the army to take over strategic infrastructures and extractive mines. The attacks have become more and more violent and target both Christians and Muslims. Last Wednesday, terrorist attacks intensified in the district of Palma, which drove 1.800 people to flee the region by boat.

The crisis in Cabo Delgado attracted international attention last year, when former Bishop of Pemba Luiz Fernando Lisboa and the Mozambican bishops called for support, and Pope Francis appealed for solidarity in his Easter Urbi and Orbi message on April 12 2020.
Dr Sood is professor and vice-chair for translational research in the departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer Biology and co-director of the Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNA at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

SUDA continues to progress with the development of its oral spray formulation of anagrelide

( ) (FRA:E4N) has appointed leading US-based cancer researcher Dr Anil K Sood to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr Sood is professor and vice-chair for translational research in the departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer Biology and co-director of the Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNA at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

He is also director of the multi-disciplinary Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program and co-leads the Ovarian Cancer Moon Shot Program.

Add enormously to SUDAs program

SUDA chief executive officer and managing director Dr Michael Baker said: We are thrilled that Dr Sood is joining our scientific advisory board.

"He has pioneered the research underpinning the role that platelets play in the progression of cancer.

We believe that Dr Sood will add enormously to the program, given his deep understanding of platelet biology in the clinical setting.

Dr Sood

Dr Sood received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

He has received major recognition for his research accomplishments, including the Hunter Award, the Margaret Greenfield/Carmel Cohen Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Prize, and the GCF/Claudia Cohen Research Foundation Prize for Outstanding Gynecologic Cancer Researcher.

He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Association of American Physicians (AAP).

Dr Sood was appointed as an American Cancer Society Professor in 2017.

He was the lead investigator in a seminal publication that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, describing the role that platelets play in ovarian cancer in relation to reducing patient survival.

Anagrelide update

SUDA continues to progress with the development of its oral spray formulation of anagrelide to be used as an adjunct therapy for patients with thrombocytosis (elevated platelets) and metastatic disease.
Tunis/Tunisia  Seven companies were announced as winners of the "Best Places To Work in -Tunisia" programme for 2021. They are Ekuity Capital, the Tunisian-Kuwaiti Company of El Emar (STKE), Teleperformance, Ipsen, Mezzo, Pfizer and Armatis.

The programme is part of the international certification programme known as "Best Places To Work" rewarding the best employers in different countries.

The evaluation is based on the analysis of the attractiveness of a company through a two-step process focused on 8 dimensions around the company's culture, management leadership, learning opportunities and HR practices.

This international certification programme for companies has been organised for the past 6 years in Tunisia and aims to honour companies that distinguish themselves by the quality of HR policies and practices deployed within their organisations.

The 2021 version of the "Best Places to Work in Tunisia" rewards the various actions undertaken by employers to retain their employees and support them in their professional development while ensuring the preservation of their health, in a context marked by the pandemic.
New Delhi: The Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (March 28) left people hanging after he declined to comment upon a purported secret meeting with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, amid the crisis in Maharashtra coalition government.

The questions by the reporters were witnessed to have a cryptic reply from the home minister. "Everything need not be made public," he replied to the press, when asked about the secret meeting in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah refrained from confirming any reports of his meeting with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

The meeting comes a week after the chaos in Maharashtra over alleged corruption charges on Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh levelled by Mumbai ex-top cop Param Bir Singh. Additionally, the meeting coincided with Anil Deshmukhs announcement in which he revealed that a retired judge of the high court will be conducting a probe into the allegations of corruption levelled against him.

These allegations on the Maharashtra Home Minister were levelled by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh.

Moreover, a day before the meeting Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamana also came out. The mouthpiece carried heavy criticism of the government for its inability to counter allegations, adding that its damage control plans were "inadequate".

On March 24, a delegation of BJP leaders, led by Devendra Fadnavis met the state Governor to hand over a memorandum stating that the Vikas Aghadi government has lost the moral ground to remain in power in the state. Earlier, on March 20, Fadnavis had demanded Deshmukh's resignation as well.
Chinese-owned Fools Investment Mine in Hope Fountain near Bulawayo has reportedly dismissed all its underground workers without notice, prompting the trade union which represents workers to threaten to take legal action against the company.

The mine was recently summoned to the National Employment Council (NEC) for the mining industry to answer to charges of underpaying employees and failing to provide protective clothing.

The mine was also caught in the eye of a storm after one of its directors assaulted two employees over outstanding salaries.

The National Union of Mines Quarrying, Iron and Steel Workers of Zimbabwe (NUMQISWZ) regional officer Abraham Kavalanjila confirmed the dismissal of more than 30 employees.

Fools Mine unfairly dismissed all underground workers and we have since written to them.

The verbal response from management was that they maintain their stance. Very soon we will be taking them to court on unfair labour practices by the employer, Kavalanjila said. The union will not sit and watch employers breaking the law despite being advised on several times. If the Chinese are failing to run the mine, we call upon the government to put the company under judicial management. We believe the mine has potential if managed well.

He said the mine was also failing to pay workers on time. On personal protective equipment (PPEs) yes, they have started issuing its workers. All those dismissed were not paid their salaries, he said.

Kavalanjila said the outstanding salaries for the fired workers could be around US$300 000.On March 25, NUMQISWZ wrote to the mine, demanding reinstatement of employees without loss of pay and benefits.

We are made to understand that you unfairly instructed (name supplied) not to come to work with immediate effect without any reason. You are hereby instructed to reinstate the said employee without loss of pay and benefits.

Also we demand the return with immediate effect to the work of all underground employees whom you also instructed them not to come to work. The duty of the employer is to provide a job to his/her employees.

Following our last meeting, we advised the employer to rectify that, but to our surprise you are continuing with your wrong actions. We dont believe in taking each other to the courts of law, but in this regard you are forcing the trade union to take that action or direction. All in all, we hereby demand the return of all underground employees..with immediate effect, failure to do so we will be left with no option but legal actions against you, the letter read.

Mine manager Thabani Masuku said work in the mine was temporarily suspended for maintenance work. The mine last month was slapped with a $40 000 fine for allowing a foreigner, Zhang Zhongyi, to work as a metallurgist at the mine without a valid permit.

Zhongyis illegal stay in the country was exposed after he assaulted two workers who confronted mine management demanding payment of their outstanding salaries. Newsday
The Angels bullpen finished 12th in the Majors by measure of FIP in 2020 and 21st by ERA, but the most gaudy failures came at the end of games. The Angels blew 14 saves, the most in the Majors. New GM Perry Minasian acted decisively to address their bullpen woes this winter. Raisel Iglesias was the big get coming over from Cincinnati, but hes not the only new face: Alex Claudio signed early in December, Junior Guerra in January, and Aaron Slegers was acquired via trade from the much-vaunted Tampa bullpen.

They continued to tinker with their bullpen mix with a pair of moves today. In a surprising development, the club optioned Ty Buttrey to Triple-A, the team announced. After joining the Angels from Boston along with Williams Jerez as part of the Ian Kinsler deadline deal in 2018, Buttrey posted a 1.4 fWAR season in 2019 in 72 appearances covering 72 1/3 innings. He earned his 3.98 ERA/3.58 SIERA while striking out 27.2 percent of hitters and walking just 7.4 percent. Entering 2020, Buttrey was a key variable in the Angels run-prevention equation.

Over 27 games in 2020, however, Buttreys strikeout rate fell to a concerning 16.1 percent. His ERA- saw a year-over-year spike from 87 to 132. He was responsible for four of the Angels 14 blown saves while notching just a pair of holds. The North Carolina native converted 26 holds the year prior. His velocity fell from 97.1 mph to 96.1 mph, and while that still ranked in the 88th percentile for fastball velocity, his whiff rate with the offering fell from 25.5 percent to 16.8 percent. Perhaps more to the point, his slider suffered significantly diminished side-to-side break. He recorded just one strikeout with his slider while opponents hammered it for a .511 expected slugging mark. Hell now begin the 2021 season at the Angels alternate site looking to regain the consistency that eluded the right-handed in his third major-league season, writes Kevin Modesti of the Orange County Register.

The Angels also moved quickly today to bring right-hander Noe Ramirez back to the organization after he was released by the Reds. Terms of the deal havent yet been released, but its not believed to be a Major League deal. Ramirez, of course, was the primary Major League piece sent to Cincinnati in exchange for Iglesias. Like Buttrey, he also began his career with the Red Sox before the Angels claimed him off waivers in 2017. From 2018 to 2020, Ramirez logged 172 innings over 141 appearances out of the Angels pen with a 4.13 ERA/3.63 SIERA. Ramirezs strikeout rate also fell alarmingly in 2020, though a favorable HR/FB rate helped produce a 3.00 ERA despite the uninspiring peripherals.

On the whole, Ramirez has been much more effective against same-handed hitters. That trend was amplified in 2020 as righties hit just .173/.267/.269 off Ramirez compared to lefties, who successfully produced a .273/.360/.455 line. Against the 60 right-handed hitters he faced, Ramirez logged a 23.3 percent strikeout rate, which isnt all that far off his career 28.8 percent mark. He failed to strike out any of the 25 left-handed hitters he faced, however, compared to a 19.7 percent strikeout rate against lefties for his career. He has long been more effective against righties, but if the properties of his work continue as seen in 2020, hell require heavily-scripted usage to be an effective piece of manager Joe Maddons pen.
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
Would-be June brides and bridegrooms are setting their sights on July and August as the betrothed and their venues of choice navigate a halting recovery and reopening from COVID-19.

So people are not as scared. They are not moving things as they were moving them before, or cancelling them or whatever, said Peter Rosskothen, owner of the Log Cabin and Delaney House in Holyoke, which are two of the regions premier locations for spring events like weddings and proms. But the June couple, thats very conservative. There are not many of those. But July, August, September, thats absolutely ganged up.

He predicts that his wedding business in 2021 will be 40% to 45% less than it was in 2019.

Its good news, Rosskothen said.

Thats because the wedding business in 2020 was basically nil.

Peter Rosskothen on the patio of his Log Cabin banquet house in Holyoke, March 24, 2021. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

And weddings and what Rosskothen calls social events like showers are coming back stronger than other events. He estimates that 70% of the schools that usually book proms with him have cancelled and the other 30% are on the fence.

Hes given them only until the middle of April to decide.

And corporate events are not happening this year, he said. Companies would normally book now or over the next few weeks for recognition dinners and or Holiday parties that would take place in the last three months or so of the year.

Those corporate events appear to be the last things to come back, he said.

But weddings are coming back.

Most of them are looking at the second half of the year, he said.

Besides moving months, some couples are looking at non traditional locations. Storrowton Village at the Big E in West Springfield started offering weddings last year in its Greenwich Barn, said Jessica K. Fontaine, director of Storrowton Village and Museum, which partners with the Storrowton Tavern on weddings.

This is the North Center School on the grounds of the Big E which is gaining favor as a small wedding venue (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)

The historic barn wasnt a wedding venue before the pandemic. But a couple called in November, eager to use a smaller space so they can keep to occupancy requirements.

It was just the perfect special wedding for them, she said. To use that space with the fireplace going.

Now couples enquiring of the Big E about using even smaller museum spaces that are not usually available for weddings  like Storrowtons quaint schoolhouse  for intimate ceremonies for five to 10 people.

Its people growing accustomed to the way we live, she said. People are more comfortable in their small pods of people.

Suzy Fortgang, owner of Valley View Farm in Haydenville, an indoor or outdoor wedding business heading into its fifth year of operation, said she was only able to do 15 to 20 very small weddings.

For couples who ended up feeling like they wouldnt have wanted to do it any other way, she said.

But such dreamy talk wont pay the bills in an industry where the average wedding in 2019 in Massachusetts was 130 guests and cost $34,679, according to the website The Wedding Report. That $35,000 number made Massachustts the third most expensive state out of 50 plus Washington, D.C.

And the food and accommodations sector of the economy is still struggling to maintain and regain pre-pandemic employment.

Starting March 22, state COVID guidelines allow for indoor gatherings of as many as 100 people. Outdoor gatherings at event venues or public spaces now have a 150-person limit.

Those new limits, announced form Boston March 18, flipped a switch among consumers, said Tim Garstka, director of sales at The Big E who said the folks there who book weddings got busy in a hurry.

Their phones lit up for the first time in a long time, he said.

Rosskothen said the average wedding in the state is 130-or-so guests. So new guidelines fit in with that size.

But he said it would be helpful if the state would give wedding consumers more confidence by publicizing now what the rules will be months from now if certain benchmarks are met.

Carpets are getting cleaned at The Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke as they gear up for more weddings and events this year. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 3/24/2021

Consumers are asked to book now not knowing what the party size or other restrictions will be.

There are people who dont want to take the risk, he said.

President Joe Biden has talked about moving the country closer to normal and making it more advisable to host small gatherings by July 4. Health experts have spoken about Labor Day as a return to more normal activities.

At Valley View Farm, Fortgang said she can offer indoor and outdoor options, including a pavilion thats open on all four sides.

So we have a built-in rain alternative, Fortgang said. Couples are being very flexible about their plans and we are excited about getting back to work.

Related coverage:
Over the past 18 months Hong Kong has seen a flurry of Chinese tech firms hold initial public offerings in the city

Video streaming site Bilibili sank on its first day trading on Hong Kong's stock exchange on Monday as investors fret over a global sell-off in Chinese tech shares.

Bilibili's opening price fell just over 6 percent in early trade after the firm raised around $2.6 billion in a secondary listing on Hong Kong's bourse.

Over the past 18 months Hong Kong has seen a flurry of Chinese tech firms hold initial public offerings in the city, part of a drive to list closer to home as relations between Beijing and Washington sour.

Last year Hong Kong raked in an impressive $49 billion in IPOs with hugely popular second listings by the likes of JD.com and NetEase.

The Chinese tech homecomings have continued into 2021 but with less investor enthusiasm.

A Hong Kong debut by Chinese search engine Baidu last week raised $3.1 billion through its IPO but its shares finished flat on the opening day and have since sunk some 15 percent.

US-China tensions remain at the forefront of investor jitters.

Last week American regulators announced plans to force Chinese firms to adhere more strictly to its auditing rules, sparking concerns over potential delistings in the US and a global sell-off in Chinese tech shares.

Bilibili is already listed in New York.

It is a fast growing video streaming site with around 200 million mostly young Chinese users.

Often dubbed "China's YouTube", it allows users to upload and share videos with voiceovers and music added and hosts a significant amount of user generated content.

Founded in 2009 by a then 20-year-old college student Xu Yi, it began primarily as a place for fans of gaming and anime to gather and share content but has since spread among Gen Z Chinese users.

Bilibili chief executive Chen Rui played down short term market price drops, billing his company as a website primed to tap into China's nearly one billion internet users.

"We wouldn't care too much about short-term performance in the stock market," the 43-year-old billionaire told Bloomberg Television in what the network said was his first interview with international media.

"Nobody will remember whether your stock went up or down on the debut in 10 years' time."

Chen has been seen as the real driver of Bilibili's success in recent years, persuading Chinese tech rivals Tencent and Alibaba to come on board as early investors as well as Sony.

Videos "will be a major trend for the internet industry over the next three to five years," Chen told Bloomberg.

"The market will be in ultra-high-speed growth for the next several years. Popular video platforms, like us, will all have great opportunities."

 2021 AFP
NEW YORK, March 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In July 2019, U.S. president Donald Trump decided to bring down the prices of drugs in the country to make them equal or similar to the international rates. This move was made with a specific eye on the evolving field of precision medicine. Therefore, with such government efforts around the world, the global precision medicine market size is expected to grow at a 12.1% CAGR between 2020 and 2030, to reach $738.8 billion by 2030 from $203.5 billion in 2019, according to P&S Intelligence.

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Similarly, in 2017, a grant was established by the Argentine government to bring the experimental precision medicine practices to the clinical field. Another such move that is benefitting the precision medicine market advance is the 2015 investment of $215 million by the U.S. government in this field to find a better cure for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and several other diseases. In the same vein, the government of Hong Kong plans to monitor cancer patients and use precision medicines for better outcomes.

Key Findings of Global Precision Medicine Market

Demand for precision medicine booming during COVID-19 crisis

Clinical trials related to precision medicine picking pace

Government support strongest driver for market

Demand for personalized medical care to rise fastest in future

APAC most-lucrative region for precision medicine investments

Market players engaging in collaborations and partnerships

Get the sample copy of this report at: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/precision-medicine-market-outlook/report-sample

The COVID-19 pandemic is acting as a precision medicine market growth driver, as the surging number of cases and deaths has drastically raised the demand for an effective treatment. Moreover, with different people reacting differently to the disease, which has been characterized by wide-ranging complications, research and development (R&D) activities to come up with personalized treatments have picked pace.

Story continues

In the past, the precision medicine market was dominated by the therapeutics category, on the basis of type. The technological advancements in the field of gene therapy, along with the various benefits such a treatment offers, are propelling the demand for precision medicines

In the coming years, the telemedicine category will continue to hold the largest share in the precision medicine market, based on the type of personalized medical care. The healthcare sector is quickly adopting telemedicine to widen the access to medical services and reduce the burden on the staff.

Historically, North America was the largest precision medicine market as a result of the rising incidence of lifestyle-associated and chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and diabetes, and high disposable income of people. Additionally, the region is home to a large number of medical researchers who are extensively studying the potential applications of precision medicine. Moreover, the government here is offering grants and conducting awareness-raising programs.

Browse detailed report with COVID-19 impact analysis on Precision Medicine Market Research Report: By Type (Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Personalized Medical Care) - Global Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030 @ https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/precision-medicine-market-outlook

The highest CAGR in the precision medicine market in the years to come is projected to be experienced in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The increasing government and private funding in the field, improving healthcare infrastructure, and rising purchasing power are propelling the market here. Additionally, market players are coming up with better precision medicine products, including those integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), to improve the overall patient outcomes.

The most-prominent companies in the global precision medicine market are Myriad Genetics Inc., Partek Inc., Pacific Biosciences of California Inc., Randox Laboratories Ltd., Oracle Corporation, Menarini Silicon Biosystems S.p.a., 23andMe Inc., EPIC SCIENCES INC., Precision BioLogic Incorporated, MDxHealth SA, General Electric Company, Intomics, Asuragen Inc., International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation, Almac Group Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Danaher Corporation, bioMerieux S.A., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Make Enquiry Before Purchase at: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=precision-medicine-market-outlook

Browse More Reports

Generic Drugs Market - https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/generic-drugs-market-outlook

Regenerative Medicine Market - https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/regenerative-medicine-market

About P&S Intelligence

P&S Intelligence is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness.

Contact:

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P&S Intelligence

Contact: +1-347-960-6455

Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.com

Web: https://www.psmarketresearch.com

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SOURCE P&S Intelligence
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Tim Mosenfelder/Getty ImagesBeartooth is planning to embark on a European tour in 2022.

The trek, which will also include Motionless in White and Stray from the Path on the bill, is set to kick off next February in Vienna, and will make stops in countries including Germany, the U.K. and France.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 2. Visit BeartoothBand.com for ticket info.

Beartooth just announced last week the details of their upcoming album, Below. The group's fourth studio effort is set to arrive June 25. It includes the singles "Devastation" and "The Past Is Dead."

By Josh Johnson

Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
In the US state of Georgia, a group of ageing white conservative men stood by on Thursday as Republican Party governor Brian Kemp signed into law a bill which makes it more difficult for poor and minority voters to take part in elections. Kemp, lets not forget, is accused of having used voter suppression to edge his way to an election victory against Stacey Abrams in 2018 by fewer than 55,000 votes.

Laws similar to the one in Georgia are being passed through Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country. The Republican playbook is clear: unable to win elections with their unpopular policies on the economy and social issues, the American right has opted to make it harder for their opponents to vote, even as they tout claims of non-existent voter fraud.

Meanwhile, Democrats hem and haw about whether they should remove the filibuster which allows hard-right senators in the minority to block substantial legislation to reform the countrys electoral systems and expand voter participation.
meeth e-commerce website for the Taiwanese market transcosmos Taiwan and meeth have opened the e-commerce website specifically designed for the Taiwanese market, for achieving faster delivery and offer customer support services that best fit the needs of the Taiwanese customers.

transcosmos inc. hereby announces that transcosmos Taiwan inc. (Headquarters: Taipei, Taiwan; General Manager: Shunsuke Matsuda; transcosmos Taiwan), its wholly-owned subsidiary, has built and began operating an e-commerce website for meeth co., Ltd. (meeth), a website specifically designed for the Taiwanese market.

Since February 2020, transcosmos Taiwan has been assisting meeth in cross-border selling and marketing of the company's skincare products. Whilst selling the products across the border for about one year, they have received many requests from Taiwanese customers to sell the products in the Taiwan local market. In order to achieve faster delivery and offer customer support services that best fit the needs of the Taiwanese customers, transcosmos Taiwan and meeth opened the e-commerce website specifically designed for the Taiwanese market on January 18, 2021.

A variety of popular products are available on the e-commerce website including "MORERICH PACK," meeth's signature product which won the grand prize under the moisture product category in the 2020 cosmetics award (" Beauty Award" hosted by " Woman Queen," Taiwan's popular TV program that introduces the latest cosmetics and fashion items), "MORERICH ESSENTIAL LOTION," a popular product among Taiwanese customers, and "F BRIGHT UV BASE," a must-have item for the coming season. The website has been highly received with many Taiwanese customers shopping immediately after the opening. With the aim of drawing more customers to the e-commerce website, transcosmos Taiwan and meeth are planning to start an additional feature for subscription service.

"It has been a year since we ventured into the global market with the help of transcosmos," Sonmi, the president of meeth co, Ltd. said. "During the past year, we gradually gained our brand awareness and fans, and now we have successfully launched our e-commerce website specifically for the Taiwanese market. We want many Taiwanese people to acknowledge the "made in Japan" products that are fully committed to quality. I would like to thank transcosmos for their continued assistance for our success."

transcosmos Taiwan offers end-to-end services to help meeth operate in Taiwan from building and operating its e-commerce website, to connecting payment and logistics arrangements, to customer services, to marketing promotions. With the aim of enhancing and expanding sales in Taiwan even more, transcosmos Taiwan will continue to work together with meeth.

Founded in September, 2016, transcosmos Taiwan has established its unique market position focusing on digital with both strong sales skills in e-commerce and branding capabilities. Today, the company provides clients with diverse services including e-commerce one-stop services, digital marketing and contact centers. transcosmos Taiwan will continue to provide marketing services that fit the Taiwanese market, thereby contributing to clients in boosting their brand recognition and expanding their e-commerce sales.

*transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. in Japan and other countries.

*Other company names and product or service names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies.

About transcosmos inc.

transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 168 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce Services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services to consumers in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment. Visit us here https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/
Credit: Cardiff University

A Cardiff University professor has uncovered a drastic increase in online anti-Asian hate crime triggered by a tweet sent by former President Donald Trump that included the phrase "Chinese virus" to describe COVID-19.

At the beginning of the pandemic, President Donald Trump used the phrase in a tweet which he then went on to defend in a White House press briefing days later.

While conducting research for his new book, "The Science of Hate," Professor Matthew Williams, from the School of Social Sciences, set out to examine if this divisive rhetoric had an impact on the use of anti-Asian hate speech on Twitter.

"My hunch was based on previous research that showed offline events, such as terror attacks and political votes, triggered online hate speech in the immediate aftermath," Professor Williams said.

Researchers at HateLab, of which Williams is Director, collected around 41 million COVID-19 related tweets between 12th March and 1st April 2020. Using tools developed within the lab to identify online hate speech, the vast dataset was reduced to around 13,000 tweets that showed the hallmarks of anti-Asian hate.

Professor Williams found that in the 48 hours after Donald Trump first used the divisive phrase, the number of anti-Asian hate tweets increased by 656%.

Many of the tweets sent after Donald Trump's comment were deeply hateful and disturbing, with some people expressing frustration over canceled plans, like birthday parties, and postponed sporting events, using hashtags containing racial slurs and dehumanizing language.

Professor Williams discovered that some of the extremely serious, and possibly criminal, tweets called for extreme violence against the Chinese people.

The majority of hateful tweets came from accounts linked with the US, while at least 317 emanated from within the UK.

Many of the more extreme tweets were removed within 24-48 hours either by Twitter or the original poster, possibly fuelled by feelings of regret.

Research at Cardiff University's HateLab has previously found a link between online anti-black and anti-Muslim hate and hate occurring on the streets.

"The Science of Hate" documents how anti-Asian hate on the streets in the first weeks of the pandemic increased significantly, in line with online hate.

In just six weeks of the pandemic over 1,700 hate incidents targeting Asian Americans across forty-five states were recorded by San Francisco State University. Most victims had been verbally harassed on the street, with others suffering physical assault and being attacked online.

In the same period police in the UK recorded a 21 percent increase in hate crimes targeting south and east Asians. Similar rises have been recorded across Europe, Australasia, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

"Recent reports on both sides of the Atlantic indicate that anti-Asian hate crimes are at an all-time high, with many victims indicating the pandemic and its weaponization by political figures and the far-right is to blame," Professor Williams concluded.

"Becoming a hate crime victim 20 years ago saw me embark on a journey to find out why. I wrote "The Science of Hate' to share what I discovered. In the middle of conducting research for my book, the pandemic hit and the landscape of online and offline hate changed dramatically.

"COVID-19 created a new sense of threat that has been misattributed to certain identities by politicians and members of the far-right. As well as Asian people, we have also seen the targeting of Jews, Muslims and LGBT+ people during the pandemic, largely fuelled by divisive disinformation.

"'The Science of Hate' brings all this research together with a new theory for understating why hate crime and speech continues to rise across the globe."

In the late 90s Professor Williams experienced homophobic hate crime both on the streets of London, and online while in a chatroom occupied by American internet users. This sent him on a two decades long investigation to unearth the motivations of those that attack people because of who they are.

More information: "The Science of Hate: How Prejudice Becomes Hate and What We Can Do to Stop It" is published by Faber & Faber on 25th March 2021 (14.99 trade paperback)
Union minister on Monday accused the Congress of seeking votes through communal polarisation by instigating one religion against the other and inducing unwarranted fear in the minds of the minority community.

He said, it was only during the last seven years that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government had the conviction and sincerity to bring about some revolutionary reforms for the minorities, including the Triple Talaq law.

Congress party had, since independence, used the minorities as a commodity and exploited their sentiments for vote bank politics, said Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

He said the Congress-AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) alliance in Assam has virtually outsourced its campaign to communal elements, and its leaders are using such tone and expression in electioneering which stands to induce poison in the society and rake up one religious community against the other.

Singh said a dangerous phenomenon is being witnessed in the Assam election and the is determined to thwart this evil design.

A total of 39 and 40 constituencies will go to polls on April 1 and April 6, respectively. Voting for the first phase of polls in 47 of the total 126 seats in Assam was held on March 27.

Singh said the is asking for votes neither in the name of Hindu nor Muslim, but appealing for Hindu-Muslim votes based on the principle of equitable development and opportunity for all sections of society, regardless of caste, creed or religion.

Many minority community leaders from Congress and AIUDF have quit these parties and joined the This should be an eye-opener for the community that they represent, he said.

He also addressed a rally in Dhubri assembly constituency in Assam, which comprises nearly 65 per cent of minority population.

Dhubri is now determined to introduce a new political culture based not on communal or religious considerations, but purely on development and performance, Singh said.

For the first time after many years, he said, the BJP candidate is going to get elected from here with the equal support of minority community votes, and this is going to send a signal across the country of a new political approach based on Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.

The minister appealed, particularly to the youth voters, to break the jinx of votes being cast along religious lines and open a new chapter of Hindu-Muslim vote in support of development and growth.

He added that the minorities have realised that falsehood being spread by Congress leaders and Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF about the BJP is far from truth and it is only the BJP that stands against communalisation for vote bank

(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.)
FOSTER CITY, Calif. and LONDON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Agari, the Trusted Email Identity Company, is being acknowledged by CRN , a brand of The Channel Company , in its 2021 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide provides a conclusive list of the most distinguished partner programs from leading technology companies that provide products and services through the IT Channel.

Given the importance of IT vendor channel programs, each year CRN develops its Partner Program Guide to provide the channel community with a detailed look at the partner programs offered by IT manufacturers, software developers, service companies, and distributors. Vendors are scored based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication.

Agari's channel partner program was selected once again for inclusion on this list because of the simplicity of the program, partner profit potential, and a go-to-market structure that is based on channel led priorities.

"We are honored to be included on this prestigious list of companies with stellar partner programs," said Tracy Pallas, worldwide vice president of Channel Sales at Agari. "Our partners have been and continue to be vital to Agari's ongoing global growth strategy. We recognize their importance to our growth by creating a program that helps them be successful with existing customers and in attracting new customers. We're in a renaissance period for email security technology solutions, as phishing and brand spoofing scams escalate. Email security has moved back in the center of the bullseye for CISOs at large enterprises."

"As innovation continues to fuel the speed and intricacy of technology, solution providers need partners that can keep up and support their developing business," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN's 2021 Partner Program Guide gives insight into the strengths of each organization's program to recognize those that continually support and push positive change inside the IT channel."

The 2021 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2021 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG .

About Agari

Agari is the Trusted Email Identity Company, protecting brands and people from devastating phishing and socially-engineered attacks. Using applied data science and a diverse set of signals, Agari protects the workforce from inbound business email compromise, supply chain fraud, spear phishing, and account takeover-based attacks, reducing business risk and restoring trust to the inbox. Agari also prevents spoofing of outbound email from the enterprise to customers, increasing deliverability and preserving brand integrity. Learn more at agari.com.

Contact:

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Agari

+1 650-454-9499

[email protected]

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by nearly 40 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

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Victoria is unlikely to reopen the border to the Greater Brisbane area as soon as the citys three-day lockdown ends after eight new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Queensland on Tuesday.

The outbreak, which has locked down the city and scuttled Easter travel plans for Victorians, grew to 15 on Tuesday. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said six of those cases were close contacts of confirmed cases and another two were under investigation.

Victoria declared the Greater Brisbane area a red zone under the states travel permit system on Monday. Acting Premier James Merlino said on Tuesday morning that was unlikely to change as soon as the lockdown ended.

However, he said he hoped Victoria could maintain a localised approach to restrictions, rather than a travel block on all of Queensland.
State Sen Eric P. Lesser, who represents nine communities in the 1st Hampden and Hampshire District, is inviting his high school constituents to write about living and learning through the pandemic and an issue that needs to be addressed as result for his annual spring essay contest.

Lesser extended the invitation to write about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, that turned much of the current academic year into one of remote learning, in a letter to high school principals.

I would like to encourage students to reflect on this different year and use this opportunity to reconsider what they would like to see changed and how they see our commonwealth rebuilding to move forward, said Lesser, who wrote for The Republicans teen section during his years at Longmeadow High School.

My hope is that this will energize our young people and help them understand the power they have to make a difference in their community, in the lives of others, and certainly their own lives.

The prompt advises students, in selecting an issue, to explain how you would solve this issue facing your community.

This one issue that affects your community could be something that affects you personally, affects a group of people or even affects your whole community, the prompt continues.

This issue could be something your community needs or something that could be changed. Is your solution something that you could start yourself, or is it an action that a group, your town or state could take on?

It notes, The pandemic has highlighted the strengths and shortcomings of many of our policies and institutions.

Lessers district covers Belchertown, parts of Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Granby, Hampden, Longmeadow, Ludlow, parts of Springfield, and Wilbraham.

Chicopee schools included are Chicopee Comprehensive High School, Chicopee High School and Hampden Charter School of Science-East; Springfield schools included are Springfield Central High School, SABIS International Charter School, Baystate Academy Charter School, and Pope Francis Preparatory School.

The essays are to be between 300 to 500 words. Winners will receive recognition by Lesser, who worked with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno in early February to improve operations at the privately run mass COVID-19 vaccination site at the Eastfield Mall, and a citation from the Massachusetts Senate where Lesser chairs the Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies as well as the Senate Committee on Ethics.

Deadline for submission is April 30, and essays can be submitted electronically to Jennifer P. Metsch at Jennifer.Metsch@MaSenate.gov.

Metsch serves as Lessers director for constituent services director.
Greater Brisbane has been plunged into a snap-three day lockdown despite health authorities promising the harsh restriction would never come again.

More than two million residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for four essential reasons in Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands from 5pm Monday.

Schools will be closed and businesses will have no choice but to shut up shop just days out from school and easter holidays, which are touted to be one of the busiest periods for the hospitality and tourism industry.

Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lamber expects $50 million to be lost in revenue from tourism and hospitality businesses as the state heads into Easter.

'With one of the busiest tourism periods upon us, this announcement means one thing for thousands of restaurants and cafes across Queensland: chaos,' Mr Lamber said.

Health authorities have been left red-faced after promising an end to the days of widespread lockdown.

Greater Brisbane has been plunged into a snap-three day lockdown despite health authorities promising the harsh restriction would never come again (pictured, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk making the announcement on Monday)

Only on March 19, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young boasted health authorities had 12 months to refine an effective system of contact tracing so that widespread lockdowns would no longer be necessary

More than two million residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for four essential reasons in Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands from 5pm Monday

Only on March 19, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young boasted health authorities had 12 months to refine an effective system of contact tracing so that widespread lockdowns would no longer be necessary.

'Absolutely, there's no need to go into lockdown when we've got responses like this,' Dr Young said.

'We've handled it beautifully, absolutely beautifully.'

Dr Young said authorities would only lockdown the most vulnerable people if there was ever a risk of another Covid-19 outbreak.

The promise came after a doctor at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane was discovered to be carrying the UK variant of Covid-19 on March 12.

Brisbane's hospitals, aged care homes, prisons and disability services were all placed into hard lockdown and authorities were confident they had stopped the spread of the virus.

Then on Friday, health authorities revealed a 26-year-old Stafford man had tested positive to the UK variant of the virus.

He was linked back to the Princess Alexandra Hospital cluster and it was revealed he had been out and about in the community while infectious since March 19.

Now authorities believe there is still an unidentified intermediary case that passed the virus on from the hospital to the Stafford man.

Authorities will be working over the next three days to curb the spread of the virus while millions of residents will be forced to put their life on hold and wait indoors.

Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lamber said tens of millions of dollars in revenue will be lost because of the lockdown.

'This means more staff stood down, up to $50 million in lost revenue and nearly $15 million in produce and stock thrown away, with more debt piling up,' he said.

Shoppers wait outside a Coles in New Farm in Brisbane as Ms Palaszczuk urged the city's residents not to panic buy despite the lockdown announcement

Shoppers outside a Woolworths in Newstead in Brisbane's inner-north form a socially distanced queue as they prepare to enter their latest three-day lockdown

Cars queued outside a drive-through clinic outside of a Covid-19 testing clinic at Bowen Hills on Monday

Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia have also reimposed border restrictions and require travellers from the Queensland hotspots to self-isolate for 14 days (pictured, health care worker collects information from driver lined up at Covid-19 testing site)

'This lockdown is different. There is no JobKeeper safety net for these businesses, and little to no support will be forthcoming until after the lockdown is over.'

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Queensland Department of Health for comment.

Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia have also reimposed border restrictions and require travellers from the Queensland hotspots to self-isolate for 14 days.

Sydney passengers were filmed filing off a Sunshine State-bound Jetstar flight after they were told by cabin crew Brisbane had gone into lockdown.

The UK strain of coronavirus - known as B117 - is believed to be at least 50 per cent more transmissable than other variants.

Only two visitors will be allowed in the home under the new rules and restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway service only.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Monday the state had recorded four new local cases of Covid-19 and six in hotel quarantine.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was declaring the whole of Greater Brisbane a hotspot from 5pm and called on other states and territories to do so too.

'There is now more community transmission, and these people have been out and about in the community, and that is of concern to Queensland Health,' she said.

A health worker conducts a Covid-19 swab test on a driver at the Bowen Hills clinic in Brisbane

Residents were quick to head to Covid-19 testing clinics on Monday after the state premier announced a snap three-day lockdown

Descent of a Champion 1997: Announces himself as a force in kayaking when he comes second to Olympics Gold medallist Clint Robinson in the K1 1000m race at the Australian Sprint Championships. 1998: Baggaley beats Robinson to become Australian 1000m champion, ending Robinsons seven-year title reign. 2000: Baggaley is selected for the Sydney 2000 Olympics in the K1 500m event but loses to Bulgarian Petar Merkov, a suspected drug cheat. 2001: Cleo Bachelor of the year finalist. 2002: Wins the first of three consecutive world championships in the K1 500m race at Seville, Spain. 2004: Wins two silvers in the K1 500m and K2 500m (with Clint Robinson) at the Athens Olympics. 2005: Test positive to steroids, which he blames on drinking from a bottle of juice owned by his brother Dru. 2006: Suspended for 15 months by the Court of Arbitration and Sport, who accept his excuse. 2007: The suspension increased to two years as Baggaley prepares for the 2008 Olympics. 2009: Nathan and Dru receive jail sentences for a pill-making operation. 2015: Jailed again for two years for multiple drug offences. 2018: Arrested along with brother Dru and boat driver Anthony Draper for his involvement in a plot to import $200 million worth of cocaine into Australia. 2021: Found guilty of his involvement in the plot, alongside Dru. Advertisement

'This will also enable our health authorities to get on top of the contact tracing,' she said.

'I know this will mean some disruption to people's lives, but we've done this before, and we've got through it over those three days in the past, and if everyone does the right thing I'm sure that we will be able to get through it again.'

One of the cases had travelled to Gladstone. Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 will also come under the restrictions.

A nurse who worked in a Covid-19 ward and her sister also spent time in the Byron Bay area while infectious.

Queensland Health is waiting for genomic testing to find out whether or not she caught the virus while working in the ward.
UPDATE (3:28 p.m.): Masslive.coms Chris Cotillo reports that the Red Sox confirm Matt Barnes and all players in contact tracing have been cleared to rejoin the team.

The Boston Red Sox will have to trust Adam Ottavino ... because they dont have any other choice.

The former New York Yankees reliever is set to inherit the role of Red Sox closer after Matt Barnes tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Boston Globe.

Though Barnes does not have symptoms and feels fine, according to Red Sox manager Alex Cora, his positive result from a PCR saliva test administered on Thursday night (part of standard testing that occurs no less than every other day) will require him to isolate from the team for a minimum of 10 days. Cora said he was notified of the result early Saturday morning. ... Barnes, who has a home in the Fort Myers area, will receive care from the teams medical staff while being tested frequently. He will remain isolated for a minimum of 10 days from the time of the test that yielded the positive, meaning the earliest he could be cleared for a return is April 5.

Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman traded Ottavino to the Red Sox in January in what was essentially a salary dump. According to Spotrac, Ottavino is on the books for more than $8 million this season, and Cashman has been under pressure to keep the Yankees 2021 payroll under the luxury tax threshold.

Ottavino has impressed in Red Sox spring training, not giving up a run in six appearances. And Ottavino has some experience as a closer, picking up 19 saves in his 10 MLB seasons.

As for the Red Sox, this isnt their first dance with the coronavirus. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who won a career-high 19 games in 2019, missed all of the 2020 season because of a COVID-related heart condition.

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.
The mysterious red glow from the excess gamma radiations at the center of the Milky Way galaxy could be radiating from the dark matter and pulsars, a physicist Mattia Di Mauro of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Italy has stated in a new study. The illuminated mystical center of the Milky Way dubbed as Galactic Center GeV Excess (GCE) was first discovered by physicists Lisa Goodenough and Dan Hooper in 2009 and it has, since then, stunned the scientists who have been trying to find the source of the single brightest source of light. NASAs Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has now detected dark matter inside the galactic halo of the gamma radiation cluster of the Milky Way, according to the study published in The Astrophysical Journal.

A Fermi-LAT collaboration team of astrophysicists investigated the previously proposed theories related to the potential sign of dark matter, which comprises 85 percent of all the universe. Di Mauro, an astrophysicist at Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, a joint institute of Stanford University, and the US Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory said that the researchers did not need dark matter specifically to decipher the gamma-ray emissions of the Milky Way galaxy. Instead, we identified a population of pulsars in the region around the galactic center, which sheds new light on the formation history of the Milky Way.

[Credit: NASA Goddard; A. Mellinger, CMU; T. Linden, Univ. of Chicago]

Di Mauro led the investigation after gamma radiation was caught on the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on NASAs Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and his team tried to establish the glow in the Milky Way galaxys center. We search for this radiation with the LAT in regions of the universe that are rich in dark matter, such as the center of our galaxy, Seth Digel, head of KIPACs Fermi group explained. He stated that when the dark matter particles either decay or collide such gamma rays are produced.

While the galactic is extremely complicated, astrophysicists had earlier detected the charged particles produced in powerful star explosions called supernovae and its remnants known as pulsars. Meanwhile, Two recent studies by teams in the US and the Netherlands showed that the gamma-ray excess at the galactic center is speckled, not smooth as we would expect for a dark matter signal, KIPACs Eric Charles said.

[Credits: NASA, ESA and L. Hustak STScI]

"The analysis clearly shows that the excess of gamma rays is concentrated in the galactic center, exactly what we would expect to find in the heart of the Milky Way if dark matter is in fact a new kind of particle," Di Mauro said.

Collision of dark matter particles WIMPS

Pulsars have very distinct spectrathat is, their emissions vary in a specific way with the energy of the gamma rays they emit. Using the shape of these spectra, we were able to model the glow of the galactic center correctly, Di Mauro said. The astrophysicists established Goodenough and Hoopers speculative theory that if the dark matter particles called WIMPS (weakly interacting massive particles) and their antiparticles were to collide, it would destroy particles, including gamma-ray photons. The latter was studied by Pamela cosmic ray detector aboard the Resurs-DK No.1 satellite and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment aboard the ISS.

(Image Credit: NASA)
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Regulatory News:

The Vicat Group (Euronext Paris: FR0000031775 VCT) (Paris:VCT) today announced that Vicat 2021 Combined General Meeting will be held on Friday 9 April 2021 at 10:00 am.

In order to respect the measures taken by the government to limit the risk of COVID-19 contamination, this meeting will be held behind closed doors.

In this context, and in order to allow shareholders to follow the Meeting remotely, it will be broadcast live on the Company's website (www.vicat.fr) or by clicking on the following link

https://vicat.la-webtv.fr

This webcast will be accompanied by a presentation in French which will be available on 9 April 2021 from 9:30 a.m. on the Company's website: www.vicat.fr.

In this particular context, it is important to note:

- That shareholders wishing to attend this webcast are strongly advised to connect from 9:30 a.m. in order to follow the usual registration procedures;

- That votes on the proposed resolutions may only be cast by correspondence, in accordance with the procedures and deadlines in force as described in the notice of meeting (available on the company's website www.vicat.fr);

- That any shareholder wishing to ask questions at this event must do so exclusively in writing and send them (by registered letter) before 7 April 2021 to the Company's registered office (Vicat Les Trois Vallons 4, rue Aristide Berges 38080 L'Isle d'Abeau France) or by e-mail to the following address: relations.investisseurs@vicat.fr.

Following the Combined General Meeting, a detailed report will be published on the Company's website www.vicat.fr.

Next report:

First-quarter 2021 sales on 5 May 2021 after the market close.

About Vicat

The Vicat Group has over 9,000 employees working in three core divisions, Cement, Concrete Aggregates and Other Products Services, which generated consolidated sales of 2.805 billion in 2020. The Group operates in twelve countries: France, Switzerland, Italy, the United States, Turkey, Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Kazakhstan, India and Brazil. Some 64% of its sales are generated outside France.

The Vicat Group is the heir to a family industrial tradition dating back to 1817, when Louis Vicat invented artificial cement. Founded in 1853, the Vicat Group now operates three core lines of business: Cement, Ready-Mixed Concrete and Aggregates, as well as related activities.

About the Louis Vicat Foundation

Created in 2017 on the occasion of the bicentenary of the invention of artificial cement, the Foundation's objectives are: the promotion of scientific and technical culture, the preservation and enhancement of heritage, education and solidarity. To this end, in 2020 the Foundation carried out a series of inclusive actions for the benefit of people with disabilities and those far from employment. The year 2021 will be the Year of Women.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005575/en/

Contacts:

Investor relations:

Stephane Bisseuil:

Tel.: +33 (0) 1 58 86 86 05

stephane.bisseuil@vicat.fr

Press:

Marie-Raphaelle Robinne

Tel.: +33 (0) 4 74 27 58 04

marie-raphaelle.robinne@vicat.fr
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A senior police chief has warned of the damaging effect distrust in British policing in black communities is having on the effectiveness of law enforcement.

Martin Hewitt said trust and confidence in policing was 20% lower in the black population compared with the average, as he highlighted the need to boost the number of black recruits in police forces.

In his first interview on race since the Black Lives Matter protests which spread across the globe last summer, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) told the Guardian that he wanted to change generations of history between police and black communities.

The reason it is important is because all of that takes you to the legitimacy of us, as a service, he told the newspaper.

He said trust and confidence in the police was important for people to come forward and report crime and engage with officers, and could also lead to young black men and women saying Im prepared to go and become a police officer.

Demonstrators and police at a Black Lives Matter protest in Newcastle (Owen Humphreys/PA)

British police have been heavily criticised over the years over its disproportionate use of powers, such as stop and search and use of force, on Black and ethnic minority people.

It led to Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) warning in a report last month that police risk losing the trust of the communities they serve.

The inspectorate said data from 2019/20 shows ethnic minority people were over four times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and that black people specifically were nearly nine times more likely.

Following the death of George Floyd in the US and the protests that followed, the NPCC said it would develop a plan of action to address racial inequalities in policing.

It said an independent scrutiny and oversight board will be established with members who can draw on a range of experiences to challenge and scrutinise us.

Mr Hewitt said the final action plan would await the approval of the chair of the new scrutiny board, who would be recruited from outside policing.

This is not about political correctness. This is not about wokeism or whatever anyone else wants to call it, he said.

This is about legitimate policing. Legitimate policing has to be legitimate for all the communities, and that includes the black community.
Photo: The Canadian Press Guest are welcomed by people in Facebook shirts as they arrive at the Facebook Canadian Summit in Toronto on Wednesday, March 28, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Donovan

The head of Facebook Canada says rules requiring it to pay publishers for news content linked on its site would be a worst-case scenario for the social media behemoth.

At a parliamentary committee hearing today, Kevin Chan said such regulation would hinder a free and open internet and that Facebook already props up struggling legacy media outlets by directing traffic to their sites.

Last month, Facebook blacked out all news on its platform in Australia in response to looming legislation that would require digital giants to pay traditional news companies for their journalism.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Australian counterpart agreed to continue "co-ordinating efforts" to ensure web giants' revenues are shared more fairly with creators and media after Facebook struck a deal with the Australian government on a revised bill, which still demands tech titans fork over cash for content.

New Democrat MP Heather McPherson is accusing web giants and the Liberal government of fostering a "cosy relationship" with Big Tech that protects platforms' profits at the expense of local media and Canadian taxpayers.

Chan notes that Facebook Canada has announced investments of $18 million in sustainable business models over six years.

However, legislation akin to Australia's "is never something we would ever want to do unless we really have no choice," he told MPs on Monday.

Lawmakers also raised concerns around online hate speech and disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines as Canadians rely increasingly on digital communications to stay informed amid a pandemic, two issues that Chan says the company is trying to address while respecting freedom of expression.

The government is working on a three-pronged response to the challenges that social media platforms and other major internet-based content providers pose to how media in Canada has been regulated, financed and policed in the past, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has said.

One part of the response is a bill currently before the House of Commons to modernize the broadcasting regime, and a second is work to address how major internet companies are taxed, and in turn how traditional media companies are financially supported.

Online hate makes up the third prong, as global observers continue to question Facebook's role in tragedies ranging from the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand to deadly military violence directed at Myanmar's Rohingya minority, as well as racist posts in Canada.
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Police do not believe a Co Armagh man accused of creating homemade bombs behind a number of security alerts is linked to any paramilitary organisation, it has emerged.

It comes after 41-year-old Joseph Markey, of Tassagh Road, Keady, was charged with a number of offences relating to creating homemade explosives. He was also charged with driving offences.

He was charged with four counts of making explosives, two counts of causing explosions likely to endanger life and two counts of attempting to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

A police officer told Newry Magistrates Court on Monday that they had yet to establish a motive for the crime.

Markey was refused bail after police detailed evidence linking him to the attacks, including the purchase of four car batteries from Halfords and a car  spotted in the vicinity of the attacks  being discovered at his home.

He was charged after security alerts in the Castleblayney Road area of Keady, the Newtown Road area of Camlough and the Maghery Road area of Craigavon earlier this month.

Police carried out searches at Markeys home over the weekend and recovered a number of items they believed could be used to make explosive devices similar to those discovered at the scenes of the alerts.

The police officer told the court they had information linking the car found outside Markeys home to the vicinity of the security alerts. Marvey was not listed on the vehicles insurance, but his father  now in a nursing home  and another man were.

Police are currently conducting enquiries in relation to the other man, but have thus far been unable to locate him.

During police interview Markey suggested someone could have been using the car without his knowledge.

A representative of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) noted that the devices had been discovered by members of the public  in areas where people regularly take walks  potentially putting them in harms way.

Objecting to bail police said they were concerned Markey could be a flight risk, detailing extensive connections to the Republic of Ireland and also expressed concern he would carry out further offenses.

The PPS representative noted that the bombs were made with materials that could be bought in shops and that due to the car battery timer used neither the bomb maker nor anyone else is aware of when that timer will go off.

He said there was also evidence to suggest the bombs had gotten more sophisticated and the bomb maker was improving his technique.

Markeys solicitor Jarlath Fields asked police to confirm they did not believe the incidents were paramilitary related and the officer said it had not been linked to any proscribed organisations.

The public prosecutor confirmed that Markeys only previous convictions were for driving offences.

Mr Fields said there was no evidence proving the car batteries allegedly purchased by the defendant were used in the bombs and said police were unwilling to disclose the source of their information the car found at Markeys address was spotted near the alerts.

It was suggested by the prosecutor that it was not an isolated incident and that the defendant would have carried out further attacks if not arrested.

The fact police have been unable to identify the motive is particularly concerning, he said.

Mr Fields said it would be far more worrying if the offences were terrorism related and said there was no evidence of an intent to harm others.

The presiding District Judge rejected Markeys bail application saying the offences were very serious and no conditions would satisfy him.

Markey will next appear before Armagh Magistrates Court on April 20.
Thousands of workers across New York are finding something in their mailboxes that is freaking them out  a letter from the state that says they qualify for unemployment insurance. Sometimes, it comes with a debit card full of money.

But the people have jobs. They havent applied for unemployment.

Its fraud. And its rampant across New York and other states that suddenly started taking in millions of unemployment claims on outdated computer systems during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Syracuse City School District said last summer that phony claims had been filed on behalf of more than 150 employees who were still working.

Onondaga Countys human resources department has handled about 100 complaints. Syracuse City Hall has dealt with about 50 stolen identities.

The same has happened in utility companies, private businesses and college campuses.

Syracuse University saw an increase in fraudulent claims in February. The university has hired an identity protection service for employees that comes with dark web monitoring and $1 million of identity theft insurance.

Sophisticated organized crime outfits in places like Nigeria, Russia and China  and more amateur operations in the U.S.  have seized the Covid recession as an opportunity.

Theyve taken information seized in data breaches to exploit inadequate state computer systems and overwhelmed agencies to steal billions of dollars and alarm Americans.

Leslie Carbo, director of cybersecurity programs at Utica College, is getting calls from friends who want to know whats going on.

Carbo tells them to call the state labor department and to freeze their credit.

Whatever you do, she said, do not respond to an email from someone who says you need to pay the money back immediately or youll be arrested. Thats someone trying to get your bank account routing number.

Ive seen and read so much about this kind of stuff that, hey, its my job to make other people paranoid, too, she said. I want them to understand. All of our information is out there.

Like other states, New York state suddenly started processing hundreds of thousands of new claims last March with no time to boost its security systems.

Criminals went state by state, armed with millions of identities stolen from previous data breaches. It only takes a few pieces of information to successfully apply for unemployment insurance.

New York state officials say they have caught 521,000 fraudulent claims, avoiding $6.4 billion in losses.

That is often with the help of victims and human resources offices. The department wont say how much money got away.

By the federal governments own estimate, about 10%  or $36 billion of the $360 billion in the CARES Act could be paid improperly, according to a report to Congress.

Experts estimate state unemployment systems across the country have lost more than $100 billion in one year. Some put the number closer to $200 billion.

The numbers are staggering, said Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Its bigger than Enron.

And its only going to get bigger, he said, until states catch up.

A copy of a letter one Central New Yorker received from the state about an unemployment insurance claim someone else filed in her name. James T. MulderJames T. Mulder

How its caught

Victims and employers can easily catch many of these fraudulent claims.

Thats because, in some cases, paperwork and even debit cards are mailed directly to the victim or the employer. Someone who is still employed gets a surprise debit card or a letter from the state that estimates the amount they can claim. Sometimes, victims get tax forms in the mail, saying they owe income taxes on unemployment benefits.

Criminals target people with jobs because they dont already have claims in the unemployment system.

Those cases are reported to the labor department and are often stopped before money is lost.

Those kinds of easy catches can be attributed to mistakes made by criminals who are filing so many millions of fraudulent cases, they sometimes forget to reroute the mail.

Fraudsters recently impersonated Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, First Lady Fran DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn got scammed earlier this month.

If someone tried to use my name, everybodys at risk, he told The Buffalo News.

When the criminals strike out, they simply move on to another name.

Fraudsters, by definition, are lazy, said Armen Najarian, chief marketing officer at RSA Fraud and Risk Intelligence. Theyre going after volume. ... Its as many as they can, as fast as they can.

Heres how it works when it works

Organized criminal operations, mostly overseas, buy datasets on the dark web that contain millions of Americans names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. These lists have been stolen in previous data breaches at big retailers, banks and health insurance companies. They can be purchased with Bitcoin.

Theres a whole underground economy for identity assembly, Najarian said.

Next, criminals can buy a step-by-step playbook that explains how to file a fraudulent claim in each state. Najarians firm has a collection of them.

Fraudsters file a claim in the name of a real person at their real address. Then, they quickly change the address.

Most states give clients a choice to direct deposit the money in a bank account or put it on a debit card. If they choose a bank account, fraudsters bounce the money to various accounts until they have access.

If they choose a debit card, there is another economy of mules who help launder cards to cash and move it offshore. The U.S. Postal Service has a public service message advising Dont be a mule.

There have been few prosecutions of overseas criminals associated with unemployment fraud.

But the federal government has gone after suspected mules in this country. In the last two months of 2020, the feds took action against 2,300 money mules, compared to 600 the year before.

There have also been arrests that involved homegrown American schemes to defraud the unemployment system.

Two California men have been accused of creating fake companies to file 72 unemployment claims, paying out $609,000. They used real names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers and had debit cards sent to addresses they controlled.

In January, three people in Michigan were accused of filing dozens of claims in several states. Two of them used their own names, or versions of their own names, with other peoples Social Security numbers. The third person had debit cards mailed to various addresses and spent the day repeatedly withdrawing high dollar amounts from ATMs.

People have also been busted after filing claims in the names of inmates in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The federal government charged Elvin German, of the Bronx, this month in a scheme that involved the loss of more than $1.4 million from the New York labor department. He is accused of using the identities of more than 250 victims to file false claims.

He gave himself away by using the same IP address and the same security question and answer  the name of the family dog, Benji, investigators said.

When they searched his home, investigators found a computer loaded to the unemployment benefits page with the identifying information of four victims open in another computer file, authorities said. They also found a dog wearing a collar inscribed with the name Benji.

Corbo, in Utica, said she has heard of a more aggressive scheme:

Fraudsters apply for unemployment benefits and the debit card is sent to the person they impostered. Then, the fraudsters call, posing as the state or federal government, and demand that the victim pay the money back. These victims know theyve done something wrong and they may be eager to get out of trouble. The victims are asked to go online and fill out a fraudulent form, signing away their savings.

People are typing in their Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and verifying to the criminal. Then, the criminal goes and removes the money, Corbo said.

States were not prepared

Why were the states so vulnerable to attack?

Unemployment programs have historically had some of the highest improper payment rates of all federal government programs, the U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General Office reported to Congress last fall.

One of the federal governments new pandemic programs was especially vulnerable, they said.

For the first time, the federal government allowed self-contractors to get help under the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

It allowed gig workers  artists, freelancers and Uber drivers  to apply without first proving they made wages. That opened the door for fraudsters to file claims by simply swearing that they were unemployed for Covid-related reasons and they had worked until that point.

For victims who work for themselves, there is no human resources department to catch phony claims.

If someone files a fraudulent claim in their name, and gets away with it, those workers are the least likely to discover it. And they are the most likely to have a hard time fixing the situation and tapping into benefits if they actually become unemployed.

There can be a long delay when they try to file a legitimate claim because there is already one on file in their name.

In February, the state labor department said it had hired a company called ID.me to help verify identities. Now, applicants will get an email or text message asking them to set up multi-factor authentication. Theyll be asked to upload a photo of a drivers license or passport and take a selfie.

Other states, like Ohio, are hiring data collection services like LexisNexis to verify claims.

Talcove said states are starting to catch up to the methods banks and other private companies have used for a long time.

Although the people that are doing it are very sophisticated, he said. The fraud really is easy to stop.

What to do if it happens to you

Dont panic. Dont send confidential information to unknown websites or email addresses, or to a voice on the phone.

If you get a letter or a debit card that says you have qualified for unemployment when you have not filed a claim, report it to the New York State Department of Labor.

Report it to your employer.

Change your passwords, logins and pins for online accounts.

Put a fraud alert on your accounts with credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Get a free credit report from report.com.

Report the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov.

If you get a 1099-G tax form for income you did not receive, the IRS says you should contact the state and request a corrected 1099-G. Do not pay taxes on income you did not receive.

Some companies that have had data breaches offer credit monitoring services to customers. That includes Equifax and Marriotts Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Read more:

NY has short delay in getting extra $300 unemployment benefit to some

Unemployment in NY: How to figure out if you need to reapply after one year

3rd stimulus check update: IRS updates Get My Payment tool; see when youll get paid

Inside CNYs job disaster: What industries fell off a cliff?

Have you been a victim of unemployment fraud? If you want to tell your story, contact Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com | 315-470-3186.
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Los Angeles, March 29 : Filmmaker Woody Allen has addressed the allegations of sexual assault made against him by daughter Dylan Farrow.

"Nothing that I ever did with Dylan in my life could be misconstrued as that," Allen says in a now-released interview that took place last year, "Why would a guy who's 57 years old? I never was accused of anything in my life, I'm suddenly going to drive up in the middle of a contentious custody fight at Mia's country home (with) a seven-year-old girl. It just -- on the surface, I didn't think it required any investigation, even," the 85-year-old said in the interview, which aired on "CBS Sunday Morning show" on March 28, as reported by People magazine.

"It's so preposterous, and yet the smear has remained. They still prefer to cling to if not the notion that I molested Dylan, the possibility that I molested her," Allen added.

The allegations of child and sexual abuse against Farrow were first made by the then-seven-year-old Dylan in 1992, shortly after the filmmaker's split from actress Mia Farrow.

Since Allen's interview took place last year, it does not address any of the claims made in the four-part documentary series, titled "Allen v Farrow", which started streaming on HBO Max recently.
ABOUT THIS SERIES: There is no minimizing the 525,000-plus American lives lost to COVID-19. But something else was lost: the lifestyles, livelihoods and those many seemingly ordinary things we once loved to do -- all disrupted by the pandemic and resulting societal restrictions. Marking the one-year anniversary of Pennsylvanias lockdown, PennLive is chronicling the stories of What We Lost  people, places and things changed by the coronavirus.

To mask or not to mask? That could be among the questions inspiring future plays based on the real-life drama sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and its profound societal changes.

That is, whenever spotlights again shine inside all those theaters darkened for a year and counting by COVID-19.

For now, a Black theatre company in Harrisburg is biding its time, confident that when the coronavirus finally lifts, it will have sewn seeds of enlightment in playwrights minds and implanted deep reservoirs of raw emotions that actors can draw upon for all the cathartic performances to come.

This COVID experience is going to manifest itself in the work, said F.L. Frank Henley Jr., founder and artistic director of Narcisse Theatre Company, which was in the midst of its most ambitious production season yet when COVID-19 halted shows across the globe.

What unfolded next now ranks as one of historys biggest events  a once-in-a-century pandemic that soon infected nearly every aspect of daily life -- from divisive politics to simply going grocery shopping.

If that isnt ripe material for future theatrical drama and inspired stage performances, nothing is, Henley, age 50, said.

I mean, a half-million people are dead, he said. Think about that. A half-million of our countrymen are dead, never coming back. Thats more people than we lost in World War I, World War II and Vietnam, combined. Each one of those people had a family; they made attachments. Through six degrees of separation, this affected literally everybody in some way.

Henley, who was staging the politically laced play, Enemy of the People, when the pandemic struck, predicted that much of the art that rises from COVID-19 will be a backlash against the many things that went fatally wrong.

When this thing is over, I think people are going to be angry, he said. Its going to be the deaths; its going to be the lockdown and the ensuing disaster. I think a lot of its going to be about the fact that it didnt have to be this way. Its going to be laments. It didnt have to be this bad.

Much like Enemy of the People, the pointed plays produced from COVID-19 will not be shy about pointing fingers, either, Henley added.

Art is going to ask a lot of those questions, and its going to prosecute, he said. The art is going to indict. We know if you mix science and politics, you get politics. Personally, Ive felt a lot of anger. Anger over the deaths, over the sickness, over the fact that some people decided to make this a political thing.

It hit me in every area

Similarly, actors will have bottled up a wellspring of emotions from the coronavirus experience, a raw reservoir ready to be tapped when theyre finally back on stage, according to fellow Narcisse Theatre member and social media director, Erika Eberly.

Eberly, 31, whos both an actor and writer, said shell certainly have more method material to work with, but not all of its due to the coronavirus.

The pandemic cost her a job, snarled her in bureaucracy that delayed her efforts to collect unemployment, forced her to ask family and friends for funds just to eat, and even rendered her COVID-19 positive at one point, though thankfully she never developed symptoms.

During the pandemic period, Eberly also watched helplessly as her beloved Nana slid deeply into dementia, her parents divorced, and she was kept from her own children for what seemed an eternity after that positive coronavirus test.

All of it left her emotionally devastated, draining her of the confidence she once took for granted. Worse, the pandemics social distancing severed the strings of her emotional safety net  friends, family and the stage, itself, which Eberly relied upon for her theater therapy sessions so rich with emotional release.

It hit me in every area of life. When it rains, it pours, she said of this past pandemic year. I was just slogging through the emotional mud the entire time. I had to try and process all of that by myself. It was something I never really had to do before.

COVID-19 had cut her off, and everything seemed to be closing in, Eberly said.

Watching people I care about and love very much go through their own stuff and knowing that we cant do what weve always done  get together, sit down and have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, or some glasses of wine -- surrounded by good music and company.

Above all, the stage was always the thing that set Eberly  and her emotions -- free. Now, everything was trapped inside her.

I let it all out on stage, she said. Im the kind of person, I wear my emotions on my sleeve. But I had these things really closely tucked away. I had to find someplace to put it.

All alone in coronavirus isolation, Eberly worked on herself, building new pathways of pandemic pathos that she says shell be able to access once the stage spotlight shines again.

You have nowhere to go, nothing to do, except to be with yourself, she said. It forces you to look at whats really going on and either change and put it into your art, or just sit in it.

Eberly chose art. Now, shes counting the days until COVID-19 is conquered and she can bring all of her newfound emotional education to the characters she portrays in future plays.

I consider it a blessing to put these feelings that Im feeling into art, Eberly said. I think it will prepare myself in the future to put it on stage. Its not just going to be deeper and more personal, but more profound. I learned a lot of things about myself. I cant wait to let it all out.

When that day comes, it wont just be a catharsis for Eberly and her company of fellow actors, but for audiences, as well.

My vulnerability, if I can make myself open and show what I have been through, I know it will touch somebody else, Eberly said. Someone else who is going through something similar will be able to relate to it. People ask me, Where did you go? What did you access? I will tell them. And I will tell them this is helping me to be able to heal, and to spread that healing through that emotion.

Live theater and the audience

The common denominator that will bond performers and audience members during future theater experiences will be the shared experience of COVID-19. Ironically, its the same force thats been keeping them apart and isolated this past year.

For the first time in a long time, the show did not go on.

Personally, I will use the word tragic, said Henley, who named the theatre company after his grandmother, affectionally referring to it as the old girl.

This is the longest Ive been outside the theater in a long, long time, he said. Live theater does something that film and television cant. Artistically, the audience is an integral component in our theater that we just cant leave behind. Our two goals in this company are to create a thing of beauty and to evoke an emotional response in our audience. A thing of beauty is a moment of truth. Its a true, real emotional experience.

Success in these goals can only be achieved through a magical moment of connection between actors and audience, Henley said. This is why there will be no streaming productions for Narcisse.

You know its happening when the audience gets really, really quiet, he explained. You dont hear the coughing, the rustling of the programs. Youre on stage and youre looking out, and the audience, to a person, is leaning forward. When that happens, the audience is creating an energy that affects the performance of the actors on stage. In turn, that energy goes back out to the audience.

Quite literally, a spell is cast. One that COVID-19 shattered, but only for the moment.

The play will go on.

At Narcisse, the companys mission is to give voice to artists who might not otherwise be heard, then bring that art to places and people who might not otherwise see it, Henley said.

Were predominantly African-American, but were not an African-American theatre company, he said. Were a multicultural theatre company.

As proof, the companys next production will fuse traditional Japanese art elements, including kabuki theater, with African art and symbols, Henley said. This ambitious return to the stage is set for a free and outdoor Labor Day weekend production of Rashomon, the classic Japanese story of a single incident that sparks multiple versions, interpretations and perspectives.

What could be more appropriate for a post-coronavirus play? After all, each person experienced his or her own unique version of the pandemic during their social-distanced isolation. Soon, its time to come back together and compare notes.

Going forward, people are going to be writing and talking about their experiences for years, Henley said.

People will need an outlet for all of these things they didnt know how to process and deal with, Eberly added. The further we get away from this, the more processing well be able to do and the more art that will be produced.

Who knows? From the dark depths of the pandemic could spring theaters biggest creative resurgence since Shakespeare.

Wouldnt that be a fitting ending?

Previous stories in this series

Drag Queen provides comic relief from COVID-19: If you cant laugh

Writers block from COVID-19 cant silence social justice poet

Pa. school students are anxious, depressed and falling behind during COVID-19, agency says

Jazz musician mourns COVID-19s heavy toll on Pa. players: Theyre all dying

Art saved me from drowning in alcohol during COVID-19 lockdowns, Harrisburg sculptor says

Harrisburgs State Street Academy refuses to let the music die during COVID-19
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tikcro Technologies Ltd. (OTC: TIKRF) today announced that an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. (Israel time), at the office of Goldfarb Seligman & Co., 98 Yigal Alon Street, Tel Aviv, Israel. The record date for the meeting is March 30, 2021.

The meeting is being convened to approve the voluntary liquidation of the Company and the appointment of Ran Gurit as the liquidation trustee and his compensation terms. This proposal requires the approval of 75% of the shares voted on the matter.

Tikcro will send its shareholders of record a proxy statement describing the proposal, along with a proxy card enabling them to indicate their vote on each matter.

About Tikcro Technologies:

Tikcro Technologies Ltd. (OTCQB: TIKRF) has developed certain antibodies selected and verified in pre-clinical trials with a focus on antibodies targeting immune modulator pathways for cancer treatment. For more information, visit Tikcro's website at www.tikcro.com .

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By Jonathan Allen

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin betrayed his badge by "grinding" his knee into George Floyd's neck during a deadly arrest last May, a prosecutor said on Monday at a murder trial that is widely seen as a test of the U.S. justice system.

Chauvin's lawyers responded by saying that the former officer was simply following training from his 19 years on the force, even as they acknowledged that the arrest, caught in videos from multiple angles, was distressing to watch.

"The use of force is not attractive but it is a necessary component of policing," Eric Nelson, Chauvin's lead lawyer, said in his opening statement, referring to the videos that show Floyd, a 46-year-old handcuffed Black man, pleading for his life. The footage sparked worldwide protests against police brutality against Black people.

But in his opening arguments, Jerry Blackwell, a prosecutor with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, told the racially diverse jury that officers who wear the Minneapolis police badge pledge never to use "unnecessary force or violence."

"You will learn that on May 25, Mr. Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of George Floyd," said Blackwell, aiming for a rare conviction of a U.S. police officer for killing a civilian.

Blackwell displayed a still image from a bystander's cellphone video showing Chauvin, who is white, with his knee on Floyd's neck, saying it showed Chauvin "grinding and crushing him until the very breath  no, ladies and gentlemen  the very life was squeezed out of him."

Chauvin and three other officers were trying to arrest Floyd on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes, a misdemeanor that prosecutors said could have been handled with a summons to appear in court instead of an arrest.

Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.

Story continues

The Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers the day after Floyd's death, as daily protests against racial injustice erupted in cities across the country.

LITMUS TEST

Although the trial, which is being televised, is widely seen as a litmus test for U.S. racial relations, neither side discussed the race of the defendant or the victim in the statements to the jury.

Even so, the subtext of the trial was inescapable in the preceding two weeks of jury selection, where potential jurors were quizzed by the two sides on their views on the Black Lives Matter protest movement and whether they saw systemic racism in the criminal justice system.

The trial is unfolding in a courtroom located near the top floor of a tower in downtown Minneapolis ringed with high barriers, barbed wire and soldiers from the state's National Guard. Small groups of protesters decrying police brutality blocked traffic at times in the surrounding streets.

Toward the end of his opening statement, Blackwell played for the jury the most widely seen video of Floyd's death. Chauvin  dressed in a gray suit, a blue face mask and a blue shirt and tie  took pages of notes on a yellow legal pad as the sound of Floyd's dying moans and the yelling of horrified onlookers filled the courtroom.

Chauvin's lawyers argue that the main cause of Floyd's death, which the county examiner ruled a homicide caused by police restraints, was a drug overdose. Nelson used his 25-minute opening statement to describe Floyd's drug use, his underlying health problems and a chaotic scene during the arrest.

"This was not an easy struggle," he said, adding that the screaming of bystanders ended up "causing the officers to divert their attention from the care of Mr. Floyd."

"Derek Chauvin did exactly what he was trained to do over the course of his 19-year career," Nelson told the jury.

Prosecutors warned the jury to ignore defense arguments that Floyd's death was caused by an opioid overdose. Blackwell drooped his head and shut his eyes, feigning a stupor, telling the jury that someone overdosing on fentanyl would be unconscious, and not "screaming for their mother."

"That's not what an opioid overdose looks like," he said.

The first witness called by the prosecutors was Jena Scurry, a Minneapolis 911 emergency dispatcher who sent police to the Cup Foods store and watched live surveillance video footage showing a police car rock back and forth outside the store as four officers struggled to get Floyd to stay in the back seat.

She said she watched the video, which was played to jurors, with growing alarm.

"I first asked if the screen had frozen," she said. Each time she looked up, she testified, the officers were still on top of Floyd.

"My instinct is telling me something is wrong," said Scurry, who called a supervising police sergeant. Jurors heard her say she did not mean to be a "snitch" but she wondered if the officers needed more help.

Prosecutors also called two bystanders who saw the arrest.

"I always see the police there," Alisha Oyler, who worked in the gas station across from the arrest, said when asked why she kept taking video on her cellphone. "They're always messing with people and it's wrong. It's not right."

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in Minneapolis; Additional reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney)
A focus on ventilation combined with the use of CO2 traffic-light systems are key to reopening society, a leading architect has suggested.

A new trend of CO2 traffic-light systems is helping restaurants and cafes to reopen in Washington and could help break the chain of the transmission of Covid-19 in Ireland, according to Orla Hegarty, an architect specialising in ventilation.

A movement in the US capital, based on science, safety and business, has seen business owners investing in CO2 monitors to measure airflow in their premises. As a result, some hospitality businesses have reopened.

A CO2 monitor measures how much carbon dioxide is breathed out by people indoors. Global evidence is highlighting how the more CO2 in a room, the higher the correlation of airborne virus spread.

When the levels are deemed safe by CO2 monitors, a green light is displayed. Likewise, when levels are too high, the monitor signals red.

Read More

Ms Hegarty, an assistant professor at the UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, recommends Ireland follow this trend, to reduce the spread of the virus indoors.

Once we understand the way the virus behaves in the air, its easier to understand how to prevent the spread in nursing homes, schools, cars and homes, Ms Hegarty said.

One way to reduce the risk is to measure air and ensure enough fresh air and adequate humidity.

She believes businesses and other indoor spaces should install the CO2 monitors, to maintain safe air quality. Part of this is keeping doors or windows open, but another requirement is monitoring carbon dioxide levels.

Ms Hegarty is not a virologist but says, as an architect, ventilation has always been a key part of her job.

Architects design buildings for people and part of that has always been about public health, so Spanish flu and TB influenced the way we design and use buildings, she said.

Infection outdoors is rare, so Covid-19 is really a pandemic of buildings, and we can manipulate buildings to make them safe and prevent infection.

I started connecting with other researchers, chemists, aerosol physicists, engineers, virologists and medical specialists, who were sharing information and looking to how we can use environmental sciences to suppress the pandemic.

Ms Hegarty has also suggested that multi-storey carparks could be used for outdoor dining or markets, as there is fresh air present and it would provide cover from the rain.

If we explain to people the risks and how to avoid the situation, they can open the windows to break the chain, she added.

People might make a decision not to go into a shop if CO2 levels are too high. In a classroom, a teacher can bring children outside for 15 minutes and open windows, if the reading is too high. Its a cheap, low-tech system.

A Department of Education spokesman said: An expert group on ventilation has recently been formed to advise the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) across a range of settings.

The work of this group will help guide whether any further update on the Departments [ventilation] guidance is required.

Read More




Gov. Greg Abbotts lifting of the mask mandate has deadly health risks for Latino families, their economic mobility and the states economy. The decision is not an isolated case of callousness from the states leadership and the inequities toward people of color and low-income workers.

Scapegoating immigrants to divert the publics attention from Abbotts new mask policy added even more insult to injury.

Undocumented immigrants give more to our economy than they take. They risk their lives daily in essential areas of our economy  and their caregiving for our loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic often goes unacknowledged and unrewarded.

Texas is the only state where Latinos account for more than half of all COVID-19 deaths; they are dying at a rate 3.5 times higher than white non-Latinos. Latinos are front-line workers in farms, meatpacking plants, construction, hospitality, food service and health care, and they are experiencing severe financial losses and poor health. For them, securing food, paying bills, covering rent and child care, and providing health care for their families are constant anxieties.

Latino-owned small businesses  the fastest-growing owner sector of small-businesses in the nation  have suffered disproportionate devastation throughout the pandemic. Theyve struggled to acquire equitable support from the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program, which offers a chance for economic recovery and bringing back full-time jobs. Most of their employees are Latinos. These businesses demand financial support, vaccination for employees and effective public health guidance  not partisan political decisions  to transition to full business operation

Februarys winter storm wreaked financial pain on millions of Texans  but it disproportionately struck people of color and low-income workers. The storm may have cleared; however, for many, the detrimental effects of the pandemic on their health and finances are far from over.

How did Abbott respond to this crisis? He quickly appeared on The Sean Hannity Show to scapegoat the Green New Deal for the states energy problems.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

The need for pre-pandemic human capital investments that focus on Latino economic mobility are well-documented: Latinos comprise 62 percent (or 3.2 million) of Texas 5.2 million uninsured population, which includes more than 2.5 million adults and 674,000 children.

Many Latino workers are concentrated in industries heavily impacted by COVID-19 where health insurance is neither available nor affordable. Despite overwhelming support for Medicaid expansion from health professionals, businesses and economists, Abbott and legislative leaders continue to deny health and financial security to millions of Texans.

Latinos represent a critically important human capital asset for the states economic prosperity. Their contributions to the growth of the U.S. population and labor force include more opportunities for housing, small-business growth, public education, college enrollment, tax revenue and consumer markets. Yet, poor health care, death, job instability, evictions, low educational achievement and business losses are weakening this population.

Nonprofit organizations such as Texas 2036 have a simple vision for our state: Make it the best place to live and work. The vision for achieving this is for every Texan to move beyond partisan, regional and generational politics. Such groups advocate that data and research must drive our focus on issues that matter to Texans and target gaps impacting the most vulnerable. They propose that population growth, education outcomes, job security, health care and poverty are major issues that require concerted attention and solutions.

Latino advocates and allies describe a similar future for their families: The Texas Latino Family Economic Blueprint established in 2017 by the Texas Latino Policy Symposium. It calls for equitable human capital investments and candidly addressing institutional racism, and other political and policy barriers to achieve success.

Abbotts scapegoating repeats the legacy of state political leaders using red-meat rhetoric. It is consistent with most of the priorities expressed by Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The governors red-meat decision to undo statewide face mask orders disproportionately risks the health and lives of Latino families.

Juan H. Flores is an urban planner and consultant on social and health public policy in San Antonio.
Kenya Covid-19 positivity rate on Sunday stood at 16.4 per cent, the Health ministry said, announcing 884 new infections from a sample of 5,377 analysed in the past 24 hours.

The coronavirus was first confirmed in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019 and in Kenya on March 13, 2020.

By Sunday, the country had confirmed 130,214 cases and tested a total of 1,468,835 samples for the disease.

Of the 884 new patients, 843 were Kenyans and 41 foreigners living in the country, 464 female and 420 male, the youngest a year old and the oldest 110.

Nairobi accounted for 509 of the cases, Kiambu 99, Uasin Gishu 59, Machakos 48, Nakuru 46, Kajiado 38, Meru 13, Kitui 12, Nandi 11, Kilifi nine, and Elgeyo Marakwet and Marsabit five each.

And then came Bungoma with four, Murang'a and Vihiga three each, Kakamega, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Taita Taveta, Wajir and West Pokot two each, and Turkana, Baringo, Lamu, Migori, Mombasa, Garissa, Nyeri and Homa Bay one each.

The death toll rose by 13 to 2,117, CS Kagwe said, explaining that two occurred in the last 24 hours while 11 were late death reports from the audit of facility records.

The number of recovered patients increased by 89 to 91,754. Fifty seven of these patients were treated at home and 32 in hospital.

CS Kagwe further said 1,221 patients had been hospitalised by Sunday, 121 of them under intensive care. Of those in ICU, 32 were on ventilatory support, 82 on supplemental oxygen and seven under observation.

Eight eight other patients were separately on supplemental oxygen, 76 of them in general wards and 12 in high dependency units.

The number of patients in the home-based care programme stood at 4,060.
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South Africa: Find solutions to root causes of violent protests, urges Cele

Police Minister Bheki Cele has urged municipalities and stakeholders to become more proactive in removing the root causes of violent protests.

He said it was worrying that protests are turning violent and dangerous.

The fact is that communities resort to violent demonstrations if and when they feel their voices are not heard, when their basic needs are not met, said the Minister.

He reminded South Africans that the Constitution guarantees that everyone has the right assemble peacefully and unarmed.

However, communities must act responsibly and within the law when exercising their democratic right to protest, said the Minister, adding that the carrying of dangerous weapons during protests was illegal.

The attacks on police officers, property and businesses during protests will not be tolerated, said Cele.

The police will be taking this message to the doorstep of South Africans through various community awareness campaigns. This, I believe, will serve as preventative measure to minimise and stop disruptive and violent protests, he said.

In the same vain, police officers remain obliged to fulfil their constitutional mandate of maintaining public order, protecting and securing the inhabitants of the Republic and their property.

They are urged to always exercise restraint and utmost professionalism during these situations of unrest, the Minister said.

He warned officers that they would always be under scrutiny and remain accountable for their decisions and actions.

Police killings

Cele used the briefing to condemn ongoing murder of police. In the last month, 12 officers have been killed on and off duty in South Africa.

Violence against any law enforcement officer must never be normalised, he said.

While government and Cabinet have condemned the attacks, the silence from communities, civil society formations, NGOs, activists, churches and other interest groups was deafening.

Each day thousands of police officers put their lives at risk in order to serve and protect us. We all must speak out against violence meted on our men and women in blue, he said, urging communities to continue to assist police with information that can lead to arrests.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Cadets practice social distancing as they march to their seats to start the graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 at the Air Force Academy. Minority students are underrepresented when it comes to getting nominations from members of Congress to attend the nations military service academies, according to an analysis released Wednesday.
BTU acquired the option to earn up to an 80% interest in the 3,000-hectare Pakwash North property, which is adjacent to the east and southeast boundaries of its flagship Dixie Halo project

Dixie Halo covers 19,723 hectares and is contiguous with, and surrounds the well-known gold explorer's Great Bear Resources' Dixie project

BTU Metals Corp (CVE:BTU) (OTCPINK:BTUMF) has started exploration on its recently-expanded land package in the Dixie Lake area in the famed gold district of Red Lake, Ontario, it said Monday.

The Vancouver-based firm revealed it has begun geophysical surveys just east of the TNT copper-silver-gold discovery from last year.

Just last week BTU acquired the option to earn up to an 80% interest in the 3,000-hectare Pakwash North property, which is adjacent to the east and southeast boundaries of its flagship Dixie Halo project.

In a statement, BTU said that studies indicate that the TNT area mineralization clearly has direct copper-silver-gold correlation similar to certain known high temperature base metal mineralization. Additionally, the mineralization is associated with strong alteration including some areas with sodium depletion and strong potassium enrichment.

Early work so far has identified several potential base metal type targets that warrant additional geophysical survey follow-up as well as follow-up drill testing depending on the survey results, BTU told shareholders.

BTU CEO Paul Wood told investors that the deal allows the firm to look more regionally for significant base metal and gold deposits.

With our land position expanded to the east and with the thesis that the mineralization we found at TNT is largely footwall style mineralization and with the interpretation that stratigraphic tops are to the east, we can now work unrestricted near our Dixie Halo property boundary and well to the east on the Pakwash North property to see if there is a significant accumulation of base metal sulphides higher in the stratigraphy, Wood said in a statement.

The firm is also in the midst of a 3,500 metre drill program on a 12 km structural trend targeting gold, Wood added.

BTU's main Dixie Halo project covers 19,723 hectares and is contiguous with, and surrounds, the well-known gold explorer's ' Dixie project.

Four out of five drill holes completed in late 2020 returned anomalous (greater than 100 parts per billion concentrations of gold) in various locations.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
UPDATE:

Due to the latest COVID surge in Kerala, the Thrissur Pooram festival shall not have any public participation. The decision was taken at a meeting held by the chief secretary









It is a matter of celebration for the devotees, but a nightmare for the health department officials in Kerala as the Thrissur Pooram, the biggest temple festival in the state has been given a green signal.

The mega festival in the city of Thrissur, which had to be cancelled last year due to COVID-19 has been allowed this year, without any restrictions.

BCCL

Despite a report by the District Medical Officer calling for restricting the entry of the public at the festival, the organizers and the District administration decided to side with the devotee sentiments.

Earlier, the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu Devaswoms, the two biggest stakeholders of the pooram had threatened to cancel the event if restrictions were imposed.

BCCL

The pooram, which will be held on April 23rd is the confluence of several small regional temple festivals at the Sri Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur.

The annual event that that sees attendees of lakhs of revelers from Kerala and beyond is known for its night-long fireworks display and parades involving dozens of elephants.

BCCL

The event which has over the years, become one of the key attractions in the state's annual tourism Callender has had its fair share of criticism as well.

Every year, the event runs into trouble with animal-rights groups who see the parading of the caparisoned elephants in the scorching sun, amid all the loud music and drums as animal abuse.

This year too, things are not going to be different, as, in a controversial decision the authorities have allowed a 'celebrity' elephant to be paraded.

BCCL

Thechikottukavu Ramachandran is a celebrity of sorts in Kerala and he has a huge fan base who would go crazy seeing him.

Ramachandran, who is owned by Thechikottukavu temple in Thrissur and stands at 320 cm, making him the tallest living captive elephant in India has a dark side too.

File Image

So far he has killed, 13 people, including 6 of his former mahouts and three other elephants. Adding to this is the fact at the age of around 55, he is well past his prime and is completely blind in one eye, and is gradually losing vision in the second one too.

Despite this track record and health issues, the Kerala government had last month lifted the ban on parading him for temple festivals.

Ramachandran was banned from temple festivals in 2019 after it killed two people.

The elephant was spooked by the sound of firecrackers and ran amok, trampling two people on the way.
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
As a 100% Channel Centric Company, Pure Delivers an Unrivaled Partner Experience

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG), the IT pioneer that delivers storage as-a-service in a multi-cloud world announced that it is being acknowledged by CRN , a brand of The Channel Company , in its 2021 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide provides a conclusive list of the most distinguished partner programs from leading technology companies that provide products and services through the IT Channel. The 5-Star rating is awarded to an exclusive group of companies that offer solution providers the best of the best, going above and beyond in their partner programs.

The Pure Partner Program is designed to empower channel partners with everything they need to accelerate their business and drive customer impact with Pure. From day one, Pure has helped partners deliver a better customer experience with innovation and simplicity. By listening to partner feedback on what they need most, Pure delivers continuous program advancements to help partners thrive and move their business forward.

In the past year, Pure has brought several new program upgrades to Pure partners, including opportunities for increased incentives, new selling solutions for a virtual world, and enhanced offerings for marketing, support, and training. With new programs like Pure WaveMakers to reward leaders in solution selling, training and sales and Pure Rewards VIP to offer redeemable rewards to loyal partners based on their transactions, partners enjoy even more benefits of working with Pure.

"Partners are critical to the success of Pure and our mission is to make their lives easier. We will continue to set a high bar for our partner program, ensuring our partners have best-in-class solutions, technology, and support to exceed their goals and the goals of their customers." -- Andy Martin, Vice President, Global Partner Sales, Pure Storage.

Story continues

"As innovation continues to fuel the speed and intricacy of technology, solution providers need partners that can keep up and support their developing business. CRN's 2021 Partner Program Guide gives insight into the strengths of each organization's program to recognize those that continually support and push positive change inside the IT channel." -- Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company.

Given the importance of IT vendor channel programs, each year CRN develops its Partner Program Guide to provide the channel community with a detailed look at the partner programs offered by IT manufacturers, software developers, service companies, and distributors. Vendors are scored based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication.

The 2021 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2021 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG .

To learn more about the Pure Partner Program, please visit www.purestorage.com/partners .

About Pure Storage

Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) gives technologists their time back. Pure delivers a modern data experience that empowers organizations to run their operations as a true, automated, storage as-a-service model seamlessly across multiple clouds. One of the fastest-growing enterprise IT companies in history, Pure helps customers put data to use while reducing the complexity and expense of managing the infrastructure behind it. And with a certified customer satisfaction score in the top one percent of B2B companies, Pure's ever-expanding list of customers are among the happiest in the world. For more information, visit www.purestorage.com .

Analyst Recognition: Pure Storage has been named a Leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Primary Storage Arrays .

Connect with Pure

Blog

LinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

Pure Storage, the Pure P Logo, Portworx, and the marks on the Pure Trademark List at www.purestorage.com/legal/productenduserinfo.html are trademarks of Pure Storage, Inc. Other names are trademarks of their respective owners.

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by nearly 40 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn , and Facebook .

 2021. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Pure Storage
Public health officials in Manitoba will no longer give doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to people under 55 years of age due to potential side effects discovered in Europe.

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Public health officials in Manitoba will no longer give doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to people under 55 years of age due to potential side effects discovered in Europe.

"Despite the findings that there were no increase in blood clots overall related to AstraZeneca in Europe, a rare but very serious side effect has been seen primarily in young women in Europe," said Dr. Joss Reimer of Manitoba's vaccine implementation team during Mondays media conference.

The doctor said theyd limit the vaccines use while more information is collected.

A change to these plans could be made as early as Wednesday, when Reimer and vaccine co-lead Johanu Botha typically give their weekly vaccination progress update.

People under 55 who have scheduled appointments to receive a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine will have their appointments cancelled for the time being.

Also on Monday, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said from now on, the province will be announcing all cases discovered to be variants of concern in the screening process since the process has improved.

A total of 136 new screen and sequenced cases of variants of concern were announced Monday, including five from the Interlake-Eastern health region, 14 from Southern Health-Sante Sud and 117 from the Winnipeg health region.

The total of confirmed variant of concern cases is 129, representing 116 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant and 14 cases of the B.1.351 variant.

Combined with the yet to be identified variants, Manitoba's number of reported variant cases has more than doubled to 259.

No deaths were reported on Monday and only two of the 53 new cases are from the Prairie Mountain Health region.

Read more in Tuesday's edition of the Sun.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
Following talks about painting a rainbow crosswalk in downtown Athens to express support for the LGBTQ community, Athens-Clarke County finally plans to execute it by late 2021 or early 2022.

The Athens community has discussed the rainbow crosswalk since 2019, following a petition on Change.org started by Cameron Harrelson, vice president and spokesperson of Athens PRIDE, after the most successful PRIDE festival to happen in Athens to date.

This was the idea of thousands of LGBTQ people and their allies who, at the time, were completely supportive of the project, Harrelson said. I just want to make sure that its clear that this is a community effort by the LGBTQ community itself, and the commission didnt come up with the idea, they just listened.

With this community-led effort by the LGBTQ community, the rainbow crosswalk has come to fruition.

The rainbow crosswalk will be part of the final Clayton Street streetscape, and the Mayor indicated to me that he anticipates it will be late 2021 or early 2022 when that is done, said Jesse Houle, ACCs District 6 Commissioner, in an email to The Red & Black.

Harrelson is excited for this date to come and is content with this update given by the commissioners.

I think it shows that theyve been thoughtful in the process  I think the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022 sounds great, Harrelson said.

The renovations on the streetscape began on Jan. 25 and will include the installation of traffic and pedestrian control signs and barricades, a new sidewalk, new curbs and gutters and pavers. Eric Leshinsky designed the renovations and public art that will appear on Clayton Street.

It may be a bit of a moving target based on weather and other factors, though the most unpredictable parts  what is underground and cant be seen  is already done, Houle said.
France is not expected to be added to the UK's 'red list' of countries subject to a travel ban and hotel quarantine this week.

Government sources have played down speculation about the drastic move despite concerns about surging infections over the Channel and the threat of importing variants.

The powerful Covid O Cabinet sub-committee is due to meet tomorrow, but it is understood there is no prospect of imminent action.

Some 35 countries are currently on the list, including much of South America, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Foreign nationals are prohibited entry to the UK if they have been in any of the states over the previous 10 days, and British residents must complete 10 days of hotel quarantine. There are limited exemptions for essential workers.

Yesterday Grant Shapps announced that all lorry drivers entering England face compulsory Covid-19 tests to bolster protections.

The Transport Secretary confirmed the new regime for hauliers despite concerns it could cause disruption to key imports.

Those coming from outside the UK for more than two days are expected to take a test within 48 hours of arrival, and then every 72 hours after that.

France is not expected to be added to the UK's 'red list' of countries subject to a travel ban and hotel quarantine this week

British residents returning from red list countries have to quarantine at hotels for 10 days

Government sources have played down speculation about the drastic move despite concerns about surging infections over the Channel and the threat of importing variants. This chart shows the seven day rolling average of new infections per million people

Grant Shapps confirmed the new regime for hauliers despite concerns it could cause disruption to key imports

Hauliers staying in England longer than two days will have to have a test within 48 hours of arriving and then every 72 hours. Pictured, Dover last week

'This is to ensure we keep track of any future #Coronavirus Variants of Concern,' Mr Shapps said on Twitter.

A similar move by France in December caused chaos at UK ports, but the industry believes there is now enough rapid testing available for the impact to be managed.

Although most foreign travel has been banned from Britain until at least May 17, essential workers such as truck drivers have been exempted as they transport crucial supplies. Instead they have been encouraged to take rapid flow tests.

Failure to abide by the new rules could lead to fines similar to the 2,000 penalties for travellers who fail to get screened 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.

France has dropped its requirement for hauliers coming from the UK to be tested, which had been in place since December.

Lorry drivers heading from Britain to Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands still require a test.

Concerns have been growing about the spread of the South African and Brazilian variants of coronavirus on the continent.

Home Affairs committee chair Yvette Cooper grilled Boris Johnson about the situation on Wednesday, demanding to know why hauliers coming from France were not being tested.

In comments that were taken as a hint at the 'red list' being expanded, Mr Johnson responded 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'.

He told MPs: 'There is a balance to be struck, and what we don't know is the exact state of the efficacy of the vaccines against the new variants.

'We have to balance that against the very serious disruption that is entailed by curtailing cross-Channel trade.

'We will take a decision  no matter how tough  to interrupt that trade and interrupt those flows if we think it's necessary to protect public health and to stop new variants coming in.'

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 last week lifted its requirement for lorry drivers arriving from Britain to present a negative Covid test.

French officials started testing lorry drivers in Dover before they crossed the Channel in December last year (pictured). They dropped the scheme last week
Abuja  Aborigines in the coastal areas of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River (BRAC) have rejected its inclusion in the proposed map of Biafra.

BRAC said it will not allow its identity to be tempered with adding that their area which is giving the country over seventy per cent revenue has been neglected.

The group gave 90 days ultimatum to Biafran agitators to expunge their areas from their proposed map.

Speaking during a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, the national coordinator of BRAC, Doris McDaniels said they are for one Nigeria adding that they will resort to any means to seek for justice after the expiration of the 90 days ultimatum.

"Let me state categorically here that while BRAC does not intend to be seceded from the South-South region, member states have not been achieving much under the umbrella of the Niger Delta region. There is no collective agenda to rely on, to map out present and future development of our people and the coastal region,"she said.

McDaniels explained that even though they lack numerical number, this shouldn't deter them from insisting on holding political and economic leadership positions in Nigeria, noting that the coastal region is the richest area in Sub-Saharan Africa and produces 72% of the oil and gas in Nigeria, apart from numerous natural resources that are yet to be tapped within the coast.

It is on this note that McDaniels said no region should lay claim to sharing borderline with the Bight of Biafra except the BRAC coastal areas and that their peculiarity, identity and what they stand for should be respected.

She said, "We are not part of Biafra and will not be. We are independent. Biafra agitators should leave our areas alone", McDaniels said when asked about the possibility of the area joining the Biafra struggle."
VANCOUVER, BC, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. ("West Fraser" or the "Company") (TSX: WFG) (NYSE: WFG) announced today operational updates on its Dudley, Georgia lumber mill and Chambord, Quebec oriented strand board (OSB) mill as well as the filing of a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus. West Fraser further announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Norbord Inc. ("Norbord") has made an application to cease to be a reporting issuer in Canada.

Operational Updates

Progress on the Company's new lumber manufacturing complex in Dudley remains on track with management's initial expectations. Substantial portions of the new mill are being commissioned and are ramping up, with the new site expected to be fully operational by the end of the second quarter of 2021. Operations at the legacy site will be wound down by the end of the second quarter. When completed and fully ramped up, annual production capacity at the site will increase by 170 million board feet to 270 million board feet, expected to be achieved over the next several years. The Dudley site represents the second full site modernization in the US South by the Company since 2017.

The Company's OSB mill in Chambord has completed commissioning and panels are now being produced and shipped to customers. The Company expects to obtain APA  The Engineered Wood Association certification of Chambord's commodity OSB grades within the coming weeks. The Chambord mill has started the ramp up towards its stated annual production capacity of 550 million square feet (3/8-inch basis), which typically takes 18-24 months. After significant re-investment and with a strong available labour force and committed wood supply in the region, the Chambord mill is expected to be among the Company's lowest cost OSB operations once fully ramped up.

"The teams at Dudley and Chambord have been working safely and diligently to modernize both operations, with Chambord now ready to help meet our OSB customers' needs in time for the critical spring building season," said Ray Ferris, West Fraser's President and CEO.

Shelf Prospectus Filing

The Company has filed a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus with the securities commissions in each of the provinces of Canada and a corresponding shelf registration statement on Form F-10 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under the U.S./Canada Multijurisdictional Disclosure System.

The base shelf prospectus and corresponding shelf registration statement, when made final or effective, will qualify the future offering by West Fraser of up to US$2,000,000,000 of common shares, warrants, subscription receipts, share purchase contracts, debt securities and units, or any combination thereof (the "Securities"), from time to time over a 25-month period. The specific terms of any offering of Securities will be set forth in a shelf prospectus supplement.

The shelf registration statement filed today with the SEC has not yet become effective. No Securities may be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these Securities in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualifications under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

A copy of the preliminary short form base shelf prospectus can be found on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at http://www.sec.gov or may be obtained upon request from Robert B. Winslow, Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Development, 501-858 Beatty Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 1C1 or by email at [email protected].

Reporting Issuer Application

Norbord has made an application to the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC"), as principal regulator, under Multilateral Instrument 11-102  Passport System and National Policy 11-206  Process for Cease to be a Reporting Issuer Applications for an order to cease to be a reporting issuer in all the provinces and territories of Canada. Norbord has made this application in connection with the completion of West Fraser's recent acquisition of Norbord, as previously announced in Norbord's and the Company's joint news release dated February 1, 2021. If the OSC grants an order in favour of Norbord's application, Norbord will cease to be a reporting issuer in all jurisdictions in Canada.

The Company

West Fraser is a diversified wood products company with more than 60 facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. From responsibly sourced and sustainably managed forest resources, the Company produces lumber, engineered wood products (OSB, LVL, MDF, plywood, and particleboard), pulp, newsprint, wood chips, other residuals and renewable energy. West Fraser's products are used in home construction, repair and remodeling, industrial applications, papers, tissue, and box materials.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements related to expectations, capacity increases and timing on the ramp up of the new Dudley mill, expectations, capacity increases and timing and the ramp up the Chambord mill and cost position, statements related to Norbord's application to cease to be a reporting issuer, statements relating to the intent of West Fraser to offer and sell any Securities, the nature of any Securities that may be offered and the timing, amount and use of proceeds of any offering of Securities, and other statements related to the Company's strategy, projects, plans, future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance. There is no assurance that West Fraser will complete any sales of Securities under the base shelf prospectus or the registration statement. The reader is cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties (both general and specific) that contribute to the possibility that the future events or circumstances contemplated by the forward-looking information will not occur. Readers should also refer to the risk factors set forth in the Company's annual information form and management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020, each dated February 11, 2021, available at SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and EDGAR (www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml). There can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which forward-looking statements are based will be realized. Actual results may differ, and the difference may be material and adverse to the Company and its shareholders.

SOURCE West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.

Related Links

www.westfraser.com


A heated argument between two men in Pittsburgh ended with one of the men shooting the others dog, police say.

The German shepherd was shot around 3:45 p.m. Sunday near Ashlyn and Bergman streets, WPXI is reporting.

A police officer walking in the area heard gunshots and quickly rushed to the scene, reports indicate.

The officer located two males who had been involved in some type of neighbor dispute or argument that escalated into shots fired, Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz told TribLive. One of the males fired twice at the other males dog, killing it.

There is no word on what led to the argument, but police arrested one person at the scene, according to reports.

The names of the neighbors involved and the specific charges have not yet been released.

Police interviewed neighbors and are reviewing cellphone video from one possible witness, reports indicate.

No people were injured.
Press Release

29 March 2021

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world's largest business travel association, condemns the recent increase in hate crimes againstChinese, Korean, Vietnamese and other Asian Americans in the United States. GBTA believes strongly in diversity, equity and inclusion. Actions that fly in the face of such principles and that rise to the level of open hatred, criminal violence and harassmentare dangerous and absolutely unacceptable.

GBTA recently founded a global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to address issues related to ensuring fair and respectful treatment for all business travelers and professionals in our industry. The committee's mission is to increase global awareness of the many DEI-related issues facing business travel professionals - in the workplace, travelling, attending meetings, or handling travel needs.

"Travel is a force for good. During these times, the travel eco-system also needs to come together for the greater good. It should go without saying that no one should ever be targeted because of their race, gender, disability, or sexual identity," said DEI Committee Chair J. Grant Caplan, adding: "As business travel begins to return from the dangers created by the pandemic, we must ensure safety in all contexts, including inexcusable treatment at the hands of others."
1. Not One To Miss A Chance To Celebrate Her Culture, Priyanka Celebrates Holi With Her In-Laws

Priyanka Chopra opted to still play the joyous festival of colors- Holi with her husband Nick and her in-laws in a low-key celebration in London.

2. It Wasn't Ajay Devgn Who Got Beaten Up In Delhi's Aerocity Club, His Spokesperson Clarifies

In this viral brawl video, a large group of men and women could be seen screaming and fighting at each other. Among those indulging in physical violence, a man in a white shirt was assumed to be Ajay Devgn.

3. 12-Year-Old Super Dancer 4 Contestant From Arunachal Pradesh Talks About Facing Casual Racism

Showcasing his talent, Kosam impressed the judges with his brilliant performance on Kabir Singh track Bekhayali. However, the three ecstatic judges were in for heartbreak when Kosam shared his experience of facing casual racism. He said that people call him "Chinese" because he belongs to a north-east state.

4. Sutapa Sikdar Skipped Filmfare Awards 2021 Where Irrfan Was Honored For A Heartbreaking Reason

Irrfan was named the winner in two categories Best Actor (Male) for Angrezi Medium and Lifetime Achievement Award. His son, Babil was in attendance to receive the recognition and honor for his late father but missing in attendance was Sutapa Sikdar.

5. 'It Is A Fabric Which Never Fades', Rhea Chakraborty Celebrates 'Power Of Love' In A New Post

In a new Instagram post, actor Rhea Chakraborty celebrates the power of love. The viral photo shows Rhea with her friend and Bollywood producer Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani trying to make a heart with their hands.
Fortunately, Freedlander looks away long enough to offer a vivid report on the growing leftist infrastructure for which A.O.C.s election in 2018 was merely one step on the anticipated road to a party and, perhaps, a nation transformed. He moves briskly from describing the people who initiated such electoral vehicles as Brand New Congress, Indivisible and Justice Democrats in the wake of Trumps victory to upstart media outlets like The Intercept and Jacobin and the Young Turks and on to the think tank Data for Progress. He explains how Sanderss two presidential campaigns turned Democratic Socialists of America from a remnant of aging veterans of the 1960s New Left into a dynamo of close to 100,000 members. Inevitably, growth so rapid has also generated ideological skirmishes between more practical and more utopian comrades.

What binds together most activist members of this generation is a mixture of populist anger and political savoir-faire. On the one hand, they rage at the big-money donors and establishment players in the Democratic Party, who allegedly have stood in the way of measures to decrease economic inequality and reverse climate change. Yet they also reject the dogmatic, sectarian thinking that often plagued past leftists who, in Daniel Bells words, could only act, and then inadequately, as the moral, but not political force in immoral society.

In working to embed a growing social-democratic faction within one of Americas major parties, these activists have demonstrated a strategic realism that their progenitors in the old Socialist Party of Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas never possessed. After Sanders came close to winning the 2016 Democratic nomination, Freedlander writes, leftists realized that if they wanted power, and if they wanted to enact the policies they purported to believe, they would need to engage in political fights, and more importantly, they would need to start winning them.

Freedlanders book is informative as an in-house account, yet it fails to take on the difficult but inescapable question of how the A.O.C. generation might actually seize power and rewrite the rules. Left-wing Democrats have built a solid constituency in deep blue districts and cosmopolitan cities. Most of their prominent figures are college-educated and take the virtues of cultural tolerance and racial justice for granted. Although Ocasio-Cortez was serving up drinks in a Manhattan bar when she decided to run for Congress, she grew up in a prosperous suburb, attended a good private university, writes poetry and spent her junior year in Niger, where she counseled expectant mothers and also learned how to sand surf. How will she and her allies persuade Americans who are wary of their background, their image or their ideas to warm up to their programs?

Michael Harrington, the influential socialist thinker and organizer who died in 1989, famously worked to create the left wing of the possible. Under President Biden, insurgent Democrats will have to decide what is and is not possible in a party they have nudged left on issues like union rights and climate change but that still must rise or fall with a coalition that includes both voters who admire Ocasio-Cortez and those who are willing to keep a coal-state centrist like Joe Manchin in the Senate.
Global Increase to Copper and Gold Reserves



Hudbays total mineral reserves increase by approximately 170,000 tonnes of contained copper and 360,000 ounces of contained gold compared to the prior years estimates after adjusting for mining depletion in 2020.

New three-year production guidance issued; consolidated copper and gold production are expected to increase by 36% and 125% i , respectively, by 2023 from 2020 levels as Hudbay brings online its Pampacancha and New Britannia growth projects.

, respectively, by 2023 from 2020 levels as Hudbay brings online its Pampacancha and New Britannia growth projects. Pampacancha and New Britannia growth projects are nearing completion with a total of approximately $80 million remaining to be spent in 2021.

Hudbays two flagship producing assets, Constancia and the Snow Lake operations, each have a 17-year mine life (to 2037) based on current reserves.

Constancia Highlights

Constancia reserves increase by 33 million tonnes at a grade of 0.48% copper and 0.115 grams per tonne gold, resulting in an increase of approximately 11% in contained copper and 12% in contained gold over the prior years reserves, after adjusting for mining depletion in 2020.

Improved Constancia mine plan incorporating higher grades from Pampacancha from 2022 to 2025 and the new Constancia North reserves to extend the medium-term production profile.

Average annual copper production at Constancia over the next eight years increases to approximately 102,000 tonnes at an average cash cost and sustaining cash cost of $1.18 and $1.71 ii , respectively, per pound of copper produced net of by-product credits.

, respectively, per pound of copper produced net of by-product credits. Constancias total copper and gold production increases by 12% and 9%, respectively, compared to the same period in the previous mine planiii.

Snow Lake Highlights

Snow Lake mineral reserves continue to increase year-over-year as successful resource-to-reserve conversion more than offsets mining depletion.

Advanced phase three of Hudbays Snow Lake gold strategy through various mining and milling optimization opportunities.

Improved Snow Lake mine plan contemplates an increase in Lalors mining rate to 5,300 tonnes per day in 2023, from a planned 4,500 tonnes per day previously, and the incorporation of the mining of the 1901 deposit by 2026.

Annual gold production from Lalor and the Snow Lake operations increases to over 180,000 ounces during the first six years of New Britannia production at the lowest quartile cash cost globally iv

Snow Lakes gold, copper and silver production increases by 18%, 35% and 27%, respectively, from 2022 to 2027 compared to the previous mine plan.



TORONTO, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hudbay Minerals Inc. (Hudbay or the company) (TSX, NYSE: HBM) today announced that it has filed updated National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) technical reports in respect of its 100% owned Constancia copper mine in Peru and its 100% owned Lalor and Snow Lake gold-zinc mining and milling operations in Manitoba. The company also released its annual mineral reserve and resource update and issued new three-year production guidance. All dollar amounts are in US dollars, unless otherwise noted.

We are excited to publish these updated mine plans, which solidify our copper and gold production growth over the next several years, said Peter Kukielski, Hudbays President and Chief Executive Officer. Our project execution, operational optimization and exploration efforts over the past year have been successful in setting up the business for this next phase of growth, which sees Constancias annual copper production above 100,000 tonnes for the next eight years and Snow Lakes annual gold production over 180,000 ounces once New Britannia is fully operational. We also continue to maintain our low-cost profile as demonstrated by the cash costs in our updated mine plans. Hudbay has a proven track record of delivering value through exploration, mine development and successful operations, and we look forward to continuing to create value through leveraging our core competencies.

Constancia Mine

The company has released an updated mine plan for its Constancia operations that reflects an increase in copper and gold production from 2022 to 2025 as the higher grades from the Pampacancha deposit enter the mine plan. The updated mine plan incorporates higher-grade reserves including the Constancia North pit extension (please refer to Figure 1 for a view of the extended Constancia pit). With the incorporation of Pampacancha and Constancia North, annual production at Constancia is expected to average approximately 102,000 tonnes of copper and 58,000 ounces of gold over the next eight years, an increase of 40% and 367%, respectively, from 2020 levels, which were partially impacted by an eight-week temporary mine interruption related to a government-declared state of emergency. Constancias total copper and gold production increases by 12% and 9%, respectively, compared to the same period in the companys previous NI 43-101 technical report dated March 26, 2018iii.

Constancia maintains its low-cost profile with average cash cost and sustaining cash cost of $1.18 and $1.71, respectively, per pound of copper produced, net of by-product credits, over the next eight years. The total sustaining capital reflects the additional tonnes incorporated into the mine plan, modifications to mine sequence, optimizing material rehandling activities, updated cost environment and further capital investments in the tailings facility to continue to maintain high industry tailings standards. Growth project capital includes remaining Pampacancha development expenditures in 2021 (excluding any remaining land-user agreement costs), the capital costs associated with the implementation of a recovery optimization program scheduled for 2023, the installation of a pebble crusher expected to be in operation by 2024, and the development of a water reservoir in 2025 as part of the companys water management efforts.

Limited pre-development activities continue on site at Pampacancha to ensure pre-stripping activities can begin immediately after an agreement with the remaining land user family is completed. Hudbay has made significant progress with the remaining land user family and expects to reach an agreement in the coming weeks. First production from Pampacancha continues to be expected in the second quarter of 2021.

In March 2021, Constancia received a upgraded score of AA across all the tailings management indicators in the Mining Association of Canadas Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) program as per an annual self-assessment completed in 2020. This rating was higher than Constancias A rating in 2019 and exceeded the companys target of maintaining a minimum of an A rating on all five TSM tailings indicators.

Summary of Constancia Updated Mine Plan

A summary of key production and cost details from the updated Constancia mine plan can be found below. For further details, please refer to the section titled Constancia Updated Mine Plan Detailed Information at the end of this news release.

Constancia Operations 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2021-2028 Avg. 2029-2037 Avg. LOM Contained Metal in Concentrate Cu Production tonnes

(000s) 80 108 117 128 91 95 91 106 102 68 1,431 Au Production ounces

(000s) 45 97 93 127 28 25 21 27 58 19 631 Ag Production ounces

(000s) 1,977 1,942 2,619 2,782 2,210 2,452 2,122 2,601 2,338 1,717 34,160 Mo Production tonnes

(000s) 1.3 1.4 2.5 1.6 1.9 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.0 22.1 Capital Expenditures Sustaining Capital1 $ millions $127 $66 $158 $81 $114 $66 $125 $66 $100 $50 $1,248 Growth Project Capital $ millions $4 - $30 - $17 - - - - - $51 Copper Cash Costs Cash Cost, net of by-product credits2 $/lb Cu $1.37 $0.97 $0.80 $0.74 $1.48 $1.47 $1.37 $1.27 $1.18 $1.71 $1.38 Sustaining Cash Cost, net of by-product credits2 $/lb Cu $2.30 $1.39 $1.44 $1.05 $2.08 $1.82 $2.03 $1.58 $1.71 $2.09 $1.83

Note: Totals may not add up correctly due to rounding. LOM refers to life-of-mine total.

1 After the impact of capitalized stripping.

2 By-product credits calculated using the gold and silver deferred revenue drawdown rates for 2021 and the following commodity prices: gold price of $1,800 per ounce for 2021, $1,700 per ounce for 2022, $1,650 per ounce for 2023, $1,600 per ounce for 2024 and $1,500 per ounce long-term; silver prices of $25 per ounce for 2021, $23 per ounce for 2022, $20 per ounce for 2023, $19 per ounce for 2024 and $18 per ounce long-term; molybdenum prices of $11 per pound for 2021 and $10 per pound for 2022 and long-term. Sustaining cash cost calculated on the same basis as used in the companys quarterly financial disclosures, which incorporates all costs included in cash cost plus sustaining capital expenditures, payments on capital leases, capitalized exploration, royalties, cash payments on long-term community agreements, and accretion and amortization of decommissioning obligations. Cash cost and sustaining cash cost are non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. For further details on why Hudbay believes cash costs are a useful performance indicator, please refer to the company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2020.

Constancia Mineral Reserves and Resources

Proven and probable reserves at Constancia increased by 33 million tonnes at a grade of 0.48% copper and 0.115 grams per tonne gold, resulting in an increase of approximately 11% in contained copper and 12% in contained gold over the prior years reserves, after adjusting for mining depletion in 2020. This more than replaces what was depleted from mining operations during the year, resulting in the addition of one year to Constancias mine life, which has been maintained at 17 years. The increase in reserves was primarily as a result of the 2019 and 2020 drill program at Constancia North, which intersected shallow porphyry and skarn mineralization and contributed to an extension of the Constancia reserve pit by approximately 300 metres to the north. The increase in gold content was also partly due to the correction of a low bias in the historical drillhole database at Constancia.

Constancia North also contributed to an improvement in the head grade of the Constancia mine mineral resource estimates: measured and indicated copper grades increased to 0.22% from 0.19% and inferred copper grades increased to 0.30% from 0.18%. A significant portion of the Constancia North resource estimate is classified as inferred due to wide drill spacing but there remains the opportunity to upgrade these inferred resources to a higher classification as the company completes infill drilling. There also remains further opportunity to extend the Constancia North resources by incorporating steeply dipping high-grade skarn mineralization through a potential underground operation and a scoping study is expected to be completed in 2021. The mineralization remains open down plunge to the north.

Current mineral reserves and resources (exclusive of reserves) for Constancia as of January 1, 2021 are summarized below.

Constancia Mine

Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates1,2,3,4,5 Tonnes Cu Grade (%) Mo Grade (g/t) Au Grade (g/t) Ag Grade (g/t) Constancia Reserves Proven 436,500,000 0.29 83 0.041 2.88 Probable 56,100,000 0.25 69 0.045 3.09 Total Proven and Probable - Constancia 492,600,000 0.29 82 0.042 2.90 Pampacancha Reserves Proven 32,400,000 0.59 178 0.368 4.48 Probable 7,500,000 0.62 173 0.325 5.75 Total Proven and Probable - Pampacancha 39,900,000 0.60 177 0.360 4.72 Total Proven and Probable 532,500,000 0.31 89 0.066 3.04 Constancia Resources Measured 125,200,000 0.22 65 0.038 2.11 Indicated 118,300,000 0.22 65 0.037 2.05 Inferred 46,600,000 0.30 73 0.054 2.72 Pampacancha Resources Measured 11,400,000 0.41 101 0.245 4.95 Indicated 6,000,000 0.35 84 0.285 5.16 Inferred 10,100,000 0.14 143 0.233 3.86 Total Measured and Indicated 260,900,000 0.23 67 0.052 2.27 Total Inferred 56,700,000 0.27 86 0.086 2.92

Note: totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

1 Mineral resources are exclusive of mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

2 Mineral resources in the above tables do not include mining dilution or recovery factors.

3 Metal prices of $3.10 per pound copper, $11.00 per pound molybdenum, $1,500 per ounce gold, and $18.00 per ounce silver were used to estimate mineral reserves and resources.

4 Mineral reserves and resources are estimated using a minimum net smelter return (NSR) cut-off of $6.14 per tonne and assuming metallurgical recoveries (applied by ore type) of 85.8% on average for the life of mine.

5 Mineral resources are based on resource pit designs containing measured, indicated, and inferred mineral resources.

Peru Regional Exploration

The company continues to advance regional exploration programs in Peru. In February 2021, drilling commenced on the Quehuincha North high-grade skarn target located approximately 10 kilometres from Constancias processing facilities. Exploration agreement discussions with the community of Uchucarcco on the Maria Reyna and Caballito properties are progressing. Maria Reyna is a prospective copper skarn-porphyry target and Caballito is a past-producing copper oxide mine, both of which are located within 10 kilometers north of Constancia. Hudbay also expects to commence drilling at its Llaguen property in the second quarter of 2021, after receiving all required drill permits in 2020. Llaguen is a copper porphyry target located in northern Peru, near the city of Trujillo and in close proximity to existing infrastructure.

For additional details on the Constancia mine, please refer to the technical report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report, Constancia Mine, Cuzco, Peru, effective January 1, 2021, which was filed on March 29, 2021 under Hudbays profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and will be filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Lalor Mine and Snow Lake Operations

Snow Lake Gold Strategy History - Phases One and Two

In 2019, Hudbay announced the results from the first phase of its Snow Lake gold strategy, which repositioned Lalor as a gold mine with precious metals contributing a majority of the life-of-mine revenues. The first phase included a 65% increase in Lalors gold reserves and was the first mine plan that contemplated the processing of gold and copper-gold ore at the companys New Britannia mill. Several years of detailed work was completed in advance of the phase one mine plan, including significant drilling and test mining of the Lalor gold and copper-gold zones, and trade-off studies on the various processing solutions for the gold ore. The New Britannia mill was determined to be the optimal processing solution for Lalor gold, as it capitalizes on existing infrastructure and is expected to achieve gold recoveries above 90%, compared to gold recoveries of approximately 53% at the Stall mill at that time. The phase one gold mine plan contemplated Lalors annual gold production more than doubling from then current levels to approximately 140,000 ounces over the first five years once the New Britannia mill is refurbished.

In March 2020, the company announced the second phase of its Snow Lake gold strategy, focusing on extensive infill and exploration drilling at Lalor and advancing engineering studies on the regional deposits in Snow Lake. This resulted in a 35% increase in total Snow Lake gold reserves to 2.2 million ounces and extended the mine life of the Snow Lake operations to 2037 through extending the Lalor mine life to 10 years and mining the gold-rich WIM and 3 Zone deposits over the last eight years. Lalors life-of-mine gold production increased by 41% and annual gold production was contemplated to be greater than 150,000 ounces over the first eight years after the New Britannia mill is refurbished.

Advancing Phase Three of the Snow Lake Gold Strategy

Over the past twelve months, Hudbay has advanced the third phase of its Snow Lake gold strategy focusing on expansion and further optimization of operations. This updated mine plan contemplates an increase in annual gold production from Lalor and the Snow Lake operations to over 180,000 ounces during the first six years of New Britannias operation at industry-low cash cost and sustaining cash cost, net of by-product credits, of $412 and $788 per ounce of gold, respectively. Mineral reserves increased year-over-year, which resulted in no change to Snow Lakes mine life (to 2037) as the company accelerated future reserves with a higher production rate at Lalor and Stall. This enhanced mine plan incorporates the results from several optimization initiatives, including:

Early gold production at New Britannia - In 2020, Hudbay identified the opportunity to install modular copper flotation cells to achieve gold production earlier than expected in 2021. As a result, ramp-up and first production at the gold plant is now expected early in the third quarter of 2021, ahead of the original schedule.





Increased Lalor Mining Rate to 5,300 tonnes per day - In the fourth quarter of 2020, Hudbay allocated additional mining resources from 777 to Lalor while the 777 shaft repairs were being completed. As a result, and in combination with other technical and operational improvements, Lalors mine output increased by an average of 650 tonnes per day above the normal level during this period. After confirming the additional mining capacity, Hudbay determined that an optimal production rate for Lalor is 5,300 tonnes per day, matching the milling capacity of Snow Lake once New Britannia is commissioned. This higher rate is expected to begin after the 777 mine closes in mid-2022 and compares to 4,500 tonnes per day in the previous mine plan.





Adding 1901 Deposit to the Mine Plan - After releasing an upgraded resource estimate for the 1901 deposit in August 2020, Hudbay initiated engineering activities to support a prefeasibility study. As part of this study, the company developed a viable mine plan for the zinc-rich zones at the 1901 deposit to supplement production from Lalor and take advantage of the future processing capacity at the Stall mill. This resulted in the addition of 1.58 million tonnes of reserves at a grade of 7.9% zinc. Production from the 1901 deposit is expected to commence in 2026 at a rate of approximately 1,000 tonnes per day. Please refer to Figure 2 for a view of the mine design layout at 1901.





Higher Throughput at Stall - Hudbay has been pleased with the recent performance of the Stall mill, which has achieved better than expected throughput rates. The updated mine plan assumes Stall will achieve a throughput rate of 3,800 tonnes per day, compared to 3,500 tonnes per day in the previous mine plan.





Increased Copper and Precious Metal Recoveries at Stall - In 2020, Hudbay completed a feasibility study and a test program exploring various technological upgrades to the flowsheet at the Stall mill. The total cost to implement these upgrades is $19 million (C$24 million) and is expected to increase Stalls copper recoveries to between 91% and 95%, gold recoveries to between 64% and 70%, and silver recoveries to between 65% and 74%, a significant increase from the assumed recoveries in the previous mine plan of 84% copper, 53% gold and 53% silver. The project is expected to commence in 2022 and be in operation by early 2023.



These mine plan enhancements optimize the processing capacity of the Snow Lake operations in a manner that maximizes the net present value of the operations. As a result of these initiatives, the production of gold, copper and silver are expected to increase by 18%, 35% and 27%, respectively, from 2022 to 2027 compared to the previous mine plan.

Summary of Snow Lake Updated Mine Plan

A summary of key production and cost details from the updated Snow Lake mine plan can be found below. For further details, please refer to the section titled Snow Lake Updated Mine Plan Detailed Information at the end of this news release.

Snow Lake Operations1 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2022-2027 Avg. 2028-2037 Avg. LOM Contained Metal in Concentrate and Dore Au Production ounces (000s) 115 160 190 191 208 184 162 182 54 1,753 Ag Production ounces (000s) 824 946 1,134 1,150 1,188 1,182 1,298 1,150 340 11,120 Cu Production tonnes (000s) 10 11 13 11 16 11 12 12 6 142 Zn Production tonnes (000s) 61 51 46 46 35 46 57 47 20 541 Capital Expenditures2 Sustaining Capital $ millions $83 $96 $67 $62 $62 $66 $48 $67 $18 $664 Growth Project Capital $ millions $77 $19 - - - - - - - $96 Gold Cash Costs Cash Cost, net of by-product credits3 $/oz Au ($275) $361 $434 $440 $393 $454 $382 $411 $647 $421 Sustaining Cash Cost, net of by-product credits3 $/oz Au $550 $1,027 $784 $766 $690 $812 $680 $793 $972 $812

Note: Totals may not add up correctly due to rounding. LOM refers to life-of-mine total.

1 Includes production and costs for Lalor, 1901, WIM and 3 Zone.

2 Canadian dollar capital expenditures converted to U.S. dollar capital expenditures at a C$/US$ exchange rate of 1.27 in 2021, 1.28 in 2022, 1.29 in 2023 and 1.30 long-term.

3 By-product credits calculated using the following assumptions: zinc price of $1.20 per pound in 2021, $1.15 per pound in 2022, $1.10 per pound in 2023 and long-term; copper price of $3.75 per pound in 2021, $3.30 per pound in 2022, $3.10 per pound in 2023 and long-term; silver price of $25.00 per ounce in 2021, $23.00 per ounce in 2022, $20.00 per pounce in 2023, $19.00 per ounce in 2024, and $18.00 per ounce long-term; C$/US$ exchange rate of 1.27 in 2021, 1.28 in 2022, 1.29 in 2023 and 1.30 for long-term. Sustaining cash cost incorporate all costs included in cash costs calculation plus sustaining capital expenditures. Cash cost and sustaining cash cost are non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. For further details on why Hudbay believes cash costs are a useful performance indicator, please refer to the company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Snow Lake Mineral Reserves and Resources

Current mineral reserves and resources (exclusive of reserves) for Lalor, 1901 and other Snow Lake satellite deposits as of January 1, 2021 are summarized below.

Lalor Mine and 1901 Deposit

Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates1,2,3,4,5,6 Tonnes Zn Grade (%) Au Grade (g/t) Cu Grade (%) Ag Grade (g/t) Base Metal Zone Reserves Proven  Lalor 6,860,000 5.79 2.6 0.50 29 Proven  1901 890,000 6.61 2.0 0.40 28 Probable  Lalor 1,190,000 4.32 3.2 0.64 32 Probable  1901 690,000 9.49 1.4 0.25 30 Gold Zone Reserves Proven  Lalor 3,950,000 1.03 5.2 0.60 28 Probable  Lalor 3,630,000 0.53 5.7 1.16 28 Total Proven and Probable 17,200,000 3.68 3.8 0.66 29 Base Metal Zone Resources Inferred  Lalor 590,000 3.48 2.8 0.31 55 Inferred  1901 310,000 6.44 2.0 0.85 25 Gold Zone Resources Inferred  Lalor 5,610,000 0.35 4.6 1.17 26 Inferred  1901 480,000 0.55 6.7 0.72 37 Total Inferred 6,990,000 0.89 4.5 1.05 29

Note: totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

1 Mineral resources are exclusive of mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral resources in the above tables do not include mining dilution or recovery factors.

2 Mineral reserves and resources are estimated using a minimum NSR cut-off of C$105 per tonne for waste filled mining areas and a minimum of C$116 per tonne for paste filled mining areas.

3 Metal prices of $1.10 per pound zinc, $1,500 per ounce gold, $3.10 per pound copper, and $18.00 per ounce silver with an exchange rate of 1.30 C$/US$ were used to confirm the economic viability of the mineral reserve estimates.

4 For Lalor, individual stope gold grades were capped at 10 grams per tonne as a prudent estimate until reserves to mill reconciliations can establish that the high-grade gold can indeed be entirely recovered. This capping method resulted in the reduction of the global gold reserve grade by approximately 3%.

5 Base metal mineral resources are estimated based on the assumptions that they would be processed at the Stall concentrator while gold mineral resources are estimated based on the assumption that they would be processed at the New Britannia concentrator, which is currently being refurbished.

6 1901 mineral resources were initially estimated using metal price assumptions that vary marginally from the assumptions used for reserves. In the Qualified Persons opinion, the combined impact of these small variations does not have any impact on the mineral resource estimates.

Snow Lake Regional Deposits - Gold

Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Tonnes Zn Grade (%) Au Grade (g/t) Cu Grade (%) Ag Grade (g/t) Probable Reserves WIM 2,450,000 0.25 1.6 1.63 6.3 3 Zone 660,000 - 4.2 - - Total Probable (Gold) 3,110,000 0.20 2.2 1.28 5.0 Inferred Resources Birch 570,000 - 4.4 - - New Britannia 2,750,000 - 4.5 - - Total Inferred (Gold) 3,320,000 - 4.5 - -

Note: totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

1 Mineral resources are exclusive of mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

2 Mineral resources in the above tables do not include mining dilution or recovery factors.

3 Metal prices of $1.10 per pound zinc, $1,500 per ounce gold, $3.10 per pound copper, and $18.00 per ounce silver with an exchange rate of 1.30 C$/US$ were used to confirm the economic viability of the mineral reserve estimates.

4 WIM mineral reserves are estimated using a minimum NSR cut-off of C$150 per tonne, assuming processing recoveries of 98% for copper, 88% for gold and 70% for silver based on processing through New Britannia mill's flotation and tails leach circuits.

5 3 Zone mineral reserves are estimated at a minimum NSR cut-off of C$150 per tonne, assuming processing recoveries of 85% for gold based on processing through New Britannia mill's leach circuit.

6 New Britannia mineral resource estimates have been reported at a minimum true width of 1.5 metres and with a cut-off grade varying from 2 grams per tonne (at the lower part of New Britannia) to 3.5 grams per tonne (at the upper part of New Britannia).

7 Gold mineral resources are estimated based on the assumption that they would be processed at the New Britannia concentrator, which is currently being refurbished.

Snow Lake Regional Deposits  Base Metal

Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Tonnes Zn Grade (%) Au Grade (g/t) Cu Grade (%) Ag Grade (g/t) Indicated Resources Pen II 470,000 8.89 0.3 0.49 7 Talbot 2,190,000 1.79 2.1 2.33 36 Total Indicated (Base Metals) 2,660,000 3.04 1.8 2.01 31 Inferred Resources Watts 3,150,000 2.58 1.0 2.34 31 Pen II 130,000 9.81 0.3 0.37 7 Talbot 2,450,000 1.74 1.9 1.13 26 Total Inferred (Base Metals) 5,730,000 2.39 1.3 1.78 28

Note: totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

1 Mineral resources are exclusive of mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

2 Mineral resources in the above tables do not include mining dilution or recovery factors.

3 Watts and Pen II mineral resources were initially estimated using metal price assumptions that vary marginally over the assumptions used for mineral reserves at Snow Lake. In the Qualified Persons opinion, the combined impact of these small variations does not have any impact on the mineral resource estimates.

4 Watts mineral resources are estimated using a minimum NSR cut-off of C$150 per tonne, assuming processing recoveries of 90% for copper, 80% for zinc, 70% for gold and 70% for silver.

5 Pen II mineral resources are estimated using a minimum NSR cut-off of C$75 per tonne.

6 Base metal mineral resources are estimated based on the assumption that they would be processed at the Stall concentrator.

7 The above resource estimate table includes 100% of the Talbot mineral resources reported by Rockcliff Metals Corp. in its 2020 NI 43-101 technical report published on SEDAR. Hudbay currently owns 51% interest in the project.

Future Snow Lake Upside Opportunities

Lalor In-Mine Exploration

Exploration efforts at the Lalor mine continued to be successful in 2020 with the definition of an additional 1.8 million tonnes of mineral resources. This increases total inferred mineral resources at Lalor to 6.2 million tonnes. The inferred resources have the potential to extend the Lalor mine life beyond the current estimate of ten years and maintain the 5,300 tonnes per day production level beyond 2027. The increase in Lalors mineral resource estimate was due to up-dip and down-dip extensions along strike from existing lenses as well as the inclusion of gold mineralization located in the immediate footwall and hanging wall of the base metal lenses where recent drilling and economic evaluation increased the confidence to include them in the Lalor inferred mineral resources.

Snow Lake Regional Deposits

There are several deposits in the Snow Lake region that present additional opportunities to further optimize the Snow Lake operations, including the Watts, Pen II and Talbot deposits as described below:

Watts (100% owned by Hudbay) - confirmatory drilling conducted during 2019 supported an initial inferred mineral resource estimate of approximately 3.2 million tonnes at 2.34% copper, 2.58% zinc, 0.95 grams per tonne gold and 31 grams per tonne silver. The Watts deposit is located approximately 95 kilometres from the Stall concentrator and is in close proximity to roads and power lines. Considering future available processing capacity at the Stall concentrator and recent drilling success, which expanded the volume of high-grade copper mineralization at Watts, Hudbay is confident that the potential for economic extraction of the Watts deposit has been established to a level sufficient to report an initial inferred mineral resource estimate.

Pen II (100% owned by Hudbay) - Pen II is a low tonnage and high-grade zinc deposit that starts from surface and is located within trucking distance of the Stall mill. In 2019, Hudbay defined an indicated resource estimate of 0.5 million tonnes at 8.9% zinc. Pen II could constitute a supplemental source of feed for the Stall mill. Hudbay expects to continue metallurgical testing, infill drilling and technical studies in an attempt to confirm the technical and economic viability of the resource.

Talbot (51% owned by Hudbay) - the Talbot deposit is located approximately 200 kilometres southeast of the Stall and New Britannia mills. Rockcliff Metals Corp. conducted several drilling campaigns between 2014 and 2019 that led to the declaration by Rockcliff of a NI 43-101 indicated mineral resource estimate of 2.2 million tonnes at 2.3% copper, 2.1 grams per tonne gold, 1.8% zinc, 36 grams per tonne silver and an inferred mineral resource estimate of 2.4 million tonnes at 1.1% copper, 1.9 grams per tonne gold, 1.7% zinc and 25.8 g/t silver. Hudbay has the right to extend its ownership of Talbot to 65% by incurring expenses related to the development of the project.



1901 Deposit Gold Zones

There remains further upside potential to upgrade the inferred resources in 1901 gold zones and incorporate them into the Snow Lake mine plan once there is processing capacity at the New Britannia mill. Once the 1901 deposit is developed, the company will have the underground access required to efficiently drill the gold zones with the tighter drill spacing required to upgrade the inferred resource estimate to the indicated category.

Future Mill Processing Projects

As the Lalor mine matures and additional satellite ore sources are identified to supplement feed to the Stall and New Britannia mills, metallurgical projects are advancing to match the configuration of the mills to the requirements of the ore. The company is advancing several other projects through metallurgical testing and early-stage engineering, such as the potential to treat the tails from the Stall mill to recover additional gold and the potential to expand the New Britannia mill to its historical rate of 2,000 tonnes per day.

For additional details on the Lalor mine and the companys Snow Lake operations, please refer to the technical report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report, Lalor and Snow Lake Operations, Manitoba, Canada, effective January 1, 2021, which was filed on March 29, 2021 under Hudbays profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and will be filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

777 Mine

Based on the most recent estimate of mineral reserves, there has been no change to the expected mine life for 777, which is expected to be depleted by the end of the second quarter of 2022. The mine is expected to produce at a rate of approximately 2,800 tonnes per day for the remaining mine life. Hudbay has begun its transition planning ahead of the 777 mine closure, including preparation for the training and transfer of personnel from Flin Flon to Snow Lake. The company plans to close and decommission the 777 mine and zinc plant upon the depletion of 777 reserves. The Flin Flon concentrator and tailings impoundment area will be kept on care and maintenance, which will provide optionality should another mineral discovery occur in the Flin Flon area.

Current mineral reserves and resources (exclusive of reserves) for 777 as of January 1, 2021 are summarized below.

777 Mine

Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates1 Tonnes Cu Grade (%) Zn Grade (%) Au Grade (g/t) Ag Grade (g/t) Mineral Reserves Proven 1,125,000 1.59 5.09 2.23 31 Probable 399,000 1.11 4.46 1.86 30 Total Proven and Probable 1,524,000 1.46 4.93 2.13 31 Mineral Resources Measured 120,000 1.21 7.12 2.31 39 Indicated 90,000 1.77 4.83 1.61 31 Total Measured and Indicated 210,000 1.45 6.13 2.01 35 Inferred - - - - -

Note: totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

1 Mineral resources are exclusive of mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral reserves and resources calculated using life-of-mine (2021-2022) average metal prices of $2.90 per pound copper, $1.04 per pound zinc (includes premium), $1,767 per ounce gold, $20.67 per ounce silver and using a C$/US$ exchange rate of 1.30.

3-Year Production Outlook

Consolidated copper and gold production are expected to increase by 36% and 125%, respectively, by 2023 from 2020 levels as Hudbay brings online its Pampacancha and New Britannia growth projects. These growth projects more than offset the lost copper and gold production from 777 after its closure in mid-2022.

Perus 2021 production guidance assumes mining of Pampacancha will begin in the second quarter, with the initial phase of lower copper grades, but higher gold grades, expected to continue for the balance of the year before higher copper grades are forecast to enter the mine plan in 2022 and 2023.

Manitobas 2021 production guidance reflects an increase in Lalors mine throughput to 4,650 tonnes per day, from the previous 4,500 tonnes per day, as the recent trend of stronger production from the mine is expected to continue. Lalors mine throughput is expected to further increase to 5,300 tonnes per day starting in 2023 due to technical and operational improvements and the allocation of mining resources from the 777 mine after its closure in 2022. Manitobas 2023 production reflects higher copper, gold and silver recoveries at the Stall mill as a result of the implementation of various mill flowsheet enhancements in 2022.

3-Year Production Outlook

Contained Metal in Concentrate1 2021 Guidance 2022 Guidance 2023 Guidance Peru Copper tonnes 72,000 - 88,000 95,000 - 120,000 105,000 - 130,000 Gold ounces 40,000 - 50,000 85,000 - 105,000 85,000 - 105,000 Silver ounces 1,800,000 - 2,170,000 1,700,000 - 2,100,000 2,300,000 - 2,800,000 Molybdenum tonnes 1,400 - 1,700 1,200 - 1,500 2,200 - 2,800 Manitoba2 Gold ounces 150,000 - 165,000 160,000 - 180,000 175,000 - 195,000 Zinc tonnes 96,000 - 107,000 60,000 - 70,000 40,000 - 47,000 Copper tonnes 20,000 - 24,000 14,000 - 16,000 11,000 - 13,000 Silver ounces 1,200,000 - 1,400,000 1,000,000 - 1,200,000 1,000,000 - 1,200,000 Total Copper tonnes 92,000 - 112,000 109,000 - 136,000 116,000 - 143,000 Gold ounces 190,000 - 215,000 245,000 - 285,000 260,000 - 300,000 Zinc tonnes 96,000 - 107,000 60,000 - 70,000 40,000 - 47,000 Silver ounces 3,000,000 - 3,570,000 2,700,000 - 3,300,000 3,300,000 - 4,000,000 Molybdenum tonnes 1,400 - 1,700 1,200 - 1,500 2,200 - 2,800 1 Metal reported in concentrate and dore is prior to smelting and refining losses or deductions associated with smelter terms.

2 Manitoba production guidance assumes the 777 mine is depleted at the end of the second quarter of 2022, resulting in lower copper and zinc production after its closure.

Rosemont Project

Rosemont is a copper development project, located in Pima County, Arizona, approximately 50 kilometres southeast of Tucson. The Rosemont project is expected to be an open pit, shovel and truck operation and has an expected 19-year mine life based on current reserves. There were no changes to Rosemonts reserves and resources during 2020. The appeal of the unprecedented Rosemont court decision with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit continues with a decision expected in the second half of 2021.

On March 24, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) issued an approved jurisdictional determination whereby the Corps determined that waters of the United States do not occur on the Rosemont property. As a result, Rosemont is no longer subject to the Clean Water Act and does not require a Section 404 Water Permit.

On March 29, 2021, Hudbay announced the intersection of high-grade copper sulphide and oxide mineralization at shallow depth on its Copper World properties located on wholly owned patented mining claims within seven kilometres of Rosemont. The drill program was initiated in 2020 to confirm historical drilling in this past-producing copper region formerly known as Helvetia. After receiving encouraging initial results, the company launched a larger drill program in early 2021 and has since doubled the number of drill rigs at site to six to further test the four known deposits at Copper World and the potential for additional mineralization. For further details, including a full list of assay results and detailed figures illustrating the location of the deposits, please refer to the news release dated March 29, 2021.

Mason Project

The Mason project is a large greenfield copper deposit located in the historic Yerington District of Nevada and is one of the largest undeveloped copper porphyry deposits in North America. Masons measured and indicated mineral resources are comparable in size to Constancia and Rosemont. Hudbay views the Mason project as a long-term option for future development and a strong component of its pipeline of long-term growth opportunities. Since acquiring Mason, Hudbay has consolidated a prospective package of patented and unpatented mining claims contiguous to the Mason project and has advanced a number of technical studies.

This updated resource estimate represents the first compiled for the Mason project from a resource model constructed by Hudbay personnel using the same methods applied at Constancia. Based on this new model, including resource classification criteria calibrated on historical performance at Constancia, control of grade over-smoothing in the central zone of the deposit and the use of a lower cut-off grade, the measured and indicated resources have increased to 2.2 billion tonnes at 0.29% copper, from 1.4 billion tonnes at 0.32% copper previously. Hudbay expects to release the results of its preliminary economic assessment of Mason in April 2021 based on this revised resource model and an updated mine plan.

Current mineral resource estimates for Mason based on the revised resource model as of January 1, 2021 are summarized below.

Mason Project

Mineral Resource Estimates1,2,3 Tonnes Cu Grade (%) Mo Grade (g/t) Au Grade (g/t) Ag Grade (g/t) Measured 1,417,000,000 0.29 59 0.031 0.66 Indicated 801,000,000 0.30 80 0.025 0.57 Total Measured and Indicated 2,219,000,000 0.29 67 0.029 0.63 Inferred 237,000,000 0.24 78 0.033 0.73

Note: totals may not add up correctly due to rounding.

1 Mineral resource estimates that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral resource estimates do not include factors for mining recovery or dilution.

2 Metal prices of $3.10 per pound copper, $11.00 per pound molybdenum, $1,500 per ounce gold, and $18.00 per ounce silver were used to estimate mineral resources.

3 Mineral resource estimates are reported as 20 metres by 20 metres by 15 meters blocks above cut-off using a minimum NSR per tonne of $6.25.

Non-IFRS Financial Performance Measures

Cash cost and sustaining cash cost per pound of copper and ounce of gold produced are shown because the company believes they help investors and management assess the performance of its operations, including the margin generated by the operations and the company. Unit operating costs are shown because these measures are used by the company as a key performance indicator to assess the performance of its mining and processing operations. These measures do not have a meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS and are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from operations as determined under IFRS. Other companies may calculate these measures differently. For further details on these measures, including reconciliations of historical unit operating costs and cash costs per pound of copper produced to the most comparable IFRS measures, please refer to page 53 of Hudbays managements discussion and analysis for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2020 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release related to the Rosemont project has been approved by Cashel Meagher, P.Geo., Hudbays Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. The scientific and technical information contained in this news release related to all other material mineral projects has been approved by Olivier Tavchandjian, P. Geo, Hudbays Vice-President, Exploration and Geology. Messrs. Meagher and Tavchandjian are qualified persons pursuant to NI 43 101.

Additional details on the companys material mineral projects, including a year-over-year reconciliation of reserves and resources, is included in Hudbay's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020 (the AIF), which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Note to United States Investors

This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. Canadian reporting requirements for disclosure of mineral properties are governed by the Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

For this reason, information contained in this news release containing descriptions of the Companys mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by United States companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. For further information on the differences between the disclosure requirements for mineral properties under the United States federal securities laws and NI 43-101, please refer to the companys AIF, a copy of which has been filed under Hudbays profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the companys Form 40-F, a copy of which will be filed on EDGAR at www.edgar.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. All information contained in this news release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects, budget, guidance, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, strategy, target, intends, objective, goal, understands, anticipates and believes (and variations of these or similar words) and statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, should, might occur or be achieved or will be taken (and variations of these or similar expressions). All of the forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by this cautionary note.

Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, production, cost and capital and exploration expenditure guidance and factors that may have an effect on such guidance, anticipated production and costs at the companys mines and processing facilities based on recently updated mine plans, expectations regarding the timing of mining activities at the Pampacancha deposit and any additional delivery obligations under the Constancia stream agreement, the anticipated timing, cost and benefits of developing the Rosemont project and the outcome of litigation challenging Rosemont's permits, expectations regarding the Helvetia exploration program, expectations regarding the Lalor gold strategy, including the refurbishment, commissioning and ramp-up of the New Britannia mill and the expectations regarding the mine plan for the 1901 deposit, increasing the mining rate at Lalor and optimizing the Stall and New Britannia mills (including the cost of, and anticipated benefits from, the Stall mill recovery improvement project), the possibility of converting inferred mineral resource estimates to higher confidence categories, expectations regarding the preliminary economic assessment of the Mason project, the potential and the companys anticipated plans for advancing its mining properties surrounding Constancia and elsewhere in Peru, anticipated mine plans, anticipated metals prices and the anticipated sensitivity of the companys financial performance to metals prices, events that may affect its operations and development projects, anticipated cash flows from operations and related liquidity requirements, the anticipated effect of external factors on revenue, such as commodity prices, estimation of mineral reserves and resources, mine life projections, reclamation costs, economic outlook, government regulation of mining operations, and business and acquisition strategies. Forward-looking information is not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking information is based on, among other things, opinions, assumptions, estimates and analyses that, while considered reasonable by us at the date the forward-looking information is provided, inherently are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may cause actual results and events to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information.

The material factors or assumptions that Hudbay identified and were applied by the company in drawing conclusions or making forecasts or projections set out in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to:

the companys ability to continue to operate safely and at full capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic;

the availability, global supply and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, the effective distribution of such vaccines in the countries in which the company operates, the lessening of restrictions related to COVID-19, and the anticipated rate and timing for each of the foregoing;

the companys ability to achieve production and unit cost guidance;

no significant interruptions to the companys operations or significant delays to its development projects in Manitoba and Peru due to the COVID-19 pandemic;

the timing of development and production activities on the Pampacancha deposit;

the timing for reaching additional agreements with individual community members and no significant unanticipated delays to the development of Pampacancha;

the successful completion of the New Britannia project on budget and on schedule;

the successful outcome of the Rosemont litigation;

the successful renegotiation of collective agreements with the labour unions that represent certain of our employees in Manitoba and Peru;

the success of mining, processing, exploration and development activities;

the scheduled maintenance and availability of the companys processing facilities;

the accuracy of geological, mining and metallurgical estimates;

anticipated metals prices and the costs of production;

the supply and demand for metals Hudbay produces;

the supply and availability of all forms of energy and fuels at reasonable prices;

no significant unanticipated operational or technical difficulties;

the execution of the companys business and growth strategies, including the success of its strategic investments and initiatives;

the availability of additional financing, if needed;

the timing and receipt of various regulatory and governmental approvals (including approval of the updated closure plan for the companys Flin Flon operations);

the availability of personnel for the companys exploration, development and operational projects and ongoing employee relations;

maintaining good relations with the labour unions that represent certain of the companys employees in Manitoba and Peru;

maintaining good relations with the communities in which the company operates, including the neighbouring Indigenous communities and local governments;

no significant unanticipated challenges with stakeholders at the companys various projects;

no significant unanticipated events or changes relating to regulatory, environmental, health and safety matters;

no contests over title to Hudbays properties, including as a result of rights or claimed rights of Indigenous peoples or challenges to the validity of its unpatented mining claims;

the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation and no significant unanticipated litigation;

certain tax matters, including, but not limited to current tax laws and regulations and the refund of certain value added taxes from the Canadian and Peruvian governments; and

no significant and continuing adverse changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the

financial markets (including commodity prices and foreign exchange rates).



The risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the companys operations, financial condition, projects and prospects, the possibility of a global recession arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and attempts to control it, the political situation in Peru, including risks associated with the upcoming national election, risks generally associated with the mining industry, such as economic factors (including future commodity prices, currency fluctuations, energy prices and general cost escalation), uncertainties related to the development and operation of the companys projects, risks related to the U.S. district courts decisions to set aside the U.S. Forest Services Final Record of Decision (FROD) and the Biological Opinion for Rosemont and related appeals and other legal challenges, risks related to the new Lalor mine plan, including the schedule for the refurbishment and commissioning of the New Britannia mill, risks related to the schedule for mining the Pampacancha deposit (including risks associated with COVID-19, with reaching additional agreements with individual community members and the impact of any schedule delays), dependence on key personnel and employee and union relations, risks related to political or social unrest or change, risks in respect of Indigenous and community relations, rights and title claims, operational risks and hazards, including the cost of maintaining and upgrading the company's tailings management facilities and any unanticipated environmental, industrial and geological events and developments and the inability to insure against all risks, failure of plant, equipment, processes, transportation and other infrastructure to operate as anticipated, compliance with government and environmental regulations, including permitting requirements and anti-bribery legislation, depletion of the companys reserves, volatile financial markets that may affect Hudbays ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, the failure to obtain required approvals or clearances from government authorities on a timely basis, uncertainties related to the geology, continuity, grade and estimates of mineral reserves and resources, and the potential for variations in grade and recovery rates, uncertain costs of reclamation activities, the companys ability to comply with its pension and other post-retirement obligations, the companys ability to abide by the covenants in its debt instruments and other material contracts, tax refunds, hedging transactions, as well as the risks discussed under the heading Risk Factors in the companys AIF.

Should one or more risk, uncertainty, contingency or other factor materialize or should any factor or assumption prove incorrect, actual results could vary materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The company does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this news release or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

About Hudbay

Hudbay (TSX, NYSE: HBM) is a diversified mining company primarily producing copper concentrate (containing copper, gold and silver) and zinc metal. Directly and through its subsidiaries, Hudbay owns three polymetallic mines, four ore concentrators and a zinc production facility in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan (Canada) and Cusco (Peru), and copper projects in Arizona and Nevada (United States). The companys growth strategy is focused on the exploration, development, operation and optimization of properties it already controls, as well as other mineral assets it may acquire that fit its strategic criteria. Hudbays vision is to be a responsible, top-tier operator of long-life, low-cost mines in the Americas. Hudbays mission is to create sustainable value through the acquisition, development and operation of high-quality, long-life deposits with exploration potential in jurisdictions that support responsible mining, and to see the regions and communities in which the company operates benefit from its presence. The company is governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act and its shares are listed under the symbol "HBM" on the Toronto Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and Bolsa de Valores de Lima. Further information about Hudbay can be found on www.hudbay.com.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Candace Brule

Director, Investor Relations

(416) 814-4387

candace.brule@hudbay.com

Constancia Updated Mine Plan Detailed Information

Constancia Mine Plan

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2021-2028 Avg. 2029-2037 Avg. LOM Constancia Ore Ore Milled tonnes

(000s) 25,283 21,784 19,241 19,920 29,915 31,350 31,350 31,437 26,285 31,369 492,606 Cu Grade % 0.32% 0.35% 0.35% 0.27% 0.32% 0.35% 0.33% 0.39% 0.34% 0.25% 0.29% Au Grade g/t 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.04 Ag Grade g/t 2.90 2.98 2.95 2.68 3.26 3.71 3.24 3.88 3.26 2.62 2.89 Mo Grade % 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% Pampacancha Ore Ore Milled tonnes

(000s) 5,661 9,174 12,109 11,517 1,435 - - - 7,9791 - 39,896 Cu Grade % 0.27% 0.55% 0.58% 0.81% 0.69% - - - 0.60% - 0.60% Au Grade g/t 0.25 0.40 0.30 0.45 0.33 - - - 0.36 - 0.36 Ag Grade g/t 3.32 3.03 5.23 6.28 4.14 - - - 4.72 - 4.72 Mo Grade % 0.02% 0.01% 0.03% 0.01% 0.02% - - - 0.02% - 0.02% Total Ore Ore Milled tonnes

(000s) 30,944 30,958 31,350 31,438 31,350 31,350 31,350 31,437 31,272 31,369 532,502 Cu Grade % 0.31% 0.41% 0.44% 0.47% 0.34% 0.35% 0.33% 0.39% 0.38% 0.25% 0.31% Au Grade g/t 0.07 0.15 0.14 0.19 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.09 0.04 0.07 Ag Grade g/t 2.97 2.99 3.83 4.00 3.30 3.71 3.24 3.88 3.49 2.62 3.03 Mo Grade % 0.01% 0.01% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%

Note: LOM refers to life-of-mine total.

1 Pampacancha average over the 2021 to 2025 period.

Constancia Production Profile

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2021-2028 Avg. 2029-2037 Avg. LOM Recoveries Cu Recovery % 84.8% 85.1% 84.7% 86.9% 85.7% 86.9% 86.4% 86.4% 85.9% 86.0% 85.9% Au Recovery % 61.6% 65.5% 66.1% 67.4% 52.4% 47.6% 45.7% 49.7% 57.0% 46.2% 56.4% Ag Recovery % 66.8% 65.2% 67.8% 68.8% 66.4% 65.6% 64.9% 66.4% 66.5% 65.0% 65.8% Mo Recovery % 33.2% 44.4% 45.4% 45.5% 47.8% 46.8% 50.5% 48.1% 45.2% 47.9% 46.3% Concentrate Cu Concentrate tonnes 344,590 471,501 523,575 561,679 392,638 410,620 385,224 446,422 442,031 294,179 6,183,858 Cu Grade in Conc. % 23% 23% 22% 23% 23% 23% 24% 24% 23% 23% 23% Mo Concentrate tonnes 2,583 2,794 4,977 3,285 3,748 2,621 3,237 3,120 3,296 1,989 44,262 Mo Grade in Conc. % 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% Contained Metal in Concentrate Cu Production tonnes

(000s) 80 108 117 128 91 95 91 106 102 68 1,431 Au Production ounces

(000s) 45 97 93 127 28 25 21 27 58 19 631 Ag Production ounces

(000s) 1,977 1,942 2,619 2,782 2,210 2,452 2,122 2,601 2,338 1,717 34,160 Mo Production tonnes

(000s) 1.3 1.4 2.5 1.6 1.9 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.0 22.1

Constancia Capital Expenditures

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2021-2028 Avg. 2029-2037 Avg. LOM Capital Expenditures ($ millions) Sustaining Capital (before Capitalized Stripping) $102 $48 $118 $58 $94 $50 $77 $40 $73 $35 $898 Capitalized Stripping $25 $18 $40 $22 $20 $16 $48 $26 $27 $15 $350 Sustaining Capital (after Capitalized Stripping) $127 $66 $158 $81 $114 $66 $125 $66 $100 $50 $1,248 Growth Project Capital $4 - $30 - $17 - - - - - $51 Total Capital Expenditures $131 $66 $187 $81 $130 $66 $125 $66 $106 $50 $1,299

Constancia Unit Operating Costs and Cash Costs

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2021-2028 Avg. 2029-2037 Avg. LOM Unit Operating Costs ($ per tonne milled) Mining $3.62 $3.54 $3.86 $3.91 $4.13 $4.21 $4.00 $3.88 $3.89 $2.74 $3.28 Milling $5.39 $5.33 $5.31 $5.37 $5.29 $4.81 $4.85 $4.84 $5.15 $4.80 $4.96 G&A $1.74 $1.70 $1.57 $1.51 $1.51 $1.54 $1.48 $1.48 $1.57 $1.31 $1.43 Total Operating Costs (before Capitalized Stripping) $10.74 $10.57 $10.74 $10.79 $10.93 $10.56 $10.32 $10.19 $10.61 $8.86 $9.68 Total Operating Costs (after Capitalized Stripping) $9.94 $9.99 $9.47 $10.09 $10.29 $10.06 $8.79 $9.37 $9.75 $8.38 $9.02 Cash Cost and Sustaining Cash Cost Cu Production million pounds 177 237 258 283 201 210 200 233 225 150 3,155 Cash Cost, net of by-product credits $/lb Cu $1.37 $0.97 $0.80 $0.74 $1.48 $1.47 $1.37 $1.27 $1.18 $1.71 $1.38 Sustaining Cash Cost, net of by-product credits $/lb Cu $2.30 $1.39 $1.44 $1.05 $2.08 $1.82 $2.03 $1.58 $1.71 $2.09 $1.83

Note:

Production includes metal contained in concentrate. By-product credits calculated using the gold and silver deferred revenue drawdown rates for 2021 and the following commodity prices: gold price of $1,800 per ounce for 2021, $1,700 per ounce for 2022, $1,650 per ounce for 2023, $1,600 per ounce for 2024 and $1,500 per ounce long-term; silver prices of $25 per ounce for 2021, $23 per ounce for 2022, $20 per ounce for 2023, $19 per ounce for 2024 and $18 per ounce long-term; molybdenum prices of $11 per tonne for 2021 and $10 per tonne for 2022 and long-term. Sustaining cash cost calculated on the same basis as used in the companys quarterly financial disclosures, which incorporates all costs included in cash cost plus sustaining capital expenditures, payments on capital leases, capitalized exploration, royalties, cash payments on long-term community agreements, and accretion and amortization of decommissioning obligations. Cash cost and sustaining cash cost are non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. For further details on why Hudbay believes cash costs are a useful performance indicator, please refer to the company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2020.

Snow Lake Updated Mine Plan Detailed Information

Snow Lake Mine Plan

Stall Mill Feed 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 LOM Lalor Base Metal Ore Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) 1,3631 1,088 1,315 1,315 1,315 1,223 935 744 822 487 69 10,675 Ore Mined tpd 3,894 3,107 3,757 3,757 3,757 3,494 2,672 2,126 2,347 1,390 197 - Au Grade g/t 3.31 2.99 3.40 3.78 4.41 3.62 3.36 2.49 2.43 2.27 3.24 3.35 Ag Grade g/t 26.41 27.55 26.39 26.71 26.98 28.59 32.75 32.96 27.32 36.15 38.06 28.48 Cu Grade % 0.71% 0.82% 0.86% 0.72% 1.10% 0.75% 0.69% 0.34% 0.41% 0.56% 0.60% 0.74% Zn Grade % 4.87% 5.13% 3.90% 3.80% 3.02% 3.65% 4.40% 5.43% 5.38% 5.60% 3.90% 4.34% 1901 Base Metal Ore Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) - - - - - 92 334 343 354 312 145 1,581 Ore Mined tpd - - - - - 263 955 981 1,011 892 415 - Au Grade g/t - - - - - 2.29 2.04 1.96 1.43 1.58 1.14 1.73 Ag Grade g/t - - - - - 38.16 42.67 21.83 25.41 21.84 31.52 28.88 Cu Grade % - - - - - 0.23% 0.27% 0.38% 0.32% 0.44% 0.29% 0.34% Zn Grade % - - - - - 6.26% 6.16% 8.65% 9.09% 5.77% 12.53% 7.87% Total Ore to Stall Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) 1,3631 1,088 1,315 1,315 1,315 1,315 1,270 1,088 1,175 799 214 12,256 Ore Mined tpd 3,894 3,107 3,757 3,757 3,757 3,757 3,627 3,107 3,358 2,282 613 - Au Grade g/t 3.31 2.99 3.40 3.78 4.41 3.52 3.01 2.32 2.13 2.00 1.82 3.14 Ag Grade g/t 26.41 27.55 26.39 26.71 26.98 29.26 35.36 29.44 26.74 30.56 33.63 28.53 Cu Grade % 0.71% 0.82% 0.86% 0.72% 1.10% 0.71% 0.58% 0.35% 0.38% 0.51% 0.39% 0.68% Zn Grade % 4.87% 5.13% 3.90% 3.80% 3.02% 3.83% 4.86% 6.44% 6.50% 5.67% 9.75% 4.80%

Note: Tonnes per day (tpd) assumes 350 operating days a year. LOM refers to life-of-mine total. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

1 Includes ore processed at the Flin Flon mill.

New Britannia Mill Feed 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 Lalor Gold Ore Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) 214 540 540 540 540 540 540 540 452 387 114 Ore Mined tpd 611 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,292 1,106 326 Au Grade g/t 4.99 6.08 5.76 5.42 5.02 5.52 5.47 5.19 5.17 5.70 6.45 Ag Grade g/t 26.55 26.00 25.28 27.49 27.70 25.88 29.90 36.53 41.68 27.93 31.02 Cu Grade % 0.64% 0.67% 0.45% 0.45% 0.44% 0.42% 1.07% 0.75% 0.59% 0.43% 0.56% Zn Grade % 0.22% 0.68% 0.88% 1.06% 1.22% 0.84% 0.93% 1.02% 1.06% 0.63% 0.95% WIM Gold Ore Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) - - - - - - - - - 104 414 Ore Mined tpd - - - - - - - - - 298 1,182 Au Grade g/t - - - - - - - - - 0.76 1.24 Ag Grade g/t - - - - - - - - - 4.64 6.01 Cu Grade % - - - - - - - - - 1.22% 1.62% Zn Grade % - - - - - - - - - 0.09% 0.18% Total Ore to New Britannia Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) 214 540 540 540 540 540 540 540 452 492 528 Ore Mined tpd 611 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,543 1,292 1,404 1,507 Au Grade g/t 4.99 6.08 5.76 5.42 5.02 5.52 5.47 5.19 5.17 4.65 2.36 Ag Grade g/t 26.55 26.00 25.28 27.49 27.70 25.88 29.90 36.53 41.68 22.99 11.41 Cu Grade % 0.64% 0.67% 0.45% 0.45% 0.44% 0.42% 1.07% 0.75% 0.59% 0.60% 1.39% Zn Grade % 0.22% 0.68% 0.88% 1.06% 1.22% 0.84% 0.93% 1.02% 1.06% 0.51% 0.35%





New Britannia Mill Feed (continued) 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 LOM Lalor Gold Ore Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) - - - - - - 4,947 Ore Mined tpd - - - - - - - Au Grade g/t - - - - - - 5.48 Ag Grade g/t - - - - - - 29.55 Cu Grade % - - - - - - 0.59% Zn Grade % - - - - - - 0.90% WIM Gold Ore Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) 438 438 401 316 288 49 2,448 Ore Mined tpd 1,252 1,251 1,147 904 822 139 - Au Grade g/t 1.55 1.74 1.82 1.82 1.68 1.87 1.60 Ag Grade g/t 5.66 6.51 6.67 6.92 6.76 6.86 6.31 Cu Grade % 1.47% 1.72% 1.71% 1.71% 1.67% 1.70% 1.63% Zn Grade % 0.32% 0.42% 0.28% 0.17% 0.13% 0.13% 0.25% 3 Zone Gold Ore Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) - - 38 219 219 187 662 Ore Mined tpd - - 107 625 626 533 - Au Grade g/t - - 3.40 4.17 4.17 4.46 4.21 Total Ore to New Britannia Ore Mined tonnes

(000s) 438 438 439 535 507 235 8,057 Ore Mined tpd 1,252 1,251 1,254 1,529 1,448 672 - Au Grade g/t 1.55 1.74 1.96 2.78 2.76 3.93 4.20 Ag Grade g/t 5.66 6.51 6.10 4.09 3.84 1.42 20.06 Cu Grade % 1.47% 1.72% 1.56% 1.01% 0.95% 0.35% 0.86% Zn Grade % 0.32% 0.42% 0.26% 0.10% 0.07% 0.03% 0.63%

Note: Tonnes per day (tpd) assumes 350 operating days a year. LOM refers to life-of-mine total. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Snow Lake Metallurgical Recoveries

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 LOM Stall Mill Recoveries Lalor Base Metal Ore Cu 86% 88% 93% 93% 93% 93% 93% 87% 89% 93% 93% - - - - - - 91% Au 59% 61% 69% 66% 69% 67% 65% 50% 54% 60% 62% - - - - - - 64% Ag 60% 63% 72% 70% 72% 71% 69% 53% 57% 64% 65% - - - - - - 66% Zn 92% 91% 91% 91% 89% 91% 91% 94% 93% 92% 91% - - - - - - 92% 1901 Base Metal Ore Cu - - - - - 81% 84% 88% 86% 90% 84% - - - - - - 87% Au - - - - - 42% 46% 53% 49% 56% 47% - - - - - - 50% Ag - - - - - 44% 48% 55% 51% 58% 49% - - - - - - 51% Zn - - - - - 94% 94% 94% 94% 93% 97% - - - - - - 94% New Britannia Recoveries Lalor Gold Ore Cu 93% 92% 91% 91% 91% 91% 93% 92% 92% 91% 92% - - - - - - 92% Au 90% 91% 91% 91% 90% 91% 91% 91% 91% 91% 91% - - - - - - 91% Ag 76% 76% 75% 76% 76% 75% 77% 78% 79% 76% 76% - - - - - - 77% WIM Gold Ore Cu - - - - - - - - - 97% 98% 97% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% Au - - - - - - - - - 77% 84% 87% 89% 89% 89% 88% 90% 88% Ag - - - - - - - - - 64% 70% 67% 71% 71% 71% 70% 71% 70% 3 Zone Gold Ore Au - - - - - - - - - - - - - 84 % 85 % 85 % 85 % 85%

Snow Lake Production Profile

Lalor Mine

Production 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 LOM Au ounces (000s) 115 160 190 191 208 182 152 112 103 86 26 1,524 Ag ounces (000s) 824 946 1,134 1,150 1,188 1,133 1,079 912 889 626 142 10,022 Cu tonnes (000s) 10 11 13 11 16 11 11 6 5 4 1 99 Zn tonnes (000s) 61 51 46 46 35 41 38 38 41 25 2 424





1901 Mine

Production 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 LOM Au ounces (000s) 3 10 11 8 9 3 44 Ag ounces (000s) 49 219 134 149 128 72 751 Cu tonnes (000s) 0 1 1 1 1 0 5 Zn tonnes (000s) 5 19 28 30 17 18 117





WIM Mine

Production 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 LOM Au ounces (000s) 2 14 19 22 21 17 14 3 110 Ag ounces (000s) 10 56 54 65 61 50 44 8 347 Cu tonnes (000s) 1 7 6 7 7 5 5 1 39





3 Zone Mine

Production 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 LOM Au ounces (000s) - - - - 3 25 25 23 76

Note: Production includes metal contained in concentrate and dore. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Snow Lake Capital Expenditures

Capital Expenditures 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Lalor Sustaining Capital C$ millions $106 $123 $86 $59 $48 $58 $56 $47 $4 $4 1901 Sustaining Capital C$ millions - - - $22 $32 $28 $7 $2 $6 $2 WIM Sustaining Capital C$ millions - - - - - - - - $57 $20 3 Zone Sustaining Capital C$ millions - - - - - - - - - - Total Sustaining Capital US$ millions $83 $96 $67 $62 $62 $66 $48 $38 $52 $20 New Britannia Project C$ millions $90 - - - - - - - - - Stall Recovery Improvement Project C$ millions - $24 - - - - - - - - Snow Lake Camp C$ millions $8 - - - - - - - - - Total Growth Capital US$ millions $77 $19 - - - - - - - - 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 LOM Lalor Sustaining Capital C$ millions $1 - - - - - - $593 1901 Sustaining Capital C$ millions - - - - - - - $98 WIM Sustaining Capital C$ millions $21 $15 $1 $1 $1 $1 $1 $118 3 Zone Sustaining Capital C$ millions - - - $14 $22 $12 - $49 Total Sustaining Capital US$ millions $17 $11 $1 $12 $18 $10 $1 $664 New Britannia Project C$ millions - - - - - - - $90 Stall Recovery Improvement Project C$ millions - - - - - - - $24 Shared General Plant C$ millions - - - - - - - $8 Total Growth Capital US$ millions - - - - - - - $96

Note: Totals may not add up correctly due to rounding. LOM refers to life-of-mine total. Canadian dollar capital expenditures converted to U.S. dollar capital expenditures at a C$/US$ exchange rate of 1.27 in 2021, 1.28 in 2022, 1.29 in 2023 and 1.30 long-term.

Snow Lake Unit Operating Costs and Cash Costs

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 LOM Mining Unit Operating Costs (C$/tonne mined) Lalor $112 $102 $102 $98 $102 $102 $112 $114 $119 $119 $138 - - - - - - $107 1901 - - - - - $46 $87 $82 $84 $91 $122 - - - - - - $87 WIM - - - - - - - - - $51 $67 $68 $80 $81 $81 $81 $81 $75 3 Zone - - - - - - - - - - - - - $30 $64 $74 $80 $70 Milling Unit Operating Costs (C$/tonne milled) Stall $26 $29 $24 $23 $24 $23 $24 $27 $25 $36 $120 - - - - - - $27 New Britannia $45 $41 $40 $40 $40 $40 $41 $41 $47 $44 $43 $50 $51 $51 $42 $44 $87 $45 General & Administrative Unit Costs1 (C$/tonne milled) Snow Lake $23 $26 $21 $21 $21 $20 $19 $19 $19 $18 $13 $15 $15 $15 $15 $15 $15 $20

1 General and administrative relate to shared service costs for Manitoba allocated to the Snow Lake operations.

Gold Cash Costs 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Gold Production ounces

(000s) 115 160 190 191 208 184 162 123 111 97 Cash Costs US$/oz ($275) $361 $434 $440 $393 $454 $382 $443 $488 $627 Sustaining Cash Costs US$/oz $550 $1,027 $784 $766 $690 $812 $680 $749 $953 $834 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2022-2027

Avg. LOM Avg. Gold Production ounces

(000s) 42 19 22 24 41 39 25 182 103 Cash Costs US$/oz $647 $669 $518 $543 $642 $754 $1,140 $411 $421 Sustaining Cash Costs US$/oz $1,056 $1,271 $571 $1,028 $1,074 $1,015 $1,170 $793 $812

Note:

Production includes metal contained in concentrate and dore. Cash costs include all onsite (mining, milling and general and administrative) and offsite costs associated with Lalor, 1901, WIM and 3 Zone and are reported net of by-product credits. By-product credits calculated using the following assumptions: zinc price of $1.20 per pound in 2021, $1.15 per pound in 2022, $1.10 per pound in 2023 and long-term; copper price of $3.75 per pound in 2021, $3.30 per pound in 2022, $3.10 per pound in 2023 and long-term; silver price of $25.00 per ounce in 2021, $23.00 per ounce in 2022, $20.00 per pounce in 2023, $19.00 per ounce in 2024, and $18.00 per ounce long-term; C$/US$ exchange rate of 1.27 in 2021, 1.28 in 2022, 1.29 in 2023 and 1.30 for long-term. Sustaining cash cost incorporate all costs included in cash costs calculation plus sustaining capital expenditures. Cash cost and sustaining cash cost are non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. For further details on why Hudbay believes cash costs are a useful performance indicator, please refer to the company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020.

i Copper and gold production growth based on mid-point of 2023 guidance ranges and 2020 actual production of 95,333 tonnes of copper and 124,622 ounces of gold. 2020 levels were partially impacted by an eight-week temporary mine interruption related to a government-declared state of emergency.

ii Cash cost and sustaining cash cost are non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. For further details on why Hudbay believes cash costs are a useful performance indicator, please refer to the company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2020.

iii Calculated using 2019 to 2036 production from Hudbays previous NI 43-101 technical report for Constancia, dated March 26, 2018, compared to 2021 to 2037 production from the updated mine plan plus 2019 and 2020 actual production to allow for the two mine plans to be comparable based on the timing of Pampacancha.

iv Based on S&P Globals 2021 cash cost curve. S&Ps costing methodology may be different than the methodology reported by Hudbay or its peers in their public disclosure. For details regarding Hudbays actual cash costs, refer to Hudbays managements discussion and analysis for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2020.

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CLEARWATER, Fla., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Sibley Dolman Gipe is urging injured victims and people with an interest in personal injury law to listen to attorney Matthew Dolman's podcast. The podcast provides consumers with information about personal injury and other areas of law, helping legal consumers understand and protect their rights. Dolman is the founding partner of Sibley Dolman Gipe.

Attorneys Matthew Dolman and Stan Gipe, of Sibley Dolman Gipe, provide their insight on law news, legal issues, current stories, and cases. Hear it all from a lawyer's standpoint.

Among the topics Mr. Dolman has recently covered on his podcast include how a lawyer determines the value of an injury claim, answering questions that car accident victims frequently ask, why it is important to have a will, legal issues in real estate, and sexual harassment and retaliatory conduct in the workplace.

Matt Dolman is an experienced personal injury lawyer who represents the rights of the injured. Various legal organizations have recognized Mr. Dolman throughout his career. He is a member of both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an honor that fewer than one percent of practicing lawyers have achieved.

Florida Trends Magazine recognized Mr. Dolman as a 2020 Florida Legal Elite. In addition, he has been named to the Top 100 trial lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers and was named among the top 40 trial lawyers under 40 by that same organization. He boasts a perfect 10.0 Avvo.com rating and, in 2012, received an Avvo Client's Choice Award. American Academy of Attorneys has recognized Matt as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in the country.

Mr. Dolman holds a bachelor of science in communications from Ithaca College and a Juris Doctor from the Stetson University College of Law. Stetson is well-known and recognized for its excellent trial advocacy program and regularly is ranked in the top three for trial advocacy by U.S. News and World Report.

Sibley Dolman Gipe is a personal injury law firm with offices throughout Florida, Boston, Houston, and the Bronx. The firm's attorneys represent the rights of people who have suffered injuries in preventable accidents, including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, bicycle accidents, nursing home abuse, slip and falls, and workplace accidents. The firm also works with victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the clergy and members of the Boy Scouts of America.

Victims can schedule a consultation with one of the firm's attorneys by contacting their office at (833) 552-7274.

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Sibley Dolman Gipe

1820 NE 163rd St 306

North Miami Beach, FL 33162

Phone: (833) 552-7274

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Matt Dolman's podcast provides free helpful legal advice

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On Friday, U.S. Senator Jack Reed joined state leaders in discussing how federal funds could be utilized to help keep renters and homeowners stably housed and improve public health and safety and access to affordable housing opportunities throughout the state.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The Ivorian Army announced on Monday that three soldiers were killed and three terrorists shot dead in two attacks that took place on Sunday night in the north of the country, on the border with Burkina Faso
Dozens of police officers who challenged their removal from office after failing the integrity test during vetting years ago have split the courts, with judges delivering contradicting decisions in cases that presented similar arguments.

The contradicting rulings have resulted in some police officers returning to work despite their inability to explain the source of their wealth to the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), which was tasked with weeding out rogue officers from one of Kenya's most corrupt institutions.

The vetting team, led by then NPSC Chief Executive Johnston Kavuludi, started the vetting of police officers on the morning of November 25, 2013 in line with the Constitution that had been promulgated three years earlier.

Mr George Mburugu Ikiara had risen to the rank of chief inspector of police when it was his turn to face a vetting panel on August 23, 2016.

At the time, Mr Ikiara was serving as a driving test examiner in Eldoret under the Traffic Department.

After filling out a pre-vetting questionnaire, it was time for him to face the Kavuludi team, which had elicited fear among officers as it would wade into their privacy in search of the smallest hint of corruption or behaviour unwanted in the police service.

Scrutiny of mobile money transactions and bank account statements of individual officers had become one of the key tools Mr Kavuludi's team employed to trace illicit funds received or sent by cops.

Unholy alliance

In Mr Ikiara's case, the vetting team traced a seemingly unholy alliance between the officer and four of his superiors -- Kennedy Obusuru Rucho, Polycarp Akoko Ochieng, Peter Katheka and John Wainaina Laban -- involving millions of shillings transacted through mobile money transfer platform M-Pesa.

Read: 302 defiant cops who skipped vetting sacked

The four had transacted over Sh3.3 million among themselves, and the vetting panel felt it could not ignore this. When Mr Ikiara was asked why he was trading amounts larger than his declared income with superiors, the officer insisted that they were all in business. The same question was put to Mr Rucho, Mr Ochieng, Mr Katheka and Mr Laban, and they also said they were in business together.

But each officer mentioned a different type of business as the source of the Sh3.3 million, which raised even more questions.

Mr Ikiara said he sold maize and clothes. Mr Ochieng mentioned maize and a cyber cafe, while Mr Rucho attributed the money to 25 guinea fowls he jointly owned with colleagues.

Interestingly, Mr Rucho denied being in the same businesses that Mr Ikiara attributed his financial muscle to. The vetting panel sent all three officers home.

But last week, High Court judge James Rika agreed with Mr Ikiara's argument that the vetting team was wrong not to consider that the police officer had been in employment for 24 years and that he also had access to sacco loans.

The judge held that police are not barred from doing business and that the vetting team should have considered that factor before sending the officers home.

But NPSC defended its decision, saying, other colleagues that Mr Ikiara claimed to be in business with had unsuccessfully sued to overrule the vetting rulings.

Justice Rika held that the failed petitions were not sufficient ground to dismiss Mr Ikiara's case, and questioned if NPSC considered whether the other officers could have lied during vetting on the nature of business they conducted.

Mr Ikiara had also argued that Mr Kavuludi himself was not present for the August 23, 2016 vetting, but signed off on the ruling.

Justice Rika held that this alone was grounds enough to rule in favour of Mr Ikiara as previous court rulings have determined that only participants in such a process can sign off on deliberations.

The judge also took issue with some of the jokes and attitude that Commissioner Mary Owuor approached Mr Ikiara's vetting with, arguing that it showed that the panel may have been biased against the officer.

Mr Ikiara will now return to work in the same rank, with full benefits due, and without loss of salary.

This means that if Mr Ikiara has not been paid, owing to the vetting removal, he will be due for all salary since 2016 when he was ejected.

He was among 127 officers kicked out in 2016 on account of unexplained M-Pesa and bank remittances from colleagues, the public and players in the transport industry.

Different outcomes

As Justice Rika was delivering his decision, Justice Nzioki wa Makau was also reading out a judgment on a petition filed by Mr Ochieng.

Mr Ochieng had raised similar arguments as Mr Ikiara.

Mr Ochieng was also a chief inspector of police, and at the time, a driving test examiner in Eldoret.

He argued that his vetting was presided over by Mr Ronald Musengi, yet the decision to remove him from service was signed off by Mr Murshid Mohamed. Mr Mohamed was not present during Mr Ochieng's vetting.

Just like Mr Ikiara, Mr Ochieng argued that the panel used evidence provided by another officer -- Mr Rucho -- during a separate vetting process without giving an opportunity to cross examine him.

But Justice Makau ruled that NPSC had done its job as provided for in the Constitution and that Mr Ochieng had not provided enough evidence to show that there was any wrongdoing in his dismissal from the police service. The judge held that the NPSC gave Mr Ochieng a chance to defend himself and reveal the source of his undeclared wealth, twice -- once at the initial vetting and later during a review of the decision.

The two rulings have once again brought to the fore the difficulty with the law, when two similar cases get different outcomes despite the arguments and subject matter being the same. Five years ago, another High Court judge ruled in a similar manner to Justice Makau.

Justice George Odunga, while reinstating Evans Momanyi Getembe to the police service, held that commissioners in panels like the ones that vetted police officers cannot miss proceedings and then take part in decision making.

In 2018, Justice Hellen Wasilwa also found herself handling a similar case as police officer Peter Kemboi Chemos was trying to have a vetting decision that kicked him out of the police service overturned.

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Justice Wasilwa also ruled that it was wrong for commissioners that were not present during vetting to vote on whether or not to kick out an officer from the police service.

But when Thomas Odero Dullo raised the same argument before Justice Hellen Wasilwa a year later, the judge held that the police officer had been lawfully edged out.

More than 400 police officers were sacked after they were found to have unexplained wealth believed to be proceeds of corruption, but dozens of the affected individuals have returned to work after they successfully challenged some aspects of the vetting process.

Interestingly, most of the court decisions seen by the Nation indicate that successful cases involved officers who contested the fact that commissioners who did not attend their vetting signed off on their removal.

Officers who challenged other aspects of the process largely failed.

For instance, John Wainaina Laban had been vetted out for his alleged association with Mr Ikiara, Mr Ochieng, Mr Rucho and Mr Katheka, only challenged the failure to give adequate opportunity and time to contest his removal.

The court held that Mr Laban had been given a fair opportunity to defend himself but failed the integrity test.

A group of 20 police officers based in Kisumu also failed to overturn their removal after they argued that they were not allowed to call witnesses for the vetting process. Justice Mathews Nduma Nderi dismissed their case in 2019.
Geneva  The World Food Program is warning of severe food shortages and rising hunger in Angola as the country is gripped by its worst drought in nearly four decades.

Angola's rainy season, which normally runs from November to April, is delivering a trickle of the rainfall needed to grow a good crop and raise healthy livestock. The abnormal dryness is adversely affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the country's southwestern provinces.

World Vision Australia said 11 million people, half of them children, were being affected by the high price of food and rising hunger. The World Food Program said conditions were not expected to improve in the coming months because of the below-average rainfall.

WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri said Angola's water shortage was damaging crops, with losses of up to 40%. In addition, he said, lack of grazing land risks decimating people's livestock.

"WFP is extremely concerned, given the chronic food insecurity and malnutrition rates in the worst- affected areas," Phiri said. "The situation is also reportedly giving rise to migratory movements, with families moving towards other provinces and across the border into Namibia."

The U.N. children's fund (UNICEF) said Angola has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, with nearly 75 deaths per 1,000 live births.

There is also a great disparity in the mineral-rich African nation, with some people extremely wealthy and others living in poverty. The United Nations said 40% of the Angolan population lives below the poverty line.

Because Angola is moving toward being classified as a middle-income country, the World Food Program does not provide food aid to the hungry. Phiri said the government was able to take care of its own people.

However, he added, WFP provides technical assistance and expertise to improve conditions for the needy. For instance, he said, WFP is helping the government expand its school feeding programs, particularly in the south and southwest. It also is involved in the response to malnutrition, a chronic problem in the country.
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By Yang Moo-jin





Facing the spring of 2021, the clock is ticking once again for Northeast Asia. On one hand, the Biden administration put great emphasis on the trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan at a series of international talks in March, namely the Quad Summit and 2+2 ministerial meetings, respectively, with Japan and South Korea.



At a high-level meeting with China, which was held shortly after those three consecutive meetings, the Biden administration displayed a very tough stance on China.



On the other hand, North Korea broke silence with Kim Yo-jong's "advice" to the U.S. and following First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui's statement made their stance clear that the North will cling to a "power for power, goodwill for goodwill" principle unless the U.S. withdraws its hostile policy against North Korea. In the ensuing days, Pyongyang even dared to fire short-range projectiles that we may see as a preview of a potential tug-of-war with Washington.



While the U.S. and China are expected to maintain their rivalry in the coming years by criss-crossing from competition to dialogue and from checks and cooperation, uncertainties are highly likely to increase in Northeast Asia.



Under these circumstances, the burning interest for the Korean Peninsula lies in when and how the U.S.-North Korea dialogue will unfold after the policy review of the U.S. The South Korean government is eager to find ways to overcome obstacles in order to restart inter-Korean relations and the Korean Peninsula peace process.



The Moon Jae-in administration has repeatedly stated both to North Korea and the international community that it will pursue humanitarian cooperation, including the COVID-19 quarantine, to restore inter-Korean relations. Yet North Korea remains unresponsive. It is a bit safe to assume that the North may understand humanitarian cooperation between the two Koreas as the most urgent issue under the pandemic and the international community can be surely supportive of such projects.



However, some local media reported as if the international community disagreed with the South Korean government on the issue. Regarding Unification Minister Lee In-young's recent comment saying "we may have to carefully evaluate sanctions against North Korea if it has aggravated people's lives" in the North, some local press insist that the U.S. and the EU disagree with Minister Lee, quoting spokespersons of the U.S. and the EU to say "it is the North Korean regime to be blamed for its border blockade and aggravation of people's daily lives in North Korea."



Does the international community including the U.S. really disagree with the idea that the sanctions may make life more difficult for North Korean people?



With the flood, sanctions, and prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the North Korean economic situation is actually getting worse. Acknowledging these difficulties, the international community has already pointed out the adverse effects of sanctions and adopted measures to flexibly implement them.



Article 48 of UNSC resolution 2270 clearly states that "resolutions are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian population." Last year's report by a panel of experts on the U.N. Sanctions Committee of the Security Council suggests that sanctions have affected unintended consequences to North Korean people.



With the increasing demand for humanitarian assistance especially for socially vulnerable groups under the current pandemic, a more flexible approach is much needed in that strict implementation of sanctions may hamper efforts to provide quarantine equipment and vaccines. This raises concerns that we need a flexible implementation of sanctions. Last November, the UNSC Sanctions Committee was well aware of the nature of the problem and has improved the sanctions exemption process to ensure a rapid and efficient delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance.



A flexible implementation of sanctions in the field of humanitarian cooperation not only improves human rights, but also goes in line with the Biden administration's foreign policy. After Biden's inauguration, the White House released the national security memorandum to evaluate whether sanctions are unduly hindering responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.



Secretary Blinken and others also consistently expressed their willingness to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea. While the U.S. government highlights the importance of addressing North Korean human rights issues, as humanitarian assistance contributes to the human rights situation of North Korean civilians, both issues should be considered simultaneously.



This March, Senator Markey and Representative Levin reintroduced the "Enhancing North Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act" which streamlines the sanctions exemption process. They highlighted that the U.S. government should conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that sanctions are not standing in the way to save lives. Also, they added that sanctions will not be successful if they prevent basic humanitarian assistance, which is in line with what Minister Lee said.



A flexible implementation of sanctions can also facilitate dialogue with North Korea on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. As North Korea continues to demand the U.S. withdraw its hostile policy to resume bilateral dialogue, the U.S. can consider a number of options as an initial step for resuming talks. Among these options, the flexible implementation of sanctions is less controversial and is in line with the U.S.' policy as aforesaid.



If the dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. starts by building confidence through eased sanctions, it will be like catching two birds with a stone, because it is highly likely to contribute to substantially improving the human rights situation in the communist country and bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table for denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.



How to create momentum during the first half of this year will decide whether South Korea, the U.S. and North Korea are able to sit at the negotiation table again.



While the U.S.-China rivalry is an emerging issue, North Korea's nuclear threat has already become too much of a real threat to be dealt with as part of America's China policy. The U.S. should separate its North Korea policy from China. If the outcome of the U.S.' policy review does not suit North Korea, it is expected to take a 'power to power' approach and escalate tension on the Korean Peninsula. I



f Washington wants to seize the opportunity, it should be decisive in its North Korean policy. I must say that the flexible implementation of sanctions for humanitarian assistance, as the South Korean government suggested, would not be a fruitless policy option.





Yang Moo-jin (yangmj@kyungnam.ac.kr) is a professor at the University of North Korean Studies and vice chairman of the Korean Association of North Korean Studies. He is also a standing committee member of the National Unification Advisory Council and policy consultant at the Ministry of Unification.



CARLINVILLE  A donation from CNB Bank & Trust has added to the fundraising efforts of Carlinville Public Library to pay for a new roof.

The $1,000 donation was part of the banks Jeans/Casual Friday initiative. Each week, anyone who wants to participate in the event donates $2 for charitable use.
More than 200 people attended a funeral in Carrick-on-Shannon in breach of Covid restrictions yesterday, one day after gardai prevented 60 people from entering a cemetery following a separate funeral in Galway.

The incidents come just weeks after widespread condemnation of a 300-strong crowd attending a separate funeral in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Gardai had set up checkpoints in the Leitrim town yesterday ahead of the funeral of popular local man Edward Stokes (84) but that failed to deter an estimated 200 people going to St Mary's Cemetery for his burial.

The same cemetery saw a crowd of 300 turn out for the burial of Davey Reilly on March 11 before breaching Garda checkpoints to attend an event in a marquee at Shannonside View halting site afterwards.

Mr Stokes's funeral Mass took place yesterday at St Mary's Church before his remains were brought by horse-drawn carriage to Shannonside View and then onto St Mary's Cemetery, where a large crowd had already gathered.

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Witnesses said around 200 people were in attendance despite Covid restrictions, which state only 10 people can attend a burial.

They added that numerous UK-registered cars were parked up around the area.

A Garda spokesman said a policing plan was carried out around the funeral over the weekend.

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"An Garda Siochana liaised with the relevant parties in advance and is not investigating any breaches in respect of the church element of this funeral. Funerals are not a penal regulation.

"An Garda Siochana will carry out an investigation into the organisers of any event which is in breach of the public health regulations.

The Health Act 1947 (Section 31A-Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No.10) Regulations 2020 are currently in force.

"This places certain restrictions on individuals organising relevant events outdoors and on travel outside the home except with reasonable excuse.

Expand Close The scene outside Rahoon Cemetery, Galway, for the funeral of Thomas Tommy McDonagh. Friday 26/3/21 / Facebook

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Whatsapp The scene outside Rahoon Cemetery, Galway, for the funeral of Thomas Tommy McDonagh. Friday 26/3/21

"In supporting the Covid-19 public health guidelines and regulations, An Garda Siochana has and will continue to adopt, a graduated policing response based on its tradition of policing by consent...

"Personal social responsibility, wearing of face coverings in open spaces and social distancing are public health guidelines and are not penal regulations."

There was widespread condemnation after almost 300 people attended Davey Reilly's burial in the same cemetery on March 11.

The crowd packed together and ignored social-distancing guidelines as they attended the burial at St Mary's Cemetery in Carrick-on-Shannon on March 11.

Expand Close The scene outside Rahoon Cemetery, Galway, for the funeral of Thomas Tommy McDonagh. Friday 26/3/21 / Facebook

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A marquee was also set up at a local halting site to hold a reception after the funeral and numerous cars from the UK descended on the area for the event.

Gardai set up a checkpoint near the marquee to try to prevent mourners from attending, but many broke through and made their way in.

Two people were arrested and more than 80 fixed penalty notices were issued by gardai as part of the operation.

Council staff have since erected bollards where the previous marquee was erected.

Gardai around the country have been putting policing plans in action for funerals where large crowds are expected to attend in breach of Covid restrictions.

Expand Close The scene near Rahoon Cemetery, Galway, for the funeral of Thomas Tommy McDonagh, where Gardai stopped and spoke to motorists on Friday 26/3/21 / Facebook

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Whatsapp The scene near Rahoon Cemetery, Galway, for the funeral of Thomas Tommy McDonagh, where Gardai stopped and spoke to motorists on Friday 26/3/21

There were also tense scenes in Galway this weekend when gardai stopped dozens of people from going into a graveyard to attend a funeral.

Gardai had put an operation in place ahead of the funeral of Tommy McDonagh in Rahoon on Friday.

Due to Covid restrictions only 10 people are allowed into the graveyard, but around 60 people arrived at Rahoon Cemetery hoping to enter, but gardai told them they couldn't.

A witness said: "There were a couple of Garda checkpoints stopping cars and telling them they couldn't park up at the graveyard. The hearse came in and they closed the gate behind it and wouldn't let any other cars in.

"There was a bit of argument between some of the mourners and the guards. After that the Armed Support Unit came down."

The witness said many of the mourners who arrived were wearing masks and others parked near the cemetery and didn't get out of their vehicles.

A small contingent of mourners went into the graveyard while another group waited outside.

"There were two lads sent off by the guards but no one was arrested. The crowd stayed for about 15 minutes and dispersed."

One of the mourners pointed out there was a large turnout the previous day on the streets of Castlebar for the funeral of well-known local man Leo O'Shaughnessy.

Dozens of people followed the hearse carrying Mr O'Shaughnessy's coffin through the streets of the town on Thursday, with the majority wearing masks and socially distancing.

There have been several other large funerals around the country in recent months in breach of guidelines.

HSE chief Paul Reid condemned the scenes following Davey Reilly's funeral in Carrick-on-Shannon earlier this month and said funerals in general are a risk factor.

"We know and experienced throughout this year, very high transmission levels at funerals all across the country in many communities," he said.

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A demonstration against coronavirus restrictions is underway in Bucharest, as several hundred people marched on Monday evening from the initial protest venue in Bucharest's University Square to Victoriei Square, in front of the government seat.

Chanting "Down with the government!", "Freedom!", "Off with the mask!", "No more muzzle", waving tricolor flags and blowing vuvuzela horns, the protesters en route to Victoriei Square occupied the first traffic lane; they were flanked by gendarmes all the way.

The Alliance for the Unity of Romanians announced today that it was joining the anti-restriction protests that will take place in front of the prefect's offices throughout the country and in the Bucharest University Square.
Virtual event to highlight Talen's transformation to a leading ESG-focused renewables and digital infrastructure growth platform

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Talen Energy Corporation ("Talen" or "the Company") announced today that it will host a virtual Equity Investor Day event on Wednesday May 19 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

The event will highlight Talen's energy transition strategy and detail the Company's sizable growth opportunity in renewables, battery storage, and digital infrastructure equity investments as it positions itself towards a sustainable future.

"We believe the electrification of the world is accelerating as a result of technology adoption in nearly every aspect of human life and economic activity. Given this rapid change, Talen intends to advance the world's transition to clean energy by leading the ESG transformation of the power and digital infrastructure sectors," said President Alex Hernandez. "This transformation creates significant opportunities for growing Talen's enterprise value," continued Mr. Hernandez.

The event will also summarize Talen's operating turnaround, culture, stewardship, and track-record of value creation since its take-private transaction in 2016.

"Talen is pleased to play a leading role in driving toward a lower carbon future while making a positive impact in our communities," said Ralph Alexander, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that Talen's continued transformation and strong ESG focus can serve as a Force for Good platform. This will amplify our ESG impact beyond our current asset footprint as we participate in the consolidation of the North American power infrastructure sector," continued Mr. Alexander.

Institutional investors may register to participate in the event via the following registration link: https://talenenergy.investorroom.com/2021-esg-equity-investor-day.

Information on Talen's website is not part of this press release.

About Talen Energy Corporation

Talen Energy is one of the largest competitive power generation and infrastructure companies in North America. The Company owns and/or controls approximately 13,000 megawatts of generating capacity in wholesale U.S. power markets, principally in the Mid-Atlantic and Texas. Talen is developing a large-scale portfolio of renewable energy, battery storage, and digital infrastructure assets across its expansive footprint. For more information, visit https://www.talenenergy.com/esg-focused-future/

Investor Contact

Olivia Sigo

Director- Finance, Investor Relations & ESG

281-203-5387

[email protected]

Media Contact

Taryne Williams

Media & Community Relations Manager

610-601-0327

[email protected]

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release includes "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that Talen expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, as well as aspirational goals, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions made by Talen based on its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Talen undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the issuance of this press release, except as required by law. This press release and the materials referred to herein are not an offer to sell or purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase, any securities.

SOURCE Talen Energy Corp.

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Lome, Togo (PANA) - Togo faces the threat of fresh outbreak of COVID-19 infections after 128 new positive cases were confirmed on Sunday, PANA learnt from official sources in Lome on Monday
A Lancaster County mother of six who was killed in a cowardly road rage shooting in North Carolina last week was on her way to Hilton Head to celebrate her seventh wedding anniversary, her husband said Monday.

Her distinct laugh still echoes in the hearts of everyone she touched, Ryan Eberly of Manheim said in a statement on the slaying of his 47-year-old wife Julie. Even in the midst of this horrific tragedy, we are seeing the hand of God through the care and concern of many individuals.

He said he and Julie were intending to spend their wedding anniversary with friends who were married at the same time. Instead, Julie died Thursday when another driver fired into the passenger door of the car her husband was driving on Interstate 95 in Robeson County.

None of the children were with the couple.

We want to tell Julies story in the hope that someone, somewhere will come forward, who knows the individual who took the cowardly action of firing a gun from a moving car into another vehicle. Finding this person wont bring Julie back, but it will provide justice for Julie and prevent this from happening to anyone else. It will also provide comfort and a bit of closure for Julies family, Ryan Eberly said.

He said the gunman callously cut short the life of a woman who loved to go snowmobiling and was ready for any type of adventure.

Julie made it her mission to open their home to friends, family, and neighbors. It was her joy to have these people around her and bless them with her hospitality, her husband said. Julies roots of faith grew deep. She was involved in several prayer ministries and deeply passionate in helping people find healing. Everyone who knew her enjoyed her joy for life and positive spirit. Her distinct laugh still echoes in the hearts of everyone she touched. Even in the midst of this horrific tragedy, we are seeing the hand of God through the care and concern of many individuals.

As the Eberly family mourned, the Robeson County Sheriffs Department was still on the hunt for a suspect.

Investigators said the shooting occurred at 11:40 a.m. at Exit 22 near Lumberton after the Eberlys car came close to that of the suspect as they merged into a lane. The suspect pulled alongside the Eberly car, rolled down his window filed multiple shots, police said. One bullet struck Julie Eberly. She died later in a hospital.

The suspects car is as silver or gray Chevrolet Malibu or Impala with tinted windows. Anyone with information can call the Robeson County Sheriffs Office at 910-671-3170 or email sheriff@robesoncoso.org.

Ryan Eberly thanked the sheriffs office and Lumberton residents for helping his family through the worst day possible and their own community for their continued prayers and support.

It is in these loving gestures that the family will be able to heal, he said.

A gofundme page, the Julie Michelle Eberly Memorial Foundation, was created at the urging of the Robeson County Sheriffs Office because of the hundreds of emails from residents wanting to know how to help, Ryan Eberly said. The money will be used to make donations to charities in Julies honor, he said.


A smartphone and a dog are all Lin Ran needs for a relaxed weekend at home. She spends over 10 hours a day on the phone, switching between apps, ordering food, watching TV episodes and short videos, and chatting with friends. She also makes sure to free up one hour to walk her dog around the block.



The dog is the latest addition to Lin's one-woman household since she moved into her apartment in June 2020. The move marked the beginning of a solo life for this 25-year-old. For the first 18 years of her life, she lived with her parents. Then she left them to attend college. Following graduation, she shared an apartment with two friends in Beijing for some two years. In 2020, a raise in salary and a drop in Beijing's rent due to the COVID-19 epidemic worked together to make her dream of having a whole apartment to herself come true.

"It is great to have an apartment just to myself," Lin told Beijing Review. "I don't have to share the bathroom or kitchen. I can get up at any time I want and stay up as late as I please without having to worry about disturbing any flatmates. Moreover, I can finally have a dog that can roam around freely inside the apartment."

A rising number

Figures released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that about 92 million adults in China live alone, 20 million of whom are aged 20 to 39 and reside in the nation's metropolises.

"There are quite a few reasons for this phenomenon," said Zhang Xiaoping, a Beijing-based psychologist. "The younger generations, mostly having grown up in one-child families, are more inclined to be self-centered and more reluctant to enter intimate relationships. The convenience brought on by the digital economy has also made living by oneself much easier."

A survey conducted by People's Daily in 2020 indicated that up to 80 percent of the young living alone had voluntarily opted for this solo lifestyle, with "freedom" as the prevalent reason for their decision.

"After spending long hours in the office, I just want to unwind and relax as much as I can in my own way," said Xie Xiaolong, a 27-year-old man living in Beijing. "I can soak in the bathtub and play music with the loudspeakers on."

"People of my parents' generation might not have had the opportunity to lead this solo lifestyle," Xie said. "They normally came from big families, got married at a fairly young age and continued life in their hometowns. But it is normal for our generation to leave the parental home to attend college and many of us eventually will settle down somewhere else. Compared with our parents, we care more about our privacy."

The booming number of people living solo has boosted what is now referred to as the "single economy." More restaurants today create services targeting single customers. But it doesn't end with the catering industry. More and more shopping malls are setting up karaoke booths just big enough to accommodate one or two persons. Dozens of online shopping platforms are banking on the "going it alone" trend to offer new gadgets that will help solo consumers kill time. China's mushrooming live-streaming platforms, too, have spotted the new opportunity by making it easier for solo youngsters to earn money onlinefrom the convenience of their own home.

Xiong Yun, a 30-year-old live-streaming hostess, told Beijing Review that it is normal for her to stay at home without setting foot outside for an entire week. "If I want, I could stay at home for a month, or even longer, and nobody would notice," she said.

A survey conducted by China Youth Daily in December 2020 showed that over 40 percent of those aged between 18 and 35 feel they are displaying symptoms of social phobia. "I can be active online. But I get nervous talking to neighbors," Xiong said. "The longer I live alone, the less I want to talk to people face to face. So far, I don't have any plans for marriage as I can't even imagine involving another person in my life."

According to Xie, Xiong's situation is a bit on the extreme side. "I know there must a number of people living like she is," he said. "But normally more of us have coworkers and friends and we have regular gatherings. We just maintain a sense of distance when it comes to our personal lives."

Alone and lonely

The one thing that might rattle the joys of living alone is illness. Last September, Xiong needed to get surgery due to appendicitis. She had no friends to take care of her and her mother flew into Beijing from Yunnan Province in southwest China. This unpleasant experience changed her mind about solo life. "When my mom once again pushed me to find a boyfriend, I didn't object to it as firmly as I had before," she said.

"It doesn't have to be an illness, sometimes it is a strong sense of loneliness that sweeps over you all of a sudden and takes your joy away," Xie said.

Safety is another concern for lovers of solo life. During the Spring Festival holiday in 2021, a young woman living on her own in Beijing accidentally locked herself in her bathroom. She struggled to get out but could not get any help for 30 hours. Finally, her upstairs neighbor heard the intermittent tapping on the pipes, went downstairs to check and rescued her.

On February 6, five days before the holiday, a 23-year-old solo-living woman in Changsha, capital city of Hunan Province in central China, died after jumping out of a van she had rented for moving to a new apartment at night. The van driver, as police records revealed, had taken a shortcut to save time but the route he took was dark, which frightened the woman, and she chose to jump out of the passenger window.

The two incidents made waves online and ignited heated discussions on the troubles that come with living alone. "My parents called me several times, expressing their concern about my situation," Lin said. The lesson that Lin took from the incidents was to always have her smartphone within reach and make sure at least one friend has a spare key to the apartmentjust in case of any mishap. "I don't want to live by myself for the rest of my life," she explained. "My plan is to get married before 30. For now, I'm just enjoying a life of solitude despite the concerns voiced by my parents."

The man who rescued the girl trapped inside her bathroom also lives by himself. After witnessing his neighbor's ordeal, he reconsidered his solo lifestyle. "You never know what might happen and people are, after all, social animals," he told China Youth Daily. "Maybe we should stay more connected with our family and friends."
Read what is in the news today:

COVID-19 Updates

-- Vietnam recorded one imported COVID-19 case on Sunday afternoon, raising the national tally to 2,591 patients, with 2,308 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Healths data.

-- As many as 45,140 people in Vietnams 19 provinces and cities had been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Sunday, the health ministry said on Monday morning.

-- The makeshift hospital for COVID-19 treatment No. 2 in northern Hai Duong Province was dissolved on Sunday, after the outbreak in the biggest hotspot of the latest coronavirus resurgence had been brought under control.

Society

-- Police in Binh Chanh District in Ho Chi Minh City has confirmed the video spread on social media on Sunday capturing two traffic police officers beating two young men is genuine, explaining that the two policemen lost their temper to the two illegal racers profanity and insulting behaviors.

-- Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspapers readers have complained about a large gathering of people on motorbikes making loud engine noise and causing street disorder on To Ky Street in Hoc Mon District in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday afternoon.

-- The firefighting police unit in Ho Chi Minh City has introduced Help 114, a mobile app that allows users to send fire alarms for rapid response to fire-related accidents.

-- A fine of VND1-3 million (US$43-130) will be imposed on anyone cruelly beating or torturing pets in Vietnam from April 20.

-- The Directorate of Water Resources warned that with the forecast level of saltwater intrusion in March and April this year, it is essential to prevent the possibility of water shortage for about 40,000 hectares of fruit trees in Vietnams Mekong Delta.

Business

-- The total newly-registered and adjusted capital, capital contribution, and share purchases of foreign direct investment enterprises in Vietnam hit $10.13 billion from the beginning of this year to March 20, up 18.5 percent over the same period last year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

World news

-- Canadian authorities charged a suspect with murder in the fatal stabbing of a woman and the wounding of six others in an early afternoon attack at a library in a Vancouver suburb on Saturday, police said, Reuters reported.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Nandigram: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday (March 29) said she does not support violence against women and took a jibe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah being silent on the Hathras case.

The row began after HM Amit Shah accused TMC for the death of an 82-year-old mother of a BJP worker in West Bengal.

CM Mamata Banerjee lashed out at Amit Shah saying that he is not aware of the real reason behind the death. She also wondered why the Home Minister remains silent when women are tortured to death in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP claimed that the elderly woman, a party worker's mother, succumbed to her injuries sustained during an attack by Trinamool Congress supporters in Nimta area of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district in February.

"I don't know how the sister has died. We don't support violence against women. We have never supported violence against my sisters and mothers, CM Banerjee said.

"But the BJP is now politicising the issue. Amit Shah is tweeting and saying Bengal Ka Kya Haal hain(What is the condition of Bengal). Why does he remain mum when women are attacked and brutalised in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh?" Banerjee said while addressing a rally in Nandigram.

Highlighting that Model Code of Conduct is in place, law and order is now under the jurisdiction of the ECI, Banerjee said, "Three Trinamool Congress workers have been killed in the last few days."

The Union Home Minister tweeted in the morning, "Anguished over the demise of Bengals daughter Shova Majumdar ji, who was brutally beaten by TMC goons. "The pain & wounds of her family will haunt Mamata didi for long. Bengal will fight for a violence-free tomorrow, Bengal will fight for a safer state for our sisters & mothers," Shah said.

Anguished over the demise of Bengals daughter Shova Majumdar ji, who was brutally beaten by TMC goons. The pain & wounds of her family will haunt Mamata didi for long. Bengal will fight for a violence-free tomorrow, Bengal will fight for a safer state for our sisters & mothers. pic.twitter.com/ZmKNgjdMpH  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 29, 2021

Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest in the second phase of the state assembly elections to be held on April 1 with the Chief Minister taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the BJP in December last year.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 per cent voter turnout 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 went to the polls to decide on the electoral fate of 191 candidates, including 21 women.

Live TV
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FLASHBACK: Members of the public line up outside the National Insurance Board of Trinidad and Tobago (NIBTT) Tunapuna branch in March 2020 for the salary relief grant, which was to allow citizens, who have lost income as a result of the implementation of Covid-19 measures, to be able to access $1,500 per month over a three-month period.

Photo: CURTIS CHASE
An image created by Marcin Minor for the cover of the scientific journal IUCrJ to accompany a new article urging scientists to prepare now for the next pandemic. Credit: Marcin Minor

An international team of researchers led by a University of Virginia School of Medicine professor is warning that scientists must better prepare for the next pandemicand has developed a plan to do just that.

Noting the avalanche of scientific data generated in response to COVID-19, UVA's Wladek Minor, Ph.D., and colleagues are calling for the creation of an advanced information system (AIS) to help scientists integrate, monitor and evaluate the vast amounts of data that will be produced as researchers reveal the molecular architecture of the next pathogen posing a big biological threat. This information on the shape, structure, and function of a pathogen is essential to the development of medications, vaccines and treatments. For example, the COVID-19 vaccines now available target the "spike" protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Their heavily cited online resource for COVID-19 ( COVID-19.bioreproducibility.org/ ) demonstrates the usefulness of their approach and can be used as a foundation for the new research strategy, they say. The site includes carefully validated 3D structural models of numerous proteins related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including many potential drug targets.

"Structural models and other experimental results produced by various laboratories must follow a standard evaluation procedure to ensure that they are accurate and conform to accepted scientific standards," said Minor, Harrison Distinguished Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics at UVa. "Standardized validation is important for all areas of biomedical sciences, especially for structural models, which are often used as a starting point in subsequent research, such as computer-guided drug docking studies and data mining. Even seemingly insignificant errors can lead such research astray."

Battling a Pandemic

One important role of AIS would be to identify structures that can be refined and improved, the researchers say. They were happy to note that inspection of the molecular blueprints produced for components of COVID-19 and deposited in the Protein Data Bank online database suggests that most were very good. Less than 1% needed significant reinterpretation and less than 10% could be optimized by moderate revisions.

Still, good buildings require good blueprints. The same is true with vaccines and disease treatments. It's critical, the researchers say, that the structural and other data for pathogens are as accurate as possible, and that scientists from various fields are speaking the same language when discussing and using them. The proposed AIS would help ensure conformity across disciplines.

"Almost 100,000 COVID-19-related papers have been published and over a thousand models of macromolecules encoded by SARS-CoV-2 have been experimentally determined in about a year. No single human can possibly digest this volume of information," Minor said. "We believe that the most promising solution to information overload and the lack of effective information retrieval is the creation of an advanced information system that is capable of harvesting results from all relevant resources and presenting the information in instructive ways that promote understanding and knowledge."

The researchers acknowledge that implementing their proposal would be a major undertaking. Other resources that sought to offer similar benefits on a smaller scale have already come and gone. That's why it's so important, the scientists say, that we act now. "Creating an AIS will undoubtedly require the collaboration of many scientists who are experts in their respective fields, but it seems to be the only way to prepare biomedical science for the next pandemic," the researchers write in a new scientific paper outlining their proposal.

"In the history of humanity, the COVID-19 pandemic is relatively mild by comparison with the bubonic plague (Black Death) that killed a hundred times more people," the researchers conclude. "We might not be so lucky next time."

New Approach Outlined

The researchersfrom UVA, the National Cancer Institute, Poland and Austriahave detailed their plan in an article in the scientific journal IUCrJ. The article is featured on the journal cover. The research team consists of Marek Grabowski, Joanna M. Macnar, Marcin Cymborowski, David R. Cooper, Ivan G. Shabalin, Miroslaw Gilski, Dariusz Brzezinski, Marcin Kowiel, Zbigniew Dauter, Bernhard Rupp, Alexander Wlodawer, Mariusz Jaskolski and Minor.

In their paper, the researchers gratefully acknowledged the financial support of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences, grant R01-GM132595; the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, grant PN/BEK/2018/1/00058/U/00001; the Polish National Science Center, grant 2020/01/0/NZ1/00134; the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research; FWF (Austrian Science Foundation), grant P 32821; and the Polish National Science Centre, grant 2018/29/B/ST6/01989.

Minor and his longtime collaborator Zbyszek Otwinowski, Ph.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, were recently awarded the Tadeusz Sendzimir Applied Sciences Award by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America for their efforts to develop and promote software for biomedical applications in the structural biology field.

To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to the Making of Medicine blog at makingofmedicine.virginia.edu.

More information: Marek Grabowski et al, Rapid response to emerging biomedical challenges and threats, IUCrJ (2021). Marek Grabowski et al, Rapid response to emerging biomedical challenges and threats,(2021). DOI: 10.1107/S2052252521003018
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 03:52:34|Editor: huaxia

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A Palestinian man prepares to unload the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on March 29, 2021. China on Monday handed over a batch of donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Palestine to support its nationwide fight against the pandemic. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday handed over a batch of donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Palestine to support its nationwide fight against the pandemic.

This is "(China's) latest move to implement both the important consensus reached between the two heads of state and the solemn commitment by Chinese President Xi Jinping to provide COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good," said Guo Wei, head of the Office of the People's Republic of China to the State of Palestine, during the handover ceremony.

China has been helping Palestine in its anti-coronavirus fight since the outbreak of the disease in the country in March last year. China has donated several batches of medical supplies to Palestine in 2020, and a Chinese team of medical experts was sent to Palestine last June to support its fight against the pandemic.

On March 21, Palestine launched a mass COVID-19 inoculation campaign in a bid to curb the fast spread of the virus across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The rapid arrival of the Chinese vaccines to help along the Palestinian inoculation campaign demonstrates the sincere friendship of the Chinese people toward the Palestinians, writing a new chapter of their joint fight against the pandemic, Guo said.

"This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 33rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Palestine. In this special year, China is ready to work with Palestine to meet challenges, build a community with a shared future for mankind and inject new content into the friendly Sino-Palestinian relationship," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila thanked the Chinese government and people for contributing to Palestine's vaccination campaign, noting the batch from China is the largest single donation of COVID-19 vaccines Palestine has received so far.

"Palestine highly appreciates China's commitment to provide coronavirus vaccines as a global public good and its selfless assistance to Palestine and other developing countries with a responsible attitude and concrete measures," she said.

Palestine already approved China's Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, according to the Health Ministry.

On Monday, Palestine recorded 1,786 new COVID-19 cases, 18 deaths and 1,181 recoveries in the past 24 hours. A total of 266,720 infections have been registered in Palestine so far. Enditem
Photo taken on March 18, 2021 shows an image of Mars captured by China's Tianwen-1 probe. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Friday released two new images of Mars captured by the country's Tianwen-1 probe. In the images, Mars is crescent-shaped with a clear surface texture. When the Tianwen-1 probe was 11,000 km away from Mars on the far side of the planet to the sun, it took panoramic photos of Mars with a medium-resolution camera onboard. (CNSA/Handout via Xinhua)

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Friday released two new images of Mars captured by the country's Tianwen-1 probe.

In the images, Mars is crescent-shaped with a clear surface texture.

When the Tianwen-1 probe was 11,000 km away from Mars on the far side of the planet to the sun, it took panoramic photos of Mars with a medium-resolution camera onboard.

The Tianwen-1 probe has been operating in the parking orbit around Mars for a month. The high-resolution camera, medium-resolution camera, mineral spectrometer and other payloads onboard were switched on successively to carry out exploration of Mars and obtain scientific data, according to the CNSA. Enditem
West New Yorks new vaccination site, operated by Holy Name Medical Center, will open at Memorial High School April 2 with plans to inoculate 3,000 people a day, the hospital announced Monday.

The site will be open daily at the high school gymnasium.

It will be the first vaccination site that the town has had a role in opening.

This much needed and appreciated collaboration with Holy Name Medical Center will provide a safe and efficient vaccine site in the heart of this community, said Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez. As we move forward, we thank Holy Name for helping us move one step closer to beating this virus because this community deserves it.

West New York and other majority Hispanic municipalities in northern Hudson County have suffered great losses during the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 13% of the towns population became infected over the last year, and 202 residents died.

Holy Name CEO Michael Maron said the hospitals success in vaccine distribution led us to answer West New York Mayor Gabriel Rodriguezs call to create a similar experience for our neighbors in Hudson County. Holy Name is located in Teaneck and has a facility in West New York.

Holy Name opened a similar vaccination site at a community center in a partnership with Teaneck. That site has seen 75,000 doses administered, Maron said.

We have seen how COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color and we remain committed to ensuring that all New Jersey residents receive fair and equal access to the vaccine, said Dr. Gilberto Gastell, internal medicine specialist at Holy Name and a fixture in the North Hudson medical community.

Registration for appointments at the Memorial High School location will be available at vaccine.holyname.org and www.westnewyorknj.org/pages/covid-19.
Thanks to the pandemic, Tal Sharon has a new restaurant. Like most things in the Israeli chef and restaurateurs world, it wasnt planned that way.

Sharon came to New Orleans six years ago, chased south by the cold weather in New York. He opened Misa, his second restaurant, in September  right next door to his first place, Tals Hummus. Misa occupies the space that formerly housed Bordeaux, the French restaurant that featured rotisserie-cooked meats and more from chef Dominique Macquet.

Its the same landlord as Tals, and he asked if I wanted to take it over back in July, says Sharon, who calls himself an Israeli chef who cooks Mediterranean cuisine. Because of its spacious outdoor patio  perfect for pandemic eating  and the fact that Tals had managed to thrive on takeout and delivery once the lockdown set in, Sharon decided to open another eatery.

Tals offers the kind of Israeli street food the owner says he missed when he came to New Orleans. Misa has an eclectic menu that ranges all over the Mediterranean map and beyond, with prices from $7 to $19 for small plates and $16 to $34 for entrees.

The bigger kitchen at Misa allows the chef more room to create global dishes, with pasta and seafood front and center. The menu reflects his stints cooking everywhere from Tel Aviv to Costa Rica, where he had two restaurants on the beach.

Start with an order of frena, a typical Moroccan flatbread similar to lavash, topped with limas, chili and tahini. Fried latkas are made with finely shredded cauliflower and potato and served with sour cream. Israeli-style ceviche spotlights a seasonal local white fish marinated with a dice of cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and lemon juice. Eggplant sabich is a sandwich from Jewish communities in Iraq that became a popular street-food item in Tel Aviv. Its a vegetarian mash-up of grilled eggplant, hard-cooked eggs, hummus, tahini and spicy mango chutney in a pita pocket.

Chicken liver pasta is a specialty, for which the livers are stir fried with olive oil, chiles, tomatoes and green onions. House-made sweet potato ravioli is one of several vegetarian options, served with a sweet and spicy spinach-tomato cream sauce.

Tuna is used a few different ways. Seared rare tuna is sliced thin, seasoned with herbs and served with balsamic, lemon and greens with sourdough bread on the side. A house-made grilled tuna burger comes with avocado and greens and is topped with garlicky tzatziki sauce. An Indian lamb shank stew features slow-roasted lamb warmed with fragrant spices, dates, pine nuts and almonds. A half chicken is boned and stuffed back into its skin with lots of cumin, paprika, garlic, parsley and olive oil, served with warm tortillas.

Although he studied culinary arts, Sharon remembers cooking as a boy after school, when hed make hummus and shashlik, or grilled beef skewers. He also cooked when he served in the Israeli army. Sharon attended the Tadmor Culinary School in Herzliya, Israel and cut his teeth as a chef in the Tel Aviv food scene, where he flourished for 15 years. Next came three restaurants and a 14-year adventure in Costa Rica, and then he tried his hand in New York. When he found winter there daunting, he decided to give New Orleans a try. He loved it.

Its very free here, very warm and friendly, he says. The only thing I missed was the kind of home cooking I was used to in Israel.

Batture Bistro + Bar serves small plates and brunch at the ONE11 Hotel Youd never guess the size of chef Drue Vitters kitchen by the dishes he serves at Batture Bistro + Bar, the new restaurant in the recently o

He named Misa for his grandmother, who was born in Tripoli and moved to Israel when she was 10.

When I was young, I didnt realize how much she influenced me, he says. But I ate her food and it stayed with me.

Misa was meant to be a patio restaurant, but it also has two small indoor dining rooms. The outdoor area has seating in a covered area and on a street-level terrace. With spring weather and the increase in vaccination rates, Sharon is optimistic about the coming months.

People want to have little parties, he says, to be outside and have fun together again.

Misa

4734 Magazine St., (504) 510-2791

Lunch and dinner daily

Takeout, dine-in and outdoor seating available

Recently opened Hieux Boil Seafood House serves Viet-Cajun-style boiled seafood in Mid-City Its no accident that Hieu Doan is a go-getter running two restaurants: Boil Seafood House on Magazine Street and the newly opened Hieux Boil 

Talitha 'Tali' Smith and Derek Smith created the Polish food pop-up PoLa New Orleans PoLa New Orleans is at Broad Street Cider every Friday and offers precooked, packaged meals on the second and fourth Sunday of the month.
Kano  The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Ahmed Bola Tinubu has said the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable, as he called on all Nigerians to strengthen the bond of unity among them to ensure prosperity for the country.

Tinubu stated this when he visited the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado-Bayero,in Kano, yesterday.

The former Lagos State governor said Nigerians should exude tolerance and deep understanding to sustain the country's unity.

He said the nation was at a critical stage of its history, adding that unity and understanding were required for it to move forward.

"Lagos and Kano states are known for their cosmopolitan and tolerant nature; this is the way to go. My visit today is a clear testimony that people can work together to make positive change possible regardless of tribe and religion, " he said.

According to Tinubu, Nigeria needs absolute peace for it to progress as one indivisible entity.

Tinubu had arrived in Kano yesterday despite strong opposition to celebrate his birthday in the state.

According to him, until Nigerians are ready to bury their differences, the nation will not progress.

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) had asked Governor Abdullahi Ganduje not to host Tinubu's birthday in the state.

But yesterday, Ganduje accompanied the APC national leader to the palace of the emir of Kano where he paid homage to the monarch.

Tinubu is expected to meet with the Northern Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria today. There are indications that Tinubu is eyeing the Presidency, though he has not publicly declared his intention yet but enough signs are visibly on the wall specially "Nigeria is at critical stage of its life and the only thing that would make it survive is unity and understanding; therefore, Lagos and Kano, which have come through these over time, must show the way.

"Peace and development would be eluded if the nation continues the way it is going; therefore unity and tranquility must be the hope that could be ridden on.

"One can see that today I, Bola Tinubu, is sitting side by side with Governor Ganduje and this is a clear testimony that people, regardless of their tribes and religions, could come together and make a change," he said.

He called on Nigerians to always be their brother's keepers and to shun politics of rancour and hatred.

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Earlier, Ado-Bayero had stated that Tinubu's choice of Kano to celebrate his birthday was a testimony of his love and quest for a united country.

The emir pledged to work towards promoting and strengthening Nigeria's unity and development.

"As Nigerians, we need to play our roles to keep the nation together; we have to make Nigeria great. Political leaders have tremendous roles to play; as traditional rulers, they have our support," he said.

After leaving the emir's palace, Tinubu commissioned the restructured office of Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, done by the Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje administration.

As Tinubu and the governor were going round the restructured office of the anti-corruption body, Governor Ganduje said, "When we came in, this institution achieved little. We then appointed a very vibrant human rights activist, whose pedigree for human rights and freedom was enough reason for his achievements, to chair the Agency."
Foreign investors must seriously consider Zimbabwe as the best investment destination in Southern Africa given the country's array of business opportunities across all sectors of the economy, Ali-Japan786 HK Limited executive has said.

Ali-Japan group is in the business of Japanese car trading and machinery and also has interests in mining, fuel, manufacturing and tourism business.

The group also boasts of an array of thriving businesses in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa among other countries in Africa.

Ali-Japan786 HK Limited director, Mr Ali Mohammed, applauded Government's reform policies under the new administration saying they offer best business climate going into future for any foreign investor to look for opportunities.

"The reason why I say investors must choose Zimbabwe for business it is because of the vast opportunities present across all the sectors of the economy, coupled by President Mnangagwa's Vision 2030," he said.

"Also the country enjoys political stability and the Government encourages best business ambience. Zimbabweans work ethics is tremendous to attract investments."

Ever since he came to power President Mnangagwa has declared Zimbabwe "open for business", linking foreign relations with economic policy.

This, Mr Mohammed said would see the country's economic centre growing formidably in the next few years to become the hub of trade in the region, but stressed on the need to make sure that the One-Stop Shop -- linking the Immigration and Zimbabwe Investments and Development Agency -- is properly functional to attract even hesitant foreign financiers.

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Ali-Japan Group is planning to sink more than US$50 million into mining business, with Mr Mohammed confident that the country has a bright economic future.

Mr Mohammed said about five financially heavy Japan investors are ready to do business in the country, but their arrival have been curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zimbabwe and Japan enjoyed cordial relations ever since Harare opened its embassy in Tokyo in 1982.

In 2015 the Japanese government made a decision to resume full-scale development schemes in the country as part of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Efforts are underway to have more Japanese companies investing in Zimbabwe in response to the ongoing economic reform process, with Tokyo and Harare pushing for improved bilateral relations.

Two years ago, a high-powered Japanese business delegation visited the country and paid a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa before holding a series of meetings with ministers with a view to exploring business opportunities in the country.

Relations between Zimbabwe and Japan improved over recent years, with various projects being undertaken under the Japan Official Development Assistance (ODA) framework.

There are plans to commence infrastructure development under the North-South corridor.

Zimbabwe has been a beneficiary of humanitarian aid from Japan, but the trend is shifting with the two countries now taking the relationship to new heights on projects that enrich both sides.
[March 29, 2021]

Shaoxing launches English platform to promote city overseas

SHAOXING, China, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from chinadaily.com.cn:

An English-language platform promoting culture and tourism in Shaoxing, a historic city in East China's Zhejiang province, was launched on March 29.

Backed y China Daily Website and the Shaoxing Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, the platform, "Shaoxing, the very best of China", consists of pages and accounts on several overseas social media sites, and will introduce the city's fascinating history and culture to the world.







"As Shaoxing attracts the attention of the international community this year as one of the Culture Cities of East Asia 2021, the platform is a great way to promote Shaoxing's image, especially its splendid culture, to the world," said Han Lei, editor-in-chief of China Daily Website, at the launch ceremony.

He Junjie, head of the Shaoxing Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, announced the unveiling of the "Year of Shaoxing" campaign, set for Mar 31. The official emblem for Shaoxing as the Culture City of East Asia was released at the ceremony.

Shaoxing is not only known for its picturesque scenery and rich cultural heritage, but also for the many great minds that it has given rise to. On Dec 20, it was named a Culture City of East Asia 2021, along with Dunhuang in China, Kitakyushu in Japan, and Sunchon in the Republic of Korea.

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn
Purple Heart Project

Two high school students, Mary and Lily Nila, initiated this project with the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter No. 704 in September. The Cayuga County Legislature and Auburn City Council have passed proclamations designating the municipalities as Purple Heart communities. Cayuga County is the 13th state county and Auburn is the 43rd municipality to do so. The mission of the Purple Heart Project is to provide information and National Purple Heart Hall of Honor applications for all Cayuga County Purple Heart recipients and their families. We are encouraging Purple Heart families, Gold Star mothers and veterans to take the time to enroll their loved ones in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. Purple Heart recipient stories are preserved and shared through exhibits, and live and videotaped interviews with veterans. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, in Orange County in the Hudson Valley.

Wreaths Across America

Each year in December, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter No. 704 works with Dr. Theresa Misiaszek and the Cayuga Community College Criminal Justice Club and Port Byron high school students to sponsor a countywide ceremony. We come together as a community, and take the time to pause and reflect upon the sacrifices and service of our veterans. Cayuga County pays homage to its 29 fallen from the Vietnam War, the 26 from Korean War, the 267 from World War II and the 135 from World War I, as well as our nine Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. We especially remember our most recent fallen who answered the call to preserve and protect our nation during the global war on terror. Community organizations and groups also participate in sponsoring remembrance wreaths. Gold Star Mothers, Blue Star Families and the grandmothers, family and children of fallen warriors participate in the ceremony. We honor and remember our American service members buried at home and in overseas cemeteries. The burial grounds overseas are in the following countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Philippines, Tunisia and the United Kingdom.
The Junta de Andalucia has started to vaccinate members of the general public aged between 65 and 55 years old with the AstraZeneca formula this Monday, 29 March - starting with those born in 1956.

The first doses for this age group will be administered in Almeria city, Almonte (Huelva) and in the Malaga province town of Ronda.

Appointments will be scheduled in the other Andalusian provinces once the vaccination of professionals belonging to the essential worker groups (education, police forces, firefighters, civil protection volunteers and prison officers), who are also being vaccinated University of Oxford formula, is completed.

Andalucia resumed AstraZeneca vaccinations last Wednesday after the decision was taken by Spains Ministry of Health to resume the administration of this vaccine after it was cleared by European Medicines Agency following some blood clot concerns in a small number of cases across Europe.

The Ministry of Health also authorised its use of AstraZeneca up to the age of 65 from the initial maximum age limit of 55.

Meanwhile the Pfizer vaccine is being reserved for people over 80 and health workers and the Moderna formula is being administered to the elderly and health and care workers.

This week Andalucia expects to receive 99,450 vaccines from Pfizer, some 56,800 from Moderna, and another 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca that are added to the existing stock that was accumulated during the nine-day break after the blood clot concerns forced its temporary withdrawal.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia




Haiti - Politic : Thousands of Haitians demonstrate against the referendum project





On Sunday, at the call of the Protestant sector and civil society organizations, several thousand people marched in the streets of Port-au-Prince to denounce, among other things, the Referendum that had to decide whether or not to replace the 1987 Constitution with a new Constitution.



The mostly young demonstrators, joined by activists and sympathizers of the radical opposition and several opposition leaders including Jean Charles Moise, launched slogans against the referendum, for respect for the current Constitution, against President Moise and the dictatorship and against the support of the Americans and the international community for the current government...



The protest went off without major incident. Posters on the referendum were torn from the paths of protesters. However, a few clashes between "protesters" and law enforcement were recorded and several barricades of flaming tires were erected on the course.



For its part, the National Police of Haiti (PNH) recalled in a note that it had taken all the necessary measures to secure the demonstration on Sunday, specifying "[...] nevertheless, attempts of violent action on the part of demonstrators are to be deplored.



Small groups, gathered on both sides in the area of the Champs Mars, threw stones in the direction of the base of the Departmental Unit of Maintenance of Order (UDMO) which is located in the same perimeter" stressing "The police maintained, in spite of the attacks, a professional behavior" reminding to the initiators of demonstrations "[...] that they are called to be responsible for the consequences of violent acts which would result from it."



Download the preliminary Draft Constitution (PDF) :

https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/CCI-CONSTITUTION_Projet-de-Constitution-2-fevrier-2021-20h00.pdf



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33082-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32858-haiti-politic-the-protestant-sector-supports-the-opposition-and-calls-for-the-transition.html



PI/ HaitiLibre


















Crocodile breeder, Padenga Holdings Limited, has warned of a significant fall in profitability for the year to December 31, 2020 relative to prior year due to the negative effects of the Covid-19.

Since last year, global economies have been at various levels of lockdowns, which caused supply chain disruptions due to movement restrictions.

Most countries closed their borders as part of efforts to limit the spread of the pandemic, which had an adverse impact on businesses.

For Padenga, which is an export oriented company, said the pandemic has had an adverse impact on sale of crocodile skins to its key markets in Europe.

"The board of directors of Padenga Holdings Limited wished to advise shareholders of a material change in the group's profits for the 2020 trading year.

"The group's crocodile and alligator businesses have been impacted by market dynamics resultant from the Covid-19 pandemic and in particular a softening of international markets for luxury exotic skin products resulting in one of the most depressed trading environments ever," said chairman Mr Thembinkosi Sibanda in a profit warning notice to shareholders.

The warning is a precursor to the financial results to be released at a date to be announced.

Mr Sibanda indicated that there were limited sales opportunities for skins not meeting exacting quality standards and when found, sold at very depressed prices particularly for alligator skins from the United-States-based subsidiary, Tallow Creek Ranch.

The closure of restaurants across Europe due to Covid-19 induced lockdown also meant that demand for crocodile meat collapsed completely and no export sales were achieved in the period.

However, management still remains upbeat of recovery post pandemic.

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"Notwithstanding these challenges, both businesses were able to sustain skins supply contracts with premium customers at a time when most crocodilian operations worldwide had no viable market and have ceased production.

"We believe that our customers will be at the forefront of the market recovery post Covid-19," said Mr Sibanda.

Padenga is also pinning its hopes on its newly acquired mining operations -- Dallaglio -- which has so far met production and revenue expectations during the period.

The group expanded its businesses into gold mining in a move expected to diversify risk and boost its export earnings.

Earlier in a trading update for the third quarter to September 30, 2020, indications were that the group's consolidation of mining operations enhanced revenue performance for the quarter offsetting difficulties caused by Covid-19 to its crocodile skins business.

A trading update for that quarter showed revenue went up 221 percent with the mining operations accounting for 70 percent of that.

During the nine months to September, Dallaglio's gold sales volumes went up 20 percent to 544,2kg from 452,8kg in the prior comparable period as gold spot price firmed 27 percent to US$1 735 year to date.

On the other hand, the crocodile and alligator businesses were negatively impacted by Covid-19 pandemic with no meaningful turnover being recorded since April 2020. Revenue from skin sales was 5 percent below prior period.
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MOFA: Major Western countries are trying to 'destabilize China' through political manipulation

CGTN) 12:45, March 29, 2021

Photo/Xinhua

The U.S., UK, European Union (EU) and Canada have exercised political manipulation to destabilize China, a spokesperson for the regional government of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region said on Monday in Beijing.

During a press briefing on Xinjiang-related issues held by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Xinjiang Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Xu Guixiang rejected accusations of "genocide" in the region.

Asked about the boycott in China of Swedish clothing retailer H&M over a statement last year saying it would cease use of Xinjiang cotton because of human rights concerns, Xu said that a company shouldn't politicize its economic behavior.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji)
OPINION: Montgomery County officers Dionne Holliday and Kevin Christmon repeatedly yelled at the Black child, threatened him, mocked his cries and called him a beast

A pair of Montgomery County police officers believe that Black children who get into trouble at school arent being whupped enough. But the truth is that all that whupping is a big part of the underlying problem.

We want you to beat him, Officer Dionne Holliday told the stressed-out mother of a 5-year-old Black boy having a meltdown at the East Silver Spring Elementary School in Silver Bring, Maryland. Dont use a weapon  but you can smack that butt repeatedly, she added.

Read More: Maryland police release video of 5-year-old placed in handcuffs at school

Holliday offered this advice after she and another officer, Kevin Christmon, repeatedly yelled at the boy, threatened him, mocked his cries by screaming inches from his face, called him a beast and said he needed to be placed in a crate.

Montgomery County police officer Dionne Holliday in school office as police respond to 5-year-old boy in distress. (The Montgomery Police Department)

A new bodycam video released Friday by the police department shows the two officers, who are Black, repeatedly telling the boy how bad he is. The interaction took place back in January 2020 when he allegedly broke a computer and attacked a teacher and another student before running out of the building where police caught up with him a block away.

The video does not provide a backstory behind what prompted the childs behavior.

While the boy continues to cry, cough, and hyperventilate, the officers can be seen making slapping gestures and joking about how he would not be able to sit in his chair if they were able to beat him. They also laugh as they exchange childhood stories about how much they were beaten, first at school, and then again at home by parents and grandparents. The white school staff can be seen on the video standing in silence during the banter and it is unclear if any of those female staff were counselors.

When the boys 41-year-old mother arrives, she finds him hunched over a chair cradling his head. Her first response is not to kneel down to his eye level to console and comfort him or to ask him what happened. Instead, she orders him to stand up, removes his shirt, and shows the officers and school staff that the childs bare chest and back to prove he has no signs of physical abuse on his body.

Story continues

Read More: Florida teacher denies slave abuse, defends use of N-word in viral video

I spank him. But I cant discipline him the way I want to because the government wont allow you, the mother said to the officers and school staff members. Im not losing my child to the system and Im not going to prison.

Officer Holliday assures the boys mom that she wont go to jail for spanking her son on the butt. A few minutes later, as Holliday slides a pair of handcuffs off the terrified boy, she told him, I dont like bad children, disrespectful children. I think they need to be beaten, and thats what I told your momma. I hope she does beat you when you go home because you deserve it so much for your actions today. You were horrible.

These were Montgomery County police officers, not in-school resource officers. Imagine if this had been white police officers talking to a 5-year-old Black boy as they did. Would we be processing this situation any differently? How would those same Black officers have responded to an agitated white 5-year-old boy having a bad day at school? Sadly, we always have to ask ourselves these questions and consider all of the racial dynamics in every situation.

The boys mother, Shanta Grant, has since filed a lawsuit against the Montgomery County Public School system and the officers involved in the incident. The police department lodged an internal investigation and both officers are still employed.

Shanta Grant, the mother of 5-year-old schoolboy placed in handcuffs by Montgomery County police. (Photo: Montgomery County Police Department)

In a statement, the Montgomery County school system said, There is no excuse for adults to ever speak to or threaten a child in this way. As parents and grandparents, we know that when families send their children to school, they expect that the staff will care for them, keep them safe and use appropriate intervention processes when needed.

Where were these sentiments when the 5-year-old boy was being berated, insulted and verbally assaulted by police while school employees stood by?

This particular 5-year-old boys experience and the responses of the adults on the scene that January day illustrate how Black children are often viewed, talked to and disciplined by authority figures. It also spotlights the no-win conundrum that Black parents and children face in trying to avoid harm at the hands of these authority figures in the name of disciplinary action.

Read More: Grinch scaring Black children for fun and photo ops is actually traumatizing

While we dont know the exact details behind that 5-year-old boys behavior that day, one thing is certain: he was very upset and in emotional turmoil. Then his turmoil is compounded when he encounters a Black male cop who immediately yells at him, tells him to shut up, that nobody wants to hear his cries.

Not one adult in this situation bends down to his level to talk with him or comfort him. Nobody asks him what happened, how he is feeling, or why. What message does this send to the boy? That nobody cares and nobody will listen to him. Nobody is concerned about his feelings, or his well-being. Everyone thinks hes bad. Rather than being seen as a small child who is having a problem, all of the adults view him as being the problem.

School staff and Montgomery County police officer Dionne Holliday stand in office as police respond to 5-year-old boy in distress. (The Montgomery Police Department)

His own mother doesnt even show him empathy. She repeatedly tells the cops that hes spoiled. Nobody offers any understanding or a reassuring word. Nobody recognizes or affirms his humanity. Nobody gives him a gentle touch. One of the officers tells him, this aint your world  as if Black children dont already receive that message from society. If he didnt know it already, that day a 5-year-old Black boy learned that the adults in his world consider him a budding monster, less than human who, instead of being cared for, must be contained and controlled like an animal.

This is a horrifying and nauseating example of the demonization of Black boys as monsters in America. The process begins early. Far too many Black children are already programmed by adults in their lives to lash out at other people. When they do this, something has happened at home, at school, or in the community that leads to this behavior. But none of the adults in this boys situation wanted to address the root cause of his problematic behavior.

Children dont lash out without reason. Sometimes that reason stems from the fact that they havent yet learned tools for managing their feelings and responses. Often their chronological brain development has not yet reached that level. Other times the reasons are rooted in family dynamics around discipline and punishment. This boys mother already admitted to spanking him.

Read More: Black children six times more likely to be fatally shot by police: study

There is plenty of scientific research which shows that spanking children causes their brains to be altered, harms their ability to regulate their emotions, and places children at risk for aggressive behaviors and deviance. The spanking to keep him out of trouble at the hands of authorities proves to be counterintuitive, and likely what contributed to his problematic behavior at school.

(Photo: Adobe Stock)

Black American parenting culture, which grows out of the nonstop trauma of struggling to survive centuries of enslavement followed by Jim Crow terrorism and state violence, can inadvertently pave the way for Black children to be dehumanized and treated harshly by adults in authority, including some Black adults.

Weve seen outrage over police abuse of Black children. But a less visible yet more pernicious form of racist violence against children is exercised by Black cops, teachers, and parents who often serve as proxies for the intergenerational reproduction of a white supremacist racial order, which hinges vitally on the normalization and naturalization of emotional and physical violence against children.

Many Black parents are more inclined to take the word of teachers about their childrens misbehaviors than they are to listen to, consider, and believe their own children. Americas teachers are overwhelmingly white (80%) and majority female, disconnected from the cultures of the children theyre teaching, and full of fears and biases against Black and Brown people. And it is white women who especially have driven the school-to-prison pipeline.

We read countless headlines of teachers abusing Black children and subjecting them to abuse and microaggressions in the classroom. Weve seen teachers, school resource officers, and cops punch students, cut students hair, slap them in the head, call them the n-word, walk on their backs during a lesson about slavery, threaten them with lynching for not focusing on schoolwork and yank and pull a preschooler by the hair for being sick or sleepy.

Videos of security officers body-slamming students, grabbing and punching them or throwing a girl across a classroom have gone viral in recent years. At a Chicago elementary school, a 9-year-old Black boy was beaten with belts in a bathroom by a teacher and her best friend.

Given all of the evidence about the Black-white academic achievement gap and racial disparities in school suspensions, expulsions, paddling, and arrests, you would think that more Black parents would listen to their children first. Or that they would realize that beating their kids at home often contributes to in-school behavior issues and can be the first step into the school-to-prison pipeline.

The last thing any police officer should be telling parents, especially Black parents, is to hit their children. What theyre actually doing is encouraging assault and battery and potentially becoming accomplices to child abuse. The polices job is to protect and serve, not to encourage domestic violence within families, in any form.

Can you imagine a cop telling a man that his girlfriend or wife is a beast, and that he should beat her and put her into a crate?

Black children in racist America grow up wedged between the proverbial rock and a hard place because many Black parents invoke their fear of their children being harassed, arrested, beaten or killed by police to justify whupping their children. Corporal punishment of Black children is widely considered a necessary step in protecting them from police violence.

One of the cops in this incident proclaims that children are not whupped enough. But based on what evidence?

All the major surveys on attitudes about corporal punishment consistently show that the majority of parents across race and ethnicity, with the exception of Asians, embrace corporal punishment. It is codified in law in every state that corporal punishment is legal, and 19 states still allow paddling in public schools. Paddling in private and charter schools is allowed in every state except New Jersey and Iowa. Over 200,000 schoolchildren are paddled each year, and a disproportionate number of them are Black children.

Annual reports from the Childrens Bureau also show that Black children experience higher rates of maltreatment and fatalities at the hands of parents than other groups of children. If you talk to social workers and district attorneys, theyll tell you that many Black parents who are arrested for child abuse will often say they didnt mean to harm their children, or they were trying to be a responsible mother or father protecting their child from future harm by police.

(Photo: The Montgomerty Police Department)

Between 2012 and 2018, 41 Black youth were killed by police, according to the Washington Posts Fatal Force database of police shootings. During that same time period, 2,389 Black children were killed as a result of maltreatment at the hands of their parents. And these child abuse statistics only represent a small minority of the actual abuse because most go unreported.

The idea that children are not being whupped is a lie. The truth is that all that whupping is a big part of the underlying problem. These kids are bullied at home in the earliest years of childhood and then folks are surprised when their children act out by reflecting what theyve been taught at home.

Their behavior is met with more coercion, physical and emotional violence at school, which is yet another zone of intimidation. Layer on problematic police intervention, messaging and behavior, and you see the odds that Black children are up against.

In a time when discussions around police funding are politically charged, we need to look at whether we need cops in schools. Research shows that, rather than helping to prevent or adequately address violence, many of these so-called school resource officers are physically harming the children theyre charged to protect. As a result of law enforcement presence, grades are dropping, and delinquencies are on the rise.

(Photo: Adobe Stock)

A study by the National Institute of Justice found that in the schools that increased security resource officer (SRO) staffing  which are disproportionately assigned to Black and Brown schools  there were thousands of children being marked for life with criminal records for behaviors that previously would only have resulted in minor in-school discipline. The results also include higher suspensions, students being injured more by cops than in fights with other youth, lower grades, delinquency and students not showing up to school.

This Montgomery County incident shows how Black police officers and parents contribute to a form of abuse against Black children that can be even more pernicious than white police brutality because it leaves the children no place to turn for help, support or understanding.

Few Black children are allowed to express their emotions at their age level without retaliation from adults in authority. Too many Black children are being programmed to expect violent words, attitudes and treatment. To understand at an early age that their humanity is eclipsed by their race, even in the eyes of those who look like them.

(Photo: Adobe Stock)

As Black children are learning their ABCs, they are also internalizing how they are seen and considered. That they should be verbally and physically assaulted for being tiny humans. They have little chance of growing up to understand and practice more appropriate forms of emotional expression if the adults in their life arent modeling better behaviors. Too many are conditioned to expect negative reactions to their youthful expressions of humanity. They are socialized as problematic before they have any chance to learn appropriate behaviors  and labeled as permanently problematic with no chance of improvement.

We must do better by Black children, or any growing consciousness and chance of progress arising from the last year of our nations racial reckoning wont be worth much. Lets dry our childrens tears, listen to them, offer hugs and nurturing words of reassurance and wisdom when theyre having a bad day, instead of re-enacting plantation scenes.

Stacey Patton, PhD is the author of Spare The Kids: Why Whupping Children Wont Save Black America and the forthcoming book Strung Up: The Lynching of Black Children in Jim Crow America.

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It was the luck of the draw as the Moderna vaccine also was being distributed that day to more than 1,000 Lake Countians, about the daily average at the drive-thru vaccination center. According to the Health Department, nearly 400,000 residents have registered for the vaccine. The county, as of last week, had received 145,730 vaccine doses.
MAKASSAR, Indonesia (AP)  A recently married couple with suspected militant links used pressure cooker bombs to blow themselves up outside a Roman Catholic cathedral during Palm Sunday Mass, Indonesian officials said Monday.

The attack wounded 20 people, including four church guards, and broke windows at the church and nearby buildings in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province.

The couple were married six months ago and police were investigating their house in Makassar, National Police spokesperson Argo Yuwono said.

Police identified them only by their initials, L and his wife, YSF. Neighbors of the couple identified the man as Lukman and his wife as Dewi and said they were between 23 and 26 years old.

The attackers detonated their bombs when they were confronted by guards outside the church.

The pressure cookers contained explosive materials and nails to increase their harm to victims, said Makassar city police chief Witnu Urip Laksana.

Police carried out DNA tests to determine the attackers' identities, Laksana said.

The couple were believed to have been members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and carried out a series of suicide bombings in Indonesia.

They included a 2016 Starbucks attack in Jakarta which killed four civilians and four militants, an attack on a bus terminal in the capital that killed three police officers and an attack on a church in Kalimantan that killed a 2-year-old girl a year later. Several other children suffered serious burns in the Kalimantan attack.

Indonesias last major militant attack was in May 2018, when two families carried out suicide bombings on churches in Surabaya, killing a dozen people including two young girls whose parents involved them in one of the attacks. Police said the father was the leader of a local affiliate of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah.

One of the attackers in Makassar was believed to have had links to a 2019 suicide attack that killed 23 people at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in the Philippine province of Sulu, Indonesian National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said.

Story continues

He said the two attackers were linked to a group of suspected militants arrested in Makassar on Jan. 6, when a police counterterrorism squad killed two suspected militants and arrested 19 others. The two men who were killed were being sought for their alleged role in the Philippine attack.

Prabowo told reporters on Monday that the police elite counterterrorism squad, known as Densus 88, arrested four suspected militants believed to have links with the attackers in a raid Sunday in Bima, a city on Sumbawa island in West Nusa Tenggara province. Another suspect was arrested a day later in a separate raid in the province, he said.

The five suspects were in the same Quran study group as the two alleged attackers, Prabowo said. Before he died, the man left a will to his parents, saying goodbye and that he was ready to become a martyr, he said.

He said the counterterrorism squad on Monday also arrested four suspected militants in Condet neighborhood in eastern Jakarta. They seized five homemade pipe bombs and more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of chemicals for use in explosives in separate raids in the Jakarta outskirts.

The attack a week before Easter in the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation came as the country was on high alert following the arrest in December of the leader of the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been designated a terror group by many nations.

President Joko Widodo condemned Sundays attack and said it has nothing to do with any religion as all religions would not tolerate any kind of terrorism. He ordered police to thoroughly investigate the networks of the perpetrators and hunt them to the roots.

Indonesia has been battling militants since Jemaah Islamiyah carried out bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. Attacks aimed at foreigners have been largely replaced in recent years by smaller, less deadly strikes targeting the government, police and anti-terrorism forces and people militants consider as infidels.

Since the arrest in December of Jemaah Islamiyah leader Aris Sumarsono, also known as Zulkarnaen, the counterterrorism squad has arrested more than 70 suspects, including 19 in Makassar, following a tipoff about possible attacks against police and places of worship.

Jemaah Islamiyah was once considered the preeminent terror network in Southeast Asia, but has been weakened over the past decade by a sustained crackdown. In recent years, a new threat has emerged in militants who fought with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and returned to Indonesia or those inspired by the groups attacks abroad.

___

Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Orange County Cities Among Safest in State: Report

Several Orange County cities were named the safest cities in California in a recently released SafeWise survey.

Rancho Santa Margarita led the Orange County pack, landing second for several years running. Danville was named the states safest place to live.

Rancho Santa Margarita topping the list of safest cities is not new. In fact, weve been going toe-to-toe with Danville now for several years, Councilman Brad McGirr told The Epoch Times.

It just shows once again our commitment as a city council to put safety first, in tandem with the excellent relationship and partnership we have with the Orange County Sheriffs Department.

Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Yorba Linda, Laguna Niguel, and Mission Viejo also made the top 10.

Danville and Rancho Santa Margarita tied at 296 when it came to the number of property crimes, but Danville came out ahead due to its lower violent crime rate of 0.5 percent. The top 12 cities had violent crime rates under 1 per 1,000 residents.

Dana Point, listed at number 27 on the list (up 19 spots from last year) was the smallest included city, with a population of 33,779.

Aggravated assault made up over half of the violent crime incidents in the safest cities, and 22 of the 50 cities reported zero murders in 2020.

In all, there were 2,500 aggravated assault cases within all 50 cities last year.

According to a statement on its website, SafeWise compiles the list through an assessment of the most up-to-date FBI crime statistics (2019) as reported through the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting program to rank cities in each state.

It also included demographic information and the results of its proprietary State of Safety research. U.S. Census Bureau population data is used to identify the median city population and report only on cities with populations above the median.

In addition to city rankings for 2021, SafeWise conducted its third annual nationwide survey to find out whats at the top of Americans safety concerns, polling more than 15,000 in the past three years. The data collected helps to compare perceptions of safety and danger with the reality of crime statistics available.

According to the report, 56 percent of Californians feel a high daily level of concern for their safety. COVID-19 concerns ranked Californians second in the nation, with gun and police violence coming in third.

At least 40 percent of Californians said they felt safe in their state.

Overall, Oakland, Calif. was named the least safe city in the state and was ranked No. 229 by SafeWise.
A popular Westfield and Bunnings along with a busy pub and bottle shop are among 18 new venues added to an already extended list of Covid-19 hotspots in Brisbane as Queensland battles to contain a second wave of the virus.

Greater Brisbane was plunged into lockdown on Monday morning after four locally-acquired infections, with six additional cases in hotel quarantine.

Three of the four new cases are close contacts of known cases, but those infected may have been out in the community - raising the risk more transmission may have occurred.

The new sites released on Monday include Westfield in Carindale, Black Hops Brewery in east Brisbane, Bunnings in Rothwell and a number of bottle shops across the region.

Eighteen new venues have been added to the extensive list of Covid hotspots amid an outbreak in Queensland including the Bunnings in Rothwell

The popular Black Hops Brewery in East Brisbane has also been added to the Covid alert list

Two of the cases - a nurse and her sister - visited the popular tourist town of Byron Bay in northern NSW while infectious, sparking fears the virus has already spread interstate.

People considered to be close contacts of a confirmed case have been urged to take a test and self-isolate for 14 days.

Casual contacts should get tested immediately and quarantine until they receive a negative result.

More than two million residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for four essential reasons in Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands from 5pm Monday.

Schools will be closed and businesses will have no choice but to shut up shop just days out from school and Easter holidays, which are touted to be one of the busiest periods for the hospitality and tourism industry.

The Coles in the Stockland shopping centre in Gladstone, has also been visited by a potentially infected customer

Brisbane residents are seen queuing up to get a Covid-19 test ahead of the three day lockdown

Health authorities have been left red-faced after earlier promising an end to the days of widespread lockdown.

Only on March 19, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young boasted health authorities had 12 months to refine an effective system of contact tracing so that widespread lockdowns would no longer be necessary.

'Absolutely, there's no need to go into lockdown when we've got responses like this,' Dr Young said.

'We've handled it beautifully, absolutely beautifully.'

Dr Young said authorities would only lockdown the most vulnerable people if there was ever a risk of another Covid-19 outbreak.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is calling for the international community to show solidarity with Small Island Developing States (SIDS) by ensuring they have access to Covid-19 vaccinations.



With tourism a leading employer and economic pillar for many of the SIDS, the United Nations specialized agency has stressed that pledges to ensure nobody is left behind in the recovery phase of the crisis must be backed up with firm actions.



Given the relatively small size of the populations of the SIDS, the cost of mass vaccinations will be minimal compared to the potential benefits of restarting tourism. Moreover, given tourisms wide value chain and proven ability to create opportunity for all, the impact of rolling out mass vaccinations and allowing tourism to restart, will go beyond economic benefits.



UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: By sharing vaccines with Small Island Developing States, the international community can help accelerate the restart of tourism in these leading destinations. Due to the size of the populations of the SIDS, the cost of mass vaccinations will be small, but the benefits will be significant. It will restore confidence in visiting SIDS, allowing the many social and economic benefits of tourism to return.



By sharing vaccines with Small Island Developing States, the international community can help accelerate the restart of tourism in these leading destinations



Secretary-General Pololikashvili made the comments after a meeting with His Excellency Dario Item, Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to Spain, at the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid. One of the 38 SIDS, Antigua and Barbuda is a top tourism destination and is looking to the restart of tourism to protect businesses and jobs and economic growth at both the national and local level. Ambassador Item affirmed Antigua and Barbudas application to become a Member State of UNWTO, pending ratification by the upcoming UNWTO General Assembly in October 2021 at Marrakesh, Morocco.



According to UNWTO data, prior to the start of the pandemic, tourism accounted for more than 30% of total exports in the majority of the 38 SIDS. In some countries, this proportion has risen as high as 90%. The significance of tourism makes these destinations especially vulnerable to falling tourist numbers, making the timely restart of the sector of vital importance.  TradeArabia News Service
Caltech professor Ibrahim Cisse applies physics to decode and understand RNA transcription

NEW YORK, March 29, 2021--The Vilcek Foundation recognizes the research contributions and work of Caltech professor Ibrahim Cisse in a new article and video. Cisse is the recipient of a 2021 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science.

The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science are awarded annually to young immigrant scientists living and working in the United States. The awards are bestowed on individuals whose early-career work exemplifies outstanding scientific accomplishment, and represents a significant contribution to their field of study. Cisse receives the award for his use of super-resolution biological imaging to directly visualize the process of gene expression in living cells, and for his application of the physical sciences to RNA transcription to understand the behavior of biomolecules in living organisms.

Born in Niamey, Niger, Cisse moved to the United States at the age of 17 to learn English and to enroll in university. The youngest of five children, Cisse loved science from a young age. With encouragement from his mother, the Cisse family's storage room was labeled "Laboratoire Cisse" and became the site of the budding physicist's first experiments: deconstructing, learning about, and reconstructing his family's appliances and devices.

The modern-day Cisse Lab uses single molecule and super-resolution imaging in live cells to study collective behaviors such as protein clustering as a result of dynamic biomolecular interactions in mammalian cells. Using physics as a framework for observation and understanding, Cisse says, "We unveil, often for the first time, that these clusters exist in living cells, and we expand both on the imaging approaches and the cellular and molecular biology techniques to discover the biophysical mechanisms of action, and their function in vivo." The techniques that Ibrahim's work has pioneered have the potential to help scientists to better understand the way protein aggregates form in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, ALS, and Alzheimer's.

Cisse has credited his undergraduate experience at North Carolina Central University as being fundamental in his approach to teaching and mentorship. "Having trained at a historically Black college was just an incredible way of learning to see and think about race, not just in America but also in Africa," he says. "It gave me the knowledge and that empowerment that, no matter what adversity I was going to face, it is important to move forward in a way that will empower others and create opportunity for others."

Says Leslie Voshall of the Rockefeller University, "Ibrahim's work using cutting-edge microscopy to look at liquid phase separation is incredible. Applying the tools of physics to look at single molecules is inspiring. His work is beautiful and rigorous."

###

Read the article and watch the video at the following link: http://vilcek. co/ vfp2021ibrahimcisseeapr

The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

For more information about the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, read the Vilcek Foundation's announcement from March 1, 2021, or contact creativepromise@vilcek.org.

The Vilcek Foundation

The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation was established in 2000 by Jan and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the foundation--to honor immigrant contributions to the United States, and more broadly to foster appreciation of the arts and sciences--was inspired by the couple's respective careers in biomedical science and art history. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded over $5.8 million in prizes to foreign-born individuals and supported organizations with over $5.3 million in grants.

The Vilcek Foundation is a private operating foundation, a federally tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Section 501(c)(3).

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Despite the uphill task, Sri Lanka should not cave in as that would be the end of the countrys sovereignty. Sri Lanka should however very aggressively and purposefully pursue alliances with countries in similar situations to counter the threats from not just the Western power block, but even from China at a future point in time.

by Raj Gonsalkorale

Yet it remains the case that if Nigerian public and private sector players doing business with the Chinese elephant could improve their negotiating skills and be more ambitious about their negotiating positions, making better use of Nigerias superpower qualities to minimise the drawbacks of its antlike ones, the future of NigeriaChina relations could be brighter and more beneficial for Nigeria than their past  South African Institute of International Affairs

Human rights violations allegedly committed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the government of Sri Lanka are antlike compared to the Elephantine violations committed by giants in the world including the USA.

The UNHRC and the West so concerned about the Ants, looks totally disinterested when the Military in Myanmar mows down innocent civilians fighting for their human rights. They have not raised a finger or even a finger nail to do anything tangible to halt the Military juggernaut from killing more people and subjugating them to the power of guns and other military hardware. Military might has replaced human rights and the world looks on issuing useless statements from UN pulpits. The duplicity and differential treatment being meted out is sickening.

Yet, these human rights champions are concerned about internal matters of Sri Lanka, but not concerned about the Muslim extremists who killed more than 300 people during the Easter bombings in 2019 and prior to that the marauding LTTE who killed hundreds and thousands of innocent children, women, old men and women. The dark history of the LTTE has been inconsequential for the UNHRC or the West.

Much has been written about the plight of the poor in the US who have no rights if they are poor. The world knows how rights are violated in Saudi Arabia, protected by the US. They know about the violations in Israel, again protected by the US. Palestinians have been trampled, walls built around them, and basic living conditions denied to them.

Some of the member countries of the UNHRC, who voted against Sri Lanka have appalling human rights records. Some others who sat on the fence too would not have a place to hide if their records are exposed. Others who sat on the fence did not have the guts to either side with the Elephants or support the Ant who was being trampled.

Sections of the Tamil Diaspora, the beggars with the wound that will never heal, provided plenty of falsehoods to the Core group and the US, and the world media big shots sponsored the case against Sri Lanka basing their accusations on such falsehoods, and also infringing on Sri Lankas sovereignty as if Sri Lanka was still one of their colonial outposts.

It is high time Sri Lankan Tamils who wish to call Sri Lanka their home divorced themselves from the LTTE and their supporters overseas, and also kicked out their politicians from their electorates and elected a set of politicians who would help to develop their areas and improved their lot.

They must ask themselves what these politicians have done for them since independence. They must ask themselves what development support the Tamil Diaspora, barring a handful, have done to improve the economic wellbeing of Tamils in the North and the East by investing, and creating jobs or improving agriculture and agri industries so that people would have had more self-employment opportunities. Had they done this, the private sector in the North and East would have been booming today.

Instead they contribute to fill the coffers of the LTTE rump, who in turn puts money in the pockets of politicians in the West to continue their fake allegations about their hopeless fate in Sri Lanka. This money goes to keep LTTE atrocities under the lid and make the world think that the LTTE was a lily white set of freedom fighters without any blemish.

The current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa may have his faults. After all he is human. But, few seem to remember that had it not been for him and the service commanders at the time including Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who led very brave Forces personnel, and the political leadership provided by President Mahinda Rajapakse, the island of Sri Lanka would have had two Nations by now. There are of course those with short memories, who owe their freedom to talk, write and act because the LTTE were defeated militarily in 2009, and others with an objective that is still uppermost in their minds, and that is to create a separate nation in the North and the East.

Tamil people will have to make a decision whether they wish to be in one nation called Sri Lanka, along with the Sinhalese, Muslims and other ethnic groups, or whether they wish to live in a separate Nation. Such a decision however cannot be just the decision of Tamil people, it has to be a decision of all people of Sri Lanka including the Sinhalese, Muslims and other races, as they all have ownership of the one country and island where everyone lives.

If the Tamil people in the North and East and others living in the rest of the country wish to advance and work towards the concept of one country for all, they have to choose a different set of leaders who would pursue such a concept and work towards addressing how the road blocks that might be impeding the one country concept may be overcome. It has to be clear to the Tamil people that their leadership has failed them, and they have not benefited by the divisive politics practiced by their leadership. Solutions lie in compromise and consensus decision making by all people as no group could have aspirations that disadvantage another group. In particular, majority groups need to compromise more than minority groups as majorities can and they do create imbalances simply on account of their numerical strength.

Muslim people of Sri Lanka too need to make a decision about their future in Sri Lanka and whether they wish to replicate extremism practiced in countries like Saudi Arabia or whether they wish to practice moderation as the Prophet himself articulated very well in his teachings. Extremism cannot have a place in the country. Politicians who advocate extremist ideologies should be rejected by the Muslim people.

The UNHRC vote gave a clear indication as to who were with Sri Lanka and who had the self-respect to defend their sovereignty as this resolution was clearly aimed at infringing on the sovereignty of small, poor and developing nations by those powerful ones who had become the pseudo defenders of human rights. In saying this, there is no inference whatsoever that any violation of peoples human rights should not be opposed. It must be. However, such a condemnation has to be proportionate to the alleged or actual violations, and also dealt in equal measure irrespective of a countrys wealth or power. This is not the case today as evidenced by how the rich and the powerful treat some nations differently to others.

The Nigerian simile mentioned at the outset of this article rings true when it comes to Sri Lanka too. China is the Elephant in the room which has got the Western power block which includes India, to take measures against Sri Lanka and corral it using a UNHRC resolution, hoping that Sri Lanka will yield to such international pressure and cave into their demands.

Despite the uphill task, Sri Lanka should not cave in as that would be the end of the countrys sovereignty. Sri Lanka should however very aggressively and purposefully pursue alliances with countries in similar situations to counter the threats from not just the Western power block, but even from China at a future point in time. A very aggressive China, pursuing its own agenda of being the next super power of the world, could potentially become the Elephant that tramples nations like Sri Lanka if it felt that an Ant was standing in its way.

Sri Lanka no doubt wants and must have the support of all nations to improve their economic and social wellbeing of their people. It needs investments from all corners and not loans and handouts. Sri Lankas development and self-sufficiency has to come from the confidence it generates to attract investments. In this regard, many initiatives being taken by the Rajapaksa government has to be lauded and encouraged, while those opposed to the government should offer constructive criticism of government policies and practices. A democratic opposition should not resort to spreading fake news to pursue a genuine political agenda unless that agenda is also as fake as the fake news.
Just two terrorists have been cleared for release from jail in the last year after a new law was introduced to keep such offenders behind bars for longer.

The emergency law was brought in during February last year after two knife attacks by convicted terrorists on members of the public within months.

Under the tougher legislation, terrorists must now serve two thirds of their sentence before being eligible for release rather than the previous halfway mark. All cases also must be reviewed by the Parole Board.

Some 22 cases have been referred to the Parole Board since the legislation was introduced.

Just two terrorists have been cleared for release from jail in the last year after a new law was introduced to keep such offenders behind bars for longer (Stock image)

Out of ten cases completed so far, two were directed for release, seven were refused and one case was withdrawn as the offender faced deportation.

The two who were released were both women convicted of helping to fund terrorism.

In the year before the new law was brought in, 42 convicted terrorists were released from prison.

Some of those would have been released automatically at the halfway point of their sentence with no Parole Board assessment.

The law was changed after convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman stabbed two people last February on Streatham High Road after being released from jail around 10 days earlier.

He had been released automatically at the midway point of his sentence despite authorities having serious concerns about the risk he posed to the public.

A few months earlier, Usman Khan, 28, fatally stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones at a prisoner rehabilitation event in London Bridge on November 29, 2019.

Usman Khan, 28, fatally stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones at a prisoner rehabilitation event in London Bridge on November 29, 2019

He had recently been released from prison after being jailed in 2012 over a plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange.

Some Parole Board reviews of terrorists have been delayed after coronavirus outbreaks in prisons hampered efforts to carry out hearings.

Rob McKeon, one of a handful of specialist Parole Board panel members who considers terror cases, said a small number had been affected due to difficulties in visiting locked-down prisons where the hearings take place.

He said: Theres been an impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and people being able to get into the prisons to be able to do that work.

If it is necessary to go into a prison to properly consider that case, and we are unable to do so because of an outbreak of coronavirus in that particular establishment or the prisons are on lockdown, then... thats a necessary delay because our job is to ensure public protection.

Because if we get it wrong, the risk is tremendous, particularly in Terrorism Act offences you look at the risk of what could happen if you get that wrong.
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The mother of a missing student said police asked if you cant find your son, how do you expect us to? when she went to them for help.

Richard Okorogheye, 19, who has been shielding during the pandemic due to having sickle cell disease, was last seen on Monday, March 22, at about 8.30pm.

The IT undergraduate at Oxford Brookes told his mother he had struggled to cope with university pressure and was going out to meet a friend  but left his wallet, jacket and medication behind.

The mother of a missing student said police asked if you cant find your son, how do you expect us to? when she went to them for help. Pictured: Mother Evidence Joel

Richard Okorogheye, 19, who has been shielding during the pandemic due to having sickle cell disease, was last seen on Monday, March 22, at about 8.30pm

His mother Evidence Joel, a nurse, said that when she phoned police to report him missing and suggested they check CCTV near their home in Ladbroke Grove, west London, she was told they did not have the resources.

[An officer] said: If you cant find your son, how do you expect police officers to find your son for you? Miss Joel said. I was expecting assurance. My son was missing and it broke my heart.

Family friend Claudine Rose added: We just felt like initially, it wasnt taken seriously enough. His mum was going into the police station every day and they hadnt put posters up or anything.

Miss Joel said her son would only leave home for blood transfusions for his condition, which causes unusually shaped blood cells.

Mr Okorogheye told his mother he would see her later on the night he disappeared.

None of his friends has seen him, she added.

She returned from a shift at 9pm to find her son was not home and did not answer his phone. He was reported missing on March 24.

The IT undergraduate (pictured) at Oxford Brookes told his mother he had struggled to cope with university pressure and was going out to meet a friend  but left his wallet, jacket and medication behind

Miss Joel told Sky News she feared he had been groomed online by someone who was holding him against his will.

Miss Rose said: Hes found the isolation very difficult, not being able to see his friends and start at university like normal.

Scotland Yard said Mr Okorogheye frequented the Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham areas.

Chief Inspector Clare McCarthy said: If you may have seen Richard, please contact police.

Scotland Yard said the Met is committed to providing the best possible service to families of missing people and that all available resources are being used to look for Mr Okorogheye.
An unrepentant anti-Semite who killed three people in a shooting rampage at Jewish sites in Kansas City in 2014 should have his death sentence overturned because he was incapable of understanding legal arguments when representing himself at trial, his lawyer told the Kansas Supreme Court.

Frazier Glenn Miller Jr was convicted of the horrific shooting spree, when he ambushed and killed William Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas.

He then shot 53-year-old Terri LaManno at the nearby Village Shalom retirement center.

All of his victims were Christians.

The army veteran testified at trial that he drove to Kansas City in April 2014 with the express intention of murdering Jews and that his only regret was he hadn't been able to kill more.

Now 80, he claimed at the time he didn't expect to live long because he suffered from chronic emphysema.

Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. appearing in Johnson County District Court in Olathe, Kansas at his murder trial in 2015. Miller, who shot three people to death at two suburban Kansas City Jewish sites in 2014, is now claiming he should not have been allowed to represent himself at trial

In 2016, the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park Kansas held a dedication to the victims of Miller's attack: From left William Corporon, 69, his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, and Terri LaManno, 53. All three were Christians

The notorious white supremacist gave a Nazi salute when he was convicted of murder in 2015, and yelled 'Heil Hitler' when his death sentence was passed

Miller founded the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in his home state of North Carolina and later formed a white supremacist political party known as the White Patriot Party.

He also ran on a racist, white-power platform during campaigns for the U.S. House in 2006 and the U.S. Senate in 2010 in Missouri.

In his closing arguments during the penalty phase, Miller spent nearly an hour complaining that Jewish people were running the government, media and Federal Reserve. He yelled 'Heil Hitler' when he was sentenced to death.

Miller gave a Nazi salute when he was convicted of one capitol murder charge, three counts of attempted murder, and assault and weapons charges in August 2015.

At a separate hearing he screamed 'Heil Hitler' as the judge, acting on the recommendation of the jurors, sentenced him to death.

On Monday, Miller's attorney Reid Nelson told the Kansas Supreme Court the death sentence should be overturned because the state's death penalty law is unconstitutionally vague.

He said Miller's standby attorneys should have been allowed to intervene during the penalty phase of his trial.

Miller is taken into custody on April 13, 2014, at an elementary school parking lot in Overland Park, Kansas, after killing three people: including a grandfather and his grandson

Miller, pictured in a police mugshot taken after his arrest on 14 April 2014, had a long history of anti-Semitism and was a leading member of the Ku Klux Klan

In this April 17, 1984 file photo, Miller, right, poses with members of the of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan during holds a news conference in Raleigh, North Carolina

In March 1985, dressed in military garb, Miller, second from right, speaks with media alongside members of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Nelson admitted Miller presented the case he wanted to during the sentencing phase, but said his standby attorneys were better trained to present evidence to the jury about Miller's difficult life, mental health issues and other factors that might have prompted the shootings.

'It is absolutely required that these proceedings have a heightened standard of reliability, which this case didn't have,' Nelson said, adding that no defendant representing himself at sentencing is ever capable.

Miller frequently interrupted court proceedings and, after he was convicted, he said he didnt care if he was sentenced to death.

Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe, who prosecuted Miller, argued Monday that the U.S. Constitution allows defendants to serve as their own lawyers and that trumps any legal argument over whether they are able to represent themselves.

'I go back to the fact that this is his right to have the trial the way he wants the trial, and the lawyers cant tell him what to do,' Howe said.

'He made that abundantly clear and, as far as Im concerned, the Sixth Amendment says, whether its a good idea or not, you have a right to be your own lawyer.'

He also argued that Miller's outbursts and actions during court proceedings did not prove he had mental health issues. Howe noted that Miller methodically planned the killings and was able to participate in all aspects of the trial.

He said Miller used the court proceedings to present his anti-Semitic and racist views, and that prosecutors and the judge 'went the extra mile' by explaining the legal process as well as accommodating Miller's desire to talk about his beliefs.

Nelson argued that the states death penalty law is so broad that any first-degree, premeditated murder could be subject to the death penalty. The law requires jurors imposing the death penalty to find actions 'especially heinous.'

Howe responded that Kansas law has specific factors that would not allow every murder to be considered a death penalty case, and allows juries to consider motivations, intent and conduct to determine state of mind in such cases.

'Kansas, as I think everyone would agree, is very limited on when you can meet capital murder,' Howe said. '... I do think Kansas has constructed this in a way that it's clear what the Legislature intent was and that things like conduct, intent and motive were all things they contemplated as things for the juries to consider in a death penalty case.'

Kansas is one of 27 states that still has the death penalty.

On March 24, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law legislation abolishing the death penaltymaking Virginia the first Southern state to ban capital punishment.

The US Federal Government and US military can also condemn criminals to their deaths.
analysis

The party's weekend NEC meeting appears to be a breakpoint: the two factions that have tenuously co-existed since Ramaphosa was elected party leader in December 2017 are now in open political warfare. The meeting appears to have descended into a gigantic tit-for-tat session that did not deal with vaccines, the economy, joblessness, the stratospheric cost of electricity, or any other public affairs that have an impact on South Africa's people.

ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule, who, with his co-accused, has been charged with 74 counts of fraud and corruption over the R233-million asbestos roof audit in the Free State, is deemed by the ANC constitution to have committed an act of misconduct, senior party leaders resolved at the party's nail-biting weekend National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

A motion was put forward that he should therefore step aside from his role in seven days or face suspension and a disciplinary inquiry, and this caused what News24 described as a "descent into chaos". President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced to postpone a widely publicised closing address on Sunday, March 28, as the meeting goes into the fourth day.

Magashule's supporters said he would refuse to step aside and reiterated their view that only a...
Odontoblasts, cells that form dentin, the shell beneath the tooths enamel that encases the soft dental pulp containing nerves and blood vessels, contain cold-sensitive proteins that detect temperature drops, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

Insults to the tooths dentin produces inflammation, most commonly during tooth decay.

Dental caries is a chronic disease in which a bacterial biofilm on the tooth surface, in combination with fermentable carbohydrate substrates, causes demineralization and eventually tooth decay.

Worldwide, 2.4 billion people have an untreated caries in permanent teeth. Inflamed teeth are extremely cold sensitive, perceived as a short, sharp intense neuralgic pain.

Its a unique kind of pain. Its just excruciating, said co-corresponding author Dr. David Clapham, vice president and chief scientific officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The researchers conducted experiments on mice whose molars were drilled under anesthesia.

The animals 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 scientists had discovered TRCP5, a protein encoded by the TRCP5 gene that is expressed in nerves in many parts of the body.

By studying genetically altered mice that did not have the TRCP5 gene, they 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, said co-corresponding author Dr. Jochen Lennerz, medical director of the Center for Integrated Diagnostics at Massachusetts General Hospital.

This cold sensitivity may be the bodys 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 tooths 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.

TRPC5 makes cells more active in cold, and the odontoblasts ability to sense cold via TRPC5 makes this discovery so exciting, Dr. Lennerz said.

The authors confirmed the presence of the TRPC5 protein in extracted human teeth, which was a technical tour de force.

They 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 teams findings 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.

The main ingredient in clove oil, which has been used for centuries in dentistry, contains a chemical that blocks the cold sensor protein, said co-corresponding author Dr. Katharina Zimmermann, an electrophysiologist at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg.

Developing drugs that target this sensor even more specifically could potentially eliminate tooth sensitivity to cold.

Once you have a molecule to target, there is a possibility of treatment.

_____

Laura Bernal et al. 2021. Odontoblast TRPC5 channels signal cold pain in teeth. Science Advances 7 (13): eabf5567; doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf5567
Bhushan Kumar Opens Up About Adipurush; Reveals Ranbirs Film With Luv Ranjan Is A Big Musical With Lots Of Humor

2021 is an exciting year for Bollywood. While the shoots of much awaited films resumed, many new projects were also announced. Well, two such films which the audiences are eagerly looking forward to are Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer Adipurush and Luv Ranjans next featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor. Interestingly, both of these films are being co-produced by Bhushan Kumar. Well much to our delight, the producer recently got candid about the upcoming projects.

In a chat with Pinkvilla, Kumar opened up about the huge line up of exciting projects. He shared, It's not only Adipurush, there are many other films too. Before Animal, we are completing Ranbir Kapoors Luv Ranjan film, which is a big one for us too. With Luv Ranjan it's a totally different perspective. You have seen Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety and Pyaar Ka Punchnama, and the kind of cinema he gives its superb. So thats a big musical film with lots of humour, and all that kind of twists that Luv Ranjan gives in his movies.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Prabhas (@actorprabhas)

While each film holds equal importance, the team has a special connect to Adipurush. The producer explained that the reason behind this is that Adipurush is based on Hindu epic Ramayana. Hence, its devotional. Well, we are sure fans would agree to that. Directed by Om Raut, the mythological film also stars Saif Ali Khan and Sunny Singh and is expected to hit theatres on 11th August next year.
China and Iran officially stated they would boost their energy and political cooperation as part of a 25-year strategic partnership agreement at a time when the U.S. is looking to sanction covert Iranian oil exports to China.

This weekend, Iran and China signed the strategic partnership deal to expand relations in areas such as energy, infrastructure, industry, and technology, the office of the Iranian president said in a statement.

The two countries also pledged to boost cooperation in fossil fuels and alternative energy, security of demand and supply as well as transfer and transportation of fossil fuels and the Chinese side shall consider financing and investing in the up and-downstream projects of the energy industries in Iran and the Iranian side shall provide the necessary facilitations and support in this respect, Iran said.

In recent weeks, various reports have suggested that China has been considerably boosting its crude oil imports from Iranso much so that the ports in the Shandong province, where most independent refiners are based, are experiencing tanker traffic congestions. Increased buying from China has provided more incentive for Iranian oil exports.

According to some estimates, China has been taking in some 856,000 bpd of Iranian crude this montha 129-percent surge compared to February.

China has never actually stopped buying crude oil from the Islamic Republic, even after the Trump Administration slapped sanctions on Irans oil sales in 2018, warning buyers to stay away from Iranian crude or risk being sanctioned and cut off from the U.S. banking system.

The Biden Administration warned China earlier this month that it would not turn a blind eye to rising Iranian oil exports to Chinese ports, the Financial Times reported, citing a senior Biden administration official. According to the report, Washington has not missed the substantial increase in Iranian crude shipments to China. The U.S. has reminded Beijing that there are still sanctions in place against the Islamic Republic.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Invictus Energy Limited's ( ) Scott Macmillan speaks to Proactive's Andrew Scott following today's news they've signed a petroleum exploration development and production agreement with the Republic of Zimbabwe. He says the deal provides them with a pathway, beyond exploration, to development and a 25 year production licence. The company's Cabora Bassa project hosts the Mzarabani prospect, a multi-TCF and liquids rich conventional gas condensate target, which is potentially the largest, un-drilled seismically defined structure onshore Africa.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

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Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae, third from left, speaks during a press conference at Government Complex Sejong, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Education



By Bahk Eun-ji



The Ministry of Education said it would seek to expand in-person classes amid a continued mix of online and offline classes amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.



Students in the greater Seoul area, especially middle school students, are likely to have expanded in-person classes as they now have fewer days to go to school than peers in other regions. Under the Level 2 social distancing rule currently applied in the Seoul metropolitan area, the cap on school attendance is set at one third for elementary and middle schools and two-thirds for high schools. The cap is two thirds for elementary and middle schools in other regions.



"The ratio of students attending in-person classes at schools in the (Seoul) metropolitan area is smaller than that in other regions," Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a press conference at Government Complex Sejong, Monday.



"In particular, middle school students in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province do not have as many in-person classes as their peers in other regions. So expanding the number of offline class days for middle schoolers in the metropolitan area is the top priority to consider."



She said the ministry will decide how to allow more offline classes in accordance with a new social distancing scheme to be announced soon by health authorities.



Regarding quarantine work at schools, Yoo said it has been a month since the new semester began but there have been no reports of group infections at schools. There have been cases of COVID-19 infections among students at schools, private academies and kindergartens, but such cases started from community infections.



"According to data we have obtained over the past year, the education ministry as well as health authorities believe that young students are not at higher risk of infection than other age groups. Therefore, we have been discussing with regional education offices the introduction of more flexible ways to expand in-person classes especially in the Seoul metropolitan area," Yoo said.



Regarding coronavirus vaccination for teachers, the minister said faculty members in charge of health and special education across the country will receive the shots from April 8.



"Vaccinations for teachers are important for the recovery of daily life at school, and we are currently consulting with health authorities over the vaccination plan for teachers of first and second graders in elementary schools and kindergartens," she said.



"I think that vaccinations for 12th grade teachers should be completed by the summer vacation so that teachers and students can prepare for the college entrance test slated for November without disruption. We are discussing the timing and a detailed plan with health authorities as well."


Beacon Hospital has announced that an independent investigation will be carried out into the decision to vaccinate teachers from an exclusive school using spare jabs.

The board at the hospital issued an unreserved apology to patients, staff and the wider community for the upset caused by the vaccination of teachers in the Beacon vaccination centre last week.

Coronavirus vaccine operations at Dublins Beacon Hospital have been suspended after it used 20 doses, which were left over after a daily vaccination session, to vaccinate some staff members at St Gerards private school in Bray.

In a statement released on Monday evening, the board said: The board is proud of the excellent standards of care maintained by our hospital and its adherence to the highest levels of governance and clinical excellence.

Upon completion of the review, the non-executive members of the board will consider its findings and will at that time take any necessary actions required Beacon Hospital board

In order to ascertain all of the facts associated with the operation of the vaccination centre and in line with our responsibility to ensure due process, the board is appointing Eugene McCague, former managing partner and chairman of Arthur Cox and former board member of the HSE, to conduct an independent review on behalf of the non-executive directors.

Upon completion of the review, the non-executive members of the board will consider its findings and will at that time take any necessary actions required.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, Beacon Hospital has sought to utilise our resources to play a significant role in assisting the national effort to combat the crisis.

The hospital offered its resources to the HSE to assist with the rollout of the national vaccination programme in January of this year.

Earlier, Taoiseach Micheal Martin described the decision to use spare jabs on teachers as repugnant.

Mr Martin said what happened was unacceptable.

Ive condemned it. Its repugnant something like that would actually happen, the Fianna Fail leader said on Monday.

Thats why the administration of vaccines there has been suspended. The vaccines belong to the people of Ireland.

#COVID19 vaccines are already bringing hope to our communities. At Knocknarea Arena, @itsligo staff are working hard to continue the rollout of the vaccine. Watch our video to learn more about the Sligo vaccine centre and the people who work there. #OurHealthService pic.twitter.com/F4eUoSwZ9R  HSE Ireland (@HSELive) March 29, 2021

The prioritisation has been the most vulnerable in terms of senior citizens, residents in nursing homes, frontline healthcare workers and those with underlying health conditions.

Mr Martin said people have been prioritised to give them the greatest level of protection, and to reduce illness and reduce death.

That has worked, broadly speaking, in terms of the rollout of the plan, he added.

Its been effective and the impact has been quite dramatic and the HSE is overseeing an examination of what happened there.

There are clear protocols laid down in terms of the prioritisation and the manner in which any surplus vaccines are to be used at the end of that particular vaccination session.

The south Dublin hospital, which was administering vaccines as part of the state programme, claimed the decision was made under time pressure.

The hospital admitted the move was not in line with the HSEs sequencing guidelines.

The Beacon is a beneficiary of state contracts for outsourced medical services.

Expand Close Taoiseach Micheal Martin will make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting (Julien Behal Photography/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Taoiseach Micheal Martin will make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting (Julien Behal Photography/PA)

Meanwhile, Mr Martin remained tight-lipped about any plans to lift Covid-19 restrictions next month.

The Government is expected to make an announcement about plans for restrictions on Tuesday, however the Taoiseach refused to take questions about it.

He told reporters any announcements or updates would be made on Tuesday.

It comes after public health officials met on Monday to review the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures amid increasing concern over rising Covid-19 cases in the country.

The most severe level of restriction, Level 5, is currently in place until April 5.

The National Public Health Emergency Team held a lengthy meeting on Monday.

The Cabinet subcommittee continued its discussions on restrictions late on Monday.

It is understood Nphet has issued cautious advice around the lifting of restrictions.

The Taoiseach is to make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting.

Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team:



The @hpscireland has today been notified of 1 additional death related to #COVID19.



There has been a total of 4,667 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.  Department of Health (@roinnslainte) March 29, 2021

Some limited relaxations, potentially in relation to outdoor activities and the 5km limit on travel, are expected.

But it is believed it will be May or June before a greater easing of restrictions will be made.

There was one further Covid-19-related death in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed.

Another 539 cases of the virus were also confirmed in the last 24-hour reporting period.

As of Monday morning, 331 coronavirus patients were in hospital, of whom 70 were in ICUs.

There were 19 additional hospital admissions in the previous 24 hours.

New figures released by the HSE show a total of 786,569 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Ireland as of Friday March 26.

Of these, 567,023 were first doses and 219,546 were second doses.
Manufacturers launching new rapid antibody tests believe thousands of people could potentially return to normal life  before and after vaccination  if they already possess antibodies.

Irish company Assay Genie has already launched antibody lab tests which are being used by researchers.

The firms new 15-minute rapid antibody tests are soon to be distributed to pharmacists and other health professionals.

The company, based in Dublin, said the tests can be used before or after vaccination, to find out if a person is protected from the virus for a period.

Dr Colm Ryan, Assay Genie co-founder and CEO, believes thousands of people may already have immunity to allow them to return to society, while the vaccination process continues.

Others could be given the additional assurance they possess antibodies post-vaccination.

Dr Ryan said: If the State was to roll out these antibody tests, we could tell how many people have the neutralising antibodies and we could potentially open up while waiting on the vaccine (completion).

Potentially we could categorise people who had neutralising antibodies and who didnt.

There could be thousands of people who have neutralising antibodies.

Neutralising antibodies protect people from Covid-19 and from reinfection. With Sars, neutralising antibodies lasted between three and 17 years after infection. People could potentially be protected for years.

Recently a study in the journal Science found immunity from Covid-19 could last for eight months. However, there is no definitive evidence to state just how long each individual has immunity.

There is currently no evidence that any of the Covid-19 vaccines can completely stop people from being infected. This is where the antibody tests could add an extra barrier of protection, Assay Genie believes.

Dr Ryan told the Irish Independent: If we categorically knew neutralising antibodies confer protection from vaccination or previous (Covid-19) infections, then hopefully we could open up (society) sooner.

I feel moving forward, whether its lab or rapid tests, if we can determine if neutralising antibodies correlate with (vaccination) protection, thats very powerful.

If we detect neutralising antibodies and we know they confirm protection from Covid, as time moves on, we could be asking do I need a vaccine?

However, some health experts in the US advise against antibody testing to see if the vaccine is necessary. Health authorities told the Washington Post that because natural immunity differs, and because of the risk of severe illness, everyone should get vaccinated. Dr Ryan said for those people who do not want to be vaccinated, the option of antibody tests could further help protect the country.

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As balloting entered its final weekend, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders traveled to Bessemer, Alabama, on Friday to take part in a rally encouraging workers at the citys Amazon facility to vote to join a union.

Sanders is the latest in a series of prominent Democratic Party politicians, including President Joseph Biden, to promote the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which seeks to establish a presence in Bessemer. While there will be many workers who vote in favor of the union, the campaign itself is a top-down operation, promoted not only by Sanders and the Democrats but anticommunist Republican Marco Rubio. Its aim is not to defend workers rights but to bring in the union as a means of controlling and containing growing opposition among Amazon workers.

The RWDSU, which has worked hand-in-glove with meatpacking companies to keep their workers in the plants during the pandemic and whose President Stuart Appelbaum is a highly placed political operative with ties to the Pentagon, has not raised a single demand relating to working conditions in the warehouse as part of the unionization campaign. Sanders appearance in the votes crucial final stages reflects fears that the RWDSU union has been unable to make a significant appeal to workers during the campaign, making the outcome of the vote far from certain.

U.S. Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a rally, Friday, March 26, 2021, in Birmingham, Ala., ahead of a union vote at an Amazon warehouse in the state. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

At the rally, RWDSU organizer Mike Foster used the language of morality and at one point invoked the Bible. He was the first to strike what became a recurring theme at the event when he said that workers needed a seat at the table.

Following Foster at the podium, Amazon worker Linda Burns described the intolerable conditions familiar to all Amazon workers. She mentioned how few breaks workers are allowed and how little time they have to go to the bathroom, which usually is a 10-minute walk from a workers station. Although Burns is covered by a plan offered by Amazon, which the company describes as good insurance, she nevertheless must pay significant out-of-pocket expenses to treat her injury. Because of Amazons low wages, Burns was forced to find a second job. Despite this schedule, she somehow finds time to attend nursing school.

The next person to speak was rapper Killer Mike of the duo Run the Jewels. He began his remarks by describing himself as south Negro rich and admitting, I got enough money to last me my lifetime. Coming immediately after Burns had described her need to work two jobs to make ends meet, these comments were remarkably tactless.

Continuing his racialist theme, Mike described Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as beyond white-folks-rich and as belonging to the planter class. Echoing Foster, he urged workers to vote for unionization because it will give them an organized seat at the table. Near the end of his speech, Mike threatened to boycott Amazon if workers voted against the RWDSU.

Sanderss remarks were deceitful and thoroughly hypocritical. He roared that the very, very rich are becoming much richer, while half of our people are living paycheck to paycheck and millions are working for starvation wages.

He failed to mention his own vote for the CARES Act, however, which he himself described as corporate welfare even as he promoted it. The act was the largest transfer of wealth to the financial oligarchy in history and provided utterly inadequate assistance to the unemployed and to workers who are living paycheck to paycheck. Nor did Sanders mention his partys recent torpedoing of a provision to raise the minimum wage in the bailout package passed earlier this year.

Sanders then inveighed against Bezos, pointing out that the latter was worth $180 billion and had gained tens of billions of dollars in profit during the pandemic. He decried the efforts of Bezos and Amazon to defeat workers who want decent wages.

But in 2018, when Amazon raised its starting hourly pay from $12 to $15 (which is approximately its current level), Sanders had nothing but praise for Bezos. Today I want to give credit to where credit is due, and I want to congratulate Mr. Bezos for doing exactly the right thing, Sanders said in the Senate. Sanders even defended Bezos as it came to light that the wage increase was being offset by cuts to employee benefits, which in some cases resulted in a cut to total take-home pay for workers.

Sanders then took up the refrain of other speakers at the rally. The union is not going to solve it all, he said, but what it does do is allow you a seat at the table. This is an unintentionally revealing statement. By telling workers, the union is not going to solve it all, Sanders is advising them to lower their expectations.

Far from solving it all, for decades, the unions have forced through one concession after another, demanding only that the union officialdom be given a seat at the table in order that it can bargain concessions away, preserving the institutional interests of the union bureaucracy. If the RWDSU is voted in, it will immediately move to establish similar relations with Amazon management.

Sanders continued, Years ago, people worked 50, 60, 70 hours a week with no benefits, and workers came together and demanded that they be treated with respect and dignity. And they formed unions.

In fact, in the auto industry, which Sanders held up as a model union shop in a recent Senate hearing, the United Auto Workers long ago bargained away the eight-hour day and is collaborating to enforce not only 50-, 60- and 70-hour workweeks but even 80-hour workweeks. On April 5, skilled trades at Sterling Heights Assembly will begin a grueling 12-hour, seven-day workweek.

Voting at Bessemer ends on Monday, and the results are expected to be announced as early as Tuesday. Whatever the outcome is, Amazon workers cannot defend their rights through the mechanism of the unions and the Democratic Party. They must instead mobilize their own independent strength through democratically controlled rank-and-file committees.
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Attorney for Georgia lawmaker calls charges overreach

An attorney for a Georgia lawmaker who was charged with two felonies after knocking on the door to the governors private office said authorities overreached in the case, which unfolded while the governor spoke on live television about a sweeping overhaul of state elections.

State police arrested state Rep. Park Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat, on Thursday after she said she wanted to see Republican Gov. Brian Kemp sign the law that places new restrictions on voting by mail and gives lawmakers more power to oversee elections.

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Cannon was charged with obstruction of law enforcement and disruption of the General Assembly. She was released from jail late Thursday.

A state police spokesman said Cannon knocked on the door to the public lobby of the governors office, and then shifted to knocking on a door to a private area.

She was advised that she was disturbing what was going on inside and if she did not stop, she would be placed under arrest, Lt. W. Mark Riley wrote in a statement.

Kemp signed the bill before he began speaking. He interrupted his televised remarks while Cannon was knocking and later resumed the speech.

This was a law enforcement overreach on all the charges, and my hope is that after examining the file, the district attorney will dismiss the charges, Cannons lawyer, Gerald Griggs, said Friday. Griggs said he had already spoken to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The new law requires a photo identification to vote absentee by mail. It also shortens how long voters have to request an absentee ballot and limits where ballot drop boxes can be placed and when they can be used. Republicans said Georgia needed to restore the confidence of voters who believed President Donald Trumps baseless claims of widespread fraud. They also noted that the law increases the number of in-person early voting days on weekends.

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Were expanding the right to vote in Georgia, Kemp said Thursday.

Democrats say the law is a power grab by Republicans who are threatened by Joe Bidens presidential victory in Georgia in November and the twin Democratic victories of U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff in January.

President Joe Biden criticized the law again Friday, saying its Republican sponsors were trying to deny people the right to vote and that the measure was a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience.

Biden renewed his call for Congress to pass nationwide voting standards that would include automatic voter registration nationwide, allow former felons to vote and limit the ways states can remove registered voters from the rolls. Such a bill passed the Democratic-controlled House earlier this month but faces opposition from Senate Republicans.

This is Jim Crow in the 21st century, Biden said in a statement. It must end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act.

Three voter-mobilization groups sued late Thursday to block the law, alleging that it violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and illegally hurts Black voters under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Georgias constitution says lawmakers shall be free from arrest during meetings of the General Assembly except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.

Griggs questioned whether felony charges, with mandatory prison terms, were merited. A warrant claims Cannon resisted arrest by stomping on an officers feet, but Griggs said hes seen no video supporting that accusation.

Griggs questioned whether the felony charge for disruption of the General Assembly could be applied because first and second offenses are misdemeanors, while only third and later offenses are felonies. Cannon has never been charged or convicted under that law before, Griggs said.

The law against disrupting a legislative meeting was challenged as unconstitutional in a lawsuit filed last year after people including Nikema Williams, then a state senator and now a U.S. representative, were arrested at the Capitol while protesting election results in 2018. All charges were dismissed in 2019.

Cannon, 29, won a special election to the House in 2016. The queer-identifying House member arrived to a maelstrom debate over enacting protections for religious freedom in Georgia that opponents said would legalize discrimination against gay and transgender people. Then-Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed the bill after opposition from business groups.

Shes an outspoken advocate of abortion rights and has worked to reduce the spread of AIDS.

Cannon had another run-in with officers in February. She and others held a two-hour sit-in on a Capitol stairway after Cannon said it was improper that a police officer led her away while Democrats were protesting voting bills. Cannon put her ear up to the bullhorn of an officer ordering protesters to disperse and then demanded an apology from another officer who moved her away.

A crowd of Cannon supporters including Warnock gathered Thursday outside the Fulton County jail awaiting Cannons release.

We will not live in fear, and we will not be controlled, Cannon wrote on social media after being released. We have a right to our future and a right to our freedom.

Warnock said Cannon is a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he is the pastor, and he visited her inside the jail before her release.

We are praying for her, we are praying for her family, but also for the soul of our democracy, Warnock told reporters outside the jail. We are witnessing right now, a kind of wrestling in the soul of Georgia. Will we go forward or will we go backwards? We will not allow a few politicians, in their craven lust for power, to take us back.
Border guards have caught 22 migrants from Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine and Libya as they were trying to illegally enter Hungary from Romania, either hidden in a truck, or on foot, according to AGERPRES.

According to a press statement released on Monday by the Arad Border Police, in the area of Nadlac operations were carried out to prevent illegal migration, during which two groups of migrants were found walking in the field towards the border with Hungary.

There are nine people in all - five from Morocco, three from Algeria and one from Libya - aged between 17 and 37.

At the Nadlac II Border Crossing Point (PTF), in the freight terminal, on the way out of the country, the authorities caught three men trying to cross the border into Hungary about 100 metres from the border line. Two of them are from Morocco, they are 22 and 30 years old, respectively, and the other is from Palestine, aged 22.

At PTF Bors II, Bihor County, while a truck going out of Romania was being checked, ten people were found in a trailer. The driver is Turkish and was carrying plastic liquid containers to Poland. Following the checks, the border police determined that the migrants hidden in the trailer are nationals of Syria and Iraq, aged 19 to 27.

In all cases, border guards are conducting investigations.

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said Saturday no casualties, injuries, or pollution were reported during the blockage crisis of the strategic Suez Canal by the mega-ship Ever Given.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, March 23 at 7:30 CLT, when the mega-ship Ever Given, arranged No. 13 in the southern convoy, stuck diagonally at the Suez Canal's 151-km mark, Rabie said.

Immediately, we moved three tugboats to rearrange ships that had been moving in the shipping course as soon as possible, he added.

Around 321 vessels are jammed in the Suez Canal or at anchor awaiting transit, Rabie said.

We provide them with all the logistics they need, he added.

An operation room was formed from various specialties to develop a plan of action, the SCA chairman said.

Tugboats were deployed and workers were dredging the banks and seafloor near the vessels bow to try to get it afloat again, he added.

We are working around-the-clock to end the crisis as soon as possible, Rabie said.

However, tugging manoeuvres require the availability of several factors, including winds and tides, he added,

SCA's dredgers have been working to remove vast quantities of sand and mud from around the port side of the vessel's bow. It is now hoped that our tug boats can make use of the winds and tides to dislodge the 224,000-ton ship, Rabie said.

Rabie said that the SCA is attempting to flatten water to allow refloating the mega ship.

"We have developed an alternate plan to allow other ships to dock at Timsah and other lakes, "he added.

The SCA stressed that Tuesday's sandstorm was not the main reason behind the blockage of the strategic Suez Canal.

He added that other compounding factors are expected to be behind the vessel's running aground

Twelve ships passed the Suez Canal before the ship ran aground, Rabie said.

The incident has occurred at the canal's southern entrance, he stressed, refuting media reports claiming that it had taken place at the new canal.

It would have been easier if the incident occurred in the new canal, he added.

An emergency response team of the Netherlands-based Smit Salvage has arrived at the scene to deal with the situation, Rabie said.

The team adopted the same rescue plan drawn up by the Suez Canal Authority to deal with the crisis, he added

Additional tugs were sent to take part in towing the giant ship, raising the total number from 5 to 14, Rabie told the press conference.

"We spared no effort and worked at full speed to solve the problem," he added.

The SCA teams have managed to solve the problems with the mega ship's rudders and propellers, Rabie said.

New attempts will be made soon to free the vessel when the high tide goes down, he added

"We feel positive signs," Rabie said.

"We were close to getting the job done yesterday, but the reflux reached 180 cm, forcing the team to stop their attempt, he added.

"We have resumed dredging operations to reach 18 meters. Now, tugs will return to attempt to dislodge the giant container ship," Rabie said.

He thanked all the countries that offered their assistance. "We are studying all options to accomplish such difficult tasks."

He added that proposals offered on social media platforms have also been studied.

Asked if the ship ran aground on purpose, Rabie said it was not an intentional accident, Rabie stressed.

The accident is difficult and all that preoccupies the authority was to work to float the ship, he added.

"Strong winds and weather factors were not the main reasons for the ship's grounding, there may have been technical or human errors," Rabie said.

Investigations will be launched once the flotation process is completed, he added.

He could not predict when it would be re-floated, but there are good signs.

All recorded and written documents are seized to know the facts behind the ship's grounding, Rabie said.

The Ever Given was not the largest ship to cross the Suez Canal, as the canal depth is suitable for all ships, he added.

There may have been technical or human errors," Rabie said. "All of these factors will become apparent in the investigation."

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President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is closely following up the file, he added.

Rabie said the Suez Canal's revenues reached $ 6.5 billion last year, stressing that Egypt is losing millions of dollars in revenue from the canal for each day it is closed.

Plan A is to try to wrest the ship free without removing containers from the deck. But, plan B is ready to remove containers from the front of the ship.

In turn, a SMIT official said he could not predict when the ship would be refloated.

"We are fully confident that the rescue operation would succeed," he added.

Meanwhile, Suez Canal Authority chairman Rabie said the Suez Canal has the capabilities to deal with such incidents.

"Many countries have offered to help. But, we are able to solve the problem,: he added.

Rabie ruled out any change of shipping lines from the Suez Canal to the Cape of Good Hope. "The canal is still the best, safest and most affordable."
Oil tankers and container ships are changing course as the Ever Given, one of the worlds largest container ships, remains stranded across the Suez Canal along Egypt.

Shares of Chinese online video company Bilibili opened lower on the first day of trading in Hong Kong.

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) fell 0.28% to 6805 as Greater Brisbane will enter a three-day lockdown from Monday night after 10 new cases were recorded in Queensland.

Monday 29 March  coronavirus cases in Queensland:



 4 new locally acquired

 6 overseas acquired

 73 active cases

 1,456 total cases

 2,147,661 tests conducted



Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,343 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/Il8rFIUdAy  Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) March 28, 2021

Oil prices rose by 4.1% on Friday due to fears that a container ship blockage at the Suez Canal could last for weeks.

The Suez Canal accounts for about 30% of global container ship traffic each day.

If the blocked container ship is not freed soon, the logjam could impact the oil market, shipping and container rates, leading to a rise in the cost of everyday goods.

Top gainers

Todays top gainers on the ASX include ( ) (+20.00%), Buru Energy Limited ( ) (+16.13%), ( ) (+9.09%), Rimfire Pacific Mining N L ( ) (+10.00%), ( ) (+12.50%), ( ) (+12.50%) and ( ) (+26.32%).

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Horizon Minerals boosts balance sheet by $7 million after divesting gold royalties

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Pan Asia Metals intersects wide near-surface tungsten at Khao Soon in Thailand

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AVZ Minerals signs first Manono tin offtake through agreement with Noble Group subsidiary

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Buru Energy expands footprint in northern Western Australia

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Astro Resources pinpoints robust chargeability anomaly at Needles Gold Project in Nevada ahead of further drilling

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SUDA Pharmaceuticals appoints leading cancer researcher Dr Anil K Sood to Scientific Advisory Board

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Kate Middleton appeared to pay tribute to her late mother-in-law with her choice of outfit to launch her new photo book.

Last year, the Duchess of Cambridge, 39, asked the public to submit photographs taken during the pandemic to collate a lasting record of the moment in time through her Hold Still project.

She appears in good spirits as she poses with a camera for a snap positioned opposite the introduction to the book, with her hair swept over one shoulder with loose waves for a relaxed look.

With it's striking white pie-crust collar, the Duchess' Sezane Margeurite shirt was extremely reminiscent of a similar outfit worn by Princess Diana in 1981.

The Duchess of Cambridge (pictured) appeared to pay tribute to Princess Diana by wearing a Sezane Margeurite pie-crust blouse and wine colour sweater for a photograph to accompany her new photo book

It is not the first that Kate has worn her now out of stock blouse, having previously teamed it with a wine coloured jumper for the Cambridge's Christmas card 2020 and with a Troy London jacket at an engagement in 2019.

Kate's photograph for her Hold Still project is believed to have been taken during the Christmas card photoshoot, as she is seen wearing the same minimalist make-up and subtle accessories.

She is known for refreshing her wardrobe by styling key pieces in new ways, and the sweater worn for the book release has striking similarities to a style by J Crew that she wore at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Pairing the look with jeans, Kate beams in the snap possibly smiling at William and their three children as she holds a Fujifilm X-T3 camera.

With it's striking white pie-crust collar, the Duchess' Sezane Margeurite shirt was extremely reminiscent of a similar outfit worn by Princess Diana in 1981

The look echoes a style regularly worn by Lady Diana Spencer, who often donned blouses and shirts with the similar pie-crust style collar.

In 1981, shortly after her engagement to Prince Charles was announced, the royal wore a similar white blouse with a red polkadot dress to visit the town of Tetbuty.

The photograph shared to mark the release of the new book was taken by royal photographer Matt Porteous, who also captured the snap for their Christmas card in the grounds of their Norfolk country home Amner Hall, where they spent much of last year during lockdown.

Kate partnered with the National Portrait Gallery for the new book, Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020, which will be available in UK bookshops and online from Friday 7 May, one year on since the project was first launched.

Kate previously wore the blouse for the Cambridge's Christmas card (photograph), the style has a pie crust collar and distinctive ladder-stitch detailing at the front placket, cuffs, and shoulders

Net proceeds raised from the sale of the book will be split between the mental health charity Mind and the National Portrait Gallery.

The funds will help to support arts and mental health projects across the UK, including Mind's work in local communities and the National Portrait Gallery's education and community projects.

The book features 100 portraits chosen from over 31,000 images, with those selected shown in a digital exhibition before being displayed across the UK as part of a community exhibition.

Over the course of the project the Duchess shared a number of her favourite images on the Kensington Royal Instagram page, including a Black Lives Matter protester holding a sign reading: 'Be on the right side of history.'

Kate has refreshed the blouse by styling it in numerous different ways, including with a Troy London jacket for a visit to Cumbria in 2019

Another of the snaps was a black and white image showing a man embracing his daughter, while one shows a child kissing their godmother through a window.

The new book includes an introduction from Kate, in which she explains why launching Hold Still was so important to her.

She writes: 'When we look back at the COVID-19 pandemic in decades to come, we will think of the challenges we all faced  the loved ones we lost, the extended isolation from our families and friends and the strain placed on our key workers.

'But we will also remember the positives: the incredible acts of kindness, the helpers and heroes who emerged from all walks of life, and how together we adapted to a new normal.

'Through Hold Still, I wanted to use the power of photography to create a lasting record of what we were all experiencing  to capture individuals' stories and document significant moments for families and communities as we lived through the pandemic.'

Today Kate and the National Portrait Gallery announced the new book, Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020, will be available in UK bookshops and online from Friday 7 May, one year on since the project was first launched

The new book includes an introduction from Kate, in which she explains why launching Hold Still was so important to her

She goes on: 'For me, the power of the images is in the poignant and personal stories that sit behind them. I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to some of the photographers and sitters, to hear their stories first-hand - from moments of joy, love and community spirit, to deep sadness, pain, isolation and loss.

'A common theme of those conversations was how lockdown reminded us about the importance of human connection and the huge value we place on the relationships we have with the people around us.

'Although we were physically apart, these images remind us that, as families, communities and as a nation, we need each other more than we had ever realised.'

She concludes by thanking everyone who took the time to submit an image, adding: 'Your stories are the most crucial part of this project. I hope that the final 100 photographs showcase the experiences and emotions borne during this time in history, pay tribute to the awe-inspiring efforts of all who have worked to protect those around them, and provide a space for us to pause and reflect upon this unparalleled period.'
Imperial Valley News Center

Moreno Valley Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Robbery Charges for Month-Long Pharmacy Crime Spree in Inland Empire

Riverside, California - A Riverside County man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal criminal charges that he engaged in a month-long robbery spree of pharmacies in the Inland Empire while wearing a medical mask over his face.

David Anthony Battle, 51, of Moreno Valley, pleaded guilty to six felony counts of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act robbery).

According to his plea agreement, from July 6, 2020 to August 10, 2020, Battle robbed six pharmacies  Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid  in Moreno Valley, Colton, and San Bernardino, and attempted to rob two other Moreno Valley pharmacies.

During each incident, Battle wore similar clothing  including wearing medical masks covering his nose and mouth  and used a similar method of brandishing what appeared to be a handgun by pulling it out from his waistband and holding it at his side, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in this case. He then demanded that money in the cash register be placed in a bag and handed over, the plea agreement states.

Law enforcement reviewed store surveillance videos, which led them to arrest Battle, court documents state. During Battles arrest, a black BB-gun-style pistol was found on the ground near him, the affidavit states.

Battle netted $5,453 in illicit gains from the robberies, though $3,200 of that came from the July 6 robbery of a Walgreens store in Moreno Valley, according to the plea agreement.

United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal has scheduled a June 14 sentencing hearing, at which time Battle will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each Hobbs Act robbery count.

The FBI, the Riverside County Sheriffs Department, the San Bernardino Police Department, and the Colton Police Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Peter H. Dahlquist of the Riverside Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
The father of Ivan Zhdanov, the director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, has been detained on a charge of abuse of office.



Zhdanov wrote on social media on March 29 that his 66-year-old father Yury Zhdanov was sent to pretrial detention over the weekend after police searched his home in the city of Rostov-on-Don on March 26.



"I have no doubts that the criminal case was launched because of me and my activities," Zhdanov wrote, adding that his father's arrest was "absolutely a new level of villainy and turpitude from the presidential administration."



According to Zhdanov, before retirement last summer his father worked as an official in a remote town for several years.



Investigators now accuse Yury Zhdanov of recommending the towns administration provide a local woman with a subsidized apartment though it later turned out that the woman's family had previously received housing allocations.



The apartment was later returned to municipal ownership in accordance with a court decision and no one among those who made the decision were held responsible.



"I do not know if the situation was intentionally organized to frame him. The events took place in July 2019, during the peak of the campaign in the Moscow municipal elections," Zhdanov wrote.



In late-July 2019, the younger Zhdanov was serving a 15-day jail term for taking part in an unsanctioned rally to protest against a decision by election officials to refuse to register him and several other opposition figures as candidates to the Moscow City Council.



Navalny's FBK is known for publishing investigative reports about corruption among Russia's top officials, including President Vladimir Putin.



The latest report focused on a lavish Black Sea mansion which Navalny's team called "a palace for Putin," capturing worldwide attention with more than 115 million views on YouTube.

The report showcases the luxurious, 100 billion-ruble ($1.32 billion) estate near the popular holiday town of Gelendzhik. It said Putin effectively owns this palace via a complex trail of companies.



The Kremlin has denied the report saying "one or several [businessmen] directly or indirectly own" the property, adding that it "has no right to reveal the names of these owners."
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She just announced she's expecting her first child with husband Johnny Barbara earlier this month.

But Devon Windsor was focused on her furry baby while heading to the offices of her swimwear brand in Coral Gables, Florida on Monday morning.

The Victoria's Secret model, 27, carried her dog Winston in her arms, looking like she had her hands full as she retrieved a few boxes from the South Florida business park.

Pet pooch: Pregnant model Devon Windsor stopped by an office in Coral Gables, Florida with her beloved dog Winston on Monday morning

Devon's sporty chic outfit hid the blonde's bump under a loose white tee tucked into silky sapphire blue pants with white and yellow racing stripes down the side.

Matching the details in her pants, the St. Louis-born stunner added a pair of flat white sandals.

Windsor didn't need any makeup, showing off a fresh-faced glow while parting her tousled locks in the center.

The mask-free model quickly popped into the office before emerging with a plastic bin of clothes and a box.

She gave Instagram followers a glimpse into her busy day, revealing how she was getting things done before traveling to shoot the latest collection from her line Devon Windsor Swim.

Not showing: The St. Louis-born stunner's sporty chic outfit hid her bump under a loose white tee tucked into silky sapphire blue pants with white and yellow racing stripes down the side

Storage: The mask-free model quickly popped into the office before emerging with a plastic bin of clothes and a box

Devon's busy day came just two-weeks after she announced she and husband-of-one-year Barbara are starting a family.

Windsor took to Instagram on March 12 to share two black and white snaps of her blossoming baby bump and ultrasound scan alongside her love.

Devon wrote in the caption: 'Mom & Dad. I'm pregnant!! Johnny and I are so excited to finally share the news with you guys!

'I have dreamt of being a mama my whole life. We are so grateful for this little angel in my belly, and are so excited for this new chapter in our lives!

Congratulations! The Victoria's Secret beauty announced she and husband Johnny Barbara were starting a family earlier this month

Over the moon: Devon wrote in the caption: 'Mom & Dad. I'm pregnant!! Johnny and I are so excited to finally share the news with you guys!'

Expecting: The blonde posted two black and white snaps of her blossoming baby bump alongside her husband

'Sending extra love and light to the mamas out there who are trying to conceive. I am hopeful your miracles are around the corner!'

One photo showed Johnny tenderly kissing Devon's cheek while she held up the ultrasound scan to the camera.

The model wore her jeans partially unbuttoned and lifted her shirt up so as to display her baby bump.

In the other snap, Johnny kissed Devon's stomach as the model beamed down at him.

Loved-up: The 5ft 11in beauty wed Johnny - co-owner of fashion label Alexis - at St Bartholomew's Anglican Church on the Caribbean island of St Barths on November 16 2019

American beauty Devon got her start as a model when she was just 14 and moved to Europe after graduating from school to further her career.

A career changing moment for Windsor was walking for Prada in September 2013.

During fittings, her hair was dyed platinum blonde and this became her signature look.

The 5ft 11in beauty wed Johnny - co-owner of fashion label Alexis - at St Bartholomew's Anglican Church on the Caribbean island of St Barths on November 16 2019.

Romantic: The couple got engaged in 2018 when Johnny wrote the question: 'Marry me?' on a beach as Devon flew in on an aeroplane

Announcing the engagement by sharing the image of the beach proposal in June 2018 she wrote on Instagram: 'When you think you're flying into a photoshoot and then you look down and see this...

'This was the best day of my life and I cannot wait to marry the best person in the whole universe

'I'm the luckiest woman in the world!'

Devon also showed off her impressive diamond engagement ring - which took over a month to design- in an Instagram story post.

Pre-wedding party: The couple's wedding celebrations are said to have lasted three days

She wrote: 'I'll never finish falling in love with you...... ladies and gents, my fiance!!!!'

Georgia Fowler, Shanina Shaik, Olivia Culpo and Cara Santana were among the celebrities who attended the lavish nuptials in an extravaganza that lasted for three days, according to Harper's Bazaar.

Devon recalled the elaborate methods he took in order to propose to her during a trip to The Bahamas in 2018.

'Johnny worked really hard to trick me into thinking I was flying into the Exumas for a modeling job,' she told the magazine.

'I had to take a sea plane to the final destination, and when we were getting ready to land I looked out of the window and I saw the words "Marry Me" written in roses on the beachand then I noticed it was Johnny standing there waiting for me.

'That was definitely one of the happiest and most incredible days of my life that I will never forget.'
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This is the moment a Trump supporter pulled a gun on rock-throwing Antifa protesters after they vandalized his truck and maced him during a rally near the Oregon Capitol.

Footage captured the demonstrators spraying paint across the windshield of the man's truck and smashing the tail lights in Salem on Sunday.

The driver, who was wearing an American flag sweatshirt, stepped out of his vehicle as he engaged with the protesters, who then appeared to mace him.

The video then shows him pulling out his gun and pointing it at the anti-fascist protesters.

He could be heard shouting: 'Get away from me'.

Scroll down for video

A driver pulls a handgun on protesters after they broke his trucks lights on March 28, 2021 in Salem, Oregon

The protesters clashed with occupants of vehicles that had participated in an American flag-waving car caravan, despite law enforcement's efforts to to keep the groups separate

The driver, who was wearing an American flag sweatshirt, was almost immediately apprehended by police who ordered him to drop to the ground and let go of his weapon

Marion County Sheriff's deputies and Oregon State Troopers arrest the driver who pulled a handgun on protesters after they broke his trucks lights

As police arrived, the man could be seen putting his gun into the back of his truck before putting his hands up and kneeling on the ground.

The man was rubbing his eyes as the officer approached to arrest him.

The remnants of his tail lights could be seen scattered across the ground.

The Antifa protesters could be heard laughing and shouting as the man was taken into custody.

At one point, the protesters shouted: 'F**k the Proud Boys'.

Police said the man who was taken into custody has not been charged and they are still investigating.

The tense moment was one of many clashes between left-wing, anti-fascist demonstrators and right-wing protesters near the Oregon State Capitol grounds.

The Statesman Journal reports that protesters, many wearing black masks and helmets and some wearing anti-fascist stickers, stood for a few hours waiting for a caravan from a right-wing rally in Sandy that was expected to arrive at the Capitol.

The video showed him pulling out his gun and pointing it at the anti-fascist protesters just seconds after appearing to be maced (above)

The man pulled out his gun from his waistband as protesters surrounded him. It appears as if he was hit with mace just seconds earlier

The man could be heard shouting 'Get away from me' soon after he pulled out his gun

As police arrived, the man could be seen putting his gun into the back of his truck before putting his hands up and kneeling on the ground

The 'Freedom' rally was advertised as an event to honor those who 'fought for our freedoms.'

Protesters on the sidewalks and in the street in Salem threw objects at a number of vehicles that drove by the Capitol with American flags, breaking some vehicles' windows.

At least three people were arrested including Andrew Alan Foy, 34 for second-degree disorderly conduct and second-degree criminal trespass, Nathan McFarland, 33, for second-degree disorderly conduct and Anthony Villaneda,18, for five counts of pointing a laser.

Salem police closed Court Street due to 'ongoing reports of criminal activity' and announced over a loudspeaker that if people did not disperse immediately they would use 'impact weapons, munitions and tear gas' against them, and protesters could be arrested.

Earlier that day, at 2:30 p.m, police tweeted that they expected 150-200 people who would be 'heavily armed'.

'The risk of violence has increased as the opposing protestors are expected to arrive in large numbers. We have received reports that vehicles driving past the capitol are being struck with balloons filled with paint and green lasers being pointed at drivers.'

If (possible), avoid traveling (through) streets around the capitol mall,' officials tweeted. Anyone observing criminal behavior should immediately move to a safe location & call 911.'

A protester is nearly hit by a truck that drove through a crowd during an anti-fascist rally in Salem, Oregon

A car was hit with yellow paint as protesters and counter protesters clashed during an anti-fascist rally in Salem, Oregon, U.S., March 28

The tense moment was one of many clashes between left-wing, anti-fascist demonstrators and right-wing protesters Sunday near the Oregon State Capitol grounds in Salem

Several arrests were made, though authorities didn't immediately provide an exact figure

Protesters confront a Trump supporter on March 28, 2021 in Salem, Oregon. The protesters clashed with occupants of vehicles that had participated in an American flag-waving car caravan, despite law enforcements efforts to to keep the groups separate

Police are seen as Oregon State Police and the Salem Police officers declared an 'unlawful assembly' during an anti-fascist rally in Salem

Anti-fascist protesters rally outside of the Oregon State Capitol building during an anti-fascist rally in Salem, Oregon

A protester waves an anti-fascist flag at the Oregon statehouse on March 28

A protester displays a water gun filled with an unidentified substance on March 28

Protesters gather to counter a planned rally on March 28, 2021 in Salem, Oregon

An Oregon State Trooper watches protesters on March 28, 2021 in Salem, Oregon
Our North star objective will always remain clearhelp organizations build better teams and help teams build better organizations.

Habitat Communication & Culture, an innovative organizational consulting and leadership development company, has exited a year-long stealth strategy and will begin accepting new clients in spring 2021. The company specializes in data-driven assessments, goal-setting systems and performance management solutions.

Founded in January 2020, the company quickly expanded, adding a minority partner and Director of Consulting Operations as well as a Project Coordinator.

The Founding & Stealth Operations

Spencer Harris and Jarad Johnson joined forces at Mostly Serious, a leading full-service digital marketing agency located in the Midwest. It was there that they discovered the power of the systems Habitat now offers its clients. Over the past 4 years, we have witnessed the power of systems tailored to the specific needs of organizations, as we used those very systems to build Mostly Serious from a team of seven to a team of 15 while also doubling our client roster and more than tripling our revenue, said Harris.

Under the pairs leadership, Mostly Serious was named Small Business of the Year in 2019, by Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, and has been added to the list of Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies.

After seeing the immediate and broad demand of their service and approach, the team determined the need for rapid yet intentional expansion. Their first hire was Laura Greene-Johnson, a member of the founding team at Mostly Serious a decade earlier, as Project Coordinator. Next, they brought in Benjamin Thomas as partner, who holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and currently serves as a management faculty member in the departments of Organizations, Human Resource Management, and Motivation. As a regular contributor on research projects for each business, Thomas quickly recognized the potential of the venture.

There are many consulting companies out there; what separates Habitat, and what initially attracted me to join the company, is their embrace of a data-first approach to meaningfully solve problems for their clients, said Thomas. Then, when we discussed the demand for strong ethical standards in consulting engagements as well as their history of living up to those standards at Mostly Serious, I knew we could build something different.

Initial Growth & Success

After solidifying the team, Habitat focused on building out the systems and mechanisms the market was demanding, starting with a proprietary data-driven approach to initial company assessments, which allows every engagement to begin by identifying the problems that need to be solved and the specific outcome requirements of each engagement. Additionally, the team developed a robust goal-setting system and approach to performance management.

The Habitat team then installed these systems with select clients, focusing on ensuring every solution was successfully implemented throughout the organization. Rob Haik, Principle at hdesigngroup, reflected on their ongoing engagement: Their ability to work with our entire organization to identify the problem, then propose targeted solutions that empower our teams to collaborate in building a better solution ensures our investment results in a faster and stronger company.

Other clients include Old Missouri Bank, Bryan Properties and Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The company has also entered into a partnership with the Small Business Development Center of Missouri to bring their services to select businesses across the state in 2021.

Future Vision

By the start of 2021, Habitat had surpassed its 2-year growth plans. We utilize a slow-is-smooth, smooth-is-fast approach to building companies, and with Habitat we have been forced to intentionally hit the brakes on our growth numerous times, said Harris. Its a good problem to have, and we are working diligently to expand our team to fit the demand; however, we will always put quality work and effective results above rapid growth.

Harris and Johnson shared that they see a long-term opportunity to bring innovative technological products to the consulting space, one of which is currently in an alpha release for internal testing. One of our objectives is to provide the simplest solutions that achieve maximal outcomes. The technology platform were building will save our clients time, increase system adoption and let us bring our expertise to more companies, Harris noted.

Johnson added, Our North star objective will always remain clearhelp organizations build better teams and help teams build better organizations. Creating the systems and products needed to solve organizational problems ourselves has always kept things moving steadily toward that ultimate objective, not to mention proven more efficient, so that's exactly what we intend to do for Habitat's clients.

More About Habitat Communication and Culture

Habitat Communication and Culture is located in Springfield, Mo. and works with clients globally. For more information about the company or services, visit teamhabitat.com or email jarad@teamhabitat.com.
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 29, 2021

The United Steelworkers Union will go on strike this week at Allegheny Technologies over unfair labor practices. PenniePennsylvanias ACA marketplacewill remain upon until mid-August. State parks and forests will resume in-person outdoor programs in April. Plus, one professor from the University of Pittsburgh created technology thats currently being used by NASAs Perseverance rover on Mars.

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.
SAN FRANCISCO  The pandemic has brought grinding frustrations for parents, educators and students across the country. But perhaps no place has matched San Francisco in its level of infighting, public outrage and halting efforts to reopen schools.

In February, the city sued its own school system, which has been entirely remote for a year, and board of education, charging they were violating state law by not resuming in-person instruction.

Soon after, two parents infuriated by the school boards decision to rename 44 schools, even as it kept them closed, launched a drive to recall three of the board members. Some 9,000 people have joined the campaigns mailing list, and they are expected to begin collecting signatures soon.

Then critics of the board unearthed 4-year-old tweets written by the boards vice president in which she accused Asian Americans of sidling up to white Americans to get ahead without confronting racism, comparing them to slaves who benefited from working inside a slave owners house. More than a third of the districts students are Asian American.

Tumult turned to all-out war. Within days, state legislators, the mayor and two members of the board itself had joined a rapidly growing chorus demanding that the vice president, Alison Collins, resign.

Collins has refused to do so, but on Thursday the board voted 5-2 to strip her of her roles on committees and her vice presidency, leaving the board bitterly divided.

Amid the chaos one thing has remained clear: A large share of the citys public school students are unlikely to see the inside of their classrooms this academic year.

The district has set dates in mid-to-late April to start bringing back elementary students and some high-needs older students, but there is no plan yet for the majority of middle or high school students to return. At the same time, all of the roughly 10,000 teachers and staff members in the district have been offered vaccinations.

The No. 1 focus for this school board should be getting kids of all grades back in school as quickly as possible, said Dennis Herrera, San Franciscos city attorney, whose request for an order to force the district to produce a reopening plan was denied by a judge Thursday. Instead here we are subjected to a political drama in San Francisco, making the school district a laughingstock nationwide.

Critics of San Franciscos brand of liberal politics have long pointed to a disconnect between elected officials lofty rhetoric about social justice, and the reality of a city where fabulous wealth lives side-by-side with extreme poverty and despair, exemplified by the homelessness, drug abuse and mental illness on the citys streets.

In the realm of education, the pandemic has reinforced the notion of a city divided by wealth and race. Around one-third of the citys schoolchildren, many of them white, go to private schools, one of the highest rates of any major city in the United States. Many of those private-school students have been sitting in classrooms for months while public school students, who are disproportionately Black, Latino and Asian American, have spent the year in virtual classes.

Data released by the district suggests that remote learning has increased racial achievement gaps. Attendance has fallen among African American and Pacific Islander students, as well as homeless students.

Among elementary school students, African American, Latino and Pacific Islander students all made less than expected progress in math between fall 2019 and fall 2020, while in reading, only white and multiracial students made better than expected progress; all other students fell behind.

Even so, not all parents in the district are eager to send their children back to school in person: About a third have chosen to keep their children in distance learning when elementary schools reopen.

Adding to the districts woes, it is facing a steep budget deficit and now risks losing even more funding as enrollment declines. Data from the district shows a roughly 10% drop in the number of students submitting applications for kindergarten for 2021-22.

As early as last summer, it was clear that the board had no appetite for reopening schools. When the superintendent, Vincent Matthews, proposed using grant money to hire a consultant to help devise a reopening plan, the board voted against it, in part because the consultant had connections to charter schools.

So schools remained closed all fall, even while San Francisco enjoyed some of the lowest virus rates in the country. But the board proceeded with a plan to rename 44 schools whose names were deemed to be associated with slavery, genocide or other injustices.

The plan was criticized for the sloppiness of the research process, which, among other things, wrongly accused Paul Revere of seeking to colonize the Penobscot people. Mayor London Breed blasted the boards focus on renaming schools while they remained closed as offensive.

In early February, shortly after taking a final vote to rename the schools, the board took on another controversial issue, voting to permanently change the admissions process to Lowell High School, the citys most elite school, from one based primarily on grades and test scores to a lottery system.

As has been the case with selective public high schools in cities like New York and Boston, Lowell has been a source of both pride and contention in San Francisco. Its student body is majority white and Asian American, while Black and Latino students are underrepresented, despite efforts to diversify the school.

The board had voted in the fall to change Lowells admissions process to a lottery-based one for one year only, and data released this week showed that the share of Black and Latino students among those admitted jumped sharply.

Soon after the Lowell vote, Siva Raj and Autumn Looijen, a couple who said they were angry about the boards decision to devote time to the renaming process rather than reopening schools, launched a campaign to recall Collins, plus the board president, Gabriela Lopez, and a third member of the board, Faauuga Moliga. (Because of the rules around recall elections, the other members are not eligible to be recalled, Raj said.)

We saw that the school board was actually downright dismissive, almost contemptuous, of parent input, Raj said. They didnt want to hear from us. (Raj has two sons in San Francisco public schools; Looijens children attend school in another Bay Area district.)

A day after the recall campaign launched publicly, the board paused the renaming effort.

On March 18, a volunteer moderator of the recall groups Facebook page, a Lowell graduate named Diane Yap, discovered Collins tweets. The recall group tweeted them out that evening.

In the thread, from Dec. 4, 2016, Collins, who is Black, wrote she was looking to combat anti-black racism in the Asian-American community at her daughters mostly Asian American school, then complained about what she saw as many Asian Americans refusal to confront racism.

Many Asian Am. believe they benefit from the model minority BS, she wrote, referring to a stereotype of Asian Americans as being compliant overachievers. They use white supremacist thinking to assimilate and get ahead.

Collins went on to question whether Asian Americans were opposed to President Donald Trump, who had just been elected a month earlier. And she compared Asian Americans to slaves who had the advantage of working inside a slave owners home instead of doing more grueling labor in the fields. She used asterisks in her tweet to mask an anti-Black racial slur.

The tweets were resurfaced just two days after the spa shootings in Atlanta, where six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent, deepening fears of anti-Asian violence. Within hours, there were calls for her to resign.

Collins issued a statement saying that her words were taken out of context. For the pain my words may have caused I am sorry, and I apologize unreservedly, she said.

At a board meeting Tuesday, Collins said she would continue her work on the board.

Asian American students and parents who called into the meeting fulminated against Collins and other members of the board, their voices cracking with emotion.

This board is becoming a case study for performative, shallow activism and hypocrisy, said one caller who identified himself as a student in the district.

Lopez, the board president, has defended Collins, and voted against the measure stripping her of her title and committee assignments. She declined to comment, and Collins did not respond to requests for comment.

The Rev. Amos C. Brown, pastor of Third Baptist Church and president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP, said in an interview that he believed that the criticisms of Collins were disingenuous and driven by people who wanted to reverse the admissions change at Lowell High School.

And while he said Collins had chosen unpalatable words, he suggested that her comments contained some truth.

Lets face it, in this society, you do have certain people  not all, not all, certain people  who feel that they are a part of this oppressive oligarchy, and they do not persistently work with the underdog, the marginalized, but they only come around when theres something of their vested interest, he said.

But Lawrence Tribe, a Harvard University law professor and an alumnus of the San Francisco public school system, said the board had used cultural distractions as a way of covering up its inability to get schools reopened.

Its clear, he said, that the internecine conflict among relatively privileged liberals sometimes leaves behind people that they genuinely believe they are concerned about.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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EMT Lenny Fernandez prepares a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccination drive for essential food processing workers at Rose & Shore, Inc., in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 17, 2021. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

2 COVID-19 Vaccines Found Highly Effective in Real-World US Study

The two COVID-19 vaccines built on the new messenger RNA technology are highly effective in preventing infections of the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19, according to a newly released real-world study.

Vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna reduced the risk of infection by 90 percent two or more weeks after the second vaccination, according to the study.

Both vaccines require two doses spaced several weeks apart. But even one dose of either decreased the risk of infection by 80 percent two or more weeks later, researchers said.

This study shows that our national vaccination efforts are working. The authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provided early, substantial real-world protection against infection for our nations health care personnel, first responders, and other frontline essential workers, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in a statement.

These findings should offer hope to the millions of Americans receiving COVID-19 vaccines each day and to those who will have the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated in the weeks ahead. The authorized vaccines are the key tool that will help bring an end to this devastating pandemic, she added.

The study was conducted by researchers at the CDC, a federal agency.

Some 3,950 healthcare workers, first responders, and other workers described as being essential and frontline jobs volunteered for the study. They were tested weekly for COVID-19 for 13 consecutive weeks, starting in mid-December 2020. Participants self-collected a nasal swab, which was tested in a laboratory in Wisconsin.

Among the participants, nearly 63 percent, or 2,479, received two vaccine doses. Another 12 percent received only one dose. The rest received no doses.

A healthcare worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at Lestonnac Health Clinic in Orange, Calif., on March 9, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The participants live and work in Portland, Oregon; Temple, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Duluth, Minnesota, Miami, Florida; and several locations in Arizona, including Phoenix.

The findings come after a string of studies indicated the vaccines are effective in preventing transmission of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2.

It looks like both vaccines are very effective in at least what we know now as far as not only preventing disease, meaning getting bad COVID infection, but also maybe transmitting it, which is meant by infection where you might carry the virus, Dr. Peter Gulick, an associate professor of Medicine at the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University who is also an expert on infectious diseases, told The Epoch Times.

The research could lead to more relaxed restrictions on people who have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine. But those with weaker immune systems may see a lower efficacy than others. Gulick said he warns his patients who are immunosuppressed that when they get the vaccine, they should know they may be seeing a lower immunity level than others.

Researchers said the study was subject to at least three limitations, including the fact that specimens were self-collected, which combined with delays in shipping could reduce sensitivity of virus detection by testing. if this disproportionately affected those who received the vaccine (e.g., because of possible vaccine attenuation of virus shedding), vaccine effectiveness would be overestimated, they wrote.

The United States has fully vaccinated 52.6 million Americans against the CCP virus as of March 29, with another 41 million getting one of two doses.

Roughly one out of two Americans 65 years or older have been fully vaccinated.
Over the weekend, WSWS reporters spoke to people in Windsor, a town that sits on the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney, and residents of the Central Coast, further north. Both areas were hard hit by floods last week that engulfed vast swathes of the New South Wales and southeastern Queensland.

Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes last week. With the floodwaters subsiding, many are returning to severely damaged properties, without insurance and with only a pittance of assistance from the authorities.

The interviews spoke about the difficulties they face, as well as the responsibility of government policies for the severity of the disaster.

Road signs submerged in Penrith, north west of Sydney (Wikipedia)

In Windsor, Blake, 27, has been without tap water or electricity for several days, and has had to rely on neighbours.

On Sunday morning [March 21], I woke up and it looked exactly like it does now. From then on, the water was rising at 400 millimetres an hour.

Were glad we snapped into gear. The SES [State Emergency Service] came around Sunday late evening, knocking on doors telling us they would probably get our side of the street to evacuate. But we had already taken off to our parents.

The only notification Blakes household received was from the Bureau of Meteorology Weather app. There definitely needs to be more communication, whether from the council or the government, Blake said. One of our neighbours wasnt prepared at all. She was at work and lost everything.

Last Tuesday, the water rose through the floorboards to shin height because the house does not have a concrete slab foundation.

Blake (WSWS media)

Mel, Blakes partner, commented: Were not too sure what the water carries but it cant be good. It will definitely be carrying diseases and there is a big risk of black mould. We put a lot of hard work into the place, a lot of money as well. It will set us back a fair bit to rip out the floorboards and any gyprock.

Referring to the spill-over of Warragamba Dam, Sydneys main water source, which contributed to the scale of the flooding, Blake said: I dont think we need to keep that dam at 97 percent full. If we get another storm like this the same thing will happen. But if they kept it at 80 percent it would make a massive difference. They need to manage the dam better. If they lift the dam and keep it at 98 percent full then it doesnt change much, in fact it makes it worse for us down here.

Like many of their neighbours, Blake and Mel did not have flood insurance. With premiums of $25,000 or more commonplace, they assessed that it would be cheaper to deal with costs out of pocket whenever flooding occurred. No one on the street can afford that, especially when they keep saying its a 1 in 100-year flood, Blake said.

Last year we got 400 to 500 mm of rain in two days. It came up most of the way up the backyard and missed our garage by a few metres. They were saying that was a 1 in 50 or a 1 in 100-year flood, and now just a year later we have another one. We bought here 18 months ago on the harshest water restrictions. We couldnt water lawns, wash the car, and only a month later the whole place was flooded. They said it was a minor flood. It was still 9 metres.

The only assistance weve had is a $1,000 government flood package. That paid for our stuff in storage, but we obviously have to move back in and hire trucks and $1,000 doesnt go too far. Supposedly theyre giving us skip bins or free tipping, but we havent heard from them.

We had the Rural Fire Service here Friday. They helped us move all the insulation under the floors but were called away because they werent qualified. They were a massive help for us, but I feel a bit selfish that we got them and no one else on the street did. One of our neighbours is a grandmother who lives by herself. Shes got family there to help. The only assistance is locals helping each other out.

Patrick, 22, works in refrigeration, air conditioning and electrical repairs. Ive been without power since Wednesday. I wasnt home when they unhooked it because Ive been working all week, he said.

Sunday I was here and started clearing it out and getting it ready. I just bought this place two months ago, so I didnt know what to expect. My neighbour warned me and asked me what I was going to do about a flood, so I looked it up on the news.

Patrick indicating high-water mark during the flood (WSWS media)

I never got a warning from anyone, except the neighbours, but I didnt need anyone to tell me to get out of the house. On Sunday morning my dad and neighbours told me the water was going to be 15 metres high. I checked that in the Hawkesbury News. The contour map had the street at 13 metres, so I acted. I didnt get an alert on my phone. The only alert I got was that the power company was coming to turn off the power.

Damage to Patrick's backyard pergola (WSWS media)

Patrick said ordinary people had assisted greatly: People just drop past all the time. On Sunday people drove past even though its a cul-de-sac, asking if we needed a hand. I dont think they lived in the street. A lady came and gave me cookies. Another man was just here from two suburbs over and said if I needed any food, clothes, water, the community centre has heaps of stuff and they are more than willing to drop it off if I need.

The community has been very nice. Theres nothing like something bad happening to bring everyone together and that is what has happened here. Now everyone waves at each other, we know everyones names, people are lending things. Its a very nice street.

I havent got the $1,000 assistance yet. I called up for it the other day and couldnt get through to anyone. I kind of just left it at that. Even though you always need money, at that moment I wasnt thinking about money.

Floodwaters at Berkeley Vale, a town on the Central Coast, north of Sydney, reached 1.5 metres above sea-level. This meant they were approximately waist high.

Luke, who has lived in the area for 20 years, said that during that time, he had seen seven floods but that the council and other authorities have done nothing to mitigate the risks. There were no evacuation orders in this flood that just passed or any other flood since Ive lived here, he said.

Not even when the ground floors of some of these houses were almost completely submerged in water. Ive had no instructions, no evacuation orders, nothing. People are just left to fend for themselves.

Jeremy, another resident, added: The rains were heavier this year than previously, but the flood wasnt as big as the one that occurred in February 2020 after the Black Summer bushfires. The reason is that a local resident, who also happened to be a professional excavator, just got so sick of the council doing absolutely nothing for us here that he went on his own and excavated a channel into the lake so that water can funnel back into the lake a lot smoother. He got into a lot of trouble from the local council, who didnt do anything. But if it hadnt been for that, the flooding would have been a lot worse I guarantee you.

Alana said: In February last year, we had water up to our front steps and through parts of the house. If it wasnt for the man excavating the channel we would have been under again. That guy was taken to court by the council. He had to set up a GoFundMe page to help pay off his $60,000 in legal fees.

There are no plans around here for flood emergencies, not even to check up on your neighbours. Last year, for example, an elderly man nearby was electrocuted on the first floor of his house because the ground floor was submerged and the electricity grid hadnt been turned off.

Another major issue is the sewerage. Every time it floods, or even just rains heavily, the pumping station goes under water. We have had sewage, effluent, toilet paper come up into our laundry sink and the bathroom, and the concrete pipes out the front of our house. The sewerage treatment plant is in desperate need of being fixed. Its needed to be fixed for a couple of decades probably.
The Gambia has on Friday 26th March 2021 registered two new COVID-19-related deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths registered since March 2020, to one hundred and sixty-three.

The decedents were males, 33 and 73 years old. Both were admitted and confirmed COVID-19 cases, hypertensive with severe pneumonia.

The country on the same day recorded sixty-two new cases, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases ever confirmed in the country to five thousand three hundred and sixty-five.

30% of these tested for reasons of travelling, 49% being ill seeking health attention due to suspicion of COVID-19, 15% routine respiratory disease surveillance systems and 4% contacted a case. The median age of the new cases is 39.

This is the 285th national situation report since the confirmation of the first case of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in The Gambia, on the 16th March 2020. The Gambia currently has no one in hotel quarantine, but has two hundred and twelve active cases.

Modou Njai, the Director of Health Promotion and Education at the Ministry of Health, said a total of seven hundred and six new laboratory test results were received from the Medical Research Council and the National Public Health Lab.

Of these, Director Njai said sixty-two new samples tested positive, representing 8.8 % positivity test rate.

"Sixty-seven high-risk contacts of recently confirmed cases were identified. Four COVID-19 patients were newly discharged from treatment centres, while 60 got discharged at least 10 days from the day they tested positive but evaded institutional isolation," he said.

He said four COVID-19 patients are currently on oxygen therapy.
[March 29, 2021] Yext Earns "Leader" Distinction Across Five Categories from G2

NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Yext, Inc. (NYSE: YEXT), the Answers Search Company, today announced its designation as a leader on the Spring 2021 G2 Grid from G2.com, Inc., the leading software review platform. Yext earned the top distinction in five categories: Enterprise Search Software

Local Marketing Software

Online Reputation Management Software

Enterprise/Mid-Market Local SEO Software

Local Listings Management Software/u>



"Easiest Admin" on G2's overall Usability index for Enterprise Search Software

"Easiest to Use" on the Mid-Market Usability index for Local SEO, Local Listings Management, and Local Marketing Software

"Users Most Likely to Recommend" on the Mid-Market Results index for Local SEO Software

"Best Relationship" on the Enterprise Relationship index for Local Listings Management Software

"Best Meets Requirements" on the Mid-Market Usability index for Local SEO and Local Marketing Software "We're humbled by the amount of positive feedback that our customers have shared on G2, making it possible for us to be named a leader across multiple categories," said Marc Ferrentino, Chief Strategy Officer at Yext. "We've added a number of exciting solutions to our answers search platform, and that means we can help even more businesses forge better relationships with their customers through best-in-class search experiences."

Learn more about Yext's comprehensive search platform here. About Yext The ultimate source for official answers about a business online should be the business itself. However, when consumers ask questions on company websites, too often they are left in the dark with wrong answers. Yext (NYSE: YEXT), the Search Experience Cloud, solves this problem by organizing a business's facts so it can provide official answers to consumer questions  wherever people search. Starting with the company website, then extending across search engines and voice assistants, businesses around the world, like T-Mobile, Jaguar Land Rover, BBVA USA, and Kiehl's  as well as organizations like the U.S. State Department and World Health Organization  trust Yext to radically improve the search experience on their websites and across the entire search ecosystem. Yext's mission is to help businesses and organizations around the world deliver official answers everywhere people search. Yext has been named a Best Place to Work by Fortune and Great Place to Work, as well as a Best Workplace for Women. Yext is headquartered in New York City with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Chicago, Dallas, Geneva, London, Miami, Milan, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo, and the Washington, D.C. area. CONTACT: Amanda Kontor, pr@yext.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yext-earns-leader-distinction-across-five-categories-from-g2-301257196.html SOURCE Yext, Inc.

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OTTAWA - In the last four years, Health Canada has approved more than 1,500 new or updated pharmaceuticals.

People line up at a COVID-19 testing clinic Wednesday, March 24, 2021 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

OTTAWA - In the last four years, Health Canada has approved more than 1,500 new or updated pharmaceuticals.

Ten of them are vaccines.

Five of those are for COVID-19.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada helping oversee the review process, has never seen anything like the speed with which the COVID-19 vaccines got approved.

"I mean, unprecedented is the one word that we've been overusing, but there's nothing even close to comparable to this," she said in an interview.

The five non-COVID vaccines approved, four for influenza and one for shingles, took an average of 397 days from the day the company applied for approval in Canada, until that approval was granted.

The average time for COVID-19 vaccines? 82 days.

That includes 61 days for Pfizer-BioNTech, 72 days for Moderna, 95 days for Johnson & Johnson, 148 days for Oxford-AstraZeneca and 34 days for Covishield, the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India.

Covishield is a slight outlier because Health Canada mostly just needed to review the manufacturing process, as the vaccine is the same formula as the AstraZeneca doses made elsewhere. Sharma likens it to the same recipe made in a different kitchen, but the kitchen still needs to be up to snuff.

A sixth vaccine from Novavax is still under review, with the results from its big clinical trial not expected until next month. It has been under review by Health Canada for 58 days at this point.

The speed has raised fears among Canadians that everything moved too quickly. Many medical experts worry it is contributing to hesitancy to get the vaccines.

But Sharma says speed did not come at the expense of safety.

"That's the only priority, the only thought, is what's best for Canadians," she said. "There's no other motivation anywhere."

Lack of research funds can slow down new drug development, but in this case, as lockdowns shuttered economies worldwide and death tolls mounted, countries poured billions of dollars into getting a vaccine to get us out of the pandemic.

Most of the successful vaccines for COVID-19 so far use existing vaccine technology that was adjusted for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

They start with lab studies to check for safety on animals and see how the vaccine works in a lab setting on blood samples and on samples of the virus.

Then it is tested on a very small number of humans to look for any glaring safety concerns. Then they test it on a slightly larger number of people  usually fewer than 100  to look for safety and the development of antibodies.

If that goes well, the trial is expanded to thousands of volunteers, some of whom get the vaccine and some of whom don't. Then they wait to see how many in each group get infected.

Phase 3 trials usually take between one and four years. For the vaccines approved in Canada so far, phase three trials took about three months.

Sharma said the time a trial takes depends on finding enough patients to participate, and then having enough of their trial participants get sick to know how well the vaccine is or isn't working.

Fortunately and unfortunately, COVID-19 was spreading so rampantly in so many places, getting enough people exposed did not take very long.

Canada has seen very few vaccines tested here so far, mainly because our infection rates weren't high enough.

While the drug makers were busy getting the trials going, Health Canada was getting ready for their submissions. Sharma said discussions about COVID-19 vaccines began in earnest with international bodies in mid-January 2020, before Canada had even had a single confirmed case.

"I think we knew that ... we had a virus that was going to be transmissible, that could be causing significant respiratory disease, and that there would be an interest in therapies and vaccines definitely, very early on," said Sharma.

It was determined quickly that this virus was so new there was no existing vaccine that could be adjusted quickly, as had happened with the H1N1 pandemic in 2009.

By March, Health Canada had started putting teams in place to review new therapies and vaccines for COVID-19 as soon as they were ready.

Each team was made up of 12 to 15 people, with varying specialties. There was some overlap between the teams but not a lot because many vaccines were being reviewed at the same time.

The experts on the file included infectious disease specialists, pharmacologists, biostatisticians, and epidemiologists.

Separate from that were teams of people looking at manufacturing facilities. Approving a vaccine isn't just about making sure the clinical data shows it to be safe and effective, but also about making sure the place it is to be made follows the required safety standards.

They needed an emergency order from Health Minister Patty Hajdu to do a rolling review. Normally drug makers can't apply until they have every piece of data ready but with a rolling review Health Canada scientists can start reviewing the data as it becomes available.

Hajdu granted that on Sept. 16.

Then the vaccine submissions began pouring in  AstraZeneca applied Oct. 1, Pfizer Oct. 9, Moderna on Oct. 12, and J&J on Nov. 30. The Covishield application came Jan. 23 and Novavax submitted on Jan. 29.

Sharma says the teams were working 15 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, reviewing data, asking the companies questions, requesting more information or new analyses.

Sometimes they were doing it in the middle of the night. Collaborations with international partners in very different time zones, meant 2 a.m. or 4 a.m. video conference calls were not unusual.

When Pfizer and Moderna were reviewed, it was entirely based on clinical trail and pre-market data because the vaccines hadn't been approved anywhere else. Canada was the third in the world to authorize Pfizer on Dec. 14th, and second to approve Moderna Dec. 23.

By the time Health Canada authorized AstraZeneca  a review process complicated by some mistakes during the clinical trial in dosing and the number of seniors among its volunteer patients  it was also able to pull data from real-world use of the vaccine in the United Kingdom.

The regulatory work doesn't end when the authorization is announced. The post-market surveillance data is still non-stop. The recent blood clot concern with the AstraZeneca vaccine took a lot of time, but just monitoring the data submitted by the vaccine makers on adverse events overall is still critical.

To date, the adverse event reports in Canada have not been different than what was seen in clinical trials.

Companies also adjust their submissions requiring further review. Pfizer has so far asked for two changes, one to the number of doses per vial and another for the temperature at which the vaccine has to be kept.

If anything changes on safety, or if the efficacy seen in a clinical trial doesn't play out in the real world, Sharma says Canada will not hesitate to make adjustments. But those decisions will be made by Canadian experts, said Sharma, the same ones who have been on the files all along.

"It's important that if anything comes up, we have people that have reviewed it, have gone through every piece of paper, the 2,000 hours, the hundreds of thousands of pages, and that if anything comes up, it's like they've got a really strong science base, and they can put that stuff in context and we can make decisions really quickly."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.


Divestment Of Royalties For A$7 Million

Perth, Mar 29, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) is pleased to advise it has executed a binding royalty sale and purchase agreement with Vox Royalty Corp. ( CVE:VOX ) ("Vox") to divest its 100% interest in two royalties covering the Janet Ivy and Otto Bore gold projects in the Western Australian goldfields.Since 2001 Horizon has held the Janet Ivy royalty which comprises a A$0.50 per tonne payment on ore mined and treated from the Janet Ivy tenements owned by Norton Goldfields Ltd.In 2018, the Company divested its interest in the Lehmans Gold joint venture to Saracen Mineral Holdings (now Northern Star Resources) ( ASX:NST ) for A$2.5 million in cash. As part of the divestment, a 2.5% Net Smelter Royalty is payable once production reaches 42,000 ounces from the Otto Bore tenements and ends on production of 100,000 ounces.Under the Agreement, Vox will pay A$7 million in cash and shares on the following terms:- A$4 million in cash upon completion; and- A$3 million in cash or Vox shares at Vox's election (priced on a 30-day VWAP basis) upon Vox receiving cumulative payments of A$750,000 from the transaction royalties.Completion is expected in the June Quarter 2021 and is subject to standard conditions precedent for a transaction of this nature including execution of deeds of assignment with the continuing parties.Proceeds from the royalty divestments will add to existing cash reserves as the Company advances the consolidated Feasibility Study through to a development and financing decision in H2 2021.Commenting on the royalty divestment, Managing Director Mr Jon Price said:"Horizon's core focus remains firmly set on developing a stand-alone gold business in the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie regions. This divestment further strengthens our balance sheet as we progress the large-scale drilling program and advance the consolidated Feasibility Study through to a development decision and financing stage in the second half of 2021."About Horizon Minerals Limited

Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.

Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.

Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 24 Master's in Public Policy Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 71 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 71 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 24 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 Public Policy Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-public-policy-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Public Policy Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

American Public University System

American University

Arizona State University

California University of Pennsylvania

DePaul University

Eastern Illinois University

George Washington University

Grand Canyon University

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Johns Hopkins University

Liberty University

Northwestern University

Oregon State University

Pennsylvania State University

Regent University

Rochester Institute of Technology

Simmons University

State University of New York, Empire State College

Thomas Edison State University

University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

University of Nebraska

University of Pittsburgh

University Of Southern California

University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

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/.
By Moses Ndhaye

The National Organization of trade unions, NOTU has called for a meeting next week to discuss ways to block attempts by the finance minister Matia Kasaija who is persuading the President not to assent to the passed NSSF amendment bill of 2019.

The bill recently passed by Parliament seeks to allow contributors of the fund who are aged 45 years and above and have saved with the fund for at least 10 years midterm access of 20% of their accrued benefits.

However the finance minister Matia Kasaija in his recent letter to the President said allowing savers midterm access to their savings is bad for the fund.

However, the NOTU chairman Usher Wilson Owere says the bill is good both to the workers and to the economy and therefore the President should be encouraged to assent to the bill so that it can become a law.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 10:06:07|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Sunday said that 483 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libya's western coast.

The illegal migrants were rescued in two separate operations by the Libyan Coast Guard, the UN migration agency said.

"While IOM teams were there to provide emergency assistance, including medical support, we maintain that Libya is not a safe port," it said.

The agency estimated that more than 4,500 illegal migrants were intercepted or rescued so far this year off Libyan coast and ended up in arbitrary detention.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores, in order to escape insecurity and chaos that have plagued Libya since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

In 2020, a total of 11,891 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the agency estimated, adding that 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the central Mediterranean route during the same period.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centers. Enditem
With the official start of spring just around the corner, my backyard bird feeder is a hub of activity. The bird sounds are cheery and soothing, especially the soft cooing of doves in the morning. My home is also close to an active construction site, which means that bird song is intermingled with the beeping and hum of machinery. The contrasting sounds have left me questioning how we learn about and experience sound in our communities, and if we spend enough time listening to our surroundings.

Sound is what we hear, while noise is sound we dont want to hear. Although most people are aware of potential pollution in air and water, the problem of noise pollution is not taught as frequently. In developed areas, noise from human activity is a constant part of our outdoor environment. We are accustomed to traffic and airplane noise, so much so that we dont necessarily notice it day-to-day. In fact, in large cities, sounds are part of the experience and convey a sense of energy and excitement, which can be positive.
This is truly a major step forward for the automotive industry...

On March 24, 2021, another barrier was eliminated in allowing automobile dealerships to complete a vehicle sale without requiring a physical (ink) signature. Through authorization by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, a buyer purchased a vehicle and signed all the required DMV paperwork via the Internet. This marks the first time in our nation's history where a vehicle purchaser was verified online and their digital signature was approved for submission to a department of motor vehicles. Vitus Authority Trust, an innovative digital signature service, enabled the secure paperless transaction.

This is truly a major step forward for the automotive industry, stated the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) President, Brian Maas, Vitu has consistently driven policy and technological innovation in partnership with the industry and this is just another example of their leadership. Weve also been working closely with the federal government and the California DMV to get to this point and were thrilled that the effort has paid off.

Purchasing a vehicle has notoriously been a time-consuming and paperwork-heavy process for dealerships and their customers. With a regulatory framework now in place to support a fully digital experience, the California DMV sought partners who could implement a system to comply with the promise of the new regulations. Vitus Authority Trust was the first solution to deliver on the promise.

By working with the California DMV, CNCDA and adhering to NHTSA requirements, says Don Armstrong, Vitu CEO, we have implemented a simpler, faster and cost-effective service for those preferring to engage in a complete digital experience. We are looking forward to rolling this service out nationally.

The flexibility, digital security and integrity of the Authority Trust solution allowed Vitu to meet the California DMVs aggressive implementation time frame. Vitus system is designed and prepared to quickly deploy by interfacing with existing auto dealers and DMV processes, without requiring them to modify their systems. Vitu will soon begin working with other state DMV partners around the country to implement Authority Trust in their jurisdictions.

About Vitu

Vitu provides innovative, cutting-edge services to the motor vehicle industry. Our namesake solution manages titling and registration transactions in all 50 states and across multiple locations  all on one platform. With the mission of expanding and automating Vehicle-to-Government (V2Gov) transactions, the Vitu platform is reimagining how drivers, businesses and governments interact with vehicles. In addition to the revolutionary Vitu solution, our products include DMVdesk, California's No. 1 ERT provider in terms of the number of new car dealers, Vitu Driver, which provides automatic and flexible registration and driver licensing for consumers, and VituPay, which provides e-commerce and point of sale payments for the government and auto retailing markets. Vitu has offices in California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The World Health Organization chief today said all theories on the origins of Covid-19 remained open after reading the WHO-China study  despite the claim the report dismissed the notion that the virus escaped from a lab as 'extremely unlikely'.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said all of the hypotheses are 'on the table' and require further investigation after reading the report from the international experts' mission to Wuhan.

But this came hours after Associated Press reported that the report dismissed the lab leak theory and said the transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario.

Dr Tedros said he received the report over the weekend and said it would be formally presented on Tuesday.

'We will read the report and discuss, digest its content and next steps with the member states,' he told a news conference in Geneva.

'All hypotheses are on the table and warrant complete and further studies from what I have seen so far.'

Joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is 'extremely unlikely'

The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today said all theories on the origins of Covid-19 remained open after reading the WHO-China study

But this came hours after the study dismissed the lab leak theory and instead said the transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario, according to a draft copy obtained by the Associated Press. Pictured: Security personnel keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during visit by the WHO team

The report's release has been repeatedly delayed, raising questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew the conclusions to prevent blame for the pandemic falling on China.

Critics including ex-President Trump have accused the WHO of parroting Chinese propaganda on the virus since the outbreak was first announced to the world.

The comments by Dr Tedros come after New York Republican Representative Lee Zeldin slammed China for 'covering up to the world the pandemic's origins', while the WHO 'has played along time and time again'.

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser, revealed he has 'concerns' over the WHO's controversial fact-finding mission.

Repeated delays in the report's release have raised questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew its conclusions.

'We've got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it,' U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent CNN interview.

China rejected that criticism Monday and accused the US of 'exerting political pressure' on the fact-finding mission experts.

'The US has been speaking out on the report. By doing this, isn't the U.S. trying to exert political pressure on the members of the WHO expert group?' asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

New York Republican Representative Lee Zeldin slammed China for 'covering up to the world the pandemic's origins, while the WHO 'has played along time and again'

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci, who is President Biden's chief medical adviser, revealed he has 'concerns' over the WHO's controversial fact-finding mission

It comes after Peter Daszak, a British-American expert on the WHO mission, accused President Biden of 'trying to look tough on China' after a State Department spokesman questioned whether Beijing had been fully open with the WHO investigation.

The Biden administration raised concerns last month that Beijing helped to write the report after WHO scientists concluded that Covid did not leak from a Wuhan lab - as US officials have suggested.

Republican Lee Zeldin today tweeted: 'Since the initial outbreak of Covid-19, the Chinese Communist Party has lied and covered-up to the world the pandemics origins.

'The World Health Organization has played along time and again as the Chinese Communist Party's useful idiots. A thorough and truly independent investigation is long overdue.'

A World Health Organization official said late last week that he expected the report would be ready for release 'in the next few days.'

Chinese scientists and officials have been keen to point the finger of blame outside their own borders - variously suggesting that the virus could have originated in Bangladesh, the US, Greece, Australia, India, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia or Serbia

Meanwhile, Dr Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, said there was 'a lot of conjecture' about the report and he said he needs to have a 'close look at it'.

He told CBS News' Face the Nation: 'I'd like to take a really close look at that. If, in fact, obviously there was a lot of restrictions on the ability of people who went there to really take a look then I'm going to have some considerable concern about that.

'But let me take a look at the report first.'

The AP received what appeared to be a near-final version on Monday from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO-member country. It wasn't clear whether the report might still be changed prior to its release.

The diplomat did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to release it ahead of publication.

In the draft obtained by the AP, the researchers listed four scenarios in order of likelihood for the emergence of the coronavirus.

They concluded that transmission from an original host animal to an intermediary animal that comes into close contact with humans, before making the leap into people, was likely to very likely.

They evaluated direct spread from bats to humans as likely, and said that spread through 'cold-chain' food products was possible but not likely.

Marion Koopmans, right, and Peter Ben Embarek of a World Health Organization team arrive for a joint press conference at the end of their mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in February

A member of a World Health Organization team is seen wearing protective gear during a field visit to the Hubei Animal Disease Control and Prevention Center for another day of field visit in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province

Multiple countries have uncovered evidence that the virus was circulating months earlier than originally thought. While Beijing has tried to insist this proves the virus originated elsewhere, most scientists still think China was the origin - raising the prospect that communist officials simply hid evidence of the early spread

The closest relative of the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in bats, which are known to carry coronaviruses.

However, the report says that 'the evolutionary distance between these bat viruses and SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be several decades, suggesting a missing link.'

It said that highly similar viruses have been found in pangolins, but also noted that mink and cats are susceptible to the COVID virus, which suggests they could be carriers.

The report is based largely on a visit by a WHO team of international experts to Wuhan, the Chinese city where COVID-19 was first detected, from mid-January to mid-February.

Peter Ben Embarek, the WHO expert who led the Wuhan mission, said Friday that the report had been finalized and was 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,' he said.

Peter Embarek last month called on scientists to stop investigating the possibility the virus escaped from a lab, a position which WHO director Dr Tedros walked back on - saying 'all options are on the table'.

The WHO findings will be a PR coup for Beijing and leader Xi Jingping (pictured shaking hands with WHO leader Dr Tedros) with diplomats repeatedly jumping on any evidence that the pandemic which has blighted the world did not start in China

Critics have accused the WHO of parroting Chinese propaganda on the virus since the outbreak was first announced to the world, and Dr Embarek's comments only added fuel to the fire.

The draft report is inconclusive on whether the outbreak started at a Wuhan seafood market that had one of the earliest clusters of cases in December 2019.

The discovery of other cases before the Huanan market outbreak suggests it may have started elsewhere. But the report notes there could have been milder cases that went undetected and that could be a link between the market and earlier cases.

'No firm conclusion therefore about the role of the Huanan market in the origin of the outbreak, or how the infection was introduced into the market, can currently be drawn,' the report says.

As the pandemic spread globally, China found samples of the virus on the packaging of frozen food coming into the country and, in some cases, have tracked localized outbreaks to them.

The report said that the cold chain, as it is known, can be a driver of long-distance virus spread but was skeptical it could have triggered the outbreak. The report says the risk is lower than through human-to-human respiratory infection, and most experts agree.

'While there is some evidence for possible reintroduction of SARS-CoV-2 through handling of imported contaminated frozen products in China since the initial pandemic wave, this would be extraordinary in 2019 where the virus was not widely circulating,' the study said.

Did coronavirus originate in Chinese government laboratory? The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been collecting numerous coronaviruses from bats ever since the SARS outbreak in 2002. They have also published papers describing how these bat viruses have interacted with human cells. US Embassy staff visited the lab in 2018 and 'had grave safety concerns' over the protocols which were being observed at the facility. The lab is just eight miles from the Huanan wet market which is where the first cluster of infections erupted in Wuhan. The market is just a few hundred yards from another lab called the Wuhan Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (WHCDC). The WHCDC kept disease-ridden animals in its labs, including some 605 bats. Those who support the theory argue that Covid-19 could have leaked from either or both of these facilities and spread to the wet market. Most argue that this would have been a virus they were studying rather than one which was engineered. Last year a bombshell paper from the Beijing-sponsored South China University of Technology recounted how bats once attacked a researcher at the WHCDC and 'blood of bat was on his skin.' The report says: 'Genome sequences from patients were 96% or 89% identical to the Bat CoV ZC45 coronavirus originally found in Rhinolophus affinis (intermediate horseshoe bat).' It describes how the only native bats are found around 600 miles away from the Wuhan seafood market and that the probability of bats flying from Yunnan and Zhejiang provinces was minimal. In addition there is little to suggest the local populace eat the bats as evidenced by testimonies of 31 residents and 28 visitors. Instead the authors point to research being carried out within 300 yards at the WHCDC. One of the researchers at the WHCDC described quarantining himself for two weeks after a bat's blood got on his skin, according to the report. That same man also quarantined himself after a bat urinated on him. And he also mentions discovering a live tick from a bat - parasites known for their ability to pass infections through a host animal's blood. 'The WHCDC was also adjacent to the Union Hospital (Figure 1, bottom) where the first group of doctors were infected during this epidemic.' The report says. 'It is plausible that the virus leaked around and some of them contaminated the initial patients in this epidemic, though solid proofs are needed in future study.' Advertisement

WHO's 'China-centric' chief is a career politician who worked for a Communist junta and became the first NON-doctor Director-General 'following intense lobbying from Beijing'

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a little-known figure before the coronavirus pandemic, has risen to prominence as Director-General of the World Health Organisation which is spearheading global responses to the virus.

Dr Tedros - who has never practised as a medical doctor - is a career politician who was born in what is now Eritrea, began work under the Communist Derg junta, came to study in the UK, then rose to the top of Ethiopia's government first as Health Minister and then Foreign Minister before being elected to lead the WHO in 2017.

He has faced heavy criticism over his handling of the pandemic, especially for praise he heaped on China's communist party for its response - hailing the regime's 'commitment to transparency' and saying the speed with which it detected the virus was 'beyond words'.

That has led to allegations - including by Donald Trump - that the WHO is 'China-centric', and prompted Trump to pull US funding to the UN body.

It was not the first time that Dr Tedros has been accused of cosying up to China. Shortly after his election victory in 2017, it was alleged that Chinese diplomats had been heavily involved in lobbying for him.

UN records also show that Chinese contributions to both Ethiopia's aid budget and the WHO have substantially increased during times when he was in top leadership positions.

Dr Tedros (left) became the first African head of the WHO and the first non-medical doctor to hold the role when he was elected in 2017, amid allegations of heavy lobbying by China (pictured, Dr Tedros in Beijing shortly after his election)

Shortly after his election to the WHO, a report in The Times said: 'Chinese diplomats had campaigned hard for the Ethiopian, using Beijing's financial clout and opaque aid budget to build support for him among developing countries.'

Dr Tedros - who is married and has five children - was born in 1965 in Asmara, which was part of Ethiopia at the time but is now in Eritrea.

As a child he saw his younger brother die to an infection, which he believes was measles, which he later said spurred his determination to work on health and health policy.

He graduated from university in Ethiopia in 1986 with a degree in biology and went to work as a health official in the regime of Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, while the country was ruled by the Derg military junta.

According to the BBC, Dr Tedros then joined the hard-left TPLF - which started life as a Communist party and played a major role in overthrowing Mariam in 1991. It later became part of the EPRDF, a coalition of left-wing parties that ruled Ethiopia until last year.

Around the same time as Mariam's ouster, Dr Tedros left Ethiopia and came to the UK where he studied at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, graduating with Masters of Science in Immunology of Infectious Diseases in 1992.

He then went on to study at the University of Nottingham, where he received a PhD in community health in 2000.

After this, he returned to Ethiopia where he joined the health ministry and rose through the ranks from regional health minister all the way to national Minister for Heath - a position he took up in 2005.

During his tenure, which lasted until 2012, he was widely praised for opening thousands of health centres, employing tens of thousands of medics, bringing down rates of HIV/AIDS, measles and malaria, as well as bringing information technology and the internet into the heath system.

In November 2012 he was promoted to Foreign Minister, and was widely hailed for helping to negotiate a boost in UN funding for Ethiopia, including as part of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

Indeed, UN funding records show that around this time the country received millions in additional funding - including from China, which had previously given little or nothing to support the country.

In 2015 and 2016 China gave some $16million to Ethiopia in spending commitments and cash contributions, largely in support of food or refugee programmes.

In 2011, just before Dr Tedros took up the role, and in 2017, just after he left, China handed over another $44million in commitments and contributions.

Its total contributions outside of this period, dating back to the year 2000, were just $345,000.

In 2017, Dr Tedros left the Ethiopian government and entered the running for Director-General of the WHO as the tenure of Dr Margaret Chan, a Canadian-Chinese physician, was coming to an end.

The election was the first to take place under a system of polling all UN member states as part of a secret ballot. Previously, leaders were chosen by a closed-door vote of an executive committee.

Eventually the field was boiled down to two candidates - Dr Tedros and Briton Dr David Nabarro, a life-long physician who had helped lead UN responses to previous outbreaks including bird flu, the cholera outbreak in Haiti, and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Before ascending to the top ranks of the WHO, Dr Tedros studied in the UK and served Ethiopia's ruling left-wing coalition as health minister and then as foreign minister (pictured in the role in 2015)

Dr Tedros won the ballot by a reported 133 votes to 50, becoming the first African leader of the WHO and the first non-medic to hold the role. His victory came in part thanks to 50 out of 54 African states voting for him.

However, he quickly mired himself in controversy by recommending African dictator Robert Mugabe as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador, amid allegations he trying to repay favours granted during the election.

There were reports that the move was also intended to reward China, a long-time supporter of Mugabe, for using its influence to have him elected.

The Times added: 'China has praised the authoritarian development model of Ethiopia's regime, which rules under emergency powers and has put down pro-democracy protests.'

During the 2017 election itself, several groups within Ethiopia opposed Dr Tedros's appointment due to his links with the TPLF and allegations that they stifled journalists and repressed minorities.

Dr Tedros was also accused of covering up three separate cholera outbreaks in 2006, 2008 and 2011 by mis-reporting it as 'watery diarrhea', allegations he dismissed as a 'smear campaign' by his British rival.

Following his election to the WHO, Dr Tedros vowed to reform the organisation by placing an emphasis on universal healthcare at its centre while also increasing funding.

Further UN funding records show that, during his tenure, assessed contributions to the WHO by China have also risen significantly - from roughly $23million in 2016 to $38million in 2019.

China has also committed to a further $57million in funding in 2020, though has yet to pay the balance.

Meanwhile funding from other major world economies - including the US, Russia, Japan and Germany - has remained largely flat or even fallen over the same period.

Assessed contributions make up only around a quarter of the WHO's budget, the rest of which comes from donations.

The great cover-up of China: Beijing punished Covid whistleblower, claimed it came from US and 'lied about death figures' China has lied and covered up key information during virtually every stage of its coronavirus response - from the initial outbreak to the number of cases and deaths, and is still not telling the truth, observers, experts and politicians have warned. Beijing initially tried to cover up the virus by punishing medics who discovered it, denying it could spread person-to-person and delaying a lockdown of affected regions - meaning early opportunities to control the spread were lost. Then, once the virus began spreading, the Communist Party began censoring public information about it and spread disinformation overseas - including suggesting that US troops could have been the initial carriers. Even now, prominent politicians have warned that infection and death totals being reported by the regime are likely to be wrong - with locals in the epicenter of Wuhan suggesting the true tolls could be ten times higher. Initial outbreak Doctors in China, including Li Wenliang, began reporting the existence of a new type of respiratory infection that was similar to SARS in early December last year. But rather than publicise the reports and warn the public, Chinese police hauled Wenliang and eight of his colleagues who had been posting about the virus online in for questioning. Wenliang, who would later die from the virus, was forced to sign a document admitting the information he published was false. While China has been widely-praised for a draconian lockdown that helped slow the spread of the virus, evidence suggests that the country could have acted much quicker to prevent the spread. Dr Li Wenliang, one of the first Chinese medics to report the existence of the new coronavirus, was forced by police to confess to spreading false data. He later died from the virus Samples analysed as early as December 26 suggested a new type of SARS was circulating, the Washington Post reported, but Wuhan was not locked down until January 22 - almost a month later. Wuhan's mayor also admitted an error that allowed 5million people to travel out of the city before the lockdown came into place without being checked for the virus, potentially helping it to spread. Chinese authorities have also been reluctant to had over information on the country's 'patient zero' - or the first person known to have contracted the virus. While Beijing claims the first infection took place on December 8, researchers have traced the virus back to at least December 1 and anecdotal evidence suggests it was spreading in November. A lack of information about the first patient has meant scientists are still unclear how the disease made the leap from animals into humans. Theories include that it could have been carried by a bat or pangolin that was sold at a market in Wuhan and then eaten by someone, but this has not been confirmed. Early reports Chinese authorities initially reported that the virus could not spread person-to-person, despite evidence that it was spreading rapidly through the city of Wuhan including doctors being infected by patients. This was used as justification for keeping the city of Wuhan operating as normal through a major CCP conference that was held between January 11 and 17, with authorities claiming zero new cases in this period. China did not confirm human-to-human transmission of the virus until late January, when large parts of Hubei province including Wuhan were put into lockdown. Despite reporting the existence of a 'novel type of pneumonia' to the World Health Organisation on December 31, Wuhan's largest newspaper also made no mention of the virus until the week of January 20. That meant people in the city were not taking precautions such as social distancing to stop it spreading. It also meant that people had begun travelling for the Lunar New Year holiday, which was due to start on January 24 and sees millions of people visit relatives, spreading the virus further. Furthermore, China delayed reports suggesting that some 14 per cent of patients who initially tested negative for the virus or who appeared to have recovered tested positive a second time, only confirming such cases in February. That further hampered efforts at early containment of the virus in places such as Japan, where patients who tested negative on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship were allowed to leave - only to test positive later. Authorities in Beijing were also slow to report the deaths of two doctors from the virus, including one who was killed on January 25 but whose death was not reported by state media until a month later. The market was shut on January 1 after dozens of workers there had contracted the disease Origin of the virus Despite early admissions that the virus began in the city of Wuhan, China later back-tracked - even going so far as to suggest American troops had brought the infection over after visiting the province. Lijian Zhao, a prominent official within the Chinese Foreign Ministry, tweeted out the claim on March 12 while providing no evidence to substantiate it. 'When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals,' he wrote. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused American military members of bringing the coronavirus to Wuhan Referencing a military athletics tournament in Wuhan in October, which US troops attended, he wrote: 'It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. 'Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!' In fact, America's 'patient zero' was a man who travelled from China to Washington State on January 15. The case was confirmed by the CDC six days later. Chinese has also tried to push the theory that the virus originated in Italy, the country with the most deaths, by distorting a quote from an Italian doctor who suggested the country's first cases could have occurred much earlier than thought. Zhao spread the theory in a tweet, while providing no evidence to back it up Giuseppe Remuzzi said he is investigating strange cases of pneumonia as far back as December and November, months before the virus was known to have spread. Chinese state media widely reported his comments while also suggesting that the virus could have originated in Italy. In fact, Remuzzi says, there can be no doubt it started in Wuhan - but may have spread out of the province and across the world earlier than thought. Infection total China has reported a total of some 82,000 infections from coronavirus, claiming a domestic infection rate of zero for several days in a row recently - even as it eased lockdown restrictions in placed like Hubei. But, by the country's own admission, the virus is likely still spreading - via people who have few or no symptoms. Beijing-based outlet Caixin reported that 'a couple to over 10 cases of covert infections of the virus are being detected' in China every day, despite not showing up in official data. Meanwhile foreign governments have heaped scorn on China's infection reporting cannot be trusted. Marco Rubio, a prominent Republican senator and former presidential candidate from the US, tweeted that 'we have NO IDEA how many cases China really has' after the US infection total passed Beijing's official figure. 'Without any doubt it's significantly more than what they admit to,' he added. Meanwhile the UK government has also cast doubt on China's reporting, with Conservative minister and former Prime Ministerial candidate Michael Gove claiming the Communist Party could not be trusted. 'Some of the reporting from China was not clear about the scale, the nature, the infectiousness of this [virus],' he told the BBC. Meanwhile sources told the Mail that China's true infection total could be anything up to 40 times as high as reports had suggested. Marco Rubio, a prominent Republican senator, has said that China's figures cannot be trusted and a far higher than has been reported Death total Doubt has also been cast on China's reported death toll from the virus, which currently stands at around 3,300. Locals in epicenter city Wuhan have been keeping an eye on funeral homes since lockdown restrictions were partly lifted, claiming they have been 'working around the clock' to dispose of bodies. China has reported 3,300 deaths from the virus, but social media users in Wuhan have suggested the toll could be in excess of 42,000 Social media posts estimate that 3,500 urns are being handed out by crematoriums each day, while Caixin reports that one funeral home in the city placed an order for 5,000 urns. Locals believe that efforts to dispose of the bodies began March 23 and city authorities have said the process will end on or around April 5. That would mean roughly 42,000 urns handed out in that time frame, ten times the reported figure. Chinese aid packages As it brought its own coronavirus epidemic under control and as the disease spread across the rest of the world, China attempted to paint itself as a helpful neighbour by sending aid and supplies to countries most in need - such as Italy. In fact, while the Chinese Red Cross supplied some free equipment to the Italians, the country purchased a large amount of what it received. Meanwhile officials in Spain said that a batch of coronavirus testing kits bought from China had just 30 per cent reliability - unlike the 80 per cent they were promised. China has said it is willing to help supply the world with much needed aid and supplies, but has been accused of hoarding protective equipment and selling test kits that don't work China is also the world's largest manufacturer of disposable masks of the kind being worn to slow the spread of the virus by people while out in public. But as the disease began gathering speed in the country in January, China began limiting exports of the masks while also buying up supplies from other countries, the New York Times reported. As well as halting virtually all exports of masks, China also bought up some 56million masks and respirators from overseas while fears of a pandemic were still far off. Despite reports from US mask manufacturers of factories in Shanghai being effectively nationalised, China denies it has any such policy in place and has said it is 'willing to strengthen international cooperation' on the issue. Advertisement
"The rising global demand for cleaner energy sources has offered Nigeria an opportunity to exploit gas resources for the good of the country."

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Abuja launched "The Decade of Gas in Nigeria" with a pledge that his administration would fully utilise the enormous gas resources in the country to uplift the economy and drive industrialization.

Setting the tone for the development of the industry in the next ten years, President Buhari said given the country's potential of about 600 trillion cubic feet of gas, the commodity has the enormous potential to diversify Nigeria's economy.

"The rising global demand for cleaner energy sources has offered Nigeria an opportunity to exploit gas resources for the good of the country. We intend to seize this opportunity," the President said at the virtual Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) 2021 Pre-Summit Conference and official launch of the Decade of Gas.

The President told participants at the Pre-Summit that while his administration has prioritised gas development and recorded remarkable progress, it is well known that Nigeria is a gas nation with a little oil, but the country has focused on oil over the years.

"That is the paradox that this Administration decided to confront when we declared the year 2020 as "The Year of Gas" in Nigeria.

"It was a bold statement to demonstrate the resolve of this Administration that gas development and utilization should be a national priority to stimulate economic growth, further improve Nigeria's energy mix, drive investments, and provide the much-needed jobs for our citizens in the country.

"Before the declaration of Year 2020 as The Year of Gas, this Administration had shown commitment to the development of Nigeria's vast gas resources and strengthening of the gas value chain by reviewing and gazetting policies and regulations to enhance operations in the sector as encapsulated in the National Gas Policy of 2017.

"Our major objective for the gas sector is to transform Nigeria into an industrialized nation with gas playing a major role and we demonstrated this through enhanced accelerated gas revolution," he said.

Enumerating what his administration has done to energise the sector, the President said the development of gas infrastructure has commenced along with the domestic utilization of LPG and CNG, as well as the process of commercializing gas flares, development of industrial and transport gas markets, and increasing gas to power.

"We also kick started other policies and projects like the National Gas Expansion Programme, Autogas policy and the construction of the 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline.

"After a thorough review of these laudable achievements and successes in the gas space, we acknowledge that Nigeria still has more work to do in the gas space.

"This has led the Federal Government to begin a more proactive push towards gas development. This initiative will ensure further optimal exploitation and utilization of the country's vast gas resources.

The President commended the collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Nigeria LNG Limited to actualize the dream of transforming Nigeria with its massive gas resources."

He described the NLNG as the Federal Government's arrowhead in the reduction of gas flaring in Nigeria.

According to the President, NLNG, which contributes about one percent to GDP, has generated $114 billion in revenues over the years, $9 billion in taxes, $18 billion in dividends to the Federal Government and $15 billion in Feed gas Purchase.

The President noted that these achievements were accomplished with 100 percent Nigerian Management and 95 percent Nigerian workforce.

He also applauded NLNG for winning the award for outstanding business strategy, in 2020, for going ahead with Train 7 during the global pandemic.

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"The Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC are in various regards setting the pace.

"I would like to charge all other relevant MDAs on the need to partner with the international oil companies, the indigenous oil companies and financial institutions to actualize the dream of fully utilizing our gas resources to uplift our economy," he said.

President Buhari affirmed that later this year, Nigeria will host the 4th International Petroleum Summit in Abuja.

He invited delegates at the NIPS Pre-Summit to attend the flagship event of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that "will once more allow us to engage our partners and friends from around the world, exchange ideas and policy options and set the tone for the industry in the next few years."

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President
(by Lorenzo Trombetta)

BEIRUT - In a Lebanon governed for decades by a political system ever more contested by wide sectors of the population and under the shadow of the worst economic crisis in decades, the administration of anti-COVID vaccines risks becoming - like water, electricity, schools, hospitals - a tool for political clientelism.



The country is struggling with surging devaluation of the local lira and growing social-economic tension with half of its population under the poverty line. A series of initiatives have been backed by private sector circles and political clans to ensure that Russian and Chinese-made vaccines go to members of their support base in various Lebanese regions.



This mechanism involves the health ministry, regional councils, and some town councils, and - according to local analysts - will help to deepen a gap between a smaltire circle of the privileged, who will receive vaccines before others due to their access to the clientele system, and a mass of people, including over a million Syrian refugees, who will instead have to wait for a long time before receiving the much-coveted doses of anti-COVID vaccines.



About six million people will be vaccinated in Lebanon. The campaign began in mid-February but is proceeding slowly with just over 1,000,000 doses given.



The country, which has been officially bankrupt since last year, does not have the resources to pay for the vaccines: some of them - Pfizer-BioNTech - are being funded by the World Bank and other AstraZeneca ones through the UN's COVAX platform.



However, the public has not forgotten a scandal of a few weeks ago including some MPs and President Michel Aoun and his entourage, who were vaccinated secretly without local authorities being made aware and outside of protocols agreed upon between Beirut and international authorities.



It was in this context that the first 50,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccines arrived on Friday in the Lebanese capital for a number of private companies including the flagship airline Middle East Airlines via costly intermediation by the Lebanese pharmaceutical company Pharmaline. Pharmaline chief Jacques Sarraf is an honorary Russian consul in Lebanon and member of the Russian-Lebanese Businessmen Council.



The companies that buy Sputnik V from Pharmaline will thus be able to vaccinate their employees and their family members.



However, there are also local institutions involved in this mechanism: the town council of Byblos, north of Beirut, announced in recent days that it could soon start to vaccinate some residents with the Russian vaccines bought from Pharmaline.



In a context in which local Lebanese authorities complain of a chronic lack of funds from the central government, many have asked who paid Pharmaline for the vaccines supplied to the Byblos town council.



The Qubayyat town council, in the northern region of Akkar, has instead announced that it would be able to vaccinate some of its residents with Chinese vaccines bought "thanks to a donation" from the family of the current prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, who does not want to lose support in that region.



At the same time, in the southern municipality of Jezzine, well-informed sources have told ANSAmed that competition is instead underway between two local dignitaries to ensure the merit of having provided some residents with Russian vaccines.
The disembodied demonic eye watched over turbulent, changing lands. It was said that few could endure its terrible, omnipotent gaze.

When the digitized Eye of Sauron beamed out over San Francisco from atop the Salesforce Tower on Halloween 2018 some people thought it was cool, but the joke always struck me as too close to the bone.

When youve built a corporate monolith that forever changes how the city looks and feels, in the name of big tech, are you allowed to be in on the joke? A joke about an evil soulless monstrosity sucking the life out of all those in its viewshed?

It felt like a dirty wink from the tech giant to the little people  hey, were funny too. We have memed. Sorry about the cost of living lol.

Heres another funny joke  put your name on the most obtrusive and expensive thing San Francisco has ever seen, as the biggest private employer in the city  then three years later announce that the majority of your workforce will no longer be working in S.F. offices full time ever again. Zing.

Building the tallest building in a city to show your success was a common 20th century pissing match, fought by men with egos the size of their blueprints. It was even considered gauche when newspaper and sugar magnates tried to outbuild each other in San Francisco in the 1890s, and it took an earthquake to end that ego-off. These days it's more normal to donate enough money to get your name on a hospital instead, but the Salesforce Tower isn't normal.

In the early 2000s it was decided that a 16-block neglected area of SoMa known as the Transbay District should be updated to improve the transit systems and surroundings. After a global competition to entitle and purchase the site in 2007, Argentine American architect Cesar Pelli was selected to design the tower. Ground on Mission Street was broken in 2013, and a few years later it became the tallest thing in the city, surpassing the Transamerica Pyramid by more than 200 feet.

As the anchor tenant, Salesforce got naming rights before it opened (it was previously known as the Transbay Tower). The company also forked out $110 million to put their name on the neighboring Salesforce Transit Center, a move the SFMTA director called distasteful.

Reviews at the time were mostly underwhelming. Critics decried it as an inappropriate Manhattanization of San Francisco. The Chronicles design critic John King remarked on its air of detachment, as if the creators were so busy being tasteful they forgot that big buildings can be fun. The nicest thing he could add was you might come to like it more than you expect.

The tower lacked any risk or ambition in design and so made up for it in sheer size, somehow managing to be obnoxious without any swagger.

San Francisco is no stranger to controversial changes to its skyline. The Transamerica Pyramid was despised by most before being accepted and later loved. And the tower is certainly not as ugly as the Embarcadero Freeway, though that abomination was so hated it was torn down to much celebration (and a performance by the San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus) in 1991.

One of the weirdest pitches in building the tower was that it would help civic neighborhood life on the block, in the same way that a freeway helps a deer.

As anyone who has strolled around Mission and First knows, that didnt happen. The streets shrouded under swaths of deep blue opaque glass at the fat end of the steely shaft do not provide a pleasant neighborhood stroll.

One of the strangest things about the tower is that, due to its wholly unnecessary height and location, there are some spots around the bay where San Francisco was always out of view, but now ONLY the Salesforce Tower is visible.

Strolling by the cliffs at Lands End, driving out of SFO, hiking the western slope of Mount Diablo. From these vantage points the tip of the tower is now part of the horizon, while no other buildings creep into view.

An Instagram account, JustTheTipSF, highlights this phenomenon and has received more than 1,000 photo submissions of distant views that were once sky, and now are speared by glass. (Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff once tweeted a link to the website before deleting it, maybe realizing that the site wasnt celebrating his tower but mocking its omnipresent phallic appearance.)

Despite all the jokes, I dont see the Salesforce Tower as a dick exactly, more an ill-fitting appendage, a strap-on pegging the beautiful California sky.

The tower in no way complements the existing skyline. The group of downtown structures used to form an aesthetically pleasing block, especially when approaching from the Bay Bridge or where I-80 crosses 7th Street, thats now been unceremoniously dwarfed, leaving downtown San Francisco looking like an old broomhead with a glassy handle.

Beyond lacking a figurative soul, that looming Goliath now lacks literal souls, too.

The tower is built to stand for two centuries or more, but just a few years after the skyscraper at 415 Mission was completed, Salesforce  the towers largest lessee with 714,000 square feet of office space  announced that the majority of its workforce will no longer be working there, or in any S.F. offices, ever again.

The name Salesforce will mean nothing in decades time. The tech giant specializes in cloud computing and customer relationship management software. As with all tech sectors, that industry will be defunct centuries before the tower comes down. (Anyone remember what the Transamerica Corporation, of the pyramid six blocks north of the Salesforce Tower, does?)

And are there two words more antithetical to San Francisco, once the epicenter of the counterculture revolution and a hive of progressive ideals, than Sales and Force?

Even if the name does become as indelible as the tower, do we need a looming reminder of this fraught tech takeover era of the city?

San Franciscans are left with a phallic scar of a polarizing time in the citys history of prohibitively expensive housing and culture wars. A 1,000-foot-high manifestation of Google Glass dive bar fights, artisanal gyms, Crypto Castle Lamborghinis and very expensive toast.

Im no architect, but buildings are not built to be enjoyed by architects, like movies arent made to be watched by directors. It only matters what those living under its shadow think, so I texted a bunch of San Franciscans to sum up their opinion in one sentence.

I was hoping to turn it into a fun infographic based on their responses but the pie chart would literally be a full circle of meh.

Responses included, Yeah, I hate it, Why is it so fking big? Its dumb and stupid and takes up too much space, It should be in Dubai, dildo-esque, Why do they play movies on it, no one is watching a movie on a tower and I think the roof is broken.

One things for sure, no one loves the Salesforce Tower, except maybe the people that worked there, who had access to the Ohana Floor with its living walls and Hawaiian-themed stuffed goats; and the elevated five-block-long park named, um, Salesforce Park. (Salesforce Park sits atop the Salesforce Transit Center, next to Salesforce Plaza, under Salesforce Tower. Sales. Force.)

Below the lush and artsy raised park is a cavernous empty space, slated to one day house California's high-speed rail, if that ever happens, but now mostly provides shelter for unhoused people. The park insists it is open to the public, but its unclear whether unhoused people are allowed to enter the elevators that provide the only access.

Salesforce couldnt have predicted the pandemic-fueled move to remote work, and theyre not the only ones with acres of vacant offices. In fact, there are now almost 16 million square feet of vacant office space in San Francisco, more than 11 Salesforce Towers' worth. But those other companies didnt plant a 1,000-foot obelisk in the middle of our city.

When you do find yourself on that Mount Diablo hike, or driving up the Peninsula and see that surreal lonely tip spearing the blue, what exactly are you looking at? Its not a city, its not a skyline, its not the sky anymore. Its the uncanny valley where ego meets the clouds, and its definitely not San Francisco.
The Great Oxidation Event that saw oxygen levels surge and life flourish on Earth happened 100 million years later than previously thoughts, researchers claim.

University of Leeds experts analysed rocks from South Africa that were deposited in the ocean at the time of the Great Oxidation Event more than two billion years ago.

This event fundamentally changed Earth's environment and habitability and was the first time oxygen was significantly present in the planet's atmosphere.

The Great Oxidation Event was a pivotal period in Earth's history, and an international team now claim this period started 2.3 billion years ago, rather than 2.4 billion.

Study authors also say it should be called the Great Oxidation Episode as it ushered in a 1.5 billion year period of climate and environmental stability allowing life form and resulting in multiple long-term 'snowball Earth' periods.

The Great Oxidation Event that saw oxygen levels surge and life flourish on Earth happened 100 million years later than previously thoughts, researchers claim. Stock image

GREAT OXIDATION EVENT: THE KEY MOMENT IN MAKING EARTH HABITABLE The Great Oxidation Event happened about 2.3 billion years ago. It was a time when the Earth's atmosphere and shallow ocean first experienced a rise in oxygen. This resulted in dramatic chemical changes to the planet that changed it from a reducing atmosphere to an oxidising atmosphere. This resulted in many early species to die out, but the later allowed multicellular life to form. The oxygen that spread was produced by cyanobacteria that obtained energy through photosynthesis. Advertisement

University of Leeds researchers worked with colleagues from the University of California-Riverside, Harvard University, the University of Southern Denmark and the University of St Andrews to better understand this vital period in Earth's history.

They say this 100 year difference also helps explain some of the most extreme climate episodes to have affected the Earth.

This includes 'snowball Earth' when the planet was repeatedly covered with ice.

Although the Great Oxidation Event led to oxygen levels much lower than today, it dramatically changed the chemical composition of the planet's surface.

It also set the stage for the subsequent course of biological evolution on Earth, which ultimately led to a planet teaming with plant and animal life.

Analysing rocks from South Africa, deposited in the ocean at the time of the event, allowed researchers to discover that early atmospheric oxygenation was short-lived.

They also found that oxygen did not become a permanent feature of the atmosphere until much later in the evolution of our planet.

Simon Poulton, of Leeds' School of Earth and Environment, who led the research, said this event 'fundamentally changed Earth's environment and habitability.'

'This early period of oxygenation was thought to have occurred between about 2.43 and 2.32 billion years ago,' he explained.

'However, our research shows that, in fact, oxygenation of the atmosphere was highly unstable over a period of about 200 million years.

Adding that 'permanent atmospheric oxygenation occurred about 100 million years later that previously thought.'

Study authors also say it should be called the Great Oxidation Episode as it ushered in a 1.5 billion year period of climate and environmental stability allowing life form and resulting in multiple long-term 'snowball Earth' periods

KEY FINDINGS: OXYGEN DRAMATICALLY CHANGED THE EARTH The rise of atmospheric oxygen fundamentally changed the chemistry of surface environments and the nature of Earths habitability. Early atmospheric oxygenation occurred over a protracted period of extreme climatic instability marked by multiple global glaciations. These were linked to the initial rise of oxygen concentration to above 105 of the present atmospheric level. This happened about 2.32 billion years ago, according to study authors. This 'represents the estimated timing of irreversible oxygenation of the atmosphere' rather than simply when it began and could still be reversed. Advertisement

Their findings also suggest a direct link between fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen concentration and greenhouse gas concentrations.

Professor Andrey Bekker of the University of California-Riverside, who co-authored the study, said the findings help explain four widespread glaciation events.

These events coincided with the Great Oxidation Event and some were likely to have covered the entire Earth in ice for millions of years.

'Our new data show that the permanent rise of oxygen actually occurred after the final major glaciation of the period and not before it,' Bekker explained

This 'had previously been a major puzzle in our understanding of links between early atmospheric oxygenation and intense climatic instability.'

The research team has re-labelled this period the Great Oxidation Episode.

It ushered in a 1.5 billion year period of subsequent climatic and environmental stability, which remained until a second major period of rising oxygen and climate instability at the end of the Precambrian period.

Professor David Johnston, a co-author from Harvard University said the rise in atmospheric oxygen was a key factor in making Earth habitable.

'Unravelling the history of atmospheric oxygenation allows us to understand how oxygen rose to levels that were sufficient to allow the evolution of animals,' he said.

Their findings also suggest a direct link between fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen concentration and greenhouse gas concentrations

'The Great Oxidation Episode, when atmospheric oxygen first rose to appreciable levels, represents a pivotal step in this history.'

Professor Poulton said we need to know when permanent atmospheric oxygenation actually occurred to truly understand its causes and consequences.

'Now at last we have that piece of the puzzle,' he added.

The findings have been published in the journal Nature.
ECOWAS Commission has called for more youth and Women participation in its vision 2050, in a two day workshop, held in Abuja, 25th  26th March, 2050.



The workshop created a platform for ECOWAS to analytically engage with youth and women on the various challenges they face within the West African region that affects their economic development and identified the strategies and initiatives. It also recommend policies, programmes and projects to address the various challenges which will enhance the Vision 2050 and make it all inclusive.



The workshop promoted a shared understanding of the aims, objectives and mandate of ECOWAS as well as proposed an action plan for effective involvement of youth and women in the design and implementation of ECOWAS programmes and projects and recommend long term plans for the region in terms of the West Africa, they want to see. Participants were also sensitized on the key opportunities available in the region, which could be optimized for the benefit of the community as a whole.



The Vice President of ECOWAS Commission, Madam Finda Karoma in her opening remarks, emphasized the importance of the two-day meeting in ensuring that the ECOWAS 2050 development process is participatory and all-inclusive. Hence the need to consult with women and youth, who are the largest and the most vulnerable groups in West Africa.



Madam Karoma, stressed the importance of seeing the large population of youth within the region as an asset which could generate demographic dividends. These can be achieved by empowering, motivating and educating the youth so they can be immune to the various vices and exploitations, ranging from drug trafficking to recruitment into terrorist and criminal gangs.



It is therefore imperative, as we develop the ECOWAS regions Vision for next 30 years, to see how we can best address youth unemployment. It is a basic fact that no country or region can develop if the majority of the working age population is unemployed so let the youth see themselves as the solution to various socio-economical problems, she added.



The youth groups such as Yen a Marre in Senegal or the Balai Citoyen in Burkina Faso in the consolidation of peace and democracy is a perfect illustration of how the youth can contribute constructively, to the development of their communities and such initiatives should be encouraged and supported through greater access to education and skills development though training in well-equipped facilities like the ECOWAS youth development center in Burkina Faso.



She noted that gender inequalities within the region, continue to persist, despite the progress made by most countries in terms of women's participation in the economic and social sectors, policy making and leadership.



She recalled the ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments Declaration on Zero Tolerance to Sexual and Gender-based Violence and the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against women and Girls in the ECOWAS Region.



With West Africa having some of the highest rate of maternal mortality, low level of womens education, financial and digital independence, violence against women, child marriages and female genital mutilations playing a large role in hindering women progress, the ECOWAS Leaders have tried to address these various challenges by setting the tone for the promotion of Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment (GEWE) with the establishment of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) in January 2003 which is a specialized Agency charged with the responsibility of implementing the various gender based policies and protocols and their harmonization in all member states.



This commitment has further materialized through the adoption of a number of instruments and mechanisms by various ECOWAS entities, including the ECOWAS Gender Policy in 2004, Gender Management System, the Gender Strategic Plan Framework, and the youth and child policies and the Supplementary Act on Equality of Rights between Women and Men for Sustainable Development in the ECOWAS Region. It is therefore clear, that building a brighter future for the region would require addressing issues affecting our women and youth.



She called on the participants to take a critical look at the issues and challenges and propose concrete solutions that would address the challenges faced by women and youth in West Africa. For my part, I can assure you that your recommendations will be taken seriously and will be incorporated in the Vision 2050 documents for implementation on the ground. Let me also assure you of the ECOWAS Commissions commitment for your active involvement in the Visions implementation process, she ended.



Mr. Joseph Uyi, Head of ECOWAS National Office Nigeria, traced the journey of the transformation of ECOWAS Vision 2020 to 2050, from 2007, when the ECOWAS Heads of State in response to the many persistent challenges facing the region, mandated the ECOWAS Commission to establish a comprehensive roadmap for a new strategy, post vision 2020, that will address these challenges and reflect the communitys aspirations and projections for he next 30 years.



He further highlighted the achievements of the region in the past years, in women and youth empowerment, cross border trading and management, trade liberalisation scheme, establishment of 6 Joint border posts, while reiterating the aim of the workshop as an avenue for participants to be acquainted with the various innovative strategies designed by ECOWAS to address their challenges, especially in access to justice, empowerment, migration, trading and education.



He concluded by stating that the transformation of ECOWAS from ECOWAS of State, to ECOWAS of People is non-negotiable, because this impacts directly on the community.



Mr. Ludwig Kirchner, GIZ ECOWAS Cluster Coordinator, in his remarks, hailed the participants for braving the new norms of traveling in accordance with the Covid-19 protocols to be part of this Regional consultations of Women and Youths on the development of ECOWAS Vision 2050 blueprint.



As the West Africa regions population is growing and with a large part being the youth and women, it is imperative that we redefine our perspective on the role of youth and women as policy developers, economic actors, and key drivers of social change.



He asked the participants to see the workshop as an important opportunity for them to assist ECOWAS in re-aligning the policy trajectory to their realities. You are given a voice to ensure that your generation and the next are heard and your concerns integrated into the Vision pillars that will support the region for the next thirty (30) years, he added



With Vision 2050, ECOWAS and its partners are committed to developing policies that will promote youth and women empowerment. We share the conviction with ECOWAS that now is the time to invest in the people, particularly in the young people of the region, so that they can become agents of economic growth and social stability.



In fact, during previous discussions on the topic, ECOWAS has been debating how to put an emphasis on women, youth and vulnerable groups. This consultation is an opportunity to voice out your aspirations for the region but more importantly for yourselves, he said.



The Nigerian Ministers, for Women Affairs and Social Development, Dame Paulin Tallen and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mister Zubairu Dada, who was represented by Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, both stressed the importance of the role youth and women will play in drafting the ECOWAS Vision 2050, because they are the engine rooms of every progressive society.



They congratulated ECOWAS for this great initiative and for bringing women and youth to the front burner of policy making within the region.



National youth organizations from each member states, ECOWAS Commission staff, representatives of UNECA and GIZ participated in the workshop.













Source: Graphiconline.com









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Featured Video
Registration open for SIUs Out of the Darkness suicide prevention virtual walk

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Southern Illinois University Carbondale is working to help address the nations suicide epidemic with a virtual awareness and prevention walk on April 24.

The fourth annual Out of the Darkness Campus/Community Walk will also raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The 2021 Hope Walks Here event will be virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students and third leading cause of death among people ages 10-35.

Now, more than ever, it is important for us to connect with one another and bring hope to those struggling with or those who have been impacted by suicide, said Beth Morrison, assistant director of Student Health Services and director of Wellness and Health Promotion Services.

Sign up now

The advantage of the virtual walk is that anyone can participate no matter where they may be. The opening ceremony is at 10 a.m. SIU students, faculty, staff and community members are welcome to sign up and organizers are seeking community and student teams. Participants can sign up individually or as a team with registration at afsp.org/siu.

Prizes available for top fundraisers

In the last three years SIUs Out of the Darkness Walk has brought in more than $25,000 for AFSP. The fundraising goal for this year is $15,000.

The top fundraising team will win a prize. In addition, participants will have the chance to earn T-shirts, join in an online raffle, and receive honor beads and other swag items for registering.

SIU suicide prevention efforts

Student Health Services and the Salukis on Your Side campus suicide prevention program, which provides support and services to SIU students and the surrounding community, are organizing the walk. The AFSP national event raises funds for suicide prevention efforts including research to improve interventions, training for clinicians and providers and to advocate for policies to help save lives. AFSPs mission is saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide.

Those who are unable to participate in the event but who still want to support the universitys efforts to prevent suicide and support students can help by donating items for the online auction or serving as walk sponsors.

For more information, email Wellness and Health Promotions Services at wellness@siu.edu.
The Biden administration is moving to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the East Coast, saying Monday it is taking initial steps toward approving a huge wind farm off the New Jersey coast as part of an effort to generate electricity for more than 10 million homes nationwide by 2030.

Meeting the target could mean jobs for more than 44,000 workers and for 33,000 others in related employment, the White House said. The effort also would help avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, a key step in the administration's fight to slow global warming.

President Joe Biden 'believes we have an enormous opportunity in front of us to not only address the threats of climate change, but use it as a chance to create millions of good-paying, union jobs that will fuel America's economic recovery,'' said White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy. 'Nowhere is the scale of that opportunity clearer than for offshore wind.''

The Biden administration announced plans Wednesday for major investments to boost offshore wind farms, including one off the coast of New Jersey. Here wind turbines of the Block Island Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island in October 2016

The administration's commitment to the still untapped industry 'will create pathways to the middle class for people from all backgrounds and communities,' she added.

The administration said it intends to prepare a formal environmental analysis for the Ocean Wind project off New Jersey. That would move Ocean Wind toward becoming the third commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it is targeting offshore wind projects in shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. A recent study shows the area can support up to 25,000 development and construction jobs by 2030, Interior said.

President Joe Biden rolls out an infrastructure plan Wednesday. His administration is pushing forward wind power initiatives

General view of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, Britain September 5, 2018. A project seeking approval off the coast of New Jersey would be the third U.S. offshore wind farm

The ocean energy bureau said it will push to sell commercial leases in the area in late 2021 or early 2022.

Ocean Wind, 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey, is projected to produce about 1,100 megawatts a year, enough to power 500,000 homes.

The Interior Department has previously announced environmental reviews for Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork wind farm about 35 miles east of Montauk Point in Long Island, N.Y. Vineyard Wind is expected to produce about 800 megawatts of power and South Fork about 132 megawatts.

Biden has vowed to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his effort to slow climate change. The likely approval of the Atlantic Coast projects - the leading edge of at least 16 offshore wind projects along the East Coast - marks a sharp turnaround from the Trump administration, which stymied wind power both onshore and in the ocean.

As president, Donald Trump frequently derided wind power as an expensive, bird-slaughtering way to make electricity, and his administration resisted or opposed wind projects nationwide, including Vineyard Wind. The developer of the Massachusetts project temporarily withdraw its application late last year in a bid to stave off possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden provided a fresh opening for the project soon after taking office in January.

'For generations, weve put off the transition to clean energy and now were facing a climate crisis,'' said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose department oversees offshore wind.

'As our country faces the interlocking challenges of a global pandemic, economic downturn, racial injustice and the climate crisis, we have to transition to a brighter future for everyone,'' Haaland said.

Vineyard Wind is slated to become operational in 2023, with Ocean Wind following a year later.

Despite the enthusiasm, offshore wind development is still in its infancy in the U.S., far behind progress made in Europe. A small wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island, and another small wind farm operates off the coast of Virginia.

The three major projects under development are all owned by European companies or subsidiaries. Vineyard Wind is a joint project of a Danish company and a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola. Ocean Wind and South Fork are led by the Danish company, Orsted.

Wind developers are poised to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $100 billion in new investment by 2030, 'but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must first open the door to new leasing, said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association.

Not everyone is cheering the rise of offshore wind. Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fear that large offshore wind projects could render huge swaths of the ocean off-limits to their catch.
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It is a macabre fact. The easing of COVID shutdowns has brought back mass shootings in the U.S. With almost no packed schools, movie theaters, malls, airports, and fewer packed workplaces during the last year, mass shootings did not lead the news. Now they are back.

This months shootings at Atlanta spas and at a Boulder, Colorado grocery store have jolted the nation back into the banality and unpredictability of gun violence. And there is another danger. Even before victims families are notified, and services are held; even before suspects are charged, evidence gathered, and the slow process of justice begun  the public craves a take-home message.

Which group is most often targeted? Which shooting is the worst? What groupswhite supremacist, religiousdo mass gun murderers belong to?

In 16 years of covering gun violence as a national reporter, I know that the take-home message is not found in the identities of the victims or the perpetrators; the bloodshed is equal opportunity.

The 2016 Pulse nightclub shootings in Orlando probably took the most LGBT and Latinx lives in recent memory, but the murderer was also an ISIS sympathizer. Racists like the 2015 Charleston church shooter and 2012 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooter (and of course the New Zealand 2019 Christchurch mosque shooter) have executed their victims in cold blood. The Vegas shooter killed 60 in 2017 without targeting any apparent minorities or ethnicities.

Yes, women are often gun victims, especially because of domestic violence, but so are those who are not classically powerless or pitied, like the four at Naval Air Station Pensacola and two at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in 2019 and the 13 killed at Fort Hood in 2009. Are they any less victims? And what about the three Baton Rouge and five Dallas police officers killed in cold blood by snipers in 2016, sadly victims of apparent racially motivated violence?

It is dangerous for media to focus on the right victims and perpetrators. Do the many gun victims at schools and college campuses, workplaces, and intra-racial violence settings not count when they are not ethnic minorities? One irresponsible news outlet speculated on the basis of the Atlanta spa killings that hyper-sexualized Asian women are especially targetedan irresponsible and factually incorrect allegation that does a disservice to all gun victims.

I am no longer a gun law reporter but have pointed out, as many do, that well-written, psychiatrically-based laws would keep guns from the kinds of hateful and mentally ill shooters that we most recently saw in Atlanta and Boulder. Does anyone (except the very outdated gun lobby) believe that people with dementia, cognitive impairment, Alzheimers; people who have been hospitalized for mental illness; people convicted of felonies and domestic violence and people on the no fly and terror watch lists should have firearms?

The truth is that their own families know most mass shooters to be dangerous; some families have begged authorities to intervene. (One family I interviewed was relieved that, when their son killed himself, he did not take scores of others with him.)

Most imminently violent people are obvious to their communities and co-workers. Yet the Orlando, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Tucson, Aurora, Fort Hood, Navy Yard, Santa Barbara, Charleston, Planned Parenthood, Chattanooga, Kalamazoo, Roanoke, Umpqua, and Lafayette mass murderersto name only a fewlegally bought their firearms. The 2017 Fort Lauderdale airport murder suspect walked into an FBI field office and admitted hearing voices yet Alaska cops returned his gun to him.

What stops the passage of psychiatrically-based gun laws, which work in other countries, is federal lawmakers loyal to a very inflexible and outdated U.S. gun lobby fighting gun safety laws. The irony is that most of the U.S. public, including gun owners, would welcome laws to keep firearms out of the hands of mentally incapacitated people like the Atlanta and Boulder killers.

Martha Rosenberg is a health reporter and the author of Born With a Junk Food Deficiency.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still little changed by midday on Monday as investors took a fire sale by hedge fund Archegos Capital in their stride.

The FTSE 100 was steady at 6,738.82.



Japanese bank Nomura and Credit Suisse were both sharply lower as they warned of big losses after Archegos Capital defaulted on margin calls. However, sentiment more broadly was holding up fairly well.



Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Despite the stress this is causing among banking stocks, there is no sign of contagion in broader markets, with the DAX hitting a fresh all-time high this morning."



Wilson said investors will be watching this week for more details about US President Joe Biden's $3tn investment plan on Wednesday.



In equity markets, Renishaw was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 after Bloomberg reported late on Friday that the engineer, which has put itself up for sale, is attracting initial interest from Swedish rival Hexagon AB and US medical equipment maker Danaher.



Financial services platform AJ Bell rose after it lifted full-year revenue guidance as it continued to see rising customer numbers in the first half. The company said it expected revenue for the 12 months to September 30 to be at least 6m higher than its own compiled forecasts of 136m.



In broker note action, BT Group rallied after an upgrade to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley, while housebuilder Barratt Developments was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'neutral' at JPMorgan.



Market Movers



FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,738.82 -0.03%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,502.93 0.08%

techMARK (TASX) 4,231.10 0.13%



FTSE 100 - Risers



Renishaw (RSW) 6,340.00p 5.67%

BT Group (BT.A) 151.05p 2.03%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,472.00p 1.57%

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,328.00p 1.26%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 182.30p 1.22%

Ferguson (FERG) 8,886.00p 1.14%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 917.60p 1.12%

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 492.50p 1.09%

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,538.00p 0.95%

Evraz (EVR) 562.00p 0.93%



FTSE 100 - Fallers



Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,517.00p -2.76%

Entain (ENT) 1,518.00p -2.35%

Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 16,105.00p -2.28%

Rightmove (RMV) 583.60p -1.92%

Avast (AVST) 457.40p -1.85%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 132.92p -1.82%

Halma (HLMA) 2,343.00p -1.80%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 192.90p -1.76%

Persimmon (PSN) 2,969.00p -1.72%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 6,996.00p -1.58%



FTSE 250 - Risers



Cineworld Group (CINE) 106.50p 3.45%

Helios Towers (HTWS) 164.00p 3.14%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 682.00p 3.02%

Elementis (ELM) 126.40p 2.93%

Chemring Group (CHG) 269.50p 2.67%

Micro Focus International (MCRO) 539.20p 2.63%

Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 412.00p 2.54%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 478.00p 2.47%

Hammerson (HMSO) 33.75p 2.46%

Savills (SVS) 1,152.00p 2.22%



FTSE 250 - Fallers



Wood Group (John) (WG.) 278.70p -3.80%

Trainline (TRN) 453.60p -3.37%

Energean (ENOG) 854.60p -2.75%

ITV (ITV) 124.75p -2.20%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 199.30p -2.11%

Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 317.50p -2.01%

Capita (CPI) 42.40p -1.90%

Drax Group (DRX) 442.60p -1.86%

Provident Financial (PFG) 211.00p -1.86%

FirstGroup (FGP) 90.65p -1.73%
Pupils in P6 have been back in school for just a week. Many are now off on a two week Easter holiday break and will return on April 12.

But just when it seemed they would have a little more certainty about what they would be facing, the spectre of next November's transfer tests is casting another shadow of confusion.

Throughout 12 months of lockdown, school closures, remote learning and uncertainty over exams, schools have been calling on the Department of Education and other relevant authorities to provide clarity.

The least they can do now is provide that clarity themselves.

The Education Minister has been at pains to remind all concerned that the selection of pupils is a matter for individual schools.

Peter Weir cannot instruct schools what to do. The decision on whether academic selection is used or not rests with boards of governors.

Four of Northern Ireland's grammar schools have so far declared they will not be using the AQE or PPTC provided tests. It mirrors the same pattern of last February when on, off, on, off again confusion reigned and, one by one, schools abandoned the tests before the plug was finally pulled.

AQE and PPTC have remained steadfast.

As things stand they will run the tests come autumn. Schools must decide whether to use them or not. Both independent companies will provide the service if requested.

The fractured nature of education doesn't make things easy. What one school elects to do, another will choose differently.

It means some pupils will continue to prepare for the transfer test not knowing if it will go ahead and with the possibility of the rug being pulled from under small feet further down the track.

From a teaching point of view, that's far from ideal.

And if one grammar does not use the test, what happens if another grammar in the same area does? It blurs the issue between first and second choice schools.

While politicians have insisted throughout Covid that 'we're all in this together', whether they're believed or not, that message seems to have no bearing whatsoever in education.

Lagan College, which uses the transfer tests to select around a third of new pupils each year, will use alternative criteria for a second year in a row. So too will Derry schools Thornhill College and St Columb's. Add to that St Mary's Christian Brothers in Belfast. More will likely follow but there remains no indication of any threshold of schools abandoning the test before it's considered unworkable for the September 2022 intake.

One week after taking their first steps back into face to face teaching, many P6 pupils around the country are now heading off for Easter.

That should mean time to forget the school work, focus on fun, spending quality time with the family and, when allowed, friends.

But the break in the educational calendar will also give boards of governors breathing space for thought. Making a decision will remove the pressure from parents, pupils and teachers.

Another summer term of uncertainty can be avoided, but someone has to step up to the plate.

Sometime in the next two weeks would it be too hard for the chairs of boards of governors in schools to sweep uncertainty away, even if it means primary pupils sitting the test in their own schools rather than gathering together in test centres for one year at least.

If pupils are to sit the test, they will then know where they stand - and it's always easier to work towards something if you know what it is you're working towards.
President Joe Biden has led global condemnation of an 'absolutely outrageous' crackdown by Myanmar's junta that left more than 100 people - including several children - dead in the bloodiest day since the coup two months ago.

Soldiers and police have killed hundreds in brutal suppression against weeks of mass protests demanding a restoration of democracy and the release of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

At least 107 more people were killed on Saturday, the United Nations said, as the regime staged a major show of might for Armed Forces Day - an annual parade showcasing Myanmar's military prowess.

President Joe Biden (seen above walking toward reporters in Newcastle, Delaware on Sunday) condemned the military crackdown that left more than 100 people dead in Myanmar

Protesters in Myanmar take to the streets to denounce the military coup in Monywa. The image was posted to Facebook by an anonymous source on Sunday

Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade they burn to make a defense line during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar on Sunday

'It's absolutely outrageous and based on the reporting I've gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily,' Biden told reporters on Sunday.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the junta's celebration of its armed forces had been blighted by 'a day of horror and of shame'.

The latest chorus of international condemnation came after the defense chiefs of the United States, Britain, Japan and nine other countries denounced the Myanmar military.

'A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting - not harming - the people it serves,' the rare joint statement said.

Soldiers and police have killed hundreds in brutal crackdowns against weeks of mass protests demanding a restoration of democracy. The image above shows an injured protester receiving oxygen on Sunday

The death toll from crackdowns since the February 1 coup has climbed to at least 459, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group.

AAPP said a further 13 people were killed on Sunday, as funerals were held for some of the victims, after the deadliest day of violence in the eight weeks since the coup.

In Mandalay, the country's cultural capital, the family of Aye Ko mourned at a funeral service after he was killed overnight.

'I am very saddened to lose my husband - together with my children I'm heartbroken,' his wife Ma Khaing told AFP as she grieved with her four children.

On Monday the British foreign ministry advised its nationals in Myanmar to leave as soon as possible, following 'a significant increase in the level of recent violence'.

Despite the dangers, protesters hit the streets again Sunday in parts of commercial hub Yangon and several other cities around Myanmar.

A 16-year-old boy lost his hand in one Yangon neighborhood while trying to lob back a grenade that security forces had thrown at protesters, a rescue worker said.

The UN put Saturday's death toll at 107 people - including seven children -- but expected it to rise further.

'The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police - who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children - must be halted immediately,' United Nations envoys Alice Wairimu Nderitu and Michelle Bachelet said in a joint statement.

Military-run broadcaster Myawaddy TV gave Saturday's death toll as 45 and said the crackdown was necessary because protesters had used guns and bombs against security forces.

An insurgent group in eastern Myanmar's Karen state said they had been targeted in air strikes late Saturday, hours after the ethnic armed group seized a military base.

Hsa Moo, an ethnic Karen and human rights activist, said three people were killed and at least eight wounded.

It was the first air assault in 20 years in the state, and targeted the Karen National Union (KNU) - one of the country's largest non-state armed groups.

Funerals were held for some of the victims on Sunday after the deadliest day of violence in the eight weeks since the coup

Further air strikes on Sunday sent 3,000 people fleeing through the jungle to seek safety across the border in Thailand, the Karen Women's Organization civil society group said.

Saturday's grand parade of troops and military vehicles in the capital Naypyidaw saw junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing defend the coup and pledge to yield power after new elections.

But he also issued a threat to the anti-coup movement, warning that acts of 'terrorism which can be harmful to state tranquillity and security' were unacceptable.

Later that evening he entertained dignitaries including Russian deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin at a lavish outdoor dinner.
Officials in Mali on Friday accused the French military of killing civilians in a Thursday airstrike.

Reuters said the number of killed was six, while AP reported at least five deaths.

The incident happened in the western Gao region of Mali and was the second time this year France has been accused of killing civilians.

The French military reported the strike had killed a group of militants 60 kilometers north of Deliman.

"This strike was ordered after a phase of surveillance and identification permitting the characterization of the presence of an armed terrorist group," it said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The strike was a part of Operation Barkhane, a effort led by the French military to root out Islamic extremism in the Sahel. The operation began in 2014.

Local officials claim those killed were civilian males aged 15 to 20, and that they were hunting birds with one gun among them.

"I know all these young people. Some are from my family," Mohamed Assaleh Ahmad, mayor of the nearby village of Talataye, told Reuters by telephone. "We have seen these airstrikes in the past here. We have never said anything, but this time, it is 100% an error."

The United Nations is investigating a January 3 incident near the village of Bounti. Local officials said a French airstrike hit a wedding party, killing 10. The French military denied the account and said it killed 30 extremists.

Al-Qaida-linked extremists have been waging a widening campaign against national militaries across the Sahel.
Is it fair or even patriotic to threaten states that do not conform to the Democratic Socialists' mandate to control the outcome of Free and Fair elections enacted by constitutionally guaranteed states' legislatures?

Yes, all elections must be federalized so that the whim of the majority political party can set the standard for all elections.

No, Our Founders purposefully decentralized elections by guaranteeing only states' legislatures the independent right to enact Free and Fair elections.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a Chicago church that faced the threat of summary abatement and temporary closure for holding worship services in violation of coronavirus pandemic-related gathering restrictions.

Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church in Albany Park, which objects to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's past actions to close down churches during the COVID-19 pandemic, sued the state government to guarantee that it cant be closed by the governor in a future lockdown.

In an orders list released Monday morning, the nations high court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari, adding that Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the proceedings.

Last year, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, Pritzker issued orders limiting in-person worship services to no more than 10 people.

Source:The Christian Post

Hospitality bosses reacted with fury today after five councils in England banned smoking outside pubs, cafes and restaurants with others considering joining them as the Government tries to make the UK smoke free by 2030. Newcastle City Council, Manchester City Council, Durham County Council, Northumberland County Council and North Tyneside Council have all banned smoking on the pavements where outdoor hospitality venues have tables. And Oxfordshire County Council is set to follow suit under plans for the first smoke-free county, with employers expected to asked to enforce smoke-free spaces outside shops, offices and factories to help staff kick their habit. A seventh local authority, Gateshead Council, does not have an official policy on smoking outdoors, but all the licences it grants to venues state that pavement cafes must be smoke-free, reported the Guardian . But Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, told MailOnline today: 'We would encourage all local authorities to work with the sector in helping us get back on our feet, not burdening us with more red tape at the worst possible time.' And Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: 'This damaging decision would be a hugely disproportionate step and will inevitably deter customers from pubs, bars and restaurants - businesses that already find themselves in a very fragile state following months of closure and over a year of severely disrupted trading.' A smokers' lobby group said it was 'no business of local councils if adults choose to smoke' - and it follows a failed attempt last summer to push through an amendment in the House of Lords to make pavements smoke-free.
decacorn Byjus has raised about $460 million in its ongoing Series F round led by MC Global Investment Holdings LP. The Bengaluru-based company has now raised over $1 billion in the ongoing fiscal year of FY21.

The company has approved the allotment of 140,233 Series F CCPS (compulsory convertible preference shares) at a face value of Rs 10 and a premium of Rs 237,326 per share to raise the sum, regulatory filings show, according to Entrackr, a platform that tracks tech

As reported earlier, Byjus is in talks to raise up to $700 million from new and existing investors in a fresh funding round, which, if successful, would lift the firms valuation to about $15 billion from $12 billion at present, sources close to the development said.

The fresh round was led by MC Global Investment Holdings LP which invested $224 million, almost half of the total tranche, according to Entrackr. A total of nine investors have participated in the round, in which B Capital, with its global and Asia subsidiaries, has put in about $77 million.

Asset management firm Baron Emerging Market Fund and Baron Global Advantage Fund together invested $80 million. New York-based hedge fund XN Exponent Holdings, run by Gaurav Kapadia, $41.5 million. Arison Holdings and TCDS India LP have invested $15 million and $14 million respectively.

Following this round, the collective holding of the promoters group, which includes the founder and family, has been diluted to 26.09 per cent, according to Entrackr.
Tambakha Chiefdom, Karene District, Northern Province, Friday 26 March 2021 - His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has toured the two Tambakha Chiefdoms and discussed his government's plans to construct the first Senior Secondary School in that part of northern Sierra Leone.

Explaining the historical relationship between the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and the people of the two Tambakha Chiefdoms, Constituency Youth Leader, Alhaji Kamara, said they had been a major player in the formation and development of the party.

He added that that was why after the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President Bio was the second sitting president to visit their chiefdoms, regardless of what he called a hard-to-reach area.

"Your Excellency Sir, the youth and everyone in our two chiefdoms are happy that you visited. We will continue to support your agenda to transform the entire nation," he stated.

Alhaji Kamara also advocated for the construction of a community centre, a health facility, a senior secondary school, the construction of major roads and a bridge that would link the two chiefdoms with Kamakwie, which he said would ease the long-suffering of the people.

In his response, the President told people of the two Tambakha Chiefdoms that after nearly three years in office as President of the country, he saw the need to tour the district and discuss development plans with the people.

He further stated that the people were at the centre of his development agenda, saying that he would continue to strengthen the human capital of the country for lasting development.

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"For a country to develop the people should be better educated. Education is the fastest way to transform a nation," President Bio affirmed. He said his government was paying school fees for about 2.5 million children in pre-primary, primary, junior and senior secondary schools across the nation.

He, therefore, encouraged the children as the direct beneficiaries of the Free Quality Education to take their studies seriously, noting that they would be the ones to take care of their parents in future.

The President said in a short while his government would replace the broken Kabba Ferry with a modern bridge that would link the two chiefdoms with other chiefdoms in the Karene District, adding that the people would also benefit from the Munafa Macro Credit facility that would help promote small businesses.

"Since I came to power, my Government has approved 364 schools in Karene with financial assistance, distributed teaching and learning materials to all schools in Karene District, 73,456 teaching and learning materials (core textbooks supplied) and 1 School Bus for Primary 1-6 and from JSS 1-3," he confirmed.

For More Enquiries: State House Media and Communications Unit
The United States on Monday ordered the seizure at its ports of all disposable gloves manufactured by the worlds largest maker of these medical items, saying it had even more evidence than before that the Malaysian company used forced labor in its production line.

The ban on the products made by the company Top Glove wont have a significant impact on total U.S. imports of disposable gloves that are critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Customs and Border Protection agency said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced today that it has directed personnel at all U.S. ports of entry to begin seizing disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by Top Glove Corporation Bhd., the U.S. agency said in a statement.

CBPs findings communicate that it has sufficient information to believe that Top Glove uses forced labor in the production of disposable gloves, the agency said.

CBP said it took the decision after a long investigation following its initial ban on Top Gloves products last July that was based on reasonable but not conclusive information that multiple forced labor indicators exist in Top Gloves production process.

Officials with the agency said back then that they had evidence of forced labor, including debt bondage, excessive overtime, retention of identification documents and abusive working and living conditions.

A Top Glove spokesperson told BenarNews the company would issue a statement on the CBPs decision on Tuesday.

On March 9, the company had said that an independent consultant had confirmed that there is no element of systemic forced labor in Top Glove.

Still, on March 16, the Malaysian government charged Top Glove with failing to provide worker accommodations that meet minimum standards. The company pleaded not guilty to the 10 charges against it, but if convicted it could be fined up to RM 50,000 (U.S. $12,000) per charge.

In response, the Malaysian company issued a statement saying it remains highly committed to ensuring high quality welfare, health, working conditions, and living accommodation for its workforce.

The company has also set out current and midterm plans to continuously improve the standard of the various types of accommodation it provides to its workers, Top Glove said.

The Malaysian governments charges stemmed from numerous investigations into allegations of poor conditions at dormitories of six factories owned by Top Glove, after more than 3,400 workers tested positive for COVID-19 in its plants in the state of Selangor.

US imports of disposable gloves

CBP said that the seizure of all of Top Gloves Products would not impact COVID-19 prevention efforts in the United States.

CBP has taken steps to ensure that this targeted enforcement action against Top Glove will not have a significant impact on total U.S. imports of disposable gloves, John Leonard, CBPs acting executive assistant commissioner for trade, said in the statement.

We continue to work with our interagency partners to ensure that the personal protective equipment, medical devices and pharmaceuticals needed for the COVID-19 response are cleared for entry as expeditiously as possible while verifying that those goods are authorized and safe for use.

With almost 44,000 new coronavirus infections on Monday, the U.S. has recorded more than 30 million cases and over half a million virus-related deaths since the pandemic began, according to experts at the Johns Hopkins University.

Last July, amid the raging pandemic, Washington had blocked imports of Top Gloves rubber gloves, citing reasonable evidence of forced labor.

The latest CBP findings reinforce the initial findings about forced labor at the Malaysian company, the agency said on Monday.

The finding expands upon a Withhold Release Order (WRO) that CBP issued in July 2020. . That WRO was based on reasonable but not conclusive information that multiple forced labor indicators exist in Top Gloves production process, including debt bondage, excessive overtime, abusive working and living conditions, and retention of identity documents."

Last July, CBP had said that goods produced by forced labor present significant risks for consumers, and corporate, government and military supply chains.

The risks, the U.S. agency had said, include health and safety issues and intellectual property rights violations that might have national security implications.

At the time, Top Glove officials had responded by saying that Washingtons order was linked to migrant workers being forced to pay fees to recruiters without the companys knowledge. The officials said the practice ended in January 2019 when it began paying those fees.
Waste Management hopes to introduce a new unit at its Dairy Flat landfill to evaporate leachate into the air, and residents hope they will be able to have a say on the proposal.

Leachate is a mix of chemicals that seeps through a landfill and its disposal involves using landfill gas to turn the leachate into vapour, then releasing it into the atmosphere.

The company says its proposed new unit is more efficient and cleaner burning than its previous system, however some residents are worried, especially as the company wants to move the unit closer to neighbouring homes.

Whether or not the public will have a say in the proposal, currently seeking resource consent, is up to Auckland Council.

The Rodney Local Board member for Dairy Flat, Louise Johnston, has a number of concerns.

The proposed new unit has been on trial at the landfill since June last year. This included testing and monitoring. Reports attached to the consent application include an assessment of visual effects by Boffa Miskell, which states that, depending on the wind, the height of the plume can reach as high as 30 metres while at other times it will be a lot less visible. In addition, Tonkin and Taylor monitored the emission rates of key volatile organic compounds benzene, toluene and vinyl chloride, at four locations, three of which were within the landfill site, from August to November last year.

Mrs Johnston says throughout the trial period, residents have been telling her that there was a distinct, unpleasant smell coming from the plume of discharge.

There are fears this could be what theyre in for if the unit gets resource consent, she says. It is my understanding that the discharge contains contaminants that were not emitted by the previous system.

The level of those were tested as part of this trial, as well as monitoring the visual and odour effects. If the consent details are not notified, how can people be confident its safe?

As well as public notification, Mrs Johnston believes that more air testing should be undertaken in the area, including near Dairy Flat School.

The discharge is way too near the school and residents for my liking, she says. There needs to be more testing, for peace of mind.

A Waste Management spokesperson says the company has had consent for leachate evaporation technology at Dairy Flat since 1999.

Its existing consent requires that the discharge must not cause noxious, dangerous, offensive or objectionable odour, dust, particulate, smoke or ash beyond the boundary of the premises where the activity takes place.

The original unit has operated for well over 20 years and we are now replacing it with a new plant, the spokesperson says. Independent experts have concluded the trial of the new generation unit has demonstrated air quality effects are either similar or less than the effects originally predicted in the air quality assessment for the existing resource consent. They have also assesssed the visual impact of the steam plume as low.

Dairy Flat School is aware of the proposal, but does not wish to comment.

Waste Management applied for resource consent to operate the new evaporator unit almost a month ago. If granted, the consent would apply until 2028. Auckland Council staff are assessing the application and will decide whether it should be notified to neighbours, publicly notified or not notified at all.
Nine passengers sustained injuries when the vehicle they were travelling in was involved in an accident at the Migaa blackspot on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Sunday afternoon.

Molo Sub County Police Commander Samuel Mukuusi said the 14-seater matatu was heading to Nairobi from Busia. Mr Mukuusi said the driver lost control of the vehicle before it veered off the road and hit a fence.

"The injured passengers were moved to the Nakuru Level Five Hospital for treatment. I call on road users to be more vigilant and ensure that they adhere to the traffic rules," said Mr Mukuusi.

Eye witnesses said the vehicle was speeding. A week ago, a truck driver died while three people were injured near the same spot in an accident involving three vehicles. The truck lost control and rammed onto three other vehicles.

Mr Mukuusi said the extensively damaged vehicle was towed to Molo Police Station.

The Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway is part of the Northern Corridor. It is the most important road to Western Kenya which connects Kenya to landlocked countries like Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.

Migaa is among the many blackspots on the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret Highway. Others are Karai where 40 people perished in 2017, Kinungi, Mbaruk, Gilgil, St Mary's area all on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway.

Others lie on the notorious accident prone Salgaa section that stretches from Sobea, Salgaa, Migaa, Sachangwan and Mau Summit. It also includes Jolly Farm and Mukinyai areas.

The series of accidents along the stretch prompted the government to construct a dual carriage way in a bid to end the carnage. This has greatly reduced accidents on the route.
Miya Ponsetto is due in back in a New York court Monday after she falsely accused black teenager of stealing her iPhone.

'Soho Karen' Miya Ponsetto is due to appear in a New York court Monday after she falsely accused a black teenager of stealing her iPhone.

Ponsetto, 22, of Piru, California, was arrested two weeks after the December 26 incident in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan.

She faces charges of attempted robbery, grand larceny, acting in a manner injurious to a child and two counts of attempted assault, according to police.

A video of Ponsettos confrontation with then-14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. was recorded and posted online by his father, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold Sr.

The video shows an agitated woman demanding the teenager's phone and accusing him of stealing it.

Harrold Jr.'s family on Wednesday filed a lawsuit alleging that Ponsetto and the hotel engaged in racial profiling.

They allege in the lawsuit filed in state court in Manhattan that Harrold Jr. was 'violently accosted' by Ponsetto and that hotel manager Chad Nathan helped her and demanded that the teenager turn over his phone for inspection.

After the incident, Ponsetto denied being racist and apologized to the teen for 'making him feel inferior' during a rambling interview with CBS This Morning's Gayle King.

'I admit, yes, I could have approached the situation differently or maybe not yelled at him like that and made him feel, you know, maybe  some sort of  uh  inferior way, making him feel as if I was like hurting his feelings, because thats not my intention,' Ponsetto said.

Lawyer Sharen Ghatan explained Ponsetto, who is from California, had been visiting her father in New York City for Christmas and was nervous about being alone in a strange city

The NYPD released surveillance footage of Ponsetto tackling Keyon Jr to the ground in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel after she accused him of stealing her iPhone

Paul DEmilia, an attorney for Ponsetto, had said in an email last week that Ponsetto is at home in California and has not been informed of any lawsuit.

Security video released by police shows Ponsetto grabbing at Harrold as he tries to get away from her through the hotel's front door.

'Defendants treated Plaintiffs differently from other guests and invitees in a place of public accommodation because of their race,' the lawsuit states.

In addition to Ponsetto and Nathan and the Arlo Soho LLC, the suit names Quadrum Hospitality Group LLC and 2REN LLC as defendants. Messages seeking comment were left with the hotel and the corporate entities.

A video of Ponsettos confrontation with then-14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr., left, was recorded and posted online by his father, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold Sr, right

Keyon Harrold Jr's parents - dad Keyon Sr., left, and mom Katty Rodriguez, center - have filed a lawsuit alleging that Ponsetto and the hotel engaged in racial profiling

In January, a California judge dropped a misdemeanor count of public intoxication against Ponsetto, related to a February 2020 arrest.

Her mother, Nicole Ponsetto, pleaded no contest to battery on a police officer and public intoxication in the same incident.

She was sentenced to to 100 hours of community service and entered a 12-month diversion program.

They were both arrested after a drunken incident at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.

'Soho Karen' Miya Ponsetto, 22, touched down at Los Angeles International Airport with a drink in hand on Sunday afternoon after leaving New York, where she was arraigned on assault charges for attacking 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr, claiming he stole her phone

The new civil suit alleges: 'On the day after Christmas, Keyon Harrold and Keyon Harrold, Jr. headed to a restaurant in the lobby of the Arlo Soho Hotel, where they had been staying, in order to have brunch.

'As soon as they entered the lobby, they were suddenly confronted and racially profiled by defendants Chad Nathan and Miya Ponsetto.'

The lawsuit then accuses Ponsetto of chasing and tackling Harrold Jr. after she 'disregarded all of the other non-African American individuals in the lobby.'

Nathan allegedly helped detain Harrold Jr. while hotel security guards stood idly by.

After the attack, Harrold, a Grammy-winning musician, called the police to report what had just occurred.

'As a result of defendants actions, Plaintiffs have suffered loss and injury, including but not limited to physical and emotional pain and suffering, great mental distress, shock, fright, economic loss, humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, feelings of racial stigmatization, an increased sense of vulnerability, and unlawful deprivation of their protected rights to exercise and enjoy equal treatment....'

The lawsuit is seeking damages, as well as attorney's fees and costs, but does not list a desired dollar amount.
Scranton may become the latest Pennsylvania city to pass legislation shielding minors from conversion therapy  the widely discredited and potentially harmful practice of trying to change ones sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

Sexual orientation and gender change efforts are ineffective, unsupported by science and dangerous, argued Councilwoman Jessica Rothchild and others who point to research and studies connecting the controversial practice with depression, low self-esteem, an increase in suicidal behavior and other harmful outcomes.

Scrantons proposed ordinance, which city council introduced last week, would prohibit licensed, certified or registered mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors under the age of 18 within city limits and establish a fine structure for violators. The prohibition would apply regardless of whether a professional is paid for their services.

Rothchild, city councils first openly gay member and the ordinances chief advocate, proposed the legislation to protect Scrantons lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

Its personally important to me because I wouldnt want there to be any kid that needs to go for counseling or professional help who comes out to a therapist, and then they try to put them back in the closet, Rothchild said. It pains me to think that could happen.

Rothchild and professional counselor Paul Datti, Ph.D., a University of Scranton professor and director of the universitys Counseling and Human Services program, said they arent aware of any Scranton-based mental health professionals engaging in conversion efforts. But absent a statewide ban and given documented harms, both described the city legislation as an important proactive and preventive step.

Conversion therapy has been rejected by all major medical and mental health organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and others, Datti said.

In an issue brief, the American Medical Association noted sexual orientation change efforts may cause significant psychological distress and an increase in suicidal behavior in a population where suicide is already prevalent.

The brief cites a study that found 77% of participants subjected to conversion therapy or similar efforts reported significant long-term harm, including depression, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, internalized homophobia, self-blame, intrusive imagery and sexual dysfunction. They also reported feelings of alienation, loneliness and social isolation.

Adrian Shanker, executive director of the Allentown-based Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, called conversion therapy ridiculous quackery and pointed to many of those same negative outcomes.

And really whats most sad about all of that is that LGBTQ youth are fine just the way they are, Shanker said. They dont need some debunked junk science trying to brainwash them into thinking that who they are is wrong.

Shankers organization was a driving force behind anti-conversion therapy ordinances adopted in Allentown, Bethlehem and Reading, where he said the laws have not been met with opposition of any significance. At least 20 states  but not Pennsylvania, despite the efforts of some lawmakers  have also banned conversion therapy for minors. Allegheny County, the cities of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Erie, as well as State College, Doylestown and other municipalities have enacted similar bans.

NEPA Rainbow Alliance, a nonprofit providing education, support and advocacy for LGBTQ individuals and families in the Wyoming Valley and surrounding area, endorses Rothchilds proposal.

Conversion therapy should have been banned years ago, said Anthony Melf, chair of the nonprofits board. But, knowing that there is growing vitriol and ignorance around transgender and gender nonbinary youth, he is glad city officials are taking action now.

Melf, Datti, Rothchild and others hope Scrantons ordinance inspires similar action elsewhere. Council introduced the ordinance without objection and could adopt it as early as April 6. Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti also supports the proposal.

This is one of those things that I think we can do at the local level in lieu of state action, so we have to take those opportunities to act ourselves when the state doesnt, Cognetti said.

The mayor also said shes grateful for Rothchilds leadership on the issue.

Hopefully, we wont have any violators of the ordinance and ... it wont need to be addressed, but at least this is being done in a proactive way so we have these protections in place, Rothchild said.
press release

Deputy President David Mabuza will conduct an oversight visit to Phuthaditjhaba, in the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality, Free State.

The visit is the second service delivery oversight by the Deputy President since making an undertaking to Parliament during questions for oral replies, to intervene in service delivery hotspots.

The Deputy President will be accompanied by the Premier of the Free State Province, Ms Sisi Ntombela, the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu, the Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Fikile Majola and the leadership of the District and Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality.

The Issues that were raised in Parliament by various political parties were related to electricity and water disruption due to debt owed by the Municipality to Eskom. Maluti-a-Phofung was previously placed under Section 139 (1) (b) on the Constitution which has since been lifted. The visit by the Deputy President forms part of support interventions by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Service Delivery.

The Deputy President will receive a briefing on measures undertaken by the Province and the Municipality to resolve the issue of the escalating debt to Eskom, which led to disruption of electricity supply. Water supply is also one of the affected areas of delivery due to power interruptions. In this regard, the Deputy President and Ministers are expected to visit one of the water projects affected in the delivery of water to residents in the Municipality.

The visit also falls within the context of the the District Development Model for accelerated, aligned and integrated service delivery, that speaks to the urgency required to turnaround municipalities experiencing challenges.
Some accuse Venezuelan army of using excessive force in operation against armed groups near Colombia-Venezuela border.

Video Transcript

ALESSANDRO RAMPIETTI: Jose Gregorio [INAUDIBLE] is disheartened as he shows us a video of his home destroyed in clashes between the Venezuelan Army and a Colombian rebel group.

INTERPRETER: It's really sad seeing how easy it is to lose everything you've built with great sacrifice.

ALESSANDRO RAMPIETTI: He and his family fled a week ago from a town across the border as Venezuelan soldiers moved into their neighborhood and bombs fell from the sky. They left in such a hurry that he didn't have time to put shoes on. He is one of almost 5,000 people who have sought refuge in one of the 18 shelters set up in and around the border town of Arauquita, in Colombia.

They've come here after the Venezuelan Army started an unprecedented operation against Colombian armed groups they had long tolerated in their territory. Many are accusing security forces of abuses and, in at least one case, of extrajudicial killings in Venezuela.

INTERPRETER: I'm afraid of going back to Venezuela because I don't know what they would do to us. The soldier killed our neighbor, her kids, and her husband. They say we're all guerrillas.

ALESSANDRO RAMPIETTI: The influx of refugees, many young children, is overwhelming this town.

On Sunday, the Colombian government set up a command post to manage the worsening humanitarian situation with the help of the United Nations Refugee Agency and other organizations.

INTERPRETER: The priority is the humanitarian assistance of those who entered the country to guarantee their health, food, and hopefully, guarantee a swift return.

ALESSANDRO RAMPIETTI: The Colombian government is planning for the shelters to operate for at least two weeks, even if local Venezuelan authorities said on Saturday that people could go back.

Despite assurances from the Venezuelan government that the situation is under control, we heard more explosions coming from the other side just a few hours earlier. And more people are arriving, fleeing from Venezuela into Colombia, eight days into this crisis.

Story continues

The situation is very difficult. This man says, "there is no food. We don't know what we will do."

Back at the shelter, most people say there are no guarantees for a safe return. For now, Jose Gregorio is happy he and his family at least have food and a shared roof over their heads.

Alessandro Rampietti, Al Jazeera, Arauquita.
An international team of researchers led by a University of Virginia School of Medicine professor is warning that scientists must better prepare for the next pandemic - and has developed a plan to do just that.

Noting the "avalanche" of scientific data generated in response to COVID-19, UVA's Wladek Minor, PhD, and colleagues are calling for the creation of an "advanced information system" (AIS) to help scientists integrate, monitor and evaluate the vast amounts of data that will be produced as researchers reveal the molecular architecture of the next pathogen posing a big biological threat. This information on the shape, structure, and function of a pathogen is essential to the development of medications, vaccines and treatments. For example, the COVID-19 vaccines now available target the "spike" protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Their heavily cited online resource for COVID-19 (https:/ / covid-19. bioreproducibility. org/ ) demonstrates the usefulness of their approach and can be used as a foundation for the new research strategy, they say. The site includes carefully validated 3-D structural models of numerous proteins related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including many potential drug targets.

"Structural models and other experimental results produced by various laboratories must follow a standard evaluation procedure to ensure that they are accurate and conform to accepted scientific standards," said Minor, Harrison Distinguished Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics at UVa. "Standardized validation is important for all areas of biomedical sciences, especially for structural models, which are often used as a starting point in subsequent research, such as computer-guided drug docking studies and data mining. Even seemingly insignificant errors can lead such research astray."

Battling a Pandemic

One important role of AIS would be to identify structures that can be refined and improved, the researchers say. They were happy to note that inspection of the molecular blueprints produced for components of COVID-19 and deposited in the Protein Data Bank online database suggests that most were very good. Less than 1% needed significant reinterpretation and less than 10% could be optimized by moderate revisions.

Still, good buildings require good blueprints. The same is true with vaccines and disease treatments. It's critical, the researchers say, that the structural and other data for pathogens are as accurate as possible, and that scientists from various fields are speaking the same language when discussing and using them. The proposed AIS would help ensure conformity across disciplines.

"Almost 100,000 COVID-19-related papers have been published and over a thousand models of macromolecules encoded by SARS-CoV-2 have been experimentally determined in about a year. No single human can possibly digest this volume of information," Minor said. "We believe that the most promising solution to information overload and the lack of effective information retrieval is the creation of an advanced information system that is capable of harvesting results from all relevant resources and presenting the information in instructive ways that promote understanding and knowledge."

The researchers acknowledge that implementing their proposal would be a major undertaking. Other resources that sought to offer similar benefits on a smaller scale have already come and gone. That's why it's so important, the scientists say, that we act now. "Creating an AIS will undoubtedly require the collaboration of many scientists who are experts in their respective fields, but it seems to be the only way to prepare biomedical science for the next pandemic," the researchers write in a new scientific paper outlining their proposal.

"In the history of humanity, the COVID-19 pandemic is relatively mild by comparison with the bubonic plague (Black Death) that killed a hundred times more people," the researchers conclude. "We might not be so lucky next time."

New Approach Outlined

The researchers - from UVA, the National Cancer Institute, Poland and Austria -- have detailed their plan in an article in the scientific journal IUCrJ. The article is featured on the journal cover. The research team consists of Marek Grabowski, Joanna M. Macnar, Marcin Cymborowski, David R. Cooper, Ivan G. Shabalin, Miroslaw Gilski, Dariusz Brzezinski, Marcin Kowiel, Zbigniew Dauter, Bernhard Rupp, Alexander Wlodawer, Mariusz Jaskolski and Minor.

In their paper, the researchers gratefully acknowledged the financial support of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences, grant R01-GM132595; the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, grant PN/BEK/2018/1/00058/U/00001; the Polish National Science Center, grant 2020/01/0/NZ1/00134; the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research; FWF (Austrian Science Foundation), grant P 32821; and the Polish National Science Centre, grant 2018/29/B/ST6/01989.

Minor and his longtime collaborator Zbyszek Otwinowski, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, were recently awarded the Tadeusz Sendzimir Applied Sciences Award by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America for their efforts to develop and promote software for biomedical applications in the structural biology field.

To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to the Making of Medicine blog at http://makingofmedicine. virginia. edu .

###
The second of two big expansions this month of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in New Jersey begins Monday with food service workers and several other groups who can now schedule shots.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the expansion earlier this month as the state seeks to vaccinate 70% of the adult population within six months of the first vaccine doses being administered in December.

More than 1 in 5 adults have already been fully vaccinated, though demand for appointments has continued to far outpace the supply. New Jersey is expected to receive nearly 500,000 vaccine doses this week, including more than 50,000 of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson doses, state officials have said.

Another big expansion for those age 55 and up starts on April 5.

New Jersey now has hundreds of locations offering vaccine appointments listed on the states website including six mega-sites.

The people who can schedule a shot in New Jersey starting Monday include, according to the state website:

Food production, agriculture, and food distribution;

Eldercare and support

Warehousing and logistics

Social services support staff

Elections personnel

Hospitality

Medical supply chain

Postal and shipping services

Clergy

Judicial system

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

The list of those who were previously eligible includes:

Health care workers

People who live and work at long-term care and high-risk congregate facilities

First responders

People 65 and older

Motor Vehicle Commission workers

NJ Transit workers and other transportation workers

Public and local transportation workers, including bus, taxi, ride-share and airport employees

All public safety personal who have not already been made eligible such as probation officers, child protective service workers and probation officers.

Members of tribal communities

Migrant farm workers

People who are homeless and people living in homeless shelters or domestic violence shelters

People 16 to 64 who have certain medical conditions

Those medical conditions include:

Cancer

Chronic kidney disease

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

Down Syndrome

Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies

Overweight or obesity ( BMI of 25 or higher)

Sickle cell disease

Smoking

Type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus

Asthma (moderate-to-severe)

Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)

Cystic fibrosis

Hypertension or high blood pressure

Neurologic conditions, such as dementia

Liver disease

Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)

Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)

Note: Individuals who are pregnant and those in an immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant , blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines are also eligible but should follow CDC guidance and first discuss vaccination with their medical provider before receiving the vaccine.

Beginning Monday, April 5, the following groups are eligible for vaccination:

Individuals ages 55-64;

Individuals ages 16 and up with intellectual and developmental disabilities;

Educators, including support staff, in higher education settings;

Communications infrastructure support, including engineers, and technicians, and members of the press;

Real estate, building, and home service workers, including construction workers, code officials, plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, property management, and maintenance workers;

Retail financial institution workers, including bank tellers, lending services, public accounting, and check-cashing workers;

Sanitation workers providing disinfection and janitorial services, city sanitation workers; residential, commercial, and industrial solid and hazardous waste removal workers;

Laundry service workers, including those working in laundromats, laundry services, and dry cleaners;

Utility workers including, electrical generation and supply system, natural gas delivery, nuclear power plant, water supply, telephone, cable/fiber/optical/broadband/cellular service workers; and,

Librarians and support staff at municipal, county, and state libraries.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.
 Flash

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) in France rose to 4,872, compared with 4,791 the previous day, according to data released by the Health Ministry on Sunday.

The figure, which has been on the rise since January, now stands close to the peak of the second epidemic wave, which saw 4,903 patients in need of life support on Nov. 16.

The overall number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients went up by 453 to 27,712.

In the past 24 hours, 37,014 new infections were recorded, bringing the accumulative total to 4,545,589, while the death toll reached 94,596, up by 131 from the previous day.

As of Sunday, 7,792,945 people in France have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine, representing 11.6 percent of the total population and 14.8 percent of the adult population, said the ministry.
Lara Trump joined Fox News as a contributor, a position that will increase her national platform as she weighs a North Carolina Senate run next year.

The announcement was made on Fox & Friends on Monday morning.

'Let's bring in Lara Trump, former senior adviser for the Trump campaign, and we have a big announcement. She is a new Fox News contributor. Welcome to the family, Lara,' said host Ainsley Earhardt.

Trump thanked the hosts for the warm welcome.

'Well, I'm so excited, first of all, to be joining the Fox family, I sort of feel like I've been an unofficial member of the team for so long,' she said. 'You guys know it was kind of a joke over the past five years, I would come there so often that the security guards were like, maybe we should just give you a key.'

Lara Trump joined Fox News as a contributor, a position that will increase her national platform as she weighs a North Carolina Senate run next year

Trump, the wife of Eric Trump, is weighing a Senate bid in native North Carolina next year. Republican Senator Richard Burr is retiring, leaving his seat open.

She told the 'Fox & Friends' hosts she's hasn't made a final decision.

'Yeah, well, Fox has been very generous with me and they had said look if that's something that you ultimately decide to do they are going to work with me on that front and make sure that everything - all the rules are followed- and we do everything properly,' she said. 'So thank you to the Fox team for allowing me to have the possibility,'

She added: 'I still haven't officially made a decision, but hopefully some time soon.'

If she ran she would have to give up her contributor gig. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former Trump press secretary, left her Fox contributor job after she announced she was running for governor of Arkansas.

Lara Trump appeared frequently on the network before formally joining as a contributor. Earlier this month she confirmed she was considering a Senate bid when she appeared on Sean Hannity's show.

The Republican primary in the North Carolina race could be competitive but Trump would have an edge thanks to her last name and her high public profile.

Lara Trump is the wife of Eric Trump and is a North Carolina native

Lara Trump served as a senior adviser on Donald Trump's 2020 campaign

President Trump teased the possibility of his daughter-in-law heading to the Senate when he made a surprise appearance at his Mar-a-Lago club two weeks ago.

He stopped in when Lara Trump was hosting a fundraiser for the Big Dog Ranch Rescue at the posh private club in Palm Beach. She has long been an animal-rights activist.

'I didn't exactly prepare for this, but I was walking by, and I heard everybody screaming,' President Trump said. 'I want to thank Lara who has been so incredible  and I dunno, are you running for the Senate? I hear she's going to run for the Senate!'

Laura Trump is a native of a Wilmington, N.C., and graduated from NC State University.
Sydney, Nov. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of BuddeComm report outlines the latest developments and key trends in the telecoms markets. - https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Turkmenistan-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW





Turkmentelecom is the primary provider of telecom services. Mobile services are offered through its subsidiary TM-Cell. There was some competition from MTS Turkmenistan before that private company withdrew from the market in late 2019, having had its operating licence revoked.

The mobile market experienced extraordinarily growth between 2007 and 2012, though growth since then has slowed considerably. While market penetration is relatively high, the monopoly held by TM Cell is not conducive to encouraging reduced pricing for end-users, of improved quality of service, or of upgraded network capacity.



Turkmenistan has experienced a number of problems in its efforts to upgrade telecom infrastructure, and the telephone network remains poorly developed. Many rural areas have no fixed-line coverage, leaving the relatively antiquated mobile network infrastructure as the only platform for voice and data services.

Fixed broadband penetration in Turkmenistan remains limited in scale and nature. Services are extremely slow, though when the Trans-Caspian cable is completed the country will secure additional international internet capacity which should see an improvement in the quality of services.



BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.

On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.

Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.



Key developments:

MTS exits from Turkmenistan;

Caspian Sea cable between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan gains approval;

Fixed broadband penetration in Turkmenistan remains limited in scale and nature and extremely low;

Report update includes an assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.

Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Turkmenistan-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW
A new Government plan reflecting changes in living and working patterns during Covid-19 will maximise the recovery for all parts of our country including Kilkenny, according to Fine Gael TD, John Paul Phelan.

Deputy Phelan said the plan, called Our Rural Future, is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in decades.

The policy reflects the unprecedented change in living and working patterns during Covid-19 and the significant opportunities this presents for rural communities  from remote working and revitalising our town centres in Kilkenny to job creation, developing a green economy and enhancing our outdoor amenities.

Our Rural Future sets out a blueprint for the development of rural Ireland over the next five years and is supported by 150 commitments across Government, which will address the challenges facing communities and deliver new opportunities for people living in rural areas.

The policy complements, and will support, the delivery of other Government strategies and initiatives such as Project Ireland 2040, the Climate Action Plan, the forthcoming National Economic Recovery Plan, the National Broadband Plan, the National Remote Working Strategy and the Town Centre First Initiative.

For decades, we have seen global trends where young people leave their local communities in Kilkenny to live and work in larger cities. As we emerge from Covid-19 we will never have a better opportunity to reverse that long-standing trend.

The move to remote working, underpinned by the rollout of the National Broadband Plan, has the potential to transform rural Ireland like never before.

It will allow people to work from their own local communities in Kilkenny, revitalise our town centres, reduce commuting times, lower transport emissions and most importantly - improve the quality of life of our people.

Our Rural Future will also support the recovery of our Tourism and Hospitality sector, create jobs in the Green Economy and the Agri-food sector and make it easier to establish and grow a business in Rural Ireland.

We will also assist rural businesses to diversify into new sectors and markets by taking advantage of high-speed broadband and new technologies.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys said:

Our Rural Future represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development for Ireland.

As we recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to reimagine rural Ireland and harness the talent, skills and creativity running through our rural communities.

An Tanaiste, Leo Varadkar said: The Governments ambition is to have more people working in all parts of Ireland, with access to quality employment and good careers.

Remote working presents an opportunity for people to live and work in rural Ireland, no matter where their employer is based.

Key actions in the plan include to establish a network of over 400 remote working hubs nationwide, to enable more people to live and work in rural communities and to pilot hot desking hubs for public servants in regional towns.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Through all the mess, the music of Alan McGees brainchild remains vital and influential. (See: Oasis.) Photo: Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Image

Weirdos who love melody. Thats how a close friend of mine once described Creation Records, the London label founded by Alan McGee, Joe Foster, and Dick Green that operated from 1983 to 1999. McGee called the label a random collection of misfits, drug addicts, and sociopaths. He was talking about himself, too: an obsessive yet convincing Scottish know-it-all and Johnny Rotten believer who became the Malcolm McLaren of indie rock and shoegaze. After falling in love with club music (and its drugs) heading into 1988, McGee then championed Manchesters burgeoning acid-house scene that blurred the lines between rock, psychedelia, and dance. All those bands he first signed, who then tried to make the next Loveless or Screamadelica, were made obsolete by a later Creation band that played one of the largest shows in U.K. history at the height of Britpop: Oasis. And then it all collapsed just as the labels flagship band, Primal Scream, released the first great album of the 21st century  picture if the musicians who made Kid A could kick your ass.

The labels history is a lot. Its also mostly great, or at the very least serves as a fascinating case study of an industry outsider that snuck past the gates. You wont hear any of these songs in The Crown, yet Creations musical and cultural impact on the U.K. and beyond is vast and undeniable  it challenged the idea of what indie could be, for better or worse. Hindsight makes the labels flaws all the more glaring as well; McGees hands-on approach to running a very white and very male rock and roll label now reads as more harmful than aspirational. (His famous management philosophy: Take as many drugs as the band.)

By now, this version of the Creation story (sometimes myth) has become established folklore. Its been told and retold countless times, even by McGee himself in his 2013 autobiography, Creation Stories, which serves as the basis for director Nick Morans new biopic of the same name on the label and its unconventional leader, released this month in the U.K. (A deal for U.S. distribution is in the works.) Written by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh and produced by much of the same crew behind Trainspotting (Ewen Bremner, a.k.a. Spud, plays McGee), including Danny Boyle, the film is more accurate in spirit than truth-telling. Fifty percent of this film is absolute nonsense, McGee told the Guardian earlier this month, but I let it all go in. Which, really, he could be talking about the label itself. In honor of the latest Creation Stories, heres a beginners guide to all the music and history of Creation Records. Through all the mess, the music remains vital and influential.

The Classics

Primal Scream, XTRMNTR (2000)

In music journalist Paolo Hewitts 2000 oral history of the label, McGee predicted that Primal Screams just-released XTRMNTR  Creations final release  would become a generations seminal and forgotten cult classic. He was wrong. The LP went to No. 3 in the U.K. and was well-received by critics, then and now. Yet McGee was onto something. Over the years, the abrasive, warlike XTRMNTR (see: Exterminator) has overtaken the acid-house classic Screamadelica as Bobby Gillespies masterpiece. Its like skipping Sgt. Peppers for The Velvet Underground & Nico, the former beloved by those who were around for its sunny possibilities but the latter still sounding fresh today. XTRMNTRs all-caps assault on modern life primed a new generation for yelling at strangers online, and it finally, truly killed off the Britpop era that Creation helped create.

Honorable Mention: Very much sounding like a product of its time, Screamadelica still earns its place in history for bringing acid house to the rock mainstream.

My Bloody Valentine, Loveless (1991)

Ive spent a quarter of a million pounds, and I cant hear the vocals. This was McGees alleged response to first hearing Loveless, a painstaking labor by guitarist Kevin Shields trying to turn his thoughts into sugar. It took two and a half years to make, nearly bankrupted Creation, and destroyed McGee and the bands already icy relationship. (I had to go and borrow money from my father  money from my mums life-insurance policy  to complete the album, McGee recalled in his book.) It also is the single most stunning guitar album ever made. In 2010, Gillespie called Loveless the last great rock record that went somewhere new. Its hard to disagree.

Honorable Mention: If Loveless never came out, My Bloody Valentine would still be on this list for their debut Isnt Anything. 2012s EPs 19881991 collection also is worth checking out for how well it captures the bands pre-Loveless Creation EPs, right when they turned from good to great.

Oasis, Definitely Maybe (1994)

(Whats the Story) Morning Glory? is the better album, to be clear. Track by track, Morning Glory has a stronger range and sense of timelessness, and very few classic records have this many excellent non-single tracks. Its the quiet morning after, and Definitely Maybe is the ridiculous night out before. What a hell of a night, though. Definitely Maybe  perhaps more so than any album on this list  best embodies the spirit of Creation during Britpop or any era. Rock and roll at its most bratty and parka-wearing glory. Also, Supersonic.



Honorable Mention: (Whats the Story) Morning Glory?, specifically the 2014 reissue that features the albums B-sides and Noel Gallaghers stunning acoustic demos that make up the third (or fourth) best Oasis album.

Teenage Fanclub, Bandwagonesque (1991)

Just as America had The Replacements, Scotland had Teenage Fanclub to carry the torch for rewriting Alex Chilton songs in skinny jeans. Bandwagonesque might be the easiest album on this list to like, 12 nearly perfect songs that make sad nostalgia sound like the sun. Its such a nice and unassuming listen that its hard to stay mad at it for famously beating out Nevermind as Spins 1991 album of the year. (Creations other two 1991 masterpieces Screamadelica and Loveless didnt even make the list.)

Honorable Mention: Bandwagonesque is rightfully beloved, but 1995s Grand Prix is the better album.

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Upside Down (1984)

McGee technically had his first breakthrough from discovering and managing The Jesus and Mary Chain throughout the 80s; this era briefly featured a young Gillespie on drums. The Chain paved the way for Creation and all its following bands with Upside Down, the first single to make the label any actual money. The Scottish band would be featured more prominently on this list, but technically their famous debut Psychocandy was released on Warner subsidiary Blanco y Negro. Its rightfully hailed as a classic, and if youre tired of associating it with Bill Murray, Upside Down and its B-side cover of Syd Barretts Vegetable Man are arguably the best things the band ever released. In 1998, The Chain story came full circle as Creation re-signed them to release Munki.

Honorable Mention: In the beginning, it was The Jesus and Mary Chain and Alive in The Living Room, Creations first official album release. (The labels first overall release was a 1983 single by The Legend! doing a bad Gang of Four parody called 73 in 83.) Alive in The Living Room is a poorly recorded and exciting snapshot of Creations earliest era that featured The Jasmine Minks (who did an impeccable impression of The Jam), The Pastels, The Loft, and other early prominent McGee-approved bands performing at the London club, The Living Room, that he ran before starting Creation. This LP is pretty much an excuse to talk about McGees favorite band at the time, Television Personalities.

McGee. Photo: Sunday Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

The Deep Cuts

Though, depending who you ask, deep cuts might be misleading. Many of the following albums were well-known and beloved in the U.K. and, to an extent, in the States. But you get the idea.

Slowdive, Souvlaki (1993)

Its a testament to Creations track record that Slowdive is even considered a deep cut, a group of self-described goths in an indie band who worshipped Bowies Berlin era and brought shoegaze down to its most minimal. Souvlaki is the bands peak, and it had the worst timing. It was released in 1993, just as McGee and the British press were shifting their attention to the Britpop wars that would make bands like Slowdive feel outdated. Decades later, the still-influential Souvlaki got the last laugh.

Honorable Mention: Another band more beloved than known, though not as well-known as Slowdive, was Adorable. Their two Creation records were both worthy additions to the shoegaze canon, and like Souvlaki, they mostly got lost in the Britpop shuffle. Both LPs are due for a revisit.

The House of Love, The House of Love (1988)

The closest thing Creation got to its own Smiths. Like Oasis later, The House of Love saved the label by making the much-needed hit that pulled McGee out of financial ruin. Its hard to trace its direct musical impact  youve heard this kind of indie-rock record a million times  yet the bands self-titled debut remains one of the most compelling examples of what Creation guitars sounded like in the mid-80s. It was perhaps the last big band that could also have been signed to Rough Trade before My Bloody Valentines debut, released that same year, took Creation into a different universe.

Honorable Mention: The Weather Prophets are another cult Creation band that wasnt necessarily influential, but rather very, very good at what they did. It also was Peter Astors second Creation band following The Loft and before starting a solo career on the same label.

Sugar, Copper Blue (1992)

Bob Moulds follow-up to Husker Du allowed the usually abrasive Mould to show off a more uplifting kind of tortured tenderness, one that was more suitable for Creation. Copper Blue was NMEs 1992 album of the year and remains the most consistently fun Sugar album among many good ones.

Honorable Mention: Velvet Crushs 1994 Creation LP Teenage Symphonies to God was produced by early R.E.M. producer Mitch Easter and was well-regarded in its time. Today, this power-pop gem feels like the album that opened the door for Fountains of Wayne to make the best power-pop record of the 2000s. Like Sugar, its all fun and deceiving.

Your favorite twee songwriters favorite record, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word is a sad flash of mononymous Felt mastermind Lawrences vocal and songwriting skills that managed to turn a ballpark organ into the loneliest instrument. Quinn Morelands Pitchfork Sunday Review captures the mood: Too bookish and restrained for mainstream pop, too neurotic for punk, and too bright and structured for post-punk. It might not click with you right away. When it does, it absolutely hits.

Honorable Mention: Speaking of underappreciated, McGee has consistently picked Trashmonks Mona Lisa Overdrive as Creations last great album.

Ride was either a boy band that played shoegaze or the Creation shoegazers that acted the most like a boy band. Nowhere was McGees first top-20 LP and the album that properly kicked off the 90s and shoegazes brief time in the sun. This album would be on the classics list if it originally included Today, a stunner from the bands 1991 Today Forever EP that was later tacked onto Nowheres 2001 reissue.



Honorable Mention: Nowhere is Rides most consistent album, though its follow-up Going Blank Again has one of the greatest album openers and was Creations first top-10 hit, the epic eight-minute Leave Them All Behind.

Slaughter Joe, The Pied Piper of Feedback (1990)

Fellow Creation co-founder and Television Personalities member Joe Foster might be more well-known as the labels house producer; in a 2008 essay for the Guardian, McGee credited Foster with creating Creations Phil Spector on a budget sound. Like McGee, Foster was a vital (and manic) driving force, and he released music on the label under the name Slaughter Joe. His only official LP under that moniker, The Pied Piper of Feedback, is the best example of how close Creation got to sounding like The Velvet Underground. If you take McGees 2013 autobiography as truth, then it was McGee who actually wrote Shes So Out of Touch.

Honorable Mention: McGee himself played in a series of bands that released LPs on the label, most consistently for Biff Bang Pow!, which featured all three Creation founders. Loves Going Out of Fashion was included on NMEs influential C86 cassettes, featuring other Creation veterans Primal Scream, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Weather Prophets, and BMX Bandits. (Ed Ball, another employee and longtime presence at Creation, also released several records under his own name and with Television Personalities, The Times, Teenage Filmstars, O Level, The Love Corporation, and more.)

The Underrated

Pitchforks 2016 list of the top 10 shoegaze albums of all time included seven Creation albums: two albums each by Slowdive, Ride, and My Bloody Valentine. Theres also Mezcal Head, released in 1993 by the Creation band that most proudly showed off their love of heavier American indie bands like Sonic Youth and Husker Du. Muscular is rarely used to describe anything liked by McGee, but it absolutely fits for Swervedriver.

Honorable Mention: Another word not usually associated with Creation: emo. 3 Colours Red didnt carry any emo clout back when they released their pair of Creation LPs in the late 90s. Now, those records sound like the kind of emo pop considered authentic by 2021 standards. If Jimmy Eat World gets a classic-rock pass these days, its time to give Paralyse and This Is My Time another spin.

Super Furry Animals, Fuzzy Logic (1996)

Everyone at Creation, including Super Furry Animals, seemed to understand that Fuzzy Logic was a transparent attempt to create a Welsh Blur. It didnt work, and that lack of pressure or self-righteousness actually benefited everyone. Of all the hit LPs during Britpop, Fuzzy Logic is still the most lizard-brain fun and the only one that made the drugs sound fun.



Honorable Mention: If Super Furry Animals channeled Blurs imperial era, Rubys Salt Peter went for Blurs seedier, more remix-friendly post-Song 2 era that birthed Gorillaz  except that this LP came first.

The Boo Radleys, Wake Up! (1995)

The Counting Crows of Creation. Easy listening, impossibly earnest, responsible for more hits than you remember. Giant Steps was NMEs 1993 album of the year, but Wake Up! has aged slightly better. Theyre also one of indie rocks strongest greatest-hits bands. (This is a compliment.)

Honorable Mention: If that Counting Crows comparison didnt scare you off, what if I told you that Creation had its own Jack Johnson a la Mishka.

Who to Check Out Next

Arnold: Hillside is one of the most buried treasures of 1998, a good year for Creation that also included Bernard Butler, Saint Etienne, Nick Heyward, Ivor Cutler, and Oasiss The Masterplan.

Bill Drummond: The future co-founder of The KLF released a country-folk record as sincere as his soon-to-be-famous day job was  not.

The Cramps: The beloved CBGB psychobilly pioneers released one album on Creation.

The Creation: McGee named Creation after this pioneering British Invasion band (they were on the Rushmore soundtrack) and in 1994 released their very fun LP Power Surge.

Fluke: Like many albums on this list, The Techno Rose of Blighty feels like it should be way more famous.

Guided by Voices: A.k.a. the one Creation album they released that has that one song you heard once on Scrubs.

Hurricane #1: The underrated band that Andy Bell founded in the time between leaving Ride and joining Oasis.

Idha: Troublemaker was the most Creation ever got to sounding like Elton John.

Kevin Rowland: That album cover.

Momus: The rare Creation artist who actually made dance music.

Ronnie Spector: Remember when Spector released a Creation EP of late-career Ramones and Beach Boys covers produced by Joey Ramone? Now you will.

A special thanks to Isolation Records for being an invaluable resource.
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
[March 28, 2021] IntelliCentrics Announces $100 Million Savings Pledge in Support of Healthcare's Frontline Workers

IntelliCentrics (6819.HK) announces a $100 million savings pledge in support of the frontline workers and the locations of care its technology platform serves. IntelliCentrics' innovative technologies includes SEC (News - Alert) URE Ethos, SECURE Passport, Link & GO!, BioBytes, and BioBytes Visitor, serving healthcare facilities across North America, the United Kingdom, and China. "Healthcare's frontline workers have allowed locations of care to remain at the forefront of our collective defense during the pandemic. We want to say 'thank-you healthcare' by providing free medical credentialing to as many frontline workers as possible," said Mike Sheehan, CEO of IntelliCentrics. "Because IntelliCentrics is a subscription model that replaces paper-based, manual processes with technology, we estimate every free year of medical credentialing that we deliver to each medical staff personnel will save $5,000 shared between the medical staff and the locations of care that served us during the pandemic. To put this into perspective, our pledge combined with our technology platform could literally save $3 million a year for a 100-bed acute care facility," continued Sheehan. With a rich history as an industry innovator and market leader, the technology platform, known as the IntelliCentrics Healthcare Ethos, or Ethos for short, consists of many industry firsts. Examples of breakthrough innoations include medical credentials that are digital, portable, and function like a passport to enter the location of care; integration of scheduling with digital credentialing; wearable technologies integrated with visitor compliance; patient-centered visitor management; and advanced telemedicine capabilities. Ethos provides all this on a single, integrated, end-to-end technology platform and is the first platform to connect the entire continuum of care in such a unique and extremely valuable way.



"Since our pledge includes the use of all innovations in the Ethos, we believe the $100 million savings pledge could be fully committed in as little as six months. For this reason, we want to engage with every location of care that may have an interest in participating as quickly as possible. Moreover, the $100 million savings pledge is a great way for locations of care to witness firsthand how IntelliCentrics is transforming how care is delivered, received, and paid for on an even broader level," said Sheehan. About IntelliCentrics

With a mission to use trust to make high-quality healthcare as accessible as a good cup of coffee, IntelliCentrics created the SECURE Ethos. Built on three core principles - transparency, neutrality, and independence, over 11,000 locations of care worldwide rely on the SECURE Ethos to ensure mutual trust between patients, doctors, vendor representatives, and healthcare companies. To learn more about the world's largest trusted healthcare technology platform, visit www.intellicentrics.com.To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine credential, visit our COVID-19 Solution Center. IntelliCentrics is publicly traded on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code 6819. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210328005001/en/

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Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has attracted another primary challenger after former President Donald Trump threatened to campaign against the 'disloyal' Republican lawmaker.

On Monday, Alaska's Commissioner of Administration Kelly Tshibaka said she would run for Murkowski's seat, after Bob Lochner, Murkowski's challenger in 2016, already put his hat in.

Trump took aim at Murkowski earlier this month, telling Politico he would 'not be endorsing, under any circumstances, the failed candidate from the great State of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski.'

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (left) has attracted another primary challenger after former President Donald Trump (right) vowed to campaign against the 'disloyal' Alaska Republican, who voted to convict him on impeachment charges earlier this year

On Monday, Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka announced she would seek Murkowski's Senate seat. Tshibaka, a graduate of Harvard law, spent nearly 17 years working for the federal government in D.C. before moving back to her home state

Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka launched a Senate run Monday, vying for Sen. Lisa Murkowski's seat. Tshibaka's website describes her as a 'fighter' who exposed 'waste, fraud and abuse' working for nearly 17 years in Washington, D.C.

'She represents the state badly and her county even worse,' Trump said. 'I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be - in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator.'

Murkowski was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump of inciting the January 6 insurrection during his second impeachment trial.

He has publicly vowed to make them all pay, including listing all of their names during his first big political speech since leaving office, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, last month.

Tshibaka, whose run was first reported by Fox News, said she was running to represent a 'new generation of Alaska conservatives.'

Her stances include being tough on immigration, pro-Second Amendment and anti-abortion.

Tshibaka is an Alaska native and went to high school in the state before attending Texas A&M University and then Harvard Law School, according to the Anchorage Daily News, who shared a copy of her resume when she was appointed by Alaska's governor to lead the Department of Administration in January 2019.

Bob Lochner, who ran against Murkowski in 2016, has also said he will run against the Republican senator in the primary next year

She spent nearly 17 years in the Washington, D.C. working for the federal government under the Bush 43, Obama and Trump administrations.

Tshibaka worked for the office of inspector general for the U.S. Postal Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the Director of National Intelligence and the Justice Department.

The Anchorage Daily News also reported that she and her husband Niki are pastors and launched the Lighthouse Fellowship during their time in D.C.

On her campaign website, Tshibaka describes herself as a 'fighter.'

'I fought hard to be the first in my family to pursue a college degree and attend law school. I fought to expose waste, fraud and abuse in government, and Ill bring that same fight to the US Senate where I will always defend Alaska values,' Tshibaka said.

Murkowski hasn't officially announced a 2022 re-election bid but she's fought off Republican challengers before.

In 2010, when former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin backed Murkowski's Tea Party challenger Joe Miller, Murkowski lost the Republican primary, but still won the general election race by mounting a successful write-in campaign.
Come fall 2021, Becker College in Worcester will be shut down for good, according to the schools board of trustees, which voted over the weekend to permanently close the school due in part to the dramatic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the institutions finances.

The board voted Sunday to permanently close Becker College at the end of the current academic year. The school will provide academic, support and transitional services to students through Aug. 31. However, classes wont resume in the fall, according to a statement from the board.

The decision to close the school was based on the impact of the COVID-19 public health crisis, declining enrollment, rising costs and an insufficient endowment, all factors that are placing increasing financial pressure on small, tuition-driven institutions, the board noted. Coupled together, the factors created a lack of a viable financial path forward, according to the board.

Particularly as a Becker alumna myself, this was an exceptionally painful decision for the board to come to, but one that followed many months of striving for a viable, sustainable, and responsible path to address the increasing financial pressures on our college, Board of Trustees Chair Christine L. Cassidy wrote in the statement.

The school has made arrangements with several area universities for them to admit Becker students.

We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure that our students, faculty and staff have access to the best opportunities moving forward and finish this term in a strong and positive way, Cassidy said.

The Worcester college announced earlier this month the schools financial situation due to the pandemic is sufficiently uncertain and that it might be closing. Becker stopped all recruiting activities, though pre-registration continued.

Before the pandemic, the board said it was keeping a watchful eye on trends showing a vulnerability among small higher-education institutions, including the declining number of college-age students, a heightened level of student subsidy and increased competition for a smaller pool of students.

As enrollment fell in 2018 and 2019, Becker started implementing austerity measures to cut spending and balance the budget, according to Cassidy.

Those measures included renegotiating contracts with major vendors, fundraising, selling assets, consolidating departments and vacating two leased buildings downtown. The school also reduced its staff and rollbacks in compensation, among other actions, the board chair noted.

Despite Beckers efforts, the public health crisis was the nail in the coffin on the school.

The pandemic quickly accelerated the need to take more aggressive action needed to maintain a reasonable and responsible balance sheet, and to operate the college in a fiscally responsible manner, according to Cassidy.

There was an unanticipated and significant decline in the number of students who, due to the uncertainty surrounding the public health crisis, chose not to live on campus, never registered, took a leave of absence or simply dropped out, Cassidy explained.

However, the loss in revenue had a dramatic impact on the ability of the college to continue to maintain financial day-to-day college operations, she said.

Closure of the college was a very painful decision for all of us. As trustees we are duty-bound, not as day-to-day managers, but as overseers of the mission and the financial condition of the college. Many of us are also alumni, which makes this duty even more meaningful, Cassidy wrote in her statement.

Becker is one of the 25 oldest institutions in the United States and has about 1,700 students at the colleges two campuses in Leicester and Worcester, according to the schools website.

The college is known for its game design program, which ranked in the top 5 in the world from 2016 to 2019. Becker was the first school in the country to offer an esports management degree and the first in the state to offer varsity esports scholarships.

The schools financial situation isnt unique. Colleges across the U.S. have been hit hard by the pandemic. The Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts, which includes Becker, expecting $3 to 7 million in losses specific to room and board fees in March 2020. Later that year, the college received $1.6 million from the CARES Act.

Related Content:
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Monday announced that the state government would directly procure foodgrains at minimum support price (MSP) from farmers by setting up 6,408 procurement centres in villages for the ongoing Yasangi season, as was done last year.

Rao said the decision was taken in view of the increase in Coronavirus cases in the state. The Chief Minister held a high-level review meeting at Pragati Bhavan here to discuss on agriculture, marketing, and civil supplies departments. Ministers and senior officials were present. He advised principal secretary (finance) Ramakrishna Rao to take steps for giving a Rs 20,000-crore bank guarantee to the Civil Supplies Corporation to procure foodgrains and make payments to farmers.

The CM asked Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to conduct a videoconference with collectors for the setting up of the procurement centres. He advised agriculture minister S. Niranjan Reddy to be in Hyderabad and monitor the setting up of these centres as also the procurement of paddy. The minister was also told to take all precautions so that farmers are not put to any difficulty while the paddy is procured.

Chandrashekar Rao said that in 6,408 procurement centres, there will be 2,131 Indira Kranti Patham (IKP) centres, 3,964 PACS (primary agricultural cooperative society) centres and 313 others. The CM said MSP should be implemented and ensured while farmers bring their paddy to the centres.

The CM wanted the farmers to ensure that the paddy they are bringing in to the centres should not have more than 17 per cent moisture. The farmers should ensure that the moisture percentage is less and they should follow MSP conditions.

The CM asked officials to keep ready 20 crore gunny bags at the procurement centres. He said that cotton produced in the state fetches a better price in the international market because of better quality. The yield is also high. So, in the coming monsoon season, farmers should grow cotton in about 75 to 80 lakh acres.

The CM asked principal secretary (agriculture) Janardhan Reddy to make arrangements for the procurement of cotton seed to supply to farmers who intend to grow cotton.

In a similar way, arrangements should also be made to cultivate red gram in some 20 to 25 lakh acres. If cotton and red gram crops are given water as required, the yield would be more, he said.

The CM said in the summer (Yasangi) season, paddy was cultivated on 52.76 lakh acres, and the yield could be 1.17 crore metric tonne of the coarse variety paddy and 21 lakh metric tonne of fine variety paddy.

The CM advised the chief secretary to identify lands to be given on lease to the Central Warehousing Corporation that is ready to construct additional godowns to store food grains.

The CM advised the water resources department officials to ensure that water is supplied to lands under the irrigation projects for another 10 days so that the crops would not dry. He said farmers from Suryapet district are complaining that tail end lands are not getting water. Officials should ensure that water is supplied to such lands and not even a single acre should be dry up due to lack of water.

The CM also asked officials over phone to supply water from the Kaleshwaram project to tail-end lands in Suryapet district under the jurisdiction of Lower Manair Dam upto DBM-71.
A former Uber driver in Central California was found guilty of sexually assaulting and stealing from five passengers.

Jurors took less than three hours to convict Alfonso Alarcon Nunez of 13 felonies, including three charges of rape, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.

He could face life in prison when he is sentenced in April.

Nunez, 39, of Santa Maria, was accused of sexually assaulting or stealing from intoxicated women who had ordered rides or whom he had picked up in 2017 and 2018 in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Prosecutors said Nunez would drive the women to their homes, follow them inside, sexually assault them, steal their wallets, cellphones and jewelry, and in some cases would debit their Venmo accounts for the fares to conceal his Uber connection.

Nunez is at least the third rideshare driver convicted of sexually assaulting passengers in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Former Uber driver Shadi Abdul Aziz of Santa Maria pleaded guilty to raping an intoxicated person in 2019 and was sentenced to nearly a year in jail.

In January 2020, Jason Fenwick, a former Lyft driver, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for sexually assaulting a customer in Nipomo.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California Personal Auto Sharing Economy Ridesharing Uber
Update: Coroner Mike West said the female victim is Brandy Louise Parker, 31, of Athens.

Update: Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said the two people were walking north on the railroad tracks, just south of the McClellan Street crossing, when they were hit by a northbound train.

Two people were found dead on Monday at the train tracks at McClellan Street near Clinton Street in Athens. Two people were found dead on Monday at the train tracks at McClellan Street near Clinton Street in Athens.

One person has been identified as Lakerris Petty, 37, of Athens. Johnson said Monday afternoon that "as of this time, positive identification on the second person has not been determined." The coroner said the second victim is a female.

He said the train crew did everything they could to warn the people to get off the tracks before being hit, and the incident remains under investigation.

The train crossings are back open as of 4:50 p.m. Monday.

From earlier:

Limestone County Coroner Mike West said he is responding to two fatalities at the train tracks on McClellan Street near Clinton Street in Athens.

The city of Athens said the train was traveling north when the accident occurred about 1:30 pm. The two people were not in a vehicle at the time of the accident, according to a news release.

Athen Police say crossings from McClellan Street and to the south are blocked and will be until at least 4 p.m.

Stay with WAAY 31 for updates.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A new California Tex-Mex restaurant is coming later this year to a downtown location that was once home to The Mission, which offered Pan-American/Mexican food for 20 years.

The new restaurant, Luna Loca, will be operated by Ryan and Leigh Ann Benz, who also own the Oh My Darling restaurant, its adjacent Clementine lunch counter and bar called The Fitz at 321 S. Salina St.

Luna Loca, which means crazy moon in Spanish, is aiming to open by the summer. It will be located in the historic red church building at 304 E. Onondaga St. The Mission, operated by owner-chef Steve Morrison, opened there in 2000 and closed in December.

I really loved The Mission, and what Steve was able to do there for all those years, Leigh Ann Benz said. So its really an honor to have his blessing to put our spin on it.

The California Tex-Mex concept will features everything from a full range of tacos to burrito bowls, Mexican street corn and jalapeno poppers, Benz said.

We dont feel comfortable saying its going to be full, authentic Mexican, she said. But it will be a play on that cuisine, with a variety of sharing appetizers and other things.

The decor of Luna Loca borrows from some California / southwest images and will be bright and airy, Ryan Benz said. The layout of the kitchen and dining room will be similar to The Mission.

We get enough dark and gray in Syracuse, so the idea is to have an atmosphere that is bit more bright and cheerful, he said.

The timing of the opening is dependent on two major issues, Ryan Benz said. One is the current difficulty in hiring staff, which many restaurants across Central New York are now facing. Theyre seeking job applicants at info@lunalocasyr.com.

Because they have staff working at Oh My Darling, they can plan to have some employees put some time in at Luna Loca, too. Oh My Darling opened in 2019.

Another issue is securing a liquor license. The Mission had always operated with a beer and wine license, rather than a full liquor license that would allow spirits and spirits-based cocktails. Morrisons efforts to expand his license to full liquor ran afoul of the restaurants proximity to a nearby church.

Ryan and Leigh Ann Benz are aware of those issues, but have applied to the state for a full license.

They are prepared to move forward with what Leigh Ann calls Plan A (just beer and wine) or Plan B, a full license. They are exploring options for using wine-based products for margaritas and other drinks if they cant serve actual tequila and other liquors.

Hopefully, by the summer, well have those issues worked out, Ryan Benz said.

The opportunity to take over a prime restaurant location was too good to pass up, even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ryan Benz said.

He pointed to its proximity to the courthouse and other government buildings, and the Civic Center and its theaters.

Theres not a lot of competition on that side of downtown, he said.

And the are not worried about making the move even with Covid still around.

The pandemic doesnt diminish the brightness that Syracuse has, Ryan Benz said. There are still people coming here to work, and to live. Steve ran a successful restaurant there for 20 years and we believe we can do the same.

The Benzes initially announced the Luna Loca plan on Facebook Sunday.

Dear Syracuse, we have fallen in love with your continued patronage at Oh My Darling and The Fitz and we are SO excited to announce our newest project, a new California Tex-Mex restaurant named, Luna Loca - opening Summer of 2021! they posted. Taking over the building formerly the home of The Mission, this special and historic space has been in our collective hearts and a part of the fabric of Syracuse. We are humbled to be its next long term caretaker.

The Mission Restaurant, 304 E. Onondaga St., Syracuse closed in December.

Related:

Covid closed one of CNYs oldest bars. A hometown restaurant group is giving it new life

Its one of CNYs first ghost kitchens. Its set to roll out mad burgers this week

First Look: New DeWitt sandwich shop specializes in big flavors and house-cured bacon

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
Samsungs Galaxy S21 series arrived earlier this year with a bunch of new and impressive camera features. Some of those features have since trickled down to the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20 phones, including the affordable Galaxy S20 FE. However, Directors View, which is one of the best features on a smartphone camera ever, didnt make it to any of those phones. It appears Samsung is finally preparing to bring the coveted Galaxy S21 camera feature to some of its older flagships.

The evidence comes from a software support page for the Galaxy S20 5G on T-Mobile USAs website. The carrier has recently updated the support page to include instructions on how to use Directors View. Of course, the feature is not available on any other Galaxy smartphone except the Galaxy S21 series. However, since the support page was updated to explicitly add those instructions, it strongly suggests that Directors View is coming to some of Samsungs older flagships soon.

Galaxy S20 may soon pick up Galaxy S21s Directors View camera feature

Directors View lets users see the real-time output from all of the phones cameras at once. You can switch between views from the different lenses by tapping the thumbnails on the screen on the left. You can also switch to a close-up view by tapping the thumbnails on the right. In short, Directors View gives users more control over the cameras while recording. This allows them to capture a scene in the best possible way from their phone.

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Debuted with the Galaxy S21 series, there were expectations that the feature would make it into older Galaxy flagships with a software update. Samsung did recently rolled out new updates to the Galaxy S20 and Note 20, introducing several Galaxy S21 camera features. The devices picked up support for portrait images in low-light conditions, ultrawide camera support with Night Mode, new studio-like effects in the Portrait mode, the ability to use the maximum possible exposure in the Night Mode, and much more.

However, as said earlier, Directors View didnt make it into any of those phones with the said updates. There were speculations that this lack of support is because of the limitations in those phones ISP (image signal processors). But thats seemingly not the case and Samsung is preparing to bring the feature to its older flagships soon.

The updated support page on T-Mobile USAs website appears to be published prematurely before Samsung could release the update. However, theres also a possibility that its a mistake on T-Mobiles part, especially because the updated page mentions the wrong Android version (Android 10). Thats highly unlikely though as the instructions come complete with visual illustrations.

Advertisement

Samsung has yet to say anything about support for Directors View on its older flagships. However, if the feature is indeed coming to any of those phones, then an update shouldnt be too far away. Well keep you posted as and when we have more information.
Ado Ekiti  A legal icon and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has tasked the National Universities Commission(NUC) to review university laws in order to confer further sanctions against academics convicted for rape, electoral fraud, certificate racketeering and other misdemeanours.

Babalola said the country needed the instrumentality of the laws to deal with the bad eggs in the university system, saying such review became expedient to save the sector and prevent lecturers from embarrassing the country.

The legal luminary stated this in Ado Ekiti at the weekend at an event to mark the third anniversary of the establishment of the ABUAD 400-bed multi-system hospital and sendoff ceremony for the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof Fola Esan.

The elder statesman, who used the occasion to react to recent jailing of a university professor over electoral fraud, lamented the rot in the university system in the country, which he said must be tackled without further delay.

According to him, "Reviewing the laws would not only provide avenue for shaming such erring lecturers, it would also make it difficult for such professors to secure alternative jobs in any university again in any part of the country.

"Gone were the days when teachers, especially university lecturers and professors, were perceived to be above board as well as embodiment of honesty, transparency and decency.

"Indeed, that was the true situation at that time, but unfortunately, are these facts true of professors today?

"We have just recently read in the media the shameful story of one Prof Peter Ogbe of a university who had just been convicted for electoral fraud that earned him two years imprisonment.

"But where do we go from here? Since the beginning of this week, we have been celebrating three years of excellence in medicine here and also celebrating our own Prof Esan, the CMD, a man of honour and integrity whose record in Cambridge examination in those days is yet to be beaten.

"He has laid a solid foundation at the multi-system hospital and has set the records as a pioneer. What we expect is that those coming after him would emulate him and strive to improve on his records.

"It is an outright shame that while we are busy jubilating and celebrating Prof. Esan here, another professor like him is on a prison for electoral fraud.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Legal Affairs Education 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.

"So I want to use this medium to call on the National Universities Commission to review its laws to flush out the bad eggs in the university system.

"The moment any academic is convicted of any crime while serving in the university, the NUC should make it impossible for him to be employed in any other university in the country again."

Babalola said he had no regrets establishing the 400-bed multi-system hospital in the institution, which he said was basically for the benefit of Nigerians and humanity in general.

He said many medical breakthroughs had been recorded in the hospital within a spate of three years, while the hospital had continually saved many threatened ailments and reduced incidence of medical tourism abroad.

While responding, the outgoing CMD of the hospital, Prof. Fola Esan, expressed gratitude to Babalola for his huge investment in the university and hospital, saying the popularity enjoyed by the institutions within few years were made possible through his untiring efforts.
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the leaders of Russia and Armenia maintain constant contact and PM Pashinyans announcement that he will soon step down to trigger snap elections doesnt require an urgent conversation with Putin.

First of all, [Pashinyan] will remain caretaker [prime minister], and second of all this decision doesnt require an urgent conversation..Theyd talked very recently, and weve reported this, thus the contacts are permanent, Peskov said when reporters asked him whether or not Putin is planning to hold a phone talk or a meeting with Pashinyan.

Prime Minister Pashinyan announced that he will resign in April in order to pave way for the dissolution of parliament and subsequent early elections.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Authorities have released the names of a man and woman found dead Friday morning in an apparent murder-suicide at a Tarrant home.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office on Monday identified the pair as India Zippora Collins, 26, and DeAngelo Carter, 32. Police said two young girls, ages 6 and 2, are believed to have witnessed their mothers death.

The horrific scene was discovered early Friday at a home on Hatchet Avenue. Collins and Carter were found on the kitchen floor, both dead from gunshot wounds. Investigators believe Carter shot Collins in the head, put the girls in a bedroom and then eventually turned the gun on himself.

The sisters were found unharmed in a bedroom the following morning where, authorities said, it appeared they had been all night.

Tarrant police Lt. Phillip George said police received a call about midnight from family members of Carter who said he had called his mother in Georgia and told her he messed up. Officers went to the home to investigate but didnt see anything to indicate anyone was inside the home. They knocked on the door, but no one answered and there wasnt enough probably cause to enter unless someone with a key allowed them in, George said.

Police were summoned back to the home about 6:30 a.m. Friday after the womans sister made forced entry into the house. She quickly called 911 and got her nieces out of the house. They are now in her care.

Collins and Carter were pronounced dead on the scene at 6:41 a.m. Friday. The investigation is ongoing and authorities said have not yet said what led to the shootings.

Collins is Tarrants second homicide of 2021. In all of Jefferson County there have been 38 homicides including the two in Tarrant.
APPLETON, Wis., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AJR Trucking has partnered with U.S. Gain, a division of U.S. Venture, to build a renewable natural gas (RNG) fueling station in Compton, CA, near the port of Long Beach. The station will help AJR Trucking and its sister company, MDB Transportation, produce greater emission reductions for the areas of California that need it most.

"We're widely known for our use of alternative fuel, specifically natural gas, throughout our operations," said AJR Trucking's CEO Jack Khudikyan. "Now, thanks to a partnership with U.S. Gain, we're able to expand use of clean RNG and fuel at a more convenient location. This new station brings environmental benefits to our fleet and ultimately, our community."

Since their transition to natural gas, AJR Trucking has replaced more than one million gallons of diesel fuel with RNG, eliminating over 2,200 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. That's the equivalent of removing 1,234 cars off the road or planting more than 149,747 trees.

The new renewable natural gas fueling station located at 425 E. Weber Avenue in Compton, California will be available to the public, allowing other fleets the luxury of convenient fueling near the port and use of RNG. It features fast-fill capabilities and an easy in, easy out design created specifically to accommodate heavy duty trucks servicing the port. It will be operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and meets the emission standards set by the Port of Long Beach and the Harbor Trucking Association (HTA).

"AJR is an example of what companies can achieve when they make sustainability a core part of their mission," said Scott Hanstedt, U.S. Gain's director of sales. "We're honored to partner with such a sustainably-driven transportation company, like AJR Trucking and are excited to see fueling demand build at this new station.

Additionally, we look forward to supporting sustainability goals outlined by other fleets, in the form of building new natural gas, electric, and hydrogen fueling stations or simply supplying clean RNG to existing stations. Transportation emission reductions are a core focus for California, and we have the solutions to reduce a fleets' environmental footprint, in an economically beneficial way."

About U.S. Gain

Over the course of just 10 years, U.S. Gain has established itself as an innovative leader in the development of renewable natural gas, distribution of alternative fuel, fueling and charging stations, credit generation, and thermal energy supply. U.S. Gain's vertical integration is a unique competitive differentiator that benefits their partners and customers. Having direct insight to opportunities and risks impacting upstream production and downstream distribution of fuel and energy enable their customers the ability to make data-driven decisions and obtain the cleanest solutions, at the best value.

Backed by the financial strength, 60+ year tenure and values of U.S. Venture, Inc., a leading provider of transportation products and insight driving the world forward, U.S. Gain is driven to find a better way, through application of strategic foresight, entrepreneurial spirit and caring relationships. U.S. Gain is eager to help waste producers develop renewable natural gas, fleets transition to alternative fuel, corporates adopt renewable thermal energy and sustainable organizations identify and deploy impactful decarbonization strategies  together, enabling a cleaner, healthier world.

About AJR Trucking

AJR Trucking, Inc. provides services to USPS as a mail contractor in California, the Pacific Northwest, and out east into Arizona and New Mexico. With over 30 years of service, AJR has a mission to provide excellent quality service that benefits customers, the community, and the environment.

About MDB Transportation

MDB Transportation, Inc. provides drayage and rail services in southern and central California. In the span of 3 years the company has tripled in size servicing customers from San Diego to Stockton while reducing greenhouse emissions with their CNG fleet.

SOURCE U.S. Gain
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Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
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.
Nigerias extant political realities have made it reasonable to consider the unity and cohesion that power shift entails, even though Zulum argued that competence must not be compromised. In his words, competence and character should be given greater consideration over loyalty.

Last week, at a lecture, to commemorate my 50th birthday and the public presentation of my book titled: Strategic Turnaround: the story of a government agency, the Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, raised the bar of discourse on a number of national issues. As would be expected, the news media made a feast of the position of the cerebral but frank professor turned governor. Speaking on the topic, Security and Economic Growth: Leadership in Challenging Times, the Professor Zulum aligned himself with the calls by a growing list of the political elite who are insisting that power should shift to the South at the end of the Buhari presidency. In his words: Power rotation is a covenant between us, hence, the need to shift the power to South.

The governors statement is tallies with the recent views of prominent Northerners, such as Katsina State Governor Bello Masari; Kadunas Governor Nasir El Rufai; his Kano counterpart, Abdullahi Ganduje; and former mlitary head of state, General Yakubu Gowon. They have all stated that for national unity and greater cohesion in an imperfect federal system, the highest office in the land should be zoned to the Southern part of the country, come 2023.

The notion of power shift has been a dominant factor in Nigerian politics. This is due to the fact that the various regions and ethnic groups that make up the country routinely engage in a perennial struggle for power at the federal level. It is all about presidential power, as constituent parts want the presidency, which confers enormous powers and perceived benefits.

Historically, power shift had gained great prominence after the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election in Nigeria, which a Southerner, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, had won. The election was invalidated by the then military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, who incidentally comes from the Northern part of the country. The agitation against the annulment of the election led to a novel situation in Nigeria, having the two major political parties in the 1999 general elections fielding Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae, both of the Yoruba ethnic stock in southern Nigeria, the same ethnic group of M.K.O Abiola, the denied winner of the election.

Since then, political discourse in the country has been about people asking for power shift, either to one part of Nigeria or the other, towards the presumed guise of equity and justice. For 2023, the current soundbites are that while some Southern politicians claim that it is their turn to produce the president, other northern elements are insisting that the contest should be thrown open for all to compete in equally.

The notion of power shift gained traction in Nigeria as some Southerners accused the North of perpetual dominance of federal power, particularly the presidency. It is undeniable that the perceived fear of domination by the North is one of the factors behind the growing enterprise of ethnic agitation threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria. In most cases, the other ethnic groups in Nigeria, failing to find themselves within the mainstream of power at the centre, especially at the presidency, resort to unpatriotic acts and pursue the interests of their region or ethnic group to the detriment of our national aspirations.

It is a fact that some agitators for secession in the South exploit these fears and some perceived marginalisation by the North for political and personal gains. Therefore, we hope that a power shift in a multi-ethnic society with an evolving democratic culture, as suggested by Governor Zulum, will douse these tensions, and give people a sense of belonging and fairness.

to some who may argue that competence should trump the need for stability and peace that a power shift may bring, I have a few pertinent questions: Of what need is having the most competent leader when he is bogged down by persistent and secessionist agitations from sections of the country who feel denied of access to the proverbial national cake?

However, the issue of power shift will not have been necessary in Nigeria if we practised true federalism. The country is supposed to run a federal system of government, whereby the federating units exert meaningful control over their territories and resources, which would make or mar the destiny of their states. However, we have a centralised federalism, with a quasi-imperial president who virtually wields the powers of life and death over all Nigerians. The reality and enormity of these presidential powers make every part of the country want to produce the president.

Ideally, power shift should be an anathema in politics. No one disputes that it breeds mediocrity, as the best candidates for president may be shut out of the office because of where they originate from. It also undoubtedly impedes good governance, national integration, and democracy. It is most likely that the same leaders to emerge through a power shift are still those who have already been participating in the Nigeria enterprise right from independence and who are responsible for most of the countrys political problems today.

However, Nigerias extant political realities have made it reasonable to consider the unity and cohesion that power shift entails, even though Zulum argued that competence must not be compromised. In his words, competence and character should be given greater consideration over loyalty.

Reacting to some who may argue that competence should trump the need for stability and peace that a power shift may bring, I have a few pertinent questions: Of what need is having the most competent leader when he is bogged down by persistent and secessionist agitations from sections of the country who feel denied of access to the proverbial national cake? Would it not probably take superhuman qualities for the competent leader to achieve sustainable development in the absence of national unity, security, and peace, especially when some of the countrys constituent units openly display their discontent with the Nigerian project?

As such, as we recognise the need for power shift, we should also look at what must be done to ensure that democratic culture is deepened and governance is enhanced.

One constant thing in Nigeria is that we seem to clutch tenaciously to a concept that is peddled as a panacea to our problems at each point of our national life. There was a time most Nigerians believed that the country would be a better place if power moved from the North to the South. Then the Obasanjo presidency happened, and the fundamental national problems remained .

Governor Zulum, during his presentation, made a further illuminating contribution to the issues facing Nigeria. On the survival of the country, the governor opined that security, unity, and peace are needed, whether Nigeria is splitting or staying together. He further argued that most times, we appraise the countrys security situation by the actions or inactions of the Federal Government and, specifically, the presidency. This does not seem right in his estimation.

the governor made the point that Nigerias problem remains a leadership problem. There have been insinuations here and there that Nigerians are challenging people to govern. This notion strives to move our problem away from political leaders to the masses, who are portrayed as evil followers.

Some of the countrys security challenges result from ineffective leadership from incompetent State governors and other local leaders. For example, why would a State, with the same circumstances and within the same location, have more herdsmen clashes and other security challenges than others? Possibly, it might be because some State chief executives are primarily interested in their selfish interests and have no creative strategy to improve the security situation in their States. Some are even part of the problem. Some wine and dine with hoodlums and known security threats, whilst others allegedly go as far as instigating or facilitating ethnic and communal tensions in their domains, to whip up public sentiments in order to gain popular support and electoral advantage .

Even if we shift power to the South in 2023, whoever happens to ascend to the office of the president would likely face the challenge of tackling farmer-herder clashes and the Boko Haram insurgency, kidnappings, armed robbery, and other security challenges. So, our security challenges need an immediate and all-inclusive effort to make Nigerians feel more secure and to facilitate economic development and prosperity.

Secondly, the governor made the point that Nigerias problem remains a leadership problem. There have been insinuations here and there that Nigerians are challenging people to govern. This notion strives to move our problem away from political leaders to the masses, who are portrayed as evil followers.

ADVERTISEMENT

The above is not valid. Nigerias problem rests mainly with our leaders and political class. At all levels of governance, we lack visionary and transformational leaders whose impacts go beyond politics to all facets of our national life  the economy, culture and even religion. China had Mao Zedong. Singapore had Lee Kuan Yew. Malaysia had Mahathir Mohamad. Paul Kagame is becoming a legend in Rwanda. There is no evidence that these countries had or have better followers than Nigeria has today.

Addressing the issue of restructuring, Zulum argued that although most Nigerians recognise the need for some form of restructuring, the bitter truth is that specific fundamental changes are necessary. Without a change in our value system, political ethos and leadership (towards a more exemplary one), no meaningful progress would be made, even if each Nigerian state becomes a country of its own. The unconscionable looting of public funds, maladministration, corruption, and impunity that seem to have been embedded in the psyche of the Nigerian political class would ultimately prevail to truncate whatever political concept we adopt in Nigeria.

Restructuring has become todays political elixir. Some groups are portraying powershift as the antidote to the persistent Nigerian political problem. However, whatever system we choose to adopt, whatever strategy we ultimately decide to explore, if we do not change our attitude and approach to leadership and governance in Nigeria, we would only be dancing around a vicious circle.

Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) walks through the Senate subway area during a break in impeachment proceedings, in the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 28, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Alaska Republican Announces Run for Senate Seat Held by Murkowski

Former Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka announced on March 29 that she will run for the U.S. Senate seat held by fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the 2022 election.

In a statement, Tshibaka said shes running for the Alaskans who believe government is of the people, by the people, and for the people, adding that the D.C. insiders need to be held accountable to us.

Murkowski has faced backlash from within the GOP since she voted to convict former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. The states Republican Party voted to censure Murkowski over the vote in March, while accusing her of frequently voting against the interests of the party.

We know what Washington, D.C. thinks about Alaska: Were here for their benefit, and we wont put up much of a fight. After nearly 20 years in D.C., Lisa Murkowski thinks the same way, Tshibaka said in a video from her campaign. But you know what? Nothing scares the D.C. political insiders more than the thought of a strong, independent Alaskan leader in their ranks. One they cant bully. One they cant control. One they cant silence.

It isnt clear yet if Murkowski, who was first appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, will seek reelection. Trump announced during a speech in late February that he would seek primary challengers to face Murkowski and other GOP lawmakers who either voted to impeach or convict him.

She represents her state badly and her country even worse. I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will bein Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad senator, the former president said in a statement in February.

When speaking to reporters in February, she didnt directly say whether she would run again in 2022 but said shes absolutely leaving the avenues open for my reelection opportunities.

If the party is to censure me because they felt that I needed to support the party, they can make that statement, but I will make the statement again that my obligation is to support the Constitution that I have pledged to uphold, and I will do that, even if it means I have to oppose the direction of my state party, Murkowski said of her impeachment vote, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

National Republican Senate Committee Chair Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), meanwhile, has tried to quell in-party fighting, and says his committee will support incumbent senators for reelection in the 2022 midterms. Alaskas other senator, Dan Sullivan, also a Republican, told news outlets that he will support Murkowski if she seeks reelection.

If Sen. Murkowski runs again, Im going to support her, Sullivan told ABC News on March 28. When I ran in 2014 and beat a Democrat incumbent and we got the Senate majority back, Sen. Murkowski was a strong supporter of mine.

Murkowskis office didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Indias right-wing authoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has suspended exports of COVID-19 vaccines for at least two months. This decision will severely impact vaccination programs in lower- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America and the rest of Asia, contributing to the further spread of the pandemic, including the new more contagious and lethal variants.

The BJP government has yet to issue an official statement announcing that it is suspending COVID-19 vaccine exports. However, Indian and international media have quoted government sources justifying the decision by pointing to increasing domestic requirements under conditions of a dramatic rise of infections within India in recent weeks.

An official source quoted by the Chennai-based daily the Hindu said last Wednesday night, 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.

A man comes out after receiving COVID- 19 vaccine at a government hospital, in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 22, 2021. India has reported its highest number of coronavirus cases since October, amid a worrying surge that has prompted multiple states to return to some form of restrictions on public gathering. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

In an attempt to downplay the implications of the governments decision, he claimed that Indiathe worlds leading exporter of generic medicinesremains committed to providing vaccine supplies to the world. He said that unlike many other countries, the Indian government has not placed an official ban on vaccine exports, but the policy he and other officials went on to outline is a ban in all but name.

According to the officials, exports will now take place in a phased manner, keeping in view the domestic requirements. Moreover, while all pending orders will ultimately be delivered, new orders will not be accepted for several months.

However the Narendra Modi-led BJP government chooses to justify its decision and downplay its impact, the reality is its suspension of vaccine exports is bound up with the reactionary nationalist calculations of Indias ruling elite. It is the Indian version of the vaccine nationalism pursued by governments in the US and Europe, which have subordinated the production and distribution of vaccines to the drive for profit and the geopolitical interests of the various competing ruling elites.

The US has hoarded vaccines, insisting that they must be allocated to the American population before being supplied to other countries. The distribution of vaccines has become yet another tool at Washingtons disposal to bully and intimidate other countries into following US interests. For example, the US has made the supply of vaccines to neighboring Mexico conditional on the Mexican governments willingness to use savage repression to block migrants trying to cross the Mexico-US border.

At the same time, the US, Canada and EU have vehemently opposed requests made by several lower-income countries for the lifting of patents so that the vaccines can be produced in developing countries. In this way, the Western imperialist powers have shown that they have more concern for the profits of their pharmaceutical giants than they do for the lives of millions of people across the world. This refusal to provide vaccines to the vast majority of the worlds population, even as the pandemic surges due to the spread of more infectious variants, has now been compounded by the Modi governments move to block exports.

The Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which runs the COVAX programme, a UN-backed effort to provide vaccines to poor countries, said that Indian vaccine supplies to lower income countries are being delayed as the government of India battles a new wave of COVID-19 infections. Although Gavi has received 28 million doses of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India (SII), it said that it was unclear whether additional supplies of 40 million doses in March and 50 million in April will be provided. The SII is manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine under the name of Covishield under a license from its original British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca.

An email sent by UNICEF to Reuters noted, We understand that deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income economies participating in the COVAX Facility will likely face delays following a setback in securing export licenses for further doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), expected to be shipped in March and April.

The Modi governments decision has also affected the vaccination program in the UK, since part of AstraZenecas licensing agreement required India to supply Britain with doses. Last week, the National Health Service (NHS) sent a written warning to hospitals about an impending shortage of the vaccine due to a four-week delay of about half of the orders it expected from the SII.

According to Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SII, five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were already delivered by his institution to the UK early this month. However, future supplies will be affected by the decision of the Modi government. He told Britains Daily Telegraph, It is solely dependent on India, and it has nothing to do with the SII. It is to do with the Indian government allowing more doses to the UK.

India has exported more than 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since last January, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. However, only a small fraction of them, just eight million, were grants from the Indian government. The bulk of the doses, some 34.17 million, were part of commercial orders, and another 17.86 million were procured by the international Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

An Indian government source quoted by the Hindu noted that the country has already exported the vaccine to 75 countries worldwide. No other country has supplied the world with as many doses as India has so far, he added.

Whatever the Modi governments claims, its policies are not driven by humanitarian concerns about the impact of the pandemic on the lives of the population internationally and in India. On the contrary, through its supply of the vaccines to lower-income and middle-income countries, New Delhi seeks to boost its geostrategic influence against its rivals, above all China, which is also exporting its own COVID-19 vaccines.

During the recent leadership summit of the Quad, a US-led security dialogue including India, Japan and Australia, a proposal was discussed to produce COVID-19 vaccines in India with the financial support of the US and Japan. The plan called for these vaccines to then be sent to poor countries throughout the world with the assistance of Australia, in an attempt to counter what the Quad more than cynically described as Chinas vaccine diplomacy.

The Modi governments suspension of the export of COVID-19 vaccines is also a desperate response to the current resurgence of the pandemic throughout India, i.e., the ruinous outcome of its own disastrous policies.

The country recorded 68,020 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the highest number of new daily infections since October. The total number of coronavirus cases has now surpassed 12 million, with the death toll over 161,800, even according to the highly underreported official figures.

This resurgence of COVID-19 is in all likelihood being driven by the emergence of new variants of the virus, which are more infectious and may cause vaccines to be less effective. Last week, authorities reported that they had identified a double mutant of the virus, i.e., one that combines two variants.

This double mutant could be a major reason behind the upsurge in COVID cases, but we need to wait for test results to determine if it is the case, M.C. Mishra, a former top official at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

From the very beginning, the governments response to the pandemic has focused on placing corporate profits ahead of the lives of workers and the poor.

Having refused to take any substantial measures to contain the pandemic during several critical months at the beginning of 2020, the government suddenly made an about-face and imposed a national lockdown in late March.

However, due to the ill-prepared character of the lockdownincluding the governments failure to provide social support combined with mass testing, contact tracing and the allocation of substantial financial resources to upgrade the ramshackle public health care systemModis lockdown failed to achieve its declared aims.

Starting from late April, the government worked to reopen the economy, systematically lifting coronavirus-related restrictions to allow industries to operate under dangerous conditions as the virus surged.

The Modi governments decision to suspend the export of vaccines is bound up with its insistence that no more substantive lockdowns should be implemented, in spite of the rapid spread of the virus. By promoting vaccination as the sole solution to the pandemic, the government is doubling down on its push to keep the economy open at all costs.

Even if one grants that the government desires to curb the pandemic in India, its reactionary nationalist decision to suspend vaccine exports is self-defeating. The pandemic is a global crisis that requires a global solution. COVID-19 does not respect national borders and will continue to pose a threat to every country as it spreads internationally.

The failure to vaccinate large numbers of people in the majority of the worlds countries only creates the conditions for the virus to spread more widely, giving it the chance to mutate and possibly become resistant to the very vaccines the Indian government is now relying on to ultimately bring the pandemic under control within its national borders.
Chinese authorities seize church property days after raiding house church

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Communist authorities in China removed all the belongings of a house church in Chinas Chongqing municipality without showing any legal documents, days after raiding the building during a worship service, according to reports.

More than 30 officials, including local police, state security and local district administration, came with trucks and took away all the property, including chairs and books, at Mt. Olive Church in Chongqing on Wednesday, the U.S.-based advocacy organization International Christian Concern reports.

The Texas-based non-governmental organization China Aid reported the same group of officials, led by the Yuzhong District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, raided the church during its worship service last Sunday. The authorities sent the members home and sealed the church without showing any papers to prove official authorization.

Pastor Zhu Dong and several leaders were said to have been brought to the police station.

In January 2018, Mt. Olive Reformed School, founded by the church, was also raided, sealed and charged with being an illegal venue for proselytization.

China Aid suspects that the recent crackdown against house churches, which targets especially reformed churches, could be a gift to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Chinese government also continued its campaign against Christianity during the countrys coronavirus outbreak by destroying crosses and demolishing a church while people were on lockdown.

On February 28, authorities raided the Chongqing Living Fountain Church during one of its Sunday services and arrested two Christians, one of whom preached that day. According to China Aid, officers confiscated a computer belonging to the church and told those attending the service not to come on the church grounds again because the church is not registered and "theres the potential risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus."

In January, police officers, education bureau officials, national security officers and urban management officers raided a house where homeschooled children of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu were playing together, the church said in a Facebook post.

The police are now raiding the home. There are a large number of police officers outside and inside of brother Liang Huali and Sister Shu Qiongs home, and they are currently removing brother Liangs personal belongings. Please pray! the church wrote.

Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, estimates that there are about 97 million Christians in China, a large percentage of whom worship in what China considers to be "illegal" and unregistered underground home churches.

China ranks as the 17th-worst country in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List.

A November 2020 report from the Pew Research Center showed that restrictions on religion in China had risen to a record level. Researchers found that China continued to have the highest score on the Government Restrictions Index out of all 198 countries and territories in the study.

In addition to Early Rain Covenant Church, the Chinese Communist Party has forced several well-known churches to shut down, including Rongguili Church in Guangzhou and Xunsiding Church in Xiamen.

The U.S. State Department has labeled China as a country of particular concern for continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

The Chinese Communist Party has also cracked down on other minority groups over the years, including Uighur Muslims in Western China, Falun Gong practitioners and Tibetan Buddhists.

In 2019, a nongovernmental organization told the United Nations Human Rights Council that the Chinese government engages in forced organ harvesting on a "significant scale" as it has taken organs from hundreds of thousands of prisoners of conscience, including Falun Gong and Uighur Muslims.

Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department declared the Chinese government's treatment and mass detainment of Uighur and other ethnic groups in Western China to be "genocide."



Last week, the U.S. government and its allies at the European Union and the United Kingdom issued sanctions against top Chinese officials in response to human rights abuses in China's western Xinjiang province.
Bolgatanga  Police in the Upper East Region have arrested a 29-year-old Burkinabe, Surogu Mumuni, for illegal possession and attempting to smuggle a Buruni Mod. 92 pistol into the country.

He was arrested by police deployment at the Doba-Kandiga snap checkpoint along the Navrongo-Bolgatanga road, onboard a Mercedes Benz articulated truck heading to Accra from neigbouring Burkina Faso.

A statement from the Regional Police command said officers at the checkpoint discovered the hidden firearm after vigorous searches were conducted on the vehicle with registration number 11HJ2758BF.

The statement signed by the Public Affairs Officer, ASP David Fianko-Okyere, added that the suspect after his arrest attempted to bribe officers with an amount of Gh5,000 to drop the arrest.

He said the officers feigned interest and took the money to be used as exhibit and sent the suspect to the Regional Command and detained him to assist in further investigations.

The statement urged drivers, operators of commercial vehicles and those in charge of lorry stations to pay extra attention in knowing the content of goods before they load them onto their vehicles.

The statement, while assuring to deal with crime in the region, urged the public to involve the police whenever they suspect a person to be involved in the trading of illicit weapons to ensure the safety of all.
Beijing city vaccinates 8.7 million against COVID-19

Xinhua) 08:29, March 29, 2021

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese capital Beijing has administered coronavirus vaccines to 8.7 million people, including 5.28 million who have completed the two-shot regimen, authorities said Sunday.

The city government said as of Sunday noon, a total of 13.98 million doses of domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines had been administered.

The megacity of more than 20 million people had also vaccinated 366,000 residents aged 60 and above as of Thursday, the government said.

Beijing started to vaccinate willing elderly residents in good health in mid-March.

Foreign nationals in the city can also apply for receiving the domestic inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, the municipal foreign affairs office said Friday.

Officials said the city is capable of administering 300,000 doses a day.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
DUBLIN, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Nerve Repair and Regeneration Market by Product, Application, End-User Geography - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast up to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Nerve Repair and Regeneration market is predicted to reach $16.89 Billion by 2026 from $8.62 Billion in 2020, at a CAGR of ~11.8% during the forecast period.

Nerves are collective neurons, which help in sending messages from one body part to another part like signals. Injuries can cause damage to nerve cells and may not be able to send signals to and from the brain. Nerve damage can cause due to the pressure, stretching, or cutting of a nerve. Nerve repair and regeneration process can help to restore the nerves to the normal condition.

Globally, major factors contributing to the Nerve repair and regeneration market growth include increasing number of nerve injuries, rapidly increasing old population where the nerves are very sensitive in this group as well as the rapidly growing neurological disorders. However, the lack of trained professionals and strict regulations are constraints in the market growth.

Based on product segment neurostimulation and neuromodulation devices segment accounted the largest share in the nerve repair and regeneration market due to the increasing occurrences of peripheral nerve injuries, advance technology in the nerve repair and regeneration, and the benefits of reimbursement policies are the factors enhancing the market growth.



Further, based on application neurostimulation and neuromodulation segment is expected to have the largest share in the market due to the rapidly increasing neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias and growing occurrences of peripheral nerve injuries.



The nerve repair and regeneration market, based on end-users the market is segmented into hospitals and clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. Hospitals segment accounted for the largest share in the market due to the increasing number of nerve repair and nerve surgery procedures in hospitals, increased old population, and well-established healthcare infrastructure.



On the bases of geography, the market is segmented into four regions includes North America, Europe, APAC, and RoW. North America is dominating the market growth due to the increased cases of nerve injuries, well-established healthcare centers in this region, and high investments in the healthcare industry in this region are factors solidifying the growth.



Globally, the nerve repair and regeneration market is expanding due to the increasing neurological disorders; emerging technologies in the field of neurological surgeries, increasing elderly population in all over the world are the factors driving the nerve repair and regeneration market. Emerging countries are expected to be the future markets and give a new opportunity for market growth. Somehow, difficulties may occur in treating the large nerve gaps, and this is the challenge for the market growth.



The key market players in the Nerve Repair and Regeneration market are Livanova, Orthomed, Axogen, Baxter, Integra Lifescience, Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific, Nevro, Stryker, Medtronic, Polyganics, and Neuropace.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Industry Outlook

2.1. Industry Overview

2.2. Industry Trends



3. Market Snapshot

3.1. Market Definition

3.2. Market Outlook

3.3. PEST Analysis

3.4. Porter Five Forces

3.5. Related Markets



4. Market characteristics

4.1. Market Evolution

4.2. Market Trends and Impact

4.3. Advantages/Disadvantages of Market

4.4. Regulatory Impact

4.5. Market Offerings

4.6. Market Segmentation

4.7. Market Dynamics

4.8. DRO - Impact Analysis



5. Product: Market Size & Analysis

5.1. Overview

5.2. Neurostimulation and Neuromodulation Devices

5.2.1. Internal Neurostimulation Devices

5.2.1.1. Spinal Cord Stimulation

5.2.1.2. Deep Brain Stimulation

5.2.1.3. Vagus Nerve Stimulation

5.2.1.4. Sacral Nerve Stimulation

5.2.1.5. Gastric Electrical Stimulation

5.2.2. External Neurostimulation Devices

5.2.2.1. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation

5.2.2.2. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

5.3. Biomaterials

5.3.1. Nerve Conduits

5.3.2. Nerve Protectors

5.3.3. Nerve Wraps

5.3.4. Nerve Connectors



6. Application: Market Size & Analysis

6.1. Overview

6.2. Neurostimulation and Neuromodulation Surgeries

6.2.1. Internal

6.2.2. External

6.3. Direct Nerve Repair/Neurorrhaphy

6.3.1. Epineural Repair

6.3.2. Perineural Repair

6.3.3. Group Fascicular Repair

6.4. Nerve Grafting

6.4.1. Autografts

6.4.2. Allografts

6.4.3. Xenografts

6.5. Stem Cell Therapy



7. End User: Market Size & Analysis

7.1. Overview

7.2. Hospitals & Clinics

7.3. Ambulatory Surgery Centers



8. Geography: Market Size & Analysis

8.1. Overview

8.2. North America

8.3. Europe

8.4. Asia Pacific

8.5. Rest of the World



9. Competitive Landscape

9.1. Competitor Comparison Analysis

9.2. Market Developments

9.3. Mergers and Acquisitions, Legal, Awards, Partnerships

9.4. Product Launches and execution



10. Vendor Profiles

10.1. Axogen

10.2. Baxter

10.3. Boston Scientific

10.4. Livanova

10.5. Integra Lifesciences

10.6. Medtronic

10.7. Abbott Laboratories

10.8. Stryker

10.9. Polyganics

10.10. Nevro



11. Companies to Watch

11.1. Neuropace

11.2. Orthomed

11.3. Nevro



12. Analyst Opinion

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g6v44i

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Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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Since 2009, Karl Keegan has held senior executive roles in private and public companies

E-therapeutics PLC ( ) appointed Dr Karl Keegan as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective immediately.

Keegan has worked for more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, said e-therapeutics, including in academia, large pharma and as a sell-side analyst at a number of investment banks.

Since 2009, he has held senior executive roles in private and public companies, most recently as chief executive officer of privately held Hox Therapeutics Limited.

Keegan said: "I am delighted to be joining the e-therapeutics team at such a pivotal time for the company. The company has built an impressive computational biology drug discovery platform and clinically validated RNA interference drug modality."

Ali Mortazavi, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Karl to e-therapeutics at this point in the company's evolution. The combination of his industry and financial sector expertise will be a major addition to the team."

The CFO role will be a non-board position.
AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

AVZ Minerals signs first Manono tin offtake through agreement with Noble Group subsidiary

AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) (OTCMKTS:AZZVF) (FRA:3A2) has signed a binding offtake agreement for the sale of tin concentrate from the Manono Project in the DRC to Kalon Resources Limited, a 100%-owned subsidiary of Noble Group Holdings Limited.

The three-year binding offtake agreement is for the sale of 600 tonnes of tin concentrate per annum from the Manono Lithium and Tin Project.

It is the first tin offtake deal for Manono and equates to approximately 43% of the proposed total tin concentrate that will be available for sale.

Shares have been as much as 7.5% higher this morning to A$0.215 while AVZ's market cap is approximately A$578 million.



"Significant agreement for Manono"

AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson said: "We are very pleased to have finally signed with Kalon, our first tin offtake agreement - just weeks after having signed our second lithium offtake agreement that cumulatively provides binding commitments for more than 50% of our saleable SC6 product.

"Given the rising LME cash price of tin metal, up approximately 30% YTD, this offtake agreement is significant for the Manono Project and also significant given that Kalon is a considerable participant in the tin industry.

"While this agreement represents a relatively small, but growing portion of revenue for the Manono Project, it does confirm another large international business is willing to secure future supply from the project."

The agreement was completed by AVZ's 100%-owned entity AVZ International Pty Ltd acting on behalf of the seller - Dathcom Mining SA.
Like many observers, I used to have a Whats the matter with Kansas? model of the G.O.P. That is, like Thomas Frank, the author of the 2004 book with that title, I saw the Republican Party essentially as an enterprise run by and for plutocrats that managed to win elections by playing to the cultural grievances and racial hostility of working-class whites. Bigotry, however, was mainly a show put on for the rubes; the party would go back to its pro-rich priorities as soon as each election was over.

The classic example came when George W. Bush won re-election by posing as Americas defender against gay married terrorists, then followed his victory by announcing that he had a mandate to privatize Social Security. (He didnt.)

But that feels like a long time ago.

Billionaires may have started the Republican Party on its march toward extremism, but theyve clearly lost control of the forces they conjured up. The G.O.P. can no longer put intolerance back in the closet after each election so as to focus on the real business of tax cuts and deregulation. Instead, the extremists are in charge. Despite a lost election and a violent insurrection, whats left of the old Republican establishment has abased itself on the altar of Trumpism.

But while power in the Republican Party has shifted almost completely away from the conservative establishment, the party is still committed to an economic ideology of tax and spending cuts. And its not obvious why.

When Donald Trump rolled over establishment candidates in 2016, it seemed possible that he would lead his party toward what some political scientists call Herrenvolk democracy, policies that are genuinely populist and even egalitarian  but only for members of the right racial and ethnic groups.
The network attack on Nine Entertainment, made public on Sunday, appears to have been carried out by unknown miscreants using a strain of Windows ransomware known as MedusaLocker which was discovered back in 2019.

The company has been reported by its own publications as not having received any ransom note as yet. However, one of its own publications, the Australian Financial Review, had this [see tweet below] in a report filed overnight:

"While Nine is understood to have received no ransom demand to unlock its targeted systems, an email to staff suggested that some files associated with a known ransomware strain called MedusaLocker could have been behind the attack.

"Staff were instructed to check their laptops for the presence of a file called Recovery_ Instructions.html. Cyber security experts identified this as a calling card of Medusa, and said it represented a tough recovery task for Nines tech staff."

Wait, so there's no "ransom note" in the AU event, but victims were instructed to check for "Recovery_Instructionms.html", which kind of sounds like a ransom note....https://t.co/3QMiHwIBDL pic.twitter.com/lm5cyr1vKH  Joe Sowik ? (@jfslowik) March 29, 2021

The report, written by the AFR's technology editor Paul Smith, also said: "It is most commonly used by criminals looking for a financial pay-off, meaning rumours that Russian interests were targeting Nine because of an upcoming program criticising Vladimir Putin, would be likely untrue.

Additionally, the main evening news from Channel Nine on Monday [see tweet with video below] made the claim that no ransom has been demanded yet.

DomainTools infosec researcher Joe Slowik, who highlighted this in a tweet, said: "Wait, so there's no "ransom note" in the AU event, but victims were instructed to check for "Recovery_Instructions.html", which kind of sounds like a ransom note...."

He linked to VirusTotal detection of MedusaLocker, adding: "Timing, family, and other info would seem to indicate this is a fit although file extension is off..."

Slowik also posted the ransom note that was generated by MedusaLocker.

The AFR said this advice given to staffers put paid to any possibility that the attack had been driven by Nine's publishing of reports about North Korea and Russia, a theory that the company floated on its evening news bulletin on Monday.

Russia and North Korea have been singled out as suspects in the biggest-ever cyber attack on an Australian media company  and experts say it could be retaliation from recent attention by the Nine Network. @DamoNews #9News pic.twitter.com/6YzQuUVjj7  9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) March 29, 2021

According to Cisco's Talos Intelligence Group, since it was first spotted in 2019, there have been several variants of MedusaLocker that have been observed.

Talos researcher Edmund Brumaghin wrote: "However, most of the functionality remains consistent. The most notable differences are changes to the file extension used for encrypted files and the look and feel of the ransom note that is left on systems following the encryption process."

He said that while MedusaLocker had similar functionality to most other Windows ransomware strains, there were some features which set it apart:

"MedusaLocker can encrypt the contents of mapped network drives that may be present on infected systems;

"It manipulates Windows functionality to force network drives to be remapped so that their contents can also be encrypted;

"The malware uses ICMP sweeping to profile the network to identify other systems that can be used to maximise the likelihood of a ransom payment."

Contacted for comment, Brett Callow, a seasoned ransomware researcher at New Zealand-headquartered security shop Emsisoft, said: "While there's been speculation that a nation-state actor was responsible  perhaps even at the behest of [Vladimir] Putin himself  there would appear to be little evidence to actually back that up.

"A far more likely, albeit much less exciting, explanation is that the attack was the work of a vanilla group of for-profit criminal scumbags who snuck in via a phishing email or unpatched system. That's how attacks such as this typically unfold."

The attack was made public on Sunday morning, a day on which Nine could not broadcast its popular NRL Sunday Footy Show, though it managed to show the afternoon's rugby league games.

iTWire has contacted Nine for comment. The only public statement that the company has made so far is to acknowledge that an attack occurred.
Police say they have no idea why a man shot dead four people, including his parents, in a killing spree that spanned several hours before setting his apartment on fire and turning the gun on himself.

Joshua Green, 27, killed his parents - Douglas Green, 59, and Olivia Green, 63 - at their Baltimore County home before he drove over to a Royal Farms store in Essex just before 7am on Sunday.

He shot dead two people and wounded another person at the convenience store.

Green was then found dead outside his own apartment building from a self-inflicted gunshot wound hours later.

Police say he had set fire to his apartment before killing himself.

Joshua Green, 27, is accused of shooting up a Royal Farms convenience store in Essex, Maryland on Sunday where two people were shot dead and another person was wounded

Investigators are still trying to work out a motive in the killing spree.

Baltimore County Police Col. Andre Davis said on Monday that the gun used was registered to Green and had been legally purchased last year.

'As to why this occurred, we have no idea yet,' Davis said. 'Our homicide detectives are tirelessly investigating a motive, but it appears that the shooter acted alone.'

Police were first alerted to the shootings when Green went to the Royal Farms store just before 7am on Sunday.

Police said he shot and killed Alpha Elizabeth, 63, who was sitting inside her car outside the store.

Green then entered the store and fatally shot a customer, 44-year-old Silvester Day Jr., near a cash register before wounding a store employee.

The employee suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and is recovering in hospital.

After the shooting, police said, Green returned to his nearby home and set fire to his apartment before shooting himself.

Police found the apartment engulfed in flames and Green dead in the parking lot with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

When police went to his parent's home to notify them of Green's death, they discovered the bodies.

Police said he shot and killed Alpha Elizabeth, 63, who was sitting inside her car outside the store. Green then entered the store and fatally shot a customer, 44-year-old Silvester Day Jr., near a cash register before wounding a store employee

A young man sits on the curb grieving, with a bouquet of roses on the grass that he brought to the scene of a shooting Sunday

Investigators are still piecing together a timeline of the killing spree. They were first alerted to the shootings when Green went to the Royal Farms store just before 7am on Sunday

Police said his parents both appeared to have been shot.

Davis said Green had 'no criminal contacts with police' before the shootings.

Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said that there were 'more questions than answers' about a 'horrific and sickening event which changed the lives of many people.'

'For now, we know that four innocent people lost their lives and one person sustained serious injuries,' she said.

Hyatt said police have spoken to a relative of Green but she didn't elaborate.

'When we are able to definitively have facts and information, we will relay that. We just want to make sure that we are putting out accurate information,' the chief said.

Royal Farms spokesperson Breahna Brown said the company had no immediate comment on the shooting at its store.

Daniel Brennaman, 73, a neighbor who lives two doors down from the home where the bodies of Green's parents were found, said he noticed a police cruiser and saw a photographer out in front of the house when he was walking his dog on Sunday evening.

'A storm blew through here and I thought it was a car accident around the corner,' he said. 'I haven't heard a thing.'

Brennaman said he has exchanged greetings and small talk with the husband and wife but couldn't recall their names and didn't know them personally.

'I wave at him from time to time. He's always working in his yard,' he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said officials "are in the process of considering what sanctions or actions Washington plans to take against Russia.

"We will take the steps necessary to defend our interests" at the time of the U.S.s choosing, Blinken said in a CNN interview that aired Sunday but was taped last week as he completed talks with other NATO diplomats in Brussels.

"And weve seen across the board these different examples of Russias aggression... And the President [Joe Biden] has been very clear that there will be consequences for these acts. And we are in the process of completing reviews of the cyber attack through SolarWinds on us, the interference in the election, the use of a chemical weapon to try to murder Alexey Navalny  weve already spoken and acted on that  the bounties on U.S. forces in Afghanistan," the diplomat listed.

The authorities have repeatedly denied Russia's involvement in these actions.

"And there will be costs and consequences. And I think youre seeing as well  and what I heard here at NATO was a shared concern about Russias actions across the board and a shared commitment to stand together against them," he added.

Blinken noted that whether its with regard to Russia, whether its regard to other countries that "pose a challenge", "we are stronger and more effective when were able to do it in a coordinated fashion."

"At the same time, as were very clear-eyed about that, we also find areas where its in our mutual interest to try to cooperate. We extended the New START Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty, one of the first things we did. There are other areas in the realm of so-called strategic stability where we might find ways to work together because its in our mutual interest. But it really starts with being clear-eyed about the challenge that Russia poses and addressing that challenge together," the top U.S. diplomat stressed.
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Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing.
According to initial investigations, lack of visibility due to smog while overtaking led to the collision around 8 am. (Photo: DC/ Murali Krishna)

VIZIANAGARAM: Three persons died and 43 others were injured, nine seriously, when two APSRTC buses collided head-on near Sunkarapeta in Vizianagaram district on Monday morning.

According to initial investigations, lack of visibility due to smog while overtaking led to the collision around 8 am. The deceased have been identified as Ashirwadham and Devudu, both RTC drivers from Visakhapatnam district, and Sanyasi Naidu a passenger from Palakonda.

Nine of the seriously injured have been shifted to King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam. Six others with major injuries have been moved to hospitals in Vizianagaram for treatment. Rest of them have been treated as outpatients at Maharajah District Hospital, Vizianagaram.

As per information provided by police and RTC officials, visibility was low, as waste dumps on either side of the road had been set on fire in Sunkarapeta. After the two buses collided with one another, they got hit by another lorry laden with gas cylinders.

Soon after receiving information, Vizianagaram superintendent of police B. Rajakumari rushed to the spot. Police engaged a crane to detach the mangled busses.

Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has expressed grief over the deaths and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. DIG L. K. V. Ranga Rao, Vizianagaram joint collector G. C. Kishore, and DSPs K. Anil Kumar and P. Seshadri are among those involved in rescue operations.
Protesters took to the streets of Port-au-Prince on Sunday in a show of force organised by opposition leaders against a push to reform Haiti's Constitution for the first time in nearly 30 years and demand that the government provide some kind of respite from unrelenting violence, the worst seen in decades.

The demonstrators blocked streets by setting tyres on fire as they attempted to reach the national palace, but were ultimately held back by police barricades.

Authorities fired tear gas on the crowd to disperse them bringing the march to an end.

No major injuries were reported.

The protest happened amid a deepening of political tensions in the nation as opposition leaders continued to claim that President Jovenel Moise's presidential term should have ended on 7 February.

They have also claimed that his desire to call for a constitutional referendum is because he wants to further consolidate his power.

Moise has been ruling by presidential decree for the past 14 months after dissolving a majority of Parliament in January 2020 amid a delay in legislative elections given political gridlock and protests that paralysed the country in 2019.

Organisers have said they are planning on carrying further protests on Monday and Tuesday.

(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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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-28 23:36:18|Editor: huaxia

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A Kuwaiti official checks belongings returned by the Iraqi side during a handover ceremony in Kuwait City, Kuwait, March 28, 2021. Kuwait received on Sunday a batch of belongings seized by the Iraqi side during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)

KUWAIT CITY, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait received on Sunday a batch of belongings seized by the Iraqi side during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

At a handover ceremony, Nasser Al-Hain, Assistant of Kuwait's Foreign Minister for international organizations, said that the event is a positive step that comes within the commitment of Iraq to implement the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

This is a step strengthening the fraternal relations between the two countries, Al-Hain stressed, noting that Kuwait appreciates Iraq's efforts in completing the handover of all Kuwaiti property and archives.

"This batch includes properties, archives, and some special equipment of the Ministry of Information, the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, and Kuwait University," he added.

For his part, Qahtan Al-Janabi, Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Legal Affairs, affirmed keenness of his country and people to develop bilateral relations with Kuwait and overcome all difficulties to restore relations and start a new chapter to cooperate in political, economic, commercial, investment and cultural fields. Enditem
FLINT, MI -- A 21-year-old-man died after he was shot early Sunday morning at a Flint house party, police said.

The man arrived at Hurley Medical Center shortly before 3:45 a.m. Sunday, March 28 after hed suffered multiple gunshot wounds

He died of his injuries at the hospital, according to a Flint Police Department news release.

Police discovered through their investigation that the male was attending a party in the 2600 block of Kellar Avenue, between Dartmouth Street and Mack Avenue, when shots were fired outside of the residence.

No suspects are in custody at this time, police said. The investigation is on going.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact Detective Terry Lewis at 810-237-6917 or to remain anonymous contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245), P3Tips mobile app, or CrimeStoppersofFlint.com.

Read more on MLive:

Road rage suspect shot at car after passenger flipped him off, police say

Man dies after vehicle goes off road, overturns in water-filled ditch

Woman critically injured in Flint shooting

Driver crashes into stopped Michigan State Police patrol car, injuring trooper
Brian Shapiro is the New York state director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Together, the New York state Legislature, our state courts and the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation do their best to manage and protect New Yorks cherished wildlife, held in trust for the benefit of all residents.

Unfortunately, there are residents who routinely violate that public trust, including a small faction that selfishly participate in wanton competitions in which the sole objective is to kill wildlife for cash and prizes. As one contestant professed: Its just the thrill, ya know?

Participants in these extreme contests kill dozens of animals in a designated timeframe, to qualify in categories that reward whoever brings in the most, the largest or the smallest animals  all typically discarded like trash once the killing is over. This is not hunting and there is no real sport involved.

The most frequent victims of wildlife killing contests here in New York state are coyote and fox, but these events also target bobcats, rabbits, squirrels and even crows and other birds.

Participants are not providing any services. Most carnivores dont prey on livestock and science shows that indiscriminate killing of wildlife serves no legitimate wildlife management objective. The DEC said the random removal of coyoteswill not: (a) control or reduce coyote populations; (b) reduce or eliminate predation on livestock; or (c) result in an increase in deer densities.

These contests serve just one purpose  the excitement of killing wildlife for material reward. At New York events in Sullivan County in 2020 and Macedon in 2018, Humane Society of the United States undercover investigators documented animals thrown in dumpsters, pregnant coyotes dead and cut open with pups nearly ready to be born, and children watching as competitors hung bloody animals on scales for weighing.

Organizers have held at least 28 contests across the state since 2019, including the Grab Life by the Calls coyote killing competition in Montgomery County, the Squirrel Slam in Orleans County, the WNY Mini Predator Slam in Cattaraugus County and Greene Countys Crow Down.

The negative ecological consequences of killing contests complete the case against them. In fact, randomly picking off coyotes can increase their numbers and cause conflicts with livestock by creating chaos in the packs family structure. A stable coyote pack typically only has one reproducing pair. Kill off a few members, and the pack splinters apart to find other mates. More breeding pairs means more coyotes  and more mouths to feed forces adults to prey on easier targets like sheep to survive. Most coyotes serve our farmers by reducing rodent populations, which prevents crop damage and keeps other carnivores away.

Wildlife agencies across the country have also recognized the ethical bankruptcy of these events. When the Arizona Game & Fish Commission prohibited killing contests in 2019, sportsman and then-chair of the Commission Jim Zieler, said, There has been a lot of social outcry against this, and you can kind of understand why. Its difficult to stand up and defend a practice like this. Agency professionals across the country have echoed similar sentiments, and many worry that these contests are jeopardizing the future of hunting. Even the New York DEC has stated that it does not condone nor sponsor such competitions.

Most Central New York residents would never consider supporting these activities and see wildlife killing contests as senseless cruelty with no justification. And because wildlife belongs to everyone  not just the minority who participate in these eventsthose residents understand and support the need for reasonable restrictions on such irresponsible, unprincipled and damaging activities.

Seven states already prohibit wildlife killing contests.

Lawmakers must take action this session to address this outrageous mistreatment of wildlife in our own state, too. By urging them to pass A.5746 to end wildlife killing contests, we can bring the curtain down on these depraved spectacles, which treat animals like disposable pieces in a meaningless quest for cash and prizes.

Write to us: How to submit letters and commentary to Syracuse.com
Most historians remember the 1970s as a dark decade of disillusionment, when one tawdry revelation after another rocked Americans faith in the basic honesty of government at every level, from Vietnam to Watergate to Texas own Sharpstown scandal emanating out of Houston in 1971-72.

In 2021, we seem to be coming full circle, with another disgraceful saga that threatens Texans faith in public leadership once more. We speak, of course, of the flagrant and enduring perfidy of Texas twice-elected and long-indicted attorney general, Ken Paxton, the states most powerful law enforcement officer who cant seem to be bothered to mind the law himself.

Paxton is a stain on Texas integrity, what remains of it, and should have faced trial on his pending felony charges years ago or at least been shunned by Gov. Greg Abbott and other party leaders when his own top staff accused him last year of abuse of office, bribery, improper influence and other possible criminal acts.

If he had an ounce of shame, he would follow President Nixons example from 1974, and the perpetual advice from this editorial board, and resign.

Instead, Paxton last week gave Texas another reminder of how ill-suited he is to play the dual role of suspected criminal and Texas attorney general. Reporters from Houston, Dallas and throughout Texas have been asking his office to share  as the law requires  his texts, emails and other messages from on and around Jan. 6, the day of infamy in the U.S. Capitol. Paxton had flown to Washington to speak at the rallies leading up to the armed insurrection  although at whose request and on whose dime, he wont say.

His office claims there are no records to share  none that wouldnt be protected by attorney-client privilege, anyway, stressing his role as one of the chief litigators of the deeply absurd and wildly unsuccessful legal case against the 2020 presidential election that the U.S. Supreme Court saw fit to dismiss quicker than you can say sedition.

To believe Paxtons claim of attorney privilege is to believe every communication he received that day had to do with legal strategy over ongoing litigation  and that he sent or received no texts, voice messages, emails or other communications about the ensuing riot that touched on his reasons for being there, for addressing the protesters or his reactions to deadly violence in the Capitol.

Reporters then asked whether anyone in the offices public information division had had access to Paxtons devices to double-check he was telling the truth when he said there was nothing that needed to be shared. No answer was supplied, leaving the distinct impression that Paxton is simply asking Texans to trust him at his word.

Thats like asking us to trust former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling with our retirement savings. At least that foolhardy venture might carry some glimmer of reward. Paxtons empty assurances are a losing proposition for Texans and our expectations of a lawful, functioning government.

An indicted attorney general is compromised through and through. But we shouldnt have to take any public officials word for it when it comes to turning over public records. Thats the genius of a set of reforms that passed 48 years ago in a Texas Legislature hell-bent on restoring the publics badly shaken confidence in the integrity of their leaders.

Things got so bad in the early 1970s that voters finally had enough. They elected a new governor and lieutenant governor in 1972. And in early 1973, lawmakers elected a new speaker for the new session and backed an anti-corruption platform that largely survived intact to become law. The new speaker was Price Daniel, Jr., Sam Houstons great-great-great grandson and the son of a former governor and U.S. Senator. One of his signature reforms was a set of open records requirements in Texas that became a model of transparency across America.

At their core, the new statutes  later known as the Texas Public Information Act  meant that most records kept by local or state bureaucrats were considered the publics property and would be available for inspection by any member of the public. In the half century since the passage of the TPIA, seemingly endless legislative tinkering, court challenges and growing exceptions have weakened it, but it still requires officials who want to keep records secret to explain why in a letter to the Attorney Generals office. Lawyers for the state review those claims and issue rulings under Paxtons name that carry the force of law.

Imagine the complication, then, when the attorney general empowered to issue these rulings  indicted, damaged and discredited though he may be  seeks to keep his own communications secret.

Recognizing that not all public servants will be capable of winning the trust of their constituents was the genius behind the reforms pushed by Daniel and the others in 1973. Men and women stumble  some repeatedly. But we are a nation and state of laws, not men. What they knew in 1973 we are learning again: Trust in government requires transparency.

Thats why Texans are in a real fix when it comes to Paxton. We cant trust an official with such an unscrupulous record and now we cant even verify his claims.

Its just one more reason why Texas needs a new attorney general. Like yesterday.
Sinn Fein has confirmed two party supporters based in Serbia are involved in managing their Facebook accounts.

The party said their Facebook accounts are managed in Ireland but admitted two supporters based in Eastern Europe help out on their social media team.

They also confirmed a member of their social media team is based in Germany and is involved in managing their Facebook accounts.

Sinn Fein did not provide any details on what work their overseas supporters do.

The admission came after Fine Gael Senator John Cummins called on the party to explain why Sinn Feins Facebook accounts were being managed by people based in Serbia and Germany.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonalds account along with those of several senior TDs are been managed by people outside the island of Ireland, according to political transparency information on Facebook.

Facebook ad library data shows Sinn Feins main account has been managed by people in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Serbia. Meanwhile, Ms McDonalds account has been operated by people based in Ireland, the UK and Germany.

Other Sinn Fein members whose accounts have been managed from Germany include Eoin O Broin, Pearse Doherty, David Cullinane, Martin Kenny, Padraig Mac Lochlainn, Matt Carthy and Donnachadh O Laoghaire among many others.

Fine Gael Senator John Cummins said Sinn Fein has serious questions to answer about why their social media accounts are being managed by people outside the island of Ireland.

The main Sinn Fein Ireland page is managed by numerous administrators including two based in Serbia and one in Germany. Data from Sinn Feins Facebook ad library shows 26 out of 37 of its Dail representatives have a German-based Facebook administrator, Mr Cummins said.

Why is it necessary that party leader Deputy Mary Lou McDonald has a Facebook account which is also managed in Germany? Why is the page of Northern leader, Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill overseen by someone in Serbia? he added.

Mr Cummins said he plans to raise the issue with Facebook when they come before an Oireachtas Committee tomorrow to discuss electoral reform.

The party must also outline how these services are paid for. As they are outside the State, it is impossible for a regulatory body in Ireland to monitor this aspect of their digital operation, both from the perspective of the direct advertising media spend and any associated fees, the senator said.

Two key questions are how long have these connections with Serbia and Germany been in place and has this spend has been declared in Sinn Feins Exchequer and/or Election returns? If not, this represents a potentially very significant breach. It also begs the question of where the funding comes from to sustain this operation?

The partys attempts to fundraise outside of the State and take out expensive adverts to further its political cause have already been exposed and this latest revelation raises a number of questions that the party must now answer.

The Irish public deserves to know why the partys Facebook pages are being controlled by forces outside of the State and what relationship does Sinn Fein, its candidates, or its officials have with Germany or Serbia? he added.

In a statement, A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: "Sinn Fein advertising on Facebook is managed in Ireland; in full compliance with Facebook's advertising policies.

"A party supporter who is now based in Germany works for our social media team. In Serbia, we have two party supporters who occasionally help out our social media team. This information is publicly listed on Facebook.

"There is no issue here - despite Fine Gael's petty attempt at spin, the spokesperson added.
Bengaluru: Amid the worrying rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state, the Karnataka government on Monday (March 29) announced fresh restrictions on gatherings.

It has barred people from holding protests and rallies in the state. Large gatherings for parties and celebrations will also be not allowed.

Strict action will be taken against those who violate COVID-19 norms such as wearing of masks. The restrictions will be in place for 15 days.

For 15 days from today (March 29) no protests, rallies will be allowed. Number of cases in apartments are increasing, so no parties or celebration allowed from today. There will be no lockdown. Strict action will be taken against people who don't wear mask, the Karnataka government was quoted as saying by ANI.

However, the government has said that the schools and colleges in the state will remain open. A decision on the same could be taken after further review.

We are not going to close schools and colleges. We have taken suggestions about closing schools, it will be reviewed after exams that will finish in 15 days, the statement said.

The announcement comes on the day people are celebrating Holi. There is a fear of further surge in the coronavirus cases.

Apart from Maharashtra, Karnataka is one of those states which has seen a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections. In the last 24 hours, the state recorded 2792 new COVID-19 cases, 1964 discharges and 16 deaths.

Meanwhile, the total number of new cases in the country reached 68,020 on Monday.

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Midland County Records

A 33-year-old Midland man was sentenced to 75 years in prison last week, according to the Midland County District Attorneys Office.

A Midland County jury found Brandon Leo Walker guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child and then handed out a sentence of 75 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, according to a press release from the District Attorneys Office.
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Clark University announced Monday it would be launching a new school centered on design and technology to continue one of Becker Colleges most renowned programs in the wake of the long-standing Worcester institution saying it will close for good come fall.

The launch of the Becker School of Design & Technology at Clark, which is also located in Worcester, aims to provide a path forward for Becker students enrolled in some of the leading-edge programs at the college, Clark said in a statement.

We proudly welcome Becker students to Clark University, and were thrilled not only to continue these signature Becker programs, which are already among some of the best in the world, but also to expand them and broaden their scope, Clark President David Fithian said in the statement.

For at least the upcoming academic year, Clark said it intends to operate the Becker school in facilities at the closing colleges Worcester campus.

The announcement from Clark comes after Beckers board of trustees voted over the weekend to permanently close the school in part because of the coronavirus pandemics dramatic financial impact on the institution.

The school had been struggling for years beforehand. As enrollment fell in 2018 and 2019, Becker implemented measures to cut spending and balance the budget. Among those measures were fundraising, selling assets, consolidating departments, vacating two leased buildings in downtown Worcester and reducing its staff, according to the board.

The COVID-19 public health crisis was the nail in the coffin, though. The pandemic, coupled with decreasing enrollment, rising costs and an insufficient endowment, has put mounting financial pressure on small colleges, and Becker wasnt immune. The factors created a lack of a viable financial path forward for the Worcester school, Board of Trustees Chair Christine L. Cassidy wrote in the statement.

Particularly as a Becker alumna myself, this was an exceptionally painful decision for the board to come to, but one that followed many months of striving for a viable, sustainable, and responsible path to address the increasing financial pressures on our college, she said.

According to the Beckers website, the school is one of the 25 oldest institutions in the United States and has roughly 1,700 students at the colleges two campuses in Leicester and Worcester.

Becker is well known for its game design program, which has ranked in the top 5 in the world in years past. The college was also the first school in the country to offer an esports management degree and the first in the Massachusetts to create varsity esports scholarships.

As a neighbor to Becker College for over 100 years, Clark University sincerely regrets that the college has had to make the painful decision to close, the universitys statement said. Becker has occupied a distinguished place in the higher education landscape, especially here in Worcester.

We know this is an extremely difficult time for Beckers students, faculty, staff, and alumni and that the closure is a loss for our region, Clark added.

The new design and technology school at Clark will house Beckers internationally ranked programs in interactive media design, esports management, integrated graphic design and associated concentrations, according to Fithian.

Clark said it chose the name the Becker School of Design & Technology to honor and sustain the great history and tradition of the college.

By merging Beckers strengths in these dynamic areas with the heft of a Clark liberal arts education and our research capabilities, were creating an amplified and energized academic experience that uniquely equips our students to confront challenges on a global scale and embrace emerging opportunities in the 21st-century economy, the Clark president said. This is a perfect fit.

Students who study business, criminology and computer science at Becker are also expected to have pathways at Clark to complete their degrees, the university noted.

Clark has created a streamlined application process for those attending the closing college to transfer. Dedicated advisers will meet with Becker students to review their applications, transfers of credit, course selections and financial aid.

Affordability is a high priority for Clark, the school noted. If a Becker student transfers to the university, their undergraduate tuition will remain the same for the 2021-22 academic year, with a $12,100 grant in place to close the gap between Clark and Beckers published rates.

Merit scholarships will be honored as well, and the universitys financial assistance team is expected to work with transfer students to meet their need, according to Clark.

Becker School of Design & Technology Dean Alan Ritacco and Associate Dean Paul Cotnoir will continue their roles in the newly established school at Clark. Many faculty members from the shuttering colleges design program will also transition to work at Clark, the university said.

With the establishment of the Becker School of Design & Technology at Clark University, Clark is preserving a treasured piece of Worcesters past while creating unlimited potential for transformative innovation, Ritacco said. Im excited to be part of this inspiring new chapter for our program.

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DUBAI (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Qatar on Monday to eliminate male guardianship rules that prevent women making independent decisions on basic rights such as marriage, travel and accessing reproductive health care.

New York-based HRW said that after taking initiatives on women's rights, including on education and social protection, Qatar was now falling behind Gulf neighbours, after Saudi Arabia in 2019 allowed adult women to travel without permission.

One of 50 women interviewed by HRW described females' lives as akin to being "constantly in quarantine". Now 40, her parents had refused to let her accept a scholarship to study abroad.

Unmarried Qatari women under 25 need guardian approval to travel abroad. Women can be subject to travel bans at any age by husbands or fathers, the rights group said.

While there is no law requiring permission to work or pursue higher education, some women said they still needed approval.

"Male guardianship reinforces the power and control that men have over women's lives and choices and may foster or fuel violence, leaving women few viable options to escape abuse from their families and husbands," HRW said.

Qatar's human rights record has been in the spotlight as it prepares to host the 2022 World Cup, especially over migrant workers' conditions for which Doha has launched labour reforms.

Qatar described the HRW report as inaccurate but said it would investigate the cases.

"The government continues to enforce, introduce and expand policies that provide women with freedom and agency to make their own decisions," the Government Communications Office (GCO) said in a statement.

The Qatar Olympic Committee announced on Sunday it would conduct a review to promote gender parity.

Last year, Qatar allowed women to obtain a driving license without permission but, as in other Gulf states, they require guardian approval to marry. Women cannot act as their children's primary guardian, even if they have legal custody, HRW said.

Story continues

Women are becoming more vocal about their rights, but laws limiting freedom of expression and association, government intimidation, and online harassment remain obstacles, it added.

In 2019, HRW said, women tweeted from an anonymous account about Qatar's guardianship system, but it shut down within 24 hours after cyber security officials summoned one woman.

The GCO did not respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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Yamama Cement signs financing agreement

29 March 2021

Saudi Arabias Yamama Cement Co has signed a financing agreement with Al Rajhi Bank for a value of SAR863m (US$229.81m), including a SAR563m long-term facility and SAR300m in short-term financing.



The long-term financing is over a period of five years and is expected to settle other banks obligations and improve financial efficiency, while the short-term facility is for one year and will finance Yamama Cements working capital.

Published under
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Victoria is unlikely to reopen the border to the Greater Brisbane area as soon as the citys three-day lockdown ends after eight new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Queensland on Tuesday.

The outbreak, which has locked down the city and scuttled Easter travel plans for Victorians, grew to 15 on Tuesday. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said six of those cases were close contacts of confirmed cases and another two were under investigation.

Victoria declared the Greater Brisbane area a red zone under the states travel permit system on Monday. Acting Premier James Merlino said on Tuesday morning that was unlikely to change as soon as the lockdown ended.

However, he said he hoped Victoria could maintain a localised approach to restrictions, rather than a travel block on all of Queensland.
The Government has defended its decision not to commit to any job targets or deadlines in a major plan to attract more workers to rural towns and villages.

Unveiling its blueprint to transform rural areas across the country, the Government said the decentralisation will provide help for remote workers.

The major shake-up aims to have more people working from rural areas by developing disused buildings and pubs into working hubs.

Entitled Our Rural Future, it has been described as the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in decades.

Ireland is heading into an era of unprecedented change, and with that comes unprecedented opportunity.

The five-year strategy, #OurRuralFuture, is designed to seize this opportunity to transform the economic, social and cultural life of rural communities in the decades to come. pic.twitter.com/ApvSoHFX5K  MicheAl Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 29, 2021

The plan contains 150 measures and is intended to be delivered over the next five years.

Among the commitments is a plan to offer city-based workers a grant to relocate to rural areas to boost small towns and villages.

However, the Government has not committed to a timetable or set any targets for jobs in rural areas.

There are plans to set up more than 400 remote working hubs, but there is no specific date when these will become available.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys said the plan is about giving people choices.

Speaking at a press conference at Croke Park in Dublin, she said: I dont want to put figures on things like that because its about giving people the choice.

I dont think working from home is healthy, thats why we will support 400 hubs across the country, so you have the demarcation when you leave work and go home.

Ms Humphreys said the Government will also explore tax incentives for employers or employees who can accommodate remote working.

We will look at how we will accommodate both employees and employers because we have to get buy-in from both for remote working, she added.

Im also looking at grants for remote workers to move to rural towns and villages. I want to keep momentum going on remote working.

I think its the one big game-changer that we have in rural Ireland. We have looked at the American model, where they have tried to get people from Silicon Valley to move back to places like Georgia, and offered them a relocation grant of about 2,000 dollars.

This is Government giving a message to people: we want to help you and if you want to work remotely and live in rural Ireland, we want to facilitate it.

If you buy a new a car and leave the garage, sometimes the garageman will say, Ill fill up that tank for you  thats the help to get you on the way. Thats what this grant is about.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said remote working is one aspect that will help develop rural areas.

He also said that allowing people to work from home, particularly young people, will reduce living costs and provide additional saving capacity.

We went want population growth in rural Ireland. It's about how we balance that out in terms of a greater regional the balance than we've had before Micheal Martin

Mr Martin said: The population is growing and this plan creates a framework for population growth.

One of the points were making is that we went want population growth in rural Ireland. Its about how we balance that out in terms of a greater regional the balance than weve had before.

That is a clear imperative and this strategy will aid us in redressing that regional balance.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said: Remote working isnt just about people moving to rural Ireland, its also people being able to spend more time there.

Weve people that live in rural Ireland and commute into Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick, but if they were able to spend more time working from home and working from their local village or small town, theyll spend more money in shops and businesses in that small town and small village.

Its not just about people relocating to rural Ireland, its also about people who already live in rural Ireland, instead of commuting, being able to spend more time locally, and more money locally, which therefore benefits the local economy.

Ms Humphreys said the Government is focusing on getting the economy reopened.

She said targets to create jobs in rural areas were not included because of economic difficulties during Covid-19.

Theres no target on jobs at this time because of where we are, Ms Humphreys added.

I think it would be unwise of me to put a target in there, in terms of jobs.
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KYODO NEWS - Mar 29, 2021 - 23:52 | World, All

Indonesian police said they have arrested 13 suspects in connection with the suicide bomb attack by a husband and wife outside a Roman Catholic church on Sulawesi Island on Sunday, with bombs and explosive materials confiscated.

The husband and wife were members of the extremist Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group, which was involved in the bombing of a cathedral on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines in January 2019 that killed 23 people, the police said.

At least 20 people were injured in the explosion that occurred when the two rode a motorcycle into the vicinity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi Province.

National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo told reporters that the 13 suspects had been arrested in Makassar, Jakarta and in the town of Bima in eastern Indonesia.

Listyo said the suspects seemed to have different roles in the group, such as indoctrinating new members and buying materials for making suicide bombs.

Earlier Monday, counterterrorism police raided a used car showroom in East Jakarta and a bicycle repair shop in the nearby town of Bekasi, in which they seized five active bombs and 5.5 kilograms of powerful explosive materials.

The Sunday explosion came just after a Palm Sunday Mass with churchgoers and church security guards among the injured.

Related coverage:

20 injured in suspected suicide bombing outside Indonesia church

Japan, Indonesia defense chiefs opposed to assertive moves by China

Indonesia to ban May Islamic holiday exodus again over pandemic
Brandon Martin, Rice University , CC BY-NC-ND

Dr. Msandeni Chiume Kayuni found herself in the middle of a supply crisis as COVID-19 spread to Africa in April 2020. As head of Pediatrics at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, her team faced a critical shortage of N95 and regular surgical face masks. Nurses and doctors were striking.

We had members of hospital staff put their tools down because they did not feel it was safe to practice, she told us in an interview.

Ingenuity kicked in. The Malawi team purchased raincoats from the local market to use as personal protective equipment when they could not afford appropriate gowns that cost three times as much. Unlike disposable gowns, the rain gear could easily be sanitized in bleach and reused.

Worldwide, as the global supply chain for basic PPE, diagnostic tests and equipment to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients buckled under the strain, medical personnel improvised and engineers began developing solutions almost overnight. Engineering students used university-based maker spaces to invent and produce new technologies  face shields, automated hand washing stations, diagnostic testing equipment and respiratory support equipment  that allowed health care workers to safely deliver effective care.

As engineers working in the U.S. and Malawi to develop effective and affordable medical devices for low-resource communities, we routinely practice and teach this level of resourcefulness, dubbed frugal design.

Spreading the light

Medical personnel reused available N95 masks, intended to be used once, for weeks or months, which required innovative ways to disinfect them, including heaters, gas sterilizers and ultraviolet light.

UVC  short-wavelength ultraviolet light  kills or inactivates viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In the pandemic, scientists set up UVC systems in spare rooms at hospitals to sanitize masks.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center equipped a room with UVC light towers and coated the walls with reflective foil to maximize the dose of UVC light. Dirty masks are clipped to rows of clothesline strung across the UVC room. An operator outside the room started the lights, and a detector in the room ensured the masks had received a virus-killing dose of light. Masks can be disinfected and reused multiple times without damaging their integrity.

Story continues

Engineers in Houston, Malawi and Tanzania worked together to reduce the cost of room-based UVC disinfection systems to less than US$800, and several systems are now installed in hospitals in Malawi and Tanzania. Engineers at other locations built disinfecting stations by adapting UV lights in the hoods normally used to grow cells in culture or by repurposing the UV light in an aquarium sanitizer.

Local innovation for PPE

A woman wearing a lab coat, face mask and hair covering holds two plastic face shields

Across the world, engineering students used novel maker spaces at universities with 3D printers and laser cutters to rush new PPE designs into large-scale local production. Students and staff at Malawis two engineering schools, Malawi Polytechnic and the Malawi University of Science and Technology, and at Tanzanias Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology, adapted open-source designs to produce face shields. They consulted with clinicians at partner hospitals to improve comfort and safety while using only locally available materials.

Development organizations, including UNICEF and the United Nations Development Program, ordered over 8,000 face shields that were locally produced and delivered to area hospitals.

Rethinking diagnostics designs

Diagnostic laboratories could not obtain key supplies needed to run COVID-19 tests in the early stages of the pandemic. In early 2020, major hospitals and public health systems struggled to obtain swabs, sample tubes, reagents and equipment needed to meet the increased demand for testing.

The first available COVID-19 test relied on polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, a method that increases the amount of a viral RNA in a sample to detectable levels. This method of testing requires specialized reagents and equipment to isolate viral RNA, transform it to DNA, and trigger the amplification process.

Because of the complexity of PCR-based testing and the scarcity of test reagents, the National Institutes of Health invested $1.5B in the RADx program to spur innovators to find novel, affordable diagnostic tests. Many innovative tests have received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and are now used throughout the world.

For example, researchers at Harvard used a simple single-temperature reaction to amplify viral RNA, eliminating many of the necessary steps and reagents of PCR and speeding up the testing time. Researchers at Stanford adapted the mechanism inside a toy flashlight to build a simple electricity-free centrifuge to help perform this new COVID-19 test in areas that lack electricity and other laboratory infrastructure.

Reinforcing ventilator supplies

In response to the global shortage of ventilators in the first months of the pandemic last year, engineers designed simple devices to provide temporary breathing support. Open-source plans for two systems, one designed by the MIT Emergency Ventilator Project and one designed by students and staff at Rice University, are available online.

A global shortage of oxygen in low-resource countries has led many health care providers in those countries to fall back on mechanical ventilation. Ventilators are also in short supply, in part because of problems with a U.S. ventilator donation program.

Students and faculty at the Malawi University of Science and Technology developed a system similar to the MIT and Rice ventilators that can be assembled using materials available in Malawi. Students at Malawi Polytechnic worked with local physicians to develop a ventilator with more features.

Hygiene innovation

Public health officials emphasize the role of hand-washing, together with social distancing and face masks, to curb the continued spread of COVID-19. However, many schools and even some hospitals in low-resource settings do not have running water and sinks allowing students and patients to regularly wash their hands.

In response, Brenald Dzonzi, an engineering student at Malawi Polytechnic, designed a no-touch hand-washing station. Small amounts of soap and water are automatically dispensed from pre-filled containers when a user stands in front of the station. The system is made from local materials and is now installed at a local hospital. Up to 2,000 patients can safely wash their hands before the system needs to be refilled.

Dzonzi was awarded the UNICEF Youth Challenge award to fund continued development of the hand-washing station.

Elegant and sustainable design

When equipment is unsuitable for an environment, because it cant tolerate hot, dusty conditions, for example, it ends up discarded in equipment graveyards  serving no one. In contrast, successfully executed frugal designs offer sustainability and suitability for low-resource environments.

Rice 360 Institute for Global Health , CC BY-NC-ND

An example of this type of elegant design is the FoldScope, a low-cost paper microscope used to improve medical diagnostics and science education in low-resource settings. Other examples include LED-based phototherapy lights used to treat jaundice in newborns, and low-cost CPAPs that bring breathing support to small and sick newborns in low-resource health care facilities.

To encourage frugal design, universities across the world are changing how they teach engineering  focusing on frugal design and engaging students like Dzonzi to invent solutions that solve real problems. Though the pandemic sparked a global need for frugal design, the practice is important generally for narrowing the health care gap between high- and low-resource communities and bringing health care services to underserved communities.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Rice University and Theresa Mkandawire, University of Malawi.

Read more:



Rebecca Richards-Kortum receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, ELMA Philanthropies, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, and the Lemelson Foundation.

Theresa Mkandawire does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
China, UAE to seek greater progress in comprehensive strategic partnership

Xinhua) 08:48, March 29, 2021

ABU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China will work together with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to seek greater progress in pushing their comprehensive strategic partnership forward in the new area, visiting senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi has said.

Wang, Chinese state councilor and foreign minister, made the remarks during his meeting on Saturday with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the UAE's capital.

Wang conveyed the cordial greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to the crown prince, saying that the China-UAE cooperation is comprehensive and their bilateral relations has set a unique example.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and also the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE, Wang noted, saying that the respective developments of both countries, as well as China-UAE relations, are at their new starting points in history.

China is ready to work with the UAE to implement the consensuses reached by leaders of the two countries, make every effort to build cooperation projects in various fields of both countries, and push for greater development of the China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership in the new area.

Noting that China appreciates the UAE side for abiding by the one-China principle, and understanding and supporting China's legitimate stance on issues related to its core interests and major concerns, Wang said China fully supports the UAE's efforts to safeguard sovereignty, security and stability, to independently explore the path of development, to fight religious extremists and to play a bigger role in international and regional affairs.

China is willing to stand together with the UAE for the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, a basic norm in international relations, and uphold the principle of sovereign equality of states that is enshrined in the UN Charter.

Meanwhile, the Chinese diplomat called on the two countries to continue strengthening their anti-pandemic cooperation, and actively explore tripartite cooperation on vaccines so as to benefit more countries.

Wang also urged the two sides to promote better alignment between China's Belt and Road Initiative and the UAE's 50-year Development Plan, and deepen practical cooperation in such areas as energy, finance and high-tech.

China is ready to make joint efforts with the UAE to promote a program that aims to provide Chinese language lessons in 100 schools, and to support each other in successfully holding Expo 2020 Dubai and the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, Wang added.

For his part, Sheikh Mohammed asked Wang to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to President Xi, congratulated the CPC on the 100th anniversary of its founding, and wished the People's Republic of China continued prosperity and progress.

Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE attaches great importance to its special comprehensive strategic partnership with China, and is very proud of the achievements of the two countries' relations.

The UAE appreciates China's support of COVID-19 vaccines to help the country control the pandemic, which has fully demonstrated their friendship and strong bilateral relations, Sheikh Mohammed said.

The crown prince said his country fully supports China in hosting a successful Winter Olympic Games, looks forward to the continuous strengthening of bilateral relations, and warmly welcomes China to play a greater role in peace and stability in the Middle East.

During his visit to the UAE, Wang is also scheduled to hold talks with UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
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[March 29, 2021] Adopt Technologies Named to Forbes Magazine's List of the Best Management Consulting Firms in America for the Second Year in a Row

PHOENIX, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Adopt Technologies (www.adopttechnologies.com) today announced the company has been named for the second year in a row to Forbes magazine's list of America's Best Management Consulting Firms, in the IT Strategy Category. Adopt is the only Arizona company to make the list. Adopt Technologies appears on the IT Strategy list alongside industry giants like Bain, IBM, Cisco, KPMG, Oracle, and Dell. One year after the Covid-19 pandemic upended the business world, the role of management consultants, responsible for guiding organizations through disruption, is more important than ever before. While the industry was not immune to the economic effects of the crisisits market size shrinking 8% to $236.2 billion in 2020, according to IBISWorldit's on the rebound, expected to grow 2.3% to $241.6 billion this year. Now, the challenge for companies becomes identifying those consultancies best equipped to help them navigate the transformation ahead. Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to simplify this process by roducing our annual ranking of America's best management consulting firms. The list, compiled by surveying more than 7,500 partners and executives of management consultancies, as well as 1,000-plus senior executives who worked with such firms over the last four years, is divided into 16 sectorsfrom aerospace and defense to financial institutionsand 16 functional areasincluding strategy, sustainability and digital transformation.



Commenting on the recognition, Brett Helgeson, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Adopt Technologies said: "Being recognized on the Forbes list of America's Best Management Consulting Firms is an incredible honor and receiving this recognition for the second consecutive year is outstanding. The hard work and success Adopt Technologies team members are having in their pursuit of relentless client service through the recommendations, development, implementation, and support of IT solutions that help drive our client's businesses forward, is truly validated when recognized by such reputable publications like Forbes Magazine. Additionally, this is a great example of why Adopt Technologies is both a destination employer and IT Partner."

Helgeson added that it's "even more of a testament given the list comprises only 230 companies in its entirety, a significant percentage of which have international presence and operations." To view the entire list, visit: https://bit.ly/3sfKT7B Media contact:

Tony Felice

306085@email4pr.com

602-875-5664 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adopt-technologies-named-to-forbes-magazines-list-of-the-best-management-consulting-firms-in-america-for-the-second-year-in-a-row-301256720.html SOURCE Adopt Technologies

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Forcura, a healthcare technology company that enables safer patient care transitions and coordination, today announced it ranked 69th among 250 Florida companies on Inc. Magazines second annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: Florida list. The list represents the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Florida-based private companies. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Florida economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. This is Forcuras second top 100 finish on this index.

Craig Mandeville, CEO and founder of Forcura, shares, Earning this recognition by Inc. Magazine is an honor, especially when the pandemic so disrupted the nations economy and our clients businesses last year. Knowing our care coordination solution empowered those clients  all healthcare providers serving patients on the front lines of the pandemic  to deliver better patient care makes us incredibly proud.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Florida, 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/florida.

This list proves the power of companies in Florida 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.

More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Regionals

Methodology

The 2021 Inc. 5000 Regionals 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.

About Forcura

Forcura, a leading healthcare technology company with a deep commitment to enabling better patient care, facilitates safe patient transitions and care coordination on behalf of providers across the continuum. The Forcura Care Coordination Platform combines provider workflow and collaboration tools, patient and provider engagement capabilities and analytics powered by frictionless clinical data exchange to support the unique needs of healthcare providers across numerous care settings and services. The company has received awards for Fastest Growing Company for the fifth consecutive year, Best UI/UX Design in SaaS, and Best Places to Work by Inc. Magazine. For more information visit http://www.forcura.com, call 800-378-0596 or follow Forcura on LinkedIn.
Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade at a demonstration in Yangon on Sunday (AP)

Myanmar security forces opened fire on a crowd attending the funeral of student who was killed on the bloodiest day yet of a crackdown on protests against last months coup, local media reported.

The escalating violence  which took the lives of at least 114 people on Saturday including several children  has prompted a UN human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing mass murder and to criticise the international community for not doing enough to stop it.

The Security Council is likely to hold closed consultations on the escalating situation in Myanmar, UN diplomats said on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The council has condemned the violence and called for a restoration of democracy but has not yet considered possible sanctions against the military, which would require support or an abstention by Myanmars neighbour and friend China.

Expand Close Anti-coup protesters take cover behind parked vehicles as they confront police in Yangon on Sunday (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Anti-coup protesters take cover behind parked vehicles as they confront police in Yangon on Sunday (AP)

The mounting death tolls have not stopped the demonstrations against the February 1 takeover  or the violent response to them from the military and police.

Myanmar Now reported the juntas troops on Sunday shot at mourners at the funeral in the city of Bago for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old killed on Saturday. He was reportedly a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Union, which has a long history of supporting pro-democracy movements in the country.

According to the report, several people attending the funeral were arrested. It did not say if anyone was hurt or killed. But at least nine people were killed elsewhere on Sunday as the crackdown continued, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which has been documenting deaths during demonstrations against the coup.

Some of the funerals held on Sunday themselves became opportunities to demonstrate resistance to the junta.

At one in Bhamo in the northern state of Kachin, a large crowd chanted democracy slogans and raised the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise defiance of the takeover. Family and friends were paying their respects to Shwe Myint, a 36-year-old shot dead by security forces on Saturday.

Expand Close Anti-coup protesters use an oversized slingshot to confront armed police in Yangon (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Anti-coup protesters use an oversized slingshot to confront armed police in Yangon (AP)

The military had initially seized her body and refused to return it until her family signed a statement that her death was not caused by them, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, a broadcast and online news service.

In Yangon, the countrys largest city, meanwhile, mourners flashed the three-finger salute as they wheeled the coffin of a 13-year-old boy. Sai Wai Yan was shot dead by security forces as he played outside his home.

The February 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyis elected government reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule.

It has again made Myanmar the focus of international scrutiny as security forces have repeatedly fired into crowds of protesters. At least 459 people have been killed since the takeover, according to the AAPP.

Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them. It is past time for robust, coordinated action Tom Andrews, UN Myanmar expert

The crackdown extends beyond the demonstrations. Humanitarian workers reported the military had carried out airstrikes on Sunday against guerrilla fighters in the eastern part of the country.

Henrietta Fore, head of the UN childrens agency UNICEF, said in Saturdays bloodiest day since the coup an 11-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, two 13-year-old boys, a 13-year-old girl, three 16-year-old boys and two 17-year-old boys, (were) all reportedly shot and killed. She said a 12-month old baby girl was gravely injured after being struck in the eye with a rubber bullet.

In less than two months, at least 35 children have allegedly been killed, countless others seriously injured and almost 1,000 children and young people reported arbitrarily detained by security forces across the country she said, condemning the indiscriminate killings and demanding that those responsible be held accountable.

The junta has accused some of the demonstrators of perpetrating the violence because of their sporadic use of Molotov cocktails and has said its use of force has been justified to stop what it has called rioting.

Expand Close An anti-coup protester prepares a Molotov cocktail in a protest against the police crackdown in Yangon (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp An anti-coup protester prepares a Molotov cocktail in a protest against the police crackdown in Yangon (AP)

While protesters have occasionally hurled firecrackers at troops and on Saturday carried bows and arrows, they remain vastly outgunned and have shown commitment to methods of nonviolent civil disobedience.

Saturdays death toll far exceeded the previous single-day high that ranged from 74 to 90 on March 14. The killings happened throughout the country as Myanmars military celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day holiday with a parade in the countrys capital, Naypyitaw.

Today the junta of Myanmar has made Armed Forces Day a day of infamy with the massacre of men, women and very young children throughout country, said Tom Andrews, the UNs independent expert on human rights for Myanmar.

Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them. It is past time for robust, coordinated action.
Xi meets with model crime-fighters

Xinhua) 13:36, March 29, 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with representatives of those honored for their outstanding work in China's campaign to fight organized and gang-related crimes in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2021. Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the event. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday met with representatives of those honored for their outstanding work in China's campaign to fight organized and gang-related crimes.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, expressed congratulations to the representatives, who were attending a gathering in Beijing to celebrate the victory of the campaign.

Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the event.

In 2018, China initiated a three-year campaign to crack down on organized and gang-related crimes. Significant results have been achieved, with more than 3,600 crime groups busted over the past three years.

Speaking at the event, Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, said the fight against such illegal activities should be advanced on a regular basis, calling for greater efforts to implement the Peaceful China initiative.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
A campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newson (D) is splitting some of Silicon Valley's biggest venture capitalists.

Driving the news: Famed investor and San Francisco political player Ron Conway, along with 74 other tech and business leaders, have signed an open letter urging Californians to oppose the recall of the governor.

Newsom, they argue, has been making strides in leading the state through the pandemic, and a recall campaign would significantly distract him from continuing to manage the pandemic and recovery.

Other signatories include: Laurene Powell Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Reid Hoffman, Sean Parker, Jeff and Erica Lawson, Joe Gebbia, Evan Williams, Zachary Bogue and Marissa Mayer, Jessica Livingston, and Paul Graham.

The letter comes a couple of months after other prominent investors began donating and publicly backing efforts to recall Newsom. The earlier letter also cited his handling of the pandemic, including stronger restrictions than many other states and a vaccine rollout that got off on a slow start. One investor, Chamath Palihapitiya, even briefly flirted with challenging Newsom in the race.

What they're saying:

"I took the lead along with other tech leaders to rally opposition to a recall because a distracting recall election is the last thing our state needs right now. Governor Newsom has made tough decisions to lead us through the pandemic, and we're finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The vast majority of people in the tech community agree: replacing Governor Newsom with a Trump Republican, which is what this recall effort is really all about, would reverse our progress against COVID and would be bad for California."

 Ron Conway

The big picture: Some of the objections in recent months from investors and techies moving to cities like Austin and Miami are actually a rejection of California's Democratic-driven policies and politics.

With remote work becoming more widely accepted by companies and investors, some are arguing the state's relatively high taxes and what they view as anti-tech policies are no longer worth living in the state.

What's next: Organizers for the recall campaign say they submitted more 2.1 million signatures for verification by the March 17 deadline, though the state is not expected to release a final tally until late April.
Private equity group CapVest Partners has agreed to sell Eight Fifty Food Group, the owner of Irish meat companies Carroll's Cuisine and M&M Walshe, to Canadian group Sofina Foods for an undisclosed sum.

The proposed deal puts an end to speculation that Eight Fifty would list in London this year after an 18-month acquisition spree that doubled the company's size.

Instead, the UK-Irish group will now be part of a global-scale protein-focused food conglomerate with approximately 4bn in sales in Europe and North America.

It is understood plans for an Eight Fifty initial public offering (IPO) were well-advanced when Sofina emerged as a strategic bidder in recent weeks, convincing CapVest to change direction and accept an offer for the business instead.

The transaction will see CapVest exit the company it began building just four years ago when it acquired Northern Ireland pork processor Karro Foods in 2017. Eight Fifty Food Group was formed two years later when Karro merged with Young's, the UK's leading specialist seafood brand.

Last year the group bought Tipperary bacon producer M&M Walshe, Greenland Seafood and Carroll's, the Tullamore-based ham maker, bringing total sales to 2.1bn and setting the table for a much-anticipated IPO.

"We've created a leading European multi-protein business through a combination of strategic investment in our core asset base and complementary acquisitions of fantastic national champions," said CapVest partner Jason Rodrigues. "We're confident Eight Fifty will continue to flourish under Sofina's ownership."

Market sources had speculated that Eight Fifty was a strong candidate to bid for the Irish parts of Kerry Group's consumer foods business, which houses chilled meat brands such as Galtee and Richmond.

However, that possibility is now understood to be more remote under the new owners, notwithstanding Sofina's plans for continued growth.

Sofina is one of Canada's largest food producers, specialising in processed meat, poultry and fish products for retail and foodservice customers. The company has grown by acquisition over 25 years into a national giant with 5,000 employees across 16 plants. Sofina also is the distributor in Canada for Italian brands Lavazza coffee and San Benedetto water.

Sofina's founder and owner Michael Latifi is a self-made billionaire who emigrated from Iran and started the company by acquiring a small meat company with 60 employees in 1995. He is also a shareholder in the McLaren Group after putting in 200m via his personal investment holdings company in 2018. His son, Nicholas, is a Formula One driver for Williams.

Another CapVest company that has been growing through acquisition, Valeo Foods, is also up for sale and reportedly attracting interest from ex-Premier Foods CEO Gavin Darby with backing from private equity group Cinven.

Valeo, whose brands include Batchelors, Kettle, Kelkin and Shamrock, made its 17th acquisition in a decade last December when it bought tortilla chip maker IAG for 37m, bringing total sales above 1bn.
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Vietnam JSC Bank for Industry and TradeGlobal Credit Research - 30 Mar 2021Singapore, March 30, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Vietnam JSC Bank for Industry and Trade and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 22 March 2021 in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future. Credit ratings and outlook/review status cannot be changed in a portfolio review and hence are not impacted by this announcement. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.Key rating considerations are summarized below.Vietnam JSC Bank for Industry and Trade's (VietinBank) Ba3 long-term bank deposit and issuer ratings are one notch higher than its baseline credit assessment (BCA) of b1, because of Moody's expectation of a very high probability of support from the Government of Vietnam (Ba3) to the bank in times of need. Moody's expectation on government support for VietinBank stems from the government's 64.5% ownership in the bank as well as the bank's significant market shares of system assets and deposits.VietinBank's b1 BCA reflects the bank's improved asset quality as it fully resolved its stock of legacy problem assets in 2020. However, the bank's core capital remains weak, which in turn will constrain its ability to grow as well as its profitability. VietinBank's funding is stable as it benefits from close relationships with large corporates, particularly from the public sector. Liquidity has weakened in recent years, although Moody's expects the trend to stabilize as credit growth remains muted.This document summarizes Moody's view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period.The principal methodology used for this review was Banks Methodology published in November 2019. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.This announcement applies only to EU rated, UK rated, EU endorsed and UK endorsed ratings. Non EU rated, non UK rated, non EU endorsed and non UK endorsed ratings may be referenced above to the extent necessary, if they are part of the same analytical unit.This publication does not announce a credit rating action. 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Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been appointed to head a new board to advise the NSW governments long-term climate policy in his first major political post since leaving Parliament almost three years ago.

The role, as chairman of the NSW Net-Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board, was approved by cabinet on Monday, Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will head a new advisory board for the NSW government on its 2050 net-zero emissions target - if, as expected, cabinet approves the role. Credit:James Brickwood

Support for Mr Turnbulls role, set for up to five years, was secured between senior NSW government figures last month.

The new board, which has been modelled on the United Kingdoms independent Climate Change Committee, will be established by regulation and give strategic and expert advice on program design and funding proposals under the $1 billion first stage of emissions reduction covering 2020-30.
Two California teens who admitted to beating their classmate, Diego Stolz, to death in 2019 will not receive jail sentences, a judge ruled on Thursday.

According to The Daily Mail, the two 14-year-old juveniles, whose names have not been identified, have been placed under probation and released back into the custody of their parents.

After he suffered severe head trauma, Diego Stolz was declared clinically dead on Sept. 2019, and his life support was taken off, Crime Online reported.

The two teens were initially charged with voluntary manslaughter. However, they "made admissions" to involuntary manslaughter last November.

READ NEXT: Bullying Among School Aged Kids and Young Adults

Judge Ruling on the Case of Two California Teens

Instead of staying inside a prison, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Roger Luebs ordered each teenager to do 150 hours of community service, according to a Fox 11 report.

The two California teens were also required to participate in various programs tailored toward their rehabilitative needs. It includes therapy for impulsivity, anger management issues, and lack of empathy.

The judge noted that he's required by law to sentence juveniles in ways that will result in rehabilitation as well as public safety, according to a Press Enterprise report.

Luebs also criticized the Probation Department's report for leaning too much on the community's anger following protests and vigils held for Stolz's death.

"I know that my decision will not make everyone happy," said Luebs, adding that his decision will make some people in the community angry.

In rejecting the recommendation of the Probation Department's jail time for the two boys, the judge noted that he held the two teens responsible for planning and carrying out the assault. However, he said he does not believe that the boys intend to kill.

One of the boys' attorneys, David Wohl, noted that people should not be disappointed that the teens are not going to youth prison. This is because they need to complete their probation that will probably not end until they reach 18 years old.

Another defense attorney, Rickson Dakanay, argued that the defendants could still not really process what was happening at the time of the incident since it occurred when they were 13 years old.

He added that during some self-reflection and therapy, the two California teens came to grips with what occurred, and they have shown some empathy and remorse.

Diego Stolz's Case

The assault on the victim happened inside the premises of the middle school in Moreno Valley, California. A video that circulated online showed that Diego Stolz was punched by the two boys twice before he fell and hit his head onto a concrete pillar.

One of the boys punched the victim again even though he was already on the ground and not moving before they ran away.

Stolz's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the boy's attackers and the Moreno Valley Unified School District. The victim's family noted that the school's principal failed to take action even was informed before the incident that the two teens were bullying Diego Stolz.

The family claimed that the principal promised to suspend the two teens. However, they were still at school on the day of the attack.

"I will continue to fight for my son. I wouldn't have allowed my son to beat up somebody else," said Juana Salcedo, Stolz's aunt, who raised him after he was orphaned.

After what happened with Diego Stolz, the school district in California made changes that are inclined to stop bullying incidents.

The district established an online complaint process that students and parents could use and issued guidelines that identify prohibited behaviors. A phone number was also provided so that anyone can report acts of aggression.

READ MORE: Big Techs Alleged of Bullying Small Techs, Congress Hearing With Top Tech CEOs Postponed

WATCH: Moreno Valley Student Dies From Injuries Sustained During Fight at Middle School - From FOX 11
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which leads to a loss of central vision, is the most frequent cause of blindness in adults 50 years of age or older, affecting an estimated 196 million people worldwide. There is no cure, though treatment can slow the onset and preserve some vision.

Recently, however, researchers at the University of Rochester have made an important breakthrough in the quest for an AMD cure. Their first three-dimensional (3D) lab model mimics the part of the human retina affected in macular degeneration.

Their model combines stem cell-derived retinal tissue and vascular networks from human patients with bioengineered synthetic materials in a three-dimensional "matrix." Notably, using patient-derived 3D retinal tissue allowed the researchers to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in advanced neovascular macular degeneration, the wet form of macular degeneration, which is the more debilitating and blinding form of the disease.

The researchers have also demonstrated that wet-AMD-related changes in their human retina model could be targeted with drugs.

"Once we have validated this over a large sample, the next hope would be to develop rational drug therapies and potentially even test the efficacy of a specific drug to work for individual patients," says Ruchira Singh, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the University's Flaum Eye Institute.

The lab of Danielle Benoit, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Materials Science Program, engineered the synthetic materials for the matrix and helped configure it, as described in a paper in Cell Stem Cell.

Singh says the findings should help resolve a "huge" debate among researchers in the field who have been trying to determine whether:

Defects in the retina itself are responsible for the disease (and if so, which parts of the retina are responsible); or

The disease is caused by other "systemic issues," for example, in blood supply.

Their research points strongly to retinal defects as being responsible--and in particular, to defects in an area called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a pigmented cell layer that nourishes the retina's photoreceptor cells.

WHY ANIMAL MODELS FAIL--AND A 3D MODEL PROVED 'ESSENTIAL'

Two areas of the human eye are affected by AMD. They include the RPE and, beneath the RPE, an underlying support system called the choriocapillaris, composed largely of capillaries that feed the outer retina.

Until now, researchers have relied largely on rodent models. But the anatomy and physiology of the human and rodent retinae are very different. According to Singh, it was essential to create "an in vitro human model of the choriocapillaris layer integrated with the RPE to get the entire complex that is affected by this disease."

For example, in a previous study, Singh's lab used only a single retina cell type--patient-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)--to show that symptoms of early and dry forms of AMD could be mimicked in culture, and could be solely caused by dysfunction in the RPE cells. However, the role of the choriocapillarislayer had remained "a mystery that nobody has ever been able to model in culture," she says.

That's why it was so important to develop an in vitro and modular human model that could integrate a choriocapillaris layer with the RPE "to get the entire complex that is affected by this disease, so that properties of each individual cell type can be controlled independently," Singh says.

And that's why Benoit's lab, which specializes in creating synthetic hydrogels for cell culture, tissue engineering, and target drug delivery, was important.

Benoit's lab engineered the 3D matrix in which the choriocapillaris could be safely placed and also "properly oriented in the overall vasculature," Benoit says. "We also facilitated the adhesion of the RPE cells within the model. It was a small, but important contribution. A three-dimensional model was essential to describe the really amazing things that have been identified and discovered using this model."

The findings offer a possible resolution to the debate over the causes of macular degeneration. The researchers now show for the first time that defects in RPE cells alone are sufficient to cause the disease. "You can have completely normal choriocapillaris, but if your RPE's are dysfunctional it will cause the choriocapillaristo dysfunction," Singh says.

Similarly, using blood samples from patients with wet AMD in the human retina model, their data for the first time also shows that blood-derived factors from patients can independently contribute to the development and progression of wet AMD.

The collaborations, Singh says, have succeeded in

Creating an accurate human model of the RPE/choriocapillaris complex

Confirming that RPE and mesenchymal stem cells play a role in the development of the choriocapillarislayer

Mimicking aspects of macular degeneration in the human model

Understanding the role of specific cells types and blood-derived factors in the development of macular degeneration

Targeting the disease, using a drug in a patient derived cell model

WORLD LEADERSHIP IN VISION SCIENCE

The latest research by Singh and Benoit builds on the University of Rochester's long tradition as a world leader in vision science.

In the 1990s, for example, David Williams, the William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics, and his group applied adaptive optics--first used in telescopes to more clearly see through the Earth's atmosphere--to image individual retinal cells, right down to single photoreceptors in the living human retina. The work of Williams and his team has had a far-reaching effect on procedures to improve vision and is applied throughout the world in Lasik procedures today.

That legacy attracted both Singh and Benoit to Rochester, but so, too, did another factor: the proximity of the engineering and science departments and the Medical Center--located across an avenue from one another--and the chance to work together. Benoit says that proximity was a "critical" factor in her decision to join the Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2010. Singh says the opportunity to collaborate with Benoit was one of the main reasons she decided to join the Medical Center seven years ago.

It's useful in forging other collaborations as well. Vision science at the University now involves a synergy of science, engineering and medicine across various departments including brain and cognitive sciences, neurobiology and anatomy, and ophthalmology, engaging about 100 Rochester faculty members. The Center for Visual Science, and its ARIA lab, directed by Williams, collaborates closely with the Medical Center's Flaum Eye Institute and is the hub of these collaborations.

###

Funding support for their paper comes from both private foundations and the National Institutes of Health. The private foundations are BrightFocus Foundation, Foundation of Fighting Blindness, Knights Templar eye foundation the Retina Research Foundation and Research to Prevent Blindness.

Other collaborators on the paper include:
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BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty ImagesLady Gaga turned 35 over the weekend, but she and boyfriend Michael Polansky weren't able to celebrate together because she's in Italy filming her movie, House of Gucci. But Michael made sure his girlfriend had a happy day nonetheless.

On Instagram, Gaga posted a photo of herself struggling to embrace an absolutely massive arrangement of white flowers in a wicker basket. It's so large she can't even get her arms around it.

"When your bf sends you all the flowers in Rome for your birthday. I love you honey," she captioned the pic. "I cant wait to be home with you and our dogs, thats all I need."



The delivery was no doubt a bright spot for other reasons, too. While she was in Italy, two of Gaga's French bulldogs were stolen and her dog walker Ryan Fisher was shot. Thankfully, he survived, and the dogs were later returned safely.

Gaga and Michael, an entrepreneur, made their relationship Instagram official around the time of the Super Bowl in February of 2020.

By Andrea Dresdale

Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Volkswagen 'accidentally' posted a press release on its website a month early announcing a new name for its U.S. operations, 'Voltswagen of America,' as it amps up efforts to compete with the likes of Tesla.

But the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that officials at the automaker's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, revealed that the press release announcing the re-branding effort was just a joke meant to increase hype about VW's first all-electric SUV, the ID.4.

'It's a premature April Fools joke. Its part of a marketing campaign for the ID.4,' the newspaper quoted one unnamed source as saying. 'There will be no name change.'

Volkswagen was expected to issue a statement on Wednesday to put the re-branding stunt to rest.

On Monday, a spokesman for the company declined to comment on the 'accidental' release, which was dated April 29 and has been taken down from the website, CNBC reported.

The press release was incomplete, citing the need for an additional quote and photography from the automaker's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The company has previously telegraphed that it doesn't intend to be upended by electric vehicle superstar Tesla, including the announcement of its 'Power Day,' according to the New York Times.

New Volkswagen ID.4 SUV electric cars are ready for delivery at the carmaker's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. The company accidentally posted a press release on its website a month early announcing a new name for its U.S. operations: 'Voltswagen of America'

Voltswagen of America would remain an operating unit of Volkswagen Group of America, according to the press release that has been taken off the company's website. Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, speaks during a Volkswagen AG event in Los Angeles last year

As part of the stunt, the withdrawn announcement said Voltswagen of America, with headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, would remain an operating unit of Volkswagen Group of America and a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, which has its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Voltswagen will be placed as an exterior badge on all electric vehicle (EV) models with gas vehicles having the company's iconic VW emblem only, the release said.

The new badge wasn't released as part of the apparently accidental revealing of the new name.

The company planned to retain the dark blue color of the VW logo for gas-powered vehicles to 'preserve elements of Volkswagen's heritage,' while using light blue to differentiate 'the new, EV-centric branding,' the release said.

The Volkswagen ID.4 will be part of the company's electric vehicle offerings in the U.S.

The withdrawn VW press release called the U.S. name change a 'public declaration of the company's future-forward investment in e-mobility'

The exterior of the U.S. headquarters for Volkswagen of America in Herndon, Virginia, in September 2007. The headquarters will adopt the new U.S. company name, Voltswagen of America, as a sign of its commitment to the electric vehicle market

Volkswagen has invested in multiple partnerships targeted at battery technology, charging and self-driving software with with plans to invest in six large battery factories, although its battery-electric vehicle sales stood at just 3% of its 9.3 million total vehicle deliveries last year, Forbes reported.

General Motors - one of the other big electric vehicle manufacturers in the U.S. along with Tesla - previously used the name Volt for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle between 2010 and 2019.

Tesla, along with GM, are two of the biggest electric vehicle producers in the U.S. Founder Elon Musk has driven the car company to the front of the line when it comes to electric vehicles

Earlier this month, Volkswagen held a 'Power Day' to discuss its EV technologies and announced goals of significantly increasing sales of EVs through the end of the decade.

The company expects more than 70% of its Volkswagen brand's European sales will be EVs by 2030, up from a previous target of 35%.

In the U.S. and China, it expects half of its sales to be EVs in that time frame.

Tesla, meanwhile, is far-and-away the market leader in electric vehicles, with nearly 82 percent of EVs sold in the US, according to Electrek. But VW leads the market in Europe, according to MarketWatch.

Analysts at UBS investment bank have said Volkwsagen could be poised to be a stiff competitor globally - and the name change is another case of the company pressing the gas toward that goal.

General Motors has made its first substantial logo change in more than half a century as part of its pivot towards electric vehicles. The all-caps acronym featured in the company's logo since 1938 has been lowercased, with the space around the 'm' suggesting the shape of an electrical plug

Meanwhile, GM earlier this year would not go as far as changing its name, but announced a new logo and ad campaign focused on EVs.

The Detroit automaker's new logo features its GM initials, although in lowercase letters, with the 'm' underlined in a nod to its Ultium battery cell platform underpinning the company's new EVs.

The blue logo letters are inside a rounded box of the same color, replacing a white GM underlined within a darker blue block.
US Border Official reports that 861 aliens were criminals. The spillover was known as the border patrol caught them entering with others. They use the migrant surge to slip in without being discovered.

US Border Official reported criminals crossing over

According Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings, the border crisis allowed undesirables into the US. He said that agents caught 861 career criminals. About 92 sex offenders and 63 gang members were detected, reported the Epoch Times.

One Salvadorian man with a criminal record for murder was found along with 862 illegal aliens. They attempted to cross the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas, Hastings wrote on Twitter Saturday.

He added that patrol agents encountered about five large groups of illegal immigrant families. They were single minors, adults who were 539 in all. Meeting these increasing numbers at the US border is ordinary.

Large groups had about 93 minors without relatives said the border official. Only a total of 18,000 children were included in the alien groups. These children are alleged to be trojan horses by criminals and coyotes.

President Biden would not apologize or take responsibility for the border crisis. Neither did he feel that reversing Trump's policies need any explanation from him. He doubted his invitation is the cause of the overflowing border.

The US government is talking to Mexico to receive the illegal immigrants instead. The problem with his open border has exploded, and backlash is happening, said the US Border Official. Everyone from Republicans and some Democrats has called out the administration.

Mainstream Media Calls Out White House for Lack of Border Access

Refusing to accept the reversal of Trump-era policies kept a secure border to affect Biden badly. Though top democrats are defending what is the biggest fiasco at the border, flak from GOPs and unlikely Democrats like Cuellar is a bad sign of a failed policy.

Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) stated on March 24 that Biden is right in his actions. Citing there are allowances to let minors come in if needed. But, the pandemic and problems that come make it difficult.

Data from the Border Patrol cites 13% of unaccompanied minors are crossing the border. Many of them are less than 12 years old for most of them. The others are 13 or older, per the border patrol reports.

One solution is to send the older minors to their countries. Vela offered this option for solving the problem. Usually, the administration should be finding solutions, not spinning the reports.

Vela commented once the outbreak is under control, they will bring back the policies that work. That will help slowly to gain some control of the situation. It will assist in relieving the existing problem.

Members of the press have blamed the White House for such lack of transparency. Restricted access to border facilities used to house minors and other illegal migrants.

A US Border Official calls minors the tip when compared to criminals who might have gotten through. Rolling back Trump-era policies is the only solution.

Joe Biden's Policies to Blame for Sending Children to U.S. Border

Biden Administration to Use Taxpayers' Money to Pay for Migrants' Hotel Accommodations

Biden Promises Migrants Entry at the Border

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Separating refugees from insurgents or terrorists and safeguarding the humanitarian character of refugee camps is the problem of the 21st century. This brings to mind the concept of "refugee warriors", which Aristide Zolberg, Astri Suhrke and Sergio Aguayo highlight in Escape from Violence (1989) as the problem of the post-Cold War era.

Scholars have termed the intermixing of refugees, war criminals and terrorists the "new asylum dilemma". In the light of this dilemma, on Tuesday, Kenya's Ministry of Interior issued a 14-day ultimatum to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to close the Daadab and Kakuma camps in Northern Kenya and repatriate more than 504,000 refugees mainly from Somalia and South Sudan within the next four months.

To be sure, this is not the first time Kenya is threatening to close the camps. Kenya set November 30, 2016 as the timeline for the closure of the Dadaab refugee complex, based on intelligence that the Somalia-based al-Shabaab militant group used the camp as a base to plan and launch attacks on the Westgate Mall in 2013, Lamu's Mpeketoni in 2014, Garissa University in 2015 (and later the January 2019 attack on the Dusit Hotel). The High Court blocked the move in 2017, saying it was unconstitutional and violated Kenya's international obligations.

Government pundits maintain the renewed decision had nothing to do with the maritime boundary case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Instead, three sets of "betrayals" are driving Nairobi's hardline position.

First, Kenya feels the international community has reneged on a 2016 voluntary repatriation programme, which would have seen the refugees return home by 2020.

International partners have not honoured their pledges to contribute to a kitty to facilitate the repatriation, with Nairobi saying only one contributor put in $10 million (Sh1 billion) to the kitty.

Second, Nairobi is irked by the casualness with which its global partners have treated the al-Shabaab threat. In August 2019, world powers and humanitarian lobbies shot down a resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to designate the al-Shabaab as a terrorist organisation and to impose tough sanctions on the militant group under the guise that doing so would hamper humanitarian work in Somalia.

Integrated system

Third, Nairobi is also wary that proceeds from a thriving contraband trade inside refugee camps -including smuggling of sugar from Somalia into Kenya - are financing al-Shabaab operations.

To be sure, the camp model has lost its shine. First, not all refugees in Kenya reside in camps. While an estimated 85 per cent of refugees resided in two camps, the rest live in urban areas (mainly Nairobi), alongside 18,500 stateless persons. Camps are relics of an outmoded 20th century humanitarian system.

In many countries in the Horn, the camp model is being replaced by new models that bring refugees and host communities into an integrated system of development, access to services and rights.

In Djibouti and Uganda, governments have replaced camps with integrated "villages" and "settlements", respectively. In Kenya, this shift is signified by the Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement in Turkana County.

There are three reasons the development-oriented model is preferable.

First, the protracted refugee situation has transformed camps into full-grown towns connecting Kenya with Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia. A 2018 World Bank study, Kakuma as a Marketplace, showed the camp and town is an emerging commercial hub with a $56 million annual economy!

Perhaps Kenya should consider transforming Kakuma and Dadaab into cross-border management zones, along the lines of its Cross-Border Cooperation Initiative with Ethiopia, launched in 2015, which has prevented conflict, promoted peace and development in the Marsabit-Moyale cluster.

Self-reliance

Globally, Kenya endorsed the 2016 New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants, the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) (2018).

Regionally, President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted IGAD's Special Summit in March 2017, which adopted the Nairobi Declaration on Durable Solutions for Somali Refugees and Rehabilitation of Returnees as well as its plan of action. This led the African Union to declare 2019 "The Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons".

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Conflict Refugees 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.

After signing the CRRF last month, which ensures self-reliance among refugees, Kenya can access refugee aid support from the World Bank.

Ethiopia, Uganda and Djibouti have already benefited from the bank's Window for Host Communities and Refugees (WHR), which seeks to support countries that host over 25,000 refugees to create medium-to-long-term development opportunities for refugees and their hosts.

In 2016, the World Bank provided US$43 million to Djibouti to create jobs, support incomes and improve services for the poor, including US$20 million for the Development Response to the Displacement Impacts.

Kenya should take advantage of the International Development Association (IDA)19, through which the World Bank will finance up to $2.2 billion in operations, including a dedicated sub-window of $1 billion for operations that respond to the impacts of Covid-19.

Ultimately, development is the best tool to drain the swamps of insurgency, terrorism and violent extremism.

The author is former Government Adviser and Chief Executive of Africa Policy Institute (API).
A student who was gunned down in the Santa Fe High School massacre after saving the lives of many students by using his body to shield them from gunfire, will be posthumuously awarded the nations highest honor for a child.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced that it will honor Chris Stone with the Young Hero award. Stone, 17, was one of 10 victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting on May 18, 2018. Stone was selected for his extreme valor in using his body to barricade the door to the supply closet, which kept the shooter from entering. In his final act of bravery, he used his body as a human shield, saving the lives of many students while losing his own.
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.
WASHINGTON  A frustrated Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a securities fraud class-action case against Goldman Sachs, with several justices indicating puzzlement about what they were meant to do in light of both parties seeming to agree about the governing legal standard. Two justices, using the same metaphor, said they saw little daylight between the two sides.

The case was brought by pension funds that said they had lost as much as $13 billion as a consequence of what they called false statements about the investment banks sales of complex debt instruments before the 2008 financial crisis.

The contested statements were abstract and general. One example: Our clients interests always come first. Another: Integrity and honesty are at the heart of our business.

The plaintiffs argued that those statements and others were at odds with what they said were conflicts of interest at the firm, which they accused of packaging and selling securities intended to fail even as it and its favored clients bet against them. Goldman has denied deceiving investors.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Authorities are searching for two teenage girls last seen at an Albuquerque hotel.

New Mexico State Police said Monday they no longer believe the girls were abducted. They issued a revised Amber Alert characterizing 14-year-old Zuriah Castillo and 16-year-old Jaylynn Miller as missing.

According to investigators, the teens were in the Santo Domingo Pueblo area on Saturday shortly after 7 p.m. when they asked for a ride. They were dropped off at the Courtyard by Marriott.

Police initially believed that a man kidnapped them. But its now believed he was an acquaintance giving them a ride.

Authorities say the girls may be in danger.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Castillo is described as 5-foot-5 and 130 pounds. She has bleach blonde and dark brown hair down to her shoulders and brown eyes.

Miller is described as 5 feet tall and 112 pounds. She has shoulder-length brown hair dyed red and brown eyes.

Both girls were last seen wearing similar outfits  a white V-neck shirt with black jeans.

State Police said the alert was issued at the request of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The state attorney generals office falsely charged Lackawanna County prison guard Paul Voglino with sexually assaulting an inmate despite clear evidence the woman fabricated the story to bolster a civil lawsuit, according to a federal lawsuit.

Had investigators conducted a basic inquiry, they would have discovered the woman testified before two grand juries in 2013 and 2016 that two other guards repeatedly assaulted her, but she never accused Voglino, the suit says.

The two guards were never charged. Prosecutors instead pursued Voglino to pressure him into testifying against other employees, the suit says.

The Defendants ruined Paul Voglinos life by filing scurrilous criminal charges against him when they knew the alleged victim had given law enforcement officers false information time and time again, the suit says. The damage they caused Paul Voglino can never be repaired.

Voglino was among seven prison guards arrested in February 2018 based on a statewide grand jury investigation. He was accused of sexually assaulting inmate Jamie Tompkins several times in 2002 or 2003. Prosecutors dropped all charges against him in August 2019.

The Times Tribune ordinarily does not identify victims of sexual assault, but Tompkins agreed to be identified in prior stories.

The suit, filed by Scranton attorneys Timothy Hinton and Joseph DAndrea, names Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Deputy Attorney General Rebecca Elo, Special Agent Ralph Zezza and Pennsylvania State Trooper Jennifer Kosakevitch as defendants.

Jacklin Rhoads, spokeswoman for Shapiro, defended the prosecution, calling the suit nothing but grandstanding and an attempt to distract from the abuse that occurred at the Lackawanna County prison.

Mr. Voglinos charges were dismissed because he agreed to cooperate and help prosecutors hold people accountable for criminal wrongdoing at the prison, Rhoads said in a statement.

DAndrea acknowledged Voglino spoke with investigators, but it was a general conversation about whether he had any knowledge of wrongdoing.

They withdrew the charges because they had no case, DAndrea said.

Voglino is one of four defendants who walked free. A judge dismissed charges against John Shnipes Jr. Two other guards, George McHale and Mark Johnson, were acquitted after a trial. The three other defendants pleaded to lesser charges.

Voglinos lawsuit says there was ample evidence that Tompkins was not a reliable witness. She was interviewed in 2011 and, similar to her 2013 and 2016 grand jury testimony, did not accuse him of sexual abuse. The first time she named him was in late 2016, when she joined a lawsuit filed by another inmate who alleged she was sexually abused by other guards.

Tompkins version of the alleged sexual assault by Voglino also changed. For instance, in 2016 she told county detectives she had sex with Voglino in her cell. At his preliminary hearing, she testified she never had sex with him, the suit says.

All defendants needed to do to uncover Tompkins lies was review her past interviews and testimony, the suit says. Defendants either recklessly failed to read those documents or they deliberately disregarded the information.

The lawsuit seeks damages on six counts, including false arrest, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment as well as punitive damages.
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SYDNEY, Australia  Seeking to address rising anger over accusations of rape and misogyny against members of his government, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia reshuffled his cabinet on Monday, demoting two ministers tied to separate scandals, but keeping them in senior positions.

Defense Minister Linda Reynolds will become the minister for government services, Mr. Morrison said. Attorney General Christian Porter will give up that role while continuing to serve in the cabinet as the minister for science, industry and technology.

Mr. Morrison also announced a new task force on womens equality, safety, economic security, health and well-being, while adding several women to the cabinet. They include Michaelia Cash, who will become attorney general, and Karen Andrews, who will become minister for home affairs.

These changes will shake up what needs to be shaken up, Mr. Morrison said, adding that having more women in the cabinet would bring a fresh lens to the governments challenges.
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The rebrand comes with a new visual identity and expanded digital marketing capabilities that reflect accelerated company growth and showcase a unified corporate vision. The newly minted Amsive Digital name cements the agency's status at the intersection of innovation, analytics, targeting, and creative vision, while broadening the marketing channel mix available to new and current clients.

Path Interactive has been part of VisionSourceLink family, an H.I.G Capital portfolio company, since 2019. The digital agency has worked with its parent companies to launch integrated campaigns across traditional and digital media channels. DX Marketing joined the fold in 2020, helping VisionSourceLink expand its capability set in data services and predictive modeling. Now, all of these companies are uniting under a common corporate identity, signaling a long-held commitment to collaboration with the goal of client success.

"To some degree, this is a cosmetic change, but it's also an evolution with a lot of intention behind it," said Michael Coppola, Founder & CEO. "Our culture and our team are staying exactly the same, but we're using that talent and that spirit to tackle services that could previously only be offered by our enterprise-level competitors. We want our name to reflect the power we have with the larger Amsive agency by our side."

SourceLink and Vision will be joined together to become Amsive, a full-service agency executing data-driven omnichannel campaigns. Path Interactive will take on the name Amsive Digital, focusing on serving up laser-focused digital strategy that pinpoints target consumers wherever their web usage takes them and on engaging them with conversion-driving content, creative, and influencer strategy.

The digital agency's enhanced service offerings include paid media, SEO, managed social, performance creative, influencer marketing, data management, predictive modeling, strategy, and more, creating an even smarter and more integrated brand partner for performance digital marketing.

About Amsive Digital

Amsive Digital is an NYC-born digital marketing agency with a national presence, providing SEO, SEM, paid and managed social, analytics, creative, influencer marketing, and web design and development services to a wide range of industries including consumer, insurance, financial services, healthcare, and more. As a partner to the Amsive corporate brand, this web-focused entity works to create holistic, cross-channel campaigns that drive not just traffic, but purchases, by targeting the right prospects at the right time. For more info go to www.amsivedigital.com .

Amsive and Amsive Digital are H.I.G Capital portfolio companies. H.I.G, based out of Miami, is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over $43 billion in equity capital under management.

Media Contact:

Jein Funk

[email protected]

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, appeared to claim credit for the decision to quickly develop vaccines against COVID-19 on Sunday - in comments that are sure to anger Donald Trump.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the comment in an interview with CNN for a special, diving into the details of America's pandemic response.

'When I saw what happened in New York City, almost over-running of our healthcare systems, and that's when it became very clear that the decision we made on January 10 to go all out and develop a vaccine, may have been the best decision that I've ever made with regard to intervention as the director of the institute,' Fauci said.

Fauci's remarks seemed to gloss over the key role played by pharmaceutical companies and Operation Warp Speed - the Trump administration's program to manufacture, test and deliver vaccines to the public in record time.

Trump, who has frequently expressed frustration with Fauci publicly, touts Operation Warp Speed as a key achievement of his presidency, and says he pushed the program forward even when Fauci was dismissive of it.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, has appeared to claim credit for the decision to quickly develop vaccines against COVID-19

Trump, who has frequently expressed frustration with Fauci publicly, touts Operation Warp Speed as a key achievement of his presidency and described Fauci as a naysayer

In a formal statement earlier this month, Trump said: 'I hope everyone remembers when they're getting the COVID-19 (often referred to as the China Virus) Vaccine, that if I wasn't president, you wouldn't be getting that beautiful 'shot' for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn't be getting it at all.'

'I hope everyone remembers!' he added.

Indeed, Trump has often accused Fauci of nay-saying, pointing to statements Fauci made early in the pandemic that vaccines typically take years to develop.

Jason Miller, a close advisor to Trump, responded to a DailyMail.com article about Fauci's vaccine remark with scorn, tweeting: 'If it were up to Fauci we still wouldn't have a Covid vaccine.'

Operation Warp Speed was a public-private partnership initiated by the Trump administration to facilitate and accelerate the development of COVID vaccines.

Fauci was one of the lead members of Trump's Coronavirus Task Force, and President Joe Biden subsequently appointed him as chief medical advisor. He had no formal role in Operation Warp Speed.

Fauci has never been publicly named as a key figure in the development of vaccines or in Operation Warp Speed, which operated separately from the Coronavirus Task Force.

Trump has directly claimed credit for vaccines, previously saying: 'I hope everyone remembers... that if I wasn't President, you wouldn't be getting that beautiful 'shot' for 5 years'

Throughout the pandemic, Fauci has been eager to give interviews, seeming to revel in the title 'America's Doctor' that the media bestowed on him.

Like Fauci, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta seemed to overlook the role that Operation Warp Speed and pharmaceutical companies played in the development of the vaccines.

'The life-saving and record-breaking vaccines that Dr. Fauci oversaw were a giant success for 'The Doctors' and for science and for the world,' Gupta said in a voiceover for the special.

The CNN special featured interviews with six medical doctors who played key roles in America's pandemic response, including Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, Dr. Robert Kadlec, Dr. Robert Redfield, Dr. Stephen Hahn and Dr. Brett Giroir.

Former CDC director Dr. Redfield believes that COVID-19 most likely came from an accident in Wuhan lab

In interview clips from the show that were previously released, Redfield, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made headlines by saying he believes the virus that causes COVID-19 escaped from Wuhan lab in China and may have been circling as early as September 2019.

In the documentary on Sunday, he expounded on this opinion, saying he believes a lab accident is the most likely origin of the virus.

Redfield, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made headlines by saying he believes COVID-19 'escaped' from a virology lab in Wuhan, China

It is the first time Redfield, who was appointed CDC director by Trump, has stated publicly that he believes COVID-19 originated in a lab and not in a wet market where linked to an initial cluster of cases.

'I'm of the point of view that I still think the most likely etiology of this pathogen in Wuhan was from a laboratory... escaped. Other people don't believe that, that's fine. Science will eventually figure it out,' he said.

'It's not unusual for respiratory pathogens that are being worked on in laboratories to infect the laboratory worker.

'That's not implying any intentionality. It's my opinion, right? But I am a virologist. I have spent my life in virology.'

China has strenuously insisted that the pandemic started when COVID-19 jumped from a bat to a human or through an intermediary species at a wet market in Wuhan.

Redfield, however, says that explanation doesn't make 'biological sense' to him.

'I do not believe this somehow came from a bat to a human and at that moment in time the virus came to the human, became one of the most infectious viruses that we know in humanity for human-to-human transmission,' he said.

'Normally, when a pathogen goes from a zoonotic to human, it takes a while for it to figure out how to become more and more efficient.'

China insists the virus crossed to humans from animals at a wet market, but Redfield believes the most likely origin is accidental escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (above)

He believes it started in a lab that was already studying the virus, which would mean COVID-19 was being exposed to human cell cultures.

'Most of us in a lab, when trying to grow a virus, we try to help make it grow better, and better, and better, and better, and better, and better so we can do experiments and figure out about it. That's the way I put it together.'

Redfield also said he believes the virus started circulating in Wuhan as early as September 2019, which is several months earlier than the official timeline.

In a separate interview, Fauci dismissed Redfield's theory, saying that if the virus circulated for months before spreading widely, it suggested a direct transmission from animals to humans.

Dr. Birx describes 'uncomfortable' phone call with Trump and says thousands of lives could have been saved with better intervention after spring surge

Elsewhere in the CNN special, titled 'COVID WAR: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out,' Birx said number of coronavirus deaths in the US would have 'decreased substantially' if cities and states had learned from the first surge that claimed 100,000 lives.

She claimed subsequent surges could have been 'mitigated' if the lessons had been learned and acted on.

Dr Birx said number of coronavirus deaths in the US would have 'decreased substantially' if cities and states had learned from the first surge that claimed 100,000 lives

Birx led the Trump administration's Coronavirus Task Force, but announced her intent to retire from government after it emerged that she had hosted three generations of her family from two households over Thanksgiving, despite her own warnings to Americans to restrict such gatherings to 'your immediate household'.

'I look at it this way. The first time we have an excuse,' Birx said of the initial surge of cases and deaths last spring.

'There were about a hundred thousand deaths that came from that original surge. All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.'

Birx also revealed that she had a 'very uncomfortable' phone call with Trump in August after she warned the press about the severity of the pandemic.

'It was a CNN report in August that got horrible pushback,' Brix told said. 'That was a very difficult time, because everybody in the White House was upset with that interview and the clarity that I brought about the epidemic,' she continued.

'I got called by the President,' Birx detailed. 'It was very uncomfortable, very direct and very difficult to hear.'

Birx deflected when CNN correspondent Gupta asked if Trump threatened her during the call.

'I would say it was a very uncomfortable conversation,' she reiterated.
Yves here. Over the years, this site and members of the commentariat has regularly brought up the widespread decline in administrative competence, visibly in the public sector but often in the private sector as well. Although its a reasonable intuition that countries that had starved their public services, particularly health care, would have more difficulty in managing Covid, its still important to have a solid look at the data to see if that assumption holds up.

By Servaas Storm, Senior Lecturer of Economics, Delft University of Technology. Originally published at the Institute for New Economic Thinking website

Introduction

We are living in the age of consequences. The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 uncovered our societies pre-existing structural weaknesses  which were the result of a pervasive political indifference to inequality, combined with decades of cuts to the most basic social protections and to wages, leaving large segments of our populations tragically vulnerable to the arrival of this virus (Marmot et al. 2020a, 2020b; Woolhandler et al. 2021).

Of course, the macroeconomic consequences of four decades of neoliberal management of the OECD economies were already there for all to see (Storm 2017): declining long-term growth (aka secular stagnation), suffocated by rising inequalities in income and wealth and by an obsessive-compulsive fiscal austerity by governments, but barely kept alive by rising (private and public) indebtedness and quasi-permanent asset-price bubbles (financialization).

The neoliberal model suffered a first near-death experience in 2008, in the form of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the ensuing not so Great Recession. It rather miraculously survived, helped by massive (taxpayer) support of governments and central banks and more by luck than skill. But in the process, it further toxified, as austerity deepened, and this fuelled the growth of (mostly right-wing) populism, destabilizing erstwhile stable democracies, notably Britain (Brexit) and the U.S. (Trump).

Hence, when, in early 2020, we let the corona-virus enter our societies through the front door, the virus rapidly found a deadly path through pre-existing socio-economic inequalities and vulnerabilities, with individuals and families at the bottom of the social and economic scale, who were missing out already long before the health emergency, suffering proportionally more, losing their health, jobs, lives, food security and educational opportunities. As daily infections rose and death counts mounted, most governments fitfully responded by imposing social distancing, mask-wearing, and lockdowns and by introducing spending measures to cushion the economic blow from the health emergency.

The scale of the intervention is unprecedented. Fiscal measures announced as of September 11, 2020, are estimated to equal $11.7 trillion globally (or close to 12% of global GDP). These measures and the worldwide recession have pushed global public debt to an all-time high of close to 100% of global GDP in 2020 (IMF 2020).

For more than one year we have been living through this health emergency and economic crisis and it is time to look back and take stock. What are the lessons which macroeconomists must learn from the SARS-CoV-2 crisis? I identify four main lessons in a new INET Working Paper. Before outlining these lessons, I will first consider a few stylized facts concerning the impacts of and responses to the COVID-19 crisis, based on empirical evidence for a sample of 22 OECD countries.

Stylized Facts

For the world as a whole, cumulative confirmed SARS-CoV-2 mortality amounted to 2,476,526 deaths on February 23rd 2021, which is when the U.S. coronavirus death toll passed the tragic mark of 500,000 fatalities. Out of these 2.48 million confirmed corona-virus deaths worldwide, 1,006,817 deaths, or 43%, occurred in the panel of 22 OECD countries, listed in Figure 1. As is shown in the figure, the relative cumulative mortality impacts of COVID-19 vary greatly between countries  from 0.5 deaths per 100,000 persons in New Zealand to more than 190 deaths per 100,000 persons in Belgium. The U.S. and the U.K. have 149 and 178 deaths per 100,000 persons in their respective populations.

Figure 1: Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population Source: Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality); data up to February 23, 2021. NL = The Netherlands; NZ = New Zealand; Switz = Switzerland. The same in all subsequent figures.

These differential impacts are to some extent due to geography, as island nations such as Australia, Japan and New Zealand are better able to tighten border checks (including imposing quarantine measures) in order to stem the spread of SARS-CoV-2 than land-locked nations in Europe and North-America, but geography does not explain the observed differences completely. This is illustrated by the relatively high COVID-19 mortality rates in island nations such as Ireland and particularly the U.K. Hence, more important than geography have been three other factors: (1) differences in public health competence; (2) variances in structural socio-economic vulnerabilities to SARS-CoV-2; and (3) the presence or absence of fiscal constraints.

The public health response

OECD governments differ considerably in the level of public-health competence with which they have responded to SARS-CoV-2. For instance, according to the Lancet Commission on Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era, around 200,000 fewer Americans would have died from the coronavirus if the U.S. had treated SARS-CoV-2 with the same level of public health competence that its peer developed nations have demonstrated. As the Lancet Commissionconcludes:

Many of the cases and deaths were avoidable. Instead of galvanizing the US populace to fight the pandemic, President Trump publicly dismissed its threat (despite privately acknowledging it), discouraged action as infection spread, and eschewed international cooperation. His refusal to develop a national strategy worsened shortages of personal protective equipment and diagnostic tests. President Trump politicized mask-wearing and school re-openings and convened indoor events attended by thousands, where masks were discouraged and physical distancing was impossible.

(Woolhandler et al. 2021, p. 711).

The scatterplot of Figure 2 throws more light on the issue. On the horizontal axis, I measure the difference between additional public spending on COVID-19 relief of each country (as a percentage of GDP and up to January 2021) and the unweighted panel-average of additional relief spending for the 22 OECD countries (which is 7.2% of GDP). On the vertical axis, I measure the difference between COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population in each country and the (unweighted) panel-average COVID-19 mortality rate, which is equal to 86 deaths per 100,000 population.

There exists a statistically significant negative relation between additional public spending and COVID-19 mortality rates. For example, countries such as Germany, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand, which could and did raise spending on COVID-19 relief by more than the average, experienced below-average death rates. Conversely, more fiscally-constrained countries such as France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, which could not increase additional spending to the same extent, experienced above-average death rates.

Figure 2 Scatterplot of additional public spending versus cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population Sources: See Storm (2021b). Notes: (1) average additional public spending (as percentage of GDP) is 7.2% for the panel of 22 OECD countries; the figure reports country-wise deviations from this average; (2) the unweighted average cumulative confirmed COVID-19 mortality is 86.4 deaths per 100,000 population for the panel of 22 OECD economies; the figure reports deviations from this average. (3) the estimated linear relationship is negative and statistically significant at 2.5% (when I exclude the observations for the U.K. and the U.S. from the regression).

Of interest are those countries which are located far off the regression line. One group, including Denmark, Finland, Norway, and South Korea, experienced significantly below-average COVID-19 mortality while incurring below-average additional spending on relief measures. These countries appear to have managed the health emergency comparatively well (so far) in terms of both public health and public finances (focussing on crushing the curve rather than flattening the curve). The same cannot be said for the other group which includes the U.K. and the U.S. Both Anglo-Saxon economies experienced significantly above-average COVID-19 death rates, despite incurring considerable above-average additional relief expenditures. The Johnson government and the Trump administration thus stand out for their expensive mismanagement of the public health emergency  both in terms of lives and taxpayers costs (Marmot et al. 2020b; Woolhandler et al.2021).

Figure 3 underscores this conclusion. I plot the (negative) change in real GDP during 2019-2020 for each of the 22 OECD countries against COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population in each country. The chart can be read as a rough representation of how well each country has protected the health of its citizens versus the macroeconomic cost of doing so. There is a clear and statistically significant negative correlation between the depth of the recession and the average number of COVID-19 deaths. The U.K., Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France all suffered excess mortality and above-average slumps in real GDP, whereas Denmark, Finland, Norway, and also Germany experienced below-average mortality and below-average recessions. The U.K. is probably the clearest example of how a country can end up in the worst possible outcome due to a half-baked, reactive, and politicized policy response. It follows that there is no inescapable trade-off between saving the economy versus saving the people, because outcomes depend on the quality and the consistency of public health interventions and of macroeconomic management.

Figure 3 Scatterplot of change in real GDP during 2019-2020 versus cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population Sources: See Storm (2021b). Notes: (1) the (unweighted) average decline in real GDP for the panel of 22 OECD economies is 6.2%; the figure reports country-wise deviations from this average; (2) the unweighted average cumulative confirmed COVID-19 mortality is 86.4 deaths per 100,000 population for the panel of 22 OECD economies. (3) the estimated linear relationship is negative and statistically significant at 1%.

Structural differences in socio-economic vulnerabilities

The disturbing truth is that the excessive COVID-19 deaths in the U.K. and the U.S. occurred despite considerable relief spending, because of deep and long-standing flaws in British and American economic, health, and social policies. These structural flaws were evident, well before SARS-CoV-2 arrived, in stagnating longevity (Woolhandler et al. 2021)  and also in the chronically widening gaps in mortality across social classes, ethnic groups, and geography. The health emergency is reinforcing these long-standing economic and health inequities, often driven by racial disparities in housing, income and wealth, employment, and social and political rights. In the U.S. COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and cases have disproportionately affected Black, Latino and Indigenous people, who carry a greater burden of chronic diseases from living in disinvested communities with poor food options and poisoned air quality and have less access to health care. Since the 1980s, the Lancet Commission details, the disparity between social and economic classes has widened as unions were crushed, automation and globalization destructed high-paying jobs by fissuring the workplace, and tax while social policies have increasingly favored the wealthy (Woolhandler et al. 2021, p. 707) The suffering and dislocation inflicted by COVID-19, the Lancet Commission sums up, has exposed the frailty of the U.S. social and medical order.

Figure 4 presents evidence on the association between socio-economic inequality and COVID-19 deaths for the panel of 22 OECD countries. On the horizontal axis, I measure the difference between the Gini coefficient of (after-tax-and-transfer) income distribution of each country and the panel-average Gini coefficient. On the vertical axis, I measure the difference between COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population in each country and the panel-average COVID-19 mortality rate. The U.S. and the U.K. find themselves in the upper-right quadrant of the graph, which means that they have above-average income inequality as well as above-average COVID-19 mortality. Likewise, Spain, Portugal, and Italy are clear cases of above-average inequality and above-average mortality.

Countries including Denmark, Norway, Finland, and also Germany are located in the lower-left quadrant, as they feature below-average income inequality and below-average COVID-19 mortality. Australia, Canada, Japan, and Greece recorded below-average corona-mortality but have above-average income inequality. Belgium is an outlier in Figure 4, having low inequality but the highest COVID-19 mortality; the reason for Belgiums exceptionalism may lie in the fact that Belgian public health authorities are reporting not only confirmed cases (which are mostly hospital deaths) but also suspected cases (such as deaths in the community, especially in care homes). We must therefore keep in mind that Belgiums (arguably more realistic) recorded death rate is not strictly comparable to death rates recorded in the other countries in the panel.

Figure 4 Scatterplot of (after-tax-and-transfer) inequality (Gini) versus cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population Sources: See Storm (2021b). Notes: (1) the average (after-tax-and-transfer) Gini coefficient for the panel of 22 OECD economies is 30.9; the figure reports country-wise deviations from this average; (2) the unweighted average cumulative confirmed COVID-19 mortality is 86.4 deaths per 100,000 population; the figure reports deviations from this average. (3) the estimated linear relationship is positive and statistically significant at 2.5% (when I exclude the observations for Belgium from the regression).

Fiscal constraints

Cumulative public relief spending to cushion the negative impacts of the health emergency for households and vulnerable businesses (recorded until January 2021) varies 815 per person in Spain and 5490 per capita in Australia (see Figure 5). Average cumulative relief spending is 2778 for the 22 OECD economies in the panel. On a per-capita basis, Germany and Finland did spend more than 5 times as much on COVID-19 relief than Greece and Spain, and more than 2 as much as Italy. Differences in per-capita relief spending are not always due to fiscal constraints, as is shown by Denmark, Korea, and New Zealand which all have below-average per-person relief funding in combination with relatively low COVID-19 death rates.

Figure 5 Additional public spending on COVID-19 relief (in euros & until January 2021) Sources: See Storm (2021b).

But in countries such as France, Spain, and Italy, where per-capita spending was relatively low and COVID-19 mortality relatively high, the fiscal capacity of government to raise spending to cushion the economic impact of the health emergency was compromised  because these (already highly-indebted) governments had limited access to financial (bond) markets and no national lender-of-last-resort. (This is documented in more detail in the Working Paper).

Figure 6, finally, shows that the level of per-person public COVID relief spending matters for the public health outcome. Figure 6plots cumulative per capita public relief spending (in euros) against cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths (per 100,000 population). The estimated linear relationship has a statistically significant negative slope: the higher the per-person relief, the lower the corona death rate. The U.S. is, again, a worrying outlier, combining the 2nd highest per capita relief spending and the 5th highest COVID-19 death rate.

A closer look at Figure 6 reveals that six more countries  Korea, Finland, Norway, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand  do not fit the negative relation between spending and mortality. Korea, Finland, Norway, and Japan succeeded in containing COVID-19 deaths at low levels of per capita relief spending; Australia and New Zealand managed to protect public health as well, but with much higher levels of public spending (comparable to that of the U.S.) This reinforces the conclusion that the quality of the public intervention matters and pro-active and consistent public health responses do contain health impacts at manageable costs.

Figure 6 Scatterplot of additional pubic spending on COVID-19 relief (euros per person) versus cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population Sources: See Storm (2021b). Note: the estimated linear relationship is negative and statistically significant at 2.5% (when I exclude the observations for the U.S.A. from the regression).

Lessons for the Age of Consequences

Now, with vaccines coming on stream, there is talk of getting back to normal. But the normal that existed in February 2020 and before is neither normal nor acceptable. We must build a healthier, more resilient, and therefore more equal society. This will be possible only if macroeconomists learn from their past mistakes and change  from being part of the problem to contributing to the solution. Here follow macros main failings in a nutshell.

1. A deadly emphasis on fiscal austerity, consisting of a dogmatic balanced-budget conservatism, used to justify decades of underinvestment in public health infrastructure (including disease prevention and health promotion) and social protection. Austerity weakened economies and governments, increased social and political fragmentation, and, by aggravating economic and health inequalities, made populations significantly more vulnerable to the corona-virus  as has been clinically documented for England by the Marmot Commission (Marmot et al. 2020a, 2020b), and for the U.S. by the Lancet Commission (Woolhandler et al. 2021).

2. A foolish belief that redistributive policies will harm economic growth, which explains the stubborn unwillingness to reverse or reduce the social, economic, and health disparities that have left the underprivileged in society so profoundly unprotected. The belief in this trade-off has had toxic effects, but most serious macroeconomists stubbornly uphold it, quite in line with Friedrich Nietzsches aphorism that a bad conscience is easier to cope with than a bad reputation. In the Working Paper, I show that more unequal economies suffered a deeper recession due to the COVID-19 health emergency and that more egalitarian countries were more efficient, in terms of macroeconomic costs, in responding to the emergency. For example, the relatively inegalitarian U.S. suffered 70 COVID-19-deaths more (per 100,000 population) than more egalitarian Germany, while spending almost double the amount of money on COVID-19 relief (percent of GDP) than Germany. This conclusion holds true for public health impacts as well: as shown in Figure 4, SARS-CoV-2 mortality rates are significantly higher in more unequal societies.

3. A Uriah Heepish obsequiousness to the supposedly superior rationality of functionless financial speculators, which is allowing the rentier class to have its cake and eat it. In response to the SARS-CoV-2 health emergency, central banks have doubled down on unconditionally backstopping private financial markets, out of fear for financial instability and lacking any other courses of action. But central banks actions to contain financial panics by providing liquidity and backstops have had the perverse effect of turning financial markets into a state of perpetual mania (Palma 2020). Central banks are bailing out global finance, while governments are in no position to reform it. The SARS-CoV-2 health emergency has thus accentuated as never before the oppressive power of  what Keynes (1936, p. 376) called  functionless financial investors over central bankers, treasury officials, politicians, and the real economy. This rentier capitalism is, quite directly, to blame for the economic stagnation and the widening socioeconomic and health inequalities which increased the deadly vulnerability of large groups in our economies to infection with SARS-CoV-2 (as argued in the Working Paper).

4. A deep-rooted aversion to raising taxes, fuelled by the Reagan-Thatcher-inspired (there is no such thing as society) de-legitimization of the states role in financing critical social, economic, and health expenditures.

Taxes are indispensable not just for reasons of microeconomic redistribution, but even more strongly to put a curb on the extreme liquidity preference of the functionless investors. Combined with higher real wages (Taylor 2020) and more countervailing power for workers (Stansbury and Summers 2020), this redistribution is needed to revive aggregate demand and to remove the stranglehold of the super-rich and the big corporations on monetary and fiscal policy-making.

Such was the conventional wisdom in macroeconomics that, for decades, mainstream macroeconomics acted as the influential and invaluable ally of those whose exercise of power depends on an acquiescent public (Galbraith 1973), legitimizing misguided macro policies and neutralizing any suspicion that there might exist feasible alternatives.

To solve this crisis of a corrupted collective imagination, macroeconomics must be reformed  by ditching its ideological blinders which prevent it from understanding that inequality, income distribution and demand matter for growth, in the short and in the long run; that there is no such thing as an inescapable equality-efficiency trade-off; that government spending on health and social protection is not a cost, but is critical to maintain social stability and to strengthen societal and individual resilience to deadly pathogens; that extreme inequality is economically wasteful, socially destructive and politically dangerous; that our current financial system is cannibalizing our real economy; that instead of letting irrational and greedy functionless financial investors discipline governments we must bring the financial system under democratic control and abolish socially wasteful financial speculation; that the extreme liquidity preference of functionless investors is our biggest social and economic problem and has to be quashed; that we must urgently and radically get money out of our political systems, because it is a big distortion; that government budgets dont need to be balanced; and that redistributive taxation is critical, not just to invest in social overhead services that enhance labour productivity, lower the reproduction costs of labour, and thereby increase the rate of profit, but more importantly to re-allocate income and demand, away from speculative finance and toward investment in productive capabilities, social protection, education, public health and other socially useful activities.

See original post for references
Cambodia aims to provide 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses a month for citizens

Xinhua) 16:06, March 29, 2021

PHNOM PENH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that the Southeast Asian nation has set a goal of providing one million shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens per month.

"In our plan, we aim to give at least one million doses a month because more purchased and donated vaccines will be subsequently arriving in the country," he said in a voice message.

The prime minister said doctors will be dispatched by the central authorities to assist in the vaccine rollout carried out in different areas of the country in order to speed up the inoculation drive.

The move came after a new batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines that Cambodia bought from China's pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech arrived in the kingdom on Friday.

Cambodia launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 10. As of Sunday, more than 383,400 people in priority groups had received vaccines against the coronavirus, a government report showed.

Hun Sen said that the kingdom has planned to inoculate at least 10 million of its 16 million population.

The country has officially reported a total of 2,273 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 11 deaths and 1,172 recoveries, the Ministry of Health said on Monday.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
TikTok is excited to announce the launch of the Rising Voices incubator project - an initiative open to all black South African creators, which has been endorsed by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the South African Department of Arts and Culture.

Netflix joins forces with NFVF to fund 6 South African films International streaming service Netflix has partnered with the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) to provide funding of R28m aimed at producing six South African feature films...

A call for Black content creators

As an all-inclusive community that embraces all cultures and backgrounds, an important mission of the short-form mobile video destination, TikTok, is to provide a truly diverse, educational and positive experience for users. In line with this mission, TikTok is excited to announce the launch of the Rising Voices incubator project - an initiative open to all black South African creators, which has been endorsed by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the South African Department of Arts and Culture.Rising Voices is an incubator-based initiative that will run for six weeks and focuses on supporting local black creators through digital skills development and content amplification. The project aims to do so by upskilling creators, offering grants, and providing the community with opportunities to make a career of content creation.Joining the call-to-action is DJ Zinhle and digital creator, Mihlali Ndamase.Boniswa Sidwaba, content operations manager at TikTok Africa, explains that this move is vital to growing an equitable and representative content and creator ecosystem in South Africa. South Africa is a market brimming with creative talent from black creators and we are committed to providing the best local support to help amplify the voices of this community. Through this initiative, we will empower these creators to thrive on TikTok and beyond, as we aim to provide them with career-building resources and programs.Makhosazana Khanyile, CEO of the NFVF, says: We are excited to witness the launch of TikToks Rising Voices initiative in South Africa. Projects like this one provide black content creators with vast opportunities to further develop their digital skills while learning from some of the industrys leading content experts. We look forward to seeing the incredible content and content creators that will emerge from this programme, and we are confident it will add tremendous value to the film and video industry in South Africa.Rising Voices aims to train, educate and support 100 Black creators, selected by a committee, on how to use the platform and create high-quality content. It will also include career-building resources and necessary digital skills training from prominent industry experts. Selected creators will be put through an intensive boot camp to learn how to create content on TikTok and master their craft, personal branding, monetising their account, and the importance of content catering to a diverse audience.Once the incubation program is complete, the selection committee will choose 20 of the incubator creators to receive a grant. Creators selected for the grant will be tasked with creating a series of paid content and will be given a one-on-one mentor session to analyse their content plan.Applications for the Rising Voices project are open until 9 April 2021, via an in-app form. Applicants must complete the relevant form as well as submit a one-minute video highlighting why they want to be part of the programme and why they should be selected. To qualify, candidates must be black creators based in South Africa, over 18 years old, have approximately 10 000 followers and have posted at least 12 videos in the last 60 days.We are incredibly excited about this campaign and hope that all qualifying creators join us in participating. South Africa is a proudly creative and vibrant, multicultural country, and we hope to harness and cultivate the creative expression of locals on TikTok, Sidwaba concludes.


The suspect in the Boulder, Colorado, shooting had been convicted of attacking a classmate. He could still buy a gun.

The man accused of opening fire on three businesses in the Atlanta, Georgia, area bought his gun just hours before the attack. He did not have to wait.

They are just the latest U.S. mass shooting suspects who were easily able to get guns due to limited guns laws and background check failures.

Since the two most recent shootings, President Joe Biden has called for stronger gun laws. He is urging expansion of background checks and a ban on assault weapons. But many Republicans oppose the measures.

Here is a look at how suspects in several mass shootings got their weapons:

Boulder, Colorado: March 22, 2021, 10 dead

On March 16, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa bought a semi-automatic assault weapon, police said. Days earlier, a judge had overturned an order that banned weapons like Alissas in Boulder. The judge noted that a state law prevented local gun bans.

It is not known where Alissa bought his gun or whether the assault of his classmate came up on a background check. If he had been convicted of a serious crime, his gun purchase would have been illegal under federal law. Alissa is charged with 10 counts of murder.

Atlanta, Georgia: March 16, 2021, 8 dead

Robert Aaron Long bought a 9-millimeter handgun just hours before shooting eight people at three massage businesses in the Atlanta area, police said. Georgia, like most U.S. states, has no waiting period to buy a gun. Long claimed to have a sex addiction, police said.

Federal law bans guns for people who are addicted to a controlled substance or who have been ordered to spend time at a mental health or substance abuse treatment center. But that law does not discuss treatment for other addictions as a barrier to ownership. Long is charged with eight counts of murder.

Midland, Texas: August 31, 2019, 7 dead

Seth Aaron Ator bought an assault rifle through a private sale, which avoided a federal background check. Ator shot from his car into passing vehicles and shopping areas. He also stole a mail truck, killing the driver.

Ator had been blocked from getting a gun in 2014 after his background check showed mental illness. But private sales do not require a federal background check. And they make up about 40 percent of all U.S. gun sales, some estimates say. Ator was killed by police.

Dayton, Ohio: August 4, 2019, 9 dead

Connor Betts had been temporarily removed from his high school for making lists of people he wanted to harm. But officials said there was nothing in his background check that prevented him from buying the weapon he used to kill people at Ned Peppers Bar in Dayton.

Ohio law says records of crimes committed under the age of 18 must be removed within five years or when the person turns 23. Betts was 24. He bought the gun online from a Texas seller. Betts was killed by police.

El Paso, Texas: August 3, 2019, 23 dead

Patrick Crusius bought an assault rifle and 1,000 bullets online 45 days before attacking a Walmart store, lawyers said.

A Crusius family lawyer said his mother had called police to raise concerns about an assault weapon her son bought. Police said she was only worried about his safety, not about him being a threat to anyone else.

Crusius had written a racist message on the internet just before the El Paso attack and he appeared to target Mexicans.

Texas does not have the kind of red flag law that other U.S. states have. The red flag permits courts to take guns from people who may be considered dangerous. Crusius is charged with capital murder in Texas, federal hate crimes and federal firearms offenses.

Im Alice Bryant.

The Associated Press reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.

_________________________________________________

Words in This Story

convict  v. to prove that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law

background check  n. a process that checks what a person has done in the past to decide whether they can buy a weapon

assault weapon  n. a semi-automatic gun designed for military use and quick, efficient killing

semi-automatic  adj. a firearm designed to fire one bullet with one trigger squeeze, then automatically reload the chamber wand be ready to fire again

massage  n. the action of rubbing or pressing someone's body in a way that helps muscles to relax or reduces pain in muscles and joints

addiction  n. a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)
The Suez Canal blockage caused by the Taiwanese container vessel Ever Given is threatening to delay some of Vietnameses exports and imports.

One of the world's largest container ships, Taiwanese-flagged Ever Given, is seen after it ran aground in the Suez Canal in Egypt, photo taken on March 25, 2021. Photo courtesy of Suez Canal Authority.

The longer it lasts the more losses Vietnamese seafood exporters would suffer since they are the one in charge of shipping seafood to their partners, according to Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

"Vietnam and many other countries are short of containers for exports and face surging freight rates. The Suez blockage could make freights rise even higher, putting Vietnams seafood export firms in difficulty," he told local media.

The blockage would temporarily increase Vietnamese exports transportation time to the U.S. and Europe by at least one to two weeks since ships have to go around the southern tip of Africa.

Maersk, a Danish shipping company, said it has three vessels stuck in the canal and 27 others waiting to enter, with two more expected to reach the site on March 28.

The company has decided not to wait for Ever Given to be extracted and instead redirected its vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding 10-14 days to their itinerary to U.S. ports.

"In Vietnam, shipping route TP17 from the Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to the U.Ss east coast, which goes through the Suez Canal, is affected," a spokesperson for a Vietnamese logistics firm said.

Multinational electronics companies in Vietnam will be affected if the blockage prolongs since it will delay imports of components.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Agency of Foreign Trade, said the impact of the blockage on Vietnam-Europe trade would depend on the time it takes to dislodge the ship.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has instructed Vietnams trade office in Egypt to keep it updated on the extrication of the ship.

On March 23 Ever Given ran aground in one of the worlds busiest waterways. According to the Suez Canal Authority, the ship was unable to keep a straight trajectory due to high winds and a sandstorm that reduced visibility.

In the morning of March 29, Ever Given was wrenched from the shoreline and set partially afloat again after six days in the ground, according to Inchcape, a British provider of marine services.
It appears that many Indians are not primarily voting on the basis of issues like the economy and their own well-being as measured by data provided by the government. (Photo: AFP)

I wrote a book that was published a few months ago. The problem with writing books in India, especially non-fiction and related to history, is that not many people read such books. The quality of the book and the fame of the author is not important for the most part. The print run, meaning the number of copies of such books printed, is limited to a few thousand. Usually that print run lasts for years and it is not uncommon to see books that were published years ago still on the shelves.

I wrote a book translating the Urdu non-fiction writing of Saadat Hasan Manto in 2014. Manto is a very famous name in literature, but even that book is still in its first print run. The new book is called Our Hindu Rashtra, and it examines where India stands today with respect to its constitutional promise of being a secular and democratic state.

We are a democracy if you consider democracy simply to be free and fair elections. The rest of the world does not. In the Freedom House rankings, which recently demoted India to partly free, only 40 per cent weightage was given to the political rights of citizens, where full marks were given to India for free and fair elections. It was on civil liberties and fundamental rights that India scored so badly that the good work done by free elections was negated.

My book examines this same, process but over a longer timeframe. The book is called Our Hindu Rashtra because in my opinion, we have already become one. No constitutional or other major change is required for India to continue doing what it has been doing since 2014. In Pakistan, the exclusion of minorities has been done by law, and in India it has been done by practice.

That is the only difference between the two nations. We have become as much of a religious state as Pakistan and this is a fact. Pakistan has no Hindu chief minister in its four provinces and India has no Muslim chief minister in its 28 states. Of Indias ruling partys 303 Lok Sabha members, there is no Muslim, and in 15 Indian states there is no Muslim minister. In 10 other states there is only one, who is usually given the minority affairs portfolio.

Laws that specifically gave rights to religious minorities, such as propagation and occupation, have been undone by India. The various, deviously named freedom of religion laws that Indian states have passed actually take freedom away from us. The bans on cattle slaughter go against the right to occupation, which is a fundamental right only in name.

As a nation, we do not have a problem with these things and this is why they are not a political issue (only some columnists keep whining about them all the time). This is why I say we are already a Hindu Rashtra structurally.

The other thing is that this marginalising of Indias minorities and the writing of laws and policies that inconvenience them appears to be a very large part of why Indians vote the way they do. India is an economy that is in its fourth year of slowing in terms of GDP growth. But there is not much media around this fact. India is the only economy in South Asia to be in recession, but we dont seem concerned by this either or it would be an election issue and a subject for the media. Similarly, unemployment, which is at historic highs and has been since 2017, is not apparently as important as laws that stop women from marrying outside their religion, or who is allowed to enter temples and such things.

We are told we are being led by a nationalist party but we are also informed that the situation in Ladakh is no different today than it was last year. The fact that newspaper reports have claimed that about 1,000 sq km of land that we could patrol earlier we cannot today has not led to any questioning of the idea that this is a nationalist government. Its nationalist credentials have been established and bolstered by the actions it has taken against its own citizens, including the minorities, and not externally. This is the other reason I believe that we are already living in a form of Hindu Rashtra.

The question is what comes after this. My view is that it will be more of the same. It appears that many Indians are not primarily voting on the basis of issues like the economy and their own well-being as measured by data provided by the government. They seem to be as concerned and perhaps more concerned about other things, especially those that have to do with the harassment of Indias minorities. Much of the media has joined them in this and avoids issues like jobs and economic decline even if a leader of Rahul Gandhis stature raises them. This is quite remarkable in a nation that is democratic and gets offended by the world saying that it is headed in the wrong way. But every fact on the ground shows that we are, in fact, headed in the wrong way and that there is no mechanism we appear to have to correct our course.
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The Night House, a highly-anticipated new horror movie filmed in Syracuse, N.Y., has a new trailer, and it looks genuinely terrifying.

In The Night House, Beth (Rebecca Hall), is still reeling from the death of her husband, and is left alone in the home he built for her  a lakefront house in Central New York. Nightmares and disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her torment her, and and as she begins digging into her husbands belongings, she uncovers strange and disturbing secrets, and a mystery shes determined to unravel.

Sarah Goldberg (Barry), Vondie Curtis Hall (Die Hard 2), Evan Jonigkeit (Togetherish), and Stacy Martin (Nymphomaniac) also star in this Fox Searchlight release that first debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews.

The Night House was shot in Syracuse in the spring of 2019, including scenes at Maxwells tavern in Hanover Square and Skaneateles Lake. The production also used the Greater Syracuse Soundstage (formerly known as the nano film hub in DeWitt) and is eligible for the NY State Film Tax Credit program.

Apart from readily scaring the pants off viewers, the film explores the theme of griefs effect on the psyche.

What would your mind construct to find a reason why? Hall said in an interview with Syfy. I think thats a really interesting idea because, personally, I suspect that madness and not being aware of it is probably my deepest fear.

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BARI, MAR 29 - Italian police on Monday made 11 arrests in connection with a Sacra Corona Unita (SCU, the Puglia mafia) murder of a clan member in Bari in January 2018. Fabiano Andolfi, 33, was murdered because he decided to join another clan while continuing to push drugs on the same turf in the southeastern Italian city, police said. Six of those arrested are believed to be responsible for Andolfi's murder while the other five have been charged with ambushed and other offences committed after the murder, police said. The alleged hitman got into Andolfi's flat by posing as a Carabiniere carrying out a check, police said. The SCU is Italy's fourth and smallest mafia after 'Ndrangheta from Calabria, Cosa Nostra from Sicily, and the Camorra from Naples. (ANSA).
VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI  Two people died after a fiery crash Friday evening near South Haven.

Officers with the South Haven Police Department responded shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, March 26 for a report of a two-vehicle crash on northbound Interstate 196 near Mile Marker 15 in Covert Township.

Thats were police found a passenger vehicle pinned under the front end of a tractor trailer carrying several pickup trucks, per a Sunday, March 28 South Haven Police Department news release.

Related: Car and vehicle-carrier catch fire after I-196 crash near South Haven

Two occupants of the passenger vehicle, a 72-year-old man and 70-year-old woman, both of Kawkawlin Township in Bay County, were pronounced deceased as a result of the crash.

The cause of the fatal crash remains under investigation, police said.

South Haven Area Emergency Services, Covert Township Police Department, Michigan State Police, Pokagon Tribal Police, and the Michigan Department of Transportation assisted officers at the crash scene.

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Dr. Rahul Gupta (right), Indian American Commissioner with the Bureau of Public Health, Department of Health and Human Resources, West Virginia, and Brittany Combs (left), director of Public Health nursing in Scott County, Indiana, participate in a panel discussion at "Making AIDS History: A Roadmap for Ending the Epidemic" at the Hart Senate Building on June 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low around 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low around 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama was the second wife of Obamas grandfather, and she helped raise his father, with whom he shares a name.

Former President Barack Obama announced that his grandmother has passed away at the age of 99 in Kenya.

My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as Mama Sarah but known to us as Dani or Granny. We will miss her dearly, but well celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life, Obama tweeted this morning.

The grandmother of former President Barack Obama (above), shown at Januarys inauguration ceremonies, has died in Kenya. Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama was 99. (Photo by Greg Nash  Pool/Getty Images)

He shared a picture of himself in his youth with his grandmother.

Sarah Obama was the second wife of Obamas grandfather, and she helped raise his father, also named Barack Obama.

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His grandmother attended his inauguration in 2009 as the first Black president of the United States. He spoke lovingly of her in his best-selling 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father.

Obama wrote that he met her in 1988 when he went to Kenya for the first time. He said that while they had language barriers, they ultimately developed a closeness.

A spokesperson for the Kenyan Obamas noted that her death was not coronavirus-related.

Read More: George Floyds brother says trial against Chauvin should be a slam dunk

Mama Sarah, as she was known, promoted education for girls and orphans in her village, a mission similar to that of First Lady Michelle Obama. According to The Daily Mail, The Mama Sarah Obama Foundation helped provide food and education to children who lost their parents  providing school supplies, uniforms, basic medical needs, and school fees.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a statement on the elders passing, saying: The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. Weve lost a strong, virtuous woman, a matriarch who held together with the Obama family and was an icon of family values.

Read More: Halle Berry reacts to radio hosts racist comments: All Black women are beautiful

She will be remembered for her work to promote education to empower orphans, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo said. He also offered his condolences to the people of Kogelo village for losing a matriarch.

Story continues

Former President Obama traveled to Kenya with his family in 2018, where he visited with his grandmother. While she was not fully literate even as an adult, she stressed education to her village and was known for saying If a woman gets an education, she will not only educate her family, but educate the entire village.

Have you subscribed to theGrios Dear Culture podcast? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku. Download theGrio.com today!

The post Barack Obama speaks out following death of grandmother: Miss her dearly appeared first on TheGrio.
Prep Golf: Riley Zebroski earns all-conference honors, Arrows take 7th in ESD tourney

MITCHELL  Sophomore Riley Zebroski earned all-conference honors by tying for 5th place on Wednesday in the Eastern South Dakota Conference girls golf tournament at the Lakeview Golf Course.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 20:46:17|Editor: huaxia

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JERUSALEM, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Israel and Bahrain have signed a 3-million-U.S.-dollar agreement to share water knowledge and technologies, the Israeli state-owned water company Mekorot said on Monday.

The agreement includes consulting by Mekorot for Bahrain's Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) regarding water projects in Bahrain, the Israeli company said.

This includes desalination facilities, automated control systems for water facilities, and technological upgrades.

Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that "this is a historic and first of its kind agreement between Mekorot and an Arab state."

Israel and Bahrain signed an agreement to normalize diplomatic ties at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020.

Later, on Oct. 18, 2020 both countries signed a series of key agreements covering bilateral relations, agriculture, trade, civil aviation, telecommunications, and financial services. Enditem
Five leading economists have backed the end of the $90 billion JobKeeper program, saying the labour markets rapid recovery made it hard to justify its continuation and the government should instead unveil targeted stimulus measures in the federal budget.

While employers, unions and Labor argued for an extension of the wage subsidy scheme, whose wind-up on March 28 is expected to put more than 100,000 people out of work, economists said the time was right to refocus spending on struggling sectors to avoid unnecessary debt.

JobKeeper, which spared thousands from losing their jobs, ended on March 28. Credit:Jason South

Among those wanting a shift to more targeted spending is University of Melbourne Professor Jeff Borland, whose own analysis shows 250,000 workers could find themselves unemployed by the end of the scheme. He estimates ongoing employment growth, which has averaged 60,000 jobs a month over the past four months, will help absorb some of the job losses.

The labour market recovery in Australia has been so strong since last May that by February the unemployment rate was back to where it was [pre-pandemic] and given it is an extensive program the time was right to unwind it, Professor Borland said. There are better ways to provide ongoing stimulus.
GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Recovers Ground on Canadian Budget Deficit

As the Canadian budget deficit was found to have widened in January the Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate remained on a positive footing.

This latest evidence of the underlying weakness within the Canadian economy left CAD exchange rates on a softer footing.

While the Suez Canal blockage helped to keep oil markets in a bullish state this was not enough to shore up the Canadian Dollar heading into the weekend.

Demand for the Pound, meanwhile, picked up on the back of a solid rebound in Februarys UK retail sales data.

Evidence of consumer spending recovering even in the midst of the current national lockdown gave the Pound fresh cause for confidence, helping to limit worries over the wider economic outlook.

Higher Monthly GDP Forecast to Boost Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rates

Even so, the Canadian Dollar could return to a stronger footing in the coming week as forecasts point towards a positive gross domestic product reading.

If the monthly growth rate picks up from 0.1% to 0.5% in January as anticipated this could help to reduce worries over the outlook for the first quarter.

On the other hand, a softer monthly growth rate may leave CAD exchange rates vulnerable to additional selling pressure on Wednesday.

As long as markets see reason to doubt the resilience of the Canadian economy the potential for Canadian Dollar gains looks set to weaken.

However, if the oil market experiences another strong week of increase this may help to keep a floor under the risk-sensitive Canadian Dollar in the days ahead.

Elevated oil prices would limit the incentive to sell out of the Canadian Dollar, even in the face of a poor gross domestic product figure.

Pound (GBP) Exchange Rates Look for Boost on Solid Finalised UK Manufacturing PMI

Marchs finalised UK manufacturing PMI may offer a boost to the Pound, so long as the index maintains strong growth on the month.

Confirmation that the manufacturing sector continued to experience strong growth at the end of the first quarter could encourage hopes of a more resilient performance from the wider UK economy.

Any downward revision to the PMI may leave the Pound on a weaker footing, on the other hand.

Mondays UK mortgage approvals data could also provoke volatility for the Pound to Canadian Dollar exchange rate, with forecasts suggesting a dip in approvals on the month.

As long as the housing market shows signs of slowdown the appeal of the Pound looks set to deteriorate, especially as investors look for guidance on the UKs path out of lockdown.
Hillsboro Council To Hold Special Meeting Tuesday The Hillsboro City Council will hold a special meeting at noon Tuesday, March 30.



Council members are expected to deliberate and act on a resolution approving the recommendation of the Selection Review Committee to award an engineering firm for services for the city's 2021-2022 Texas Department of Agriculture community block grant.



If awarded, the firm would provide application assistance and project implementation.



The meeting will be held at Historic City Hall, located at 127 East Franklin Street in Hillsboro.



In accordance with social distancing guidelines, the meeting may also be accessed by calling 1-646-749-3112, using the access code 172-523-125.


A 55-year-old New Jersey man allegedly deleted more than 10,000 digital images of child sexual abuse material from his computer, but investigators say they used special software to locate the images and charge the Middletown resident.

The Union County Prosecutors Office began looking into Joseph Poutres online activities after being tipped off by State Police, who were notified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, officials said.

Investigators traced the activity to an IP address used by Poutre when he lived on the 2000 block of Princeton Avenue in Fanwood, the Union County Prosecutors Office said.

Authorities then searched the computer after obtaining a warrant.

Poutre, of Middletown, turned himself in last week and was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child. He is scheduled to make a first appearance in court on April 7.

Poutres attorney  Mark Ranges of Bruno & Ferraro in Rutherford  didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from NJ Advance Media.

Suspected child sexual exploitation, online or otherwise, can also be reported via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Childrens Cyber Tipline (via www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678).

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
Ashley Cain has revealed pharmaceutical companies are not releasing the life-saving drugs needed to beat his daughter Azaylia's leukemia battle.

The Ex On The Beach star, 30, whose baby girl is currently undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy, took to Instagram on Sunday to admit he's in 'heavy talks' with consultants and doctors in an attempt to change the businesses' decision.

As of Monday, his GoFundMe fundraiser for his seven-month-old's treatment reached 1.4million, with donations from the likes of Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague and Maura Higgins.

Update: Ashley Cain has revealed pharmaceutical companies are not releasing the life-saving drugs needed to beat his daughter Azaylia's leukemia battle

The reality star said: 'We found out today that one of the essential drugs we need tomorrow to bring her leukemia counts down and get her into remission is not being released by the pharmaceutical companies.

'Not only today have I been looking after Azaylia, but going through heavy talks with consultants, doctors and the companies themselves to try and get this essential drug that Azaylia needs.'

The media personality had asked fans for help in donating earlier in the weekend, explaining the treatment his daughter needs is only available in Singapore.

Ashley later uploaded a sweet image of his brave baby as he revealed she'll undergo another bone marrow test on Wednesday.

He wrote: 'Were absolutely delighted to have raised over one million pounds in less than 24 hours! We are so overwhelmed by the support we have received and cannot begin to express our deep gratitude and thanks to you all.

Fight for her life: The Ex On The Beach star's baby girl is currently undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy

Doting: The influencer, 30, took to Instagram on Sunday to admit he's in 'heavy talks' with consultants and doctors in an attempt to change the businesses' decision

Ashley Cain's fundraiser for daughter Azaylia's leukaemia treatment - who has donated? PrettyLittleThing founder Umar Kamani - 20,000 InTheStyle's Adam Frisby - 10,000 Chet Johnson (Faded Clothing) - 10,000 Manchester United's Luke Shaw - 5,000 Mrs Hinch - 3,000 Kate and Rio Ferdinand - 1,000 Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague - 1,000 Love Island star Maura Higgins -1,000 Fulham midfielder Harrison Reed - 1,000 Watford forward Andre Gray - 1,000 Nottingham Forest defender Cyrus Christie - 1,000 West Bromwich Albion's Robert Snodgrass - 1,000 Newcastle midfielder Isaac Hayden - 1,000 Ex On The Beach star Jemma Lucy - 1,000 JLS star Marvin Humes - 500 Advertisement

'Theres a old proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child and YOU are our village. Without your kind and generous donations Azaylia would not be able to get the treatment she so desperately needs. 

'*UPDATE* With all of your help, we can now begin the process, starting with another bone marrow test on Wednesday.

'Along with a lumber puncture, for samples of cerebrospinal fluid and blood to be sent to Singapore, via a special 48 hour delivery process, to preserve cells for them to begin tests and create a CAR treatment for Azaylias disease.

'Meanwhile here in the UK, consultants are working hard to control Azaylias disease with further chemotherapy to get her into remission and ready for us to embark on our greatest journey yet!'

Overwhelmed: As of Monday, his GoFundMe fundraiser for his seven-month-old's treatment hit over 1.4million

The former footballer also revealed he'll be going on a 150-mile charity bike ride with his dad and brother to 'honour' Azaylia's battle.

He added: '*ANNOUNCEMENT* Its important to us to give back to everyone who supports us as well as honour the battle Azaylia, and all childhood cancer patients are going through. Therefore, Im pleased to announce the charity bike ride weve been organising this past week.

'Myself, my dad and my brother will be cycling a 150 mile ride from Birmingham Childrens hospital to London. The ride will be gruelling both mentally & physically, but nothing compared to the challenges Azaylia and other Likkle Lions face on a daily basis.

'Together, we have built a community who can change the world for the better. Primarily for Azaylia to continue treatment and go on to live a life that she deserves and secondly to help others battling this terrible disease.

'Thank you from the bottom of our hearts': The former footballer later uploaded a sweet image of his brave baby as he revealed she'll undergo another bone marrow test on Wednesday

'No parent or child should have to go through this experience and we, know first hand, how difficult this process is.

'So our aim for this ride is not only to help my daughter get the treatment she needs, but have enough money to support the families that will be following us which may not have the network of support that we have.

'I will post more information this week but for now, from Azaylia, Safiyya, myself and all my family.. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our HEARTS.' (sic)

Ashley said the medication, CAR-T therapy, as 'the only option to save Azaylia's life' and said he and partner Safiyya Vorajee, may have to fly out in a matter of weeks, adding it will take a minimum of one year.

'She's swollen but is happy as ever': The sportsman also revealed he'll be going on a 150-mile charity bike ride with his dad and brother to 'honour' Azaylia's battle

Earlier in the day, the influencer thanked his supporters for surpassing his goal of 1million to fund the therapy.

Ashley said in a video message: 'I am absolutely lost for words. I'm overwhelmed at the sheer amount of support that you guys have given us.

'People have shared the post, donated - honestly the amount of kindness that you've shown, the amount you have helped us, it's just incredible. Me and my family are eternally grateful to you guys!'

'I went on my phone to see thousands of messages, I thought they were going to say we were close but the fact that we've hit it and we're way above is just incredible! So listen guys thank you! Thank yo so much!'

Kind: Molly-Mae Hague (L) and Maura Higgins (R) lead the donations to help Ashley reach his 1million GoFundMe target

Heartfelt: Kate and Rio Ferdinand donated a whopping 1,000 for the cause

Love Island stars Molly-Mae, 21, and Maura, 30, donated 1,000 each, while PrettyLittleThing's founder Umar Kamani, 33, who is currently the highest donor, gave a staggering 20,000.

The page raised over 1.2million in just 16hours, according to The Sun, with over 86,000 people donating in total.

Fellow Ex On The Beach star Jemma Lucy sent in 1,000, while Chet Johnson donated 10,000 through his clothing company Faded.

Other famous names included Mrs Hinch, who gave 3,000, and Marvin Humes who donated 500.

Success: PrettyLittleThing's founder Umar Kamani, 33, who is currently the highest donor, gave a staggering 20,000 (pictured in 2019)

Ashley penned a detailed account of Azaylia's health battle on his GoFundMe page and said that any extra funds the couple receive will be donated to other families in a similar situation to them.

He wrote: 'This is our first and only child and we've spent the first 7 months of parenthood in hospital under COVID restrictions fighting a battle that no parent should ever have to face.

'Please give us a chance to continue fighting so this journey wasn't all for nothing and our daughter can have the chance of life that she's been fighting so hard for!

'We will be donating any extra money to other children and their families in the same situation as us - we pledged to give back to this community from the moment we were thrust into it and that is something we will always honour.

Heartbreaking: The TV star described the treatment, CAR-T therapy, as 'the only option to save Azaylia's life' and said he and partner Safiyya Vorajee, may have to fly out in a matter of weeks

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'Thank you all for your energy, love, support and prayers - it lifts us and carries us through this terrifying journey.'

CAR-T, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell, therapy involved reprogramming the patient's own immune system cells which are then used to target the cancer.

According to the NHS, it is a 'highly complex and potentially risky treatment' but has been shown in trials to cure some patients when other treatments have failed.

Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just two months old.

Ashley said he has spent the first seven months of fatherhood under Covid-19 restrictions in hospital as his daughter fought the cancer.

Ashley wrote: 'We will be donating any extra money to other children and their families in the same situation as us'

Tragic: Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just two months old and doctors said chemotherapy would not be enough to cure her

Doctors told the TV star and his partner Safiyya that chemotherapy would not be enough to cure Azaylia.

Earlier in the month, the model revealed the heartbreaking news that his little girl has relapsed amid her leukaemia battle.

He issued an update after she underwent a bone marrow test on Tuesday to see if she was leukaemia free.

Ashley revealed the news that Azaylia had relapsed and that he and Safiyya were 'devastated' as they have been left with 'very few options' with the family immediately admitted back into hospital.

The doting father added that they currently only have one possible solution to 'save Azaylia's life' and it will see the trio leave the country in a matter of days to embark on a 'year long journey' to help his 'beautiful little girl'.

Heartbreaking: Ashley was left in tears last month when he marked the moment his daughter Azaylia left hospital to go home for the first time in five months (above with his partner Safiyya)
Belarusian prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation against opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the latest move from authorities trying to quash opposition groups after months of anti-government protests.

Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus in the aftermath of last August's disputed presidential election, had no immediate reaction to the move, which was announced on March 29 by Prosecutor-General Andrey Shved.

In a statement, Shved alleged that Tsikhanouskaya and several other people plotted to plant explosives and arson attacks in Minsk and other cities several days ago.

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.

There were no other details in the statement, although its announcement came days after officials said they arrested a person accused of attempting to stage explosions in Minsk and the nearby city of Barysau.

Belarus has been engulfed by protests ever since the August 9 vote, when Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed a sixth term as president.

Opposition groups and some poll workers have said the election was rigged; the European Union, the United States, and other nations have refused to recognize the declared results.

In the wake of the vote, thousands of Belarusians took to the streets, in what became the largest and most persistent show of opposition in Lukashenka's nearly three decades in power.

More than 33,000 people were arrested over weeks of demonstrations. Many of them were beaten by police and some have alleged being tortured while in custody.

In response to the repression, the West has slapped sanctions on top officials.

Last week, Tsikhanouskaya called for a new wave of anti-Lukashenka rallies. Police flooded Minsk and cracked down on opposition supporters who tried to launch rallies last week, arresting hundreds.
The National Investigation Agency on Sunday arrested a man for his alleged involvement in smuggling Fake Indian Currency Notes, an official said. The accused has been identified as Jakir Sekh of West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district. He is an associate of Bangladeshi FICN supplier Munshi. Two mobile phones were seized during a search at Sekh's premises, the official said.

The case relates to the seizure of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with a face value of Rs 4,01,000 from the possession of one Golam Martuja on January 8 last year by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's (DRI) regional unit in West Bengal's Siliguri.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered the case under sections of IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in March last year, and filed a charge sheet against four people before a special NIA court in Siliguri. According to the probe agency, Sekh and the other charge-sheeted accused were part of a terrorist gang comprising smugglers, couriers and distributors of FICN. They had entered into a criminal conspiracy in association with other known and unknown accused to smuggle and circulate high quality counterfeit Indian paper currency notes to cause damage to the monetary stability of India.

The accused used to receive FICN from Bangladesh-based smugglers through multiple couriers. They used to then circulate the money and channelise the proceeds to the Bangladesh-based smugglers through different couriers, the official said, adding that further investigation to identify the transnational linkages in the case is on.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 20:43:53|Editor: huaxia

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Internally displaced people are seen after they fled their camp in Yemen's central province of Marib, March 28, 2021. At least seven people were wounded on Sunday when Houthi militia artillery shelling hit a camp for internally displaced people in Yemen's central province of Marib, a local security source said. (Str/Xinhua)

SANAA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were wounded on Sunday when Houthi militia artillery shelling hit a camp for internally displaced people in Yemen's central province of Marib, a local security source said.

The injured in al-Mail camp in northern Marib were six women and a man, the source said, adding that the shelling forced the displaced families to flee the camp.

"The shelling (on Sunday) forced more than 4,000 displaced persons to flee the camp," Saif Muthanna, an official at the management of internally displaced camps in Marib told Xinhua.

The government-controlled Marib hosts more than a million of displaced persons, according to UN aid agencies.

Yemen has been mired in 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.

The nearly six-year-long war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Enditem
The criminal charges against accused fraudster Melissa Caddick have been formally withdrawn.

Solicitor Emman Farroukh for the corporate regulator ASIC told a Sydney local court on Tuesday that Ms Caddick was presumed dead but that a formal decision would be made at a later date by the Coroner.

Sydney businesswoman Melissa Caddick is alleged to have been operating a Ponzi scheme.

Magistrate Michael Crompton was told that a number of charges were laid against Ms Caddick on February 22. Later that week, DNA tests revealed that a running shoe with human remains which had been found on February 21 were those of Ms Caddick.

ASIC reserved the right to re-file the charges if she does reappear. Because criminal charges take precedence over civil ones, the revoking of criminal charges paves the way for ASIC to pursue its civil case against Ms Caddicks estate.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  Fierce fighting for control of Mozambique's strategic northern town of Palma left beheaded bodies strewn in the streets Monday, with heavily armed rebels battling army, police and a private military outfit in several locations.

Thousands were estimated to be missing from the town, which held about 70,000 people before the attack began last Wednesday.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Monday for the attack, saying it was carried out by the Islamic State Central Africa Province, according to the SITE extremist monitoring group.

The rebel claim said the insurgents now control Palma's banks, government offices, factories and army barracks, and that more than 55 people, including Mozambican army troops, Christians and foreigners were killed. It did not provide further detail on the dead.

Earlier this month the United States declared Mozambique's rebels to be a terrorist organization and announced it had sent military specialists to help train the Mozambican military to combat them.

Palma is the center of a multi-billion dollar investment by Total, the France-based oil and gas company, to extract liquified natural gas from offshore sites in the Indian Ocean. The gas deposits are estimated to be among the world's largest and the investment by Total and others is reported to be $20 billion, one of the largest in Africa.

The battle for Palma forced Total to evacuate its large, fortified site a few miles (kilometers) outside of the city.

The fighting spread across the town Monday, according to Lionel Dyck, director of the Dyck Advisory Group, a private military company contracted by the Mozambican police to help fight the rebels.

There is fighting in the streets, in pockets across the town, Dyck told The Associated Press. The Dyck group has several helicopter gunships in Palma which have been used to rescue trapped civilians and to fight the rebels.

My guys are airborne and they've engaged several little groups and they've engaged one quite large group, Dyck said. Theyve landed into the fight to recover a couple of wounded policemen. ... We have also rescued many people who were trapped, 220 people at last count.

Story continues

He said those rescued were taken to Total's fortified site on the southern African country's Afungi peninsula, where chartered flights flew many south to Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province.

The rebels are well-armed with AK-47 automatic rifles, RPD and PKM machine guns and heavy mortars, Dyck said.

This attack is not a surprise. We've been expecting Palma to be whacked the moment the rains stopped and the fighting season started, which is now, he said.

They have been preparing for this. They've had enough time to get their ducks in a row. They have a notch up in their ability. They're more aggressive. They're using their mortars. He said many were wearing black uniforms.

There have been lots of beheadings. Right up on day one, our guys saw the drivers of trucks bringing rations to Palma. Their bodies were by the trucks. Their heads were off.

Dyck said it will not be easy for the Mozambican government to regain control of Palma.

They must get sufficient troops to sweep through the town, going house-to-house and clean each one out. That's the most difficult phase of warfare in the book, Dyck said. It will be very difficult unless there's a competent force put in place with good command and control to retake that town. It can be done. But it ain't going to be easy.

Without control of Palma, Total's operations are jeopardized, analysts say.

The battle for Palma is similar to how the rebels seized the port Mocimboa da Praia in August. The rebels infiltrated men into the town to live among residents and then launched a three-pronged attack. Fighting continued for more than a week until the rebels controlled the town center and then its port. The town, about 50 miles south of Palma, is still held by the rebels.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric condemned the violence in Palma, which he said has reportedly killed dozens of people, including some trying to flee a hotel where they had taken shelter.

He referred to those trapped at the Amarula Hotel who tried to escape in a convoy of 17 vehicles on Friday. Only seven vehicles made it to the beach, where seven people were killed. Some in the other vehicles fled into the dense tropical jungle and were later rescued.

We continue to coordinate closely with the authorities on the ground to provide assistance to those affected by the violence, Dujarric said.

The battle for Palma is expected to drastically worsen the humanitarian crisis in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province, where the rebels started violent attacks in 2017. The insurgents began as a few bands of disaffected and unemployed young Muslim men. They now likely number in the thousands, according to experts.

The attack on Palma is a game-changer in that the rebels have changed the narrative, said one expert who returned from Palma earlier this month.

This is no rag-tag bunch of disorganized youths. This is a trained and determined force that has captured and held one town and is now sustaining a battle for a very strategic center," said the expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of visiting Palma. "They have called into question the entire LNG (liquified natural gas) investment which was supposed to bring Mozambique major economic growth over many years.

Known locally as al-Shabab, although they have no known affiliation with Somalia's jihadist rebels of the same name, the rebels' violence in Mozambique, a nation of 30 million, is blamed for the deaths of more than 2,600 people and caused an estimated 670,000 people to flee their homes.

The attack on Palma has made a bad humanitarian situation worse," said Jonathan Whittall, director of analysis for Doctors Without Borders, which is working to help the displaced around Pemba, the provincial capital 100 miles south of Palma.

Across Cabo Delgado, the situation was already extremely worrying for those displaced by violence and for those who are in areas that are difficult for humanitarian assistance to reach, Whittall said. This attack on Palma has led to more displacement and will increase the needs that have to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

For too long northern Mozambique has been a neglected humanitarian crisis, Whittall said, adding that his organization is exploring ways to expand its emergency response.

___

AP journalists Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Tom Bowker, in Uzes, France, contributed.
Chunky Panday needs no introduction. He shot to stardom with his Bollywood debut movie Aag Hi Aag in 1987 and followed it up with major hits such as Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Tezaab (1989), and Aakhen (1993). But, his success was short-lived. In fact, Chunky Panday has seen quite a few highs and drastic lows in his career. While he started off as a solo hero in the 80s, he soon transitioned to a second lead.

He even tried his luck in Bangladeshi movies but failed, and couldnt sustain his career. He returned to Bollywood but for the lack of leading roles, he took up comic roles. But it was in Begum Jaan that we saw him nail a negative role. He, then, showcased a completely different side of himself when he made his digital debut with Abhay 2. Chunkys character is that of an ordinary man by day, a family man by evening, and a killer by night.

I have never played anything like it. My character is a normal-looking guy, but not when it comes to finding ways to feed his cannibal instinct. Looks can be deceptive indeed! The promo is just a glimpse, the series is set to bring to the forefront ruthless crime stories. It will give you the chills, definitely, Chunky Panday said in one of the interviews.

But today, we are taking you back to the time when he made his dream debut in Bollywood. We stumbled upon an old photoshoot that he did with a popular magazine. He is seen flexing his muscles and we also see him wearing those old-school shorts. He is also seen posing with dumbbells and looks completely unrecognisable in these photos. We are rubbing our eyes in disbelief.

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In an interview with Hindustan Times, he talked about his disappearance from Bollywood and said that he doesnt blame anyone for it. Failure is quite easy to handle because no one is looking at you. Success is difficult to keep and not everyone could handle it. I could not keep my success. I had such a great run. By 93-94, it all came to an end and I had to go to Bangladesh and work there. Talent will always want to work, said Chunky.



He added, It is the choices you make, all actors go through highs and lows. Even God cannot tell which film will work. In showbiz, so much success and fame come your way, and then it passes on to someone else. I remember Govinda made his debut in 1986 and I started my career in 1987. There was Aamir Khan in 1988, Salman in 1989, Shah Rukh in 1990, and Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar in the next two years. It just didnt stop, there was a new hero every year. Your attention gets taken away, but this is how the world works, people want variety.

We wish Chunky gets more roles in the future as we all know he has the ability to entertain his audience with his power-packed performances.
Photo: (Photo : Getty Images: Kena Betancur / Stringer)

A month ago, after school personnel declined school reopening, a class-action lawsuit by eight families has been filed in Federal Court against the Montclair School District in New Jersey.

The lawyer for the families in Montclair is also the lawyer of the families who sued the district of South Orange-Maplewood, Keri Donohue Avellini. She is a parent of a special need's student in the district of South Orange-Maplewood College. The families alleged in the separate lawsuit that members execute an unlawful strike by refusing school reopening. Like Montclair, they also sued the teachers' union separately when members declined to go to school.

The complainant, who has been suing for Montclair, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, and South Orange-Maplewood, has been receiving inquiries or seeking legal advice from families from neighboring states and some as far as California.

READ: Frustrated Parents Start to Protest Against School Reopening Pace



Parents from about 30 New Jersey districts are looking for guidance, claimed Montclair plaintiff Steven Bafico. Parents are planning complaints in three districts, while in 14, they are organizing complaints.

The callers of Bafico express the same plea that they are disappointed beyond faith. Their children suffer, or they had enough, and they want to file a suit. Can I help?

Claimants say they appreciate teachers' concerns on coronavirus. Still, studies indicate that schools' reason is inadequate and that children are worried, lonely, and lose interest in learning because of remote training.

School reopening has become a sensitive issue across the country. But before becoming a case, we must discuss this matter accordingly.

ALSO READ: School Reopening: More and More Parents Opting for Private Schools

Engaging in school reopening meetings

Therefore, let us assume that you have thoughts about your child's education or issue that twist your mind at 2 a.m. You want to discuss these ideas, views, or concerns at your local school board meeting. So, how are you supposed to do this? How do you work best? Here are some tips.

Learn how the local school board meeting operates. Go to the website of your school field. They usually watch video clips and put them on YouTube. A quick meeting will help you understand who they are and how they typically conduct your meetings. At the conference at least once or twice, school boards shall open discussions to the public. Get a feeling of what usually happens.

Learn how public feedback during COVID is treated. Will parents attend the conference? Or use Zoom or a different virtual platform?

READ MORE: School Reopening: Excessive Handwashing in School Damages Children's Skin, Parents Say



Before time, plan your speech. Jot down notes. Input from the community is typically limited to around three minutes, equivalent to a page and half sentences. Those with a lot of public speaking experience need a contour when they are at the forefront.

Be professionals. Be competent. You must appear serious if you want these people to follow your plans. Don't get upset or swear. Dress in lovely clothes if your town makes meetings in person.

Do your homework. The members of the school board are day-working volunteers. They have little time to investigate all school-related topics. Help them out, therefore-display statistics, analysis, and facts you can use when deciding. Send them the numbers after your speech.

Even if you fail to make a difference, attending school board meetings is an inspiring experience since all participatory activities are involved. Really, after doing it, you will feel fine. Moreover, school policy participation, especially for women, may lead to a higher political off.
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Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano Quiros poses during an interview with The Korea Times at the Costa Rican Embassy in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, March 15. Also a former ambassador to Seoul, he visited here from March 15 to 19 as his first overseas trip destination after becoming the country's top diplomat in February 2020. Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo



By Yi Whan-woo



Traveling to Korea in his first overseas trip after becoming the Costa Rican foreign minister was perhaps taken for granted for Rodolfo Solano Quiros, who has been in search of a model country to emulate in the post-COVID-19 era.



He spent over a decade in Korea, first as a student in the late 1990s, then as Costa Rica's minister counselor and consul general to Korea from 2002 to 2010, and as the ambassador from 2015 to 2019.



This was when he witnessed the Korean government's vision for digital technology and sustainable development, which Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada seeks to nurture.



It was also when Korea, after becoming a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996, continued to expand its economy to become a G20 nation.



Costa Rica became the first country from Central America and the Caribbean to join the OECD in 2020.



Being the rotating chair of SICA, an economic bloc of eight Central American countries, in the first half of 2021, Costa Rica is pushing to expand SICA's economic horizons across the Asia-Pacific.



Their strategy, according to Solano, is to enhance ties with the 10-member ASEAN and also India, with which President Moon Jae-in has pushed to foster relations under his signature New Southern Policy.



"I always tried to come back to Korea since I left  It is emblematic to come back to one of the countries Costa Rica admires, and most importantly, one of the countries Costa Rica considered a special friend as a strategic partner," the foreign minister said during an interview with The Korea Times at the Costa Rican Embassy, March 15. "We have a shared goal in digital technology, decarbonization and other areas in the post-pandemic era, and our strategy with Korea is a win-win process."





Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano Quiros, front row second from left, poses with Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, front row third from left, and other dignitaries during the 2021 Korea-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Digital Cooperation Forum at Lotte Hotel Seoul, March 17. The forum was co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and ICT. Yonhap
As Infosec has grown, weve built an ambitious team who cares about making a difference in the online safety and security of our clients and our communities

Infosec, the leading cybersecurity education company, today announced it has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2021 honor by Wisconsin State Journal Top Workplaces.

As Infosec has grown, weve built an ambitious team who cares about making a difference in the online safety and security of our clients and our communities, said Jack Koziol, Infosec founder and CEO. This award reflects our commitment to all employees who make our mission possible. Im incredibly proud of our teams unrelenting focus on customer care, teamwork and inclusiveness. Its what makes Infosec such a great place to work.

The Wisconsin State Journal along with its partner, Energage, recognize and honor the top 45 employers in the Greater Madison area. For this years Top Workplaces awards, Energage received nominations from more than 790 Madison community organizations. The annual list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a survey administered by third-party employee engagement technology partner Energage LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization: including alignment, execution and connection, just to name a few.

Read what makes Infosec a 2021 Top Workplace here or watch the Madison Top Workplaces Virtual Event recognizing all this year's winners.

"During this very challenging time, Top Workplaces has proven to be a beacon of light for organizations, as well as a sign of resiliency and strong business performance," said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. "When you give your employees a voice, you come together to navigate challenges and shape your path forward. Top Workplaces draw on real-time insights into what works best for their organization, so they can make informed decisions that have a positive impact on their people and their business."

As a University of Wisconsin alumnus, Koziol started Infosec in 2004 and has grown the company to a team of more than 150. Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, Infosec has additional offices in Chicago and Dulles, Virginia. Its recognition as a Madison Top Workplace follows other recent accolades including:

Chicago Best Place to Work

Top 100 Global Software Seller

Top 20 IT Training Company for tenth consecutive year

Customer Service & Support Department of the Year

About Infosec

Infosec is the leading cybersecurity education company helping IT and security professionals advance their careers and empowering employees to be cyber-safe at work and home. Its mission is to equip individuals and organizations with the knowledge, skills and confidence to outsmart cybercrime. More than 70% of the Fortune 500 have relied on Infosec Skills to develop their security talent and teams, and more than 5 million learners worldwide are more cyber-resilient from Infosec IQs security awareness and phishing training. Learn more at infosecinstitute.com.

About Energage

Making the world a better place to work together.

Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 14 years of culture research and the results from 23 million employees surveyed across more than 70,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit energage.com or topworkplaces.com.
The Snowflake Prince: a fun illustrated work that follows the Snowflake Prince as he equips for his great journey and discovers the importance of his existence for the good of all. The Snowflake Prince is the creation of published author C.G. Martin, a writer who grew up spending time in libraries to self-educate. She was placed in a French orphanage the day after she was born, and is grateful for all the opportunities that gave her access to the knowledge she has learned.

Martin shares, The Snowflake Prince has been born in the Land of Snow. He has much to learn about who he is and what his joy will be. The Land of Snow exists in the time-frame realm of infinity plus. The King and Queen of the Land of Snow are the most caring parents in the entire land and they love and guide their little Prince through the early years of his life. Ultimately, as the little Prince was growing, he learned more and more about his beautiful Land of Snow, and how and why he was changing and getting bigger and stronger. He even felt he was born to do something very special.

From a great distance, he saw a world floating far, far away and seemed to be drawn to it. His loving parents tell him why he is so drawn to this world as he grows bigger and stronger, and all the elements in the Land of Snow will also be by his side to help and protect him, when he is ready for his great journey. The Snowflake Prince has many adventures while taking this great journey, all of which are amazing, thrilling, exciting, and also comforting. The young Snowflake Prince learns of his importance during a celestial event that would forever change the world he journeyed to and then managed to find his way home to the Land of Snow and his loving parents intact.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, C.G. Martins new book takes young readers along an adventurous flight across worlds as the great young Prince leaves for an extraordinary quest. Here, one will find an enjoyable read worth sharing!

View a synopsis of The Snowflake Prince on YouTube.

Consumers can purchaseThe Snowflake Prince at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Snowflake Prince, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
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Far fewer nonwhite students in the Worcester Public Schools have opted in for a return to in-person classrooms with hybrid learning than their white counterparts, according to a new briefing from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.

A cohort of students who opted in for the districts hybrid model returned to in-person classrooms today for the first time in almost a year after the district switched to remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. The hybrid model will operate with two cohorts where students are in classrooms for two-days a week and remote learning on the days they are not physically in school.

A new briefing released today from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau reveals a demographic divide of the students who have opted in for the hybrid model and those who have not.

Using data released from Worcester Public Schools, the bureau reports that district-wide 62% percent of white students opted into hybrid learning compared to 45% of Hispanic students, 52% of Black Non-Hispanic students, 46% of Asian students and 44% of American Indian students.

White students and Hispanic students will each represent 37 percent of total hybrid enrollment, despite the fact that white students are 29 percent of total district enrollment and Hispanic students are 43 percent, the briefing states.

Demographic differences are significant at the individual school level, too, the bureau says.

Schools where the student body is at least 40 percent white saw 64 percent of the students opted into hybrid learning, while schools where more than 40 percent of students are nonwhite opted in at a rate of 51 percent, the Research Bureau reports.

And that same pattern applies to the Hispanic population as well, the report said.

Schools where Hispanic students are less than 30 percent of enrollment had a 66 percent hybrid opt-in rate, while schools where Hispanic students are at least 30 percent of the population had a 51 percent hybrid opt-in rate, the bureau writes.

Below, you can view an interactive map created by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau that is searchable and illustrates hybrid opt-in rate for Worcester Public Schools by school and geographic location. If you are having trouble viewing the map, click here.

Massachusetts education officials recently approved a plan for Worcester to delay its return to full-time learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the district to bring K-8 students back five days a week in May. Students with high needs returned to Worcester school buildings on March 15 for hybrid learning.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is requiring districts to have full-time in-person learning for K-5 students by April 5 and for grade 6-8 students by April 28. Parents are allowed to keep their children at home for remote learning for the rest of the school year.

Worcester asked the department to delay the return to five days of in-person learning for K-8 students until May 3, saying the district needed more time to transition to its hybrid learning model.

Last week, Worcester and Boston both reported 10 staff COVID-19 cases, the highest number of educator cases among districts.

Related Content:
The European Union on Monday condemned comments by a Montenegrin minister who expressed doubts about the genocide in Srebrenica, considered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

In 1995, during Bosnias devastating 1990s war, Serb forces massacred 8,000 Muslim men and teenagers in Srebrenica. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice ruled that this was genocide.

But Justice Minister Vladimir Leposavic told parliament last week: Im ready to admit that there was a genocide in Srebrenica when that is unequivocally determined.

Leposavic, a pro-Serb politician who has addressed nationalist rallies, is also a legal advisor of Montenegros powerful Serbian Orthodox Church.

Asked about the ministers comments, EU spokesperson Ana Pisonero told journalists: It is well known that the EU rejects and condemns any denial, relativisation or misinterpretation of the genocide in Srebrenica.

On Twitter, she wrote: Any country aspiring to join the EU is expected to comply with and promote EU values of democracy, human rights, tolerance and justice.

This includes treating victims of genocide with utmost respect and dignity.

Several Western embassies in Podgorica have already denounced Leposavics remarks, while opposition politicians have called on him to resign.

A statement from Montenegros government stressed that it condemned all war crimes committed during the bloody breakup of former Yugoslavia.

But it added: The government neither wants, nor can change decisions made by international courts, but also (doesnt want to) proclaim one nation as genocidal, and another one as holy.
TORONTO - There is a light at the end of the tunnel, COVID-19 experts say, even if it's hard to see it while more contagious virus variants plunge parts of Canada into the third wave of the pandemic.

A security guard gestures as people arrive at the City of Toronto operated mass COVID-19 vaccination site in East York Town Centre, servicing the Thorncliffe Park community on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

TORONTO - There is a light at the end of the tunnel, COVID-19 experts say, even if it's hard to see it while more contagious virus variants plunge parts of Canada into the third wave of the pandemic.

And while the route to a post-pandemic world may not be as linear as some may like, there's still reason for optimism, said Dr. Zain Chagla, medical director of infection control at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton.

"There's an end goal, there's a solution, there's a way we get back to normal without necessarily walloping our health-care system," he said.

That solution is vaccination, he said, and it's worth getting excited about despite the the slow pace of the immunization campaign, which has been blamed on supply shortages.

The vaccines likely won't get rid of COVID-19 entirely, Chagla said, but the death rate is falling, as is the number of people who have become seriously ill, though case counts are rising.

"I think we're probably going to see this start drying out in the community," he said. "I don't think the vaccines are ever gonna eradicate it off the face of the Earth. They're just gonna make this much more manageable with our day to day lives."

Many epidemiologists believe COVID-19 will become a manageable respiratory infection like the flu, posing a small threat but largely manageable through vaccination.

It can be hard to know exactly when a pandemic has ended, said Heather MacDougall, a professor of the history of public health at the University of Waterloo.

"Most pandemics, there's no formal moment when the World Health Organization says it's over," she said, noting that instead, regional officials are the ones to make that call, traditionally looking for two incubation cycles with no new infections.

But she said once we get to that point, there's still much work to be done.

The period following pandemics past typically spurred some form of action, she said.

After the SARS outbreak, there were numerous reports that shed light on the shortcomings of the government's response, and following the Spanish Flu in 1918 and 1919, the organizations that would become the Public Health Agency of Canada and Public Health Ontario were both founded.

"It's likely that there will be, again, a similar series of inquiries at provincial and federal levels to examine what went right and what was less successful," MacDougall said. "And it will be from those that we see whether there is going to be a paradigm shift and major institutional modification and renewal."

She said it will be up to members of the public to pressure the government to act.

"When governments are looking for areas to cut, and programs to disband, they tend to look for groups like (public health agencies), because normally there isn't much in the way of public support for them until the event actually happens," she said. "And afterwards, people have a tendency to revert back to the pre-pandemic form of disinterest in sustained disease prevention."

The top doctor in one of the nation's hardest hit regions said he's hopeful that Canadians won't lose sight of lessons learned during this pandemic.

The demographics that were most affected by COVID-19 tended to be marginalized groups, such as people of colour and people in lower income brackets, said Dr. Lawrence Loh, medical officer of health in Ontario's Peel Region.

"It's telling that the populations that have been hardest hit by the pandemic were the same populations that had challenges with health status, even before the pandemic," he said.

That speaks to the need to strengthen health-care infrastructure and fight against structural inequities going forward, he said.

And beyond the systemic issues, people will also have to grapple with the personal, said Renee El-Gabalawy, director of the Health, Anxiety and Trauma Lab at the University of Manitoba.

The number of people experiencing stress, anxiety and depression has increased during the pandemic, and it's unlikely that those people will just bounce back once they're able to see friends and family again, El-Gabalawy said.

"We've had to change the way we act and navigate in the world, and those kinds of things get conditioned over time," she said. "After a situation like this ends, you're still left with those conditioned responses."

She said that's played out -- and been studied -- before, following mass traumas such as hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks.

But she said the story of mental health during the pandemic isn't all bad.

While some people have struggled, others have found new coping mechanisms, El-Gabalawy said, such as exercising regularly and staying in close touch with friends and family, even from a physical distance.

"If people were able to figure out adaptive coping strategies, they may be able to take those with them as they progress on their life trajectory," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will decide on further building bilateral relations between Russia and the United States, after the steps taken by the new U.S. administration will be analysed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Analysis is being conducted, we are reviewing the steps taken by the new U.S. administration," Peskov explained.

He noted that this analysis will take time. "Decisions on our policy will certainly be made later," Peskov went on to say, stressing that in line with the Russian constitution it is the head of state who determines the foreign policy of the country," the spokesman said.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov arrived in Moscow from Washington for consultations on March 21. Last week, Peskov said Putin was not currently planning a meeting with the diplomat. According to Peskov, Antonov has not yet briefed Putin on the current state of relations with Washington.

On March 16, U.S. President Joe Biden suggested the Russian authorities would have to "pay a price" for their alleged interference in U.S. elections. Later, the White House and the U.S. State Department made statements that Washington counts on constructive cooperation with Moscow in areas of mutual interest, but is not going to smooth over the contradictions in bilateral relations.
In a bloody crackdown on Saturday, police and troops in Myanmar shot and killed at least 114 people as protests continued across the country against the February 1 military coup that ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. According to the latest tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 423 people have been killed since the coup.

As the junta tightens its censorship, details of what is happening in the streets of Myanmar are becoming increasingly limited. As of March 18, the last newspapers that were independent of the regime suspended publication, leaving the population dependent on online media and social media, which have also been hit by restrictions and shutdowns imposed by the junta.

Protesters take positions behind a makeshift barricade as armed riot policemen gather in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, March 8, 2021. (AP Photo)

In its round up of the militarys violence, Myanmar Now confirmed that the highest number of casualties had occurred in the two largest cities28 deaths in Yangon and 38 in Mandalay. The killings, however, extended across the country, an indication of the extent of the protest movement against the coup. The internet publication provided some details of events in Yangons townships:

* At least four people were killed and several injured in the suburban township of Dala when troops opened fire on protesters outside a police station demanding the release of two women.

* Four people were shot and killed in Insein during a protest crackdown.

* A one-year-old baby was wounded after being shot in the eye with a rubber bullet in Yangons Mayangone township.

In Mandalay, among those killed was a 13-year-old girl in Meikhtila who was shot in her house after security forces opened fire on residential areas. She was one of at least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 who were killed across the country on Saturday.

Dozens of deaths were reported in other towns, such as Dawei and Kawthaung in Tanintharyi region; Monywa, Sagaing and Shwebo in Sagaing region; Myingyan and Sintgaing in Mandalay; Kyaikhto in Mon State; and Pathein in Irrawaddy region.

The Irrawaddy provided further details of events in Yangons Insein township, where residents set up roadblocks in the early hours of Saturday. Police and soldiers moved in and the killings began from 6 a.m. Insein residents fought back with whatever they could findfrom broken bricks to slingshots, Molotov cocktails and burning piles of tires.

A nurse who was part of a local medical team told the publication that among the dead and wounded were a drinking water deliveryman and other bystanders. She denounced the military as devils, asking: How can a human being behave like this? I cant even find any proper words to describe their brutality.

Reports have emerged of heavy fighting between the military and various ethnic militias, predominantly in the countrys north. An estimated 3,000 people fled across the border to Thailand after military jets bombed areas controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) militia, killing at least three civilians.

The brutal military crackdown continued on Sunday as protests re-emerged in a number of cities and towns. Eyewitnesses reported that security forces opened fire on a funeral for a 20-year-old student in Bago near Yangon. While casualties have not been confirmed, another 12 people were killed yesterday in shootings elsewhere in Myanmar.

Saturdays killings took place as the junta celebrated Myanmars Armed Forces Day, featuring a military parade in the capital, Naypyitaw. At the parade, junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, absurdly declared that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.

The military has attempted to justify its seizure of power with false accusations that national elections held last November, won overwhelming by Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD), were rigged. It has also claimed that young protesters are being misled by foreign henchmenagain without any substantiation.

It is certainly the case that the US and its allies are seeking to exploit the situation in Myanmar for their own purposes. Saturdays killings were followed by an outpouring of diplomatic protests. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that his country was horrified by the bloodshed perpetrated by Burmese security forces, showing that the junta will sacrifice the lives of the people to serve the few.

In a staggering display of hypocrisy, the heads of the military of the US and 11 American allies, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea and New Zealand, issued a statement condemning the use of force against unarmed protesters. A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protectingnot harmingthe people it serves, it sanctimoniously declared.

All these powers are responsible for war crimes, including the killing of civilians, in the illegal wars of aggression by US imperialism in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

The Biden administration is ramping up another human rights campaign in a bid to further its strategic interests in Myanmar and the broader Indo-Pacific region. The campaign is directed in particular against China and Russia, which demonstrated their support for the junta by sending representatives to Saturdays military parade.

The US has no interest in democratic rights in Myanmar, or anywhere else for that matter. Biden was vice-president in the Obama administration which brokered a rotten deal between Suu Kyi and the military to free her in 2010 and allow elections on the basis of an anti-democratic constitution. Suu Kyi effectively became the roving ambassador for a military-dominated regime, most graphically exposed by her defence of the militarys atrocities against the Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017.

The Obama administration regarded the agreement as a major diplomatic achievement because Myanmar, which had been closely aligned with China, shifted its foreign policy stance toward the US. All of sudden, in Washingtons propaganda, Myanmar was no longer a rogue state but a developing democracy and US relations developed on all levelsincluding with the countrys military. Obamas intervention in Myanmar was part of his broader pivot to Asia against China, including preparations for war.

Now the Biden administration, as it ramps up its confrontation with China, sees the opportunity to again exert pressure, including by imposing sanctions, to fashion a regime in Naypyitaw more aligned with Washington. The US is perfectly willing to again use Suu Kyi and ignore her defence of the militarys crimes against the Rohingya. Suu Kyi and her NLD represent sections of the capitalist class in Myanmar that are hostile to the militarys economic domination and have oriented to the West for support.

Suu Kyis willingness to function as apologist for the militarys atrocities highlights the political weakness of the protest movement against the February 1 coup. While the protests have involved broad layers of the population, including sections of the working class, opposition leaders have limited its aims to the reinstatement of the NLD government led by Suu Kyi, which repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice democratic rights and accommodate to the military.

A genuine struggle for democracy needs to address the pressing social issues confronting working people, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemicunemployment, low wages and exploitative conditions, grinding poverty. All sections of the bourgeoisie, including those represented by the NLD, are hostile to a mass movement of the working class that begins to raise its own class demands that can be fulfilled only through the fight for a workers and peasants government and socialist policies.
"We want to give back to the community for their continued support not only to us, but to our artists and performers, as well, which is why we decided to give out free cobbler."

Chisholm Trail Heritage Center staff members are gearing up to host their Cowboys and Cobblers event and an artist reception for their new featured artist, Skip Rowell, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. April 10 at CTHC.

Rowell, a Cherokee/Choctaw artist from McAlester, Oklahoma, will have his artwork on exhibit at CTHC from April 1 to June 30. His exhibit, titled Different Strokes, will feature oil paintings, scrimshaw, custom knives, carvings and jewelry. To view Skips work, visit http://www.skiprowell.com

CTHC staff members decided their 2021 theme for featured art would be art by Native American artists.

When we were looking for potential artists to feature, we were thrilled with Skips work, said Scott Metelko, CTHC executive director. We are excited to see what pieces he brings in and look forward to hearing from our guests about what they think of the art.

Rowells artist reception will be in the Garis Gallery of the American West and CTHCs Cowboys and Cobblers event will be hosted under the portico.

We are excited to be hosting Skips reception and our Cowboys and Cobblers event at the same time, said Leah Mulkey, CTHC assistant director. We hope the community will enjoy both events.

Cowboys and Cobblers is set to feature performances by cowboy poets Jay Snider and Straw Berry. Free cobbler will be served until supplies run out.

We want to give back to the community for their continued support not only to us, but to our artists and performers, as well, which is why we decided to give out free cobbler, Mulkey said.

CTHC board member, Julie McKinney, plans to bring her chuckwagon and demonstrate to guest how to cook the cobblers over a campfire.

Entry for the artist reception and Cowboys and Cobblers is free to everyone. Museum entry will also be free from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM on April 10. For more information about Rowells exhibit or Cowboys and Cobblers, call 580-252-6692 or email leah@onthechisholmtrail.com.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Tuesday that the Senate filibuster has no racial history at all. None. Theres no dispute among historians about that.

Thats false. Historians know the filibuster is closely intertwined with the nations racial past and present. To be sure, senators have filibustered issues other than civil rights over the Senates history. But it is impossible to write that history without recognizing the centrality of race.

The Constitution empowers each chamber of Congress to select its own rules. When the House and the Senate adopted their respective rule books in 1789, both sets of rules included a motion known as the previous question motion.

Today, when a House majority is ready to vote on a pending matter, a member moves the previous question. If a majority votes in favor of the motion, debate ends and the chamber advances to a vote on the underlying measure.

But thats not the way the previous question worked in the first years of the House and the Senate. Back then, lawmakers had not yet weaponized the rule into a parliamentary tool for empowering a simple majority to cut off debate. As such, in 1805, Vice President Aaron Burr in his final address to the Senate advised senators to eliminate the previous-question motion from their procedural arsenal. Senators heeded his advice and dropped the rule in 1806.

Did issues affecting race, civil rights or slavery drive that 1806 decision? No. But keep in mind: It is highly unlikely that any senator in 1806 anticipated, let alone understood, the consequences of eliminating the previous-question motion.

House lawmakers figured it out. Just a few years later, a House majority in 1811 voted to set a new meaning of the rule: If a simple majority voted to move the previous question, debate ended and the House moved to a vote on the underlying matter. When 19th-century Senate leaders tried to adopt the new House version of the previous question motion, filibusters blocked their moves. In other words, senators kept talking to avoid a vote  and the Senate lacked any procedural move to shut them down.

Foremost among filibustering senators in the 19th century was the proslavery faction, led by John Calhoun of South Carolina, which exploited the Senates lax rules of debate to block measures that threatened Southern white landholders ability to depend on enslaved peoples labor.

When Steven Smith and I dug up the history of the filibuster in Politics or Principle? Filibustering in the U.S. Senate, we identified 40 filibusters between the first one in 1837 and the creation of the cloture rule in 1917, which enabled the Senate to shut down debate with the support of two-thirds of senators present and voting. Of those 40, at least 10 targeted racial issues  including filibusters over statehood for California and Kansas and, after the Civil War, protecting Southern Blacks voting rights.

To study filibusters after the Senate created cloture in 1917, Smith and I counted up measures killed by a filibuster. We sought evidence that a majority of the House, a majority of the Senate, and the president favored a measure  and yet it still died after debate on the Senate floor.

In doing so, we found that, of measures derailed by filibusters in the 20th century, civil rights measures dominated. Of the 30 measures we identified between 1917 and 1994, exactly half addressed civil rights  including measures to authorize federal investigation and prosecution of lynching, to ban the imposition of poll taxes and to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race in housing sales and rentals.

Keep in mind, the 20th century filibuster scorched many civil rights measures beyond those that it killed outright. Senators secured passage of several celebrated measures to addressing racial equity  such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964  after defeating filibusters by segregationist senators. That history is surely why former president Barack Obama last year called the filibuster a Jim Crow relic.

Attitudes on race continue to color contemporary Senate filibusters. Just last year, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, temporarily halted passage of a measure that would make lynching a federal hate crime.

Battles over reforming the Senates cloture rule also often have been proxy wars over civil rights. Smith and I identified a key vote associated with each of the dozen major efforts to reform Senate debate rules between 1918 and 1994. In three-quarters of the reform efforts, senators positions on civil rights shaped their votes on reform  even after taking account of other forces that might influence their votes. Only after senators defeated civil rights filibusters in the 1960s did attitudes toward rule reform become less tied to attitudes on civil rights.

Today, senators positions on racial matters tend to fall along party lines. That means legislative battles over measures to address racial equity  including police reform and voting rights  invariably divide senators along party lines.

Not every filibuster today, let alone historically, touches on racially charged issues. But it is impossible to recount the history of the filibuster without recognizing its profoundly racial history.

Doug Andres, the GOP leaders press secretary, later clarified that McConnell was referring specifically to the origins of the filibuster, and McConnell himself noted: The filibuster predates the debates over civil rights.

Thats factually accurate. But the GOP leader was responding to a reporters question about the senators previous statement that Multiple fact-checkers have torn into this simplistic notion that the rules of the Senate are rooted in racism, and he explicitly responded that the filibuster had no racial history. None.

Roots could be interpreted to mean more than origins, as could no racial history. A look at history shows that conflict over race and slavery shaped how the filibuster developed, which the GOP leaders press secretary acknowledged.
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Chennai, March 29 : An FIR was filed on Monday against Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker Pollachi Jayaraman's son Praveen and six of his accomplices for assaulting a DMK leader in Tamil Nadu's Vadakkipalayam, police said.

The case was registered following a complaint by DMK leader and Okkalipalayam Panchayat President Parthasarathi Nambiraj that he was assaulted by Praveen and his friends on Sunday. He also alleged that Praveen had tried to run him over with a car and only the timely intervention of local people and party functionaries saved his life.

Nambiraj, in his complaint, said that he, along with a few DMK supporters, were waiting near the Madura Veeran Temple for the arrival of party candidate, Dr Varadarajan. As the candidate was about to reach, a group of young men were found shouting slogans against the DMK from a car parked nearby.

The DMK functionary said that he went to the car, in which Praveen and the others were, and requested them to move from the place as it was the venue of their function.

"But Praveen started shouting filthy abuse against me and he and his accomplices assaulted me. He told me that his father had deputed him and his friends to disturb the programme," he added.

Nambiraj told IANS that he escaped with minor bruises though they even tried to run him over with their car. "This type of politics can never be allowed and I expect the police to further the investigation without any bias," he said.
Meizu introduced its 18 series at the beginning of March, but back then the company said nothing about global availability. Now it has suddenly decided to start selling the devices online through AliExpress, and the prices start from $819.

Both the Meizu 18 and Meizu 18 Pro are available with Flyme 9 out of the box, but the listing also says China Version and not Global Version, strongly suggesting there is no Google Mobile Services on these flagships.

The Meizu 18 has three versions. The most affordable $819 units come in Purple with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. For just $50 extra, you can get double the internal storage.

The most expensive option of the vanilla Meizu 18 is $899 with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage and is offered only in White.

The Meizu 18 Pro was introduced White, Blue, and Gray, but only the last one is sold on AliExpress. It costs $1,019 and comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Source 1  Source 2 | Via
Neanderthals, our evolutionary cousins, used toothpicks nearly 46,000 years ago, a new study of their teeth has revealed.

A research team, headed by University of Wrocaws Dr. Wioletta Nowaczewska, examined two hominin teeth dating back 46,000 years (Pleistocene epoch).

The teeth  an upper premolar and a lower molar  were discovered in 2010 during the field research in Stajnia Cave in Poland.

They were found in two layers containing flint artifacts of the Micoquian tradition.

These teeth, together with the three permanent molars attributed to Neanderthal, increase the sample of fossil human specimens from this site to five, Dr. Nowaczewska and her colleagues noted.

The researchers analyzed the morphology of the teeth and mitochondrial DNA extracted from them.

In the case of the lower molar, one can see a complicated structure: a large number of tubercles, Dr. Nowaczewska said.

In the front part of the crown there was also a characteristic depression and enamel formation.

The good condition of the premolar allowed us to carry out 2D and 3D analysis of enamel thickness, digital reconstruction, virtual pulling of the enamel cap and assessment of enamel thickness, which in Neanderthals is thinner than in Homo sapiens.

All these features taken together point to Neanderthals, she said.

The scientists believe that the two teeth from Stajnia Cave belonged to a Neanderthal individual over 30 years old.

We found no pathological changes indicative of enamel growth disorders, hypoplasia or caries, they said.

The lower molar tooth shows signs of severe wear, which may be related to eating hard food.

It appears that the owner of the tooth used oral hygiene, they added.

Probably between the last two teeth there were food residues that had to be removed.

We dont know what he made a toothpick from  a piece of a twig, a piece of bone or fish bone.

It had to be fairly stiff, cylindrical object, which the individual used often enough to leave a clear trace.

A paper on the findings was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

_____

Wioletta Nowaczewska et al. 2021. New hominin teeth from Stajnia Cave, Poland. Journal of Human Evolution 151: 102929; doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102929
Hispanic people across the United States continue to be especially underrepresented among those vaccinated for Covid-19, according to a New York Times analysis of state-reported race and ethnicity information. The Hispanic share of the vaccinated population is less than the Hispanic general population in all states with large Hispanic communities.

Known Hispanic share of the vaccinated population and of the general population New Mexico Texas California Arizona Florida Colorado New York Illinois Connecticut Rhode Island Utah Oregon Washington Massachusetts Nebraska Oklahoma Maryland Hispanic share vaccinated Share of population 0% 0% 25% 25% 50% 50% Note: The states that were included had Hispanic populations of 10 percent or more. Nevada and New Jersey were excluded because they do not report the race and ethnicity of vaccinated people, but rather of all doses given. States define race and ethnicity differently and with varying levels of completeness  in some states as much as a third of vaccinations are missing race and ethnicity data. Comparisons between states should be made with caution.

Barriers to vaccine access faced in many Hispanic communities  alongside the structural limitations communities of color generally face  stand in the way of higher vaccination rates, even as the vaccine becomes more widely available, according to public health experts and community health organizers.

There is limited access to the digital tools needed to secure an appointment, for instance, especially among those who are older and live in immigrant communities.

Our folks dont have emails, they dont have computers at home, said James Rudyk, executive director of the Northwest Side Housing Center in Chicago, which runs vaccine clinics in Belmont Cragin, a largely Hispanic neighborhood. They have smartphones, but they are not navigating registration systems that want you to fill out pages and pages of information.

And often information about vaccine eligibility and registration is only readily available in English.

People didnt even know that there was a vaccine when we talked to them, said Gilda Pedraza, the executive director of the Latino Community Fund in Atlanta, which called hundreds of older Hispanic people in late February to organize a vaccine clinic, before the state health department had posted eligibility information in Spanish.

Counties across the United States with significant Hispanic populations are more likely to face technology and language barriers, as well as cost barriers to pursuing health care, and are less likely to have insurance.

U.S. counties grouped by residents access to information Counties with the: Less Hispanic than national avg. Best access

Top 20% Worst access

Bottom 20% More Hispanic than national avg. Majority Hispanic U.S. counties grouped by residents health care cost barriers Counties with the: Less Hispanic than national avg. Fewest barriers

Top 20% Most barriers

Bottom 20% More Hispanic than national avg. Majority Hispanic Source: Surgo Ventures, Covid-19 Vaccine Coverage Index

Vaccine clinic organizers also report that Hispanic members of their communities, many of them uninsured, are unaware that the vaccine is free for all and have expressed concern about its cost. Some, especially essential workers with limited or no time off, say that they cant miss work to get a shot or cant afford to miss a day if they have side effects from the vaccine.

And while the Biden administration has stated that getting a vaccine will not affect a persons immigration status, community health workers say this is still a major concern for immigrant families.

Yesterday I received two calls from people who are in the process of trying to regularize their situation, and they were saying, We would rather not have our vaccine, because what if they find out that we got it and it affects our immigration process? Ms. Pedraza said. And I said, You might not live to see your immigration process if you dont get your vaccine.

A trusted health care provider who shares information about the vaccine can alleviate some of these barriers, according to public health experts. But Hispanic people are less likely to have an existing relationship with a health care provider. And counties with significant Hispanic populations are less likely to have dependable or regular access to health care.

U.S. counties grouped by access to routine medical care Counties with the: Less Hispanic than national avg. Most care

Top 20% Least care

Bottom 20% More Hispanic than national avg. Majority Hispanic U.S. counties grouped by residents who have a regular doctor Counties with the: Less Hispanic than national avg. Most residents

Top 20% Least residents

Bottom 20% More Hispanic than national avg. Majority Hispanic Source: Surgo Ventures, Covid-19 Vaccine Coverage Index

Community health advocates who live and work in the neighborhoods they are helping to vaccinate are taking on some of this responsibility and sharing critical information about the vaccine.

We had a nearly 20 percent no-show rate initially for our first day of second doses and we got that down to less than 2 percent with phone calls, Mr. Rudyk said. Lots of people thought one dose was enough.

And while concerns about vaccine safety often come up, advocates say that talking through these fears, even if it takes time, helps people decide to get immunized.

Seeing people like you, speaking like you, it is critical, Ms. Pedraza said. It is what changes behavior.

States that partner with community-based organizations are administering the vaccine more equitably than others, said Rita Carreon, vice president of health at UnidosUS, a civil rights organization for Hispanic communities.

In the states included in The Timess analysis, the gap between the Hispanic share of the general population and the vaccinated population has declined slightly since the start of the month. Widening eligibility for the vaccine in some states may be contributing to the narrowing gap, but public health experts say that barriers to access still play an outsized role in the disparity.

The vaccination gap has narrowed since early March Gap between the Hispanic share of the general population and the Hispanic share of those vaccinated in each state Change from Mar. 3   to Mar. 20. pts. 2.4 California 3.5 Texas 3.3 Colorado 1.3 New Mexico 0.8 Connecticut 3.2 Washington 2.3 New York 1.3 Utah 0.7 Illinois 1.8 Florida 0.6 Rhode Island 0.2 Oregon 1.4 Nebraska 0.3 Massachusetts 1.7 Oklahoma 0.3 Maryland Note: The data represents the most recent available figures collected by The Times by March 3 and March 20. In a few cases, the data that states provided publicly by those dates came from as much as a week earlier. Arizona was excluded as it changed the way it reports race and ethnicity between the two surveys, so figures were not comparable.

Federal efforts to close the vaccination gap for Hispanic Americans through community health centers, while limited in size, are having some success. While the Hispanic share of the U.S. population is about 18 percent, Hispanic people made up more than a quarter of those nationwide who received their first dose at a community health center, according to an analysis of federal data by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
We warned about this, but repeated warnings by myself and other patriots were scorned. And now this.

How did Nigeria get here? We got here by abandoning the people centred leadership and free trade and deregulatory policies of the Obasanjo years (which saw us maintain an almost single digit unemployment rate), and implementing discredited command and control policies that have led to massive capital flight from Nigeria.

And even with the paucity of funds, we continue to ramp up government involvement in sectors that ought to be left to the private sector, with the latest being the ill advised $1.5 billion so called rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery that has failed to turn a profit for years.

What this government must realise is that the unprecedented insecurity Nigeria is facing is the result of youth unemployment. Idleness is the worst feature of unemployment because it channels the energy of our youth away from production, and towards destruction, and that is why Nigeria is now the third most terrorised nation on Earth.

Now, how do we address this challenge?

In 2020, I recommended that to immediately and drastically bring down youth unemployment, every family in Nigeria with at least one school age child, and earning less than $800 per annum should receive a monthly stipend of 5000 Naira from the government via their BVN and NIN on the condition that they verifiably keep their children in school.

My recommendation still stands, and stands even stronger now that we have crossed the rubicon in youth unemployment. If we can get the 13.5 million out of school Nigerian children into school, we will turn the corner in one generation. If we do not do this, then the floodgates of unemployment will be further opened next year, and in the years to come.

We can no longer say we cannot afford this. We can.

As a nation, we are better off privatising our refineries and the NNPC through the time-tested LNG model in which the FG owns 49% equity and the private sector 51%. Recall that in 20 years ending 2020, the NLNG had delivered $18.3 billion dividends to government irrespective of taxes and other benefit accruals to the country. This will not only free the government of needless spendings, but also clean up the infrastructure mess in the petroleum downstream sector.

I say this because the fastest way to bring down a world record unemployment rate is via incentivised education. An educated citizenry are more employable and more self employable.

Increased education has been scientifically linked with lower rates of crime and insecurity, along with lower infant and maternal mortality, and a higher lifetime income.

We must then incorporate those youth who are above school age into a massive public works programme. There was talk of 774,000 Special Public Works jobs for the youth, which was to have started in January of 2021. This is a commendable step, but it must be done with proper agenda, rather than propaganda.

Perhaps we may want to consider the Malaysian model, whereby with the exception of very few highly specialised jobs, foreign contractors are not allowed to import labour into the country.

And we also need to do three things urgently to encourage capital inflow and foreign direct investment.

First, Nigeria must move towards a single exchange rate to be determined by market forces. Secondly, the federal and state governments must reduce taxes, to make Nigeria more business friendly. And finally, financial and monetary institutions, like the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, must be free from the type of political influence that resulted in the prohibition of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

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We are at a precipice as a nation and the truth is that all stakeholders and elder statesmen have to speak up on time, while there is still a Nigeria to save. This government obviously lacks the capacity to address our current challenges, and we must help them, not because of the government, but because of our people.

In a situation where we are simultaneously the world headquarters for extreme poverty, the world capital for out of school children, and the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, there is a very real and present danger that we might slip into the failed states index - God forbid!

Vanguard News Nigeria
The Gambia's Information Minister, Ebrima Sillah, has on Wednesday assured lawmakers that his Ministry will investigate the circumstances surrounding the erection of two towers in the premises of Bakau Health Center.

Minister Sillah said this during question and answer session with the legislators at the National Assembly.

Member for Bakau, Hassan Touray, asked the minister about the modalities and arrangements on the network antennas erected in the Bakau Health center premises.

Information Minister stated that the staff of the ministry visited the health center to ascertain the nature of communication infrastructure deployed at the said premises. He said he has confirmed the existence of two towers within the facility's premises, which according to the hospital staff belong to Africell and Qcell.

He said as provided in the Information Act of 2019, as amended, his ministry in consultation with PURA is responsible for issuance of licenses to operators in the ICT industry. But, he said his ministry and PURA do not in any way determine the area or the premises the operator would use to deploy its infrastructure in order to provide services to customers.

He said notwithstanding this, it is important to note that, as far as acquiring properties and premises for the deployment of ICT Infrastructure by licensed operators is concerned, the land is acquired through factors such as identifying a private property and a matter of negotiation and agreement between the operator and the owner of the premises etc.

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"Since MoICI is never involved in the process of acquiring properties for the deployment of infrastructure for private operators, and that the said towers are erected at the said premises of the Ministry of Health. I would like to suggest that the relevant authority be engaged for further clarification on this issue," he said.

Bakau lawmaker further asked the minister to inform the assembly whether there is any compensation package for the erection of the said towers in the health facility's premises.

Minister Sillah said: "If the operator actually engaged the land owner on the erection of a tower in his or her particular land, what happens is that the land can be leased, bought and rent, depending on the agreement formula for which compensation is given. But in this particular one, I don't actually know what the agreement is."

Momodou Ceesay, Member for Jangjangbureh, asked the Information Minister whether he can instruct the regulators to go and probe into the matter, since the ministry is responsible for issuance of license to operators.

Minister Sillah replied that his ministry will undoubtedly do the investigation, adding that they have already commenced probing into the matter.

Halifa Sallah, Serrekunda lawmaker, told the minister that it is prudent to raise the matter in Cabinet and get answers from the concerned Cabinet Minister to get the substance of what actually happened, rather than prolonging the whole chain of questioning into the issues. Minister Sillah said: "I will definitely do that. In fact this information reached us just recently and Cabinet is not sitting soon. But I will definitely do that, to help us determine what the arrangements are as per the issue".

European banking giant Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and Japanese bank Nomura (NYSE: NMR) issued warnings related to losses that are said tied to the collapse of highly-leveraged hedge fund Archegos Capital. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), which is said to have initiated the massive Archegos collateral selling, is said to see 'immaterial losses'.

Credit Suisse issued a trading update this morning to warn of a highly significant hit to its first-quarter results after a US hedge fund defaulted on margin calls.

While at this time it is premature to quantify the exact size of the loss resulting from this exit, it could be highly significant and material to our first quarter results, notwithstanding the positive trends announced in our trading statement earlier this month, Credit Suisse said in a statement.

As a result, shares of the Swiss banking titan fell over 13% in Zurich today.

Archegos Capital, which manages tens of billions of dollars, was founded by former Tiger Management equity analyst Bill Hwang. The margin calls caused a wave of selling pressure on Friday hitting U.S. media stocks and Chinese internet ADRs. Positions from Archegos were held via swaps, which allowed the fund to maintain anonymity while holding more than 10% economic exposure.

Similarly, Nomura said it is facing a potential loss of $2 billion following a default on margin calls by a U.S. hedge fund.

This estimate is subject to change depending on unwinding of the transactions and fluctuations in market prices, the bank said.

Nomura will continue to take the appropriate steps to address this issue and make a further disclosure once the impact of the potential loss has been determined.

Nomura share price closed 16.3% lower in Tokyo. On Friday, shares of Nomura hit a fresh 3-year high.

Nomura Holdings should be able to absorb losses of this size. It does raise a question of whether there are losses at other Japanese investment banks that just havent been revealed yet, but at this point it looks like this problem only affects Nomura. This is not something that will bring down the entire equity market, an industry source told Reuters.

The Japan-based bank is still assessing the impact of the potential loss on its full-year earnings to end-March. However, the bank has already informed investors that is canceling the planned issuance of $3.25 billion in senior notes.

As long as these losses are one-off in nature, 1H FY3/22 should be the timing of recovery, thus the impact on the longer-term outlook is relatively limited, Jefferies analysts wrote in a research memo.

Losses at Goldman Sachs from the unwinding of trades by Archegos are likely to be immaterial, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Goldman Sachs, along with Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), initiated the massive margin selling via block trades, the Wall Street Journal reported, which may have caught banks like Nomura and Credit Suisse off-guard. Concerned about their potential losses the banks sold as quickly as possible instead of an organized fashion, the Journal said.
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Supreme Court to hear Kentucky abortion case as Republican attorney general looks to intervene

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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a lawsuit surrounding whether or not Kentuckys attorney general can defend a law against dismemberment abortions that the state's Democrat Gov. refused to defend.

In an order issued Monday, the high court agreed to hear the case of Cameron v. EMW Womens Surgical Center. However, they are limiting the scope of the arguments to whether Republican Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron can intervene in the case.

I promised Kentuckians that I would defend our laws all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and thats what weve done, Cameron said in a statement Monday.



Since day one in office, weve fought to defend House Bill 454, even when the Beshear Administration refused to defend it. This law reflects the conscience of Kentucky by banning the gruesome practice of live dismemberment abortions, and its important that Kentuckians have a voice before our nations highest court. I was elected to provide that voice, and we look forward to making our case to the Supreme Court.

According to Amy Howe of Scotusblog.com, Kentucky's health secretary initially defended the law in court but declined to continue appealing the case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down the ban. Cameron then asked the Sixth Circuit for permission to intervene in the case and defend the law. However, the Sixth Circuit declined that request, which led Cameron to appeal to the nation's high court for permission to intervene.

The Susan B. Anthony List, a prominent pro-life lobbying organization, released a statement Monday expressing both support for the Supreme Court order and optimism over the outcome as it marks the first abortion-related case to be heard under the court's current 6-3 conservative majority.

It is encouraging news that the Supreme Court will hear this case, said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser in the statement.

State legislators acting on the will of the people have both the duty and the right to protect their most vulnerable citizens  born and unborn. We look forward to seeing this right upheld.

Known as House Bill 454, or the Human Rights of Unborn Children Act, Kentuckys dismemberment abortion ban was signed into law in 2018 by then-Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican.

In April 2018, soon after the law was signed, a district court temporarily blocked it from taking effect. And in May 2019, a permanent injunction was put on the legislation.

In June of last year, a three-judge Sixth Circuit panel upheld the lower court decision in a 2-1 ruling. The majority argued that the law placed an undue burden on women seeking an abortion since it required them to undergo other, purportedly less safe, procedures.

H.B. 454 conditions an individual's right to choose on her willingness to submit herself to an additional painful, risky, and invasive procedure, wrote Circuit Judge Eric Clay for the court majority.

At some point, that requirement itself becomes so onerous that it would substantially deter individuals from seeking an abortion. This is surely an undue burden.

In dissent, Circuit Judge John Bush concluded that the plaintiffs, which included the states lone abortion clinic plus two other abortion providers, lacked the standing to bring the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs' counsel was asked what EMW's physicians would do if a patient asked for fetal demise before a [dilation and evacuation abortion]. The answer of Plaintiffs' counsel made clear that the physicians would do nothing to honor this request and that her only option would be to travel out of state for the procedure, wrote Bush.

This admission and the evidence presented at trial demonstrate a potential conflict of interest that destroys Plaintiffs' standing to bring this facial constitutional challenge against H.B. 454.
A piece of California legislation to establish a statewide medical provider network for employees is raising a few eyebrows.

Assembly Bill 1465 would require the administrative director of the states workers compensation system to establish a statewide medical provider network, called the California Medical Provider Network, and give employees the choice to treat within their employers MPN or the CAMPN.

The bill was introduced in late February by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes, D-San Bernardino, and Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego. It was referred to the Assembly Committee on Insurance.

One coalition is now sounding a warning on the bill, saying it would undermine the system of providing medical care in Californias workers comp system and lead to significant cost increases for employers and lower quality care for injured workers.

The California Coalition on Workers Compensation, in partnership with American Property Casualty Insurance Association, California Chamber of Commerce, California Association of Joint Power Authorities, and Public Risk Innovation, Solutions, and Management, is opposing AB 1465.

A bill like this not only rolls back previous reforms but threatens the stability of the workers comp system as we know it, reads a recent email to CCWC members encouraging them to voice opposition to the bill.

Spokespersons for Reyes and Gonzalez were reached out to for comment.

The biggest concern in the bill is for those employers with MPNs, which are primarily large companies, said Mark Walls, vice president communications and strategic analysis for Safety National.

MPNs are believed to be keys to reducing costs and weeding out fraud in workers comp, Walls said.

Anything that could undermine that, the employer community is rightfully concerned about it, Walls said. This bill is basically an end-around the MPNs.

Setting up a statewide MPN would also no doubt be a big effort, he noted.

However, its not immediately clear how big of a financial impact giving workers a CAMPN would make.

I dont see any way that this would drive down costs, but it certainly could drive up costs, Walls said. Obviously the insurance community would be concerned about any type of legislation that could potentially increase claim costs in the state.

One area where the bill has a potential for a monetary impact to the system is that the bill does away with PPO discounts that the employer MPNs can provide, which, according to Walls, could be a big problem.

This could have a substantial impact on system costs which are currently being quantified, Walls said. Estimates are hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to the system if this bill were to pass.

Topics California Medical Professional Liability
Atiku Abubakar says a Bloomberg report on Saturday has proven him right on the state of the Nigerian economy.

A former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has again called on the federal government to sell off the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its refineries.

Mr Abubakar repeated the call on Sunday as part of his recommendations for defusing Nigeria's high unemployment time bomb.

His statement was in reaction to a report from Bloomberg Business on Saturday that Nigeria will soon have the highest unemployment rate on Earth, with an over 33 percent rate.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had said Nigeria's unemployment rate rose to 33.3 per cent in the final quarter of last year, indicating that 23.2 million or one in three working age Nigerians have no jobs or trade. This is the highest unemployment rate in Nigeria in at least 13 years and the second-highest in the world.

In his statement on Sunday, Mr Abubakar said the Bloomberg report had proven him right on the state of the economy.

"I have never felt so bad at being proven right, as I am by the report from Bloomberg Business on Saturday, March 27, 2021 that Nigeria is to emerge as the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, at just over 33%.

"We warned about this, but repeated warnings by myself and other patriots were scorned. And now this.

"How did Nigeria get here? We got here by abandoning the people-centred leadership and free trade and deregulatory policies of the Obasanjo years (which saw us maintain an almost single digit unemployment rate), and implementing discreditted command and control policies that have led to massive capital flight from Nigeria.

"And even with the paucity of funds, we continue to ramp up government involvement in sectors that ought to be left to the private sector, with the latest being the ill advised $1.5 billion so called rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery that has failed to turn a profit for years."

According to him, the government must realise that the insecurity Nigeria is facing is the result of youth unemployment.

"Idleness is the worst feature of unemployment because it channels the energy of our youth away from production, and towards destruction, and that is why Nigeria is now the third most terrorised nation on Earth."

Way forward

The Peoples Democratic Party leader suggested that a stipend should be given to every family monthly to cater for academic needs of their wards.

"In 2020, I recommended that to immediately and drastically bring down youth unemployment, every family in Nigeria with at least one school age child, and earning less than $800 per annum should receive a monthly stipend of 5000 Naira from the government via their BVN and NIN on the condition that they verifiably keep their children in school.

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"My recommendation still stands, and stands even stronger now that we have crossed the rubicon in youth unemployment.

"If we can get the 13.5 million out of school Nigerian children into school, we will turn the corner in one generation. If we do not do this, then the floodgates of unemployment will be further opened next year, and in the years to come."

He also said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as well as the country's refineries should be privatised.

"As a nation, we are better off privatising our refineries and the NNPC through the time-tested LNG model in which the FG owns 49% equity and the private sector 51%.

"Recall that in 20 years ending 2020, the NLNG had delivered $18.3 billion dividends to government irrespective of taxes and other benefit accruals to the country."

He said the privatisation will not only free the government of needless spendings, but also " clean up the infrastructure mess in the petroleum downstream sector."

He also commended the federal government's Special Public Works initiative that seeks to employ 774,000 youths.

"We must then incorporate those youth who are above school age into a massive public works programme. There was talk of 774,000 Special Public Works jobs for the youth, which was to have started in January of 2021. This is a commendable step, but it must be done with proper agenda, rather than propaganda."

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[March 29, 2021] NSR Report: Space Investments in 2020 Hit $7.7B in Record Year

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NSRs Emerging Space Investment Analysis, 3rd Edition report (ESIA3) released today, shows $7.7 billion in funding was raised in 2020 alone, bringing the total since 2000 to nearly $36 B. 2020 was definitely a record year for space investment, with M&As, exits, and new rounds closing as we witnessed more enthusiasm and optimism in the prospect for the Space market, states Shivaprakash Muruganandham, NSR Senior Analyst and report lead author.

The space investment scene, currently dominated by launch companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, is seeing a potential equilibrium take place between investment activity from Venture Capitalists (VC), traditional investors, and governments. Analytics companies that use space-derived data make up most of the recent newcomers in the satellite ecosystem but command less funding due to their lower-capital requirements. On the other hand, Earth Observation and Communications continue to mature and require larger amounts of funding to sustain their growth and pay for their infrastructure. Recent announcements of Special Acquisition Companies (SPAC), the speedier and less regulation-heavy version of an IPO, have brought a new wave of fresh funding but also a sign that some early investors want a satisfactory exit. With excess capital on the market, and timecloks on SPACs ticking down, NSR expects more space companies to go public in 2021, explains Arthur Van Eeckhout, NSR Analyst and report co-author. It will be very interesting to see how things pan out in the future, but right now, Space is a hot market for investors.



About the Report NSRs?Emerging Space Investment Analysis, 3rd Edition?(ESIA3) analyses the?dynamics and trends in the global new space?investment landscape?over the last?two decades, with a particular focus on 2019 and 2020.??

ESIA3 is the premier resource for assessing how private space companies are pushing the development of the commercial space sector. The report offers insight into this new ecosystem that is building innovative technologies and raising funds to new heights, in order to create critical infrastructure required for the future. The COVID-19 pandemics impact on emerging space companies funding is discussed, detailing how deal flows were impacted and investment perspectives changed during this time. Furthermore, the report offers business-critical insights on investments relating to 12 key sub-segments of the industry. For additional information on this report, including a full table of contents, list of exhibits and executive summary, please visit www.nsr.com or call NSR at +1-617-674-7743. Companies, Organizations, and Investors?Mentioned in?NSRs ESIA3: Accel, Airbus?Bizlab, ASI (Italian Space Agency),?Audacy, Audi,?Axelspace, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bigelow Aerospace, Blue Origin, Boeing, Bradford Industries, Capella Space, Chang Guang Technologies, Cloud Constellation, CNES?CosmiCapital, Deep Space Industries, Delta V, ELSE?Astrocast, European Investment Bank (EIB), European Space Agency  Business Incubation?Centers?(ESA-BICs),?exactEarth,?ExPace?(CASIC), Fleet, Founders Fund,?GoldenSpike,?GomSpace, Google,?HyperSat, ICEYE, Intelsat, iSpace China, JAXA, Kepler Communications, kiwi-microgravity,?LandSpace,?LeoLabs, Lockheed Martin, Luxembourg Space Fund, Mir Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NASA, Nexus Earth, NorthStar, O3b,?OneSpace,?OneWeb, Orbit Fab, Orbital ATK,?PeptiDream, Planet, Planetary Resources,?RocketLab,?Roscosmos, Satellite Applications Catapult, Sequoia Capital, SES, Skolkovo, Sky & Space Global, Skybox Imaging, Softbank, Space Nation, Space Tango, Space Technology Incubation Centre (S-TIC),?SpaceIL, Spaceport America, SpaceX, Spire,?Starbust?Accelerator,?Stratolaunch, Swarm, Taranis, Terran Orbital, The Spaceship Company, Thuraya,?Urthecast, Vector, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, Waypoint2Space, World View Enterprises, XCOR, and York Space Systems. About NSR NSR is the leading global market research and consulting firm focused on the satellite and space sectors, NSRs global team, unparalleled coverage and anticipation of trends with a high degree of confidence and precision than the competition is the cornerstone of all NSR offerings. First to market coverage and a transparent, dependable approach sets NSR apart as the key provider of critical insight to the satellite and space industries. Contact us at info@nsr.com to discuss how we can assist your business. Press Contact:

Kristen Kloster-Grady

NSR Marketing Director

KKloster@NSR.com



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New Delhi:

Rabiya Khan, mother of deceased Bollywood actress Jiah Khan, has penned down an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing for justice.

Rabiya has stated in her letter that most of the forensic evidence which was found in Jiah's case points towards certain homicide and not suicide.

The grieving mother turned to PM's radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' to share her grief. She mentioned how she has been continuously fighting to get justice for her daughter.

Jiah Khan who was part of movies like Ghajini and Houseful committed suicide on June 3, 2013. She was in a relationship with Sooraj Pancholi, who is Aditya Pancholi's son. Entire Bollywood fraternity was shocked at her death.

Rabiya had alleged that Sooraj was responsible for her daughter's death and it was not a case of suicide.

Police arrested Sooraj for abetting her suicide but he was released after the High Court granted him bail.

The High Court transferred the case to CBI in July 2014 after Rabia alleged that Police was not probing the case properly.

The state government had appointed Dinesh Tiwari as the special public prosecutor for the case. CBI challenged the same in the High Court and said that it would appoint its own counsel.

Rabiya also mentioned Kangana Ranaut in her letter and gave her props for speaking about an actor who allegedly assaulted and abused her when she was in a relationship with him.

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A private hospital in Dublin that used spare jabs to vaccinate teachers from an exclusive school must show accountability if it wants to protect its relationship with the state, Simon Coveney has warned.

Coronavirus vaccine operations at Beacon Hospital have been suspended after it used 20 doses, which were left over after a daily vaccination session, to vaccinate some staff members at St Gerard's private school in Bray.

Amid a continuing public furore about the incident, the Republic's Foreign Affairs Minister made clear that individuals involved in the decision needed to be held to account by the hospital's board.

His comments came as Irish health service executive (HSE) chief executive Paul Reid made clear there was "no rationale" for skipping over higher priority groups to vaccinate teachers. Mr Reid said the actions of the Beacon had inflicted a "body blow" on all those involved in the vaccine rollout programme.

The south Dublin hospital, which was administering vaccines as part of the state programme, has apologised for its decision, claiming it was made under "time pressure". The hospital admitted the move was not in line with the HSE's sequencing guidelines. The Beacon is a beneficiary of state contracts for outsourced medical services.

Yesterday, Mr Coveney stopped short of calling for the resignation of hospital chief executive Michael Cullen.

But, in an interview with RTE Radio One, he warned: "This is such a slap in the face to so many people and that's why people are so angry about this.

"So many families that have loved ones that are vulnerable to this virus patiently waiting for a vaccine seeing this story has generated an awful lot of anger."

He added that "the board of the Beacon Hospital have a responsibility now to ensure that individuals are held to account".

Mr Coveney also said his government will learn lessons from the unauthorised departures of three people from mandatory hotel quarantining.

Three people absconded from the first operating quarantine hotel - the Crown Plaza in Santry near Dublin Airport - in two different incidents on Saturday.

Two have since returned to the hotel. Gardai were continuing to hunt for the third yesterday.
[March 29, 2021] Kingston Digital Ships NV1 NVMe PCIe SSD

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announces the launch of the NV1 NVMe PCIe SSD. With efficient performance in a single-sided M.2 design, NV1 is the ideal entry-level drive for first-time NVMe users with laptops and small form factor PCs. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005083/en/ NV1 - Kingston's entry-level NVMe PCIe SSD (Photo: Business Wire) NV1 is a substantial storage solution with capacities up to 2TB. It features read/write speeds up to 2,100/1,700MB/s1, respectively, thus delivering 3x the performance of a SATA-based SSD. NV1 uses less power, emits less heat and has quicker load times making it ideal for users who appreciate responsiveness and ultra-fast data access but have systems with limited space. NV1 is available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities2 and is backed by a limited three-year warranty4, free tech support and legendary Kingston reliability. "Kingston is pleased to announce the next entry-level offering in its NVMe PCIe SSD product family to meet the needs of new and existing users," said Keith Schimmenti, SSD business manager, Kingston. "Whether users are upgrading a system or planning a new build, NV1 is designed for speed and dependability at an affordable price." In 2020, Kingston shipped over 20M SSDs globally, according to analyst firm Forward Insights. As one of the largest SSD suppliers in the world, Kingston also added an mSATA version of the KC600 SSD to support older laptop upgrades. The recent launches further show Kingston's commitment to creating the industry's most thoroughly tested and complete range of SSD solutions, for first-time users to prosumers to data center customers. For more information visit kingston.com. NV1 Features and Specifications: NVMe PCIe Performance : NV1 offers read/write speeds up to 2,100/1,700MB/s 1 (all capacities).

: NV1 offers read/write speeds up to 2,100/1,700MB/s (all capacities). Ideal for systems with limited space : Easily integrate into designs with M.2 connectors. Perfect for thin laptops and small form factor PCs.

: Easily integrate into designs with M.2 connectors. Perfect for thin laptops and small form factor PCs. Multiple Capacities 2 : Available in a range of capacities up to 2TB to meet your data storage requirements.

: Available in a range of capacities up to 2TB to meet your data storage requirements. Form Factor : M.2 2280

: M.2 2280 Interface : NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 x 4 Lanes

: NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 x 4 Lanes Capacities 2 : 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB Endurance 3 : 500GB - 120TBW 1000GB - 240TBW 2000GB - 480TBW

Power Consumption: 500GB: 5mW Idle / 205mW Avg / 1.1W (MAX) Read / 3.3W (MAX) Write 1000GB: 5mW Idle / 220mW Avg / 1.1W (MAX) Read / 3.3W (MAX) Write 2000GB: 5mW Idle / 340mW Avg / 1.1W (MAX) Read / 3.3W (MAX) Write

Storage Temperature : -40C~85C

: -40C~85C Operating Temperature : 0C~70C

: 0C~70C Dimensions : 22mm x 80mm x 2.1mm

: 22mm x 80mm x 2.1mm Weight : 7g (All capacities)

: 7g (All capacities) Vibration Operating : 2.17G (7-800Hz)

: 2.17G (7-800Hz) Vibration Non-operating : 20G (20-1000Hz)

: 20G (20-1000Hz) Warranty/Support4: Limited 3-year warranty with free technical support







NV1 Part Numbers Part Number Capacity SNVS/500G 500GB SNVS/1000G 1TB SNVS/2000G 2TB

The SSD is designed for use in desktop and notebook computer workloads and is not intended for Server environments. 1 Based on "out-of-box performance" using a PCIe 3.0 motherboard. Speed may vary due to host hardware, software, and usage. 2 Some of the listed capacity on a Flash storage device is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. As such, the actual available capacity for data storage is less than what is listed on the products. For more information, go to Kingston's Flash Memory Guide at kingston.com/flashguide. 3 Total Bytes Written (TBW) is derived from the JEDEC Client Workload (JESD219A). 4 Limited warranty based on 3 years or "Percentage Used" which can be found using the Kingston SSD Manager (Kingston.com/SSDManager). For NVMe SSDs, a new unused product will show a Percentage Used value of 0, whereas a product that reaches its warranty limit will show a Percentage Used value of greater than or equal to one hundred (100). See Kingston.com/wa for detail. Kingston can be found on: YouTube Instagram Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Kingston Is With You About Kingston Digital, Inc. From big data, to laptops and PCs, to IoT-based devices like smart and wearable technology, to design-in and contract manufacturing, Kingston helps deliver the solutions used to live, work and play. The world's largest PC makers and cloud-hosting companies depend on Kingston for their manufacturing needs, and our passion fuels the technology the world uses every day. We strive beyond our products to see the bigger picture, to meet the needs of our customers and offer solutions that make a difference. To learn more about how Kingston Is With You, visit Kingston.com. Editor's Note: For additional information, evaluation units or executive interviews, please contact David Leong, Kingston Technology Company, Inc. 17600 Newhope Street, Fountain Valley, CA (News - Alert) USA 92708, 714-438-1817 (Voice). Press images can be found in Kingston's press room here. Kingston and the Kingston logo are registered trademarks of Kingston Technology Corporation. IronKey (News - Alert) is a registered trademark of Kingston Digital, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005083/en/

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Federal officials have sued the operator of a hotel in Waller, Texas, after it fired an employee who sought medical help after being exposed to carbon monoxide and reported the incident.

According to U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administrations lawsuit, in January 2019, a worker at a Holiday Inn Express & Suites hotel in Waller alerted their employer that exposure to carbon monoxide made them ill and asked the employer to call an ambulance. In addition to refusing the workers request, the employer allegedly threatened to terminate the employee.

After going to the hospital, the worker was terminated, OSHA said.

Following an investigation on the employees behalf, OSHA filed the lawsuit alleging that the hotels operator, All Seasons Hospitality and Investments LLC and its owner, Tanvir Shahmohd fired the employee for engaging in protected activity, in violation of federal law.

Filed on March 25, 2021, the departments suit asks the court to order the defendants to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Acts anti-retaliation provisions, reinstate the employee, expunge the employees personnel record and pay the employee back wages, interest, compensatory and punitive damages and other remedies.

The lawsuit is Walsh v. All Seasons Hospitality and Investments, LLC, et al.

Source: OSHA

Topics Lawsuits Texas Workers' Compensation
Border Democrat Shares Another Batch of Leaked Photos From Border Patrol Facilities

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose congressional district lies along the southern border, shared another batch of photos that were sourced from Border Patrol facilities.

Cuellar aired the photos during a CBS News segment on Sunday morning. The photos showed numerous unaccompanied minors being held in overcrowded conditions, sitting on the floor with foil blankets, and more.

Border Patrol does not want to keep people there longer than 72 hours, Cuellar told the network. But theres two issues, two factors coming into play. One, there are so manytheres a large number of people coming across every single day, groups of over 100 individuals coming in into the Border Patrol custody, number one. Number two, the flow through, that is through [Health and Human Services], theyre moving and theyre trying to get more shelters open.

Cuellar said that adult illegal immigrants are pretty much returned, adding that 71 percent out of 100,000 people that illegally crossed the border in February were adults.

Those are being returned, expelled back. Some family units are turned back into Mexico depending on the age of the kids. Thirteen and above are being returned, he remarked.

However, Cuellar said that some 2,000 people who entered illegally have been released into the United States by federal officials without any notices to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) court date in the future.

Theyre supposed to appear, show up, maybe in 60 days, report to an ICE office, he said. This is unprecedented.

And these family units, he warned, have placed pressure on border towns, NGOs, and others. Cuellar said that the Mexican government can provide more assistance in dealing with the surge in illegal immigration.
New signs will be erected in reserves in the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board area  including eight reserves on the Coast.

In total the work is expected to cost the local board around $160,273  with $58,970 of this being spent on signs in Hibiscus Coast reserves. This has gone up from the original cap of $100,000. The report presented by Auckland Council staff to the local board states that the original contract was signed in 2018 and prices for materials have increased since then, especially due to the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Auckland Council began assessing the condition of signs in the region in 2016.

The reserves that needed new signs were selected based on how many were in poor condition or the priority rating provided by the local board. Issues include signs with legacy Council logos, and the desire to provide better readability and more information. All the new signs will be in Te Reo Maori as well as English, in line with Council policy.

While sign upgrades and new signs in most reserves is costing in the vicinity of $3000-$6000, the biggest spend is on two local reserves  Orewa Reserve, $13,678 and Stanmore Bay Park, $12,341. A total of $10,742 is being spent on signs at Arundel Reserve in Orewa.

At last months meeting, the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board approved the proposed signs.

Designs will now be finalised and Council staff will undertake a final walk over of the reserves to ensure no changes to signage have occurred since the last site inspections.

Once this is completed, signs will be manufactured and installed.
A Kogi-based good governance activist and philanthropist, Engr Joseph Olusegun has urged governor Yahaha Bello to listen to the voice of reason and declare for 2023 Presidency.

Olusegun who disclosed this in Lokoja while addressing newsmen on behalf of his group, 'Yahaya Bello 4 Nigeria,' said the giant strides of the Governor in Kogi State and his success at uniting and securing thr State placed him above any potential competitor for the Villa seat in 2023.

While urging Nigerians to keep the pressure on Bello to run for the 2023 Presidential election, Olusegun said the governor has all it takes to take Nigeria to new heights.

"Governor Yahaya Bello has learnt his commitment to one Nigeria from President Muhammadu Buhari and he is the man who can make every Nigerian forget where he or she comes from and focus on building a united and virile nation."

He said his group has perfected plans to begin a nationwide tour to pile pressure on the Governor to accept the clarion call of Nigerians to run for the Presidency.

"We have members across the nation and we are already mobilizing them for a nationwide tour to mount pressure on Governor Yahaya Bello to declare for the 2023 Presidency.

"Kogi has shown example in youth and women inclusion in statecraft. Governor Yahaya Bello has worked with women and youth to expand the opportunities of our dear state. We want him to replicate this at the centre.Our leader also has great respect for elders too. That was why he institutionalized the Elders' Advisory Council in the State to create a platform for elders to advise the young drivers of the economy of Kogi State.

"Even those aspiring to be President already know that GYB is the man to beat because of his reputation in Healthcare, Agriculture, Education, Infrastructural Development, Youth and Women inclusiveness, unity, security and many other areas.We are very optimistic that he will listen to us and declare for the 2023 Presidency because Nigeria needs him," he added.
Tabcorp chairman Steven Gregg says a sale of its wagering arm hinges just as much on clearing regulatory hurdles and getting the racing industry onside as it does on bidders lifting their offers

The ASX-listed gambling group on Monday formally rejected a $3 billion offer from the British owner of rival outfit Ladbrokes for its wagering and media division, deeming it too low.

Tabcorp said the circa $3 billion offers for its wagering arm were too low. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

US private equity group Apollo was also reportedly in pursuit of Tabcorps wagering business, while the Murdoch familys Fox Corporation has also explored making an offer as it prepares to launch its own FoxBet brand in Australia.

However Tabcorp, valued at $10 billion, said it would now run a three-month strategic review that could open the door to either selling the wagering division or hiving it off from its booming lotteries division in a demerger.
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Real estate agent Deb Brittan decided to make a little friendly wager when she listed a home for sale in a sleepy Citrus Heights cul-de-sac.

She didnt expect that the house, located about 15 miles from Sacramento, would receive more than 20 offers, reports KTXL. The homeowners themselves, Anita and Barry Jackier, guessed it might reach eight or 10.

But in a single weekend, the 1,400-square-foot home with an asking price of $399,000 collected 122 offers in total.

That house was on the market for three hours, Anita Jackier told KTXL.

The couple said they planned to sell their longtime home after making the decision to move to Idaho. It boasts three bedrooms, two baths and a large backyard complete with a swimming pool and fountain.

People would think that it was underpriced, said Brittan, adding that the home sold for roughly $450,000, though the highest offer topped over $500,000. It was not underpriced. It was straight on with the comps.

The swift sale and flood of offers is another example of the Northern California real estate surge, which has led prospective buyers to bring in multiple bids on properties throughout region; particularly single family homes as a result of the widespread shift to remote work.

Consequently, prices are soaring across the region.

"The market is hot going into spring," Vanguard agent Alan Thuma told SFGATE earlier this month.

This was demonstrated when Santa Clara-based real estate agent Alan Wang told the Mercury News that one of his clients  a family who bid on a single-family home in Dublin  discovered they were one of 49 offers on the house. The four-bedroom home sold for about $400,000 over the $1.7 million listing price.

In San Francisco, condo sales are up 64% year-over-year from the beginning of the pandemic. And in Alameda County, data from the California Association of Realtors revealed the median home price surged 21% to $1.06 million  the 7th consecutive month the countys median home sale prices have topped $1 million.

SFGATE Local Editor Andrew Chamings contributed to this report.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Cruz County Bank (OTC: SCZC), with assets over $1.4 billion, is a top rated community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz County. The Bank is pleased to announce the expansion of its SBA Lending Department with the recent hiring of three experienced business development officers, two processors and a loan underwriter.

Santa Cruz County Bank's Senior Vice President and SBA Department Manager, Susan Chandler, commented, "Our commitment to supporting small businesses is unwavering, especially in these challenging times. Santa Cruz County Bank has assisted borrowers to the fullest extent possible through Paycheck Protection Program loans and forgiveness, SBA loan payment deferrals and as a resource for business guidance throughout the pandemic. The expansion of our SBA team through the hiring of experienced business development officers, processors and an additional underwriter demonstrates the Bank's continued commitment to support small businesses. We have built a positive reputation in the marketplace, resulting in repeat business as a trusted partner to satisfied customers, brokers, developers and our government guaranteed program partners."

Santa Cruz County Bank's recently hired SBA team members include:

Andrew Chambers joined Santa Cruz County Bank as Vice President, SBA Business Development Officer. He brings eighteen years of banking experience with a focus on SBA and USDA financing. Andrew is located in Windsor California and covers the San Francisco Bay Area and north to the Oregon border.

Andrew's work in small business lending in Northern California began as an Underwriter, and soon advanced to VP Loan Officer, providing SBA and conventional financing for small businesses in the Western United States. He also brings experience with SBA and USDA financing for businesses on a nationwide level. Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Oregon State University, with a History Minor.

Emily Baxter joined Santa Cruz County Bank as Vice President, SBA Business Development Officer, bringing nine years of SBA experience to the Bank. Emily is located in Fresno, California and covers the Central Sierra foothills from Fresno out to the Central Coast.

Emily has a background in business development and was consistently named top SBA 7(a) and USDA B&I income producer for a national lender. Emily attended California State University, Fresno, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Kevin Rappleye joined Santa Cruz County Bank as Vice President, SBA Business Development Officer, bringing thirty years of experience in the banking industry. Kevin is located in Elk Grove, California and covers the Greater Sacramento Area and north to the Oregon border.

He most recently served as Vice President, Business Development Officer with a Northern California bank, growing the SBA Division and focusing on SBA 7a loans. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with a Marketing Concentration, from California State University, Sacramento.

Additionally, Santa Cruz County Bank welcomes three new members to the SBA Department's underwriting and loan processing teams. Ricardo Monedero, Assistant Vice President, SBA Loan Underwriter, was former AVP Senior SBA Risk Manager/Underwriter in the Sacramento, California area; Dayna Herron, Senior SBA Loan Processor, previously served as Loan Processor II and AVP, SBA Loan Closing Officer in Las Vegas, Nevada and Temecula, California; and Laurie Frank, Senior SBA Loan Processor, formerly worked as Senior Loan Processor and as Loan Documentation Specialist with Northern California institutions.

ABOUT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK

Santa Cruz County Bank was founded in 2004. It is a top-rated, locally-owned and operated, full-service community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. The bank has eight branchesAptos, Capitola, Cupertino, Monterey, Santa Cruz (2), Scotts Valley and Watsonville. Santa Cruz County Bank is distinguished from "big banks" by its relationship-based service, problem-solving focus and direct access to decision makers. The bank is a leading SBA lender in Santa Cruz County and Silicon Valley and a top USDA lender in the state of California. As a full-service bank, Santa Cruz County Bank offers competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals; including business loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction lending, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, remote deposit capture, mobile and online banking, bill payment and treasury management. True to its community roots, Santa Cruz County Bank has supported regional well-being by actively participating in and donating to local not-for-profit organizations.

Santa Cruz County Bank stock is publicly traded on the OTC marketplace under the symbol SCZC. Stock purchase orders may be placed online, through a brokerage firm, or through Market Makers listed in the Investor Relations section of the bank's website. For more information about Santa Cruz County Bank, visit www.sccountybank.com.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK'S SBA LENDING RANKINGS FOR THE 2020 FISCAL YEAR

SBA Rank Silicon Valley  Ranked 11th by number of loans

SBA Rank SF District  Ranked 10th by dollar amount

NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL RATINGS AND AWARDS

S&P Global: Santa Cruz County Bank is ranked in the Top 100 Community Banks in the nation for performance for banks under $3 billion in assets.

The Findley Reports, Inc.: The Bank has received the top ranking of Super Premier Performing Bank by Findley for 10 consecutive years.

Financial Management Consulting (FMC) Group: Santa Cruz County Bank has ranked in FMC's top 10 banks in California for the past 6 years.

Good Times Best of Santa Cruz County Reader's Poll: Voted "Best Bank" in Santa Cruz County, 9 consecutive years.

Santa Cruz Sentinel Readers' Choice: Voted #1 Best Bank, 6th year.

SOURCE Santa Cruz County Bank

Related Links

https://www.sccountybank.com


By Clyde Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia, March 29 (Reuters) - The price of spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia has moved higher amid the blockage of the Suez Canal, but it's doubtful it needs to as the delays to shipping to the region will likely only have a marginal impact on supply.

The spot LNG price <LNG-AS> rose to $6.80 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week ended March 26, up from $6.50 the prior week and the highest in a month.

LNG futures in New York did even better, ending at $6.93 per mmBtu on March 26, up 7.9% from the last price a week earlier.

In some ways it's not surprising that spot LNG prices have shifted higher, as the unexpected blockage of a major shipping transit point introduces a level of uncertainty and volatility to the market.

Efforts to free the Ever Given container ship, stuck in the canal since last Tuesday, were still successful as of late Sunday Egyptian time.

But an analysis of how LNG usually flows around the globe shows that only small volumes move to Asia through the Suez Canal.

Rather, the main LNG flow through the canal is from major Gulf exporter Qatar to purchasers in Europe, meaning that delays and re-routing of vessels around the longer Cape of Good Hope route will largely impact supplies to Europe.

The United States has in recent years emerged as the third-biggest supplier of LNG to global markets, and has made inroads into the top-consuming region of Asia from export terminals along its east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, no U.S. cargo currently sailing is heading for the Suez Canal, although as many as five laden ships appear to have been diverted to avoid the blockage, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Refinitiv.

A total of 16 vessels carrying U.S. LNG are currently en route to Asia, the majority having used the Panama Canal to access faster sailing times to north Asia, home to the world's three-biggest LNG buyers, Japan, China and North Korea.

INDIA AFFECTED

Cargoes from the U.S. that use the Suez Canal are usually headed to India, and there are currently three vessels signalling destinations in India. All three appeared headed to round the bottom of Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.

While this will impact delivery times for those three cargoes, and potentially cut the profit for the cargo owners given the additional sailing time, the volumes involved are too small to have much impact on prices in Asia.

What may make more of a difference is the likelihood of increased cargoes being made available by Qatar to buyers in Asia.

If Qatar is unable to ship through the Suez, it may prefer to sell cargoes to Asian buyers, rather than wear the additional costs and time associated with sending vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.

If the Suez blockage lasts for some time yet, it may perversely have the effect of boosting the amount of LNG available to Asian buyers, while cutting that to Europe.

Of course, U.S. LNG may well find a price incentive to sell more to Europe than Asia, assuming natural gas prices in Europe outperform those in Asia.

The price of day-ahead natural gas in the United Kingdom rose 9.6% last week to end at 44.91 pence per therm, equivalent to about $6.40 per mmBtu.

While that is below the price for spot LNG in north Asia, the British price doesn't include the cost of freight, and adding in those costs of at least 50 cents per mmBtu means that the delivered prices are currently similar.

If the Suez blockage continues, it may delay as much as 1 million tonnes of LNG for delivery to Europe, meaning natural gas prices there may rise further in order to draw spot cargoes from the United States and from the west coast of Africa, home to exporters Nigeria and Angola. (Editing by Richard Pullin)
Troopers determined the first vehicle, a black 2016 Land Rover, had been going west on the eastbound side of the Eisenhower, state police said in a release. The front end of the Land Rover struck the front end of the second vehicle, a gray 2017 Ford Edge, that was in the right lane, causing it to spin out of control and hit the third vehicle, a black 2017 Ford Escape, which had been going east in the left lane.
Despite continued vaccination efforts and a sense of hope due to the relaxed restrictions in the state, recent data published by the New York Times put the Upper Thumb in a national spotlight for its recent coronavirus trends.

According to state data, after more than a week of sharp increases, Huron County had accumulated 2,127 confirmed coronavirus cases March 27, an increase of 227 cases from the week prior.

This trend is similar across the entire Upper Thumb region, which in seven days saw a collective increase of 695 confirmed cases.

While the increase might not seem like much to some people, data published by the NYT, which compares it against the each countys population, places Huron County 10th in the country for the highest number of recent cases per resident. When combined with Sanilac County  which ranked 12th  and Tuscola County  which ranked 26th, it shined increased light on the Upper Thumb, and prompted Huron County Public Health Officer Ann Hepfer to issue a statement.

This is the reality right now, Hepfer said. COVID is running rampant. We need to wear our masks, wash our hands and use social distancing or it is going to get worse.

It is scary, Hepfer continued. We are going to see increased hospitalizations.

Hepfer said this type of attention isnt beneficial to the Upper Thumb.

Who wants to make the national headlines like this? Hepfer asked. It should not be like this. Its a direct result of people not following the guidelines.

According to state data, the Upper Thumb saw a two day increase of 162 confirmed cases, or 81 cases per day March 29. The data showed an increase of 39 cases in Huron County, 60 cases in Tuscola County and 63 cases in Sanilac County.

The Times data shows Michigan is ranked third in the country among states Where new cases are higher and staying high. The information is based on states where new cases had a daily average of at least 15 new cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days. According to the NYT, over the past week Michigan saw an average of 4,605 new cases per day, which was an increase of 133% from the two weeks prior.

Huron County saw a daily average increase of 39 cases in the last week, which is significantly lower than Wayne Countys 796 average per day. However, on a per capita basis, Huron County led the state in the most new cases per 100,000 people with 127. Huron was followed by St. Clair County at 106 and Sanilac County at 105. Comparatively, Wayne County, with its 1.75 million people, had 46 cases per 100,000 people.

Statewide there was a test positivity rate of 15.6% March 28. Locally the numbers were even higher with a 45.9% in Huron County, 26% in Tuscola County and 32% in Sanilac County.

According to the NYT, test positivity because rates are so high, it suggests the cases are being significantly undercounted, which should prompt extra concern for residents in the region.

According to Hepfer, coronavirus-positive hospitalization rates have remained relatively low among older age groups, which she attributes to the vaccination. Hepfer said that although the vaccination doesnt always prevent someone from contracting COVID, it does help with the severity of the symptoms if they get the disease.

The health department is vaccinating people age 50 and over, as well as at-risk individuals over the age of 18. According to Hepfer, by April 5 all areas of the state may vaccinate people over the age of 16, if the vaccination supplies allow it.

Hepfer said if someone is interested in being vaccinated, but hasnt already registered, they should visit www.hchd.us or call 989-269-9721. According to Hepfer, people should also contact their local pharmacy, Rite Aid, Walmart, Meijer, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens and their local hospital to register.
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PHOENIX  The U.S. Forest Service has entered its final stages of public comment in its plans to remove or sterilize more than 300 wild horses in eastern Arizona.

The federal agency has given the community near Heber until late April to weigh in, the Arizona Republic reported Saturday.

The Heber horse herd are the only horses in the state with their own dedicated territory, which was established in 1973. The herd was placed under a federal court order of protection in 2005.

But a plan from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests proposes reducing the herds size from about 420 horses to no more than 104, the newspaper reported.

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests leadership has argued that the current amount of horses poses a threat to the resources in the area and creates conflicts with landowners.

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The proposed plan would allow officials to give female horses contraceptives to limit the population. The federal forest service has said that killing horses is not a part of its plan, but the draft plan includes guidelines to use euthanasia.

There will be a 30-day comment period that will last until April 22, after which a final decision notice will be issued. As of Friday, there have been more than 1,200 public submissions, with a majority asking that the horses be left alone, the newspaper reported.

The number of horses you plan to leave is too small for them to survive there and your calculations do not take in account all the land the horses use including reservation land. Please stop pleasing only special interests and do what is best for wildlife, wild places and Americans, one of the submissions read, according to the newspaper.
The whole ordeal was surreal, and it raised the question: Why would anyone spend the price of a high-end Lamborghini on a picture of my words? After all, the NFT was just a cryptographic signature linked to an image of a column that anyone could read on the Times website, albeit with a few bonus perks. (I also stipulated that I would feature the winners name and photo in a follow-up column, and Michael Barbaro, the host of The Daily gamely agreed to throw in a voice message for the winner.) The winner, whose handle on the auction site was @3fmusic, appeared to be a prominent NFT collector. The profile on the site was linked to a Twitter profile belonging to a Dubai-based music production company and to an Instagram account identified as that of Farzin Fardin Fard, the companys chief executive. The users NFT collection included a variety of other expensive digital works, including a $US14,000 emoji portrait of musician Billie Eilish and a $US8,000 piece titled Jumping Spider enjoying coffee in the morning. Some NFT collectors believe that owning early, prominent crypto tokens will eventually be like owning rare, first-edition books or priceless paintings. I reached out to @3fmusic to offer my congratulations on the purchase and to discuss the bid. They (its not clear if the winner is Fard or some other individual or multiple people) declined to be named  and, because of the pseudonymous nature of blockchain-based transactions, theres no easy way for me to identify them beyond the information they volunteered  but they sent me a statement over Twitter direct message that read: We are already involved in art and media for a long time now, the message read. Our management team is always in cooperation with some highly knowledgeable and experienced art advisers who believe that we must grow with technological movements that help us to not only promote our business but also to support artists and the art market. Thus, we have proudly decided to dedicate sufficient funds and resources to invest in NFT as pioneers of this industry.

They also gave me permission to include an image of their music studios logo in this column. Jiannan Ouyang, an NFT collector who dropped out of the auction after a high bid of 290 ether (about $US469,000) told me that he had decided to bid on my NFT for both personal and professional reasons. Hes a former Facebook research scientist who is now a blockchain entrepreneur, and hes married to a journalist. Loading This column reflects the thoughts we exchange daily about how the NFT technology will reshape the modern media and advertising industry, he told me. Some NFT collectors believe that owning early, prominent crypto tokens will eventually be like owning rare, first-edition books or priceless paintings. Ouyang admitted that the value of my NFT was still highly speculative and subjective. But he said that he believed that NFTs and other blockchain-based technologies would ultimately reshape the entire media landscape, allowing creators to reimagine how they create and monetise their works.

This particular NFT from The New York Times is one of the answers and will become a historical landmark in this inevitable movement, he said. Thats why I think it is valuable. Andre Allen Anjos, an electronic musician from Portland, Oregon, who bid 5.69 ether (about $US9,200) on the NFT, told me in a phone interview that bidding on the token could be seen as a symbolic gesture of thanks from the crypto community to me and The Times for, essentially, taking them seriously enough to experiment with our own token sale. Its like, heres a mainstream publication trying to interact with us as a community in an earnest and real way, he said. I wanted to signal, Hey, this is cool, youre asking the right questions. Anjos said he had grown up in the era of Napster, when musicians first realised that the internet could destroy their livelihoods by making it free and easy to duplicate songs. Blockchain technology, he said, had changed that by making it possible to create limited-edition collectibles stamped with a digital marker of their provenance. Collecting NFTs, Anjos said, was less about owning the pieces themselves  most of which can be freely downloaded from the internet, albeit without their special cryptographic signatures  and more about signalling belief in this new model of ownership. Im not going to call it a protest, but its a statement, he said. This is the crypto world trying to prove that were here, we care about revolutionising this entire model, and were willing to put our money on it.
Findings may help guide policy and inform interventions for the prevention of firearm injuries in at risk youth

Firearm injuries are a leading and preventable cause of injury and death among youth - responsible for an estimated 5,000 deaths and 22,000 non-fatal injury hospital visits each year in American kids. And while hospital systems are poised to tackle this issue using a public health approach, prevention efforts and policies may be differentially effective. A new study led by researchers at Children's National Hospital, finds that sociodemographic factors related to intent of injury by firearm may be useful in guiding policy and informing tailored interventions for the prevention of firearm injuries in at-risk youth.

"We sought to explore differences by injury intent in a nationally representative sample of youth presenting to the emergency department with firearm injury," said Shilpa Patel, M.D., M.P.H., emergency medicine physician at Children's National Hospital. "We are hopeful that hospitals will support programs that are targeted, patient-centered and relevant to their communities to prevent firearm injury among youth."

In one of the first comparative studies of factors and outcomes associated with intentionality of youth firearm injury in a large nationally representative sample, researchers identified more than 178,200 weighted hospital visits for firearm injuries with data collected from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) from 2009 through 2016. Dr. Patel and her colleagues identified distinct risk profiles for individuals aged 21 and younger, who arrived at emergency departments with firearm injuries over an 8-year period.

Using NEDS data, researchers found that approximately one third of the injuries were categorized as unintentional, another third as assault and a small proportion as self-harm. The majority of visits were among youth age 18 to 21 years with almost 90% male, and more than 40% publicly insured. Nearly a third were admitted to the hospital and 6% died as a result of their firearm injuries. In addition, the study showed that the likelihood of unintentional injury was higher among children age 12 and younger.

Unintentional firearm injuries were also associated with rural hospital location, southern region, emergency department discharge and extremity injury. Self-harm firearm injuries were associated with older age, higher socioeconomic status, rural hospital location, transfer or death, and brain, back and spinal cord injury.

"These findings provide insight into the overlap between risk factors, outcomes and intentionality of youth firearm injury," says Dr. Shilpa. "For hospitals looking to implement programs to reduce youth firearm injury, distinct risk profiles identified in our study align with prior evidence to support the following: screen for firearm access and provide counseling on safe storage targeting families with younger children; screen suicidal patients for access to lethal means, especially those hospitals in rural areas; and screen for firearm access especially among children exposed to violence or at risk for assault presenting to urban hospitals."

###

Other researchers who contributed to this study include members of S.A.F.E.R. (Safer through Advocacy, Firearm Education and Research) - a firearm safety advocacy group at Children's National: Gia M. Badolato, M.P.H.; Kavita Parikh M.D., M.S.H.S. ; and Monika K. Goyal MD, M.S.C.E, all of Children's National; and Sabah F. Iqbal, M.D. of PM Pediatrics.
They were one of three intruder couples to walk down the aisle on this year's season of Married At First Sight.

And it appears as though Liam Cooper and Georgia Fairweather may have continued their relationship since they finished filming the show in November.

Daily Mail Australia has obtained footage of Liam, 29, and Georgia, 25, enjoying a date night out in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Going strong! Married At First Sight newlyweds Liam Cooper (left) and Georgia Fairweather (right) were spotted on a date night in Brisbane on Saturday

The reality star couple are seen sitting side by side as they shared a celebratory toast with friends while dining at Brisbane's Polpetta restaurant.

Liam and Georgia both appeared to be dressed to impress for the outing.

Georgia looked pretty in a pink, opting to wear a fuchsia coloured dress which she paired with matching lipstick.

Date night: The reality star couple are seen sitting side by side as they shared a celebratory toast with friends while dining at Brisbane's Polpetta restaurant

Funny! The pair were later joined by a female friend (pictured in green) who shared footage of the newlyweds dancing to David Guetta and Akon's 2009 hit track Sexy B*tch

She completed her look wearing drop earrings.

Meanwhile, Liam looked every inch the stylish hunk in a white button-up shirt which he paired with a grey blazer jacket.

The pair were later joined by a female friend who shared footage of the newlyweds dancing to David Guetta and Akon's 2009 hit track Sexy B*tch.

Missing someone? Earlier this month, Georgia, 25, rented an entire cinema for a private screening with dozens of guests - and the only person missing was her husband Liam Cooper

The sighting comes after Georgia threw a pink-themed viewing party for her television debut earlier this month.

The bubbly blonde rented an entire cinema for a private screening of her MAFS debut and invited dozens of guests.

The only person missing was her husband, who was renovating his NSW property.

Georgia served expensive Champagne and various desserts, including pink cupcakes with her face on top.
A hydrogel, a type of soft matter, developed at Hokkaido University successfully reverted cancer cells back to cancer stem cells within 24 hours, in six different human cancer types. This could lead to the development of anti-cancer stem cell drugs and personalized medicines.

An innovative hydrogel - called a double network (DN) gel - can rapidly reprogram differentiated cancer cells into cancer stem cells, researchers at Hokkaido University and the National Cancer Center Research Institute have reported in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. The hydrogel can be used to help develop new cancer therapies and personalized medicines targeting cancer stem cells.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in developed countries, and more than 8.6 million people die from cancer annually worldwide. Despite the advancement of treatments, the 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced-stage cancer remains low. One reason is that cancer tissues contain cancer stem cells, which are resistant to chemotherapies and radiotherapies. These cells can hide as 'roots' or circulate in the body, causing cancer recurrence.

"Cancer stem cells are a major target for anti-cancer drugs, but they are difficult to identify because they are present in very small numbers in cancer tissues," explained Professor Shinya Tanaka of Hokkaido University's Faculty of Medicine. "Understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer stem cells is crucial for developing better cancer treatments."

Cancer stem cells require a very specific microenvironment. In this study, the research team investigated whether their DN gel could recreate the right conditions to induce cancer stem cells. The DN gel consists of a network of two chemicals and incorporates a high volume of water, giving it soft and wet characteristics resembling biological tissues.

In the study, the DN gel rapidly reprogrammed differentiated cancer cells into cancer stem cells in just 24 hours in six different human cancer cell lines -- brain cancer, uterine cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, bladder cancer, and sarcoma. After cancer cells were placed on the DN gel, they started to form spherical structures and produce specific molecules known to be markers of cancer stem cells such as SOX2 and Oct3/4, aka Yamanaka factors, named after the Nobel Prize laureate, suggesting they had been reprogrammed.

The researchers also uncovered some of the molecular mechanisms involved in cancer cell reprogramming. They found that calcium channel receptors and the protein osteopontin were essential for the induction of cancer stem cells. They also found that brain cancer cells from a patient that had been cultured on the DN gel produced receptors called platelet-derived growth factor receptors. By adding a molecular inhibitor of these receptors, they were able to target and eradicate the cancer stem cells, suggesting that the DN gel could be used to select therapeutic drugs. In addition, they showed that the brain cancer cells that had been cultured on DN gel formed tumors efficiently when transplanted into mice brain, suggesting the stemness of the cancer cells.

This study paves the way for research into drugs that can target cancer stem cells. "In the future, the DN gel could be used to enhance cancer cell type diagnosis and to produce personalized medicines, which could improve the prognosis of cancer patients," said Shinya Tanaka.

###
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Once you're vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have officially OK'd having friends over for dinner if they're vaccinated, too. The guidelines also say that once vaccinated, you can have a mask-less, indoor hangout even if your guests aren't vaccinated, as long as you're gathering with people from a single household, and no one in that household (or anyone they live with) has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. In other words, even if you're weeks away from that first shot, you needn't necessarily wait to break bread with your vaccinated parents or grandparents.

It's something we've all been yearning for, and in many ways, it feels like the first step towards a return to normalcy. But what about indoor dining at a restaurant, where you won't be able to predict the vaccination statuses of other patrons and staff? The CDC guidelines don't specifically address this topic. They do, however, encourage everyone, vaccinated or not, to continue avoiding medium- and large-sized gatherings, and wear a mask and social distance when in public spaces.

In mid-March, the CDC also published a report that concluded, "mask mandates and restricting any on-premises dining at restaurants can help limit community transmission of COVID-19." It looked at 2020 county-level data from March 1 to December 31 and found that on-site dining was linked to an increase in case counts and death rates 41 to 80 days after reopening. While the study doesn't prove cause and effect, it adds to existing research that indoor spaces make it easier for the virus to spread.

Yet, this data was captured before wide-scale vaccinations started rolling out. Today, more than a million people a day are getting their first shot. Opinions about the safety of indoor dining after you're fully vaccinated aren't universal. We talked to experts across the spectrum to weigh in on the risks, and what would make them feel comfortable dining inside a restaurant.

Ask the experts: 'Would you dine inside a restaurant right now?'

The end of this pandemic finally feels within view, but some experts would like to see the country get closer to herd immunity before returning to indoor dining. Herd immunity is considered to be achieved when between 70% to 90% of the country has been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 infection.

"The vaccines are very effective but they're not 100-percent, and we do have variants that are circulating and still being researched," says Darren Mareiniss, an emergency medicine doctor at Einstein Medical Center. "If our case numbers and our positive tests rates were significantly lower, let's say below two- or three-percent, then I might be more apt to eat inside, but the positive test rate in Philadelphia County is over five-percent, which is still pretty high."

On the other hand, some experts say you don't need to wait, given the vaccines' effectiveness, both in clinical trials and in emerging real world studies. This is assuming health department guidelines are being followed, like table distancing and mask wearing.

"I would feel comfortable indoor dining with a small group, and by small group, I mean one other person or family that's at low risk of having any complications," says Neal Goldstein, an assistant research professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University. "This is based on the effectiveness of the vaccination and the current minimal risk. And that's the fine line. I'd love to say that there's no risk here, and I can't say that. But there's minimal risk, and that's what we're going to have to deal with for the near future."

There's no doubt that once you're vaccinated, your risk significantly drops, whether you're headed into the grocery store or your favorite restaurant. To some degree, your decision-making will depend on your tolerance for the risk that remains. But there are other factors to consider, too.

"I don't dine in person, but it's not because I'm concerned about my personal risk," says Craig Shapiro, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. "When people congregate in restaurants, it sends a message that it's OK for everyone to do those things, when the reality is, we still only have a little less than a quarter of the population that has received one dose of the vaccine. Short of large gatherings, dining in restaurants is one of the most risky situations to be in."

What is the risk of indoor dining if you're vaccinated (for you and others)?

By nature, restaurants bring together multiple households in the same space, without everyone wearing masks. The more people in the restaurant, the greater the risk, especially now, when the majority of the country remains unvaccinated.

"Even if you've been vaccinated, there's a risk of you potentially becoming infected, and we're also concerned you could still transmit [the virus] asymptomatically to other people in the restaurant," says Mareiniss.

No vaccine is ever 100% effective, and researchers are still studying how effective the COVID-19 vaccines are against multiple circulating variants, as well as if you can be a silent carrier when you're vaccinated. Until there's more data, Mareiniss encourages caution.

However, early research in both of these areas is pointing in a positive direction, and Goldstein says there are bigger risks we must tacklethe main one being vaccine hesitancy.

"Unfortunately when we tell people, 'Why get vaccinated if nothing changes?', it seems to disincentivize getting vaccinated, and vaccination is the best tool that we have right now to get back to normal," says Goldstein. "Once vaccinated, you dramatically lower the risk to yourself and others and should be able to enjoy eating in a restaurant."

Preliminary data from Israel suggests that people vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine have a viral load four times lower than unvaccinated people, which may indicate it's less likely that you could transmit the virus.

"It's not clinical trial evidencethose studies are still underwaybut I'm optimistic that a vaccinated person won't spread the virus, and with the right safety precautions at the restaurant, I believe it's a minimal concern," says Goldstein.

Shapiro also believes this isn't a primary concern, but says community transmission rates aren't yet low enough to let down our guard. There are other ways vaccinated people can spread the virusand that's if you get infected. Current variants make it challenging to predict your exact risk of getting infected.

"You're not likely to need hospitalization or die [if you get infected after vaccination], but does that mean you couldn't spread it to someone else? No, and you're increasing that risk by entering an environment that we know is particularly risky," says Shapiro.

"It's a tightrope we're walking. We want people to get vaccinated, we want to give them hope, and getting the vaccine does make it safer to do more things," says Shapiro. "If you are going to dine in, the most important things are going to be [table] spacing, mask wearing, ventilation, and the cleaning processes." Shapiro recommends calling in advance. If a place can't communicate their safety measures, choose another restaurant.

What about outdoor dining?

As the weather heats up, outdoor dining becomes a more practical option, and the good news is that even many of the most cautious experts say they'd feel comfortable dining outdoors once fully vaccinated.

"I'd be totally fine eating outdoors and with low risk people," says Mareiniss. "But everyone in their household must be low risk. If grandma's at home, I wouldn't eat with them."

Goldstein says he'd choose outdoors, too, if sharing a meal with people who aren't yet vaccinated. And Shapiro says he'd always recommend outdoor dining over indoor when it's an option. As more people become vaccinated, advice is expected to evolve.

"At some point, we also have to understand this virus isn't disappearing," says Shapiro. "It's going to become part of our daily lives, just like influenza or any other respiratory virus, and at some point we are going to have to accept those risks, albeit hopefully when they become even smaller, but that risk is never going to be zero. Once we can be in an environment and know everyone is vaccinated, that's the best that we can do."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

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Lots of Big Photo News Coming the Beginning of Next Month Spring is always a popular time for big product announcements, but this year looks more exciting than the last few. Here's a rundown of some of the big rumors that should become official for the first of the month. Nikon Taking Mirrorless One Step Further

First, they removed the film from our cameras. Then it was the mirror. It seems that technology makes all things possible. Nikon is in stiff competition with other makers to remove even more with their next generation of cameras. But this time, imagine, if you will, a retro-designed camera with nothing at all in it, just a light-tight box with a hole in it. Camera box glamor shots are already the rage on Facebook forums. Nikon's new wood-paneled camera will be announced on the first of the month, featuring a revolutionary new BoX lens mount. The FX and DX-mount are so old-school, and they just haven't stepped up to producing Z-mount lenses anyway. Insiders tell me the "o" in the middle of the new name standing for the pinhole opening in the front of the camera through which light can enter with no need to focus. And by removing all the traditional camera "guts," they can shave considerable weight. And with no controls, the camera is promised to be so user-friendly, even a fool could use it. Kodak Solves the Problem with Sensor Dust

Tired of being sidelined after the film market's demise, Kodak has been secretly working on their comeback. The company admits they've had a rocky history. Founded towards the end of the nineteenth century, they sold film and chemicals to a population looking for affordable film and processing. By the middle of the twentieth century, the public viewed Kodak as nearly synonymous with photography itself. But times change, and the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2012 as digital overtook the market. But a new camera slated to be unveiled this Thursday is said to be their best shot yet to regain market share. The new body will feature a revolutionary design featuring 36 disposable sensors on a roll with a thin film substrate. Not everyone remembers, but in 1975, Kodak developed and patented the first handheld digital camera, so they aren't fools. Company engineers promise that this will end the dreaded problem of dust spots while giving them a means to repurpose their remaining Ektachrome production facilities. Plans call for both daylight and tungsten balanced sensor rolls. Rumors are that Japanese competitor Fujifilm is considering a similar move but promises bold, saturated colors that today's Instagram users crave. The End of the Protective Filter Debate

ZAGG InvisibleShield, one of the forerunners who popularized the concept of adhesive-backed protective screen coverings, is set to shake up the market again at the beginning of April. The company was founded in 2005 by avid photography buff Phillip Chipping in his backyard shed. Returning to his first love, Chipping plans to champion a line of lens protectors based on the concept he pioneered fifteen years earlier. The tale goes, he took a picture of his first product launch on the first of April but dropped his camera in the process, chipping the lens. Imagine the irony of Chipping chipping his lens. His friends have made practical jokes at his expense every year on that date. He was not using a lens hood to protect his lens from impact. To prove to them he can redeem his good name, the company he founded will introduce InvisibleShield Lens Covers, with models cut to approximately fit many popular lens models. Doubters have tried to tell him that adding an extra layer over the front of a lens would inherently reduce resolution, but he remains undeterred. The key is that by carefully squeegeeing most of the bubbles out when applying his new protective cover to the front lens element, users can minimize internal reflections that can reduce image quality. And if the InvisibleShield does get scratched, it can be removed with a powerful solvent, and a new Lens Cover applied. The company will sell them in packs of three. The Next Generation of AI-assisted Plug-in

Artificial Intelligence and computational photography are all the rage lately, and rightly so. Modern, intelligent software helps make our job as photographers easier and allows us to do things previously impossible. That trend will only accelerate over the coming years. But Skylar, known for their AI-based line of plugins for Photoshop, plans to take a giant leap forward with the introduction of their new AI Hercules plugin, named for Hercules Florence from Sao Paulo, Brazil, generally credited as the inventor of photography in 1833, just before Daguerre's work on the light-sensitive properties of silver salts. Hercules was a prolific businessman and inventor, and Skylar aims to honor his legacy with their upcoming introduction. There's an old saying that if you're good enough at Photoshop, you don't even need a camera, and AI Hercules promises to make that dream a reality. Think of the money you could save if you didn't even need to buy a camera or lenses to be a photographer. Say home and turn "painting with light" into "painting with software." The program will come with a VR-headset to make it seem like you're actually in your favorite national park. Your Chance to be Involved

Are you a Nikon or a Canon shooter? Do you prefer Led Zeppelin or Miles David? Richard Astley, an independent researcher from Lancashire in England, is working on an exciting project to correlate camera brand choice to musical preference. If you would like to be involved and have your vote counted, please click here. That's all from me for now. But be on the lookout for other surprising announcements in the next few days. The first of April should be exciting indeed. Have a great time.
UScellular announced the three winners of its sixth annual Black History Month Art Contest with Boys & Girls Club of the Ocoee Region with a visit to the winners clubs.For the first time, public voting for the finalists art was available online, and the winning artists were awarded gift cards in the following amounts:Deanna Dalton received $250 for 1st PlaceCatherine Lovingood received $150 for 2nd PlaceLillian Moore received $100 for 3rd PlaceIn January, Boys & Girls Club of the Ocoee Region members created artwork in recognition of influential Black people from around the globe, including historical figures, world leaders, athletes and celebrities.The 10 finalists were chosen by representatives from the Boys & Girls Club and local UScellular leaders based on creativity, quality, interpretation, clarity of theme and overall impression. Voting was available online throughout February.It was amazing to see the creativity and wide range of inspirations the Club members used to create their art this year, said Nathan Waddell, UScellulars director of sales in East Tennessee. We extend our congratulations to the winners and all the finalists in this years contest. Were thrilled to be able to team with Boys & Girls Club of the Ocoee Region to celebrate Black History Month and the diversity in our community and the country.In 2021, UScellular hosted Black History Month Art Contests with 28 Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. The individual contests are funded and supported by the companys Network of Black Associates, an Associate Resource Group dedicated to creating a diverse company culture that attracts, develops and retains black associates.Official Contest Rules, including full entry details and Finalist and Winner selection criteria/voting are available by email request to mmchale@moxleycarmichael.com.
New York City police are hunting a subway passenger seen on video brutally beating an Asian man and putting him in a chokehold in Brooklyn.

The NYPDs hate crimes unit tweeted footage from the incident Monday.

It is unclear when the assault occurred but it believed to have taken place on a Manhattan-bound J train. The condition of the man assaulted is not known.

No one steps in to help to the attack, according to the footage. Police said: 'We need the public's help. The NYPD is aware of this video and is investigating.'

There has been a wave of high-profile and sometimes deadly assaults against Asian Americans since the COVD-19 pandemic began. Protesters have taken to the streets in response what many said has become a troubling surge of anti-Asian sentiments.

DailyMail.com has contacted police for more information.

A witness to the incident can be heard telling fellow passengers at the end of the clip that the victim had called the suspect the N-word before he was attacked.

New York City police are hunting a subway passenger seen on video brutally beating an Asian man and putting him in a chokehold in Brooklyn

The NYPDs hate crimes unit tweeted footage from the incident Monday. It is unclear when the assault occurred but it believed to have taken place on a Manhattan-bound J train

Sharing the footage @AsianDawn4 wrote Sunday: 'A person violently beats up and punches an Asian male in the head repeatedly in a Manhattan Bound (J) train at Kosciuszko Street Station, chokes him afterwards until he is unconscious.

'Be on the lookout for this person!'

The footage begins with the two men already trading blows as others on the subway train watch on.

The victim is eventually knocked down by his attacker after being punched more than 10 times before being held in a chokehold and appearing to fall unconscious.

Others call for the assault to stop, with one witness calling out 'hes sleeping' as the man falls unconscious. The victim falls to the floor as the suspect leaves the train.

At the end of the video a witness can be heard saying 'he called him the N-word'.

Police said they are aware of the video and 'need the public's help investigating' A witness to the incident can be heard telling fellow passengers at the end of the clip that the victim had called the suspect the N-word before he was attacked

Sharing the footage @AsianDawn4 wrote Sunday: 'A person violently beats up and punches an Asian male in the head repeatedly in a Manhattan Bound (J) train at Kosciuszko Street Station, chokes him afterwards until he is unconscious. 'Be on the lookout for this person!'

More than 3,000 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting center for Asian American Pacific Islanders, and its partner advocacy groups, since mid-March 2020.

Police in several major cities saw a sharp uptick in Asian-targeted hate crimes between 2019 and 2020, according to data collected by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism, California State University, San Bernardino.

New York City went from three incidents to 27, Los Angeles from seven to 15, and Denver had three incidents in 2020  the first reported there in six years.

Police ask that anyone with information call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Tips can also be submitted to the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
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Founded in 1968 and purchased by Mars, Inc. in 2001, Royal Canin is a global leader in pet science, health and nutrition. Royal Canin manufactures and supplies cat and dog food and is committed to science-based research and innovation that provides formulas with individualized nutritional solutions for cats and dogs.

"At Royal Canin, everything we do is in service of our purpose: to create A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS. Our investment in the new Ohio manufacturing facility will enable us to meet the ever-growing needs of pets and their owners across North America," said Cecile Coutens, President, Royal Canin North America. "As industry leaders in pet health, we have a tremendous responsibility to make a healthier life for pets through our tailored nutrition, in partnership with pet professionals who share our same purpose. We recognize that pets make our life better and this has been more evident recently with the support pets have provided families throughout the pandemic. Our new site will help ensure we can serve more pet owners and bring our nutrition to more cats and dogs than ever before."

The Lewisburg, Ohio location will join Royal Canin's five other manufacturing sites across the United States and Canada and the new factory build is part of a broader growth plan for Royal Canin. This announcement comes on the heels of the company's recent announcement of a $200M expansion at its Lebanon, Tennessee facility.

"We are excited to expand our presence in the Lewisburg area and continue to partner with the State of Ohio to invest in U.S. manufacturing and the local community," said Roland Hooley, Vice President of Value Chain Operations for Royal Canin North America. "This expansion fuels the local economy and allows us to further invest in communities like Lewisburg where we are proud to call home."

"We and our partners at the Dayton Development Coalition welcome Royal Canin North America's newest manufacturing facility in Lewisburg, which will be its first in Ohio and one of five in the United States," said J.P Nauseef, JobsOhio president and CEO. "Royal Canin is a global leader in pet nutrition, and we look forward to 224 Ohioans producing its high-quality products that will benefit the health of pets and the happiness of their owners throughout the North American market."

Brenda Latanza, Director of Economic Development for the Preble County Development Partnership, added "We are grateful to Royal Canin for choosing to expand in Preble County. This incredible new manufacturing facility will bring 224 jobs to Lewisburg. Royal Canin is an amazing community partner for Harrison Township, the Village of Lewisburg and all of Preble County. This exciting opportunity will have a huge impact on our overall economy - a meaningful win for all involved. The Preble County Development Partnership looks forward to continuing to assist Royal Canin's economic development and workforce development needs as they grow and prosper here in Preble County."

Construction of the 450,000 square foot facility is set to begin in May 2021 and is expected to start operations in the second half of 2023, bringing more than 224 new jobs to the area. The factory will manufacture both Royal Canin and EUKANUBA health and nutrition with both dog and cat food product lines. The new facility will be built to meet leading-edge environmental standards, and will pursue a LEED Silver Certified upon completion, demonstrating Mars' commitment to sustainability. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the globally accepted benchmark for designing, constructing and operating green buildings.

Royal Canin currently operates its Pet Health Nutrition Center, a global research and development hub for the company, in Lewisburg, Ohio. The new factory will be located on the same property at 6574 OH-503, Lewisburg, Ohio 45338.

A ceremonial grounding breaking event will be held in the coming weeks, and details will follow. For more information on Royal Canin, visit www.royalcanin.com.

About Royal Canin

Royal Canin is a leader in science-based cat and dog health nutrition. Founded by a veterinarian in 1968, Royal Canin has more than 50 years of experience in delivering individualized nutritional solutions. In collaboration with an expert team of nutritionists, breeders and veterinarians from around the world, Royal Canin places cats and dogs at the central point of the innovation process. The Royal Canin product line offers a range of diets based on size, age, breed, lifestyle and therapeutic requirements. Royal Canin diets are available at veterinary hospitals and pet specialty stores nationwide. Royal Canin is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. To learn more about Royal Canin, visit www.royalcanin.com and "LIKE" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/royalcanin.us.

SOURCE Royal Canin
Newsfrom Japan

Tokyo, March 28 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government will give people a choice of what coronavirus vaccine they will get, Fumiaki Kobayashi, a senior official in charge of its vaccination campaign, said Sunday.

The government will give the choice to people by making public information on which type of vaccine is available at each vaccination site, Kobayashi, adviser to the Cabinet Office, said on television.

Kobayashi said some people are reluctant to get vaccinated due to concern about side effects. Well create an environment where people have a choice, he said.

Japans vaccination campaign began in February, starting with medical workers. It is scheduled to start vaccinating elderly people on April 12, using Pfizer Inc.'s shot. The country will also receive vaccine supplies from AstraZeneca PLC and Moderna Inc.

END

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
New Delhi:

If you are prone to frequent bouts of worry, stress, and anxiety then you must express your feelings on a sheet of paper. This will help your brain to cool down and let you perform stress-inducing tasks more efficiently, say researchers.



Worrying and stress affect cognitive and rational functions which indirectly lead you to constantly multi-tasking because you try to do one task while trying to monitor and suppress your worries at the same time.



"Our findings show that if you get these worries out of your head through expressive writing, those cognitive resources are freed up to work toward the task you're completing and you become more efficient," said lead author Hans Schroder, a doctoral student at Michigan State University (MSU).



Expressive writing can even help individuals to process past traumas or stressful events as shown by previous researchers.



"Expressive writing makes the mind work less hard on upcoming stressful tasks, which is what worriers often get 'burned out' over, their worried minds working harder and hotter," added Jason Moser, Associate Professor at MSU.



"This technique takes the edge off their brains so they can perform the task with a 'cooler head'," Moser explained.



For the study, published in the journal Psychophysiology, college students identified as chronically anxious through a validated screening measure completed a computer-based "flanker task" that measured their response accuracy and reaction times.



Before the task, about half of the participants wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings about the upcoming task for eight minutes; the other half, in the control condition, wrote about what they did the day before.



While the two groups performed at about the same level of speed and accuracy, the expressive-writing group performed the flanker task more efficiently, meaning they used fewer brain resources.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has joined four other UN agencies in calling on countries to prioritise Covid-19 vaccinations for aircrew and seafarers.



In addition to ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu, the special Joint Statement was signed by the heads of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the World Health Organization (WHO).



The implementation of the current WHO recommendations are of primordial importance to the continued and optimal operation of the international civil aviation network, and therefore to the transport worldwide of essential shipments and workers, Dr. Liu declared.



The Joint Statement stresses the WHOs advice that at the present time countries should not introduce requirements of proof of vaccination for international travel as a condition of entry, given both the critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission, and the limited global availability of vaccine doses.



It also emphasizes that maritime and air transport are essential activities underpinning global trade and mobility, and key to a sustainable socio-economic recovery, and notes the full joint support of the participating agencies for the timely development of an international harmonized framework for vaccination certificates to facilitate international travel for seafarers and aircrew.



As the Joint Statement draws attention to, the application of stringent public health rules to these key workers, including quarantine, has resulted in hindered connectivity, operational complexity, and significant costs, Dr. Liu noted.



The statement also calls on governments to prioritize seafarers and aircrew in their national Covid-19 vaccination programmes, together with other essential workers, in accordance with the WHO SAGE Roadmap for prioritizing the use of Covid-19 vaccines.



The total number of pre-pandemic licensed aviation professionals, including pilots, air traffic controllers, and licensed maintenance technicians, was 887,000 according to ICAO statistics. Air transport carried about 5.7 billion passengers in 2019, and airfreight pre-pandemic represented 35% of the value of goods shipped in all modes combined.  TradeArabia News Service




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Photo: The Canadian Press German Chancellor Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed her country's difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic  from the slow vaccine rollout to the back-and-forth over lockdown rules  partly on a tendency toward perfectionism and called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases.

In an hour-long television interview with public broadcaster ARD late Sunday, Merkel acknowledged that mistakes were made by her government, including on plans for an Easter lockdown, which had to be reversed.

The long-time leader also expressed frustration over the actions of some of Germany's state governors, including members of her own party, who have resisted tougher restrictions they had previously agreed to.

But Merkel, who isn't running again in September's national election, said she stands by her pledge to offer every adult a vaccine by the end of the summer, and insisted Germany still compares well with most of its neighbours.

Perhaps we're very perfectionist at times and want to do everything right, because obviously whoever makes a mistake always faces quite a lot of public criticism, Merkel said.

But there needs to be flexibility, too, she added. That, I believe, is an attribute that we as Germans perhaps need to learn a little bit more, alongside our tendency toward perfectionism.

As an example, she cited the need for doctors and vaccine centres to have lists on hand of people who can receive shots left over at the end of the day. By Sunday, about 10.8% of the population had received a first dose of vaccine in Germany, a far smaller share than in Britain, the United States and Israel.

Merkel said she expects a significant increase in supply and the start of vaccinations in general practitioner offices next month to boost the vaccine program going forward.

With recent opinion polls showing falling support for her government and party, Merkel urged Germans not to become overwhelmed by despair.

We have a difficult situation," she said. But look at our neighbours. With the exception of Denmark they are all grappling with the same problems, in part from a much more difficult position.

We also need to voice a bit of courage and strength," she said.

Germanys disease control agency on Monday reported 9,872 newly confirmed infections in the past day, and 43 deaths.

Since the start of the outbreak, the country of 83 million has recorded almost 2.8 million confirmed COVID-19 infections and 75,913 deaths, significantly fewer per population than France, Britain or the United States.

Asked about Britain's decision to relax some restrictions Monday amid a sharp drop in infections, Merkel's spokesman insisted that it's not a race.

A look towards Britain shows light and shadow, and we're happy about the light, Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. And we grieve with Britain for the many, many dead they have already had to lament during this pandemic.

In her televised interview, Merkel also took aim at some state governors who have refused to trigger the so-called emergency brake they had agreed to put in place earlier this month, when weekly infection rates rise above 100 per 100,000 inhabitants.

We need to implement the necessary measures now with great seriousness," she said. "Some states are doing that, others arent doing that yet.
New Delhi:

A 75-year-old woman was allegedly sexually harassed by her son for the last two years in Punjabs Gurdaspur.

Gurdaspur Police on Monday said that an elderly woman from Batala lodged a complaint with the police against her son.

According to the complaint lodged by the elderly woman, her son, 45-year-old, repeatedly raped her for the last two years under the influence of alcohol.

She told the police that she chose to remain silent on the issue believing that on lodging a complaint the incident would bring bad name to the family.

The incident came to surface, after she narrated her ordeal to one of her daughters visiting her on Friday. On learning the incident the victims daughter spoke to her siblings and all decided to lodge complaint against the accused.

We have lodged an FIR on the basis of the complaint. Raids are being conducted to nab the accused son, said a police official.

The police official told the media that the woman has four sons and three daughters and she had been living with the accused as all her other children were married and lived separately.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Flowers, signs and balloons are left near a makeshift memorial to George Floyd near the spot where he died in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images)

George Floyd Family Lawyer Says Defense Will Try to Assassinate His Character

The attorney representing George Floyds family said Monday he expects the defense team for the former Minneapolis police officer on trial in connection with Floyds death will to try to assassinate his character during the trials opening arguments.

Benjamin Crump, the civil rights attorney representing Floyds family, made the remark in multiple interviews on Monday, the first day of the trial in which the defendant, Derek Chauvin, stands accused of murder.

Theyre going to say that because he had a trace amount of drugs in his system that thats what killed him and not what we saw in that video where he was tortured to death, Crump said.

Floyd died last May while in police custody after resisting arrest, with the highly publicized incidentcaught on video showing Chauvin detaining Floyd by pressing his knee against his necksparking a spate of protests and violent riots.

As the trial got underway on Monday, Eric Nelson, Chauvins defense attorney, made the argument that Floyds drug usecombined with his heart disease and high blood pressure, as well as the adrenaline flowing through his bodycaused his death from a heart rhythm disturbance.

Prosecutors showed the jury the graphic video, with prosecutor Jerry Blackwell telling jurors that Chauvin didnt let up even after a handcuffed Floyd said multiple times that he couldnt breathe.

He put his knees upon his neck and his back, grinding and crushing him, until the very breathno, ladies and gentlemenuntil the very life was squeezed out of him, Blackwell said.

Nelson countered by arguing that Floyd was resisting arrest and Chauvin arrived to assist other officers who were struggling to get Floyd into a squad car as the crowd around them grew larger and more hostile.

Derek Chauvin did exactly what he had been trained to do over his 19-year career, Nelson said.

He also argued that Chauvin was not to blame for Floyds death, as Floyd did not have any signs of asphyxiation and had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.

The evidence is far greater than 9 minutes and 29 seconds, Nelson said.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill on March 19 approved a request by Nelson to admit some evidence from Floyds 2019 arrest. Nelson sought to admit evidence from that arrest, arguing that striking similarities between the two episodes were relevant in the trial, particularly in terms of the cause of death.

In both arrests, as officers drew their guns and struggled to get Floyd out of the car, he called out for his mother, claimed he had been shot before and cried, and put what appeared to be pills in his mouth. Both searches turned up drugs in the cars. Officers noticed a white residue outside his mouth both times, although that has not been explained.

Paramedics who examined Floyd in 2019 warned him that his blood pressure was dangerously high, putting him at risk for a heart attack or stroke, and took him to a hospital for examination. In Floyds 2019 arrest, several opioid pills and cocaine were found. An autopsy showed Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system when he died in May of last year.

Clearly there is a cause of death issue here, and it is highly contested, Cahill said at the time, ruling to allow evidence from the 2019 arrest, but limiting it only to what pertains to the cause of Floyds death.

Chauvin faces charges of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter.

His much-publicized trial has been the focus of intense scrutiny, with White House press secretary saying at a briefing on Monday that President Joe Biden certainly will be watching closely.

At the same time, Psaki emphasized that the legal system would need time to weigh the evidence and determine whether Chauvin is guilty.

Nelson has argued that the intense media attention that the case has drawnin particular after news broke recently of a multi-million dollar settlement to Floyds familymay have tainted the jury pool and could prevent Chauvin from getting a fair trial.

Chauvins attorney requested that the trial be moved or postponed, a request that the judge rejected.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 15:36:26|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The massive container ship Ever Given has been successfully refloated after being stranded in the Suez Canal for almost a week, Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Monday.

The direction of the ship, which was stuck in the shallow side of the waterway, changed by 80 percent, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie said in the statement, noting that efforts will continue in the coming few hours until the direction of the ship is 100-percent changed.

The SCA chief sent a message of reassurance to the international maritime community that "navigation in the canal will be resumed once the vessel is fully floated soon."

The 224,000-ton container has been stuck and blocking the vital waterway since Tuesday last week, after it lost the ability to steer amid massive winds and a sandstorm.

The incident caused temporary suspension of navigation in the man-made canal, keeping at least 321 ships in wait.

Dutch firm Boskalis with its emergency response team Smit Salvage was hired by Ever Given's owner to assist the SCA in the rescue operations.

The SCA said on Saturday that 14 tug boats were working on salvaging the grounded ship.

Linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, the Suez Canal is a major lifeline for global seaborne trade since it allows ships to travel between Europe and South Asia without navigating around Africa, thereby reducing the sea voyage distance between Europe and India by about 7,000 km.

Some 12 percent of the world trade volume passes through the Suez Canal.

Earlier on Monday, ship tracking website VesselFinder showed in a map that Ever Given was moving in the Red Sea and said "the vessel is en route to the port of Rotterdam, sailing at a speed of 0.1 knot and expected to arrive there on March 31." Enditem
BEIJING and BOSTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacobio Pharmaceuticals (1167.HK) announced its first annual results after its Hong Kong listing. By the end of December 31, 2020, its annual revenue was 486 million yuan and R&D expenses exceeded 230 million yuan and increased 66% compared to 2019. As a clinical-stage biotech company, Jacobio has made progress in a number of its pipelines.

Jacobio focuses on in-house research and development of global first-in-class drugs. Its pipelines target critical cancer cellular pathways, including RAS, MYC, RB, I/O, etc.. Jacobio has expertise in developing allosteric inhibitors against protein tyrosine phosphatase, KRAS and transcriptional factors.

Jacobio generated revenue through licensing out its SHP2 inhibitors to a global partner. "As a clinical-stage biotech company, this licensing deal shows our in-house R&D capabilities," said Dr. Wang Yinxiang, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Jacobio. "We hope to launch our drugs as soon as possible with our partner, to benefit more patients, and realise our commercial value."

Besides SHP2 inhibitors, the clinical-stage pipelines of Jacobio also include the KRAS G12C inhibitor JAB-21000, and BET inhibitor JAB-8263. IND (investigational new drug) applications have been submitted. Five other programs are in the IND-enabling stage.

In terms of the operations, Jacobio's number of employees has expanded from 130 to about 180 employees in 2020, and the number will continue to grow in 2021. The 20,000 square meter GMP factory in Beijing is under construction and is expected to be completed before the end of 2023. Jacobio has a R&D center with a clinical team in Boston. The Shanghai office will be put into operations in the first half of 2021.

Jacobio was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board in December 2020 and raised nearly US$200 million (CNY1.3 billion). The company was officially included in the Hang Seng Composite Index on March 15, 2021, and enrolled into the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect trading list.

"In 2021, Jacobio will continue investing in R&D. We expect more partnerships with global MNCs to enhance all aspects of drug R&D capabilities, and obtain more global presence," said Dr. Wang Yinxiang.

For more information, please refer to the company's 2020 annual results announcement published on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the company's official website.

About Jacobio Pharma

Jacobio is committed to providing more products and solutions to people's health. Our mission is to provide compelling innovations for creating a pipeline of life-changing medicines. Our vision is to become a global leader recognized for our impact in drug R&D together with our partners. The company's R&D centers are located in Beijing and MA, with a platform and expertise in developing allosteric inhibitors against protein tyrosine phosphatase, KRAS and transcriptional factors.

Contact:



Media: Bonnie Wang [email protected]

Investor: Juanita Yu [email protected]

SOURCE Jacobio Pharmaceuticals
ATHENS - Greece's government has been called on once again to act and close or upgrade refugee and migrants camps after a young migrant staying at the Korinthos pre-departure camp in the Peloponnese area died after hanging himself.



Local reports said that the young man, or Turkish-Kurdish descent, was found hanged in the toilets at the facility where approximately 700 refugees and migrants are housed.



His body was discovered by other migrants staying at the camp who posted a photo of the tragic scene on Kurdish language website Pishti-News.



Rioting broke out after the incident, with migrants setting fire to mattresses and throwing rocks and missiles at police and firefighters before the authorities managed to control the situation and disperse the rioters.



The United Movement Against Racism and the Fascist Threat (Keerfa) released a strongly-worded media statement, claiming that the man decided to take his own life after being stuck at the camp for 17 months.



"The loss of life of a young refugee from Turkey in the concentration camp-hell of Corinth was the final straw that broke the camel's back for the anger of hundreds of people detained there, without committing any crime, apart from not having any papers!," said Keerfa.



The statement added: "The image of horror that they saw - there is also a video - is unbelievable when they found the young Turkish refugee hanged in the toilet, his lifeless body hanging from the cistern with a wire passed around his neck and his legs dangling in the toilet hole. The Turkish refugee had been detained for more than 17 months." Keerfa also insisted that the migrant's death "is not a suicide, but a result of the murderous policy of unjustified prolonged detention of refugees under the racist laws of Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the EU".



The organisation also added that this latest tragedy came just two days after another migrant died on the island of Kos "due to the indifference of the authorities to admit him to the hospital in time".



"We demand that these death traps be closed now, that refugees and migrants receive papers and asylum, and that the borders be opened." Opposition party Syriza weighed in in the wake of the incident, heavily criticizing the New Democracy government's migrant policies.



"We publicly denounce the government for its inhumane policies which, since taking over the government of the country, have led to the devaluation of human life and dignity," said the party's Corinth branch in a media statement.



"We demand the immediate abolition of the illegal, unacceptable and inhumane administrative detention that reaches up to 36 months, destroying human souls, and a measure that has been denounced many times by the Council of Europe, leading the country to many convictions in the European Court of Justice, since administrative detention can only be applied as an exception only after all alternative measures have been exhausted.



Syriza pointed out that when they handed over power in the July 2019 election, there were only about 200 people in the Corinth Detention Center, while today there are close to 850.



Back in 2019, the administrative detention period was three months, reaching a maximum of six.



The left-center party concluded: "We demand the immediate decongestion of the Corinth camp, as well as the other centers nationwide, and a change in the policy of generalized detention that creates prisons-warehouses of souls throughout the country.



Open structures with rules and a proper design and plan are what can be a viable solution in refugee management away from the explosive situations created by closed structures."
Rep. Cuellar, a Democrat, sent new pictures from the US Border. These pictures show a different situations that the White House is spinning. The Border crisis is now an issue against President Biden's judgement that resulted in this crisis. Many are clamoring for definite action but none is happening.

Rep. Cuellar shows pictures of the US Border

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose constituency crosses the southern border, shared a new set of photos from the Border Patrol facilities. This comes as many are asking for more information and access to the US-Mexico border. Except the administration has kept the media from seeing the border facilities, reported the Epoch Times.

On Sunday morning, Cuellar unveiled the photographs during a CBS News episode. A few unaccompanied minors were documented being detained in crowded conditions. Lying on the floor with foil blankets, and other images.

For many, this was not acceptable treatment for the illegals. Democrats have cited the welfare of alien minors but images were contradictory. Up to now the children on the floor, like baked potatoes drew outrage.

He told the outlet that the border patrol cannot keep the aliens more than 7 hours except when there is a massive overflow as more just arrived. These people are misled by Biden's open border and his appeal not to come.

The illegals don't want to stop, even with 100 arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border, said Rep. Cuellar. Instead of finding ways to send back these aliens over the US border, the Health and Human Services is opening more shelters that taxes its resources.

Mainstream Media Calls Out White House for Lack of Border Access

Before this open border policy, the asylum seekers were sent to Mexico to wait. The stay in Mexico policy allowed the aliens from south America to cross legally and are checked. However, the reckless policy changed by Biden has criminals entering the US.

Cuellar added that older illegal immigrants were turned back by the border patrol. Of the 100,000 who crossed over about 71% were adult aliens in February. They were duped by the Cayotes and Cartels who made money from them.

These who were rejected were sent out after the border patrol caught them. Even whole families stealing into border were turned back. If the minors were thirteen and up, who were forced back opposite the U.S. border.

Cuellar claims that federal authorities released 2,000 people who entered the country illegally. This is irregular according to him that these aliens got in without receiving notices. All aliens must appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) court as a rule.

Releasing undocumented aliens is a mistake that was allowed by the administration. Only they can make this kind of call, not any agency. This error was caused by the reverse of Trump border policies.

He remarked that these aliens should be in an ICE office in 60 days. Calling the precedent of releasing aliens who are uninvestigated is a mistake. These individuals can be anywhere by now. Rep. Cuellar said if the cities on the US border cannot handle the crisis created by the administration, the Mexican government will assist in easing the tensions.

Joe Biden's Policies to Blame for Sending Children to U.S. Border

Biden Administration to Use Taxpayers' Money to Pay for Migrants' Hotel Accommodations

Biden Promises Migrants Entry at the Border

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
That Lewis Hamilton gained an advantage during the Bahrain Grand Prix by coming out of turn 4, most followers agree. How much advantage exactly is hard to say. According to Ho-Pin Tung there is more to it than just a faster racing line.

The Chinese-Dutch driver explains on Twitter that tyre wear is a serious problem on the Bahrain circuit by default. To keep the tyres alive a little longer every detail counts. Tung therefore thinks that Verstappen, for example, suffered from faster tyre wear due to the problems with his differential.

Read more Alonso retired because of a stray sandwich bag

Saving tyres with wide racing line

But the violation of track limits by Lewis Hamilton also plays a role. "Hamilton drove Turn 4 like that because you have a lot of combined g-forces (lateral and acceleration at the same time) on the tyre there. And the bigger the radius, the less the load and temperature. One should have intervened from lap one."

In the closing stages, Lewis Hamilton was driving on eleven laps older tyres than Verstappen, but because Hamilton was still driving off-track during the first part of his final stint, Tung says it is difficult to say whether Hamilton's tyres were in such worse shape than Verstappen's in the final few laps.

Net #BahrainGP versneld teruggekeken. Benieuwd hoeveel invloed diff prob VER heeft gehad. Bahrein is namelijk laatste plek waar je diff prob wilt: maakt lange remzones en accelereren uit langzame bochten lastig, S1 & S3 in eindfase duidelijk zwak tov HAM terwijl S2 sterk was 1/4  Ho-Pin Tung  (@hopintung) March 29, 2021
New Jersey was one of the last states to make it legal in 2012 for adults to buy syringes over the counter, a move to increase access to clean needles and discourage drug users from sharing or reusing needles. It was heralded as a way to slow the spread of HIV and other blood-borne illnesses, especially for those who dont live near a needle exchange - which most New Jerseyans dont.

But one of the original goals of the bill was never realized. Legislators removed a provision that would have repealed the law that makes it a disorderly persons offense to possess a syringe intended for drug use.
Republicans, especially men, are among the most reluctant to receive a COVID vaccine, Iowa and national polls show.

Why it matters: That runs counter to the dominant narrative that minority groups are the most hesitant, as explored last week in a New York Times podcast.

Individuals who aren't vaccinated face increased health risks, but the reluctance also affects the wider goal to reach herd immunity.

As Iowa opens vaccine eligibility to all adults next week, the state is quickly approaching a point where it'll soon shift its vaccination focus to those who have declined earlier opportunities.

By the numbers: 41% of Iowa Republicans dont plan to be vaccinated compared with 8% of Democrats and 30% of independents, according to an Iowa Poll published by the Des Moines Register this month.

Among those groups, men lead in reluctancy.

What they're saying: Polk County Republican Party Chairwoman Gloria Mazza, who recovered from COVID and had a friend who died from it, doesn't plan to push for vaccinations among her group, arguing that peoples' concerns about potential unknown consequences must be respected.

"I'm not a rebel by any means. I know this stuff is real. I've lived it, but I also believe strongly in personal choice," she told Axios.

The big picture: The percent of the population that must be vaccinated to reach herd immunity remains under study, but is generally believed to be about 60-70%.

Almost 1 million Iowans are now at least partially vaccinated. Of those, about 60% are women. (Our population of adults is around 2.4 million.)

Reaching herd immunity may be through a "long, very difficult and remarkably unpleasant way" if people don't get vaccinated, John Rovers, a pharmacy professor at Drake told Axios.

What's next: Polk County health officials will soon launch outreach efforts to "any groups" that are hesitant, spokeswoman Nola Aigner Davis told Axios when asked about whether the department would target politically-affiliated organizations.

State officials are already working with community organizations to coordinate outreach to communities who face barriers in accessing a vaccine, Gov. Kim Reynolds said last week.

Reynolds didn't specifically mention her party as an outreach target. But she got vaccinated during a press conference earlier this month and has said it is the most important thing to ensure the state's recovery.

This story first appeared in the Axios Des Moines newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard.
KABUL, -- Zablon Simintov is Afghanistans only Jew. The 61-year-old has borne separation from his family and life during civil wars and Taliban oppression to stay in his homeland, Afghanistan.

But Simintov is now planning to leave Afghanistan as the withdrawal of Western forces looms amid ongoing peace efforts that will likely result in the Talibans return to government.

After our important festivals [Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in September], I will leave Afghanistan, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. If you decide to leave then it is difficult to stay, he added. If the Taliban return, they are going to push us out with a slap in the face.

But his increasing worries over the past two years have convinced him to leave.

Simintov, whose wife and two daughters have lived in Israel for more than two decades, used to say it was Gods will that he lived in Afghanistan. But he has worried about his future there ever since Washington began negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban in 2018.

Peace talks are making people worried that if the Taliban come and if they behave the same as they used to during their regime [in the 1990s] then people will be worried, he told the BBC in 2019.

Simintov is not the only one leaving his homeland, which in the mid-20th century boasted a 40,000-strong Jewish community.

Afghanistans Hindu and Sikh minority has shrunk from more than 200,000 in the 1980s to a few hundred families today. Most members of Afghanistans tiny Hindu and Sikh minority have already left while others plan to join exiled members of their community in India. Militant attacks have targeted their temples and leaders, killing scores, while criminals kidnapped members of the community for ransom.

There is a risk that Afghanistans non-Muslim minorities, many of whose members fled during the tumultuous decades following the 1978 communist coup, could vanish completely if peace does not follow the departure of international troops this year.

Sandeep Singh, 20, recently relocated to India. He told Radio Free Afghanistan that in addition to the security threats, his community faced systemic discrimination in their homeland.

When I used to go to school [in Kabul], both the students and the teachers would ridicule me, he said. They would pull my hair and turban, he added. Sikhism requires its adherents to wrap their hair in a turban.

Bushra, 17, is a Sikh high-school student in Kabul. She told Radio Free Afghanistan that she regularly faces harassment and ridicule because of her faith. Everybody comments on my appearance and taunts me for having small eyes, she said. They make fun of how I dress.

Soni Singh, an Afghan Sikh who now lives in exile in New Delhi, says it is difficult for the community to integrate into their new country while its not feasible to return to Afghanistan.

When we return to Afghanistan and try to use our skills to get ahead, we are told that we come from another country, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. Our children are called names because we do not trim our hair, he added. They call us Hindus despite the fact that we are Sikhs.

A Crucial Transition

Afghanistans religious minorities face discrimination despite the countrys current constitution guaranteeing protections against discrimination. While minorities have made some progress such as gaining limited government protection, the freedom to worship, and token representation in the government, their future hangs in the balance as Afghanistan braces for a critical transition.

While U.S. forces are unlikely to meet the May 1 deadline in line with Washingtons agreement with the Taliban, President Joe Biden is keen on underscoring the fact that his countrys troops will leave Afghanistan in the near future. The withdrawal looms amid a deadlock between the Taliban and the Afghan government and uncertainty over the peace process.

It is, however, clear that Islam will play a larger role in the countrys politics and public policies if the hard-line Taliban Islamists return to the government, which could see a revival of more literal interpretations of Islamic law.

Afghan clerics and Islamic scholars insist that discrimination against non-Muslims has no place in Islam.

If religious minorities live in an Islamic country, its government is obliged to protect them, Mufti Bilal Ahmed Safir, a religious scholar in Kabul, told Radio Free Afghanistan. Their lives and properties should be protected, and they should be granted all the rights given by Allah.

During the 1990s, the Taliban and rival Islamist groups pledged protection of minorities, but most Hindus and Sikhs fled to India. Months before its regime fell in December 2001, the Taliban contemplated forcing Hindus to wear identity badges to distinguish them from majority Muslims.

Despite such efforts, the small communities of religious minorities -- including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, and Bahais, who experienced egregious human rights violations under Taliban rule -- remained endangered, without the ability to observe their faith publicly for fear of violent reprisal by terrorist groups or society at large, noted the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in its annual report last year.

Sardar Gurbachan Singh Ghazniwal, 50, did everything he could to stay in Afghanistan. He even lived inside the Gurdwara, the Sikh temple, in Kabul for years after losing his businesses and properties in the southeastern city of Ghazni.

But after the Islamic State militants attacked the Kabul Gurdwara last year and killed 25 Sikhs  including nine of his relatives -- Ghazniwal made up his mind to move to India.

Whenever I travel in a bus or taxi, my fellow [Afghan] Muslim brothers ask me, Where do you come from in India, Sardar?, Ghazniwal told Radio Free Afghanistan. They even dont consider how I can speak Pashto and Dari, [the two major Afghan languages] so well if I had come from Afghanistan, he added. Even when I speak fluent Pashto and Dari, I am not considered an equal [citizen].

The looming uncertainty might force most if not all of Afghanistans non-Muslim citizens to follow Ghazniwals path.

If the situation in the country gets worse, I will escape, Simintov told Reuters.
Someone has told the president that he was elected by the American people to fundamentally change our country. He thinks he has a mandate, and that all that stands between him and success is a few ornery Republicans in the Senate who refuse to get out of the way.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
KABUL  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan strongly condemns last Sunday's suicide attack on a Catholic church in the city of Makassar, Indonesia, that wounded 20 people.

These terrorist attacks are against all universally accepted values and norms for peaceful coexistence between followers of different religions worldwide.

Being a victim of terrorism and violence, Afghanistan has repeatedly stressed that attacking places of worship and religious centers, targeting civilians, and destroying infrastructure are against the sacred teachings of Islam and in flagrant violation of all internationally accepted laws, agreements, and covenants.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs offers its sympathies to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery for the injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on politicians not to discredit the COVID-19 vaccine and the vaccination process in general because of their ambitions, the presidential press service has reported.

"I strongly urge these politicians to choose very carefully the words that fly out of their mouth. Because they will definitely have to answer for each of these words both to the law of Ukraine and to God. Decide for yourself which is the greater argument for you," Zelensky said.

According to the report, Ukraine received 215,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech last week and expects the next batch in the coming weeks.

Zelensky said that the signed contract provides for almost two million doses of the vaccine.

"Apart from China, the Sinovac vaccine is already used in 18 countries around the world. In particular, Turkey, where President Erdogan and Patriarch Bartholomew were vaccinated with it," Zelensky said.

In addition, according to him, almost 50 million people in India and Europe have been vaccinated with the CoviShield vaccine from AstraZeneca, which eloquently demonstrates the recognition of its safety and quality.

"The number of vaccinated people and the pace of vaccination in Ukraine is growing daily. Of course, these figures are still far from ideal, but it must be acknowledged that all European Union countries have also lagged behind the vaccination plan. We are actively working for the successful implementation of the vaccination plan in Ukraine. For this, both the readiness of society to vaccinate and the provision of a sufficient number of vaccines are important," Zelensky said.

According to him, the vaccination process is facing difficulties, as India has restrictions on the export of the vaccine, and Ukraine expects the Indian government to reconsider this decision.

"However, it should be understood that public statements by some Ukrainian politicians do not contribute to a positive solution to this issue at all, but rather strongly hinder it. They have launched a large-scale and dirty campaign to discredit both the vaccine itself and the vaccination process in general," he said.

A batch of 500,000 doses of the CoviShield vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, arrived in Ukraine on February 23.

The first batch of the CoronaVac vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech was delivered to Ukraine on March 25.

op
A 17-year-old boy who was injured in a shooting outside a Salem elementary school has died from his injuries, police confirmed on Sunday.

Police said they responded on Wednesday afternoon to reports of a shooting at Four Corners Elementary School at Durbin Avenue Southeast and Wiley Lane Southeast, in the unincorporated area of Salem. When they arrived, they found two 17-year-old boys with gunshot wounds.

Both boys were hospitalized, and one was released with non-life-threatening injuries.

The other boy was critically injured, and succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning. Police said they will not be releasing the victims names because they are minors.

Police did not say whether they have identified any suspects in the shooting or described the circumstances that led to it.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
(Natural News) American scientists have detected more than a hundred chemicals in the blood of pregnant women and their children. Fifty-five of these substances had not been found in humans before, while 42 mystery chemicals had no sources or known uses. Based on their findings, the scientists posited that the children receive the chemicals through the mothers placenta while still in the womb.

The scientists from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) examined a total of 60 blood samples for their study. Thirty samples were extracted from pregnant women and 30 samples obtained from their umbilical cords. They utilized high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) to analyze the samples and identified a total of 109 unique results.

The team then classified the 109 unique substances it found in the samples. About 40 of these are used as plasticizers that help them become softer and more flexible, 23 are used as pesticides and three are used as flame retardants. The plasticizers most likely came from food packaging, plastic utensils and appliances, according to the study. Furthermore, it noted that the chemicals could have been in the body for a long time  with HRMS technology revealing their presence only now.

According to the UCSF scientists, they specifically studied pregnant womens samples because pregnancy is a critical period of development for future health risks. Some of the chemicals they analyzed appeared in both pregnant women and their newborn children. This suggested that the substances passed through the placenta, where the developing fetus absorbed the chemicals.

UCSF obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences professor and study author Tracy Woodruff commented: It is alarming that we keep seeing certain chemicals travel from pregnant women to their children, which means these chemicals can be with us for generations. She added that these chemicals have probably been in people for quite some time and that the advent of technologies such as HRMS have helped determine their presence in the body.

Woodruff, a former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist warned: Its very concerning that we are unable to identify the uses or sources of so many of these chemicals. She called on her former government office to do a better job of requiring the chemical industry to standardize its reporting of chemical compounds and uses. Woodruff also exhorted the EPA to use its mandate to ensure people have adequate information to evaluate potential health harms, and to order the pull-out of chemicals that pose a risk.

Harmful PFAS used in different products also negatively impact male fertility

The UCSF team also identified seven per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the samples it tested. PFAS are found in a wide variety of consumer products such as non-stick cookware, waterproof fabrics, carpets and more. According to the EPA, these chemicals are very persistent in the environment and in the human body  meaning they dont break down and they can accumulate over time.

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich appeared to agree with the USCF scientists. She noted in a March 2021 Guardian op-ed: Scientists have found these substances in the blood of nearly all the people they tested in the U.S. No country or region on earth is untouched by PFAS contamination: It is a global problem. (Related: PFAS, chemicals commonly found in household and everyday items, found to interfere with metabolism and body weight.)

Brockovich quoted a number of excerpts from a book titled Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race. The book by Dr. Shanna Swan of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York said PFAS and other toxic chemicals are negatively affecting sperm count, penile size and testicular volume. Earlier findings concurred with Swans observations, noting that these chemicals are linked to a reduction of semen quality, testicular volume and penile length.

According to Swan, sperm counts in human males have fallen by almost 60 percent since 1972. She warned in her book that if the dwindling trend is not reversed, males may no longer produce sperm by 2045. Brockovich echoed Swans sentiments, commenting that PFAS literally kills humanity by attacking their reproductive capacities. The environmental activist concluded: The rapid death and decline of sperm must be addressed, and it must be addressed now. There simply is no time to lose.

Head over to Chemicals.news to find out how PFAS and other chemicals are harming men, women and children.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

PopularMechanics.com

EPA.gov

TheGuardian.com
France bears the burden of 'heavy and damning responsibilities' in the Rwandan genocide, but was not complicit in the slaughter. That's according to the findings of an official commission set up by President Emmanuel Macron.

The report, released on Friday, confirmed long and persistent accusations that France did not do enough to halt the killings.

Legalbrief reports that France's relationship with its former African colonies has been in the spotlight over the past month with Macron acknowledging that a prominent Algerian nationalist was tortured and murdered by its army more than 60 years ago. And looters hit a French retailer in Senegal's capital Dakar after days of clashes between opposition supporters and the police.

Rwanda's foreign ministry said the results from the country's own investigation commissioned in 2017 would be released soon 'to complement and enrich this latest report'.

The commission concluded that there had been a 'failure' on the part of France under former leader Francois Mitterrand which resulted in about 800 000 people being slaughtered. The genocide between April and July 1994 began after Rwanda's Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana, with whom Paris had cultivated close ties, was killed when his plane was shot down over Kigali on 6 April.

The Guardian reports that French troops led a military-humanitarian intervention called Operation Turquoise, launched by Paris under a UN mandate between June and August 1994, but critics have said it was intended to support the Hutu Government responsible for the genocide, a claim the report confirms.

' But is France complicit in the genocide of the Tutsis? If this means a willingness to be associated with the genocidal enterprise, nothing in the archives consulted proves it,' it states. The commission found that 'for a long time' France was involved with a regime 'that encouraged racist massacres'.

The 1,200-page report was presented to Macron by the historian Vincent Duclert, who headed of the 15-person commission. Researchers worked on the report for two years and had access to sensitive diplomatic and military intelligence documents.

Rwanda's Government hailed the release of the report as 'an important step toward a common understanding of France's role in the genocide' and said it would be publishing its own study in the coming weeks. Full report in The Guardian

Journalist and author Andrew Wallis told Al Jazeera the report was 'explosive'.

' The one thing that stood out for me was the fact they're saying French intelligence knew it was Hutu extremists that shot President Habyarimana's plane down, which was seen as the trigger for the genocide,' Wallis said.

The News reports that he noted that a previous French judge's report had denied that and put the blame on President Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party, 'and this misinformation has done the rounds for 27 years'. He added that 'it was in their archives that they knew this in fact was untrue'.

A statement from the French Presidency said Macron welcomed the report as marking 'considerable progress in the understanding and description of France's involvement in Rwanda'. Officials in Macron's 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. Full report on The News site

Rwandans visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial have had mixed reaction to the findings. 'There is nothing that the French can do to pay back for what they did, but maybe they could do something for the victims and the survivors who are still suffering from the effects of the genocide to help them improve their lives,' said Jean Dushimimana.

Africa News reports that Paul Habumugisha said 'they (France) ignored what they did to participate in the genocide, but now if they accept it, it means that France is going to be our friend'. MP John Ruku-Rwabyoma, who represents the RPF described it as 'a positive move in the right direction'. Full report on the Africa News site

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Conflict 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.

Meanwhile, the Rwandan High Court says it will continue with the terrorism trial of a man portrayed as a hero in a 2004 Hollywood movie about the genocide.

Paul Rusesabagina says he will not appear in court again as he did not expect justice. BBC News reports that a judge said the trial would continue even if Rusesabagina 'would not appear without valid reasons'.

Rusesabagina and 20 others are accused of terror charges related to deadly attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019 by the FLN, the armed wing of the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change.

Legalbrief reports that Rusesabagina has admitted to backing and 'diplomatically' supporting the group. A fierce critic of President Paul Kagame, Rusesabagina says he was abducted in Dubai in August and transferred to Rwanda.

An account of Rusesabagina's actions during the genocide was dramatised in the film Hotel Rwanda , in which he was portrayed by American actor Don Cheadle. The film has been the subject both of critical acclaim and deep controversy. Full BBC News report
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham defended the right to own assault weapons, declaring he had an AR-15 and he was prepared to use it to defend his home.

Graham, a conservative Republican who was a close ally of Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, said owned the deadly weapon to fight off any gangs that would come to his neighborhood in the event of a natural disaster in his home state.

'I own an AR-15. If there's a natural disaster in South Carolina where the cops can't protect my neighborhood, my house will be the last one that the gang will come to because I can defend myself. You don't have to have an AR-15, but if you have one lawfully, I think you should be allowed to keep it,' he told Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday.'

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham defended the right to own assault weapons, declaring he had an AR-15 and he was prepared to use it

Graham made his declaration after Wallace asked him debate over banning assault weapons, particularly large capacity magazines, which studies show contribute to mass shootings.

The gun rights debate returned to the national forefront after killings in Atlanta, where eight died including six Asian women, and Boulder, Colorado, where ten people were left dead.

Progressives are renewing their call for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the latest mass shootings.

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, called on Congress to pass legislation improving background checks. The House, earlier this month, approved universal background checks, but that legislation is not expected to pass in the Senate.

Biden, who is weighing using an executive order to deal with gun violence, also expressed confidence on Sunday that reasonable legislation could pass. He pointed out the only assault weapons ban happened when he was in the Senate.

'I'm the only one who has ever got them passed, man,' Biden said. 'The only gun control legislation that's ever passed is mine. It's going to happen again.'

Congress narrowly passed an assault weapons ban in 1994 when Biden was a senator, but it expired in 2005. Attempts to renew it in Congress have been unsuccessful.

Graham said any attempted ban on assault weapons 'won't get 50 votes, much less 60' on the Senate floor. In the Senate, 60 votes are needed to move legislation from debate to final passage.

Graham said the shootings 'have a lot to do with mental health.'

'Count me in for addressing that issue. Red flag laws exist in 19 states. There are some things we can do. But at the end of the day, if you think an assault weapons ban is what the country needs, bring it to the floor of the United States Senate and vote on it. I welcome that debate,' he said.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said the best way to get the GOP to open up to gun control legislation is passing a background check bill first

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a close Biden ally, said the Senate is more likely to get a bill passed on tightening background checks.

'Right now our best chance to get something passed is universal background checks,' Murphy told NBC's 'Meet the Press' host Chuck Todd on Sunday morning.

He said that is a first step that could lead to additional legislation.

'Once we convince Republicans that the sky doesn't fall for you politically when you support a reasonable expansion of something like background checks, you can move onto other interventions,' Murphy said.

He expressed hope the politics around gun ownership were changing.

'I think the politics have shifted dramatically,' Murphy said. 'I've gotten calls from GOP in Senate who don't want to fight this fight any longer because the NRA's authority is fading, the anti-gun violence movement's impact is increasing. I think we have a chance.'

Murphy has proposed legislation, the Background Check Expansion Act, that would extend a background check requirement to unlicensed and private firearm sellers before selling a firearm. Current federal law doesn't require unlicensed sellers to do background checks.
ROME, MAR 29 - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told the press after a meeting with Montenegrin counterpart Djordje Radulovic in Podgorica Monday that "the advancement of the European prospect of the whole region of the western Balkans represents a priority geostrategical investment for Italy . "In today's talks we reiterated how the path completed by Montenegro in these years is a story of success, with its historic entry into NATO which Italy strongly backed and with the opening of all the chapters in the negotiation for EU membership. "We must continue along this road". Di Maio also stressed the importance of creating opportunities for Italian firms in the area, noted that Italy is Montenegro's fourth supplier of goods, and said the country's role as energy hub of the region must be reinforced. (ANSA).
Principal of St. Joseph' s CBS Secondary School in Fairview, Sean Stack pictured with first year students. Photo: Mark Condren.

The Department of Education has confirmed first to fourth-year students in second-level schools will return on April 12, the day they reopen after the Easter holidays.

This is the final batch of students to go back to the classroom under the staggered reopening plan that started on February 11.

The last time these pupils  about 240,000  have been engaged in face-to-face teaching was before Christmas.

A department letter sent to principals as schools broke for the Easter holidays confirmed it was the Governments intention that all students will return to school from Monday April 12.

Schools have had an increased incidence of Covid-19 in the past two weeks, reflecting higher infection rates in the community.

According to the Irish National Teachers Organisation, public health advisers have confirmed that in areas of the country where the rate of community infection is higher, there were more incidences of infection in schools.

The stubbornly high infection rate led to some schools hedging their bets and sending children home with their books in case they were not back after Easter.

But the prospect of a full return not going ahead in April has not been contemplated in talks with the education partners.

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has warned parents to avoid Easter camps and playdates over the holidays to curb the spread of the disease.

While schools are deemed safe once infection prevention and control measures are strictly observed, keeping Covid-19 out can be a big challenge.

Many principals have reported difficulties in ensuring parents did not congregate around the school gates.

A final decision has yet to be taken on the return of pregnant teachers and special-needs assistants to the classroom.

At the moment, all pregnant education employees are working remotely because of concerns about a possible link between Covid and stillbirth.
TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. -- Another reason to raise a glass to Michigans booming beer scene: Traverse City was just named as one of the nations best small towns for craft beer.

A USA Today Readers Choice 10Best poll for Best Small Town Beer Scene named Traverse City on a list of 10 American towns known for their craft beer.

Traverse City came in at No. 7 on the list, which described the Cherry Capital as a hotbed of craft beer action in the already beer-centric state of Michigan.

The brewers in the region are highly regarded, said Trevor Tkach, president of Traverse City Tourism. The craft beer scene is one of many draws to the region. We hear countless times from our visitors that after enjoying all that northern Michigan has to offer, a perfect cap to the day is enjoying a local brew with friends.

For the poll, a nationwide panel of beer experts had nominated 20 small towns with populations of less than 30,000 well-known for their local breweries. From that list, USA Today readers selected their top choices, with the No. 1 spot going to Avondale Estates, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.

According to Traverse City Tourism, Traverse-area brewers were happy to hear the results.

Thats exciting that were a top ten city, said Russell Springsteen from Right Brain Brewery  one of the breweries that got a shout-out in the polls description for Traverse City. We deserve it. We have several breweries that are making great beer.

See the full list of winners at the 10Best site here.

RELATED:

Michigans Best: A beer trifecta for Grand Rapids

Traverse City is trying to win label as Favorite Small Town for Craft Beer
SPRINGFIELD  A measure to end qualified immunity as a legal defense for law enforcement officers advanced out of the House Restorative Justice Committee at a Thursday hearing.

House Bill 1727, introduced by Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, would create the Bad Apples in Law Enforcement Accountability Act. It aims to remove the court doctrine of qualified immunity for officers, opening them up to civil litigation if they participate in the deprivation of any individual rights guaranteed in the Illinois Constitution. The liability is created even for officers who fail to intervene if such a deprivation is otherwise occurring.

The bill would also require local municipalities to disclose information about settlements with law enforcement officers.

Tarver and proponents of the legislation said the concept of qualified immunity emboldens some officers to make reckless decisions that could cost lives, as in the case of George Floyds killing in Minneapolis last year.

Qualified immunity is one defense in a host of defenses that law enforcement has, Tarver said. Someone putting their knee on someones neck for nine minutes when theyve already surrendered, thats not a split-second decision.

Peter Hanna from ACLU of Illinois told the committee on Thursday that the legislation is an effort to hold bad apples in police ranks accountable for their actions.

We can no longer just accept the presence of bad apples in law enforcement as an inevitable truth, Hanna said. No reform, no matter how well intentioned, can be effective until we add real police accountability.

Opponents argued the bill would contribute to ongoing problems with retaining and recruiting police officers who have cited recent changes to state law as reasons to not enter the law enforcement field in Illinois.

We have the membership rolls, we see the outcome, we know were losing membership, said Andrew Bodewes of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police. Were concerned that a change like this would further complicate that.

We dont believe that changes in qualified immunity are the correct tool to just solve the problem. Obviously we always want to talk about bettering law enforcement, (we) always want to have that conversation, but we just dont see the value of using this tool, Bodewes added.

Jim Kaitschuk of the Illinois Sheriffs Association told the committee the legislation could also result in complicating an officers decision-making process when arriving on a scene.

The bill goes a lot further than just eliminating qualified immunity, Kaitschuk said. I have a duty to intervene, at the same time, if I do intervene and I didnt act and based on the information that I have in front of me, Im going to be held liable if somebody else made a mistake or if I detain someone.

Tarver argued that if law enforcement officers leave the field as a result of the proposed legislation, they did not belong in the field to begin with.

If this leads to less police officers who are attracted to law enforcement because they know that they can demonize people and brutalize people, then Im all for it, Tarver said. If this leads to attracting the right people, Im all for it as well.

Tarver said the legislation is not intended to target police officers unfairly, but rather is designed to hold all officers to a higher standard.

Its very simple, like everybody else in the private sector, control your employees, hire the best and the brightest, train them, provide the resources, Tarver said. If municipalities are concerned, all they have to do is follow that very basic guideline and I think wed all be in better shape.

Opponents on the committee, including Reps. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, and Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, argued the bill goes too far to target a legal defense that is rarely used in Illinois.

Windhorst said that a decertification bill that was signed into law earlier this year serves as a sufficient punishment to bad apples in law enforcement, and that the bill calls for a commission to study the effects of qualified immunity.

We passed an expanded decertification law thats now going to be law, where we actually say, bad apple? Youre no longer a police officer. You violated somebodys constitutional rights? Youre no longer a police officer. You broke the law? Youre no longer a police officer. That is the effective way to address the bad apples, Windhorst said.

McCombie echoed concerns about officers leaving the field.

This bill is going to have many unintended and intended consequences that I feel are going to put our very own public safety at risk, McCombie said.

Representatives from ACLU of Illinois called the bills passage a significant response to egregious police misconduct.

For too long, special protections like qualified immunity create an almost insurmountable barrier to justice for people whose constitutional rights have been violated by police, Khadine Bennett, ACLU Illinois director of advocacy and intergovernmental affairs, said in a statement.

HB 1727 changes that and provides the people of this state a chance to hold bad police officers accountable when they violate someones constitutional rights, Bennett added.

The bill passed committee on a 4-2 partisan roll call, with support from only Democrats.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Off the coast of Lahinch, Co Clare

The Ever Given wedged between the Skellig Islands

A map maker has made a web application to answer the question everyone is asking - just how big is the ship stuck in the Suez Canal?

Map curator Garrett Dash Nelson created the app so people can place the Ever Given container ship on their own map location, or in different spots around the globe.

Fairly simple in its design, the Ever Given Everywhere allows the ship to be increased and decreased in size to fit neatly wherever users want, and theres also an option to lock into a size that is to scale. The app takes a satellite view of the world, and the ship can also be rotated.

Read More

Independent.ie took some snapshots of the now infamous ship alongside some iconic Irish landmarks, so we can see just how big the Ever Given is

In Dublin's Phoenix Park.

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Right outside Galway city:

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Off the coast of Lahinch, Co Clare:

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Beside OConnell bridge in Dublin city:

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Just outside Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork city:

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Stopped outside Sandymount beach in Dublin city:

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Wedged between Skellig islands:

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Landed beside the Spire:

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The Ever Given has been wedged in the Suez Canal since Tuesday, and according to the Suez Canal Authority today, has been freed from the shoreline.

They added that further efforts to move the boat would resume later today when the water levels rise. The ships course has also been corrected by 80pc.

Part of the problem is that the Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world. It is a 220,000-ton mega ship thats 400m long.

The ship completely blocked the canal where 12pc of the worlds seaborne trade takes place, causing many ships to travel around Africa, below the Cape of Good Hope.

According to the Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie, the Canal's revenues were taking a $14m-$15m (11.9m-12.7m) hit for each day of the blockage.
Indias richest state, Maharashtra, is considering imposing a strict lockdown this week after recording the highest one-day jump in coronavirus infections of any Indian state since last March, officials said on Sunday.

Maharashtra tightened travel restrictions and imposed night curfews as it reported 40,414 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, almost two-thirds of the national total, many of them in the densely-populated financial capital Mumbai.

In (Sundays) meeting of the (COVID-19) task force, it was suggested that very strict restrictions like lockdown should be imposed immediately, the office of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in a statement.

A senior official in the state government said the lockdown could take effect in the coming days as officials had been asked to prepare to implement it in a phased manner.

India recorded 62,714 new cases in the space of 24 hours on Sunday, the Health Ministry said - the biggest jump since October - as well as 312 deaths.

We are seeing a higher COVID positive rate in high-rise residential buildings than in slums ... to stop the spread, only essential services will be allowed (at night), said Mumbai Mayor Kishor Pednekar. Hotels, pubs and shopping malls must observe the curfew.

Residential areas in Mumbai with five or more reported COVID-19 cases have been ordered to be sealed off.

Maharashtras Principal Health Secretary Pradeep Vyas said 107,000 of the states 357,000 isolation beds were occupied.

In some districts, beds are not available and the capacity of the facility is falling short, he added in a statement.

Cases are also rising in the states of Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

In Delhi, Mumbai and elsewhere, there were bans or restrictions on the Hindu festival of Holi and the Muslim Shab-e-Barat or Day of Forgiveness, which both fell at the weekend and would usually prompt large gatherings.

But despite the curbs, hundreds of people gathered for a Holi ritual in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat on Sunday.

The surge in infections in India coincides with multi-stage state elections in West Bengal and Assam, seen as a test of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modis handling of the pandemic and mass protests over sweeping agriculture reforms.

Only around 40 million people, or less than 4% of the population, have received at least one dose of vaccine so far, according to official data.

However, 61 million doses manufactured in India have been sent abroad under grants or commercial arrangements.

After widespread criticism, the government said last week it would focus on domestic vaccinations and there would be no immediate expansion of exports.
BEIJING and BALTIMORE, Md., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) and Johns Hopkins Carey Business School announces a new dual degree master's program. The two-year, part-time, partially online program, which will confer both a Master of Science in Finance from Carey Business School and a Master of Business Administration from CKGSB, begins in autumn 2021.

Designed for working professionals in China wanting to advance their career and unable to study abroad due to COVID-19, this program allows flexibility using asynchronous and real-time learning activities to equip students with the qualitative and leadership skills needed to analyze data, implement change, and impact the long-term sustainability of businesses worldwide. Prospective students must have an undergraduate degree and 3-years of work experience to apply. The program will leverage existing CKGSB and Carey Business School curricula, as well as several new elective courses designed and taught jointly by faculty from both institutions. A significant portion of the curriculum is devoted to the CFA Institute's Candidate Body of Knowledge, which prepares students for the CFA exams.

"In these times of unprecedented transformations, business leaders must be able to compete on a global level in order to tackle the challenges of tomorrow," says CKGSB Founding Dean and Professor of China Business and Globalization, Xiang Bing. "I hope this dual degree cooperation between CKGSB and Carey Business School, which integrates and leverages the resources of both schools in terms of academia and alumni networks, will produce leaders who can contribute to society in positive ways."

Echoing Dean Xiang, the Dean of Carey Business School, Alexander Triantis, emphasized that Carey Business School likewise is devoted to cultivating leaders able to seize opportunities to create lasting value in an ever-changing world. "We want our graduates to advance the greater society as well as advancing their own careers."

The program includes basic core courses, as well as a selection of electives for an integrated approach. Electives focus on finance and investment, intelligent manufacturing and entrepreneurship, and the creative industries. A variety of practical industry courses will enable students to remain agile and up-to-date with cutting-edge trends. Special overseas courses will elevate students' viewpoints and integrate cross-border resources. Industry lecturers and real-life case studies will provide students with an enriched learning experience.

For more information and how to apply, visit: https://www.ckgsb.edu.cn/fmba/article/detail/35/6143

SOURCE Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB)
Venezuela could pay with oil for COVID-19 vaccines, Nicolas Maduro, the President of the struggling South American nation that is home to the worlds biggest oil reserves, said on Sunday.

Venezuela was struggling with the collapse of its economy and oil production even before the pandemic. COVID-19, however, exacerbated the crisis as oil prices plunged in 2020 while Venezuela continued to struggle with reversing the decline in its oil production. Crude oil exports have also significantly dropped since the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuelas oil exports in early 2019, essentially banning American refiners from importing oil from Venezuela.

Venezuela has the oil vessels and has the customers who will buy our oil, Reuters quoted Maduro as saying during a television address on Sunday.

We are ready and prepared for oil for vaccines, but we will not beg anyone, Maduro added.

According to Maduro, Venezuela has two options to procure vaccines under the COVAX mechanism of the World Health Organization (WHO) for getting vaccines to poorer countries.

One of those options would be the unfreezing of Venezuelas money and accounts, and the other is the Oil for Vaccines plan, Maduro said.

Venezuela started last month its vaccination program with the Russian vaccine Sputnik V that it had agreed to buy from ally Russia in December last year.

Earlier this month, the Latin American country also approved the COVID vaccine of Sinopharm, a company from China, another major ally of Maduros in recent years.

Meanwhile, Venezuelas crude oil and refined product exports plummeted in 2020 to their lowest level in 77 years, as the U.S. continued to step up sanctions against Maduros regime and anyone found dealing with it.

Most recently, Maduro started hinting this year that it may open up its oil industry to foreign investment, and said earlier this month that the Venezuelan National Assembly would consider reforms to the countrys oil law that would open the door to new business models.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 21:12:56|Editor: huaxia

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SOFIA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian customs inspectors have seized 7.977 kg of smuggled gold jewelry at the country's Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint near the border with Turkey, officials said Monday.

The precious items were found on Friday in a bus, which was travelling from Turkey to North Macedonia via Bulgaria, the National Customs Agency said in a statement.

Based on risk analysis, the customs officers x-rayed the vehicle and found a secret compartment containing 25 packs with 1,674 bracelets, rings, medallions, necklaces, and earrings, the statement said. The jewelry was made of 14-carat gold.

The items, priced at 365,207 U.S. dollars, were confiscated, the statement added.

Bulgarian customs seized 23 kg of gold in 2020, according to their last annual report. Enditem
South Africa: SA secures 30 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines

President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that South Africa has secured 30 million Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines.

Also, 220 million jabs which will leave the Aspen Pharmacares production line will be spread throughout the African continent.

The President made the announcement when he and his Deputy, David Mabuza, visited the Aspen Pharmacare sterile manufacturing facility where millions of vaccines shots are produced at Gqeberha, Eastern Cape on Monday.

As you well know, weve got a multi-supplier system of acquiring vaccines, Johnson & Johnson is one of those that were buying vaccines from and there are a number of others.

He said government is continuing to negotiate with several drugmakers as they work tirelessly to acquire the much-needed lifesaving vaccines.

The Minister of Health and his officials together with Finance continue to be seized with that whole process, he said.

He stressed that the country will not be overpaying for the vaccines to acquire J&J and other suppliers.

There is a great competition around the world about acquiring vaccines and were focused more to say, weve got to acquire vaccines as quickly as possible so that we can save our peoples lives.

He shot down criticism around the slow pace of the countrys COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The sluggish vaccine distribution has been caused by a global shortage of vaccines.

This was not unique to South Africa, the President said, citing Japan and some other European and African countries, which started their programme later than expected.

You will remember that we acquired vaccines initially from India and through scientific processes they were not efficient for the variant that we have and we have to source that vaccines.

In February, President Ramaphosa said South Africa became the first country in the world to give J&J to healthcare workers.

The President said he hoped the visit would speed up production, while he said government is still waiting for the Pfizer jabs.

People tend to think weve lost time, weve lost a bit of time but we still on target in terms of our phase and were now going to speed up the whole process of getting these. So, losing doesnt mean in my book that government is failing.

He reiterated that government is committed to saving the lives of the people.

We havent been sleeping on the job. The Minister and the Deputy President dont sleep, making sure that we work very hard we get those vaccines.

In November 2020, Aspen Pharmacare collaborated with J&J to establish the capacity required for the manufacturing of the vaccine at Aspens sterile facility.

The facility packages these products into vials, ampoules and pre-filled syringes.

Aspen has invested more than R3 billion in the facility, which will further provide lifesaving medicines for the domestic and export markets.

Meanwhile, Aspen CEO Stephen Saad said his company was committed to ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

According to Saad, South Africa will receive its first batch in April next month.

Third wave

Amid fears of a third wave of infections following the Easter long weekend, President Ramaphosa said the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) will meet on Tuesday.

We should be able to also discuss the matter with our provinces they will tell us how were behaving in relation to whether were observing various protocols or not.

Therefore, a decision will be taken once they have received reports from all the provinces.

If we find that our people are not observing the protocols and there are fears that there could be a further surge, then wed have to re-examine our position and say, do we need further restrictions, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Wesley Belisle, 4, died in April 2018 when he was swept into the Atlantic Ocean while on a vacation in North Carolinas Outer Banks with his parents, Lindsey and Derek Belisle. At the time, authorities said Wesley was walking along a beach with his mother when he was pulled out to sea by a rogue wave.

Canada pauses AstraZeneca vaccine for under 55 View Photo

TORONTO (AP)  Canada on Monday suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under age 55 following concerns it might be linked to rare blood clots.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization had recommended the pause for safety reasons and the Canadian provinces, which administer health in the country, announced the suspension Monday.

There is substantial uncertainty about the benefit of providing AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines to adults under 55 given the potential risks, said Dr. Shelley Deeks, vice chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Deeks said the updated recommendations come amid new data from Europe that suggests the risk of blood clots is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.

She said most of the patients in Europe who developed a rare blood clot after vaccination with AstraZeneca were women under age 55, and the fatality rate among those who develop clots is as high as 40%.

Dr. Joss Reimer of Manitobas Vaccine Implementation Task Force said despite the finding that there was no increase risk of blood clots overall related to AstraZeneca in Europe, a rare but very serious side effect has been seen primarily in young women in Europe.

Reimer said the rare type of blood clot typically happens between four and 20 days after getting the shot and the symptoms can mirror a stroke or a heart attack.

While we still believe the benefits for all ages outweigh the risks Im not comfortable with probably. I want to see more data coming out of Europe so I know exactly what this risk benefit analysis is, Reimer said.

The AstraZeneca shot, which has been authorized in more than 70 countries, is a pillar of a U.N.-backed project known as COVAX that aims to get COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries. It has also become a key tool in European countries efforts to boost their sluggish vaccine rollouts. That makes doubts about the shots especially worrying.

This vaccine has had all the ups and downs. It looks like a roller coaster, said Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, the chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, when asked if the latest news will lead to further vaccine hesitancy.

Health Canada said it has not received any reports of blood clots in Canada, and the departments chief medical adviser, Dr. Supriya Sharma, said she still believes the vaccines benefits outweigh the risks.

Last week, the department changed its label on the vaccine to warn about the rare risk of blood clots.

Only those 60 and above have received AstraZeneca in Ontario, Canadas most populous province.

We have no concerns with those who have received it so far, said Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer.

Mark Mendelson, a 63-year-old Toronto man who has had heart surgery, said that he has no regrets about getting his first AstraZeneca dose two weeks ago and that he will get the second.

Get what you can, Mendelson said. I had no ill effects at all from the AstraZeneca. I am in a better position than those who dont have any vaccine at all. If you are betting person you would take those odds any day of the week. Im quite prepared to roll the dice.

Several European countries that had suspended using the vaccine over concerns it could cause blood clots have resumed administering it after the EUs drug regulator said the vaccine was safe.

The vaccine is used widely in Britain, across the European continent and in other countries, but its rollout was troubled by inconsistent study reports about its effectiveness, and then more recently the scare about clots that had some countries temporarily pausing inoculations.

Canada is expected to receive 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca from the U.S. on Wednesday.

The messaging has been brutal overall. I am fearful it is toast. It shouldnt be, said Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto and the medical director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Sinai-University Health Network.

Morris thinks those who are at a high risk for a bad COVID-19 outcome and over the age of 55 should get AstraZeneca if the other vaccines are not available to them, especially during a third wave of coronavirus infections.

Canadian regulators approved the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Canada has placed bigger bets on Pfizer and Moderna, ordering up to 76 million doses of Pfizer and up to 44 million of Moderna, compared with up to 20 million of AstraZeneca. Its not known when Canada will receive its first shipment of Johnson & Johnson.

Canada received its first shipment of AstraZeneca this month  500,000 doses from India. Of the 194,500 doses that Ontario received, about 10,000 remain. They expire April 2.

Canada has lagged on vaccinating its population because it lacks the ability to manufacture the vaccine and has had to rely on the global supply chain for the lifesaving shots, like many other countries.

With no domestic supply, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government bet on seven different vaccines manufactured elsewhere and secured advance purchase agreements  enough to get 10 doses for each of Canadas 38 million people. While acquiring them has proven difficult, deliveries have ramped up this month. Canada expects to have more than 36.5 million doses by July and officials hope to get at least one dose into all adults who want one by the end of June.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization earlier recommended a four-month delay between doses after data from the U.K. and Quebec showed a good level of protection offered by the first shot. The U.K. has instituted a similar delay.

By ROB GILLIES

Associated Press
A woman who came to Northern Ireland as an asylum seeker has slammed "hostile" new immigration plans by Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Human rights activist Sipho Sibanda first came to Northern Ireland from Zimbabwe in 2015.

She told the Belfast Telegraph Ms Patel's plans for a "fair but firm" overhaul of immigration rules were "just another discriminatory way to add to the already hostile environment" for refugees and asylum seekers.

For the first time, the new plans would assess those seeking protection as refugees based on how they arrive in the UK.

Ms Patel has said she plans to cut off illegal people smugglers by creating more legal routes into the UK.

Those who pay criminal gangs to bring them to the UK would also only receive temporary permission to remain and would be regularly assessed for removal from the UK.

Labour have already criticised the proposals as lacking compassion and competence, saying they will do nothing to stop people making dangerous crossings to get to the UK.

Ms Sibanda said the plans would make life even more difficult for those fleeing persecution.

"I am still to meet someone that leaves their war-torn home and finds a safe, legal route to the United Kingdom - there was definitely none for me," she said.

"If these policies were in place I certainly wouldn't have been granted status and contributing positively to society.

"People seeking asylum would have been through enough trauma already before dealing with the hostile environment and the added hurdles like this new one Priti Patel is hoping to implement."

Ms Sibanda recalled her own journey to Northern Ireland as "emotionally taxing, difficult and very expensive".

She added that Ms Patel's plans would not stop people turning to criminal gangs and would only leave them in limbo once they arrived.

"You have people here seeking asylum for more than 15 years without status, it would just make it longer - that's all it's going to do. It will definitely create more uncertainty.

"It's just making people unsettled. If you have people here for more than 10 years and are still hopeful that one day they'll get that brown envelope with a positive answer, and suddenly the laws change in such a way.

"What are the chances that they'll get that brown envelope telling them, finally, you've got that status you've been waiting for, for 15 years? It just pushes them further down the line. It's not helpful at all."

Amnesty International's Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said: "Northern Ireland has a proud history of providing a safe refuge for those fleeing war and persecution - whether from Nazi Germany or Assad's Syria. The Home Secretary's proposals will put barriers in the way of those who desperately need such refuge in the future.

"People escaping conflict too often feel forced to put their lives into the hands of smugglers due to a lack of safe and legal routes to claim asylum in the UK. These proposals from Priti Patel are just more of the same failed policies."
Gunmen kill elected official, policeman in Kashmir attack View Photo

SRINAGAR, India (AP)  Gunmen killed an official of Indias ruling party and a policeman in disputed Kashmir on Monday, police said.

Police blamed anti-India militants for the attack. None of the rebel groups that have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989 immediately claimed responsibility.

Police officer Sudanshu Verma said militants fired at a municipal office in northwestern Sopore town during a meeting of local councilors. A councilor and a police official were killed, and another councilor was wounded, he said.

Police and soldiers cordoned off the area and searched for the attackers.

The dead councilor was a member of Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, and both countries claim it in its entirety. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal that the territory be united, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

New Delhi describes the Kashmir militancy as Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle.

Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

___

This story has been corrected to say name of the officer is Sudanshu Verma, not Amritpal Singh.
BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation will manage allocation of Covid-19 beds in city hospitals in view of challenges faced by citizens.

Last year, the civic body had taken over beds in private hospitals and nursing homes for Covid-19 patients. Beds were used for non Covid-19 patients too for the time being, but BMC has again requisitioned the beds and decided to take over allocation. This comes in the wake of sharp increase in Covid-19 cases. Nearly 7,000 cases were registered on Sunday.

Also private hospitals had stopped informing BMC about new admissions and were directly admitting Covid-19 patients. To correct this, the municipal corporation issued an order today.

According to it, 80 per cent of Covid-19 beds and 100 per cent of the ICU beds at private hospitals shall be kept reserved for ward war room allotment Covid-19 patients only. "No direct admission on these reserved beds to be taken by the hospitals," said the order.

With this order the BMC plans to operationalise over 2,200 beds in 69 private hospitals. " Only 70 per cent of hospital beds in Mumbai are occupied and 30 per cent vacant. Demand for beds is higher in private hospitals," said Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani.
 Flash

On February 17, Senegal received 200,000 vaccines from the Chinese company Sinopharm. The vaccine offered a breath of relief to a country severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Senegalese President Macky Sall personally traveled to the Blaise Diagne International Airport in Diass to receive the doses. He was accompanied by Minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr and other Senegalese health ministry officials. Chinese Ambassador to Senegal Xiao Han and World Health Organization representatives were also present.





Sall expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government for having facilitated the acquisition of the doses. Among other things, he thanked the Chinese Embassy in Senegal for its "follow-up on this complex operation." He also said that the vaccines had been acquired from the state's budget.





In an op-ed published in the national daily Le Soleil 48 hours after the delivery of the Chinese vaccines, Xiao affirmed that China would continue to help Dakar in its efforts to stabilize the economy, promote employment and safeguard the welfare of the people. The diplomat added that China would continue to accompany Senegal in its accelerated march toward emerging country status. He added that although this batch of vaccines did not suffice to meet Senegalese needs, it would still have a significant impact and provide timely protection to health workers and populations affected by the health crisis. He also stressed that Senegal and China would strengthen their vaccine cooperation, adding that his country would mobilize more international resources for Senegal and Africa to save precious lives.





A great day





The Sinopharm vaccine has already been used in several African countries, including Seychelles, Zimbabwe and Egypt. Sall promised a quick start to immunization with his appeal to all people to fully embrace the government's strategy. In justifying the choice of the Chinese vaccine, El Hadji Mamadou Ndiaye, Director of Prevention at the Ministry of Health and Social Action, cited its greater convenience. Initially, the vaccination campaign targeted some 20,000 health personnel, as well as people over 60 with comorbid conditions, or about 3 percent of Senegal's more than 16 million people. They were followed by people with chronic diseases (3 percent of the population) and people over 60 years old without comorbidity (17 percent). The campaign started on February 23 and Sarr was the first Senegalese to be vaccinated.





Senegal is the seventh African country to launch mass vaccination. The minister said, "This February 23 is a historic day," adding, "It is appropriate to thank H.E. President Macky Sall, whose ambition for our country allowed us to acquire 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines." According to the criteria mentioned above, all 14 administrative regions of Senegal have received doses and have started the vaccination campaign. For the first phase, the Senegalese authorities intend to vaccinate 20 percent of the population or 3.5 million Senegalese. It should be noted that Senegal has offered the sister republics of Gambia and Guinea Bissau 10 percent of the 200,000 doses received from China, i.e., 10,000 doses, to each of these two countries.





Doses for entire population





Senegal is expected to eventually acquire 6.8 million doses. In addition to these 200,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine, other vaccines will be added. According to Annette Seck Ndiaye, Director General of the National Procurement Agency, discussions are underway to acquire the Sputnik V vaccine as well. "As in many countries, we will use several vaccines," said Ndiaye.





On March 3, Senegal also received the first batch of 324,000 COVAX vaccine doses from Oxford/AstraZeneca. According to the health authorities, nearly 1 million additional doses are already planned for the second quarter of 2021, and more will follow throughout the year. In the same vein, Irene Mingasson, European Union Ambassador to Senegal, recently stated that 8 million doses were destined for Senegal under the COVAX initiative.





According to Professor Moussa Seydi, Head of Infectious Diseases at the Fann University Hospital Center in Dakar, the Sinopharm vaccine is 79 percent effective on symptomatic cases. Data published in a major scientific journal show that 28 days after the second vaccine dose, 100 percent of the people who participated in the study had a protective neutralizing antibody level. He added that the vaccine was 100 percent effective against the severe forms of the disease that have caused so many deaths and that it was urgent to stop the fatalities.





At the beginning of March, Senegal made its annual assessment of the fight against COVID-19. As of March 1, one year after the first case appeared, the country had recorded 34,732 patients, of which 29,161 had been cured, 880 had died, and 4,691 were still being monitored in health facilities and at home.





For Seydi, vaccines will undoubtedly reduce the rate of contamination and ultimately contain the pandemic. In presenting the epidemiological bulletin of March 1, Ndiaye revealed that 27,018 people had been vaccinated in Senegal one week after the launch of the vaccination campaign for the priority groups.





To reach as many people as possible, the Ministry of Health and Social Action has launched an electronic platform to carry out a census of all people who wish to be vaccinated. The objective is to be able to define the number of vaccines needed on the territory, to classify people wanting to be vaccinated by priority groups as stated by the government, to inform citizens about the vaccination campaign and to allow those who do not have access to vaccination for logistical or other reasons to rely on health services to facilitate this vaccination.
South Africa: President, Deputy President to visit Aspen manufacturing facility

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza will today visit the Aspen Pharmacare sterile manufacturing facility and Coega Special Economic Zone at Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.

Deputy President Mabuza will undertake the visit in his capacity as Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on COVID-19 Vaccines, said the Presidency in a statement.

The President and Deputy President will be accompanied on the oversight visit by the Health Minister Dr Zwelini Mkhize, Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and the Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Councillor Mzwenqaba Bhanga.

The visit to the Aspen Pharmacare COVID-19 sterile manufacturing facility will focus on progress in vaccine production as part of the partnership between government and the private sector in the national vaccination programme.

In November 2020, Aspen Pharmacare collaborated with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to establish the capacity required for the manufacturing of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine at Aspens sterile facility in Gqeberha.

This new sterile manufacturing facility contains high-technology equipment and systems that will be used to manufacture state-of-the-art sterile drugs and vaccines.

The facility packages these products into vials, ampoules and pre-filled syringes.

Aspen has invested more than R3 billion in the facility which will further provide lifesaving medicines for the domestic and export markets.

President Ramaphosa and Deputy President Mabuza will tour the internationally accredited facility which has the capacity to produce up to 300 million doses of the J&J vaccine per annum.

Following the visit to Aspen Pharmacare, the delegation will pay a brief visit to the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

As South Africa accelerates its Economic Reconstruction and Recovery, Coega is an improvement catalyst for investment and local development.

The Coega SEZ, while offering global competitiveness through world-class infrastructure, tax incentives, rebates and a duty-free zone, is purpose-built for manufacturing, beneficiation of export goods, skills development and job creation which benefits the local and national economy.

Following the Coega visit, the delegation will stop over at the nearby BAIC SA (Beijing Automotive International Corporation) auto manufacturing plant, which constitutes a significant investment and demonstration of confidence in South Africa as an investment destination.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Byron Bay has been put on alert after a nurse who works in a Covid-19 ward visited the holiday hotspot from Brisbane with her sister, days before thousands are set to swarm to the region for the Easter weekend.

The siblings were at the northern New South Wales holiday destination between March 25 and 28 while they were infectious, before they tested positive to the virus.

NSW Health officials confirmed on Monday morning that the sisters went to a bachelorette party at The Farm Byron Bay, a popular hotspot in the town, on March 28 between 8am and 9.30am.

They also went to the busy Byron Beach Hotel on March 26 between 7.15pm and 8.30pm.

The sisters went to Byron Bay Beach Hotel (pictured) on March 26 between 7.15pm and 8.30pm

They also visited The Farm Byron Bay (pictured) on March 28 between 8am and 9.30am

Anyone who was at either location during the specified times has been told to get tested immediately and self-isolate.

Testing centres will be set up in Byron Bay, before more than 30,000 people flock to the coastal town for Bluesfest, which runs from April 1 to 5.

BYRON BAY VENUES ON COVID-19 ALERT Get tested and self-isolate until further notice: Byron Beach Hotel - 1 Bay St, Byron Bay on Friday March 26 between 7.15pm-8.30pm. The Farm Byron Bay - 11 Ewingsdale Rd, Ewingsdale on Sunday March 18 between 8am-9.30am. New pop-up testing clinics: Byron Bay QML Pathology Drive-Through - 8am to 8pm 7 days from midday Monday Walk-in Pop-Up Clinic; Byron Bay surf club car park - 8am to 6pm from Monday to Sunday, starting Monday afternoon Source: NSW Health Advertisement

Festival organisers have a government-approved Covid-19 safety plan in place after the event was cancelled last year, but the Queensland outbreak could put the Easter event in jeopardy.

Organisers have not commented on whether this year's festival is at risk.

'Fingers crossed the QLD cases dont ruin it for us. Or Gladys might do an Anastacia and close to the border to QLD,' one reveller wrote on Instagram on Monday.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the infections were reported late on Sunday night.

'We will have to wait for genome sequencing results that we should get back late together or tomorrow morning which will make it clear,' Ms Young said.

'Her sister is also positive and we are not sure whether the transmission has happened there.'

The women were among four new locally-acquired cases reported by the Queensland on Monday morning, plunging Greater Brisbane into a three-day lockdown.

Three of the new cases are close contacts of existing or historical cases but those infected may have been out in the community - raising the risk more transmission may have occurred.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said six other cases were found in hotel quarantine.

From 5pm on Monday evening, masks will be mandatory in public indoor settings across Greater Brisbane - which includes Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands - and schools will be forced to close.

Pictured: Festival goers in a mass yoga session at the 2015 Byron Bay Bluesfest. The festival is running at 50 per cent capacity in 2021 after it was cancelled last year

Pictured: Nai Palm From Hiatus Kaiyote performs live for fans at the 2016 Byron Bay Bluesfest

pictured: Crowds of beach goers enjoy the sun at Main Beach last year in Byron Bay

More than two million residents living in those areas will be allowed outside only for essential reasons - for work, for exercise, to buy essential supplies or for care.

Only two visitors will be allowed in the home under the new rules and restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway service only.

The UK strain of coronavirus - known as B117 - is believed to be at least 50 per cent more transmissable than other variants.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was declaring the whole of Greater Brisbane a hotspot from 5pm and called on other states and territories to do so too.

'There is now more community transmission, and these people have been out and about in the community, and that is of concern to Queensland Health,' she said.

'This will also enable our health authorities to get on top of the contact tracing,' she said.

'I know this will mean some disruption to people's lives, but we've done this before, and we've got through it over those three days in the past, and if everyone does the right thing I'm sure that we will be able to get through it again.'

Millions across Greater Brisbane - which includes Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands - will go into lockdown for three days from 5pm on Monday

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young (pictured) said the infections were reported late on Sunday night

One of the cases had travelled to Gladstone. Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 will also come under the restrictions.

The restrictions were announced despite Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young promising earlier this month there would be no more strict restrictions in Brisbane even if there was another outbreak.

On March 19, she said only the most vulnerable residents in Brisbane - like those in hospitals and aged care homes - would be locked down in the future.

Greater Brisbane's schools will stay open for the children of essential workers under the latest lockdown.

Ms Palaszczuk called on residents not to panic and start panic buying.
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Beijing, March 29 : China's internet industry has seen robust growth in recent decades, but its data centres, large-scale servers and cellular base stations are consuming energy at a faster pace. Hence, China's tech firms have started to work on green solutions.

According to a report by China's State Grid Energy Research Institute, the electricity consumption by data centres alone in 2020 is estimated to exceed 200 billion kWh, accounting for 2.7 per cent of the country's electricity consumption.

By 2030, the data centre electricity consumption in China will exceed 400 billion kWh, accounting for 3.7 per cent of the country's total electricity consumption, the report added.

"The electricity consumption of China's internet industry is growing at an annual rate of about ten per cent. It will double in seven or eight years, and become a major source of energy consumption in the future," Wang Yuanfeng of Beijing Jiaotong University told Xinhua.

Wang, a carbon emission reduction expert and an advocate of green development, said that enterprises in the sector should act quickly to build greener internet infrastructure, reports Xinhua news agency.

China's tech giants, such as Huawei and Tencent, have been trying to build a zero-carbon internet industry.

In Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2021 held in February, Huawei unveiled its solution for zero-carbon network, including minimalised base stations, server rooms, data centres and wide use of green electricity.

Vice President of Huawei and President of its Digital Power Product Line Zhou Taoyuan said Huawei can reduce energy consumption by using high-performance, low power-demand and highly-integrated servers, and minimising the room occupation of base stations.

Its data centres can use indirect evaporative cooling technology to save 17 per cent energy compared to traditional chilled water solution, Zhou added.

Senior Vice President of Sugon Energy Yao Yong believes that the improvement of liquid cooling technology is the best way to break the bottleneck of data centre energy efficiency.

"It can improve servers' stability, efficiency and service life, and improve the deployment density of servers. The data centres can be more environment-friendly with less noise and more recycled spare heat." Tencent has chosen regions with sufficient green energy to build its data centres, such as Huailai in north China's Hebei Province that has abundant wind electricity, or Qingyuan in south China's Guangdong Province that has abundant hydro power.

In Qingyuan, besides consuming hydroelectricity, data centres have used high-efficiency power module, and free cooling technology which uses natural cold sources, to cut the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) value down to 1.25.

PUE is a measure of how efficiently a computer data centre uses its power. The lower the PUE, the greener the data centre.
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Montri Rd closes for bridge repairs

PHUKET: Repairs to the bridge in front of the main post office on Montri Rd in Phuket Town has forced Phuket City Municipality to close the road while repairs are being carried out.

transportconstruction

By The Phuket News

Monday 29 March 2021, 04:45PM

Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The section of road will be closed 24 hours a day until May 1, said an announcement by Phuket City Municipality.

The road was closed earlier today (Mar 29).

The closure is to allow contractor Aung Sae Heng Limited Partnership to excavate under the bridge in order to install larger drains under the bridge to help alleviate any potential flooding, said the announcement.

Motorists in Phuket Town were urged to avoid the area.

Those approaching the road closure from the Montri Hotel are asked to turn right at the post office intersection  do not go straight said the announcement.

Those traveling from Surin Circle (the Clock Tower Circle) are asked to turn left or turn right to enter Phang Nga Rd  do not go straight the announcement added.

Phuket City Municipality apologised for any inconvenience caused by the road closure.
SEOUL, South Korea, March 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd. (140410.KQ), announced today that it has re-submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of udenafil to improve the exercise capacity of patients 12 years of age and older with single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) who have undergone the Fontan operation. Udenafil is a long acting highly selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor that is orally administered. The re-submitted NDA includes a request for Priority Review, which, if granted, may shorten the FDA's review of the re-submitted NDA to six months from the time of filing, versus a standard review timeline of 10 months from filing.

The NDA re-submission, which totals nearly 100,000 pages, is supported by data from more than 700 documents including more than 200 studies that Mezzion has completed during the last 2 decades since its founding in 2002. The re-submitted NDA package includes a pivotal Phase 3 clinical study conducted globally in close collaboration with the Pediatric Heart Network (PHN), which is funded by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). This was the largest pharmacotherapeutic study ever to be conducted in those with a congenital heart condition and involved the recruitment and treatment of 400 male and female adolescents from 30 PHN and auxiliary sites throughout the U.S.A., Canada, and the Republic of Korea. The results of this study, the Fontan Udenafil Exercise Longitudinal (FUEL) trial, were published in Circulation (February, 2020) abstract #20942

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000882

See also, https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.044352

In 2019, the American Heart Association (AHA) recognized Mezzion's FUEL trial as one of the most impactful discoveries and biggest victories achieved in the congenital heart disease (CHD) space that year. See https://newsroom.heart.org/news/top-heart-disease-and-stroke-research-advances-in-2019.

The results of the landmark FUEL trial demonstrated statistically significant improvements in multiple measures of exercise performance and cardiac function in patients treated with udenafil who had undergone the Fontan operation. The improvements in exercise were most pronounced at moderate levels of activity while the improvement in cardiac function was determined using the myocardial performance index, a standard echocardiographic measurement technique.

Dr. James Yeager, Chief Operating Officer of Mezzion Pharmaceuticals Inc., commented, "This NDA-resubmission was a large-scale comprehensive global effort coordinated with all FUEL study sites, study site personnel, Mezzion's CRO and numerous consultants to verify and reformat various coding issues in the safety data base that were raised by the FDA. With those coding issues resolved and this re-submission now behind us, Mezzion expects to receive a positive review of its resubmission and FDA approval of udenafil in the last quarter of this year. If approved by the FDA, udenafil would provide the first and only approved therapy for this underserved population of patients."

Mezzion looks forward to the FDA review process and to bringing a novel pharmacotherapeutic option to this unique Fontan patient population.

About the Fontan Procedure and Subsequent Expectations

The Fontan procedure is a surgical intervention that allows for the survival of children born with congenital heart disease characterized by only a single functional pumping chamber. This procedure consists of re-configuring the circulation to allow the single ventricle to pump blood to the body while connecting the great veins directly to the arteries that bring blood to the lungs. In this "Fontan circulation" the blood returning from the body bypasses the heart and travels to the lungs without the assistance of a dedicated right ventricle pumping chamber. The goal of the Fontan procedure is to separate the systemic and pulmonary circulations and to improve oxygen levels by redirecting venous blood directly to the lungs.

While the Fontan procedure creates a stable circulation, the risk of hospitalization and cardiac death rises significantly in the second and third decades after Fontan completion, a risk that is associated with a decline in exercise capacity. The Fontan circulation is also associated with non-cardiac complications such as protein-losing enteropathy, plastic bronchitis, and liver failure, all of which can be attributed to a chronic elevation in central venous pressure and a chronically reduced cardiac output. For all of these reasons, a 35 year-old patient who has gone through Fontan palliation has the approximate life expectancy of a 75 year old with normal cardiac physiology.

Mezzion Pharma Co., Ltd.

Mezzion Pharma Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Korea. Mezzion and its wholly owned subsidiary, Mezzion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., have administrative offices in Deerfield, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida. Mezzion Pharma is an innovation-driven pharmaceutical company that is focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutics in the field of rare pediatric diseases. Mezzion Pharma is a publicly-listed pharmaceutical company in Korea on the Korean stock exchange under (140410:KOSDAQ).

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the potential benefits of udenafil; Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the anticipated timing of any future clinical trials; Mezzion Pharma's expectations on regulatory submissions for marketing approval of udenafil for the treatment of patients that have undergone the Fontan operation, to improve exercise capacity in the United States, including the timing of these submissions; and Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the potential commercial launch of udenafil, including the timing of a potential approval of udenafil. Risks and uncertainties that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the expectation that Mezzion Pharma will need additional funds to finance its operations; Mezzion Pharma's or any of its collaborative partners' ability to initiate and/or complete clinical trials; the unpredictability of the regulatory process; the possibility that Mezzion Pharma's or any of its clinical trials will not be successful; Mezzion Pharma's dependence on the success of udenafil; Mezzion Pharma's reliance on third parties for the manufacture of Mezzion Pharma's udenafil and udenafil tablets; possible regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; and Mezzion Pharma's ability to attract and retain senior management personnel.

These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Mezzion Pharma's most recent filings with the Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described, including but not limited to FDA review and approval, product development and acceptance, manufacturing, competition, and/or other factors, which are outside the control of Mezzion Pharma. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Mezzion undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Contact :

Dr. James Yeager, Deerfield, Illinois, USA, Tel: +1-847-2122679

Email: [email protected]

Mr. S.I. Noh, Seoul, Korea, Tel: +82 2 560 8000

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd.
Starting on Tuesday, March 30, all New Yorkers aged 30 and older will be able to schedule appointments for vaccinations, lowering the age threshold from age 50 and older.

The state will join dozens of others expanding eligibility for vaccination against COVID-19 to more Americans as the vaccine stockpile grows.

Beginning on Tuesday, April 6, all New York residents above the age of 16 will be able to receive vaccines, in line with President Joe Biden's goal of making every adult eligible for a shot by May 1.

Previously, only young and middle-age adults with pre-existing conditions, or who fell into certain essential worker categories in New York, were able to be vaccinated.

New York is lowering its coronavirus vaccine eligibility to adults aged 30 and older and will allow everyone aged 16 and older to be vaccinated staring April 6. Pictured: A man gets the Pfizer vaccine at a pop-up vaccination clinic in New York City, March 26

About 30% of New Yorkers have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 17% are fully immunized

'Today we take a monumental step forward in the fight to beat COVID' Governor Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference on Monday.

'As we continue to expand eligibility, New York will double down on making the vaccine accessible for every community to ensure equity, particularly for communities of color who are too often left behind.

'We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but until we get there it is more important than ever for each and every New Yorker to wear a mask, socially distance and follow all safety guidelines.'

As of Monday, more than nine million total doses have been administered across all vaccination sites in New York, with about 30 percent of residents receiving one dose and 17 percent being fully immunized.

In New York City, 27 percent of residents have had at least one dose and 15 percent have completed their series.

In the last 24 hours alone, more than 171,000 New Yorkers have received shots in arms.

New Yorkers are still discouraged from showing up to any vaccination sites without a confirmed appointment.

New York was among the last states to announce it make young adults without specific risk factors eligible.

A total of 10 states will expand eligibility to all adults this week - a step New York will take next Tuesday.

Six of those states - Kansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas - are lifting restrictions to open up vaccination to residents aged 16 and older by Monday.

Minnesota will remove restrictions on Tuesday, Indiana and South Carolina will follow on Wednesday and Connecticut will on Thursday.

As of Monday morning, 93.6 million Americans, or 28.2% of the population, have received at least one dose and 51.5 million, or 15.5% of the population, are fully immunized

An average of 2.7 million Americans are being vaccinated every day as the U.S. government ramps up its shipments of COVID-19 vaccines to states

In total, 27 states have already opened or will open eligibility by April 15 and 48 states and the District of Columbia, have pledged to do so by May 1.

President Joe Biden is making plans to announced that 90 percent of all adults in the U.S. will be eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine in three weeks, according to Bloomberg News.

What's more, the administration will more than double the number of pharmacies where vaccines are available.

Currently, 93.6 million Americans, or 28.2 percent of the country, have received at least one dose, according to the CDC.

Meanwhile, 51.5 million, or 15.5 percent of the population, are fully immunized.

An average of 2.7 million people are being vaccinated every day, with 3.5 million doses administered on Saturday and 3.4 million on Friday.
For five hours on Thursday, friends, family and believers gathered at the Deliverance Church, Umoja in Nairobi to celebrate the life of one of its pastors.

Reverend Mathew Wambua succumbed to Covid-19 complications on Sunday at the Kenyatta University hospital where he had been hospitalised for seven days.

Heartfelt tributes have continued to flow in since the death of a man celebrated by many as a "lover of God, a gifted shepherd of souls and a mentor who impacted many lives as a pastor and worship leader".

His wife, Rev Nancy, had also been hospitalised at the same hospital where she battled coronavirus. She was discharged on Monday, March 22, a day after her husband had died on Sunday, March 21.

Rev Wambua was rushed to hospital by his wife on March 14 and lost the battle in ICU exactly a week later.

His widow revealed on Thursday that his breathing had deteriorated and his kidneys failed resulting while on oxygen support.

To the Deliverance Church community, a great general has rested.

Online memorial service

More than 1,600 people from around the world logged onto the online memorial service that was streamed live on social media, hosted by Bishop JB Masinde at Deliverance Church, Umoja and presided over by Bishop Mark Kariuki- the presiding Bishop and general overseer of Deliverance churches in Kenya.

Pastors and his family euologised Rev Wambua as a "true shepherd, a man of great integrity and wisdom and calm, a focused praying leader and a great friend and father to many in the body of Christ".

A "spiritual son" of Bishop JB Masinde, Rev Wambua, who died aged 55, was the senior pastor at Deliverance Church, Donholm which branched off from Deliverance Church, Umoja 13 years ago. He had been pastoring a congregation of more than 3,000 believers.

He was also the chairman of Salt and Light Inuka Africa team, a body that brings together African pastors.

In a moving virtual tribute, his widow Rev Nancy shared their last moments together, revealing that much of the work that her husband has done in the past few months in the church was a premonition of sorts.

She revealed that her late husband started feeling unwell on March 12.

"He stayed home that weekend, but that Sunday, nothing would stop Mathew from going to serve not even ill-health; he still went to church and preached, although it was obvious even to members that he was unwell," she recalled. He preached in all the three services.

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The following week, he stayed home, but by Sunday he was already beginning to lose breath.

Normal ward

That is when she rushed him to the hospital -on Sunday, March 14- where he was admitted in the normal ward.

His health, however, further deteriorated and he had to be transferred to the ICU to support his breathing.

"They did the best they could. I was discharged on Monday... but one thing was leading to the other. He was picking up on the oxygen but unfortunately, his kidney started failing," she told mourners in her virtual tribute.

"They went into resuscitating his kidney, (but) unfortunately, he got a heart attack when they were doing so, then it happened... at that point we lost the battle because he was already on low oxygen. That is how we lost Mathew," she said.

However, Rev Nancy believes her husband's demise was God's timing, revealing that he put in a lot of work into the ministry and even his family, in the past year.

"We haven't lost Mathew; he has rested. His work is done and he has just rested. He has been taken away by the Lord because it was his time. He has not been snatched away from us," she said.

Rev Wambua is survived by two children and a wife.

He was laid to rest on Friday at his home at Kiteng'ei village in Iveti location, Machakos County.

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Large-scale analysis of pedestrian data from three European cities examines how building density and street design influence pedestrian behavior.

Pedestrian movements are tricky to track, but now the first large-scale statistical analysis of pedestrian flow using anonymous phone data collected in three European capital cities, London, Amsterdam and Stockholm, has been conducted by researchers from KAUST with Swedish colleagues from Gothenburg.

Analyzing the flow of pedestrians through city streets provides insights into how city design influences walking behavior. Studies of pedestrian flow inform new urban developments, enable designers to define quieter areas and "urban buzz" zones and reveal how spaces are used at different times.

"In a previous study, we found strong links between the total number of people walking on a given street in one day and certain characteristics of the urban environment," says David Bolin at KAUST. Specifically, built density type, which is a variable based on the total floor space and ground space taken up by buildings on a street, correlated with the intensity of pedestrian flow, while the relative position of each street in a cityits "centrality" or street typeexplained flow variations within each area.

Many similar studies have been hampered by methodological inconsistencies and small datasets, but this one had a large dataset.

"We took advantage of the power of large-scale data collection to determine if these same variables (density and street type) could explain both the full-day counts in different streets and the variations in flow over the day," says Bolin. "We developed a functional ANOVA model to explore our results."

Data was collected over three weeks in October 2017 from detection devices on almost 700 street segments across 53 neighborhoods. The detectors collected anonymous signals from mobile phones traveling at under 6 kilometers per hour to differentiate pedestrians from people traveling on transport.

"We chose streets that provided a wide mix of street types and density types from each city," says Bolin.

Daily total pedestrian counts were influenced by built density, street type and a street's "attraction variables," such as the presence of local markets or public transport stops. Built density explained the fluctuations in flow across the day but street type did not. There were also differences between each city, especially in the highest density built-up areas, making it difficult to generalize the findings to other cities. The model predicted pedestrian flow for certain parts of the three cities better than others.

"The results provide insights into the importance of street and density types in designing areas with different qualities," says Bolin. "Accurate predictions for other cities would require more data from multiple cities in different seasons."

Explore further Urban design matters when it comes to street life

More information: David Bolin et al. Functional ANOVA modeling of pedestrian counts on streets in three European cities, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society) (2021). David Bolin et al. Functional ANOVA modeling of pedestrian counts on streets in three European cities,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/rssa.12646
New Delhi:

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a plea challenging central governments decision to deport illegal Rohingya Muslim immigrants to Myanmar. The plea has been filed by two Rohingya immigrants, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir. Both of them are registered refugees under the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR).

Their plea claims that deportation of the refugees would be in contradiction with the principle of Non-Refoulement, recognised as a principle of Customary International law. However, on September 8, former RSS ideologue and Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan leader K N Govindacharaya had filed a plea seeking identification and deportation of Rohingya Muslim refugees.

In his plea, Govindacharya has claimed that the Rohingyas are a threat to Indias national security. Rohingyas have been allegedly attacked by the Myanmar army which in turn has led to an exodus of Rohingyas in that country to India and Bangladesh.

Many of those who had fled to India after the earlier spate of violence, have settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.

Earlier, India has announced that it plans to deport an estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees living illegally in the country. The government said that even those registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees would be deported.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 05:19:36|Editor: huaxia

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SANTIAGO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The Chilean Ministry of Health reported 7,326 new cases and 101 more deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday amid a new wave of infections in the country.

According to the ministry, a total of 977,243 cases have been reported in Chile, with 22,754 deaths.

Additionally, 41,767 patients are currently in the active stage of the disease while 912,058 people have recovered.

According to Health Minister Enrique Paris, cases have risen 11 percent in the last week and 32 percent in the last 14 days, and intensive care unit occupancy in the nation's hospitals has hit 95 percent.

Due to this, the minister urged citizens to respect quarantines and sanitary measures.

"We know that the confinement measures are very strict, which implies great effort on the part of the different sectors of the population. But at this time, it is necessary to reduce mobility to prevent the virus from continuing to spread," the official said in a statement.

Faced with the worsening situation, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera warned on Saturday that the coming weeks would be "difficult and painful," despite the advance of the vaccination program. Enditem
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Following the announcement of closure of all educational institutions, there has been a hue and cry over the inconveniences caused by online classes. (DC file photo)

HYDERABAD: Amid panic and uncertainty over the future of students, and lack of clarity on the conduct of SSC examinations, a little over a month away, government sources have told Deccan Chronicle that schools could be reopened by next week.

"In a meeting with employees, it was said that the government was planning to hold SSC examinations as per schedule, and that it was likely that schools could be reopened by next week, to go about the examinations," sources told this newspaper.

Following the announcement of closure of all educational institutions, there has been a hue and cry over the inconveniences caused by online classes.

Parents have complained that students have been facing difficulty in learning via online classes and in getting their doubts cleared. Whether the final exams will be conducted online or physically is adding to their worries.

While the Intermediate exams have been scheduled to be held in an at-home assignment format, there has been no official word yet on the SSC examinations, slated to be held from May 17 to 26.

It may be recalled that the government ordered the reopening of schools from Class 9 onwards from February 1, whereas Classes 6 to 8 reopened on February 24, almost 11 months after the lockdown. On March 24, all educational institutions were ordered shut and exams postponed, amid a rise in Covid-19 cases across the state.
By the time the Chinese delegation had arrived in Anchorage for the first high-level talks with the Biden administration, the tone had already been set.



The U.S. side, determined to enter discussions from a "position of strength", used the preceding days to "strengthen" military alliances with China's neighbors. It went on to use its platforms in Japan and South Korea to launch a series of provocative statements and thinly-veiled threats. Then, with just hours to go before the two-sides met, the Biden administration announced sanctions against 24 Chinese officials.

By contrast, China went into the talks with the clear intention of resetting relations, hoping that the meeting would serve as the first step in repairing the damage done by the previous administration.

"We hope that, through this dialogue, the two sides can work toward the same direction, manage differences and bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track of sound development," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a statement.

Vast differences

The talks, held fittingly in the icy State of Alaska, saw China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi sit down with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Speaking after the end of the meeting, Yang said the talks were candid, constructive, and beneficial. "But, of course, there are still differences between the two sides," he added.

Such "differences" were on full display in a rare and frank public exchange during the pre-talk presser.

Secretary Blinken began by speaking of the Biden administration's "deep concerns" over China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, before going on to accuse Beijing of conducting cyber-attacks and economic coercion.

State Councilor Yang rebutted Washington allegations, noting that when it comes to cyber-attacks America is "champion in this regard". The Chinese diplomat went on to condemn the U.S. over its interference in China's internal affairs, adding that Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are an "inalienable part of China's territory".

"China is firmly opposed to U.S. interference in China's internal affairs. We have expressed staunch opposition to such interference and we will take firm actions in response," Yang said.

Speak only for yourself

The Biden administration has developed a peculiar habit of speaking for, and, on behalf of other nations. With regular reference to "international public opinion" and "universal values", Washington now appears to think of itself as the de facto global spokesperson.

In an effort to nip such delusions of grandeur in the bud, Yang reminded the Biden administration that it is not in any position to speak for anyone but itself.

"We hope that when talking about 'universal values' or 'international public opinion' the U.S. side will think about whether it feels reassured saying these things because the United States does not represent the world, it only represents the government of the United States," he said.

Speaking on the 18th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the senior Chinese diplomat called on Washington to "stop advancing its own democracy [around] the world".

Yang did not mention Iraq by name, he didn't have to. The U.S.-led invasion  conducted notably under the guise of democracy and championed by Biden himself  is, according to some estimates, responsible for the deaths of more than one million people.

Foreign policy polarity

Drawing a clear distinction between the foreign policy of his own government and that of his counterpart, Yang noted that China has never possessed imperial or hegemonic ambitions.

"We do not believe in invading through the use of force, or to topple other regimes, or to massacre the people of another country," he said. "The wars in this world are launched by other countries," Yang added.

In contrast to that of "other countries", the purpose of China's foreign policy, Yang added, is to pursue peaceful development. China has made countless efforts to contribute to the peace and development of the world, including upholding the purpose and principles of the UN Charter, he said.

In an effort to guide China-U.S. relations "back on the right track", Beijing called on Washington to abandon its cold war mentality and instead build a new type of international relations based on "fairness, justice, and respect".

Towards peace or conflict?

In an attempt to distract away from the significant points made by the Chinese side, some in the Biden camp were quick to accuse Beijing of "grandstanding" for its domestic audience.

The truth is, Beijing does not need to engage in theatrics to bolster support at home. Polling data confirms the Communist Party of China's overwhelming support amongst the majority of Chinese people  and Washington knows this.

It is much more probable, given how closely the international community was following events in Anchorage, the statements (of both sides) were delivered with the international audience in mind. Given what is at stake, every member of the international community has an interest in the China-U.S. relationship. If differences cannot be bridged, members of the international community may be called upon to make an important decision.

In such an event, one side will likely call on the international community to deescalate tensions by rejecting cold war mentality and maintaining strong trade and diplomatic relations with both countries. The other will likely call for the exact opposite, engaging in pressure and coercion in an effort to force countries to pick a side.

The Biden administration, as demonstrated by recent events and comments on the matter, already looks set on building an international alliance aimed at combatting China. The narrative is centered around concern for human rights, but the real intention is to stifle China's rise and preserve U.S. hegemony.

The last thing the world needs is another "Coalition of the Willing".

Jamie Leigh Wright is a columnist for China Focus.




Bellingcat investigators have identified three Russians involved in tortures in the Izolyatsia prison controlled by DPR militants.

Stanislav Aseev, journalist and former prisoner of terrorists, posted on his Facebook page that Russian citizens Yuri Krivonos, Vladimir Butenko and Ruslan Yeremichev are involved in brutal torture, beatings and violation of human dignity.

Now, having the data of their Russian passports, claims over violation of laws and customs of war can be lodged officially against the Russian Federation. I hope that the Trilateral Contact Group and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will do this in the near future, Aseyev noted.

He added that the information about their chief, also known as Lenin, would be published soon.

"You are people of about the same dignity, but the difference is that he grabbed millions and can disappear with them in Russia at any moment, while you will go down in most shameful page of history as war criminals which work for RUB 40,000 salary and a salami you took away from packages sent to Izolyatsia prisoners. For 28 months, I heard you beating women in neighboring cells, forcing them to sing songs under torture, and dragging people with electric burns into a cell, Aseev wrote.

As a reminder, Izolyatsia is a notorious secret prison of militants of the occupied areas of Donetsk region, subordinated to the so-called Ministry of State Security of the Donetsk Peoples Republic. It was created in June 2014, after the militants seized the site of the IZOLYATSIA Arts Foundation equipped in the territory of an old factory.

Stanislav Aseev was released from militant captivity as part of a prisoner swap in December 2019.

ol
New Delhi: The COVID-19 count reached 12,039,644 in India on Monday (March 29) with 68,020 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to Union health ministry data.

On Monday, the country recorded 291 fresh fatalities as well, taking the total death toll to 161,843. Moreover, the health ministry data revealed that 11,355,993 patients have so far been discharged.

The most shocking aspect is that the active cases crossed the half a million mark on Monday, with 178,000 new active cases added to the tally in just the past week.

The health ministry notification adds that eight states and union territories in India have been leading the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The overall number of global COVID-19 cases has surpassed 127 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.78 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Monday (March 29) morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 127,092,284 and 2,782,944, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the worlds highest number of cases and deaths at 30,262,037 and 549,335, respectively, according to the CSSE.

Brazil follows in the second place with 12,534,688 cases and 312,206 fatalities.

The other countries with more than 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases are India (11,971,624), France (4,606,185), Russia (4,469,327), the UK (4,347,013), Italy (3,532,057), Spain (3,255,324), Turkey (3,208,173), Germany (2,784,652), Colombia (2,382,730), Argentina (2,308,597), Poland (2,250,991) and Mexico (2,224,767), the CSSE figures showed.

In terms of deaths, Mexico comes in the third place with 201,429 fatalities.

Nations with a death toll of over 50,000 are India (161,552), the UK (126,834), Italy (107,933), Russia (96,123), France (94,754), Germany (75,927), Spain (75,010), Colombia (62,955), Iran (62,397), Argentina (55,449), South Africa (52,663), Poland (51,884) and Peru (51,238).
That was not the impression that Ms. Obama gave. Before the 2008 elections that sent Mr. Obama to the White House, journalists flocked to the village of Kogelo, in western Kenya, where she lived. Some noted that she did not have running water or electricity, although she seemed better off than most people in the village. Her home had a tin roof, rather than thatch, and she had a cellphone that she charged with a solar panel.

In 2014, during another reporters visit, she gestured to a recently installed electric power supply as well as paved roads and running drinking water, attributing the improvements to her stepgrandsons presidency. (The enhancements, perhaps coincidentally, were precisely those she listed as her wishes in 2008 in an interview with Time magazine.)

Mr. Obama was also said to have telephoned and, through an interpreter, wished her a happy new year. He is still very central to my life today, she said in 2014.

In a statement released on Monday, Mr. Obama wrote:

Although not his birth mother, Granny would raise my father as her own, and it was in part thanks to her love and encouragement that he was able to defy the odds and do well enough in school to get a scholarship to attend an American university.

He added, When I first traveled to Kenya to learn more about my heritage and father, who had passed away by then, it was Granny who served as a bridge to the past, and it was her stories that helped fill a void in my heart.

Sarah Onyango Obama was born in 1920 or 1921, in an era when British colonial records were patchy at best. She had said that she did not know the date or place of her birth.
On Saturday, March 27, former Presidential campaign manager Corey Lewandowski declared that former US President Donald Trump would be developing a social media app that has no cancel culture compared to other apps. The application claims to possess all types of freedom, When will the app be available, and how will it be monitored?

Trump's own social media app

According to Lewandowski, the company plans to launch the platform within a three to four-month window in Newsweek's interview.

He also stated, the app's purpose is to use it as a platform to facilitate effective communication between him and the people.

The platform being developed by Trump is not going to rely on Amazon or Amazon's server infrastructure. It will be completely constructed from scratch, giving him a great deal of control over distribution and participation. This is meant positively, and it is something the former President has been working on for a long time now.

Jason Miller, another longtime adviser and spokesperson for the former President made comments to BusinessInsider that after being banned by Twitter, Trump would start his own social media network that will offer "tens of millions" of people access.

Read Also: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Shows Off 'BlockClock Mini' Bitcoin Clock at U.S. Congress Hearing: What Does it Do?





Why is Trump making an app

In the early days of January, Former President Donald Trump's tweets were blocked in many countries worldwide due to the recent riots on the U.S. Capitol grounds.

After Trump shared two tweets that appeared to violate the company's ban against glorifying violence, the company suspended him.

Those two tweets should be examined in light of heightened political and media scrutiny in the country, as well as the pattern of behavior this account has been displaying in recent weeks, Twitter added.

Because there is no established venue in which Trump can address his supporters, he has taken it upon himself to create his own.

In an interview for Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe's podcast The Truth, Mr. Trump said, "We're working on building our own platform that you'll be hearing about very soon."

Straitstimes reports that there will be a chance for people to share their opinions freely without being afraid of repercussions or cancellation when the app is released to the public later this year.

"What Big Tech has shown is that they are going to throw you out if you don't agree with their philosophy," Lewandowski said.

He also exclaimed that they were going to have a platform that will allow the Former President's message of America First to be put out to everyone and an opportunity for other citizens to weigh in and communicate while not fearing reprisal or cancellation.

The administration fails to mention how they will moderate anyone that chooses to engage in violent attacks against the public or how they will do so.



Related Article: Cancel Culture Targets Nike 'Satan Shoes:' South Dakota Governor Calls Out Saying 'It's Not Okay'





This article is owned by Tech Times





Written by Lionell Moore

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





"PNH on the brink of collapse"

Haitian historian Geroges Michel and former professor of military history warned that the Haitian National Police (PNH) was "on the verge of collapse," while "armed gangs have a more powerful arsenal of warfare than the PNH and the Focres Armees d'Haiti (FAd'H) united."



Carrefour : The gas plant in operation in May

Construction work by General Electric (GE) of the 55.5 Mw "Diesel or LPG" dual fuel power station at Carrefour is progressing rapidly and will be operational in May 2021.



Tribute to the wounded police officers in the village of God

Ceremony for the presentation of plaques of honor and letters of congratulations to the police officers of the Departmental Operation and Intervention Brigade (BOID) who were injured during the operation of March 12, 2021 in village de Dieuhttps://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33226-haiti-flash-failure-of-the-anti-gang-operation-in-village-de-dieu-several-police-officers-killed-others-injured.html . During this ceremony a plaque of honor was awarded to a representative of SWAT on behalf of the 4 police officers of this unit who lost their lives.



Justin Viard, credentials

Last week Ambassador Justin Viard of Haiti presented his credentials to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-33047-icihaiti-un-justin-viard-new-permanent-representative-of-haiti-in-geneva.html



Canada : Congratulations from the Embassy of Haiti

The Embassy of Haiti in Canada would like to congratulate Ms. Pauliana Jeanine Borgella (Haiti Fellow (2019 Cohort) for the Doctorate in Public Administration at the University of Ottawa) for her 2020-2021 Research Excellence Award. for his thesis project. This Award was presented by the Performance and Planning Exchange in partnership with the Center for Governance of the University of Ottawa.



Malaria Project

The past week saw a meeting of the Malaria Project Steering Committee. This project financed by "The Global Fund" and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP - Haiti) aims to eliminate Malaria in Haiti by 2025.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide has affirmed government's commitment for more jobs creation to reduce poverty and improve the welfare of poor and vulnerable households in Ethiopia.

The Minister made the remark today in his opening remarks at the launching of PSNP V Strengthen Ethiopia's Adaptive Safety Net (SEANS) project.

The Productive Safety Net is a program initiated by the government of Ethiopia in collaboration with different development partners like World Bank and other organizations in response to the problem of food insecurity.

During the occasion, the minister affirmed Ethiopia's commitment to continue working to ensure the recent gains in poverty reductions are supported with expanded jobs creation.

According to him, this will be achieved as Ethiopia makes use of its investments in sectors such as infrastructure and education and transitions into a private sector-led growth.

Ahmed also expressed his appreciation for seeing more enhanced service delivery design in the project to improve the well-being of poor and vulnerable households, particularly in drought-prone communities.

EU delegation, represented by the Head of Social Protection and Migration Section Sabrina Bazzanella, congratulated Federal Ministries for designing a more robust program based on lessons from previous phases.

She said PSNP V will play an important role as it contributes to multiple development programs in Ethiopia and it is anticipated to operate more efficiently under the coordination of one institution which is the Ministry of Agriculture.

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Bazzanella, also explained how the fifth program will make contributions to twelve of the sustainable development goals.

In this regard, she said evaluation of the last program shows how the capacity of the government has increased to scale up and reach more lives as well as human development objectives which were reached through public works.

This she said is also evident in the increase of government financial contribution to the program which has grown from 3 to 20 percent.

The project launching ceremony was attended by Minister of Agriculture, Oumer Hussein, donors of the project, other dignitaries, and leading technical experts in the field.

The ceremony was concluded with the Ministry of Finance signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with regional governments focusing on the implementation.

Federal Ministries have also signed an MOU with development partners, according to ministry of Finance.
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There's no formal league table measuring what most annoys the public about their elected politicians. But if there were, then 'not apologising for mistakes' would surely be near the top.

Pressed to define the exact nature of their complaint, voters would probably say that they were even more annoyed by 'non-apology apologies', where the language used is equivocal at best, insincere at worst.

Certainly, I can recall nothing as direct or as apparently contrite as the words uttered by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week, both in the Bundestag and later on national television. This followed her screeching U-turn, in which she abandoned the plan  announced barely a day earlier  to shut down the country over Easter in an attempt to break the spread of the coronavirus.

'This mistake is mine alone,' said Merkel, adding: 'I ask both the public and you, dear colleagues, for forgiveness.'

Compare and contrast, as those old exam papers used to say, with the statement also made last week by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, when challenged over his own recent far from stellar performance over the virus.

'This mistake is mine alone,' said Angela Merkel, adding: 'I ask both the public and you, dear colleagues, for forgiveness'

'I can tell you that I have no mea culpa to make, no remorse, and no sense of failure,' said Macron.

Even judged by the French President's own extraordinary arrogance and pride, this was a new level of imperviousness to criticism. And, while every character is different (few more so than Merkel and Macron), I don't think it's coincidental that the one making that spectacular apology is a woman, and the other refusing to concede any error is a man.

Psychologists have long observed that, in general, females are more ready to apologise than males.

This may be for primordial reasons. Because of their higher testosterone levels, men are stronger and more prone to violence than women. A greater female readiness to express contrition may therefore have emerged out of a need for self-preservation and to avoid physical harm.

Conciliatory

This trait would persist even in households where couples never come to blows, and where the male would never dream of continuing an argument with his fists.

If we think about our own lives and those of other households we know, I suspect it would reveal the women  again, in general, not invariably  to be more conciliatory than the men.

And that conciliation, rather than confrontation, tends to be the behaviour more often displayed by female politicians than by their male colleagues.

To which you might immediately respond: what about Margaret Thatcher? She was certainly confrontational. But she also knew when, and how, to apologise.

'I can tell you that I have no mea culpa to make, no remorse, and no sense of failure,' said Emmanuel Macron

In a BBC interview with David Dimbleby, on the night before the 1987 general election, a clearly tired Mrs Thatcher snapped about people who 'drool and drivel that they care' (when asked by the presenter why she didn't show more sympathy for those who had lost their jobs). Dimbleby sharply retorted that her use of the words drool and drivel 'embodied' precisely what he had suggested.

Chastened, the prime minister twice apologised: 'I'm sorry I used those words  I'm very sorry.'

Somehow I couldn't imagine a male politician apologising so rapidly  although, admittedly, it is also unlikely that any prime minister other than Margaret Thatcher would have used such language in the first place.

Grates

But in both cases, she was direct and unambiguous. And it's the almost lawyerly language of so many political 'apologies' that grates.

No more so than that of Tony Blair  himself a lawyer before entering politics  when it emerged that the invasion of Iraq, to which he had committed British troops, had been based on false claims about 'weapons of mass destruction'.

There can be no more extraordinary example of a male politician's lack of contrition than Alex Salmond's announcement that he has set up and will lead a new Scottish political party, Alba

Blair declared, in inimitable style: 'I have searched my conscience, not in the spirit of obstinacy, but in genuine reconsideration  For any mistakes made in good faith, I, of course, take full responsibility.' (So, not sorry.)

The phrase 'good faith' is widely used in legal argument, but when used by politicians to defend their worst decisions, it seems also designed to create the impression that they are 'good' people.

Something similar applies to that other perennial standby in modern political discourse: 'It was a genuine mistake.'

This has two almost subliminal purposes: to suggest that the person speaking is 'genuine' and that no deviousness had taken place. A variation of this is: 'It was an honest mistake.'

This was used by Theresa May and, to be fair, she is an honest woman. But not the apologising sort. I fear we will never hear Mrs May say sorry for failing to attend the public funeral of a predecessor as home secretary, Leon Brittan, nor even sending a representative.

This gave credence to the malign falsehood  spread by a man now in jail for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice  that the late Lord Brittan had been some sort of molester.

Speaking of which, there can be no more extraordinary example of a male politician's lack of contrition than Alex Salmond's announcement that he has set up and will lead a new Scottish political party, Alba. The former leader of the Scottish National Party was acquitted on all 12 charges of sexual assault for which he had been tried a year ago.

But his own defence lawyer, Gordon Jackson, had told the court, in respect of Mr Salmond's treatment of women working with him: 'He behaved badly. I'm not here to defend him, but attempted rape? It doesn't fit.'

Later, Jackson was filmed on a train, describing his client as 'an objectionable bully' and 'a sex pest  but he's not charged with that.'

Boris Johnson in fact had his own version of the sudden U-turn for which Merkel has just issued an abject apology: when he 'cancelled Christmas' only days after declaring it would be 'inhumane' to do so

Tony Blair declared, in inimitable style: 'I have searched my conscience, not in the spirit of obstinacy, but in genuine reconsideration... For any mistakes made in good faith, I, of course, take full responsibility.' (So, not sorry.)

In fact, Salmond, according to opinion polls, is now even more unpopular in Scotland than the 'English' Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. But 'Wee Eck' just cannot bear not being at the centre of the political stage, still less concede that he has done anything to apologise for.

And what of Mr Johnson? Is he a Merkel or a Macron? When the UK's Covid-19 death toll passed 100,000 two months ago, the PM declared: 'I'm deeply sorry for every life that has been lost.' Which, of course, is not the same as admitting any mistakes.

And saying sorry for 'every' life lost is essentially meaningless.

Mr Johnson in fact had his own version of the sudden U-turn for which Merkel has just issued an abject apology: when he 'cancelled Christmas' only days after declaring it would be 'inhumane' to do so.

Johnson refused to apologise for that, saying only: 'We, of course, bitterly regret the changes that are necessary, but, alas, when the facts change you have to change your approach.'

What about Margaret Thatcher? She was certainly confrontational. But she also knew when, and how, to apologise

That did not go down well. By contrast, Angela Merkel's spectacularly self-lacerating apology seems to have been a political bullseye.

The leading German tabloid newspaper, Bild, a stern critic of her recent performance, declared: 'Respect!' The co-leader of the opposition Green party in the Bundestag, Katrin Goring-Eckardt, pronounced that the Chancellor had performed 'a service to democracy'.

Wily

Of course, Merkel, as her long career at the top has frequently demonstrated, is a tremendously wily politician. So her unprecedented act of public self-criticism evokes the reaction ascribed to the Austrian foreign minister Metternich when he heard of the death of that most cunning of French diplomats, Talleyrand, in 1838: 'I wonder what he meant by that?'

And, as the journalist Matthew Karnitschnig observed, German MPs who were preparing to batter Merkel in parliament over her recent erratic policymaking 'instead found themselves swinging at air Years from now, few will remember why she apologised, only that she had the courage to stand up and say in humble tones and without reservation: 'I was wrong.'

What makes it so difficult for male politicians to adopt such an approach, is, I suggest, pride. For pride is a very male sin. Of all the current generation of political leaders, President Macron is the most glaring example of this characteristic. And, as we all know, pride comes before a fall.
A program with plans to bring COVID-19 vaccines to 25,000 people, who are unable to leave their home, begins in Massachusetts on Monday.

The vaccination program targets homebound people in the state who require significant support to leave their home for medical appointments.

The program will be led by Commonwealth Care Alliance with help from 170 local boards of health.

Heres how the program works:

Eligibility

The program focuses on folks who require help to leave their home. The state defines that as someone who has considerable difficulty or requires significant support to leave the home for medical appointments, someone who requires an ambulance or two-person assistance to leave their home or someone who is not able to leave the home for medical appointments under normal circumstances.

How to book an appointment

In-home vaccination appointments can be booked via phone at 833-983-0485.

Representatives from the program will be available to book appointments Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Staff taking the calls calls speak both English and Spanish, but also have access to translators for more than 100 languages.

Which vaccines is administered

The program will start with roughly 10,000 doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is part of a 40,000 shipment the state is receiving this week from the federal government.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine allows patients to become fully vaccinated against COVID two weeks after its administered. Moderna and Pfizers vaccines require two shots about a month apart, leading to about a six-week process.

So far, 1.25 million residents in Massachusetts are fully vaccinated, according to data from the state on Sunday. More than 2.1 million residents have received at least one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. About 83,000 residents have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Related Content:


Appeal: Archbishop Martin has urged anyone who can help to come forward

The Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Eamon Martin, has made an impassioned plea for anyone with information about the location of the bodies of the Disappeared to come forward.

Speaking at the annual Mass for the Disappeared in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, he spoke movingly of the pain and suffering the families of the Disappeared continue to bear.

"I appeal once more today to anyone out there who has even the slightest amount of information, to show compassion and mercy by sharing it with the Independent Commission or with others," the Archbishop told worshippers.

"It's never too late to bring the key that will ease the suffering of others and help them find peace and consolation.

"For the love of God, do not remain silent," he said.

The Mass was attended by relatives of the victims, and was also streamed live on the internet - enabling people across Ireland and beyond to hear his message.

"Our thoughts today are especially with the families of Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, Robert Nairac, and Lisa Dorrian,

"The recent unsuccessful searches for Columba and for Lisa must have brought you their families so much pain.

"Our hearts go out to you.

"You and your loved ones have known terrible suffering."

The Archbishop said there had been little progress over the past year in recovering the last of the Disappeared.

"Sadly, there has been very little progress over the last year in the search for answers.

"For some of you - especially those of you outside of Ireland - and I know some of you are tuning in today - the Covid restriction have only added to your sense of separation and loss.

"And we think of the members of your families who are sick and vulnerable, and those who have died.

"In some cases, having never been able to be reunited with the bodies of their loved ones.

"Not to know where your murdered loved one is buried must bring an unbearable burden of suffering. Some of you have carried that burden for almost 50 years.

"Not to be able to grieve properly, to have a Christian burial, to lay flowers on a grave...we cannot imagine your pain.

He also paid tribute to the work of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) in its search for answers, as well as to the Wave Trauma Centre, which offers support to the families of the Disappeared.

As the Mass concluded, relatives of the victims lit candles in their memory.
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GALVESTON  On the morning of Aug. 25, Adrienne Littlejohn turned on the TV at her apartment in Sandpiper Cove and saw an alarming message on the local news: the city of Galveston had issued a mandatory evacuation order for all island residents. Hurricane Laura, a storm that would eventually make landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, was on an apparent collision course with the island.

Littlejohn, an unemployed single mother raising two kids, ages 5 and 6, didnt own a car. Her 49-year-old father had moved in months earlier, after living in Arizona. She spent the next few hours on the phone scrambling to find a way to get off the island, first dialing neighbors, then the management company for Sandpiper Cove, then the citys emergency management office, where she encountered a long wait to talk with anyone.

It was pretty stressful, there wasnt anybody to call to help us get out of our apartments, Littlejohn said. And then when we finally found a number, we were lucky enough to get on one of the last buses out of here.

Littlejohns chaotic evacuation illustrates the widespread confusion among residents of Sandpiper Cove, a federally subsidized apartment complex, during the 72 hours in which Laura was barreling toward southeast Texas, according to a report by the nonprofit advocacy group Texas Housers.

Major communication breakdowns required some of Galvestons most vulnerable residents to fend for themselves. Those who were able to make it to the islands community center for evacuation assistance faced long waits in the summer heat, and little food or water. And in the midst of a pandemic, residents were crowded onto buses  in many cases without having been given personal protective equipment  and not told where they were going or staying, the report found.

The 18-page report focused on Sandpiper Cove as an example of how more can be done in cities like Galveston to prepare for disasters and prevent those in low-income communities from suffering catastrophic loss of life and property .

There's supposed to be some type of mandatory preparation, when it comes to situations like (hurricane evacuation), said Ericka Bowman, a community organizer with Texas Housers, who co-authored the report. (Sandpiper Cove) management was supposed to communicate with the community and give them some type of road map on If something was to take place, these are the things that you would have to do. And they failed on every level.

Representatives of Beaumont-based J. Allen Management Co., the property manager, did not respond to a request for comment.

Closed sign greets residents

A privately owned 192-unit apartment complex under contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sandpiper Cove has faced criticism over the years for absentee management and decrepit housing conditions.

In June, Lone Star Legal Aid filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sandpiper Cove residents against HUD, citing failed inspections, leaking roofs, mold and broken plumbing. Sandpiper Coves parent company was the subject of a recent Houston Chronicle investigation that found it collects millions in HUD subsidies despite routinely mismanaging and neglecting properties across the country.

The 18-page Texas Housers report details a harrowing two days in which many Sandpiper Cove tenants were left woefully unprepared for an evacuation of this magnitude.

As Laura began to pick up steam in the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Mayor Pro Tem Craig Brown issued a voluntary evacuation order for residents of low-lying areas on Aug. 24, followed by a mandatory evacuation order at 6 a.m. the next day. The city relied on social media posts and news media to get the word out about the evacuation, though it seems many Sandpiper Cove tenants didnt get the message.

According to 2018 Census data, Sandpiper Cove residents live in a section of Galveston where 58 percent of residents  and 71 percent of all children  are below the poverty line. Texas Housers organizers found that many Sandpiper tenants do not own devices that would allow them to readily access social media.

That responsibility fell to J. Allen Management Co., which manages more than 5,700 units, including many Section 8 apartments where the federal government offers help with the rent. Millennia, the Ohio-based owner of Sandpiper Cove, purchased the property in 2015, and pledged to rehabilitate the property, but never did. In April 2020, after years of neglect, Millennia farmed out management of the property to J. Allen Management.

While J. Allen Management is still listed as the property manager for Sandpiper, a company called the ITEX Group, with offices in Houston and Port Arthur, is set to buy the complex, pending HUD approval.

The transition in ownership has largely left the complex unsupervised, according to residents interviewed by Texas Housers. The office at the apartment complex has a closed sign on it that has remained in place since the pandemic began last March. On the day residents were supposed to evacuate due to Laura, only Sandpipers maintenance staff was present, handing out flyers that said only that electricity at the complex would be cut off at midnight to prepare for the storm.

We were pushing out information as best we could, said Brian Maxwell, Galvestons city manager. In the past, Sandpiper Cove management has been the one to make themselves available to their tenants to help them. In this particular case, the real breakdown was with Sandpiper Cove and their management at the time.

Residents faced other challenges. The Texas Department of Emergency Management set up a staging area at the Island Community Center, roughly a half-mile from Sandpiper Cove, where buses were stationed to transport residents off the island.

Texas Housers also raised the issue of poor COVID-19 protocols for evacuees. Sandpiper Cove residents reported that they did not see masks, gloves, hand sanitizer or protective items available to those waiting and taking evacuation buses, the report said. The six buses provided at the community center were packed with residents, leaving physical distancing impossible.

They should have at the very least  done on-site COVID-19 testing to everyone that was evacuated in the group circumstances, said Elizabeth Roehm, an attorney for Texas Housers and co-author of the report.

Those who made it to the staging area spent hours waiting in the midday heat, with no option to wait inside or on the air-conditioned buses idling in the parking lot. People who were disabled received no special accommodations. Water or food wasnt provided. Texas Housers staff saw an older woman assisted by medics to an ambulance. Evacuees were not told where the buses were going, where they would be sleeping while evacuated, or for how long.

Harrowing journey

Littlejohn and her family were fortunate to board the last bus out of Galveston, despite not knowing their final destination. Galveston has a memorandum of understanding with the city of Austin to provide shelter to a maximum of 1,200 residents for five days during mandatory evacuations. But whereas Austin usually is able to house residents in large spaces like school gymnasiums, the pandemic required the lining up of hotel rooms, creating another layer of complication.

Littlejohn and her family managed to get a room for two days, but then were on their own. Hurricane Laura had made an eastward turn toward Louisiana, sparing Galveston any damage, but leaving some Sandpiper Cove residents stranded

Those who drove themselves to Austin were given $50 gas vouchers and returned to Galveston, but others such as Littlejohn, who arrived on buses, were not told when they would return. Confused and desperate, Littlejohn used her meager funds to purchase a bus ticket to take her father back home to Arizona with her two children.

I spent everything I had when this happened, she said.

The studys authors hope sharing stories like Littlejohns will push state and local governments to better plan and execute evacuation procedures for vulnerable, low-income residents across Texas. The Texas Housers study outlines dozens of recommendations for improving this process, both on the local and state level.

The nonprofit is urging the Galveston Office of Emergency Management to design a public education campaign on evacuation procedures for low-income residents.

Officials should also share information with evacuating residents on what costs will be covered. And assuming the pandemic runs through the next hurricane season, adjusting evacuation plans to include more buses for physical distancing  and the screening of evacuees for the virus beforehand  will be imperative

Bowman knows its a matter of time before another storm develops in the Gulf, once again putting residents in complexes like Sandpiper Cove at risk. Before Laura made its eastward turn and slammed into Louisiana, leaving more than 30 dead in that state and Texas, and causing mass destruction, Bowman thought about the residents left behind on Galveston.

They could very well have been the ones carrying their children over their heads or on top of a roof or swept away by the storm because of the lack of preparation, she said.

Staff writer Sarah Smith contributed to this report

nick.powell@chron.com
Minne Ties Agile MMF is an innovative, patent pending technology that rapidly, safely and securely achieves maxillomandibular fixation (MMF). We are pleased to provide greater access to Minne Ties for surgeons and other providers delivering care to active duty, dependents and veterans around the world.

Invisian Medical today announced that it has been awarded a five-year contract worth up to $7.5 million with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Logistics Agency Electronic Catalog System (ECAT). Effective February 2021, the ECAT contract provides federal government customers access to the Minne Ties Agile MMF product linean innovative, patent pending technology for jaw fixation related to fracture treatment and other types of jaw surgery.

The ECAT program is designed to evaluate products for value and performance and allows customers to browse, compare and order a wide range of approved products. The goal of the ECAT program is to streamline procurement decisions to allow better, simpler and more efficient access to contracted vendors products. ECAT provides medical and surgical products to the DoD and various other federal government customers around the world.

We are pleased to provide greater access to Minne Ties for surgeons and other providers delivering care to active duty, dependents and veterans around the world, said Jan Creidenberg, President & CEO of Invisian Medical. As a U.S. small business, we are proud to provide our advanced technology that improves the quality, safety and cost of care for those who serve our country.

Invented by a surgeon, Minne Ties Agile MMF offers a new, cost-effective method to rapidly, safely and securely achieve maxillomandibular fixation (MMF), or jaw fixation, which is required for treatment of jaw fractures and other jaw-related surgeries. Unlike other MMF methods, Minne Ties is non-invasive and eliminates sharp wires and screws that can injure surgeons and damage patients gums, tooth roots and mouth. Minne Ties significantly reduce surgeon and operating room time, offer flexibility to apply in or outside the O.R., and take less space in the mouth for better access, visibility and tangle-free suturing.

Our use of Minne Ties saves significant time and eliminates sharp wires traditionally used in MMF, which reduces the risk of injury for both patients and surgeons, said Clint Humphrey, MD, FACS, who has adopted Minne Ties for MMF procedures at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Its great to know our colleagues in military medicine and at other government facilities across the country can now access this innovative technology.

ABOUT INVISIAN MEDICAL AND MINNE TIES

Based in Kansas City, Invisian Medical is a small business that develops and commercializes innovative medical technologies designed to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care. Minne Ties Agile MMF is an innovative, patent pending technology that rapidly, safely and securely achieves maxillomandibular fixation (MMF). Minne Ties are manufactured in the United States and are a cost-effective solution that improves both the patient and surgeon experience. In 2019 Invisian Medical received an Innovative Technology contract from Vizient, Inc., providing many academic medical centers and other health systems access to Minne Ties. For more information, visit http://www.minneties.com.
Kate Garraway looked flustered on Monday as she prepared for her latest shift at Global radio studios after racing across London on the back of a motorcycle.

The Good Morning Britain presenter greeted onlookers as she made her way inside the Leicester Square studio ahead of her popular mid-morning Smooth radio show.

Sporting a camel coat over a breezy lilac patterned dress, Kate, 53, looked typically stylish while climbing from the rear of her taxi motorbike.

Here she is: Kate Garraway looked flustered on Monday as she prepared for her latest shift at Global radio studios after racing across London on the back of a motorcycle

In accordance with current health and safety guidelines the presenter covered her mouth and nose with a protective covering while entering her place of work.

More than 4.5 million viewers tuned in to watch Kate Garraway: Finding Derek, a documentary about her husband Derek's Covid battle on Tuesday night, making it ITV's most watched in years.

It won the 9pm slot with an average of 4.5 million viewers, making it ITV's biggest factual overnight audience in the Tuesday 9pm slot in at least a decade.

Busy: Kate was hot-footing it between Good Morning Britain and her mid-morning presenting slot on Smooth radio

Looking good: Sporting a camel coat over a breezy lilac patterned dress, Kate, 53, looked typically stylish

Upbeat: Despite her busy schedule the presenter appeared to be in typically high spirits

And the show was also the channel's biggest factual overnight audience across all days in the 9pm slot since Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace back in June.

Finding Derek easily beat its closest competitor MasterChef, which earned just 3.3 million viewers on BBC One.

Kate filmed every step of Derek's battle with Covid following his hospitalisation with the respiratory illness in March 2020 with the fly-on-the-wall programme.

Success: More than 4.5 million viewers tuned in to watch Kate Garraway: Finding Derek, a documentary about her husband Derek's Covid battle on Tuesday night

After watching the emotional hour-long documentary, many viewers and friends of the star took to social media to share their admiration for Kate and send their well wishes to Derek, also 53.

On Thursday Kate said she'd been 'overwhelmed' by viewers' positive reaction as she returned to Good Morning Britain for the first time since Finding Derek had aired.

She said: 'It's been absolutely overwhelming in a really wonderful way.

Tough to watch: The programme documented her husband's 12 months in intensive care battling coronavirus and its devastating after-effects

'We spoke on Tuesday morning about how it was quite a difficult decision to think about filming it, but you hoped it would bring some comfort to some people or perhaps shine a light on a situation that... or for a group of people who might be suffering away in a way that hasn't been focused on.

'I've had so many comments from people. The reaction has been extraordinary. I've had so many messages from people talking not just about COVID, but about experiences in their own life, where some of the things we touched on have impacted.

'Some people want to get in touch with me directly because it's quite personal. I do have an email address actually if people want to get in touch directly, because I do understand they don't want to put things on social media.'
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
The renovation of the Enguri hydro power plant (HPP), the largest electricity producer in Georgia, is coming to an end and is expected to start producing electricity in early May of this year, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said.

"The renovation of the Enguri HPP started in January. Such large-scale, complex works have not been carried out for more than 20 years. The total cost of the project is 42 million of which we received 7 million from the European Commission as a grant and the rest is a loan from the European Bank from Reconstruction and Development," Agenmda.ge cited the PM as saying.

He said that the Enguri HPP plays a "very important role in our country's energy independence and safety", as 40% of the countrys power comes from this plant.

All five generators of the Enguri HPP were shut down on January 20, 2021 for necessary and urgent work in the drainage tunnel, which is used to allow the water from the reservoir to enter the turbines. Some sections of the tunnel were damaged and large volumes of water were leaking.

In order to begin the repairs of the tunnel, it was necessary to empty it completely first, which is why the HPP had to be shut down.

As a result of the renovation of the HPP diversion tunnel, water losses will be reduced by 30% -35%, which means an additional 100 million kWh of electricity generation per year.

I believe in a better world, in creating solutions and initiating future proof projects that will benefit generations, says Ms Sithabile Gandi Ndlovu, an information communication technologies (ICT) expert.

The 24-year-old from Plumtree was recently appointed to sit on the Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) board, the youngest member to make it to the committee. She will be part of the driving force towards ensuring that Zimbabweans have decent housing in line with Vision 2030.

After completing her studies at Girls College in Bulawayo, Ms Ndlovu moved to Pretoria in 2015 where she began her University career at Pearson Institute doing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology.

In 2016 while doing her second year she registered for a diploma with the University of Cape Town where she got certified as a Business Analyst.

From then she did certifications and programmes with some colleges such as Olof Palme International Centre in Sweden and the University of Cornell in the United States of America.

As if that is not all for a young woman of her age, Miss Ndlovu is working on a certification with the Information System Audit and Control Association (ISACA)  an international professional association focused on IT governance.

Today she has a well-established company  Viking Technointell, a Pan-African ICT startup which aims to align businesses with technology. Viking Technointell was officially registered in South Africa in June 2017 and an official opening launch was done in Bulawayo, the same month.

The company came as a response to the need of an expansion in terms of the integration of technology in the Pan-African business market.

Miss Ndlovu dates her love for ICT back to the early 2000s when she would take pride in challenging the status quo as according to her, The word she and phrase technology geek dont usually appear in the same sentence.

My interest in ICT started when I was about nine-years-old and its always been something that I enjoyed. Having gone to an all-girls high school taking up ICT wasnt weird at all because we were all girls but when I got to University, I could see that most girls had not opted for that career path, she says.

That didnt deter me but actually made me want to work harder as I always wanted to be ahead of the boys meaning I became super competitive.

Miss Ndlovu says being the only girl in most classes forced her to study really hard just to represent the female species and show them that girls could do it too.

The male dominance in the industry did not deter her, in fact, it was her most compelling motivation.

She aims to make a difference in the ICT sector and the business world in Africa as a whole. In the same breath she hopes to change the script and prove that women too can.

Over the years, Miss Ndlovu says she has come to truly understand the major role that ICT plays in socio-economic growth.

I really want to impact the tech revolution in Africa but Charity begins at home and thats been a concept Ive really tried to follow on throughout my professional career. I wouldnt say we arent in the picture per se as Matabeleland, its just an issue of exposure, she says.

We have a good number of young people in our working economy that are ready to learn, unlearn and relearn. This makes them the perfect group to adopt technology and fit into the tech revolution that awaits us. Given the right capacities and resources, Matabeleland could easily become the tech hub of Zimbabwe, she adds.

Miss Ndlovu says most women and girls are waiting to get an invite onto the table which remains their greatest challenge.

No one is going to give us opportunities on a silver platter so we need to be more aggressive and intentional about what we want.

However, realising the true benefits of technology can be such a daunting task which is why it is my aspiration to impact a Tech Revolution in Zimbabwe through promoting the appropriate use of technology in order to achieve socio-economic sustainability, says Miss Ndlovu.

The recent appointment into the Udcorp board by National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe is a dream come true for Miss Ndlovu.

The appointment comes as both an honour and a privilege. Its always been my hope to serve the nation and as young person I feel humbled to have been appointed to such an esteemed office. I am excited to learn and also be the voice of the youth in developmental issues at a national level, she says.

Minister Garwe recently said President Mnangagwa has high expectations that the Udcorp will play a key role in the provision of houses and related infrastructure in the country.

To aspiring young female game changers in Zimbabwe, Miss Ndlovu says hard work and passion are key for one to get where they want to no matter how long it takes.

While knowledge is power, community is also power and that is why I actively seek to give back to those around me, so as to strengthen and empower one another from within. Technology and community development are not all that different, both are vehicles for change and both attract people who are inclined to make their communities better. ICT will drive the next industrial revolution and I hope to see Zimbabwe and then Africa at that helm, adds Miss Ndlovu. Chronicle
[March 29, 2021] Payrailz Named a Winner in the 2021 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards

The Business Intelligence Group has announced that Payrailz has been named a winner in its Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program. Payrailz is a digital payments company offering smarter, more engaging payment experiences to banks and credit unions across the United States. These experiences apply to a full array of payment services such as bill pay, external and internal transfers, new account funding, P2P, loan payments and other related payment solutions. Banks and credit unions have a tremendous amount of consumer data at their disposal. Using this data, the Payrailz' digital payment platform leverages AI and machine learning to create actionable insights that provide better digital payment experiences for customers or members. The platform learns users' financial management habits, like how they pay their bills or when they usually make a transfer, then makes proactive recommendations, called Action Insights, based on that information. With Payrailz, end-users do not have to worry about forgetting to pay bills or whether they have enough money in their account to cover them. The platform can also make recommendations that help them to lower their bills or to put surplus funds to work by setting up an automated savings plan. "We are beyond honored that the Business Intelligence Group has recognized us for our vision and use of AI," commented Fran Duggan, CEO of Payrailz. "We are very proud of the platform we've built and look forward to seeing how our application of AI will continu to revolutionize and assist how people manage their daily financial situations."



"We are so proud to name Payrailz as a winner in our inaugural Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program", said Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer for Business Intelligence Group. "It was clear to our judges that Payrailz was using AI to improve the lives of their customers and end-users. Congratulations to the entire team!" About Business Intelligence Group www.bintelligence.com

The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs, these programs are judged by business executives having experience and knowledge. The organization's proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers. About Payrailz Payrailz is a digital payments company offering advanced payment capabilities and experiences including consumer and business bill pay, external and internal transfers, new account funding, P2P, B2B, B2C and other related solutions to banks and credit unions. In a society that increasingly has become focused on a "do it for me" culture, Payrailz' smart technology makes the difference. Payrailz creates smarter payment experiences for the financial services industry that are predictive and more engaging than currently available alternatives. Financial institutions can confidently embrace Payrailz' API-first and cloud-native technology engine, to offer unique payment solutions to their consumers and businesses. Payrailz helps financial institutions meet the payment expectations of today and the payment innovation needs of tomorrow. For more information, visit payrailz.com, follow them on Twitter (News - Alert) @Payrailz, Facebook or LinkedIn, or contact Mickey Goldwasser at 860.430.9245. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005014/en/

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Fans have called out the show's judges and production team as misrepresenting non-English cultures. BBC; Channel 4; Marianne Ayala/Insider

"The Great British Baking Show" has been accused of misrepresenting non-English cultures.

Season-seven baker Rav Bansal told Insider "it's time for new judges" who are more diverse.

Season four's Ali Imdad said the production staff should be held accountable for the issues.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Viewers and former contestants alike have criticized "The Great British Baking Show" for how it represents non-English cultures and recipes.

Specifically, some are calling for a more diverse group of judges and hosts, better execution of themed challenges and recipes, and more accountability from the show's production team.

Several contestants who've experienced the diversity issues firsthand told Insider it's time for the show to take responsibility for its missteps and make changes for the future.

One baker pointed out that the contestant pool is quite diverse, but the judges and hosts don't reflect that

Rav Bansal competed on season seven of "Bake Off." Channel 4

Season-seven baker Rav Bansal told Insider it's time for new judges who better represent the diverse cast of contestants competing on the show, known as "The Great British Bake Off" in the UK.

Throughout the 11 seasons of "The Great British Baking Show," there has never been a host or judge of color.

"I think it's time for new judges," Bansal told Insider. "The show does a great job bringing together contestants from all walks of life that make up British society - different races, religions, sexualities - but I would like to see that same diversity reflected in the judges and hosts."

Two contestants told Insider that the lack of diverse host and judges has led to some unfortunate interactions

Bansal told Insider that the lack of diversity affects how well the judges can score non-English flavors and recipes.

"Certain flavors and techniques are not as ubiquitous as others, and they can often get lost in translation," Bansal said.

Story continues

The baker said he remembered Paul Hollywood "not knowing what a yuzu was" when Bansal used it in one of his cake recipes. Yuzu is a citrus fruit with an East Asian origin that's mostly cultivated in Japan, Korea, and China.

On season nine, Antony Amourdoux was among several of the contestants, hosts, and judges who were called out by fans on Twitter for incorrectly referring to naan as "naan bread," which would translate to "bread bread," during a technical challenge.

Many "Bake Off" fans were confused about how the Indian baker could make that mistake since the dish is so popular in many parts of the country. But Amourdoux, who clarified during the episode that he's "not from the region that makes naans," told Insider he experienced other uncomfortable moments behind-the-scenes.

"It was just awful. Sandi [Toksvig] - who was the presenter then - came out said, 'You're going to smash the next challenge' and I came literally at the bottom of the pile," Amourdoux said. "There is no naan down south. I can't for the life of me ever remember my mom making naan."

"I'm not from the region that makes naans," Amourdoux said to the camera during the episode.

"I actually remember Prue Leith telling me that when my mom watched the show she would be absolutely insulted watching me on TV," he told Insider. "But there ain't no naan down south!"

Representatives for Sandi Toksvig and Prue Leith did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Amourdoux's recollections.

Another contestant said the production team, rather than individual bakers, is to blame for some of the show's missteps with non-English recipes

One baker made panda-themed buns on Japanese week. Channel 4

Season four's Ali Imdad told Insider that he blames the production staff, not always the individual contestants, for cultural misrepresentations on the show.

He was especially shocked by how the series handled its Japanese-themed week on 2020's season 11.

"I'm not particularly sensitive because I understand that not everyone is going to know other people's culture. I get that," he said. "But when half the contestants were saying, 'It's not really Japanese, it's Chinese,' and one of them was making panda buns I was thinking, 'That has nothing to do with Japan.'"

"I'm not going to blame the contestants for that," Imdad continued. "I just thought it was a bit weird that the production company could be like, 'This is acceptable.'"

Imdad explained that the bakers have to get all their recipes approved before they start filming the episode, so there was time to fix these issues before the challenges even occurred.

"Before filming is even discussed, the recipes would've gone from the contestants to the production company and they would've had to approve it," Imdad said. "I don't understand why they would give the theme of Japan and then see stuff that came through that was Chinese and say, 'This is fine. No one will notice. What's the difference?'"

He said the production team was "sloppy to let that slide."

"I was so excited to see what kind of aspects of Japanese culture would be featured and was disappointed when half of them were doing Chinese," he told Insider.

Although the show isn't perfect, some bakers gave it credit for expanding beyond traditional UK recipes

The season-nine bakers made Ma'amoul as a technical challenge. Channel 4

Although bakers said the series has a ways to go when it comes to representing non-English flavors, some appreciate that the show is trying to expand its horizons.

For example, though "Japanese Week" had its flaws, Japanese pastry chef Tomoko Kato told Insider's Debanjali Bose in 2020 that the matcha-crepe-cake technical challenge was pretty fitting for Japan-themed baking.

"In Japan, French patisseries are very common," Kato said. "You often see Japanese chefs studying abroad and returning to Japan with those influences."

The show has also featured food from around the globe like Hungarian Dobos tortes, German schichttorte cakes, Cyprian flaouna pastries, and Spanish churros over the years.

"There's so much effort that goes into getting a diverse set of bakers and the food producers go out of their way to actually look at bakes across the world," Amourdoux told Insider. "I remember my year we did Ma'amoul, which is Middle Eastern."

Amourdoux told Insider that these different bakes from non-English cultures make the show "pretty cool" for fans from around the globe to watch.

"It's not just bakes from the UK," he said. "You've got to have some spice and culture. That's what makes it interesting every year."

Representatives for "The Great British Baking Show" did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Follow along with our series of interviews to see what else the former bakers revealed to Insider.

Read the original article on Insider
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

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Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

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Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

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Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has lauded the leadership style of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, describing it as unusual.

Mr Osinbajo spoke Monday at the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium, an occasion to mark Mr Tinubus 69th birthday, which held in Kano. Several speakers also participated virtually.

The colloquium was tagged: Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: The Imperative of National Cohesion for Growth and Prosperity.

Mr Osinbajo said Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, is an institution on his own and is worth celebrating.

There is no Nigerian leader who has been so instrumental in raising other leaders like Asiwaju Tinubu. What is responsible for this phenomenon is Asiwajus leading style which is unusual.

Mr Osinbajo said Mr Tinubu constantly refines his thoughts and is never afraid of having his subordinates scrutinise his ideas.

He is completely comfortable engaging across different ethnic, religious and partisan divides, he said.

The vice president said the colloquium holds at a time when a global pandemic has created a storm of social economic problems in many countries, including Nigeria.

He said Nigeria needs a group of men and women of all faiths, tribes and ethnicity, who are committed to running a country on high values.

The governor of Kano state, Umar Ganduje, who hosted the physical version of the colloquium, said choosing Kano State as the venue was a good choice.

The topic and the imperative of national cohesion for growth and development is a challenge to many of us, he said.

It has exposed our level of national integration, if the right measures are to be uses to measure our national integration, we can say that level is very low. It is a challenge for the elite, leaders and for the common people.

Tribalism, nepotism, suspicion, religious intolerance are variables pulling the country down. All Nigerians, as far as national integration is concerned, we have to be born again, Mr Ganduje said.

The governor said the resolutions that will resonate from the colloquium will form good ideas for the benefit of policy makers and politicians in Nigeria.

Earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari, the chairperson of the occasion, urged Nigerians to keep faith in the promise of a great Nigeria.

This colloquium is a reflection of the service that Asiwaju has given, not only to Lagos state but to Nigeria and Africa.

The president said the theme of the colloquium is a more relevant and impactful discussion than ever before.

It seems that we have all agreed on one point that notwithstanding our diversity, ethnic, religion and group, Nigerians are better together and even stronger together.

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Asiwaju is an advocate of unity and constant cohesion in Nigeria.

The lessons of this colloquium are clear. Our very best of conduct as citizens and leaders is to ensure that justice and unity now reigns in Nigeria.

We need to commit resources to the development of Nigeria so that every Nigerian feels conformable in every part of the country. We should keep faith to the promise of a great Nigeria, Mr Buhari said.

The 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium featured a selection of speakers including policymakers, mediators, innovators, security experts, thought-leaders, academics and individuals in governance.

Some of the speakers and panelists at the event were Dani Rodrick, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy; Funmi Olonisakin, Professor of Security, Leadership & Development Kings College, London; Amaka Anku, Practice Head, Africa Eurasia Group; Mohamed Yahya, Resident Representative in Nigeria, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Charity Namsoh, Founder/CEO, HoP Africa.

The President of Liberia, George Weah, former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, Vice President of ECOWAS Commission, Finda Koroma, also graced the occasion.
Gaborone  Minister of Health and Wellness has thanked USAID for funding civil society organisations at a tune of P328 million.

Speaking at the launch of the five benefitting organisations recently, Dr Edwin Dikoloti said such gesture by the USAID was paramount to the country's health care agenda.

Dr Dikoloti thus appreciated the organisations for their hard work, saying their inclusion as direct fund beneficiaries would allow them to carry out their critical lifesaving work with the highest standards.

He said community healthcare was a key component of the country's health care agenda as the organisations were in the frontline executing community health intervention and expanding access to much needed services.

He affirmed government's commitment to continue working with civil society organisations and other local government organisations to optimise the country's provision of healthcare services and to the people of the country.

The five benefitting organisations were launched by US Ambassador to Botswana and would collectively receive P328m over a three-year period to implement HIV-related interventions at community-based level.

Launching the organisations, Ambassador Craig Cloud said they would receive direct funding from the United States Presidential Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in order to strengthen social support and health based cohesion with public health services.

Mr Cloud said the organisations had over the years, demonstrated high social health implementation strategies while being PEPFAR sub-partners, which made them qualify to receive direct funding from PEPFAR.

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He added that recipients would gain a great deal from such organisations, which would also contribute to the fabric of society by improving social protections and making the country stronger and more resilient.

Mr Cloud said while gaps still existed in terms of socio inclusion and access to health, civil societies needed to implement more ways to ensure that they could work together with public institutions in the achievement of social protection for all.

The five organisations include Stepping Stones International which received over P64m, Hope Worldwide Botswana with over P62m, Tebelopele Wellness Clinic with P66m, while Humana People to People received over P57m and Botswana Christian AIDS Interventions Programme also received funding of over P59m.

Meanwhile, National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA) acting coordinator, Mr Robert Selato also thanked USAID/PEPFAR for the funding, which he said was paramount to the achievement of target health responses to AIDS.

Mr Selato also acknowledged government's efforts at strengthening policies and resource mobilisation towards the fights against AIDS. BOPA

<i>Source : BOPA</i>
reported 1,549



fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, while 1,897 people have been cured, and 24,223 people are undergoing treatment for the infection, the government said.

The toll mounted to 4,590 with addition of 11 recent deaths..

While the caseload mounted to 11,19,542, the total number of recoveries has reached 10,90,419, Health minister K K Shailaja said in a press release.

According to the release, 37,377 samples have been sent for testing in the last 24 hours ending 2 pm today,and the test positivity rate was 4.14 per cent.

So far, 1,30,50,880 samples have been sent for testing.

Kannur reported the highest number of cases-- 249- today, Ernakulam 184, Kozhikode 184 and Thiruvananthapuram 155.

Two people, who returned from South Africa in the last 24 hours, have tested positive for COVID-19.

According to the release, of those infected today, 11 are health workers, 68 people had come from outside the state and 1,337 were infected through contact.

As many as 1,31,085 people are under observation, including 3873 in hospitals.

(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 Nigerian Government has begun the development of mineral resources across the six geopolitical zone of the country, the Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, Uchechukwu Ogah, said Monday.

Mr Ogah disclosed this in Enugu during the closing ceremony of the 32nd Enugu International Trade Fair.

The minister said the government had already commenced developing a lead/zinc processing cluster in Ebonyi and funding the detailed exploration and development of salt and limestone deposits in the state.

According to him, the initiative is part of the governments regional mineral projects in the six geopolitical zones of the country.

Mr Ogah said the mineral projects were cited based on comparative advantage and were aimed at providing the necessary support for the economy.

He said the lead/zinc processing cluster was located in Ebonyi for the South East region in order to harness the abundant minerals in the area.

He said the exploration and development of salt and limestone facilities would also serve as input materials for local fertiliser production.

According to the minister, a barite processing cluster is being developed in Cross-River State to meet the needs of the oil/gas sector and for the export of Nigerian mined and processed barite.

He appealed to Nigerians to support the Federal Governments efforts with business ideas and strategies for sustainable rapid economic growth and development.

Mr Ogah advised the business community, including investors in the region, to tap into the Federal Governments policies aimed at diversifying the economy.

He said the Federal Government would continue to provide helpful economic innovations and investment drive platforms like the Enugu International Trade Fair.

The minister said the trade fair had done well to keep abreast of global economic challenges by bringing economic players together to showcase their products and network for opportunities.

It has also inspired innovative policy solutions to unexpected new challenges in the economic environment.

I am confident that the Southeast will continue to be at the forefront of investment and industrial innovations to help steer Nigeria towards greater economic development, he said.

Mr Ogah said the Federal Government had introduced new ideas and strategies to stabilise and grow the economy in spite of the challenges posed by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The minister noted that the huge investments in critical infrastructure, including roads, railway, inland waterways, energy, and agriculture had impacted positively on the economy.

The pervasive economic disruptions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic have challenged nations to innovate.

One pivotal way that proactive countries are adapting to survive the challenging global economic disruptions is to accelerate the evolution of the industrial sector through innovations in the digital economy, he said.

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The minister said to build a robust and competitive economy, one must adopt new technologies and strategies that can circumvent the limits of interruptions of global economic activities caused by COVID-19.

Earlier, the President, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Emeka Nwandu, congratulated the exhibitors and participants for a success fair.

Mr Nwandu commended the minister for always identifying with the chamber in spite of his tight schedules.

He said that the chamber would continue to cherish the support of relevant stakeholders in future events.

(NAN)
NCP chief Sharad Pawar will undergo surgery at a hospital here after it was diagnosed that he has gall bladder issue, a minister of his party in the Maharashtra government said here on Monday.

"Our party president Sharad Pawar saheb was feeling a little uneasy due to a pain in his abdomen last evening and was therefore taken to Breach Candy Hospital for a check-up.

Upon diagnosis it came to light that he has a problem in his Gall Bladder," Nawab Malik tweeted.

"He is on Blood Thinning Medication which is now being stopped due to this issue. He will be admitted to the hospital on the 31st of March 2021 and an Endoscopy and Surgery will be conducted. Hence all his programmes stand cancelled until further notice," the minister added.

The development comes amid speculation that Pawar (80) met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a top industrialist's residence in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

At a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, Shah parried a query on the purported meeting, saying everything cannot be made public.

Malik, whose party shares power in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and Congress, had said no such meeting took place, adding there is an attempt to create confusion by spreading such rumours.

Also Read: Need a thorough probe of Param Bir Singh's allegations against Anil Dehsmukh: Sharad Pawar
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Nashville- Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced that Tennessee, as part of a coalition of 41 Attorneys General, has settled with Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, a debt collection agency doing business as American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA). The settlement resolves a multistate investigation into the 2019 data breach that exposed the personal information of over 7 million individuals, including 132,451 Tennesseans.

AMCA specialized in small balance medical debt collection primarily for laboratories and medical testing facilities. An unauthorized user gained access to AMCAs internal system from August 1, 2018 through March 30, 2019. AMCA failed to detect the intrusion, despite warnings from banks that processed its payments. The unauthorized user was able to collect Social Security numbers, payment card information, and, in some instances, names of medical tests and diagnostic codes.

On June 3, 2019 AMCA provided notice to many states and began providing notice to over 7 million affected individuals that included an offer of two years of free credit monitoring. On June 17, 2019, as a result of the costs associated with providing notification and remediating the breach, AMCA filed for bankruptcy. The multistate coalition participated in all bankruptcy proceedings. The company ultimately received permission from the bankruptcy court to settle with the multistate, and on December 9, 2020, filed for dismissal of the bankruptcy.

Patients should not have to worry about their personal information  and especially sensitive medical information- being exposed through a security breach, said General Slatery. Tennessee will continue to hold companies accountable that do not implement proper safeguards or drag their feet when a breach occurs.

As part of the settlement, AMCA may be liable for a $21 million total payment to the states. Because of AMCAs financial condition, that payment is suspended unless the company violates certain terms of the settlement agreement which include the following data security practices:

Creating and implementing an information security program with detailed requirements, including an incident response plan;

Employing a duly qualified Chief Information Security Officer;

Hiring a Third-Party Assessor to perform an information security assessment; and

Cooperating with the Attorneys General with investigations related to the data breach and maintaining evidence.

To read the Agreed Final Judgment, click here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2021/pr21-13-afj.pdf

The Attorneys General of Indiana, Texas, Connecticut, and New York led the investigation, assisted by the Attorneys General of Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and joined by the Attorneys General of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

###

#21-13: AG Slatery Announces Multistate Settlement with American Medical Collection Agency
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said it is repugnant that a private hospital used spare jabs to vaccinate teachers from an exclusive school.

Coronavirus vaccine operations at Dublins Beacon Hospital have been suspended after it used 20 doses, which were left over after a daily vaccination session, to vaccinate some staff members at St Gerards private school in Bray.

Mr Martin said what happened was unacceptable.

Ive condemned it. Its repugnant something like that would actually happen, the Fianna Fail leader said on Monday.

#COVID19 vaccines are already bringing hope to our communities. At Knocknarea Arena, @itsligo staff are working hard to continue the rollout of the vaccine. Watch our video to learn more about the Sligo vaccine centre and the people who work there. #OurHealthService pic.twitter.com/F4eUoSwZ9R  HSE Ireland (@HSELive) March 29, 2021

Thats why the administration of vaccines there has been suspended. The vaccines belong to the people of Ireland.

The prioritisation has been the most vulnerable in terms of senior citizens, residents in nursing homes, frontline healthcare workers and those with underlying health conditions.

Mr Martin said people have been prioritised to give them the greatest level of protection, and to reduce illness and reduce death.

That has worked, broadly speaking, in terms of the rollout of the plan, he added.

Its been effective and the impact has been quite dramatic and the HSE is overseeing an examination of what happened there.

There are clear protocols laid down in terms of the prioritisation and the manner in which any surplus vaccines are to be used at the end of that particular vaccinated session.

The south Dublin hospital, which was administering vaccines as part of the state programme, has apologised for its decision, claiming it was made under time pressure.

The hospital admitted the move was not in line with the HSEs sequencing guidelines.

The Beacon is a beneficiary of state contracts for outsourced medical services.

Meanwhile, Mr Martin remained tight-lipped about any plans to lift Covid-19 restrictions next month.

The Government is expected to make an announcement about plans for restrictions on Tuesday, however the Taoiseach refused to take questions about it.

He told reporters any announcements or updates would be made on Tuesday.

It comes after public health officials met on Monday to review the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures.

It also comes amid increasing concern over rising Covid-19 cases in the country.

The most severe level of restriction, Level 5, is currently in place until April 5.

The National Public Health Emergency Team held a lengthy meeting on Monday.

Its recommendations is being considered by the Cabinet sub-committee on the pandemic response this evening before a full meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday.

The Taoiseach is to make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting.

Expand Close Taioseach Micheal Martin will make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting (Julien Behal Photography/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Taioseach Micheal Martin will make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting (Julien Behal Photography/PA)

Some limited relaxations, potentially in relation to outdoor activities and the 5km limit on travel, are expected.

But it is believed it will be May or June before a greater easing of restrictions will be made.

There was one further Covid-19-related death in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed.

Another 539 cases of the virus were also confirmed in the last 24-hour reporting period.

As of Monday morning, 331 coronavirus patients were in hospital, of whom 70 were in ICU.

There were 19 additional hospital admissions in the previous 24 hours.

New figures released by the HSE show a total of 786,569 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Ireland as of Friday March 26.

Of these 567,023 were first doses and 219,546 were second doses.

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Member of the public attend the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative report at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi (file photo).

October 22, 2011 is a day she will never forget. It is the day she lost her husband and first born son following wave of violence pitting two communities in Isiolo. The conflict left at least 10 people dead and more than 20 houses torched.

On the fateful morning, Elizabeth Ibrahim Hechesi was making breakfast for the family at their home in Kambi Garba in Burat ward as her husband Romanus Losike, an employee of Action Aid, prepared to leave for field work in Oldonyiro about 150 kilometres away.

Minutes later, however, he changed his mind as he reportedly never wanted to miss the Sunday service the following day. Little did the wife and children know they were spending the last days with him. The family also hosted seven destitute children.

As they took breakfast, they heard gunshots from a distance, spreading fear and panic. The mother of five, suggested that they flee for safety but her husband was hesitant, saying they had not wronged anyone and there was no cause of alarm.

The clashes over control of grazing land and water resources had started weeks earlier in neighbouring areas of Kilimani and Mulango among others, but it never dawned on the family that they could become victims.

"The shooting continued and the gunshots that we had heard from a distance became so real. We knew all was not well," says Ms Hechesi.

They hurriedly moved the children out of the house and hid them in a nearby bush but the husband and Simon Lomoe, their first born son who was sitting KCSE exams at St Pauls Kiwanjani Secondary, insisted on staying back to safeguard their properties as the mother watched over the siblings.

The armed attackers set ablaze their house where the husband and son were hiding. Mr Hechesi was shot dead while struggling to get out while her son succumbed to burns as he underwent treatment at a local hospital.

Succumbed to burns

"I was shocked to find my husband's body lay outside the house that was on flames. With assistance from my neighbours, we rushed my son to hospital but he succumbed to the burns. It was my lowest time in life," says the 46-year-old during an interview with nation.africa.

With tension still rife at the area, a Good Samaritan dressed Ms Hechesi in the rival community's attire so that she could comfortably manoeuvre through the villages for safety. A man only identified as Rashid hosted her and the children.

Ms Hechesi is the only one who lost loved ones at the village where close to 30 houses were set ablaze by the attackers.

Four months before the clashes, 10 people had been killed and 2,000 others displaced in three days fighting between two communities at the Isiolo-Samburu border over grazing land.

The spate of attacks that also affected Kambi ya Juu area was so real that the then Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, asked leaders to unite the warring communities to avert constant raids and killings that were a stumbling block to development in the region.

And while authorities never shared the total number of those killed and injured during the attacks that went on for more than four months, residents said dozens were killed.

For instance, in February 2012, hundreds were displaced and dozens killed in a spate of attacks and counter attacks, including three farmers who were gunned down at Gambella area near Meru-Isiolo border on February 13, while harvesting tomatoes. Three others were killed the following day at Kambi ya Juu area.

Following the incidents, about 15 houses were burnt down and more than 1,000 people from Turkana community fled for safety.

Fast forward, Ms Hechesi and her family were later hosted for three months by New Life Bible Church in Kulamawe, Isiolo in partnership with African Inland Church and Action Aid who provided them with clothes, food and personal effects.

Armed violence

They later relocated to Kambi ya Juu on the outskirts of Isiolo town where they have lived since then.

Having borne the brunt of insecurity and knowing that women and children suffer most when communities fight, Ms Hechesi started peace initiatives towards ensuring harmonious living between communities.

Armed violence and insecurity is overt in pastoral counties due to competition over resources prompted by environmental degradation.

The conflicts are also sparked by proliferation of illegal firearms and the situation worsens during dry spell when the natural resources become increasingly scarce and herders are tempted to use force to access them.

While it was initially difficult for women to lead peace efforts due to traditions, Ms Hechesi says men have rapidly accepted them and are playing a crucial role in peace building and conflict management through community sensitisation and awareness.

"I have been passionate of building peace and leading peace initiatives. I really know how important peace is because I lost my husband and son due to fights," Ms Hechesi, who has undertaken peace initiatives in Marsabit and Mai Mahiu in Nakuru County among others says.

The peace ambassador hails conservancies' role in promoting peace among communities in Northern Kenya and specifically involvement of women in peace efforts.

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Stolen livestock

Through the Integrated Management of Natural Resources for Resilience in Asal counties programme consortium (Imara), Northern Rangelands Trust in 2020, recovered 2,400 stolen livestock and thwarted 22 planned attacks in Isiolo and Samburu assisted by peace ambassadors.

"We have networks of women in the conservancy who reach out to other women at the grassroots in peace management for realisation of growth and development," she adds.

Through economic empowerment programs by conservancies, young men have stopped stealing livestock and are now engaged in decent and productive activities.

Swedish Ambassador to Kenya Ms Caroline Vicini toured the region and Ms Hechesi was given a chance to address residents, who had gathered at Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy in Samburu, where she stressed on the need for residents to live in harmony.

"I am a victim of ethnic violence and I am committed to making relationship between Isiolo communities and neighbouring counties better for development to be realised," Ms Hechesi then said.

waweruwairimu001@gmail.com
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The Swiss National Science Foundation also offers generous support for early career researchers. This makes in an excellent choice for those wishing to continue their research in the same location after their PhD.

We've put together a few tips and tricks that can help you make the most of rankings for PhD study in our guide.
Madonnas Irish fans are all in a lather after the Queen of Pop posted a raunchy picture of herself  featuring an iconic Irish product in the background.

Madonna posted three pictures of herself on Twitter captioned simply as: And now for a moment of self reflection.... Madame X.

She was dressed in black lingerie, with Madame X being the persona she embraced for her 14th studio album of the same name, released in 2019.

But eagle-eyed Irish followers pointed out that in the background of Madges bathroom was a tub of Sudocrem  the nappy rash balm relied upon by generations of Irish parents to keep their babies happy.

And Now For A Moment of Self Reflection..............Madame a pic.twitter.com/EDk7cUyBOv  Madonna (@Madonna) March 28, 2021

Read More

Sudocrem was originally developed in 1931 by the pharmacist Thomas Smith in the northside Dublin suburb of Cabra. It was originally called Smiths Cream, and then later Soothing Cream.

The name was finally changed to the iconic Sudocrem in 1950 due to the Dublin accent pronunciation of soothing cream.

In the 1960s, samples of Sudocrem were given to new mothers in Ireland, which increased the popularity of the product and the brand was gradually introduced to the UK in the 1970s.

To this day, Sudocrem is still manufactured in the Baldoyle suburb of north Dublin and is a firmly established iconic Irish brand, used on everything from babies' bottoms to teenage acne to dry elbows.

It has since moved far beyond Ireland, expanding across Europe and America. And it has now gone from Cabra all the way to Madonnas bathroom showing that she is indeed a True Blue.

In fact, just Like A Prayer, the Queen of Pop showed that she likes a layer of the protective oinment to keep her skin healthy, posing in S&M-style gear for the internet pictures.

And Irish Twitter got very excited about the appearance of the local medicinal cream in the background of one of her photos.

Is that a tub of Sudocrem on her bathroom sink? one woman tweeted. Since then its only received more attention.

Another user said: Madonna uses Sudocrem hahahahahaha wtf omg the thought of Madonna just casually putting Sudocrem on her spots before bed.

And another wrote: Feeling like Madonna right now. Except without the leather underwear get up. Just the Sudocrem.

Teva, the comany that makes Sudocrem, says: Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream has been used and loved by families since 1931 and its great for soothing sore skin and treating nappy rash.

"Our product is versatile enough to be used by the whole family for cuts and grazes, acne, eczema, sunburn, minor burns, bedsores and chilblains.

But Sudocrem is so much more than just the grey tub.

Perhaps one day Madame X will take a Holiday to Baldoyle, where Sudocrem is still manufactured and exported around the world.
Imphal, March 29 : The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday deployed two helicopters to douse the forest fire at Shirui peak in Ukhrul district of Manipur, officials said.

IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said the two IAF Mi-17V5 helicopters equipped with Bambi buckets sprayed huge quantities of water to douse the wildfire.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has sought help from the Central government as well as the locals in dousing the fire at Shirui peak in Ukhrul district.

Manipur Forest officials in Imphal said that the forest fire is still razing the newer areas of the hill top in northeast region of Manipur bordering Myanmar. The official said that fire at the famed Shirui peak was noticed in the wee hours of Sunday and then the forest officials accompanied by district and disaster management personnel rushed to the area.

A senior forest official said that the sudden increase in incidents of forest fires has become a major cause of concern for the state's forest department. Manipur forest department statement also said that it has been observed by the department that forest fires are also caused by burning of debris in and around forests, campfires left unattended, discarded cigarette stubs and intentional acts of arson.

The statement added that these are punishable with imprisonment which may extend up to five years of jail with fine.

The setting of forest on fire is punishable under the Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 and relevant Sections of the IPC besides under the provisions of Indian Forest Act, 1927 and Manipur Forest Rules, 1971.

The forest department often urged the people, including civil society and voluntary organisations and youths to render assistance for preventing forest fires in Manipur.

The Shirui Kashung Peak is 2,835 meter from sea level. Most of the major rivers originate from the crevices and slopes of this peak and is the home of the world-famous Shirui (Siroy) Lily (Lilium Mackliniae). During May and June every year, many scientists, environmentalists and tourists from different parts of the world visit the place to see the precious flower which blossoms at the hill-top.

Shirui peak fire is the third major forest fire in the three northeastern states - Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur - in the past few months. In the mid last month Army troops successfully doused a major forest fire in Arunachal Pradesh's Dibang Valley district along the China border.

In January, the Army, Indian Air Force, National and State Disaster Response Force, local volunteers and administration jointly doused a major wildfire in the famous Dzukou Valley on Nagaland-Manipur borders after two weeks of battle.

The forest fire caused huge damage to the flora and fauna, forest and environment of the Dzukou Valley, which is one of the 10 most beautiful places in the mountainous northeast India.

The Dzukou valley, situated at an altitude of 2,452 metres above the sea level and 30 km from Nagaland capital Kohima, is also a sanctuary for the endangered Blyth's tragopan - Nagaland's state bird - and other species of birds and animals.
Chennai, March 29 : The parties in Tamil Nadu engaged in fierce electoral battles are mulling new options to stay afloat and clinch victories. One such instance is that several families in the bordering Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu also cast their votes in the Palakkad district of Kerala.

It will be a tough four-cornered fight in Coimbatore South constituency this time with actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan being the major attraction of the constituency. Vanathi Srinivasan, the National president of the BJP's Women Wing is contesting for this Assembly seat in the coalition of AIADMK-BJP-PMK combine, while Mayura Jayakumar is contesting on a Congress ticket in alliance with the DMK and the former MLA R. Doraiswamy is contesting as an AMMK candidate.

With several voters in the borders adjoining Kerala having twin votes in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the cash-rich political parties in Tamil Nadu are appeasing voters at Kerala borders with freebies.

A senior leader of a political party in Tamil Nadu requesting annonymity while speaking to IANS said,"Yes we are speaking to the people across the border in Kerala and several people have twin votes. If we give them good offers, they will come and vote for us." In a similar vein, parties in Kerala are wooing the voters travelling across the border to exercise franchise in Tamil Nadu.

V. Sasi, Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, while speaking to IANS said, "The voters of Kerala are politically conscious and I don't think that they will go to Tamil Nadu for some freebies. We are trying our best that they vote here itself as we are also engaged in a tough electoral battle." Several families who have votes in Coimbatore South constituency have already reached Tamil Nadu and according to reports, there are nearly 7,000 voters in Chittur, Malampuzha, Nenmara and Manarkad Assembly constituencies of Palakkad, which have votes in Tamil Nadu as well.

These voters have both ration cards and voter identity cards in both the states and most of them are small traders, local businessmen, toddy tappers and most of them reside in the border areas of Walayar, Govindapuram, Meenakshipuram, Gopalapuram and Chavadippaara.

While parties in the border constituencies of Kerala are trying to hold back these voters, many have already left for Tamil Nadu in search of greener pastures.

Rajani (name changed) while speaking to IANS said, "Other than freebies, we will get a chance to click a selfie with our all-time megastar Kamal Haasan who is a candidate in the Coimbatore South constituency. This is one opportunity that I don't want to miss, and this opportunity is gone after the elections are over. Come what may, I will go to Coimbatore and vote there."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The number of Americans who are members of a place of worship has dropped below 50 percent for the first time in eight decades, a new report shows.

Membership at a church, synagogue or mosque across the United States reached an all-time low of 47 percent last year, the Gallup report shows.

Prior to 2000, membership at places of worship had mostly stayed around the 70 percent mark.

Gallup has been measuring the religious memberships since 1937 when it was about 73 percent.

Membership at a church, synagogue or mosque across the United States reached an all-time low of 47 percent last year, the Gallup report shows. Pictured is the St Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago earlier this month

Prior to 2000, membership at places of worship had mostly stayed around the 70 percent mark. It has been steadily declining over the last decade

It has been steadily declining over the last decade.

The decline is driven by the increasing number of Americans who now say they don't affiliate with a particular religion.

The percentage of Americans who don't identify with a religion has grown to 21 percent in the last three years, compared to 8 percent between 1998 to 2000.

The trend also appears to be tied to age with 66 percent of people born before 1946 saying they belong to a church or place of worship.

In comparison, 36 percent of millennials said they belonged to a place of worship. Fifty-eight percent of baby boomer and 50 percent of Gen X belong to a church.

'The US remains a religious nation, with more than seven in 10 affiliating with some type of organized religion,' the report says.

'However, far fewer, now less than half, have a formal membership with a specific house of worship.

The percentage of Americans who don't identify with a religion has grown to 21 percent in the last three years, compared to 8 percent between 1998 to 2000

'While it is possible that part of the decline seen in 2020 was temporary and related to the COVID-10 pandemic, continued decline in future decades seems inevitable, given the much lower levels of religiosity and church membership among younger versus older generations of adults.'

Each generation has seen a decline in membership among those who do affiliate with a specific religion.

In regards to specific religious groups, Catholics have seen the steepest decline in membership after dropping 18 percentage points.

Protestant members was down nine percentage points.

The report noted there wasn't sufficient data to track the decline in membership among other religions.

The declines in membership have been greater among Democrats and those who live on the East coast, according to the report.
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By Kim Bo-eun





The ICT ministry's human resources training center has partnered with the U.K.'s University of Sussex and Korea's Ajou University to train experts in science and technology policy.







The Korea Institute of Human Resource Development in Science and Technology (KIRD) said Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the universities on future collaboration.







KIRD's HR Research Office will work with the University of Sussex Business School's Science Policy Research Unit and Ajou University's New Industrial Convergence Technology Research Center.







KIRD is set to refer to a U.K. science and technology expert training policy model to develop its own programs.







The three institutions will conduct joint studies in science and technology policy, run training courses and set up study and exchange programs. They will also seek exchanges and visits by personnel in science and technology policy.







Based on the partnership, KIRD is seeking to further enhance international cooperation with top-class research and training agencies.







"We are anticipating cooperation with world-class institutions in science and technology policy," KIRD Senior Director Kim Joo-bong was cited as saying in a press release.







The University of Sussex Business School's Director Jeremy Hall said, "The school's Science Policy Research Unit has a long history of collaboration with Korean researchers and we look forward to strengthening these ties as Korea continues its trajectory as a leader in science, technology and innovation."







Ajou University Director Lee Joo-yeoun said, "Through global cooperation in training and research in science and technology policy, I hope we will be able to develop individuals into experts and conduct practical research at a global level."







KIRD was established in 2007 to strengthen science and technology personnel's research expertise and innovative capabilities.







The University of Sussex's Science Policy Research Unit, founded in 1966, is one of the world's leading centers of research on science, technology, innovation policy and management.







Ajou University's New Convergence R&D Center was founded to promote science and industrial convergence research in 2015. It is seeking to become a think tank for public-private collaborative science and technology policy.




Groundbreaking research from the University of South Australia has delivered world-first national-level guidelines to better inform children's physical activity and screen time in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC).

Developed with input from the OSHC sector, the guidelines aim to address growing concerns of children's sedentary behaviour marked by an increase in regular screen time. Research shows that 31-79 per cent of OSHC sessions are sedentary.

The guidelines specifically encourage energetic play while discouraging screen use:

Before School Care should schedule 45 minutes of physical activities and no more than 30 minutes of screen time.

After School Care should schedule 90 minutes of physical activities and no more than 60 minutes of screen time.

Vacation Care should schedule at least 2-3 hours of physical activities and no more than two hours of screen time across the whole day.

UniSA PhD candidate Rosa Virgara and Professor Carol Maher found that for children to achieve sufficient physical activity during OSHC, it should be provided on a 3:1 ratio - that is, that three times the opportunity for exercise is needed for children to achieve sufficient physical activity during OSHC.

In Australia, less than one in four children achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. On average, primary school-aged children (aged 5-14) spend more than two hours each day sitting or lying down for screen-based activities.

With about 10 per cent of Australian primary school children attending OSHC each year - and these hours accounting for 30 per cent of a child's potential daily recommended physical activity - the guidelines have the potential to affect many children on a regular basis.

UniSA's, Rosa Virgara says having the OSHC sector on board was critical to initiating change.

"Working closely with a broad range of OSHC stakeholders - including OSHC directors and educators, families, health and exercise experts - we've established consistent and workable guidelines to boost children's physical activity while also limiting screen time," Virgara says.

"The main physical activity concept across all aspects of OSHC was that it should be play-based and fun, with ample opportunity for free active outdoor play, rather than being structured and run like a physical education class.

"The emphasis on free play is consistent with other research that shows that over half of children's physical exercise is accumulated during outdoor free play.

"Screen time, if offered at all, should be limited and balanced with physical activities, while quiet sedentary activities should be available to allow children to self-regulate and move freely between active and quiet play."

Senior study author, Professor Carol Maher says that the next steps are to disseminate the new guidelines nationally, and develop resources that help OSHC staff understand their role in promoting healthy physical activity and screen use in OSHC, particular given the transient, casual basis of the OSHC workforce.

"To bring about these changes, OSHC staff will need to be supported with training to help them facilitate physical activities effectively," Prof Maher says.

"It will also be important to connect with children and families to help them understand and accept the new changes, and particularly in relation to screen time.

"Helping kids stay happy and healthy is a responsibility for which we all play a part. It's pleasing to see Australia's OSHC centres so keen to make positive change."

###

Notes to Editors:

Final Draft Physical Activity and Screen Time Guidelines for OSHC are available in a jpg.

The full article is available online: http://bit. ly/ 2NWkk8G

Virgara R, Phillips A, Lewis L, Richardson M & Maher C. Development of Australian physical activity and screen time guidelines for outside school hours care: an international Delphi study, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity volume 18, 2021.

Media contact: Annabel Mansfield T: +61 8 8302 0351 M: +61 417 717 504

E: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au

Researcher: Rosa Virgara E: Rosa.Virgara@unisa.edu.au

Prof Carol Maher T: +61 8 8302 2315 E: Carol.Maher@unisa.edu.au
YouTube cookery video lands mobster in hot water

Marc Feren Claude Biart was arrested on March 24 in the town of Boca Chica, close to the capital Santo Domingo (pictured). Photo: Shutterstock

A mafia fugitive hiding in the Dominican Republic has been tracked down thanks to his tattoos visible in cooking videos he posted on YouTube, Italian police said on Monday.



Marc Feren Claude Biart, 53, was arrested on March 24 in the town of Boca Chica, close to the capital Santo Domingo, where he had arrived more than five years ago from Costa Rica, a police statement said.



In 2014 an Italian magistrate ordered Biar's arrest for alleged drug trafficking for the 'Ndrangheta mafia organisation based in Calabria, the toe of Italy's boot.



Biart fled to Central America and then to the Dominican Republic, where, according to the Italian police, he was careful not to attract attention and kept his distance from the numerous Italians living in Boca Chica.



"He was a foreigner for the Italian community," the police statement said.



However, Biart made a fatal mistake. He and his wife posted on YouTube several videos of Biart cooking Italian dishes. Although they were careful not to show his face, police recognised him from the tattoos.



The 'Ndrangheta is considered by prosecutors to be the most powerful mafia group in the country and has long eclipsed the more famous Cosa Nostra, based in Sicily.



According to the police, Biart, who arrived on Monday morning in Milan Malpensa airport, had trafficked drugs for the 'Ndrangheta's Cacciola clan, based in the small town of Rosarno. (Reuters)
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Supdeco-Business School of Senegal in partnership with the Management Development Institute (MDI) of The Gambia on Tuesday held an orientation forbusiness students pursuing Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes at MDI campus.

The oriented students are set to start Bachelor's degree programmes in business administration, BA in transport and logistics as well as Master's degree in Management.

The inter-institutional collaboration between Supdeco- Dakar and MDI was initiated by the Ministry of Higher Education,Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST)and was aimed at adding value to the country's higher education system.

In December 2018, the management of Supdeco visited The Gambia on a study mission to explore ways to work on modalities of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)for possible collaborations with MDI.

On January 4, 2019 MDI also sent a delegation to Dakar that led to the drafting of MDI-Supdeco MOU.

Representing the Minister of MoHERST, Mod Secka, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Higher Education Research Science and Technology described the partnership between the two institutions as genuine and practicable, saying it would minimise cost of sending students overseas for training.

He commended the management of Supdeco-Darkar for responding to the call of MoHERST to add value to Gambia's higher education while assuringof his Ministry's support to both institutions.

Abdoul Aziz Sy, deputy CEO of Supdeco - Dakar said the move aims to produce skillful and practical business personnel that the business sector needs to ensure effective service delivery for all industries.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Gambia Education 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.

He said the Supdeco-Dakar management expanded its institution to The Gambia to contribute to the country's educational development vision, particularly in the area of French language. "We want to make Gambia a hub of education in the sub-region," he said.

Sy revealed that Supdeco-Dakar has partnered with top universities and business schools worldwide, citing certain educational institutions in Canada and France as their partners.

Salifu Jobe, registrar at MDI said the partnership would enable Gambian students pursue qualifications on Supdeco-MDI programmes without making enormous expenditures on overseas educations.

Jobe said the initiative would also enable in-services students to have the opportunity to do their work and pursue qualifications simultaneously, adding this programme is quicker because it is fast track, and takes only three years for a Bachelor's programme.

Dr Gibril Jaw, CEO of National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA)acknowledged thatthe staffing, teaching and learning facilities of Supdeco- MDI programmes have all met the national minimum standards for higher educational institutions.

He urged the two institutions to make sure students have the needed skills, knowledge and competency to deliver well.

He assured of his institution's support to make sure that both institutions deliver quality education tostudents in The Gambia.

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Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
(Reuters) - Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in good health on Wednesday in her first video meeting with one of her lawyers since she was detained in a coup, as the United States ordered non-essential embassy staff to leave the country.

The Nobel laureate, who has been held in custody since the military seized power on Feb. 1, had wanted to meet lawyers in person but ended up being allowed a video conference in the presence of police, lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters by telephone.

"Amay looks healthy, her complexion is good," Min Min Soe said, using an affectionate term meaning "mother" to refer to Suu Kyi.

With police observing, only the legal cases against her filed since the coup were discussed, the lawyer said.

Suu Kyi, 75, was arrested the same day the military seized power and faces charges that include illegally importing six handheld radios and breaching coronavirus protocols.

The military has also accused her of bribery in two recent news conferences. Her lawyers say the charges were trumped up and dismissed the accusation of bribery as a joke.

The next hearing in her case is on Thursday.

The military has justified the coup by saying that a November election won by Suu Kyi's party was fraudulent. The election commission said the vote was fair.

The reimposition of military rule after a decade of tentative steps towards democracy has triggered unrelenting opposition.

At least 521 civilians have been killed in protests, 141 of them on Saturday, the bloodiest day of the unrest, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Fighting has also flared between the army and ethnic minority insurgents in frontier regions. Refugees fleeing the turmoil are seeking safety in neighbouring countries.

POTS AND PANS PROTEST

Thousands of protesters were out again on Wednesday in different parts of the country.

Residents in the main city of Yangon banged pots and pans and honked their car horns in a clamour of defiance as a news crew from CNN was shown around in what its correspondent said was a heavily armed convoy.

Story continues

A Myanmar national working for South Korea's Shinhan Bank was shot in the head and critically wounded in Yangon when a member of the security forces fired at the minivan she was travelling in, the Myanmar Now news portal reported.

A bank representative was not immediately available for comment after office hours.

Media also reported a gun battle between security forces and civilians near the northwestern town of Kale. Voice of Myanmar said one villager was killed and several policemen wounded.

A branch official from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), U Kyaw Kyaw, died at an interrogation centre on Tuesday, two weeks after he was detained, a party colleague, Phyo Zewa Thaw, said on Facebook. He was the third NLD member to die in custody since the coup.

Police and a spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment.

The United States on Tuesday ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members due to concern over what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the "increasingly disturbing and even horrifying violence" against demonstrators.

AIR ATTACKS

City-based opponents of military rule have called for a united front with insurgent groups that have battled the government for decades in border regions.

Ousted members of parliament, mostly from Suu Kyi's party, on Wednesday vowed to set up a federal democracy, addressing a long-standing demand from ethnic minority groups for autonomy.

The military rejects such proposals and sees itself as the only institution capable of holding the country together.

Myanmar's oldest rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), said on Tuesday it was bracing for a major government offensive on its areas of operation along the eastern border with Thailand.

Military aircraft have been bombing KNU positions for the first time in more than 20 years and thousands of villagers have fled from their homes, many into Thailand.

Fighting has also flared in the north between government forces and Kachin Independence Army insurgents.

Separately, people have also been crossing from northwest Myanmar into India to escape the turmoil.

Western countries have condemned the coup and called for Suu Kyi's release but those pressing for change have limited leverage in a country that was largely isolated for decades under strict military rule, and which retains the support of countries such as Russia and China.

In Washington, Blinken said foreign countries and companies with significant investments in enterprises that support Myanmar's military should reconsider those stakes.

India's Adani Group said it would consult authorities and stakeholders on its port project in Myanmar, after human rights groups reported its subsidiary had agreed to pay millions of dollars in rent to a military-controlled firm.

(Reporting by Reuters Staff; Writing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alex Richardson)
Massachusetts public schools that participated in the states COVID-19 pooled testing initiative have reported a collective 0.76% positivity rate, the Baker administration announced Monday.

Gov. Charlie Baker said the pooled testing initiative, which includes more than 1,000 public schools, is the latest sign that schools are safe despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Massachusetts robust and ambitious program offering COVID-19 surveillance testing to all schools, charters and special education collaboratives led the nation, Baker said in a news release Monday. The science is clear that it is safe for kids to be in the classrooms, and this initiative has proved to serve as an invaluable tool for schools throughout the Commonwealth as they return to in-person learning.

Bakers comments come as his administration pushes elementary schools to resume in-person learning five days a week by April, a controversial move that has sparked criticism from school officials and teachers unions.

While teachers have been deemed eligible for the vaccine, teachers unions have blasted Baker for not ensuring all teachers are vaccinated before having schools resume in-person learning. Tensions between union leaders and Baker administration officials have only escalated as the governors aide accused teachers of wanting to hoard vaccine doses from older residents who are eligible to get inoculated.

The pooled testing program launched in February and is offered free to public schools. So far, the state has tested nearly 159,000 people in 22,679 pools. More than 329,000 students, educators and staff are eligible to be tested each week.

The state also announced the pooled testing initiative will continue with no cost to K-12 public schools through the end of the school year. The initial state funding was set to expire on April 18.

The Baker administration said the pooled tests, which is performed once a week in groups of seven, have not shown any instances where more than one person was positive. The administration said this suggests there is little evidence of in-school transmission of COVID-19.

Access to this pooled testing program has given many school districts the information and assurance they need in order to be able to keep educating students in person safely and successfully, said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. We are grateful to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services for undertaking this critical program on behalf of our students, teachers and school staff.

Some schools have returned to in-person learning during the pandemic, while others have adopted hybrid or remote learning models. In the governors home town, Swampscott High School returned to remote learning in response to a COVID-19 outbreak that has exposed at least 100 people, the Boston Globe reported.

Dozens of schools requested waivers from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to delay the return to in-person learning. DESE officials previously said waivers would be granted for districts that had primarily been remote this academic year.

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Dubai-based low-cost carrier flydubais first flight to Tirana touched down today (March 29) in the Albanian capital of Tirana, marking the start of service from Dubai.



The aircraft departed Dubai International (DXB) at 09:44 and arrived in Tirana International Airport (TIA) at 13:46 local time. The flight was welcomed on arrival by a ceremonial water cannon salute and representatives from the airport and Albanian government officials.



flydubai will serve this route with twice weekly flights, on Thursdays and Sundays. With the introduction of the new service, flydubai is the first airline to provide direct airlinks from the United Arab Emirates to Albania.



Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: we are pleased to be the first UAE-based airline to operate direct flights between Dubai and Tirana. We hope these direct airlinks support trade and tourism between the two countries in the future as travel restrictions begin to ease. We look forward to seeing demand grow on this route and to increasing the frequency of our flights.



Volker Wendefeuer, Chief Operation Officer of Tirana International Airport stated: we have worked intensively for this route and we are happy to connect two countries with great potential for growth in the economic and tourism sectors. I wish flydubai a great beginning here and a lot of success for all the parties that have been involved in completing this grand project.



Emirates will codeshare on this route offering travellers more seamless connections through Dubais international aviation hub to 155 destinations between both the Emirates and flydubai networks including Australia, China, Indian Ocean, Japan and South Asia.



Flights from Terminal 3, Dubai International (DXB) to Tirana International Airport (TIA) will operate on Thursdays and Sundays and the service commenced from March 28.



Return Business Class fares from DXB to TIA start from AED8,000 ($2,178) and Economy Class fares start from AED2,000, while return Business Class fares from TIA to DXB start from EUR 1,800 and Economy Class fares start from EUR420.  TradeArabia News Service


Ireland needs to look at encouraging companies to invest in flour mills here to avoid a permanent rise in bread costs post-Brexit, the head of Enterprise Ireland has said.

EU Brexit adjustment funds could be used to fund new infrastructure.

Ireland imports around 90pc of its flour from the UK, according to Bord Bia, but some of that flour contains 45pc Canadian wheat.

The milled flour is being hit with tariffs following the EU-UK trade deal because the high mix of Canadian wheat as well as British grains fall foul of the rules of origin clause in the deal.

Julie Sinnamon, the outgoing head of Enterprise Ireland, told a Seanad committee on Monday that the government should look into the feasibility of doing further processing in Ireland.

The rules of origin impact on flour has been an unintended consequence and with that might come opportunities, she said

With that change - and the lack of competitiveness that that brings in terms of the cost - I think theres probably piece of work to be done in terms of looking specifically at the issue and supporting companies to look at the feasibility of doing further processing in Ireland, which previously would have been done elsewhere.

Complex rules of origin limits in the trade deal allow a maximum of 15pc of grain from outside the EU or UK, with amounts over the threshold incurring a tariff of 172 per tonne.

Food Drink Ireland, an Ibec group representing the industry, estimates the tariffs will push up production costs by 50pc and force bread prices up by 9pc, making Irish products more expensive than those produced in the UK or the EU.

The government has asked the EU to consider flexibilities to eliminate or suspend the tariff, but the appeal is likely to fall on deaf ears.

These rules of origin have to be followed, said Rowena Dwyer, Enterprise Irelands policy and planning manager.

But she said the EUs 5bn Brexit fund - out of which Ireland is entitled to around 1bn - could be used to fund a potential transition to Irish milling.

It probably is [about] looking at the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, potentially, and seeing what scope is there within that to support companies to make investments, whether they are capital or current investments.

That is definitely the objective of the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, and I know its the objective at a broad whole government level to utilise it and to, I suppose, see what flexibilities might be available to make those type of investments.

But Co. Kildare grain farmer Adam Goodwin said the few Irish mills that still exist are not buying home-grown wheat, largely because its cheaper and easier to import it from abroad.

Its just absurd, where weve had a lack of bread in supermarkets, with lockdown and everything else, that were not milling our own grain.




A 12-year-old boy was sexually assaulted and then shot on a street in Miami in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The child was walking in the Brownsville area of the city at around 2am when he was suddenly forced into a black car.

The suspect who was driving the vehicle only went a short distance before sexually assaulting the boy, shooting him and driving away, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

The boy was walking around 2am in the Brownsville area of northwest Miami covered in blood

Soon afterwards, the youngster was found by a man who was riding his bicycle near to the spot where the boy was dumped.

A man who was riding on a bike near the scene of the crime told a local news station that he pulled over to help the boy after he heard the child screaming.

'He was screaming. "Help someone, help me, please,"' said the man, called Johnny to Local 10.

'I bring him to the store so they can call the police for him. He was conscious, then he fell on the sidewalk and said he had been shot.'

The youngster was found by a man who was riding his bicycle near to the spot where the boy was dumped

A witness took the boy to the Foodland Market in the Brownsville area where he called for help

Surveillance footage shows the boy bleeding from his head and stumbling before collapsing to the ground in agony.

A second passerby also stopped to help him water and a towel.

Police and paramedics soon arrived on the scene together with an ambulance to take the child to hospital who was in critical condition.

Officials have not named the boy, but are searching for a tall man with long, curly hair and a black four-door sedan. They say the need the publics help in finding the suspect.

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 305-471-8477 or 866-471-8477.
Update: Driver chased by Syracuse police had broken into Solvay home, robbed victim, stole car, police say

Original article

Syracuse, N.Y.  The driver of a stolen car who led officers on a chase that ended with a crash down an embankment near the SUNY ESF campus has been caught and charged, police said Sunday.

The incident began shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday when officers tried stopping a reported stolen vehicle near Mary and Park streets on Syracuses North Side.

The driver of the vehicle, Javon Porch, 21, refused to stop and kept driving, police said. Officers said they recognized Porch and knew he was wanted by Solvay police for various other felony level crimes.

Officers followed Porch for several minutes and during that time he collided with another vehicle in the 500 block of Hillsdale Avenue.

Porch kept going and eventually crashed in the 100 block of Fineview Place  partly down an embankment on the edge of the Oakwood Cemetery. A Syracuse police patrol car collided with the stolen vehicle there.

Syracuse Police Officer Jason Ladd, whose patrol car collided with Porchs vehicle, was taken to Upstate Hospital with a leg injury and later released.

Porch and his passenger, Demari Neely, 21, tried to flee, but were quickly apprehended, police said.

Porch was later charged with criminal possession of stolen property, unlawfully fleeing, and numerous traffic tickets.

He was issued appearance tickets for this incident and then turned over to the Solvay Police Department for his involvement in another incident. Solvay Police were unable to give any more information this evening on Porchs status and what other alleged crimes we was wanted for.

Neely was arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was released on an appearance ticket.
Last week one of the biggest ships in the world, the Ever Given, ran aground in the Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal is an artificial waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea in the Isthmus of Suez, which divides Africa from Asia. It effectively shortens the time for ships to go from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea by 8-10 days because they dont have to sail all the way around the southern tip of Africa.

The Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world and is owned by a Japanese company, leased to a Taiwanese company, registered in Panama, under the technical management of a German company and has a mostly Indian crew. Confused yet? No wonder it ran aground.

Officials are hopeful the ship can be dislodged soon so the real finger pointing can begin. Lawyers around the Middle East are eagerly rubbing their hands waiting to make it big once the court proceedings begin.

Egypt owns the canal (as well as a few pyramids) so they reap all the money charging countries and companies to use it. According to the Convention of Constantinople, a treaty which regulates the use of the canal, it may be used in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag. So when Egypt promptly closed the canal after the start of the Six Day War with Israel in 1967 it came as no surprise. Which just goes to show that you can trust governments just about as far as you can throw them and that treaties arent worth the paper they are written on.

The ships captain complained that he was blinded by a sandstorm and the ship ran aground because it was rocked by heavy winds. Some are insisting he was drunk and was claiming he was such a good a sailor he bet someone he could even transit the canal sideways.

The Egyptians are getting very upset with the loss of revenue from the canal being closed. Rumor has it they are threatening to bar all Japanese and Taiwanese tourists from the pyramids and ordering the return of all mummies in their nations museums. The daddies may stay, but the mummies must be returned.

However, while there are many ideas being floated, the ship itself is not. Ships captains were also worried that the longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope of Africa would tempt pirates to seize ships for ransom until they realized that they are scheduled to be in Chicago playing the Cubs next week.

In any event once the ship is righted it will need a major checkup to make sure it is still seaworthy so thats why it will be going to the dock.

Joe Crawford is a longtime Alton resident who writes weekly columns for The Telegraph. He can be contacted at crawfordjo@aol.com.
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dover (NYSE: DOV) announced today that it has entered into a commercial partnership agreement with, and acquired a minority interest in, EdgePetrol Limited ("EdgePetrol"), an innovative provider of cloud-based software for revenue and operating results management to the retail fueling industry. By entering this new strategic technology partnership, Dover will enhance its offering of software solutions to the global convenience retail industry.

Based in London, England and founded in 2015, EdgePetrol offers a Software-as-a-Service solution to help retail fuel operators optimize their station performance. The secure, comprehensive solution operates in the Amazon Web Service (AWS) environment and is a complementary platform for Dover Fueling Solutions ("DFS"), which offers the enabling devices to manage the flow of underlying data.

"This innovative fuel management software complements the DFS DX cloud-based solutions and will help our customers improve their business operations and results," said David Crouse, President of DFS. "This software can also be deployed in other applications, providing DFS with growth opportunities outside of retail fueling, including in renewable energy for transportation and various other retail verticals."

Crouse continued, "The minority investment we're making in EdgePetrol aligns directly with our goals of both growing our business through strategic partnerships such as these and broadening our solutions and products portfolio and roadmaps. Our commercial agreement enables DFS to market this product globally."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Dover:

Dover is a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of approximately $7 billion. We deliver innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services through five operating segments: Engineered Products, Fueling Solutions, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions and Refrigeration & Food Equipment. Dover combines global scale, operational agility, world-class engineering capability and customer intimacy to lead the markets we serve. Recognized for our entrepreneurial approach for over 60 years, our team of over 23,000 employees takes an ownership mindset, collaborating with customers to redefine what's possible. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, Dover trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV." Additional information is available at www.dovercorporation.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are statements that are, or could be deemed, "forward-looking" statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, the impacts of COVID-19, or other future pandemics, on the global economy and on our customers, suppliers, employees, business and cash flows, other general economic conditions and conditions in the particular markets in which we operate, changes in customer demand and capital spending, competitive factors and pricing pressures, our ability to develop and launch new products in a cost-effective manner, and our ability to realize synergies from newly acquired businesses. For details on the risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that may be contained herein, we refer you to the documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. These documents are available from the SEC, and on our website, www.dovercorporation.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Contact: Media Contact: Andrey Galiuk Adrian Sakowicz Vice President  Corporate Development Vice President  Communications and Investor Relations (630) 743-5039 (630) 743-5131 [email protected] [email protected]



SOURCE Dover

Related Links

http://www.dovercorporation.com


And todays infants and toddlers wont recall these absences. The older siblings of the pandemic babies may not remember a gap in visits from Nana, either. Because of whats known as childhood amnesia, most people remember few events that occur before age 3 or so. Even though grandparents may be grieving for the milestones they missed this year, The child will not remember who attended their first or second birthday party, said Lorinda Kiyama, a psychologist and associate professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

As an American living in Japan, Dr. Kiyama often counsels couples who come from different countries or international couples who are adopting a Japanese child. She pointed out that separation from relatives isnt always a bad thing. The distance is often a relief when relationships are fraught, she said. However, it can be agonizing when you want to be close.

She suggested building familiarity by talking about absent relatives while pointing to photos of them. Babies as young as nine months may be able to recognize an object theyve seen in a picture. And even if children seem too young to grasp what youre saying, Dr. Kiyama said, they usually understand more language than they can produce.

With a parents help, a distant family member can use video chat to play peekaboo, sing songs with a child, do pretend play, or show off their pets. (And dont worry if youre trying to limit screen time: The American Academy of Pediatrics says video chatting doesnt count.)

Ms. Mahbuba uses FaceTime to keep Aara in touch with her family in Bangladesh, though the time difference is a challenge. When Aara is alert and playful after her nap, its 2 a.m. for her grandparents.

Ms. Mahbuba said the enforced separation of the pandemic has given some of her friends and co-workers a window into what her life is like as an immigrant living far from her family. They kind of understand now how it feels to be stuck, she said.

Jumping the Gap

When long-absent family members finally get to meet those babies  or toddlers  it will be important to take their time building a relationship, said Carola Suarez-Orozco, a professor of counseling psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, who has studied the effects of family separation on immigrant children. Help the adults slow it down when they first encounter the baby.
Caribbean Reef Shark Dive. Credit: WWF Guatemala/MAR

New updates on the conservation status of sharks and rays released today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) show that 39 additional species are now facing a risk of extinction in the wild. This takes the total of all sharks and rays categorized as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered to 355.

"The alarm-bells for sharks and rays could not be ringing louder," said Dr. Andy Cornish, Leader of Sharks: Restoring the Balance, WWF's global shark and ray conservation program. "The sheer number and diversity of these animals facing extinction is staggering. Overfishing is by far the greatest threat and has to be reined in. The good news is that solutions to this crisis do exist. Governments and the regional fisheries management organizations, which manage fishing in the high seas, must act now and boldly to recover the most threatened species before it is too late."

Most alarmingly, IUCN reveals that one species of ray may have already gone extinct, as the Java stingaree (Urolophus javanicus) is now assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). A unique ray from the coast of Java in Indonesia, it was previously listed as Critically Endangered (2006). This endemic species has not been seen since the end of the 19th century when it was originally discovered.

Eight out of nine species that are "uplisted" to the Critically Endangered categorymeaning they are just one step away from extinctionare rays (mostly guitarfishes and eagle rays). This continues the worrying trend that although rays may be less known and do not receive as much attention, they are doing even worse than sharks as a consequence of overfishing and overall lack of fisheries management.

Nonetheless, it is not just the lesser-known species featuring in this round of Red List updates. A few reef sharks that used to be very common and abundant, and are particularly popular among divers, are now threatened. This includes the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi) reclassified from Near Threatened to Endangered, lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) from Near Threatened to Vulnerable, and the Atlantic nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) from Data Deficient to Vulnerable.

"The latest reassessments highlight that fishing is causing population declines across the spectrum of these ancient animals," Dr. Cornish commented. "Whether rays or sharks, those on sunlit coral reefs, far offshore, or in the deep oceans, large and smallfew groups are unscathed."

Ever more species of sharks and rays are being pushed towards extinction. In 2014, 25% of all shark and ray species were threatened, with 25 species critically endangered. Right now, 36% percent is under threat and the number of critically endangered species has tripled (from 25 to 76).

More than 1,200 different species of sharks and rays inhabit our global ocean. These diverse animals do not simply dwell therethey shape the ocean, and have done so for more than 400 million years, since the time of dinosaurs. Sharks and rays are indispensable to ocean health and the well-being of millions of people across the globe through provision of livelihoods, food, and tourism.
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MINISTER for the OPW Patrick ODonovan marks 10 years as a TD this month.

Celebrating a decade in the Dail is too strong a word. At the beginning there was the Troika and now a global pandemic dominates the politics of the day. But no matter what he talks about on the airwaves he gets an email from a disgruntled Dublin listener.

Any time I am on a national radio station I routinely get sent an email by a person attacking me over my pronunciation and my diction. At this stage they have nearly become a pen pal of mine. They say my ths are poorly put together and they are aghast I am a primary school teacher and a national politician, said Minister ODonovan.

But the Newcastle West native wont be changing his West Limerick accent to appeal to Dublin 4 dwellers.

Minister ODonovan goes back to when he was first elected alongside Dan Neville back in 2011. His late father, John, couldnt attend as he was very sick.

On the night of the count I said to him, Dad, the next time I see you, I might be a TD. He said, Well, if you are, don't ever forget where you come from'. And that still rings in my ears. It is something that I'm very proud of, the family that I come from, the place that I come from, the fact that I'm born and bred County Limerick, and rural County Limerick.

The eldest of his and wife, Eileens three children is named John after Minister ODonovans father who passed away in 2013.

The minister is proud he has come through the ranks without family political connections

I would not have come through it without my parents John and Nellie and without the family I have, and especially my wife Eileen. We have had three children and three elections.

Young John has been joined by Mae and Nel. Minister ODonovan turns 44 this month. Eighteen of those years have been spent in public life between the council and Dail chambers.

They have flown by. In some ways the last 12 months have been the longest, in I'd say a lot of people's lives too.

He said his life as a TD in the last 10 years has been shaped by two terrible things.

The collapse in the economy due to terrible banking policy, terrible property policy fuelled by poor leadership. As a generation, all of us will certainly remember when the three literally walked off the stage at a government press briefing, and the three representatives of the Troika walked on. It was almost like there was a handover of power of a democratically elected sovereign government to these people who we know nothing about.

And then this desperate public health emergency which was nobody's fault and just shows how small the world has become and shows how quickly something can happen in the corner of the world but spread so rapidly in a matter of days.

Minister ODonovan said the suffering that was inflicted on people due to the Celtic Tiger bust was just devastating.

Unfinished houses, people you were literally meeting going out the door pulling their suitcases as they were going out to Australia and they were leaving behind elderly parents in floods of tears not knowing if they were ever going to see them again or if they were ever going to see their grandchildren.

Are we facing into dark days ahead as we begin to count the cost of Covid in the years to come?

There will and there won't. First of all, all of Europe is in the same boat, all the world is in the same boat. So the world has to address this problem collectively.

From an Irish point of view, look at how Ireland is the strongest performing economy in the EU this year. Some economic commentators will always look to see the glass half empty, I would look to see the glass half full, said Minister ODonovan, who points to the turnaround from the Celtic Tiger crash which happened way faster than anyone ever thought it would.

Having served as a minister of State in the departments of finance; sport and tourism and now OPW he wants to play his role in the countrys recovery in a full ministry.

I dont see the purpose of going into politics to be sitting on the sidelines roaring and shouting. The point of going into politics at national level is to go in to serve your country, to serve your constituency and to effect change and the way to do that is to try and make sure you can do it at the highest possible level.

I have been very fortunate that I have served in three government departments and absolutely I would aspire to and have the ambition to serve in government within Cabinet. That's unashamedly my ambition and I hope to be able to do that. And if it happens, it happens and if it doesnt, it doesnt.

The next chapters of his political career have yet to be written but Minister ODonovan wishes to pay tribute to those who have got him to where he is today.

Myself and Eileen were looking at photographs the other night. I'd like to pay tribute to so many of my team since 2011 that are gone to their God. I have lost an awful lot of them in the last 12 months, and I've lost some of them to Covid, some of my very good supporters and canvassers. Its terrible. Its desperate. I know a lot of their families will be reading this article and I want to let them know that I miss theM.

I thank them so much for what they have done for me and I'll always miss them.
Three students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) died in two separate accidents in the school last Saturday.

The first incident occurred when a vehicle with five students rammed into a tree at dawn.

Two of the students reportedly died on the spot while one is in critical condition with the two other remaining students receiving treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.

The University Relations Officer of KNUST, Dr Daniel Norris Bekoe told the media that there were five students inside the vehicle, made up of a student of the University of Ghana and four others from KNUST.

He said the police have begun investigations to know the cause of the incident.

Dr Bekoe said the second incident involved a Level 100 KNUST student, who accidentally fell off at the Unity Hall.

According to him, the student visited a friend when he collapsed, fell on the stairs of the first floor and hit the head against the wall.

He was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where he died on admission.

Dr Bekoe stated that the families of the deceased have been informed of the tragic events.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

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Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

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Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

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The Ever Given, trapped in the Suez Canal, Egypt, as of Thursday March 25 2021. Suez Canal Authority

This is not the first accident for the massive cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal.

Ever Given collided with a ferry in 2019, damaging the smaller boat and injuring the skipper.

An investigation at the time blamed winds, a factor that has also been named in the recent blockage.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

The Ever Given made waves last week when it became wedged in Egypt's Suez Canal, blocking one of the world's most important trade routes and costing $400 million an hour in delayed goods.

But apparently, it wasn't the first accident for the big boat.

In 2019, the vessel collided with a small ferry in Germany, the Wall Street Journal reported. The small boat, which did not have any passengers aboard, was damaged and the skipper was mildly injured.

The Ever Given was traveling downstream on the Elbe River near Hamburg when it brushed up into the ferry. The vessel did not stop after the crash and instead kept on traveling to avoid an emergency stop in the cramped waterway, according to FleetMon, a global maritime database.

A criminal investigation into the incident found Ever Given's captain was not at fault and blamed high winds for the collision, the Journal reported.

Winds have also been named as a factor in the recent accident.

Read more: The processor shortage that made the PlayStation 5 and some cars harder to find was almost over - until a ship got stuck in the Suez Canal. Here's why it's likely to get even worse.

The 1,300 foot-long cargo ship, one of the world's largest, became wedged in the Suez Canal early Tuesday morning. Egyptian officials initially blamed the weather, including strong winds and a dust storm. But on Saturday, officials said the logjam could be the result of "technical or human errors."

The ship is operated by Taiwan shipping company Evergreen, which also operated the ship during the 2019 accident. It's unclear if any of the crew or the captain were involved in both incidents. The Journal reported it's unlikely for a ship of the Ever Given's size to have multiple accidents so close in time.

Story continues

As of Sunday, crews were still working to free the vessel from the canal. Some progress was made on Friday when the ship's rudder was freed from the sediment. In a video shared on social media on Saturday, a crew of tugboats celebrated with honking when they managed to move the big boat just slightly.

Officials still cannot say with certainty how long it will take to free the ship. Some hope a high spring tide expected on Monday could help move the vessel.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Regularly leaving your contact lenses in while taking a shower can increase your risk developing a painful and eyesight-threating infection seven-fold, a study warned.

Researchers from the UK surveyed the habits of 78 contact lens wearers to determine the risk factors for developing contact lens-related microbial keratitis.

This condition causes a painful redness of the eye and ulcers on the surface of the cornea. If left untreated, it can cause blurred vision and permanent corneal scarring.

The team also found that wearing contact lenses while sleeping can increase your risk of microbial keratitis three-fold.

It is estimated that some 4 million people in the UK wear contact lenses. Associated eye infections are common, and a leading cause of single-eye vision loss.

Microbial keratitis affects thousands of people in the UK alone each year.

Keeping your contact lenses in while taking a shower (pictured) can increase your risk developing a painful and eyesight-threating infection seven-fold, a study warned (stock image)

'Contact lenses for visual correction offer many benefits,' ophthalmologist Parwez Hossain of the University of Southampton told the Telegraph.

However, he added, 'contact lens-related microbial keratitis is a frequent cause of permanent visual impairment and some cases may even need a corneal transplant or lead to loss of the eye.'

'Poor contact lens hygiene is a known contributor to infection, with 66 per cent of complications attributed to poor hygiene practices and great variation in hygiene awareness and recognition of the risks among regular contact lens wearers.'

In their study, Professor Hossain and colleagues interviewed 78 lens wearers of whom 37 had previously developed microbial keratitis  about their use of contacts.

Specifically, the subjects were asked about the type of lenses they used, how long they wore them for, their personal hygiene habits and whether or not they ever slept or showered while still wearing their lenses.

The team found that not removing lenses before showering was a major cause of infection, with the risk of microbial keratitis increasing seven-fold among those who took a shower daily.

Shower heads can provide a breeding ground for bacteria which can ultimately end up spread under the surface of a contact lens.

Similarly, the subjects who slept in their lenses  depriving the cornea of oxygen and recovery time  were found to increase their risk of infection three-fold.

Age was also found to be a risk factor  with those between the ages of 2539 being at the greatest risk.

Microbial keratitis causes a painful redness of the eye (pictured) and ulcers on the surface of the cornea. If left untreated, it can cause blurred vision, corneal scarring and blindness

'Contact lens wear is safe providing wearers carefully follow personal hygiene advice issued by their optometrist or contact lens practitioner,' said paper author Parwez Hossain

'Worldwide approximately 140 million people successfully wear contact lenses with a very low incidence of any serious complications,' president-elect of the British Contact Lens Association, Neil Retallic, told the Telegraph.

However, he added, 'this research is welcomed to help promote and raise awareness of how to maximise safe wear.'

'We have supporting guidance available for both eye care teams and contact lens wearers to influence attitudes and to reinforce good contact lens routines.'

'We must all work together to ensure behaviours which minimise risk become permanent habits.'

'Contact lens wear is safe providing wearers carefully follow personal hygiene advice issued by their optometrist or contact lens practitioner,' added Professor Hossain.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal BMJ Open Ophthalmology.
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State said Monday that he was offered $80million bribe to drop his objection to the settlement of the $418million judgment debts purportedly owed by states and their local governments in securing the Paris Club refunds.

He told PREMIUM TIMES in an exclusive interview that he was offered the money after he rejected an initial $40 million offer.

Mr Fayemi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), said the fixers who approached him over the matter, also raised the offer to $80 million when they could not break his resistance with the initial $40million offer.

He said he similarly rejected the $80million offer in the interest of justice.

PREMIUM TIMES, in extensive reports on the matter, revealed how Mr Fayemi since taking over as the NGF Chairman has been making efforts to stop the planned payments, demanding a forensic audit to determine the legitimacy of the entire $418 million debts which translates to about N159 billion.

Our reports revealed that President Muhammadu Buharis Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, along with the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, has been scrambling to have the purported creditors hurriedly paid, despite the red flags Mr Fayemi-led NGF, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), have raised against it.

A follow-up story later published by another media platform after our first report, however, accused Mr Fayemi of demanding 10 per cent of the total amount at stake to drop his objection to the payment.

The NGF denied the allegation, but PREMIUM TIMES went further to contact Mr Fayemi for his personal response to the allegation.

Responding to our enquiry, Mr Fayemi said the claim was being bandied around to smear him and blackmail him into submission.

That allegation is not true. The allegation was sponsored to smear me and blackmail me to compromise my stand, Mr Fayemi said, after an initial dismissive laughter.

He added, The so-called creditors have rather been reaching out to me and sending emissaries to beg me to change my position on the matter.

I was initially offered 10 per cent of the entire $418 million, which is about $40 million, to support the payment and I said no, this is not about me. Then the offer was raised to 20 per cent, which is about $80 million, but I still rejected it in the interest of justice and Nigerians.

To be frank, I was alarmed that some persons sent to me could agree to discuss such an issue with me.

Nothing against creditors, but an audit is necessary

Mr Fayemi said he had nothing against the creditors but had to ensure that the right thing is done.

I dont have anything against the creditors, the governor said. But I believe we should carry out the forensic audit in the interest of justice. If after the audit, it is found out that they are legitimate debts I will immediately support the payment. But we have to do what is right.

Controversial debts

The controversial debts had arisen from various court judgments ordering that some contractors and consultants be paid for certain services and projects executed for the various states and the 774 local governments.

Some of the claimants were said to be consultants said to have been engaged by the states and local governments to secure recovery of funds over-deducted from their allocations between 1995 and 2002 to service then London and Paris Club loans.

The contractors among the claimants were purportedly engaged to execute certain projects in all the 774 local governments in anticipation that they would be paid from the Paris Club refunds.

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PREMIUM TIMES reported how past leaderships of ALGON and the NGF had given tacit support to the six claimants in securing court judgments to validate their claims to their shares of the refunds.

Mr Fayemi-led NGF with the support of the National Executive Council (NEC), has however demanded a forensic audit of the contracts leading to the judgments and the entire indebtedness.

The creditors who are laying claim to a total $418,953,670.59 (amounting to about N159 billion at a conservative exchange rate of $1 to N380.5) a former member of the House of Representatives, politician and lawyer, Ned Nwoko, who is laying claim to $142,028,941 (about N54 billion).

Three of the beneficiaries laying claim to $143,463,577.76 (about N54.6 billion) via a judgment of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2129/2014 are Riok Nigeria Ltd, Orji Nwafor Orizu, and Olaitan Bello.

The claimant with the singular lion share is Ted Iseghoghi Edwards, who is laying claim to $159,000,000 (about 60.5 billion), even though an EFCC report acknowledged by the AGF has stated that he is not entitled to the payment.

A firm, Panic Alert Security System Limited, owned by George Uboh, is also laying claim to $47,831,920 (about N18.2billion) based on another consent judgment it obtained in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/123/2018.
The girl, a student of Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential College at Mudhole in Nirmal district, had been sent home after she contracted Coronavirus along with some other students. (Representational Image/PTI)

ADILABAD: An Adivasi girl student of Intermediate first year, who tested positive for Covid-19, has for the last seven days been quarantined in a field away from her house at Saleguda village in Indravelli mandal of Adilabad district.

The girl, a student of Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential College at Mudhole in Nirmal district, had been sent home after she contracted Coronavirus along with some other students. She says she is staying away from her family members and villagers as they may otherwise contract the virus from her. The student maintains she will return home after completing her 14 days of isolation.

Her father Madavi Mahadu is staying with her though at a distance. Their other family members are bringing food for them.

However, there is another version doing rounds that village elders have asked her to stay away from the village till she completes her quarantine period in interests of the entire village.
The governments of Katsina, Kaduna and Niger States have intensified efforts to free 109 abductees still in captivity, about three months after their abductions, investigation by THISDAY has shown.

THISDAY also gathered that prominent residents of Illela town in Sokoto State, including a local government chairman in the area, have resorted to sleeping at Ikonni town in Niger Republic every night to escape abduction by bandits.

In Katsina, THISDAY learnt that 27 persons kidnapped by bandits in farming communities of Faskari, Sabuwa, Safana and Bakori Local Government Areas of the state were still in kidnappers' den.

On March 7, 2021, bandits, numbering about 10, and armed with AK-47 rifles, stormed Jargaba village in Bakori LGA where they killed a businessman, Alhaji Ibrahim Kwatahi, and abducted his two children and one other person.

Alhough, the state police command had arrested one Idi Tinau of Jargaba village and Bara'u Dauda of Gandun Karfi village in Malumfashi LGA in connection with the killing and recovered two AK-47 rifles but the three captives were yet to be released by their abductors.

Similarly, on March 9, bandits invaded Katsalle village in Sabuwa LGA where they reportedly kidnapped 50 women and children.

However, 39 of the victims regained freedom but 11 are still being held in the bandits' enclave, it was learnt at the weekend.

Also, the hoodlums on March 16 launched another onslaught on Kunamawa and Tirkawa villages in Safana LGA, killing many residents and kidnapping seven others who are yet to be released.

On March 26, bandits who rode on motorcycles, attacked Kadisau village in Faskari LGA, and killed five women and kidnapped six others who were also yet to regain freedom as at press time.

However, the state Governor, Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, in an interview with THISDAY recently, admitted that kidnapping for ransom has become a daily occurrence in the state, particularly in Faskari and Sabuwa LGAs.

He noted that few villages in the two local government areas were facing frequent invasions by the bandits, adding however, that their atrocities would not deter his government from restoring peace and normalcy in the affected areas.

He said: "Faskari in particular and to some extent Sabuwa local governments have been under persistent attacks by bandits but I don't think the number of villages or communities affected are up to 20."

In Niger State, no fewer than 130 victims were kidnapped by bandits from various communities in Niger State in the past four months and the whereabouts of at least 38 persons of the reported kidnap cases have remained unknown.

An official of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not officially permitted to speak on the issue, told THISDAY that the number of kidnapped victims during the said period "was higher if we add the Kagara school abduction and those of the NSTA."

A total of 92 persons were kidnapped in the two incidents but were rescued by the government.

THISDAY investigations showed that the most of the kidnap victims in the state were abducted from Rafi, Shiroro, Lapai, Munya LGAs between December 2020 and March 2021.

Prominent among the abductees is the District Head of Yakila in Rafi Local Government Area, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulhamid who was taken into captivity from his palace along with three others last December.

Though the three others kidnapped along with the district head, among them a staff nurse, were released after unspecified amount of ransom was paid, the kidnappers have continued to hold on to Abdulhamid.

Investigation revealed that the subjects of the district head even contributed about N5 million, which they took to the bandits in the forest.

"The bandits collected the N5 million and the telephone set used to make contact with them and said we should never come there again.

"Since then we have not been able to make contact with the bandits or the district head," a source, who is a top traditional title holder in the area, told THISDAY.

He added that the community had concluded that "our district head has been killed and we want to hold a funeral prayer for him so that we can appoint a new district head."

It was also gathered that out of the 18 travellers in three commercial vehicles travelling between Tegina and Kagara who were kidnapped about a month ago, only one of them has regained freedom after paying N1.5 million as ransom.

THISDAY gathered that others were still being held because their family members could not raise the ransom.

Some of the kidnap cases which victims cannot be confirmed to have been released include the abduction of 26 people, mostly women, near Government Technical College Pandogari; the abduction of 15 persons also at Pandogari and Gurmana, the abduction of eight people at Kusherki and 40 others picked from Kurebe Babangida Sarai and Rafin Kanya.

THISDAY, however, learnt that the children of the Ward Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akiratu, Mr. Sani Kaka Danladi, who were kidnapped from their Bugiko village were rescued three days after the incident.

A combined team of local security men and the police facilitated their rescue from the forest and also arrested two of the bandits.

A family source told THISDAY that no ransom was paid.

In Kaduna State, at least a total 125 were abducted from January to March 27, 2021 and 47 have remained in captivity.

The figure include the recently abducted 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna who are still in captivity as well as the eight members of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), who were reported to have been abducted along the Kaduna-Kachia road at the weekend.

The figure was collated from the daily security update by the Kaduna State Government and independent sources.

It is believed that the number of abducted victims could be much higher than 125 as many incidents were unreported.

Also, the daily security update, in some cases, did not give specific number of people abducted.

Many families were said to have been impoverished by the activities of bandits as they had to sell their belongings, including farm produce, to raise the ransom.

Some communities, especially, in the worst affected areas, like Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Kajuru, Giwa and Igabi LGAs of the state were said to have been sacked by the bandits.

Sokoto LG Chairman, Others Take Refuge in Niger Republic

Prominent residents of Illela town in Sokoto State, including a local government chairman in the area, have resorted to sleeping at Ikonni town in Niger Republic every night to escape abduction by bandits.

THISDAY gathered that most prominent personalities in the border town of Illela usually pass the night at Ikonni in Niger Republic.

They, however, carry out their normal businesses at Illela in the day time.

A resident who gave his name as Abdullahi said the security condition at the border town of Illela remained precarious and called on the state and federal governments to intervene.

"In Illela here, we are living in palpable fear because the issue of kidnapping and abduction have become so rampant," he stated.

Another resident who gave his name as Abubakar described the high level of insecurity in the area as shameful and wondered why the 'giant of Africa' was unable to protect its citizens.

"Let me tell you, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has failed in the area of security. Can you imagine our people are going to Niger Republic to take refuge; it means Niger Republic is safer than Nigeria," he added.

Another resident, who simply identified himself as Ibrahim, told THISDAY that banditry has crippled their businesses and made life unbearable for them .

He noted that despite the presence of different security agents in the town, the bandits have operated unchallenged.

He called on the government to overhaul the security architecture in the area.

"Here, we have army, Customs, police, civil defence and immigration yet banditry is thriving daily," he said.

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When contacted, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Security and Career Affairs, Col. Garba Moyi (rtd), described the situation as pitiable and urged the residents to provide the government and security agents with intelligent information to help tackle the menace.

Moyi said the state government had done its best in combating insecurity in the state.

He called on the residents not to engage the bandits since they did not have weapons at their disposal, stressing that they should report any attack to government and security agents for prompt action.

The Sokoto State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Sanusi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the police had launched Operation Puff Adder 2, as part of efforts to check banditry.

He stated that the police would collaborate with other security agencies to curb the menace

CAN Urges FG to Rescue Kidnapped RCCG Members

The Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) has asked the federal government to hasten efforts at securing the release of members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) abducted by gunmen in Kaduna, Kaduna State, at the weekend.

In a statement yesterday, the CAN Youth Wing said it was saddened by the kidnapping of a busload of members of RCCG.

It said the victims were on their way to Kachia for evangelism when the bandits struck.

"Could this be another case of religious persecution, coming after the recent kidnapping of 39 Students of College of Forestry, Afaka close to the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna?

"Our hearts bleeds that a busload of Christians from RCCG from Kaduna Province while they were going for a prayer work to Kafanchan was abducted on their way. The incident of kidnapping is a case too many and has bitter tastes in our mouths," it said.

It said that the anti-human behaviour cannot be corrected by mere condemnation by government.

KALAMAZOO, MI  When Kalamazoo native Steve Maloney set out to write the final chapter of his decade-long Take Me Home Huey multimedia project, he expected to be around to celebrate its March 29 release.

Maloneys sudden death on Feb. 23  less than five weeks prior to release of a 215-page book chronicling the story of a helicopter shot down Feb. 14, 1969, during the Vietnam War  prevented that from happening.

Maloneys publicist, Carole Claps, said she did not know the cause of his death, only that it was sudden.

The Kalamazoo natives co-author on the book, Clare Nolan, told MLive the two had delayed the initial November 2020 release due to COVID-19 as they hoped Maloney, 78, could do in-person appearances to promote the book.

They chose to time the release for Monday, March 29, to coincide with National Vietnam War Veterans Day, she said.

He did see the finished version and he heard some of the reception, as we sent it out to get opinions and it was all very positive, Nolan said. So that was good, that he got to see that.

The book, years in the making, chronicles the story of a 1967 UH-1H Huey shot down in Vietnam, its scrapyard resurrection beginning in 2012 by Maloney and ultimate transformation into a traveling sculpture/memorial.

Filled with colorful photos dating back to the 1960s, Maloney and Nolan share the stories of some of the veterans who were survivors of the helicopter being shot down, along with others who fought alongside them.

Through his work with the veterans, historians and therapists interviewed for the book, Maloney draws attention to the issue of PTSD many faced when coming home.

All proceeds of the book, dedicated to the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, are being donated by Maloneys estate to groups that work with a federal program called Creative Forces, Nolan said.

The program is sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, along with state and local arts agencies, and seeks to use art therapy to help improve the health, wellness and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers.

Maloney, who served in the Army National Guard from 1963-69 but was never called overseas, said in the books introduction, that he was fueled by vivid memories of the TV reports about protesters harassing returning troops.

He really felt Vietnam veterans had not gotten the reception they deserved and he wanted to be a part of changing that; hence the title, Take Me Home Huey, Nolan said. He knew instinctively he could play a role and art could play a role, and he was right.

Nolan previously worked on a documentary, Hugging the Deck, which told the story of Medal of Honor recipient James B. Stockdale and the late U.S. Sen. John S. McCain being shot down over North Vietnam and spending years as prisoners of war.

She said over the course of the Take Me Home Huey project, and through Maloneys work on a previously released documentary on it, she witnessed and heard stories of veterans moved by Maloneys sculpture, who opened up and shared stories they hadnt spoken about in nearly 50 years.

Once the sculpture was complete, Maloney hit the road in 2015, touring with the Healing Huey, connecting with veterans and talking with crowds about the effects of PTSD and importance of providing social support for combat veterans returning home.

Related: Medical helicopter shot down in Vietnam arrives to inspire visitors to Air Zoo

Among many of the tours stops, Maloney returned home to the Kalamazoo area in 2016, and brought the helicopter with him to the Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum in Portage.

This artwork has been quite a journey for me, as well as the realization of my dream to raise the profile of military veterans who sacrificed so much and never received a proper welcome home, and to bring awareness to the devastating effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome, Maloney said during the visit.

I realized we are losing veterans every day, at least 22, 23 veterans a day, many taking their own lives. A lot of them never even got a welcome home and this project will do that. It will honor them, and engage them in conversation.

After Maloneys death, the traveling exhibit  which visited 29 venues in 11 states between 2015 and 2017  now has a permanent home at the Palm Springs Art Museum where people will be able to come visit anytime, Nolan said.

Maloney served as chairman of the board of trustees for the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Springs, California, prior to his death.

I think that the genius of Steve is that he realized that as an artist with that love of life that he had that he could be of service to the veterans and I think he knew that art could be his catalyst for healing, Nolan said. He learned more, definitely, as he saw the reception of the project and that led to him doing more research and more interviews with experts.

To me it was really eye-opening to see that an artist whose sensibility is very contemporary could play a role in that way. Its a lesson that all of us have something to bring to the table.

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SHIRE, Ethiopia (Reuters) - The dusty buses keep coming, dozens a day, mattresses, chairs and baskets piled on top. They stop at schools hurriedly turned into camps, disgorging families who describe fleeing from ethnic Amhara militia in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Four months after the Ethiopian government declared victory over the rebellious Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), tens of thousands of Tigrayans are again being driven from their homes.

This time, it is due not to the fighting, but to regional forces and militiamen from neighbouring Amhara seeking to settle a decades-old land dispute, according to witnesses, aid workers and members of Tigray's new administration.

Amhara officials say the disputed lands, equal to about a quarter of Tigray, were taken during the nearly three decades that the TPLF dominated central government before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018.

"Obviously the land belongs to the Amhara region," Gizachew Muluneh, spokesman for the Amhara regional administration, told Reuters.

Ababu Negash, 70, said she fled Adebay, a town in western Tigray, after Amhara officials summoned Tigrayans to meetings in February.

"They said you guys don't belong here," Ababu told Reuters in Shire, a town 160 km to the east, to where many from west Tigray are fleeing. "They said if we stay, they will kill us."

This fresh exodus from the west of Tigray risks exacerbating a precarious humanitarian situation in the region, with hundreds of thousands of people already uprooted by fighting. The territorial dispute is also being carefully watched by other regions in Ethiopia's fractious federation, some with their own simmering border disputes.

Fighters from Amhara entered western Tigray in support of federal forces after the TPLF, Tigray's then-governing party, attacked military bases there in November. They have remained ever since, and Amhara officials say they have taken back a swathe of territory that was historically theirs.

Story continues

Tigrayan officials say the area has long been home to both ethnic groups and that the region's borders are set by the constitution. Now that fighting has subsided and roads have reopened, they say there is a concerted, illegal push to drive out Tigrayans.

Reuters interviewed 42 Tigrayans who described attacks, looting and threats by Amhara gunmen. Two bore scars they said were from shootings.

"The western Tigray zone is occupied by the Amhara militias and special forces, and they are forcing the people to leave their homes," Mulu Nega, head of Tigray's government-appointed administration, told Reuters in Tigray's capital Mekelle.

He accused Amhara of exploiting Tigray's weakness to annex territory. "Those who are committing this crime should be held accountable," he said.

Asked about the accounts of violence and intimidation by Amhara fighters, Yabsira Eshetie, the administrator of the disputed zone, said nobody had been threatened and only criminals had been detained.

"No one was kicking them out, no one was destroying their houses even. Even the houses are still there. They can come back," he said. "There is federal police here, there is Amhara special police here. It is lawful here."

Reuters was unable to reach Amhara police, and federal police referred questions to regional authorities.

WHOSE LAND?

Gizachew said Amhara was now administering the contested territory, reorganising schools, police and militia, and providing food and shelter. Tigrayans were welcome to stay, he said, adding that Amhara has asked the federal government to rule on the dispute and expected a decision in coming months.

He did not respond to requests for comment on the accusations of violence and intimidation by Amhara fighters.

The prime minister's office referred Reuters to regional authorities to answer questions about the land dispute and the displacement of Tigrayans, who make up around 5% of Ethiopias 110 million people. There was no response from a government task force on Tigray or the military spokesman.

In a speech to parliament on March 23, Abiy defended Amhara regional forces for their role in supporting the government against the TPLF. "Portraying this force as a looter and conqueror is very wrong," he said.

The United Nations has warned of possible war crimes in Tigray. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this month there have been acts of ethnic cleansing and called for Amhara forces to withdraw from Tigray.

Ethiopia's government strenuously denies that it has an ethnic agenda.

"Nothing during or after the end of the main law enforcement operation (against the TPLF) can be identified ... as a targeted, intentional ethnic cleansing against anyone in the region," the foreign ministry said in a statement following Blinken's remarks.

Reuters could not determine how many people have fled west Tigray in recent weeks as families move frequently, many stay with relatives, and some have been displaced several times.

Local authorities and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said about 1,000 were reaching Shire every day, with 45,000 coming since late February.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said between 140,000-185,000 came from west Tigray over a two-week period in March.

'LEAVE OR LOSE LIFE'

Tewodros Aregai, interim head of Shire's northwestern zone, said the town was hosting 270,000 displaced people even before the latest influx and did not have enough food or shelter.

Four centres set up to house new arrivals are near-full. Families cram into classrooms, halls and half-finished buildings. Others camp under tarpaulins or on open ground.

Ababu said she and her family reached Shire at the beginning of March. She fled her farm in November, when she said Amhara regional forces killed civilians in nearby Mai Kadra after taking the town with federal forces. She said she spent three months in Adebay but was forced to leave at the end of February.

Reuters could not independently verify her account. Communications in Tigray, a mountainous region of about 5 million people, have been patchy since the conflict began and the region was off-limits for most international media until this month.

Amhara officials in Mai Kadra deny that Tigrayans were attacked there, although dozens of displaced residents provided similar accounts.

People still living in Mai Kadra told Reuters that Tigrayan youths, backed by local security forces, stabbed and bludgeoned to death hundreds of Amhara civilians the night before government forces entered the town on Nov. 10. Ethiopia's state-appointed human rights commission said two weeks later that an estimated 600 civilians had been killed.

The 42 Tigrayans interviewed by Reuters as they fled from the west said they were now being evicted en masse.

"They (Amhara forces) circulated a paper saying, 'If you don't leave the area within two days, you will lose your lives'," said Birhane Tadele, a priest from the west Tigray village of Rewasa. "Then they took all the cattle and everything in the house."

Birhane said he fled to Humera, a town in the disputed zone, but could not stay because Amhara gunmen were rounding up people with Tigrayan IDs and imprisoning them. He now lives in a school in Mekelle.

Two other Tigrayans also described such roundups in Humera, and three described similar circulars at other locations demanding they leave. Reuters could not independently verify their accounts.

A farmer from Mylomin, a small village in west Tigray, showed Reuters scars on the stomach and back of his five-year-old son Kibrom, whom he said was shot when the Ethiopian army arrived on Nov. 9 with its Amhara allies.

The farmer, who did not want his name published for fear of reprisals, said he took the boy to Gondor hospital in Amhara. When they returned, neighbours told him Amhara gunmen had stolen his 60 cattle and other belongings. He now lives with his family in a Mekelle schoolyard.

Reuters was unable to reach officials in Mylomin for comment on his account of the fighting. Officials at Gondor hospital said they received an influx of patients with injuries from violence in early November but did not give details on specific cases.

(Reporting by Reuters in Shire; additional reporting and writing by Silvia Aloisi in Milan; editing by Alexandra Zavis and Andrew Cawthorne)
The Street Taco Pizza is available in Extra Large, Large, Large Pan, Medium, Personal and Stuffed Crust. A Large Street Taco Pizza starts at $22.99 plus tax. Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, Round Table is partnering with Pacifico to offer a six pack of beer for $9.99* with any Large pizza purchase carryout or dine-in only. *Valid at participating locations only starting April 26, 2021.

"Our new Street Taco Pizza features everything Round Table is known for  our homemade dough, proprietary three cheese blend, generous hand cut toppings and unparalleled quality all with a fun twist," said Annica Conrad, Chief Marketing Officer for Global Franchise Group, the parent company of Round Table Pizza. "Our culinary innovation team worked hard to blend authentic Latin American flavors with our famous pizza and they delivered. This is the best Limited Time Specialty Pizza in Round Table's great history  a statement almost as bold as our Street Taco Pizza!"

Round Table Pizza has more than 410 restaurants across the United States. Learn more at Round Table Pizza and become a member of Round Table Pizza Royal Rewards to earn free twists, pizzas and drinks. Royal Rewards can be downloaded on the App Store and Google Play.

About Round Table Pizza

Inspired by the honor, valor and revelry of the Knights of the Round Table, Round Table Pizza's superior pizza and commitment to quality and authenticity have earned the reputation of "Pizza Royalty" for over 60 years. With more than 410 restaurants across the United States, Round Table celebrates community, family and making merry. For the latest news from Round Table, follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram . For franchising information, please visit Round Table Pizza Franchise .

SOURCE Round Table Pizza
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China mulls setting up COVID-19 vaccination sites in UAE for Chinese citizens

Xinhua) 10:03, March 29, 2021

ADU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday discussed a plan to set up COVID-19 vaccination sites in the UAE to inoculate overseas Chinese citizens.

Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the plan with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Wang said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the health and safety of overseas Chinese citizens, and hopes to establish COVID-19 vaccination sites in qualified and willing countries as part of its Spring Vaccine action plan to inoculate overseas Chinese citizens with Chinese vaccines.

Sheikh Abdullah said that his country, as China's strategic partner, is willing to host such sites to facilitate the COVID-19 vaccination for the Chinese citizens in the UAE and neighboring countries.

The UAE is prepared to discuss with China the detailed cooperation in this regard, he added.

Expressing his gratitude for the positive response from the UAE side, Wang said that this represents the UAE's friendliness toward the Chinese people and its readiness to assume its share of international responsibility.

He expected the plan to be implemented as soon as possible through coordination between the two sides.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
Voltalia wins a new 100-megawatt solar project of new solar project in Albania

Voltalia (Euronext Paris, code ISIN: FR0011995588), an international player in renewable energies, announces today that it has been awarded a new 100-megawatt solar project in Albania. This is the second project won by the company in the country in less than a year.

This 100-megawatt project, called Spitalla, was won after a tender launched by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy last November. Voltalia has been awarded a 30-year concession contract on a 121-hectare site in the region of Durres, on the Adriatic coast, some 30 kilometers from Tirana, capital of the country. The project will benefit from the regions very great potential of solar radiation.

Out of the 100 megawatts, 70% will be sold through a 15-year power sale contract with FTL, a state-owned operator. The remaining 30% will be sold through another long-term power sale contract negotiated with a private operator.

The Spitalla plant will be commissioned in 2023. Voltalia will be responsible for the development, construction and maintenance of the project.

This is the second photovoltaic tender launched by Albania in less than a year. Once again, Voltalia wins all the capacity involved in the tender. As a reminder, in May 2020, Voltalia had already announced that it had won a 30-year concession contract to develop, construct and operate Karavasta's 140-megawatt solar project. The two projects located a few tens of kilometers away from each other, with a coordinated implementation calendar, will benefit from significant synergies during construction as well as throughout the operating period.

Sebastien Clerc, CEO of Voltalia, concludes: "We are very pleased to have won this new project which perfectly illustrates the synergies generated by our integrated model. Already present in the country since 2018 through our activity of construction and maintenance of solar power plants for third-party customers, we have been able to develop an excellent knowledge of the country and its energy challenges. Albania benefits from an exceptional sunshine that allows for high yields of solar assets."

Next on the agenda: Q1 2021 revenue, on April 21, 2021

About Voltalia (www.voltalia.com) Voltalia is an international player in the renewable energy sector. The Group produces and sells electricity generated from wind, solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage facilities that it owns and operates. Voltalia has generating capacity in operation and under construction of more than 1.4 GW and a portfolio of projects under development representing total capacity of 9.7 GW.



Voltalia is also a service provider and supports its investor clients in renewable energy projects during all phases, from design to operation and maintenance.



As a pioneer in the corporate market, Voltalia provides a global offer to private companies, ranging from the supply of green electricity and energy efficiency services to the local production of their own electricity.



The Group has more than 1 130 employees and is present in 20 countries on 4 continents and is able to act worldwide on behalf of its clients.



Voltalia is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Paris, compartment B (FR0011995588  VLTSA) and is part of the Enternext Tech 40 and CAC Mid & Small indices. The Group is also included in the Gaia-Index, an index for socially responsible midcaps. Voltalia

Investor Relations: invest@voltalia.com

T. '33 (0)1 81 70 37 00 Active

Press Contact: Jennifer Jullia

jjullia@actifin.fr. T. '33 (0)1 56 88 11 11

Attachment
About 11 percent of the North American firefly species assessed in a recent study are threatened with extinction

Researchers from the Xerces Society, the ABQ BioPark and the Firefly Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature evaluated 128 firefly species and found that 14 are threatened with extinction.

Another 2 percent  3 species  are near threatened, while 33 percent are of least concern and too little is known about more than half of them to assess whether they are secure or at risk.

There are at least 167 species of firefly in the U.S. and Canada, but the researchers could find monitoring data on only 128 of them.

Of the 14 species that are threatened with extinction, the most threatened is the Bethany Beach firefly, which was categorized as critically endangered.

The species was petitioned for emergency Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Xerces Society in 2019. It received a positive 90-day finding and will undergo a full status assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Another 7 were categorized as endangered, 6 as vulnerable and 2 as near threatened. Many of them have narrow geographic ranges, specific habitat requirements, and life history traits such as flightless females or bioluminescent courtship behaviors that make them more vulnerable to extinction.

Although the threats for each species vary, the main drivers of decline appear to be habitat loss and degradation, light pollution, and drought and sea level rise associated with climate change.

These assessments  the first for fireflies  lay the groundwork for firefly conservation in the U.S. and Canada, said Candace Fallon, a senior conservation biologist at the Xerces Society.

With this information, we can now be more strategic about setting conservation priorities and addressing data gaps, working to protect the full diversity of fireflies and their habitats, from the common and widespread big dipper firefly to the threatened and little-known southwest spring firefly.

The assessments highlight the need for species-specific conservation actions coupled with monitoring efforts to document long-term population trends for threatened species.

Additional research is also needed to properly assess the large number of species currently categorized as data deficient.

But the researchers found it encouraging that many of the species assessed are still thriving, and that the conservation actions needed to maintain populations and protect at-risk species are not limited to government entities or conservation organizations.

The good news is that everyone can play a role in bolstering firefly populations, said Anna Walker, BioPark Society species survival officer. We can turn off lights at night to reduce our individual contributions to light pollution, we can participate in community science projects like Firefly Watch that gather data on firefly distribution and abundance, and we can support organizations that protect and restore the habitats that fireflies need.

Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
The federal agents arrested an agitated and heavily armed Colorado man for saying that he was surprised that his friends did not suspect him as the shooter in the "Boulder massacre."

Based on the court documents released on Friday, an Iowa gun store also refused to sell a semi-automatic rifle to Adam Vannoy, 40, after he said that remark.

Reports said the Nebraska State Patrol initially arrested Vannoy on Mar. 14 along Interstate 80 in Lancaster County. A driver has called the police to report the self-described firearms enthusiast was driving recklessly at speed around 120 mph.

Firearms Seized on Adam Vannoy

While searching his truck during the initial arrest, troopers seized a handgun from Vannoy's jacket. A loaded AR-style semi-automatic rifle with an illegal silencer, four other firearms, ammunition, a bulletproof blanket, a bulletproof vest, an Air Force costume, two brown wigs, and marijuana were also found in Vannoy's possession.

According to Fox News, the federal complaint stated that the Colorado man threatened to kill a guard during his initial arrest. He also exposed his penis to the officers on duty and threw feces from his cell into a common area.

But after facing charges of weapons and drugs, the Colorado man was able to bail himself out after he posted a $5,000 bond on Mar. 17.

On Tuesday, six days later after his release, Adam Vannoy asked for an AR-style rifle from Sportsman's Warehouse in Ankeny, Iowa, which is near Des Moines.

But the store denied the sale after the suspect mentioned that he was surprised that his friends had not called to find out if he was responsible for the "Boulder massacre," wherein a 21-year-old man is charged for killing 10 individuals at a grocery store.

The Colorado man also said that he had 500 rounds of ammunition in his truck. The firearms store did not only refused the purchase, but it also notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives regarding his "Boulder massacre" comment.

Federal agents arrested Vannoy in Iowa this week on a new federal charge stemming from the Nebraska traffic stop, an unlawful user of marijuana, and illegal possession of a firearm.

RELATED ARTICLE: Colorado Shooting Suspect Allegedly Chuckled While Murdering 10 People

On Friday afternoon, Vannoy made an initial court appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Jackson, who ordered the temporary detention of the Colorado man due to pending further proceedings, which includes a potential transfer to face the charge in Nebraska.

Jackson also ruled that Adam Vannoy was qualified financially to be represented by a lawyer at federal taxpayer expense, The Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, Vannoy also posted in his Instagram account a video that includes a receipt on his purchase at Brownells, which is a large firearms and accessories retailer in Grinnell, Iowa, after his release from Nebraska custody, where he purchased close to $3,000 in merchandise.

He also mentioned in the videos that the best way to show the Nebraska State Patrol that he was not plotting anything heinous was to rearm himself, CBS Denver reported.

While not disclosing customer order details, Brownells spokesman said Friday that their company did not sell any firearms to Vannoy.

WATCH: Suspect, Victims Identified In Boulder Shooting At Grocery Store - From NBC News

READ MORE: Elderly Asian Woman Attacked in San Fransisco Donates $1 Million to Fight Anti-Asian Crime
Deloitte became one of the empaneled In-Country Value (ICV) Certifying Bodies for the Unified In-Country Value (ICV) Program in the UAE in December 2020. The firm signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the participating entities namely Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), Aldar Properties PJSC (ALDAR), Abu Dhabi Ports, Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (Mubadala) and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC).

In line with the UAE leadership vision and economic goals of the Government Accelerator Program (Ghadan 21), ADNOC, ADDED, ALDAR, Abu Dhabi Ports, Mubadala and ENEC agreed to standardise the ICV Certification process with the launch of the Unified ICV program.

The In-Country Value (ICV) program was originally created by ADNOC and implemented in its group of companies since the beginning of 2018, thus offering suppliers new opportunities to conduct business with ADNOC Group.

Under the Unified ICV Program, suppliers are evaluated by a certifying body like Deloitte for their ICV compliance in the previous financial year. The ICV assessment forms an integral part of the Participating Entities tender evaluation and award process. The Participating Entities require a third-party verification of the numbers in the ICV Certificate to be conducted by one of its Certifying Bodies on an annual basis. The criteria assess suppliers ICV score, which includes goods manufactured, third party spend, investment and Emiratization, among other elements.

The Unified ICV Program aims to increase business opportunities for private sector entities as well as further strengthen an efficient platform for local value add generation. Deloitte is honored to be one of the certifying bodies of the Unified ICV program and will continue working closely with the ICV Committee to add value to the Program, said Padmanabha Acharya, Partner and UAE Audit Leader at Deloitte.--TradeArabia News Service

Belagavi : , March 29 (IANS) Hours after a letter written by the woman in the "Sleaze CD" case went viral, her parents on Monday appealed to Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and Home Minister Basvaraj Bommai to secure their daughter from the "clutches" of state Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar to help her to give an accurate statement on the issue.

Addressing the media here, the parents alleged that their daughter is directly under control of Shivakumar's men.

"I have been a resident of Belagavi for 12 years, I have never felt threatened anytime. Whatever statements she is making are completely tutored by the 'CD gang' headed by Shivakumar. She is under their control, therefore, first she should be freed from them first," her father said.

According to him, he has served in the armed forces and was capable of protecting his family. "I filed her kidnap complaint in Belagavi as a resident of this district for 12 years. I was in Khanapur for sometime and then I moved here (Belagavi). In my present address, I have stayed for three years. People know me here," he said.

Answering a question about why he chose to lodge a complaint in Belagavi, he shot back: "What kind of a question is this? What did you (media) expect from me? Do you expect me to file her missing complaint in Kanakapura (Shivakumar's Assembly constituency)? As a father I filed a complaint here, where I stay." Intervening at this juncture, her brother said that he studied along with her in Bengaluru for some time and he knew Akaksh, with whom his sister fled to Goa, was known to him only 2-3 months ago.

The mother asserted that the family was not "under any pressure" from anyone.

Muslim community leaders have called on protesters to stop gathering outside a Yorkshire school after an RE teacher was suspended amid a blasphemy row.

The Batley Grammar School teacher apologised after allegedly showing students a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad - reportedly taken from the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo - during a religious studies lesson last week.

The unnamed teacher - described as a 'burly Yorkshire lad' in his 20s - was suspended on Thursday pending an investigation by the school, in Batley, near Bradford, West Yorkshire.

A petition in support of him reached more than 58,000 signatures.

But another petition demanding he be fired has gained 20,000 signatures - as some 50 demonstrators gathered outside the school gates last week.

Now, leaders of nearby mosques revealed they have urged people to stay away from the gates after the school said it would carry out a formal investigation.

Protesters give a statement to the Press outside Batley Grammar School on Friday

Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire, where a teacher has been suspended for reportedly showing a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed to pupils

Snowdon Mosque chairman Akooji Badat told The Daily Telegraph: 'We're working together with the parents and the teacher, and the school have been kind to all the sectors by suspending the teacher so there's no real cause for a peaceful protest outside the school.

'The school has done its job and cooperated well with us.'

Speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community' on Friday, one protester 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.'

However, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick called reports the teacher was in hiding 'very disturbing' and branded the protests 'not right', adding teachers must be free to 'appropriately show images of the Prophet Mohammed'.

A police officer arrives at a protest outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire

Imam who protested over Charlie Hebdo cartoons outside grammar school spreads anti-vax propaganda - and condemns Strictly Come Dancing By JAKE RYAN, MAIL ON SUNDAY A Muslim preacher who told protesters outside Batley Grammar School of his 'disgust' over the Prophet Mohammed cartoon controversy has spread anti-vaccine propaganda and shared a vile smear against the UK's Chief Rabbi, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Mohammed Amin Pandor, who announced the suspension of a teacher to protesters outside the Yorkshire school last week, has opposed gay marriages and even condemned Strictly Come Dancing. The 62-year-old, who belongs to the ultra-conservative Deobandi branch of Islam, has courted controversy for a number of years and recently shared a fatwa, or ruling, on Facebook and Twitter stating that 'the uncertainty about the ingredients' in Covid-19 vaccines meant they should not be promoted. Mohammed Amin Pandor, has opposed gay marriages and condemned Strictly Come Dancing The fatwa declared that God had given a 'definite remedy for safety from every form of harm and disease' and urged followers to recite a prayer three times. In 2017, Mr Pandor went on social media to post a false story from a website linked to an Iranian disinformation campaign that accused Ephraim Mirvis, the UK's Chief Rabbi, of saying it would be permissible to take sex slaves. He has also signed letters opposing gay marriage and comments by Mak Chishty, a Muslim former Metropolitan Police commander, who wrote a newspaper article headlined 'We must reclaim Islam from extremists'. The imam, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, has also used a religious slur when talking about Ahmadi Muslims, a persecuted Islamic sect in Pakistan. And speaking on BBC radio in 2016, he even told an interviewer that his religious beliefs meant Strictly Come Dancing was 'not acceptable'. Mr Pandor, a mechanical engineer by training and former Department of Health worker, last week told protesters outside the school: 'What happened here, we are disgusted. What has happened is totally unacceptable and we have made sure they are aware. The teacher has been suspended. They can't just sack him, they need to do their due process. We've asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent. We are going to work with the school to make sure things like this don't happen.' Advertisement

However, Dr Alyaa Ebbiary, a researcher in Islamic studies at the SOAS University of London, disagreed with Mr Jenrick's comments.

'From the majority Muslim community perspective it's safe to say that showing images of the Prophet Muhammad would not be considered a 'right', but at best disrespectful, and at worst a provocation,' she said.

'For some pious Muslims, it's so hurtful to the point of going beyond the realm of common decency - I know that's hard for a Western liberal mindset to understand.

'The matter of depicting a Prophet in images is very problematic in the Islamic tradition, and so creating images, in and of itself, is considered disrespectful to someone held to be sacred.'

West Yorkshire Police said a number of complaints have been made in relation to the incident. Officers attended both protests after dozens of people stood outside the school, partially blocking the road.

A police spokesperson said: 'As might be expected given the high public profile of what has happened, there have been a number of complaints about various matters relating to this issue.

'These are being reviewed in more detail but this is an ongoing situation.'

It comes after MailOnline revealed that the RE teacher reportedly 'defended his right to freedom of speech' in a heated telephone call with the father of a Muslim pupil.

The teacher, who has not been named, is also disclosed as saying 'British values allowed him to present a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad to his class of year nine students as part of their course work'.

The Muslim parent demanded to speak to the teacher after his year 9 son returned from school and reported the matter to him.

When the teacher returned the call he told the father that he had warned his pupils that some would find it offensive, but his aim was to pose a question to his class.

He believed he was 'right' to show the cartoon which has offended Muslims across the world. He wanted to discuss whether the cartoonist was to blame or the terrorists who had committed murder over it in France after the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo had published it.

The angry father said the teacher did not appear apologetic when told that showing the cartoon to his son was offensive and instead was 'arrogant'. The teacher asked the father to voice his concerns to another staff member.

In a group WhatsApp message, shared among Islamic parents and protesters who have demonstrated outside the school and seen by MailOnline, the father said: 'He should have known better.

'I expressed I was not happy with his actions and he had caused offence to the community. He should have known better, after all these images caused international outrage.

'He was not apologetic and was arrogant in his response that what he did was right. He stated that he knew some of the pupils would tell their parents.'

But the suspended teacher, who has apologised, has been forced to leave his home and into hiding with his family.

A source who is related to one of the school's governors told MailOnline: 'Intimidation all round is the feeling why few people are speaking out on the teacher's behalf and asking not to be identified.

'I spoke to my relative who is a governor at the school who has a child there and they feel the teacher Is being unfairly blamed.

'The governors are going to consider whether they should ask for the section about blasphemy to be removed from the GCSE RE syllabus which the pupils are taught.

'They're going to investigate whether other schools in the area may have also used this method of power point teaching with a picture of the Islamic Prophet as required by the GCSE syllabus.

'It is clear that the teacher in question did all he could to warn the pupils that some might be offended before he showed the caricature.

'But when you get shouting and swearing and protests at the school gates, any chance of having a sensible debate just dies.'

The source added: 'I feel really sorry for the children. They've been through a year of losing out on school because of Covid and now they've got this to deal with.

'There's never been any question of any racial problems or religious problems between the Muslim children and the non-Muslim children. They mix after school too at each other's homes That is why this is all so ridiculous.

'At least the school will be closed from Monday for the Easter break until April 9th, so hopefully things will cool down while they work out if the teacher can be brought back.'

Protesters gathered outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire

Chained gates at Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire

Robert Jenrick (pictured, file photo) said protests taking place outside the school were 'not right', adding that suggestions the teacher was in hiding are 'very disturbing'

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. 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. 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

Meanwhile, Mr Jenrick has said children should be taught 'contentious issues appropriately'. He told the BBC: 'It must be right that a teacher can appropriately show images of the Prophet Muhammad.

'In a free society, we want religions to be taught to children and for children to be able to question and query them.'

He also told Sky News: 'I was disturbed to see scenes of people protesting outside the school - that is not right.

'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.'

On Thursday, the school 'unequivocally' apologised for showing 'totally inappropriate' material to children, and said a member of staff was suspended pending an investigation.

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.

One protester, whose children attend the school, and who only wanted to be identified as Mr Hussain, said: 'What people are trying to convey here to the media, and to the British public at large, is we would not like any form of extremism, any extremist viewpoints, to be taught to children.'

He said the western world 'is at a loss in understanding the reaction' from the Muslim community when the Prophet Muhammad is 'insulted in any way, shape or form'.

He said: 'A Muslim is required to stand up when Prophet Muhammad is insulted, and when all the prophets are insulted, including all the prophets of the Old Testament, including Jesus.'

Labour MP for Batley and Spen, Tracey Brabin, condemned those who 'seek to fan the flames of this incident', and welcomed the school's apology.

'No teacher should be facing intimidation or threats, there is no excuse for that,' she said. The focus must be on the welfare and education of the children at this school.'

Mr Jenrick said the Department for Education (DfE) is working with the school and local council as it investigates the incident.

'What I can say is there has to be an appropriate balance - we have to ensure there is free speech, that teachers can teach uninhibited 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,' Mr Jenrick said.

Baroness Warsi, former chairwoman of the Conservative party, said the incident has been 'hijacked by extremists on both sides' to create a culture war.

Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire, where a teacher has been suspended for reportedly showing a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed to pupils during an RE lesson

Protesters take part in a prayer outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire

Speaking to the Today programme, the peer said she had spoken to pupils and parents over the past 24 hours, and 'it's obvious that many pupils were left distressed because of what happened'.

She said: 'What we're forgetting in all of this is the most important party in all of this, which is the kids and their learning.'

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the school should be allowed to investigate the matter 'without a running commentary in the media, on social media, and outside the school gates'.

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, who chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission, 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.'

The DfE came under fire for amplifying divisions after it branded the protests 'completely unacceptable', and said they included 'threats' and 'intimidation'.

Muhammad Shafiq, chief executive of Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, said: 'It is alarming that the Department for 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.'
A Winnipeg man wanted for thefts targeting Winnipeg businesses over the last six months is now the subject of arrest warrants in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

A Winnipeg man wanted for thefts targeting Winnipeg businesses over the last six months is now the subject of arrest warrants in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Matthew Adam Gibbs, 37, is described as white, 5-9 and about 155 pounds, with a thin build and blue eyes. He has numerous tattoos and might have blond or brown hair.

Matthew Gibbs faces multiple charges.

Gibbs faces multiple charges in Winnipeg, including one robbery charge and 12 break-and-enter offences. He is also the subject of a recent arrest warrant in Edmonton for firearm-related offences.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jay Murray said Gibbs has warrants for his arrest in other areas of Canada, and theres a chance he is no longer in Winnipeg, but police believe he was in the city throughout much of the last six months.

"We believe that theres people here in Winnipeg that can help us locate him," Murray said at a news conference Sunday.

Police say Gibbs is considered to be armed and dangerous. People are cautioned not to approach him. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911.

Meanwhile, a Winnipeg man faces 139 charges related to numerous thefts that began just three months ago.

Gregory Francis Courchene, 49, was arrested Thursday and has been charged with 56 counts of theft under $5,000, three break-and-enter charges and 80 counts of unauthorized use of credit card data. He remains in custody.

The incidents occurred from January to mid-March and primarily happened at dog parks, daycares and cemeteries all across Winnipeg.

Police said the man would break into vehicles where a wallet or purse had been left behind, steal contents and make fraudulent purchases at nearby establishments. On three other occasions, he is alleged to have entered a house to steal contents while the occupant was busy outside.

Murray said incidents such as these happen every year when the weather starts to get warmer.

"I hope this is a lesson for individuals  and Im guilty of it myself sometimes  when you park your vehicle and you expect to be away from it, please make sure your valuables are out of sight," he said.

An adult and a teenager face weapons, theft and break-and-enter charges after officers received a report of three men in a shed.

Officers were sent to the 500 block of Glenway Avenue, where one suspect was reportedly armed with a rifle.

Using a dog unit, three suspects were tracked and taken into custody. Stolen property and two air rifles were recovered by officers.

Brendan James Jackson, a 22-year-old Winnipeg man, has been charged with several offences, including breaking and entering.

A 14-year-old boy from Winnipeg is also facing charges. A third suspect was released without being charged.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_
NASA's MOXIE could make breathing in Mars a reality. The space agency's new invention can turn Martian air into oxygen, making it a game-changer for future Mars explorations.

According to Popular Mechanics' latest report, it is impossible to breathe on Mars since its atmosphere is around 1% the density of Earth's. Will this be beneficial for Elon Musk's planned 'Mars City?'

"What breathes the most on a mission to Mars? Not the people," said NASA MOXIE project's Principle Investigator Michael Hecht.

"It's the rocket that is going to take you home from Mars, that is going to get you off the planet," he added.

On the other hand, NASA's MOXIE will be essential once it is complete since astronauts traveling to Mars are having a hard time bringing around 55,000 pounds of oxygen from Earth to the Red Planet. Aside from this, the space crew also needs almost 15,000 pounds of fuel.

How MOXIE works

Financial Express previously reported that MOXIE was developed by MIT. It is a specialized reverse fuel cell that primarily consumes electricity to produce oxygen on Mars. NASA explained that it uses a method called solid oxide electrolysis, which relies on MOXIE's tube.

During the first stage, MOXIE will filter and pump Martian carbon dioxide into a scroll compressor, which will squeeze the air to Earth sea-level pressures. After that, NASA's equipment will send the compressed carbon dioxide to the 10-cell solid oxide electrolysis stack.

Also Read: Elon Musk: SpaceX SN11 Starship Test Flight Launches March 29 or Later, Explains Super Heavy Landing Maneuver with Catcher

Asad Aboobaker, a MOXIE collaborator and instrument systems engineer, explained that MOXIE's electrolysis system is the key to making Mars' air into oxygen.

Parts of MOXIE's electrolysis stack

MOXIE's electrolysis stack consists of various specialized and metal-ceramic cells. They conduct electricity using oxygen ions when the equipment is heated to high temperatures. Aboobaker explained that an applied voltage allows MOXIE to selectively drive the oxygen ions. After this process, oxygen will be generated.

Elon Musk's 'First Mars City'

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is one of the most popular people that invests in creating life in Mars. If this techniology is made available, a lot are expecting for the billionaire to get this, in order to help humans breathe in the Red planet.

For more news updates about NASA and its upcoming space innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: NASA's Mars Orbiter Captures Breathtaking View of the Red Planet's Frosty Sand Dunes

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Giuliano de Leon.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Canadian manufacturer Sofina Foods has struck a deal to buy Eight Fifty Food Group, the UK and Irish meat and seafood processor, from private-equity firm CapVest.

The terms of the deal are undisclosed.

CapVest acquired UK pork processor Karro Food Group in 2017. CapVest and the companys management subsequently acquired seafood business Youngs Seafood in 2019 to create Eight Fifty Food Group.

Eight Fifty, based in North Yorkshire in northern England, later consolidated five other protein businesses from across Europe, including, most recently, Irish deli-meats and ready-meals supplier Carrolls Cuisine.

Sofina Foods is one of Canadas largest food businesses, producing primary and processed protein lines for retail and foodservice customers. Its brands include Cuddy, Lilydale, Janes and Mastro.



The company operates 21 different sites and employs approximately 5,000 people.

Eight Fifty supplies branded and own-label seafood and meat products. The pork division is one of the largest processors and suppliers of products across the UK and Ireland. The seafood arm is the largest provider of chilled and frozen seafood products across the UK, including the Youngs brand, and is a major player in frozen seafood across Germany and France.

The group employs around 8,300 people, across 23 manufacturing sites.

The business will remain under the leadership of Di Walker and will complement Sofinas existing business, the company said.

Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more

Walker, the CEO of Eight Fifty, said: We began this journey as a UK-only pork supplier doing less than GBP500m (US$691.1m) in sales and after several years of transformational organic and acquisitive progress are now the European multi-protein specialist with over GBP2bn in sales. This transaction and the interest in Eight Fifty is a great reflection on the quality of the business and testament to the work that CapVest and our entire management team have completed. Were very excited to join Sofina Foods to deliver on their ambitious future growth plans.

Michael Latifi, founder and executive chairman of Sofina, added: As a leading Canadian multi-protein specialist, this acquisition allows Sofina Foods to continue on our path of ambitious expansion. Sofina Foods is one of Canadas largest food producers and we have created a solid global foundation for continued growth. With a history of excellence in food production and processing spanning over 25 years, the strong brands of Eight Fifty Food Group align perfectly with our prominent brands and our shared future vision.

The new company will have over 13,000 employees globally across 44 sites and near CAD6bn (US$4.76bn) in annual revenue.
As many of you know, my story is unique, Ms. Haaland said in her address to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. This historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me, but I will say its not about me, she said.

Asked about Womens History Month, she told In Her Words:

Women are fierce  we break barriers, run companies, make scientific discoveries, raise families, and lift each other up. But the fact is, discriminatory policies blocked women from fully participating in our country for generations. It led to disparities in wages, representation and opportunities that we are still tackling. Though we have more Native women serving in Congress, a woman of color in the vice presidents office, and women making moves across the country, we still have to recognize that the disadvantages that we face are created by a system designed to keep us out, and that, coupled with systemic racism, makes Womens History Month all the more important.

Angela Cesena, executive director of Latina SafeHouse

Asked how she is doing, Angela Cesena will tell you she is cautiously optimistic and really tired.

Latina SafeHouse, where Ms. Cesena works, provides bilingual services to Latinx survivors of domestic violence and their families. But this past year was the first time in the organizations 22-year history that the group had to start a wait list for survivors in need of services.

In a normal year, Ms. Cesena isnt able to take much time off from work. This past year, she didnt even consider it.

During recent months, she said, some of the most severe types of cases have also had the largest increase: the need for emergency rapid rehousing, and shelter for women and children who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, homelessness. In some ways, Ms. Cesena says she feels she is set up  and expected  to fail. At the same time, she describes a gravity and an obligation to her work that keep her going, keep her showing up each day.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

More than two million people in Brisbane were ordered into a three-day lockdown Monday after a cluster of coronavirus cases was detected in Australia's third-biggest city.

It is the second snap lockdown of the greater Brisbane area this year, and comes after seven people tested positive for COVID-19the first significant community outbreak in Australia in weeks.

"This is the UK strain. It is highly infectious. We need to do this now to avoid a longer lockdown," Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

"We've seen what's happened in other countries. I don't want to see that happen to Queensland, I don't want to see that happen to Australia."

Australia has been relatively successful in curbing the spread of COVID-19, with just over 29,000 cases and 909 deaths during the pandemic to date.

However, the country's vaccine rollout has been sluggish, with just over 500,000 shots administered so far in a country of 25 millionfalling far short of a government target to vaccinate four million by the end of March.

Palaszczuk said lockdowns would "be part of the Australian way of life until everyone is vaccinated".

Unlike countries such as the United States and Britain, Australia did not grant emergency approval for any vaccines and waited until late-February to begin inoculations. Progress was hampered further by delivery issues, including Italy's landmark decision to block the export of 250,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Before the announcement, Brisbane was among several Australian cities enjoying relaxed restrictions with residents able to freely attend events including concerts and sporting fixtures.

The lockdown comes just ahead of the Easter long weekend beginning Friday, throwing school holiday plans into chaos as South Australia closed its border to Brisbane and other states are expected to follow.

Brisbane schools, restaurants and bars will close from 5:00pm Monday but people will still be allowed to leave home for essential work, to buy food, exercise and for medical care.

Social media images showed long queues forming at supermarkets, as some shoppers stocked up ahead of the lockdown, despite authorities urging against panic buying.

Wearing masks in public is also becoming mandatory across Queensland, after one infectious person travelled to the regional town of Gladstone.

The number of international flight arrivals to the state will be halved to ease pressure on hospitals, which are also dealing with a surge in COVID-19 cases from neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
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Tucked between South Dakota and Nebraska is a whole lot of what could be Louisiana.

A growing mountains worth of Missouri River silt and sand that would have flowed to the Mississippi River and down to Louisiana has instead been trapped behind a border dam 85 miles southwest of Sioux Falls. The pile pressed against Gavins Point Dam wont be spreading across the Mississippi Delta, where it could help rebuild Louisianas unraveling coastline.

How much is there now is a number that cant be comprehended, said river engineer Rollin Hotchkiss. But the rate at which the sediment pile grows is an exhaustively studied and mind-boggling fact. About 5 million tons of sediment flows into the reservoir behind the dam each year. Thats enough material to fill the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to the rafters. Pour that much sediment across the Louisiana coast, as the state did during the restoration of Scofield Island in 2013, and it would create more than a square mile of new land.

And Gavins Point is only the smallest in a chain of six dams built between the 1940s and 1960s to tame a river that drains a vast basin stretching into 10 states and two Canadian provinces. While the Gavins dam reservoir is filling up fast and causing a range of problems  from flooding roads to raising the groundwater table  the upriver reservoirs have much larger capacities that could take on sediment well beyond the next century. The full load of trapped sediment on the Missouri is almost unfathomable.

Meanwhile, Louisiana is starving for the stuff.

The Mississippi and the sediment it carries is the lifeblood of Louisianas coastal wetlands, said Bren Haase, executive director of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. Its what built southeast Louisiana over the last 7,000 years.

Before dams, levees, river dredging and other efforts to control the Missouri and Mississippi, more than 440 million tons of sediment found its way to the Louisiana coast each year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The latest assessments indicate that only half that much flows through the Mississippi now.

Yet sediment, limited as it may be, remains at the core of the states 50-year, $50 billion coastal master plan and its flagship project, the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. The $2 billion diversion would funnel mud-laden Mississippi River water through a section of levee on the West Bank of lower Plaquemines Parish and send it spilling into Barataria Bay, potentially rebuilding 28 square miles of marsh.

A different method of building land has seen Louisiana spend almost $1 billion digging sediment out of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico and piling it on the chain of barrier islands and headlands that protect the coast from hurricanes. But with climate change expected to speed the rate of sea level rise and the increasing power and frequency of storms, many of those projects must be redone in about 20 years. Settlement money from the 2010 BP oil disaster is footing much of the bill for the current round of restoration projects. Where the money will come from to dig up another 100 million tons of offshore sand is anybodys guess.

Sediment is the limiting factor in almost all of our restoration plans, Haase said. We simply dont have enough of it.

Along the Missouri, they cant get rid of it.

Our problem is figuring out what to do with such an immense amount of sediment, said Sandy Stockholm, executive director of the Missouri Sedimentation Action Coalition, a group that has been working for more than 20 years on the rivers overabundance of sediment. I really wish we could somehow get it all down to Louisiana, and do it quickly.

While the Mississippi Delta erodes, a new one expands inside Gavins Point Dams reservoir, called Lewis and Clark Lake, at the confluence of the Missouri and the sediment-rich Niobrara River. About 8 square miles of accidental mudflat and marsh has been created where the Niobrara hits the lakes still water, allowing the sediment to drop out and pile up. From the air, the new grassy wetlands look a lot like coastal Louisiana.

The problems with sedimentation began during the dams construction in the 1950s. By the 1970s, the town of Niobrara had to be moved after the buildup of sediment caused groundwater to rise, filling basements and flooding farms.

The town apparently didnt move far enough. In 2019, a bomb cyclone struck the upper Midwest and sent a torrent of water and ice down the sediment-clogged Niobrara, blowing out a 92-year-old dam, damaging homes and forcing the residents to evacuate.

The government is offering buyouts, trying to stop groundwater from rising and spending millions of dollars to raise up roads, Stockholm said. But these are all Band-Aids. We havent been proactive with solutions for the real problem.

Lewis and Clark Lake has already lost more than a third of its water-holding capacity to sediment. In less than 25 years, its capacity will likely be reduced to half. Flood risk will grow, drinking water intakes will clog, popular fishing areas will turn to land and many of the dams uses, including hydropower and flood control, will be greatly diminished, Stockholm said.

Robert Schneiders, author of "Unruly River," an environmental history of the Missouri, made headlines 20 years ago when he advocated for a seemingly straightforward fix: Tear the dams down. The systems regulated flows never made the Missouri a busy shipping channel and provided only a tiny fraction of the irrigation envisioned by the dams builders. The dams hydropower is a positive, he said, but it doesnt outweigh the negatives, including blocked fish passage and sedimentation, he said.

In recent years, increasing flood risk from climate change and short-sighted farming practices have softened Schneiders stance on dam removal. Easing the risk means holding on to most of the dams  for now, at least.

Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Even I am reluctant to encourage removing dams unless theres significant changes to the watershed, Schneiders said. He admits theres little political support for those changes, which would involve moving farms and homes out of floodplains and incentivizing crop rotations that help soil absorb water.

But for Schneiders, removing Gavins Point Dam is still a no-brainer. Its the least useful structure in the system, he said.

Breaking the dam open isnt an option for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is tasked with managing the Missouri dam system and still considers Gavins Point a key part of it. The Corps has been trying for decades to find a way to maintain the dams while getting rid of the sediment they trap.

A National Academy of Sciences study found in 2010 that a Corps proposal to dig sediment out of the reservoirs and release it below the dams would add 34 million tons of sediment per year to the Missouri - and boost the sediment flowing to the Louisiana coast by as much as 20%.

+15 Water Ways: How the Dutch are building coastal protection for less  with natures help Called the Zandmotor, or Sand Motor in English, the project in The Netherlands is the worlds largest experiment in coastal storm and flood defense.

Why the plan never happened is simple: Itd cost big dollars and have big impacts, said Paul Boyd, a Corps reservoir manager. Dredging Lewis and Clark Lake reservoir and piping sediment over the dam isnt a complicated operation, but it would be fantastically expensive, he said.

And the costs dont end there. Not all the sediment would flow to the places that want it, requiring the Corps to clear buildups in shipping channels and along levees the length of the lower Mississippi.

Privatization of the Corps dredge work has driven up prices. Since the 1970s, the agency has downsized its fleet while shifting to reliance on a small pool of dredges owned by a handful of companies.

Figuring out what to do with the Missouri's growing sediment problem is a full-time job for Boyd. This is certainly a concern from an environmental and sustainability side, and with benefits being lost everywhere, he said.

Yet sediment management has never been a top concern for the Corps or the leaders who fund it. It wasnt considered in the design of the dams, and its not a significant part of the Corps budget.

We havent seen any funding to take these actions, Boyd said. If Congress directs us to do something [to release sediment], thats certainly at their discretion.

Schneiders, who now lives in Australia, advises Louisianans to not hold their breath. Midwestern politics has little bandwidth for the Bayou States problems. The Upper Mississippi River region has done little to curb the agricultural runoff thats polluting the Gulf and giving rise to the massive low-oxygen dead zone." Why would it take action on sediment?

Honestly, they dont give a damn about sediment down in Louisiana, Schneiders said. People are concerned about their own backyard. Theyre not looking downstream.

Stockholm, the Missouri River activist, warned against letting its sediment problem devolve into a North vs. South debate. Its a national issue that will only be resolved with a national approach, she said.

Haase, the Louisiana coastal director, isnt banking on a boost in sediment, but hed certainly welcome it.

The 20% increase in sediment possible under the decade-old Corps plan could supercharge his agency's land-building prowess by about 3,500 acres per year, according to Haases rough estimates. He welcomes that prospect, even though his engineers have cautioned that a big spike in sediment could overload or complicate the operations of Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, which is set to run on the Mississippis current sediment loads.

More sediment is a good problem to have, he said. It could increase our maintenance of the diversion, but Ill take it.

Tristan Baurick is an environment reporter for the Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate. Email him at tbaurick@theadvocate.com and follow him on Twitter @tristanbaurick.

Read more from the Laying the Groundwork series:

A mother-of-one's breast implants fell out of her chest weeks after 6,000 botched surgery in Turkey.

Sian Munday, 34, from Bath, Somerset, tipped the scales at 18st 7lbs in 2017 before shedding an incredible seven stone with the help of a personal trainer.

In October 2020, she paid 6,000 for a tummy tuck, liposuction and a breast reduction during an eight and a half hour operation in Istanbul, Turkey.

But days later, she was left 'horribly ill' when her body rejected her new breast implants, with her stitches 'loosening' and the implants 'falling out' of her chest.

After undergoing a second corrective surgery in the UK, Sian revealed she feels 'a million times better', explaining: 'My life has improved so much. I am more confident and finally comfortable in my own skin.'

Sian Munday, 34, from Bath, Somerset, tipped the scales at almost 19st in 2017 (left) but managed to lose seven stone before undergoing a 6,000 'mummy makeover' in October (right, after the surgery)

In October 2020, the mother-of-one underwent a tummy tuck, liposuction and a breast reduction during an eight and a half hour operation whilst in Istanbul, Turkey (pictured, after the surgery)

Sian weighed 18st 7lbs at her heaviest and struggled with her self esteem, revealing: 'I used to be a size 22 and very unhappy with my body.

'I couldn't even bend down properly to shave my legs. I had anxiety and struggled at social events.'

The mother-of-one decided to transform her body in 2017, explaining: 'I started counting calories and exercising with the help of a personal trainer.'

But after shedding seven stone in just three years, she was left with 'saggy' skin and 'drooping' breasts which made her feel uncomfortable.

After losing weight, Sian was left with 'saggy' skin and 'drooping' breasts which made her feel uncomfortable (left) and ended up undergoing extensive surgery in Turkey to transform her figure (right, after)

Days after her surgery, Sian felt 'horribly ill' and her body rejected her new breast implants, with her stitches 'loosening' and the implants 'falling out' of her chest (pictured, one implant falling through the hole left in her breast)

At her heaviest, Sian couldn't even bend down properly to shave her legs and suffered from social anxiety

She explained: 'Losing the weight was great, but I still wasn't happy because I had excess skin around my stomach and saggy boobs.'

Sian said she was inspired to go under the knife after seeing a friend who had weight loss surgery.

She revealed: 'I was inspired by a client who had a tummy tuck to get one. I had never seen the results before and she looked amazing.

'I started saving from that moment.'

The mother-of-one revealed her weight left her struggling for confidence and said she found social events difficult

Despite losing seven stone in just three years, Sian was still unhappy with her figure and felt uncomfortable about her saggy skin

The mother-of-one revealed she felt 'calm and excited' ahead of an eight hour surgery to transform her figure in Turkey

Days after returning from Turkey following the operation, Sian said she felt 'horribly ill' and she discovered her body was rejecting the implants (pictured, recovering from the operation)

The mother-of-one quickly began researching the procedure, adding: 'I reached out to many women on social media who helped put my mind at ease ahead of the surgery.

'It was good to find out what could go wrong and what to expect through women who had been under the knife.'

After flying to Turkey to undergo the op in October last year, she said: 'I was surprisingly calm and excited more than anything.'

However after awakening from the lengthy operation, Sian revealed: 'I decided to get implants as well as a reduction but two days after returning from Turkey - I felt horribly ill.

Sian's body began rejecting the implants, with the stitches loosening and the implants 'beginning to fall out' (pictured after the surgery)

As well as the breast augmentation, Sian also underwent a tummy tuck to remove excess skin from her earlier weight loss

'My body was rejecting the implants which is super rare.'

She continued: 'The stitches loosened and they began to fall out.'

Sian rushed to hospital within the UK and ended up having the implants removed, adding: 'I spent one week in hospital but I didn't regret the surgery at any point.'

The mother-of-one reduced her F cup breasts for DD's and said the surgeries have transformed her confidence, saying: 'I feel a million times better!

Despite the complications, Sian insisted the mummy makeover was worth every penny because it has been 'life-changing'

The mother-of-one has discovered a new found confidence and said she now feels she can 'buy any outfit without fear'

IS BREAST-IMPLANT REMOVAL SURGERY FREE IN THE UK? Breast-implant removal surgery is regarded as a low priority and is not generally paid for by the NHS. NHS England will typically pay if patients are experiencing the following: Breast disease, which causes lumps and bumps

Recurrent infections

Hardening of scar tissue with severe pain

Hardening of scar tissue that affects medical imaging

Rupturing of silicon gel-filled implants Patients with PIP implants should contact their GP or the private clinic that fitted them. PIP implants were withdrawn from the UK in 2010 after it was discovered they were fraudulently manufactured with unapproved silicone gel that made them up to six times more likely to split. Ruptured breast implants have no long-term health risks but could cause pain, tenderness, redness and a change in breast shape. Some private clinics have agreed to remove PIP implants free of charge if medically necessary. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

'I used to avoid the mirror and shy away from the camera before but now I a group selfie.'

Sian revealed she 'loves her small and perky breasts', adding: 'I still can't believe this is my stomach!'

She insisted the mummy makeover was worth every penny because it has been 'life-changing.'

The mother-of-one added: 'My life has improved so much. I am more confident and finally comfortable in my own skin.

Sian has been overjoyed about the results of the surgery, and said she 'can't believe it is her stomach'

The mother-of-one has decided to share her story because she feels cosmetic surgery should not be a secret

'My wardrobe has changed for the better because I'm a size 12.

'I can now buy any outfit without having the fear of having an extra roll of fat around my tummy.

'Bras are cheaper and prettier! I think having smaller boobs definitely makes me appear smaller too.'

She has decided to share her story because she feels cosmetic surgery should not be a secret, adding: 'People should speak more openly about it because social media helped me a lot.'

The mother-of-one insisted the mummy makeover was worth every penny because it has been 'life-changing' (left and right)
THE father of murdered Tapiwa Makore, Munyaradzi, Saturday said the family had forgiven his murderers and prayed for strength and healing as they come to terms with how their beloved son died.

A grieving Munyaradzi who could hardly hold his tears told hundreds of mourners at the burial of Tapiwa at the Makore homestead in Nyamutumbu, Murewa that hatred and longstanding grudges would instead destroy the entire Makore clan.

Tapiwa (7) was allegedly gruesome murdered by his uncle Tapiwa Makore (senior) and his helper Tafadzwa Shamba last September for ritual purposes. He was buried without his head, hands and private parts.

The two accused are currently in remand prison.

"Seven months now, and I have come to terms with the death of my beloved son. Forgive those who committed the crime but we need closure to his death and justice has to be served," a tearful Munyaradzi told mourners.

"First, I want to thank God for giving me a son called Tapiwa for seven years. We had fun together with the late, he was a disciplined child. His death was the most painful thing ever to happen in my life, but I want to thank God again because Tapiwa's death has given me lessons that we are passing through this place.

"We do not belong to this place. We are all children of God. I thought I was Tapiwa's father, but I have learnt a lesson that Tapiwa is God's child."

Munyaradzi added; "Thank you, God, for teaching me such a lesson, I have also learnt a lot from the men and women of cloth from various denominations who came to mourn with us. They gave us strength."

"They taught me that even if the killers are known and are not giving any evidence about their bad deeds, God knows the truth of what happened and He will show us one day.

"We must not keep on mourning and feeling sorrowful because God is with us. He has a plan for us, He will not let us suffer forever. Please God help us to heal, remove hatred and jealousy among the Makore family and we must forgive each other.

"We must not carry grudges and hatred for ever, because this will destroy the entire family, but we must unite and love each other."
The participants discussed about the opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese SMEs under the EVFTA

The Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam (EUD), in accordance with the Vietnam Association of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (VINASME) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), held a roundtable on March 26 to discuss opportunities and challenges presented by the EVFTA.

Titled Small and medium enterprises and the EU-Vietnam FTA, the seminar attracted more than 100 delegates from ministries, government agencies, EU member states, business associations, and especially more than 50 SMEs in Vietnam.

Giorgio Aliberti, EU Ambassador to Vietnam

Opening the seminar, Giorgio Aliberti, EU Ambassador to Vietnam, highlighted that it is important to have mechanisms as tools to strengthen the SMEs. The EU believes that it is a wise strategy for it to support and invest in a country like Vietnam. The EVFTA should give more opportunities to SMEs, and SMEs should use this tool most effectively. The EU hopes this agreement will improve the business environment for both European and Vietnamese businesses.

Addressing the event, Tran Duy Dong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, said that, Vietnamese enterprises are still facing difficulties in participating in global and regional value tax due to their limited competitiveness in processing.

Tran Duy Dong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment

Dong added that there are three main reasons: Firstly, enterprises are still small and have problems in mobilising resources, have no long-term investment strategy, and do not dare to risk investment in development. Secondly, Vietnamese businesses still rarely form long-term partnerships towards general development goals. Thirdly, SMEs' visions are short-term and regional linkages are fragmented, reducing export efficiency. This is a problem the government is always concerned about: strengthening and promoting links between large enterprises and domestic private enterprises. With the challenges and opportunities that the EVFTA brings, the government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) have specific plans to support Vietnamese businesses.

In the last three decades, the SME sector in Vietnam has grown exponentially and has been a key contributor to Vietnams economic growth in recent years. The rise in the number of SMEs has resulted in dramatic growth in private enterprises' capital stock. SMEs in Vietnam also have contributed significantly to exports which were estimated at $246.2 billion in 2019 and the imports of goods at $253 billion in 2019. The internationalisation of Vietnamese SMEs, most notably through international trade and linkages with global supply chains, are supported by international trade agreements, which Vietnam has adhered to.

In this context, a roundtable was organised to increase understanding among Vietnamese enterprises, business associations, and policymakers about the EVFTA and its contribution to Vietnam's SME sector. The seminar had in-depth discussions on SMEs' current growth, opportunities, and challenges, the contributions of the EVFTA, and sustainable development ways to promote SMEs. Especially during the session, SMEs' opportunities and challenges under the EVFTA are analysed from multi-dimensional perspectives of the government, EUD, VINASME, VCCI, and EuroCham.

The rountable

Nguyen Minh Thao, director general of Business Environment and Competitiveness at the Central Institute of Economic Management, shared that SMEs account for nearly 98 per cent of the country's enterprises and contribute 40 per cent of the national GDP.

With the significant contributions of enterprises, SMEs now have more opportunities to develop with the participation of Free Trade Agreements or the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the emergence of new business models. However, most enterprises are mainly micro- and small-sized, leading to extremely low business efficiency and labour productivity.

On the topic of SMEs and sustainable development, Stephan Ulrich, Vietnam programme manager of the International Labour Organization (ILO), gave a brief presentation on SMEs' challenges to comply with labour standards and ways to improve compliance in SMEs. He points out some key issues labourers face, such as work safety, overtime limits, contracts and social security, worker grievances and consultation. And to strengthen labour inspection, expanding social security without burdening SMEs, awareness-raising through SME organisations, and SME support programmes are expected as the ways forward for achieving labour compliance and improving quality for SMEs.

This is the last in a series of three roundtable events organised by the Delegation under the EU-Vietnam Partnership Facility (EVPF) framework. Through the three roundtable events, outstanding topics such as the EVFTA and Vietnams integration into global value chains in the world after COVID-19, digital economy and digital transformation, SMEs, and the EVFTA have been discussed comprehensively in all aspects.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 23:38:58|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Kremlin said it is coordinating efforts with Germany and France to hold a video-conference for their national leaders amid escalating tensions in east Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not join the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, as the latter three will discuss issues in addition to the Donbass conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing on Monday.

He reiterated Russia's concerns over the escalating tensions between insurgents and Kiev in the Donbass region caused by the "provocative actions of Ukrainian forces" over the past few months.

"An escalation of tensions and provocative actions lead to tragedies. Most importantly ... this may lead to a completely undesirable and extremely dangerous scenario," he said. Enditem
On 18 March 2013, an unpopular member of Africas Internet community posted to a public mailing list that the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) had employed a convicted criminal as its head of IT.

The person raising the concern was Deepak Mehta, a man who is not well liked on forums like the AFRINIC mailing lists.

Among other things, Mehta is treated with disdain due to questions about how he acquired a vast trove of valuable Internet resources  over 1 million Internet Protocol (IPv4) addresses.

These blocks of IP addresses were assigned to Fibre Grid, a Seychelles company registered to Mehta. They are currently under review following an internal audit at AFRINIC.

The audit was conducted after MyBroadband exposed The Great African IP Address Heist.

Mehta had exposed the criminal conviction of Neriah Sossou, the man who served as AFRINICs head of IT and engineering, from March 2012 to February 2016.

This was a high-profile role at AFRINIC, as Sossou oversaw the organisations information security and was ultimately responsible for its public database of IP address assignments, known as the WHOIS database.

Mehta had linked to a US district court document showing that Sossou had pleaded guilty to Aggravated Illegal Re-Entry After Deportation in 2006, and was sentenced to 10 months in jail and 3 years of supervised release.

His posting of this information was roundly criticised on the AFRINIC mailing list. Members of the community argued that Mehta was acting in bad faith, as Sossous conviction for an immigration-related crime had nothing to do with his job.

As a result of a general lack of diligence, Mehtas poor reputation, and fatigue after several idle accusations trying to discredit AFRINIC, Sossous criminal history was not further probed.

Had a few searches for additional context been conducted, AFRINICs members may have learned years ago that Sossou had been convicted of bank fraud in 1998 and was a long-standing associate of AFRINIC co-founder and then CEO, Adiel Akplogan.

Criminal history

Sossous 1998 fraud conviction was unearthed by Internet investigator and activist Ron Guilmette.

Guilmette was following leads as part of an investigation into the misappropriation of swaths of IP address blocks from the AFRINIC region, dubbed The Great African IP Address Heist.

Guilmette looked up the original complaint filed against Sossou for his 2005 illegal re-entry conviction, which revealed that Sossou had had several run-ins with the law before.

According to the complaint, Sossou presented a fake Canadian citizenship card at the US border. The photo on the card did not resemble him, which alerted the Customs and Border Protection officer that Sossou may be trying to enter the United States illegally.

Upon being challenged, Sossou produced his own Canadian permanent residency card.

Defendant initially claimed that he had never had any problems with U.S. Immigration, however, just prior to being fingerprintedthe defendant admitted having been previously deported from the United States in 1999 for having overstayed his student visa.

In addition to Sossous student visa violation, the complaint contained the following bombshell:

Defendant was convicted of an offense of Bank Fraud and was sentenced to 16 months confinement.

A search of the relevant court records showed that under the alias Komlan Modeka Sossou, Neriah Sossou pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, while the US prosecutor dismissed 24 other charges.

According to the indictment, Sossou committed cheque fraud.

In addition to the 16 months in jail and five years of supervised release, Sossou was ordered to pay $99,115.85 in restitution, and was banned from owning a firearm.

The court documents are embedded at the end of this article.

Relationship between Adiel Akplogan and Neriah Sossou

Guilmettes sleuthing also uncovered that Adiel Akplogan and Neriah Sossou had been in business together since at least 2007.

During an interview Akplogan told MyBroadband that he and Sossou met in Togo years before. Both men are originally from Togo.

A Canadian company trading as Pro-ICT Consulting, registered in Quebec on 15 March 2007, lists Akplogan as president and Sossou as vice-president and company secretary.

Sossou was hired as the head of IT and engineering at AFRINIC in March 2012, while Akplogan was still serving as AFRINICs first CEO after co-founding the organisation in 2004.

According to Sossous LinkedIn page, his responsibilities at AFRINIC during his four years at the organisation included Internet security, auditing AFRINICs information systems, and managing Internet number resources.

Sossous stint as head of IT included an upgrade of the AFRINIC WHOIS database, which was completed at the end of August 2014.

The Great African IP Address Heist

The AFRINIC WHOIS database is extremely important. If you think of IP addresses as raw Internet land, or real estate, then the AFRINIC WHOIS database is like the deeds office for the whole Africa and Indian Ocean region.

MyBroadband, together with Ron Guilmette, exposed how information in the WHOIS database was manipulated to allow valuable African IP address space to be misappropriated.

The heist actually comprised two parts:

The theft of previously unassigned IP addresses by at least one AFRINIC insider. The misappropriation of legacy IP address space which mostly belonged to South African companies, organisations, and government departments. These IP address assignments date back to before the existence of AFRINIC and appeared to have been forgotten until our investigation.

An internal audit of the AFRINIC WHOIS database revealed that over 4.1 million IP addresses were misappropriated. On the IP reseller market these would sell for over R1.3 billion, according to estimates from industry insiders.

In the first part of the heist over 2.3 million of these addresses worth over R690 million were taken from AFRINICs free pool.

This free pool comprises of unassigned Internet address blocks that AFRINIC was supposed to issue to deserving applicants on a first-come, first served basis.

Guilmette and MyBroadband discovered that at least one AFRINIC insider was involved in this theft.

Much to the shock of the African Internet community, the insider turned out to be Ernest Byaruhanga.

Byaruhanga was the second employee ever hired at AFRINIC, after Adiel Akplogan. He worked alongside Akplogan to establish the organisation. Amongst other things, the two men co-wrote the organisations policies for the allocation of IP addresses.

In recognition of his work, Akplogan was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.

Following disciplinary proceedings, Byaruhanga was summarily dismissed from AFRINIC.

Considering the connection between Byaruhanga and Akplogan, and between Akplogan and Sossou, this raises questions about whether Akplogan and Sossou knew about or were involved in schemes to misappropriate IP address blocks from AFRINIC.

Right of Reply  Adiel Akplogan and Neriah Sossou

MyBroadband first contacted Akplogan and Sossou before Byaruhanga was exposed and dismissed from AFRINIC.

Akplogan and Sossou categorically denied any involvement in or knowledge of schemes to steal IP addresses from AFRINIC.

Sossou confirmed that he was convicted of crimes in the United States, and said that he had nothing to do with the AFRINIC WHOIS database while working at the organisation.

I have made mistakes in the past, paid for them and have moved forward with my life since. I dont see how this is related to what you are investigating, Sossou stated.

Neither Sossou nor Akplogan were willing to confirm whether the relevant people at AFRINIC were fully informed about Sossous criminal record before he was hired.

Recruitment at AFRINIC follows a very structured, serious and independent process based candidates competencies, skills and aptitude where the role of the CEO is marginal. The one of Neriah as for everyone else followed that same process. So me knowing him before he was hired at AFRINIC is moot, Akplogan stated.

When pressed further, Akplogan said that disclosing what a staff member shared about themselves (or not) with AFRINIC is a violation of privacy and personal data protection.

Regarding Pro-ICT Consulting, the company that linked Akplogan and Sossou prior to AFRINIC, Akplogan confirmed that he was a partner in the firm.

According to Akplogan, Pro-ICT Consulting mostly operated in Quebec and provided helpdesk customer support services to local companies.

Nothing secret about it, Akplogan said.

AFRINIC salary paid via a Canadian company

MyBroadband later received information that Akplogans salary, while he was CEO of AFRINIC in Mauritius, was paid to the bank account of a Canadian company.

When contacted for further comment, Akplogan said that his family had been living in Canada for a year before he joined AFRINIC and that there was nothing untoward about his salary being paid via a corporate bank account in Canada.

There is nothing hidden, there is nothing illegal and my salary being paid through a Canadian company; I dont know how thats linked to your IP address misappropriation investigation, he said.

Akplogan declined to comment further.

Sossou would neither confirm nor deny whether his AFRINIC salary was paid via a Canadian bank account.

He also told MyBroadband that he was not involved in the upgrade of AFRINICs WHOIS database in 2014.

Asked to explain why he announced the upgrade on a public AFRINIC mailing list, and why he as head of IT & engineering was not involved in such a project, Sossou declined to comment.

Sossou was hired by management, not the board of directors  AFRINIC

AFRINIC declined to directly answer questions about whether the board was informed about Sossous criminal record.

However, the organisation did state that Sossou was hired by management and not the board.

In general, the board leads the recruitment of executives, and Mr. Sossou was not an Executive, AFRINIC said.

Regarding whether Akplogan and Sossou were paid their AFRINIC salaries via a Canadian company, the organisation declined to comment.

You will understand that the details you requested are very confidential, and AFRINIC is bound by legal confidentiality clauses, AFRINIC stated.

Court document  Neriah Sossous bank fraud conviction in 1998

Court documents  Neriah Sossous Aggravated Illegal Re-Entry After Deportation conviction in 2006
Utility crews restored service after an underground electrical fire rocked the New Jersey shore city made famous by Bruce Springsteens music.

Thursdays blast caused two manhole covers to come out of the ground and forced the evacuation of some businesses and homes in the downtown district, officials said.

The fire broke out in underground electrical ductwork beneath Cookman Avenue, Jersey Central Power & Light said. The utility was trying to determine what caused the fire.

The fire led to an explosion that startled nearby residents and sent black smoke rising from a manhole.

No one was injured.

A business, the House of Independents, sustained some damage in its basement and several cars were damaged by the explosion, Mayor John Moor told the Asbury Park Press.

Authorities inspected several buildings to ensure they were structurally sound before allowing residents and employees to re-enter.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics New Jersey
Lahore:

Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeeds Jamat-ud-Dawah will foray into Pakistans political scene by contesting the 2018 general elections, a senior member of the outfit said, a day after its candidate finished third in a crucial by-poll.

Last month, Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack, announced that it was launching the Milli Muslim League.

Sheikh Yaqoob, a JuD-backed candidate who was defeated by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharifs wife Kulsoom Nawaz from a parliamentary seat that fell vacant after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court, said the new front will field candidates in every constituency of the country in next years election.

Yaqoob wanted to contest yesterdays election from Milli Muslim League, launched just before the NA-120 by-poll, but could not do so as the Election Commission of Pakistan is yet to register it as a political party.

Yaqoob was placed in 2012 on a US Treasury sanctions list of those designated as leaders of terrorist organisations, The New York Times reported.

ALSO READ: JuD chief Abdul Rehman Makki warns Pakistan Govt against interfering in Jihad for 'Azad Kashmir'

We have got a very good response in NA-120. It was our first election and people have welcomed us, said Yaqoob, who contested as an independent candidate.

We are here to stay in the political field. People want a party that talks about making Pakistan strong against its enemies ? India, United States and Israel and at the same time help them in solving their basic livelihood problems, he said.

The JuD formed Milli Muslim League at the time when Saeed was detained in Lahore.

Saeed and his four aides -? Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - were placed under house arrest in Lahore on January 30 under anti-terrorism act.

The JuD has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014.

The JuD chief also carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

ALSO READ: JuD chief Hafiz Saeed launches political party Milli Muslim League in Pakistan

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
NASA is making plans to support a new generation of space stations to take over for the International Space Station (ISS) when it retires.

The space agency is considering having ISS partners develop new commercial space stations for future low Earth orbit missions (LEO), according to Elizabeth Howell with Space.com.

NEW SPACE STATIONS: China and Russia agree to build lunar space station together

Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA headquarters, described why it's necessary to think beyond the ISS.

"ISS is an amazing system, but unfortunately it won't last forever; it could experience an unrecoverable anomaly at any time," McAlister said.

"Pretty much any space initiative can take a while, and longer than you might hope, so we really do feel like the time to get started is now, when the ISS is still in good health and providing good capability across the board," he said.

According to Howell, the ISS could retire as early as 2024 or possibly in 2028.

First draft announcements of NASA's Commercial LEO Development program are expected in April with a final version in May, according to Howell.

The agency plans to bring preliminary designs to the review stage by the end of 2025.

"The way we see the transition [from ISS] is, we're not going to just turn off the lights one day," McAlister said. "We're going to have an overlap period where we, over a period of time, draw down the operations of ISS as we increase operations for LEO destinations. So that gives us some time."

The idea is to have two to four funded Space Act Agreements with a combined value between $300 million and $400 million, Howell said.

Angela Hart, manager of the commercial LEO development program office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, describes why Space Act Agreements are needed.

"Using Space Act Agreements for the new commercial LEO initiative "does provide us with some flexibility" in case of uncertainty on the NASA budget side," Hart said.

"Such agreements have fewer obligations than other contract vehicles, and this flexibility may be a necessity under NASA's budgetary realities when it comes to ISS successors," Howell wrote.

NASA would continue to be the "anchor tenant," Howell said, but are working towards expanding the economic opportunities for others.

"We want to continue to lay the groundwork for a market environment where, commercially, services will be available to both government and private sector customers," Hart said.

The space talks for future developments such as this are already in motion as NASA has already begun shifting ISS operations to a more commercial direction, Howell said.

Private companies such as Axiom Space already have plans to build a commercial space station.

"Going forward commercial destinations that are focused on the actual demand for NASA will necessarily be smaller  If there is sufficient demand for something that is the size and capability of the ISS, we would expect the private sector to address that through their means," McAlister said.

Security operatives led by the director, Department of Security Services of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Adamu Gwary, have raided black spots suspected to be hideouts for criminals in Abuja.

Hard drugs, suspected to be cannabis, carefully concealed in seven bags, were discovered when the army, police and local vigilante group ransacked slums in Wuye and Jabi districts on Saturday.

Several suspects were also arrested during the exercise.

The Department of Development Control, Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) and Abuja Parks and Recreation, all departments and agencies of the FCTA, accompanied by armed security agents, carried out the exercise.

Gwary said the arrested suspects had been handed over to the police for prosecution, while the seized drugs were handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

"You can see the quantity of drugs uncovered in the course of the operation. We visited the shanties that are within the forest between Jabi and Wuye. And they were removed," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 22:58:54|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 29, 2021 shows the container ship Ever Given moving on the Suez Canal, Egypt. The traffic in Suez Canal resumed after massive container ship Ever Given has been successfully refloated as being stranded in the canal for almost a week, Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Monday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

SUEZ CANAL, Egypt, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The traffic in Suez Canal resumed after massive container ship Ever Given has been successfully refloated as being stranded in the canal for almost a week, Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Monday.

Xinhua correspondent on-site witnessed that the cargo ship was centered in the canal and is navigating to the north. Other ships are moving subsequently while honked their whistle.

Leth Agencies, the SCA's service provider, confirmed that the mega-ship is currently sailing north on its way to the Bitter Lakes in the canal.

Mohab Mamish, Egypt's President adviser for the Suez Canal projects and former SCA's chairman, told state-TV that "traffic in the canal restarted today, and a group of the stranded ships is sailing."

"The canal is now completely open for traffic, as the Panama-flagged ship has moved," Mamish said, adding the SCA will increase the number of the working hours to move the vessels quickly.

The ship will undergo three days technical check before receiving the certification of moving to its original destination in Rotterdam, Mamish said.

Reasons of the crisis in the process of analyzing and the results to be announced soon, explaining the re-float process was carried off based on scientific accurate studies.

"A total of 13 tug boats and two dredges belonging to the SCA took part in the rescue work of the ship," said SCA chairman Osama Rabie.

The rising tide helping the tugging and pushing efforts of the ship, he added.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi thanked "Egyptians who contributed technically and practically to ending the crisis of the Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal."

The SCA chief sent a message of reassurance to the international maritime community that "navigation in the canal resumed."

The 224,000-ton container has been stuck and blocking the vital waterway since Tuesday last week after it lost the ability to steer amid massive winds and a sandstorm.

The incident caused a temporary suspension of navigation in the man-made canal, keeping at least 321 ships in wait.

Linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, the Suez Canal is a major lifeline for global seaborne trade since it allows ships to travel between Europe and South Asia without navigating around Africa, thereby reducing the sea voyage distance between Europe and India by about 7,000 km.

Some 12 percent of the world trade volume passes through the Suez Canal. Enditem
By Prossy Kisakye

The archbishop of the church of Uganda, Rt Rev Dr Steven Kazimba Mugalu, has appealed to the general public not to believe in Covid-19 propaganda but accept to be vaccinated in order prevent the spread of COVID-19.

He made the remarks at the provincial Secretariat in Namirembe, while receiving Covid-19 jab.

Dr Kazimba was vaccinated together with a group of over 100 bishops and clergies.

He implored the Christians to take this chance of the existence of the vaccine and be vaccinated to bring to an end the global pandemic that has wiped down the lives of many people.
[March 29, 2021] Survey Shows GigSmart Aids in Path to Employment Due to COVID Job Loss

DENVER, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GigSmart, the staffing company that connects businesses looking for talent with individuals looking for work through its Get Workers and Get Gigs apps, today released survey findings showcasing 44% of users filed for unemployment benefits in 2020 and users are looking for supplemental income as a result of COVID job loss. Highlights of the survey showcased: 44% of users filed for unemployment in 2020

37% of users are seeking work on the Get Gigs app due to unemployment The data, based on a survey of gig workers in February 2021, also found 70% of GigSmart Get Gigs users joined the gig economy because they wanted to choose their own schedule and needed flexibility, 53% deemed the greatest benefit of the app was being able to receive same-day gig payouts, and 35% listed finding permanent employment as another top benefit. Donell R., a New Jersey-based union carpenter, used Get Gigs to provide for his family when the pandemic left him out of work. "GigSmart was my lifeline," said Donell. "It gave me a chance to earn a living and put food on the table for my family when I didn't know how I could." John S., another GigSmart user, turned to Get Gigs to find work when a pending permanent job offer was put on hold due to COVID. After working several shifts at one client site, he was offered a full-time position with the company. "I was going to have to file for unemployment if I didn't find a job immediately. GigSmart saved me from that. The best thing I can say about GigSmart is they have given me an opportunity to improve my situation both financially and in terms of quality of life," said John. GigSmart has seen a 460% growth in demand for hourly gig workers since March 2020 and a 39% jump in the number of hourly Gigs completed on their platform in Q4 2020. The number of hourly shift workers converted to full-time employees increased 13% in Q1 2021, clearly solidifying the need for flexible labor solutions in today's economy and the desire to retain top talent once identified.



"Unlike other gig economy providers, GigSmart's offerings were intentionally designed to help gig workers discover more ways to transition to permanent employment, especially when trying to find stability during the pandemic. Get Gigs users can easily find and apply to temporary, part-time, and full-time job opportunities," said Rich Oakes, President of GigSmart. "We encourage our staffing clients to convert and retain GigSmart workers as direct hires. We are here to help those looking for permanent employment find it," continued Oakes. To hire a worker, sign up for a Get Workers account on the GigSmart website at gigsmart.com or download the Get Workers app for iOS or Android. To become a worker, download the Get Gigs app for iOS or Android.

About GigSmart

GigSmart is a staffing company focused on providing modern solutions to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving economy. GigSmart's apps, Get Workers and Get Gigs, connect businesses and residential users looking for labor with local workers. The apps are available in all 50 states serving industries including construction, manufacturing, food service, delivery services, transportation, retail, customer service, and professional services. MEDIA CONTACT:

Jenay Sellers

jsellers@gigsmart.com

720.828.7720 *Survey completed by 864 GigSmart workers in Feb 2021. Related Images image1.png View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survey-shows-gigsmart-aids-in-path-to-employment-due-to-covid-job-loss-301257611.html SOURCE GigSmart

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Rodney Local Board member Colin Smith and Healthy Waters Shaun McAuley at the drainage session.

Rural landowners angry at Auckland Council plans to impose a targeted rate on them for stormwater management are threatening to withhold payment if it is approved as part of the new 10-year budget.

More than 30 people from Tapora and Te Arai descended on a special drop-in session at Wellsford Library earlier this month to voice concerns over the Rodney drainage districts targeted rate proposal.

Their concerns ranged from complaints that Council had got its facts and maps wrong to the fact that the whole of Auckland was being asked to submit feedback on a rate that it knew nothing about and would be levied on just 244 rural properties.

However, the biggest worry was over a vast discrepancy between what stormwater division Healthy Waters said it had already spent fixing and maintaining drains and actual evidence of work being carried out.

Despite an annual budget of $26,500 and a one-off remediation package of $260,000, residents told Healthy Waters staff that no more than a bit of weed spraying had actually been carried out  no broken pipes had been fixed nor any diggers brought in to clear blocked drains. And there were gasps of astonishment when one Tomarata farmer said he came across two contractors who had been sent up from Wellington to spray some weeds.

They said it was because Auckland biosecurity was too busy, he said. They had maps with them, they had no idea where they were going.

Several people asked for concrete evidence of what work had been carried out and where, and many expressed fears that if the new rate was imposed, it wouldnt end up being spent in the community.

Tapora avocado grower Glen Inger said the proposed rate was wrong and wouldnt work.

Half the money would be used up by ecologists, hydrologists and admin and thered be no money left for the digger, he said. We need to look after our own.

We had no choice about being part of Auckland ... if you put this in, we must all rally together and not pay it. Its bulls***.

Wellsford Rodney Local Board member Colin Smith said he was grateful to Healthy Waters staff who had tried to come up with workable solutions, but it was now down to the community to fight the Finance and Performance Committee recommendations to the Governing Body, which had the final say on the budget.

The team has come up with different scenarios to try to get this district back on track, he said. But weve been given three options to submit on, and they all have a targeted rate  that is just unworkable, its not going to happen.

Council believed the drains were private, but they werent  they were Crown drains, administered by Council. Council is trying to raise money out of a small community to do its work for it. If theyre going to target rate those people, it will break them.

Even Council admits that the new levy could hit some landowners hard, saying that for some properties the increase could be significant  at least $3000 a year.

When questioned about the presence of spraying contractors from Wellington, Healthy Waters commercial partnerships team manager Shaun McAuley would only say that the department used Downer Construction alone for all maintenance work.

Downer is based in Silverdale and charges Council at prearranged and agreed rates. Downer uses one sub-contractor based out of Albany, he said in a statement.

However, he did provide a breakdown of expenditure and work carried out, and said he understood the frustrations of local residents (see this story online for the full breakdown).

We know there is still work to be done, and we intend to keep working through the problem together.

That is why the management process and the funding mechanism is currently being reviewed as part of the 10-year budget, he said.

We are also arranging a tour of the drainage district sites to perform a drainage audit. The audit will look at the work thats been done, what remains high on the to-do list, and what gaps there are in the existing maintenance programme. Local knowledge is invaluable for exercises like this, which is why we are inviting the Local Board and members of the community to attend.
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Health official proud of residents turning out for vaccine shots
Eurozone Weakness: Much More Than COVID

Commentary

If we looked at most investment bank outlook reports for 2021, one of the main consensus themes was a strong conviction of a rapid and robust eurozone recovery. They were wrong.

Last week, Capital Economics joined other analysts and downgraded eurozone growth, highlighting: We now think that the euro-zone economy will recover more slowly than we previously anticipated, growing by about 3% this year and 4.5% in 2022. Meanwhile, euro-zone government bond yields seem unlikely to fall much further, and with Treasury yields set to increase significantly, we expect the widening yield gap to cause the euro to weaken against the U.S. dollar.

This wave of downgrades, which includes the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Central Bank estimates, comes with the same-old and tired upgrade of next years expectations, which will likely be downgraded again further down the line.

Most politicians blame the eurozone weakness on the pandemic and the slow vaccine rollout. Its partially true. Neither of those two factors are detached from one of the main traits that makes the eurozone consistently disappoint in both growth and crisis periods: massive bureaucracy.

The slow vaccine rollout of the eurozone is evident in Bloomberg Economics COVID-19 resilience ranking and in vaccines administered per 100 people falling significantly below Israel, Chile, the United States, or the United Kingdom, despite the eurozone economies having the highest levels of public health care spending in the world. The reason why the eurozone lags behind in vaccinations comes from a bureaucratic and slow process in the approval and purchase of vaccines.

The European Union delayed unnecessarily the approval of vaccines that had already been tested and confirmed by U.S. and UK health authorities, but also implemented a rigid, complicated, and tedious process in reaching commercial agreements with the vaccine supplying companies. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing the mistakes made, politicians decided to start a blame war, accusing AstraZeneca and other companies of not fulfilling contracts, something that has been disproven numerous times but is further delaying the vaccination efforts.

The Financial Times highlighted that the EUs faltering vaccination campaign has been hamstrung by a botched central procurement process, supply shortfalls, logistical hurdles and excessive risk aversion from some national medical regulators. The European political elite was so proud of its health care system and centralized procurement process that they failed to understand the importance of time and efficiency in this pandemic. While the UK has now administered 48.6 vaccine doses per 100 people and the United States 41.9, the EU has only managed 15.1, according to Our World in Data.

The eurozones economic problems dont come from just a slow vaccination rollout, but also overly aggressive lockdowns. Between October and November, Europes leading economies decided to shut down the economy aggressively to prevent an increase in cases.

Despite Frances extremely severe lockdown, one of the most aggressive in the world, daily new confirmed cases per 1 million people went from 250 cases in mid October (7-day average) to 522 as of March 26. Daily new cases rose rapidly and fell in the month of November but have risen steadily since January. In Italy, new cases went from 75 in October to 369 by March 26. And in Germany, from 48 to 188 in the same period.

In all of them, daily new cases have steadily risen since bottoming in mid February even with severe lockdowns. Shutting down the economy for prolonged periods of time generates long-term side effects in jobs and growth that will likely hurt the recovery and create important social challenges. We cant forget that the eurozone still had an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent and more than 7 million furloughed jobs at the end of February.

Massive stimulus plans have been implemented, with the European Central Bank increasing its balance sheet to 71 percent of the eurozone GDP versus the Federal Reserve at 36 percent, and money supply growing at a 12 percent annualized rate in the euro area. Fiscal stimulus is also enormous, with fiscal impulse and liquidity measures ranging between 10 percent (Spain) and 50 percent (Germany) of GDP in the main economies.

Its important to note that its not just how much is spent, but also where and when. A significant part of the fiscal stimulus in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany has been targeted at maintaining current government spending, and the measures to support businesses have only been decisive in Germany and France. However, large and decisive measures to support businesses may fail as prolonged lockdowns lead to an insolvency crisis, and inevitably a relevant part of those support mechanisms will zombify the economy, especially as this was an important risk that had already existed in the eurozone before COVID-19, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

We cant forget that the eurozone recovery might be to go back to a weak situation, which was evident before COVID-19. Germany was on the verge of recession at the end of 2019, and France and Italy were delivering zero growth in the last quarter. The eurozone slowdown was, in fact, a widespread concern for 2020 despite all the liquidity and fiscal measures implemented, negative rates, massive repurchases of sovereign bonds by the European Central Bank, and a now-forgotten Juncker Plan that was launched as the most important investment program in the EU a few years before the pandemic and whose results were disappointing to say the least.

The eurozone has enormous potential and could become a global leader in the exit from the crisis and attraction of investment. To achieve it, it needs to take urgent measures to reduce bureaucracy, unlock job and business creation potential, and reduce damaging taxation. The time to do it is now.

Daniel Lacalle, Ph.D., is chief economist at hedge fund Tressis and author of Freedom or Equality, Escape from the Central Bank Trap, and Life in the Financial Markets.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

A woman desperately hoping for a cure to her mystery illness has given birth to 'miracle' twins - despite not being able to eat or drink for the last decade.

Ann-Marie Williams, 40, from St Just, Cornwall, has spent ten years trying to find answers over an unknown sickness that has left her too ill to consume any food unless being fed through a tube.

But last year, while at rock bottom in the midst of a desperate search for a cure, she was left gobsmacked when doctors told her she was 18 weeks pregnant with twins.

And despite not showing any signs of a bump and having not eaten during her pregnancy without the help of an infusion pump, she gave birth to two healthy baby girls, Morwenna and Elowen, in January.

Ann-Marie's problems started following a week-long holiday to Turkey. She fell ill upon her return with flu-like symptoms.

But since then, every time she eats or drinks, she is unable to keep it down, with her weight previously dropping to just six and a half stone. Ann-Marie is now raising funds to speak with private doctors who could potentially help with a cure.

Ann-Marie Williams (pictured with her twins), 40, from St Just, Cornwall, has spent ten years trying to find answers over an unknown sickness that has left her too ill to consume any food unless being fed through a tube

But last year, while at rock bottom in the midst of a desperate search for a cure, Ann-Marie (pictured) was left gobsmacked when doctors told her she was 18 weeks pregnant with twins

Speaking about the birth of her twins, Ann-Marie said: 'It was an absolute shock, but a miracle at the same time. I missed a period in June and I did do a pregnancy test but it was negative so I put it down to my health and getting over sepsis.

'I then had a blood test done and it was off but didn't reveal I was pregnant. Some of my illness symptoms started to actually feel better at this time and I would have a few hours a day where I didn't feel too bad which was strange, but I had no idea.'

For four years now Ann-Marie has been hooked up to a machine which keeps her fed and she finds every day to be a struggle.

But now, the mum-of-two is more hopeful than ever that she will find a cure in order to give her 'miracle' girls the childhood she had.

In the last year Ann-Marie has recovered from sepsis three times, been diagnosed with Covid-19 and gone through a C-section to deliver her surprise twins.

Last year, before news of the babies, she took the decision to move back home to Cornwall from Bristol to live with her parents as her health continued to deteriorate.

Now she is grateful for that decision as her parents and partner are the ones who provide most of the care for the babies because she is too ill.

Around 10 years ago, Ann-Marie went on holiday for a week in Turkey with her friends, but fell ill upon her return. What started out as just flu symptoms lasted around three days but then went away.

And despite not showing any signs of a bump and having not eaten during her pregnancy without the help of an infusion pump, Ann-Marie (pictured right, when 22 weeks pregnant) gave birth to two healthy baby girls, Morwenna and Elowen, in January

Two weeks later she felt sick again and it stayed. Since then, every time she eats or drinks something, she is unable to keep it down.

Ann-Marie said: 'I started losing weight and went down to eight stone. The doctors just thought it must be something I'd picked up on holiday, but it didn't go away.'

Over the coming years she tried countless medical tests, herbal treatments, and even a gastric emptying study, which showed a severe delay of her stomach and bowel.

After plummeting down to six-and-a-half stone she had a Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) line fitted. It pumps all the calories and nutrition she needs into her system so that she doesn't have to eat or drink.

Remarkably, this is what also fed the twins throughout her pregnancy. Ann-Marie believes they could be the only babies ever exclusively fed in this way before birth.

Ann-Marie said: 'I wasn't showing. But I would have this bulge in my gut that would come out and then go again and I was in a lot of pain.'

Ann-Marie's (pictured) problems started following a week-long holiday to Turkey. She fell ill upon her return with flu-like symptoms

Doctors were worried and so she was taken in overnight for tests where a urine test revealed she was pregnant.

Ann-Marie said: 'My mouth just dropped. That can't be right I thought and then everything just dawned on me.

'As [a nurse] told me, the doctor arrived to take me for an ultrasound and there was this pause and I just knew he was going to say it was twins.

'I was in so much shock I was just crying and I couldn't even look at the screen. I had no idea how to tell my partner and I told him later in the day and he couldn't even talk.

'I don't eat or drink, I live off IV nutrition and these babies had survived that long. I didn't even understand how it was possible.'

Later doctors told her that the intravenous feeder would not have impacted the babies as it had all the vitamins and nutrients that Ann-Marie needed.

Ann-Marie said: 'Because I feel really sick all of the time I just assumed something was getting worse and then it got a little bit better, but I'm always extremely sick so I couldn't have known.'

Having always wanted to be a mother, Ann-Marie admitted she can't do a lot for the twins right now and it makes her cry every day.

During her pregnancy, Ann-Marie had a difficult few months and was admitted to hospital on December 8, where she remained for eight weeks before giving birth via C-section at 34 weeks.

Ann-Marie, who then contracted Covid-19 and was not able to be with her children for sometime, said: 'They were put on feeding tubes after birth for a few weeks and then they were okay.'

She has since been communicating with private doctors and says there are some promising tests available that she will be signing up for in the hopes to find answers.

Ann-Marie said: 'I'm trying to find a really specialist doctor and I'm at the point where I'm wondering if that person is even there, if they exist.

'I have spoken to lots of doctors and alternative doctors over the years and they all say there are lots of things going on and my situation is so complex that nobody knows where to start.

'It really frightens me that I'm never going to be the person I want to be for the twins and everyday I end up crying when I look at them. I had a great childhood and I want to do all those things for them and take them out in their pram.

'They are so beautiful and I want people to be able to see them. I'm so worried that they don't know who their mother is because I'm not able to provide all of that for them. All I can provide is cuddles and tell them I love them.'

To donate to a fundraiser in support of Ann-Marie's search for a diagnosis, visit: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/8azyc-help-to-find-a-cure
NASHVILLE  The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) and the Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers are raising awareness among consumers and Tennessee funeral professionals that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued its final policy on providing financial assistance related to COVID-19 related funeral expenses. The federal agency said the financial assistance it will provide will be a maximum of $9,000 per funeral.

Under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Congress authorized FEMA to provide financial assistance to individuals who incurred COVID-19 related funeral expenses after January 20, 2020. FEMA has issued its final policy  which includes details such as eligibility and documentation criteria and the application process  for how funds will be distributed to families. Additional information can be found here.

The Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers extends its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of any Tennessean who may have lost a loved one to COVID-19, said Board Executive Director Robert Gribble. I urge affected consumers to learn more about this federal financial assistance program in order to help cover burial expenses that may have been incurred.

As part of its policy, FEMA will only award COVID-19 Funeral Assistance for a deceased individual on a single application. If multiple individuals contributed toward funeral expenses, they should register under a single application as applicant and co-applicant. The applicant or co-applicant must have incurred the funeral expenses. The deceased individuals documentation status is not considered as part of the reimbursement process, but the applicant(s) must be U.S. citizens, legal residents, asylees, refugees or non-citizen nationals.

Families should decide who the applicant and any co-applicants will be and to gather the documents they need to be reimbursed for expenses. The applicant must provide the following documents:

A copy of the death certificate. The death certificate must indicate the death may have been caused by or was likely a result of COVID-19 or COVID-19-like symptoms. Similar phrases that indicate a high likelihood of COVID-19 are also considered sufficient.

The death certificate must indicate the death may have been caused by or was likely a result of COVID-19 or COVID-19-like symptoms. Similar phrases that indicate a high likelihood of COVID-19 are also considered sufficient. Proof of funeral expenses incurred. Documentation (receipts, funeral home contract, etcetera) must include the applicants name as the responsible person for the expense, the deceased individuals name, the amount of funeral expenses and that funeral expenses were incurred after January 20, 2020.

Eligible funeral expenses include but are not limited to:

Transportation for up to two individuals to identify the deceased individual

Transfer of remains

Casket or urn

Burial plot or cremation niche

Marker or headstone

Clergy or officiant services

Arrangement of the funeral ceremony

Use of funeral home equipment or staff

Cremation or interment costs

Costs associated with producing and certifying multiple death certificates

Additional expenses mandated by any applicable local or state government laws or ordinances.

If applicants have already received reimbursement for certain funeral expenses through government agencies, voluntary agencies, nonprofits, burial or funeral insurance then they cannot resubmit those same expenses for reimbursement through this FEMAadministered program. If they received any outside assistance, they must include documentation of this assistance in their application. If they received financial assistance through the deceaseds life insurance policy, they may still apply for reimbursement.

###

About the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance: Fostering fair marketplaces, public safety, and consumer education that promote the success of individuals and businesses while serving as innovative leaders. Our divisions include the State Fire Marshals Office, Insurance, Securities, Regulatory Boards, Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy, Tennessee Emergency Communications Board and TennCare Oversight.
A Civil War-era bomb that was still live was safely detonated after it was discovered in Maryland.

The unexploded cannonball was uncovered by a metal detectorist near the Monocacy Battlefield in Frederick, about 50 miles north west of Washington DC.

It was discovered by the family member of a local homeowner, who contacted the state fire marshal to report the discovery after being told the bomb was possibly live.

The report was made months after the initial discovery, in which time the live cannonball had sat in the resident's home in Glen Hill Court, Jefferson.

A Civil War-era bomb that was still live was safely detonated after it was discovered by the family member of a local homeowner in Maryland

Bomb technicians conducted diagnostics and confirmed the explosive was still live at the time of its discovery on March 23, and that it could have caused massive damage if it was mishandled.

The bomb was moved to Beaver Creek Quarry in Hagerstown, where it was disposed of safely, the Maryland State Fire Marshal announced.

The office said in a statement: 'As proven today, the finding of military ordnance from the Civil War is not uncommon in Maryland, and these devices pose the same threat as the day they were initially manufactured'.

State Fire Marshall Brian S. Geraci warned residents to stay away from and report unidentified objects that could be unexploded bombs.

He said: 'Marylanders need to be mindful that military ordnance, even vintage artifacts from previous conflicts, have the potential to explode.'

The homeowner only reported the live explosive months after the initial discovery, in which time the live cannonball had sat in the resident's home

The unexploded cannonball was uncovered near the Monocacy Battlefield in Frederick, about 50 miles north west of Washington DC

What happened at Monocacy Battlefield? Monocacy Battlefield was the site of a 1864 battle dubbed 'The Battle That Saved Washington'. The Confederate assault was a bold attempt to turn the tide of war in their favour. In the battle, Union soldiers fought to prevent the Confederate military's attempted capture of Washington DC. The Confederate soldiers won the battle, but the efforts by Union soldiers delayed them long enough for reinforcements to arrive and protect the city. An estimated 2,200 were killed, wounded, captured, or listed as missing during the battle. Source: National Park Service (NPS) Advertisement

The State Fire Marshall's office also thanked the owners of Beaver Creek Quarry for allowing bomb technicians use the site for controlled detonations.

It said: 'Bomb Technicians have conducted numerous emergency disposals over the years on the grounds of their property.

'Their assistance has kept Bomb Technicians and citizens safe from these potentially dangerous devices'.



Maryland has a long history of military testing, most notably at Aberdeen Proving Ground, on the Chesapeake Bay shores in Harford County.

Unexploded bombs are frequently dredged up by tidal waters and come to the surface in the area.

Cannonballs from this period were filled with potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal - a mixture commonly known as black powder.

The blend, however, does not explode easily because it requires both friction and temperatures as high as 572F (300C) in order to detonate.

It is likely this particular cannonball was fired from a Napoleon cannon, the most popular gun in the American Civil War.

Confederate commander Jubal A. Early deployed at least 36 big guns, including 20 Napoleons for the 1864 battle.

In March 2020, a group of children uncovered an unexploded Civil War-era cannonball buried two feet underground in West Virginia.

The children, who made the discovery while using a metal detector, took the bomb inside to show their parents, prompting the adults to call the police.

The cannonball, which was safely exploded by police, was identified as a late Civil War cannonball from the Union Army.

Police said it possibly contained black powder, based on the design.
A young woman who was stabbed to death in Sydneys CBD had the world at her feet and should be remembered as the kind and amazing person she was, her mother has told a court.

Michaela Dunn, 24, was murdered by Mert Ney, 22, at an apartment in Sydneys CBD on August 13, 2019 after he booked in for a sex work appointment, bringing a knife with him.

Michaela Dunn, who was murdered in 2019, has been described by her mother as kind and amazing. Credit:NSW Police

Ney stabbed Ms Dunn almost as soon as she let him in at 1.45pm, then filmed himself standing over her body with bloodied hands and sent it to a man on Facebook. The graphic video was played to a NSW Supreme Court sentencing hearing on Monday. Many of Ms Dunns loved ones left the room.

Im f---ing psycho, Ney wrote on Facebook. I was laughing bro. The fear.
Tata vs Mistry: Minority shareholders cannot claim board seat, says SC While the Companies Acts 1956 and 2013 recommend a director on the board to be elected by small shareholders in listed companies, the court has made it clear that Mistry Group is not a small shareholder and a board seat cannot be allotted to it contractually or by law. Read more

SII, Bharat Bio seek central fund injection to ramp up vaccine production

As demand for Covid vaccines grows here and abroad, the two main vaccine manufacturers  the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech  are learnt to have sought financial aid from the government to help them ramp up capacities rapidly. The SII has been selling Covishield to the government at a cost price of $2-2.5 per dose. Read more

Second Second Covid-19 wave: Night curfew pushes Patiala biz to the brink

The sudden spike in Covid cases in Patiala  one among seven districts which have 73 per cent of Punjabs total active cases  has affected the vibrant nightlife of Patialvis. The crowds on the streets making merry on weekend evenings are absent.

One can easily drive through the Adalat Bazaar area, which is chock-full with people most evenings. Read more

Sebi's diktat puts institutional investors, fund houses in a fix

The Securities and Exchange Board of Indias (Sebis) recent directive to make analyst calls public knowledge may be troublesome for fund houses and institutional investors. Until now they provided exclusive insights to large institutions in these calls. Read more

At $2.06 per dose, India pays the least for Covid-19 vaccine The price of the vaccine  the one sold the most globally, with orders for 2.4 billion shots to date  varies from $2 to $6 per dose. India has got this vaccine at $2.06 per dose, the cheapest in the world. Read more

Cairn to seize overseas Indian assets to enforce $1.2-bn arbitration award

These assets can potentially be non-diplomatic ones and those owned by entities or controlled by the Indian government. Read more

Status check of PLI schemes that aim to make India world's factory The government has introduced a sector-specific Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme with the objective of import substitution, providing level playing field and incentivising domestic manufacturers. Read more

Life insurers shell out Rs 2,000 crore as Covid-19 death claims, shows data

The amount paid as claims towards deaths caused by Covid is not yet alarming to the extent that it will impact the balance sheet or solvency ratios of However, it will take a toll on profitability of and prompt them to rework mortality assumptions.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Sunday that he had experienced minor side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine after being administered the initial shot on Tuesday, according to the Interfax news agency. He reportedly woke up the next morning after the vaccination, and it appeared to him he felt a slight pain in muscles. He then took a thermometer, and it indicated his temperature was normal.

Putin Felt Side Effects After Vaccine Shot

This comes after the Russian president, known for releasing hyper-masculine photos of himself, enjoyed a weekend break to Siberia with Sergei Shoigu, his defense minister. Putin was filmed driving a military vehicle through a forest, eating an outdoor meal, and having drinks at a booth draped in animal skins. He was also admiring a piece of carved wood in the workshop of Shoigu.

Russia's novel coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V is widely available. This is as Europe grapples with a lack of vaccines. However, the nation's vaccination campaign has a trust problem among its citizens. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Putin was administered his shot on March 23 with one of the three approved Russian vaccines, reported DW.

According to Putin, so far, Russian coronavirus vaccines have not had any severe registered side effects. Russia has made available three vaccines: EpiVacCorona, Sputnik V, and CoviVac, reported India Blooms.

Putin also reportedly had an uncomfortable feeling on the location of the administering of the vaccine. He did not reveal which of three Russian vaccines available he had received, indicating only the doctor who immunized him knows.

However, Putin stated all three Russian vaccines are nearly equal. In August 2020, Putin claimed a "world-first" through declaring the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine for use. The vaccine was Sputnik V.



President Joe Biden to Meet Russia's Vladimir Putin 'When the Time Is Right'

Sputnik V vaccine's launch in 2020 surprised the international community. It incited concerns regarding the research quality behind it. But interim results from a third phase trial published in UK medical journal "The Lancet" appeared to display it was safe and effective, reported Sky News.

According to Peskov, Putin does not like the idea of receiving the shot live on camera, like other world leaders who were vaccinated before him. There has been prevailing speculation in Russia on the reason why the Russian president was not the first in line to receive the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine after Russia launched its inoculation campaign in early December. Initially, Putin remarked he would not receive the shot because of his age. Then, it was because of conflict with his inoculation schedule.

Putin remarked regarding the Russian vaccines, "I know for a fact that people with serious chronic medical conditions are getting the vaccines and feeling well. At any rate, I am not aware of any serious side effect from any of the three vaccines that we have registered."

The Kremlin declared the Russian president's choice to get inoculated against the COVID-19 in December. It was because Putin remarked the delay was due to a need to merge it with other vaccines he planned to be administered.

Russia Says Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine Over 95% Effective

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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The five-day campaign will target over 40 million children under the age of five, reports dpa news agency.

Islamabad, March 29 (IANS) Pakistan on Monday launched a new door-to-door campaign to vaccinate millions of children against polio despite the risks posed by increasing coronavirus infections, an official said.

Around 285,000 frontline workers will span out across Pakistan's 156 districts to administer the oral drops while following Covid-19 safety protocols.

"Covid-19 continues to challenge us but we are committed to ensure continuity of the essential public health services during these difficult times," the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Faisal Sultan, said in a statement.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are among only a few countries in the world where polio is still endemic.

The country came very close to eliminating polio, but recorded 147 cases, a five-year high, in 2019, amid vaccine boycotts and attacks on health workers.

Pakistan started a polio programme in 1994, but the work of the health workers was repeatedly hampered by violent incidents by extremists.

The UN-funded drive also faces opposition from religious conservatives, who believe the vaccine, administered in multiple rounds, is intended to make Muslim children sterile.

The second polio vaccination drive of the year started at a time when country is battling to bring down steadily rising daily infections of coronavirus, over 4,000 per day, amid a third wave of the pandemic.

On Monday, Pakistan put virus hotspots in over two dozen cities with higher infection rate under lockdown and started the process of vaccinating people aged 50 and above.

The Covid-19 vaccination campaign had started last month but has received a lukewarm response.

--IANS

ksk/
The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost.
Netflix is moving into Stamford this April to film murder thriller The Good Nurse, featuring Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain.

Stamford turning into a film set means more than movie stars walking down Washington Boulevard. The casting agency is looking for paid extras to play everyday pedestrians.

Click here to apply.

"You may be asked to do a variety of different things in the scene such as walking, crossing camera, sitting down with a friend, engaging in pretend conversation, doing a specific task or activity. It's all up to production and they will give you instructions on the day based on the scene," the casting site explains.

Those interested can apply via the link and will be asked to answer a variety of specific questions ranging from proximity to Stamford to hair color and visible tattoos.

But theres also a twist: the team wants contortionists, sword swallowers, and circus performers, too. "If you were contacted because you are a circus performer or individual with contortion or sword swallowing experience, click the box below," the site notes at the bottom.

In the film, Redmayne will play prolific serial killer Charles Cullen  a nurse who confessed to murdering 40 patients in hospitals across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Some experts estimate that Cullen actually killed more than 300 people, making him the most prolific serial killer in modern history.
Security forces have seized a cache of arms and ammunition, including five AK assault rifles, from an area close to the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, an army official said on Monday.

"In a major success to security forces deployed in Karnah, a huge recovery was made in the late hours of Sunday owing to high state of alertness of the army and police," the official said.

He said the security forces launched an operation based on specific intelligence input and recovered five AK rifles and seven pistols with several magazines and ammunition rounds.

"The operation was conducted in very close proximity of the Line of Control in Dhanni village which is under direct observation of Pakistan Army posts in Lipa Valley," the 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.)
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Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at the White House's virtual COVID-19 briefing on Monday. The White House / YouTube

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky was near tears on Monday warning of a new surge in COVID-19 cases.

"Right now I'm scared," Walensky said at the White House's COVID-19 briefing.

She urged people to "hold on a little while longer" as more people get vaccinated.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fought back tears on Monday as she warned that a fourth surge in COVID-19 cases could be on the way.

"Right now I'm scared," Walensky said during the White House's COVID-19 press briefing, citing troubling trends in new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths across the US.

The country's daily coronavirus cases peaked in early January at more than 315,000, then dropped steadily through mid-March. But average daily cases have risen by about 15% in the past two weeks, and average weekly hospitalizations have increased by 5%, even as vaccinations ramp up.

Twenty-eight states have seen an uptick in daily cases over the past few weeks. Michigan's average weekly cases increased almost fourfold in five weeks, while New York's average weekly cases rose by 42% in two weeks.

US deaths are still trending down overall, but rises typically appear at least three weeks after rises in cases. An increase in hospitalizations is usually a sign that deaths will follow. At least eight states have already seen daily deaths increase in the past two weeks.

"I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends," Walensky said.

Walensky fears a 4th surge

Refrigerated trailers used to store bodies at a temporary morgue in Brooklyn, New York, on May 13. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Walensky described "the recurring feeling I have of impending doom" when looking at the nation's COVID-19 case numbers lately.

"I'm speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director, not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just hold on a little while longer," she said. "I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but not quite yet."

Story continues

Some experts think that as the three authorized COVID-19 vaccines become widely available, Americans are getting the false impression that it's safe to dine indoors, go to bars, or attend large gatherings - whether or not they're fully vaccinated. Several states, including Texas and Georgia, have already eliminated capacity restrictions for restaurants and bars. At least 16 states no longer have mask requirements.

"For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge," Walensky said.

At the briefing on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor, attributed the recent increase in US cases to the nation "really doing things prematurely right now with regard to opening up."

In an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Fauci also attributed rising cases to the spread of new, more virulent coronavirus strains. The US has identified more than 10,000 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the UK, since December. Studies have found that B.1.1.7 is 50% to 70% more contagious than its predecessors, and the CDC says B.1.1.7 now accounts for roughly 26% of sequenced virus nationwide.

'I know what it's like ... to be the last person to touch someone else's loved one'

Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Walensky reminded Americans that "we are not powerless" against the virus. She encouraged everyone to continue masking, distancing, washing their hands, and staying home.

Roughly a third of the country's adults have had at least one vaccine dose, and emerging evidence suggests the vaccines reduce coronavirus transmission in addition to blunting severe COVID-19 symptoms. But more-transmissible variants mean the virus is "probably less forgiving" when people don't take precautions, Walensky said.

"I know what it's like as a physician to stand in that patient room - gowned, gloved, masked, shielded - and to be the last person to touch someone else's loved one," she said. "I know what it's like to pull up to your hospital every day and see the extra morgue sitting outside."

To take her CDC role, Walensky stepped down as the chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital roughly two months ago, as the pandemic was killing thousands of Americans every day.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2021) - Crown Mining Corporation (TSXV: CWM) (FSE: C73) ("Crown" or the "Company") announces that at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders ("AGSM"), held on March 29, 2021, shareholders approved a special resolution to change the name of the Company to US Copper Corp. A total of 18,556,471 common shares were represented in person or by proxy at the AGSM, representing 20.05% of the votes attached to all outstanding common shares of the Company as at the record date. All the matters submitted to the shareholders, as set out in the Notice of Meeting and Information Circular dated February 22, 2021, were voted in favour, including fixing the size of the Board of the Company to six, the ratification of the Company's 10% rolling stock option plan and the appointment of A Chan & Company LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, as the auditors of the Company for the ensuing year.

Messrs. Dunn, Vydra, Morrow, Cole, and Fairbairn were re-elected to serve as directors of the Company. Norm Yurik was also elected to act as a new director of the Company, replacing Stephen Hughes who did not stand for re-election. The detailed results of the vote are set out below:

Nominee Outcome of Vote Voted Voted (%) Stephen Dunn Approved For: 17,716,698

Withhold: 317,781 98.2%

1.8% Martin Vydra Approved For: 17,716,698

Withhold: 317,781 98.2%

1.8% Rich Morrow Approved For: 17,711,728

Withhold: 322,751 98.2%

1.8% George Cole Approved For: 17,716,698

Withhold: 317,781 98.2%

1.8% James Fairbairn Approved For: 17,716,682

Withhold: 317,797 98.2%

1.8% Norm Yurik Approved For: 17,716,682

Withhold: 317,797 98.2%

1.8%

Mr Yurik is a CPA and recently retired tax partner at Deloitte LLP. While at Deloitte LLP, he led the Merger and Acquisition Group in British Columbia, and was responsible for tax planning with both public companies and high net worth individuals.

"We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Yurik to the Crown team," commented Mr. Dunn, President, CEO of Crown. "Norm's extensive knowledge in tax, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance will greatly assist Crown as we move the company forward. I would also like to sincerely thank Mr Hughes for his contribution and service as a Director. Personally, and on behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish him all the best in his future endeavours."

With the shareholders approving the special resolution to change the name of the Company to US Copper Corp, the Company will now seek the necessary regulatory approvals to complete this name and symbol change and expects the process to be completed in the next few weeks. Our shares will continue to trade under our existing ticker symbols on the TSX Venture Exchange until the US Copper Corp ticker symbol "USCU" becomes effective. The Company will continue to update its shareholders as the name and ticker symbol change progresses.

About Crown Mining Corp.

Crown controls approximately 15 square miles of patented and unpatented federal mining claims in the Light's Creek Copper District in Plumas County, NE California; essentially, the entire District. The District contains substantial copper (silver) sulfide and copper oxide resources in three deposits - Moonlight, Superior and Engels, as well as several partially tested and untested exploration targets.

The Superior and Engels Mines operated from about 1915-1930 producing over 161 million pounds of copper from over 4 million tons of rock containing 2.2% copper with silver and gold credits.

The Moonlight Deposit was discovered and drilled by Placer Amex during the 1960's. Details of the resources on Crown's property and the parameters used to calculate them can be found in the "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Moonlight Deposit, Moonlight-Superior Copper Project, California, USA" dated April 12, 2018 on both the company's website at www.crownminingcorp.com or on www.sedar.com under the Crown Mining Corp profile.

Mr. George Cole is the Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101 responsible for the technical information contained in this news release, and he has reviewed and approved this news release.

For Further Information Contact:

Mr. Stephen Dunn, President, CEO and Director, Crown Mining Corporation (416) 361-2827 or email info@crownminingcorp.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 press release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws and regulations, including statements regarding the future activities of the Company. Forward-looking statements reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management and are identified by the use of words including "will", "hopes", "anticipates", "expected to", "plans", "planned" and other similar words. Actual results may differ significantly. The achievement of the results expressed in forward-looking statements is subject to a number of risks, including those described in the Company's management discussion and analysis as filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78835
SUEZ, Egypt  Salvage teams on Monday finally freed the colossal container ship stuck for nearly a week in the Suez Canal, ending a crisis that had clogged one of the worlds most vital waterways and halted billions of dollars a day in maritime commerce.

A flotilla of tugboats, helped by the tides, wrenched the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canals sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since March 23.

The tugs blared their horns in jubilation as they guided the Ever Given through the water after days of futility that had captivated the world, drawing scrutiny and social media ridicule.

We pulled it off! said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the salvage firm hired to extract the Ever Given. I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again.

Navigation in the canal resumed at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT, noon EDT) said Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, adding that the first ships that were moving carried livestock. From the city of Suez, ships stacked with containers could be seen exiting the canal into the Red Sea.

At least 113 of over 420 vessels that had waited for Ever Given to be freed are expected to cross the canal by Tuesday morning, Rabei added at a news conference.

Analysts expect it could take at least another 10 days to clear the backlog on either end.

The Ever Given sailed to the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south ends of the canal, for inspection, said Evergreen Marine Corp., a Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship.

Buffeted by a sandstorm, the Ever Given had crashed into a bank of a single-lane stretch of the canal about 3.7 miles north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez. That created a massive traffic jam that held up $9 billion a day in global trade and strained supply chains already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic.

In this photo released by Suez Canal Authority, the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship is accompanied by Suez Canal tugboats as it moves in the Suez Canal, Egypt, Monday, March 29, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)AP

Rabei said an investigation would determine why the Ever Given got stuck, and he estimated daily losses to the canal of between $12 million to $15 million.

The Suez Canal is not guilty of what happened. We are the ones who suffered damage, he said.

At least 367 vessels, carrying everything from crude oil to cattle, had backed up to wait to traverse the canal. Dozens of others have taken the long, alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africas southern tip  a 3,100-mile detour that costs ships hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and other costs.

The canal is a source of national pride and crucial revenue for Egypt, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi praised Mondays events after days of silence about the blockage.

Egyptians have succeeded in ending the crisis, he wrote on Facebook, despite the massive technical complexity.

In the village of Amer, which overlooks the canal, residents cheered as the vessel moved along. Many scrambled to get a closer look while others mockingly waved goodbye to the departing ship from their fields of clover.

Mission accomplished, villager Abdalla Ramadan said. The whole world is relieved.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo tweeted its congratulations to Egypt.

The breakthrough followed days of immense effort with an elite salvage team from the Netherlands. Tugboats pushed and pulled to budge the behemoth from the shore, their work buoyed by high tide at dawn Monday that led to the vessels partial refloating. Specialized dredgers dug out the stern and vacuumed sand and mud from beneath the bow.

The operation was extremely delicate. While the Ever Given was stuck, the rising and falling tides put stress on the vessel, which is a quarter mile long, raising concerns it could crack.

Rabei praised the team, saying they achieved a very difficult mission in record time, without damaging the vessel or its cargo.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc. shows the Ever Given cargo ship stuck in Egypt's Suez Canal Monday, March 29, 2021. Engineers on Monday "partially refloated" the colossal container ship that continues to block traffic through the Suez Canal, authorities said, without providing further details about when the vessel would be set free. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)AP

Berdowski told Dutch radio station NPO 1 the company had always believed it would be the two powerful tugboats it sent that would free the ship. Mondays strong tide helped push the ship at the top while we pulled at the bottom and luckily it shot free, he said.

We were helped enormously by the strong falling tide we had this afternoon. In effect, you have the forces of nature pushing hard with you and they pushed harder than the two sea tugs could pull, Berdowski added.

The crew on the tugs was euphoric, but there also was a tense moment when the huge ship was floating free so then you have to get it under control very quickly with the tugs around it so that it doesnt push itself back into the other side of the canal, he said.

Jubilant workers on a tugboat sailing with the Ever Given chanted, Mashhour, No. 1, referring to the dredger that worked around the vessel. The dredger is named for Mashhour Ahmed Mashhour, assigned to run the canal with others when it was nationalized in 1956 by President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

Once the Ever Given is inspected in Great Bitter Lake, officials will decide whether the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship hauling goods from Asia to Europe would continue to its original destination of Rotterdam or head to another port for repairs.

The crisis cast a spotlight on the vital trade route that carries over 10% of global trade, including 7% of the worlds oil. Over 19,000 ships ferrying Chinese-made consumer goods and millions of barrels of oil and liquified natural gas flow through the artery from the Middle East and Asia to Europe and North America.

The unprecedented shutdown, which raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages and rising costs for consumers, has prompted new questions about the shipping industry, an on-demand supplier for a world under pressure from the pandemic.

Weve gone to this fragile, just-in-time shipping that we saw absolutely break down in the beginning of COVID, said Capt. John Konrad, the founder and CEO of the shipping news website gcaptain.com. We used to have big, fat warehouses in all the countries where the factories pulled supplies.  Now these floating ships are the warehouse.

International trade expert Jeffrey Bergstrand predicted only a minor and transitory effect on prices of U.S. imports.

Since most of the imports blocked over the last week are heading to Europe, U.S. consumers will likely see little effect on prices of U.S. imports, except to the extent that intermediate products of U.S. final goods are made in Europe, said Bergstrand, professor of finance at the University of Notre Dames Mendoza College of Business.

__

Bisabel Debre and Samy Magdy of The Associated Press wrote this story.

DeBre reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed.
Algeria starts clinker exports to France

ICR Newsroom By 29 March 2021

CILAS commenced Algerian clinker exports to France with a 9000t shipment of clinker from the port of Skikda.



In the coming weeks, other shipments of 10,000t will leave Algeria for France, according to M Souakri. Clinker exports to other European countries such as Serbia and Belgium are also being considered. The company has set a clinker export target of 1Mt this year.



Earlier shipments of 80,000t of clinker were sent to Guadeloupe and Martinique from Djendjen and to Cameroon and Sierra Leone from Annaba port.

Published under
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Salvation Army joined forces with Terre Haute ministries to put on the first-ever easter drawing.

This took place at The Salvation Army in Terre Haute.

This gave low income families a chance to get easter baskets for free.

They will have items like toys, food, and hygiene products!

Even students from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology were on hand to help out.

"All the toys, and all the commodities, to be able to give away. It's just a really good feeling. It's hard when you have to turn people away because you don't have something. We're glad that we can supply," says Envoy Sue Linden.

She says the Salvation Army plans on keeping this new tradition going.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect Torres-Estrada's reassignment.

U.S. Special Operations Command had reassigned its new chief of diversity and inclusion amid an investigation into social media posts criticizing police and former President Donald Trump, officials confirmed Monday.

SOCOM welcomed Richard Torres-Estrada in a tweet March 25.

"We look forward to his contribution in enhancing the capabilities and effectiveness of #SOF through diversity of talent, helping us recruit the best of the best. #QuietProfessionals," SOCOM said in the tweet.

But within days, critics were roasting Torres-Estrada for some of his public Facebook posts, particularly one last summer that implicitly compared President Trump to Adolf Hitler.

The well-circulated meme juxtaposes a doctored photo of Hitler appearing to hold up a book resembling a Bible with a genuine photograph of Trump holding a Bible in front of St. John's Church across from the White House. The Trump photograph was taken June 1, 2020, after police and National Guard members used tear gas on peaceful protesters so he could walk to the church.

(From Richard Torres-Estrada Facebook page)

Read Next: Unusual Tweet by Strategic Command Spurs Comedic Comments

Hitler is not holding anything in the original, unaltered photograph, as displayed on Getty Images' website.

In another post that garnered much criticism over the weekend, Torres-Estrada shared a cartoon last May showing police arresting the fairy-tale Three Bears while taking a statement from Goldilocks. The meme is captioned, "If you still don't understand how racism works, remember SHE broke into THEIR house. #StopRacism."

He also shared an image of Trump last July with multiple derogatory quotes about him from former members of his Cabinet superimposed, and a mocking "missing" flyer for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in February.

In response to a Military.com inquiry, SOCOM spokesman Ken McGraw said in an email, "USSOCOM is aware of the situation, and the command has initiated an investigation."

McGraw said in a follow-up email Tuesday that Torres-Estrada has been assigned to other duties, pending the results of the investigation. He did not say what his new duties are.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters Monday that SOCOM commander Gen. Richard Clarke informed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the investigation. Kirby said Austin supports SOCOM's decision to look further into the posts and appreciated being apprised of the situation.

"Obviously, we take the need to promote diversity and inclusion seriously here, in the department," Kirby said. "The secretary has spoken of that many times. And we certainly want that work to be transparent, to be credible, to be effective and, of course, professional. We want everybody to take those duties and those responsibilities seriously and professionally."

Kirby declined to comment further, saying he didn't want to get ahead of SOCOM's investigation.

Clarke has spoken several times recently about the difficulty SOCOM has had in improving its diversity in recent decades, but also of the importance of doing so, calling it an "operational imperative."

"We need men and women of all ethnicities and races, along with a diversity of backgrounds and beliefs in our formation," Clarke told lawmakers last week. "In a force charged with solving multifaceted problems in a complex global environment, service members who are included, respected and empowered are more ready to deter aggression and win wars."

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: Top Pentagon Leaders Summoned to Testify on Military's Response to Protests
Alex Salmonds new political party is making an audacious bid to appeal to female voters in Scotland, in an effort to distance the former SNP leader from the saga over sexual misconduct complaints.

The new, pro-independence Alba Party is to stage a women-only conference on 10 April, and has pledged to put women at the front and centre of key decisions.

It comes as SNP councillor Michelle Ferns has become the latest defector to the Alba Party, amid the ongoing psychodrama between Nicola Sturgeon and her former boss.

The Glasgow councillor intends to stand on the regional list for the Holyrood election in May, saying she wanted to help deliver the Alba Partys plan for a supermajority for Scottish independence.

Mr Salmond claimed Ms Ferns  one of four SNP councillors to have defected to the Alba Party  had proven she is a strong advocate for social justice and women in the city.

Read more:

It follows the decision by two SNP MPs, Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey, to quit Ms Sturgeons party and jump ship and join Mr Salmonds new outfit at the weekend.

Caroline McAllister, elected SNP national womens officer in November, has also quit her post and defected to Mr Salmonds party.

Im really looking forward to working with my colleagues in the Alba Party to ensure womens rights are front and centre of the new Scottish parliament I hope to be a member of, she said on Sunday.

Mr Salmond was cleared of sexual assault charges last year. Separately, the Scottish governments handling of sexual harassment claims was found to be unlawful  leading to long-running inquiries into the conduct of Ms Sturgeon and her administration.

Asked on Sunday whether his own behaviour towards women made him unfit for office, Mr Salmond said: I am not going to say a word in this campaign, denigrating either the SNP or indeed any other party. Im not rising to any bait whatsoever.

The former first minister  who has claimed he was victim of a malicious conspiracy by senior SNP figures  also told Times Radio he was willing to share a stage with Ms Sturgeon, but it did not necessarily mean forgiveness of her perceived betrayal.

Mr Salmond said people who have differences have to sink their differences, and added that he was well prepared to do that.

Salmond and Sturgeon campaigning in 2011 (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Ms Sturgeon condemned Mr Salmonds attempt to stage a political comeback on Sunday  accusing him of acting out of self-interest.

She said serious questions have been raised about the appropriateness of his behaviour towards women, which  she claimed  raises real questions about the appropriateness of any return to public office.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused Ms Sturgeons party of getting lost in internal battles, adding: This election cannot be about an SNP psychodrama.

The countrys top polling guru, Professor John Curtice, has said that if less than 5 per cent of Scots are minded to vote for Mr Salmonds new party then he is running the risk of emerging from the election empty handed.

Prof Curtice suggested the Alba Party would need to get to 7 per cent or 8 per cent of the vote to pick up a regional list seat. But the expert said it was possible that Mr Salmond could get elected in the north east of Scotland region he is contesting.
A furious Peta Credlin has accused Scott Morrison of making 'fundamental mistakes on women' and urged him to focus on tackling issues 'facing ordinary households'.

The prime minister faced backlash on Monday over an unfortunate remark he made while speaking about the a new cabinet taskforce that will focus on women's safety, equality, economic security, health and wellbeing.

While revealing the taskforce would be headed by Minister for Women Marise Payne, Mr Morrison said she would be 'the prime minister for women'.

In a wide-ranging monologue Ms Credlin - who served as former prime minister Tony Abbott's chief of staff - criticised the remark, saying she wanted 'the PM of my country to be the PM for women as much as the PM for men.'

Right wing commentator Peta Credlin (pictured) has ripped into the prime minister

After former Liberal party staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in a Minister's office within Parliament House, many women in politics have claimed there is a toxic culture towards women in Canberra.

In response, the government announced a cabinet reshuffle which included adding more females into senior roles and a new women-centric taskforce.

'Minister Payne... is effectively, amongst her female colleagues, the prime minister for women, holding the prime ministerial responsibility in this area as the minister for women,' Mr Morrison said when announcing the changes.

Ms Credlin lambasted the comment, saying it 'again exposes the government's real problem.'

'In trying to deal with, the past two months, the so-called 'women's problem' - frankly (Scott Morrison has) made a bad situation worse,' she said.

'I don't know why, but the PM keeps making these fundamental mistakes on women.

'I want the PM of my country to be the PM for women as much as the PM for men.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) made a gaffe when announcing cabinet changes

Ms Credlin also disagreed with the government's decision to create a new Women's Safety portfolio, which will be held by Anne Ruston.

'I take umbrage today at the government even creating this women's safety role. Please, we don't want to be separate, or distinct, or different. Women's safety is everyone's safety,' she said.

'Every portfolio area is, and should be, relevant to women,' the former political staffer said.

Other new roles related to women include women's economic security portfolio to be held by Jane Hume in the outer ministry, while Queensland senator Amanda Stoker will become assistant minister for industrial relations and women.

Mr Morrison called Minister Marise Payne (pictured), 'the prime minister for women'

The approval ratings for Mr Morrison (pictured left with wife Jenny) has dropped in the polls

Scott Morrison said he made the cabinet changes to ensure women had a stronger voice within parliament.

'I have always wanted to ensure there is a strong voice of women in my government, and there has been. I think what we are announcing today has gone further than that,' Mr Morrison said.

'Previous governments had a minister for women, who was expected to cover all issues that affect women... I don't think that is a constructive way to get outcomes for women.

'These changes will shake up what needs to be shaken up while maintaining the momentum and the continuity and the stability that Australia needs,' Mr Morrison said.

The cabinet reshuffle comes as the latest Newspoll numbers confirm Mr Morrison's approval ratings have taken a hit as he struggles to deal with sexual assault and harassment allegations in parliament.

Mr Morrison now has an approval rating of 55 per cent, a seven per cent decrease in two weeks.
The German government on Monday condemned the use of violence by security forces in Myanmar and called for it to "immediately renounce" use of force and release political prisoners.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin that the "brutal violence unfortunately reached a new sad low at the weekend."

Myanmar security forces opened fire Sunday on a crowd attending the funeral of student who was killed on the bloodiest day yet of a crackdown on protests against last month's coup, local media reported.

Seibert added that it is distressing "to see the almost daily death toll from such violence by the security forces in Myanmar, including children."

The escalating violence  which took the lives of at least 114 people Saturday, including several children under 16  has prompted a UN human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing "mass murder" and to criticise the international community for not doing enough to stop it.

"We call on the military in Myanmar to immediately renounce this use of force against the civilian population, to immediately release the political prisoners and to return to the democratically legitimised institutions," Seibert said.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Scammers are using telephone calls, SMS messages and emails to take advantage of Australias COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

The scams are occuring as the telecommunications industry regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), issued a warning on Monday advising Australians to be vigilant and not to provide personal details over the phone or click on any links within an email or text message, before checking the source is legitimate.

The ACMA has issued a list of important facts about the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, including a warning that you should not be asked by anyone - other than your doctor or medical professional - to provide any personal or financial information over the phone, email or SMS to get access to, or information about, the vaccination.

In addition the ACMA notes that:



The vaccination is free  you will not be asked to pay a fee to get vaccinated, to book an appointment or go on a waiting list.

You cannot get early access to the vaccine. You must meet the Governments eligibility criteria for the current phase.

You will not need a prescription from a doctor to get the vaccine.

The vaccine will not be sent to you in the mail.

Self-vaccination and self-test kits are not legal to sell or advertise in Australia.

Approved vaccination advertisements/information will not include any reference to a brand name or manufacturer.

If in doubt, or for more information, contact the Department of Healths COVID-19 vaccine helpline on 1800 020 080 or visit health.gov.au, the ACMA warns.

The ACMA is also warning consumers about current email COVID-19 vaccine scams that attempt to trick you into providing your personal or financial information, including:

offering opportunities to invest in a vaccine company

asking you to complete a vaccine related survey to win a prize.

To report scams and/or find out more about COVID-19 scams go to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) Scamwatch service - and to find out more from the ACMA about how to protect yourself from phone scams go here.


After winning a no-confidence vote last week, an embattled Nicola Sturgeon has launched her party's campaign for the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

Scotland, the First Minister declares in typically feisty fashion, is 'open, welcoming, diverse and inclusive  and no Tory is ever going to be allowed to change that'.

But how 'open' and 'inclusive' really is the Parliament that her party has dominated for a political generation? BBC Scotland's Disclosure programme has some troubling answers.

In the 22 years since Holyrood opened, it reveals, 645 people have been elected to it  and not a single woman of colour has been among them.

Scotland, the First Minister declares in typically feisty fashion, is 'open, welcoming, diverse and inclusive  and no Tory is ever going to be allowed to change that'

At the upcoming elections, just ten of more than 1,000 candidates are black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) women  six from Sturgeon's SNP. In London, the SNP has 47 MPs, but not a single one of them is a Bame woman, even though there are 35 female Bame MPs at Westminster. So much for Sturgeon's boast about being 'diverse'.

Nicola, of course, has her hands full after her erstwhile friend Alex Salmond  now her sworn enemy  has launched his new pro-independence Alba movement to scupper the SNP, which he used to lead.

Embarrassingly, Alba's website, bagpiped in with much fanfare on Friday, was beset with technical hitches and included at least one misspelt word. And which word was that? 'Independence.' Oops.

Overheard in the Commons: two Tories discussing the Bayeux Tapestry, which is set to be loaned to Britain and depicts the Frenchman William the Conqueror coming over in 1066, slaughtering the incumbent Anglo-Saxon monarchy and jamming the English crown on his head.

The priceless 11th-century artefact needs a 1.7 million repair job and the mayor of Bayeux is demanding that Britain should pay for it. One MP waspishly remarks: 'If the Government picks up the bill, can we change the ending?'

The Supreme Court has ruled that care workers are not entitled to be paid the minimum wage while they are asleep at their work place.

Does the same principle apply to members of the House of Lords?

On Thursday, I'll be raising a glass to celebrate 100 years since the Conservative grandee Sir Austen Chamberlain  older brother of former PM Neville  became leader of the House of Commons.

It's surely what he would have wanted. Chamberlain was once attending a dinner given by society hostess Margaret Greville when she noticed that her butler was looking distinctly unsteady on his feet.

On Thursday, I'll be raising a glass to celebrate 100 years since the Conservative grandee Sir Austen Chamberlain  older brother of former PM Neville  became leader of the House of Commons

She furiously scribbled a note to the underling: 'You are very drunk: Leave the room immediately!' The butler accepted the note and blearily surveyed the room. He then placed the message on a silver salver, and presented it with a flourish to Sir Austen.

The eminent politician spent the rest of the meal in mystified silence, later saying: 'It is the first time I have ever been silenced by a drunken butler.'

Support for the Tories in the 'Red Wall' of formerly rock-solid Labour seats in the north of England is strengthening thanks to the generous furlough scheme and Boris's enduring popularity among blue-collar voters.

Polling suggests they could even win the Hartlepool by-election in May, bringing them their first MP in the north-east town for 60 years. But some are muttering they'd rather Labour scraped home  as losing Peter Mandelson's old seat could spell existential trouble for the party's beleaguered leader.

'Keir Starmer is so useless, the last thing we want is a full-blown leadership crisis and they kick him out,' one tells me.

'He is a vote-winner for us in the north.'
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
On the 1st September 1939, the Nazi regime in Germany unleashed the horror of a Second World War on the planet by invading Poland.

What happened?

At the end of World War I, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Upper Silesia, Greater Poland, and West Prussia were given to Poland. This had angered the Germans at the time and continued to fester.

Hitler signed a non-aggression treaty with Poland in 1934. This was a pact he had little intention of honoring in the long run but was designed to prevent a Franco-Polish alliance and give Germany time to recover, rearm and rebuild her armed forces.

At this time, Britains public opinion favored some form of concession around the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. This drove British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to follow a policy of limited appeasement and concessions to the Germans. Added to public opinion was the fact that Britain was not militarily prepared for another all-out European war.

At the end of August, there was a flurry of negotiations and secret negotiations, leading up to the secret signing on the 23rd August 1939 of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union.

Six days later, Hitler demanded the Polish Corridors return leading to the free city of Danzig so that the Germans would have a link to the East Prussian territory. This was refused by the Polish government.

To justify their invasion that started on the 1st September, the Germans claimed that the Polish people were persecuting German nationals, and Poland, along with Britain and France, were intending to invade Germany. This was blatantly rubbish, but with a staged attack on a radio station, Hitler had his smoking gun and used it as an excuse to invade Poland.

The Polish army wasnt fully mobilized and poorly equipped compared to the technology available to the German troops, and they were quickly overcome. France and Britain honored their treaty with Poland and formally declared war on Germany on 3rd September. This declaration, however, did not come with substantial military support.

From the start, the Luftwaffe attacked civilians, and a favored target was the long lines of refugees fleeing the fighting. Estimates on the number of civilians killed vary, but the most reliable estimates show that the Luftwaffe killed between 6,000 and 7,000 refugees during the battle for Warsaw.

They were not the only German troops that committed atrocities against the Polish people. The SS was also implicated in many atrocities where entire villages were burned and all the men, women, and children massacred.

On the 17th September, the Soviet Union invaded Poland along its eastern border. By the 6th October, all Polish resistance had faded.

The German military then took over the control of the country, and it was not long after that concentration camps were built. Many thousands of Polish people lost their lives to the gas chambers.

The photographs in this collection show the peacekeeping efforts before the war and then the horrors of the battleground encountered by the ordinary Polish people.

Another Article From Us: 36 Fiery Photographs of Flamethrowers Through the Ages
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will continue to travel even as the CDC warns against non-essential flights amid a rise in coronavirus cases, the White House said on Monday.

'Well I would say the president travels - as the vice president - on a private plane,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at her daily briefing. 'That is the purview of every president and vice president throughout American history. That is of course different than traveling on a commercial flight.'

She then got in a shot at former President Donald Trump, who held multiple campaign rallies during the 2020 election despite health experts warning against mass gatherings. The Trump campaign held the rallies outside in a concession to the pandemic but didn't require attendees to wear face masks, arguing it was a personal choice.

'The president is not hosting rallies, nor is the vice president. We take the role of being models quite seriously. But I think most Americans would recognize the difference,' Psaki added.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will continue to travel despite CDC asking it be restricted to 'essential'

White House said President Joe Biden also will continue to travel home to Wilmington, Delaware, as he did this past weekend

She said Biden would also continue to travel to his private home in Wilmington, Delaware, as he did this past weekend.

'What I'm conveying is that president, as any president does, travels on Air Force One, whether he's traveling to visit a community in this country or whether he is traveling to go to his home state of Delaware,' she said. 'I think most people recognize that as being a difference.'

The White House's stance on travel came as the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made an impassioned plea to Americans not to let their guard down in the fight against COVID.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky grew emotional as she described a feeling of 'impending doom' amid a possible fourth surge.

'I am going to pause here, I'm going to lose the script and I am going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope,' she said. 'But right now, I'm scared.'

Walensky pointed to an uptick in travel and loosening virus restrictions for the increase in cases.

'We've seen surges after every single holiday,' she said: 'Please limit travel to essential travel for the time being.'

In the past week, the average number of new daily infections has risen by 10 percent to nearly 60,00 a day, according to the CDC's data.

And hospitalizations have risen to more than 4,800 new admissions a day.

Even new daily deaths, a metric that typically doesn't rise until weeks after new infections increase, have increased by about three percent, to just shy of 1,000 a day, compared to the prior seven-day rolling average.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki got in a shot at former President Trump (above), saying President Biden wasn't traveling to campaign rallies

Dr. Anthony Fauci called it a race between the vaccination rate - the US is giving around 2 million shots in the arm per day - and the spread of COVID and its variants.

'It will be a race between the vaccine and what's going on with the dynamics of the outbreak. And we can win this by just hanging in there a bit longer,' Fauci said.

Walensky pointed at the fourth surge that is now in full swing in countries like Germany, Italy and France. She said that the trends in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in those countries looked

She issued a plea with Americans to redouble their efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to encourage their friends families and social networks to do the same.

'I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer, to please get vaccinated when you can, so that all those people we all love will still be here when the pandemic is over,' Walensky said in an emotional plea.

After hovering for weeks at about 50,000, the seven-day rolling average of new COVID cases in the U.S. is now more than 63,000, with 43,694 new infections recorded Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

More than half of states saw new cases rise by more than 10 percent last week, compared to the preceding week, and Michigan officials say the surge dreaded nationwide is already upon the state.

Another 506 Americans died of COVID-19 on Sunday.
OTTAWA - A report on last years deadly Snowbird crash in British Columbia has flagged concerns about the pilots actions in the frantic moments before the plane went down in a residential area, and says the Air Force needs to develop better procedures for such situations.

Members of the Canadian Forces walk by the crash site of a Canadian Forces Snowbirds jet in Kamloops, B.C., Monday, May 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

OTTAWA - A report on last years deadly Snowbird crash in British Columbia has flagged concerns about the pilots actions in the frantic moments before the plane went down in a residential area, and says the Air Force needs to develop better procedures for such situations.

The final flight-safety investigation report released Monday said Capt. Richard MacDougall tried to turn his Tutor jet around and return to the Kamloops Airport after a bird strike caused his engine to stall shortly after takeoff on May 17.

That was despite past flight-safety reports having recommended pilots climb straight ahead to give themselves time to regain control of their aircraft or allow for a safe ejection as all previous Tutor attempts to turn around had resulted in failure.

In these instances  all of which occurred at the same stage of flight as this occurrence  the pilots had commenced a zoom and turn towards the airport in attempt to land on a prepared surface, the report reads.

All occurrences resulted in insufficient energy to perform the manoeuvre and in all occurrences, the crew ejected at low level. Unfortunately, two occurrences resulted in a total of three fatalities.

MacDougall told investigators that he was concerned about the plane crashing into a residential area, and the report notes that the power loss could not have come at a worse time thanks to its low altitude, speed and proximity to other aircraft and neighbourhoods.

Reflecting on this accident, it would be easy to fall victim to hindsight bias and second-guess the actions of the pilot, the report says.

It nonetheless calls on the Air Force to develop better guidance and training for Tutor pilots when they run into an emergency during takeoff or landing, particularly when flying near populated areas.

Investigators also mentioned concerns about MacDougalls order to his passenger, Capt. Jennifer Casey, to eject from the aircraft. While pilots are trained to yell Eject three times in quick succession, the report says he instead said: Pull the handle.

The format of this command is designed so that the passenger initiates ejection upon hearing the first EJECT of the command followed by the pilot on the third EJECT, who initiates their own ejection, the report reads.

This difference in wording may have contributed to the overall confusion/uncertainty of the situation which resulted in the passenger ejecting second.

Casey, the Snowbirds public affairs officer, was killed after ejecting from the Tutor. MacDougall suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries. The military aerobatics team was participating at the time in a cross-country morale-boosting tour amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investigators used video shot by spectators and physical evidence to conduct their probe of the crash, which was the second involving one of the Snowbirds' 50-year-old Tutor jets in less than a year.

The investigation confirmed that the bird strike caused a compressor stall, which resulted in a loss of power to the plane. However, it also found that the strike did not cause major damage to the plane, which had no significant technical problems before takeoff.

The bird was found to be a western tanager.

One unanswered question was why Caseys ejection seat travelled backward at one point after leaving the aircraft, and why she was unable to get clear of it. The most likely cause was that her arm or leg was extended, the report says, causing it to roll in the air.

The report found that Caseys parachute never fully opened, and that there wasnt enough time for the ejection system on the Tutor to operate properly because of its steep dive when MacDougall and Casey ejected.

The investigation report includes a total of five recommendations, including examining changes to the ejection system to make it more stable and the installation of flight-data recorders that can survive a crash.

The Snowbirds announced in December that they plan to fly at air shows across Canada and parts of the United States starting in June after cancelling all of last years season.

The federal government recently approved a project to extend the lives of the Tutors until 2030. Upgrades are expected to include new avionics and instruments as well as a glass cockpit. A separate project is underway to improve the planes ejection system.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.
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Mr Malami received at least three warnings, including an EFCC report intimating him that at least a part of the debts is unjustifiable. But he seems to have disregarded them all.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has for years disregarded repeated warnings against the suspicious $418 million judgment debts said to be owed by the states and their local governments with respect to the Paris Club refunds, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today.

But despite the warnings, including a report by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), against the legitimacy of the debts, the minister has been contributing to what anti-corruption activists consider a desperate push for the settlement of the purported creditors through monthly deductions from the allocations of states and local governments.

This newspaper, now in possession of copies of tens of official correspondences and documents concerning the matter, exclusively reported how the AGF, along with two other powerful officials, has been working against the demand by the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) that the legitimacy or otherwise of the huge debts be determined through a forensic probe.

Others with whom Mr Malami has been countering the governors are Ibrahim Gambari, the chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed.

Some individuals who claimed to be agents of the judgment creditors, our reporters gathered, have offered as much as $40million in bribes to the Chairman of the NGF, Governor Kayode Fayemi, to break his resistance to the settlement of the suspicious debt.

But the Ekiti State Governor rejected the overtures, insisting that the debts and the judgments around them should be thoroughly investigated in the interest of the Nigerian people, those familiar with the matter said.

However, following PREMIUM TIMES expose on the matter last week, some publications were orchestrated in the media to smear the NGF chair, claiming he was blocking the payment because his demand for a cut of 10 per cent of the outstanding amount was rebuffed.

The judgment debts

The controversial debt arose from various court judgments ordering that some "contractors" and "consultants" be paid for certain services and projects executed for the various states and the 774 local governments.

Some of the claimants were said to be consultants who helped the states and local governments to secure recovery of funds over-deducted from their allocations between 1995 and 2002 to service then London and Paris Club loans.

On the other hand, the contractors among them were purportedly engaged to execute certain projects in all the 774 local governments in anticipation that they would be paid from the Paris Club refunds.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how past leaderships of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and the NGF had given tacit support to six claimants in securing court judgments to validate their claims to their shares of the refunds.

NGF's query

The judgment debts, which currently stand at $418,953,670.59 (amounting to about N159 billion at a conservative exchange rate of $1 to N380.5), are being contested by the NGF leadership under Mr Fayemi.

The Mr Fayemi-led NGF is demanding a probe to ascertain the service rendered by the said creditors to prove or disprove their entitlement to the planned humongous payments.

PREMIUM TIMES' earlier report on the matter indicated that President Buhari, following protests by the NGF in January, directed that the moves for the settlement of the debts be suspended.

But that has not deterred the Mr Gambari-led camp from continuing to push for the payments to the creditors as quickly as possible.

Warnings received by AGF

Mr Malami has received at least three warnings, including an EFCC report intimating him that at least a part of the debts is unjustifiable.

PREMIUM TIMES, after its first report on the matter, obtained two letters authored by successive presidents of ALGON in 2018 and 2019 protesting the judgment claims credited to Ted Iseghoghi-Edwards and RIOK Nigeria Limited.

In the letter dated September 10, 2018, with reference number, ALGON/NP/FMJ/VOL1/001/18, and which was received by the AGF office on September 13, 2018, the then ALGON President, Gambo Kagara, informed Mr Malami that neither Mr Iseghoghi-Edwards nor his law firm, worked for the association as claimed by them in the recovery of the refund of the over-deducted Paris Club loans to be entitled to any payment.

"ALGON as an association did not at any time engage Ted Edwards/Edwards and Partners to recover on its behalf or on behalf of Local Governments, funds related to the refund of Paris and London debt over-deductions," Mr Kagara's letter read in part.

Mr Kagara's letter, which was a reply to an earlier enquiry by Mr Malami, explained that ALGON actually engaged the services of some lawyers that represented the association and by extension its members during the litigation process that ended in favour of the association.

But it added, "A perusal of all the relevant court records will show that neither Dr Ted Edward nor Edwards and Partners were counsel on records throughout the entire court proceedings."

Concerning RIOK, which is laying claim to a court judgment awarding it over $142 million (about N54 billion) as its share of the Paris Club refunds, Mr Kagara stated that there was no evidence the firm executed the contracts it was awarded by ALGON in December 2013 to be entitled to the monetary claim.

His letter to Mr Malami reads in part, "ALGON via an award letter dated December 17, 2013, awarded a contract to RIOK Nigeria Limited for the provision of boreholes and other water reticulating apparatus in all the 774 Local Governments and Area Councils in Nigeria.

"This was subsequently followed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) executed by both parties.

"The entire contract sum was $318,807,950,596, to be funded from the Paris Club refund funds accruable to Local Governments.

"From ALGON's records, there is no evidence that RIOK has executed the required job."

It added that there was also "no communication from the company informing ALGON of the job execution/completion."

"No job inspection has been carried out by ALGON and RIOK has not formally handed over any site of job completion; no certification of job completion has been issued to RIOK; consequently, the association categorically denies execution of the work by RIOK to justify any claims for payment," the letter added.

ALGON's second warning to Malami

ALGON, under a new administration led by Kolade Alabi as president, wrote another letter dated October 8, 2019, to Mr Malami, restating the association's position on the judgment debts as canvassed in Mr Kagara's September 10, 2018 correspondence.

In the new letter with reference number, ALGON/LSD/AGF/VOL1/002/19, which was received by the AGF office on October 15, 2019, Mr Alabi also referred to Mr Malami's earlier queries on the matter.

"The queries were responded to via ALGON's letter dated September 10, 2018," Mr Alabi stated in part.

He further stated that the "feedback" from the association's lawyer "underscores and re-emphasises ALGON'S position as expressed in our previous letter to the office of the AGF concerning the mentioned parties."

Restating the previous position of the association, Mr Alabi said "Dr Edwards/Edwards and Partners Law Firm were never at any time engaged by ALGON EXCO to recover on its behalf or on behalf of the local governments, funds related to the Paris /London Club Debt Refunds."

He also recalled that ALGON entered into a contractual agreement with RIOK Nigeria Limited for the provision of boreholes and water reticulation apparatus in the 774 local government areas in the country with the contract aimed "to be funded from the Paris/London Club refund proceeds due to local governments."

But Mr Alabi stated again that "The contract was never executed in part or full because the condition precedent for its execution never materialised. Consequently, RIOK cannot claim payment for a non-executed project."

He also begged the AGF to use his "good offices to ensure that funds belonging to local governments are not used to settle dubious and illegal claims."

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, were copied the letter.

EFCC report

The ALGON's letters are not the only warnings that Mr Malami received.

Mr Malami, in his letter, dated July 17, 2020, sent to the President's Chief of Staff, Mr Gambari, acknowledged an EFCC report questioning the legitimacy of the $159 million being claimed by Mr Iseghoghi-Edwards, one of the six judgment creditors

He said in the letter that the "recent EFCC report shows" that Mr Iseghoghi-Edwards "is not entitled to this sum".

The minister also informed the Chief of Staff in the letter that, although he had initially referred the matter to the EFCC for investigation, the report of the commission was not served on his office.

But despite admitting the existence of a damning EFCC report on the controversial debts, Mr Malami did not try to discourage Mr Gambari on its settlement or at least recommend its suspension until further probes are done.

The judgment creditors

PREMIUM TIMES has extensively reviewed the details of the Paris Club-related judgment creditors from a series of letters and documents sent to the presidency by the AGF and the Minister of Finance at various times.

The claimants include a former member of the House of Representatives, politician and lawyer, Ned Nwoko, who is laying claim to $142,028,941 (about N54 billion) via a consent judgment he obtained from the Federal High Court in Abuja in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/148/2017.

Three beneficiaries laying claim to $143,463,577.76 (about N54.6 billion) via a judgment of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2129/2014 are Riok Nigeria Ltd, Orji Nwafor Orizu, and Olaitan Bello.

From the $143,463,577.76, Riok Nigeria Limited has a share of $142,028,941.95 (about N54 billion), Mr Nwafor is entitled to $1,219,440.45 (about N464 million), while Mr Bello is posturing to be paid $215,159.36 (N81.7 million).

The claimant with the singular lion share is Ted Iseghoghi Edwards, who is laying claim to $159,000,000 (about 60.5 billion) through a judgment he obtained from the FCT High Court in suit number FCT/CV/1545/2015.

A firm, Panic Alert Security System Limited, owned by George Uboh, is also laying claim to $47,831,920 (about N18.2billion) based on another "consent judgment" it obtained in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/123/2018, which was filed as recently as 2018.

As earlier reported by PREMIUM TIMES, the suits leading to the judgments were either feebly defended or outrightly consented to by past leaderships of ALGON and NGF.

The current NGF leadership under Mr Fayemi is questioning the legitimacy of the entire debt.

Malami's frantic push

PREMIUM TIMES reported previously that Mr Malami is the only one that has been in the picture from inception, among the three top officials pushing for the settlement of the judgment debts.

The duo of Mr Gambari and Mrs Ahmed only got involved in the matter from the points their predecessors stopped.

Mr Malami's roles are so crucial in the matter that his office is involved in the compilation of the list of all the judgment debts against the government and the verification of the judgment debt lists compiled by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

He was also responsible for the categorisation of the judgment debts into three groups - the Paris Club refunds-related debts; Top Priority Debts due to enforcement actions, and General Debts incurred by the Federal Government's MDAs.

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He also advised the government on the level of priorities to assign to each of the categories of debts.

PREMIUM TIMES observes from his various correspondences on the matter that his legal advice was consistently tilted towards how the Paris Club refund-related debts could be settled without delay.

Ever-shifting positions

A meeting of officials from the federal ministries of finance and justice, the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Budget Office. and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which held on June 12, 2017, had recommended four alternative sources of funds to defray the judgment debts.

The recommended sources were: Budget and or supplementary budget, promissory notes, Federal Government bonds; and extra-budgetary votes.

Following the recommendations by the committee, Mr Malami, in his letter dated June 16, 2017 with reference number, MJ/LIT/ABJ/SH/JD/598/Vol.1/17, advised the President to approve the payment of the judgment debts from budgetary sources.

But in her own recommendation to the presidency via her letter dated September 27, 2017, with reference number FMF/OHMF/JDAA/VP/1/2017, then Minister of Finance went outside the committee's suggestions and advised that the funds should be sourced from "recovered funds".

Following the Minister of Finance's recommendation, Mr Malami quickly dropped his former advice that the funds should be sourced through budgetary means.

In his letter dated November 3, 2017, with reference number MJ/LIT/ABJ/SH/JD/598/101/16, he advised President Buhari that the approved judgment debts should be paid from recovered funds as advised by the Minister of Finance.

But the then Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, did not accept the recommendation of defraying the debts from recovered funds.

Mr Kyari, in a letter dated November 8, 2017, with reference number SH/COS/08/B/395, sent to the Ministry of Finance, sought expert advice on "alternative sources of funds that may be utilised to settle the relevant judgment debts other than recourse to recovered funds."

In the end, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ahmed, through her letter dated October 6, 2020, requested Mr Gambari to advise the president that the most viable option is to settle all categories of judgment creditors through the issuance of promissory notes.

She also advised that creditors in Category A (Paris Club Refunds Related Debts) be settled through "equal monthly amount deductions from statutory allocation due to states and local councils over a period of 10 years."

Mr Malami had no objection to the new recommendation by Mrs Ahmed and in fact further advised that the consent of either the Federal Executive Council (FEC) or that of the National Assembly would not be required for the issuance of the promissory notes.

Mr Buhari on December 24, 2020, approved the recommendation for the issuance of the promissory note as tabled before him by Mr Gambari.

The NGF subsequently obtained Mr Buhari's fresh directive suspending the settlement of the debts pending a forensic audit.

But since January, the NGF has not been able to secure the commitment of Mr Gambari's camp to abide by the President's fresh directive.
Further isolation for older farmers has been caused by the restriction of livestock sales to online, according to veteran auctioneer George Candler.

A year on from the start of the restrictions, he believes there will be fewer buyers but online is definitely here to stay.

We are losing a cohort of the older farmers who are not into the modern-day technology, he says. This was sprung on them.

If they have no younger person who can show them how it operates, they are totally lost.

They are afraid to get involved in case they press a wrong button. They dont have any confidence in the new system.

They have been totally forgotten about.



There is a danger that we adopt the policy of moving on and forgetting about the minority.

And it is the end of another social outlet for these older farmers, who no longer go to the pub because of the ban on drink driving.

They are now becoming more isolated, which is a very dangerous scenario.

Where there are large rings we should be able to get 50-60 farmers back into the ring in safety without being close to each other, and that would give the older farmers a chance to get back into the sales.

Since there was no other way of selling cattle we have had to adjust, but there are still problems like communication with the system or phones freezing.

We have people saying that they were not able to get in for a bid.

Technology has to improve and we have to look at the infrastructure at the marts to make sure that the broadband is strong enough.

It has definitely not affected the prices. I have never seen the trade as buoyant, in every sector. Hoggets are making up to 180 and the forward stores of 500kg were selling for 2.50 to 2.80/kg and up to 3/kg for some really choice lots on Thursday  phenomenal prices.

We have three system operatives providing the service for online sales marts should be assisted by the Government if they have to install stronger systems. It was not their choice that they have had to adopt to online selling at short notice.
Former US President Donald Trump crashed a wedding reception at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he made a speech about China, Iran and his successor Joe Biden. Trump used the opportunity to make a fiery speech against the US' adversaries and Biden's foreign and domestic policies. Trump attacked the Biden administration on scores of issues, including Washington's new Iran policy and a rise in the influx of migrants from the southern border.

"How are we dealing with Iran? We were ready to make a deal, they were ready to do anything, they would have done anything. And this guy [Biden] goes and drops the sanctions and then he says we'd like to negotiate now. We're not dealing with the US now. They don't want to deal with that stuff," Trump says in the two-and-a-half-minute video, which was originally shared by TMZ.

Joe Biden administration has been exploring ways to restore the 2015 nuclear deal signed by Iran and other major world powers, which was abandoned by former Donald Trump who reimposed the sanctions. Iran had back then retaliated by breaching the terms of the deal in a step by step response. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reiterated several times that the United States must "lift all sanctions" if Washington wants Tehran's return to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

And now China does the same thing. They never treated us that way. What happened a few days ago was terrible, Trump further added in the video.

'Do you miss me yet?'

Trump also took the opportunity to suggest that the US Presidential election was rigged in favour of Joe Biden, an unfounded claim he has been making since he lost the polls in November 2020. They said get 66 million votes, sir, and the election is over. I got 75 million votes, and you saw what happened. At 10.30 pm in the evening, all of a sudden, they said that's a strange thing, why are they closing up certain places. There's a lot of things happening right now, Trump said.

#Florida | Former President Donald #Trump wandered into a wedding reception being held at Mar-a-Lago but instead of toasting the happy couple proceeded to run through a laundry list of his own personal grievances. https://t.co/XX0aOs8JrK pic.twitter.com/5IYAAzYiPV  Atlantide (@Atlantide4world) March 28, 2021

At one point in the video, Trump even asks the crowd if they missed him yet. And I just say, do you miss me yet? Trump asks as the crowd erupts in cheer and loud noises. Trump then thank the couple for having him at the wedding. The footage of Donald Trumps wedding speech is going viral on social media. Footage of the bride, talking about Donald Trump's speech, is also going viral on social media. In the short clip, the woman shows her ring and says she just got married and Donald Trump is speaking at her reception, adding "I don't know why?"

Donald Trump crashed our wedding at Mar-a-Lago!!! Thats MY president!!!  pic.twitter.com/QzTYjqM917  blaire erskine (@blaireerskine) March 29, 2021

Here's how netizens reacted to Trump's wedding speech:

Thought he was going to sing "he did it his way"  Casper - Temp Account ALBA (@KarenRo99773156) March 29, 2021

Donald Trump does weddings now  pic.twitter.com/g5JNrJgIRU  Natasha  (@ndelriego) March 29, 2021

Donald Trump's full wedding speech at Mar-A-Lago (YT link below) pic.twitter.com/g29m2xch3k  J-L Cauvin (@JLCauvin) March 29, 2021

Donald Trump giving a toast about himself at a wedding at Mar-a-Largo. pic.twitter.com/u3Un3BtH5A  Aleena Archuleta (@Ms_Marvel_Girl) March 29, 2021

Trump wandered into a wedding reception at the Mar-A-Lago and complained about Biden to no particular point earlier this weekend.



This is real and that is exactly what happened. Footage below.https://t.co/btypuJpw8T  Bencompetence (@Bencompetence) March 29, 2021

(Image Credit: AP/Twitter/@Atlantide4world)
My wife and I did not enter the (U.S.) Capitol.

That is what ChinaAid Founder Bob Fu told the Reporter-Telegram at the end of an hour-long interview this week.

Fu wanted to be clear about his actions on Jan. 6  the now notorious day in U.S. history. He was clear with the Reporter-Telegram that those who committed violent acts inside the Capitol that day should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. He also disagreed with the characterization of the peaceful protests by hundreds of thousands on that day as riots or acts of insurrection.

He told the Reporter-Telegram this past week he was in Washington that day as he and his family were scheduled to tour the White House on Jan. 7. In Washington, he was going to take in the activities, which included hearing President Trump speak at the Ellipse. He called the atmosphere that day festival-like. He remarked that he saw large contingents of Chinese Christians in town from San Francisco. They even brought a big Chinese drum. Out among the crowd from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., he said, there wasnt any reason to think that more than 99 percent of those involved were there to be part of an actual insurrection. Remember Fu was part of the Tiananmen Square incident, a series of protests and demonstrations in China in 1989. Hes participated in historical demonstrations.

He told the Reporter-Telegram that the narrative of a pre-meditated, armed rebellion doesnt fit with his experience. He commented that if just 1 percent of those at the rally had been there for a violent overthrow it would have been a real disaster.

A significant majority of the crowd was very peaceful, said Fu, who commented that around 4 p.m. that day he was doing a media interview when a curfew was declared.

Feels like his China experience

Fu doesnt trust the media. He believes they will take something he says and use it to fit their own narrative. However, he commented that communications issues like he experienced in China were made worse after January. The interference with political speech, he said, has himself in a state of disbelief. How could it be in America that providers could ban comments from the president of the United States or videos in Chinese talking about the election and about the Chinese governments alleged actions to interfere in elections in America? Why the need to censor?

He called the intrusion and speech suppression by Big Tech in the United States less severe than what is taking place in China but still well-organized and well-orchestrated. Uniform policies, ideologically driven and the requirement that people must obey, social media operations have changed, and Fu said he feels sorry that American citizens are having to go through this stage.

Social media ban? Fu has experienced it.

Fu talked about ChinaAid having its own issues with a social ban. As part of ChinaAids bringing attention to persecution stories, Fu will post and repost stories. He talked about how Facebook invited ChinaAid to send a post out to more people through an advertisement. However, after ChinaAid followed through, Facebook banned the advertisement.

Fu called it ridiculous that his organization was invited to advertise the post about religious persecution in China and then had it banned.

Facebook must have hired its own propaganda department that is now watching our website, Fu commented.

An attack on Asians in America?

Lives are lives, no matter the color of the skin, Fu said, when asked about the recent killings in Atlanta that brought a spotlight by some in the media about the killing of Asians. He believes describing those killings as racially motivated fits into the narrative being driven by some involved in identity politics or skin politicians. However, he also said a crime is a crime, and he asked why is there a need to divide people of different skin colors?

He commented that people in China are some of the most racist people on earth and that they call foreigners, especially Americans, the devils. He doesnt seek to justify any behavior, as he said if there is true racially motivated hatred, we all have to work together to seek reconciliation and deal with it.

He chooses to see life through the eyes of those like his daughter, who, he says, does not feel this alleged hatred toward Asians.

Some people could have that motivation, said Fu of the sinful heart. Social media fans those flames and the media could be more responsible by being more objective than making their own narrative.





Migrants in Midland

Fu was surprised to hear that a migrant facility for those crossing the southern border had been opened in Midland County.

He said he wouldnt be surprised if there are politics behind its opening but that God opened the door for us to minister to those kids. He also talked about the opportunities that the news of a facility opening brings, including that churches could look inward and see if there is room in their own hearts for Spanish-language ministries.

After all, he said, Midland is rich in resources and their hearts are filled with compassion. The heart of Jesus is how he described it.

Their care about what is happening in the world is extraordinary, Fu said.
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.
Tens of thousands are expected to travel to Belfast's SSE Arena from today to receive their Covid jab over the coming weeks, with members of the public being urged to get on a bus when travelling to and from the huge vaccine centre.

It is estimated that as many as 40,000 people each week could get their jabs at the SSE.

With limited parking available there and social distancing necessary on public transport, a massive logistical operation has swung into action. Public transport options to get to the SSE Arena include:

Free shuttles from the Europa Bus centre every 15 minutes from 7.45am to 8.15pm.

Free shuttles from Northside Park and Ride will be every ten minutes from 7.40am to 8.20pm.

G2 Glider services every 15 minutes from the city centre.

Trains to Titanic Quarter station, which a short walk from the SSE.

Car parks in the city centre can also be used, from where you can either walk or use the free shuttle from the Europa Buscentre.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said the SSE will be one of the busiest vaccination centres in Northern Ireland, so her department, Translink, the PSNI and the South Eastern Trust have put in place a management system to deal with the increased traffic.

"I would ask those travelling to the SSE for vaccines to use the free bus service to get to the centre," she said.

"I would also remind people travelling on public transport that face coverings must be worn by all passengers and social distancing practices observed," she added.

Translink chief executive Chris Conway said public transport will play a key role in helping people get to the vaccination centre.

"We will be monitoring passenger numbers and ensure we have enough capacity that people will be able to socially distance on board," he said.

"In addition, we have rigorous cleaning regimes in place, protective screens on vehicles and in-stations, PPE for staff, sanitiser dispensers, social distancing signage and more safety announcements than ever, helping ensure we give passengers the confidence to use public transport again.

"We would like to thank the public for their support throughout this pandemic and look forward to welcoming people back on board. We would remind everyone they need to wear a face covering (unless exempt), practice good hand hygiene, socially distance and use contactless payments to minimise interaction.

"Together, we can keep everyone safe as we come through this next phase and look towards brighter days."

According to the latest figures, a total of 726,589 first doses of a Covid vaccine and 123,452 second doses have been administered in Northern Ireland to date.

First Minister Arlene Foster received her first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at the weekend.

She was given an AstraZeneca jab by GP Dr John Porteous at the Castle Park leisure centre in Lisnaskea in her Co Fermanagh constituency on Saturday morning. The 50-year-old DUP leader became eligible for the vaccine earlier this month when Northern Ireland's programme opened to the 50-and-over age cohort.

Stormont deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Health Minister Robin Swann will have to wait to be vaccinated as they are in the 40 to 49 age bracket.
Nanded: A sword-wielding mob consisting of people from the Sikh community on Monday (March 29) attacked policemen after they refused to let them carry out a religious procession in Gurudwara in Maharashtras Nanded.

At least four policemen were injured in the brawl, including bodyguard of the Superintendent of Police of Nanded.

Religious gatherings were barred in the area in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases. But the crowd of about 300 to 400 people tried to enter the gurudwara, breaking the police barricades.

A viral video of the incident showed the mob storming the gurudwara, break barricades and attack the policemen.

"Permission for the Hola Mohalla procession was not granted to them due to the pandemic. The gurudwara committee was informed and they had assured us that they would abide by our directives," a police official was quoted as saying by PTI.

"However, when the Nishan Sahib was brought to the gate around 4 pm, they started arguing and over 300 youth broke the gate and began attacking policeman," he added.

Nishan Sahib is a triangular saffron-coloured flag furling outside a gurdwara on a steel pole covered with a saffron-coloured cloth that is most popularly associated with Guru Hargobind. The flag also has an insignia called Khanda in the middle. The Khanda includes two swords and a chakra.

Several vehicles were also damaged in the violence. An FIR has been registered in the case and the police have initiated a probe into it.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has warned of strict action against those who flout COVID-19 norms.

He said that the COVID-19 cases are rising because people are not following guidelines seriously that is why strict steps like lockdown are needed to be considered.

Maharashtra reported 40,414 new COVID-19 cases and 108 related deaths in the last 24 hours.

Live TV
analysis

Photographs rendered apartheid visible, helping to make the world aware of it and to spur resistance. A new book does the same for the plight of often persecuted migrants in South Africa, where they are blamed for social and economic ills.

First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.

Whose stories are told - and whose are obscured? Who is allowed to be visible - and who is erased? Photography entails more than record-keeping. It engages processes of worldmaking that organise how we understand our worlds, and ourselves, and how we engage with our communities. By engaging our attention on certain sites and away from others, it frames what and who are worth seeing. In this way, the photographer helps produce a public knowledge about who should be made visible.

South Africans know this acutely, for photographers, some of them heroic, some at cost to their own lives, made apartheid visible. Targets of xenophobia are subjected to the violence of estrangement. Xenos: the stranger, the outsider, the "alien". To be called xenos, to be made xenos, is to be categorised as illegitimate - to be pushed beyond the bounds, beyond citizenship, beyond moral concern.

These categories accrue. They come...
The Taoiseach has branded events at the Beacon Hospital repugnant and pointed out that the vaccines belong to the people of Ireland.

The private hospital has come under fire for vaccinating up to 20 teachers at St Gerards private school in Bray, using leftover vaccines last week.

Asked about the unauthorised distribution of spare vaccines, Micheal Martin said: What happened there is completely unacceptable.

Its actually repugnant to people, that something like that would happen, and that's why the administration of vaccines there has been suspended.

The vaccines belong to the people of Ireland.

Read More

The HSE has ordered an examination of what happened at the Beacon, he said. There have been clear protocols laid down in terms of the prioritisation, and the manner in which any surplus and vaccines are to be used.

On a report in the Sunday Times that the UK was preparing to give 3.7m spare vaccines to Ireland, Mr Martin commented: I spoke to Mr Johnson six weeks ago. At that stage he was very clear that he would have to vaccinate his people first, prior to vaccinating anybody else. And there's some distance to go on that.

Theres been no contact since then, or no indication from other officials at British government level, in terms of offering any vaccines.

Any vaccines that are available, we will of course accept them  but there's been no offer at this time.

Speaking about the vaccine roll-out in Ireland so far, the Taoiseach said the prioritisation of vaccines had been for the most vulnerable  whether senior citizens, people in nursing homes, frontline healthcare workers and those with underlying health conditions  in order to give the greatest level of protection to those at risk of illness and to reduce death.

The Governments approach so far had worked, broadly speaking, he said.

The roll-out of the plan has been effective and the impacts have been quite dramatic.

Mr Martin would not be drawn on any potential easing of restrictions.

A Cabinet sub-committee is meeting Nphet this evening to discuss restrictions, with a full Cabinet meeting tomorrow morning before an announcement on what is anticipated to be a minor easing of Covid rules on a phased basis during the month of April.
Ford Load and Capacity Guide by VIN Number

Ford Motor Company provides a website that will give detailed capacity and load information, based on a specific VIN Number. I've entered my truck and can verify that it provides the "yellow sticker" info exactly, and also provides the GCWR. This might be helpful for those shopping for a particular payload capacity without a visit to the dealership; just enter a VIN from the dealers inventory, which is available on their website. Hope this helps someone.

Repost from another site.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 18:41:12|Editor: huaxia

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JUBA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people have been killed and seven others injured in a deadly attack in Budi County of South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria State, a local government official confirmed Monday.

Aliandro Lotok, State Governor's press secretary, said unknown gunmen launched the attack on Camp 15 area at around 1 a.m. on Sunday while people were sleeping, killing 12 women and two children.

"The state government has condemned the incident in the strongest term possible. We would like to assure our citizens that the state authorities will investigate the attack," Lotok told Xinhua on the phone in Juba.

He added that the local authorities have not established the motive behind the attack, noting that a major hunt for the attackers is underway.

Lotok urged the local communities in the area to remain calm despite the deadly attack as the state authorities strive to restore normally in the area as the government probes the killings.

The latest attack comes a week after a group of gunmen attacked a cantonment site harboring opposition forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) in Kapoeta County, killing its commander and four others. Enditem
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) urged Staten Island business owners struggling due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and relief through the Restaurant Fund -- both of which are part of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed earlier this month.

In a webinar with nearly 90 Staten Island Chamber of Commerce (SICC) members on Monday, Schumer highlighted the relief measures available to the boroughs small business owners via the American Rescue Plan.

Theres some real good news that help is on the way, said Schumer to the webinar attendees. Theres $325 billion for small business and non-profit relief within the COVID relief package.

PPP LOANS

Included in the package is $284 billion for PPP first loans, said Schumer. And now there is a new second loan option. If you got the money in the first round, now theres another round for you, he added.

If you were rejected in the first round, you can apply again because the standards were a lot tougher in the first round....If you were rejected the first time because they ran out of money or for anything else, apply again, he said.

The bill makes additional 501(c) nonprofits eligible for PPP. It also makes local offices of larger nonprofits eligible for PPP assistance, as long as those locations are not larger than 500 employees for first PPP loans or 300 employees for second PPP loans.

RESTAURANT ACT

In addition, Schumer urged Staten Island restaurant owners to take advantage of the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) Act, which allows for up to six-month grants for eatery owners hit hard by the pandemic.

Weve gotten some more money for restaurants as well, said Schumer. If restaurants got the PPP in the first round, they can get relief from the Restaurants Act in the next round.

The act provides flexible grants through the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a lifeline for New Yorks restaurant industry, one of the hardest hit by the economic effects of the COVID pandemic.

Food service or drinking establishments, including caterers, brew pubs, tap rooms and tasting rooms, that are not part of an affiliated group with more than 20 locations will be eligible. The new restaurants fund will be designed to provide flexible grants of up to $10 million per restaurant group, $5 million per individual restaurant. They can be used to cover payroll, mortgages or rent, the set up for outdoor seating, PPE, paid leave, food and other supplies, or debt and other expenses.

ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOANS

Schumer also noted that $15 billion for SBA targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) was funded as part of the package. He said this funding will provide hard-hit, underserved small businesses with increased flexible grant relief. These grants will be particularly helpful for very small businesses and sole proprietors, which include more than 90% of minority-owned businesses that have been devastated by this crisis.

Those who attended the webinar were grateful for the information.

We thank Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for spending time with our small businesses and not-for-profits this afternoon to update them on the American Rescue Plan and how to best access federal aid, said Linda Baran, president and CEO of the SICC. Staten Island is made up of numerous small businesses, many in sectors that have been hit very hard as a result of the pandemic. They continue to seek relief and guidance after a year of struggling to stay afloat.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

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(Photo : Screenshot From The Flight Sim Deck YouTube) Could the PS5 Restock Situation Get Worse with the Suez Canal Incident?

The recent container ship that was stuck blocking the main Suez Canal trade route might have actually had an impact on the already scarce PS5 restock globally. The massive container ship known as the Ever Given has already been stuck for a number of days in the popular Suez Canal which is one of the main trade routes to international trade.

Reliance on Asia

While the effects of the accident have already had an impact on the whole transportation of goods both coming to and from Europe and Asia, it now looks like it has a wider effect. The recent accident could have affected the already struggling supply of the PS5 restock to the whole world.

The Suez Canal is located over in Egypt and was previously built somewhere between 1859 to 1869 as a much faster alternative trade route between both Europe and Asia instead of traveling around the bottom part of Africa. While still very beneficial to international trade, the primary route was built using the forced labor of many Egyptians and has even been the main subject of a number of battles.

Suez Canal importance

One of the Suez Canal battles was even depicted in Battlefield 1 which had racked up an estimated millions of deaths. The Business Insider reports that finished consumer electronics just like the PS5 are actually primarily distributed from a number of Asian factories where they are being manufactured by ship.

According to the story by GameRant, the Suez Canal actually hosts about 10% of all of the global trade and experts are now estimating that the major delays caused by the supposedly stuck ship could have an effect for months. Delivery delays also mean more delays on when the ship will be able to return to the port in order to pick up additional goods.

Read Also: 'Battlefield 1' Hardcore Servers Coming Soon, DICE Details Map Tweaks And Battlefest Rewards

Investigation ongoing

The shipping delay adds to the problem as the global semiconductor shortage has already crippled the production of PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. This might mean that these consoles could be even more scarce in the future. Aside from just consoles, the semiconductor shortage is even affecting the Apple iPhone and Ford F-150 pickup trucks.

The 100-day investigation directly into the cause of the said shortage is still ongoing. Business Insider reports that one of the major factors for the shortage is the global overreliance in just a really small handful of different Asia-based companies that are producing semiconductors for the whole world.

While it now looks like the PS5 restock online will most certainly be constrained for some period of the foreseeable feature, the PS5 still makes its appearance online every once in a while at least once or twice a month for major online retailers. The critical final obstacle as of the moment when it comes to buying the PS5 is beating the bots and scalpers trying to buy then reselling at a marked up price. Gamers might have to wait longer in order to get a fairly priced PS5.

Related Article: Memes Flow as 'Tiny' Excavator Digs Out Container Ship Stuck in Suez Canal

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian Buenconsejo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
South Africa: Up Money fined R1 million for conducting pyramid scheme

The National Consumer Tribunal (NCT) has fined Up Money (PTY) Ltd an administrative fine of R1 million for conducting a pyramid scheme and contravening Section 43 (2) of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) referred Up Money to the Tribunal following its investigation into allegations that Up Money is a pyramid scheme.

The CPA describes a pyramid scheme as an arrangement, agreement, practice or scheme if participants receive compensation derived from their respective recruitment of other persons as participants, rather than the sale of any goods or services.

Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister, Nomalungelo Gina, welcomed the decision by the Tribunal, saying it sends a strong message to South Africans to stay away from promoting, joining or participating in any pyramid schemes.

While Up Money promoted their scheme as a stokvel to lure participants during the pandemic, the Tribunal confirmed that it is not a stokvel but a pyramid scheme, as their operation fits the description of a pyramid scheme as provided under Section 43 of the CPA. Up Moneys business model was unsustainable as it relied heavily on new participants feeding into the scheme, Gina said.

Acting National Consumer Commissioner, Thezi Mabuza, warned South Africans to be careful not to contravene the CPA while trying to explore other sources of income, as they lose money in the process.

Mabuza said pyramid schemes continue to mushroom on a daily basis, especially on social media platforms and consumers continue to lose their hard-earned money.

We want to reiterate to consumers that all involved; the directors, the promoters (the ones advertised and recruited on social media and other platforms) and all those who joined Up Money, broke the law.

We want to send a strong message to operators of schemes, arrangements or practices like Up Money that as the consumer protector in the space, we will not tolerate the contravention of the Act, Mabuza said.

Mabuza urged all South Africans, as responsible citizens and member of communities, to be honest in their dealings.

If people are recruited into prohibited/illegal activities, thought should be given to the relationships that may be severed, trust that may never be restored, but mostly the economic hardships that others would suffer and may not be able to recover from in this lifetime.

The NCC reiterates its commitment to better ensure the realisation of the purpose of the Act by taking reasonable and practical measures to promote the purpose of the CPA while ensuring that prohibited conduct is prosecuted, Mabuza said.

Up Money has been given 20 working days to pay the fine.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Fair City star Maclean Burke bravely opens up today for the first time about his mental health issues surrounding the break-up of his marriage.

And the popular actor, who plays Damien Halpin in the hit RTE soap, reveals that when he left a message on the Men's Aid phone line the charity's chief executive Kathrina Bentley rang him back thinking he was making a charity proposal, only to be told he actually needed help.

Maclean explains that he has been involved with Men's Aid since a Fair City storyline almost 11 years ago brought him into contact with the organisation.

"I didn't know who to turn to and I just left a message in 2019 saying it was Maclean Burke, I'd like to talk to someone.

"And then the CEO rang me and said 'Hey Maclean how are you?' and I said 'actually I wanted to talk to a counsellor rather than touching base seeing if there was anything I can do for you - I'm actually looking for a bit of help'," Maclean (42) tells the Sunday World.

He said he is grateful for the organisation's help.

"They are dealing with guys on the phone all the time and it's part of what they do," he says.

Expand Close Maclean with his sons Cillian (right) and Jude / Facebook

Twitter

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Whatsapp Maclean with his sons Cillian (right) and Jude

Read More

"They were able to put perspective on it and I think that's important for people who need help, which they did give me."

Maclean has four children, ranging in age from 20 to nine.

His marriage to his wife broke down in recent years.

"I'm a prime example, the stress that I was under," he reveals. "It was probably five years coming.

"We kind of push it aside and get on with it, you don't deal with the lows.

"But it came to a head for me and I had to do something about it and they were my first port of call and they got me through it.

"It's not something I'm going to hide. It's something that's vitally important.

The actor stresses he is not looking for sympathy, and in the past year he has started a new relationship with HSE worker Cat Nolan.

Expand Close Maclean and his partner Cat / Facebook

Twitter

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Whatsapp Maclean and his partner Cat

It was Cat who noticed the difference in Maclean's temperament and the change in his wellbeing in the last few months.

He posted a picture on social media of what he looked like three years ago compared to what he looks like now.

"It's not a 'woe is me' kind of thing either, it was just about being able to talk," Maclean says.

"To be honest, there was no intention of posting about it until my partner said to me 'look at that photo and look at you now'.

"I could remember where my mindset was in the other photo and it was just 'Jesus Christ' - it was trying to tell people that you can pull back and turn things around and just feel better in yourself, no matter what is going on behind the scenes.

"Time is a great healer as well."

Expand Close Macleans before and after photos / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Macleans before and after photos

Maclean has nothing but high praise for Men's Aid, which deals with a variety of problems affecting men and their relationships.

"It's a great organisation," he says. "For someone that needs help you will get it and you will get counselling over the phone.

"You never know. I would have never thought I was one of those guys, but when it came to the crunch, I was."

Earlier this year Maclean admitted on social media that the picture from three years ago was when he was "coming to the end of an unhappy marriage, which happens to men and women every day, I was not taking care of my mind or body, and it showed!"

He added: "Sometimes the people that seem to have it all together are the very ones that are falling apart behind the scenes where no one sees. Eighteen months ago I discovered a passion for fitness and weightlifting and I got stuck in and started to see and feel the physical and mental changes in my mind and body and I have never looked back!

"I am hooked on trying to be the best version of myself that I can be. They tell you on a plane that in an incident of a crash, to put the oxygen mask on yourself first so that you can then take care of your loved ones and I try to apply that to my everyday life now. It is so important for us all to mind our minds in these uncertain times in particular, there are people that will listen if we just reach out and talk.

Expand Close Maclean with daughter Beau / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Maclean with daughter Beau

"I think the physical and mental changes in me shows and it feels good to feel good/ There are still dark days, we're human, but we have to try and let them pass and not unpack and live there, that is the reasoning behind the competition, I am currently running.

"It wasn't gifted to me and it's not a sponsored paid ad, it's just me trying to help someone get on the right road, it comes from experience of knowing what it feels like to feel stuck, so thanks for all the support."

Maclean lives in Ashford Co Wicklow, having grown up in Sallynoggin in south Dublin and later in Greystones, Co Wicklow.

He has played the role of 'lad next door' Damien Halpin in Fair City for the past 23 years and is currently in a storyline around his upcoming marriage to Mairead Casey.

His first marriage in the soap was to Suzanne, but that marriage fell apart when battered husband Damien was the victim of domestic violence.

"That was a really good, interesting story because of the reactions it got," he says.

"The amount of fellas who came up to me and told me it had changed their life... I have been involved in Men's Aid since."

Men's Aid can be contacted on a confidential helpline on 01-5543811 or by emailing hello@mensaid.ie.
A plane takes off from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China started the new air travel season on Sunday, with more domestic flights, the top civil aviation regulator said.

The new season will last from Sunday to Oct 30. One hundred and sixty airlines from home and abroad have scheduled 101,606 passenger and freight flights every week, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

In the domestic market, 92,756 flights are planned every week, a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent, with 90,460 passenger and 2,296 cargo flights.

Some 2,234 flights are scheduled between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao every week, with 1,921 passenger flights.

Airlines scheduled 6,616 international, 644 passenger and 5,972 freight flights every week.

International passenger flights will reach 75 cities in 57 countries.

According to the administration, the number of passenger international flights has remained at about 3 percent of the total number before the COVID-19 outbreak for epidemic prevention.

Airlines are encouraged to operate air capacity with more flexibly, allowing adding temporary flights, opening more domestic flights, especially feed routes, and improving the connectivity of civil aviation.

Airlines plan to open more domestic air routes and adjust the air network.

Some 322 domestic air routes are newly opened, operating 3,376 flights by 38 airlines every week. The flights are mainly between airports in third and fourth-tier cities and in second-tier cities. The third and fourth-tier city airports include Linyi in East China's Shandong province and Baotou in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Second-tier city airports include those in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province and Xiamen in East China's Fujian province.

In the new season, more flights will be operated at Beijing Daxing International Airport, with 886 flights every day, covering 471 domestic airlines.

All flights to and from Beijing operated by China Eastern will be transferred to Beijing Daxing airport, except the Beijing-Shanghai Express line.

Air China is adding 22 flights, including departures and arrivals, at the new airport.

Beijing Capital International Airport, the older international airport, plans to operate 1,079 flights every day in the new season.

Air China transfers some flights from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 at Beijing Capital.

During the new season, airports and airlines are providing more services to benefit passengers. Air China provides a special discount plan to passengers over 60.

The Daxing airport offers a "green channel" service for passengers who go to the wrong airport. Passengers can obtain a label at the airport and enjoy priority for a series of services, including security check, taking shuttles and boarding a plane.
Despite a great deal of community outcry and talk of protest, the consensus seems to confirm that (shocker!?!) the dude killed in shootout with cops probably had it coming. Strangely, this is a conclusion that can no longer be discussed by the mainstream media or any cowtown columnist.



Read more . . .
On dairy farms, the term cull cow often has a negative connotation. However, those cows that are retired from the milking string and sold for beef are a valuable asset for any dairy.

University of Wisconsin Division of Extension agriculture agent Aerica Bjurstrom encourages farms to look at cull cows in a more positive light and call them market animals instead.





Dairy farmers dont consider themselves beef producers, but they should, Bjurstrom said during a Badger Dairy Insight: Animal Care on the Farm and Beyond webinar.





She shared that dairy cattle represent 20% to 25% of the U.S. beef market, and FARMBENCH data shows that cattle sold for slaughter make up 6.6% of total dairy farm sales. Bjurstrom said for a 250-cow dairy, that could equate to $60,000 to $100,000 of income per year.





The physical health of a cow impacts its ability to manage the trip, and before any animal is shipped off the dairy, Bjurstrom said to assess its fitness for transport.





When you think about putting a cow on a trailer, you want to put a cow on there that is going to make it all the way to its final destination, she said. Bjurstrom noted that this is a subjective decision, and each farm should establish its own set of standards.





Remember that transportation is stressful for animals, as it can involve mingling with different cattle, long periods of standing, weather extremes, and little or no access to feed and water. If you load a cow on a trailer that may not be able to handle these circumstances, you are putting both the animal and your reputation at risk.





When trying to decide if a cow is in the right condition to ship for beef, Bjurstrom said to ask yourself this question: Would you be willing to put your name and phone number on the side of that cow?





If not, perhaps the animal needs to be kept a little longer to get in better health or gain some weight. Or, if the animal is in declining condition, euthanasia on the farm may be the most humane option. This also ensures a higher quality product is being sent to the packing plant.





Dairy farmers need to consider themselves beef farmers from the get-go, Bjurstrom summarized. Get into the market cow mentality. They are a valuable asset to your farm.





To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2021

March 29, 2021
From left, Pip Cheshire, Rita Cai, Richard Didsbury, Daniel Ho and Raymond Yoo.



The delivery of the sixth, and latest, folly at the Brick Bay Sculpture Park was a little delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions, but is now open to the public.

A six-metre tall white structure made from 4425 timber layers, in 885 modules or bricks, is the latest folly to be unveiled at the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail.

The sixth annual Folly Competition drew 24 entries from architectural students and recent graduates from around New Zealand.

The winning folly, titled Genealogy of the Pacific, is the work of three University of Auckland students  Daniel Ho, Raymond Yoo and Rita Cai  who drew inspiration from the curvilinear form of DNA strands.

The folly jury was led by architect, writer and recipient of the NZIA Gold Medal, Pip Cheshire, and also included Philip Haycock from Naylor Love, Karmen Dumper from Resene, Yusef Patel from the School of Architecture Unitec, Chris Barton from Architecture NZ, Richard and Anna Didsbury from Brick Bay, and Leo Zhu from the 2019 winning team, The Wood Pavilion.

At an event in March to celebrate the latest folly, Pip said the competition challenges students to take something from their imagination and make it a reality. He added that moving from a digital design to the completed piece was seldom a smooth process.

Philip Haycock congratulated the winning team and said their folly involved a lot of science and structural secrets.

Speaking on behalf of the winners, Daniel Ho said they were very grateful for the opportunity, even though the pressure of the experience had nearly overwhelmed them.

We feel weve learned so much that we wouldnt have learned without this experience, he said. By going beyond our status quo of drawings and scale models, we were introduced to many challenges we had never encountered in architecture school.

The winning team received $30,000 to build their folly, with Pip Cheshire providing advice and mentoring.

The Brick Bay Folly Project started in 2015 with the first winning structure Belly of the Beast. It provides an opportunity for emerging architects to test their ideas on a real life project, manage construction, solve contingencies and participate in the physical construction.
To celebrate their origins, the Republican Party holds Lincoln Day dinners, and the Democrats until recently held Jefferson-Jackson dinners. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, has fallen out of favor because he owned slaves. In 1779, he wrote "A Bill Concerning Slaves" for Virginia, which, though it opened the door a crack toward eventual emancipation, still perpetuated slavery with harsh penalties for any infractions.

But for those who would denounce Jefferson as a racist, the bill does contain a provision on gun control that modern liberals want to expand upon. Section IX declares, "No slaves shall keep any arms whatever, nor pass, unless with written orders from his master or employer, or in his company, with arms from one place to another. Arms in possession of a slave contrary to this prohibition shall be forfeited to him who will seize them."

Gun control, or who would control guns, was for the Founders a question of who was free and who was not. The Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights applied only to free people with the aim of keeping them free. The amendment mentions the "militia," and this has thrown some people off regarding the private ownership of guns. But the Founders established what the militia was in bills passed by Congress in 1792 and 1795. The 1795 Militia Act declared "[t]hat each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia." The militiamen were to provide their own guns and an initial amount of ammunition so as to be ready for action. This reflected experience during the Revolution, when the Minutemen were the first to take on the British Army.

The charge today against "assault rifles" (semi-automatic rifles) because they are "weapons of war" and thus illegitimate for private ownership falls flat in the face of the Founders' intent in the Second Amendment and subsequent laws. Every free able-bodied white male citizen was supposed to have a gun with which he could fight a war. Many of the Minutemen had rifles that were superior in range and accuracy to the muskets used by the British regular soldiers.

The purpose of gun ownership is not just hunting and sport (which the misnamed "assault rifles" are used for), but defense of both home and country. The right to self-defense is from natural law. As John Locke put it in his Second Treatise on Government, "I should have a right to destroy that which threatens me with destruction: for, by the fundamental law of nature, man being to be preserved as much as possible ... one may destroy a man who makes war upon him, or has discovered an enmity to his being, for the same reason that he may kill a wolf or a lion." It is illegitimate for government to deny to citizens the means for exercising their rights, particularly such a fundamental right as self-defense, self-preservation.

To the larger role of national defense, the 1792 Militia Act authorizes the militia to be called out to meet the threat of a foreign invasion or "an insurrection in any state." Though libertarians often concentrate on the "romance" of revolution against a despotic government as in 1776, citizens also have a duty to defend legitimate government from those would-be tyrants who would overthrow it or seize power by unlawful means.

The questions of self-defense and national security are still connected directly to the Second Amendment right of gun ownership built on natural law and historical experience. The argument has long been made by gun control advocates that the idea of a militia or personal defense is obsolete; government security forces can do the job better. Yet every day, people do have to defend themselves from criminals because, as the saying goes, "When seconds count, the police can be there in minutes." And that was before the left's campaign to "defund the police" to leave people more vulnerable than ever. Reducing the police and disarming the citizenry is an open invitation to crime, but what else can one expect from a party whose 2021 bill H.R. 1, a bill every Democratic member of the U.S. House was directed to formally co-sponsor, restores voting rights to convicted felons?

At the national security level, we do have an all-volunteer professional military. But we also have stand-by procedures for reinstating conscription during a major war, as has been the practice repeatedly in our history. In both cases, it is useful that those either volunteering or being drafted come into military service with a knowledge of firearms. Not just in America, but overseas, there have often been efforts to school the general public on guns just for this reason.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the legendary Sherlock Holmes, was an advocate of "citizen soldiers" and supported the establishment of shooting clubs in Great Britain. Sherlock Holmes was a private citizen who engaged in crime-fighting and was a crack shot with a handgun. Conan Doyle himself tried to enlist during the Second Boer War but was turned down due to age (he was 40 in 1899). He went to war anyway, resuming his career as a doctor in a field hospital. While at sea on his way to the war zone, he was treated to a chorus of soldiers singing his poem "The Ballad of the Ranks." In it, Conan Doyle tours the British Isles asking the question "Who carries the gun?" The answer was everyone, everywhere. "It's you, and you, and you. So let us go, and we won't say no if they give us a job to do."

There is more than law and practicality involved in the gun issue; there is an entire spirit that is generated by an active and free people. It is this attitude that those on the left are determined to crush as they seek to create a meek and disarmed citizenry that no longer cares about the fate of the country.

The Founders had faith in the American people, a faith that the occasional mass shooting or even the weekly gun violence in many urban centers should not lead one to discard. The two mass shootings this month in Atlanta and Boulder were not committed by normal Americans, but by individuals living on the fringe of society. Broad gun control measures that would impact mainly everyday, law-abiding people are way off target. They would not reduce violence by criminals or madmen; they would only reduce freedom and the ability of common citizens to defend themselves against criminals and madmen. Consider: in 2019, three blue states with low gun ownership (less than 20%) and tough gun control laws (New York, Illinois, and California) had a combined total of over 3,000 murders, concentrated in their largest gang- and drug-infected cities.

Over 100 million Americans own guns. If guns were the problem, the number of shootings would be orders of magnitude higher. In fact, there have been only 85 mass shootings this century. That is fewer than five per year on average, and, again, these killers were not normal individuals by any means. To reduce this threat, the target should be the type of abnormal individual who can be identified as dangerous.

It is the person who pulls the trigger who is to blame. The vast, vast majority of gun owners are assets to society, not threats. In a democracy, isn't the common citizen to be trusted in the exercise of his rights?

William R. Hawkins is an economist and widely published author in the field of national security with a long career in academe, at think-tanks, and on Capitol Hill.

Image via Pxhere.
The Livekindly Collective, the owner of meat-alternative brands including Oumph and Frys, has attracted more investment.

The Rise Fund, part of private-equity firm TPG, led the funding round, with existing investors including the investment arm of Rabobank also taking part.

In a statement, The Livekindly Collective said the investment was a growth funding round of US$335m, a pot that includes $135m converted from a prior tranche of funding.

In all, the US-based firm said it has raised $535m in its first year. Known until early 2020 as Foods United, The Livekindly Collective is, through a series of acquisitions, also home to Germany-based meat-free business LikeMeat and UK-based brand No Meat.

With the close of this funding round, we are ideally positioned to rapidly scale our model and lead the global consumer shift toward healthy, delicious and sustainable plant-based alternatives, CFO David Knopf said.



Since its formation, The Livekindly Collective has had Blue Horizon Ventures as a principal shareholder.

Roger Lienhard, the founder and executive chairman of Blue Horizon Group and founder of The Livekindly Collective, said: In just one year, we have raised a significant amount of capital, which testifies to the urgency of our mission and the enormous investment opportunity it represents. We believe the momentum behind plant-based living will continue to grow in both the private and public markets.

Last month, The Livekindly Collective announced former Unilever CEO Paul Polman as one of a number of new board directors.
Romney Appears to Have Been Awarded for Malice Toward Trump

Commentary

There is something poignantly appropriate in this dismal political year of mudslinging, attempted criminalization of policy differences, and the almost unrelieved moral bankruptcy of the national political media, that this years Profile in Courage Award by the Kennedys is to Senator Mitt Romney.

President John F. Kennedys daughter, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, said in announcing the award: Senator Romneys commitment to our Constitution makes him a worthy successor to the senators who inspired my father to write Profiles in Courage.

This is where the problems of the encomium begin: then-Senator Kennedy did not write Profiles in Courage; the well-known historian James MacGregor Burns was well paid by the future presidents father to ghost-write most of the book, though undoubtedly the putative author had done some research and had a reasonable familiarity with the subjects.

The book was a part of the carefully planned and executed design to bring John F. Kennedy into public life and elevate him to the presidency of the United States. He succeeded the legendary scoundrel and four-term mayor of Boston, James Michael Curley, in his congressional district in 1946, and in a very well-financed Senate campaign in 1952, despite the Eisenhower Republican sweep of the country, in an election of sociological as well as political implications, the suave and elegant Irish Harvard-man Kennedy defeated the distinguished scion of a great Brahmin family, Henry Cabot Lodge.

The book was designed to give Senator Kennedy an intellectual patina and historical gravity as he prepared to seek the vice presidential nomination at the age of 39 in 1956. He lost narrowly to Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, but had put down a marker for 1960, when, as all the world knows, he was narrowly elected president over Vice President Richard M. Nixon, though it remains a matter of some dispute which candidate would have prevailed in an uncontested count of the votes. (Technically, some ballot boxes in Chicago are still missing.)

Caroline Kennedy said that Romney reminds us that our democracy depends on the courage, conscience and character of our elected officials. No one would take issue with that, but the action of Romney that won him the award was breaking ranks with his fellow Republicans and voting to convict President Trump in his impeachment trial in 2020 over his telephone conversation with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

This was in fact a dishonorable vote. There were no grounds to impeach President Trump. In the course of his telephone conversation with President Zielensky and in his capacity as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, Trump asked if the Ukrainian leader had information about the commercial activities of former President Bidens son Hunter in the Ukraine.

He was very highly paid as a non-executive director of a natural gas company with a reputation for questionable political connections. Hunter Biden had no experience at all in that industry, and his father when he was vice president had boasted of having caused the removal of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating that company.

President Trump did not ask President Zelensky for incriminating evidence against the Bidens; he asked what happened, a neutral question. The principal discussion in the course of the impeachment trial in the Senate was whether the Constitutions citation of bribery, treason, or other high crimes and misdemeanors required that the other crimes and misdemeanors be of equivalent gravity to bribe-taking and treason to justify conviction and removal from office.

But it was not disputed there was a requirement for a crime, and the acquittal of President Clinton when he was impeached in 1998, effectively held that his apparently untruthful response to a grand jury question about an extramarital peccadillo did not constitute such a grave offense that it would justify his removal from office. This was all slightly esoteric in the case of the Trump impeachment, as there was not a scintilla of probative evidence that he had done anything legally exceptionable at all.

I have no standing to mind-read Senator Romney, but neither do the judges of this award. And the widespread impression was that his motive had absolutely nothing to do with any alleged misconduct by President Trump.

His sweaty, halting, and unconvincing explanation of his vote to anti-Trump Fox news commentator Chris Wallace certainly didnt create the impression that he was casting a conscientious ballot to convict. Most observers were of the view that Romney was exacting a revenge for having been interviewed by Trump for the position of Secretary of State but passed over in 2016.

Two days before he took his oath as senator from Utah in January 2019, Romney published an op-ed piece in the Washington Post denouncing Trump for having too many ethical shortcomings to hold the office to which he had been elected.

The Kennedy award included a further general compliment to Romneys public service, which includes a term as governor of Massachusetts and the head of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. He was a successful business consultant and private equity executive, and his father was a well-known automobile executive and governor of Michigan and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Nixon.

There is no doubt that Mitt Romney is a capable man, but he has faced in all four directions on almost every issue from abortion to healthcare. He is a consultant who loves data, constantly shifts positions, and strikes poses that do not inspire confidence that he is anchored in the integrity for which he has just been so warmly commended.

As the country erupted in urban riots last summer, and the leader of Black Lives Matter in New York threatened to burn America down if we dont get what we want, Senator Romney marched in a Black Lives Matter parade in Washington. This is not easy to reconcile with the Kennedy award.

One irony in this affair is that one of the senators whom John F. Kennedy and MacGregor Burns cited for his courage was Edmund Ross of Kansas who resisted great pressure in the Senate and cast the vote that acquitted President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial in 1868. Johnson had exercised his right to fire the secretary of war, and he was impeached for violating an act of the Congress that was in fact unconstitutional.

His service to the country had not been well-publicized as it had not been popular at the time, and the authors of Profiles in Courage rendered a service in focusing upon it and the circumstances of Ross vote, and the motives and legal basis for it were all in stark contrast with what appears to have been an act of simple personal malice by Mitt Romney.

The award also mentioned that Romney voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial earlier this year for inciting an insurrection, despite the absence of any evidence whatsoever that he did anything of the kind, and he only urged his rightly outraged supporters in Washington on Jan. 6 to behave peacefully and patriotically. Even if Romneys motives were less odious than they appear, he was a thoroughly undeserving recipient of this award. It is a mockery of what it purports to celebrate.

Conrad Black has been one of Canadas most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. Hes the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently, Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other, which has been republished in updated form.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Detectives are appealing for witnesses and information following an incident in Derry last night.

Detective Sergeant Richard Donnell said: Police received a report at approximately 9.45pm that up to eight masked man had arrived at a property in Earhart Park earlier that evening, at approximately 9.30pm, and spoke with a man at the address. It was reported one of the men was armed with a hammer.

It was reported the man, aged in his twenties, was then subsequently assaulted close to the bus stop in Earhart Park and beaten with a hammer.

I am appealing to anyone who was in Earhart Park area and witnessed this incident to call our detectives at Strand Road on 101, quoting reference number 1522 of 28/03/21.

You can also submit a report online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/ makeareport/ or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/
In 1983, Rep. Pat Schroeder, a Colorado Democrat, was frying eggs in a nonstick pan one morning when she had an inspiration. Frustrated by then-President Ronald Reagan, she would later declare in a speech on the House floor, "He has been perfecting the Teflon-coated presidency: He sees to it that nothing sticks to him."

Actually, at least one thing definitely did stick to Reagan: Schroeder's label. And Teflon, discovered by accident in a DuPont lab in 1938, proved versatile as a political tag. President Bill Clinton, for example, was "teflonish," Schroeder told CNN's Charles Bierbauer in 1997.

Reagan's grandfatherly mien and Hollywood stage presence helped him weather two terms in office, though he did shoulder blame for many controversies. With President Joe Biden two-thirds of the way through his first 100 days, one emerging question is where he will ultimately land on the Teflon scale: as a president stuck with blame for the crises occurring on his watch  or one who largely manages to avoid it?

At his first presidential press conference Thursday, "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," wrote Frida Ghitis.

In the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin observed, "Try as they might to seem 'tough,' the media did not succeed in knocking Biden off message. Biden spoke in great detail and length to show not only his mastery of the issues but also to suck tension and conflict out of the room."

All around him, difficulties abound a struggling economy he'd like to push toward a big recovery, the complicated rollout of an enormous Covid-19 vaccination program, the aftermath of mass shootings -- a week apart -- in Colorado and metro Atlanta, a surge of unaccompanied children over the southern border.

"Buffeted by unanticipated events and lines of questioning -- and complicated by the President's tendency to occasionally drift off point -- the White House communications machine is hard to control," wrote David Axelrod before the press conference.

Still, Biden enjoys approval ratings much higher than Donald Trump ever achieved -- an average of 54%, according to FiveThirtyEight.

The President is putting his focus on touting the benefits of the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill he maneuvered through Congress without any Republican support and aiming to build on it with an infrastructure plan, possibly as big as $3 trillion, he promises to announce this coming week in Pittsburgh. But many of his initiatives, along with a measure to buck new state GOP clampdowns on voting access, may be blocked by Republicans using the Senate filibuster.

Biden told reporters the "filibuster was being abused, apparently not recognizing that his own party, a minority in the US Senate for the last six years, used it quite liberally during the Trump administration," wrote Scott Jennings. "In fact, he took it a step further and said he agreed with former President Barack Obama that the filibuster was 'a relic of the Jim Crow era.' Does he not remember his 2005 Senate speech passionately defending the filibuster?"

Yet many agree with Obama in connecting the filibuster to Jim Crow. In Salon, Amanda Marcotte wrote that Republicans are depending on the filibuster to keep any bill "to secure voter rights" from passage in the Senate. "After Donald Trump, the GOP understands their party exists because of racism and white grievance. Rather than try to moderate those views and appeal to more diverse voters, they instead are laser-focused on trying to prevent people of color from exercising their right to vote."

As Nicole Hemmer pointed out, "Jim Crow, a name derived from racist minstrel shows that would come to stand in for the entire segregationist regime of the South, emerged in the late 19th century as a series of anti-Black laws: laws that stripped Black men of the right to vote, segregated public spaces, barred Black people from certain types of jobs." Stacey Abrams has called Georgia's new voter restrictions law "a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie." But Hemmer noted that Jim Crow "never really went away."

Jim Crow "marches hand in hand with both state violence and mob violence, as we were once again reminded during the insurrection at the Capitol. In fact, it's precisely because Jim Crow has always been clothed in respectability during the day and worn a hood at night that we should be on alert when we see a Jim Crow-like figure in a business suit, because if history is any indication, that's not the only way we'll see him before all is said and done."

Seven mass shootings in seven days

A man carrying a semiautomatic weapon killed 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado supermarket Monday. As SE Cupp noted, it "was the seventh mass shooting in seven days. That is a nauseating number. It's also a wake-up call. The Boulder shooting, which followed the Atlanta spa shooting, is an awful reminder that we have not come close to solving our gun violence problem in this country."

To do so, she argued, the US should have comprehensive background checks of gun buyers, an improved database of criminals, more studies of gun violence and safety and better ways to stop people with mental health issues from acquiring guns.

"Congress and the President should pass common-sense gun control laws, complete with stringent background checks, and an assault weapon ban that would reduce the likelihood of mass shootings and gun violence," wrote Peniel E. Joseph. "Our public schools and institutions of higher education should be leading a national, data-driven conversation about gun violence as a national public health crisis."

In the metro Atlanta region, families are grieving the loss of eight people, six of them Asian American women, in last week's shooting at three spas. The killings, Pawan Dhingra wrote, came after "months of mounting concerns over anti-Asian violence during the coronavirus pandemic." He argued "the federal response is woefully inadequate when it comes to preventing violence against Asian Americans. In order to effect lasting and meaningful change, we need an educational campaign starting in K-12 schools that reveals the strength and complexity of Asian Americans -- just like any humans. People's lives depend on it."

The little red icon

Annika Olson's dream is to buy a house in the "absolutely bonkers" real estate market of Austin, Texas. The 26-year-old checks new listings before work. "I look at a house one day, and the next day a little red icon says "pending." ... In short, I'm toast."

"I've scrimped and saved for years, working for AmeriCorps for $1,000 a month and doing everything I could to build up my credit score and savings account so I could buy a house. But with inventory so low, it barely seems possible."

Millennials, already hard hit by the pandemic downturn, are getting shut out of many other cities due to high prices, she wrote. "We, as a country, need to find a way to allow young people a slice of the pie, an opportunity to grow their wealth and invest in something that is important for their future."

Florida man's boast

The wars of the 20th century were personally disastrous for many people in Britain -- but not for everyone. Hence the phrase that became popular to describe those who came through them with an enhanced reputation: he or she "had a good war."

We're beginning to see people claim to have had a good pandemic. For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote in the Wall Street Journal that "Florida cut against the grain of elite opinion and bucked the media narrative. The result is open schools, comparatively low unemployment and per capita Covid mortality below the national average."

Dr. Kent Sepkowitz, an infectious disease specialist, isn't buying it. "As of March 22, over the last seven days, Florida has had the most Covid-19 cases in the country, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 12th highest per capita case-rate, the fourth highest number of deaths, and the 17th highest death rate."

New York's lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, pointed to the pandemic's continuing impact on women. "When the Covid-19 tsunami hit us one year ago, the tidal wave swept over our most vulnerable. Now left in the wake are women of all ages struggling because for them, this pandemic has been a living hell."

For more on Covid-19's impact:

Dorit Reiss: Can your boss require you to get vaccinated?

Catherine Powell: A year on, the 'Color of Covid' still matters

Dr. Susannah Hills: My long-Covid patients' stories of recovery sound familiar to me

Elizabeth Warren and Mary Kay Henry: Caregivers are essential workers. It's time we recognize them as such

Kaylah Dessausure: My Covid life as a single mom: Like juggling bowling pins and chainsaws

Sandy Tolan: The promise of a post-Covid life

Big Lie

The ramifications of former President Donald Trump's big lie that the election was stolen from him continue to ripple out. Prosecutors have charged hundreds of people with crimes as a result of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Sidney Powell, a former Trump lawyer responsible for some of the most outlandish and groundless allegations about the election, is trying to defend herself from a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems (the company also filed a suit against Fox News Friday).

"Powell now argues that she did not defame Dominion because her statements were not factual in nature at all, but instead were merely her opinions," Jennifer Rodgers wrote. But Powell was doing more than just offering her opinion. She and her colleagues "were doing everything in their power to convince Trump's supporters that the election was stolen from him through fraud. They created and fed the big lie."

Despite all of the video evidence to the contrary, Trump claimed on Fox News that the Jan. 6 riot "was zero threat. Look, they went in, they shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in, and they are hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know, they had great relationships."

As Michael D'Antonio pointed out, "While one officer appeared to pose for a selfie with a rioter and others opened the barricades to allow the mob to enter the grounds of the US Capitol, many Capitol and DC Metro police officers also risked their lives and engaged in hand-to-hand combat trying to protect the lawmakers who were certifying the results of the 2020 election inside. During the melee, some officers were beaten and sprayed with chemicals. At least 138 sustained injuries including burns, concussions and rib fractures. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died from injuries sustained during the attack, and two others later died by suicide."

Meanwhile, an adviser said Trump is readying a new social platform to air his views, now that he has been banned from Twitter. "Trump hates not being heard," wrote Julian Zelizer. "But it won't be easy for him to regain his hold. After all, the former president is now officially a political loser."

Suez

A 1,300-foot container ship called Ever Given gave the world of international shipping a body blow Wednesday. It ran aground in the Suez Canal, a waterway that carries 12% of the world's shipping, and blocked traffic, stranding hundreds of ships.

"A failure of machinery, human error or natural events -- high winds and reduced visibility -- may have caused Ever Given to run ashore in the Suez Canal," wrote Salvatore R. Mercogliano, a history professor and former merchant mariner.

"But its impact will resonate far from its banks as it has blocked the jugular of one of the largest trade routes in human history."

Don't miss

Stephanie Flores: In the US Navy I learned about honor, courage, commitment and sexism

Erica Armstrong Dunbar: Beulah Mae Donald's nightmare became a challenge to America

Elie Honig: One of the most important trials America has ever seen is about to start

Jain Kim: My parents came to the US from Korea for a better future. We must stop the hate

Avi Weiss: This Passover, relearn to swim

Dean Obeidallah: Violence Against Woman Act: The shameful vote by 172 Republicans

Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen: Start planning for a world with a lot less water

AND...

Fagradalsfjall is no Eyjafjallajokull

People around the world are spending an uncountable number of hours watching webcams of Iceland's Fagradalsfjall volcano "which woke up this month after 700 years and is putting on a mesmerizing lava show," wrote Einat Lev of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "They are calling it a Disneyland eruption."

But Lev, a volcanologist, cautioned that "volcanoes are not amusement parks" and it's hard to predict "where an awakening volcano will fit on the wide span between a thrilling spectacle and a deadly catastrophe."

In 2010, plumes from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption severely disrupted air travel, and in 1783, the Laki volcano "released so much sulfur dioxide and other toxic gases over eight months that about 9,000 people in Iceland died -- about a quarter of the population. It changed the weather and caused more deaths across Europe."

What will happen to the new, and so far mild, Iceland eruption? Lev wrote, "Nobody knows now whether it will stop in a few days or continue for years and become an unparalleled tourist attraction."
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has said he could be locked up in solitary confinement after being accused of numerous minor infractions in prison.

Navalny, 44, is serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for violating his parole in a 2014 fraud case.

In a post to Instagram, uploaded via his lawyers on Monday, Navalny shared a picture of himself from prison - a grainy image showing his head had been shaved.

The fate of Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's most prominent and best-organised critics, is in focus after he said on Thursday that being woken up by a guard every hour during the night amounted to torture and that his appeal for treatment for acute back and leg pain had been ignored.

More than 20 medical professionals on Sunday published an open letter demanding the 44-year-old opposition politician get proper care.

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has said he could be locked up in solitary confinement after being accused of numerous minor infractions in prison

Navalny, 44, is serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for violating his parole in a 2014 fraud case at the IK-2 corrective penal colony 100 km (60 miles) east of Moscow [File photo]

'We fear for the worst. Leaving a patient in this condition ... may lead to severe consequences, including an irreversible, full or partial loss of lower limb functions,' the letter said.

Prison authorities, after examining Navalny last week, declared his condition to be stable and satisfactory. The Kremlin on Monday declined to comment on the medics' letter.

Navalny on Monday, via his lawyers and Instagram, posted the first picture of himself from prison.

It showed a grainy head and shoulders image of him with a shaved head. Wearing a prison uniform, he was pictured standing in front of a height chart.

He said in the same post he had been given six reprimands in the space of two weeks at the IK-2 corrective penal colony 100 km (60 miles) east of Moscow. Two reprimands are technically enough to be sent to a punishment cell, he said.

The minor infractions Navalny (pictured) was deemed to have committed included getting out of his bed 10 minutes before the official order to do so, refusing exercise and an 'idiotic' video lecture, and wearing a T-shirt in a meeting with his lawyers, he said [File photo]

'It's an unpleasant joke,' Navalny wrote. 'The conditions there [in solitary] are close to torture.'

Minor infractions he was deemed to have committed included getting out of his bed 10 minutes before the official order to do so, refusing exercise and an 'idiotic' video lecture, and wearing a T-shirt in a meeting with his lawyers, he said.

The reprimands mean that Navalny is no longer eligible for early parole, his lawyers said last Thursday.

The prison did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters news agency for comment.

The prison camp outside the Vladimir region town of Pokrov is infamous for psychological isolation and harsh conditions for inmates.

Navalny was jailed last month for two and a half years on charges he called politically motivated.

He was arrested as he returned to Russia from Germany in January, where he had been recovering from what doctors said was poisoning with a nerve agent.

The West, including the European Court of Human Rights, has demanded that Russia release Navalny.

But Moscow has rubbished such appeals as unacceptable interference in its internal affairs.

Navalny's allies last week announced plans to stage what they hope will be the biggest anti-Kremlin street protest in modern Russian history.

As of Monday, just over 355,000 people had registered online to take part. A date has yet to be set.

The authorities have said such protests are illegal.

A Navalny ally alleged on Monday that police had detained his father in an attempt to pressure him over his opposition activities.
[March 29, 2021] Introducing the Chamber of Progress: A New Industry Coalition Promoting Technology's Progressive Future

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology plays a huge role in Americans' daily lives -- and important questions loom about how to best ensure that all Americans will benefit from high-tech advancements, and whether the tech industry operates fairly and responsibly. Today, a veteran Democratic tech policy executive launched a new center-left tech policy industry coalition -- called the Chamber of Progress ( progresschamber.org ) -- to tackle these big questions, help usher in a progressive high-tech future, and ensure that all Americans benefit from technological leaps. In its first action, the Chamber of Progress today called on Congress to pass historic voting rights legislation and encouraged state legislatures to reject pending bills that would curtail Americans' right to vote. The new organization is founded and led by Adam Kovacevich, a veteran of Democratic politics and the tech industry. Kovacevich served as an aide to Democratic officials including Rep. Cal Dooley (CA), Sen. Joe Lieberman (CT), and State Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum (SC), and was among the founding staff members of the House New Democrat Coalition. He was Google's seventh DC hire, led Google's U.S. public policy team, and has held policy leadership roles at the urban mobility company Lime and at the Information Technology Industry Council. "Technology has brought information to our fingertips, delivered affordable goods to our doorsteps, and kept us connected during a pandemic," Kovacevich said. "Our organization will be focused on making America's high-tech future bright, fair, and inclusive for all Americans." The Chamber of Progress will advocate for public policies in three areas:

Economic progress , including combatting income inequality; promoting a bigger, modern social safety net; encouraging progressive taxation; and supporting reliable, win-win online marketplaces.

, including combatting income inequality; promoting a bigger, modern social safety net; encouraging progressive taxation; and supporting reliable, win-win online marketplaces. Social progress , including promoting inclusive democracy; supporting bold action against climate change; promoting digital opportunity for all; and advocating for healthy and equitable online communities.

Consumer progress, including promoting the principle that tech should always serve consumers' interests; "building back better" by investing in communities and regulated innovation; increasing access to goods and information; and balancing consumer and worker concerns.



"The tech industry's political honeymoon is over, and everyone wants to make sure that tech operates fairly towards communities," said Kovacevich, who has been involved in tech policy for twenty years. "We'll support sensible rules that nurture the things that people love about technology, while curbing tech's downsides."

"New Democrats are excited to work with the Chamber of Progress in defining the next chapter of tech policy," said Rep. Ami Bera (CA-07), Vice Chair for Outreach of the House New Democrat Coalition. "As the largest caucus of pro-growth Members in Congress, our members support innovation and common-sense regulation." The Chamber of Progress is supported by its initial partner companies including Amazon, Automattic, Facebook, Doordash, Getaround, Google, Grubhub, Instacart, Lime, Twitter, Uber, Waymo, Wing, and Zillow. No partner companies sit on the organization's board of directors or have a vote on its policies, and the organization will remain true to its stated principles even when its partners disagree. Kovacevich also announced the organization's volunteer Advisory Board, a diverse cross-section of leaders from government, Democratic politics, public interest, and industry who will provide input on the organization's work. The full Advisory Board can be found at progresschamber.org . New Jersey State Senator Troy Singleton (D), an Advisory Board member and national leader in promoting portable benefit programs for gig workers, said, "Our economy is changing, the nature of work is changing, and public policy needs to evolve to ensure that all people can benefit from technological advances. The Chamber of Progress can help make sure that America's growth story includes everyone." Colorado State Senator Jeff Bridges (D), an Advisory Board member who has led autonomous vehicle policy in his state, said, "We need a high-tech future that creates good-paying jobs and greater opportunity for everyone. I'm excited for the Chamber of Progress to promote inclusive, tech-driven economic growth." "Many of us are both progressive and pro-tech," said Advisory Board member Julie Samuels , Founder and Executive Director of Tech:NYC. "The Chamber of Progress will fill an important void in the policy debate, by focusing on the ways the tech industry can -- and already does -- support progressive social and economic ideals." Contact: press@progresschamber.org , 202-470-3046 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/introducing-the-chamber-of-progress-a-new-industry-coalition-promoting-technologys-progressive-future-301257114.html SOURCE Chamber of Progress

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- By GF Value





The stock of Qualcomm (NAS:QCOM, 30-year Financials) gives every indication of being modestly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $132.99 per share and the market cap of $151.1 billion, Qualcomm stock appears to be modestly overvalued. GF Value for Qualcomm is shown in the chart below.





Qualcomm Stock Is Believed To Be Modestly Overvalued

Because Qualcomm is relatively overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be lower than its business growth, which averaged 11.1% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 9.23% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

It is always important to check the financial strength of a company before buying its stock. Investing in companies with poor financial strength have a higher risk of permanent loss. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage is a great way to understand the financial strength of a company. Qualcomm has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.78, which is in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry. The overall financial strength of Qualcomm is 5 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Qualcomm is fair. This is the debt and cash of Qualcomm over the past years:

Qualcomm Stock Is Believed To Be Modestly Overvalued

Investing in profitable companies carries less risk, especially in companies that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. Typically, a company with high profit margins offers better performance potential than a company with low profit margins. Qualcomm has been profitable 9 years over the past 10 years. During the past 12 months, the company had revenues of $26.7 billion and earnings of $5.85 a share. Its operating margin of 29.04% better than 93% of the companies in Semiconductors industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks Qualcomm's profitability as fair. This is the revenue and net income of Qualcomm over the past years:

Story continues

Qualcomm Stock Is Believed To Be Modestly Overvalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term performance of a company's stock. The faster a company is growing, the more likely it is to be creating value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth rate of Qualcomm is 11.1%, which ranks better than 70% of the companies in Semiconductors industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 26.5%, which ranks better than 74% of the companies in Semiconductors industry.

Another way to evaluate a company's profitability is to compare its return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted cost of capital (WACC). Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it indicates that the company is creating value for shareholders. Over the past 12 months, Qualcomm's ROIC was 31.44, while its WACC came in at 9.06.

In short, the stock of Qualcomm (NAS:QCOM, 30-year Financials) appears to be modestly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks better than 74% of the companies in Semiconductors industry. To learn more about Qualcomm stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


In an attempt to make India self-reliant in manufacturing raw material for vaccines like adjuvants (which enhance the immune system) and other chemicals, Hyderabad-based has tied up with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to work on technologies and platforms for novel vaccines, drugs, and even raw materials.

On Monday, International, Biovet, and Sapigen Biologix signed a joint Master Collaborative Agreement (MCA) with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) to work on developing novel platform technologies for bio-therapeutics and vaccines to support indigenous, affordable health care solutions for humans and animals.

The collaborators will identify mutually interesting projects to pursue, they said.

Both Biovet and Sapigen Biologix are companies promoted by the Ella family, which is a promoter of

Speaking at the event, Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bharat Biotech, said several raw materials to make vaccines were imported.

Preservatives for vaccines are imported from Germany and some raw material from the US.

Bharat Biotech, for example, uses an adjuvant from Kansas-based ViroVax for Covaxin.

The collaboration would look at chemicals and raw material like Beta propiolactone (BPL), Thimersol, and Microcarriers, which are often in shortage.

India is not self-reliant in some of these vaccine raw materials. We will work with CSIR-IICT to develop these products, new drugs, and even new platforms, Ella said.

For example, the collaboration is considering platforms such as mRNA, which, according to Shekhar Mande, director general of the CSIR, has proven to be a powerful platform in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The IICT has a lipid-laboratory. Lipid nano-particles play a strong role in the mRNA technology. Scientists are working on lipid nanoparticles, Mande said.

He said the technology platform held potential for developing therapies for cancer too.

India must have an mRNA platform, and in the coming few months, we should be able to bring this here, Mande said.

He said there were opportunities to create technologies for developing vaccines for many diseases.

The strategy group earlier was meeting daily to deliberate on drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines to deal with Covid-19. It now meets twice a week.

It partnered drug maker Cipla to synthesise favipiravir (chemical salt), which the company sells under Ciplenza.

The company has also partnered Sun Pharmaceuticals on a herbal drug (phytopharmaceutical) that may be used in treating Covid-19.

The results from this clinical trial are expected in 10 days.
The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost.
Burma 10,000 Karen Flee Myanmar Military Airstrikes

Ethnic Karen people prepare to cross the Salween River to Thailand following the militarys airstrikes in Papun. / The Irrawaddy

Yangon  More than 10,000 ethnic Karen villagers have been forced from their homes after Myanmars military regime carried out airstrikes on Karen States Papun District.

Military tensions are running high between the Karen ethnic armed group, the Karen National Union (KNU), and Myanmars military in Papun District but the air raids targeted civilians, not the KNU personnel, according to Karen civil society organizations and residents.

Around 3,000 residents have crossed the Thai border while some 80,000 have fled into forests in Papun.

Day Pu No villagers are going through a nightmare. The military carried out three airstrikes on the village last night and early this morning, said the Karen Womens Organization website.

The airstrikes followed the KNUs blocking of food deliveries to military troops based in Papun. The KNU signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015, however, the tensions in Papun have risen due to the construction of a road by the military.

Tensions grew after the KNU announced that it would stand by the people against Myanmars military after the February 1 coup.

At least three civilians were killed and nine injured in airstrikes in Papun since Saturday.

David Eubank, director of the Free Burma Rangers, a multiethnic humanitarian movement, said more people are being displaced by military attacks in Kachin, Karen and northern Shan states.

The capability of the military is increased with help from Russia and China and other nations. And that is deadly, Eubank said in a video.

Houses in Day Pu No were flattened in air raids, according to villagers photos. Over 3,000 riverside villagers crossed the Salween River into Thailand on Sunday.

Papun is one of the ancestral lands of the Karen people and is home to Salween Peace Park, a sanctuary of globally endangered wildlife, flora and trees.

The Karen Peace Support Network has released a statement calling for an end to airstrikes in the park and human rights violations against the Karen. The network also called on the military to withdraw its troops.

The network called for a UN Security Council resolution to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court and impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio  A pair of Florida men admitted Monday to swindling elderly residents in Northeast Ohio out of their savings in a scam that targeted grandparents.

John Tyler Pla, 25, and Johnny Lee Palmer, 26, both of Tampa, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Pamela Barker in Cleveland. She will sentence them July 26.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian McDonough said in documents that the men preyed on residents in their 70s and 80s who lived in Brecksville, Parma, Gates Mills, Lorain, Mansfield, Fairview Park, Westlake and Mentor. The victims suffered a combined loss of more than $383,000.

One of the victims, a 77-year-old man from Mentor, had dementia, the documents show. He gave the men $8,000.

I dont know how people can live with themselves for doing this, said Cheryl Leissa, a member of Elderly Advocates, a Parma-based nonprofit that seeks to improve the quality of life for older residents. To take money from someone who has worked so hard is just wrong.

The scheme unfolded here in late August, when elderly residents began receiving calls from people who claimed that they were the residents grandchildren and that they had been arrested or were in serious trouble, McDonough said in the filings.

To make it more realistic, others would call and claim to be the grandchildrens attorneys. Soon after the calls, the residents would go to the bank and obtain cash. Pla and Palmer would later drive a rented U-Haul truck and pick up the money in person at the residents homes, according to the documents.

The scheme appears to have begun in Brecksville on Aug. 21, as someone called an 86-year-old woman and claimed to be her grandson. He said he had been arrested and needed $20,000 to make bail, records show.

The woman, according to the filings, went to a bank and withdrew $10,000. Pla and Palmer went to her home and collected the money, the records show. The scenario played out several more times.

The scheme unraveled in Westlake on Aug. 25, when an 83-year-old woman paid the men $6,000. She gave the money to a man wearing a white shirt and yellow shorts, records show. The woman later contacted Westlake police, and a neighbor captured the distinctive artwork on the side of the U-Haul truck with a video camera.

Westlake police shared the information with other departments. Officers included a picture of the truck from a city-owned camera that was located close to the victims home.

A few days later, police noticed the truck and a rental car at a parking lot on West Superior Avenue in Cleveland. The men were arrested, and officers seized a 9mm handgun that had been reported stolen. They also found the yellow shorts one of the men had worn to the womans home.
GOP Senator Gives Firsthand Account of Border Crisis: This Is Absolutely an Open Border Situation

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) shared his experience during a tour at the U.S. southern border last week, lamenting the gravity of the crisis caused by a significant rise in illegal border crossings, particularly from unaccompanied minors.

Lankford was one of the 19 senators who visited the U.S.-Mexico border and facilities housing unaccompanied minors to see firsthand the extent of the illegal immigration crisis. The Oklahoma senator documented what he saw in several videos and social media posts in an attempt to shed some light on the situation, given that open media access has not been readily granted by the administration.

This is absolutely an open border situation, Lankford said in one of his videos. Anyone who wants to come in from any country in the world, if you walk onto this bridge here in McAllen, Texas, on the Mexico side of it and get here, and you pay the cartelsto actually come up to this area so the cartels, make you pay a fee to come here on the Mexico sidethen they come in here, and theyre all released.

So no matter what your background is, no matter who you are, if you come through this spot right here, youre going to be released. This is what open borders really look like. This is why this is a problem, he added.

Lankford was describing a temporary processing center at McAllen, Texas, located less than a mile from the U.S.-Mexico border where illegal immigrants, in particular family units, were entering into the United States. The migrants, he said, were being stopped by border patrol agents after entering into the United States and led to a temporary holding area under a bridge. After obtaining basic information about the migrants, families with children 6-years and younger are given a Notice to Appear, and are then transported to a bus station in the center of McAllen, Texas, where they were released.

A large group of illegal aliens prepares to board a bus bound for the Border Patrol processing facility after being apprehended by Border Patrol near McAllen, Texas, on April 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

He said that although the Notice to Appear requires that illegal immigrants appear in court at a later date, some of the court hearings may not occur until three-years time.

I know why President Biden doesnt want the media to be at the southern borderbecause we do have an open border, he told reporters during a press conference on Friday following a visit to a holding facility at Donna, Texas.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Lankfords comments.

His account of the border comes at the same time Democratic Texas lawmaker Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) expressed concern on March 22 over the release of 150 illegal immigrants without a future court date or any notice.

Cuellar said 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.

The United States is facing a significant influx of illegal immigrants in recent weeks, in particular unaccompanied minors, who have overwhelmed border facilities and resources.

While families and single adults are being expelled at the border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week, the administration is still accepting unaccompanied minors who arrive illegally.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo last Thursday to the heads of executive departments and agencies seeking temporary assistance to bolster staff resources at the border.

Recent photos of the detention facilities provided by CBP, lawmakers, and non-profits show children sleeping in crowded conditions on floor mats, and in some cases on the floor. Other photos show very young children sleeping on mats or playing in a playpen.

A border patrol agent who spoke to The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity described the conditions as being unhygienic and conducive to diseases, including COVID-19.

Any diseases that are in there, its being kept in there like a petri dish. The smell is overwhelming, the agent said, describing the conditions in a facility in south Texas.

Republican lawmakers have argued that the burgeoning crisis is a result of President Joe Bidens decision to overturn several Trump-era immigration policies that saw the flow of illegal border crossings curbed. This included his predecessors cornerstone Migrant Protection Protocol, which effectively ended the problematic catch and release policy, significantly stemming the surge of illegal immigrants seen at the southern border in 2019.

In a return to the Obama-era policies that facilitate catch-and-release, the Biden administration is again releasing unaccompanied minors into the country. The lawmakers argue that Bidens act has been interpreted as a signal to prospective migrants to travel to the United States.

The Biden administration, on the other hand, has sought to shift the blame on former President Donald Trumps administration, with Mayorkas saying that the previous government had dismantled the orderly, humane, and efficient way of allowing children to make their claims under United States law in their own country.

The number of family units (19,246) and unaccompanied minors (9,457) crossing illegally rose significantly in February, compared to 7,294 family units and 5,585 unaccompanied minors in January, and 4,404 family units and 4,993 unaccompanied minors in December 2020.

Similarly, the United States also faced a sharp spike of enforcement encounters in February at 100,441 encounters compared to 78,442 in January, 74,018 in December, and 72,111 in November.
The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

Students enter the Pierre Laporte Secondary School as secondary school students return to class full time during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, on Monday, March 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

5:40 p.m.

British Columbia health officials announced 2,518 new COVID-19 cases over three days on Monday, for a total of 98,165 since the pandemic began last year.

Six more people died from COVID-19, bringing the B.C. death toll to 1,455.

The number of vaccine shots given sits at 699,092 and among those, 87,289 are second doses.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. is following national advice to pause Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccinations for people younger than 55.

5:25 p.m.

British Columbia is introducing new restrictions for the next three weeks amid surging COVID-19 cases.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says indoor dining will be prohibited, but takeout and patio service will be allowed as part of the new rules effective from midnight through April 19.

She is prohibiting indoor group fitness and closing the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort, and announced new support for mask-wearing in schools for grades 4 through 12.

Henry also reversed a recent decision to allow indoor faith gatherings, adding she is doing so with a heavy heart but can't in good conscience allow them to proceed given the risk.

5 p.m.

Alberta reported 545 new cases of COVID-19, with 288 people in hospital, 64 of whom are in intensive care.

There were 249 more cases of variants of concern and the variants now make up 27 per cent of active cases.

There were no new deaths reported, leaving that total at 1,983.

Alberta has administered 608,000 doses of COVID vaccine so far.

5 p.m.

Alberta is following the advice of the national immunization committee and will pause giving Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to those under 55 given concerns of blood clots in recipients in Europe.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, says there have been no reports of such blood clot complications.

About 900 Albertans under 55 have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

4:55 p.m.

Saskatchewan says it's following national advice to hold off on giving people younger than 55 shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

It says most of the 15,000 doses given to date have gone into the arms of people 58 and older who went through a drive-thru vaccination clinic in Regina.

Some younger health-care workers have also received these shots.

The province says it has fewer than 100 doses of AstraZeneca left, but another 46,600 are expected to arrive this week from the United States.

4:30 p.m.

Health officials say there are no new COVID-19 deaths in Saskatchewan today, but there are 202 new cases -- exactly half of those in Regina, where variants of concern have been spreading.

Some 1,978 cases are considered active and 162 people are in hospital, 25 of them in intensive care.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 199.

The total number of vaccines administered in the province so far sits at 179,800.

4:20 p.m.

Ontarios top doctor says the province will pause use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for anyone 55 years or younger.

The decision comes after the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations recommended against using the AstraZeneca vaccine for the age group.

Ontarios chief medical officers says, thus far, the province has not given that vaccine to anyone younger than 60 years old in Ontario.

Dr. David Williams says the province will await further guidance from the federal government before making any decision to lift the pause.

4:05 p.m.

Health Canada is asking AstraZeneca to do a full analysis of the risks of its vaccine across all age groups and genders, following additional reports of patients in Europe developing blood clots.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada, says there have been no blood clots reported in Canada to date and still believes the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks.

However, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization says it is recommending that no province or territory use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on any adult under the age of 55 pending the outcome of that review.

Dr. Shelley Deeks, the vice-chair of NACI, says the risk of blood clots from data in Europe is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.

She says most of the patients in Europe who developed a rare blood clot after vaccination with AstraZeneca were women under the age of 55, and the fatality rate is as high as 40 per cent.

Because the risk of blood clots has been found mainly in younger patients, and the risk of COVID-19 is much higher for older adults, NACI is not recommending the AstraZeneca vaccine be suspended for patients over the age of 55.

4 p.m.

Following national advice, Newfoundland and Labrador is suspending the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in people under 55.

Health officials say about 4,000 people in the province have received a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and another 2,880 doses are waiting to be used.

The province had been administering the vaccine to first responders, but officials said today the remaining doses will be used in people over 55.

Officials say though the risk of complications is extremely low, anyone under 55 who got an AstraZeneca dose will be contacted by public health.

2:05 p.m.

Manitoba is announcing 53 new cases of COVID-19 as health officials say they are watching a concerning rise in variants of concern.

There have been 136 more cases of the variants detected.

The province is also expanding vaccine eligibility to people aged 64 and older and First Nation people aged 44 and older.

Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province's vaccine task force, says Manitoba is also limiting the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to people between the ages of 55 and 64 as more information is being sought around some adverse symptoms in younger people noticed in the United Kingdom.

1:30 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 11 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say the cases are in the Edmundston region, in the northwestern part of the province.

New Brunswick has 120 active reported cases of COVID-19 and four patients in hospital with the disease, including two in intensive care.

The province has reported a total of 1,588 COVID-19 infections and 30 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

11:20 a.m.

Prince Edward Island has suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for those aged 18 to 29 who had appointments for shots in pharmacies.

Health officials said in a brief statement the appointments are on hold pending further information expected today from Health Canada and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 891 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including two in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say that while hospitalizations dropped by three to 477, the number of patients requiring intensive care rose by six to 120.

The province administered 38,801 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday and has vaccinated 14.9 per cent of the population with a first dose.

Since the pandemic began, Quebec has reported 309,202 COVID-19 infections and 10,651 deaths.

10:40 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 2,094 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 618 new cases in Toronto.

She also says there are 368 new cases in Peel Region, 277 in York Region, 132 in Ottawa and 104 in Durham Region.

More than 50,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Ontario since Sunday's daily report.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021
Lindsay Boylan, 36

Former aide Lindsay Boylan, 36, was the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment in a Medium post on February 24. She claimed that the governor asked her to play strip poker and kissed her on the lips without her permission when she worked for him in 2017.

Lindsay Boylan, 36

Charlotte Bennett, 25

Charlotte Bennett, 25, came forward a few days after Boylan and claimed that Cuomo sexually harassed her last June while she was working as a health policy adviser in his administration at the height of the COVID-19 crisis.

Bennett accused Cuomo of 'grooming' her and asking inappropriate questions about her sex life.

She also claimed that he told her he was open to dating women in their 20s.

BENNETT said the governor asked her about her love life - including whether she ever had sex with older men - and talked about his own, saying that age differences didn't matter in relationships and he was open to dating women over 22.

During a meeting alone in his office, the governor said he was lonely and talked about wanting to hug someone, Bennett said.

She said she swiftly complained to Cuomo's chief of staff and was transferred to another job.

She said she spoke to a lawyer for the governor, but didnt insist on further action because she liked her new post and wanted to move on.

Charlotte Bennett, 25

Anna Ruch, 33

Anna Ruch was the third woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment and the only one thus far who did not work with him in a professional capacity. She claimed that Cuomo put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her just moments after they met at a September 2019 wedding in Manhattan.

Anna Ruch, 33

Ana Liss, 35

Ana Liss, 35, a former aide, said Cuomo asked her whether she had a boyfriend, once kissed her hand at her desk and called her by patronizing names, including 'blondie,' 'sweetheart' and 'honey.'

At a reception, the governor hugged her then put his arm around her lower back and waist as they posed for photo, Liss said.

She said she eventually asked for a job transfer. In an interview, Liss said she was 'not claiming sexual harassment per se,' but felt the administration 'wasn't a safe space for young women to work.'

Liss, who previously served as Cuomo's policy and operations aide between 2013 and 2015, told the Wall Street Journal that during her time in his administration, the governor had subjected her to unsolicited advances, including touching her lower back, kissing her hand and quizzing her about her love life.

Ana Liss, 35

Karen Hinton, 62

The oldest allegations against Cuomo came from Karen Hinton, who served as a press aide for him when he led the US Department of Housing and Urban Development two decades ago and she was a consultant for the agency. Hinton told the Washington Post about a 2000 incident when she said Cuomo summoned her to his 'dimly lit' hotel room and embraced her after a work event. She said she tried to pull away from Cuomo when he pulled her back and held her before she managed to escape the room.

Karen Hinton, 62

Unnamed sixth accuser

The most damning allegations leveled against Cuomo to date came from a sixth accuser, whose name has not been released.

The accuser, who is a member of Cuomo's staff, alleged that he closed a door, reached under her blouse and fondled her after summoning her to the governor's mansion in Albany for help with his cellphone, according to the Times Union of Albany.

It first reported on her accusation last month; she then gave more detail in her first interview on the matter, published Wednesday.

The woman spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her privacy, although her identity is known within the governors circle, the Times Union reported.

The woman, an executive assistant, told the Times Union the governor gave her kisses on the cheek and inappropriately tight hugs for years and made remarks including, 'If you were single, the things that I would do to you' and 'I'm single and ready to mingle.'

Then, one day in November, she was summoned to his Executive Mansion office to help him with a cellphone problem, she said.

He got up from his desk, started groping her and told her 'I don't care' after she tried to deflect him by saying he was going to get them into trouble, and then he slammed the door, she said.

Then he reached under her blouse and clutched one of her breasts over her bra, she told the newspaper.

The woman told a colleague this winter about the alleged encounter, and the co-worker told a supervisor in early March, according to the newspaper.

Cuomo called the report 'gut-wrenching' in a March statement and said: 'I have never done anything like this.'

Another female aide, who has remained anonymous, claimed he called her to his Executive Mansion last year, reached under her blouse and fondled her

Jessica Bakeman

Jessica Bakeman claimed in a first-person article for New York Magazine that she was sexually harassed by Cuomo on several occasions since the start of her journalism career in 2012.

Bakeman added her voice as the seventh accuser as she detailed inappropriate touching by the governor as he continued to deny all of the claims.

'He took my hand, as if to shake it, then refused to let go,' Bakeman wrote of an interaction with Cuomo as she said goodnight at a holiday party in 2014 when she was only 25 years old.

'He put his other arm around my back, his hand on my waist, and held me firmly in place while indicating to a photographer he wanted us to pose for a picture.'

At the time Bakeman had been working for what is now Politico New York and claimed that red flags went up as her 'job was to analyze and scrutinize him'.

'I didn't want a photo of him with his hands on my body and a smile on my face,' she wrote.

Jessica Bakeman, a reporter who once covered the Cuomo administration, was the seventh woman to come forward with claims of harassment

'But I made the reflexive assessment that most women and marginalized people know instinctively, the calculation about risk and power and self-preservation. I knew it would be far easier to smile for the brief moment it takes to snap a picture than to challenge one of the most powerful men in the country.'

In an earlier 2012 incident while she was working for USA Today, Bakeman also claims that Cuomo kept her pinned to his side as he told a story to her male colleagues.

'He left it there, and kept me pinned next to him, for several minutes as he finished telling his story,' she said. 'I stood there, my cheeks hot, giggling nervously as my male colleagues did the same. We all knew it was wrong, but we did nothing.'

The reporter, who now works in Florida, claimed that Cuomo 'never let me forget I was a woman' as she also alleged that he made frequent attempts to humiliate her, including calling out her purple phone instead of answering her question during a press gaggle.

Alyssa McGrath, 33

McGrath, a current administrative assistant in Cuomo's office, told The New York Times that he looked down her shirt, quizzed her about her marital status, and told her she was beautiful, using an Italian phrase she had to ask her parents to interpret.

McGrath didn't say the governor made sexual contact with her but thought his behavior was sexual harassment.

She recalled Cuomo kissing her on the forehead and gripping her firmly around the sides while posing for a photo at a 2019 office Christmas party.

Alyssa McGrath (pictured) is one of two aides who have come forward to accuse the governor of harassment

Sherry Vill, 55

Sherry Vill, 55, accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct during a press conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on Monday.

She alleges Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her 'aggressively and in a sexual manner' on both cheeks in May 2017 while he was touring her home in Greece, near Rochester, as he inspected local flood damage.

Vill, who said she felt uncomfortable at the time, shared an image her daughter took on the day that showed Cuomo holding her face as he kissed her cheek and her attorney held up multiple photos showing the Governor inside her home.

The same photos appear on Cuomo's Flickr account, as well as multiple others that show him kissing and greeting residents as he toured the town.

None of the women in the other photos have accused the governor of inappropriate behavior or wrongdoing.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The European Parliament will be ready to ratify the EU's COVID "green" pass in June, a key lawmaker said Monday, paving the way for easier travels during the key summer season.

The proposed vaccine pass was put forward this month by the European Commissionthe EU's executive armas tourist hotspots on the continent push to save their economies.

It is aimed at facilitating travel for those who have been vaccinated, tested negative or already gone through a coronavirus infection.

MEPs agreed last week to fast-track their consideration of the "digital green certificate" to help speed up an approval process that can take many months or even years.

Parliament committee chief Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said that a timeframe had been set to "push it forward" and that it could be approved during the session from June 7 to 10.

Lopez Aguilar, who is responsible for negotiating the proposal on behalf of parliament, insisted that the protection of personal data had to be ensured and there should be a "sunset clause" limiting how long the pass would be needed.

If the parliament backs the move it would then have to be formally signed off by the European Council, the body representing the members states.

The commission has said that is hoping to get the pass up and running by June.

The plan has faced resistance from some capitals, particularly over fears of discrimination against those still waiting for a vaccine as the bloc's inoculation drive has struggled to get going.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
This month marks 14 years since the disappearance of beloved husband, father, grandfather and former FBI agent Robert Levinson. In December, the United States sanctioned two high-ranking officials of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security who [are believed to have been] involved in the abduction, and likely death of Bob Levinson. However, this case is not closed, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.

The Secretary noted that he had recently spoken with the Levinson family. Since his abduction in 2007, Mr. Levinson has missed graduations, marriages, and the birth of all but one of his grandchildren. Mr. Levinsons family continues to advocate for the answers about what happened after he went to Kish Island in Iran 14 years ago.

Other Americans are currently trapped in Iran. One of them is Baquer Namazi. The Iranian government released the ailing 84-year-old Iranian-American from prison in 2018 because of his serious medical problems but has barred him from leaving the country, even though it commuted his remaining prison sentence last year.

Baquer Namazi was arrested five years ago after he flew to Iran to visit his son Siamak, a businessman who had been wrongfully detained in Iran in 2015. Both father and son were falsely charged with cooperating with an enemy power.

On the recent anniversary of Baquer Namazis arrest, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens tweeted, Today is another sad day for @FreetheNamazis as this American family continues to be separated. For five years, Iran has held U.S. citizen Baquer Namazi while his U.S. son Siamak is wrongfully held in Evin Prison. #Iran must allow them to be reunited and together in freedom.

We call on the Iranian government to provide credible answers to what happened to Bob Levinson and to immediately and safely release all U.S. citizens who are unjustly held captive in Iran, declared Secretary Blinken. The abhorrent act of unjust detentions for political gain must cease immediately.
A museum dedicated to the UK's divorce from the EU has taken a significant step towards getting off the ground after it was awarded charitable status and began a 650,000 fundraising drive.

Backers of the Brexit Museum are seeking 400,000 in donations to buy a building to house exhibits and a further 250,000 to set up and run the venue.

The architects of the project insist the museum is necessary to 'preserve' the 'tremendous story' of Britain's split from Brussels.

They have also stressed that the venue will be 'balanced' in its approach to the subject.

However, it is still unclear where the museum will actually be based, with a number of locations said to be in the running.

The Brexit Museum has launched a 650,000 fundraising campaign after it was awarded charitable status. A Remain supporter is pictured in Westminster in January 2019

The museum will look at the UK's relationship with the EU prior to the 2016 referendum, the campaign itself, and the aftermath of the Brexit vote. Theresa May is pictured in Brussels in November 2018 while Nigel Farage is picture in Westminster in January 2019

The awarding of charitable status to the Brexit Museum comes almost five years after the EU referendum was held in June 2016.

Alex Deane, one of the Museum's trustees, said: 'There is a tremendous story behind this that deserves to be preserved. Unless we act fast, much of the material from the referendum will be lost.

'Gaps will then be filled with misperceptions, fake news, and myth. Our objective is to plug that gap at the time when it is easiest, right now while memories are fresh, attics are still filled recruiting with treasures, and before items and stories get lost.

'To achieve this we need to appeal to the people whose work must be remembered. Our immediate target is to raise 400,000 to purchase a property, at which point the project can become a bricks and mortar entity.

'The next target is to raise a further 250,000 to set up the museum. This includes staff with the appropriate curatorial, archiving and administrative backgrounds.'

The museum's website insists it will examine the circumstances surrounding the UK's departure from the EU in a 'balanced way'.

The website states: 'There were two sides to the 2016 Brexit debate, and both need to be explored. The deeper story of Euroscepticism itself can only be understood in context, as a response to European integration happening in parallel and for its own reasons. Those stories need to be investigated fairly and in a balanced way.'

It remains unclear where the museum will be located but The Telegraph reported that locations in the Midlands, including Dudley and Boston which voted heavily to Leave the EU, are in the running.

The museum's website said that 'Brexit was not a London phenomenon' and 14 criteria will be used to determine a location.

The Museum is also seeking contributions of Brexit-related items of historic significance. Boris Johnson is pictured in November 2019

The criteria include the need for it to be an urban setting, an area of the country where it will be supported, and somewhere with strong transport links.

As well as donations, the museum is also asking people to donate Brexit-related items of historic significance.

Lord Lawson, the Tory former Chancellor of the Exchequer, has backed the project and said: 'The debate about the United Kingdom's evolving relationship with its neighbours, and its place in the world, has been of critical national significance.

'We need to capture those records and stories for posterity.'

Lord Owen, former Labour foreign secretary, added: 'This is an important initiative recognised by the Charity Commission and I encourage everyone to contribute.'
These are turbulent times. In the last year, cities have experienced many episodes of civil unrest with significant property damage and loss, physical harm to people.

For our purposes, civil unrest encompasses three types of conduct. First, spontaneous or planned protests can morph into riots or civil commotion with vandalism, looting and wanton destruction. Next, terroristic groups or individuals can cause similar mayhem. Third, individuals, groups or movements motivated by a range of purposes can become violent, at times elevating the level of violence of other protestors by supplying weapons such as Molotov cocktails.

On March 17, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an unclassified assessment of domestic violent extremism. The first paragraph states that domestic violent extremists who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States post an elevated threat to the Homeland in 2021.

The lines of this trichotomy can be blurred, with motives and causation difficult or impossible to ascertain or prove. But the distinctions have important consequences for insurance coverage purposes.

The starting point is the policy language, which sets the fundamental structure for coverage. Where questions of interpretation arise, they are resolved by judicial interpretations of state law, which varies across jurisdictions. Coverage determinations can require detailed, deeply drilled-down analysis.

Coverage for protest-based civil unrest

The most likely coverage for civil unrest is commercial property and casualty insurance. Coverage can arise from perils such as riots or civil commotion being identified as a Covered Cause of Loss, or from failure to exclude them. Conversely, some policies expressly exclude these perils. Where policies define these terms, the definitions are of course key. Often, though, policies do not to define these terms. But various statutes and courts have. Common definitions of riot require a public disturbance involving (1) an act of violence by one or more persons in a group of three or more persons, which act constitutes a clear and present danger of, or results in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of another individual or (2) a threat or threats of the commission of an act of violence by one or more in a group of three or more persons.

Civil commotion definitions are similar to riots, but the term is generally construed as requiring a more serious disturbance or a series of disturbances.

Other related coverages that may apply include vandalism (intentional damage or destruction of property) and malicious mischief (acts motivated by spite or hatred that result in damage or destruction that might not have been intended).

The scope of coverage typically extends to property damage, including destroyed, damaged, burned, or looted property, graffiti damage, and debris removal. There can also be coverage for lost income, subject to waiting periods (typically three days). The insurance may also cover costs incurred to protect against future, imminent harm or continued damage under Protection of Property, Sue and Labor, or similar clauses.

One of the key issues is the number of occurrences, which affects applicable deductibles, limits and sublimits. A policyholder could experience several losses at a single location, or losses at multiple locations, in the same city or in different cities. How many occurrences are there? Policies can sometimes limit the period of time to aggregate losses, or a specific geographic scope, or both. One common limitation is that different losses can be combined into a single occurrence if they took place within a 72-hour period.

One factor that may be important is whether and how Verisks Property Claims Services characterizes the circumstances. For example, PCS has assigned a catastrophe serial number CAT 2033 to losses from the disturbances following the death of George Floyd, running from May 26 to June 8, 2020. The losses took place in many states, and for the first time in its history, PCS expanded its designation to include losses in multiple specified cities and specified states. Note, however, that insurers are not required to follow the ISO CAT designation in making occurrence determinations.

Other complicating factors include the intersection of COVID-19 lockdowns with civil unrest losses. This will likely affect the calculation of many business income losses. There may also be coverage for lost income under a Civil Authority provision if access is prevented by an actual governmental order, although this is complicated because policies most often require actual physical damage to the property or adjoining property, so a purely prophylactic order, deigned to quell a disturbance and prevent further rioting, might not lead to coverage.

Coverage for terrorism

What if the Nashville Christmas Day bomber had been a terrorist?

The essential feature of terrorism is that it uses violence or destruction in an attempt to further political, religious, or ideological aims. The extent of coverage for terrorism varies depending on whether the insured has opted for coverage within the construct of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act and its successors (collectively, TRIA), or under standalone terrorism insurance forms.

Where the source of insurance is TRIA, there is coverage under commercial property and casualty insurance for an act of terrorism. Using the Patriot Act definition, such an act would need to be performed with the intent to intimidate or coerce the civilian population or to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion. TRIA requires the act of terrorism be certified as such by the secretary of the treasury in consultation with the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the attorney general. Aggregate losses must be at least $5 million, but many state regulations do not allow this requirement to be used as a basis for denying coverage for an individual loss. The attack must be in the US or against certain US property or interests abroad. In an important recent change, the terrorists can be either foreign or domestic. (There are other limitations and requirements applicable to whether the US government backstop reimbursing insurers for a portion of the losses applies, but they are not relevant to the present discussion.)

The most salient point is that the US Government has never certified anything as a terrorist event. And certainly the present polarized environment would make it extremely difficult to make a designation in the context of domestic terrorism, because whether the terrorists were thought to be from the right or left could warp priorities and trump rational analysis.

For these reasons and others, many insureds opt out of TRIA and obtain coverage through standalone terrorism Insurance. These specialty policies are not subject to the certification requirement of TRIA, and they can be individually-crafted to address an insureds crucial exposures within a broader range of risks. Terms, conditions, limits and deductibles are individually negotiated. Terrorism can be defined broadly as any act or acts committed for political, religious or ideological purposes. Other perils can be included, such as vandalism, malicious damage, riots, strikes, civil commotion, insurrection, rebellion, revolution, and sabotage (subversive acts committed for political, religious or ideological purposes). Among other bespoke features, business interruption extensions can be broad and interruption periods can be long, e.g.,18 months. Coverage for threats leading to revenue loss also can be added, such as loss of revenue from a sporting event cancellation.

Note also that personal lines policies do not exclude terrorism at all.

The grey area of extremist actors

There is a grey area, inhabited by individuals and groups having both political beliefs or aspirations, on either side of the political spectrum, and a predisposition for violence. They may or may not have specific intent to coerce, influence, or overthrow a government. They may simply want to break things. How are they treated?

Most war exclusions include concepts such as insurrection, rebellion, and revolution. Arguably, some of the attacks by militant individuals or groups might fall into these. However, some legal interpretations have held that an insurrection or rebellion must be part of a movement specifically intended to overthrow the constituted government. This leaves open questions, such as whether their intent has to be realistic. What if there is no chance they will overthrow the government, yet that is the intent of their group or movement? What if their motivating ideology is too fanciful to be credible, such as QAnon? Do the insurrection and rebellion exclusions apply?

America is a deeply divided nation, with many people driven to expression in the streets, and regrettably, too many inclined toward violence. Ultimately, every serious problem becomes an insurance problem. The trauma of civil unrest is no different.

About the photo: In this July 26, 2020, file photo, federal officers launch tear gas at demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Parents in the Easton Area School District can either send their kids to school full time next fall or enroll them in online instruction through the school district.

A letter posted on the school district website Monday invites parents to learn more about the 2021-22 school year at a Zoom meeting set up for 7 p.m. April 8.

The Easton Area School District will offer two learning pathway options, Brick and Mortar or the Easton Cyber Academy, said Assistant Superintendent Tracy Piazza in the letter.

We hope that all students who wish to learn in person will be able to do so five days per week, she said.

The cyber academy will allow children to learn from home through school district teachers on an Easton-issued iPad. Children learn at their own pace but stick to the same curriculum offered to in-school children.

The district asks parents interested in the cyber academy to sign up by April 22. Parents with second thoughts after that can meet with a school counselor to discuss the academy. After a two-week grace period, the district asks children signed up for the cyber academy to stick with it for at least one semester.

For more information, see the school district website.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Lehighvalleylive.com.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
When Rachel Hawley walked into the old Macys at Military Square mall to get her first COVID-19 vaccine shot, there were lots of wide eyes.

She was 39 weeks pregnant.

Hawley was eligible to get the shots, not only because she has an autoimmune disorder, but because she was expecting. So the 38-year-old Norfolk mother signed up as soon as she could after discussing it with her doctor.

Three days after her first shot, she gave birth to her second daughter, Quinn, and last week, got her second shot.

Now, Quinn, nearly a month old, may be benefiting from the vaccine, too. Early results from studies around the world are showing that babies may receive COVID-19 antibodies in utero or through breast milk from vaccinated moms.

A baby born in South Florida three weeks after her mother received the Moderna vaccine was born with the antibodies, two pediatricians learned when they tested the mothers cord blood, according to a story in The Miami Herald. Another baby was born with the antibodies in Colorado in February, a few weeks after her mom got the vaccine.

A study in Israel of lactating women who received the Pfizer vaccine had promising results.

Doctors knew that mothers who previously had the virus could pass antibodies to their newborns, so they were hopeful the protection also would be possible after vaccinating expecting mothers.

When the vaccines first received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, they werent tested on pregnant women, so initially, it was unclear if they should get it. But that has since changed.

Several organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, the The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and others are supporting vaccination for particularly high-risk pregnant and lactating women, Brenner said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reported that with the exception of smallpox and yellow fever, vaccines given to lactating mothers have not affected the safety of their breastfeeding.

Hawley is breastfeeding Quinn and hoping her baby will get the antibodies as protection.

The early results are giving experts in the field hope.

Dr. Michelle Brenner, the medical director of The Kings Daughters Milk Bank at Childrens Hospital of The Kings Daughters has been looking at similar research around the world, including from a group in Norway, where scientists studied antibodies in breast milk samples.

If a mom is vaccinated toward the end of her pregnancy, she is providing immediate protection to that unborn baby, as well as when the infant is born, so the risk of transmission to the infant by someone else in the nursery, or by a family member would be decreased, said Brenner, also a pediatrician and professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

So especially moms who are at high risk, its good for them to consider getting vaccinated during pregnancy.

Hawley, originally from upstate New York, wanted to make the best decision for her and her baby. She said when vaccines were first approved, there wasnt much information available, but within a few months, research indicated its better to do it than not.

She thought it would be more dangerous to not get vaccinated. Healthy mom, healthy baby, I guess is the way I think about it, she said.

Dr. Margarita de Veciana, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, likens it to when a woman gets a flu vaccine or a TDAP vaccine in pregnancy, and their body mounts an antibody defense against the diseases.

After birth or if theyre breastfeeding their baby, theyre passing along these antibodies. Its just as if theyve gotten any other vaccine in pregnancy, so it makes a lot of sense, she said.

However, experts dont know how long the antibodies last or if its enough to protect the baby if he or she were exposed to the virus.

All those are questions that remain unanswered and Im sure theres going to be studies looking at that, at this point, de Veciana said.

Still, any protection is better than none.

If a mom is vaccinated toward the end of her pregnancy, she is providing immediate protection to that unborn baby, as well as when the infant is born, so the risk of transmission to the infant by someone else in the nursery, or by a family member would be decreased, Brenner said.

So especially moms who are at high risk, its good for them to consider getting vaccinated during pregnancy, she said.

De Veciana agreed and said theres no reason to believe being pregnant will negatively effect a womans response to the vaccine.

It has definitely been proven that building up your immune response before the baby actually comes out, so trying to get the baby antibodies through the placenta, is probably a better way to get immunization for the baby or get protection for the baby than breastfeeding, she said.

She noted, though, that it takes several weeks for your body to build up the adequate antibody response, so even if youre breastfeeding for the first few weeks after giving birth, you may not be protecting your baby yet, she said.

Brenner is hoping to work with researchers at EVMS to study antibodies in donor milk at the milk bank, which collects donor breast milk to give to severely premature and critically-ill infants.

The milk bank has a surplus, including from moms who know they had the virus and some from moms who were vaccinated.

It would be very interesting to actually do a surveillance of all the milk we have remaining, all the milk thats still in the freezer from the last however months, to look at the moms who had no idea they were infected to see if theres antibodies, kind of a way to do population surveillance, Brenner said.

So while there are still a lot of questions, experts say its reassuring that theyve detected antibodies in the babys blood.

Hawley was willing to take the risk in the name of protecting her baby.

We dont know when young babies will be able to be vaccinated themselves because those trials havent happened yet, so any immunity I can transfer to her, the better.

2021 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit at pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
New Delhi: The prestigious Filmfare Awards 2021 were recently held in Mumbai to honour the best performances of the year gone by. The late legendary actor Irrfan Khan won the Best Actor posthumously for Angrezi Medium.

Receiving his award, son Babil made an emotional speech at Filmfare stage and shared it in a note on social media. His mother Sutapa Sikdar helped him in getting all dressed up for the big night. Babil's touching speech will surely moisten your eyes:

Mamma dressing me up - So in my little speech while accepting babas awards from @jaideepahlawat @rajkummar_rao @ayushmannk , I basically said this is not my place to say anything. People always say that you cannot fit into your fathers shoes but at least I can fit into his clothes. I just want to show all my gratitude to the audience and our industry because of the warmth and love that you have hugged our family with, and all I can really say is that you and I will make this journey together and take indian cinema to new heights, I promise. The story behind the clothes was that my father hated participating in fashion shows and ramp walks but he did it in these same clothes in order to continuously break out of his comfort zone. That is exactly what I was doing last night, tearing though into new spaces that Im uncomfortable with.

Late actor Irrfan Khan died on April 29, 2020. He was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Hospital due to a colon infection a day prior to his untimely demise.

The actor par-excellence battled a rare form of cancer - Neuroendocrine Tumour - for which he had undergone treatment for it in London. He first informed about his illness on social media sending fans into a state of shock.

We miss you Irrfan, always!
Tanzanian maize farmers, cargo crew and businesspeople who were barred entry at the Lunga Lunga border, in Kwale for more than ten days have returned the cargo to the Tanzanian side.

The are blaming the Kenyan government of frustrating them, despite their cargo being cleared by Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) agents and issued with export certificate .

Twenty-eight trucks have been at the border since the early this month, after Kenya banned maize from Tanzania and Uganda, for allegedly having aflatoxins, before rescinding the decision, but with stringent importation rules.

The drivers had to drive back to Tanzania in protest of not getting any communication from Kenya, on the reasons behind being denied access to deliver the consignment.

"I have been here since March 15 hoping to deliver the maize to Kenya but in vain. We were told the border management is waiting communication from Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), before we can deliver the cargo but since then, no communication has been forthcoming," said Allexander Lason, one of the drivers.

According to Abed Karata, one of the exporters, after the protest, the border management has threatened to blacklist all trucks which returned cargo to Tanzania side unless they pay $400 (Sh43,557) per truck as custom charges.

"We could not afford paying drivers and truck owner that is why we decided to return the cargo but after protest, we were slapped by a custom charge or the trucks will be barred from entering any Kenyan border," said Mr Karata.

Ms Daines Mwakisiara, a maize farmer said could not believe that her consignment was being held at the border, so she had to visit Lunga Lunga office to get information.

"I took a loan to get maize into the country, hoping to get funds immediately so I suspected there was a foul play when I was told my goods were stuck here. However, I have confirmed the driver was barred from entering Kenya. This does not align with the East African spirit of free movement of goods and persons," said Ms Mwakisiara.

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Efforts to get comments from border management on the standoff were futile.

According to AFA, all traders within East Africa who trade with Kenya on goods scheduled under Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) will have to be registered with the authority in the integrated management information system (AFA-IMIS).

However, it is not clear if the group complied with the new regulations introduced on March 11 this year.

AFA director general Kello Harsama during the launch of the system said the current impasse on the ban of importation of maize from Uganda and Tanzania will be resolved, since all traders will be registered to ensure accountability.

While lifting the ban, Ministry of Agriculture said the consignments coming in must be accompanied with a certificate of conformity on aflatoxin levels and that traders must issue details of their warehouses.

The certificate of conformity should indicate that the aflatoxin levels and comply with the maximum required levels of 10 parts per billion.

Traders importing maize from Uganda and Tanzania to Kenya, will be required to also have a certificate of origin, from the counties of produce, before they get clearance at the border points. The said 28 trucks had the same from Kebs.

Early March this year, Kenya banned maize imports from Uganda citing high levels of aflatoxin in the grain, setting the stage for a trade war between the two neighbouring states.
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A mother who resorted to IVF in a desperate bid to have a child claims the hormones used to help her conceive fuelled a life-threatening brain tumour.

Serena Jardine, now 53 and with an eight-year-old son, James, endured a seven year struggle to get pregnant and went through five rounds of IVF over the course of four years, costing 35,000.

In 2012 she finally had the baby she and her husband had been trying for but, just 18 months later, she was diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumour.

She noticed something was wrong when she became forgetful and developed painful headaches and mood swings.

Her husband, Scott, took her to hospital in 2014 when she had stroke-like symptoms and medics spotted the now orange-sized growth on an MRI scan and operated three weeks later.

Doctors discovered she had had the tumour since 2006 and said it could have been made worse by the potent hormone treatment she took to improve her chances of conceiving, Mrs Jardine claimed.

Mrs Jardine, from Worthing, Sussex, lost some of her eyesight in the risky operation, which removed 95 per cent of the growth, and developed problems with her thyroid.

On her IVF contributing to the tumour, Mrs Jardine said: 'No-one told me anything about the potential downsides  it was just "this is what we have to do to get you a baby".'

Studies have found the type of tumour Mrs Jardine developed  called a meningioma  are found more commonly among women who are pregnant or having fertility treatment because they have higher levels of female sex hormones that fuel growth.

Serena Jardine said nobody told her about the risks of IVF. Doctors said the fertility treatment may have caused a brain tumour she already had to get bigger

The tumour grew to the size of an orange and made Mrs Jardine become forgetful, caused painful headaches and triggered mood swings

Mrs Jardine's son, James, is now eight years old

'Obviously I am overjoyed to have my son but it was not an easy journey,' said Mrs Jardine.

'No-one told me anything about the potential downsides  it was just "this is what we have to do to get you a baby".

'You are told to inject this every day and take that, but nobody really goes into what these hormones might do and the potential harm they can do.

'Of course, I had no idea I had a brain tumour or that hormones I had taken might accelerate the growth.'

The former school teacher turned trainee medical herbalist had the tumour before she started IVF in 2008.

Doctors said other medics had missed it when they did a brain scan in 2006  two years before she started treatment  when Mrs Jardine had been having severe earache.

HOW CAN IVF INCREASE BRAIN TUMOUR RISK? There is no proof that IVF can cause meningioma brain tumours but scientists suggest it may accelerate the growth of ones that already exist. This is because female reproductive hormones women are given during fertility treatment to improve chances of success are known to help tumours to grow. One of the main ones, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), boosts oestrogen levels in the blood to increase fertility. Oestrogen is used by the body to stimulate growth in the reproductive system to make women more fertile while they are ovulating. But scientists have found that some meningiomas have oestrogen receptors on them, meaning the hormone can interact with the lump and potentially make it expand faster. Oestrogen is also boosted in women who become pregnant naturally, so the problem is not exclusively linked to IVF, but it may be a risk of the procedure. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that meningiomas developed more often and at a younger age among women who had had IVF. But in a small study they found 16 out of 17 were successfully treated with surgery. Sources: Journal of Neuro-Oncology; Neurosurgery Advertisement

Because her meningioma was not cancerous, it could have existed for a long time as a tiny lump, not big enough to press on her brain or cause any obvious symptoms.

But soon after giving birth to James, after an ordeal of three miscarriages, five bouts of IVF and seven years of trying, Mrs Jardine started to get ill.

'I thought it was just sleepless nights and started making excuses, but I began doing stupid things like leaving the keys in the door, Id forget to take my handbag out with me, and then I started having the occasional really bad headache six months after James was born,' she said.

'Id have to lie down in a dark room and Id be sick with them. They were quite severe.

'And in the meantime I was always forgetting things. I went to the launderette and Id been to the butchers to get some meat and promptly left it all in the launderette.

'My character changed too. I was instantly angered if something upset me and was very emotional.

'And Im a very mild-mannered person. Id fly off the handle at the slightest things.

'Then one day Id gone to take the dogs for a walk and I came back and Scott asked me a question and I discovered I couldnt speak. He took one look at me and said my face had dropped.'

The couple rushed to hospital and Mrs Jardine was later diagnosed with the tumour and had a 10-hour brain surgery just three weeks later. Doctors said her IVF may have contributed to it.

The female reproductive hormones women are given during IVF to improve chances of success are known to help tumours to grow, most notoriously in breast cancer.

One of the main ones, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), boosts oestrogen levels in the blood to increase fertility.

And progesterone is also given during the treatment, which is another steroid growth hormone.

Scientists have found that some meningiomas have oestrogen receptors on them, meaning the hormone can interact with the growth and potentially make it expand faster.

Oestrogen is also boosted in women who become pregnant naturally, so the problem is not exclusively linked to IVF, but it may be a risk of the procedure.

Mrs Jardine was diagnosed with the brain tumour only 18 months after the birth of her first son, James, now eight

Mrs Jardine's son James was finally born in 2012 after her ordeal of three miscarriages, five bouts of IVF and seven years of trying for a baby

Doctors discovered Mrs Jardine had had the tumour since 2006  two years before she started IVF (pictured in 2012)  but it could have been made worse by the potent hormone treatment she took to improve her chances of conceiving

WHAT IS A MENINGIOMA? A meningioma is a tumor of the meninges, which is the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Around 34,000 people are diagnosed every year in the US. These tumors generally do not spread and are benign, meaning they aren't cancerous, in 90 percent of cases. However, they can cause disability, be life-threatening and regrow. Symptoms typically include: Blurry vision

Painful headaches

Loss of hearing

Memory loss

Loss of smell A sufferer's senses, movement and ability to swallow may be affected. The cause of meningiomas are unknown, but they have been linked to genetics and breast cancer. Treatment options include surgery and radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement

Exact statistics for fertility-related meningiomas are not known but they're the most common type of non-cancerous brain tumour and make up around one in five in the UK.

About 11,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, according to the NHS, suggesting there are around 2,300 meningiomas  about two thirds of them among women.

Dr Anthony Ghosh, a neurosurgeon at the BMI Chelsfield Park Hospital in Kent, said that around 12 per cent of cases in women are among those who had IVF.

This suggests fewer than 200 cases per year are diagnosed in women who have had IVF  for context, about 54,000 women had IVF in 2018.

But Dr Ghosh said the tumours are not known to be caused by fertility treatment, they may just be exacerbated by it which then leads to a diagnosis.

He said: 'If someone has a small meningioma you wouldnt advise her never to have IVF but youd give her some warning that they can grow and it may be worth keeping it under surveillance.

'Of women that do have meningiomas, about 12 per cent of them have had IVF in the past.

'We have also seen women with gender dysphoria who are given estrogen therapy grow multiple meningiomas and when they stop the treatment we see the meningiomas regress.

'We know there are cases of women with a brain tumour that after IVF became massive.

'You cant say IVF can develop a new brain tumour or meningioma but if you have one, it can cause it to grow.'

Meningiomas are tumours that grow in membranes  thin sheets of flesh  between the skull and the brain or the spinal cord.

Nine out of 10 of them are not cancerous and they grow slowly, meaning they may not cause any symptoms.

Brain tumours generally only cause symptoms when they get big enough to press on the organ and interfere with nerve signals, which can cause various problems including physical pain or paralysis, or mental issues like mood swings, brain fog or memory loss.
San Francisco artists will receive help from their local government amid the course of the pandemic, which also affected their living. The city mayor has announced that Guaranteed Income Pilot will help their local artists with their financial troubles that might have bothered them during the first wave of the pandemic in the United States.

The project is in collaboration with certain groups such as the Office of Racial Equity from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), and the Arts Impact Endowment, co-funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission. The said groups collaborated and became the backbone of the Guaranteed Income Pilot that will support the local artists of San Francisco County.

ALSO READ: Latin Artists' Good Deeds to People Who are in Need During COVID-19 Pandemic

Guaranteed Income Pilot for San Francisco Artists

The said program was announced by the city mayor of San Francisco, London Breed on March 25, 2021. The program will only accommodate 130 local artists from the San Francisco county, according to an Insider report. The selected artists will receive $1,000 per month for six months. Handing out the economic relief will start in May.

"We knew that this health crisis would impact artists, and artists of color in particular," said Breed. Breed noted that their artists make San Francisco special by bringing life and energy to their city.

City officials noted that the movement of helping vulnerable sectors specifically the artists during the pandemic, is the first of its kind in the United States, according to a KQED report. Apart from the artists who will receive financial help in the bay area, San Francisco has also different financial relief plans for other specific sectors such as Black and Pacific Islander mothers which are called the Abundant Birth Project. Another movement called Dream Keeper Initiative will target the city's Black and African and American community.

Breed furthered that the arts are important to their local economy which is also vital in the city's long-term recovery. Breed also believes that the Guaranteed Income Pilot will help their creative sector and make artists bounce back more resilient than before.

The program of the county follows the announcement of a similar project from a different county. Just like San Francisco, Oakland has also announced a program that will help families for 18 months, according to a KTVU report.

Guaranteed Income Plan eligibility

To be one of the San Francisco artists to receive the plan, the artists musty apply on YBCA's website. However, an artist must also pass eligibility when they apply for the plan.

Those who can apply include someone who actively engages in the community through dance, creative writing, music, performance art, installation, visual art, theater, and film. Apart from these sets of people, teaching artists, culturally-based craft workers, and arts educators are allowed to apply. Also, the applicant must be 18 years old and above and is a resident of San Francisco in an eligible zip code. Annual income is also taken into account whenever an artist will apply.

San Francisco artists who applied for the Guaranteed Income Pilot will be notified regarding the status of their application on May 11. Moreover, April 15 will be the last date of application for the plan.

RELATED ARTICLE: National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Offers Help for Latino Artists, Groups

WATCH: San Francisco promises guaranteed income for some artists - from KTVU Fox 2 San Francisco
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An Igbo socio-cultural group has filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking an order stopping the ongoing appointment of Justices of the Court of Appeal.

The group, Alaigbo Development Foundation, cited alleged lopsidedness in the appointment as its grounds for opposing the exercise.

A list of 18 candidates was recently recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment as judges of the Court of Appeal.

The plaintiff alleged that the principles of justice, fairness, equity, due process and federal character were ignored, disregarded or infringed upon at the detriment of the slots entitled to by the South-East zone in the ongoing appointment.

According to the group, the South-East zone made up of predominantly Igbo is entitled to three slots to replace the vacancies occasioned by the retirement of judges from the zone on the Court of Appeal bench.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the plaintiff, through its lawyer, Max Ozoaka, filed the originating summons marked FHC/ABJ/CS/347/21 on March 16.

It sued the National Judicial Council (NJC), Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), President of the Court of Appeal, Federal Character Commission (FCC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.

It sought among others, A declaration that the South-East zone is entitled to three new slots in the ongoing exercise of appointment of the justices of the Court of Appeal in direct replacement or filling of the vacancies in the bench of the Court of Appeal currently existing in the South East Zone which arose from the elevation, retirement and death of three justices of the Court from the zone.

It also sought an order restraining the defendants, especially the 1st,2nd and 3rd defendants from continuing the ongoing exercise of appointment of justices of the Court of Appeal unless and until the South East zone is accorded its rightful entitlement in the exercise.

Mondays hearing

However, when the matter was called on Monday, only the lawyer representing the 3rd defendant (Appeal Court President), Y. C. Maikyau, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was in court, besides the plaintiffs lawyer.

Although the plaintiffs lawyer, Mr Ozoaka, told the court that all the defendants were served with the processes through the court bailiff, the proofs of service were not in the court file.

The judge, Inyang Ekwo, who said the case ought to be heard expeditiously, ordered an abridgment of time within which the matter the defendants are to respond to the suit.

He also directed that the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th defendants should be served with the hearing notices and should file their processes within five days of receiving the notice.

The judge adjourned the matter till April 8 for hearing.

(NAN)
Where are we now? Unfortunately, unique international growth has not continued. Dedication now encounters antipathy.

by Professor Michael Czinkota

Less than a decade ago many economic players pronounced the triumph of global marketing. Governments encouraged market-based decision rules of economic games. Those who invoked benefits of government planning and state monopolies rapidly encountered substantial public doubt. Ten years is a long time for firms and their customers. Conditions have changed.

Back then, competitive market conditions held preference. Nations that had turned away from mandated economies found rewards in very strong growth rates. There were sharp expectations for growing political freedom, greater increases in life expectancy, higher literacy rates, and a better overall standard of living.

Firms encountered substantial benefits from globalization. They found a wider market reach, more customers, and higher productivity. International firms outperformed their competitors who worked only domestically. International Marketers associated with global tasks found their jobs interesting and profitable. Workers in international ventures used to have their income well outdistance that of domestic competitors. Workplace security was high and being part of an internationally growing enterprise led to pride, interest, and an optimistic view of the future.

Where are we now? Unfortunately, unique international growth has not continued. Dedication now encounters antipathy. Firms, governments, and individuals encounter sliding shifts and have to cope with adverse conditions abroad. Competition is harsher, and many firms are searching for approaches just to help make it through the night. A now growing lack of protocol adherence by an entire litter of adversaries is giving shrillness to the midnight environment.

The configuration, purpose, and impact of media have shriveled, leading to sharp reductions in communications. The consequence is less well-understood decision-making. Simultaneously, public debt is increasing vastly. How long can one stave off the large-scale transfer of funds? And flow again they must, triggered by the presence of a high-pressure surplus, pent up demand, and the investment desire of wealth.

For the time being, much policy emphasis rests with short-term issues. Eyes can be closed tightly, but eventually, international debt will trigger international money flows. New rules for market access will need to come about. America must be compensated by the benefits which have been provided by American innovation, education, and protection of its clientele. Here it will quickly become important to create and implement full pricing schemes which enable all sides to contribute fully, rapidly, and fairly.

In spite of the significant changes in the world marketplace, all sides need to understand and appreciate the transformational and uplifting capabilities of market forces. We can and should develop relationships that, due to clear and transparent pricing of invested inputs offer strength and growth. Let new users find ways to understand all the efforts and investment it takes to bring success to an industrial sector. Even the development of an effective vaccine triggers pride and feelings of success. We help by working with neighbors and friends, offering them jobs, making life exciting, and leading to widespread success. Then we will all be better off than we were a decade ago.
OTTAWA - The head of Facebook Canada says it will try to avoid a repeat of the news blackout it imposed in Australia, so long as impendinglegislation doesn't force it to dim the lights of democracy.

Guest are welcomed by people in Facebook shirts as they arrive at the Facebook Canadian Summit in Toronto on Wednesday, March 28, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Donovan

OTTAWA - The head of Facebook Canada says it will try to avoid a repeat of the news blackout it imposed in Australia, so long as impendinglegislation doesn't force it to dim the lights of democracy.

"It is never something we would ever want to do unless we really have no choice," Kevin Chan told a parliamentary committee hearing Monday.

Facebook blocked all news on its platform in Australia for five days last month in response to proposed legislation that would require digital giants to pay legacy media outlets for linking to their work.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Australian counterpart agreed to continue "co-ordinating efforts" to ensure Big Tech revenues are shared more fairly with creators and media after Facebook struck a deal with the Australian government on a revised bill, which still demands tech titans fork over cash for linked content.

The standoff Down Under shone a spotlight on Facebook's massive clout  despite the public relations disaster that ensued  as well as broader questions around shifting media business models and modes of information consumption.

Ottawa is working on a three-pronged response to the challenges that social media platforms and other online content providers pose to how media in Canada has been financed, regulated and policed in the past.

Part of that solution is a bill currently before the House of Commons to modernize the broadcasting regime in a way that could force internet steaming sites like Netflix and Spotify to make Canadian content more discoverable and to cough up financial contributions to bolster Canadian creators and producers.

Online hate is a focus of the second prong, as global observers continue to question Facebook's role in tragedies ranging from the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand to deadly military violence directed at Myanmar's Rohingya minority, along with racist posts in Canada.

The third prong seeks to address how major internet companies are taxed  with Australia providing a possible model  and in turn how traditional media companies are financially supported.

Facebook already props up struggling legacy news firms by directing traffic to their sites, Chan said, arguing that cumbersome regulation would hinder a free and open internet.

He pointed to Ontario-based Village Media, whose CEO estimates that Facebook and Google generated 24 million page views for the online community news company in January, amounting to $480,000 in ad revenue. Facebook Canada has also announced investments of $18 million in sustainable media models over six years.

Even if Facebook did choose to choke off news access, the platform doesn't currently function as an essential source of information for most Canadians, Chan said. He cited a Ryerson Leadership Lab study showing that about one-quarter of the population gets its news from Facebook, below several other sources including television, which topped the list, but above newspapers and magazines.

"Its not the case that Facebook is somehow synonymous to the internet or somehow synonymous with access to news," he said.

Critics argue that paying publishers for links that they or their readers choose to post on social media  effectively a form of promotion  is backwards; if anything, news outlets should pay Facebook for the privilege of putting up de facto ads on its platform.

In a statement to The Canadian Press, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said the government is consulting with France and Australia over the "market imbalance between news media organizations and those who benefit from their work."

"News is not free and has never been. Our position is clear: publishers must be adequately compensated for their work and we will support them as they deliver essential information for the benefit of our democracy and the health and well-being of our communities," he said.

In Australia, Facebook secured concessions in an agreement with the government that allows more room for private deals between Facebook and media firms  such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp  and an extra round of negotiation with publishers before binding arbitration kicks in.

But settling that dust-up did little to pacify concerns over the might and motivations of Big Tech.

People are increasingly concerned about the power of the web giants and the ravages of the spread of online hate speech, the impact of unfair competition of these giants on local media, and the total lack of justice when people work hard to pay their fair share and multinational web companies do everything to circumvent the rules," said New Democrat MP Heather McPherson.

She accused the Liberal government of fostering a "cosy relationship" with digital giants that protects platforms' profits at the expense of local media and Canadian taxpayers.

The government hopes to table legislation on fair remuneration this year, Guilbeault said.

It also aims to put forward within weeks a bill on online hate speech that would establish a regulator responsible for enforcing an updated definition of hate and ensuring illegal content comes down within 24 hours, subject to strict penalties  which Chan says Facebook would support.

"If we arent seen to be in good faith building the right systems to enforce against our standards, then absolutely we should be subject to some kind of penalty and held to account," he said.

Lawmakers also raised concerns Monday about disinformation around COVID-19 vaccines as Canadians rely increasingly on digital communications to stay informed amid a pandemic, an issue that Chan says the company is trying to address while respecting freedom of expression.

The challenge is, we do need to strike a balance between peoples ability to speak their minds and share their own feelings and ideas ... and also prevent harmful misinformation about the vaccine from being spread," Chan said.

Facebook has 35,000 moderators screening content around the world, including for misinformation and hate speech, he said.

Current Criminal Code provisions barring hate speech can seem increasingly feeble against the daily tide of content that washes up online.

Bigoted speech is always out there," said University of Windsor law professor Richard Moon in an interview. "But the rise of social media as the principal platforms for personal and public engagement has helped hateful views of different kinds move more into the mainstream."

Moon pointed to algorithms on sites such as YouTube, owned by Google, that can wind up fanning inflammatory posts.

"In order to try to maintain the attention of the viewer, they make suggestions of videos that are more and more extreme because people are often more and more engaged and it holds their attention," he said.

Mohammed Hashim, executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, says one reason hate has been so tough to rein in online is a lack of government "guidance."

The harm that its creating not only to victims who face it but to our sense of common decency as Canadians is eroding our faith in democracy," he said in an interview.

"And all of it is happening because of how social media platforms have allowed fringe voices to take over.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.

Facebook funds a fellowship that supports journalism positions at The Canadian Press.
In March 2021 AVTODOM, the exclusive distributor of KTM motorcycles in Russia, and the Group of Companies ORDA signed a dealer agreement. As a part of this agreement KTM ORDA became the first official dealer of the famous Austrian motorcycles in the Volga Federal District. The GC ORDA will sell and maintain KTM motorcycles in the Volga Federal District. In 2021 a new official KTM dealership will be opened in Kazan. 
An inmate at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel was killed early Monday inside the prison, allegedly at the hands of another prisoner.

The Louisiana Department of Corrections released almost no information about what happened, including the cause of death and the names of both men involved. Officials provided no explanation for withholding the names.

The incident occurred around 2 a.m. Monday, DOC spokesman Ken Pastorick said in a news release sent Monday afternoon.

He said one prisoner has been charged with second-degree murder following an investigation by the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office and is being held in "investigative segregation."

The autopsy will be performed this week, officials said.

Pastorick declined to release any additional details Monday.

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The prison has experienced significant staffing shortages in recent months, forcing corrections officials to rely on overtime. The vacancy rate was more than 30 percent several months into the pandemic.

A female guard who alleges she was raped by an inmate last year pointed to chronic understaffing and broken cell doors, two factors that she said combined to create chaotic conditions inside the prison.

The Edwards administration recently requested a $21.5 million budget increase for the department, which would allow the state to give corrections officers a raise in hopes of reducing massive turnover rates.

+2 Broken cell doors, understaffing at Louisiana prison led to alleged rape by inmate, guard says A combination of broken cell doors and chronic understaffing created the circumstances under which a Louisiana prison inmate raped a female co
DETROIT - She has been a staple of The Nine on FOX 2 News morning for years. Shes now facing what she says is without a doubt the most difficult illness I have ever faced. WJBK-TV Detroit news anchor, Maurielle Lue, is sharing her battle with COVID-19. UPDATE: Lue updates her condition from the hospital

Lue, who has been with FOX 2 for around a decade, is an Emmy Award-winning reporter. She says she started feeling very sick last weekend with chills, fever and sweating. She says today is the first time shes even eaten in a week. A test confirmed her COVID diagnosis.

The first thing I noticed was, with my mask on, I couldnt really breathe when I was walking, Lue said on an Instagram Live a short time ago. I could breathe, but I had my mouth all the way open to get all the air that I could.

Lue says she had been so careful to avoid getting the virus and hadnt even left her house in the last year until just last week.

This has been absolutely terrifying. I have not left this house in a year. That is a true story. Last Thursday, my lease was up and I went to a car dealership. Then on Friday, for the first time, I met my friends out for drinks in Birmingham. Thats it. The other thing is a food delivery. It was one of those things.

Lue says she has barely been able to walk in the last week and has had trouble even sitting up. While speaking on Instagram Live today, Lue had to talk slowly and pause many times to catch her breath.

Today is the first day I have eaten anything in a full week. I wasnt doing that on purpose. I just couldnt breathe enough to chew.

Lue says she has been using inhalers and breathing machines at home and says they have been quite helpful.

These have been my saving grace. So many times, Ive kind of felt like, this is it. Its that scary. My concern now is the breathing. I literally cant breathe and I didnt expect this. And the coughing spells are unbelievable. You literally cant catch a breath while you cough.

Lue says she has received a lot of advice from people who have also battled COVID. She says sleeping on her stomach instead of on her back has helped her. She also says battling this alone has been one of the most difficult parts.

I also want to talk about the mental component. For me, that actually has been the hardest part. When youre home alone and you dont know what symptoms are normal and whats not and theres no real help on the internet, thats terrifying.

Lue says she hasnt seen her FOX 2 The Nine co-anchors, Ryan Ermanni and Deena Centofanti in person since around last August. She hopes to return to the morning show, which she anchors from home, when she recovers and says she will continue to try and update her condition on her Instagram Page.

Mask up because this is not fun in any way.

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The human rights of those fleeing military coup-hit Myanmar into Thailand will be respected, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said Monday as local authorities confirmed that several hundred ethnic Karen refugees have entered the country following attacks by the junta.

Prayuth said he was aware of the ongoing violence in Myanmar after the coup but that he did not want a wave of refugees showing up in Thailand. On Monday, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman and a local government official denied reports that refugees who had crossed the border were being pushed back to their home country.

We know about the problems in our neighboring country; we are considering these issues, Prayuth, a former army chief and ex-junta leader, told reporters. However, in the meantime, let it be an internal matter because we dont want to have an exodus into our territory. But we will observe human rights.

We have a common border and feel the impacts when fighting flares and causes migration. We have to cope with this, the prime minister said. How many refugees are expected? We have prepared an area, but for how many  we are not talking about that.

The fallout from eight weeks of increasingly violent army attacks on civilians since the Feb. 1 military takeover of Myanmar spilled across the border into Thailand over the weekend.

Some of the attacks targeted villagers in Myanmars Karen state, which borders Thailands Mae Hong Son province. Aid groups were quoted as saying by Reuters news agency that 3,000 villagers in southeastern Karen state had fled into Thailand after deadly air attacks by the army.

Sangkhom Kudchiangsaen, chief of Mae Sariang district in Mae Hong Son province, said the Thai military had set up five screening spots, but could not confirm the number of refugees who had crossed the border since the coup began.

Other government agencies are not authorized to share information. The military disallows access by other government officials because of security concerns, Sangkhom told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, in a phone interview. There are displaced people and [they] are under the military control.

Sithichai Chindaluang, Thailands Mae Hong Son provincial governor, said several hundred Karen were taking refuge at screening centers, according to a military radio broadcast.

He and a foreign ministry spokesman denied reports that refugees were being pushed back to Myanmar.

Thai authorities will continue to look after those on the Thai side while assessing the evolving situation and the needs on the ground, foreign ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said in a statement.

The Thai PBS channel reported that Myanmar government forces launched air strikes on Karen-held areas to retaliate for an attack by the military wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) on Saturday. A Karen source who requested anonymity said the KNU, the armed ethnic group which controls the southeastern region, has vowed to protect anti-coup activists who fled to the region.

Prayuth also defended the participation by Thai troops in Myanmars Armed Forces Day on Saturday  the same day that Myanmar government forces killed more than 100 people during anti-junta protests nationwide, in the single bloodiest day of violence since the Feb. 1 coup.

Lately we have had to find a mechanism to enable us to follow the political developments or violence in Myanmar, Prayuth said, saying the government needed to maintain a military channel with Myanmar to monitor the situation there.

Weeks of violence

Myanmar has seen weeks of violence as troops turned weapons on protesters throughout the nation after the coup that saw the military overthrow the government, which was democratically elected in November 2020. Coup leaders detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her government.

Security forces unleashed machine guns and grenades against protesters on Sunday, killing more than a dozen a day after forces killed 114 people, including six children, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews. More than 450 have been killed since the coup began, drawing international condemnation.

Also on Monday, Vivian Balakrishnan, the foreign minister of Singapore, a member of the 10-state Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar, called for national reconciliation there.

All sides, all stakeholders have to sit down peacefully, in good faith and have frank, open, and constructive dialogue to create the future that the young people in Myanmar so dearly want, he said, according to a ministry transcript.

He called on ASEAN to assist Myanmar find peace.

But I think it is essential for ASEANs credibility, centrality, and relevance to have a view, have a position and to be able to offer some constructive assistance to Myanmar  a fellow member state of ASEAN, he said.

The regional bloc has been widely criticized for not taking a hard stance against Naypyidaw over the coup and the killings of protesters since the military takeover, although in recent weeks Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia have called for a special meeting of ASEAN leaders to address the crisis in Myanmar.

ASEAN officials have not yet come out publicly to condemn Saturdays slaughter.

I must confess to you that I am pessimistic, Vivian said. We still do not believe in foreign interference in domestic politics but as fellow ASEAN member states we hope they will take into consideration the views of our leaders.

He was referring to one of the blocs founding principles that its members do not interfere in the domestic affairs of fellow ASEAN states.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Brisbanes latest coronavirus cluster began three weeks ago inside the corridors of a quarantine hotel and has potentially already spread over the border into New South Wales.

The supercluster  made up of two outbreaks a fortnight apart  now stands at 10 cases and has forced more than 2 million people in south-east Queensland into their second snap lockdown this year.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palazczuk announces a three-day lockdown for the Greater Brisbane area, effective as of 5pm on Monday. Credit:Getty Images

Brisbanes most serious cluster, which spread through Ipswich Hospital, a Youth Detention Centre and prison training academy in August 2020, had a total of 55 cases.

The 72-hour shutdown is scheduled to end at 5pm Thursday but health authorities may choose to extend that when they hold a formal review on Wednesday evening.
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Healthy life practices are always important and especially now. There are several simple adjustments you can make to reduce the risk from COVID-19.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
In many traditional African communities, a woman who gave birth to a baby with any deformities or disability was rejected by her family and the child considered to be a bad omen to the larger society.

Women who gave birth to intersex babies were also subjected to the same fate, besides being divorced by their husbands.

A quick look at an intersex person cannot reveal whether they are a man or woman, since many of them exhibit characteristics associated with both sexes.

Thus, despite having female reproductive organs, many have opted to live like men - sporting men's trousers, vests, shirts/t-shirts and shoes.

A report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), the Secretariat of the Taskforce on Policy, Legal, Institutional and Administrative Reforms regarding Intersex Persons in Kenya established that intersex persons are a marginalised, minority and vulnerable group.

The study further noted that this group continues to face a multitude of challenges and human rights violations from birth, including stigmatisation, ridicule and discrimination.

The task force was constituted in 2017 by the Attorney-General.

The report decried general lack of awareness about the intersex condition and the appropriate ways of supporting an intersex child and the immediate family.

The key areas affected include registration of persons, health, education, employment, civil registration, social protection, immigration and access to justice.

The third gender

The report further brought to light limitations to enjoyment of their basic rights, such as use of mobile money, bank services, insurance policies, access to education and employment.

Recently, the commission embarked on an awareness and sensitisation campaign in the Coast region on the third gender.

For the first time in Kenya's history, the intersex persons participated in the 2019 Census and a total of 1,524 were recorded.

However, according to Kwamboka Kibagendi, an intersex person with 'JINSIANGU', a community-based organisation, the number is higher across the country, but intersex persons are not coming out due to stigma.

JINSIANGU, whose mission is to create a safe space for the Intersex, Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (ITGNC) individuals, called upon the Senate to hasten amendment of the Constitution to recognise intersex persons.

While the Constitution recognises and protects intersex persons' human rights, there are serious gaps in legal, institutional and administrative processes, which fail to take cognisance of the existence, needs and challenges of intersex persons.

The envisaged amendments will affect the Person Deprived of Liberty Act,2014, the Children Act,2001, the Birth and Death Registration Act, the Registration of Persons Act and the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act.

Kibagendi said public awareness would help change people's attitudes towards intersex persons and encourage more to come out and fight for recognition by both the national and county governments.

"It is a challenge for the few intersex persons who have come out to speak about their plight since the community does not believe us and, in most cases, they feel we are faking everything," says Kibagendi.

Seeking recognition

Kibagendi says these challenges affected the 2019 Census, which saw few intersex persons come out. Parents, too, failed to reveal that they had intersex children.

The enumerators were also not informed about the gender, so they did not ask if one was intersex.

"We want recognition, we also want to share information on intersex so that 10 years from now we will have thousands of intersex persons living happily and enjoying equal rights, just like any other gender," says Ms Kibagendi.

Kibagendi called upon the county governments to offer health services to intersex persons without discrimination.

"Most families with intersex children come from poor backgrounds and cannot afford to take their children to hospitals in Nairobi due to the high costs," says Kibagendi.

The August 2019 Census indicated Kilifi County had the highest number of intersex persons (25), followed by Kwale County (18). Taita-Taveta had seven, Lamu (4) and Tana River County (2).

Fiddie Omolo, an intersex focal person from Malindi sub-county, said most were yet to come out due to fear.

"Currently, there are about 42 intersex persons in Kilifi and many others are still hiding due to the many challenges we are facing. Even parents are not willing to disclose their children's intersex status for fear of rejection," says Omolo.

"I was arrested and found myself at Shimo la Tewa GK Prison. I explained my status and was given a separate room, but what followed was quite inhumane. The person who was serving food came and placed it behind the door and left," says Omolo.

Subjected to humiliation

Though Omolo had not been imprisoned, he was denied freedom and subjected to humiliation by senior officers.

"It reached a point where a senior officer wanted to befriend me only because he wanted to spy on my genital organs," says Omolo.

Omolo called upon the government to sensitise prison officers about the intersex gender.

"Prison officers should understand that we are human beings who also have rights and being Intersex is not by choice. It is not an easy task and I am alive today because my mother had to take her own life in order to save me," adds Omolo.

Omolo appeals to parents and intersex persons to speak openly about their status in order to get support.

The activist added that it has become difficult for intersex persons from the Muslim community to come out in public despite their high numbers.

Sharon Ngeru from Kiambu was born a girl but lives like a man.

"It is tough for me because it is difficult for the community, starting from my home, to get to know and understand me. They think I pretend to be someone different, not male or female. Some say I am a Lesbian," says Ngeru.

The first-born in their family, Ngeru went to a primary school in the locality and was thereafter taken to a girls' boarding school after sitting for her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations.

Exhibited male characteristics

"It was difficult for me because I knew I was not female. I have never received my monthly periods and can't explain what menses are. I do not even know how to use sanitary towels," says Ngeru.

To bear the strict rules that required all the girls to report back with sanitary towels, Ngeru started absenting herself from school during the first weeks for fear of being harassed by the boarding teacher.

"While inspecting my box, the teacher would wonder why I had not carried sanitary towels and I lacked words to explain," says Ngeru.

Due to her condition, Ngeru would wake up as early as 4am to shower in order to avoid being exposed.

"The girls had many questions about me and how I used to behave. Some wanted me for a girl-to-girl relationship, just to find out what I had," adds Ngeru.

At school, Ngeru exhibited male characteristics, complete with a fast-growing beard.

"The beard was bushy, forcing me to shave it with a razor blade all the time in order to look like a girl," Ngeru explained.

Discrimination saw Ngeru feigning sickness to be away from school. So attracted to girls was Ngeru, to the point of going to peep into the bathroom as they were taking a shower.

"I scored a D- in my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination. I could have done much better but the school environment was not conducive for me," Ngeru says.

Beaten by crowds

"Last year I secured a job and after three days I was attacked and stripped naked by a crowd and my fellow workers, who wanted to know my status," Ngeru adds.

Even social amenities are a problem.

"I cannot use a public toilet because I can't go to the gents yet I look like a woman. I also can't go to the ladies' as they would think I am a man. I have on several occasions been beaten by crowds who thought I was a thief," Ngeru adds.

Gloria Luhanga was mistakenly arrested alongside drunk passengers in a vehicle in Machakos County.

"A lady claimed I was among them and I was arrested and taken to the police station. The officers could not tell whether I was a man or woman, until the Deputy OCS ordered that I be searched.

They took me to a toilet but I refused to undress. The police officers could not even explain to their boss who I was. They told him that I had small breasts," says Luhanga.

Luhanga was not booked in any cells, but was left to spend the night at the inquiry office.

"The officers and the deputy OCS left me stranded at the inquiry office. The team that came for the night shift thought I was a new police officer who had just been deployed at the station," says Luhanga, adding that she was released the following day by the OCS after coughing up Sh1,000.

Self-discovery journey

The journey to self-discovery was tortuous.

"I was in Class Eight when I started asking my parents to tell me who I was, since I all along had been presenting myself as a lady, wearing dresses and girls' school uniform. My parents could not give me an answer," says Luhanga.

Somewhere between 12 years and 13 years of age, Sydney Etemesi started experiencing body changes.

"My parents disowned me and I recently came to know that they did that because society perceived me as a bad omen. My parents were even accused of practising witchcraft," Etemesi says.

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Etemesi moved from their rural home in western Kenya to Nairobi after sitting KCPE exams and resorted to heavy drinking and drug abuse, a habit that occasioned numerous run-ins with the police.

"I was stressed and my only saviour was alcohol. I'd be arrested in nightclubs and accused of being lesbian or gay," says Etemesi.

"I could not speak much to defend myself as the police would lock me up in either the male of female cells, depending on my appearance at the time of arrest," adds Etemesi.

It was challenging for Etemesi to use the washrooms in the men's cells.

"I was comfortable in the female cells because it was hard for them to realise I am intersex."

Despite the challenges, Etemesi is married and has a child.

Embarrassment and confusion

Though living as a man, Etemesi had monthly periods for six consecutive months after a period of three years.

"My periods are always painful and I have severe crumps. I also experience heavy flows in the first days," says Etemesi.

In its report, KNCHR's Secretariat of the Taskforce on Policy, Legal, Institutional and Administrative Reforms explains that a majority of the intersex persons of school-going age experience low levels of access to education, with only about 10 per cent of them attaining tertiary education.

Most intersex persons and their families go through shock, anger, embarrassment and confusion before ultimately accepting the intersex status.

About five per cent recognised themselves as intersex, while the others are mostly confused about their exact status.

The study also found out that a majority of intersex persons lacked birth certificates and, for those who had them, there was often a conflict between the recorded sex and the self-recognised sex.

Birth certificates make it difficult for intersex persons to acquire identity cards, a fact compounded by their physical appearance, which often clashes with the recorded sex.

And 54 per cent of intersex persons cannot access quality healthcare services due to high cost of treatment and inadequacy of specialised hospitals.

Parents and caregivers who had their children undergo corrective surgeries recorded mixed reactions.
New Delhi: In the name of protesting against the Centre's three new farm laws, several agitators have now started creating chaos and are hell-bent on disturbing the peace of the common people.

A day after trying to incite violence and appealing to his 'fellow farmers' to not let Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra hold his program in Hisar (Haryana), Ravi Azad is now threatening Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala.

Azad, who calls himself the Haryana's Youth President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), is now conspiring against Chautala, as per the 26-minute-long video posted on his official account.

He is also thanking people for not letting Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra hold his show on Sunday. He is seen as 'appealing' to people to thrash Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kanwar Pal Gujjar, who has been a former speaker of the Haryana Legislative Assembly.

"31 March ko ek sath poore Haryana me hoga BJP valo ka ilaaj (BJP leaders will be 'treated' across Haryana on March 31)," Azad said during a Facebook live session.

Earlier, he had asked 'young people' to prepare their 'laths' (sticks) so that Subhash Chandra is not able to organize his program.

Watch Azad threatening Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra:

This is to be noted that thousands of farmers are protesting against the Centre's new farm laws since late November 2020 and eleven rounds of talks between the central government and the farmer unions have failed to break the impasse over the contentious farm laws.


Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."

WONDER, Ore.  An infant who was badly hurt in a three-vehicle crash along Highway 199 on Friday later died in the hospital, according to Oregon State Police. The crash was one of two deadly collisions on the highway within the space of a few hours.

OSP troopers and emergency crews responded to the crash near Elliott Creek Road just after 12:30 p.m. The initial investigation found that 21-year-old Bronson Stickler of Grants Pass was driving a Honda Civic when he stopped for traffic turning left. An unidentified 17-year-old driver in Toyota Tacoma struck the back of Stickler's Civic.

According to OSP, the Civic was pushed into a Dodge Dart, driven by 26-year-old Jonathon Durocher of Crescent City.

A baby in the Honda Civic was taken to Asante Rogue Regional in Medford, and later transferred to OHSU in Portland. OSP said that they were pronounced dead at the Portland hospital.

According to Rural Metro Fire, six people involved in the crash were unharmed.

Another three-vehicle crash happened just before 7:30 a.m. that morning on Redwood Highway, about a mile south of Cave Junction. This crash claimed the life of a 35-year-old man and seriously injured another driver.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission on Monday approved its first toll increase in a decade, raising cash tolls for passenger vehicles from $1 to $3.

The increases, which affect rates for every vehicle class, were approved by an 8-1 vote. New Jersey Commissioner Lori Ciesla, who also serves as a Warren County commissioner, was the lone no vote.

The increase is an infrequent event, not entered into without purpose and need, and consequential for the commissions patrons, said Joseph Resta, the commissions executive director.

The toll changes affect the commissions eight toll bridges spanning the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including the Route 22 and Interstate 78 crossings in the Easton area.

For passenger cars, the tolls would increase on seven bridges on April 11 to $3 for cash-paying passenger cars, $1.25 for E-ZPass customers. These are the current car toll rates at the new Scudder Falls Bridge on I-295. The full list of increases can be found at drjtbc.org/newtolls.

There was no public comment made during Mondays virtual hearing, which is not unusual, but commissioners mentioned receiving submitted comments from affected residents.

The New Jersey Sierra Club has decried the toll increases.

We knew this was going to happen because we knew that the $540 million Scudder Falls Bridge project couldnt support itself. Even though they added tolls for the bridge, we said that they would have to raise the tolls for all of the other bridges to help pay for it. Instead of rehabbing the existing bridge, they built a massive dual-span bridge that was unnecessary and too expensive, said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. Whats worse is that they are raising tolls by $2 in the middle of a financial crisis. People are worried about losing their jobs and paying their bills. Now they will be worried about these higher tolls too.

New Jersey Commissioner Yuki Moore Laurenti said she was reluctantly approving the increases.

She stressed the tolled bridges support the commissions non-tolled, or free, bridges. The commission is barred from tolling those smaller bridges.

This is a difficult time for our traveling public and the commission, she said. Our bridges have suffered a substantial drop in revenue from passenger cars as commuter traffic has dried up. Rightly, this toll increase that is proposed will fall most heavily on the commercial sector that has successfully weathered the COVID storm. The impact on drivers of passenger cars is relatively mild, with one exception: People who dont have EZ-Pass are being asked to dig deeper in their pockets with a much-stiffer toll increase.

Tittel countered that drivers try to avoid paying tolls by using the free bridges, leading to traffic congestion and pollution from idling vehicles.

Raising tolls in the middle of a pandemic and fiscal emergency is shameful. It wont solve anything, it will only make people avoid these bridges and push more traffic and congestion onto free bridges, he said in a news release.

The commission approved a 2021 budget with no toll increases, but earlier this year announced the toll increase proposals to help with traffic fallout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resta said Monday the commission was planning to consider increasing tolls in 2022-23 to fund future projects, but the pandemics effects on the commissions traffic and revenue accelerated that timeframe.

The pandemic, statewide shutdowns and changes in jobs and commuting meant the DRJTBC lost $14.5 million in revenue last year, and toll collections never returned to the pre-COVID norm, Resta has said.

As compared to many toll agencies, a single-toll increase every decade or so is rare, but at the bridge commission it has been commonplace, he said. The economic recession and the changes that it has brought to what we all perceived as the workplace have long-lasting and potentially permanent effects on the transportation sector, for which the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission must prepare for. The traffic and revenue losses produced by the recession have a long-term effect on the commissions finances, hampering its ability to carry out its mission and capital plan.

The DRJTBC operates eight toll bridges: the I-295 Scudder Falls Toll Bridge and the Trenton-Morrisville Route 1, New Hope-Lambertville Route 202, I-78, Easton-Phillipsburg Route 22, Portland-Columbia Routes 611, 46 & 94, Delaware Water Gap I-80, and the Milford-Montague Route 206 bridges.

The last DRJTBC toll increase was in 2011, when the toll jumped from 75 cents to $1 for cash-paying passenger vehicles, 45 cents to 60 cents for the E-ZPass commuter discount, and 75 cents more for multi-axle trucks and commercial vehicles.

Currently, 2-axle class 1 passenger vehicles pay a $1 toll in cash or 60 cents through E-ZPass with a commuter discount.

In April, tolls for class 1 vehicles will increase to $3 for cash, $3 for Toll By Plate at the new Scudder Falls bridge, and $1.25 for E-ZPass customers.

Class 1 vehicles with a trailer or towing a vehicle are currently charged an additional dollar, regardless of the number of rolling axles. Next month that charge will increase to $2.

The E-ZPass commuter discount will drop to 20% in April and stay that way through 2023. The discount applies to drivers that make 16 or more trips across DRJTBC toll bridges with a commission-affiliated E-ZPass tag in a calendar month.

The E-ZPass commuter discount will end in January 2024, just as the class 1 passenger vehicle E-ZPass toll will increase from $1.25 to $1.50.

For other vehicles, including box trucks, buses, certain types of vans, and tractor trailers, a new uniform commercial vehicle rate table means tolls of $4.50 per-axle for E-ZPass customers, with $5 per-axle tolls for cash and Toll By Plate Scudder Falls customers starting this April.

At that time, the 10% off-peak E-ZPass discount for commercial vehicles will also be eliminated.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.

Prep Golf: Riley Zebroski earns all-conference honors, Arrows take 7th in ESD tourney

MITCHELL  Sophomore Riley Zebroski earned all-conference honors by tying for 5th place on Wednesday in the Eastern South Dakota Conference girls golf tournament at the Lakeview Golf Course.
News:

Senior Congress Leader and former Union Minister Manish Tewari used unparliamentary words to attack the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 67th birthday.

The Congress leader was trolled after the tweet and had to face barrage of criticism from Modi followers and citizens of India irrespective of political party inclination.

Tewari after being trolled and receiving sharp reactions both from the BJP and twitteratis for his Bhakt tweet posted a series of tweets to explain his tweet. Tewaris tweet has led to a major row on the social media with the hashtag #CongLeaderAbusesPM.

The senior Congress leader after being criticized on Twitter showed his will to apologise for the tweet but on conditional basis.

He tweeted, Willing to apologise for using a 'colloquial' Hindi phrase However will PM promise to unfollow those who heap unmentionable abuse on women???

Willing to apologise for using a 'colloquial' Hindi phraseHowever will PM promise to unfollow those who heap unmentionable abuse on women???  Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) September 17, 2017

Tewari is the second Congress leader after party general secretary Digvijaya Singh to come under fire for using foul language against Modi in the last few days.

Singh had retweeted a post which contained expletives against Modi. The party general secretary later had disowned the tweet but till then he was trolled by twitterati.

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, reacting sharply on Tewaris tweet said, The desperate Congress and its leaders have lost their mental balance.

Congress leaders are crossing the line, they must go to psychiatrist, govt will help them: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP on Manish Tewari's tweet pic.twitter.com/nsQjRV5Zmc  ANI (@ANI) September 17, 2017

The BJP leader on Twitter wrote, Congress is crossing its limits. They need to visit Psychiatrist. The government will help them.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleged that someone else in orchestrating Congress abusive attack as Tewari has the reputation of being sober and sensitive.

The BJP has also demanded an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi for the tweet.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
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Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
claimed 59 more lives in on Monday as 2,914 fresh infections took the state's case count to 2,34,602, according to a medical bulletin.

So far, the virus has killed 6,749 people in the state since its outbreak last year.

On Monday, the maximum 13 deaths were reported from Jalandhar, followed by 11 in Ludhiana and 10 in Hoshiarpur.

Jalandhar also reported the maximum 360 cases followed Amritsar (357), Ludhiana (343), Patiala (290) and Mohali (286), according to the bulletin.

The number of active cases increased from 23,917 on Sunday to 24,143 on Monday.

As many as 2,583 patients were discharged after recovering from the infection, taking the number of cured persons to 2,03,710, the bulletin said.

There are 37 patients on ventilator while 341 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said.

A total of 58,70,655 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state, it said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said it is mandatory for all labs and hospitals to immediately inform the Civil Surgeon's office about the detection of any virus-affected person for strengthening the containment measures.

Sidhu said it is of utmost importance that each and every case of COVID-19 is isolated, provided appropriate treatment and their contacts to be traced at the earliest to break the chain of transmission.

Support and cooperation of the private sector is also vital in this regard, he said in a statement here.

(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.)
[March 29, 2021] The VoiceXML Forum Announces Recipients of $25,000 Grants for New Technology or Standards in the Area of Voice Technology

PISCATAWAY, N.J., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the VoiceXML Forum, a global industry trade organization chartered to promote and accelerate the adoption of VoiceXML-based applications, announces the selection of two grant awardees of the VoiceXML Grant Program.

The first award will go to Jina Huh-Yoo, Assistant Professor at Drexel University for her proposal VoiceXML-based Conversational Agent for the Caregivers of Alzheimers and Alzheimers Related Dementia Patients. This grant will fund the ability to design and evaluate a phone-based conversational agent that will support caregivers to confidently seek tailored strategies on caregiving for people living with these types of disabilities through iterative conversations with the agent. VoiceXML Board Member Paolo Baggia of Nuance Communications said, After twenty years, VoiceXML standard infrastructures are still a pillar of Conversational Agent creation. The development of relevant and useful VoiceXML innovations, such as Professor Huh-Yoos caregiver assistance application, continue to make a difference in our world. The second award will go to Catherine Pelachaud, Director of Research from Sorbonne University & Nicholas Obin, Associate Professor, Ircam  Sorbonne University for their proposal Virtual Expressive Agent. This agent wll attempt to enhance the quality of the interaction of the human experience between human and machine by synthesizing modalities of expression through gestures, as well as speech prosody.



Dr. Valentine Matula, Board Member with Avaya, noted that The Virtual Expressive Agent project has a goal of capturing, specifying, and then recreating expressive aspects of human communication via extended markup languages. This clearly expands on the goals of the original VoiceXML effort--and thus was seen as deserving of the VoiceXML Forums support via this grant. In addition, Board Member Rob Marchand of Genesys, noted that The VoiceXML Forum is pleased to contribute to continued exploration of innovative voice related technologies and applications through the award of these grants in support of the two selected proposals.

The VoiceXML Forum congratulates all winners on this achievement. About the VoiceXML Forum Founded in 1999, the VoiceXML Forum is an industry organization whose mission is to promote and to accelerate the worldwide adoption of VoiceXML-based applications. The Forum serves as an educational and technical resource, a certification authority and a contributor and liaison to international standards bodies, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) IETF, ANSI and ISO. The VoiceXML Forum is organized as a program of the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (IEEE-ISTO). Membership in the Forum is open to any interested company. For more information, please visit the Website at www.voicexml.org. Please send all media inquiries to Katherine.valenti@ieee-isto.org



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This screengrab made from SpaceX's live webcast shows the Starship SN10 prototype during a test flight after engines were ignited just before the test was aborted

SpaceX is preparing for a possible launch of its prototype interplanetary Starship rocket from the company's facility in south Texas on Monday afternoon.

The company is hoping to finally perform a successful test flight after the last three attempts ended in spectacular explosions.

"I have ordered the closure of Boca Chica Beach and Hwy 4 for the purpose of protecting public health and safety during SpaceX space flight activities on March 29," Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr said in a statement.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk also tweeted on Sunday about the "Possible Starship flight tomorrow afternoon."

The window for launch is 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm Central Time (1700 to 2200 GMT), and if it goes ahead, SpaceX will provide a webcast.

An earlier scheduled launch was scrubbed Friday, likely because of poor weather.

SN11 is the eleventh prototype of Starship, which SpaceX hopes will one day be able to fly to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

It will be the fourth to conduct a test flight, ascending to an altitude of 10 kilometers (six miles) before returning to the ground for a soft vertical landing.

SN8 and SN9, which launched in December and February respectively, crash landed and exploded, while SN10 successfully landed then blew up a few minutes later during its test on March 3.

Despite the previous failures, analysts say SpaceX is gathering valuable data that will help it to accelerate its development timeline.

Eventually, SpaceX plans to combine the Starship spaceship with a Super Heavy rocket, creating a fully reusable system.

This final version will stand 120 meters tall (394 feet) and will be able to carry 100 metric tonnes into Earth orbitthe most powerful launch vehicle ever developed.

Explore further SpaceX Starship lands upright, then explodes in latest test

 2021 AFP
A man accused of shooting three people at a Maryland convenience store, killing two of them, also fatally shot his parents and set his apartment on fire before he shot and killed himself, police said.

Joshua Green, 27, was identified Sunday night as the suspect in the deadly shooting at a Royal Farms store in Essex, Baltimore County police said in a statement.

Police also believe Green shot and killed his parents who were found dead at their home in an unincorporated part of the county called Baldwin.

Detectives said Green left the convenience store and set his apartment on fire, according to the statement. He was later found dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was unclear when his parents died but police said both appeared to have been shot.

Daniel Brennaman, 73, a neighbor who lives two doors down from the home where the bodies were found, said he noticed a police cruiser and saw a photographer out in front of the house when he was walking his dog on Sunday evening.

A storm blew through here, and I thought it was a car accident around the corner, he said. I havent heard a thing.

Brennaman said he has exchanged greetings and small talk with the husband and wife who live in that Manor Road home but couldnt recall their names and didnt know them personally.

I wave at him from time to time. Hes always working in his yard, he said.

Online property records show that the home where police found the parents bodies is owned by Olivia D. Green and Douglas J. Green.

Royal Farms spokesperson Breahna Brown said the company had no immediate comment on the shooting at its store.

The condition of the person who was wounded at the convenience store wasnt released. Police said the person was recovering at a local hospital.

Police said detectives believe all three shootings are connected and they were not looking for any additional suspects.

More information was expected to be released at a news conference Monday morning.

Shade uses offensive attack to take down Shanksville in D5-A semis
Kuwait welcomed Sunday a shipment of tons of documents and other items stolen during the countrys invasion in 1990 by Iraqs former leader Saddam Hussein, The New Arab reports.

The shipment, eight tons, contained archives from Kuwait University, the information ministry and other institutions, the London-based news outlet notes, citing Kuwaits assistant foreign minister Nasser al-Hain.

We look forward to more cooperation and, God willing, there will soon be additional steps to complete the handover, Hain said during a ceremony marking the occasion in Kuwait City.

Qahtan al-Janabi, from Iraqs foreign ministry, reportedly said his country had previously received a list of missing items from Kuwait and based on that, the handover is taking place.

The shipment is the third that Kuwait has received since 2019 from Baghdad, The New Arab notes citing officials from both countries.

Saddam Hussein led troops to overrun the neighboring Gulf country on August 2, 1990. The Iraqi soldiers occupied the oil-rich country for seven months but were later flashed out by US forces amid global condemnation.

Iraqi has paid around $50 billion in the last three decades in reparations, but asked for extension for the final $3.8 billion owing due to the difficult financial and fiscal situation.
[March 29, 2021] Path Interactive Announces Rebranding, Changing Name to Amsive Digital

NEW YORK, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Path Interactive, an industry leader in the search marketing and digital media space, today announced a comprehensive rebrand as Amsive Digital  the digital arm of the Amsive corporate brand, formerly known as VisionSourceLink. The rebrand comes with a new visual identity and expanded digital marketing capabilities that reflect accelerated company growth and showcase a unified corporate vision. The newly minted Amsive Digital name cements the agency's status at the intersection of innovation, analytics, targeting, and creative vision, while broadening the marketing channel mix available to new and current clients. Path Interactive has been part of VisionSourceLink family, an H.I.G Capital portfolio company, since 2019. The digital agency has worked with its parent companies to launch integrated campaigns across traditional and digital media channels. DX Marketing joined the fold in 2020, helping VisionSourceLink expand its capability set in data services and predictive modeling. Now, all of these companies are uniting under a common corporate identity, signaling a long-held commitment to collaboration with the goal of client success. >



Michael Coppola , Founder & CEO. "Our culture and our team are staying exactly the same, but we're using that talent and that spirit to tackle services that could previously only be offered by our enterprise-level competitors. We want our name to reflect the power we have with the larger Amsive agency by our side." SourceLink and Vision will be joined together to become Amsive, a full-service agency executing data-driven omnichannel campaigns. Path Interactive will take on the name Amsive Digital, focusing on serving up laser-focused digital strategy that pinpoints target consumers wherever their web usage takes them and on engaging them with conversion-driving content, creative, and influencer strategy.

The digital agency's enhanced service offerings include paid media, SEO, managed social, performance creative, influencer marketing, data management, predictive modeling, strategy, and more, creating an even smarter and more integrated brand partner for performance digital marketing. About Amsive Digital

Amsive Digital is an NYC-born digital marketing agency with a national presence, providing SEO, SEM, paid and managed social, analytics, creative, influencer marketing, and web design and development services to a wide range of industries including consumer, insurance, financial services, healthcare, and more. As a partner to the Amsive corporate brand, this web-focused entity works to create holistic, cross-channel campaigns that drive not just traffic, but purchases, by targeting the right prospects at the right time. For more info go to www.amsivedigital.com . Amsive and Amsive Digital are H.I.G Capital portfolio companies. H.I.G, based out of Miami, is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over $43 billion in equity capital under management. Media Contact:

Jein Funk

jfunk@amsivedigital.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/path-interactive-announces-rebranding-changing-name-to-amsive-digital-301257808.html SOURCE PATH INTERACTIVE

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Current Affairs

Resort accredited testing centers in Turks and Caicos Islands have donated $25,000 worth of antigen test kits to Haiti.



The antigen test kits were officially handed over to Dr. Valerie Francois on Monday March 22nd, which she will forward to a Family Care Clinic in downtown Cap Haitien.



Over the past eight weeks the Ministry of Health approved testing sites at Amanyara, Beaches, Hartling Group, Grace Bay Resorts, Ocean Club Resorts, Parrot Cay, Sailrock and Seven Stars have antigen-tested over 20,000 guests and residents in order that they can travel to the United States according to CDC regulations.



Ken Patterson, CEO of Seven Stars Resort told The SUN the infection rate in tourists is extremely low.



This donation is from all of the resorts accredited testing centers by the Ministry of Health, so it is paid for by all of the resorts who were using the kits to test our tourists and also residents traveling to the United States.



Combined, weve tested over 20,000 guests and residents in the last eight weeks and the good thing is in the four-week rolling average only 1 in 3,000 tourists are turning up positive, he said.



Patterson said this indicates that the anti-COVID-19 hygiene protocols the resorts and restaurants have in place are working extremely well.



All the protocols that are in place in the spa, restaurants and the resorts are working. Were hoping that we can get the island back to normal as quickly as possible, between the vaccinations process which is currently happening between the private practices and the Ministry of Health. Were doing the most tests in the country just to keep our tourists safe in order to keep the country open, because obviously with the volume of testing we are doing it has to be done by the private sector. The clinics are doing some, the Ministry of Health, but using the antigen quick testing kits we can actually put huge volumes to it, he explained.



Patterson noted that resort staffs are leading the way by getting vaccinated in order to protect themselves, their families, their guests and colleagues with some resorts already at 70%.



A lot of the staff in all of the resorts are now getting vaccinated and theyve realised that the way to get the country back to normal is to get vaccinated, he said.



Dr. Valerie Francois-Jacques said she is grateful for the donation which will go to great use in the Haitian community.



It feels great receiving this donation and Ken just offered to give us the test. We usually buy them and send it to Haiti, so when he called me and offered the free test, I thought that was really amazing. Theres no PCR in Cap Haitian. They normally have to send everything to Port-au-Prince, so this is why these are very important for us. I also wanted to outline that I am going to donate some of the kits to the Ministry of Health of Haiti," she added.



In 2011, Dr. Francois-Jacques founded Med Plus Haiti, which is a family clinic that offers services to the community after she moved to the northern part of Haiti.



"I thought that there was a need for healthcare. We do a lot of mobile clinics, free clinics and vaccination for kids. Its a private practice, but we do other things especially in the rural areas where the services are really scares, she said.



Dr. Francois-Jacques thanked everyone who assisted in this donation and expressed thanks on behalf of the Haitian community in Haiti.






Solvay, N.Y.  A man broke into a Solvay home and robbed a victim at knifepoint Sunday before leading officers on a chase in a stolen car, police said.

Javon Porch, 21, fled from officers after a domestic violence incident in Solvay, police said. His bid to escape ended, police said, when he crashed the stolen car in Oakwood Cemetery near SUNY-ESF in Syracuse on Sunday.

The search for Porch started around 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Porch was armed with a knife when he broke a window and climbed into a Solvay house, said Lt. Derek Osbeck, of the Solvay Police Department. He then stole from a person inside the home, he said, before fleeing in the stolen car.

No one was hurt during the robbery, Osbeck said.

READ MORE: Syracuse police chase stolen vehicle, pursuit ends with crash near SUNY ESF campus

About 45 minutes later, a Syracuse police officer spotted Porch driving the car near Mary and Park streets on the citys North Side, Syracuse police said. Porch refused to pull over starting a minutes-long chase around the city, police said.

Porch crashed into a vehicle in the 500 block of Hillsdale Avenue in Eastwood, but drove away, police said. The chase ended at the edge of Oakwood Cemetery when Porch crashed the stolen car, police said.

A patrol car driven by Syracuse Police Officer Jason Ladd hit the stolen car, police said. Ladd was treated for a leg injury at Upstate University Hospital.

Porch and his passenger, Demari Neely, 21, tried to flee the crash, but were quickly apprehended, police said.

Porch was issued appearance tickets by Syracuse police and turned over to the Solvay Police Department.

Solvay police charged Porch with:

First-degree robbery, a felony

First-degree burglary, a felony

Three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony

Fourth-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor

Second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor

Two counts of third-degree menacing, a misdemeanor

Petit larceny, a misdemeanor

Porch is being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center on $2,500 cash or a $5,000 bail bond.

Neely charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was released on an appearance ticket.

Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.
A young woman wept as she was sentenced to at least 16 years behind bars over the fatal poisoning of an Irish man with a date rape drug known as "devil's breath". Diana Cristea (19) helped and encouraged her boyfriend Joel Osei (26) in a plan to target men on gay dating app Grindr and rob them and drain their bank accounts.

In the summer of 2019, Osei killed 43-year-old Irish dancer Adrian Murphy with an overdose of scopolamine - a substance known as devil's breath which comes from the deadly nightshade family.

Afterwards, the couple attempted to buy 80,000 US dollars (62,000) worth of diamonds from a jeweller in New York.

Mr Murphy is thought to have died sometime between meeting Osei on June 1 and his body being discovered by his best friend and former partner on June 4.

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His phone had been thrown down the toilet, while a can of Coca-Cola was found to contain traces of scopolamine and Osei's fingerprints were discovered on a bottle of whisky left at the scene.

Cristea and Osei, previously of Kerswell Close in Seven Sisters, north London, were both found guilty of murder following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.

They were also convicted of poisoning a second man with the same drug two days earlier.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, survived the incident but was taken to hospital after being found by a neighbour almost naked, extremely agitated and confused.

On Monday, Cristea, of Langley Park, Mill Hill, Barnet, north London, was detained for life for murder with a minimum term of 16 years.

She was handed 30 months' detention for her part in poisoning the surviving victim to run concurrently, with no further penalty for fraud and theft offences.

Sentencing at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice William Davis said Cristea had "assisted and encouraged" Osei.

He told her: "You were an active and willing participant in this plan.

"You expected to gain from this plan. You knew scopolamine was being used and knew what it could do."

However, he acknowledged she was just 17 at the time of the offences and had a "troubled" and "disturbed" life before meeting Osei, an older man, who was the more dominant partner in crime.

Mr Murphy had worked as a dance teacher and a choreographer at the Royal Academy of Dance, but was on a year-long sabbatical at the time of his death.

In a statement, his sister Majella Murphy told Cristea that she had been "torn in half as a direct result of your selfish and despicable actions".

She said: "You stole my little brother Adrian from me and as you are a woman, your actions are even worse than your partner in crime and a complete disgrace.

"It's very difficult for me not to hate you, but I refuse to hate you and refuse to be like you, so I must forgive you."

In January, Osei was jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years for murder.

Osei was also given a concurrent jail sentence of five years for administering a poison to endanger life against the surviving victim, and no separate penalty for multiple counts of theft and fraud.
The Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region has been hit by water shortage for a week after River Dakar  the main source of water for the area  dried up.



The dire situation has compelled women, men and children to travel long distances on foot, bicycles, motorbikes and tricycles usually carrying yellow gallons in search of water at dams, boreholes and other places.



Currently, a drum of untreated water is sold at GH5 by private water tankers to food sellers and private homes.



At the boreholes, a yellow gallon of water is sold at 20 pesewas, while a full water tanker ranges from GH150 to GH200 depending on the number of gallons the water tanker contains.



Delayed rains



The Yendi District Manager of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Alhaji Adam Sayibu, said River Dakar had dried up because of the delayed onset of this years rains, human activities like farming along the river, fishing and population increase in the area.



He said GWCL had arranged for a private water tanker to distribute water to the people, while the company worked to have more tankers in operation to ease the water situation in the area.



The Production Supervisor of GWCL in Yendi, Mr Alhassan Dasana, said the company was now relying on the companys boreholes, pumping from the boreholes to the head works to treat the water before the tankers then took the water from the hydrants and supplied to the public.



He said each trip of the water tanker contained 3,500 gallons of water for residents, stressing that currently they were supplying water to prison inmates, the military, Yendi Senior High School, Dagbon State Technical Senior High School, among others.



Finding solution



The Yendi Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Alhaji Hammed Abubakar Yussuf, accompanied by the Coordinating Director of the Yendi Municipal Assembly, Mr Gaspard Dery; the Engineer of the assembly, Mr Edward Okantah; the Presiding Member of the Assembly, Mr Husein Abdul karim; and some assembly members, visited the GWCL pump head works to see how best they could find a solution to the problem.



Alhaji Yussuf said a team from the assembly had since met the overlord of Dagbon, Ya Na Abukari II, to discuss the possibility of dredging the intake point at the treatment plant to ensure the continued supply of water throughout the year.



He said the Ya Na tasked the assembly to get an engineer to assess the situation to enable GWCL to fix the challenge as quickly as possible.



Alhaji Yussuf said the water situation in Yendi could be solved permanently when Yendi got connected to River Oti as the water source.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last year cut the sod for work to start on a water supply system from River Oti for Yendi.



The Yendi MCE said when Yendi connected to River Oti, the River Dakar water source would be connected to just the Mion District to serve the residents.

Source: graphiconline.com









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THE Union of Traditional Healers and Midwives in Tanzania (UWAWATA) said they will always cherish memories of the late President John Magufuli, for recognising their contribution in the health sector.

They cited his recognition of them especially calling upon them to research further on Covid-19 that is plaguing the world.

Speaking to the 'Daily News' in Dodoma over the weekend, UWAWATA General Secretary Lucas Mlipu said the late Dr Magufuli had always appreciated the great contribution made by traditional healers in the communities.

He said during the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the late President Magufuli allowed traditional healers to join other researchers and help fight the disease.

"That was a clear sign that Magufuli recognised our contribution... and as we mourn his sudden demise, we are reminded to continue embracing our traditional medicine," he said.

Mlipu said the late President Magufuli's directive to the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children to provide access to alternative therapies was a key moment and turning point in the war against the pandemic.

Mlipu said that in Tanzania, traditional medicines were not widely respected, but the late President encouraged the public to use their medicine to fight the disease.

"In his speeches, the late president repeatedly emphasised the use of natural remedies. He went further and called for the establishment of the pharmaceutical companies to manufacture traditional medicines, we will miss him very much," he insisted.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania 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.

Equally, he posthumously thanked the late President Magufuli for his hard work, including implementing the several mega economic projects including Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) that surely would benefit the present and next generations.

On his part, Ally Maganyari, the Coordinator of Traditional Healing Education, said the late President Magufuli tasked the Ministry of Health to consider and provide some short-term education to the researchers on the provision of treatment.

He added that in the implementation of that order so far, at least 45 traditional healers out of 11,238 members of the Union have been provided with education that enables them to be smart and recognised.

Elaborating, he vowed that they will continue embracing Dr Magufuli's ideas and encourage other traditional healers to acquire the education so as to improve traditional medicine
City of Norwalk

NORWALK  Last Thursday marked the 200th anniversary of Greeces Independence Day, which Mayor Harry Rilling honored in a proclamation read outside City Hall.

Greek Independence Day provides the opportunity to celebrate the independence, history, and cultural richness of the Greek community, Rilling said. It is my privilege to recognize and honor the Greek community in Norwalk, who have made significant civic and cultural contributions to our city.
Yaounde, Cameroon  Thousands of Cameroonians are stranded after heavy rains Thursday collapsed the only road to the country's troubled Northwest Region.

Among them is 36-year-old nurse Doris Tendong with Cameroon's ministry of health.

She was traveling to the English-speaking town of Bamenda with COVID-19 test kits and treatment, and to educate people on the virus. She said more than 20 people in Bamenda died of COVID-19 within one week, and the number of health workers testing positive is increasing due to negligence and lack of knowledge.

Tendong, who was dispatched from Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, is among thousands of people waiting for authorities to repair the road.

Officials said the damage has stopped at least 200 vehicles from getting into or out of Bamenda, the region's capital. The stranded travelers also included traders and aid workers helping people suffering from the region's separatist conflict.

Cameroon's public works minister, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, said engineers have been sent to build an emergency road, and measures will be taken to prevent further damage.

He said he has ordered signposts to be erected that will prohibit vehicles for up to two hours after rainfall. Cameroonians should rest assured, he added, that peace is returning to the English-speaking western regions and the entire road will be constructed very soon.

Armed attackers

Efforts to repair the road in 2018 were abandoned after armed men attacked workers and torched construction equipment. Work resumed in 2020, but armed men again attacked, abducting some workers, who were only freed after ransom was paid.

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Cameroon authorities blamed anglophone rebels fighting to create a breakaway state from the French-speaking majority.

Separatists did not confirm or deny the attacks on construction workers but have claimed responsibility for previous attacks on buses along the road.

Crucial link

Authorities said the engineers sent to build an emergency road to rescue the stranded would be protected by Cameroon's military.

"The road is of capital economic importance," said Bamenda lawmaker Nestus Fru Manju. "Bamenda acts as a linkage between west Africa and central Africa because from Bamenda you have access to all of the Republic of Cameroon, which in turn has access to Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea or Central Africa (CAR). People who leave from Nigeria can freely circulate into the (Economic Community of Central African States) zone and do business."

A 443-kilometer extension of the road linking Bamenda to the Nigerian town of Enugu was completed in 2020. It is part of the Trans-African Highway conceived more than 30 years ago as a transcontinental link from Lagos, Nigeria, on the Atlantic Ocean to Mombasa, Kenya, on the Indian Ocean.
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[March 29, 2021] Huawei Launches the Latest CloudCampus 3.0 Solution, Accelerating Enterprises' Journey toward the Cloud Era

SHENZHEN, China, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Huawei Industrial Digital Transformation Conference 2021, Huawei took a significant step forward in campus networking by launching its latest CloudCampus 3.0 solution and an extensive range of industry-tailored products. This future-proof solution helps enterprises of all sizes build a campus network that features fully wireless networking, one hop to cloud for global branches, cloud management across LANs and WANs, and intelligent operations and maintenance (O&M) for users and applications. With this feature-rich solution, enterprises around the globe can quickly seize new opportunities for digital transformation in the cloud era. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly reshapes various industries, a new wave of innovation is underway, aiming to accelerate digital transformation. Huawei's Global Industry Vision (GIV) 2025 predicts that there will be 40 billion smart personal devices and 100 billion global connections by 2025. Such huge numbers of devices will provide massive data input, and the value of data will become ever more important. Furthermore, enterprises will build cloud-centric infrastructures and move more applications to the cloud. Similarly, the processing of data will move from on-premises servers to the cloud. According to Huawei GIV 2025, more than 85% of enterprise services will be deployed on the cloud by 2025. The network  which is an important infrastructure that bridges devices and clouds  will shift from local connectivity to global interconnectivity featuring multi-branch and multi-cloud interconnections. Dr. Li Xing, President of the Campus Network Domain, Huawei's Data Communication Product Line, said: "The cloud brings pervasive intelligence to enterprises, so enterprise campus networks need to keep up. In this context, Huawei introduces its CloudCampus 3.0 Solution, which enables fully wireless, intelligent campus networks for the cloud era." He continued: "This solution connects everything and unleashes the value of data. It also connects workspaces and production to improve efficiency and inspire cross-sector innovation. And powered with intelligence, this solution helps build a neural network needed for intelligent interactions." The following highlights are just some of the innovations that make Huawei's CloudCampus 3.0 Solution stand out from the competition: To help enterprises build a fully wireless Wi-Fi 6 network with zero blind spots and uninterrupted roaming, Huawei announced seven additions to its AirEngine Wi-Fi 6 product family. In particular, all-new wall plate APs deliver better wireless signals to hotel rooms and student rooms, and new triple-radio high-performance As ensure interruption-free experience in crowded places such as classrooms and stadiums. Huawei also launched five new CloudEngine S series multi-GE access switches, all of which offer 90 W PoE++ per port and support software-defined port rates using right-to-use (RTU) licenses to flexibly adapt to different scenarios.







Huawei unveiled NetEngine AR8140, an SD-WAN-powered intelligent routing gateway, to help enterprises build a next-generation WAN with ultrafast cloud access. It delivers up to 20 Gbit/s SD-WAN performance and integrates multiple application-based WAN optimization technologies. These traits make it ideal for building a high-performance intelligent WAN. Huawei also released its high-performance SD-WAN virtual gateway  AR1000V  which can be flexibly deployed on public and private clouds. Currently, the AR1000V supports one hop to five leading public clouds, paving the way for on-demand multi-cloud and multi-branch interconnections.



Huawei also upgraded its iMaster NCE-Campus  an all-in-one management, control, and analysis platform  to facilitate rapid and agile service provisioning on the cloud. Built on cloud-managed architecture, the upgraded iMaster NCE-Campus automates configuration and management across WLANs, LANs, and WANs. In particular, the platform introduces the innovative intelligent verification function, which reduces the manual verification time from hours to minutes before service rollout, greatly reducing the risks caused by manual configuration errors.



Huawei integrated further innovations into its iMaster NCE-CampusInsight  an intelligent O&M system  to address the growing complexity of network O&M that exceeds human capabilities due to the increasing campus network scale, terminal quantities, and service scope. iMaster NCE-CampusInsight now supports application experience insights and assurance. Specifically, it uses intelligent algorithms to detect the quality of over one thousand mainstream enterprise applications in real time and locate faults in minutes. In this way, users can enjoy high-quality office and digital operations experience. Huawei's CloudCampus 3.0 Solution is the ideal choice for enterprise office campuses. In addition to launching this solution, Huawei also announced many new industry-tailored products to accelerate the ongoing digital transformation of industrial campuses. For example, in the Industrial Internet sector, Huawei debuted the exclusive industrial-grade Wi-Fi 6 CPE, which helps production equipment go wireless for improved flexible manufacturing efficiency.

In the rail transport sector, Huawei's new vehicle-mounted Wi-Fi 6 AP provides stable and reliable train-to-ground backhaul reaching hundreds of Mbps even when trains run at speeds of 160 km/h. This ensures the seamless backhaul of passenger information system (PIS) multimedia streams. In the energy sector, Huawei released the industry's first 5G edge computing IoT gateway to provide high-speed, reliable 5G backhaul for power distribution monitoring, coal mines, oil and gas, and other demanding scenarios. With regard to smart cities, Huawei announced SmartX, an all-in-one video backhaul site. This new product supports mains supply and solar energy, as well as lithium batteries (which provide backup power at temperatures ranging from 20 degrees Celsius to +45 degrees Celsius), and secures interruption-free city services even in harsh weather conditions such as rain and snow. "Enterprises are increasingly looking for advanced networking platforms that can help their businesses digitally transform. According to a recent IDC WLAN Maturity Index survey, only 24% of global respondents said they're "very satisfied" with their wireless networks though. Key goals for an advanced network include unified management across the LAN, WLAN and WAN; automation tools enhanced by intelligent algorithms, and high performance infrastructure such as Wi-Fi 6 and multi-gigabit Ethernet switching," said Rohit Mehra, IDC Vice President, Network Infrastructure. "Huawei's Campus 3.0 platform includes all of these characteristics, making it a strong platform for powering the future of the enterprise campus and broader digital business." With the advent of the cloud era, Huawei's CloudCampus 3.0 Solution and a full series of products will help enterprises make their campus networks future-proof with fully wireless networking, one global network, cloud management, and intelligent O&M. To date, Huawei's CloudCampus Solution has been used extensively by industry customers in more than 100 countries and regions, helping them achieve business success. From March 24 to 26, Huawei hosts the Industrial Digital Transformation Conference 2021, For more details, please visit https://e.huawei.com/en/events/industry-digital-transformation/2021 Note: Huawei's all-new NetEngine AR8000 and NetEngine AR1000V will be globally available in May 2021. SOURCE Huawei

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Kochi, March 29 : In an interim order, the Kerala High Court on Monday asked the Election Commission to ensure that a voter in the state votes only once.

The interim order came after the court heard the petition of Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala after he approached the court seeking its immediate intervention in the "fraudulent" voters list for the April 6 Assembly polls.

When this petition came up last week, the court directed the chief electoral officer to come with a detailed explanation on this serious issue.

The Chief Electoral Officer on Monday informed the court that they were in the process of seriously looking into this issue and a clear picture on this would emerge by Monday evening.

Following this the court passed an interim order asking the election officials to ensure that a voter be allowed to vote only once and posted the case for further hearing on Tuesday.

Chennithala's public interest litigation, according to him, was a forced one as he had approached the Chief Electoral Officer, in the state five times with a complaint that there are over four lakh fraudulent voters in the 140 Assembly constituencies, having their names in multiple constituencies.

He has been releasing the details of this 'duplication' in the past week in various constituencies that he has been touring.

Chennithala in his petition has demanded all such people, who have multiple identity cards, should not be allowed to vote and action under the Indian Penal Code and the Peoples Representation Act should be taken against all the government officials who played a role in issuing such fake cards.

Kerala goes to the polls on April 6 to elect 140 legislators.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 17:52:43|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The perpetrators of a suicide bombing on a church in the Indonesian city of Makassar that wounded 19 people on Sunday were identified as a newly-married couple, a police officer said on Monday.

The National Police's spokesman Argo Yuwono said the two were married six months ago.

"Investigations are still being carried out, including efforts to uncover other perpetrators," he said in a statement.

The spokesman added that the National Police's counterterrorism unit Densus 88 had searched for a number of places including the perpetrators' house in order to find more evidence.

Earlier, the National Police's chief Sigit Prabowo said the perpetrators allegedly had links to homegrown Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which has been affiliated with the terror group Islamic State (IS).

One of the perpetrators, he added, was part of a group involved in a terror attack in the Philippines in 2018.

Both suicide bombers were killed in the attack, which also injured 19 others. The explosion happened at the Cathedral in Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, when the church was about to start the third mass congregation. Enditem
Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu has said that 2.5% of all schools will not be able to hold a National Examination simulation during this time, but that will happen as soon as the areas where they operate get out of quarantine, according to AGERPRES.

"2.5% of all schools will not be able to hold a simulation now. According to the ministerial order, the areas where these schools operate will be able to hold the simulation as soon as they get out of quarantine," Cimpeanu said on Monday at the Parliament House.

The 8th grade students on Monday took the Romanian Language and Literature test, the first in the simulation of the National Examination.

The Mathematics tests will take place on Tuesday, and the students belonging to national minorities who attended secondary schools tutoring in their mother tongue will take a simulated test in their mother tongue and literature on March 31.
Piers Morgan, left, has said that it is outrageous that Sharon Osbourne, right, had to depart her hosting role on "The Talk." Getty Images

Sharon Osbourne left CBS show "The Talk" after a heated exchange with co-host Sheryl Underwood.

Piers Morgan called her departure from the show "outrageous" and representative of "the new woke tyranny."

Morgan also left his hosting role in the aftermath of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Oprah interview.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Piers Morgan has jumped to Sharon Osbourne's defense following her departure from the CBS talk show "The Talk."

Morgan, who also left his hosting job in the aftermath of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey, referred to Osbourne's departure from the show as "outrageous."

Osbourne leaving her hosting role demonstrates "how demented cancel culture has become," Morgan wrote in his Mail on Sunday column. "Sharon Osbourne is paying a heavy price in America for supporting me," he added.

Morgan used his column to share his side of the story of his departure from "Good Morning Britain" and to argue that Osbourne's departure from "The Talk" is emblematic of "the new woke tyranny."

Osbourne was "driven out for the crime of defending me, a friend she knows isn't racist, from a co-worker saying I'm racist simply because I disbelieve Meghan Markle," Morgan wrote.

Osbourne's departure immediately followed a heated on-air exchange with fellow CBS "The Talk" host Sheryl Underwood about racism and Morgan's treatment of Markle.

Osbourne defended Morgan on Twitter after he received tens of thousands of complaints for saying that he didn't "believe a word" of what Markle had said about having suicidal thoughts and being denied help.

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Underwood, a Black co-host on the show, questioned Osbourne on her defense of Morgan on March 10. Underwood explained that many saw Osbourne's defense of Morgan as giving "validation and a safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist."

Story continues

Osbourne replied: "I don't know what he's uttered that's racist. I'm not trying to slide out of this one. Tell me, what has he uttered that's racist?"

She added: "I feel like I'm about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is racist, so that makes me a racist."

Underwood later clarified that she wasn't accusing Osbourne of being racist. Osbourne replied: "It's too late. I think that seed's already sowed."

Osbourne later posted a statement on Twitter explaining the comments. "I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive and allowed my fear and horror of being accused of being racist take over," she wrote.

CBS described the on-screen exchange as "upsetting to everyone involved."

"As part of our review, we concluded that Sharon's behavior toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace,' the network said in a statement.

Read the original article on Insider
Nicola Sturgeon made the Scottish elections into a personal battle with Boris Johnson today as she attacked the Prime Minister over nuclear weapons and past comments about Scots.

She attacked Mr Johnson over plans unveiled to potentially increase the UK's atomic weapons stockpile, in contrast to the SNP's long-held demand for a nuclear-free Scotland.

And in a speech that referenced Mr Johnson six times, she also used his own words against him.

Speaking in Glasgow she cited a column on devolution he wrote in 2001, while a writer for the Daily Telegraph, in which he said the move was 'allowing the Scots to make their own laws, while free-riding on English taxpayers.

'Boris Johnson has made it clear what he thinks of the way we do things in Scotland. In the past, he has accused us of ''free-riding'' on tax-payers south of the border.

He has said it is 'monstrous' that we have free personal care. And he said a pound spent in Croydon is of far more value than a pound spent in Strathclyde.

'Many of his band of Brexiteers are on record with similar views. Now, because of the strength of the SNP the Tories probably think they wouldn't get away with cutting Scotland's share of UK spending.

'But I'm pretty sure that's what they would like to do.'

Ms Sturgeon attacked Mr Johnson over plans unveiled to potentially increase the UK's atomic weapons stockpile, in contrast to the SNP's long-held demand for a nuclear-free Scotland.

She also cited a column on devolution he wrote in 2001, while a writer for the Daily Telegraph, in which he said the move was 'allowing the Scots to make their own laws, while free-riding on English taxpayers'

The Integrated Review published a fortnight ago broadened the scenarios where nuclear weapons could be used by highlighting the 'future threat of weapons of mass destruction'

Downing Street today denied having any plans to cut funding for Scotland.

Boris Johnson's press secretary Allegra Stratton highlighted more than 10billion of Covid funding for Scotland, over and above what it receives from the UK Government under the Barnett Formula that governs payouts for the home nations.

Asked if there were plans to cut this funding in the future she added: 'No plans whatsoever. The direction of travel has been in the opposite direct. There has been an increase in support for the Scottish people to help them through the pandemic. '

Boris Johnson has moved to boost stocks of warheads held - with the top limit raised from 180 to 260.

The Integrated Review published a fortnight ago broadened the scenarios where nuclear weapons could be used by highlighting the 'future threat of weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical and biological capabilities, or emerging technologies that could have a comparable impact'.

Sources suggested 'emerging technologies' could include cyber attacks or the use of artificial intelligence - with experts saying nuclear weapons are no longer the only way to 'dismantle a society'.

The UK has not subscribed to a 'no first strike' policy in the past, with ministers saying that might be necessary in 'extreme circumstances'.

The stark warning came in a review that also warned it is 'likely' a terrorist organisation will launch a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attack before 2030.

Downing Street yesterday denied suggestions the decision to raise the cap on the UK's stockpile of nuclear warheads breaches its international treaty obligations.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty doesn't require us to reduce the number of warheads. All of our actions are consistent with our Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations.'

Addressing the issue today, Ms Sturgeon said: 'On the day that the Scottish Parliament was acting to protect children's rights - what do you think Boris Johnson was doing?

'He was setting out plans to go on a nuclear weapons spending spree - to massively increase the number of nuclear warheads the UK has.

'Weapons that could wipe out swathes of civilisation at a stroke are not just immoral - they represent an obscene waste of money.

'Friends, never has the ''bairns not bombs'' argument been made so stark.'
Supplier News

29 March 2021

Over the next 12 months of recovery, every dollar of revenue coming into your hotel counts. Winning means bringing in more share of revenue than your competitors. One of the most impactful ways to drive more revenue and make the biggest impact on your guests is by personalizing their experiences all along their journey, from marketing to booking, all the way through their entire time on your property, and then following up once the guest has checked out.

Fortunately, when implemented and operated properly, CRM technology can revolutionize the way you connect with your guests. Personalized and targeted marketing will convert at a higher rate. Tailored on-property experiences will wow the guest and lead to more revenue spend per guest. Personalized post-stay communications will increase your review scores. All together, these unique guest connections will drive loyalty, allow you to charge higher ADRs, position your hotel to lead its comp set in recovery and set your hotels up for long-term success.

A CRM allows hotels to consolidate profile data and put it in a view that is meaningful for recognition, personalization and communication. A strong CRM will provide a place to dig into these details, look at who your guests are and what their activities are in your hotel  and then be able to drive targeted communications to them based on those activities. It will allow the hotelier to see a guests value, based not only on their frequency or how much they spend but on booking, cancellation, upsell and revenue behaviors all together.

Companies that do this well see an increase in overall revenue. Connecting throughout the journey and having those connections be meaningful and useful drives long-term guest value  by relationship building and compelling guests to act, says Allegra Medina, director of product management at SHR.

We recently caught up with Medina to discuss how Maverick, SHRs well-integrated, cloud-based CRM tool, is positioned to catapult hotels into providing the next generation of guest experiences.

Q: Why is connecting with guests at different points along their journey so important?

Medina: There are a variety of psychological reasons why personalization and connecting with guests throughout their journey in personalized ways is important, but I think for hoteliers you can see why its valuable in the results. Personalized marketing efforts drive growth. They do this by building relationships with customers. Keep in mind that true personalization isnt as simple as saying, Hello Allegra and then blasting me with unrelated offers. It means knowing me, knowing my behavior as it relates to you and what you have to offer, and then customizing that messaging or interaction based on that information. This is why having an integrated CRS to your CRM is so valuable, because it lets the CRM tell the Booking Engine or the Call Center application who the guest is, and what to show them in their path.

Q: What data needs to be shared between the CRS and CRM?

Medina: In a perfect world, the reservation record in CRS should be shared with the CRM in its entirety. This should mean not only that the CRM receives each of the fields in the reservation and the guest profile associated with the reservation, but the field definitions as well. Many times in CRM or even PMS connectivity, there are fields for reservations data such as Rate Code or Room Type or Deposit and Cancel Rule codes, but they are just codes and the CRM would need to either exclude usage of them or manually map every code that exists into the system. I have seen it done both ways, and both ways can be challenging. Another item that is really valuable to share between the two systems is guest profile information outside of a reservation record. This allows for the CRS to be aware of a known guest by way of authentication or profile search so that the guest profile can influence the rates returned, can influence how a call center agent recognizes a guest, can provide discreet offers based on login, membership type, membership tier, or reward.

Q: How should hotels be personalizing guest experiences differently on the various booking channels?

Medina: On your branded website, your booking engine, your call center application  knowing and recognizing the guest, giving them access to manage their information, serving them rates, rewards, offers that are customized to them based on their activity and cannot be found on other channels (without risk of parity concerns with your OTA channels) are really valuable.

For the PMS, having an integration to the CRM to view CRM profiles and key information is helpful in the front office when booking direct. When this isnt possible because not all PMS systems allow for this behavior, having a way to recognize them by way of the CRM is helpful. This allows the front office to recognize the guest during direct-booking opportunities but even more importantly once that guest is on property. A great booking experience is the lead-in here, and the property gets to follow through on that relationship, building from the moment of check in to check out, using CRM data to help facilitate the actions.

Q: Can hotel companies with a portfolio of hotels track guests as they move between different properties?

Medina: Yes. We recognize that even in a single brand or hotel group there are sometimes needs for data to be shared and sometimes not. Maverick accounts for two methods of setup:

One  we can build the brand with all hotels included, where all hotel profiles are shared. This allows guests to be viewed at a brand level, while still being known as a guest of a specific hotel or grouping of hotels within the brand. Cross-hotel utilization is a big deal for some hotel groups, and so you need to be able to see one guest profile with all hotel activity associated  you can segment them by property still for reporting or marketing purposes but still see a whole view of the guests value to the brand.

Two  we can build all hotels within that brand as individual properties, where none of the data is shared. This allows for management groups to have a single chain within their booking path, but to treat guests and guests profiles independent of that brand. It would mean that none of the profile history is shared between hotels and the cross-hotel utilization cannot be seen at the brand level, but also means that each hotel has only its own data for reporting or segmentation.

Q: How are hotels using past stay history and preferences to tailor the offers we present to guests?

Medina: Typically, hoteliers use past reservation activity to determine marketing lists or who to communicate with. Depending on the system they use, they may get more targeted within that information by filtering specific guests on specific reservations for specific reasons but, in general terms, it is used to send offers such as, Youve stayed with us before, we miss you, heres an offer.

Maverick supports using history in a variety of ways. In Maverick, the system can use history to understand guest behavior and use AI to determine guest scoring for profiles based on activity. This means that I can determine based not only on room spend or frequency or quantity of reservations, but also frequency of cancellations or quantity and amount of non-room spend a particular grouping for customers to fall within, from my best guest to my lost guest and everything in between. Maverick can also communicate with guests based on activity or engagement with previous marketing activity.

Where are you at in your personalization efforts? Whether or not you have a loyalty program, a CRM will allow you to start collecting guest information, offering fenced rates and begin recognizing guests while theyre in the booking process. There is always more opportunity to build better guest relationships, which will undoubtedly lead to increased revenue. Position your hotels to lead their markets in recovery by building better guest connections all along their journey.

For more resources on how hoteliers are using technology to position their properties for recovery, please visit SHRs Beyond Recovery resources page.

Flamboyant Malawian Christian preacher, Shepherd Bushiri, has announced the death of his eight-year-old daughter, Israella.



Bushiri, whose Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Church is followed by millions across Africa, did not say the cause of his daughters death but pointed out that doctors have told him her life could have been saved if Malawi authorities had not prevented her from leaving the country to seek medical treatment in Kenya.



In February, Malawi authorities prevented a private jet carrying Bushiris children Raphaela and Israela, cousin Esther and mother-in-law Magdalena Zgambo from leaving for Kenya at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.



Bushiri said the family members were travelling to Kenya to seek medical help for Israella.



The Malawi government reversed its decision within days after Bushiri's legal team went to court, but the Bushiris opted to cancel the Kenya trip altogether and continued seeking medical help in Malawi.



Announcing the death on Monday, Bushiri said he was not going to mourn his daughter but instead called for a celebration of her life.



Prophet Bushiri runs his ECG Church in South African but controversially fled to Malawi in November after jumping bail when facing fraud and money laundering charges in that country.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Gloomy European sugar beet farmers are cutting back plantings this year, discouraged by poor yields and low prices.

Production has fallen in the European Union, mainly pressured by a slump in prices, since an initial bounce when the bloc dropped its sugar production and export quotas in 2017.

A combination of drought and pest attacks that spread the virus yellows disease led to one of the worst sugar beet harvests in history last year.

This year, French farmers are expected to plant about 6% less sugar beet than in 2020 at 400,000 hectares, Timothe Masson, agronomist at French sugar beet group CGB said.

The main reason for the fall is economical: farmers are not motivated to grow sugar beet anymore, he said, adding that most of them had lost money last year.

In Poland, the EUs third largest sugar producer, sowing had not started yet with cold weather causing a slight delay compared to last year, said Rafal Strachota, director of Polish beet growers association KZPBC.

We predict a slight decrease in the area sown with this crop in 2021, he said. He did not give details of the area expected to be sown, but said some farmers had turned to other spring crops.

After a very difficult year, with a record low sugar content in beets, the mood among farmers is not optimistic.

The fall in area in France came despite the government allowing farmers to use pesticides known as neonicotinoids, initially banned to protect bees, for another three years to curb virus yellows.

About half of the area was expected to have been sown by early next week, Masson said. This was a about a week later than average due to wet weather that hampered field work.

In Germany plantings are underway on a wide scale in good weather conditions but it was still too early for an estimate of the area, said Guenter Tissen, head of German sugar industry association WVZ.

Weather prospects currently look good, so that we can expect optimal beet development and ground temperature, he said.

A drop in area was also expected in Britain this year.

The area is shrinking because growers are losing faith in the crop. We think only 90,000 hectares of sugar beet will be grown, a 13 to 15% fall on a normal year, James Northen, head of sugar at Britains National Farmers Union.

CCP Highlights Red Shows in Centenary Celebration to Stir Anti-West Sentiment

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is highlighting red shows in a series of celebrations for its 100-year anniversary this year. Critics say the CCP is attempting to use the shows to invoke its violent communist revolutionary past to stoke an anti-American and anti-West sentiment among the Chinese populace.

At a March 23 press conference, Hu Heping, deputy minister of the CCPs Central Propaganda Department and Minister of Culture and Tourism, said in its centenary celebration, the CCP is focused on revisiting the red classics. The regime will put a number of red classics on stage this year, such as the opera The White-Haired Girl, the ballet The Red Detachment of Women and the symphonic chorus The Song of the Long March.

These shows were once well-known in China, as they were the few shows allowed to be performed during the CCPs Cultural Revolution (19661976) for propaganda purposes. The Cultural Revolution was a violent mass political movement launched by then-CCP leader Mao Zedong, during which tens of millions of Chinese were persecuted to death and countless artifacts, antiques, and traditional architecture were destroyed.

Some critics pointed out that given the current tension between the Chinese regime and the West, the CCP has begun to rely on mass violence again, and intends to stir up hatred among Chinese toward the West, especially the United States, by relaunching the red theatre.

These red dramas and movies were the few artistic works available when we were little, Zhang Jianping, a current affairs commentator in Changzhou of Jiangsu Province, told Radio Free Asia (RFA). And in the past, they did incite nationalistic sentiments among us. Of course, now we feel terrible about it, and we know this is something that promotes hatred.

Ballet dancers perform the Red Detachment of Women, in Nanning, Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2009. (Liu Guangming/Xinhua/AP Photo)

Zhang said the regime resorting to fomenting hatred through propaganda and education is mainly because of the escalated tension in SinoU.S. relations. He said diplomacy is the continuation of internal affairs, and the CCP authorities relaunched the red shows to promote nationalistic hatred in order to draw the Chinese people closer to the CCP.

Cultural historian Zhang Guangsheng in Guangxi Province told RFA that the relaunch of the Cultural Revolution dramas on the Chinese stage is a sign of regression.

I think that now [the regime] is moving backward at a fast pace, and we common people can do nothing about it. Its moving towards a dead end, and we can do nothing about it. Of course, both domestic and international situations have put a lot of pressure on them [the CCP], and they cant do anything about it. [The regime] feels a little safer to walk the old path of isolation and seclusion, and I dont know whether the people would agree or not.

Among the infamous red shows, The White-Haired Girl is a typical example of the CCP using literary propaganda to consolidate its violent rule.

It tells a fictional story of a poor peasant girl who was abused by a local landlord and escaped to the woods, wandering there for years, and her hair became totally white because of the hardship of living in the wilderness. She was saved by the communist army who came to liberate the land.

Billionaire Li Qiucheng (R) performs as the heroine of red Chinese Ballet The White-Haired Girl on stage in Chongqing Municipality, China, on July 20, 2006. (China Photos/Getty Images)

It was revealed in recent years by Chinese-language media both domestic and abroad, that the creation of the story in 1945 by the CCP was for propaganda purposes in the communist-occupied areas during Chinas civil war between the Republic of China and CCP troops.

Poor peasants were reluctant to persecute the landowners and gentry. The CCP leaders ordered its literati to create a popular drama to stir up peoples hatred toward the landowners in order to mobilize people for violent mass political persecutions against the gentry. The CCP literati took liberty with a traditional local folk legend, White-haired sorceress, and turned it into a communist political drama of class war against landowners and gentry.

The White-Haired Girl was adapted to ballet, opera, and film to mobilize more violent mass political movements against landowners and gentry after the CCP took over mainland China in 1949. The plot and ending were changed to be more violent in accordance with the themes of the communist political movements. For example, the rent reduction achieved for farmers in the early versions became total land seizure from the landowners, which mirrored the violent land reform movement in the 1950s; and the landlord was given a more violent death in the end.

U.S.-based Chinese affairs commentator Lin Hui said the white-haired girl is one of the most well-known fictional images in mainland China and one of the most successful propaganda images created by the CCP to confuse right and wrong.

Netizen Ling Zhenbao in Jiangsu Province told RFA: This year marks the centenary of the CCP. The propaganda department is working hard to promote the greatness, glory, and correctness of the CCP. At the same time, its also campaigning for Xi Jinpings  reelection in the CCPs 20th National Congress next year. They want to show the people of the world that they are the orthodoxy of the red world, and make sure the Communist Partys violent revolution and class struggle will never be forgotten.
Over 100 million COVID-19 vaccinations administered in China: NHC

(Global Times) 16:38, March 29, 2021

A construction worker for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games venues receives a COVID-19 vaccine in the capital city. Photo: cnsphoto

China set a milestone in both its national vaccination campaign and international vaccine deliveries, having administered 100 million shots domestically and one of its major vaccine makers supplying more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally.

As the rollout ramps up, the number of daily inoculations has the potential to top 10 million doses, Chinese health authorities said previously.

The National Health Commission (NHC) announced at a press conference on Sunday that the country had administered more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Saturday, proving its effectiveness and efficacy.

It came after an affiliate of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) said Friday that the global supply of two COVID-19 vaccines developed by its subsidiaries topped 100 million doses as of Friday.

Since the NHC started giving daily vaccination data updates on March 24, the number of daily inoculations surpassed 3 million doses on average.

China administered 6.11 million doses on March 26, the highest number of inoculations in a day so far, Wu Liangyou, an official from the NHC said at the press conference.

The country has already set up 74,766 vaccination sites in 15 regions.

The Global Times has learnt that China has set a vaccination target of covering about 40 percent of the population by June, which means that the daily inoculation number will have to increase to about 10 million doses. Some experts previously told the Global Times that the daily inoculation rate nationwide has the potential to peak at about 15 million doses.

Data shows that China is now just 30 million doses behind the US, ranking second in the world in terms of vaccines administered. As of press time, the US had administered a total of 130 million doses.

China's rapid vaccination rollout is backed by a nationwide coordination plan, which aims to implement vaccination in stages across the country. The NHC said it will continue to expand the inoculation capacity, optimize the delivery process of vaccines and scientifically arrange the turnover of vaccines, stressing that no regions should have vaccine backlogs.

For the next phase, cities across the country will continue to add temporary and door-to-door vaccination services to achieve an immunity barrier.

Despite the acceleration, the current vaccination rate in China is 5.76 percent, ranking 57th in the world, data showed.

Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine observer, told the Global Times that China's inoculation speed is climbing to its fast speed and will soon grow exponentially for achieving the target of administering jabs to 40 percent of the population by summer.

In the early stages, some areas may suffer from uneven vaccine distribution for a short period of time, but the situation will largely improve as China's vaccination scheme is based on nationwide coordination, Tao said.

To implement the campaign, the NHC has set up working groups stationed in places to guide them on how to implement the scheme.

Under the framework of the national vaccination campaign, cities and provinces across China have rolled out its own version of the vaccination plan in accordance with its own need.

At the Sunday press conference, officials from the NHC stressed that COVID-19 vaccines should not be given to people with health conditions listed on the vaccine introductions, underlining the safety precautions taken when receiving vaccines.

With the increasing number of doses, people are concerned about how long it will effectively protect against COVID-19.

Zhang Yuntao, vice president of the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a subsidiary of the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), said at the press conference that his company has designed COVID-19 booster shots to improve the durability of antibodies.

The company has obtained data indicating that antibodies will stay at a certain level for nine months in some people inoculated with an inactivated vaccine like the Sinopharm shot, and it is conducting studies on whether people should receive a booster shot to prolong and strengthen the efficacy of the antibodies against mutated variants. Preliminary data showed a booster shot can prolong and strengthen the efficacy of the antibodies against mutated variants.

A decision will be made when results from clinical trials conducted overseas are produced, Zhang said.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)

Hindus in Pakistan's port city of Karachi celebrated the Holi festival, dancing and smearing coloured powder on each other on Sunday. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours is observed mainly in India and across countries at the end of the winter season and with the arrival of the spring harvest season, on the last full moon of the lunar month. Hindus make around two percent of the Muslim-majority Pakistan, where they have long complained of discrimination and violence.
Climate change has been influencing human development for thousands of years, according to scientists examining why a well-fortified port city in Egypt was suddenly abandoned more than 2,100 years ago.

Berenike, also known as Berenike Troglodytica, was a fortified city founded in 275 BC by Macedonian pharaoh Ptolemy II, who named it after his mother, Berenice I.

Located on a narrow strip of shore on the west coast of the Red Sea, Berenike relied on an advanced water-storage system for drinking water.

But a volcanic eruption in 209 BC spewed enough gas and ash into the atmosphere to alter the regions climate, setting off a multi-year drought that forced inhabitants to flee.

Archaeologists have found coins, pottery, and other objects in the remains of a newly discovered well that date the desertion of Hellenistic Berenike to the tail end of the third century BC.

The eruption of an unidentified volcano in approximately 209 BC released large volumes of ash and sulphur into the stratosphere, according to a new report in the journal Antiquity.

The volcanic material blocked sunlight and cooled the atmosphere, causing the traditional summer monsoons that flooded the Nile River to fail.

The failure of the Nile flood, a key element of Egyptian agriculture at the time, had a devastating impact across the region.

Famine is believed to have fueled the Egyptians' rebellion against their Ptolemaic rulers during the Great Theban Revolt of 207-186 BC.

Archaeologists have excavated large pools that would have held thousands of gallons in what may have been Berenike's only source of drinking water. Pictured: Interior of the well in the gate complex

The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Macedonian Greek royal family that ruled ancient Egypt from 305 to 30 BC.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus, son of the dynasty's founder, established Berenike in 275 BC and it quickly became a trade center for exotic goods from India, Arabia and other parts of Egypt, and a way station for African 'war elephants' sent to fight in various battles.

But the desert route to Berenike was closed by the drought, which also 'disrupted the long-distance sea routes that the city was dependent upon,' Heritage Daily reports, leading to its abandonment for nearly a half-century.

The ruins of Berenike were first discovered in 1818, though it wasnt until the 1990s that excavations finally began.

Evidence at the newly discovered well at Berenike suggests the city was abandoned in the late third century BC because of a multi-year drought caused by a volcanic eruption in 209 filling the stratosphere with sulphuric gas and ash and altering the climate

Coins, amphora, and other objects in the remains of a newly discovered well date the desertion of Hellenistic Berenike to the tail end of the third century BC

In 2019, researchers from the University of Warsaw discovered the remains of the Hellenistic fortress, with three large courtyards and numerous structures housing workshops and stores.

They also found a massive well for collecting water near the northwest corner of the fortress, immediately inside a gate through the outer wall.

It housed a series of large pools, the two largest of which may have had a total capacity of over 4,500 gallons, Polish archaeologist Marek Wozniak noted in a 2019 report in Antiquity.

Water was probably taken from the well using a shadouf, an early crane-like implement composed of a pivoting wooden pole with a rope at one end attached to an amphora or bucket and a stone counterweight attached to the other end of the pole.

The water was stored in basins lined with hydraulic lime plaster, which improved water quality through aeration and by allowing suspended solids to settle, the researchers said.

Founded in 275 BC by Macedonian king Ptolemy II, Berenike was a fortified port that served as trade center for exotic goods from India, Arabia and other parts of Egypt

This area was clearly important for water storage  also indicated by the presence of installations for the drainage and collection of rainwater adjacent to the gatehouse to the east, he said.

The installation demonstrates that there was sufficient rainfall to make collection worthwhile, suggesting a more humid climate than today, Wozniak wrote.

Plans of the early Hellenistic gate complex on Berenike's western ridge. Archaelogists found a massive well for collecting water near the northwest corner of the fortress, immediately inside a gate through the outer wall

The city's limited water supply was taxed even more by a population increase in the second half of the third century BC, as would the contemporaneous increase in ship and caravan traffic leaving Berenike.

Then the drought caused the well to dry up and be buried under windblown sand.

As reported in Antiquity this month, Wozniak and University of Toledo geologist James Harrell painstakingly removed the layers of sand that had filled in the well.

Underneath, they found coins, pottery and other artifacts that puts the abandonment of Hellenistic Berenike at the very tail end of the third century BC.

This well represents one of - if not the only - source of drinking water for the inhabitants of the fortress, the researchers write.

Bronze coins recovered from the upper layers of the windblown sand came from a mint in Joppa, Israel, and must have been minted some time before 199 BC, when the mint ceased production.

Pottery found in the sand can be traced to the same era, probably during the reign of Ptolemy III or IV, who ruled from 246 to 222 BC and 221 to 204, respectively.

Pictured: Gypsum counterweight (inset) and fragments of amphora buckets found in the well's southwest niche. Wood charcoal from hearths found near the bottom of the well suggests the complex was used as a basic shelter after the well had run dry

The complete absence of later coins and pottery is a further testament to the rapid infilling of the well and basins after they went out of use, Wozniak and Harrell wrote.

Wood charcoal from two hearths found near the bottom of the well suggests the complex was being used as a basic shelter after the well had gone dry.

As this is the only such structure so far discovered along the Red Sea coast, it allows us to observe, for the first time, how climate can affect the functioning of an ancient settlement in such an extreme environment, the researchers indicated.

It also enables us to explore the relationship between geological and climatic phenomena on the one hand, and economic, logistical and political factors on the other.

The city was later reoccupied in the latter part of the second century BC, becoming even more prosperous as a Roman port city.

Earlier this year, archaeologists reported finding the world's oldest known pet cemetery in Berenike.

By the mid sixth century, though, the city was abandoned once more and never reoccupied.

The Berenike excavations have not only uncovered the first Hellenistic city on the East African coast, but have also contributed to a better understanding of the effect of natural disasters on ancient societies, the researchers said.
Myanmar army on Sunday opened fire at people gathered for the funeral of one of the at least 114 people who were killed by its troops the previous day for protesting against last months military coup.

The juntas violent crackdown came days after the United States imposed its most significant sanctions to date.

The funeral for a 20-year-old student named Thae Maung Maung  shot on Saturday  took place in Bago, near the southeast Asian countrys commercial capital of Yangon, Reuters reported, quoting witnesses. No casualties were reported immediately after the firing.

While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us. People, including us, run away as they opened fire, a witness was quoted as saying.

Source:The Christian Post
Paddy McNair is desperate for Northern Ireland to get back to winning ways on Wednesday night in their crunch World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria.

Manager Ian Baraclough is without a victory inside 90 minutes in his 10 games in charge of the side as positive performances go unrewarded, with the winless run increasingly a talking point at the start of a new qualifying campaign.

McNair, 25, admitted he had been spoiled by the success Northern Ireland had enjoyed for much of his international career to date as they went to Euro 2016 barely a year after his debut, and he does not want to settle for less.

Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough is still awaiting his first victory (Niall Carson/PA)

I was making my third or fourth appearance and we were training at Windsor Park and (Aaron) Hughesy turn around to me and said, Look at you coming in at the right time, going to the Euros and a brand new stadium; I went through all the bad years and youve come in and got it all!' McNair said.

Ive loved my international career so far. Going to a major tournament, we have been a successful team.

In the last 18 months or two years we havent won as many games as we would have liked so hopefully on Wednesday we can get back on a winning run.

A lack of cutting edge has cost Northern Ireland as they have scored only seven goals during Baracloughs tenure, too often finding themselves chasing games.

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Much was rightly made of the strong performance in the second half of Thursdays 2-0 defeat to Italy in the opening qualifier, but it only came once Northern Ireland had given themselves so much work to do.

We have to start with high intensity; we cant start how we did against Italy, McNair added.

The first goal is massive and I just feel like at home, in the past weve started well and not let the opposition play out from the back. If we can do that and put Bulgaria under pressure from the start it will definitely help us win the game.

McNairs versatility is a useful tool for Baraclough, who seems to have settled on a 3-5-2 formation as his preferred option.

Story continues

McNairs versatility will prove valuable for Northern Ireland (Alessio Marini/PA)

McNair, who started his first international at centre-back on Thursday after previously playing in midfield and at right-back, likes the formation but said it only worked if the team avoided dropping too deep.

Its crucial that the wing-backs do push on, he said. The Italy game was a perfect example of that: in the first half we were in a back five and it was too easy for them to go from side to side.

But in the second half I felt that we pushed up a lot more. (George Saville) was pushing onto their full-back, which got us up the pitch, and I was then going in on a midfielder, and thats the way to play it.

Though results have not been there for Northern Ireland, McNair said confidence remained high given the quality of performances.

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Its not nice not winning games, especially with what were were used to over the previous four or five years, he added.

Wednesday is a great opportunity to put that right.

When you look back at the Italy game, the second-half performance was very good and it does give us confidence as a squad within this group.

If we can bring the second half performance into the game on Wednesday it should stand us in good stead.
Mamata Banerjee is all set to launch her campaign in Nandigram on Monday as BJP eyes Bengal. The state assembly polls in Nandigram will feature the most high-profile race. The war of allegations has begun between TMC and BJP.

Mamata Banerjee, the TMC leader, and West Bengal Chief Minister stepped up her attempts to attract voters ahead of the second phase of the assembly election. On Monday at 11 a.m., she will launch her campaign in the elevated constituency. The state assembly polls in Nandigram will feature the most high-profile race. Suvendu Adhikari, a former political colleague, will be the Chief Ministers foe. To beat the TMCs top official, the BJP will bring big names.

Now even, the war of allegations has begun between TMC and BJP. Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, said that based on the attendance at the TMCs public gathering, it is clear that the TMC will form the government of West Bengal for the third time. Also, Amit Shah declared a day after the first phase of the election take place that the BJP would win at least 26 of the 30 districts that came out for the vote. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh says that The first phase of the vote received over 84 percent of participation; if the upcoming phases of the election go as scheduled, the BJP will definitely win 200 seats.

TMC supremo slammed this comment and asked Shah why he left four constituencies? Did you saw or rob the EVM machines? When did you find that out? The Home Minister is abusing his position. Mamata Banerjee claims that the TMC government has constructed highways, hospitals, and bridges against the odds. We didnt have a lot of time, says TMCs CEO. Now, Sayantan Basu, the BJPs West Bengal general secretary, said that the TMCs supremo is attempting to hide her defeat.

Also Read:Philippines and Vietnam slams China over South China Sea; warns of more Chinese occupation

Without addressing the BJPs Sisir and Suvendu Adhikari, the TMC president attacked them for declaring her an outsider. The pair of father and son did not join the Nandigram protest at the beginning, but later joined. I was the one who had to deal with the first setback. They now refer to me as an outsider when referring to themselves as Bhoomiputra.  The TMC nominee said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that newly-elected BJP leaders had taken all of the money she had provided for development projects. Mamata also said that she would open an office in Nandigram. Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress, has stated that if she wins the Nandigram constituency, she will pay a visit to the protesting farmers along the Singhu border.

Also Read: The Xinjiang Investigation: UN in negotiations with Beijing; China slaps sanctions against US and Canada
Though dwarfed by the nearly $400 million in federal stimulus money New Orleans is expected to receive, government leaders in St. Tammany and Jefferson parishes are eagerly anticipating an infusion of cash from the recent $1.9 trillion bill passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden.

But how the various governments will be able to spend the windfall remains unknown.

Covington Mayor Mark Johnson is waiting to see what restrictions will be on the nearly $4 million marked for the city, but hopes he can use it on aging infrastructure.

Our list of needs is greater than $3.9 million, he said. Well accept the $3.9 million with a smile on our face and say, Thank you.

The bill will send billions of dollars into Louisiana coffers, offsetting some of the losses and added costs brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Louisianas state government is expected to receive about $3.4 billion, for example, while another $1.8 billion is marked for cities, parishes, and other municipalities, according to data provided by the National League of Cities.

New Orleans, owing to its unique status as both a city and a parish, is getting money from two pots: about $302 million from money reserved for large cities; and another $75 million from funds reserved for counties. The citys economy, pegged as it is to tourism, has taken a big hit from the pandemic.

Large suburban governments, such as Jefferson or St. Tammany parishes, will get money from the pot set aside for counties. The municipalities within those two parishes will also benefit.

Jefferson Parish government, for example, is expected to get about $84 million. St. Tammany Parish is expected to get about $51 million. Kenner, the largest city among those two parishes, is in line for about $12 million. Slidell expects about $4.4 million and Mandeville, $4.6 million.

But because the numbers have yet to be finalized and the rules for how the money may be spent have not been published, many officials are hesitant to say exactly where the money will be directed.

We will start those discussions, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said. Officials within her administration are putting together a packet of proposed uses for the money to give to council members, who must approve any allocations.

Like everywhere, Jefferson Parish cut its budget last year when the pandemics effects were still largely unknown. But unlike New Orleans, Jefferson's sales taxes quickly rebounded and actually generated more revenue for the parish than the previous year.

Sales tax revenue accounts for about one-fifth of the parish's half-billion dollar budget, Lee Sheng said. Other revenue, such as hotel and motel taxes, permitting fees and gaming revenues, took a hit.

We took some big budget cuts, she said. In June, the parish cut $19 million across several funds in anticipation of revenue declines.

We need to go put some of that money back, Lee Sheng said. Some of the money may also go for infrastructure upgrades, including broadband internet access.

You could see how that affected people, students as well as employees, she said, referring to students who were forced to go virtual last spring.

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Kenner, meanwhile, did take a hit to its sales tax collection, and the stimulus funds are a welcomed addition.

However, Mayor Ben Zahn said that it was too soon for him to comment on specifics.

The anticipated federal funding will reimburse lost revenues and fund the departments and programs impacted by those losses, he said. City officials are awaiting confirmation on how much they may get and what the timeline of disbursals will be, he said.

Similarly, Gretna Mayor Belinda Constant said the city had not decided yet what to do with the $6.51 million its slated to get. Same for officials in Harahan and Westwego.

On the north shore, eight municipalities within St. Tammany are getting money in addition to the parishs $51 million. The funds amounts range from the $4.6 million Mandeville is looking at to the $180,000 going to the tiny village of Sun in the northeastern part of the parish.

St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper said the terms and structure of the funding need to be understood before any decisions are made on how the money might be spent. Once we have a more thorough understanding, we will prioritize our needs and move forward from there, he said in an email.

Parish tax revenue actually increased last year, Cooper said. But the parish has spent money on COVID-19 protocols for things like sanitization, signage to put on public buildings, personal protective equipment, retrofitting of offices and the Parish Council chambers and laptops for people who had to work remotely.

The parish estimated those costs at just over $370,000, with the largest share  nearly $289,000  going to sanitation and janitorial costs.

Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer said that the $4 million the city expects more than makes the city whole concerning its COVID costs, which have included things like overtime, particularly in the Police Department, and sanitization.

Hes heard that the rules on spending this money will be more relaxed than with an earlier federal allocation but is waiting to find out what the city can do with it.

We havent even started discussing where the money would go, Cromer said. Theres a lot we can do, if theyll let us, with IT infrastructure.

Mandeville Mayor Clay Madden, who hadnt heard the exact figure the city was getting, nonetheless said, Well take it!

Mandeville, which has also benefitted from increased sales tax revenue, ended up paying overtime to its police retroactively and also incurred costs for sanitizing buildings, he said.

The biggest impact has been on public events like concerts and parades that were not held.

Mandeville is a town of events, he said.
The World Health Organisation has warned of a widening gap between numbers of coronavirus vaccines in wealthy countries and those distributed to poorer nations through the Covax initiative.

UN Health Agency Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: 'The gap between the number of vaccines administered in rich countries, and the number of vaccines administered through Covax is growing every single day'.

He added: 'The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage, it's also economically and epidemiologically self-defeating'.

Tedros made the comments during a virtual conference hosted by the United Arab Emirates to address global immunisation on Monday.

'As long as the virus continues to circulate anywhere, people will continue to die, trade and travel will continue to be disrupted, and the economic recovery will be further delayed', he said.

UN Health Agency Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned over a widening gap between numbers of coronavirus vaccines in wealthy countries and those distributed to poorer nations through the global Covax initiative

Tedros had called for all countries to begin vaccinating within the first 100 days of the year, but as that deadline nears, 36 countries are still to receive a single dose

Sixteen of those are scheduled to receive their first doses through Covax within the next two weeks, but the other 20 countries are expected to miss out

It follows criticism by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of nations creating a 'stockpile' of Covid-19 vaccines, calling on them to share to help end the pandemic.

Health officials have rolled out more than 510 million coronavirus vaccine doses around the world.

Tedros had called for all countries to begin vaccinating within the first 100 days of the year, but as that deadline nears, 36 countries are still to receive a single dose.

Sixteen of those are scheduled to receive their first doses through Covax within the next two weeks, but the other 20 countries are expected to miss out.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has criticised nations for creating a 'stockpile' of Covid-19 vaccines and called on them to share to help end the pandemic

Health officials have rolled out more than 510 million coronavirus vaccine doses around the world (pictured, Somali's health minister Fawziya Abikar Nur received the vaccine)

The UN's children's agency on Monday urged wealthier countries to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines (pictured, Kyrgyzstan's minister of health and social development receives the vaccine)

The UN's children's agency on Monday urged wealthier countries to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, adding that 435 million ($510 million) is needed support delivery around the world.

'We need help,' UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore said at the virtual conference.

'We need vaccine manufacturers to prioritise Covax and work to secure regulatory approval for fast, fair and affordable distribution. We need wealthier nations to donate extra doses through Covax.'

The Covax initiative was expected to deliver some 238 million doses around the world by the end of May, and has so far shipped more than 32 million doses.

The scheme is co-led by the WHO, the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

The novel coronavirus has killed nearly 2.8 million people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.
VANCOUVER - The relationships between Indigenous nations and British Columbia's mining sector are set to change as the province works to match its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

British Columbia's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. Questions facing British Columbia's mining sector shed light on what's to come as the province works to match its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

VANCOUVER - The relationships between Indigenous nations and British Columbia's mining sector are set to change as the province works to match its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Mining Minister Bruce Ralston says B.C.'s "formal relations" with Indigenous nations and their participation in the sector are already a "strong asset" for companies and investors considering mineral operations in the province.

"Investors are looking for signs that things are being done right, things are being done fairly," he told a news conference earlier this month.

However, details of when and how B.C.'s mining laws may change because of the declaration aren't yet known. It's expected to take years to fully implement the act adopting its 46 different articles, which was passed in the legislature in November 2019.

In the meantime,companies must chart their own path to comply with the declaration or risk legal uncertainty, said Merle Alexander, a Vancouver-based lawyer whose work focuses on Indigenous nations and resource-based sectors including mining, forestry, oil and gas, and hydropower.

Under B.C.'s Mineral Tenure Act, for example, it costs just $1.75 per hectare to register a mineral claim through an online portal.

"I could go and just randomly choose 50 different territories to stake claims in right now and I would have never even had any engagement with any First Nation, and I'd already have an interest in their land," Alexander said.

"You get the ability to sort of literally go out there and start, like, digging holes and trenching without really any consultation whatsoever."

The UN declaration requires governments to obtain free, prior and informed consent before taking actions that affect Indigenous Peoples and territories.

"You'd be pretty hard pressed to argue that this online click of a mouse exploration mining tenure system ... is somehow compliant with a free, prior and informed consent process," said Alexander, who is a member of the Kitasoo/Xai'xais First Nation on B.C.'s north coast.

Once companies decide a mineral claim is worth exploring further they usually recognize the importance of engaging with First Nations, he said.

The Supreme Court of Canada has already established the duty to consult, meaning lawmakers must have dialogue with Indigenous governments about proposed decisions that could negatively impact their rights and title.

But Alexander likened the Crown to an absentee parent, often leaving it up to First Nations and companies to figure out consultation processes and agreements before the province approves permits for proposed projects.

"Most companies have advanced to at least realize that they have to sort of pick up the ball where the Crown has left it," he said in an interview.

"They take the delegated duty to consult and they get into the community and start fulfilling it themselves," he said, pointing to contractual solutions to legal uncertainty such as benefit agreements with First Nations.

The Crown's failure in its duty to consult affected First Nations can sink a project, said Alexander, noting that's what sent Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline back to square one in 2016 before it was shelved permanently by the federal government later that year.

But the duty to consult leaves room for interpretation, he said, while the declaration is a statutory requirement for the province to ensure its laws align with the different articles in the UN Indigenous rights declaration.

Designed to facilitate consent-based agreements between the province and Indigenous nations whenever their rights are affected, B.C.'s act will likely lead to clearer and stronger standards around obtaining consent, he said.

It should create a path to greater certainty  one that's outside the courts  for industries, such as mining, forestry, and natural gas, he said.

B.C.'s environmental assessment process for mines and other major proposed projects is further along than the mineral tenure and exploration system for compliance with the UN declaration, Alexander noted.

But it's not in complete compliance, he said, because the 2018 Environmental Assessment Act requires that officials seek to achieve "consensus" with affected nations rather than work toward consent.

Under the act, the government is required to consider a nation's consent or lack of consent and must publish its reasoning for issuing an environmental assessment certificate for a project if a nation does not consent.

The Mining Association of B.C. issued a statement when B.C.'s declaration act was tabled in legislature, saying it was optimistic that with proper implementation, adoption of the act would "support and advance reconciliation and may lead to greater certainty on the land base."

B.C. is currently in talks with Indigenous groups about the implementation of the declaration act. The province aimed to release a plan identifying priority areas for legal reform last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some delay and it now expects to have a draft ready for feedback this spring, Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

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Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

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Armenia Parliament Council holding session

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Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

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China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

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Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

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Shade uses offensive attack to take down Shanksville in D5-A semis
The researchers tested groundwater samples in the 60 km stretch of the river from Peerzadiguda on the city outskirts to Valigonda, where the Musi meets River Krishna. (DC file Photo)

Hyderabad: Water of Musi river is unfit even for irrigation, said researchers from Osmania Universitys Centre Of Exploration Geophysics who made a recent study of the water quality.

The researchers tested groundwater samples in the 60 km stretch of the river from Peerzadiguda on the city outskirts to Valigonda, where the Musi meets River Krishna, and found that till a depth of 40 metres the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) were way beyond prescribed parameters, due to the very high levels of contamination.

Researchers have noticed that indiscriminate disposal of urban and industrial wastewater into open nalas (drains) or other water bodies has been common practice in the agglomerated metropolis of Hyderabad. This has a negative impact on the plants, animals and human life and also the agrarian produce, they stressed.

The elevated concentrations of COD and BOD have shown organic matter presence in Musi river, and can have disastrous effects on aquatic life and human health. High COD concentration was noticed in all the sites of the river selected for the study, and this was above the permissible limits set by WHO and BIS:19500, indicating pollution by degradable organic waste from various sources.

Groundwater samples were collected from the Hyderabad urban periphery (Peerzadiguda), the downstream areas of Musi up to 60 km (Valigonda) to ascertain the BOD and COD concentrations from pre-and post-monsoon seasons.

Researchers found that BOD in the study area varied from 60 to 197mg per litre (mg/l) before and after the monsoon in the southern part of the river. In the northern part, it was 27 to 162 mg/l.

During the pre-monsoon period, the lowest BOD value was recorded in Jampally village on the northern part, it being 40.2 mg/l; and the highest value noticed was 192 mg/l at Varkatpally village on the southern part.

In the post-monsoon period, the lowest BOD value of 28 mg/l was noticed at Edulabad junction on the northern side, and the highest value 190 mg/l at Jalukaluva village in the southern part with a mean value of 108.3 mg/l.

Seasonal variations in BOD were observed with a general increase during the pre-monsoon period. The mean value for 46 borewells was 109mg/L in the pre-monsoon term, while it was 108 mg/l during the post-monsoon period.

A higher concentration of COD was noticed, compared to BOD, in ground water samples along the Musi. The average COD content was 180 mg/l and 172 mg/l, and 185 mg/l and 171 mg/l respectively in the pre-and post-monsoon seasons in the northern and southern regions.

The mean COD concentration during the pre-monsoon term was 177.67 mg/l, with a low value of 56 mg/L at Poddutur village on the northern side of the river and the high value of 428 mg/l in Korremula villages bore well water.

The low COD noticed during post-monsoon was 22 mg/l at Bacharam village and a high value of 430 mg/l was found at Korremula village with an average of recording of 166.9 mg/l. A high COD was noticed during the pre-monsoon period may be due to prolonged accumulation of seeped organic leachate into the aquifer.

Prof. G. Ramadass, retired professor of geophysics, Osmania University, who conducted the study said the COD and BOD were at abnormally high levels compared to the WHOs permissible limits for drinking, irrigation and waste water.

He said that the BOD to COD ratio was supposed to be less than 0.3. In reality, it was very high and indicates a high level of pollution.

Prof. Ramdass said the BOD/COD ratio may be treated as an indicator in characterizing the intensity of pollution. The eventual aim should be the treatment of wastewater before it is used in agriculture downstream of Hyderabad. "The natural remediation efficiency of the river system may be

improved with the construction of bunds for waste stabilization along the river," he added.
The Nairobi County Government has closed all offices offering non-essential services for 30 days as part of efforts against a devastating third wave of Covid-19 infections.

The order effective Monday follows Nairobi's classification as a Covid-19 red zone as it accounts for at least 57 per cent of the cases reported in Kenya.

On Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Nakuru and Machakos are disease-infested, and banned movement into and out of this One Zoned Area in order to contain the spread of the virus.

Announcing the closure of the offices, Nairobi Deputy Governor Anne Kananu said the move was necessitated by the need to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Ms Kananu noted that the third wave has proven severe as it has led to the deaths of county staff, family and friends.

The safety of county government staff and customers is a priority, she said, hence a review of the work environment and interactions among people.

"The County Government of Nairobi will therefore close its non-essential offices for 30 days, in strict compliance with the 15th presidential address on the pandemic and the Ministry of Health's Covid-19 protocols," said Ms Kananu.

"This is a carefully considered measure to help curtail the spread of Covid-19."

Critical services

Essential services will continue uninterrupted. They include health, disaster management and coordination (fire fighters), revenue collection, water, environment and sanitation, finance and economic planning, procurement and supply chain, security, public communications and customer service.

"Nairobi County chief officers have been instructed to ensure essential services continue as we implement the presidential directives," the deputy governor said.

Ms Kananu, a former Disaster Management and Coordination chief officer, said she will from Monday lead Nairobi's county executive committee members in receiving the vaccine, following a similar move by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cabinet secretaries.

"The vaccine is a great step in the fight against the virus. The World Health organization (WHO) has approved distribution and use of various vaccines. Let us get vaccinated and fight this invisible enemy, " she said.

She asked the public not to lower their guard even after vaccination and to observe measures such as regular hand-washing, wearing masks and social distancing.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced plans to resign in April in order to hold early elections.

On Sunday, Pashinyan met with the citizens of Armenias Armavir Region. "I will resign in April. I will resign not to resign, but in order for early elections to take place," he told a crowd during a visit.

"I will continue to serve as interim prime minister," he added.

On March 18, Pashinyan said after holding political consultations with the president and leaders of three parliamentary factions that snap parliamentary polls would take place on June 20. However, after this announcement the opposition made a statement that the protests, which have engulfed the country since late February, would not stop.

Pashinyan has been under increasing pressure to step down following a military defeat against neighboring Azerbaijan and an ongoing spat with Armenian military leaders, DW recalls.

In the ensuing row between the government and the military, the military joined calls for Pashinyan's resignation.

The prime minister in turn tried to remove the military's chief of staff Onik Gasparyan, claiming that there had effectively been an attempted coup. Gasparyan refused to step down and President Armen Sarkisian refused to enforce the prime minister's order.

Thousands of protesters have also called on Pashinyan to leave power, blaming him for the country's military defeat.
EDITORS NOTE: On April 13, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts a virtual networking event, featuring professionals in the legal cannabis industries. Tickets are limited.

A dispensary slated for Hoboken can move forward despite a lawsuit from a potential competitor, a court has ruled.

The state Superior Court in Hudson County ruled last week that Harmony Dispensary can continue its plans to open a medical marijuana dispensary near the PATH Station, but must seek approval from the citys Medical Cannabis Review Board going forward.

Two competing dispensaries are looking to open just a block apart in the city. The state only has 15 medical marijuana dispensaries currently. Some are more than an hour away from a competitor.

Terrapin, which has dispensaries in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado, sued the Hoboken Planning Board and Harmony last fall. It claimed Harmony lacked valid approval because it bypassed a newer municipal law requiring applicants to come before the review board.

Terrapin announced it had leased a Hoboken property last September. The company does not yet have a license to dispense marijuana from the state, so it will take time before it can open anywhere in New Jersey,

But Harmony Dispensary also had a property lined up in Hoboken. The company already has a medical cannabis dispensary in Secaucus, and is one of the few in the state under local ownership.

Harmony Dispensary plans to open at 95 Hudson St., and Terrapin has a property at 86 River St. Both will be just minutes from the PATH Station.

The city passed the law establishing the cannabis review board two months before Harmony received approval, but after it had filed its application.

Shaya Brodchandel, the CEO of Harmony, said in a statement he was pleased with the decision and planned to work with the review board.

As a locally rooted company focused exclusively on New Jersey, we strive to make a positive impact in any community in which we operate, he said. We very much look forward to meeting with the board and showing firsthand the positive impact we will bring to Hoboken.

Terrapin does not see the ruling as a loss, Chris Woods, owner and founder of the company, said in a statement.

Weve maintained all along that we were filing this lawsuit in the public health, safety and community interest of the people of Hoboken, he said. Its too important that we ensure only the best, most responsible companies as Hoboken launches its medical marijuana program. All interested parties should have to answer to the people of Hoboken, just as we will.

Terrapin will have its own hearing before the review board on Wednesday, according to the company.

Like Hoboken, Atlantic City also has dueling dispensaries blocks apart  although one has yet to open. A lawsuit there also sought to stop the second dispensary from opening, but has been unsuccessful.

New Jersey could begin legal cannabis sales to the public later this year, and the currently licensed medical marijuana providers will likely get the first shot at selling to those 21 and older. That has made cities like Hoboken appealing for new dispensaries who want to capture the New York City market.

But New York might just catch up to New Jersey now. On Saturday, New York lawmakers announced a deal on a bill to legalize marijuana there, and could vote on it this week.

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
opinion

Recently, 44 county assemblies approved the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, under Article 257(6) and (7) of the Constitution for onward transmission to Parliament. Article 257(8) stipulates that a constitutional proposal under the popular initiative, that is one originating from the people is passed by Parliament if supported by a majority of each house of Parliament.

However, specially entrenched constitutional clauses whether under an Article 256 parliamentary initiative or by ordinary citizens through a popular initiative must be subjected to a referendum. Although many BBI constitutional proposals may not necessarily require a referendum, citizens have been sensitised to expect a referendum.

After the Bill's arrival at Parliament, the two relevant committees decided to work together so as to save time. The joint committee has carried out public participation on the BBI constitutional Bill but is yet to table its report for debate and decision-making.

What huddles?

Its leadership pleaded for more time so as to consult experts on some complex issues and conclude the report. Some members of Parliament are uncomfortable with discharging a ceremonial role in the current constitutional review. The committee was given 10 days within which to complete and table the report.

What, therefore, are the hurdles that seem to derail the BBI train? Are they of a legal, political or other nature?

Some legislators reason that the public participation carried out by the joint committee must have meaning. They rely on Articles 1(1), 10(2) and 118(1) (b) of the Constitution among other provisions. They argue public participation is a pathway for people to exercise their sovereign power; participation of the people is a cardinal national value and principle; and according to Article 118(1)(b) "Parliament shall facilitate public participation and involvement in the legislative and other business of Parliament and its committees."

Citizens' views

This cluster of legislators also pin-points that citizens raised concerns before the county assemblies which they wanted addressed. These concerned law-makers contend that citizens' reservations must be given a hearing since for meaningful popular participation to occur, citizens' views must influence the Bill. This sentiment, it is observed, was expressed by G V Odunga J, in the Gakuru Case (2016), where he held: "In my view, public participation ought to be real and not illusory and ought not to be treated as a mere formality ... "

A counter group of legislators argues that the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill is the product of a popular initiative; it is ab initio the result of an elaborate, people-centered public participation process. As a result, any additional public enquiries carried out by the county assemblies and Parliament should not alter the constitutional Bill, but rather be used to authenticate the original citizens' input as supported by their signatures. To these legislators, any alteration of the BBI Bill would render it, and the process so far, null and void.

Seemingly, Parliament is divided on whether it has leg room to alter the BBI constitutional Bill or not. The Kenya Law Reform Commission has advised that the role of Parliament under Article 257 is to pass the Bill as is, apart from correcting typos and minor errors.

It is further argued that the Article 257 (8) language of "passed by Parliament" merely gives Parliament, just like the county assemblies, authority to endorse or reject the popular initiative Bill.

Even if Parliament was to reject it under Article 255, it still must go to the people for validation or rejection.

The caucus of legislators who allege that, under the 2010 Constitution, parliament can amend a constitutional proposal observe that there is no specific language in the Constitution which bars them from doing so. They rely on Article 94(2) and (3) which provides "Parliament... represents the will of the people and exercises their sovereignty" and "may consider and pass the amendments to the Constitution." To them "consider" means interrogate, debate and change any amendment proposals.

No alterations

This latter group points out that under the 1963 Constitution, Section 47(4) had explicitly stated once introduced in Parliament, no alterations could be made to a constitutional Bill before presentation to the president for assent. The 2010 Constitution did not import such clause in its body, it is claimed.

In 2010, the above provision disallowed national assembly amendments to the final Naivasha Draft as amended by the Parliamentary Select Committee and drafted by the Nzamba Kitonga Committee of Experts (CoE). Only a parliamentary committee sitting outside parliament was granted power by a process law to alter the CoE's Harmonised Draft.

Changes barred

However, once submitted to the National Assembly, those who sought to make more changes were legally barred.

Some legislators have challenged portions of the BBI. Their bone of contention gravitates around the mode of distribution of the proposed 70 constituencies; the intended creation of the judiciary ombudsman; the subordination of the Judiciary under the Judicial Service Commission; the re-organisation of national security powers, etc.

BBI proposes to amend Article 172 of the Constitution to introduce (1) (ca), which provides the Judicial Service Commission "shall - receive complaints against judges, investigate and discipline judges by warning, reprimanding or suspending a judge."

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Those legislators who champion judicial independence oppose the new judiciary provisions.

The chairman of the independent electoral boundaries commission (IEBC) challenged the manner in which the anticipated 70 constituencies have been created through a schedule of the BBI Bill. His argument is that the function of delimitation of constituencies, after Parliament legislates the block number, falls under his mandate according to Article 89 of the Constitution. Moreover, he alerted IEBC would need two years to undertake the necessary delimitation of electoral units.

Tellingly, Article 89(4) states: "if a General Election is to be held within 12 months after the completion of the review by the commission, the new boundaries shall not take effect for purposes of that election."

There are law-makers who question the capacity of the IEBC in its truncated form to administer a referendum and the 2022 General Election. These continue to urge for a revisit of the electoral justice agenda.

Is it possible that politics has taken the BBI process hostage? Originally the two handshake principals had envisioned the BBI process as a non-partisan project. However, alliance building and succession politics are likely to determine the fate of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill.
The Oscar Meyer Wienermobile rolled into Connecticut this past weekend with a friend: the Planters NUTmobile, a legume-shaped vehicle.

Both made stops across the state on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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Tunis/Tunisia  Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) Secretary General Noureddine Taboubi said on Friday that President Kais Said is committed to the Union's initiative to organise a national dialogue.

In an interview broadcast on the France 24 TV channel, he added that during a closed-door meeting with the President of the Republic, Saied had affirmed his commitment to this initiative, saying that he will chair the national dialogue with the participation of young people, either directly, or through national organisations and the political class, or through communication technologies.

Taboubi indicated that the Head of State has started, since Friday, exerting efforts to iron out the difficulties that prevent the launching of this dialogue, which is very much needed in Tunisia at this time.

The UGTT had called four months ago for a national dialogue bringing together political parties, civil society, organisations, constitutional authorities, social actors and state mechanisms to discuss the socio-economic and political situation in the country in an attempt to get the country out of the current crisis.
Hassan Martin, Gambian human rights lawyer has said that one of the factors of poor security in the country is due to the fact that President Adama Barrow's government failed to have confidence in Gambia's security apparatus to do their work effectively.

Lawyer Martin was reacting to series of murder cases incident times in an exclusive interview with The Point saying "The current administration of President Adama Barrow has no confidence in Gambian soldiers to do their work or Gambian security to do their work."

He added that government is not taking care of the country's security apparatus as expected, justifying that the police are not given enough equipment such as vehicles to execute their functions well.

Lawyer Martin said Gambian security personnel particularly the police are underpaid and said under normal circumstances, the police should be receiving good salary as part of motivation to ensure proper national security.

"These are all combination of factors that are affecting the current state of security," he said.

According to reports, recently The Gambia has registered murder cases at Sanyang, Brikama and Bakau.

The human rights lawyer further said failure of leadership at government level has also contributed a lot in the country's poor security and alarming murder cases which triggered public concern across the state.

"We need a leadership that will build a security apparatus that is fit for the twenty-four (24) century. And we are not having that," he argued.

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He said government is not looking into the constraints that security institutions are battling daily but the government is busy in political activities ahead of the presidential elections.

He recommended to President Barrow to establish good security policies to ensure lives and properties are saved in the country, while adding that there is a great need for government to look at the root cause of the series of murder cases and address them with urgency.

Recommending further, he said government should endeavour to get competent people to lead the security institutions in order to combat crimes across the country.

On Murder Cases

He described the various murders cases in the country in recent times as worrying, saying government should take actions to ensure lives of Gambians and non-Gambians in the country are protected.

Martin further tasked government to investigate all murder cases with urgency and reinforce the security apparatus to avoid reoccurrence of such ugly crimes.

"The government for the past year or more has not been very much focus in dealing with crimes," he accused.

Martin believes that lack of employment is another factor leading to crimes in The Gambia.

He added that establishment of fish meal factories in the coastal communities without benefiting the residents also factored in crimes in the area as many are unhappy with government as well as company owners on the move.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have officially started trading of the UAEs flagship crude oil, Murban, as a futures contract on the new ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) commodities exchange.



During a high-profile launch event at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), attended by Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, ICE, Adnoc and the partners in ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, marked the start of trading for Adnoc's Murban crude oil on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, a significant milestone for Abu Dhabi and the UAE in its jubilee year.



The introduction of the world's first Murban Futures contract is the latest step in Adnoc's ongoing transformation into a more market and customer centric organisation. By making Murban a freely traded crude, similar to Brent or WTI, customers have better price transparency, flexibility to hedge and manage risks and increased access to Murban crude. For Adnoc, its flagship crude grade becomes more available to a broader set of market participants around the world.



Alongside ICE and Adnoc, nine of the world's largest energy companies and traders are joining IFAD as founding partners. This includes BP, GS Caltex, INPEX, ENEOS, PetroChina, PTT, Shell, Total and Vitol. Representatives from the partner companies joined today's launch event at ADGM, many participating virtually from around the world.



Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc Managing Director and Group CEO, said: "This is a historic moment for Adnoc, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE as we celebrate the launch of the IFAD exchange with ICE and, with our partners, capitalize on the growing demand for high-quality Murban crude oil, particularly from markets in Asia. This achievement is testament to the vision and foresight of our wise leadership, who have supported this progressive step that makes Murban crude a freely traded commodity that is more widely available to buyers and traders around the world."



"The launch of the world's first Murban Futures contract makes our largest crude grade even more attractive to the global market, enabling Adnoc's customers and market participants to better price, manage and trade their purchases of Murban. Murban Crude is recognized the world over for its intrinsic chemical qualities, consistent and stable production volumes, large number of international buyers, and numerous long-term concession and production partners.



In making Murban a freely traded global commodity, it becomes even more attractive to market participants and will deliver greater value to Adnoc and its partners. This historic and strategic milestone reinforces the UAE and Abu Dhabi's status as a leading global energy hub and underscores Adnoc's central role as a catalyst to empower the UAE's economic ambitions, he added.



Earlier this month, Adnoc announced that its Murban, Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu crude grades will all be sold destination free, from June, allowing its crude oils to become a freely-traded commodity.



Discovered in 1958, Murban has played a pivotal role as the bedrock of the UAE's sustained economic development. With the launch of IFAD and the new Murban Futures Contract, it enters a new era, further solidifying Abu Dhabi's position as a global energy hub and a reliable and essential energy provider to the world.



ICE Murban Futures are physically delivered contracts, with one futures contract equating to 1,000 barrels of Murban crude oil delivered from the Adnoc Terminal located in Fujairah, on the East coast of the UAE.



Murban is Adnoc's flagship crude grade, with production capacity of over 2 million barrels per day at present. It currently accounts for around 50% of the UAE's total production capacity, with plans in place to increase the production of Murban to more than 2.5 million barrels per day by 2030, in line with Adnoc's goal of growing its production capacity to 5 million barrels of crude per day.



"The launch of IFAD represents a singular achievement, one that would not have been realized without the vision, fortitude and years of work by His Excellency Dr Sultan, his team at Adnoc, and the leadership of the UAE in opening up Murban to the markets," said Jeffrey C Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange.



"Today, with our outstanding partners, we are bringing a new benchmark to life, and just as Murban has powered the UAE for the past 50 years, with this new futures contract there is a tremendous future ahead for Murban as a price marker for global energy markets."



Dr. Al Jaber will, later today, virtually ring the opening bell of the iconic New York Stock Exchange, another of the international exchanges owned and operated by ICE, to celebrate the launch of IFAD and the new Murban Futures contract.



Murban Futures will trade globally on the ICE platform, one of the world's foremost energy exchange networks. All trades clear through ICE Clear Europe, based in London. From today, Murban now trades alongside ICE Brent and ICE WTI in the ICE network.



Adnoc moved to forward pricing of its crude oil in March 2020 and previously priced Murban using Platts Dubai to determine its official selling price (OSP). The company will move its forward pricing mechanism for Murban to the ICE Murban Futures Contract from June, coinciding with the first expiry of Murban Futures.  TradeArabia News Service
There will be no early elections and no political prisoners in Georgia, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said after meeting with several European diplomats, in particular, with the personal representative of the President of the European Council Christian Danielson.

"We are ready to make a really reasonable and fair compromise. Now its up to the opposition. The issue of early elections is closed, there are no political prisoners in our country, they were under [ex-President Mikheil] Saakashvili," Garibashvili said.

Special Representative of the Head of the European Council Christian Danielson will resume meetings with the opposition and the government from March 29. He came to Georgia for the second time in the last month.

The first visit of the Swedish diplomat Danielson lasted from 12 to 19 March, but the parties did not achieve any results in the negotiations. Danielson even stayed in Georgia three days longer than planned due to the lack of significant progress.

The opposition reiterated that it would not give up two main demands  early parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners. The authorities have warned that they should not expect a compromise from them on the issue of early elections, Jam News reported.
Spokesperson of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on resolving the situation in Donbas Oleksiy Arestovych said the possible discussion of the escalation in Donbas by three leaders of the Normandy Four Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin without the presence of Volodymyr Zelensky will not make Ukraine weaker.

"I do not see a big problem in the fact that someone, without someone, is discussing. These are issues of their relationship. If Ukraine is the issue of their relationship, then we cannot forbid them. This is a false move. When they say that discussions about Ukraine without the presence of Ukraine are an attempt to humiliate our country or the Ukrainian government, then these are all Russian cliches that Russia throws here in order to try to present Ukraine as weak. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that we also often contact Germany, France or the United States without the participation of Russia, we discuss it without its presence. But this does not mean that Russia is humiliated by this," Arestovych told Interfax-Ukraine.

He also said "the issue of escalation in Donbas has been discussed at the level of political advisers to the Normandy Four between Ukraine, France and Germany since last Friday, March 26, without the participation of a Russian representative."

As reported, on the morning of March 29, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov announced the continuation of agreeing on the timing of the upcoming video conference between the presidents of Germany, France and Russia, but without the participation of the President of Ukraine, while the sides planned to discuss the military aggravation of the situation in Donbas.
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says it's agreed to provide up to 400 million doses of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to African countries, starting this summer.

The drugmaker said under its agreement with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, the company will provide up to 220 million vaccine doses for the African Union's 55 member countries, with delivery beginning in the July-to-September quarter.

The trust will be able to order 180 million additional doses from J&J, for a total of up to 400 million shots through 2022.

The company's vaccine still must receive authorisation from regulators in the African countries, but the World Health Organization approved it for emergency use on March 12.

J&J also has a tentative agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to help support the WHO-backed COVAX program to get COVID-19 vaccines to 190 low-and middle-income countries, many of them in

and Gavi still need to sign an advance purchase agreement to provide up to 500 million doses of J&J's vaccine to that program through 2022.

Aspen Pharmacare of South Africa, which is part of J&J's global supply and manufacturing network for its vaccine, will support vaccine shipments to the African Union.

In late-stage testing, J&J's vaccine prevented about 67per cent of symptomatic infections with the coronavirus and was 85per cent effective at preventing severe disease, beginning 28 days after vaccination.

(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| 2021-03-29 16:15:50|Editor: huaxia

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El Salvador received on Sunday its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac.

The Salvadoran government is looking to immunize 4.5 million people, except for those under 18 years of age and pregnant women, to achieve herd immunity over the course of one year.

El Salvador began its vaccination program on Feb. 17, and will begin inoculating adults and people with chronic diseases on April 15, with the CoronaVac vaccines.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
A 'Goldilocks' black hole that is about 55,000 times the mass of the sun has been discovered by astronomers, who say it is 'not too big, and not too small'.

The stellar phenomenon, discovered by University of Melbourne astronomers, was found about three billion light years way thanks to a technique involving the detection of the light from a gamma-ray burst bending on its way to the Earth.

Astronomers say the size of the 'intermediate black hole' is between a small 'supernova' black hole and a supermassive black hole at the heart of a galaxy.

It could be an 'ancient relic' dating to the early universe before the first stars and galaxies formed, suggests co-author Professor Eric Thrane from Monash University.

These 'intermediate black holes' may have been the seeds that over time led to the supermassive black holes that live at the heart of every known galaxy today.

While this one is three billion light years away, researchers estimate that there are some 46,000 intermediate-mass black holes in the vicinity of the Milky Way galaxy.

The new black hole was found through the detection of a gravitationally lensed gamma-ray burst

WHAT ARE GAMMA RAY BURSTS? Gamma ray bursts (GRBs), energetic jets of gamma rays that come from black holes, can be created in two different ways  resulting in long or short GRBs. They are created from some of the most violent deaths in the universe. Long GRBs last about a minute, and scientist think they are produced by supernova: when the core of a massive star collapses to become a black hole. Short GRBs last a second and are produced when two neutron stars merge. Advertisement

The discovery, through gravitational lensing, of this new long predicted type of black hole fills in a 'missing link' in our understanding of the universe, the team explained.

It has been dubbed the 'Goldilocks' black hole as it sits right in the middle of all known black hole types, not too big and not too small.

A typical black hole, created from the explosion of a massive star at the end of its life, will be up to 10 times the mass of the sun.

In contrast, a supermassive black hole that sites at the centre of a galaxy, including the recently photographed one in M87, can be billions of times the mass of the sun.

The new type of 'Goldilocks' black hole is about 55,000 times the mass of our own star, filling in a gap that has left astronomers baffled for years.

Lead author and University of Melbourne PhD student, James Paynter, said the latest discovery sheds new light on how supermassive black holes form.

"While we know that these supermassive black holes lurk in the cores of most, if not all galaxies, we don't understand how these behemoths are able to grow so large within the age of the Universe," he said.

Astronomers say the size of the 'intermediate black hole' is between a small 'supernova' black hole and a supermassive black hole at the heart of a galaxy

The new black hole was found through the detection of a gravitationally lensed gamma-ray burst, a half-second flash of high-energy light.

This light was emitted by a pair of merging stars, and was observed to have a tell-tale 'echo', caused by the intervening intermediate-mass black hole.

The black hole bends the path of the light from the gamma-ray burst on its way to Earth, so that astronomers see the same flash twice.

Powerful software developed to detect black holes from gravitational waves was adapted to establish that the two flashes are images of the same object.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of a black hole released in 2019, has today a new view of the massive object at the centre of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy: how it looks in polarised light

INTERMEDIATE MASS BLACK HOLES: THE MISSING LINK IN UNIVERSE EVOLUTION Intermediate mass black holes are the 'missing link' in universe evolution. They sit between those created from an exploding star and supermassive black holes at the heart of a galaxy. One recently detected using gravitational lensing was 55,000 times more massive than the sun. They are thought to have been the 'seeds' that led to the creation of supermassive black holes. Researchers estimate that there are some 46,000 intermediate-mass black holes in the vicinity of the Milky Way. They are thought to sit at the heart of globular clusters, collections of stars within a galaxy bound by gravity. Advertisement

"This newly discovered black hole could be an ancient relic - a primordial black hole - created in the early Universe before the first stars and galaxies formed," said Thrane.

"These early black holes may be the seeds of the supermassive black holes that live in the hearts of galaxies today."

Paper co-author, gravitational lensing pioneer, Professor Rachel Webster from the University of Melbourne, said the findings have the potential to help scientists make even greater strides in the understanding of the evolution of the universe.

"Using this new black hole candidate, we can estimate the total number of these objects in the universe,' Webster explained.

'We predicted that this might be possible 30 years ago, and it is exciting to have discovered a strong example.'

The researchers estimate that some 46,000 intermediate mass black holes are in the vicinity of our Milky Way galaxy.

These groupings of intermediate-mass black holes have long been thought to sit within the cores of globular clusters.

A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that are tightly bound by gravity, found in disc and spiral galaxies.

There are 150 known to exist in the Milky Way with many more likely still to be found.

Galaxy M87, up to 1,000 times older than the Milky Way, is thought to have as many as 13,000 globular clusters.

the details of the discovery have been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, a lieutenant general, has said the Nigerian Army will remain resolute in dealing with the prevailing security threats across the country in line with President Muhammadu Buharis directive.

Mr Attahiru stated this at the opening of the Combined Chief of Army Staff First Quarter Conference and Nigerian Army Operations Retreat 2021 on Monday in Abuja.

He said the Nigerian Army was committed to implementing Mr Buharis marching orders to armed forces to decisively deal with all security challenges facing the country.

Mr Attahiru said the retreat would provide a platform to reassess the threat environment and review the armys operations with a view to identifying gaps that could be addressed in the planning and conduct of future operations.

In this regard, I want to state that the Nigerian Army under my watch will remain resolute in decisively dealing with any threat confronting the country.

Hence, I have directed that serious attention must be given to sustaining and improving the tempo in all ongoing Nigerian Army operations across the country.

Commanders must therefore glean from my command philosophy to ensure that operational and administrative proficiency of Nigerian Army formations and units are sustained and improved upon, he said.

Mr Attahiru said it was in line with the presidents directive and his intent to rebuild the army into a formidable force that he released his command philosophy which included readiness, capacity, continuous leadership development and duty to the country as cardinal pillars.

According to him, readiness entails mission-oriented training, functional manning and equipping while capacity will be built on the dependability of the Nigerian Army to accomplish any mission in line with norms enshrined in our core values and ethics.

He said continuous leadership development would ensure that the Nigerian Army continues to roll out innovative 21st century commanders.

He, however, implored all formation and unit commanders to immediately key into his vision with a view to take the Nigerian Army to greater heights.

On logistics, Mr Attahiru said the army would soon receive combat enablers that would enhance and boost its operations.

He added that concerted effort was being made to eliminate the threat of improvised explosive devices which had been a major impediment to troops and operations in Operation Lafiya Dole.

Again, in order to increase our operational capabilities, I have approved the purchase of spare parts and directed that damaged and unserviceable equipment in the theatre be back loaded for immediate repairs.

I want to assure you that I am determined in rebuilding the fighting skills, capacity, confidence and morale of our troops across the various theatres of operations.

To achieve this, my top priorities for the second and third quarters of the year would be training.

I will ensure that through functional training, officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army are equipped with the right competences and skills to effectively undertake missions in addition to developing special operations forces.

This would be closely followed by procurement that ensures appropriate kitting and provision of protective gear, weapons, equipment and platforms, he said.

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Mr Attahiru also promised to ensure troops welfare would be given paramount attention as well as ensuring sound administration of troops and their families.

While commending the officers and soldiers for their unrelenting sacrifice, he urged them to redouble efforts to decisively deal with threats.

(NAN)
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Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole rises during question period in the House of Commons on March 10, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Canada Should Be Ready to Weather Any Export Issues to Deal With China: OToole

WINNIPEGFederal Conservative Leader Erin OToole says Canada has to work closely with its allies to counterbalance Chinas actions while recognizing that could mean risks to Canadian exports.

OToole spoke Monday to Winnipegs business community at a virtual event held by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

The Opposition leader was asked about his stance on Canadas relationship with China and his message to workers in the agriculture industry who depend on trade with that nation.

OToole said Canada needs to diversify into new markets, like the Indo-Pacific, because its likely to run into more issues with China in the years ahead.

He repeated that Canadas values are not for sale and it wont ignore the treatment of Muslim Uighurs in Chinas Xinjiang province to maintain export access.

OToole also pointed to Chinas recent sanctioning of members of Parliament who are looking into human rights issues, including Conservative MP Michael Chong.

We have to, as a sort of Five Eyes Alliance, counterbalance some of the bad conduct by the Communist party of China and recognize that there could be some disruption to export to that country, OToole said.

We are prepared to weather that storm to do the right thing.

OToole outlined his partys recovery plan and said that, unlike Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he doesnt want to reimagine the economy.

What if your job is in resources or agriculture or in one of the sectors that (Trudeau) doesnt want to build back better? he said.

How is that recovery going to hold your family and your community back? Is it going to lead to even more alienation in the Westmore division, more uncertainty, more inequality?
The festival of colours, Holi, is here, but celebrations are subdued owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. There might be restrictions in venturing out amid safety precautions, but that did not stop one from enjoying the occasion with their loved ones at home. This was shown by Priyanka Chopra Jonas-Nick Jonas as they basked in the festivities within the comfort of their home.

Priyanka Chopra-Nick Jonas celebrate Holi

The star couple was accompanied by Nick Jonas parents, Denise Jonas and Paul Kevin Jonas during their gathering in London. The quartet went all-white during the celebrations, as they posed with colours on their clothes and their faces.

The Desi Girl was also seen with a pichkari or water gun. The Jonas household was wonderfully decorated with colourful decorate, plates of colours and even flowers.

Terming Holi as a festival of colours, Priyanka wrote that it was one of her favoruites. The Dostana star wished that everyone could celebrate the occasion with their loved ones, but shared an advice, stressing that the venue has to be in our homes.

Nick conveyed greetings for the occasion with the words, Happy Holi from our family to yours.

Nick Jonas had been in India during the Holi celebrations last year, which was the first time he had celebrated the festival. Be it Karwa Chauth or Diwali, Nickyankais known to celebrate and extend their greetings to fans.

Meanwhile, on the professional front, the couple recently announced the Oscars nominations together. Priyanka has been busy with the launch of her memoir, a hair care brand and a restaurant, apart from her production The White Tiger being nominated for the Oscars and BAFTAs. Apart from the move We Can Be Heroes, she is also working on the series Citadel.

Nick unveiled his album Spaceman recently.

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- entrotech life sciences, inc., an organization focused on helping healthcare professionals save lives, has released a new white paper that addresses the urgent need to expand infection surveillance and prevention efforts to include all types of vascular access devices (VAD) across care settings. In addition, the paper discusses emerging evidence on evolutionary antimicrobial dressing technology and its role in advancing efforts to prevent bloodstream infections (BSIs).

Author Robert Garcia, BS, MT(ASCP), CIC, FAPIC, an infection preventionist with 40 years of hospital experience and a widely published author and lecturer, suggests a more robust approach to patient safety that focuses on hospital-onset bacteremia (HOB) , instead of only central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). Supported by extensive evidence, HOB is an evolving and broad prevention concept that addresses infections related to all types of VADs, including peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC), midlines and peripheral IV (PIV) catheters.

Currently, CLABSIs are the only bloodstream infection (BSI) category with mandatory reporting requirements. But as Garcia notes, the CLABSI metric only reflects a narrow subset of all catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs).

"While there is some data on BSIs associated with other types of IV catheters, without mandatory reporting, we don't have a clear picture of how often they occur, which means that catheter-related infections are probably more extensive than we even realize," said Garcia. "We must expand surveillance beyond CLABSI and move to a broader program of HOB prevention, where the same standard of care that we apply to central lines is applied to all vascular access lines."

Garcia's recommendations align with recent concerns about catheter-related complications raised by the healthcare quality and safety organization, ECRI (Plymouth Meeting, PA). Earlier this month, the nonprofit technology assessment group released its annual list of Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns, which includes infections and other complications associated with peripheral IV catheters (PIVC). This is the second time ECRI has identified PIVC infections as a major patient safety issue in recent years, noting in their 2019 report that "increased awareness of PIV-catheter-related infections, coupled with routine active surveillance and follow-up reporting, can help reduce the risk."

According to Garcia, there is also emerging evidence that novel antimicrobial dressing technology may provide a significant advancement in HOB prevention. The technology takes the proven antimicrobial protection of chlorhexidine dressings to the next level by utilizing pure chlorhexidine (CHX) to provide rapid and broad-spectrum protection at catheter sites. This next generation of antimicrobial dressings uses chlorhexidine to a fuller extent, making the antimicrobial agent more effective against bacteria and other organisms on the skin for longer periods of time, which is "truly a breakthrough," Garcia said.

Prevahex CHX is the only antimicrobial dressing cleared by the FDA with pure chlorhexidine coverage throughout the transparent areas of the dressing, which is designed to provide rapid onset of antimicrobial protection and lasts for up to 7 days to help prevent CRBSIs and surgical site infections (SSIs).

A recent study published in the Journal of Wound Care examines the in vitro antimicrobial effects of a chlorhexidine diacetate (CHA) and silver salt-based antimicrobial dressing against the free-base chlorhexidine (CHX) dressing. In the study, the antimicrobial performance of the CHX dressing was superior to the CHA dressing at 67% of experimental time points, with at least equivalent efficacy at all other time points. The CHX dressing also demonstrated significant antimicrobial efficacy at a much faster rate, particularly at the 1-day time point, suggesting that the use of pure CHX may provide a more rapid and effective alternative to dressing technologies that rely on conventional chlorhexidine formulations.

"Catheter-related bloodstream infections lead to unnecessary illness, deaths, and skyrocketing healthcare costs," said Jim McGuire, CEO of entrotech life sciences. "By unlocking the true potential of pure chlorhexidine, we hope this innovation in antimicrobial dressing technology will contribute to a new standard of CRBSI prevention for all vascular access devices."

Chlorhexidine has long been utilized as a medical antimicrobial agent, with its pure form being most effective. Other chlorhexidine formulations contain additives such as gluconic acid and acetic acid that can potentially irritate the skin upon application. PrevahexCHX dressings are free of these additives, ensuring a comfortable patient experience. The dressing is manufactured through a revolutionary non-thermal, PCA-free process that ensures the rapid onset of action of pure chlorhexidine, as well as the breathability and visibility of the wound and catheter site.

For more information, visit www.prevahexchx.com .

About entrotech life sciences, inc.:

entrotech life sciences, inc. (ELS | San Francisco, CA) invented the first and only proprietary process for stabilizing pure chlorhexidine in a non-thermal, carbon emission and byproduct-free adhesive film. ELS (US manufacturer) is affiliated with entrogroup (est. 1999), a world leader in smart device film protection, advanced lifesaving combat military products and environmentally friendly, lightweight paint appliques. For more information, visit www.prevahexchx.com .

Contact: Liz Dowling

Dowling & Dennis PR

415-388-2794

[email protected]

SOURCE entrotech life sciences, inc.
Heaven is one of the most important doctrines of Scripture and is described most clearly in the New Testament. Jesus spoke of it often and promised those who have been born again that one day they would be with him in his "Father's House" (Heaven) (John 14). For the Christian, this is a great comfort, being that we live in a fallen world, with many trials. Notwithstanding, what does the Old Testament have to say about the afterlife, (Heaven and Hell)? Considering that the Old Testament Scriptures were entrusted to the Jewish people, wouldn't it be safe to assume that most or all Jewish people believe in Heaven? If not, then what do they believe? These are great questions that I will address.

What Does the Old Testament Say about the Afterlife?

The Hebrew word for Heaven is "Shamayim" and occurs 327 times in the Old Testament of the King James Bible. Whereas the New Testament speaks of Heaven as a wonderful place where believers in Jesus will go to be with and worship God after we leave our earthly bodies, (Rev. 7:15-17, 2 Cor. 5:1, Matt. 7:21, John 14:1-3), the Old Testament describes Heaven somewhat differently. It indeed is the place where God dwells. However, Heaven in the Old Testament is not a place where the Old Testament saints would be yet - not before Christ. Rather, the Old Testament speaks of deceased saints "resting with their fathers" (1 Kings 11:21,43; 15:24). This will be addressed in more detail when we discuss the Hebrew word "Sheol".

Sheol is the Old Testament word for the abode of the dead and has been translated "Hell" by the King James Bible. However, a more accurate definition of Sheol would include the righteous dead as well as the unrighteous. We also know from scripture that the righteous dead from the Old Testament would never be abandoned to Hell (Psalm 16:10). Just how these Old Testament saints got (or will get) from Sheol to Heaven is a topic for another article. That being said, many Christians believe Jesus "liberated" them after He died and brought them to Heaven when He ascended there (Eph. 4:8).

What Do Jewish People Believe about Heaven?

The answer to this question is somewhat complex and depends on several factors. Before we broach this topic, a foundation needs to be laid which will hopefully help the reader to understand more fully. Ever since the dispersion of the Jews from the land of Israel, Jewish people have been scattered throughout the world and have identified themselves with various non-biblical, false belief systems. Simcha Paull Raphael, the author of the book "Jewish Views of the Afterlife" says,

"Judaism, over four millennia, has evolved through contact with other world civilizations and religions... 4000 years of Jewish thought about post-mortem survival can be confusing". "Jews believe many things".

To make matters even more tricky, many Jewish people today consider themselves atheist or agnostic. According to a Chicago Reuters news article dated 2013, "One out of five Americans who consider themselves culturally or ethnically Jewish say they do not believe in God or they do not follow any particular faith". Statistics say that 42% of Jewish people in Israel are secular; in the United States, the figure is about 30%. This being the case, for the purpose of this article, I will focus only on Jews who consider themselves religious in some way, shape, or form.

Let's start with the most liberal branch of Judaism in the United States, Reform Jews, which comprises about 35% of American Jews. Reform Jews believe in an afterlife, but not strictly according to the Bible. Rabbi Adrian M. Schell says Reform Jews "affirm belief in the afterlife, though they downplay the theological implications in favor of emphasizing the importance of the 'here and now,' as opposed to reward and punishment." Rabbi Evan Moffic, a well-known author who serves as a Reform Rabbi of Congregation Solel in Highland Park, IL. says: "Faith begins in mystery. Among the greatest mysteries we face is the afterlife. What happens when we die? Do we see our loved ones? Do we know them? Do they know us? The questions are endless. Jewish wisdom offers no definitive answer."

Up to this point, it seems like we have more questions than answers! Let's read on to find out some more of the Jewish beliefs about Heaven and Hell, and subsequently how that compares with what Messianic Jewish Believers (Jewish Believers in Jesus) believe. On Heaven and "good works," Rabbi Moffic continues: "The Hebrew word for skies, Shamayim, also came to refer to Heaven." "Heaven has [an] open door policy: Heaven is not a gated community. The righteous of any people and any faith have a place in it. Our actions, not our specific beliefs, determine our fate." "The afterlife can take many forms: Professor A.J. Levine expresses this truth most eloquently: 'Jewish beliefs in the afterlife are as diverse as Judaism itself, from the traditional view expecting the unity of flesh and spirit in a resurrected body, to the idea that we live on in our children and grandchildren, to a sense of heaven (perhaps with lox and bagels rather than harps and haloes.'

According to the Talmud (the most comprehensive written version of the Jewish oral law), any non-Jew who lives according to the Seven Laws of Noah is regarded as a Ger Toshav (righteous gentile), and is assured of a place in the world to come, the final reward of the righteous (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 8:11). The Seven Laws of Noah include prohibitions against worshipping idols, cursing God, murder, adultery, and sexual immorality, theft, eating flesh torn from a living animal, as well as the obligation to establish courts of justice. It is clear that religious Jewish beliefs have become quite different than what the Bible actually teaches! We will discuss this in more depth at the conclusion of this article.

What Do Jewish People Believe about Hell?

It is common, for Jewish people of varying denominations to believe in something, (similar to the Catholic version of purgatory), called "Yeshiva Shel Mallah," which is translated "the school on high" that is said to exist to purify and prepare a soul for heaven. Another name for this is the Hebrew word "Gehinnom" (or Gehenna), which has come to mean a type of purgatory. According to Chabad.org, an orthodox Jewish denomination: Gehinnom is defined as: "purgatory, the spiritual realm in which the souls are cleansed from the blemishes brought about by their conduct while on Earth."

The Zohar, the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah describes Gehenna not as a place of punishment for the wicked but as a place of spiritual purification for souls. ("soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Jewish Thought (6/12) Section - Question 12.8: What do Jews say happens when a person dies? Do Jews believe in reincarnation? In hell or heaven? Purgatory")

Chabad.org continues:

"If, at the end of our life, we leave this world without fixing the wrongs we have done, our soul is unable to reach its place of rest on high. We must go through a cycle of deep cleansing. Our soul is flung around at an intense spiritual heat to rid it of any residue it may have gathered, and to prepare it for entry into Heaven".

How Do Messianic Jewish Believers Differ on This?

Messianic Jewish Believers are people from a Jewish background who believe in Jesus. Messianic Jewish Believers differ from non-believing Jews in that they believe that:

-There is no need to consult extra-biblical books for issues such as the afterlife (or any other life issue). The Bible, composed of the Old and New Testament is the only infallible and authoritative Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15-17, Romans 15:4; 2 Peter 1:19-21, Hebrews 4:2).

-Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah, God in the form of man; he alone has the keys to the kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 16:19).

-Jews and gentiles who have been born again by believing in Jesus have been forgiven our sins by Gods Grace; Yeshuas sacrificial death is our atonement; Individual salvation comes solely by faith in the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who paid the price for our sins through His perfect life and sacrificial death (Leviticus 17:11, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 1:17, John 3:3, Hebrews 11:6).

-If a person has been regenerated by believing in Jesus Christ by faith, then they are saved - saved from the wrath of God. Immediately upon death, their soul/spirit will be with the Lord in Heaven, awaiting the resurrection (2 Cor. 5:8, Phil. 1:23-24, John 14:1-31, John 3:16, Luke 23:43).

-Those who reject the free gift of salvation provided by the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ, will experience eternal separation from God. This means that their soul/spirit will immediately be in Hell, awaiting the resurrection (Rom. 6:23, Matt. 25:46, 2 Thes. 1:9, John 3:16, Matt. 10:28).

-The saved and the lost will both be resurrected - the saved to everlasting life and fellowship with God and the lost to eternal separation from God and a state of everlasting punishment (Daniel 12:2, Matthew 25:46, Psalm 69:28, Revelation 20:12-15).

It is clear that most Jewish people have adopted many unbiblical beliefs regarding the afterlife. The first factor which we discussed was the dispersion from the land of Israel. Before I close, another important factor I would like to mention is the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD/CE.

From the Bible to the Rabbis

Since it became impossible to do blood sacrifices in the prescribed manner at the temple, Jewish people were left without a biblical way to be forgiven for their sins . . . or were they? In truth, Jesus had already lived out his ministry on earth, been crucified, and rose from the grave about 40 years earlier, making forgiveness of their sins entirely possible (and biblical)! It was at this critical juncture that "Rabbinic Judaism" was born. The rabbis stepped in with their own theology. Rather than trusting in the Bible, which would have pointed them to Jesus as the Messiah (Isa. 7:14, 9:6, Isa. 53, Psalm 22, Gen. 3:15), Jews started to trust in the teachings of the rabbis, which were clearly unbiblical. "Prayer and good works" were substituted for the concept of a blood sacrifice.

Without the bedrock of God's Word (the Bible), it is easy to see how Jewish people have strayed and why they have so many questions and false beliefs about the afterlife. The teachings of Christ are clear. It is unnecessary to look elsewhere - the Bible is all we need to answer life's greatest questions. Jesus said I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6); and the woman at the well in John 4:25 spoke well when she said: I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things. He (Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah) has come, and indeed, he has granted to us all things pertaining to life and godliness and has told us all things (2 Pet. 1:3, John 4:25)!

Please pray for the Jewish people, that they would come back to the teachings of the Scriptures, and that God would open their eyes to the truth of who the Messiah is  Jesus of Nazareth.

References:

Jewish Views of the Afterlife by Simcha Paull Raphael. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

JewsforJesus.org, 'Whatever Happened to the Substitute Atonement of the Torah'

ReformJudaism.org, 'Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?'

Wikipedia.org, 'Origins of Rabbinic Judaism'

Photo credit: GettyImages/Marie Docher

Joel Weiskopf was born and raised in a Reform Jewish home and enjoyed celebrating many of the Jewish holidays with his family each year. An honors graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in jazz and was blessed to have played piano with some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time including: Stan Getz, Quincy Jones, Gerry Mulligan, Woody Herman, Jimmy Cobb and many others. In 1996, after a five-year struggle with a food addiction, multiple food allergies and severe digestive disturbances, Joel read the Bible and put his faith in Jesus. Upon doing so, he was immediately healed from all the above illnesses. After his life-changing experience, Joel went on to release six critically acclaimed jazz recordings, which include several of his gospel-jazz compositions. He served for 20 years as a university professor, and a professional Christian & gospel musician. Joel has spent countless hours studying the Bible, as well as preached and taught Bible studies at Messianic congregation Shaar Adonai in New York City, where he met his wife Karla. Joel loves studying scripture, the outdoors, and spending time with his family. He, Karla, and their son Samuel now reside in Syracuse, New York and attend a local church in their area.

This article is part of our larger resource library of Christian questions important to the Christian faith. From core beliefs to what the Bible says about angels, we want to provide easy to read and understand articles that answer your questions about Christian living.

What Do Christians Believe?

How Old Is the Earth?

Who Is My Neighbor in the Bible?

What Does God Look Like?

Are Guardian Angels Real?

What Does it Mean to Be Zealous for God?
This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

For decades, many people living with HIV were denied life insurance coverage, deemed too risky to insure. To this day, most life insurance applications ask applicants to answer yes if they are HIV-positive, and many companies deny coverage to those who do.

But treatment for human immunodeficiency virus has greatly improved, and the 1.2 million people diagnosed with it in the U.S. can now expect to live almost as long as people without the virus.

Life insurance companies have noticed, and in recent years, some have started to offer policies to people living with HIV. In California, new legislation will ban life insurers from denying coverage based on an HIV-positive test result.

Still, people with the infection may have difficulty finding coverage. Options like group or guaranteed issue life insurance could be alternatives for people unable to secure a standard term or whole life insurance policy.

A handful of companies offer term and whole life

In the 1980s, a diagnosis of AIDS, the disease caused by HIV, meant an average life expectancy of one year, and insurers shied away. Today, medical treatments can prevent most HIV cases from progressing to AIDS.

HIV is much more understood than when it was first discovered in the 1980s, Chris Abrams, a life insurance agent and founder of Abrams Insurance Solutions in California, said by email. Abrams says he has helped HIV-positive clients purchase policies from American National, John Hancock and Prudential.

Guardian Life also recently opened the doors to HIV-positive people. Healthy individuals living with HIV now have access to both whole life and term life, according to Mark H. Lewy, Guardians chief medical director.

The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed approval in some cases, Abrams says, but it has not stopped insurers from writing new policies for people with HIV. I just had an HIV-[positive] client approved last week.

Expect higher costs and strict requirements

People living with HIV will pay much more for life insurance than a healthy person without the infection. For a typical term life insurance policy, an applicant with HIV might pay 10 times as much as someone in excellent health without HIV, says Jeremy Hallett, CEO of Minneapolis-based life insurance brokerage Quotacy.

Insurers also impose requirements for age and treatment. Guardian Life asks that people with HIV be between the ages of 20 and 60 and show theyve received at least two years of antiretroviral therapy, or ART, a daily regimen of medication that reduces the amount of HIV in the bloodstream. John Hancock has stricter requirements, covering people 30 to 65 years old, with at least five years of effective treatment. Both companies require customers to receive regular care from a doctor who specializes in HIV treatment, and applicants with a history of substance abuse, intravenous drug use, hepatitis or AIDS are denied.

Even then, its not guaranteed that a person with HIV will qualify. Some prospective customers have been turned down despite meeting the requirements, says Scott Schoettes, counsel and HIV project director for Lambda Legal, a nonprofit that provides HIV advocacy, among other services. The reasons for denial arent always clear. If a person is denied, they should be able to demand the reason for being declined, Schoettes says.

Some policies offer guaranteed coverage

If a person with HIV cant get a standard policy, other options may be available.

Many employers offer group life insurance as a benefit to employees, and it typically doesnt require a medical exam. Group policies are the best opportunity for anyone with HIV, says Hallett. He recommends maxing out any group life insurance thats available without health questions, often one to three times an employees salary.

Guaranteed issue life insurance is another possibility. These policies typically are limited to people 45 and older, and death benefits may not pay out within the first two years of the policy. Coverage amounts are generally low, often $25,000 or less, but Hallett notes these policies are stackable  you can buy policies from a variety of life insurers to grow the total death benefit.

More options could be on the horizon

Medical and legal developments indicate more life insurance options could be ahead for people living with HIV.

In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a monthly injectable treatment for HIV, an alternative to the often forgotten daily medication of ART. Since insurers require years of consistent adherence and doctor supervision before coverage begins, a monthly treatment could help more people qualify.

And starting in 2023, California insurers wont be allowed to deny life insurance or disability income insurance based solely on an applicants positive HIV test. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Equal Insurance HIV Act in September.

But the new legislation doesnt mention decreasing the cost for people living with HIV. While I obviously applaud the move to provide life insurance to people living with HIV, says Schoettes, what we really need is ... to get it to a place where its no longer discriminatory in its pricing.

Ben Moore writes for NerdWallet. Email: bmoore@nerdwallet.com.

The article Living With HIV? Life Insurance Is Available but Limited originally appeared on NerdWallet.
A team of Australian and German researchers has discovered a novel pathway that plants can use to save water and improve their drought tolerance.

The research published today in Nature Communications shows that the molecule GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), most commonly associated with relaxation in animals, can control the size of the pores on plant leaves to minimise water loss.

Matthew Gilliham, Director of the Waite Research Institute at the University of Adelaide, who led the research team, said they found: "GABA minimised pore openings in a range of crops such as barley, broad bean and soybean, and in lab plants that produce more GABA than normal. This led to the lab plants using less water from the soil and surviving longer in the drought experiments."

"We found plants that produce lots of GABA reduce how much their pores open, thereby taking a smaller breath and reducing water loss."

In an earlier study, members of the team found that GABA - known as a nerve signal in animals - could act as plant GABA receptors. This led to renewed speculation that GABA could be a signal in plants as well as in animals.

Lead author on the study, Dr Bo Xu, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology adds: "Both plants and animals produce GABA and they put it to different uses. Plants don't have nerves, instead they appear to use GABA to match their energy levels with their response to the environment."

"GABA doesn't close pores on leaves like other stress signals, it acts in a different way - how much a plant accumulates GABA when it is stressed determines how much it applies the brake pedal to reduce the pore opening the following morning, and water loss that day - like a stress memory of the day before."

Professor Rainer Hedrich at the University of Wurzburg, a pioneer in studying how plants regulate water loss, led the German component of the study.

"I've been studying how plants regulate their stomatal pores for over 35 years. To find a completely new and unexpected way that they are regulated has certainly been one of our most surprising discoveries. I look forward to seeing how this translates out in the field."

The team recently received a new grant from the Australian Federal Government to partner with researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, and are looking for new PhD students to join the team to discover new components of the signalling pathway and to trial its impact in crops.

###
By now, many Touch 'n Go eWallet app users should have spotted the new GO+ function inside. But if you're somehow still under the rock, GO+ is a new financial investment feature that allows the users to have a low-risk money market investment. Malaysians can invest as low as RM10.

To access GO+, make sure you have the latest app version on both iOS and Android. After that, you can see GO+ on the user interface easily and just tap into it. Once you have followed the instructions, you can put in as much cash up to RM5000 per day or RM9500 in total from your respective bank. The daily return rate may change from time to time and the returns will be credited daily.

There's also a Cash-Out feature that will allow the movement of funds seamlessly between the users eWallet and designated bank account. On top of that, the GO+ balances can be used for all eWallet payments as well. It should also be noted that only Malaysians above 18 years old and above can use GO+, below are some more things that you should know:

Foreigners cannot use GO+ Principal e-Cash is not a Shariah-compliant fund One user can only open one GO+ account You can add money (Cash In) anytime and as often as you like There is 0 sales charge, but there's a management fee of up to 0.45% per annum and a trustee fee of up to 0.03% per annum There's no maximum Cash Out amount if you opt to Cash Out to your bank account You can't cash out to your credit card Your GO+ account will only deactivate if it's unused for 12 months in a row and with the balance below RM0.01 Daily return rate is the net gain or loss of the Principal e-Cash fund for the day

P.S. - We also asked them when will we be able to top up our TnG card from the ewallet. They replied that in Q4 2021, there are plans for a new TnG card to be released for that purpose

The GO+ product is based on the Principal e-Cash Fund, a money market fund managed by Principal Asset Management (Principal), a leading ASEAN asset management company. To read more about GO+, you may visit the official page right here to learn more. Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
Autonomous vehicles could take to the streets in Shenzhen

Guangdong

Authorities in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, might allow driverless vehicles to hit public roads for business purposes. It is the latest attempt in China to speed up the sector's commercialization.

 Hannah
Nieuw Statendam will be the first Pinnacle Class ship to explore the seaside cities of New England and eastern Canada

SEATTLE, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Along the East Coast of North America, the sun-kissed skies of summer collide with the jewel-toned hues of autumn, and in 2022 Holland America Line's Zaandam and Nieuw Statendam will be there to showcase nature's most colorful spectacle. Bookings are now open for May through October 2022, enticing guests to discover why a cruise to Canada and New England is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.

Zaandam and Nieuw Statendam offer a series of six- through eight-day "Canada & New England Discovery" departures featuring New England's quintessential towns and Canada's undeniable Old-World French flair. Aboard Nieuw Statendam, guests also can set off on explorations up to 24 days that stretch to Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland, where the region's dramatic landscapes are the star of the journey.

New and Notable in 2022:

In August 2022 , Nieuw Statendam will debut as the first Pinnacle Class ship to sail to Canada , New England and beyond.

, will debut as the first Pinnacle Class ship to sail to , New England and beyond. A new 24-day cruise departing Aug. 3 on Nieuw Statendam sails roundtrip from Boston, Massachusetts , and circumnavigates Iceland , making six calls around the country, with additional visits to Greenland, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland . Ports include Bar Harbor, Maine ; Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia ; Saint-Pierre , St. John's , Red Bay , St. Anthony and Corner Brook, Newfoundland ; Qaqortoq (Julianehab) and Nanortalik (Ilivileq), Greenland ; and Reykjavik (evening stay), Djupivogur, Seydisfjorur, Akureyri, Isafjorour and Grundarfjorour, Iceland .

on sails roundtrip from , and circumnavigates , making six calls around the country, with additional visits to and . Ports include ; and ; , , , and ; Qaqortoq (Julianehab) and Nanortalik (Ilivileq), ; and Reykjavik (evening stay), Djupivogur, Seydisfjorur, Akureyri, Isafjorour and Grundarfjorour, . Zaandam will cruise between Boston and Montreal, Quebec, Canada , in both the summer and fall on a series of seven-day " Canada & New England Discovery" cruises with convenient weekend departures. Ports include Bar Harbor , and the Canadian destinations of Quebec City, Quebec; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island ; and Sydney and Halifax .

will cruise between and Montreal, Quebec, , in both the summer and fall on a series of seven-day " & New England Discovery" cruises with convenient weekend departures. Ports include , and the Canadian destinations of Quebec City, Quebec; ; and and . Nieuw Statendam will sail six- through eight-day " Canada & New England Discovery" itineraries between Boston and Quebec City, with weekend departures. Ports include Bar Harbor , Charlottetown , Sydney and Halifax . The eight-day cruise adds Saint John, New Brunswick .

will sail six- through eight-day " & New England Discovery" itineraries between and Quebec City, with weekend departures. Ports include , , and . The eight-day cruise adds . Nieuw Statendam offers longer " Newfoundland & New England Discovery" cruises that sail between Boston and Quebec City. Ports on the 10-day cruise include Baie-Comeau and Havre-Saint-Pierre , Quebec; and Corner Brook , St. Anthony , St. John's , Halifax and Bar Harbor . The 11-day departure calls at Portland, Maine ; Saguenay, Quebec; and Saint John , Halifax , Corner Brook (evening stay), Charlottetown and Baie-Comeau .

offers longer " & New England Discovery" cruises that sail between and Quebec City. Ports on the 10-day cruise include and , Quebec; and , , , and . The 11-day departure calls at ; Saguenay, Quebec; and , , (evening stay), and . Both ships will cruise the region in the fall so more guests can view the impressive display of the changing foliage. Itineraries feature scenic cruising through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Saguenay Fjord.

and Saguenay Fjord. Holland America Line , with its perfect sized ships, is one of the only major cruise lines able to cruise the scenic St. Lawrence River, with calls at Montreal and Quebec City on nearly every itinerary.

, with its perfect sized ships, is one of the only major cruise lines able to cruise the scenic St. Lawrence River, with calls at Montreal and Quebec City on nearly every itinerary. Zaandam offers nine-day repositioning cruises along the Atlantic Coast between Montreal and Fort Lauderdale, Florida , in May and October, while Nieuw Statendam leisurely cruises from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale in October on a 14-day voyage.

Explore Food, Wine and Culture on Culinary Tours

Exclusive shore excursions in partnership with FOOD & WINE magazine showcase the tastes of the region. On Canada and New England cruises, guests can indulge in authentic poutine and maple syrup-infused treats or farm-to-fork cuisine in Quebec City; sail on a classic lobster boat, then dine at a Downeast Maine lobster bake in Bar Harbor; explore the best of Nova Scotia's culinary scene along Halifax's iconic waterfront boardwalk; and sample Prince Edward Island's freshly-shucked oysters, lobster sliders and homegrown mussels.

Save Now, Cruise Later

For a limited time, guests who book 2022 Canada & New England cruises by April 19, 2021, can receive up to $2,300 in amenities, including a free Signature Beverage Package, prepaid gratuities, free Signature Dining Package and 50% reduced deposits, plus free Wi-Fi for suites. Canada and New England cruise-only pricing starts at $799 per person, double occupancy. Taxes, fees and port expenses are additional.

For more information about Holland America Line, consult a travel advisor, call 1-877-SAIL HAL (877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com.

Find Holland America Line on Twitter, Facebook and the Holland America Blog. Access all social media outlets via the home page at hollandamerica.com.

About Holland America Line [a division of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE: CCL and CUK)]

Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873 and was the first cruise line to offer adventures to Alaska and the Yukon more than 70 years ago. Its fleet of premium ships visits more than 470 ports in 98 countries around the world, offering an ideal mid-sized ship experience. A third Pinnacle-class ship, Rotterdam, is under construction and will join the fleet in July 2021.

The leader in premium cruising, Holland America Line's ships feature innovative initiatives and a diverse range of enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel. The best live music at sea fills each evening at Music Walk, and dining venues feature exclusive selections from Holland America Line's esteemed Culinary Council, comprising world-famous chefs.

In light of COVID-19, Holland America Line is currently enhancing health and safety protocols and how they may impact future cruises. Our actual offerings may vary from what is displayed or described in marketing materials. Review our current Cruise Updates , Health & Safety Protocols and CDC Travel Advisories.

SOURCE Holland America Line

Related Links

http://www.hollandamerica.com


Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 20:33:48|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Three contracts were signed on Monday for the construction of the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima province.

Thailand's Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob presided over the signing ceremony for the three contracts of Phase One of the project between the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and varied contractors, including China State Construction Engineering Corporation and other four companies.

The contracts are among a total of 14 contracts for Phase One, which will carry a combined cost of some 179.41 billion baht (5.75 billion U.S. dollars).

The state-owned SRT has so far signed 10 contracts, leaving four others to be signed within this year, the transport minister said.

The Phase One of the railway project, designed to link the northeastern province with the capital in a 253-kilometer distance, is expected to be operational in late 2026 or early 2027, he said. Enditem
Burma About a Dozen Children Killed by Myanmar Regime Over Bloody Weekend

At least 12 children were killed by the regime's forces over the weekend.

About 12 children were among at least 127 killed across Myanmar by the military regimes forces over the weekend, bringing the total number of children killed to more than 30 since Feb. 1.

The death toll of minors reached more than 20 last week, with a girl three months past her sixth birthday and a 14-year-old boy killed in Mandalay. The total number of children killed could climb higher as the ages of several victims could not be confirmed.

In a brutal crackdown on democracy protesters on Saturday, 11 minors were shot dead, many of them while playing inside or in front of their homes. Saturday was the bloodiest day since the coup was launched, with more than 100 people killed in a 24-hour period.

One of those slain was Aye Myat Thu, a little girl who was playing in front of her house in Mon States capital Mawlamyine when she was shot in the head. She was buried on Sunday. Her drawing of a Hello Kitty picture, color pencils and toys were put inside her coffin.

In Sagaing regions Shwebo, 13-year-old Htoo Myat Win was shot dead while playing around his home. In video footage, his grieving father held his son in his arms while crying, My son, my son was shot. He was killed. He was about to take Shinbyu novitiation, an essential and integral part of the life of a Myanmar Buddhist male under the age of 20.

Another 13-year-old boy, Sai Wai Yan, was shot in the head by regime forces on Saturday. He was playing in his neighborhood and when soldiers and police raided the area, he ran back to his home. On his way home, he was shot and his body taken away in a military vehicle. The family retrieved the body of the boy only on Sunday for the funeral.

At least three children were killed in Mandalay region, including Hein Win Tun, 14, in Myingyan, Pann Ei Phyu, 14, in Meikhtila and Wai Phyo Naung, 16, in Amarapura.

Ayeyarwady region also saw three minors lose their lives on Saturday in Pathein Township. Those who were killed are Thwr Har, a.k.a, Htet Myat Thwin, Lwin Ko and Myo Han. All were 16.

In Muse, Shan State, the regimes forces took the body of Ye Yint Naing, 16, a Muslim youth, after they shot him. They burned the body without the familys consent.

Yan Paing Oo, a 17-year-old, was killed in Shwepyithar ward in Kawthaung of Tanintharyi region on Saturday. Locals reported he was shot dead at close range.

A one-year-old in Yangon and a five-year-old in Mandalay survived gunshots as soldiers and police opened fire indiscriminately while conducting raids on residences Saturday. The one-year-old was hit in one eye with a rubber bullet, and the five-year-old was hit in the head. Both had to undergo surgery.

On Sunday, a two-year-old was reported to have been seriously wounded by a gunshot to her ear in South Dagon Township, Yangon, as the juntas forces stormed into the area at night.

A 16-year-old boy was reportedly shot dead in Monywa of Sagaing region on Sunday.

Save The Children said in an official statement on March 23, the fact that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks on peaceful protesters is horrifying.

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, calling on security forces to end deadly attacks against protesters immediately.

As of Sunday, about 500 people have been killed by the military regimes forces and more than 2,500 people were arrested.

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President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chairman of Nigerias Governors Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi, met in Aso Villa, Abuja, on Monday to discuss the challenges rocking the nation from the states to the federal level.

The two leaders discussed the solutions to security challenges such as incessant killings and kidnappings in the country.

Mr Fayemi, who is also the Ekiti State governor, spoke with journalists after the meeting. He said Mr Buhari agreed that there is need for more equipment for security operatives to combat insurgents.

The governor said even though Mr Buhari rarely talked about general challenges in the country, he has almost nitty gritty detail of whats going on in every state and yes, even more information than we do of these issues, as I discovered in my conversation with him.

So, hes clearly committed to doing more in terms of procurement of equipment, platforms for the military, particularly to support the new leadership thats just come on stream and also working with the states to find the best way of stemming the tide of our current insecurity challenges.

There are responsibilities that we have at our level in the states, there are also responsibilities that the federal government has to attend to. If we all do our parts, clearly, we believe that we will see the end of this challenge.

He said having changed the leadership of the security services, Nigerians should not expect an automatic transformation of the security situation, simply on account of change of leadership.

We were not that naive to think that would happen, however, precisely because theres been a change, you can see that there is also a concerted effort. Two or three days ago, all the service chiefs came together to issue a statement that we are accountable to our Chief of Defence Staff, thats a very significant position to take because we know what has been the source of inter service rivalry in our military, which then tends to affect performance on the field, where the air force does not communicate with the army and yet theyre supposed to be involved in the same war against insurgency.

One of the good news I came away with, from the President now on this issue is that hes already informed the National Assembly that they will be receiving a special request from him on procurement of equipment on an accelerated basis for our security services, because that was one of the issues that we put before him and he was very categorical that yes, we have a point, some of the equipment that had been procured are on the way, they havent arrived, but they will soon arrive.

There is also a need to buy more equipment and he is going into government-to-government partnership with a number of countries and that would necessitate an accelerated clearance from the National Assembly.

What Im saying in essence is theyve (service chiefs) been able to assess their situation on coming to that office and they made a very honest assessment of whats on ground, which is militating against their effective clearance of the insurgents and thats something that will happen.

Food security

Speaking threats to food security, he said the government would ensure that there is concrete action on the ground, dedicated to protecting them (farmers) in doing their business.

Thats why majority of our states are very focused on the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) that would at least confine those who want to graze their cattle to a dedicated space rather than roaming around and destroying crops, which then result in the kind of conflicts that weve had between farmers and herders.

Thats the primary way that we intend to reassure farmers, but pending the time that comes to fruition, on a state by state basis, we are all working hard by, in Ekiti for example, we have regular meetings between farmers and herders in the state to define the relationship and promote harmony between both sides, the representatives of the farmers, the ALFAN and the representatives of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, and that has been going reasonably well.

Thats a state, individual state response, we need a wider strategy to enable us to achieve food security because you are right. If we dont take concerted steps to address this, we are definitely going to end up with food shortage in the country, he said.

The governor said to achieve excellent results, poverty, inequalities and unemployment must be addressed.

There is a direct correlation, Ive said this to you before, between insurgency in the North-east, and what were seeing manifesting itself as banditry in the North-west, or kidnapping in the South-west. Some of the people involved in these are also the ones responsible for insurgency.

They are using the resources that they make from kidnapping for the activities that theyre conducting in the North-east. So we need to take a comprehensive look at all these things and not treat them in compartments. We must treat them as a comprehensive issue and then tackle them collectively, he said.

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Nigeria has been battling with insecurity in most parts of the country for years despite efforts by security agencies to curb the challenges.

After months of agitation by Nigerians that Mr Buhari change service chiefs, he recently did that but the security situation has remained challenging.
CEO Christian Sewing will hand over oversight of the investment and corporate bank to board member Fabrizio Campelli, the German bank said on Monday, as part of an overhaul of the management board.

The move is likely to reassure regulators, who worried that Sewing had too much on his plate, potentially leaving the investment bank open to operational hazards.

Germany's biggest bank was one of the few major banks in the world to assign day-to-day oversight of investment banking to its chief executive. At most banks, other board members oversee the division.

Reuters had reported in January that Sewing was under pressure from regulators to relinquish day-to-day oversight the division.

The and Germany's finance watchdog BaFin declined to comment.

Campelli has previously been the bank's chief transformation officer.

The investment bank is the German lender's main profit driver, but also represents a concentration of risk for a bank that is deemed "systemically important" in terms of the functioning of the global financial system.

Earlier this month, Campelli said the investment bank was off to a strong start in 2021, with revenue up about 20% so far in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

Sewing, whose contract was also extended to 2026, will also take charge of human resources at management board level.

"We're creating the leadership structure that best supports this next phase of our strategy execution," Sewing said in a memo to staff.

Among other changes announced, Rebecca Short will join the management board to oversee transformation and the capital release unit. She will be one of two women on the bank's 10-person board.

Chief Operating Officer Frank Kuhnke will leave the bank and Chief Risk Officer Stuart Lewis will retire next year.
LAVAL, QC, March 29, 2021 /CNW/ - Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Thanks to investments made by the Government of Canada, residents of Laval will soon have access to more stable rental housing options.

Government of Canada (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), together with Annie Koutrakis, Member of Parliament for Vimy, announced nearly $66.3 million to help construct 193 residential units in Laval, Quebec.

This investment will provide new housing options close to public transit, schools and services for families in Laval.

Central Park Laval, an impressive 18-storey residential building, is receiving a low-cost loan through the Government of Canada's Rental Construction Financing initiative (RCFi), a National Housing Strategy program delivered by CMHC that supports rental housing construction projects. The program encourages a stable supply of rental housing to support middle-class families facing expensive housing markets.

Quotes

"Every Quebecer deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Our Government is committed to ensuring that our investments meet the housing needs of residents here in Laval and across the country. We will continue to increase the supply of rental units, while creating well-paying middle-class jobs and strengthening our economy."  The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister responsible Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

"Current events remind us that nothing is more important than a home. By supporting this new project, we are providing housing options that are closer to jobs, services and amenities for Laval families. We believe that every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home and through the National Housing Strategy, investments like the one we are announcing today bring us closer to achieving this goal."  Annie Koutrakis, Member of Parliament for Vimy

Story continues

"The RCFi accelerated our ability to quickly add essential housing to an undersupplied market. Critically, along with the affordability requirement, the framework ensures that the product is constructed with quality, accessibility and environmental efficiency as foundational concepts. We are very excited with the result, which is both affordable and something most Canadians would be proud to call home."  Loren Michaud, Saroukian Group  Central Park Laval

Quick Facts

The Government of Canada acknowledges Central Park Laval is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Kanienkehaka (Mohawk).

Annual rents of 106 of the 193 units in the building will be well below 30% of the median household income in the area. These affordable rent levels will be maintained for a minimum of 16 years from the date of first occupancy.

These 193 units will serve to meet the strong demand for rental units as Laval's vacancy rate is currently at 2% (October 2020).

This project has barrier free access. At least 22 of the units offer universal design and meet local accessibility standards.

The building is designed to achieve a minimum 22.1% decrease in energy- intensity and a 15.6% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, relative to the requirements in the 2015 National Energy Code for Buildings.

The goal of the RCFi is to increase the supply of new purpose-built rental housing options for middle class households across Canada, enabling them to live in the cities and communities that they work in.

Through the RCFi, the Government of Canada is encouraging the construction of more than 71,000 new rental housing units.

A stable supply of rental housing is critical to ensure that more Canadians have access to housing that meet their need and that they can afford. This is a great option for middle class Canadians who are experiencing affordability pressure in many markets with high home prices and lack of rental supply.

Launched in April 2017, the RCFi has generated significant interest in the industry, which has led to an expansion of the program. Through Budget 2019, the Government of Canada increased the total amount available in loans to $13.75 billion.

Given the high demand for the program, the Government again expanded the RCFi in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement by adding an additional $12 billion over 7 years, starting in 2021-22. The program now totals $25.75 billion in low-cost loans.

Canada's National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10-year, $70+ billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call homethis includes more than $12 billion committed through the 2020 Fall Economic Statement.

Associated Links

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford, and that meets their needs. For more information, visit our website or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.





To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/29/c4070.html
International

Troops fire at funeral as Myanmar mourns bloodiest day since coup

People mourn as they attend the funeral of Kyaw Win Maung, who was killed during a protest on Saturday. (Reuters)

YANGON, MAR 28 (REUTERS) | Publish Date: 3/28/2021 12:50:08 PM IST

Myanmar security forces opened fire on Sunday, witnesses said, at people gathered for the funeral of one of the 114 people killed the previous day, the bloodiest day of protests since the military coup on February 1.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the firing on the funeral in the town of Bago, near the commercial capital Yangon, according to three people who spoke to Reuters.

While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us, said a woman called Aye, who was at the service for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old student who was shot on Saturday. People, including us, run away as they opened fire.

Two people were killed in firing on protests on Sunday in separate incidents elsewhere, witnesses and news reports said. One person was killed when troops opened fire overnight on a group of protesters near the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar Now news reported.

So far on Sunday there were no reports of large-scale protests in Yangon or in the countrys second city, Mandalay, which bore the brunt of the casualties on Saturday, Myanmars Armed Forces Day. Funerals were held in many places. At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among those killed on Saturday, according to news reports and witnesses.

The bloodshed drew renewed Western condemnation. The UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar said the army was carrying out mass murder and called on the world to isolate the junta and halt its access to weapons.

Foreign criticism and sanctions imposed by some Western nations have failed so far to sway the military leaders, as have almost daily protests around the country since the junta took power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

We salute our heroes who sacrificed lives during this revolution and We Must Win This REVOLUTION, one of the main protest groups, the General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN), posted on Facebook.

Military jets had killed at least three people in a raid on a village controlled by an armed group from the Karen minority, a civil society group said on Sunday, after the Karen National Union faction earlier said it had overrun an army post near the Thai border, killing 10 people. The air strikes sent villagers fleeing into the jungle.
The Ministry of Health and Population said Friday that 32 people died and 66 others got injured in a collision of two trains in Tahta township, Sohag governorate, Upper Egypt.

Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said 36 ambulances rushed to the scene to move the injured to hospitals.

Megahed said Minister of Health Hala Zayed headed to Sohag to follow up the developments of the accident, pointing out that the ministry formed crises and emergencies rooms to offer medical support to the victims.

Zayed offered condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Beekeeper Ian Cane normally uses the sugar shake to check if his bees have been infested by a tiny but incredibly dangerous alien pest.

Mr Cane gathers 300 bees in a jar, fills it with icing sugar, rattles it and looks to see if a millimetre-long mite called Varroa destructor falls from the bees abdomens.

Artificial intelligence experts from startups Vimana Tech and Xailient prepare the purple hives at the Port of Melbourne on Monday. Credit:Joe Armao

Fortunately, he has never found Varroa destructor, which sucks fat tissue out of individual bees, spreads viruses, and can eventually kill off entire hives.

Australia is the only continent in the world free of the exotic mite that would threaten 20,000 horticulture businesses if it entered the country. It would also profoundly disrupt Australias food production  about two-thirds of Victorias plant-based food requires pollination by bees.
Vogue Williams was joined by her husband Spencer Matthews for a springtime stroll with their daughter Gigi on Sunday.

The Heart Radio host, 35, looked stylish in a red Rotate sweater teamed with jeans and trainers as she pushed her eight-month-old daughter's pram through a London park alongside Spencer, 32, who wrapped up in a navy padded jacket.

Keeping the sunshine at bay in a chic pair of oversized black sunglasses, Vogue wore her blonde hair loose and appeared deep in conversation with her other half as they made laps of the park.

Family day: Vogue Williams, 35, was joined by her husband Spencer Matthews, 32, for a springtime stroll in London with their daughter Gigi on Sunday

Vogue made sure her daughter stayed warm by bundling her up in a cosy white coat.

The TV personalities were also joined by a family friend, whose daughter hopped on Gigi's buggy for a ride in the sunshine.

Vogue and Spencer have had plenty of reasons to celebrate in the past couple of weeks after her sister-in-law, Pippa Middleton, 37, gave birth to a baby girl named Grace last week.

Pippa - the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge - and her husband James Matthews, 45, are also parents to son Arthur, two.

Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Spencer furloughed staff at his firm Clean Co, despite being worth an estimated 3million.

MailOnline learned that both Spencer and his older brother James have both been claiming taxpayers' money to furlough staff.

Casual: The Heart Radio host looked stylish in a red sweater teamed with jeans and trainers as she pushed her eight-month-old daughter's pram through the park

Keeping warm: Former Made In Chelsea star Spencer wrapped up in a navy padded jacket which he paired with jeans

Hedge fund boss James is believed to have been using the government handouts to pay the six employees of his Scottish shooting estate, Glen Affric.

The state-funded Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme (CJRS), running since the first lockdown almost a year ago, is designed to help cash-strapped employers survive the lean months of the pandemic.

Vogue met and fell in love with Spencer in 2017 after appearing on Channel 4 reality show The Jump, with the couple going on to marry at Glen Affric in June 2018.

The couple welcomed son Theodore in September that year, while daughter Gigi, now eight months, was born in July 2020.

All aboard: The TV personalities were also joined by a family friend, whose daughter hopped on Gigi's buggy for a ride in the sunshine
KCSE exams started yesterday with few glitches, even as Education Chief Administrative Secretary Sarah Ruto raised the alarm over the number of candidates sitting the tests under difficult conditions.

"The government is concerned by the increasing number of girls writing exams in hospitals and there is a need to address this issue to enable girls to complete their education journey," she said in Nakuru County, where she supervised the opening and distribution of examination materials.

Dr Ruto visited a sick candidate from Maria Soti Secondary School in Elgeyo Marakwet County, who is writing her examination from Nakuru War Memorial Hospital.

The tests started at 8am amid absenteeism blamed on teen pregnancies and untraceable candidates affected by insecurity. In the North Rift, the tests started amid tight security. Regional coordinator George Natembeya cited Samburu North and Baringo counties as areas where security had been beefed up to ensure that the exercise runs smoothly".

At least three candidates from Nakuru and Narok are sitting for their examinations from hospital. In Nakuru, an 18-year-old candidate from Kuresoi North was admitted to St Joseph Nursing Home in Molo town after she delivered hours to the kick-off and a 17-year-old candidate from AIC Shartuka Girls in Trans Mara West gave birth at the Kilgoris Medical Centre.

Pregnant girls

"We have made arrangements and deployed examination officials and security officers to ensure the candidates do the examination from the hospital," said Rift Valley regional co-ordinator George Natembeya.

Six candidates in Homa Bay County started their national exams from hospital beds after giving birth. County commissioner Moses Lilan said arrangements had been made to ensure all the candidates sit the tests.

In Nyandarua, eight pregnant girls are sitting the exams. In Isiolo, Education CAS Mumina Bonaya said girls sitting the exams across the country will be provided with sanitary towels regularly.

In Kisumu, a school principal is under investigation for allegedly blocking a Form Four candidate from sitting the tests, citing mental health.

The principal of St Barnabas Girls School Benter Ayacko allegedly said the 17-year-old had attempted to commit suicide and was blocked from taking the tests on Thursday.

It took the intervention of Kisumu County commissioner Josephine Ouko to have the child readmitted to school - well after 6pm.

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In Nakuru County, 13 inmates from the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison are among candidates sitting the exams. The officer in-charge of the facility Hassan Tari said the prisoners had been prepared well despite challenges occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile in Nandi, a man, 56, was arrested for impersonation. Security personnel arrested Geoffrey Rono, who came in as Cleophas Kavulavu at Ndurio Secondary School in Nandi South. The deputy county commissioner John Tanui said Rono had already done the English Paper One after he assured exam centre officials that his identity card was on the way. He was arrested as he was preparing for the next paper.

In Turkana, county director of education Peter Magiri and Turkana Central sub county commissioner David Juma told journalists the Ministry of Education had narrowed down to 30 schools where there were plans of cheating.

By Brian Ojamaa, Tom Matoke, Sammy Lutta, Onyango K'Onyango, Victor Raballa, Francis Mureithi, Macharia Mwangi, John Njoroge, Geoffrey Ondieki and Waikwa Maina.
A man has been charged with murder after the horrific death of a three-month-old girl.

The infant was rushed to hospital on March 12 with serious brain injuries after an incident at a home in Girrawheen, in Perth's northern suburbs.

Police said the baby died two days later.

A man has been charged with murder after the horrific death of a three-month-old girl (stock image)

A 30-year-old man was arrested on March 14 and charged with grievous bodily harm and appeared in court.

Detectives said the charge would be upgraded to murder in Perth Magistrate's court on Monday.


remaining of

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Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

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China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 22:33:50|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken with a drone on March 29, 2021 shows researchers transplanting rice seedlings developed from seeds that had made a round trip to the moon aboard the Chang'e 5 probe in an experimental field of the South China Agricultural University in Zengcheng, Guangzhou of south China's Guangdong Province. Rice seedlings developed from seeds that had made a round trip to the moon aboard the Chang'e 5 probe were transplanted from greenhouse to experimental field on Monday. The seeds had been planted in the greenhouse of the National Engineering Research Center of Plant Space Breeding of South China Agricultural University (SCAU). These rice seeds traveled more than 760,000 kilometers to the moon last November and returned to Earth on Dec. 17 after 23 days of flight aboard China's Chang'e 5 lunar probe. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's head and neck for 4 minutes and 45 seconds as Floyd cried out for help, stayed on his neck as Floyd flailed and had seizures for 53 seconds, and then remained on a non-responsive Floyd for another 3 minutes and 51 seconds, prosecutors said during opening statements in Chauvin's criminal trial on Monday.

'Mr. Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of Mr. George Floyd,' prosecuting attorney Jerry Blackwell said. 'That he put his knees upon his neck and his back, grinding and crushing him until the very breath -- no, ladies and gentlemen -- until the very life was squeezed out of him.'

The opening statements from Blackwell, as well as a rebuttal from Chauvin's defense team, highlighted the first day of Chauvin's long-awaited criminal trial. The legal wrangling comes 10 months after Floyd's death launched a summer of protest, unrest and a societal reckoning with America's past and present of anti-Black racism and aggressive policing.

Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.

Three witnesses, including a 911 dispatcher and two bystanders, also took the stand for the prosecution on Monday to lay the groundwork for Floyd's final moments. The witness testimony phase of the trial is expected to be take about a month.

The bystander video of Floyd's final moments, which shocked the nation last year, was also played for jurors in its entirety. Blackwell emphasized that Chauvin was on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds -- an update on the initially reported 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

'This case is not about split-second decision-making,' Blackwell said.

In response, attorney Eric Nelson focused the defense's opening statement on Floyd's use of fentanyl and methamphetamine and his resistance to the arresting officers.

Nelson also sought to establish doubt as to the precise cause of Floyd's death, saying it was not Chauvin's knee, but a combination of drug use and preexisting health problems. And he defended Chauvin's actions as being within proper training.

'You will learn that Derek Chauvin did exactly what he had been trained to do over the course of his 19-year career,' Nelson said. 'The use of force is not attractive, but it is a necessary component of policing.'

In a first for Minnesota, the trial will be broadcast live in its entirety, giving the public a rare peek into the most important case of the Black Lives Matter era.

On Monday morning, Floyd's family members and several attorneys knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds outside the courthouse to commemorate the time Chauvin was originally reported to have stayed on Floyd's head and neck.

'Today starts a landmark trial that will be a referendum on how far America has come in its quest for equality and justice for all,' said Floyd civil attorney Benjamin Crump.

The trial is being held at a heavily fortified Hennepin County courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, surrounded by fencing and law enforcement. Due to Covid-19 precautions, plexiglass barriers have been set up inside the courtroom and witnesses and attorneys are required to wear masks when not speaking.

MMA fighter and bystander explains a 'blood choke'

After opening statements, three witnesses testified for the prosecution about Floyd's arrest.

The first witness in the case was Jena Scurry, a Minneapolis 911 dispatcher who directed officers to the Cup Foods store, the scene of Floyd's death.

Scurry walked the jury through video, not previously publicly released, shot from a police camera across the street from Cup Foods. She was able to watch live video from that feed on the day of Floyd's death and called a police sergeant to voice her concerns about the arrest.

'You can call me a snitch if you want to,' she said in the recorded call. 'I don't know if they had to use force or not. They got something out of the back of the squad and all of them sat on this man, so I don't know if they needed to or not.'

On the stand Monday, she explained that she called because she was alarmed by what she saw during Floyd's arrest.

'My instincts were telling me that something's wrong. Something was not right. I don't know what, but something wasn't right,' Scurry said she thought as she watched the video. 'It was an extended period of time.'

On cross-examination, Scurry noted that at one point Squad 330, either Chauvin or former officer Tou Thau, called for a faster ambulance response. She also acknowledged that the video showed the squad car shaking back and forth as officers and Floyd struggled during the arrest.

The second prosecution witness was Alisha Mariee Oyler, an employee at the Speedway gas station across the street from where Floyd died. She noticed that police were 'messing with someone' and recorded seven cell phone videos of Floyd's arrest from a distance, which were played in court.

'I always see the police, they are always messing with people, and it's wrong, and it's not right,' she told the court.

The third witness of the day was Donald Wynn Williams II, a professional mixed martial arts fighter who stumbled upon the scene of Floyd's arrest and was one of the most vocal bystanders.

Relying on his MMA experience, he testified that Chauvin was doing a 'blood choke' on Floyd, a hold on the neck that can cut off circulation to the brain. He testified that he and Chauvin made eye contact after Williams mentioned the blood choke out loud.

'When I said it, he acknowledged it,' Williams said.

His testimony will continue on Tuesday.

How two lives collided

Floyd, 46, was born in North Carolina and raised in Houston and moved to Minnesota as an adult for a fresh start, working as security at a restaurant.

Chauvin had been an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department since 2001 until he was fired in the wake of Floyd's death.

Their lives collided on May 25, 2020, when police were called about a man who had used a counterfeit $20 bill at a Minneapolis store called Cup Foods. Two officers were directed to a parked car with Floyd in the driver's seat, and they handcuffed him and moved to put him into the back of a police car, according to an amended complaint against Chauvin.

Chauvin and another officer then arrived on the scene and struggled to get Floyd into the vehicle, the complaint states. Chauvin allegedly pulled Floyd to the ground in a prone position and placed his knee on Floyd's neck and head. His knee remained there even as Floyd pleaded, 'I can't breathe,' said 'I'm about to die,' and ultimately stopped breathing, the complaint says. He was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after.

In his opening statement, Nelson indicated that officers perceived the vocal group of bystanders watching Floyd's death as a threat to their safety.

'They are screaming at (the officers), causing the officers to divert their attention from the care of Mr. Floyd to the threat that was growing in front of them,' said Nelson.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's autopsy listed Floyd's cause of death as heart failure due to 'law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,' and ruled it a homicide. The medical examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker, also noted Floyd's arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use as 'other significant conditions.'

Chauvin's defense attorney argued in opening statements that the other conditions were the real cause of Floyd's death.

'The evidence will show that Mr. Floyd died of a cardiac arrhythmia that occurred as a result of hypertension, his coronary disease, the ingestion of methamphetamine and fentanyl and the adrenaline flowing through his body, all of which acted to further compromise an already compromised heart,' said Nelson.

The second-degree murder charge says Chauvin intentionally assaulted Floyd with his knee, which unintentionally caused Floyd's death. The third-degree murder charge -- which was added to the case in recent weeks -- says Chauvin acted with a 'depraved mind, without regard for human life.' And the second-degree manslaughter charge says Chauvin's 'culpable negligence' caused Floyd's death.

The three charges against Chauvin are to be considered separately, so he could be convicted of all, some, or none of them.

If convicted, Minnesota's sentencing guidelines recommend about 12.5 years in prison for each murder charge and about four years for the manslaughter charge.

[March 29, 2021] B3 Insight to Host Inaugural Ripple Effects Summit May 11th in Conjunction with The Oilfield Water Markets 2021 Conference

DENVER, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --B3 Insight, the definitive source of data and analytics solutions for oilfield water management, will hold its inaugural Ripple Effects Summit May 11th, in partnership with the Oilfield Water Markets 2021 Conference, the sector's premier business event of the year. At the Hyatt Regency in Frisco, TX, the B3 Ripple Effects Summit will provide a unique opportunity to explore oilfield water trends, challenges and opportunities, and innovative ways to leverage data alongside the firm's experts. The agenda for the half-day session will focus on understanding and tackling water risk and will highlight users of B3's data and platform, external experts, key B3 programs launching in 2021, and the company's roadmap. The B3 Ripple Effects Summit is followed by a VIP reception where attendees will network with speakers who will take the stage over the next two days at the industry-wide Oilfield Water Markets 2021 Conference, which officially begins with this reception. Ripple Effect Summit attendees will also receive discounted rates on admission to the larger event and have access to the room block. Kelly Bennett, CEO and Co-founder of B3, states: "Understanding the full ecosystem of water is becoming particularly crucial to all segments of this industry - whether it's improved operational efficiencies or navigating the changing regulatory and environmental landscape. This event  our first inaugural Ripple Effects Summit  is a mechanism for us to engage directly and closely with our users and key industry influencers to share new information and continue to expand respective knowledge bases. We are creating an intimate, personalized gathering to elevate conversations about near- and long-term industry needs, opportunities, and challenges, and connect the incredible community of B3 users. We are proud to partner with Oilfield Water Connection, in putting on this event." "B3's thought leadership in oilfield water intelligence makes it an ideal partner o host such an event, given the growing urgency around all things water," said Pete Cook, Managing Partner of Oilfield Water Connection. "Hosting B3's Ripple Effects Summit in partnership with Oilfield Water Markets 2021 Conference enables industry professionals to attend two timely, synergistic events in essentially one efficient and cost-effective trip."



Availability to attend B3's Ripple Events Summit is limited, and registrations are at the invitation of B3 Insight. Existing and prospective clients who wish to attend may contact B3 via their website (https://www.b3insight.com/contact) or via phone at (303) 309-4078. You can also send a direct inquiry to info@b3insight.com, with the subject line B3 RIPPLE EFFECTS SUMMIT Interested parties are encouraged to check out the agenda for the Oilfield Water Markets 2021 Conference here, where B3 Insight is a Platinum Sponsor: www.oilfieldwater.com/markets

About B3 Insight:

B3 Insight develops data-driven intelligence that empowers responsible and profitable decisions about water resources. Our proprietary data process enables us to gather, clean, and relate millions of natural resource data points, turning disparate information into the most widely used and trusted water data insights. Customers evaluate assets, enhance operational efficiencies, mitigate risk, allocate capital, and benchmark performance while saving significant time, investment, and resources  all with one intuitive platform. In today's ever-changing, data-driven business our commitment to information quality remains the principal focus creating the utmost confidence in your data. For more information, please visit www.B3insight.com.

About Oilfield Water Connection:

Oilfield Water Connection is the leading event platform devoted entirely to the marketplace, business, and finance aspects of the oilfield water management industry. We deliver a dedicated forum to E&P, water midstream, and oilfield service executives as well as investors. The format, topics, and speakers at Oilfield Water Connection conferences are carefully selected to provide valuable information and opportunities for industry business people and leaders. For more information, please visit www.oilfieldwater.com/markets For Inquiries Contact:

Sarah Willard

(303) 309-4078

SWillard@b3insight.com Pete Cook

(817) 678-8795

pete@oilfieldwater.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/b3-insight-to-host-inaugural-ripple-effects-summit-may-11th-in-conjunction-with-the-oilfield-water-markets-2021-conference-301257741.html SOURCE B3

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Charleston County students will return to the classroom in August, but that doesnt mean school will return to normal.

At a Board of Trustees meeting March 22, Charleston County School District Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait announced that students will be in person five days a week next school year.

The district will also be providing a virtual academy option for students who might do better with remote learning.

Postlewait said the decision comes after declining COVID-19 cases and increased vaccine rollout allowed the district to have nearly all students in person by the end of the current school year. Most of all, the decision stems from a desire to get students in the classroom where they perform better.

When we look at the relative achievement and engagement of students who are learning virtually compared to the engagement and achievement of students who are learning in school, we felt it was really important to open as close to normal operations as we possibly can, Postlewait said in an interview.

While the announcement will likely come as a relief to parents, students and their families shouldnt expect to experience school as it was pre-pandemic. Safety measures, such as masks and social distancing, will still be in place, with capacity limits on classrooms, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Borowy said.

(Parents and students) should expect nothing less than what we have now, he said. If we have an opportunity to relax the protocols, we will certainly take advantage of every opportunity.

The logistics

Borowy said the district has a plan to adopt the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions updated guidance that would have schools lower the minimum distance between students from 6 feet to 3 feet.

Currently, the district has students grouped in pods, Borowy said, with 6 feet in between each one. Within the pods, students are spaced 3 feet apart with plexiglass dividers between them. When a classrooms capacity is exceeded, a small number of students are able to Zoom into the class from an empty room with schools rotating who those students are every day.

Borowy is confident the district could have all 50,000 students in person without adopting the 3-foot guidance.

In theory, we could move pods closer together to the 3-foot point that is recommended by CDC, he said. But it may only be four more seats.

He said more students in the classroom would mean more plexiglass dividers, which eventually becomes a hindrance in the learning environment.

Borowy compared the experience of being in charge of operations during the pandemic to running a machine. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the district has replaced 50,000 air filters, come up with individualized capacity restrictions for classrooms and found ways to fit students inside while limiting spread of the virus. All of those tactics combined with support from district leadership are what has allowed schools in the district to be open.

"It's like a set of 100 gears, and if one of them is not greased and moving the 100 don't move," he said. "The word 'can't' was never put out at any level. ... Everyone took responsibility for their role and came up with a solution, and all those gears came back together. They all moved, and that got us in that position where we could bring kids back."

The virtual academy

Understanding that some families may still want the protection from the virus that comes with remote learning, the district is also offering a virtual academy for K-8 students.

Unlike this year, when families were given the autonomy to choose how their child participated in schools, they will have to apply to the academy, Postlewait said. The districts admissions team will be looking for students who have a medical reason to be virtual, as well as students whose attendance and performance improved while learning virtually in the past year and a half.

The classes will be offered both in real time and in a self-paced format, and teachers will have weekly in-person check-in with students. The goal is to avoid losing track of students when theyre not in the classroom.

The district has been doing weekly in-person checks since the beginning of this school year, Postlewait said.

One thing we learned last spring is that without the everyday intentionality about seeing students online, we quickly lost track of a number of students, Postlewait said. Most human beings need one-on-one contact. They need someone to touch base with.

The district is also considering a partnership with Berkeley and Dorchester school districts to combine resources so virtual students have access to classes across the three counties, Postlewait said.

Families with K-8 students can fill out the districts Google form application to be considered for the program. Postlewait said the district is hoping to gauge interest through the application process to know how many students will be admitted to the program.

High schoolers will also be able to participate in virtual classes. That will be decided on a more individual basis, as the high school registration system allows students to pick their classes.

Those students will have a wide array of courses available to them virtually, including college-level classes and classes at other schools. Students may want to take a virtual course, not out of fear of coronavirus, but because the class is of interest to them and not offered in person at their school, Postlewait said.

"It becomes exponentially more complicated when you're looking at all the possible course offerings across schools," she said. "A student at St. John's High School, which is a relatively small school, could connect in real time every single day with a class that's being taught elsewhere in the district."

Ultimately, the virtual academy means teachers will no longer have to teach in person and virtually simultaneously. The district plans to hire teachers to do the virtual classes so the in-person teachers can focus on the students in the classroom.

Postlewait said shes heard from a number of teachers that the dual model has been a strain on their jobs.

I talk with a group of teachers once a month in a kitchen cabinet setting, and all of them are experienced, master teachers, she said. One day, all of them said that they had been in tears trying to figure out how to make this work.
The pandemic has created political challenges for regulators.

The usual political constraints have not reduced. A return to basic ethics may be a palliative. Uddalok Bhattacharya sums up

We need a political culture rooted in constitutional values, says Nitin Desai

Going after officials in the and not doing much in the Sahara matter is meaningless. Debashis Basu explains

Tamal Bandyopadhyay: In the IBC matter, the observations of the countrys highest court should be music to the ears of the banking community but they need to brace up for a bout of challenges on multiple fronts.
The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
What do a grassy headland on the Oregon coast, a deadly lake in the high desert and a wildflower paradise in the Columbia River Gorge all have in common?

All are owned and managed by international environmental nonprofit The Nature Conservancy, and all have been closed for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of those spaces will reopen to the public April 1, the nonprofit announced last week, just in time for spring wildflower blooms and the return of sunny weather to the Pacific Northwest.

That includes places like the Tom McCall Nature Preserve in the Columbia River Gorge, the Zumwalt Prairie near the Wallowa Mountains and Table Rocks in southern Oregon. Two locations will not reopen right away: Cascade Head on the Oregon coast and the Camassia Nature Preserve in West Linn  both require naturalists on hand, which the organization is not staffing at the moment.

The Wallowa Mountains dominate the horizon on the Horned Lark Trail. Wildflowers bloom in the green grassy hills of the Zumwalt Prairie in June. The northeast Oregon preserve is managed by the Nature Conservancy, which allows hikers to explore it on four different trails.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Borax Lake Preserve is a 320-acre property of the Nature Conservancy, in Oregon's Harney County where the Pueblo Valley meets the Alvord Desert.Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Table Rocks is an iconic outcropping in southern Oregon, visible from Interstate 5. The rocks, owned by The Nature Conservancy, are habitat for rare fairy shrimp and other critters.Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian

Allie Gardner, marketing director for The Nature Conservancy in Oregon, said the nonprofit is looking forward to reopening the areas, but could not say why its lands remained closed so much longer than almost all other outdoor recreation areas in the region  including most of the places owned by The Nature Conservancy in neighboring states.

We just felt like it was worth erring on the side of safety, Gardner said. It was a judgment call. We didnt want people getting sick. As much as we wanted people to get back out into nature, it felt like the safest thing do.

The Nature Conservancy initially closed its 15 public spaces in Oregon on March 23, 2020, as virtually all public lands in Oregon became off-limits for recreational use during the initial spread of COVID-19.

State and federal lands began reopening that May, with most back open by the summer as public health officials acknowledged the relatively low risk of spreading the virus at outdoor recreation areas  as long as people follow requirements for social distancing and wearing face masks.

Despite new decisions by other land managers, as of the start of this spring the Nature Conservancy still cited Oregon Gov. Kate Browns original year-old executive order as the reason for its lands remaining closed.

That decision may have disappointed people who had become accustomed to annual visits to the organizations wildflower-strewn meadows and viewpoints, but the plants and animals that live in those landscapes might not have minded the break.

Gardner said the organization protects many endangered species in the areas it manages in Oregon, as part of its mission to create a world where people and nature can thrive. Fewer human visitors could mean a safer environment for those species.

I do think that its not a terrible thing for nature and wildlife to have had a break, its just harder for us, she said.

Now that the wait is over, however, people may return in large numbers  as they have to other outdoor recreation areas around Oregon. The Nature Conservancy just hopes visitors will continue to play by the rules, Gardner said, including staying on trails and not bringing dogs.

We really do appreciate everyones patience, she said. Were all very excited to get back out there too.

To see a full list of lands managed by The Nature Conservancy, their locations and their current reopening status, visit nature.org.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB
Controversy was sparked at the Bahrain Grand Prix following Max Verstappen's illegal overtake on Lewis Hamilton at the end of the race.

The Dutchman was ordered to let Hamilton through after race control informed Red Bull that Verstappen had made the pass outside of track limits.

If Verstappen was to have kept the place, a five second penalty would likely have been added to his final race time.

"Why didn't you just let me go, man?" asked Verstappen his boss.

"I could easily have pulled the five seconds. I'd prefer to lose a win like that than be second like this."

After the incident, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stressed that that he had to follow the race control's instructions.

"Once you have got that instruction, you've got to move out the way," Horner told Sky Sports.

"[Verstappen] did that. It was fair racing and it was tough racing."
Today was an interesting day in tech, with Microsoft announcing that a majority of Exchange servers have now been patched, while Samsung Free now offers users access to 75,000 podcasts.

Meanwhile, Google is currently focused on digital car keys, mobile drivers license, and other identity credentials for its Android Ready SE Alliance, while a new story now tells us just how much data our phones reveal about us to the company that manufactured them.

Also read: Google Photos brings In the Spotlight feature to more users; wheres what it does

Here's a quick wrap of today's most important headlines:

Microsoft says 92% of vulnerable Exchange servers patched, mitigated

The Exchange server vulnerabilities may have caught Microsoft at a bad time, but the company has since been working overtime to release security patches for the flaws. It now appears that 92 percent of all affected machines have now been patched, according to our report here.

Samsung Free grants access to 75,000 podcasts: Report

Samsung Free, which replaced the company's old and now-defunct Samsung Daily service, now includes access to 75,000 podcasts, according to a new report. But before you try to get the feature working on your phone, you may want to read our coverage first.

Google forms Android Ready SE Alliance to push digital keys, mobile IDs

The Android maker has begun pushing for new Android hardware that is more secure and can be used to hold identity verification documents. Here's how Google want to bring features like digital passports and identity cards to Android devices.

Android handsets, iPhones send your handset data to Google, Apple every 4 and half minutes

No matter how much you prevent the data on your phone from falling into the hands of the wrong companies a new study from Ireland has found that Android phones and iPhones send data to their companies every 4 and half minutes. Here's everything you need to know.
Seventeen political parties are now registered and The IEC Chairman has said more are in the pipeline. In 2015 the administration pushed a Bill in the National Assembly which made it mandatory for a political organisation to pay 1 Million Dalasis and receive the endorsement of 10000 registered voters before it could be registered as a political party.

If the intention was to dissuade people from registering political parties, then the purpose has been defeated.

The challenges to the IEC have been highlighted by its Chairman. 17 Candidates in National Assembly elections for a Constituency would require 17 Ballot boxes painted with the colour of each candidate. Where will the ballot boxes be placed and how will the voters be able to distinguish each colour?

In the same vein, 34 Polling agents would have to be appointed and positioned in each polling station.

The Inter-party Committee should begin the conversation with the IEC on how to jointly conduct voter education on registration, objections to be heard by a revising court, nomination, campaign and voting.

The people must know what is at stake, then they will be ready to adopt the most effective system to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

IPC members could collaborate to monitor the registration exercise and polling.
The parents of young children have been indicted on abuse charges after authorities say they tied at least one of their kids to a bed or a door using duct tape or zipties.

The indictments against Markeith Dynard Jefferson, 35, and Briana Janice Butler, 30, were issued Dec. 11, 2020, according to court records made public Monday. Jefferson is charged with one count of aggravated child abuse and Butler is charged with two counts.

Jefferson, who lists a Helena address, was initially arrested on Aug. 4, 2020 and was released from jail after posting $20,000 bond. Butler, who lives in Center Point, was not arrested until the indictments were handed down. She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail Thursday and released the same day after posting $15,000.

The case was investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office. Authorities said the victim or victims are between the ages of 7 to 12.

Charging documents against both Jefferson and Butler state the victim or victims were beaten with a belt and/or extension cord and tied to the bed or door with duct tape and zipties. Additionally, Jefferson is accused of submerging a child under water. Authorities contend the abuse happened on multiple occasions. No additional details have been released.

Court records show Jefferson has previous convictions for first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary and second-degree theft. His attorney declined to comment, and records dont yet list an attorney for Butler.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 19:02:31|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China plans to build a major center at the national level focusing on the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in epidemic prevention and treatment, sources with the top economic planner said Monday.

Sun Zhicheng, a senior official with the social development department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference that the center will be tasked with building the talent pool, formulating technical protocols for epidemic prevention and treatment, conducting TCM therapy research and stockpiling relevant medical supplies, among other functions.

The center is expected to ramp up the country's capacity of rapid response, prevention, control and treatment in the face of new or emerging infectious diseases and other major public health events by using TCM, Sun said. Enditem
Press Release

29 March 2021

With tourism a leading employer and economic pillar for many of the SIDS, the United Nations specialized agency has stressed that pledges to ensure 'nobody is left behind' in the recovery phase of the crisis must be backed up with firm actions. Given the relatively small size of the populations of the SIDS, the cost of mass vaccinations will be minimal compared to the potential benefits of restarting tourism. Moreover, given tourism's wide value chain and proven ability to create opportunity for all, the impact of rolling out mass vaccinations and allowing tourism to restart, will go beyond economic benefits.

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UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili says: "By sharing vaccines with Small Island Developing States, the international community can help accelerate the restart of tourism in these leading destinations. Due to the size of the populations of the SIDS, the cost of mass vaccinations will be small, but the benefits will be significant. It will restore confidence in visiting SIDS, allowing the many social and economic benefits of tourism to return."

Secretary-General Pololikashvili made the comments after a meeting with His Excellency Dario Item, Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to Spain, at the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid. One of the 38 SIDS, Antigua and Barbuda is a top tourism destination and is looking to the restart of tourism to protect businesses and jobs and economic growth at both the national and local level. Ambassador Item affirmed Antigua and Barbuda's application to become a Member State of UNWTO, pending ratification by the upcoming UNWTO General Assembly (October 2021, Marrakesh, Morocco).

According to UNWTO data, prior to the start of the pandemic, tourism accounted for more than 30% of total exports in the majority of the 38 SIDS. In some countries, this proportion has risen as high as 90%. The significance of tourism makes these destinations especially vulnerable to falling tourist numbers, making the timely restart of the sector of vital importance.
LOWELL, MI - Bushnell Elementary School in Lowell will be closed on Monday, March 29 due to a break-in and act of vandalism.

The clean up at Bushnell Elementary, 700 Elizabeth St. SE, began on Saturday and will continue into at least Monday.

This is the second straight weekend where a break-in occurred at a Lowell Area Schools building.

Last Saturday, vandals broke into Cherry Creek Elementary School, 12675 Foreman St. SE, less than one mile away from Bushnell Elementary. The Cherry Creek incident is connected to the one at Bushnell Elementary, police said.

The vandal suspects have been identified, according to the Lowell Police Department, and will be held accountable for their actions, said Lowell Area Schools in a statement issued Sunday evening on the districts Facebook page.

At this time, the building is safe and secure, the district statement reads.

The cases will be reviewed by the Kent County Prosecutors Office for potential charges, police said. The Lowell Police Department worked with the school district and the Kent County Sheriffs Office to find the suspects.

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More than two million people in Brisbane were ordered into a three-day lockdown today after just four new Covid-19 cases were found in Australia's third-largest city.

The order by Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is the latest in a series of snap lockdowns imposed by Australian leaders at the first sign of community spread.

Authorities announced four new locally transmitted cases on Monday, bringing the total to seven in a cluster of infections caused by the feared British variant.

Shoppers were once again filling trolleys with toilet roll today while there were queues of passengers at Brisbane Airport after the lockdown was announced.

Familiar scenes: Toilet-roll stockpiling was back on the agenda for Brisbane residents today after the city was ordered into a snap three-day lockdown

Queues: Passengers check in to board flights out of Brisbane at the city's main airport on Monday as Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the new lockdown

Australia has kept infections low after its two major outbreaks during 2020, but it has come at the cost of a near-total border closure and a series of snap lockdowns

Announcing the stay-at-home order today, Palaszczuk pointed to the success of a similar circuit breaker in January after a single case of the UK variant was found.

She added that lockdowns such as this one would 'be part of the Australian way of life until everyone is vaccinated'.

'This is the UK strain. It is highly infectious. We need to do this now to avoid a longer lockdown,' she said.

'We've seen what's happened in other countries. I don't want to see that happen to Queensland, I don't want to see that happen to Australia.'

Australia has seen only 29,260 infections and 909 deaths during the pandemic, making it one of the more successful wealthy countries in handling the crisis.

But it has come at the cost of a near-total border closure and a series of rapid shutdowns that bring a shuddering halt to the generally high degree of freedom.

Authorities in Melbourne last month imposed a lockdown in response to just 13 cases linked to one of Australia's hotel quarantine facilities.

And in January, Brisbane was shut down over a single case of the UK variant which was found in a quarantine hotel worker.

'That worked very well when we did that last time,' Palaszczuk said, adding that 'I know this is a really big call and I know it is really tough.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, pictured announcing the lockdown today, pointed to the success of a similar measure in January after just one case was found

Testing: Brisbane residents are processed through a drive-in screening centre at Bowen Hills in Brisbane on Monday

Millions across Greater Brisbane - which includes Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands - will go into lockdown for three days from 5pm on Monday

The latest outbreak is the first significant community spread in Australia for weeks, but the vaccine roll-out has been sluggish with only 500,000 injections so far.

It falls far short of a government target to vaccinate four million of the country's 25million population by the end of March.

Australia did not grant emergency approval for any of the available vaccines and did not start giving out injections until late February.

Before the announcement, Brisbane was among several Australian cities enjoying relaxed restrictions with residents able to attend events including concerts and sporting fixtures.

The lockdown comes just ahead of the Easter long weekend beginning Friday, throwing school holiday plans into chaos.

Brisbane's restaurants and bars will close from 5pm on Monday but people will still be allowed to leave home for essential purposes.

Schools in the city will be closed from Tuesday, funerals capped at 20 people and weddings limited to 10 people.

Wearing masks in public is also becoming mandatory across Queensland, after one infectious person travelled to the regional town of Gladstone.

The number of international flight arrivals to the state will be halved to ease pressure on hospitals, which are also dealing with a surge in Covid-19 cases from neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Virgin Australia said all its domestic flights into the city were operating as normal on Monday but schedules could be changed in response to demand.
New Delhi, March 29 : The container ship that blocked the Suez Canal has been freed and is now on the move.

Reports said the Even Given was under way and heading for the Great Bitter Lake further along the canal, about 45km away. Boskalis, the salvage company involved in the rescue, said the ship would undergo a full inspection there.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday hailed the "success" of an operation to unwedge the giant Ever Given container ship, stuck in the Suez Canal for nearly a week.

"Today, Egyptians have been successful in putting to an end the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal, despite the enormous complexity surrounding the process," Sisi said on Twitter.

The Suez Canal Authority announced in a statement that ship, which has blocked the Suez Canal for six days now, has been successfully refloated and is "no longer grounded".

The head of the salvage firm called in to free the ship said there was "unprecedented" time pressure.

Peter Berdowski, chief executive of Boskalis, said in a statement: "Shortly following the grounding of the Ever Given we were requested through SMIT Salvage to provide assistance with the salvage operation.

"I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given on 29 March at 3.05 p.m. local time, thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again." Admiral Osama Rabie, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), had announced that the Panamanian container ship has been successfully refloated. This was the result of successful push and tow manoeuvres which led to the restoration of 80 per cent of the vessel's direction; with the stern 102 metres away from the bank of the Canal now instead of 4 metres prior to the refloating.

"His Excellency, Admiral Rabie, would like to reassure the international navigation society as navigation shall be resumed immediately upon the complete restoration of the vessel's direction and directing it to the Bitter Lakes waiting area for technical inspection," the SCA statement said.

(Newser)  Attention will once again turn to Minneapolis on Monday, where the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin begins in the May 2020 killing of George Floyd. Chauvin, 45, faces charges of second- and third-degree murder, and faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the former charge.

Some firsts: USA Today calls the trial "Minnesota's highest-profile murder case," and notes it's taking place in "one of the more restrictive states in the US when it comes to televising courtroom proceedings." Some changes toward that end: This will be the first criminal case that the state will televise, along with the first it will livestream, with the BBC noting the jurors won't be shown at any point. You can watch opening arguments here beginning at 10am CST.

USA Today calls the trial "Minnesota's highest-profile murder case," and notes it's taking place in "one of the more restrictive states in the US when it comes to televising courtroom proceedings." Some changes toward that end: This will be the first criminal case that the state will televise, along with the first it will livestream, with the BBC noting the jurors won't be shown at any point. You can watch opening arguments here beginning at 10am CST. The defense: The Guardian reports the defense is expected to argue that Chauvin was adhering to his police training and zero in on the autopsy's finding that Floyd had heart disease and that there were indications of "fentanyl intoxication" and "recent methamphetamine use."

The Guardian reports the defense is expected to argue that Chauvin was adhering to his police training and zero in on the autopsy's finding that Floyd had heart disease and that there were indications of "fentanyl intoxication" and "recent methamphetamine use." The prosecution: Minnesota AG Keith Ellison and his team are expected to focus on the autopsy as well, as it deemed the death a homicide, with heart failure caused by "law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression." The BBC notes they must prove that Chauvin's kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes was a "substantial causal factor" in Floyd's death.

story continues below

What the focus won't be on: CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates explains "the ideas of excessive force generally, the ideas of police reform, the ideas of police accountability, the ideas of systemic injustice, the ideas of the treatment of Black victims at the hands of White defendantsthose will all be touched upon and will be the elephants in the room." So if those aren't at the heart of the trial, what is? Exactly what killed Floyd, and to what degree did Chauvin know that Floyd could die?

CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates explains "the ideas of excessive force generally, the ideas of police reform, the ideas of police accountability, the ideas of systemic injustice, the ideas of the treatment of Black victims at the hands of White defendantsthose will all be touched upon and will be the elephants in the room." So if those aren't at the heart of the trial, what is? Exactly what killed Floyd, and to what degree did Chauvin know that Floyd could die? The judge: The Star Tribune takes a look at the man who will preside over the trial: Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who became a judge in 2007. It paints a picture of Cahill as confident and capable, and writes, "A big part of Cahill's job will be to keep widespread chaos, anger and criticism about Floyd's death out of the courtroom so Chauvin can get a fair trial." Read the full piece here.

The Star Tribune takes a look at the man who will preside over the trial: Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who became a judge in 2007. It paints a picture of Cahill as confident and capable, and writes, "A big part of Cahill's job will be to keep widespread chaos, anger and criticism about Floyd's death out of the courtroom so Chauvin can get a fair trial." Read the full piece here. More on the lineup: The Washington Post takes a look at what on its face seems to be a disparity among the legal teams. While Ellison leads a 14-person team of attorneys that includes a former federal prosecutor, Chauvin will be defended by "little-known criminal defense lawyer" Eric Nelson, who is accompanied only by a legal assistant. The Post talks with those who know Nelson and speak highly of his approach, and it delves into his background and that of the players on Ellison's team. Read more here.

The Washington Post takes a look at what on its face seems to be a disparity among the legal teams. While Ellison leads a 14-person team of attorneys that includes a former federal prosecutor, Chauvin will be defended by "little-known criminal defense lawyer" Eric Nelson, who is accompanied only by a legal assistant. The Post talks with those who know Nelson and speak highly of his approach, and it delves into his background and that of the players on Ellison's team. Read more here. Logistics: Fox News reports the month-long trial will take place on the 18th floor of the Hennepin County Government Center. The Guardian reports additional police and national guard members will be on the city's streets during the trial.

(Read more Derek Chauvin stories.)
The Small-scale Gold Mining Act of 1989 provided for the acquisition of small-scale mining licences by people who intended to go into artisanal mining.

The artisanal miners who lawfully went into the enterprise were in groups of up to about 10 people.They worked by hand to dig, pan and wash gold.

Those artisanal miners were males but in no time they were joined by other men, women and even children, who operated illegally.

What started with a few people, mostly in the southern part of the country, where gold deposits are substantial, is now inundated with countless number of people.

The illegal operators, locally referred to as galamseyers, see their activity, dubbed galamsey, as a source of livelihood.

Galamseyers choose to operate where they wish, digging pits, tunnels and sluices by hand.However, some of them now use machines and other equipment.

As already stated, there are economic benefits for the illegal miners but the effects of their activities on the Ghanaian society far outweigh any benefits.

They destroy large tracts of land and forests within a day, it is said.They destroy water bodies within hours. They have made drinking water clayey and arable land unfit for farming activities and since most of our people are into agriculture, what it means is that farming and production of food is being seriously threatened.

What is worse is that cocoa and other crop farms are destroyed without the farm owners getting compensation from anywhere.

Besides, some of these illegal miners invade pits abandoned by mining companies and they cave in on them, thereby the country loses human resources.

Upon assuming the reins of governance of the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo waged a war on galamsey due to its negative or destructive impacts.

However, the fight seems to be failing or waning, making the people wonder what is actually happening in the world of galamsey.

The Ghanaian Times is happy that what the people wonder about has not escaped the prying eyes and open ears of those who are concerned about the future of the nation.

Last Friday, no less a personality than the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, called on the government to intensify its fight against illegal mining activities.

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The Otumfuo said the fight was necessary to protect the country's water bodies and curb the current rate of the depletion of its forest reserves.

The traditional ruler added that the fight would also improve the benefits derived from the small-scale mining sector (obviously the regulated part) and reposition it as a major source of job creation.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu hit the nail on the head when he said illegal mining threatened the survival of the nation. He could not have made this point any better.

Every country needs water, forests and its land for its survival.Even advanced nations need land for industrial development and water in all their industrial activities.

For those of us in Ghana, where agriculture is still at the rudimentary level, arable land is crucial for food production.

Therefore, the Ghanaian Times joins Otumfuo Osei Tutu to appeal to the government to intensify the fight against galamsey now otherwise future Ghanaian generations would have survival problems with their environment and their very lives could be severely threatened.
Abuja  The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has installed and energised a 40MVA, 132/33kV power transformer and a new R2 75MVAR 330kV reactor at the Yauri, Kebbi state and Jos transmission substations respectively.

The company noted that the newly commissioned power transformer brings the Yauri substation capacity to 80MVA, saying that with the new transformer, the substation now has six outgoing 33kV feeders.

A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, stated that four of the feeders, including the Yauri, Koko, Zuru and Ingaski feeders are now in service, while two others are for future demand by Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC).

She disclosed that the Yauri 2x40MVA 132/33kV substation project was awarded in 2007, saying however, that the inability of the contractor to complete the project, caused TCN to take over the project.

TCN engineers eventually installed the first 40MVA transformer, which was successfully commissioned in 2019 and to further boost bulk power in the area, equally installed and commissioned the second 40MVA power transformer which was recently energized, she added.

According to the company, the new installed transformer has upgraded the substation capacity by 32MW and consequently improved bulk power supply to the southern part of Kebbi State, through KEDC.

In the same vein, TCN said the reactor was installed at the Jos 330/132/33kV transmission substation and was also commissioned on the 18th of March, 2021 and will complement the existing R1 75MVAR 330kV in the substation.

"With two standard reactors in place at the substation, TCN now transmits stable and quality voltage to Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe and parts of Benue, Taraba, Yobe and Kaduna States.

"The Yauri and Jos substations projects are part of projects articulated in TCN's Nigerian Electricity Grid Maintenance, Expansion and Rehabilitation Programme (NEGMERP), and TCN intends to continue to ensure the diligent implementation of the projects which is geared towards putting in place a robust and very efficient grid," Mbah said.

FHA Begins Payment of Contractors

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has disclosed that it had begun the payment of contractors who have completed their jobs after verification, especially contractors handling the Zuba and Guzape sites in Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

A statement from the Public Affairs Department of the organisation recently, which was signed by Mr. Kenneth Chigelu, noted that the development was in keeping with a resolution reached at the meeting held between the management and the representatives of the contractors on Tuesday, 16th March, 2021.

"It is important to note that the authority under the leadership of the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Senator Gbenga Ashafa remains committed to the dictates of public accountability which require the verification of work done, before projects are paid for," the statement added.

The FHA management assured stakeholders and partners that the authority would continue to hold in high regard the existing strategic partnerships in order to deliver on its mandates to the Nigerian people.

Earlier, the Ashafa-led FHA had explained that payments were delayed because of the organisation's regard for due process in the auditing of the contractors.

"Since assumption of office, the new management, under the leadership of Senator Gbenga Ashafa, has made it a priority to adhere strictly to the ethics of public accountability in the payment of every contractor that has delivered on the agreed milestones, as it relates to the housing projects currently under construction.

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"The delay in payments that resulted in the recent demonstration by contractors working on some of the authority's projects was largely due to the extent of painstaking verification.

"This had to be carried out via rigorous auditing, on-site verification and physical inspection, quality control and compliance with global standards - all in a bid to ensure that the Nigerian people and prospective home owners get value for their money," the FHA stated.

Why assuring every contractor, many of whom the FHA said it had enjoyed a long and healthy relationship with, the authority restated its commitment to pay off every outstanding debt owed to those who have completed their projects and have met with all agreed Key Performance Indices (KPIs).

The contractors had said they had not been paid for the Abuja Mass Housing Project in Zuba totalling N1.5 billion as well as the Apo housing project awarded in 2011 and completed since February 2020.
The female teacher accused of repeated sex with a 14-year-old boy from her Sydney school will have a powerful ally in her corner when she stands trial later this year.

The former top prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC has been tapped to defend Monica Elizabeth Young, 23, a court heard on Monday.

But authorities will lean on the son of another equally famous lawyer to try and prove that Young had sex with her pupil and sexted him on Snapchat.

Sydney teacher Monica Elizabeth Young is fighting charges involving a 14-year-old pupil at her former school. Above, at court last month

Young has pleaded not guilty to a series of charges including alleged sexual intercourse with the boy. She is also on right

Alexander Terracini, the Crown Prosecutor son of arguably the country's best known defence barrister Winston Terracini SC, will be briefed for the prosecution.

Young, who had only just started her teaching career, has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges against her - including counts alleging she had 'aggravated sexual intercourse' with the boy three times in the one day.

She has been bailed to live with family and isn't working as a teacher while awaiting trial.

Young's barrister Ms Cunneen famously locked up gang rapist Bilal Skaf and notorious predator Michael Guider in a previous role.

Ms Cunneen began working as a defence counsel in recent years and has since represented clients including former top cop Gary Jubelin.

Powerful ally: Former Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen is expected to represent Monica Young in court

Winston Terracini SC has been described as 'arguably Australia's most famous defence barrister'. His son is expected to be the Crown Prosecutor in the Young case at trial

Bilal Skaf (left) led a gang of Lebanese youths who committed a series of pack rapes in Sydney's south-west. Young's defence lawyer, Margaret Cunneen SC, had him jailed. Meanwhile, Winston Terracini SC led baby killer Keli Lane's appeal. His son Alexander is a Crown Prosecutor and is expected to prosecute Young at trial

Prosecutor Mr Terracini is a junior counsel who followed his father into legal practice.

The list of clients his dad has represented reads like a history of the country's most famous criminal cases - Gordon Wood, Keli Lane and Harriet Wran.

Alexander was admitted as a lawyer in 2010 and to the bar in 2014.

He is expected to go toe-to-toe with Ms Cunneen later during a five day trial this September.

District Court Judge Kate Traill previously heard Young's alleged victim will give pre-recorded evidence at trial.

The prosecution expects to call two further witnesses.
Berlin, March 29 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel has increased pressure on the premiers of the country's 16 states to stick to an agreed tightening of coronavirus rules due to rising infection numbers.

Speaking on a talk show on Sunday evening, Merkel said some states were not following through with a so-called emergency brake, which states agreed to trigger after a certain number of infections, reports dpa news agency.

"We have to implement the right measures with great seriousness. And some states are doing it, others are not," the Chancellor said in the interview.

She called on those states to reverse plans to open up and implement measures such as tighter limits on social contacts, curfews and requirements to work from home.

"I will not sit and watch until we have 100,000 infections," said the Chancellor.

Germany is experiencing a severe third wave of the pandemic driven mainly by the British coronavirus variant.

But the federal government and the 16 states are increasingly at odds about how to contain it, with some refusing to go along with a plan to return to a harder lockdown in areas where the infection rate remains comparatively low.

Merkel said the low numbers were not stable in those regions.

"That's why it is not the time to consider" such easings, she said.

Markus Soeder, the premier of of Bavaria, criticised his counterparts in other states on Sunday, saying some had not "understood the seriousness of the situation".

Speaking to the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, Soeder said that state leaders needed to focus on "the consistent implementation of the emergency brake".

The seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants, a key metric in measuring the infection rate, rose to 129.7 on Sunday, significantly higher than the 100 mark that is meant to trigger the emergency brake.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control said the metric had not reached Sunday's level since January 19.

On Saturday, the figure had stood at 124.9, after having passed the 100-mark a week ago.

Health authorities reported 17,176 new cases within one day and 90 deaths related to the virus.

As of Monday, the country's overall caseload and death toll stood at 2,784,652 and 75,927, respectively.
Lee Hawthorne, 41, who was a member of Gloucester City Council, pleaded guilty to voyeurism and attempted voyeurism earlier this month

A former Conservative councillor who was one of the first people in Britain to be arrested under new 'upskirting' laws has avoided prison.

Lee Hawthorne, 41, was a member of Gloucester City Council when he took indecent pictures up a woman's skirt in a TK Maxx store in June 2019 - just two months after 'upskirting' became a criminal offence.

Following a police investigation, the father-of-two was arrested in July 2019 and resigned from Gloucester City Council in April 2020.

Subsequent investigations of his computer equipment revealed Hawthorne had also secretly filmed another woman in an office in April 2019.

Earlier this month, the former councillor for Gloucester City Council pleaded guilty to voyeurism and attempted voyeurism.

At Bristol Crown Court today Hawthorne, of Abbeydale, Gloucester, received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also given a two-year community order with 300 hours of unpaid work and 30 days' rehabilitation.

The court heard the first offence took place at a TK Maxx in Northgate Street, Gloucester, on June 27, 2019.

CCTV taken from cameras inside the store showed Hawthorne follow his victim and crouch down twice behind an aisle of clothing to film underneath her skirt.

His victim, who has automatic anonymity under the Sexual Offences Act, bravely spoke out following Hawthorne's sentencing.

The woman said: 'That incident and his subsequent denials and lies have made me question my trust in others.

One of the incidents took place at a TK Maxx in Northgate Street, Gloucester, in 2019

Hawthorne was also given a two-year community order with 300 hours of unpaid work and 30 days' rehabilitation

'It has made me feel very anxious, disrupted my sleep and has given me concern about my mental health.

'Since [the officer] showed me the video I have been tearful and experienced several attacks of anxiety and very low mood, driven by the negative thoughts and feelings of this crime.

'I am worried about the affect this incident will continue to have on me, my family, and my work in the future and have had to take time off work due to the impact of his actions.'

Describing the incident, Ellen McAnaw, prosecuting, said: 'The defendant sees her and almost immediately removes his phone from his pocket.

'Police investigations show he is now turning on his camera and he takes another mobile phone out and covers that phone in order to conceal what he is doing.

'He is seen to crouch down twice behind her and that's the point she sees him on the floor, arm outstretched towards her legs, and forms the opinion that he was attempting to take a photograph up her skirt.'

The second victim also spoke of her disgust at her privacy being invaded by Hawthorne.

'When I was shown the video I suffered a huge amount of shock and distress. It is clear he had committed a very personal invasion of my privacy,' she said.

'Upskirting' is is a colloquial term referring to the action of placing equipment such as a camera or mobile phone beneath a person's clothing to take a voyeuristic photograph without their permission.

It became a criminal offence in April 2019.

As part of his sentence, Hawthorne was ordered to carry out 300 hours of community service and take part in 30 days of work with probation to address his offending.

Hawthorne received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years at Bristol Crown Court today

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register and, following a Sexual Harm Prevention Order application by officers, and will have to submit to any police request to check his technology devices for the next seven years.

The victim from the TK Maxx incident was awarded a High Sheriff's Award of 300 for her actions and both women read out victim impact statements at court.

Detective Constable Aaminah Motara, the officer in charge of the case, said: 'The victims in these cases have shown incredible resilience throughout the lengthy investigation.

'I want to say thank you to them for their bravery in being prepared to testify at court.

'Upskirting is a new sexual offence but its impact can be long lasting and should not be underestimated.

'The effects can be wide ranging and varied, from the initial feeling of violation to long term mental health issues which nobody should have to experience.

'If you think you have been a victim of a sexual offence please remember to call us as we are here listen and investigate.

'Our officers are specially trained and we can provide you with support to help you get through the whole process.'

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Picton said: 'The harm you did your victims is obvious and should cause you to feel deep shame because you wronged them very badly.

'It is difficult to understand how anyone could behave in the way that you did. It was deeply awful behaviour that is still resonating on your victims nearly two years later.'

Hawthorne was elected as a Conservative city councillor in May 2016 but subsequently suspended from the group after his arrest.

He continued to sit as an independent councillor until his resignation in April 2020.
After a series of tests in the past one year, Safaricom has officially launched its standalone 5G network Friday, making Kenya the first country in eastern Africa to adopt the technology regarded as a key enabler of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

However, to enjoy the super-fast speed where you can download a 3-Gigabyte movie in seconds, you will need a high end phone that has the 5G chip, rendering most smartphones owned by Kenyans incompatible.

Contrary to non-stand-alone (NSA) 5G networks that upgrade on existing 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, Safaricom's stand-alone 5G connectivity will require you to dig deeper into your pockets to, for instance, afford the Huawei Mate 30 Pro which retails at Sh70,000 or the Huawei P40 which goes for Sh98,000, if you want to switch to 5G as early as today.

While the service is enabled on the Nokia 8.3, Samsung Galaxy S21 5G series, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2, you will have to wait till the beginning of May to join the network of the future. It will take the two phone makers one month to update their smartphone software to match 5G requirements.

Such devices are only owned by a very small percentage of the Kenyan population, with a February report released by British research firm Caribou Data indicating that 94 per cent of Kenyans own phones costing less than Sh20,000.

But with the 5G technology now in existence, it is expected that 5G phone manufactures will turn their focus to Kenya in a bid to feed a thirsty tech-savvy market that requires more affordable 5G devices.

Super-fast internet

During a press event held at the Michael Joseph Centre on Friday in Westlands, Nairobi, the company said 5G trials will begin with both individual and enterprise customers in the city. The service will also be extended to the western counties of Kisumu, Kisii and Kakamega.

Safaricom's 5G speed will be 700 Megabits per second (Mbps), with plans to offer more than 1,000 Mbps speeds towards the end of the year, immensely improving on the current 4G speed that averages 15Mbps this year.

Peter Ndegwa, the telco's chief executive, said the launch was timely as it comes during a pandemic period which has pushed thousands of Kenyans and businesses to cloud-based services and Internet of Things (IoT).

"With 5G, we aim to empower our customers with super-fast internet at work, at home and when on the move, supplementing our growing fibre network," he said.

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Partnering with global 5G service providers Huawei and Nokia, Safaricom said it will have laid 150 stand-alone 5G base stations across nine towns by March next year.

For enterprise and Safaricom home internet customers, new 5G routers will be issued across the covered zones as the technology now becomes an alternative to fixed home and office internet.

3G network reach

Mr Ndegwa said that Safaricom invests Sh35 billion annually on network infrastructure expansion and that has seen the company's 3G network reach 94 per cent of its subscribers while 92 per cent of Kenyans enjoy 4G speeds.

"This will enable deployment of advanced digital technologies such as Virtual Reality, cloud computing, autonomous drones, industrial automation and a wide range of IoT uses."

5G modems from Huawei will be able to convert 5G signal to Wi-Fi for your non 5G devices, with only the Safaricom upgraded sim card being needed.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said the super-fast network could potentially spur Kenya's startup culture, creating a new generation of innovators.

"5G technology will usher in increased internet speeds and capabilities for millions across the country," he said.

5G, which powers intelligent connectivity, can support up to 1 million connected devices per square kilometre compared to the current 4G whose maximum capacity is 100,000 connected devices for the same zone.

Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
A pair of Louisiana College students pocketed thousands of dollars in emergency COVID-19 aid as the ringleaders of an elaborate identity theft scheme, according to federal prosecutors.

Hayden Breaux, 21, and DQuincy Marquis Jones, 23, are charged with several counts of identity theft after investigators say they used other students personal information to fraudulently obtain federal funds meant to help those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced last week.

Louisiana College, a small and private Baptist institution in Pineville, was one of several colleges and universities across the U.S. granted emergency funding for its students as part of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security (CARES) Act.

Court documents show that between June 5-20, 2020, Breaux and Jones applied for more than $5,600 in financial aid grants via the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.

Prosecutors say the pair and their co-conspirators used the ID numbers and passwords of at least nine Louisiana College students to access an online portal, apply for the funds and have them directed to their own bank accounts.

The co-conspirators would then use the funds for their own personal use, according to an indictment.

Breaux and Jones each face a count of conspiracy to commit identity theft and five counts of identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

CARES ACT funding has been tied to a number of scams, the Department of Justice said in a news release. As of Friday, 474 people  trying to fraudulently obtain over $569 million  have been charged with in cases tied to COVID-19 funding.

To anyone thinking of using the global pandemic as an opportunity to scam and steal from hardworking Americans, my advice is simple  dont, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. No matter where you are or who you are, we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.

Meth hidden in dog food helps uncover COVID business loan scam in Georgia, feds say
Washington, D.C., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Treasury Departments planned crackdown on cryptocurrency holders private wallets is an unconstitutional power grab that would lead to a massive collection of peoples personal information. The unlawful requirements laid out by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of Treasury, would likely force privacy-sensitive digital assets out of the U.S. banking system. The proposed rule represents a radicaland unlawfulextension of FinCENs financial surveillance.

To forestall FinCENs large-scale state intrusion into private digital transactions, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, today filed its comments objecting to FinCENs Proposed Rule, Requirements for Certain Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual Currency or Digital Assets.

If FinCEN moves forward with its proposal in its current form, digital assets would fall into the monetary instruments category of regulated currencies. That designation would mean a vast expansion of the Bank Secrecy Acts (BSA) record-keeping and currency transaction reporting requirementsto collect private data of Bitcoins and Ethereums users, among others. Besides transaction reports, the proposed rule sets in motion a chain reaction of personal information mandatory disclosure. Whenever a financial institution makes a transaction involving digital assets worth more than $3,000 with a personeven an individual holding them in an unhosted walletit must keep detailed records concerning both the customer and the counterparty. Even existing BSA requirements for traditional banks do not require this level of disclosure about counterparties.

NCLA argues that the proposed rule exceeds appropriate constitutional limits by empowering FinCEN to exercise Congress exclusive legislative power. First, in reclassifying digital assets, FinCEN is not filling in details in existing law, but rather is writing new rules, on new subjects, with criminal consequences. Second, the proposed rule is not within the Executive Branchs inherent powers, for it creates whole new types of criminal liabilitya uniquely legislative prerogative.

Furthermore, the proposed rule violates the Fourth Amendment by extending the BSAs reach to require production of sensitive financial information from those who have never voluntarily disclosed it to a financial institution, and who, like cryptocurrency owners, have been excluded from the BSAs reach. It would unconstitutionally require disclosure of private information to law enforcement without any suspicion of wrongdoing.

NCLA urges FinCEN to recognize constitutional limits on its authority and to halt its unlawful rulemaking.

NCLA released the following statement:

FinCENs proposed rule unlawfully attempts to transform the agencys limited authority to regulate banks into permission to engage in the mass financial surveillance of innocent individuals who merely use digital assets. FinCEN ought to recognize that its proposal would be grossly unconstitutional and promptly scrap this rule.

 Caleb Kruckenberg, Litigation Counsel, NCLA

For more information about this issue visit here.

ABOUT NCLA

NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.

###

Attachment
NBC/YouTube

Asian Americans are speaking out amid a recent wave of hate crimes across the United States.

Recently, a video of Ohio politician Lee Wong went viral after he removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt at a meeting of the West Chester Board of Trustees to make a powerful statement. The 69-year-old explained that he came to the U.S. when he was 18 years old, right out of high school, and served 20 years as an active duty member of the Army.

"People question my patriotism, that I don't look American enough," Wong said, pointing to his face. "I want to show you something. Because I'm not afraid. I don't have to live in fear, intimidation or insults."

Then, Wong revealed a long scar across his chest. "Here is my proof. This is sustained through my service in the U.S. military. Now is this patriot enough?" he said.

NBC/YouTube

RELATED: Violence Against Asian Americans Continues: How You Can Help the AAPI Community

NBC/YouTube

"Prejudice is hate," Wong said as he buttoned his dress shirt back up. "And that hate can be changed. We are human. We need to be kinder, gentler to one another. Because we are all the same. We are one human being on this Earth."

He later spoke to The Cincinnati Enquirer about why he decided to bare his scars and speak on the topic. "The timing was right in light of what's happening in this country. In that moment, I don't know what came over me," Wong said. "I just knew I had to say something."

A video of Wong's speech, which was uploaded Friday to Twitter by Associated Press reporter James LaPorta, has since accumulated more than 4.6 million views.

RELATED: SNL's Bowen Yang Says 'Fuel Up, Do More' to Combat Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

RELATED VIDEO: Anti-Asian Hate Crimes on the Rise as Communities Call for Change

Wong's speech was publicly shared amid the rise of racist incidents against Asians.

Story continues

On March 16, eight people were killed in shootings across three Atlanta-area spas. Though authorities said there's no evidence suggesting the suspect was motivated by race, six of the victims were Asian women.

Then on March 17, a 75-year-old Asian American woman, named Xiao Zhen Xie, used a wooden board to fight back after she was punched by a white man in San Francisco, California. (Steven Jenkins was arrested at the scene, after previously attacking 83-year-old Ngoc Pham.)

In addition, a report released this week by Stop AAPI Hate revealed there have been nearly 3,800 hate incidents during the pandemic.

Also findings of a recent study of police department statistics show that hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by nearly 150 percent in 2020, despite hate crimes overall dropping by seven percent. The report, issued by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, analyzed data on hate crimes in both 2019 and 2020 from authorities in 16 of America's largest cities, and found that the first surge in violence against Asian Americans occurred last year, as COVID-19 cases started to spike in March and April. The findings show that New York City saw the largest increase in anti-Asian hate crimes, rising from three reported instances in 2019 to 28 in 2020.

If you've been attacked or have witnessed an attack, please contact your local authorities. You can also report your incident here. / To learn more and to report crimes, go to: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Stop the AAPI Hate, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA, and Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Turkmenistans authoritarian leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has been elected as a member of a newly established senate, in a vote in which there was no opposition and only indirect suffrage.



State media in the tightly controlled and isolated Central Asian state reported Berdymukhammedov received "100 percent" of the vote in the March 29 election, giving him a new position as a lawmaker in the upper chamber.



The 63-year-old is already president and head of government of a state built around his cult of personality.



State media said the election was clear evidence of Turkmenistan's democratic progress and the triumph of decisive reforms carried out by our national leader.



The election was the first for the upper chamber, or People's Council, since constitutional amendments in September 2020 made parliament bicameral.



State media reported 112 registered candidates vied for the 48 seats available in the upper chamber, stressing the elections were "fair" and monitored by "independent" domestic observers. Eight members of the upper house will also be appointed by Berdymukhamedov.



The elections were held by secret ballot through indirect suffrage, with 231 electors from the provinces and capital, Ashgabat, able to vote.



The elections were held on a competitive basis -- each of the 48 candidates was nominated by 2-3 people who deserved the special respect of our compatriots, state media reported.



Foreign observers were not allowed to monitor the vote and no opposition candidates were on the ballot in the former Soviet republic, which is considered one of the most repressive countries in the world.



With the exception of turning the parliament into a two-chamber institution, other details of the constitutional changes that Berdymukhammedov signed into the law in September remain largely unknown.



Critics have said that Berdymukhammedov plans to use the constitutional amendments to secure his lifetime presidency and for the eventual succession of his son and grandchildren.



Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the restrictive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006.



Like his late predecessor, Berdymukhammedov has relied on subsidized prices for basic goods and utilities to help maintain his grip on power.



Despite being rich in natural gas resources, the country has faced shortages of everything from cash and food to basic necessities in recent years.
NEW ORLEANS, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq. and the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") are investigating the proposed sale of Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) to Veritas Capital and an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management L.P. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, shareholders of Cubic will receive only $70.00 in cash for each share of Cubic that they own. KSF is seeking to determine whether this consideration and the process that led to it are adequate, or whether the consideration undervalues the Company.

If you believe that this transaction undervalues the Company and/or if you would like to discuss your legal rights regarding the proposed sale, you may, without obligation or cost to you, e-mail or call KSF Managing Partner Lewis S. Kahn ([email protected]) toll free at any time at 855-768-1857, or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-cub/ to learn more.

To learn more about KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General, visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Related Links

http://www.ksfcounsel.com


Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Robert Redfield testifies about coronavirus preparedness and response to the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee on Capitol Hill on March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Former Trump health officials recall clashing with Alex Azar over COVID-19 testing and CDC data.

The former CDC director told CNN that Azar pressured him to alter a key CDC mortality dataset.

Ex-officials have coordinated to present a united front against Azar, Politico reported.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Health officials who worked on the COVID-19 response under former President Donald Trump clashed with Alex Azar, then-secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, on everything from COVID-19 testing to modifications of key CDC data.

A group of six officials, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, former FDA chief Dr. Stephen Hahn, former assistant HHS Secretary Dr. Robert Kadlec, and Adm. Brett Giroir, sat down for a tell-all TV special with CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta that aired on Sunday.

Read more: Insider found 20 governors haven't gotten their COVID-19 vaccine. Here's who - and why.

In it, Hahn said that he and Azar got into a skirmish over the jurisdiction of COVID-19 testing.

"It was reported in the press that we had a shouting match," Hahn said in the CNN special. "I can 100% assure you that I did not shout and scream at the secretary of Health and Human Services.

When asked if Azar had shouted at him, Hahn replied: "You should ask him that."

In a statement provided to Insider, Azar said "Dr. Hahn's recitation of this call is incorrect."

"On this call, Dr. Hahn abruptly walked away from 6 weeks of collaboration with HHS staff to fix FDA's illegal assertion of jurisdiction over common lab developed tests, an assertion that slowed the development of U.S. COVID testing in the early days," he said.

"I was further shocked at Dr. Hahn's escalation on the topic, and to my recollection, the only intemperate conduct was Dr. Hahn's threat to resign," he added. "I was confused at his reaction and offered that if it would help Dr. Hahn, HHS would announce the legal conclusion to allow Dr. Hahn to retain credibility with the career staff at FDA, which seemed to be Dr. Hahn's concern. This call was witnessed by the HHS Chief of Staff and HHS General Counsel."

Story continues

Hahn denied that he threatened to resign during that conversation with Azar.

Redfield, for his part, told Gupta that the major conflicts he had were not with the White House, but with Azar and HHS. He even claimed that Azar pressed him to change the data in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, one of the agency's most important datasets.

"I didn't have really very difficult challenges with the White House. The challenges I had were with the office of the Secretary," Redfield told Gupta. "I think some of the ones that were the most notable, that I was the most offended by, was the calls that wanted me to pressure and change the MMWR."

The CDC says that the MMWR "is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations."

Azar categorically denied Redfield's claim that he was pressured to change the MMWR data on multiple occasions.

"From the beginning of this pandemic, I insisted on giving the public and media access to both critical information and data as soon as we had it, as well as to our scientists," Azar said in a statement provided to Insider.

"I have always stood for and defended the scientific independence of the MMWR and other evidence and science-based publications and disclosures from HHS and its agencies, and Dr. Redfield knows this. Any suggestion that I pressured or otherwise asked Dr. Redfield to change the content of a single scientific, peer-reviewed MMWR article is false," he added."

With an increasing number journalists writing books and appearing on live TV to shed light on the Trump administration's COVID-19 response, Politico reported that former officials, including the doctors who appeared in the CNN special, coordinated ahead of time to present a united front against Azar in everything they say publicly.

The outlet reported that the group, which sometimes jokingly calls itself "Alex Azar Anonymous," had "swapped notes, compared recollections and sent updates on media requests and interview opportunities" in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Azar also found himself at odds with the White House, struggling to stay relevant and in Trump's good graces.

While Azar was initially put in charge of the administration's COVID-19 response, Trump sidelined him in favor of former Vice President Mike Pence after a top CDC official raised alarms in February 2020 that the coronavirus would inevitably become a pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported in April 2020.

Read the original article on Business Insider
DETROIT, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AAM), (NYSE: AXL) will participate in the 2021 Bank of America Auto Summit on March 31, which will be held virtually. AAM is scheduled to present at 12:30 p.m. ET.

A live audio webcast will be accessible through the Investor Relations page on AAM's website (www.aam.com). A replay of the webcast will be available following the event.



About AAM

AAM (NYSE: AXL) delivers POWER that moves the world. As a leading global tier 1 automotive supplier, AAM designs, engineers and manufactures driveline and metal forming technologies that are making the next generation of vehicles smarter, lighter, safer and more efficient. Headquartered in Detroit, AAM has approximately 20,000 associates operating at nearly 80 facilities in 17 countries to support our customers on global and regional platforms with a focus on quality, operational excellence and technology leadership. To learn more, visit aam.com.

Our presentation may contain "forward-looking" statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties described in our most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and actual results may differ materially. Our presentation also may include certain non-GAAP financial measures. Information regarding these non-GAAP measures, as well as a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to GAAP financial information, is available on AAM's website (www.aam.com).

For more information:

Investor Contact:

David H. Lim

Head of Investor Relations

(313) 758-2006

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Christopher M. Son

Vice President, Marketing & Communications

(313) 758-4814

[email protected]

Or visit the AAM website at www.aam.com.

SOURCE American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

www.aam.com


TORONTO and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (Solar Alliance or the Company) (TSX-V: SOLR) is pleased to report significant progress at both the project and corporate levels of the Company as it enters the second quarter with a record pipeline of projects and a strong balance sheet to support future growth.

Solar Alliance has built a strong backlog of projects under various stages of agreement with combined capital costs totaling approximately US $66 million, consisting of a diversified portfolio of customers and project sizes. The Company continues to build out that backlog of project opportunities by focusing on the high margin sectors of the solar industry  residential developers and builders, commercial clients, microgrid solutions for larger clients and large scale project development opportunities.

Combined with the potential to own assets across these sectors, the Company is well positioned to execute on a plan for continued growth in 2021.

I am pleased to provide investors with this comprehensive update of Solar Alliances projects under development and corporate activities, said CEO Myke Clark. This year has already seen several positive developments that have fundamentally transformed this company. We have advanced several large scale solar projects, continued to build our pipeline of projects and completed a financing that provides the capital to fully realize of our growth potential. Solar Alliance has positioned itself as a leader in the commercial and small utility solar sector and is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the growing solar industry in the United States.

Corporate Update

Solar Alliance recently closed a $5,752,530 marketed private placement that will enhance its balance sheet and provide the funding to pursue new opportunities.

The Company continues to assess various project acquisition opportunities in order to accelerate its project ownership aspirations. Generating recurring revenue from Solar Alliance-owned assets will provide revenue stability and can either be accomplished through the development of projects or through acquisition. The Company is assessing both opportunities.

In order to support larger project development activities, Solar Alliance is building a Project Development team that will pursue large scale opportunities similar to the 56 megawatt (MW) data center project in Illinois described below. The Company anticipates setting an aggressive target for a development project portfolio and will announce that target at the appropriate time.

As part of an enhanced investor marketing program, Solar Alliance will be featured on the Peterson Capital platform which will connect the Company with a wider investor audience.

CEO Myke Clark will be presenting at Sidoti Microcap Conference on Thursday, May 20, 2021. Further details, including presentation time, will be provided closer to the event date.

Project Updates

Solar Alliance continues to expand its pipeline of residential, commercial and utility solar projects.

Solar Alliance is currently installing a 1 MW solar project in Kentucky, in partnership with Boyd CAT, a regional Caterpillar dealer that the Company has worked with on several projects. Solar Alliance continues to pursue additional commercial solar projects with Boyd CAT and looks forward to expanding on the relationship between the two companies.

Design work continues at the 56 MW solar project being developed for Green Data Center Real Estate Inc. (Green Data). On March 9, 2021, Solar Alliance signed a Solar Design Agreement with Green Data for an initial 56 MW, US $60 million ground and roof mount solar project at a hyperscale data center in Illinois. Solar Alliance and Green Data are also assessing the potential to provide natural gas generators to the project, in addition to assessing the potential to the expand the project size. It is anticipated the data center will have sufficient electricity demand to support a solar project up to 150 MW.

The Company has almost completed the detailed design work for Green Data for a 4.5 MW solar project in Murphysboro, Illinois. Once the design work has been submitted to Green Data, the next step will be to finalize a definitive installation agreement and determine an installation timeline.

On March 3, 2021 the Company announced that work has been completed at the 2.4 MW commercial solar project for Bridgestone Americas Inc., a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, in South Carolina. The Project, with a capital cost of US$2.7 million, is powered by more than 7,000 solar modules and will generate almost 4 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, equivalent to powering almost 600 homes and offsetting 2,829 tons of carbon dioxide emission each year.

Solar Alliance continues to sell and install smaller commercial solar projects that range in size from 20  100kW and generate stable revenues for the Company as it pursues the larger, high impact projects such as those described above.

Our pipeline and backlog of projects continues to grow and we are preparing to roll out additional strategic initiatives that will enhance shareholder value. Our company has a solid revenue generating foundation that supports a defined growth plan. Combine that with the changing political environment in the United States and we are clearly at an inflection point in our history and the growth potential is extraordinary, concluded Clark.

Myke Clark, CEO

For more information: Solar Alliance Sales(865) 309-4674Solar Alliance Myke Clark, CEO416-848-7744mclark@solaralliance.com

About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (www.solaralliance.com) Solar Alliance is an energy solutions provider focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. The Company operates in Tennessee, Kentucky, North/South Carolina and several other states and has an expanding pipeline of solar projects. Since it was founded in 2003, the Company has developed wind and solar projects with a combined capital cost exceeding $1 billion that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. Solar Alliance reduces or eliminates customers' vulnerability to rising energy costs, offers an environmentally-friendly source of electricity generation, and provides affordable, turnkey clean energy solutions.

Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute Forward-looking statements. The words would, will, expected and estimated or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

Source: Solar Alliance Energy Inc.
Port workers have been able to refloat the Ever Given after it spent six days stuck in the Suez Canal.

The stranded container ship blocking the crucial trade route was refloated about 4.30am (1.30pm AEDT) on Monday and is currently being secured, Inch Cape Shipping Services said in a post on Twitter.

The high tide on Sunday failed to lift the Ever Given from the bank, even after its rudder was freed. Credit:AP

It was a partial refloat and the container ship remained wedged, The Associated Press reported quoting a canal services firm, without providing further details about when the vessel would be set free.

AP said satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed the ships bulbous bow, once firmly lodged in the canals eastern bank, had been wrested partially from the shore. With the bow no longer ploughed into the bank, the ships stern had swung around and was now in the middle of the waterway, the tracking data showed.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a three-day lockdown for Greater Brisbane to start Monday afternoon and waited for the roars of outrage to echo through the suburbs  and waited and waited and waited.

The expected backlash from Queenslanders never came, for one simple reason. Nobody cares.

Nobody who isn't going to feel it directly in their hip pocket anyway. Or who isn't planning a wedding or engagement party or has a sick relative lying in hospital over the border.

Other than in those heartbreaking situations, it's pretty much business as usual.

Scroll down for video

Passengers check in for flights out of Brisbane on Monday as Queenslanders flooded the departure lounge to escape the city's three-day lockdown. Most of the Sunshine State couldn't care less about the ruined holiday plans of other Australians, Mike Colman writes

The TV news producers were so desperate to find anyone who would badmouth the government's decision to lock down Brisbane and impose restrictions on the rest of the state that one network had to go all the way to Cairns to find a disgruntled chef willing to talk.

And even then, he seemed a little confused by the whole thing.

Bad news obviously takes a while to travel up to North Queensland and it was left to the anchorwoman to break it to him that his stand-up cocktail party for 140 guests on Wednesday night would need some serious tweaking.

Which, coming as it does on top of the end of the Federal Government's Jobkeeper payments, is undoubtedly upsetting.

As it is for the tens of thousands of Australians from outside Queensland who have been wooed by the nation-wide blanket advertising campaign urging them to head north for the Easter holidays.

Desperate for a reprieve after a year of COVID restrictions, they have taken advantage of cheap airfares and generous accommodation packages to book their getaways, only for 10 positive tests in 24 hours to throw their plans into disarray.

Ten positive tests in 24 hours have thrown travel plans into disarray. Pictured is the locked-down local government areas of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Redland and Moreton Bay

A view over Broadbeach. Queensland holiday bookings that might have to refunded will soon be taken up by the cashed-up ex-pat Southerners buying up mansions on the Gold Coast

While the initial lockdown is only for three days and the Easter break doesn't officially begin until the following day, there is still a pall of uncertainty hanging over thousands of households across the country.

But will Queenslanders spare too much time worrying about the feelings of those people from New South Wales and Victoria who have had their bags packed and air tickets at the ready for weeks?

Probably not. They're too busy worrying about keeping Queensland safe from COVID so they can continue to live in a bubble of safety and ease that is the envy of the rest of the country, and indeed the world.

Shoppers leave Woolworths at Newstead in inner-city Brisbane on Monday as the city was plunged into a three-day lockdown. TV news producers have struggled to find Queenslanders willing to badmouth the new restrictions

Passengers check in for flights out of Brisbane on Monday after a coronavirus outbreak in the city

Gym is added to the list of Covid hotspots in Queensland as Greater Brisbane goes into three day lockdown- here's the full list A Brisbane gym has been added to a growing list of venues visited by an infected coronavirus case as the city is plunged into a snap lockdown. Queensland has recorded seven local-acquired cases since Friday, sparking a three day lockdown of Greater Brisbane and surrounding regions. Fourteen more locations were added to an already lengthy list of high risk Covid-19 hotspots late Monday as Queensland battles to contain a second wave of the virus. The popular Black Hops Brewery in East Brisbane has been added to the Covid alert list Among the latest venues to be added is the FitStop Gym in Morningside after an infected case attended between 6.50am and 8am on Friday March 26. Anyone who was at the gym during the listed time is regarded as a close contact and must self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the test result. Other new venues include Woolworths in Carseldine and Aldi in Bald Hills, and a number of restaurants. Three of the four locally-acquired cases announced on Monday are close contacts of known cases, but those infected may have been out in the community - raising the risk more transmission may have occurred. Anyone who attended the FitStop Gym in Morningside between 6.50am-8am on March 16 must self-isolate for 14 days, even if they return a negative test Two of the cases - a nurse and her sister - visited the popular tourist town of Byron Bay in northern NSW while infectious, sparking fears the virus has already spread interstate. People considered to be close contacts of a confirmed case have been urged to take a test and self-isolate for 14 days. Casual contacts should get tested immediately and quarantine until they receive a negative result. Advertisement

Obviously, holiday makers and hospitality workers aren't the only ones affected by the threat of extended restrictions. As in past lockdowns, families face being separated, relatives won't be able to get to the bedsides of sick and dying loved-ones, weddings and celebrations meticulously planned for months are at risk of being derailed.

Broadly speaking though, the majority of Queenslanders would seem to have taken a State of Origin attitude to those 'outsiders' who are angered by the Palaszczuk Government's hardline approach.

'We know we live in a place that is so good that you're desperate to get up here for your holidays,' they could be saying. 'But that's exactly why we don't want you coming up here and risking wrecking our sweet set-up.'

A Brisbane resident looks out from his balcony in Bowen Hills. Queenslanders are standing by their premier, Mike Colman writes

It all stems from the way Premier Palaszczuk and her sidekick, chief health officer Jeanette Young, handled the pandemic first time around.

If Palaszczuk said 'I make no apologies for putting the interests of Queenslanders first' once, she said it a thousand times.

For months she and the increasingly frazzled-looking Dr Young stood on the lawn outside Parliament House, stared down the lenses of a sea of TV cameras and played a straight bat that the late great Queensland batsman Ken 'Slasher' Mackay would have been proud of.

The Prime Minister urged them to open up the borders, the NSW and Victorian premiers all but declared war, but they stood firm  and won.

Greater Brisbane has been ordered into a three-day lockdown after a coronavirus cluster grew to seven cases with evidence of 'significant community transmission'

They kept the state all but COVID-free, got the NRL up and running, pinched the AFL grand final from under the Mexicans' noses and scored a landslide victory in the State election.

Which is why right now the Queensland public at large is willing to go along with just about anything their Premier tells them. If she says they need to wear a mask while they go to the doctor or stock up on their groceries, so be it. If they can't go to the gym until the restrictions are lifted, what's a few days without a Bulgarian split squat or two?

And as for all holiday bookings that might have to refunded, they'll soon be taken up by the cashed-up ex-pat Southerners who sold their modest three-bedroom, one-bathroom semis in Sydney and Melbourne for millions, and bought canal-front mansions in Queensland before the borders slammed shut last time.

Brisbane's snap lockdown is blasted as 'sheer lunacy' as critics say it will cost economy $2billion - and bachelorette party in Byron Bay sparks fears of Covid return to NSW

Flight Centre boss Graham Turner has blasted Brisbane's Covid lockdown

He said the decision to lock down was 'sheer lunacy' and would cost $2billion

It comes as NSW authorities scramble after two infected people partied in Byron

Anyone in NSW who visited Queensland capital since March 20 must lockdown

Everyone in the Greater Brisbane area must lockdown until 5pm on Thursday



The boss of Flight Centre has blasted the decision to send Brisbane into a three-day lockdown and warned it will cost the economy billions of dollars.

Graham Turner, the co-founder of the travel giant, said it was 'sheer lunacy' to force residents to stay at home and claimed there was 'no evidence' the lockdown would help control Queensland's coronavirus outbreak.

'Locking Brisbane down will have a short-range three-day effect, it will cost $1billion to $2billion, but the impact will last longer, and just as domestic travel was coming back,' Mr Turner told the Courier Mail.

'(The lockdowns have) achieved nothing. There is no evidence it has achieved anything. We are talking billions of dollars here for a three-day lockdown.'

Other companies have called on the government to be stronger with the distribution of vaccines, saying the constant threat of lockdowns is not financially sustainable.

Queensland businesses are preparing for another tenuous period financially after the government closed all non-essentials for the three-day lockdown period.

The state's travel sector in particular is expecting huge losses with the possibility of travel not being reinstated before the Easter long weekend.

It comes amid fears a coronavirus cluster in Brisbane, which grew to seven on Monday, could be spreading to NSW after two infected women attended a bachelorette party in Byron Bay.

The boss of Flight Centre has blasted the decision to send Brisbane into lockdown in a bid to control a coronavirus cluster (quiet street seen on Monday afternoon)

A nurse and her sister partied in NSW's Byron Bay (testing site pictured) for a bachelorette party while infected with Covid

A nurse and her sister unknowingly had coronavirus while partying in the coastal town on the NSW north coast on the weekend spanning March 26 to March 28.

The pair visited a string of popular venues including the Byron Beach Hotel and The Farm.

NSW Health released an alert on Monday evening saying anyone that had visited the Queensland capital since March 20 must immediately self-isolate and not leave their house until Thursday at 5pm.

Residents of Byron Bay are being urged to be especially vigilant in monitoring their health and are encouraging anyone with even the mildest symptoms to get tested immediately.

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

A number of venues at the popular tourist destination have fallen under the immediate testing category, with anyone who attented the Byron Beach Hotel, The Farm, Mokha Cafe and Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park told to immediately seek a test and self-isolate until told otherwise.

Ghanda Clothing, Tiger Lily, Black Sheep, Quicksilver, Suffolk Bakery and the Park Hotel Bottle Shop are also in the same category.

The relevant times for the enforced isolation period can be found on the NSW Health website.

The pair visited the popular Byron Beach Hotel on Friday March 28 between 7pm and 9pm (pictured) while positive infectious with the virus

Flight Centre co-founder Graham Turner (pictured) said there was 'no evidence' lockdowns had achieved anything

NSW Health say the lockdown will remain in place for residents who visited Brisbane since March 20 for the same duration as the Queensland mandate.

They will only be allowed to leave for essential reasons including food, medical care and exercise.

The state has also issued entry declaration forms from March 27 for people who have spent time in the Greater Brisbane area.

The forms are to help authorities track anyone who may be linked or exposed to the new outbreak of the UK strain of the virus.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the infected people have been out in the community and travelled to central Queensland and northern NSW.

To stem transmission, Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands will go into a three-day lockdown from 5pm on Monday - an area with about 2.5 million people.

'I didn't sleep last night so I think I am very worried, I'm very concerned,' Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

'But we've done it before, we've got through this together, and I'm sure that if everyone does the right thing we will be able to get through it.'

People with even the slightest of symptoms are being encouraged to seek a test immediately and self-isolate until further notice

Ms Palaszczuk said the lockdown would be reviewed on Thursday, ahead of the Easter holiday break this weekend.

Greater Brisbane schools and all non-essential businesses premises must close from Monday afternoon.

'This will also enable our health authorities to get on top of the contact tracing,' the premier said.

'This is a huge job now that we have to do because we've got more of this community transmission.'

New South Wales residents who have recently returned from Brisbane must immediately go into a three-day lockdown

It is the second Greater Brisbane lockdown this year after an earlier shutdown in January.

Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 will also come under the lockdown restrictions.

One of the cases travelled to Gladstone and Gin Gin from March 25 to March 27 and two cases visited venues in Byron Bay in NSW on March 26 and March 28.

The premier said face masks would be mandatory in Brisbane, and will need to be worn indoors throughout the rest of Queensland.

Thousands have attempted to leave Brisbane after the three-day lockdown threw Easter long weekend plans into disarray

All venues outside Greater Brisbane will only be allowed to host seated patrons.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says four of the new cases are linked to two men in northern Brisbane and a Princess Alexandra Hospital doctor who tested positive.

Two cases are colleagues of a Strathpine man who tested positive on Friday night, while the other cases are a doctor, who tested positive on March 12, and her sister.

Dr Young said it was unclear where the transmission occurred and genomic testing on both latter cases was underway.

'We now have significant community transmission,' she said.

States and territories have also moved to restrict incoming travel from Brisbane and the state.

This week's lockdown is the second in Brisbane this year after an earlier shutdown in January

Western Australia will close its border to the entire state of Queensland from 1201am (WST) on Tuesday.

Tasmania has shut its border to Greater Brisbane travellers, while South Australia will do so from 4pm (CST) and Victoria closes to Brisbanites from 6pm (AEDT).

Anyone from Greater Brisbane must isolate and get tested upon entering the Northern Territory and the ACT.

Entry declarations that ask for details of visits to venues of concern are required for Greater Brisbane arrivals, and NSW Health is advising against non-essential travel to the northern city.
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has begun the process of challenging the March 4 election of Mr Peter Nabulindo as the Matungu member of Parliament.

ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna confirmed Sunday that the party's candidate in the poll, former MP David Were, has launched a petition against Mr Nabulindo's win.

"This is the candidate's petition ... some of the grounds are voter suppression and violence," Mr Sifuna told the Nation.

Mr Nabulindo vied under the Amani National Congress (ANC).

ANC deputy leader Ayub Savula also confirmed ODM's move.

"ODM have issued an intention to file a petition against ANC's victory in Matungu despite belonging in the same coalition - Nasa," Mr Savula told the Nation.

The election

With Mr Nabulindo's victory, ANC retained the Matungu parliamentary seat. He garnered 14,257 votes in the hotly contested by-election marred by chaos, violence and bribery allegations.

Mr Were came second with 10,555 votes while Alex Lanya, of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), which is associated with Deputy President William Ruto, came third with 5,513 votes.

Twelve politicians vied for the post independently.

The voter turnout was average, with 33,824 out of the 62,386 registered members of the public casting their ballots, translating to a rate of 54.22 per cent.

Nasa wars

Nasa - the National Super Alliance - was formed in January 2017 as an outfit strong enough to defeat President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP Ruto in the General Election.

Its principals - Mr Odinga, Mr Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Mr Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Mr Moses Wetang'ula (Ford Kenya) - have since parted ways for various reasons.

The ANC, Wiper and Ford-Kenya party leaders, as well as Kanu chair Gideon Moi, have now formed the One Kenya Alliance excluding Mr Odinga.

The quartet last Thursday promised to push for the country's "transformative agenda" through the new outfit.

"This alliance is a breath of fresh air from the toxic and divisive politics this country has witnessed in the past," they said in a statement.
: Continuing its steady rise, Tamil



Nadu logged 2,279 new infections on Monday, including one from the UAE,pushing the caseload to 8.81 lakh while 14 more deaths took the toll to 12,684, the health department said.

The number of cases crossed the 1,000 mark on March 19 after an over 80 day gap and went past the 2,000 mark on March 27.

Total recoveries have touched 8,55,085 with 1,352 patients being discharged, leaving 13,983 active cases.

Chennai accounted for most of the new infections with 815 cases, taking the aggregate to 2,47,148.

The metropolis also leads in the number of fatalities with 4,232.

A total of 80,704 samples were tested on Monday, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 1,94,28,501.

Five districts, including Chennai, clocked new infections in triple digits -- Chengalpet 202, Coimbatore 211, Thanjavur 129 Thiruvallur 129, while 23 reported fresh cases in double digits.

Among the 14 deceased, the youngest was a 38 year-old man with 'systemic hypertension', the bulletin said.

Eight people from outside the state, including one from the United Arab Emirates, were among those who tested positive today, it 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.)
There are no statistics for sales of clogs since the start of the pandemic, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the women of Britain went clog crazy during the lockdowns.

I got a pair. My friend got a pair. My neighbour got black ones and someone I work with ordered hers in shiny gold.

Clogs, which have been edging up the fashion charts for more than a year, became the ideal footwear for the moment. Solid. Simple. Comforting and comfortable. In my opinion, the feeling of bare feet on a wooden clog base beats an air-cushioned trainer sole and a Birkenstock cork bed (the other footwear that took off like a rocket last year).

Also clogs, if you remember them well from the 1970s, come with a warm rush of just the right sort of nostalgia; the sort that makes you smile and remember toe socks and denim skirts and corduroy loons and embroidered denim dungarees without the faintest wince of regret.

Shane Watson shares advice for styling and embracing this season's clogs trend and said they are can be paired with pretty midaxi dresses and jumpsuits (Pictured: Alexa Chung wearing clogs)

They are the lovable fashion heroes of our teen years which you can wear now and look just as good  and you cant say the same for gold lame platforms.

And the best news: as of this spring, fashion has refallen in love with clogs and declared them the footwear of the hour. All the top designers  Hermes and Celine, Gucci and Stella McCartney  included them in their summer collections (a first as far as we know).

Clogs were shown on the catwalk with everything from shimmering black dresses to shorts, and can now command handbag prices (680, if youre talking about Celines). Thats part of the fun, too. Everyone can join in this look, no matter what their age or budget.

Naturally, you cant beat the Swedish classics, either Swedish Hasbeens (98, footway.com) or the ones Ive got by Lotta in oiled tan nubuck (39.50, lottafromstockholm.co.uk).

Sandgrens Swedish clogs have rivets rather than staples on the front if you prefer (85, etsy.com) and World of Clogs does a cheaper traditional Swedish clog in red, yellow and gold (29.95, worldofclogs.com)  though the rubber sole is heavier, and these details matter with clogs.

British style expert reveals a selection of designer brands stocking the trend including Stella McCartney and Hermes (pictured: a Hermes model walking the catwalk in clogs for Spring/Summer 2021 show)

Clogs with heels are definitely a thing this season with Stella McCartney showing white, chunky, high-heeled clogs with puffy jumpsuits and little dresses (Pictured: Laura Whitmore wearing high-heeled clogs to a Back To The Future II screening)

Im not sure why youd want clogs in any colour other than tan or black or, at a push, khaki, but you might, and metallic finishes and horse-bit details are big for spring.

Penelope Chilvers black horse-bit style is extra smart for the person who likes their clogs polished (159, penelopechilvers.com), though if heading down the decorative route, Id go for the tan, oiled suede style with a grosgrain military stripe trim (159, penelopechilvers.com).

As for clogs with heels, theyre definitely a thing this season  Stella McCartney showed white, chunky, high- heeled clogs with puffy jumpsuits and little dresses. The message is: if you want to dress up and wear a heel, make it a wooden mule.

CLOGS: THE NEW RULES Keep the base wooden.

Tan is classic, black and khaki are also safe bets.

Wear with bare legs.

This year, clogs go with suits, dresses, everything. Advertisement

All the Swedish brands do clogs with heels  high and medium  and if youre interested in a platform, there are plenty of those, too.

Just be sure theyre comfortable, because thats very much the point. Fitflops platform clogs would be a good place to start (120, fitflop.com).

There are endless clog variations, including ones with slingbacks and open toes. Each to their own, but if youre going to go off-message, youre probably safest with peep-toe sandals from Swedish Hasbeen (96, footway.com).

Theyve been around for several summers (Sarah Jessica Parker rarely wears anything else once the temperature warms up) and work well with dresses and skirts if you want something more feminine.

How are you going to wear your clogs? Well, not all the time. Not on a bicycle, for example. I dont like to drive in them or walk very far, but theyre the perfect at-home shoe to wear with anything, and are set to be summers laid- back accompaniment to pretty midaxi dresses and jumpsuits, as well as providing the finishing touch to your upgraded 2021 Linda McCartney look.

This is the part Im excited about: a denim skirt and clogs; wide-legged jeans and clogs; a midaxi dress and clogs  Lindas 1970s greatest hits, revisited. Im particularly looking forward to the denim skirt look, plus a wide-lapelled blazer or even a tank top; boots would make it smart, clogs will make it fun and perfect for the upbeat mood were in.

Like we said, clogs make everyone happy.
The researchers listed four scenarios in order of likelihood for the emergence of the coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2. Topping the list was transmission from bats through another animal, which they said was likely to very likely. They evaluated direct spread from bats to humans as likely, and said that spread through cold-chain food products was possible but not likely.
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LUDGATE Hub in Skibbereen is proof that any business can be run from rural Ireland with the right connectivity.

The west Cork town launched the countrys first rural remote-working hub in 2016 after local entrepreneurs decided they were sick of seeing students leave for college and never return.

When Vodafone, SIRO and the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) came together to make Skibbereen Irelands first gigabit broadband town, it set in motion a rural revival that exceeded all expectations.

Ludgate Hub has led to 146 new jobs and created a space for up to 75 people to work remotely. The pandemic has led to a demand for more spaces with many people now forced to work from home.

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Weve had a lecturer from University College Cork working here since last September as they had virtually no connectivity in their home, said hub manager Elma Connolly.

Novelists, writers, lawyers and tech workers all avail of the hubs facilities.

The Ludgate team itself is made up of west Corkonians who returned from Dublin, the UK and New York.

Thankfully the Skibbereen they came back to is very different to the one they left. It used to take locals up to a day to download large files for work and running a business there verged on the impossible, but now it contributes millions of euro to the Cork economy every year.

Young people didnt have much to keep them here beforehand, said Daragh Whooley, business expansion lead with Ludgate.

Mr Whooley spent 25 years working in senior management roles before joining Ludgate last September. His jobs often involved a weekly 650km round-trip commute to Dublin from his home in Clonakilty.

He said the pandemic made him reassess what is important in life and as one of the lucky ones who can work remotely, he now has more time for family and for himself.

I have spoken to four people since last Wednesday who are interested in relocating. We have a couple based in Dublin who have been in contact looking to relocate here.

"Its so much more than just a physical hot desk as theres a great sense of community also.

With its high-speed broadband, beautiful scenery and foodie hotspots, Skibbereen shows rural Ireland can thrive with a bit of investment.

The Governments Rural Future Plan, unveiled today, will see some of a 1bn rural regeneration fund used to convert old cinemas, theatres and town halls into 400 remote-working hubs across the country.

In its previous life, the Ludgate building was home to the local cinema and later a bakery. It lay empty for years until local businessman John Field decided to donate it to house the Hub.

They are hoping to announce an opening date for their new premises, which will double their capacity, sooner rather than later. For manager Elma Connolly, Skibbereen offers hope that rural Ireland can survive.

The GAA, youth clubs and businesses have all benefited from remote working. Its an exciting time, she said.

The Governments new five-year rural strategy has been welcomed by business groups, publicans and budding entrepreneurs.

Rural Affairs Minister Heather Humphreys vowed to give people the option of staying in their communities while progressing their careers as for too long Dublin has represented the only option.

The people of Cork werent going to let that continue.




Bengaluru, March 29 : A pub in the northern Bengaluru suburbs has been shut down after 14 of its staff tested Covid positive, an official said on Monday.

"The pub '1522' has been temporarily closed, as it turned into a cluster after 14 of its employees tested Covid positive on Sunday," Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) official L. Suresh told IANS here.

As an epicentre of the pandemic in Karnataka, the city has been in the grip of second Covid wave, with over 2,000 positive cases reported on Sunday.

"Around 87 staffers of the popular pub-cum-eatery were tested as part of our daily exercise to randomly test employees of hotels, restaurants and pubs across the city to check their health status," said Suresh.

The infected staff have been quarantined at their home and are under observation, as they are asymptomatic.

"The pub has been sanitised and sealed to prevent it from turning into a cluster," said Suresh.

The civic body is trying to trace customers who visited the pub over the last couple of days to test and find out how many of them were infected or not.

"We have told the pub owner and staffers to contact as many customers as possible and inform them to take Covid test to ascertain their health status," added Suresh.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bangladesh: Ranks third, globally, in the production of freshwater fish

by Fakhrul Islam

March 29,2021 | Source: Prothom Alo

Despite being small in size and burgeoning in population, over the past 50 years since its independence Bangladesh has managed to overcome all odds to clinch the envious position of being among the worlds top 10 in 13 sectors. This position has been created by the policies and decisions of the consecutive governments as well as the enthusiastic efforts of the people. And notwithstanding innumerable obstacles, the entrepreneurs have created a thriving private sector upon which the economy now stands. And the world watches this amazing economic growth in wonder, owing to the concerted efforts of all concerned. In some areas, Bangladeshs name comes immediately after China and India. And in some cases it even surges ahead of China and India to emerge at the top. Data and information from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Department of Agricultural Extension, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) department reveal Bangladeshs position among the top 10 in the world in 13 different areas.



Fourth in rice production



Rice is the staple food of Bengalis. When the population was 75 million after independence, there was a food shortage in the country. Food grains had to be imported. Now even though cropland has shrunk in area, Bangladesh is now self-sufficient in rice production. According to the US department of agriculture, in the 2019-20 fiscal Bangladesh produced 52.6 million (5 crore 26 lakh) tonnes of rice, the fourth highest production in the world. China ranked first, producing 148.5million (14 crore 85 lakh) tonnes and India drew up second 116.4 million (11 crore 64 lakh) tonnes. In a message on 22 February, Agriculturist Day, the prime minister Sheikh Hasina said, The agro-friendly policies and incentives of the present government and the concerted efforts of the farmers and the agriculturalists, have contributed to achieving food autarky. Land is shrinking in this densely populated country. Even so, the increase in agricultural production has amazed the world.



First in hilsa



Bangladesh produces 86 per cent of the worlds hilsa, that is, 533,000 tonnes. And in all likelihood it will be possible to produce 700,000 tonnes. Even four years ago Bangladesh would produce 65 per cent of the worlds hilsa. India ranks second in producing this fish and Myanmar third. Hilsa is also found in small amounts in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Pakistan.



Second in readymade garments



Bangladesh ranks second in the world in readymade garment exports. In the 2019-20 fiscal, Bangladesh exported readymade garments worth USD27.5 billion (USD 2,750 crore), which is 6.8 per cent of the entire worlds readymade garment exports. China is the top exporter in this sector, accounting for 30.8 per cent of total readymade garment exports globally. Vietnam draws up third, accounting for 6.2 per cent.



Eighth in remittance



Over 10 million (one crore) Bangladeshis live in different countries all around the world. Most of them are migrant workers. They send their hard-earned wages to their families back home. Bangladesh ranks eighth in remittance. Last fiscal this remittance totaled around USD20 billion (USD 2000 crore). In the same fiscal, India earned USD78 billion (USD 7800 crore) in remittance, ranking at the top. China was second with remittance of USD67 billion (USD6700 crore).



Third in vegetables



Bangladesh ranks third in vegetable production, producing 16 million tonnes (1 crore 60 lakh) annually. China is the top vegetable producer in the world and India second. This success and variety in Bangladeshs year-round vegetable production has been possible due to the hybrid and high yield seeds produced by the private companies. Presently 16.2 million (1 crore 62 lakh) farmer families are involved in the production of 60 types of vegetables.



Sixth in potatoes



Bangladesh is now sixth in the world when it comes to potato production. In the year before independence, the country produced 900,000 tonnes and over the past 50 years this has gone up 11 times. According to FAO, last fiscal Bangladesh produced 12 million (1 crore 2 lakh) tonnes. China produces the most potatoes at 91.4 million (9 crore 14 lakh) tonnes and India second with 49.7 million (4 crore 97 lakh).



Second in jackfruit



Globally, 3.7 million (37lakh) tonnes of jackfruit are produced annually, and Bangladesh is the second highest producer of the fruit, producing 1 million (10 lakh) tonnes of the fruit in a year. India produces the highest amount of jackfruit at 1.8 million (18 lakh) tonnes. Indonesia and Thailand come up third and fourth respectively.



Eighth in mangoes



Bangladesh now ranks eighth in mango production. It produces 2.4 million (24 lakh) tonnes of the fruit a year. Ten years ago it was at the tenth position with a mango product of 1,255,000 tonnes. In 2018 it even took the seventh position. India tops the list in mango production, producing 15 million (1.5 crore) tonnes. China is the second. Mangoes are now cultivated all over Bangladesh. Previously the himsagar, gopalbhog, langra and fazli mangoes were grown in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj. Now amrapalli is being extensively grown in the south and southwest districts of the country.



Eighth in guava



Bangladesh produces 10,47,000 (10 lakh 47 thousand) tonnes of guavas a year, placing at eighth position in the world. India comes first with 17.6 crore (1 crore 76 lakh) tonnes a year, and China second with 4.4 million (44 lakh) tonnes. Previously only local guavas would be grown in Bangladesh, but the Thai and Kg variety of guavas brought about a revolution. Bangladesh Agricultural Universitys Germplasm Centre has come up with 10 varieties of guavas. Guavas are mostly grown in the south and southwest districts of the country.



First in jute export, second in production



Bangladesh was once renowned for its jute, the golden fibre. It is now the second largest producer of jute and produces 42 per cent of the worlds jute, at 13,35,000 (13 lakh 35 thousand) tonnes. India produces around 2 million (20 lakh) tonnes, that is, 55 per cent of world production. China comes third with 45,000 tonnes. But Bangladesh ranks at the top in jute exports. It exports 285 types of jute products.



Second in goats milk



After the BJP government came to power in India in 2014, cows no longer came from there to Bangladesh. This resulted in increased livestock farming in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is now self-sufficient in cows and goats. Bangladesh has clinched a position in global livestock rearing. According to the FAO report, Bangladesh is steadily faring well in the number of goats, goat meat and milk production. It ranks second in goats milk production, and fourth in the number of goats and goat meat production. India and China are the top goat producers.



Freshwater fish



Bangladesh ranks third, globally, in the production of freshwater fish. Despite the pitiful state of its rivers and streams, FAO says Bangladesh produces 10 per cent of the worlds freshwater fish. China is first, making up 16 per cent and India second with 14 per cent. According to FAO, by 2022 Bangladesh will be among the four countries in world which will see huge success in fish production. The others are Thailand, India and China. Over the past 10 years, fish production went up by 53 per cent. And fish export went up by 20 per cent.



Second in outsourcing



Educated youth have taken up freelancing and outsourcing as a profession. They take up contractual work for individuals or companies online. There are 600,000 freelancers in Bangladeshs IT sector, which is around 27 per cent globally. That puts Bangladesh in second position. India ranks at the top.

 2021 Prothom Alo.
She kept her marriage to husband Sinisa Mackovic under-wraps for a whole year until announcing their anniversary earlier this month.

But Chloe Sevigny couldn't hide her love for the art gallery director while enjoying a walk around NYC with Sinisa and baby boy Vanja on Monday.

The Kids actress, 46, looked ultra-chic as she donned a fuzzy cheetah-print coat and bell-bottoms to fetch lunch and then ice cream with her family.

Family outing: Chloe Sevigny started her week off on the right foot, seen getting lunch with husband Sinisa Mackovic and son Vanja on Monday

Adding to the fashionable look, Chloe also wore a striped, purple blouse, heeled boots, and little round sunglasses.

But her most high-fashion accessory wasn't part of her outfit, but was the Fendi stroller she pushed Vanja, almost 11-months-old, around in.

Sinisa walked next to the it-girl-turned-actress carrying a small ice cream while clad in a white painter's jacket, blue seersucker shirt, and light khakis.

It looked like they'd indulged in a delicious lunch from Italian eatery Sant Ambroeus, seen with a to-go bag tucked into the stroller's bottom basket.

Cool as can be: The Kids actress, 46, looked ultra-chic as she donned a fuzzy cheetah-print coat and bell-bottoms around Manhattan

Yum: It looked like they'd indulged in a delicious lunch from Italian eatery Sant Ambroeus, seen with a to-go bag tucked into the stroller's bottom basket

Details: Chloe also wore a striped, purple blouse, heeled boots, and little round sunglasses

Chloe and family's day around the Big Apple comes not long after she slyly revealed she and Sinisa had secretly wed in March 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic would transform life around the globe and two-months before welcoming Vanja May 2nd 2020.

The Big Love actress offered a glimpse into their wedding day, sharing a snap of the couple donning mostly black while posing in front of a backdrop of New York City Hall.

'Married on a Monday. March 9th 2020,' Sevigny wrote in the caption, adding: 'Happy one year anniversary my love.'

The New York-native leaned on her love in the snaps, showing off her third-trimester belly in a tight, black longsleeve dress worn with opaque tights and ankle boots.

Happy couple: The Big Love actress revealed she and Sinisa were secretly married last year while celebrating their first anniversary on Instagram March 9th

Exes: This is Sevigny's first marriage. She's previously been in high-profile relationships with filmmaker Harmony Korine (above together in 1996), Vincent Gallo, actor Jason Segal, and Pulp rocker Jarvis Cocker

Adding a simple touch of tradition, she tossed on a gauzy white veil while holding onto a bouquet of white blooms.

Sinsia smiled as he stood at the Gummo star's side, donning a wide-legged suit with his jacket open casually.

This is Sevigny's first marriage.

She's previously been in high-profile relationships with filmmaker Harmony Korine, Vincent Gallo, actor Jason Segal, and Pulp rocker Jarvis Cocker.

Sneak peek: Chloe shared a rare photo with her son Vanja online several weeks ago

In late February Chloe offered another intimate look into her personal life when she shared an adorable snap of her and son Vanja.

The Brown Bunny star was all dolled up in the Polaroid snap as she lovingly cooed at the tot.

Despite being in the comfort of her home, Chloe was runway ready in a patterned silk dress while holding her blonde-haired boy.

Though Chloe and family have chosen to keep many details of their life under-wraps, she did open up to The Cut ahead of her son's arrival, talking about when she learned her child's gender.

Parents-to-be: She and her now-husband Sinisa have chosen to keep much of their relationship and journey to parenthood under-wraps. They're pictured in February 2020 above

'When I found out I was having a boy, I had to wrap my head around that, as I am so girly. I don't even have that many boy friends; all of my friends are girls. I just relate better to girls. I'm like, what the hell am I going to do with a boy?' she shared.

Despite her initial hesitation, she shared that she was 'thrilled and so excited about the whole thing.'

She and her Croatian-born beau have been dating for a little over two years, but she has rarely revealed any information about their relationship.

Sevigny admitted that their pregnancy was not planned in an interview with LA Magazine last year, saying 'It was a real shocker. This was an accident. I didn't think I'd ever have kids. I just acquiesced that it was not going to happen for me.'
A young Syrian refugee carries plastic sheeting for her family's shelter in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.  UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sanchez

On the eve of the fifth Brussels conference for Syria, the United Nations humanitarian, refugee and development chiefs have urged international donors to step up and stand with the millions of people in Syria and the region who depend on lifesaving humanitarian aid and livelihood support after a decade of war.



With the added impact of COVID-19, there is no respite for civilians in Syria. They face increasing hunger and poverty, continued displacement and ongoing attacks. The neighbouring countries host four out of five Syrian refugees worldwide, in what remains the worlds largest refugee crisis, while also trying to address increasing socio-economic challenges for their own nationals.



Today 24 million people need humanitarian or other forms of assistance in Syria and the region. That is four million more than in 2020, and more than at any other time since the conflict began.



Sustained donor financing for the UNs response plans will fund food, water and sanitation, health services, education, child vaccinations and shelter for millions of people living on the brink in Syria. It will also provide cash assistance, job or training opportunities, and other services such as access to primary and secondary education, in conjunction with national systems, to millions in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt.



In 2021, over US$10 billion is needed to fully support Syrians and refugee-hosting communities in need. This includes at least US$4.2 billion for the humanitarian response inside Syria and US$5.8 billion to support refugees and host communities in the region.



UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said: It has been ten years of despair and disaster for Syrians. Now plummeting living conditions, economic decline and COVID-19 result in more hunger, malnutrition and disease. There is less fighting, but no peace dividend. More people need more help than at any point during the war, and children must return to learning. An investment in kindness and humanity is always good but sustaining the basic living standards for people in Syria is also an essential ingredient of sustainable peace. That is in everybody's interest.



UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said: After a decade of exile, refugees hardship has been compounded by the crushing impact of the pandemic, lost livelihoods and education, deepening hunger and desperation. The hard-earned gains weve collectively achieved over years are already at risk. The international community cannot turn their backs on the refugees or their hosts. Refugees and their hosts must get nothing less than our unfaltering commitment, solidarity and support. A failure to do so will be catastrophic for the people and the region.



UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said: It has been 12 months like no other for people across the world. Yet, for refugees from Syria and their host communities in the region, the COVID-19 pandemic hit during a decade-long crisis - stretching them to breaking point. At present, poverty and inequality are skyrocketing as hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs and livelihoods. And countries that host refugees are struggling to provide basic services like healthcare and water. Now, more than ever, the support of the international community is needed to meet life-saving humanitarian needs  and to tackle the acute development emergency that the region now faces.



At last year's conference in Brussels, the international community pledged US$5.5 billion in funding to support humanitarian, resilience and development activities in 2020.

Additional resources

For more information on this topic, please contact:



OCHA:

In Geneva, Jens Laerke, [email protected] , +41 79 472 9750

, +41 79 472 9750 In New York, Zoe Paxton, [email protected] , +1 917 297 1542

UNHCR:

In Amman, Rula Amin, [email protected] , +962 (0)790 04 58 49

, +962 (0)790 04 58 49 In Geneva, Andrej Mahecic, [email protected] , +41 79 642 97 09

UNDP:
An anti-coup protester prepares a Molotov cocktail in a protest against police crackdown in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 28, 2021. Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup. (AP Photo)

Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade they burn to make defense line during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup. (AP Photo)

In this photo provided by Free Burma Rangers, villagers shelter in the open due to airstrikes, Saturday, March 27, 2021, in Deh Bu Noh, in Karen state, Myanmar. Myanmar military jets hit a village in Karen State, on Saturday night, killing a few people and wounding others, according to relief organizations.(Free Burma Rangers via AP)

University students and LGBT groups march against the coup in Dawei, Myanmar March 25, 2021 in this image obtained from social media. Dawei Watch via REUTERS

An anti-coup protester holds a smoke bomb behind makeshift barricade, as the protesters confront police in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 28, 2021.

Young people in Myanmar have experienced democracy before and will continue to risk their lives for it as a result, an Irishwoman living in the country has said.

The woman, who kept her identity anonymous to protect herself, described the current situation in Myanmars largest city, Yangon, which has experienced large levels of unrest since February.

Since the military generals ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, there have been mass protests demanding a return to democracy.

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This weekend we had the annual armed forces day, and normally that would be a large parade kind of showing the might of the Myanmar military, usually held in the capital Naypyitaw, the woman told RTE Radio Ones Morning Ireland.

It also brought a lot of people out on the street to protest on the Saturday, and there was a huge amount of violence and crackdown on those protests.

There was the highest number of deaths yet reported on Saturday, and people as young as five years old were shot dead.

Expand Close University students and LGBT groups march against the coup in Dawei, Myanmar March 25, 2021 in this image obtained from social media. Dawei Watch via REUTERS / Facebook

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Whatsapp University students and LGBT groups march against the coup in Dawei, Myanmar March 25, 2021 in this image obtained from social media. Dawei Watch via REUTERS

She added that many of the young people will continue to protest despite how dangerous it could be.

The young people continue to go out because they have grown up hearing the stories from their parents about what happened in the previous revolutions, and what life was like under the previous dictatorship, she said.

Theyve had about five years under the democratic government - and it wasnt a perfect democracy - but they got a taste of democracy. And that combination is quite dangerous to the military because the young people know what they can have and they are sure that they dont want to go back to what their parents had.

Expand Close In this photo provided by Free Burma Rangers, villagers shelter in the open due to airstrikes, Saturday, March 27, 2021, in Deh Bu Noh, in Karen state, Myanmar. Myanmar military jets hit a village in Karen State, on Saturday night, killing a few people and wounding others, according to relief organizations.(Free Burma Rangers via AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp In this photo provided by Free Burma Rangers, villagers shelter in the open due to airstrikes, Saturday, March 27, 2021, in Deh Bu Noh, in Karen state, Myanmar. Myanmar military jets hit a village in Karen State, on Saturday night, killing a few people and wounding others, according to relief organizations.(Free Burma Rangers via AP)

While she said that there are some members of the military who have defected and switched sides, its a fairly uncommon phenomenon.

There have been small numbers of both police and very few number of soldiers who have defied their orders, she said.

The thing is that those soldiers tend to be based from the more rural parts of the country, the police as well.

And while it can be quite encouraging for the movement its quite ineffective. The most brutal battalions are here in Yangon and theyre not defecting.

You have to remember theres a system of fear and a sort of brainwashing that goes on in the military and to defy orders really is to sign up to an awful future.

Expand Close Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade they burn to make defense line during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup. (AP Photo) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Anti-coup protesters run around their makeshift barricade they burn to make defense line during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup. (AP Photo)

The woman spoke after Saturday became the worst day of violence since the military takeover on February 1.

In a rare joint statement, the defence chiefs of Britain, the US, Australia and other countries in Asia-Pacific and Europe urged Myanmars armed forces and security services to stop using violence against unarmed civilians.

A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting  not harming  the people it serves, the statement read.

It was issued by the defence chiefs of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and US.

The condemnation came as the death toll in the wake of the military coup rose to at least 423, and as the Myanmar embassy in London revealed that it had met the son of the deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is demanding to speak to his detained mother.

In recent weeks, security forces have been using intensifying violence to quell massive public opposition to the military takeover.

The largest number of killings so far took place on Saturday, when indiscriminate violence by armed forces included a one-year-old baby being hit in the eye with a rubber bullet, the deaths of a five-year-boy and at least three teenagers, and the shooting and burning alive of a father of four.

Expand Close An anti-coup protester prepares a Molotov cocktail in a protest against police crackdown in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 28, 2021. Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup. (AP Photo) / Facebook

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Whatsapp An anti-coup protester prepares a Molotov cocktail in a protest against police crackdown in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 28, 2021. Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup. (AP Photo)

Troops opened fire in an area of Mandalay, wounding Aye Ko (40) in the chest, and then put him on a stack of burning tyres, the Myanmar Now news portal reported.

Saturdays 114 deaths across 40 cities and towns drew swift international condemnation. Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said the bloodshed showed that the junta will sacrifice the lives of the people to serve the few. He added: The courageous people [of Myanmar] reject the militarys reign of terror.

But Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the international community needed to do more than issue toughly worded statements.

Myanmars security forces need to be urgently stripped of the weapons, money and resources that enable them to operate, through a global arms embargo and targeted economic sanctions enforced by a UN Security Council mandate, he said.

Defiant protesters were back on the streets yesterday, with demonstrations held in the two biggest cities of Yangon and Mandalay, some of which were again met by force.

Many thousands have been calling for the junta to step down and for the release of Ms Suu Kyi, who has not been seen since the morning of the coup eight weeks ago.

Additional reporting: The Telegraph
The United States has deployed U.S. Army Green Berets to Mozambique to train local troops as the country faces a growing insurgency that has seen children as young as 12 beheaded as well as thousands killed and displaced in the southern African country.

Analysts say this intervention is long overdue with a worsening humanitarian crisis and rise in appalling atrocities. More than 2,600 people have died since 2017 from the fighting and terrorist activity that began in north Mozambique, according to the United Nations.

The U.N. reports the mysterious group of insurgents has committed killing, rape and other atrocities.

The U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were sent to train Mozambican marines for two months to counter the spread of violence by the Islamic extremist group, al-Shabab.

Source:The Christian Post
As Texas was crippled last month by frigid temperatures that killed more than 100 people and triggered widespread blackouts, drilling companies in the states largest oil field were forced to burn off an extraordinary amount of natural gas  on the worst day, an amount that could have powered tens of thousands of homes for at least a year.

The need to intentionally burn off, or flare, an estimated 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas in a single day  a fivefold increase from rates seen before the crisis, according to satellite analysis  came as the states power plants went offline and pipelines froze, so the wells simply had no place to send the natural gas still streaming out of the ground. As a result, the gas had to be set ablaze, fueling towering flames, the highest of which can reach hundreds of feet into the air.

This is clearly one of the highest spikes in flaring ever observed in the Permian Basin, said Mark Omara, a senior researcher at the Environmental Defense Fund who led the analysis, which was based on satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And it could be an underestimate, he said.

The trends were corroborated by Mikhail Zhizhin, a researcher at the Colorado School of Mines, who pioneered the use of satellite observations to measure flaring. There were some uncertainties and limitations to using satellite data, he said: Clouds could obscure the view, for example, and smaller flares, or ones that are lit only for shorter periods of time, could be missed. And calculating volumes of gas needed to be calibrated for specific oil fields.

Still, These are obvious outliers, he said of the flaring volumes seen during the blackout. Its a sizable event.

The findings are the latest example of the consequences of the Texas crisis that are only now becoming clearer. Far more people died in the winter storm  at least 111 people lost their lives, nearly double an earlier estimate  state officials said Thursday. They also underscore the risks of the states heavy reliance on natural gas to generate power, even as some fossil-fuel advocates misleadingly tried to blame frozen wind turbines for the blackouts.

Natural gas was once hailed as a bridge toward renewable forms of energy such as wind or solar, because gas burns more cleanly than oil coal. But in recent years, researchers and environmental groups have raised growing concerns over the climate-change consequences of turning to natural gas.

Flaring is one reason. Burning off unused gas instead of capturing it not only wastes a valuable energy source, it emits carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is the main contributor to climate change.

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.

Many producers in the Permian drill primarily for oil, not natural gas, and therefore simply flare off much of the gas that comes up alongside the oil because they deem it not worth the effort or expense to capture and sell. And the accuracy of flare volume data, which is self-reported by operators, has been difficult to assess.

It is also quite likely that methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure are vastly underestimated, studies have shown, further eroding gass advantage over dirtier-burning coal in the fight against climate change. Methane, the main component in natural gas, is many times more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere. However, all of this also makes reducing emissions from oil and gas production potentially one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to slow the rate of global warming, scientists say.

The Biden administration has made addressing flaring and venting, as well as methane leaks, a priority. One of President Joe Bidens first executive orders committed to reinstating and expanding regulations that the Trump administration had moved to roll back.

Senate Democrats also plan to use an obscure legislative measure to reinstate Obama-era methane rules. Senate Democrats have also introduced a bill that would impose a fee on methane emissions from oil and gas production that also presses companies to eliminate venting and flaring.

Whats not acceptable is to continue to allow this industry to dump millions of cubic feet of toxic natural gas into our atmosphere for free, as if it was their dump, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., one of the bills sponsors, said.

A separate study on emissions trends during the coronavirus pandemic by scientists at the Environmental Defense Fund, Harvard University, and other research institutions, to be published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics in the coming weeks, shows how even a relatively small decline in production could yield substantial emissions reductions.

The researchers, who measured methane emissions using ground, aerial and satellite measurements, found that a 10% slowdown in Permian production during the pandemic resulted in a far bigger, 60% drop in emissions.

The reason for the disproportionate drop, researchers say, is that producers in the Permian have historically produced more gas than the regions facilities can manage, straining the system and resulting in the highest emissions observed from any oil and gas basin in the United States. But a comparatively small drop was enough to relieve that pressure.

It shows that if we reduce production, there are opportunities to reduce emissions even further, said Mary Kang, an assistant professor at McGill University who researches emissions from oil and gas production and was one of the studys co-authors. Its a positive finding.
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Last week, Leon Arron Nopah, 31, of Casa Grande, Arizona, was sentenced by United States District Judge Douglas L. Rayes to 108 months in federal prison. On December 2, 2020, Nopah pleaded guilty to Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence, and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.

The sentence includes a term of 102 months in prison for the three offenses and a consecutive six-month term for violating supervised release in CR-15-1186-PCT-DLR. Nopahs prison sentence will be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.

Between October 1, 2017, and November 19, 2017, Nopah intentionally assaulted his then-girlfriend by pressing a loaded pistol into the side of her head, causing extreme pain and leaving a visible indentation in her temple. The victims young child was present during the incident.

On July 20, 2018, Nopah intentionally assaulted a different girlfriend by striking her head and biting her hand and ear, resulting in serious bodily injuries. This victims minor children were also present during the assault.

Nopah and the two victims are enrolled members of the Colorado River Indian Tribe.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs  Office of Justice Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Covault, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER: CR-19-0021-PCT-DLR; CR-15-1186-PCT-DLR

RELEASE NUMBER: 2021-015_Nopah
OTTAWA  A parliamentary hearing on the federal governments now-dead deal with WE Charity threatened to devolve into chaos on Monday after the Liberals sent a cabinet minister to answer questions on behalf of one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus senior aides.

Members of the House of Commons ethics committee had expected to hear from Trudeaus director of policy Rick Theis after opposition parties used their majority in Parliament last week to demand he appear to answer questions on the WE deal.

Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez instead appeared via teleconference, even though he admitted that he had no direct involvement in the multimillion-dollar agreement to have WE run a federal student grant program last summer.

While the committee ultimately opted to hear what Rodriguez had to say in place of Theis, opposition members repeatedly criticized his testimony over the course of nearly three hours, and accused the Liberals of ignoring Parliaments will and trying to mount a coverup.

The Conservatives suspect the Liberals of steering the deal to WE Charity because of the organization's close links to members of Trudeau's family.

Rodriguez and Liberal committee members in turn accused the opposition of trying to score cheap political points by dragging out the committee's study on WE, suggesting there was little more to learn about how the deal came together.

The stage for a battle was set from the start of the meeting as committee chair Chris Warkentin struggled to keep order while opposition and Liberal members talked over one another, trading barbs and accusations.

Warkentin himself described Rodriguezs appearance on behalf of Theis as an unusual situation given last weeks vote in the Commons for the committee to hear from either the prime minister or several senior political staff members.

Opposition members suggested that while they would hear Rodriguezs testimony, they still intended to call the prime minister or Theis and other senior political staffers to testify at a future date.

Story continues

For his part, Rodriguez accused the opposition parties of trying to use the committee hearing to intimidate and mistreat staff members who work in political offices, and said he was there as a representative for cabinet, which had ultimate responsibility.

He also suggested that he was simply following a precedent set by Stephen Harpers former Conservative government, which refused to let ministerial staff testify at committees in 2010. Harper led a minority government, as Trudeau does now.

Rodriguezs testimony largely repeated what the government has previously said about the decision to have WE administer the $543-million Canada Student Service Grant program before it was cancelled in early July.

That included the assertion that non-partisan civil servants were responsible for selecting the Toronto-based organization founded by Craig and Marc Kielburger to run the grant program.

Rodriguez played down a phone conversation that Theis had with WE on May 5, saying Trudeau's aide had told him the call lasted about 25 minutes and focused on how the charity would ensure the grant program included degrees of diversity and inclusion.

Yet Rodriguez, who said he spoke to Theis on Sunday and Monday in advance of the committee meeting, was unable to answer several questions, including more specifics of the aide's phone conversation with WE in May.

"Youre testifying on his behalf here today, but you claim not to know anything about what he did, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said. And so it's hard to understand what you're able to share.

Rodriguez was also accused at times by opposition members of contradicting some of the thousands of pages of documents produced by the government last summer about the deal.

Rodriguez shot back by accusing Poilievre of cherry-picking from the pages, and suggested the questions being asked at the committee had already been answered during previous testimony.

I think that Mr. Poilievre is looking for information that he already has, he said. And there's nothing new here.

The committee, which has also asked to hear from Trudeaus senior adviser Ben Chin and Amitpal Singh, a senior adviser to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, is scheduled to continue its study on Wednesday.

The deal between the government and WE fell apart last year folllowing questions and concerns about the organizations close ties to members of the prime ministers family, before the student grant program was cancelled entirely.

It also led to the demise of WE Charity's Canadian operations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
One death as hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to fall in South Dakota
An international team of researchers led by a University of Virginia School of Medicine professor is warning that scientists must better prepare for the next pandemic - and has developed a plan to do just that.

An image created by Marcin Minor for the cover of the scientific journal IUCrJ to accompany a new article urging scientists to prepare now for the next pandemic. Image Credit: UVA Health

Noting the "avalanche" of scientific data generated in response to COVID-19, UVA's Wladek Minor, PhD, and colleagues are calling for the creation of an "advanced information system" (AIS) to help scientists integrate, monitor and evaluate the vast amounts of data that will be produced as researchers reveal the molecular architecture of the next pathogen posing a big biological threat. This information on the shape, structure, and function of a pathogen is essential to the development of medications, vaccines and treatments. For example, the COVID-19 vaccines now available target the "spike" protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Their heavily cited online resource for COVID-19 (https:/ / covid-19. bioreproducibility. org/ ) demonstrates the usefulness of their approach and can be used as a foundation for the new research strategy, they say. The site includes carefully validated 3-D structural models of numerous proteins related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including many potential drug targets.

Structural models and other experimental results produced by various laboratories must follow a standard evaluation procedure to ensure that they are accurate and conform to accepted scientific standards. Standardized validation is important for all areas of biomedical sciences, especially for structural models, which are often used as a starting point in subsequent research, such as computer-guided drug docking studies and data mining. Even seemingly insignificant errors can lead such research astray." Wladek Minor, Harrison Distinguished Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, UVA

Battling a pandemic

One important role of AIS would be to identify structures that can be refined and improved, the researchers say. They were happy to note that inspection of the molecular blueprints produced for components of COVID-19 and deposited in the Protein Data Bank online database suggests that most were very good. Less than 1% needed significant reinterpretation and less than 10% could be optimized by moderate revisions.

Still, good buildings require good blueprints. The same is true with vaccines and disease treatments. It's critical, the researchers say, that the structural and other data for pathogens are as accurate as possible, and that scientists from various fields are speaking the same language when discussing and using them. The proposed AIS would help ensure conformity across disciplines.

Almost 100,000 COVID-19-related papers have been published and over a thousand models of macromolecules encoded by SARS-CoV-2 have been experimentally determined in about a year. No single human can possibly digest this volume of information. We believe that the most promising solution to information overload and the lack of effective information retrieval is the creation of an advanced information system that is capable of harvesting results from all relevant resources and presenting the information in instructive ways that promote understanding and knowledge." Wladek Minor

The researchers acknowledge that implementing their proposal would be a major undertaking. Other resources that sought to offer similar benefits on a smaller scale have already come and gone. That's why it's so important, the scientists say, that we act now. "Creating an AIS will undoubtedly require the collaboration of many scientists who are experts in their respective fields, but it seems to be the only way to prepare biomedical science for the next pandemic," the researchers write in a new scientific paper outlining their proposal.

"In the history of humanity, the COVID-19 pandemic is relatively mild by comparison with the bubonic plague (Black Death) that killed a hundred times more people," the researchers conclude. "We might not be so lucky next time."

New approach outlined

The researchers - from UVA, the National Cancer Institute, Poland and Austria -- have detailed their plan in an article in the scientific journal IUCrJ. The article is featured on the journal cover. The research team consists of Marek Grabowski, Joanna M. Macnar, Marcin Cymborowski, David R. Cooper, Ivan G. Shabalin, Miroslaw Gilski, Dariusz Brzezinski, Marcin Kowiel, Zbigniew Dauter, Bernhard Rupp, Alexander Wlodawer, Mariusz Jaskolski and Minor.

In their paper, the researchers gratefully acknowledged the financial support of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences, grant R01-GM132595; the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, grant PN/BEK/2018/1/00058/U/00001; the Polish National Science Center, grant 2020/01/0/NZ1/00134; the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research; FWF (Austrian Science Foundation), grant P 32821; and the Polish National Science Centre, grant 2018/29/B/ST6/01989.

Minor and his longtime collaborator Zbyszek Otwinowski, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, were recently awarded the Tadeusz Sendzimir Applied Sciences Award by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America for their efforts to develop and promote software for biomedical applications in the structural biology field.
DETROIT  It was a busy weekend at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit, which executed two successful helicopter rescue missions.

On Friday, March 26, an aircrew rescued two men stranded in Lake Erie. Their fishing boat had become partially submerged. The search and rescue included the use of a helicopter. The men were hoisted to safety.

The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit used a helicopter to rescue two men from Lake Erie on Friday, March 26, after their fishing boat become partially submerged.U.S. Coast Guard

Watch a video of the rescue here.

On Sunday, March 28, an aircrew was dispatched to a distressed kayaker in the Detroit River. The man was successfully rescued from the water using a helicopter.

The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit used a helicopter to a man who was kayaking on the Detroit River on Friday, March 28.U.S. Coast Guard

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Press Release

March 29, 2021 Villanueva: Roll out ayuda to poor families, displaced workers, in areas under ECQ The Cabinet should quickly roll out the "ayuda to the poor" which Malacanang guaranteed last week as forthcoming in areas under enhanced community quarantine, Senator Joel Villanueva said today. "That will also be in compliance with the President's order," Villanueva said in a statement. "Ang mahigpit na pangangailangan ng mga tao ngayon ay ibang klaseng ECQ, o Emergency Cash sa Quarantine." "Quarantine is an imposed economic calvary. Penitensya ng mga tao. Dalangin ko po na mabawasan ang kanilang hirap," Villanueva said. The quarantine in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna, which has limited mobility and shuttered shops, will lead to income loses for breadwinners many of whom had already taken pay cuts or agreed to fewer work days. Villanueva said it is not an exaggeration to say that rice pots in millions of households have gone empty. He said the top-to-bottom infrastructure - human and IT - in downloading cash aid to 18 million families in the nationwide aid registry is in place. Self-rated hunger plagued 23 million Filipinos or 1 in 5 according to the results of a Social Welfare Station poll in November last year, "a number that will surely go up due to the spike in food prices," Villanueva said. Lockdowns have also taken a toll on jobs with some four million unemployed, according to a government count issued in January, but a survey in the middle of last year came up with 27.3 million jobless, or four times the official figures. Villanueva said "a conservative opening salvo" of granting 15 million families a P5,000 cash aid each will cost P75 billion, "which can be put together from within the current budget and from loans." The President has the power to augment expenses by pooling funds from non-essentials in the GAA, Villanueva said. "Kung kukuhanin po yan sa utang, itong P75 billion ay 3% ng P2.74 trillion na inutang natin last year. Yang P75 billion, 10 araw lang na loans," Villanueva said. Two rounds of emergency amelioration were granted under the Bayanihan Laws I and II which Congress passed last year to finance the government's pandemic response. Under the first Bayanihan law, cash aid of P5,000 to P8,000 to 18 million poor families a month for two months was authorized. Senators and congressmen later discovered in the course of their oversight hearings that about P41 billion, or 26 percent, of the P165 billion worth of funds under Bayanihan 2 has yet to be disbursed.
Nepal's veteran communist leader Bishnu Bahadur Manandhar died on Monday at the age of 91.

He was admitted to Patan Hospital after suffering from various diseases including pneumonia.

Manandhar had served as the general secretary of the Nepal Communist Party United for the past 26 years. He was the central committee member of Communist Party of Nepal during 1959.

He had been actively involved in Nepals democratic struggle and also associated with the communist movement of the country for the past six decades. However, he did not serve any public post though remained active in politics throughout his life.

He is survived by a son and three daughters. His son Sunil Manandhar, a former environment minister, is the central committee member of Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre.

The final rites of Manandhar would be performed on Tuesday at Pashupati Aryaghat on the bank of Bagmati river. Senior communist leaders as well as top leaders of other political parties of Nepal are expected to attend the event.
Three patients who had made a recovery from COVID-19 tested positive again when self-isolating at home in northern Vietnam, according to local health authorities.

The three live in Luong Tai District, Bac Ninh Province, the provincial Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said on Sunday.

They retested positive for the novel coronavirus on March 25, the committee said in a report.

The three had tested negative three times in a row before being discharged from the hospital and being required to self-isolate at home for two more weeks.

The patients are being monitored at the Bac Ninh General Hospital.

There is no risk of community transmission from the three as they have strictly followed guidelines on self-isolation, the committee said.

Health workers have fumigated their homes and taken other safety measures.

Local authorities are calling on residents to wear a face mask in public, sanitize hands frequently, keep a distance in social interactions, declare health status, and avoid crowded places.

Vietnam recorded zero coronavirus cases on Monday morning, with the national tally standing at 2,591 and recoveries reaching 2,308, according to the Ministry of Healths data.

The country has registered 1,603 local infections so far, including 910 since January 27.

Thirty-five patients have died, most having suffered serious comorbid health conditions.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

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America's Covert Border War

The Untold Story of the Nation's Battle to Prevent Jihadist Infiltration

PB, 320 pgs. US$19.99

ISBN: 1642937258 MSM ignores huge successful border effort against terrorism By Rachel Alexader

You dont hear much about whats going on behind the scenes to stop terrorists from coming over the border. Certainly, much of it is classified, because it might compromise sources and methods used to intercept plots. But the left wants you to think there isnt much of a threat, its just hype meant to justify strict border laws that keep out Hispanic illegal immigrants. They ridiculed President Trump for bringing it up, feigning professional outrage. They deny that possible terrorists, identified as SIAs or Special Interest Aliens, are crossing the southern border. Fortunately Professor Todd Bensman, a counterintelligence expert who covered national security as a journalist, has written a book revealing this secret work, Americas Covert Border War: The Untold Story of the Nation's Battle to Prevent Jihadist Infiltration. He asks why our political leadership on both sides of the aisle set in place an extensive counterterrorism enterprise on the southern border if there was no threat. Due to heightened security measures taken after 9-11, terrorists have turned to coming in through the U.S.-Mexico border instead of flying. Bensman discusses how terrorists have been getting into Europe in large numbers, using Europes overwhelmed asylum systems, which arent that different from ours. Once given asylum, instead of being grateful, some of the new immigrants begin plotting attacks against their host countries. Due to the EUs lax migration laws, terrorists have been able to quickly move from country to country. Bensman goes over so many terrorist attacks there your eyes glaze over; it is too much to comprehend. He refutes the notion that low numbers of terrorists and casualties means a low threat, pointing to a RAND study that found additional impacts on trade, investment, related victims and the economy. This had an effect on voting in Europe, leading to election wins for the parties that campaigned against the lax policies. Several of the countries started restricting their border policies beginning in 2016, namely Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. It contributed to Britain leaving the E.U. in BREXIT. Here is the irony: The reason there have been so few terrorist attacks from SIAs crossing our southern border is because this secretive counterterrorism enterprise is in place. The more the left clamors about racism, the more the efforts are secretized. And because attacks are thwarted, they dont make headlines. Compounding the problem is that the number of SIAs who show up on U.S. terror watch lists is classified. Same with the number of Known or Suspected Terrorists, or KSTs. DHS lumps them in one category called OTM, Other Than Mexican, and then when it issues lists publicly, only includes Chinese, Central Americans and Indians. What people dont know is the numbers of SIAs coming into the country have tripled since 2007, thousands per year. A Cato Institute study found that they have quadrupled. A second prong of this counterterrorism is fighting it outside our borders. A significant effort is being made, but The American public knows almost nothing of these distant activities. Bensman explains that the reason the focus is on our southern border and not our northern border with Canada is not due to racism, but due to the simple fact its much more difficult for terrorists to fly into Canada. Its far easier for them to sneak into Mexico or Central America. When caught, many are merely deported. Its hard to track SIAs from Somalia and Libya and put them on watch lists, because their governments are so chaotic many citizens lack birth certificates. Some governments refuse to work with the U.S., including Sudan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela. Some SIAs lie to get political asylum. Mohammad Ahmad Dhakane from Somalia made up a story about how he was persecuted for being a Christian. In reality, he was a senior terrorist group insider, trained as a guerrilla fighter in all the usual armaments who had likely derived the granular details of his bogus asylum story from atrocities he himself had perpetrated on others. An FBI agent complained to Bensman, You interview them, run every database possible, fingerprints, watch lists, check their stories.... Could we be fooled? Of course. One chapter is devoted to the smugglers, known as SIA smuggling kingpins. Very few are caught and prosecuted; only 25 since 2001. They are usually motivated by profit, not jihad ideology. They charge $35,000-$50,000. The money goes for things like paying off police on the way. The stories about smugglers are fascinating and worth reading alone, they sound straight out of a movie. Bensman flew all over the world tracking down sources for firsthand information. Corrupt government officials aid the smugglers. For example, in Honduras, officials in rural areas of the country sell identification papers to smugglers. Mexico isnt likely to deport SIAs because it is difficult to secure diplomatic agreements with the home countries and the plane tickets are expensive. Bensman provides a lengthy list of solutions. What people dont realize is few of Trumps border crackdown measures affected SIAs. These counter-infiltration projects have languished without any audit or evaluation. Implementing this is a priority. We must consider ways to heighten the self-interest so that these countries might actually want to police their foreign consulates and embassies. He says the U.S. should substantially increase security assistance, humanitarian development aid, and training program packages to the six key transit countries: Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Guatemala, and Mexico in order to coerce them into assisting. Another key aspect to resolving the problem is increasing the penalties and detention lengths for SIAs. Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, things are just going to get worse as Democrats reverse tough policies. Even if Republican governors refuse to accept Syrian war refugees and others, they can still go apply for asylum at the border. With the numbers of SIAs crossing the border about to increase even more, it is a pot of water about to boil over.



Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications.mericano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home
And yet, Mr. Lander may be the candidate with the most to lose from Mr. Johnsons entry.

Mr. Lander has been planning a run for comptroller since shortly after he was re-elected to the City Council in 2017. He is a co-founder of the City Councils progressive caucus who wrote of his privilege as a white man. He was recently endorsed by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and he might be the only person in New York City who speaks gleefully of having met recently with every living former city comptroller.

His plans to use the office to address climate change and ensure an equitable recovery from the pandemic earned him early endorsements from unions, progressive groups and politicians such as Representative Jamaal Bowman and Tiffany Caban, a candidate for the City Council who nearly pulled off a long-shot campaign for Queens district attorney.

But at least two endorsements that Mr. Lander was expecting were withheld after Mr. Johnsons announcement.

Mr. Lander has responded with an aggressive effort to counter Mr. Johnson. His campaign released a list of endorsements from transportation advocates, some of whom had previously supported Mr. Johnson for mayor. One of Mr. Johnsons signature proposals as speaker was a master plan to upgrade city streets, bike lanes and pedestrian spaces, which the City Council approved in 2019. In early March, Mr. Lander unveiled a list of endorsements from leaders in the L.G.B.T.Q. community. Mr. Johnson is openly gay.

The day after Mr. Johnson announced his candidacy, Mr. Lander campaigned in Mr. Johnsons Council district in Hells Kitchen.

Attention to the race is good, Mr. Lander said, while soliciting petitions to get on the ballot. This is a very high-stakes moment for the city. We need leaders who have shown up for this crisis and are prepared for the job.

Part of Mr. Johnsons difficulties last summer followed the City Councils failure to cut $1 billion from the Police Department budget and shift the money toward social services, as he had promised to do in the wake of the protests spurred by the killing of George Floyd.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2021 / CANAQUEST MEDICAL CORP (OTC PINK:CANQF) (the "Company" or "CanaQuest"), a Life Science/Pharmaceutical Company developing health products utilizing cannabinoid molecules and other botanical compounds (pharmaceutical grade), today announced it has been awarded the International CBD Life Science R & D Excellence Award 2020 by Global Health & Pharma, United Kingdom, a global information sharing platform & multi-disciplinary members community.

About Global Health & Pharma Awards:

When it comes to handing out recognition and awards, we believe there are few more deserving than those whose dedication changes the lives of millions of people every day. Our awards recognize innovation and courage in all aspects of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, including practitioners, scientists, nurses, architects, product designers, legal specialists and corporate decision makers. We believe all these roles are responsible for the life-changing innovations we see daily. To learn more, please visit https://www.ghp-news.com/awards/healthcare-pharmaceuticals-awards/.

About Global Health & Pharma:

GHP is a global information sharing platform & multi-disciplinary members community established to enhance communication & collaboration across Human, Animal and Environmental Health. Global Health & Pharma Magazine is the go-to resource on developing issues in healthcare and pharmaceuticals for over 260,000 wellness professionals and healthcare-related suppliers across four continents. Our informed readership includes individuals at all levels of their respective industries, from CEOs to healthcare professionals, nurses and support service workers.

For more information on Global Health & Pharma, visit https://www.ghp-news.com/about-us/.

About CanaQuest Medical Corp:

CanaQuest Medical Corp is a Life Science/Pharmaceutical Company developing health products utilizing cannabinoid molecules and other botanical compounds (pharmaceutical grade). The Company is the industry partner for research and product development with Dr. Steven Laviolette, a professor and neuroscientist, who has 20 years of research experience in the field of mental health, and cannabinoids, and oversees a team of 13 scientists at Western University. The Company's research is focused on the use of cannabinoids for the development of novel pharmacotherapies for mental health, such as anxiety, depression, addiction, schizophrenia, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder "PTSD". CanaQuest has identified the regulatory pathways to obtain Drug Identification Numbers (DINs) for its two Master Formations, MentanineRx and MentabinolRx in Canada and the USA.

Story continues

As well, CanaQuest will be selling both products through its wholly-owned subsidiary, ADC BioMedical Corp, which was awarded a Cannabis Medical Sales, Import/Export License, from Health Canada under the Cannabis Act. Licenced GMP Contract Manufacturers in Canada and the USA, capable of formulating, processing, and packaging, have been selected for production and distribution. The Company won the Go Global Awards, 2019, "Business of the Year - Category of Life Science," presented by the International Trade Council.

For a short video on the research, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_D4wkHHbDg.

For more information on CanaQuest, visit http://www.canaquest.com.

CanaQuest Medical Corp.

CANAQUEST CONTACT:

Paul Ramsay, Co-Founder & President

CanaQuest Medical Corp

paul@canaquest.com

Tel.: 416-704-3040

SOURCE: CanaQuest Medical Corp.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/637829/CanaQuest-Medical-Corp-Honored-With-International-CBD-Life-Science-R-D-Excellence-Award-2020-by-Global-Health-Pharma




Celeb Spellcheck has returned to Instagram with a bang, nine days after wiping its page and going on hiatus.

The notorious 'snark' account, which is run by an anonymous user believed to be Melbourne PR worker in her twenties, reinstated its archive of content on Monday before adding a brand new post.

In true Celeb Spellcheck form, its new post took aim at a sponsored video posted by Married At First Sight's Jessika Power.

Sorry, influencers! Celeb Spellcheck returned to Instagram on Monday nine days after after wiping its page and going on hiatus, uploading a post that poked fun at Married At First Sight's Jessika Power (pictured)

The clip showed Jessika washing her face with a towel, before the camera cuts to a close-up of the reality star revealing her freshly-cleansed skin.

However, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the blonde seemed to still be wearing makeup by the end of her 'face-washing' routine.

'This towel applies your makeup between shots. Pure magic,' Celeb Spellcheck mockingly captioned the video.

Hmm! The clip showed Jessika washing her face with a towel, before the camera cuts to a close-up of Jessica revealing her freshly-cleansed skin. However, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the blonde seemed to still be wearing makeup by the end of her 'face-washing' routine

Snarky: 'This towel applies your makeup between shots. Pure magic,' Celeb Spellcheck mockingly captioned the video

In a comment, the account also wrote: 'Homer's makeup gun 2.0' - a reference to The Simpsons episode where Homer invents a gun that shoots makeup.

The post has been viewed almost 84,000 times in the few hours since it was posted online, with fans eagerly posting comments celebrating Celeb Spellcheck's triumphant return.

'We're back baby!' one enthused, while another added: 'Andddd we are back in action!'

Why defamation law won't stop Australia's most notorious Instagram account: Speaking to the Outspoken podcast on Monday, employment and media lawyer John Laxon (pictured) explained that it's very difficult to prosecute someone hiding behind an anonymous Instagram account

Celeb Spellcheck has built up a huge following over the past year by correcting the bad spelling of influencers and reality stars.

They've also posted salacious gossip at times, recently sharing a video of former Bachelor star Laurina Fleure snorting powder off a counter top during a party.

The admin has also accused model Steph Claire Smith of having a breast enlargement and questioned mummy blogger Sophie Cachia's movements during Melbourne's COVID-19 lockdown.

Not a fan: The Bachelor's Laura Byrne (pictured) recently said she was 'disappointed' by Celeb Spellcheck and accused the anonymous administrator of 'push[ing] the boundaries' and even venturing into 'criminal' territory

As a result of its content, several influencers and reality stars have publicly condemned the account and accused it of 'bullying'.

However, a top Sydney lawyer has claimed that successfully suing an account like Celeb Spellcheck for defamation would be almost impossible.

Speaking to the Outspoken podcast on Monday, employment and media lawyer John Laxon explained that it's very difficult to prosecute someone hiding behind an anonymous Instagram account.

Celeb Spellcheck explained Celeb Spellcheck began a few years ago as an account making fun of Instagram models' poor spelling, but has since become a platform for holding influencers to account for their lies and irresponsible behaviour. The profile is also a hub for user-submitted gossip about influencers. Celeb Spellcheck has attracted criticism in recent months, with the likes of Tayla Damir accusing the page of 'bullying'. Advertisement

'[Social media platforms] aren't ever going to volunteer who's behind [accounts like Celeb Spellcheck]. You need to use court procedures to compel the platforms to tell you,' he said.

'It's really difficult when you're up against multinational platforms like Google or Facebook,' he added, adding that such legal proceedings are both very expensive and time-consuming.

Even if you manage to identify the anonymous user behind accounts like Celeb Spellcheck, they may not even be worth suing if they don't have any assets, Mr Laxon added.

'What if it's a teenager operating out of their bedroom?' Even if you manage to identify the anonymous user behind accounts like Celeb Spellcheck, they may not even be worth suing if they don't have any assets, Mr Laxon added. Pictured: Stock image

'What if it's a teenager operating out of their bedroom? There's no point suing someone who has no assets, because you're not going to be able to get anything out of them when you do,' he said.

Mr Laxon also pointed out another challenge - proving that the post is actually defamatory (in that it would harm someone's reputation) and also untrue.

If post is true it can't be defamatory, so it stands to reason that simply reposting someone else's typos may not fall under the definition of defamation.

Scandal: Celeb Spellcheck recently posted a video of Bachelor star Laurina Fleure (pictured) snorting a white powder at a party

'So, assuming that you've identified the person, then you need to be absolutely sure that you've been defamed and that what they've published is defamatory and untrue,' he said.

'If a publisher is easily going to be able to rely on the truth defence, a person would be crazy to sue in defamation,' he said.

Mr Laxon noted that a 'photo typically speaks for itself', so simply reposting an undoctored image or video of a celebrity would fall under the 'truth' defence.

Transformation: The admin has also accused model and influencer Steph Claire Smith (above, in two photos taken years apart) of having a breast enlargement

In January, Celeb Spellcheck revealed that a celebrity once tried to sue her for defamation for uploading a video of them 'taking drugs', insinuating that the celebrity's attempt was unsuccessful.

'They said it was her 'acne medication' lol,' she added wryly,

On March 20, Celeb Spellcheck shocked its loyal followers by deleting its archive of content following a wave of backlash from influencers and reality stars.

In a message to their 144,000 followers on March 20, the admin shut down rumours they were facing lawsuits or that their identity was on the brink of being exposed.

Wiped: On March 20, Celeb Spellcheck shocked its loyal followers by deleting its archive of content following a wave of backlash from influencers and reality stars

Instead, they said they were taking a break to figure out the future of the account.

After ensuring fans they were 'completely fine', the account's owner explained their sudden decision to wipe the profile.

The person behind the account admitted they were considering whether or not to reveal their identity and if they should monetise the page or not.

They also said they were pondering whether to 'dabble in gossip' moving forward.
A 42-year-old father who sent his estranged 17-year-old daughter sickening text messages begging her to have sex with him has avoided jail.

The man from Logan, Queensland, won't spend a day behind bars after being sentenced at the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday.

The court heard the father was high when he sent a string of text messages to the girl, who he had barely seen in the ten years since splitting with her mother.

A father who begged his daughter for sex over text messages has avoided jail

The disturbing texts in October 2019 started with an offer of a full body massage and then escalated as the man said he would show his daughter 'how the bird and the bees work' and 'how to be a good girl for daddy'.

He continually tried to locate the child while texting her things such as, 'It will be that good you won't want to stop' and 'I want to massage and touch you sensually and you won't want me to stop, I know it.'

'Father and daughter sex is the best sex anyone can have,' he wrote, according to Albert and Logan News.

The man told his seventeen-year-old 'father and daughter sex was the best sex' (Stock)

The Queensland man was sentenced at the Beenleigh Magistrates Court (pictured)

The young woman reported the messages to Gratton police station on November 2, 2019 and her father was picked up in December that year.

He was charged with using a carriage service to send messages reasonably considered to be menacing, harassing or offensive.

The man pleaded guilty but his lawyer said he didn't recall sending the texts because he was under the influence of heavy drugs.

The lawyer said it was not 'the sort of person' the man was and he did not intend to follow through with the suggestions of sex.

The man was given a $3000 good behaviour bond and will be on probation for two years.
The mayor of a small Alberta border town says semi-trailers rolling through the community serve as a constant reminder of the pandemic's effect on the lives of community members.

Jim Willett, mayor of the Village of Coutts, Alta., poses for a photo on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. He says semi-trailers rolling through the community serve as a constant reminder of the pandemic's effect on the lives of residents. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Rossiter

The mayor of a small Alberta border town says semi-trailers rolling through the community serve as a constant reminder of the pandemic's effect on the lives of community members.

It's almost like somebody just erased a year, says Jim Willett, the mayor of Coutts.

The world's longest undefended border was first shut down on March 21, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic tightened its grip. It was the first such closure since Confederation in 1867.

The land crossing at Coutts and Sweet Grass, Mont., is one of the busiest between Canada and the United States. The lives of many people in the area straddle the two countries.

They kind of grew up as the same place and somebody drew a line down the middle, says Willett.

The border serves as an important economic driver for nearby communities, so COVID-19 has hurt. Willett says the duty-free store had to lay off most of its staff. The towns bar was closed and has recently been sold.

Sports leagues that played on both sides, including a widely popular darts league in Montana, have shrunk significantly.

But Willett says requirements to isolate upon return to Canada have helped some businesses.

The guy in the motel is happy because he has all his rooms booked.

The border closure has also separated families. When a nursing home in Shelby, Mont., was hit by COVID-19, many of those who died had strong connections to Coutts. Nobody could go and pay respects.

A place along the border with a chain-link fence has become a meeting spot. People bring coffee and chairs, sit along either side and catch up as border guards watch. Willett says he heard about a wedding happening through the fence.

Closing the border has also made people in Coutts a lot closer, Willett says, because they've been forced to spend time more time in their home community.

People kind of look around and realize what they have, the mayor says. It's good in that way. We are finding positives.

In similar communities across the country, the relationship with their U.S. neighbours drastically changed when the border closed to most travellers last March.

Every person near the border crossing in southern Manitoba has been affected in some way, says Emerson-Franklin Reeve David Carlson. Some people have lost jobs and others, especially seniors, have felt the isolation brought on by restrictions.

But Carlson says being a small town is also an advantage in dealing with the pandemic.

When rinks closed, people pushed snow off ponds and laced up their skates. There was a community effort to make sure to look after each other. And, when people spend too much time at home, there are lots of places to explore outdoors without worrying about running into anyone.

This has been tough on everybody. It's been tough on businesses. It's been tough on people's mental well-being, Carlson says. But they are a really resilient bunch.

In Amherstburg, Ont., many people are still crossing the border because they are considered essential workers in Detroit.

The community, a short drive from the Windsor-Detroit border crossing, has had high rates of infections, some of which are linked to that commute.

Aldo DiCarlo, the towns mayor, says it means people are wary about the border opening any time soon.

"There have to be some checks and balances about who is crossing and what safeguards have been put in place, so that we aren't bringing COVID in from a whole other country.

For months after the border closed the community was like a ghost town, DiCarlo says, but the citizens of Amherstburg decided to make the best of a challenging situation.

Some streets downtown were closed to traffic last summer to allow businesses and restaurants to safely bring in customers, the mayor says. That's being planned for this year as well.

It gave people an opportunity to get out and experience at least some semblance of normalcy, albeit distancing, DiCarlo says.

But at least you saw people moving around again.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2021.
Following previous reports about the 2022 Honda Civic's upcoming color designs, the latest leaks surrounding the car revealed its exterior. In fact, a tipster on Instagram showed legitimate photos of the vehicle.

2022 Honda Civic Leaked Exterior Designs

The tipster on Instagram shared photos of the upcoming 2022 Honda Civic car. The images showed the cleaner, mature look from the 2022 model, with new wheel designs different from the China model. The Honda car also featured slim headlight clusters, but it has front fog lights unlike the prototype.

Sporting a white and silver finish (officially called Platinum White Pearl and Lunar Silver Metal), the leaked 2022 Honda Civic photo reminds the fans of the prototype photos from November last year. The overall design is smoother than before, with its sleek new grille design and headlights to give a sporty-looking bumper. The unique beltline behind the backdoor is a also neat design element for the 11th-generation.

Also Read: 2017 Honda Civic Type R Has Come Out

Carbuzz reported that the 2022 Honda Civic leaked images show a conservative design. The publication also noted that the car would look good in more adventurous colors than those shown in the images. The one in the photos is US-spec Civics, and it will be different from the China an.K. models.

Meanwhile, Autoevolution noted that the 2022 Honda Civic has a bit of the Accord from the front design, a Corolla-inspired design at the back, and a swept-back roofline that makes the design a whole.

2022 Honda Civic Specs

Moto1 shared that the 2022 Honda Civic will have a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, while the 1.5-liter turbo engine will be an available upgrade. The 2022 Civic model will also reportedly feature a variable transmission that is only the gearbox of choice.

Meanwhile, Honda has teased the interior of the 2022 Honda Civic having a minimalistic design, but it will be updated to modern standards of today's car technology to keep up with its competitors. Besides that, the company has stated that it will reveal the 2022 Civic model in the first quarter of this year, giving them six days to fulfill their promise.

Besides the features listed above, the 2022 Honda Civic will improve the" Advanced Compatibility Engineering" body structure that better helps passenger and pedestrian collision protection. This feature will distribute collision energy evenly and redirect it away from the passenger compartment while simultaneously minimizing damage to other impacted vehicles.

Returning 2022 Honda Civic Cars Models

Autoevolution also noted that the 2022 Honda Civic Sedan will be accompanied by a five-door hatchback this year and that it will be manufactured by the company's facility in Greensburg, Indiana.

Simultaneously, Honda did not state that the 2022 Honda Civic will have a Type-R variant in the U.S., but there is a high chance that it will have a Type-R since it has added a 2.0-liter for the 11th-generation car. The Civic Si will also return to the 2022 Honda Civic line-up after being pulled from the 2021 iteration.

Related Article: 2022 Honda Civic Exterior Specs Leaked--Improved Body Structure Teased!
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.
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Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Once called a madman and laughed at by members of his community, an Indonesian man is now being hailed as a hero after spending a quarter of a century covering 250 hectares of barren hillsides around his home with banyan and ficus trees.

The story of Sadiman, the Indonesian man who singlehandedly brought a forest back to life, began in the early 1990s, but the problem he helped fix can be traced back to the 1960s. It was then that great forest fires ravaged the forests on the southern slope of Lawu Mountain, in Central Java, turning hundreds of hectares state-owned pine forest to ash and leaving barren hills in their place. For decades dozens of villages in the Regency of Wonogiri battled draughts and famine, until an unlikely hero took it upon himself to bring back the forest and create a better life for him and his community.

Sadiman, a cattle farmer in his mid 40s, was the first to realize that it was the lack of plant life around his village that was causing draughts and made access to fresh water so difficult. Unfortunately, for a long time he was the only one to pay attention to this problem, as neither authorities or any of the locals cared to do anything about it. Worse still, people started calling him crazy for even trying to make a difference, as they considered his efforts futile.

To be fair, the idea that a single person could bring hundreds of hectares of forest back to life does sound crazy, but weve seen it happen in various places around the world numerous times. And Sadiman did in fact become a celebrated local hero, only it took over a decade for that to happen.

When Sadiman first started spending his own money on banyan saplings, sometimes even trading the cattle he reared for young trees, people dubbed him a madman. They just couldnt understand why anyone would do something like that, and some even thought that the trees harbored spirits. But despite the opposition and constant mockery of his peers, Sadiman was relentless in his mission.

The Indonesian farmer spent every day planting banyan and ficus saplings in the barren hills around his village. He knew that these two species were very good at retaining water, and was convinced that enough plant life could put an end to the droughts. And he was right

Its estimated that Sadiman singlehandedly planted over 11,000 trees over 25 years, but it took about a decade for his work to bear fruit. As the thousands of sapling he planted matured, other plant-life started developing in the area, and soon sprigs started popping up where once there was just barren, sun-scotched land.

Whereas farmers in the Regency of Wonogiri were once limited to a single harvest a year, due to water shortages, the abundant water sources that Sadimans forest created now guarantee two, even three harvests a year.

As the rains started falling more frequently and people finally understood the purpose of the trees, Sadiman was a madman no longer, but a hero worthy of praise and celebration. He received Kalpataru, the highest award for an Indonesian citizen in preserving the environment, from the Government, and the Kick Andy Heroes award in 2016.

Over the years, the lush 25-hectare forest became known as Hutan Sadiman or Sadimans Forest, and became one of the most popular destinations for nature tourism in Indonesia. It has since inspired several other mass tree plantations in the area, and remains a symbol of what can be achieved through dedication and perseverance, even by a single person.

Sadimans story is very similar to that of other incredible eco-warriors we have featured in the past, people like the Satyendra Gautam Manjhi, who singlehandedly turned a wasteland into a 10,000-tree orchard, or photographer and conservationist Aditya Singh, who turned a patch of barren land into a green sanctuary for tigers. And who could forget Ma Sanxiao, a double amputee who planted over 17,000 trees?
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 12:54:40|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- About 149,000 individuals involved in organized and gang-related crimes were arrested while 230,000 such individuals have been prosecuted in China since 2018, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Monday.

To ensure that all arrests and charges are sufficiently supported by evidence, and to prevent wrongful convictions, procuratorial departments disapproved arrests of 11,237 individuals and withdrew the charges of 2,814 after reviewing evidence during this period, SPP statistics showed.

Since China started a special task of cracking down on organized crimes in early 2018, procuratorial departments across the country have targeted such illegal activities in employment, real estate, medicine and transportation, as well as other sectors that concern the public. Enditem
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China's CanSino says vaccine order talks underway with Europe

Xinhua) 16:49, March 29, 2021

Small bottles labeled with a "Vaccine COVID-19" sticker and a medical syringe are seen in this illustration taken April 10, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING -- CanSino Biologics Inc said the firm is in talks with a number of European countries about orders for its COVID-19 vaccine, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Hungary has granted emergency use authorization for the inoculation, making CanSino the second China-developed COVID-19 vaccine approved in the European country, said Hungarian Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Muller on Monday.

"We are considering extending our regulatory footprints and Europe is definitely in the cards," the report quoted Pierre Morgon, Cansino's senior vice-president in charge of its international business, as saying.

European purchases of the CanSino shot would mark a significant breakthrough in the global rollout of Chinese COVID vaccines, the report added.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Hongyu)

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 29, 2021) - Gen III Oil Corporation (TSXV: GIII) (OTCQB: ISRJF) (FSE: PN41) ("Gen III" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has engaged Koch Project Solutions, LLC ("KPS") to provide project execution management services leading up to turnkey delivery of its new facility in the U.S. Gulf Coast ("USGC"). KPS will lead Gen III's world class engineering, construction and licensed vendor teams (PCL Industrial Construction Ltd., Koch Modular Process Systems and Process Dynamics Inc.) through the completion of detailed design, construction, commissioning, and start-up.

The USGC re-refinery is one of three North American projects currently being advanced by Gen III. Robust engineering and blue-chip project execution for Gen III's innovative re-refineries will be paramount to our success. KPS intends to wrap all elements of project delivery under its leadership providing Gen III with a single point of responsibility for engineering, construction, commissioning and start-up. The first phase of the KPS engagement is under way and we look forward to fast tracking project execution with KPS leading our team.

There are over 1.6 billion gallons of used lubricating oils generated in North America every year, of which only 1.1 billion gallons are collected. Half of the collected oils are burned as plant fuels and the remaining oil is more likely to end up in illegal disposal methods. The DOE has emphasized to Congress there needs to be a systemic change in how this toxic waste is handled:

https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/12/f81/Used%20Oil%20Management%20and%20Beneficial%20Reuse%20Options%20to%20Address%20Section%201.%20E....pdf

Gen III's USGC facility will clean and process over 78 million US gallons of used lubricating oils per year. By providing an additional 5,600 barrels per day of re-refining capacity to the North American marketplace, Gen III's USGC facility will result in the elimination of over 725,000 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent emissions every year versus current burning and disposal methods. According to the EPA, this equates to:

The greenhouse gas emissions from over 156,000 vehicles; or

The CO 2 emissions from over 122,000 average households' electrical use in one year; or

emissions from over 122,000 average households' electrical use in one year; or The carbon sequestered by 12 million tree seedlings grown for ten years; or

The carbon displaced from the installation of more than 1GWe of solar derived energy.

Gord Driedger, President of Gen III commented, "We look forward to drawing on the extensive resources and experience of Koch Project Solutions, a subsidiary of Koch Engineered Solutions, to maximize the efficiency and value of our projects. We are excited that the Koch Engineered Solutions family of companies are using their considerable resources to advance Gen III's disruptive renewables business. We look forward to working together to drive change in the way used motor oils are cleaned and re-processed into high grade Group II+ and Group III based lubricants that meet today's transportation sector needs and reduce vehicle emissions."

"Gen III brings an innovative approach to waste oil re-refining, focused on the production of the highest quality base oil lubricants which are well suited for modern vehicles," said Paul Switzer, president of Koch Project Solutions. "As part of Koch Engineered Solutions, we are well positioned and excited to bring our expertise to deliver superior performance and to help Gen III realize its vision. Koch Project Solutions supports innovation that creates greater value from underappreciated resources."

About Gen III

Gen III is a cleantech company that is building sustainable green projects with compelling economics, without relying on government subsidies. Gen III owns a portfolio of patented technologies that enable used motor oil ("UMO") re-refineries to produce a higher value product mix of base oils than traditional methods, including 55% Group III. For more information about the Company, please visit www.geniiiesg.com.

About Koch Project Solutions

Koch Project Solutions is built on more than half a century of proven performance. As a Koch Engineered Solutions company, we work as problem solvers and capability builders for industrial customers. Koch Engineered Solutions operates in 25 countries with 4,000 full-time employees at 56 global engineering and sales offices, and 17 manufacturing facilities.

KES is a division of Koch Industries. In their long history, Koch companies have been granted about 10,300 patents, and have earned more than 1,300 awards since 2009 for safety, environmental excellence, community stewardship, innovation and customer service. For more information about the Company, please visit www.kochind.com/companies/koch-engineered-solutions.

On Behalf of the Board of Gen III Oil Corporation

"Greg Clarkes"

Greg Clarkes

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, contact Mark Redcliffe at (778) 668-5988

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.

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Without limiting the foregoing, such forward-looking information includes statements regarding the anticipated terms of any proposed transaction and engagement and any statements regarding the Company's business plans, expectations and objectives. In this news release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking information. Forward looking information should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or the Company management's good faith belief with respect to future events and is subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis and financial statements and other documents filed by the Company with the Canadian securities commissions and the discussion of risk factors set out therein. Such documents are available at www.sedar.com under the Company's profile and on the Company's website, https://www.geniiiesg.com/. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Company's expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78706
[March 29, 2021] Macy's Celebrates Black Creatives With Icons of Style

Macy's (NYSE:M) celebrates Black creatives with today's launch of Icons of Style, a collaboration with five Black visionaries to help move the fashion world forward. Featuring exclusive designs across ready-to-wear, men's, and shoes by Zerina Akers, Misa Hylton, Aminah Abdul Jillil, Allen Onyia and Ouigi Theodore for brands found only at Macy's, each creative artfully designed a fashion-forward capsule of must-have spring items, inspired by their unique perspective and dynamic style. Icons of Style is available now on macys.com and select store locations nationwide. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005535/en/ Macy's launches Icons of Style: A collab with five Black designers to help move the world of fashion forward. Featuring Zerina Akers, Allen Onyia, Ouigi Theodore, Misa Hylton, and Aminah Abdul Jillil, $35.00 -$159.00 (Photo: Business Wire) "We are thrilled to celebrate Black excellence and amplify the voices and exceptional talent of five Black creatives," said Durand Guion, vice president, Macy's Fashion Office. "We're using this moment to tell their stories and provide our fashion-devoted customers with exclusive, one-of-a-kind pieces to help them express their personal style." Zerina Akers for Bar III Zerina Akers for Bar III is designed with functionality, versatility, and a touch of statement making moments in mind. The capsule consists of mixed media suiting, chain link embellished body suits, strong shoulder knit dresses and a new play on proportion with the classic sweatshirt. True to the Bar lll aesthetic, the capsule is the perfect mix of both feminine and modern components. "Thi collection is probably the most special because it is my first design collaboration. Through my styling work I have designed many things but never something under my own name. This is very special," said Zerina Akers.



Misa Hylton for I.N.C. International Concepts Misa Hylton for I.N.C. International Concepts is inspired by her personal style and love for fashion. The collection features bold, vibrant prints that take form in feminine suiting, printed blouses, and her love of the kimono; a symbol of her Black and Japanese heritage. Known for creating iconic looks for some of the music industry's biggest stars, Misa's extraordinary vision pairs well with I.N.C.'s focus on representing the most current trends.

"My designs vibrate on a high frequency. They bring happiness and excitement to the people who see them and want to wear them," said Misa Hylton. Aminah Abdul Jillil for I.N.C. International Concepts Extending her love for creative self-expression and bold fashion moments, Aminah Abdul Jillil for I.N.C. International Concepts brings forth the power of the statement heel. Using her performing arts background as inspiration, Aminah mixes unexpected shapes and dramatic details to spark confidence in every step. Using gold hearts and chunky chains as signature details, the collection features a breadth of styles that are timeless, versatile, and collectible. "This collaboration is exciting to me because it means for me, personally that dreams come true. That hard work pays off. That being different and not like everyone else is ok," said Aminah Abdul Jillil. Allen Onyia for I.N.C. International Concepts Allen Onyia for I.N.C. International Concepts pays homage to Macy's traditions as a leading department store incorporating iconic details with a modern, trend-forward look. The men's collection is a nod to his own personal style while focused on accessible design. Allen effortlessly uses his exceptional eye to combine dynamic use of colors, patterns, and silhouettes into instantly covetable items all geared towards statement making style. "This is a collection that celebrates this amazing opportunity Macy's has provided me, and I wanted to put that celebration and feeling back into the collection and pay homage," said Allen Onyia. Ouigi Theodore for Sun + Stone Ouigi Theodore for Sun + Stone balances heritage and authenticity to create an iconic collection that tells a compelling story. In dedication to his mother, Ouigi's collection takes inspiration from the past, present and future to form a refreshingly updated menswear aesthetic rooted in fashion history. Ouigi pays homage to his personal experiences through symbolic uses of personally significant dates, hand-drawn artwork, and vintage military references. "This collection is special because it is true to my design approach which includes lots of hidden references and details and it's dedicated to my mother who was born in 1945," said Ouigi Theodore. Macy's is intensifying its commitment to the growth and advancement of Black-owned businesses and creators by introducing more diverse design talent into its assortment and helping diverse brands grow to scale. Icons of Style will feature three seasonal must-have collections with later capsules launching in May and September. About Macy's Macy's is America's Department Store. For more than 160 years, Macy's, the largest retail brand of Macy's, Inc., has served generations at every stage of their lives. Through a digitally led shopping experience powered by macys.com, our award-winning mobile app, and a nationwide portfolio of stores, Macy's customers come to us for fashion, value and high-quality products. We are proud of our heritage and the unique role we play in American culture and tradition. We celebrate occasions big and small, and have created decades of memorable experiences through Macy's 4th of July Fireworks and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, as well as spectacular fashion shows, culinary events, flower shows, and celebrity appearances. With the collective support of our customers and colleagues, Macy's helps make a difference in every market we serve, supporting local and national charities through funding and volunteer service. With fashion, value and celebration as our guide, Macy's makes life shine brighter for our customers, colleagues, and communities. For more information, please visit macysinc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005535/en/

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NORTHWOOD, Iowa  A Worth County woman is pleading not guilty to an accusation she stole thousands of dollars from the Diamond Jo Casino.

Sarah Elizabeth Daniel, 45 of Northwood, is charged with second-degree theft. Her trial is scheduled to begin on June 9.

Authorities say casino staff contacted them on July 17, 2020, about Daniel allegedly stealing money. An investigator says Daniel was then seen the following day taking about $790 from a cash drawer. Daniel is accused of stealing at least $3,845 while working at the casino between June 27 and July 18 of 2020.

Daniel was arrested in January 2021.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Volonic  a luxury lifestyle brand fusing innovative technologies with fashionable works of art  announced today the official launch and immediate availability of the Volonic Valet 3, the world's first customizable, free placement wireless charging solution. To celebrate the introduction of the brand and its Valet 3, Volonic is offering pre-orders for a special-edition Volonic Valet 3 LE featuring a solid gold frame created from over 1,500 grams of 18-karat yellow gold.

The charging surface of the limited-edition Volonic Valet 3 LE will feature 100% authentic Vicuna Wool  a fabric once reserved for royalty and recognized to be the rarest, softest and most expensive fiber in the world  imported from Peru. The purchase price of this limited-edition Volonic Valet 3 LE will fluctuate with the daily value of gold. Final purchase price will be determined on the day of purchase. The March 29th price is $249,933.99.

"The charging industry has become value-driven at the expense of innovation and artistic design," said Volonic founder and CEO Shawn Dougherty, who, as co-founder of mophie, established the mobile charging standard. "The limited-edition Volonic Valet 3 LE is a dramatic expression of our brand ethos. We believe innovative technology, forward-thinking industrial design and elegant style can produce functional pieces of art for discerning customers."

As a signature offering of the Volonic brand, the Valet 3 is also available for complete customization at Volonic.com. Featuring a variety of elegant world-class materials that can be tailored to compliment an endless range of sophisticated living spaces, pricing starts at $585.

As an industry first, the new Volonic Valet 3 product line offers a 4-step, fully custom design buildout experience via the Volonic digital configurator. Each consumer is offered distinctive, world-class materials to choose from including CNC anodized aluminum, fashion grade 100% authentic Alcantara and genuine full-grain leathers. Consumers can compare and visualize digital renderings in real-time before finalizing design details and product specifications for order.

Under the hood, the Volonic Valet 3 is powered by Aira FreePower technology enabling full surface charging for up to three Qi-enabled devices. Unlike traditional wireless chargers, which require devices to be precisely aligned with a small hot spot, FreePower features full surface charging from corner to corner. As devices are placed across the surface, precise power is delivered and intelligently managed to optimize performance. FreePower is also the first-ever wireless charging technology to allow for software updates..

For more information, visit Volonic.com or follow @WeAreVolonic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

ABOUT VOLONIC

Volonic was created to make you take flight through the fusion of technology and fashionable works of art. To create a transformative experience that makes you see the world from a different perspective. We don't take shortcuts. We don't compromise. We don't settle for anything less than perfection because we have you in mind. We are here to inspire you. We serve a new generation of consumers who believe that beauty and elegance can live in the same space as technology and functionality. Take flight.

SOURCE Volonic
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A GOP lawyer who advised former President Donald Trump on his campaign to overturn the 2020 election results is now playing a central role coordinating the Republican effort to tighten voting laws around the country.

Cleta Mitchell, a longtime Republican lawyer and advocate for conservative causes, was among the Trump advisers on a January phone call in which Trump asked Georgia election officials to find enough votes to declare him, and not Democrat Joe Biden, the winner of the battleground state.

Now Mitchell has taken the helm of two separate efforts to push for tighter state voting laws and to fight Democratic efforts to expand access to the ballot at the federal level. She is also advising state lawmakers crafting the voting restriction proposals. And, she said Friday, she is in regular contact with Trump.

People are actually interested in getting involved and we have to harness all this energy, Mitchell said in an interview. There are a lot of groups that have projects on election integrity that never did before.

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Mitchells new prominence tightens the ties between the former president, who has falsely insisted he lost the election due to fraud, and the GOP-led state voting overhaul that has helped turn a foundational principle of democracy into a partisan battleground.

Trumps false claims of fraud have fueled a wave of new voting restrictions. More than 250 proposed voting restrictions have been proposed this year by mostly Republican lawmakers, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. On Thursday, Georgias GOP governor signed into law a measure requiring voters to present ID to vote by mail, gives the GOP-controlled state legislature new powers over local elections boards and outlaws providing food or water to people waiting in line to vote. Biden on Friday condemned it as Jim Crow in the 21st century.

In response, Democrats have stepped up the push for a massive federal election overhaul bill. That proposal, known as H.R. 1, would effectively neuter state-level voter ID laws, allow anyone to vote by mail if they wanted to and automatically register citizens to vote. Republicans view that as an encroachment on state control over elections and say it is designed to give Democrats an advantage.

The left is trying to dismantle 100 years of advancement in election administration, Mitchell said, expressing bafflement at Democrats charges that Republicans are trying to suppress votes. Were watching two different movies right now.

Mitchells most public involvement in the voting wars came in participation on Trumps call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2. During that call, Mitchell insisted she had evidence of voting fraud, but officials with the secretary of states office told her that her data was incorrect.

The call is part of an investigation by the Fulton County District Attorneys office into whether Trump or others improperly tried to influence election officials. Mitchell would not discuss the call or the investigation.

Mitchells involvement caused an outcry in the legal community and led to her departure from her longtime job at the law firm Foley & Lardner. But Mitchell says that has been a blessing.

One of the great advantages of resigning from my law firm is that I can devote all my time to something I love, she said.

Mitchell has two new roles in an emerging conservative voting operation. Shes running a $10 million initiative at the limited government group FreedomWorks to both push for new restrictions in voting and help train conservatives to get involved in the nuts and bolts of local elections. Shes also a senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute, an organization run by former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint. She says shell use that role to coordinate conservative voting positions, particularly in opposition to H.R. 1.

A onetime Oklahoma state legislator, Mitchell, 70, has links to other influential players in the conservative movement. Until recently she served as outside counsel to the American Legislative Exchange Committee, a conservative group that provides model legislation to state lawmakers and organized a call with state lawmakers and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on opposing H.R. 1.

And Mitchell said shes been talking regularly with Republican state lawmakers about the need for new election laws. She would not identify whom she speaks with but said its been a longtime passion.

Ive been working with state legislatures for several years to get them to pay attention to what I call the political process, Mitchell said. I love legislatures and working with legislators.

She similarly would not detail her conversations with Trump or say whether they involved the new voting fights. Im in touch with the president fairly frequently, she said of Trump.

Repeated audits have shown no significant problems with the 2020 election. Trump and his supporters lost more than 50 court cases challenging its results.

Mitchell says she believes the courts used legal trickery to avoid ever truly addressing Trumps allegations of voter fraud.

That evidence had made some conservative groups careful not to echo Trumps baseless claims of election fraud, even as they argue for tighter restrictions on which Americans vote.

Mitchells role could complicate that effort to keep a distance.

I have concerns with the election but I do not think the election was stolen, said Noah Wall, executive vice president of FreedomWorks. However, Wall said he saw no conflict in working with Mitchell. When we talk about what were going to be focused on, I dont see any daylight between her issues and ours, Wall said.

Mitchell has a long history in the conservative movement, with positions on the boards of the National Rifle Association and the Bradley Foundation. She represented Trumps Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, and has been the campaign attorney for several Republican senators. She also is chair of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a conservative election law project that she said may get involved in litigation against H.R. 1, should it pass, or in support of new laws like the one in Georgia.

___

This story has been corrected to show that until recently Mitchell was outside counsel to the American Legislative Exchange Committee, not that she currently is in that position.
Passengers on a Boeing-737 were told to prepare for impact after the plane suffered a tail flap malfunction above Russia.

Footage shared by distressed passengers shows the pilot warning 'Brace, brace!' as he prepares to make an emergency landing.

Video taken by Mari Almaz showed the passengers leaning down and holding their heads on the flight from Moscow to Krasnodar on Sunday.

Passengers on a Boeing-737 were told to prepare for impact after the plane suffered a tail flap malfunction above Russia

She said the flight was 'very scary' and she will 'never forget it' in the clip already viewed nearly two million times.

The plane can be seen jerking from side to side as the announcement on the loudspeaker orders passengers to brace.

Mari said in a post on Instagram: 'Before landing in Krasnodar, we were told that the plane was preparing for an emergency landing.

Footage shared by distressed passengers shows the pilot warning 'Brace, brace!' as he prepared to make an emergency landing

The plane can be seen jerking from side to side as the announcement on the loudspeaker orders passengers to brace

'At first we thought it was a joke, but later the pilot confirmed it, then the plane circled around the city for about an hour.

'There was fear on people's faces... children were crying, someone was praying, it was really scary.'

A second video showed the plane safely landing on the tarmac in Krasnodar, southern Russia.

Passengers clapped with relief after the panic had subsided as they thanked the pilot.

The airport's press service confirmed: 'The plane has landed safely at 18:19 Moscow time.'

A spokesman for the Russian emergencies ministry's Krasnodar territory department confirmed no one was hurt and said an investigation is underway.
Residents in Mandaluyong City prepare to stock up on essentials on Sunday as the Philippines prepared to impose an enhanced community quarantine for Manila and nearby areas to run through Easter Sunday, March 28, 2021.

The Philippines imposed a one-week lockdown on heavily populated metropolitan Manila and nearby areas beginning Monday, the same day it received 1 million vaccine doses, as the government sought to contain the surging numbers of COVID-19 infections.

The enhanced community quarantine announced on Saturday forces more than 24 million people inside their homes until Easter Sunday April 4, unless they are essential workers in the field of hospitals and banking, among others.

Like what I said last Saturday, all social gatherings are prohibited, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told a virtual news conference on Monday.

Unfortunately, all these variants made the disease more infectious and more transmissible. So Id like to stress, its not just foreign variants. Even the Philippine variant now, thats something that no one could have done anything about because its in the nature of viruses to mutate, Roque said.

The government enforced a curfew between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day, banned all mass gatherings including Holy Week church services when millions of Catholic Filipinos traditionally congregate at places of worship.

On Monday, the health department said it had logged 10,016 new daily COVID-19 infections, the highest so far logged in the Philippines bringing the pandemic toll to 731,894. The health department also recorded 16 deaths, bringing the toll to 13,186.

Bangladesh recommendations

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, the government on Monday issued an 18-point directive imposing restrictions on social, political or religious gatherings following a spike in COVID-19 infections there.

Bangladesh recorded 5,181 coronavirus infections on Monday, its highest one-day total since the pandemic began.

In addition to the restrictions, public transportation, hotels and restaurants are limited to 50 percent capacity while meetings, seminars, trainings and workshops must be arranged online.

A family medicine specialist in Dhaka blamed the governments decision to go forward with 50th anniversary of independence celebrations last week with having a role in Mondays restrictions.

The authorities did not pay attention to this rise as they were busy with state functions in celebration of the golden jubilee of independence, Dr. Lelin Chowdhury said. The 18-point directive that has come today is like chasing after the coronavirus. You could not run faster than the virus, which was urgent.

A huge cross greets mass goers at the door of a Catholic church in Manila as the Catholic nation marked Palm Sunday a day before the COVID-19 enhanced quarantine took effect in the capital city and nearby areas, March 28, 2021. [Basilio Sepe/BenarNews]

Mutations

Roque said the lockdown was necessary because the virus has mutated, making it more difficult for health experts to address. He also sought to dispel doubts about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, saying the government was doing its best to acquire them.

With more people getting sick, there will be more people inevitably who will get sick in a serious and critical manner, so have your vaccine if you are able to have it now, he said.

The nation began its inoculation program at the start of March, but had received only 1.12 million vaccine doses and had delivered the first dose to slightly more than 500,000 of the countrys 110 million people as of last week.

On Monday, the government received 1 million vaccine doses purchased from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac.

We are expecting the delivery of around 1.5 million to 4 million of the remaining procured doses from Sinovac by April and May 2021, together with the 979,200 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the WHO-led COVAX facility, said Carlito Galvez, a former general who is in charge of the governments vaccine procurement.

These will allow the country to further expand coverage of our vaccination program, he said.

Jesmin Papri in Dhaka contributed to this report.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
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And then I regrouped and came back to Sydney and did the School of Rock season here and then said to my agent, Lets just see if its still possible to go in for this. The success Youll be Back Loading JASON ARROW: My agent rang me. It was during the second, longer Melbourne lockdown and I assumed something had happened to the show, that it might not be going ahead because of COVID-19. So I was astounded. I didnt speak for a couple of minutes and then most of it was expletives. I mean, what can you do after that? If it was a normal year, I might have gone out to celebrate with my partner, Alex. Instead, I unpacked the dishwasher. That was my celebration.

LYNDON WATTS: At first, I was pretty shocked when I was told I had the role. I reckon it took about a week for it to feel real. I had my boyfriend Max with me when it all happened. And telling mum on the phone, that was a pretty special conversation to have. Mums tend to be more excited than the people auditioning, so it really is more of a win for them than it is for us. Lyndon Watts, who plays Aaron Burr, during rehearsals for Hamilton. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams CHLOE ZUEL: My agent called and I thought he was calling about something else, because it had been nine weeks since my final tape. By that point, I had pushed it out of my mind for self-preservation. So when I got the call, my agent just said: You got it. Youre Eliza. Even thinking about it now, I feel sick. I was walking on the street and I had to pull myself over into a bush and just stand there processing. It was like Id won the lotto. The first person I called was my husband, Rob Mallett. I cant tell you what he said because he swore, but he couldnt believe it either. The characters History Has its Eyes on You

JASON ARROW: The thing about Hamilton that I latch onto is his perseverance. He pushes through anything thats thrown at him. But the personal connection is that he reminds me of my parents. They immigrated here from South Africa and they had nothing. My dad used to work all the time and my mother did as well. They built themselves up and now theyre doing really well for themselves. Yeah, Im very proud of them. LYNDON WATTS: Aaron Burr has quickly become a legacy role for black men in theatre. As a black man in theatre, often the roles ask very small parts of you, for very specific things of you, and it can make you feel a little bit boxed in. But Burr has been written in such a wonderful way that it really does ask a lot of you. So its a real gift and an honour to step into that legacy and be a part of it. CHLOE ZUEL: I ended up auditioning for all three of the sisters. I personally thought I was an Angelica [Hamiltons sister-in-law], they always said I was an Eliza [Hamiltons wife]. Eliza does represent some of the softer, more gentle parts of my personality, but I havent been given the opportunity to show them on stage very often. So thats really special to me. BRENT HILL: Look, King George III has been played by many excellent comic actors - Jonathan Groff, Brian DArcy, Andrew Rannells - but Im just looking at the character and his motivations. And this guy is a monarch who has been told yes for his entire life. And then hes being told no by the American colonies. And hes just reacting to that. Im still gently exploring it and Im doing it through the realm of animals at the moment: is he a snow leopard or an octopus? The rehearsals

Room Where it Happened JASON ARROW: It was really exciting to: 1. Be back in a rehearsal room, because who knew when that was gonna happen again and 2. Probably just seeing the range of people and diversity and representation in the room. We felt very privileged to be there and we had this weight on our shoulders, of course, because of the gravity of the show and what it represents, but, all that aside, its just a satisfying feeling when you go, All right, lets do this, lets get to work. Jason Arrow (centre) and members of the Australian cast of Hamilton during rehearsals in February. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams LYNDON WATTS: By the time the cotton swab was up my nose for the COVID-19 test on the first day of rehearsals, it felt very real. We spend the entire day working on the material and then I go home and have all these lightbulb moments. And then I bring those to work the next day. My take on the character is constantly shifting and growing and were only halfway through. Its going to keep changing.

CHLOE ZUEL: I started doing singing lessons every week before we started rehearsals. And I also try and keep my body super warm and fit and ready to go. Ill do my vocal warm-up every day, stretch my tongue, my neck and then at the end of the day, I will do a warm down and get a good amount of sleep. BRENT HILL: Its been pretty overwhelming, especially considering I genuinely had the thought in 2020 that theatre was done. But, you know, watching everybody, its so good. Its so fun. I mean, obviously, its so well written, but the vocal blend in this group of people is next level. It sounds so great. And Im like, Were set. This is gonna be good. The challenges In the eye of the hurricane JASON ARROW: Im usually pretty good at remembering words quickly, but theres so many [the show averages 144 words per minute]. So, for me, its kind of just not thinking about remembering words and being in the moment and trusting I know it. The second I start to think about what Im doing, is the second I have forgotten what Im about to say.

Jason Arrow and the Australian cast of Hamilton. Credit:Daniel Boud LYNDON WATTS: The places this show takes you has been quite unexpected emotionally. Theres something about this material, about these characters that feels insanely real and incredibly close to a lot of the stuff weve all experienced. There are times we are overcome with emotion as were performing songs and it becomes quite difficult. So thats something Ive had to work through because Wait for It is a great song and no one wants to miss the second half of it because Aaron Burr is busy crying in the middle of the stage. CHLOE ZUEL: Something Im working on is navigating how to be able to emotionally and vocally give everything or give enough, eight shows a week. What has been challenging is managing emotionally the roller-coaster of Eliza, and figuring out how much of myself I can bring and how to move through what is a very difficult show for most of us. BRENT HILL: The trick with this role is finding a way to stay engaged and connected with the company from the beginning of the show. For instance, everyone else is involved in the opening number, but I dont come on until seven songs later. Theres a moment in the first section where everyones lined up across the front of the stage and perhaps Ill be in that line, just in the wings. Or maybe Ill just invest in an espresso machine and stay busy backstage. First show

Blow us all Away Elandrah Eramiha, Chloe Zuel (middle) and Akina Edmonds, who play the Schuyler sisters, in full costume for Hamilton. Credit:Daniel Boud Loading JASON ARROW: I felt very ready for an audience. I wasnt necessarily nervous, but there was a lot of adrenaline. Especially when that cheer happened. We were there for about 25 seconds and it got to a point where I raised my hand to indicate that I was moving on. It felt like a stadium concert, which is something I dont think Ive ever experienced in Australian theatre. I know in America they do that, but usually theyre applauding for, you know, Patti LuPone. Its such a mammoth show, at the end were all kind of emotionally drained. I went home and watched Bobs Burgers to relax. LYNDON WATTS: A big part of the storytelling for Aaron Burr is connection with the audience. Theres a conversation that happens throughout the entire show. So to have the audience there is everything, its the other side of the conversation. I love the idea of some people really not being onside with Aaron and I love the idea of some people really understanding him. I think its one of the biggest spines of the show, which is seeing people in their totality and the complexities of every human being. The show is taxing on all fronts - spiritually, energy, vocally, physically - it asks a lot. I was exhausted and elated but I went home and slept like an absolute baby.
Capt Rtd Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, a Private Legal Practitioner and a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described as embarrassing the attitude of some people already lacing their boots to step in the shoes of President Akufo-Addo as the next Presidential Candidate of the party while the NPP government is barely 3 months old into its second term in office.



According to him, the party leadership should rather concentrate on building structures in the party by ensuring that they open the Electoral College to include all card bearing members of the party in electing Parliamentary Candidates as the current model of choosing candidates affected the fortunes of the party woefully in the 2020 general election.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Capt Rtd Nkrabeah Effah Dartey insisted the need to build stronger structures in the party is a must because of the outcome of the 2020 general election.



He added that the 2020 general election has proven that former President John Mahama is still a strong force in the largest opposition NDC for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to contend with as he got massive votes than anticipated regardless of the negative things said about him prior to the elections.



He again mentioned that the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has demonstrated to be a national party; thus, the strength of the NDC brings shivers down his spine going forward in the 2024 general election.



He, however, warned the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to change the notion of winning the Parliamentary Election by sinking so much money to buy delegates to win primaries.



He reminded his party that Ghanaians are more discerning now to the point where they cannot be taken for granted.



The electorates were not happy with some of the parliamentary candidates that we selected for the parliamentary election. For instance, I dont understand why Hajia Alima Mahama, Local Government Minister who has created a region for her constituency will lose her seat, and I also dont know why Yaw Buaben Asamoa, our Director of Communication should lose his seat in the Adentan Constituency? he stated.



All that I am saying is that NPP should liberalise our primaries, we should make it open and anybody who is NPP card bearing member should be allowed to vote in the primaries. If we do that, there is no way one can bring 10 billion Cedis to bribe the delegates . . ." he advised.





Watch video below





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Able CEO Steve Kuhn echoes this sentiment and brings attention to the specific decision of the Able Leadership Team to organize the relationship with Mason. "I continue to be amazed at the group of professionals at Able that craft our path forward," says Kuhn, "the commitment to furthering this university relationship falls directly into our 'Alive and Able' Wellbeing Program initiative and we are also landing some outstanding employees."

Mason Honors College student Zain Jafri looks forward to staying in touch with Able as he begins his career path. "The scholarship I was awarded from Able made a real difference in my educational expenses," says Jafri. "It was interesting to learn how many career paths the company offers for young professionals."

Dorothy Hayden, Industry Advisor at Mason Career Services, is pleased to see the relationship with Able growing. "It is exciting to see how involved Able is with Mason on so many fronts, and noteworthy to see how many recent hires at the company are coming from the university."

The commitment from Able to bronze level support of the Mason Career Services Partnership Program will only add to the company's campus commitment, something Able Human Resources Manager Angie Hall knows will benefit the company. "Watching this mutually beneficial relationship grow is rewarding and is enhancing the quality of our workforce," she says.

Manager of Employer Outreach at Mason Career Services Mary Claire Kraft looks forward to a continuing Able commitment in the future. "When companies like Able stay involved over the long term with our programs, the cumulative benefits become clearer," says Kraft. "We are delighted to have their support."

The rapid growth of Able to almost a 50-million-dollar company has created a complex career platform that many may find surprising in the moving industry. "We will always have top quality drivers and movers at Able, but we now have a dynamic office workforce environment that includes web development, social media, human resources, marketing, accounting, and business development," points out CEO Kuhn.

"Another benefit of the relationship with Mason is that we get direct feedback on the compensation and benefits packages we offer to young professionals entering the workforce," remarks Angie Hall. "The fact that we offer the very best in our industry at all levels allows us to benefit to an even greater degree from our relationship," she adds.

Able will announce another scholarship almost immediately and plans to enhance the relationship with Mason are underway.

"Thanks to our leadership, everyone at our company is aware of our relationship with Mason," says Kuhn. "The gradual emergence from COVID-19 will allow us to engage with the school even more, and we look forward to that."

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of stealing N10.1 from the national treasury despite its acclaimed shortage of funds to finance the 2021 budget.

While President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has often pointed to fall in oil price as the reason for Nigerias rising debt profile, the PDP said the administration is encouraging corruption.

Without naming a source or evidence, the PDP, in a statement issued on Monday, said N9.6 trillion ($20 billion) and another N500 billion belonging to the Treasury Single Account (TSA), have been allegedly diverted to APC interests.

This fresh N10.1 trillion scandal is beside the earlier N15 trillion, reportedly stolen by APC leaders from various government agencies, including the stealing of N9.3 trillion as detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, bringing the sum looted in these cases to N25.1 trillion, the party spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan recalled.

Mr Ologbondiyan said the volume of corruption cases filed against officials of the current administration was a clear indication that Nigeria had been seized by ferocious economic brigands in very high places,

The statement said, under the APC, our nation has become one of the most corrupt countries in the world, having dropped 13 places since 2015 and plunging to a putrid 149th place on the corruption perception index as released by Transparency International (TI).

Only recently, Nigerians were shocked by revelations that trillions of naira meant for purchase of arms to defend our nation could not be traced.

The PDP invites Nigerians to note that the Buhari Presidency and the APC has not been able to account for the N15 trillion earlier reportedly looted from various agencies of government, including the stolen N9.3 trillion NNPC fund, the N1.1 trillion worth of crude stolen with 18 unregistered ships as well as various oil subsidy sleaze.

This is in addition to the N3 trillion reportedly stolen from various agencies including the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in which a very top APC government official was indicted, as well as the Social Investment Programme, where the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, exposed that N500 billion was siphoned.

The opposition party called on Nigerians to question the government to account for the missing funds to encourage infrastructural development.

PREMIUM TIMES could not reach the APC interim Secretary, John Akpanudoedehe, for comments, as calls to his mobile phone were not answered.

LONDON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NatWest Group plc (the "Offeror") is today announcing the Reference Yield and the Purchase Price for each series of Notes (as defined herein) subject to its previously announced cash tender offers (each, an "Offer" and, together, the "Offers") for any and all of certain series of its U.S. dollar denominated notes set out in the table below (the "Notes").

The Offers are being made on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the offer to purchase dated March 23, 2021 (the "Offer to Purchase") and the related Notice of Guaranteed Delivery (together, the "Offer Documents"). Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this announcement have the same meaning as in the Offer to Purchase.

The Reference Yield in respect of each Series of Fixed Spread Notes was determined at 2:00 p.m., New York City time, today. The Purchase Price for each Series of Notes is based on the Reference Yield plus the Fixed Spread as set forth in the table below:

Title of Security Issuer ISIN/CUSIP Principal Amount Issued Principal Amount

Outstanding(1) Fixed Spread (bps) Reference

U.S. Treasury

Security First Call Date Maturity Reference Yield Purchase Price(2) 6.425% Non-Cumulative

Trust Preferred

Securities ("Trust Securities") RBS Capital

Trust II US74927PAA75 74927PAA7 $650,000,000 $137,685,000 +55 1.125% U.S.

Treasury

Security due

February 15, 2031 January 3, 2034 N/A 1.706% $1,459.91 7.648% Dollar Perpetual Regulatory tier One Securities, Series 1 ("PROs") The Royal

Bank of

Scotland Group plc(3) US780097AH44 780097AH4 $1,200,000,000 $130,205,000 +85 1.125% U.S. Treasury Security due February 15, 2031 September 30, 2031 N/A 1.706% $1,466.33 6.125% Subordinated Tier 2 Notes due 2022 ("2022 Notes") The Royal

Bank of

Scotland Group plc (3) US780099CE50 780099CE5 $2,250,000,000 $1,615,576,000 +65 0.125% U.S. Treasury Security due February 28, 2023 N/A December 15, 2022 0.145% $1,090.10 6.100% Subordinated Tier 2 Notes due 2023 ("2023 Notes I") The Royal

Bank of

Scotland Group plc(3) US780097AY76 780097AY7 $1,000,000,000 $544,194,000 +80 0.125% U.S. Treasury Security due February 28, 2023 N/A June 10, 2023 0.145% $1,111.54 6.000% Subordinated Tier 2 Notes due 2023 ("2023 Notes II") The Royal

Bank of

Scotland Group plc(3) US780097AZ42 780097AZ4 $2,000,000,000 $2,000,000,000 +90 0.125% U.S. Treasury Security due February 28, 2023 N/A December 19, 2023 0.145% $1,132.36 5.125% Subordinated Tier 2 Notes due 2024 ("2024 Notes") The Royal

Bank of

Scotland Group plc(3) US780099CH81 780099CH8 $2,250,000,000 $2,250,000,000 +95 0.250% U.S. Treasury Security due March 15, 2024 N/A May 28, 2024 0.316% $1,119.09

Excluding $512,315,000 principal amount of 6.425% Non-Cumulative Trust Preferred Securities, which are held by the Offeror as of the date hereof and are deemed not to be outstanding. Per $1,000 principal amount of the Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase. Currently NatWest Group plc.

The Offers will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 29, 2021, unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Expiration Deadline") or earlier terminated. Holders must validly tender and not validly withdraw their Notes at or prior to the Expiration Deadline in order to be eligible to receive the relevant Purchase Price. Notes validly tendered may be withdrawn at any time prior to the Withdrawal Deadline, but not thereafter.

In addition to the Purchase Price, holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offers will also receive, in the case of the Tier 2 Notes and the PROs, accrued and unpaid interest on each $1,000 principal amount of such Notes (rounded to the nearest $0.01) from, and including, the last interest payment date up to, but not including, the Settlement Date and, in the case of the Trust Securities, an amount equal to accrued and unpaid cash distributions on each $1,000 principal amount of such Trust Securities (rounded to the nearest $0.01) from, and including, the last distribution payment date up to, but not including, the Settlement Date. Holders whose Notes are tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Guaranteed Delivery Procedures will not receive payment in respect of any interest or distribution, as applicable, for the period from and including the Settlement Date to the Guaranteed Delivery Settlement Date.

Unless the Offers are extended, reopened or earlier terminated, the Settlement Date is expected to be March 31, 2021 and the Guaranteed Delivery Settlement Date is expected to be April 1, 2021.





FURTHER INFORMATION

Copies of the Offer Documents are available at the following web address: www.lucid-is.com/natwest

Requests for additional copies of the Offer Documents and information in relation to the procedures for tendering should be directed to:

Tender Agent

Lucid Issuer Services Limited

David Shilson

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +44 20 7704-0880



NatWest Treasury Markets

Scott Forrest Email: [email protected] Head of Treasury DCM Telephone: +44 7747 455969



Investor Relations

Paul Pybus Email: [email protected] Head of Debt Investor Relations Telephone: +44 776 916 1183 250 Bishopsgate

London EC2M 4AA





Global Arranger and Lead Dealer Manager

NatWest Markets Telephone: +44 20 7678 5222 (UK)

Telephone: +1 203 897 6166 (U.S.)

Telephone: +1 866 884 2071 (U.S. Toll Free)

Email: [email protected]

Attn: Liability Management



Dealer Managers

Citigroup Telephone: +44 20 7986 8969

Telephone: +1 212 723 6106 (U.S.)

Telephone: +1 800 558 3745 (U.S. Toll Free)

Email: [email protected]

Attn: Liability Management Group



Merrill Lynch International Telephone: +44 20 7996 5420 (London)

Telephone: +1 888 292 0070 (U.S. Toll Free)

Telephone: +1 980 387 3907 (U.S.)

Email: [email protected]

Attn: Liability Management Group



Morgan Stanley Telephone: +44 20 7677 5040 (Europe)

Telephone: +1 800 624 1808 (U.S. Toll Free)

Telephone: +1 212 761 1057 (U.S.)

Email: [email protected]

Attn: Liability Management (in the U.S.)

Attn: Liability Management Group (in Europe)



UBS Investment Bank Telephone: +44 20 7568 1121 (Europe)

Telephone: +1 888 719 4210 (U.S. Toll Free)

Telephone: +1 203 719 4210 (U.S.)

Email: [email protected]

Attn: Liability Management Group













DISCLAIMER

This announcement and the Offer to Purchase (including the documents incorporated by reference therein) contain important information which should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Offer. If you are in any doubt as to the contents of this announcement or the Offer to Purchase or the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own financial and legal advice, including as to any tax consequences, immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial or legal adviser. Any individual or company whose Notes are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee or intermediary must contact such entity if it wishes to participate in the Offer. None of the Offeror, the Dealer Managers, the Tender Agent or the trustee with respect to the Notes (or any of their respective directors, employees or affiliates) make any recommendation as to whether holders should tender Notes pursuant to the Offer.

OFFER RESTRICTIONS

European Economic Area ("EEA")

The communication of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Offers does not constitute an offer of securities to the public for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended, the "Prospectus Regulation") and accordingly the requirement to produce a prospectus under the Prospectus Regulation does not apply to the Offers.

United Kingdom

The communication of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Offers are not being made, and such documents and/or materials have not been approved, by an authorized person for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). Accordingly, this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and such other documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of the Offer to Purchase and such other documents and/or materials is exempt from the restriction on financial promotions under section 21 of the FSMA on the basis that they are only being distributed to and are only directed at persons to whom they can lawfully be circulated outside the United Kingdom or to: (i) persons in the United Kingdom having professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within the definition of investment professionals (as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the "Order")); (ii) persons falling within Article 43 of the Order; or (iii) any other persons to whom the Offer to Purchase and such other documents and/or materials may otherwise lawfully be communicated under the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). This announcement and the Offer to Purchase and such documents and/or materials are directed only at relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement and the Offer to Purchase relate is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons.

The communication of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Offers does not constitute an offer of securities to the public for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended) as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA) (the "UK Prospectus Regulation") and accordingly the requirement to produce a prospectus under the UK Prospectus Regulation does not apply to the Offers.

Belgium

Neither this announcement, the Offer to Purchase nor any other documents or materials relating to the Offers have been submitted to or will be submitted for approval or recognition to the Financial Services and Markets Authority (Autorite des services et marches financiers / Autoriteit voor financiele diensten en markten) and, accordingly, the Offers may not be made in Belgium by way of a public offering, as defined in Articles 3 and 6 of the Belgian Law of April 1, 2007 on public takeover bids as amended or replaced from time to time. Accordingly, the Offers may not be advertised and the Offers will not be extended, and neither this announcement, the Offer to Purchase nor any other documents or materials relating to the Offers (including any memorandum, information circular, brochure or any similar documents) have been or shall be distributed or made available, directly or indirectly, to any person in Belgium other than "qualified investors" in the sense of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation, acting on their own account. This announcement and the Offer to Purchase have been issued only for the personal use of the above qualified investors and exclusively for the purpose of the Offers. Accordingly, the information contained in this announcement and the Offer to Purchase may not be used for any other purpose or disclosed to any other person in Belgium.

France

This announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or offering materials relating to the Offers may not be distributed in the Republic of France except to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies) as defined in Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation. This announcement and the Offer to Purchase have not been and will not be submitted for clearance to the Autorite des marches financiers.

Italy

None of the Offers, this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or any other documents or materials relating to the Offers has been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB"), pursuant to applicable Italian laws and regulations.

The Offers are being carried out in the Republic of Italy ("Italy") as an exempted offer pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of February 24, 1998, as amended (the "Financial Services Act") and article 35-bis, paragraph 4 of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of May 14, 1999, as amended (the "Issuers' Regulation"). The Offers are also being carried out in compliance with article 35-bis, paragraph 7 of the Issuers' Regulation.

Holders or beneficial owners of the Notes located in Italy can tender the Notes through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of February 15, 2018, as amended from time to time, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of September 1, 1993, as amended) and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or with requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority.

Each intermediary must comply with the applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-a-vis its clients in connection with the Notes and the Offers.

General

The Offers do not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell Notes (and offers to sell will not be accepted from the holders) in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. In those jurisdictions where the securities or other laws require the Offers to be made by a licensed broker or dealer or similar and any of the Dealer Managers or any of the Dealer Manager's respective affiliates is such a licensed broker or dealer in that jurisdiction, the Offers shall be deemed to be made by such Dealer Manager or affiliate, as the case may be, on behalf of the Offeror in such jurisdiction.

Each holder participating in the Offers will be deemed to give certain representations in respect of the jurisdictions referred to above and generally as set out in the Offer to Purchase. Any tender of Notes pursuant to the Offer to Purchase from a holder that is unable to make these representations will be rejected. Each of the Offeror, the Dealer Managers and Lucid Issuer Services Limited reserves the right, in its absolute discretion (and without prejudice to the relevant holder's responsibility for the representations made by it), to investigate in relation to any tender of Notes, whether any such representation given by a holder is correct and, if such investigation is undertaken and as a result the Offeror determines (for any reason) that such representation is not correct, such offer to sell will be rejected.

The Offeror and its affiliates expressly reserve the right at any time or from time to time following completion or termination of the Offers, to purchase or exchange or offer to purchase or exchange Notes or to issue an invitation to submit offers to sell Notes (including, without limitation, those tendered pursuant to the Offers but not accepted for purchase) through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, tender offers, exchange offers or otherwise, in each case on terms that may be more or less favorable than those contemplated by the Offers. In addition, the Offeror also reserves the right to issue new debt securities from time to time, including during the term of the Offers.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

From time to time, we may make statements, both written and oral, regarding our assumptions, projections, expectations, intentions or beliefs about future events. These statements constitute "forward-looking statements". We caution that these statements may and often do vary materially from actual results. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. You should read the sections entitled "Risk Factors" in the Offer to Purchase, in our Annual Report and "Forward-Looking Statements" in our Annual Report.

Any forward-looking statements made herein or in the documents incorporated by reference herein speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA"), any applicable stock exchange or any applicable law, we expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained in the Offer to Purchase or the documents incorporated by reference herein to reflect any changes in expectations with regard thereto or any new information or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. The reader should, however, consult any additional disclosures that we have made or may make in documents we have filed or may file with the SEC.

Legal Entity Identifiers

NatWest Group plc 2138005O9XJIJN4JPN90

SOURCE NatWest Group plc
Ethnic Karen villagers displaced from Myanmar's Day Pu Noh village are seen in an unknown location in Karen state, after fleeing Burmese army air strikes, in this picture obtained from social media, Burma, on March 27, 2021. (Free Burma Rangers/via Reuters)

Thousands Flee to Thailand After Burma Armys Air Strikes on Villages: Activist Group, Media

About 3,000 villagers from Burmas (also known as Myanmar) southeastern Karen state fled to Thailand on Sunday following air attacks by the army on an area held by an ethnic armed group, an activist group and local media said.

Burmas military launched air strikes on five areas in Mutraw district, near the border, including a displacement camp, the Karen Womens Organization said.

At the moment, villagers are hiding in the jungle as more than 3,000 crossed to Thailand to take refuge, a statement from the group said.

Thai PBS reported about 3,000 had reached Thailand.

Thai authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ethnic Karen villagers displaced from Myanmars Day Pu Noh village are seen in an unknown location in Karen state, after fleeing Burmese army air strikes, in this picture obtained from social media, Burma, on March 27, 2021. (Free Burma Rangers/via Reuters)

At least two soldiers from the Karen National Union were killed, said David Eubank, founder of the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organization.

We havent had air strikes there for over 20 years, Eubank said. Second, these were at night, so the capability of the Burma military has increased with the help of Russia and China and other nations, and that is deadly.

In an air attack by the military on Saturday, at least three civilians were killed in a village controlled by the KNU, a civil society group said. The militia earlier said it had overrun an army post near the border, killing 10 people.

The air assaults are the most significant attack for years in the region. The KNU had signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015 but tensions have surged after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyis civilian government on Feb. 1.

The KNU and the Restoration Council of Shan State, also based on the Thai border, have condemned the takeover and announced their support for public resistance.

KNU says it has been sheltering hundreds of people who have fled central Burma amid mounting violence in recent weeks.

By Poppy Elena McPherson
Abortion is black genocide: Angela Stanton-King declares at Roe v. Wade premiere

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ORLANDO, Fla.  Angela Stanton-King, a pro-life advocate and the goddaughter of Alveda King, recently condemned the big abortion industry for targeting people of color and committing a black genocide in America.

The Atlanta, Georgia-native attended the movie premiere of Roe v. Wade held at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 26 and had a message to share with her black brothers and sisters.

"I'm here today because it's important for us to make sure that we are speaking out and making sure that the black community is aware of this black genocide, how abortion has specifically targeted black life, Stanton-King told CP of why she wanted to attend the premiere of such a controversial film.

"When we are saying that 'black lives matter,' we have to acknowledge the fact that black life begins in the womb, she continued. So when we talk about white supremacy, the black community needs to understand that they're playing a role in white supremacy when they're aborting the black lives of their own children.

Roe v. Wade is based on the events that led to one of the nation's most contentious U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

The film 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. It also goes into the history of how Planned Parenthood was launched and highlights the beliefs of its founder, Margaret Sanger, and her mission to eradicate blacks and people with disabilities.

Alveda King told American Family Association in 2019 that Sanger, the founder of the Birth Control League and later Planned Parenthood, said colored people are like weeds, and they need to be eliminated. They need to be exterminated.

Stanton-King attended the movie screening on behalf of Martin Luther King Jr.s niece, Alveda King, a longtime pro-life advocate who's featured in the film.

"My godmother, Alveda King, had a huge part in this movie. Now that she has kind of grown a little bit older, she's passing the torch and I'm here to be a voice to let people know, 'Hey, when we say black lives matter, we're gonna talk about Roe v. Wade and why it needs to be overturned, Stanton-King declared.

The reality TV star of the BET Network docuseries From the Bottom Up, said she first met Alveda King 15 years ago, back when Stanton-King was actually in favor of abortion.

She told me that I would be a pro-life advocate. Back then I was pro-choice, I didn't believe her. But look, I'm here now. I've been walking with her for the last 15 years and she is absolutely a pro-life warrior, she gushed.

"She has stood up in this movement prior to President Trump, before when we had been fighting and no one had heard our voice about how important it is to stand up and begin to fight for life in the womb.

"Civil rights for life! We are fighting! We just want people to understand how important it is for people of color to understand how they have been targeted.

Stanton-King, who's also the community outreach coordinator for The Alive Center, said she wants people to know that "Planned Parenthood clinics are in 85 percent of black neighborhoods," while white suburban neighborhood get fertility clinics.

It's time that we wake up and understand what we mean when we say, black lives matter, she concluded.

Stanton-King is the founder and president of the American King Foundation whose mission is to reunite American families separated by mass incarceration with a pathway to justice, economic stability, and relational wellness, according to its website.

In 2004, she was convicted on federal conspiracy charges for her involvement in a car theft ring and served time in prison. While incarcerated, she gave birth to her child. In February 2020, she received a full pardon from then-President Trump.

Later that year, she ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Georgia's 5th Congressional District as a Republican, but lost to Democrat Nikema Williams for the seat once held by the late Rep. John Lewis who died in July 2020.

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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Unknown gunmen have kidnapped three travellers at Osu town, along the Ife-Ilesha expressway in Osun State.

The kidnappers intercepted the travellers vehicle on Friday and took them into the forest where they are currently being held, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

One of those kidnapped was identified as Usman, a brother of Seriki Hausa of Iyere town, Haruna Tanko, while the identities of the other two persons are yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

Mr Tanko told journalists that the kidnappers have reached out to him, requesting N50 million ransom to free his brother.

It is true that my brother, Usman, was abducted by gunmen. They demanded ransom but we have not been able to raise the money, he was quoted by the Punch newspaper.

ALSO READ: Ogun community leader kidnappers demand N100 million

When contacted, the states police spokesperson, Yemimi Opalola, said security operatives are already in the forest to secure the release of the kidnapped victims.

The matter was reported to the police in Osu division on Friday by one Tanko Haruna, said to be Seriki Hausa of Iyere community. He said someone called him on the telephone that his brother, Usman, and two others had been abducted.

He also said N50m has been demanded by the kidnappers. Operatives are working hard to rescue those abducted and arrest the perpetrators.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- USClaims is proud to announce that it is now a top sponsor of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA). With its $100,000 commitment at the Skyline Partner level, USClaims joins with 5-Star Legal Funding to support one of the strongest trial lawyer associations in the country. This momentous partnership furthers USClaims' mission of making Litigation Funding Simplified .

Donna Lee Jones, President of USClaims, summed up the importance of this partnership: "Now more than ever, we must support trial lawyers in their never-ending battle of protecting clients' rights. USClaims recognizes that litigants continually face hurdles in the path to justice. USClaims is here to help the 3000 trial attorney members of NYSTLA overcome those hurdles." This strong support for NY trial lawyers was echoed by Robert Gentili, co-founder of 5-Star Legal funding: "5-Star has always had the passion to help over the past 15 years. Working together with USClaims, we now have unlimited resources and stand united with NY trial attorneys and their clients." USClaims is the only litigation funding company committed to NY trial lawyers at the Skyline Partner Level.

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Pensions are not usually a topic where one finds excitement, intrigue, or political theater.

Unless, of course, youre talking about reducing employee benefits, or increasing employee costs, in order to save the system from past underfunding. In that case, theres no shortage of difficult financial and political decisions, and drama to spare.

Thats where the House Government Operations Committee finds itself. Theres no easy way out of this fix for the system, facing an estimated $3 billion shortfall, or for lawmakers working to save it.

A second public hearing on proposed changes to the system  and its stressed this is a first swing at the problem  is scheduled for Monday night, streamed live in Government Operations. If its anything like Friday nights session, there will be a good deal of frustration expressed by witnesses concerned about the years they must work, the money they will pay in, and the benefits they will receive.

Saturday, Lt. Gov. Molly Gray weighed in with her own concerns.

Gray acknowledged that the problem is difficult and that shes not been part of negotiations that led to the proposal. That said, Gray has heard from concerned employees, especially women who make up 75 percent of teachers represented by the Vermont NEA and 51 percent of state workers represented by the Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA).

I encourage amendments to the proposal that center the needs and experiences of our teachers and state employees in the process as well as the value we place on their service, Gray said. I also encourage consideration of the disparate impact of the proposal on the short-term and long-term economic well-being of Vermont women.

While the proposal has critics, the significant problems it seeks to address arent going away.

For a better understanding, State Rep. Kathleen James, D-Bennington 4, recommends a three-part series of video presentations by Chris Rupe of the Legislative Joint Fiscal Office as a primer. Start with Pensions 101, then check out How Did We Get Here? and Possible Solutions and Strategies From Other States.

What about a new source of funding to fill the gap? Rep. Brain Cina, P-Chittenden 6-4, presented an amendment Friday to a miscellaneous tax bill that would have raised taxes with a 3 percent surcharge on incomes over $500,000. Thats just 1.45 percent of the states taxpayers, Cina said, adding those folks have benefited from federal tax cuts over the past few years.

But that amendment was defeated resoundingly, 125-21. What to make of that result? Two thoughts come to mind:

 Lawmakers might or might not agree with the concept of a temporary progressive tax with a specific purpose, but many said they simply could not endorse a change in financial policy that had not vetted through the committee process. Some, including Government Operations vice chair Rep. John Gannon, were visibly and audibly annoyed by the short notice and lack of committee review. And Rep. Alice Emmons, the dean of the House, noted that in 1991, when the state passed a tax hike Cina cited as a model for his proposal, there was extensive compromise between the late Gov. Richard Snelling and then-House Speaker Ralph Wright of Bennington.

 But as noted by Cinas district mate, Progressive caucus leader Selene Colburn, P-Chittenden 6-4, sometimes floor amendments are the only way to bring an idea to the table. A revenue source is not part of the initial pension proposal before the Government Operations Committee. And supporters of the Cina amendment and state employees testifying Friday pointedly noted that absence.

But heres the thing: House and committee leaders are fairly convinced that such a proposal would surely be vetoed by Gov. Phil Scott, and thats not a place where they want to go.

I think it will be really unfortunate if we went through this process and had a veto and we werent able to override it, Speaker Jill Krowinski said Friday. While shes open to ideas around revenue, she said, I want to be clear I want to have consensus, not an override fight.

It would take 101 votes to sustain a veto in the House. But theres another number in play: 149,198. Thats the number of votes by which Scott defeated former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman last fall in winning re-election.

During the campaign, Zuckerman pledged to use progressive taxation as a source of revenue for investment in human service programs and clean energy initiatives. And two out of every three voters, casting ballots in the largest election turnout in Vermont history, chose Scott instead.

That result is hard to overlook, even when union members  a core constituency for legislative Democrats  are calling for a progressive tax solution.

As for Scott: He hasnt been publicly engaged in this situation, but one wonders how long that hands-off approach will continue. Scott surely recognizes the unfunded pension liability is a ticking financial time bomb for the state, claiming millions of dollars in general fund revenue every year. Furthermore, these are his employees, people whose tireless efforts over the past year helped the state weather a pandemic and helped save lives.

LIGHTS OUT

Madam President, weve lost power.

Thats how Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint was forced to cut off a spirited debate Friday afternoon on S. 10, an unemployment benefit bill that has raised business concerns about increased costs and potential losses to the unemployment trust fund. With no electricity in the Statehouse or state offices, Balint was forced to seek an adjournment, and the debate on that bill will now wait for Tuesday.

Also on the Senate calendar for Tuesday are a second reading of S. 100, a proposal for universal free school meals at public schools, and a third reading of H. 81, which allows for non-licensed school employees to bargain their healthcare benefits separately from licensed employees.

On the House calendar for Tuesday is Joint House Resolution 2, Sincerely apologizing and expressing sorrow and regret to all individual Vermonters and their families and descendants who were harmed as a result of State-sanctioned eugenics policies and practices. The full text is on Page 770 of the House calendar (click the blue page number to get there directly).

Also before the House on Tuesday are changes to a COVID relief bill, H. 315, added by the Senate last week.

TUESDAY

Now that the House has passed its version of the Fiscal 2022 budget, its the Senates turn. The Senate Appropriations Committee digs in Tuesday afternoon as it takes testimony from department heads. Thats scheduled to continue all week.

A similar task awaits the Senate Transportation Committee as it takes up the House version of the Transportation Bill, passed last week.

In House Education, a pair of Senate bills  S. 114, addressing literacy instruction, and S. 16, which would create a task force to address when and how schools suspend or expel students  are scheduled to be taken up starting at 1 p.m.

House Judiciary starts a busy week with testimony on S. 7, which expands expungement of criminal records in Vermont. It passed the Senate last week.

WEDNESDAY

The House Judiciary Committee is expected to take up S. 3, a bill setting new guidelines for information provided to public safety officials and crime victims in cases involving persons found incompetent to stand trial or ruled not guilty by reason of insanity.

THURSDAY

A pair of bills dealing with criminal threatening, against public officials and in schools, are due to be considered Thursday morning in the House Judiciary Committee.

FRIDAY

The Senate Institutions Committee is slated to hear an update on the state employees and teachers pensions from Treasurer Beth Pearce at 1:30 p.m.

TUNE IN

You can watch any House or Senate proceeding, either streaming live or archived whenever you like, by going to the committees page and clicking on its current agenda. You can find listings of committees and their agendas here.

You can access audio and video links for the House and Senate chambers, and look up any bill or committee, on the Legislatures home page.

The House convenes at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 1:15 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 9:30 a.m. Friday.

The Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, 1 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. Friday.
An Australian man who was targeted in a campaign of terror by a 77-year-old woman says he's endured "three years of sheer hell".

Sligo-based engineer David Newton (57) told Tubbercurry District Court he had been subject to violence, harassment and abuse from Nancy Meers and her family since he put down a deposit to buy a former school building in Kilmactigue in rural Sligo three years ago.

The building, which borders Ms. Meers' property, was being sold at the time by the Catholic Church and the pensioner offered 3,000 for it.

The Church rejected the offer as they were seeking 80,000 for the building.

Mr Newton and his wife, who have a house in Kilmactigue, subsequently paid a deposit on the school and were due to pay the rest after carrying out inspections, but said their lives were made a living hell as anyone who tried to inspect the property, including the local parish priest, was chased off by Nancy Meers and her family.

"It's been three years of sheer hell. As soon as she heard that we put the deposit on the school the ridiculous and violent antics started," Mr Newton told the Sunday World.

Expand Close Nancy Meers threw rocks as the buyers and the parish priest inspected the property / Facebook

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"This woman has tormented the hell out of the whole community. We have had about three years of sheer hell here. All because we paid a deposit on the school."

In one incident Meers armed herself with rocks which she threw as Mr Newton was inspecting the property with local priest Fr John Glynn, who was suffering ill health and fled in terror.

Expand Close The school borders Nancy Meers property / Facebook

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"Fr Glynn burned rubber. For a sick man he jumped over the wall of the school, jumped into his car, burned rubber and drove into our driveway and was shaking with fear," said Mr Newton.

Mr Newton said Meers and her family members turned up to scare them off when they arrived for an inspection.

He said they had rocks and someone was carrying a container of liquid which he believed was petrol.

"They came down and surrounded our car. They had rocks. They were going to smash our car and set it on fire."

The school was taken off the market by the church after that incident.

Meers was this month given the Probation Act in Sligo District Court over that incident and has been ordered not to interfere with David Newton or his partner or the school in any way.

Judge Kevin Kilrane, who asked Meers if she was trying to run Mr Newton and his partner out of town, warned her she could face jail if she fails to abide by the order.

"I want to send out a message that this type of bullying, pushing and shoving will not be tolerated. Someone will go to prison," the judge said.

He described the incident where she armed herself with a stone as "a threat and a serious threat".

Just days before the case came to court "OUT" was painted in large red letters on David Newton's home.

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That same night the local church was also daubed with red graffiti with numerous slogans, including "read the signs", "school not for sale", "99 years is 99 years" and "septic no good".

Meers denied in court that she was behind the graffiti, which has greatly upset other locals in the area.

Dozens of signs have also been put up around the school.

Meers had also been charged with an incident in which a car was driven at Mr Newton and his partner, which forced him to jump over a wall to avoid being hit.

Expand Close Signs posted beside the old school at Kilmactigue, Aclare, Co. Sligo. / Facebook

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Meers appeared in court a number of months ago in relation to that but was not convicted of it as a cousin took the stand to give her an alibi, saying she was with her in Carrick-on-Shannon that day.

The school has also been vandalised with damage to the roof, the windows and the interior, while someone broke in and turned on the taps, which caused water damage.

No one has been charged in connection with the vandalism.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 16:59:00|Editor: huaxia

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by Pankaj Yadav

NEW DELHI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The new academic year is around the corner in India, but uncertainty prevails over reopening schools amid the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Asian country.

The number of daily COVID-19 cases registered was about 60,000 in recent days as the total tally crossed 12 million on Monday.

In January the daily cases had come down to below 10,000 and the graph continued falling over the subsequent weeks.

School students had just finished taking their annual examinations, conducted offline at most places, and were preparing to go to school for the new semester. But, the new surge in coronavirus cases has dampened their spirits with a uncertainty over reopening schools.

Lockdown was imposed in India from March last year. For a full one year school students have remained at homes taking online classes and term examinations.

Ishita Yadav, a student in Gurugram city in the northern state Haryana, was excited about attending regular school classes but is now concerned about the prospect.

The girl told Xinhua: "We were told that our school would reopen this year. I bought new books and sets of school uniform with much enthusiasm, and was so excited to go to my school after one year. I wanted to meet my classmates and schoolmates and enjoy with them in school environment. But I don't think my school will reopen anytime soon amid the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases."

She added that in the last year she had been in touch with her classmates only through online modes.

"It has been one year since I last met my friends. Somehow, I and my classmates managed to pass the last year staying at home, but now it is taking a toll on us. I miss my school playground and annual picnic trips with classmates so much," she stressed.

A lady teacher in a Delhi government senior secondary school said the Delhi government has directed all public schools in the national capital not to allow offline/physical classes for students of 3rd to 8th standards due to the pandemic for the academic session 2021-22.

Chairman of the Deep Memorial Public School in Ghaziabad, a town in the northern state Uttar Pradesh adjoining Delhi, Satprakash Singh said: "COVID-19 cases have once again started increasing over the past couple of weeks. We had just finished offline annual examinations, and were preparing to reopen our school strictly following standard operating procedures (SOPs) like arranging hand sanitizers, face masks and ensuring adequate social distancing."

"But I don't think we will be able to reopen our school in the prevailing COVID-19 circumstances," said Singh.

"We managed to pay salaries to our staff throughout the last academic year from our reserves. But we are facing a tough challenge to pay our staff this year if the trend continues," he added.

Deep Verma, owner of a school located in south Delhi, told Xinhua that the country passed through a tough time last year and everyone was quite enthusiastically looking forward to a coronavirus-free future in 2021.

"The rising number of cases every day has once again thrown a challenge before us. No one, either parents, teachers, governments authorities or the kids, is at fault. It is a particular situation that we all have to deal with. I personally don't think it's advisable to reopen schools in present circumstances, come what may," he said.

According to him, online school classes seem to be the only option as of now. Citing some of the challenges, Verma added that the children of people belonging to the economically weaker sections do not have proper gadgets, like smart phones or laptops, to attend online classes.

"The government would really have to think about providing study gadgets to this class of school kids, in order to ensure that they don't miss out on their regular online classes," he said. Enditem
NORTH BERGEN, N.J.Nasstoys on Monday announced its partnership with UK-based erotic wholesaler ABS Holdings, making them the exclusive distributor of Nasstoys products in the UK.



Nasstoys and ABS have teamed up to bring a wide selection of Nasstoys' newest products and top-selling items to the UK retail market. Nasstoys partnership with ABS is a continued effort to globally expand the brand.



"We are very excited to partner with ABS Holdings and their amazing team," said Elliot Schwartz, Nasstoys president. "We have been very impressed with the growth of ABS, and it seemed like a perfect time to partner with them exclusively to bring Nasstoys to the UK. I want to thank Justin for his outstanding effort in getting this deal done. Nasstoys is looking forward to a long working relationship with ABS and expansion in the UK market."

ABS Holdings will be offering their customers some of Nasstoys' newest and top-selling products from a wide range of collections, including Maxx Men, Real Cocks, All American Whoppers, and Commander, along with a large selection of Nasstoys creams and Anal-ese.



"ABS is pleased to partner with such an incredible company as Nasstoys, and the select few brands that we are exclusive with us in the UK we know will be a big hit with our customers," said Justin Vickers, head of global trade sales. "Elliot and his team's commitment to the industry is unparalleled with any other company, and we are excited to be working with them. The partnership with ABS Holdings and Nasstoys will be another step for us to provide our customers with quality items to offer their customers."



For more information or to place a Nasstoys order, please email [email protected] or visit ABS's website at www.absholdings.com. Follow ABS Holdings on Twitter @absholdings.



Follow Nasstoys through social media on Twitter @nasstoys, Facebook at facebook.com/nasstoys, and on Instagram @nasstoys to see the latest products, live training, and updates.
Pfizer has admitted it may ditch the German biotech firm that made its breakthrough coronavirus jab as it looks to drastically expand its vaccine business.

The US drugs giant has revealed plans to use gene-based technology, harnessed by BioNTech, to tackle other viruses and illnesses beyond Covid.

Pfizer's boss claimed the firm had learned enough about mRNA vaccines to go solo, adding that it no longer 'needs to work with BioNTech' beyond the end of the companies' flu jab agreement in July.

Albert Bourla, the firm's chief executive, revealed the company had recruited at least 50 more scientists to work out of its new mRNA-focused lab in New York.

It has also secured specialised raw materials and designed clinical trials so that it can manufacture and study vaccines without splitting profits.

Mr Bourla told the Wall Street Journal: 'We like working with BioNTech, but we dont need to work with BioNTech. We have our own expertise developed.'

The German company was the brains behind the Covid jab, which was proven to be 95 per cent effective at blocking Covid symptoms and became the first in the world to get approval in December when Britain gave it the green light.

Pfizer, most famous for inventing Viagra, came on board to manufacture, distribute and commercialise the vaccine.

The two companies are currently splitting profits on the Covid jab evenly, with sales expected to return roughly 13billion this year.

BioNTech seemed unaffected by the news in a statement and said it welcomed the 'acknowledgement' of the technology it had developed.

Albert Bourla, Pfizer's chief executive, said the drugs giant no longer 'needs to work with BioNTech'

The German firm was the brains behind the Covid jab  proven to be 95 per cent effective  which was the first in the world to get approval in December in Britain (file)

Analysts at JP Morgan forecast more than 8.5bn in sales for the jab next year, which will increase if annual booster shots are needed.

BioNTech is expected to supply one billion doses of the jab this year, a target that increased by a quarter when it got approval for its factory in Marburg, Germany.

And Pfizer is matching this with another billion, bringing the pair's total to two billion.

A BioNTech spokeswoman told the WSJ: 'We consider it a great acknowledgment for mRNA technologies that companies such as our partner Pfizer are getting involved into building their own mRNA vaccine strategy.'

The two firms first began to collaborate in 2018 with the aim of making a flu vaccine.

But that original deal expires this July, at which point Pfizer will continue to research, manufacture and sell any jab proven to work.

How do mRNA vaccines work? MRNA is a next generation technology, or platform, to use vaccine terminology. Traditional vaccines use one harmless, typically inactivated virus - such as the types that cause common colds - to deliver a tiny, harmless piece of the virus that the shot will provide protection against to the human body. The piece is enough to 'teach' the immune system how to recognize and fend off the invader. MRNA is easier and faster to make, and much more easily modified than older types of vaccines, and even has the potential to provide protection against multiple viruses in one vaccine. Advertisement

The coronavirus vaccine is made from volatile genetic material known as mRNA, or messenger RNA, tiny pieces of genetic material that mimic the coronavirus so the immune system can learn to spot and destroy it.

Scientists say mRNA vaccines are cheaper to make and easier to modify in the face of new variants or viruses.

The process of developing mRNA vaccines is also purely synthetic, meaning experts don't have to rely on living cells from plants or animals.

Making mRNA vaccines requires special equipment and raw materials that werent commonly available before Covid hit.

Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid jab was the first ever mRNA vaccine to get approval for fighting any disease. Rival American firm Moderna has also created an mRNA jab proven to thwart coronavirus.

Pfizer's boss said it has become self-sufficient after learning how to produce mRNA vaccines itself, without relying on suppliers.

The New York-based firm, which is one of the world's biggest pharmaceuticals, has declined to say which viruses it will target next with the mRNA technology.

But it's likely booster coronavirus shots will be needed in the future as new variants emerge. The global flu vaccination market is also valued at about 3bn.

Pfizers vaccine portfolio already includes one of the most profitable jabs on the market  the pneumonia vaccine Prevnar 13. It made Pfizer nearly 4.3bn in sales last year.

It is also using traditional vaccine technology to develop shots for Lyme disease and colon infections.

Traditional vaccines use one harmless, typically inactivated virus - such as the types that cause common colds - to teach the immune system to recognise the threat and kill it in future.

Studies have found that, although the mRNA vaccine was relatively untested, it appears to have been a huge success in the pandemic.

A study in the UK found a single dose of Pfizer's jab produces a 'robust' immune response in 99 per cent of people.

Single dose of Pfizer/BioNTech jab provokes 'robust' immune response in 99% of people A study has found a single dose of Pfizer's jab produces a 'robust' immune response in 99 per cent of people. Experts 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. Advertisement

Experts 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.

And the scientist behind Pfizer's vaccine now says the technology could soon be used to fight cancer.

Ozlem Tureci, who co-founded BioNTech with her husband, was working on a way to harness the body's immune system to tackle tumours when they learned last year of an unknown virus infecting people in China.

And within 11 months, Britain had authorised the use of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine they developed with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, with approval from the US following a week later.

Tens of millions of people worldwide have received the shot since December.

'It pays off to make bold decisions and to trust that if you have an extraordinary team, you will be able to solve any problem and obstacle which comes your way in real time,' Tureci said.

Among the biggest challenges for the small, Mainz-based company that had never brought a product to market before was how to conduct large-scale clinical trials across different regions and how to scale up the manufacturing process to meet global demand.

Along with Pfizer, the company enlisted the help of Fosun Pharma in China 'to get assets, capabilities and geographical footprint on board, which we did not have,' Tureci said.

Among the lessons she and her husband, BioNTech chief executive Ugur Sahin, learned along with their colleagues was 'how important cooperation and collaboration is internationally.'

Tureci, who was born in Germany to Turkish immigrants, said the company, which has staff members from 60 countries, reached out to medical oversight bodies from the start, to ensure that the new type of vaccine would pass the rigorous scrutiny of regulators.

'The process of getting a medicine or a vaccine approved is one where many questions are asked, many experts are involved and there is external peer review of all the data and scientific discourse,' she said.
analysis

"Nigeria is a country located in West Africa": so begins the prologue of Abi Dare's debut novel. The prologue is a brief excerpt from The Book of Nigerian Facts, supposedly published in 2014. Though this book is fictional, the facts it gives are real. It states: "As the 6th largest crude oil exporter in the world, and with a GDP of $568.5 billion, Nigeria is the richest country in Africa. Sadly, over 100 million Nigerians live in poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day." It seems a curious place to start a novel. Imagine a book set in London opening with this quote from a 2019 article on the BBC website: "Overall, London remains the most dangerous part of England and Wales." Why choose to begin with these facts in particular? Nigeria's creative industry is worth billions of dollars and provides jobs for thousands. Starting with poverty statistics forces the reader to draw conclusions about Nigeria before they have even begun, telegraphing that their response should be one of pity.

Nevertheless, I turn the page and meet Adunni, our protagonist. Adunni is a 14-year-old girl who lives in a small town several hours' drive from Lagos. Although she is a minor, she is about to be illegally married off to raise money for her father. Her bride price will be used to pay the family's rent, among other things. In many ways, her tale is one of woe. Her mother, who championed her right to an education, is dead. She is raped by her "husband", who has a daughter her age. Through a series of unfortunate events, she ends up in Lagos as the servant of Big Madam. Although called a "house-girl", she is really a slave because her wages are withheld from her and given to her procurer.

Despite her hardships, Adunni is determined to become a success, and believes that the surest route is by securing a western education. This is a trope used in classic Nigerian children's books such as Onuora Nzekwu's Eze Goes to School, and is deployed to good effect here. The reader is given a reason to root for Adunni as through the ups and downs of her journey she rarely loses sight of her ultimate goal of becoming a girl with a "louding voice".

What is a louding voice? It appears to be a coinage of Dare's for a young woman who confidently shares her perspective on the world, backed up by a sound western education. Dare has said of the language in which the book is written: "Nigerians speak something called pidgin English, and I knew I didn't want to write in pidgin English because even the very educated people speak pidgin English. I wanted it to be nonstandard English. I could make it Adunni's. It could be her own English, so to speak."

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The results of this invented English are uneven. Sometimes it yields original and humorous imagery: Big Madam has a "chest wide like blackboard". At other times, Adunni's mangled dialect seems to turn her into an object of fun, both to the reader and also to the book's other characters, as though she is the butt of a joke she is not aware of.

The narrative is written in the first person. The reader is privy to Adunni's thoughts and one wonders why she needs to invent a language to think in when she already has one in which she is fluent: throughout the novel she sings in Yoruba and at one point even acts as a Yoruba translator. Why couldn't Adunni's interior life be translated from fluent Yoruba into fluent English?

The novel is strongest when dealing with interpersonal relationships, especially between characters of different classes. Kofi, Big Madam's cook, takes Adunni under his wing. He cowers in front of Big Madam but bosses Adunni around. Adunni also forms a friendship with Tia, a wealthy environmental consultant and doctor's wife who lives nearby. Tia is privileged and well educated, but naive about the harsh realities of Adunni's life. Their friendship, in which they exchange knowledge, is one of the highlights of the book.

The story told in this novel is an important one. The trauma of girls forced into marriage and the blight of domestic slavery in Nigeria are both issues that must be brought to light. As Adunni wonders: "Why are the women in Nigeria seem to be suffering for everything more than the men?" The Girl With the Louding Voice joins a long and fine tradition of issue-led novels that have sparked conversations resulting in social change. Social justice is a laudable intention when writing a novel, yet one also reads them for subtler and less concrete gains.

Available at Timbooktoo tel 4494345
What is this shift in approach that Power is talking about?

by Dr Laksiri Fernando

Amnesty International (AI) was the first to express its jubilation, among the international NGOs, when the UNHRC resolution was passed against Sri Lanka on 23 March. That is no surprise as from its inception the Amnesty has characterized their main approach as naming and shaming. This is like stoning and caning the perceived enemies. Who has unashamedly unleashed this approach this time against Sri Lanka is Hilary Power, Amnestys representative to the UN in Geneva (Sri Lanka: Landmark UN Resolution, AI, 23 March 2021).

Naming and Shaming?

Amnesty may be unaware or just ignoring the studies conducted by independent scholars about the counterproductive nature of these approaches particularly to culturally and religiously different countries, without employing a balanced and a constructive way of engagement. The latter is called human rights diplomacy. Jack Snyder was one among thecriticson naming and shaming.As he said in a study on Backlash Against Naming and Shaming,

Neither activists nor the scholars who study them have paid much attention to the emotional dynamics of the targeted group, and in particular to the emotions of shame and shaming, nor to the sociological mechanisms that underpin the politics of status and status competition.

Snyder drew his conclusions based on political sociology/psychology. However, this is not only about psychology, but against the whole spirit of human rights. This is exactly what happened in Myanmar even after the military opted to hold elections and form coalition governments with Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD (National League for Democracy) since 2008. The naming and shaming went on even against Suu Kyi and the result was a terrible backlash today even against her.

It is possible that these Western advocates are trying their best, knowingly, or unknowingly, to turn Sri Lanka into another Myanmar. But I hope that Sri Lankas democratic and state institutions are resilient and firmer, the leaders are sensible, and the people in Sri Lanka would not get caught up in this trap the Western governments and NGOs are placing on them. I am talking based on my research and experience. What Sri Lanka should do is to campaign firmly within the UNHRC and the UN against these approaches, exposing the motives and deception of the Western countries and western dominated NGOs.

Vindictiveness

Hilary Power of Amnesty has talked as a colonial madam declaring the following. This is a significant move by the Human Rights Council, which signals a shift in approach by the international community. Years of support and encouragement to Sri Lanka to pursue justice at the national level achieved nothing. This resolution should send a clear message to perpetrators of past and current crimes that they cannot continue to act with impunity.

What is this shift in approach that Power is talking about? It is very clear that it is about the interference in internal affairs. It is an absolute lie to talk about years of support and encouragement. On the contrary, it was maximalist demands year after year that discouraged accountability and national reconciliation. Why then the same policy of support and encouragement allegedly continued if nothing achieved at the national level during the last 12 years?

What are the current crimes that she is talking about? She should listen to Lord Nasby if she cannot believe the colored people. As an independent academic, I believe that her attitudes are conditioned by white racism believing that Sri Lankan people cannot understand human rights. These are the same people or her predecessors that supported and encouraged LTTE terrorism in the name of human rights.

Exaggerations and Misinterpretations

In the first sentence of the statement, it was completely wrong to characterize the war as a 30-year civil conflict. It was a terrorist war against a legitimate government and people in the country. The LTTE killed not only the Sinhalese or the government soldiers but also the Tamil innocents and their intellectuals. I lost some of the close friends and relatives. They were not killed by the soldiers or the police. Then elected governments had every legitimate right to fight against terrorism and this was required by the constitution.

One major defect in the international human rights system today is that it does not have a clear definition or understanding of terrorism. They are clueless or complicit.

Has Amnesty ever written against terrorism in Sri Lanka or elsewhere? Hilary Power should show us any evidence. Why cannot the Amnesty characterize terrorism as a human rights violation? Perhaps they were funded by some terrorist organizations worldwide. They claim they have seven million members who fund their activities. To my information Amnesty is significantly funded by the British government discretely. I have been to the Amnesty international office in London in late 1980s. They had their own regional scabbles with Africans that time.

I have also been to the Amnesty meetings in Sydney in early 1990s when I was doing my PhD research on human rights. From one meeting to the other people were changing while few were running an office on a paid basis. I also wrote to the Amnesty office in London asking whether they had made any statement on the Burmese coup in 1962. Because one of my concerned countries was Burma. They wrote back saying No they were working only on death penalty! From amnesty to capital punishment, now they are working on amnesty to terrorists it seems. Because Amnesty type human rights advocacy is a big business today.

Prior to the statement on Sri Lanka: Landmark UN Resolution there were two reports issued by the Amnesty International. One was dated 14 January 2021on The UN Human Rights Council Must Step Up Efforts in Sri Lanka and the other lengthy Report was in February, without a clear date, titled Old Ghosts in New Garb: Sri Lankas Return to Fear. When you go through these two reports and the Report by the so-called office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the contents, the language, recommendations, and even paragraphs are, more or less, the same.

Arrogance and Nonsense

Perhaps the Amnesty or Hilary Power does not know what they are talking aboutas follows. We urge Sri Lanka to engage constructively with the OHCHR, to implement the recommendations of the report and to allow full and unfettered access to the country. Failing this, the Human Rights Council may take more robust action, including the establishment of an independent accountability mechanism, said Hilary Power(Colombo Telegraph, 23 March 2021).

Perhaps the British colonial arrogance is behind her. Who is she to urge Sri Lanka to engage with the OHCHR? She also urge Sri Lanka to allow full and unfettered access to the country. To do what? She should know the colonial history of the country before talking about human rights today. She is also trying to blackmail the country by saying Failing this, the Human Rights Council may take more robust action.

Recommendations

I recommend the Sri Lanka government to completely prohibit anyone from the OHCHR to step into the country.

To campaign within the members of the UNHRC and the UN member countries in general to change the lopsided human rights approaches of the West and to promote human rights with human duties worldwide. To prohibit or limit the dubious organizations like Amnesty International influencing the activities of the UNHRC.

To strengthen the national security without allowing anyone to undermine, challenge or subvert the countrys independence, sovereignty and integrity as guaranteed in the UN Charter.

To promote human rights and human duties among the citizens of Sri Lanka through education based on the international conventions and covenants, and the traditions and customs of the country.

To complain to the UN Security Council and the General Assembly regarding the illegal nature of the UNHRC resolution and allow the country to carry forward its own processes of promoting accountability, reconciliation and human rights and report to the UNHRC only on a periodic basis.

Newly elected rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Volodymyr Buhrov, opposes the holding of any party events on the territory of the university.

"It is impossible for any university [to be out of politics]. As a philosopher by education, I will say that you are always in a certain relationship with the authorities and politicians. For example, more than 80 MPs of Ukraine in all factions and groups are university graduates. All of them are graduates for the university. At the same time, I am for the fact that party events on the territory of the university never take place, this is my principled position," Buhrov said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

He also added that he did not know about the Servant of the People party conference held on the territory of the university last year.

"I believe that this does not add bonuses to any party. Because the university is a slightly different place. If you noticed,we do not have a single church on our territory, this is also a principled position. This does not mean that we are not religious, not believers: everyone has their own preferences, but this is all outside the university," the elected rector emphasized.

At the same time, he noted that at the university there are meetings with politicians for students of political science, historians or international affairs, which is normal practice, but these are just meetings, and not holding party events.

"Of course, a university, not only a Ukrainian one, cannot be outside politics, because this is the life of the country, but this must all be in compliance with clear rules and regulations. If this is a visit of the President of Ukraine, then you need to understand that regardless of preferences, this is the head of state. The Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada are top officials, they can contact and come to the university at any time to meet with students. This is the norm for any country," Buhrov said.

As reported, on September 21, 2020, Kyiv city cell of the Servant of the People party held its party conference in the courtyard of the Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Toyota offered three different models in the 1970s. There was the Dolphin, built by National RV, the big Sunrader, made in cooperation with Gardner-Pacific, and the Chinook. The latter was based on the second-gen Hilux truck and built in cooperation with a California company.These truck-based campers were of the compact variety, but many of them were fitted with pop-tops that created a six-foot-high (1.82-meter) lounge. They're famous for their reliability and solid mileage, and they're easy and affordable to maintain. But many of them didn't survive through decades of abuse, and those that did require a lot of work.If you're in the market for a Chinook, it's your lucky day. This example from 1978 is in excellent condition, packs a few upgrades, and it's waiting for a new owner on Craiglist . With only 43,000 miles (69,200 km) on the odo, it's being offered for $16,500. That's less than half the price of a modern Toyota Sienna minivan.The truck looks fairly well on the outside. Aside from a few paint chips and minor signs of rust here and there, this Chinook is basically in mint condition, given its age and purpose. The same goes for the interior, which is equipped with everything you need to go on a long vacation.It comes with a stove, fridge, and freezer that runs on electric power or propane, and a large bench seat that turns into a bed. There's a working sink and tap, a built-in toilet, and a built-in 10-gallon water tank. Some areas could use a bit of cleaning and maybe a restoration, but you can live in this thing as it is.This motorhome draws juice from the 20R engine that Toyota offered in the second-generation Hilux truck. Being a 1978 model, the 2.2-liter four-cylinder was rated at 95 horsepower and 122 pound-feet (165 Nm) of torque back in the day. The owner says it features a rebuilt Weber carburetor, a new fuel pump, and a five-speed gearbox instead of the stock four-speed unit.The truck also features a completely refurbished fridge, an upgraded stereo with amplifier and speakers, and a Bluetooth connection. It comes with brand-new tires with less than 100 miles on them and two new batteries. The seller also offers original documentation, including a Chinook owner's manual.Ready for that long camping vacation you've been planning for 2021?
Dr. VINCE BAUGHER is the corresponding secretary for the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of Denton and has operated his own chiropractic clinic, The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center, in Denton for the past 21 years.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- People's United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People's United Bank, N.A., announced that it has awarded $989,589 during its first grant cycle of 2021 to 150 non-profits throughout its footprint, covering Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Grants awarded will support critical community programs including food aid, small business assistance, youth education and mentoring programs, as well as homelessness prevention, supportive housing, and employment services, among other initiatives. Funding was distributed in alignment with the Foundation's three primary focus areas including community and economic development, youth development and affordable housing.

Among these grants is an employee match contribution of $177,089 that will be allocated to United Way affiliates across our region as part of the People's United Bank Annual United Way Employee Giving Campaign.

"We thank our nonprofit partners for their perseverance in meeting the unprecedented demands and challenges that continue to affect our communities. We are confident our support will aid in their important work of ensuring that vital programs and services remain accessible to all," said Karen Galbo, Executive Director of the Foundation.

For a list of organizations that People's United Community Foundation supported during the first grant cycle of 2021, visit www.peoples.com/foundations.

About People's United Community Foundation

People's United Community Foundation, operating independently from People's United Bank, provides grants for programs and services that improve the quality of life for residents in the neighborhoods served by People's United Bank. People's United Bank, N.A. is a subsidiary of People's United Financial, Inc., a diversified, community-focused financial services company headquartered in the Northeast with more than $63 billion in assets. Founded in 1842, People's United Bank offers commercial and retail banking through a network of more than 400 retail locations in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as wealth management solutions.

SOURCE People's United Bank

Related Links

www.peoples.com


Mr. Cherno Marena, former solicitor general and Legal Secretary, on Thursday, 25 March 2021 told the TRRC that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of The Gambia should be strengthened for a more vibrant judiciary.

Marena appeared to explain how the justice sector enabled Jammeh to violate the rights of Gambians and laws that were often used to eliminate the former president's opponents.

Asked whether the legislation was enacted extensively but implemented for Jammeh's own ends, the witness in response said while at the Ministry of Justice, there were three notoriety legislations that were mainly used against Public Servants.

"However, these were not made by Jammeh and one of them was the Criminal Code and Giving False Information to a Public Servant, Abuse of Office, Negligent of Officials duty and the Economic Crime Decree."

He said the Decree was an AFPRC Decree of 1994. Faal then asked him to explain why that Decree was still in the law books. He said all the AFPRC Decrees were formed to be part of the laws of the Gambia and were incorporated in the Constitution.

Asked to explain how whistleblowers were treated under Yahya Jammeh, he said what was unfortunate about those people was, if there was nothing to link with that person, the person will be subjected to police investigations, which will eventually slap them with the charges of false information.

However, he said if such persons give certain information and Yahya Jammeh is not happy with it, the individual will face the false information charge.

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"It was all based on his whims and caprices," he said.

Mr. Marena testified that one of the examples of whistleblowers was the case of former Minister of Justice, Lamin Jobarteh, Pa Harry Jammeh and Njogu Bah, former secretary general.

"Apart from the right violations it had several impacts on the public because it made people reluctant to report certain things and sat on their constitutional right to petition the president. People were afraid to provide information because they did not know what the consequences would be."

On the issue of negligence by government officials, he said even a minor mistake on administrative lapses, someone faced charges.

"Some lawyers saw the charge of false information as a defective charge as the president was not part of the Public Service and therefore was not a "public servant."

Further testifying, he said Jammeh sharpened the weapon by replacing the word of Public Servant to 'Public Official' because under the Constitution, the President was not a Public Servant but a Public Official.

After the Jammeh regime, the main thing was to change the Criminal Procedure Code and task certain Gambian lawyers led by Senior Counsel, Antouman Gaye to make sure that the laws were within international standards and had since been sent to the National Assembly.

For the Economic Crimes Decree, Marena said the invention behind the Decree was to deal with people who sabotage the economy or cause economic losses in the Public Service.

On the application of the law to punish people, Marena indicated that the Decree provides a trial at the High Court and if they wanted to deny bail, they would charge the person at the Magistrates Court.
The highly-anticipated superhero movie Black Widow is landing in theatres and on streaming on Disney+ on July 9.

And in a profile of star Scarlett Johansson in The Gentlewoman this month, the film's director Cate Shortland revealed the toll four months of shooting in several locations around the globe had on the actress.

Shortland told the outlet that by the end of production, Johansson as well as her co-star Florence Pugh were both ill with pneumonia but carried on filming.

Ill: Scarlett Johansson and co-star Florence Pugh both battled pneumonia while filming Black Widow during a grueling four-month long shoot, director Cate Shortland has revealed

Meanwhile, Johansson, 36, also admitted in the interview that she had been hesitant to take on the Marvel character when approached about starring in 2012's Avengers.

'Even the thought of all of us together in our superhero costumes sounded like it was going to be a disaster. Not a disaster, but, like, 'What is this? What is this?'' she told The Gentlewoman.

Nearly a decade later, she's amassed great wealth thanks to the phenomenal success of the MCU and Avengers franchise and finally got her own MCU vehicle.

'Yeah, it was exposing,' Johansson said of carrying the movie. 'But it was time, you know?'

Coming soon: Johansson reprises the Marvel character for the seventh time in Black Widow, which is landing in theatres and on streaming on Disney+ on July 9 after pandemic delays

Big deal: The actress, 36, admitted to having doubts about taking on the role, pictured left in her debut in 2012, but says it's about time the superhero got her own standalone movie

Superhero in waiting: British actress Pugh, 25, plays new Black Widow Yelena Belova and is widely tipped among fans to continue in the role for MCU Phase 4

Both she and Shortland say they hope they've managed to pull off something a little bit different with Black Widow.

'She really pushed to make something that wasn't flimsy or superficial,' Shortland said of Johansson.

'She wanted to make something that meant a lot to young people and to women. And she knew it was possibly her last film as Black Widow  she didn't want to leave Marvel making a feel-good movie.'
Bengaluru:

Infosys Senior Vice President Sanjay Rajagopalan has resigned from his post, a month after Vishal Sikka stepped down as the company's MD and CEO.

In his Linked In profile, Rajagopalan described himself as a "free man." He also mentioned that he was employed with Infosys fromAugust 2014 to September 2017, a duration of three years and two months.

It was widely anticipated that Rajagopalan would quit after Sikka put down his papers. Sikka had brought some of his former SAP colleagues to Infosys to help him implement his new initiatives.

One among them was Rajagopalan, in October 2014. Rajagopalan headed the Design Thinking, a creative,user-centered approach to problem-solving and help the company implement it.

He also helped put together a large-scale design thinking training session for all Infosys employees at Mysuru and other development centres.

In a statement, Infosys said, "The company doesn't comment on exits or appointments other than those of key management personnel."In July, Yusuf Bashir quit as Innovation Fund Managing Director.

He was the Vice-President of new products at SAP and a former colleague of Sikka. Bashir had made 12 start-up investments, catering to the aim of Sikka to build tech innovation and get more clients under its fold.

Bashir had joined Infosys in March 2015, primarily to identify and invest in early-stage companies doing cutting-edge work in areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, cloud and analytics.

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Credit: Airbus

The second European Service Module that will power the Orion spacecraft on a crewed flyby of the moon is fitted with a special engine at Airbus facilities in Germany.

This engine belonged to Space Shuttle Atlantis, and is one of five refurbished engines to be paired with the first five European Service Modules. Technicians carefully install the engine in Airbus' cleanroom.

ESM is the powerhouse of NASA's Orion spacecraft. It will provide critical functions such as the propulsion system to get astronauts to the moon, and the consumables astronauts need to stay alive.

ESM-2 will fuel the crewed Orion spacecraft during a flyby of the moon for Artemis 2 and is currently undergoing integration and other testing in Europe before it is delivered to NASA this summer.

Meanwhile in the United States, the first European Service Module is making its way to the launch pad as part of the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission test flight later this year. Next stop is fuelling, due to take place next week.

ESM is ESA's contribution to NASA's Artemis program and includes involvement from 10 European nations.

ESA recently signed a contract with Airbus for the construction of three more European Service Modules (ESM) for Orion. These modules will be used for the Artemis IV to VI missions. The first two Modules in the contract are part of Europe's contribution to the international lunar Gatewaya new space station around the moon.

Explore further Europe powers up for third and fourth Orion spacecraft
Juan Carlos Reynoso has always loved to help people and carries out that passion through working with the American Red Cross.

Reynoso has worked with the organization for years, first in Mexico and now in Aiken. Born and raised in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Reynoso spent most of his adult life in the country.

With the Mexican Red Cross, Reynoso volunteered as a paramedic and an ambulance driver. The Mexican Red Cross has its own ambulances that are provided free of cost, a big difference when compared to ambulances in the United States, Reynoso said.

"Once I heard about the ambulances here, its very pricey," Reynoso said.

Reynoso worked at Autoneum in Mexico and was approached by corporate about moving to the area and working at the Autoneum plant in Aiken. He moved to Aiken and started work in December 2019. When he arrived, he wanted to continue being involved with the Red Cross.

Once Reynoso learned ambulances weren't part of the American Red Cross, he looked for other ways to contribute. He joined the disaster action team for the Red Cross and also became interested in blood drives. Thus, he became a blood program leader and helps organize the drives.

With this, he realized he could use Autoneum's parking lot to host the mobile blood bus for donations.

The first blood drive at the plant was in November 2020, and another one was held March 1.

"The first one was more successful, we achieved around 25 volunteers," Reynoso said. "The March one wasnt quite as successful, (but) we achieved almost 20 (volunteers)."

Reynoso said the main objective of the drives is to encourage our people and even to encourage the community to give (blood) to someone else."

With March being Red Cross Month, the Red Cross is inviting everyone to roll up their sleeves and give blood.

At the end, were saving lives," Reynoso said. "Thats probably very common, that comment, but at the end, thats the main objective of giving blood. You are saving lives. You never know. Today, you're giving blood to the blood drive; but tomorrow, you might need blood from somebody else."

Reynoso said he likes working with the Red Cross and looks forward to continuing doing so.

"I really enjoy helping other people," Reynoso said. "At the end, its something that we have to do as human beings."
(The Center Square)  Late Saturday night, just minutes before midnight, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders announced they had reached an agreement to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults.

The deal comes as lawmakers and the Cuomo Administration work to finalize the budget, which is due by April 1. Last week, the governor told reporters that both sides were looking for billions in revenue to finalize their plans.

State leaders said they expect marijuana legalization to provide $350 million in tax revenue to the state annually and create upward of 60,000 jobs.

Cuomo has said decriminalization was long overdue in the state.

"For generations, too many New Yorkers have been unfairly penalized for the use and sale of adult-use cannabis, arbitrarily arrested and jailed with harsh mandatory minimum sentences.  Legalizing adult-use cannabis isn't just about creating a new market that will provide jobs and benefit the economy  it's also about justice for long-marginalized communities and ensuring those who've been unfairly penalized in the past will now get a chance to benefit, the governor said in a statement.

Dubbed the New York State Cannabis/Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, Senate Bill 854 and Assembly Bill 1248 creates an Office of Cannabis Management that would create regulations for both medicinal and recreational marijuana. The office would be an independent office in the state Liquor Authority.

The plan a social and economic equity program that has a goal of awarding half of the licenses to women or minority-owned businesses, distressed farmers or service-disabled veterans.

"There were many important aspects of this legislation that needed to be addressed correctly -- especially the racial disparities that have plagued our state's response to marijuana use and distribution as well as ensuring public safety  and I am proud we have reached the finish line," Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, said.

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Retail dispensaries would sell marijuana with a 9 percent state tax and a 4 percent local tax. Local taxes would be divided between the municipality and the county, with the municipality receiving 75 percent.

The state tax would fund education, community reinvestment grants and drug treatment and education funds.

Municipalities would have the option of not allowing retail shops or on-site consumption if they pass a law within nine months of the effective date of the legislation. Opt-out power, though, will not extend to personal use.

Individuals would also have the right to grow their own supply. However, whether individuals grow it or buy it, they face limits on how much they can have on them both in and out of their home.

Driving while using marijuana or under its influence remains illegal.

The bill also establishes an automatic expungement for anyone convicted of a marijuana crime thats would now be legal under the bill.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, said in a statement she posted on Twitter that she made it a priority to ensure legalized marijuana would serve as an investment into communities, economic opportunities for historically disenfranchised people, research, education and public safety.
SINGAPORE, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --A Embracing the strength of the human spirit to rise above adversity in unprecedented times, prestige skincare brand SK-II releases its debut SK-II STUDIOA film "The Center Lane" about the destiny-changing story of Rikako Ikee's return to competitive swimming. A A A Directed by award-winning Japanese film director Hirokazu Koreeda, the film is the first of eight SK-II STUDIO films that explores what it means to change destiny and how destiny is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice. "I feel truly blessed to have been involved in this wonderful project, and I want to express my gratitude to SK-II and Kore-eda san for capturing who I really am in this film," shared Rikako Ikee as she reflected on her year-long journey with SK-II and being part of SK-II's new #ChangeDestiny chapter. "People around the world have been placed in incredibly difficult situations. I'm sure there are times when it gets too much, and you start to question yourself. It's moments like these that I want everyone to remember the importance of persevering, undeterred, and pursuing your own destiny. It doesn't matter if we can't go back to who we were in the past, because destiny is determined by our actions in this very moment. No matter what hardships you're facing, I believe that you can overcome them and change your future." The film's title, "The Center Lane'', is inspired by Ikee-san's quote when she first arrived at the pool to be interviewed by Koreeda:A "I definitely love the center lane, I always ended up in the center lane at competitions, which you do when you are the fastest. So I feel like home. Like it's my lane".A The new film uses a mix of live documentary and animation to shed light on Ikee's inner thoughts, struggles and hopes as she trains for her competitive comeback. "I had the opportunity to interview and explore Ikee-san's thoughts and emotions as she embarked on her return to competitive swimming after her recovery," shared Hirokazu Koreeda. "It was inspiring to witness what it takes to change destiny through Ikee-san's personal journey. Her story is unique, but within it is something many of us can relate to in these times.A After all, life will always find a way to knock us out of lane, but it is then when we can see our true self and how we evolve past it. That is what I wanted to explore." Japanese Swimmer Rikako Ikee, was the Most Valued Player (MVP) of the 2018 Asian Games and a gold medal candidate for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before she was diagnosed with leukemiaA in February 2019. During her journey to recovery in May 2020, she partnered with SK-II to show a new side of her, without her wig. Her story of hope and strength touched the heart of the nation, reaching top news on Twitter, LINE and Yahoo in Japan and sparking an outpour of encouragement and support from netizens all over the country. This made history as the first time in 28 years where a solo female athlete was featured as frontpage news in Japan. Rikako Ikee has since returned to competitive swimming with a phenomenal comeback at the Japan Open, clinching second in the 50-meterA freestyle. She is set to compete in the 2020 Japan Swimathe Japanese Olympics swimming qualifiers in April. "#CHANGEDESTINY is our brand philosophy at SK-II and is at the heart of all that we do. We are still in unprecedented times and our consumers have a higher expectation towards brands and businesses on how they positively impact communities, society and the environment. Beyond sharing stories of hope and empathy, we have a social responsibility to act now," shared Sandeep Seth, CEO, Global SK-II. "As we embark on our #ChangeDestiny journey this year and embrace the spirit of Olympics as an Official Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games, we want to use our voice to support women as they take destiny in their own hands and overcome limitations placed on them. As destiny is not a matter of chance, but choice." As part of its #ChangeDestiny journey, SK-II, an Official Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, is committed to providing a global platform of support to athletes and women worldwide as they continue to pursue their destiny and overcome limitations that stand in their way. SK-II will be dedicating its next SK-II STUDIO installment in support of this. SK-II will also be additionally setting up a #CHANGEDESTINY fund, contributing $1 for every view garnered on each SK-II STUDIO film in support of women in pursuing their destiny to create positive change as part of its brand purpose this year. Total contribution to the #CHANGEDESTINY fund will be capped at USD 500,000. Participating organizations will be announced at a later date. Find out more about SK-II STUDIO's first film "The Center Lane" and #CHANGEDESTINY philosophy atA https://www.sk-ii.com/sk-ii-studio/change-destiny. About SK-II For nearly 40 years, SK-II has touched the lives of millions of women around the world through skin and life transformation. The fascinating story behind SK-II began with a quest to understand why elderly sake brewers had wrinkled faces, but extraordinarily soft and youthful-looking hands. These hands were in constant contact with the sake fermentation process. It took years of research for scientists to isolate the miracle ingredient PITERAa[1], SK-II's exclusive and naturally derived ingredient crafted from a proprietary fermentation process of a unique yeast strain. Since then, SK-II with PITERAaA has become a special secret shared by celebrities all over the world such as Tangwei, Ni Ni, Chun Xia, Haruka Ayase, Kasumi Arimura, Naomi Watanabe, Chloe Grace Moretz. For the latest news and in-depth information, please visit http://www.sk-ii.com.sg .A About #CHANGEDESTINY #CHANGEDESTINY is at the heart of the SK-II brand philosophy that celebrates how destiny is not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice. Inspired by the stories of women from around the world, #CHANGEDESTINY sheds light on the pressures they face and the universal 'box' they are put in to be perfect in society's eyes. Award-winning #CHANGEDESTINY campaigns include 2016's "Marriage Market Takeover" that put a spotlight on the labels of "Sheng Nu" or "Leftover Women" in China, 2017's "The Expiry Date", 2018's "Meet Me Halfway" and 2019's "Timelines" a docu-series in partnership with Katie Couric about the evolving and controversial topic of marriage pressure and societal expectations women face globally. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1476035/KITE_Film_Poster.jpgA

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNMpmEMptMM A

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1476037/KITE_Film_Poster_FINAL_KITE_Daylight_Horizontal_EN.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1476038/Ikee_Koreeda.jpgA

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1470599/SK_II_STUDIO_Logo.jpg A
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Sandra Begay has mentored more than three dozen young Native Americans through the energy program she created, so dont tell her you cant find qualified people to install solar on the reservation.

We have had 42 interns who are now professionals, ready to work for you  renewable, tribal, theyre there, says Begay, a researcher and engineer at Sandia National Laboratories. I groomed em and I kicked em out the door to go forth, do good. Dont tell me you cant find them.

Although she says the numbers are not enough, she considers it a big legacy to have bolstered the ranks of women and Native Americans in STEM professions  everything from teaching at the college level to nonprofit leadership serving off-grid tribal communities.

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Shes done it for a simple reason: Ive been successful in what Ive been wanting to do because Ive been able to get unique positions. I just cant be the only one.

Begay has been spending the past 16 years providing technical assistance to tribes across the country. She also took a leave of absence to temporarily head Albuquerques Environmental Health Department in 2019.

She created the Indian Energy Program for Sandia and the Department of Energy, and is now serving a term as a University of New Mexico regent.

The daughter of a public nurse and a former tribal leader  Edward T. Begay, vice chair of the Navajo Nation Council  the longtime Sandia engineer is an introvert who says shes been doing just fine working from home and dealing with the pandemic.

But that doesnt mean she cant wait to return to her happy place: Disneyland, with her nieces and nephews and a big turkey leg each.

Also, I love roller coasters, she says. We do a lot of screaming.

Did you always want to be an engineer?

Weve got to go way back to when I was a little girl. Engineering is solving problems, trying to meet a challenge where theres something thats not working  and so I think my first idea of how to think differently  and maybe you could call it becoming analytical  (was when) I was in a boarding school outside of Gallup. We took a shower every day, I had long black hair, and I would have to march from the dorm building outside to the dining hall. And of course, I didnt care for that. I thought, Well you can not care about a lot of things, but what are you going to do to solve it? And my thoughts went to a trip to California and Disneyland. We need a monorail at this school and that would solve the problem. That was my first thought. The girl with the crazy ideas. I think I was about 10.

Especially when you were younger, was it difficult to be in a field with so few minority women?

Exactly right. By yourself. I think I gained a lot of strength from my mentors. But it was an adjustment for me. Navajo is a matriarchal society, and my mother was our matriarch. So I learned what does it mean to be a strong woman, and I found it highly unusual that the rest of the world was patriarchal. It just seems natural that if a woman knows what needs to be done, you just say it, but in the work world  there were all these things I had to learn that were totally different than how I grew up. But Ive learned to adapt to that. Ill be quiet to a point until I have something to say, and then I will say it. But Ill think before I say it.

What do you do in your free time?

I love to sew. I loved, before the pandemic, to go to movies. I think so much and Im so analytical, Ive got to get my brain to let go of things at work, so I immerse myself in a movie. Science fiction, because they have such unusual plots. I was a fan of The X-Files, and there was one episode where Fox Mulder found a Navajo shaman medicine man to help solve this mysterious problem, and they were able to save the world. Thats my favorite episode  ever.

Tell me something about you that few people know.

I think that Im just more amiable than people really understand. Just like on Valentines Day. I cant always get a Christmas card out, but I will try the next holiday to communicate with my friends and family. So I sent out hard copy Valentines Day cards and then did virtual ones all day  just to let people know I was thinking about them and that Im still alive, even though you havent heard from me in awhile. Just to send a little bit of love. Someday you might think Ive not thought of you, but youll get a Valentine from me.

What are your pet peeves?

A real pet peeve is being disrespected. Because of assumptions of this or that, and you really underestimate me. That to me is disrespectful. And I think the other is  many women have this  where you say something and its not heard, and then somebody else says the same thing and the group hears it. That drives me nuts.

Do you have any favorite foods?

I love tacos. I love mutton stew, fry bread. I dont eat it very often, but I love it. And my favorite snack is popcorn. It goes with the movies, right?

What personal qualities have made you successful?

I think Im strong in who I am. I know where I come from. I believe I am able to articulate what it took to get my education, and it was not easy. I can tell you specific roadblocks to overcome, and people want to know that from a national standpoint because (there are) too few Native women engineers. The other thing is I adore being called a nerd. I used to carry a mechanical pencil. I had my calculator with me in my purse. In some circumstances, people dont think thats cool. And I have to say, I just think its the coolest thing ever. I love being a nerd because I worked hard to be this kind of nerd.

What makes you happy?

Having a good nights sleep makes me very happy. And thinking beyond the pandemic. I think we have to focus on what we do right now, but I can see what will happen once things are settled down, and then the skys the limit. It doesnt mean Im giving up the rigor that you have to have right now. But after that, man, Ive got Southwest points to use.
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MEXIA, Texas  A Texas state trooper was hospitalized Saturday in critical but stable condition after being shot near the city of Mexia, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The suspect fled on foot and later killed himself, Limestone County Judge Richard Duncan said Saturday, according to the Mclennan County Sheriffs Office.

Trooper Chad Walker was shot about 7:45 p.m. Friday while stopping to assist a motorist in an apparently disabled vehicle west of Mexia, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) southeast of Dallas, according to the statement from DPS regional director Todd Snyder.

Walker had not come to a stop behind the vehicle on the shoulder of the roadway when the gunman, identified as 37-year-old DeArthur Pinson, got out of the disabled vehicle and opened fire, Snyder said.

Walker was struck in the head and abdomen and was later flown to a hospital in Waco, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) away.

Authorities launched a manhunt for Pinson and he was reported dead Saturday. Officials did not immediately release further details.

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EU mediator Christian Danielsson, who arrived in Georgia late last night, calls on the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition to agree on a compromise.

Danielsson said upon arrival that he is looking forward to engaging with the leaders of the political parties in supporting them to reach an agreement to end the political crisis in this country.

"Now it is the time for compromise and compromise is not a sign of weakness, compromise is a sign of strength, compromise shows that democracy in Georgia works, compromise is the European way," Agenda.ge cited him as saying.

European Council President Charles Michel announced on March 22 that his special envoy would travel back to Georgia to help the parties come to an agreement.

Danielsson first arrived in Tbilisi on March 12 to lead the EU-backed mediation effort. However, after the ruling party and the opposition failed to reach an agreement, he left the country.

Nevertheless, both - the ruling party and opposition - have expressed their readiness to reach an agreement during the upcoming round of EU-mediated negotiations which kicks off tomorrow.
Greek detectives have reopened the investigation into the death of a British mother who washed up on a beach in Crete 12 years ago.

Jean Hanlon had moved to the island in 2005 and stayed for three consecutive summers before wintering there for the first time in 2008.

But in March 2009, after sending a friend a text that read 'HELP', her body was discovered in capital Heraklion's harbour without hair or eyes.

At first it was considered a tragic accidental drowning, but a post-mortem later revealed injuries consistent with a struggle.

Her three sons - Robert, 46, David, 43, and Michael, 36 - have been campaigning for justice for Jean ever since.

Greek detectives have reopened the investigation into the death of British mother Jean Hanlon (pictured with son Michael) who washed up on a beach in Crete 12 years ago

Michael, who lives in Bromley, south London, said on on Sunday: 'Finally I can share the most amazing news that mum's case has been reopened for the third time.

'After a year of exploring and pursuing a new direction, it is with great joy and happiness to say that it has paid off and delivered the outcome we wanted.

'This puts the case in a better place as mum at last will get the proper full investigation, with a new more professional and experienced department that she so rightly deserves.

'We have been here before but this time really is a big breakthrough and potentially groundbreaking'.

Michael said the case had previously been shelved three times, meaning Greek police would not investigate unless new evidence was discovered.

He described this as 'very frustrating' because 'if no one is actively investigating they weren't going to find any new evidence'.

In March 2009, after sending a friend a text that read 'HELP', Ms Hanlon's body was discovered in capital Heraklion's harbour without hair or eyes. Pictured: Jean Halon with her son Michael

But he said the family had gone down a 'different route' which led to Greek officials giving the green light to re-open the case.

'It is very positive and a decision we welcomed with open arms. I can't fully go into detail as I don't want to jeopardise the case.

'Let's just say mum's case will get the thorough investigation she rightly deserves.'

Robert and David still live in Dumfries, South West Scotland, where the British mother had lived all her life until she decided to relocate to Crete.

Her body was discovered on March 13, 2009, four days after she disappeared.

She had sent a friend a text message asking for help, but a man she was seen with has never been traced.

Jean's three sons - Robert, 46, David, 43, and Michael, 36 - have been campaigning for justice for Jean ever since

Her sons flew out to Crete to identify her body and were told that her death was an accident, possibly caused by her slipping and falling into the water after drinking alcohol.

But a post-mortem examination later revealed she had suffered serious injuries including shattered ribs, a punctured lung and facial wounds.

The former hospital secretary, who worked in bars and tavernas on the island, had met up with a Scottish friend on the day of her disappearance.

The woman told police that Ms Hanlon had said a car had been following her.

That evening a Belgian friend called Ms Hanlon, who said she was in a cafe in Heraklion with a stranger who did not speak English and 'was a bore'.

Later, they received the text that said HELP, but she assured them she was OK. Later that night, she rang again but the friend was asleep and did not answer.

After her badly decomposed body was found, her sons looked through Jean's belongings, which included a diary.
Entrance:

Bellinghomies 3:

About Time - Scott Wink Grant:

Vinny T Goes Rogue:

Toni Tuukkanen - 2010:

Matt Koen - Marin:

Island Boys:

Ride The City:

Marcel Hunt - Reawaken:

Bas van Steenbergen - Duncan RAW:

Filming A Bike Video 101:

Cultcrew - Jason Watts Down Under:

Jacob Cable ATX Vacation! - Kink BMX:

Vans Brazil Presents - Cauan Madona ELO:

Rough Cut - Nora Vasconcellos' Welcome "Seance" Part:

Rob Pace's "Strider" Part:

Jack O'Grady's "Pass~Port" Part:

The Secret of Bottom Turn:

Stale Sandbech - Real Snow 2021:

Dusty Henricksen - Real Snow 2021:

Why CG Sucks (Except When It Doesn't):

A Concerto Is a Conversation:

Fifteen year old downhill racer Leighton Pillipow is always up for a rapid descent with some good friends! Farwell Canyon dished up a load of respect and adrenaline on this outing. So happy to walk away with good memories! - Leighton Pillipow. Video: Glenn King / @6ixSigma , Line support from Arthur Roots and Jacob "The Wrench" Mullen.Ian Webster, Zach Zinter, Adam Smokewell, and Jason Eiswald riding bikes.Video: Brian Park. Additional shooting: Jarrett Moore. Thanks to Dan Leney, Aaron Boss, Jarrett Moore, Joe Esnouf, and lots of others for letting us poach their zones.Rider: Vinny T. Director: Louis Para. Cinematography & Colour: Yann Besset. 1st AC: Adrien Lescure. Editing: Thomas Ferey. Sound design: Keith White.Pinned at Calpis Bikepark.Casual rip through the hills. Video: Drew Boxold & Brian Cahal.Ryan Forsyth, Erik Harvey, and Ryan Morris, ride Spooks. Additional clips: Dan 'The Man Brown.An urban ride on the Polygon Siskiu N9.My passion reawakened, my meaning for living recharged, refuelled, and reignited. Age is just a number, your dreams dont have to die at 30, sometimes they reawaken. Video: Ryan Nangle.A lap down Double D in Duncan, BC.Ever wonder what goes into making a bike launch video? Well, wonder no more, our marketing man Stephane Pelletier captured all the behind-the-scenes of our latest project "Christening the Forbidden Dreadnought" on his handy dandy dad cam. No more wondering how we did it, all the tips and tricks are included...The Australian BMX scene is full of amazing, passionate riders, dedicated core shops and distributors , and unbelievable spots. We sent Veesh, Corey Walsh, and Dan Foley down under to get a taste with two legends. Benn Pigot who lives up to every bit of urban myth he is and we welcome Jason Watts to the squad who embodies everything in a true BMX brother there is. Pure BMX is what this edit is all about, good on ya boys...This past winter we sent Kink Pro Jacob Cable to Austin, Texas on two separate occasions. Two trips, one week at a time, and Jacob delivered! With every release, Jacob is elevating the level of technically impossible riding.Vans Brazils BMX Family member, Cauan Madona, is forever linked to Felipe Correa, his longtime friend who is responsible for his first video part and this most recent project. Over a year, sessions and tricks were recorded in Sao Paulo, Sao Bernardo do Campo, Amparo, Serra Negra, Jundiai, and Rio de Janeiro.Never has a Rough Cut been stacked with equal parts purple and pain. Bear witness as Nora summons the courage to get up after some ground-rattling slams while attacking wicked concrete walls.Powering through Sydneys sketchiest rails, Rob emerges as one of the gnarliest rippers from Down Under - and thats saying something.Trick after trick of jaw-dropping mania, Jack attacks Sydney like nobody before. Think that cover was a hoax? See for yourself.Snowboarder Alex Yoder searches to the ends of the earth for the lost art of "snow-surfing" only to find the answers he seeks on Bottom Turn Island.Watch Stale Sandbech and filmer/editor Spencer GimbalGod Whitings entry into Real Snow 2021, the all-video snowboarding contest brought to you by ESPN's World of X Games.Watch Dusty Henricksen and filmer/editor Cal Aamodts entry into Real Snow 2021, the all-video snowboarding contest brought to you by ESPN's World of X Games.Are computer generated visual effects really ruining movies?Kris Bowers is one of Hollywoods rising young composers. At 29, he scored the Oscar-winning 2018 film Green Book, and this year he premiered a new violin concerto, For a Younger Self, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. For all that success, though, he says that as a Black composer, Ive been wondering whether or not Im supposed to be in the spaces that Im in. In Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers's "A Concerto Is a Conversation," Bowers traces the process of breaking into new spaces through generations of sacrifice that came before him, focusing on the story of his grandfather Horace Bowers. As a young man, he left his home in the Jim Crow South, eventually ending up in Los Angeles. Encountering discrimination at every turn, he and his wife, Alice, nevertheless made a life as business owners. Today, their legacy lives on through their family and community in South Los Angeles, where a stretch of Central Avenue was recently designated Bowers Retail Square  in case any question remained about whether its a place they belong.Photo: Ian Lean
New Jerseys legislation requires each of the states 21 counties to open three to seven polling places for machine voting in the days before an election. For the Nov. 2 contest, there would be nine days of early in-person voting, including two weekends, ending the Sunday before Election Day. The bill calls for fewer days of early voting before primaries.

Our accountability over government, opportunities to better our lives and the chance to elect our representatives all depend upon our ability to access the ballot, said Senator Nia Gill, a Democrat who represents parts of Essex and Passaic Counties and was a sponsor of the bill.

Separate legislation that was also approved on Thursday calls for drop boxes for paper vote-by-mail ballots to be spaced out more evenly throughout counties, ensuring that there are access points closer to residential neighborhoods.

Across our nation, there is a concerted effort to limit access to the ballot box among eligible voters, Mr. Murphy said in a statement. Those efforts are un-American and fly in the face of the principles that generations of Americans, from soldiers to civil rights activists, have fought for and in many cases given their lives to defend.

Some county elections leaders, while supportive of the intent of the early-voting bill, had urged lawmakers to delay implementation until after Novembers election, when the governor and all members of the Legislature are up for re-election. The bill will require most counties to purchase new voting machines and electronic poll books, and could cost upward of $50 million.

Some New Jersey Republicans objected to the cost and the timeline for implementing the legislation, which cleared the Assembly earlier this month and passed in the Senate on Thursday, 28 to 8, largely along party lines.

Senator Kristin M. Corrado, a Republican and a former county clerk who managed elections in Passaic County for more than seven years, said she supported early in-person voting. But, she said, she voted against the measure mainly out of concern that there would not be enough time before Election Day to update the voter rolls, purchase new machines and sync them to new electronic poll books.
Deputy President William Ruto has opened up on how he was forced to learn the Luhya dialect in a bid to adequately woo his better half Rachel.

The DP spoke in an interview with media personality Felix Odiwuor, who is better known as Jalang'o.

He explained with a light touch that he faced 'stiff' competition for Rachel's hand in marriage from other men, and considering the rest were conversant with the language, he had no option but to learn the ropes as regard to the new dialect.

The soft-spoken and media-shy madam Rachel Ruto hails from Likuyani in Kakamega County.

"I had no choice other than to learn Luhya because I was losing out. I did not want to lose out. I never like losing," explained the DP with a light touch.

The couple got married in 1991 and has been blessed with six children namely Nick, June, Stephanie, Charlene, George, and Nadia.

The family has risen from humble background into one of the most prominent families in Kenya at the moment.

The knowledge of Luhya language would later come in handy for the DP when he stumbled on a lawmaker from Western Kenya bad-mouthing him at a public rally.

The MP, whom the DP did not name, reportedly advised the crowdto 'eat' the money realized from a Harambee the second in command was presiding over instead of channeling it towards development.

"I heard everything he said at the rally but he did not know that,"the DP recalls.

"When I stood up to speak, I told the audience they needed these donations more than I did. If it was a bus, they needed to use it to make income. The same applies to bodabodas. I told them I did not stand to lose much if they misused my donations."
NORTHBROOK, Ill., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hilco Real Estate LLC announces a live auction on Wednesday, April 28 for the sale of two bluestone quarries in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The two sizable tracts total 905 acres, which the Seller has agreed to sell to the highest bidder at or above the minimum bids of $500,000 per site.

Located in the heart of Pennsylvania's productive bluestone region, the Lanesboro tract is approximately 500 acres and the New Milford tract is approximately 437 acres. These properties have significant bluestone reserves and include ready-to-mine quarries featuring easy access to the entire northeast. The stone meets PENNDOT and NJDOT cycle sodium soundness test standards and was previously approved under former ownership. The sale includes transferable quarry and mining permits and provides an opportunity to become one of the largest Pennsylvania bluestone operators in the region. The property sits just two miles from Route 171 and roughly six miles from Interstate 81 and is accessible to several arterial roadways, including Route 79 and Route 92, as well as rail centers in Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey, and numerous ports along the eastern shore. With proximity to major interstates and railroad lines, including potential direct access to the Norfolk Southern Line, transportation is quick and easy from the quarries to other areas of the country.

Historically known for building train parts, Susquehanna County is more currently known for its local quarries. These quarries produce sought-after Pennsylvania Bluestone, a unique layered sandstone found only in the northeastern tier of Pennsylvania. The quarried product has many uses due to its strength and durability, from cut dimensional stone used in patios, walkways and stair treads to architectural stone used in buildings. It is also used for wall stone, decorative boulders, natural steps and other landscape features. As the Susquehanna County website explains, a monument that demonstrates the strength and durability of Pennsylvania Bluestone is the Starrucca Viaduct, a National Civil Engineering Landmark in Lanesboro that was completed in 1848 and is still used today by the Norfolk-Southern Railroad. Production volumes have remained strong in recent years because of the growing demand for bluestone and because the areas in which bluestone reserves can be found are limited.

Jeff Azuse, senior vice president at Hilco Real Estate said, "This sale offers a unique opportunity for a savvy investor to take advantage of buying properties that have significant Pennsylvania bluestone reserves, during a time where many home improvement projects are on the rise." He continued, "Pennsylvania Bluestone is a quality product with many uses that is sure to stay in demand."

The live auction is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. (EST). The minimum bid for each tract is set at $500,000. For further information on the property, an explanation of the sale process and Terms of Sale, and to obtain access to the Virtual Deal Room containing all the property due diligence, please visit HilcoRealEstate.com or reach out to Jonathan Cuticelli at (203) 561-8737 or [email protected].

For more information about this or other properties available for sale, please visit HilcoRealEstate.com.

About Hilco Real Estate

Hilco Real Estate ("HRE"), a Hilco Global company (HilcoGlobal.com), is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois (USA). HRE is a national provider of strategic real estate disposition services. Acting as an agent or principal, HRE uses its experience to advise and execute strategies to assist clients in deriving the maximum value from their real estate assets. By leveraging multi-faceted sales strategies & techniques, aggressive repositioning and restructuring experience, a vast and motivated network of buyers and sellers, and substantial access to capital, HRE exceeds expectations even in the most complex transactions.

Media Contact:

Gary Epstein Karen Bubrowski Hilco Global Hilco Global Office: (847) 418-2712 Office: (847) 849-2911 Mobile: (847) 323-4943 Mobile: (815) 271-2682 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Hilco Real Estate

Related Links

http://HilcoRealEstate.com


Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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Knutson Construction is excited to announce Jennifer Green as their new chief financial officer. Green will be based out of their Minneapolis office while working with the team across all of their offices in Minneapolis, Rochester and Mankato, Minnesota; as well as Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005530/en/

With 20 years in the construction industry, Jennifer Green joins Knutson Construction as CFO and relocates to Minneapolis. (Photo: Business Wire)

"Jennifer brings deep understanding of the construction industry that will continue to drive Knutson into the future," says James Benning, president, Knutson Construction. "Her focus will be defining and reporting on key business metrics and performance indicators to streamline our business operations and serve our customers."

Green comes to Knutson with over 20 years of experience working in accounting and finance within the construction industry. She got her start in the industry in 1999 at Pepper Construction in Barrington, Illinois, where she held various roles in the accounting function including CFO. She also spent time working with information strategy and technology services as chief knowledge and information officer where she was responsible for uniting Peppers business information systems and strategy, including a company-wide transition to CMiC, an industry enterprise software. Following her time at Pepper, Green joined Jordan Foster Construction in El Paso, Texas, where she spent four years as CFO. Her most recent role was CFO of Amteck Construction in Lexington, Kentucky.

Green holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from Arkansas State University and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.

Green says, "I am looking forward to being part of a strong and growing company where I can engage with an energetic team to help drive business forward. In addition, Knutsons company values closely align with my own."

Story continues

Green will be relocating to Victoria, Minnesota with her husband Fred and two sons, William, 17 and Andrew, 12.

About Knutson Construction Services

Knutson Construction provides customers with preconstruction, design-build, general contracting and construction management services. Since 1911, Knutson has been providing expert construction services to healthcare, corporate, manufacturing, education, industrial, civic and retail customers. The company has offices in Minneapolis, Rochester and Mankato, Minn.; Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Learn more at knutsonconstruction.com.

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A document that caused much acrimony in Parliament early this month, over whether IEBC employee Tabitha Mutemi was validly appointed to the board of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), has been found.

It has emerged that the Office of the Attorney-General issued two conflicting advisories over who qualifies to be appointed to the board of a State corporation.

The ICT ministry declared Ms Mutemi, who is the Corporate Affairs and Events Manager at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), unsuitable to be a member of the MCK board.

The decision by the ministry, which was communicated to MCK CEO David Omwoyo for implementation, was, interestingly, based on an August 2020 advisory opinion signed by Solicitor-General Ken Ogeto.

The Solicitor-General, according to the Office of the Attorney-General Act, is the principal assistant to the Attorney-General.

But it has now emerged that the May 9, 2019 advisory of Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki that is in the Nation's possession clears any illegality or irregularity regarding Ms Mutemi's appointment to the board.

"The State Corporations Act does not prohibit the appointment of public officers serving at any level of government as members of boards of a State corporation," Mr Kariuki says in the advisory to ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru.

"Only one opinion"

But Mr Ogeto appears to overrule his boss when he says that Ms Mutemi is a public officer and can therefore not serve in another public office.

Appearing before the committee on March 3, 2021, Mr Ogeto said that by working for the IEBC and being a member of the MCK board, Ms Mutemi was holding two public positions.

He went on to say that the AG's office is not aware of any other advisory on the matter.

"We have issued only one opinion dated August 2020," Mr Ogeto told the committee.

"If there is any other opinion, it relates to a different matter. The office of the AG is not aware of any other opinion on this matter."

The AG's advisory opinion is what the selection panel used to recruit Ms Mutemi and six other MCK board members in May 2019.

The panel chaired by Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) Secretary-General Erick Oduor was, however, denied the document at the time it was required by the Communication committee.

"Initially, we had disqualified some public servants from applying to be members of MCK board," Mr Oduor says.

He notes that those blocked complained to CS Mucheru who in turn "wrote to us on the basis of this advisory - that we include all including public servants".

"That is how we re-advertised the positions," Mr Oduor says.

Tribunal established

This comes as it emerges that the committee has already recommended the setting up of a tribunal to investigate Ms Mutemi's case.

The Committee meeting on Friday took about one and half hours to recommend the tribunal, with nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi dissenting.

This is despite the House approving a request by the committee to be granted two weeks to investigate the matter.

"I have dissented and I am writing my own minority opinion. They are punishing Ms Mutemi because she raised issues of governance and misuse of public funds at the MCK," Mr Osotsi told the Nation.

"The committee had requested for two weeks but surprisingly, it took one and half hours to recommend a tribunal," he said.

"Why spend millions of taxpayers' money when the issue can be addressed amicably? Ms Mutemi is only left with slightly more than a year before her term expires."

The nominated MP further noted that an amicable solution, as proposed by Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) President Churchill Otieno, was the best way forward.

Definitions

Ms Mutemi was appointed to the MCK board through a Gazette notice on October 31, 2019 for a three-year term that expires on October 2, 2022.

The definition of a State corporation as advanced by the Attorney-General complicates the MCK case against her as it excludes MCK from the list of State corporations.

"The State Corporations Act is a statute of general application for the control and management of state corporations," Mr Kihara says in the advisory.

Further, section 6 of the State Corporations Act sets out the guidelines for the appointment of members to boards of State Corporations.

The State corporation board, as per the law, shall include a chairman appointed by the President and who shall be non-executive unless the President otherwise directs, the chief executive, Principal Secretary of the parent ministry and the Principal Secretary to the Treasury.

The others are the Attorney-General or his representative and not more than 11 other members, not being employees of the State corporation. Not more than three of them shall be public officers appointed by the minister.

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"Every appointment under the Act shall be by name and by notice in the Gazette and shall be for a renewable period of five years or for such shorter period as may be specified in the notice," the AG says.

The definition as advanced by the Attorney-General effectively rules out MCK from the category of a State corporation.

The MCK Act provides that the board shall include the chairman and six other members appointed by the Cabinet Secretary in charge.

It is not clear why the two advisories were issued, especially considering that the Ogeto advisory does not revoke the May 9, 2019 advisory.

Mr Kihara further goes on to explain that the appointment of the board members of State corporations is guided by the Constitution and State Corporations Act, as well as the instruments establishing the State corporation.

The others are the Act of Parliament or a legal notice in the Gazette, memorandum and articles of association for companies and the Mwongozo - the Code of Governance for State corporations.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 06:18:14|Editor: huaxia

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HOUSTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- More than one million first doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be shipped to providers across the U.S. state of Texas next week, local media quoted the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Sunday.

The department said it is allocating over 800,000 doses to 779 providers in 202 Texas counties. In addition, more than 200,000 additional first doses are expected to be available to pharmacy locations and federally-qualified health centers directly from the federal government.

In addition to the first doses, the state is also ordering 587,950 second doses for people who had first vaccinated weeks ago.

The department said earlier that anyone over the age of 16 will be allowed to get the vaccine in Texas beginning Monday, March 29. But the DSHS has directed providers to prioritize people 80 years and older when scheduling appointments, immediately moving them to the front of the line.

"We are closing in on 10 million doses administered in Texas, and we want to keep up the momentum as the vaccine supply increases," said Imelda Garcia, chair of the Texas Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. "As eligibility opens up, we are asking providers to continue to prioritize people who are the most at risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death - such as older adults."

More than 30 percent of all Texans at least 16 years of age have already received at least one dose.

DSHS figures showed that as of Sunday, there are over 2.38 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in Texas with over 47,000 reported deaths. Enditem
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Former President Donald Trump is thinking of going to the US Border soon. Joe Biden is yet to confirm a visit to see the chaos himself. Thus, the 45th president of the United States expressed dismay how the new administration lost control.

Donald Trump railed how bad things are

Visiting the US border under siege by the current administration will see Trump at the border. The border patrol has seen more illegal crossing in twenty years. Biden and the Democrats are getting a black eye because of this, reported NTD.

When asked why the former president will be going there. He said that people want him to go. He made the statement on Fox News last Saturday night.

One of these looking for his leadership is the US Border Patrol that feels Biden is a no show. During his term Trump made the wall but Democrats opposed him.

President Joe Biden removed a number of key border protection initiatives introduced by the Trump administration. That includes ending the so-called "catch and release" policy that requires illegal aliens a court date.

These aliens need to attend the hearing on the date, but catch and release for Biden is releasing aliens only. No way is there to trace them when they enter.

Usually one will be granted asylum claims out of five candidates. It used to work but the administration that ended Donald Trump era policies is creating an unstable border.

Rep. Cuellar Releases Another Batch of Pictures of the Situation in the US Border

According to experts, the measures have resulted in a sharp rise in illegal border crossings. There are over 100,000 recorded in February alone, after the open border policy.

The surge of child migrants has prompted federal officials to have at least eight shelters. They include three convention centers to accommodate them.

Administration officials say there is nothing wrong with Biden's policy changes. The White House now blames Trump for all the problems, but the GOP, the border patrol, and former DHS official say it Biden's failure.

Before the president repealed Trump's order, everything was working. Biden suspended them unconstitutionally and state rose against him. Last solo press conference, he did not allegedly answer all questions about the border crisis.

Trump shot back at Biden's incompetence in handling the border crisis. He said many illegals whom he stopped are rushing to enter the border. They will destroy the country and the Democrats don't care.

He added those in charge don't know what's happening. Worse they can't fix the broken US border. He said that it is not his problem, alluding to Biden sitting in the White House.

Instead of handling it personally, he passed it to the vice-president. Trump said he'll visit soon, but Biden sits and waits while chaos happens.

Trump took a potshot at Biden, saying he was voted. He should go, neither is the ex-president racing to the border. He wants the Democrat to do his job. The visit of Donald Trump will be in the coming weeks. For all intents, its Biden's call not anyone else, why it is like this.

Joe Biden's Policies to Blame for Sending Children to U.S. Border

Biden Administration to Use Taxpayers' Money to Pay for Migrants' Hotel Accommodations

Biden Promises Migrants Entry at the Border

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
3000 Year-old Wall Destroyed in Nineveh, Iraq

Bulldozing the wall to expand the road. ( ankawa.com) While Assyrians around the world are currently preparing to celebrate their Assyrian ancestors' tradition of Akitu or the Assyrian New Year, an ancient Assyrian heritage site is being bulldozed by heavy earth moving machinery.

The wall of Nineveh built during the reign of King Sennacherib (reigned 705-681 BCE) which stretches 12 km along the city of Nineveh (Mosul, Iraq) is being partially bulldozed by private contractors. Activists and locals fear the remains will be used as building materials or sold as artefacts in the black market.

But the Antiquities Commission in the Nineveh province has denied the demolition falls in the Nineveh wall vacinities and it is 600 meters out of the protected Nineveh wall area.

SBS Assyrian correspondent Naseem Sadiq from Duhok, Iraq told SBS that the wall is being knocked down to allow for road building in the city.

The land surrounding the part of the site is claimed by an Iraqi family who states the previous government of Saddam Hussain confiscated it as part of government property.

Since the fall of Saddam and the old regime, the family has been fighting in courts to get the property back. Recently, the family won their appeal and the land was returned to them, however none of these procedures were discussed publicly.

Naseem Sadiq also spoke to Dr. Audisho Malko, an Assyrian historian and President of the Assyrian Writers Association who says he is devastated by this act.

Dr. Malko explains that the partial destruction of a three-thousand-year-old structure built during the Assyrian empire is not only a loss to the Assyrians, but for the Iraqi people, Iraq's history and to the international community. The wall was initially built to protect the city of Nineveh from intruders and invaders.

Part of the wall been flattened to build the road. ( ankawa.com)

The issue of this destruction is not over yet. Our correspondent Naseem Sadiq is following up the developments and will be reporting soon on responses from Assyrian activists and politicians, Iraqi academics and intellectuals. So far, a number of letters objecting the destruction have been sent to Iraqi ministries and to the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa Al-Khadhimi.
Boris Johnson is said to be taking a personal interest in the fate of Liberty Steel, the empire run by Sanjeev Gupta which is on the brink following the collapse of financial backer Greensill Capital.

And so he should. The future of Liberty is the first serious test of his ambition to 'level up' the country, but also of the new rules around state aid.

As the PM has claimed in the past, having the flexibility to decide on which industries could receive state aid was deemed to be one of the Brexit benefits.

Hopes: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to be taking a personal interest in the fate of Liberty Steel, which is on the brink following the collapse of financial backer Greensill Capital

The French government has already said it will support Liberty's Hayange and Ascoval's steel works, despite the EU's state aid rules.

Johnson should do the same with Liberty. The group is not only a significant employer but its steel-making is of strategic importance to the country, all the more so today as global supply chains have crumbled under the pandemic and tankers get stuck in the Suez Canal.

It employs 5,000 workers at 12 steel and aluminium plants in some of the poorer parts of the country, including massive steel works in Newport in South Wales, Rotherham, the North East and in Scotland. (Another 35,000 are employed around the world.) If any of these British plants were to close, thousands of people stand to lose their jobs directly.

Their closure would have a ripple effect on wider supply chains and bring havoc to local communities.

As one steelworker put it: 'If the steel works shuts, it will destroy Rotherham.'

Yet the core business, according to GFG Alliance, Liberty's parent company, is said to be strong and benefiting from robust markets in steel, aluminium and iron ore.

However, parts of the business are suffering due to the impact of Covid-19 on other key industries which Liberty supplies to.

As well as being a liquid steel producer and running steel rolling mills, Liberty makes products for the automotive, construction, mining and aerospace industries.

The Government was right to turn down Gupta's request for a 170million bailout to fund working capital and cover future short-term losses.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, has legitimate concerns about the opaque nature of Gupta's sprawling conglomerate.

Instead, ministers suggest they may wait until Liberty files for compulsory liquidation, and then step in with a rescue package to keep it going until a buyer or buyers can be found.

But this could be a messy and prolonged process. Surely far better to step in now? Such a positive move would give workers the security they need, but also provide management with the confidence they need to continue working.

What's more, they should keep Gupta and his top managers on to work unpaid to help unravel the complex web of companies.

The GMB's national officer Ross Murdoch, who met with Kwarteng yesterday, hopes to persuade ministers to look at his union's Plan B which covers all options  including nationalisation  to keep the industry going and jobs safe.

Murdoch tells me that if the PM is serious about rebuilding the UK economy post Covid and Brexit, then backing such an integral industry is vital.

He's right. The best way for Johnson to level up will be to don his hi-viz jacket and hot foot it to meet Murdoch at one of the Liberty plants and put his name to a rescue plan.

Takeaway slice

Deliveroo's bankers have been forced to take a chunk out of the takeaway giant.

They have dropped the price of shares in Deliveroo's IPO to between 3.90 and 4.10, valuing it at up to 7.8billion.

That's 1billion less than Deliveroo was hoping for and the blame is being put on volatile market conditions.

This is nonsense. It's obviously a response to the outcry from investors who say they will shun the float because of workers' rights, but also the share ownership structure.

Founder Will Shu will have over 50 per cent of voting rights (and net about 530million) and fund managers are  quite correctly  worried about these new dual class rules.

What's amusing is how fund managers are dressing up concerns about the low pay of the firm's riders  some are alleged to be paid less than 2 an hour  under the trendy ESG labels.

What they are really saying is that they fear the entire business model is under pressure because eventually Deliveroo will have to start paying proper wages, just as Uber has been forced to do.

If that is the case, will it ever make a profit? No wonder they are staying away.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 01:44:42|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The United States and the European Union on Monday expressed readiness to mediate in the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), said Sudan's Sovereign Council in a statement.

Donald Booth, the U.S. special envoy to Sudan, and Robert van den Dool, head of the EU delegation to Sudan, "expressed their readiness to mediate in the GERD issue" when Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council, received them at the presidential palace, according to the statement.

"The two envoys stressed the need to reach a diplomatic solution for the dispute over the GERD, on the basis of a satisfactory approach that guarantees Ethiopia use of electricity, Sudan safety of its territorial integrity and security of its dams, and Egypt its water rights," the statement noted.

Al-Burhan voiced Sudan's commitment to the peaceful and diplomatic solutions for its differences with Ethiopia, according to the statement.

Earlier, Sudan proposed a mediation quartet of the United Nations, the EU, the United States and the African Union regarding the issue of the GERD.

Ethiopia officially announced its decision to reject the mediation quartet.

In February, Ethiopia said it would carry on with the second-phase 13.5-billion-cubic-meter filling of the GERD in June.

The volume of the first-phase filling last year was 4.9 billion cubic meters.

Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been in talks for years over the technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD.

Ethiopia, which started building the GERD in 2011, expects to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity from the dam project, while Egypt and Sudan, downstream Nile Basin countries that rely on the river for its freshwater, are concerned that the dam might affect their share of the water resources. Enditem
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Turkey's COVID-19 cases top 3.2 mln; Iran slams U.S. for hindering vaccine procurement

Xinhua) 09:56, March 29, 2021

CAIRO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's total COVID-19 cases surpassed 3.2 million on Sunday. Meanwhile, Iran has blasted the United States for hindering its efforts to buy vaccines from foreign countries.

Turkey confirmed 29,058 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its tally of infections to 3,208,173. Its death toll from the infectious virus surged by 153 to 31,076, while its tally of recoveries soared to 2,957,093 after 17,164 more patients recovered.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 523 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the tally in the country to 831,906.

The death toll from the virus in Israel increased to 6,183 with 18 new fatalities, while the total recoveries rose by 1,610 to 816,115.

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel has surpassed 5.22 million, or 56.1 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020.

Iran reported 8,751 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising its nationwide caseload to 1,855,674. The pandemic has claimed 62,397 lives in Iran, up by 89 in the past 24 hours, while the tally of recoveries surged by 8,105 to 1,593,219.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday blamed the U.S. sanctions for "hindering the availability of COVID-19 vaccines" for Iranians.

"We order from a country a (COVID-19) vaccine, but it says it is still afraid of U.S. sanctions," Rouhani was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Rouhani noted that his administration has allowed the private sector to import COVID-19 vaccines, using the subsidized foreign currency and under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 5,271 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 832,428.

The ministry also reported 35 new fatalities, raising the death toll from the virus to 14,212, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,820 to 745,935.

Jordan registered 7,183 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally to 589,316, while the death toll in the kingdom climbed by 82 to 6,554. The tally of recoveries in the kingdom increased by 9,417 to 485,507.

Lebanon's total COVID-19 cases rose by 2,724 to 461,062 on Sunday, while its death toll climbed by 38 to 6,096. The total recoveries from the virus in Lebanon reached 360,244.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recorded 2,128 new infections, taking its total COVID-19 cases to 455,197, while the death toll rose by four to 1,481. The tally of recoveries from the virus in the UAE surged by 2,243 to 438,706.

Saudi Arabia reported 531 new infections and seven more deaths from the coronavirus, taking its tally of COVID-19 cases to 388,325 and its total fatalities from the virus to 6,650. The tally of recoveries from the disease in the kingdom rose by 389 to 376,947.

Palestine reported 1,714 new COVID-19 cases and 24 more deaths, taking its total infections to 264,934 and its death toll to 2,834. The total number of recoveries in Palestine has climbed to 237,553, while there were 24,547 active cases in the Palestinian territories.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported 1,121 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 228,299.

The ministry also announced seven more deaths, taking the death toll to 1,286, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,236 to 212,596. A total of 14,417 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment, including 251 in the intensive care units.

Qatari Health Ministry announced 639 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 177,774.

It also reported 355 more recoveries from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 162,910, while the death toll remained at 284 for the second day running.

In Oman, the health ministry announced 2,249 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 156,087.

It also confirmed 1,654 more recoveries, taking the overall recoveries to 142,420 while 11 new deaths were reported, pushing the death toll up to 1,661.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
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Over the past day, March 28, ten ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas, including eight attacks on Ukrainian positions, one incident of remote mine delivery and one shelling of a populated locality.

The occupiers opened fire on Ukrainian positions from 120mm mortars banned under the Minsk Agreements, different grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms near Talakivka (17km north-east of Mariupol) and Vodiane in the Sea of Azov area; hand-held antitank grenade launcher  outside Prychepylivka (50km north-west of Luhansk); 82mm mortars  in the area of Pivdenne (40km north-east of Donetsk) and Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), the press center of the JFO Headquarters informs.

The enemy used hand-held antitank grenade launchers to deliver POM-2 mines towards the village of Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk).

No casualties among Ukrainian defenders and civilians were reported.

The OSCE representatives were informed about the actions of the armed formations of the Russian Federation and its mercenaries through the Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC).

As of 7 a.m., March 29, one ceasefire violation was recorded in the JFO area. Ukrainian troops sustained no losses.

Ukrainian service members continue to control the situation in the Joint Forces Operation area and adhere to the ceasefire.

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Tunis/Tunisia  (TAP) Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi received on Friday a delegation of the Qalb Tounes parliamentary group.

The Qalb Tounes group ( 30 MPs) is the third parliamentary group in the House of People's Representatives, after Ennahdha (54 MPs) and the Democratic Bloc (38).

Mechichi pointed out on the occasion, the need to respect the independence of the judiciary, referring to the case of Qalb Tounes party president Nabil Karoui, who had been arrested last December on suspicion of corruption.

The PM affirmed commitment to reinforce the independence of the judiciary, promising to fight against any attempt to interfere in the work of the judiciary, in compliance with the principles of the rule of law, a Prime Ministry press release reads.

Besides, Mechichi called for combating any "destructive" discourse that has so far " affected the investment climate" in the country.

The premier considered that Qalb Tounes shares with the government several visions and economic approaches and follows with great interest the reform programme initiated by the executive power, which confers harmony to the government action.

"The government's approach shared with Qalb Tounes aims to combat administrative bureaucracy, poverty and boost investment," he is quoted as saying in the same press release.
The US suspended a trade pact with Myanmar Monday and led international condemnation of the junta's ruthless crackdown, as protesters and mourners took to the streets after the deadliest weekend since the military coup.

Soldiers and police have killed hundreds in a brutal campaign against mass anti-coup protests demanding a restoration of democracy and the release of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

At least 107 people, including seven children, were killed on Saturday, the United Nations said, as the regime staged a major show of might for Armed Forces Day -- an annual parade showcasing Myanmar's military prowess.

More than 450 people have been killed in the crackdown on protests since the February 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, as security forces have used rubber bullets and live rounds to break up demonstrations.

US President Joe Biden's administration announced Monday that the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which laid out ways to boost business but was not a fully-fledged deal, would remain suspended until democracy is restored.

"The United States strongly condemns the Burmese security forces' brutal violence against civilians," US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said, using Myanmar's former name of Burma.

The statement effectively removes Myanmar from the Generalized System of Preferences, in which the United State grants duty-free access to some imports from developing nations if they meet key standards.

Despite the weekend violence, protesters turned out at dawn in towns and cities around the country.

Hundreds paraded through the town of Plate, in Mandalay region, with banners saying: "The people will never be defeated".

In Sagaing region, hundreds of mourners lined the street to pay tribute to 20-year-old nursing student Thinzar Hein, who was shot dead while helping rescue workers provide first aid to injured protesters.

Story continues

As child casualties mount, 60 youngsters in a town in eastern Karen state staged their own protest parade accompanied by their mothers, local media reported.

In Yangon, a one-year-old girl is recovering from surgery after being shot in the eye with a rubber bullet while playing near her house on Saturday, which was also her birthday.

- 'Shameful, cowardly, brutal' -

The US suspension of the trade deal came after President Biden condemned the weekend's events as "terrible", while UN rights envoys slammed the "shameful, cowardly, brutal" actions of the security forces.

The UN Security Council will meet Wednesday to discuss the situation, diplomatic sources said, after Britain called for emergency talks.

China added its voice to a chorus of international concern, calling for restraint from all sides.

"Violence and bloody clashes do not meet the interests of any party. The victims are the Myanmar people," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

Russia on Monday acknowledged it was developing ties with Myanmar after deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin and other officials joined the weekend parade, but said that did not mean it approved of the "tragic events" unfolding.

"We are very concerned by the growing number of civilian casualties," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

So far, weeks of repeated pleas for restraint and even international sanctions have not persuaded the generals to ease off.

The brutality continued on Monday in Yangon, with three people killed, including a 20-year-old shot dead, rescue workers told AFP.

One person was also killed in the city of Bago, state media said, adding that a police officer also died in Mandalay after being set alight by protesters.

- Air strikes in Karen state -

An estimated 3,000 people fled through the jungle to seek safety across the border in Thailand Sunday following targeted aerial assaults in eastern Myanmar's Karen state, the Karen Women's Organisation civil society group said.

However, around 2,000 people were pushed back as they approached the Thai border, local media said Monday. A spokesman for the Thai ministry of foreign affairs denied this.

According to Hsa Moo, an ethnic Karen and human rights activist, the weekend airstrikes -- the first in the state in 20 years -- killed four people and left nine injured.

The airstrikes targeted the Karen National Union (KNU), one of the country's largest non-state armed groups.

There are fears that the Myanmar military may launch a major operation against Karen rebels, which could force more people to flee their homes.

burs-pdw-aph/jfx
World's first embryonic single-cell level automated sequencing system combines artificial intelligence data analysis and automatic report generation system

Suzhou Become Medical Co., Ltd. ("Become Medical") and Shenzhen Hua Dazhi Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. ("MGI") have reached a strategic cooperation in sequencer research and development. Become Medicals Chairman Dr. Liang Bo, R&D Director Mr. Kong Lingyin and MGIs President Mr. Yu Dejian attended the signing ceremony.

Both parties Committed to joint development of the next-generation automated experimental platform solutions for assisted reproduction.

Among them, MGI, as the world's leading R&D and manufacturer of sequencers in the field of life sciences, will develop localized sequencing technology based on embryonic single-cell level sequencing: Beikang Medical will be based on the world's leading embryonic single-cell amplification SDWGA technology and the first domestic product.

The operation process of the PGT kit that has obtained the national three-class medical device registration certificate, develops the world's first embryonic single-cell level automated sequencing system, combines artificial intelligence data analysis and automatic report generation system to create an integrated next-generation automated experimental platform for assisted reproduction solution.

Todays Situation Update podcast covers all this and much more. Listen and share everywhere:

In order to survive the Tribulation years, we will have to:

We are now living in a full-on demonic, luciferian assault against humanity and God, and nothing is going to get better until Christs return.

Vaccine companies, meanwhile, are announcing the start of vaccine medical experiments on six-month old infants using vaccines made with aborted human fetal tissue, which is one way that Satan worshipers are able to claim children for Satan. Adding to the demonic assault on humanity, Netflix is about to ban all pro-Christ films and documentaries, even while accelerating its schedule for rolling out witchcraft shows for children.

Hollywood and the music industry are doubling down on their open worship of Lucifer, and the DEMONcrats are making sure that open borders child trafficking remains in full operation so that a steady supply of children can be made available to them for child sacrifice and satanic rituals involving live blood and adrenochrome extraction.

( Natural News ) As we are seeing in widely shared media reports and surveillance photos , humanoid-shaped demons are now increasingly materializing as a run-up to Satans war against humanity. Corporations like Nike are openly promoting Satan shoes that are covered in Satanic imagery and claim to contain one drop of actual human blood.

About the author: Mike Adams (aka the Health Ranger) is a best selling author (#1 best selling science book on Amazon.com called Food Forensics), an environmental scientist, a patent holder for a cesium radioactive isotope elimination invention, a multiple award winner for outstanding journalism, a science news publisher and influential commentator on topics ranging from science and medicine to culture and politics. Follow his videos, podcasts, websites and science projects at the links below.

Mike Adams serves as the founding editor of NaturalNews.com and the lab science director of an internationally accredited (ISO 17025) analytical laboratory known as CWC Labs. There, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for achieving extremely high accuracy in the analysis of toxic elements in unknown water samples using ICP-MS instrumentation. Adams is also highly proficient in running liquid chromatography, ion chromatography and mass spectrometry time-of-flight analytical instrumentation. He has also achieved numerous laboratory breakthroughs in the programming of automated liquid handling robots for sample preparation and external standards prep.

The U.S. patent office has awarded Mike Adams patent NO. US 9526751 B2 for the invention of Cesium Eliminator, a lifesaving invention that removes up to 95% of radioactive cesium from the human digestive tract. Adams has pledged to donate full patent licensing rights to any state or national government that needs to manufacture the product to save human lives in the aftermath of a nuclear accident, disaster, act of war or act of terrorism. He has also stockpiled 10,000 kg of raw material to manufacture Cesium Eliminator in a Texas warehouse, and plans to donate the finished product to help save lives in Texas when the next nuclear event occurs. No independent scientist in the world has done more research on the removal of radioactive elements from the human digestive tract.

Adams is a person of color whose ancestors include Africans and American Indians. He is of Native American heritage, which he credits as inspiring his Health Ranger passion for protecting life and nature against the destruction caused by chemicals, heavy metals and other forms of pollution.

Adams is the author of the worlds first book that published ICP-MS heavy metals analysis results for foods, dietary supplements, pet food, spices and fast food. The book is entitled Food Forensics and is published by BenBella Books.

In his laboratory research, Adams has made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing rice protein products imported from Asia to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium and tungsten. Adams was the first food science researcher to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods. He also discovered over 11 ppm lead in imported mangosteen powder, and led an industry-wide voluntary agreement to limit heavy metals in rice protein products.

In addition to his lab work, Adams is also the (non-paid) executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (CWC), an organization that redirects 100% of its donations receipts to grant programs that teach children and women how to grow their own food or vastly improve their nutrition. Through the non-profit CWC, Adams also launched Nutrition Rescue, a program that donates essential vitamins to people in need. Click here to see some of the CWC success stories.

With a background in science and software technology, Adams is the original founder of the email newsletter technology company known as Arial Software. Using his technical experience combined with his love for natural health, Adams developed and deployed the content management system currently driving NaturalNews.com. He also engineered the high-level statistical algorithms that power SCIENCE.naturalnews.com, a massive research resource featuring over 10 million scientific studies.

Adams is well known for his incredibly popular consumer activism video blowing the lid on fake blueberries used throughout the food supply. He has also exposed strange fibers found in Chicken McNuggets, fake academic credentials of so-called health gurus, dangerous detox products imported as battery acid and sold for oral consumption, fake acai berry scams, the California raw milk raids, the vaccine research fraud revealed by industry whistleblowers and many other topics.

Adams has also helped defend the rights of home gardeners and protect the medical freedom rights of parents. Adams is widely recognized to have made a remarkable global impact on issues like GMOs, vaccines, nutrition therapies, human consciousness.

In addition to his activism, Adams is an accomplished musician who has released over fifteen popular songs covering a variety of activism topics.

Click here to read a more detailed bio on Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, at HealthRanger.com.

Find more science, news, commentary and inventions from the Health Ranger at:

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A GoFundMe page has raised more than $78,000 for a memorial fellowship in honor of Samya Stumo, the 2015 graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst who was among the 157 passengers killed when an Ethiopian jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff on March 10, 2019.

The just-launched Samya Rose Stumo Memorial Fellowship for Global Health was created by family members of the 24-year-old who grew up in the Berkshires as well as colleagues at ThinkWell. The nonprofit works internationally with low- and middle-income countries on ways to finance the delivery of quality health care to their populations.

Stumo had been hired as an analyst for strategic planning in primary health care and was headed to Uganda for her first project with ThinkWell when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Ethiopia capital of Addis Abba.

The plane, a Boeing 737 Max 8, was bound for Nairobi, Kenya, with passengers from at least 35 countries aboard. It was the second such crash within four months for the Boeing 737 Max 8 and shortly afterward the widely-used aircraft was grounded worldwide from flying passengers and only recently allowed by most countries to return to service.

Stumos parents have filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based Boeing and Rosemount Aerospace Inc. Other lawsuits have been filed against Boeing for the October 2018 crash of a Boeing 737 that happened shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia, and killed 189 people.

Stumo, who earned a masters degree from the University of Copenhagen School of Global Health in 2018, had worked as program assistant for the Five College Program during her senior year at UMass where her undergraduate degree was a dual one anthropology and Spanish.

She had also earned a certificate in culture, health and science from UMass, and had worked as a research consultant in Europe as part of the health systems research team at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

A 2010 graduate of Mount Everett Regional School in Sheffield where she was raised, Stumo was a granddaughter of Laura Nader, a noted anthropologist and sister of consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

Fellows, initially from Kenya, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, will be part of an inaugural one-year program in which they will receive a stipend and be mentored in their proposed global health project by ThinkWell in-country experts. Application deadline is April 26.

The fellowship is implemented by ThinkWell Institute and governed by the Stumo family who had said $80,000 in donations would help launch the program.

The GoFundMe Page hopes to raise $300,000 for the program.

Related content:
DARIEN  A caring relationship with the community that spans decades is at the root of one local liquor stores success.

Learys Liquor Cabinet at 186 Heights Road celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday with a gathering of local officials and a toast to its success.

Its what small towns are all about, said First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, who took part in the ceremony.

The amount of hard work and dedication that goes into having a successful business thats there for over 50 years really deserves to be celebrated, she said.

What began as a business venture for Francis Leary of Stamford in 1971 ultimately grew to become a family-owned community favorite spanning three generations, and possibly more to come one day.

He bought it as an investment back in 1971, one of the many businesses he owned, explained his son, Kevin Leary, whose family later relocated to Darien, where he grew up.

It was called Gold Bond Liquors, he said, and had already been in operation for decades.

Back then Darien only had two supermarkets, remembered Kevin. His father was also the proud owner of Learys Deli and Varietya popular after-school hangout for young people.

Back then the store was only half the size, with Michael Josephs in the adjacent space. But ultimately it would double in size at the beginning of the 21st centuryfurther expanding the businessafter Kevin took over from his father in 1998.

I came to work for my father in 1992, he said, and thats when he started to retire.

My wife is the brains behind the business, Kevin said, citing the work of his wife Loretto Leary, who grew up in a small town in Ireland she likened to Darien.

He knows everybody by their first name, Loretto said, noting that when small towns lose their small business, they also begin to lose their character.

Its a joyful day, said State Rep. Terrie Wood, who was also in attendance.

Its a joy to celebrate this longtime business in town that supports so many and does so many things for our community, she said.

Its really so wonderful to be able to celebrate a business that has been around for 50 years, said Sen. Bob Duff.

Learys has been involved a wide range of charitable initiatives, including the Community Fund of Darien, the Darien YMCA, The Darien Depot, Person-to-Person, Laurel House, KEYS Music, both local fire departments, and many more.

In fact, as part of its celebration, the store is collecting donations throughout the year for various local charities and will be matching them. For April and May proceeds collected will go to the Darien Chamber of Commerces Scholarship Fund.

My father made us a part of the community from the day we moved in, Kevin said, citing the service and staff as part of what make his business special.

Its about being part of the community, he said.

I think its wonderful to have a business thats thrived in our community for so many years, said Cheryl Williams, who is the chairman of the Darien Chamber of Commerces board.

We hope to see them here for another 50 years, she said.
Syracuse, N.Y.  The total cost of attending Syracuse University for undergraduates who live on campus will increase to about $76,000 in the 2021-2022 academic year.

SU announced it is raising the undergraduate tuition rate to $55,920, an increase of $1,680, or 3%, for students admitted since the fall of 2018.

Its also increasing the cost of housing by an average of 3.5% and meal plans by an average of 3%. Those two items combined will cost on average about $16,850.

When student fees, books and other expenses are factored in, the total bill will be about $76,000.

The rate hikes come at a time when SU is seeing record numbers of applications from prospective students.

It also comes at a time when some colleges are freezing or cutting tuition rates because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ithaca College is freezing tuition, room and board costs for 2021-22. It will charge $46,610 for tuition and $15,844 for room and board.

Rider University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, both in New Jersey, are cutting tuition rates by 22%.

Tuition has historically risen about 3% a year, according to the college board.

Le Moyne is increasing tuition to $35,610, up $700, or 2%. Colgate University is boosting its tuition rate to $61,594, up $1,939, or 3%.

SU said more financial aid will be available in 2021-2022 to help students pay their bills.

SUs 2021-2022 budget includes $307 million in student aid, a 7% increase.

This significant investment supports the Universitys ongoing commitment to welcoming talented students of promise, from across the socioeconomic spectrum, while also controlling the cost of attendance for students and families with the greatest financial need, SU said in a prepared statement.

James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com
The National Elections Commission, (NEC), through its Monitoring and Evaluation, M&E, Section will this Tuesday conduct a two-day National Stakeholders External Lessons Learned Conference on the 8 December 2020 Special Senatorial Elections, Constitutional Referendum and Representative By-elections.

Nearly 100 participants including Political Parties representative's, representatives of the 54th National Legislature, members of the Diplomatic Corps, such as, the European and African Unions, Civil Society groups and the Government of Liberia will discuss under the lessons learned theme, Reflect, Learn and Innovate.

According to the Director of M&E at the NEC, Ernestine Kenyan Bass, the primary objectives for the external lessons learned conference is to design and propose strategies on how the NEC can improve upon its service delivery in consonance with its mandate as well as budgeting and funding as it relates to Civic and Voter education, CVE, as well as, the inclusive participation of women, the disabled and physically challenged, voter registration and updates.

Ms. Bass said, the stakeholder's lessons learned Conference seeks to also gather information on the achievements and challenges during the planning and execution of the 2020 Special Senatorial Elections, and Referendum.

The NEC M&E Director said the objectives also seek to get feedback from NEC Staff and key electoral stakeholders on the conduct of the 2020 Special Elections and referendum processes, elections day and post electoral operations, violence in elections, including violence against women and electoral disputes resolution.

Recommendations that will be adopted from the Stakeholders conference will include short-term, midterm and long-term priorities, that are realistic and achievable, implemented through the proper planning and clear timeline, the NEC M&E Director said. The Monitoring and Evaluation Section of National Elections Commission has conducted a total of four Regional lessons learned conferences in the cities of Tubmanburg, Buchanan, Zwedeh and Gbarnga, with funding from the United Nations Development Program, UNDP Electoral Support Office in Liberia.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
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The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken on Monday came out in support of the Philippines after Chinas maritime militia amassed Chinese vessels at a boomerang-shaped Whitsun Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

The development has escalated the tensions, which have been building up in the South China Sea for some time now.

Mr Blinken said the U. S. would stand by its allies and stand up for the rules-based international order.

The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of the PRCs maritime militia amassing at WhitsunReef.

We will always stand by our allies and stand up for the rules-based international order, Mr Blinken tweeted.

The Philippines Air Force has been holding air patrols over Chinese fishing vessels on the reef.

Meanwhile, Philippines Air Force has made repeated calls to Beijing for their withdrawal from the area, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier this month, the diplomatic row was touched off when about 220 vessels were first spotted at the Whitsun Reef.

In response to the Chinese vessels, the Philippines foreign ministry has filed a diplomatic protest against China while the Philippine navy and coast guard ships have been deployed in the area to monitor the situation.

We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines, said Philippines Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Last month, the Philippines threatened to order its navy to shoot back at any possible Chinese aggression after China passed a coast guard law allowing it to shoot at vessels in territories claimed by the communist nation.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has overlapping territorial claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

China has been increasing its maritime activities in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea over the past few months, partly in response to Beijings concerns over the increasing U.S. military presence in the region because of escalating Sino-U.S. tensions.

Beijings rising assertiveness against counter claimants in the East and South Sea has resulted in unprecedented agreement across the Indo-Pacific.

(NAN)
Jews across the world began celebrating Passover this past Saturday evening, and it is considered one of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar. The Seder is a traditional, communal dinner where the story of the Israelites exodus from Egypt where they were slaves is retold, and food plays a central role in the storytelling. And while many Jewish families welcome non-Jews to celebrate and dine with them during Passover, a new emergence of "Christian Seders," where non-Jews reinterpret the traditions and symbolism of the holiday, has some people shaking their heads in disbelief, while others are downright outraged by the idea.

On Sunday, Twitter lit up when a user @clapifyoulikeme tweeted a screenshot of a "modified Seder meal" posted by Christian lifestyle coach, Carly Friesen, on Facebook.

Screenshot of Instagram post showing

"I think I just had a rage blackout," she tweeted, linking to the since-restricted or deleted Facebook post which featured scenes from the "Seder," including a picture of a challah, a traditional Jewish bread, braided into the shape of a cross. (Jews are forbidden to eat leavened bread on Passover, reflecting the fact that when the Hebrews fled Egypt they didn't have time to let their bread rise, and instead eat matzo during the holiday.)

Photo of dough in the shape of a cross (@carlyfriesen4 / Instagram)

"Today we celebrated Passover in our own way for the first time as a family," Friesen posted along with the pictures from her meal. "We had a modified Seder meal to start with a reading of the first Passover and recognizing Jesus as the final Passover lamb sacrificed for us. I braided some challah bread and we ate roast lamb for supper afterwards and had some lemon poppyseed [sic] cake for a fun dessert. Thank you to our Savior for paying the ultimate sacrifice for us!"

Close up-of food. (@carlyfriesen4 / Instagram)

"CHALLAH FOR PASSOVER. CHALLAH. FOR. PASSOVER. I-," one person replied to the tweet, calling out the fact that one of the main traditions of the holiday involves not eating bread.

Story continues

"I mean the funny thing is if she just wanted to have a nice Palm Sunday dinner with a Bible reading and egg bread braided to look like a cross that would be fine?" responded another user.

Photo of plate from above (@carlyfriesen4 / Instagram)

"Christian seders are, very unfortunately, a thing," posted someone else.

"A seder is a Jewish ritual," wrote the original poster of the tweet. "These people are Christians. They are appropriating it "

Photo of man reading a book (the Bible) (@carlyfriesen4 / Instagram)

According to The Forward, some view Christian Seders as a way to reinterpret the Old Testament, while others view it as cultural appropriation. In a Christian Seder, the afikomen, or broken middle matzo, which is eaten for dessert, is reimagined as the bread of the Eucharist, symbolic of Christ. Because Jesus's Last Supper was a Seder, some Christians have begun to celebrate the holiday to be more like Christ.

But is it OK to reinterpret another culture's history, especially one that includes suffering, and switch up the traditions to make it one's own? Many people say that giving the Seder a new narrative erases the original story, while some Christians see it as another opportunity to gather together for a meal and enrich their own community.

TODAY Food reached out to Friesen for comment but has not heard back.

Related:
As the International Criminal Court (ICC) rules on an appeal against former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbos acquittal of crimes against humanity, here is a timeline of the case since his arrest a decade ago.

 2010: Contested election 

A presidential election finally takes place in Ivory coast in 2010 after six postponements since 2005.

The constitutional council declares incumbent Laurent Gbagbo victor but the electoral commission says the winner is his old rival Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister from the mainly Muslim north. The United Nations says Ouattara won.

In 2011, after four months of tension and unsuccessful mediation efforts, forces loyal to Ouattara in the north launch an offensive against the army and win control of much of the country.

 2011: Gbagbo arrest 

French and UN soldiers deploy in the economic capital Abidjan to prevent the use of heavy weapons.

After 10 days of fighting in the city, Gbagbo is arrested by Ouattaras troops. More than 3,000 people die during the crisis.

In May 2011 Ouattara is sworn in as president.

 2016: In the dock 

Gbagbo is transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague in November, and in 2014 he is joined by his close associate Charles Ble Goude.

The trial of both men begins on January 28, 2016, making Gbagbo the first former head of state to stand trial in The Hague.

Gbagbo and Ble Goude are accused of four counts of crimes against humanity over the 2010-11 bloodshed. They plead not guilty.

Simone Gbagbo, the former first lady, also stands trial in Abidjan and is jailed. But in 2018 Ouattara amnesties her along with some 800 people in a spirit of national reconciliation.

 2019: Shock verdict 

In a stunning blow to the war crimes tribunal, judges at The Hague in January 2019 acquit Gbagbo and order his immediate release, and that of Ble Goude.

Belgium agrees to host Gbagbo after he is released under strict conditions, including his return to court for a prosecution appeal against his acquittal, which will be held on March 31.

 2020: Ouattara wins again 

The ICC in May 2020 announces Gbagbo is permitted to leave Belgium under certain conditions as he insists he intends to return to Ivory Coast.

Technically he could be jailed on his return, having been sentenced in absentia to a 20-year term for looting the local branch of the Central Bank of the West African States during the 2010 crisis.

Ahead of the presidential election in October, Ivory Coasts constitutional court rejects some 40 candidacies, including Gbagbos. Ouattara wins the vote.

 2021: Gbagbo comeback? 

But Gbagbos Ivorian Popular Front party returns to the ballot papers in legislative elections in March. It had boycotted all votes since his ICC arrest.

burs-eab/fg/gd
Srinagar: A councillor and a policeman were killed in a terrorist attack at Sopore in North Kashmirs Baramulla district on Monday (March 29).

Another councillor Shams-ud-din Peer has sustained serious injuries in the attack.

A councillor Riyaz Ahmad and one policeman Shafqat Ahmad had died in Sopore terrorist attack, said Kashmir IG Vijay Kumar.

According to the police, the terrorists opened fire at the Municipal Office at Sopore.

Additional forces were called in. The area has been cordoned off and an operation has been started to nab the assailants.

All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) Chairperson Shafiq Mir blamed the Centre for not being able to give them adequate protection.

One councillor succumbed to injuries while one policeman got killed this morning. I reiterate that security should be given to panchayat leaders of J&K. We've done our jobs by forming a 3-tier panchayat system, but the Centre has failed to secure us, Mir said.

Wreath laying ceremony was held later in the day for police personnel Shafqat and Councillor Riyaz Ahmad.

Live TV
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 07:43:29|Editor: huaxia

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ADU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday discussed a plan to set up COVID-19 vaccination sites in the UAE to inoculate overseas Chinese citizens.

Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the plan with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Wang said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the health and safety of overseas Chinese citizens, and hopes to establish COVID-19 vaccination sites in qualified and willing countries as part of its Spring Vaccine action plan to inoculate overseas Chinese citizens with Chinese vaccines.

Sheikh Abdullah said that his country, as China's strategic partner, is willing to host such sites to facilitate the COVID-19 vaccination for the Chinese citizens in the UAE and neighboring countries.

The UAE is prepared to discuss with China the detailed cooperation in this regard, he added.

Expressing his gratitude for the positive response from the UAE side, Wang said that this represents the UAE's friendliness toward the Chinese people and its readiness to assume its share of international responsibility.

He expected the plan to be implemented as soon as possible through coordination between the two sides. Enditem
Los Angeles, March 29 : 'Avengers' star Sebastian Stan underplays reports of him being cast as the younger version of Luke Skywalker in a rumoured series based on the jedi in the "Star Wars" universe. Stan says he would believe all such talk only if Mark Hamill, the actor who originally played Skywalker, personally tells him it is true.

"If Mark Hamill called me personally, to tell me he feels inclined to share this role with me, then I will believe it. Until then, I won't believe it," he said on the show "Good Morning America", as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Hamill, has supported the rumours on Twitter over the years.

In 2017, Hamill tweeted a photo of Stan next to a still of himself taken from the 1993 film "Time Runner".

"Sorry to disappoint you but I refuse to say "Sebastian Stan-I AM YOUR FATHER!" (even though, in fact, I am) #SorryNotSorry #MySonSebastian," he wrote alongside the photo.

Then, in 2018, asked by a fan about Stan possibly playing his younger version, Hamill had replied: "Sebastian doesn't need my stamp of approval! He's a wonderful actor and is never less than great in everything he does."
One of the bodies that sets transfer tests in Northern Ireland has ruled out using verbal reasoning to decide which pupils to admit in 2022.

The Association for Quality Education (AQE), which intends to go ahead with the tests, also said pupils would get an extra 10 minutes for each paper.

Earlier this month, the other exams body the Post Primary Transfer Consortium (PPTC), asked schools to consider using verbal reasoning tests to decide which pupils to admit in 2022.

But in a guide for parents, the AQE states: We will not be using verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests. We will be using the same type of questions that we have been using for the past 11 years."

Verbal reasoning tests the understanding of language, logic and verbal comprehension while non-verbal reasoning evaluates problem-solving skills.

Verbal reasoning was used in the old 11-plus exam which ended in 2008.

Meanwhile, grammar schools have been urged to make a decision now on whether they will continue with plans to use transfer tests this November.

The call comes from the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), who said the growing uncertainty is causing concern amongst pupils and teachers.

NAHT president Dr Graham Gault has urged boards of governors at grammar schools to provide the certainty parents need, with current P6 pupils having only returned to school last Monday after missing more than three months of what should be a critical year in classrooms.

"It has always been the case that the pursuit of academic selection as an entrance criterion for some schools has narrowed and restricted delivery of the primary curriculum for many thousands of children," said Dr Gault.

"If decisions are going to be made to avoid academic selection this year, it would be wonderful if those boards of governors could publish their decisions quickly, to allow our children to have the fullest and broadest curricular provision as possible, given what they have already missed out on, without it being tarnished by the perpetual high-pressure testing that preparation for academic selection necessitates.

"Whatever decision the boards of governors of our grammar schools make, I would, therefore, urge them to make it quickly."

Four schools have so far taken the decision to use their own criteria to admit new pupils, as concerns remain over the viability of running tests this November.

Thornhill College Girls Grammar and St Columb's College, for boys, both in Londonderry, along with Lagan College and St Mary's Christian Brothers in Belfast have opted out of academic selection for a further year.

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood welcomed the decision by the two schools.

"Young people are under immense pressure at the minute and there is no justifiable reason to make that worse," the SDLP leader said. "The lack of proper schooling will disadvantage pupils, particularly from low-income families who cannot afford private tutoring. Our schools are showing strong leadership."

All transfer tests for current P7 pupils have been cancelled by the AQE and the PPTC, the two companies which run the tests on behalf of around 60 grammar schools in Northern Ireland, due to safety concerns during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a joint statement, the governors of the two Derry schools, which have previously used the GL Assessment test run by the PPTC, said that young people had "faced a year of unprecedented challenge" and that there was "no guarantee" that disruption might not continue into their first school term. They said they wanted to "provide a degree of certainty" for parents and pupils.

Around 400 new pupils, split across the two schools, are admitted each academic year.

Read More

"In response to these exceptional circumstances, and with a desire to provide a degree of certainty to those young people who would wish to attend our schools, the boards of governors and principals of both schools have agreed that they will not use academic criteria for admission to year eight in September 2022," the schools said.

"We believe that this is the right decision for our schools and local communities."

Last Thursday, Lagan College in Belfast announced it was to abandon the transfer test. A statement on the school website added that it "will also not act as a GL Assessment Centre".
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Weve been glued to our TV sets for the past five weeks, watching DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) try to solve the murder of Matthew Walsh in ITVs hit crime drama Unforgotten.

Finally, all the answers we had craved have been given to us in an explosive final episode. So who was the killer? Was it Fiona Grayson, Liz Baildon, Ram Sidhu or Dean Barton?

Find out in our recap, below.

First, a refresher on the first five episodes...

What happened in episode six?

It was a sombre start to the final episode, with Cassie left recovering from a car crash just as the team were about to solve the case.

Frantic with worry, Sunny ran to the hospital to see Cassie. There was bad news: his work partner was not in a good way. She had a bleed on her brain and went into surgery.

Andy Nyman as Dean in Unforgotten (ITV)

Dr Leanne Balcombe (Georgia Mackenzie) arrived at the hospital and told Sunny that nobody witnessed the accident, and the vehicle that had ploughed into Cassie had fled the scene.

Sunny pondered whether Cassie could have caused the crash herself, and on purpose. He had been worried about her state of mind. But Leanne reassured him that Cassie had seemed fine when she left the mortuary just before the accident.

A nurse told Cassies family that surgery went really well and she was being taken back to ICU, where she remained in a coma.

Liz (Susan Lynch) said she would tell her fiancee Janet (Amanda Douge) the truth about her past, that she had made the mistake of her life right at the end of police training. She credited Janet with helping her forget about it and live again, but added: Except now I have to tell you who I really am.

(ITV)

Ram (Phaldut Sharma) was convinced the police were going to come for him. He was sure he would be framed for the murder because the other suspects would say he was the killer. Maybe they even believed he did it? Either way, he was going to fight them.

There was a little light relief when Sunny asked his partner Sal to marry him as they sat in the hospital waiting room, and she agreed.

Sunny wanted to check where all the suspects were at the time of Cassies crash. Cassie was still in a coma.

Following Cassies earlier hunch about a line of inquiry, the team discovered Deans (Andy Nyman) older brother Steven had died in 1989 from a fatal knife wound in his eye.

Nobody was ever arrested and there were no witnesses, although original reports suggested Deans family, the Quinns, had a good idea who did it.

DS Murray Boulting (Jordan Long) digged into Deans bank accounts. He found nothing of interest  except that one account was listed with the name George Graves. Dean had set it up and was the authorised signatory. The account identifier was godson. Dean made regular payments of 40 a month into the account, until a lump sum payment of 10,000 was deposited in cash at a branch in Rochester. The money was then transferred immediately into an account in the name of Grace Williams, who it turned out was Rams first wife.

Sunny asked Murray to investigate further and, before long, police turned up to arrest Ram on suspicion of murder. During the interview with Sunny, Ram denied any involvement in a fight with Walsh in the pub three weeks before Walsh died. He said he never chased Walsh, despite good evidence to the contrary. He kept changing his story.

Phaldut Sharma as Ram Sidhu in Unforgotten (ITV)

Sunny told Ram that phone mast data linked Ram and Dean to the same spot in Surrey at the same time. It was clearly more than a coincidence, but Ram denied meeting Dean. His alibi that he went for a walk to clear his head was ludicrous.

Ram couldnt get out of hot water when Sunny confronted him about Dean transferring 10,000 to his ex-wife Graces account. Grace had no idea this online bank account they set up still existed. Nor that from 2001 to 2008, lump sums of 5,000 were paid into that account three or four times a year, from the account run by Dean. It was clear Dean had been paying Ram for help for some time.

Rams landline calls were traced to a customs officer, Andy Renfold, at a UK port the day the money appeared in the account. Sunny said it was not a massive leap to guess it had something to do with drug importation and bribery. What power did Dean hold over Ram to corrupt him?

Ram insisted he didnt kill Walsh. He said he had found him bleeding from the head and had tried to save him, giving him CPR. Sunny then passed him a fountain pen they found in Rams desk. How long had he been using one? Could Ram be the killer because Walsh was murdered with a similar one?

Police took Dean to be interviewed at the station by Sunny with DC Fran Lingley (Carolina Main) by his side. Dean was told his version of events differed significantly to those of Ram and Fiona (Liz White).

(ITV)

Dean said he went back over the night in question after Cassie had last talked to him. Although he had initially said the car hadnt stopped before they got pulled over for Robs drink-driving, he admitted it may well have done, but he wouldnt know as he was asleep for the most of the journey. He denied Fiona and Rams accounts that he had chased Walsh and help put his body in the car.

Sunny went in for the kill when he asked Dean how he had convinced Ram  an ambitious young police officer  to become part of his cocaine smuggling operation. They handed him the bank statements that linked payments to Ram and said they had arrested customs officer Renfold who was cooperating with police. Dean clammed up, saying no comment to all further questions.

While looking at the evidence board, Sunny had a light bulb moment. The Quinns and the Walsh family both lived in Londons N9. Were they two rival crime families? Deans brother Steven was found stabbed in the middle of the two addresses, after all. Sunny guessed that Walsh might have killed Steven and Dean then murdered Walsh as payback.

There was another big breakthrough when the lab found the serial number on the fountain pen that was found in the victims skull. It had been bought by Deans brother Steven. You think Steven killed Walsh? asked Dean. Unlikely, said Fran. He had been dead eight months by then. Records showed that DB had been engraved on the lid. With the weapon linked to Dean, he was charged with murder. He gave a tearful confession, admitting he had found Walsh unconscious after he had tripped over. I did what he done to Steven, said Dean. I stabbed him.

He had seen Ram looking for him, so left and then returned ten minutes later when Ram was giving him CPR and the others had caught up. Dean was inconsolable as he was led to the cells.

Liz (Susan Lynch) visited her superior at the police station and said she had always thought Walshs death was an accident  but that it was no excuse for covering it up. She was led out by police officers.

It turned out that the Range Rover involved in the traffic accident with Cassie was driven by a car thief, not one of the suspects.

Ram was charged with accepting money for the importation of a controlled substance and abuse of public trust as a serving police officer.

Fiona told her partner Geoff (Daniel Flynn) that the police had accepted that none of them knew what Dean had done  but they were going to charge her, Liz and Ram with preventing a lawful burial. She told police about the licence forgery and her lawyer thought she would get a custodial sentence for that. Geoff was beyond stunned by everything, but said he didnt love Fiona any less.

Sunny and Cassie in Unforgotten (ITV)

Fran asked Sunny why he was waiting to tell Cassie about solving the case. Go and tell her we did it  or she did itagain, she said.

Sunny got to the hospital and, to his devastation, learned Cassie was unlikely to ever recover brain function. He sat at her bedside in shock.

The next thing we knew, it was Cassies funeral. The co-lead had been killed off. Sunny gave a heartfelt tribute to his colleague and friend, who he loved. I can say without a scintilla of doubt that she was the best that I have ever met her job was not to judge but to pursue the truth and she did that, he said.

Nobody could have seen that plot twist coming. Even though Cassie was in a coma throughout the finale, we thought the beloved detective would surely pull through. The question now is, what does this mean for the future of Unforgotten? Will there be a fifth series or is the drama over forever?
Police appealing for information after the attack in Dundonald on Sunday.

The PSNI are appealing for information after a man was attacked by two men in Dundonald on Sunday evening.

The man aged in his forties was kicked and punched by two males, sustaining broken bones and requiring hospital treatment.

The incident happened in the Enler Park East area of Dundonald at around 6.30pm on Sunday.

In a statement, Detective Constable Adams said: The man, when out walking, was attacked by two males. He was kicked and punched, and sustained injuries, including broken bones, that required hospital treatment.

This was a vicious attack, which has left the victim badly shaken. I am appealing to anyone with information to contact us on 101 quoting reference number 526 of 29/03/21.

"A report can also be made using the online reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport.

"Alternatively, information can be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org."
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MIDDLETOWN  The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the city of Middletown for a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for Middletown businesses Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the office, 393 Main St.

Vaccine availability is limited to the first 50 registrants, according to a press release. Eligibility includes Middletown business owners and employees who are 18 and over. No cost or proof of insurance is required.
There will be five available elk-hunting permits and 400 available for black bear hunting.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Dwayne Johnson is not always the sexiest man despite his buffed physique.

Johnson, who has been one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, lost one title to Prince William this week.

The Sun conducted a study over the weekend to determine who the world's sexiest bald man is. The researchers then found out that one man defeated everyone else with 17.6 million mentions.

Unfortunately, Johnson got defeated by the Duke of Cambridge.

The report added that millions of blogs, reports, and pages described Prince William "sexy," pushing him to the top of the list.

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old "Jumanji" star retweeted the article from The Independent and offered a hilarious response.

"How in the cinnamon toast f*ck does this happen - when Larry David clearly has a pulse?!!?! #demandingrecount," he captioned the post.

How in the cinnamon toast f*ck does this happen - when Larry David clearly has a pulse?!?!#demandingrecount  https://t.co/ztO6ND4vk9  Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) March 27, 2021

Meanwhile, Stanley Tucci - also a well-known bald man - posted a separate update on Instagram. He made a collage of bald-headed stars, including Jason Statham, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Bruce Willis.

"Whose crown should wear this crown? So many wonderful choices," Tucci asked.

What the Study Found

The cosmetic surgery specialist, Longevita, hailed Prince William as the World's Sexiest Bald Man.

Next to him is legendary boxer Mike Tyson, who earned 8.8 million searches with the words "sexy" and "hot."

Johnson got slapped by reality again when his "Fast & Furious" co-star secured third place with 7.4 million total searches.

Meanwhile, Pitbull and Michael B. Jordan completed the top 5.

The remaining stars in the top 10 include Floyd Mayweather, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, The Rock, and Vin Diesel.

"There are quite a few bald public figures we can feast our eyes on," a spokesperson for Longevita explained.

Fans React!

Amid these bald men's responses, their fans offered mixed reactions to the results. Some said Prince William deserves the crown, while others hilariously pledged to avenge their picks.

One fan posted a photo of Jason and said, "Nothing sexy about Prince William--sorry, but this right here is my sexiest bald man. Sorry, Rock!"

"Have these people seen @TheRock ?? Are they blind or what?? If u put William alongside @TheRock I'll pick the rock anytime anyday. Who voted anyway?" one fan assured the actor.

Meanwhile, Tucci-gang also published several statements, detailing why Tucci should have won instead.

"i am so glad that finally everyone coming to their senses about stanley tucci being the sexiest bald man," one of the fans said.

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Adding to its current stack of innovative payment methods, fintech provider Nuvei now offers support for the world's most popular cryptocurrencies

MONTREAL and LONDON, March 29, 2021. Now, eCommerce merchants can join the cryptocurrency revolution, offering innovative payment methods to access more customers around the world, even in previously hard to reach countries.



Mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies has steadily increased, with the current estimated global market capitalization reaching approximately $1.6 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. As the number of cryptocurrency holders continues to expand, merchants stand to grow their overall market share by accepting it as another alternative payment method (APM).

With consumer shopping habits trending increasingly more global - thanks to the ease of purchasing from any site in any country - supporting cryptocurrencies represents a sizable market opportunity for merchants to attract more buyers worldwide. Additionally, cryptocurrency payments are increasingly becoming more significant for industries offering large ticket and high volume goods and services.

"We're excited to provide yet another pioneering solution that empowers our clients, large and small, with frictionless payment experiences and a greater opportunity to partake in a global marketplace," said Philip Fayer, Nuvei's chairman and CEO. "Nuvei continuously strives to offer the most relevant payment mediums for our clients and their customers. Our cryptocurrency support provides convenient, secure and instant transaction processing through a single integration."

Active in over 200 global markets, Nuvei enables access to the most popular cryptocurrencies in addition to supporting nearly 150 local currencies and over 455 APMs. Merchants can now further conduct business across borders, as well as beyond the bounds of the fiat ecosystem. This provides the Company's merchants with greater reach to consumers worldwide, and the agility to meet demand for additional payment preferences. They also benefit from enhanced security, privacy and integrity of transactions inherent with cryptocurrencies.

With the addition of cryptocurrencies to its platform, Nuvei can now also facilitate transactions for the world's growing interest in Non-Fungible Tokens, which monitors the cryptocurrency collectible market.

To discover Nuvei's cryptocurrency payment solution, visit: https://nuvei.com/payment-solutions/cryptocurrency-payments/.

About Nuvei

We are Nuvei (TSX: NVEI and NVEI.U), the global payment technology partner of thriving brands. We provide the intelligence and technology businesses need to succeed locally and globally, through one integration - propelling them further, faster. Uniting payment technology and consulting, we help businesses remove payment barriers, optimize operating costs and increase acceptance rates. Our proprietary platform offers direct connections to all major payment card schemes in over 200 markets worldwide, supports 455 local and alternative payment methods, nearly 150 currencies and 40 cryptocurrencies. Our purpose is to make our world a local marketplace.

For more information, visit www.nuvei.com.

Contact:

Nuvei Investor Relations

IR@nuvei.com

Nuvei Public Relations

PR@nuvei.com
Western views of human rights don't represent int'l community: Chinese FM

Xinhua) 09:59, March 29, 2021

ABU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that the views of human rights held by some Western countries don't represent those of the international community.

He made these remarks in a meeting with his counterpart of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

The visiting Chinese foreign minister said that the situation of a country's human rights shall be judged by its people, rather than other countries' opinions.

"The world should listen to and absorb the views of developing countries so that the definition of human rights will be more comprehensive, diverse and balanced," Wang said.

He stressed that the rights to live and develop are as important as the political and social rights, and fairness and justice should be respected the same as democracy and freedom.

"It's normal that different civilizations and traditions in different development phases lead to different understandings and emphases. This is why we advocate communicating equally and learning from each other on the human rights issue," Wang said.

He reiterated that China opposes any form of interference in other countries' domestic affairs under the pretext of protecting human rights, and objects to slandering other countries by using human rights as a political tool.

"No country is superior to another in this world, and the standard of a single country should not be regarded as the international standard," Wang said, noting it would be the utmost injustice in human history if some Western countries keep using human rights as an excuse to suppress and contain developing countries and to deprive non-Western countries of the rights to develop.

China is keen to hold dialogue with the UAE over the human rights issue and jointly seek progress in protecting human rights in both countries and the world as well, Wang added.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah said that the level of well-being and happiness of the citizens should be the criteria to judge the human rights situation in a country.

Forcing others to accept one's own values is hegemony, and many developing countries have suffered such kind of unfair treatment over the human rights issue, he noted.

The UAE is willing to enhance communication and cooperation with China on promoting and protecting human rights, he added.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 15:00:19|Editor: huaxia

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People attend a rally against racism and violence on Asian Americans in Flushing of New York, the United States, March 27, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The unfolding campaign against racism and violence on Asian Americans is the latest reminder of "les miserables" under America's long-time masquerade of a human rights defender, and of Washington's failure to tackle the systematic racial, social and economic inequality in the country.



WASHINGTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- "Asians are not silent anymore!" cried protesters from more than 60 cities across the United States, who have been rallying against racism and violence on Asian Americans ever since the mass shootings in mid-March in Atlanta where eight people, including six Asians, were killed.

The unfolding campaign is the latest reminder of "les miserables" under America's long-time masquerade of a human rights defender, and of Washington's failure to tackle the systematic racial, social and economic inequality in the country.

Hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have seen a surge ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to U.S. nonpartisan research and policy organization the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, anti-Asian hate crimes rocketed by nearly 150 percent in 2020 in 16 largest cities in the United States.

The sign "Black Lives Matter Plaza" is seen in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Yet Asian American communities are not the only ones having suffered such traumatic injuries -- never forget African American George Floyd's desperate plea of "I can't breathe" before death last year, and the following massive Black Lives Matter protests, which are still ongoing.

For a long time, the U.S. government and media outlets have turned a blind eye to America's own terrible human rights record. Instead, they have thrown themselves into making groundless accusations against the human rights situation in other countries.

The same U.S. media outlets have raised not a single question about America's dire COVID-19 situation during President Joe Biden's first press conference on Thursday, but are busy pointing a finger at other countries' human rights issues citing their self-proclaimed investigative reports.

The same U.S. government has turned its back on the country's ethnic minorities who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic due to great and persistent racial differences in wealth and access to health services, but is busy retooling its alliances to smear China over Xinjiang.

In fact, Washington is merely playing the human rights card to make its own geopolitical and economic gains. For example, the ulterior motive of using such phrases as "forced labor," "concentration camps" and "genocide" to describe Xinjiang is to stoke divisions and instability in China, and to contain the country's development.

Demonstrators hold up fists during a protest over the death of George Floyd in Chicago, the United States, June 6, 2020. (Photo by Chris Dilts/Xinhua)

Fortunately, more clear-eyed people worldwide have come to realize Washington's hypocrisy and double standards on human rights. During the 46th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United States and its allies tried in vain to boast their "human rights superiority," and were urged by a long list of countries to address their own issues including racism, discrimination, police violence and hate crimes targeted at ethnic minorities.

Indeed, the international community has every reason to doubt the credibility of the high politics Washington is playing, not least at a time when solidarity and cooperation are badly needed in battling such tough global challenges as the pandemic, economic recession and climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught the whole world a lesson crystal clear: national boundaries matter very little in this age when different countries and peoples are inevitably and inextricably connected to one another, and any attempt to split the world into different camps is doomed to failure.

Only by conducting constructive dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights and discarding politicization and double standards could the international human rights cause be soundly developed. The United States needs to learn to respect the path chosen by others for human rights development, take concrete actions to address such domestic issues as racism, racial discrimination and police violence to effectively protect the rights of racial and ethnic minorities, and refrain from spreading political lies and launching groundless attacks against other countries. 
The Northern Ireland Civil Service is in talks with trade unions about future remote working for up to 23,000 workers, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

The Department of Finance, responsible for personnel matters in the NI Civil Service (NICS), said the remote working habit established in the pandemic was here to stay.

Regional hubs are being prepared for workers in locations outside Belfast, such as Downpatrick, Craigavon and Ballykelly.

But the trend could leave NICS offices under-occupied or even empty - such as the Department of Education's Rathgael House Bangor office, Castle Buildings at Stormont and city centre offices like the Child Support Agency's HQ Millennium House.

However, as it announced the hubs last month, the Department of Finance said the civil service will continue to have a "significant" presence in Belfast city centre.

The Department of Finance said: "Going forward, the NICS will be adopting a blended approach to home/remote working depending on the individual departmental requirements and job role. A remote working and home working policy is currently being developed in consultation with trade unions. The department has also recently announced plans for a number of new Civil Service regional hubs which will enable civil servants to work closer to home, reduce travel time and promote regional economic balance."

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Figures compiled by the Belfast Telegraph earlier this month show that more than 1.25m in rates and over 3.3m in maintenance across the nine Stormont departments has been spent on existing unused sites.

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SDLP South Down MLA Colin McGrath, chair of the Assembly's executive committee, said: "Covid-19 has highlighted that we maybe should be reviewing our working practices. People who previously thought it would be unthinkable to work from home have now found a pattern and are very much capable of delivering their work."

He said there are "many, many people taking thousands of car journeys" from Downpatrick, a regional hub, to Belfast for work.

"The fact that some can access a local workspace is very positive for time management and the environment. They're not using buses or cars, and it's good financially that they don't have to pay car parking or petrol," he added.

"And for Downpatrick, there will be dozens of more people on its high streets, bringing lots of benefits."

Mr McGrath acknowledged the movement could result in empty office space in and around Belfast. He said: "That's the challenge - to repurpose those buildings - but we certainly can't have vacant government buildings in the city centre being held on to for five, 10 or 15 years.

"You may currently have one building with room for 500, but if 250 are out working in regional hubs, you only need to provide room for 200 or 300, so obviously a much smaller premises would be required."

He said the move away from the city could bring a positive economic balance, adding: "I'm a fan of decentralisation in the public sector. It guarantees footfall in regional towns and that brings fairness to rate and taxpayer.

"They get the benefits of having a workforce near them, especially the hospitality and retail businesses. If you have 100 or 200 civil servants there, they will spend a certain amount of money a week in those businesses, while the city centre has a different product it can sell to attract those people at weekends."

A city office building which no longer hosted workers could be repurposed into apartments, he said. "You might have had a sandwich shop selling sandwiches to workers at lunchtime. But now instead of workers, it could cater to people living in flats within a converted office. Nobody should lose out from this."

But the DoF and Department for the Economy are not proceeding in the same way as Westminster's Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy. According to reports last week, it is looking at ways to strengthen the existing legal right to request flexible working, whether working from home or different hours.

The Department for the Economy instead said its focus was on its economic recovery action plan, which includes measures such as a high street stimulus scheme, a flexible skills fund and a lifting of age limits on apprenticeships.

The department said: "During the last 12 months, employers have already shown themselves to be very flexible in supporting their employees to work from home. Of course, there can never be a one-size-fits-all approach.

"Every employer will have to adopt a business model that works best for them. However, employment law in Northern Ireland already makes provision for employees to request flexible working.

"The real challenge for our economy in a post-Covid scenario, is to make sure there are actually jobs for people to return to. That is why the minister recently published her Economic Recovery Action Plan. Delivering that is where our focus will be in the months ahead."
MACKINAC ISLAND, MI  A squirrel accidentally trapped overnight in one of Mackinac Islands oldest churches did some unholy damage  breaking apart the figure of Jesus on an antique crucifix and sending the cross crashing to the floor. But with some patience, some patching and the deft touch of two artists on the island, Ste. Annes Catholic Church now has its vintage treasure back on the wall behind the altar.

The damage done by the uninvited visitor was discovered earlier this winter. Leanne Brodeur, the churchs administrative assistant, said when she walked into the downstairs area the parish uses to celebrate Mass in the winter, she initially thought vandals had broken in. Plants were tipped over. Unlit votive candles were knocked askew. And the crucifix that had been on the wall behind the altar was on the floor, the plaster figure of Jesus broken into pieces.

Brodeur called Jim Morse, the churchs maintenance engineer, to survey the mess. Jim thought it was a critter, Brodeur said. We looked around, and thats when we saw him. There was a squirrel sitting on top of the piano, looking at us.

They opened the churchs side doors and chased out the four-legged intruder. They suspect the squirrel had gotten in through a door someone had left open the day before, then found itself trapped inside for the night. The rodent had chewed up the wooden window sills, too, likely trying to get back outside.

Some things were thankfully untouched, like a statue of the Virgin Mary and the churchs sanctuary candle  it was lit at the time, and Brodeur doesnt like to think what might have happened had the squirrel knocked that over.

Surveying the damage, church staff were dismayed about the crucifix, which Brodeur says dates to the early 1900s. The figure of Jesus was missing its head. Its arms were gone, and there were chunks missing from the torso. I thought, there is no putting him back together, Brodeur said.

They picked up the pieces and put them in a box, which Morse took with him. Brodeur started looking around online for a replacement.

The figure of Jesus being repaired after a crucifix at Ste. Anne's Catholic Church on Mackinac Island was damaged by a squirrel.

Not long after that, Morse called her. The maintenance engineer  who also happens to have an art degree - wanted to show her what hed been able to do.

Jim had him all plastered together, she said. Brodeur, also an artist, but one who works in watercolors and acrylics, took it from there. I took him home and painted him, she said of the figure.

Now the crucifix is back on the wall. And if the squirrel wants to take another look at it, it will have to do it through a window - from outside.

For more on the fascinating history of Ste. Annes Catholic Church - which has records dating back to 1695 - check out the churchs website.
Native American women and girls know their heritage puts them at risk. They tell each other to take care. They all know it is easy for someone to take them and kill them and get away with it.

Preyed upon by attackers, rapists and killers familiar with the empty reaches of reservations, the patchwork of jurisdictions, the disregard of some and the silence of others, they are in danger just for being a Native woman or girl.

The statistics are grim.

A report from the National Institute of Justice found that more than four out of five Native American women have experienced violence in their lives. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control reported that homicide is the third leading cause of death among Native American women between the ages of 10 and 24. The Department of Justice has reported Native American women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than other Americans.

On the 1.3-million-acre Yakama Reservation, women have passed down stories from as far back as the mid-1800s of rape and murder by miners, by soldiers, by other outsiders. The passage of time does not diminish the terror of these assaults, which continue today.

No one knows exactly how many Native girls and women have gone missing on or near the Yakama reservation.
WESTLAKE, Ohio  Jia Wei is set to open Wild Mango in Crocker Park.

Wei said he hopes to open the space probably in June. The restaurant will cover about 8,000 square feet and have capacity for 180 diners inside and 100 outside. Its going into the former Asian bistro Viengs, across from The Cheesecake Factory and next to Aladdins Eatery, at 139 Crocker Park Blvd.

In January, Wei closed his Wild Mango in North Olmsted but has maintained an East Side presence with his restaurant in Legacy Village in Lyndhurst. The upscale settings of Legacy Village and Crocker Park appeal to him, he said.

Crocker Park would be a perfect fit for us, he said.

Wild Mango is an homage to Weis love of Asian street food and fuses Asian, European and South American flavors. The menu consists of spicy tuna tartar, baked Japanese eggplant, noodle bowls and more. Seafood is flown in weekly from Hawaii.

Wei said diners can expect the same menu and decor as the East Side location, and is excited  especially for the patio with warm weather around the corner.

The patio will be good for Covid, he said. The summertime will be great.

Related coverage: Wild Mango owner excited about move to Legacy Village

I am on cleveland.coms life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, heres a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in at 7:05 a.m. Wednesdays for Beer with Bona and Much, Much More with Munch Bishop on 1350-AM The Gambler. Twitter: @mbona30.

Get a jumpstart on the weekend and sign up for Cleveland.coms weekly In the CLE email newsletter, your essential guide to the top things to in Greater Cleveland. It will arrive in your inbox on Friday mornings - an exclusive to-do list, focusing on the best of the weekend fun. Restaurants, music, movies, performing arts, family fun and more. Just click here to subscribe. All cleveland.com newsletters are free.
Chuks Okocha and Segun James write that the hint from a respected organ of the Peoples Democratic Party indicating that all sections of the country are welcome to vie for its presidential ticket in 2023 may have stirred up the hornet's nest

In a year thick with bad news much of it economic and health care, it is perhaps not surprising that all has been quiet in the well-known Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) acrimonious political culture. Things have not been the same with Africa's largest opposition party since it lost the 2019 presidential election to the rival, All Progressives Congress (APC). However, it seems the party has stirred to life a few days ago following the publication of the decision of the party's Board of Trustees to make its presidential ticket open to all.

It is always a bit of a gamble for a political party to attempt to claw back onto the scene it built. But there is a chance that the PDP may have made the daring move with the decision not to zone its presidential ticket to any part of the country - for now, given the prevailing political situation in the country. If the PDP refused to give its presidential ticket to the Igbo in 2023, would that signal the end of the party's dominance in the South-east?

The BoT of the party in a statement by its Secretary, Chief Adolphus Wabara, an Igbo man, disclosed that following an emergency meeting of the organ of the party in Abuja, it has decided to leave the presidential ticket open to all. Wabara, a former Senate President, who represented the Board's chairman, Walid Jibrin, said it was too early to talk about the zoning of key office when issues confronting the opposition party were yet to be resolved. He said that would be like putting the cart before the horse.

"By the time we resolve all the issues in the party, we shall come up with a zoning formula. As you know, if you go through the constitution, you will realise that PDP is a party of zoning.

"But when it comes to political exigencies, you will realise that anything can happen, that is why we can amend our constitution at will to win an election," he said.

Wabara pledged a level playing ground and uninterrupted operations of all organs of the party ahead of its December National Convention. He said the emergency meeting was particularly necessary considering the political and economic tension in the country, adding that the meeting was to ensure the stability of all the organs of PDP and to place them on alert and in sharp focus as the party prepares to take over power in 2023.

"The Board is fully committed not to allow any mischievous trends or strain to clog the working relationship between all members, particularly at the top management level of the party," he said.

Wabara said the party was determined to do all that was necessary to ensure that it fulfilled the overwhelming desire of the vast majority of Nigerians that the PDP regained power in 2023.

"The BoT will also ensure that very harmonious relationship exists between the organs of the party and in this regard, a detailed meeting between the BoT and the NWC is being planned to be held soon," he stated, even as he expressed confidence in the ongoing work of the party's reconciliation and strategy committee led by a former Senate President, Dr.. Bukola Saraki.

"The Board is very appreciative of the commitment of our governors to the party and the exemplary roles they have all been playing to keep the party at an optimum operational level," he said. "This is the only party in Nigeria, if not in the world, that is not owned by anybody. This party is owned by the people," he said.

But that decision is not sitting well with Igbo ethnic nationality who see the move as another subtle way of denying their people an opportunity to take a shot at the presidency.

It is based on this that the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo has come out kicking against the PDP decision. To them, if there is one ethnic nationality that has been loyal to the party, it is the Igbo. They have been unwavering in their support for the party. They wonder why they should be paid back in such a manner.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, while rejecting the Bala Mohammed-led committee report of the party which recommended that the 2023 presidential ticket of the party should be thrown open to all sections of the country, said that the committee report was capable of impugning the unity of the country and asked for the withdrawal of the report that it described as unconscionable.

The Igbo parent body noted that it was committed to Nigeria producing a President of Igbo extraction in 2023, adding that it will willingly identify with any group that is ready for the bargain. In a statement, National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Alex Ogbonnia said: "Ohanaeze views the report by the Bala Mohammed led committee as most despicable, un-reflective and unconscionable. It is very worrisome that some highly placed Nigerians who have benefited so much from the unity of the country would be inclined to decisions and actions that will further inflame the passions of the patient but aggrieved part of the country.

"For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerians agreed on the rotation of the presidency between the North and the South; in which case it is the turn of the South after the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. For clarity purposes, both the South-west and the South-south had both taken their turns in the persons of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan respectively. It is rather very unpatriotic and a trifle on the sensibilities of the Igbo for the committee to even suggest the rotation of the presidency to the North-east in the first instance and open to every part of Nigeria as a major slight.

"It is disturbing that all the indignities, perceived and real, that the South-east suffer in the current dispensation are the outcome of the Igbo support to the PDP since 1999. It is on record that in 1999, the Igbo were in hock with the PDP through which Chief Olusegun Obasanjo emerged the President of Nigeria; same in 2003 and the subsequent elections in Nigeria.

"On the other hand, the Igbo had invested much political capital in the PDP only to be betrayed by its apparent lack of principles. The leadership of the PDP is advised to retract the comment made by Alhaji Bala Mohammed and countermand the content of the obnoxious committee report in the interest of the party.

"Let it be known that Ndigbo does not wax so eloquent on political parties. The Igbo is bound to advertise the party that caters to the interest of our people. It is instructive that Senator Ali Ndume, a chieftain of the All Peoples Congress (APC) is among the prominent Northerners that canvass for zoning the Nigerian presidency to the South East for the 2023 presidential election. Other prominent APC chieftains are highly committed to the realisation of this project and we will be very delighted to work with them in the overall interest of Ndigbo.

"The Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Ambassador Professor George Obiozor is committed to a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction and there is no going back on it. It should be noted that the Igbo network transcends geographical space and the enormous Igbo goodwill and resources across the world will be mobilized to achieve this equity-inspired project. In the words of Obiozor, the Igbo are a confident set of people who do not hide their feelings easily no matter the consequences.

He added, "If you deny the Igbo justice, be ready for righteous indignation, diminishing authority, denial of the legitimacy of governance and loyalty. The Igbo faith and confidence is based on what you deny the Igbo in the morning, they can give to themselves in the evening through hard work and perseverance. We are undaunted."

In the smouldering political landscape of Nigeria, the future is lying on two fundamentals - equity and fair play. Given the sacrifices the Igbo people have made in the last 20 years of steady democracy in the country, would they be given the chance to field the party's presidential candidate?

That's the question as many from the North are still blaming them for the supposed 'sins' of their fathers. They insisted that the politics of tribalism, coup plotting and war were introduced to Nigeria by the Igbo. But 50 years after the Federal Government's "no victor no vanquished" rhetoric after the war, why are the Igbos being held to political ransom?

Gone are the days when the PDP was the lone mighty Iroko tree in the national political forest. Today that tree has withered, hence when the final whistle for politicking is blown, the party may not be on the starting block. It wasn't so long ago that the party almost controlled the entire system, but since 2015, things have changed for the worse.

Yes, the PDP has had more than its fair share of political crisis over the years, so when turbulence starts to rock after two years of things being quiet on the political front, it is a sign that the party is waking up from its slumber. But to whose benefit?

The essence of all political parties is to win elections and this is by no means based on sentiments. Elections in itself is a jostle for power with strategies on areas perceived as its stronghold. No political party will waste it's ticket on any election based on sentiments.

These were the views of a member of the PDP National Executive Comment (NEC) who was reacting to torrents of criticisms on why the Governor Bala Mohammed committee that recommended that the presidential candidate of the party in 2023 should be thrown open.

Though, the NEC member refused to be quoted officially, so as to avoid further controversy. However, he said that the important thing before the PDP is to get a presidential candidate that wears the garment of a nationalist and not a regional champion. He maintained that much as the PDP would want to be transparent and democratic in nature, "PDP will do everything democratic to ensure equity when it comes to the choice of who will be the presidential ticket holder in 2023", he explained.

One thing that is important so far is that the report is still a recommendation and subject to further study and analysis by all the instant organs of the party. For instance, as the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus said. the party will study and analyse the report and come out with what will be beneficial to the party.

But the deputy national secretary of the PDP, Dr. Emmanuel Agbo who served as the secretary of the Bala Mohammed, said that no zone was shut out by the recommendation of the panel. He clearly stated that all zones are qualified to contest, even the South -suth and the South-east.

He explained that what was paramount before the party was the emergence of a nationalist not some one that will wear the toga of ethnic jingorist . Agbo stated that the crisis facing Nigeria as a nation is like what happened during annulment of the June 12 1993 presidential election that polarised Nigeria along ethnic lines.

In view of this, he said that the panel is looking for a presidential candidate as was done when the PDP brought in General Olusegun Obasanjo to weld the broken cracks of Nigeria together.. At each time, he spoke, Agbo always clarified that no zone has been shut out.

Also reacting through his Tweeter handle, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said, "Due to enquiries from our members and the general public, it has become imperative to clarify that@OfficialPDPNig is yet to adopt any of the recommendations proposed by the Senator Bala Mohammed's Committee on the Review of the 2019 Elections.

"As such, it will be incongruous for anyone to assert that any decision has been taken @OfficialPDPNig on zoning of the Presidency ahead of the 2023 elections.

"@OfficialPDPNig leaders, members and supporters are enjoined to note that party is yet to take any decision on the proposals presented by the committee.", the PDP declared .

The implication of this is that the PDP has not taken a position.

However, Chief Dan Orbih, the South-south National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said that the choice of the party's candidacy in the 2023 presidential election will be determined by the political terrain prior to the general polls.

He said that the clamour by its members for a South-south presidential endorsement showed their maturity as stakeholders but would be decided upon after members fully examined the country's political terrain for a balance.

Orbih gave the indication in an interview in Benin while reacting to the increasing agitation by party loyalists from the zone for the party to zone the 2023 presidency to South-south.

He, however, noted that the clamour was an indication that the party was a very organised one.

According to him, before the party goes into any presidential contest, it will sit and look at what is on ground politically.

"Based on that the party then takes a position on the zone where the candidate will come from.

"No doubt there are lot of persons who feel strongly that there is need for the party to formally zone the presidency.

"First, it will reduce rancour among members. Secondly, it will give direction on what the party is looking at.

"Another thing is that as a matter of strategy, if the party settles for a zone, it means we will take advantage of the place the party has zoned it to."

He, however, disclosed that as at present, the party had yet to zone the presidency in the forth coming 2023 general elections.

He also explained that those agitating for the presidency to be zoned to South-south were of the strong opinion that the zone should return and complete its denied second tenure.

"They also argued that considering the votes normally garnered by the party from the zone, the party should not overlook the South South in considering where the 2023 candidate should come from.

"They are just going by the saying that to whom much is given, much is expected.

The zone has given so much to the party in terms of votes, party loyalty, commitment, and what have you.

"So they feel that the party should not overlook them when it comes to the issue of the presidency. They believe that the votes they normally poll from the zone can even be doubled if a candidate from the South South is considered," the PDP leader said.

It is clear that the PDP has not zoned it's presidential ticket and therefore no one should railroad the party to take a decision. The report of the panel is a mere recommendation and has not been iscussed by the organs of the partym

Another member of the NEC of the PDP, said zoning of the presidential ticket will take into cognisance some factors like the number of votes anticipated from each zone. The member said like the Bala Mohammed committee did, that there is a clamour that the North-eaast and South-east produce the presidential candidate of PDP. But asked, would it not be suicidal for the PDP to jump the gun and announce it's candidate now.

The member of NEC explained that it is expected that the ruling party, the APC should first announce itts ticket holder before the PDP. In this case, like Dan Orbih said, there would be several political considerations.

Some of the political considerations include the number of votes coming from each zone during elections. Apart from the number of votes from the South-south states. How is this comparable to the votes from the South-east For instance, the entire members of the South-east in the House of Representatives is just like the number of members from Kano state. How many votes from the five states of South east when compared from the votes from Kano and Katsina state. Kano state posts over one million votes and Katsina state records a little below one million votes.

The NEC member explained that the zoning of the presidential ticket of any serious party should be through lobbying and not coercion. Also, the zone in question will have to show that by getting the presidential ticket, it has capacity to win

According to the elder statesman, Tanko Yakassi, in agreeing to the concept of zoning said that the opposition party is not tied to the zoning principles that will tie it to that of government in power. He maintained that any opposition party must adopt a zoning system that would earn votes for it.

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Tanko Yakassai explained that the other political parties which is also operating on a zoning principle must not tailor its zoning arrangement to suit the zoning arrangement of the other party.

Accordingly to the former presidential adviser, "It does not mean that opposition party must align with the zoning arrangement of the other party. In other words, if one party produces a candidate from the north, the next should produce a candidate from the north. It should produce from the south. But zoning arrangement can not prevent another party from producing candidate from the zone where the other party had produced a candidate that occupied that office at one time".

By implication, PDP will do anything to ensure it wins the presidential election as an opposition party. It is for the APC to zone and ensure it retains its hold on the presidency

As at press time, it was gathered that the executive organ of the party will subject the report of the Bala Mohammed committee to address all the objections raised and therefore, it would be unfair to say that the party has zoned its presidential slot to any geopolitical zone.

However, one thing gathered during several interaction with stakeholders is that any decision to be reached will not be based on sentiments but on bare facts to attract votes to the party that can assure that it wins the 2023 presidential election.

QUOTE 1

Though, the NEC member refused to be quoted officially, so as to avoid further controversy. However, he said that the important thing before the PDP is to get a presidential candidate that wears the garment of a nationalist and not a regional champion. He maintained that much as the PDP would want to be transparent and democratic in nature, "PDP will do everything democratic to ensure equity when it comes to the choice of who will be the presidential ticket holder in 2023", he explained. One thing that is important so far is that the report is still a recommendation and subject to further study and analysis by all the instant organs of the party. For instance, as the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus said. the party will study and analyse the report and come out with what will be beneficial to the party. But the Deputy National Secretary of the PDP, Dr. Emmanuel Agbo who served as the secretary of the Bala Mohammed, said that no zone was shut out by the recommendation of the panel. He clearly stated that all zones are qualified to contest, even the South -suth and the South-east

QUOTE 2

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, while rejecting the Bala Mohammed-led committee report of the party which recommended that the 2023 presidential ticket of the party should be thrown open to all sections of the country, said that the committee report was capable of impugning the unity of the country and asked for the withdrawal of the report that it described as unconscionable. The Igbo parent body noted that it was committed to Nigeria producing a President of Igbo extraction in 2023, adding that it will willingly identify with any group that is ready for the bargain. In a statement, National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Alex Ogbonnia said: "Ohanaeze views the report by the Bala Mohammed led committee as most despicable, un-reflective and unconscionable. It is very worrisome that some highly placed Nigerians who have benefited so much from the unity of the country would be inclined to decisions and actions that will further inflame the passions of the patient but aggrieved part of the country. "For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerians agreed on the rotation of the presidency between the North and the South; in which case it is the turn of the South after the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. For clarity purposes, both the South-west and the South-south had both taken their turns in the persons of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan respectively. It is rather very unpatriotic and a trifle on the sensibilities of the Igbo for the committee to even suggest the rotation of the presidency to the North-east in the first instance and open to every part of Nigeria as a major slight
An Australian father-of-eight will remain behind bars after he was denied bail during his first appearance in a Queensland court, accused of helping a terrorist arrange to travel to Syria to fight against government forces in 2013.

Ahmed Luqman Talib, 31, from Doncaster East in Melbournes north-east, was extradited from Victoria and applied for bail in Brisbane Arrest Courts on Monday after he and Gabriel Crazzi, 34, from Chambers Flat, south of Brisbane, were arrested in a counter-terrorism sting on Thursday.

Ahmed Luqman Talib in 2010 on the Gold Coast. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Mr Talib is charged with one count of preparations for foreign incursions into foreign states for purpose of engaging in hostile activities between September 1, 2013 and October 1, 2020.

He was born in Britain, left there aged four and eventually made his way to Australia. His father is a biostatistics professor and Mr Talib runs the family gemstone business, Talib & Sons.
CHEYENNE, Wyo., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Business and Quality Management Institute LLC (IBQMI) proudly announced it had been providing original certifications in more than 70 countries worldwide, including the very first Scrumban certification available on the market. The CERTIFIED SCRUMBAN PRACTITIONER program trains Scrumban Practitioners to apply the mutual benefits of Kanban and Scrum, teaching techniques used by managers in a professional organizational or business environment. IBQMI is a U.S. Government contractor, providing a wide variety of easily accessible online training programs for business professionals worldwide.

IBQMI CERTIFIED SCRUMBAN PRACTITIONER

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This enterprise-level certification allows practitioners to identify the correct ROI with automatizations, while also helping companies and team members put that training into practice. Scrumban Practitioners learn to balance the needs and concerns of organizational cultures when choosing whether to offer Scrumban or Kanban approaches; or, in a mix, how to add practices from Kanban to an existing Scrum environment without disruptive shifts in workflow.

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SOURCE The International Business and Quality Management Institute LLC (IBQMI)
Eheduru-Onyejekwe, the co-owner of Mozani farms, also speaks about the challenge posed by herders.

Ivy Eheduru-Onyejekwe, the co-owner of Mozani farms, is into crops, livestock farming, and agribusiness across Nigeria. She owns Grandja Enterprise, an agribusiness that converts agricultural products for farmers.

She doubles as an accountant. In this 20th episode of our series, "Women in Agriculture" she shares her experience with PREMIUM TIMES.

PT: When you started, was there an understanding that you'll do better in agribusiness than other subsectors in agriculture?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: It is not about a matter of doing better in any aspect, as we would do better in any of them, but about what works for you. It is not everyone that goes into livestock farming that would do well; so also agribusiness. It is basically just figuring out what works for you. Agribusiness is very large and comprises a lot of things in the supply chain. Either you are producing, supplying, retailing, converting, or doing something else. It is not everyone that will fit into every aspect of that supply chain. Although, I just fell into agriculture.

I read accounting but currently, my full-time business is agric. I tried one or two things in agriculture from 2011 till now. I kept trying and trying to get to where I am now today; large-scale commercial agriculture. It is a learning process actually as you will fail while trying to understand what works for you. I chose agric business, but there is a family farm that has about 400 pigs. I am currently setting up another farm in Oyo in which I am a stakeholder. It sizes between 300 to 400 acres of land cultivated as crop farming. Everyone thinks it is easier to do agribusiness because it is kind of direct as you really don't need a farm. You just need to have an idea of business and what you can turn agricultural produce to enhance society. So I will advise that people should venture into agriculture as Nigeria's population is increasing and a lot of people will be hungry very very soon. Considering the unrest in the North, I don't think food will be coming out soon but if it does it will be expensive. So a lot of Southerners need to figure out how to grow their own food. We should try and get into agriculture because it should be a way of life. Agric is our culture rather than agriculture.

PT: Can you put us through your journey since you started in 2011?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Like I earlier said, I fell into agriculture. When I newly entered the university, I went to a friend's father's farm in Benin and they produce oil. When we got there, right where I stood I noticed a lot of things that they could do better ranging from production to storage and supply. I was like what if I did it, there will be more palm. I went home and started from my house. I grew about two palm trees but it didn't work out and kept trying, tried another 200 but didn't work as it got consumed by either rabbits, rats, or something but I'm not sure what ate them but they got consumed.

Then I tried poultry with my mom. We bought 50 birds and she ended up giving me money for 10. I asked about the other 40 and she was like; "your father ate like 10, three died, Mama Ngozi did this one, we gave her one" and many other stories. In the long run, it showed me that there's a problem in agriculture. I dabbled again into cucumbers, during the holidays and I planted about 500g of cucumbers. It did so well as I monitored and managed it myself. I was on the farm as early as 5 am, even when I didn't need to be. I just wanted to see it grow. It happened like magic that in six weeks I was harvesting, unlike cassava or yam where you need to wait for about one year. I had about 21 overloaded 40kg bags after harvest which I took to the market myself. I didn't allow anyone to join me in managing anything. I tried selling per bag but it didn't work so I had to break it into retail sizes of N50, N100, and N200. Before noon, the market was gone and I sold everything. I tried again I continued increasing my capacity.

In 2017/2018 we started our farm and that was when I went for a six-month course (diploma) to really understand crops, pests, and diseases in animals. I reared by myself 10,000 birds and the pigs were about 21. I took care of them, brooded the birds, lost a lot because of the environment, water, and so on. I had a lot of problems. I then went for "SHELL-life-wire programs" where we got extra training and money to help work our businesses in 2018. So now we are setting up a farm of about 300 acres where we are planting groundnut, maize, tomatoes, pepper, and brown pepper. It is challenging but still, we are moving.

PT: Can you briefly explain what you mean by "in agric business, we exchange commodities". Is it like exchanging fertilizer for maize or what?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: You can exchange certain things, here there are some suppliers (people that buy in bulk) you go to and tell them "give me seeds and at harvest time you come and buy from me at an agreed price and I don't need to pay for the seeds because seeds are expensive. Some large farms need about 700kg, some need 7000kg and the price of 100kg is about N20,000. Now, how much will 7000kg look like to a farmer? So many people cannot afford or bear that at once so they collect the seeds and exchange them for harvest when it's time. The thing is we can have a better barter system, if there's a barter system set up where people meet and exchange and as a farmer, you'll need that because not everything you'll need money for, else it'll be very expensive. Sometimes people exchange machine services for maybe feeds, seeds, or something else.

PT: Do you belong to any association?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: No

PT: How has the journey been for you as a woman farmer because here you've shared your story generally as a farmer but how has it been as a woman farmer?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Agriculture in the world looks like a man's thing, especially in commercials. I got married last year and people come to my husband for agric purposes and he's like "I'm not the farmer, she is" and they'll be like "are you sure?". They go to him first thinking he's the farmer but get redirected to me who is the farmer. Sometimes we hire workers, and when they have complaints they go to him and he'll be like "why are you telling me? I'm not the farmer; she is".

Also, while in the farm people outrightly disrespect you as a woman until they find out you're the boss they are working for or the farmer they came to see. Sometimes, you need to work twice as hard to get what men don't struggle to get. I'm not in an association because when I asked to join they were skeptical about it. They later asked me to join and I refused. When I asked to join you said you don't want women wahala but now you want me to join because you know I have a big farm and know I have something I can bring to the table. So when I'm ready I will. More so, as a woman farmer, there has been no spare time to do all those women stuff, like doing hair, make-up, shopping, and the likes. You can't spend the whole day under the sun and later come back to be doing those stuff when you're exhausted.

PT: The government has been rolling out policies like the Anchor Vorrowers Programme, and others. Have you benefited from any and do you think that those policies have an impact on women's growth in agriculture?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: I have not benefited from any policy because those policies work in theory, not in practice. People don't like going through the stress and not getting something tangible back. They may even ask you to get your great grandfather's birth certificate and how is that possible? But I hope for future's sake, it works and benefits even the women farmers. Some private organisations are even reaching out to women farmers. I can say it for Union Bank, Access Bank, and social media groups like FIN that actually reach out to women in Agriculture.

PT: How many staff members do you have?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: I have about 17 staff members.

PT: Do you employ women?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Presently I don't have any woman on my farm not because I don't want to, but they don't even come up. Women don't feel they could do it. They feel that after the men have gone to the farm and produced they'll take it for sale in the market but really going into the business of it they don't.

Most women farmers just do it for themselves or their families, but to be employed as a farmer, no. I dragged my husband into agriculture of which he knew nothing about. He is a construction engineer and when I told him about agriculture he felt it's own shop to do buying and selling of farm produce but no way. I want to own acres and hectares of farmlands.

When I actually tell the agency that gives employees that I need a woman on my farm they'll be like "oh for cooking or cleaning"? They don't expect her on any managerial or administrative duty. They operate on the mentality that women are weaker vessels. But if that is the case, men are weaker vessels, they break down easily.

For some women they just farm for their own private use not really going into commercial farming, the city girl does not even want to be involved at all. I called my sister-in-law to come work on the farm but she said when we have an office or something in town she'll work but on the farm, no. Now, all the stakeholders in Mozani farms are women. I dragged them all into it. They have the money and little experience and I have the experience. We came together and we are doing well.

PT: You got married in 2020, so did family life affect your farming?

Ms Eheduru- Onyejekwe: Well, I have a very wonderful spouse who's 100 per cent supportive, more like a backbone and if he's not here it would have been a very difficult process. When he gets a contract he goes and comes back when done but whenever he's here he's with me in the business.

PT: Your journey so far seems interesting. So where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: In the next five years, I see myself having a chain plan. A chain of production companies which I am seriously working towards. That's why I said I really want to do agribusiness. I can produce tomatoes in large quantities, year-round, thanks to greenhouse technology. So I see myself converting the tomatoes to paste, pepper to paste, milk to cheese hereby being in competition with the likes of Dano, Peak, etc.

PT: Do you pay tax?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Definitely, I do and it's very expensive.

PT: You did say you cultivate crops too, so whose land do you use? Where are they located and what are their sizes?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Some land are owned by us and some are not. They are leased out to us at some cost. Some land are located in Oyo State and some in Imo, Rivers and Nasarawa State. The land in Oyo State-owned by us is a total of about 500 acres and 200 acres in lease while in Imo State, we have about 400 acres and we have five plots in Nasarawa for storage. In Port Harcourt we have about 30 plots.

PT: How much do you pay for the land lease?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: The cheapest is in Oyo at about N60,000 per acre at an average for ownership. But in lease, it'll go for N7,000 per acre yearly.

PT: Are they initiatives you are working on that you'd like to talk about? Something like youth empowerment?

.

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Actually, we are working on healthcare which in this area is kind of poor. My partners are health workers but not in the country. We are trying to bring modern health facilities into these villages where the setup of hospitals are really poor and administer first aid treatments and care and in severe situations, move them to a higher medical centre with vehicles that are provided within the health system other than putting them on bikes. More so, we noticed that some people in the area abuse a lot of drugs and we are working on sensitising them on drug abuse and other medical issues.

PT: Have you had any challenges on your farm from herdsmen?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Yes I have. It is extremely difficult to fence or barricade your land once it is very big which makes it difficult to prevent them from invading your land. Once they have destroyed anything there's absolutely nothing that can be done about it considering the status of Nigeria. People are now taking the bull by the horn. You see people seizing cows and all that and then a fight breaks out. People get killed due to one issue or another involving herdsmen. But imagine I use 2 to 3 million to plant and then the cows come in and eat the crops which will cost about 1.4 million and there's nothing I can do as the cows are not even my own or their own either. Last year I lost my cassava plantation to herders and they don't just consume the leaves, they scrape the whole thing to the ground leaving nothing at all. I have to hire security and all that which is expensive, this is something I don't need to do in a country that is working well. I didn't count my employees to include the security which is about 15 people. You put them there and still they get in and destroy the farm, there is nothing you can do.

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PT: When you started in 2011, how were you able to raise the capital to work?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Shell helped us with some of their programmes like "SHELL life wire" and others. Also, from family, and other side investment from private firms.

PT: Some of the land are yours, how were you able to acquire and manage land issues as a woman?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: Normally, we go meet the Oba or Kabiyesi of the land because most land there is customary, they do not have documents to back them up. They are usually family or community land. The first land I acquired I made a mistake, I went through an agent who formulated and arranged the family by himself, setting up everything that it looks legit. We paid and signed documents and went ahead to do documentation and registration with the Ministry of Interior. We got to the land after paying about N10 million, we found out the land belongs to someone else. We took the issue to the Kabiyesi who told us our mistakes but we ended up paying twice to ensure all parties were settled. Sometimes, when we want to see the Kabiyesi, they tell us that the Kabiyesi doesn't see women but that's a lie.

PT: If you are in a position to advise the Nigerian government concerning agriculture, what would you say?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: I will tell the Nigerian government to take agriculture seriously. The truth is anything that comes from the ground be it land resources or underground is agriculture. They should encourage the youth to begin agriculture. The lands are there but people are discouraged. They should also bring in equipment that makes agriculture easier. They should bring that policy that makes commercial farming interesting and flexible with ease. They should also invest in agriculture. It is not a wasted investment. In the near future, food is going to be very expensive and scarce if the government does not take the positive required action.

PT: What is your harvest like?

Ms Eheduru-Onyejekwe: For maize, we harvested 69 tonnes and we sold a little below the market price. For last year's cassava, we are yet to harvest. We are hoping to begin our greenhouse this year, before the next farming season.
Kathmandu, March 28

The Ministry of Health and Population has informed that the countrys Covid-19 tally has reached 276,839 as of Sunday afternoon.

The ministry says 89 new cases were confirmed in the country in the past 24 hours.

In this period, 2,101 swab samples were tested. So far, 2 million and 261,146 people have been tested in the country.

As of today, 1,282 cases are active.

Of the total cases so far, 272,530 people have achieved recovery whereas 3,027 died, according to the ministry. In the past 24 hours, 95 people have been discharged whereas no death has been reported.

Over 50 people are quarantined across the country.
Luciferin-luciferase system developed in collaboration with Japanese researchers produces brighter and longer-lasting far red light. The innovation can be used to image cells and tissues for diagnosis and biomedical research.

Researchers at the Federal University of Sao Carlos (UFSCar) in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, have developed a novel far red light-emitting luciferin-luciferase system that is more efficient than those available commercially. An article on the subject is published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

The study was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP via the Thematic Project "Arthropod bioluminescence: biological diversity in Brazilian biomes, biochemical origin, structural/functional evolution of luciferases, molecular differentiation of lanterns, biotechnological, environmental and educational applications", for which the principal investigator is Vadim Viviani, a biochemist and professor at UFSCar.

"We obtained a novel luciferin-luciferase system that produces far red light at the wavelength of 650 nanometers and emits the brightest bioluminescence ever reported in this part of the spectrum. It's a highly promising result for bioluminescence imaging of biological and pathological processes in mammalian tissues," Viviani told.

Luciferases are enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of luciferins, compounds present in some animals, algae and fungi. The oxidation reaction is responsible for the phenomenon of bioluminescence, which consists of the emission of light at wavelengths ranging from blue to red.

The firefly's luciferin-luciferase system is widely used to help produce images of cell cultures and live animal models. It helps physicians monitor metastasis, for example, and see how tumors respond to treatment. It is also used to follow the viral infection process and the effects of candidate drugs on viruses, including the novel coronavirus.

"Red bioluminescence is preferred when imaging biological or pathological processes in mammalian tissues because hemoglobin, myoglobin and melanin absorb little long-wavelength light. Detection is best of all in the far red and near-infrared bands, but bioluminescent systems that naturally emit far red light don't exist," Viviani said.

"Some genetically modified forms of luciferase and synthetic analogs of natural luciferins are produced commercially. In conjunction, they produce light at wavelengths as long as 700 nanometers, but the light produced by these artificial systems is generally much weaker and more short-lived than light from natural bioluminescent systems."

Viviani and collaborators used genetic engineering to modify luciferase from the Railroad worm Phrixothrix hirtus, the only luciferase that naturally emits red light, cloned by Viviani two decades ago. This they combined with luciferin analogs synthesized by colleagues at the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo, Japan. The result was a much more efficient far red luciferin-luciferase system.

"Our best combination produces far red at 650 nanometers, three times brighter than natural luciferin and luciferase, and roughly 1,000 times brighter than the same luciferase with a commercial analog," Viviani said.

"Besides the long wavelength and intense brightness, our combination has better thermal stability and cell membrane penetrability. Above all, it produces more lasting continuous bioluminescence, taking at least an hour to decay and significantly facilitating the real-time imaging of biological and pathological processes."

###

The project was a continuation of a PhD thesis recently defended by Vanessa Bevilaqua on the effect of synthetic luciferin analogs on red luciferase from Phrixothrix. The other co-authors are PhD candidate Daniel Sousa, Gabriel Pelentir with a scientific initiation grant, and Michio Kakiuchi and Takashi Hirano in Japan.

About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
Chief Minister intensified efforts to woo voters before campaigning for the second phase of the assembly poll ends in Nandigram on Tuesday evening.

Her campaign in the high-stakes constituency will begin at 11 am on Monday with an 8-kilometre roadshow from Khudiram More to Thakurchowk in Nandigram Block 2, followed by a public meeting in Jansabha Boyal II. Another one will take at 2 pm then at 3:30 pm in the Amdabad High School Ground.

Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest of the state assembly elections with the Chief Minister taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year.

Adhikari had earlier said that BJP will defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.

The BJP will also be bringing in big names to counter the TMC's top leader. Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take on Mamata in a massive roadshow in Nandigram on Tuesday to bat for Adhikari.

Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty is also expected to conduct a roadshow in Nandigram ahead of polling.

PM Narendra Modi had addressed a public rally for Suvendu Adhikari earlier. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too had come to campaign in the constituency.

With rallies of Mamata planned for each day till the campaign ends, the Adhikari clan too has focussed its energy on ensuring that polling agents remain alert and that panna pramukhs bring out the voters on April 1.

The Adhikaris have been working on a strategy to not let the last leg of campaigning sway the voters towards her.

Sources in the BJP stated that the focus would remain on bringing voters to the polling stations while the candidates would be intensifying campaigning.

"It's all about that one day when polling happens. It is all that matters. So, if the Chief Minister campaigns and we do too, voters have largely made up their minds," said a senior BJP leader.

Adhikari, a former TMC leader, joined the BJP ahead of Assembly polls. Adhikari is a sitting MLA from Nandigram, a seat where has decided to contest this time instead of Bhawanipur.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 per cent voter turnout 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 went to polls to decide on the electoral fate of 191 candidates, including 21 women.

Now the remaining seven phases for the 294-member Assembly polls will be held on different dates with the final round of voting scheduled on April 29. 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.)
Charged with sexually touching another person without consent and denied bail

A ride-share driver has been arrested and charged with sexually touching a 16-year-old girl as she tried to get home in the middle of the night.

The teenager had booked the ride-share service to take her home from an address in Haberfield in Sydney's inner-west about 2.50am on Sunday morning.

The driver, 31, allegedly sexually touched her at the end of the trip.

A ride-share driver has been charged with allegedly sexually touching a 16-year-old girl late at night (file image)

The driver had picked her up in Haberfield (pictured) in Sydney's inner-west but then assaulted her at the end of the trip, police allege

She reported the driver to Inner West Police Area Command who have since started an investigation.

The driver went to Auburn Police Station on Monday, where he was charged with sexually touching another person without consent.

He was refused bail to appear in Burwood Local Court on Tuesday.
NORTHWOOD, Iowa  A high-speed chase in Worth County ends with a plea deal.

Jeffrey Lynn Hook, 44 of Mason City, was arrested in December 2020 after a sheriffs deputy said Hook was clocked doing over 90 miles per hour on Highway 9. Court documents state Hook smelled of liquor when he was arrested.

He pleaded guilty to one count of OWI and a charge of eluding was dropped. Hook has been sentenced to two days in jail and a $1,250 fine. Authorities say Hook may participate in a weekend diversion program instead of jail time.
New York, NY, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has selected Ilham Kadri, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Executive Committee at Solvay, to present the AGILE Keynote Address at the 2021 AIChE Virtual Spring Meeting and 17th Global Congress on Process Safety. Kadri will launch the conferences on Monday, April 19, by discussing her companys Solvay One Planet objectives for sustainability and the importance of safety in industry. She will also reflect on her personal journey in leadership. Ahead of her talk, Kadri will receive AIChEs Government and Industry Leaders (AGILE) Award, which recognizes the contributions of innovative executives from businesses that employ chemical engineers.

The 2021 AIChE Virtual Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety takes place April 1823. For the second year, the event is being conducted on an online platform.

Under Kadris leadership, Solvay, a global leader in materials, solutions, and chemicals, launched its Solvay One Planet sustainability objectives. Soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kadri established the Solvay Solidarity Fund for employees who are in need due to the crisis.

Kadris professional experience encompasses a variety of industries across four continents, with roles at Shell, UCB, Huntsman, Dow Chemical, and Sealed Air. Prior to joining Solvay, Kadri was CEO and President of Diversey in the U.S.

She is an independent board member at A.O. Smith and at LOreal. She is also an Executive Committee member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a member of the steering committee of the European Round Table of Industrialists, and a permanent member of the International Business Council.

Kadri earned a degree in chemical engineering at LEcole des Hauts Polymeres (Strasbourg, France) and a PhD in macromolecular physico-chemistry from Strasbourgs Louis Pasteur University.

For complete information about the conference program, registration, and related activities, visit www.aiche.org/spring or www.aiche.org/gcps.

Editors note: Journalists interested in covering the conference should contact Gordon Ellis at gorde@aiche.org.

# # #

About AIChE

AIChE is a professional society of 60,000 chemical engineers in 110 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontiers of chemical engineering research in such areas as energy, sustainability, biological and environmental engineering, nanotechnology and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at www.aiche.org .

# # #

Attachment
Pete Musico and his wife Crystal wait outside to enter the court before the conclusion of the preliminary examination of three men charged at the state level in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday, March 29, 2021 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Jackson.

DETROIT  A judge on Monday threw out one of the charges against three men accused in connection with the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but the men are still headed to trial court.

Judge Michael Klaeren ruled there wasn't enough probable cause in the case against Pete Musico, 43; his son-in-law, Joseph Morrison, 26, and Paul Bellar, 22, to send charges forward for communicating a threat of terrorism. His ruling came at the conclusion of their preliminary examination in Jackson, Michigan.

Musico and Morrison were already facing charges related to this, but the Michigan Attorney General's Office had asked that Bellar face such a charge, too.

However, charges for providing material support to a terrorist act, charges connected to gang membership, and charges of carrying a firearm in the commission of a felony were bound over to circuit court, marking the end of a multi-day hearing for which testimony was held earlier in March.

Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison upon conviction, except for the weapons charge, which is punishable by two years in prison upon conviction for a first offense.

The men are three of the 14 said to have plotted to target Whitmer in response to her coronavirus restrictions. Six of the men were charged federally, and eight were charged at the state level over two counties.

Derek Chauvin trial live: Disturbing video shown of George Floyd's death; 911 dispatcher had 'gut instinct' something was wrong

Judge: 'The intent is so clear'

Klaeren, in his decision, said the men of the Wolverine Watchmen, described by them as a militia group and by officials as a terrorist group, were speaking in a closed group when they said the comments in question. The situation, in many respects, was similar to someone just having a thought..

However, he pointed to the men's various other acts, such as providing property for training, as examples of their further involvement.

Story continues

"The intent is so clear that these individuals were going to do something more than spout off threats to each other," he said.

The three men's three lawyers argued, at various times, that the men had disengaged from those making trouble in the group.

But Klaeren wasn't on board with that argument. He said they were never fully disengaged or considered crazy and therefore not listened to by others.

"By analogy, I think these gentlemen are at the top of a mountain  make the snowball, start rolling it down the hill and at various times, maybe their effort diminishes or they leave, temporarily, but they started a very big snowball which wasnt going to stop, he said.

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Attorneys push to downplay role of men

The Michigan Attorney Generals Office laid out in early March its case against the men  anti-government social media posts, at least one featuring a grenade, FBI testimony on surveillance of the men and their training and attendance of protests, and eye-witness testimony from an FBI informant.

And the men's attorneys, Nicholas Somberg for Morrison, Andrew Kirkpatrick for Bellar, and Kareem Johnson for Musico, have fought all along to present those posts as just posts, distance the men from those in the federal case, and call into question the testimony from the FBI and the informant.

Paul Bellar and his attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick walk to the court before the conclusion of the preliminary examination of three men charged at the state level in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday, March 29, 2021 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Jackson, Michigan.

The attorneys for each man, in their arguments Monday, continued to try to distance their clients from men charged elsewhere and downgrade the testimony.

Prosecutors had argued that Bellar had military training, planned and led training sessions, and taught first aid. Kirkpatrick offered a different take.

His client didnt make it in the Army, he said. It was the FBI informant who was the trainer, he said. And Bellar wasnt the appointed medic  it was Eric Molitor, who is charged in Antrim County, Kirkpatrick said.

Morrisons attorney, Somberg, kicked off by trying to fight the states argument that the mens group was a gang. They made no profits, he argued.

He also focused on the threats themselves, saying that the law requires someone else to be scared and the men were only talking amongst themselves.

In addition, hyperbole doesnt count as a threat, he argued.

Johnson, Musicos attorney, lost a motion about hearsay during the court appearance, so he next tried to argue the conduct focused on by the prosecutor wasnt illegal.

On the topic of whether the group was a gang, he said the argument that the Watchmen were a gang would make religious groups and Black Lives Matter also gangs.

Musico was specifically excluded from subsets of the group, was called Crazy Pete, and was known to make untrue statements, Johnson argued.

When it came time for Assistant Attorney General Sunita Doddamani to respond, she found herself on occasion sparring with Klaeren on the definition of terrorism.

Behind the term: Hateful mass shootings terrorize the US. So why aren't more shooters charged with hate crimes or terrorism?

Somberg, Morrison's attorney, said the state is throwing "everything at the board just to see what sticks. Walking out, he said the trial will be a case of David and Goliath with the state's level of resources to find every little thing.

Still, he was happy the one charge was thrown out, expected the choice on the other charges, and feels good moving forward to trial, where the state has to prove its case beyond a responsible doubt, he said.

"I feel like this is one of the cases - we're right," he said.

For the upcoming trial, Johnson said the correspondence between members of the group will be presented to show the contrast between Musicos contributions to the chats. He'd argued his client was excluded from chats.

Hopefully they'll (the jury) see what we see, that this is a guy who's just airing political grievances and ... Hopefully we can show the jury what the bad actors were saying about him and what he was saying about himself. And hopefully, you know, it'd be clear to everybody he was just a mascot," he said.

Kirkpatrick took issue with Klaeren calling his client "the loosest cannon" when discussing a possible change in bond, which Klaeren decided against. Bellar's original bond was $500,000, but it was lowered to $75,000 in November.

Kirkpatrick, too, noted the difference in standards of evidence required at this hearing versus at the upcoming trial for a conviction.

"You have to realize, I haven't put my case on yet," he said.

Follow reporter Darcie Moran on Twitter: @darciegmoran.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot suspects head to trial; 1 charge dropped
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29)  As the government rolls out the simultaneous vaccination of healthcare workers, elderlies, and people with comorbidities, the Health Department on Monday named seven illnesses that qualify for early access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Those under 65 years old with chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, malignancy, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and chronic kidney disease can preregister to receive the vaccines now.

With over 14.5 million Filipinos living with comorbidities, the list was limited to seven illnesses for now due to the scarce supply of vaccines. There is no such limitation for senior citizens.

Dr. John Wong of the IATF-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics explained that these are the groups that are at high risk of getting severe COVID-19, which could lead to their intubation or even death.

DOH said AstraZeneca will be used for senior citizens, while Sinovac will be for those with comorbidities. Health experts giving medical advice to the government recommended that Sinovac's CoronoVac can be given to individuals with controlled comorbidities.

"Ang bibigyan natin ng bakuna ay ang mga tao na may controlled na comorbidity. Ibig sabihin kung may high blood po kayo tapos hindi controlled ang high blood niyo, and during the time that you were assessed mataas siguro ang blood pressure, ima-manage po muna 'yun bago siya mabakunahan," she said in a media briefing.

[Translation: We will give the vaccines to those with controlled comorbidity. If you have high blood and it's not controlled then you have a high blood pressure, it should be managed first before you can get vaccinated.

People with these comorbities need to present at least one of these: a medical certificate issued in the past 18 months, a prescription issued within the last 6 months, a laboratory result, or a surgical record. They will be evaluated by health workers to check if they are eligible to receive the vaccines.

The formal guidelines will be issued by DOH on Monday.

The national government has decided to undertake "simultaneous vaccination" of the top three priority groups to speed up immunization efforts amid the expected arrival of more doses this week. The Philippines has so far given out the first doses of vaccines to 656,331 people.
Birds around the world are becoming entangled in masks. (Covidlitter.com)

Animals including British foxes, seagulls, bats and hedgehogs are becoming entangled in coronavirus masks  and a one was even found inside a penguins stomach.

Two Dutch scientists are investigating the problem of animals becoming entangled in masks, with dogs and other pets around the world found having swallowed personal protective equipment (PPE).

In the UK, the RSPCA has had to help more than 900 animals caught in litter, many of which were birds whose feet were caught in disposable masks.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

The scientists hope that people around the world will help the project, by reporting their own sightings of animals eating or entangled in coronavirus waste to a special website.

Biologists Auke-Florian Hiemstra from Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Liselotte Rambonnet from Leiden University began their research after finding a perch from Leiden in the Netherlands entangled in a face mask.

The found animals as diverse as birds, crabs and seagulls were becoming entangled in coronavirus masks and other PPE.

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Read more:

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Hiemstra said: "Vertebrates and invertebrates on land, in freshwater, and in seawater become entangled or trapped in corona waste."

Meanwhile Rambonnet explained: "Animals become weakened due to becoming entangled or starve due to the plastic in their stomach."

The researchers have investigated reports from Brazil to Malaysia and from social media to local newspapers and international news websites.

Some animals use the waste in their nests, according to their study published in Animal Biology.

Coots in Dutch canals were found to use face masks and gloves as nest material.

Hiemstra said: "The packaging from paper handkerchiefs is found in nests too. As such, we even see the symptoms of COVID-19 in animal structures.

Story continues

The researchers ask that people report any sightings of animals struggling with coronavirus waste to www.COVIDlitter.com.

Rambonnet said: "As a result of this, we can learn more about the impact of this category of disposable products on wildlife. We therefore ask people to keep sharing their observations so that we can maintain an up-to-date overview.

The scientists call upon everybody to use reusable face masks.

Sam Wockner, of Greenpeace, wrote: "Discarded face masks are not only adding to litter and pollution across the UKs parks, rivers and seas  theyre also hurting and killing wildlife."

Over the past year there has been an alarming increase in the amount of seabirds and wildlife found tangled up in carelessly discarded single-use face masks.

Watch: Animal rescue charity's centres 'at capacity' due to lockdown puppies
All UW Students Now Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccination

Alyssa Jordan, a junior physiology major from Rock Springs, prepares to receive the COVID-19 vaccine Saturday at a clinic where about 315 UW students were vaccinated. All UW students are now eligible to receive the vaccine. (UW Photo)

All members of the University of Wyoming community are now eligible to be vaccinated for COVID-19, another major step toward a return to a traditional fall 2021 semester.

Albany Countys vaccination program today (Monday) enters Phase 2 of vaccine administration under Wyoming Department of Health guidelines, meaning all county residents age 16 and up can schedule vaccination appointments. This includes all UW students.

Already, close to 11,000 county residents -- including many UW employees and students with certain health conditions -- have received at least the first dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine through the countys vaccination program, a collaborative effort of Albany County Public Health, UW and Ivinson Memorial Hospital. On Saturday, about 315 students who live in UW residence halls and fraternity and sorority houses -- who qualified under Phase 1c4 -- received the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine, which requires just one dose.

The main reason Im doing this is that Im always thinking about older people, like my grandfather, said Julian Bustos, a freshman music education major from Cheyenne, as he waited for his shot Saturday at the old National Guard Armory owned by UW. It makes me feel safer so I can be around people who are elderly and more susceptible. Its about taking care of everybody by taking care of yourself.

It will keep my family safe and make it so I can see my grandparents, said Matilda Schiewe, a freshman kinesiology major from Evergreen, Colo., shortly after she received her shot. She added that being vaccinated will help return to more in-person classes in the fall, which is especially important for the hands-on aspect of the classes Ill be taking next.

Under Phase 2, the Albany County Vaccine Clinic and other local providers are administering the Pfizer (age 16 and up), Moderna (age 18 and up) and Johnson & Johnson (age 18 and up) vaccines by appointment. UW students should keep in mind that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines each require two doses several weeks apart, so those not planning to return to campus after spring break should consider either returning to receive the second dose or being vaccinated in their home communities.

There are several options to schedule appointments in Albany County:

-- Albany County Vaccine Clinic -- Individuals who have signed up for a My Health Connection account will have the opportunity to self-schedule a vaccination appointment. Due to appointment availability, scheduling links will be randomized within the system and sent to individuals. Individuals can continue to call the Albany County Vaccine Call Center to schedule at (307) 766-8222 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Due to high call volumes, individuals should remain patient and try again at a later time if their calls do not go through initially.

-- Walmart Pharmacy -- Walmart has received a federal allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligible individuals can visit the Walmart website to schedule appointments.

-- Walgreens Pharmacy -- Walgreens has received a federal allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligible individuals can visit the Walgreens website to schedule appointments.

-- Pole Mountain Pharmacy -- Pole Mountain has received a county allotment for the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligible individuals can visit the Pole Mountain website to schedule appointments.

-- Approved health care clinics -- Stitches Acute Care, Laramie Pediatrics, Albany Community Health Clinic, Ivinson Medical Group, the Downtown Clinic and Family Physicians of Laramie have received a limited supply of vaccines. Patients of these clinics can call their provider offices to learn about vaccine availability.

Those who need assistance to travel for their vaccinations may request rides by calling UW Transit and Parking Services at (307) 766-7433. Requests should be scheduled in advance, if possible. Callers should indicate if the transportation is vaccination related and if any special accommodations are needed.

While vaccinations are not required for UW students and employees, theyre strongly encouraged. And, to allow the university to track overall vaccination numbers, students and employees must report their vaccinations once theyve received them.

Students who receive their COVID-19 vaccinations should upload documentation to the Student Health Service patient portal as soon as their vaccine series is complete. This is as simple as taking a photo of your vaccination document and uploading the picture here: http://patientportal.uwyo.edu, using your regular UW user ID and password.

For employees, a quick reference guide has been created to help record this information within HCM.

Questions specifically about the vaccines should be emailed to COVIDVX@uwyo.edu. Additional information is available on UWs COVID vaccine webpage.


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SUV









That is what happened a few days ago on the Castleton-Gateway Road, as a young Oregon couple ended up spending some 24 hours stuck in the snow because Google Maps sent them on an unmaintained road.The Grand County Sherriffs Search and Rescue explain the two and their dog tried to turn around, but thegot stuck in the snow.Following directions on their Google Maps app, they drove their late model SUV up from Gateway and became stuck attempting to turn around when they realized the snow was too deep on the unmaintained and unplowed road, the local officials say.A tow truck sent to rescue the couple ended up stuck in the snow as well, so the emergency teams had to send another truck to free the first one and only then continue the operations.GCSAR sent 2 snowmobiles and a tracked Polaris Ranger to pick up the couple and their dog. They were about 5 miles from the Colorado border. A Utah State Parks & Recreation Ranger assisted in the rescue, the Grand County Sherriffs office explains.As it turns out, this isnt the first time drivers end up stuck on the same road in brutal winter weather after following navigation apps.And the emergency teams warn that doing this can have serious consequences, mainly because there are several areas without phone cell service.Drivers who are unaware of conditions on the unmaintained road and who are unprepared to spend a night in winter conditions are often directed to this road by navigation apps which indicate it is the route from the Unaweep Canyon area of Colorado to Moab. Even well-outfitted 4X4 vehicles have become stuck in deep snowdrifts along the road, they say.Not a long time ago, a young Russian driver froze to death in brutally cold weather, while his friend ended up in hospital with severe injuries after following Google Maps navigation and going on an abandoned road.
https://www.aish.com/h/pes/t/g/What-Is-Freedom.html

Yosef Mendelovitch was free even while behind bars in a Soviet prison.

A few years ago, Yosef Mendelevitch, the famous Russian refusenick published the remarkable story of how he observed the Pesach of 1978 in the Christopol Prison in the Soviet Union.

A month before the Passover festival I suggested that we hold a Pesach Seder I was lucky. Among my personal belongings I kept a postcard from Israel on which there was a photograph of a Pesach Seder Plate from the Israel Museum- a Pesach Seder Plate from Germany, from the 18th century. Therefore, from this postcard I learned what I would need for the Seder Plate. And there was a further small miracle: in the margins of the postcard there was all the order of the Pesach Seder: Kadesh, Urechatz.. I began at once to write my own Pesach Haggada according to the order written in the postcard.

Mendelovitch continues by explaining how he made wine. He had saved a few raisins his father had sent him ten years earlier. Every day a prisoner would receive a spoonful of sugar. People at once ate the sugar. But I decided to collect it. Every day I added another spoonful and another. After a month I had enough sugar. I poured the sugar, raisins and hot water into the water-bottle and hid it underneath the bed. Although I was afraid that there might be a sudden search and they would discover my wine, but I had no choice.

What did he do for maror?

Suddenly there began an outbreak of influenza in the prison. The prison management didn't have medicines. They heard that onion prevents flu. One day every prisoner received a fresh onion bulb. It was a real asset! For years I hadn't eaten a fresh vegetable. All the prisoners swallowed the onion in a trice. But I thought to myself that if I put the onion in water the onion would sprout leaves and I would be able to make bitter Chazeret from them. And that is what I did. I had an empty tin in which I put water the little onion bulb and placed it on the cell windowsill exactly under the bars. They all laughed at me  "Are you crazy? Why didn't you eat it? Are you trying to grow flowers here?" And I remained silent.

He used a small leaf that grew from the asphalt in the courtyard as karpas. He made the egg from egg-powder and the zeroa was represented by a soup cube from Israel with a picture of a chicken on the wrapping. It was still permitted to receive matzah which the prison authorities called "dry bread" and so he had real matzah.

It was time:

In the evening I asked the warders to bring me the Pravda newspaper to read. I made from the newspaper a circle and wrote on it as on a Seder Plate: Zeroa, Egg, Maror (leaf of the onion). Everything was ready. I hid the Seder Plate under my blanket. When the evening of the 15th of Nissan arrived I called Hillel and said  " Pesach has arrived, come let us sit at the Seder table." He laughed at me: "You again with your stupid ideas, I already told you that it is impossible to hold a Seder in the prison!" Then I showed him the Pesach Seder Plate. He examined it. Everything was in place. And then he said to me: "But you don't have wine - it's impossible without the Four Cups." I bent down and took out the water bottle with raisins from under the bunk. The truth is that I wasn't sure if I would get wine. Hillel uncorked the bottle, smelt, and declared " real wine." If that's the case, come let us sit down and hold the Pesach Seder."

Yosef Mendelevitch sat in prison. He was not free in the sense that he could not go and come as he pleased. And yet, that seder night he was freer than his Communist captors for he didnt allow them to dictate how he saw himself, how he felt, who he was and what he valued. The Soviets may have denied him liberty, but make no mistake: Yosef Mendelovitch was free even while behind bars.

Freedom is the ability to decide we wont let others define us and we wont let others own how we feel.

Freedom is self-determination; it is the capacity to rise above our innate emotions or our instinctual and visceral response to the behavior and choices of others. Freedom is the ability to decide we wont let others define us and we wont let others own how we feel, but we, and we alone will determine our feelings our response and our reaction to them.

The Jews of Egypt were entitled to be filled with anger, and the desire for revenge. It would have been understandable had they been consumed by negative emotions directed at the Egyptians. But rather than focus on toxic emotions that would weigh them down, fill them with hate and hold them back, they truly became free because they chose to focus on their newfound freedom and to sing Hallel to God who had provided it instead.

Yosef Mendelevich would have been entitled to see himself as a victim of the Russians and as an oppressed prisoner filled with bitterness. But instead, by holding an extraordinary seder while yet behind bars, he set himself free.

Passover is a time for setting ourselves free from the self-imposed shackles that hold us back. Thank God, we have not experienced the torment of our ancestors in Egypt nor have we sat in a Soviet prison. But many of us are imprisoned by the visceral emotions and reactions to the behavior of those around us. We make someone else our master by letting them control how we feel. We become enslaved by our hurt, our pain, our anger, our jealousy, or our desire for revenge.

Passover we let go, we put those feelings down and we recognize that to truly be free means that we cannot control how those around us behave but we can control how they make us feel. Many of us continue to carry heavy baggage not even realizing we have an option to put it down. But the longer you carry the baggage, the heavier and heavier it becomes. And here is the remarkable thing. The person you are disappointed in, the person who has hurt you, may not even know it. By carrying those feelings, you are not hurting them, you are only hurting and enslaving yourself.

Harry Houdinis Prison

Theres a story told about the famous escape artist Harry Houdini. Houdini was famous for his ability to break out the most secure locks and cells. One time, a prison warden bragged that he had a cell that even the great Houdini couldn't unlock. Of course, Houdini accepted the challenge.

Houdini was placed in the cell, and he began trying to try to find a way out. He used every trick he knew and explored every inch of the cell but simply couldnt find a way out. Finally, out of sheer exhaustion and frustration, he leaned against the door, and it swung right openThe door had never been locked. Even the great Houdini couldnt open a bolt that wasn't locked to begin with.

In the course of human relationships and life, it is normal to feel sadness, fear, frustration, hurt and even anger. However, if we indulge these negative emotions for too long, we eventually become trapped and imprisoned by them. Passover we break out of the prison of our own making. We walk through what we mistakenly perceive as a locked door that is simply waiting for us to push open.
The Challenge star Cara Maria Sorbello holds the record for the most elimination wins by a female and shares another Aneesa Ferreira for competing in the most seasons. Although shes a two-time champ, considered a fixture in the series, and finished in the finals five times in a row, Sorbello has yet to return since War of the Worlds 2. While answering questions on Instagram, the 34-year-old addressed rumors shes received a call to return for another season.

Watch What Happens Live wtih Andy Cohen  Pictured (l-r): Johnny Bananas Devenanzio and Cara Maria Sorbello | Charles Sykes

Cara Maria Sorbello has competed in 14 seasons of The Challenge

At the age of 23, Massachusetts-native Cara Maria Sorbello debuted on Fresh Meat II, partnered with multi-season champ Darrell Taylor. However, the two were eliminated first from the competition.

She quickly bounced back in Cutthroat and Rivals, clocking a second-place finish. After a couple of early exits, Sorbello placed second again in Rivals II before an injury hindered her chances in Free Agents.

Derrick is ready to FIGHT Jordan over Cara's reputation at The Reunion, THIS TUESDAY at 9/8c! #TheChallengeVendettas pic.twitter.com/wRO86ROPVS  Bad Gal TJ (@ChallengeMTV) April 14, 2018

RELATED: The Challenge: Why Cara Maria Sorbello Believes Natalie Ninja Duran Is the Most Underrated Player on the Show

She then won her first season alongside her cousin in Battle of the Bloodlines. Following an early elimination in Invasion of the Champions, Sorbello finished in the finals for five seasons straight, including an individual win in Vendettas.

Despite being a fixture in the series, she hasnt returned in a couple of years.

She hasnt appeared since War of the Worlds 2

During Final Reckoning in 2018, Sorbello met Big Brother 18 star, Paulie Calafiore. Although they got off to a rough start as he still had something going on with an ex at the time, the two officially began dating in 2019 and have since moved in together.

They competed in both installations of War of the Worlds as a power couple that ran the house based on alliances. Following the premiere of War of the Worlds 2, the two announced they were taking a break.

Bananas and Paulie aren't exactly each other's biggest fans, and Bananas and Cara's friendship might be on the line #TheChallenge33 pic.twitter.com/PMKVHGJ2wo  Bad Gal TJ (@ChallengeMTV) May 31, 2019

RELATED: The Challenge Star Cara Maria Sorbello Claims Season 35 is Rigged for [SPOILER] to Win

On an episode of the US Weekly podcast, Sorbello claimed they were taking time off for their own sanity. However, a few castmates, namely Jemmye Carroll, insisted the producers cut Calafiore because he posted videos they classified as threats to the other competitors.

According to this theory, Sorbello also chose to sit out when they supposedly cut her boyfriend. The couple has denied the claims, and Calafiore has accused Johnny Bananas Devenanzio of blocking them from returning.

Sorbello on if shes returning for season 37

Additionally, Sorbello noted in a direct message with a fan that she believed the producers rigged Total Madness for Devenanzio to win and didnt want to be a part of it.

Even so, the two have expressed their desire to return to the show. Halfway through Double Agents, the second season they missed, a fan asked Sorbello if she planned on returning to the competitive series.

With Cara and Paulie praying on Kyle and Mattie's downfall (literally), they know they need to secure a place in The Tribunal to be safe in this game Can they do it? Find out, Wednesday at 9/8c! #TheChallenge33 pic.twitter.com/BnzsapzkO1  Bad Gal TJ (@ChallengeMTV) February 25, 2019

RELATED: The Challenge 35: Are Jordan Wiseley and Tori Deal Becoming the New Cara Maria Sorbello and Paulie Calafiore?

The 34-year-old responded, my phone is on, implying she has yet to receive an availability call from the casting team but would likely return.

Sorbello and Calafiore have spent their time away in their Montana-based home, and he has begun training for the Olympic bobsledding team. The Challenge 36 airs Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on MTV.
BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China calls for an early resolution of the Syrian issue through comprehensive solutions including political, security, humanitarian and reconstruction means, Xie Xiaoyan, China's special envoy for Syria, said Monday.

As 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, Xie said in an interview that the evolution of the crisis in the past 10 years has fully proved the issue can only be solved through political means instead of military options.

He noted that imposing solutions and seeking regime change will not work, calling for giving full play to the role of the United Nations.

Ceasefire and cessation of violence should go hand in hand with the fight against terrorism, he said.

In the past 10 years, China has always opposed external forces interfering in Syria's internal affairs, opposed the resolution of the issue by military means, and advocated peaceful and proper solution through inclusive and political dialogue.

China has firmly upheld that Syria's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and safeguarded, Syria's future and destiny should be decided by the Syrian people, and a political settlement is the only realistic way out, said Xie.

Under the current circumstances, China once again calls for resolving the Syrian issue at an early date from four aspects, including upholding the general direction of political settlement, firmly opposing terrorism, earnestly improving the humanitarian situation, and providing support for economic and social reconstruction, Xie added.

Since the outbreak of the crisis, China has actively promoted dialogue among relevant parties, put forward various initiatives and proposals, and provided emergency humanitarian and anti-epidemic assistance to the Syrian people, he said.

Xie noted that some countries have imposed unilateral blockade and sanctions on Syria, flagrantly interfered in Syria's internal affairs, and politicized the humanitarian and refugee issues, worsening the humanitarian situation in Syria.

"These countries should ask themselves what historical responsibilities they should take on the dire humanitarian situation in Syria," said Xie, adding that the international community should work together to push for the lifting of blockade and sanctions against the Syrian people.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday received a telephone call from the Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman and discussed the bilateral ties.

The Crown Prince inquired about the Prime Minister's health and wished him speedy recovery.

The prime minister also inquired about well-being of the Crown Prince since he had recently undergone a surgical procedure.

Prime Minister Imran Khan lauded the transformational "Green Saudi Initiative" and the "Green middle East initiative" recently announced by the Crown Prince. He also highlighted Pakistan's "10 billion Tree Tsunami" initiative, which was underway in the whole country, and its potential dividends to restore ecosystem and to combat climate change. While highlighting the complementarities between both countries' environmental initiatives, the prime minister hoped for enhanced bilateral cooperation and knowledge sharing in this field.

Prime Minister Imran Khan conveyed warm wishes for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz. The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan's desire to further strengthen amiable and fraternal ties with Saudi Arabia and also reiterated Pakistan's support for the Kingdom's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Prime Minister and the Crown Prince agreed to work together to further augment bilateral ties in all spheres. The Crown Prince invited the Prime Minister to undertake a visit to Saudi Arabia in the near future. The prime minister graciously accepted the invitation. Both the leaders reaffirmed the resolve to further strengthening the strong, longstanding Pakistan-Saudi Arabia fraternal ties.
Tom Ford Eau de Jasmin Rouge & Eau de Vert Boheme

Niche Perfumery

The Tom Ford Resort Collection now introduces two new editions in 30ml and 50ml sizes: the floral EAU DE JASMIN ROUGE fragrance, which is a flanker of Jasmin Rouge from 2011, and the citrusy floral EAU DE VERT BOHEME, as a flanker of the Vert Boheme creation launched in 2016. Both fragrances are presented in attractive flacons: Eau de Jasmin Rouge repeats the red color of the original, while Eau de Vert Boheme arrives in a bright green flacon.

"Red, wet and sheer, Eau de Jasmin Rouge Eau de Toilette is a flourishing aquatic twist on the hedonistic floral. Bursting with juicy, thirst-quenching citrus, its heady flower heads of jasmine afloat the water's surface  a transcendent fragrance that transports to the glistening French Riviera."

The opening is combined from bright citruses and Italian bergamot, highlighting the floral core of jasmine flowers and watery accords. Cardamom gives a spicy touch from the base.

"Sicilian mandarin and magnolia are enhanced with Gustavia, known as the tree of heaven and prized for its blossoms that last for just one day. The fresh vibrancy of the Eau De Vert Boheme Eau de Toilette awakens a divine first bloom, crystal-clear and exposed, recalling the waves on the Corsican shores."

The composition starts with an elegant dose of violet leaves, combined with sparkling citruses (Sicilian mandarin orange and bergamot). Magnolia and honeysuckle create a floral theme imbued with sea breezes, followed by the woodsy accord of Gustavia ScentTrek.

Both editions are available on ULTA.com from late March 2021.

Eau de Jasmin Rouge is available as a 30ml Eau de Toilette at the price of $92.00, and a 50ml Eau de Toilette at the price of $134.00.

Eau de Vert Boheme is available as a 30ml Eau de Toilette at the price of $92.00, and a 50ml Eau de Toilette at the price of $134.00.


LOS ANGELESA proposed new online safety law in Australia could allow the government there to strip all adult content and sexually-oriented material from the internet Down Under, according to a report by The Guardian newspaper. The Online Safety Bill 2021 was introduced in the Australian House of Representatives last month, and though its backers say the law is aimed at stopping online bullying and abuse, as well as illegal child pornography, the language of the bill goes far beyond those aims.

The wording of the bill would allow the governments eSafety Commissioner to block any online content that would receive a rating from the Australian Classification Board of R18+ or higher. The Australian ratings apply to movies, TV, video games and a wide range of content. The R18+ rating is broadly defined to cover content that is considered high in impact for viewers. This includes content that may be offensive to sections of the adult community.

According to the Guardian report, that definition would include images of consensual sexual acts between adults, and even nude selfies. Websites, social media platforms, and even search engine links could be vulnerable to blocking or removal under the proposed law.

The law would effectively censor adult online content that could potentially have unintended consequences for the sex industry and porn industries and have a devastating impact on the ability of sex workers to earn a legitimate income, Roger Sorrenti, spokesperson for the activist group Sex Work Law Reform Victoria, told The Guardian.

Gala Vanting, of Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Workers Association, also warned that the bill  similar to the United States FOSTA/SESTA law that passed in 2018  would have the effect of deplatforming sex workers from Australias cyberspace.

Its something that removes our access to the basic benefits of digital citizenship; our right just to exist as individuals online. But it also prevents us from doing things like carrying out our business or working safely, she said. What this bill has the potential to do is to allow the office of an unelected bureaucrat to decide what Australian adults see online.

Current Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has said that if the law passes, she will target only abusive material for removal, and has no plans to chase down adult content. But according to an analysis by the Independent Australia website, many online sites may simply not want to take that chance, and will take it upon themselves to ban adult material from their platforms  an outcome that already occurred in the U.S. after passage of FOSTA/SESTA.

Under the law, sites that fail to comply with removal demands within 24 hours could face fines up to $550,000, or about $420,000 in U.S. currency. Individuals found to be in violation would be hit with fines up to $110,000, or $84,000 U.S.

Photo By Michael Coghlan / Wikimedia Commons
Blooms About to Pop for 57th Dogwood Trail

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - With spring's sunny warm days and on-and-off rain showers, Dogwood Trail organizers report that Paducah is on track for another fabulous trail.Civic Beautification Dogwood Trail Co-chair Jackie Smith said the 57th Annual Dogwood Trail will begin within the next two weeks. Weather conditions this week will determine the exact date."We would like to encourage everyone both on and off the trail to participate in lighting their dogwoods," Smith said. "We will divide the awards evenly this year. Cash awards and yard signs will be distributed to all the winners citywide. If you live on the south side of Paducah, we hope you will light your dogwood trees as we will now be looking all over the city for winners."If you are chosen as a winner, you will be notified by a letter on your front door. You will be instructed to contact a phone number or email within 24 hours to give permission for a temporary yard sign to be installed, and receive information to collect your prize.Smith says to look forward to and prepare for another exquisite trail as Paducah welcomes thousands of guests to our city this spring. The community's beautifully spotlighted yards and American flags are a welcome site, especially this year. The Civic Beautification Board thanks all Paducahans for their participation as together the city continues a beloved tradition.She told West Kentucky Star the conditions are just right for the dogwoods."It's just beautiful outside," Smith said. "We've had all these warm days, and the cool nights don't seem to be affecting the blossoms we've had. I don't know if it's because of the rain or because they just want to show up this year and celebrate finally having COVID behind us."This year's trail is about 17 miles of spotlighted dogwoods, along with blooming shrubs and trees. Those who live off the trail are also encouraged to light up to create an entire city of beauty for all who live here and visit this spring.A Dogwood Trail Bike Ride, organized by BikeWorld, is planned for Sunday, April 18th. Details are on the Events page of WestKyStar.com.You can follow the trail signs starting at any point for a self-guided tour. Linked below is a map you can view or print.On the Net:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30) - Some local government units have already started to inoculate their elderly residents against COVID-19.

Senior citizens are next in the priority line after healthcare workers.

The city of Manila on Sunday already started to vaccinate all its senior citizens against the highly contagious virus.

The Manila Public Information Office said 3,966 elderly residents have already received their first of dose of the vaccine manufactured by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno told CNN Philippines that Manila residents who are 18 to 59 years old and with comorbidities will be next in line. They will receive shots using the vaccine manufactured by Chinas Sinovac.

Meanwhile, Navotas City started its vaccination program for senior citizens on Monday. They will also be inoculated with vaccines from AstraZeneca.

Mayor Toby Tiangco said the registration for the vaccination is ongoing.

Caloocan, Pateros, and Navotas also began their vaccination programs on Monday.

San Juan City, on the other hand, will start to vaccinate the elderly and those with comorbidities on Tuesday, March 30.

Meanwhile, the cities of Pasig and Makati announced that pre-registration for the vaccination of senior citizens is ongoing.

The country started to inoculate healthcare workers last March 1 using the donated doses from the Chinese government and the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility.

The Department of Health on Monday reported 10,016 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 731,894.
As the first author of six scientific articles and owner of one patent, Dr Ta Thu Hang has had great opportunities to get a promotion at a leading Australian university.

Dr Ta Thu Hang

Hang works for Griffith University in Australia. In addition to teaching, she is also the head of a laboratory which specializes in researching the application of nanomaterials in treatment and diagnosis of serious diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

She is also a Future Leader Fellow of Heart Foundation, an Australian organization specializing in cardiovascular health.

Hang was born into a family where both father and mother were teachers and built their careers themselves without any support. The parents also taught Hang how to become independent.

Graduating from the HCM City University of Technology majoring in Food Chemistry with the highest GPA, Hang became a lecturer at the school.

Like many other young people who wanted to study abroad to broaden their knowledge, Hang decided to go to Australia to study for a masters degree in biotechnology at Queensland University. After 1.5 years of studying there, Hang decided to apply for a scholarship to become a PhD student at Melbourne University.

During the three years as a PhD student, I realized that I have a special interest in the medical applications of nanotechnology, she recalled.

After two years of implementing projects, Hang obtained funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC). At that time, she decided to set up a lab with focus on research about the applications of nanotechnology in treating and diagnosing cardiovascular diseases.

Her research team designed and developed smart MRI nanosensors that not only help detect but also report the stages or progression of cardiovascular disease, such as thrombosis.

Early detection and precise characterization of life-threatening diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer is important in treatment.

The information about thrombosis, if it has just taken shape or has existed for a long time in blood vessels, is very important, which helps doctors determine the treatment regimen, Hang said.

Great efforts made to maintain lab

According to Hang, universities in Australia encourage and are willing to provide places to lecturers to build labs, provided that they can get funding for their research and buy equipment.

However, it is difficult to find sponsors because of the success probability rate of less than 10 percent. In general, the schools of higher rank will be able to get more money to fund their projects. This means that newly set up labs may die young if they dont have many projects.

With her efforts, her lab luckily has received many research projects.

As the first author of six scientific articles and owner of one patent, Dr Ta Thu Hang has had great opportunities to get a promotion at a leading Australian university.

You need to do many things to ask for money to carry out your research. You not only have to read books and carry out experiments, but also have to attend conferences and seminars, give lectures, participate in scientific organizations, comment on scientific articles and join the editorial board of science journals, she explained.

Another problem was that it was difficult to recruit workers for newly set up labs.

At first, only new graduates or postgraduates who were studying for a masters degree joined the lab to carry out some small projects, lasting 3-6 months. And the students did not have much experience.

Therefore, Hang was busy guiding five or six students to carry out experiments each day. Because of the time limitation and the lack of money to buy chemicals and run machines, Hang admitted she had to struggle to maintain the lab.

Later, after some projects were fulfilled well, the lab became better known among more postgraduates.

They said they read information about my projects on the schools website and they felt the research was following a new interesting path, so they wanted to join my lab, she said, adding that she began paying attention to polishing the image of the lab by introducing her projects on the schools website.

At present, the lab headed by the Vietnamese lecturer has eight PhD students and one postdoc student.

Scientists need many new ideas

Recalling her tough days, Hang said at the time of the lab establishment, she had just given birth to her daughter. When the child turned 10 months old, she sent her to a kindergarten.

Now, the daughter is 7 years old, and Hang is still busy teaching and researching.

She has received 1,800 scientific citations and prestigious awards, as well as 3.9 million AUD ($3 million) in funding for research.

According to Hang, in order to have new research projects, scientists need to have new ideas. And to do so, they need to regularly read scientific articles to know what has been done in these fields and what still cannot be done. Hang reads information in her core scientific research field but also in other relevant fields. This can lead to ideas. Sometimes, the ideas have to "go out of the box", she said.

Thuy Nga - Phuong Thu

Female scientist dreams of reviving contaminated land The image of a boy with shining eyes and crippled limbs damaged by Agent Orange prompted Ngo Thi Thuy Huong, born in 1974, "to do something" to revive contaminated land in Vietnam.

There have been 13 more deaths and 604 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Ireland.

Of the deaths reported today, 12 occurred in March, the Department of Health said.

The median age of those who died was 77 years.

There now has been a total of 4,666 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.

There is now a total of 234,541 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today, 299 are men, 298 are women and 77% are under 45 years of age. The median age is 27 years old.

Of the cases, 224 are in Dublin, 45 in Donegal, 36 in Kildare, 34in Limerick, 26 in Tipperary and the remaining 239 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

As of 8am today, 322 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 66 are in ICU. There have been 18 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

It comes as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney said the decision by the Beacon Hospital to give vaccines to teachers was a slap in the face to so many people,

The minister said he expects the board of the private hospital to hold individuals to account over the incident and said the decision to suspend vaccine operations at the hospital was a clear signal of how the Government feels on the matter.

This is such a slap in the face to so many people and thats why people are so angry about this. So many people have loved ones that are vulnerable to the virus and are waiting patiently to be vaccinated, Minister Coveney said today on RTE Radios This Week programme.

While Mr Coveney said it would not be a good precedent for a senior minister to be on the radio calling for people to resign, he said the board of the Beacon Hospital have a responsibility now to ensure that individuals are held to account.

Mr Coveney also said the board have a responsibility to ensure the credibility of the vaccine programme is upheld.

I do expect the board to ensure that accountability is there in decisions that theyre going to make in the coming days.

What Im saying is pretty clear on what the board should be doing, Minister Coveney said.

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The Foreign Affairs Minister said he agreed with Health Minister Stephen Donnellys decision to end the rollout programme at the Beacon in light of what occurred and said it is a fairly clear signal from Government on the decision process here that has resulted in the Beacon not complying with the protocol that should be in place.

Minister Coveney said Minister Donnellys first impression was to do nothing that slowed down the rollout but said on the back of the public anger on the issue, he made the right call to ensure the reputation of the vaccination programme.

Minister Coveney said there must be consequences to decisions such as the one the Beacon took in vaccinating people outside the sequencing document.

HSE Chief Paul Reid said the Beacon informed the HSE itself on Thursday that it had vaccinated teachers and creche workers.

Mr Reid said that he communicated to the Beacon that this was a complete breach of the sequencing document that the hospital should have been adhering to and labelled the hospitals actions a real body blow.

Close to 800,000 people will have been vaccinated by the end of Sunday, Mr Reid said, 570,000 first doses and 220,000 second doses.

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The vaccination programme in April and May will largely be focused on finishing the over-70 age groups, vaccinating the medically vulnerable people most at risk from Covid aged 16-69 and then moving on to the 65-69 year olds.

As we roll into May and June, we reach out into the wider population for vaccination through our GPs, hospitals and mass vaccination centres, Mr Reid said.
The is in the process of deploying two Mi-17V5 helicopters equipped with Bambi Bucket to douse the fire in the Ukhrul district of that has ravaged the Shirui Hills.

"On the requisition of the State Government of Manipur, the is in the process of deploying two Mi-17V5 helicopters, equipped with Bambi Bucket to douse the fire in Siroy Hills, Ukhrul district," the PRO Shillong, Ministry of Defence tweeted.

This comes a day after Chief Minister N Biren Singh sought help from the Central government to douse the fire.

"Very unfortunate to see the fire spreading at Shirui Peak, Ukhrul District, Spoken to Union Home Ministry Additional Secretary to extend all possible help from NDRF to douse the fire. An official letter has also been sent from the Manipur Chief Secretary," Singh had tweeted.

(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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They have become somewhat of an unwanted guest in some quarters in Ireland in recent years, akin to the perception of a foreign millionaire deciding to decamp to Ireland and making it home, telling locals how to do things, enjoying all the spoils, but not really contributing to their communities.

Big data centres are seen as usurpers of Irish land, taking up massive spaces but giving little back, leeching off the electricity grid and pumping little back into the community.

Is the picture that simple? Are they indeed faceless, joyless entities that take, take, take without providing any give?

Or are they an essential part of modern life, allowing us to keep up with instant information in an increasingly instant information age, and something we will come to accept?

An overview of what a data centre does

Prof Brian Norton: 'It is not just data that people produce, but it is data that the machinery around us automatically produces and shares. There is a huge amount of that.' Picture: Energy Ireland

The Irish Examiner asked the head of energy research, with direct responsibility for the International Energy Research Centre (IERC), at Tyndall National Institute in Cork, to give an overview.

Professor Brian Norton, who is world-renowned in the field of energy research and is a former president of Dublin Institute of Technology, said a data centre is essentially just that, a centre where data is stored, managed, and processed.

You know when people talk about the thing being in the cloud, from a computer perspective  the cloud is the big floppy thing in the sky, coming from a big thing called a data centre," Prof Norton said.

"They are huge things, there are 2bn sq ft of them in the world, or slightly more. There are about eight million data centres, so they are big and they are abundant.

It is no exaggeration to say they are ubiquitous, and needed if we are to continue the technological revolution, said Prof Norton.

Where you are accessing stuff that is stored in the cloud, whether it is your Dropbox or your LinkedIn or whatever, that is in a data centre somewhere

"They are storing and processing  everything from that to online purchases to everything consumable.

They are distributed globally for lots of reasons, according to Prof Norton. One is for security, he said.

Obviously the connections want to be close to the data, but also there is varied legislation around various jurisdictions, on data being stored in that jurisdiction, for reasons of privacy, GDPR regulations, etc.

These centres process so much essential data, that the society we have been hurtled into in recent years would not be so progressive in technological terms without them, Prof Norton said.

"The big thing, surprisingly, is not so much the data that people produce, but increasingly lots of our kit is connected by what is called the internet of things (IoT)

Devices are connected to each other automatically, so you can think about things such as condition monitoring in modern motorcars, for example. It directly connects the internet itself and tells the company or the dealer how things are performing.

"The gas turbines, the jet engines in aircraft are always talking to the aircraft manufacturer, telling them how they are doing, for example.

That kind of information, called the IoT, is a huge amount of data sharing. It is not just data that people produce, but it is data that the machinery around us automatically produces and shares. There is a huge amount of that.

There are about 75bn devices directly connected to the internet, that are sharing information over the internet without human intervention, according to Prof Norton.

The very computers we are talking on are sending stuff backwards and forwards all the time, without our intervention, in terms of the background noise and the information about the updating of software, etc. It is a huge, huge thing.

"All that data needs a lot of energy to feed it," he said.

How many and how much are they worth?

According to data from November 2020, there are 66 data centres now operational in Ireland.

Pro-data industry organisation Host In Irelands report on the industry, conducted in association with Bitpower Energy Solutions, said that of the 66 data centres, 31 of these are directly operated by the hyperscalers, which make up 80% of the capacity.

Five are leased wholesale data centres, 15 are colocation data centres, and the remaining 15 are smaller private data centres operated by telcos and small providers.

The total design power capacity of all 66 data centres is 834 MW, according to Bitpower chief executive David McAuley.

We estimate this is 630 MW of IT capacity running at 55% utilisation. Note also that completed data centres may take a number of years to reach full occupancy, he said in the report.

The report estimates construction spend will have amounted to 1.25bn in 2020.

We expect this to increase to 1.5bn in 2021 and in 2022. In total, the pipeline amounts to 6.7bn in new construction in the five years from 2021 to 2025. This compares to a similar amount of investment in data centre construction over the previous 10 years. The pace of investment will double, Mr McAuley said.

President and founder of Host In Ireland Garry Connolly was at pains to point out in the report that while exports fell across many traditionally strong industry sectors in Ireland due to the Covid-19 pandemic, IT remained robust.

To break it down, 117bn of the total 448bn of Irish goods and services exports is due to computer services, accounting for just over one quarter (26%) of Irelands export activity. While exports fell dramatically for the vast majority of sectors (transport, tourism, retail to name a few), computer services, pharmaceuticals, and medicinal products have had strong enough performances to buoy the Irish economy as a whole, he said.

Ireland has the potential to generate 9.2 gigawatts of renewable electricity by 2030, far more than needed for Irish consumption, Mr Connolly said.

While talk of exporting the excess power is certainly worth consideration, there is an opportunity to power a more valuable export asset in the form of data.

He pointed to the Irish Academy of Engineerings recent report on the 'Future of Electricity Transmission in Ireland', which said one could indeed argue that there is little point in constructing large amounts of renewable generation in Ireland and then exporting its output at exceptionally low prices.

Official CSO and SEAI import/export data for 2019 indicates that the price of Irish electricity exports, which take place predominantly when wind generation is high, is less than 50% of the price paid to wind generators for that output under the REFIT regime, the Irish Academy of Engineering report states.

REFIT is designed to ensure Ireland meets its goal of 40% of electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020.

Mr Connolly echoed the sentiments. As we see with other natural resources, the value-add of a data service is greater than the renewable electricity alone. Add to that, the infrastructure to move data already exists whereas the infrastructure to move the electricity does not.

It continues to be an exciting time for the data centre industry. The work being carried out is having a real impact on our lives every day. While much in the future remains uncertain, I am optimistic that an abundance of opportunities still lay ahead for Ireland and its digital economy.

Political reaction to data centres

Lynn Boylan: 'Despite the best efforts of tech giants to greenwash the impact they are having, the figures do not lie.' File picture: Gareth Chaney

Sceptics want clear and incontrovertible evidence that data centres are a good thing for Ireland as a whole, and they have not been persuaded so far.

Sinn Fein senator Lynn Boylan told the Seanad in December that the public perception of data centres was one of worry and scepticism.

I am here to raise the deeply concerning proliferation of data centres in the country. It seems they are now a new frontier for extraction where our cool climate and windy hillsides are ripe for the taking. We know that data centres are popping up all over the country and with them comes windfarms and fossil fuel energy generators.

There was so-called greenwashing at play, she said, referring to the practice of appearing more climate-friendly than the reality.

Despite the best efforts of tech giants to greenwash the impact they are having, the figures do not lie. The surge in Irish data centres comes with a massive carbon footprint. They pretend that big tech is a clean industry but it requires a huge amount of energy to power the servers and fans to suck in cool air. Each video on file on the internet has to be stored in these data centres.

By 2027, data centres will consume 31% of Ireland's electricity, Ms Boylan said.

Across Europe, while energy use is decreasing, in Ireland we are an anomaly because it is increasing. That has nothing to do with our household or population growth. It is purely down to the rise in the number of data centres. They will require 12.5 TW [terawatts] of electricity above what is being provided. That is enough power for 24m homes.

These data centres should be treated like the carbon-intensive industry that they are, Ms Boylan said.

It seems there is a greenwashing campaign in full spin because we hear that data centres will be 100% powered by renewables. However, the amount of energy projected to come from their windfarms is far outstripped by the demand from these data centres.

On top of that, each megawatt of wind capacity must be backed up with energy generated from fossil fuels. This is not to mention the fallout of the biodiversity disaster in the Meenbog windfarm, which has a contract with Amazon. While pilot projects in which waste energy is sold to heat homes or public buildings are welcome, they barely put a dent in emissions.

Big data has been given a free pass by the Government, Ms Boylan claimed.

When we hear talk of the cloud, it is as though it has no material impact but the truth is it is bad for climate and to date, the Government has given the industry a free pass while the public is left to carry the bulk of the massive cost for the infrastructure required to run these data centres.

The Irish Academy of Engineering estimates that we will need 9bn of new infrastructure. It seems the Government strategy has been so successful in attracting data centres that we now have an enormous and disproportionate amount of western Europe's data infrastructure, and with that comes these colossal CO2 emissions.

Community Development Minister Joe OBrien said while data centres can consume very large amounts of energy, they have a flat and predictable demand profile.

That means they use the same amount of electricity day and night, therefore requiring a range of generation technologies to meet demand, he said.

Data centres have, until recent years, accounted for less than 2% of Ireland's total electricity demand. EirGrid, in its generation capacity statement for 2019 to 2028, projects that demand from data centres could account for 29% of all demand by 2028.

Significant increases in volumes of generation capacity, including from renewable energy resources, will be required to meet Ireland's electrification objectives and demand from heat pumps, electric vehicles, and data centres. The climate action plan set an ambition of 70% renewable electricity by 2030, the majority of which will be met through the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS.

When data centre operators purchase electricity directly from renewable generators, it contributes to the State's objective to decarbonise our electricity system without any subsidy from electricity customers, he said.

In February, Independent TD Denis Naughten said families must not carry the can for big data, and that the bigger picture of what is needed for households was going unpainted.

As a result of the pandemic, families' heating bills have gone up dramatically and that has been compounded by increased carbon taxes and the subsidising of data centres," said Mr Naughten.

It is immoral that people who are struggling to pay electricity bills are subsidising the electricity going into data centres, many of which have been constructed on a speculative proposition.

There was a 9% increase in residential carbon emissions during the 2020 lockdown and we have seen a fall-off in the retrofitting of homes, which commenced in 2019 and collapsed in 2020. We need a step-change in retrofitting homes and that needs to be prioritised as part of the capital plan.

Mr Naughtens comments echoed Labour TD Duncan Smiths scepticism, which he raised around the same time Ms Boylan raised her concerns in December.

Mr Smith said big industry collaborating together would be the big winners, not the average citizen.

The renewable energy that is coming on stream will not be State-owned. It will be privatised so we will be going from big oil to big wind  I hope we can find another phrase. This is where we are going.

The Government needs to tell us how much of the renewable energy coming on stream will be siphoned off for other multinational corporations such as those running data centres that are entering into prepaid contracts with companies that own windfarms to siphon off up to 15%, 20%, or 25% of the energy created in order to power data centres, which are huge carbon emitters and very poor in terms of creating jobs.

There is a structure here that will only get bigger and will be bad for the worker, the economy, and the Irish taxpayer because we will continue to pay these exorbitant penalties to countries that are doing things far better than us.

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan: Data centres are here to stay.

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has moved to assuage critics by saying the Government would be cognisant of all stakeholders.

However, data centres are here to stay, he added.

We will probably take a combination of various approaches, but one of the things we will ensure is that demand, be it from data centres or other large energy users, is planned in a way that lowers the cost, minimises emissions, and ensures we have a fully sustainable system.

That may involve locating data centres close to where the power is, or restricting in certain areas where the grid cannot cope with the addition. However, it will not say no to data centres because we need them as part of the wider economy.

Ireland not a bad climate for data centres

Why have data centres become a major presence in Ireland in recent years? Geography and happenstance mostly, according to Prof Brian Norton from the Tyndall.

"There are lots of reasons why data centres are near us. They command a whole lot of different dimensions. One is that Ireland is not a bad climate for data centres, because there is a huge coolant. You dont want to put them in hot places because there is a bigger cooling load. Places like Ireland are good locations.

Also, you do want data centres that are proximate to where the network nodes are, and Ireland has lines coming across the Atlantic and lines going to the UK and Europe. If you think about the physical geography of the Earth, youve got certain points where major cables land, and there are natural nodes.

You expect to see big data centres on the coasts of the US, you expect to see them on the coasts of Europe, because of the cables going under the sea that turn up in those places. They are the physical, geographical, climatic reasons  there are natural geographies and climates of the world that you want to put things in, he said.

It is a coincidence of facts such as geography and climate, according to Prof Norton.

You dont want them in hot climates because it just increases the cooling load and it has to do with legislation and oversight of rights to privacy and what is done with your data. It is a combination of all those facts.

The other reason is the sanctity and security of the data itself, and more importantly, the operations on that data. For example, in Europe, there are legitimate concerns about privacy, what people have when it comes to their rights.

Similar privacy laws would not exist in the US and they would not exist in China. From a legislative perspective, the ability to take action if you feel your data has been misused is obviously limited outside the jurisdiction. For those reasons, people like things to be stored locally.

While data centres consume and create lots of energy and waste, the ever-burgeoning field of renewable solutions can play a major role in mitigation, he said, adding that that that needs imagination and invention.

Most of that energy in a data centre typically is used for the IT equipment, the servers that are in the data centres, and about half of it is to do with cooling systems one way or another around those, that is how the energy ends up being used within. All of that ends up being released as very, very low-grade heat. It is lukewarm air, essentially.

Right now the data centre industry is doubling about every four years, and that may accelerate. I should say it is becoming more energy-efficient and is using more renewable energy, which means that the emissions do not double. They will increase but they wont double in that sense.

When people see data centres returning the favour on a mass scale, hearts and minds should be less sceptical, according to Prof Norton. To be fair, a lot of people who run data centres are committed to running them 100% renewably. That will happen because of the decarbonisation of electricity anyway, but nevertheless, they are committed to that.

But youve got to remember that data centres produce a huge amount of waste heat, and you do see various projects around the world of taking it into greenhouses, so you look at food production  in other words, using that heat in various processes.

Drying things for food preservation is another, for example. Or industrial processes that have a drying component associated with them. Co-locating them then would provide employment and added value.

Distributing that excess energy into communities would assist in the transition to a new renewable and sustainable economy in rural regions, Prof Norton said.

Thinking a bit more holistically, and thinking of data centres as part of an ecosystem in particular locations, so that you are looking at distributed production of rural energy locally and distributed use of the huge amounts of waste heat that data centres produce.

Earning the public's trust

Earning public trust is vital if data centres are to be accepted, according to Prof Brian Norton.

Planning comes into wider issues of public trust. Who bears the cost in terms of the impact of data centres, as opposed to the cost of money? Who benefits? I think one of the challenges with planning law generally, but in Ireland in particular, is that someone might object to a big local data centre because they cannot see the benefit to them because it accrues to someone else.

Part of the issue with all these things is being able to articulate and genuinely show an actual benefit to the people who are going to have to bear the things, according to Prof Norton.

That is the root problem with that. In some jurisdictions, the public policy debate outside of the particular project is much more mature and advanced, and the understanding happens. There are lots of examples of this  in Denmark, if you take wind energy, they have had a planning regime which would designate sites where you could do projects with wind energy, and then you apply to build the thing on those sites.

Ireland has done it the other way around, he said. Rather than having to go and seek permission for a particular place, there is a public policy debate outside of any particular promoter or any particular technology. In other words, we have got to have these things, where shall we put them? Whereas in Ireland, it is done the opposite way around  someone has to prove their case and then objections come.

In the likes of Denmark, It still has a lot of debate, it still has a lot of the exact same voices, but the decision has been made at a large-scale level  this is where we are going to do these things, these are the areas where we are not, and then people who are building data centres or windfarms know where they stand.

The dotting of the landscape  or blotting, considering their size and scale  of data centres is similar to when Ireland was in the throes of electrification, according to Prof Norton.

It is interesting in Ireland, for example, electrification in the past was seen as a sign of progress and people would have bought into pylons as a sign of advancement. You are now seeing that progress has happened, you are seeing electrification that is about transmitting energy from the west where you have lots of wind and wave energy, to the east where the population is, and the people in the middle are not seeing any benefit to themselves. You can see some of the tensions that arise from that.

There are ways of solving this problem. There are actual benefits accruing to those people, and systems must be designed so they see those benefits.

There are industries that obviously work around data centres; there is a whole software sector, there is a whole design sector  those people doing that kind of work might be in the centre of cities. The internet is ubiquitous, so could more of those jobs be in rural areas?

You could be providing rural employment on a distributed basis. Although working from home in its present guise has a whole range of issues attached to it, it has demonstrated that people can indeed do so. It may not have to be the case to have one part somewhere and another part somewhere else, when it comes to the benefits.

Ireland has proved itself capable of getting the balance right in the past, he said.

That would need thinking through but there is a strong record in Ireland of distributing manufacturing, pharmaceutical plants in various locations. The idea of distributing sectors and linking them is not unknown.

"That does need a good strong national broadband to do that, for example, but that is the sort of investment you need to get that sense of equity that is necessary.

"I dont think it is the planning process at fault, it is the public equity discussion underpinning that which can be the challenge.

Robust electricity system required to handle surge in demand

'It demands a resilient power system capable of absorbing and storing fluctuations in weather-driven generation.'

One thing everyone agrees on is that Irelands electricity system will have to become more robust to handle the surge in demand over the coming decades, as well as reducing emissions.

Powering data centres is merely one part of the jigsaw, according to a report from experts at Cork-based MaREI  SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine Research, in conjunction with the Electricity Association of Ireland.

Laura Mehigan and Dr Paul Deane, in their summary, state that a decarbonised, all-island electricity system is key to achieving climate ambition on the island of Ireland.

This study takes a closer look at the future all-island power system through the lens of decarbonisation by focusing on the year 2030, where over 70% of the annual electricity on the system will be renewable.

Laura Mehigan, who says in a major report that a decarbonised all-island electricity system is key to achieving climate ambition on the island of Ireland.

While this requires a significant level of renewable energy build-out, it also demands a resilient power system capable of absorbing and storing fluctuations in weather-driven generation, and at the same time, meeting the demand of new electricity loads from electric cars, residential heating, and data centres.

Irelands location on the edge of Europe presents a limited diversity of interconnection options and so our role within a greater interconnected European power system is also considered.

Due to its isolated grid, the current level of wind generation is limited to ensure system strength is maintained, the authors said.

Achieving a minimum of 70% renewable electricity by 2030 will require significant infrastructure investment as well as capacity to integrate new storage technologies, they said.

According to the Governments Climate Action Plan in Ireland, the level of wind capacity may have to increase by up to 300% to achieve the higher level of ambition but also to absorb new electricity loads from electric cars, electric heat pumps, and significant growth in Irelands data centre industry.

The all-island electricity system in 2030 will be different in scale and configuration from the system we see today, according to the authors.

The key findings of the report indicated that the system will be 40% larger in capacity and will emit half of the carbon emissions of today.

In 2030, we will need all planned electricity interconnectors: North-South, Ireland-UK, and Ireland-France in place. Back-up generation fuelled by natural gas will be essential but used less, they said.

In cold, windless, and cloudy conditions, where electricity demand is high but weather dependant generation is low, we will need all back-up generation to be available and all storage and system flexibility to be maximised.

A much more flexible and agile electricity grid will be needed to absorb the projected level of weather dependant generation, the authors said.
It's wise for job seekers to review their social media profiles to ensure they aren't jeopardising their chances at getting the job they want, an expert has revealed.

Eliza Kirkby, regional director at recruitment company Hays, told Seek it's best for Australian job seekers to maintain a professional profile online, remove any inappropriate material and ensure their career history is highlighted online.

When applying for jobs, social media can also be used as a helpful tool to boost changes of being hired, if used correctly.

Ms Kirkby highlighted the top three social media fails to avoid, and what can be done instead.

Eliza Kirkby, regional director at recruitment company Hays, told Australian company Seek it's best for job seekers to maintain a professional profile online, remove any inappropriate material and ensure their career history is highlighted online (stock image)

Mistake 1: Discrepancies in your career timeline

When applying for jobs, Ms Kirkby said it's important for your social media profiles to match your work history to ensure there are no discrepancies.



This particularly correlates to the career website LinkedIn where users can outline past and current roles and achievements.

In some cases, employers will search for potential candidates on LinkedIn first compared to other social media profiles, such a Facebook and Instagram.

Inaccurate timelines may cause the employer to ask questions relating to the truthfulness of the job seeker and their past experiences.

How to use social media to help boost your job search Do a clean-up of all your profiles First, check all your accounts and profiles - it's important to know what others can see Delete or hide posts or photos on your profile or public groups you've had second thoughts about Then check the privacy settings of your accounts and who can see what you post Next get rid of old or out-of-date accounts, then search for yourself to see if you've missed anything Create a positive brand image Social media is a great way to position yourself as interested in your work and involved in your industry Join groups relevant to your career or field Post updates on your industry, share positive and interesting content Research your target Your own profiles aside, social media can be a tool to help you learn more about an organisation you're applying to Scan it to find out about their work, their aims, and the leaders working there This will help you discover shared contacts, prepare for an interview and have some good questions to ask - but avoid being too enthusiastic Source: Seek Advertisement

Mistake 2: Sharing inappropriate content

As a general rule of thumb, job seekers should avoid posting inappropriate content on social media as this may reflect badly on the individual.

Content that is deemed to be inappropriate or offensive, such as sexist, racist, pornographic or sharing extreme views, could jeopardise the job seeker's chances at a position as the employer may reconsider.

Ms Kirkby explained how in some cases extreme material can raise legal and privacy concern.

When applying for jobs, Ms Kirkby said it's important for your social media profiles to match your work history to ensure there are no discrepancies

Mistake 3: Posting too often

Ms Kirkby also noted how posting too often on social media could reflect badly on the individual, as it might suggest to the employer that they spend too much time online.

For this reason, timing is crucial in addition to posting appropriate material.

Instead, the job seeker may wish to share relevant, timely information relating to the field they are applying for - such as news, statistics, products and upcoming events they are interested in.


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on Monday issued an 18-point directive, including reducing office attendance by 50 per cent and restricting political and religious gatherings, as part of efforts to curb the surging pandemic, which claimed 45 lives in a day, the highest in seven months.

The health services said that 5,181 new cases were detected from 8am Sunday to 8am Monday, taking the total number of infections to 6,00,895.

Forty five people died during the period, which is the highest since August last year when authorities recorded 47 deaths. The country has reported a total number of 8,949 deaths.

"Other than the emergency services, all government and private office, and industrial units will have to be run with 50 per cent workforce . . . in view of the situation," read an order issued by the Prime Minister's Office.

The order also directed mass-transport systems and restaurants to keep 50 per cent seats vacant and ban transport services in high-risk areas in required cases and restrict all religious, social, political and other gatherings.

"The current infection rate is 18.38 per cent, while it was 2.30 per cent just on February 8 this year," a health ministry spokesman told PTI.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque said his office advised the government to impose lockdowns in areas where the transmission rate was high while "directions in this regard are expected in a day or two".

Directorate General of Health Services' (DGHS) Additional Director General Sabrina Flora said health officials noticed higher transmission of COVID-19 in six districts on March 13, while the pandemic was surging in 20 districts just a week later on March 20, and in 29 districts by March 24.

This means COVID-19 is spreading fast across the country, and there is no alternative to following health rules to break the transmission chain, she said.

The DGHS has identified central Dhaka, southeastern Chattogram and northwestern Rajshahi with higher transmission areas.

Till March 28, has administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 52,63,248 people, health officials 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.)
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Panic buying has set in across Greater Brisbane, with supermarkets stripped of many essential items ahead of a snap lockdown that will start at 5pm on Monday in response to a growing COVID cluster.

The lockdown is expected to affect Easter sales as customers on Monday started panic buying, leaving shelves bare of products such as toilet paper and meat.

Empty toilet paper shelves at New Farm Coles on Monday. Credit:Cloe Read

Customers have reported long queues at supermarkets across the Brisbane region.

It has prompted Woolworths to reinstate its purchase limits on a range of products, including milk, eggs, pasta, rice, flour, and toilet paper across Greater Brisbane because of the spike in demand.
The company has since engaged forensics and recovery firms and now believes the attacker used Nine systems to send fraudulent updates to workers computers. These updates encrypted data and made the machines unresponsive. Aaron Bugal, global solutions engineer at cybersecurity company Sophos, said encryption often indicated the end of an attack, not the start of one. The attackers have already spent a great deal of time within these networks, filtering around information, looking at systems, gaining access to devices that they shouldnt be in. He added that the lack of a ransom demand could indicate the attackers were after sensitive information. Typically most attackers are looking for some sort of immediate return on their investment of time, like requesting a payment in bitcoin. A destructive attack like this with no extortion is quite different, he said. I wouldnt be surprised if information data theft and exfiltration, of information that this company held closely, was conducted, and who knows where its going to turn up next. Nine is also working with the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to determine the source of the attack.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said he was concerned about the significant cyber security challenges faced by Australian businesses and government departments. The governments $1.67 billion cyber security strategy, announced in August, included record funding for the ASD to disrupt foreign cyber criminals and better identify malicious hacks. Loading The reality is that cyber security attacks may well come from foreign actors, Mr Fletcher said. Thereve been attacks before that have been suspected of coming from such sources. And this is a challenge that Australia as a liberal democracy needs to be aware of. However, Labor cyber security spokesman Tim Watts said non-government democratic institutions were slipping through the cracks of the governments policy. Helping people after theyve been the victims of an attack is all well and good, but what is the government doing to prevent these attacks in the first place, to help organisations build their cyber resilience so that they can keep attackers out? he said. Paul Haskell-Dowland, associate professor at Edith Cowan University, said easier access to hacking tools has led to a surge in encryption attacks on networks.

The kinds of tools that you use in these kinds of attacks are readily available in what we call the hidden underground economy, or the black market, he said. Not only does it [the software] come with an instruction manual, and packaged in an inappropriate form, but it will often come with 24/7 technical support and the guarantee. He added that an encryption attack was also a near-perfect crime when it comes to throwing an organisation into chaos. Attackers often destroy the decryption keys to cover their attacks and leave their victims with little chance to recover the locked data. For many smaller organisations, this kind of attack is fatal, he said. Speculation has suggested the attacker could be backed by a nation state  for example Russia, China or North Korea  but Mr Hunt said the publicly-available information didnt allow for any conclusive attribution.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said that the southern border crisis could be fixed if President Joe Biden were to reestablish the immigration policies from the Trump administration.

Biden earlier signed a series of executive orders unraveling the immigration policies that former President Donald Trump had imposed during his term.

"Those policies have undermined the safety of our communities, penalized asylum seekers fleeing violence, and destabilized security across the Western hemisphere," the document read when Biden signed the order, as reported by Western Journal.

Meanwhile, border agents are becoming overwhelmed with the growing number of migrants crossing the border ever since Biden took office.

Kennedy said Biden must listen to Border Patrol agents and go back to what they were doing before he took office, according to a Fox News report.

Kennedy currently sits on the Senate Judiciary and Budget Committees.

"All we have to do is go back to what we were doing before ... President Biden undid everything that the Republican Congress and the Trump administration did," Kennedy was quoted in a report.

He predicted the crisis would be fixed in a week.

READ MORE: Kamala Harris Has No Plans Yet to Visit U.S.-Mexico Border

Border Crisis

Trump has blamed the current administration for the border crisis at the southern border, saying that migrants are coming in from all foreign countries.

"It's a disgrace," Trump was quoted in a USA Today report.

Several Republicans echoed Trump's sentiments after they visited the southern border led by Sen. Ted Cruz.

Border Patrol Agents noted a rise in the number of migrants being apprehended, with 4,200 unaccompanied migrant children being held in short-term holding facilities.

Under the law, the children should have been released to their relatives or sponsors within 72 hours. However, the government has been having problems doing so as the government struggles to find families and sponsors to care for them.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has limited media access at the southern border, as well as nonprofit lawyers conducting oversight, according to an Associated Press report.

Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar has released photos from inside the facilities in Donna and El Paso, Texas, with the aim of drawing attention to the extreme challenges that border agents face in watching so many detained children.

Cuellar earlier said that the government should be taking care of those kids like they are their own kids.

Meanwhile, Biden said he is not making an apology for ending the Trump-era policies, noting it is a violation of international law and "human dignity," according to a Dallas News report.

He added that a more humane approach had been deterred due to Trump's immigration system.

Biden noted that Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas is set to provide 5,000 beds.

The Department of Homeland Security reported last week that illegal crossings are rising to their highest level in two decades.

Mark Morgan, former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Trump administration, said that the Biden administration has inherited a system that worked, according to a Daily Signal report.

READ ALSO: Ted Cruz Slams Biden's Immigration Plan: 'They Don't Make Exceptions for Criminals, Murderers, Rapists'

WATCH: Republicans criticize Biden over border 'crisis' - from AP Archive




The photo shows China-made VT4 main battle tank (MBT) at Pakistan Day Parade

BEIJING, Mar. 29 -- The China-made VT4 main battle tank (MBT) joined the Pakistan Day military parade for the first time in Islamabad on March 25.

According to news from the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, a seven-tank cavalry with the VT4 tank leading three Al-Khalid tanks and three T-80UD tanks spearheaded other mechanical formations during the military parade.

Manufactured by the China North Industries Corp. (NORINCO), the VT4 tank is an export-oriented third-generation main battle tank with a main gun caliber of 125mm. It can launch Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS), high explosive anti-tank cartridge (HEAT) and fragmentation-blast shell, with an armor-piercing capacity of 700mm, which can be augmented to 1,000mm when matched with new-type armor-piercing shells.

The VT4 tank now adopts the China-made power module instead of the one imported from Ukraine used in VT1 tank. Such a substitution of power module has realized a major improvement on the VT4 tank, giving it a maximum speed of 70km per hour.

It is learned that the China-made export-oriented VT-4 MBT made its debut at the opening ceremony of the 10th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition on November 11, 2014. It has been purchased by Thailand, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

In addition, multiple other China-made weapons and equipment also showed in the Pakistan Day military parade as part of the engineering equipment formation, air-defense weapon formation, and strategic equipment formation. The China-made Z-9 helicopter, JF-17 Thunder fighter jet co-developed by China and Pakistan, and K-8 training plane piloted by Pakistan Lion Aerobatic Team also flew during the parade.

Pakistani President Arif Alvi delivered a speech at the military parade, saying that Pakistan is fully capable of defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan wishes for peace, security and development for the whole region and has taken concrete steps toward that goal. He stressed that China is Pakistans true friend on the way to regional peace and development, and thanked the Chinese government and people for providing Pakistan with COVID-19 vaccines.
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NORTH CHARLESTON  After the pandemic put a moratorium on evictions and as police continue a trend toward community-focused programs, experts say one crime-fighting tool faces a national reckoning: anti-crime housing policies.

In cities across the country, police and landlords join forces to address  in different and often controversial ways  high crime rates around rental properties.

In North Charleston, for instance, the narcotics unit keeps track of properties that consistently show up in its investigations. Since mid-2018, officers have reached out to those property owners to let them know whats going on and to demand an end to crime on their premises, Deputy Chief Scott Deckard said.

One letter, sent from a North Charleston sergeant to a real estate company in August 2018, titled the issue in simple terms: "Unceasing Illegal Activity SUBJECT TO FORFEITURE ACTION."

Police outlined the relevant state law, claimed the house was being used for illegal drug trade and warned that if it didnt stop immediately theyd move to seize the property. The words loss of ownership of the property were in bold and underlined.

A follow-up email with a smiley face included a page full of 911 call logs from February 2018 to September 2020, citing issues from follow-ups and warrant services to weapons and drug reports.

The landlord promised to solve the problem and filed eviction paperwork. In court, he testified his tenants hadnt given him any problems and hed like to keep them, but couldnt risk losing his property.

The judge dismissed the case, saying there wasnt enough proof to show that the police calls indicated crime inside the houses four walls. The tenants explanation that police were given the home address when called to a nearby street corner sounded all too common to the court.

As with traffic court and criminal trials, housing courts wont take police reports as fact unless an officer comes to testify about the findings. Since eviction proceedings generally involve the landlord and tenant, officers arent involved in that portion of the process. In fact, Deckard said, the department has seized just one house based on continuous criminal activity since beginning the program in 2018.

The concern is less with homeownership than community safety, Deckard said. Since some houses can become focal points of drug trafficking and violent crime even once a case is resolved or a suspect arrested, police see housing as a way to keep neighbors from continued crime.

Thats understandable, opponents said, but can lead uninformed landlords to act out of desperation.

Theyre kind of outsourcing part of the policing work to people who arent trained to do it, said Adam Protheroe, a litigation attorney with the S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Its ostensibly to keep a place crime-free ... but it can accomplish that by evicting people who arent choosing to be part of that problem.

Prothero said he also worries that de facto anti-crime programs could keep victims and witnesses from reporting crime. While North Charleston focuses its efforts on drug trafficking, other programs like Greenvilles now-canceled crime-free multifamily housing program tackled crime in general by teaching landlords crime-prevention theory alongside crime-based eviction law and environmental safety design.

That program, based on the Mesa (Ariz.) Police Departments groundbreaking 1992 program, hasnt been developed statewide, but has siblings in a handful of other South Carolina cities.

Protheroe said Black residents are disproportionately affected by crime-free programs because police often focus crime-prevention resources on low-income and marginalized neighborhoods.

They penalize people whove been accused of a crime but not convicted, or whove called the police for help, or who just live by a loud spot, Protheroe said. That may not be the intent of the ordinance, but it often does have that effect.

North Charleston, like every other South Carolina city, has yet to find data that supports the concern. But as federal authorities focus judgment on areas with disproportionately high eviction rates among marginalized community members, Prothero hopes Palmetto State cities can find a solution that keeps everyone safe, equally.
Matt Hancock today offered hope for foreign holidays insisting they 'may well' be able to happen this summer.

The Health Secretary said 'the door is not shut' on international travel over the coming months, suggesting it will depend on evidence about vaccine effectiveness on variants.

The comments come after gloomy signs that the ban on non-essential trips could be in place until August, with scientists warning tight borders could be the only way to unlock the country safely.

Meanwhile, Mr Hancock used his appearance on ITV's This Morning with Holly and Phil to express his fondness for his office. The Cabinet minister regularly uses the 'red room' at his home to conduct interviews over Zoom.

Asked about the public reaction to the decor, Mr Hancock said: 'I love my office. I love it.'

Pressed on whether it was an 'angry red', he said: 'No, no, it's like a boudoir, it's soothing. It's just, you know, me and my paperwork.'

On ITV's This Morning, Matt Hancock insisted the 'the door is not shut' on international travel over the coming months

Mr Hancock said the 'biggest problem' the UK faces is from variants, confirming the government is looking at whether a booster vaccine dose will be needed in the Autumn

Mr Hancock used his appearance on ITV's This Morning with Holly and Phil to express his fondness for his office at home

This Morning was being filmed outside to mark the loosening of lockdown in England today

Mr Hancock said the 'biggest problem' the UK faces is from variants, confirming the government is looking at whether a booster vaccine dose will be needed in the Autumn.

'We're also working on a new vaccine that we might have to roll out in the autumn to give people a third dose that will deal with this problem. So we're working on that now,' he said.

Pressed on whether current vaccines work against the South African and Brazilian variants, Mr Hancock said the picture should become clearer 'over the next few weeks'.

'We're not yet sure, but we're doing the science in Porton Down, and watching very closely, and if that all goes well, then we haven't got a problem and then we'll be much more relaxed about international travel. We will know more over the next few weeks,' he said.

Mr Hancock said he had a 'lot of sympathy' for the travel industry, adding: 'We all want to get that going as soon as possible but the most important thing is to protect the recovery here at home, so people can see their loved ones and don't have to go into lockdown again.

'We may get to a position where if you've had your jab, then other countries will say ''you've got to have the jab to come in''. And so we'll make sure everybody can do that'

Mr Hancock suggested there is still a chance foreign holidays can happen this summer.

'There may well be, I wouldn't rule that out. The door is not shut, it's just too early to say, but what we can say with confidence is that the unlocking home is on track,' he said.

The government's roadmap suggested May 17 is the earliest date international travel could resume - but ministers have warned there are no guarantees
The International Criminal Court will rule on Wednesday whether to uphold the acquittal of Ivory Coasts former president Laurent Gbagbo, the first head of state to stand trial at the tribunal.

Gbagbo, 75, and his former youth leader Charles Ble Goude were cleared of crimes against humanity in 2019 over a wave of post-electoral violence in the west African nation more than a decade ago.

The prosecution has appealed against the acquittal and wants a retrial over the bloodshed, when more than 3,000 people were killed after Gbagbo disputed the results of the 2010 vote.

Gbagbo refused to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, the current president, but French troops eventually intervened and Ouattaras loyalists drove Gbagbo from his bunker.

He was then sent in 2011 to the ICC in The Hague.

The judgment will be read out at 3pm (1300 GMT) by the appeals chamber of the Hague-based court, led former ICC president Chile Eboe-Osuji, and including its current chief Piotr Hofmanski, the ICC said in a statement.

Gbagbo has been living in Brussels pending Wednesdays decision but plans to go home if it goes his way, thanks to an olive branch offered by his erstwhile rival.

It was not yet confirmed whether Gbagbo and Ble Goude would be in court for the ruling or attend via videolink due to coronavirus restrictions, an ICC spokesman told AFP.

The verdict will be closely watched in Ivory Coast, where Gbagbos shadow still hangs over a nation that remains mired in political crisis.

Gbagbo was president from 2000 to 2010, a time of turmoil in the worlds top cocoa grower, formerly a haven of peace and prosperity in troubled West Africa.

 Tarnished decision 

His old foe Ouattara ignited fresh unrest last year when he announced he would seek a third term in office  a scheme that critics said sidestepped constitutional limits.

Clashes claimed 87 lives while most of the opposition snubbed the October ballot that Ouattara nevertheless won by a landslide.

But after Ouattara offered to give Gbagbo passports to aid his return, Gbagbos Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party has ended a years-long electoral boycott.

The ICC prosecutions case against Gbagbos acquittal focuses on what it says was a procedural error, when judges in 2019 did not make a proper written judgment but handed down the decision orally.

Prosecution counsel Helen Brady told a hearing this was no harmless procedural irregularity but had tarnished the very essence of the decision.

The prosecution insisted it had presented key elements of proof with 4,610 documents and 96 witnesses interviewed during the trial.

The judgment is meanwhile key for the credibility of the International Criminal Court after a series of high-profile failures and controversies.

Outgoing ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda suffered a series of setbacks including the Gbagbo case and the acquittal on appeal of former DR Congo vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also saw charges of crimes against humanity over electoral bloodshed dropped by Bensouda.

The ICC is the worlds only permanent war crimes tribunal, set up in 2002 to try the worlds worst offences.

But it has been criticised for largely focusing on African suspects to date, while a probe into the Palestinian territories has enraged Israel and the United States.

Bensouda is also under US sanctions after launching a probe into war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.
2021 is a crucial year for climate change and countries have only limited time to act and safeguard the future, WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini told Xinhua news agency in a recent interview. Speaking at an event after the nations plunged in dark to mark the Earth Hour 2021, the head of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) International called for an urgent action to secure the nature positive world and preserve the ecosystems, managing resources by the year 2030 and raising hope for the COP15 biodiversity conference to be held in China.

"This is the time to unite people, to speak up for nature," WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini told Xinhua, adding that 2021 was a super year for nature and stability and world leaders must take decisive actions, particularly on climate deterioration. Governments worldwide must enforce tough policies and draft ambitious plans to tackle the environmental crisis, he warned. Lambertini also linked the pandemic and infectious diseases outbreak having a hazardous impact on human health to the destruction of nature.

2021 is the turning-point to transform our relationship with nature & safeguard our future. More & more world leaders are realizing NOW is the time to act. They are joining 80+ countries endorsing #LeadersPledge4Nature last year. @oneplanetsummit @UNBiodiversity @UNCCD @IPBES pic.twitter.com/qYZnh2BKlo  Marco Lambertini (@WWF_DG) January 11, 2021

BIG thanks to @OneMinuteBriefs and the OMBLES community for being a part of #EarthHour 2021 and shining the spotlight on the things that matter! And congratulations to winner @HaighJacobs for this amazing entry  #TogetherPossible pic.twitter.com/NJDniI20C9  Earth Hour Official (@earthhour) March 28, 2021

"There has been new, shocking evidence about the condition of nature on the planet -- One million species driven to extinction, a two-thirds global decline in wildlife populations in less than 50 years, 90 per cent of fish stocks overfished in the ocean, he said. However, he stressed that the pandemic has aligned focus on protecting the environment in a better way and it has proven that nature conservation is not just an ecological issue. "Because at the end of the day, we understand that we depend on nature more than nature actually depends on us," he stressed.

UN says global warming goals 'not met'

Earlier last month, the UN warned in a report that the world was far from achieving agreed goals to reduce global warming in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. UNs Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Member States meeting for the preparation of the annual UN climate conference COP26 that the countries had remained way off target in staying within the 1.5-degree limit of the Paris Agreement. We need more ambition, more ambition on mitigation, ambition on adaptation, and ambition on finance, Guterres said, describing 2021 as a crucial year to fight against climate change.

The damage that climate change will or could inflict is far greater even than #COVID19  and over a much longer period. We need equitable, inclusive and effective climate policies and ambitious #ClimateAction  @mbachelet at the 2021 Geneva Dialogues  https://t.co/QhISCCJpgj pic.twitter.com/3sp82tyzqS  UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) March 24, 2021

(Image Credit: Twitter/@WWF_DG)
Johannesburg: Rebels fought the Mozambican army for the fifth straight day for control of the strategic northern town of Palma, as reports came in that dozens of civilians have been killed and bodies were littering the streets. The fate of scores of foreign energy workers was also unknown.

Some of the dead had been beheaded, according to Human Rights Watch. An attempt by expatriate workers to flee to safety came under heavy fire, causing many deaths, according to local reports.

The attacks in Palma started on Wednesday, Mozambique time, just hours after the French energy company Total announced that it would resume work outside the town on its huge natural gas project at Afungi, near the north-eastern border with Tanzania. Earlier rebel attacks prompted Total in January to suspend work on the project to extract gas from offshore sites.

The multibillion-dollar gas development is the single biggest investment in Africa.
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Mascot Kalu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturdays Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency bye-election, said he has accepted the result of the poll.

Mr Kalu came a distant second with 3,674 votes to trail behind the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chimaobi Ebisike, who polled 10,592 to emerge winner of the exercise.

The Returning Officer, Fidelis Okpata, announced the result of the poll at about midnight on Saturday.

The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Destiny Nwagwu, polled 1,584 to occupy the third position.

Reaction

Reacting to the outcome of the poll, Mr Kalu ruled out legal action to challenge the result but noted that he had enough evidence to do so.

In a message he circulated to reporters in Abia, he stated: Even though we have enough evidence to reclaim our mandate, we wont be going to court.

This is to allow the winner to concentrate and provide good representation and infrastructure to the good people of Aba.

Once again, I thank the Aba people for coming out en masse to vote for the APC and I congratulate the winner, Chimaobi Ebisike and PDP.

It is not because they won but because it is gentlemanly to do so.

Mr Kalu, who is the younger brother of the Chief Whip of the Senate and former Abia governor, Orji Kalu, decried the level of thuggery, violence and rigging that allegedly characterised the poll.

He stated that the unfortunate development called for a deeper review of our electoral laws.

Every country is peculiar to its people. Nigerians should support the electoral law being amended because it will help us to strengthen our democracy.

The Electoral Act, as it is, renders the security agencies with arms weak in the face of violence at the polls and therefore needs a revisit, Mr Kalu added.

He stated that the election was over, and appealed to APC members and his supporters to accept the outcome of the election in good faith.

While the opposition wanted the election at all cost, we chose life over bloodshed and, therefore, won lives and lost the polls. To us, that was a greater victory, he said.

The Independent National Electoral Commission conducted a bye-election in the constituency to replace the late representative, Prestige Ossy, who died in Germany in February.

(NAN)
Scotlands economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic over the next two years could outpace the UK average, a forecast from KPMG has suggested.

Figures estimate the countrys economy took a 9.6% hit in 2020 with the impact felt in almost every sector, while across the UK there was a drop in GDP of 9.9%.

But the latest best-case analysis from KPMG suggests a continuing successful vaccine rollout and a potential post-restrictions consumer bounce could result in Scotland recording annual GDP growth in 2021 of up to 5.5%, and 4.6% UK-wide.

This would grow again to 5.8% in 2022, compared with 5.6% across the UK.

The figures dont account for the many jobs and valued businesses that may be lost forever as the pandemic rumbles on Catherine Burnet, KPMG

Catherine Burnet, KPMGs regional chairwoman in Scotland, said: Our latest economic forecasting undoubtedly offers some optimism, but with a big slice of caution.

While its reassuring to see that GDP could be completely back to pre-Covid levels of growth within two years, the figures dont account for the many jobs and valued businesses that may be lost forever as the pandemic rumbles on.

Last year we warned of a potential two-speed recovery with some regions of Scotland suffering far harder than others. As the picture has become clearer, were finding that theres less of a geographical division and more of a sector-by-sector imbalance.

While the countrys already flourishing tech, biotech and medical industries have continued to grow and attract international investment, theres no escaping from the devastation that Covid has created in hospitality, retail and travel and tourism.

The Scottish Governments road map out of restrictions, coupled with our latest economic modelling and the Cop26 summit in Glasgow this November, offer real hope that we have an opportunity to build back and regain lost ground with a focus on a truly sustainable, green recovery.

But to achieve this well need business and political leaders to work more collaboratively than ever before on a strategy that ensures Scotlands long-term success.

GMB Scotland secretary Gary Smith said: Its a concern when forecasts for Scotlands economic future factor a green recovery that doesnt exist and for which there is no plan whatsoever.

Scotland has one of the biggest offshore wind sectors in the world but almost no jobs in the manufacturing and fabrication that supports it, we export those green jobs to the rest of the world.

In our biggest city Glasgow, which will host Cop26, we have an environmental crisis in cleansing and refuse, but instead of investing in more jobs to tackle it the council signed off another cuts budget.

Optimism isnt warranted when you look at whats actually happening, and without a proper jobs plan and investment strategy the outcome wont be recovery, it will be failure.
Burma The Long History of Myanmars Civil Disobedience Movement

Young people in Yangon call to boycott military products and services in February.

It was just two days after the juntas Feb.1 coup that the civil disobedience movement (CDM) started in Myanmar. Refusing to work under military rule, doctors left their hospitals, railways staff stayed home and tellers avoided their counters.

People from all walks of life have since joined civil servants in a wider CDM by saying no to products and services from military-owned businesses. They have boycotted products and services from military-owned businesses. They have boycotted the state lottery. They stopped putting advertisements and death notices in state-run newspapers. And they are withdrawing their savings from government and military-owned banks. All of this is being done to starve the military regime of income.

But the current CDM is not the first in Myanmars history. Myanmar people also rose in revolt against oppressive British colonial rule in the 1920s by saying no.

They did not pay tax to the colonial government. They refused to obey its orders. They didnt bid for fishing, slaughterhouse and liquor licenses. They did not appear in court when they were prosecuted. And when they were forcibly taken to court they refused to answer the judge.

Buu (the Burmese word for No) associations mushroomed in towns across the country. The English phrase non-cooperation became popular even among illiterate farmers in rural parts of the country.

Just as people today are boycotting the beer, cigarettes and telecom services owned by the military, people in the 1920s boycotted imported products or burned them in protest at colonial rule. They also stopped having western hairstyles.

Buu associations first emerged in Hinthada in Ayeyarwady Region, before spreading to Shwebo and Monywa in central Myanmar and Dawei in southern Myanmar. The nationalist Buddhist monk U Ottama, the first person to be imprisoned in colonial Myanmar for political activities against British rule, travelled through southern Myanmar urging the people not to pay the colonists taxes.

The colonial government declared Buu associations to be unlawful associations and used force to disband them. But it took the British four years to quash the resistance movement and they had to impose martial law.

I have seen those who refused to pay taxes arrested en masse and subjected to various forms of tortures such as shackling them under the sun. I have seen mass arrests of leaders who were handcuffed and driven as if they were cattle, wrote Dawei native U Ba Swe, who would later become the second prime minister of Myanmar in 1956.

Today, civil servants refusing to work under the military regime are also facing repression. The regime has threatened striking government employees with suspensions, dismissals and eviction from staff quarters, but the civil servants are continuing their strike. This is having a serious impact on the regimes administrative abilities.

The Myanmar people of today are showing greater commitment than their predecessors in the 1920s. They are refusing to sell food to police and soldiers, an unprecedented event in Myanmar.

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Travellers enter the check-in area at the departure hall of Changi International Airport in Singapore on March 15, 2021. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 23 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of noon on Saturday (27 March), taking the country's total case count to 60,288.

Among them is one new community case.

The remaining 22 new cases are imported, with the cases being already put on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore.

The sole case in the community, who is currently unlinked, is a 48-year-old female Singapore permanent resident who works as a part-time food packer at Sheera Pte Ltd (5 Kaki Bukit Road 1). Her job does not entail interaction with customers.

She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she took a COVID-19 pre-departure test on 25 March in preparation for a trip to India. Her test result came back positive on 26 March, and she was conveyed via ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

The MOH said that she had earlier travelled to India in March 2020, and returned to Singapore on 11 December that year. She served SHN at a dedicated facility until 25 December and her test taken on 21 December during SHN was negative for COVID-19.

Another test conducted by the National Public Health Laboratory on 26 March was negative for COVID-19 infection, and her serological test result has come back positive. "She could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection, but given that we are not able to definitively conclude when she had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure," the ministry said.

Details of imported cases

Among the 22 imported cases:

One is a Singaporean and two permanent residents who returned from India and Kazakhstan.



The 49-year-old male Singaporean, who returned to Singapore from Kazakhstan on 11 March, served SHN at a dedicated facility until 25 March. "His on-arrival swab done on 11 March was negative for COVID-19, as was his test taken on 24 March during SHN. He developed a cough on the night of 24 March while serving SHN but did not report his symptom and went home on 25 March after his SHN ended," the MOH said.



On 26 March, he developed a fever and headache and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner's clinic, where he was tested for COVID-19. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day and he was conveyed to NCID.



Three are dependants pass holders who arrived from the Philippines, South Africa and the US.

Three are students pass holders who arrived from India and Indonesia.

One is a work pass holder who arrived from India.

12 are work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and the Philippines, of whom four are foreign domestic workers.

Overall, the ministry said, the number of new cases in the community has increased from none in the week before to two cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from none in the week before to two cases in the past week.

Story continues

99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU

With 10 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Saturday, 60,113 cases  or 99.7 per cent of the total  have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 32 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while one of them is in the intensive care unit.

A total of 113 patients  with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive  are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from the 30 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

Among the 104 confirmed cases reported from 21 to 27 March, 38 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 46 have tested negative, and 20 serology test results are pending.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

More Singapore stories:

Singapore received 200,000 Sinovac doses; no 'coercion' or 'external influence' involved

No need for COVID antibodies tests for Singapore residents after vaccination: MOH official

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COVID-19: Singapore opens vaccination bookings to those aged 45 to 59

From 5 April, work-from-home no longer default; more allowed back at workplaces

Attendees allowed at marriage solemnisations, receptions to be raised to 250 with COVID-19 testing
Everyone has the right to live, to be free, and to feel safe. No one should be held in slavery for any reason. The buying and selling of human beings should be prevented at all times.

by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal

A law is valuable, not because it is a law, but because there is right in it. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

I was interested in a news report in the online version of the Daily News of 27 March which reported that The Parliamentary Sub-Committee appointed to formulate a methodology to include Law as a subject in the school curriculum has decided to submit its report to the Consultative Committee in two months. The report went on to say that the thinking was that law may be taught systematically in schools and not as a composite subject, which further piqued my interest. The systematic introduction of the concept of law to the student makes eminent sense firstly, in preparing the student to be a useful law-abiding citizen and to introduce him or her to future communal discourse in the role of life ahead. Of course, one has to wait for the contents of the report to be released to learn exactly what is intended but the very idea that the thought has crossed the minds of the legislative branch of government is in itself encouraging, particularly as the minister in charge of education in sri Lanka is one of the most erudite and illustrious legal scholars who could guide the school curricula in the right direction.

In a sense, law related subjects such as civics (in elementary and secondary schools) and government (at a more advanced level) have already been included in school curricula. However, these courses are narrowly relegated to a basic understanding of the relationship between the government and the governed. The primary purpose of learning the relevance of law as an integral element of human life is to grasp a sense of fairness and of individual rights from a global perspective. Children at an appropriate age should be exposed to the global perspective of humanity which transcend local boundaries of racial, religious, and ethnic boundaries. In this context, learning in schools should be law-related and should not be focused on making amateur lawyers of children and adolescents. It should be introduced in a manner devoid of fear, reprisal or consequential punitive action and be couched in simple language that is comprehensible to the impressionable mind, inculcating a sense of universality that is calculated to effectively preclude the prejudices wrought by feelings of supremacy prevalent in the adult world of division by cast, religion, wealth, race, or creed and exclusive focus on ones family, local community, and friends. The fundamental premise underlying the introduction of law in schools should comport with what Montesquieu said:  A truly virtuous man would come to the aid of the most distant stranger as quickly as to his own friend. If men were perfectly virtuous, they wouldnt have friends. Of course, the latter sentence should be viewed within the reality that there is no such thing as a perfectly virtuous world.

Someone once said that the law is the queen of humanities. For a start, the initial understanding of law by a child could be grounded on the value of human rights upon which the learning of the law in adult life in the law school, be it in the law of obligations in private and public law or criminal law are pursued. A good example for a starter is the childrens version of the Universal Declaration of human rights, of which some relevant principles are given below which could form the basic of areas of learning:  All human beings are born free and equal. You are worth the same and have the same rights as anyone else. You are born with the ability to think and to know right from wrong and should act toward others in a spirit of friendliness. Everyone should have all the rights and freedoms in this statement, no matter what race, sex, or color he or she may be. It shouldnt matter where you were born, what language you speak, what religion you are, what political opinions you have, or whether youre rich or poor. Everyone should have all of the rights equally.

Everyone has the right to live, to be free, and to feel safe. No one should be held in slavery for any reason. The buying and selling of human beings should be prevented at all times. Everyone has the right to be accepted everywhere as a person, according to law. You have the right to be treated equally by the law, and to have the same protection under the law as anyone else. Everyone should have protection from being treated in ways that go against this document, and from having anyone cause others to go against the rights in this document. If your rights under the law are violated, you should have the right to fair and skillful judges who will see that justice is done.

No one shall be punished for anything that was not illegal when it happened. Nor can anyone be given a greater punishment than the one that applied when the crime was committed. No one has the right to butt-in to your privacy, home, or mail, or attack your honesty and self-respect for no good reason. Everyone has the right to have the law protect him or her against all such meddling or attacks. Within any country you have the right to go and live where you want. You have the right to leave any country, including your own, and return to it when you want. Everyone has the right to seek shelter from harassment in another country.

This right does not apply in cases where the person has done something against the law that has nothing to do with politics, or when she or he has done something that is against what the United Nations is all about.

You have the right to believe the things you want to believe, to have ideas about right and wrong, and to believe in any religion you want. This includes the right to change your religion if you want, and to practice it without anybody interfering. You have the right to tell people how you feel about things without being told that you have to keep quiet. You have the right to read the newspaper or listen to the radio without someone trying to stop you, no matter where you live. Finally, you have the right to print your opinions in a newspaper or magazine and send them anywhere without having someone try to stop you. You have the right to gather peacefully with people, and to be with anyone you want. No one can force you to join or belong to any group.

The above-mentioned principles are just some examples that could be built-on through essays and reports that children could write, which would enable them to proceed to greater maturity in their academic journey through secondary school and onwards. It must also be mentioned that an essential supplement to considering the introduction of law in a school curriculum is the need to strengthen the teaching of language. As Lord Denning, Judge and Master of the Rolls said in 1979:  To succeed in the profession of law, you must seek to cultivate command of language. Words are the lawyers tools of trade. Children are at the foundation stage of language building.

Finally, it is assumed that the members of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee preparing the Report would have considered the teleological aspects of introducing the teaching of law in schools. In other words, what would the benefit be of such an initiative? One benefit could be awareness of fairness that the basic tenets of universal law inculcated in children that would dispel and effectively preclude any social prejudices handed down by the conventional wisdom of a traditionally purblind social structure. One could also justifiably expect that an introduction to justice and the right thing to do would lead incipient minds to be more easily accustomed to eschewing petty differences of caste, creed, and race as well as other prejudices of social inequality. A stronger sense of community could be established, and more recognition could be given to the dignity and equality of the value of labour. In his book Utopia for Realists Rutger Bregman says that children are infused with a huge dose of narcissism by parents of the present day and that in 1950 a survey taken revealed that only 10% of children thought they were special and entitled and that this figure was 80% in 2000. At least this could be avoided.
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."

The UK government is reportedly set to tear up plans to ban online adverts promoting food high in fat, sugar and salt.

A report from The Sun newspaper said on Friday the proposals, announced last year, are to be dropped.

In November, the UK government put its proposals out to consultation with industry and other stakeholders. The consultation ran to 22 December and government officials have been looking at the feedback received.

Approached by just-food, the UKs Department of Health and Social Care declined to comment. It is understood the department plans to publish the findings of the consultation shortly, although it is unclear when that could be.

Industry bodies have criticised the proposals. In November, UK manufacturers, the foodservice sector and advertisers wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, arguing the plans would disproportionately impact small- and medium-sized businesses.



In the letter, the industry representatives agreed products high in fat, salt or sugar should not be targeted at children but argued advertisers have sophisticated online tools  to aim their advertisements at adult audiences.

They also expressed concern the proposals would police how producers describe their products on their own websites and social media channels, despite previous assurances that the Government had no interest in doing this.

In response to The Suns report, which cited what the newspaper called Whitehall insiders, UK trade body The Food and Drink Federation declined to comment.

Health professionals have expressed concern at the prospect of the Government reversing its plans.

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Dr Emma Boyland, senior lecturer in appetite and obesity at the University of Liverpool, said such a move would be hugely disappointing.

Hugely disappointing if UK Govt. are ditching the planned online food marketing ban. Impact assessments that force thinking into a simple caloric value are so problematic in this space, there is so much more to consider (norms, cultural values, meal patterning, brand loyalty)  Dr. Emma Boyland (@EmmaBoyland) March 28, 2021

Adam Briggs, senior policy fellow at UK charity The Health Foundation, tweeted: If this is true, it is so disappointingly short-sighted.

The UK, meanwhile, today announced the creation of a new unit to focus on public health issues including obesity once current agency Public Health England is dismantled.

The Office for Health Promotion, which will sit within the UKs Department of Health and Social Care, will lead national efforts to improve and level up the health of the nation by tackling obesity, improving mental health and promoting physical activity, the Government said.

Johnson said: The new Office for Health Promotion will be crucial in tackling the causes, not just the symptoms, of poor health and improving prevention of illnesses and disease. Covid-19 has demonstrated the importance of physical health in our ability to tackle such illnesses, and we must continue to help people to lead healthy lives so that we can all better prevent and fight illnesses.

Public Health England will cease operations later this year. The agency has faced criticism in UK government circles for its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
POLICE in Raffingora, Saturday, disrupted an MDC Alliance meeting before arresting three of the opposition party's officials for convening a gathering in violation of Covid-19 prevention regulations.

The law enforcement agents stormed an internal executive meeting of the Zvimba North MDC Alliance constituency coordinating committee held at one of the opposition party members' home and arrested the trio.

The MDC Alliance provincial spokesperson, Blessing Mandava confirmed the arrest to NewZimbabwe.com.

"Police from Raffingora dressed in plain clothes descended on the residence of one of our aspiring councillors, where a constituency meeting was underway, and arrested three officials.

"These are provincial party building team leader for Zvimba North Emmanuel Chinanzvavana, deputy chairperson Daniel Hove and organising secretary Aiden Wairesi," Mandava said.

"The trio faces charges of violating the Covid-19 lockdown regulations by convening a party meeting."

Mandava alleged police used force to effect arrests resulting in the injury of some MDC Alliance members, including elderly women who had to later seek medical attention.

The Zvimba North trio is expected to appear at the Chinhoyi Magistrate's Court this Monday.

Added Mandava; "It is quite evident the law is being applied selectively to shut out the democratic space and give the regime ample space to manoeuver without any hindrance."

He also accused the police of taking sides with the ruling Zanu PF which is holding meetings as it wished, but its members are not barred for violating Covid-19 restrictions.

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"The law cannot choose to be blind in some instances while punishing others at the same time. We stand guided by the national Constitution, which gives us unequivocal power to hold our party meetings and shall continue to convene citizens for change as long as we remain slaves in our native land."

However, for Chinanzvavana, he will be back in the dock Monday, in as many weeks, following his earlier arrest this year and appearing in court facing similar charges of violating Covid-19 regulations. He is part of 12 MDC Alliance members who were arrested in Chinhoyi at the party's office where they were holding a provincial coordinating meeting.

The court is expected to hand ruling on that matter Wednesday after the dozen applied for refusal of further remand.
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
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Lara Trump Joins Fox News, Not Ruling Out Senate Run

Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump and senior adviser to his reelection campaign, has joined Fox News as a contributor but hasnt ruled out the possibility of running for the Senate.

Im so excited, first of all, to be joining the Fox family, Lara Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends Monday morning.

I sort of feel like Ive been an unofficial member of the team for so long. You guys knowit was kind of a jokeover the past five years, I would come there so often that the security guards were like, Maybe we should just give you a key.'

Lara Trump was formerly a television producer. She married Eric Trump in 2014, and their two children were born in 2017 and 2019.

She told co-host Steve Doocy that she is still considering running for the Senate representing North Carolina.

Well, Fox has been very generous with me, and they have said, look, if thats something that you ultimately decide to do, theyre going to work with me on that front and make sure that everythingall the rules are followed, and we do everything properly.

So thank you to the Fox team for allowing me to have, you know, the possibility that thats in the future, so I still havent officially made a decision. But hopefully sometime soon, she added.

Lara Trump said she grew up in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, and her family still lives there. She moved to New York 14 years ago, and thats when she met Eric Trump.

Eric and Lara Trump at President Donald Trumps 2020 reelection event in Orlando, Fla., on June 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

In 2016, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said he wouldnt run for reelection in 2022. Burr voted in favor of convicting Trump in the Senate impeachment trial.

North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley told The Epoch Times that Lara Trump would be the candidate to beat if she decided to run. Many Trump insiders and pollsters share that view.

In her first official appearance on Monday, Lara Trump criticized the Biden administrations border policy as ridiculous, unacceptable, and total hypocrisy.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation

Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities

Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow

2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik

Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center

"Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans

Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel

Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna

Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations

US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies

Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week

Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection

Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement

Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues

Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

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Syracuse, N.Y.  A man stabbed another man in the chest Monday at the Skyline Apartments in Syracuse.

Matthew Derby, 32, has been charged with assaulting Dwayne Hardy, 28, outside 753 James St.

The stabbing happened while the two men argued outside one of the buildings back entrances, said Sgt. Matthew Malinowski, Syracuse Police Department spokesman.

The stabbing was reported at 11:26 a.m. Along with police, American Medical Response and the Syracuse Fire Department responded to the scene.

Hardy, a Skyline resident, was rushed to Upstate University Hospital. Hes expected to survive, Malinowski said.

Derby was arrested shortly after the stabbing and charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor. Hes being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center while he waits to be arraigned, custody records show.

The stabbing happened less than two weeks after Connie Tuori, 93, was found slain in her 12th-floor apartment. Police have charged Victoria Afet, 23, of Syracuse, with murdering Tuori.

READ MORE: Inside the Skyline murder: A tale of arrests, freedom and the heartbreaking death of an elderly woman

Skyline Apartments, once a luxury apartment building, is now squalid and plagued by crime. Police have been called to the building more than 527 times since Sept. 1  an average of almost three calls a day.

Tuori, a world traveler and retired teacher, was found dead in her apartment on St. Patricks Day.

Officers believe Tuori had been dead for weeks. Surveillance camera footage recorded Afet, the woman accused of killing Tuori, following the elderly woman into her apartment on Feb. 26, police wrote in a felony complaint.

After Turois death, security footage showed people coming and going from her apartment as she lay dead inside, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has said.

Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.

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The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance research collaboration and knowledge sharing in technology, manufacturing, and education across borders.

The partnership will see GMIS and Pitt, in particular its Swanson School of Engineering, collaborate to explore opportunities to encourage research and development in manufacturing, develop academic papers, and facilitate knowledge exchange between different universities and educational institutes worldwide. The partnership aims to foster cross-sector collaboration through academic research and expertise to address the industry's challenges.

Dr David Vorp, the Swanson Schools John A. Swanson Professor of Bioengineering and Associate Dean for Research, and Namir Hourani, Managing Director of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) signed the MoU. The partnership is designed to further the two organisations shared objectives to drive sustainable innovation that will help reshape the global manufacturing landscape, serving economies, industry, and civil society better.

Commenting on the partnership, Namir Hourani, Managing Director of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), said: We are pleased to sign the MoU with the University of Pittsburgh as we continue to rollout long-term partnerships with world-class, research-focused universities from all over the world. These partnerships play a very important role within our ecosystem and contribute to multiple activities that run alongside the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit.

The city of Pittsburgh is a major centre for technological innovation and advanced manufacturing in the United States and across the world, and this partnership will provide a platform for us to jointly showcase best practices from the city on the world stage.

James R. Martin II, U.S. Steel Dean of Pitts Swanson School of Engineering, said: The University of Pittsburgh is indeed excited to be a global academic partner with GMIS, and reflects Pittsburghs commitment to excellence in academics, research, and sustainability.

Pittsburgh represents the intersection of Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0, as indicated when Worth magazine recently named it as the nations second-most resilient city. Pittsburgh was the burning heart of the Second Industrial Revolution, and the past three decades of re-invention have shown how our region has once again established itself as the nexus for creating new knowledge that improves the human condition. And as we celebrate the 175th year of engineering education at Pitt in 2021, the Swanson School is proud to help lead the way in research, academics, and cultural competency,

The University of Pittsburgh will join the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) in the development of its Leadership Programme which was announced at #GMIS2020 and focuses on shaping future global leaders to prioritise advancing humanity and promoting global prosperity. Together with the University of Pittsburghs Swanson School of Engineering, the GMIS platform will work towards developing future leaders that can set their organisations on the path to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Swanson School will be instrumental in supporting with the research, developing the curriculum, engaging with stakeholders, implementing the programmes, and supporting in creating awareness of for the programme amongst relevant institutions all over the world.

Dr. David Vorp, the Swanson Schools John A. Swanson Professor of Bioengineering and Associate Dean for Research, added: The integration of sustainable industrial development in the mission for GMIS sets a well-charted path for our partnership. Pitt has endeavoured to be a university leader in sustainable innovation, and at the Swanson School, our faculty and students are exploring new materials, advanced manufacturing, and tools that have the potential to improve the triple bottom line  social, environmental, and economic  for industry around the world. We are excited to join the GMIS ecosystem as a global academic partner and to be able to share the city of Pittsburghs success stories and innovations on the world stage of industrial and manufacturing excellence.--TradeArabia News Service
First Onsite provides commercial restoration and reconstruction services across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. They offer services in major metropolitan areas with 80+ offices. Jeff Johnson, First Onsite Global CEO commented. This new unified company and shared purpose - helping our clients Restore, Rebuild, and Rise - fuels collaboration, keeps us rowing in the same direction, and gives team members a greater sense of belonging.

First Onsite Restoration unites seven leading restoration companies in the U.S. under one brand name. The leading independent North American disaster restoration services company, provides remediation, restoration, and reconstruction services nationwide, and for the U.S. large loss and commercial market. On March 29, 2021, multiple companies come together under one brand name. As a unified brand, they will be equipped with 80+ branches across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, over 2,200 team members, and over 70 years of combined experience. The name change does not affect current clients nor projects already in progress. It enhances the service lines and response times for clients and communities in North America. The new brand effort combines two companies in Canada and seven restoration companies in the U.S. including Interstate Restoration, Interstate Hawaii, Super Restoration, Perfection Property Restoration, Catco, Rolyn, and Trilink.

Jeff Johnson, First Onsite Global CEO commented. This new unified company and shared purpose - helping our clients Restore, Rebuild, and Rise - fuels collaboration, keeps us rowing in the same direction, and gives team members a greater sense of belonging. This is all part of our vision: to provide an exceptional experience for our team and clients. When we work together and combine the depth of expertise from all the legacy companies under one family, we're unstoppable. What remains unchanged is the family work ethic and team culture that holds us accountable to our clients and one another. At the end of the day, we lead with the heart first.`` Johnson has led the unification efforts over the past two years with several acquisitions and a successful recapitalization effort boosting the company's position in the restoration and reconstruction industry. The complexity and logistical magnitude our teams work within require that we invest deeply into all the resources necessary to respond to our clients needs quickly and consistently. Including the ability to scale quickly on equipment, safety, and technological decisions. This, combined with the empathy and care we bring to each job, provides an experience our clients never forget.  Mr. Johnson explained.

The genesis of this name change and brand collaboration was developed over many months of discussions, research, and interviews with internal employees and external stakeholders. This process has allowed us to lead within the industry and serve new and existing clients based on what we know matters most. Being the first phone call our clients make immediately after an unplanned event requires a larger commitment, the ability to mobilize quickly. We are stronger, smarter, and more valuable to our clients than ever before through this unified purpose. States Stacy Mazur, CEO, USA. Mr. Mazur founded Interstate Restoration 23 years ago and will remain CEO in the U.S.

The joint effort of each legacy company throughout the branding journey has held a magnifying glass up to each operation gaining clarity on the best practices, strengths, and purpose that can be collectively shared as we move forward. We are harmonizing the most valuable aspects and building the First Onsite brand from the inside out. Says Jenny Vandehey, Chief Brand Officer. Over the course of 2021 - 2022, there are several initiatives set in motion that contribute to our purpose, vision, and values. These encompass all departments from IT on technology solutions developing a unified and custom-built operating platform that team members from across the organization are involved in, to Human Resources in maintaining, attracting, and retaining top talent in the industry. Vandehey offered.

First Onsite provides commercial restoration and reconstruction services across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. They offer services in major metropolitan areas with 80+ offices. They manage risk and resiliency by upholding safety as the most important part of their commitment. This includes high-risk situations due to climate change, natural disasters, and events.

About First Onsite - North Americas Trusted Leader in Property Restoration

First Onsite Restoration is the largest independent North American disaster restoration services provider, providing remediation, restoration, and reconstruction services nationwide, and for the U.S. large loss and commercial market. First Onsite offers more than 2,200 employees, 80+ offices across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, and a combined 70+ years of industry-leading experience and expertise with a commitment to customer service. First Onsite proudly serves the commercial, municipal, and industrial sectors. First Onsite is a wholly-owned subsidiary of FirstService Corporation.

Media Contact:

Maureen Russell

mkr@maureenrussell.com

303-929-2711
Tour operators are appealing for special passes to save the industry from collapse barely three days after President Uhuru Kenyatta locked down five counties to contain coronavirus infections in the country.

Under the Kenya Tourism Federation, an association of all tourism players including air operators, hotelkeepers and caterers, travel agents and hotel owners, the stakeholders want the cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government Dr Fred Matiang'i and his Tourim and Wildlife counterpart Najib Balala to allow them to have special passes for tourists to save the industry that is reeling from the pandemic.

KTF chairman Mr Mohammed Hersi in a statement Sunday said the containment measures were announced with very little lead time, adding that there are visitors already in the country with others expected to arrive over the next few days and weeks for confirmed safaris and tours.

"The recent containment measures have thrown the entire industry into disarray," said Mr Hersi in the statement.

He added that the curtailed movement out of the five counties under lockdown including Kenya's main hub, Nairobi, will adversely impact on tourist movement across the country.

Complete safaris

"Tourist transportation is by way of Tourist Service Vehicles (TSV) which are very distinct from the PSV used for matatu operations. Tourist movements should be accorded special consideration with all tourists currently in the country being facilitated and allowed to complete their safaris as planned. This can be clearly monitored and allowed for those official and accredited members of Kenya Association of Tourism Operators," said Mr Hersi.

Other proposals include giving special considerations for future bookings and allowing the movement of tourists using commercial scheduled domestic air services connecting passengers to various tourist destinations to safeguard the travel, tourism and hospitality establishment.

The operators are also proposing priority vaccination to be given to the tourism, travel and hospitality frontline workers.

The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport remains open to international travelers, but without the ability to leave Nairobi, few tourists would opt to come to Kenya.

The federation requested that international guests possessing a PCR Covid19 negative certificate secured 96 hours prior to arrival should be allowed to tour the country both by road and flight.

"We also propose to use the health passport worldwide system which is an electronic portal for authenticating the Covid-19 status of the tourists during their stay in Kenya, for purposes of ensuring and maintaining test results integrity," he said.

Domestic tourism

Mr Hersi said domestic tourism has offered an invaluable lifeline to most establishments during the slow return of international tourists.

"Allow domestic tourists who provide negative Rapid Antigen tests taken within 96 hours to freely access tourist destinations for purposes of taking their holidays. The Antigen test for local travelers is a quick test that will help us enable travel to resume without throwing caution to the wind. It will also help the government get more tests done per day," he urged.

The tests, Mr Hersi said, can support continued travel while ensuring only those with negative results leave the five counties currently under lockdown.

The federation requested pubs and restaurants to continue offering limited in-services alongside take-away services within the stipulated protocols and physical distancing in order to mitigate losses through expiry and dead stock.

"As tourism industry it was a prerequisite for our staff to be tested to be allowed to resume operations. Many of our establishments from hotels, travels agents and tour companies have been carrying out random Covid-19 tests amongst their workforce. Positivity rate amongst the tested staff is less than 2 percent which is far lower than even the World Health Organisation average let alone our national average," he added.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Coronavirus Travel 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.

Containment measures

The federation is also asking the government to consider the specific challenges the sector is facing and reconsider some of the current containment measures to enable the tourism industry to effectively play its role as one of the key economic pillars and a major foreign exchange earner for Kenya.

"While we point out the pain areas we are also offering our advice as a way forward based on our many years of experience in this business our core mandate is advocacy for enabling policies to grow, protect and sustain the tourism sector," Mr Hersi added.

The tourism industry is a major contributor to Kenya's economy, accounting for 8.8 percent of GDP.

In 2019, the sector employed an estimated 1,297,000 people and contributed approximately Sh296 billion to the exchequer.
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SEATTLE (AP)  A coalition of Northwest tribal leaders calling on President Joe Biden and Congress on Thursday to remove four massive dams on the Snake River to help restore salmon runs.

In a letter Thursday to the administration and to members of Congress from Idaho, Oregon and Washington, the members of the Northwest Tribal Salmon Alliance called the potential extinction of the salmon a moral failure of the highest order.





. . .
That release could not be found.
A doctoral student has identified a long-overlooked pattern in how plants evolved their equivalent of lungs -- tiny pores on the surfaces of leaves called stomata. Using specialized imaging techniques and a plant species not often found in laboratories, researchers say this discovery reveals a key difference in the evolution of plants that live on land versus those that can grow in water.

"I felt this is really interesting, this was a big surprise to me. I remember well that after observation in the microscope room on the basement floor, I rushed up the stairs to tell Dr. Koga about my discovery," recalled first-year doctoral student Yuki Doll, studying in the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science under the supervision of Assistant Professor Hiroyuki Koga.

"Of course, I and any scientist can see that the stomata are different, but it is easy for us to just ignore it, not sense any pattern. When I heard about Doll-kun's discovery, I was also very excited and discussed with him that we should delve into this subject," remarked Koga. (Kun is the Japanese honorific suffix attached to junior men's names.)

When stomata are open, carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapor can move in and out of the leaf for photosynthesis and respiration. Artificially manipulating the number of stomata is one potential way to keep crops healthy in a changing climate.

The UTokyo team was studying multiple types of plants in the genus Callitriche, which includes both terrestrial and aquatic species.

"Callitriche is an interesting but minor group of plants and we are the only ones in the world using them for developmental biological research," said Koga.

Recalling his first experiences examining the plants, Doll said, "When I started to analyze stomata distribution patterns in aquatic Callitriche, I felt that the arrangement of the stomata are different than what I had been taught as an undergrad in the common lab species Arabidopsis. I had the impression that this strange pattern must be the case for all Callitriche, but I thought, that's OK, Arabidopsis and Callitriche are from very different evolutionary lineages, so it's natural for them to be different. Then I analyzed a terrestrial species of Callitriche and I saw it looked much more like Arabidopsis."

Specifically, Doll noticed that stomata and the cells surrounding them on the surface of aquatic plants' leaves were much more uniform than the variable cell sizes on the terrestrial plants' leaves.

This pattern that two evolutionarily closely related plant species had such different patterns of stomata development hinted at the possibility that their living conditions -- on land or in water -- might regulate stomatal development.

Koga and other lab members had previously perfected a method to visualize gene activity in every individual cell of intact, whole plant leaves. The technique of whole-mount fluorescence in situ hybridization is not new, but it is difficult and unusual to use those molecular biology tools without cutting a plant into ultrathin slices.

The images from terrestrial and aquatic Callitriche leaves confirmed that the plants used the same two genes to develop their stomata, but the genes were active at different times.

In almost all plants, the gene SPEECHLESS promotes growth and division of a group of cells on the surfaces of newly forming leaves. Eventually, the gene MUTE becomes active in these cells and blocks SPEECHLESS, causing these cells to stop dividing and then differentiate to stomata. By binding artificial fluorescent tags to the two genes, researchers could see in single-cell resolution when SPEECHLESS is suppressed and MUTE becomes active.

In terrestrial Callitriche, researchers saw MUTE expressed in cells of all different ages. MUTE was much more uniformly expressed only in older cells of aquatic species, which seemed to skip the division stage and have a coordinated delay to wait until late in leaf development to activate MUTE.

Researchers suspect that aquatic species evolved to delay stomatal formation to wait and sense if this new leaf will be fully submerged or if it will be above the water line. Gas exchange is less efficient under water, so submerged leaves generally have fewer stomata than leaves in air.

The discovery is exciting for evolutionary biologists interested in the relationship between environmental pressures and evolutionary genetics, but is also relevant for the future of growing crops in changing or unpredictable environments.

"The usual assumption is that closely related species have similar stomata development patterns, but our key finding is that this is not the case," said Koga.

Instead, the researchers say their new results show that a species' living environment is the important evolutionary force selecting its stomata development pattern, not just the species' genetic ancestry.

By understanding the full genetic pathway that leads to flexible control of SPEECHLESS and MUTE expression between species, scientists may be able to predict which evolutionary lineages of crops are more likely to optimize their stomata to grow in a changing climate.

###

Research Publication

Yuki Doll, Hiroyuki Koga, and Hirokazu Tsukaya. 2021. The diversity of stomatal development regulation in Callitriche is related to the intrageneric diversity in lifestyles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026351118

Related Links

Tsukaya lab: https:/ / www. bs. s. u-tokyo. ac. jp/ ~bionev2/ en/

Graduate School of Science: https:/ / www. s. u-tokyo. ac. jp/ en/

Research contact

Assistant Professor Hiroyuki Koga

Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 133-8654, JAPAN

Tel: +81-03-5841-1889

Email: hiro1224koga@bs.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Press Officer Contact

Ms. Caitlin Devor

Division for Strategic Public Relations, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 133-8654, JAPAN

Tel: +81-080-9707-8178

Email: press-releases.adm@gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp

About the University of Tokyo

The University of Tokyo is Japan's leading university and one of the world's top research universities. The vast research output of some 6,000 researchers is published in the world's top journals across the arts and sciences. Our vibrant student body of around 15,000 undergraduate and 15,000 graduate students includes over 4,000 international students. Find out more at http://www. u-tokyo. ac. jp/ en/ or follow us on Twitter at @UTokyo_News_en.

Funders

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, The Japan Science Society
Ornithologists from the United States, Brazil and Finland have described two new species of the owl genus Megascops from the Amazon and Atlantic forests.

Megascops is the most species-rich owl genus in the Americas, with 21 species currently recognized.

The genus comprises small- to medium-sized owls  commonly known as screech owls for their piercing calls  inhabiting a wide variety of habitats.

It reaches maximum species diversity in mountainous areas, such as the Andes and Central American highlands.

Screech owls are considered a well-understood group compared to some other types of organisms in these areas, said Dr. John Bates, curator of birds at the Field Museum in Chicago.

But when you start listening to them and comparing them across geography, it turns out that there are things that people hadnt appreciated. Thats why these new species are being described.

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, added Dr. Alex Aleixo, curator of birds at the Finnish Museum of Natural History at the University of Helsinki.

Previous studies have suggested that the tawny-bellied screech owl (Megascops watsonii), which is widespread in lowland Amazonia, might include more than one species.

Theyve also suggested that the black-capped screech owl (Megascops atricapilla), which is endemic to the Atlantic Forest, is closely related to the tawny-bellied screech owl complex.

Theyre cute little owls, probably 13-15 cm (5-6 inches) long, with tufts of feathers on their heads, Dr. Bates said.

Some are brown, some are gray, and some are in between.

In the study, the ornithologists compared the screech owls from the Amazon and Atlantic forests and found that there were variations in the sounds they made, indicative of different species.

They also examined the birds physical appearances and took tissue samples so they could study the owls DNA in the lab.

Altogether, 252 specimens, 83 tape-recordings, and 49 genetic samples from across the range of the tawny-bellied screech owl complex in South America were analyzed.

The combination of genetic variation, physical differences, and unique vocalizations led the researchers to describe two new species: the Xingu screech owl (Megascops stangiae) and the Alagoas screech owl (Megascops alagoensis).

While these two species are new to science, theyre already in danger of disappearing forever.

Both new species are threatened by deforestation, said Dr. Jason Weckstein, associate curator of Ornithology in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and a researcher in the Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science at Drexel University.

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.

The two new species of screech owls are described in a paper in the journal Zootaxa.

_____

Sidnei M. Dantas et al. 2021. Multi-character taxonomic review, systematics, and biogeography of the Black-capped/Tawny-bellied Screech Owl (Megascops atricapilla-M. watsonii) complex (Aves: Strigidae). Zootaxa 4949 (3); doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4949.3.1
This is an opinion column.

Im looking at a picture that now seems like it came from an alternate universe, not merely a different time.

On the South Lawn of the White House, President George W. Bush is signing a bill into law. Hes surrounded by lawmakers  white and Black, men and women, Democrats and Republicans. Theyre all smiling as Bush puts his pen to the paper, all there for a shared, singular purpose  to protect the voting rights of all Americans.

That was back in 2006, when Congress and President Bush renewed the Voting Rights Act.

Sen. Richard Shelby voted to renew that law. Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions did, too.

While much progress has been made, there is still work to be done to guarantee that all citizens have the right to vote, Shelby said then.

Civil rights lawyer Fred Gray lauded the senators for supporting the renewal, as did Alabama Democratic Conference leader Joe Reed.

No one can say there are folks in Alabama who dont want Blacks to vote, Reed said. Im glad our senators stood tall.

That was then. This is now.

Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) is placed into the back of a Georgia State Capitol patrol car after being arrested by Georgia State Troopers on day 38 of the legislative session at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Thursday, March 25, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)TNS

Fifteen years later, Im looking at another bill signing. This one is from our next-door neighbors in Georgia. There Gov. Brian Kemp is flanked by six white Republicans, all men, as he signs one of the more restrictive voting laws this country has seen in a while.

As he signed that bill, a Black Democratic lawmaker, state Rep. Park Cannon, was arrested on the other side of a nearby door. Cannon had wanted to be in the room where it happened, but Georgia state police said she was not allowed. After she knocked on the door anyway, they put her in handcuffs. She was charged with two misdemeanors and later released on bond from the Fulton County Jail.

Whats happened here? What happened between 2006 when voting rights was such a safe subject and universal value that lawmakers from all corners clamored to be in a White House glamor shot? What happened between there and the Georgia State House?

Alabama happened.

Or more specifically, Shelby County, Ala., v. Holder happened the Supreme Court case that gutted the law Bush renewed and it opened the door for new restrictive voting laws like the one Kemp signed this week.

Under the Voting Rights Act, states with histories of voter suppression, including Alabama and Georgia, had to get preclearance from the Justice Department before making changes to elections. It was a pain for state and local governments, and one that many of those same governments said was no longer necessary.

After all, all that Jim Crow voter suppression stuff was in the past, right? Nobody was giving literacy tests or imposing poll taxes anymore. Nobody had to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar before registering to vote.

The court ruled in Shelby Countys favor.

Only were not all that different. And it didnt take long to show it.

Nearly as quickly as the Supreme Court crippled the VRA, states throughout the South enacted voter ID. By 2019, the states freed from Justice Department preclearance closed more than 1,000 polling places.

And now, in Georgia  thanks to that law Kemp signed this week  if you give someone standing in line to vote a drink of water, youll be guilty of a crime.

Not to let Georgia go it alone, last week the Alabama House passed a ban on curbside voting in Alabama, nevermind that we dont have curbside voting in Alabama. During the debate, state Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, shared a list of voting precincts that were not accessible for people with disabilities, including one that had no sidewalk ramp and had handicapped-accessible parking on the side of a hill.

Georgias new bill followed an election where three separate investigations led by state Republican officials found no evidence of significant voter fraud. Similarly, investigations by U.S. Attorney General Bill Barrs Justice Department found no evidence of fraud there. None.

That bill wasnt designed to solve an election problem. It was designed to solve a political problem. It doesnt solve a fraud problem. It is a fraud problem.

The problem Shelby v. Holder let loose again in American politics.

The For the People Act, now before the U.S. Senate, could set right whats gone wrong. But unlike 15 years ago, that body is bitterly divided and voting rights has become a fiercely partisan issue.

It shouldnt be. They should be united, just as they were on the White House South Lawn. On this issue, our elected officials should be consistent, especially our senior senator. Its time to stand tall again.

While much progress has been made, there is still work to be done to guarantee that all citizens have the right to vote, or so somebody said once.

Shelby County broke voting rights in America.

Another Shelby, if he wanted, could fix it.

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group.

You can follow his work on his Facebook page, The War on Dumb. And on Twitter. And on Instagram.

More columns by Kyle Whitmire

Mo Brooks, Stephen Miller and the stunted legacy of Roy Moore

Alabama is dead last for open records. The Legislature could fix that.

Different year, same old fight, but a new champion for open government

Give Toforest Johnson a new trial. Or better, a pardon. Now.

John Merrills absentee voting flip-flop has no excuse

What will you carry with you from the pandemic?

Kay Ivey wont be bullied

Alabama doesnt have a gambling problem. Its worse than that.

Tuscaloosa named street for slain officer. Lawmaker wants to rename it for Nick Saban.

The Medicaid Civil War is over. Quit fighting, Kay Ivey.

Just keep talking, Tommy Tuberville

Richard Shelby, Mo Brooks and the death of Alabama pork politics

Alabama lawmaker has a health care plan  for lawmakers, not you

FAIRFIELD  Residents are asking the finance board to fully fund the schools budget request and return a conservation position back into the budget.

Those topics accounted for the bulk of what slightly more than a dozen residents spoke about at the recent budget public hearing. Several of the speakers are also school board members.

Under the selectmens nearly $335.5 million approved budget proposal, nearly $192.1 million would go to the schools, $30.4 million for shared education expenses and $113 million for the town. It is about $18 million, or 5.7 percent, more than the current allocations.

A big driver of both the town and school sides is reinstating money that was cut last year or covered another way because of the pandemic, officials said.

First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchicks proposal cut $2 million from the schools request, leaving an increase of about $7.5 million from the current year. At a previous meeting, she said about $500,000 more was expected in health insurance savings so the cut to the increase is really more like $1.5 million.

Im concerned that the $1.5 million cut to our budget will impact the students and programs that are vital to the success of our schools and I hope youll consider with earnest the needs of our students and teachers, Carol Guernsey, a school board member, told the finance board.

Jennifer Jacobsen, another school board member, said there have been overages in healthcare costs for nine of the past 11 years so the projected savings for the upcoming fiscal year arent actually savings.

Steve Baker, president for the Parent Teacher Association council, said the organization generally is able to fill budget holes with fundraising but said it will be more difficult to do that now because of COVID-19.

We regret that we may not be able to be relied on at that same capacity next year, he said.

Jessica Gerber, a school board member, told the finance board the budget the Board of Education passed was needed to address the impacts of COVID-19.

I think were going to see the impact of the pandemic in our schools for years to come in a myriad of ways, she said.

The other popular item among speakers was to have the finance board put money back in to pay for a conservation administrator position.

The position was removed as part of Kupchicks larger reorganization plan.

As a coastal community, its our duty to have a strong conservation department, said Kasandra Marshall.

Supporters of the position said it was important to have a full, experienced staff to oversee projects and permits, something a floater couldnt do.

Other speakers also said the position was funded by the fees it brought and so had little impact on the budget.

Resident Craig Curley spoke out about the overall spending increase. He said residents knew there would be a budget increase because of cuts last year to keep taxes low amid the pandemic. He said what the town was contemplating was too high, calling it audacious and disrespectful to the residents, and that the items cut last year should be reintroduced gradually.

People are still hurting, he said.

The finance board is set to vote on the budget 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

kkoerting@newstimes.com
FREMONT, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU) has obtained approval for its online MBA program from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WASC/WSCUC) and has taken another step in its mission to make a top-notch and accessible education available to students on a global scale. Now, those students can enjoy the same MBA opportunities at NPU that were previously only available to local students who could attend classes on campus.

While NPU is already accredited as an institution by WASC/WSCUCthe same body that accredits Stanford University, Pepperdine University, University of Southern California, CalTech, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and othersevery new graduate program requires additional approval to ensure universities are providing rigorous coursework as well as knowledgeable faculty.

"NPU's WSCUC-approved distance education MBA program combines the best attributes of an online program with NPU's history of academic excellence. Local students have the convenience of attending courses online, which mitigates issues like commuting. Students outside the Bay Area and international students who once had no practical avenue of enrolling in the MBA program due to the distance to NPU's campus now have access to NPU's stellar MBA offerings. And all students can now enjoy the top-notch educational program that NPU has worked continuously to improve through faculty input and student feedback. We are excited to see how we can further benefit our prospective students," said NPU President Peter Hsieh.

Dr. Nelly Mangarova, NPU's Chief Academic Officer, added, "NPU's MBA program is a full-length program that a student can complete in a shorter time than usual due to NPU's trimester system, which allows students to take classes just as effectively during the summer term. This is a wonderful program for students who desire an intensive and comprehensive program but who want to secure their degrees more quickly so they can return to their careers, where they can apply what they've learned to the real world."

NPU's MBA offering is another recent step in solidifying it as an academic leader in the United States as well as a career accelerant for those interested in entering the tech and business fields.

Please contact [email protected] for additional information.

Founded in 1984, Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU) is a WASC/WSCUC-accredited non-profit private university in Silicon Valley in Northern California that awards bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science, engineering, technology, and management programs. Learn more at https://www.npu.edu/ .

Contact:

NPU Communications

[email protected]

(510) 556-8907

SOURCE Northwestern Polytechnic University

Related Links

http://npu.edu


ROME, MAR 29 - Health Minister Roberto Speranza told a video-conference meeting of his G7 counterparts Monday that "it is necessary to accelerate talks on the 'green pass' to reach a solution before the summer in order to make it possible to travel in greater safety". The ministry said the meeting focused on COVID-19 vaccine certification at both the EU and global level, among other issues. (ANSA).
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Master's in Reading And Literacy Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 157 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 157 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 Reading And Literacy Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-reading-and-literacy-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Reading And Literacy Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Appalachian State University

Arkansas State University

Belhaven University

Black Hills State University

California State University, Fresno

California State University, Fullerton

California State University, San Marcos

Canisius College

Capella University

Concordia University, Chicago

Concordia University, Nebraska

Concordia University, Wisconsin

East Carolina University

Eastern Kentucky University

Eastern New Mexico University

Edinboro University

Fresno Pacific University

Grand Valley State University

Hamline University

Jackson State University

Lesley University

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Missouri State University

Northern Michigan University

Nova Southeastern University

Ohio University

Old Dominion University

Park University

Pittsburg State University

Regis University

Rowan University

Saint Leo University

Sam Houston State University

Slippery Rock University

Spring Arbor University

State University of New York, Buffalo

State University of New York, Oneonta

University Of Alabama, Birmingham

University of Arkansas, Little Rock

University of Cincinnati

University of Florida

University of Georgia

University of Maine

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

University of North Dakota

University of Northern Iowa

University of South Florida

University of West Florida

Western Kentucky University

Western New Mexico 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/.
Scientists reported new research results today suggesting that artificial objects in orbit around the Earth are brightening night skies on our planet significantly more than previously understood.

The research, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, finds that the number of objects orbiting Earth could elevate the overall brightness of the night sky by more than 10 percent above natural light levels across a large part of the planet. This would exceed a threshold that astronomers set over 40 years ago for considering a location "light polluted".

"Our primary motivation was to estimate the potential contribution to night sky brightness from external sources, such as space objects in Earth's orbit," said Miroslav Kocifaj of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Comenius University in Slovakia, who led the study. "We expected the sky brightness increase would be marginal, if any, but our first theoretical estimates have proved extremely surprising and thus encouraged us to report our results promptly."

The work is the first to consider the overall impact of space objects on the night sky rather than the effect of individual satellites and space debris affecting astronomers' images of the night sky. The team of researchers, based at institutions in Slovakia, Spain and the US, modelled the space objects' contribution to the overall brightness of the night sky, using the known distributions of the sizes and brightnesses of the objects as inputs to the model.

The study includes both functioning satellites as well as assorted debris such as spent rocket stages. While telescopes and sensitive cameras often resolve space objects as discrete points of light, low-resolution detectors of light such as the human eye see only the combined effect of many such objects. The effect is an overall increase in the diffuse brightness of the night sky, potentially obscuring sights such as the glowing clouds of stars in the Milky Way, as seen away from the light pollution of cities.

"Unlike ground-based light pollution, this kind of artificial light in the night sky can be seen across a large part of the Earth's surface," explained John Barentine, Director of Public Policy for the International Dark-Sky Association and a study co-author. "Astronomers build observatories far from city lights to seek dark skies, but this form of light pollution has a much larger geographical reach."

Astronomers have expressed unease in recent years about the growing number of objects orbiting the planet, particularly large fleets of communications satellites known informally as 'mega-constellations'.

In addition to crowding the night sky with more moving sources of artificial light, the arrival of this technology increases the probability of collisions among satellites or between satellites and other objects, generating further debris. Recent reports sponsored by the US National Science Foundation and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs identified mega-constellations as a threat to the continued utility of astronomy facilities on the ground and in low-Earth orbit. In the UK the Royal Astronomical Society has established several working groups to understand the impact of mega-constellations on optical and radio astronomical facilities used by scientists.

The results published today imply a further brightening of the night sky proportional to the number of new satellites launched and their optical characteristics in orbit. Satellite operators like SpaceX have recently worked to lower the brightness of their spacecraft through design changes. Despite these mitigating efforts though, the collective effect of a sharp increase in the number of orbiting objects stands to change the experience of the night sky for many across the globe.

The researchers hope that their work will change the nature of the ongoing dialog between satellite operators and astronomers concerning how best to manage the orbital space around the Earth.

"Our results imply that many more people than just astronomers stand to lose access to pristine night skies," Barentine said. "This paper may really change the nature of that conversation."

###
As the Ministry of Health (MoH) carries on with Kenya's Covid-19 vaccination campaign, mixed reactions have been registered among Kenyans living abroad, who say they have either taken the jab or are planning to.

This is despite speculation and big pharma geo-political wars surrounding a number of the vaccines. Controversy surrounds the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine that is in use in Kenya as some countries earlier halted its rollout citing links to blood clots.

Peter Oluoch, a Biomedical Sciences PhD student at UMass Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, says their school prioritised the vaccination of students by early January 2021, even before most members of the faculty.

At the time, he had taken a Christmas break to visit his family.

"I received communication inviting me to get the jab when I was still on holiday in Kenya. Upon returning to the US, I went through the quarantine period and scheduled my vaccination after receiving negative Covid-19 test results. It was a very pleasant surprise," he says.

Mr Oluoch was asked a series of questions before being immunised, including his history of allergic responses to vaccines and pulmonary-related infections.

"I received the first jab on Feb 9 and the second dose on March 2. Though I expected some form of reaction, I did not witness any. My shoulder was numb after the jab and there was mild fatigue. Besides that, I was totally fine and did not take any sick day."

Kenya's Ministry of Health has a Covid-19 vaccination policy that makes it mandatory for a vaccine recipient to have been Covid-19-negative six months, according to vaccine taskforce chair, Dr Willis Akhwale.

The World Health Organization's guidelines advise against subjecting vaccine recipients to antigen or PCR tests prior to inoculation as a measure to guard against discriminating against those who have tested positive.

Diarrhoea

Christabel Mideva Eboso (26), a Phd law student, researcher and teaching assistant at the University of Kent's School of Law in Canterbury, received her first Pfizer vaccine dose last week.

"I wasn't supposed to get the vaccine because I don't fall under the priority box but I got asthma attacks so my general practitioner booked me for vaccination," she says.

Ms Mideva walked to the vaccination center for screening with her head high.

"They ask a couple of questions to verify you are a priority. I was asked which vaccine I wanted and chose Pfizer. They inject it in the arm ," she says.

"I started feeling very drowsy five minutes later. My head was heavy, but they had informed me about those side effects. At home I took paracetamols as I was feeling weird and couldn't sleep. In the night I had a severe bout of diarrhoea, a bad headache and a fever."

She woke up with a sore arm the next day and still had a headache that evening. She also sneezed a lot and shivered.

Ms Mideva used an electric heater, in addition to the inbuilt house heaters they have in the UK, to keep warm and as the third day elapsed, she gradually felt better.

"I was nervous at first and didn't want to take the vaccine but I just knew I had to get this done especially because the British weather and National Health Service (NHS) kept reminding me that an asthma attack may kill me before I get assistance."

The lawyer is of the opinion that AstraZeneca may be a victim of cut-throat big pharma competition for markets, and geopolitics.

"We know its politics. They are angry after the UK left the European Union (EU). They can't believe the UK is thriving even after Brexit. Other vaccines may also cause blood clots but they won't mention it," she claimed.

Skepticism

Nicholas Monday Aswani, a medic and tech entrepreneur based in the US, says he is skeptical about getting the jab.

"To be honest, I am against taking that shot. If it were totally up to me, I wouldn't. I am concerned it hasn't been properly developed given the short duration of manufacture."

Dr Aswani notes that vaccines usually undergo extensive testing before their efficacy is determined. He feels Covid-19 vaccines have been rushed due to anticipated monetary benefits.

"In total, five competing vaccines are available here, among them Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer, but the CDC recommends Pfizer and Moderna. This begs the question - what about the others?"

Dr Aswani says news on adverse reactions in some people amplifies his skepticism.

"I am worried I might be forced to take it just so I can travel - my favorite pastime activity. A few countries are already beating the drums for a Covid-19 passport so I might reluctantly get the shot for travel purposes ," he says.

Dr Roselyn Akombe, a former IEBC commissioner, who now works at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Africa) told the Nation that she prefers the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

"I will keep you posted on how it goes. I should be getting it next week while in the US," said Ms Akombe, who is currently stationed in Ethiopia.

Vaccine passports

China had begun rolling out a digital vaccine passport to millions of residents who have received their Covid-19 shots with efforts of similar schemes in the US and Europe coming to a halt due to ethics debates about inequality and privacy.

"Visa facilitation" is for people in the US who get Chinese Covid-19 vaccines.

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The policy, effective Monday, is aimed at resuming "people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries," the Chinese embassy in the US stated in an official statement on Monday.

It could soon be accessed through WeChat -- an app almost everyone in China has, but few people abroad subscribe to.

China's Foreign Ministry said the app will allow people both in China and overseas to verify the certificate by scanning a QR code, potentially freeing up the movement of the 52 million people in China vaccinated so far.

Strange patterns

Meanwhile, Dr Ahmed Kalebi, the chief executive and chief consultant pathologist at Lancet Group of Laboratories in Nairobi, is almost 100 per cent certain that the UK and South Africa variants of the Covid-19 are in Kenya.

Dr Kalebi cites the large number of incoming travellers from these coutie as well as spill-over of patients from Tanzania, where these variants have been confirmed from travellers who went to the Middle East, the UK and other parts of the world.

"We are seeing strange pattern of test results in the lab, for example very high viral loads and odd distribution of viral genes, as well as peculiar clinical presentation of the infected cases, all pointing to the fact that the third wave is different and most likely being driven by some new variants similar to what is being reported in the US, UK, Europe and SA," he told the Nation.
In addition to 24-hour nursing care, the hospital serves patients recovering from debilitating illnesses and injuries including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions. Shannon Rehabilitation Hospital offers physical, occupational and speech therapies to restore functional ability and quality of life. Care is provided by highly specialized nurses, therapists and physicians.

"Through our partnership, we are pleased to open and operate Shannon Rehabilitation Hospital for area patients and families," said Barb Jacobsmeyer, executive vice president and president of inpatient hospitals for Encompass Health. "Our rehabilitative care will help patients regain their strength and function as well as the confidence needed to return to the Concho Valley region."

"Shannon is excited to bring this facility to our community," said Shane Plymell, CEO of Shannon. "Our mission is to ensure that people in the Concho Valley have access to the care they need here at home. This specialized hospital will serve more patients in our region while combining the best practices and technology for these patients and the providers caring for them."

Shannon Rehabilitation Hospital is Encompass Health's 138th inpatient rehabilitation hospital and is a new service offered by the Shannon Health system.

About Shannon Health:

Shannon Medical Center has proudly served the west Texas area for more than 85 years. Dedicated to providing exceptional healthcare for its family, friends and neighbors in the area, Shannon serves as the regional health care resource with diverse clinical services to serve patients in San Angelo and the Concho Valley Region. Together with Shannon Clinic, it offers access to more than 300 providers in 40 specialties across 25 locations. Rated a prestigious 5-star hospital by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Shannon's services include nationally recognized cardiac and stroke programs, AirMed air ambulance and designated Level III Trauma Facility which has been named top Trauma Facility in the state. It also features a dedicated Women's & Children's Hospital which celebrates the birth of more than 1,600 new babies each year and is home to the Children's Miracle Network for this area. Shannon is the largest private employer in San Angelo with more than 3,700 Associates. For more about Shannon's providers or services, visit Shannonhealth.com.

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 138 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 Media Contact: Shannon Health Media Contact: Hillary Carnel | 205 970-5912 Lyndy Stone | 325 657-5768 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.

Related Links

http://www.encompasshealth.com


(Newser)  A convicted serial killer whose victims included two young boys died Sunday at a hospital in Indiana, authorities said. Joseph Edward Duncan died at the medical center near the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, where he was on death row, according to a statement from prosecutors in Riverside County, Calif. Duncan, 58, had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, the AP reports. Duncan was convicted of killing four members of a family from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in 2005. He kidnapped two children, Dylan and Shasta Groene, from the family's home and tortured them in Montana before killing the boy. Shasta Groene was the only survivor of the rampage and was rescued when Duncan stopped at a restaurant in Coeur d'Alene and the staff recognized the girl.

story continues below

Following that conviction, Duncan was extradited to Southern California to be tried for the death of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez of Riverside County in 1997. Duncan, who's from Tacoma, Wash., was linked by DNA to the killing. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of life in prison. "While I would've liked to witness his execution, knowing he is now standing before God being held accountable for what he has done, what he did to my son, and the horrible crimes he committed to others, that's the real justice," Anthony's father, Ernesto Martinez, said in a statement provided by prosecutors. In court filings earlier this year, attorneys disclosed that Duncan underwent brain surgery last October and was diagnosed with glioblastoma, stage 4 brain cancer. According to court records, he declined chemotherapy and radiation.

(Read more serial killer stories.)
The Irish Independent yesterday asked the Beacon Hospital a series of questions to clarify the controversy surrounding why some teachers at St Gerards School in Bray, Co Wickow, and workers at a creche that looks after staff of the Beacon, were given Covid vaccines against HSE protocols.

But amid growing public anger the questions remained unanswered last night as the board of the hospital was believed to be preparing for an emergency meeting today as political and public pressure mounts in light of the spare vaccines controversy.

The south Dublin private hospital was asked what time it discovered there were surplus vaccines on the day the school teachers in Bray were contacted, how many surplus vaccines were distributed and to which cohort of people.

It was also asked exactly how many teachers at St Gerards School and staff at the creche at the Beacon site received the spare vaccine so they would not go to waste.

The Irish Independent have asked the hospital if any board members, including the CEO or their family members, or any administration staff at the Beacon Hospital, received the vaccine.

But the Beacon Hospital declined to answer the questions, saying no comment would be made.

It also refused to confirm who the board members are.

Meanwhile, the Irish Independent has seen a response from Patient Services at the Beacon Hospital which was sent to someone who made a query regarding vaccine distribution.

The response stated the hospital is following a strict list provided to us by the HSE re vaccinations. All extra vaccines are assigned by the HSE and not by the Beacon Hospital.

Asked for a response on the matter, the HSE said it provides no lists of that nature to any vaccination centre.

Clear sequencing guidance has been issued by the HSE and it is expected that it will be followed by those operating the vaccination centres, said a HSE spokeswoman.

It is the responsibility of all individual vaccination centres to develop and implement standby lists, which adhere to the guidance, which ensure no doses of the vaccines are wasted, she added.

Well-placed political sources said the Government has already applied significant political pressure on the Beacon clinic and on a practical level has removed the Covid-19 vaccination facility from there as soon as scheduled vaccinations take place.

Other action, such as a review of any arrangements under the Treatment Purchase Fund, are not now being contemplated.

Such moves would be legally complex and not in the interest of patients awaiting procedures or other care, the source told the Irish Independent.
Neste, the worlds leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, has joined the eFuel Alliance, an interest group dedicated to the industrial production of synthetic fuels based on hydrogen and CO 2 from renewable sources.

The eFuel Alliance is based in Berlin and Brussels and brings together companies and organizations that share the goal of establishing and promoting power- and bio-based synthetic fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

Throughout the world, more than 1.3 billion vehicles are currently powered by conventional internal combustion engines. In addition, there are around 22,000 aircrafts for which there are no cost-effective technical alternatives in sight. These existing fleets will continue to form the basis for mobility in the coming decades. Low-carbon fuels are the only sustainable solution to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from existing combustion engines around the world.

Synthetic eFuels and sustainable biofuels are needed to reduce GHG emissions from transport and to facilitate the EU in reaching its 2050 targets. With Neste as a new member, the alliance gains an innovative thought leader and a strong global partner in the field of renewable fuels. Neste joining us also shows that the eFuel Alliance is gaining momentum on European level which is a major goal in our efforts to change European regulation. Ralf Diemer, Managing Director of the eFuel Alliance

We are happy to be part of the alliance, working together to promote renewable fuel solutions for both the short and long term. All solutions are needed in the fight against the climate crisis. Banning the combustion engine would close the door on sustainable drop-in solutions, such as fuels from green electricity and sustainable biomass. We cannot afford to exclude these options if we want to reach the climate targets and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport. Sustainably produced eFuels and biofuels have the potential to replace half of all fossil fuels used in road traffic by 2040. Carl Nyberg, Executive Vice President for Nestes Renewable Road Transportation business unit and new Board member of the eFuel Alliance

Customers using the Neste MY Renewable Diesel made from 100% renewable raw materials can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 compared to fossil diesel. The high-quality fuel is a drop-in solution, which means that it can be used without modifications to existing diesel engines or logistics. The fuel is available to customers in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and in the United States in California and Oregon.
The story of Beitbridge is an exponential growth that does not correspond to demand for service.

It is mainly an expansion in terms of population numbers, but highly unmatched by the availability of public amenities.

Over the years, the border town has tremendously developed in terms of population and infrastructure growth, especially in the last decade.

However, very little has happened in areas around the upgrading of social amenities, including health institutions.

The worst affected facility is the 140-bed district hospital which is a referral centre for a population exceeding over 250 000 locals.

The referral hospital is already overwhelmed by patients coming from 16 primary health care centres.

In addition, it is also catering for at least 13 000 people who pass through the town in transit daily.

These people come from several places in the country, the Sadc region and neighbouring districts which include Gwanda and Mwenezi.

It is understood that although other facets are growing in the town, the health facility is currently operating with a 1990s staff establishment.

This status quo has resulted in human and material resources to cater for patients being overstretched.

By mere location at an important Sadc transit point, the country's busiest port of entry has seen increased annual population growth and things are getting more complicated on a daily basis.

The District Medical Officer, Dr Lenos Samhere, told the Matabeleland South Civil Protection committee recently that there was an urgent need to review the state of affairs.

The CPU team led by then provincial development coordinator, Mrs Sithandiwe Ncube, had visited the border town to assess the state of affairs of selected facilities to handle Covid-19 related cases.

"We appreciate the Government's efforts to increase resources and staff to the hospital during this period where we are all focusing on containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic," said Dr Samhere.

"However, the hospital is strained in terms of resources due to the increased demand for services and its location in a transit town. You will note that we are having an old staff establishment model which has not been reviewed for some time."

Dr Samhere said they were handling an average of 350 deliveries monthly, which is more than what the provincial and other district hospitals were handling.

"We are in the range of major referral centres like the United Bulawayo Hospitals," added Dr Samhere.

The senior medical practitioner in the district was of the view that the state of affairs at the hospital was also affecting resources allocation from national Government.

The official appealed to the CPU to push for the upgrading of the institution and allocation of more resources in line with obtaining demands.

Dr Samhere said their staffers were also facing serious accommodation challenges due to limited space at their few allocated houses.

When the first Covid-19 cases hit the country last year, many senior government officials visited the border town to assess the facilities and the referral hospital was chosen for an upgrading.

This then saw the female ward being upgraded to accommodate 30 beds for critical cases.

At some point there was a suggestion from senior government officials that the Ministry of Health and Child Care would send a team to assess the situation at Beitbridge following pleas by local residents and legislators, little progress has been made on the ground.

However, the said team is yet to come.

The hospital is faced with a litany of other challenges including shortages of staff accommodation, power supply, water supply, theatre equipment such as autoclaving, a partially functionally mortuary that carries 37 bodies.

This is against the fact that the Registrar General Office process close to 70 burial orders monthly and some bodies stay longer than necessary in the mortuary, especially those brought to the facility by police for criminal investigations.

A further 400 burial orders are processed for those who would have died in South Africa and are repatriated into the country.

Those intended for burial in Beitbridge district will have to make use of private morgues locally.

Hospital authorities need close to $500 000 to service the Government mortuary that carries the burden of the whole district, country and Sadc region.

In November 2018, the hospital authorities had to suspend operations at the mortuary as a result of a wave of power outages.

In fact, the acute resource shortages at the health institution, have become perennial due to the work load which is not in tandem with national budget allocations.

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Given the current scenario, it will be wise for the government to upgrade the health institution in line with the demand and the town's transformation into a medium city.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an ideal opportunity for Zimbabwe to look at home-grown solutions and rescue people in its southern district, which is somehow one of its major cash cows.

It is also high time for the central government and its partners establish two polyclinics in the two constituencies (East and West) to relieve the sole referral centre.

In some instances, those people living in Beitbridge West are relying on Manama Hospital in Gwanda district, while those in the east prefer Chiredzi District hospital since they were within 60km of their reach.

The furthest distance point between the villagers and Beitbridge referral hospital is between 120km and 135km.

There is also a need for authorities to urgently fix the problems bedevilling the mortuary and invest in solar energy to power the hospital.

Essentially, while recording significant population growth either temporary or permanently, the healthcare diary of this important centre of social and economic activity remains in a sorry state.
Hotels at the Coast region have been left counting losses after President Kenyatta imposed a lockdown in five counties ahead of Easter holidays.

Dozens of events such as meetings and weddings that were to take place in the hotels next week have been cancelled abruptly due to cessation of movement and other containment measures. Local and international tourists have also cancelled bookings.

Hoteliers have expressed disappointment at the President's decision to lock down five counties ahead of the holidays from which the investors were expecting to reap.

The investors have started sending home workers who had been recalled to work a few months ago after the industry started picking up.

On Friday, President Kenyatta imposed a lockdown in five counties considered high-risk, namely Machakos, Nairobi, Nakuru, Kajiado and Kiambu amid rising cases of Covid-19. The decision has thrown the tourism sector into disarray ahead of the Easter peak season, with most of hotels having recorded 80 per cent bookings.

Coast industry players, led by the Kenya Tourism Federation, held crisis meetings over the weekend via Zoom to find mitigation measures.

The meetings involved air operators, travel agents, tour operators and hotel owners.

"We will issue a statement regarding our stand, but we're disappointed by the government," said an investor who requested anonymity. His hotel has lost massive business due to cancellations, he said.

Travellers Beach Hotel and Club General Manager Hilary Siele said they recorded a loss of Sh4.6 million due to cancellation of meetings.

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Cut down on bills

The hotel has put in place contingency measures, including shutting down Travellers Club to cut down on utility bills. Only 100 out of 300 rooms will be left open during Easter.

Mr Siele said they will have to tap into Mombasa, Kisumu, Rift Valley and Ugandan markets. "We're receiving 100 per cent cancellations from the Nairobi market," he said.

Mombasa County Tourism Chief Officer Asha Abdi expressed disappointment at the lockdown. "We were expecting a lot of tourists during the holidays.

"We had taken all the precautionary measures and were monitoring hotels to ensure they adhere to the Ministry of Health protocols," the official said.

Ms Abdi urged the government to allow citizens to travel to tourism destinations, but with authenticated coronavirus negative certification.
The Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and the Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand) demand an immediate end to deportations and all the attacks on immigrants in Australia and New Zealand. In both countries, migrants are facing widespread, institutionalised discrimination and increasing racism and xenophobia.

Thousands of people have been stranded, away from their homes and families, by discriminatory border restrictions. Thousands more are being deported, despite the immense dangers posed by the deadly coronavirus pandemic that continues to rage internationally.

Like their counterparts in Europe, the United States and everywhere else in the world, Australias Liberal-National Party Coalition government and New Zealands Labour Party-Greens coalition government are seeking to whip up nationalism and xenophobia in order to divert rising working class anger over soaring levels of social inequality and poverty.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, left, talks with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a meeting at Admiralty House in Sydney, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (Bianca De Marchi/Pool Photo via AP)

One particularly brutal example is Australias policy of mass deportations, mostly to New Zealand. Home Affairs Minister Dutton recently boasted that in the past 12 months about 700 non-citizens have been forced out of Australia under section 501 of the Migration Act. Under this law, passed in 2014, the government can cancel someones visa if they are convicted of a crime or crimes that carry a cumulative sentence of more than a year in prisonregardless of the nature of the offending or how long the person has lived in Australia.

Many people who consider themselves Australians have served prison sentences, only to be re-arrested and thrown into immigration detention centres to await deportation. Families are being ripped apart, with many parents permanently separated from their Australian-born children. Deportees often arrive in New Zealand with no home to go to and no family connections.

In a statement aimed at stoking the most backward, chauvinist sentiments, Dutton told Nine News on March 8 that his government was taking the trash out to make Australia a safer place. Border officials allowed the network to film people being escorted onto a recent flight from Brisbane to Auckland, with reporters taunting them with questions like: How does it feel to be kicked out of Australia?

Canberra is blatantly violating international laws. One of those Dutton called trash was a 15-year-old boy, whose deportation was a clear breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The suggestion by Australian officials that the boy agreed to be deported is ludicrous. Apart from the fact that children cannot legally consent to such an action, it is well-known that many voluntary deportations are actually coerced: people choose deportation rather than remaining locked up indefinitely in detention centres.

New Zealanders are disproportionately affected, because of the large number who live in Australiamore than 650,000 people. Under draconian laws passed in 2001, New Zealanders who migrated after that date face almost insurmountable obstacles to gaining Australian citizenship. They are ineligible for unemployment, disability support and other benefits, and cannot vote.

These anti-immigrant laws have been upheld by successive governments of every stripe. Labor governments, backed by the Greens, have attacked immigrants and refugees just as brutally as the Coalition, including through the imprisonment of asylum seekers in offshore detention centres.

The SEP and the SEG call on the working class in Australia and New Zealand to defend all immigrants and to demand that all working people have the right to live and work wherever they want, with full citizenship rights. This requires a political fight against the entire political establishment, on both sides of the Tasman Sea. There is no constituency in the political establishment of either country for defending migrants and refugees, the most vulnerable sections of the working class.

The New Zealand government lashed out at Australia over the latest deportations. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared that she objected to people being deported from Australia who we consider to be Australians. Greens foreign affairs spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman told Radio NZ that Australia was behaving like a rogue nation.

Such statements, however, are utterly hypocritical. The Ardern government has focused on the deportations of New Zealanders in order to stoke nationalist and anti-Australian sentiments. It tacitly supports Australias use of the Navy to turn back refugee boats, while keeping New Zealands annual refugee intake at just 1,500, one of the lowest in the world.

Moreover, the Ardern governments own record demonstrates that it has zero concern for the rights of migrant workers. Between 2017 and 2020, Labour and the Greens were in a coalition government with the right-wing nationalist NZ First Party, which regularly demonised Chinese, Indian and Muslim immigrantsoften using language similar to that of Brenton Tarrant, the fascist terrorist who killed 51 Muslims in Christchurch two years ago.

Ardern gave NZ First the positions of Defence Minister and Foreign Minister and the party played a major role in setting the governments agenda. Labour adopted NZ Firsts anti-immigrant positions, scapegoating migrants for unemployment and the high cost of living.

Wellington has exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to impose one of the harshest border closures in the world. Thousands of work visa holders, who were overseas when the border shut last year, have been unable to return, separated from their homes, jobs and families. Thousands more migrants, who lost their jobs in 2020, were barred from accessing welfare payments and forced to rely on food parcels.

New Zealand uses similar criteria to Australia to routinely deport people, largely to impoverished Pacific and Asian countries. A few days after Ardern denounced Australias deportations, Stuff reported that a couple and their seven-year-old son are to be deported from NZ to the Philippineswhere COVID-19 is out of control and the government is waging a campaign of police state terror against workers and the pooras punishment for claiming food vouchers they were not entitled to during the 2020 lockdown.

Also this month, immigration officials arrested and imprisoned 10 Chinese construction workers in Auckland. They are due to be deported next month for allegedly breaching migration rules.

The anti-immigrant measures in Australia and New Zealand are being accompanied by relentless anti-Chinese propaganda from the media, academics and political parties. Both countries are allies of the United States, and are supporting its militarisation of the Indo-Pacific region, in preparation for war against China. Like the US, both Australia and NZ have recorded a rise in racist violence and harassment targeting people from China and other parts of Asia.

The trade unions have joined in the nationalist and anti-immigrant campaign to distract from their collaboration with big business in destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Australian Workers Union is being heavily promoted in the media as it attacks migrants for taking thousands upon thousands of jobs that could go to Australians. The Electrical Trades Unions Allen Hicks recently declared that allowing foreign workers into the country was an attack on Australian values.

In New Zealand, the Daily Blog, which is backed by the Unite union, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union and the Dairy Workers Union, responded to the Australian deportations by demanding retaliation. It has called for a hard-line government who will lock the doors to Australians and Chinese people. This echoes the conservative National Party, whose leader Judith Collins said New Zealand should deport Australians who we dont want in this country.

As was the case in the lead-up to World War I and during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the ruling elite is responding to the breakdown of capitalism, triggered by the pandemic, by seeking to divide workers along nationalist lines. The aim is to prevent any unified international fight against the real source of social inequality, unemployment and imperialist war: the profit system and the division of the world into rival nation states.

The working class must decisively reject this toxic nationalism, and advance its own independent policy. Workers can only fight back against the business elites ruthless policies of austerity by uniting their struggles across borders on the basis of an internationalist and socialist program. This includes opposition to deportations and to every other attack on the basic rights of immigrants.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Tunis/Tunisia  Twenty-three Tunisian municipalities benefited from the support programme for municipal capacities in several areas, including participatory investment, the development of municipal heritage, the organisation of public spaces, geographical information systems and open data.

The International Development Centre for Innovative Local Governance is supervising the implementation of the programme, which is partly financed by the European Union with a budget of around 5.6 million dinars, announced a conference held on Friday in Tunis to present the project.

It also aims to strengthen the institutional reform of the Tunisian Federation of Municipalities, democratise its operation, and assign other functions including networking of municipalities.

Inaugurating the conference, Mayor of Tunis, Souad Abderrahim, stressed the importance of strengthening the capacities of municipalities to consolidate the process of local governance, praising the success of the municipal capacity support programme in providing the skills required to implement municipal investment and good governance projects.

Abderrahim considered that there is still work to be done in the decentralisation process and the materialisation of Chapter 7 of the Constitution which provides for local power, calling for the creation of a network between municipalities and the institutionalisation of the partnership between municipalities and youth.

For his part, President of the National Federation of Tunisian Municipalities, Adnene Bouassida, said that the support programme for municipal capacities led to tangible results in the management of projects, the beauty of cities and the improvement of municipal services.

He also said that the International Development Centre for Innovative Local Governance is supporting another programme for twelve municipalities. This programme addresses the strategic dimensions of municipalities, economic and social development at the local level, he said.

Regarding the decentralisation process, Bouassida pointed out that this process is still in the creation phase, which requires, according to him, the mobilisation of huge material and human resources.

He pointed out the low material resources of Tunisian municipalities, compared to the situation in Algeria and Morocco. In these two countries, the budget allocated to municipalities exceeds 12% of the state budget. In the case of Tunisia, this figure is less than 3% (fiscal year 2021) he regretted.
A DFS confirms the potential of the Bardoc Project to underpin a large near-term, high-margin gold development project, with a robust production profile, competitive operating costs and attractive financial returns.

The company is targeting a final investment decision in quarter 3 of 2021 and the commencement of construction in quarter 4.

( ) (FRA:4SF) has completed a robust definitive feasibility study (DFS) for its flagship namesake project, which puts the company on a clear trajectory to develop one of the few new gold projects of scale in Australia over the next two years.

A highlight is the delivery of a 1-million-ounce ore reserve that underpins forecast average production of 136,000 ounces at an AISC of A$1,188 per ounce.

Bardoc chief executive officer Robert Ryan said: At an assumed base case gold price of A$2,250/ounce, the project will generate on average $113 million in free cash flow per year post-construction, with forecast life-of-mine free cash flow of $740 million, a pre-tax NPV6% of A$479 million and Internal Rate of Return of 41 per cent.

The project has relatively low capital intensity, with a forecast pre-production capital cost of A$177 million and a 32-month payback period from production commencement.

1-million-ounce reserve

Notably, the DFS supports an increase in the open pit and underground probable ore reserve to 15.9 million tonnes at 2.0 g/t for 1,007,000 ounces (at a A$2,000/ounce gold price), representing 88% of LOM metal production forecast.

Ryan said: At the heart of the DFS is a 28% per cent increase in ore reserves to over 1 million ounces  a fantastic result which reflects the highly effective drilling programs conducted over the past 12 months and the excellent technical work completed on our mining and processing schedules to optimise the project to a very high level.

The strong DFS outcomes show that the Bardoc Gold Project is without question one of the best undeveloped gold projects in Australia, with the potential to deliver strong production and cash flows and compelling financial returns over a long period of time from a brand new fully-integrated mining and processing operation located right on the doorstep of Kalgoorlie.

The DFS also increases in higher confidence measured and indicated mineral ounces to 2.06 million ounces, representing 67% of global ounces and highlighting the robust nature of the project.

Shares were as much as 5% higher to 7.5 cents intra-day and the company's market cap is approximately $124.9 million.

Underground and open-pit mining

The 10-year LOM will consist of two underground mines, Zoroastrian and Aphrodite, as well as the Excelsior, Zoroastrian, Aphrodite, Bulletin South and Mayday open pits.

A mine schedule for the project considers the initial mining of free-milling material from the Zoroastrian North and Bulletin South Open Pit projects, before commencing Excelsior Open Pit and Zoroastrian Underground once the processing plant has been commissioned.

The refractory material from Aphrodite commences in year 4.

This mining schedule shows an average 2.2 million tonnes of ore mined each year, with a peak of 3.5 million tonnes in year 4, when the tail of Excelsior Open Pit and Zoroastrian underground is being mined concurrently with the tail of Aphrodite Stage 1 and commencement of Aphrodite Underground and Aphrodite Stage 2.

Additional satellite pits not discussed within the DFS are available to be included to improve on the existing schedules if required.

3D View of proposed Excelsior and Zoroastrian site layout.

State-of-the-art CIL plant

The project will be a standalone mining and processing operation of 2.1 million tonnes per annum throughput via conventional CIL processing circuit incorporating a flotation circuit to produce a gold concentrate.

This plant will be designed for construction in two stages - Stage 1 will consist of CIL processing while Stage 2 is an upgrade to include the flotation and dewatering circuits to treat the Aphrodite refractory material to be mined in year 2.

Ryan said: The construction of a state-of-the-art on-site 2.1 million tonnes per annum capacity CIL plant and flotation circuit located near the site of our Zoroastrian and Excelsior deposits just 40 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie will form the backbone of the Bardoc Gold Project.

The mill will be fed by a blend of open pit and underground ore feed to produce an average of 136,000 ounces per annum at an impressively low AISC of A$1,188/ounce over an initial 8-year production period - based on the updated 1-million-ounce probable ore reserve.

Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) tenders have now been issued for the construction of the processing plant and infrastructure.

FID targeted for Q3 2021

Ryan said: Based on the projects very strong financial metrics and Tier-1 location, combined with the strong team we have assembled and our very strong institutional share register, we are confident of securing a highly competitive project funding package over the coming months.

Importantly, the binding offtake agreement that we secured with leading global minerals trader MRI Trading AG in December ensures we have a dedicated market for the gold concentrate produced, significantly de-risking the project.

With the impressive financials shown in the DFS, the board has resolved to progress the project to financing.

We have commenced early engagement with banks around potential debt financing and will be commencing independent technical reviews for the lender process shortly.

Our overall timeline should see us complete financing and announce a final investment decision in Q3 2021, along with early works and procurement of long-lead items and commence full commercial construction in Q4 2021.

That would put us on track to pour first gold in Q4 2022, allowing Bardoc to make the all-important transition to mid-tier gold producer and to become a significant new player in the gold industry in the North Kalgoorlie region.

The company will continue DFS optimisation over the coming months incorporating highly encouraging results generated by recent exploration activities.
Workers feel brunt of corporate issues, illustration photo

VIR reported last week that several former employees of electronics giant LG in Vietnam accused the company of workplace mistreatment after allegedly having personal property seized and emails searched.

Asked for opinion on such disputes, Vu Quang Tho, former director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions (IWTU) under the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, urged that some foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in particular may be violating human rights highlighted in numerous legal provisions in the country.

In cases like these, employees should be protected and protest against such alleged behaviour, said Tho. If there are some misunderstandings or misconduct between employees and the company, the employer should carefully explain policies, new plans, and new cultural features of the company for employees to clearly understand their rights and responsibilities.

The expert said that if these policies or solutions are not suitable with the local countrys legal rules and culture, as well as not agreed upon by the employees themselves, employers should change their plans instead of forcing them on workers.

Lawyer Lai Ngoc Thanh from LLA Legal noted that current legal provisions stipulates that employers can discipline employees for violations as noted in the law, or if they can otherwise prove a violation, along with the participation of the local trade union. The relevant trade union should support the voice and protect the rights of employees in the case of any dispute, he added.

According to the Labour Code and the Law on Trade Union, an internal employee department should protect the lawful rights and interests of the members in labour relations in the company; cooperate with the employer in resolving issues relevant to the rights, obligations, and interest of the employer and employees; and develop progressive, harmonious, and stable labour relations.

Nearly two weeks ago, a former LG employee in Vietnam, who is filing a lawsuit, alleged that he had his desk searched and items removed while he was on sick leave, apparently to investigate violations of company policy. He also accused colleagues of preventing him from leaving the building via an elevator.

The dispute arose after company documents sent to him said that he had used his annual leave without seeking permission. However, the worker said that he had submitted the three-week leave request to the companys payroll app, along with submitting a medical certificate confirming that he was suffering from stress.

Reports of changes in work culture, along with the lingering pandemic effects, have caused a number of LG workers in several Vietnamese cities to quit after suffering from stress or depression, VIR was told.

A former head of marketing for the company revealed that she quit at the end of last year after accusing officials of searching her emails. A human resources lead also explained how she left the role in the middle of last year with similar complaints.

Bouts of stress may be coming into play as business failures, along with the impacts of the pandemic, have upended the various plans of LG and similar FIEs, especially when it comes to the hiring and firing of employees.

In South Korea, LG Group and Hynudai were the first two conglomerates to completely scrap mass hire processes last year, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily, while SK Group will scrap the traditional mass recruitment system from next year and adopt a rolling system where subsidiaries and teams hire new employees as and when required.

In a mass recruitment system, the groups HR team would collect information from subsidiaries on how many new employees they would need each year and from which job segment. These massive recruitment drives usually take place twice a year.

The hiring practice has been the norm in South Korean conglomerates for decades as the country went through rapid economic development and companies needed an efficient way to fill their organisation with skilled workers.

However, South Korean companies in the 21st century began to deem the practice outdated and inadequate to adapt to rapidly changing markets. In the difficult economic context and the pandemic still lurking, the cumbersome system has been put under severe pressure.

In addition to tightening recruitment, numerous challenges in business have forced LG Group to think about closing its mobile phone business altogether after the failure of negotiations with Volkswagen AG and Vietnams Vingroup on a possible sale of the business.

LG Electronics CEO said in January that all options were on the table for the loss-making operation. The company was said to have halted development in February of phones with a rollable display, according to Bloomberg, said LG has also shelved a planned first-half rollout of all new smartphones. LG may share its decision on the business fate with employees as soon as early April.

Tho from the IWTU said that utilising financial issues to justify mistakes and violation is unacceptable in any company. If the rights of employees are affected, they should gather to propose action by the employers, he explained. And foreign employers in Vietnam should strictly follow our legal provisions, instead of applying the methods they use in their own countries onto Vietnamese employees. Respecting the rights and interests of local employees is the only way for them to survive in Vietnam.
(TNS)  The University of Miami is investigating a possible data breach that could compromise information belonging to patients in the University of Miami Health System, UHealth, the university said in a statement.The breach was part of a nationwide hack of Accellion, a third-party file-sharing system, according to Bleepingcomputer.com. In addition to the University of Miami, data was accessed from the University of Colorado as well as large corporations including the Kroger grocery store chain and Shell Oil Company.The University of Miamis website said the hackers accessed patient information from UHealth. The university has enlisted the help of leading cybersecurity experts to assist with our investigation, the statement said.The website also reported a ransomware attack from a gang that demanded $10 million in bitcoin from the targeted institutions and threatened to publish the stolen data if the demand was not met. The report said the ransomware gang has already began posting data for students at Colorado, including grades and social security numbers.reported personal information on a few dozen UHealth patients was posted on the so-called dark web, a place frequented by hackers. The University of Miami student newspaper,, said faculty was alerted to the breach in an email.Here is the full statement from the university:The University of Miami is currently investigating a data security incident involving Accellion, a third-party provider of hosted file transfer services.We take data security seriously and data protection is a top priority. 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. Based on our investigation to date, 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 Miamis network.We understand that the Accellion security incident affected multiple federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government organizations, as well as private industry organizations and businesses including those in the medical, legal, telecommunications, finance, higher education, retail, and energy sectors.While we believe based on our investigation to date that the incident is limited to the Accellion server used for secure file transfers, we continue to enhance our cybersecurity program to further safeguard our systems from cyber threats. We continue to serve our University community consistent with our commitment to education, research, innovation, and service."
Imagine for a moment that I went on stage in a comedy club and said: 'There's still two rules in the f****** Morgan family: Don't marry somebody black and don't park in front of our house.'

Then imagine that a black female member of the audience sitting in the front took exception to my horribly racist remark, stood up and flipped me her middle finger.

Then imagine me turning on that black woman and sneering: 'Sit your f****** a** down. I'm talking, b****. You paid to see a show, sit your a** down. [If] you can't take a joke, you're at the wrong motherf****** place. You got two choicessit your f****** a** down or get the f*** out of here.'

Then imagine me continuing to rant 'I'm going to make that choice for you  get the f*** out of here. Bye. Bye. Bye', at which point the black woman and her friends get up and leave the venue.

Then imagine me, two days later, doubling down on the incident when it provoked public uproar and tweeting: 'You have 2 choices, have a good day or get the f*** out.'

I've been friends with Sharon for over 20 years, and we became particularly close when we worked together for five seasons on America's Got Talent. She's one of the smartest, feistiest, funniest and most outrageous people I know - and I love her for it. What you see with Sharon is what you get, on and off camera. Like me, she's incredibly opinionated and loves a good argument

In 2017, comedian George Lopez (pictured above with Sheryl Underwood) appeared on stage in Phoenix, Arizona, where he said: 'There's still two rules in the f****** Latino family: Don't marry somebody black and don't park in front of our house'. A black female member of the audience sitting in the front took exception to his horribly racist remark, stood up and flipped him her middle finger. Sheryl Underwood defended him on The Talk

Now imagine my friend Sharon Osbourne appearing on her hit show The Talk two days after that tweet, defending me and also mocking the woman by blaming HER for the abuse she endured and saying: 'I would have said, 'b****, that's why nobody's going to marry you cause you talking in my show'.'

That would be outrageous, right?

I mean, it would be incontrovertible evidence of Sharon publicly supporting a racist, sexist, misogynist pig who had shockingly abused a young black woman.

And frankly, she would have deserved to be fired for it.

But obviously, I didn't do or say any of those things.

And nor did Sharon Osbourne.

No, it was Latino comedian George Lopez who racially abused the black woman at a gig in Phoenix, Arizona in February 2017.

And the person on The Talk who mounted such a passionate defence of his appalling behavior was Sheryl Underwood, one of Sharon's long-time co-hosts.

Underwood, herself a black woman, told the panel: 'Once you throw up the bird twice and you are in the first few rows, you have now inserted yourself into the show and it depends on the mood of the comic on how they handle it. I am pro-black female, but if you put yourself into it, you goin' get lit up. I would've said: 'b****, that's why nobody's going to marry you cause you talking in my show.'

In other words, the black female victim of the sickening abuse had it coming for reacting badly to a disgusting racist slur and deserved all the abuse she got.

CBS, which fired Sharon, is the same CBS that allowed Meghan and Harry to spray-gun the British royals and media with all sorts of unsubstantiated highly damaging garbage, the veracity of which has been unravelling faster than Sharon Osbourne was jettisoned at the altar of politically correct bullsh**

It's hard to imagine a more shameful thing to say on national television but Ms Underwood was applauded for it by the audience and suffered no disciplinary action from her CBS bosses.

Now cut forward four years to the episode of The Talk that aired on CBS on March 10, the day after I quit my UK breakfast show Good Morning Britain after refusing to apologize for disbelieving Meghan Markle's disingenuous load of fact-devoid baloney in her lengthy Oprah whine-athon with Prince Harry, much of which has now been proved to be untrue.

Sharon Osbourne had tweeted her support for me, saying: 'I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you're paid for your opinion and that you're just speaking your truth.'

And Sheryl Underwood wasn't happy with her about it.

'What would you say to people,' she demanded, 'who say that while you're standing by your friend, you appear to be giving validation or a safe haven to something he has uttered that is racist?'

Sharon Osbourne had tweeted her support for me, saying: 'I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you're paid for your opinion and that you're just speaking your truth.'

Sheryl Underwood wasn't happy with Sharon for tweeting her support. 'What would you say to people,' she demanded, 'who say that while you're standing by your friend, you appear to be giving validation or a safe haven to something he has uttered that is racist?' This was a staggering, bare-faced lie

The person on The Talk who mounted such a passionate defence of Lopez's appalling behavior was Sheryl Underwood, one of Sharon's long-time co-hosts. She appeared on The Talk and mocked the woman by blaming HER for the abuse she endured and saying: 'I would have said, 'b****, that's why nobody's going to marry you cause you talking in my show'

This was a staggering, bare-faced lie.

I've never said a single thing about Meghan Markle that could possibly be construed as racist, either in print or on television.

In fact, the only time I've ever mentioned her race has been to repeatedly say how great it was that a bi-racial woman was marrying into the very white British royal family.

It's true that having once been friendly with her, I've been very critical of her in the past three years because I believe she's a fake virtue-signalling hypocrite who ruthlessly exploits her royal titles for financial gain.

But none of that honestly held opinion is based on anything to do with her skin color. I've been equally critical of Harry for his own ludicrous antics and he's white.

Sharon was stunned by Underwood's question.

'Tell me what he said that's racist?' she retorted, several times, but Underwood was unable to say because she knows I never have.

'It is not the exact words of racism,' she eventually clarified. 'It's the implication and reaction to it. To not want to address that because she is a black woman, and to try to dismiss it or make it seem less than what it is. That's what makes it racist.'

So, let me get this straight: to disbelieve Meghan Markle, even when she's demonstrably lying about very serious and incredibly damaging claims  her son Archie was NOT banned from being a Prince because of his skin color, just as she's now admitted they didn't get secretly married three days before their wedding - is now an automatic confirmation of racism?

'I don't understand,' said a bemused Sharon. 'If Piers doesn't like someone, and they happen to be black, does that make him a racist?'

'No,' said Underwood.

'Right, so why can't it be he just doesn't like her? Why does it have to be racist?'

Underwood didn't answer.

Instead, she said: 'I don't want anybody here to watch this and think we're attacking you for being racist.'

Sharon chuckled ruefully. 'I think it's too late, that seed's already sown.'

Yes, it had been, just as the seed had been sown about my own supposed racism with zero evidence to support it.

And it was done very deliberately, and utterly disgracefully.

Oprah Winfrey barely challenged a word her two friends said, leaving Americans and the woefully gullible US media to assume every sensational bombshell of self-serving tittle-tattle was fact when much of it wasn't

As a result of their emotion-charged debate, during which Sharon became understandably enraged by the sheer injustice of seeing a friend who she knows isn't racist being branded a racist with nothing to back it up, and seeing herself smeared in the process as a racist-sympathiser, she's now been forced out of her job at The Talk after ten years in which she's been by far its biggest star and most interesting panellist.

I've been friends with Sharon for over 20 years, and we became particularly close when we worked together for five seasons on America's Got Talent.

She's one of the smartest, feistiest, funniest and most outrageous people I know - and I love her for it.

What you see with Sharon is what you get, on and off camera.

Like me, she's incredibly opinionated and loves a good argument.

As she told DailyMail.com last week: 'Piers and I have got a great friendship. But we fightwe have huge fights. I've slapped Piers. Piers has seen my breasts! We get drunk together, we argue a lot over things we don't agree on but at the end of the day, that's it. I don't agree with his opinion all the way, I don't. But the difference is, he knows Meghan and I don't. The guy has a right to his opinion  I'm sure I say things and he goes, she's f****** nuts!'

(Factcheck: I do.)

I've also appeared many times with her on The Talk, including last October when ironically, I warned of the increasingly sinister cancel culture that was destroying free speech.

'I never want to have an argument with someone like Sharon,' I said, 'and then say at the end, right because I don't agree with you, I want you fired from The Talk immediately. That is not democracy.'

'I agree with him,' said. Sheryl Underwood!

Yet here we are, just five months later, and the same Sheryl Underwood's sat back and watched Sharon Osbourne get driven off the show for disagreeing with her, after deliberately rattling her cage with a fake racism slur against me.

It's an absolute disgrace and given how Underwood defended HER friend George Lopez when he DID say racist things that were caught on camera, it's disgustingly hypocritical of her.

As is the behaviour of CBS, the Cowardly Broadcasting System, who've so pathetically bowed to the woke mob illiberally baying for blood like a bunch of crazed language-policing fascists.

In their statement announcing Sharon's departure, CBS made it clear she was leaving specifically for what happened on that episode and not because of any of the other historic allegations of alleged inappropriate behaviour made against her by aggrieved former panel members, all of which Sharon vehemently denies.

CBS said: 'The events of the March 10 broadcast were upsetting to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home. As part of our review, we concluded that Sharon's behavior toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace.'

What a load of sanctimonious, two-faced twaddle.

So, it's OK for Sheryl Underwood to passionately defend someone who spews racist abuse at a black woman, but it's not OK for Sharon Osbourne to passionately defend someone who didn't?

This is such an outrageous double standard.

And how can it even be happening in a country so proud of its First Amendment constitutional right to free speech?

But then, this is the same CBS that allowed Meghan and Harry to spray-gun the British royals and media with all sorts of unsubstantiated highly damaging garbage, the veracity of which has been unravelling faster than Sharon Osbourne was jettisoned at the altar of politically correct bullsh*t.

As a result of the emotion-charged debate between Sheryl (far left) and Sharon (center), during which Sharon became understandably enraged by the sheer injustice of seeing a friend who she knows isn't racist being branded a racist with nothing to back it up, and seeing herself smeared in the process as a racist-sympathiser, she's now been forced out of her job at The Talk after ten years in which she's been by far its biggest star and most interesting panellist

Oprah Winfrey barely challenged a word her two friends said, leaving Americans and the woefully gullible US media to assume every sensational bombshell of self-serving tittle-tattle was fact when much of it wasn't.

It's hard to overstate the pain and hurt these claims have caused the Queen, and to make it even worse, they were made at a time when her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip lay seriously ill in hospital.

This sham of an 'interview' was a shameful betrayal of journalistic standards by CBS.

And when it comes to the company's 'values', this is the same CBS which has just given a platform to shamed film director Woody Allen to dismiss serious sex abuse allegations made by his daughter Dylan.

They seem to specialise in allowing people to peddle THEIR version of the truth without any regard for what THE truth may be.

Sharon Osbourne was entitled to defend me without being deemed a racist.

Just as I was entitled not to believe Meghan Markle without being deemed a racist.

The fact we've both lost our jobs is not just an appalling attack on free speech, but it's also a terrible indictment of woke cancel culture bullsh*t and the stinking hypocrisy that lies at the heart of it.

Every journalist and commentator in America should be as incensed as I am about this, because they could all be next.
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.

Follow this search Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
The White House now listed the "Biden-Harris Administration" on its website, breaking its tradition of calling the administration with the president's name alone.

The White House replaced the heading of the "administration" tab on the White House's official website from "Biden Administration" to "Biden-Harris Administration."

Also, a leaked email from a federal agency employee showed a top White House communications team member instructing all federal government agencies to refer to the Biden administration as the "Biden-Harris Administration," Outspoken reported.

"Please be sure to reference the current administration as the 'Biden-Harris Administration' in official public communications," the directive noted.

The move to change how the current administration should be addressed is also evident on the administration's social media accounts.

READ NEXT: 14 States Sue Biden Administration for Pause in Oil and Gas Lease

The New Biden-Harris Administration

Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are also listed on the White House's Twitter page. The page's bio read: "Welcome to the Biden-Harris White House!"

According to Fox News, the subtle switch appears to be one of the several moves intended to elevate Harris' position within the current administration.

The specific language also appeared on the websites of 15 executive departments with press releases and other communications from the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Education, Homeland Security, and the Veterans Affairs, among others exclusively referring to the "Biden-Harris Administration."

Biden has more than once accidentally addressed Kamala Harris to "President Harris." It was evident during his speech about the updates on vaccination progress early this month.

Last December, he mistakenly referred to Kamala Harris as "president-elect," also during a speech on coronavirus vaccines. Kamala Harris also once accidentally called herself commander-in-chief at a virtual roundtable in September.

Reactions on the 'Biden-Harris Administration'

The move from the White House, particularly changing the administration's name into "Biden-Harris Administration," has garnered different reactions from people online, especially from people who believe that the current president is not qualified to be in the post.

They are getting them used to the lingo for Harris takeover  Missy (@MissyLovesJesus) March 24, 2021

This is VERY strange?? Wheres the media on this?   Shell (@Shella_Bella) March 24, 2021

A Twitter user called the change of the administration's name weird. Another Twitter user has shared that the White House is making the agencies adjust with the language for Harris to take over the president's position.

Another Twitter user has found the "Biden-Harris Administration" very strange. Because of the President's gaffes before, speculations of his cognitive decline have risen.

Former Ambassador to Germany and former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell told Outspoken that the directives of the White House, specifically the Biden-Harris Administration's usage in addressing the current administration, is indicative of Biden's struggle as a president.

He noted that this is a signal that Biden could not do the job alone. Grenell added that the world leaders expect to hear from the U.S. President and not the Vice President.

"There are certainly times when the Vice President has to step in but not for the introductory call," he said.

READ MORE: Biden Administration Wants Billions More to Fund Migrants in Their Home Countries

WATCH: Biden Calls Kamala Harris 'President-elect' in Latest Gaffe - From The Sun
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Master's in Secondary Education Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 166 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 166 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 Secondary Education Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-secondary-education-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Secondary Education Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

American College of Education

Arizona State University

Ball State University

Black Hills State University

Boston College

Brandman University

California State University, Fullerton

Columbus State University

DePaul University

George Washington University

Georgia Southern University

Grand Canyon University

Hope International University

Indiana University Bloomington

Kennesaw State University

Lehigh University

Liberty University

Mercy College

Mississippi State University

Northern Arizona University

Northern Kentucky University

Northwestern State University of Louisiana

Northwestern University

Old Dominion University

Regis University

Saint Joseph's University

Slippery Rock University

Southeast Missouri State University

Temple University

Texas State University

Towson University

University of New Mexico

University of Alabama

University of California, Irvine

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Kentucky

University of Louisiana, Monroe

University of Maine

University Of Mississippi

University of Nebraska, Kearney

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

University of North Texas

University of Northern Iowa

University of South Alabama

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Vanderbilt University

Wayne State University

Western Kentucky University

Wisconsin Lutheran College

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/.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Read more about coronavirus updates from around the world, get the latest news on stimulus checks and additional stimulus moves and see more stories trending online today.

Top Stories

Stimulus Payments for Many Low-Income Americans Are Still Being Processed. Heres Why (NY Times)

Fourth stimulus check: Will Biden and Congress give you another payment? (Yahoo)

Payment deferrals were a lifeline for millions during Covid. What happens when those end? (NBC)

Biden economic plan to focus 1st on infrastructure this week (AP)

Opening statements are set to begin in Derek Chauvins trial for the death of George Floyd (CNN)

Biden expresses confidence that rational gun control can pass evenly-divided Senate (CBS News)

Coronavirus news

Birx recalls very difficult call with Trump, says hundreds of thousands of Covid deaths were preventable (NBC)

Fauci warns against potential new COVID-19 surge as cases remain high (Face the Nation)

Vaccination Pace Increases But So Does Rate Of New COVID-19 Cases (NPR)

Europe looks to contain spiraling Covid crisis, but its Happy Monday in the UK (CNBC)

ICU cases creep toward new peak in French virus surge (AP)

Amid backlash, Comic-Con organizers defend Thanksgiving weekend convention scheduling (USA Today)

WHO report says animals likely source of COVID (AP)

Thousands attend rock concert in Barcelona after audience tested for Covid-19 (Yahoo)

Other trending headlines

Ever Given, container ship stuck in Suez Canal, partially refloated (Fox News)

Patch your iPhone and iPad: Apple security update stamps out active exploit (TechRadar)

Richest Czech Man Among 5 Killed in Alaska Helicopter Crash (US News & World Report)

Nashville flooding turns deadly after severe storms tear across South (UPI)

Andre Drummond signs with Lakers 2 days after Cavaliers bought him out (cleveland.com)

Black Adam Release Date Confirmed (IGN)

Top local headlines

Argument between man and woman sparked shootout that injured 7 inside Cleveland motorcycle club, officials say

Hundreds attend Stop Asian Hate rally held in Cleveland

Lorain man last seen in early February found dead in Lake Erie; companion still missing

Brunswick native, Heidelberg University football player dies in ATV crash, school announces

Ohio reports 1,019 new coronavirus cases: Sunday update

Critics want Cleveland to replace zoning code allowing controversial, oversized townhouses, slot houses

Cleveland Clinic opens COVID-19 vaccination site on Brecksville Rd.
Seoul, March 29 : South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating rose 0.3 percentage points over the week to 34.4 per cent last week, a poll revealed on Monday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs was up 0.3 percentage points to 62.5 per cent last week, Xinhua news agency quoted the Realmeter survey as saying.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party added 0.2 percentage points from a week earlier to 28.3 per cent last week.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party garnered 39.0 per cent of approval score last week, up 3.5 percentage points from the previous week.

The minor centre-right People's Party gained 8.3 percentage of support, followed by the minor centre-left Open Democratic Party with 5.8 per cent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 3.6 per cent, respectively.

The results were based on a survey of 2,516 voters conducted from March 22 to 26.

It had plus and minus 2.0 percentage points in margin of error with a 95-per cent confidence level.

Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
On July 16, 2020, the FCC adopted an Order (FCC 20-100) approving 988 as the three-digit abbreviated dialing code to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline starting July 16, 2022. The Order requires all telecommunications carriers, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, and one-way VoIP providers (covered providers) to make any network changes necessary to ensure that users can dial 988 to reach the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by July 16, 2022.

In order for 988 to work in the 82 area codes in 36 states below, every customer with a number in those area codes with seven-digit local dialing must be transitioned to 10-digit (or 1+10-digit in CA and parts of IL).

The FCC ordered that any area code that has the 988 prefix assigned as telephone numbers and has seven-digit local dialing be transitioned to 10-digit (area code + telephone number) or 1+10-digits (1+ area code + telephone number in CA and parts of IL) local dialing to ensure everyone is able to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline using the three-digit 988 code.

Alaska 907 Minnesota 218,952 Alabama 251 Mississippi 662 Arkansas 501 Missouri 314,417,660,816 Arizona 480,520,928 Montana 406 California 209,530,562,626,650,707,925 Nevada 775

949,951 New Hampshire 603 Colorado 719,970 New Jersey 856,908 Delaware 302 New Mexico 505,575 Florida 321(Brevard County only), 352,561, 941 New York 516,607,716,845,914 Georgia 478,912 North Carolina 910 Guam 671 Ohio 440,513 Hawaii 808 South Dakota 605 Illinois 309,618,708 Tennessee 731,865 Indiana 219,574 Texas 254,361,409,806,830,915,940 Iowa 319,515 Vermont 802 Kansas 620,785 Virginia 276,804 Kentucky 859 Washington 509 Louisiana 337,504 Wisconsin 262,414,608,920 Michigan 616,810,906,989





Beginning April 24, 2021, consumers with numbers in the area codes above should start dialing 10-digits (area code + telephone number or 1+10-digits (1+ area code + telephone number in CA and parts of IL) for all local calls. This is known as a permissive dialing period because if you forget and dial just seven-digits, your call will still be completed.

Beginning October 24, 2021, all consumers with numbers in the area codes above must dial 10-digits (area code + telephone number or 1+10-digits (1+ area code + telephone number in CA and parts of IL) for all local calls. On and after this date, local calls dialed with only seven-digits may not be completed, and a recording may inform you that your call cannot be completed as dialed. If you get this recording, you must hang up and dial again using the area code with the seven-digit telephone number.

What other changes need to be made?

Important safety and security equipment, such as medical alert devices, and alarm and security systems must be programmed to use 10-digit (1+10-digit) dialing. Many systems operate on 10-digit (or 1+10-digit) dialing by default but some older equipment may still use seven-digits. Please contact your medical alert or security provider if you are not sure whether your equipment needs to be reprogrammed to accommodate the upcoming change to 10-digit (or 1+10-digits) local dialing. Any needed reprogramming of alarm and home security equipment must be done during the permissive dialing period from April 24, 2021 to October 24, 2021 to avoid interruption of services . Some other examples of services that may need to be re-programmed are:

life safety systems or medical monitoring devices

PBXs

fax machines

Internet dial-up numbers

fire or burglar alarm and security systems or gates

speed dialers

mobile or other wireless phone contact lists

call forwarding settings

voicemail services and other similar functions

Be sure to check your website, personal and business stationery, advertising materials, personal and business checks, contact information, your personal or pet ID tags, and other such items to ensure the area code is included.

What will remain the same?

Your telephone number, including current area code, will not change

The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the dialing change

What is a local call now will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed

You will continue to dial 1+ the area code + telephone number for all long-distance calls

You will continue to dial a prefix (such as "9") when dialing from a multi-line telephone system (e.g., in a hotel, office building, etc.) as required

You can still dial just three digits to reach 711 (relay services) and 911 (emergency services)

If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 or 811 are currently available in your community, dial these codes with just three digits

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can still be reached by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255) even after the 988 code is in effect

Beginning July 16, 2022, dialing "988" will route your call to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Customers must continue to dial 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) to reach the Lifeline until July 16, 2022 .

You may visit the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) website at https://www.nationalnanpa.com/transition_to_10_digit_dialing_for_988/index.html or email NANPA at [email protected] with questions about the dialing procedure change, or you may visit the FCC website at https://www.fcc.gov/suicide-prevention-hotline.

About Somos, Inc.

Somos is a leading provider of registry management and data solutions. Our mission is to empower more intimate and trusted connections between brands, consumers, and communities. We accomplish this through our suite of authentication enablement solutions as well as our numbering administration roles.

Somos serves as the North American Numbering Plan Administrator for more than 800 million local and wireless telephone numbers and as the Reassigned Number Database Administrator. We operate the SMS/800 TFN Registry for more than 42 million Toll-Free Numbers in North America, and the TSS Registry, the centralized registry for the use of Toll-Free Numbers in text messaging and multimedia services.

Through our portfolio of products and services, and a collaborative approach in everything we do, Somos helps ensure trust in an increasingly digital world while delivering value, innovation, and results to consumers. To learn more about Somos, please visit www.somos.com.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 23:57:43|Editor: huaxia

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ABIDJAN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers and one gendarme were killed early Monday morning in attacks launched by gunmen on two posts of the Armed Forces of Cote d'Ivoire, the army confirmed in a press release.

According to General Doumbia Lassina, Chief of General Staff of the army, the attacks occurred on the night from Sunday to Monday.

"The first occurred in Kafolo and was carried out by some sixty heavily armed terrorists from Burkina Faso," the head of the army said in the press release.

The provisional toll is two soldiers killed and four others injured, he said, adding that on the enemy's side, three terrorists were killed, four arrested and some logistical materials seized.

The Armed Forces managed to repel the perpetrators after one hour's intensive combat, and are executing an ongoing sweeping operation, the general said.

The second attack occurred in Kolobougou, near the border with Burkina Faso, where a gendarmerie post was attacked by "unidentified" individuals.

"An Ivorian gendarme was killed and another is injured, no casualties discovered on the enemy side for the time being," General Doumbia Lassina added.

In June last year, an attack on the mixed army-gendarmerie post in Kafolo killed 12 soldiers and one gendarme. Enditem
The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost.
Portland police are searching for a man prosecutors have charged with attempted murder and first-degree assault in a shooting in Southwest Portland earlier this month.

After interviewing the victim and other witnesses, officials charged Noah Charles Smith, 34, with shooting a man in the stomach and leg on March 7 at a homeless camp near Southwest Barbur Boulevard and Southwest Capitol Highway. Police said Smith is known to frequent homeless camps.

The victim, 39, was shot while inside his closed tent, according to police, who described two holes in the tent fabric where bullets entered the mans abode. He was transported to a hospital for treatment.

Police said they believe Smith, who is a convicted felon, is armed and dangerous, and they advised members of the public not to approach him.

Court records indicate the accused gunman and the victim were acquaintances.

Another person was found dead near the same location Sunday morning. Police said about 8:30 a.m. one person was found dead from gunshot wounds in the wooded area near Southwest Barbur Boulevard and Southwest Capitol Highway.

They did not identify a suspect.

This story will be updated.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
Irrfan Khan's Son Babil Pens A Heartfelt Note To Filmfare For Recognizing The Late Actors Commitment To His Craft

Late actor Irrfan Khan's son Babil Khan on Sunday penned a note of thanks to Filmfare for recognising his father's contribution to the film industry. Babil hopped on to his Instagram account and shared a picture that featured all the six Black lady accolades honoured to his father, including the latest addition of 'Best Actor (Male)' and 'Life Time Achievement' award presented to him on the latest edition of Filmfare ceremony.

Alongside the picture, he wrote, "Thank you FILMFARE! Even after he has departed you have recognised his commitment to his craft. We as a family are so grateful."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Babil (@babil.i.k)

The star-studded 66th Filmfare awards on Saturday night, saw Thappad winning the maximum number of awards, followed by Gulabo Sitabo, winning six. The ceremony which took place at the Goregaon Filmcity, Mumbai, concluded with late actor Irrfan Khan bagging the posthumous award: Best Actor (Male) award for his moving performance in Angrezi Medium. Irrfan died on April 29 last year in Mumbai at the age of 53 last year after a long battle with cancer. The late actor was also honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event last night. Amitabh Bachchan bagged the Best Actor (Critics) Award.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Babil (@babil.i.k)

Alaya F took home the Best Debut (Female) award for her much-appreciated performance in Jawaani Jaaneman while Taapsee Pannu and Tilottama Shome were honoured with the award for Best Actress (Popular) and award for Best Actress (Critics) respectively for their roles in Thappad and Sir. Saif Ali Khan and Om Raut, his Tanhaji director, were also among the big winners of the night with Saif taking home the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) and Om being commemorated with the award for Best Director.
[March 29, 2021] Skal International USA continues its highly successful Educational Webinar Series

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- When the Skal USA Executive Committee met up for their first meeting of 2020 in New Orleans, they kicked around a variety of ideas on how they could best engage the membership and came up with the idea of a webinar, just beginning to be used by the industry. They decided to put together a series of executive educational webinars featuring tourism NGO chief executives. They asked Skal DC member Roger Dow, President, and CEO of US Travel Association, to kick off the series in late March. Little did they know how much the world would change in the next few months before that webinar took place. Their prescience put Skal USA in the perfect position to fulfill their mission of providing maximum networking opportunities, career development, and business growth through leadership, trust, and friendship while supporting a responsible travel industry across all sectors of tourism, at just the right time. "A Conversation with Roger Dow" took place on March 26th, 2020, and the timing was ideal. The majority of the country had just shut down due to the pandemic. To have an opportunity to speak with the chief advocate of the travel industry and fellow Skalleague from Skal Washington DC at the beginning of the most challenging time our industry has ever faced was exceptionally well received. Over 150 people around the world logged in, and the Skal USA Education Webinar Series was born, offering a total of 16 webinars in 2020. "The level of professionalism within the tourism community came together, and Skal USA provided the outlet for our members and other tourism executives to learn and interact with these unique leaders," said Tom Moulton, SKAL USA Director of Membership. "In return, we were able to make informed decisions which positively assisted Skal USA clubs and their companies. We provided friendship and familiarity with these global leaders. " This webinar series aims to provide relevant content to our membership and the industry to help them with up-to-date information, trends, and leading indusry information from across all sectors. The series continues to gain steam in 2021 as Skal USA has already hosted several successful webinars focused on continuing education, sharing ideas about getting creative with Zoom meetings during the pandemic, and an interactive conversation with the Tourism Cares CEO.



Skal members come from all aspects of the travel industry, and participants log in from around the world, so the team makes sure they find a variety of speakers to offer something for everyone. The speakers are chosen based on what is going on in the industry. For example, with meetings and events going virtual, hybrid, and even some in-person, Skal will have David DuBois, President & CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), talking about this side of the industry on March 31st. He'll also address the changes people will see when they attend a conference or exhibition." Sign up for the webinar here. Subsequent webinars will include Pauline Frommer, Editorial Director of Frommer's Guidebooks, to share what changes she's seeing in the market and other issues that will likely shape travel going forward on April 14th.

Richard Bangs, co-founder and Chief Adventure Officer of www.Steller.co, a pioneer in travel, digital media, e-commerce, will talk about the future of travel on May 12th. There are many well-known panelists scheduled for the rest of the year, sharing their expertise with the members and taking the time to answer questions. The goal is for every participant in attendance on the webinar to take away one nugget of information that they can use or share and a new resource in the industry on the topic, and that's the success of the series. All webinars are free and open to the public and are archived afterward on Skal USA's website and their YouTube page for public access. Skal International USA continues to strive for ways to engage with their membership and the industry regularly and offer various opportunities to learn, discuss, question and network. Skal USA would love to welcome you to the conversation. Follow them on Facebook or at skalusa.org for a list of upcoming webinars, and be sure to drop in when you can. Skal International is the world's largest global network of Tourism Professionals promoting Tourism, Business, and Friendship worldwide since 1934. Its members are Directors and Executives of the Tourism sector who relate to each other to address common interest issues, improve a business network, and promote destinations. Skal International has nearly 13,000 members in 332 clubs in 99 countries around the world. Skal International USA is currently the largest National Committee in Skal International with over 1,300 members and 45 clubs nationwide. For more information about Skal International and membership, please visit SkalUSA.org. Contact: Pam Davis, (808) 225-8229, info@skalusa.org

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skal-international-usa-continues-its-highly-successful-educational-webinar-series-301257375.html SOURCE Skal International USA

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More than 30 million people in the UK have had their first dose of the Covid vaccine, and around three million have been fully vaccinated.

But with supply problems expected to affect the roll-out in April, many people are worried about getting their second jab, while others who are eligible now are struggling simply to schedule their appointment, as Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn found.

He revealed last week that when he tried to book his second jab online, he was told incorrectly that he'd already had an appointment but missed it, and then that he could only book it for a location 40 miles away.

Confused? Worried? Here we explain everything you need to know about getting your second dose.

My GP surgery called me about my first jab. Should I ring them to book my second appointment?

People who had their first dose through their GP will be invited (via text or call) to have their second dose in the same way, says the NHS. It advises against calling GPs for a jab appointment due to fears that surgeries will be overwhelmed with phone calls.

The Government says everyone who has had their first dose will receive their second within 12 weeks, so hold tight.

Many people are worried about getting their second jab, while others who are eligible now are struggling simply to schedule their appointment. A man is seen getting vaccinated in Belfast

I booked my first vaccine online, should I do the same for the second?

Yes. If you originally booked through the online NHS National Booking Service to have your jab at a vaccination centre or designated community pharmacy, you should be able to book your second dose online, too.

My wife has already been given a date for her second dose, why haven't I?

It seems to depend on how you booked your first appointment, but the system is confusing.

If you booked your first dose online through the NHS website, you should have been able to book an appointment for your second dose at the same time.

However, if you got your appointment through your GP or at a hospital hub, you probably won't yet have received a date for your second jab.

People who had their first dose through their GP will be invited (via text or call) to have their second dose in the same way, says the NHS. It advises against calling GPs for a jab appointment due to fears that surgeries will be overwhelmed with phone calls

Instead, you will be contacted closer to the 12-week deadline to make an appointment.

But some vaccination centres are giving people a date for their second jab when they go in for their first dose, regardless of whether they booked online or through their GP. The system seems to vary around the country.

Are there enough supplies of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines for everyone who's had their first dose to get their second dose after 12 weeks?

The Government's Vaccine Taskforce has announced there will be a 'significant reduction' in supplies starting this week. It's triggered partly by a delay in delivery from India of five million AstraZeneca jabs.

This slowdown is expected to last for four weeks. However, the Government insists second doses will not be affected and that the NHS is on track to deliver all second doses within 12 weeks of people receiving their first jabs.

Why are some people being asked to travel miles for their second dose?

Supplies of the vaccine vary around the country. If you booked your jab appointments online, you will be offered the closest available slot.

If you're not being offered a second dose near to where you live, this could be because some vaccine centres have now closed temporarily due to the shortages.

The NHS advises to keep checking the website, as new appointments for the second jab are being released all the time.

If you've had the AstraZeneca vaccine, you don't need to have both jabs at the same centre. However, this is not the case for the Pfizer jab, due to its requirement to be stored in special fridges at very low temperatures. So you will probably receive your second dose at the same location as you had the first.

Why are some vaccination centres closing temporarily?

There are more than 1,700 vaccination sites in England and some  such as all of Kent's five mass vaccination centres  are set to close 'for a number of weeks' from next month. This is due to the expected reduction in supplies during April.

Some pop-up vaccine centres, such as cinemas, are also going back to their 'day jobs' from May 17, as the lockdown restrictions ease.

If the interval between the first and second doses is more than 12 weeks, will the vaccine be less effective?

We don't actually know what the 'optimal interval' is between doses, because this has not been formally evaluated in a trial, says Dr Chris Smith, a clinical lecturer in virology at Cambridge University and presenter of the Naked Scientists podcast.

Supplies of the vaccine vary around the country. If you booked your jab appointments online, you will be offered the closest available slot

'For the average person, we're probably on reasonably firm ground if the booster date drifts a bit,' he says.

'The immune system has not evolved with a stopwatch in its hand. It doesn't stand tapping its foot and counting down the minutes to 12 weeks before declaring, Dragon's Den style, 'I'm out'.

'We have evolved to form long-lived immune memories that can be recalled far into the future to protect us from chance re-encounters with things we've met before.'

Timing is probably more of an issue among the older age groups, who do not tend to generate such a good immune response to vaccines, simply because their bodies are older, adds Dr Smith.

Delaying the second dose beyond 12 weeks could leave this age group more exposed.

The great news is that even the first dose seems to provide good protection, with research published last week by Sheffield and Oxford Universities showing that one dose of the Pfizer jab generated a 'robust' immune response against the virus in 99 per cent of people.

Meanwhile, previous research has shown that an interval of 12 weeks or more between AstraZeneca jabs makes it more effective than if the gap was less than six weeks.

Can I change to a different vaccine for my second dose?

This is the subject of research, but currently the simple answer is no.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Friday she would be recommending D.C. National Guard Commander Major General William Walker to be the next House sergeant-at-arms. Walker, a registered Republican who was installed by former President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day 2017 to lead the D.C. Guard, enjoys broad support among the Congress and is set to replace the current acting sergeant-at-arms, Timothy Blodgett, pending a vote.

Blodgett was appointed on January 7 following the resignation of Paul Irving, whom Pelosi had asked to resign following the deliberate stand-down of security forces during the attempted coup on January 6.

In making the announcement, Pelosi noted Walkers great integrity and experience and said he will bring steady and patriotic leadership to this vital role. In ode to identity politics, Pelosi proudly noted he was the first black American to serve as sergeant-at-arms.

Commanding General District of Columbia National Guard Major General William J. Walker is sworn in during a Senate Committee examining the January 6, attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Shawn Thew/Pool via AP)

Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy signaled his support for the nomination writing in a statement that, every member, staffer, employee, and visitor to the Capitol should feel safe with Maj. Gen. Walker at the helm of Sergeant at Arms operations.

In a Friday statement, Walker, a former special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and a 39-year veteran of the military with previous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, said he was, honored and excited for the opportunity to continue to serve this great nation.

Earlier last week, the Senate swore in its new sergeant-at-arms, Karen Gibson, replacing Michael Stenger, also forced out after January 6. Gibson is a retired Army lieutenant general whose previous experience includes serving as the director of intelligence for US Central Command.

The appointments of Gibson and Walker mark the first time two career military officials will be responsible for protecting the Congress. Previous sergeants-at-arms, such as Stenger and Irving, were drawn from the US Secret Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security, which is tasked with protecting top US political leaders.

In court documents filed last month, indicted Ohio Oathkeeper leader Jessica Watkins claimed that she met with Secret Service agents prior to the siege on the Capitol and was tasked with providing security for speakers at the rally. While a Secret Service spokesperson rejected her claims, Watkins insisted that she received a VIP pass from the White House.

Walker and Gibson were appointed to the posts following the release of a  Task Force 1-6 Assessment  that was commissioned by Pelosi and headed by retired Lt. General Russel Honore. Gibson was part of that task force.

The Democratic chairperson of the House Administration Committee, Zoe Lofgren of California, said in a statement, [Walkers] experience led him to be recommended by General Honore who was charged with reviewing January 6. Lofgren wrote, The responsibility of ensuring the security of the House of Representatives and examining our security apparatus moving forward is important, and I look forward to working with him.

The purpose of 1-6 assessment was not to uncover the connections between the pro-Trump mob, the state and the White House. It served instead to whitewash politically the failure of security forces to protect the Capitol.

The report made no mention of the obvious insider threat, including how it came to be that fascists had maps of the underground tunnels of the Capitol, knew where to find specific officessuch as that of South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking House leaderor why rank-and-file police officers said they were left on their own by police leadership to fight back the mob. Instead, the report focused its recommendations on organizational issues and the need for hiring more police.

The appointment of two military members to head the security of the House and Senate speaks to the intense crisis still roiling the capitalist state and the ongoing lack of trust between security apparatus and the Congress. It suggests that congressional leaders are wary of placing their personal security under the control of the Secret Service, and prefer to rely on leaders drawn from the armed forces.

Irving, the former Senate Sergeant-at-arms Stenger, and Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund were all asked to resign following the attack on Capitol. In subsequent congressional testimony, none of the security heads have offered a plausible explanation for the security failures.

In congressional testimony earlier this month, they sought to explain how it was possible, given the ample security assets available to them, for a relatively small group of Trump supporters and fascists to manage to breach the one of the core buildings of the US government.

Irving, Stenger and Sund gave contradictory and incomplete testimony as to why it took so long for security forces to arrive at the Capitol as the Electoral College certification was ongoing and the top three officials in the line of succession to the president, including the vice president, the speaker of the house and the president pro tempore of the Senate, were all in danger.

Walker, in his explosive testimony that has been largely ignored by the mainstream press and dropped by the Democratic Party, confirmed that he and officials from the Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department pleaded for hours with Pentagon officials to send troops to defend the Capitol against pro-Trump insurrectionists.

Walker said that Pentagon officials on the call, including acting Secretary Defense Christopher Miller and Army Generals Walter Piatt and Charles Flynn, complained of the optics of having soldiers on Capitol grounds, causing a delay in the deployment troops leaving Walker, in his words, stunned.

During the hearing, Walker also testified to the difference in responses he received from top Pentagon officials on January 6 compared to peaceful protests outside the White House on June 1.

During the summer protests against police murder, Walker said that then Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy was right by my side, facilitating the quick deployment of 5,000 Guardsmen and even two military helicopters. By contrast, during the siege on the Capitol, Walker testified that McCarthy was unavailable, which prevented him from getting the necessary approval in order to deploy his soldiers.

Walker testified that he had around 155 guardsmen, including a 40-person quick reaction force, waiting to deploy to the Capitol in order to assist overwhelmed, understaffed and underprepared police forces.

I believe that number could have made a difference, Walker testified during the hearing. We could help extend the perimeter and help push back the crowd, Walker added during the joint hearing of the Senate Rules and Administration and Homeland Security committees on March 3.

Some Pentagon officials have pushed back on Walkers claims that the military slow-rolled the deployment of troops to the Capitol. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in comments to the Washington Post that the military moved at sprint speed to deploy troops and that their deployment to Capitol grounds, three hours and 19 minutes after being requested, was very fast.

Likewise, in a Vice interview earlier in March, former acting Secretary of Defense Miller disputed that there was delay in sending troops, and said that any insinuation that a coup was under way was hyperbole.

Nearly three months after the fascist coup attempt, neither Miller nor McCarthy nor any of the Pentagon generals who participated in delaying the deployment of troops to the Capitol have been subpoenaed by the Democrat-controlled Congress to answer for their actions.
Fatalities include seven people whose convoy of vehicles was ambushed as they attempted to flee assault on northern town of Palma.

Video Transcript

HARU MUTASA: Survivors from the siege in Palma arrive in the port city of Pemba just along the coast, but many others weren't as fortunate. Defense officials say dozens of others were killed trying to escape the fighting, and some of them were ambushed as they tried to leave Palma by road in a convoy.

OMAR SARANGA: [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

INTERPRETER: The defense and security forces regret this loss of human lives and advise that they continue to develop at this moment concerted actions of pursuit with the aim of eliminating some pockets of resistance.

HARU MUTASA: Since Wednesday, when an armed group launched its attack on Palma, communications have been down, and many families are still waiting to hear what's happened to their loved ones.

SONIA OMAR: [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

INTERPRETER: It's very sad. The situation of losing someone, it's hard. You don't know where this person is, you can't reach them, or know what condition they're in. This is horrible. And it's destabilized humanity. It's really not fair.

HARU MUTASA: This is the only footage that has emerged from inside the Amarula Hotel, where up to 200 people have reportedly taken refuge. Hundreds of others have attempted to flee the town, running into forests and nearby villages.

- [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

INTERPRETER: We don't know how we will get out of here, if we can get to the sea, or if we'll be rescued, or by whom. There are helicopters flying over the hotel; they are checking to see if we can reach the beach to get a boat out. But as you can hear, we don't know if it's possible. The situation is critical. We have no food, just water. We're in God's hands now.

[EXPLOSIONS RUMBLE]

HARU MUTASA: Gun battles have been going on for days between the armed group that calls itself al-Shabab and government forces trying to take back control of the coastal town.

Story continues

There's been fighting in northern Mozambique, mainly in Kabul Delgado province, since 2017. This is a region major gas discoveries had been made in recent years.

But the town of Palma has been relatively safe for foreigners working on Africa's largest liquefied natural gas project until this week. The French energy giant Total has now evacuated 1,000 of its workers and suspended its operations. It was due to restart a $20 billion project after stopping work in January because of security concerns. That's now on hold.

NJ AYUK: It was a well coordinated, a well directed attack, on directly owned infrastructure with the sole goal of trying to slow down or stop any kind of energy projects that are going to happen in that region.

HARU MUTASA: More than 2,500 people have been killed and half a million forced to leave their homes during years of fighting in the province.

LIESL LOUW VAUDRAN: It's really a toxic mix of various issues. It is a province, the northernmost province of Mozambique, that is marginalized. People feel frustrated. There have been people thrown off their land because of mining activities, ruby mines specifically.

HARU MUTASA: Amnesty International blames several parties for war crimes. It has accused armed groups and a government-backed private South African military firm of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

It also says government troops have made arrests without reason, torture detainees, and carried out extrajudicial killings. Security forces say fighting is still ongoing, with army officials now trying to eliminate pockets of resistance.

Humanitarian workers say it could be days before the actual number of dead is known. And they warn there will be even more internal displacement as people try to escape the fighting.

Haru Mutasa, Al Jazeera.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling for a co-ordinated global response to ensure a smooth economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a virtual meeting organized by the United Nations, Trudeau says Canada cant defeat the novel coronavirus and rebuild its economy unless all countries have the resources to recover.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the lack of action to support vulnerable middle-income countries affected by the crisis presents a risk of spiralling into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

The meeting is following up on a series of sessions held last year to mobilize efforts for economic recovery from the pandemic.

Guterres says the world is on the verge of a debt crisis, as six countries have already defaulted and one-third of emerging-market economies are at high risk of fiscal crisis.

Trudeau and Guterres will take part in a joint news conference today.




President Moon Jae-in replaced Kim Sang-jo, his top Cheong Wa Dae aide on policy, Monday, Moon's office announced amid a controversy over the leasing of his apartment in southern Seoul.





Moon promoted Lee Ho-seung, senior secretary for economic affairs, to the post of handling policy at the presidential office, according to You Young-min, presidential chief of staff.





Moon's decision came "in consideration of the very grave situation connected with real estate," a senior Cheong Wa Dae told reporters later on background.





Kim "expressed strong intent" on stepping down, saying it is inappropriate for him to continue his work amid a dispute over his own apartment lease, added the official, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity.





Kim has been in charge of overall policy issues, including the government's efforts to stabilize the real estate market.





Earlier in the day, multiple news outlets reported that Kim signed a contract to hike the "jeonse" fee of his apartment by 14 percent to 970 million won (US$856,000), just a couple of days before the introduction of new legislation to limit such an increase to as much as 5 percent.









In the home rent system unique to South Korea, tenants lend a sum of money, called jeonse, to landlords instead of paying monthly rent.





Many South Koreans are in an uproar, with home prices and rent having skyrocketed especially in and around Seoul since the launch of the Moon administration in 2017.





The property issue has emerged the hottest agenda in the April 7 Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections.





Kim tendered his resignation late last year amid falling public support for the president.





At that time, however, Moon rejected it, instructing him to finish such crucial policy tasks as another round of emergency relief cash handouts and the vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)


Kilkenny People Before Profit will hold their launch meeting this evening (March 31) via Zoom.

Meeting The Fight for the Future, will discuss Ecosocialism, Renewable Energy and how to get it right, and the struggle for equality in the age of a pandemic.

Deputy Paul Murphy, who recently joined People Before Profit will be joined by Cllr Adrienne Wallace from Carlow who ran as a general election candidate for Carlow/Kilkenny and Trish Brennan, a community worker from Kilkenny.

Cllr Adrienne Wallace said she is [very excited to speak at this meeting directly to Kilkenny audiences'.

" I have had a lot of people in Kilkenny contact me with serious concerns about industrial-scale wind farms popping up, and we have had the same issues in Carlow. Although everyone is in favour of renewable energy the government have opened the door to bug business renewables whose main priority is profit. Consequently, they are pushing a model that risks the wellbeing of local people and the local environment. We must fight for a model that works in tandem with community and the local environment and I will be spelling that out .

Trish Brennan is a local community worker and she is concerned about what the future holds and how the pandemic is affecting women and their human rights.

A health crisis such as Covid-19 can make existing inequalities for women and girls worse. Especially for women experiencing the increased violence and abuse, which has spiked dramatically. In general, marginalised groups are more vulnerable during emergencies; women and children are particularly isolated and vulnerable as funding to support services had already been slashed pre-pandemic. There is a need to constantly highlight this issue and put a spotlight on it as a scourge in our communities. More community and voluntary supports are needed for women in the community. The empowerment and collective participation of women is critical to tackling this problem - and it is crucial that the voices and needs of women are present and heard as responses to Covid-19 and the gender based violence crisis in particular continues.

Details and access for Zoom meeting can be found on the Facebook page of Cllr Adrienne Wallace People Before Profit. search on Facebook page @wallacePBP
Applied physicists at the University of Sydney have proposed new standards to measure moisture leaks into bionic devices such as pacemakers, cochlear hearing implants and retinal replacements.

The researchers, who received an industry partnership funding through the Australian Research Council to undertake the study, say the new moisture standards could give the wearers of bionic implants extra confidence in the operation of the life-changing devices. They also say that the improved moisture-testing regime could be used in the emerging renewable energy industry where new-generation solar cells require high standards of humidity control.

Bionic implants must be able to operate successfully in moist environments in the human body. While the potential for large leaks into the devices are easy to detect during manufacturing, small leaks can escape detection and standard testing is required to ensure safety and prevent moisture-induced failure.

Professor David McKenzie from the School of Physics at the University of Sydney said: "The accurate measurement of moisture penetration into medical devices is essential to guarantee long-term performance. Accurate measurement needs an accurate industry standard to assess leak risks."

He said there are commercially available systems that measure relative humidity, but these are not sensitive enough for the most demanding applications in implantable biomedical devices. Using mass spectroscopy technology, the measurement of helium as a proxy for moisture leakage is a de facto industry standard test for the critical small leaks that are hard to pick up.

In practice and in most cases, helium testing of bionic devices is a good standard, but by improving the compliance by a factor of 10, we think the industry can further guarantee the safety of biomedical implants," Professor McKenzie said.

"Helium leak detection tests are widely used for the location of more sensitive leaks, but direct measurement of gaseous or liquid water leakage at similar sensitivities has proven too difficult until now," he said.

Professor McKenzie and colleagues from the Australian government's National Measurement Institute and have developed a standard leak test and shown how to use it to verify the quality of encapsulations, or the containment of medical devices.

They have published their research in the American Chemical Society's Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Lead author Dr Wenwen Lei from the National Measurement Institute said: "For very high sensitivities, it is important we try to directly measure water leak risks rather than the de facto measure of helium, which is not as accurate.

"Water has special abilities to penetrate through very small spaces given its different behaviour. For instance, it has been recently discovered that water acts in a really weird way in carbon nanotubes, where the water does not seem to touch the sides of tiny passageways not much wider than a millionth of a human hair."

Professor McKenzie said: "Any such 'nanoleakage' would be really serious if it happened in medical devices, especially those with lots of feedthrough apertures, such as the bionic eye."

The new standard moisture leak breaks new ground by studying water behaviour in a stable polymer material. Using the new tests, researchers directly compared water leakage to helium leakage in biomedical test structures. They found that in the majority of cases, calibrated measurements of moisture leak rates do exceed helium leak rates, especially for very small and large leaks.

Given their findings that water can leak up to 10 times the rate of helium leaks, they propose strengthening the compliance standard for helium testing of biomedical devices tenfold, or one order of magnitude.

"As we improve bionic technology, wearable implants will become more common, so it's important to give people that extra level of safety assurance," Professor McKenzie said.

###

INTERVIEWS

Professor David McKenzie | david.mckenzie@sydney.edu.au

Dr Wenwen Lei | wenwen.lei@measurement.gov.au

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Marcus Strom | marcus.strom@sydney.edu.au | +61 423 982 485

DECLARATION

The Australian Government is acknowledged for support through Australian Research Council Linkage grants LP 0776813 and LP110200227. Cochlear Limited is acknowledged for in-kind contributions and financial support through the ARC Linkage grant program.
Social Solidarity Minister Neveen el Qabbag met Thursday with representatives of 120 NGOs, which are partners in a national project to upgrade the villages of Egypt's countryside.

During the meeting, Qabbag said the government has finished developing a large part of the most dangerous slums under the project, dubbed "Decent Life" initiative.

She praised the Egyptian political leadership for initiating the project, which is aimed at improving the quality of life in the poorest rural communities.

The initiative provides poorest villages with increased access to the basic services such as health, education, water and sanitation.

The first phase was launched in January 2019, targeting to cover 375 villages across Egypt. By launching the second phase in January 2021, the number of targeted villages increased to 1500.
Sarah Obama, step-grandmother of then US President Barack Obama, shakes the hand of a well-wisher (Ben Curtis/AP)

Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former US President Barack Obamas Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed.

She was at least 99 years old.

Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former US president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village.

She died around 4am local time while being treated at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital in Kisumu, Kenyas third-largest city in the countrys west, according to her daughter Marsat Onyango.

She died this morning. We are devastated, Ms Onyango said in a phone call.

Mama was sick with normal diseases she did not die of Covid-19, a family spokesman Sheik Musa Ismail said, adding that she had tested negative for the disease.

He said she had been ill for a week before being taken to the hospital.

Expand Close Sarah Obama, step-grandmother of then US President Barack Obama, sits in the living room of her house in the village of Kogelo, near the shores of Lake Victoria, in Kenya (Ben Curtis/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Sarah Obama, step-grandmother of then US President Barack Obama, sits in the living room of her house in the village of Kogelo, near the shores of Lake Victoria, in Kenya (Ben Curtis/AP)

President Barack Obama had been informed of the death and has sent his condolences, he said.

She will be buried Tuesday before midday and the funeral will be held under Islamic rites.

The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation.

Weve lost a strong, virtuous woman, a matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values, President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

She will be remembered for her work to promote education to empower orphans, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo said while offering his condolences to the people of Kogelo village for losing a matriarch.

She was a philanthropist who mobilised funds to pay school fees for the orphans, he said.

My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as aMama Saraha but known to us as aDania or Granny. We will miss her dearly, but weall celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life. pic.twitter.com/avDY4f1PVu  Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 29, 2021

Sarah Obama, was the second wife of President Obamas grandfather and helped raise his father, Barack Obama, Senior.

The family is part of Kenyas Luo ethnic group.

Mr Obama often showed affection toward her and referred to her as Granny in his memoir, Dreams From My Father.

He described meeting her during his 1988 trip to his fathers homeland and their initial awkwardness as they struggled to communicate which developed into a warm bond.

She attended his first inauguration as president in 2009.

Expand Close Then US Senator Barack Obama meets his step-grandmother Sarah Obama at his fathers house in Kogelo village, western Kenya in 2006 (Sayyid Abdul Azim/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Then US Senator Barack Obama meets his step-grandmother Sarah Obama at his fathers house in Kogelo village, western Kenya in 2006 (Sayyid Abdul Azim/AP)

Later, Mr Obama spoke about his grandmother again in his September 2014 speech to the UN General Assembly.

Mr Obama tweeted on Monday: My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as Mama Sarah but known to us as Dani or Granny.

We will miss her dearly, but well celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life.

For decades, Sarah Obama has helped orphans, raising some in her home.

The Mama Sara Obama Foundation helped provide food and education to children who lost their parents  providing school supplies, uniforms, basic medical needs, and school fees.

In a 2014 interview, she said that even as an adult, letters would arrive but she could not read them.

She said she did not want her children to be illiterate, so she saw that all her familys children went to school.

She recalled pedalling the presidents father six miles to school on the back of her bicycle every day from the familys home village of Kogelo to the bigger town of Ngiya to make sure he got the education that she never had.

I love education, Sarah Obama said, because children learn they can be self-sufficient, especially girls who too often had no opportunity to go to school.

If a woman gets an education she will not only educate her family but educate the entire village, she said.

In recognition of her work to support education, she was honoured by the United Nations in 2014, receiving the inaugural Womens Entrepreneurship Day Education Pioneer Award.
iQOO 7 is the latest performance flagship offered by iQOO, the independent sub-brand of vivo that aims to provide an unparalleled experience to young and tech-savvy consumers in their relentless quest for passion. iQOO 7 runs on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform and features multiple industry-leading technologies, including super flash charging capabilities and a liquid cooling system. Together with a 120Hz full-sensing screen, super touch acceleration with a 1000Hz response rate and 300Hz report rate, and dual speakers, iQOO 7 also redefines the mobile gaming experience to match professional e-sports standards.

According to iQOO's product design team, they have always focused on the users and prioritize what is best for them by addressing their true needs. When designing iQOO 7, they considered some of the most common user scenarios, including extended use for game-playing as well as when the phone is accidentally dropped. The team was tremendously excited that the efforts have been recognized by Red Dot, the world's most prestigious design award.

iQOO 7 adopted corrosion-resistant marine aluminum in its middle frame, which prevents corrosion from oils and perspiration on users' hands. It also provides extra protection to the smartphone's rear cover and screen when the phone is dropped. The hard-edged middle frame with a slightly curved surface on the side provides a comfortable grip.

Adopting AG frosted glass on its rear helps iQOO 7 resolve the issue of sticky fingerprints and also makes the underlying light and shadow comparison more transparent. The resulting transparency enhances the smartphone's three-dimensional feeling while expressing iQOO's goal to epitomize both fun and speed through design.

iQOO 7 has officially launched and is now available in China. With iQOO's inherent spirit for exploration and commitment to overseas markets, the company will soon offer more localized product lineup to consumers in other parts of the world. iQOO will customize its product portfolio based on market conditions and sophisticated insights into local customer needs and preferences.

About vivo

vivo is a leading, product-driven, global technology company, with its core business focusing on smart devices and intelligent services. vivo is committed to connecting users around the globe, through design of exciting and innovative smartphones and companion devices, as well as services which integrate technology and design thinking in unique and creative ways. Following the company core values, which include innovation, consumer orientation and benfen*, vivo has implemented a sustainable development strategy, with the vision of becoming a leading, long-lasting, world-class enterprise.

With headquarters in China, supported by a network of 10 R&D centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Xi'an, Taipei, Tokyo and San Diego, vivo is focusing on the development of state-of-the-art consumer technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial design, photography and other up-and-coming technologies. vivo has also set-up five production hubs (including brand authorized manufacturing center), across China, South- and Southeast Asia, with an annual production capacity of nearly 200 million smartphones. As of now, vivo has branched out its sales network across more than 40 countries and regions, and is loved by more than 400 million users worldwide.

*"Benfen" is a term describing the attitude on doing the right things and doing things right  which is the ideal description of vivo's mission to build technology for good.

Please stay informed of vivo's news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news

SOURCE vivo
A niche dating app has launched for overworked lawyers who are too busy to find love.

Lawyr is the brainchild of Matthew Rhodes, a former lawyer who worked for City firm Ashurst before leaving to set up legal industry gossip website RollOnFriday.

He claims lawyers make excellent romantic partners because they are 'intelligent' and have great 'attention to detail', but are simply too busy to find love themselves.

Anyone within the legal profession can sign up, from law students and legal aid practitioners to City solicitors and judges. It is also open to singletons who want to date a lawyer.

Lawyr is the brainchild of Matthew Rhodes, a former lawyer who worked for City firm Ashurst before leaving to set up legal industry gossip website RollOnFriday. It is designed to help lawyers and the people who want to date them find love

Mr Rhodes, who used to work in litigation, told The Times that Lawyr is 'full of extremely eligible people who will benefit from an app which highlights their profession to everyone else, not just lawyers.

'"Lawyer" is a shorthand for intelligence, security, attention to detail and a sense of justice  all good qualities in a partner.

'More than most, lawyers will benefit from a dating app doing the heavy lifting as theyre busy getting whipped by a banker to complete the latest deal before 3am.'

Users can sign up for free by providing key information such as their gender, location and who they are looking to meet.

Once logged in, singletons can filter potential matches by factors including age, distance and gender, as well as the individual's specific position or field of practice.

Like many other dating apps, users who have 'matched' by choosing each other can communicate using the in-app chat function.

Like many other dating apps, users who have 'matched' by choosing each other can communicate using the in-app chat function

The app was released a week ago and has already been 'inundated' by new members in London, Houston, Minsk and Sydney.

It is free to sign up to the app but for 5.99 a month members can get extra benefits including seeing who 'likes' and views their profile.

Writing on a RollOnFriday post, lawyers were quick to praise the idea, with one writing: 'I think this is brilliant. The fact is that lawyers like to date other lawyers, and therell also be a load of non lawyers out there more than happy to meet up with extremely wealthy, highly educated people.'

Another posted: 'My abs can't compete on other dating apps like Hinge and Bumble, so this has got to be worth a go...'

A third added: 'Great idea (non-sarcastic).'

However it appears not everyone in the legal community is convinced by lawyr.

One critic took to Twitter to ask if it was a 'joke', while another RollOnFriday user wrote: 'Absolutely tragic.'
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Sandia National Laboratories has been named as one of Forbes 500 Best Large Employers in 2021  the third time its made the list in recent years, according to a news release.

The lab ranked number 370.

The publication and market research firm Statista determine the list and rankings based on anonymous surveys of workers in companies across industry sectors. As part of the survey, 50,000 employees of multiple organizations were asked whether they would recommend their employer, based on working conditions, salary and development potential, the release said. Workers were also asked to nominate organizations other than their own. The final list ranked employers that received the most recommendations.

The list includes organizations that employ at least 1,000 people in the U.S., the release said. The lab employs 14,120 people, according to the list.

Sandia was the only New Mexico employer and the only Department of Energy laboratory that made the list, the release said.

The University of Alabama, Birmingham, was ranked No. 1, followed by tech company Ultimate Kronos Group and the Mayo Clinic. NASA, Intel Corp. and Costco, also made the list.

Sandia made the list in 2017 and in 2019 as well.

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Cairo, March 29 : A massive container ship which had blocked the Suez Canal since March 23 has been freed and re-floated, maritime service provider Inchcape Shipping said on Monday.

The Panama-flagged ship, Ever Given, had veered off its course in a single-lane stretch of the canal during a sandstorm.

"The MV Ever Given was successfully re-floated at 4.3 a.m.. She is being secured at the moment," Inchcape Shipping tweeted.

The high tide on Sunday night helped to free the ship, the service provider indicated.

The vital waterway is expected to be ready to resume traffic by 11 a.m. (local time), an Egyptian presidential advisor on the Suez Canal projects said on Monday, according to the Dubai-based television CNBC Arabia TV.

So far, there has been no official confirmation from the state Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

Online footage showed the vessel repositioned.

Ten giant tug boats were engaged in "pulling manoeuvres" to refloat the vessel, (SCA) head Osama Rabae said earlier on Monday.

Dredgers and tug boats had been working around the clock to free the massive 400-metre-long-vessel.

The blockage of the canal led to disrupted supply chains and sent ripples through global markets.

According to the canal authority, around 370 ships were waiting for passage on both sides of the canal, including 25 oil tankers.

Financial news wire Bloomberg reported there could even be 450 waiting ships.

The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, provides the shortest shipping route between Asia and Europe.

The blockage was costing the canal operator $13 million to $14 million in losses per day, according to the head of SCA.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi had ordered preparations for the possibility of reducing the load of containers on the vessel to help free it.

At least 18,840 ships passed through the canal last year.

The Suez Canal provides one of Egypt's main sources of income, alongside tourism and remittances from expatriates.

Revenue from the waterway reached $5.6 billion last year.
Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Orville A. Adams, 51, of Springfield was cited on a charge of driving while license is revoked at 12:15 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of Hardin Avenue.

 Marcus S. Green, 39, of St. Louis was arrested at 12:35 p.m. Saturday on a criminal trespass to state-supported property charge after being accused of being on Morgan County Housing Authority property while prohibited from being there.

 Jayden R. Jorgensen, 20, of 475 S. Mauvaisterre St. was arrested at 7:55 p.m. Friday on a violation of an order of protection.

THEFTS, BURGLARIES

 A car was stolen from the 1900 block of West Morton Avenue about 3:40 p.m. Saturday.

 A truck was stolen from the 800 block of Hoagland Boulevard on Friday, according to a report filed at 12:02 Saturday.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
We are excited to welcome Bob into the Conserva Irrigation family as one of our newest franchisees, announced Jake Mathre, Director of Franchise Operations.

Conserva Irrigation is happy to announce that Bob Foote will be opening a new franchise location on April 1, 2021 serving the Delaware Valley area.

Known as Conserva Irrigation of Delaware Valley, Foote will lead a team of irrigation designers and technicians in repair, maintenance, and installation of home and commercial irrigation systems.

Some of the areas that Footes operation will serve include Doylestown, New Hope, King of Prussia, Villanova, Newtown Square, and Malvern.

We are excited to welcome Bob into the Conserva Irrigation family as one of our newest franchisees, announced Jake Mathre, Director of Franchise Operations. With his past business experience and network, we are confident he will have a significant impact in water efficiency and education in the Delaware Valley region.

Conserva Irrigation of Delaware Valley the very first location in the state of Pennsylvania. Before purchasing the local Conserva Irrigation operation, Foote worked within the Technology industry, as an IT Leader, responsible for delivering a variety of technical services.

Foote is a native of the Delaware Valley area, where he resides with his wife and 5 children. Foote enjoys volunteering with the local high school marching band program as well as playing drums himself. His wife is a marketing professional in the technology sector and is an avid wine enthusiast, occasionally making some wines herself. Foote and his wife are excited to begin this journey and looking forward to having a positive impact on the communities they serve as Conserva Irrigation franchisees.

About Conserva Irrigation

Founded as a franchise in 2017, Conserva Irrigation is the only national outdoor irrigation company founded on the principle of water conservation. The brand is part of Outdoor Living Brands, a market-leading franchisor of premium residential and commercial outdoor living services. With nearly 120 territories operating across the country and growing, Conserva Irrigation is helping home and business owners reduce water consumption through its use of a proprietary irrigation auditing system and water-efficient irrigation products. Conserva Irrigation recently debuted on Entrepreneur Magazines 2020 Franchise 500 list at #296, followed by recognition in Entrepreneurs 2020 Top New Franchises list at #7. Additionally, the brand was recognized among Financial Times 2020 Americas Fastest Growing Companies list and the Inc. 5000 2020 ranking. For more information about Conserva Irrigation, visit ConservaIrrigation.com, IrrigationFranchise.com or OutdoorLivingBrands.com.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Over one 24-hour period just before Christmas, Nicole Stika found herself making end-of-life decisions for both of her parents and her father-in-law.

All three contracted COVID-19 near Thanksgiving when an outbreak spread among Stikas family. They were hospitalized at Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital, but their conditions continued to decline. Stika and her husband, Stephen, found themselves scrambling to make the right medical decisions and determine when to say goodbye.

Stikas father-in-law Dennis Stika, 72, died on Dec. 18. Her father George Choiniere, 88, died Dec. 19. And her mother Deborah Choiniere, 73, died Dec. 20.

By the time her mother died, Stika was in a daze.

It was more than a gut punch, the Solon resident said. It was bad news after bad news after bad news. And we were just thinking where is the end?

Nearly three months later, Stika believes her familys story is a cautionary pandemic tale. Her relatives were careful to wear face masks, practice social distancing and limit contact to a small bubble. She still doesnt know how the infection spread among them, because they hardly left home aside from trips to the grocery store.

It has hardened us, this whole experience. We dont take anything for granted, she said. Life is too short, and you dont know whats going to happen in the next moment.

The coronavirus has caused more than 546,000 deaths in the U.S. and more than 18,000 in Ohio since the start of the pandemic more than one year ago. To put it in perspective, the states COVID-19 deaths more than triple the number of drug-overdose deaths Ohio reported in 2017, the most brutal year of the opioid epidemic. Only heart disease and cancer kill more Ohio residents in a typical year than the coronavirus has throughout the pandemic.

Despite the devastation, recent polls have found nearly one-quarter of Americans remain hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine, citing fears of side effects.

Stika got her second dose of the vaccine on Friday. Shes encouraging others to get the shot, because shes seen how the virus can wreak havoc on a family.

I took the shot in honor of my parents, she said. I wouldve done it anyway, but its so much more emotional that Im doing it three months after they passed.

An outbreak within the family

Stika, her husband and her mother-in-law also tested positive for the virus near Thanksgiving, but they had mild symptoms and recovered. Her 4-year-old son never showed any symptoms, so he was never tested, she said.

Her father-in-law was the first to be admitted to the hospital a few days later.

Stika went to check on her parents after she recovered from her own infection. Her mother was having trouble breathing, so she called 911 to take her to a hospital on Dec. 4. Stika stayed with her father because he had late-stage dementia, but his condition deteriorated and she needed to call 911 again Dec. 6.

The next two weeks were touch and go, Stika. She couldnt visit the ICU at Hillcrest Hospital, so she relied on doctors and nurses to provide updates.

She decided to create a page on the website Caring Bridge to update relatives on her parents condition. For two weeks she documented the latest news, often several times each day, as their conditions worsened.

It was almost cathartic, because I was able to document everything that was going on, and update family and friends as well, she said.

Her mother, Deborah Choiniere, developed a pulmonary embolism shortly after arriving in the hospital, which caused her to go into cardiac arrest. Doctors revived her after more than two minutes, but it left her with a serious brain injury, Stika said.

Her father, George Choiniere, and her father-in-law, Dennis Stika, also continued to decline. George Choiniere was moved to the Wade Park VA in Cleveland, while Dennis Stika needed to be placed on a ventilator at Hillcrest Hospital.

Deborah Choiniere and her husband George Choiniere, shown here with their grandson, died of COVID-19 on consecutive days just before Christmas. (Courtesy Nicole Stika)

Saying goodbye

By Dec. 17, Deborah Choinieres condition declined to the point where Hillcrest Hospital allowed Stika to come to the ICU to say goodbye. She needed to wear full PPE just to visit her mothers bedside.

Anybody who doesnt believe that this is a real virus needs to see how an ICU COVID unit is, she said. It is a war zone. Its beyond anything you would ever see on TV.

While she was there, a social worker came by and told her they needed to have a family meeting to discuss her father-in-law. Knowing what it meant, she called her husband and told him the news. Stikas husband, mother-in-law and brother-in-law eventually came to the hospital, where they decided to take Dennis Stika off life support. He died Dec. 18.

Thats not normal circumstances to have to make life decisions about two people in a matter of several hours, Stika said.

George Choiniere was transferred to Heather Knoll Nursing and Rehabilitation in Tallmadge for hospice care. He was there for less than 24 hours when he died Dec. 19.

Deborah Choiniere was the last to pass away Dec. 20. Stika believes her mothers love for her father kept her alive until after he died.

I am convinced, because she was my dads primary caretaker, that she waited until my dad passed first, she said. She wanted to know that he was taken care of.

Processing the loss

Three months later, Stika said it remains surreal to have said goodbye to three family members in three days.

Friends have been supportive, providing meals and Door Dash gift cards to help them with the essentials. Her friends even spread the word on social media, and people shes never met responded by sending Christmas presents to her son.

Stika isnt sure whether her 4-year-old son has fully processed what happened. But hes taken to looking for rainbows and believes theyre a sign his grandparents are watching over him, Stika said.

I think its his way of processing the loss of three grandparents, she said.

Shortly after her parents and father-in-law died, Stika went through the drive-thru at a Starbucks and noticed the cashiers face mask was barely covering his mouth. She snapped and asked him how he could be so reckless, because her emotions were still raw, she said.

Since then shes tried to be more diplomatic in her approach. But shes encouraging others to keep wearing masks and get vaccinated to help bring an end to the pandemic. She also posts positive comments on social media when friends share theyve been vaccinated.

Dont think that youre invincible, she said. COVID has not discriminated in who gets it and who doesnt.
Washington: US President Joe Biden has expressed outrage over the recent killings of innocent people by the security forces in Myanmar, where the military junta overthrew a democratically elected government.

It's terrible. It's absolutely outrageous. And based on the reporting I've gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily, Biden said on Sunday (March 28).

He was responding to questions about the recent deaths of innocent people in a protest against the military coup in Myanmar.

Over a 100 people lost their lives on Saturday, Myanmar's National Armed Forces Day, and shots were fired at the American Center of Yangon, in an incident that is being investigated, Congressman Gregory Meeks, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said.

The Burmese military marked the country's National Armed Forces Day with a senseless and brutal crackdown that claimed the lives of over one hundred Burmese citizens. This is the bloodiest day that we have witnessed since the junta's illegal and illegitimate coup, he said.

The reported attack on the American Center in Yangon suggests that this situation is untenable and increasingly spiraling out of control,? Meeks said condemning the military's actions in Myanmar, Meeks said.

I call on the Tatmadaw to ensure the safety of American personnel and refrain from violence against the people who are protesting its continuing undemocratic actions. I welcome the Biden administration's sanctions on MEC and MEHL earlier this week and urge the administration to work with our partners to place additional pressure on the junta until it respects the will of the people, Meeks added.

On Saturday, Chiefs of Defense of Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America in a joint statement condemned the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the Myanmar armed forces and associated security services.

A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting not harming the people it serves. We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions, the joint statement said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 04:59:45|Editor: huaxia

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by Chen Jin

BUCHAREST, March 28 (Xinhua) -- As a new wave of COVID-19 pandemic rushed to Romania, the authorities imposed a new series of restrictions starting from Sunday, prompting a mixed reception.

According to the authorities, in localities where the 14-day infection incidence exceeds 4 cases per thousand inhabitants, a curfew will be put in place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting 8 p.m., two hours earlier than at present. In localities where the incidence exceeds 7.5 cases per thousand inhabitants, the curfew will be in force throughout the week.

Authorities will halt the measures only when the incidence falls below 3.5 and 7 per thousand inhabitants, respectively, for two consecutive weeks.

The new restrictions came on top of the several measures already in place -- for instance, face masks are mandatory in both indoor and outdoor public spaces.

Ioanna Tomescu, a gallery owner in Bucharest, the capital city and one of the hardest-hit areas in the eastern European country, told Xinhua that every citizen must abide by the regulations as long as they were issued by the government in accordance with laws.

"If it is stipulated that everyone must wear a mask when going out, then wear a mask!" she said, adding "if everyone, at least those in a metropolis like Bucharest, can sacredly observe the relevant pandemic prevention measures, then the current regulations will be sufficient."

"Since 2020, we have been facing a completely different lifestyle from the usual, and we must face all kinds of difficulties, as life goes on," the optimistic arts lover said with a smile.

Adrian Spinei, a retired medical worker, struck a similar tone, saying that the new measures will help prevent the virus from spreading further. "I think these measures are very good. This is additional prevention. Everyone knows how severe the virus is now."

Nevertheless, not all people are in favor of the restrictions, especially those in the catering industry, which had already been hit hard by the pandemic. Restaurants and other catering units were allowed to operate only the open-air part, but now the outdoor part has to close by 6. p.m., three hours earlier than at present.

A restaurant foreman repeated "very bad" several times when asked about the business. He told Xinhua that Romanians are not used to leaving their homes too early and prefer to go out late in the evening.

"With these restrictions introduced, when you are just going to a party, the restaurant is closed and everyone has to go back home," said the foreman. Enditem
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GREELEY, Colo.  Colorado sheriff deputies have shot and killed a man after responding to a potential domestic assault incident.

Weld County Sheriffs deputies responded Friday to a potential domestic disturbance at a home near Galeton. A female victim left the home and told officers that she was assaulted by a man who was still inside the home, the Greeley Tribune reported.

The officers were warned that the man was potentially armed.

The suspect later ran out of the house, police said in the statement. The deputies fired a bean bag round in an unsuccessful attempt to stop him. They then tried to chase the suspect down.

Thats when the suspect fired at least one round at the officers, the statement said. Multiple deputies fired back and struck the suspect.

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The man was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No deputies were injured.

The mans identity was not publicly released.

An investigation has begun conducted by the 19th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team, a group of investigators from Weld law enforcement agencies that work with the district attorneys office to investigate officer-involved shootings, the outlet reported.
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters.

Story by Jamie Martines of Spotlight PA

HARRISBURG  For Doris Daigle of Westmoreland County, booking a coronavirus vaccine appointment was a multi-state effort shared by her nine children and 27 grandchildren, spread out across the country from Los Angeles to New York City, Houston to New Jersey.

They helped Daigle, 86, of Greensburg, scour vaccine appointment sites  from major health-care systems like UPMC and Excela, to chain and small independent pharmacies  as she herself surveyed friends on social media or people she bumped into while running errands.

Where does someone in her 80s go to get a COVID shot? she asked.

Daigle lucked into a vaccine appointment March 18, when a local Giant Eagle called to offer her a last-minute appointment slot that opened up. But she wondered, What about those dear hearts who dont have anybody to help them?

Thats the question on the minds of many Pennsylvanians as the state lurches forward in an effort to move on from Phase 1A of the vaccination plan, which prioritizes health-care workers, people older than 64, and anyone older than 16 with certain high-risk health conditions.

Gov. Tom Wolf has embraced President Joe Bidens May 1 goal to open vaccine eligibility to all Pennsylvania adults. In order to advance beyond Phase 1A, his administration has directed the states vaccine providers to clear their waitlists and schedule appointments for anyone who currently qualifies by March 31 (though those appointments can extend far beyond that date).

With that deadline looming, Wolf is confident the state is on track to meet it.

Were not perfect, Wolf said last week during a press briefing at a vaccine site in Scranton. Were still not at the place where every senior  everybody who needs a vaccine, which is all of us  has gotten that. Until we get to that point, I think we need to keep working as hard as we are to figure out the best way to do this.

But some residents, local officials, state lawmakers, vaccine providers, and volunteers are skeptical  and wary of promising too much.

In Fayette County, county employees and volunteers work to schedule appointments for residents who sign up through a registry managed by the local COVID-19 task force. As of Wednesday, they were working to schedule about 13,000 appointments through April, Fayette County Commissioner Scott Dunn said.

We have to work with the state, Dunn said. My problem with the state Department of Health has been the mandates that they throw down. When you have a rag-tag team of volunteers who youre telling, You have to make 13,000 calls by the end of the month, its just not realistic.

Mixed success

As of Friday, 3.18 million people had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in Pennsylvania, state data shows. The health department estimates that there are about 4 million eligible people in Phase 1A, and officials expect about 80% to seek the vaccine.

If about 80% of eligible individuals choose to be vaccinated, that means more than 3.2 million Pennsylvanians must have either received a vaccine or have been scheduled by the end of the month, for an appointment in the future, according to a health department statement.

While high-level statistics show the state is making progress, county-level data shows that some Pennsylvanians are apparently faring better based on where they live.

Across the 66 counties in the health departments vaccine jurisdiction, an average of 23% of residents in each had received at least one shot as of March 24, according to state data.

Some rural counties, like Fulton and Potter, had some of the lowest vaccination rates in the state, with 12% and 13% of their populations, respectively, having received at least one shot.

Thats not the case in other rural counties  like Cameron, Elk, and Sullivan  which as of last week had some of the highest vaccination rates in the state. In Cameron and Elk, about 34% of residents had received at least one shot. In Sullivan, where local and state officials ran a vaccine clinic in late January, 37% of residents had received at least one shot.

In Beaver County, only 15% of residents had received at least one shot as of March 24. Thats in stark contrast to neighboring Butler County, where 30% of residents had received a shot, and Allegheny County, where that number was 31%.

In many parts of the state, the demand for appointments is down by about 50%, said Rep. Tim ONeal (R., Washington), a member of the states COVID-19 Vaccine Joint Task Force.

Demand is higher in the southeast, he said. But even there, only about 70% of appointments for the next week are filled, he said.

Were getting to the point where the people who are sitting on the waitlist have found an opportunity somewhere else, ONeal said.

George Burkholder, and some 130 residents and staff at Ruoff Tower Apartments in Lancaster, Pa., get the first shot of the Moderna vaccine to fight the coronavirus, Mar. 22, 2021. | Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

Reaching older Pennsylvanians

Of the people currently eligible for a vaccine, perhaps no group has struggled to secure doses as much as older Pennsylvanians, who are among the most vulnerable to serious complications and death from COVID-19. Most of the states more than 24,000 coronavirus deaths were among people older than 64.

About 70% of Pennsylvania residents in that age group had received at least one shot as of Friday, ranking Pennsylvania behind neighboring states like Delaware and Maryland, but ahead of New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That total includes a federal program that vaccinated people in nursing and some personal care homes, but does not include numbers from Philadelphia  which is running its own vaccine program  or federal facilities.

Facing criticism that it was too hard for some older people without internet access or computer skills to sign up for vaccine appointments, the Wolf administration in February touted resources available through Area Agencies on Aging  52 outposts of the state Department of Aging that provide resources throughout Pennsylvania.

These agencies do not provide vaccines, but they can facilitate the sign-up process by reaching out to seniors who are enrolled in other health or prescription programs, and by coordinating waitlists to distribute to vaccine providers.

Many have been working for weeks to clear their backlogs.

In Cambria County, where about 28% of the population has received at least one shot, 47 names were on the local AAAs waitlist as of March 16, said Veil Griffith, the agencys administrator.

She and other agency heads in the western part of the state had noticed that demand is starting to slow.

People are starting to receive the vaccine, and were seeing people come back to the senior centers, said Leslie Grenfell, executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging, which represents Fayette, Greene and Washington Counties.

Her agency had no waitlist on March 16, Grenfell said.

But on the same day across the state in Dauphin County, the local AAA had more than 200 names on its waitlist. And as of March 17, the Luzerne-Wyoming County AAA had thousands and counting, said Mary Roselle, the agencys executive director.

Vaccine appointments in the northeast region are scarce, and often filled up within an hour of being announced, she said. It doesnt seem like much progress is being made toward getting people signed up in her area.

As long as were receiving these phone calls, we know that theyre not, Roselle said.

As Spotlight PA questioned the state about these long waitlists, the health department on Thursday ordered vaccine providers to work with AAAs and Medicaid programs to schedule remaining people eligible in Phase 1A for vaccines for as far into the future as necessary.

Shifting focus

The Department of Health has helped to support some community vaccination clinics, but for the most part has left vaccine distribution in the hands of health systems, pharmacies, and local health agencies.

In another effort to speed up vaccinations, the state health department on March 18 released a plan to temporarily scale back the number of vaccine providers and send a higher volume of doses to sites that are able to administer them quickly.

But some believe taking doses away from small, independent pharmacies could hurt the communities the move was intended to serve.

They were still getting the job done with their older population, Sen. Elder Vogel (R., Beaver) said. And people who didnt have access to good transportation, they need a vaccine just as much as anybody else.

Adzema Pharmacy in McCandless, which serves Pittsburghs northern suburbs, was among those removed from the provider list.

Ive delivered it to people, Ive given it to people in their parking lots, owner Jay Adzema said. Were giving it to people who cant get out.

The pharmacy has administered 400 first doses and 200 second doses so far, and plans to administer the remaining second round doses before temporarily being removed.

In Perry County, where about 22% of residents had received at least one shot as of March 24, many residents dont want to drive out of the county or to a mass vaccination site to get a vaccine, said Rep. Perry Stambaugh (R., Perry).

A lot of them are very happy going to their family doctor for their medical needs, Stambaugh said. If their family doctor cant get a shot, they would much rather go to the church parking lot to get vaccines.

Finding people to staff vaccine clinics has also been a challenge, he said.

Spartan Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy that operates three locations in Pittsburghs southern suburbs, was not removed from the list of vaccine providers last week.

When it has the supply, Spartan is able to vaccinate more than 1,800 people during its day-long clinics, owner Adam Rice said.

The state is asking providers to schedule remaining 1A appointments based on previous allocations of vaccine doses as far into the future as necessary. But the supply is inconsistent, and Rice only finds out how many vaccines hell be receiving for the following week days before theyre due to arrive. That makes it hard to plan clinics and coordinate sign-ups, he said.

A waitlist insinuates theres a place in line, Rice said. Folks sign up to be notified by email when we have appointments available. That list is 42,000 people.

Even larger operations are struggling to figure out how to handle their waitlists.

The Lancaster County community vaccination site is currently vaccinating about 2,000 people per day. As of March 20, there were about 97,000 people on its waitlist, Commissioner Josh Parsons said, adding that the number is likely to grow.

We could say were scheduling all 100,000 people, but unless you know you have vaccines, you cant give them the appointments, Parsons said. Or you do, but you have to change it.

WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.

Read more

Penn State Health workers work to close the vaccine gap in Harrisburg

PM Garibashvili: Opposition can either listen to our foreign partners and take up their mandates or continue their marginal actions

By Veronika Malinboym

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated earlier that the countrys opposition bloc has only two choices  listen to Georgias partners in the EU and the US and take up their seats in the Parliament or continue their destructive actions. He added that recently, both the EU and the US officials reiterated that the October 2020 Parliamentary Elections were free and competitive. Garibashvili added that the reason why the opposition scheduled a large-scale rally to take place in two months is because it lacks support from people.The US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, in her interview with TV Pirveli, expressed her hope that all parties in Georgia will have enough political will to reach a compromise. Ambassador Degnan also participated in the last weeks negotiations between the ruling party and the opposing bloc, mediated by the EU specially appointed representative, Christian Danielsson:Although the parties could not come to a compromise, they spared no efforts in trying to do that. I am still very optimistic about the parties having enough political will to come to a brave compromise. I fully support an immediate resolution of the crisis, because I believe that Georgia is now faced with far more serious problems that need to be addressed. Nevertheless, we fully recognize the fact that the Georgian society is divided at the moment, and the United States reiterates that the only appropriate place for conflict resolution is the countrys Parliament. Members of the Parliament have an opportunity to discuss issues and adopt legislation for the important reforms that Georgia needs so much at this stage of the countrys democratic development. A parliament almost exclusively represented by a single political party is not healthy, and it is not what the Georgian people voted for in October, Ambassador Degnan said.Yesterday, one of the leaders of the opposition Lelo party, Mamuka Khazaradze said that the country is desperate for a restart and that the only way to do it is by holding repeat elections:The country is currently in a state of political, economic, and pandemicinduced crisis. Even the vaccination program has failed because they have little trust in the [governments] programs. We need a restart, and in any given country a restart is achieved through holding early elections.
DUBLIN, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AerCap Holdings N.V. ("AerCap") (NYSE: AER) today announced it has signed lease agreements with Norse Atlantic Airways for the lease of six used Boeing 787-9s and three used Boeing 787-8 aircraft. All nine aircraft are powered by Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines and are scheduled to begin delivery during 2021.

Norse Atlantic Airways, based in Norway, plan to launch long-haul low-cost services, connecting major cities in Europe and the USA.

Peter Anderson, Chief Commercial Officer of AerCap, said, "AerCap is excited to announce the signing of lease agreements for nine Boeing 787 aircraft with Norse Atlantic Airways. With its superior operating characteristics, the 787 is the perfect aircraft for Norse Atlantic Airways to launch a modern long-haul low-cost airline, and we are delighted to be supplying them with their first aircraft. We wish Norse Atlantic Airways every success and look forward to working with them as they roll out their plan in the years to come."

"We are thrilled to be partnering with a market leader in AerCap to lease our initial fleet of Dreamliners. Norse Atlantic Airways looks forward to providing our passengers with comfortable, affordable, intercontinental travel aboard these state-of-the-art aircraft," said Bjrn Tore Larsen, Chief Executive Officer of Norse Atlantic.

About AerCap

AerCap is the global leader in aircraft leasing. AerCap serves approximately 200 customers in approximately 80 countries with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and has its headquarters in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Los Angeles, Singapore, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Seattle and Toulouse.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements, estimates and forecasts with respect to future performance and events. These statements, estimates and forecasts are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors, including the impacts of, and associated responses to, the Covid-19 pandemic, that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate or correct. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future performance or events described in the forward-looking statements in this press release might not occur. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For more information regarding AerCap and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.aercap.com and follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/aercapnv.

SOURCE AerCap Holdings N.V.

Related Links

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GENEVA - A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely, according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, a WHO-China Joint Study Press Conference is held at the end of a WHO mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

GENEVA - A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely, according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers' conclusions.

The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis  a speculative theory that was promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump among others. It also said the role played by a seafood market where human cases were first identified was uncertain.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, said he would like to see the report's raw information first before deciding about its credibility.

Id also would like to inquire as to the extent in which the people who were on that group had access directly to the data that they would need to make a determination, he said. I want to read the report first and then get a feel for what they really had access to -- or did not have access to.

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, Marion Koopmans, right, and Peter Ben Embarek of a World Health Organization team arrive for a joint press conference at the end of their mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

The report, which is expected to be made public Tuesday, is being closely watched since discovering the origins of the virus could help scientists prevent future pandemics  but it's also extremely sensitive since China bristles at any suggestion that it is to blame for the current one.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said experts from seven different U.S. government organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Health and the Department of Homeland Security had the report in hand.

Seventeen experts, longstanding leaders from the field, including epidemiology, public health, clinical medicine, veterinary medicine, infectious disease, law, food security, biosafety, biosecurity -- we have a lot of experts in government -- will be reviewing this report intensively and quickly, she said at a daily briefing.

Matthew Kavanagh of Georgetown University said the report deepened the understanding of the virus's origins, but more information was needed.

It is clear that that the Chinese government has not provided all the data needed and, until they do, firmer conclusions will be difficult," he said in a statement.

Last year, an AP investigation found the Chinese government was strictly controlling all research into its origins. And repeated delays in the reports release have raised questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew its conclusions.

A cat pauses to look at visitors to a temple in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Feb. 9, 2021. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The report said that highly similar viruses have been found in pangolins, but also noted that mink and cats are susceptible to the COVID virus, which suggests they could be carriers. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Weve got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent CNN interview.

China rejected that criticism Monday.

The U.S. has been speaking out on the report. By doing this, isnt the U.S. trying to exert political pressure on the members of the WHO expert group? asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

Still, suspicion of China has helped fuel the theory that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first identified. The report cited several reasons for all but dismissing that possibility.

It said that such laboratory accidents are rare, that the labs in Wuhan were well-managed and there is no record of viruses closely related to the coronavirus in any laboratory before December 2019.

The report is based largely on a visit by a WHO team of international experts to Wuhan. The mission was never meant to identify the exact natural source of the virus, an endeavour that typically takes years. For instance, more than 40 years of study has still failed to pinpoint the exact species of bat that are the natural reservoir of Ebola.

Residents visit the Yangtze River in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, March 29, 2021. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. (Chinatopix Via AP)

In the draft obtained by the AP, the researchers listed four scenarios in order of likelihood for the emergence of the new coronavirus. Topping the list was transmission from bats through another animal, which they said was likely to very likely. They evaluated direct spread from bats to humans as likely, and said that spread to humans from the packaging of cold-chain food products was possible but not likely.

That last possibility was previously dismissed by the WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but researchers on this mission have taken it up again, further raising questions about the politicization of the study since China has long pushed the theory.

While its possible an infected animal contaminated packaging that was then brought to Wuhan and infected humans, the report said the probability is very low.

Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, said even that very low probability was an overstatement. There's no compelling evidence of people actually being infected through packaging, he said, calling the theory far-fetched.

Woolhouse said it was possible the source of COVID-19 might never be identified.

The emergence of a new (disease) is always a sequence of unlikely events, he said. It's hard to be definitive and rule anything out. But he said most scientists agree that bats are the most likely source.

Bats are known to carry coronaviruses and, in fact, the closest relative of the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in bats.

The report said highly similar viruses have been found in pangolins, a scaly anteater prized in traditional Chinese medicine, but scientists have yet to identify the same coronavirus in animals that has been infecting humans.

The AP received the draft copy on Monday from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO-member country. It wasnt clear whether the report might still be changed prior to release, though the diplomat said it was the final version. A second diplomat confirmed getting the report too. Both refused to be identified because they were not authorized to release it ahead of publication.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged he had received the report over the weekend and said it would be formally presented Tuesday.

All hypotheses are on the table and warrant complete and further studies, he said at a news conference.

The report is inconclusive on whether the outbreak started at a Wuhan seafood market that had one of the earliest clusters of human cases in December 2019. Research published last year in the journal Lancet suggested the market may have merely served to further spread the disease rather than being its source.

The market was an early suspect because some stalls sold a range of unusual animals  and some wondered if they had brought the new virus to Wuhan. The report noted that animal products  including everything from bamboo rats to deer, often frozen  were sold at the market, as were live crocodiles.

Ken Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press writers Maria Cheng in London, Victoria Milko in Jakarta, Indonesia, Zeke Miller in Washington, and Frank Jordans in Berlin, contributed to this report.

The AP Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The national operator of fixed communications and digital services, Datagroup, together with the Polish operator Hawe Telekom, has completed a project to build a new cross-border DWDM interconnection point Dorohusk - Jahodyn on the Ukrainian-Polish border.

As noted in the message of Datagroup on Monday, this is the second company's interconnection point in the direction of Poland, which has a potential capacity of up to 16 Tbit/s.

"New DWDM PoP will allow us to handle traffic between Ukraine, Poland, Germany and as well as other EU countries and U.S. more effectively," Volodymyr Lutchenko, Chief Technical Officer of Datagroup, said.

After the completion of the new interconnection, in addition to the existing four independent international transition points of Datagroup to Europe (on the border with Slovakia, Hungary and Poland), the total capacity of Datagroup's international channels was about 1,500 Gb/s.

The opening of the fifth international transition point expands the capabilities of Datagroup in terms of implementing international projects, increasing the backbone network capacity, and international Internet traffic. This will also minimize the latency to the traffic exchange point when accessing many popular resources located in Warsaw (Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, game servers, etc.), which will help increase the speed of access to them for all the company's clients.

"In addition, when building virtual networks, our corporate clients will be able to reserve routes through new European tracks," Datagroup said.

Przemyslaw Gagala, International Sales Director at Hawe Telekom said that the joint project with our Ukrainian partner is a response to the ever growing demand for connectivity between Poland and Ukraine, in particular for the purpose of providing access to data centres of global suppliers of content, cloud and OTT services located in Warsaw.

Datagroup was established in 2000. It is one of the largest B2B operators in Ukraine, provides services in more than 90 settlements of the country.
(@FahadShabbir)

Tehran, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :Iran pardoned or cut the sentences of over 1,800 prisoners to mark a religious festival celebrated on Monday, including the rare release of 100 detainees held in connection to state security.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had "agreed to grant a pardon or reduce the sentences of 1,849 convicts", the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

Those released included prisoners convicted following protests held in November 2019, when a surprise hike in fuel prices sparked a wave of demonstrations across Iran.

"One hundred (of the prisoners) convicted for reasons related to state security are also on this pardon list, which includes a number of people convicted in connection with the events of November 2019," Mizan added, without further details.

At least 304 people died in the 2019 unrest, according to London-based Amnesty International, while some authorities announced 230 deaths during what they said were "riots".
Islamabad: Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak have tested positive for COVID-19, it emerged on Monday, nearly a week after Prime Minister Imran Khan had contracted the disease.

"I have tested positive for COVID-19. May Allah have mercy on all COVID-affected. Had first dose of the vaccine but antibodies start developing after second dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful," the president tweeted on Monday.

The exact date when Alvi, 71, contracted the disease or the day of detection was not made public.

First Lady Samina Alvi tested negative for COVID-19 and was quarantining. She said the president has "mild symptoms but is in good spirits".

Later, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail tweeted that Defence Minister Perwaiz Khattak, 71, had also tested positive for the virus. "Perwaiz Khatak is diagnosed with Covid positive. Get well soon PK," wrote Ismail, who himself contracted and recovered from the virus last year.

Several local leaders and foreign envoys expressed food wishes for the president. Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong wished President Alvi a "speedy and complete recovery" while British High Commissioner Christian Turner wished him a 'speedy recovery'.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote: "Wishing President Arif Alvi and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak quick recoveries and the best of health."

Pakistan is in the grip of a third wave of the coronavirus. The government has decided to impose fresh restrictions on social gatherings from April 5, with steady rise in cases and low supply of vaccines.

Prime Minister Khan, 68, tested positive for the coronavirus on March 20. His wife Bushra Bibi also tested coronavirus positive the same day.

The coronavirus has claimed 14,256 lives, along with 659,116 confirmed infections in Pakistan so far.

Live TV
Holding Corp (NEO:GRAM.U) ( ) (OTCPINK:GRMWF) COO Dennis O'Malley tells Proactive the group has extended its product offerings with the launch of Fun Uncle Cruisers, full gram vape cartridges available in five popular strains; Lemon Jack, Strawberry Cough, Berry Gelato, SFV OG, and GG4.

O'Malley says the launch of Cruisers delivers on its promise of product economics resulting from the merger of Californias top cannabis companies under the firm earlier this year.

More physicians and pharmacists are advocating for patients to be made aware of animal byproducts contained in common medications, according to new research in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. Common medications, including widely used blood thinners and hormones, are often derived from animal byproducts and prescribed without consulting the patient about their beliefs.

"Patients deserve to know what their medications are made of, yet this information is rarely shared," said Sara Reed, student doctor at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and an author of the paper. "Putting the patient first means communicating with them about the medicine recommended for their care, and in some cases, prescribing an alternative option."

Common Animal-derived Medications

Heparinoids are a class of medication primarily derived from pigs. These drugs are routinely used as a blood thinner to prevent blood clots and are given in many settings, including following surgery, a heart attack, or to prevent the further development of clots.

Also common are conjugated estrogens, which may be used to treat moderate to severe hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. They are equine-derived hormones.

"Generally, patients who are prescribed various hormone treatments may want to consult their physician regarding the contents," said Mary Beth Babos, PharmD, professor of pharmacology at LMU, and lead author of the paper. "For example, there are no completely animal-free oral thyroid hormones on the market."

Existing Guidelines

While the U.S. does not have formal recommendations, other nations have published guidelines to address pharmaceuticals of animal origin. The United Kingdom's first guidelines were published in 2004 and Australia's guidelines were published in 2007 and updated again in 2019. However, guidelines from the FDA remain unavailable.

Cultural Competency

Because some patients adhere to religious doctrine that recommends avoiding certain animal byproducts, the study authors reviewed prior medical research to identify the stated positions of leadership of the major world religions. According to their findings, many religions discourage the use of products derived from animals when not required to save human life.

Jewish and Muslim leaders agree that the use of products derived from pigs--normally prohibited by both religions--are acceptable only when needed to protect human life.

The Hindu Council of Australia does not consider bovine products, including medications derived from cows, acceptable.

Sikh leaders and leaders of the Hindu Vaishnav sect object to the use of medication or surgical dressing derived from animal sources, which is waived in emergency situations or in routine treatment where no alternative exists.

Many Buddhists of the Theravada sect and Christians of the Seventh Day Adventist sect who practice vegetarianism as part of their faith may individually reject animal-derived medical products.

Leaders of the Jehovah's Witness sect emphasized that adherents to this faith would reject blood-derived products.

"In the absence of governmental guidance, we hope this research will help physicians and prescribers start the conversation with patients about whether they accept animal-derived products," said Reed. "Ultimately, it is the patient who should determine if a medication is appropriate for their lifestyle."

###

About the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine

The Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, founded in 1901 and known for 119 years as The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, is the premier scholarly, peer-reviewed publication of the osteopathic medical profession. JOM conducts peer review of academic research manuscripts from a wide variety of medical specialties, covering the full spectrum of clinical settings in which osteopathic physicians practice. All submissions are vetted by a distinguished group of Section Editors led by Editor-in-Chief Ross Zafonte, DO, and supported by a full Editorial Board.
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Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo

Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation

NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident

Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices

Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over

Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest

Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia

Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia

Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels

Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters

Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021

Dollar is stable in Armenia

Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector

Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out

Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe

Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia
Government has given the Lands Zonal Office at Bukalasa in Luweero District a one month ultimatum to issue out all pending land titles to the rightful owners as government investigates alleged corruption at the office.

Lands Minister Beti Olive Kamya also directed that the alleged duplicated land titles be recalled and land that was fraudulently created be returned to the rightful owners.

Ms Kamya made the remarks during a public land complaints hearing organised by the Ministry of Lands offices at the Lands Zonal office in Bukalasa, Luweero District last Wednesday.

"The government's intention of establishing zonal offices and recruiting more staff was to ensure that our people access services quickly," Ms Kamya said.

Ms Kamya said the government is currently evaluating services of at least 23 Lands Zonal offices established with the purpose of ensuring that land conflicts are resolved.

"The petitions and conflicts from the lands offices located in Wakiso and Luweero districts are overwhelming. These are now the most problematic land offices. We are trying to establish the source of the problems," Ms Kamya said.

Earlier, Ms Kamya heard from leaders and residents from the districts of Luweero, Nakaseke, and Nakasongola allegations of extortion, issuance of more than one title for the same land and delay in releasing land titles to the rightful owners at the Bukalasa Zonal offices.

Ms Goreti Mukagatare, the Nakaseke District councillor, said: "We have failed to understand why different land titles are processed on the same land that has continued to breed land conflicts in many parts of Luweero, Nakaseke and Nakasongola. We also demand that the rates charged for land services remain uniform to avoid cases of extortion at the lands offices."

One such case of land conflicts is the land on Block 437, Plots 7, 10 case where the land title originally registered under Yokana Katura now has duplicate titles, including one in the names of Richard Butangi.

According to Mr Sulait Matovu, a resident on the land, Mr Butagi lodged a caveat on this particular piece of land claiming that he had bought it.

"After intervention from the Nakaseke Resident District Commissioner, the man with a duplicate title told us that we are supposed to pay for the land because he had spent money processing the title,"Mr Matovu said.

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Mr Matovu, however, said when Mr Butagi realised that he had been deceived, has refused to have the caveat lifted and demands that the residents pay him the money that he used to buy the land.

Another case is that of Ms Teopista Nansubuga, 74, a resident of Kiwoko Town Council, who said her 10 acre piece of land had three acres allegedly carved out and new land titles issued through the Bukalasa Land Office without her knowledge.

"The original title that we have is under the name of Bulasiyo Kiwanuka, my late husband. But we discovered that sub-titles had been processed on the same land without my notice. The land is on Block 405, Plot 35,"Ms Nansubuga said.

In Nakaseke, the Bindeeba family, which claims to have been a piece of land for more than 35 years was surprised to find out that the land has another title that was processed from Bukalasa Lands office.

The land is located at Kirinda Village in Wakyato Sub-county.
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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.
What could end up being one of the largest coastal restoration projects in the nation took a big step toward kickoff last week.

The Texas General Land Office officially opened the bid process for a contractor to bring at least 2.7 million cubic yards of sand from the Gulf of Mexico to the Jefferson County shoreline.

The 17-mile project and a nearly three-mile stretch thats already been completed is expected to reduce how often and how much seawater inundates interior freshwater marshes located within the refuge. Its also expected to slow the retreat of the shore along the coastline and restore native, historic beach habitat.

But to get there, the chosen contractor will have to dredge an open section of the Gulf about 1.5 miles offshore of McFaddin Beach and pipe the collected sand back to the coast, according to the projects bid packet.

Related: Coastline restoration could begin next summer

The contractor also will be expected to train crew members on a number of conservation measures including the recognition of potential wildlife, measures to avoid impacting potential wildlife and reporting criteria for sited animals in an attempt to minimize disturbances.

Without this work experts, fear the thousands of acres of fresh-to-intermediate marsh and aquatic vegetation will be damaged every time water from the Gulf of Mexico overtops the eroded ridge. Since Hurricane Ike in 2008, the water has reached that point several times a year.

Crews attempted to install a temporary solution in 2015, but it has no engineered capacity to withstand direct exposure to waves.

As a result, the Texas General Land Office says the restoration project is essential to protect the marsh in the long-term and allow the normal deposition of sand materials to heal breaches in the sand ridge.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

The project is expected to extend protection for at least 25 years, and could restore sea turtle nesting habitat.

None of the regions species of sea turtles have been recorded nesting on McFaddin Beach since Ike. However, the some 20 miles of restored dunes and sandy beach could encourage a return of suitable nesting habitats for these turtles, the bid packet says.

During construction, parts of the beach one mile from where the sand is being pumped to the shoreline will be closed to the public.

Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said he did not yet know the expected timeline for the project. But with just three dredgers in the nation that can do the job, he expects to work with their schedule to save money.

Related: LU drones survey hurricane damage at beach

This project comes after the completion of the three-mile pilot project, which taught officials with the Land Office several lessons to employ in this second phase, spokeswoman Karina Erickson said after the first phase was completed.

Those lessons included needing greater locations to dredge sand from, the addition of three new staging areas for construction equipment and the implementation of updated conservation measures, she said.

The relatively short stretch of coastline already have shown evidence of habitat improvements, she said.

Immediately after the creation of the first three miles of beach, we saw birds beginning to nest and wildlife returning to the area, she said.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has assured Mali that Parliament would assist the current ECOWAS Chair, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to restore the country back to democratic rule.



The Speaker gave the assurance when the First Deputy Speaker of the Malian Transitional Governments General Assembly, Assarid Imbarcaouane came to invite Ghanas Speaker to their first ordinary meeting on April 5, 2021.



Speaker Bagbin promised to honour the invitation to Mail with his staff and Leadership of Ghanas Parliament.



He recounted the good relations that have existed between the two countries saying; in my private legal practice I had Malians in my firm.



Mali needs to return to its rightful position. As one of the leading democratic countries, I have visited war tone countries and I have been involved in peace and reconciliation; we have a hung parliament, but we have been working together peacefully in the interest of all Ghanaians.



Ghanas Speaker also pointed out to the First Deputy Speaker of Mail that, when two brothers fight, it is strangers who enjoy their inheritance; Mali is rich and has a deposit of Gold and oil, but foreign countries are exploiting your oil.

Source: Ghanaweb









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analysis

Madagascar has many "mini" creatures. These include a recently discovered group of miniaturised frogs as well as the discovery earlier this year of the smallest reptile on earth - the Brookesia nana, or nano-chameleon, which is the size of a paperclip. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Dr Mark D. Scherz, an amphibian and reptile specialist who focuses on Madagascar, to explain what causes these animals to miniaturise.

Which miniaturised species have been discovered recently?

Madagascar is famous for its small animals; the mouse lemurs, the smallest primates on earth, for instance, are widely known. There's also growing awareness that Madagascar is home to a variety of other uniquely miniaturised animals, especially chameleons and frogs. In those groups, researchers have discovered large numbers of tiny species in recent years.

In 2017, researchers described 26 species of Stumpffia - a group of frogs - the smallest of which is not even 1cm long at adult body size. It is one of the smallest frogs in the world.

Then, in 2019, my colleagues and I showed that several different groups of cophyline microhylids - a group of narrow-mouthed frogs that are only found in Madagascar - have become miniaturised independently. One group of these was an entirely new genus. We gave them the fitting name "Mini", with the three species Mini mum, Mini scule, and Mini ature.

We have also found some new tiny chameleons. In 2019, we described Brookesia tedi, a chameleon that reaches a total length of just 32mm. And then in early 2021, we described Brookesia nana, the smallest chameleon, which has adult males of just 21.6mm total length, and females 28.9mm.

Why have they evolved to be so small?

There are probably many different reasons why these animals have evolved to be so small. For instance, it might be possible for them to exploit new resources that weren't previously available to them. This may be new food sources, or exploring the space between leaves and tree roots that is inaccessible to larger animals.

It could also be driven by competition with other, similar species. Species may diverge into different size categories to partition their resources and avoid direct competition.

In many cases, there may be no strong or single selective force that is driving the miniaturisation at all, but instead it could simply be a process of random change in the population, which occurs in all organisms over time. This is further driven by population bottlenecks as the smaller and smaller animals get cut off from other populations.

The simple answer is that we just don't know yet in any of the cases, and it is likely that in most it is a combination of factors. We are much better able to say what the correlates of miniaturisation are - that is, the suite of features, behaviours, and ecologies that accompany miniaturisation - than the causes.

Does Madagascar have an unusually high number of mini creatures?

Speaking only of reptiles and amphibians, maybe, but it is hard to say for sure. South-East Asia has a massive diversity of miniaturised frogs, for instance, but whether the number of major miniaturisation events in that region is greater or less than in Madagascar is difficult to say for sure.

The same goes for Central and South America, where there are plenty of tiny amphibians and reptiles, including salamanders, frogs and lizards.

Ultimately, even though Madagascar may not be the world champion in terms of the number of miniaturised reptiles and amphibians, I think it does stand out as an exceptionally interesting place in which to study their evolution, and we are only just starting to scratch the surface of this.

What does their tiny size tell us about evolutionary processes?

This is the question I find the most exciting. From miniaturisation we can learn all kinds of interesting things about physiology, evolution and biomechanics - how organisms move and function.

For instance, there appears to be a pattern where the evolution of miniaturisation is associated with changes in ecology. Almost all miniaturised frogs in Madagascar are terrestrial, irrespective of whether their ancestors were terrestrial arboreal (living in trees). The only conditions under which miniaturised frogs have remained arboreal throughout miniaturisation has been when they reproduce in the water cavities at the base of certain plants' leaves, such as the Pandanus plant.

We have also learned that the microhylid frogs of Madagascar have mostly miniaturised by retaining juvenile-like characteristics, known as paedomorphosis. For instance, they all have relatively large heads and eyes for their body sizes.

But one species, Rhombophryne proportionalis, has apparently miniaturised by proportional dwarfism. It has the approximate proportions of a non-miniaturised Rhombophryne. So, although paedomorphosis may be the typical way that Malagasy frogs miniaturise, it is by no means the only way that they can miniaturise.

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Another particularly interesting finding is that miniaturisation has apparently evolved again and again in different lineages. This was already evident in frogs at the global scale (there are miniaturised frog lineages throughout the tropics). But one group of frogs in Madagascar has done this five or more times alone. This tells us that the evolution of miniaturisation can occur frequently and may be advantageous under certain circumstances.

From our work on miniaturised chameleons, we have also found that, as these lizards shrink, their genitals increase in relative size. We think that this is because the females are larger than the males. Because the male genitals must couple with those of the females for successful reproduction, and because the female is not as small as the male, the male's genitals are constrained to remain proportional to the size of the female, even while his body size evolves to be smaller.

There are hundreds of open questions in the field of tiny vertebrate studies. We are just beginning to understand how widespread and common this trait is, how many species have done it, and how many miniaturised species remain undescribed. There is a whole miniature frontier of interesting research to be had among these tiny vertebrates, and I, for one, am excited to see what we discover next.

Mark D. Scherz, Research scientist, Technical University Braunschweig

Ravi Zacharias and the third level of truth

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I cant tell you how much my heart aches to type in the URL RZIM.org and view the picked-clean skeleton Ravi Zacharias website that now is vs. the vibrant repository of educational and evangelistic materials that it used to be. As someone who has spent decades supporting the ministry, its devastating to see the scorched-earth effects that Zacharias wrongs have had on everything and everyone around him, including the shutdown of Wellspring International, the charitable arm of the group, which did so much good.

Beyond the head shaking, cries of hypocrisy and how-could-this-have-happened questions lies a critical and deeper lesson for all of us who claim to be followers of Christ. Being not the sharpest knife in the drawer, it took me a while to wrap my head around it, but with a little help from a friend, I finally reached the understanding on the matter I was seeking.

A lesson in truth

When I struggle with something, I do what all of us should do: turn to someone way smarter than me. In this regard, Im a little like John Piper who, referring to getting instruction, said, all my best friends are dead men.

In this case, the dead man in question is John Edward Carnell, a forerunner of highly-educated apologists like William Lane Craig who we have with us today. Holding doctorates in both philosophy and theology, Carnell labored to reestablish the place of the mind in Christian circles, while at the same time never losing sight of the practical implications the deep truths of Christianity have in our lives.

In his book, A Philosophy of the Christian Religion, Carnell has a section entitled The Loci of Truth, where he describes the three different sources or levels of truth. The first source, Carnell says, is the sum total of reality itself, e.g., the trees in my yard are truly trees.

The second source of truth is the systematic consistency or propositional correspondence to reality. In this case I might state that the trees in my yard are really trees, which when tested, proves correct and so we conclude that I have spoken the truth about the matter.

It may seem silly to overtly explain the first and second sources of truth, but in todays culture, where postmodernism has given way to the even worse calamity of post-truth, its more relevant than most of us realize.

But its the third source or level of truth that gets to the heart of the Zacharias tragedy. Its also the one to which Christ refers in His sweeping claim to self-revelation. I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6).

Its one thing to know the truth and be able to state the truth, but its another thing entirely to be the truth.

The Christian apologist for the third level of truth

The Danish philosopher Sren Kierkegaard was the greatest apologist for the third level of truth. Demanding that Christianity be interpreted as living truth rather than just a system of thought, he forged a unique path within the philosophy of religion by saying that no person has a right to claim truth until they first are the truth.

He began by stating Let us call the untruth individual sin; being guilty of sins like pride and self-love signified to him that we are untruth in our own persons. To rid oneself of sin in Kierkegaards mind meant that truth had to become subjective to a person, which sounds odd on the surface.

What Kierkegaard means is that truth becomes the subjective state of our ethical decisions. Personal Christianity without decision and life change, he believed, was nothing more than head knowledge, a phrase with no meaning. For example, a person may preach and teach persuasively on the evils of divorce, but if they marry and divorce in a repetitive and serial fashion with no conscience on the matter, they have not subjected themselves to the truth they are teaching.

While you and I will obviously never be the truth as Jesus ontologically is, we become more like Him  the truth  when we march down a path of personal holiness and conform to His image. Carnell says, The reason why we are able to trust Christ is that he spoke and lived in a way which is congenial with our axiological [value-based] expectations.[1] The same should be true of us.

The danger of a false third level of truth

Its one thing for someone to live out this level of truth when they are born again and their life begins the process of matching up with a perfect, immutable, and good God. But what happens when a fallen person creates their own truth without a reality check coming from the Creator?

The answer is, something awful.

In her critique of existential atheistic philosophy, aptly titled Dreadful Freedom, Marjorie Grene writes these chilling words about a person who creates their own reality and truth: I, and I alone, have, absurdly and without reason, brought order out of chaos; that I alone, crudely and stupidly, without cosmic meaning or rational ground, have made a world out of nothing; and with that awareness my world itself totters on the brink of the nothingness from which it came.[2]

The person, Grene says, builds a world with borderless values via their free human agent act and becomes their own point of reference. This is the lesson you and I need to learn from the Zacharias disaster.

According to his victims accounts, Ravi actually believed he was owed sexual favors as compensation for his ministry pressures. This thinking and derived fabricated set of values goes far beyond a Christian struggling with sin in a Romans 7 fashion. He seemed to have sadly instantiated his own false, third level of truth, which was diametrically opposed to Gods moral absolutes.

Its my prayer that you and I never rationalize sin in a way where we get to that level of self-deception; a place that leads down a sure path to devastation. Instead, we want to have Gods truth become  in Kierkegaards words  subjective to us so that we eagerly accept it, subject ourselves to it from the heart, and then experience transformation from our untruth to His truth.

In other words, let us strive to be the truth.

[1] Carnell, John Edward. A Philosophy of the Christian Religion (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1954), 474.

[2] Grene, Marjorie. Dreadful Freedom (Chicago: University of Chicago Pres, 1948), 52.
More than 29 years after his death, childrens author Dr. Seuss, the pen name of Theodore Seuss Geisel, has had his catalogue sanitised by his estate publishers, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, with six books permanently removed because they are deemed to portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.

The six titles that have been removed span four decades: And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937), McElligots Pool (1941, finished 1947), If I Ran the Zoo (1950), Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953), On Beyond Zebra (1955) and The Cats Quizzer (1976). The reason cited has been cartoon images, drawn by Geisel himself, that are considered derogatory or insensitive, as in the case of a sketch of a Chinese man included towards the end of Mulberry Street, the first of his successful series of childrens books.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1957

That Seuss found his metier in 1937 was recognised by noted British childrens author Beatrix Potter (The Tale of Peter Rabbit and many others) when she received a copy of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Potter judged it the cleverest book I have met with for many years. The swing and merriment of the pictures and the natural truthful simplicity of the untruthfulness  Dr Seuss does it thoroughly! This early promise was to fully materialise later and enabled generations of children and their parents to explore imaginary linguistic realms, with accompanying original illustrations.

In response to the controversy, Mandy, an Australian elementary school educator, recently explained her reaction to And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street: I want to use it to encourage young writers in Grade Prep, to see themselves as authors, how to grow an idea.

It touches on the fact, she went on, that [in the book] Dad doesnt like Marco being so imaginativenow were more likely to encourage that sort of imagination.

Its a great model of how you can expand an ideaits very deliberate. The theme across Mulberry Streethe has to pare it back again for his dad at the end of the storyits a great example of what writers do.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937)

She spoke about the stereotype of the Chinese man with sticks which features toward the end: It is a busy pageit is the busiest page. It could create discussion now of historical differenceand isnt it great that we dont put out those differences now?

How are children supposed to have an understanding of historical changeyou can challenge racism in a respectful way. Examples to challenge it, and to be able to challenge itweve got a better attitudeits an important conversation. You have to read to think.

One only needs to contrast this intelligent and humane approach to Dr. Seusss work with the ongoing political-ideological tug of war in the US. Issues in the latter include whether the books should be condemned as racist, whether the estates action is censorship and the efforts of the ultra-right to claim Seuss for themselvesa political obscenity given his long record as a liberal opponent of anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its forms, including an entire volume collecting stories attacking racial stereotyping.

Fox News and other Murdoch media deliberately poisoned the controversy by an exaggerated focus on what they claimed was book burning and cancel culture, while the advocates of identity politics appointed themselves the arbiters of right and wrong for everything in Dr. Seuss down to the Cat in the Hats bowtie.

As the wrangling continued and sent ripples internationally, 1.2 million copies of his books have been sold in America alone since the announcement of the withdrawal, with Seuss books at one point occupying nine of the top 10 slots in the bestsellers list.

Horton Hears A Who (1954)

In fact, the remarkable scale and quality of Dr. Seusss literary efforts needs to be understood within an overview of his life, as well as the historical context he worked in, or the real political implications can be buried.

In the early 1940s, after years of working in advertising and having already published And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and Horton Hatches the Egg (1940), Geisel (born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904) began working as a political cartoonist for PM, the liberal daily newspaper.

Joining the army in 1943, Geisel eventually took charge of the Animation Department of the Air Forces First Motion Picture Unit. Working under Hollywood director Frank Capra, Geisel wrote the short propaganda films Your Job in Germany and Our Job in Japan. Geisel found Capra a congenial mentor, but their subsequent ideological and artistic paths diverged with the emergence of McCarthyism.

As a cartoonist, Geisel criticised the Dies Committee (which later became the House Un-American Activities Committee, HUAC) in 1942, and by 1947 he was opposing the anticommunist purges and witchhunting as HUAC held a series of hearings into subversives in the film industry.

A cartoon in the satirical magazine Judge showed his sympathy for the accused and his opposition to the blacklist being prepared, although the magazines days were numbered. Capra was to collaborate with the witchhunt, giving secret testimony to the FBI.

Earlier in the war, under the influence of anti-Japanese hysteria, Geisel had penned a racist cartoon in PM in support of the mass internment of Japanese Americans by the Roosevelt administration. This was the period when most liberals supported the roundup, a position reinforced by the American Communist Party, which went so far as to support the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Given the censorship and intellectual conformism of the 1950s, with the false equation of Stalinism and communism, Geisel-Seuss turned away from political cartoons and his attempts at moviemaking to focus on the genre of childrens literature, especially as it turned out, comic verse. He remarked in 1952 that we maverick humorists prefer to write exclusively for children.

The author-cartoonist was an iconoclast, given to challenging rather than reinforcing conformity, a feature of many of his childrens books. He doggedly pursued a democratic goal that is under attack today in the context of the contemporary business model of educationin other words, he valued teaching masses of children to read and write while fostering rather than stifling their capacity for critical thinking.

The Cat in the Hat (1957)

Geisel later reassessed his support for the anti-Japanese campaign of World War II, traveling to Japan to discuss with educational professionals and dedicating Horton Hears a Who! to a professor he met in Kyoto.

Visiting Utah, he was intrigued by the three-year-old son of an admirer, who could recite an entire Seuss book before he was old enough to read. He began to question the accepted age at which children could be reached through writing.

In 1955, one educational theorist wrote of his verse: Sound! Its a tantalizing trickster when Seuss manipulates it. Its as if the words so neatly pinned down to the pages by clean, clear type were just on tip-toe with excitement to be turned loose by being read aloud.

From his dual concern for imagination and literacy was spawned, on a whimsical challenge, the world-famous The Cat in the Hat (1957). Geisel was able to help knock out formal dependence on the lifeless primers that had bedeviled elementary school reading classes in advanced capitalist countries.

The Sneetches, a short story he wrote in 1953, presented a strong message against intolerance and discrimination. Sneetches with stars on their bellies engaged in endless and ultimately futile efforts to assert their superiority over sneetches without stars.

And really, its sort of a shame,

For except for those stars, every Sneetch is the same.

Clearly intended as an attack on the Nazis and anti-Semitism, it was published as a book in 1961 together with The Zax and other stories, in what amounted to a gesture of support for the Civil Rights movement then sweeping the South.

Theodore Geisel died in September 1991, having established himself as the preeminent author of childrens books aimed at beginning and early readers. By then, however, American liberalism was shifting sharply to the right, as the ruling elite, gripped by deepening economic crisis and the declining world position of American imperialism, ditched the limited social reforms of the Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal and Lyndon Johnsons Great Society.

Repudiating equality as the driving force of the struggles and urban uprisings of the 1960s, the Democratic Party sought to divert attention from the basic class division in society and to elevate a privileged section within the African American population to serve as a buffer. It sought to cultivate a base within privileged sections of the upper middle class, who wanted to grasp a bigger share of the wealth of the top 10 percent, using race, gender and sexual orientation.

This process penetrated deeply into American culture, affecting even so seemingly innocent a subject as childrens literature. Thus, Philip Nel, author of the book Dr. Seuss, American Icon (2003), now promotes Black Lives Matter, which he claims has brought into focus the need for diverse books for young readers. He attacks what he calls the man of his time narrative, employed in defence of Geisel/Seuss.

While advocates for diversity have spearheaded the attack on Dr. Seuss for his alleged racial insensitivity, open defenders of racism and gender bias, like the fascistic Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, are allowed to posture as opponents of censorship and the book-burning attack on the childrens author.

Dr. Seuss is not a literary spokesman for American hegemony and a modern white mans burden, as his most hyperbolic opponents on the pseudo-left now claimciting white hunters capturing African elephants in the Horton books. One might ask, if one had the slightest knowledge of history, let alone an imagination, how else would an elephant get to America in 1940?

On the contrary, Geisels left sensibilities, however impaired by the historical period through which he lived, tended to set him at odds with the civilising mission of the so-called American Century. And they helped him provide the light touch and the positive encouragement that can help a young reader/listener find access into the wide world of books. For many millions internationally Dr. Seuss provided and will continue to provide that open sesame.
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal COVID-19 response on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18, 2021. (Susan Walsh/Pool/Getty Images)

Alaskas Other GOP Senator to Back Murkowski for Reelection

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) plans on backing Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in 2022, pitting him against former President Donald Trump.

Look, we dont agree on everything, but we make a good team for Alaska, Sullivan said on Sunday during an appearance on ABCs This Week.

If she runs again, Im going to support her, he added.

Trump has said he plans on campaigning against Murkowski, one of seven Republicans to vote to convict him during his second impeachment trial.

Murkowski represents her state badly and her country even worse, Trump said in a statement earlier this month.

I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be  in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator, he added.

The Alaska GOP has also said it will support a primary challenge to Murkowski, as it censured her for her impeachment vote.

Sullivan noted that Murkowski helped him win reelection last year.

When I ran in 2014 and beat a Democrat incumbent and we got the Senate majority back, Senator Murkowski was a strong supporter of mine. And in 2016 I supported her. And just in my reelection in 2020, where, you know, the national Democratic Party came in big in Alaska, massive amount of money, Senator Murkowski was a strong supporter of mine and we won that reelection very strongly, he said.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on May 7, 2020. (Al Drago/Pool/Getty Images)

Murkowski first entered the Senate when she was appointed by her father, who resigned in 2002 to become Alaskas governor. She later launched a write-in bid after losing in the 2010 Republican primary, and won the general election. She is in her third term.

Murkowski is the second-most moderate Republican, according to GovTracks ideology score, which is based on members sponsorship actions. She regularly sides with Democrats on key issues, such as supporting last week the first openly transgender Senate-confirmed nominee.

Murkowski said she voted to convict Trump because of what she heard during the impeachment trial.

I have reached the conclusion that President Trumps actions were an impeachable offense and his course of conduct amounts to incitement of insurrection as set out in the Article of Impeachment, she said in a statement.

If months of lies, organizing a rally of supporters in an effort to thwart the work of Congress, encouraging a crowd to march on the Capitol, and then taking no meaningful action to stop the violence once it began is not worthy of impeachment, conviction, and disqualification from holding office in the United States, I cannot imagine what is. By inciting the insurrection and violent events that culminated on January 6, President Trumps actions and words were not protected free speech. I honor our constitutional rights and consider the freedom of speech as one of the most paramount freedoms, but that right does not extend to the President of the United States inciting violence, she added.

Trump was acquitted of a charge of incitement of insurrection due to 43 Republicans, including Sullivan, voting against the charge. Supporters argued that on Jan. 6, before the storming of the Capitol, he had urged the crowd to stay peaceful.
Owen Hunt, played by actor Kevin McKidd, is one of the longest running cast members on Greys Anatomy.

Although the show was already a few years old when Owen came onto the scene, original cast members are fewer and farther between. After more than 10 years on Greys Anatomy, Owen Hunts character has been through a lot. After multiple failed relationships, fans have started to notice that the writers always seem to blame Owen when things go wrong in his life. According to a recent reddit thread, not all fans are on board.

First, Owen Hunt married Cristina Yang

RELATED: Greys Anatomy: This Owen Theory Will Make You Scream With Glee or Anger  There Is No In-Between

Owen Hunt is famous for jumping into relationships, which usually leads to those relationships crashing and burning. Owen and Cristina Yang, another doctor at Grey Sloan Memorial, met in a romantic way. He saved her life after she was impaled by an icicle. But when he first arrived at Grey Sloan, Owen was in the Army. He never intended to stay on permanently. In fact, he was only written as a side character. Creator Shonda Rhimes changed her mind, and the rest is history.

The seeds of Owens relationship with Cristina were planted in the very beginning of his arc on the show. There were sparks from day one, but Owen was dealing with some serious mental health issues, namely PTSD from his time in Iraq. Still, he and Cristina worked through it. However, they werent on the same page about children. When Cristina had an abortion, their relationship was basically over. In general, Owen seems to take most of the blame for his relationship with Cristina ending, but some fans think it was just a bad set of circumstances with no blame to place. As one fan on reddit wrote, Yep, its not all his fault. Hes super broken but deep down not at all a bad person.

Owen Hunt and Amelia Shepherd was doomed from the beginning

KEVIN MCKIDD, CATERINA SCORSONE | Christopher Willard via Getty Images

RELATED: Greys Anatomy: Will Teddy Altman End Up With Owen Hunt or Tom Koracick? Kim Raver Hints What Happens as Her Character Picks Her Person

His second marriage was to Derek Shepherds sister, Amelia Shepherd. Although Owen and Cristina dated for a long time, Owen and Amelia really jumped into their relationship too soon. Amelia was known for erratic behavior that was later blamed on a brain tumor, and both characters were fresh off of serious traumas. Derek Shepherd was not long in the grave, and Owen was fresh off another tour in Iraq.

Owens relationship with Amelia failed spectacularly, as could have been predicted. Some fans feel that Owen took a lot of the blame for that failure, when really Amelia was a willing participant who shares at least some of the blame for their issues. In fact, one fan thinks that Amelia is almost entirely to blame for the end of their relationship. He tried to make it work with Amelia, but shes the one who acted like a child and ghosted him.

Fans are split on Owen Hunt

RELATED: Greys Anatomy: Owen Hunt Needs an MRI, Probably

Although Owen Hunt has his defenders, a lot of fans just downright dont like him. One fan basically said Owens relationship problems are all on him, writing, Ultimately, he just jumps in, wrecks someones life, and then deals with the fallout by finding another woman.

But other fans think the show is too hard on Owen. Aside from relationship troubles, he also seems to take the blame for things that are entirely out of his control. One fan wrote I think a lot of his failures in relationships were his fault, but youre right in that sometimes people blame him for things like George dying or the plane crash and things that are kind of a stretch and werent entirely in his control. Relationships take two, and it cant be all Owens fault when his dont work out.
The 2021 University of Guam Conference for Island Sustainability will be held this month, promising to showcase the rising tide of green job opportunities, and the work undertaken by other islands around the world to create and improve circular economies.

One thing that weve been transitioning our conference to in the past few years is truly going from a regional conference to a more global conference, Austin Shelton, director of UOGs Center for Island Sustainability, said. Because of the partnerships that we have been forming, and island alliances around the world  not just in the Pacific in Micronesia, but in Polynesia, Melanesia, and now even the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean  we are trying to align with these other islands and bring sustainability to the forefront of peoples minds and help change things around the world.

This year's conference is aimed at shifting the emphasis from the struggles the islands face to their resiliency.

What were saying this year is that under the weight of human illness, biodiversity loss, debilitating storms, and swallowing seas, islands are not sinking. Strong and resilient islands are rising, Shelton said, highlighting the theme of the four-day event. We have this line about traditional navigators, reminding the world that our islands have always been connected. Were not isolated and distant, but the oceans have connected people to islands for millennia. So now, we are one of the most digitally connected places in the world because of those fiber optic cables connecting North America to Guam and into Asia.

Future and ongoing projects will be covered, including an upcoming makers space and innovation hub at CHamoru Village that will help manufacture consumer goods from recyclable materials. Shelton said plans are also in the works to align this hub with an MIT program that supports these types of fabrication facilities. This Fab Lab program can link Guam entrepreneurs in real-time with similar creators around the world, leading to imports of ideas, like templates for 3D printing. 3D printing is being looked at as an alternative to shipping supplies to Guam.

We will have a live screen at all times in the room, and you could be talking to people in Germany, in Japan, in Fab Labs all over the world who have plans and schematics. They can share it with you over the internet, you plug it into your 3D printer here in Guam, and you can make the parts or components of something that was designed across the world, Shelton said.

One advantage of the conference continuing to be held virtually is the access to speakers who may not have been able to travel, or whose locations make flying to Guam cost-prohibitive.

Featured speakers include Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero; Thomas Krise, president of UOG; Philip Dy, chief of staff to the vice president of the Philippines; and Maya Soetoro, co-founder and senior advisor of the Institute for Climate and Peace and sister to former President Barack Obama. Visiting thought leaders from Arizona, Canada, Denmark, the Federated States of Micronesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and Washington, D.C. are also slated to participate in the 12th annual conference.

The virtual event will take place from April 6 to 9. Tickets are $10 for students, and $20 for the general public to take part in the four-day conference, and can be purchased online at uog.edu/cis2021.

Theres going to be lots of examples of local action to achieve global impact. We hope that you will join us in this movement to make a more sustainable future for all of us, Shelton said.
[March 29, 2021] TrueCare Launches MyChart, Free Patient Portal, for Patients to Better Manage Their Healthcare Information

SAN MARCOS, Calif., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TrueCare, a nonprofit healthcare provider for the underserved in North San Diego and South Riverside Counties, officially launched its MyChart patient portal today to help patients easily access and manage their health information, now at their fingertips, in one secure online website. The MyChart portal gives TrueCare's nearly 60,000 patients a convenient and simple way to stay connected to all their healthcare information from their computers and smartphones. Patients have quick online access to request appointments, see health reminders, send and receive secure messages to their provider directly, see their lab results, request prescription refills and review their medical records in English or Spanish. "Our patients deserve the best healthcare solutions we can offer, and MyChart is our patients' personal connection to better health and well-being. Especially now as we've seen an increase in virtual visits, we continue to strive to improve our online experience," says TrueCare's President and CEO, Michelle D. Gonzalez. "This electronic system will improve the overall patient experience and care coordination, which has long been our goal. Our patients deserve the best." "MyChart gives me peace of mind," says Teresa Marin whose 2-year-old son is a TrueCare pediatric patient. "If I forget something about him or his health, I can easily check his MyChart records including the doctors' notes, see if he is missing any immunizations or request to schedule an appointment." TrueCare's medical staff is equally excited about the launch of MyChart. "Today, people lead such busy lives, especially our patients with their responsibilities to work, home and family. We are pleased to make their lives easier byimproving the patient to doctor experience with a system so simple to use and so beneficial to all of us," says Dr. Marie Russell, TrueCare's Chief Medical Officer and Chief Operating Officer (CMO/COO).



As a primary healthcare provider in North San Diego and Riverside counties, TrueCare often refers its patients to other specialties, hospitals and medical centers such as Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego, UC San Diego Health, Scripps Health and others. MyChart is embedded in Epic System's electronic health record, the software system that integrates with these healthcare organizations and others across the globe. "TrueCare's MyChart Patient Portal is designed with our patients' safety in mind," adds Tracy Elmer, Chief Innovation Officer for TrueCare. "Because these healthcare organizations also use the Epic system and offer MyChart, TrueCare can now securely interoperate with them more effectively so patients have all of their health information in one place."

Enroll or login at, visit www./truecare.org/mychart to explore all the ways MyChart makes managing your healthcare easy and convenient. It is mobile friendly and available for iOS and Android. For more information, visit https://truecare.org/ About TrueCare

TrueCare provides an affordable, comprehensive and culturally sensitive healthcare experience to nearly 60,000 patients a year, many of whom are underinsured, or have no medical insurance. For nearly 50 years, TrueCare has served North San Diego and Riverside Counties with services ranging from primary care, pediatrics, women's health, behavioral health, chiropractic and dentistry. In addition, TrueCare offers transportation services, community health outreach, insurance enrollment assistance, and case management programs. Contact:

Michele Moninger

858-450-9872

306183@email4pr.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/truecare-launches-mychart-free-patient-portal-for-patients-to-better-manage-their-healthcare-information-301257465.html SOURCE TrueCare

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The disquiet surrounding the resurrection of a fake news law in Malaysia in early March was magnified because the new law was not enacted by Parliament, which currently remains in suspense following a controversial declaration of a state of emergency in January but instead was issued as an executive Ordinance. Critics questioned why Parliament was suspended under the emergency  and continues to be closed despite businesses and schools re-opening.

It was perhaps, unsurprising but all too predictable, that the emergency declaration would provide just the political moment for a new fake news law. The Anti-Fake News Act (2018) was passed by the UMNO government of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, flush with the fashionable Trumpist anti press sentiment, in a move critics said was designed to stifle dissent and to strike a blow against a resurgent opposition just weeks before Najib lost the May 2018 election. The 2018 law drew stringent criticism and was finally repealed by the 2019 Pakatan Harapan government after a full agonising year of obstruction by Malaysias Senate.

Any hope that this suspect and discredited nomenclature would have disappeared from the language with the defeat of Trump was a naive hope that failed entirely to account for the shamelessness of the heirs to Najib.

The new ordinance contains a definition of fake news in two parts. The first part stipulates that fake news includes any news, information, data and reports, which is or are wholly or partly false relating to Covid-19.

Special note should be made of the weasel words contained in this so-called definition. A statement will qualify as fake news even if it is substantially true. It only has to contain something which is partly false for the whole statement to be impugned by the new Ordinance.

The second part of the definition however, goes much further, extending the idea of fake news to include reports about the proclamation of emergency itself (or the proclamation of emergency). The use of the conjunction or sets up a separate and distinct class of subject within the purview of the Ordinance.

The predictable approach taken by authoritarians when confronted with the probable impact of such tricky legislative schemes is typically to tut tut and suggests that such predictions are far-fetched. Not so in Malaysia, however.

This particular cat leapt from the bag fully formed almost immediately, when a senior minister conceded that any claim that the government sought an emergency declaration because it had lost its majority in the Parliament (Dewan Rakyat) would, itself, violate its fake news ordinance. Minister Takiyuddin is quoted as saying: It is an offence. It may now be accepted without quarrel that legitimate criticism of the governments decision to obtain the state of emergency declaration is now a criminal offence under Malaysian law.

Thus continues a long-discredited approach taken by authoritarian governments - of which sadly, Malaysia is an exemplar - to enmesh the legal system in a web of anti-press laws crafted to impair and chill dissent and free expression.

So drearily recurrent have these imprecise offences and inchoate legal standards become in the region that a counterpart law in Indonesia became notorious for its pasal karet or rubber articles. It is reminiscent of the parody of 15th century English law whose application was said to vary with the length of the Chancellor's foot!

Add to this the notorious practice of selective prosecution and the chilling effect is complete.

It is little wonder that American journalist William J Dobson, in his prescient 2015 book The Dictators Learning Curve bracketed Malaysia  along with Russia, China, Venezuela and Egypt - as among the worlds authoritarian regimes keen to disguise themselves as democracies.

There is a precipitous pattern of journalists being charged - and routinely threatened  in Malaysia with sedition and similar offences. In 2015 internationally acclaimed cartoonist Zunar, was charged with nine counts of sedition for critical tweets!

One, among the most notorious, was the prosecution of a University of Malaya law professor for sedition for expressing his legal opinion that actions taken by the government in the Malaysian state of Perak, more than six years earlier, were illegal.

The current fake news ordinance adds back yet another law to a raft of laws which remain on the books aimed at chilling press freedom in the country - including the Sedition Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984, the Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998, the Penal Code Sections 499-502: Criminal Defamation, among others.

To add insult to injury, the ordinance also purports to operate extra-territorially, being expressed to apply to any person, whatever his nationality or citizenship, in any place outside Malaysia, who may be dealt with in respect of such offence as if the offence was committed in any place within Malaysia. So, the author or publisher of any commentary which dares to suggest that the Malaysian government contrived the emergency declaration because it lost its majority in the Parliament would violate its fake news ordinance.

No real surprises here, as the experience of British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown attests. One of the key journalists responsible for breaking the 1MDB scandal and editor of the courageous Sarawak Report, Rewcastle Brown was under no illusion that she would face prosecution for her journalism in exposing the scandal if she dared to set foot in Malaysia while Najib was still the Prime Minister. International journalists now also can entertain real fears about visiting Malaysia in the light of legitimate analysis of this latest law.

A number of NGOs including journalists organisations have challenged the legality of the Ordinance. No-one should hold their breath about the Malaysian Courts preparedness to hold Malaysian politicians to account. The recent imposition of draconian financial penalties - twice the amount called for by the governments prosecutor - on the independent online publication Malaysiakini offers little hope on this score.

Jim Nolan is the International Federation of Journalists pro-bono legal counsel for the Asia-Pacific and a regular legal observer on key cases in the region.
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Justin Sondels cover story on Crystal Peoples-Stokes describes the first woman and first African American to serve as Assembly majority leader as having a deep faith and answering to a higher power in pursuing the work thats helped the Buffalo community during her many years of public service.

That persistence is now paying off. Sondels cover story on Peoples-Stokes comes as lawmakers reportedly have struck a deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on marijuana legalization, a cause which the Assembly majority leader has long championed. She has also backed nursing home reforms, including calling for adequate staffing, as the state has focused on Cuomos troubled handling of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities.

Peoples-Stokes, who first joined the Assembly in 2003, tells Sondel that she stayed focused while pushing for these measures and other goals, and that her rise to power wasnt the result of political ambition. It was built on a list of things she wanted done.

Sondels piece reveals a reluctant leader, known for her ability to listen and hear others. Thats what drives her to help people, state Sen. Tim Kennedy, a fellow Democrat from South Buffalo, told Sondel. Former Erie County Democratic Committee Chair Steve Pigeon called Peoples-Stokes an understanding listener, but also added that she knows how to get tough when its time for action. As Sondel discovered in his reporting, those are the ingredients Peoples-Stokes has used for her own definition of leadership.
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.
[March 29, 2021] Business Reporter - Building resilience with finance and accounting

Following the pandemic, finance and accounting will become the catalysts of data-driven business transformation LONDON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In an article published on Business Reporter, Marc Huffman, CEO of accounting automation software provider BlackLine, explains why agility and access to data is a critical part of business success. Financial data lies at the very heart of business decision making. Access to complete and accurate financial data is essential for any business that wishes to survive and thrive in a time of crisis such as the pandemic. In the article Marc Huffman describes how accounting functions are coming under increased pressure from their Boards and C-suite to provide accurate, comprehensive and real-time insight into business performance. Driven by the realisation that a crisis like Covid-19 can place unanticipated burdens on organisations, Boards wish to enhance their ability to use real-time financial data as part of ongoing scenario planning. i>However, the continued reliance on clunky spreadsheets has eroded the credibility of organisations' financial data in the eyes of top management. Outdated processes that mean current data is only available at the end of each monthly accounting cycle open organisations up to additional risks at a time of rapid and unpredictable change. But with the right technology in place, these risks can be minimised or avoided.



Companies come to BlackLine because their traditional manual accounting processes are not sustainable. BlackLine's cloud-based solutions help companies move to modern accounting by unifying their data and processes, automating repetitive work, and driving accountability through visibility. To learn more about the benefits of automating finance and accounting processes, read the article.

To read about how the global pandemic is reshaping roles and building resilience in finance, visit: blackline.com/covid-F&A-survey About Business Reporter Business Reporter is an award-winning supplement published in the Sunday and Daily Telegraph, City AM and online, delivering news and analysis on issues affecting businesses to a global audience. It also hosts conferences, debates, breakfast meetings and exclusive summits. www.business-reporter.co.uk Sources https://business-reporter.co.uk/2021/03/01/building-a-more-resilient-business-with-finance-and-accounting/

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Biden broke law by halting border wall construction approved by Congress, GOP lawmakers say

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Republican lawmakers urged the U.S. Government Accountability Office to weigh in on the legality of President Joe Biden halting border wall construction, which they argue violates federal law and has caused an unfortunate, yet entirely avoidable scenario at the overwhelmed southern border.

Biden rolled back many Trump-era policies on his first day in office through sweeping executive orders, including a proclamation to suspend border wall construction and re-direct Congress-approved funds. The proclamation argued the border wall is not a serious policy solution and a waste of money.

Freezing funds appropriated for border wall construction is unauthorized, two congressional letters written to the Government Accountability Office claimed.

Congress already approved almost $1.4 billion in funding for the border wall in December 2020 for the fiscal year 2021 as part of President Donald Trumps $900 billion stimulus package.

More than 60 House members and four GOP senators signed a letter released Tuesday asking the GAO to investigate and give a legal opinion on Bidens decision to freeze funds approved by Congress to suspend border wall construction.

The members of Congress contend this action violated the Impoundment Control Act.

The House members wrote the letter asking to be added as co-requesters of the letter sent by 40 GOP senators on March 17.

The March 17 letter signed by senators including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. also argued that Bidens action to end border wall construction violated the Impoundment Control Act. The senators called for the GAOs legal opinion on the matter.

The letter said Bidens executive order led to compromised operational control of the southern border and a national security crisis.

They are also a blatant violation of federal law and infringe on Congress's constitutional power of the purse, the letter reads.

The senators further alleged that the Biden administrations actions have real consequences for our nation.

GAO has rightly concluded that [f]aithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those the Congress has enacted into law, the senators letter stated. Yet with this Proclamation, the President has done just that. The legal result of those actions is an impoundment of funds in violation of the ICA. The practical result is a growing crisis across our southern border. We will abide neither.

Over 452 miles of the southern border wall were constructed during the Trump administration, according to Customs and Border Protection data from January 2021.

Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn led a delegation of GOP senators to visit the southern border last week to see the unfolding crisis at the border.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., posted a video on Instagram to show overcrowded immigration facilities. One video showed a pod designed to hold 80 people that held 709 kids.

I understand why the Biden team does not want cameras in this location , Lankford said. None of this was true three months ago. Literally, when President Biden came in and announced that he was changing the policy, they showed us the stats [where] it skyrocketed in February and March for these individuals to come it, and it has created this huge crisis.

He shared that many individuals are released into the U.S. with limited processing due to the border patrol being overwhelmed with the massive surge of immigrants.

This is a massive crisis thats going to be rolling for a very long time in the United States with the amount of drugs that are going to flow through freely and the amount of criminals that are able to move , Lankford shared. This is a rolling, growing, accelerating crisis.

Lankford had previously voiced concern with Bidens plans to halt border wall construction on the Senate floor on March 16.

Now, it may be hard to be able to see in this, but miles and miles of new fencing are going in, but on the day January the 20th, construction was halted. And in this particular area, miles and miles of fencing, except for these gaps in the fence, he said.

See, those gaps were put in there to be actually gates. So if they have to take care of the fence, they can get access to both sides of it for this miles and miles and miles, and fencing is done except for the gate area. And literally, the steel for the gates are laying on the ground. Why in the world would you do construction and have it stop to say, you can build everything except close the gates?

Biden on Wednesday appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the effort to address border and immigration challenges.

Theres no one better capable to organize this, Biden said.

Needless to say, the work will not be easy, but it is important work, Harris said.

Neither Biden nor Harris has visited the southern border since assuming office.

In Bidens first formal press conference since taking office on Thursday, he said he should be flattered immigrants are trying to cross the southern border because he is the nice guy.

Biden said a significant increase at the border happens every year in the winter months and claimed, nothing has changed.

There are currently over 16,000 unaccompanied migrant minors held in custody as facilities are overcrowded, according to CBS News.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement Wednesday that the U.S. is set to receive more migrants at the border than any time in the past 20 years.

In a Fox News interview, Trump said the immigration surge and border crisis under Biden is a horrible situation and no one has seen anything like it.

Last Sunday, Mayorkas argued that blame for the unfolding crisis at the southern border should be put on the Trump administration and alleged that the previous administrations disruptions in the immigration system are the reason why holding facilities are being overwhelmed with unaccompanied minors.

There was a system in place in both Republican and Democratic administrations that was torn down during the Trump administration, Mayorkas said on CNNs State of the Union.
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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg walked back an idea he was touting just days ago to tax drivers by the mile as a way to ensure drivers of electric cars pay kick in more for wear and tear on roads.

'No, that's not part of the conversation about this infrastructure bill,' he said Monday when asked about the idea on CNN's 'The Lead' by host Jake Tapper, as President Joe Biden prepares to roll out his $3 trillion plan.

'But you will be hearing a lot more details in the coming days about how we envision being able to fund this. And, again, these are carefully thought-through, responsible ideas that ultimately are going to be a win for the economy, and need to be compared to the unaffordable cost of the status quo,' Buttigieg said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg walked back a comment about taxing drivers by the mile in a new infrastructure package

Tapper called it 'something of a backtrack' and then moved on.

Buttigieg then also ruled out an increase in the federal per-gallon gasoline tax.

'No,' he responded, indicating it won't be in the infrastructure package. 'I want to reiterate the president's central commitment here. If you're making less than $400,000 a year, this proposal will not involve a tax increase for you.'

His statement comes as the Biden team prepares to try to build support for the package both in Congress and among the public, now that Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package is already enacted.

That bill got through the Senate under the protection of budget reconciliation instructions, which guarded it against a Republican filibuster.

Aides Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer are floating potential revisions to the budget resolution being rolled out this week that could allow infrastructure legislation to move on a simple majority vote.

The aides have asked the Senate parliamentarian about revising the 2021 budget resolution by passing a 'concurrent' for another reconciliation measure.

The move comes as Biden has expressed an openness to changing the legislative filibuster that could see his agenda bottled up.

Buttigieg's comment on the mileage tax came as some voters slammed the idea.

Buttigieg said on Friday the idea was being considered.

Critics chimed in that that the tax idea from 'Pothole Pete' would considerably hurt people who own electric vehicles or who live in rural areas where distances where there are more miles between destinations.

'Tesla drivers will love this... also someone should explain logic of fuel tax to Pothole Pete,' @PadrinoBrian quipped.

Another Twitter user @varmin wrote: 'Theyre paying the tax already, its attached to the fuel cost. While the millionaire driving the electric Tesla isnt paying anything.'

The nation has traditionally paid for road improvements with its gas tax, but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that may no longer be enough as more and more people use electric cars

Twitter users slammed 'Pothole Pete' Buttigieg and coastal elites who drive Teslas after the plan was announced

Meghan McCain joined in the jaunts calling the tax idea a way to 'completely screw over' lower income Americans.

'Truly brilliant want to completely screw over lower income and middle class Americans!' McCain tweeted.

'And every single person living in a rural area who has to drive far to get places! Just brilliant Pete, truly.'

Even those who like 'Mayor Pete' but normally disagree with McCain slammed him for the idea.

I like Pete and I disagree with Megan often. But truth is truth. She has a point. Not everyone has electric cars yet. A mileage tax on a gas tax could throw many under the bus so to speak, @EveryoneLies17 wrote.

Meghan McCain joined in the jaunts calling the tax plan a way to 'completely screw over' lower income Americans.

One Twitter user suggested that the idea will help Republicans win congressional seats during the 2022 midterm election.

Terms like mileage tax are helpful to a GOP majority in 2022, @fred_guenther wrote.

In an interview with CNBC, Buttigieg said a tax on miles driven 'shows a lot of promise,' as President Joe Biden's administration faces pressure to find ways to fund infrastructure improvements, a goal that has eluded the past two presidential administrations.

'The gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it. It's not anymore, so a so-called vehicle miles traveled tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call, could be a way to do it.'

He floated the idea days before President Biden is set to head to Pittsburgh to make a pitch for a $3 trillion infrastructure plan, with proposals to fix roads and bridges while also funding 'social infrastructure' to fund for pre-K programs and childcare.

The tax on miles is a way to get around shortages in the nation's highway trust fund, which gets funded by taxes on gasoline. The form of user fee doesn't adequately get at the increase of electric vehicles.

Levies on gasoline and diesel sales pay for improvements to roads and mass transit in the United States, but if more drivers shift towards electric vehicles that revenue stream will become less reliable, Buttigieg said.

President Joe Biden is preparing to roll out a major infrastructure plan

A mileage tax would get at electric car drivers who still produce wear and tear on roads

A crack across the roadway is seen as Nevada Department of Transportation worker Jarrid Summerfelt repairs damage to U.S. Highway 95 after a strong earthquake struck near Tonopah, Nevada, U.S., May 15, 2020

'We know that it can't be the answer forever, because we're going to be using less and less gas. We're trying to electrify the vehicle fleet,' the secretary said.

'So, if there's a way to do it that doesn't increase the burden on the middle class, we can look at it, but if we do, we got to recognize that's still not going to be the long term answer.'

He left himself room to back away should the proposal falter. Past administrations have seen new efforts to tax energy fall by the wayside, including Bill Clinton's efforts to push for taxing British Thermal Units, or BTUs.

Twitter users react to a plan announced by Pete Buttigieg that would tax drivers per mile

'A so-called vehicle-miles-traveled tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be a way to do it,' he said.

The idea 'shows a lot of promise if we believe in that so-called user-pays principle: The idea that part of how we pay for roads is you pay based on how much you drive,' he said.

One idea floated to pay for transportation and other physical infrastructure programs is an increase in the corporate tax rate. Republicans are likely to line up against any tax increases.

The president is set to unveil his proposal on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

The infrastructure measures are aimed at fixing roads, bridges and airports that are decades old and in need of repair, as well as expanding education and paid leave.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week Biden could propose hiking corporate taxes to 28 percent, but would prefer doing that as part of an agreement with other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries on a global minimum tax.

The spending would come after Biden won passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan this month, which is the third major relief bill passed by Congress to help consumers and businesses after the Covid-19 pandemic caused a massive economic downturn.

Those outlays pushed up the US debt and budget deficit to record levels in 2020, upping pressure from Congress for Biden to find ways to pay for his future spending proposals.

On Thursday, Buttigieg in congressional testimony called for a 'general investment' in infrastructure.

'I believe that we have at this moment the best chance in any of our lifetimes to make a generational investment in infrastructure that will help us meet the country's most pressing challenges today, and create a stronger future for decades to come,' he said.

'Across the country, we face a trillion-dollar backlog of needed repairs and improvements, with hundreds of billions of dollars in good projects already in the pipeline,' he added. 'We face an imperative to create resilient infrastructure and confront inequities that have devastated communities.'

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Kans.), the top Republican on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, hit back against the Biden team's plans for major environmental programs.

'The transportation bill, I think, needs to be a transportation bill, not a Green New Deal,' he said, the New York Times reported. 'It needs to be about roads and bridges, and I hope that as this committee works on our next major bill, that we remember to prioritize transportation infrastructure.'

In his CNBC interview, he also talked up 'Build America Bonds,' used during the Obama administration, as something showing 'a lot of promise in terms of the way that we leverage that kind of financing.'
(Newser)  Ghislaine Maxwell has been fighting to be released on bail ahead of her upcoming trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy chargesbut with the filing of new charges Monday, her release looks more unlikely than ever. The two new counts, which bring the total to eight, accuse the former Jeffrey Epstein girlfriend of recruiting a fourth underage girl to provide Epstein with "sexualized massages" at his Florida home between 2001 and 2004, starting when she was 14 years old, NBC reports. Previous charges accused Maxwell of helping Epstein sexually abuse girls during a three-year period in the 1990s, but prosecutors have now extended the abuse conspiracy timeline to between 1994 and 2004, reports the AP.

story continues below

According to court papers, Maxwell used various methods to groom the girl to "engage in sexual acts with Epstein," including giving her lingerie and money, the Guardian reports. She "sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things, discussing sexual topics in front of minor victim-4 and being present when minor victim-4 was nude in the massage room of the Palm Beach residence," court papers state. The documents filed in Manhattan federal court Monday state that Maxwell and Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell in 2019, encouraged the girl "to recruit other young females to provide sexualized massages to Epstein." Maxwell's trial is scheduled to begin July 12. (Her brother says the conditions in the Brooklyn federal lockup she is being held in amount to torture.)
NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI  A 43-year-old woman was critically wounded in a shooting early Monday, March 29.

The victim was flown by Aero Med helicopter to a Grand Rapids hospital.

The shooting happened around 2:20 a.m. in the 3600 block of Fox Drive, in Newaygo Countys Grant Township, state police said.

Police responded to a report of shots fired.

The victim was inside when a shooter, who was outside, fired several gunshots into the home. The shooting is not believed to be random, police said.

State police troopers provided medical help before the woman was airlifted to the hospital.

The investigation continues, police said.

Read more:

Screaming and hollering after Newaygo High explosion, 911 caller says

Wave sweeps man off pier at Silver Beach, officials search for body

Michigan restaurant owner who defied COVID-19 rules: Does fight hurt other businesses?
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SELBYVILLE, Del., March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Market Insights Inc. has recently added a new report on the high pressure washer market which estimates the market valuation for high pressure washer will cross US$ 3 billion by 2027. The rising number of food processing and pharmaceutical plants across the globe will escalate the demand for high pressure washers over the projected timeframe.

The portable segment to hold over 77% of the high pressure washer market share in 2027.

Increasing awareness regarding household cleanliness is significantly contributing toward the expansion of high pressure washer market size. Improving economic conditions has enabled consumers to purchase more sophisticated equipment required to clean their households. Additionally, increasing demand for household cleaning activities, such as removing oiled stains from BBQ grills, bikes, scooters, and cars, will further boost the adoption of high pressure washers. Furthermore, the growing demand for efficient underground equipment to remove the heavy build-up of mud and debris will escalate the high pressure washer industry growth. Ongoing innovations to meet industry standards and enhance equipment efficiency will offer new growth opportunities to the overall industry.

Request a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/4601

The cold high pressure washers segment dominates the global industry and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1%. The product and maintenance costs are generally lower than hot water pressure washers. These pressure washers are widely used in the agriculture and residential sectors. Furthermore, the increasing demand for hot water pressure washers is conjugated to their effectiveness against oil and adherent dirt removal. Hot water pressure washers are more efficient owing to less requirement for chemicals and additives.

The demand for gas powered pressure washers is experiencing positive and shall hold over 30% demand share in 2027, primarily attributable to less flammable characteristics required for oil rigs and gas industries. The facilities require high PSI pressure washers to eliminate tough stains. Moreover, multiple cleaning requirements for wellheads, service trucks, maintenance sheds, drill bits, and pipelines are significantly contributing to industry expansion. Furthermore, rising concerns toward city cleaning and hygiene coupled with the increasing cleaning budget and initiatives from central governments have increased the adoption of pressure washers. Additionally, the increasing DIY trend across the globe will enhance demand for high pressure washers from homeowners.

Key high pressure washer industry players are focusing on expanding their presence and product portfolio through product innovation. For instance, in March 2019, Graco introduced a new G-Force II pressure washer to maximize the efficiency of production facility for contractors. This high-performing pressure washer meets the demand for high-end cleaning at a competitive price. Additionally, the manufacturers are also focused on strategic alliances for enhancing their market share in the industry. In September 2018, Tennant Company signed a strategic agreement to acquire Gaomei Cleaning Equipment Company. This will support the company to enhance its product portfolio of cleaning machines and equipment.

Some major findings of the high pressure washer market report include:

Increasing number of airborne diseases is driving the demand for cleaning equipment across the globe. Growing awareness among consumers and office employees regarding healthy environment and cleanliness is driving the product demand.



Growing investments from private and government companies in the mining sector will significantly elevate the demand for equipment.



The portable high pressure washers segment dominated the global market and is projected to grow significantly with the CAGR of 4.2%.



3,001-6,000 is the largest segment of the global high pressure washer market. The segment is projected to reach around 35% of volume share by 2027. This growth is majorly attributed to the growing application of this type in construction, janitorial, and municipality sectors.



The rising application of pressure washers in commercial vehicle cleaning centers is anticipated to boost the segment growth and reach around 77% of volume market share by 2027.



The market is highly competitive with the presence of several small and large players, and due to stringent regulations and high capital investments, the new entrants face high barriers.

Request for customization of this research report at https://www.gminsights.com/roc/4601

Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC):

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

2.1 High pressure washer industry 360 synopsis, 2017 - 2027

2.1.1 Business trends

2.1.2 Product trends

2.1.3 PSI trends

2.1.4 Temperature trends

2.1.5 Driving force trends

2.1.6 Application trends

2.1.7 Regional trends

Chapter 3 High Pressure Washer Industry Insights

3.1 Industry segmentation

3.2 Industry size and forecast, 2017 - 2027

3.2.1 COVID-19 impact on industry landscape

3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.3.1 Component suppliers

3.3.2 Manufacturers

3.3.3 Profit margin

3.3.4 Value addition

3.3.5 Distribution channel analysis

3.3.5.1 COVID-19 impact on distribution channel

3.3.6 End-users

3.3.7 Vendor matrix

3.3.8 Other industry participants

3.4 Innovation & sustainability

3.4.1 Patent analysis

3.4.2 Production process

3.4.3 Future trends

3.5 Raw materials analysis

3.6 Industry impact forces

3.6.1 Growth drivers

3.6.1.1 Increasing awareness regarding cleanliness

3.6.1.2 Growing demand for pressure washers from car wash centers

3.6.1.3 Proliferating mining industry across the globe

3.6.1.4 Global demand for cleaning equipment

3.6.1.5 Rising product demand in the food and pharmaceutical industry in Asia Pacific

3.6.1.6 Increasing product demand in janitorial industry in North America

3.6.2 Industry pitfall & challenges

3.6.2.1 Government regulations regarding wastewater disposal and pollution

3.6.2.2 Perception of pressure washing using large volume of water

3.7 Regulatory trends

3.7.1 North America

3.7.2 Europe

3.7.3 Asia Pacific

3.7.4 Latin America

3.7.5 Middle East & Africa

3.8 Growth potential analysis

3.9 Megatrends

3.10 Price trends

3.10.1 Cost structure analysis

3.10.1.1 R&D cost

3.10.1.2 Manufacturing & equipment cost

3.10.1.3 Raw material cost

3.10.1.4 Distribution cost

3.10.1.5 Operating cost

3.10.1.6 Miscellaneous cost

3.10.2 Price by driving force

3.10.3 Price by PSI

3.10.4 Price by temperature

3.10.5 Price by application

3.10.6 COVID-19 impact on pricing

3.11 Competitive landscape

3.11.1 Company market share analysis

3.11.2 Brand analysis

3.11.3 Key stakeholders

3.11.4 Strategic dashboard

3.12 Porters analysis

3.12.1 Industry rivalry

3.12.2 Suppliers power

3.12.3 Buyers power

3.12.4 Threat of new entrant

3.12.5 Threat of substitute

3.13 PESTEL analysis

3.14 COVID-19 impact on high pressure washer demand by application

3.14.1 Construction

3.14.2 Oil & gas

3.14.3 Municipality

3.14.4 Mining

3.14.5 Food & pharmaceutical

3.14.6 Commercial vehicle cleaning centers

3.14.7 Janitor & homeowner

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.

Contact Us:

Arun Hegde

Corporate Sales, USA

Global Market Insights, Inc.

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Related Images

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High Pressure Washer Market size worth $3 Bn by 2027

The portable segment to hold over 77% of the high pressure washer market share in 2027.

SOURCE Global Market Insights Inc.
Chennai, March 29 : A three-year-old girl from Oman got a new lease of life with a successful dual live-donor liver and kidney transplant performed simultaneously by doctors at a private hospital here.

Doctors at Rela Hospital, spearheaded by Prof Mohamed Rela, performed dual live donor transplant with the help of a segment of liver donated by the girl's uncle and left kidney from her mother.

The surgery took just over 10 hours.

According to Rela Hospital, the baby girl was diagnosed with renal failure when she was 10 months old and has been on dialysis since then.

She was also diagnosed to have primary hyperoxaluria, which is an enzyme defect in the liver leading to oxalate deposit all over the body (heart, kidneys, joints, eyes) and oxalate stones resulting in kidney damage, the hospital said.

With liver and kidney transplants the only options for the child's survival, she was referred to Rela Hospital. At the time of arrival, the child was 3 years 3 months old and weighed only 8.2 kg (grossly underweight) due to kidney failure which was hampering her growth.

Doctors at Rela hospital decided to wait till the child's weight reached 10 kg, the minimum weight for the transplant.

However, since the child's health was deteriorating, the doctors discussed with the child's family and decided on an immediate transplant.

It was challenging to find a donor for kidney transplant for the baby's size and age and there were too many complications as adult kidney is quite large and that of a child abdomen is small to place her mother's kidney as the child was underweight, said Dr Gomathy Narasimhan, Senior Consultant, HPB Surgery, Liver and Renal Transplant Surgeon.

According to Narasimhan, the blood vessels of the child are very tiny to manage the blood flow pressure from the adult kidney as the half litre of blood flows in an adult kidney in an hour which is equivalent to the blood flow in a baby's whole body in an hour.

However, the dual organ transplant was performed successfully on the child on January 28th, and post the transplant, the child is doing well and her weight has increased to 9 kg, Rela Hospital said.

During the post operative period, the child posed several challenges as she was on peritoneal dialysis since 10 months of age, and was severely malnourished with weak bones.

The fact that she was significantly underweight for her age needed very focussed teamwork with attention to all aspects including nutrition, infection control, and immune suppressant management.
LC Smith, who is known as Buckshot, has spent nearly 60 years working in law enforcement in his hometown of Camden, about 100 miles south west of Little Rock

A police officer in Arkansas who is still working at the age of 91 insists he will only retire when the 'good Lord says so'.

LC Smith, who is known as Buckshot, has spent nearly 60 years working in law enforcement in his hometown of Camden, about 100 miles south west of Little Rock.

Smith, who turns 92 next month, currently works for the Camden Police Department and is the oldest active police officer in the state.

He has worn a law enforcement badge since back in 1963 and has no plans to retire.

When asked when he will step down, Smith told CNN: 'When the good Lord says so'.

Smith, who got the nickname Buckshot as a teen, still patrols the street where he was born and raised.

He spent more than 46 years working as a deputy for the Ouachita County Sheriff's Department.

Smith, who turns 92 next month, has worn a law enforcement badge since back in 1963. He spent more than 46 years working as a deputy for the Ouachita County Sheriff's Department (pictured above)

Smith, who turns 92 next month, currently works for the Camden Police Department and is the oldest active police officer in the state

He patrolled and worked in the Criminal Investigations Division during that time.

Smith had a brief taste of retirement after stepping down from the sheriff's department back in September 2010.

But his retirement lasted just five months before he joined the Camden Police Department.

'Camden Police wanted me to come to work, so I came,' he said. 'I don't fish, I don't hunt... so I wouldn't have anything else to do.'

He currently works with the police department four days a week from 7am to 3pm.

His duties include being the department's bailiff and helping with the community watch program.

He currently works with the police department four days a week from 7am to 3pm. Smith still carries around a gun but the local mayor joked he would never have to use it because he knows everyone's mother

Smith had a brief taste retirement after stepping down from the sheriff's department (above) back in September 2010. But his retirement lasted just five months before he joined the Camden Police Department

Smith also carries out traffic stops, patrols school zones and helps with escorting funerals and parades.

Camden's mayor, Julian Lott, told CBS that Smith carries a gun but had an even more powerful tool at his disposal.

'He knows your mama and he knew your grandmother,' Lott said.

'So he has the authority to speak into our lives.'

It isn't clear if Smith was ever married or if he has children, but when he's not on patrol, he likes attending church and 'spending time with his lady friend,' according to CNN.

Throughout his decades-long career, Smith says he has taken more people home, such as children, than to jail during his patrols.

He insists being a good officer isn't about how many arrests are made but rather having compassion for citizens.

'This badge and gun don't make you a police officer. You've got to respect people,' he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and national security adviser Jake Sullivan (R) address the media following the closed-door morning talks between the United States and China upon the conclusion of their two-day meetings in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 19, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinkens NATO Speech Takes Strong Stance Against the CCP

Commentary

In his NATO speech, Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the word threat 30 times and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 16 times. He stressed Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, indicating European countries should join forces with the United States to deal with the CCP.

A lot of things happened this past week. Europe imposed sanctions on CCP officials and Chinese institutions, and the CCP imposed counter-sanctions on European individuals and institutions. On the issue of the Xinjiang cotton ban, the Chinese people, driven by the CCP, began to boycott hundreds of famous international fashion companies. U.S. President Joe Biden held his first official press conference on March 25, setting a record for the longest wait for the first press conference by a U.S. president.

In my opinion, there was another event last week that was extremely important, but received less attention. It was Blinken speaking in Brussels, the NATO headquarters. Unlike the European Union, which is an alliance of states and an international organization of political and economic cooperation, NATO is a purely military alliance.

Blinkens speech is very important for this very reason.

Lets start analyzing Blinkens speech by looking at some statistics.

In this 3,453-word speech, the word most mentioned is threat, which is mentioned 28 times in total, and challenge is said 16 times. Basically, the word threat is raised in every 125 words. Of course, NATO is a military alliance that is designed to deal with threats. Blinken divides the threats he speaks of into three categories. First, military; second, technological competition; and third, the pandemic and climate. Throughout his speech, he focused on the first two, which is understandable because he was speaking to NATO.

Blinken noted that these threats are on the rise, and that new threats are outpacing our efforts to build the capabilities we need to defend against them. Translated into plain language, our defenses are declining, but the threat is growing.

So whos the threat? In the entire speech, he mentioned China 12 times and Beijing 4 times. That means he mentioned the CCP 16 times. By comparison, Russia was raised four times; and North Korea and Iran were each raised once. Americas greatest enemy of the past two decades, terrorism, has been mentioned only twice. So it is clear that the threat he refers to is mainly the CCP, and the challenge is mainly from the CCP.

So what is threatened? Blinken said values 18 times, democracy 14 times, and interests only 4 times in his speech. Clearly, Blinken believes that the threat from the CCP has the greatest impact on the foundation of values. This foundation of course includes democracy, freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and so on.

Alliance Building

Interestingly, Blinken specifically mentioned Article 5 of the NATO Treaty shortly after beginning his speech, which states that if one country is attacked, all countries are attacked. This clause has been used only once in NATOs 75-year history, when NATO invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attack to oust the Taliban regime and eliminate al-Qaeda.

By mentioning Article 5 this time, Bliken is sending a clear message to the U.S. allies: If the United States is attacked, or if something happens, everyone will have to participate.

One hundred years ago, during the British Empire, Britain had a policy that one must be greater than two plus three, viewing Britains military power as the first in the world. It must remain greater than the combined military forces of those at the second and the third place, mainly referring to the European continental countries like Germany and France at that time. Some experts even believe that the current military power of the United States may be greater than one plus two plus three plus four plus five, all the way to ten. That is, the total military power of the United States exceeds the combined power of nine countries which rank second through tenth in the world.

The U.S. military may indeed be equal to the total military strength of these countries. However, during a war, military strength is not assessed in this way. There are other factors such as timing, location, and human resources. For example, a war in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is completely different from a war on the Asian coast.

In his speech, Blinken mentioned values many times. What he meant was that the NATO alliance was formed with the goal of protecting our values. This was the case at the beginning, and it is still the case now.

So if we replace Blinkens NATO speech with the colloquial language of the Chinese outlaw folk heroes, itll be something like this:

Brothers, we used to fight together to uphold justice for all. We value brotherhoodif anyone was bullied, we would fight together. Now there is a new threat. Someone came to challenge my status as the big brother. I bear and forbear, but he even broke into my house, and knocked the hell out of my little brothers. You cant watch me go up against him all by myself.

Back then, when you, my younger brothers, were in difficulty, I bent over backward to help you. All righteous people value principles and mutual trust. You cant ignore your big brothers life and death just because you are doing business with this person now and benefiting from your business with him. So this time, we still have to fight together. Give him an end. Beat him to quit the world.

Is that what he meant? Thats what I think he meant.

Thats why I say this speech by Blinken is so important. Hes mobilizing allies and rallying people to fight, and the target is quite clear: the CCP.

But this group fight may go beyond a military confrontation; an economic, political, diplomatic, science, and technological war may all come together. If it was just a military confrontation, it might have been easier for the United States to just take action directly. However, the situation facing the United States now is not like that, its facing a variety of unrestricted warfares, a variety of strategies and tactics. The Chinese are good at this, so Blinken needs to make it clear to Europe.

Therefore, I view Blinkens NATO speech as a declaration of war against the CCP. Of course, this move is not an impromptu action, in response to a threat identified all of a sudden. Instead, the United States had already noticed it and deployed plans much earlier.

When Joe Biden ran the 2020 presidential election, he emphasized strengthening foreign relations and uniting with allies. Because Biden had previously been a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a long time, he is an expert on European affairs and is quite familiar with European politicians. Therefore, he specifically raised this issue. He agreed that the CCP was the biggest threat as well as the biggest competitor, but he did not agree with President Donald Trumps single-handed confrontation with the CCP. He believed that he would draw on traditional allies to fight in groups.

In fact, Trump also wanted to work with allies, but his tough personality offended many people. Now that Biden has become the new president, Blinken emphasized during his foreign visits that America is back. He intended to say that it was Trumps fault in the past, and promised to allies that The United States is committed to this Alliance now and in the future.

Europe Takes Action

Europe has already begun to take action. The European Union announced sanctions on four Xinjiang officials and a Xinjiang institution last week. Although it wasnt an impactful sanction, it nonetheless served as a cheer for the eldest brother. However, unexpectedly, Beijing became furious and retaliated by sanctioning ten Europeans and six European institutestantamount to a two-fold retaliation.

At this point, the drama down the road might be more intriguing. Whats to be done about the China-EU Investment Agreement? What about the China-EU strategic partnership? The trade between China and the EU last year exceeded that between China and the United States for the second year. Will there be a big change in the trade relations in the future?

For Americans, if the CCP sanctions Europe on a large scale, such as the nationwide boycott of European companies, as it did with Australia, the U.S. strategy will have already achieved more than 50 percent success. This is because the United States does not expect Europe to send out troops. As long as the European countries can cut off the political and economic ties with the CCP to a significant extent and cheer on the U.S. side, it will be good enough.

On Wednesday, Biden held the first press conference at the White House after taking office. Some Japanese media were disappointed because when Biden mentioned the CCP, he did not demonstrate a strong stance, nor did he mention supporting Taiwan or strengthening relations with Asia-Pacific allies.

In fact, oftentimes we think that we need a commander-in-chief to accomplish something, but the commanders role is no different than a railroad traffic conductor. As the conductor is giving certain directives, you would feel that he is making a meaningful contribution. But as a matter of fact, the world has its own way of operation. It doesnt make much difference with or without him.

Joe Biden is a weak president, sandwiched between Obama and Kamala Harris, there is also a huge and powerful Democrat team behind him. How much can he decide on his own?

Outsiders view him as the decisive figure, but insiders know his role is just like the railway traffic conductor. The train runs on a fixed track and doesnt have much to do with the conductors traffic baton.

It is mainly national interests that determine the direction of a country. To put it plainly, Trumps famous slogan American First is absolutely right, even though Democrats were particularly displeased with this statement. Which country would place the interests of other countries in front of their own? Such a country does not exist whatsoever. Its just that the Democrat Party introduced many concepts and special terms to cover up the priority of American interests. In the past seventy years, the CCP has never given up its ambition of taking down the United States. Even during Hu Yaobangs era as chairman and general secretary from 1981 to 1987, the CCP advocated the concepts of down with capitalism and eliminating capitalists. These concepts have never changed. Its just that the CCP was powerless at the time and the United States didnt care much about it. Of course, its different now.

That is to say, this fundamental conflict between the United States and the CCP is at the core of the relationship between the two countries. Whether it is expressed in terms of trade interests or values, there is actually not much difference.

An all-out conflict between the CCP and the Western world is inevitable.

About the author:

Alexander Liao is a columnist and journalist in research on international affairs in the United States, China, and Southeast Asia. He has published a large number of reports, commentaries, and video programs in newspapers and Chinese financial magazines in the United States and Hong Kong.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A major employer group and one of the nations largest infrastructure investors have warned proposed superannuation changes could hinder the nations economic recovery by handing the government too much power over investment decisions.

IFM investors, which manages almost $150 billion for Australian superannuation funds, and Australian Industry Group have warned the proposed Your Future, Your Super legislation could hand the federal government the power to block major investments and could leave members worse off.

IFM Investors is warning the new super rules could hurt the economic recovery. Credit:Louie Douvis

The reforms have been widely criticised by the superannuation sector as an overreach, however the federal government has introduced the legislation in a bid to reduce unnecessary fees and expenses in the $3 trillion system and provide additional oversight into how workers super is managed.

IFM director of policy and research Anna Engwerda-Smith said the new power could affect the expenditure, payments and investments by the super funds, including third parties who invest on behalf of those funds.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
India: Unleashing Blue Economy for National Growth

March 29,2021 | Source: The Policy Times

The Blue Economy is envisaged as the integration of Water-based Economy included Inland Water Body & Ocean Economy development with the principles of social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and innovative, dynamic business models. The development of the Blue Economy holds immense promise for the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Indian Ocean is the worlds preeminent seaway for trade and commerce. It is also endowed with a wealth of natural resources, which are, yet, largely untapped. The development of the Blue Economy in the Indian Ocean region is expected to yield several benefits for India.



The Blue Economy: Indias Agenda



Indias maritime assets and interests play a vital role in Indias growth story. Its maritime assets span across a 7,517 km long coastline interspersed with 1,398 islands, 9 coastal States, 4 Union Territories, and 77 districts which is home to 18% of Indias population. Several critical infrastructures such as nuclear plants, refineries, megacities, and vital security installations dot its coastline. Its EEZ, which presently encompasses 2.2 million sq. km is slated to grow to 3.1 million sq. km. Its inland waterways have a route length of 14,000 km. Its 50 lacs fishermen toil to produce 50 million tonnes of marine production. Its EEZ holds 46% and 61% of balance recoverable reserves of crude oil and natural gas respectively. Its coastline has 13 major ports and more than 200 minor ports handling about 1,200 million tonnes of cargo and more than 120,000 ships and crafts annually carrying 66% of the worlds oil, 50% of global container traffic, and 33% of the worlds cargo traffic ply in the surrounding seas. India has invested in various geographies for resources and infrastructure projects. India also has territorial rights in Antarctica with research station Maitrii set up in 1989 and Bharati in 2012. It regularly runs scientific missions to these outposts. India is an Observer in the Arctic Council. India has the second-largest diaspora in the world with about 30 million spread across most countries in the world. Notably, 94% of NRIs and 99.7% of PIOs reside in coastal nation-states and territories adding to the nations maritime links and interests. The very nature of the maritime sector makes all countries with access to the seas a veritable neighbor to every other country. Developing workable partnerships and environmentally sound socio-economic models of development that leverage technology and knowledge, provides access to ocean resources, promotes free trade and commerce, and aims towards achieving a fair, universal, and rules-based maritime system, with Indias maritime neighbors is vital to achieving sustainable and equitable growth and development of India.



With its northern borders protected by the Himalayan mountains, Indias maritime borders are also its sole opening to the world of trade and commerce. India is also prone to cyclonic storms and other marine disasters and is subject to terrorism, piracy, drugs, arms and human smuggling, illegal fishing, dumping of toxic and nuclear wastes, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing by foreign vessels, and confronts a delicate security situation in the region. The Indian Ocean has emerged as the global economic highway. It is the third-largest water body spanning an area of 68.5 million sq. Kms, which is rich in oil and mineral resources, and countries on the rim of the ocean are home to nearly one-third of humanity. India has sizeable diplomatic interests in the Indo-Pacific and has international obligations under the UNCLOS, Search and Rescue, seabed mining, counter-piracy, etc in the region. Economic threats and opportunities are on the horizon with the increasing belligerence of some countries and their forays into the Indian Ocean. How best India negotiates these challenges and opportunities will depend upon developing a sound maritime understanding of the stakes involved. India has vast maritime interests, which have a vital relationship with the nations economic growth. In this milieu, Indias maritime interests can be broadly divided into four categories. First, is to ensure uninterrupted access to commodities and markets; Second, unchallenged sovereign rights to its EEZ and freedom of navigation and overflight in the global oceanic commons; Third, ensure continued uncontested peace and stability in the region; and Fourth, security for the unimpeded socio-economic sustainable progress of the nation and the prosperity of its people. However, these assets and interests come at a cost  to the environment, ecology, and the economy. The maritime sector directly impinges upon several of the Sustainable Development Goals notably Poverty, Hunger, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Sustainable Cities (especially coastal cities), Climate Action, and Life below water. The route sustainable development is clearly the Blue Economy Model of economic growth.



Sagarmala



In recent years, under the leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, there have been series of much-needed initiatives and intense activity in the maritime domain, such as the SAGARMALA and SAGAR programs of the Government. These coupled with foreign policy initiatives such as the transition from Look East to the Act East policy, the reorganization and revitalization of the BIMSTEC, the recent creation of a QUAD for regional stability, the transfer of a submarine to Myanmar, and signing significant maritime operational agreements with Japan and the United States. These initiatives will act as catalysts to strengthen Indias geopolitical credentials. When coupled with the sustainable development goals and the adoption of a Blue Economy led economic developmental model Indias transition to being a credible and responsible maritime power is imminent. Whilst the external elements are gradually falling into place India needs to get the internal aspects of the Blue Economy Growth Model also in place for the safe, secure, and sustainable development of the island, coastal and offshore economy with its upstream impact on hinterland assets. Modern Ports with stringent environmental restrictions are the foremost requirements. We need to increase our port handling capacity to at least 3,500 Million tonnes to support a US$ 5 trillion economy. This also requires the first and last-mile connectivity to be in place. The Sagarmala project, which is a port-led development initiative based on pillars of port modernization, connectivity, port-led industrialization, and coastal community development is progressing rapidly and already calls are being made to extend the project to the littoral neighborhood.



Inland Water & Shipbuilding in India



Indias 14,500 km of navigable inland waterways are being rapidly developed. The first containerized cargo has already transited on the India-Bangladesh Protocol. Cargo ships are routinely ferrying between Farakka and Haldia and these are significant developments. Shipbuilding and shipping is another sector that is a key pillar of the Blue Economy. Indias record has considerable scope for improvement. The modal share of coastal shipping has the potential to improve to 33% by 2035 from about 6% today. Similarly, EXIM cargo valued at the US $ 56 billion in freight costs being paid to foreign shipping countries should be transferred to Indian shipping companies plying Indian-built ships. Indias 27 shipyards must be reenergized and if required recapitalized to commence production of ships. A national development bank for shipping and shipbuilding is a vital necessity to ensure low-cost fiance to shipyards and shipping companies. Long-term contracts of Affreightment to make these ship purchases viable are required between user departments and shipping companies. It is time to announce a sunset date for cabotage so that old and polluting foreign ships do not ply Indian cargo anymore. The warship building industry in India is firmly anchored on self-reliance and indigenization and has matured rapidly to make a variety of ships. This strength must be leveraged to export Indian warships and crafts to friendly countries.



Coastal Community



The fishing industry is another sector that provides significant opportunities for growth. India has approximately 250,000 fishing boats, with 4 million active fishermen and 14 million people as part of the fishing community. India is the second-largest fish-producing nation and suitable technology must be adopted for its sustainable growth. Deep-sea fishing is another avenue where India could cooperate to harness the Blue Economy. This would also result in coastal community development and enhanced employment opportunities in the fishing sector. The Government has announced the National Fishery Policy in October 2020 for public consultations. Our islands are not only the strategic outposts of our country but also offer immense economic potential and can be a source of livelihood for thousands of our citizens. The Integrated Island Management Plan (IIMP) is a vital instrument for the development of our islands. It is also important that the infrastructure and facilities developed in these islands are dual-use, safe, secure, and sustainable. The Navy has a large reservoir of experience, expertise, resources, and capabilities that can be gainfully leveraged for the sustainable development of the islands. Indias EEZ also provides offshore energy resources, and we have oil and gas exploration areas off the West and East coast of India. India has also been allocated deep seabed mining areas in the Central Indian Ocean and these sectors are likely to register significant growth in the coming years. Renewable ocean energy is another niche sector with immense scope in the future. This includes tidal and waves energy and ocean thermal energy conversion. Therefore, while India is focused on the economic development of its maritime interests it is also committed to traveling down the path of sustainable development. The SDG 14 is directly relevant to sustainable oceans, whilst many other SDGs of livelihoods, poverty, food, etc. are also related to the maritime sector. These have to be factored into Indias growth story.



Whilst the economic activities are being developed rapidly it is also important to ensure that security, stability, safety, and sovereignty issues are not overlooked. The seas are no longer a benign medium and globalization has led to the vulnerability of the oceans. The threats and challenges in the maritime domain are as wide and varied as they come and include, piracy, maritime terrorism, arms trafficking, drugs smuggling, human trafficking, and poaching. The instabilities and turbulence on land in some parts of the Indian Ocean have the potential to spill over into the maritime domain and the situation can best be described as FRAGILE. It is the responsibility of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard to ensure that this situation remains stable and secure. Another challenge is that the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean are prone to natural disasters. The Navy and the Coast Guard have to be ready for rapid response to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Given the recent geopolitical realities, the Indian Ocean has assumed a new salience for global peace. There exist several mechanisms for the maintenance of peace and stability and promote cooperation between like-minded nations who believe in the rule of law. The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is a forum for discussion and cooperation between navies of the region. Over the years the IONS has grown with a membership of navies from 22countries and four observers nations. The IONS has the potential to provide an effective template to promote cooperation in the maritime domain in the Indian Ocean Region to further the Blue Economy development model. The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is another organization that provides the avenue for strengthening maritime cooperation between countries of the Indian Ocean Region. Incidentally, 20 members of IORA also have their navies as members of IONS, and recent years have witnessed some synergy between IONS and IORA for promoting maritime cooperation. The promotion of a Blue Economy is a vital charter of the IORA Member states.



Role on Underwater Development for National Growth



Optimum and efficient utilization of water resources is at the core of the blue economy. The rising importance of the Blue Economy in global activities represents a great opportunity for innovation, be it in coastal management, navigation assistance, or biodiversity protection. The Blue Economy represents an opportunity to boost the local economy and create jobs in knowledge-intensive economic sectors. The creation of new services is really needed in order to better tackle the challenges faced by coastal regions and inland water bodies to achieve their unleash business opportunities and boost the local economy. Both local and regional authorities should therefore not hesitate in investing even more into the adoption of innovative technologies. It is indispensable to promote and enhance collaboration between the various actors of the value chain to develop strong and vibrant local economies. The ocean is the last frontier for economic development in the world. The assumption of blue economy revenue of India will be 1 trillion US$ every financial year for the next ten years. With their enormous resources, oceans are the ultimate frontier that shall help to transform the economy of the society from scarcity to abundance. With the extended Exclusive Economic Zone, Indias Ocean jurisdiction equals the land area. Hence an integrated approach with a long-term vision, technology, management, monitoring, and time-bound regulatory reforms are essential for building a sustained blue economy for India. It is beyond doubt that the upcoming blue economy shall serve as a growth catalyst for the robust Indian economy envisioned to reach US$10 trillion by 2030.



Conclusion



In conclusion, India has a significant potential to harness the full potential of the Blue Economy in the national interest. The government has taken major steps and launched several initiatives in this direction. The Honourable Prime Minister has launched a dynamic initiative of Swachh Bharat (Clean India). We need to extend the concept to Swachh Sagar (Clean Oceans). This could be a peoples movement where we draw up an action plan and motivate every citizen and maritime agency to contribute towards cleaning our coastal areas and extend the concept to ensuring clean oceans or Swachh Sagar for our future generations. However, maritime issues are complex and require substantial resolution of jurisdiction and deconflicting so that the Blue Economy Model of development is efficiently, economically, and effectively implemented. For this apex level directions for integration of resources, coordination of effort, and harmonization with global treaty obligations is essential. Since multiple Ministries, Departments and Authorities are direct stakeholders of the Indian maritime ecosystem, an apex level authority to oversee its implementation is required. Such an apex level organization, given the complexity of maritime matters and the character of the Blue Economy and multifarious stakeholders with multiple interests at both Centre and State level, should be chaired by the Prime Minister of India with appropriate representation of the Ministries of Central Government and the Governments of the Coastal States and Union Territories. A suitable Secretariat, under a Chief Maritime Commissioner and staffed with domain experts, should be created to coordinate, and integrate the planning process of various departments and agencies for sustainable development of Indias Blue Economy Model of growth so as to enable India to emerge as a resurgent maritime nation.



The rising importance of the Blue Economy in global activities represents a great opportunity for innovation, be it in coastal management, navigation assistance, or biodiversity protection. All water bodies, including lakes, rivers, canals, dams and brackish water bodies, seas, and the coastal regions are unique resources, yet neglected and often forgotten. The Blue Economy represents an opportunity to boost the local economy and create jobs in knowledge-intensive economic sectors. The creation of new services is really needed in order to better tackle the challenges faced by coastal regions and inland water bodies to achieve their unleash business opportunities and boost the local economy. The uninhabited islands will be leased out by the central government to the state government exclusively for smart city development and other economic activities, based on the investments of secured governance strategy. The smart cities on Island will help the Indian Economy to provide long-term funding and more employment opportunities in the future. The inland water bodies are expected to gain more from the blue economy orientation in their development policies. Set up Mini HUBs in every 5 km of inland waterways. It will act as a selfsustained economic growth center and provide huge employment opportunities for the local community. Mini HUB such as amusement park, Yoga center, Mini food court, Cinema halls, childrens water park, etc. besides, it includes Small scale economic activities like food processing industry, boat & fishnet repairing center, mini market, shopping malls, etc. Both local and regional authorities should therefore not hesitate in investing even more into the adoption of innovative technologies. It is indispensable to promote and enhance collaboration between the various actors of the value chain to develop strong and vibrant local economies.

A community in New York is coming together to find missing 29-year-old Alicia M. Kenyon, and her worried sister told Dateline she is thankful for the support.

We just want to know that shes safe, Amy Kenyon told Dateline. Were so thankful for everything the community has done to make that possible.

Alicia Kenyon (Courtesy of sister Amy Kenyon)

Alicia, who is two years older than her sister Amy, has been missing since March 20, 2021.

According to the New York State Police at Catskill, Alicia was initially reported missing by her family after having last been seen on Friday, March 19, at the Walmart in the Village of Catskill. Alicia had been living with roommates at Catskill Motor Court, her sister told Dateline.

A week after Alicia was reported missing, state police released a photo from a security camera showing Alicia inside a Stewart's Shop in the Village of Saugerties on the morning of Saturday, March 20. They added that Alicia may now possibly be in the City of Kingston area, which is a nearby town.

Amy told Dateline she doesnt want to speculate where her sister could be, or why no one has heard from her, but said their family is concerned for Alicias safety and just want to know that shes OK.

She added that family and friends have not been able to reach Alicia on her cell phone and that there has been no activity on her bank account.

I just want her to know to please let us know youre OK, Amy said. And if anyone sees her or has talked to her, please call the police.

Alicia Kenyon (Courtesy of sister Amy Kenyon)

Amy told Dateline that her sister is a sweet, shy, playful person who sees the best in people. She added that Alicia wasnt working at the time of her disappearance, but is an aspiring author and spent her time doing what she loved, including art and music.

The community of Catskill and surrounding towns are continuing to spread the word of Alicias disappearance by talking with neighbors and posting fliers.

The support from everyone has been amazing, Amy said. Were just very concerned about her and hoping to bring her home safe.

Alicia is described as being 56 tall and weighs about 160 lbs. She has green eyes, dark hair and was last seen wearing a blue jacket and dark camouflage pants.

Anyone with information on Alicias whereabouts is asked to contact the New York State Police at Catskill at 518-622-8600.
Lofa County  The chairman of Liberty Party, Musa Hassan Bility, is urging the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) to ban lawmakers of the collaboration who approved the printing of L$48.7 billion banknotes from contesting on its ticket in the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.

"The CPP will ensure that all those representatives who signed the resolution for the government to print new money won't be allowed to contest on the ticket of the CPP," said Bility, who was speaking in Lofa County Friday during a dedication of a mosque in Bolonguidu Town, Quardu Gboni District.

"We can't be speaking against plans by the government to print new money lawmakers from our collaboration are endorsing a resolution authorizing the government."

Bility alleged that the government's plan to print new banknotes is an attempt to enrich officials of the George Weah-led Administration, and any lawmaker from the CPP who signed the resolution acted against the ideology of the CPP.

"If you want to remain as an opposition lawmaker, remain. If you want to become a regime lawmaker, resign from the CPP and join the government," he added. You can't be in the CPP and going against the aspirations of the CPP, that's wrong."

It's unclear how many of the 23 lawmakers of the CPP signed a resolution for the printing of the banknotes to replace the ones that are in use within three years, beginning this year on March 19 because the signing of the resolution wasn't done public.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday expressed worry on the steady shrinking of Lake Chad, saying that the development had adversely affected over 30 million people.

Buhari said that the lake had become just about 10 per cent of its original size.

The president made the statement when he hosted the President of Chad, Marshal Idris Deby Itno, who paid him an official visit at the State House, Abuja.

Mr Femi Adesina, the president's spokesman in a statement, quoted Buhari as saying that: "It is imperative that there be water transfer to Lake Chad from the Congo Basin so that people can resume their normal lives."

He noted that with inter-basin water transfer, farming, fishing and animal husbandry would resume and curtail irregular migration of youths.

According to the Nigerian leader, young people now dare the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, to get into Europe to seek greener pastures.

"I've been engaging with relevant stakeholders in Africa and beyond on why we need to recharge Lake Chad. Nigeria will benefit more but it is also advantageous to everyone."

Buhari lauded Chad for its role in curbing insurgency in the Lake Chad region, especially the Boko Haram challenge.

"We appreciate what you are doing on security.

"When I first came to office in 2015, I came to see you and other leaders in our neighbouring countries because it makes sense to be in the good books of our neighbours."

Buhari wished the Chadian leader well in the general elections coming up in that country next month.

The Chadian leader thanked Buhari for receiving him, saying: "we are neighbours facing similar challenges."

He said that he was in Nigeria to explore bilateral issues and to discuss with the Nigerian government on issues relating to regional security.

Itno told Buhari to consider the possibility of convening an international summit to dialogue on the crisis in the Lake Chad area. (NAN)
In 2021, Cen Land, a top player in the northern real estate brokerage market, continues to expand its ecosystem and restructure its operations to promote development from now to 2023. To meet the needs of the market, Cen Land has been perfecting new subsidiaries in deploying potential quality products to meet customers' needs and boost the project portfolio in Vietnam.

Century Land JSC has just been honoured among the Top 10 Best Real Estate Brokers in 2020

Adding to its elite salesforce, Cen Land has recruited more sales consultants to improve the quality of its sales team. New sales forces are trained and classified for the right tasks and products. To improve professionalism in customer-facing operations, the company has also been building customer service teams specifically for domestic and foreign investors.

Cen Land is developing connected agencies across the country. This year, the connected agency development team set the revenue target of VND500billion ($21.74 million). In addition, Cen Land launched Cen Housing with over 1,000 realtors for the secondary and retail market, generating revenue of VND300 billion ($13 million).

In investment, Cen Land strengthens the investment department to promote the search, analysis and selection of investment opportunities so that the company can reach the target of doubling the annual growth in secondary investment from now to 2023

Recognising the important role of technology in its development, Cen Land has also invested in Cen Homes proptech platform and recruited more specialists to upgrade the platform with new technologies such as peer-to-peer connectivity, big data, and AI.

In its investment activities, Cen Land strengthened its investment department to promote the search, analysis, and selection of investment opportunities so that the company can acquire potential projects, with the target of doubling the annual growth in secondary investment from now to 2023. Moreover, Cen Land is looking for opportunities to expand the Cen X Space co-working space.

Cen Land plans to grow 89 per cent in revenue and 18 per cent in profit this year. Along with this, the companys revenue in 2021 is expected to reach VND4 trillion ($173.9 million), in which revenue from real estate brokerage is VND1.551 trillion ($67.43 million), revenue from real estate transfer is VND2.372 trillion ($103.13 million). After-tax profit is VND355 billion ($15.43 million), signifying an 18 per cent jump on-year.

Positive results since the beginning of the year

Thanks to these strategic moves, Cen Land has recorded impressive business results since early 2021.

In 2021, Cen Land has envisaged raising capital to invest in large-scale projects. According to the report submitted to the shareholders before the companys general annual shareholders meeting, Cen Land plans to increase its charter capital by VND1.06 trillion ($46 million) to surpass VND2 trillion ($86.96 million). This capital will be channelled into the Thanh Cong co-operative building project and Hoang Van Thu new urban area, among others.

To optimise operational efficiency, Cen Land is recruiting talents with attractive commission policies and salaries. Around 2,000 new positions for sales executives, managers, and directors will be opened at the company.

The company commits to offering competitive commissions immediately after 48 hours and 50/50 marketing cost support. Depending on the job position, salaries can range from VND6 to VND50 million ($260-$2,170) per month.
Cairo/Egypt  A massive container ship blocking Egypt's Suez Canal for nearly a week has been partially refloated, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened.

The 400-metre long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

After further dredging and excavation over the weekend, efforts by rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage worked to free the ship using tug boats in the early hours of Monday, two marine and shipping sources said.

The SCA said Ever Given has been straightened in the canal and further tugging operations would resume once the tide rises later on Monday. Marine traffic through the canal will resume once the ship is directed to the Great Lakes area, a wider section of the canal, it added.

At least 369 vessels were waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie said.
Starting Monday, all Texans ages 16 and older  about 22 million people  are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced. But as vaccine eligibility expands, actually getting the vaccine may be even more difficult.

Texas joins several other states in opening eligibility to all adults. DSHS said providers should continue to prioritize walk-ins and appointments for Texans 80 and older.

RELATED: Here's where you can get your COVID-19 vaccination card laminated for free

State health officials said Texas has no strictly enforced residency requirement to be vaccinated, but doses allotted to Texas are intended for those living, working or spending substantial amounts of time in Texas. DSHS spokesperson Chris Van Deusen said out-of-state residents have represented fewer than 1% of all people vaccinated in Texas.

Texas has administered more than 10 million vaccine doses, and the state will receive more than 1 million first doses this week, according to DSHS. The department also said its in the process of ordering more than half a million second doses for people who received their first shot a few weeks ago.

Still, vaccines remain in short supply, and it is difficult to secure an appointment to get vaccinated. The process often involves refreshing webpages over and over and trying to grab an appointment before they fill up  often in seconds. For Texans who do not have access to transportation or the ability to navigate technology, signing up for a vaccine appointment is nearly impossible.

Sandra Garcia, a 30-year-old from El Paso, said her parents and grandparents are vaccinated, but it was difficult to get appointments for them because the websites were overwhelmed and kept crashing. Garcia said she feels relieved that she will now be eligible, but she is worried she will not be able to make an appointment for some time.

Its great for me because that means I get to get a vaccine, except we still dont have the volume necessary for all the people trying to get vaccinated, Garcia said.

Dr. Diana Fite, president of the Texas Medical Association, said people may have trouble getting appointments at first because of high demand and not enough vaccines available for everyone who is eligible, but with Texas continuing to receive more doses, the supply should begin to meet demand over time.

READ MORE: Can I take painkillers before or after a COVID-19 vaccine?

[Expanding eligibility] will just help keep the momentum going for people getting vaccinated, because so far theres been outcry for more vaccines than weve had vaccines available, Fite said. Its just wonderful news that will help us get closer and closer to vaccinating enough people.

Fite said people should continue to follow safety guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Garcia said she will feel much less anxious going inside stores or restaurants for the first time in a year once she gets vaccinated, and she wont have to worry about getting her family sick.

Right now I cant really see how Ill ever feel comfortable being outside without a mask again, and I cant imagine I am alone in this, she said.

Karen Harper and Bryan Mena contributed to this report.

Disclosure: The Texas Medical Association 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 Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Several people with connections to North Texas and Denton County have been arrested in connection to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2
A screenshot of Microsoft Vice President of European Government Affairs Casper Klynge during an IIEA online event on Monday (PA)

Ireland can play a critical role in the development of Europes digital economy post-Covid, in particular rebuilding the transatlantic relationship between the US and the EU, a senior Microsoft official has said.

Casper Klynge, the companys vice-president of European Government Affairs, said Europes focus must be on digital technology, adding the pandemic had exposed Europes dependence on technology from outside its member states.

Mr Klynge made the comments during an Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) webinar about how the digital economy can drive post-Covid-19 recovery in Ireland and Europe.

He told the online event that Ireland was in a unique situation due to the massive presence of technology companies, the focus of the Government on digitalisation and also because of its strong transatlantic ties.

Ireland has the opportunity to play a really critical role in getting this right, to the benefit of Ireland, but also to the benefit of the European Union, Mr Klynge said.

Digitalisation and technology is going to be a major game changer, primarily for good, he added.

Its going to ultimately transcend every part of our society, every single sector, every single industry and thats one of the reasons why we have to take this, not as an issue on the outskirts of governmental governance, but really as something that is mainstream and we need to focus a lot more on.

"When you look at #Europe's digital regulatory framework, you can look at it and say it's very impressive or very frightening, depending on your outlook. For us, we want to make sure any regulatory framework is consistent with European values" - @KlyngeC, VP @MicrosoftEU pic.twitter.com/QD2vjkC7iL  IIEA (@iiea) March 29, 2021

Mr Klynge also said it had become evident, as Europe struggled with Covid-19, that without 21st century technology countries would be facing an even more difficult situation.

He added that the bi-polar digitalised world, where there is increasing competition between the US and China, has highlighted that Europe is incredibly dependent on technology that is not developed and deployed inside the European Union but comes from the outside.

He said as a result the digital sovereignty debate is here to stay.

We have to make sure as we digitalise our countries and again we have to do that, not because we think its interesting or nice too, but because it is absolutely necessary to compete in a global digitalised world, he told the virtual crowd.

But as we do that we have to ensure we do it in a way which is consistent with fighting climate change, and making sure that we do it in a sustainable way.

Mr Klynge said Europe was beginning to roll out a fairly impressive or frightening regulatory agenda depending on where youre sitting.

But he described it as only natural given the perfect storm of Covid-19, Europes dependence on foreign technology and Brexit.

He added that Microsoft wanted to make sure that any regulatory framework is consistent with European values.
Pakistan and Denmark Monday formed a Joint Technical Working Group (JTWG) aimed at framing the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for Government-to-Government agreements in the field of energy

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :Pakistan and Denmark Monday formed a Joint Technical Working Group (JTWG) aimed at framing the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for Government-to-Government agreements in the field of energy.

The JTWG was constituted during a virtual meeting, co-chaired by Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan and Danish ambassador to Pakistan Lis Rosenholm, here at the Power Division, a news release said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Power Tabish Gauhar and Secretary Power Division Zafar Ali Bhutta also attended the meeting.

A Danish team, comprising energy technical experts, presented a report and briefed the meeting on ways and means for increased cooperation in the renewable energy sector of Pakistan.

The two sides deliberated upon the findings and recommendations by the Danish Energy team on G2G (Government-to-Government) collaboration between Denmark and Pakistan in the energy sector, keeping in view the latter's newly approved Alternative Energy Policy.

The Danish team presented the report on technical support to Pakistan in renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors, underlining the need for strategic energy cooperation between the two countries.

Acknowledging the leading role of Denmark in clean and green energy at the global level, Minister Omar Ayub said Pakistan too embarked upon taping its huge indigenous potential of renewable energy.

He said Pakistan's new Renewable Energy Policy would bring opportunities for investors due to transparent policies introduced by the current government.

He said the government had set ambitious targets to introduce 25 percent renewable energy by 2025, and 30 percent by end of 2030 including 45 percent share of hydel power generation and 10 percent of nuclear energy into the energy mix of the country.

Omar Ayub said the incumbent government had the required strong political commitment and innovative ways of expanding energy access, promoting renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency to meet the country's every-growing energy needs.

He also stressed to join hands on projects like manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels, reducing energy wastage, and enhancing transmission capacity of the system.

The minister formed a "joint technical working group to develop TORs for G2G agreements focusing on energy audit and demand forecast in the country."Appreciating Pakistan's commitment to refurbish the energy sector, the envoy said the new renewable energy policy was more transparent as it provided a level playing field to all.

She said the G2G agreements would be based on equal partnership with prime focus on setting up a joint energy group for exchange of experience at both policy and operational level, so that the two countries could establish long-term strategic collaboration in the energy sector.
Plants in the genus Callitriche are short and have oval-shaped leaves about 1 cm in size. Amphibious Callitriche palustris (left, photographed in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture) often grows in small water channels in rice paddies. Terrestrial Callitriche japonica (right, photographed in Nagoya) can be found in parks or near shrines in urban areas. By studying these species, researchers at the University of Tokyo uncovered a pattern in how plants evolved their equivalent of lungs -- tiny pores on the surfaces of leaves called stomata. Credit: Hiroyuki Koga, CC BY 4.0

A doctoral student has identified a long-overlooked pattern in how plants evolved their equivalent of lungstiny pores on the surfaces of leaves called stomata. Using specialized imaging techniques and a plant species not often found in laboratories, the researchers say this discovery reveals a key difference in the evolution of plants that live on land versus those that can grow in water.

"I felt this is really interesting, this was a big surprise to me. I remember well that after observation in the microscope room on the basement floor, I rushed up the stairs to tell Dr. Koga about my discovery," recalled first-year doctoral student Yuki Doll, studying in the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science under the supervision of Assistant Professor Hiroyuki Koga.

"Of course, I and any scientist can see that the stomata are different, but it is easy for us to just ignore it, not sense any pattern. When I heard about Doll-kun's discovery, I was also very excited and discussed with him that we should delve into this subject," said Koga. (Kun is the Japanese honorific suffix attached to junior men's names.)

When stomata are open, carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapor can move in and out of the leaf for photosynthesis and respiration. Artificially manipulating the number of stomata is one potential way to keep crops healthy in a changing climate.

The UTokyo team was studying multiple types of plants in the genus Callitriche, which includes both terrestrial and aquatic species.

"Callitriche is an interesting but minor group of plants and we are the only ones in the world using them for developmental biological research," said Koga.

Recalling his first experiences examining the plants, Doll said, "When I started to analyze stomata distribution patterns in aquatic Callitriche, I felt that the arrangement of the stomata are different than what I had been taught as an undergrad in the common lab species Arabidopsis. I had the impression that this strange pattern must be the case for all Callitriche, but I thought, that's OK, Arabidopsis and Callitriche are from very different evolutionary lineages, so it's natural for them to be different. Then I analyzed a terrestrial species of Callitriche and I saw it looked much more like Arabidopsis."

Specifically, Doll noticed that stomata and the cells surrounding them on the surface of aquatic plants' leaves were much more uniform than the variable cell sizes on the terrestrial plants' leaves.

This pattern that two evolutionarily closely related plant species had such different patterns of stomata development hinted at the possibility that their living conditionson land or in watermight regulate stomatal development.

Koga and other lab members had previously perfected a method to visualize gene activity in every individual cell of intact, whole plant leaves. The technique of whole-mount fluorescence in situ hybridization is not new, but it is difficult and unusual to use those molecular biology tools without cutting a plant into ultrathin slices.

The images from terrestrial and aquatic Callitriche leaves confirmed that the plants used the same two genes to develop their stomata, but the genes were active at different times.

In almost all plants, the gene SPEECHLESS promotes growth and division of a group of cells on the surfaces of newly forming leaves. Eventually, the gene MUTE becomes active in these cells and blocks SPEECHLESS, causing these cells to stop dividing and then differentiate to stomata. By binding artificial fluorescent tags to the two genes, researchers could see in single-cell resolution when SPEECHLESS is suppressed and MUTE becomes active.

In terrestrial Callitriche, researchers saw MUTE expressed in cells of all different ages. MUTE was much more uniformly expressed only in older cells of aquatic species, which seemed to skip the division stage and have a coordinated delay to wait until late in leaf development to activate MUTE.

Researchers suspect that aquatic species evolved to delay stomatal formation to wait and sense if this new leaf will be fully submerged or if it will be above the water line. Gas exchange is less efficient under water, so submerged leaves generally have fewer stomata than leaves in air.

The discovery is exciting for evolutionary biologists interested in the relationship between environmental pressures and evolutionary genetics, but is also relevant for the future of growing crops in changing or unpredictable environments.

"The usual assumption is that closely related species have similar stomata development patterns, but our key finding is that this is not the case," said Koga.

Instead, the researchers say their new results show that a species' living environment is the important evolutionary force selecting its stomata development pattern, not just the species' genetic ancestry.

By understanding the full genetic pathway that leads to flexible control of SPEECHLESS and MUTE expression between species, scientists may be able to predict which evolutionary lineages of crops are more likely to optimize their stomata to grow in a changing climate.

More information: Yuki Doll el al., "The diversity of stomatal development regulation in Callitriche is related to the intrageneric diversity in lifestyles," PNAS (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Yuki Doll el al., "The diversity of stomatal development regulation in Callitriche is related to the intrageneric diversity in lifestyles,"(2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2026351118
In Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region there's deep concern for thousands of Eritrean refugees whose camps have been found burned to the ground, confirming satellite imagery and testimony from those who have fled attacks.

UN humanitarians reported on Friday that aid teams have reached two camps for Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region for the first time since fighting began in early November, only to find them destroyed and the former occupants "scattered".

UN refugee agency (UNCHR) spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva that all the humanitarian facilities at the Shimelba and Hitsats refugee camps in the northern Ethiopian region were "looted and vandalised".

The mission, conducted jointly by UNHCR and the UN humanitarian coordination arm, OCHA, found that most shelters in the Hitsats camp, as well as the UN offices and the staff guest house had been destroyed.

The joint mission had also managed to visit Shiraro town, where refugees were believed to be scattered and "in urgent need of safety and support".

Urgent assessment

A subsequent mission will aim to identify the numbers living in the area and determine whether UNHCR and the Ethiopian Agency for Refugees and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) could deliver aid there and work out plans for voluntary relocation.

"UNHCR is deeply concerned for the well-being of the Eritrean refugees who had been residing there, all of whom have fled the camps", Mr. Cheshirkov added.

Around 20,000 refugees had been living in the two camps prior to the crisis erupting last November, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military campaign in Tigray after the region's governing party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), launched attacks on army camps.

The latest developments follow calls from senior UN officials to end the fighting, as well as an announcement on Thursday by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that it is launching a probe into alleged serious abuses and rights violations by all parties to the conflict.

President Abiy took to Twitter on Friday to say that the Eritrean Government had agreed to pull its troops out of Tigray. Ethiopian forces will take over guarding the border areas "effective immediately", he said.

In dire need of assistance

Mr. Cheshirkov said that more than 7,000 former residents of the two camps have either "made their own way or were assisted by Ethiopian authorities to reach the other two Eritrean refugee camps, Mai Aini and Adi Harush".

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines International Organisations East Africa Ethiopia 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.

He added that UNHCR had also been in contact with more than 2,000 refugees from Hitsats and Shimelba in Shire, Mekelle, Afar, and Addis Ababa.

"All of the displaced people in Shiraro and Shimelba are in dire need of urgent life-saving assistance, including food, shelter, health care, water and sanitation". he said.

In a statement, the UN refugee agency reiterated its urgent call for "the free and safe movement of affected people in search of safety and assistance" to be enabled by all parties, including movement "across international and within national borders, regardless of their ethnic identification".

Mr. Cheshirkov added that the agency is planning further missions and "have already started to deploy more staff in the Tigray region".

To do so, the UNHCR spokesperson noted that "the funding needs are mounting so we do appeal for more support on this situation, both inside Ethiopia but also for those who are now in Sudan".
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 15:38:29|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that the Southeast Asian nation has set a goal of providing one million shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens per month.

"In our plan, we aim to give at least one million doses a month because more purchased and donated vaccines will be subsequently arriving in the country," he said in a voice message.

The prime minister said doctors will be dispatched by the central authorities to assist in the vaccine rollout carried out in different areas of the country in order to speed up the inoculation drive.

The move came after a new batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines that Cambodia bought from China's pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech arrived in the kingdom on Friday.

Cambodia launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 10. As of Sunday, more than 383,400 people in priority groups had received vaccines against the coronavirus, a government report showed.

Hun Sen said that the kingdom has planned to inoculate at least 10 million of its 16 million population.

The country has officially reported a total of 2,273 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 11 deaths and 1,172 recoveries, the Ministry of Health said on Monday. Enditem

[March 29, 2021] Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. and Stem, Inc. Announce Registration Statement Effectiveness and April 27, 2021 Scheduled Special Meeting to Approve Business Combination

Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. (NYSE: STPK), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company ("Star Peak"), and Stem, Inc., a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven clean energy storage systems ("Stem"), today announced that Star Peak's registration statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-251397), relating to the previously announced merger of Star Peak and Stem, has been declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Star Peak will mail Stockholders as of March 4, 2021 the definitive proxy statement/consent solicitation/prospectus relating to the Special Meeting of Star Peak Stockholders (the "Special Meeting"). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005766/en/ The Special Meeting to approve the pending business combination is scheduled for Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. ET. The Special Meeting will be completely virtual and conducted via live webcast. Holders of Star Peak's shares of Common Stock at the close of business on the record date of March 4, 2021 are entitled to notice of the virtual Special Meeting and should vote before 11:59 p.m. ET on April 26, 2021. If the proposals at the Special Meeting are approved, the parties anticipate that the business combination will close shortly thereafter, subject to the satisfaction or waiver (as applicable) of all other closing conditions. Star Peak stockholders can exercise their votes online, via telephone or by mail. More information on how to vote can be found at https://stpk.starpeakcorp.com/vote. Star Peak stockholders who need assistance voting or have questions regarding the Special Meeting may contact Star Peak's proxy solicitor, Morrow Sodali, toll-free at (877) 787-9239 or email Morrow Sodali at STPK.info@investor.morrowsodali.com. About Stem Stem provides solutions that address the challenges of today's dynamic energy market. By combining advanced energy storage solutions with Athena, a world-class artificial intelligence (AI)-powered analytics platform, Stem enables customers and partners to optimize energy use by automatically switching between battery power, onsite generation and grid power. Stem's solutions help enterprise customers benefit from a clean, adaptive energy infrastructure and achieve a wide variety of goals, including expense reduction, resilience, sustainability, environmental and corporate responsibility and innovation. Stem also offers full support for solar partners interested in adding storage to standalone, community or commercial solar projects - both behind and in front of the meter. Headquartered in Millbrae, Calif., Stem is directly funded by a consortium of leading investors including Activate Capital, Angeleno Group, BNP Paribas, Constellation Technology Ventures, Copec, Iberdrola (Inversiones Financieras Perseo), GE Ventures, Magnesium Capital, Mithril Capital Management, Mitsui & Co. LTD., Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, RWE Supply & Trading, Temasek and Total Energy Ventures. For more information, visit www.stem.com. About Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. Star Peak is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Star Peak is led by a management team with extensive experience investing in the energy, energy infrastructure and renewables sectors, including Chairman, Michel Morgan and Chief Executive Officer, Eric Scheyer. Michael Morgan is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Triangle Peak Partners LP and currently serves as a director of Sunnova Energy International (NYSE: NOVA) and lead director of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America, a company he joined at its founding in 1997. Eric Scheyer is a Partner at Magnetar and has served as the Head of the Magnetar Energy and Infrastructure Group since its inception in 2005. For more information, visit https://stpk.starpeakcorp.com/.



Additional Information This communication is being made in respect of a proposed merger transaction (the "proposed transactions") involving Star Peak and Stem. The proposed transactions will be submitted to stockholders of Star Peak for their consideration and approval at a special meeting of stockholders. In connection with the proposed transactions, Star Peak has filed a Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the "Registration Statement") with the Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC (News - Alert) "), which will include a definitive proxy statement / prospectus / written consent solicitation to be distributed to Star Peak stockholders in connection with Star Peak's solicitation for proxies for the vote by Star Peak's stockholders in connection with the proposed transactions and other matters as described in such Registration Statement, as well as the prospectus relating to the offer of the securities. Star Peak will mail a definitive proxy statement / prospectus / written consent solicitation and other relevant documents to its stockholders as of the record date established for voting on the proposed transactions. Investors and security holders of Star Peak are advised to read the definitive proxy statement / prospectus / written consent solicitation in connection with Star Peak's solicitation of proxies for its special meeting of stockholders to be held to approve the proposed transaction because the proxy statement / prospectus / written consent solicitation contains important information about the proposed transaction and the parties to the proposed transaction. Stockholders may also obtain copies of the definitive proxy statement / prospectus / written consent solicitation, without charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: Star Peak Energy Transition Corp., 1603 Orrington Ave., 13 Floor Evanston, IL 60201.

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act. Participants in the Solicitation Star Peak and Stem and their respective directors, executive officers, other members of management, and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of Star Peak's stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of Star Peak s stockholders in connection with the proposed business combination is set forth in Star Peak's registration statement / proxy statement that has been filed with the SEC. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names and interests in the proposed transaction of Star Peak's directors and officers in Star Peak's filings with the SEC, and such information is also in the Registration Statement that has been filed with the SEC by Star Peak, which will include the definitive proxy statement / prospectus / written consent solicitation of Star Peak for the proposed transaction. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this communication may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events of Star Peak or Stem's future financial or operating performance. For example, projections of future revenue and other metrics are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "should," "expect," "intend," "will," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "or" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Star Peak and its management, and Stem and its management, as the case may be, are inherently uncertain factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: 1) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the definitive merger agreement with respect to the business combination; 2) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Star Peak, the combined company or others following the announcement of the business combination and any definitive agreements with respect thereto; 3) the inability to complete the business combination due to the failure to obtain approval of the stockholders of Star Peak, to obtain financing to complete the business combination or to satisfy other conditions to closing; 4) changes to the proposed structure of the business combination that may be required or appropriate as a result of applicable laws or regulations or as a condition to obtaining regulatory approval of the business combination; 5) the ability to meet the New York Stock Exchange's listing standards following the consummation of the business combination; 6) the risk that the business combination disrupts current plans and operations of Stem as a result of the announcement and consummation of the business combination; 7) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees; 8) costs related to the business combination; 9) changes in applicable laws or regulations; 10) the possibility that Stem or the combined company may be adversely affected by other economic, business and/or competitive factors; 11) Stem's estimates of its financial performance; 12) the impact of the novel coronavirus disease pandemic and its effect on business and financial conditions; and 13) other risks and uncertainties set forth in the section entitled "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in Star Peak's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. Nothing in this communication should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward looking statements will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Neither Star Peak nor Stem undertakes any duty to update these forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005766/en/

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Carried with the wind: mass migration of Larch Budmoth to the Russian High Arctic

Arctic habitats have fascinated biologists for centuries. Their species-poor insect faunas, however, provide little reward for entomologists - scientists who study insects - to justify spending several weeks or even months in the hostile environments of tundra or polar deserts. As a result, data on insects from the High Arctic islands are often based on occasional collecting and remain scarce.

Vize Island, located in the northern part of the Kara Sea, is one of the least studied islands of the Russian High Arctic in terms of its biota. Scientists Dr Maria V. Gavrilo of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Russia and Dr Igor I. Chupin of the Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals in Russia visited this ice-free lowland island in the summer of 2020.

"Our expedition studied the ecology of Ivory Gull", Maria Gavrilo says, "but we also looked for other wildlife." Because of the lack of data, scientists appreciate any observation on insects they can get from the High Arctic.

On the island, the team found hundreds of small moths. They were identified by Dr Mikhail V. Kozlov of the University of Turku, Finland, as Larch Budmoths - the first and only terrestrial invertebrate to ever be observed and collected on Vize Island. Their observations are published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Nota Lepidopterologica.

The scientists first observed live and freshly dead moths on the sandy banks of a pond near the meteorological station. Then, they saw hundreds of them at the sandy bottom of a river valley with shallow streams. Moths, single or in groups, were mostly found at the water's edge, along with some fine floating debris. Despite extremely low daily temperatures (+2-5C), flying moths were also spotted on several occasions.

The larvae of Larch Budmoth feed on the needles of different coniferous trees. Because Vize Island is located 1000 km north of the tree limit, the scientists can be sure about the migratory origin of the moths observed on Vize Island. They were likely transported there on 12-14 July 2020 by strong winds coming from the continent. The nearest potential source population of Larch Budmoth is located in the northern part of the Krasnoyarsk Region, which means they travelled at least 1200 km.

Importantly, some moths remained alive and active for at least 20 days after their arrival, which means that long-distance travel did not critically deplete resources stored in their bodies. The current changes in climate are making it easier for more southerly insects to invade species-poor areas in the High Arctic islands - provided they can reach them and survive there.

"The successful arrival of a large number of live moths from continental Siberian forests to Vize Island has once more demonstrated the absence of insurmountable barriers to initial colonisation of High Arctic islands by forest insects", concludes Mikhail Kozlov, who has studied Arctic insects for decades. "The Arctic islands will be colonised by forest insects as soon as changing environmental conditions allow the establishment of local populations."

###

Original source:

Gavrilo MV, Chupin II, Kozlov MV (2021) Carried with the wind: mass occurrence of Zeiraphera griseana (Hubner, 1799) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) on Vize Island (Russian High Arctic). Nota Lepidopterologica 44: 91-97.

https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 3897/ nl. 44. 63662

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The SolarWinds attack, and all its ramifications, have made news headlines for months. Tim Brown, the companys CISO and VP of Security spoke exclusively to iTWire to lay out what really happened - and what did not happen. It is also a sobering call to how software development practices can never be the same again.

The story so far 

The attack on SolarWinds, whereby a sophisticated attacker modified the companys tooling to inject code that then was shipped, had a far-reaching impact across major technology companies and US Government departments.

While much that has been reported has been factual, the company states speculation and misinformation has also been reported online. For example, a separate and unrelated insecure FTP server with the password SolarWinds123 also came to light. While the company acknowledges this is truthful and states it should not have happened, this problem was not related to the attack, it held no Orion code, it was not part of the companys domain (hence not subject to the complex password policy in place) and was shut down within the hour it was discovered.

Additionally, some reporting has conflated the SolarWinds attack with the SolarWinds attacker. The same attacker has sought to compromise other organisations - testimony from Microsoft noted 60 clients with similar experiences. In fact, 30% of affected organisations were not SolarWinds customers at all. Its important to separate those organisations being attacked by the same entity and those who were affected by the tainted SolarWinds code.

Tim Brown, SolarWinds Chief Information Security Officer, and Vice President for Security spoke one-on-one with iTWire to provide a first-hand account of the incident and the actions SolarWinds has taken and continues to take to move towards a more secure future, along with its focus on protecting customers and collaborating with industry and government entities to investigate and respond to the attack.

Brown oversees internal IT security, product security, and security strategy. He previously served as a former Dell Fellow and Chief Technical Officer and has over 20 years of experience developing and implementing security technology. He is a member of the advisory board for Clemson University, holds 18 issued patents on security-related topics, and is a trusted advisor to the White House.

As background information, SUNBURST is the name that has now been given by the security community to the hack. It used a supply chain attack to insert malicious code into SolarWinds Orion Platform, creating a backdoor through which malicious persons could gain entry into the internal environments of organisations running SolarWinds Orion software.

While malicious attacks occur every day through phishing, malware, and other means, this Sunburst attack is especially shocking by weaponising software in such a dramatic and extremely sophisticated, coordinated way. It means software development practices must change; this truly is an inflection point.

What happened

On December 12, 2020, SolarWinds was notified it had shipped tainted code in its product. People question did we know before then, Brown said. Absolutely not. We were shocked and dismayed on December 12.

The warning came from FireEye who saw, inside their own network, attempts to communicate with a command-and-control centre. They looked deep into their environment, saw where the traffic was coming from and made the discovery it was a SolarWinds product.

The internal investigation began immediately. That date was a Saturday, but a critical response team came into the office on Sunday and didnt leave for three weeks. SolarWinds brought in CrowdStrike for a thorough investigation, checking every workstation and server for signs of compromise and if the threat actor was still present.

There were no signs the threat actor was present, nor any signs they moved laterally to any other product, Brown said.

The motivation was specific; the attack was to insert code, to have us ship that code, and be able to activate that code in a certain subset of companies and entities, Brown said, stating the company had evidence from a series of sources including the research community that indicates the code was not activated in every environment it was executed in.

"It's important to understand what the code did," Brown said. "The Sunburst code had to first talk out to the Internet to be activated. It tried to reach a control and command server, then issue commands on the Windows server hosting Orion, then go sideways. There was intelligence in the code so it would only run in certain places. It wouldnt run in the SolarWinds domain or certain address spaces owned by Microsoft. The code was an entry point to try and move laterally.

The Sunburst code tried a few things, and if it could talk it identified the domain, contacted the control and command centre, said I am from company XYZ, Brown said. For most companies, it didnt do anything more unless it was someone the attackers wanted to target.

The attack was sophisticated, so much so that Microsoft said they believe a thousand people were behind the attack group, because of the level of sophistication, Brown advised.

The code was unique in the way it tried to evade things, and where it would run and not run. It inserted code but didnt weaponise or take action until time had passed. It was smart, patient, and prescriptive, and made very little noise in our back-end environment, Brown said.

Specifically, the SUNBURST code was not injected into the Orion source code itself, but into the build environment, through malware called SUNSPOT that was specifically written to carry out this swap in the SolarWinds build environment. We check code out of source code control, have a TeamCity environment to kick off the build, and here the attacker looked for Orion to be built and swapped a file. It was a transient virtual machine and thats hard to detect, he said.

SolarWinds is confident no other component or code has been compromised. Absolutely not, Brown said. The attack was a specific component to do a specific function. We looked at source code, controls, control systems, and involved KPMG and others. We didnt see any tainting of the source code environment. The point where the insertion occurred was specific. It was a very pointed, targeted attack, and the mission was to taint code in a specific product and get out. Our instrumenting with CrowdStrike looked at lateral movement outside those areas and supports that the mission was extremely targeted.

But who?

The question remains, who did it? "We're not in the business of that level of investigation, Brown said. A number of other parties have attributed it to Russia and thats who the U.S. Government is pointing a finger at right now.

This assertion of a nation-state attack is based on careful analysis of the models used, and how the attack ultimately was not doing harm but collecting information. It was not a ransomware, say, attack, but instead performed stealthy gathering of information on specific entities. It was a stepping stone to other things, potentially, Brown said.

We know the build system was compromised, and Sunburst was inserted through a service account, accessed via an entry point in New Jersey, Brown said.

SolarWinds investigation into how the service account - patient zero - became compromised revealed three different models were used. A vulnerable component was running; a highly targeted spear-phishing attempt resulted in an account compromise; and a broader-based spray paint campaign was aimed at a certain individual, and ultimately compromise occurred via email.

Microsofts testimony reported they knew of 60 customers with the same compromise in their email systems, where the same attacker had used email for reconnaissance.

The well-reported SolarWinds123 password was unrelated to the attack. It was a system with a separate username and password and nothing to do with Active Directory - thats why it didnt meet our password policies, Brown said. It was a separate FTP site and nothing to do with Sunburst. It did happen, somebody posted a username and password in their own GitHub account that was public, a researcher reported it, we saw, fixed it, brought it under control and made sure it wont happen again.

It was completely separate from the build system or the service account. It happened, and we fixed it within the same hour it was reported. It was a system outside of policy and had nothing to do with corporate identity systems, he explained.

Inflection point

The threat actor was stealthy and SolarWinds has responded by placing far greater safeguards in place - things you would not ordinarily think any software company ought to need to do, but which has become the reality of life post-SUNBURST. And here, all organisations large and small need to consider their own security posture.

For example, SolarWinds now conducts a two-way build. The code is pulled from source code control, built, hashed, then decompiled and compared back to the original, to ensure what ships is what was coded and nothing more or less.

Were trying to help people understand this and publishing new build methods and how to do secure builds, to help the community put appropriate safeguards against this threat actor, Brown said.

Yes, it did happen to us, he said. However, SolarWinds has come through to the other side and is committed to helping the global software development community learn from its experience. We want to be the best software company we can be and bring everyone else along with us to improve and be better, Brown said.

Importantly, it's time the technology industry took "zero trust" seriously in its own environment. Gone are the days where you run a standard system from developers, Brown said. We have to remove flexibility from developers. You need to really implement a zero-trust model and say were not going to trust anyone.

Yet, how do you implement and test in an environment where you dont trust anyone? This writer knows from his own experience of companies where software developers have root access, where systems administrators re-use passwords, where key systems have default administrator credentials, where administrators dont have separate logins. All these things are bad, and all these things are known to be bad. Any technical team will admit, yes, we need to do it better but flexibility and security are always in tension. Make a password policy too lax and user accounts get compromised; make it too difficult and people write their passwords on paper and stick them to their monitor. Similarly, give developers admin access to systems and they can deploy software easily but if they are compromised so too are those systems. On the other hand, dont give developers admin access and burn expensive time waiting for infrastructure assistance.

Its hard, and its not natural, Brown says. But its where were going.

For me, I insert bad code and then test we detect the bad code during the whole build chain. Sunburst happened at the end of the chain; the next attack could be anywhere, he said.

"You have to do more code reviews, secure your keys, do things like we're doing with our double-build model, make sure it needs collusion to insert bad code and no one party can do it, Brown said.

SolarWinds experience is a wake-up call to software developers everywhere to triple-check their chain and to put controls around every component.

Ultimately, Brown says, We will get to a point where we are much more resilient than most. Due to going through this, it allowed us to perform an inspection for three months. My environment is higher than most now, without question. A bar has been set and we need to increase that bar.

Its a wake-up call for the industry, he said. Courses and books will be written because of this. Its an inflection point for the software industry because it occurred, and it happened. It didnt theoretically happen.

We all learned and will be asked a lot of hard questions by customers. Were embracing these questions and end up being one of the safer bets because of all our inspection, changes and openness as a result, he said.

The concept of a supply chain attack is not new, but "in practice, that it actually happened at this scale, is what shifts, Brown said. It can happen, and everyone has to work differently. There must be safeguards, more openness, there will be regulation, and more thought and inspection. It will be an inflection point in a number of things, and these will help us all be resilient.

Where to from here

"If a thousand-person nation-state is after you, they will find a way," Brown said. The motivation was extremely high, the amount of practice and stealth they utilised was extremely high, and the research companies equate this threat actor as one of the most sophisticated they have seen.

"We've undertaken a full-on shift of not trusting the environment, of zero trust across the environment. It will be much, much more difficult for any attack to get into our environment. It wont depend on a single tool or single set of people, he said.

Customers love our products and our responsibility now is to give customers and their leadership teams the confidence to go forwards, Brown said. It comes from openness and transparency, explaining the actions weve taken. All we ask is they measure our competitors in the same way theyre measuring us and ask for the same things and set the bar as high for everyone in the industry.

"Our approach is to own this and say this happened to us and take responsibility for it, Brown said. And to show the world were doing the right things to come out of it. Were sharing the lessons weve learned to be an open and exemplary software provider. We produce strong code, not just simple and powerful and affordable, but secure.

"We will come out of this stronger because of the things that happened, and we will help the world be better at the same time, Brown said.

Additional resources

Here is a SolarWinds video on implementing zero trust in your organisation:

Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Beijing has inked a sweeping 25-year investment deal with Iran that could see China's economic, political, and military influence there and across the Middle East expand.

China and Iran signed the expansive deal during a ceremony in Tehran on March 27 between their respective foreign ministers, Mohammad Javad Zarif and Wang Yi. The agreement, in which Iran offered a steady supply of oil in exchange for Chinese investment under a vast economic and security accord, capped off a two-day visit that reflects Beijing's growing desire to play a defining role in the region.



"China firmly supports Iran in safeguarding its state sovereignty and national dignity," Wang said during a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rohani before calling on the United States to drop its sanctions against Tehran and "remove its long arm of jurisdictional measures that have been aimed at China, among others."



China became a lifeline for Iran's economy and ties between Beijing and Iranian political leaders have warmed in recent years, as both have grappled with intensified diplomatic and economic confrontations with the West.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran over the latter's nuclear and missile programs after withdrawing unilaterally from a 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers, including China. His successor, President Joe Biden, has kept those tough policies in place while also signaling a readiness to revive the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).



While the Chinese deal with Iran is about furthering Beijing's regional and global ambitions as a leading power, they also undercut Washington's efforts to keep Iran isolated and better position Beijing ahead of any future nuclear negotiations regarding Iran.



"China wants to show that it is indispensable in solving some of the world's thorniest problems," Daniel Markey, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and the author of China's Western Horizon, told RFE/RL. "Beijing is looking to portray itself as an evenhanded broker, while painting the United States as the more problematic global player."



Decades And Hundreds Of Billions



Neither the Iranian nor the Chinese government gave specifics about the agreement during the signing, but a leaked draft obtained by Western newspapers in July pointed to large investments in Iranian infrastructure.

Subscribe To Our New China Newsletter It has become impossible to tell the biggest stories shaping Eurasia without considering Chinas resurgent influence in local business, politics, security, and culture. China In Eurasia is the new biweekly newsletter by correspondent Reid Standish in which he builds on local reporting from RFE/RLs journalists across Eurasia to give you unique insights into Beijings ambitions. It's sent on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. To subscribe, click here.

According to The New York Times, the draft covered $400 billion worth of Chinese investments in exchange for a steady supply of discounted oil to fuel China's economy, although a draft seen by RFE/RL does not specify the amount of the deal.* Those investments would focus on energy and high-tech sectors as well as plans for other fields such as telecommunications, ports, railways, and health care, while also promoting Iran's role in Chinese leader Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy project, the Belt and Road Initiative, over the next quarter century.

The leaked draft also reportedly called for deepening military cooperation, including joint training and exercises, as well as intelligence sharing.



Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly backed the deal, which was said to have been proposed by Xi during a January 2016 trip to Iran.



But the deal has been met with criticism inside Iran that officials are hiding details amid fears that Tehran may be giving too much and selling off the country's resources to Beijing.



After last year's leak of the draft agreement, Iranians were skeptical and lashed out on social media, with many urging the government not to sign the deal.



In August, RFE/RL's Radio Farda quoted many ordinary Iranians saying they were worried about the long-term implications of the ambiguous deal and that it would not benefit the country.



Critics have cited previous Chinese investment projects that have left countries in Africa and Asia indebted and ultimately beholden to Beijing and Chinese firms.



Beyond internal pushback, it is also not immediately clear how much of the agreement can be implemented with U.S. financial sanctions reimposed after the JCPOA withdrawal limiting how much business Chinese entities can conduct in Iran.



"The agreement's success will depend on either de-escalation of tensions between Iran and the [United States] or further escalation of competition between China and the [United States]," Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group's Iran project director, told RFE/RL.



Delivering On The Deal



It also remains to be seen how many of the ambitious projects detailed in the agreement will come to fruition.



Should the nuclear agreement remain stalled or worse, Chinese firms could face secondary sanctions from Washington. Beijing also has a mixed track record in Iran when it comes to executing large projects.



China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the state-owned oil and gas company, signed a contract to develop Iran's South Azadegan oil field in 2009 after a Japanese firm pulled out. But Tehran ultimately ended the arrangement due to alleged underperformance and delays.



CNPC also inked multibillion-dollar contracts to develop a gas field, but the effort was abandoned after numerous delays.

"Signing an agreement is one thing; its materialization is quite another," said Vaez. "China's track record indicates that it often overpromises but underdelivers to Iran."



'A Friend for Hard Times'



Despite lingering concerns over the controversial deal signed with China, Beijing has offered Tehran a vital economic and political lifeline.



While Xi first proposed the strategic investment deal back in 2016, negotiations moved slowly.

Tehran signing the JCPOA nearly six years ago and reaching a deal with Washington to ease sanctions on its economy opened the door for European companies, who courted Iran with investments and plans to develop oil and gas fields.



But the Trump administration's withdrawal from the deal and ensuing sanctions forced European companies to leave, leading Tehran to look east to China once again.



After signing the deal with Wang, Zarif said that "China is a friend for hard times," referring to the economic and diplomatic support that Beijing has provided in recent years.



As the Biden administration looks to revive nuclear talks with Iran since taking over in January, Chinese support will be crucial for Tehran.

U.S. officials say that steps can be taken to bring Iran back into compliance with the terms of the agreement while the United States gradually lifts sanctions, but Tehran insists those penalties be lifted before any negotiations resume.



While calling for a return to the nuclear deal, China has so far backed Iran and demanded that the United States act first to return to the agreement by lifting sanctions that have strangled Iran's economy and its currency.



John Calabrese, an expert on China-Iran relations at The Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said he thinks Beijing is looking to preserve the JCPOA and prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons program. He warned that such a program could lead to further regional instability and jeopardize Beijing's diplomatic inroads in the Middle East, where "Chinese stakes in energy and other economic sectors have grown significantly."



Regional Ambitions



China continues to play a growing role in the Middle East.



Prior to his visit to Iran, Wang visited Saudi Arabia, Tehran's main rival, and was warmly received in Riyadh. The Chinese foreign minister also visited Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, with additional stops in Bahrain and Oman.



Beijing has long avoided taking sides in conflicts in the Middle East, and Wang has offered China's diplomatic capital to be a "peace broker" in the region. At a press conference at the annual National People's Congress on March 8, Wang talked up Beijing's deepening ties with the Arab world and said a host of agreements heralded "a new chapter" of Sino-Arab relations.



Calabrese, who is also an assistant professor at American University, said that given China's diverse ties in the region and ambitions for the Middle East, it will be treading cautiously following this month's deal not to alarm Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Iran's regional rivals.



Moving forward, he said, Beijing is positioning itself to play a more central role in reviving the Iran nuclear agreement and de-escalating tensions between powers in the Middle East, which could be a major diplomatic win for China.



"If that is the case and [it] bears fruit, then Beijing comes out stronger and [looks] stronger all around," Calabrese said.

*CLARIFICATION: This article was amended to clarify uncertainty over the reported $400 billion figure of the investment deal. A draft of the agreement seen by RFE/RL does not list an amount for the 25-year pact.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 17:35:19|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese national lawmakers on Monday deliberated draft amendments to Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The two annexes concern the method for the selection of the HKSAR Chief Executive and the method for the formation of the HKSAR Legislative Council and its voting procedures, respectively.

The draft amendments were submitted to a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which opened on Monday, for deliberation. Enditem
BEIJING -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CPCCC) and Chinese President Xi Jinping extended gratitude to Cuban leaders for their congratulations on China's complete victory in poverty alleviation.

Xi made the remarks in a reply letter recently to Raul Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Noting China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers, Xi said that in recent years, the two countries' traditional friendship has been deepening and their friendly cooperation has undergone all-round development.

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Cuba have stood together and supported each other, which has enhanced their friendship, he added.

Xi said that China will, as always, support Cuba in keeping to the path of socialism and push bilateral relations to higher levels.

Castro and Diaz-Canel wrote to Xi earlier, extending warm congratulations, on behalf of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban government and people, on China's complete victory in poverty alleviation.

They spoke highly of China's remarkable achievement in eradicating absolute poverty under the strong leadership of the CPCCC with Xi at its core, which has met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

Cuba stands ready to unswervingly deepen the two countries' friendly cooperative relations, they added.
US Marines want new anti-ship missiles to sink enemy ships from land. The Marine Corps needs the weapons to amp up mobile warfare strategy.The corps want to fight the Chinese in unconventional strategy with one of their own. One reason US forces are hard to put down is adaptability to different adversaries.

US Marines apply unconventional warfare

The head of US Indo-Pacific Command said Wednesday that lawmakers' plan to reduce funds from the Marine Corps' spending is a mistake. Set aside for allowing leathernecks to shoot anti-ship missiles from land is affecting the US military's ability to deter China. Getting the ability for mobile marines to island hop is important, reported Military.

According to Adm. Phil Davidson told members of the House Armed Services Committee that the Marines need funding for powerful Navy missiles. To allow attacks Chinese ships anywhere and anytime. He mentioned the Maritime Strike Tomahawk and the long-range SM-6 missile as key weapons' for marines as tools.

In 2021, the Marine Corps required $125 million to buy nearly 50 Tomahawk missiles to be used on land. The transition was eventually not approved by Congress.

He suggests that weapons are needed to fight more effectively. US Marines needed to counter adversaries with the right weapons right now. To have potent deterrent as an offense or defense weapon like ship-killers is important.

Upgraded Tomahawk Block V: Why it's a Threat in the Age of Hypersonic Missiles

Marines need unmanned vehicles to fire the Tomahawk and SM-6. These vehicles will be able to fire anti-ship missiles. It is known as a ROGUE, which stands for "remotely controlled ground unit expeditionary". A vehicle built on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle's (JLTV) existing frame and be equipped with a launcher system.

In a series of hearings this week, Davidson warned that China's military expenditures are a warning. The Indo-Pacific will be China's by 2026.

If the weapons are not in the Marine Corps hand sooner, then it has lost an advantage. Keeping the capability and advantage to threaten China is important to be ahead. China wants to surpass the US military on all fronts, especially by mid-2050.

Developing long-rang e missiles is needed to counter the Chinese threat in the Indo-Pacific. This allows less risks to get close to the enemy's range. Marines armed with ROGUE platforms can attack anywhere.

Having mobile launchers in marine hands will give the Chinese a hard time finding them. Developing the ROGUE and missiles it carries will cost a lot.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger says the marines will be a big offensive part of US strategy. Light and mobile marine forces will add to domain entry, deterrence, sea control, and force projection. Movable forces will allow ways to attack Chinese assets and confuse them.

Buying new equipment won't be cheap but its unavoidable. To avoid getting the equipment will be a mistake.

Despite the budget cuts, lost time in production and testing for weapons, that was unexpected. Berger added that he'll need to interest more lawmakers in providing the funds. American forces like the US Marines need the Tomahawk and SM-6 soon.

US Moves to Counteract China's Long Range Missile Advantage

US Navy Submarines to Be Equipped with Anti-Ship Missiles to Take on More Surface Threats

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Fanny Potkin and Aradhana Aravindan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Facebook said on Monday it planned two new undersea cables to connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America in a project with Google and regional telecommunication companies to boost internet connection capacity between the regions.

"Named Echo and Bifrost, those will be the first two cables to go through a new diverse route crossing the Java Sea and they will increase overall subsea capacity in the trans-pacific by about 70%," Facebook Vice President of Network Investments, Kevin Salvadori, told Reuters.

He declined to specify the size of the investment, but said it was "a very material investment for us in Southeast Asia."

The cables, according to the executive, will be the first to directly connect North America to some of the main parts of Indonesia, and will increase connectivity for the central and eastern provinces of the world's fourth most populous country.

Salvadori said "Echo" is being built in partnership with Alphabet's Google and Indonesian telecommunications' company XL Axiata and should be completed by 2023.

Bifrost, which is being done in partnership with Telin, a subsidiary of Indonesia's Telkom, and Singaporean conglomerate Keppel is due to be completed by 2024.

The two cables, which will need regulatory approval, follow previous investments by Facebook to build up connectivity in Indonesia, one of its top five markets globally.

While 73% of Indonesia's population of 270 million are online, the majority access the web through mobile data, with less than 10 percent using a broadband connection, according to a 2020 survey by the Indonesian Internet Providers Association.

Swathes of the country, remain without any internet access.

Facebook said last year it would deploy 3,000 km (1,8641 miles) of fibre in Indonesia across twenty cities in addition to a previous deal to develop public Wi-Fi hot spots.

Aside from the Southeast Asian cables, Facebook was continuing with its broader subsea plans in Asia and globally, including with the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), Salvadori said.

Story continues

"We are working with partners and regulators to meet all of the concerns that people have, and we look forward to that cable being a valuable, productive transpacific cable going forward in the near future," he said.

The 12,800 km PLCN, which is being funded by Facebook and Alphabet, had met U.S government resistance over plans for a Hong Kong conduit. It was originally intended to link the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Facebook said earlier this month it would drop efforts to connect the cable between California and Hong Kong due to "ongoing concerns from the U.S. government about direct communication links between the United States and Hong Kong". (This story corrects Indonesian telecommunications' company to Telkom in paragraph 6, not Telkomsel)

(Reporting by Fanny Potkin and Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Ed Davies)
New Haven Community Health Worker Katia Astudillo helps dozens of her clients navigate the logistics of getting vaccinated and connects them with other health services. She even helps them find rental assistance.

In and around New London, CHW Lizbeth Polo-Smith hands out flyers about COVID-19 safety and vaccinations at churches, laundromats, stores, warming centers for the homelessanywhere she can.

As COVID-19 laid bare Connecticuts health care deserts, it now highlights the efforts of CHWs who labored in forgotten neighborhoods for years. In many ways, they have become a key factor in the states public health response for marginalized communities during the pandemic.

We need an army of CHWs. The capacity is just overwhelming right now, said Giselle Carlotta-McDonald, executive director of Project Access-New Haven, which employs CHWs in a partnership with Yale New Haven Hospital.

But the pandemic has raised serious concerns about whether their work is sustainable in the long run. CHWs typically are funded by grant money, which advocates say is problematic.

We are fully funded by grants and donations, Carlotta-McDonald said. I spend most of my time just looking for new funds for next year. Through the pandemic, weve lost grants that were scheduled to come this year. Without the funding, I cant sustain it. Its just not sustainable. It limits, really, how much we can do.

Lifelines for underserved communities

Astudillo, a CHW at Project Access-New Haven, spends a lot of her time lately doing vaccine-related outreach.

A lot of our clients are very hesitant of taking a COVID-19 vaccine, she said. They dont know a lot about it. Some of our clients cannot read or write. There is a lot of education; our calls went from being 20 minutes to maybe 40 minutes.

Shes also seen a surge in the number of people needing rental assistance. Many of the organizations clients are undocumented and dont qualify for federal resources, Astudillo said. She connects them with local organizations that can help.

Often, clients will share information with a CHW that they wont tell a medical provider or another professional, said Millie Landock, lead CHW at Project Access.

We are one of them, said Landock, who has been a CHW for almost 15 years. We speak what they speak. I know what youre going through because I was there. They see us as one of them. When we call them, they share the personal stufftheir personal struggles, their personal life.

She adds: The needs were still there [before COVID-19]. Now its just, like, everywhere. The volume is just unbearable.

Polo-Smith, who works as a CHW at Ledge Light Health District in New London, also educates people about the vaccines and helps them book and get to vaccine appointments. She spends part of her week passing out information in her community to anyone she can.

I deliver flyers everywhere that people can reach, she said. Everybody trusts me. I enjoy what I do.

CHWs live in the communities they serve, which is a crucial factor in their effectiveness, proponents say.

This is not about us telling folks what to do, said Jennifer Muggeo, deputy director of Ledge Light Health District. This is about someone from their community who has trusted relationships and connections, and who knows how to navigate the different systems, and who knows what the barriers are, and can hear what people are hoping for and can help them achieve it.

CHWs are especially critical in vaccine-related efforts, Muggeo said, as vaccination rates among people of color have trailed those of their white counterparts.

We are really able to address the barriers that have existed for black, Hispanic and indigenous folks to get the vaccine, Muggeo said, including lack of computer or internet access, transportation hardships, and trouble understanding English-only forms and websites. We have worked hard to take those pieces down as much as we can.

Funding

CHWs go by various titles and employment structures. Some are employed by health departments or health districts, some by community-based organizations, and some by health centers or hospitals.

They really are on-the-ground individuals that are helping to guide patients, especially those who have complex issues, language barriers and other social determinant barriers, said Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation.

CHWs were so instrumental in getting to hard-to-reach populations and doing so in order to educate them in the pandemics early days, Donelson said. They were instrumental in doing the contact tracing. For those who did get COVID, they were exceptionally helpful in getting them to the needed resources. They are so needed as it relates to educating around the vaccine because they are trusted in their community.

The Connecticut Health Foundation, through grants and in partnership with the nonprofit 4-CT, is funding 45 CHW positions throughout the state: in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Norwalk, Stamford and New London.

Before COVID-19, CHWs focused on various health-related issues. The Ledge Light Health District formed several years ago to address the opioid epidemic and social determinants related to asthma. Project Access started in 2009 to connect recently hospitalized patients with specialty care.

Now, CHWs are taking on a broader scope of work with no sustainable way to fund it. Project Access has six full-time CHWs, in addition to four full-time and two per-diem patient navigators who help uninsured patients access specialty care and address social health determinants, according to Carlotta-McDonald.

CHWs are doing very, very important work, and we are constantly in a cycle of stressing and looking for the next grant funding to support their time, Muggeo said.

Some recent developments could help.

President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan pledges to fund 100,000 public health workers who will work in local communities. According to the plan, they will provide services like vaccine outreach and contract tracing in the short term and then transition to long-term public health roles. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to award grants to approximately 75 organizations through the program. But the grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, and not all entities will be funded.

Geralynn McGee, policy director of the Connecticut Health Foundation, said, The support in the American Rescue Plan is helpful, but we should continue to consider how we can sustainably fund CHWs, she said. This one-time cash infusion is still more like a grant.

About a year and a half ago, the Connecticut Department of Public Health created a certification for CHWs, which Muggeo said is an encouraging step in getting CHWs the recognitionand fundingthey deserve. To date, 120 people have earned the optional certification.

I hope, as a state, were able to look in a broader way at funding opportunities, Muggeo said.

State lawmakers are debating the next biennial budget amid a challenging financial climate. State Rep. Patricia Dillon D-New Haven, a deputy majority leader who sits on the Appropriations Committee and co-chairs its subcommittee on public health, said a bipartisan staff is researching the if and how the budget may affect CHWs.

Donelson said that steady funding would make CHWs even more effective.

We need to continue to figure out how we can support this workforce so they can really help us. We really need people who are boots on the ground. Its a question of funding them, Donelson said.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team ( c-hit.org ), a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting.
Another batch of businesses are in trouble with the state for not following COVID-19 precautions.

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced 44 pandemic-related citations, bringing the total to 171. Fines ranged from $0 to $31,500 and included assessments for non-pandemic violations.

Manufacturing and construction businesses make up a large part of the list, but there are some consumer-facing businesses on the list  including a barbershop, a dance school, a hotel, a Taco Bell and a tavern.

MIOSHA is also unveiling a new dashboard to show which businesses have had COVID-19 violations, but it also shows which businesses have fixed the issues and have had their cases closed. The dashboard will be updated with the newest violations every Friday afternoon.

Of the 171 citations, 60 businesses have resolved the problem and paid the fine. There are 19 cases under appeal and the rest of the cases remain open.

If cited businesses agreed not to appeal and fix the problems, they only have to pay 50% of the fine. They have 15 working days to appeal the MIOSHA citations.

Employers and employees with questions about COVID-19 workplace policies can call the MIOSHA hotline at 855-723-3219. To file a complaint against a workplace, go to Michigan.gov/MIOSHAcomplaint.

Heres the list of businesses to be cited by MIOSHA in the last batch of penalties. Click on the business name to read the full citation document, if available.

AB&B Construction

Location: Caledonia

Fine: $9,300, but only $1,500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan available, not social distancing and not wearing face coverings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

ABA Construction

Location: Byron Center

Fine: $800, but only $400 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: No COVID Preparedness and Response plan and the lack of daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Adrian Tool Corporation

Location: Adrian

Fine: $2,000

Reasons: Not requiring employees to wear cloth face coverings and not requiring employees to social distance. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Artemio Guillen

Location: Grand Rapids

Fine: $6,000, but only $2,100 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, lack of face coverings and failure to maintain social distancing. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Lowell Fountain View Assisted Living

Location: Lowell

Fine: $9,800, but only $3,500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not ensuring that employees in frequent or prolonged close contact with known or suspected cases of COVID-19 were provided with and wore, at a minimum, an N95 respirator and not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. This investigation was in response to an employee complaint.

Bonilla and Sanchez Roofing

Location: Plainwell

Fine: $3,700, but only $2,100 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 control strategies, lack of social distancing and lack of face coverings when workers could not consistently maintain six feet of social distancing. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Branbeth Construction

Location: Livonia

Fine: $3,900

Reasons: Lack of a preparedness and response plan. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Bullys Construction

Location: Ludington

Fine: $3,800, but only $1,000 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not wearing face coverings when not consistently maintaining 6 feet separation from other individuals and not developing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

CDBM Construction

Location: Grand Rapids

Fine: $7,100, but only $2,100 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a written preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 control strategies, lack of social distancing and lack of face covering when workers could not consistently maintain 6 feet of social distancing. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Central Structures

Location: Schoolcraft

Fine: $6,800, but only $2,100 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a written preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 control strategies, failure to maintain social distancing and lack of face coverings when workers could not consistently maintain 6 feet of social distancing. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

City of Kalamazoo

Location: Kalamazoo

Fine: $3,500

Reasons: Not having an on-site COVID-19 safety coordinator, not social distancing and not wearing face coverings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Conrail

Location: River Rouge

Fine: None

Reasons: Not maintaining daily self-screening records. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Cross Technologies Group

Location: Westland

Fine: $1,500

Reasons: Not increasing facility cleaning, not requiring the use of face coverings and not maintaining records related to COVID-19 training to employees in the workplace. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Datamatics Global Services Inc.

Location: Livonia

Fine: None

Reasons: Not designating a one or more worksite COVID-19 safety coordinator related to COVID-19 exposures in the workplace. The inspection was initiated in response to a state emphasis program assignment.

The Villages of Lapeer Nursing & Rehabilitation

Location: Lapeer

Fine: None

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a complete written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. The firms plan did not include an employee exposure determination. This inspection was in response to an employee complaint.

Dore & Associates Contracting Inc.

Location: Bay City

Fine: $7,600, but only $2,000 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not requiring face coverings when workers could not maintain social distance. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Travelodge by Wyndham

Location: Jackson

Fine: $500

Reasons: Not maintaining a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, not conducting daily in-person or virtual health checks, not providing employee training on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 and not maintaining a record of employee COVID-19 training or daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Garcia Shingle Roofs and Siding

Location: Wyoming

Fine: $14,300, but only $2,100 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a written preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 control strategies, lack of social distancing and lack of face coverings when workers could not consistently maintain 6 feet of social distancing. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Hair Mechanix Mens Maintenance

Location: Brighton

Fine: $2,500

Reasons: Not developing an infectious disease preparedness and response plan, not conducting daily in-person or virtual health checks, not requiring employees to wear cloth face coverings and not requiring employees to social distance. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Royal Adhesives & Sealants LLC

Location: Jackson

Fine: $7,000

Reasons: Not enforcing the use of face coverings for employees onsite and not keeping employees at the worksite at least 6 feet from one another to the maximum extent possible. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Healthsource Saginaw Inc.

Location: Saginaw

Fine: $31,500, but only $6,300 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not keeping everyone on the worksite premises at least 6 feet from one another to the maximum extent possible and to reduce congestion, including using ground markings, signs and physical barriers, as appropriate to the worksite and for not implementing the written COVID-19 preparedness and response plans social distancing strategies in break rooms. This inspection was in response to an employee complaint.

Inalfa Roof Systems Inc.

Location: Auburn Hills

Fine: $5,000

Reasons: Not providing training to employees on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.

Irish Roofing and Exteriors LLC

Location: Grand Rapids

Fine: $1,000

Reasons: No COVID Preparedness and Response plan and the lack of daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Johns Electric

Location: Alpena

Fine: $500

Reasons: Not requiring face coverings for employees who could not consistently maintain 6 feet of separation. The inspection was initiated as a planned-program inspection.

Lapeer Manufacturing Company

Location: Lapeer

Fine: $12,800

Reasons: Lack of a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. The inspection was initiated as a planned programmed inspection.

M and W Construction

Location: Grand Rapids

Fine: $6,300, but only $2,100 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 control strategies, lack of social distancing and lack of face coverings when workers could not consistently maintain 6 feet of distance from other individuals. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

McGraw Construction

Location: Grand Rapids

Fine: $500

Reasons: Not performing daily health screenings and not having employees maintain 6 feet of distance where possible. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Meridian Contracting Services

Location: Alpena

Fine: $1,000

Reasons: Not having a complete written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan and not requiring face coverings for employees who could not consistently maintain 6 feet of separation. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Wolverine Pure

Location: East Lansing

Fine: $4,200, but only $1,500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not developing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, not contacting the local health department when a known positive COVID-19 case was detected at the workplace and not maintaining a record of employee COVID-19 training, daily health screenings and notification to the local health department of known COVID-19 cases at the workplace. The inspection was initiated as a planned programmed inspection.

Midwest Facilities

Location: Stevensville

Fine: $1,500

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan available on the jobsite, no screening protocols in place, having no COVID-19 safety coordinator and not wearing face coverings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

My Locker

Location: Detroit

Fine: $3,500

Reasons: Failing to conduct the daily entry screening and not maintaining records related to COVID-19 training to employees in the workplace. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

North Shore Contracting LLC

Location: Bay City

Fine: $2,000, but only $400 from COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a preparedness and response plan readily available to employees. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

On Pointe School of Dance

Location: Metamora

Fine: $2,100

Reasons: Not developing an infectious disease preparedness and response plan, not requiring employees to wear cloth face coverings, not requiring employees to social distance and not keeping customers informed about symptoms of COVID-19 and asking sick customers to minimize contact with workers until healthy again, such as by posting signs about COVID-19 in stores where sick customers may visit. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

One Stop Shop

Location: Stevensville

Fine: $1,500

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan available on the jobsite, no screening protocols in place, having no COVID-19 safety coordinator and not wearing face coverings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

P&P Manufacturing Co.

Location: Lapeer

Fine: $7,200, but only $1,000 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not conducting a daily self-screening protocol for employees working onsite and not maintaining a record of COVID-19 employee training or daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Patriot Enterprises Inc.

Location: Flint

Fine: $500

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, not conducting a daily entry self-screening protocol for all employees or contractors entering the workplace and not providing training to employees on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. This inspection was in response to an employee complaint.

Pol-Mex Masonry Construction

Location: Allen Park

Fine: None

Reasons: No information available.

Taco Bell

Location: Brown City

Fine: None

Reasons: Not placing posters that encourage staying away from the workplace when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette and proper hand hygiene practices at the worksite. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

The Siding Company

Location: Grand Rapids

Fine: $900

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Tri Star Steel

Location: Detroit

Fine: $1,500

Reasons: Deficiencies in the firms preparedness and response plan, failing to conduct the daily entry screening and not maintaining records of notifications of known cases of COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Troy DeJonge

Location: Conklin

Fine: None

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Upper Hand Window Company

Location: Marquette

Fine: $1,200, but only $400 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan onsite, not having a COVID-19 safety coordinator available at the worksite and for not documenting their daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Watershed Tavern and Grill

Location: Haslett

Fine: None

Reasons: Not maintaining a record of COVID-19 employee training. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Wilsons Mill

Location: Rodney

Fine: $1,500

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

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Oil prices were trading up on Monday afternoon, even as news quickly spread in the market that the vessel that has blocked the Suez Canal for days had finally been freed.

At 2:47 p.m. EDT, WTI was trading up $0.46 per barrel at $61.43 per barrel, while Brent crude was trading up $0.32 per barrel at $64.89.

The vessel known as the Ever Given had caused a major traffic jam in the Canal, which has held up oil tankers in the area for days.

Canal traffic is soon expected to be moving once again, but will take some time to clear the 360-strong backlog of vessels that has since accumulated in the narrow waterway that sees nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil pass through it every day.

Although there has been chatter among the backed up vessels that some of them may get moving as soon as today, according to the Wall Street Journal, oil prices remained up on the day, with the market now eyeing the upcoming OPEC+ decision, which most analysts expect will be to keep the current level of production quotas intact through May.

At least one crude oil powerhouse, however, may be expecting a decision that will allow it to increase its production. An anonymous Reuters source suggested on Monday that Russia would once again look for an increase for its own productiona concession it was granted last time, while every other member except for Kazakhstan had to keep their production steady.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both spoken out in favor of keeping oil production at their current levels for at least another month, with Saudi Arabia suggesting that caution is in order given the markets volatility.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
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A California teacher has resigned after being heard on a hot mic making racist, insulting remarks about a Black student, his mother and the Black community at large for more than a half-hour.

Kimberly Newman taught science at Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Magnet Academy in the Southern California city of Palmdale.

On Jan. 20  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day  Newman hopped on a Zoom call with the student and Katura Stokes, the students mother, to discuss issues with the schools online learning platform. The district remains largely in distance learning, but four elementary schools reopened earlier this month. Middle schools are expected to reopen April 12.

After the call, in which the students issues were seemingly resolved  he had caught up on his assignments, per a legal complaint filed by Stokes  the teacher inadvertently stayed on the call.

With her mic still on and the Zoom chat still open, she went on a tirade to her husband, all of which was recorded by Stokes. She said she recorded the call in the complaint because of how unbelievable the comments were.

The districts superintendent, Raul Maldonado, declined to comment further to SFGATE.

Shes answered her phone for the first time the entire year, the teacher said, according to the video obtained by the Orange County Register. I mean these parents, thats what kind of piece of st they are.

Hes Black. Theyre a Black family, she added. In the call, she also deploys racist slurs against Stokes and her son.

Im seeing what youre not going through, a voice on the call says, identified by the Register as Newmans husband.

Your son has learned to lie to everybody and make excuses ... to be a child, Newman goes on to say. Since youve taught him to make excuses that nothing is his fault. This is what Black people do.

Stokes called the principal at Desert Willow to report the comments, according to the Register. Soon after, Newman received a call and hung up on Zoom.

Newman was put on administrative leave before resigning in light of the rant. Per the Antelope Valley Press, she refused to participate in an investigation.

Attorneys representing Stokes did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Myanmar military fires at funeral after killing 114 in the bloodiest day since coup At least 460 people killed by military since Feb. 1, rights group reports

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Myanmar army on Sunday opened fire at people gathered for the funeral of one of the at least 114 people who were killed by its troops the previous day for protesting against last months military coup.

The juntas violent crackdown came days after the United States imposed its most significant sanctions to date.

The funeral for a 20-year-old student named Thae Maung Maung  shot on Saturday  took place in Bago, near the southeast Asian countrys commercial capital of Yangon, Reuters reported, quoting witnesses. No casualties were reported immediately after the firing.

While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us. People, including us, run away as they opened fire, a witness was quoted as saying.

On Friday, the junta had threatened on state-run media that it would shoot protesters in the head or back. And on Saturday, troops killed at least 114 people, including a 13-year-old girl, in more than 40 cities across the country, Myanmar Now reported.

The news agency noted that it was the bloodiest day since the Feb. 1 coup of Myanmars civilian government and the day junta leaders celebrated the 76th Armed Forces Day in the nations capital, Naypyidaw.

The news agency reported that numerous people were also injured on Saturday, including a 1-year-old baby shot in the eye with a rubber bullet in the Thamine area of Yangons Mayangone township.

On Monday, five more protesters  three in Yangon  were killed as thousands took to the streets in towns across the country to protest what they see as being a return to military rule.

The Burma Human Rights Network stated that after the killings on March 27, over 460 civilians had been killed since Feb. 1. Among the dead are women and children. The organization also stated that the armed forces recently used fighter jets to bomb ethnic Karen villages in response to Ethnic Armed Organizations standing with the protests.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 20 children have been killed in anti-coup protests since Feb. 1.

Last Thursday, the U.S. imposed sanctions and restricted American dealings with two giant holding companies connected to the Myanmar military. In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Burmese military has taken increasingly disturbing actions aimed at their own citizens. The United Kingdom announced similar actions.

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations special adviser on the prevention of genocide; and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet have asked the Myanmar army to immediately stop killing the very people it has the duty to serve and protect.

In a joint statement, the two strongly condemned the Myanmar militarys widespread, lethal, increasingly systematic attacks against peaceful protesters, as well as other serious violations of human rights since it seized power on 1 February 2021.

Myanmars military has also attacked ethnic minorities, including Christians, in the various conflict zones across the countrys borders with Thailand and China in recent years.

Christians make up just over 7% of the majority-Buddhist nation. Formerly known as Burma, the country is ranked No. 18 on Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List of 50 countries where its most difficult to be a Christian.

Rights groups have warned that the militarys consolidation of power will only make things worse for religious minorities and have urged the international community to take action against the abuses being perpetrated by the military regime.

The military is notorious for its relations with the ultranationalist ultra-Buddhist group the Ma Ba Tha, International Christian Concern's Southeast Asia Regional Manager Gina Goh said. The military together with Ma Ba Tha has targeted the Muslims in the country, but they also go after Christians. Once they get a hold of the power, they might resort to things they were doing before they passed the power to the civilian government. They kill. They rape minority Christians.

The military in Myanmar controls 25% of seats in Parliament, according to the country's Constitution. Most Military leaders are nationalists who support Buddhism.

Goh called the coup a "power play."

The military is almost like a gang, she said. They can use their power to intimidate people.
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The Chickasaw Nation and the community joined together in honoring the lives of Chickasaws and Chickasaw Nation employees lost to COVID 19 this past year with a virtual memorial service Tuesday, March 23.

Individuals remembered also included those lost to complications from the disease or other tragic events during the past year.

The memorial service has been viewed by thousands and is available for viewing by accessing Chickasaw.net as well as Facebook.com/TheChickasawNation.

Chickasaw elder Luther John began the service with an invocation incorporating both the Chickasaw and English languages.

Father who art in heaven, we thank you for this memorial service, John said. This virus has taken so many lives but we will not forget who they are There will be times of memories that will come to us occasionally. We may shed a tear but we will also know the joy that comes as part of it.

Following the invocation, Chickasaw Nation Lt. Governor Chris Anoatubby opened the memorial and spoke of its purpose, as well as the efforts the Chickasaw Nation has maintained to ensure the health and safety of Chickasaw citizens and community members.

This memorial service is a time to remember and pray for the many lives weve lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have all been affected whether we have lost a friend, relative or a colleague, Lt. Governor Anoatubby said.

Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby addressed viewers, offering a message of shared love, community and support.

Today, we pay tribute to our friends, co-workers, neighbors and loved ones who were lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. And, we offer our heartfelt condolences to those closest to them. We come together virtually as a community to honor their lives, to comfort one another in this time of grief and to mourn those no longer with us, Governor Anoatubby said. We often hear of those we lost to COVID-19 as a group, a number or a statistic, but we know that is simply not the case. Each individual honored today was somebody special, very special. Someone who tucked their child in each night. Someone who made their familys favorite recipe. Perhaps the co-worker who made the day brighter with their smile or sense of humor, a friend or family member.

Governor Anoatubby explained that though the process of grieving may have been interrupted or put on hold as many adjusted to the circumstances brought on by the pandemic, this memorial could serve as a collective effort to come together, remember and find comfort knowing none of us are alone.

The loss of each friend or family member sends ripples of grief throughout our entire community, and as a community, we share in the sadness of all of those who have lost someone dear to them, Governor Anoatubby said. Throughout the history of the Chickasaw Nation, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, our people have come together. We draw on the strength of our ancestors and of each other to face such devastating loss. Our hearts go out to everyone who has lost a loved one. Thank you to all who joined in this day of remembrance. We offer love and support to you and we hope you find comfort in knowing you are not alone. The Chickasaw Nation is here for you, always.

Jae L. Stilwell offered a special performance of O Lord my God (How great Thou art) as part of the memorial.

Zach Garcia arranged a medley of Amazing Grace and Hallelujah, which he performed as photographs and names of those being remembered appeared. These individuals are also featured on Chickasaw.net in a wall of remembrance.

Chickasaw Nation Medical Center Chaplain Randy Wade read Joshua 4:1-7, scripture from the Bible, which expresses how memories of the past can give hope for the future. In the scripture, stones from the river Jordan are used to memorialize the unified journey of the people of Israel into the Promised Land.

So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever, our story of how we continued as one in the midst of adversity, a part of our journey that the generations will remember as our stories of our people are honored, Wade read.

Chaplain Wade closed out the memorial with prayer.

A wall of memorial is included below the video at Chickasaw.net/COVIDMemorial. The Chickasaw Nation continues to accept submissions for the inclusion of names on the memorial wall. To do so, visit the COVID-19 Memorial page at Chickasaw.net/COVIDMemorial and click submit a loved one.
A sum of 8,800 in cash was transferred from Ireland to Romania in the past two months by a Romanian couple who claimed that they were living on the street outside a church in Cork.

Detective Garda Aoife Hayes alleged the money was transferred in 15 transactions and that receipts to this total amount were stored on the couples shared phone.

She arrested Gheorghe Marginica, aged 29, of no fixed address, on March 27 and brought him before Cork District Court. He was charged with stealing 60 in cash from a student at an ATM on St Patricks Street, Cork, on March 27.

Det. Garda Hayes said a key was found on the man and gardai believed it was for some address but that the defendant was not disclosing the address.

The detective said gardai had checked with the Simon community and found that they had determined that he was not in need of accommodation from Simon. They could not find any indication of him sleeping on the street.

I believe he has an address which he has not provided. He has a key in his property. He has not told us where that key is for. He is stating he is homeless.

Initial assessment of his mobile phone shows a large amount of pictures of money receipts  15 in total  sent back to his home country of Romania to a total of 8,800. And the money was transferred between February 17, 2021, and March 24, 2021. I believe he will leave the jurisdiction if granted bail, Det Garda Hayes said.

With the assistance of a Romanian interpreter, he said in English, I sleep in front of the church.

Sgt Pat Lyons said gardai had examined the areas surrounding the relevant church  St Marys on Popes Quay - and found nothing to link the defendant to this location.

Daithi O Donnabhain, solicitor, said both parties had given names consistent with the names as shown on their passport/national identification papers.

Judge Olann Kelleher refused bail and remanded him in custody until March 31.

The detective also objected to bail for co-accused Michele Judele, 30, who faces the same charge of stealing 60 from the student.

Det Garda Hayes said she had also failed to give an address even though they had a key in their possession and are not saying where it is from.

"She is saying she is homeless but she has no belongings on her. There is evidence of wealth on her mobile phone which she shares with her husband.

Ms Judele said they were sending this money home to her husbands mother for their two children. She also confirmed they were not working and not in receipt of any social welfare.

Both defendants are charged with theft.

Det Garda Hayes said: The allegation is that they approached a student asking for money. He said he did not have change. They persisted. They asked him for 33 for a bus to Dublin. This boy complied from fear and intimidation. He gave them 40. They said they wanted to buy another ticket. He could only get 20 when he went back to the ATM." He said he complied out of fear and intimidation.

Det Garda Hayes said: When asked where they got 8,800, that they had sent home, they said they got it from people helping them. It is our belief they got it from circumstances similar to those alleged in the charge before the court.

Bail was also refused to Ms Judele who was remanded in custody until March 31.
analysis

In March 2020, the Department of Basic Education pulled the plug on school tuck shops to limit the spread of Covid-19. Instead, it has encouraged informal vendors to set up shop outside school premises where there is no control over what is being sold to pupils.

In the past, school tuck shops used to be a standard feature of many schools, the place where many kids would go at break and lunch to quench hunger and thirst. However, school tuck shops have not been allowed to operate since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic after the National Department of Basic Education (DBE) issued a directive to close them. This will only be lifted when the virus is contained.

Unfortunately, the vacuum created has allowed spaza shops and mobile food vendors to fill the gap and sell unhealthy junk food cheaply to pupils. This has made it virtually impossible to regulate what food is being sold to, and consumed by, children during school hours.

Food specialities offered by Elias Guambe, a food vendor outside Thaba Jabula Secondary School. (Photo by Michelle Banda)

In 2014 the DBE had developed guidelines for tuck shop operators which:

Aimed to...
Bank of Ireland has today released its latest Econmoic Pulse which conducted by Ipsos MRBI on behalf of Bank of Ireland with 1,000 households and approximately 2,000 businesses on a range of topics including the economy, their financial situation, spending plans, house price expectations and business activity.

The pulse shows that the mood among households and firms brightened this month even as public health measures were extended again. The prospect of a cautious easing of Level 5 restrictions from early April onwards and widespread vaccination by the autumn  in line with the Governments recently published Path Ahead - looks to have softened the blow , with a pick-up in economic and commercial activity anticipated as the year progresses.

With the vaccine rollout progressing and set to quicken during the second quarter and schools starting to return, households were more upbeat this month. The improvement in sentiment was centred on the economy and jobs; notably the balance of positive and negative responses concerning the economic outlook moved into the black for the first time since February 2020.

Firms in each of the four sectors  industry, services, retail and construction - upgraded their near-term expectations for activity and hiring this month as they looked past the here and now to the re-opening of the economy. Prolonged Level 5 restrictions are taking a toll on many businesses however, as are the new trading arrangements with the UK.

The March survey took a closer look at the latter and finds that three in five firms for whom Brexit is relevant are experiencing supply chain disruptions, while 56% are incurring extra costs. More positively though, around one in seven said that they are seeing new opportunities emerge.

Over three in five households now think house prices will increase in the next year, not least because current construction site closures are a headwind for supply which is already well short of demand. The March data also point to upward momentum on the costs front, with two thirds of builders reporting an increase in non-labour input costs in the past three months, partly because of Brexit-related disruption.

Commenting on the March Economic Pulse, Group Chief Economist for Bank of Ireland, Dr Loretta OSullivan said, "The Economic Pulse posted a 13 month high in March as consumers and businesses look to the re-opening of the economy and society. While Level 5 restrictions and vaccine supply issues are causing frustration, there appears to be a growing sense that the setbacks of late are delaying rather than derailing the recovery."

She added, "The forward looking components of the index were key to the move higher this month, with one in two households expecting the economy to get better over the coming year and 44% of firms expecting business activity to increase in the next three months. And while there is further to go, it is encouraging to see that the Economic Pulse has now recovered three quarters of its COVID-related losses."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Mike DeWine announced March 22 that Ohioans 16 and older will be eligible for coronavirus vaccines a week earlier than expected, if local health departments have extra doses they are unable to get rid of otherwise.

DeWine talked about the new policy at his 2 p.m. briefing. He said he made the decision after his weekly discussion with health departments around the state.

DeWine previously had said vaccine eligibility would expand to 16 and up starting on March 29, with Ohioans older than 40 and with qualifying health conditions becoming eligible on March 19. But some local health departments, particularly in rural areas, already have been making general appointments available to help them get rid of surplus vaccines, including for walk-ins and people from out of town. News of rural vaccine availability has spread through social media.

DeWine said he wasnt changing the current eligibility requirements, but giving providers more discretion to use vaccine doses that they otherwise couldnt use.
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Madison County Commission Chair Dale Strong is running for Congress in 2022, aiming to win the seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks while looking to maintain Brooks pro-Trump perspective.

I want to represent the voice of the people here in north Alabama, Strong said in an interview with AL.com. I believe we can carry on the fight that Donald Trump started and thats what Im wanting to do.

In a press release announcing his candidacy, Strong said he believed Trump is the greatest president of our time.

Strong, a Republican, is the first candidate to announce intentions to pursue the Fifth Congressional Seat that includes five north Alabama counties. Brooks will relinquish his seat in Congress after announcing last week he will run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by retiring Sen. Richard Shelby.

A Strong campaign for Congress comes as no surprise as political observers in the Huntsville area have long expected the longtime commissioner to one day pursue higher office. He said he will continue to hold his office as county commission chairman during his campaign, providing Strong a safety net should he not win.

Strong was elected to a third term as chairman in 2020.

He will make a formal announcement Monday at 10 a.m. outside the Monrovia Volunteer Fire Department just outside Huntsville  a sentimental choice for Strong since he has served as a volunteer fire fighter at the station for more than 30 years.

Strong is seeking to follow in Brooks shoes to Washington in that Brooks was a county commissioner when he was first elected to the House in 2010.

Strong cited his long commitment as a volunteer firefighter, which began when he was 13, as well as working 32 years as an emergency medical technician. Strong has served on the county commission since 1996  the youngest elected official in Alabama at the time at 25.

I want to take that service to another level, he said.

The commission recently realized one of the milestones of Strongs tenure as chair when the Madison County Service Center opened on Oakwood Avenue in north Huntsville. A sort of annex of the downtown county courthouse, the $14 million Service Center is the new home for most of the departments that involve public interaction -- such as probate court and the license office -- while being more accessible with free on-site parking that the courthouse lacks.

Strong also touted economic streamlining in county government since he became chairman.

We did more with less, we balanced the budget, we paid off debt, we rightsized local government and then the big thing is what the people of Madison County wanted us to do, Strong said. We recruited more jobs, we reduced our unemployment. The biggest thing is, we did more for less. We did more for roads and transportation. We worked well with Redstone Arsenal. We had a 2.1 percent unemployment prior to COVID and were doing well in Madison County.
HYDERABAD: TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Monday announced Nomula Bhagat, the 37-year old son of the late MLA Nomula Narasimhaiah as the party's candidate for the April 17 Nagarjunasagar byelections.

Though several senior leaders from the Backward Classes and the Reddy community vied for the ticket, Rao preferred Bhagat in line with the party's policy of giving the ticket to a family member of the deceased MLAs in the byelection, analysing caste equations in the constituency and considering Narasimhaiah's work and the goodwill he had earned.

Bhagat will file his papers on Tuesday, the last day for filing for nominations.

The TRS chief held a meeting with Nalgonda party leaders at Telangana Bhavan before announcing the candidature of Bhagat. Senior leaders Tera Chinnapa Reddy and M.C. Koti Reddy, the two serious contenders for the ticket, also attended the meeting along with Bhagat.

The party boss reportedly assured re-nomination as MLC for Chinnapa Reddy and nominating Koti Reddy whenever a vacancy arises in the Legislative Council, following reports that the BJP was trying to lure them into its fold if the TRS denied them a ticket.

Though there was strong demand from certain quarters in the party to give the ticket to a 'local BC leader' this time, and opposition to nominating Narasimhaiah's family member, terming them as 'non locals' as they hail from Nakrekal mandal, Chandrashekar Rao favoured Bhagat to avoid criticism that the party dumps family members of those who die in harness. It should be noted that Solipeta Sujatha, wife of deceased MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy, was given a ticket for the Dubbak byelection.

Caste equations in the constituency also work in favour of Bhagat. The Yadav community voters, to which Bhagat belongs, constitute a majority in Nagarjunasagar constituency.

Out of a total of 2.20 lakh voters in Nagarjunasagar constituency, voters from the BC community comprise 1.05 lakh of whom Yadavs account for 34,000.
CHICAGO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DialogTech , the leading provider of AI-powered call tracking and conversation analytics solutions for enterprise marketers, shares how its team and technology have partnered with brands across a variety of industries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to help businesses stay relevant, informed, and fill critical employment needs in a year of extreme change and complexity.

At the beginning of the pandemic, as stay-at-home orders went into place, DialogTech helped businesses adjust to the quickly changing landscape, including setting up call routing to newly remote employees, establishing new IVRs and hotlines for COVID-19, and sending out voice broadcasting updates to staff and customers.

"As an industry-leading solution in the call tracking and conversation intelligence space  a channel that became even more vital in so many ways  we knew this was a time for us to be a partner to our customers in every way we could, " said Doug Kofoid, CEO of DialogTech. "From helping our customers become agile and pivot quickly to meet their consumers' needs to rolling out new capabilities that provide unparalleled insights, I'm proud of our team's dedication to service, partnership, and innovation over the last year."

These new capabilities include a COVID-19 KPI , launched just days after Illinois' first lockdown order in March 2020, and a vaccine KPI , rolled out a year later in March 2021. These KPIs were built specifically to detect when callers mention the virus, the vaccine, and other COVID-19-related terms and visualize that data in a variety of reports and dashboards. With the KPIs, businesses can understand how many people call about the virus and the vaccine, trends over time, trends by location, and more. With these insights, marketers can make campaign optimizations, adjust bid strategies, segment callers into audiences, identify common questions, and pinpoint concerns to leverage in their SEO and content strategy.

Now, as industries are reopening and experiencing shifts in resources  especially in the healthcare and senior care verticals  DialogTech assists these organizations with staffing and new employee acquisition of essential frontline workers. In addition to helping businesses drive new leads and customers through inbound calls, organizations can leverage the same call tracking and analytics technology to drive more job applicants for the employee and caregiver roles seeing surges in hiring.

For example, Comfort Keepers , a leading provider of in-home senior care with over 650 franchisee locations, relies on their marketing team to deliver not just a steady stream of new sales opportunities but also qualified job applicants. By leveraging DialogTech's AI-driven insights to make marketing optimizations, Comfort Keepers saw a 14% increase in conversion rates from job applicant calls year-over-year.

"Thanks to DialogTech's AI and call tracking data, we are driving more sales opportunities and caregivers to our franchisee network. It's been transformative to our business," said Bryan Huber, Worldwide Vice President, Digital Marketing at Comfort Keepers.

After a challenging year, it's important to reflect on the bright spots of human connection, cross-industry collaboration, and technological innovation that have powered us through the pandemic  and look to the future ahead.

About DialogTech

DialogTech provides the leading AI-driven conversation intelligence platform for marketers at businesses that value inbound phone calls. When consumers call, DialogTech turns those conversations into actionable insights businesses use to improve marketing ROI, increase sales conversions, and deliver more personalized customer experiences to grow revenue, both online and over the phone. Recognized as the leader and pioneer in call tracking and analytics since 2007, DialogTech is the trusted conversation intelligence platform for many of the world's most successful brands and agencies. For more information, visit www.dialogtech.com .

Media contact:

Kayla Hammersmith

312-584-7059

[email protected]

SOURCE DialogTech

Related Links

www.dialogtech.com


SEVERAL stakeholders in the industrial sector in Kilimanjaro Region have congratulated the newly sworn-in President Samia Suluhu Hassan, wishing her success in nation building after succeeding the late President John Magufuli.

The businesspersons expressed their grief on the death of the late president, who played a great role in improving the economy and spearheading the country to a middle-income status.

They added that they were optimistic that President Samia will be able to carry on from where the late Dr Magufuli left.

Equally, they vowed to carry on working with the government and ensure production of quality goods goes on in Tanzania to satisfy the local markets and as well exported to other East African Community (EAC) countries, and internationally.

They said the envisioned industrialised country was an idea that was brought about by the late President Magufuli, who ordered every region to ensure a minimum number of factories were established, a call that President Samia reinforced by saying: "I will start from where President Magufuli ended."

One of the investors, Mr Shannel Ngowi with the Bella View Company in Rombo district, hailed Mama Samia for ascending to the State helm, adding that investors have real confidence in her leadership.

Elaborating, he expressed optimism that President Samia and her cabinet as well as other institutions focusing on investment, industries and business would put in place a better environment for them to do business and attract more investors from within and outside the country.

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"I congratulate President Samia for becoming the sixth Tanzanian president. We maintain trust in her because we have seen and heard of what she had been doing, especially when she was at lower levels and ultimately when she assumed the post of the vice president. She knows all the challenges facing the country," said Mr Ngowi.

The investor whose factory produces drinking water and juice in Rombo, said hopes of investors is that President Samia will get rid of unfriendly taxes; something he said would help them increase efficiency in production, quality of goods, as well as fairly face competition in the market.

He said that investors are indebted a lot to the late President Magufuli, who supported them, calling upon them to do so practically by investing heavily in the industrial sector and make the country one of the leading in the industrial economy.

"The late Dr Magufuli was calling upon us to invest in constructing and running industries. We will continue doing that under Mama Samia. We have seen the benefits of Magufuli's vision in industries. He has left an indelible mark, we should agree with the will of God and move forward with strength," said the investor.

On his part, a Moshi-based businessman, Mr Jafari Michael promised that investors will work with President Samia to see the industrial sector growing further. He said that the death of President Magufuli is a huge loss to the sector and country at large; adding the mourning period will put new strength in investments and productions.

"While we will remember the late President Magufuli for the good deeds, we congratulate President Samia. She knows well how to go about it because she has been prepared and learnt a lot in the past," said Mr Michael, who was also former Chadema legislator for Moshi Urban.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi promised that those who are responsible for causing the collision of the trains in Sohag will be severely punished without exception.

Posting on his social media page, President Sisi said that he has been following the developments of the tragic train accident in Sohag.

He expressed his grief over the tragic accident, pledging a persistence to work on end such kind of accidents. The president also said he has ordered the cabinet and all bodies concerned to move to the crash scene to follow up on the situation round-the-clock.

Sisi extended condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery, adding that all bodies concerned were ordered to take all necessary measures to compensate the families of the victims and injured.

Earlier in the day, two trains collided in Tahta township in Sohag, leaving 32 people dead and 66 others injured.
A local businessman is preparing for a huge ride he hopes will raise awareness and funds for at-home care for seniors.

Jeff Salter, the founder and CEO of Caring Senior Service, plans to e-bike 9,000 miles across the country starting on April 1 to celebrate his business providing 30 years of in-home care to seniors. The four-month journey kicks off in San Antonio as the company is headquartered in the Alamo City.

Salter, 50, will stop at all 45 locations in his company.

READ ALSO: East Austin community fighting gentrification to keep Latino tradition

"I'm extremely excited," Salter told MySA.com. "It's going to be an adventure. I'm really looking forward to getting into all the different communities. Talking to public leaders and others passionate about senior care and want to help in whatever ways they can. This movement is exciting."

After his San Antonio stop, Salter said his trip is a full-circle journey. He plans on heading south after San Antonio near the McAllen area, then heading east towards Houston, and then out of Texas to Mississippi. He will stop in Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and then out more west to Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, and Utah. He circles back to Texas after hitting California and Arizona.

Along the journey, he said he will be pulling along a pop-up trailer that includes a tent. He will use it to take breaks at state parks and RV parks during his trip.

READ ALSO: April 1 is the last day San Antonio residents can register to vote for May election

The campaign aims to raise money for grab bars to be installed in local seniors' homes. Grab bars help prevent falls, which are the leading cause of fatal injury among older adults and a barrier to living in a private residence, Salter said.

Caring's goal is to raise $100,000, which is enough for 400 families to receive two grab bars installed in their homes. Caring is currently accepting donations from community members so that they can help as many seniors as possible. Click here to donate.

Although his embarking on the trip alone, Salter said anyone can join him as he cycles across the country. However, Salter is using an e-bike to help symbolize how his company aids seniors in small but impactful ways by providing services like running errands, meal prepping, housekeeping, and assisting in personal care.

"It's kind of a cool thing," Salter said. "That's what the company is about. We are about providing a little bit of help to seniors who are in the comfort of their own homes."
OMSK, Russia -- The head of the trauma and orthopedics department at the Russian hospital where opposition politician Aleksei Navalny was treated for poisoning last summer has died.

The Omsk emergency hospital No. 1 said in a statement that Rustam Agishev passed away on March 26.

"In December last year, Rustam Agishev suffered a stroke and was unable to get over that illness," according to the statement, which did not mention foul play as a possible cause of death.

Navalny was admitted to the acute-poisoning unit of the hospital on August 20 after he became ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow.

Initially, doctors at the hospital publicly admitted that the cause of Navalny's illness was poisoning, but then denied that it was.

Agishev's death comes two months after the death of the deputy chief physician for anesthesiology and resuscitation at the hospital.

Sergei Maksimishin died in his ward from a heart attack, the press service of the regional Health Ministry said on February 4. He was 55.

In October, another deputy chief physician at the hospital, Anatoly Kalinichenko, quit his job, saying that he moved to a private clinic because of his "love of surgery more than to be an administrator."

When Navalny was rushed to the clinic with poisoning symptoms in August 2020, Kalinichenko, who was initially responsible for his medical care, communicated with the media and doctors in Germany, where Navalny was later transferred.

However, the hospital's chief physician, Aleksandr Murakhovsky, a member of the ruling United Russia party, soon took over communication with media and announced that Navalny's grave health condition was caused by a "metabolic disorder."

Murakhovsky, who also delayed Navalny's transfer to Berlin for two days, was later appointed health minister for the Omsk region.

Navalny was put into a medically induced coma and evacuated to Germany, where he spent five months recovering from the poisoning. Tests in Europe determined that the toxin was from the Novichok family of Soviet-era nerve agents.

Navalny, who returned to Russia from Germany in January, is currently incarcerated in Correctional Colony No. 2, about 100 kilometers from Moscow.

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 allies said on March 24 they were concerned over his deteriorating health and called on prison authorities to clarify his condition.

Members of the Public Oversight Commission in the Vladimir region met with Navalny on March 28, and Vyacheslav Kulikov, the chairman of the commission, said in a statement that Navalny complained about pain in his leg during the meeting and asked for assistance in getting injections to treat it.

Kulikov also said Navalny was able to walk and did not voice any other complaints. He said Navalny's request for injections had been officially registered.

"We asked doctors to pay attention to this and, in case it is necessary, to carry out an additional medical checkup," Kulikov said.

Correctional Colony No. 2 is known as one of the toughest penitentiaries in Russia.
Berlin, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Mar, 2021 ) :Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged Germany's 16 Federal states to honour measures agreed to curb the spread of Covid-19, amid spiralling cases and a growing patchwork of rules.

"We need action in the federal states," Merkel said in an interview with the ARD broadcaster.

"We have to take the appropriate measures very seriously. Some states are doing it, others are not yet doing it," she said.

Under Germany's federal system, each state can ultimately decide its own rules and some have continued with reopening steps, despite fierce criticism.
You are here: World

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Iran reported 8,751 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising its nationwide caseload to 1,855,674.

The pandemic has so far claimed 62,397 lives in Iran, up by 89 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.

Of the newly infected, 1,049 were hospitalized, Lari added.

A total of 1,593,219 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 3,928 remain in intensive care units, she noted.

According to the spokeswoman, 12,618,420 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran as of Sunday.

Currently, 23 Iranian cities are on red alert for a high risk of infection, while 44 others are on orange alert for a medium risk, the spokeswoman said.

On Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed Washington's sanctions for "hindering the availability of COVID-19 vaccines" for Iranians.

"We order a country for a (COVID-19) vaccine, it says it is still afraid of U.S. sanctions," Rouhani was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Rouhani noted that his administration has allowed the private sector to import COVID-19 vaccines, using the subsidized foreign currency and under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

WHITE ROCK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2021 / AZARGA METALS CORP. ("Azarga Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV:AZR) has now closed its non-brokered private placement as announced by the Company on February 16 and February 24, 2021. The Company has issued 20,833,329 units (a "Unit") at a price of $0.06 per Unit raising proceeds totaling $1,250,000 (the "Offering").

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each, a "Share") and one-half of one Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). One Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Share of the Company at a price of $0.12 per Share for a period of two years from the closing of the Offering.

The Company paid $71,387 cash and issued 1,189,797 broker warrants, on the same terms as a Warrant, in satisfaction of finder's fees on the Offering.

All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a four-month and a day hold period.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering to fund the cost of the PEA preparation on the Company's Unkur project and for general working capital purposes.

About Azarga Metals Corp.

Azarga Metals is a mineral exploration and development company that owns 100% of the Unkur Copper-Silver Project in the Zabaikalsky administrative region in eastern Russia. On completion of a first phase physical exploration program in 2016-2018, the Company estimated an Inferred Resource of 62 million tonnes at 0.53% copper and 38.6g/t silver for the project in the report entitled "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Unkur Copper-Silver Project, Kodar-Udokan, Russian Federation" dated effective 30, August 2018 authored by Tetra Tech Mining & Minerals.

AZARGA METALS CORP.

"Michael Hopley"

Michael Hopley,

President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information please contact: Doris Meyer, at +1 604 536-2711 ext. 6, visit www.azargametals.com or follow us on Twitter @AzargaMetals. The address of the head office of Azarga Metals is Unit 1 - 15782 Marine Drive, White Rock, BC V4B 1E6, British Columbia, Canada.

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.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Cautionary Statement:

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Corporation's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: the actual results of current planned exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans to continue to be refined; possible variations in mineralization grade or recovery rates; accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing; and fluctuations in metal prices. There may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

SOURCE: Azarga Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637998/Azarga-Metals-Closes-Private-Placement
Monday, March 29, 2021

This American Immigration Council report (The Legacy of Racism within the U.S. Border Patrol by Katy Murdza and Walter Ewing) is well worth reading. Here is part of the Executive Summary:

"Since its creation in 1924, the U.S. Border Patrol has been steeped in institutional racism and has committed violent acts with near impunity. The racial animus of U.S. immigration policy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century formed the foundation for the agency. Federal laws banning Asian immigration were followed by the national origins quota system, which prioritized northern and western Europeans over the rest of the world. While not included in the original quotas, Mexicans, who previously could travel freely across the U.S.-Mexico border, began to experience increasing restrictions in the 1920s. Congress created the Border Patrol in 1924 to patrol the northern and southern borders between ports of entry. Many officers came from organizations with a history of racial violence and brutality, including the Ku Klux Klan and the Texas Rangers, carrying over the culture of a racist brotherhood into the new agency. In the Border Patrols early days, it focused on the unlawful entry of Asian and European immigrants. However, in the 1930s enforcement began to shift to Mexican citizens entering along the southern border.

A culture of racism within the Border Patrol has persisted throughout its history. Repeated reports have surfaced of agents using racial slurs, sexual comments, and other offensive language. Various lawsuits and studies have demonstrated the Border Patrols use of racial profiling in stops within the interior of the United States. Agents have maintained connections to the white supremacist movement and the paramilitary SWAT-style Border Patrol Tactical Unit has been deployed to crack down on protests of police brutality against Black people."

KJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2021/03/the-legacy-of-racism-within-the-us-border-patrol-by-katy-murdza-and-walter-ewing.html
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced a bill on February 4 that's been called the most ambitious antitrust reform in nearly half a century.

Known as the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act (Calera), the bill would make major changes to the mergers and acquisitions process in the United States. Klobuchar has been a sharp critic of "too big to fix" mergers, many of which involve large tech companies--Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods and Facebook's purchase of Giphy, to cite two examples--arguing that they suppress competition.

Among other changes, Klobuchar's legislation would lower the legal standard that antitrust regulators would have to meet to quash such problematic activity. It also would shift more financial resources to the antitrust wings of the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, allowing both agencies to hire more lawyers and pursue more cases.

Legal experts, while applauding the bill's empowerment of regulators, have mixed opinions about just how much it would improve the current antitrust landscape if enacted. For one thing, its effectiveness would depend on how federal judges interpret it.

"The limits on an agency's power [are] always going to come down to what the courts allow them to do and whether they can win cases and enforcement actions in court," says Janelle Wrigley, a former FTC attorney. "And while Senator Klobuchar's bill makes that easier by changing the legal standard for some of these challenges, I think there will be years of litigation going forward where the courts will have to interpret exactly what those changes in standards mean."

Of course before there can be any dramatic courtroom showdowns between the government and big tech, Calera still needs to become law. (The bill is awaiting markup by the Senate Judiciary Committee and it does not yet have a House companion bill.) For now it's worth looking at what the legislation aims to do, and how it could affect small business. Here are the four biggest potential changes.

1. It lowers the legal standard for mergers and acquisitions.

Currently in the U.S., it's illegal for dominant companies to participate in a merger or acquisition that would "substantially" lessen competition or create a monopoly. The bill lowers that standard to any M&A activity that holds "an appreciable risk of materially lessening competition, or to tend to create a monopoly or a monopsony." The addition of monopsony, which refers to a company that controls the market by being the biggest purchaser of goods and services, is likely in reference to practices like Amazon's treatment of third-party sellers or Apple's policies on iOS app developers.

"I think a number of mergers might have been challenged under this lesser standard," says Stanford University professor Mark Lemley. That not only includes directly competitive mergers like Facebook's acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp, he says, but also acquisitions in adjacent markets like its acquisition of Giphy. While there's no guarantee that FTC and DOJ challenges would have led to these acquisitions being blocked, it's a likely outcome, Wrigley says--the government historically has had a great deal of success when bringing antitrust cases.

2. It requires regulators to take a much closer look at startup acquisitions.

While the FTC now requires all businesses to report M&A transactions above $94 million, the bill lowers that amount to $50 million. It also would require companies valued at more than $5 billion to prove to regulators that any acquisition of $50 million or above is not anti-competitive. The goal is to keep big firms from performing "killer acquisitions," or purchasing small, "nascent competitors" that have the potential to become disrupters in their industry.

Such a change will be especially consequential for big tech, where strategic acquisitions of startups for their technology or their staff is common practice. Critics say it's an undue restraint to lower the $94 million threshold and put the burden on the acquiring company to prove a deal doesn't harm competition. "In big tech, the services keep getting bigger and better, and cheaper, and while we often take these services for granted, it's important to remember that so many of these things are the result of economies of scale both in production and innovation." says Michael D. Noel, a professor of economics at Texas Tech University. "Mergers are a part of that and not something that should be feared, in and of itself."

3. It increases resources for the antitrust divisions of the DOJ and FTC.

One of the most lauded changes that Klobuchar's bill would make is a $300 million increase in funding for the antitrust divisions at DOJ and FTC. The increase "will be one of the most significant changes to the bill, even though it is the simplest," Wrigley says.

Calera also would give the FTC more money to perform what's known as "merger retrospectives," which study the consequences of past deals. "There is little funding for this now, making the literature on this topic thin, but they are necessary to better understand whether permitted mergers did in fact benefit consumers, and when they did not," Noel says.

4. It shifts the burden of proof regarding competition.

For so-called mega-mergers worth more than $5 billion, the bill would again shift the burden of proof with regard to the effects on competition from the federal government to the companies themselves. Further, any company whose share of a market is more than half will have to prove to the FTC and DOJ that an acquisition of a current or potential competitor wouldn't harm competition. This would also apply to acquisitions that would lead to a significant increase in market concentration.

Big firms that hope to acquire a company with a new technology that could disrupt the industry or cut prices also will have to make their case before regulators. Wrigley believes these rules will lighten the load for antitrust regulators.

"It's become increasingly expensive to bring these kind of antitrust cases before the court. Just during the history of the last two decades of antitrust enforcement, I would say, is increased reliance on economic evidence experts to define the markets that you're worried about and the markets' impact, and lay out the competitive effects of what the transactions are going to be," Wrigley says.
CHICAGO, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As a new Region Vice President for Energy Distribution Partners' (EDP) fast growing team, Jay Werner is responsible for leading operations management teams to achieve safety, service, quality, and operational efficiency metrics. Werner is a natural leader with a proven history of taking his teams to the next level with a focus on business growth, revenue, and outstanding customer service. Jay brings along an extensive portfolio of accolades from having boots on the ground to serve at the customer level, to owner and CEO of top performing companies.

With his experience within the propane industry and other competitive markets he has served, Jay is set to show the Western U.S. Region a Leader take his team to a higher level and exceed expectations.

EDP welcomes Jay Werner and is excited to have his Leadership within our organization. The Western U.S. region is ready to be more successful in all aspects of the business all while maintaining the values of Energy Distribution Partners.

About Energy Distribution Partners

Energy Distribution Partners (EDP) is a rapidly growing company with the deep experience in retail and commercial propane sales, operations, and finance. We provide safe, reliable propane service to residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers from New York to California.

We service more than 160,000 customers in 11 states, with a presence in rural America as well as in major metropolitan areas. We have become a significant player in the propane industry, recently recognized as one of the 7th largest independent multi-state marketers, selling more than 120 million gallons of propane and light fuels in 2020.

Since our inception in 2012, EDP has helped more than 25 owners of well-run propane businesses transition to their own "next chapter" while benefiting everyone involved.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jay-werner-joins-energy-distribution-partners-301257087.html

SOURCE Energy Distribution Partners
A woman wearing a face mask as protection against the coronavirus disease holds palm fronds during a Palm Sunday Mass outside the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, in Paranaque, Metro Manila on March 28, 2021.

REUTERS
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-30 07:09:29|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- As 10 years of protracted conflict in Syria have brought untold suffering to the country and its people, many issues with regard to the current situation in the country warrant deep reflections, said a Chinese envoy on Monday.

Facts have proved time and again that respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity is an international norm that must be upheld, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Political solution is the only viable way to address hot-spot issues. Supporting the path of development chosen by the people of every country that suits its national conditions is the fundamental way, he told the Security Council.

Regime change is not an option, nor will it work. Unilateral sanctions can only aggravate the situation. External military interference can only cause greater disasters and serious consequences, he warned.

Under the current circumstances, the international community should adopt a holistic approach, integrating the political, security, economic, and humanitarian aspects, so as to jointly promote the early achievement of peace, security, and development, said Zhang.

He called for commitment to the right direction of a political settlement, improving the humanitarian situation, lifting unilateral sanctions and economic blockade, and ending foreign occupation and fighting terrorism.

"We must stay committed to the right direction of a political settlement and support the Syrian people in independently deciding the future of their country," he said.

China calls on all parties in Syria to cooperate with the UN mediation, to jointly promote progress in the work of the Constitutional Committee. The Syrian political process should adhere to the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned principle and the international community should firmly support the Syrian people in exploring their path of development, he said.

The Constitutional Committee should remain independent and free from external interference. The Astana process and related regional countries can play a coordinating and facilitating role. China welcomes the fact that relevant Arab states are positively considering Syria's return to the Arab League. This is conducive to advancing the political process in Syria, which should be encouraged and supported by the international community, he added.

"We must fully leverage the leading role of the Syrian government so as to fundamentally improve the humanitarian situation on the ground," said Zhang.

Given the acute pandemic and food security issues in Syria, targeted relief assistance should be provided with a focus on the humanitarian needs of women, children, and other vulnerable groups. Recently, through bilateral channel, China has provided Syria with 150,000 doses of vaccines and 750 tons of rice as the first batch, and will continue to contribute to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Syria, he said.

China welcomes COVAX providing vaccines to the Syrian people. The Syrian government is cooperating with the United Nations, nongovernmental organizations and other partners in advancing the humanitarian operations and bringing large amounts of medical supplies to the northeast through cross-line delivery. China appreciates those efforts, said Zhang.

The international community should support the United Nations in opening the humanitarian delivery route from Damascus to the northwest as soon as possible, which will gradually reduce Syria's reliance on a cross-border mechanism, he said. Enditem

The stranded container ship blocking the Suez Canal was re-floated on Monday and is currently being secured, Inch Cape Shipping Services said in a post on Twitter.

The Suez Canal Authority had earlier said in a statement that tugging operations to free the ship had resumed.

BREAKING : EVER GIVEN ship has been UNSTUCK & Moving into #Suez Canal after 6 Days!! Egyptian crew managed to float it moments ago. It's 5:42 am there: pic.twitter.com/GoMlYjQerL - Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) March 29, 2021

Also read: Centre chalks out four-point plan to deal with Suez Canal blockage

Also read: Ship blocking Suez Canal moves slightly, unclear when it will refloat
Taiwanese premier Su Tseng-change has termed the incursion by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADZ) as "unnecessary" and "thoughtless."

Twenty Chinese warplanes entered ADIZ on Friday, a day after Taipei and Washington signed an accord to strengthen maritime cooperation.

Air defence identification zones are early warning systems that help countries detect incursions into their airspace.

Any aircraft entering such an area is supposed to report its route and purpose to the "host" nation, though the zones are classified as airspace and pilots are not legally bound to make such a notification.

According to Focus Taiwan, Friday's show of force was the biggest in terms of the number of planes deployed since began to make public PLA aircraft's movements near in mid-September.

Taiwan's premier and foreign minister discussed the issue on Saturday, News reported. Taiwan foreign minister Joseph Wu condemned the act in a tweet but said the country will not submit under pressure.

"This dangerous provocation by autocratic highlights the threats faced by democratic #Taiwan on the front line. But we aren't interested in caving in. Such actions won't stop us from being a force for good in the world and reliable partner of like-minded countries," he tweeted.

Asked for a comment at a cultural event on Saturday, Su Tseng-chang said the incursions were an "unnecessary" and "thoughtless" act because the money spent on military intimidation could have been better spent developing the country and improving the quality of life of its people.

"It's a shared hope of living and working in peace, while Beijing is doing the opposite," he added. "The memorandum signed earlier between Taiwan and the U.S. elaborates on the bilateral efforts made for peace and stability in the region, the wish shared by Chinese people as well.

(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 nation's stocks of blood after running low after widespread, record-breaking floods across NSW saw a drop in donations.

The Australian Red Cross is calling for more people to roll up their sleeves ahead of the Easter weekend, with O-negative bloods donors in particular need.

O-negative is particularly important over the Easter period when supplies are often challenged, Lifeblood executive director Cath Stone says.

Australian Red Cross is calling for more people to roll up their sleeves ahead of the Easter weekend

The nation's stocks of blood after running low after widespread, record-breaking floods across NSW saw a drop in donations (Pictured: NSW SES members transport locals to safety on March 25)

'O-negative is the universal blood type and can be given to anyone in an emergency, such as a road trauma, when there simply isn't time to find out someone's blood type,' she said in a statement.

'Only nine per cent of Australians have O-negative blood, but it makes up 17 per cent of orders from hospitals because it saves lives in emergencies.'

An extra 8000 donations are needed to boost stocks back to normal levels.

'We understand so much has been asked of Australians over the last 12 months, from bushfires, to the pandemic and now floods,' she said.

'While we've appealed for donors multiple times already this year, the number of people responding simply isn't meeting patient demand.'
The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) has signed a cooperation programme with the Environment Authority to facilitate the necessary environmental permits for investors and businesses in all industrial cities.

These will be obtained through Madayns Masar Service Centre and in accordance with the provisions of the regulations organising the issuance of environmental permits, Madayn said in a statement.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Abdullah bin Ali Al Amri, Chairman of the Environment Authority, and Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, Chief Executive Officer of Madayn.

Al Amri emphasised that the cooperation programme with Madayn aims at facilitating and simplifying procedures for the investors through providing a specialised environmental team of the authority who will be present on an ongoing basis in all the industrial cities.

The team will be responsible for issuing and renewing environmental-related licenses and requirements. Moreover, the cooperation programme aims at providing a number of job opportunities for specialists in the environmental field, as Madayn will provide them with the financial resources while administratively they will be employees of the authority, Al Amri said.

We hope to see more of these cooperation programmes signed in order to enhance the investment climate in the Sultanate through facilitating the procedures for the investors, he added.

On her part, Ibtisam bint Ahmed Al Farooji, Director General of Investor Services at Madayn, commented that the cooperation programme comes along the lines of the objectives of Madayn Vision 2040 to manage and operate world-class business cities with an emphasis placed on the environmental standards.

One of the key objectives of this cooperation programme is to reduce the operating cost for the investors by ensuring their compliance to the environmental standards in all production stages. Representatives of the Environment Authority at Masar Service Centre will ensure that the standards are applied by the investors before commencing with the inspection operations at the industrial units, Al Farooji stated.

It is worthwhile mentioning that Madayn established Masar Service Centre to enhance flexible, easy and transparent dealings between the business community and the government, and provide a reliable and secure environment for the companies to conduct day-to-day transactions with the concerned bodies.

Madayn inaugurated Masar Service Centres in Al Rusayl and Suhar Industrial Cities last year, and is currently working on inaugurating Masar Service Centres in all the industrial cities during the current year.TradeArabia News Service
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A team of Australian and German researchers has discovered a novel pathway that plants can use to save water and improve their drought tolerance.

The research published today in Nature Communications shows that the molecule GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), most commonly associated with relaxation in animals, can control the size of the pores on plant leaves to minimise water loss.

Matthew Gilliham, Director of the Waite Research Institute at the University of Adelaide, who led the research team, said they found: "GABA minimised pore openings in a range of crops such as barley, broad bean and soybean, and in lab plants that produce more GABA than normal. This led to the lab plants using less water from the soil and surviving longer in the drought experiments."

"We found plants that produce lots of GABA reduce how much their pores open, thereby taking a smaller breath and reducing water loss."

In an earlier study, members of the team found that GABAknown as a nerve signal in animalscould act as plant GABA receptors. This led to renewed speculation that GABA could be a signal in plants as well as in animals.

Lead author on the study, Dr. Bo Xu, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology adds: "Both plants and animals produce GABA and they put it to different uses. Plants don't have nerves, instead they appear to use GABA to match their energy levels with their response to the environment."

"GABA doesn't close pores on leaves like other stress signals, it acts in a different wayhow much a plant accumulates GABA when it is stressed determines how much it applies the brake pedal to reduce the pore opening the following morning, and water loss that daylike a stress memory of the day before."

During drought, the signalling molecule GABA is produced and inhibits the opening of leaf pores (left). If the enzyme GAD2, which converts glutamate to GABA, is genetically switched off, the pores remain open even during drought - the plants lose more water (centre). If the gene for GAD2 is reintroduced into the closing cells, the defect is reversed. The experiment shows that the sphincter cells autonomously perceive stress and react to it with GABA production. Credit: Rainer Hedrich / University of Wuerzburg

Professor Rainer Hedrich at the University of Wurzburg, a pioneer in studying how plants regulate water loss, led the German component of the study.

"I've been studying how plants regulate their stomatal pores for over 35 years. To find a completely new and unexpected way that they are regulated has certainly been one of our most surprising discoveries. I look forward to seeing how this translates out in the field."

The team recently received a new grant from the Australian Federal Government to partner with researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, and are looking for new Ph.D. students to join the team to discover new components of the signalling pathway and to trial its impact in crops.

Explore further Human brain drug uncovers key to plant stress response
ALLIANCE, Ohio, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In order to continue enhancing the student experience, the University of Mount Union's Department of Nursing recently added a new simulator and supplemental simulation equipment to its cutting-edge facilities.

In support of these additions, the department was awarded a $25,000 grant from the Mary Renkert Wendling Foundation.

The funding will be directed toward multiple purchases for student hands-on learning:

an intensive care unit crib for Mount Union's pediatric simulator

create a pediatric intensive care unit room and a maternal newborn/community simulation room

audio and video equipment for the pediatric simulation room to record student work

a second and separate control room to oversee both the pediatric simulation room and maternal/newborn simulation room

eight new controllers for continued simulator functionality

"We remain incredibly grateful for the Mary Renkert Wendling Foundation's ongoing support of Mount Union and are again honored to include the Foundation as a true partner in our efforts to allow our students to be exceptional," said Dr. Tim Meyers, professor and chair of Mount Union's Department of Nursing.

The upgrades from the Foundation's generosity will be implemented alongside numerous Nurse Anne simulators with heart and lung sounds, a birthing simulator and a wireless simulator that can sweat and bleed.

Another recent addition outside of the Foundation's funding was a SimBaby simulator for Mount Union's pediatric facilities. One of few institutions in Northeast Ohio to have a SimBaby available to its students, Mount Union's is the same simulator used at Akron Children's Hospital.

The SimBaby, known as "MUcauley" within the department, simulator represents a 9-month-old pediatric patient, and simulations help students meet course learning objectives focusing on initial assessment and treatment in a safe environment. SimBaby is a tetherless simulator designed to help students effectively recognize and respond to ill pediatric patients, allowing students to experience the type of high-fidelity pediatric simulation that is expected in a hospital setting.

"SimBaby has features that are specific to pediatric patients including fontanelles and realistic skin that allows students to assess vascular perfusion," said Andrea Corbisello, clinical assistant professor and director of simulation and clinical experiences in Mount Union's Department of Nursing. "The simulator allows us to demonstrate specific conditions relevant to the critically ill pediatric patient and having access to this technology will help our nursing students during their pediatric rotation."

Learn more at mountunion.edu/department-of-nursing.

SOURCE University of Mount Union

Related Links

http://www.mountunion.edu


Girls taking KCSE exams across the country will be provided with sanitary towels on regular basis, Education CAS Mumina Bonaya has said.

While on monitoring tour of the exams in Isiolo, Ms Bonaya said the provisions are meant to ensure girls are comfortable while taking the exams and to prevent them from missing the papers.

"Distribution of the towels is ongoing so that girls are comfortable while taking the exams," Ms Bonaya said while overseeing opening of exam container in Isiolo town.

Girls from poor families are at higher risk of missing exams due to lack of the sanitary provisions, which makes it easier for them to be lured into having sex in exchange for the towels.

Accompanied by Deputy Director Ministry of Education Martha Ekirapa, the CAS directed that candidates with special needs be accorded special attention so that they comfortably take their exams.

Health guidelines

Ms Bonaya further called on centre managers, supervisors and invigilators to ensure Covid-19 protocols are strictly followed.

"All those handling the exam process should ensure the health guidelines are strictly observed for the safety of the candidates," she directed.

Isiolo County Commissioner Herman Shambi asked the examination officials to monitor candidates who were out of school over indiscipline cases so that they do not pose security concerns.

"Keep a close eye on them and thoroughly frisk them as could be carrying some weapons," said Mr Shambi.

Police officers manning the exam centres in Isiolo were warned against giving candidates their guns to pose with.

"Provide security and keep off the candidates. Those weapons are dangerous and should not be given to students," Isiolo County Police boss Joseph Kigen told security officers during the Friday morning brief before start of the KCSE exams.

Some 1,432 candidates are sitting for KCSE in the county according to Dr Koriyow.
RAMALLAH, West Bank/GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinians on Monday received 100,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to help broaden an initial campaign to vaccinate medical staff, the elderly and the chronically ill.

Palestinian health authorities have been mounting a limited vaccination drive among the 5.2 million people living in the Israel-occupied West Bank and Gaza, using vaccines provided by Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and the global COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative.

So far, more than 69,000 Palestinians have received their first dose of the vaccine, and around 7,600 people have had both shots, according to a health ministry statement.

Israel has come under international criticism for not doing more to enable Palestinians living in areas it occupies to be inoculated, while its national vaccination drive has been one of the fastest and most efficient in the world.

It says it has vaccinated more than 100,000 Palestinian workers with permits to enter the country or Jewish settlements in the West Bank but that the Palestinian Authority bears overall responsibility for inoculations in self-rule areas.

After the arrival of the Chinese shipment, Palestinian Health minister Mai Al-Kaila said in the West Bank city of Ramallah that recent restrictions such as curfews and weekend lockdowns had helped to relieve pressure on crowded hospitals.

"We will continue (vaccinating) our medical staff in the clinics for the public sector and the private sector, dentists and pharmacists, (and) for other categories that have immediate contact with the population," Kaila told Reuters.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) plans to cover 20% of Palestinians through the COVAX mechanism. PA officials hope to procure additional vaccines to achieve 60% coverage across the West Bank and in Gaza, which is run by the Hamas Islamist group.

Health officials have reported 227,808 coronavirus cases and 2,511 deaths since the pandemic began.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Zainah El-Haroun; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Fresh Water West in Pembrokeshire National Park, Wales (Getty)

Whether or not we can travel abroad this year remains to be seen, so a staycation seems like the safest option for a holiday this summer.

New laws implemented today (29 March) mean those in England travelling abroad without a valid reason could face a 5,000 fine until at least 30 June.

Within England, however, self-catering accommodation will be allowed to open to single households from 12 April, and Wales is set to open to English travellers on this date too, (Wales has already opened domestic travel to Welsh travellers).

Travel restrictions within mainland Scotland are being lifted on 26 April.

Watch: Why life has been extremely challenging on the Scottish islands with just 70 COVID cases

The travel situation in Northern Ireland is less clear. Currently, everything but essential travel is advised against, with all tourist accommodation closed to holidaymakers, and although the country's 'roadmap' out of lockdown has now been announced, the report gives no official timeline towards reopening.

Read more: The best beachfront campsites in the UK

When can I travel in Scotland?

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that travel restrictions within mainland Scotland will lift from 26 April - which could mean that travellers from England, Wales and Northern Ireland could be allowed to holiday in Scotland from that date too.

The Jacobite Steam Train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands (Getty)

We hope that restrictions on journeys between Scotland and other parts of the UK and the wider common travel area can be lifted, if not on 26 April, then as soon as possible thereafter, Sturgeon added.

This is also the date that Scotland will reopen all tourist accommodation, as well as pubs, restaurants and cafes.

When can I travel in Wales?

Self-contained holidays in Wales restarted for Welsh travellers on 27 March, however those looking to travel to Wales from other parts of the UK will need to wait until at least 12 April to do so.

Read more: The best UK road trips to take this summer

Story continues

While this date is not set in stone, if we can travel then, only single household stays will be available - much like in England.

When can I travel in England?

According to the governments roadmap, self-contained holidays in England for single households should begin from 12 April.

This means that households will be able to stay overnight (or multiple nights) in cottages or campsites where facilities are not shared.

Other accommodation like hotels and B&Bs are likely to reopen from 17 May, under the third step of easing lockdown.

Read more: Royal Caribbean launches cruises to Greece and Cyprus for vaccinated travellers

This will also be the date that groups of six from different households can go on holiday together, or larger groups from two households.

All restrictions in England are set to lift from 21 June - but this is subject to change.

When can I travel in Northern Ireland?

The executive plans to relax the stay-at-home message from 12 April, subject to a review after Easter. However, there will continue to be a "stay local" message.

Restrictions remain in place for travel within the Common Travel Area (United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands), meaning you should travel only if it is essential.

With specific dates not yet set for easing lockdown restrictions, it is advisable to wait before booking any travel to Northern Ireland in the summer.

Watch: Why Britons will get an extra bank holiday in 2022
Married At First Sight may be investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after outraged viewers filed multiple complaints about the show.

According to a report by The Wash on Monday, many viewers took offence at scenes involving controversial couple Melissa Rawson and Bryce Ruthven.

ACMA revealed it had received 14 complaints about this year's season of MAFS, and four of those were about Bryce and Melissa, both 31.

Looking into it: Married At First Sight may be investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after outraged viewers filed multiple complaints about the show. Pictured: Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson

'Under the co-regulatory system, the ACMA will refer complainants to the broadcaster in the first instance,' the media watchdog said.

'If the complainant does not receive a response from the broadcaster within 60 days, or is not satisfied with the response, they may refer their complaint to the ACMA who may choose to investigate.'

According to ACMA, many viewers raised 'concerns over the scenes involving Melissa and Bryce'.

Problematic: A Change.org petition is demanding Channel Nine issue an apology for airing 'triggering' scenes involving the 'gaslighting' groom and his long-suffering wife

Bryce's problematic behaviour on Married At First Sight Voting 'wife' Melissa the fourth-hottest in a relationship task

Saying Melissa was 'not his type' during an 'honesty box' challenge

Despite Melissa sharing her history with low self-esteem, Bryce tells her 'well, you're not ugly'

Flirted with co-star Beck Zemek at the gym

Lied at the dinner party about the conversation he had with Beck at the gym

Initially voting to 'leave' Melissa at Sunday's commitment ceremony, but crossing out his answer and writing 'stay' at the last minute

Accusing the cast of creating a 'toxic environment' for his wife, spreading lies about him and being bullies - despite him being toxic, a liar and a bully Advertisement

On Monday, a Change.org petition began circulating that demanded Channel Nine issue an apology for airing 'triggering' scenes involving the 'gaslighting' groom and his long-suffering wife.

The petition, which has already received 2,500 signatures in under 24 hours, is also calling for Nine to acknowledge its alleged 'failure of duty of care' towards Melissa.

'This season of Married at First Sight Australia features a couple, Melissa and Bryce, who portray an excessive amount of [troubling] signs which are not being handled by the network appropriately,' the petition states.

'There is a clear failure of duty of care to Melissa during filming of the show, allowing her to remain in a toxic and dangerous environment with her partner for the "benefit" of the network.'

'She is being subject to gaslighting, emotional manipulation, isolation, and countless other textbook signs of a controlling and or abusive relationship,' the petition goes on to claim, adding that the scenes are 'incredibly triggering and stressful to watch'.

Fan fury: According to a report by The Wash on Monday, many viewers took offence at scenes involving controversial couple Melissa and Bryce

It continues: 'This petition is for the Nine Network to acknowledge and apologise for letting Melissa go through this and also airing such a horrible relationship on TV without doing anything to showcase that the relationship is clearly not healthy.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.

Similar outrage has exploded on Twitter, where many viewers are calling for the show to be cancelled or boycotted over its depiction of toxic relationships.

Bryce and Melissa's 'marriage' has also been an issue of contention for the show's other couples, who largely disapprove of the relationship.

Unpopular: Bryce and Melissa's 'marriage' has also been an issue of contention for the show's other couples, who largely disapprove of the relationship

On Sunday's episode of Married At First Sight, Bryce humiliated his bride at the commitment ceremony by revealing he'd initially voted to leave the experiment, before ultimately deciding to stay.

Bryce later defended writing leave, saying he didn't want to break up with Melissa but instead wanted the couple to exit the 'toxic environment' of the experiment.

The other couples lashed out at the radio announcer, citing a string of incidents in which he repeatedly showed disregard for Melissa's feelings.

Angered: According to ACMA, many viewers raised 'concerns over the scenes involving Melissa and Bryce'

Bryce tried to justify his behaviour in a lengthy post on Instagram on Sunday.

'People won't agree with what I've done at the commitment ceremony saying I didn't put my partner's feelings first BUT I was raising the issue that bullying is not OK in any walk of life,' he wrote.

'It was a tough decision to continue in the experiment given what we were going through, but in the end, the goal of finding love with someone will always win.'
VISAKHAPATNAM: Crime wing of Visakhapatnam police has on Monday achieved a breakthrough in the theft case at the famous Karaka Chettu Polamamba temple with the arrest of three persons. The three have been taken to Vijayawada for recovery of the stolen gold and silver ornaments, apart from cash, sources said.

In the theft, four kg silver, 35 tolas gold ornaments; in addition to cash of the temple had been stolen. Post their investigations, police had shown pictures of three persons to temple staff. The staff recalled that they had seen them during Annadanam a week before the crime. Some said they had seen the three sanitising their hands before lunch.

According to police, these three were the very people who came to Polamamba temple a few hours before the theft on March 21. They had requested for permission from the watchman to sleep on temple premises. When the watchman refused, they left on their motorcycles. The three were arrested after the temple staff identified them. Post their interrogation, they have been taken to Vijayawada to recover the ornaments and cash.

Meanwhile, CID authorities have met the Vizag police commissioner of police seeking permission to interrogate those arrested. CID sleuths want to know whether or not the same group had been involved in the decapitation of Lord Ramas idol at Ramaswamy temple in Ramateertham of Vizianagaram district.

On the day, leaders of 14 villages around Polamamba temple had demanded that the gold and silver stolen must be recovered within a weeks time, failing which they would launch a dharna. The leaders told reporters that a major festival of Goddess Polamamba is slated for April 27. They wanted all the ornaments retrieved by then, which include the gold crown of the Goddess.

The leaders also sought a permanent executive officer and additional security at the temple to prevent thefts in future.
Humans could be evolving to a point where, at some point in the distant future, our saliva may be venomous, similar to that of a snake, according to a new study.

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University researchers looked for genes that work alongside and interact with venom in pit viper snakes.

They found that the genetic foundation required for oral venom to evolve is present in both reptiles and mammals, suggesting humans could evolve to spit venom.

The study also provides the first concrete evidence of an underlying molecular link between venom glands in snakes and salivary glands in mammals.

The Taiwan habu (Protobothrops mucrosquamatus) is an invasive species that has become well established in Okinawa. Researchers mapped its 'venom genes'

VENOM: A NATURAL POISON IN ANIMALS Venom is a form of poison secreted by animals from across the animal kingdom. It has evolved in both predators and prey as a defence os attack mechanism. They kill through necrotoxins, cytotoxins which kill cells, neurotoxins that affect the nervous system and myotoxins which go for muscles. Unlike other poisons it is delivered by a bite, sting or similar action, rather than being simply ingested. Venom toxins have been good and bad for humans, killing tens of thousands of people per year, but also providing the basis to cure many diseases. The only known venomous mammals are solenodons, shrews, vampire bats, male platypus and the slow loris. Advertisement

This latest research into snakes, a group of animals renowned and feared for their potent bite, now reveals oral venom's ancient foundation.

'Venoms are a cocktail of proteins that animals have weaponised to immobilise and kill prey, as well as for self-defence,' said first author, Agneesh Barua.

'What's interesting about venom is that it has arisen in so many different animals: jellyfish, spiders, scorpions, snakes, and even some mammals.

'Although these animals evolved different ways to deliver venom, an oral system - where venom is injected through a bite - is one of the most common.'

Previously, scientists have focused on the genes that code for the proteins that make up the toxic mixture, but the new study looked at how different genes interact.

'However, many of the toxins currently found in venom were incorporated after the oral venom system was already established,' said Barua.

'We needed to look at the genes that were present before venom's origin, genes which enabled the rise of venom systems.'

So instead, the team searched for genes that work alongside and interact strongly with the venom genes, studying venom from the Taiwan habu snake.

The researchers identified around 3,000 of these 'cooperating' genes and found that they played important roles in protecting the cells from stress caused by producing lots of proteins.

The genes were also key in regulating protein modification and folding.

When proteins are made, the long chains of amino acids must fold together in a specific way. Misfolded proteins can also accumulate and damage cells.

Just like a wrong fold when doing origami, one misstep prevents the protein from assuming the required shape needed for it to function properly.

'The role of these genes in the unfolded protein response pathway makes a lot of sense as venoms are complex mixtures of proteins,' explained Barua.

'So to ensure you can manufacture all these proteins, you need a robust system in place to make sure the proteins are folded correctly so they can function effectively.'

King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) The world's longest venomous snake. While humans can't produce venom today, they have the genetic ability to do so

HUMANS MAY BE BORN WITH A FEAR OF SNAKES AND SPIDERS Researchers at MPI CBS in Leipzig, Germany and the Uppsala University in Sweden conducted a study which found that even in infants, a stress reaction happens when they see a spider or snake. They found that this happens as young as six months-old, when infants are still very immobile and have not had much opportunity to learn that these animals can be dangerous. 'When we showed pictures of a snake or a spider to the babies instead of a flower or a fish of the same size and color, they reacted with significantly bigger pupils,' says Stefanie Hoehl, lead investigator of the underlying study and neuroscientist at MPI CBS and the University of Vienna. 'In constant light conditions this change in size of the pupils is an important signal for the activation of the noradrenergic system in the brain, which is responsible for stress reactions. 'Accordingly, even the youngest babies seem to be stressed by these groups of animals.' The researchers concluded that the fear of snakes and spiders is of evolutionary origin, and similarly to primates or snakes, mechanisms in our brains allow us to identify objects and to react to them very quickly. Advertisement

The researchers then looked at the genomes of other creatures across the animal kingdom, including mammals like dogs, chimpanzees and humans, and found that they contained their own versions of these genes.

When the team looked at the salivary gland tissues within mammals, they found that the genes had a similar pattern of activity to that seen in snake venom glands.

The scientists therefore think that salivary glands in mammals and venom glands in snakes share an ancient functional core that has been maintained since the two lineages split hundreds of millions of years ago.

'Many scientists intuitively believed this is true, but this is the first real solid evidence for the theory that venom glands evolved from early salivary glands,' said Barua.

'And while snakes then went crazy, incorporating many different toxins into their venom and increasing the number of genes involved in producing venom, mammals like shrews produce simpler venom that has a high similarity to saliva.'

The apparent ease with which the function of salivary glands can be repurposed to be venomous is startling, he explained, adding that it could mean that scientists start looking at other mammals in an unsettling new light.

'There were experiments in the 1980s that showed that male mice produce compounds in their saliva that are highly toxic when injected into rats,' said Barua.

'If under certain ecological conditions, mice that produce more toxic proteins in their saliva have better reproductive success, then in a few thousand years, we might encounter venomous mice.'

Whether mice are or are not on this evolutionary path is a matter that requires further investigation, but it certainly blurs the line between venomous and non-venomous species.

And although very unlikely, if the right ecological conditions ever existed, humans too could become venomous.

'It definitely gives a whole new meaning to a toxic person,' joked Barua.

The findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
(Newser)  Last week, Brazil became the second country to record 300,000 deaths from COVID-19. But on Sunday, Mexico shot past Brazil to take over the No. 2 spot for coronavirus deaths after officials announced a massive revision to the country's death toll. COVID deaths are actually as much as 60% higher than previously reported, for a total of more than 321,000, the BBC reports. The US is in the top spot with 549,000 deaths, and Brazil's 310,000 deaths now place it at No. 3. Mexico has by far the lowest population of the three countries.

story continues below

Mexico's previously reported 201,429 deaths were confirmed by virus tests, but the new government report takes into account all of the country's "excess deaths" and the data from those death certificates, because Mexico does not do much testing, the Guardian reports. While 70.5% of the 417,000 excess deaths were determined to be from COVID, experts say more of them can likely be blamed on the pandemic, because people were unable to get medical care for whatever they did ultimately die from due to overwhelmed hospitals. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been criticized for how his administration has handled the pandemic. Meanwhile, US residents are telling USA Today stories of getting stuck in Mexico after a positive COVID test while visiting the country. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
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Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Conditioner (Haircare) Market in Saudi Arabia - Outlook to 2024; Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics (updated with COVID-19 Impact)under Personal Care category. The Conditioner (Haircare) Market in Saudi Arabia is projected to exhibit highest growth rate over report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports.

Conditioner (Haircare) Market in Saudi Arabia - Outlook to 2024; Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics (updated with COVID-19 Impact) is a broad level market review of Conditioner Market in Saudi Arabia.

Conditioner - is a hair care product that alters the texture and appearance of hair. Includes all types of hair conditioning products - including intensive oil and gel conditioners, as well as traditional lotion conditioners. Includes both wash-out and leave-in conditioners.

Conditioner market in Saudi Arabia registered a positive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.41% during the period 2014 to 2019 with a sales value of SAR 952.89 Million in 2019, an increase of 6.05% over 2018. The market achieved its strongest performance in 2015, when it grew by 10.86% over its previous year and its weakest performance in 2019, when it increased by 6.05% over 2018. The fastest growing segment of the Conditioner market in Saudi Arabia between the year 2014 and 2019 was Intensive Conditioner which registered a CAGR of 10.13%. The weakest performing segment of the market was Other Conditioner with a CAGR of 8.28%. In 2019 Traditional Conditioner segment in Saudi Arabia Conditioner market accounted for a major share of 73.74%, while Intensive Conditioner stood in second position representing 21.11% of the markets 2019 share.

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A woman receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the New Hope Presbyterian Church in Anaheim, Calif. March 28, 2021. (Courtesy of the County of Orange)

Nearly Half Million Orange County Residents Fully Inoculated; Officials Continue Aggressive Campaign

Orange County health officials are continuing to expand vaccination efforts as the region approaches a new inoculation milestone.

More than 476,000 people had been fully vaccinated in Orange County on March 29, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control Prevention data. It means about 19 percent of people 18 and older are fully vaccinated.

More than 260,000 fully inoculated individuals are older than 65, meaning more than half of Orange Countys seniors are fully inoculated.

Large-Scale Efforts

County officials are continuing to expand inoculation efforts with the March 31 opening of a new super point of distribution (POD) at the Costa Mesa Fair and Event Center.

As more people get their doses, I expect to see a return to normal life in the near future, Supervisor Don Wagner told The Epoch Times on March 29.

I offer my full support to the county for taking the initiative to expand our vaccine rollout, as another site is another opportunity to overcome the challenges of this pandemic.

The site will have walk-up and drive-through appointments, Supervisor Katrina Foley said.

She would also like to have a no-appointment option, which will help us reach the more vulnerable communities who struggle with making an appointment through Othena, the countys scheduling platform.

The latest super POD opens a day before vaccines open up to those aged 50 and older, on April 1.

Mobile Clinics Reach the Hard to Reach

A mobile vaccination clinic opened March 28 that was intended to vaccinate those that are hard to reach, particularly black, Asian, and Hispanic individuals, said Supervisor Doug Chaffee.

Our highest priority is reaching people that cant go to one of these super sites, Chaffee said in a press video. They may be shut in. They may be unable to use a computer. There may be some fear of going out too far away.  We need to reach out to those who need some help.

The vaccine site was set up for the day, distributing Moderna vaccines. The clinic is expected to return in four weeks to provide the second dose.

Rev. Chineta Goodjoin of New Hope Presbyterian Church in Anaheim said he hoped to appease fears for those reluctant to receive the medicine.

People just arent sure if the shot is right for them, she said in a press video. Some people are scared that the shot might have things in it that would hurt their bodies. When people see their pastors doing it and members of the church are also getting the shot, it makes a difference in building up confidence and affirmation and what it can do for healing.

The clinic was sponsored by the Orange County Health Care Agency and five black churches.

While super PODs vaccinate up to 8,000 people per day, Chaffee said, these smaller PODs can vaccinate up to 500 people per day.

Our biggest issue remains getting enough vaccines, Chaffee said.

Expanded Eligibility

Starting April 15, anyone 16 or older will be eligible for inoculation, and Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said she was pleased the county was expanding its operations before vaccines open up to more people.

With the new eligibility criteria coming online April 1 and April 15, we expect to see a significant growth in the number of people wanting to be vaccinated, Bartlett told The Epoch Times. The ability for this site to function as designated will be dependent on an increased vaccine supply.

As of March 29, about 15 percent of Orange Countys total population had completed their vaccination schedules.

With files from City News Service
Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff, whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, it has emerged.

Chad Wolf, who served as acting Homeland Security Secretary, had his emails accessed, and a second Cabinet member - Dan Brouillette, the Energy Secretary - had his schedules compromised.

The intelligence value of the hacking of Wolf and his staff is not publicly known, the Associated Press reported, but the symbolism is stark.

Their accounts were accessed as part of what is known as the SolarWinds intrusion, and it throws into question how the U.S. government can protect individuals, companies and institutions across the country if it cannot protect itself.

Chad Wolf, former acting Homeland Security Secretary, was among those targeted in the hack

Wolf, pictured in July, has not commented on what the hackers had access to in his emails

'The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS,' said Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, the top Republican on the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

'We are talking about DHS's crown jewels.'

The Biden administration has tried to keep a tight lid on the scope of the SolarWinds attack as it weighs retaliatory measures against Russia.

But an inquiry by the AP found new details about the breach at DHS and other agencies, including the Energy Department, where hackers accessed top officials' schedules.

The vulnerabilities at Homeland Security, in particular, intensify the worries following the SolarWinds attack and an even more widespread hack affecting Microsoft Exchange's email program, especially because in both cases the hackers were detected not by the government but by a private company.

In December, officials discovered what they describe as a sprawling, months-long cyberespionage effort done largely through a hack of a widely used software from Texas-based SolarWinds Inc.

The SolarWinds hack was uncovered in December and targeted at least nine federal agencies

At least nine federal agencies were hacked, along with dozens of private-sector companies.

U.S. authorities have said the breach appeared to be the work of Russian hackers.

General Paul Nakasone, who leads the Pentagon's cyber force, said last week that the Biden administration is considering a 'range of options' in response.

Russia has denied any role in the hack.

Since then, a series of headline-grabbing hacks has further highlighted vulnerabilities in the U.S. public and private sectors.

A hacker tried unsuccessfully to poison the water supply of a small town in Florida in February, and this month a new breach was announced involving untold thousands of Microsoft Exchange email servers that the company says was carried out by Chinese state hackers.

China has denied involvement in the Microsoft breach.

Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the government's initial response to the discovery of the SolarWinds hack was disjointed.

SolarWinds, whose headquarters are in Texas (pictured) was the focus of the hack

'What struck me was how much we were in the dark for as long as we were in the dark,' Warner said at a recent cybersecurity conference.

Wolf and other top Homeland Security officials used new phones that had been wiped clean, along with the popular encrypted messaging system Signal, to communicate in the days after the hack, current and former officials told AP.

One former administration official, who confirmed the Federal Aviation Administration was among the agencies affected by the breach, said the agency was hampered in its response by outdated technology and struggled for weeks to identify how many servers it had running SolarWinds software.

The FAA initially told the AP in mid-February that it had not been affected by the SolarWinds hack, only to issue a second statement a few days later that it was continuing to investigate.

Brouillette, the second Cabinet member affected after Wolf, had his schedules accessed.

The schedules were not confidential and are subject to open records laws.

Kevin Liao, Energy Department spokesman, said it 'has found no evidence the network that maintains senior officials' schedules was compromised.'

The new disclosures provide a fuller picture of what kind of data was taken in the SolarWinds hack.

Several congressional hearings have been held on the subject, but they have been notably short on details.

Former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette also fell victim to the SolarWinds hackers

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, has denied orchestrating any cyberhacking campaign

Pat Fallon, a Republican member of the House from Texas, indicated at one of the hearings that a DHS secretary's email had been hacked but did not provide additional detail. The AP was able to identify Wolf, who declined to comment other than to say he had multiple email accounts as secretary.

DHS spokesperson Sarah Peck said that 'a small number of employees' accounts were targeted in the breach' and that the agency 'no longer sees indicators of compromise on our networks.'

The Biden administration has pledged to issue an executive order soon to address 'significant gaps in modernization and in technology of cybersecurity across the federal government.'

But the list of obstacles facing the federal government is long: highly capable foreign hackers backed by governments that arent afraid of U.S. reprisals, outdated technology, a shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals and a complex leadership and oversight structure.

The recently approved stimulus package includes $650 million in new money for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to harden the country's cyber defenses. Federal officials said that amount is only a down payment on much bigger planned spending to improve threat detection.

'We must raise our game,' said Brandon Wales, who leads the cybersecurity agency, at a recent House committee hearing.

The agency operates a threat-detection system known as Einstein.

Its failure to detect the SolarWinds breach before it was discovered by a private security company alarmed officials.

Eric Goldstein, the agency's executive assistant director for cybersecurity, told Congress that Einstein's technology was designed a decade ago and has 'grown somewhat stale.'

How hackers used legitimate software updates as camouflage for the 'SUNBURST' attack The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on December 17 released an alert detailing what it knows about the breach, which has been called the biggest in U.S. history. CISA says that hackers were able to compromise the supply chain of network management software from SolarWinds, specifically recent versions of the SolarWinds Orion products. Beginning in March 2020, hackers used SolarWinds software updates to install a secret network backdoor, which authorities are calling SUNBURST. The malicious code was signed by the legitimate SolarWinds code signing certificate. An estimated 18,000 customers downloaded the compromised updates. Once installed on a network, the malware used a protocol designed to mimic legitimate SolarWinds traffic to communicate with a domain that has since been seized and shut down. The initial contact domain would often direct the malware to a new internet protocol (IP) address for command and control. The attackers used rotating IPs and virtual private servers with IP addresses in the target's home country to make detection of the traffic more difficult. 'Taken together, these observed techniques indicate an adversary who is skilled, stealthy with operational security, and is willing to expend significant resources to maintain covert presence,' CISA said in the alert. CISA said that once inside a network, the hackers seemed focused on gathering information, and would frequently target the emails of IT and security staff to monitor any countermeasures. Without offering further details, the agency warned that the hackers used 'other initial access vectors beyond SolarWinds Orion,' meaning even groups that do not use the network software could be compromised. Advertisement

Anthony Ferrante, a former director for cyber incident response at the U.S. National Security Council and current senior managing director at FTI Consulting, said part of the problem, both in government and in the private sector, is the lack of a skilled workforce.

The Microsoft Exchange hack, which to date has not affected any federal government agencies, was also discovered by a private firm.

One issue that has flummoxed policymakers is that foreign state hackers are increasingly using U.S.-based virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade detection by U.S. intelligence agencies, which are legally constrained from monitoring domestic infrastructure.

The hosting services of Amazon Web Services and GoDaddy were used by the SolarWinds hackers to evade detection, officials said recently.

The Biden administration is not planning to step up government surveillance of the U.S. internet in response and instead wants to focus on tighter partnerships and improved information-sharing with the private-sector companies that already have broad visibility into the domestic internet.

Responsibility for responding to breaches, preventing new ones and providing oversight of those efforts is still unsettled, and last month leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee initially criticized the Biden administration for a 'disorganized response' to the SolarWinds hack before the White House issued a statement clarifying its leadership structure.

The Biden administration tapped Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, to respond to the SolarWinds and Microsoft breaches.

It has not appointed a national cyber director, a new position, frustrating some members of Congress.

'Were trying to fight a multifront war without anybody in charge,' said Angus King, an independent senator from Maine.

The Biden administration says it is reviewing how best to set up the new position.

'Cybersecurity is a top priority,' said White House spokesperson Emily Horne.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The government and its relevant agencies will always emphasise the importance of financial knowledge and planning to the people, said Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. This is due to the role of financial knowledge and planning in helping Malaysians avert unmanageable debt, bankruptcy, and various scams.

According to the finance minister, lack of financial knowledge and planning could be a contributing factor to an uncertain future. Through budgeting, you can avoid excessive spending, unmanageable debt, bankruptcy, and dependence on others, he said.

Tengku Zafrul added that the issue would always remain current given its relevance to everyone at all stages of life. Theres no age limit for planning finances. It is very much encouraged to start planning from an early age so that we can profit from the longer period to strengthen our financial situation and build our wealth, the finance minister said.

The finance minister was speaking at the launch of the national My Money and Me programme, held in conjunction with Global Money Week 2021. Organised by the OECD International Network on Financial Education, the theme for the initiative was Take care of yourself, Take care of your money which highlights the importance of becoming financially literate in order to make responsible decisions in personal finance.

This years My Money and Me features speakers from various financial institutions including the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency, Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia, Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia, Securities Commission Malaysia, Life Insurance Association of Malaysia, Malaysian Takaful Association, and Malaysian Financial Planning Council.

(Source: Malay Mail)

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BOSTON, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- UNO Pizzeria & Grill today announced the launch of an internal concierge system to aid individual employees in securing and attending vaccine appointments. This complimentary bilingual service is available to UNO employees across its company-owned restaurant locations as well as employees and temporary employees in the UNO Foods manufacturing plant and employees at the restaurant group's corporate office.

Aiming to alleviate the stress from lack of information, technical challenges, and language barriers that come with finding and securing a vaccine appointment, UNO Pizzeria & Grill created the concierge service to provide its employees with a beneficial, streamlined process to become fully vaccinated. The concierge, comprised of volunteer employees, offers a range of services including working with government agencies to secure multiple appointments, sitting side-by-side with employees or hosting virtual sessions to help them navigate the various appointment sites, providing appointment reminders, sharing timely information on updates to regulations and details on when new vaccine sites become available, and in certain circumstances, reimbursing employees for transportation to vaccine centers should they not have the means to get there on their own. Additionally, UNO Pizzeria & Grill will be offering a $50.00 gift card to every employee who gets vaccinated.

"Since our restaurants and other facilities don't have a lot of employees at any one site, we don't qualify for "Workplace Vaccination Programs," which bigger companies can offer their employees," said Erik Frederick, Chief Executive Officer of UNO Pizzeria & Grill. "Our employees are everything to us and we want to continue to put their health and safety first by making the process to secure a vaccine less cumbersome and daunting. We hope that every restaurant and food manufacturing company can help their employees in the same way. We're all in this together!"

The program was piloted last week with employees at UNO Foods, UNO's frozen pizza plant located in Brockton, Mass., one of the Massachusetts towns that was hit the hardest in terms of COVID-19 cases. Within days, the concierge service assisted 87% of the employees to secure vaccine appointments, many who have been eligible for some time but were unable to secure an appointment on their own.

About UNO Pizzeria & Grill

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation includes approximately 90 company-owned and franchised UNO Pizzeria & Grill restaurants located in 18 states, and the District of Columbia, India, and Saudi Arabia. UNO is all about connecting people over pizza  from its famous Chicago Deep Dish, which UNO invented in 1943, to its Chicago Thin Crust, to its gluten-free and vegan pizzas. The Company also operates Uno Foods, a consumer packaged-foods business which supplies supermarkets, airlines, movie theaters, hotels, airports, travel plazas, and schools, with both frozen and refrigerated private-label foods and UNO branded products. For more information, visit www.unos.com .

SOURCE UNO Pizzeria & Grill

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Judge Advocate General Alan Large (pictured) was urged to 'consider his position' after making the comments about rape during a Select Committee hearing on the Armed Forces Bill

The military's top judge is facing calls to resign after blaming rapes within the Armed Forces on 'thoroughly good people' drinking too much.

Judge Advocate General Alan Large was urged to 'consider his position' after making the comments during a Select Committee hearing on the Armed Forces Bill.

It comes only days after the judge called for people in 'rank and authority' to 'set an example' and be 'beyond reproach' during his judgment on Major General Nick Welch who defrauded the taxpayer out of nearly 50,000.

The judge was discussing the poor conviction rate in military tribunals for rape and sexual assaults.





Military courts have been able to try rape and other serious offences since 2009, but figures show only one in ten rape cases result in conviction when they get to court martial.

This compares to nearly six in ten from prosecution to verdict in the criminal courts.

During the debate Judge Large said: 'It would be quite interesting to look at the conviction rate for, let's say, university students, who are usually thoroughly decent young people of good character.

'They drink too much; they end up in the wrong bed. It goes to court. What is the conviction rate?

'I would have thought it was about the same as the one we get, because our service people are thoroughly good people, but they drink too much, something goes wrong and they end up in court.'

His comments have provoked outrage and prompted calls for him to resign.

Later, in evidence to the same Select Committee, Victims Commissioner Dame Vera Baird said: 'I have to say I don't know who said that quote about 'our people' being the very best, and sometimes they get drunk and mistakes are made.

'But I hope it was nobody connected to the military justice system, because in it there is a presumption that the defendant has done no wrong.'

Judge Large holds the military's most senior legal role since taking up the position in October.

He is an independent member of the judiciary and not a member of the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed.

Last week he was involved in the high profile court martial of Major General Nick Welch who was convicted of fraud by falsely claiming more than 48,000 in allowance to pay for his children's school fees.

Questioning the poor conviction rate in military tribunals for rape and sexual assaults, Judge Large blamed rapes within the Armed Forces on 'thoroughly good people' drinking too much

Along with a panel of senior officers, Judge Large sentenced Welch - the highest ranking officer to face a court martial for more than 200 years - to 21 months jail time at Bulford Military Court.

Col Philip Ingram, of the Independent Defence Authority, told Mail Online: 'On Thursday in his judgement of Major General Welch, Judge Large said: 'A disciplined organisation such as the army relies on those in rank and authority to set an example and be beyond reproach'.

'I don't think how someone who is heading the service judicial system who is a man of words by very dint of his appointment, can get his words so wrong where they can be interpreted that he is excusing rape and serious sexual assault.

Calling for him to 'consider his position' and resign, Col Ingram added: 'There is no excuse. We have gone beyond that.'

Emma Norton, Director of the Centre for Military Justice, added: 'It's important to place his remarks in context and he may not have intended them to be received in the way that they have been - but they were nonetheless harmful and revealing.

'We're supporting lots of women that continue to believe that the military system did not give them justice and they feel that there was an assumption that, because they had been drinking, they could not be believed.

'Remarks like this do nothing to allay those concerns. These difficult cases require expert and experienced police and prosecutors to handle them - and the Lyons review was absolutely clear that the civilian system is the best place for that to happen.'

In a letter after his appearance reported by The Sun, Judge Large said: 'I was not seeking in any way to excuse, or minimise, sexual assault and rape because people were drunk.'

A MoD spokesperson said: 'All sexual offences are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the Armed Forces.'

'We take each allegation very seriously, and anyone failing to meet the clear and high standards of behaviour required to serve in the Armed Forces will be dealt with robustly.'

'The Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces is part of the judiciary and is independent of the MoD.'
Beck Zemek is locked in a feud with 'villain' Bryce Ruthven on Married At First Sight.

And even though filming wrapped months ago, it seems the Perth business manager is still furious with the radio announcer for his questionable behaviour on the show.

Beck, 27, labelled Bryce, 31, an 'emotional manipulator' after witnessing him hurt his wife Melissa Rawson's feelings at Sunday's commitment ceremony.

Angry: Married At First Sight's Beck Zemek labelled Bryce Ruthven an 'emotional manipulator' during an interview with Today Extra on Monday, and also hit back at claims she's a 'bully'

'I still can't quite make sense of [his actions],' Beck said.

'I think someone is being a bit of an emotional manipulator and playing a bit of a victim at this stage,' she added.

Beck was then asked if she was a 'bully', after Bryce described her as one following her commentary about his relationship with Melissa.

Feud: Bryce and Beck are locked in a feud on Married At First Sight, as she continues to insist he flirted with her at the gym behind his wife Melissa Rawson's (left) back, which he denies

'That word, I think it was very rich coming from someone who had been telling his wife she didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes like he needed,' she said.

'I think Bryce was in a situation where I had called him out and I was only speaking my truth on how I felt,' she added.

'And I guess for him to think that's bullying and to write "leave"... [that's] very rich coming from Bryce.'

Pot, meet kettle: Beck said it was 'very rich' for Bryce (right) to call her a bully considering the way he's treated Melissa in the experiment

Many viewers have called Bryce a 'manipulator' and a 'bully' for his treatment of Melissa on Married At First Sight.

Meanwhile, he and Beck are locked in a feud as she continues to insist he flirted with her at the gym behind his wife Melissa's back, which he denies.

He shocked his co-stars at Sunday's commitment ceremony when he revealed he'd initially voted to leave the experiment, before crossing it out and writing 'stay'.

Bizarre: Bryce shocked his co-stars at Sunday's commitment ceremony when he revealed he'd initially voted to leave the experiment, before crossing it out and writing 'stay'

As he made no secret of his uncertainty about his marriage, Melissa revealed to the experts she was falling in love with Bryce.

The other couples were horrified, with Beck saying 'he doesn't care about her' and Patrick Dwyer muttering that he 'doesn't get' Bryce's logic.

Bryce later defended writing leave, saying he didn't want to break up with Melissa but instead wanted the couple to leave the 'toxic environment' of the experiment.

Awkward: As he made no secret of his uncertainty about his marriage, Melissa revealed to the experts she was falling in love with Bryce

'Me writing leave was to get her out of a toxic environment. It was me looking after her best interests, and for once in my life not being selfish,' he said.

After hearing his explanation, a visibly upset Melissa told producers: 'I had no idea that leave would even be considered. I'm still a little confused.'

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine

Not impressed: The other couples were horrified, with Beck (left, with Jake Edwards) saying 'he doesn't care about her' and Patrick muttering that he 'doesn't get' Bryce's logic

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 12:19:37|Editor: huaxia

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People take part in a caravan in Havana, Cuba, on March 28, 2021. A car, motorbike, and bicycle caravan on Sunday made its way through Havana's sea boulevard, demanding the lifting of the six-decades U.S. embargo against the island, known as "blockade" among the locals. (Xinhua/Zhu Wanjun)

by Yosley Carrero

HAVANA, March 28 (Xinhua)-- A car, motorbike, and bicycle caravan on Sunday made its way through Havana's sea boulevard, demanding the lifting of the six-decades U.S. embargo against the island, known as "blockade" among the locals.

Hundreds of car drivers, cyclists, and bikers lined up early in the morning by the city's harbor as part of a global initiative taking place in different parts of the world.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said that solidarity events have taken place across the world to condemn the unilateral policy toward the Caribbean nation.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. blockade is not only criminal, illegal, immoral, extraterritorial, and a gross violation of the international law, but we must also reinforce its genocidal character," he said.

Holding national flags and banners in support of the Cuban government, participants were greeted by the locals from balconies and portals.

Diosvany Acosta, first secretary of Cuba's Young Communist League, expressed his gratitude to all solidarity movements which have joined this initiative across the world.

"We demand the end of the U.S. blockade," he said.

While passing the U.S. Embassy building near the seawall, riders, drivers, and passengers in the caravan chanted patriotic slogans.

"We are committed to the present and future of the country." said Adrian Conde, a university student from Havana, while riding an electric scooter.

First imposed in 1962, the embargo was intensified by former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, which banned U.S. flights to Cuban cities except Havana, barred U.S. cruise ships and yachts from visiting the Caribbean nation, and limited remittances Cuban-Americans send to their families on the island. Enditem
Campus News

UBs Blackstone LaunchPad program earning national recognition

UB students Ryan Young (right) and Anders Rosen led startup Opollo Technologies to third place in the Blackstone LaunchPad National Pitch Competition. Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

By ROBERT SALISBURY

This achievement demonstrates the resources and development that were offering to our teams, and is allowing them to be competitive at the higher level. 

On Feb. 25, members of UBs Blackstone LaunchPad program looked on remotely as one of programs student teams, Opollo Technologies, placed third in this years Blackstone National Pitch Competition.

It marked the first time a UB team has ever placed in this national competition presented by Blackstone LaunchPad, a program designed to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

We paused our class, and I shared my screen to the live Zoom, recalls Hadar Borden, director of UBs Blackstone LaunchPad program. We got to celebrate with Ryan and Anders, which was really cool.

MD/MBA student Ryan Young, founder and CEO of Opollo Technologies, and MBA student Anders Rosen, chief sales and marketing officer, made UB LaunchPad history and received $10,000 for placing third.

The national pitch competition is an annual event in which teams of student entrepreneurs battle for national recognition and a monetary prize. Although held virtually this year, more than 60 teams from across the U.S. and Ireland competed.

In the end, UB saw its team on the leaderboard, an accomplishment that came just 10 days before the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the LaunchPad program to the UB campus.

Placing was really important, but its not just the placement that mattered, says Rosen. Its also about how the community came around us, as well as the amount of support, guidance and advice we got from Hadar Borden, Alex Pelc (the UB LaunchPads senior program coordinator) and Dave Thiemecke (startup client manager for UBs Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships).

Adds Young: No one circles the wagons better than the Buffalo startup community.

Opollo Technologies Ecosystem is a cloud-based, artificial intelligence platform that employs a wide range of health care data to optimize scheduling of operating rooms. It also provides a marketplace in which health insurance companies can obtain surgery slots for their customers that become available due to the increased efficiency in scheduling.

Opollo has been working with data from a large health care facility in Western New York. Initial results indicate its platform can save hospitals approximately $300 per surgery  $40 billion in potential savings industry-wide.

What was coming out of (the facilitys) electronic medical record system was accurate 30% of the time, within plus or minus 10 minutes, says Young. Thats really bad. They cant really plan their day at all. We want to give them a realistic estimate as to how long (surgeries) are going to take to prevent delays or fit in other surgeries.

While Young has been affiliated with the LaunchPad program since October 2019, hes been working on Opollo since the previous January.

People say Im insane for doing this, he says. But I wake up at 4:30 a.m. and start working on Opollo around 5:30 a.m. before class, and then after homework in the evenings. I go to bed around 11 p.m. and repeat that seven days a week.

A schedule like Youngs is difficult to maintain, especially without help. Thats where Rosen came into the picture. Young had the idea for Opollo and an algorithm built, but was having trouble navigating the marketing side of entrepreneurship.

I was a bit too technical and it was sometimes hard to understand, he says. And my presentation slides looked like garbage.

Young says Rosen has one of the best presentation styles he has ever seen, which made the decision to bring him on board a no-brainer.

While Rosen had worked in communications and marketing in higher education in Washington, D.C. for four and a half years, he doesnt attribute his success in marketing solely to his professional experience.

Im always proud to talk about my theater background, he says. Thats where I gained communication skills. Its storytelling, and I think that when it comes to starting a new business, telling the right story is one of the key aspects to bringing in your audience.

Opollos accomplishment is something Borden wants to build on within UBs LaunchPad program.

This achievement demonstrates the resources and devlopment that were offering to our teams, and is allowing them to be competitive at the higher level, she says. Students compete against institutions like NYU, UCLA and Texas A&M. Our students are on par with them, which shows we are doing the right things.
Policing runs in families. And in some cases, it runs, jumps, chases offenders, sniffs out drugs, weapons and cash, and loves a good ear scratch.

Over the coming weeks, Ten One talks to families with a common calling  police dogs. This week's feature is about the Lambs.

Senior Constable Bruce Lamb is one of New Zealand Polices longest-serving dog handlers. Now his son Michael has graduated as a dog handler with patrol dog Griffen, aka Griff.

Bruce joined Police as an 18-year-old 43 years ago and became a dog handler in 1987. Since then hes had six patrol dogs, three of which were AOS-trained.

Michael and Griff graduated from the Dog Training Centre at Trentham this month. Becoming a dog handler was a long-held ambition, and Michael had fostered a patrol dog and a detector dog before fostering and training Griff.

Bruce says he gets asked all the time about his best catches but that the ones that matter most to dog handlers are not necessarily the high-profile ones.

Its about how successful the dog is  the longest track, he says. You might find someone who stole a bike after a two-hour track, or you might find a more serious offender whos only gone four feet away hiding in a bush.

These days he works detector dogs. His first detector dog, Mylo, is now retiring and hes working with Luther, a young black Labrador.

For a detector dog handler, he says, the best catches are the ones where the dog picks up drugs that human officers may not have found alone. Not long ago Luther got $168,000 out of the lining of a car door.

The switch to detector dogs was one he always planned to make but it came sooner than expected. His last patrol dog was Gage, one of only two New Zealand dogs to have been awarded the PDSA Gold Medal for bravery.

Michael and Bruce at Michael's graduation from the Dog Training Centre.

On July 13, 2010, Bruce and Gage were executing what should have been a routine drug warrant in Phillipstown, Christchurch, when Bruce was shot in the jaw and knocked to the ground.

As the offender pointed the firearm at him, Gage leapt toward the offender from behind Bruce and was shot. The offender turned his gun on Constable Mitch Alatalo, shooting him in the leg.

Gage died, but Bruce and Mitch escaped and survived. Gage was probably the best patrol dog Ive ever worked, says Bruce.

Bruce has been shot at during three other incidents. He was also first on the scene at one of New Zealands first active shooter events, where a man was shot at random in Cathedral Square in 1989.

You might think having a father with such a history could put someone off a Police career. But two of the three children Bruce and wife Jill - also a former officer  raised have followed in his footsteps.

When Michael went to the Royal New Zealand Police College in 2015 a lot of people asked whether he knew what he was getting into, says Bruce. He did.

As a young fella I especially remember the feeling of comfort knowing that Dad and his dogs were out there catching 'bad guys' so I would be safe, says Michael. Now I hope Griff and I can pass that feeling on to others.

Dad has a good reputation in Police as the guy whos always getting stuck in and loves catching crooks.

"Over his career hes attracted his fair share of hairy situations, but thats what happens when he applies himself to his work like he does.

Bruces other son Christopher is currently working as a detective constable in Auckland City District.

Growing up around Dad and seeing someone that was respected by us kids, who was respected by the community and who just loved going to work, meant joining Police was never a hard choice for me, says Christopher.

He loves his career and now Im loving mine. When I was frontline and Dad was at work it was always funny and quite cute that when I got assigned a job, and Dad was not busy, DOGS 16 would perk up on the radio and say they could float that way.

He says having three immediate family members who were, or have been, in Police is the best support network.

I know Im going to be waking up to phone calls from Michael after hes caught someone from an amazing track.

Photo of Michael in first image courtesy of Senior Constable Jane Dunn

-Police Ten One Magazine.
KELOWNA, B.C. - Five people were stabbed at an outdoor gathering on Sunday near Kelowna, B.C.

KELOWNA, B.C. - Five people were stabbed at an outdoor gathering on Sunday near Kelowna, B.C.

The RCMP say they received a call at about 2 a.m. reporting that multiple victims had been stabbed.

Police say in a statement they found five victims suffering from stab wounds, two male youths and three adult men, who were all taken to hospital.

The RCMP say the severity of the injuries is not being disclosed at this time.

An adult male has been arrested and police say it's not believed there is any risk to the public.

Police say officers "flooded" the area after receiving the call and their investigation continues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the stabbings occurred in West Kelowna, B.C.
HOUSTON ? Guillermina (Gigi) Lozano, Ph.D., chair of Genetics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has been elected to the 2021 class of Fellows of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy in recognition of her pioneering work to describe the p53 tumor suppressor pathway, which is undermined in many cancers.

The mission of the AACR Academy is to recognize and honor distinguished scientists whose contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer. This year's class of 25 inductees joins 231 existing fellows in working collectively to advance the mission of the AACR.

With the addition of Lozano, MD Anderson is represented by 10 Fellows of the AACR Academy. Current members include James P. Allison, Ph.D., Ronald A. DePinho, M.D., V. Craig Jordan, Ph.D., Margaret L. Kripke, Ph.D., and Louise C. Strong, M.D. Former members, now deceased, include Isaiah J. Fidler, D.V.M., Ph.D., Emil J Freireich, M.D., Waun Ki Hong, M.D., and John Mendelsohn, M.D.

"We are excited to see Gigi honored for her enduring contributions to genetics and cancer research, which have paved the way for so many meaningful discoveries," said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. "With this honor, she joins a truly stellar group of scientists in the AACR, and we could not be prouder."

Lozano was the first to establish p53 as a transcriptional activator of other genes. She showed that common p53 mutants fail to launch transcription and also discovered the physiological importance of Mdm2 and Mdm4 in inhibiting p53 activity in development and cancer.

"Gigi's contributions to our understanding of cancer biology cannot be overstated, and we count ourselves fortunate to have her as part of our MD Anderson family," said Giulio F. Draetta, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer. "Her work highlights the importance of pursuing fundamental research questions that can lead us toward future breakthroughs in our mission to end cancer."

Lozano received her Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude in biology and mathematics from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University before joining MD Anderson in 1987, where she has remained, rising in rank to professor and chair in Genetics.

Lozano is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her many honors include the Hubert L. Olive Stringer Distinguished Chair in Oncology in Honor of Sue Gribble Stringer in 2018 from MD Anderson, and the AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship. In April 2018, she was awarded the President's Leadership Award for Advancing Women and Minority Faculty at MD Anderson. She also has received distinguished alumni awards from both her undergraduate and graduate alma maters.

###
RTHK: Philippines orders renewed lockdown as cases surge

Philippine officials placed Metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces, a region of more than 25 million people, back to a lockdown on Monday at the height of the Lenten and Easter holiday travel season as they scrambled to control an alarming surge in coronavirus infections.

Only workers, government security and health personnel and residents on urgent errands would be allowed out of homes during the week-long restrictions, which prohibited leisure trips and religious gatherings that forced the dominant Roman Catholic church to shift all its Holy Week and Easter activities online.

The renewed lockdown brought President Rodrigo Dutertes administration under fire for what critics say was its failed handling of the pandemic.

A curfew in the capital region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal was also expanded to 11 hours starting at 6 pm.

The rule now is stay home, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told ABS-CBN News. If we dont lock down again, our hospitals will be overwhelmed and the frontliners may not be able to help those who will seriously or critically get ill.

The Philippines has imposed one of the worlds longest police- and military-enforced coronavirus quarantines and lockdowns, which caused the economy last year to contract by 9.5 percent, the worst economic setback since the Philippines began issuing such economic data just after World War II.

The World Bank has downgraded its economic growth forecast for the Philippines this year with one of its chief economists saying the country has been less successful in the region in transitioning away from shutdowns to a more efficient containment strategy.

The Philippines has reported more than 721,800 confirmed Covid-19 cases with 13,170 deaths, the second highest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
An Australian father-of-eight will remain behind bars after he was denied bail during his first appearance in a Queensland court, accused of helping a terrorist arrange to travel to Syria to fight against government forces in 2013.

Ahmed Luqman Talib, 31, from Doncaster East in Melbournes north-east, was extradited from Victoria and applied for bail in Brisbane Arrest Courts on Monday after he and Gabriel Crazzi, 34, from Chambers Flat, south of Brisbane, were arrested in a counter-terrorism sting on Thursday.

Ahmed Luqman Talib in 2010 on the Gold Coast. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Mr Talib is charged with one count of preparations for foreign incursions into foreign states for purpose of engaging in hostile activities between September 1, 2013 and October 1, 2020.

He was born in Britain, left there aged four and eventually made his way to Australia. His father is a biostatistics professor and Mr Talib runs the family gemstone business, Talib & Sons.
press release

President Cyril Ramaphosa wishes the South African Jewish Community a Chag Pesach Kasher v'Sameach as they prepare to celebrate the festival of Pesach, beginning at sunset on 27 March.

"The Pesach holiday is a celebration of freedom, and a reminder of its universal meaning and importance," President Ramaphosa said.

"The story of the Exodus is common to all three monotheistic faiths; its retelling during the traditional seder is an opportunity to reflect on the struggle for freedom, and to educate the next generation about its value," the President said.

The Pesach festival also represents a story of triumph over adversity, from which all South Africans can draw inspiration in our continued effort to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and emerge stronger as a nation.

"As we head towards Freedom Day, I call on South Africans to contribute actively to building a society that promotes and advances freedom for all," President Ramaphosa said.
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Crowds of revelers descended on Miami Beach on Sunday but dispersed without the chaos seen in previous weekends.

Several hundred Spring Breakers gathered to dance and drink along Ocean Drive but the majority scattered when police arrived minutes after an 8pm curfew went into effect, and ordered them to leave the area.

Curfews were put into place on March 20, after Spring Breakers took over the popular party drag and threw Covid precautions to the wind.

Local authorities have clashed with the largely maskless crowds as they tried to break up densely packed streets and encourage mask wearing amid the pandemic.

Florida is a sometime-hotspot for COVID-19, but also a baffling success story as its COVID-19 cases remained on par with more careful states like California.

But the state has seen more than two million coronavirus cases and 33,000 deaths - and new daily infections are back on the rise, with the seven-day rolling average rising to 5,600, including 4,943 diagnosed Sunday.

The Miami Herald reported a small confrontation as the crowd moved from Ocean Drive toward Washington Avenue, but the tension between partiers and police seems to finally be dissipating.

Crowds of revelers descended on Miami Beach on Sunday but dispersed without the chaos seen in previous weekends. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Sunday

Several hundred Spring Breakers gathered to dance and drink along Ocean Drive. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Sunday

Florida has seen more than two million coronavirus cases and 33,000 deaths in total - and new daily infections are back on the rise, with the seven-day rolling average rising to 5,600, including 4,943 diagnosed Sunday

The majority of revelers scattered after police arrived minutes after an 8pm curfew came into effect and ordered them to leave the area. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Sunday

A man gave the middle finger to a police officer, yelling 'F*** 12' - a term for the police.

The man reappeared minutes later, leaping on top of a police car yelling the same before jumping off and running away, the paper reported.

The situation did not escalate though as officers chose not to pursue the man and the crowd thinned out soon after.

Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez told the Miami Herald that this weekend saw fewer crowds and 'no significant issues.' Pictured: Police officers arrive to enforce the 8pm curfew on Sunday

The police response on Sunday was markedly different to that seen in recent weeks, when officers made headlines for pepper spraying and body slamming tourists. Pictured: Partygoers leave Ocean Drive on Sunday

Florida is now seeing an average of 5,600 cases a day, with 3,614 recorded Sunday (left). States' records of COVID-19 deaths per day typically lag. Florida's health department shows one new death on Saturday and none on Sunday (right)

The Miami Herald reported that by 8:30pm on Sunday, two police officers were seen leaning against a car smoking cigars with no revelers in sight. Pictured: Police arrive to enforce an 8pm curfew on Sunday

Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez told the Miami Herald that this weekend saw fewer crowds and 'no significant issues.'

The paper reported that by 8:30pm on Sunday, two police officers were seen leaning against the same car the man had jumped on earlier. They were smoking cigars and there were no revelers in sight.

The police response was markedly different to that seen in recent weeks, when officers made headlines for pepper spraying and body slamming tourists.

Miami Beach has been in chaos for several weeks as thousands of tourists flooded the city to celebrate Spring Break. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Sunday

Dozens of guns have been confiscated and more than 1,000 arrests made as revelers packed the streets despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Sunday

On March 20, the Miami Beach City Commission unanimously decided during an emergency meeting to introduce an 8pm curfew. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Sunday

Dozens of guns have been confiscated and more than 1,000 arrests made as revelers packed the streets despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Spring Breakers have flouted measures like masking and social distancing over the past several weeks, especially in Florida where partiers mobbed streets in Miami's South Beach area, prompting the deployment of SWAT teams and police forces.

On March 20, the Miami Beach City Commission unanimously decided during an emergency meeting to introduce an 8pm curfew.

The curfew and road closures were extended the following day until the end of Spring Break on April 12.

Despite a lax attitude toward Covid restrictions, the state saw a precipitous decline in new coronavirus infections between January and mid-March - but cases are beginning to rise again, with a seven-day rolling average of nearly 5,600.

That's an increase of about 25 percent since March 13.

And the average age of newly infected people has fallen to 30 in Orange County, where Orlando is located, according to Click Orlando.

The curfew and road closures were extended on March 21 until the end of Spring Break on April 12. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Sunday

In a video statement last week, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber stressed that many of the vacationers were not 'college kids on their vacation,' but rather visitors who are traveling with criminal intentions. Pictured: Police and partygoers on Sunday

Officials have also expressed concerns that the influx of tourists may cause a spike in coronavirus cases, already high in the county. Pictured: Partygoers leave Ocean Drive on Sunday

In a video statement last week, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber stressed that many of the vacationers were not 'college kids on their vacation,' but rather visitors who are traveling with criminal intentions.

'Over the last weeks and longer, our city has been one of the only true destination cities open for business anywhere,' Gelber said.

'While most of our guests come here for all the reasons we hope they do and follow rules, there are clearly too many coming here with other ideas. And some are bringing guns.'

On Sunday, Miami Dade County reported 1,062 new coronavirus cases. There have been more than 2.4million cases in Florida since the pandemic began last year. Pictured: A woman dances in front of a police car as curfew comes in effect on Sunday

At least 33,177 people have died from coronavirus in Florida since the pandemic began last year. Pictured: Police officers enforce an 8pm curfew on Sunday

The majority of partygoers left quietly on Sunday when police arrived. Pictured: Police officers enforce an 8pm curfew on Sunday

Officials also expressed concerns that the influx of tourists may cause a spike in coronavirus cases, already high in the county.

On Sunday, Miami Dade County reported 1,062 new coronavirus cases. There have been more than 2.4million cases in Florida since the pandemic began last year.

At least 33,177 people have died from coronavirus in the state.

The curfew was introduced to attempt to manage the massive influx of rowdy tourists in Miami Beach. Pictured: Police enforce an 8pm curfew on Sunday

It is hoped the curfew will help curb the spread of coronavirus in the county. Pictured: Partygoers leave Ocean Drive as police arrive to enforce an 8pm curfew on Sunday
FAU professor receives prestigious 'blaise pascal medal' for engineering

Florida Atlantic University's Isaac Elishakoff, Ph.D., a distinguished research professor in the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, has received the coveted "Blaise Pascal Medal" for engineering from the European Academy of Sciences. Named after the great 17th century French mathematician-physicist-philosopher, the Blaise Pascal Medal was established in 2003 to recognize outstanding and demonstrated personal contributions to science and technology and the promotion of excellence in research and education.

The European Academy of Sciences is a nonprofit non-governmental, independent organization of the most distinguished scholars and engineers performing forefront research and development of advanced technologies, united by a commitment to promoting science and technology and their essential roles in fostering social and economic development. One of the most important objectives of the academy is the promotion of fundamental research and excellence in science and technology.

"The European Academy of Science's Blaise Pascal Medal for engineering is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of innovation and engineering, and we are incredibly proud of professor Elishakoff for receiving this most well-deserved recognition," said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science. "As one of our most distinguished researchers, professor Elishakoff has made pioneering contributions in several areas of applied mechanics research and education, which have impacted the global advancement of business, culture and learning."

Elishakoff is a fellow of the European Academy of Sciences; a fellow of European Academy of Arts and Sciences; a foreign member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences; a full member of the Academy of Engineering, Georgia; a fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics; a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and a fellow of the Japan Society of Promotion of Science.

Among the numerous awards and recognition he has received include the Bathsheva de Rothschild prize (1973); the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' "Worcester Reed Warner Medal in Literature" (2016) for seminal contributions to the permanent literature of engineering research through highly praised books and numerous breakthrough research papers over the past 40 years; and the "William B. Johnson Inter-Professional Founder's Award," in recognition of a lifetime achievement of accomplishments in applied mechanics research and instruction (2019).

Over the course of his career, Elishakoff's research activities have been supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA Kennedy Space Center; NASA Langley Research Center; NASA Glenn Research Center; ICASE-NASA Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering; and the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research.

Elishakoff has made pioneering contributions in several areas including random vibrations; nonlinear buckling of structures; structural reliability; dynamic stability of structures with imperfections; stochastic modeling and linearization; computerized symbolic algebra; and random vibrations and reliability of composite structures; among others. He has published 17 books, edited 14 books and authored or co-authored more than 550 original papers in leading national and international journals and conference proceedings and has lectured at about 200 national and international meetings and seminars, including 62 invited, plenary or keynote lectures. He has lectured worldwide in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia.

Born in Kutaisi, Republic of Georgia, Europe, Elishakoff holds a Ph.D. in dynamics and strength of machines from the Power Engineering Institute and Technical University in Moscow, Russia. Prior to joining FAU, he taught at the Abkhazian University, Sukhumi, Republic of Georgia for one year, and at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa for 18 years. He also has occupied several visiting positions.

Elishakoff was an inaugural holder of the Frank M. Freimann Chair Professorship of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana (1985-1986) as well as the Henry J. Massman, Jr. Chair Professorship of Civil Engineering (1986-1987). In 2000, he served as the inaugural holder of the W.T. Koiter Chair Professorship at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. In summer 2007, he served as a visiting professor of civil engineering at the Ariel University Center, Israel. He also served as a visiting eminent scholar at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China (2007, 2009 and 2010). From 2014 to 2018, he served as a visiting distinguished professor at the Technion at the auspices of the Edmond Safra Foundation; in 2015, he served as a distinguished visiting fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, and in 2019, he served as the S.P. Timoshenko Scholar at Stanford University.

In addition to extensive research, Elishakoff has developed numerous undergraduate and graduate courses, including the first engineering course worldwide, "Design for Homeland Security." Since 1988, he has served as the general advisory editor for publications on vibration, stability and reliability for the series "Studies in Applied Mechanics and Developments in Civil Engineering" of Elsevier Science Publishers, Oxford, England. He also serves on the advisory editorial board of the Springer book series in "Risk Engineering." In 2012, he was appointed as the scientific editor of the series "Mechanical Engineering and Solid Mechanics" by ISTE-Wiley Publishers, London.

###

About FAU's College of Engineering and Computer Science:

The FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science is internationally recognized for cutting edge research and education in the areas of computer science and artificial intelligence (AI), computer engineering, electrical engineering, bioengineering, civil, environmental and geomatics engineering, mechanical engineering, and ocean engineering. Research conducted by the faculty and their teams expose students to technology innovations that push the current state-of-the art of the disciplines. The College research efforts are supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Education (DOEd), the State of Florida, and industry. The FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science offers degrees with a modern twist that bear specializations in areas of national priority such as AI, cybersecurity, internet-of-things, transportation and supply chain management, and data science. New degree programs include Masters of Science in AI (first in Florida), Masters of Science in Data Science and Analytics, and the new Professional Masters of Science degree in computer science for working professionals. For more information about the College, please visit eng.fau.edu.

About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the University has doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where traditional achievement gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S. News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit http://www. fau. edu .

This story has been published on: 2021-03-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Reuters Videos

Location: Guanimar, CubaThis man has spent 20 years caring for 100 pelicans(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: [SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PELICAN] "They come from Florida every year, they come at the end of December, and they are here with me for six months. For six months, I feed them, take care of them, deworm them with what I have because I don't have any medication."Carrillo says he gathers leftovers from the village for his friendsand cures them if they have any injuries, like those caused by fishing hooks(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING: "I do it because 20 years ago, people hunted them, fished them, and killed them Now the law is going to be more severe. You can't kill them; you have to respect them. I've had problems because of this, not with the beachgoers, the beachgoers respect it, but with those who come from outside."Nicknames for the migrating pelicans include 'Michel the noble and 'Panchito the affectionate'(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PELICAN CARETAKER LEONARDO CARRILLO, SAYING:"There are some that I name. They may all look the same but in reality each one has different characteristics. I go by that. It's like my cats. There are 20 black cats, but they always have a trait that I can identify them with."
TOO KamaTyresKZ (a joint venture of Russian oil company Tatneft, TOO AllurTyres and the Ministries of the Republic of Kazakhstan) has announced a package of agreements confirming the provision of state support measures for the construction of a tire manufacturing factory in Saran, Kazakhstan.

The documents regulate the main agreements of the parties on investment preferences during the construction of the factory, the investment obligations of TOO KamaTyresKZ, as well as the conditions for Kazakhstan to extend a land plot grant-in-kind for the implementation of the investment project.

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The joint venture establishment provides for the construction of a new factory in Kazakhstan, with an annual capacity of 3 million passenger and light truck tires, as well as 500,000 SSC truck tires. Investment in the project is intended to be US$284m. Production is expected to start in 2022, with the factory expected to reach the full design capacity in 2024.

There will be 1,116 jobs created within the project. Car tires will be sent to Russia, Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries.
The illegal migrants were rescued in two separate operations by the Libyan Coast Guard, Xinhua news agency quoted the UN migration agency as saying on Sunday.

Tripoli, March 29 (IANS) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that 483 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libya's western coast.

"While IOM teams were there to provide emergency assistance, including medical support, we maintain that Libya is not a safe port," it said.

The agency estimated that more than 4,500 illegal migrants were intercepted or rescued so far this year off Libyan coast and ended up in arbitrary detention.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores, in order to escape insecurity and chaos that have plagued Libya since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

In 2020, a total of 11,891 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the agency estimated.

It added that 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the central Mediterranean route during the same period.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centres across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centres.

--IANS

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Last week the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the national government's plan to tax carbon emissions was legal in a decision that could have significant implications for the nation's climate-focused startup companies.

The ruling put an end to roughly two years of legal challenges and could set the stage for a boom in funding and commercial support for Canadian startup companies developing technologies to curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to investors and entrepreneurs representing some of the world's largest utilities and petrochemical companies.

"The high price on carbon has the potential to make Canada a powerhouse for scaling up breakthrough decarbonization technologies and for deploying solutions like carbon capture, industrial electrification, and hydrogen electrolysis," said one investor who works with a fund that backs startups on behalf of large energy businesses.

This 2018 Greenhouse Gas Pricing Act is the cornerstone of the Canadian climate policy pushed through by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It establishes minimum pricing standards that all provinces have to meet but gives the provinces the ability to set higher prices. So far, seven of the nation's 13 provinces are currently paying the "backstop" rate set by the national government.

That price is C$30 per tonne of carbon dioxide released, but is set to rise to C$170 per tonne by 2030. That figure is just a bit higher than the current prices that Californians are charged under the state's carbon pricing plan and roughly four times the price on carbon set by the Northeastern Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Image Credits: Gencho Petkov (opens in a new window) / Shutterstock (opens in a new window)

Under the plan, much of the money raised through the tax levied by the Canadian government would be used to support projects and technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or create more sustainable approaches to industry.

Story continues

"Climate change is real. It is caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities, and it poses a grave threat to humanity's future," Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote, on behalf of the majority, in the Supreme Court ruling.

Three provinces -- Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan challenged the legality of the greenhouse gas policy, and Alberta's challenge was allowed to proceed to the high court -- holding up the national implementation of the pricing scheme.

With the roadblocks removed, entrepreneurs and investors around the world expect the carbon scheme to quickly boost the prospects of Canadian startups.

"This represents underlying government support and a huge pot of money. If you wanted macro support for an underlying shift in sectoral developments that could substantiate and support tech companies working on climate change mitigation what better then when the government has told you that we care about this and money is free?" said BeZero Carbon founder, Tommy Ricketts. "There couldnt be a better condition for startups in Canada."

Companies that stand to directly benefit from a carbon tax in Canada include businesses like Kanin Energy, which develops decarbonization projects, including waste heat to power; CERT, which is currently competing in the carbon Xprize and is working on a way to convert carbon dioxide to ethylene; and SeeO2, a company also working on carbon dioxide conversion technologies.

Geothermal technologies like Quaise and Eavor could also see a boost, as will companies that focus on the electrification of the transportation industry in Canada.

Farther afield are the companies like Planetary Hydrogen, which combines hydrogen production and carbon capture in a way that also contributes to ocean de-acidification.

"Think about the gas at the pump. That is going to get charged extra," said one investor who works for the venture arm of one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, who was not authorized to speak to the press. "For cleaner energy the price will definitely be reduced. And think about where this tax is going. Most of the tax is going to go to government funding into cleantech or climate-tech companies. So you have a double boost for startups in the carbon footprint reduction area."

Early Stage is the premier "how-to" event for startup entrepreneurs and investors. Youll hear firsthand how some of the most successful founders and VCs build their businesses, raise money and manage their portfolios. Well cover every aspect of company building: Fundraising, recruiting, sales, product-market fit, PR, marketing and brand building. Each session also has audience participation built-in -- theres ample time included for audience questions and discussion. Use code TCARTICLE" at checkout to get 20% off tickets right here.
SPRINGFIELD  Municipal and health officials on Monday blamed multiple factors  including people easing up on safeguards such as wearing face coverings  for a 76% jump in new COVID-19 cases in the city over the past week.

There were 546 new COVID-19 infections among Springfield residents on March 21-27, reflecting an increase of 236 cases from the previous week. The number of cases had been declining in recent weeks, including 310 new COVID cases among residents on the week, of March 14-20, city health officials said.

Baystate Health reported a 62 percent increase from the level of hospitalized patients in its four Western Massachusetts facilities from two weeks ago.

Community spread is still with us, said Helen R. Caulton-Harris, the citys commissioner of Health and Human Services. This pandemic is not over.

There has been an uptick in college cases, and there is potentially an uptick from St. Patricks Day, said Caulton-Harris and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

Another factor is the opening up the Commonwealth as well as the nation to less restrictions, she said.

Travel has increased, were seeing people out without their masks on, Caulton-Harris said. It is important again to acknowledge that were still in this pandemic. Face coverings or masks are still mandated. Nothing has changed about that.

Caulton-Harris said it is disheartening to me that there has been individuals in our community, and around the Commonwealth and nation who still do not see the value of wearing a mask. It does save lives.

Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, also voiced concern that despite the increase in vaccinations in Massachusetts and nationwide, many seem to be letting down their guard.

Im sorry report that we are entering a new third surge of our pandemic, Keroack said.

It seems to be a different version of the pandemic in which the majority of people are young and unvaccinated, Keroack said.

The number of patients with COVID-19 has risen to 78 cases at Baystate Health, as compared to 48 cases just two weeks ago, Keroack said.

Mercy Medical Center reported having 13 patients with COVID-19 as compared to 10 patients a week ago.

On a positive note, there were no new deaths reported among Springfield residents in the latest report. There have been 232 residents whose deaths are related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began more than a year ago.

The Police Department, which had been reporting one or two officers out of work due to COVID in recent weeks, said there were 10 officers out on Monday, and one academy recruit.

Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said it appeared to be younger officers, and those choosing not to get vaccinations which were offered first to police and other first-responders. In addition, the infections seem not to be job-related, but home-related, she said.

Sarno pledged that the city will expand neighborhood vaccination sites as soon as more vaccines are allocated from the state. The city has multiple neighborhood pop-up sites that provided more than 1,000 vaccines last week.

The state continues to operate a mass vaccination site at the Eastfield Mall on Boston Road.

Caulton-Harris said that 76% of those getting vaccines at neighborhood sites are neighborhood residents and from communities of color, as is the focus of having those small sites.

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(TNS)  George Floyd pleading for his life under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has become a defining moment of our time.What began 10 months ago at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue has transformed into nothing less than an American reckoning on justice, racial equity, the proper role of law enforcement and the historical wrongs society has perpetrated on Black people.Monday morning, that moment leads to the 18th-floor courtroom of the Hennepin County Government Center, where a jury will begin to hear a murder and manslaughter case against since-fired police officer Derek Chauvin.The trial itself is about what happened that May evening, but it will also be a vessel into which a splintered society places its rage, anxieties and hopes. Like the trial after Rodney King's beating, like the trial after Emmett Till's murder, like the Scottsboro Boys' trial, this case will be viewed as another chapter  perhaps a turning point  in America's racial history."Everything is riding on the outcome of the trial," said Keith Mayes, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota's Department of African American and African Studies. "Yes, Chauvin is on trial, and it's about the Floyd murder.  But an argument can be made it's about all the other folks that didn't receive justice, too. That's why a conviction is necessary for us to reimagine what a future can look like, because these cases continue to happen until the police are thoroughly reformed."Still, while some look at Chauvin as emblematic of law enforcement as an institution that's misguided at best or racist at worst, others see what happened last Memorial Day as an anomaly: that Floyd's death was the rare exception instead of proof that police are the bad guys."I try in my head to better understand that broad-brush mentality, but I have a hard time," said Tim Leslie, the Dakota County sheriff. "If a plumber gets arrested for DUI, are all plumbers drunks? If a pilot crashes a plane, are all pilots incompetent? No. Yet Chauvin does that, he murders somebody, and all law enforcement needs to be reformed. Is that the same?"When Mayes saw the Floyd video, the 53-year-old professor had a visceral reaction: What if that were me?"You almost see yourself lying on the ground with the police officer's knee on your own neck," Mayes said. "You can't help but  be engulfed in this kind of anger and rage and disappointment in the system that continues to allow this to happen."Growing up in Harlem, Mayes had two distinct types of interactions with police: One with housing police, who were familiar and respectful, and the other with city police, who were feared. Decades later, even as an author with an Ivy League degree, those feelings linger.After Floyd's death, Mayes joined protests and paid respects at 38th and Chicago. That's how he processed it: by sharing his grief with the grief of the community. He thought about George Floyd, but he also thought about Philando Castile, and Jamar Clark, and Amadou Diallo, the Guinean immigrant killed by New York police while Mayes lived in New York."I put this incident along this spectrum of other incidents," he said, "where police either assaulted or killed Black people. And they just get stacked up."For police officers, the national debate about where the profession falls short has often felt jarring and unfair."We've disappointed some of our constituency  that's the bottom line," said Leslie, the sheriff in Dakota County. "We have to take a look in the mirror and figure that out."The past year has been an emotional whirlwind for police. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, they were painted as heroes; after Floyd died, they were painted as villains.Leslie has tried to think deeply about the issues Floyd's death brought up. He's read books such as "How to Be an Antiracist" and "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man." He's hired a community outreach and equity coordinator, and he's focused more on deputies' mental health.But Leslie has been in law enforcement for four decades. He knows innumerable police officers who went into the field for honorable reasons. He knows policing is an emotional profession to begin with: seeing dead bodies, dealing with people in crisis, always remaining on edge. The past year has made it more so."We're in a really tough spot right now," he said. "We're supposed to deal with people with mental illness, chemical addiction, all sorts of family drama, poverty, undereducated. These are not police problems. These are social problems. We're trying to be everything for everyone, and I'm not sure we're able to do that without disappointing some people sometimes."Chauvin's knee became a symbol of Black oppression worldwide: in Australia and Japan, in France and Germany, in Kazakhstan and Indonesia.The case "has really become a global indictment of police forces," said Brenda Stevenson, a professor of history and African American studies at UCLA. "This is now representative of what happens everywhere  at least, that's what many people believe.  People are really watching to see if the U.S. can get it right this time."Thabi Myeni, a 23-year-old law student in Johannesburg, South Africa, had been to plenty of protests before last spring  mostly over racial equity in tuition fees.When Myeni saw the video of Floyd's death, she thought it would be another example of racial injustice going unnoticed. "I had no idea it would spark a global movement," she said.What changed for her was when South Africa's ruling party decried Floyd's killing as a "heinous murder." It struck Myeni as hypocrisy. While Americans protested Floyd's death, South Africans were protesting the death of a man named Collins Khosa. Khosa lived in Johannesburg's poor Alexandria township, and he was beaten to death by soldiers who said Khosa had been drinking alcohol in public, a violation of COVID-19 lockdown rules.After Floyd's death, Myeni organized a march to Parliament. Racial justice protests were sweeping more than 60 countries around the world, but in South Africa, they felt especially resonant. It has been nearly three decades since apartheid ended, and yet institutionalized segregation still has a long tail in South Africa. It was, she thought, no different from America's legacy of slavery and Jim Crow."These things are transnational in nature, the global nature of Black oppression," she said. "I think of America as I think of South Africa, where the government  the people of power, the people of privilege  don't want to acknowledge racism still exists."For some, Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck told a story of America's history of racism. Calls for an overhaul of policing  to defund or even abolish police  also functioned as calls to disrupt America's power structures.The reason Floyd's death had more impact than other instances of police violence is simple, said James Mulvaney, a law enforcement professor who worked in New York's Division of Human Rights. Technology made Floyd's death immediate, graphic and personal."We're no longer viewing these things through a telescope  we're witnessing them in our living rooms," Mulvaney said. "America watched George Floyd die at our house."In the months since, police reform has become a heated topic in Minnesota and around the country.Brendan Cox, the former Albany, N.Y., police chief who now works as Director of Policing Strategies at the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion National Support Bureau, believes the message needs to be the system cannot be fixed by police alone."If the community does not trust us not only as individuals but as a system, then we really can't do our job," he said.Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City who has written extensively about police training, has been frustrated with the national conversation about policing after Floyd's death. Too much has been driven by loud voices instead of insightful ones, she said. The better discussion, she believes, should have been about centralizing America's police system. Each state having a single police force would help funding and streamline training.Chauvin "is a classic example of someone who should not be on the job, who was poorly trained," Haberfeld said. "I didn't see all the unrest [Floyd's death] would trigger, but in a way to me I was waiting for something of that nature. I've been writing about this for 20 years. And nobody's been listening."The cataclysmic national moment that began 10 months ago at the corner of 38th and Chicago will not come to a tidy end at the conclusion of Chauvin's trial. The three other officers at the scene are scheduled to be tried in August, and Floyd's death is certain to reverberate much longer than that.But Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the civil rights icon, said he believes the impact of this trial cannot be overstated. An acquittal would mean our criminal justice system must be rethought, he said."It may set a tone for how people perceive whether justice can be achieved, specifically for Black people," King said. "Nothing brings this young man's life back.  But his legacy can be that his tragic death mobilized people all over the nation and the world so that we don't go backward, but we as a world community go forward in terms of addressing racial issues."
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Monday, March 29, 2021

Hat Tip: The leg work for this story belongs to David Reitzes and Stephen Roy.

This story starts with the FBI interview of Layton Martens, which is contained in Warren Commission Document 75 :

Martens tells the FBI that "Gill stated he had gotten word that Lee Oswald, when he was picked up, had been carrying a library card with David Ferrie's name on it..."

The FBI then spoke to Gill :

Gill contacted Hardy Davis who "then informed him that he had learned through hearsay when Oswald was arrested by the Police Department in Dallas, Texas, he had in his possession a library card of DAVID. W. FERRIE. DAVIS also informed him that his source of information, Jack Martin..."

They also talked to Hardy Davis:

Davis confirmed that the library card story originated with Jack Martin.

And then they talked with Jack Martin:

Martin confirms he talked to Hardy Davis about Oswald possessing David Ferrie's library card. So, the story started with Martin; he called Hardy Davis; who then called G. Wray Gill; who then told Layten Martens. And, as we know, Jack Martin was incredibly unreliable - and had a grudge against David Ferrie.

The FBI then asked David Ferrie about Oswald's library card:

Ferrie showed the FBI his library card. After being questioned by the FBI, David Ferrie called Edward Voebel to ask him if he knew anything about Oswald . He told Ferrie about Oswald and CAP (which led to Ferrie calling the FBI back to tell them that Oswald might have been in the same CAP unit. But, Voebel might have told Ferrie something else - and it meshed with the questions about the library card.

And in Warren Commission Document 365, Voebel says that Oswald might have attended a party at David Ferrie's apartment .

And so Voebel probably told Ferrie that Oswald might have attended a party at Ferrie's apartment. Ferrie threw a lot of parties for the boys in CAP, might Oswald have been at one of them, and might he have taken a library card [don't forget we are talking about the party being in 1955] or other documents?

On November 23, 1963, the New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a story on Lee Harvey Oswald.

The story mentioned the neighbors who lived on either side of the Oswalds - Doris Eames, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Garner. It's quite probably that Ferrie saw this article, and he decided to pay them both a visit to ask them about his library card.

Here is a Garrison report of an interview with Doris Eames:

Garrison's investigators visited the Eames resident again in 1969 and here one page from that memo:

What's interesting is that Mrs. Eames said the visit by Ferrie was on November 26, 1963, well after the article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Mrs. Jesse Garner testified in the Clay Shaw trial for the defense. Here is part of her testimony .

Mrs. Garner is not sure which night Ferrie visited - but we know it's impossible he was there on the evening of the assassination, or the next night, because he had driven to Houston. According to Stephen Roy: (unpublished manuscript Perfect Villain)

"While it is certainly possible that David Ferrie visited Garner and asked about the library card, her conviction that it was the night of November 22 is problematic. Ferrie's activities from about 4:00 PM through the end of that night are accounted for by his companions, Alvin Roland Beauboeuf and Melvin Stacey Coffey. Neither mentioned any such visit, and Beauboeuf is adamant today that no such visit occurred on November 22. It couldn't have been Saturday, November 23, because Ferrie was in Houston. Ferrie's activities on Sunday, November 24 are also accounted for by Beauboeuf and Coffey up to about midnight, and no such visit occurred. And on Monday night, November 25, Ferrie was in jail. So the earliest it could have occurred would seem to be the evening of Tuesday, November 26."

So, given the statement of Mrs. Eames, and the fact that Ferrie learned the identifies of Garner and Eames from the Times-Picayune, it all fits that he visited them on November

26, 1963.

Before we get to the conspiracy books, I want to post what Stephen Roy posted on a bulletin board about this incident:

Presuming he was telling the truth about not recalling Oswald, put yourself in Ferrie's mind in November 1963. You just found out that the man who allegedly killed the president was in your CAP unit 8 years ago. Someone is alleging that he had your library card in his possession, but you have no other details. You have just been arrested and questioned by the police, DA, FBI and Secret Service. Your name has been mentioned in the press. Well, he couldn't have my current library card, 'cause it's in my wallet. Could he have one of my old library cards?(All through his 10-plus years with the CAP, Ferrie threw parties to which dozens of kids came, and they brought friends. Alcohol was served.)

Before he found out that Martin was the source of the story, he worried that it might be true, that one of his old cards had ended up in Oswald's hands, presumably from the time they served in the CAP.

This is what Ferrie told people. I am not endorsing it, but I don't find it silly or implausible at all, given the situation Ferrie found himself in.

Conspiracy theorists have had a field day with this story. Let's start with Jim Garrison. Here is what he told Dutch researcher William Oltmans in an interview from 1968.

What was Garrison's source?

In 1970, Jim Garrison discussed Ferrie's library card in his book A Heritage of Stone: (page 1119)

"Oswald had a library card on him when arrested, but the card is not available for public examination. We must presume that the Secret Service agents were reasonable men and that that there was something about the card on Oswald which made them think that it belonged to David Ferrie. Otherwise it would be meaningless to place in its investigative report Ferrie's denial that it was his. If, for example, Oswald had a library card on him bearing the name George Washington, it would not be reasonable to state in an investigative report that David Ferrie denied lending his library card to Lee Oswald. It is fair to conclude that the Secret Service knew that a library card bearing Ferrie's name had been found on Oswald at the time of his arrest. Conceivably, the federal investigators believed that Oswald, not being built into one of history's greatest criminals, had crowned his achievements by stealing David Ferrie's library card."

While Oswald's library card might not have been in the Warren Commission volumes (they did publish his application for the card), Commission Document #75 lists the books taken out by Oswald using his own card.

Oswald's New Orleans Public Library card did exist. Here is a picture of his card:

Not surprisingly, the nonsense about the library cards disappeared in Garrison's book On The Trail of the Assassins.

James DiEugenio, in his book Destiny Betrayed, writes:

"For in the wake of the assassination, Ferrie was doing something that was more than faintly suspicious. In fact it could be noted that, as prosecutors like Vincent Bugliosi like to say, Ferrie was showing "consciousness of guilt." For it appears he was trying to confiscate the evidence that he was ever associated with Oswald. Within the space of five days, he did this at least three times, Oswald's former landlady in New Orleans told several sources, including the HSCA, that Ferrie was her door in search of his library card. He thought he may have loaned it to Oswald and wanted to retrieve it from his room. Even though Oswald had left New Orleans two months previous, Ferrie was looking for it now. But, as William Davy as noted, what is so startling about this testimony is that Ferrie was at her door on the day of the assassination, before he left for Texas."

It is true that Mrs. Jesse Garner did tell the HSCA that Ferrie visited her on the evening of the assassination. But when she testified in the Shaw trial, she was less certain of the exact date. And, the HSCA was skeptical of this part of her testimony.

DiEugenio also adds "But several researchers did talk to Mrs. Garner afterwards. She said that Ferrie had returned to search for his library card. He thought he had given it to Oswald and wanted to retrieve it from his room." There is no evidence that David Ferrie ever thought that at all - and not surprisingly, there is no footnote for that last sentence.

It wasn't consciousness of guilt that drove David Ferrie. It was just the opposite - he was trying to run down rumors that had started with Jack Martin, nothing more, and nothing less. There was nothing for him to "confiscate."

Previous Blog Posts of Interest
The section passing Bac Lieu province of National Highway 1

The My Thuan Project Management Unit has just proposed the Ministry of Transport to appraise the pre-feasibility study of the Can Tho-Ca Mau Expressway project.

Accordingly, the 156km expressway will begin at the Cha Va intersection in Binh Minh town, Vinh Long province, about 4.5km downstream from Can Tho Bridge, and will end at the intersection of Tac Van route, bypassing National Highway 1 through Ca Mau city. The route will travel through six localities in the Mekong Delta including Vinh Long, Can Tho, Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau, with Soc Trang and Bac Lieu accommodating the longest road stretches of 64.56km and 51.89km.

The construction will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will include a two-lane road surface of 13.75m in width, accommodating travelling speeds of up to 80kmh, as well as a 5m-wide local road.

The construction will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will include a two-lane road surface of 13.75m in width, accommodating travelling speeds of up to 80kmh, as well as a 5m-wide local road.

Once reaching completion, the route will be upgraded to four lanes with 24.75m in total width. Particularly, the 30.9km section crossing with the Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang Expressway will be built with a scale of six lanes, 32.25m wide with a designed speed of 100kmh.

According to the My Thuan Project Management Unit, the Can Tho-Ca Mau Expressway project is divided into two component projects. The first one from Can Tho to Bac Lieu will use approximately VND37.611 trillion ($1,629 billion) of public capital from the medium-term public investment plan for 2021-2025.

The second one will go from Bac Lieu to Ca Mau under the management of Ca Mau People's Committee. It will have an investment capital of around VND64 trillion ($2,774 billion) and will be implemented under the public-private partnership (PPP) format as directed by the prime minister in August 2020.

The Can Tho-Ca Mau Expressway will provide an axis for the Mekong Delta, connecting the region's economic centre with the southernmost tip of the country and completing the regional road network and reducing the load on National Highway 1, serving as a gateway to major urban centres.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-28 22:45:18|Editor: huaxia

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Photo shows the Tencent Qingyuan Data Center with low-energy consumption, which was put into operation on July 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Yuxuan)

by Xinhua writers Wang Chenxi, Wang Pan and Chen Yuxuan

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China's internet industry has seen robust growth in recent decades, but its data centers, large-scale servers and cellular base stations are consuming energy at a faster pace. Hence, China's tech firms have started to work on green solutions.

According to a report by China's State Grid Energy Research Institute, the electricity consumption by data centers alone in 2020 is estimated to exceed 200 billion kWh, accounting for 2.7 percent of the country's electricity consumption.

By 2030, the data center electricity consumption in China will exceed 400 billion kWh, accounting for 3.7 percent of the country's total electricity consumption, the report added.

"The electricity consumption of China's internet industry is growing at an annual rate of about ten percent. It will double in seven or eight years, and become a major source of energy consumption in the future," Prof. Wang Yuanfeng of Beijing Jiaotong University told Xinhua.

Wang, a carbon emission reduction expert and an advocate of green development, said enterprises in the sector should act quickly to build greener internet infrastructure.

China's tech giants, such as Huawei and Tencent, have been trying to build a zero-carbon internet industry.

In Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2021 held in February, Huawei unveiled its solution for zero-carbon network, including minimalized base stations, server rooms, data centers and wide use of green electricity.

Photo shows photovoltaic panels in the Ningxia agricultural-photovoltaic integrated industrial Base, which is supported by Huawei Technology.(provided to Xinhua)

Vice President of Huawei and President of its Digital Power Product Line Zhou Taoyuan said Huawei can reduce energy consumption by using high-performance, low power-demand and highly-integrated servers, and minimizing the room occupation of base stations.

Its data centers can use indirect evaporative cooling technology to save 17 percent energy compared to traditional chilled water solution, Zhou added.

Senior Vice President of Sugon Energy Yao Yong believes that the improvement of liquid cooling technology is the best way to break the bottleneck of data center energy efficiency.

"It can improve servers' stability, efficiency and service life, and improve the deployment density of servers. The data centers can be more environment-friendly with less noise and more recycled spare heat."

Tencent has chosen regions with sufficient green energy to build its data centers, such as Huailai in north China's Hebei Province that has abundant wind electricity, or Qingyuan in south China's Guangdong Province that has abundant hydro power.

In Qingyuan, besides consuming hydroelectricity, data centers have used high-efficiency power module, and free cooling technology which uses natural cold sources, to cut the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) value down to 1.25.

PUE is a measure of how efficiently a computer data center uses its power. The lower the PUE, the greener the data center.

In 2019, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Government Offices Administration and National Energy Administration jointly issued a guideline to promote green data centers, proposing that by 2022, the PUE value of the country's newly-built large and super-large data centers should be below 1.4.

All these measures are a part of the country's efforts to achieve green and high-quality development.

According to this year's government work report, China will draw up an action plan to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and improve its industrial structure and energy mix.

Tencent has adopted "tri-supply" technology to combine the supply of power, heating and cooling in its data centers to improve the comprehensive efficiency of energy use.

It also uses clean energy generated by roof photovoltaic systems. In Qingyuan data center, the total installed capacity of roof photovoltaic system reaches 13.3 megawatt peak (mWp).

Tencent said just the use of "tri-supply" in its data centers can save 3,500 tonnes of standard coal and cut 23,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, which is equivalent to planting 36,000 trees every year.

Even a small improvement in energy usage efficiency of internet infrastructure will make a big difference after long-time service of equipment, Wang Yuanfeng said.

Wang called on Chinese internet firms to spread their carbon neutrality technologies to wider fields and empower traditional industries to cut more carbon emissions.

Huawei's smart photovoltaic projects combine artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and traditional photovoltaic station. By directing solar panels to actively follow sunlight, a smart photovoltaic station can generate up to 18.7 percent more electricity than a traditional one.

According to Huawei, its green power generation and efficient electricity consumption sectors have generated 325 billion kWh of green electricity so far and saved 10 billion kWh of power, equivalent to planting 220 million trees.

Pony Ma, chairman of Tencent and a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), put forward a proposal on the peaking of carbon emissions and carbon neutrality during the fourth session of the 13th NPC.

The proposal said that tech firms can provide green solutions for sectors like traditional energy industry to cut carbon emission, such as using AI technology to optimize boiler combustion rate in thermal power plants and flexibly allocate electricity. 
Ever Given ship freed in Suez, traffic resumes Giant container ship floating again in center of canal

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 29 - The Ever Given ship was freed on Monday and traffic in the Suez Canal resumed, canal authorities reported.



The Suez Canal Authority wrote on its Facebook page that the efforts to get the Panama-flagged container ship floating again had been successful, posting photos showing the ship from behind in the middle of the waterway, flanked by vessels on both sides.



Admired Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, has proclaimed the resumption of navigation in the canal, the statement said.



(ANSAmed).





A year ago, when the pandemic seemed to be throwing everything into doubt, the family at Dooky Chases Restaurant decided one thing absolutely had to continue: the Holy Thursday gumbo zherbes tradition.

The dish was the pride and joy of the late Leah Chase, the legendary chef and community leader, and it turned the Thursday before Easter into a festive day at the Orleans Avenue restaurant, packing the house all day through multiple seatings.

Leah Chase had died just a year before, on June 1, 2019 at age 96; the family could not let the first Holy Thursday since her passing go without gumbo zherbes. So, with the strictest phase 1 coronavirus protocols then in place, they organized a curbside version that saw a veritable car parade of patrons pass through to pick up their servings of green gumbo and fried chicken for home.

This week, the Holy Thursday custom is back with a blend of two approaches.

The restaurant is booking tables for limited, socially distant seating, and also taking pre-orders for curbside pickup  a blend in line with the times of loosening restrictions but persistent caution.

Leah Chase made gumbo z'herbes an unforgettable annual experience at her restaurant. The gumbo itself is a hearty mix of greens, meat, roux, Creole flavor and Catholic faith. It also brings the restaurants own community role into focus by convening so many people who feel a connection to it.

The late chefs grandson Edgar Dook Chase IV has been orchestrating a subtle revamp of the restaurants menu over the past year, bringing back old dishes, adding some new flavors and gradually increasing the hours. The cocktail list from his cousin Eve Haydel is another recent change.

The gumbo zherbes, however, invites no changes.

It calls for a process that begins days in advance and fills the kitchen with greens, at least nine different types (collards, turnips greens, watercress, beet tops, to name a few). Its also thick with meats, with brisket, ham, at least two types of sausage and stew meat in the mix (see a recipe here).

In the kitchen, Chase and his staff boil all the greens, harvest the precious potlikker they yield, grind them together, make a gumbo base and then blend the greens and potlikker back in.

Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Lore and ritual are also key ingredients to the dish, especially in the Chase kitchen.

The green are counted carefully, because everyone knows the number of greens used in any gumbo zherbes recipe equals the number of new friends youll make after you eat it. The number of greens should always be odd, because of course odd numbers are inherently luckier.

While vegetarian gumbo z'herbes recipes are traditionally prepared for Good Friday, following the Catholic stricture of meatless fasts, Chase's meaty gumbo z'herbes became a Holy Thursday staple to fortify the faithful before those deprivations (lest people be left to sustain themselves merely on Louisiana's seafood abundance and skill with a fish fry).

Last year, when even Holy Week church services were held virtually, the gumbo zherbes tradition endured. This year, back in the dining room or through curbside service, its another local custom getting gradually back to normal.

Dooky Chases Restaurant

2301 Orleans Ave., 504-821-0535

Pre-orders for Holy Thursday curbside pickup available through March 30; pick up times on April 1 are between 1-6 p.m.

The Friday fish fry is back: find New Orleans-area churches continuing the tradition The Lenten fish fry is a tradition robustly upheld around the New Orleans area, and that continues in 2021 with some modifications and more dr

+14 Homeless no more, Morning Call returns with beignets, coffee, 151 years of local history The neon lights snapped on a few weeks ago, tracing the familiar coffee cup logo above the new home for the Morning Call Coffee Stand and, for

+12 Dunbars Creole Cuisine gets a reality TV revamp, and new hope to survive pandemic The gumbo goes back at Dunbars Creole Cuisine. The urgent question now for the family here is how to carry it forward.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The man behind the New York-based firm that caused a $30 billion stock market fire sale is deeply religious, previously pleaded guilty to insider trading and was once deemed so risky by Goldman Sachs that the firm refused to do business with him for years.

Bill Hwang, who is in his 50s and is the son of a Korean preacher, is the founder and co-chief executive at Archegos Capital Management based in New York.

Hwang's firm is at the center of the crisis that caused shares of major investment banks Nomura and Credit Suisse to tumble after they issued profit warnings when Archegos defaulted on margin calls last week, Bloomberg reports.

Losses at Archegos triggered a fire sale of stocks on Friday and warnings on big losses triggered a sell-off in banking stocks around the globe on Monday.

Hwang, who managed about $10 billion of family money through Archegos, has been known to use out-sized leverage to magnify his bets in American, European and Asian markets.

Bill Hwang, who is aged in his 50s and is the son of a Korean preacher, is the founder and co-chief executive at Archegos Capital Management based in New York

He was a former protege of billionaire hedge fund manager Julian Robertson having previously worked as an equity analyst at Robertson's Tiger Management.

Investors who were trained by Robertson - including Hwang - were often referred to as 'Tiger Cubs' on Wall Street.

Hwang also previously worked as an institutional equity salesman at both Peregrine Securities and Hyundai Securities.

He went onto create and run Tiger Asia in 2001 with the backing of Robertson, who invested $25 million. The hedge fund, which was based out of New York, sought to profit on bets on securities in Asia. It went on to become one of the largest investors in Asian markets.

In 2012, Hwang pleaded guilty on behalf of his hedge fund to insider trading charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

His fund was found to have gained $16 million in illicit profits between 2008 to 2009.

Hwang admitted his fund repeatedly used inside information from investment banks to trade and he and his firm agreed to pay $44 million to settle in 2012.

The SEC investigation effectively put Tiger Asia out of business.

In 2013, Hwang went onto turn his fund into a family office and renamed it Archegos Capital Management to run his private wealth.

As a family office, Archegos doesn't have any obligation to register with the SEC - even though it has billions of dollars in exposure to publicly traded US companies.

Despite having such a large portfolio, there is barely any public information around regarding Archegos' financial disclosures.

Hwang, who managed about $10 billion of family money through Archegos, has been known to use out-sized leverage to magnify his bets in American, European and Asian markets.

Archegos Capital Management is based in this office on 7th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan

His past resulted in major bank Goldman Sachs refusing to do business with him, sources told Fortune.

Goldman was still refusing to let Hwang or Archegos to open an account with them as recently as 2018.

A decade after his illegal trades, Goldman allowed Hwang to do business with them again and he eventually became one of the bank's top clients.

In 2013, Hwang went onto turn his fund into a family office and renamed it Archegos Capital Management to run his private wealth. As a family office, Archegos doesn't have any obligation to register with the SEC - even though it has billions of dollars in exposure to publicly traded US companies

Goldman was among the major banks that saw its stocks decline on Monday. Like Goldman, shares in Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co dropped between 1.6% and 2.5%. Shares in Morgan Stanley tumbled about 5% after reports it had sold billions of shares.

Hwang attended high school in South Korea before moving to the United States after his senior year.

He has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California and completed his MBA at Carnegie-Mellon University.

It is unclear if he has children but is believed to have a wife named Becky.

The son of a Korean preacher, Hwang is deeply religious and has previously suggested that God loves his investments in companies that helped humanity.

In a 2018 interview, Hwang spoke of his early investment in LinkedIn and said the networking site helped people find jobs.

'I'm like a little child looking for what can I do today, where can I invest, to please our God,' he said.

His past resulted in major bank Goldman Sachs refusing to do business with him for several years, according to source. A decade after his illegal trades, Goldman allowed Hwang to do business with them again and he eventually became one of the bank's top clients

What is a margin call? A margin call is when a bank asks a client to put up more collateral if a trade partly funded with borrowed money has fallen sharply in value. If the client cannot afford to do that, the lender will sell the securities to try to recoup what it is owed. In this case, Archegos Capital is said to have defaulted on margin calls. Advertisement

He is involved in several Christian organization in the US and Asia, including the Grace and Mercy Foundation, which he co-founded.

Neither Hwang or anyone at Archegos have commented on the firm defaulting on margin calls last week.

A margin call is when a bank asks a client to put up more collateral if a trade partly funded with borrowed money has fallen sharply in value. If the client cannot afford to do that, the lender will sell the securities to try to recoup what it is owed.

Margin calls on Archegos Capital prompted a massive unwinding of leveraged equity bets.

Nomura and Credit Suisse are now facing billions of dollars in losses as a result of Hwang's firm defaulting on margin calls, putting investors on edge about who else might have been caught out.

Shares in ViacomCBS and Discovery each tumbled around 27% on Friday, while US-listed shares of China-based Baidu and Tencent Music plunged during the week, dropping as much as 33.5% and 48.5%, respectively, from Tuesday's closing levels.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that the leverage provided to Archegos by banks including Nomura and Credit Suisse was through swaps or contracts-for-difference, citing sources, meaning they would not have to disclose holdings publicly.

Investors were nervous about whether the full extent of Archegos' apparent wipeout has been realized or whether there was more selling to come.

The scale of the losses at banks is likely to prompt questions about banks' oversight of their exposure to Archegos.

Hwang's firm is at the center of the crisis that caused shares of major investment banks Nomura and Credit Suisse to tumble after they issued profit warnings when Archegos defaulted on margin calls last week

Nomura and Credit Suisse are now facing billions of dollars in losses as a result of Hwang's firm defaulting on margin calls, putting investors on edge about who else might have been caught out
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
With coronavirus infections creeping up again and fear that a fourth wave could take hold right around the Easter holidays, Spain is stepping up its restrictions on travel.

Authorities on Saturday announced that travelers crossing into Spain through the land border with France and who are coming from French risk zones will from now on have to show a negative PCR test taken 72 hours before arrival. A TMA test, as well as other diagnostic tests based on equivalent molecular techniques will be accepted, but at-home tests will not.

It is an urgent and necessary measure, especially in light of the epidemiological situation as well as the transmission and impact of the variants Official State Gazette

Until now, only passengers arriving by sea or air were being asked for these health tests, with land crossings  either by road or railway  exempted from this obligation. The measure will go into effect on Tuesday.

It is an urgent and necessary measure, especially in light of the epidemiological situation as well as the transmission and impact of the variants, reads the decision, published on Saturday in the Official State Gazette (BOE). All available means must be used to ensure that all persons arriving in Spain from France will have a SARS-CoV-2 active infection diagnosis test with a negative result, regardless of the manner in which they access [Spain].

The tests will be required of anyone six years of age and over, although exceptions are being made for transportation professionals on duty, cross-border workers and border residents who may move within a 30-kilometer radius of their place of residence.

To determine what constitutes a risk zone, authorities will rely on data provided by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which uses a color code based on a combination of health indicators. Risk zones are those colored dark red, red, orange or grey, according to the BOE.

The French Foreign Ministry notes on its website that a financial penalty is expected for those without a negative PCR test upon arrival. The document showing the result of the PCR test must be written in Spanish, French, German or English.

France has been requesting a negative PCR test from all travelers from the age of 11 since January 31, regardless of whether they enter French territory by land, sea or air.

Third-country travel and Gibraltar

On Monday, Spain also extended a temporary restriction on non-essential travel from third countries to the European Union and associated members of the Schengen space. In another decision published in the BOE, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that these restrictions are being extended to April 30.

Also on Monday, Spain decided to lift a temporary restriction on access to the Schengen space through the Gibraltar land border check, effective at 6pm on March 30. This ties in with the Spanish governments decision, made on March 23, to lift a ban on travel to Spain from the United Kingdom over concerns about a new coronavirus strain first detected in that country.

English version by Susana Urra.
Fifteen people met in the deserted Willy Wong playground in Chinatown on March 18, heads bowed against the evening rain. They held a full minute of silence for eight victims, six of them women of Asian descent, of the mass shooting two days earlier in Atlanta. Then Forrest Liu, 27, broke the quiet to issue instructions to the assembled group.

Liu organized the San Francisco Chinatown Safety Patrol with Anthony Su, 23, he said, to be an extra set of eyes over a district grappling with fear and uncertainty about how to respond to a visible wave of anti-Asian bigotry.

The Stop AAPI Hate reporting project recorded nearly 1,700 incidents of anti-Asian discrimination in California from March 2020 through the end of February. At least 15 people of Asian descent have been robbed, beaten or killed in San Francisco this year, according to a Chronicle review of media reports.

While violence against Asian communities has a long, dark history in America, its risen to an unprecedented level that I havent seen in my lifetime, said Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, one of the organizations behind the Stop AAPI Hate project. Right now we are seeing community members and people from across communities standing with us and asking how they can help.

Attempts to do so have come from several corners.

Rallies denouncing the violence have grown in size and frequency. State lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen hate-crime bills. San Francisco increased police and anti-violence community patrols in primarily Asian neighborhoods. Online fundraisers have raised money for victims and private security. Then there are the self-appointed safety patrols like Lius.

Since February, Lius group has walked the streets of Chinatown, fielding complaints from local business owners and residents, intervening in street disruptions and sharing observations with the police. He instructs his volunteers to keep an eye out for suspicious sights, including idling cars and people hanging outside ATMs.

Lius greatest stress, he said, is that he cant be everywhere at once.

Yet some Asian American activists have cautioned against volunteer patrols, saying they can inadvertently increase tensions between police and other marginalized groups, including Black and unhoused people.

My concern is that these (patrol) efforts can be problematic if they engage in racial profiling, if they do not receive the proper culturally responsive training and bystander intervention training to respond to complex issues, said Lai Wa Wu, policy and alliance director of San Franciscos Chinese Progressive Association. If that doesnt happen, it could possibly lead to dangerous interactions.

Liu said he views his group as a bridge between the police and the people of Chinatown. While stopping attacks are the polices job, Liu said he helps local business owners interact with people experiencing homelessness.

Homeless people come and shoplift, he told the group. I feel bad because I know theyre hungry, but our merchants have a low margin of profit. Their businesses are hurting because of COVID-19. Instead of them stealing, we can buy them (the food).

Avoiding generalizations about marginalized people is one reason Wu said she is actively working with the Coalition of Community Safety to get funding for trained, street-outreach initiatives. But she agreed that alternatives to policing should be the goal in Asian communities where language barriers, immigration issues and other concerns about law enforcement are present.

Right now reliance on the police cannot be the only way for our communities to stay safe, Wu said. Our responses need to be humanizing and not scapegoating.

Lius fellow volunteers, meanwhile, say they felt compelled to act.

At this point, Im out here because I dont really know what to do, said Su, Lius co-founder.

Many of the assembled volunteers that week were first-timers. During the opening icebreaker, after sharing pronouns and fun facts, individuals gave their reasons for volunteering. Rocky Chau cited the March 17 attack on Xiao Zhen Xie, a 75-year-old woman who fought off her assailant. An image of her swollen face has circulated widely online.

Thats my potential grandma, Chau told the group. The most vulnerable people in our society are getting hurt.

Not far away, San Francisco police Officers Loren Chiu and William Ma sat inside their patrol vehicle, parked at a street corner. The Chinese American officers volunteered to be stationed in Chinatown because of familial ties to the area, Chiu said.

A lot of merchants prefer a highly visible police presence, Chiu said. That is not the case in all communities. But in ours, they want the lights and sirens flashing.

William Lex Ham, a New York-based organizer who oversaw the development of the Chinatown Safety Patrol, said the officers local ties differentiate S.F.s police force from the one in his city.

Many of the police officers are kids who grew up here, he said. That could be a model of reform, having police officers who actually live in the areas they serve. In New York we have lots of police who dont live in Chinatown, dont understand cultural or social norms of that community, and are quick to have their hands on their guns.

Some merchants expressed mixed emotions about the current racial animosity and the attempts to address them.

At Grant Place Restaurant, owner Elaine Chiu stood behind the counter of an otherwise empty business thats survived the pandemic partly through financial assistance from the nonprofit Feed and Fuel Chinatown. Speaking through an interpreter, Chiu, whos cooked at Grant Place for 17 of its 27 years, sounded a note of resignation.

Americans have always been like this, treating African Americans and Chinese people like lower-class citizens, she said. Thats just the way it is.

As it grew dark, the patrol stopped by the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. The popular tourist attraction, filled with sweet-smelling sesame cookies packaged by owner Kevin Chans mother, also features an elaborate display in honor of the police, with nearly a hundred badges pinned to the walls. Yet the 51-year-old Chan, who wore a pro-police cap, said that when he was harassed in his shop by a group last October, he didnt do anything and just let them go.

He said the Chinese community is targeted because of a perception that we are easy to pick on and if something happens, we shut our mouths. The presence of police and volunteer patrols are proving the opposite, he said.

We did not come here to make trouble, but when things come over, we need to defend ourselves, he said. Its the natural response.

Mike Kai Chen and Chronicle staff writers Chase DiFeliciantonio and Raheem Hosseini contributed to this report.

Malavika Kannan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Malavika.Kannan@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @malavikawrites
Two grand juries have been convened in Georgia to investigate if Donald Trump tried to manipulate the general election.

Jurors in the secret proceedings are to be asked to subpoena documents and recordings for the investigation 'in the very near future,' Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told The Daily Beast.

Three cases have been referred to Fani Willis' office by the Secretary of State - including to probe the infamous phone call in which Trump told the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to 'find' 11,780 votes.

Willis has assembled a crack team of investigators that includes a former deputy sheriff with nearly 30 years experience as a cop and a lawyer who wrote the handbook on prosecuting RICO charges against the mafia.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, left, while prosecuting during a hearing in Atlanta in 2013

Former police officer Sonya Allen (left) is serving as Willis' right-hand woman, while former defense layer, Brian Watkins is the deputy head of anti-corruption

Leading RICO expert John E. Floyd will serve as a consultant to the team, while assistant chief Raymond Baez is helping with the investigation

The DA, who was elected in January, is well aware that she is up against the highest-profile potential defendant in Trump - whose team of lawyers will attack any indictment down to the letter.

'My philosophy is just: We're going to call balls and strikes. And it is what it is,' Willis told The Daily Beast.

'We're just going to use the law and the facts. I'm not going to worry about the politics of that. And I do understand what I'm saying. If that means I'm only the DA for one term that'll be what God has me do for these four years.'

The prosecutor has overhauled the county's 'public integrity unit' - which traditionally looked into police misconduct - with a new anti-corruption team.

She retained only one member of the former group, investigator Raymond Baez, who interviewed to keep his job.

Baez convinced Willis he had grown furious at corrupt police while growing up in Puerto Rico and she even ended up promoting him to assistant chief.

Former police officer Sonya Allen is serving as Willis' right-hand woman.

Allen worked at Cobb County Sheriff's Office for nearly three decades, working on the narcotics and fugitives units and rising up the ranks to become a Lieutenant Colonel.

Willis decided she was right for the job over her investigation of how a man who had been on trial for rape, Brian Nichols, escaped custody and killed the judge presiding over his case.

She's also hiring a lawyer who made his career by defending public officials accused of corruption, Brian Watkins, who is named as the deputy of anti-corruption.

'We researched him greatly. He didn't have any blemishes,' Willis said.

She also tapped a young lawyer from the complex trial division on the shoulder, Sau Chun Chan, who only qualified to practice law in Georgia two years ago.

'I'm having to broaden the unit it never looked at election fraud before now,' Willis said.

She's also brought in John E. Floyd, an expert on state RICO charges, who wrote a national guide on prosecuting state racketeering cases.

Three cases have been referred to Willis' office by the Secretary of State - including to probe the infamous phone call in which Trump told the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to 'find' 11,780 votes (pictured, Trump in the Oval Office in August, 2018)

He will consult the team on how they might wish to prove a pattern of corruption - in the same way that mafia bosses are connected to the dealings of their goons.

In letters sent to state officials last month asking them to preserve evidence for her investigation into potential attempts to influence last year's election, Willis mentioned racketeering as one of the possible violations of Georgia law that she was examining.

Floyd previously helped Willis when she used the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law to prosecute nearly three dozen Atlanta public school educators accused in a cheating scandal.

In April 2015, after a trial that spanned months, a jury convicted 11 former educators of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students scores on standardized exams.

Willis was a lead prosecutor in the case while working for her predecessor, former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.

Floyd will remain employed by Atlanta law firm Bondurant Mixson & Elmore and will be available to help Willis as needed.

Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis talks with Rachel Maddow about her investigation earlier this year

Willis's office has confirmed that the investigation into potential efforts to influence the election includes a January 2 phone call in which Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger to 'find' enough votes to overturn Biden's win in the state.

Willis has also said she has questions about a call U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham made to Raffensperger, the sudden departure of a top federal prosecutor and statements made before Georgia legislative committees.

She wrote in the letters to state officials February 10 that her office had opened a criminal investigation into 'potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the elections administration.'

She wrote that her team has 'no reason to believe that any Georgia official is a target of this investigation.'

Earlier this month, Common Cause, a government-accountability watchdog group, called on the DoJ to investigate whether Trump and others broke federal laws by communicating with officials in Georgia 'in an effort to fraudulently and corruptly overturn 2020 presidential election results in Georgia,' according to a letter sent to Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine in Atlanta and Merrick Garland, who was confirmed Wednesday by the Senate to serve as U.S. Attorney General.
President Joe Bidens first live Q&A with the media generated plenty of coverage but not much news. Critics complained that Biden consulted his briefing book, which provides the gallerys lead cartoon this week from Michael Ramirez of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mike Luckovich drew the president clearing the low bar of not making a gaffe.

The president was asked repeatedly about the flood of unaccompanied minors crossing the Southern border, another hot topic in this weeks editorial cartoon gallery. Biden was pressed to permit media coverage of overcrowded holding facilities.

The weeks other big news story was a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, which claimed 10 lives. Among the dead was Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley. The shootings came on the heels of another mass shooting in Atlanta targeting women of Asian descent. Biden renewed his call for a federal ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Cartoonists noted there is little appetite in Congress for gun legislation.

Other news items making their way into the cartoons this week include controversial Georgia laws regulating voting; crowds of young people on spring break in Florida; more discussion of eliminating the filibuster in the Senate; and proposed cutbacks in service at the U.S. Postal Service.

Cartoons were drawn by Nick Anderson, Bill Bramhall, Dan Wasserman, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Scott Stantis, Walt Handelsman, David Horsey, Phil Hands, Joel Pett and Joey Weatherford of Tribune Content Agency; and A.F. Branco, Mike Luckovich and Michael Ramirez of Creators Syndicate.

View more editorial cartoon galleries.
After a year of canceled air shows, the Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team is hoping to appear for a 2022 performance in Charleston.

The 2022 schedule includes a show at Charleston Air Force Base on April 9-10. More details about the presentation will be announced at a later date.

Last year and this year's shows were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Lt. Victor Reyes, a spokesman for the Charleston Air Force Base, said it's been a long time since there's been an air show on base and they are excited to have the famous Navy flight crew back.

"Joint Base Charleston is excited to have the Blue Angels in town next year and looks forward to hosting our first air show since 2018," Reyes said in a statement.

Additional performances at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort scheduled for April 2021 were canceled because of concerns relating to coronavirus.

"It is a difficult decision for me to cancel such a monumental event, but given the current COVID-19 environment it must be done, Col. Karl Arbogast, commanding officer of MCAS Beaufort, said in a statement.

Sign up for our SC Military Digest newsletter Get exclusive military reporting, updates from Palmetto State bases, headlines from around the globe and more delivered to your inbox each Tuesday. Email

Sign up!

Planning for the biennial MCAS Beaufort Air Show for April 2023 has already begun.

Updates on shows across the country and the full tour schedule can be found at blueangels.navy.mil.

The mission of the Blue Angels is to show the teamwork and aircraft of the Navy and Marine Corps through flight demonstrations and community outreach.

Since 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 500 million fans. It's also a dangerous job. To date, 21 pilots and crew members have been killed during performances and training. Four others have died in combat.

One Blue Angels fatality happened in the Lowcountry.

On April 21, 2007, Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis, a Blue Angels pilot, crashed his F-18 into a residential neighborhood outside of the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort. A temporary decrease in blood flow to his brain caused by the gravitational pull likely caused Davis to experience tunnel vision and become disoriented, according to military investigators.

Davis broke formation and crashed, causing extensive damage to nearby homes. Eight people on the ground were injured.

In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, a Blue Angel F-18 landed at Joint Base Charleston to promote the upcoming show in 2020. The demonstration was canceled several months later.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 20:42:31|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh, struggling against a new wave of infections, Monday stepped up its COVID-19 combating measures.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 5,181 new COVID-19 infections, the highest increase in a single day since the pandemic started in the country.

Since March 8, 2020, the coronavirus has so far spread to nearly every Bangladeshi district and the official data showed the national tally for COVID-19 infections has increased to 600,895 with 8,949 deaths including 45 on Monday.

The official data showed that 28,195 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 538,018, including 2,077 new recoveries on Monday, said the DGHS.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.49 percent and the current recovery rate is 89.54 percent.

Bangladesh had earlier recorded the highest daily new cases of 4,019 on July 2 and the highest number of deaths of 64 on June 30 last year.

In light of the rising infections since the middle of March, the Bangladeshi government on Monday imposed a new set of restrictions, including a ban on all public gatherings in areas with high rate of infections.

In a gazette notification on Monday, it asked passengers arriving from abroad to prepare for institutional quarantine for up to two weeks.

The gazette with 18 directives issued by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister's Office said that buses will have to carry passengers half of their seating capacity and maintain the COVID-19 guidelines.

The directives which come into force immediately will remain in place for the next two weeks.

Also the country's Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday said his ministry has made suggestions to the government to impose partial lockdown in areas with higher transmission of COVID-19.

"We're expecting a decision in this connection within one or two days hopefully," he said while speaking at an event of National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and Hospital, joining online. Enditem
(Newser)  Two Iowa State University Crew Club members died after their boat capsized Sunday morningand Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons says it could have been an even bigger tragedy if residents near Little Wall Lake hadn't raced to rescue other students. "We had some heroes in the people who live in the houses here," the sheriff said, per CNN. "There's some people who took some risks they didn't have to take and saved some lives." Officials say three students from the five-person crew were rescued, treated in a local hospital, and released, the Des Moines Register reports. The body of one student was recovered by a dive team Sunday and that of the second student was found after the search resumed Monday morning.

story continues below

Timmons said he didn't know if the students had been wearing lifejackets or whether they were required to, the Ames Tribune reports. "That part is still under investigation," he told reporters Monday. The university said in a statement Monday that the university police force is working with the sheriff's office and state agencies to investigate the accident. "We know there are a lot of questions and we are working to provide answers, but this will take time," said Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Toyia Younger. Roger Fritz, who lives near the lake, says it was frozen over until three weeks ago. He says the lake was "pretty rough" Sunday and he believes the crew boat "probably got swamped in some heavier waves." (Read more Iowa stories.)


Tunis/Tunisia  The reported investments in the industrial sector reached, during the 1st two months of 2021, the value of 241,4 million dinars (MD) against 309,0 MD during the same period in 2020, posting a 21,9% drop.

According to a situation report released by the Agency for the Promotion of Industry and Innovation (APII), the number of reported projects fell to 561 during the first two months of 2021, against 720 during the same period last year, down by 22.1%.

These projects will help create 6,853 jobs, against 9,200 last year, a drop of 25.5%.

The leather and footwear industries sector saw an increase of 533% in reported investments, followed by the textile and clothing sector (127.9%) and the agro-food industries (+33%).

However, sectors such as chemical industries, miscellaneous industries, mechanical industries, building materials, ceramics and glass industries recorded a decline of 79.1%, 68%, 52.8% and 51.8%, respectively.

According to the document, 57% of the reported investments during the first two months of 2021, are related to projects of extension and equipment renewal.

Hence, the reported investments related to the creation of projects edged down from 182.4 MD during the first two months of 2020 to 103.7 MD during the same period of 2021, a fall of 43.1%.

As regards the reported investments by regime, the reported investments in the totally exporting industries recorded a fall of 8.3% from 85.3 MD to 78.2 MD, during the first two months of the current year.

Likewise, the domestic market-oriented production industries registered a 27.0% decrease from 223,7 MD to 163,2 MD during the first two months of 2021.

The most important investment amounts were reported in Sfax with 34.6 MD, in Sousse (31.8 MD) and in Zaghouan (19.7 MD).
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 08:44:22|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) said on Monday that they have partnered in their response to the independent Climate Change Commission's first package of draft advice to the New Zealand government.

The submission represents the views of around 150 businesses that contribute more than a third of New Zealand's GDP and are committed to the country's zero carbon future.

The key recommendations are: investing in low carbon transport with a roadmap to accelerate fleet transformation; transitioning out process heat; creating an accelerated pathway for methane and nitrogen reduction technologies; building a New Zealand bioeconomy; and incentivising a significant scale-up of energy efficiency across the economy.

Executive Director of the SBC Mike Burrell said, "The commission's work is critical in getting New Zealand on track to achieving our emissions reduction targets. Overall SBC and CLC members believe the Climate Change Commission's proposals represent an achievable transition pathway that New Zealand can get behind."

"Our submission has five headline recommendations focusing on the transport, agriculture, and energy sectors. We have also identified aspects of the commission's advice that we would like to see reframed or strengthened."

"We believe that if the government implements the advice of the commission, including our recommendations, New Zealand will be well-placed to be a zero carbon country by 2050," said Burrell.

Mike Bennetts, Z Energy Chief Executive and Climate Leaders Coalition Convenor said, "The transition must be just and inclusive, supporting those most vulnerable and disproportionately affected, to create a positive future for all New Zealanders."

Chair of SBC's Advisory Board Karen Silk said cross-party support for the actions that will result from the commission's final report is needed. Enditem
SpaceX has completed the fourth major flight test of a Starship rocket, which appears to have ended in a huge explosion once again.

Poor weather conditions at the launch site means it is still unclear what happened, but SpaceX boss Elon Musk said something significant happened shortly after landing burn start that resulted in a crater.

The attempt to launch and land a Starship rocket on Tuesday from SpaceXs Boca Chica facility in Texas came less than four weeks after the last test ended in a fiery explosion.

Previous launch attempts on Friday and Monday were scrubbed - the first due to technical issues, the second as a result of an absent FAA inspector.

All three previous Starship flight test have ended in a rapid unscheduled disassembly, as SpaceX puts it, and a successful launch and landing would have been a major step towards realising Musks Mars ambitions.

SpaceX posted a live stream of the event a few minutes before it took place.
Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, left, D-Los Angeles (left) and Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, smile after their net neutrality bill was approved by the Senate in 2018. The Trump administration sued to block Californias 2018 law, preventing it from taking effect for years. The Biden administration dropped that suit.
Botswana Diamonds PLC - diamond exploration company with licenses in Botswana and South Africa - For the six months ended December 31, pretax loss widens marginally to GBP195,000 from GBP194,000 the year before, as no revenue is recorded for either financial periods.

Cash position as at December 31, is GBP39,000, up from GBP13,000 the prior year.

During the period, the company discovers a new diamond bearing kimberlite at the Thorny River project in South Africa. Post period end, Botswana Diamonds signed a cooperation agreement to fund the exploration of its prospecting licence assets in Botswana with Diamexstrat Botswana Pty Ltd.

Current stock price: 0.79 pence, down 7.6% Monday

Year-to-date change: down 7.1%

By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Vanessa Bryant is using her moms own prior testimony against her in a bid to invalidate a lawsuit claiming the late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant promised his mother-in-law a lifetime of support.

In a 43-page dismissal motion filed in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, California, Vanessas lawyers call Sofia Urbietas Dec. 15 breach of contract suit filed against her daughter and Kobes estate factually, legally and morally deficient.

They dispute Kobe ever made such a promise before his death in a helicopter crash last year and say Urbieta went on record saying as much during her 2004 spousal support battle.

Over 10 years ago, in divorce proceedings in this court, Urbietas ex-husband, Stephen Laine, attempted to reduce his spousal support payments on the ground that Urbieta was living in a multimillion-dollar home and was being financially supported by the Bryants, the demurrer from Vanessas lawyers that surfaced Monday states.

Urbieta denied these claims and repeatedly stated that she was not promised financial support and was not receiving any such support from the Bryants, it argues.

In one court declaration cited in the filing, Urbieta said, neither of my daughters has any obligation whatsoever, to financially support me. They each have their own lives, children and responsibilities.

Urbieta further testified that stories claiming the Bryants bought her a $1 million home were absolutely false, according to the filing.

After she submitted her sworn statements, Urbieta prevailed and was awarded spousal support, the demurrer says.

Four years later during the 2008 recession, Laine petitioned the court to modify his support payments. Urbieta again denied Kobe and Vanessa were supporting her.

I do not live with (Kobe and Vanessa) now, nor do I permanently reside in a home owned by Vanessa and Kobe as Stephen contends, she testified.

Again, Urbieta prevailed, and her spousal support remained as it was.

Story continues

Vanessas lawyers were due to argue the dismissal motion last Friday, but the parties have agreed to postpone the showdown to April 23.

In her original complaint filed last year, Urbieta said she had entered into an oral contract with Kobe and Vanessa that she counted on as a vow.

Kobe Bryant repeatedly promised to take care of plaintiff financially for life in exchange for her services as a nanny and caretaker for the Bryants children, her filing said.

She was so convinced of the pact, she even purchased an orthopedic bedroom furniture set for $25,000 shortly before Kobes death with the expectation the couple would cover it, she claimed.

Unfortunately, Kobe Bryants promises did not see the light of day as he is now deceased, and Vanessa Bryant took each and every step she could to void and cancel all of Kobe Bryants promises, her lawsuit alleged.

In a prior statement responding to the lawsuit, Vanessa said her mom was trying to extort a financial windfall from our family.

I have supported her for nearly 20 years, and she was never my or Kobes personal assistant, nor was she a nanny, Vanessa, 38, said.

Earlier this year, I was looking for a new home for her and, a week later, she went on television and gave an interview disparaging our family and making false accusations while living rent-free in a gated apartment complex in Newport Coast, Vanessa continued.

Even after that betrayal, I was willing to provide my mother with monthly support for the rest of her life and that wasnt good enough, she said.

She said her mother instead demanded $5 million, a house and a Mercedes SUV.

Because I did not give in to her hurtful threats and monetary requests, she has spiraled out of control and is making false and absurd claims, she said, calling the lawsuit disgraceful and unimaginably hurtful.

My husband never promised my mother anything, Vanessa said, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy.
A massive container ship blocking Egypt's Suez Canal for nearly a week has been partially refloated, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened, a Reuters report said.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

After further dredging and excavation over the weekend, efforts by rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage worked to free the ship using tug boats in the early hours of Monday, two marine and shipping sources said.

"The MV Ever Given was successfully re-floated at 04:30 lt 29/03/2021. She is being secured at the moment. More information about next steps will follow once they are known," said Inchcape Shipping on its Twitter account.

Video posted on social media appeared to show the ship's stern had swung around, opening space in the canal. Other footage, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters, included cheering and ships' horns sounding in celebration.

Ship-tracking service VesselFinder has changed the ship's status to under way on its website.

The Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early on Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

At least 369 vessels were waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie told Egypt's Extra News on Sunday.

Crude oil prices fell after news the ship had been re-floated, with Brent crude down by $1 per barrel to $63.67. Shares of Taiwan-listed Evergreen Marine Corp - the vessel's lessor - rose 3.3 percent.
The search remains for one of the people who left their mandatory hotel quarantine in Dublin last weekend.

It is believed that three men, who had arrived on a flight from Dubai, were outside The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry smoking under supervision when they attempted to abscond. Since then, two of the men have been found.

General secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors Antoinette Cunningham said that the search is ongoing.

Commenting on the case of the missing man, she said: We have to be sensitive to matters that can still be ongoing, she said.

Theres still a person that has not returned to the hotel where the quarantining is taking place.

In a statement today, An Garda Siochana said they are: liaising with the State Liaison Officer at a designated quarantine facility in the Dublin area, in accordance with current protocols.

As the Department of Health is the lead agency in relation to the management of mandatory quarantining, An Garda Siochana will not be commenting further at this time.

People who do not comply with mandatory hotel quarantine can get a fine of up to 2,000 or a month in prison. The hotel stay must also be booked beforehand, with costs starting from 1,875.

Ms Cunningham also discussed how Gardai have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 yet despite being on the frontline.

Weve been led to believe that the private security company, the hotel staff, and the members of the defence forces who are carrying out the role as liaison officers at these hotels have been vaccinated or in the process of it, he said.

And our members have not been vaccinated and I think it is unfair for Minister Donnelly to expect Gardai to deal with issues in relation to mandatory hotel quarantine.

Issues which could take a number of hours and then go back out to our normal duties in communities, whether thats delivering groceries to elderly people, attending at a traffic accident, going to a sudden death, dealing with a house party.

Youre going from one very high risk environment, back out into the community. There is of course a huge risk to the members of An Garda Siochana that are attending this high-risk environment, and so we absolutely believe that they should be vaccinated.
Public university professors have a constitutional right to intentionally misgender trans students in the classroom, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday in a perverse decision that wields the First Amendment as a weapon against LGBTQ students access to equal treatment in education.

The ruling in Meriwether v. Hartop comes as no surprise: It was heard by a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made up of two Donald Trump nominees, Amul Thapar and Joan Larsen, plus a George W. Bush nominee, David McKeague. Trumps judges were selected, in part, to curtail LGBTQ equality by legalizing discrimination against gender minorities in the name of free speech and religious liberty. Thapar, a Mitch McConnell protege, signaled his enthusiastic support for this agenda during oral arguments when he compared a policy requiring professors to use students preferred pronouns to a hypothetical rule compelling a Jewish professor to call a student my Fuhrer.

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The plaintiff, Nicholas Meriwether, is a philosophy professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio. In 2016, the school implemented a new policy requiring professors to use students preferred pronouns; Meriwether objected, citing his refusal to recognize transgenderism. Two years later, he misgendered a trans woman during classinadvertently, he claimed, asserting that no one would have assumed she was female. The student, Alena Bruening, later demanded that he refer to her as a woman. When Meriwether refused, Bruening responded: Then I guess this means I can call you a cunt.

Meriwether reported the incident, and his dean sought a compromise: eliminate all gendered language from the classroom. He rejected this solution. Instead, he chose to call all other students Mr. or Ms. while referring to Bruening by her last name only. Bruening complained, and the dean asked him to recognize her as a woman. Meriwether said he might comply if he could add a disclaimer in his syllabus stating that he used preferred pronouns under compulsion and describing his personal objections to transgender identity. The dean rejected his terms, so Meriwether continued to call Bruening by her last name while addressing all other students in gendered language. The university launched a Title IX investigation, which found that Meriwether had violated the schools nondiscrimination policy. The investigation concluded with a written warning placed in Meriwethers file.

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Thapar accused the college of trying to act as classroom thought police.

Aided by the anti-LGBTQ legal organization Alliance Defending Freedomwhich has also tried to disqualify a judge because he would not allow its lawyers to misgender trans students in another caseMeriwether sued. He alleged a violation of rights to free speech and free exercise under the First Amendment. A federal judge tossed his suit, but Thapar revived it on Friday. He insisted that Meriwethers refusal to use trans students preferred pronouns qualifies for constitutional protection because it involves a hotly contested matter of public concern.

The university, Thapar wrote in the courts unanimous decision, wants its professors to use pronouns to communicate a message: People can have a gender identity inconsistent with their sex at birth. But Meriwether does not agree with that message, and he does not want to communicate it to his students.  Through his continued refusal to address Doe as a woman, he advanced a viewpoint on gender identity.

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With this framing, Thapar transformed Meriwethers violation of a nondiscrimination policy into political speech at the heart of the First Amendment. The point of his speech, Thapar wrote, was to convey a messagethat Bruening is not a womanand his mode of address was the message. Reading this opinion, which depicts Meriwether as a persecuted folk hero, it is easy to forget what the professor actually sought to do: use his position of authority to out Bruening as transgender in front of her classmates, then continually degrade her by denying her identity for an entire semester.

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Thapar then went further: Meriwether, he wrote, had plausibly alleged a case of religious discrimination in violation of free exercise. This conclusion rests on a handful of comments made by various university officials that, according to Thapar, reflect religious hostility. One department chair told him that religion oppresses students; a provost laughed at some point during a meeting with Meriweather, which he took as mockery of his beliefs. And the schools director of labor relations compared Meriweathers views to religiously motivated racism or sexism. In Thapars view, these statements lead to an inference of religious hostility. If that is true, then the Supreme Court was also guilty of religious hostility when it compared anti-gay discrimination to race discrimination three years ago.

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What is especially bizarre about Thapars opinion is that it values anti-trans speech over other speech in the academic context: Meriwethers defiance of the schools nondiscrimination policy warrants utmost constitutional protections; meanwhile, university officials rebuttal of Meriwethers views is not. Why? Because this expression allegedly reflects hostility toward religion (which is unacceptable even in its mildest form) rather than hostility toward transgender people (which is perfectly acceptable even when used to demean a specific student in class). Thapars First Amendment protects all anti-trans speech as a matter of public concern while condemning the slightest anti-religious speech as an impermissible assault on the Constitution itself.

This irony is starkest in Thapars many rhetorical flourishes. In the same breath that he condemns university officials for comparing anti-trans discrimination to race discrimination, Thapar blithely equates LGBTQ nondiscrimination policies with totalitarianism. Public universities do not have a license to act as classroom thought police, he wrote. In fairness, he did not limit his analysis to this particular type of civil rights law; rather, he proclaimed the application of any nondiscrimination policy could force a person to endorse views incompatible with his religious convictions.

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This announcement may be the most troubling line of the entire opinion. It was inevitable that a Trump judge like Thapar would undercut transgender rights. But the logic of Meriwether v. Hartop does not stop with preferred pronouns. Under Thapars reasoning, professors have a constitutional right to use racial epithets in class, to use misogynistic language in front of students, to express all manner of odious views in a maximally offensive manner. They would not have to worry about creating a hostile environment in violation of civil rights law. If disciplined, they could simply assert their First Amendment rights to speak about a matter of public concern however they please. (With one exception: Presumably, any speech critical of religion would remain off-limits, since such expression apparently violates others religious liberty.)

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Thapar began his opinion by grandiloquently declaring: Traditionally, American universities have been beacons of intellectual diversity and academic freedom. That is not true: As Justice Clarence Thomas has explained, universities strictly limited students liberties, including free speech, for most of American history. The tide turned in the 1950s and 60s after the liberal Warren Court issued a series of rulings protecting student speech and academic freedom. None of these decisions was rooted in the original meaning of the Constitutionnor could they be, since the Framers had no intention of safeguarding free speech on campus. Thapar identifies as an originalist, but he relied on these avowedly non-originalist precedents to reach his desired result in Meriwether. When history wont get you where you need to go, the living Constitution is always there to lend a hand.